COLLECTIVE MADNESS



Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
North Dakota is blessed with a robust higher education system. From students and faculty to administrators and alumni, our 11 public colleges and universities have enjoyed a broad base of support and tremendous investment appropriated by the state Legislature.

The system is strong, particularly for a state our size, and its enormous impact on our communities, graduates and economy is evident. Yet we must all recognize our system is being challenged by powerful economic forces enabled by rapid technological advancements, which in turn is driving competition through new education business models powered by massive, free, high-quality content; new delivery methods; lower-cost credentialing alternatives; changing cultural attitudes; rising student debt and more.

For North Dakota to reach its full potential, we need citizens equipped to compete in a global economy, which requires lifetime access to the best education at affordable prices. Creating such a system requires a governance structure that is nimble and empowers our educational leaders and faculty to make responsive decisions that enable our system to remain economically viable amid external forces transforming education across the world.

Our higher education system has experienced incredible growth and success over the past eight decades, yet our current governance model has remained largely unchanged since North Dakotans voted in 1938 to amend the state constitution to create a State Board of Higher Education, consisting of seven members appointed by the governor (an eighth member, representing students, was added in 1994).

With that in mind, I signed an executive order Tuesday, Nov. 7, creating the Task Force on Higher Education Governance.

Appointed by the governor, this 15-member task force will represent the interests of the students, faculty, business community and all branches of state government.

Specifically, the task force will:

 Identify best practices for higher education governance.

 Evaluate whether the current system operates at its highest potential to best serve the growing and changing educational and workforce needs in the 21st century.

 Recommend strategic governance improvements to the 2019 Legislature.

As I stated at Tuesdays announcement, everything about higher education governance will be on the table as we engage in this critically important dialogue.

But let me be clear: The focus of this task force is on governance, not curriculum, teaching methods or campus footprints. Its about identifying an optimal governance structure that allows our higher education system to be the most effective and efficient system it can be.

If youd like to help shape the future of higher education governance in North Dakota, I encourage you to apply for the task force through the Boards and Commissions section at www.governor.nd.gov/boards by Nov. 30.

We have an opportunity in North Dakota to create the best K-12 and higher education systems in the world. But this will require us to adopt new thinking and new approaches. We must ensure the states investment in education allows us to not only keep up with our peers, but to lead the way as a model for the nation.
RAB arrested 3 int'l fraud

Staff Reporter :

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-1 on Friday arrested three foreign members of an international fraud ring for handcuffing Tk 2.5 crore in fancy manner in the city.

RAB arrested those frauds in a special drive on Thursday night.

In a press briefing at Karwanbazar RAB media centre, Director of Law and Mass Media Mufti Mahmud Khan told the media that all the accused are citizens of Cameroon.

Two of them are living legally and one is living illegally in Bangladesh.

The accused grabbed Tk 2.5 crore from a private bank official by showing financial temptation.

RAB has seized Tk 62 lakh equivalent Euro and drugs from them.

"After thorough investigation, other members related with such fraud will be identified," said Mufti Mahmud Khan.

"The ring was leading criminal activities for long using fancy approaches and grabbed huge money from different people of the country," he said.
Bangladesh Chief Justice Sinha resigns amid criticism over constitutional amendment verdict

bdnews24.com :

Bangladesh's chief justice resigned about six weeks after he went on leave amid criticism by the ruling party over a top court verdict scrapping a constitutional amendment.

Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was the first top judge in Bangladesh to have stepped down.



The president's office said on Saturday that they received a letter of resignation from Sinha, who is now abroad.



Sinha was appointed to the top court as the chief justice in January 2015, with his term scheduled to end on Jan 31, 2018.



He came under fire from the ruling party after the Supreme Court scrapped a constitutional amendment to sack higher court judges.



Bangladesh parliament passed the constitution's 16th amendment in 2014, which empowered lawmakers to investigate and sack top judges on the grounds of incapability and misconduct.



The High Court declared it unconstitutional in 2016 after a petition by lawyers. The state challenged the decision, but it was upheld by the Appellate Division in July this year.



The verdict revived the Supreme Judicial Council, a provision brought during military ruler and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's regime, to remove top court judges.



The Supreme Court published the full verdict on Aug 1, drawing harsh criticism from the Awami League government.



Ruling party leaders also attacked Chief Justice Sinha for his observations on Bangladesh's politics, past dictatorships, Election Commission, corruption, governance and judiciary in the verdict.



The Awami League accused him of 'belittling' the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in some of the observations.



Chief Justice Sinha sat in his office for the last time on Aug 24 before the annual vacation of the apex court started.



The government announced his 'sick' leave on Oct 3, a day before the vacation ended.



Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah became acting chief justice then and the government said in a circular that he would act as chief justice until the end of Justice Sinha's leave or his return.



Justice Sinha left Bangladesh for Australia on Oct 13. Before leaving, he issued a statement, saying he was 'not sick' and the criticism over the verdict 'embarrassed' him.



A day after his departure, the Supreme Court in a rare statement described Justice Sinha's statement as 'misleading'.



According to the Supreme Court statement, Justice Sinha faces 11 specific charges, including graft, money laundering and moral lapse, for which his colleagues in the Appellate Division refused to work with him.



What happens now?



According to the Bangladesh Constitution, if the chief justice's office becomes vacant, the next most senior judge of the Appellate Division will perform his duties.



On Oct 3, the day the government announced Justice Sinha's 'sick leave', a government order said the president appointed Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah as the acting chief justice.



Later on Oct 12, a day before Sinha left the country, a second order was issued which said Justice Miah will head the Supreme Court until the end of Sinha's leave or his return.



With Justice Sinha stepping down from his office, Justice Miah will perform the duties of the chief justice until a new appointment.
Hollywood takes break from scandal to honor Amy Adams

Scandal-hit Hollywood left its woes behind Friday to honor Amy Adams for a glittering career that has seen her go from waitress to five-time Oscar nominee.

The 43-year-old-famous for the diversity of her film roles-told AFP ahead of being presented with the 31st American Cinematheque Award that her proudest moment was her first nod for 2005 comedy "Junebug."

"It really depends where I am in my life, but right now I'm looking for films with a specific message," she said on the red carpet in Beverly Hills as she weighed her 18-year career.

"It can be very subtle, but I want it to mean something to me and move me forward in my life."

A host of A-listers paid tribute to Adams in a rare celebration at the end of a week which has seen the industry tarnished by unprecedented allegations of sexual misconduct.

"I'm always happy when I show up at work and she's there," Michael Shannon, who starred alongside Adams in 2016 neo-noir thriller "Nocturnal Animals," as well as two "Superman" movies, told AFP.

"I've never seen her be anything but hard-working and easy to be around." Adams's four other Oscar nominations were for best actress in "American Hustle" and supporting-actress roles for "Doubt," "The Fighter" and "The Master"-but she has never won the coveted statuette.
Climate change and local government

Stefano Bonaccini :

In Bonn, the Climate Summit of Local and Regional Leaders is being convened by ICLEI with the support of the associations of local and regional governments like CEMR. Europe's cities, towns and regions are emerging as the motor of the bloc's climate efforts, in many cases going beyond the policies of their national governments.

The EU needs to reflect these efforts in a more ambitious climate plan of its own: a new strategy to decarbonise Europe by 2050 that places cooperation between towns, cities and regions at its centre.

This is what we have been advocating at CEMR, on behalf of the 130,000 local and regional governments we represent through our 60 national associations within the EU and beyond. The need for greater ambition is pressing. The last 12 months have vividly illustrated the future that awaits us if we fail to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

If these emissions continue unabated, by the middle of the century this summer's Lucifer heat wave could become normal in the European Mediterranean - including in Emilia-Romagna, the region of which I am President. It triggered deadly forest fires in Portugal, and sent hospital admissions for heatstroke soaring.

Rising temperatures are severely impacting public health and will exacerbate pressures on Europe's health systems. In 2015, an additional 15 million vulnerable people were exposed to heat waves compared with the average for 1986-2008. Climate change will also likely cause greater instability on Europe's borders, leading to more migration and related tensions. The economic costs faced as a result of climate change are potentially enormous, even for modest levels of climate change, the European Environment Agency warns. These costs rise significantly for scenarios of greater levels of warming.

Unfortunately, the response so far is not equal to the challenge. In Paris in 2015, the world's governments committed to holding warming to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels.

However, according to the latest research from UN Environment, national commitments made in Paris - the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions - will deliver only one-third of the emissions reductions needed to stay on the 2C pathway.

That research also points to the important role that non-state actors - including cities and sub-national governments - could have in closing the emissions gap, particularly when they work together to learn and exchange. Efforts such as the Global and Regional Covenants of Mayors, in which CEMR is involved with other international networks like ICLEI, C40 and UCLG as well as their European counterparts, are bringing cities and local governments together in the fight against climate change.

In Europe, the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy - hailed as the world's biggest urban climate and energy initiative - has more than 7,600 signatories, who are representing some 240 million people, more than a third of the EU's population. They commit to reducing carbon emissions to at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

These signatories are on course to deliver almost a third of the EU's 2020 climate target, equivalent to almost 240 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Most of these reductions are the result of more energy efficient buildings, less carbon-intensive electricity, and lower-carbon transport systems. These efforts have delivered more liveable cities, whose populations enjoy cleaner air, less congested roads, and more affordable and healthier homes. Leaving the well-known paths, they have spurred the creation of new jobs, in clean energy, construction and waste management. Tackling climate change represents one of the most exciting economic opportunities of the decades to come.

Cities and local governments are demonstrating that local action is key to tackling climate change. Europe's cities and local governments are closer to their citizens, and more responsive to their needs, than national governments.

Often, it is local governments that have the responsibility to deliver the planning, transport, and building standards that can both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve local air quality. But the contribution of cities, towns and regions is not reflected in the ambition currently shown by EU leaders. We call upon national and EU-level leaders to adopt a plan for Europe to decarbonise by 2050, with interim emissions reduction targets that reflect the best practice of our cities and regions.

We call for effective access for cities and regions to the means to finance investments in clean energy, low-carbon transport and extensive improvements in the efficiency of our building stock.

And we call for a stable and ambitious policy framework that enables cooperation between local governments across borders, within and outside of the European Union. Climate change has no passport. Industrialised economies like those within the EU contribute most to causing climate change, and we have a duty to those countries outside our borders where the impacts are felt strongest.

The experiences of local and regional governments in Europe in limiting their climate impact and preparing for the effects of climate change are useful for accelerating action in those subnational governments outside of Europe in a much less favourable economic situation.

The launch of the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoMSSA) and the increasing attention to climate issues at the local level across the world through PLATFORMA, are initiatives the EU should support more intensively. Acting locally can have a positive impact on the thinking globally.

(Stefano Bonaccini is president of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and president of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna).


Magic 48 seconds for treatment in govt hospitals !

It is not surprising when a research study said that on average a primary healthcare seeking patient gets only 48 seconds of service from a physician in Bangladesh though in last one decade the number of public and private medical colleges mushroomed and subsequently the number of doctors also increased. The average consultation length varied across the world, ranging from 48 seconds in Bangladesh, the lowest consulting time, to 22.5 minutes in Sweden. The infrastructure development or GDP growth rate can't change the human development index, whereas primary healthcare and quality education improvement in the country can, but we are lagging in both the sectors. Despite many successes in MDG attainment, many indicators of public health are still below the regional average and global standard.





The study conducted by British Medical Journal found that 18 countries representing about 50 percent of the global population spend five minutes or less with their primary care physicians. A total of 179 studies were identified from 111 publications covering 28,57,0712 consultations in 67 countries under the survey. It found significant associations between consultation length and healthcare spending per capita, admissions to hospital with ambulatory sensitive conditions such as diabetes, primary care physician density, physician efficiency and physician satisfaction. It is worrisome that a large proportion of the global population has only a few minutes with their primary care physicians. Such a short consultation length was likely to adversely affect patient healthcare and physicians' workload and stress.





There were 15 countries with their most recently reported consultation length at less than five minutes, 25 countries with 5-9.9 minutes, 11 countries with 10-14.9 minutes, 13 countries with 15-19.9 minutes and three countries with less than or equal to 20 minutes. Australia, the UK, and the USA had sufficient data points to determine long-term trends. The reasons for such striking differences may reflect a number of factors, including issues relating to governance, workforce, access, continuity, comprehensiveness, and coordination. For example, in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China, there is no appointment system, and individual primary care physicians may undertake over 90 consultations a day with a considerable amount of time taken up providing repeat prescriptions.





The government has a plan to recruit 5000 physicians through the 39th Bangladesh Civil Service examination. Hopefully, the workload would be eased per physician in this highly populated country. Undoubtedly, the consultation length has strong relation with quality healthcare service and proper diagnosis of diseases. So, by increasing the number of physicians in primary healthcare centers, by ensuring that physicians stay at their respective workplaces during working hours, and by setting up more health complexes in rural areas we can effectively change the existing horrible scenario of primary healthcare service.
BNP`s rally in city today

Staff Reporter :

The BNP's long awaited rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital city will be held today.

The Party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia as the chief guest will address the rally.

The BNP took the decision to hold the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on the occasion of the 'National Revolution and Solidarity Day'.

The party finally got the permission from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police to hold the rally on Sunday.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday confirmed the news in a press briefing at the party's Naya Paltan office.

He said that the DMP give permission in a letter with 23 conditions.

Mirza Fakhrul asked his party men to join the gathering peacefully.

"Keep utmost patients and make the programme successfull," he said. The party Secretary General also sought cooperation from the government and the DMP to hold the programme peacefully.

He also asked the ruling Awami League to refrain from giving provocative speech ahead of the rally.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia last addressed a rally at the same venue nearly four years ago on January 20, 2014, after the 10th parliamentary polls, and a public rally at Nayapaltan on January 5, 2016.

The party leaders are expecting a huge gathering on the occasion. They have also planned to garner thousands of people from the city and adjacent districts to make the rally a historic grand rally.

"We hope that the rally will be the biggest ever grand rally as the people of all walks of the country want to hear Begum Khaleda Zia," said BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas to The New Nation.

The conditions set by the DMP, the rally will have to be concluded by 5pm and the BNP leaders and activist will be allowed to enter the meeting venue two hours before the beginning of the rally.

It also included refraining from making any provocative statement, carrying out any anti-state, anti-peace activities, showing any cartoon or making any statement hurting religious sentiments, creating any obstacle to traffic, using loudspeaker without approved places, using rods and sticks with banners and festoons, entering the venue with processions and gathering on footpaths.
President Donald Trump has called for a tax cut that will add $1,500 billion to the national debt. In normal speak that is $1.5 trillion added to an already staggering debt. Does that make sense?

We are at a time of strong economic growth and unemployment is at a 17- year low. Most economists would strongly advise we cut taxes when the economy is stagnant or shrinking and unemployment is rising. Neither of those conditions are present today.

What is a present and future danger is the amount of debt we are passing on to our children and grandchildren: $20 trillion. That is a gross debt of 100 percent of our national economy. That's the largest debt since World War II. Candidate Trump pledged to eliminate our debt very quickly. Instead, he is adding to it "big league," as he is fond of saying.

The president also argues that economic growth will surely follow his tax cuts. We have heard that siren song before. Remember the Bush administration?

We were told if we just had a massive tax cut and deregulation, growth would explode and it would pay for itself. What happened? We had a huge tax cut in 2001 and the debt exploded. By the end of President George W. Bush's term we were on the brink of a depression. The economy was shrinking at a rate of 9 percent and we were losing 800,000 jobs a month! Have we forgotten?

President Bill Clinton tried a very different approach. He had a plan that modestly increased taxes on the wealthy while cutting some spending. The result was remarkable: a balanced budget, a record 23 million jobs created and the longest period of economic expansion in our history. And as all incomes rose, poverty was reduced by a record amount.

Hello! This is not economic theory. This is what happened in the real world with two very different approaches. As President Ronald Reagan liked to say, "Facts are stubborn things."

Trump says his tax plan is focused on the middle class but only one-fifth of the benefits go to them. Almost as much goes to eliminate the estate tax, which benefits no one in the middle class. Eliminating the estate tax benefits only 5,400 households a year. These are the wealthiest two-tenths of 1 percent of the population.

In short, only estates over $5.5 million pay anything at all. You may have heard the term "death tax" used to describe the estate tax. There is no death tax. The estate tax is a levy on large estates to raise revenue and prevent extreme concentrations of wealth in the hands of just a few super rich families.

I believe the middle class needs a tax cut. At the same time, the best research tells us tax cuts financed by borrowing hurts long term economic growth. We can achieve tax cuts for middle class families and pay for them by closing the many loopholes, deductions and exclusions that litter our current code. Tax shelters should be a special focus.

A trove of leaked documents, called the Paradise Papers, reveals the extent to which corporations and individuals use offshore tax havens to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes owed to the United States. A modest, five-story building in the Cayman Islands, called Ugland House, claims to be home to 18,000 corporations. Either that is the most most efficient building in the world, or it is a multi-billon dollar tax dodge. You decide.

The president also argues that we need a corporate tax cut to be competitive. He claims we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. But the truth is, our effective corporate tax rate, what companies actually pay, is in about the middle of the industrialized world.

It is also the case that many companies, even large and very profitable ones, pay no corporate income tax.

I personally believe we should lower our top corporate tax rate to improve our competitive position, but it should not be done with borrowed money, much of which comes from the Chinese, with whom we are competing. I was part of the Simpson-Bowles effort that proposed precisely such a plan to lower rates but to offset the cost.

Trump's plan needs major revisions if we are to avoid the disastrous outcomes we experienced when this same academic theory was tested in the Bush administration. We can and must do better - for middle class families, and for the long term economic stability of our nation.
CJ Sinha was forced to resign: BNP

Staff Reporter :

Senior leaders of the BNP have blamed the government for the 'forced resignation' of Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

The Party's highest policy making body National Standing Committee Members Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Barrister Moudud Ahmed on Saturday brought the allegations in several meetings in the city.

Dr. Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said, "SK Sinha was forced to quit because the government was in fear that if Sinha remains in his post, he may declare 154 Awami League MPs elected unopposed illegal. It was the reason, we heard that."

He further said, "The Chief Justice was sent on sick leave and compelled him to resign. It is unfortunate and shameful matter."

He passed the remark while addressing a programme at the National Press Club in memory of BNP Standing Committee Member MK Anwar who died on October 24. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Nagorik Dal arranged the programme.

"We have also heard that he (Sinha) came to Singapore for returning to the country, but he could not do it. We are very sorry for the matter," Dr. Mosharraf said.

Amid various speculations and row over the Supreme Court's judgment on the 16th amendment, SK Sinha finally stepped down sending resignation letter from abroad.

President Abdul Hamid's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin on Saturday confirmed the receipt of the letter.

Barrister Moudud Ahmed said "SK Sinha was forced to resign. It is a stigmatised incident for the judiciary and the independence of the court."

The senior BNP leader was addressing a programme at the National Press Club marking the 'National Revolution and Solidarity Day'.

Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sangskritik Dal arranged the programme.

Moudud Ahmed said that the government took action against Sinha being aggrieved over the country's apex court verdict on the 16th amendment."

The former law minister said also that the government could file a review petition against the verdict, but they preferred coordinated personal attacks on Sinha.

He said, "The entire nation has been badly hurt by the incident, but we don't know what the government has gained from Sinha's resignation."




2000 sued, 58 held

Md Joynal Abedin Khan with Mintu Abdur Rahman :

Thousands of people, mainly adults, left their villages in fear of more arrest because of cases filed in connection with the arson attacks on the several houses of Hindus in Thakurbari village in Rangpur district on Friday.

Police on Saturday filed two cases with Gangachara and Kotwali Police Stations against 2,000 unnamed people in connection with attacks in the Hindu-dominated village.

Officer-in-Charge (investigation) of Kotwali Police Station Abdul Aziz and the OC of Gangachara Police Station Zinnat Ali confirmed the news of arrests and cases on Saturday. Thakurbari is located in bordering areas of Rangpur Sadar and Gangachara upazilas in the district.

More than 1,500 people of the Hindu community, including women and children, formed a human chain on both sides of Dinajpur-Rangpur highway around 10:30am, demanding exemplary punishment to the attackers and compensation for the Hindu families. A total of 58 people, including some local Jammat leaders, were detained so far in this incident, said our local correspondent quoting Superintendent of Police (SP) Mizanur Rahman.

Jamaat-e-Islami activists led the arson attacks to create unrest ahead of the next Parliamentary elections, the SP said after inspecting the scene on Saturday.

"The individual killed in the clash with police and most of those detained over the violence are local Jamaat activists," he said.

We are trying to arrest the man who allegedly posted picture defaming Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) recently, he added.

The district administration formed a three-member probe committee led by additional district magistrate Abu Rafa Mohammad Arif to investigate the incident, said Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Wahiduzzaman.

The committee, which started work on Saturday, has been asked to submit its report within seven working days, he said.

The DC said the district administration also started to build 10 new houses (which were burnt) and repair the seven others for the victim families since Saturday morning.

The victim people built their temporary shelters after taking financial compensation from the district administration, said Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ziaur Rahman.

The affected people have been given two bundles of tin and Tk 3,000 in cash. The administration will also bear the cost of rebuilding the homes, he said.

Kotowali Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Babul Miah claimed that local BNP leaders were also among the attackers.

We have arrested 58 people, including the mastermind Maulana Sirajul Haq in the attack, the police official said.

A temporary police camp has been set up at Thakurpara to fend off any untoward incident.

Khagen Chandra Roy, father of Titu Chandra Roy, claimed that some one has launched an account by using Titu's name.

The notorious man also used the pictures of Titu's family members and their village house, he further claimed.

It was impossible to post for his child as he was illiterate. He just can give his signature, said Khagen Chadra.

He also said that his son left home around seven years ago as a defaulter of money from some villagers.

Titu's mother Anila Rani claimed that her son was totally innocent.

She feared of further attack after police withdrawal from the village.

Titu's brother Bipul said that they had no communication with his brother for several years.

He raised question how an illiterate person can run a facebook account?

He claimed that the post was a part of a conspiracy.

Faruk Hossain, Chairman of Khaleya Union Parishad in Sadar, said that the workers of the local administration started to rebuild the houses of the affected Hindu families around 9:30am on Saturday.

Alamgir Hossain, a trader from nearby Lalchandrapur village, under the district's Gangachara upazila, filed a case against Titu over the post the recently.

On Friday, thousands of people from several villages gathered in front of a mosque in Shayela Shah Bazar area after Juma prayers and then staged agitations on the highway, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded for over an hour yesterday.




Myanmar sets 4 conditions for Rohingya return

Dhaka briefs 76 non-resident envoys in Delhi

Rohingya influx is not yet stopped: Every day hundreds of Rohingyas are entering Bangladesh through different points under cover of night to dodge the Border Security Forces of Myanmar. Of them, 200 entered through Shamlapur point, one hundred through Moh

News Desk :

The Myanmar government has set four preconditions for the repatriation of over one million Rohingyas who have fled across the border to Bangladesh to escape persecution.

A report ran by Kolkata-based Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika on Saturday said the matter of the refugees was discussed during an international conference on India-Myanmar relations in Yangon on Friday.

The Calcutta-based Institute of Social and Cultural Studies (ISCS) organized the high profile two-day conference on "India-Myanmar Relations - The Way forward". ISCS's Secretary Arindam Mukherjee, organised the conference on 10-11 November at Pan-Pacific Hotel in Yangoon.

According to the Indian daily, the conditions set forward by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary U Kyaw Zeya are hard. Those Rohingyas who can provide documented proof of long-term residence in Myanmar, want to return to Rakhine of their own will, can prove that they have relatives on the Myanmar side of the border and (in the case of children) can provide evidence their parents are permanent residents of Myanmar will be allowed to return.

India, which shares borders with the two neighbouring countries, has said Myanmar will have to take back its nationals currently taking refuge in Bangladesh. Similar calls have come from many other countries.

It is clear that it would be difficult for most of the approximately one million Rohingya refugees to meet the conditions set by Myanmar as many fled their homes in fear for their lives and are unlikely to have proof of residence in the country.

When the question was raised at the ISCS conference, U Kyaw Zeya said that, "Of course it is mandatory to show some documents such as school registration, medical treatment at hospitals, work documents. Otherwise it is difficult to take them."

Clarifying the 'strict' stance on Myanmar, U Kyaw Zeya said that the issue wasn't simply humanitarian, but also a matter of security. "The implementation of the Kofi Annan Commission's recommendations would show the Myanmar government's sincerity," he added.

Another report published in the New Light of Myanmar said the Myanmar government has begun to issue National Verification Cards (NVCs) as certificates of citizenship to Rohingyas in Maungdaw.

The NVCs are being distributed based on a survey using the 1982 citizenship law to determine which persons are defined as Myanmar nationals. The Muslim-majority Rohingya minority was not granted citizenship by Myanmar, which has long been a point of contention.

For years, the Myanmar government has treated the minority as 'illegal Bengali immigrants'. The Kofi Annan Commission's recommendations include the granting of Myanmar citizenship to the Rohingyas.

ISCS's Secretary Arindam Mukherjee said India wants to strengthen the military-to-military relations not only to train the Tatmadaw in key areas like counter-terrorism and UN operations, but our army also wants to learn from Myanmar's long counter insurgency operations.

Meanwhile, Dhaka on Saturday held a meeting with the non-resident envoys of 76 countries to seek cooperation for creating pressure on Myanmar to send back Rohingyas from Bangladesh. All the envoys are New Delhi based as they have no embassy in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali held separate briefings with the non-resident envoys in New Delhi. "The envoys extended their full support to the Bangladesh's position in handling the Rohingya crisis . . . they said, they to want visit the Rohingya camps to get a firsthand idea of the situation," he told a press conference.

Muazzam Ali said the Delhi-based envoys to Bangladesh also said their countries wanted quick solution of issue that created humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, he held separate briefings with the non-resident envoys and sought supports of the countries to any international move to pressurize Myanmar for secured return of the Rohingyas, who were forcibly displaced from their ancestral home in the Rakhine state creating a situation which UN described as a classic example of ethnic cleaning.

It said the media briefing came a day after the high commissioner held separate briefings with the envoys when said he said up to 612,000 Rohingyas arrived Bangladesh since Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown on the minority ethnic community on Aug. 25 until when over 400,000 Rohingyas were sheltered in Bangladesh raising the number to over one million.

The international community has expressed support and solidarity with Bangladesh in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's five-point proposals she presented at the last UN General Assembly session calling for an unconditional and immediate return of the displaced Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar and the implementation of Kofi Anan Commission's report.

Ali described the crisis as the most humanitarian catastrophe and was warned that the regional security and environment would be seriously endangered if the crisis was not resolved soon. Minister (Press) of Bangladesh Mission in Delhi Farid Hossain accompanied the high commissioner in the media briefing, joined also by senior journalists like Indian Press Club President Gautam Lahiri while Bangladesh's Deputy High Commissioner to India Raqibul Haque and Deputy High Commissioner to Kolkata Towfiq Hasan were also present.
CJ Sinha finally goes under pressure

Sends resignation letter from Singapore

Staff Reporter :

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has resigned from his post amid criticism by the ruling party since the Supreme Court scrapped a constitutional amendment to sack higher court judges.

He sent his resignation letter to the President from Singapore on Friday night.

"The President's office has received the letter of resignation from the Chief Justice. The letter will be processed for a gazette notification, " said President's Press Secretary M Joynal Abedin on Saturday.

Sinha is the first Chief Justice to step down from his position. Many termed his resignation as 'unusual' as he stepped down from his post just before six weeks of his retirement.

The resignation of the Chief Justice was preceded by harsh criticism of him by a number of Cabinet Members and Members of Parliament over the full verdict that cancelled the 16th amendment to the Constitution.

Sinha assumed the office on January 17, 2015 as the country's 21st Chief Justice. His term was scheduled to end on January 31, 2018.

He was the first non-Muslim Chief Justice (CJ) in Bangladesh.

Sinha went on 'sudden' leave on October 3 and left for Australia on October 13.

The Law Ministry's notification issued on October 12 said that the Chief Justice's 30-day 'sick leave' from October 3 to November 1 was extended until November 10.

As Sinha went on leave, the government made Md Abdul Wahhab Miah the acting Chief Justice. The law ministry also issued a gazette notification in this regard.

The Chief Justice was not allowed to meet anybody except government leaders and Ministers before his departure to Australia. Even the Supreme Court Bar Association leaders and senior lawyers were prevented from meeting him despite their several attempts. Just before his departure, Sinha told reporters that he was not sick, contradicting the government claim that he went on leave on health grounds.

He also said that he was not fleeing the country, but embarrassed' due to criticism by the ruling party men. "I'm the guardian of the judiciary. I'm leaving temporarily for the sake of the judiciary... I'll return."

The Chief Justice did not return to the country on Friday, when his 39-day leave ended.

A day after Sinha's trip to Australia, the Supreme Court issued a statement saying the Chief Justice is facing 11 charges, including graft and money laundering.

It also said, five judges of the Appellate Division of the apex court declined to sit with Sinha in the Bench for delivering justice following the allegations.

Talking to reporters the same day, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said rejoining the office of the CJ after his return from abroad is "a far cry."

On July 3 last, the Appellate Division, led by Sinha, upheld a High Court verdict that declared illegal the 16th amendment of the Constitution scrapping the Parliament's authority in impeaching Supreme Court judges.

The government row with the higher judiciary sparked following the apex court's verdict.

Later on August 1, the Supreme Court released the 799-page text of the verdict after its six judges including Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha signed it.

Sinha was widely criticised by Ministers and ruling party leaders for his observations made in the verdict. They also demanded his resignation.

The dispute grew in the subsequent weeks as several senior government leaders virtually attacked Sinha over his comments, blasting the government for its reaction and gave Pakistan's example where ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was stripped of his premiership under an apex court ruling.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused him of defaming Parliament and President and "humiliating" Bangladesh by referring to Pakistan's instance of Premier's removal saying "he (Chief Justice) should have quit and the most humiliating thing of him was the comparison with Pakistan which is intolerable".

Main Opposition outside Parliament, Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chief Begum Khaleda Zia supported Sinha, saying the government was trying to control the higher judiciary by launching a campaign against the apex court judgment.

Sinha earlier in a written statement said he was a "bit worried about the independence of the judiciary". He complained that the judge who became the acting Chief Justice to perform the "routine" job in his absence was encouraged by the government to bring changes to the Supreme Court administration soon.

"If any interference is made in the Chief Justice's administration, it can be easily assumed that the government is interfering in the higher court and this will further deteriorate the relationship between the judiciary and the government. It would not bring any good to the state," he concluded.

An official, close to the Chief Justice, told The New Nation that Sinha left Singapore on Friday morning for Toronto by a China Southern Airlines.

Chief Justice's younger daughter stays in Toronto.

Sinha was facing probe for graft charges and moral lapses. Anti-Corruption Commission is looking into the charges levelled against him.




Newspaper identifies 33,293 people who died seeking shelter in "fortress Europe"

Reuters, London :

Four-month-old Syrian baby Faris Ali froze to death in a tent in Turkey, five-year-old Afghan Sajida Ali's body washed ashore after a shipwreck, and tiny Samuel drowned with his mother as she tried to reach Spain after leaving home in Congo.

The three children are among thousands of victims listed by a German newspaper in an attempt to put a human face on the tragedy that has unfolded in the Mediterranean where thousands of refugees and migrants have died en route to Europe.

Der Tagesspiegel newspaper said it wanted to show the victims "as human beings, with an origin, a past, a life".

Not all those listed drowned in shipwrecks. Some were thrown overboard.

The document is headlined a "List of 33,293 registered asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, who died because of the restrictive policies of Fortress Europe".

Hundreds of thousands fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa have tried to reach Europe in recent years.
Pro-independence Catalans to protest in Barcelona

Protesters blocked roads and train lines across Catalonia on Wednesday, provoking commuter anger in a strike called by a pro-independence union over the arrests.

AFP, Madrid :

A protest is expected in Barcelona Saturday calling for the release of jailed separatist leaders, the day after pro-independence Catalan parliamentarian Carme Forcadell was freed on bail.

Separatists have called on supporters to match the annual turn-out of Catalonia's national day, when hundreds of thousands gather in the city. The demonstration is due to take place from 17:00 (16:00 GMT).

Forcadell, the sacked speaker of Catalonia's parliament, left a prison near Madrid on Friday hours after supporters posted her bail of 150,000 euros ($175,000), ending her brief detention.

A judge at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday had ordered Forcadell to be held on charges of "rebellion"-which carries a maximum jail term of 30 years-as Spain's worst political crisis in a generation rumbles on.

She was one of several dismissed Catalan officials to be detained after their shock decision last month to declare the region of 7.5 million people independent from Spain.

Forcadell appeared at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday along with five former Catalan lawmakers.

The others were given a temporary reprieve by the judge, who said they must pay 25,000 euros each within a week or be detained.

Acting judge Pablo Llarena said his decision to grant bail was made after they either "renounced all future political activity" or agreed to respect the law, according to a court document.

The Catalan crisis has caused shock waves across the European Union (EU), prompting nearly 2,400 businesses to move their legal headquarters and re-register outside of the wealthy northeastern region.

Lawmakers opted to split from Spain, claiming they had a mandate after a referendum on October 1 in which 90 percent of voters backed secession.

But less than half of the electorate took part in a vote denounced as illegitimate by Madrid, and Catalans themselves remain deeply split over whether their region should break away from the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.

After the declaration, Madrid dismissed Catalonia's government, dissolved parliament, suspended the region's autonomy and called new elections for the region next month.

Deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium where he is facing extradition back to Spain, has criticised the EU for backing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in the crisis.

Puigdemont and four former Catalan ministers are due to appear before a Belgian judge next week over the extradition warrant.

Eight members of his former cabinet were detained last week on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds for their role in the independence push.

Protesters blocked roads and train lines across Catalonia on Wednesday, provoking commuter anger in a strike called by a pro-independence union over the arrests.

Puigdemont, a 54-year-old former journalist, says he will not get a fair trial in Madrid, and has called on authorities to release Catalan "political prisoners".

Puigdemont and Forcadell have lodged complaints against Madrid with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, it emerged Friday.

A court spokesman said four Catalan motions had been filed last month by the two Catalan leaders as well as dozens of Catalan parliamentarians. The court has yet to decide whether to handle the cases.

Forcadell, a lifelong advocate of Catalan independence, has said that as parliamentary speaker she did not have the power to stop the October 27 vote in which lawmakers backed a break from Madrid.
Divisional government representatives of Bangladesh Homeopathic Board Dr. Saleh Ahmed Suleman addressing a Doa Mahfil was arranged by BHMA, Chittagong District Unit at its office in city.
Animation studies the next best thing!

Elizabeth Koprowski :

Some of the skills needed to be an animator, or multimedia artist, are innate. Gifted animators will have the ability to see how things and people move and be able to recreate that movement in their drawings. But there are still things for future animators to learn, and that's where animation studies and film schools come in. Here's a glimpse of the coursework you might expect to find in an animation program:

Instruction in dance, expression, and choreography to aid in understanding movement - a critical skill for a future animator!

Production, music, and narrative classes help animators enhance their story-telling skills

Technology and computer courses - most modern animation and editing is done on computers, and there are some critical programs to learn

Classes are generally small, and many film and animation programs have strong links with the industry. Instructors are often professionals, and students have plenty of opportunity for hands-on learning and work experience, including internships. Studies range from full-degree programs (including B.A., B.S., M.A., and M.F.A programs) to short-term courses and workshops aimed at developing specific skills or continuing professional development. Some programs are broad and offer a well-rounded approach (including liberal arts courses), while others are more focused on specific areas of the industry, like architectural design or video games. There are animation degree programs all over the world where a budding multimedia artist can find just the right niche in a diverse and exciting industry.

The skills and coursework required to become an animator are so varied because the industry has many needs. Professionals use animation in everything from films and special effects, to 3D-mapping and advertising. So what can you do with a degree in animation? The possibilities are endless, but here are a few ideas:

Film/TV/Advertising: Corporations like Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks use animators for many things, including traditional animation, stop-motion animation, and computer-generated images (CGI)

Video Games: The video game industry is a huge employer of animators, and companies like Electronic Arts (EA) and Nintendo employ thousands of people.

Law/Medicine/Military: Animators might specialize in recreating crime scenes, or work as a team designing simulators for medical or military procedures

Many animators work in production offices or film companies, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics nearly 60% of animators are self-employed. And while many self-employed animators choose to base themselves in cities or regions with thriving film industries, the wide range of applications for a degree in animation means you could live and work just about anywhere.

What are the best destinations to study animation?

Clearly, a degree in animation offers a wide range of opportunities. But where should you earn that degree? Many countries have thriving animation industries and schools, but we've narrowed the list down to four of the most exciting:

1. Canada

Canada is a leader in animation and graphic design technology and has some of the best animation schools in the world. Canada is also big in video game development and production, making it an attractive destination for students who want to work in the gaming industry. One of the reasons Canada can boast such a thriving animation industry is the quality of its institutions. Canada's art and design schools, like Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design help students to develop strong industry-related skills, while encouraging creativity and innovation.

2. Germany

German precision and exacting standards don't just apply to its auto industry. Germany is swiftly becoming one of the most dynamic and productive hubs for game development, with the northern port city of Hamburg at its center. Germany feeds its thriving animation industry with graduates from top-tier animation and digital effects schools like the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemburg, which offers programs in both English and German.

3. Japan

Japan is almost synonymous with animation, and Tokyo is the epicenter of Japan's animation innovation. Schools in Japan encourage creativity and cultivate talent, and Japanese animators are truly passionate about their careers. Studying and working in Tokyo is highly competitive, but you'll be among some of the most prestigious artists in the field.

4. Denmark

Denmark is a small country with a big drive towards innovation and technology, and Danish animation schools reflect this. TRUEMAX Academy, in conjunction with The National Film School of Denmark, works to prepare students for the competitive and ever-changing industry of 3D CGI. Danish students learn skills that are applicable in traditional animation fields, like film and game development, as well as in science, medicine, and architecture.

Where are the best destinations to work in animation?

Canada, Germany, Japan, and Denmark are great destinations for students and employees, but here are a few other locations with vibrant animation industries and exciting opportunities for new graduates.

1. France

Animators who prefer traditional styles can thrive in France. While Paris has plenty of plenty of game and CGI companies, other French cities like Nantes have been known for being the home of innovative, artistic films with deep narratives. Competition for jobs is steep, but the City of Lights is full of inspiration.

2. South Korea

Gaming is South Korea's national sport, so it's no surprise that animation is a huge industry. Animation is also a huge part of the culture, with the Seoul Animation Center acting as a hub for both civilians and professionals. Prepare to work hard and compete - the country's impressive institutions churn out thousands of talented graduates every year.

3. Iceland

Iceland hasn't always topped lists as a destination for animators, but the country's animation and gaming industry is thriving and growing. The country is also a great place to live and work. The country ranks high for quality of living, gender equality, employment, and life expectancy.

4. India

Indian film isn't just Bollywood, and the country's tech-boom is more than just silicon. Animation is a huge industry in India, and cities like Bangalore are attracting big transnational firms anxious to tap into India's skilled workforce. Film and animation are a big part of the culture as well, making India a great place to find inspiration and keep up on the latest trends.

(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).
Consider trade school

Joanna Hughes :

While the college track is right for many post-secondary students, others choose a different direction: Trade school. Also known as "technical" or "vocational" school, these educational institutions teach skills directly related to specific careers, including everything from automotive technology specialists to electricians.

Wondering whether trade school is right for you? Read on for a roundup of five reasons why trade school may be the best route to your goals.

1. You'll get the training you need to secure a highly-skilled, in-demand job.

Unlike conventional colleges and universities which may offer core curricula consisting of liberal arts, English and history coursework, trade school focus entirely on helping students learn a skilled trade. Between classroom knowledge and hands-on training, trade schools provide the necessary instruction and training to enable students to hit the ground running in their chosen fields. They may also offer job placement assistance to graduates by matching local employers with qualified workers.

A different way to think of it? While the point of college is widely debated and somewhat mercurial, the point of trade school is much more direct and concrete: to prepare graduates for specific careers.

2. It's shorter and less expensive than college.

Attending a four-year college is a commitment, both in terms of time and money. While this can lead to payoffs in the future, it can also lead to unnecessary debt, depending on your goals. Factor in that college work is rigorous with high dropout rates, and the reality is that many college attendees don't become college graduates-the key to higher earning potential. Others take significantly longer to graduate, incurring more expenses and lost wages along the way. Still others graduate and struggle to find jobs in sluggish labor markets.

The takeaway? If you're interested in the most direct path to a job, and if sharing your expertise as a skilled tradesperson seems like something you'd enjoy, then spending two years in trade school-and paying significantly less in tuition fees-may be a smart decision.

3. The class sizes are usually smaller.

Depending on the four-year university you attend, classes can be massive and impersonal. Many students find that this approach fails to meet their preferred learning styles. Conversely, trade school classes are typically much smaller, meaning you'll have more opportunities for interacting with your peers and professors. In trade school, you don't have to worry about being just another face in the crowd. Plus, because you're all studying the same specialized field, you know you'll have a lot in common with your classmates.

4. You can be assured you'll have the most applicable skills for your chosen career.

Trade schools follow certified and nationally recognized curricula. As a result, the education you receive will be optimally structured and targeted to the profession you're studying. Meanwhile, those who skip trade school in order to directly enter the workforce are limited to both their coworkers' knowledge and types of jobs that are available.

While good mentors are invaluable for the supplemental wisdom they offer, they're not trained teachers. This may lead to inefficient learning and gaps in your knowledge. If your goal is to learn everything you need to know, trade school offers powerful assurance.

5. You'll enjoy exceptional job security.

Even more incentive to consider trade school? Many programs cater to jobs which are especially in demand, such as electricians, machinists, and HVAC experts. According to Adecco Staffing, demand will continue to skyrocket in the years ahead, partly because of the aging of the baby boomer generation, and the job force vacancies they're leaving behind as they enter retirement. In fact, a whopping 74 percent of firms predict a shortfall of qualified skilled trade workers, according to a survey from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Part of the solution, according to Adecco? Encouraging more attendance in trade school where students will acquire the trade-specific skills they need to make up the impending shortfall.

While college may seem like the natural path for today's high school grads, the reality is that there are alternative pathways out there. Taking time to consider all of your options-and how each aligns with your unique interests, needs and goals-can help you make the most informed and beneficial decision.



(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).
StanChart ASEAN, S Asia Regional CEO visits BD

Business Desk :

Anna Marrs, Regional CEO of ASEAN and South Asia of Standard Chartered Bank recently arrived in Dhaka for an official visit to the country. During her day-long Dhaka visit, she attended several meeting with some of the bank's key stakeholders, regulators and clients, said a press release.

Her visit comes following recent changes in the Bank's senior management, with Naser Ezaz Bijoy being appointed as CEO of Standard Chartered Bangladesh. Abrar A Anwar, previous CEO of the Bank in Bangladesh, has taken over the reins of Standard Chartered Malaysia.

Commenting on her visit, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said, "Anna's visit reiterates the Group's strong commitment to drive commerce and prosperity in Bangladesh and aid the development of the nation's financial sector. As the oldest financial institution in the country, with a heritage of over 112 years and deep local knowledge, we remain firmly committed to being a partner in progress to our nation. We will continue to invest and innovate, so that we can offer world-class financial products and services that drive trade, investment and prosperity in the market."

Anna Marrs is the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank's ASEAN and South Asia region and CEO of Commercial and Private Banking globally. She joined Standard Chartered as Group Head of Strategy and Corporate Development in January 2012. In her role as Head of Strategy, Anna led reviews of the Bank's businesses globally, with notable projects focusing on Nigeria, China and India.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered, Anna was a Partner in McKinsey and Company's Banking Practice. While at McKinsey, Anna led the European Banking strategy practice and worked with banks across the US, Europe and Asia on strategy and restructuring plans.


Elevated expressway project to ease traffic around Dhaka

UNB, Dhaka :

The government has initiated a move for constructing Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway involving $ 2 billion to ease traffic congestion in and around the capital.

Bangladesh Bridges Authority has prepared a draft Preliminary Development Project Proposal (PDPP) to this end with an estimated cost of Tk 16,388.50 crore or around $ 2.05 billion.

The project work is expected to kick off in January 2018 and end by December 2024.

"The main objective of the 39.24-km long East-West Elevated Expressway Project is to reduce traffic congestions in and around Dhaka city," said a Bridges Division official.

The official said the East West Elevated Expressway Project will allow traffic to travel around the western perimeter of Dhaka between Dhaka Highway and Dhaka-Chittagong Highway with connections to Dhaka-Mawa highway which is directly linked to the Padma Bridge apart from reducing traffic congestions in and around the capital.

Besides, traffic movement from Chittagong, Sylhet and other eastern parts, and from south-western region through proposed Padma Bridge at Mawa-Janzira to the 20 north-western districts will be easier without entering Dhaka city after the

implementation of the proposed mega project. The project is consistent with the Strategic Transport Plan (2016-2035) and the Asian Highway Network. It will be vital for establishing an improved transport link to the Trans Asian Highways.

The route alignment of the proposed expressway is Hemayetpur-Nimtoli- Keraniganj-Ekuria-Janzira-Fatullah-Hajiganj Bandar-Modonpur (on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

"An integral part of the project is its connection to the upgraded Dhaka-Mawa Highway and hence the Padma Bridge," said the official adding that the connection will allow traffic to travel across the Padma Bridge and South to Chittagong as well northward to Joydevpur and Tangail on the outskirts of Dhaka and onwards to the northern districts such as Mymensingh.

The proposed expressway will be associated with the construction of a 2.5 kilometer-long flyover through Savar on Dhaka Highway.

Another official at the Bridges Division told UNB that the major design elements of this expressway include the total width of 20.56 metres, maximum grade 4 percent and ramp width 7.1 metres.

The official said the interchanges of the expressway are proposed at Hemayetpur, Dhaka-Mawa Highway, Narayanganj and Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

According to him, the expressway is envisaged to be a tolled expressway suitable for the use of motorised traffic such as buses, trucks and cars.

For safety and security of the expressway and considering its capacity, CNG auto-rickshaws and non-motorised vehicles would not be permitted to ply the expressway.

A feasibility study has already been completed for the project as per the target of the 7th Five Year Plan.
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For this fortnight's "Baker's Dozen" readers' portfolio, I asked for smartphone photos, and got as many as I thought I would...lots and lots. I have to apologize to the many people who sent great shots that I won't be using today. If it's any consolation, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone's pictures and reading their comments. Great fun for me.

With several avenues wide open for exploring, I thought I'd concentrate on showing some of the things I think people particularly use smartphones for.

To make a colorful beginning, macro shots! Lots of people are finding that the tiny sensors (with their extreme D-o-F), excellent lenses, and SOTA processing are ideal for photographing things close up. Depth-of-field (D-o-F) is proportional to focus distanceall else equal, the farther away the plane of focus, the greater the D-o-F. The closer the object distance, the narrower the D-o-F (more bokeh, in other words). Another way of saying this: if you have three inches of D-o-F when focused on something nine inches away from the sensor, you'll have 30 feet within the D-o-F when you're focused on something 90 feet away. Specifics can vary, but that gets the principle across.

Tiny sensors and the very short focal-length lenses that are "normal" for the formats make macro photography pleasant. This would have been a very difficult shot to make with a FF DSLR. Peggy Collins, 58, of Lancaster, Antelope Valley, in Southern California shot this orangelicious poppy using a Samsung Galaxy S5. It's far from her only camera, thoughshe's been a serious photographer for decades (a Pentax shooter mainly) and is a part-time pro.

The inset picture is me cheating on the "baker's dozen" limitation by sneaking in an extra example of a nice shot that utilizes large D-o-F. It was taken by David O'Bryan, 49, of Mechanicsville, Virginia, on an iPhone 6+.

Rick Forgo's nighttime street scene is a perfect example of what I was talking about the other day in the "No Such Thing As Image Quality" post. Mature artists understand the properties of the materials and equipment they're using and apply them with sensitivity to best effect regardless of what those properties are. This is a wholly successful shot, regardless of how well it does or doesn't conform to the "ordinary and usual" notions of IQ. Rick, who is 34 and lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, took it with an iPhone 4s, and says, "it's one of my favourite shots regardless of the camera used."

Here's a "particularly pleasing conjunction" (Huw's words), taken of Stonehenge from a slow-moving car in traffic where the road narrows. So what does this show us about phone cameras? That they're an excellent way for kids to enjoy photography! It was taken by eight-year-old Harriet Hitchin, who lives in England. Her father Huw reads TOP. Aside from being one of the youngest photographers ever featured on TOP, Harriet is obviously also one cool kid:

Note the shirt in the picture on the left! Love it. Father and daughter obviously have fun with photography together. Thanks to both. And nice shot, Harriet.

Continuing with the impromptu "daughter" theme, Bruce Greene's painterly iPhone 5 shot of his daughter in a restaurant illustrates what I think is another exceedingly important aspect of phone cameras: they're fun to play with. Not that you can't play with other cameras, as I should know, but I often find myself playing with the phone's camera in situations where I wouldn't ordinarily be taking pictures, just because I can. And play can be very good for creativity.

Full caption: "A loadmaster from the Tennessee Air National Guard's 164th Airlift Wing directs an all-terrain forklift onto a C-17 aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 29, 2017, to support rescue operations in Texas following Hurricane Harvey. More than 30 Kentucky Air Guardsmen and 90 tons of equipment are being airlifted from Louisville to Houston to stand up an aeromedical evacuation and air cargo hub. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Lt. Col. Dale Greer)"

Switching gears, I think Dale Greer's dramatic news photo here illustrates very well what is conventionally meant by "the best camera is the one you have with you"a role that phone cameras play for many people in many situations. Dale works as a public affairs officer in the Kentucky Air National Guard and frequently shoots news coverage with several D750 Nikons. On the day he shot this, however, he says "...my focus was assisting local news media who were covering the deployment of Airmen from our base for Hurricane Harvey relief operations. Thus, I was not packing my customary 20-pound load of camera gear; I only had an iPhone to shoot photos." Good thing he had that alonghis photo went on to receive wide national distribution, including on network news programs. And of course TOP.

Anthony Reczek, Moon Over Nubble

Here's another example of not as good being better: lifelong New Englander Anthony Reczek, born and raised in Vermont, actually had his big Canon and a tripod along on this night, and took a picture of this scene with it, but says that "there's something about this smartphone shot that rivals the cleaner/clearer results of the 'better' camera and lens." Anthony recently returned to playing music (in nursing homes) after retiring from a career as a psychiatric social worker.

Burdette Parks illustrates for us the old "what if you see Elvis stepping out of a flying saucer?" principle: sometimes cool things you couldn't invent just happen in front of your eyes, and beg to be photographed. "This is a shot I grabbed during a rehearsal for a play we're doing here in November. The show is Sylvia and the young lady is playing a dog that has an operation in the course of the play. Coincidentally, her pet was visiting us at rehearsal and had just come from the vet. An unposed moment captured due to the quick availability of my phone." Burdette is 72 and lives not far from TOP Rural Headquartersin the Adirondacks here in Upstate New York, about halfway between the villages of Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake.

Above: Ridley Scott. Below: Ridley Scott.

Continuing the doggie theme (because dogs make life better), Tim Bloomquist, 55, of Des Moines, Iowa, can't understand why people keep asking him why he named his dog Ridley Scott: "He looks just like him!" Well...except I'd have to say Ridley Scott's ears are just a little bigger than Ridley Scott's.

Of course, given the number of pictures on Facebook (slightly less than infinityfor the time being anyway) and the ease of texting pictures (or sending them the old-fashioned way, by email), the Number One use of smartphone cameras is doubtless for taking pictures of friends and family and sharing them. Kurt Holter of Frederick, Maryland, sent us this charming shot of his 91-year-old mother Facetiming with her soon-to-be one-year-old great-grandaughter near Christmastime last year. Kurt's brother, wife, and daughter were all sharing the moment with her. None of them noticed him taking a picture with his iPhone. Kurt's been a full-time photographer since he started out with a newspaper in 1976, but he says, "in all of my years as a photographer, this is one of my all-time favorite pictures."

Another of the undoubtedly interesting aspects of phone cameras is that you can get them into places normal cameras won't goor won't go without a little more care and work. When Saturn was going to be occulted by the moon on April 17th, 2014, Marcelo Guarini prepared his small but optically excellent backyard telescope and waited. Holding his iPhone 5s up to the eyepiece of the telescope by hand, he took both this still photograph and also a video of the event. The telescope enlargement is around 120X.

I've seen phone pics taken through microscopes, too, and I've used mine to photograph through the viewfinders of larger cameras to show readers the layout of the viewfinder.

Of course, you can just use a phone for photography, too. TOP reader Giuseppe Pagnoni, a researcher and professor of neuroscience at a university in Modena, Italy, took this at a traditional wedding in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, of a group of women dressed up in their tehuana clothes waiting in line for their turn at the Ladies (Damas) restroom. He says he wishes he had used the Lightroom app to shoot raw (because of course we photographers are never satisfied and always want more). But he had his Ricoh GR with him at the time: "Sometimes you just prefer to use the phone because of the instant feedback and manipulation possibility." Besides the GR, Giuseppe also has a Fuji X100, and he says he recently made the "unreasonable" purchase of a Leica M6 with a Summicron 35mm, which he blames on me (the OC/OL/OY thing). Okay, I'll take the blame.

...And then there are apps, which are endless. Margaret Rainey of London, United Kingdom, took this picture on a rainy day in her native Glasgow, in Scotland, while playing around with the Slow Shutter app, which, she says, "is something I never do on my 'proper' camera, so this would not have been taken otherwise." I like it.

In the inset (yes, I'm cheating again), another shutter effect: a strange rubber propeller captured by Frank Petronio, who is 57 and reports that he lived after taking this. I can't even begin to explain why his phone created this effect; he didn't say if it was accidental or deliberate. But now I want to go up in a propeller plane.

And one more for good measure: Kristine Hinrichs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, happened across this sand graffiti while taking a break from traveling in the Pacific Northwest. A sweet shot she says is one of her most enduring.



Again, I just want to thank all the photographers featured here and everyone who submitted work. This one was painful; I had to leave so many nice shots out. Sorry again to be late with thisit took me longer to compile than almost any other post I've ever posted on TOP, about 1213 hours. There were just so many submissions and so many different ways I could have organized it.

The next Baker's Dozen will be posted two weeks from now (well, with any luck) on Friday, November 24th. I'll post the call for work on Monday. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Mike

"Baker's Dozen" (13) is a new feature we're trying out. Readers answer a call for a particular kind of work, and then Yr. Hmbl. Ed. chooses a dozen to post along with one extra one for good measure.



Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)

Featured Comments from:

Giuseppe Pagnoni: "Elated and humbled at the same time to be featured among such good pictures! While I wish I would have taken the picture with the Ricoh GR I had with me, mainly because of the high-contrast scene, it's kind of telling that sometimes we just prefer to use the phone: as pointed out before here, it must be the tempting combination of instant examination on a good screen (much better than camera LCDs), quick post-processing of the files, and sharing on the web.

"On the topic of image quality, I found that capturing raw images with the iPhone in Lightroom mobile really makes a big difference: even if you just export straight to JPEG, the output file has very little of the frosted-glass, plasticky artifacts that the heavy-handed noise reduction and sharpening algorithm of the iPhone (and most other cell phones) produceyou hardly notice them on the phone screen, but they become obvious (and jarring to me) once you open the file on your computer. Sometimes, I further process the file with the RNI Films app, which has a good selection of filters based on actual film emulsions and scanned grain and is often successful in removing the elusive 'digitalness' of the phone pictures (although I feel I should eventually grow out of this type of nostalgia).

"So, thank you very much for this. I am loving the baker's dozen idea and looking forward to the next variations on the theme!"
JONESBORO  Curtis Carr, the Mulkeytown man on trial in Franklin County on charges including possession of child pornography, is also being charged in Union County for child sex crimes.

Carr was arrested Aug. 16, 2013, and indicted in Union County on Sept. 10, 2013, on two counts of predatory sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated kidnapping.

According to the bill of indictment, Carr allegedly penetrated an unidentified female who was younger than the age of 13 at the time of the incident in July of 2013.

In a December 2013 jury trial, Carr was found not guilty of the kidnapping charge, but the jury was deadlocked on the last two charges. Another jury trial is scheduled to resolve the remaining two charges in the case. Carr was in custody during the 2013 trial.

Carr was then bonded out after bond was reduced to $50,000, over the states objection, on Dec. 24, 2013.

He was arrested again in 2016 after details provided by the Franklin County Sheriffs Office indicated he was in bond violation.

During a hearing to increase bond, a motion for which was filed Aug. 16, 2016, the state presented evidence on the bond violations and the conduct reported in Franklin County. Bond was increased to $200,000 and Carr was then taken back into custody at the hearing. While remaining in Union County custody  he is housed in Jackson County  Franklin County prosecutors brought charges against Carr in 2017.

In Franklin County, Carr is charged with three counts of child pornography. It is alleged that in 2016 Carr was in possession of an illicit image of two girls, over 13 years old but not more than 17 years old. Counts 2 and 3 were similar, with the images depicting prepubescent girls. He is also accused of using a cellphone or computer to solicit an underage person. Carr is also accused of sending photographs of his genitals to an underage person.

According to Judici, Carr was charged in 2003 with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault in Williamson County. He was found not guilty on two charges, with the final one dismissed.

Carr is scheduled to appear in Union County Court at 9 a.m. Nov. 30 and again at 9 a.m Jan. 22, 2018. His next Franklin County court appearance is at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 1, 2018.
Retired Vice Adm. Nancy Brown of Marion said her 35-year Navy career grew out of a suggestion from her father and a less than enthusiastic recruiter.

I couldnt get a job after I graduated from college. My dad suggested that I join the Navy. He had several friends who were Navy pilots who he respected, Brown said. My father also said the Navy had the best food.

So Brown went to see a recruiter. He told her she could not get into the Navy. She decided to prove him wrong.

It worked out well for me, Brown said.

Brown served from 1974 to 2009, retiring at the rank of vice admiral, the second highest rank of Naval commissioned officers. At the time of her retirement, she was the director for Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems (C4 Systems), the Joint Staff. She was the principal advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on all C4 systems.

Between those two career stops, there was a lot of service. Brown served at Scott Air Force Base, Japan, San Diego, Maine, the White House, the Pentagon and Baghdad, Iraq. She attended Naval Postgraduate School, Naval War College and Army War College.

Brown served some memorable tours of duty, including two at the White House and numerous tours in Washington, D.C. On Sept. 11, 2001, Brown was working at the Pentagon.

Ive always thought it was just fate or a crazy set of circumstances that I actually wasnt where that plane hit. At the last minute my boss called me and told me he needed me to go to another building two blocks away for a meeting that he couldnt attend, Brown said. It wasnt long after that that I heard the plane had gone in right where I was."

It was chaos, Brown said. She was part of a team trying to establish order out of that chaos.

Cell phones wouldnt work and we had about 200 people we had to locate and try to account for. They were all over D.C. and northern Virginia at that point, Brown said. We had to establish a chain of command and ensure senior leadership was intact.

They had to find temporary quarters and set up offices in those quarters. Brown worked 72 hours straight.

In the Pentagon, 125 people died.

It was a pretty challenging time. I found out seven of the folks who worked for me werent as lucky as me and didnt get out, Brown said.

The Pentagon is divided into five wedges, and the plane hit the first wedge. Brown explained that the building was undergoing major renovations at the time.

Where the plane hit was the first wedge that had been renovated. It had been reinforced to current-day standards. That meant the blast did not have the impact it would have had if it had hit any other wedge. We did not have the deaths that we would have had, Brown said.

Because of the renovations, there were better fire systems and better systems for getting people out. The fire did not spread as quickly because of fire retardants put in during the renovation.

Of course, the people who were there, the police, fireman, Pentagon security forces, and just the folks working there that day were heroes, Brown said. Put in that situation, you do things that even surprise you. We all hope we would react that way, but the people at the Pentagon reacted that way.

For Brown, a couple things stand out in her career.

One of the main things is helping to create a career path for information technology in the Navy.

The Navy didnt have a career field for someone in information technology, and I always believed very strongly that we needed one because we needed to develop those skills, Brown said. I was proud to do that because I think it was good for the Navy.

Another was her service in Iraq. Brown was deployed to Iraq, becoming the first Multi-National Force-Iraq combined staff command, control and communications systems officer headquartered in Baghdad.

I volunteered to go to Iraq and served eight months from August 2004 to May 2005, Brown said. I was the first admiral on the ground in Iraq. I was too naive to be scared.

Brown never had a problem as one of the first women to reach the rank of vice admiral.

I ran into folks who werent certain they wanted to work for a woman, but we worked it out. I never had anyone who felt I was not up to the challenge of being in charge, Brown said. Some men took a little bit longer, but we always worked it out.

Brown does feel like there is a disconnect between the general population and members of the military, adding that civilians do not always understand the sacrifice.

Those who serve sacrifice their families, homes and friends go to god-forsaken places. She added that members of the military today are well-educated, bright and considerate.

For the most part, people in uniform have a very high level of respect. They are the first to try to make sure we dont have to fight. We are not warmongers. We are not the ones who want to grab a weapon and go shoot, Brown said. We want to find peaceful solutions, but we want them to know we will fight if we have to.

Brown currently serves as vice chairman of Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois.

It gives me an opportunity to give back to my community. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunities I have had. I wanted to find something to give back to community, and I found honor flight, Brown said.

Honor Flight gives Brown the opportunity to really thank folks who sacrificed so much.

Being able to give them a homecoming and honor their service is just an unbelievable experience, and one I am so grateful to have been a part of.

She added that there would be no honor flights without the backing of the entire community through donations of time and money.

I always have to thank my Marine Corps husband. If it hadnt been for him I wouldnt have been so successful, Brown said.

She added that her husband, retired Marine Lt. Col. Pete Hesser, has been a big part of any success she ever had.

Brown said the military is a great life and provides a lot of opportunities, including educational and career opportunities.

I wouldnt trade a day in uniform for anything. I feel so fortunate that my dad encouraged me and I stuck with it, Brown said.
Claflin University students mourned the loss of a fellow Panther on Friday.

Dravious Terry, a senior business major from Greer, was remembered as a nice person around campus.

I met him at freshman orientation and he was always funny, Esther Jones said. We were cool ever since then.

She first met him while they were waiting in line for lunch.

He told me I was pretty, she said laughing. He was like, You dont have to wait at the back of the line, you can come get in front of me.

Terry died on Friday morning after being shot and killed in an incident at Campus Corner, an off-campus apartment complex.

Andrew Sanders Jr., 21, of Savannah, Ga. has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Claflin described him as Terrys roommate.

Jones said Terrys death, was really shocking.

She wants the family to stay strong and not to lose faith in God.

Even though God allowed this pain to happen, hes also the one that takes pain away, she said.

She added that family is one of the greatest treasures and gifts we have on Earth, so youve just got to be there for one another.

Curtis Patterson said word of the death came too soon after another Claflin student was injured in an off-campus shooting incident.

Honestly, the first word that came to my mind was again? he said. Its not the first time this happened within the last couple weeks.

Patterson said safety isnt a major concern after these two events.

Its not that I dont feel safe, its just that, whats being done to prevent this? he said. I understand you cant predict everything.

Whats next that has to be done to make sure this doesnt happen again? he added.

Freshman Isaiah Jordan said, When I heard about the shooting, it was quite terrifying.

And it happened before! Jordan said. Two weeks and now this happened.

The Spartanburg native said it is concerning for him since he is away from home.

Im just a little concerned about being in a new place and hope to have security to serve and protect, he said.

Jordan said he wants to see more love, less hate.

After hearing of the shooting incident, Alex Keitt said he was thinking, Whats going on?

To the family, Keitt said, Everybody has their prayers with them.

Hopefully they can get to the bottom of this and get some answers, he added.

The university held a vigil for the fallen Panther on Friday afternoon inside the James and Dorothy Z. Elmore Chapel on Claflins campus.

In a letter addressed to the Claflin family, the Student Government Association said, It is during moments like this we are reminded to come together and stand.

The Student Government Association sends our condolences to those that are impacted by this event, the letter continued. It is critical that we do not allow this moment to pass without celebrating the life of Dravious Terry.
Retired Lt. Col. Walt Davis made the transition from U.S. Air Force pilot to educator, and its a choice he's never regretted.

Davis grew up as a military brat, moving from place to place. He ended up following in his father's footsteps.

He was a pilot. I always wanted to be a pilot, Davis said.

Davis graduated from the Air Force Academy and served a 20-year career in the Air Force, mostly flying.

I did one staff tour at the Pentagon in the 90s, he said.

After retiring from the service from his last assignment at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, the Columbia resident became a commercial airline pilot for three years.

My goal was to just flow right into a flying job on the outside, so I got hired by U.S. Air, he said. And I was very proud of myself because Id done a lot of research on it.

Based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, I had 2,000 pilots under me in seniority. In the airline industry, everything is seniority, he said. Its the whole secret of your lifestyle.

So I was feeling like I was Teflon for any kind of economic downturn.

But after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, he found himself laid off. With his family settled in Columbia, he decided he didnt want to leave the area for a job.

Seeking employment nearby, he saw an ad in a newspaper for a job with Edisto High Schools Air Force JROTC program and was soon hired as the head of the unit.

It was a lot of hard work, but I enjoyed the interaction with the kids (and) I enjoyed being home every night, he said.

Davis originally thought he might work at the school until the airline called him back to being a pilot. But he enjoyed educating and molding young minds so much that when his chance to work as a pilot did come again, he turned it down.

When they called me back, I just put it off as long as I could, he said. They said, Either youre coming back or were going to take you off the list. I said, Dont worry about it. So I stayed in education. And Ive enjoyed it.

And theres a reason he stuck with it.

Most teachers are frustrated with the lack of ability they have to change the course of kids lives, but if they didnt think they were doing just a little bit, they wouldnt stay in this, he said.

Most of us think were doing just a little bit to help out, he said.

Ive never regretted not going back to the airline. Sometimes I miss it a little bit, he said.

Davis gets up early to make the commute from Columbia to Cordova.

My typical day, I get in about 7. And the most important part of my day is 7 oclock because I have to go down to the front office and make coffee for the school, he said. If I dont make coffee for the school, this place would fall apart.

All joking aside, his day involves teaching students about aerospace science and leadership, conducting drills of the student cadets and all the planning and paperwork that goes along with being a teacher.

Teachers like to complain about their workload, but theyre not talking about teaching students, he said. They talk about making lesson plans and submitting paperwork and doing their online stuff to satisfy the administration in the school and the district.

So, of course, he does that part of the job and then makes sure the day is planned out and the students are set up for the online component of the classes. Google Classroom and a new program, Canvas, figure into the online instruction, he said.

All the students have Chromebooks in this district. A federal grant paid for all of this, he said.

At the start of the day, he and fellow instructor Sgt. Earl Chatman will discuss plans for the students.

We teach a block schedule, a semester block. So well have four periods a day. We teach three classes and well team-teach all of it, he said.

That way, when they get bored with one of us, we roll to the next guy, he laughed.

He said Air Force JROTC involves two components -- leadership and science. Theres also a physical education component on Fridays, which counts as a one-year P.E. state requirement for freshmen.

So a lot of kids will take our program just so they dont have to go do P.E., he said.

Another important part of the program is community service involving things such as charitable endeavors and visits to nursing homes. Davis said the instructors keep close track of all the students community service hours, jobs and promotions, entering them into a national database.

A lot of kids will respond to that because inside the military framework, you get stuff for doing stuff, he said. So if some kids like to get rank, thats there for them. Some people like to get recognized and get ribbons. Thats there for them.

They also take the students on trips, like a visit to Fort Jackson or to a major hub town in the region where they will visit three or four colleges, he said.

Davis said the best part of his job is interacting with the students.

You develop a relationship with the kids. They keep you young, hip. I just learned some new slang this week, he said. Their minds are very powerful, full of slang and all sorts of code.

But memorizing a very simple equation  thats too hard, he laughed.

He said its gratifying when you feel like youve had some part in getting a kid over the hump for something theyre trying to accomplish.

The worst part is seeing a student who could have a bright future ahead of them squandering their potential through laziness, he said.

The kids that have the most ability and they blow it off and they waste ability  that is extremely frustrating, he said. And you cant figure out what the key is to motivate them.

Davis and his wife Kim have been married 32 years. They have three grown children and three grandchildren.

His parents live in Colorado and he visits when he can.

My dad did 30 years in the Air Force. He flew 100-series airplanes  test pilot and Air Defense Command, he said. So hes got lots of stories to tell.

In his spare time, he enjoys music, reading running and sports.

With family and circles of friends in cities in South and North Carolina to visit, it keeps us fairly busy, he said.
A Claflin University senior is dead and his roommate is in jail following a shooting incident.

Dravious Dre Terry, a 21-year-old business major from Greer, died just after 10 a.m. Friday.

Claflin student Andrew Sanders Jr., 21, of Savannah, Georgia, is facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter in Terrys death, according to Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office Major Rene Williams.

Williams said deputies responded at 10:15 a.m. Friday to a call at the privately owned Campus Corner apartment complex. Its located just off Chestnut Street, about one block from S.C. State University.

Williams said investigators took Sanders in for questioning and charged him late Friday afternoon.

S.C. State police alerted students and staff at 10:46 a.m. to avoid the Chestnut Street area because of the shooting.

They lifted the advisory at 11:03 a.m., with campus police stating that a suspect was in custody.

Similarly, Claflin issued an alert at 10:58 a.m. and put the university on lockdown. The active shooter alert stated: Use Caution! Active Shooter Campus Corner Apartments. Claflin University is on lockdown. Stay where you are.

Claflin lifted the lockdown less than 10 minutes later.

At 2 p.m., the Claflin Student Government Association and university chaplain held a prayer vigil at the James and Dorothy Z. Elmore Chapel.

It is during moments like this we are reminded to come together and stand. The Student Government Association sends our condolences to those that are impacted by this event. It is critical that we do not allow this moment to pass without celebrating the life of Dravious Terry, the Claflin SGA said in a statement.

Remember that life is precious and every moment spent with each other should be cherished and never taken for granted, it said.

In the hours that followed the shooting, students were encouraged to talk with counselors at the universitys counseling services center and the Chaplains Office at the chapel.

This is the second time in 11 days a Claflin student has suffered a gunshot wound off campus.

On Oct. 31, a junior in mathematics suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound at an apartment complex near Buckley Street and Russell Street.

As a precaution, both S.C. State and Claflin placed their campuses on lockdown because the assailant remained at large.

Authorities have not yet charged anyone in that shooting.

Williams said Fridays shooting and the one on Oct. 31 are not related.
Retired Lt. Col. Walt Davis spent a year researching the life of Chief Aviation Pilot James W. Bolton, a native of Newberry who died in World War II.

This summer, Davis used that research to travel to Boltons grave in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located in the Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, and to deliver a powerful eulogy.

The head of Edisto High Schools JROTC program, Davis also created a lesson plan from his research, titled Leadership Characterizations and Considerations in the Pacific War. The lesson plan can be used by schools across the country.

It was all part of Daviss participation in the Understanding Sacrifice: The Pacific program. The programs purpose is to reinvigorate teaching of World War II in classrooms around the world.

The 2017 Understanding Sacrifice program is a partnership between non-profit education organization National History Day, the American Battle Monuments Commission, National Cemetery Administration and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media.

The year-long professional development program centered on Fallen Heroes of World War II who are buried or memorialized at an American cemetery in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Davis said his JROTC students actually helped him research Boltons life for the project, performing internet searches to assist.

This guy from Newberry, I knew nothing about him, he said.

Davis received many military records about Bolton but pursued other avenues for more information, including contacting historical societies and trying to make contact with living family members of Bolton.

I finally was able to track down a surviving niece that lives in Columbia. And she just happens to have all these pictures, all these family anecdotes, he said. I got his log book (and) I put it on the website.

In July 2017, Davis joined 18 other educators as they traveled to San Francisco, Honolulu and Manila and delivered eulogies for the fallen service members.

On his trip, Davis said he learned more about the American Battle Monuments Association and the National Cemetery Administration.

I had no idea how much they do around the world for these cemeteries. And its really, really impressive, he said. They honor our veterans. I think its a story thats not told enough.

Theyre hoping that this group of teachers that they try to send every year will help tell the story, he said.

Davis also saw firsthand how beautiful the cemeteries are.

You go to these cemeteries and theyre just immaculate, he said.

Using their research, teachers also created lesson plans, Fallen Hero profiles and eulogies that have been published at ABMCeducation.org.

Daviss lesson plan is based upon solid primary and secondary source research.

This lesson explores leadership in a World War II battle, helping students understand key ideas about leadership applicable to their own schools and communities, Davis wrote on the website.

Accompanying the lesson plan is a Fallen Hero profile for Bolton.

This profile remembers a son of Newberry, South Carolina, who was a giver and a caretaker. James Bolton served as a pilot in the Aleutian Campaign in World War II, and his example of service can inspire all of us to be better, Davis wrote.
More than 4,000 cleaning industry professionals from over 130 companies are participating at the ongoing 5th Middle East Cleaning Technology Week (MECTW), being held in Dubai, UAE.



The event was inaugurated by Butti Saeed Al Ghandi, second vice-chairman of the Dubai World Trade Centre.



The event which kicked off on November 7 will conclude later today (November 9), and is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).



Following the inauguration ceremony, Al Ghandi toured the exhibition area and got introduced to the latest scientific cleaning practices, innovations, technologies and services offered in the cleaning sector, said a statement.



At the show, Al Ghandi met exhibitors like Dhofar Global, Alliance Laundry Systems, Beeah, Karcher, Intercare, Xeros Ltd, Hygiene Tech, Viking Gulf and Vileda who displayed some of the best technologies at their booths, it said.



The Waste Management Pavilion, a part of MECTW 2017, organised a conference on Sustainable Waste Management in the Middle East.



The panelists for this conference were Ahmed Al-Sabahi, head of municipal solid waste planning, Beah Oman; Eng Naji Alradhi, waste management and treatment expert, waste management department, Dubai Municipality; and Sonia Nasser, executive director, Ras Al Khaimah Waste Management Agency.



This event brings together leaders from the cleaning and hygiene, laundry and dry cleaning and car wash and car care industries through three trade shows, conferences, awards and associated events.



Jayaraman Nair, chairman of VIS Exhibition - organisers of the show, said: The world today is witnessing global warming, poor waste management, pollution and many such issues that creates a need for sustainable development, regionally and globally.



The event is one such initiative towards this development. We have received an overwhelming response from regional and international exhibitors and are participating in this platform to know more about the dynamics of this industry and explore multitude of opportunities in this region, he said.



Exhibitors said the event is an ideal platform to showcase their products and services, strengthen their business presence as well as forge new business relationships, said a statement.



Fahad Shehail, chief development officer at Bee'ah, the Middle Easts leading and award-winning environmental management company, said: We are pleased to be a part of the event, a platform that helps showcase Bee'ah's wide variety of environmental management services, and enables us to establish new business relationships with companies that wish to take the lead in sustainability.



As sponsors of the Unsung City Cleaning Heroes Awards, we also take this opportunity to recognise the outdoor cleaning and waste management staff, who work diligently towards our most significant goals, he said.



They are the unsung heroes who initiate change from the grass-roots level, and set a benchmark for others to follow, he added.



After the inauguration of MECTW, the Unsung City Cleaning Heroes Awards were awarded to the winning street cleaning and waste management staff from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaimah.



In addition, the event is hosting three knowledge sharing conferences, where the industry experts will discuss latest trends in the cleaning sector at the International Cleaning & Hygiene Conference, Gulf Laundrex Conference and Sustainable Waste Management Middle East Conference happening as a part of the three-day event.



Leading cleaning product suppliers, including, Diversey Gulf, Intercare, Diatona, Biodubai, Hygiene Tech, Newmatic and many more will host live product demos on all three days, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
US President Donald Trump's Twitter account briefly vanished on Thursday, but was restored quickly, BBC said quoting the social media company.

It said that the @realdonaldtrump account was "deactivated" by an employee on the last day of job.

The account was down for 11 minutes, and Twitter is now investigating, the report said.

On Thursday evening, visitors to Trump's page for a short time could only see a message that read "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!"
Sandooq Al Watan, a national initiative launched by prominent Emirati businessmen to support research projects for the post-oil era, said it has signed an agreement with Azure Media Consultancy.



The move is aimed at supporting national entrepreneurs and tech start-ups and ultimately build a new generation of local companies with global competitiveness, it stated.



The agreement reflects both parties commitment to implementing the most cutting-edge technologies as tools to establish a prosperous knowledge-based economy  one that meets the aspirations of the UAEs leadership, fosters creativity nationwide and helps hone the skills and expertise local talents, remarked Dr Ali Ahmed Al Hosani, Azures general manager, after signing the deal with Mohamed Al Qadhi, the general manager of Sandooq Al Watan, at the Funds headquarters in Abu Dhabis Etihad Towers.



"This agreement reflects our commitment to providing all means of support to Sandooq Al Watan," stated Dr Al Hosani.



We are keen to contribute to the Funds objectives by launching high-quality digital platforms that offer a host of services, including strategic consultancy, organising events and generating content for social media and digital marketing platforms, he added.



Dr Al Hosani said Azure's services will also include search engine optimisation, outlining comprehensive marketing strategies, developing smartphone applications and automation.



"Moreover, we seek to offer customer service solutions that create awareness around Sandooq Al Watan and its initiatives and projects across the region, he stated.



Al Qadhi said: "This agreement serves to advance development efforts and take them to new heights, cementing the UAEs lead across international competitiveness indexes and establishing the emirate as a primary destination for innovation and the future industry."



Azure will be added to Sandooq Al Watans Early Fund list, which compiles the names of all contributors  individuals or institutions  who have supported the Fund from its inception until the end of the Year of Giving 2017, he noted.



The initiative seeks to encourage the UAEs business sector to play their part in achieving Sandooq Al Watans 2020 strategy, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
A fire broke out at an oil pipeline near the village of Buri in Bahrain on Friday night and was swiftly contained by the emergency services, reported BNA, citing the Interior Ministry.

Coordination between the General Directorate of Civil Defence and the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) stopped the flow of oil through the affected pipeline immediately following notification of the incident, said the state news agency.

In parallel with the action to contain the outbreak, Civil Defence initiated the established evacuation and shelter plan for residents in the affected area and closed the Wali Al Ahad Highway towards Hamad Town, redirecting traffic to alternative routes, it stated.



Bapco said the incident was an isolated one.



In co-operation with the Ministry of Interior, a full investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched, it added.
Bahrain's Mena Aerospace Enterprises will be participating in Dubai Airshow - one of the worlds largest and most important aerospace events - for the third consecutive time.



Mena Aerospace is a crucial partner of Bahrain International Airport (BIA), private jet companies, individual jet owners, and the Bahrain aviation industry as a whole; operating through four comprehensive business units and providing the only private general aviation hangar in the kingdom.



Managing director of Mena Aerospace, Dr Mohammed Juman, said: The Dubai Air Show continues to grow in scale and significance with each edition. It is a vital hub for connecting with others operating throughout the industry and explore cutting edge advancements and business opportunities. Dr Juman added: The rest of the world increasingly seeks collaborations in this region for the considerable growth potential as exemplified in MENA Technics recent strategic partnership with Inter-Tec, which is proving to be very fruitful, as well as the successful joint venture IJM Mena, which we chose to launch at the previous edition of Dubai Air Show. We expect to make similarly ground-breaking announcements this year.



At the previous edition of the Dubai Air Show in 2015, IJM MENA - a joint venture between Mena Aerospace and Austria-based International Jet Management (IJM) - was officially launched, by signing an aircraft management agreement for a Bombardier Lear Jet. IJM Mena has experienced rapid growth in the past two years, leading it to sign agreements on two further luxury aircraft: a Gulf stream G650 and a Challenger CL604.



Mena Aerospaces technical arm, Mena Technics WLL, last year formed a rapidly progressing strategic alliance with Inter-Tec, with exciting deals for the Middle East markets set to be announced in 2018.



Inter-Tec, based in the UK, is a leading EASA Part 21J Approved Design Organisation (EASA.21J.495), providing certification, training, design, analysis and consultancy solutions across a wide range of aircrafts and helicopters. In recent years, they have developed a global presence covering the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Inter-Tec has provided services to several MRO businesses across the GCC region, including engineering support and modifications, the development of repair solutions, consultancy, and Part 21 training.



Inter-Tec managing director, Fred Gorrie, stated: We are delighted to continually build our scope of capability, and provide this beyond our own region into the Middle East and Asian markets, where the real growth potential in MRO engineering services exists. We have built a significant customer base with several like-minded progressive companies whose businesses can benefit from our skills and experience. Most notably, our Strategic Framework initiative with Mena Aerospace allows us to effectively combine their regional connections with our engineering capabilities, providing great value to all our customers.



Mena Technics - Sales and International Vendor Partners



Subdivision Mena Technics - Sales is a vital part of the aviation and aerospace industry in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It works in collaboration with several leading international vendors (detailed below in about section) as an MRO engineering services provider on various ongoing major projects across the nation.



Mena Technics - Sales is currently working on installing several mobile automatic weather stations across Bahrain, in addition to providing automatic weather systems for Bahrain University, in cooperation with MicroStep. It is contracted to upgrade weather radar systems and maintain wind profiler systems at BIA (radio, metric systems and weather radar).



Furthermore, Mena Technics - Sales provides ongoing support to the Government of Bahrain by supplying aircraft part sales and repairs, as well as holding a government contract to enhance mapping systems for helicopters nationally, after beating out several global companies to secure the bid.



Additionally, Mena Technics - Sales delivers distinctive capabilities in handling aircraft in and around hangars using Mototok electric tugs, in line with the highest international standards. - TradeArabia News Service
PRINEVILLE, Ore.  Encouraged by the Trump administrations pro-development policies, an Oregon county wants to take some control over federal lands that cover half of the high desert, mountains and forests within its borders.

The three-member Crook County Court governing body unanimously approved the Natural Resources Policy after a public meeting Wednesday in which people spoke passionately for and against the policy.

A sign at the buildings entrance asked attendees to leave their weapons in their cars, and they were told by County Judge Seth Crawford to be respectful of each other. Crawford is the elected county administrator, not a courtroom judge.

The policy notes that timber harvest, ranching, farming, and mining are the lifeblood of Crook Countys economy and that humans are entitled to an equal opportunity to use federal and private lands for both recreation and economic growth.

At least two other counties  Owyhee County in Idaho and Baker County in Oregon  have enacted similar provisions.

The Crook County policy was drafted by a political action committee created by a group known as Central Oregon Patriots that backed Crawford in the election a year ago. His rival had opposed an earlier version of the land-use plan.

This plan puts Crook County front and center in an aggressive challenge of federal authority on public lands, said Sarah Cuddy, of the environmental group Oregon Wild who attended the meeting.

Patrick Lair, a spokesman for the Ochoco National Forest, said the Forest Service would have to wait and see how the county pursues the new policy. The countys opinions are valued but are just a part of federal considerations, he said.

As a federal agency, we have obligations to take input from all citizens and stakeholders, not just those who live closest, Lair said.

The 1,330 square-mile national forest features stands of majestic Ponderosa pines that were once used to feed five sawmills. All the mills were shuttered years ago as logging took a plunge.

County Commissioner Jerry Brummer said after the meeting that he believes the Trump administration will be receptive to the countys attempt to assert its authority in helping manage federal lands.

Weve got to go up the ladder. A lot of this is policy change, Brummer said.

Crook County Court previously considered the policy more than a year ago  before elections shifted the political landscape. Federal Bureau of Land Management district head Carol Benkosky warned it would create an adversarial relationship with federal agencies.

Since then, Wyoming lawyer Karen Budd-Falen, a key figure in the county supremacy movement, advised the county about modifying the plan.

Budd-Falen served on President Donald Trumps transition team and has been mentioned as a possible nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management.

The movement that Budd-Falen has championed since the 1980s pushed to ensure federal land managers plans were consistent with the customs and cultures of the counties in which the federal lands were located, said R. McGreggor Cawley, a professor of environmental politics and public administration at the University of Wyoming.

Opponents of the Crook County policy predicted federal agencies will ignore it, and they fear it could spark an armed takeover such as the one at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge two years ago.

Pete Sharp, a member of the Central Oregon Patriots and the political action committee that drafted the land-use plan, said his group is not a militia.

He said he believes in guns and agreed with those who occupied the wildlife refuge in an adjacent county for 41 days to protest federal land use policies. But Sharp said he wouldnt take up arms to push his agenda.

I would not even think about that kind of thing, Sharp, 74, said in an interview, wearing a black leather vest over a red shirt and cowboy hat and boots. He said elections were a more productive and less disruptive way to achieve goals.

Chris Scranton held a sign during the meeting that said, I love public land. He said he believes the local PAC has the same motivations and goals as the ... Malheur occupiers although their tactics are different.

The people behind the new policy do not believe people like me who are not extracting resources but instead are birding, hunting, fishing, flower-sniffing etc. have the same rights to the land as they do, Scranton said in an email.

Opponents also noted the Ochoco Forest Restoration Collaborative, with a wide variety of stakeholders, already works with federal officials about land management.

Steve Forrester, who had a career in forestry products and is now city manager of Prineville, the county seat, said he favors the new policy.

If you dont communicate and educate, youre going to get run over, he said outside the hearing room.

The new policy takes effect in 120 days.
The center that handles 911 calls for Natrona County is understaffed, under-supervised and overworked, according to an outside review of the Casper Police Department.

However, the problem isnt limited to the Casper/Natrona County Public Safety Communications Center. Across the state, dispatch centers report staffing shortages, which can hamper first responders effectiveness.

The staffing issues can be costly. In Casper, the center paid for more than 1,000 hours of overtime in the last year.

The center is wholly operated by the Casper Police Department, but used by 12 different emergency agencies across the county. Its staff dispatch police, firefighters and medics to incidents within the county. Additionally, the center is responsible for handling calls for Life Flight, Metro Animal Services and Wyoming Medical Center. On nights and weekends, it deals with calls for street, water and sewer departments.

Even during a down economy, attracting potential dispatchers can prove difficult. City Manager Carter Napier attributed those difficulties to the job requirements and the stress of the profession.

Dispatchers are among the toughest positions to hire, he said.

Caspers dispatch center is staffed by one manager, one supervisor, one call-taker and 13 dispatchers. However, the centers manager works at the police headquarters, according to a report published by the review body. As a result, the supervisor is responsible for overseeing 14 subordinates in day-to-day operations, according to the report. Were the center fully staffed, that ratio would jump to one supervisor per 20 subordinates.

The ratio of one supervisor to 20 subordinates is beyond reason by itself, the report states. Let alone in a highly charged environment of a 24/7 emergency dispatch center.

Six open positions at the center mean more than a quarter of its authorized staffing is not filled. As a result, the center paid for more than 1,000 overtime hours from July 1, 2016, through June 30.

A police department spokesman said that the dispatch center director was away on Thursday and Friday for training and unavailable for an interview.

The staffing issues at the dispatch center were included in a larger review of the entire department, which was released last month. It used data, officer interviews, a site visit and more to assess all aspects of the police department, from record keeping to the handling of investigations.

Widespread issue

The problems noted in the report arent wholly confined to Natrona County. Jackson, Gillette and Cheyenne authorities also cited staffing difficulties. Sheridans dispatch center is at full staffing for the first time in quite some time, Sheridan Police Lt. Travis Koltiska said.

In Cheyenne, 18 of 26 authorized positions are filled, according to Glen Crumpton, director of Laramie County Combined Communications Center.

The Laramie County center raised the entry pay rate by a dollar an hour two years ago and didnt see any increase in qualified applicants. Changing hiring and testing practices likewise produced no result.

It is a difficult task to try to fill the seats in a dispatch center, Crumpton said.

Over the 10 years Crumptons been on the job, he has had staffing problems, he said. Crumpton chalked the hiring and retention problems up to the emotionally draining nature of the work.

Its just a unique job, Crumpton said. Its hard.

Being fully staffed allows for easy handling of large-scale events and helps with coverage of vacancies for training or sickness, Koltiska said.

Since the Sheridan center reached full staffing, Koltiska said hes noticed that dispatchers are more capable of coordinating with various departments and assigning tasks in large-scale emergencies.

Recommended changes

The review recommends a few changes to help manage the problems that stem from staffing shortages.

Instead of paying overtime, the report recommends the police department hire part-time staff to fill in gaps and ease workloads during busy times.

Because 83 percent of calls coming to the center were not related to emergencies, the report suggests setting up voicemail extensions for individual officers and introducing an electronic phone tree.

About a third of calls coming into the center come from people looking to reach a specific officer or employee, according to an estimate cited in the report. By setting up voicemail extensions for individual officers, people could directly contact the officers who worked their cases and bypass the communications center.

An electronic phone would likewise direct non-emergency calls away from communications center employees, instead allowing callers to directly contact the department they are seeking.

The report also recommends creating a joint phone operator and receptionist position to help people walking into police headquarters. That role is largely handled by records department staff at the moment, which has a backlog of old evidence.

Napier said he was skeptical of converting a phone-only position to also include receptionist duties. That would tax an already stressed office, he said.

Otherwise, Napier said changes that would improve the efficiency of the city are welcomed. He specifically suggested expanding the departments community safety officer program to handle receptionist work. Expansion of the community safety officer program is also recommended in the report.
University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols condemned the contents of Holocaust denial flyers that were posted around campus in recent days.

We must acknowledge that the First Amendment allows expression that is so reprehensible that it must be answered, she said in a statement Friday morning.

Holocaust denial is simply false, and part of a history of anti-Semitic behavior, the president said.

Outrageously incorrect information such as that contained in the fliers has been used for decades by those who hold anti-Semitic views to harass the Jewish community, Nichols said.

The flyers showed up in a number of buildings across campus and were removed, just as they were last year during Holocaust Remembrance Week at the university, a week sponsored by a student organization UW Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

The timing of the flyers is no coincidence, Nichols said.

Remembrance week surrounds the anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass, a country-wide ransacking of Jewish homes, businesses, cemeteries and synagogues that some refer to as the unofficial beginning of the Holocaust.

Holocaust survivor Estelle Nadel is speaking at the university Friday. The president encouraged students to attend.

Campus police are investigating the flyer incident. Though the contents of the flyers are protected speech, putting up handbills violates littering ordinances.

The college notified the Anti-Defamation League in Denver of the incident.

Nichols statement also praised the student body for its peaceful protest of a controversial guest speaker Thursday night, Dennis Prager, who gave a talk called Why Socialism Makes People Selfish.

Students had sought to cancel the event due to some of Pragers outspoken views on women, race and politics. When they were unsuccessful, they held a protest outside the event.

Both those students who supported and protested his visit to campus conducted themselves in the manner I expected, the president said, Showing respect for other perspectives while peacefully expressing their own views.
A real estate tax proposed last Tuesday by a Jackson lawmaker could allow voters to levy a fee on the sale of expensive property in Teton County.

Rep. Andy Schwartz, a Democrat, said the tax has long been discussed and highlights the need for local governments to be able to raise money independently.

The state cant support them, Schwartz said. We need, as the Legislature, to take responsibility for giving them opportunities to take new revenue streams.

Schwartz has not yet released a final bill, but said that the measure would simply allow county commissioners to pass a resolution triggering a referendum where voters could choose whether or not to approve the tax.

There would be no tax on the sale of property up to $1 million. From $1 million to $2 million the tax would be 1 percent. A 1.5 percent tax would be levied on sales up to $5 million and 2 percent for sales above that amount.

Because the bill would only apply to counties where annual property sales exceed $600 million, it would only exist in Teton County. However, Schwartz said he would be open to lowering that threshold if other counties were interested in having the option to ask voters to pass the tax.

Most states in the nation have real estate taxes, but the proposal will face stiff opposition from the industry in Wyoming.

Wyoming Realtors president Devon Viehman, herself a Jackson real estate agent, said that while she was not familiar with the details of the bill, the Realtors organization opposed taxing property sales regardless of whether the tax applied to all homes or was tiered.

Any sort of transfer tax is tough and Teton County here, for locals, is tough enough as it is, Viehman said. She said the focus was on affordability.

Viehman added that lawmakers shouldnt target Teton County simply because of the high proportion of wealthy home owners in the area. She said a tax of any sort would make all housing in the area less affordable, including homes that teachers and low-wage workers might purchase, and that a tax that was initially narrowly-targeted could become broader over time.

You cant target Teton County just because of the wealthy second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-home owners we have here, Viehman said. Anything they do to make it more expensive to buy and sell is going to be detrimental to our locals.

She also said that the wealthy homeowners come to Jackson specifically because of Wyomings low taxes and that could change if a real estate tax was passed.

Schwartz was unmoved by the argument that passing a tax would make housing in Teton County even less affordable or that it would deter wealthy Americans looking for a low-tax location for a vacation home.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he said. No comment.

Schwartz said that the tax was not simply meant to be progressive. Expensive homes are often located in far-flung parts of the county away from municipal or county services. Extending police, fire and medical care to cover those residents is disproportionately expensive, he said.

The bills language is being finalized and Schwartz said he was unsure whether revenue generated by the tax would be decided in the bill or whether the county commission would decide where the money would go before asking for voter approval.

A real estate transfer tax was a recommendation of the Tax Reform 2000 panel, a state panel convened in the late 1990s to examine ways to diversify Wyomings tax base. The panel was created amid an economic downturn, but by the time its report was released at the turn of the millennium, a natural gas boom had led to an economic rebound and most of the reports recommendations were disregarded.

Schwartz said that while he was proposing the real estate tax in part to draw attention to the plight of local governments in the state, he also believes the Legislature might pass it during their session that starts in February.

I think it has a shot, he said.
In considering the indictment of former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate, I am reminded of former Bill Clinton aide and defender James Carvilles line about the ability of a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.

Manafort and a longtime business partner, Rick Gates, pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts against them. Manafort is under house arrest after posting an outrageously high bond of $10 million. Gates bond was set at $5 million. George Papadopoulos, who was a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI about his foreign contacts with several top Russian officials.

Predictably, the major media are celebrating this as the beginning of the end of the nascent Trump presidency. Within hours of the announced indictments, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof rushed into print with a column titled Will Manafort Sing? If so, it may mark the beginning of the end of this presidency. Look for more of this wishful thinking that the establishment, the Democrats and all of the mainstream media have been hoping for since Trump won the election.

What Manafort stands accused of has nothing to do with the 2016 election, or with Russian collusion. No one, so far, has produced any evidence the Russians affected the elections outcome. This is all about overturning the results and keeping the swamp full for those who live in it and reject change.

Real collusion might be in the significant share of U.S. uranium sold to the Russians during Hillary Clintons tenure as secretary of state (she signed off on the deal), followed by a $500,000 fee paid to her husband for a speech in Moscow and the millions of dollars that subsequently flowed into the Clinton Foundation from uranium investors.

Special counsel Robert Mueller and Congress should investigate that Russian connection, along with the role of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign (and the earlier Republican role) in creating an anti-Trump dossier that has been shown to be a fraud and yet was used to justify the appointment of Mueller. If the reason for Muellers appointment is fraudulent, how can it be said that his investigation, which includes staff attorneys who made donations to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, is not tainted?

Among the many problems with this investigation is that it has no legal, subject or monetary limits. If Mueller and his associates are unable to prove collusion with the Russians, one can count on them coming up with something else. Far-left members of Congress, such as Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), openly state that their objective is to take out the president, and they dont mean to lunch.

There is also the matter of leaks from the grand jury. Not surprisingly, the details of the indictments matched the leak to CNN. Unless that network employs mind readers and engages in paranormal activity, those leaks are felonies and the leakers should be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are firing up investigations of their own, including long-overdue looks into various questionable and possibly illegal activities by the Clintons. Congress is the proper avenue for such investigations, not special counsels, who can go rogue if they wish.

These seemingly endless accusations and investigations are what so much of the country hates about Washington, the D.C. that increasingly seems to stand for dysfunctional city. No matter which party controls government, the other party does all it can, by whatever means, to undermine those elected. This behavior solves no problems. It is only about grabbing and holding onto power.

Given the many moving parts in the Mueller probe and the loss of focus on the primary reason for it, the government may have a difficult time proving its case in court. But with unlimited funds and a staff of lawyers who have Democratic affiliations, you can bet they will try to make more than a ham sandwich out of it.
A deal between the Attorney Generals Office and a group advocating for the disabled will keep the group from filing new lawsuits against Arizona businesses  at least in state court.

But an attorney who was involved in filing those lawsuits says this victory being claimed for businesses is a setback for those the Arizonans with Disabilities Act is supposed to protect.

The agreement, awaiting approval from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Talmante, bars Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities from bringing new legal actions charging businesses with violating laws that require businesses to make certain accommodations for the handicapped. The group also will pay $25,000 to the Attorney Generals Office to be used to educate businesses about their obligations under the law as well as help create a fund for firms that dont have the money to make immediate fixes.

It also means that AID will not appeal a ruling dismissing the more than 1,700 cases that AID had filed.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich, in a prepared statement, called the settlement a victory for Arizona consumers and small businesses.

Arizona is not going to tolerate serial litigants who try to shake down small hardworking businesses by exploiting the disability community, he said.

But attorney Peter Strojnik, who represented AID in many of the cases, said it is the disabled community that will be the losers. He said the legal agreement, coupled with a change in law approved earlier this year by the Republican-controlled Legislature, throws new roadblocks in the path of those who depend on the disability law to ensure they have safe access to public facilities, including businesses.

And Strojnik took a verbal swat at Brnovich for saying the legal complaints filed last year were frivolous and calling them copy-and-paste lawsuits over issues that were minor and easily fixable.

There is no such thing as a technical violation, Strojnik said. Its either a violation or its not.

For example, he said, the law spells out how much of a slope there can be on parking spots reserved for the disabled.

Obviously, when a person with a wheelchair comes out, hes just going to roll down on the street and get killed, Strojnik said.

He also took exception to allegations made during legislative debate earlier this year that the lawsuits were about generating money rather than getting the problems fixed. Strojnik said AID is a 501(c)(3) charity, with what it gained in settlements with offending businesses being used to help the disabled community.

There never was intent to profit or make money, he said.

Strojnik said the agreement not to pursue new state court lawsuits isnt any sort of real concession for AID. He said it comes on the heels of state lawmakers earlier this year erecting new procedural barriers to future litigation.

Under the new law, someone alleging a violation under the Arizonans with Disabilities Act would have to give the business at least 60 days to resolve the problem.

Even after that, once a lawsuit is filed, the statute allows a judge to determine if the person complaining or the attorney is a vexatious litigant who files multiple cases. That would permit all the cases to be combined, a move that would save money for the defendants.

And the law prohibits a court from awarding civil penalties and compensatory damages in civil actions.

Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, said during debate that the aim is to prevent situations where people find minor violations of the law, file suit  and then agree to drop the claim in exchange for a cash settlement. She said businesses settle because its cheaper than hiring an attorney for what could be expensive and extended litigation.

I have a number of businesses that are (run by) friends that have been greatly affected by lawsuit and lawsuit threats ... where they have had to consider closing their doors because of the literally thousands of dollars they have had to pay out in litigation costs, she said.

But Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale, objected to giving businesses more time to deal with problems he believes they should have fixed years ago.

The Arizonans with Disabilities Act has been in place for 27 years, he said during the debate, 27 years that every small business should have known to this point what they have to do in order to accommodate people with disabilities.

And he said those people are the losers with the change in law.

These are people who are blind, these are people who are deaf, these are people who have a limiting disability so they have to use a wheelchair, he said. They cant access services, they cant access these local businesses.

He also suggested that the change in the law actually will result in more businesses ignoring its basic requirements of accommodation.

Quezada said theres no reason for a property owner to bring a site into compliance if theres no risk of being sued. He he said once a claim is filed, a business could have up to six months to do what it should have done already.
PHOENIX  Embattled state Rep. Don Shooter was suspended Friday from his position as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

The move by House Speaker J.D. Mesnard came amid an expanding list of allegations of sexual harassment against Shooter, a Yuma Republican. Most recently, Mi-Ai Parrish, publisher of the Arizona Republic, said Friday that Shooter made a sexist and racist comment last year while she and her attorney were in his office discussing legislation.

Shooter will lose his chairmanship while a special House committee investigates the allegations lodged against him in the last two weeks by three lawmakers, three lobbyists and a journalist, in addition to the publisher.

He will not be taking any budgetary meetings, chairing hearings, or engaged in any budget discussion or any duties related to Appropriations until the investigation has concluded, Mesnard said in a prepared statement.

That leaves Shooter out of the process when House and Senate GOP leaders prepare a nearly $10 billion spending plan ahead of the new legislative session that begins in January.

Mesnard said Shooter will receive a fair, thorough investigation into his behavior before any decisions are made about whether House rules were violated and what discipline, if any, should be imposed. That could range from a censure to expulsion, the latter requiring a two-thirds vote of the 60 members.

The decision to remove a committee chair is totally within the purview of the speaker. And Mesnard said it should not be seen as punishment but instead as in the best interests of the legislative process.

Im not casting judgment on Mr. Shooter at this time, he said. I dont believe he can properly fulfill his obligations as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee until that investigation has concluded.

Mesnard said he spoke with Shooter ahead of Fridays announcement.

Im not going to speak for him, he said.

He probably doesnt feel like much of this is fair, Mesnard continued. But I think he understands from a process standpoint this is necessary, even if hes not happy about it.

Shooter declined comment.

Mesnard conceded that the sudden flood of allegations against Shooter and others, who have not been named, should not be a surprise. Clearly, we have tolerated things in the past that we shouldnt have, Mesnard said. And people are standing up, and rightly so.

He said he hopes to address that with ethics training for lawmakers and staff covering everything from sexual harassment to sexism to quid-pro-quo to appropriate talk on the House floor.

Things will change, he said. If there is any suggestion that in the past we may have just rolled our eyes at something or ignored something, were going to be much more strict moving forward, Mesnard said.

What happens going forward depends on the findings of a panel of seven House staffers he appointed Thursday to look into all the allegations, and not just against Shooter.

But while the speaker said he is reserving judgment, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is not. Spokesman Garrick Taylor said the group, which has backed Shooter in previous elections, thinks he should resign from the Legislature  now.

These are deeply disturbing allegations, Taylor said. And it is behavior that does not comport with the way elected officials ought to behave. Taylor said if Shooter does not quit and is not expelled from the House, there is a high degree of certainty the chamber will not support him for another two-year term.

At a hastily called news conference Friday, Mesnard acknowledged that he was aware when he named Shooter to chair the committee in January that he had a self-proclaimed reputation as someone whose actions and words might raise questions. Mesnard said that came up earlier this year when Shooter suggested he might run for speaker.

He, in a somewhat playful way, talked about maybe drinking a little bit less, sort of joking in certain ways a little bit less, Mesnard said.

I think he acknowledged that sometimes, in his attempts to be playful, he might walk a line, Mesnard continued. My admonishment to him was, Dont even get close to that line.

The allegations, Mesnard said Friday, are serious.

Some date to 2011 when he was first elected to the state Senate. Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, detailed several, including Shooter asking her whether her breasts were real, showing up with a six-pack of beer at her hotel room door and saying he wanted to be with her while telling her he was a very powerful senator.

There also have been more recent incidents.

Rep. Wenona Benally, R-Window Rock, said she was in the lounge reserved for House members earlier this year when Shooter and another male lawmaker  she did not say who  sat across from her. Benally said Shooter repeatedly referred to his male genitalia as a gun.

Rep. Athena Salman, D-Tempe, a first-term lawmaker, said Shooter made comments to her early this year that she would be a nice view to look at.

A former Arizona Capitol Times intern also said Shooter made sexually charged comments.

Lobbyist Marilyn Rodriguez charged that Shooter touched her knee at a dinner where she and a colleague were meeting with him about legislation.

There are also complaints by two other, unnamed lobbyists that Shooter made improper remarks.

And House Majority Whip Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said she has been the victim of sexual harassment by other lawmakers, though she has not provided any names.

Mesnard said the special panel also is looking into complaints against Ugenti-Rita by Shooter. While Mesnard didnt provide specifics, Shooter said in an earlier statement that she had a very public affair with a House staffer while she was married and that she made a joke about masturbation during a committee hearing. Ugenti-Rita has declined to comment.
As the nation comes together on Veterans Day to honor those who have served in the military, a group of Tucson veterans will pay tribute to their comrades while they give back to the community in creative and thoughtful ways.

Today, some of them will attend parades and ceremonies as they take pensive moments to think of fellow veterans and loved ones who fought in wars.

Later, they will go back to their workshops as members of the Southern Arizona Woodturners Association or the Desert Woodcrafters, where they will shape wood into canes for needy veterans or into wooden pens given to the recipients of Purple Heart medals.

Their hands work wood into boxes to hold colorful beads for seriously ill children. Some make wooden toys to give to children at Christmas, while others spend time making display cases to hold interment flags for veterans.

Meet veterans Mike Phillips, Paul Swane, George Lewis and Dan Williams, whose love for shaping or carving wood takes them to their shops for hours each week. It is there, in the midst of machines and sawdust, that they are content creating for others.

Phillips, 71, lovingly looked at a display case he made for the interment flag of his father, Bill, who died at age 89 in 2010. He served in the 3rd Armored Cavalry during World War IIs Battle of the Bulge. I learned patriotism from him, said Phillips, in a voice choked with emotion. My dad saw a lot of blood and friends who died. I am named after one of his friends, Phillips said.

He said his father was in a unit that liberated prison camps in Germany and did not talk much about the horror he witnessed, including piles of bodies and starving, injured prisoners.

Phillips, who served in the Armys 13th Armored Cavalry in Germany in the 1960s, said he is honored to make flag display cases. Veterans Day is one of the most important holidays that we observe, said Phillips, a retired auto-parts manager who learned to build custom furniture from his father. Years later, he taught himself how to turn wood on a lathe, using chisels to shape the wood.

It is magical to get a piece of wood on the lathe. It amazes me what colors you are going to find inside the wood as you work the piece, said Phillips, who also crafts Christmas ornaments, bowls and platters for family gifts.

Spending hours in the wood shop is pure enjoyment for Swane, 76, who joined the Army in 1964 and worked as a supply sergeant for the Army National Guard until 1969 in Sturgis, South Dakota. He later worked for a company selling childrens books and toys, climbing to sales management positions until his retirement, moving to SaddleBrooke north of Tucson 12 years ago.

Swane bought a lathe and became serious about shaping and turning wood before he researched and joined the woodcrafters and woodturners organizations. He said he is filled with satisfaction giving to others, a trait he learned from his father, who lived through the Depression.

Swane said he is proud of the mens accomplishments in helping with the associations projects. The local groups have crafted more than 16,000 wooden pens for troops overseas since 2002 and make about 200 pens yearly from purpleheart wood for Arizona veterans honored with the Purple Heart medal.

Tucson native Lewis said projects take him into his shop where he spends hours crafting with no outside interference. The 80-year-old joined the Navy Reserve in the 1950s and is now a retired Southern Pacific Railroad worker who finds peace making furniture for family and crafting pens, toys and boxes for the Beads of Courage program.

Lewis was among the artisans who recently gathered in midtown at Ken Towers shop. Tower, a retired Flowing Wells High School woodworking and shop teacher, found pleasure showing his waddling duck, penguin and playhouse furniture for children. He has mentored hundreds of students over 30 years and continues sharing his knowledge with fellow crafters.

One who is grateful for their talents is nurse Jean Gribbon, executive director of Beads of Courage, a charity headquartered at 3230 N. Dodge Blvd. She said she is grateful for the artists unique boxes for the organizations arts and medicine programs for children coping with cancer and other serious illnesses. Each bead symbolizes courage and marks milestones in a childs medical treatments.

The last three years we have worked with the American Association of Woodturners, said Gribbon, explaining that chapters across the country make the special boxes. Woodturning is a very old art form. Each piece is original, and they are just beautiful. Families and children love the boxes, which I look at as a sacred vessel. Some children receive up to 500 beads a year during their treatment journey.

The Tucson associations reached out to Gribbon, and since 2014 local craftsmen have created more than 300 boxes for the Beads of Courage program. We certainly do not receive enough boxes for every child to receive one, but numbers are increasing, said Gribbon.

Globally the organization serves 60,000 children a year, and it receives about 3,000 boxes annually.

Williams understands the needs of the children, and he turns to his woodcarving experience of 20 years to make finials for the lids of the Beads of Courage boxes. I use pure imagination to create and paint cartoon and childrens book characters, said Williams, 75, a native of Detroit who joined the Army in 1960 and served in the military police. He retired from General Motors and moved to SaddleBrooke in 2004.

I do it for the kids. I love to see their smiles, said the woodcarver, whose fascination with miniature carrousel horses started him on this crafting journey.
PHOENIX  The Arizona Houses top official says the chamber has the right to investigate charges of sexual harassment against Rep. Don Shooter  and discipline him if lawmakers find him guilty  although some of the alleged incidents predate Shooters House term.

Technically speaking, the (state) constitution doesnt require justification, just simply gives authority to us over the members of this chamber, House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said Friday. And he is presently a member of this chamber.

Mesnard did say, however, the fact that some of the allegations against Shooter date back to 2011 through 2016, when he was a state senator, certainly complicates things a little bit.

Attorney Paul Bender, who teaches constitutional law at Arizona State University, told Capitol Media Services that it may be an error to interpret the rules to allow the House to punish a lawmaker for conduct before he or she took office there.

The issue comes on the heels of Mesnard appointing seven staffers as an investigative team to look into charges leveled against Shooter by Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, and several others, including lobbyist Marilyn Rodriguez, who says Shooter touched her inappropriately.

First-term Reps. Athena Salman, D-Tempe, and Winona Benally, D-Window Rock, have filed complaints accusing Shooter of inappropriate behavior this year.

The most serious claims against Shooter, leveled by Ugenti-Rita, allegedly occurred while he was still in the Senate. These include comments about her breasts, showing up at her hotel room door with a six-pack of beer and saying he wanted to be with her while telling her he was a very powerful senator.

Senate President Steve Yarbrough said his chamber lost any jurisdiction over Shooter after he moved to the House at the beginning of this year. That would leave only the House with any ability to sanction him if its members find him guilty of disorderly behavior.

Mesnard, who on Friday suspended Shooter as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said the question of jurisdiction will be part of what the special panel and its investigators review.

Probably the next step would be the Ethics Committee and potentially the whole body, depending how far this goes, he said.

The Arizona Constitution says that each house may punish its members for disorderly behavior, and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds of its members, expel any member.

House GOP spokesman Matt Specht acknowledged that the provision does not define disorderly behavior.

House attorneys interpret disorderly behavior to mean any behavior detrimental to the business of the House, he told Capitol Media Services. He said that gives lawmakers the discretion to discipline members for disorderly behavior that affects the business of the House, regardless of when that behavior occurred.

Specht also noted that there is no statute of limitations within the constitutional provision.

Bender, however, said its not that simple.

There may be an argument that because of what he did (before becoming a House member) hes somehow disqualified from serving, he said. But I dont know what that argument would be.

Bender said the constitution and the rules appear to suggest that discipline short of removal on grounds of disorderly behavior can be accomplished by a simple majority vote. He said it would appear to be improper for just 31 members of the 60-member House to take action against a lawmaker for something that occurred in some cases years before he became a representative.

I dont think they can discipline him, he said.

Bender conceded, though, that the constitutional right of both the House and Senate to eject members may provide a virtual legal carte blanche. He said that would suggest that with 40 votes they could expel a lawmaker for no reason at all, as long as it was not done because of the persons race, gender or any other legally protected status.

Still, he said, an argument might be made that conduct that predates a lawmakers service cannot be grounds to take action against that person.

I dont think any of this is clear, Bender said.

Melissa Ho, Shooters legal counsel, had no comment on the subject.
Two-term U.S. Rep. Martha McSally was in Tucson on Friday to discuss the tax-cut proposal in the House, but refused to talk to the media about her plans for the Senate.

Seated next to Linda McMahon, the head of Small Business Administration and a member of Presidents Trumps Cabinet, McSally steered the discussion to the current tax structure affecting the nations small businesses.

After an hour-long, closed-door round-table discussion with several local business leaders about taxes and business regulations, McSally brushed off questions about her political future.

McSally, who represents Arizonas District 2, after being repeatedly asked by reporters, said it would be inappropriate to talk politics during an official congressional function. This is an official event in my official capacity, by ethics rules we are not allowed to talk about that, McSally said.

Friday marks the second day in a row that McSally made herself available to talk to the press, but sidestepped questions about running for the Senate. Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert said he was told by McSally that she would run for Jeff Flakes open Senate seat in next years GOP primary.

On Thursday, McSally corrected Fox News host Neil Cavuto, saying her plan to run for Senate is not announced yet.

McSally said she expects the House will vote on a tax bill sometime next week.

We are working through our bill, next week we should be voting on the floor of the House, McSally told reporters at the meeting at Anewco Products, 1800 S. Research Loop.

More than 30 people protested outside the meeting, with local groups complaining McSally cherry-picks which business leaders she meets with.

A local political-action group, Represent Me AZ, said there were more than 20 business owners outside the meeting who would have loved to talk to McSally about various business issues.
A woman walked up to a blue SUV in a Food City parking lot in Nogales, Arizona, and started removing packages of prescription drugs from her groin.

She handed the packages to two men in the SUV who had crossed the border earlier that day and received pills from different carriers in the parking lots of a Walmart and the Food City in Nogales on Aug. 17, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson.

Oblivious to the Homeland Security Investigations agents following them, the men in the SUV, Juan Valenzuela Armenta, 22, and Jose Perez Val, 26, headed to the post office with 14 envelopes filled with pharmaceuticals, according to the Sept. 1 criminal complaint.

Over the span of three days, federal prosecutors said camera footage recorded the men trying to mail about 4,400 prescription pills divided among 29 different envelopes before agents intercepted them.

Prescription drug smuggling busts nearly doubled, from 59 seizures to 110, since last fiscal year at Arizona ports of entry, according to data provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Schedule III, IV and V controlled substances, which refers to a system used to categorize a drugs potential for abuse.

The Douglas port of entry saw the largest increase in seizures of prescriptions drugs, according to CBP data. Seizures at the port jumped eight-fold from five in fiscal 2016 to 42 in the first 10 months of fiscal 2017, which includes October 2016 through July 2017. At the Lukeville port, southwest of Tucson, seizures rose from zero to nine and at the Phoenix airport, seizures rose from four to 15.

In the same 10 months, the number of seizures at the Tucson airport decreased to one-fifth of last fiscal years total, from 15 to three.

CBP spokeswoman Teresa Small said there is no rhyme or reason why the movement of drugs fluctuates between ports because it is determined by cartels. CBP stated in a letter sent in response to a records request from the Arizona Daily Star that it could not release the specific types of prescription drugs seized because the information is classified. CBP routinely releases information on types of other drugs seized, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin and meth.

Prescription drugs, which are often cheaper in Mexico than in the United States, can be purchased in Mexico and brought back across the border legally for personal use. They also are smuggled into the United States to be sold for a profit.

Prosecutors said three days after Valenzuela and Perez finished packaging the pills at the Nogales post office, HSI and U.S. postal inspectors executed a search warrant for the mens envelopes and found roughly 2,600 methylphenidate pills, 800 tramadol pills, 520 phentermine pills, 200 alprazolam pills, 100 clonazepam pills and 30 zolpidem pills.

Methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin, is a schedule II prescription drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, according to the DEA.

The rest of the drugs in the envelopes were schedule IV. Tramadol is a painkiller. Phentermine is used for weight loss. Clonazepam, zolpidem and alprazolam are used to treat anxiety, insomnia and panic disorders.

Controlled substances are categorized into different schedules based on their potential for physical and psychological dependence, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The higher the scheduling number, the lower the risk for abuse. Most of the drugs in schedule I and II, such as cocaine, meth, heroin and others, are considered to have no currently accepted medical use. Ritalin is an exception to these types of drugs in Schedule II because it is attainable with a valid prescription.

At a traffic stop on Aug. 31, Valenzuela and Perez admitted to Nogales police they had been transporting pills for about four months, according to court documents. Perez said he was paid $40 to $70 per job. They face three drug trafficking charges and their trial is scheduled to start Nov. 21.

Erica Curry, DEA spokeswoman, said many drug trafficking organizations distribute their products to the Midwest, the South and the Northeast after crossing the border.

She said sometimes the pharmaceuticals seized are counterfeit. For example, she said sometimes fake oxycodone pills contain fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl sometimes is sold through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effect, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a separate case, Molly Burud, 32, was arrested in April while trying to enter Nogales, Arizona, from Mexico with 80 milliliters of steroids and 92 pills of steroids in her groin area, court documents said. Burud was also carrying 1,473 pills of alprazolam and two vials of a human growth hormone, somatrope.

She told a CBP officer her final destination would have been Phoenix, where her contact would pay her in 100 benzodiazepine pills, a type of drug with anti-anxiety and muscle-relaxing properties, according to an April 17 criminal complaint. She pleaded guilty to two drug trafficking charges, but has not been sentenced yet.

On May 1, Rodolfo Martinez Luna, 21, was arrested for trying to smuggle 9,800 pills of anabolic steroids, which the DEA described as synthetic testosterone hormones primarily abused by bodybuilders and fitness buffs, into Arizona through Nogales, according to court records. Martinez told a customs officer the car belonged to his sister and he was unaware of the steroids stashed under a jacket in the backseat.

Martinez pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking charge and was sentenced Oct. 18 to three years of probation.

CBP records show four busts of steroid smuggling at Arizona ports of entry in fiscal year 2017, up one from the year before and up two from fiscal year 2015.

It is legal to bring back prescription drugs from Mexico for personal use, but CBP recommends bringing no more than a 90-day supply of medicine through a port of entry and it should be in its original container with a doctors prescription.

Keith Boesen, director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, said usually the discounted cost of prescription medications in other countries is the incentive for Americans to buy them abroad, although they should keep a buyer-beware mentality.

Boesen cautioned that other countries do not have the same set of standards in place as the FDA, sometimes the prescription drugs brought back from other countries can be counterfeit, contaminated, or the dosages can be inconsistent.
In October 2014, a criminal defendant reached an agreement with the Pima County Attorneys Office and pleaded guilty to two minor drug crimes: solicitation to possess methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The deal for the two Class 6 undesignated offenses also included a $1,000 fine that the plea agreement at least strongly implied was mandatory.

It was to be paid to the Drug and Gang Enforcement Account, which also receives federal support and was established in 1987 to help investigate and prosecute drug offenders, according to a 2017 report from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. The commission in turn awards millions of dollars in grants from that fund to state law enforcement agencies, including the county attorney.

Now, three years later, both the county attorney and the Pima County public defender agree the fine in this case  and thousands of cases like it  was not mandatory. Though the county attorney argued it was appropriate, Superior Court Judge Richard Fields ordered any unpaid portion of the fine in this case waived.

The State believes that the fine was lawfully imposed as a term of the plea agreement even though it was not mandatory, prosecutor Jacob Lines wrote in response to the public defenders request to waive the fine. Under the law governing plea agreements, the parties can legally agree to a fine as part of a plea agreement.

In recent months, though, the drug fines for hundreds of defendants who accepted comparable pleas have been waived and several hundred more likely will be in the near future, according to information provided by the public defender in response to a records request from the Star.

But thats just the tip of the iceberg, at least according to estimates provided by the Public Defenders Office.

In recent years, roughly half of all drug-case defendants in the county ultimately pleaded guilty to what are known as preparatory offenses, such as solicitation or attempts to commit certain drug crimes. The fines mandated by statute for completed drug offenses are not applicable for these charges, according to court documents filed by both the defense and prosecution.

Assuming defendants have pleaded to such charges in similar proportions for several decades, more than 12,000 people may have accepted deals with fines that were mistakenly believed to be mandatory since the late 1980s or early 1990s. The total fines for those cases could be as high as $18.2 million, according to public defender estimates.

Though a number of defendants have already had their fines waived, it is unclear what legal remedy  if any  is available to the vast majority of those who accepted the deals.

One county supervisor cited the fines as an example of criminalizing poverty.

Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall declined an interview request from the Star, deferring questions to Chief Criminal Deputy Tom Weaver.

The fines were not improperly imposed and were well within the lawful range for felony offenses, he wrote in an email to the Star. All plea agreements are entered into and signed by both the prosecution and defense. Pleas must also be approved and accepted by the court.

Responding to the request to waive fines for the October 2014 drug case, prosecutor Lines also noted that at no time did the defense attorney involved in this case bring to the states or the courts attention any concern about the fine not being mandatory, and instead allowed their client to take the plea.

Given the defendants argument that they were denied the opportunity to ask the court to not impose the fine, it is possible that the defendant may have a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel to bring before this Court, Lines argued.

The county, Lines said, did not challenge the request to waive the fine because, in part, it did not want the defendants claim of ineffective counsel burdening the court. In the interests of justice, the state will not object to the reconsideration of the imposition of a fine in this case, Lines concluded.

While Public Defender Joel Feinman said its hard to say what kind of lawsuits might ultimately be filed by affected defendants who may have been improperly fined, he acknowledged to the Star, We should have caught this much sooner. We didnt.

Were trying to make amends and correct our mistakes, he added of the thousands of clients whose pleas included the fines. We seem to be the only one admitting that we made a mistake and trying to correct it.

Feinman ran unsuccessfully against LaWall in the 2016 Democratic primary before being appointed public defender by the County Board of Supervisors in April 2017.

The fine issue itself was uncovered by Assistant Public Defender Howard Wine in early 2017, according to Feinman.

No longer mandatory

In the late 1980s, the Legislature approved a number of minimum fines for certain drug crimes, like possession of marijuana, fines for which have a floor of not less than $750, according to current statute. However, over the next few years, several court cases established that those fines do not apply to preparatory offenses, according to Wine.

Somebody should have woken up in the prosecutors office and said, wait a minute, the court of appeals is definitely telling us that these fines are not mandatory and theyre not required in the same way as they are for completed offenses, Wine said.

As to why it took the Public Defenders Office nearly three decades to discover the error, Wine suggested part of the explanation could be an apprehension among defense attorneys about provoking the County Attorneys Office by complaining about a provision in a plea deal. Doing so could make things much worse for their defendants.

Waiving unpaid fines is available to defendants currently on probation, but only after their cases have been reviewed by the county attorney, according to the terms of an agreement between the public defender, Superior Court and the county attorney, according to Wine.

Of the 750 cases initially slated for review, 500 defendants were expected to have had their fines waived by Friday, according to information provided by the public defender.

There is the possibility that currently eligible defendants may lose waiver eligibility if they complete probation by the time their case is reviewed, Wine said. Because the waivers apply only to unpaid portions of the imposed fines, it is also possible that potentially eligible defendants are actively making payments that will ultimately be annulled.

There are people getting off probation every week who, if the prosecutor would have gotten to it timely, would have had their fines waived, Wine said.

Weaver acknowledged some defendants completed probation during the review, but said it was incumbent on the defendants attorneys to notify their clients if their fines could be subject to a waiver. He denied claims the review process is taking longer than it should.

There have also been several cases in which defendants were close to completing probation whose cases were fast-tracked to ensure they did not lose eligibility to have their fines waived, according to Weaver. We made that happen, he said.

More waivers possible

In fiscal year 2016, 23 percent of all fines imposed in Pima County Superior Court that year had been paid in full by years end, according to figures provided by a public defender employee. That does not include those who had only paid a portion. Wine reviewed a recent month of fine payments for people on probation for preparatory charges and found that substantial payments were being made.

Wine said that in cases where there is a criminal law remedy, his office intends to seek waivers for more defendants. However, he estimates the number of additional defendants who might get a waiver is likely less than 2,000, a relatively small portion of the estimated 12,000 believed to have been improperly fined.

The reason why our confidence is low beyond that is that time deadlines in criminal law are hugely important to the courts, he said. And after a certain amount of time expires, no matter how just your claim, the criminal courts are essentially closed.

County Supervisor Sharon Bronson described the fines as another instance of criminalizing poverty.

These were all minor drug offenses, and this clearly shows a need for oversight in terms of how the county attorney conducts business, she said.

In response to Bronsons claim that the fines were criminalizing poverty, the County Attorneys Office said fines are a consequence for criminal behavior and that community service can be used as substitute, according to Weaver.

Its true the fines were not mandatory, Weaver said. Had the issue been raised earlier, he said his office would have simply changed the plea language.

In any event, the fines themselves were legally permissible, as we have explained in our responses in these motions, he said.

Because the defendants were all convicted of lesser crimes than they were charged with, all received substantial benefits from the plea agreements, he said.

Weaver said the waivers cover only people who are currently on probation, because the court still has jurisdiction over them.

The court no longer has jurisdiction over defendants who were sent to prison or who have already completed probation, so the only way for the court to regain jurisdiction  and for defendants to possibly get their fines returned  is for them to go to court and claim they received ineffective legal representation, among other possible grounds.

Defendants have options to restore the courts jurisdiction, according to Weaver, who added that any defendants who believe their plea deal may have included an illegal fine is welcome to file a motion in court. So far, the defense attorneys involved in this have declined to pursue (motions for) relief, Weaver said.

But people who have paid their fines might be out of luck: The court indicated that it was unwilling to order refunds, Weaver said. It was only willing to order the waiver of unpaid fines.

In addition, the County Attorneys Office has maintained from the start that theres no legal basis for vacating the fines, since they were within the legal range and agreed to by the defendants.

In the 2017 fiscal year, the County Attorneys Office was awarded $421,915 in grants by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, $143,417 of which came from proceeds from state drug fines like those included in plea agreements, according to a 2017 report.

Fines have returned but are much smaller

For several months after Wines early 2017 questioning of certain fines, the plea deals offered to defendants charged with preparatory drug offenses by the county attorney did not include fines, Wine said.

Now the deals again include fines, though substantially smaller ones.

The Star obtained a copy of an October plea deal for solicitation to possess meth and possession of drug paraphernalia, the same charges in the October 2014 plea detailed earlier. This time around, the defendant was required to pay $500, not $1,000. Wine said the new fines are typically half the mandatory amount for completed offenses and suggested their inclusion was an effort by the county attorney to save face.

Some Superior Court judges are suspending the new fines, Wine said.

But even the smaller fines strike Wine and Feinman as excessive. The vast majority of defendants in these cases are poor and many have histories of drug abuse and addiction, they said.

It would be nice if (the county attorney) would simply say like we said, that it was a mistake to impose it, and there was no good reason to impose it beyond what the letter of the law required for completed offenders, Wine said.
PHOENIX  Those comments you post online about your employer, and others, may not be as anonymous as you thought.

Thats the statewide and potentially national implication of a new ruling by a federal appeals court in an Arizona case.

A website known as Glassdoor.com went to court to block federal prosecutors from demanding that it surrender the names of people who had written anonymous posts about their company, which is not identified in the court papers but is being investigated by a grand jury in Phoenix.

Attorneys for Glassdoor, which provides both job listings as well as reviews of companies, argued that the people who shared the comments did so with the understanding that they would not come back to haunt them.

But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Glassdoor must give prosecutors information they have about the people so they can be questioned by the grand jury.

The new decision most immediately affects efforts by federal prosecutors to look into whether a government contractor that administers two health-care programs for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Arizona committed wire fraud and misused government funds.

But the ruling essentially means that when the government decrees it needs information as part of a grand jury probe, it can force those who operate websites to help them find who made the comments, even though the postings were designed to be anonymous.

That legal conclusion, by definition, is not limited to employees of a firm under grand jury investigation. It also paves the way for prosecutors to seek the identity of anyone whose online comments about any other business  or even individual  lead them to believe they have information relevant to their inquiry.

A Glassdoor spokeswoman said Thursday that the ruling is a disappointment because the firm believes the trial judge in Arizona who agreed to the subpoena applied the wrong standard, placing the interests of the government ahead of Americans protected free-speech rights under the First Amendment. The company believes those rights include sharing opinions online about their workplaces anonymously, she said.

Coatney said the company is weighing whether to pursue an appeal, which could put the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to court records, as of earlier this year, current and former employees of the unidentified company being investigated had posted 125 reviews on Glassdoor.com. Appellate Judge Richard Tallman, writing for the court, said many of these criticize the firms management and business practices.

For example, the judge said, one anonymous employee wrote that the company manipulates the system to make money unethically of the veterans/VA. Another said there is a real disconnect between how this program runs and how the VA thinks the program runs.

In March, the federal government served Glassdoor with a subpoena ordering it to provide reviewer information for every review on the site, including user names, email addresses, resumes, and billing information like credit-card numbers.

After Glassdoor objected, the government agreed to limit the scope to eight specific reviews. When Glassdoor refused, a judge found it in contempt and imposed a fine of $5,000 a day, which has been on hold while the case is on appeal.

Tallman, in the 24-page ruling, acknowledged there are certain rights at issue.

An authors decision to remain anonymous ... is an aspect of the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment, he wrote, quoting from earlier cases. However, the right to speak anonymously is not unlimited, the judge said, with the issue depending on the circumstances and the type of speech at issue.

Here, the government seeks to unmask anonymous speakers in order to identify potential percipient witnesses in aid of a federal grand jury investigation into possible fraud, Tallman said. The speakers whose identities the government seeks may well be witnesses to this criminal activity, perhaps even participants in it.

Moreover, the judge said the U.S. Supreme Court has held that reporters  even those who have promised confidentiality to sources  must cooperate with grand jury investigations. He said Glassdoor has no right to refuse to tell the government how to contact those people because those who made the postings have no First Amendment right to avoid testifying in the first place.

There is an exception, Tallman said, when there is evidence that a subpoena was not issued in good faith, something not alleged here. And the judge said there is no evidence the government is on a fishing expedition.

Instead, he said, the postings at issue give prosecutors  and the court  reason to believe that the people who wrote them have information that would be helpful.

One, he noted, says the company created a system that focuses more on call quotas, versus designing a more efficient system to assist veterans, as the firm gets paid by the VA based on the number of calls made.

Forcing Glassdoor to disclose the identities of posters, Tallman said, will enable the grand jury to question workers who have observed potentially fraudulent behavior.

Thus, there is a clear connection between the nature of the investigation  waste, fraud, and abuse by the subject  and the information the government seeks  the identity of potential witnesses to that fraud and abuse.
After a months-long dispute over control of federal anti-racketeering money, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to retain outside counsel to review all future requests from county attorneys requests for funds from an anti-racketeering fund.

The decision Tuesday essentially means that Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall no longer has the ability to solely make decisions regarding her offices use of anti-racketeering funds, according to Supervisor Sharon Bronson.

A recent change in state law says the board must review and approve the county attorneys requests from the fund, but LaWall previously had the ability to approve requests for her office.

Now, the outside counsel will review the request and make a recommendation to the board as to whether it should approve or deny the funding request. Until Tuesday, Chief Civil Deputy Andrew Flagg acted as counsel for the board, which supervisors say is a conflict of interest, since hes employed by LaWall.

The boards vote came days after LaWall refused to provide information justifying her decision to send 10 members of her offices Victim Services Division to Las Vegas to assist victims of the Oct. 1 mass shooting.

On Oct. 11, LaWall requested funds from the county attorneys Anti-Racketeering Revolving Fund and told the board the Nevada Attorney Generals Office had requested assistance from her office, according to a memo from Pima County Supervisor Chuck Huckelberry.

The money in the account comes from funds seized from individuals accused of crimes under the Racketeer Influence Corruption Organization act, known as RICO, and is meant to be used by for crime-fighting and crime-prevention purposes.

After staffers returned from the trip, LaWall declined to turn over the letter to supervisors.

While LaWall has now provided the board with the request letter from the Nevada attorney general, Bronson said its a moot point since the board has already voted to remove LaWalls office as their legal counsel for RICO expenditures.

On Oct. 17. Huckelberry recommended the board approve the request to use the RICO funds, subject to itemization of all expenses and additional information from LaWall, and the item passed.

On Oct. 30, LaWall sent a memo to Chief Deputy Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher, saying that while the board requested information relating to LaWalls decision to send the Victim Services staff to assist in Las Vegas, she respectfully declined the request to provide information.

In the memo, LaWall said the information the board was asking for is related to her judgments and decisions, which are not subject to board review.

LaWall attached a memo from Flagg, who also acts as counsel for the supervisors, saying, The boards authority is limited to determining whether the requested expenditure is authorized by state or federal law.

The boards authority, he said, does not extend to questioning the wisdom or necessity of the proposed expenditure.

The board ... exceeded its authority in requesting and explanation of necessity and documentation regarding the Nevada Attorney Generals request for (the county attorneys) assistance, Flagg wrote in the memo.

Days later, Huckelberry sent a memo in response, disagreeing with LaWalls decision to refuse to share the Nevada AGs request.

During Tuesdays meeting, the board decided to retain outside counsel and is seeking the assistance of J. Arthur Eaves, who has worked with the Maricopa County supervisors for oversight of anti-racketeering expenditures.

Huckelberry recommended that supervisors retain Eaves on a case-by-case basis to review whether the request for RICO funds falls into permissible use.

Although LaWall refused the supervisors request to share documentation of the Nevada request for assistance, days after her refusal, a letter from the attorney general, thanking her for the help, was posted to the county attorneys Facebook page, Supervisor Ally Miller pointed out.

Withholding the information from the Nevada attorney general is really flying in the face of transparency, Miller said, pointing out that Flagg represents both the county attorney and advises the board, which she said is a conflict of interest.

She also suggested the outside counsel review LaWalls Oct. 30 memo, in which she refused to justify her decision to send staffers to Las Vegas, saying supervisors deserve documentation for the expense.

LaWalls memo, Bronson said, essentially claims privilege.

I dont understand how this is privileged. We are just asking for facts, she said. I think she waived that privilege.

Because she cant have it both ways and tell us that she wont disclose and brag about it on Facebook.

The motion to authorize Huckelberry to hire outside counsel unanimously passed Tuesday. LaWall did not respond to the Stars request for comment.

On Wednesday, Bronson told the Star she believes that Flagg giving the board legal advice is a conflict of interest, as LaWall is his boss.

This whole RICO thing that we are now responsible for, in the end, the buck stops with us, she said. If we dont get good legal advice or if its coming from LaWalls office, its automatically a conflict.

Bronson also said LaWalls refusal to produce the Nevada attorney generals request letter, noting that the thank you letter was dated the same day as LaWalls memo refusing to comply with the boards request, was stunning.

Stunningly bad optics, number one. It alarms me. Im concerned, she said.

The documentation certainly lacks any kind of transparency or accountability, in my view, Bronson said.

We still need outside counsel, she said. The balls in our court now, and we need some serious, independent oversight.
Re: the Nov. 8 editorial We cannot become callous to mass shootings.

After reading the Stars opinion, one has to wonder if it was merely words. The Stars position on gun control is well known. Install more controls on private and gun show sales. The newspaper does not permit gun sales in its classified ads, but strangely, they allow gun shows to advertise. Which is more important: advertising money or beliefs?

Even if we stopped the sale of automatic weapons, there are too many already in the country to do much good. Wed merely encourage illegal purchases from other sources. Much like prohibition, the cure would be worse than the disease. We have yet to learn we cannot legislate human behavior. If all the laws, fines and punishments in place have not curtailed bad behavior, what will? As our population grows, the more deranged people it will produce. Its simply a matter of numbers. Perhaps we should start with population control. It would solve many of societys problems.

James Kelly

Foothills
I mistakenly expected the Star to recognize local businesses who are generously offering a free meal for veterans on Veterans Day, November 11th. I should have known the Vatican's duty-free shop not selling cigarettes is of more interest to both veterans and Tucsonans. Maybe next year the Star will do something to recognize Tucson's military veterans and those businesses who honor them but I doubt it.
As a mental health professional I am concerned at the current tendency by Trump to label the person(s) who commit these heinous acts as being "mentally ill", or "deranged." If this were true then why are we not demanding of our President and elected officials to include in their budget money for the care and treatment of the mentally ill in our country? Labeling acts of violence utilizing weapons as a mental health issue alone will not resolve the urgent matter of having the "gun" discussion with our elected officials. Our country cannot continue to defend these acts as one thing while ignoring the use of guns. This is not about the 2nd Amendment anymore! Remember Trump signed a measure into law 2/28/17 that rescinds an Obama-era rule aimed at blocking gun sales to certain mentally ill people. If we all start grabbing our guns to save the day during a serious situation who is going to decide who the "good guy are"?
Re: the Nov. 10 letter to the editor "Wake up to facts on guns."

He asked why we dont see a similar level of these tragedies in the United Kingdom and Australia

Forgotten history! Our government is not like theirs. Ruled by Britain once, we threw off the yoke of their oppression, as fair and kind as they saw it to be. Our government is ruled by the people, theirs is, rule the people.

We established the Constitution because their form of government was not right for us. Everyone of the Bill of Rights, including the 2nd Amendment, resulted from how we were being ruled under English law as individuals.

Lets not forget about Australia, established by Britain as a penal colony; would any sane person allow criminals to have guns? So, the government was built, to prevent that, and also not wanting that colony to rise up against it either.

We are not the same! Even the Bobby's are arming now!

Michael Martyna

East side
A mothers hand pressed against the glass window of the bus parked in front of the Gary, Ind., post office. His hand, parallel to hers on the inside of the glass, brought them an everlasting moment of closeness that would last a lifetime. The early morning sun warmed her face as tears rolled down her cheeks and angled off a trembling jaw.

It was June 26, 1966. Her son embarked on his journey into the U.S. Navy as the anger and hostility of Vietnam shook our nations foundation.

It was a call to arms. He took no deferments and chose to join. Although the draft was being implemented to bend into place a pool of able bodied men looking for a place to be other than South East Asia, why give themselves to a fools war waged by those people in Washington? Make love not war.

Thirteen weeks of boot training was followed by endless weeks of specialized training, trailed by a sufficient quantity of hurry up and wait. Finally, deployment produced action, with a leavening of shock, fear and furor.

Then it happened.

Body damage, hospital visits and therapy.

Next billet, the Steel City; back home again in Indiana.

The trip home was unfeeling and numbing to him. His service to his country was ended, cut short by an injury that lives on within his person. After he arrived at the train station in Chicago, hefollowed his Master Chiefs instructions, found a gloomy overused restroom and changed out of his dress blues into civilian shirt and jeans. Only the spit-shined uniform shoes remained part of his outfit. There was no band, no greeters or banners  everyone came home from this war alone.

In fact, the spirit in the public facility was as if our country was not at war on the other side of the globe. The day was average for civilians with little concern of veterans and a fight nobody wanted.

When there was talk of Vietnam, it brought with it shouting groups of protestors filled with scorn, hatred, burned flags and torn draft cards. Public ridicule was reserved for anyone linked to the war. Human spit, the highest form of personal disrespect for the uniform, accompanied shouts of baby killer!

He stepped off the public transit bus at 51st and Delaware on Garys far south side. It was his old grade school patrol boy station. He had earned the coveted white woven Sam Brown duty belt back in what felt like a lifetime ago. It had barely been a decade, but his life was different now; gray, clouded with doubt, dispirited and stained with a glut of disgust.

His cane hit the broken concrete sidewalk first. He stood as tall as he could considering the injuries to his spine and thanked the driver with a snapped salute. The sea bag served as a tell tale to the driver when he climbed aboard. His salute closed the loop.

For more than 10 years he rarely, if ever, spoke of his military service, or the sadness that lived within him. Our country was still reeling from the body bags of more than 58,000 warriors coming home. The confluence of GIs and the streaming flock of men returning from Canada did not help close the wound. They entered job lines as equals. It took an era to recover from our shame of a lost war, and the yawning lesion of a country divided.

But time does not heal all.

Bad dreams, vivid memories and injuries, mixed in the alchemy of life, still bewilder and perplex veterans today. Many live with this privately and do not ask their neighbor for assistance for varying reasons.

For some it is a concealed existence in a nightmare nobody could envision. It persecutes vets with frightening recollections of combat. Vibrant, stunning reminiscences of the horrific taking of life persistently disorders their psyche.

So when you see a veteran today  or any day for that matter  think of them with honor, principle and sense of duty in your heart. But remember there is more to them than love of their country, sacrifice and a paid up obligation.

Consider the private torment some will spend the remainder of their lives adjusting to. Profess a kindness as you go about your daily proceedings and grant vets a little furtive space of their own. Surely they earned your respect. For one never knows, in the end, He could have been me.
This is a challenge to every Tucson voter who looked at Proposition 204 and said, While I support Strong Start Tucsons goal of providing affordable high-quality early childhood education to thousands of kids, I cant vote yes because of how the proposition was written:

We must get to work. We must find a way to expand early childhood education opportunities so all families who want to send their young kids to a high-quality preschool can afford to do so.

Strong Start Tucson, the group that wrote and campaigned for Prop. 204, nailed the need  early childhood is crucial in brain development and education. Investing in a childs early life pays off for years to come.

Unfortunately, the proposition language and structure lacked enough quality-control and taxpayer protections that many people and organizations who would usually be counted on to support education and children found themselves in the uncomfortable position of opposing it.

We count the Stars Editorial Board among this group.

Time and again, we heard variations of I wish I could support this, because I support kids and early childhood education, but 

Strong Start Tucson organizers had good reasons for every decision they made.

They made it Tucson-only because they knew a sales tax increase wouldnt pass in Pima County; they didnt put a sunset, or renewal, date in the proposition because running a campaign is difficult and if opponents wanted to change or end the program, they should have to do the work themselves; they asked for a half-cent sales tax  a big ask  because their research indicated voters were OK with it.

But, in the end, voters said no. Some would have said no to any tax request, no matter how worthy the cause. At least one national anti-tax group pushed hard to tank Prop. 204.

Others, like the Star Editorial Board, wanted to support Prop. 204 but, in the end, decided the propositions shortcomings were too significant. We agree with the goal, but not that process.

So, what do we, as a community, do now?

Early childhood education remains an urgent need. Influential organizations, such as the Tucson Metro Chamber and the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, have said that Strong Start Tucson organizers should have reached out more and included them  so their concerns could have been addressed before the language was finalized.

Strong Start Tucson responded that it spoke with many, many people while researching and drafting Prop. 204.

We need a clean slate, and a different process.

Strong Start Tucson proponents made a compelling point during the campaign: That many people say they support early childhood education, but Strong Start Tucson members are the only ones who took action. They mobilized and mounted a difficult campaign, while everyone else just talked about the problem.

For that, our community owes a debt to Strong Start Tucson, particularly to organizers Penelope Jacks and Kelly Griffith. They recognized that if we want to improve education, we cant wait for the Legislature to do something. We must do it ourselves. In that, they are right.

Tucson voters rejected Prop. 204  but, if we believe many who voted against it, they did so because of the structure, not the purpose.

The Star Editorial Board is taking up affordable early childhood education as one of our top priorities.

We will seek out data, case studies of whats worked and what hasnt elsewhere, best practices and whats already working.

Southern Arizona has come together before to tackle big needs  think of the Regional Transportation Authority or the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Neither were quick, nor easy, but they built widespread support and buy-in by identifying and agreeing on a need, building consensus and, in the case of the RTA, obtaining voter approval.

Together, we can do this.
Help India!

By Amit Kumar, TwoCircles.net

Over the past few years, the Indian state has faced increasing resistance from Adivasis across the nation over land acquisition and rehabilitation programmes. Even the most cursory look at the conditions of Adivasis across the nation lays bare the claims of the government that the Adivasis have been adequately compensated for their losses. This three-part series looks at how tribal regions; lives and homes in Gujarat have been left in disarray in the name of development, both new and old. The second part looks at how Sardar Sarovar Dam has ruined the lives of thousands of Adivasis living in the region of Narmada river, and how their repeated pleas to the government have been ignored by the central and state government.

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Read Part One here

Kevadia: Jikubhai Tadvi is a man in his 60s. For some, life after 60 is about relaxing, taking rest and even better, spending time doing what they have always wanted to do. Jikubhai, however, has other plans, and not out of choice. It would not be wrong to say that his entire life can be summed up in just one word: displaced. A life spent looking for answers, yet a life that is not even close to giving up. All my life, I have believed that we will get justice, even though it gets hopeless at times. Like now, he told TwoCircles.net when we visited Kevadia colony, a picturesque town about 30 km from Rajpipla town, the headquarters of Narmada district.

The Narmada river is a lifeline for millions in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Yet, no river has caused so much destruction to its inhabitants like the Narmada. There are rivers like the Kosi in Bihar and Brahmaputra in Assam, both known to cause havoc during monsoons. But in the case of Narmada, it is not the floods. Well, at least not the one caused by natural reasons. The destruction is the result of a government hell-bent on punishing the Adivasi community for their protests against seeing their villages submerge forever, their forests lost forever and worse, asking for compensation. The fight is not now, after all. Ratilalbhai Tadvi, a man in his 40s, says his father told him that they lost their farm when a helipad had to be built for Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who inaugurated the project back in 1961. Helipad, offices, administrative buildings, even parking spaces. Each and every government building you see here (in Kevadiya) was built on Adivasi land. For more than fifty years, we have been asking for due compensation: land for land, government jobs and water for irrigation. And nothing has happened. Why would we protest if we got what was promised to us?

When TwoCircles.net visited Kevadiya, the entire township was full of police: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was supposed to visit the town two days later to inaugurate the Sardar Sarovar Dam and dedicate it to the entire nation. Reports of his speech can be read elsewhere on the Internet. But just six kilometres from the place PM Modi would visit, a group of over 300 people, from families of all those who had been displaced, had been sitting on a protest that has now clocked over 14 months. As the locals inform us, this is not the first protest; this wont be last. Started last year in July, the protest seemed to have achieved their aim when in July this year, a delegation met the Gujarat CM who assured that all their demands were valid and asked for two months to work on them. Two months later, nothing. So the locals went back to protest.

Satyagraha, as they term it, has become a part and parcel of their life. Sitting in the grounds of a government building, the locals, all Adivasis, hail from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. While the protests in Madhya Pradesh under the aegis of Medha Patkar and Narmada Bachao Andolan have got much more coverage, the protests in Gujarat have largely escaped media attention. Jikubhai says that it would be unfair the two protests since they are part of the same resistance but says that he has been left slightly disappointed by the attitude of the media to their plight. Our demands are the same, yet it seems that the magic of our PM is so strong that people are not even ready to acknowledge our demands, he says with a dismissive smile.

What are the demands of the Adivasis

As per the official records, Jikubhai says, 11,000 people were displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam in the Narmada district. I am not arguing against the number because we all know the truth that it is much higher than that, he says. We are just saying this: acknowledge, and account for, these numbers. All these people lost a lot so that we could develop a dam. Can our efforts be recognised? Time and again, we have been promised 5-acre land to each of the families of these 11,000 people. The reality? Go ask around, he says. We have been protesting since July last year. Why? he asks.

It is important for a small history lesson here. In the early 80s, around 4,000 families were given about 5-acre land on an average as compensation, stretching all over from Narmada district to Surat district and even near Ahmedabad, says Jikubhai. However, no one got the amount of land that was promised to them. In the 90s, again, some people were allocated land, but that number pales in comparison to the number of people displaced during the late 80s and 90s. Bhagbhanbhai Tadvi, who turned 44 this year, says, Even if we assume that the Gujarat government honours its promise of offering 5 acres land to each displaced family, their cut-off date for the same is that people who attained 18 years of age by January 1, 1987, would be eligible. Now tell me, this effectively will apply to people who are now at least 48 years old. He says that the cut-off makes no sense on multiple fronts. One, this does not even acknowledge the people who lost land in the late 80s and 90s. Two, people who are more than 48 years old will have at least one generation of sons and daughters, and grandchildren, to take care of. How can we all manage with 5 acres? he asks.

Then, there is the question of government jobs. Kevadia has the look and feel of a typical government town: quarters based on rankings, neatly laid-out offices, a CISF station, etc. However, what the orderly and rather clean city hides, according to locals, is that there are few Adivasis who are lucky to have these benefits. Ratilalbhai, who lives on the village side of Kevadia, says, Look, we have no issues with people coming here and working. No one holds any grudge or ill-feeling against them. But over 95% of government employees are non-Adivasis. What does this show? Our youths get no jobs here. A few years ago, about 400 youths got a job but on short-term contract basis. If the dam has taken away all that we knew, give us jobs at least? Our youths have been reduced to working as daily wage labourers across Gujarat. A dam so big that PM Modi wants to dedicate it to the entire nation, but will he come and listen to us? No chance. What will he say? He was our CM for 15 years and this is where we arenow he is too big for us, he says.

Irrigation in 15 districts? How come we get nothing, ask locals.

The most important, and by far the biggest advantage of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, has been the irrigation water it will bring: the official site lists it at over 18 lakh hectares for over 15 districts of Gujarat. The main Narmada canal, in fact, flows at just over 3 km from the site of the protest. In terms of engineering and what it seeks to achieve, it is a remarkable feat. Over 500 km long, the canal brings water to areas that could have never had the water of Narmada. Yet, less than 1 km from the canal, the farms tell a different story. Ravibhai Tadvi, a local farmer, shows us the canals next to his farm which was supposed to get water from the canal. It is a good thing that he pointed the exact spot where they are. Camouflaged by overgrown weeds, creepers and shrubs, the canals bear a forgotten look, and for good reason. These were made in the 90s, and until today, we are yet to see any water in them. A canal flows right below our nose, but we do not get a drop of it. This year, the rainfall has been decent, so we have been able to sow cotton, maize and other plants. But we still depend on rainwater when a canal the size of a river flows so close. When asked why this happened, his answer was blunt. How would I know? All I can say that these canals made some contractor a lot of money, but they mean nothing to us. They are so full of weed that even rainwater doesnt flow through it, he says.

Back at the protest site, locals are trying to strategize how to meet PM Modi when he visits the dam on September 17. Ideas range from stopping him, to submitting an application to him, to even bringing him to the local protest site so that he can see the condition of the locals. One such person, Ilabhai Dulji, is slightly exasperated when he says, Arey vo (police) hum logon ko Kevadia se bahar bhi nahi jaane denge, aur tum Modi se milne jaoge? (The police wont even let us step out of Kevadia and you want to go meet Modi?.

Ilabhais loss is the same as everyone else, and also on a personal front. Last year, during the fifth month of protest, he lost his father who had been protesting along with thousands of others. He was 85, and he spent almost 40 years of his life protesting. He collapsed while protesting and died in VadodaraI believe it is my responsibility to continue his work. When the PM did not bother at the death of an elderly person, what makes people think he will bother now? he says. And he was partially right. The police presence in the city was as much to contain the protests as it was to act as a security buffer for PMs visit. In fact, Jikubhai and a few other protesters said they were sure their phones would be confiscated on September 16 and worse, they might even be detained till PM left the town.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam and the havoc it caused in Gujarat is difficult to quantify in numbers. What is sure is that once again, the Adivasi population of this country has paid a heavy and destructive price for the development of the nation. This canal sometimes makes me so angry, says Shankarbhai, another local who is at the protest site and accompanies us to the canal. Look at it! So much waterand yet we lost so much and gained nothing. We were not supposed to be poorwe have been pushed towards poverty. Our condition is the worst in the country, he says, chucking his Bidi in the canal. No, says Jigneshbhai, another local. Go to Jharkhand. You will see what damage mining does, he adds. In 2011, Jigneshbhai had toured Jharkhand and Odisha as part of an Adivasi contingent. At least we get clean air and are not covered in dust, he says.

Agree, says Shankarbhai. The canal continues to flow. We should be thankful, then, says Shankarbhai. Badi meherbaani, Modi ji!! (We are grateful, Modi ji!).
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

The very first season of Lucknow literary festival has faced a huge setback after Hindutva radical outfits protested on the venue. Following the protest, Lucknow administration has put a ban on the event, leaving organisers worried.

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Ex-JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar landed in Lucknow yesterday to take part in the festival as one of the speakers. To be held at the citys famous Sheroes cafe  built and run by acid attack survivors  the festival could not inaugurate the festivals as goons from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) started raising slogans against the presence of Kanhaiya Kumar.

The protesters did not let Kanhaiya speak or clear his stance for more than 30 minutes.

Protesters broke the gates and raised slogans labelling Kumar as anti-national who was at the fest to talk on his bestseller From Bihar to Tihar.

The calmness could be brought when acid attack survivors stepped on the stage to calm the protestors down, then after the event could get commenced.

     ,                                  Geplaatst door Mohammad Anas op Vrijdag 10 november 2017

                                                                                      Geplaatst door Mohammad Anas op Vrijdag 10 november 2017

(Acid attack survivors trying to calm down the protesters (From the Facebook wall of Mohammad Anas)

Kumar, who was allegedly manhandled during the protest, later said that he could not be labelled as anti-national as he himself hails from the family of freedom fighters.

Lucknow administration saw the event as a disruption that is why an order was issued on Friday late night cancelling the permit of the event, which has been scheduled to have speakers such as Kanhaiya Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha, Asaduddin Owaisi and many renowned journalists.

However, organisers could not get the hands on the order copy until the late Saturday. The order said that the organisers violated the rules of the permit, hence the administration had to cancel the permit.

The administration has employed police personnel at the grounds of Sheroes cafe to prevent the event from commencing.
Help India!

By TCN News

A one-day seminar was organised on Tuesday, November 6th by the Jahangirabad Media Institute on the topic of Social media as a catalyst for change, which was attended by several eminent media personalities along with students of the institute.

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Speaking on the occasion, Manoj Dixit, the chief guest and the Vice Chancellor of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University said that the impact of social media had become so big that it had become difficult to distinguish between real and fake news. He urged for developing filters that reject fake news in order to help the users and readers.

Professor AK Pandey, the special guest on the occasion, lamented on how social media had created more boundaries between people. Earlier, people would at least meet their close ones during festivals but now we are happy at wishing each other online. However, we must also not ignore the fact that it is due to social media that we are able to get in touch with people who we had lost contact with, he added.

Former editor of Times of India Atul Chandra said social media had made it easier for even common people to voice and present their views on a public platform and had increased employment opportunities for the people, especially youth.

Anupama Srivastava, assistant professor at Lucknow University also touched on potential employment opportunities created by the expansion of social media, while Sunil Mishra of Nehru Gram Bharti University touched on the various technological advancements made in the field of technology with the respect of social media.

The convener of the programme, Dr Manzoor Ghori, Chairman Jahangirabad Educational Trust Group of Institutions (JETGI) who was chairing the seminar, thanked the participants and the speakers for their contributions and insights.

Jahangirabad Media Institute and Jahangirabad Institute of Technology (JIT) under the umbrella of Jahangirabad Educational Trust Group of Institutions (JETGI) are promoted by a number of professionally successful Indians who have settled abroad and have come together to promote higher education with leadership skills to give back to the community.

Besides Engineering in Computer Science, Civil, Electronic, Electrical and Mechanical, JIT also offers MBA course. The separate Media Institute (JMI) offers degree, diploma and certificate courses in media and has the state of art studios and infrastructure.
Elvis Presley fans have been All Shook Up at the intriguing prospect of purchasing a unique item from the life of their musical icon. Divorce Papers that were signed by the King and his wife at the time, Priscilla, on 15th August 1972 were to be auctioned off this weekend for an expected price of up to 25,000.

Rare signature

It quickly became apparent that the obvious rarity of the papers was not the only thing in their favour in terms of arousing the buyers interest though. Excited British auctioneer Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge & Son believes that they not only represent a fabulous piece of showbusiness history but that being both large and bold in their format that they are exceptional examples of Elvis signature.



Aldridge added that during his 42-year life, it was uncommon for Elvis to sign using his full name of Elvis Aaron Presley. He does just that on the prized divorce papers though, with the inclusion of Aaron with two As matching the name that appears on Elvis tombstone and ensuring that the auction lot was always likely to strike a chord with many would be buyers.

In all, Elvis signature appears three times on the papers and Priscillas four times, in addition to those of the attending lawyers.

Settlement details

Included among the papers are details of the settlement that was agreed upon between the splitting couple. Priscilla was to receive two instalments of $50,000 and half of the income from their three residences in Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Beverley Hills.

In addition, Elvis signed over a Mercedes Benz, Cadillac Eldorado and a Harley Davidson motorbike.

Las Vegas marriage

The celebrated couple were married in May 1967 in the glitzy gambling venue of Las Vegas and their relationship was blessed with a daughter, Lisa Marie, who came into the world in February of the following year.

Daughters troubled marriages

Lisa Marie (now 49) was to become no stranger to divorce proceedings herself in due course, having now been married four times during her own sometimes turbulent lifetime, including pop megastar Michael Jackson and the actor Nicolas Cage (National Treasure, Con Air) among her former husbands.

Post-divorce history

Elvis died after a heart attack in August 1977, leading to a period of mourning by his legion of fans across the world, many of whom still cherish his memory and contribution to the development of popular music. He remains for many as the undisputed King of Rock and Roll and the interest in his life and memorabilia remains strong to this day.

Since their divorce, Priscilla has gone on become a successful businesswoman and actress, featuring alongside funny man Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun films and memorably as Jenna Wade in long-running television series Dallas.
Ah, the Special Relationship. Britain and America, the best of friends, from Churchill and Roosevelt, Macmillan and Kennedy, Thatcher and Reagan to Blair and Bush. We stood against the forces of Nazism and Communism together, we brought down the evil dictators of the Arab world together, we gave hope to those who had none. Or, that is what our politicians like to tell themselves.

I am not sure that anyone really believes it. The Americans raise it when they feel obliged to massage our national ego, whilst our politicians discuss it with the sheepish air of those who know that what they are saying is bunkum.

Some, mostly recent Cabinet ministers, bluster on about it as though they are so easily duped by a long-term (pretty dreadful) PR campaign to project Britain as a superpower which they themselves play a part in. The Americans will be the ones that save us when we finally leave the EU by giving us a fantastic trade deal, according to Hard Brexiteers, and we will be retaking our place at their side when doing etc, etc. Well, Donald #Trump has pretty much put paid to this stupid idea in his #APEC speech.

Britain second?

"I am always going to put America first", President Trump quite rightly told the leaders of the Asia nations present at the summit following in the footsteps of every American president since Washington.

Woodrow Wilson expressed similar sentiments in not wanting to commit his country's forces to the blood-soaked Western Front of the First World War. His caution set the United States on course for eclipsing Britain as the world's foremost power. After bankrupting us in return for Lend-Lease aid, the Americans, including President Roosevelt, were still unwilling to involve themselves in the Second World War, after which they provided Marshall Aid on the condition that we killed off the empire.

Eisenhower scuppered the foolish Suez campaign, and Raegan famously apologised to Mrs Thatcher only after he ordered the invasion of Grenada. Key members of Raegan's cabinet supported Argentina over the Falklands War, Clinton helped to force our retreat in Northern Ireland (which, in my view, gave far too much to the IRA), Bush saw us as useful stooges in the disgraceful, utopian wars in the Middle East, whilst Obama thought he had a right to involve himself in the EU membership referendum.

All of this makes it quite obvious who the Americans put first, they do not have romantic notions about the country they fought to liberate themselves from, which they commemorate in their national anthem. We are not brother nations, that was the Commonwealth before we shamefully swapped it for the then Common Market. The Americans have the good sense to live by Palmerston's dictum that "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow." We used to do the same but, since we have failed to really come to terms with our reduced status following the Second World War, we have submitted ourselves to the United States and the European Union.

Who can blame them? It is a sensible foreign policy and has propelled them to the top spot, and when it comes to a clash of interests, whose will do you think really prevails?

On and on it goes

Trump made this important point in the second half of that sentence when he said: "the same way I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first." This is not what the naive idealists wish to hear but it is a sensible approach, for once. His new closeness to China shows that he is at least in touch with the direction that power is shifting. Pax Americana is dying, and no matter what he says, Trump cannot stop this. It is an inevitability, and when it happens Britain will not be able to clutch to America's coat-tails.

No one takes Theresa May's government seriously (if anyone takes modern Britain seriously), certainly not the Americans, and they will have even less respect when the next round of defence budget cuts comes around. After this our Armed Forces will be crippled in a way quite unlike they have ever been, and then our white elephant aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines will not cut much mustard. This, when trying, desperately, to impress a country whose former leader (Woodrow Wilson) once said that, unless Britain surrendered its naval supremacy in the Washington Naval Treaty, another war would follow in which Britain "would be wiped off the face of the map."

We really have to get our heads out of the clouds and remind ourselves of what one of our great foreign secretaries, Palmerston, said.

Of course, we must and should co-operate with other countries, and I have a great deal of respect for the United States (I can think of no other country I'd rather have replace us as a superpower), but we cannot expect to rely on the Americans forever and it is unhealthy to ever have to expect to. None of it was ever personal, it was politics. If Brexit means anything it is that Britain will stand-up in the world, with self-respect and a desire to co-operate with the rest of the world, not as a superpower (that will never happen again), but always working in our own interest because no one else will. We were called Perfidious Albion for a reason.

To this end I think it is worth remembering the words of President Wilson in 1919:

"You must not speak of us who come over here as cousins, still less as brothers; we are neither.

Neither must you think of us as Anglo-Saxons, for that term can no longer be rightly applied to the people of the United States. Nor must too much importance in this connection be attached to the fact that English is our common language... No, there are only two things which can establish and maintain closer relations between your country and mine; they are community of ideals and of interests."

I'll leave you to decide what happens when we don't share those interests.
The present scandal surrounding the inappropriate behaviour of prominent people from Parliament is destabilising, fraught with difficulty and nuanced. The serious nature of it has now been horribly illustrated by the death of the Labour Minister Carl Sargeant, who apparently took his own life. His family feel he was thrown to the wolves and fingers are pointing at the Welsh First Minister, Carwyn Jones who must also be feeling dreadful. Mr Sargeant was suspended without been given the full detail of what he was accused of and Mr Jones was criticised in some quarters for how he dealt with the accusations.

Violent sexual assault and the touching of a knee are not the same thing

Senior figures in politics are now demanding that the system must be fair to all. Only a very short while ago the feeding frenzy was on for punishing predatory males. Some of the issues that make this whole area troublesome include the very wide range of alleged offences from rape to the touching of a knee and from violent intimidation to off colour jokes. The timescale of reporting is a major problem. It seems that virtually no one came forward at the time and now everyone is making historical and some would say hysterical claims. The alleged victims are afforded anonymity, the alleged perpetrators denied even knowing the details of the offences they have to defend themselves against.

The same thing is happening in Hollywood, indeed, Harvey Weinstein seems to have opened the floodgates. Several people, however, who alleged serious sexual offences against the man including Kate Beckinsale and Gwyneth Paltrow, have been shown to have subsequently collaborated with Weinstein and made fortunes, thus indicating that they put career development and wealth above the outrages of sexual assault and the future wellbeing of vulnerable colleagues.

It seems the same can be said of the many dozens of people now claiming assaults in Parliament who felt it was better to say nothing and develop their careers.

Historical cases are fraught with difficulties

Passions are understandably high. If family members were the subject of some of the horrendous sexual and bullying Allegations coming out of Westminster I would sympathise with people wanting revenge that included a pair of hedge clippers and a sledgehammer.

But however difficult it may be, cases need to be proven. This makes retrospective cases, especially ones that are years old very tenuous. A recent example of Rolf Harris serving time for sexual misconduct that took place decades ago, now has him suing the courts, as witnesses are claimed to have been unreliable at best, fantasists at worst. The police wasted huge sums of money trying to prosecute ex-Tory leader Ted Heath ten years after his death for alleged sexual offences on the evidence of a known fantasist. Further problems with safe prosecutions include; No DNA evidence, little corroborating evidence, memories becoming less reliable and the possibilities of collusion becoming more likely.

Motives and resentments can grow over years and the definitions of acceptable behaviour now and two decades ago have changed enormously.

Prosecuting claims has always demanded courage and it still must

In almost any example of a crime being committed against a person there is and always has been a difficulty in finding the courage to prosecute. For years vulnerable people have had to be brave enough to point to the perpetrator and say he did it and rebut the defence the person's lawyers would present. That same situation must still be gone through today to protect the requirements of justice.

Primarily the claim must be raised as soon as practically possible so that its veracity can be effectively tested.

The evidence must be provided to both sides and an open trial gone through. Up until the tragic death of Mr Sargeant the fact that many believed justice was being short-changed in order to make the point repellent behaviour would not be tolerated was being ignored. Senior politicians were making statements that enhanced them in the eyes of the politically correct, but encouraged, for example, politicians to be removed from their posts without any real testing of the evidence taking place.

It is a tragedy that it seems to have taken a man's death to put the brakes on such attitudes and actions. We must not look at this serious issue through a political point scoring prism but through an examination of each case with claims needing to be properly proven before the accused is disadvantaged.

When and if these claimed assaults are proven proper punishments that will deter such behaviour must be put in place; but not until we are certain, 'beyond reasonable doubt', of their guilt. That is not the easy way, but it is the only correct answer!
The leader of the Labour Party demanded in a speech on Thursday, that one billion pounds should be set aside in the forthcoming budget to have Tower Blocks fitted with sprinkler systems. It comes just before the Chancellor Philip Howard announces the budget in two weeks.

The Grenfell Tower disaster claimed eighty lives back in June, was entirely avoidable, if adequate safety measures were in place. Corbyn goes on to say that, The Government is failing to learn the lessons from this tragedy. He claims only two percent of housing association tower blocks have sprinkler systems, even though they are nearly 100 percent effective in controlling or containing a fire.

Labour have advised that local authorities including those in Conservative run areas are having funding requests for sprinklers to be retrofitted turned down, or even ignored leaving many still without the security of feeling safe in their own homes.

Labour's make home safe campaign

The campaign by Labour was launched in Hull where Labours Shadow Minister Melanie Onn visited earlier in the week. The city is home to twenty-six high rise council blokes reminiscent of Grenfell and none of them have a sprinkler system fitted in them.

A letter from corbyn to May is now on the Labour Party website and they have put the call out on social media to encourage members of the public to sign it. It currently has over 59,000 signatures and Corbyn has been tweeting urging others to sign it.

He also tweets, Its simple- sprinklers save lives.

The party have said that all housing and council association houses should have sprinklers fitted beginning with those that are ten storey's or higher. Corbyn has also criticised the cuts the government have opposed on the fire services which have seen over 10,000 front line positions cut.

Corbyn's letter to May

The letter advises the Prime Minister that thousands of families who live in high rise properties do not have adequate fire systems. It goes on to say Chief Fire Officers across the UK have said that fitting homes with fire safety systems such as sprinklers save lives.

The Labour Leader ends the letter by urging May to set aside funding from the 2017 Budget for local authorities to fit these safety systems and help protect the thousands of families that reside in them.

The results of Labours campaign will be seen when the Budget is revealed in the next two weeks by the Conservative Government, and ultimately, if May has listened to the opposition leader.
Heathrow Airport will never be expanded according to claims made by both the Conservative majority and the Labour group of Hillingdon Council, again confirming claims that the borough is against the Government's proposals.

Protesters stormed the latest budget meeting of the council, disrupting the Conservative motion to close two of the children's centres in the borough.

The group said they were part of Grow Heathrow, an area which has been transformed into a squatted community place in Sipson, one of the villages under threat from the planned expansion.

Expansion cannot happen

The leader of the Council, Councillor Ray Puddifoot MBE said: "I have seen the proposed flight paths and examined them. I do not believe there is a way for this to happen."

Cllr Puddifoot also insisted that he did not know why the protesters had chosen that particular council meeting for that particular protest.

Referring to the protest, the Conservative councillor added: "Residents come along to protest the no third runway type of thing, but I don't know what this particular instance was about. Hillingdon Council has always opposed the expansion of Heathrow Airport."

No change of mind for Hillingdon Labour Group

The Hillingdon Labour Group has previously expressed their opposition to the expansion of Heathrow in a council meeting in September 2016 and with it the closure of the children's centres and the financial repercussions of the motion.

They expressed doubts in a press release issued by the group which insisted: "Hillingdon is experiencing increasing pollution harmful to health, particularly around Heathrow, which is affecting thousands of Hillingdon residents with consequent health and financial costs."

Councillor Peter Curling (Lab, Townfield Ward) said Heathrow should not be expanded but simply made more efficient.

Cllr Curling said: "Our Labour Group is committed to opposing the expansion of the airport, as has always been our stance. We firmly believe that if changes were made, it should be to make Heathrow better, not bigger."

Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Business Services, Councillor Jonathan Bianco said: "Someone should have reminded the protesters that they were at the wrong meeting, they should have been at Harrow or Ealing."

The demonstration was part of a wider scale protest which saw one man and one woman removed from the public chamber by security guards.

The protesters were arguing against plans to cut children's centres in the borough of Hillingdon, as a result of plans to cut nearly 1million from the children's centre budget.

Councillor Nick Denys (Con, Eastcote and East Ruislip), claimed that this was occurring across other London boroughs as well.

He said: "We're going to reduce our children's centres from 17 to 15. Harrow have cut theirs from 16 to 10 and Hounslow from 18 to five. The centres were originally set up and funded by New Labour through the Government's Early Intervention Grant. This grant no longer exists."

During the council meeting, the Conservative motion to cut the number of children centres in the borough was passed, with similar motions passed in Harrow and Hounslow. Funding for the centres has been reduced by the central government, leading to this decision to be taken by Hillingdon Council.
Throughout the recent history of the Middle East, the influence of #iran can be felt, both overtly and subtly. #Yemen is a recent example of Irans influence, as a recent Arab coalition pointed to the regimes actions of arming the rebel Houthis.

However, the bigger issue is although the Iranian regime has allowed some inspections of its nuclear facilities under the 2015 agreement, but has denied the #IAEA access to its military sites. The #Trump administration pointed to that and the Iranian ballistic missile tests as evidence that Iran is complying with the spirit of the agreement.

The #UnitedStates has recently indicated a policy change toward Iran, this includes a renewed focus on Human Rights, which was neglected in prior administrations. An official of the Iranian regimes welfare organisation indicated that ten people were jailed in Iran every hour. Currently, the figure stands at 49 people per hour. Hassan Mousavi Chalak, an Iranian official, announced the number of individuals being harmed in Iran has been multiplied.

He also noted that there were over 15 million cases under investigation. 23 to 25% of people have at least one mental disorder, that is for every four people; at least one person has mental disorders, said Mousavi. This is just one area where the social well-being of the Iranian people is being negatively impacted.

Yet, the regime is also contributing to this social unrest by its judicial actions.

Arrests and imprisonment

The Iranian Interior Minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, said last June that 600,000 Iranians are being imprisoned annually and that Iran is facing challenges related to large numbers of individuals living in slums, high unemployment, and even issues feeding its people.

Poverty remains one of the most critical causes of social harm within the borders of Iran. Yet, the funds that could be used to address these issues are being funnelled out to militias and military operations throughout the region, including Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.

Those who are imprisoned for speaking out against the actions of the regime, particularly those who take a different political point of view.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran recently issued a report that pointed to arbitrary arrests, torture, and the right to life, insisting the international community take urgent and effective measures to address human rights.

Medical harassment

One example is the political prisoner Mohammad Nazari being on a hunger strike, which has lasted for 94 days. He is currently being denied medical care, subjecting him to more difficult conditions. He was originally arrested in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison. Despite the fact that his life sentence was supposed to be commuted to 15 years, he has not been released, even though he has served 24 years in prison.

Medical care is a condition of Nazaris ending his hunger strike, which is a direct protest of his continued imprisonment.

Currently, his body is rejecting water and he is unable to walk or talk.

This is just one case among hundreds of Iranians who are dealing with torture, unjust imprisonment, and oppression of their basic human rights, including the right to freedom of expression.

Political prisoners are also at risk of being executed, as the regime has shown no regard for human life in its quest to maintain power, not only over the Iranian people but its influence in the region.

Ramin Hossein Panahi, a political prisoner, was originally arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on June 23, 2017. He was transferred to an Iranian intelligence detention centre, where he underwent torture and intense interrogation, even though he was still wounded from his arrest.

Now, it seems that he is set to be executed. According to a statement from the family, they were told, He will not be transferred to anywhere else, and he will not be allowed to have visits and you should just wait to receive the news about his execution and burial at night and therefore your frequent visits here will amount to no result.

Another member of his family has also been arrested. In a letter to the Special Rapporteur, his family wrote, Hours later [after Ramins arrest], the IRGC intelligence forces raided our house and beat up the daughter and old father of the family and arrested another son of the familyand transferred him to an unknown location. After two months suffering under most severe physical and psychological torture in the intelligence office, he was transferred to the Sanandaj prison

These are just a few more examples of how the regime continues to try to repress its people, but it is clear that families are also fighting back and trying to get international attention on these horrific conditions.
About 100 French politicians, wearing sashes of the tricolour and singing the national anthem have marched in Protest over prayers being held by Muslim worshippers in the Paris suburb of Clichy. Minor scuffles broke out between the two opposing sides, as police tried to keep the two sides apart which consisted of the politicians and about 200 worshippers. The worshippers have been praying in the town's market square every Friday for the last few months in protest of the closing of a local prayer room. The room was rented from the local council but the Mayor decided it should be used as a library for the town's 60,000 residents.

Religion in a secular society

France is a fiercely secular society, and critics of the worshippers say that the participation of a religious ceremony in public is in violation of France's secular values. During the protest, some of the worshippers tried to avoid confrontation with the protestors, while others remained defiant and back and forth chanting resumed. According to the Daily Mail, some of the worshippers chanted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic while the protestors sang the French national anthem.

The protests were led by the Mayor of Clichy Remi Muzeau and the President of the Paris Regional Council Valerie Pecresse on Friday, November 10. There are roughly five million Muslims in France, one of the biggest populations in Europe and tension has been evident in French society since the wave of Islamist terror attacks which have claimed the lives of over 200 people.

Neither side backing down

One of the organisers of the protest, Valerie Pecresse said that "Public space cannot be taken over in this way," while the Mayor of Clichy Remi Muzeau said "I am responsible for guaranteeing the tranquillity and freedom of everyone in my town." Friday's protest was led by MP's and Councillors from the centre-right Republican and UDI parties.

The Mayor said that they would protest the prayers every Friday if necessary.

During the protest, neither side seemed to want to back down, with the worshippers unveiling a banner which read "United for a Grand Mosque of Clichy," while the protestors held French flags while holding a crucifix. The police managed to control the situation to the best of their abilities, but some minor scuffles did break out in the highly charged atmosphere, but thankfully no-one was injured.

This event will certainly raise some questions in French society. Following the terror attacks which have taken place across Europe, there have been some noticeable tensions between some communities within European nations, and in a society such as France where secularism is one of the defining characteristics of the state, the biggest question posed from this protest is how do you accommodate religious freedom into a society that is as secular as France?
Donald Trump and vladimir putin briefly met each other at the Asia-Pacific summit, which is taking place in Vietnam. The meeting between the two leaders would always be likely to raise some questions, as months of speculation rumbles on about alleged Russian collusion into the 2016 U.S Presidential Elections. Following the recent indictment of former campaign manager Paul Manafort, Donald Trump has said that he has repeatedly asked Mr. Putin if the claims are true. According to the BBC Donald Trump said "You can only ask so many times. .

.he said he absolutely did not meddle in our election." Donald Trump went on to day that Putin was "insulted" by the claims, which the Russian president refers to as "political infighting."

Fighting ISIS and bringing back jobs.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin did not only discuss the topic of Russian collusion during their three brief meetings at the Asia-Pacific summit, they also discussed the ongoing situation regarding ISIS in Syria. Both countries have been conducting operations within the embattled nation and a rare compromise appeared to be reached between the two nations, in which it was agreed that no military solution would be the final answer to the 6 year civil war and that fighting ISIS was both in America and Russia's interests.

The Asia-Pacific summit was also dominated by two opposing messages. One was Donald Trump's reaffirmation of his "America First" philosophy, which he campaigned strongly on to be elected last year. During a speech on Friday, Donald Trump complained that American jobs were being taken abroad in order to capitalise on cheap labour, saying that "America would not be taken advantage of anymore." In a completely different tone, China's President Xi Jinping said that globalization was inevitable and that China would be the future of leading that march between a more global economy as the U.S retreats into a seemingly more insular role.

The economic plan of Donald Trump seems to be paying dividends, as the economy has risen three percent since Donald Trump took office, one of the major successes of his Presidency so far.

The Mueller investigation

The Asia-Pacific summit seems to be a welcome break for the embattled United States President, as the Mueller investigation rumbles on at home.

The three indictments filed by Mueller recently seems to have accelerated the pace of the investigation, with many more expecting further indictments to be passed at any time. President Trump still adamantly denies that he colluded with Russia in anyway during the election, and to this date there doesn't seem to be any proof that connects the President to these claims. Regardless of the truth surrounding the Russia claims, not being able to meet another world leader without such intense debate going on about the circumstances surrounding it must prove a distraction to a President who is trying hard to enact his agenda, but seems to be having to deal with controversy more often than legislation.
Schools these days arent like they were when the writer was a child. The thought of eating a KitKat as part of a lesson on instruction writing sounds like pure heaven. However, parents in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, England, were probably somewhat surprised to receive a letter, asking their permission for their kids to eat the chocolaty treat in class, and telling them to call the school if they were not up to the idea.

Step-by-step guide to eating KitKat

As most people know, there is controversy raging over the best method of munching on a KitKat.

Kourtney Kardashian even made a YouTube video to show how she does it (while avoiding getting chocolate on her white couch).

Andy Blakely, a head teacher at Hopton Primary School wanted to find an original way to teach his five- and six-year-old students how to write step-by-step guides in a literacy lesson, and apparently thought it would be fun to use the popular chocolate wafer candy. He wrote a letter to his students parents, asking for their permission and telling them to call if they did not want their child to participate. However, he did add that if any of the children were not allowed to join in the fun, they would still be able to watch their friends munching on KitKats instead, which, naturally, would be sheer torture for all those involved.

Should schools have to ask permission to give your children chocolate? https://t.co/hgWxyBpFwm  Huddersfield News (@Examiner) November 6, 2017

No parent turned down the idea of KitKats in class

Although parents were surprised to receive the letter asking for permission, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner quotes Blakely as saying that no parents turned down the request.

However, the teacher added he felt it important to keep them up-to-date with what their children were doing (and eating) at school. Blakely added that it was never about penalizing a kid if they parents were against the idea, but saying none of them got in touch to turn down the offer. Blakely added that they regularly have activities relating to food technology, art and design and as a courtesy, and contact the parents around five times per year for their permission.

U.K. schools under pressure to encourage healthy eating

As reported by Sky News, schools in the U.K. are under pressure to encourage students to eat healthy food, especially lunches packed by their parents to eat during lunch break. That report quotes a study released in 2016 which showed that only 1.6 percent of childrens packed lunches in U.K. primary schools met healthy nutritional standards. The report said a mere one lunch in five included healthy options like vegetables or salad. The report didn't mention whether KitKats, or for that matter Halloween candy or Easter eggs, came under the heading of nutritional food, but we all know chocolate is good for us! It comes from beans, right?
It's no secret that Donald Trump has been at odds with the majority of the mainstream media over the last two years, and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. After calling out NBC News due to a recent report that reflected negatively on his administration, Trump went back to Twitter to send a warning to the American People.

Trump on NBC News

When Donald Trump announced his campaign for president back in the summer of 2015, he did so by insulting illegal immigrants from Mexico by referring to them as "rapists" and "murderers." As expected, the media didn't react favorably to the former host of "The Apprentice" and the seed of their feud was planted.

The two sides have had bad blood ever since, which has only increased since Trump was sworn into office last January. Trump's top target has been CNN and the New York Times, as he's even given the newspaper the nickname of "failing." However, it was earlier this week when the president went on the attack against NBC News after the network reported that Trump wanted to increase the United States' nuclear arsenal. Trump quickly dismissed the report as "fake news," before piling on the network and questioning their journalistic license. As seen on his Twitter feed on October 12, Trump wasn't done with his criticism.

People are just now starting to find out how dishonest and disgusting (FakeNews) @NBCNews is. Viewers beware. May be worse than even @CNN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017

Taking to his Twitter account on Thursday night, Donald Trump doubled down on his attack against NBC News.

"People are just now starting to find out how dishonest and disgusting (FakeNews) @NBCNews is," Trump tweeted, before warning the American people, "Viewers beware." Not stopping there, the commander in chief went concluded his tweet by adding, "May be worse than even @CNN!"

Pres. Trump refutes NBC News' nuclear arsenal report, suggests challenging its broadcasting license https://t.co/QtD94jvQw3 pic.twitter.com/mxmv8jVQmp  CBS News (@CBSNews) October 12, 2017

Donald Trump has never been one to hold back his thoughts on a variety of issues, with his feelings on the media being at the top of hit list.

Despite the majority of the news media providing credible sources to back up their information, Trump and the White House continue to deny the allegations regardless of the evidence that is presented.

Next up

As Donald Trump and the mainstream media move forward with their war of words, the billionaire real estate mogul has many other issues to worry about in his administration.

As questions still surround the future of health care and tax reform, foreign policy issues also linger, with tension between the United States and North Korea being one of the hottest topics in Washington. While the president claims to be in good standing with voters, his most recent approval rating is still below 40 percent.
Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web
Wei Jianguo, vice-president of China Center for International Economic Exchanges and former viceminister of commerce. Photo provided to China Daily.

Apart from bilateral trade, China-US cooperation will be further expanded to investment, trade in services, cross-border e-commerce and outsourcing sectors. All these will enable the two countries' trade to grow from a single-track to a multitrack pattern. More opportunities for cooperation will be identified among an array of entities like think tanks, privately owned enterprises, associations, chambers of commerce, intermediaries and finance services.

Jerry Xu, president, Michigan US-China Exchange Center. Photo provided to China Daily.

I am very glad that Mr. Trump had a very successful trip visiting China and a great meeting with President Xi. I heard they signed a lot of trade agreements, which is going to significantly improve the relationship between US and China. We really appreciate all the success has been brought back from China; and we appreciate the governments on both sides working together to make the relationship closer and closer.

Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive. Photo provided to China Daily.

The more we invest in each other's countries, and in our technology and your technology, it will build a long and successful future. We are serious about developing this friendship and working together.

Tom Watkins, former Michigan superintendent of education and business and education consultant in the US and China. Photo provided to China Daily.

The relationship between China and US is the most important bilateral relationship in the world today. So, to see our two leaders get along so well, I think it builds well to China, builds well for the United States; and quite honestly, I think it builds well for all of the people of the world. We are welcoming Chinese investment here in the United States, which creates jobs both in China and the United States. That's how you can have a win-win situation. That's good for everybody. So, when we do business together, we can find ways to partner in other important areas.
Several entities not affiliated with the US federal government reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change during the United Nations climate talks, despite President Donald Trump's plan to pull out.

Despite federal efforts to roll back policies combating climate change, climate action "remains robust and is accelerating" across an increasing swath of America, according to the America's Pledge report released on Saturday.

The report said non-federal supporters of the Paris pact accounted for $10.1 trillion, or 54 percent, of gross domestic product by the US in 2016.

"California strongly supports the United Nations' unstoppable move to decarbonize the world economy," said California Governor Jerry Brown. "We join with states and cities across America - and around the world - that will continue aggressive and creative action to curb greenhouse gas emissions."

The federal government's decision will not stop others in the US to continue to make a commitment to combat climate change, according to Brown.

"The group of American cities, states, and businesses who remain committed to the Paris Agreement represents a bigger economy than any nation outside the US and China," said Michael R. Bloomberg, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change.

Negotiators from about 200 parties gathered in Bonn, Germany to negotiate details on the Paris Agreement sealed in 2015.

The US sent only a small delegation to participate in this year's climate talks.
Maryland, one of America's smallest states, sits on the Atlantic shore on historic Chesapeake Bay not far from Washington, D.C. This lovely state has it all: big city excitement in Baltimore, sandy beaches, amusement parks, breweries, lakes, forested mountains, waterfalls, and thriving wetlands. It is a state popular with sailors and beachgoers, and nature lovers come here for the variety of outdoor settings.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. National Harbor  Courtesy of avmedved - Fotolia.com

National Harbor, only minutes from DC by car or by ferry, is located on the Potomac River, and it is a treasure trove of accommodations, shops and boutiques, and places to eat. Family-friendly fun begins with The Capital Wheel, a 180 foot high enclosed Ferris wheel with 42 climate-controlled gondolas seating eight persons each. From the top of the circle, riders have a terrific view over the Potomac River, and they can see the White House, the Capitol Building, and the National Mall. Families will also love the large carousel with its legions of whimsical creatures and the biking and hiking trails. They can also rent kayaks, paddleboards, and pedal boats. Warm Sunday nights bring outdoor movies, a candy shop is filled with plenty of treats, and a replica pirate ship offers its own kind of fun for all. 165 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, Maryland 20745, Phone: 877-628-5427

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2. U.S. Naval Academy  Courtesy of SeanPavonePhoto - Fotolia.com

The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is where U.S. Navy and Marine Corps members receive their four-year undergraduate training. Open year-round, the Naval Academy welcomes visitors at the Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center and offers guided tours of the undergraduate college. At the Visitor Center, you will find exhibits about life as a midshipman during the four-year program of study and a 13-minute film called The Call to Serve. All proceeds from guided tours and from sales at the Naval Academys gift shop benefit the Brigade of Midshipmen. Visitors over the age of 18 must have valid photo identification and must park off-site unless accompanied by an individual with Department of Defence credentials. 121 Blake Road, Annapolis, Maryland 21402, Phone: 410-293-1000

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3. The Walters Art Museum  The Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum opened in 1934 with the intent to publicly display the artworks and sculptures collected by the Walters family in the 19th century. Its collection of art and its building have expanded and continue to welcome visitors from around the world. Among the delights of The Walters Art Museum are ancient Egyptian statues weighing 3,000 pounds, a notable collection of Greek sculptures and Roman sarcophagi, medieval art including works on ivory, Art Nouveau jewelry, and paintings by some of the worlds most famous artists, including Raphael, El Greco, Monet, and Manet. The museums collection of Thai bronzes and scrolls is one of the largest in the world. Guided tours are available for families and school groups, and restless children and their parents will find respite in the creative Family Art Center. 600 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, Phone: 410-247-9000



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4. Activities Near Me: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum  Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum



The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a unique contribution to education and history and is located in thirty-five buildings over eighteen acres directly on Chesapeake Bay. The museum is dedicated to the history of Chesapeake Bay, including the oyster and crab industry, shipbuilding, and sailing. The 1879 lighthouse on the property enables docents to teach visitors about life as a lighthouse keeper, and the Lighthouse Overnight Program allows youngsters to keep watch at night. The museum has a working shipyard used for education and the restoration of its one hundred Chesapeake Bay boats. The museum has a bounty of educational programs and a small gift shop. 213 North Talbot Street, St. Michaels, Maryland 21663, Phone: 410-745-2916

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5. Things to Do in Maryland: Antietam National Battlefield  Courtesy of hkuchera - Fotolia.com



The Antietam National Battlefield in north-west Maryland is protected by the National Park Service along the Antietam Creek and commemorates the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. The Civil War battle, which took place on September 17, 1862, left 23,000 soldiers dead. You can visit the battlefield site as well as the Antietam National Military Service, in which 5,000 Union soldiers from the Battle of Antietam, as well as veterans of World War I, World War II, the Spanish-American War, and the Korean War are buried. A visitors center contains exhibits about the battle and the Civil War, and they screen a 26-minute film narrated by James Earl Jones. There is a small field hospital museum displaying typical medical equipment used in the Civil War period. 302 E. Main Street, Sharpsburg, Maryland 21782, Phone: 301-432-5124

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6. Things to See Near Me: National Aquarium  Courtesy of djflesch - Fotolia.com



The National Aquarium is an award-winning facility on Chesapeake Bay containing more than 17,000 specimens of 750 species. Since its opening in 1981, its goal has been to inspire conservation of the earths aquatic species and resources. The museum is home to eight bottlenose dolphins, a multi-story Atlantic coral reef, an open ocean shark tank, and the critically acclaimed Australia Wild exhibit, which contains an aviary and both land and sea animals. In this exhibit, visitors can watch the flight of kookaburras and rainbow lorakeets and see freshwater crocodiles and the ferocious barramundi fish. The Living Seashore touch exhibit enables visitors to interact with sea creatures such as stingrays and horseshoe crabs, and the Childrens Discovery Gallery is a wonderful place to visit with young children. Behind the scenes tours are available for an extra fee. 501 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, Phone: 410-576-3800

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7. Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine  Courtesy of Andrea Izzotti - Fotolia.com

When the British attacked Chesapeake Bay on September 13, 1814, the U.S. Army was waiting in the star-shaped coastal battlements of Fort McHenry. Their might overpowered the British, and in the early morning hours of September 14, the officers at Fort McHenry raised a garrison flag, measuring 30 feet by 42 feet over the fort, signalling victory. Francis Scott Key was so moved by this sight that he penned a poem called Defence of Fort MHenry, which was later set to music as The Star-Spangled Banner. Active until the end of World War II, the fort is now a National Historic Monument curated by the National Park Service. A visitor center and twice-daily flag rituals educate visitors on the crucial defensive role played by the fort. 2406 East Fort Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, Phone: 410-962-4290



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8. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum  Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum is a testament to the first railway line in America to transport people and their goods. Initially constructed in 1830, the B&O Line was Baltimores effort at competing with the newly built Erie Canal, which carried goods to New York City. It is one of the oldest railroads in the United States, and its museum has the largest collection of 19th century American locomotives in the world. Train aficionados will marvel at the outdoor G-Scale railroad and the indoor HO scale model, and the enormous collection of locomotives, historic buildings, and small objects such as clocks, pocket watches, signals, and lanterns. Guided tours of the museums restoration shop are available, as are rides on authentic vintage trains. 901 W. Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21223, Phone: 410-752-2490



9. What to Do in Maryland: KID Museum  KID Museum

The Kids' Innovation and Discovery Museum, or the KID Museum, is a family-friendly museum and maker space within Washington, D.C. suburb Bethesda, Maryland, acclaimed by The Washington Post for its collaborative and creative exhibits and experiences fostering critical thinking and technical skills. The museum, which is operated out of the city's Davis Library and is open to the public each weekend, serves more than 55,000 annual students as part of regular open museum times and school programming and workshops. More than a dozen Open Explore activities are offered for museum guests, along with several maker studios and spaces offering Open Build time. Hands-on activities strive to foster STEM and art learning and prepare future generations for critical problem-solving experiences. 6400 Democracy Blvd, Bethesda, MD 20817, Phone: 301-897-5437

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10. Historic Ships in Baltimore  Courtesy of nextrecord - Fotolia.com

Historic Ships in Baltimore is a collection of four military vessels from different periods of American history. The USS Constellation is a frigate that served from 1797-1853, protecting American commerce interests in the Caribbean. The US Coast Guard Cutter Taney, built in the mid-1930s, was used extensively in war and at peace. USS Torsk is a submarine that saw service in the Pacific in World War II, and Lightship 116 Chesapeake was a vessel used by the U.S. Lighthouse Service. You can also learn about the ships importance throughout military history. For school and scouting groups, there are overnight adventures available. Multi-ship tickets are the least expensive way to experience these pieces of living history. Pier 1, 301 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, Phone: 410-539-1797



11. Fun Things to Do in Maryland: Oriole Park at Camden Yards  Courtesy of irkin09 - Fotolia.com

Oriole Park is a baseball-only sports venue, and it is home to Major League Baseballs Baltimore Orioles. Since 1992, this ballfield has had a special place in the hearts of Baltimore baseball fans. Built in the retro style of the early years of the 20th century, its seating is comfortable and its views admirable. Plenty of concessions are available whether you want a beverage, a hot dog, or team memorabilia. Capable of holding over 45,000 fans, even last-minute ticket buyers have the opportunity to enjoy a ballgame. Camden Station is close to Oriole Park and is serviced by both Baltimore Light Rail and the MARC. A team store is open daily even when the ballpark is closed. 333 W. Camden Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, Phone: 410-685-9800

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12. Maryland Things to Do: Top of the World  Courtesy of jon bilous - Fotolia.com

Top of the World is a 27th floor observation level in Baltimores World Trade Center, the highest pentagonal building in the world. From the windows, visitors can get a 360 degree view over downtown Baltimore, the Inner Harbor, and Chesapeake Bay. Fixed binoculars are available around the observation level, as are placards informing visitors as to what theyre looking at and giving historical background to the sights they are seeing. A 9/11 memorial wall has been constructed, and it outlines the history of that tragic day. Group tours are available, the tower is handicapped accessible, and the observation level has a small gift shop. 401 E. Pratt Street, 27th Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, Phone: 410-837-8439



13. Places of Interest in Maryland: Ladew Topiary Gardens  Courtesy of louizaphoto - Fotolia.com

Harvey S. Ladew was a 19th century business magnate and fox-hunting enthusiast who renovated the house and grounds of his Maryland home, making them the lovely manor house and extensive gardens that they are today. The manor house has beautiful interiors, which visitors can see during hour-long docent-led tours. Ladew himself constructed the topiary garden without professional help; it is still a wonder after over a century. There are seven different gardens on the property, most of them with water features, and a 1.5 mile trail that takes walkers along the Piedmont plateau and over boardwalks crossing a freshwater marsh and trailing through a wetland forest. There are educational programs offered by the gardens, and outdoor concerts in the summer months. A small gift shop and cafe are located in the Ladews former stable. 3535 Jarrettsville Pike, Monkton, Maryland 21111, Phone: 410-557-9570



14. Maryland Vacation: Cylburn Arboretum  Courtesy of jonbilous - Fotolia.com

Cylburn Arboretum is an oasis of greenery in the middle of Baltimore. The property is 207 acres, 150 of which are wooded. The beautiful nature trail welcomes dogs on leashes and is interspersed with plantings of wildflowers to make the trail even more of a visual treat. The arboretum has twenty different gardens featuring a wide variety of flowers, and there are several tree gardens, some of which have been on site for over one hundred years. Japanese maples, gingkos, small conifers, beeches, magnolias, hollies, and weeping cherries are some of the jewels of the tree collections. The flowers include arrays of roses, daylilies, dahlias, tree peonies, and azaleas. The Baltimore Bird Club operates out of the arboretum and welcomes new members interested in the bird life of the region. 4915 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, Phone: 410-367-2217



15. Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens  Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens



Just outside of the center of Baltimore, the Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens is situated in Druid Hill Park. Established in 1888, the conservatory at that time consisted only of a Palm House, a gorgeous piece of Victorian architecture containing palm trees. The Palm House still stands, and it is the second oldest conservatory in the United States. The Mediterranean greenhouse mimics the climate and plants grown in the Mediterranean basin and California. The Tropical Forest houses plants from Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. The headliner of these botanic gardens is the Orchard Room, which contains over 30,000 species of this tropical plant. Kids will enjoy feeding the fish at the Koi Pond, and visitors with green thumbs can purchase plants in the foyer. 3100 Swann Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21217, Phone: 410-396-0008

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16. Maryland Attractions: Spruce Forest Artisan Village  Spruce Forest Artisan Village



Spruce Forest Artisan Village is a terrific place to stop the car, stretch your legs, and learn about traditional crafts from seasoned artists seeking to preserve the artistic heritage of the Allegheny region. The artisan village is set among historic buildings, including an 1838 one-room school house, a church, and a working mill. There are six permanent artists settled in the village along with many visiting artists at any one time. The permanent artists include a weaver, a potter, a metalsmith, a metal sculptor, a bird sculptor, and a wood turner. Their cabins are open and have items for sale. The artisans chat happily with visitors and are eager to explain the details of their craft. Workshops are held for the public on diverse topics such as weaving, ring making, abstract acrylic painting, quilting, pottery, and drawing with colored pencils. 177 Casselman Road, Grantsville, Maryland 21536, Phone: 301-895-3332



17. Activities Near Me: Chartreuse and Co.  Chartreuse and Co.



Chartreuse and Co. is a once-a-month home goods and antique market that is housed within three converted barns in Frederick housed on a family farm property. The market, which began as an occasional tag sale project, has morphed into a massive monthly endeavor, opening to the public on the third weekend of each month on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. A wide variety of artisan boutiques, designers, and antique dealers pack the facilities each month, selling unique home goods and decor items. Free wine tastings are offered for all guests, with food vendors available on site throughout market hours. An annual holiday market also opens the barns on the first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of November and December for additional holiday shopping time. 4007 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick, Maryland 21704, Phone: 301-874-1882

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18. Maryland Tourist Attractions: Goddard Space Flight Center  Courtesy of superjoseph - Fotolia.com



The Goddard Space Flight Center is a NASA research base in Greenbelt, Maryland dedicated to developing and operating unmanned scientific spacecraft and satellites. This huge complex employs over 10,000 people and plays a vital role in our knowledge of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe. The Goddard Space Flight Center has a small visitors center that displays spacecraft and technology, an educators resource center, and lots of videos. Particularly popular is a video feed of the surface of our sun. Special events are held throughout the year, and a small gift shop sells reasonably priced NASA souvenirs. 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, Phone: 301-286-9041



19. Must Do in Maryland: Historic St. Mary's City  Historic St. Mary's City



In 1634, the settlement of St. Marys City was the first capital of Maryland. Archeologists have uncovered the remains of that early village and recreated a 17th century village for the education and delight of visitors. Walking through the village, visitors will encounter costumed docents who can explain buildings, crafts, and trades, demonstrate their skills, and give opportunities for hands-on learning. There is an Indian village, a print shop, a chapel, a tobacco plantation, and a replica square-rigged ship called the Maryland Dove, all of which welcome visitors. An excellent visitors center has videos and artifact displays for more information about the villages history. Special events throughout the year give tourists the opportunity to watch militia drills, work with archeologists, churn butter, or try to shoot with a bow and arrow. 18559 Hogaboom Avenue, St. Marys City, Maryland 20686, Phone: 240-895-4990

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20. Things to Do in MD: Dr. Mudd House Museum  Courtesy of charlescountymd.gov



Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was born in Maryland in 1833, had an unusual role to play in American history. On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Fords Theater in Washington, D.C. Booth left the theater by jumping from the theater box and fell, breaking his leg. Nonetheless, he and his co-conspirators rode on horseback for thirty miles until they reached the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set Booths leg and allowed him to rest in a family bedroom for several hours to gather the strength for the rest of his journey. Visitors can take guided tours of the house where Dr. Mudd lived with his wife and nine children, and they can stop by the small gift shop on the premises. Dr. Samuel Mudd Road, Waldorf, Maryland 20601, Phone: 301-274-9358



21. Maryland Activities: Calvert Marine Museum  Courtesy of flownaksala - Fotolia.com



The Calvert Marine Museum is situated at the estuary of the Patuxent River where it meets Chesapeake Bay. The museum, founded in 1970, spreads over several acres and encompasses two lighthouses, a saltmarsh, and maritime frontage for displaying Chesapeake Bay boats. The Drum Point lighthouse is one of only three remaining along Chesapeake Bay, and it is a museum and National Historic Landmark. The Cove Point Lighthouse is still active and traditionally used by the U.S. Coast Guard. Visitors can opt to sail down the Patuxent River in a bugeye, which is an oyster dredging boat, or they can walk the boardwalks above the saltmarsh. The J.C. Lore House, also a National Historic Landmark, walks visitors through the history of oyster processing and its vital importance to Marylands economy. 14200 Solomon Island Road, Solomons, Maryland 20688, Phone: 410-326-2042



22. Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum  Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum



efferson Patterson Park & Museum, named for the U.S. Diplomat whose lands they once were, is a 560 acre state park and museum on the Patuxent River. The park is notable for its wealth of archeological sites; 9,000 years of human history have been uncovered here, and there are excavations in progress on the land. The museum has exhibits on Jefferson Patterson and the archeological finds that have taken place locally. An old barn contains exhibits about the War of 1812 and displays antique farm equipment. In the park are walking, hiking, and biking trails, docks for canoes and kayaks, a walkway over the saltmarshes, and a recreated Indian village using local materials and built in traditional style. 10515 Mackall Road, St. Leonard, Maryland 20685, Phone: 410-586-8501

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23. Things to See in Maryland: Monocacy National Battlefield  Courtesy of Zack Frank - Fotolia.com The site of The Battle that saved Washington, the Monocacy National Battlefield commemorates the American Civil War battle that was fought on July 9, 1864. General Jubal Early commanded the victorious southern forces, while General Lew Wallace was the head of the Union force. Jubal Earlys strategy was to fight battles throughout the Shenandoah Valley and into Maryland in order to divert Union forces from General Robert E. Lees army, which was under siege in Petersburg, Virginia. Visitors can see all of the important battle sites from the comfort of their own car with an audio tour they can download onto their smartphone. The battlefield also has six hiking trails of varying degrees of difficulty, and a visitors center with exhibits about the American Civil War. 4632 Araby Church Road, Frederick, Maryland 21704, Phone: 301-662-3515



24. Things to Do in Maryland This Weekend: Ocean City Boardwalk  Courtesy of steheap - Fotolia.com The boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland began in 1902 when a group of waterfront hotel owners decided to build a walkway for the convenience of their guests. It was a portable walkway and was rolled up at high tide. In 1910, a permanent structure was erected, and after the boardwalk was destroyed in a storm in 1962, it was rebuilt to its current length of some 30 blocks, or 2.5 miles. The boardwalk is liberally peppered with shops, amusements, eateries, hotels, and nightlife, and it has ocean-facing and inland-facing benches along its entire length. Always popular are the carousel (which is the oldest in the United States), the U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse, and the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum. The boardwalk is handicap accessible. 4001 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, Maryland 21842, Phone: 800-626-2326



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He pointed out that both sides in this conflict tend to paint themselves as the victims. For instance: the Palestinian narrative holds that the closure of Shuhada street (which Jews call King David street) is a form of apartheid. That street had been a primary market thoroughfare before it was closed by the IDF. Now it is a ghost town of shuttered shops (and Palestinians are forbidden from walking on most of it), which the Palestinian narrative sees as a land grab and an exercise of power and control . The Israeli narrative says that King David street was closed because of suicide bombings and other attacks on Jews, and points out that Palestinians have access to 97% of the city while Jews are confined to a mere 3%, so clearly it's the Jews, not the Palestinians, who are the victims. (That's one example of incompatible narratives; over the course of the day we encountered many others.)

One of the first things that Eliyahu said to us was, "Remember that this trip is about dual narratives. You may feel at times that they are dueling narratives!" The first half of the day was spent with Eliyahu as our guide in the Jewish area of Hebron, which is called H2. H2 consists of about 20% of Hebron, geographically speaking; about 30,000-40,000 Palestinians live there. He reminded us that Hebron is one of Judaism's four holy cities , was the first capital from which King David reigned, and is considered in Jewish tradition to be second only to Jerusalem.

I had visited Hebron once , in 2008, but not on this kind of dual-narrative trip. I was eager to see what I would learn. So last Wednesday morning I woke up early at the Ecce Homo convent and made my way through the Old City, out the Damascus Gate, and all the way down Street of the Prophets to meet up with the group. We were a mixed group of internationals: from Iceland, Denmark, Germany, Canada, the United States, and more. As far as I could tell, I was the only Jew on the tour.

Not either/or, but both/and: that sounds right up my alley . Eliyahu was the first person ordained by Reb Zalman as a Rodef Shalom, a seeker of peace. (Learn more about his work at Jerusalem PeaceMakers which he co-founded along with the late sheikh Abdul Aziz-Bukhari, may his memory be a blessing. And here's an interview with Eliyahu at JustVision . While I'm at it -- let me mention that Eliyahu and my friend Reuven collaborated on transcribing the story of Reb Zalman Among the Sufis of Hebron , which I have cherished for years.)

Eliyahu's trip to Hebron is amazing and wonderful and done in tandem with a Palestinian guide. I cannot recommend the experience highly enough... on Eliyahu's trip, one spends 1/2 the day speaking with Jewish settlers, and 1/2 the day speaking with Palestinians. One experiences what is happening on the ground there. It is painful, complex, and not rhetorical or polemical. It is not either/or to go with Eliyahu, but both/and in every sense of the word.

One of the things I knew I wanted to do, upon returning to Israel for the first time in many years, was to go with Eliyahu McLean to Hebron on his Hebron Dual Narrative Tour . I had heard about the trip from a rabbi friend, who wrote to me:

Beit Hadassah; formerly a hospital, now a museum.

One of the first places we visited was Beit Hadassah. The Jewish community began construction on this building in 1893. In 1912, when Hadassah was established, this became the first clinic in the holy land, which treated Arabs and Jews alike. After the pogrom of 1929, the Jews of Hebron were forcibly evicted by the British. After 1948, Hebron was under Jordanian rule; after the Six-Day War in 1967, Hebron came under Israeli control again. The building was reclaimed dramatically in 1979 (initially by a group of women and children who moved in and refused to decamp.) Now the ground floor is the Hebron Heritage Museum, a museum to Jewish history in Hebron. The earliest material didn't particularly impact me, but the 20th-century material touched me in ways I hadn't expected. The room dedicated to the pogrom of 1929 was so emotionally affecting that I almost started weeping in front of a room full of strangers.

In the Hebron Heritage museum. Eliyahu in front of a mural; pointing at photographs from the 1929 pogrom.

As Eliyahu told the story of the 1929 massacre, it began with the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husayni in Jerusalem who began broadcasting that the Jews were trying to take over the Temple mount -- actually, Eliyahu said, they were just trying to set up a mechitzah for separate-gender prayer at the Western Wall. (About which I have complicated feelings, but that's an entirely different post.) Anyway, there was rioting in Jerusalem, and the Haganah came to Hebron and tried to provide weapons for the Jewish residents there in case self-defense were needed. The Jews, Eliyahu told us, refused the weapons. "If we take them, our friends will think we don't trust them. We know these people." Jews and Muslims had lived peacefully together in Hebron for generations, celebrating weddings and lifecycle events together. "They didn't see each other as Jews and Muslims," Eliyahu told us; "they were all Hebronites together."

But when the Mufti's radio broadcasts went out from Jerusalem, a group of Muslims in Hebron caught his nationalist fervor, armed themselves, and began marching to Jerusalem to attack. They were turned back midway... so they returned to Hebron and attacked there, instead. 67 members of the Jewish community were killed, and hundreds of others injured. Homes were trashed. Torah scrolls were desecrated. The photographs of this devastation are terrible to behold.

Source: wikipedia. Other images showed the desecrated synagogue and steps running with blood.

Many Jews attempted to take refuge in the home of Eliezer Dan Slonim, the Jewish community leader, and son of the chief rabbi of Hebron. The mob called out that they would spare him because they knew him, but they demanded that he send out anyone who wasn't his family. He replied that everyone in his home was his family. So the mob killed everyone in the house. The only survivor was a three-year-old boy who hid beneath dead bodies. (You can see him in the collage above; he is the child in the upper left-hand corner.)

As I was reeling from this, Eliyahu added, "there's also another piece of the story." Some Muslims of Hebron chose instead to shelter and to save their Jewish neighbors and friends. (There is a brief section about that on the massacre's wikipedia page: Arabs shelter Jews.) Generations of Israeli children (and soldiers) have come to this museum to learn the history of Jews in Hebron, which culminates in this atrocity and then the British decision to expel all Jews from the city for their own safety, and then in Jews reclaiming this city and this land. The implication is clear: we lived here in peace, the Muslims attacked us out of nowhere, ergo they are fundamentally untrustworthy. "How might things be different," Eliyahu asked, "if there were another display, right here, about the Muslims who protected their Jewish friends?"

Two Hebron landscapes: city, and olive orchard.

We walked past a building which serves now as a yeshiva for religious Jews, called Yeshiva Shavei Hevron. Today it is home to some 300 young men who study Torah -- some toward smicha (rabbinic ordination), others purely for spiritual enrichment. "If you're a Jew, you study Torah," Eliyahu explained. "It's central to who we are." That building is now under renovation to add a new dormitory floor. This is the only settlement construction within Hebron -- which according to the Israeli narrative isn't expansion. It's not increasing the Israeli footprint, since it's growing up rather than out.

A recently-repainted building, originally meant to be temporary, in Tel Rumeida / Admot Ishai.

From there we walked up to the hilltop Tel Rumeida -- also known as the Jewish neighborhood, or settlement, of Admot Ishai, established in 1984. (Its residents consider it a neighborhood and a legitimate Jewish habitation in a city where Jews have lived for centuries; they wouldn't call it a "settlement." Others, of course, disagree.) It consists of several small yellow-painted low buildings which were initially intended to be temporary; there is a small playground; there is an IDF military base; and there are exposed sections of an archaeological dig which reveal the original steps of the city of Hebron from about 4,000 years ago.

Archaeology of ancient Hebron.

We learned about the small community which lives on this hilltop. (Here's an article which tells some of that community's story in its own words: Tel Hevron-Admot Ishai.) And we learned a bit about the excavations and about ancient Hebron's history. Another reason why Hebron is one of Judaism's historical four holy cities: King David ruled in Hebron for seven years before moving his capitol to Jerusalem. Also, the ancestors of King David are understood to be buried there. We walked past an ancient olive orchard to reach the tomb of Ruth and Jesse (Yishai) -- Yishai being the ancestor of King David; Ruth being the ancestor of Yishai.

Tomb of Yishai and Ruth.

I stopped and said a silent prayer at that tomb, my hand pressed to the limestone. I feel a certain connection with Ruth, the intermarried outsider whose kindness and compassion to Boaz enabled his kindness and compassion to unfold in turn. From their (forbidden) marriage, our sages tell us, came a son who would one day be the ancestor of moshiach. Directly from that gravesite, one can climb a set of stairs to a rooftop outlook which looks out over the city and which I believe was part of the local IDF military base.

Me atop Tel Rumeida.



From there, a quick detour to see the small visible smidgen of a very ancient wall, even older than the original steps -- this is said to be the wall of enormous blocks which the scouts witnessed and, terrified of the giants who must have built it, retreated back to tell the other Israelites that they couldn't possibly conquer this land. (That story can be found in Torah in parashat Shlakh-Lekha.) Above this wall stands an olive orchard, and because that orchard is Palestinian-owned, no archaeological digging can take place there -- though it is believed that behind the wall, beneath the trees, are more remnants of ancient Hebron.

The very old wall.

Then down the hill to meet Mordechai, a young Orthodox rabbi who led us into the synagogue of Avraham Avinu, built in 1540. Mordechai was charismatic and pleasant to listen to; he is American-born, but moved to Hebron because the first time he visited there, as a post-college graduate interested in deeper Jewish learning, he felt immediately as though his soul had come home. He spoke repeatedly of the feeling that he and his community are there to serve a higher purpose and to access the elevated spiritual energy of this holy place.

Mordechai, our first guest speaker in H2.

People asked questions -- what's your life here like, what jobs do people have, that kind of thing -- and he gave fairly ordinary answers. One person asked whether, as rumor has it, settlers receive a stipend from the Israeli government in order to live there. "I wish it were so!" he chortled. "No, not at all." It's worth noting that he referred to this section of land as Judea and Samaria; I confirmed with him that these words are his signal that he believes the land was given to the Jewish people by God, and he said of course. "The term 'West Bank' has only existed since 1948," he pointed out, "when it was the west bank of Transjordan. The historical names are Judea and Samaria."

During the time when Hebron was under Jordanian control, the synagogue of Avraham Avinu was desecrated. One end became a public latrine; another end, a garbage dump; and in the middle, a sheep pen. The synagogue was rebuilt in 1981. Today it is once again a beautiful, clean, welcoming synagogue made of white stone with a domed roof and windows letting in the sunlight. And two original Torah scrolls which were saved have been restored to the aron kodesh -- we got to see them in their Sefardic standing cases; they are more than 300 years old, and they are beautiful.

The Torah scrolls of Avraham Avinu, now restored to their home.

Over the course of the morning we saw several monuments to people -- often women and children -- killed by Palestinian terrorist attacks. At each site, a house of study had been established in order to sanctify the memory of the deceased. For me the most horrible was the one commemorating the death of a one-year-old baby named Shalhevet Pass.

The last place that Eliyahu took us was to Ma'arat HaMachpelah, the building which stands over the Cave of Machpelah and the Tomb of the Patriarchs. According to the Torah, of course, Abraham purchased the Cave of Machpelah in order to bury his wife Sarah there. The building which stands atop that cave is around 2000 years old; it is built from the same Herodian stones which I recognize from the retaining wall which once held up the Temple Mount. During the 700 years of Muslim rule -- Mameluk, Ottoman, and Jordanian -- Jews (and Christians) were not permitted to enter that building. One outer wall was the closest Jews were allowed to come to the interior of the building, which is held sacred by both Jews and Muslims. We saw people praying there even now.

Eliyahu approaches the Herodian-era building over the cave; daveners outside the building.

We entered the building from the Jewish side. (The building is partitioned into a Jewish side and a Muslim side, and has been so ever since the Cave of the Patriarchs / Ibrahimi Mosque massacre.) We walked through a kollel, a place of study, where men were studying holy texts together. We walked past a small indoor/outdoor sanctuary.

The Jewish side of the building; a man in the small tent-covered sanctuary.

Eliyahu told us about the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. He described Baruch Goldstein, the perpetrator, as an Army doctor whose futile efforts to save his friends after terror attacks caused him to lose his mind. "He was constantly living with the trauma of 1929," Eliyahu said. After the Purim day (during Ramadan) when Goldstein turned a machine gun on Muslims at prayer, killing 29 and wounding 175, the building was separated into two -- a Muslim part and a Jewish part. On ten days of the year, each group gets the whole structure to use as their prayer space. The rest of the time, it's divided. (Intriguingly, each side claims that the other group has access to more of the holy space -- and each side claims that the other has a "better" set of ten days as their own. Just a few more ways in which each side feels wronged by the other.)

For a small number of Jews, Eliyahu admitted, Goldstein is a hero; though most Jews would argue that what he did was unconscionable. His acts were immediately denounced by then-Prime-Minister Yitzchak Rabin and aso by Bibi Netanyahu, who was at the time the head of the Likud party. (In terms of more recent Diaspora response, Rabbi Arthur Waskow calls him Aror, "Cursed," rather than Baruch, "Blessed.")

Eliyahu told us the story of how the caves themselves (actually a cave-within-a-cave -- the name Machpelah means "doubled") was actually discovered beneath the building, and how there were indeed bones in the interior of the cave. Some photographs were taken, some maps were drawn, and then the caves were sealed permanently, because the site is too politically hot to be allowed to be accessible. And then, behind grilles and curtains, we saw the monuments to Abraham and Sarah and their descendants.

The tombs of Avraham and of Sarah.

Then Eliyahu turned us over to our second guide, a Palestinian man named Mohammed. Mohammed would take us through H1, the Palestinian side of Hebron, where Israelis are not permitted to go.

Our Palestinian guide, Mohammed.

Mohammed was both charming and impassioned. He took us directly to a Palestinian home where we were graciously welcomed for lunch. We sat on couches alongside low tables in a whitewashed room decorated only with calligraphy quotations (I assume from the Qur'an), and a man and his wife provided us with a delicious meal of noodle soup, chicken and rice, cucumber-tomato salad, hummous and pita. I regret that I have forgotten the man's name, though his wife was named Sahour. Their little girl Malak ("Angel") was one of the sweetest kids I've ever seen; she sat right next to me, I showed her photographs of my son on my phone, and she beamed at me. (Later I showed Sahour the same photographs and we smiled at each other, one mama to another.)

Our lunch feast.

From there we returned to the building over the Cave of Machpelah, this time from the Muslim side, to see the Al-Haram al-Ibrahimi, the Ibrahimi mosque. (Jews are technically not allowed into this prayer space; I neglected to mention that I am a Jew, and the IDF guards didn't ask.) A group of Israeli soldiers arrived on some kind of training tour, and rattan rugs had been laid down so that they could walk without taking off their boots. (Everyone else in the building had taken off their shoes, as is customary when entering Muslim holy space.) Mohammed fumed that this was a clear sign of their disrespect for Islam. One of the soldiers stopped to argue with him about it, but he was clearly not mollified. To him, the soldiers in their combat boots blithely walking into his holy space were just another microaggression in a lifetime of Israeli aggressions.

The mosque; soldiers visiting the mosque.

Our next stop was a rooftop where we met a Palestinian man who told us stories about his life there in the home which his family has inhabited for generations. To reach his roof, we climbed up a few flights of narrow curving stone stairs. Along the way I caught glimpses of people inside the house, and smelled food cooking, but did my best to keep my eyes on the stairs ahead of me both so I wouldn't fall and so that I wouldn't overly-invade this family's privacy.

Palestinian rooftop view.

Atop the roof, one of the men of the house told us about being arrested and imprisoned for three months for flying a Palestinian flag, and about his water tanks being ruined by settler bullets, and about how he doesn't bother to put a lock on his house because the soldiers will just break down the door when they want to come in and terrorize his children in the night.

Rooftop tank with bullet holes.

After a tour through the shuk (which was by and large similar to last time I was there, though I couldn't help noticing that both the merchandise and the shoppers were quite sparse, compared with other marketplaces I visited in Akko and Jerusalem) our last stop was a second Palestinian home. There we were welcomed by our second host, and we sat for a while in a comfortable living room draped with embroidered goods made by his wife. We drank hot tiny cups of cardamom-spiced coffee or mint tea, and ate green almonds which were distributed, with many giggles, by a three-and-a-half-year-old boy wearing a Spiderman shirt which my son would surely have coveted.

Second home visit. Alas, no photo of the kid in the Spiderman shirt.



Our second host told us a series of stories too. His first wife died when shot by settlers, and she was pregnant at the time. Today three of his four children are elsewhere for their own safety or health; only the little boy we met still lives with him, born to his second wife. He also told us that the window in the livingroom where we were sitting (which is abutted on all sides by Israeli-controlled real estate) had been barred from the outside by the army years ago, and that settlers had tried to kill his family by sending a poisonous viper into the room -- he showed us the snake in a jar. (The other things he said were things I could understand; the part about the snake was frankly bizarre.)

Remnants of tea, coffee, almonds.

After that the conversation shifted into a kind of general Q-and-A, in which people asked questions both of our host and of Mohammed. I remember hearing from Mohammed that he absolutely believes that the settlers receive government stipends for living in Hebron, and I remember hearing him say that the Palestinians just want to live in peace, to have equal rights, and to be allowed to move freely around the country, but the Israelis aren't interested in peace and will never agree to it. (I remember hearing similar things from the Palestinians who spoke to the group with which I came to Hebron in 2008.)

Mohammed talked about how checkpoints and Israeli policies of land control make it impossible for him to travel within his own country, and about how both sides need new political voices who aren't part of the old guard. And he talked about how he still has the key to his grandparents' pre-'48 house, and someday he dreams of living there again. I thought about asking what about the people who've lived there for the last 60 years and surely regard it as home too, but I didn't. I couldn't imagine that he would have an answer which would satisfy me, and my heart felt too bruised from facing this intractable conflict all day. (How's that for American privilege? But there it is.)

Modern Hebron.

He walked with us briefly into the edge of the newer city of Hebron, which had a completely different energy from what we'd seen before. It felt like any bustling Middle Eastern metropolis, alive and full of people and commerce and noise. (There we spotted a few Palestinian police; that is the part of town where Palestinian police are the local law enforcement, rather than the IDF.)

And then back to eerily-empty Shuhada Street with its closed-up storefronts. He bade us farewell at the second checkpoint there, because he's not allowed to cross over. "You can find me on Facebook," he joked, "just look for Mohammed."

Shuhada street graffiti: one protesting the ghost town, the other pro-Third-Temple.

Eliyahu met us there and we talked about the day and what our impressions were. And that's when Eliyahu said something I found really valuable: "In general," he said, "when it comes to the Jewish narrative, let the Jews tell the story of their experience; and when it comes to the Palestinian narrative, let the Palestinians tell their story."

Don't listen to the Palestinian narrative about the Jews, he advised -- for instance, there's that persistent Palestinian rumor that settlers receive government money for living in Hebron, which is not true. (Those with a low income may petition the government for welfare assistance, but that's provided to any Israeli, whether they live in Eilat, Tel Aviv, Haifa -- or Hebron. It's not a salary given for simply moving to contested territory.) By the same token, he noted, don't listen to the Jewish narrative about the Palestinians, which tends to be equally wrong. Instead, he urged, listen with compassion to each community tell its own story in its own voice.

It was only then that I discovered that the man in whose apartment we'd had coffee and almonds at the end of the day was the man from a recent news story I'd read before leaving the US. He'd put a Palestinian flag on his roof, and a settler (annoyed by its presence) came to remove it for him -- but got caught in the barbed wire between the Israeli-controlled buildings and his rooftop. So the Palestinian man helped the settler extricate himself, and then the army told him to remove the flag because in that location it was a provocation (although there are several Israeli flags on neighboring rooftops, which are apparently not considered provocative), and he did. (You can read all about it, and also see a few videos -- which feature our second Palestinian host, the man who had the flag on his roof -- here: Settler seeking to remove Palestinian flag in Hebron gets tangled in barbed wire, Jerusalem Post.)

Duelling propaganda 1: "Palestine never existed (and never will)."

Over the course of the day we saw Jewish posters arguing against the presence of Palestinians, and Palestinian posters arguing against the presence of Jews. It's clear that each side wants to delegitimize the other's claim to this place -- Jewish materials note that Hebron is only the fourth-holiest city in Islam while it's the second-holiest in Judaism; Palestinian materials argue that Jews have no historical connection to the land; and so on.

Duelling propaganda 2: "Warning! this is illegally occupied land."

The mistrust and misunderstanding on each side is phenomenal. Eliyahu mentioned that even today, his Jewish colleagues ask how he can trust the Palestinian guides with whom this tour collaborates. Mohammed described settlers as "crazy" and told us that they are all armed and dangerous, and it was clear that he regarded most Israelis as untrustworthy. I'm pretty sure that Eliyahu thinks we need to find a different paradigm, one in which each side acknowledges the other's connections to and love of this land. I do, too. But I don't have any idea how that's going to happen.

I came away from the day feeling overwhelmed and sad, my mind abuzz and charged-up from all of the stories we'd heard, my heart weary and drained. Hearing about the murderous pogrom of 1929, or the anti-Jewish suicide bombings of recent decades, makes me want to cry, or throw up, or possibly both. And then on the other side the stories of pregnant Palestinian women killed by settler gunfire, or Palestinian children traumatized by late-night IDF incursions, give me the same kind of emotional reaction. (For more datapoints, look at this list of incidents in Hebron.) In one set of stories, Jews are the victims. In the other set of stories, Jews are the perpetrators. The cognitive dissonance makes my head spin.

The hardest thing for me is that I can't see how things are going to get better. Of course, one could argue that the very fact of this dual narratives tour is a sign of hope. The fact that Jerusalem Peacemakers teamed up with this Palestinian NGO and with Abraham Tours to make this happen, and the fact that a group goes twice a week and the tour seems always to be full, is a sign of hope. The fact that people are trying to meet each other, however clumsily and cautiously, is a sign of hope. But these are small signs of hope taken against the backdrop of a deeply-entrenched history of enmity and mistrust.

More duelling signage.

On the bus back to Jerusalem I heard Eliyahu talking with another person who'd been on the tour, and I heard him saying that just as our conflicting religious stories often fuel the violence, those same religious stories can fuel our reconciliation. (That's the kind of answer I associate with Rabbi Menachem Froman, may his memory be a blessing.) I hope that he is right, and that our religious traditions -- including the one which I so deeply love, and in which I have dedicated my life to serve -- can help to heal these wounds. But I don't know where to go from here.

I'm glad I went on this dual narratives tour; I absolutely recommend it. But as one of my fellow passengers said on the bus back to Jerusalem, "I feel like I have more questions now than I did before we started." I think that's a sign that the tour did its job, but sitting with these tensions is hard. And I'm always aware that I'm generally coming to this from the comfortable perspective of the Diaspora. I live half a world away. My confusion and grief matter to me because I'm marinating in them, and because as a rabbi and a Jew I feel connected with these stories in complicated ways, but my feelings and reactions are nowhere near as important as the suffering and anger of those who live with these realities every day.

If you would like to see more photos, here's the photoset from this daytrip: Dual Narratives Trip to Hebron. (And here's my photoset from the other parts of my trip: Israel 2014.)

Also worth reading:
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HA NOI  HCM City Peoples Committee has asked relevant departments to tackle problems in granting house ownership certificates to overseas Vietnamese to encourage their investment into the real estate market.

Statistics of the municipal Department of Construction revealed that only 15 Viet kieu (overseas Vietnamese) and foreigners were granted house ownership certificates in the city during the past two years.

The figure was too modest compared to the number of overseas Vietnamese and foreigners who lived and worked in HCM City, the department said.

Experts said that this was caused by complicated procedures, as well as slow progress in identifying areas and projects, which cannot be sold to foreigners.

Tran Hoa Phuong, Deputy Chairman of HCM City Overseas Vietnamese Committee, said that the most difficult procedure was still in identity confirmation.

The confirmation of identity for overseas Vietnamese was jointly conducted by the Viet Nam embassies, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs and provincial/municipal judicial departments of foreign countries, Phuong said. He added that the money transfer from foreign countries to Viet Nam also needed to be in compliance with the laws.

Expert, Nguyen Tri Hieu, said the regulations must be more open while the promotion of projects, which can be owned by foreigners, must be enhanced.

Deputy Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, Tran Vinh Tuyen, in a document sent to relevant departments urged them to speed up the identification of areas which cannot be owned by foreigners, to ensure national security.

The Department of Construction must clarify the list of commercial housing projects, which cannot be sold to foreigners and make it public on the departments e-portal, he said.

The legal framework for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to grant ownership certificates to overseas Vietnamese and foreigners must also be improved, he added.

Statistics of the HCM City Real Estate Association revealed that around 22 per cent of remittances into the southern city flew into real estate.

In the first nine months of this year, HCM City attracted more than US$3.3 billion worth of remittances, up 6 per cent over the same period last year.  VNS
Renewable energy firm Tin Thanh Group has expressed a desire to become a strategic partner of Binh Son Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR). Photo vneconomy

HA NOI  Renewable energy firm Tin Thanh Group has expressed a desire to become a strategic partner of Binh Son Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR).

Tin Thanh Group plans to buy a 5 per cent of stake in BSR in 2017, BSR said on its website. The deal would cost the energy firm around VN3.6 trillion.

In addition, Tin Thanh Group and BSR will propose the Prime Minister allow the energy firm to buy up to 55 per cent of its stake, BSR added.

In May, Tran Anh Tuan, the industry and trade minister, signed a decision that valued BSR at US$3.2 billion, or roughly VN72.88 trillion.

Therefore, Tin Thanh Group would have to spend around VN39.6 trillion or $1.76 billion to purchase 55 per cent of BSR shares.

Representatives of Tin Thanh Group were not available to comment on the deal.

The company is headquartered in Tan Binh District, HCM City, and it was founded in 1992, focusing on energy, hi-tech agriculture and environment solutions.

Tin Thanh Group has VN200 billion in charter capital, which was raised from VN108 billion on January 3. The biggest shareholder is Nguyen inh Quyen with 80 per cent ownership, followed by Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien who holds 20 per cent, cafef.vn reported.

According to BSR, Tin Thanh Group will work to come up with the final contract in November and participate in BSRs expansion plan.

Tin Thanh Group will work as a middle company between BSR and US-based refineries and complete the development of projects before December 31, BSR said.

BSR IPO delayed until January 2018

The initial public offering (IPO) of Binh Son Refinery and Petrochemical Co. Ltd. has been delayed until January 2018 instead of opening on Tuesday.

The companys Chief Executive Officer, Tran Ngoc Nguyen, told Reuters on Monday that Viet Nams biggest oil and gas refinery firm planned to sell more than the original of 4 per cent of shares.

BSR expected to raise about $80 million from selling that 4 per cent stake, Nguyen said, without revealing further information about the coming plan.

The State-owned refinery business has delayed its IPO several times with the latest having been scheduled in November.

In the previous plan, BSR planned to raise nearly VN2 trillion from selling a 5-6 per cent stake in IPO and offload 49 per cent of capital to the strategic investor 12 months later to reduce the States ownership to below 50 per cent.

In the first nine months of 2017, BSR reported VN55 trillion in revenue and VN5.46 trillion in post-tax profit.  VNS
The law committee also urged the Government to add regulations about criteria for strategic investors to select appropriate investors, was critical to the success of special administrative-economic units.  VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI  The draft Law on Special Administrative, Economic Units needed to be substantially revised to make it feasible and to fully exploit resources for boosting economic development, according to a verification report from the National Assembly (NA) Law Committee.

Committee chairman Nguyen Khac inh presented the report at yesterdays NA meeting, saying the Government needed to clarify several points.

Specifically, an evaluation of policies applied to different models of economic zones around the world was needed as a base for raising outstanding preferential incentives for Van on, Phu Quoc and Bac Van Phong.

It was necessary to evaluate the competitiveness of these units and their ability to attract investments in comparison with special economic zones in the region and in the world, inh said.

Financial support from the State budget in initial years, the participation of strategic investors as well as the ability to raise capital for special administrative-economic zones to ease pressure on the State budget also needed to be given careful evaluation..

In addition, special attention must be attached to ensuring national security, preservation of natural resources and biodiversity, social security and living standards of local residents.

The specific regulations for these three units need to be further reviewed and studied carefully to bring into full play their potentials and strengths while preventing competition which might cause a waste of resources, the report said. It is necessary to clarify sectors of priority in attracting investments appropriate to each units, inh said, adding that the three zones should not compete with each other, but compete regionally and globally.

The law committee also urged the Government to add regulations about criteria for strategic investors to select appropriate investors, was critical to the success of special administrative-economic units.

Careful consideration must be given to land and natural resource policies, inh said. The current draft law aimed to create favourable conditions for land access for investors, allowing ownership up to 99 years for investment projects in priority sectors.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, in charge of compiling the draft law, said that the Government proposed two options for the organisation of local governments at special administrative-economic units for comments from the NA.

The first option was that there would be a head of the special administrative-economic unit with no peoples councils and committees. The head would be appointed by the Prime Minister.

The second option was that the special administrative-economic units would still have peoples councils and committees.

Dung said both options had strengths and limits, but the first was preferred because it would create breakthroughs in administrative management with a compact structure and enhanced accountability. However, this could cause abuse of power if not tightly supervised.

According to inh, the supervision mechanism on the head of the special administrative-economic must be clarified to prevent this.

For any models of local government organisation, inh said that it was vital to clarify the relationship between local government and provincial peoples councils and committees and other provincial and central-level agencies.

The committee urged the Government to speed up the compilation of the law as there were still a huge load of works to be completed to propose the law at the NAs fifth meeting.

Currently, the projects of three special administrative-economic units had been prepared by the provinces and had not been approved by the Government.

The NA will discuss the law on November 22. - VNS
HCM CITY  The first blockchain Hackathon in Viet Nam with the theme Vietnam Blockathon  Building Blocks to Vietnams Future is being held this month in Ha Noi and HCM City, aiming to create widespread public awareness and engagement with blockchain technologies and nurture an emerging Blockchain ecosystem in Viet Nam.

The Vietnam Blockathon is backed by more than 10 world-class mentors and trainers and features one week of intensive Blockchain training, a 36-hour competitive challenge, cash prizes and rewarding incubation opportunities.

The on-board training week is backed by first-class mentors that inspire and empower the community to address chronic challenges in Viet Nam using blockchain applications.

The blockchain training week covers engineering, business analysis and product development. At first, 15 teams (2-5 members per team) will advance to the competitive challenge round, during which each team will have 36 hours (from 8pm on November 24 to 8am on November 26) to deliver a proof-of-concept and later pitch to a group of expert judges.

Three to six teams will be shortlisted and entitled to a collaborative incubation programme within the National Fintech Challenge programme.

Winning teams will be entitled to VN100 million in cash after the Hackathon and up to a VN100 million prize following the incubation round. Winning teams also experience valuable engagement with first-class mentors, trainers, investors and partners to realize their blockchain proof-of-concepts.

Registration for the Blockathon began in early November and will close on November 16 at 11:59pm.

The first Hackathon of its kind in Viet Nam is organised by Infinity Blockchain Labs in collaboration with top-notch Fintech and technology players, including Mekong Business Initiative, Saigon Innovation Hub and FinTech Club Vietnam.  VNS
HA NOI  A quarter-century of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and South Korea has yielded impressive progress, especially in investment and trade, said Kim Jaehong, Chairman of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) at the Viet Nam-Korea Business Partnership Forum held on Friday in Ha Noi.

Bilateral trade in the first three quarters of this year reached US$47.2 billion and we expect that the figure for the whole year will exceed $50 billion, increasing by 100 times from US$0.5 billion in 1992, Jaehong said.

Investment by Korean firms in Viet Nam has also increased significantly, rising to $55.8 billion as of September, making it the largest foreign investor in Viet Nam, he added.

On the occasion of the APEC 2017 Summit held in a Nang and on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Viet Nam and Korea, the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) co-organised the Viet Nam-Korea Business Partnership Forum, hoping the event would create opportunities for businesses of the two countries to co-operate in trade, technology, supporting industries, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), intellectual property rights and social responsibility, he said.

Jaehong also said there were many Korean businesses interested in M&A deals in Viet Nam. He hopes that the two countries can co-operate well in M&A activities, through which the two sides can collaborate in technology transfer and joint venture investment.

I also expect the two sides can co-operate in services and education, Jaehong added. I believe that the co-operation between Korea and Viet Nam in all fields will significantly contribute to the development of the two countries.

Yesterdays forum comprised a series of events, including one-on-one business meetings between Viet Nam-Korea enterprises, gathering 100 Vietnamese companies and 17 Korean firms operating in the fields of information technology, electrical machinery, components automation, chemicals, construction equipment and industrial materials.

The forum also featured an Infrastructure Technology Road-show, helping Vietnamese and Korean companies discuss technology transfer and technical co-operation in the field of transport infrastructure building technology.

In addition, the Viet Nam-Korea M&A Seminar held within the framework of the event brought together private investment professionals from Korea, private equity fund managers and cross-border M&A advisory firms.

The seminar is designed to give participants the opportunity to learn about private investment opportunities in Viet Nam and investment demand and strategies of Korean investors, to meet with Viet Nam investees and Korean investors and make connections with industry professionals.

Yesterdays event also included the Viet Nam-Korea economic cooperation forum, introducing prospects for economic co-operation between Viet Nam and Korea and the application of the Viet Nam-Korea Free Trade Agreement.  VNS
US President Donald Trump addresses at the CEO Summit 2017 on Friday.  VNA/VNS Photo

A NANG  In strong speeches laying out widely differing visions on the future of international trade, the presidents of China and the US yesterday stressed the importance of regional peace and security to stable, sustainable growth.

Addressing around 2,000 CEOs at the closing session of the APEC CEO Summit 2017, American President Donald Trump said the US was willing to make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and  will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade.

What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty, and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible, Trump said.

The United States is prepared to work with each of the leaders in this room today to achieve mutually beneficial commerce that is in the interest of both your countries and mine. That is the message I am here to deliver.

Beautiful constellation

Trump described APEC as a beautiful constellation of nations, each its own bright star, satellites to none.

In the early 1990s, nearly half of Viet Nam survived on just a few dollars a day, and one in four did not have any electricity. Today, an opening Vietnamese economy is one of the fastest-growing economies on earth. It has already increased more than 30 times over, and Vietnamese students rank among the best students in the world, Trump said.

He also said that a Nang was once home to an American military base, in a country where many Americans and Vietnamese lost their lives in a very bloody war.

Today, we are no longer enemies; we are friends. And this port city is bustling with ships from around the world. Engineering marvels, like the Dragon Bridge, welcome the millions who come to visit a Nangs stunning beaches, shining lights, and ancient charms, he said.

Today, I am here to offer a renewed partnership with America to work together to strengthen the bonds of friendship and commerce between all of the nations of the Indo-Pacific, and together, to promote our prosperity and security.

Above all, we seek friendship, and we dont dream of domination, Trump said.

Open, inclusive growth

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the APEC CEO Summit's closing day. VNA/VNS Photo

In stark contrast to Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that a brighter future for the Asia Pacific region depends on openness and multilateral co-operation.

We need to continue to promote open economies that benefit us all, since opening up doors leads to progress, while closing them will leave us behind, Xi said.

We need to set up a system of regional co-operation that ensures equal consultation between countries, as well as an Asia-Pacific free-trade system, facilitating trade and investment to bring benefits to different countries and people in different strata and helping economic globalisation to be more open, inclusive, balanced and equitable, he said.

Xis speech focused on sustainable development, inclusive growth and reducing the gap between rich and poor nations.

We should continue to make economic development more inclusive and deliver its benefits to our people, he said.

The current headwinds confronting economic globalization were mostly generated by the lack of inclusiveness in development, he stressed.

Hard work is still needed if we are to bring the benefits of development to countries across the globe and people across our society, and thus turn our vision into reality.

We should make inclusiveness and sharing a part of our development strategies, improve systems and institutions to uphold efficiency and fairness, and safeguard social equity and justice.

We should invest more in education, medical care, employment and other areas that are important to peoples livelihood, and address poverty and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

We should reach out to disadvantaged groups, improve business environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and enable the workforce to better adapt to industrial transformation, so that everyone will have his fair share of opportunity and benefits, Xi said.

The Chinese President also highlighted Chinas awareness of responsibility as the worlds second largest economy.

As an old Chinese saying goes, a commitment, once made, should be delivered, Xi said.

Over the past five years, we have taken proactive steps to adapt to, manage and steer the new normal of Chinas economy and deepened supply-side structural reform. As a result, Chinas economy has maintained a steady performance, and we are pursuing better-quality, more efficient, fairer and more sustainable development. Over the past four years, Chinas economy has grown by 7.2 per cent on the average annually, contributing over 30per cent of global growth.

China is now a main driver powering global growth, he said.

He also spoke about the comprehensive reforms China has made to remove systematical institutional barriers that impede development.

We have pursued a people-centered philosophy of development to make our development more inclusive and beneficial to all.

Highlighting the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last month as a historical process, President Xi spoke of five directions that will embark Chinese people on a new journey.

Responding to our peoples desire for a better life, the Congress formulated a guide to action and a development blueprint for China in the new era. It is envisaged that by 2020, China will turn itself into a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and by 2035, China will basically realise socialist modernisation, he said.

Greatest challenge

President of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the APEC CEO Summit 2017, officially transferres the Chairmanship of APEC CEO Summit to Papua New Guinea, host of APEC 2018.  VNA/VNS Photo

On the sidelines of the summit, Can Van Luc, a Vietnamese economist, told Viet Nam News that the speeches were both great".

What they said proved their roles as the leading economies of the world, Luc said.

Michael W. Michalak, senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director of US-ASEAN Business Counciland former US ambassador to Viet Nam, said about Trumps speech: And now he knows something about Asia and I think thats a positive thing. The more he knows about Asia, the more he comes to understand it and the better off were all gonna be because well be able to work together from a much stronger base, Michalak told Viet Nam News.

Earlier yesterday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called climate change the greatest challenge facing this generation and the Asia Pacific region.

The region has the largest number of people vulnerable to climate change in the world. We are already seeing the terrible effects of climate change in our region, Ardern said.

The summits final day also featured keynote speeches by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull; Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak; and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter ONeill.

Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg spoke of building connections and community in a technology-enabled world.

President of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the APEC CEO Summit 2017, said it had been a success with a wide range of inspiring dialogues on the future of APEC.

We all agree that globalisation, integration and free trade are the most important means for sustainable and inclusive economic development and poverty reduction. We have to do our best to achieve these goals, he said.

After the closing ceremony, Loc officially transferred the Chairmanship of APEC CEO Summit to Papua New Guinea, host of APEC 2018.  VNS
A NANG  President Tran ai Quang has called for APEC member economies to bolster their leadership to find new drivers for growth, trade, investment, connectivity and ensure that benefits from globalisation and economic integration are equally distributed.

Only by doing so, can we contribute to a peaceful, stable, dynamic, interconnected and prosperous Asia-Pacific, he told attendees at the 25th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, which commenced on a sunny Saturday in the central coastal city of a Nang.

Leaders of the 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operaiton (APEC) were also joined by Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde at the opening session.

In his opening remarks, President Quang stressed that over the past 25 years, the world and the region have undergone profound changes in economic and international relations, and in the balance of power.

However, with the strategic vision to promote economic co-operation as the foundation of APEC and a focus on removing barriers to trade and investment, APEC has shown its dynamism, adaptability and self-transformation to become the premier regional economic forum and a driver of global growth and integration, the President said.

It has also played a leading role in addressing urgent global challenges. The Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment and support for the multilateral trade system, as well as growth and connectivity strategies and programmes, have provided a long-term orientation for APECs activities and created hundreds of concrete areas for co-operation, for issues including the next generation of trade and investment.

We have also responded to the new demands of the digital era he said, noting that the fourth industrial revolution has created unprecedented opportunities for development and innovation.

The historic global agreements, especially the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, have set the long-term direction for international co-operation on sustainable development.

Addressing the summit, Lagarde reported to APEC Economic Leaders on the prospects of the global and regional economy. She also shared policy implications that suggest new momentum for Asia-Pacific to continue to be a driver of growth and linkages in the coming years.

The summit takes place throughout the day with two sessions under the theme of "Innovative Growth, Inclusion and Sustainable Employment in the Digital Age" and "New Drivers for Regional trade, Investment and Connectivity".

During their working lunch, the leaders also discussed the topic of "Fostering a Shared Future".

A press conference of the 25th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting will be held in the International Media Centre in a Nang later in the afternoon under the chair of President Quang.  VNS


Viet Nams Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh (left) and Japanese economic revitalisation minister Toshimitsu Motegi, co-chair Saturdays press conference.  VNA/VNS Photo

A NANG  Ministers of the 11 original signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have agreed on core elements of a new trade pact to be implemented without the United States.

The agreement will now be called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), says a statement released today.

While the TPP-11 accord was not endorsed by the top leadership of the countries as expected, the ministers said the new name reflects a focus on inclusive growth, the ministers said after a two-day meeting in the central city of a Nang.

This information was provided by Viet Nams Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh and Japanese Economic Revitalisation Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who co-chaired a press conference on Saturday.

After two days of the TPP ministerial-level meeting in a Nang, we all agreed on the deals new name and not to make amendments to the original texts but freeze the implementation of some clauses to ensure balance and the quality of the document in the new context, said Minister Tuan Anh.

Comprehensive and progressive are key things that we [the ministers] look forward to and we consider the new name reflecting the common goal of inclusive growth, Tuan Anh said.

He said that the CPTPP was a comprehensive and high-standard agreement on the basis of balancing interests of its member countries, with regard to their development levels.

The ministers have assigned chief negotiators to continue to work on contentious technical issues and conduct legal reviews in preparation for the signing of the pact, Anh said.

It can be said that the outcome of the meeting in a Nang has demonstrated great efforts made by the 11 TPP countries to spur economic development, generate jobs, improve peoples living standards, facilitate trade development, enhance regional economic ties and integrate into the world, said Anh.

Japanese minister Motegi spoke about the negotiation process that led to the agreement on core elements.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will be included in the Amendment No.1 of the leaders joint statement and consists of seven articles, he said.

Motegi noted that since the US announced its withdrawal in January this year, the TPP ministers have held many meetings in March, May, July, August and September before gathering in a Nang.

The fact that international meetings were held continuously in a very short time is unprecedented, it did not happen even during the earlier negotiation period, Motegi said.

The CPTPP has revised the original TPP text so that it can come into force 60 days after at least six signatories complete domestic procedures.

The 11 ministers also agreed on suspending 20 clauses in the original text if Washington stays out of the pact, including 11 on intellectual property.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the press conference on November 11.  VNS Photo Hoang Nhu Hoa

Commenting on the CPTPP, Doctor Tran Toan Thang, of the National Centre for Information and Forecasting, MPI, told the Viet Nam News:"At last we have an agreement about the future of most debated FTA. I feel TPP-11 will have positive impacts for Viet Nam, of course as not as much as TPP 12."

The suspended provisions, in fact, will help narrow TPP challenges for the country, Thang said.

Earlier, a last-minute objection by Canada had complicated the process.

Japan had hoped that the leaders of the TPP countries would back the deal on the sidelines of the APEC LeadersWeek, but Canadas unexpected move led to the cancellation of the leaders meeting set for Friday afternoon.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not show up at meeting after holding talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday.

Abe said Canada "was not at a stage to confirm the agreement" reached at the ministerial level, a Kyodo report said.

At an unexpected press conference held late on Saturday, Trudeau said more work needs to be done to reach a final agreement on a revised Pacific Rim trade pact.

My most important responsibility is to make sure that is the right deal for Canada and Canadians, Trudeau told the media in a Nang.

The 11 TPP countries are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Viet Nam.

Without the United States, the 11-party TPPs share of world gross domestic product drops to 13 percent, but trade experts say the deal would still create a free trade area with a high-standard of market liberalisation.  VNS
One hundred and sixty young representatives from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies met to discuss the blocs opportunities and challenges as future leaders in Viet Nams central city of a Nang, under this years APEC theme: Creating new dynamism, fostering a shared future.

Local tour: Delegates on a tour of Tam Thanh mural village in Quang Nam Province.

Educators and young leaders attended the Voices of the Future forum, a key platform of the APEC regions annual event, and an occasion for the young people of the region to enhance friendship, explore local life and culture and talk about concerns commonly shared by young people all over the world.

Culture exchange: Delegates meet and talk with children at the village.

The delegates visited the ancient town of Hoi An, where they learned to make the towns specialty paper lanterns, and the Tam Thanh mural village  the first of its kind in the country and fruit of a community cultural exchange project between the people of South Korea and Viet Nam.  VNS
DA NANG -- The wife of the President of Viet Nam, Madam Nguyen Thi Hien, hosted spouses of APEC Economic Leaders in the ancient town of Hoi An in Quang Nam Province on Saturday.

Participating in the programme were spouses of heads of delegations of member economies, including Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Singapore and Thailand, spouses of ministers and heads of representative offices of APEC economies in Viet Nam.

After a warm welcome at the Hoai River Square, the women toured the old town, a UNESCO-recognised world heritage site, and its old quarter.

They also visited the Hoi An Silk Village, a living museum of traditional handicraft.

The silk village, one of seven founding members of the Asia Silk Alliance, was voted the third best attraction in Hoi An by travel website TripAdvisor in 2014.

Madam Hien also hosted a reception at the Naman Retreat Resort a Nang, where the spouses enjoyed Vietnamese delicacies and cultural performances.  VNS
By Le Huong & Hong Van

Autumn sunlight colours busy Phung Hung street in downtown Ha Noi, but the street also seems brighter these days as murals appear on boring stone vaulting.

Six painters from South Korea together with dozens of Vietnamese workers have been working at the site for the past few days carrying out an art project by Hoan Kiem Peoples Committee, UN-Habitat and the Korea Foundation.

Four of the sealed 131 viaduct spans have been opened to traffic again.

The South Korean artists will paint eight murals on seven vaults, while Vietnamese artists will be in charge of other ten murals, one mural will be a joint-work by both South Korean and Vietnamese artists. The whole project will be completed by the end of this month.

In 2016, our foundation and UN Habitat implemented a similar mural painting project in Tam Thanh Village in the central province of Quang Nam. And this year, Hoan Kiem Peoples Committee invited us again to join a similar, public decorating project. said Park Kyoung Chul, director of the Korea Foundation, We hope to create a cultural space for Vietnamese and international people. Besides, this year marks the twenty fifth anniversary of South Korea- Viet Nam diplomatic friendship, so the project honours that.

The topics for the paintings are memories of old Ha Noi, he said, Vietnamese artists will not find the topic as difficult as the South Korean artists. We hope to bring a fresher look to a Ha Noi through the eyes of foreign guests.

Hard at work: An artist prepares part of a site. VNS Photo Le Huong

Lee Gang Jun, a curator who has joined the project in Tam Thanh Village, has been invited to act as the art director for the project while another six artists were chosen in selection rounds," Park said.

I have been living in Viet Nam for the past three years. The city has various beautiful places, historic relics, restaurants and food courts. We hope when the project finishes, this street will be another attraction for local youth and tourists. It will match with the surrounding existing Old Quarter.

According to Lee, the local builders help installed the foundation surface for the paintings. The new sheets were attached to the vaults with metal frames and match the vault areas. Then painters uses outdoor acrylic paints or other materials, including metals and electric wires for the works.

The previous project we implemented in a quiet rural village, Lee said, This time we work in the middle of the capital, which gathers the history, culture and tourism of the nation.

Lee said that before coming to the site, there were concerns about how to paint murals of old Ha Noi so that Vietnamese people sensed our enthusiasm for the city.

Past glory: All of the murals feature Ha Noi in the old time. VNS Photo Le Huong

When I reached the site and looked at such beautiful stone vaults, I was worried that our new paintings could satisfy Vietnamese audiences, he said, We will try our best to send the message we put in the paintings to Vietnamese people.

Lee said they are avoiding drawing directly on the stone surface of the vaults for fear that the paint might not work well on the stone surface, which may absorb rain water.

One of the artists busy at work at the site, Lee Seung Hyun, from Seoul, is visiting Viet Nam for the first time.

Among the paintings I have received to draw here, I like the scenes of the Old Quarter. I think such old scenes will help todays Hanoian imagine the old capital and also may think of a better way to develop the city in the future.

Before going to the city, I marked on my map the places offering the best food in the city to try during my time here. Im excited to try everything, he said.

A resident in the street, ang Van Su, said the street now looked like a tourism hub in Malaysia rather than a grey corner of the city. "I hope Ha Noi will have more beautiful corners of creation like this."

Korean help: Lee Gang Jun, art director of the project (left) talks to a painter at the site. VNS Photo Le Huong

The railroad viaduct, which starts from Phung Hung-Tran Phu crossroads and runs to Long Bien Train Station, passing through Phung Hung and Gam Cau streets, is 1.2km long, with a slope steepness of zero to six metres.

The vaults, built in 1900 and finished in 1902, are 3.5m to 4.5m high and cover about 16sq.m area each.

The viaduct is part of the historic Long Bien Bridge, which carries the rail connecting Ha Noi with the port city of Hai Phong.

The bridge, more than 100 years old, spans three centuries and is considered an important and central part of Ha Nois development, as well as history.

Not long: The whole project is planned to be finished by the end of November. VNS Photo Le Huong

In the 1960s, the bridge was an arterial track to transport passengers and commodities.

In 1971, a severe flood occurred in the Red River region; the areas in Phuc Xa, Phuc Tan and Chuong Duong were inundated, compelling residents to evacuate the city centre. The vaults under the viaduct, at that time, became a shelter for the people in need.

In the 1970s, diesel locomotives replaced the old steam locomotives, which helped increase the load capacity significantly. In addition to this, the vaults under the viaduct also became a hub for beggars and drug addicts.

Therefore, in the period between 1978 and 1983, up to 127 vaults were sealed with cement to strengthen the viaduct and keep out anti-social elements.  VNS
HA NOI  A new constitution in 2013 featuring several new guidelines and views of the Party and the State, made it necessary to introduce amendments to the law on national defence to match the present reality, said Minister of Defence Ngo Xuan Lich in an address to the National Assembly yesterday during its fourth meeting.

The law on national defence was approved by the National Assembly in June, 2005, and started to take effect in 2006.

Lich said that in the last 10 years, implementation of the law had made numerous important achievements, helping to ensure the countrys sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security and order, which ultimately contribute to the countrys socio-economic development.

However, the defence minister said that the 2013 constitutions principles regarding national defence had not been institutionalised, and some content of the 2005 law was not compatible or synchronised with the existing system of legal documents.

He said the demands of new reality, in which besides traditional forms of war there had emerged several new forms  unconventional warfare, proxy warfare, cyber warfare, information warfare; and hi-tech weapons together with electronic warfare would be the primary tools deployed from the beginning and during the war. On the other hand, the world had been witnessing increasingly unpredictable changes in the manner, size, scope, space, time, environment, forces and warfare tactics involved in war-waging, he added.

In order to effectively prevent wars and have winning responses in all possible scenarios in all forms of warfares, there needs to be amendments introduced to the law, which would create a higher legal corridor for national building and defence, ensuring a peaceful and politically stable environment to serve the countrys development, the defence minister said.

The defence minister also told the NA that the draft law was built as a framework law, only providing essential over-arching guidelines and policies, while allowing for more flexibility to adapt to changing practical conditions.

Vo Trong Viet, chairman of the NAs National Defence and Security Committee, reporting on the committees assessment of the proposed draft law, said the committee agreed the defence law would need to be amended. The committee also noted that the draft law had been built and presented in line with existing regulations on legal document promulgation and was eligible for submission to the National Assembly.

However, the lawmaking agency should make clear the issues and obstacles, giving assessments of new policies such as military zone defence, and add regulations on martial law and curfew, Viet said.  VNS
HA NOI  Communist Party of China General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump will make two-day state visits to Viet Nam this month.

The Chinese leader will begin his visit tomorrow.

Viet Nam and China established diplomatic ties on January 18, 1950. China remains Viet Nams biggest trade partner and largest tourism market, while Viet Nam is Chinas biggest partner in ASEAN and ninth-biggest in the world.

Two-way trade value increased from US$32 million in 1991 to $70.5 billion in 2016. The figure reached $55.23 billion in the first eight months of this year, with Viet Nams trade deficit with China standing at $17.77 billion, down 5.4 per cent year-on-year.

Trump begins visit

US President Donald Trump will begin his visit today.

Viet Nam and the US established diplomatic ties on July 12, 1995. Positive strides have been recorded in bilateral relations in all spheres since the countries established a comprehensive partnership in July 2013.

Over the past years, the US has become one of Viet Nams leading trade partners. Bilateral trade has continually grown by about 20 per cent each year. Despite a trade deficit with Viet Nam, the US has enjoyed a rapid export growth rate of 77 per cent annually, four times higher than the growth of Viet Nams shipments to the US.

Total US investment in Viet Nam has surpassed $10 billion.  VNS
News / Africa

by Stephen Jakes

A Zimbabwean political commentator and former journalists Pedzisai Ruhanya was on Tuesday robbed of his laptop and iphone while in a shop at Johannesburg.Relating his ordeal Ruhanya said on Tuesday morning around 9.15 am while buying airtime at a Cell-C shop at Campus Square shops two minutes away from the University of Johannesburg's Kingsway Campus, he was robbed of his Mac Pro laptop, iPhone and his laptop bag that contained research documents, apartment keys, books etc."This was after robbers entered the shop the employers to surrender the keys to the safe and shouted, 'lie down, its robbers'. Was caught in the crossfire but survived without any fiscal harm. That was my reception to Joburg. Very scary. Have lost all my contacts guys but will be in touch shortly.God is great and alive comrades. Our country maybe politically and economic rotten but not this. Dewa Mavhinga is a real brother. Admire Mare, Vava and Tamuka, thanks a lot," he posted on Facebook.
HA NOI  The 31st ASEAN Summit (ASEAN-31) and related meetings, which will be held in Manila, the Philippines, from Sunday to Tuesday, are set to focus on orientations and measures for enhancing connectivity to realise the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will lead a high-ranking delegation of Viet Nam to the ASEAN-31, the 20th ASEAN+3 Summit (with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), the ASEAN+1 meetings (with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, the US, Canada, the European Union, and the United Nations), and the 12th East Asia Summit.

These are the most important events of the year of ASEAN with the participation of leaders of the 10 ASEAN member nations and the blocs partners, which are major countries and important regional and international organisations.

On this occasion, PM Phuc will also take part in the 9th Mekong  Japan Summit and a meeting of leaders of countries joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

At the ASEAN-31 and meetings between ASEAN and partners, participating leaders are scheduled to discuss orientations and measures for strengthening connectivity to realise the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, thereby sending a message about an ASEAN of peace, stability and self-reliance that is open to the world.

They will also look into ways to bolster ASEANs co-operation with partners while mulling over regional and international issues of mutual concern.

They are expected to sign one document, approve 25 documents and recognise 20 others. The host Philippines is set to issue nine declarations of the Chair of the meetings.

Amid complex developments in the region and the world, growing protectionism and emerging challenges, this times meetings will emphasise the intensification of ASEANs solidarity and central role. They also aim to help fuel economic growth, narrow development gap and improve the ASEAN Communitys capacity so as to have a self-reliant ASEAN benefiting people in the member countries and ensuring peace, security and stability in the region.

The building of the ASEAN Community continues to reap many positive outcomes as seen in the progress of implementing commitments in the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the accompanied blueprints, namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint.

Notably, ASEAN specified the inter-sectoral and inter-pillar issues in which cooperation needed to be fostered, including human trafficking prevention and control, sea-related security and cooperation, counter-terrorism, cyber security, maintaining and building post-conflict peace, human rights, drug control, environmental crime, fighting money laundry and trans-national crime, nuclear security and safety, and border management.

The recent ASEAN Community building progress has given more priority to women; children; micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises; promoting co-operation programmes on economic development and development gap narrowing; increasing connectivity; and ensuring social welfares.

The ASEAN Community Vision 2025 is also associated with the UNs 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which demonstrates the blocs efforts to become an active member of the international community.

Meanwhile, the groupings relations with its dialogue partners have been reinforced. ASEAN currently has dialogue relations with 11 partners, including seven strategic partners. Eighty-eight partners have also sent ambassadors to ASEAN.

While a number of countries and organisations want to establish relations with ASEAN, many non-ASEAN nations have expressed their interest in joining the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia.

These partners have also tightened multifaceted cooperation with ASEAN, assisted it to build a Community and supported the blocs central role.

The Vietnamese delegations participation in ASEAN-31 and related meetings is meant to help enhance ASEANs solidarity, bring into play the associations central role, strengthen ASEANs ties with partners, and create a favourable environment for sustainable development in each country and the whole region.

The delegation also hopes to promote Viet Nams image as a country with active and responsible engagement in regional cooperation.  VNS
PHU YEN  A total of 89 people were killed, 1,140 fishing vessels either sunk or damaged and 24,000 aquaculture cages for lobsters, groupers and cobia were lost during Typhoon Damrey.

More than 1,000ha of intensive shrimp growing fields and 570ha of molluscs were also damaged. Total losses suffered by the Khanh Hoa Provinces aquaculture sector is estimated at VN 3.7 trillion (US$162.9 million)  the highest loss sustained by any sector.

This accounted for 50 per cent of the provinces total storm losses.

Typhoon Damrey also flooded thousands of hectares of land and destroyed the livelihoods of lobster farmers in the south-central region.

As the wind and rain subsided, lobster farmers from Xuan Thinh Commune in Song Cau township in Phu Yen Province, hailed as the lobster kingdom of the central region, hurried towards the sea to check on the cages for the crustaceans if there were any left.

The farmers were shocked, saying they had never experienced such heavy losses, up to billions of ong, and they are not sure when they could resume production.

One day after the storm, Vinh Hoa Village looked like a battlefield with lobster cages battered by sea waves piled up on the beach. The men scoured carefully through each pile, hoping to find undamaged cages.

Nearly all households in the village raise lobsters, thousands of them.

Nguyen Thai Hoang and Bui Van Bat each lost VN 2 billion (US$88,060). There has never been such a strong typhoon through here, and it lasted too long. I own 20 cages, but after the storm, I found only one, and it was already broken and there were no lobsters inside, Hoang said.

Sharing the sentiment, Bat said that the typhoon had reduced his family from prosperity to nearly empty-handed.

Salvage: Even with strong waves, lobster farmers in Song Cau township in Phu Yen Province try to save some fo their lobster pots.  Photo vov.vn

Vinh Hoa area has a high concentration of lobster farms. Most of the cages are pinned to the bottom of the sea. Before the storm arrived, residents spent days strapping the cages together, but their efforts came to nothing against violent waves as high as six metres.

Vo Thi Ngan, a resident of Vinh Hoa Village, said her family lost 100,000 lobsters to the storm.

The forecast said the typhoons path would not pass directly through here, so we didnt prepare carefully enough. Now we have lost everything, Ngan told the Voice of Viet Nam.

Local authorities and border guards have arrived to inspect losses and to help lobster farmers.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Anh Long, chief of Xuan Thinh station, said guards had begun attempts to catch cages floating at sea, and identify the owners.

The loss is serious, but there are no proper statistics yet. Local residents and authorities are trying to lessen the losses and overcome the storms consequences, he said

Lying some 100km to the south of Vinh Hoa Village is another lobster kingdom, the Van Gia Township of Van Ninh District in neighbouring Khanh Hoa Province, which suffered even more disastrous impacts.

The township boasted about 281 lobster and marine fish farms, but nearly all of them suffered losses from the typhoon.

Le Hong Phuong, Party Secretary of Van Gia, said: The losses to people here might reach millions of dollars."

Beached: A fisherman in Khanh Hoa repairs his fishing boat following damage caused by typhoon Damrey.  VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Ly

Nguyen Thi Loi, a 40-year-old resident, said the money she spent to buy 5,000 lobsters she just lost together with money to buy food for the lobsters reached nearly VN10 billion ($440,300) - all of it from bank loans.

Nearly all the households in the area share Lois story.

Nguyen Ngoc Y, head of the economic office of the Van Ninh District, said there were 12,400 fishing and lobster cages in the area, but the storm  wiped nearly all of them out.

Vo Luc Pham, vice-chairman of Van Ninh District Peoples Committee, said that the district has asked banks for a loan extension.

The only thing my husband and I have left is our lives, Loi said, looking vacantly towards the raging sea and the beach littered with trash and covered by the stench of dead fish and lobsters.

Aquaculture production and exploitation have always been a strength of Khanh Hoa Province. In recent years, with support from the Government for offshore fishing, fishermen have invested billions of ong in new fishing vessels.

However, the typhoon has destroyed the hard-earned investments of many: fishing nets and tools were broken, vessels were washed ashore and heavily battered.

Tran Thi Chuyen, 53 year old fisherman from Ninh Ich Commune in Ninh Hoa Township, said she was worried about the future since her entire livelihood was dependent on seafaring. Her house was also wrecked by the typhoon.

Pham Ngoc Khanh, vice-chairman of Ninh Ich Commune, said it would take a long time for fishermen and aquaculture producers to get back on their feet, and the locality would really appreciate support from the State.  VNS
QUY NHON  Although Typhoon Damrey has been calm for a week, ten shipwrecks remain under the Quy Nhon sea as ship owners struggle to rescue them.

On Thursday morning, 26 divers mobilised by the Ministry of Defence and Viet Nam Peoples Navy collaborated to conduct a search and rescue operation. The forces approached Jupiter, one of the ten shipwrecks, trying to find stuck cadavers. Due to bad weather, however, the mission was not completed.

Nguyen Thanh Thang, owner of Jupiter, said that the ship was flipped horizontally with seven missing crew members. Only two bodies were found.

We prioritise human life, he said. Searching for missing crew members is the foremost mission before taking further steps.

On the same day, Ho Quoc Dung, head of Binh inh Province Peoples Committee, told Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that marine salvage would be conducted by ship owners and Quy Nhon Port Authority under the monitoring of the Peoples Committee. The process also involves insurance agencies which, except for Bao Viet Company, have not yet participated.

Le Manh Tien, deputy head of staff of Viet Nam National Committee for Search and Rescue, said that Viet Nam Maritime Administration asked ship owners to organise ship salvage as soon as possible. The process needs to be conducted carefully to avoid oil leak. They have to unload ships and pump oil out before carrying marine salvage, he added.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Cong Khoa, 46, owner of Nam Khanh 2 ship, said that he was under huge pressure to salvage the ship.

My ship sank near outer buoys No.5 and 6 and was broken into three pieces. More than VN20 billion (US$880,000)... all gone. Therefore, immediate marine salvage is nearly impossible since we have to seek reliable professionals at affordable prices, he said.

Additionally, Nguyen ien, representative of Bien Bac 16 ship, said that they needed to collaborate with insurance agencies to handle the case. We have worked with the insurance agency and contractors to draw up the plan. However, we are under pressure from the local authority who have asked us to quickly operate the salvage. Until now, no service has met our requirements, he added.

Early this week, on Tuesday, Tran Hong Ha, Natural Resources and Environment Minister, requested ship owners sign contracts with Oil Spill Response Centre for proper solutions. Moreover, he called for parties involved to keep salvage costs as low as possible. After investigation, a detailed rescue plan should be proposed to Binh inh Province Peoples Committee, he said. Central agencies would collaborate with local authorities to monitor the process.

The provincial Peoples Committee on Wednesday released a document to criticise Quy Nhon Port Authority officials for their inadequate responses to Damrey and ask them to quickly report the causes of shipwrecks.  VNS
CEDAR FALLS  Authorities continue to investigate an early Saturday shooting near College Hill that left one man dead and another injured.

Alex Michael Bullerman, 18, of Waterloo, died of a single gunshot wound after he was found behind an apartment building at 2303 Olive St., according to Cedar Fall police.

A short time later, 18-year-old Dylan James Gehrke, also of Waterloo, arrived at a hospital by private vehicle with a single gunshot wound to his lower right leg. He was treated and released from the hospital.

Police Chief Jeff Olson said there doesnt appear to be an ongoing threat in the College Hill area, but said Cedar Falls police will give the area additional attention.

At this point, we dont believe there is an ongoing threat, but we will have a little more of a presence there, Olson said.

Details of the shooting werent immediately available, but Olson said the two victims had been at a College Street establishment earlier that evening and were injured when gunfire erupted outside after they left. Olson said it appeared the victims were targeted.

Witnesses called police around 12:45 a.m. Saturday after hearing several shots, and officers with the Waterloo Police Department, University of Northern Iowa Police as well as Black Hawk County sheriffs deputies and state troopers assisted Cedar Falls officers.

It wasnt clear how many shots were fired or if a weapon has been found.

On Saturday, authorities blocked off the section of 23rd Street near the Olive Street intersection as well as adjacent buildings and the parking lot in the 2200 block of Olive behind the College Street businesses.

The slaying comes one week after Cedar Falls police responded to gunfire in the same area, but Olson said the two incidents dont appear to be related. In that incident, an Evansdale man allegedly broken into an apartment at 2304 Olive St. and a parked vehicle in the early morning hours of Nov. 3 and then fired a shotgun in the air when he was confronted by people in a nearby parking lot.

Anyone with information regarding Saturday mornings shooting is asked to contact the Cedar Falls Police Department at (319) 273-8612.
CHARLES CITY  A new ordinance that passed a third and final reading at a Charles City Council meeting last week will allow the city to more actively combat chronic nuisance properties.

Council members unanimously the ordinance. It declares a chronic nuisance property as one where nuisance activities have occurred at least three times in the past 12 months and require a law enforcement response.

City-owned properties are exempt.

The law is unrelated to the ordinance that would allow landlords to keep a log of all residents living in their properties. That proposal has not been discussed in a city meeting.

City Administrator Steven Diers said a nuisance activity can range from fights, illegal drug activity, assaults and similar violations.

He said after two such incidents, police can notify the property owner the property will become a chronic nuisance property after the next offense.

If a third incident occurs, police will issue another notice. If the owner fails to respond, the property owner will be fined at least $750.

This is something weve been working on for nine to 10 months, Diers said Thursday. And we have certain properties where there always seems to be junk vehicles or a fight breaks out, stuff like that ... thats really the point of this ordinance.

Diers said the ordinance was modeled after similar versions throughout Iowa because of their success.

Its based on what weve seen in other communities .... because youre on calls to that property, he said. Youre not dealing with the resident, but the property itself.

After the initial $750 fine, the city can fine up to $50 for each additional nuisance activity that requires law enforcement to respond.
WATERLOO  One veteran is evicted and needs help. Another comes to pick up food assistance. A veterans spouse is homeless. The phone keeps ringing as other veterans call for help.

Thats what happened in just one half hour recently at the Black Hawk County Veteran Affairs Commission office.

And there are still more people to hear from, commission executive director Kevin Dill believes.

I still think there are still 3,000 or 4,000 veterans in our county who have not been in our office. Id like to have them come in, he said. The office is tucked back in a corner on the ground floor of the Pinecrest county office building at 1407 Independence Ave., which some longtime residents will remember as the former St. Francis Hospital.

It does have a big sign. Veterans do find it. Dill wishes more would.

Dill, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, tells stories of veterans with serious illness saddled with medical bills and need help. One gentleman faced serious expenses for medications and his wife had to quit work to care for him.

I said, Dont give up; theres always a solution, Dill said. He found help for the man with his medicine. He started to cry on the phone. Heck, that got me crying. But I wonder how many more out there are like that. The VAs so far back in their mind and they dont think about it.

Others have tried to get help unsuccessfully. I would hope those who had an unfavorable result would come back again. Its a new office. Were doing a lot more.

In the last two years we tried to think about how much revenue weve generated that is coming into the county for veterans, Dill said. I think it was at least $14 million in revenue. Thats money that goes right into the veterans pockets and they use that to purchase things in the city.

The office provides a variety of assistance.

We help with wheelchair ramps, Dill said. ... We help veterans with health care, housing, employment, food, clothing. We help fix their cell phones. Help them find car insurance. We do everything. Were counselors, social workers. The other day I helped a vet get fixed up with marriage counseling who was suffering from PTSD.

He sees 15 or 20 veterans a day, a couple hundred phone calls and emails. The office also has started an annual Adopt a Family program for needy veterans families.

The age of those served ranges from 23 to 90. Dill sees 100 Vietnam veterans a month, 25 to 30 post-9/11 veterans, 25 to 30 Gulf War veterans, 20 to 25 Korean War veterans and 20 to 25 World War II veterans.

He meets with federal lawmakers promoting veterans issues and fixing mishandled claims for Veterans Administration medical assistance. Dill is also trying to reach younger veterans.

Those interested may call the office at 291-2512 or visit his office at the Pinecrest building.
DES MOINES  The Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City.

Hotel Russell-Lamson in Waterloo.

The Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport.

Those are just a few among hundreds of renovation projects across Iowa that have been aided by a federal tax incentive program that is on the chopping block in Congress tax reform proposal.

The federal historic rehabilitation tax credit was used by more than 250 projects in Iowa between 2002 and 2016, helped spur more than $1 billion in development and produce nearly $230 million in tax revenue, according to the National Park Service, which implements the program.

The program also helped create nearly 9,000 temporary construction jobs and nearly 11,000 permanent jobs in the state, according to the National Park Service.

But that tax credit soon could be gone.

Republicans in Washington, D.C., are crafting legislation that would reform federal tax laws; its one of the top priorities for the party after taking control of the federal lawmaking process in the 2016 elections.

The two proposals introduced include significant cuts to the historic rehabilitation tax credit, which has been around for more than three decades.

The U.S. House tax reform bill eliminates the historic tax credit.

The U.S. Senate tax reform bill cuts the credit in half.

Local officials, especially in economic development, expressed concern that ending the historic rehabilitation tax credit could severely limit future renovation projects.

Its crazy, said Amy Gill, a developer with St. Louis-based Restoration St. Louis, which has done work in the Quad-Cities. Studies back up the fact that these tax credits work. They provide jobs and renovate downtowns. How do you argue with that?

The House and Senate tax reform bills make significant changes to a number of tax credit and incentive programs across the business and industry spectrum. The historic rehabilitation credit program is just one of them.

But its one local officials are loathe to lose.

In general, as an economic development professional, I favor tax cuts and stimulating the economy through tax reform and so on. But, in this case, I think they havent really considered the implications of (eliminating the historic credit), said Marty Dougherty, economic development director for Sioux City. Absolutely, were very concerned about it.

The state of Iowa also has a historic tax credit program. That is not impacted by the proposed federal legislation.

Economic development officials say the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program is worth maintaining because it provides a return on investment.

In Iowa, from 2002 to 2016 nearly $195 million in historical tax credits were awarded; the resulting renovation projects produced $230 million in tax revenue. By that math, every $1 in tax credits produced $1.17 in tax revenue.

That is roughly in line with national studies that have showed the historic credit returns $1.20 to $1.25 in tax revenue for every dollar invested, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I just dont see why theyre messing with a tax credit that actually puts people to work and returns money on the investment, said Jim Hobart, of Hobart Historic Restoration in Cedar Rapids.

The historic tax credit program allows developers to claim 20 percent of eligible expenses against their federal tax liability. The program is designed to provide financial assistance to expensive renovation projects involving old buildings; such projects might not ever happen without the financial boost given by the tax credit, economic development officials say.

There are a lot of buildings that would continue to sit empty or would have been demolished by now had that tax credit not been available to make the project economically sound, said Steve Dust, president and CEO of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber. And thats repeated all over Iowa.

Common projects include restorations of old buildings and converting abandoned warehouses into both commercial and residential properties.

This is one of the few government programs where people can actually see and feel the impact, said B.J. Hobart, also of Hobart Historic Restoration in Cedar Rapids.

Dougherty said the program has helped a number of projects in downtown Sioux City, including the Orpheum.

Its really sparking a renaissance in the downtown area, Dougherty said. Im not sure any of (the renovation projects) would be successful without that tax credit program.

Economic development officials said they have pleaded with Republicans in Congress to maintain the historic rehabilitation tax credit program. At least one of Iowas federal representatives, U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, has pledged to fight for the program.

Blum, a Republican who represents eastern Iowa, said he has lobbied U.S. House leaders to preserve the program.

Dubuque, which is in Blums district, has featured 36 projects totaling nearly $180 million in historic tax credits, according to the National Park Service data.

I am continuing to work very hard to educate my colleagues of the benefits of historic tax credits to ensure they survive tax reform, Blum said in an emailed statement. Although they were absent from the version that recently passed through the Ways and Means Committee, the fight is not over. I am hopeful the Senate version will include this important program and I will continue to push for its inclusion through conference.

The Senate version keeps the program, but reduces the percent of eligible, deductible expenses from 20 percent to 10 percent.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said tax reform is about growing the economy and increasing wages and jobs by lowering rates and reducing deductions and loopholes. But he added the Senate bill recognizes the importance of the historic tax credit by maintaining it at 10 percent for the future while allowing projects already under way to retain the 20 percent credit.

Jim Hobart said the Senate version would save a few more buildings.

Would I rather see 10 percent than zero? Yeah, Hobart said. Would I rather see them not fool with it at all and leave it at 20 percent? That would be my choice.

Dougherty said economic development officials will continue to lobby their federal representatives and in the meantime will be holding our breath to see what theyre going to do.

A lot of these buildings are part of the fabric of your community, part of the character of your community. I just cant imagine Sioux City without the Orpheum Theater, Dougherty said. I think (cutting the historic tax credit program) is a little bit short-sighted.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Democratic governor hopeful Fred Hubbell calls Gov. Kim Reynolds cut to mental health care a brutal thing in television and radio ads.

Hubbell, one of seven Democrats running for the partys 2018 gubernatorial nomination, says Iowas mental health system has collapsed into crisis because of funding cuts he blames on the Republican governor.

The governor is cutting funding for mental health in our state and theyve got people in the hallways, lying in beds, with no place to go, the retired businessman says in his second TV ad and his first radio ad of the primary election campaign. Thats just not how we take care of people. Thats not how we build our state.

Hubbell and his wife, Charlotte, who is heard and seen in the 30-second television spot and one-minute radio ad, are critical of severe cuts to mental health funding by Reynolds and her predecessor, GOP Gov. Terry Branstad, as well as closing mental health institutes in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda and cutting psychiatric beds for children at another facility.

The cuts, coupled with the continued Medicaid privatization disaster, are choking existing mental health facilities, the Hubbells say.

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit promoting timely and effective treatment of mental illness, Iowa ranks dead last in the number of psychiatric treatment beds available per capita, and 47th in the number of psychiatrists licensed to provide care, Hubbell said.

A spokesman for the Reynolds campaign called the ad obviously wrong and dishonest.

Iowa has invested more than $2 billion into the mental health system over the past few years, reformed the system to deliver care in a modern and local way, and 150,000 more Iowans have mental health coverage than when (Branstad) took office in 2011, Pat Garrett said.

He also cited a report that Iowa was rated seventh-best state for mental health care among the states.

We know there is more to do. Gov. Reynolds cares deeply about this problem and is working on improving mental health care every single day, Garrett said.

In contrast to Reynolds efforts, he added, Hubbell is playing the type of political games Iowans are sick of, running misleading ads and proposing no real solutions.

Earlier this week, Hubbell specifically called out the governor over the closure of an informal mental health facility in Centerville due to a lack of funding from the state and regional mental health authority. Hubbell called for more inpatient and outpatient beds as well as mental health counselors and psychiatrists  and not just in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.

I cant tell you how many times Im hearing, no matter what part of the state you start in, theres somebody who has a mental health issue and they cant find a bed locally, he said. So theyre driving to Davenport or to Sioux City or to Mason City or to Des Moines, regardless of where they are in the state. Its just not working.

Fixing the problem will take money and commitment, he said.

But if we really want to address quality of life in our state we really need to take a much stronger position in this area, he said.

In the ads, the Hubbells talk about their personal efforts to fund a new building at their hospital and an increase in beds for mental health services.

The television ad began airing Saturday. The radio spot started airing Wednesday. The ads can be seen or heard at FredHubbell.com.
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

FOUR siblings from Bulawayo's Sizinda suburb allegedly ganged up to assault their brother-in-law for accusing their sister of cheating on him.Norman Tshuma (39), Mthokozisi (18), Bongani (31) and Locadia (26), from Sizinda suburb are suspected to have assaulted Mr Silas Ncube, their sister's husband, on Wednesday afternoon, leaving him hospitalised.They allegedly used a knobkerrie, stick, catapult, stones and fists to assault him.The Tshuma siblings yesterday appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Mr Lungile Ncube facing physical abuse charges.The three brothers pleaded guilty while the sister (Locadia) denied the accusations.The magistrate remanded the matter to 24 November pending a medical report from Mr Ncube's doctor.Prosecuting, Mrs Memory Ndlovu said the four intervened in a misunderstanding between their sister, Ms Sandile Tshuma and Mr Ncube. They assaulted Ncube after he accused Ms Tshuma of cheating on him."On November 8 at around 12.30 PM, the complainant was at his house with Sandile Tshuma. The two were having a misunderstanding. The complainant was accusing Ms Tshuma of cheating," she said."The four accused went to the complainant's house, kicked his door open and hit him with a stick, knobkerrie, catapult, stones and fists all over the body."The prosecutor said Mr Ncube sustained injuries all over the body. He sought medical attention and a medical report could be produced as evidence in court.
President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the "very one-sided and unfair" trade relationship between the U.S. and China, but stopped short of castigating Chinese President Xi Jinping by saying he doesn't blame the country for having taken advantage of the U.S.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y  Many generations of families in Waterloo feel a special connection to the citys five Sullivan brothers killed during World War II.

But a California man feels such a strong connection he traveled all the way across the country to honor them  and his own grandfather.

Knute Swensen of Huntington Beach, Calif., is the grandson of U.S. Navy Capt. Lyman K. Swenson, commanding officer of the USS Juneau on which George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan served. Capt. Swenson, the Sullivans and nearly 700 shipmates perished after the Juneau was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank Nov. 13, 1942.

Swensen traveled to Staten Island, N.Y., to attend a 75th anniversary commemoration of the Juneaus sinking aboard the USS The Sullivans this Veterans Day week and weekend in New York.

Its amazing to honor these men 75 years later, he said. It makes me think about my grandfather. Almost 700 of them were on the ship. Most of them were lost. To honor them now is really something.

He sat quietly in the audience during a commemoration ceremony until Kelly Sullivan, granddaughter and grandniece of the Sullivans, asked that he stand and be acknowledged.

His sisters attended the USS The Sullivans commissioning 20 years ago on the same pier. The anniversary of that ships commissioning also was observed.

Swensens grandfather, a posthumous recipient of the Navy Cross for valor, also had a ship named for him.(tncms-asset)43049a46-a14e-11e6-8755-00163ec2aa77[1](/tncms-asset)

Just as Kelly Sullivan said being a sponsor of the ship inspired her to be a better person, Swensen drew the same inspiration from his grandfather.

It kept me a little bit on the straight and narrow. I guess the guilt beause he was such a fine man, Swensen said, his voice trembling. His late father attended many reunions of his grandfathers namesake ship, the USS The Sullivans sailor reunions and a commemoration in Juneau, Alaska.

This weeks events marking the anniversary of the Juneaus sinking had the same effect, Swensen said.  It was just special to have my grandfathers name still brought up along with the Sullivan brothers and all the other men, he said. The Juneau was commissioned across New York harbor in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Swensens surname differs from his grandfathers due to a misspelling at the United States Naval Academy that his grandfather chose not to correct when he studied there.(tncms-asset)32e94d4a-a14f-11e6-b9ee-00163ec2aa77[2](/tncms-asset)

Swensen spoke years ago with one of the Juneaus handful of survivors, the late Lester Zook, who told him his grandfather was a stern disciplinarian but respected naval commander.

In fact, Swensen said, according to stories passed on through his family, his grandfather encouraged the Sullivans and several other sets of brothers on the ship to break up and some head for other ships. My grandfather was very fearful the ship wasnt going to make it. It was a thin-skinned cruiser. And to have these five brothers and all these brothers on the ship, it was rough.

Swensen visited the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo about a year ago. To me it was just thrilling to go to Waterloo. The town has so much to be proud of, he said. From afar, the town is just known for the Sullivans.

He said when the block containing Waterloos convention center is renovated and renamed Sullivan Brothers Plaza, What I would hope in the plaza is that theres a memorial to the Juneau with all the mens names. He offered his services to help.

Its like the Sullivans are part of my family, he said, noting that, as a child, he was allowed to stay up past his bedtime when the movie The Fighting Sullivans was on television.

The camaraderie among the ship, its veterans and the families of the Sullivans and the Juneau is kind of neat to see, Swensen said.
VanMeter to be next Kentucky chief justice as Minton retires
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News / Local

by Stephen Jakes

Members of the People Rainbow coalition gathered at Stanley Square in Bulawayo for the official signing of the coalition agreement, which has since endorsed National People's Party leader Joice Mujuru as the presidential candidate in 2018 election.
News / Local

by Stephen Jakes and Jamela

SEVERAL political parties signed the People's Rainbow Coalition which endorsed National People' party leader Joice Mujuru as presidential candidate to challenge President Robert Mugabe i the 2018 elections.NPP spokes person Methuseli Moyo said "It is done. The People's Rainbow Coalition has been signed and sealed by the NPP, PDP, Zunde and Dare, at Stanley Square arena in Bulawayo today. Dr Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru will be the presidential candidate of the PRC in 2018."He said Parliamentary, senatorial and council candidates will be chosen by members of all the four parties in the respective areas, by primary elections where necessary."There will be no 'sharing' or 'distribution' of seats. The PRC believes in grass roots power. The attendance was good and the mood was electric. We are convinced the PRC freedom train can only gather speed and win in 2018." Methuseli Moyo.
Nov 11, 2017 | By Julia

3D printed fashion has officially soared to national heights: fans of the Miss Multiverse Beauty Pageant and Modelling Competition will get to glimpse the first ever 3D printed national costume on Australian finalist Gabrielle Keaton this November. Shortly after securing her crown in the Miss Multiverse Australia qualifying rounds, Keaton announced her plans to wear a 3D printed gown to the finals in Dominican Republic, in what will be a first for the massive global pageant.

We are thrilled and honored to be involved in the Miss Multiverse pageant, especially in the making of Miss Multiverse Australia finalists, Gabrielle Keaton, Australiana-themed ensemble, said Erica Gray, the award-winning artist who designed the dress together with architect Zoran Zivanovic. Its production is well underway to showcase Australias talents.

Work by Erica Gray

Erica Gray (right) with one of her garments (model: Bella Louche)





The design pair were approached earlier this year by Yolandi Franken, the National Director of Miss Multiverse Australia, to commission the specially 3D printed piece. Gray and Zivanovic were obvious candidates, its reported, due to their extensive experience in freehand extruded printing, machine-based 3D printing, synthetic materials, and Augmented Reality.

an Erica Gray design

Currently in its construction stage, the 3D printed Miss Multiverse dress is inspired by the natural and aquatic landscapes of Australia, drawing on elements such as native wattle, coral, and crystal formations. Iconic Australian architecture such as the Sydney Opera House also features as heavy inspiration, in addition to international fashion landmarks such as the Louis Vuitton Foundation Building.

Taking these references as a starting point, Gray and Zivanovic decided to combine traditional sewing techniques with contemporary manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing throughout the design process. From the initial dress design to assembly and material selection, innovation has been at the centre of this modern-age handcrafted, machine drawn, componentry printed, cottage industry design, as one Australian outlet describes.

Zoran Zivanovic (left) and Erica Gray

Gray likened Zivanovics involvement to another tool in the process, assisting with collaboration and converting hand-drawn sketches to 3D models suitable for printing. The overall vision and cooperation came together like a layered puzzle, she says, ultimately creating a dress that was stylish and contemporary; a dress built from layers of sculptured design, freehand 3Doodled extrusions, 3D printed componentry, even a little lighting.



Its a design that Gray feels is true to Australia and its national flora emblems. It serve as a beautiful backdrop to our beautiful Australian representative.

an Erica Gray design

Miss Multiverse Australia Gabrielle Keaton will be competing for the world title this month. 30 contestants from 30 countries will come together on November 18, 2017 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana in Dominican Republic. With the Australian representative wearing Gray and Zivanovics 3D printed masterpiece, sources say you wont be able to miss Keaton on stage.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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David Kretz in The Point:

The most compelling political performance artists in Germany do not like to be called artists. Nor do they prefer the label of activistsa term they reserve for gradualists, clicktivists, and the letter-writers of Amnesty International. Founded in 2009 by the philosopher Philipp Ruch, the Center for Political Beauty makes its base of operations (Aktionen in German) in Berlin, with changing groups of volunteers and partners throughout Europe. Its members, who wear suits and charcoal war paint, are organized into assault teams aiming to establish moral beauty, political poetry and human greatness [Grogesinntheit]. They call themselves aggressive humanists.

The Center initially made a name for itself when it launched a campaign in the style of Wanted posters promising a reward of twenty-five thousand Euros for information leading to the arrest of the von Braunbehrens and Bode families, who share ownership of the arms corporation Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. Controversially, the company had proposed exporting several hundred Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia. One member of the board stepped down from his post after the exposure, and eventually the deal was abandoned on account of public pressure.

The Center has risen to new national prominence during the recent refugee crisis.

More here.
News / National

by Simbarashe Mwandipenda

The South African Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has blasted the 93-year-old Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe for over staying in power and destroying his legacy.Malema took it to the social media and said: "I like #PresidentMugabe for the contributions towards Africa revolution but his over stay is destroying his legacy."A good leader should have produced second and third layer leadership to continue the good fight against imperialism."Zimbabweans should remove him and reclaim their country," reads Malema's tweet.Meanwhile, Malema has been on record calling for the stepping down of the nonagenarian leader sayingMugabe cannot even control a spade due to advanced age.However, ZANU PF lawmaker Psychology Maziwisa denounced Malema saying he was trying to gain political mileage in South Africa by insulting a great man in Zimbabwe.
From Orion Magazine:

AS THIS ISSUE of Orion goes to press, the United States is preparing to reverse the commitments it made to fight climate change via the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. The move confirms what many have feared: that the willingness of this country to take federal action against climate change is vanishing, even as the carbon dioxide level of Earths atmosphere breaks new records. Its difficult to remember an era in which Americas political institutions were as broken and the stakes were as high as they are now. Perhaps its time, then, to look for help elsewhere, to turn to a source of aid far older than our government: religion. If a changing climate poses an existential threat to life on Earthand by the best accounts, it doeswhat might we learn from some of humanitys oldest means of contemplating existence? Can religious life help us understand something new about our relationship with the natural world? Can it give us fresh insight into how, as individuals, we might navigate a moment in time that often feels bewildering and out of control? Orion editor Scott Gast discusses these questions and others with Rabbi Ted Falcon, Pastor Don Mackenzie, and Imam Jamal Rahmanrepresentatives of three of the worlds major religionswho are known collectively as the Interfaith Amigos. Since 2001, the three have authored several books, including Getting to the Heart of Interfaith and Religion Gone Astray, and have spoken to audiences around the world about the possibility and opportunities afforded by interfaith dialogue.

Scott Gast: Id like to begin by asking each of you to describe, in general terms, the role of the natural world in the history and practice of your different faiths.

Imam Jamal Rahman: Muslims rely heavily on verses from the Holy Quran, and several times the holy book says, There are signs of God in nature. In fact, there are more than seven hundred verses in the Quran which concern themselves with nature. Several chapters start with the names of animals or natural phenomena. And in some chapters God takes a mysterious oath, which invokes nature: By the fig and the olive, By the Dawn. Spiritual teachers in Islam take this to mean that nature is a holy, sacred manuscript, and if we honor and respect her, we can learn how to live. For example, the Quran asks, What is a good word? Well, a good word, it says, is like a tree, with roots going deep into the earth, with branches going out into the sky, and yielding fruit by permission of its Sustainer. And how shall we do the essential work of inner transformation? Little by little, says the Quran, much like the movement of the sun in the sky. There is a verse about personal transformation that some Muslims know by heart: By the rosy glow of sunset, and the night and its progression, and the moon as it grows into fullness, surely you shall also travel stage by stage.

The Quran also says, Oh, human beingdoesnt matter what your religionyou are Gods representative on Earth. And it emphasizes, You are there not to sow corruption on Earth, but to enjoin the good and forbid the evil. There is a remarkable verse that puts human beings into their proper place in the cosmos: The creation of the heavens and the earth, it says, is a greater matter than the creation of man, but man understands not. So, we have to be caretakers; its a spiritual obligation. As the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, The earth is like your mother. Honor her. Protect her.

More here.
Skye C. Cleary and Massimo Pigliucci at IAI News:

When every day many of us wake up to read about fresh horrors on our fresh horrors device, we might find ourselves contemplating the question as to whether, as Albert Camus supposedly put it, one should kill oneself or have a cup of coffee. If there is any philosopher who is famous for contemplating suicide, its Camus who, in a more serious tone, proposed that, There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.[1]

The existentialists and Stoics are notorious for being at loggerheads on many issues. Yet Simone de Beauvoir, who was much less famous for her views on suicide than Camus, gives an example that shows the existential answer isnt so far removed from the Stoic one  a fascinating case of philosophical convergence, two millennia apart.

In 1954, Beauvoir was awarded Frances most prestigious literary prize for her book The Mandarins, in which the main character Anne contemplates suicide. When once she saw the world as vast and inexhaustible, she now looks at it with indifference: The earth is frozen over; nothingness has reclaimed it. Her great love affair has collapsed, her daughter has grown up and no longer needs her, and she finds her profession unfulfilling. Its not only that she feels her life no longer counts, but also existing is torturous and her memories are agony. Suicide seems like an escape from the pain. Clutching the brown vial of poison, Anne hears her daughters voice outside and it jars her into considering the effect of her death on other people. My death does not belong to me, she concludes, because its the others who would live my death.

More here.
If you're not up for the whole production of doing a turkey at home, you can still stay local without settling for Chinese takeout (not that we don't love boxed noodles delivered to our door).

Enjoy a proper Thanksgiving feast with all the fixingsplus a few decadent surprisesat these restaurants from San Francisco to Berkeley to St. Helena.





Rambler See on Instagram Head to this hip, two-story bar and restaurant downtown for herb-roasted turkey, brown sugar glazed ham, sweet potato gnocchi, Yukon gold potato puree, cornbread stuffing, and smoked gouda mac n' cheese. The menu will be served a la carte. // Main courses $18-$35; seatings (2pm to 8:30pm) are available by reservation at OpenTable; 545 Post St. (Union Square), ramblersf.com.

Park Tavern See on Instagram This Washington Square Park favorite is pulling out the stops for a cozy, holiday meal out. Enjoy fall dishes like spiced pumpkin soup, stuffing, wild mushroom raviolo, herb-roasted turkey breast, caramelized onion and mushroom stuffing, cranberry sauce, and more. Wine pairings will be sourced from wineries hurt by Sonoma's Kincade Fire. // $95/adults, $35/kids; seatings (11:45am to 8pm) by reservations at Tock; 1652 Stockton St. (North Beach), parktavernsf.com.

Omakase See on Instagram If turkey's not your thing, go for sushi at Michelin-starred Omakase, where there's no shame in a feast of nigiri, A5 wagyu, live lobster tamago, owan, kanmi, and sashimi. // $195 per person; seatings (5:15pm, 5:30pm, 5:45pm, 8:30pm, and 8:45 pm) by reservation at Tock; 665 Townsend St. (SoMa), omakasesf.com.



Big 4 See on Instagram If it's classic vibes you seek, slink into a booth and enjoy some live piano music at Big 4. Thanksgiving Day dishes will include roasted butternut squash soup, turkey with cornbread and fall herb stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin and pecan pie. // $165 per person; seatings (5:30pm to 10pm) can be reserved by calling 415.771.1140; 1075 California St. (Nob Hill), huntingtonhotel.com.

Campton Place See on Instagram Michelin-starred Campton Place sets the bar for exquisite service and cuisine. On Thanksgiving, look for chef Srijith Gopinathan to mingle his signature Cal-Indian cooking into holiday favorites in such dishes as slow-roasted turkey with cranberry chutney and Maine lobster with coconut curry sauce. // $175 per person; reservations (11:30am to 9pm) can be made a OpenTable or by calling 415.781.5555; 340 Stockton St. (Union Square), tajcamptonplace.com.

Berkeley Boathouse See on Instagram For East Bay friendsgivings, Berkley Boathouse is a lovely spot to celebrate with marina views. Four courses will include butternut squash soup; apple, pecan, and cranberry salad; and turkey or honey ham with sides. Save room for a spread of pies (pumpkin, apple, and pecan), cakes, tortes, French pastries, and chocolate mousse. // $40-$45/adults, $16-$20/kids; reservations for seatings (noon to 4pm) can be made online or by calling 510.665.7171; 200 Marina Blvd. (Berkeley), berkeleyboathouse.com.



The Cavalier See on Instagram The Cavalier offers chic, London-inspired digs and a multi-course prix-fixe menu for city-dwelling revelers. Expect gourmet takes on traditional recipes, like last year's spiced pumpkin soup with bacon-toasted pecans, slow-cooked turkey with giblet gravy, and horseradish and creme fraiche potato puree. Sweet finishes like the blood orange creamsicle and gingerbread with apple compote are not to miss, nor are the bar's signature craft cocktails. // $98/person;360 Jessie Street (SoMa), thecavaliersf.com, reservations on opentable.com.

Americano See on Instagram This sleek spot on Embarcadero will be serving an impressive three-course prix fixe Thanksgiving menu that starts with options like last year's warm butternut squash panzenella and follows with mains that include prime rib with gorgonzola bread pudding or heritage turkey with sausage stuffing, glazed carrots and gravy. Finish with your choice of delectable desserts, like the apple fritters or pumpkin pie tartlets, and then walk it off with a stroll along the Embarcadero. // $70/person; seatings (2pm and 7pm) available by reservation at OpenTable.com; Hotel Vitale, 8 Mission St. (Embarcadero), americanorestaurant.com.

Scala's Bistro See on Instagram Hop off the cable car at Powell Street and into newly updated Scala's Bistro for a holiday menu inspired by French and Italian flavors. The three-course menu includes options like butternut squash soup with creme fraiche, roasted polenta with wild mushroom ragu, and cranberry and pear tart Tatin, but doesn't miss staples like turkey breast and confit leg and thigh and pumpkin cheesecake. // $75/adult, $40/child, 11:30 am to 3 pm; 432 Powell St. (Union Square), scalasbistro.com.

Fog Harbor Fish House See on Instagram Waterfront favorite Fog Harbor Fish House will be open for business this Thanksgiving, offering a traditional holiday dinner (think turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and gravy) alongside its seafood-based regular menu. Don't miss the pumpkin bread pudding or the sweeping views of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge from the prime location on Pier 39. // 11am to 10pm at Pier 39, fogharbor.com.

Bluestem Brasserie See on Instagram Glam downtown outpost Bluestem Brasserie will be serving up three courses, with options ranging from classic, like roasted turkey, stuffed delicata squash, and garlic mashed potatoes, to innovative, like winter chicories salad and roasted cauliflower and pear soup. // Seatings between 2 pm and 7:45 pm, $75/adult, $35/child, 1 Yerba Buena Lane (SoMa), bluestembrasserie.com, reservations on opentable.com

Michael Mina See on Instagram If anyone can outdo a home-cooked Thanksgiving, it's Michael Mina. At the chef's signature restaurant downtown, a three-course gourmet dinner will feature unexpected offerings such as white truffle tagliatelle with parmesan foam, Maine lobster with saffron acquerello rice, and Schmitz Ranch prime ribeye with king trumpet mushroom, parsnip-potato pave and red wine jus. Also expect shareable sides of classic Thanksgiving favorites, indulgent desserts, and an optional wine pairing. // $179/person, $135 beverage pairing; 252 California St. (FiDi), michaelmina.net, reservations on opentable.com.

Lake Chalet See on Instagram Views of Lake Merritt pair with a three-course prix-fixe menu. Dishes include classic roasted turkey, pan-roasted king salmon, slow-roasted lamb shank, and fresh egg pasta, bookended by autumn-inspired starters and desserts. For an all-out extravaganza, opt for the buffet with carving stations for pork, turkey, and prime rib, a chilled seafood bar, and an array of sides, salads, and desserts. Thanksgiving specials also available at SF sister restaurants, Park Chalet and Beach Chalet. // $65/adult and $29/child for prix fixe, $79/person for buffet; seatings from 1 am to 9:45 pm; 1520 Lakeside Drive (Oakland), thelakechalet.com.

Left Bank Brasserie See on Instagram Along with its other locations in the Bay, Left Bank Brasserie in Larkspur will be serving prix-fixe and a la carte Thanksgiving menus. Expect gussied-up French versions of your holiday favorites like butternut squash soup topped with creme fraiche and roasted pumpkin seeds, smoked honey-mustard-glazed pork, and autumn mushroom risotto imbued with Brussels sprouts, truffle oil, and parmesan. Don't worrythey didn't skip the pumpkin pie. // $59/adult, $12/child, noon to 8pm; 507 Magnolia Ave. (Larkspur), leftbank.com.

The Girl & The Fig See on Instagram Foodie favorite The Girl & The Fig will be open and serving Thanksgiving dinner at both its Sonoma restaurant and sister cafe in Glen Ellen. At the Sonoma flagship, the four-course experience ($60/adult, $20/child, $18 wine pairing) includes starters like roasted cauliflower bisque or pear salad; entrees of roast turkey breast, wild mushroom risotto, sauteed flounder, or smoked short ribs; and an array of dessert choices, including a certain chocolate-caramel cream tart. The three-course feast at Glen Ellen's The Fig Cafe features equally impressive plates ($45/adult, $20/child, $15 wine pairing). Reservations by phone encouraged. // Noon to 8 pm at The Girl & The Fig, 110 West Spain St. (Sonoma); 1pm-6pm at The Fig Cafe, 13690 Arnold Dr. (Glen Ellen), thegirlandthefig.com and thefigcafe.com.

Spoonbar See on Instagram In Healdsburg, H2hotel's innovative culinary hotspot, Spoonbar, puts a spin on Thanksgiving classics with a four-course feast featuring inventive sides like yellowtail tuna tartare and a pecan pie to rival grandma's. // $65/adult, $35/child, 2pm-7pm; 219 Healdsburg Ave. (Healdsburg), spoonbar.com; reservations available on opentable.com.

Acacia House See on Instagram Chris Cosentino's Acacia House, at Las Alcobas Napa Valley, promises to wow with a three-course dinner starring family-style turkey breast and a supporting cast of sausage and oyster stuffing, coffee-roasted carrots, and persimmon pudding. Set in a 1907 mansion, the cozy-luxe surrounds will make you feel right at home. // $98/person, $39 and $59 beverage pairings; reservations (11:30am to 9pm) available at opentable.com; 1915 Main St. (St. Helena), marriott.com.
Manchester City Women cruised to a 5-0 win over LSK Kvinner in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie in Norway. Jane Ross powered home two headers in four minutes to effectively seal the contest after earlier goals from Demi Stokes, Isobel Christiansen and Karen Emslie.

Their victory maintained City's 100% start to the new season and built on their 6-0 aggregate win over Austrian side St Polten in the previous round. After a subdued start, Stokes opened the scoring for City with a fierce, low drive on 26 minutes, and the goal kicked the visitors into gear.



Christiansen double their advantage from the penalty spot just before half-time before substitute Emslie made it three with a spectacular long-range effort. With the result secured, City cut loose in the final quarter and hammered home their superiority as two headers from Ross in four minutes clinched an impressive European victory.




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Faith and Values: What does it mean to follow in Jesus' footsteps?
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

The Zimbabwe Communist Party Secretary General Ngqabutho Mabhena has said the fired former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is one of the politicians in the country who got wealth through corrupt means."I had hoped that l will not write anything again about the former Zimbabwean Vice President, the situation obtaining on the ground demands me to address few issues. Former Vice President Mnangagwa is one of the richest men in Zimbabwe who got his wealth through corruption. For the last 37 years, the state and his party allowed him to loot and gave him protection," Mabhena wrote."Mnangagwa has no need for his Vice President salary. His position was the ticket in protecting his ill gotten wealth and in looting more from the poor. The man might have lost his political influence but he remains rich. This is what he and his immediate family should apply their minds to before he jumps into leading the opposition against President Robert Mugabe."He said Mnangagwa , like all Zanu(PF) leaders are rich beyond any measure."They have taken over farms, companies and have shares in international companies outside Zimbabwe thanks to ZANU (PF) , the party they have known since childhood. Their immediate families are beneficiaries to this ill gotten wealth. Their membership has opened doors for their children, grand children and close relatives to study abroad through the Presidential Scholarship Fund," he said."So when Mnangagwa ponders his future, he needs to think seriously about his business empire and what it means to his immediate family and friends who have benefited through him. President Mugabe can, with a stroke of a pen, collapse Mnangagwa's business empire including recalling all his relatives who are currently studying abroad. So the loss of a Vice President position, which carries a monthly salary of about $10 000 a month (just an estimate) , is nothing compared to millions he stands loose including the possibility of doing time in prison. The man is above retirement age, he needs to sit down in his farm and write a book, than seeking to lead."He said Mnangagwa while he understands the rigging machinery in Zanu (PF), he can not stop it from outside."He needs to be inside, but we all know that he failed to stop the rigging in 2004 when he lost to Joice Mujuru in their party congress leading to the firing of Prof Jonathan Moyo and 9 Zanu (PF) Provincial chairpersons. Surely, if he failed in 2004 to turn his party machinery in his favour , how does one begin to believe that, this time around, he can turn the whole state machinery in the opposition favour in 2018?" he said."While it is said that, Mnangagwa enjoys support from the West and China, recent developments have weakened him. The following are his limited options if he has to return his wealth and escape corruption charges , thereby avoiding jail; He needs to stay away as far as possible from the opposition that is sponsored by the West. If he does not, the same State violence that was unleashed to the opposition in past elections, will descend on him ruthlessly."He said He needs to engage the Liberation Movements in the region and beyond to mediate. He can go back to former South African President Thab Mbeki, who paraded him at the ANC 2002 Conference in the Western Cape to speak to President Mugabe on his behalf;"One would have expected him to finally speak out on his involvement in the Gukurahundi atrocities in the 1980s, unfortunately, if he does, he will not be welcome back in Zimbabwe and will loose his millions in United States dollars (some say he is a billionaire)," he said."The opposition must understand that a rich man like Mnangagwa will never lead a revolution unless his wealth is taken away from him. His is not in a struggle against Mugabe but against his comrades in G40. As Lenin said, "workers of the land unite, you have nothing to loose but your chains", Mnangagwa has everything to loose, he has no chains but billions of United States dollars looted in Zimbabwe, Congo and in other countries."
Kurdish Official Rejects Turkmen Proposal to Turn Kirkuk Into Region

A Kurdish political official says that Kurds must oppose in full force any attempt to turn the now Iraqi-controlled oil rich province of Kirkuk into an independent region, after the Turkmen Front unveiled such plans through the Iraqi parliament. Hicran Kazanci, the representative of the Turkmen party in Turkey, told Rudaw that their proposal to form an independent region in Kirkuk has the parliamentary support, but it remains to be seen whether the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will support it. The Tukmen official said their plan to form a region for Kirkuk follows a formula that will ensure the major components of the province an equal share of the official positions. "When we say an independent administration, we mean by it dividing the posts in Kirkuk on an equal base with 32 percent for Turkmens, Kurds, and Arabs. The Chaldean and Assyrian will have [the remaining] 4 percent," Kazanci said. Enough signatures by Iraqi MPs have been collected for this Turkmen suggestion, he added, "but Mr Abadi has not commented on this as of now." The 32-percent formula was first introduced by the late Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, also the head of the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). It did not call for an independent region. It was a power sharing initiative by Talabani to administer the local government in the province. Kirkuk is part of the disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq whose fate is to be determined by Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution. It included a number of measures, including reversing the process of Arabization, to be followed by a referendum that will ask its population to choose between joining the Kurdistan Region or staying with Iraq. Regarding calls to turn Kirkuk into an independent region, the stronghold of the PUK, senior party member Mala Bakhtiyar said at the memorial held for Talabani on Friday that the Kurdish parties have to oppose such a move to "the last remaining Kurd." The Iraqi forces and their allied Shiite militia of the Hashd al-Shaabi controlled Kirkuk on October 16 as part of a wider military incursion into the disputed areas previously held by the Kurdish Peshmerga. Bakhtiyar, who described the Kirkuk takeover as a "plot," said that the military operation will ultimately fail. "Every military success that comes as the result of a plot will lead to arrogance. This arrogance will not be translated into a political and administrative fact on the ground. The best thing is for all of us to go back to the table of negotiation and let the [Iraqi] constitution judge between us," Bakhtiyar said. Kurdistan's former President Masoud Barzani on Friday described the fall of Kirkuk and other areas to the Iraqi forces as "temporarily." He called on the Iraqi government to enter talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government that is tasked with heading the peace talks that is aimed to address the outstanding issues between the two sides including the fate of the disputed areas.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, the daughter of a World War II veteran, led the Governor's Salute to Alabama Veterans on Friday at American Village in Montevallo.

Ivey spoke inside the Colonial Chapel, handing out certificates of recognition to 18 World War II veterans, then spoke at an outdoor event on the plaza of the National Veterans Shrine. "You showed us that serving this country is an honor and a duty," she said. "Veterans are the ones we have to thank for these freedoms."

Her father, U.S. Army Major Boadman Nettles Ivey, served in a field artillery division in World War II, Ivey said. He landed at Normandy on D-Day plus six, she said, and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

"My mother had me while he was fighting the Battle of the Bulge," Ivey said.

Her father survived the war and returned home to their farm in Wilcox County.

"We must not forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice," Ivey said. "We owe them all a debt of gratitude."

Ivey said there are 375,000 veterans of U.S. military service in Alabama.

"Alabamians are steadfast in our support of the military," Ivey said. "Alabama's bond with the military is unbroken and remains strong."

Retired U.S. Marine Colonel Carl Cooper, 97, presented Ivey with a U.S. flag, and then Ivey laid a wreath in remembrances of veterans.

"Your salute to us raised our shoulders and made us proud," Cooper said.

Cooper said he enlisted in April 1942 and after training was sent on a ship to the Pacific. "The first land I saw was Guadalcanal," he said. Later he took part in the invasion of Okinawa. "The landing wasn't too bad but stuff hit the fan shortly thereafter," he said.

"We came home," he said. "We saw it through."
Alabama Rep. Ed Henry has been the target of dozens of angry social media posts since his appearance last night on CNN, but the wrong person is actually getting them.

Allegations mounted Thursday that U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore engaged in sexual misconduct with girls as young as 14-years-old when he was in his 30s, in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The legislator Ed Henry defended Moore on the news network Friday, saying Moore is the victim in the situation.

"There are going to be instances where men and women make accusations like this where the accuser is the victim and then there are going to be instances where the accused is the victim," Ed Henry, of Hartselle, said in an interview Friday with AL.com. "I believe, in this instance, the accused is the victim."

The lawmaker later echoed that statement on CNN's "AC 360" with host Anderson Cooper. Ed Henry also said the four women who gave accounts of their encounters with Moore to The Washington Post are accomplices to any crime Moore may have committed, and the women could have helped cover up any crime by their silence.

"If anybody knows of a crime that there's a predator out there and you sit back and wait for 40 years to say anything about it and let those kinds of things happen, then you should be as guilty as they are for allowing that to occur," Henry said. "With things like the Bill Cosby incident where they paid people to be quiet, those people who were paid, to me, are as guilty as he was and should be prosecuted," he said.

After the show aired Friday night, Twitter users targeted the Alabama lawmaker... but, they actually tweeted at Fox News Chief National Correspondent Ed Henry.

Wrong guy thanks  Ed Henry (@edhenry) November 10, 2017

Yeahhh you tell em  dump me from the  oh wait I am not IN the Alabama legislature #ohsnap https://t.co/s4zoXVMbLa  Ed Henry (@edhenry) November 11, 2017

Last time i was on ACs show was 2011 but hea great guy  you just have wrong Ed https://t.co/S6sa9V4XwF  Ed Henry (@edhenry) November 11, 2017

Wait  THIS Ed Henry does not LIVE in Alabama!!  https://t.co/ISCCgeAUuv  Ed Henry (@edhenry) November 10, 2017

Since the flood of tweets started, Fox's Ed Henry changed his Twitter biography to "No not THAT Ed."
Aaron Pollard has performed in front of large crowds for years, but the former University of Alabama cheerleader said it was a bit different Thursday night.

That's when Pollard proposed to longtime girlfriend Carly Santo, also a former UA cheerleader, on stage at the Brett Young concert at Dothan's National Peanut Festival in Pollard's hometown. "That was so nerve-racking,'' Pollard said. "I've had this planned for two months and now I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders."

The happy couple met while on the Bama cheer squads. Pollard graduated from the university in 2015, and Santo will graduate in December. Both will work at Pollard's competitive cheer gym, Ace Cheer Company, in Dothan.

Pollard's mother, Amie Keller Pollard, is a radio host and broached the subject of an on-stage proposal at Young's concert. She contacted the performer's manager and they worked out a plan. That plan was for Young to bring Santo up on stage and sing to her while Pollard dropped to one knee.

About 15 minutes before it was to happen, however, Young changed the plans and decided to hand the microphone to Pollard who, while he can cheer on a crowd, ironically has a fear of speaking in front a crowd. "He was like, 'You've got to man up and do it,''' Pollard said.

Pollard had flown Santo's parents in from New Jersey so they could join in on the celebration. They were on stage with Santo when a teary Pollard finally popped the question. "We've been best friends for four years,'' Pollard told his bride-to-be, "and I want to be best friends forever."
United States Senate hopeful Roy Moore today is making his first public appearance Saturday after allegations broke Thursday the former Alabama Supreme Court Cheif Justice inappropriately touched a then 14-year-old girl several decades ago.

Moore spoke at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club around 9 a.m. Saturday as about a dozen protesters gathered outside. He declined to answer reporters' questions as he entered or exited the building.

"I have not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone," Moore said during his speech, calling the allegations "a desperate attempt to stop his campaign."

He said it was "very strange" the claims are coming four weeks before the general election for the Senate seat left behind by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

A story, first reported in The Washington Post, told the story of four women who said Moore made advances to them when they were teenagers and he was a 32-year-old prosecutor in Etowah County. The youngest woman, Leigh Corfman, was 14 at the time, and said Moore took her to his home and took off her clothes.

Moore called the article fake news, and said the allegations are "hurtful." He said, "I've been investigated more than any other person in this country."

Moore on alleged victims: "That they would wait 40 years is absolutely unbelievable." Some in room clapped in agreement. #ALSen  Howard Koplowitz (@HowardKoplowitz) November 11, 2017

At Saturday's event, Moore discussed his appreciation for veterans and the controversy regarding the national anthem. He said those who kneel or don't stand durning anthem are "doing something we shouldn't do," even though he respects the law allowing the right to protest.

The appearance comes as several Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have called on Moore to step aside in the Alabama Senate race if the four womens' claims are true. Sen. John McCain has also addressed the allegations, saying they are "deeply disturbing and disqualifying."

"He should immediately step aside and allow the people of Alabama to elect a candidate they can be proud of," McCain tweeted.

Moore mentioned McCain in Saturday's speech, speaking about McCain's military service and the time the Arizona Senator spent as a prisoner of war. Moore did not reference McCain's recent comments saying Moore should step down.

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romeny also spoke out against Moore on social media. "Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside," he said on Twitter.

.@IvanaSuzette tried to get Roy Moore to answer questions this morning, but he left through a side door: https://t.co/3mI8F4vsfd  AL.com (@aldotcom) November 11, 2017

The withdrawn endorsements come hours after the National Republican Senatorial Committee canceled a fundraising agreement with Moore. That deal was struck late last month and, according to Politico, would have allowed Moore to raise $80,500 at a time from individual contributors.

"These allegations are deeply disturbing," Gov. Kay Ivey said. "I will withhold judgment until we get the facts. The people of Alabama deserve to know the truth, and then they'll make their decisions."

Asked if she thought the word of the women accusing Moore was trustworthy, she responded: "Why wouldn't it be?"
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zanu-PF party claims that former deputy president Emmerson Mnangagwa "sponsored a local terror group al-Shabaab", which attacked his perceived enemies in the Midlands province," says a report.According to the state-owned Chronicle, newspaper, Kwekwe central legislator, Masango Matambanadzo told a provincial co-ordinating gathering that the group was responsible for vicious killings of those who were perceived to be the ex-vice president's enemies.He said that the group should be "disarmed" now that Mnangagwa had been fired.President Robert Mugabe fired Mnangagwa, the man who for so long looked like he would succeed the longtime Zimbabwe president.The Mugabes - and particularly Grace - had been stepping up their verbal attacks on Mnangagwa, 75, for weeks.The first couple were outraged when Grace was booed at a rally in Bulawayo on Saturday.A number of criminal chargesThe booing on the First Lady was blamed on Mnangagwa bussing in his supporters.Reports on Friday indicated that the former vice president was likely going to face a number of criminal charges.The privately-owned Zimbabwe Independent reported that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had pulled together a special unit to investigate crimes that were allegedly committed by Mnangagwa during his tenure in government.The charges against Mnangagwa included the obstruction of justice, corruption, attempted murder and murder.According to the unnamed sources, police were closing in on four cases of alleged murder that implicated the exiled ex-deputy president."Some of the specific cases include the alleged murder of a woman linked to the former vice-president, attempted murder of former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation news presenter Godfrey Majonga, looting of Zanu-PF companies and the Kwekwe goldfields deals and associated murders there," said the report.
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
News / National

by Staff reporter

Two men were arrested for allegedly attacking a reveller with knives and a machete at a bar in Hatcliffe after a misunderstanding.Tawanda Katiku, 28, and Fixon Mapurisa, 30, were not asked to plead when they appeared before Harare magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa charged with attempted murder.Prosecuting, Linda Gadzikwa, told the court that the State is opposing the two to be granted bail arguing that they were of no fixed abode.She also said the complainant sustained deep cuts all over his body and the two accused persons might face a different charge.They were remanded in custody to November 22 and advised to apply for bail at the High Court.The State alleges that on November 7, around 1pm at Jababvu Bar in Hatcliffe, the pair had a misunderstanding with the complainant.It was reported that they started attacking the complainant using a knives and machete.The complainant sustained deep cuts on his body and is currently admitted at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
UK war veteran and activist, 94, on fears of US under Trump and his plans to document refugee crisis to spur empathy.

Note: This interview was in October 2017. Harry Leslie Smith passed away on November 28, 2018.

London, England  When Harry Leslie Smith was a boy, his father hoped that by dragging his hungry son along as he begged for a shift at the Weetabix cereal factory in the northern city of Bradford, sympathy would secure him a days wage.

Smith, now 94 years old, says his father would cry out to the factory manager: Look at my boy. Hes starving!

But millions of men in Britain were out of work in the Great Depression era, and sympathy in the slums of Yorkshire was hard to come by.

With his father languishing in unemployment, Smith snuck out to the factory alone, because a boy alone is easier to take pity on.

Some workers allowed the child to ride rounds with them and gave him boxes of broken cereal to take home.

The Smith family was so poor that dinner would be Weetabix not with milk, but water.

For years, even when they were finally able to afford more food, Weetabix would never reappear on the table  the sight of it was too painful.

Having grown up in poverty, Smith later served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.

He has seen the best and worst of humanity, and now his optimism is sinking.

[Trump by Harry

will be the beginning of a revolution that will spread throughout the world and maybe end civilisation. I am dreadfully scared, believe me]

From the unpredictability of hawkish US President Donald Trump and the refugee crisis, to neoliberalism and the British governments squeeze on the National Health Service (NHS), there is much about the current state of the world that angers Smith.

The US is in turmoil  they dont know which way they are going and unless Trump is eradicated and pushed out, he will be another Hitler, he tells Al Jazeera, speaking before a book reading in Londons Wood Green district. Thats all it amounts to. He will be the beginning of a revolution that will spread throughout the world and maybe end civilisation. I am dreadfully scared, believe me.

He is here on a crisp autumn evening to promote his fifth book. Dont Let My Past Be Your Future is a reflection on poverty and a wake-up call for younger generations to think beyond personal desires and work towards a more equal society.

His slight figure is wrapped in a suit and a black leather jacket. The memories of the cold sink deep into his bones  his family couldnt afford enough coal to heat the house. He asks for his gloves to keep warm during the interview.

One by one, young and old ticket holders find their seats in the Big Green Bookshop to listen to Smith. Many came to know about the event on social media.

For the past seven years, he has shared his thoughts, frustrations and warnings on Twitter, gaining almost 140,000 followers. He also recently launched a podcast.

Standing outside my hotel young woman maybe 30 with kit bag slung on her shoulder. Stops me apologises and says"I don't know how it happened but I am homeless can you spare a couple of pounds so I can sleep in a hostel." Thanks to Theresa May it's 1932 all over again.  John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) November 9, 2017

A lifelong socialist, he brought the 2014 Labour Party conference to tears with a blistering speech about an England before the NHS, describing when common diseases trolled our neighbourhoods and snuffed out life like a cold breath on a warm candle flame.

His latest book carries an endorsement by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn: Smith is a vital and powerful voice speaking across generations about the struggle for a just society.

Today immigrant is a dirty word, its ridiculous

Born in 1923, Smiths greatest concern now is for the millions who have been forced from their homes through war, persecution or poverty, often all three.

As a young soldier, he witnessed the floods of refugees across Europe abandoning their homes in the hope of finding safety.

Roads were loaded with men, and women and children mostly, who were giving up their homes rather than face a Hitler barrage, he says. These were people who had been taken as slave labour in German prisoner-of-war camps and people who were scared for their lives.

When many arrived in Britain, he says, they were welcomed in a manner that would be unrecognisable today.

It was such a different world then. Britain was a different country. It was a country with a heart. We have lost some of our early love for each other. We arranged for these migrants to have their children in decent accommodation, we arranged camps where they could have food, we arranged certain areas of Britain where they could be landed as immigrants.

And today, immigrant is a dirty word, its ridiculous. There were 300,000 Polish soldiers who fought for the Second World War. And they were taken in by Scotland, he says, pausing to take stock of his own words.

Three-hundred thousand people taken in by Scotland to be accommodated and fed and everything else.

We have to learn to live with each other. There is not that much difference between us. We all have to eat to live. We all have to work and have a job by Harrie Leslie Smith

According to a report by Oxfam in December, fewer than three percent of five million Syrian refugees have been resettled in rich countries. The United Kingdom, the report said, fell far short of taking in 25,000 Syrians  its fair share of refugees from the war-torn country, and accepted just 4,400 people.

Smith remembers a woman who protested the arrivals of refugees fleeing Nazi Germany to her small British town.

She was told you can like it or lump it, but this is how life is today. And you have to get used to it. You know? So that was the end of that.

Maybe [the difference now] boils down to the governments that have taken over our countries in the last 40 years.

And so, given the apparent lack of compassion by Western governments, Smith is taking it upon himself to rally empathy for the refugees of today.

Last year, he visited the so-called Jungle camp in the French port city of Calais. Now, he is raising funds to travel to refugee hotspots in Europe and document what he says is a preventable tragedy that could lead to a conflict as gruesome as the Second World War.

By the time of publishing, Smith had secured more than $37,000 of a $60,000 goal on GoFundMe for the tour.

Ive always been passionate about [the refugee crisis]  The whole world has to come together and say we are all human beings, we all have to live, and we are all looking for the same things  peace and good lives for ourselves and our children.

We have to learn to live with each other. There is not that much difference between us. We all have to eat to live. We all have to work and have a job.

The mention of employment leads Smith back to the days of the Great Depression, signs of which have returned worldwide with zero-hour contracts and rising joblessness.

The fact that too many young people cant find work [is] a disaster, because when young people cant find work they turn to mischief. And quite often that mischief is dangerous and deadly.

It neednt happen. You dont want it to happen to your children and I certainly dont want my grandchildren to go through it.

It is again a stern warning from Smith, for whom giving up is never an option despite his own personal suffering.

He lost his sister to tuberculosis when she was 10 years old because the family couldnt afford a doctor; his wife, a German who he dearly loved, to cancer, and his 70-year-old son, Peter, to mental illness.

I had a good life, he says, explaining that he does not fear death.

With tearful eyes, he adds: My middle son died in 2009 from mental illness  He said to his friend, I know I wont have a long life. But thanks to my parents I had a ball for the time I lived.

As for myself, I know that once this beautiful life that we dont appreciate ends, it is curtains. There is nothing else.

Follow Anealla Safdar on Twitter: @anealla




As Great Terror anniversary comes around in Russia, Harbin operation in which 20,000 were executed remains unheard.

Moscow, Russia  Viktor Didenko was born in Harbin in 1935, where his family lived while his father worked on the construction of the China Eastern Railway. This alone led him, at the age of 15, to flee from the NKVD [Soviet secret police] as a defacto enemy of the people. If he hadnt had fled, his fate would have been imprisonment or execution.

Soviet workers, often called Harbiners, were employed on the construction of the China Eastern Railway until it was sold in 1935 to the Manchukuo, a Manchurian state set up by the Japanese.They then returned home to the Soviet Union, welcomed by cheering crowds at train stations throughout Russia. However, sentiment changed in 1937.

That September the head of the NKVD, Nikolai Yezhov, issued order number 00593, which along with other national operations against minorities, instructed agents to begin a broad operation to arrest and eliminate all the Harbiners and their families, which accounted for up to 25,000 people.

From then on, they were considered spies or foreign agents of the Japanese or Germans.

The official start of the operation was October 1, 1937, and set to last until December. However, it was extended several times, ending in November 1938.

One of the bloodiest operations

The Harbin operation is considered the third bloodiest among all national operations undertaken by the NKVD.

Returning home from Harbin, the Didenkos settled in Murom  a small provincial town where Viktors father started work as a factory driver.

On August 5, 1937, Pavel Didenko went to work and was never seen again.

Viktors mother never told him that his father was taken away by the NKVD, instead telling her little boy that he was sent to fight in the Second World War.

I didnt realise what it was about, says Viktor Didenko. I was too young and my mother never told me anything. When I grew older my mother had to send me to [Russias] Far East because there was a coming threat under me.

She was referring to the wave of arrests, when the children of enemies of the people were considered guilty of their parents alleged crimes.

Viktors mother arranged an exile for her son, and so on a freezing December night in 1950, Viktor Didenko stood on an overcrowded platform in Yaroslavsky station in Moscow, waiting for a train that would take him across the country to Russias Far East and hopefully, to safety.

Had he stayed, his fate would have been imprisonment and possibly, execution.

This is what happened to thousands of other people whose relatives were deemed criminals at the peak of the Great Terror. My mother was threatened throughout her life, he said.

After three years of exile, during which time he worked as a judges assistant, Didenko received news of Joseph Stalins death. I was able to go home on the first ferry, he concludes.

It wasnt until 1958 that he learned the whole truth of his exile and his fathers disappearance, when he received the first version of his fathers death certificate and 90 rubles ($1.52) accounting for two months of his fathers salary.

The first death certificate stated that his father had died of cancer in 1943, but in 1991 he received another official paper informing him that in fact, his father had been executed by firing squad in 1937. He had been posthumously acquitted.

It's sad that so many innocent people suffered, it was completely unjustified by Elena Rudiy, granddaughter of Harbin victims

Yuliy Rudiy was the head of the China Eastern Railway in Harbin.

His entire family moved there in 1929, when he first started working on the railway. When they returned home in 1937, Yuliy was arrested and then convicted for participation in prolific anti-Soviet activities, as well as for being a member of a Trotskyist group.

Yuliys wife, Anna, was left alone to raise their family.

Elena Rudiy, the granddaughter of Yuliy and Anna, says: I heard that she tried to go to the prison but was never allowed to see or send anything to him. I remember her as a very tough woman. She never mentioned what happened to my grandfather, nor discussed it with me. She took great care of me and my mother.

In Yuliys file, there are two interrogation reports each dated a month apart. In the first, Yuliy Rudiy pleads guilty, confirming his anti-Soviet actions and disclosing several affiliates who were also involved. In the second, he denies all allegations and claims his arrest is a mistake on the part of the NKVD. He was imprisoned for fewer than six months before he was executed by firing squad in February 1938.

After his death, the family was evicted from their apartment in Moscow and sent to Kirov, in central Russia.

Our house in Kirov was more of a summer cottage than a proper house. I remember always being cold, and scared of the rats, she adds. Its sad that so many innocent people suffered, it was completely unjustified.

In 1956, all the charges were dropped and Yuliy Rudiy was officially acquitted.

Creeping re-Stalinisation

Sergey Prudovsky began researching the Harbin operation when he found the memoirs of his grandfather, a Harbiner who spent 15 years in Gulag.

In the account, his grandfather Stepan Kuznetsov described his life in the camp. Alongside the vivid recollections, Prudovsky found a list of people who his grandfather knew while working on the China Eastern Railway.

Prudovsky sought further information in the Federal Security Service archives, or FSB, and was granted access to his grandfathers case file. He then went on to locate all the people mentioned in his grandfathers memoir.

The more he investigated, the more victims he found.

Impunity breeds atrocities, and we need to remember and learn from them. Here in Russia, only a few people want to know about the problems in our country by Sergey Prudovsky, researcher and grandson of Harbin victim

Throughout his endeavour, he had numerous legal disputes with the FSB over their refusal to disclose archive documents on both victims and former NKVD operatives.

Impunity breeds atrocities, and we need to remember and learn from them. Here [in Russia] only a few people want to know about the problems in our country, says Prudovsky. There are difficult, dark pages of history that we need to know about, he adds, regarding the mass purges of the Great Terror.

At the time of the Harbin operation, Stalins unbridled use of the NKVD to eliminate his enemies became the norm. These days, the atrocities committed under his command are acknowledged, through memorials and campaigns dedicated to the victims of political violence.

Yet still in modern-day Russia, Stalin is a controversial figure at best.

According to a recent survey by the All-Russian Public Opinion Centre (VTSIOM), only 53 percent of respondents believe that innocent people suffered from political repressions.

A prominent Russian political scientist, Ekaterina Schulmann, draws a parallel between the acceptance of Stalins image and the rise of state propaganda.

State propaganda sets a certain norm. It tells society what is right, what is normal, what is possible at all. It creates an atmosphere in which people feel that its safe to walk around with a poster of Stalin, if not entirely commendable.

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Concerning Stalins rehabilitation and his reappearance in public spaces we can see that in each case, its directly or indirectly due to state initiative, explains Schulmann.

In order to control society using non-democratic methods, of course, [the government] has to present society itself in a false way. They need to put an image of Stalin in the minds of each member of society, to be able to point at them and say how backward and bloodthirsty they are, how little able to choose for themselves without state surveillance.

Considering the governments actions, events, and public displays, they can all be seen as signs of creeping re-Stalinisation, she wraps up.
The arrest of John Kapoor, the founder of US-based pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics, is shocking news. He is accused of racketeering, conspiracy, fraud and other felonies. According to the prosecution, he helped devise a plan to bribe doctors into prescribing a fentanyl-based cancer pain drug to non-cancer patients.

Whats shocking about it is that there were criminal charges against people, not just corporations. Whats shocking about it is that Insys Therapeutics was doing exactly what other pharmaceutical companies have been doing to push their opioids and all their medications on patients who may or may not need them.

There is an opioid crisis in the US. And there is no doubt that this addiction crisis is based on pills.

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These pills come from legal manufacturers and marketers  companies in the business category called  without intentional irony  ethical pharmaceuticals.

The usage of opioid-based painkillers has been pushed aggressively by the sales and marketing forces of the ethical pharmaceutical companies in the way they market all their drugs  seminars that are really expense-paid trips for doctors to sunshine resorts, free samples, speaker fees, coupons to patients for 30-day starter supplies, rebates to wholesalers who keep the drugs off of prior authorisation lists, and so on.

The ethical pharmaceutical companies did something even more basic than that. They manufactured a disease called chronic pain. They promoted the idea of making pain the fifth vital sign (after pulse, temperature, blood pressure and respiration) that doctors should examine on every visit. To back that up, they created Astroturf groups  American Pain Society, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, Partners Against Pain.

It has become common practice in US medicine, once a medication is invented and patented, to determine, define, even invent, the disease or condition it is a cure for. After its been approved for one use, to get doctors to use it for lots of others things

Opioids are a fabulous product. They can be prescribed for almost anything because most things that people go to a doctor for hurt.

Just a few years ago, opioid addiction would have been a dark, shameful  and criminal  secret. Now that it is being created by mainstream corporations and they are profiting from it, it has been normalised. They have made addiction so normal that there are now TV ads promoting taking additional drugs to deal with opioid-induced constipation!

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What makes opioids a doubly great product is that they are addictive. Even if a doctor is conscientious and stops prescribing, the patients are likely to continue. They can go to a pill mill, buy on the internet or street dealers, and the product is coming from the same wholesalers and manufacturers.

Addiction, like any other type of popular indulgence, is a socially transmitted condition. Addicts work together. They bring other people in. They, too, normalise addiction, but they do it for the people immediately around them. Beyond treating cancer patients and the dying  where addiction is irrelevant  most of the rest is based on a lie.

In 2016, the CDC finally realised that there was little good evidence that opioids helped chronic pain for more than six weeks. Given how dangerous opioids are known to be, that should have been discovered years ago. If more doctors actually paid attention to their patients, they would have realised it long ago.

This takes us to another question. Why did prescribing opioids become so popular, so easily?

Its a manifestation of the profit-based US healthcare system. The financial structure commends -commands  everyone in the system to fix things as quickly and simply as possible, in a way that is billable by entering a number and that works for the various financial players  insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, large healthcare providers.

The whole system works to promote quick visits and quick fixes.

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Its the same syndrome that has stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin given to children to make them behave in school  which is a pervasive practice almost exclusive to the US.

Dealing with the real causes would be more time-consuming. The solutions might not be covered by insurance or just have a very low time-to-profit ratio.

In a related story, an investigation by 60 Minutes and the Washington Post revealed that the big pharmaceutical companies had sponsored the election campaigns of congressmen who in return promoted a law that stops the prosecution of major corporations for being the drug pushers they are.

All of this fits into the story of a 50-year movement to increase the power of corporations and big money, to alter the legal system to put corporate criminals beyond the law, and to normalise the sort of corruption that has representatives paid to protect corporate excesses, even if they play a big part in 64,000 deaths a year.

Thats what makes the arrest of John Kapoor so shocking. It goes against everything that the US has come to stand for in the corporate age.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
The Norwegian government is violating the Paris Agreement and we are taking them to court.

For the first time ever, a government is being brought to justice for opening new areas for oil and gas extraction after signing and ratifying the Paris Agreement.

This historic court case is set to begin in Oslo, Norway, on November 14. Greenpeace and Norwegian environmental organisation Nature and Youth are challenging the Norwegian government in court for allowing oil companies to drill for new oil in the Arctic. For the first time in more than 20 years, the government has awarded oil licenses in a completely new area of the Barents Sea to 13 oil companies, a move that violates the countrys own constitution and contravenes the Paris Agreement.

At the time that the lawsuit was filed, then UN chief Ban Ki-moon said:The fate of the Arctic is tied to the fate of Miami, Mumbai, Shanghai and [other] coastal cities  When the Arctic suffers, the world feels the pain. This is a beautifully worded description of the alarming reality we are facing: the negative effect of climate change on the Arctic has catastrophic consequences around the world.

And yet, the Norwegian government sees fit to further exploit this pristine and vulnerable area, knowing that the emissions resulting from this new and unburnable oil (oil that we cannot afford to produce if we are to meet the Paris accord goals) will have a detrimental effect on the Arctic, and worsen the global effects of climate change.

At the same time as the trial starts in Norway, Fiji is hosting the United Nations climate change conference, COP 23 in Bonn, Germany, aiming to continue the work on the historic climate agreement struck in Paris two years ago. Its the first time a Pacific island nation has held the presidency, presenting a unique opportunity for the voices of vulnerable states and people to be at the centre of decisions that will shape climate action.

This will be the first time the right to a healthy and safe environment is used in court. by

The Pacific islands are among a small group of nations particularly vulnerable to climate change. In some cases, the threat is existential. Pacific leaders are calling for an end to fossil fuel extraction, a call that has so far been ignored by governments continuing oil exploration efforts. This call  specifically against fossil fuel extraction in new areas in the Arctic  will be heard by a judge in the Norwegian courtroom starting on Tuesday.

The judge will hear how the Norwegian government has failed the commitments it made as a developed nation in signing and ratifying the Paris Agreement. If the goals of the agreement are to be met, fossil fuel production has to start decreasing, not increasing. The worlds carbon budget will be broken if we add more.

Although the Norwegian government may hide under a reading of the document that covers only domestic emissions, the Paris Agreement means so much more than that. Developed nations such as Norway have committed to take the lead and have their efforts reflect the highest possible ambitions. The world also agreed to aim to reach the global peak of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, keeping the global average temperatures well below 2C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5C.

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Allowing oil companies to search for and develop oil in the Arctic will push the peak further out in the future, add more unburnable carbon to the reserves and exacerbate climate change. Therefore, by opening up these new areas of the Arctic for drilling, the Norwegian government is breaking a commitment under international law.

Its important to keep in mind that this lawsuit is about future oil that hasnt been discovered yet. Oil that would not hit the market before a decade or two. And thats the core of the problem. We have already discovered far more fossil fuels than we can afford to burn, if the goals in the Paris Agreement are to be fulfilled. Burning the reserves in currently operating oil and gas fields alone would take the world beyond 1.5C.

Greenpeace isnt promoting the sudden death of fossil fuels, but encouraging a managed decline of existing reserves and a complete ban on new oil and gas exploration as absolutely necessary.

At the heart of the court case is also article 112 of the Norwegian constitution. This article explicitly grants people the right to a safe and healthy environment and also safeguards those rights for future generations. It places a duty on the Norwegian government to uphold these rights.

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A constitution sits high above all other laws; government action should be safeguarding those rights. Article 112 limits what the government can do: It cannot make decisions that violate the right to a healthy environment for current and future generations.

We believe the Norwegian government has failed in its duty to safeguard this right by opening up new areas of the Arctic to oil drilling, which will worsen the already catastrophic effects of climate change.

This will be the first time the right to a healthy and safe environment is used in court. Around the world, some 90 countries have constitutions with similar stipulations, and this lawsuit can help guide other courts in interpreting these rights in their legal systems, and inspire more people to hold their governments to account.

Winning this case would not only leave millions of barrels of oil in the ground, but could also set a precedent for future climate cases around the world.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Michele LeVoy is the Director of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM).

The revelations that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed and assaulted women finally put sexual misconduct and abuse of power in the media spotlight.

We have known for a long time that violence against women is endemic and it has much to do with inequality and discrimination. While women in all social strata face the risk of being victimised, some are particularly vulnerable. That is the case with undocumented women.

The laws and policies governing irregular migrants reduce their control over their own lives, deny them public assistance, and isolate them from society. The consequences of these policies for women are detrimental.

Take the case of Maria, a domestic worker from the Philippines. She arrived in Germany to work in the home of a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates. She says the Emirati man repeatedly raped her and eventually returned to his country, leaving her behind, pregnant and undocumented.

She gave birth to a daughter but the diplomat never recognised her as his child, and was never held accountable for the rape because Maria did not report it for fear of being deported. When her daughter Hanna was three years old, Maria found out about one of our member organisations, Agisra, which assisted her in filing a complaint with the police in Germany. Maria received legal help and was able to have her deportation suspended.

A 2010 survey conducted in France, for example, found that one in three police stations would arrest a migrant woman and initiate deportation proceedings if she tried to file a complaint. by

Just like Maria, millions of other undocumented women who experience sexual harassment or abuse risk getting arrested, being deported and/or losing their livelihood if they speak up about it. Their abusers are well aware of this fact and exploit it fully, often intentionally misinforming them about what may happen if they leave or report an abusive situation. Few undocumented women like Maria are able to escape this vicious circle and seek help from the authorities.

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Research carried out by the University of Illinois in four major urban centres in the United States in 2013 showed that 70 percent of undocumented migrants were less likely to contact law enforcement authorities if they were victims of a crime, due to their status.

A 2010 survey conducted in France, for example, found that one in three police stations would arrest a migrant woman and initiate deportation proceedings if she tried to file a complaint.

The failure to treat undocumented women as victims plays into the hands of their abusers. In their efforts to curb immigration through tougher policing and deportations, the authorities simply enable criminals to abuse undocumented women with impunity.

Research by UK-based black feminist organisation Imkaan found that 92 percent of surveyed women and children experiencing gender-based violence, who had immigration issues, reported being threatened with deportation by their abuser. Sumanta Roy, one of the authors of the report, told the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) that migration status has a profound impact on women and their ability to leave a violent relationship.

Indeed, nothing will change for women until international human rights frameworks are reflected in local practice. In the past few years, there has been some limited progress in this direction.

In Spain, legislation enacted in 2009 on gender-based violence exempts undocumented women who are victims of violence from deportation, at least for the period of criminal proceedings, and provides them with an immediate right to access domestic violence shelters. Under the law, undocumented women who were victims of gender-based violence can also apply for a residence status and work permit.

In 2016, the Netherlands rolled out a policy called safe in, safe out, that promotes the ability of all victims of crime to report to the police, without fear of immigration consequences.

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The policy began as a modest initiative in Amsterdam in 2013, where the police realised that building trust with local communities was a prerequisite to safe neighbourhoods and effective policing.

The police organised sessions to inform members of local communities about the right to report crimes in a safe environment, which led to more victims of crimes reporting them.



A number of cities across the US have come to a similar conclusion, and have refused to let federal immigration authorities outsource their work to local police and service providers. This means that in these cities, undocumented migrants can access healthcare, report crimes and get other services without the risk of being arrested.

Undocumented victims of crime and abuse, including survivors of gender-based violence, can obtain special status in the US if they testify and support investigations. Yet, according to recent reports, the Trump administrations anti-immigration policies and stance have led to an increasing number of undocumented women choosing to endure violence and abuse over reporting it to the police.

All women and girls deserve to live a life free of violence. Achieving this requires us to understand how societys written and unwritten rules and practices create vulnerability and increase violence directed at women.

The ongoing #MeToo debate about sexual harassment is indispensable, but it also requires solidarity with all women, regardless of their status.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Activists condemn universitys alleged threat to stop the event unless Palestinian academic chairing it was removed.

The University of Cambridge is facing accusations of censorship after it allegedly threatened to ban a meeting about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement unless the Palestinian academic chairing it was removed and replaced with its own choice.

Ruba Salih from the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) was set to oversee Wednesdays event featuring Palestinian BDS activist, Omar Barghouti, but organisers say they were forced to cancel her participation hours before it was due to start after the university intervened citing concerns over her neutrality.

Palestinian activists say the incident highlights the increasingly restrictive atmosphere for critics of Israel on campuses across the UK.

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Ed McNally, the Cambridge student who organised the event, told Al Jazeera that the university was undoubtedly violating its commitment to free expression.

Removing a respected Palestinian academic as chair of a panel event based on an unsubstantiated assumption about her lack of neutrality, and in doing so bowing to external pressure from a pro-Israel lobby group, cannot be construed as anything other than a naked attack on free speech and, more particularly academic freedom, McNally said.

Hundreds of students and academics have signed an open letter condemning Salihs removal as chair of the event.

In an email exchange, a university spokesperson told Al Jazeera that the institution is fully committed to freedom of speech and expression.

We have no reason to believe that these events are in any way unlawful, the spokesperson said, adding: In this instance, following calls from the organisers for extra safety measures, a neutral chair was provided to ensure that all sides were represented in what is an important and often emotionally charged debate.

Al Jazeera asked the university to explain why Salih was not considered a neutral choice for chair, but the institution issued no further comment.

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The SOAS academic said she had not received any explanation from the university for why she was not considered an appropriate chair.

I dont know the exact terms under which my role as chair was defined as inappropriate for the debate, and which narratives the university has used for the forced replacement of the chair, she said.

Vocal support for Palestine

Palestinian activists at Cambridge are not alone in thinking they are subject to unfair restrictions and even censorship by universities.

In the past year, Al Jazeera has reported on similar incidents at universities across the country, including the University of Manchester and the University of Central Lancashire, among others.

In Manchester, a freedom of information request filed by the activists revealed that the university had agreed to censor the title of talk given by a Holocaust survivor after a meeting with the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev.

The organisers of the Cambridge event said the university had intervened after pressure from pro-Israel lobby groups.

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Having essentially abandoned the battle for hearts and minds, Israel and its supporters are resorting to legal warfare and lobbying for the suppression of speech, McNally said.

As seen at Cambridge this week, and in pressure successfully applied by the Israeli ambassador on the University of Manchester to censor events on Palestine, these efforts are manifest on university campuses.

The second-year history student also said he believed the British governments Prevent programme for countering what it terms extremist ideology was to blame for censorship of Palestinian events on campus.

Under guidelines issued by the government to tackle views considered extremist, universities are asked to consider vocal support for Palestine as an indicator of extremist views that must be risk-assessed and managed.

Deeply disturbed

Cambridge academic Anne Alexander said the requirements for neutral event chairs did not seem to apply when the Israeli ambassador spoke at Cambridge.

The stipulation that there must be a neutral or independent chair seems to be only applied to certain types of event, and this smacks of double standards, she said.

I am...deeply disturbed that in both these cases a female BME academic colleague has been told essentially that she is incapable of acting as a fair and honest chair of the discussion by Anne Alexander, University of Cambridge





On Tuesday, Alexander had attended another event featuring Barghouti at the London School of Economics (LSE), which faced similar restrictions to the event in Cambridge.

In that event, LSE academic Aya Cubukcu was replaced by her colleague, Professor Eric Neumayer, after officials at the institution demanded an independent chair.

Alexander shared a copy of an email she had sent to Cambridge University administrators with Al Jazeera, in which she raised her concerns regarding Salihs removal as chair.

I am  deeply disturbed that in both these cases (Cambridge and LSE) a female BME (Black and minority ethnic) academic colleague has been told essentially that she is incapable of acting as a fair and honest chair of the discussion, she wrote, further asking the officials if they had any evidence to support the notion Salih could not chair the meeting appropriately.

Please can you explain to me why students and academics who are supporters of a non-violent campaign which simply calls on Israel to respect international law are being treated in this way?

Follow Shafik Mandhai on Twitter: @ShafikFM
Opinion / Columnist



CID Special Unit to investigate Mnangagwa 'Crimes'

Dirty cops

Murders in the Midlands

The Godfrey Majonga case



Conclusion

Robert Greene, an American author wrote a book entitled, The 48 Laws of Power. In this book he outlines and explain the different types of power and influence and how those who exercise them can do so effectively. A must read for those who wish to understand how power is wielded and exercised. Of relevance to this article is Law number 15, which reads, "Crush your enemy Totally. All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely, no amber must be left alight, no matter how dimly lit smoulders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway that through total annihilation; The enemy will recover and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body, but in spirit"This was the fate of the Vice President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa that fateful morning. Arrangements had been put in place to arrest and detain him as soon as President Robert Mugabe received his resignation or fired, which ever came first. As a loyal cadre of the struggle he refused to resign from his party ZANU PF, a party he has lived and sacrificed for since the war of liberation. Instead he focused on securing his safety. That fateful day, the vultures had circled in for the kill. Intelligence had reached him alerting him of the intention of Grace Mugabe and the G40 to either arrest him or kill him. Having headed the intelligence department for many years this information reached him through a network of faithful cadres. The Vice President, who later that day became a former vice president as Mugabe summarily fired him, left the country to safety.The failure to arrest former Vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa was a game-changer. The succession arrangements were premised on the complete "annihilation" of former vice president and all his allies. The idea was to follow law number 15 to the book. This would allow Grace Mugabe to ascend to the throne from vice president to president when her husband finally curves in. Now, with the former vice president out there, it is no longer possible for Grace Mugabe to became president and hold power securely. It may mean a complete rearrangement of the deck chairs until they get to Mnangagwa. So, since they failed to capture him, the next thing was to discredit him. To discredit him such that he becomes an unattractive option for anyone, nationally and internationally, hence the media blitz. The Zimbabwe independent under the editorship of Dumisani Muleya leads in this quest.The Zimbabwe Independent in an article entitled. ousted VP faces arrest opens by saying THE Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has assembled a special unit to investigate crimes allegedly committed by ousted vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa during his long tenure in office. The unit, led by Assistant Commissioner Crispen Charumbira, includes Superintendent Nyambo Viera (CID Law and Order), Chief Superintendent Nyaradzai Majachani (CID Property Section) and Chief Superintendent Ngena (Law and Order). The case, which they are investigating cases against Mnangagwa, for alleged obstruction of justice, corruption, attempted murder and murder.A call to the CID headquarters revealed no special unit or special investigation was known to them. Checks on the names of the officers named as the special unit reveals that they are known dirty cops known for shaking down foreigners and taking bribes. In June this year Chief Superintendent Nyaradzai Majachani and Superintendent Shepperd Tachiona pocketed $30 000 in bribe money from Croco Motors as a cover-up for the company's vehicle smuggling syndicate. This was disclosed by a Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) informer, Delish Nguwaya, as he filed a Constitutional Court application in a case where he is charged with extorting $20 000 from Chinese businessman, Baonin Guo. Nguwaya is being charged together with Vengai Zano, Mbizo Mbereki Nyathi and Clever Gadzikwa, who are all State security agents. Superintendent Nyambo Viera (CID and order) is cited in High Court papers as the one sent by Grace Mugabe to harass the Lebanese businessman who sold the 1,3 million diamond ring to Grace Mugabe. So, the special unit being referred to are all dirty cops for hire. They are sent to do all the dirty work for Grace Mugabe and the G40 cabal. The full story of their criminal history can be accessed here: Top police officers pocketed 30-000 bribery and CIO police tiff escalates The discovery of gold in kwekwe and Redcliff was both a blessing and a curse for the Midlands region. For most families reeling from the poverty created by the closure of Zisco, it was a God sent. Many have been able to feed their families by selling gold to fidelity printers and other players. The discovery of gold also saw large numbers of gold panners descend on kwekwe and Redcliff to mine the precious mineral. As humanity would have it, money can breed evil as well. Soon enough the police had to deal with a large number of murders amongst the gold panning community. According to the Zimbabwe independent all murders cases in the Midlands linked to gold panners are now attributed to Former Vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa. Surely the Gods must indeed be crazy.The Godfrey Majonga is one of the allegations put out there by Dumisani Muleya in the Zimbabwe independent. Allegations are that former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa caused dibalitating life injuries to television presenter Godfrey Majonga, ending his broadcasting career by causing him to jump from a high rise building some thirty years ago. In his politiburo presentation Professor Jonathan Moyo repeated the same allegations which were roundly rebutted by former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa and a 3-million-dollar law suit is currently in the courts against Professor Jonathan Moyo. The former vice president has always denied responsibility for the incident. He stopped of mentioning the name of the person responsible in the last politburo meeting in which he gave his rebuttal to the Professor Moyo allegations. Many people who followed the philandering of members of parliament and other public servants at the time would know that the person responsible for the incident was Retired Col Sibanda. How it became a Mnangagwa issue is anybody's guess.Corrupt journosThe succession issue has taken a new twist. The dissemination of information is now being done at the highest level and being passed to journalists to appendage their names and publish. The Editor of the Zimbabwe independent is Dumisani Muleya, a protege of Professor Jonathan Moyo. Muleya was appointed by Moyo to be in a committee that looted state funds - Zimbabwe information media Panel of inquiry - IMPI. He sat in the information platforms and content of media platforms committee. ZACC, Zimbabwe's anti-corruption unit investigated the scandal where US 5 million of ZBC salaries were diverted. In short, he is a beneficiary of Professor Jonathan Moyo's scandals and benevolence. He accepts written articles from the professor and pushes his propaganda.Junior journalists are asked to appendage their names to vary the sources of the story. The writing style however remains the same. Of late, young journalists like Bernard Mpofu and Ellias Manbo have been the front of the stories smearing the former vice president. It is no secret that Professor Moyo is the brains of the succession fight in Zimbabwe. He is the brains in the G40 outfit. Dumisani Muleya's impartiality is now questionable. There is credible evidence that he is paid to publish stories from Professor Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere. Professor Moyo cannot push his propaganda to no nonsense editor of the Herald, Caesar Zvayi. his default outlet for propaganda is the Zimbabwe independent and The Standard newspapers.The escape of former Vice president has rattled the G40 outfit as they will now be forced to rearrange the deck chairs. It is now not possible to have a secure Grace Mugabe presidency. She will never be able to hold power securely with former Emmerson Mnangagwa being out there. In his hard-hitting statement, he has outlined his intentions. He will be back to lead the original ZANU PF with all the players expelled by president Robert Mugabe, the war veterans, ZAPU supremo Dumiso Dabengwa, Morgan Tsvangirai, Simba Makoni, Joyce Mujuru ad other democratic forces having confirmed their commitment to converge and deal with the Mugabe dynasty plans once and for all. Those that have allowed themselves to be abused by the G40 outfit in their professional capacity, whether they are journalists or policemen will find themselves on the wrong side of history. The democratisation process in Zimbabwe has begun. The writing is on the wall for Robert Mugabe and his dynasty plans will not see the light of day.
Yemens president could be targeted if he returns to UAE-administered Aden city, Yemeni official says.

Yemens president could be assassinated if he leaves Saudi Arabia and returns to the war-ravaged country, a Yemeni official has warned.

The government official told Al Jazeera that the kingdom feared for President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadis life, and urged the 72-year-old to avoid returning to Yemens coastal city of Aden.

The official also rubbished media reports from earlier this week that claimed Hadi was being held under house arrest in Riyadh.

Claims that Hadi is under house arrest are complete rubbish, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Hadi can go anywhere he wants, he can even travel abroad, but from what I understand there is a real risk to his life should he return to Aden.

Hadi and much of his government have been based in Riyadh since 2015 when Houthi rebels, in cooperation with troops loyal to Hadis predecessor, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, captured large expanses of the country, including Sanaa, the capital of Yemen.

There are forces there that would like to see him targeted, and thats why the Saudis dont feel its right for him to come back. They have urged him to stay in Riyadh until the security situation improves, the official added.

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The official did not say which forces wanted to target Hadi, but large parts of the south and south-east are under the control of the United Arab Emirates and militias backed by Abu Dhabi.

The comments come just days after several international news organisations reported that Hadi, along with his sons, aides and military officials  who havent visited Yemen since February  had been placed under house arrest.

When Hadi asks to go, they [Saudi Arabia] respond its not safe for him to return as there are plotters who want to take his life and [the] Saudis fear for his life, an official was quoted as saying.

. by Murad Alazzany, professor at Sanaa University

Deeply unpopular

Hadi became Yemens president in 2012 under a US-backed deal that saw Ali Abdullah Saleh step down from power after a year of protests left over 2,000 people dead.

He was supposed to serve a two-year term but repeatedly postponed elections as negotiations over a new constitution through a National Dialogue Conference failed.

But it was his decision to cut fuel subsides in the summer of 2014 that sparked angry protests and forced thousands onto the capitals streets.

The Houthis exploited the unrest and marched south from their stronghold of Saada province to Sanaa, before surrounding the presidential palace  rendering Hadi powerless.

After escaping house arrest, Hadi fled the capital to Aden before seeking sanctuary in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

But even before the turmoil, Hadi was deeply unpopular among many Yemenis.

Having served for almost 18 years as vice president in Salehs government, his failure to dismantle a complicated network of alliances Saleh set up between the countrys military, civil and tribal groups, drew anger from some of the countrys biggest tribes.

Zero personality

Hadis faltering popularity goes hand-in-hand with the UAEs growing power in south Yemen, Murad Alazzany, a Yemeni political analyst and professor at Sanaa University, told Al Jazeera.

His failure to return to Yemen underscores his loss of authority  even in the south that is nominally under his administration.

Yemen is incredibly polarised, and hes to blame for this. Hes failed to offer a practical political settlement and doesnt possess the personality or any of the necessary skills to rally the people, and lets not forget  he has zero legitimacy.

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He has also failed to gain any public support in the north, and this is mirrored in the south. Very few southerners, and even fewer people who believe in secession, support him, Alazzany added.

The UAE entered Yemens war in March 2015 as part of a Saudi-led coalition to restore Hadis legitimate government.

But in the last two years, it has trained, financed and armed militias in Yemen that only answer to it, set up prisons, and created a security establishment parallel to Hadis government. Those groups answer to Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of South Yemens secessionist movement.

Reports by rights groups have also found that the UAE has funded and directed a Security Belt  a force created in 2016 that has been responsible for arbitrarily detaining and abducting people.

Welcome/not welcome?

Hadi is not welcome in Yemen, Ahmed al-Sharabi, a 40-year-old maths teacher in the capital, told Al Jazeera.

He should never return. Hes responsible for several crimes and is one of the main people to blame for the high number of civilian casualties since the start of the war.





Since March 2015, fighting has killed more than 10,000 people and left over seven million in need of food assistance. Millions of others do not have adequate access to health, water and sanitation services.

Azzubair Abdullah Hasan, a physician treating cholera victims in the citys Aljiraf district, told Al Jazeera that Hadi could still be accepted if he ended the war.

If Hadi can do the impossible and bring and end to this war, then yes.

But right now, the people are more concerned about welfare than politics. Anyone who can feed them and take care of them will be welcomed.

Despite being at war for more than two years, the coalition has failed to achieve its stated aims as Houthi rebels continue to hold the capital Sanaa and large parts of the countrys north.

Follow Al Jazeeras Faisal Edroos on Twitter: @FaisalEdroos
Fighters believed to be holding 10,000 civilians hostage in Euphrates Valley town of Rawa as they lose nearby villages.

Iraqi forces have launched an offensive to capture one of the last remaining areas under ISIL control in the country.

Two Iraqi infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces are carrying out the operation in Anbar province, Iraq.

It is believed ISIL fighters are holding 10,000 civilians hostage in the town of Rawa.

Iraqi forces seized several villages from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), on Saturday in an operation to retake Rawa, the operations commander said.

Troops backed by paramilitaries recruited among the regions Sunni Arab tribes launched a major offensive to liberate Rumana and the Rawa area, General Abdelamir Yarallah said.

He later said they had retaken Rumana and its bridge on the Euphrates along with 10 other villages.

Rumana is on the north side of the Euphrates just across from al-Qaim, while Rawa, a small town, lies downstream.

Al Jazeeras Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad on Saturday, said Iraqi commanders were hopeful the area would be taken quickly.

Were not talking about weeks and months; the Iraqis are talking about a few days, he said.

The security forces are very confident that they can rout ISIL from one of their last remaining strongholds in Iraq.

Final battleground

Rawa is the last town still held by ISIL, apart from al-Bukamal just across the border with Syria.

The Euphrates Valley town and nearby villages were bypassed by government troops and allied paramilitaries when they retook the town of al-Qaim on the Syrian border last week.

Haider al-Abadi, Iraqs prime minister, said on Saturday the Rawa operation aims to clean open areas in the desert of western Iraq.

The recapture of Rawa would mark the final battleground defeat of the ISIL group in Iraq and the demise of the caliphate declared by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014 over large expanses of Iraq and Syria.

Syrian government forces and allied paramilitaries from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran overran al-Bukamal on Thursday but lost the town again just two days later after a series of ISIL attacks.

ISIL fully recaptured al-Bukamal, and regime forces and allied militia are now between one to two kilometres from the city limits, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Saturday.

Against this backdrop, al-Abadi said on Saturday that losses from the war against ISIL have cost Iraq $100bn so far.

Iraq has lost $100bn in the anti-Daesh war, but we have achieved success in three battles; namely liberating the land, maintaining Iraqs unity and standing up to the threats, Abadi said during a speech, using the Arabic name for ISIL.
Reports that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) has recaptured major parts of al-Bukamal, its last stronghold in Syria, have emerged two days after the Syrian army declared it had taken full control over the town.

Rami Abdulrahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that ISIL has captured some 60 percent of al-Bukamal, an eastern town in Deir Az Zor province on the border with Iraq.

Abdulrahman also said the centre of al-Bukamal has continued to witness fierce fighting between ISIL and the Syrian army and its allies Hezbollah, the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

ISILs retaliatory attacks come after the Syrian armys announcement on Thursday that it had regained full control of the town.





Following the statement, Syrias political and armed opposition denounced the entry of the Iraqi PMU in al-Bukamal as a violation of its sovereignty.

The entry of the militias of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces [PMF] into the town of Albu Kamal and any other part of the Syrian territory is a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty, especially as the PMF militias are part of the military establishment of the Iraqi government, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said.

The [Bashar al-] Assad regime is primarily responsible for the current situation in Syria and for exposing the country to various forms of foreign hegemony, occupation, and violation of sovereignty.

A video circulating online, said to be released by ISILs news agency Amaq on Friday, purportedly shows ISIL fighters battling Assad forces in what the narrator says are the outskirts of al-Bukamal.

The video, which bears the Amaq agency logo, is titled Syrian regime forces fail to enter al-Bukamal city for the third day in a row. It shows an ISIL fighter speaking to the camera and claiming the Syrian army  despite being backed by the Russian air force  has failed to take control over the town.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government news agency SANA reported on Friday that Russian demining experts had begun removing unexploded land mines from al-Bukamal left by ISIL.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu congratulated the heroes of the Syrian Arab army for their successes in liberating the city of al-Bukamal, SANA said.

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ISIL has met a series of defeats in Syria and Iraq after it made major advances across the two countries four years ago and declared its aim to build a caliphate.

In October, the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab opposition forces backed by the United States, pushed the group out of its de facto capital Raqqa in Syria.

In Iraq, government forces and allies recaptured Mosul, the groups last urban stronghold in the country, in July.
Unprecedented show of force aims to warn North Korea against launching any attack on the US or its allies.

The US and South Korea launched military manoeuvres involving three American aircraft carrier strike groups on Saturday in a massive show of force that drew the anger of rival North Korea.

The war exercises off the tense Korean Peninsula aim to strengthen the alliances policy of extended deterrence against Pyongyangs nuclear and missile threats, South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz, and USS Theodore Roosevelt converged in the region for the four-day manoeuvres, also involving 11 American Aegis vessels and seven South Korean warships, including three destroyers.

South Koreas Yonhap news agency described the exercises as an unprecedented show of force off the peninsula. The last time such a convergence of military power occurred was in 2007 in waters off the US territory of Guam.

The military drills come as tensions remain sky-high as US President Donald Trump visits the region with the nuclear threat from North Korea dominating discussions.

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Speaking at the APEC summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Friday, Trump again called out North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and urged countries to stand united against the greater and greater danger posed by Pyongyang.

The future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictators twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail, said Trump, referring to Kim.

North Koreas foreign ministry issued a statement via the official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday describing Trumps trip as a warmongers visit for confrontation.

It is also nothing but a business trip by a warmonger to enrich the monopolies of the US defence industry by milking the moneybags from its subordinate allies, it added.

Pyongyang detonated its sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb in September after months of ballistic missile tests that riled Washington and its allies Japan and South Korea. The North says it needs nuclear weapons as a deterrent to prevent invasion and plunder by the US.

The DPRKs possession of nuclear weapons was a righteous and inevitable choice to defend our national sovereignty and dignity and our peoples rights to existence and development from increased nuclear threats and blackmail by the US and its hostile moves, the foreign ministry statement said, using the acronym of the countrys official name, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Analysts say its only a matter of time before the North will gain the ability to fire a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States.

Washington has said it will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.
Fishermen and tourism industry leaders worry that archipelago paradise will be the next to see oil and gas exploration.

The Lofoten Islands are a natural wonder, perched inside the Arctic Circle off the northwestern tip of Norway.

This is a rugged land of fish eagles and whales, precipitous cliffs and fjords and a rolling Atlantic crashing onto stunning beaches.

Its is where generations of fishermen have profited from the bountiful annual cod migration and where the northern lights weave their luminous mystery in the black night of winter.

Here cruise ships dock year-round and tourism is 100 percent booming.

But the Lofoten archipelago is in the crosshairs of Big Oil.

The geologists know that in these coastal waters lies an untapped oil field worth an estimated $60bn.

And their bosses want a licence to explore.

But so far they have been denied, and Lofoten is protected, for now.

Norway is a nation made rich by four decades of oil and gas extraction with a sovereign wealth fund worth a colossal $1tn. The fund itself owns an astonishing 1.3 percent of all stocks listed globally.

Like all petroleum producing nations, Norway has experienced a downturn in recent years.

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But now significant new discoveries in the North Sea and the Barents Sea have led to a dramatic upswing in production.

Last year Norways energy minister said that the Lofoten islands must at some point come into play. The potential profitability of near-shore fossil fuels, it seems, is hard to resist.

But the politics are far from straightforward.

Norways Conservative-led bloc won a narrow majority in the general election in September, and while theyre eager to open up the whole of Lofoten for oil and gas exploration, they need to shore up their position in parliament.

Deals still need to be done with other parties who do not all share the governments fossil fuel vision.

The fate of Lofotens waters hangs very much in the balance as these political deals are negotiated.

Fishing industry under direct threat

Like his forefathers, Bjorn Hugo Bendikson has been fishing the waters of the Lofoten Islands nearly all his life.

The archipelago is host to the worlds biggest cold-water coral reef and the breeding ground for 70 percent of all fish caught in the Norwegian and Barents Sea.

The fish stocks are very, very healthy, Bendikson told Al Jazeera.

And thats because the sea is so clean and full of life, he said. The Gulf Stream runs right up here.

Bendikson said the islanders have several concerns.

The oil companies will perform seismic tests, which scare big fish away and also have the potential to harm the billions of eggs that are spawned in these waters every year, he said.

And of course down the line, theres the very real danger of an oil spill which would be catastrophic to marine life and to the island communities. It puts Lofotens very successful fishing industry under direct threat. Its unacceptable in every way.

We do not want oil exploration in Lofoten

Every day of the week, 11 ships owned by the Norwegian cruise line, Hurtigruten, ply the Norwegian coast.

The cruise line has been at sea since 1893, taking local passengers and goods as well as tourists from around the world, paying good dollars for the spectacular scenery and the Arctic experience.

Oil and gas platforms do not feature in the Hurtigruten brochure.

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We have been very clear on this, we do not want oil and gas exploration in Lofoten, said Hurtigrutens chief executive officer Daniel Skjeldam.

Its one of the most beautiful areas in Norway and creates sustainable tourism, which treated in the right way, can be sustainable forever, he added.

And that obviously is not the case for the fossil fuel industry.

Hurtigruten is responsible for about 15 percent of all foreign overnight guests in Norway.

Skjeldam said he is surprised the government is interested in exploring Lofoten, given its beauty and its importance as a fishery and tourist destination.

We as a company are not against oil and gas extraction in itself but we are when it is done in a sensitive area like this, he added.

Norway opens up Arctic

Norway recently introduced legislation to become climate neutral by 2030. And with hydro-electricity supplying nearly 100 percent of the nations power, it is well placed to do so.

But a recent report by a Washington-based research group Oil Change International says Norway is exporting 10 times the amount of its domestic emissions to other countries, through the extraction and export of fossil fuel. Indeed Norway is the worlds third-largest exporter of oil and gas.

Of course, down the line, there's the very real danger of an oil spill which would be catastrophic to marine life and to the island communities. It puts Lofoten's very successful fishing industry under direct threat. It's unacceptable in every way. by Bjorn Hugo Bendikson, Lofoten fisherman

And its rapidly issuing new exploration permits in the Barents Sea in the Arctic, just to the northeast of the Lofoten Islands. According to the report, if these prospective fields come online it will increase Norways emissions by 150 percent.

Greenpeace and Nature and Youth, an environmental organisation in Norway, are suing the government over the new permits and opening up areas in the Arctic for drilling.

Will Lofoten be ruled out of the equation?

Yet, public opinion seems to be going in the other direction.

A recent opinion poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, showed that for the first time more Norwegians were in favour of leaving oil in the ground to protect the climate.

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The government is being pulled every which way. Now, just as it continues to authorise oil exploration, its empowered a commission to evaluate the economic effects of dealing with climate change. That includes examining the viability of the ongoing extraction of oil and gas.

Norways Minister of Climate and the Environment said last month: Given the energy and transport revolutions, fossil energy resources will be of less value over time.

The energy transition to renewables is going faster than anyone thought. And almost any scenario is being out-competed by reality.

This study has been broadly welcomed by environmental groups like Norwegian NGO Bellona. Their marine expert Sigurd Enge believes the end of Norways oil industry is now on the horizon.

There are not many areas for the government to offer the petroleum industry. And they are all in the high north or close to the coast.

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Enge said that Norways management of its petroleum resources in the past has been a role model for many oil-producing countries. We need to make sure the fairy tale gets a good end, he said.

And that means, he says, as the government tussles with its oil and gas policy in this changing energy world, extraordinary locations like Lofoten must be ruled out of the equation.
Papua New Guinea immigration officials have started dismantling parts of a prison camp housing hundreds of defiant refugees as an evacuation deadline looms.

Papua New Guinea immigration officials have started dismantling parts of a prison camp housing hundreds of defiant refugees as an evacuation deadline looms.

Refugees say they have been given two more days to leave after they barricaded themselves inside the camp without food, water, and medicine and refused to leave.

They say they fear for their safety from hostile locals if they relocate.

Al Jazeeras Yaara Bou Melhem reports from Sydney, Australia.
Health experts warn that research does not back up the argument that mass shootings are a mental health problem.

After Devin Patrick Kelley allegedly entered a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas last Sunday and shot dead 26 people, the conversation, prompted by politicians, immediately turned to mental health.

The horrific shooting represents a mental health problem at the highest level, US President Donald Trump declared on Twitter, adding in a press conference that the attack isnt a gun situation.

Trumps argument was bolstered when it was revealed that Kelley, 25, had suffered from mental disorders and had escaped a psychiatric hospital more than five years ago.

He was sent to the facility after being charged in a military court with assaulting his wife and fracturing his infant stepsons skull, according to documents obtained by local news channel KPRC.

Despite the revelations about Kelleys mental health, and the fact that the majority of Americans (63%) believe mass shootings in the US have more to do with mental health problems than gun control laws, health professionals warn that people should not draw a connection between mass shootings and mental illness.

This is all a red herring, Liza Gold, a forensic psychiatrist at Georgetown University of Medicine and editor of the book, Gun Violence and Mental Illness said.

The vast majority of mass shootings are not committed by the diagnosable mentally ill, no matter what politicians try to suggest, Gold said.

Our country is in a state of denial about the real nature of gun violence and what we can do to decrease mortality.

Only about three to five percent of violent acts in the US are committed by individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and the percentage of crimes they commit with a gun are lower than the national average for persons not diagnosed with mental illness, according to findings published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2015.

Studies have also found that the mentally ill are no more likely to become violent than a person without an illness, and that only one percent of violent acts committed by psychiatric patients involved killing a target.

If we were able to magically cure schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, that would be wonderful, but overall violence would go down by only about four percent, according to Jeffrey Swanson, a professor in psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, told ProPublica in 2014.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), the most powerful gun lobby in the US, has capitalised on the public perception of the mentally ill.

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Following a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada in early October that left 58 dead and more than 500 injured, NRA Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre also pointed to mental health.

I mean, the outrage theyre trying to stir against the NRA, they ought to be stirring against the mental health system, which has completely collapsed, he told CBS at the time.

Investigators have yet to reveal whether alleged Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock had a diagnosed mental illness.

Accessibility is the real problem

Michael Stone, a forensic psychiatrist at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and author of The Anatomy of Evil, has created a database of 350 mass murderers dating back over a century.

While Stone has found that around 20 percent of mass murderers have been severely mentally ill, he told Al Jazeera that the real problem is accessibility to guns.

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In the Texas shooting, Kelley bought the firearms he allegedly used through a federally licensed firearms dealer, where the seller is legally required to conduct a background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

His name was able to clear the system because the US Air Force admitted they failed to report Kelleys domestic violence convictions to the FBI  a conviction that, according to federal law, bars an individual from buying a firearm.

Researchers say, however, that even if Kelleys history had been reported to the FBI, he would have still had a way around the system as not all legal firearm purchases in the US require a seller to conduct a background check, fill out a form, or even show ID.

Currently, US federal law only mandates background checks from firearm retailers with a federal license to sell. For private sales that involve a seller without a federal license, including those at gun shows, only 19 out of 50 US states mandate a background check or a license or permit to buy a firearm. Texas is not one of them.

According to a 2010 Department of Justice report, individuals prohibited by law from possessing guns can easily obtain them from private sellers and do so without any federal records of the transactions.

Gun control advocates highlight this loophole, and push for a federal mandating of background checks for all firearm purchases, private, unlicensed or otherwise, an idea commonly known as universal background checks.

Do they work? Millions of background checks have been denied, which suggests they work, said Eric Ruben, an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Law and fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice whose work focuses on weapons law and the Second Amendment.

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Of course, they are not everything  but they likely increase the cost of guns on the black market, which is a good thing. And they are the best way Ive heard to enforce the gun prohibitions that are central to current gun regulation in America.

While the NRA has argued that proposals such as these would deprive individuals of due process of the law, Ruben disagrees.

Such policies are perfectly consistent with the Second Amendment. In fact, I know of no case in which background checks have been challenged successfully, Ruben told Al Jazeera, adding that background checks only help to implement bans that themselves are widely viewed as constitutional.

Inherent contradictions

Despite the NRAs efforts to lobby against expanding gun laws, studies from both the Pew Research Center and the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research have found that the majority of Americans (77 percent to 85 percent, respectively) support background checks for private sales along with other gun-control measures.

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But were left with a very politically challenging situation here, Stone said.

The NRA argues that mental illness, not guns or background checks, should be the focus of any policy to address high-profile shootings. But health experts point out that the organisation is also against expanding NICS to include psychiatrists diagnosis, a doctors referral, or the option of a law enforcement officer  or seeking mental health treatment.

Including these individuals would be overreaching and doing so would actually discourage troubled people from getting the help they need, according to the NRAs website.

Analysts and researchers also highlight that while politicians are quick to blame mental health for mass shootings, Trump and other pro-gun politicians have not said they will increase funding for healthcare providers or mental health research.

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In his first months in office, Trump repealed a regulation, implemented by the previous administration, that banned gun sales to individuals with certain mental health diagnoses, including those receiving Social Security checks for mental illnesses.

There is so much inherent contradiction from all these people that it really boggles the mind, Georgetown Universitys Gold said.

Mass shootings attract wide attention, but once you yell mental illness, no one even wants to consider evidence-based, sensible gun reform that could actually make a difference without infringing on gun rights, she added.

The NRA has been very successful in creating a learned helplessness and denial that benefits them and not anyone else.
President wants to know what is preventing PM from returning to Beirut from Riyadh where he announced his resignation.

Lebanons president has called on Saudi Arabia to clarify exactly why Saad Hariri, the countrys prime minister, has yet to return to Beirut.

Michel Aoun wants to know what is preventing Hariri from leaving Riyadh, where he announced his surprise resignation on November 4.

It has been a week since Hariri appeared on a Saudi satellite channel and announced his resignation.

But it is not being accepted unless he delivers it on Lebanese soil.

In Lebanon, all political parties and factions have asked for the return of the prime minister. His party, the Future Movement, says it has not heard from him since his televised resignation speech.

Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr, reporting from a mainly Sunni neighbourhood in Beirut on Saturday, said: Many people here feel that the current crisis is going to marginalise them even further.

The Sunni community has long complained of Iranian dominance in Lebanon. Now they are blaming their own ally, Saudi Arabia, for robbing them of their leader.

Nasrallahs speech

Hariris political adversary, Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia paramilitary cum political bloc, has refused to acknowledge the resignation.

In a televised speech on Friday, Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, accused Saudi Arabia of forcing Hariri to quit and holding him against his will.

The Lebanese unity government that Hariri formed a year ago includes Hezbollah members.

Thamer al-Sabhan, Saudi minister for Gulf affairs, warned earlier this month that his government would deal with Lebanon as a hostile state as long as Hezbollah was in the Lebanese government.

The Lebanese unity government that Hariri formed a year ago includes Hezbollah members.





For his part, Irans foreign ministry spokesman has said Saudi Arabia is aiming to create unrest in Lebanon after doing so in the Arab Gulf region and Yemen.

Bahram Qasemi said, in comments carried by state news agency IRNA on Saturday, the kingdom is trying to destabilise the region.

Qasemi said Saudi Arabia is after creating unrest in Lebanon.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are fighting proxy wars in the region from Syria to Yemen. Iran is a predominantly Shia military and economic power while Saudi Arabia is a Sunni bloc leader.

Saudi Arabia blames Iran for backing armed groups throughout the Middle East and has recently pledged to fight them.

Moukhtar Ghazzawi, a Beirut resident, told Al Jazeera: Its been humiliating for quite some time since 2005, I guess, since the [Rafik] Hariri assassination.

We have two poles  Saudi Arabia and Iran  and those two poles have people on the ground. Iran has arms, the other side has economics, and we are in the middle of all this.

Support for stability

There have been international calls for stability in Lebanon, with the US warning regional powers against using the country for proxy conflicts.

The UN too is calling for stability in Lebanon.

France and the US have expressed their support for Lebanons sovereignty and stability.

Lebanons state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday that French President Emmanuel Macron called his Lebanese counterpart to express Frances commitment to Lebanons unity, sovereignty and independence.

Earlier, Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said in a statement: The United States calls upon all states and parties to respect Lebanons sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes.

The White House statement echoed an appeal issued on Friday by Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, who is travelling in Asia with President Donald Trump.

Tillersons message seemed aimed mainly at Iran and Hezbollah.
Philippine leader hosts US President Trump on Sunday in Manila in their much anticipated first face-to-face meeting.

Manila, Philippines  What if Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called US President Donald Trump a son of a whore or a faggot?

Duterte aimed those words at Trumps predecessor Barack Obama and Philip Goldberg, then US envoy to the Philippines, respectively, after they criticised his war on illegal drugs. At least 6,000 people, mostly drug suspects, have been killed by either police officers or vigilantes in Dutertes controversial flagship policy.

The vulgar name-calling is unlikely to continue when Duterte hosts Trump here starting on Sunday, along with more than a dozen other heads of state, for a series of meetings with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The two leaders are scheduled to talk face-to-face for the first time, and their meeting is highly anticipated  at least by Filipinos.

The one-on-one comes at a crossroads in the relationship between their countries. Duterte has been pushing for an independent foreign policy that has him courting China and Russia while creating some distance from a longtime ally, the US, at least in terms of rhetoric.

Trump, on the other hand, has all but pivoted from Obamas rebalance to Asia choosing to put America first in both trade and security, to the chagrin of its developing economic and strategic partners such as the Philippines.

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More than pleasantries

The two men got on well from the first time they talked on the phone in December of 2016, Duterte congratulating Trump on winning the election, Trump praising Duterte for fighting illegal drugs the right way. But when they sit down for this long-awaited talk, they will have a lot more in mind than exchanging pleasantries.

For Trump, it will be all about North Korea and, to a less degree, trade deficits, said Gregory Poling of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

And no matter who the president meets with  it seems like every meeting has to be about North Korea first and last, Poling told Al Jazeera.

Duterte, this years ASEAN chairman, certainly shares Trumps concern over North Koreas nuclear weapons programme, and he has led ASEAN in condemning Pyongyangs provocative actions. He also promised Trump in a phone call last April that he would urge China President Xi Jinping to rein in North Koreas Kim Jong-un.

But Duterte knows his country is not a primary target of Pyongyangs nukes, and while he does not seem inclined to push strongly for anything in particular during the ASEAN meetings (he had, in fact, wondered whether he should call them off), there is one thing he vowed to protect  even against Trump: his war on drugs.

Not your business

Lay off. That is not your business. That is my business, Duterte said he would tell Trump or any leader who questioned his policy, as he embarked on a trip on Wednesday to Vietnam, where he and Trump attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Although it is unlikely that Trump will, of his own volition, bring up the issue of human rights violations with Duterte, there is a push from others in the US government to do so, particularly from Congress.

We can expect that the two leaders will be open and frank with each other. Important developments in the Philippines and in the United States, a full range of issues will be discussed, said Sung Kim, Washingtons envoy in Manila, in a recent forum with reporters.

I think Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson and other senior officials in Washington have made it very clear that human rights, rule of law, due process  these are very important principles and values that the United States continues to hold very dear, Kim said, adding the US will continue to work with allies such as the Philippines on those matters.

However, in the two phone conversations Trump has had with Duterte, he congratulated the good man on the drug war, for which both leaders drew strong criticism.

Natural affinity

The two politicians share many similarities. They both built their election campaigns on populist promises, presenting themselves as strongmen who would override stuffy bureaucracy to bring about quick and drastic changes for the people.

Both leaders have been accused of breaking laws and violating peoples rights  as in Trumps immigration ban and Dutertes drug war. They have both drawn flak for supposedly selling out to another country: Trump to Russia for his election, Duterte to China in a sovereignty dispute over the South China Sea.

And there is, of course, their way of communicating in public. They say it like it is  unedited, uncouth and, at times, unverified  which endears them to their supporters, but earns them critics at the same time.

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All these may explain the natural affinity between Duterte and Trump. But when they meet in Manila, they will have real issues to deal with, and while their friendly rapport will certainly help their conversation, it will also be tested.

The US needs its former colony to round up ASEAN to exert whatever pressure it can against North Korea. The Philippines needs its former coloniser to keep sending military and economic aid, but wants it to back off from its domestic affairs.

And then there is China  challenging the US as a traditional Asia-Pacific power and pushing against the Philippines maritime borders in the South China Sea.

Washington is waiting on Manila to flesh out a deal to give US troops access to a number of Philippine military bases, while Manila is counting on Washington to help beef up its defence capabilities in the face of an increasingly dominant Beijing.

Larger powers

With leaders from larger powers present in the meetings, the danger is that the individual concerns of the ASEAN states might fade into the broader agenda of their more influential visitors.

The South China Sea is not Donald Trumps issue, Poling said.

But if Dutertes main concern is his drug war, then a preoccupied Trump wont bother him.

The problem is that Trump  in his desire to bring the Philippines to adopt a strong anti-North Korea position  might in effect inadvertently legitimise or gloss over Dutertes drug war, said Jose Antonio Custodio, a security analyst based in Manila.

That will, of course, result in more abuses, he added.
Annual Independence March sees protesters from Europe rally against Islam and EU to reassert nationalist sentiment.

Thousands of nationalists and fascists gathered in Warsaw on Saturday to attend an annual Independence March under the banner: We Want God.

The rally, which began at 3pm (14:00 GMT) local time, coincides with Polands independence day on November 11.

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According to the organisers, the event is the biggest patriotic gathering of its kind in Europe.

We expect something like 100,000 people to attend this year, said Al Jazeeras David Chater, reporting from Warsaw.

Organisers later claimed the number had exceeded that estimate.

Some of the chants early on in the day included: Great national Poland, religion is the basis of the Polish nation, Great Catholic Poland and one nation across the borders.

Later chants directed expletives at refugees, leftists, liberal media outlers, and the US.

A countermarch organised by Antifa Warsaw drew around 5,000 participants, according to lidia Domanska, one of those involved.

She said it was the biggest anti-fascist demonstration on the Independence Day in recent years and had passed without incident.

Having launched as a smaller gathering in 2009, it now draws tens of thousands of supporters, including many from neighbouring countries.

Since 2012, a group of sympathisers known as the march guard was recruited to provide security.

Many of the attendees are young nationalists, who protest against Islam and the EU.

The rallys popularity demonstrates the deepening divisions within the Polands divided society.

Agata Szczesniak, a member of the independent investigative journalist unit Oko Press, told Al Jazeera: These people are angry, they are frustrated they are blaming Muslims which are not present in Poland almost at all.

They are also blaming liberal European elites for the failures of the state.

They are strongly anti-refugee and anti-immigrant, and strongly nationalist.

Angelika, a 21-year-old at the march, told Al Jazeera: To me, November 11 is the most important day in the calendar. On this day, Poland regained independence.

If not for the fight and persistence of our people, we wouldnt be here today. In the memory of those who fought for our country, I participate in the march each year.

Alexandra, a 30-year-old in Warsaw, said she was worried about the increase in the number of young people attending far-right events.

Im saddened by the fact that in recent years Independence Day has become an occasion for violent clashes and the promotion of far-right views, she told Al Jazeera.

What is also worrying is that in comparison to previous years, I can see a lot of very young people, who are a fertile ground for the easy solutions offered by the nationalists, she added.

We Want God

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The slogan We Want God aims to remind that Poland is still the bastion of faith and religiosity in Europe, organisers have claimed.

The chairman of the Independence March association, Robert Bakiewicz, said during a recent press conference that the protesters want to confront atheist Europe and respond to the invasion of immigrants.

We are recalling the fighting church, which for centuries was the keystone and fundament of Europe, he said. We want to show Catholicism not as a faith of weakness, but as a faith of strong people.

Beata Szydlo, current prime minister, leads the right-wing populist Law and Justice party. On Thursday, she told a conference in Warsaw that Poland was in favour of an EU where Christian traditions are not censorship.

Poland has refused to take in refugees, with officials claiming that people of Muslim background are a threat to security. Fewer than one percent of the Polish population is Muslim.

The Independence March often ends in clashes between protesters and police, but the level of violence has fallen over the past two years, perhaps as a result of the Law and Justices election victory.

In a statement on its website, organsiers said protesters were banned from marching under the influence of alcohol as they warned people to behave appropriately.

Elsewhere, on Friday, the far-right All-Polish Youth and National Radical Camp groups held a conference focusing on the vision after the collapse of the West, that is, the old world in the post-European Union era  social and economic changes and the shock of the future.

Richard Spencer, a well-known American white supremacist, had been slated to attend but was removed from the agenda.

It was unclear whether the Polish government blocked his attendance, but Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski warned on Friday that the self-described white Zionist should not appear publicly in the Eastern European country, especially given his views on the Holocaust. Spencer has previously been accused of anti-Semitism.

With reporting by Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska in Warsaw: @Aga_Pik
Opinion / Columnist

In 2013, I wrote an educative article titled "Katanga means coward".As usual, I was abused and derogatorised as a tribalist.I wondered why people think I am being tribal against a heritage which I belong to.My research of the meaning of the word Karanga in Swahili revealed " coward" and "ground nut".l had researched out of curiosity of why the Karanga are 60% of Zimbabwean population but have failed to excersise influential politics to unite all Zimbabweans.My curiosity arose from the fact that the Karanga are situated in the Midlands of Zimbabwe. They have strong family relatives both in the East and West of the country making them highly potential people to unite and cement the country and remove all retrogressive tribal traits bedelving our country.Last week, Grace Mugabe uttered, in her schizophrenic trance, that Mnangagwa is a coward. Last year, Amai Dr Mugabe uttered " Zezuru unconquerable"I want those who urgued with my article of "Karanga Coward" in 2013, to revisit that article pasted below, and tell me today, if I was wrong or right.At every rally, our President and his family describe us as a problem in Zimbabwe.To say "Karanga means coward" in 2013 was to try and show people like Mnangagwa that he was busy rearing a time bomb which would wipe him out.The way forward now is for the Katanga to consolidate their role by uniting all Zimbabweans who want a tribally neutral Government.If the Karangas stood firm behind a neutral and young civilian like Welshman Ncube, we would get rid of all this Schizophrenic Armed Dynasty which Mnangagwa honed in 40 years.
Donald Trumps appearance has dominated a meeting on economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. He said the US will not accept trade deals that require it to surrender its sovereignty. Chinas President Xi Jinping told the summit that economic globalisation is a process that cannot be reversed.

Al Jazeeras Wayne Hay reports from Da Nang, Vietnam.
Kremlin says conflict needs a final resolution in the framework of the so-called Geneva process.

Russia and the United States will continue their efforts fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Syria, US President Donald Trump and Russian Vladimir Putin have agreed.

In a joint statement released by the Kremlin and issued on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam on Saturday, the leaders agreed there was no military solution to the conflict in Syria and called on all parties to take part in the Geneva process.

The White House did not immediately confirm the details of the statement.

Syrias Bashar al-Assads commitment to the process, in line with a UN Security Council resolution, implies constitutional reform and free and fair elections under the supervision of the United Nations in which all Syrians can participate, the statement further said.

Local Russian media also reported that the two parties promised to maintain existing Russian-US military channels of communication to ensure the security of the armed forces.

Russia has been the Syrian governments main ally in the six-year civil war, while the US has been backing the Syrian Kurdish rebels on the ground since 2014.

The US has led a coalition carrying out air raids against ISIL, also known as ISIS, in Syria.

The armed group has been pushed from its main strongholds in recent months by the Syrian army and the US-backed Kurdish and Arab coalition.

Trump and Putin also confirmed their support for de-escalation zones in Syria, including one in the southwest that the presidents agreed to at a meeting in July in Germany.

They also called on UN members to increase humanitarian aid contributions for Syria.

Although a meeting between Trump and Putin was widely expected at the APEC summit, the Kremlin statement did not confirm details of their talk.
As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans anti-corruption purge widens, we ask how much money is at stake.

Dozens of Saudi Arabian royals, ministers and businessmen have been detained in an anti-corruption probe, which is seen as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidating his power while alarming much of the traditional business establishment.

Fitch credit rating agency said the crackdown on the Kingdoms elite could bring a backlash and create political uncertainty in an already volatile region.

The princes purge has been a wake-up call for many people doing business in the Arab worlds biggest economy and oil producer. The Saudi Central Bank claims its business as usual for lenders and the companies owned by those arrested, but reports say wealthy Saudis are moving assets out of the region.

The by Michael

a nervousness about wanting to invest in Saudi Arabia or not.]

As assets built up through corruption will become state property, how much money is at stake?

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Saudi government is targeting as much as $800bn and has already frozen 1,700 bank accounts.

One of the tech worlds most important investors is among those detained. Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has stakes in Twitter, Apple, Citigroup and other western institutions.

According to Michael Stephens from the UK security think-tank, the Royal United Services Institute, Prince Mohammed is trying to do two things. Hes trying to take up the big boys, the big companies and say, Hey, corruption at the institutional level is not acceptable, but hes also taking on individuals  So if the evidence [of corruption] is there for all of these companies and all of these individuals, then I guess well accept what those corruption charges are in the international community. If the evidence is not there, then theres going to be a big problem.

The detention of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has caused people to raise some eyebrows. People are wondering whats going on there, unsure about their investments with Kingdom Holdings, which is a massive multinational conglomerate operating under Alwaleed bin Talal people now have a nervousness about wanting to invest in Saudi Arabia or not, Stephens says.

Also on this episode of Counting the Cost:

Chinas Trump card: When the leaders of the worlds two biggest economies met this week, the big question on everyones mind was: Is US President Donald Trump changing his tune when it comes to China?

His two-day trip there was full of lavish pomp and ceremony, with Chinas President Xi Jinping looking eager to present a welcoming face. Non-binding deals were signed and the smiling faces and tone were certainly friendlier than during Trumps election campaign.

Geoff Lewis from Manulife Asset Management in Hong Kong offers his take.

Venezuela economy: President Nicolas Maduro has invited bondholders to Caracas to talk about debt restructuring. The country has a roughly $120bn foreign debt mountain, but servicing that debt has put Venezuela on the brink of starvation and bankruptcy. Is the country inching closer to an official default?

Iraqs Kurdish secession: The economy in the Kurdish region of Iraq has taken a hit after the referendum on secession. The central government in Baghdad has closed international airspace, tourists are staying away, and theres been fighting between Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga. And while a ceasefire is now in place, uncertainty continues to affect the region and its economy, as Stefanie Dekker reports from Dohuk in northern Iraq.

Paradise Papers: Calls for fairer global tax laws are growing louder, after it emerged that the US commerce secretary, Britains Queen Elizabeth, pop star Bono and a top aide to the Canadian prime minister are among thousands named in a new leak of offshore financial accounts. Mereana Hond reports on the so-called Paradise Papers.

Apples secret tax haven: This week, it was revealed that Apple uses a secret tax haven, the English Channel island of Jersey. Apple currently has $252bn of untaxed cash outside the US. The paradise papers allege that back in 2013, Irish officials under huge international pressure closed a tax loophole, so Apple legally made new arrangements in Jersey. This weeks shares hit another all-time high, giving the tech giant a market value of over $900bn. Apple says it pays every dollar it owes, in every country around the world.
The kingdom faces accusations of forcibly holding the Lebanese prime minister.

It has been a week since Saad Hariri suddenly resigned as Lebanons prime minister during a visit to Saudi Arabia.

His actions have set off a chain of events that continue to play out across the region.

The Iranian-backed Shia Lebanese group Hezbollah, part of Hariris governing coalition, says Saudi Arabia is holding him against his will.

Hezbollah believes by forcing Hariri to resign, Saudi Arabia has declared war on Lebanon.

The US has joined the UN in calling for stability in Lebanon, warning regional powers against using the country for proxy conflicts.

Is Lebanon becoming a battleground for a regional power play?

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Beverley Milton-Edwards  Visiting fellow, Brookings Doha Center

Kamel Wazne  Founder, Center for American Strategic Studies

Nour Samaha  Freelance journalist covering the Levant region
Why journalists fail to adequately report on climate change. Plus, the perils of covering the environment in Indonesia.

On The Listening Post this week we bring you a special show on climate change and the news coverage that seldom matches the scale and the urgency of the problem.

This year, once again, extreme weather events  hurricanes, floods, wildfires  have provided the news media with the opportunity to address a planet-sized elephant in the room: climate change.

But once the storm has passed, the media too moves on. The latest round of global climate talks is happening right now in Germany but the media attention has been sparse.

Earlier this year, climate change came second in an international public survey of global threats and yet journalists still regularly fall short. The Listening Posts Will Yong asks why.

Contributors:

Lisa Hymas, Media Matters for America

Nicholas Beuret, University of Lancaster

Martin Lukacs, environment writer, The Guardian

Amantha Perera, journalist

Jenni Monet, journalist and filmmaker

Indonesia: The media and the environment

One country with a major stake in the climate change story is Indonesia.

Many of the countrys islands will end up underwater if sea levels continue to rise at the current rate.

Despite the clear and present threat, mainstream media coverage of environmental issues rarely goes beyond reporting forest fires or mudslides.

Critics blame media groups for their close relationships with agribusiness and mining companies who are among the worst environmental offenders.

Mainstream journalists also find it hard to report on these issues because of political corruption, and NGOs have stepped in to fill the information gap as a result.

The Listening Posts Meenakshi Ravi reports.

Contributors:

Harry Surjadi, head, Indonesian Society of Environmental Journalists

Sapariah Saturi, senior editor, Mongabay-Indonesia

Merah Ismail, campaign manager, JATAM NGO (Mining Advocacy Network)

Indoarto Priadi, managing director, TVOne
Pakistan is traditionally seen as an important partner of the United States, but President Donald Trump recently adopted a different tone.

Pakistan often gives safe havens to agents of chaos, violence, and terror, Trump said on August 21, 2017, when he presented his strategy for the war in Afghanistan at Fort Myer, Virginia.

Right now inside Afghanistan, almost 40 percent of the country is outside the control of the official government ... If 40 percent of the country is under the control of the Taliban or their sympathisers, why would they need safe havens inside Pakistan? by Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan's interior minister

But in an interview with Al Jazeera, Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistans interior minister, says there are no more safe havens in Pakistan.

We have paid a heavy price. More than 6,000 security personnel have laid down their lives. Over 70,000 people have become victim, either they died or were injured in terrorism-related incidents. A country that has paid such a heavy price can never be friends with any terror groups. We want to make Pakistan a peaceful country, Iqbal says.

Three months have passed since Pakistans former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, stepped down after the Supreme Court disqualified him from office as leader of the countrys government.

The ruling came after alleged corruption during his previous two terms in office had come to light in the Panama Papers.

Iqbal admits the sudden resignation of Sharif was a setback for the democratic process and for the country.

Mr Nawaz Sharif enjoys big stature. He has experience. Pakistan needs very experienced leadership to face some of the complex security challenges that confront us domestically and in the region, he says.

Still, he thinks Pakistan moved on from the crisis swiftly.

I think the democratic process is well-entrenched. As a result, what the people saw [is that] within three days a new prime minister was elected, a new cabinet was sworn in and the country is moving forward.

Part of the countrys plan to move forward is a new economic relationship with China that could change the power dynamics in the volatile region. Iqbal has been at the forefront of implementing the $56bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is one of the most important parts of Chinas One Belt, One Road vision.

According to him, China and Pakistan enjoy a very close relationship based on mutual trust. So he is not concerned about Chinas growing influence in Pakistan.

If you look at history, in the last 3,000 or 4,000 years, Ive not come across a single instance of Chinese imperialism  China has never made colonies, so its not part of their DNA, he says.

All these projects have a win-win approach. We get much-needed foreign investment that Pakistan very desperately needs. We get much-needed energy that we desperately need to revive our economy. We get much-needed modern infrastructure that we need to have a competitive economy for efficient movement of goods through road and rail networks. And China gets access. So its a win-win [situation].
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Da Nang, Viet Nam (People's Daily)  Ministers from the 21 APEC member economies issued a joint statement today (November 11) following the two-day APEC ministerial meeting started on November 8.

The Joint Ministerial Statement describes collaborative actions to be implemented by APEC economies over the next year to sustain the momentum of regional cooperation and reinforce the profile of APEC as a driver of economic growth and integration in the Asia-Pacific.

The statement had originally been due on Wednesday (November 8), but different opinions over wording led to extended discussions, which was rare for the routine document.

Malaysian national news agency (bernama) quoted Malaysias International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed as saying that the United States was particularly unhappy with the use of the word protectionism and was more comfortable with the phrase fair trade.

The conclusion of the APEC Ministerial Meeting sets the stage for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting today. APEC leaders are due to release a separate communique.










English News APEC Vietnam 2017 witnesses enhanced influence of China

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 11 Novembre 2017





By Wu Chengliang from People's Daily Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, from Nov. 10 to 11.



China, as the worlds second largest economy and the largest contributor to world economic growth, has received significant attention during the APEC Leaders Week.



Whether you like it or not, the global economy is the big ocean that you cannot escape from, Xi said at the World Economic Forum held this January, adding that any attempt to channel the waters in the ocean back into isolated lakes and creeks is simply not possible.



On the APEC CEO Summit that took place on Nov. 8 within the framework of the APEC Economic Leaders Week 2017, Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, said she totally agrees with Xi.



A total of 176 Chinese enterprises and over 300 Chinese entrepreneurs have registered to attend the APEC CEO Summit.



A breakfast meeting was held by the APEC China Business Council (ACBC) on Nov. 8, participated by 14 entrepreneurs from China and the US. The US side stressed that the meeting should be made into a routine activity of the APEC Leaders Week.



It is a reflection of the importance laid on China and the recognition of Chinas influence by the Asia Pacific region, said Sun Xiao, secretary general of the Council.



Yin Gang, president of China Railway Signal & Communication Corp Ltd., told Peoples Daily Online that China will definitely have a profound impact on the Asia Pacific region as it enters a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics.



The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Xi offers broad space and substantial opportunities for both Chinese and US enterprises, said Richard Smith, President and CEO of Global Trade Services at FedEx Express. The two countries should join hands and make efforts in building the free trade system of the Asia Pacific region, he added.



APEC is the economic cooperation mechanism with the highest level, broadest coverage, and most influence in Asia Pacific region.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China sees prosperous development of offshore wind power generation China speeds up efforts to expand, renovate expressways 'First-store economy' leads consumption upgrade Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News Chinas new journey offers new hope for Asia-Pacific

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 11 Novembre 2017



Quach Canh Toan, with Vietnamese news site Zing News, said Xis speech was impressive. Xi summarized Chinas great achievements in the past five years, elaborated on the Belt and Road Initiative, and provided the blueprint for building a great modern socialist country that was formulated at the 19th CPC National Congress last month, and reaffirmed Chinas commitment to reform and opening up. All of which are really impressive, Toan commented.

From:People's Daily Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the APEC CEO Summit in Vietnams central city of Da Nang, Nov. 10. Journalists who covered the event have lauded the speech, saying that Xis speech very impressive, and Chinas initiatives, proposals, and new journey for building a strong and modern socialist country offer new hope for the Asia-Pacific region.

Helen Rei, senior reporter of The National, Papua New Guinea, told Peoples Daily Online that the most striking point was the Belt and Road Initiative. My prime minister said in his speech that PNG is at the Belt and Road network in terms of economy and trade. This initiative is good news for countries like Papua New Guinea with connectivity problems, adding that her country is looking forward to the leader of the worlds second largest economy bringing the Asia Pacific together.

Fausto Triana Pruna, a reporter for Latin America News Agency, pointed out President Xis estimation that China will import $24 trillion worth of goods in the next 15 years. This is a huge figure. But China is a big country, so its more than just a promise. Its something China will do well.

Lucille Talusan, reporter with CBN Asia in the Philippines said she liked how Xi presented Chinas new journey as one of working together with other countries to create new drivers of common development.

Papua New Guinea sees China as a partner in its efforts to continue building and developing its economy. China exports and imports a lot of our goods and helps build infrastructure and connectivity, so of course China is good for us, and we looking forward to the years ahead, Rei said.

Talusan said, I liked it when Xi mentioned a new journey for future development. I saw hope in the grand economic program.

Doan Trong, with Little Saigon TV, which is based in the US state of California, called Xis speech very exciting. He said Chinas power in the world today is reality.

Gorethy Kenneth, a reporter with Post Courier who covered Xis speech, said Papua New Guinea has close connections with China. She has installed WeChat, a popular Chinese social media app, to connect her circle of Chinese friends. Shortly after Xis speech, she got the full text of the speech sent by the Chinese embassy in her home country.

Hailing the close relations between China and Papua New Guinea, Kenneth said she is looking forward to an even more fruitful partnership with China.

Quach Canh Toan, with Vietnamese news site Zing News, said Xis speech was impressive. Xi summarized Chinas great achievements in the past five years, elaborated on the Belt and Road Initiative, and provided the blueprint for building a great modern socialist country that was formulated at the 19th CPC National Congress last month, and reaffirmed Chinas commitment to reform and opening up. All of which are really impressive, Toan commented.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China sees prosperous development of offshore wind power generation China speeds up efforts to expand, renovate expressways 'First-store economy' leads consumption upgrade Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
Opinion / Columnist

"The train has arrived!" was the buzz phrase at the launched Mai Mujuru's Rainbow Coalition in Bulawayo.2 000 or so people attended the launch. 2 000 or so people too many, I would say. This is a train that is starting from the hell-on-earth ruins created by this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship (of which Mai Mujuru was one of its key players) and whose destination, I can tell you, is many nautical miles deeper into this hell.Mai Mujuru is promising "to rebuild Zimbabwe". She would say that just as she and Mugabe promised "Gutsa ruzhinji!" (Mass prosperity!) in the 1980s but only to deliver the mass poverty we see today. She is corrupt and incompetent, captain disaster personified, and with such a leader in charge, it is foolish to expect anything else other than disastrous ruin!Zimbabweans are not serious, not yet anywhere, about finding a way out of this hell-hole President Mugabe and his corrupt and murderous thugs have landed the nation in. How can they say they are serious when they keep following the same corrupt and murderous thugs who landed them in the mess in the first place?Mai Mujuru is a corrupt and incompetent simpleton who played her part in building the de facto one party dictatorship. She enjoyed the benefits of the tyranny and rigged elections - that is what kept her in power for 34 years, regardless of her having accomplished nothing of value to the nation - and she relished her lion's share of the wholesale looting that has been the hallmark of this Zanu PF regime. Only fools would believe that Mai Mujuru could nothing to stop the looting and the serious human rights violation by Zanu PF all the 34 years she was at the heart of the regime. She says she did not see any of these things at the time!"A puppy does not open its eyes the day it is born," she has said repeatedly. There is no breed of dog in the whole world, including Dotito where she comes from, whose puppies take 34 days much less 34 years to open their eyes. If a puppy cannot see after 34 days, it is blind! If Mai Mujuru did not see the gross mismanagement, rampant corruption, vote rigging, murder of over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans for political gain, etc., etc. in all the 34 years she was in government  she saw the vote rigging but failed to understand what was going on because she is a simpleton - ; it is because she is a corrupt and incompetent simpleton.Zimbabwe is in a political and economic mess because of the nearly four decades of misrule by President Mugabe. It will take a competent and visionary leader to drag the nation out of this hell-hole. If you go hunting you take a good dog that can sniff and run; a Dotito dog that is as blind as mole is of no use whatsoever! Mai Mujuru is fighting to get back into power not "rebuild Zimbabwe"; why did she spend 34 years destroying it, if she really cared! She is only saying that to win the vote of the politically naive and gullible. If she was ever to get back into power her first priority is to rebuild the Zanu PF dictatorship in all but name and in her own image. Second, take up her looting from where she left off in 2014 when she was unceremoniously "baby dumped" out of Zanu PF, as Grace Mugabe said boastfully. People like Mai Mujuru, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, and, of course, the murderous tyrant Robert Mugabe himself have all been in power and have proven beyond all reasonable doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent and, in the case of Zanu PF leaders (present and those booted out years ago or those licking their fresh wounds in Zimbabwe or far-away lands) are vote rigging murderous tyrants. Why any Zimbabwean would still follow any of these women and men, beggars belief! In the long run, people get the government they deserve. After 37 years, Zimbabweans certainly deserve this corrupt, vote rigging and murderous Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its entourage of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties  all 75 of them, they keep splitting and merging and splitting again.Some political analysts have made a career of arguing the opposition parties to merge, "only a united opposition can dislodge Zanu PF," they have insisted. The analysts are nothing but "zvimbwa mupengo zvekuDotito" (Dodito mad dogs) howling at the full moon  Dotito dogs howl the longest, given they take 34 years just to open their puppy eyes!. Even the howling mad-dogs do not dispute that there are no quality leaders in the existing opposition parties, so even if all 75 were to merge into one "big tent" opposition party there will be no quality leaders. Tsvangirai's MDC was one super organism before it starting splitting up but they accomplished nothing even in those early years because there was no quality leaders. Without quality, quantity counts for nothing!The howling mad-dogs also admit that with no reforms Zanu PF will rig the vote. In 2008 Zanu PF ordered a recount of the March vote and after six weeks ZEC whittled Tsvangirai's 73% to 47%, just enough to force a run-off. What the howling Dotito mad-dogs have all pointedly refused to address is, even if the united opposition got 73% of the vote next year  a big ask, given Zanu PF's ability to buy, conjure, coerce votes  what is there to stop the regime whittling the 73% to 47% again.Indeed, there is evidence that Zanu PF has upgraded its vote rigging tactics to ensure the regime has a landslide victory without ever going through another six week recount and run-off. The regime has delayed the registration of the voters using the new BVR system. There is no way ZEC is going to produce a verified voters' roll before voting day. With no verified voters' roll the sky is the limit to what vote rigging shenanigans Zanu PF can employ to ensure a landslide victory.Of course, it is insane for anyone to even bother taking part in an election contest without something as basic and fundamental to an election as an authentic list of who is eligible to vote and then confirm that only those entitled to vote voted. Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition friends contest 2013 elections with no verified voters' roll; the reader can make their own inference. There is no doubt the opposition is going to contest next year's elections with no verified voters' roll and the Dotito mad-dogs are cheering them along with their usual call for the opposition to unite! Zimbabwe is not in this political and economic mess by accident; we are where we are as a result of 37 years of hard work blundering from pillar to post, making the same mistakes over and over ad nauseam. Of course, it is insane and madness is very hard work. Where many other nations have seen the folly of contesting flawed elections and have implemented the democratic reforms, for example, we, in Zimbabwe continue to plough the same furrow.No progress is ever made from ploughing the same furrow; the insane do not see that. The certified insane cannot self-diagnose their illness; if they do, then as of that instant, they are cured.Mai Mujuru's Rainbow Coalition train will not take the nation out of poverty and political chaos but drag the nation even deeper into this hell. The real Damascene moment the nation has been dying for is when people realise the folly of entrusting the nation's destiny in the hands of someone like Mai Mujuru, with a proven track record as a corrupt and incompetent leader. That moment has been too long coming now there is a real danger of this nation sliding into the abyss of economic meltdown and political chaos born out of the decades of misrule and political madness!










English News China, Vietnam reap rewards from law-enforcement cooperation

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 11 Novembre 2017



Cooperation in border areas is on a rise as well. During a meeting on law-enforcement cooperation among border areas hosted in Nanning, Guangxi in December 2016, the two sides agreed to push collaboration on global law-enforcement to a new high by cooperating more on protection key infrastructure projects and fight against telecoms fraud.

From Peoples Daily Police from China and Vietnam have yielded considerable results from their intensified cooperation on counter-terrorism, crackdown of drugs and human trafficking, fight against telecoms fraud, hunt for fugitives, as well as other law-enforcement operations.



The Vietnamese police, on October 18 and 20, handed over two economic suspects that fled to Vietnam to the border city of Pingxiang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.



A Vietnamese drug dealer was also transferred by the Chinese police to their Vietnamese partners at the same place this August, serving as another proof of bilateral pragmatic cooperation on law-enforcement.



Since the start of 2017, a total of 24 delegations have been organized by both sides for reciprocal visits, and nine training courses were offered by China to 77 Vietnamese police, Zhao Wanpeng, police counselor of the Chinese Embassy to Vietnam, told the Peoples Daily.



Coordinated by the embassy, Vietnam handed over 23 fugitives to China during the same period, while China transferred 15 to Vietnam, Zhao said, adding that both sides also coordinated on 92 cases.



Cooperation in border areas is on a rise as well. During a meeting on law-enforcement cooperation among border areas hosted in Nanning, Guangxi in December 2016, the two sides agreed to push collaboration on global law-enforcement to a new high by cooperating more on protection key infrastructure projects and fight against telecoms fraud.



They also agreed to work closer to crack down on drug trafficking, illegal immigration, human trafficking, economic crimes, the illicit trade of firearms and ammunition, and repatriate fugitives who fled overseas.



Such closer cooperation can be attributed to the clear direction pointed out by leaders of both countries, who have reached a broad consensus on deepening security collaboration during their frequent mutual visits.



Pic:

Vietnamese police hand over an economic suspect to their Chinese counterparts, October 20, 2017. Photo: Peoples Daily



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China sees prosperous development of offshore wind power generation China speeds up efforts to expand, renovate expressways 'First-store economy' leads consumption upgrade Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
In a scene from I, Claudius, a 70s television drama based on the life of the Roman emperor who ascended to power after Caligulas death, Claudius relates the dismay of Julius Caesar when the emperor discovers the extent of his daughters promiscuity. The accused are lined up before Caesar and confess their sins.

Finally, after hearing out all the fornicators, a frustrated and overwhelmed Caesar exclaims, Is there anyone in Rome who has not slept with my daughter?

A similar question could be asked of the Hollywood and Washington swamp critters coming out of the woodwork either to confess their sins or to expose those who sinned against them: Is there anyone who has not been harassed by or forced to sleep with people like Harvey Weinstein?

As Weinsteins accusers have stepped out into the media klieg lights, Babylons moral night creatures are either scurrying back into the shadows of hoped for anonymity or are preemptively coming out of the bushes to confess their sins. Alex Baldwin admits he has bullied women. Arnold Schwarzenegger says his cheating on his spouse was his biggest mistake. Ben Affleck confesses he has erred, and even George H.W. Bush admits -- at age 93 -- that he patted womens rears.

However, even more ominously for Hollywood, the lowlifes who have a penchant for pedophilia are being exposed by Cory Feldman, while at the same time Kevin Spacey, who is accused of molesting underage boys, provides ratification of Feldmans accusations. Both men present a worry for Hollywoods LGBT communities, as they have always sought to separate themselves from accusations of pedophilia, insisting that gay sex is practiced among adults who are completely consensual partners who wish to be married for life.

Amidst all the accusations, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that professional saviors of actors and politicians reputations and careers, seeing the likes of Weinstein going to the block, have advised their clients to get ahead of the coming storms of judgment by preemptively confessing, savagely beating their breasts while at the same time they beat a judicious but hopefully temporary retreat from the public gaze.

In Kevin Spaceys case, he is being erased from Hollywoods collective memory.

Literally.

His appearances in Netflixs House of Cards are cancelled. His shoots in Ridley Scotts upcoming film All the Money in the World are being expurgated, with actor Christopher Plummer taking his place. One is reminded of others who have been erased from history, like Nikolai Yezhov, Leon Trotsky and Bo Gu were eliminated from the collective memories of Communist regimes.

For the truth is that Spacey, who followed Hollywoods political correct rules in coming out in order to ransom himself, must wonder what he has done wrong, much as the accused Soviet and Maoist show trials must have wondered why their heads were suddenly in the noose.

After all, the milieu in which Spacey lives and works has promoted films and lifestyles that have seen no particular wrong in promoting sexual activities of all types. Hollywoods films are routinely vehicles for celebrating every permutation of the sexual revolution, as many producers have bought into cheap philosophical musings on post-modernist deconstruction of everything, including sexual morality.

The questions are, Why Spacey? Why now?

Not that most will feel sorry for him, but the actor must be confused, for it wasnt so long ago that Roman Polanski was applauded in absentia at the Oscars, receiving a standing ovation from Meryl Streep, even though he had raped a drugged 13-year-old girl.

Why was Polanski applauded? For one thing, Polanski was and for some still is considered an artiste to whom no moral judgments apply. His creative genius apparently puts him beyond the condemnation doled out to less talented mortals. Polanski escapes condemnation much like the artist Paul Gauguin, who though he deserted his wife and children and took child mistresses to whom he gave the gift of syphilis, is forgiven. The greatness of his art has been deemed to transcend his pusillanimous sex life.

The fact is that Hollywoods condemnation of Spacey, who apparently is truly guilty of child abuse, is completely arbitrary. Hollywood has no real moral basis for the finger pointing, for to judge justly requires a knowledge of right and wrong; and Hollywood in general does not believe in right and wrong, particularly when it comes to sexual behavior.

Whats left in the absence of a moral thermometer is total arbitrariness. Arbitrariness provokes fear, not true repentance. Arbitrary judgment and fear are always the results when the concepts of moral truth are infinitely flexible.

Since it is unlikely that genuine moral indignation is behind the current show trials now being played out in Hollywood (and in D.C.), we have to ask ourselves, to what end are all these displays of accusation and repentance being employed? What is truly feared? What sacrificial lambs are being given up in order to protect people behind the curtain? Who is being protected while a few are led to the gallows?

It is hard not to come to the conclusion that Spacey and others are being sacrificed in order that more powerful people who do not want their sexual proclivities revealed are not exposed. Certainly, Elijah Wood and Corey Feldman, along with other former child actors, have stated that pedophile rings including some of the worlds most powerful, famous and influential figures not only exist, but continue to operate freely because the deeds done in secret are covered up.

One need only think of the Rochdale sex abuse scandal in England. Police and other law officials looked the other way while young girls were drugged and passed around to Asian men who raped them. According to reports, some of the guilty men are still walking around freely.

The list of powerful people who are child abusers is no doubt quite long. There are still unanswered questions about Jeffrey Epsteins Lolita Express. Who among the famous are implicated in the child abuse happening on Epsteins private island? Is it fair to ask just who was involved in the orgies aboard Epsteins jet, which according to the Daily Mail and other publications, Bill Clinton boarded 26 times in three years -- apparently accompanied at least once by Spacey?

Isnt it fair to demand reporters and law enforcement do some serious investigating of sex crimes committed against child actors in Hollywood? Isnt it fair to demand Hollywood, which has produced exposes like Spotlight, which documented the sex abuse scandals afflicting the Roman Catholic church, turn that same glaring spotlight on its own denizens of the child sex underworld? If the demand is that Catholic priests clean up what Hollywood deems as unspeakable acts, isnt it fair to ask Hollywood to uncover its own scandals while demonstrating genuine change in the way it operates? Hypocritically targeting a few lowlifes while indulging in ritualistic breast-beating is not enough. There has to be real change, including stopping the glorification of sexual deviance in films -- starting with romanticizing pedophilia.

Time will tell. In the meantime, most will not be convinced Hollywoods repentance is genuine by the social execution of a few stars like the odious Kevin Spacey.

Fay Voshell holds a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, which awarded her the prize for excellence in systematic theology. She is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. She may be reached at fvoshell@yahoo.com
On this Remembrance Day 99 years later, recall that some 750,000 British soldiers, marines, and sailors were killed in WWI; nearly 400,000 more in WWII.

The most heralded British war poets, emerging in 1915, were not practitioners of armchair verse. They were officers, and men, at the front in the trenches. Over four years their tone changed from lofty patriotic apologetics, to stark portraits of everyday horrors, and instant death within arms reach.

The British Legion commemorates Remembrance Day

Rupert Brooke, perhaps the literary dandy prototype, product of Rugby and Cambridge, before his death in 1915 while an officer for the Royal Navy, penned the typical overwrought elegy, exhorting gallantry, elevating the supreme sacrifice as a handmaiden to duty, and fealty in his Soldier:

If I should die, think only this of me:

That theres some corner of a foreign field

That is forever England. There shall be

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,

A body of Englands, breathing English air



Wilfred Owen, whose literary education was more hand hewn than Brookes, but who was a more gifted writer, was an infantry officer that suffered multiple near fatal concussions from artillery shell blasts, finally was killed four days before the Armistice in 1918, after being awarded the Military Cross for bravery.

Owens immediate taste and smell of the unvarnished wretchedness, and raw terror of battle is front-and-center in his Dulce et Decorum Est, drafted in 1917, published posthumously in 1920:

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundring like a man in fire or lime. Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devils sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

Note: Latin phrase is from the Roman poet Horace: It is sweet and fitting to die for ones country.

Source: Poems (Viking Press, 1921)

Nearly thirty years later, the American sometime poet but mostly literary critic Randall Jarrell, who served in the WWII US Army Air Corps based in Britain, seized the summit of the genre in a terse five stanza Caravaggio style declaration, revealing the brutal clarity of war, and the men summoned to fight, and perish, alone and undignified in his Death of the Ball-Turret Gunner:

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,

And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,

I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.

When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

It has been one hundred years since American soldiers were sent to France. Like Great Britain, the only other steadfast bastion of civil liberties since the late 18th century, America sought to confine its necessary military campaigns to foreign lands in preserving a constitutional democratic republic, and a constitutional monarchy, sparing Americas continent, and Britains island.

The sum of Great Britains sacrifice is staggering. Death in the trenches, amongst the icy waters of Scapa Flow, and Dunkirk. All to protect an island from the ravages of dark, and Godless ideologies.

Who remembers those sacrifices? Who remembers Winston Churchills speech in 1940 to the House of Commons, right after the ignominy of the evacuation from Dunkirk:

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in Gods good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Is it all in vain, seventy-five years later? In the 20th century over a million British servicemen, and women, perished to preserve their island and a way of life. The generation that came of age in the 1940s has been replaced by their children, and grandchildren, now infected with the incurable morbid diseases of politically correct progressive collectivism, socialisms path of least resistance, and secular laziness.

National security, and fidelity to a nations sovereignty is now labeled xenophobia, and worse. 400,000 Britons perished in WWII to rid the world of Nazism, Churchills nemesis.

Today radical Islamic barbarians -- free ranging Muslim anarchists -- are given a heros welcome, with open border immigration policies that invite unmitigated and abject dread, the most recent evil visiting the innocent concert goers in Manchester, the bombing victims primarily children.

The Times of London now reports that some 23,000 Muslim jihadists are in Britain, all recent emigres -- numbers roughly equivalent to two German WWII divisions. Imagine not a shot fired, nor a single Sptifire or Hurricane fighter sent aloft. Two WWII German divisions given BritRail passes from Dover to London to Durham.

Who will remember? Who will defend that island, and our continent from the unspeakable horrors of an indiscriminate assault on western civilization?

When the State, governed by an elite faction in a temporary protectorate, shall no longer remember its ideals, indeed repudiate foundational principles, who shall defend the rest of us?

Well, Wilfred Owen, and Randall Jarrell had it right. Dying for the State is grievous, not glorious, when the State is willing to stuff its children into its own ideological ball-turret, then wash them out with a hose.

Who is Winston Churchill to this generation? An historical trifle, another dead white guy reeking of privilege, and toxic masculinity? Or instead will anyone remember Churchill as the last defender of the western canon, his singing Sunday service hymns with FDR in 1941 on the deck of HMS Prince of Wales at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland? Who will remember?

If the generation born in this decade can somehow recall the exploits of their great-grandfathers, and the reasons why those exploits mattered, they may be willing to emulate those historical offerings of a holy gift, for a noble purpose. If not, submission will lead to subjugation, and slaughter. And no one will remember.
For the umpteenth time, Venezuela has clawed back from the brink of near sovereign default, making a $1.2-billion payment on a PDVSA state oil company bond Friday, which was its absolute last chance before the ISDA's repo men, who rule on whether a type of bond insurance known as credit default swaps should be invoked, moved in.

Riding to its rescue was Russia, which has an enormous stake in Venezuela's oil production, including even its Citgo refineries. Russia agreed to renegotiate $3 billion of the straight sovereign debt Venezuela owes it, in what is believed to have been from arms sales to then-living Hugo Chavez's government.

That $3 billion gave Venezuela enough wiggle-room liquidity to shell out for the PDVSA bonds this one last time...until the next. This is Russia's third bailout of the socialist hellhole, for what it's worth. There will be more.

The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times both report that Venezuela will now seek to restructure $150 billion in debt  and those negotiations will be led by Venezuela's Vice President Tareck el-Aissami, who is on the U.S. sanctions list as a drug dealer. That's some fine company the other creditors of Venezuela, such as Goldman Sachs, will find themselves in. The Times notes that due to the sanctions, the creditors can't legally do business with him, or even be in the same room with him.

This won't bother the Russians. Russia, after all, has at least $17 billion in investment in Venezuela's oil industry, a greater amount than the $11 billion in arms sales. The arms sales just made some factory in Russia richer. The oil, on the other hand, not only represents commodity wealth, but means petro-power and Russia's capacity to control natural resources and project global influence. That's a bigger deal to Russia's leaders, who played the same game with Hillary Clinton's Uranium One deal, than a few rifle and aircraft sales. Venezuela has probably allowed the equipment to go to seed anyway.

All the same, it shows the extent to which Russia will defend its crummy little cat's-paw in the Western Hemisphere. China has an even greater stake in Venezuela's bond market health, given that it has $63 billion in loans outstanding in Venezuela. It refuses renegotiation of the debt even as it encourages default to Western creditors, and after a period of providing bailouts, it just quit giving them.

Russia hasn't. And it's costing and costing, not the least in terms of goodwill, as this piece by Foreign Policy notes. Yet it doesn't want to let go of this costly strategy. It will probably bail Venezuela out 'til kingdom come. And why is it? Not just to be the big dog on the global block, but to tweak Uncle Sam as payback for U.S. involvement in what it sees as its backyard in the Baltics, the former Soviet republics, and Eastern Europe. The U.S. has no such burden of having to bail out socialist hellholes for the purpose of manipulating them or getting back at a superpower rival. That Russia would assume this burden for an increasingly untenable regime shows the extent to which it values leverage against the U.S.
So far, there has not been much holding of Bill Clinton to account by progressives, despite the change in zeitgeist for sexual predation by the powerful. Never mind that it's fashionable on the left today to hold the founders of our country to present-day standards.

But the inevitable is happening. At first, a few progressives start mentally applying the post-Weinstein ethic to Bill Clinton. In the process, they eventually have to reflect on their own past and regret their support for him throughout Kenneth Starr's revelations, impeachment, and beyond. That will take a long time.

But if they don't publicly reflect, I am sure their friends on the feminist left and the entire right will be happy to dig up whatever the politicians and pundits said at the time about private matters being off limits. It's only sex!

Worst of all: Just as with Harvey Weinstein, everybody knew. That's why Hillary and Betsy Wright put together the "bimbo eruptions" team. Bill's victims were double-victimized, dismissed, pictured as chasing a hundred-dollar-bill dragged through a trailer park by James Carville.

The dam may be leaking among the progressive pundits, in cable news, at least. Justin Caruso of the Daily Caller is covering the awakening of MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Twitter. This tweet is the general charge, but Hayes gets more specific:

As gross and cynical and hypocrtical [sic] as the right's "what about Bill Clinton" stuff is, it's also true that Democrats and the center left are overdue for a real reckoning with the allegations against him.  Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) November 10, 2017

There is a lot of material to choose from if you are going to start pillorying Bubba. But Hayes focuses on Juanita Broaddrick and draws explicit comparison to the worst of the Hollywood predators.

Does this sound familiar? pic.twitter.com/eCby6bxsGS  Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) November 10, 2017

The omerta on Bill Clinton's predation of less powerful women lasted through last year, as Caruso points out:

Broaddrick and several other Clinton accusers appeared with then-candidate Donald Trump before the second debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016. She said at the time, "Actions speak louder than words. Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don't think there's any comparison."

The MSM commentariat knew, and they kept their mouths shut.

They even knew that Hillary, the breaker of glass ceilings, was the enforcer.

As always when we are fighting the cultural hegemony of the progressives, we use Alinsky's Fourth and hold the enemy to its own rules. It works most of the time.
Buried in recent reports on rumored Saudi-Israeli cooperation in combatting Iran in Lebanon is this bombshell. From the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, Abel Al-Jubeir:

"What I do know is that Iran  was in cahoots with al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden since the 1990s," he added. Al-Jubeir also claimed that al-Qaeda's "virtual board of directors" fled to Iran in 2002 and have been directing terror operations from the country ever since.

The Saudis are in full support of President Trump's decision not to certify Iran as in compliance with Obama's treacherous "deal." They want sanctions reinstated and for Iran to be punished for its illegal ballistic missile program.

"We would like to see sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism and sanctions on Iran for violating the ballistic missile resolutions of the United Nations," Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi minister of foreign affairs, told CNBC Thursday. When asked whether Saudi Arabia was headed for a direct conflict with Iran, Al-Jubeir replied, "We hope not."

Thanks, Obama. You got a twofer: financing the mullahs in their worldwide terrorist ambitions and giving al-Qaeda leadership a safe haven in Tehran. A nuclear Iran, in cahoots with the North Koreans, is still on track to be your most lasting legacy.
A new audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Border Patrol is losing agents faster than it can hire replacements. The agency is short about 2,000 officers, with the shortages most acute in Texas and California.

Washington Times:

More than 900 agents leave each year on average but the Border Patrol only hires an average of 523 a year, the Government Accountability Office said in a broad survey of staffing and deployment challenges at the key border law enforcement agency. The law requires the agency to have a minimum of 21,370 agents on board, but it had just 19,500 agents as of May. That's an even bigger problem when stacked up against President Trump's call for hiring 5,000 more agents, to reach a workforce of 26,370. Managers blamed everything from remote working conditions to competition with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the interior immigration agency that's also staffing up, for difficulty in filling out ranks.

Another roadblock to hiring more agents is the high incidence of failure of recruits to pass a lie-detector test. Border patrol agents are especially vulnerable to bribery by the cartels and coyotes who smuggle drugs and illegals across the border, so hiring agents who can resist the bribery is important.

"Illegal crossers and drug smugglers may sometimes travel near or through communities and private property in areas that are not along the immediate the border, prior to being apprehended by Border Patrol," the GAO said. Agents often-times end up trailing smugglers and illegal immigrants across the private property, adding to the damage, the audit said, including a photo of a mangled driveway gate attributed to illegal immigrants in Texas.

There is no doubt that border patrol officers are among the least glamorous federal law enforcement positions and offer unusual hardships. They must live in out-of-the-way places  by definition, locations with few people and a lot of desert. Hours are long, and rewards are few.

But the study also found that local law enforcement officials were generally happy with having the border patrol around. That kind of cooperation is vitally necessary if we are ever going to get control of the border.
California likes to boast that its booming economy is the sixth largest in the world  as calculated by its own state government. In contrast, rust belt states like Michigan and Ohio are seen as pathetic economic has-beens by the self-congratulating liberal elite.

Not so fast, says Carson Bruno in Real Clear Markets. Adjust for cost of living, which is 36% higher than the national average, and California comes out behind Mexico:

[U]sing the cost of living adjusted data from the International Monetary Fund and adjusting California's GDP data provides a better snapshot of California's economic standing in the world. Doing so shows that California is actually the 12th largest economy  a drop of 6 spots  and actually puts the state below Mexico.

A full 50% of the California economic growth miracle comes from a few dozen Silicon Valley firms  think Apple, Google, Facebook. It's a banana republic of high tech.

[A]s economic blogger Richard Rider points out, the aggregate GDP statistic is really not a good indicator of a state's economic health, especially since one industry appears to be propping up the "6thlargest economy" myth. California has over 39 million people, more than any other state, so a far more accurate assessment of its economy, Rider writes, would be per capita GDP as compared to the rest of the country. After adjusting the GDP figures to account for the cost of living (COL), the Golden State ends up with a paltry 37th place ranking within the U.S.A., with a $45,696 per capital GDP. Even rustbelt states, such as Michigan and Ohio, have a higher adjusted per capita GDP. Despite Silicon Valley's high-tech giants, California barely squeezes past impoverished New Mexico.

Because of the high taxes and onerous government policies that keep housing down and costly illegal immigration up, the middle class is fleeing the state. More tech workers are leaving California than are moving there.

California has the highest state income tax, the highest sales tax, the highest gas tax, property taxes 95% higher than elsewhere. Small businesses that make no profit  that is, zero profit  are still taxed.

Lastly, while California has the biggest unadjusted GDP among the states, it is also earns another distinction: the highest poverty rate in the nation.

If California is such a prosperous state as liberals claim, why does it have the highest poverty rate in the nation? According to the Census Bureau, the poverty rate is 23.4%, which is 17% higher than second place Nevada.

California has 33% of the entire nation's welfare cases  more than the next seven states combined.

[T]he producers are leaving the state and the takers are coming in. Many of the takers are illegal aliens, now estimated to number over 2.6 million. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that California spends $22 billion on government services for illegal aliens, including welfare, education, Medicaid, and criminal justice system costs. ... [I]llegal aliens in California contribute only $1.21 billion in tax revenue, which means they cost California $20.6 billion, or at least $1,800 per household.

Illegal aliens improve the quality of life for the elite, who rely on them for personal and household services of all kinds. For the rest of society, not so much.

[I]n 2004, 95% of all outstanding warrants for murder in Los Angeles were for illegal aliens; in 2000, 23% of all Los Angeles County jail inmates were illegal aliens and that in 1995, 60% of Los Angeles's largest street gang, the 18th Street gang, were illegal aliens. ... [T]he Brown administration will not release any statewide data on illegal alien crimes. That would be insensitive.

The California economy is big, and its taxes are astronomical, yet the government is still hugely in debt. Some cities have pension liabilities that eat up their entire budget, with nothing left for current expenses.

With the state now funding over 250 agencies that intrude into every aspect of its citizens' lives, it is clear that government spending is completely out of control. California political writer Steve Frank estimates that the real state government debt is $2.8 trillion.

My husband and I are traveling to San Diego for a traditional jazz festival. We've been warned to get Hepatitis A shots, as if we were traveling to a third-world country.

Welcome to California.

Hat tip: The American Spectator. Read the whole article by Steve Baldwin: "Adios, California. A fifth-generation Californian laments his state's ongoing economic collapse."
Is there still an animal in congress who could be called a "deficit hawk"?

It doesn't appear so. Both the House and Senate GOP tax plans would add more than $1.5 trillion to the budget deficit over ten years and $20 trillion to the national debt.

Reuters:

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan budget watchdog in Washington, on Friday called a Senate Republican tax plan a "fatally flawed budget buster," likening it to Republican legislation in the House of Representatives that the House tax committee has approved. Both measures would add $1.5 trillion over 10 years to the annual budget deficit and the $20 trillion national debt, according to congressional tax analysts. The watchdog group estimated that $900 billion of the projected $1.5 trillion deficit increase would come from business tax cuts. The remainder would come from individual tax cuts, including a cut in the estate tax on inheritance that would help only the richest Americans, it said. Republicans hold a tenuous 52-48 majority in the Senate. For that reason, if they lose the support of only three senators from their ranks, they cannot pass a tax bill as long as Democrats stay united in their opposition.

Critics of that analysis point out that the lower taxes will likely generate additional revenue:

The Tax Foundation, another nonpartisan group, said the Senate plan would add $1.78 trillion to the deficit over a decade. It estimated that over the same time frame lower taxes would expand the U.S. economy by 3.7 percent, add 925,000 full-time jobs, raise wages by 2.9 percent and generate enough new tax revenue to erase all but $516 billion of the deficit effect.

But it's a stretch to believe in that kind of growth. The previous ten years have seen less than a 3% rise in GDP. In the end, cutting taxes and not expecting a massive rise in the deficit and national debt will be a leap of faith.

Some of the usual anti-Trump suspects may be using the projected deficits to squash the bill:

After the Senate plan was released on Thursday, Republican Senator Jeff Flake said in a statement, "I remain concerned over how the current tax reform proposals will grow the already staggering national debt by opting for short-term fixes, while ignoring long-term problems for taxpayers and the economy." Senator James Lankford said in a statement, "As we work on tax relief, we must also not lose sight of our responsibilities to protect the nation, provide basic government services and confront our federal debt." Senator Bob Corker, another Republican and a critic of Trump, did not comment after the Senate bill's release but signaled fiscal concerns after the House issued its plan, saying he did not want tax cut legislation that added to the deficit.

Running a temporary deficit to ignite the economy is fine. We shouldn't be settling for this anemic growth, and tax cuts are by far and away the best way to stimulate economic growth.

But those deficit numbers are scary. I don't blame some conservatives for balking at adding so much to the deficit  especially since the big reduction in corporate taxes, from 35% to 20%, is going to be immediate and permanent. Senator Tim Scott says a delay in implementing the corporate tax cut would be beneficial in that respect. And there are other senators who have suggested a phased in approach to business tax cuts.

These tax bills represent a fundamental change in the Republican theory of governance. In some ways, the GOP will now accept permanent, high-budget deficits as a necessary evil to promote economic growth. The only difference between the parties now is that the GOP wants to run those deficits as a result of tax cuts, while Democrats want new government spending to goose the economy.

Not much to chose from if you care about the budget deficit.
Adding insult to injury, the now reported story is that the Army is considering awarding Bowe Bergdahl, the admitted and convicted deserter who also admitted to misbehavior in the face of the enemy, $300,000. With no prison time for his traitorous actions, this additional slap in the face of those who were wounded looking for him and the families of those killed while on this same futile mission calls out for justice.

Here is my suggestion: if there is some pit bull attorney out there, and I am sure there are many, please approach some of these families and soldiers with the possibility of bringing a civil lawsuit for monetary damages against Bergdahl. Do not let this miscreant benefit from his despicable behavior. Not only is he in line for the money from the Army, but you can rest assured that some Trump-hating, military-rejecting left-wing publisher will be willing to pay Bergdahl big bucks for his book and movie rights.

I submit that the precedent has been set in the O.J. Simpson case for pursuing a civil remedy despite the outcome of a criminal proceeding. Since Bergdahl admitted his guilt and the injuries suffered by those looking for him are self-evident, this should be a slam-dunk.

Don't forget that the fix may have been in from the very start of this fiasco due to political influence. Why else would the system allow a trial by a desk-bound armchair-lawyer judge rather than by a jury of combat veterans?
- T. S. Eliot

Thoughts After Lambeth

"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."
Over the years, we Cuban-Americans have had our long chats (often heated) about communism and socialism. It's frustrating that an ideology that has brought about so much misery still has people willing to try it out. It must be something in human nature that refuses to learn the lessons of the past.

I was so pleased to read this post by Robert Tracinski about communism and how many countries it has destroyed:

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution that set off the long global reign of terror of Communism. (For obscure reasons having to do with the outdated calendar used in Russia at the time, the October Revolution actually happened in November, and the Soviet Union traditionally celebrated it on November 7.) A century of Communism achieved four main results for the people who suffered under it: poverty, oppression, war, and mass death. Countries taken over by Communists, from China and Russia to Cuba and Venezuela, were either plunged from relative prosperity into starvation or walled off for decades from the growing prosperity of capitalist countries  often right next door, enjoying all the same benefits of geography and culture. Think of the contrast between East and West Berlin, between Cuba and Chile, between mainland China and Hong Kong, between North and South Korea.

Ain't that the truth?

Let's think of Cuba, an experience close to home, as they say. It was not a perfect country by any means, but no one risked his life in a raft to leave the island. Yes, corruption was a problem, but no more than it was in other Latin American countries. In fact, pre-Castro Cuba had a lot of things going for it, as Andrew Stuttaford wrote in 2016:

In the early part of the century the country's economy, fueled by the sale of sugar to the United States, had grown dynamically. Cuba ranked fifth in the hemisphere in per capita income, third in life expectancy, second in per capita ownership of automobiles and telephones, first in the number of television sets per inhabitant. The literacy rate, 76%, was the fourth highest in Latin America. Cuba ranked 11th in the world in the number of doctors per capita. Many private clinics and hospitals provided services for the poor. Cuba's income distribution compared favorably with that of other Latin American societies. A thriving middle class held the promise of prosperity and social mobility[.]

That's exactly the Cuba my parents told me about, and the family pictures confirm it.

Today, Cubans have to live with state food rations. The health care system is a joke unless you are a Western leftist like Michael Moore and want to believe everything about universal health care. And there is no middle class in Cuba today.

Over the years, I've heard a popular refrain: "You were part of the elite, the rich, the people who exploited the poor" or some nonsense like that.

In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. My parents were part of that middle class that made Cuba so fascinating and attractive to immigrants who kept coming to the island. In other words, my parents grew up on an island where people spoke about the guy down the street who just moved in from Europe to look for a better life rather than their neighbor who was packing up and leaving for a better life in "el norte."

As a kid in school, my friends had grandparents from Spain, Lebanon, other Latin countries, and China. I didn't know anybody who had a family member in the U.S. and lived off the remittances that came south.

All of that changed in the 1960s, when the sons and daughters of those immigrants packed up and left to find freedom and a better life in the U.S. And we found it because the U.S. was not a communist country.

So why do so many fall for this crap called communism or socialism? Why do so many people fall for Ponzi schemes?

I can't say for sure, but our education system may have something to do with it. Maybe we are not telling our students just how fortunate they are to live here.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
In one of the whiniest, most amusing yet revealing accidental admissions ever, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) told Yahoo News, "You've got this administration that's taken the fun out of dysfunction."

Washington's dysfunction predates President Donald Trump. Mr. Dent clearly doesn't understand that "taking the fun out of dysfunction" is precisely what President Trump was elected to do. The national capital's dysfunction was great fun for Dent and other Washington swamp creatures long before Trump arrived. Trump's election is hard evidence that voters were generally fed up with "fun."

Rather than in Trump's White House, dysfunction originated primarily from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. It was the dysfunction, passivity, and arrogance of Dent and his congressional colleagues  their willingness to go along with, even enable eight years of Barack Obama's dysfunctional, often extra-constitutional presidency  that created a political environment in which someone like Donald Trump could prevail.

Voters knew  but didn't care  that Donald Trump would never score very high on "style points," especially from America's dysfunctional political class, the political elite whose tender sensitivities are triggered any time they're criticized.

Although they surely won't agree, in effect, Charlie Dent and his congressional colleagues elected Donald Trump.

Accusing the president of introducing dysfunction to Washington is a classic case of psychological projection. President Trump was elected to disrupt Washington's dysfunction, to shake things up, to discomfit the comfortable. Trump was elected not to keep Washington's marshlands warm and cozy for swamp-dwellers such as Dent who had learned to enjoy their power, perks, and benefits with little effective supervision.

Dent continued: "Just the tweeting every day  outlandish statements, inappropriate comments. We spend much of our time just reacting to those sorts of things instead of focusing on the big policy issues of the day."

To "psychological projection," add "deflection" and "passive aggression." By blaming the president rather than his own contributions to congressional dysfunction, Dent is attempting to distract Americans from the fact that Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress haven't honored a single campaign promise made in 2010, 2014, and 2016 to voters who gave them majorities. Those have failed; been ignored, even with a Republican president; or been excused away as "impossible" without a filibuster-proof Senate majority. Dent insists that there's no point in passing popular legislation unless Democrats agree.

The problem isn't Democrats. It's Republicans.

Charlie Dent has been a central figure in engineering Republican congressional failures. He's co-chairman of the "Tuesday Group," a caucus of fifty or so liberal GOP lawmakers who have actively obstructed the people's will on Obamacare repeal, spending cuts, tax reform, military spending, taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, and ending Pentagon funding for gender-transition surgeries.

Ironically, in July, 2017, Politico quoted Dent: "Donald Trump is not an ideologue  he's a pragmatist." That was when Dent still hoped that Trump's "pragmatism" might overwhelm his campaign commitments and align more closely with Dent's policy preferences. The president has been insufficiently "pragmatic," so now Dent considers the president "dysfunctional." Dent's "fun," is gone  and Charlie is about to be.

Charlie Dent has announced his self-defenestration, presumably to find fun elsewhere. Conservatives won't miss him.

Jerry Shenk can be reached by email: jshenk2010@gmail.com.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Nelson HERNANDEZ-TORRES, a.k.a. Nelson Hernandez, Defendant-Appellant. Nos. 17-11618, 17-11653 Decided: November 09, 2017

Before ED CARNES, Chief Judge, MARCUS, and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges. Holly Lynn Gershow, U.S. Attorney ServiceMiddle District of Florida, U.S. Attorney's Office, Tampa, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee Mara Allison Guagliardo, Federal Public Defender's Office, Tampa, FL, George Ellis Summers, Jr., Federal Public Defender's Office, Fort Myers, FL, Rosemary Cakmis, Donna Lee Elm, Federal Public Defender's Office, Orlando, FL, for Defendant-Appellant

Nelson Hernandez-Torres was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment following his conviction for illegal reentry and the revocation of his supervised release for an earlier conviction. In this consolidated appeal, he contends that his sentences are substantially unreasonable because the district court ordered them to run consecutively instead of concurrently.

I.

In January 2016 Hernandez-Torres pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry by a previously removed alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C.  1326(a). He was sentenced to time served followed by 12 months of supervised release. He was removed and ordered to remain outside of the United States unless he was authorized to return. Nine months later, in September 2016, Hernandez-Torres was found in the United States without authorization. He was arrested and indicted for a second violation of  1326(a) and for violating his supervised release from the earlier case. He pleaded guilty to the second illegal reentry offense and admitted that he violated his supervised release by committing that offense.

Hernandez-Torres' presentence investigation report assigned him a base offense level of 8 under United States Sentencing Guidelines  2L1.2. He received a 4 level enhancement because he had already been convicted once before for illegal reentry, and a 2 level reduction for his acceptance of responsibility, resulting in a total offense level of 10. With a criminal history category of IV, Hernandez-Torres' guidelines range was 15 to 21 months imprisonment for the illegal reentry offense. The statutory maximum term of imprisonment for that offense is 10 years. 8 U.S.C.  1326(b)(1).

At his combined sentence and revocation hearing, the district court adopted the undisputed factfindings and guidelines calculations in the PSR. The court calculated a guidelines range of 6 to 12 months for the revocation of his supervised release because it was a Grade B violation and Hernandez-Torres had a prior criminal history category of II. The district court noted that the statutory maximum term of imprisonment for that offense was one year.

Hernandez-Torres asked the district court for concurrent sentences at the low end of the guidelines range. He admitted he broke the law and acknowledged that it was not long after his earlier conviction. But he explained that he did so with good reason. His children live in the United States with his girlfriend, and one of his daughters has Down syndrome. Although he found good work back home in Mexico, he had learned that the Florida Department of Children and Families had been called out to his girlfriend's house, concerned that there was insufficient supervision over their children. Because his girlfriend had to be at work most of the day, Hernandez-Torres decided to come back to the United States to help take care of his kids.

The district court sentenced Hernandez-Torres to 15 months imprisonment for the illegal reentry conviction and 6 months for the violation of his supervised release, to run consecutively. The court explained it gave Hernandez-Torres the low end of the guidelines range to account for his situation with his daughter and why he felt compelled to come to this country, but imposed the sentences consecutively because Hernandez-Torres had violated the conditions of his supervised released very quickly after being placed under supervision. His cases were consolidated for appeal.

II.

Hernandez-Torres contends that the imposition of a consecutive sentence for the revocation of his supervised release, instead of a concurrent sentence, rendered his sentence substantively unreasonable. He argues that the district court committed a clear error of judgment by giving too much weight to the sentencing guidelines and too little weight to his family and personal characteristics. We review the reasonableness of a sentence imposed after revocation of supervised release for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Cunningham, 607 F.3d 1264, 1266 (11th Cir. 2010).

When sentencing a defendant after revocation of supervised release under 18 U.S.C.  3583(e), a district court must consider some of the sentencing factors provided in 18 U.S.C.  3553(a). 18 U.S.C.  3583(e). Relevant here, the court may consider the nature and circumstances of the offense and the defendant's history and characteristics. 18 U.S.C.  3553(a), 3583(e). The district court must consider the applicable  3553(a) factors, but may attach greater weight to one or more of them than to the others. United States v. Shaw, 560 F.3d 1230, 1237 (11th Cir. 2009).

When reviewing a sentence for substantive reasonableness, we will vacate a sentence only if we are left with the definite and firm conviction that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the  3553(a) factors by imposing a sentence that lies outside the range of reasonable sentences dictated by the facts of the case. United States v. Irey, 612 F.3d 1160, 1190 (11th Cir. 2010) (en banc). The party challenging the sentence bears the burden of establishing that the sentence is unreasonable in the light of the record and the  3553(a) factors. United States v. Talley, 431 F.3d 784, 788 (11th Cir. 2005). Although we do not automatically presume a sentence within the guidelines range is reasonable, we ordinarily expect it to be. United States v. Hunt, 526 F.3d 739, 746 (11th Cir. 2008).

In determining whether to impose a consecutive or concurrent term, the district court must consider the factors set forth in  3553(a). 18 U.S.C.  3584(b). According to the sentencing guidelines, [a]ny term of imprisonment imposed upon the revocation of  supervised release shall be ordered to be served consecutively to any sentence of imprisonment that the defendant is serving, whether or not the sentence of imprisonment being served resulted from the conduct that is the basis of the revocation of  supervised release. U.S.S.G.  7B1.3(f) (policy statement). Similarly, it is the Commission's recommendation that any sentence of imprisonment for a criminal offense that is imposed after revocation of  supervised release be run consecutively to any term of imprisonment imposed upon revocation. U.S.S.G.  7B1.3(f), cmt. n.4.

Hernandez-Torres has not met his burden of showing that his sentence was substantively unreasonable. Both sentences were well within the applicable guideline ranges and well below the statutory maximums, which is evidence of reasonableness. Hunt, 526 F.3d at 746; United States v. Gonzalez, 550 F.3d 1319, 1324 (11th Cir. 2008) (noting a sentence that is substantially below the maximum statutory penalty is another indicator of the reasonableness of that sentence). And it is clear that the district court considered Hernandez-Torres' history and characteristics by sentencing him to the low end of the guidelines range in order to account for the situation with his daughter. By imposing his sentences consecutively, the district court followed the sentencing guideline,  7B1.3(f), and took into account the circumstances of his offensethat he violated his supervised release shortly after his earlier conviction. Hernandez-Torres has not demonstrated that, given those factors, a consecutive sentence was greater than necessary to meet the goals of sentencing. 18 U.S.C.  3553(a), 3583(e). As a result, we are not left with a definite and firm conviction that the sentence imposed here was outside the range of reasonable sentences dictated by the facts of the case. See Irey, 612 F.3d at 1190.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

. Hernandez-Torres claims that by running the sentences consecutively he is being punished twice for the same conduct. But the sentences are clearly for different conduct. The revocation of his supervised release punishes him for violating the terms upon which the district court conditioned his release By contrast, the sentence for illegal reentry punishes him for illegally reentering the country again.

PER CURIAM:
If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both
Exhibiting for the eleventh time at the show Alsalam will be highlighting its advancement into aerospace manufacturing and the companys contribution to the industrial developments and Saudisation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in line with the ambitions set in Saudi Vision 2030.

Alsalams President & CEO, Yahya bin Hamoud Al-Ghoraibi, said: Our participation reflects our commitment to contribute to realizing the ambitions of the Saudi Vision 2030. Alsalam will be showcasing the Kingdoms advancements in the aerospace industry at the Dubai Airshow this year and will display its latest developments and achievements in providing integrated services for the maintenance, upgrade and modification of military, commercial and VIP aircraft.
Emirates full family of aircraft consisting of the airlines 100th A380, its latest Boeing 777-300ER with new cabin interiors, the Emirates Executive A319 aircraft, and the Cirrus SR 22 and Embraer Phenom 100 jets which will be utilized by the Emirates Flight Training Academy will be on display to visitors. Both Emirates B777-300ER and A380 aircraft will be emblazoned with the Year of Zayed decal as a tribute to the late founding father of the UAE.

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group, said: The Dubai Airshow is a key event in the aviation industry calendar and it is fitting that the full family of Emirates aircraft will be on display this year to highlight the breadth of onboard product enhancements and innovations across our fleet. We are particularly pleased to showcase our state-of-the-art training aircraft for the Emirates Flight Training Academy. These investments will help set new benchmarks in pilot training, and reinforce Dubais position as a global aviation hub.

On the first day of the Dubai Airshow, Emirates will debut its new Boeing 777-300ER First Class suite. The new First Class product has been entirely redesigned, with a range of new features. In addition to the First Class cabin, both Business and Economy Class cabins will also boast a number of enhancements.

The first afternoon of the airshow will also feature a unique Emirates fly past comprising of a Boeing 777-300ER, an Airbus A380, as well as the UAEs air-display team, Al Fursan. Both Emirates aircraft will fly at different altitudes followed by the Al Fursan jets in a symmetric formation. All Emirates aircraft taking part in the fly-past will also feature the special Year of Zayed decal on both sides of the fuselage

The Emirates Flight Training Academy will be officially inaugurated on the second day of the Dubai airshow. The Academy was developed by Emirates in response to the global aviation industrys requirement for skilled commercial pilots. It is set to offer advanced learning technologies and state-of-the-art training aircraft for cadets to develop their flying knowledge and skills. The multi-million dollar investment in this advanced facility highlights Emirates commitment to developing the infrastructure that supports career-ready pilots for Emirates, as well as the broader aviation industry.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. DAVE ANDRAE TAYLOR, a/k/a Indian, a/k/a Nicholas, a/k/a Spike, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-6388 Decided: November 09, 2017

Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. Dave Andrae Taylor, Appellant Pro Se. Peter Sinclair Duffey, Gurney Wingate Grant, II, Katherine Lee Martin, Robert E. Trono, Assistant United States Attorneys, Heather Hart Mansfield, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Richmond, Virginia; Michael Arlen Jagels, Senior Deputy Attorney General, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Dave Andrae Taylor appeals the district court's order construing his second 18 U.S.C.  3582(c)(2) (2012) motion for a sentence reduction under Amendment 782 to the Guidelines as a motion to reconsider and denying it sua sponte for lack of jurisdiction, citing United States v. Goodwyn, 596 F.3d 233, 235-36 (4th Cir. 2010) (holding that no provision authorizes a district court to reconsider its order on a  3582 motion). We affirmed for the reasons stated by the district court. Taylor has now filed a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc. Upon review, we grant Taylor's petition for panel rehearing.

After the district court denied Taylor's motion to reconsider, this court determined that the prohibition against  3582(c)(2)-based motions for reconsideration is not jurisdictional and, thus, is waived when the government failed to assert it below. United States v. May, 855 F.3d 271, 274 (4th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, __ S. Ct. __, No. 17-142, 2017 WL 3219499 (U.S. Oct. 2, 2017). Accordingly, the district court did not lack authority to entertain Taylor's motion to reconsider.

Though aware that Taylor was eligible for a sentence reduction under Amendment 782, the district court denied Taylor's initial request for that relief as a matter of discretion. In his motion to reconsider, Taylor claimed that a prison infraction cited by the district court in its original order denying his  3582(c)(2) motion has since been expunged. Because, under May, the district court had authority to consider Taylor's motion to reconsider, we vacate the district court's order and remand this matter to the district court so that it may reconsider Taylor's request for a sentence reduction under Amendment 782. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

VACATED AND REMANDED

PER CURIAM:
Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Irani said the former should concentrate on infrastructure in his own constituency.

Navsari (Gujarat): Union Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi saying he should give up the hope of winning the Gujarat Assembly polls.

The Union Minister had hit back at Rahul for criticising the Goods and Services tax (GST) implemented by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.

"Rahul is an MP from Amethi Lok Sabha Constituency for the last 13 years and Gandhi-Nehru has ruled the Amethi Constituency for 50 years. He should be worried about the fact that in the Uttar Pradesh elections last year, the Congress could not win a single seat out of his five Vidhan Sabha seats," she said.

Irani added,"So someone who could not win his five Vidhan Sabha seats should stop dreaming about winning Gujarat elections. We and the people of Gujarat will not let this dream come true."

Read: BJP slashed GST rate due to Cong, mass pressure: Rahul Gandhi

Taking a jibe at the Congress leader for his statement on development in Gujarat, she said, "When Rahul talks of development, he should know that we went to lay the foundation stone of the collector's office of his constituency."

"He was not even able to build the collector's office, provide roads, education, health to his constituency. So on what basis is he talking about development in Gujarat?" she questioned.

The Congress has been critical of GST ever since it was implemented.

"In GST Council meeting, the Congress was also included. All the decisions have been taken till now on the basis of consensus. During the Congress rule, the GST was not passed as the state governments did not have faith in the party. In GST, someone whose annual income is below Rs 20 lakh is already exempted and that means poor are exempted from GST," Irani opined.

The Congress vice-president had called for structural changes in the uniform tax regime and termed GST as Gabbar Singh Tax.

Speaking at a rally in Gandhinagar, Gandhi said, "It's a good thing that the BJP government has slashed the tax rate from 28 percent to 18 percent for many products due to the pressure made by the Congress party and the people of India."

He further said, "We are still not happy and won't stop here. India doesn't want five different types of taxes, we want one. There's a need to make structural changes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST)."

Earlier on Wednesday, while interacting with traders in Gujarat's Surat, Rahul said that Congress will reassess and restructure the GST, if they come to power at the Centre in the 2019 general elections.
The Congress has already opened channels of negotiations with Patidars for their support.

New Delhi: The Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi will be embarking on his fourth visit to Gujarat from Saturday.

Hitting the campaign trail in the BJP bastion of North Gujarat Gandhinagar, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha Mr Gandhi is aiming to consolidate the grip of the Congress amongst the Patidars.

Interestingly North Gujarat was the epicenter of the Patidar agitation. The Congress has already opened channels of negotiations with Patidars for their support.

Senior leader and MP Mr Kapil Sibal who has been appointed as a special negotiator with the Patidars has already held a meeting with leaders of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti to find ways of giving reservation to the Patidars.

Insiders privy to the meeting said that the Congress showed political commitment in fulfilling reservation for Patidars in educational institutions and government jobs. Meanwhile the Congress on Friday began the process of shortlisting candidates for Gujarat polls. Insiders claim that all Gujarat Congress MLAs, who voted for the party during the Rajya Sabha polls would be repeated. Sources indicated Congress Central Election Committee on Friday cleared the names of 70 candidates for the first phase of Gujarat polls. The Central Election Committee meeting of the Congress was chaired by Ms Sonia Gandhi. The first list is only expected to be released sometime later next week.
This comes at a time when the Kerala HC had annulled the marriage of 24-year-old Hadiya after she married a Muslim.

The woman met the man, whom she accuses of forcefully marrying her, while studying at a private institution in Bengaluru. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

Thiruvananthapuram: A 25-year-old has approached the Kerala High Court alleging that she was forcefully converted after her marriage to a Muslim and taken to Saudi Arabia for sex slavery.

The woman has filed a petition in the high court calling for her marriage to be nullified. She alleged that she was sexually exploited, forced into sexual relationship and blackmailed with videos before getting married, according to a report in NDTV.

"After reaching Saudi Arabia, the 9th respondent showed his real colour. He was considering the petitioner as sex slave. He has other plans to go to Syria, and informed to the petitioner that within a few days they will shift to Syria and his plan was to sell the petitioner to the ISIS terrorists. He also forced her to attend Islamic classes and watch videos of Zakir Naik," the woman in her petition said.

"1st week of October the 9th respondent was planning to go to Syria. On 3rd Oct-2017 she called her parents through internet and pleaded to rescue her. On 4th October 2017 she escaped with the help of her father and Air ticket was taken by Father of the petitioner and sent scanned copy through WhatsApp and somehow the petitioner reached Ahmadabad on 5th Oct 2017," the petition said.

The woman, who is a Keralite, was born and brought up in Gujarat. She met the man, whom she accuses of forcefully marrying her, while studying at a private institution in Bengaluru.

She also alleged that her forced conversion and marriage had connections with the fundamentalist organisation, Popular Front of India.

This comes at a time when the Kerala High Court had annulled the marriage of 24-year-old Hadiya in May this year and sent her to her fathers custody after she got converted to Islam and married a Muslim.

Her marriage has been challenged in court by her father, who alleged that it was a form of recruitment by ISIS in Kerala.
The calendar was released by the narcotics wing of MP police to generate awareness among the people on drug abuse.

Bhopal: A row has erupted over a calendar of the Madhya Pradesh police carrying pictures and messages of RSS and BJP leaders.

The controversial" calendar, which was shared in the Facebook by additional general of police (narcotics wing) of MP Varun Kapoor, has featured the pictures of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP national president Amit Shah along with their messages in separate leafs. Besides, MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath have also featured in other pages in the calendar.

The calendar was released by the narcotics wing of MP police to generate awareness among the people on drug abuse.

The Congress has taken strong objection to the calendar, describing it a waste of public money. It seems MP police was more interested in appeasing their political masters than focusing on their job of maintaining law and order in the state, said Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedy.

It is gross misuse of public money, he said.

The ADG however defended the decision by his department. Mr Bhagwat is not a terrorist. He is a great thinker. He figured in the calendar for his qualities, the police officer told the media here.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. PHILLIP EDMUND BARNARD, JR., Defendant - Appellant. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. PHILLIP EDMUND BARNARD, JR., Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-6654, No. 17-6655 Decided: November 09, 2017

Before NIEMEYER, KING, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. Phillip Edmund Barnard, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Uzo Enyinnaya Asonye, Christopher John Catizone, Assistant United States Attorneys, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

In these consolidated appeals, Phillip Edmund Barnard, Jr., seeks to appeal the district court's orders denying relief on his motion for recusal and on his 28 U.S.C.  2255 (2012) motion. With respect to the district court's order denying relief on Barnard's motion for recusal, we have reviewed the record and find no abuse of discretion in the district court's denial of relief. See United States v. Stone, 866 F.3d 219, 229 (4th Cir. 2017) (stating standard of review). Accordingly, we affirm the order in No. 17-6654 for the reasons stated by the district court. United States v. Barnard, No. 1:15-cr-00060-LMB-1 (E.D. Va. Apr. 14, 2017).

Turning to Barnard's appeal of the district court's order denying relief on his  2255 motion, the order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C.  2253(c)(1)(B) (2012). A certificate of appealability will not issue absent a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C.  2253(c)(2) (2012). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003). When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable and that the motion states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85. We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Barnard has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, in No. 17-6655, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

No. 17-6654 - AFFIRMED

No. 17-6655 - DISMISSED

PER CURIAM:
Both the constitutional provisions have been challenged in Supreme Court through a clutch of petitions.

Dineshwar Sharma on his way for a meeting with various delegations in Jammu. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: The leaders of displaced Kashmiri Pandits have demanded that government should take immediate steps to liberate Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and also pave way for carving out a separate homeland within the Valley for minority Brahmin Hindu community.

Their third major demand projected before the Centres special representative on Jammu and Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma during a meeting held in winter capital Jammu was abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A which guarantee special status to the state within the Indian Union and empower the State Legislature to define permanent residents of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents, respectively.

Both the constitutional provisions have been challenged in Supreme Court through a clutch of petitions.

A 4-member delegation of the representatives of displaced Kashmiri Pandits which met Mr Sharma in Jammu on Thursday night told him that they want the Centre to take immediate steps to liberate PoK in consonance with the unanimous resolution passed by the Parliament in 1994.

The delegation comprising Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president Panun Kashmir (PK), H. N. Jattu, president, All India Kashmiri Pandit Conference, R. K. Bhat, president Youth AIKS and Virender Raina, national spokesperson of the PK put the Kashmiri Pandits political perspective in detail besides the problems and issues faced by the community before the interlocutor. 

Mr Sharma, a 1979-batch IPS officer and former Director of Intelligence Bureau would be concluding his five-day visit of twin capitals on Friday. This was his maiden visit to the Valley after the BJP on October 23 appointed him as its representatives to hold talks with all the stakeholders in the restive state.
The NDA government is bullish on job creation as according to a recent UN report, unemployment in India is approximately 17.8 million in 2017.

New Delhi: The Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council (EAC) has spelt out a clear roadmap for expediting job creation, skill development and resource investment in the health and education sectors.

The EAC which is headed by Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy, held its second meeting on Friday, where according to official sources, it also discussed the specifications for designing an economy tracker which will monitor economic growth indicators with social indicators for last mile connectivity.

This newspaper had first reported about the EAC working on developing an economy tracker. Formed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September, the EAC had held its first meeting on October 11.

The NDA government is bullish on job creation as according to a recent UN report, unemployment in India is approximately 17.8 million in 2017. Also skill upgradation is urgently required, it noted.

The EAC also formulated recommendations to guide the evolving framework for the Fifteenth Finance Commission, including the incentivisation of states for achieving health, education and social inclusion outcomes, sources informed further.

The council is learnt to have suggested that improvements are needed in National Accounts and innovative steps are required for unlocking growth, while exports and employment potential of growth drivers were also deliberated upon.

Presentations by experts were made to the Economic Advisory Council on key themes, including infrastructure financing by Mr Debroy. He underlined the need for infrastructure financing to be accorded high priority, with new mechanisms for a risk coverage umbrella.

Niti Aayog member Dr. Vinod K. Paul highlighted strategies for achieving Swastha Bharat by 2022.

Chief Statistician TCA Anant outlined improvements needed in National Accounts, complemented by the presentation by the Member Secretary EAC-PM Mr. Ratan P. Watal, who demystified issues on the current account deficit and the gold market. He also shared recommendations on the evolving framework for the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
In the past seven months, as many as 70 sand mining cases have been reported in different districts of the state.

Equipment used by the sand mafia for illegal mining in the Narmada.

Bhopal: Men wielding AK-47 assault rifles carrying out illegal activities on the banks of a river. This is not a macabre scene out of a Hindi film. But this is how illegal sand mining from the Narmada actually happens in Madhya Pradesh.

In the past seven months, as many as 70 sand mining cases have been reported in different districts of the state. And some officials who tried to stand up against the mafia, were mercilessly beaten up or killed by the hoodlums who allegedly enjoy political patronage.

Apart from inflicting financial loss of crore of rupees on the exchequer, the mafia is also threatening the flow of the river by constructing makeshift roads on the bed and using earth movers to dig sand that is mostly used to satiate the hunger of the booming housing sector.

Sample this, armed men allegedly held a raiding party in Madhya Pradesh hostage on October 16 for impounding their vehicles which were illegally transporting mined sand. The raiding party was later let off with a strict warning not to bother them in future. Ajaygarh tehsildar J.P.S. Baghel of Panna district had led the raiding party.

Similarly, on July 20, sand mining mafia allegedly thrashed the daylights out of a sub-divisional magistrate in Tikamgarh for confiscating their dumpers and earthmovers.

"Apart from attacking officials, the sand mafia also threatens them of dire consequences if they disrupt illegal sand mining operations thereby spreading terror among them," an officer in Panna district told The Asian Age.

"We have launched a campaign against illegal sand mining in Panna, Chhattarpur and Tikamgarh districts," Sagar range inspector general of police Satish Saxena said. Another senior police officer, however, complained of political intervention in the drive against the mafia.

We feel helpless as the mafia have their godfathers in the power corridors, which makes our task that much harder, said the officer, who did not wish to be named.

Sand mining is carried out on the river beds violating the mining and environment rules and under the nose of local administration. It is said that relatives of some influential people, including MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, are into the illegal sand mining business.

Altogether, around 1,135 blocks measuring around 8,800 hectares in 33 districts of the state have been leased out for sand mining.

According to an estimate, the state is robbed of Rs 1,000 crore revenue every year due to illegal sand mining. At present, the state receives a revenue of around Rs 170 crore annually.

Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedy calls it a mega scam. "This (sand mining) needs to be investigated. How can the state sustain such a loss of revenue; it cannot be without the blessing of the ruling government," he said, demanding a probe.

A petition filed in National Green Tribunal (NGT) alleged that rampant illegal sand mining is being carried out on the Narmada bed with use of JCB, porcelain machines and diver machines, called country-made submarines in local parlance. The sand thus excavated from the river bed is then transported to the dry banks, the petition said.

Ironically, under the mining policy of the MP government, use of machineries in sand mining has been prohibited.

It is normal to see the Narmada river bed dotted with hundreds of roads, some as long as 15 km, made to move heavy machineries such as earth movers and JCB machines to mine sand. What's more, in some areas, roads created on the river bed even block the flow of water.

"Rampant mining on the Narmada river bed has led to creation of thousands of small ponds inside the river. This threatens to damage the river's ecology," said Jabalpur-based environmentalist Dr P.G. Najpandey, who has waged a legal battle to ensure a lean Narmada.

Corruption in the power corridors has promoted illegal sand mining in MP, he added. Officials who do not wish to be named, claimed that the hold of the illegal sand miners over the policical decision makers is evident from the blatant threats they issue to law keepers.

Most officials prefer opting for postings outside these troubled areas. Those who are unable to do so, end up as mute spectators to their plunder, said one official.
People from Rajput community slam Sanjay Leela Bhansali for hurting their sentiments.

New Delhi: Observing that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) considers all aspects before granting certificate, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking stay of the Hindi film Padmavati on December 1.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud told the counsel that there were enough guidelines to be followed by the censor board to grant certification to a film before its release and court cannot interfere with it.

Various groups have been protesting against release of film Padmavati for its alleged distortion of history and would hurt the sentiments of Rajput community.

There were reports that the film would show a romantic dream sequence between Rani Padmini (Deepika Padukone) and Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh).

However, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the team of Padmavati have vehemently denied that such a scene is part of the film.

In fact, Mr Bhansali released a video earlier this week, in which he reiterated that the film has been made responsibly and contains no such scene that will hurt the sentiments of the Rajput community.

The bench was hearing a petition from Siddharajsinh M Chudasama and 11 others, seeking a direction to set up of a committee of eminent historians to check the veracity of the script to prevent any inaccuracy in the portrayal of Rani Padmavati.

The petitioners sought a stay on the release of the film. The CJI told the counsel that the court could not take over the duties of the censor board and film certification appellate tribunal.
The AAP government will approach the green court on Monday for restoring exemption to women drivers and two-wheelers.

While deciding to implement the odd-even scheme from November 13-17, the Delhi government had announced exemptions for women drivers, two-wheelers and vehicles carrying children in school uniforms, besides VVIPs. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: In a U-turn, the Delhi government on Saturday scrapped next weeks odd-even road-rationing scheme after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) gave a conditional nod to the anti-pollution measure. It refused to allow exemption to any person or officer and two-wheelers, except essential servcies.

Within hours of the NGT direction, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting and refused to impose the third phase of the odd-even scheme from Monday without exemptions, citing concerns over womens security and insufficient public transport. Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said, At the moment we are calling it off. We will again approach the NGT and will ask them to allow exemptions to women and two-wheelers

This government gives highest priority to the safety and security of women, he said.

The AAP government will approach the green court on Monday for res-toring exemption to wom-en drivers and two-wheelers.

While deciding to implement the odd-even scheme from November 13-17, the Delhi government had announced exemptions for women drivers, two-wheelers and vehicles carrying children in school uniforms, besides VVIPs.

Earlier, a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said, The odd-even will go on. No exemption of any kind to any one, including two-wheelers, women, public officers or politicians, except essential services.
The literary festival focused on the theme of Literature, Politics and We and Kanhaiya Kumar was there to talk about his book Bihar se Tihar Tak.

Lucknow: The fifth edition of the Lucknow Literary Festival was abruptly called off within two hours when a group of activists from ABVP and Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) disrupted a session in which former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was the main speaker.

The incident took place on Friday night and hours later, the district administration cancelled the event, saying that necessary permissions were not taken.

The literary festival focused on the theme of Literature, Politics and We and Kanhaiya Kumar was there to talk about his book Bihar se Tihar Tak.

As soon as Mr Kumar began speaking, the ABVP and HYV activists began jeering and hooting, calling him a traitor of the nation, raising anti-Kanhaiya Kumar slogans.

A scuffle took place between ABVP-HYV and SP student wing members when the former made an abortive bid to reach the stage at the function organised at Sheroes Cafe.

Finally, the organisers and acid victims working at the cafe appealed to agitated ABVP and HYV workers to let the function continue.

The police was called in to control the situation. Later, speaking on the occasion, Mr Kumar said, You have governments in 18 states but you cannot suppress an independent voice or stop someone to express his thoughts. I belong to a family of freedom fighter and no one can stop me expressing my thoughts.

He said, I am ready to face bullets but will not stop opposing those taking the country to a wrong direction.

Mr Kumar pulled up the state government when he said, Smile that you are in Lucknow under Yogi Adityanaths Ram Rajya. In Satyug, Lord Ram had left for vanvas but in Kalyug, Yogiji has left vanvas to rule Uttar Pradesh, he chuckled.

To ridicule ABVP, the former JNU president offered his condolences to the RSS worker died in a blast allegedly while making bombs.

I offer my condolences to children who died at the BRD Medical College and also for the RSS worker who died while making bombs, he said. After him, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha was called in to discuss his biography Anything But Khamosh written by Bharti S. Pradhan.

Mr Sinha, in his inimitable style, once again slammed his own government on issues related to GST, demonetisation and unemployment.

He said that the essence of democracy lay in the fact that voices of dissent could be heard. Organiser Shamim A. Arzoo said that the district administration was trying to control the thoughts of the speakers.
Modi will attend the 15th Asean-India summit and the 12th East Asia summit on November 14.

Modi and US President Donald Trump are likely to have a bilateral meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Manila. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that his visit to the Philippines from Sunday to attend Asean-India Summit symbolises the countrys commitment to deepening ties with the Asean member states and the Indo-Pacific region as part of Indias Act East Policy.

Mr Modi and US President Donald Trump are likely to have a bilateral meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Manila. Mr Trump is scheduled to arrive in Manila as part of his five-nation Asia tour of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

It will be the first meeting between the two leaders following a proposal to have a quadrilateral alliance among India, the US, Japan and Australia.

Mr Modi will attend the 15th Asean-India summit and the 12th East Asia summit on November 14.

In his departure statement ahead of the three-day trip, Mr Modi asserted that he was confident that his visit to Manila will give further boost to Indias bilateral relationship with the Philippines, and also strengthen Indias politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement with Asean.

Mr Modi will also take part in special celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Asean, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Leaders Meeting and Asean Business and Investment Summit.

My participation in them symbolises Indias commitment to continue deepening relationship with Asean, the PM said.

Trade between India and Asean stood at $65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12 per cent of Indias total trade with the world.
Gandhi offered prayers to Lord Swaminarayan at the temple and began his three-day tour which will cover six districts.

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday entered north Gujarat, the bastion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, and began his campaign with a visit to the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar.

Not only do the hometowns of both Mr Modi and Mr Shah fall in this region, but the Akshardham temple belongs to the Swaminarayan sect which has a large, devoted following among the Patel.

The Congress is desperately trying to woo the Patels, along with the OBCs, in the coming polls.

Mr Gandhi offered prayers to Lord Swaminarayan at the temple and began his three-day tour which will cover six districts.

Mr Gandhi is scheduled to cover areas in 19 Assembly constituencies spread across Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Banaskantha, Patan and Mehsana where Patidars and the OBCs wield great influence.

The BJP was quick to criticise Mr Gandhis visit to the temple and rushed Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan to campaign in the states OBC-dominated areas.

Criticising his temple visits, Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel asked why Mr Gandhi has decided to visit temples ahead of elections.

People know their intention  that they want to get votes by such gimmicks. They have no devotion as during Rahul Gandhis earlier trip he never visited any temple. We wish that Congress sheds its pseudo-secularism and respects mainstream Hindutva. Their gimmicks to get votes will not work in Gujarat, Mr Patel said.

Hitting back, Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said people will teach the BJP a lesson as it is opposing visits to temples. Rahul Gandhiji has visited Jain temple and gurudwaras apart from Hindu temples. We believe in secularism, he said. Mr Gandhi began his election campaign in Gujarat in September with a visit to the renowned Dwarkadheesh temple.

In the evening on Saturday, Mr Gandhi visited the famous Ambaji temple in Gujarats Banaskantha district. Before visiting the temple, he addressed a public meeting on the rights of tribals at Khedbrahmma where he attacked the incumbent government for failing to provide employment and chided Mr Modi for his silence on Jay Shah.

Mr Paswan, who has been fielded by the BJP to counter Mr Gandhi, participated in the partys ongoing door-to-door campaign to seek votes.

With nearly seven per cent dalit voters and 13 reserved constituencies for the community in the state, saffron poll managers are trying to pull out all the stops to woo dalits. Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani has already said that he will support the Congress in these elections.

The ruling BJP had faced major criticism and dalit ire after the Una flogging incident last year and, perhaps for the first time in many years, saffron poll managers were forced to consider the dalit vote bank seriously. Other dalit leaders of the BJP, including Thawarchand Gehlot, have also been campaigning in the state.
Intelligence inputs also suggest that in the day ahead terror outfits could threaten other groups who want to hold talks with the interlocutor.

New Delhi: Intelligence agencies have cautioned the Centre that terror groups in Kashmir Valley are making a concerted effort to disrupt its initiative for talks with different groups in a bid to find a solution to the regions complex problems. Centre had recently appointed Dineshwar Sharma, former director of the Intelligence Bureau, as its interlocutor to initiate dialogue with a cross section of people in the state.

A top security official confirmed to this newspaper that Talha Rashid, nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, who incidentally was killed in an encounter by security forces in Pulwama earlier this week was also sent with the purpose of ensuring that the dialogue process is disrupted.

We have concrete information that terror groups would go all out to ensure that any kind of talks or initiative either by the state or Centre which helps bring peace to the Valley fails. These terror elements are also in touch with hardline separatist leaders from the Hurriyat which is perhaps the reason why they have refused to meet Centres interlocutor. Talha Rasheed had crossed over into the Indian territory a few days ago with specific instructions to ensure that the peace dialogue is disrupted, the official further added.

Sources also confirmed that it was in background of these intelligence inputs that Mr Sharma was accorded Z category security with a pilot and escort vehicle to secure his convoy. Mr Sharma would also be protected round the clock by six to eight CRPF commandos.

Intelligence inputs also suggest that in the day ahead terror outfits could threaten other groups who want to hold talks with the interlocutor. Incidentally, during his visit to the State earlier this week Mr Sharma did hold talks with former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, senior CPM leader MY Tarigami, top PDP leader Sartaj Madni, representatives of Kashmiri Pandits.

Terror outfits and hardline separatist leaders are reported to be upset over the fact that as many as 32 different delegations including some NGOs, and students groups met Centres interlocutor during his visit to the state.

It is possible that in the days ahead terror groups could issue threats to such groups to ensure that no talks are held, intelligence sources added.

Though Mr Sharma is said to be keen to hold talks with the Hurriyat but it seems that the organisation was under pressure from these militant outfits not to initiate any dialogue with him.
Dhruv whose tongue-in-cheek remarks had earlier caused embarrassment to the state BJP government.

While addressing a gathering at a BJP event on the first anniversary of demonetisation, party minister Om Prakash Dhurve said he is yet to understand GST. (Photo: ANI)

Bhopal: In an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet has created a flutter by conceding in public that he hardly understood the Goods and Services Tax (GST), introduced in the country on July one this year.

State food and civil supplies minister Om Prakash Dhruv, ironically, made the confession while he was addressing a gathering in Umariya in MP on November eight to create awareness among them about the benefits of twin economic reforms, note ban and GST, undertaken by the Centre recently. I think I should not speak on the GST because I myself do not understand about it. Even the charted accountants and traders do not understand about it. GST is the most misunderstood subject. But, once you understand it, you will start liking it, he said evoking peel of laughter from the gathering.

Mr Dhruv whose tongue-in-cheek remarks had earlier caused embarrassment to the state BJP government, however assured the gathering that the two reform measures would make the economy robust by weeding out corruptions in the system.

Sources said the BJP leadership here has taken serious note of it and was mulling a proposal to conduct a training session for the ministers.
WTCI will host Family Day, a free annual event, on Sunday from 1-4 p.m. at the community PBS station. The station is at 7540 Bonnyshire Dr., behind the Bonny Oaks Drivers Service Center.

Activities will include a petting zoo, touring a Chattanooga Fire Department fire engine, face painting, games, and activities and demonstrations from the stations community education partners such as Belvoir Christian Academy and UnifiEd. There will be photo meet and greet opportunities with Clifford, Curious George, Super Why! and Word Girl. Participants may learn about the programs, games and apps for PBS KIDS friends at this free event.

Guests are invited to bring a gently-used book for a swap to benefit HCDE schools and a canned good item or socks to support the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.

Green screen activities, storybook reading with the Bookmark Fairy and music from the Scenic City Chorus will entertain children and parents as they tour the community PBS station, engage in PBS KIDS activities and learn about PBSLearningMedia.org resources with a special historic puppet visitor from the Wayne-O-Rama installation.

PBS is Americas largest classroom and 81 percent of parents agree that PBS KIDS strongly supports preparing their children for school. WTCI, with support from sponsors and partnerships with family and education-based organizations and agencies, engages actively in supporting students and families across the region with resources to encourage success in school.

For event, membership and programming information visit online at wtcitv.org. For a limited time new sustaining members can receive a family pack of Daniel Tiger Live tickets as a thank-you gift. Supplies are limited and new members should contact Lisa McDowd at lmcdowd@wtcitv.org or 702-7819.






The Congress has always tried to stop the Narmada project work, says Prakash Javadekar.

Rajkot: Terming the Opposition Congress as anti-people, Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday expressed confidence that the BJP will register a massive victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections to be held next month.

The BJP is very confident of winning the elections in Gujarat and it will register a massive victory on the basis of the work done by the government, the HRD minister, who was here to take part in the partys door-to-door campaign, told reporters.

The important work that the BJP government has done in Gujarat is to bring the Narmada water to the parched regions of Saurashtra and Kutch, he said.

This is path-breaking work. The Congress has always tried to stop the Narmada project work. It (the Congress) is anti-people and therefore people are with the (BJP) government, which has brought water to the region, he said.

Under the project, drinking water from Narmada is being provided to 10,000 villages and 173 towns and cities in Saurashtra and Kutch regions, the BJP leader said.
The minister said social, educational and religious rights of minorities are more safe and secure in India than any other country.

New Delhi: Promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modis motto of empowerment without appeasement, minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday asserted that minorities rights are more safe and secure under the Modi-led NDA government than it was earlier.

In Jaipur to attend an appreciation ceremony on completion of this years Haj, the Union minister said the Central government is moving on the development path without following appeasement politics, which was a norm during previous regime. Mr Naqvi said the disease of appeasement had severely affected minority empowerment and the community was exploited by the so-called political champions of secularism for the last several decades. The minister said social, educational and religious rights of minorities are more safe and secure in India than any other country. He said the NDA government has created an atmosphere of trust among in section of society through development works.

Our policy of development with dignity has ensured that minorities become equal partner in mainstream development process. The development works carried out by the Modi government in the last three years have benefitted the poor, which includes a large number of minorities, Mr Naqvi said.

The minority affairs minister added that though some people try to create problems to obstruct the development process, but the government has not allowed any negative agenda to dominate our development agenda.
Trump was in Beijing meeting President Xi Jinping, where he called on China to act fast over North Korea.

Danang, Vietnam: US President Donald Trump on Friday said that the Asia-Pacific region was being held hostage by the twisted fantasies of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as he called on countries to stand united against Pyongyang.

The future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail, he said during a speech in Vietnam to the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.

The region, he added, must stand united in declaring that every single step the North Korean regime takes towards more weapons is a step it takes into greater and greater danger.

The US administration thinks Chinas economic leverage over North Korea is the key to strong-arming Pyongyang into halting its nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

On Thursday, Trump was in Beijing meeting President Xi Jinping, where he called on China to act fast over North Korea.

Washington has also worked in recent months to convince allies across Asia to oppose Pyongyang, an issue that will remain prominent during his two-day trip to Vietnam, which is currently hosting a major regional summit.

The leaders of Japan, Russia, China and South Korea were also attending the Apec summit.
The MNS has written a letter to the BMC asking it to take over the plot at the earliest.

Mumbai: Despite clear instructions to take over the plot encroached upon by Grand Hyatt Hotel at Kalina, the hotel continues to occupy the plot and use it for commercial

reasons.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has alleged that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is dilly-dallying on taking possession of the plot from the hotel.

In February, the BMC had taken over the 3,000 sq mt plot from the hotel authorities, after the state Lokayukta had directed it to reclaim the plot in December last year. However, a second plot admeasuring 3,900 sq mt is yet to be handed over to the civic body. The land is categorised as reserved open space for public use.

The MNS has written a letter to the BMC asking it to take over the plot at the earliest. The hotel had given the undertaking that the plot would be surrendered for open public use. But we have received complaints that the space is still illegally rented out by the hotel at premium rates. This action by the hotel is blatantly in connivance with municipal officials. The BMC should remove encroachments and take possession of that piece of land, said MNS leader, Akhil Chitre.

However, hotel authorities have said that the said plot would be handed over to the BMC within couple of months. Amit Saraf, senior VP, Grand Hyatt Hotel, said, The plot will be handed over once the cooling towers, which are operating there are shifted. We were told that till the revised layout is approved, we cannot shift the towers, which are large in size. We will have to put and connect new cooling towers before shifting the old ones.

When contacted, Alka Sasane, assistant commissioner of H-East ward, said, The BMC has already taken over the first plot and the process is on to take possession of second one from the hotel.
Mehta had claimed that he had to attend a meeting in Delhi at noon, after which he would fly to Mumbai.

Mumbai: The state consumer commission has reduced the compensation of Rs 1 lakh that was awarded to an air passenger who had held Jet Airways responsible for causing him losses by issuing a ticket on a flight that was later cancelled.

The commission said that while an airline can be liable for deficiency in service it cannot be asked to pay unreasonable compensation in the absence of any concrete evidence about the nature of delay which complainant claims caused him losses.

The commission passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by Jet Airways challenging an award in 2012 by Mumbai district forum of Rs 1 lakh to be payable to complainant Himanshu Mehta, who is a resident of Mumbai. The award was in lieu of the airline issuing a ticket on a flight from Srinagar to Delhi in 2007, which was later cancelled. The state commission said that the award of Rs 1 lakh was excessive and that Rs 25,000 as compensation and Rs 25,000 towards litigation expense would suffice.

A bench of Justice A.P. Bhangale, president of the state consumer commission and member A.K. Zade were hearing an appeal against the 2012 judgement. The complaint by Mehta was that he had booked a ticket on Jet Airways from Srinagar to Delhi that was to leave at 8.20 am. Mehta had claimed that he had to attend a meeting in Delhi at noon, after which he would fly to Mumbai. However, on reaching Srinagar airport he was informed by the airport personnel that there were no flights as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had restricted morning flights due to bad weather conditions.

Mehta averred that he took an alternate flight and reached Delhi at 4.15 pm due to which he missed his meeting and hence claimed compensation of the losses he incurred.
Farmers are very upset over prices of agricultural produce and the MSP issue.

Mumbai: After the Friday incident where Tuljapur youth, Dyaneshwar Salve, threatened to jump off the top floor of Mantralaya amid reports of unrest among farmers in the state over minimum support price (MSP), the state and central government machinery has taken steps to immediately address the issue. Soyabean, urad and moong purchase centres of the government will start within a week's time while centres for purchase of cotton too will start soon, agriculture minister Pandurang Phundkar informed on Saturday.

Farmers are very upset over prices of agricultural produce and the MSP issue. They are caught between a rock and a hard place with traders not offering them a good price and government not giving them reasonable MSP. The government's purchase centres too have not yet started. So, after the agitation at Mantralaya on Friday, Mr Phundkar met union minister Radhamohan Singh on Saturday in Mumbai. Though the meeting was scheduled earlier, Mr Phundkar urged Mr Singh to start purchase centres in the state immediately. Mr Singh directed officials of the marketing department to take necessary steps. Meanwhile state BJP spokesperson Ram Kadam claimed that Mr Salve was a NCP worker and it was a planned agitation. However, state NCP president Sunil Tatkare clarified that the NCP did not support such agitations. "Mr Salve is not a party worker," he said. Mr Tatkare however admitted that Mr Salve had called him before climbing the seventh floor of Mantralaya.
The 13 far-right parties in Europe may not be homogeneous, but Islamophobia unites them in their opposition to immigration.

The waves of intolerance and Islamophobia that have swept Europe were not launched by President Trump, but there can be no denying the fact that the rhetoric he deployed during his election campaign and the programmes he launched since assuming the presidency has given them strength and direction.

Earlier this year, the media reported that the existing US programme, Countering Violent Extremism, would be changed to Countering Islamic/Radical Islamic Extremism. In contrast, last December, President Putin said, I would prefer Islam not be mentioned in vain alongside terrorism, and criticised terrorists who cynically exploit religious feelings for political aims.

At the opening of a mosque in Moscow he said that in the Middle East terrorists from the so-called Islamic State are compromising a great world religion ... sowing hatred, killing people, including clergy. He added, Their ideology is built on lies and blatant distortions of Islam, noting that Muslim leaders are bravely and fearlessly using their own influence to resist this extremist propaganda.

A Russian commentator on Islamic affairs, Orkhan Dzhemal explained the reason for the contrasting views. Putin rules a multi-confessional country ... He doesnt want to alienate millions of Russians, noting that the Muslim demographic in the US is significantly smaller. But there is another factor, besides. It is Trumps disdain for multiculturalism, and for the tolerance that diversity requires. He is a white supremacist. In August 2016, he unveiled his dark vision of an America under siege by the hateful ideology of a radical version of religion  a threat, he said, that was on par with the greatest evils of the 20th century.

Asma Afsaruddin, a professor of religious studies at Indiana University and chairperson of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Democracy, addressed the root of the phobia. They are tapping into the climate of fear and suspicion since 9/11 ... It is a master narrative that pits the Muslim world against the West. She predicted that the demonisation of Muslims and Islam will become even more widespread. How far this phobia has already penetrated was revealed in a shocking incident at the San Francisco airport only last month. Alex Bastian, a native San Franciscan and the deputy chief of staff at the San Francisco District Attorneys office, was returning from a trip to Greece and Armenia, when he was detained at the airport for questioning  not because they had any information against him, but because of his face. He is an Armenian-American, and Chris-tian by faith. This case of racial profiling isnt a rare occurrence.

In the climate which Trumps election created, such incidents become common. No wonder that the far right in Europe welcomed the event. Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, exclaimed with joy, Yesterday a new America ... and tomorrow a new Europe!

Some of his companions fared poorly at the polls that followed; including Marine Le Pen, president of Frances National Front, and Wilders himself. But the far-right Alternative for Germany made a disturbingly impressive showing in the recent election. The Freedom Party of Austria was once treated as a pariah in Europe when it was accepted as a member of the governing coalition in 2000. Now, leaders of the European radical right are well received from Budapest to Tel Aviv, and Moscow to Washington D.C.

The 13 far-right parties in Europe may not be homogeneous, but Islamophobia unites them in their opposition to immigration. American journalist Timothy Egan recently wrote, Trump opened the door to overt expressions of hatred, by exploiting identity politics. But, Egan argues, The audacious idea that people from all races, ideologies and religious sects would check their hatreds at the door after becoming citizens is our sustaining narrative.

Within our borders, Protestants dont fight Catholics, Sunnis dont go after [Shias], Armenians share neighbourhoods with Turks, and a family that can trace much of its ancestry to slavery occupied a White House built in part by slaves. But that tenuous construct is breaking apart. We are retreating to our tribal, ethnic and primitively prejudicial quarters. Everything is about race and identity. We come from privilege, or oppression. We choose politicians based on whether they help our tribe or hurt people like us. This is President Trumps legacy.

The Trump phenomenon has spread. Europe is not the sole victim of the contagion. As any observer of the Asian scene will notice, intolerance and rejection of diversity and pluralism are dangerously on the rise.

By arrangement with Dawn
Tax evasion is just plain concealment of income and is a crime in all countries.

The paradise in the Paradise Papers refers to tax havens of low or even no taxation. Such havens usually are shadowy and sleazy little countries and principalities such as the Cayman Islands, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and sometimes entities within countries like Jersey, Guernsey, Bermuda in the UK and Delaware and Puerto Rico in the US. Then there are low taxation countries like Switzerland, Singapore and Dubai that assure secretive rich people of their privacy.

Essentially, a tax haven exists to cheat sovereign states of their lawful incomes. The Tax Justice Network campaign group estimates that corporate tax avoidance costs governments $500bn a year while personal tax avoidance costs $200bn a year. This, in effect, means that anywhere between $20-30 trillion of business transactions in various jurisdictions are sheltered from taxations. Moodys estimated that in 2016, giant American technology companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple were hoarding about $1.84 trillion cash in offshore havens. Clearly, they are avoiding taxes by bending the rules of the tax system. This is tax avoidance, which is not illegal for they are operating within the letter, but perhaps not the spirit of the law. Tax evasion is just plain concealment of income and is a crime in all countries.

In the early 1980s, shaken up by the number of scandals in Wall Street, and by the number of its MBA graduates who were found wanting in ethical and moral values, the Harvard Business School made a course on Leadership and Corporate Accountability a core requirement. I am sure Jayant Sinha, a Harvard MBA, had to do this course. Such courses now are in the core curriculum of the business schools attended by the other two young politicians also named in the Paradise Papers or capers if you will. Sachin Pilot graduated from the famous Wharton School of Business and Karti Chidambaram took his business masters from Texas and a law degree from Cambridge to boot.

Doing the required ethics course is one thing but it is quite something else to be able to resolve the moral dilemmas of what John Kenneth Galbraith described as the HBSs ethical view of capitalism which derives straight out of the Protestant ethic and its transformational view of money, in which the ability to accumulate wealth is a reflection of ones character.

The charge against Sinha is that while acting as an Omidyar Network representative, he was on the board of a California company that made a loan to that companys Cayman subsidiary. Usually such a loan to such a subsidiary suggests a fiddle. Whether Sinha knew this or not is a different issue. Though the evidence does not suggest any malfeasance, there is room for scepticism.

Omidyar Network proclaims its belief: Just as eBay created the opportunity for millions of people to start their own businesses, we believe market forces can be a potent driver for positive social change. Grand words, but that hardly conceals the true goal that is to make bucks, sometimes fast ones too. Again as Galbraith puts it: The modern conservative is engaged in one of mans oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

Way back in mid-1980s, Sinha, then fresh out of one of the IITs, worked with me on a paper that proposed mass construction of smokeless chullahs for rural homes as a profitable employment for hundreds of thousands of rural workers. I remember it as a bit of an elaborate scheme that also computed savings due to improved health and the added jobs created in the rural sector and firewood savings. It was published in a well-known pink newspaper and the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi took note of it. Clearly, he was a well-meaning and bright young man. I was impr-essed enough to write a recommendation when he applied for a Masters in Energy Management at Pennsylvania. I next met him when I was serving as his fathers advisor in the finance ministry. Jayant and his wife were both working with foreign companies investing in Indian stocks. He was apprehensive about a proposal made by me to disinvest PSU stocks by selling them to the governments banks for onward restructure and disinvestment. He was concerned over its effects on some PSU shares in which his wife and her employers had invested in. The minister had clearly spoken to him. At that time too, I wondered if the HBSs core business ethics course would have seen conflict of interest issues in it? The minister, however, had showed he had plenty of flex  pun intended  in him.

The government is said to have ordered investigations against Jayant Sinha and all the others named in the Paradise tax avoidance capers. His father has naturally taken umbrage at this. He has demanded to know if people like Jayant Sinha have to be investigated, why shouldnt Jay Amit Shah be investigated for what is more apparently a scam? The facts of Jay Amit Shahs case are essentially that a company that had a life of three years registered a 16000% growth in its second year and then folded up in its third year. On the face of it, it does seem to be a money laundering scam. Instead of it being investigated the website, thewire.in, that broke the news based on the official statements obtained from the Registrar of Companies, is being investigated. People like Jay Amit Shah are not expected to have the sophisticated sense of a Harvard or Wharton Business School graduate formally schooled in ethics. Jay Amit Shah just hit it when the iron was hot. So Yashwant Sinha has a point. To my mind, tax avoidance is perhaps just as reprehensible as tax evasion. The finance ministry has consistently failed to plug the loopholes, even the fact that little Mauritius and Singapore are our two biggest sources of FDI. Sinha was too junior in the finance ministry to have expressed views on this. It would have been unlikely though for that is not the HBS way. The previous finance minister, himself a Harvard MBA, would not have left footprints for young Sinha to tread on. Neither would the present inveterate lawyer finance minister.
Caught in the midst of these competing ambitions is the fledgling government of the Fulbright scholar and academician Ashraf Ghani.

Forty years is a long time for covert intrigues and conspiracies to successfully hide the murky truths of the past. The AfPak region, dubbed as the most hostile and terror-infested region in the world, is a lasting legacy of the Cold War machinations that involved the United States, its client state Pakistan and the forever-restive Afghanistan  the three nations who are fighting their own creation which has outlived its Cold War era objectives. Operation Cyclone is the forgotten code name for the US CIA initiative to arm, train and finance the famed Afghan mujahideens against the then USSR and its proxy state in Kabul between 1979 and 1992. The invaluable funnelling of the US support to the landlocked mujahideens was through the infamous Pakistani ISI, by the likes of Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul (known as the father of the Taliban), under the overall beneficence of the Machiavellian Pakistani dictator, Gen. Zia-ul Haq.

The potent combination of circumstances and providential timing of Zia-ul Haqs own desperation to deflect attention from political parties and legitimise his own military regime, his natural proclivity towards hardline Islam and the multiple carrots offered by the US to undertake its dirty job in Afghanistan led Zia to incubate the latter date, nurseries of terror. This jointmanship in the early 1980s saw then US President Ronald Reagan host the mujahideens in the White House. The embarrassing roster of the feted Afghan warlords in the US included Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (Butcher of Kabul who was flown to the US by the CIA in 1985), Mohammad Yunus Khalis (who on meeting Reagan famously suggested him to convert to Islam) and unbelievably, Jalaluddin Haqqani (the creator of the dreaded Haqqani network). These conveniently patronised, though lawless zealots, were borne into strife and an existential struggle that saw religion as the sole inspiration and commonality among each other that bound, their otherwise irreconcilable differences like ethnic, tribal and sectarian divides.

Later, after wearing out the Red Army and achieving the tactical objective of the Cold War era, the US disowned the Afghan mujahideens and the vacuum was filled-in with the continuance of interference by the Pakistani ISI. The subsequent internecine bloodshed for the control of Kabul allowed Pakistan to pull strings and nurture the mutations of the current-day terror organisations like the Taliban, Haqqani network and Khorasan Shura.

Incredulously, time and circumstances have confabulated into both the US and Pakistan naively blaming each other for the trail of deadly destruction that persists at the hands of these lovechildren who were knowingly parented by both the CIA and the ISI. Today, US President Donald Trump says, We can no longer be silent about Pakistans safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond while the Pakistani foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif embarrassingly shoots back, Dont blame us for Haqqanis or dont blame us for the Hafiz Saeeds. These were the people who were your darlings just 20-30 years back. They were being dined and wined in the White House and now you say go to hell Pakistanis because you are nurturing these people! Basically, the US does not want to publicly accept that it selfishly bolted-out when its own purpose was served in Afghanistan and the Pakistanis do not want to accept that they have selfish ambitions of strategic depth in Afghanistan.

Caught in the midst of these competing ambitions is the fledgling government of the Fulbright scholar and academician Ashraf Ghani (the only Afghan leader in the last 40 years who has no history of warlord-ism). He is forced to meander carefully and creatively as he hails the new US-Afghan policy of increased financial support, retention of military wherewithal and additional boots-on-ground, as a game changer, whilst, simultaneously signing a peace deal with the despised history-sheeter Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. But with his initial patience having worn out, Mr Ghani reserves his unequivocal condemnation for Islamabads patent duplicity when he laments, We cannot understand when Pakistan says it will not allow a group of terrorists to amend its Constitution, Army Act and prepares a National Action Plan against them. Simultaneously, Pakistan tolerates another group which attempts to undermine the government and bring horror, death and destruction to Afghanistan.

The new US-Afghan policy is posited on convincing the Taliban and their ilk about the futility of militarily taking on the Afghan government, along with its supporting contingents from the US and the other Nato countries. This US recommitment to enhance stakes in Afghanistan should bring some relief to Kabuls struggling campaign in the face of increased terror attacks, desertions, dipping morale among troops and ground reversals that are specially coming in from the latest transformations in the guise of an Afghan offshoot of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The terror denominations, groupings and alliances in the bloody history of Afghanistan have been most fickle, tactical and unscrupulous  basically the terror industry of today, irrespective of the nomenclatures, owes its genesis to the lovechildren of US-Pakistan affairs of the 1980s. While Zia-ul Haq institutionalised the religio-militancy approach, the civilian politicians like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (who invited Hekmatyar and Rabbani), his daughter

Benazir (whose interior minister Naseerullah Babar propped the Taliban phenomenon) and the Nawaz Sharif governments in recent times have been accused of selectively pandering to terror organisations.

The pernicious ideology that accompanies these regressive forces is increasingly consuming Pakistan, which still believes it can turn on and neutralise the forces inimical to Pakistan (for example, Tehreek-e-Taliban by conducting dedicated operations like Zarb-e-Azb) while still controlling the narrative in Afghanistan by supporting forces like the Haqqani network and Afghan Taliban. This running with the hare and hunting with the hound approach is dangerously spinning out of control for Pakistan. However, for Islamabad to call a spade a spade would entail opening up a can of worms, and worse, delegitimising the most powerful institutions in Pakistan (the Pakistani military which is a state within a state).
Condensation-based method developed at MIT could create stable nanoscale emulsions.

Graduate student Ingrid Guha holds a jar containing a clear liquid that looks like water to the naked eye, but its actually an emulsion of oil and water at the nanoscale. Photo: Melanie Gonick, MIT

The reluctance of oil and water to mix together and stay that way is so well-known that it has become a cliche for describing any two things that do not go together well. Now, a new finding from researchers at MIT might turn that expression on its head, providing a way to get the two substances to mix and remain stable for long periods  no shaking required. The process may find applications in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and processed foods, among other areas.

The new process involves cooling a bath of oil containing a small amount of a surfactant (a soap-like substance), and then letting water vapor from the surrounding air condense onto the oil surface. Experiments have shown that this can produce tiny, uniform water droplets on the surface that then sink into the oil, and their size can be controlled by adjusting the proportion of surfactant. The findings, by MIT graduate student Ingrid Guha, former postdoc Sushant Anand, and associate professor Kripa Varanasi, are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

As anyone who has ever used salad dressing knows, no matter how vigorously the mixture gets shaken, the oil and the vinegar (a water-based solution) will separate within minutes. But for many uses, including new drug-delivery systems and food-processing methods, its important to be able to get oil in water (or water in oil) to form tiny droplets  only a few hundred nanometers across, too small to see with the naked eye  and to have them stay tiny rather than coalescing into larger droplets and eventually separating from the other liquid.

Typically, in industrial processes, these emulsions are made by either mechanically shaking the mix or using sound waves to set up intense vibrations within the liquid, a process called Sonicating. But both of these processes require a lot of energy, Varanasi says, and the finer the drops, the more energy it takes. By contrast, our approach is very energy inexpensive, he adds.

The key to overcoming that separation is to have really small, nanoscale droplets, Guha explains. When the drops are small, gravity cant overcome them, and they can remain suspended indefinitely.

For the new process, the team set up a reservoir of oil with an added surfactant that can bind to both oil and water molecules. They placed this inside a chamber with very humid air and then cooled the oil. Like a glass of cold water on a hot summer day, the colder surface causes the water vapor to precipitate. The condensing water then forms droplets at the surface that spread through the oil-surfactant mixture, and the sizes of these droplets are quite uniform, the team found. If you get the chemistry just right, you can get just the right dispersion, Guha says. By adjusting the proportion of surfactant in the oil, the droplet sizes can be well-controlled.

In the experiments, the team produced nanoscale emulsions that remained stable over periods of several months, compared to the few minutes that it takes for the same mixture of oil and water to separate without the added surfactant. The droplets stay so small that theyre hard to see even under a microscope, Guha says.

Unlike the shaking or sonicating methods, which take the large, separate masses of oil and water and gradually get them to break down into smaller drops  a top-down approach  the condensation method starts off right away with the tiny droplets condensing out from the vapor, which the researchers call a bottom-up approach. By cloaking the freshly condensed nanoscale water droplets with oil, we are taking advantage of the inherent nature of phase-change and spreading phenomena, Varanasi says.

Our bottom-up approach of creating nanoscale emulsions is highly scalable owing to the simplicity of the process, Anand says. We have uncovered many new phenomena during this work. We have found how the presence of surfactant can change the oil and water interactions under such conditions, promoting oil spreading on water droplets and stabilizing them at the nanoscale.

The team says that the approach should work with a variety of oils and surfactants, and now that the process has been identified, their findings provide a kind of design guideline for someone to use for a particular kind of application, Varanasi says.

Its such an important thing, he says, because foods and pharmaceuticals always have an expiration date, and often that has to do with the instability of the emulsions in them. The experiments used a particular surfactant that is widely used, but many other varieties are available, including some that are approved for food-grade products.

In addition, Guha says, we envision that you could use multiple liquids and make much more complex emulsions. And besides being used in food, cosmetics, and drugs, the method could have other applications, such as in the oil and gas industry, where fluids such as the drilling muds sent down wells are also emulsions, Varanasi says.

The work was supported by the MIT Energy Initiative, the National Science Foundation, and a Society in Science fellowship. Anand, the co-author who was a postdoc at MIT, is now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois.
Thirty-two McCallie School seniors were recognized at Chapel as 2017-18 members of the Cum Laude Society in recognition of academic excellence. These young men were selected to recognize their place in the top 20 percent of the senior class as measured by cumulative GPA in their Upper School courses at McCallie.

McCallie Schools Cum Laude chapter is the oldest in Tennessee and has been active since 1952. Director of College Counseling Jeff Kurtzman recited the names this years inductees after Bible teacher Rev. Ed. Snow spoke to the student body about the importance of education and learning during a special ceremony in Chapel.

The newest members of Cum Laude at McCallie are:



Kaan Alp, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Sam Bennett, Brookhaven, Ga.

Garrison Brock, Lookout Mtn., Tenn.

David Carroll, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Andrew Cook, Birmingham, Ala.

Nate DeStefano, Brookfield, Wis.

Chris Duncan, Lookout Mtn., Tenn.

Aidan Foley, Lookout Mtn., Ga.

Alexander Free, Cleveland, Tenn.

Chase Gaume, Cape Coral, Fla.

Cooper Hayes, Lookout Mtn., Ga.

Jamie Hickling, Knoxville, Tenn.

Scott Hill, Lookout Mtn., Tenn.

Mac Hunt, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Jack Jestus, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Andrew Landsbergen, Winston Salem, N.C.

Gavin LaPlace, Baton Rouge, La.

Allen Liu, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Nick Loeb, Memphis, Tenn.

Sawyer Lyons, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Griffin McCloy, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Sultan Minhas, Tunnel Hill, Ga.

Ahmad Nisar, Dalton, Ga.

Patrick Ramey, Lookout Mtn., Tenn.

Bruce Renner, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Joseph Richard, Ringgold, Ga.

Jackson Shell, Dunlap, Tenn.

Ross Stitts, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Arthur Sung, Gangnam-Gu, Republic of Korea

Ivan Yu, Shenyang, China

Aaron Zhang, Beijing, China

Albert Zheng, Hangzhou, China

Only a students work at McCallie is considered for determining eligibility for Cum Laude, and a student must have been at McCallie for at least one full year.

The Cum Laude Society was founded in 1906 in order to recognize scholastic achievement at the secondary school level by establishing a society modeled after Phi Beta Kappa, the college academic honor society. It now includes 368 chapters, 25 of them in public schools and 343 in independent schools.




He vowed that his country will no longer tolerate unfair trade, closed markets and intellectual property theft.

US President Donald Trump shakes hand with China President Xi Jinping at the end of a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Photo: AFP)

Vietnam: The leaders of the US and China laid out sharply divergent visions for the future of global trade on Friday, with Donald Trump doubling down on his America First rhetoric, leaving counterpart Xi Jinping to defend the irreversible tide of globalisation.

Mr Xi, who has emerged as the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, and Trump, whose woes include dismal approval ratings at home, spoke moments apart at the Apec summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang.

Mr Trump in turns lavished praise on Asia-Pacific nations and accused them of undercutting the worlds largest economy, saying that US interests had been ill-served by the architecture of global trade.

He vowed that his country will no longer tolerate unfair trade, closed markets and intellectual property theft.

We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more, he added, taking a swipe at the World Trade Organisation for failing to police free trade infringements.

I am always going to put America first the same way I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first.

In response, Mr Xi swiftly moved to occupy the space vacated by Mr Trump, positioning China as the champion of a world with fewer barriers to commerce.

He defended globalisation, which has seen his country pull itself from poverty to become a superpower in three decades, calling it an irreversible historical trend.

But as gripes over trade imbalances, job losses and social inequality abound, he conceded that free trade philosophy needed to be repurposed to be more open, more balanced, more equitable

Ahead of his speech, China announced it will further open the countrys financial markets to foreign firms, a key demand from the US and other global investors who have long complained about strict limits on access to the worlds number-two economy.

Mr Trump arrived in Vietnam from Beijing, where he sought to build a consensus against North Koreas nuclear ambitions.

In China he was gushing in his praise of Mr Xi, calling his host a very special man in a trip rich with photo opportunities but lacking concrete outcomes on tackling key issues such as North Korea.
Trump had warned North Korea not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.(Photo: AP)

Seoul: North Korea said on Saturday that US President Donald Trumps first trip to Asia showed he was a destroyer and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula.

Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.
Trump said the United States was ready to make a bilateral deal only on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit.

Although he was addressing a meeting alongside the summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, Trump repeatedly referred to the Indo-Pacific region and mentioned the importance of India in his speech. (Photo: AP)

Danang: US President Donald Trump set out a strong message on trade at a meeting of Asia-Pacific countries in Vietnam on Friday, saying the United States could no longer tolerate chronic trade abuses and would insist on fair and equal policies.

Trump said the United States was ready to make a bilateral deal with any country in the Indo-Pacific region, but only on the basis of "mutual respect and mutual benefit".

"When the United States enters into a trading relationship with other countries or other peoples, we will from now on expect that our partners will faithfully follow the rules," he said in the seaside resort of Danang.

"We expect that markets will be open to an equal degree on both sides and that private investment, not government planners, will direct investment," he said in a speech ahead of a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders.

Trump arrived in Vietnam from China on the fourth leg of a 12-day trip to Asia. Redressing the balance of trade between Asia and the United States is at the centre of Trump's "America First" policy he says will protect US workers.

The difference between Trump's and China's approaches was made more stark by comments in a later speech from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said globalisation was an irreversible trend and voiced support for multilateral trade deals.

While China has by far the biggest trade surplus with the United States, Vietnam is also on the list of those surpluses the Trump administration seeks to reduce.

APEC, which has long championed free trade, has itself been convulsed by the changes under Trump.

Since Trump abandoned the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal early in his presidency, the remaining 11 members have struggled to build momentum to keep it alive.

Leaders of TPP countries are due to meet on Friday after talks among ministers ended in confusion on Thursday with Japan's economy minister saying that they "agree in principle" and his Canadian counterpart saying that was not true.

Trump broke early with the "Pivot to Asia" of the Obama administration, worrying some traditional allies that he would allow China to extend its increasing dominance.

South China Sea

Danang itself sits on the shore of the South China Sea, one of the region's biggest security headaches and where China's neighbours challenge its sweeping claim to most of the waterway as having no basis in law.

Trump said the region's future depended on upholding "freedom of navigation and overflight, including open shipping lanes". He also mentioned "territorial expansion" among evils such as drugs, people smuggling and terrorism.

Vietnam has become one of the most vocal critics of China's claims in the South China Sea and its construction of artificial islands.

In a sign of possible competition with China's grand Belt and Road plan, Trump said he would push the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to fund infrastructure development and would reform US development finance institutions.

Trump said that would "provide strong alternatives to state directed initiatives that come with many strings attached".

"Above all, we seek friendship and we don't dream of domination," he said.

Although he was addressing a meeting alongside the summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, Trump repeatedly referred to the Indo-Pacific region and mentioned the importance of India in his speech.

Danang has a special place in US-Vietnamese history: it was where the first US ground troops disembarked in 1965 in the escalation of a war that would last another decade before the communist victory.

Danang was close to some of the heaviest fighting and its air base was the route through which many Americans of Trump's generation were sent to the war.

Trump himself did not serve, receiving five deferments - one for bone spurs in his heel.
Saeed has been under house arrest in Lahore since January 30 under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

In the letter, the National Counter Terrorism Authority said the foreign spy agency had paid Rs 80 million to two activists of a banned outfit for the assassination of Saeed. (Photo: AFP)

Lahore: Pakistani authorities have written to the Punjab home department asking it to take stringent measures for the security of detained Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, claiming a foreign intelligence agency had planned to kill him.

In the letter, the National Counter Terrorism Authority said the foreign spy agency had paid Rs 80 million to two activists of a banned outfit for the assassination of Saeed.

It asked the Punjab home department to ensure foolproof security for the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief.

Saeed has been under house arrest in Lahore since January 30 under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

The home department last month had extended his detention for another 30 days (till November 26) under public safety law.

The departments notification had said, There is apprehension that Saeed shall create a law and order situation upon release.

The JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
by Paul Hung Quoc

The country's economy is going through a crisis. Hanoi intends to increase exports to the US to balance imports from China. End of dependence on Beijing and freedom are the hopes the Vietnamese place in President Trump.

Hanoi (AsiaNews) - The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), summit at a Nang (6-11 November) in Central Vietnam, took place today in the presence of delegations from the 21 member countries.

US President Donald Trump, Chinese Xi Jinping and Russian Vladimir Putin took part in the eight major summit events, as well as 12,000 delegates, including 2,000 government officials and 5,000 businessmen. They discussed and approved the results that Co-operation has achieved in the last year and dictated the guidelines for the APC's Economic Forum scheduled for 2018. However, the attention of the Vietnamese and the Hanoi government was concentrated on the economic repercussions of the US President's visit to the country, today engaged in a series of official meetings.

As a host country, Vietnam has tried to make the most of the opportunity offered by the Apec Summit to mark a change of course in its economy. It is going through a difficult time since, according to the Ministry of Finance data, public debt could reach 65% of GDP in the two-year period 2017-2018. To emerge from this crisis, the Hanoi government is looking for investments and agreements with Western countries. In particular, it intends to increase exports to the US in order to balance the large quantity of goods that it imports every year from China.

The Vietnamese have placed a lot of hope in the summit, as described to AsiaNews by 72 year old Ms Nguyen Thi Huong, a few days ahead of the opening: "First of all, the Vietnamese people want to get rid of political dependence and in the hope that President Trump will intervene to resolve disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea, according to international law. Secondly, we hope that the US head of state will work to ensure that the Vietnamese get freedom, democracy and the recognition of human rights. Hanoi must immediately release all prisoners of conscience, including the blogger Me Nam. Her daughter also wrote a letter to Trump's wife for the release of her mother and other inmates."

Economic relations between Vietnam and the US are at the heart of Hanoi's political agenda. In May 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc went to Washington, where he signed agreements to "promote trade between the two countries." The Vietnamese government has bought some American Boeing aircraft and signed contracts to meet President Trump's request to reduce the huge trade surplus with the United States, up $ 29 billion in 2016. In return, Hanoi aims to increase American investments in Vietnam. In the first eight months of 2017, they accounted for only $ 370 million, 5% of South Korean invested capital. South Korea, after China, is the nation that has invested most in the country.

Yesterday morning, thousands of citizens of a Nang poured into the streets of the city to welcome the arrival of Trump, who in the evening addressed the APC in the framework of his Asian tour. Tens of millions of Vietnamese followed the US presidents speech live on television. He said "Today, I am here to suggest with you about new relations of the USs partnership. Together, we work to strengthen the bonds of friendship and trade among all nations in the Indo-Pacific region, and together to promote our security and prosperity. Today we are no longer enemies but friends."

Addressing the entrepreneurs present, Trump said: "You must protect the development of your countries, which is your success. Our collaboration must depend on mutual trust. " "We must apply the principles of the law, respecting personal rights and freedom of movement and navigation - he added - We have to deal with the many dangers that threaten younger generations and children such as corruption, cyber security, and trafficking in human beings. We must work together for a prosperous and free Indo-Pacific region. " The US President also stressed the importance of the defense of "state sovereignty" and "maritime transport". Many Vietnamese applauded such statements and were moved when Trump quoted sisters Trung and "Trieu" national heroines symbolizing Vietnamese women and resistance to Chinese domination (111 BC - 938 AD).
Director General Yukiya Amano met US Ambassador to the UN Haley. Tehran follows the terms of the agreement and allows access to all sites. A response to Washingtons claims of "insufficient" visits and controls. The EU expresses its total support for "one of the most important achievements of international diplomacy".

Tehran (AsiaNews)  At a meeting at UN headquarters in New York between US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, the IAEA chief confirmed that Tehran "respects the commitments" of the nuclear agreement (the JCPOA).

An IAEA note released following the talks states that "so far" agency experts have "had access to all sites they wanted to visit in the country." Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has also reiterated the importance of the agreement and its commitment to making sure it is "applied and respected".

For the second time, Amano met the head of US diplomacy at the UN, among the biggest critics of the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between the powers of the 5 + 1 (United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France and Germany) and the Islamic Republic. Haley has repeatedly called for action against Tehran. Hers is one of the most listened to voices in international relations by the US president, as well as being responsible for the Iranian nuclear file.

A frontal confrontation with Iran that has recently pushed Donald Trump to threaten Jcpoa's complete cancellation, as well as invoking new sanctions against Tehran at US Congress. On October 13, Trump, in a fiery speech, accused Iran of not respecting the terms and the spirit of the agreement and three days later advanced the hypothesis of a "total cessation" of the pact, calling it a "very real possibility ".

Prior to the critical positions and the US intransigence on the issue, the highest representative of the international agency on atomic energy once again stressed Tehran's "full application" of the terms of the agreement. In a face-to-face with Haley, Director General Amano has "discussed the application and monitoring" of the planned commitments. And he reiterated to his interlocutor that "it represents a significant contribution to the verification of nuclear power and that Iranian commitments have been respected".

"So far," he continued, "the IAEA has had access to all sites that it has wanted to visit in the country." This is a direct response to past complaints from the US representative to the UN that the controls so far implemented and the sites visited were "inadequate". Turning to Haley, he concluded that "IAEA inspectors will continue to do their job in a fair and impartial manner."
Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A life without computers and cell phones, with restrictions on eating and washing, sometimes even hanging upside down from a precipice. They are practices of ascetic life to which young Japanese are becoming increasingly attracted to escape the chaos of the city, in search of themselves and of peace of mind.

The offering of asceticism programs is not new to Buddhist temples, instead the times have changed. According to various monks, it is precisely the complexity of modern society that motivates the growing number of adherents to the ascetic life. Some participate to find help in overcoming the physical and psychological difficulties of everyday life; others because tired of human relationships.

One example is a program that was held towards the end of September, when 30 people, mostly young people, practiced Zen Buddhism at the Kameoka Hosenji Temple in the Kyoto Prefecture. During the retreat, the participants woke up at 5.20 in the morning. The day continued with meditation, prayer, and manual outdoor work until 10 pm, when it was time for bed. Temple leaders argue that the number of young people has increased in recent years, especially among people over the age of 20.

In Narita (Chiba Prefecture), the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple organizes fasting sessions lasting between three and seven days. The number of members has more than doubled over the past ten years: from 200 to 460 per year. After a week of preparation and a hospital check-up, those who undergo fasting retreat to a "confinement" seminary: they cannot leave the temple, are obliged to attend two ceremonies each day, but can spend the rest of the time as they prefer, between reading and zen meditation. Bathing is forbidden as it debilitates the physic.
Photo via EveryCarListed/Flickr.

The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. in October was 25.2 mpg  down 0.1 mpg from September, according to Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, researchers from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

The value for October is up 5.1 mpg since October 2007, the first month of our monitoring), according to the UMTRI report. The value is down 0.3 mpg from the peak of 25.5 mpg reached in August 2014.

The University of Michigan Eco-Driving Index (EDI)  an index that estimates the average monthly emissions of greenhouse gases generated by an individual U.S. driver  worsened to 0.82 in August 2017, up from 0.81 in July 2017 (the lower the value, the better).

The EDI indicates that the average new-vehicle driver produced 18% lower emissions in August 2017 than in October 2007, but 4% higher emissions than the record low reached in November 2013.
The first of December is marked each year as World AIDS Day. This day is set aside to reflect on the impact of HIV/AIDS and memorialize those lives lost to the virus.

This year the Southeast Tennessee Council for HIV/AIDS Care and Prevention, in collaboration with Channels of Love Ministries, Chattanooga CARES, and the Chattanooga Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated will host a World AIDS Day commemoration on Friday, Dec. 1, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Waterhouse Pavilion in Miller Plaza. Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White, will be the keynote speaker.

In December 1984, Jeanne White-Ginder was told that her son Ryan had contracted AIDS following a blood transfusion. At the age of 13, Ryan and his battle to live a normal life gained national attention and he became the face of public education about the disease. Ryan died in April 1990, just days before his high school graduation. Jeanne White-Ginder continued to be an advocate for those affected and infected by HIV.

In 1990, legislation was first enacted as the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. Today, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is the largest federal legislation program focused on the treatment and care of people living with HIV.

Heavy hors doeuvres and beverages will be offered at 5:30 p.m. The ceremony will start at 6 p.m. The event is free to the public.
Should he stay or should he go? The reason Republicans can't quite ditch Roy Moore, yet.
Senior Prom Visiting the fire station Love and blessings bags Visiting McKamey Animal Shelter Faculty appreciation Previous Next

Members of Sigma Kappa Sorority from the Theta Phi Chapter at UTC took part in a week-long philanthropic campaign in celebration of the sororitys Founders Day on Nov. 9. The chapters Week of Giving consisted of various service events held each day across the Chattanooga community.

Our members live out our value of service throughout the year, but the Week of Giving campaign is tailored to support the organizations and efforts we are deeply passionate about," said Michaela Leaf, Theta Phi's vice president of Philanthropic Service. "There is nothing quite like spreading joy and kindness to those in need or sharing a thank you to people in our community that we feel make a difference.

Week of Giving events were held Nov. 6-10. The week kicked off with their Sigma Kapples event on campus, where members made and distributed 100 caramel apples to students and faculty. The following day, members visited Fire Station #1 on E. Main Street to deliver cookies and express their gratitude for the firefighters service to our community. Members also provided supplies for students to create Blessing Bags to keep on hand to give to someone in need this winter season. One hundred students stopped by Sigma Kappas table in the University Center to make and take a bag full of snacks, hygiene items, and a note that could be personalized. Members sponsored a Senior Prom at Morning Pointe Assisted Living in Hixson in which they organized a confetti photo booth, delivered over 150 cards, danced to the oldies, and enjoyed refreshments with the residents. Members of Kappa Alpha fraternity joined them for the event. To support adoption awareness, sisters visited McKamey Animal Center to make supply bags and walk dogs. A Give Back Day was generously sponsored by Chilis restaurant on Market Street, in which a portion of proceeds will be given to the Sigma Kappa Foundation in support of national philanthropies such Sigma Kappas efforts in supporting Alzheimers research. The week wrapped with expressing appreciation for University faculty by delivering dozens of donuts to the various departments on campus.


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Erlanger Health System honored veterans on Friday, by hosting a Veterans Day breakfast for Erlanger employees and members of the Chattanooga community.

Dr. Phil Jackson, vice president and CEO of Erlanger North and Erlanger East Hospitals and Chris Marcus, administrator of the Chattanooga VA Outpatient Clinic welcomed veterans to the breakfast and thanked them for their service.
Veterans Day may be Saturday, but that didnt stop the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital from celebrating early with its annual cookout and parade.

Event now in its 10th year

Congresswoman Kathy Castor in attendance

Nearly 1.5 million area veterans served at facility



Thousands gathered around the VA hospital grounds to enjoy the sounds of marching bands, the smell of burgers on the grill, and the words of well wishes to the men in women in uniform.

Congresswoman Kathy Castor reminded the crowd that Tampa Bay is home to one of the largest populations of veterans in the country.

But that means we have a great responsibility to take care of the folks who have served us so well. Castor said.

This year marks the 10th year the VA hospital has held their parade.

Retired Army Sergeant Brenda Jean-Paul has been a regular attendee.

This is my fourth year here," Jean-Paul told us. "I'm usually volunteering, but I enjoy it every year.

Nearly 1.5 million veterans are served at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.
Three men caught on video abusing dairy cows are being sought by the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office.

An undercover video that purports to show workers kicking cows in the head and hitting them with metal rods has prompted authorities to open a criminal investigation at one of Florida's largest dairy farms.

Video purportedly shows animal cruelty at Larson Dairy

Okeechobee County Sheriff is investigating

Publix is suspending milk deliveries from Larson

Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen said last week that he assigned an investigator to the case involving Larson Dairy.



And Florida-based Publix supermarkets announced it has suspended milk deliveries from Larson, adding in a statement the company is "shocked" by the treatment of cows.

Publix said it has contacted the Florida Department of Agriculture about the alleged abuse. In a statement the company said, "we are disturbed by the images and shocked by the cruelty toward animals."

The video was shot by an investigator with Animal Recovery Mission, a Miami Beach-based animal cruelty group, who began working at the dairy in August.

Stephen said once the video was released, ARM turned in 350 hours of additional footage shot at larsen dairy but now they need more from the animal rights group.

"Dairy supervisors and milkers beat, stab and torment dairy cows with steel construction rebar," the narrator says. "The sharp metal rods pierce and penetrate the cows' bodies. Kept hidden from tours and visitors to the dairy, the cows are brutalized."

In a statement, Jacob Larson said an employee seen in the video hitting cows has been fired, adding that the "unusual use of force is simply unacceptable on our dairy or on any other farm."

"We have strict protocols involving animal care and clearly the behavior shown in this video goes against everything we stand for and will not be tolerated," Larson said. "The employee involved and featured in the video has been terminated. Further corrective action will be taken if necessary as we continue to analyze the video and conduct an on-farm investigation."

Larson, whose family has been in the dairy business since 1947 and in Okeechobee County since 1971, questioned the tactics of the animal rights group.

"We are equally concerned about the manner in which this video was brought to our attention," Larson said. "Had the `undercover' employee brought this to our attention when it occurred, we may have been able to prevent it earlier."

Richard Couto, the founder and lead investigator for the animal rights group, said members didn't choose the Larson dairy because of any cruelty reports but within an hour of starting the undercover operation found "strong sounds of animal abuse."

"We wanted to see what was happening in a typical, larger scale dairy setting in the state of Florida," he said.

The sheriff said the materials received by his office, including still photos and video, indicated three workers were involved.

He said he's known the Larson family for years and said they wouldn't condone such behavior.

"Had they known about it," Stephen said, "they would have fired them on the spot."
After stumbling upon Swedish artist Emma Lindstrom two years ago on social media, Abigail Turner turned her Instagram inspiration into an artistic adventure.

"I like to follow other artists, and her work blew me away," Turner said. "I was so in love with it. I always thought real artists were real artists based on if they could do something very realistic. I was trying so hard to do realistic paintings of people and animals, and I just wasn't feeling it, so I thought, 'I'm going to start pouring paint all over the place.'"

Intrigued by Lindstrom's mixed media art, the Mauriceville native began researching abstract resin work.

"It's actually a trend that a lot of people are doing, but nobody reveals their secrets of how to do it, so you have to figure it out by yourself," Turner said. "I wasn't sure what to do, so I started experimenting with it, looking at what other people had done and watching other people's videos who do something similar to what I do, but everybody has their own techniques.

Abigail Elizabeth Art Info: www.facebook.com/AbigailElizabethAbstract/ See More Collapse

"It's like the same piece of artwork, but it's so, so different because everyone does it so differently. I pulled together what worked for me."

Turner, 20, said coming up with her own process took a lot of trial and error.

"I learned I have to set things up and make sure everything is level," she said. "There was a lot of paint on the floor and a lot of learning about resin. I use resin in all of my paintings. Resin will stick to absolutely anything. It's a mess.

"I look like a mad scientist. I'm covered in Vaseline to get the resin off, I have gloves on, I have a mask, I pull my hair back, I have to wear goggles, and then I tie a bandana around that."

After experimenting, Turner came up with her own set of techniques.

"The only direction I thought to go in was to mix acrylic paint and water together and pour that on a canvas," she said. "The trick is the blow-dryer. I found that it actually burns the paint, so it creates these really cool crinkles and webbing, which is my favorite when that happens, because it looks like little spider webs. Once that dries, I emphasize stuff that I want to look more bold and everything, then top it off with resin - that's it."

However, the process involves a lot of other steps - prepping the canvas, getting the ratio of water to paint right, waiting for paint to dry and experimenting with color combos. There's also the tedium of getting rid of air bubbles that appear in the resin, which Turner does by blowing through a straw, targeting each individual bubble that rises.

Although her method is the same each time, the results vary, creating distinctive pieces, Turner said.

"It is really cool because a lot of it is out of my control," she said. "So then when it makes something really cool, I'll go and emphasize it. That's why they're so different."

Inspired by nature, Turner is branching out, creating more than abstract resin pieces.

"We just went on a trip to Tennessee, and we went to the very top of the Smoky Mountains, so that was so inspiring," she said. "I'm actually back on the track of trying to do realistic stuff and taking a bit of a break from abstract. When Art in the Park and the Art Walk rolls around, I'll get back into it. I'm into painting trees and mountains, so that's what I'm currently working on."

Turner sells her artwork at local events like Orange's Art in the Park or the Art Walk on the Avenue located on historic Port Neches Avenue.

"For this last Art Walk, I sold almost everything," she said. "I feel really inspired now. Everyone took such an interest in it, and when people buy it, when you're an artist, that's how you know you're appreciated.

Seeing her customers face-to-face and watching their responses to her pieces, is moving, Turner said.

"I love seeing who my art is going to," she said. "It's really personal. There are some pieces that I love, and I'm so proud of. I love it so much I want someone else to be enjoying it. I don't want to be a business; I want to be a person. I want to create something I love and give it to someone else."

Sharing her discoveries makes her happy, Turner said.

"It feels nice sharing it with someone," she said. "It's stressful when you find artwork you love and are inspired by, and you want to recreate it, and everybody you go to look at and ask questions doesn't want to share their secrets. I want to share it. I love it so much. It brings me joy.

The biggest lesson Turner has learned is that art is whatever you make of it, she said.

"If it's something that brings you joy, it has color, it has personality, it's art," she said. "When it comes to art, people think you're just born with it, but I tell people you can practice and become a great artist. It doesn't matter what level you're at, what you're doing, or how you're doing it. You can be covered in Vaseline and making a mess in your bedroom and still be making art."

Kara Timberlake is a freelance writer.
The Port Arthur Police Association publicly accused the city's police chief Patrick Melvin of plagiarizing a statement from another police chief after he was the subject of a no confidence vote.

A television news station in Beaumont published Melvin's response to the media most recently updated on Nov. 6, regarding the vote of no confidence against him.

> > MORE: Port Arthur Police Union votes 'no confidence' in chief

Melvin said in an emailed statement to BeaumontEnterprise.com that upon becoming the subject of a no confidence vote, he researched the topic and found an online article about a police chief in Colorado that he said seemed very similar to his situation.

"During my time in Port Arthur, we have proactively and professionally focused on improving our policies and culture, and these changes have been met by resistance by some," Melvin's response said. "However, it is my responsibility to make the right, and sometimes controversial, decisions for the betterment of our department and city.

For comparison, a statement included in a Denver Post story published Oct. 24 that contained Denver police chief Robert White's response to a no confidence vote.

"During my time in Denver, we have focused on improving our policies and culture, and these changes have been met with resistance by some," White's statement said. "However, it is my responsibility to make the right, and sometimes controversial, decisions for the betterment of our department and city."

Melvin said the Colorado chief's response was "spot on" to his situation.

"I did use the public statements in that article to describe exactly how I see my situation in Port Arthur," Melvin said, adding that he's committed to improving the police department's trust and accountability in the Port Arthur community, and to working with department police officers to serve the community.

Krista.Chandler@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/KristasBeat
Cleveland State Community College provided a LEAP Day event during the Monroe County Center Advisory Council Meeting. Representatives from CSCC highlighted the work that is being done to eliminate the skills gap in East Tennessee as a result of the Labor Education Alignment Program (LEAP) 2.0 grant funds that CSCC was awarded last year.



CSCC and Pellissippi State received a LEAP 2.0 Grant in the amount of approximately $1M with CSCC receiving almost half of that. CSCC purchased approximately $300,000 in equipment for training programs at the Monroe County Center. Participants at LEAP Day were able to go on a student-guided tour of the newly equipped classrooms and see current students demonstrate the skills they have learned thus far.



LEAP Day also included the biannual Advisory Council Meeting which provided leaders from manufacturing, business, education, local and state government to engage in a roundtable discussion about current workforce trends and needs in this region.



Dr. Bill Seymour welcomed the group and said, Two great things happened here last year. One, we got the deed for the property, so we are very appreciative to the TRDA for that, but we also got the LEAP Grant along with Pellissippi State. We have now started fulfilling the vision of what this center can be in this areaIts great to see students here because thats really what this is all about.



At Cleveland State, we know that a good, quality education leads to great careers, and great careers build stronger families and stronger communities, and thats really what a community college is all about.


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EVERETT, Washington  A 36-year-old Everett man was left for dead in his home for three days until police found him with two gunshots to his head last month.

Now a professional escort is in jail on $1 million bail after being captured on the man's home surveillance footage the night he was shot.

Marissa Wallen, 21, arrested Tuesday, is being investigated for first-degree assault, first-degree identity theft and first-degree robbery. Everett police say she spent more than $10,000 with the victim's credit cards in Skagit County.

The victim's employer called police the morning of Oct. 24, concerned that the victim had uncharacteristically not logged on for work that day, according to Everett police. His mother also called 911 with concerns.

Officers found no signs of forced entry at his home and no one answered the front door. An officer checked the inside of the house and found the man sitting up against a wall in the master bedroom with dried blood on his head. He was awake, but unresponsive to questions, according to the incident report.

Medics took him to Providence Medical Center in Everett, where a CT scan revealed he had two bullets inside of his head.

RELATED: Sting arrestee calls 'john' busts sexist, wants break

Cops served a search warrant on the man's house and found two shell casings in the bedroom. They also determined his wallet and handgun were missing. The shell casings did not match the caliber of the victim's missing gun.

A search of the man's surveillance system showed that the same woman, later identified as Wallen, visited his home five times between Oct. 7 and Oct. 21. The footage last shows them together entering the house about 8:45 p.m. Oct. 21 and heading upstairs about 9:30 p.m. Neither is seen on the interior surveillance footage again.

At nearly 10 p.m., the doorbell camera images show the woman running out the front door.

Investigators checked the victim's credit union accounts and found that early the morning of Oct. 22, eight payments were made totaling $1,800 to another man through Facebook's money exchange system. A peek into the victim's three credit cards showed that someone made 82 charges totaling more than $10,000 between Oct. 22 and Nov. 5, according to Everett police.

The charges were made at various stores in Mount Vernon and Burlington, in addition to online stores.

A loss prevention officer at the Burlington Macy's store said that she prevented the 21-year-old woman and her companion -- the man to whom she allegedly made payments after the shooting -- from using the victim's cards.

Police believe the last legitimate use of the victim's credit card occurred at a McDonald's in Everett, where the victim had taken the woman the night he was shot.

Police found the woman and her associate at a home in Mount Vernon.

RELATED: Woman who extorted online dates gets 1 month in jail

Wallen allegedly changed her story a few times during her interview with police until she admitted that the victim hired her, but she "did not feel like having sex with him." She reportedly claimed that "he was performing oral sex wrong and she did not know how to tell him that," according to Everett police.

She allegedly claimed she shot the man in the back of the head at first, and then fired a second shot that hit the side of his face, the incident report indicates.

Wallen told police she took the man's wallet from his night stand and took off, believing he was dead on his bedroom floor.

Everett police reported Wallen was "emotionless," during her interview and also asked that if the victim were to make a recovery, that police talk to him and ask that he does not pursue charges.

Lynsi Burton can be reached at lynsiburton@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LynsiBurton_PI.
Angels have always played a major role in the Christian faith and so I thought it fitting to head this story with the picture of an angel - a very special angel who stands watch over one of those large American Veterans Cemeteries of Europe - at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. That angel has great significance to me as I consider its designer to be my main inspiration for entering the field of sculpture. I have recently written a story on how it all came about, and I am very proud for the opportunity to link my name with that of Donal Hord, of San Diego, though he is now long deceased.

Hord's assistant, Homer Dana, graciously sent me an entire set of 8x10 photos of Hord's work and gave me permission to use them in any constructive way.

At my age now (approaching the mid-80s) I consider myself fortunate to be able to look backward for so many years. When I was a child, the "old" folks of the time used to talk about all the horrors of World War I - and my generation of school-kids was actually taught many of the songs from that war. My aunt and uncle (the ones from my recent Texas/Mexico story used to relay stories to me about that war, although my uncle just barely missed being in it! He had been drafted at Fort Oglethorpe, had been assigned all his gear, and was wearing his uniform on the day the Armistice was signed in 1918 - 99 years ago! No human being on earth was ever happier to be "saved by the bell" than my Uncle Forrest Martin! He simply caught the bus from "Fort O" and went back home to his wife in Chattanooga! But thousands of others were not so fortunate, and the killing and maiming reached unbelievable levels before the war ended. Although that terrible conflict was long past, my generation could still feel the heat from it, even as the new war - World War Two - was erupting.

When that second war did end at last, in 1945, prospects for the future looked very bright because "the boys" began to come home again, rationing went away, and everybody was eating steak again! The economy kept getting stronger, the Russians were our new friends for fighting so bravely against Hitler, and I distinctly remember my fifth grade teacher actually praising the still-new Communist regime for putting real shoes on the Russian peasant-women's feet! It was exactly at that point, however, where everything started going south again! An "Iron Curtain" was soon lowered (by Russian dictator Stalin) dividing east from west. Russia had decisively and willfully shut itself off from "The West". Secrecy prevailed, tensions ran high between us and them - and a "Cold War" broke out. Although called "Cold" it was actually pretty warm (if not exactly "hot"), as far-flung military posts had to still be maintained - and staffed with entire new generations of draftees. It was the time when those capable of it (financially) added fall-out shelters to their homes and laid in staple food and water supplies in fear of a dreaded nuclear war. America still had to keep her grip on unresolved problems from the past, and after VE (Victory in Europe) day, there was still a war raging in Asia......

I was too young for that second war, although I had two first cousins, James L. and Harold J. Martin who saw active duty, returning years later to tell about it. It was very common back then to see little red, white and blue banners hanging in front-room windows of homes - the white being always a star which denoted a soldier on active duty, and who was alive. Sometimes there might be two white stars - or even more in rare cases. But sometimes it was not too uncommon to see an occasional gold star instead of a white - and here in Chattanooga there was the extremely rare occurrence of four gold stars from a single family. The entire city of Chattanooga turned out to witness the burial of those four Gold Star Brothers in National Cemetery.

It is true that "the boys" of World War II are now all very old men and are falling rapidly. Herman Ernst, a local wartime "flying ace," died several years ago. He, his wife and family, had been our good neighbors for several years as I was growing up; we felt very close to them. My mother and Mrs. Ernst became great friends disregarding their differences in age. And Garland Pobletts - father of our dear sister-in-law at Knoxville (Carol Pobletts Parnell) - died only recently, having almost reached his 100th year. (1918-2017). My local veteran friend here in Chattanooga - and a popular teacher at Ringgold HS - Walter Nash, had lamented that there were war memorials for Korea and Vietnam, though at that time none for World War II. Sadly, Walter never got to see it, but Garland Pobletts was very lucky to live so long and actually saw the fine new WWII Memorial in Washington. His loving daughter, Carol Parnell, flew from Knoxville to Miami just to escort her father on a whirlwind day-long excursion to visit that worthy monument (which is full of excellent relief sculptures, by the way). All major phases of that war are thusly depicted. Mr. Pobletts later served in the Korean War as well. I do not think that Louie Starnes was so lucky as to see the WWII Memorial. (He was the husband of my First Cousin, Doris Martin).

THESE boys were given ticker-tape parades in New York City when they came home, for their bravery, and the belief that they had saved the world! And they HAD INDEED saved America's life. If they had not, then, "you would either be goose-stepping today - or be a lamp-shade!" (A quote I like from an unknown source!) But the veterans of a later war - the terrible one with Vietnam - received a totally different reception - one that we do not like to remember because of all its conflicts of thinking and belief. Those boys received a very shameful reception to say the least.

All my Depression-Era friends have wondered out loud if the young men and women of the present generation would be ready for any new fight that might come along. And somehow, I think they might be able to lay their video games and iPhones aside long enough to rise to the occasion in the same ways as their grandfathers. The new challenges are just that: they are "new". The enemies facing us today are vastly different from those of the past; the battlefields far more uncertain than those of my day and it will take those who know and understand the (to me) nebulous world of the Computer Age to fight those new wars.

MAY GOD BLESS ALL THE OLD VETERANS - the Starneses, Nashes, Pobletts, Smiths, Browns, and Joneses; YOUR OWN GRANDFATHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS - INCLUDING THOSE WHO LIE IN FOREIGN BATTLEFIELD CEMETERIES OF OUR PAST WARS! MAY HEAVEN'S ANGELS ATTEND THEM ALL!

* * *

Chester Martin is a native Chattanoogan who is a talented painter, sculptor and artisan as well as local historian. He and his wife, Pat, live in Brainerd. Mr. Martin can be reached at cymppm@comcast.net.
Papuan demonstrators chant slogans during a protest in Jakarta against U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, March 20, 2017.

Indonesian security forces have been ordered to peacefully persuade a group of armed separatists to leave two villages near a giant U.S.-owned mine in eastern Papua province, but would abandon a soft approach if necessary, officials warned Friday.

Tensions escalated on Thursday when two dozen men, including 10 with firearms, occupied the villages of Banti and Kimbeli in Mimika regency, preventing 1,300 people from leaving, police said.

About 300 of the village residents are migrant workers from Indonesias Sulawesi island, officials said.

The villages sit near a mine owned by Freeport-McMoRan, where there have been a string of recent shootings, including one in late October that left a policeman dead and wounded at least six.

We already asked police and the TNI [the military] to take persuasive action to overcome it, Wiranto, the governments security minister, told journalists in Jakarta on Friday.

We will use persuasive ways first, we warn them not to act like that. We will use law enforcement, Wiranto said, explaining that if the approach to curtail the violence failed, security forces will take action. He did not elaborate.

Our primary priority is to rescue people taken hostage, Indonesian media outlet Tempo quoted him as saying Thursday. If the soft approach cannot be carried out, we will take the next step.

There were conflicting reports on Friday as both sides blamed each other after police claimed initially that the separatists had taken hostages.

The military restricts journalists from entering Papua without a special permit, making it difficult to independently verify reports of shootings and violence in the province.

Last month, a state of emergency was declared and hundreds of soldiers were deployed in the remote region after violence flared, officials said.

Freeport, which has been in Indonesia since the 1960s, operates the Grasberg mine complex in Papua. It is one of the worlds largest gold and copper mines.

In 2014, the company posted earnings of almost U.S. $2 billion in copper sales from its Indonesian operations and U.S. $1.4 billion in sales of gold mined in the country.

Separatist group denies militarys claims

Confusion arose on Friday after military chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo issued a statement saying the villagers had been taken hostage, according to the Associated Press.

But Wiranto, who is also the countrys minister for political and legal affairs, said in his statement Friday that the armed group apparently did not take hostages, but merely isolated the area.

The villagers, who mostly pan for gold in Kalu Kabur, a river stream where Freeports mine tailings are dumped, were merely banned from leaving their villages, Wiranto said.

A member of the Papua National Liberation Army, an armed group that goes by the Indonesian acronym TPN, also disputed police claims that it had taken hostages.

Its not true, its only the provocation of Indonesian military and police with the aim of damaging our image, Hendrik Wanmang, who described himself as a TPN commander told AP. People there are safe, both natives and non-natives are free to do activities as usual.

Villagers cant go to an area defined by the separatist group as a battlefield because it would be dangerous, but are otherwise allowed to move around as they please, Wanmang said.

In a separate interview with Reuters news service, Wanmang said that none of his groups more than 2,000 fighters was deployed in the villages near the mine.

We cannot mingle with the community, Wanmang said in a phone interview. That would endanger them. He denied police allegations that the separatists had raped and tortured civilians.

But he also warned that Freeport employees and security personnel could stay in the area at their own risk.

We are at war against the National Police, Indonesian military and Freeport, he said.

A low-level secessionist movement has simmered for decades in Papua and West Papua, Indonesias easternmost provinces, which are among its poorest and least developed.

Migrants from other parts of Indonesia now make up about half the population and dominate commercial activity, according to reports.

The region officially became part of Indonesian in 1969 following a U.N. mandated "Act of Free Choice" process that some indigenous Papuans view as flawed.

Economic motive might have led to violence

National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto suggested that an economic motive could be driving a surge of violence in the area because, he said, the armed group aimed to control its source of funds.

So they want to maintain it. This is from the economic point of view, others we do not know yet, Wasisto told reporters.

He said the leaders of the armed group had not shown they were willing to open a dialogue with the government.

National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said members of the armed group made their livelihood by panning for gold at Kali Kabur.

This group is about 20 or 25 people, carrying five to 10 weapons, Karnavian said, referring to the separatists, who were armed with guns, as well as bows and arrows.

Inspector-General Boy Rafli Amar, the Papua police chief, said about 200 police officers had been deployed about 2 km (1.2 miles) from the mining complex.

This photograph, grabbed from a video sent to BenarNews on Nov. 10, shows armed separatists training in the forest of Mimika Regency, Papua. [Victor Mambor/BenarNews]

On Oct. 21, TPN released two videos claiming responsibility for the October shootings near Freeport, saying it launched the attacks to protest repression suffered by Papuans and pressure the mining company to leave Indonesia.

TPN also issued a statement vowing that the separatist group would carry out armed assaults in the Freeport area.

In one of the videos seen by BenarNews, Hengky Beanal, who identified himself as a West Papuan TPN member, denied police allegations that the militants were involved in sexual attacks and robberies.

Media must go to the field before drawing a conclusion, Beanal said.

Because of the spike in violence, the mining company started using armored cars and helicopters to transport workers, Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama acknowledged.

Sorry, I cannot comment on security. So far (the shooting incident) has no impact on production, Pratama said.
11/16/2022

The City of East Ridge will hold its annual Christmas Parade this Saturday. Line-up begins at 4 p.m. on Germantown Road from Ringgold Road north toward I-24, with the parade stepping off at 6:30 ... more
ChaTechs monthly November Connect, Interactive Tech Fair, is an experience where technology enthusiasts and professionals can see, feel, and hear the wonderment of new innovations in the field. The fair will take place on Wednesday, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Unum, 500 Walnut St.

ChaTech members and the public are invited see emerging technologies, as well as hands-on, interactive and engaging demonstrations from local companies and technology professionals. Attendees will be inspired and gain new insights, while learning how 3D printing and augmented reality, robotics and other technologies that may impact their businesses.



Vendors include Branch Technology, Public Education Foundation, Stem School Chattanooga, EPB, i-Card, LifeWrap CPR, CBL, Kenco, UnifiedAV, Chattanooga State Community College and Unum. This months sponsor is Wrightcore.



For information, call 423 826-8700. In order to attend, people must register by noon on Monday, at https://tinyurl.com/techfair11-15.


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VANCOUVER, Nov. 10, 2017

VANCOUVER, Nov. 10, 2017 /CNW/ -

TSX VENTURE COMPANIES

BANKERS COBALT CORP ("BANC")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Purchase CorrectionBULLETIN DATE: Nov 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Further to the Exchange bulletin dated Oct 23, 2017, TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing a correction to the share issuance pursuant to the Amalgamation Agreement dated October 10, 2017 among Bankers Cobalt Corp (the "Company") Bankers Cobalt Acquisition Corp ("Subco", wholly owned subsidiary of the company) and Katanga Cobalt Corp ("Katanga"), whereby all outstanding securities of the Katanga will be exchanged for securities of the Company (the "Transaction") on a 1:1 basis.

In addition to the securities disclosed in the Exchange Bulletin dated Oct 23, 2017, an additional 500,000 shares and 250,000 share purchase warrants (each with exercise price of $0.10 per share expiring April 20, 2018), are to be issued.

________________________________________

BLUE SKY ENERGY INC. ("BSI")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 1:29 p.m. PST, November 9, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

BLUE SKY ENERGY INC. ("BSI")BULLETIN TYPE: Remain HaltedBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Further to the TSX Venture Exchange ('TSXV') Bulletin dated November 9, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company will remain halted pending Receipt and review of acceptable documentation regarding the change of business and/or Reverse Take-Over pursuant to Listings Policy 5.2

________________________________________

INCEPTUS CAPITAL LTD. ("ICI.P")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Further to TSX Venture Exchange bulletin dated November 8, 2017, effective at open of market on Tuesday November 14, 2017, shares of the Company will resume trading.

________________________________________

FIRM CAPITAL AMERICAN REALTY PARTNERS CORP. ("FCA")("FCA.U")BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of DividendBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

The Issuer has declared the following dividend(s):

Dividend per Common and Class U:

US$0.05625

Payable Date:

April 16, 2018

Record Date:

March 31, 2018

Ex-distribution Date:

March 28, 2018

________________________________________

METALEX VENTURES LTD. ("MTX")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for ServicesBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposed issuance of 150,000 shares at a deemed price of $0.05 per share, in consideration of certain services provided to the Company for the period ending October 31, 2017, pursuant to an Amended Deferred Share Unit Plan for Lorie Waisberg dated September 13, 2013 and effective August 1, 2013.

The Company shall issue a news release when the shares are issued.

________________________________________

METALEX VENTURES LTD. ("MTX")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for ServicesBULLETIN DATE: August 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposed issuance of 150,000 shares at a deemed price of $0.05 per share, in consideration of certain services provided to the Company for the period ending October 31, 2017, pursuant to an Amended Deferred Share Unit Plan for Glenn Nolan dated September 13, 2013 and effective August 1, 2013.

The Company shall issue a news release when the shares are issued.

________________________________________

METALLIC MINERALS CORP ("MMG")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Purchase AgreementBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing an option agreement dated August 31, 2017, (the "Agreement") between Metallic Minerals Corp and (the "Company"), Bill Harris and Deryk Law (the "Optionors") to earn a 100% interest in 36.4 square kilometers of mining rights (the "Property") along the Australia Creek tributary in the Klondike gold district near Dawson City, Yukon.

In order to acquire the Property, the Company will issue the Optionors an aggregate of 900,000 common shares of the Company over a 3 year period and pay the Optionors an aggregate of $175,000 in staged payments. Please see the Company's news release dated September 11, 2017 and November 9, 2017 for further details.

Insider / Pro Group Participation: Nil

________________________________________

MEXICAN GOLD CORP. ("MEX")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 8;45 a.m. PST, November 10, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

MILLENIUM LITHIUM CORP ("ML")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 5:59 a.m. PST, November 10, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

MILLENIUM LITHIUM CORP ("ML")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 10:15 a.m., PST, November 10, 2017, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made.

________________________________________

NAMIBIA RARE EARTHS INC. ("NRE")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 4:38 a.m. PST, November 10, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

NAMIBIA RARE EARTHS INC. ("NRE")BULLETIN TYPE: Remain HaltedBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Further to the TSX Venture Exchange ('TSXV') Bulletin dated November 10, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company will remain halted receipt and review of acceptable documentation regarding the Reviewable Transaction pursuant to Listings Policy 5.3.

________________________________________

NOUVEAU MONDE GRAPHITE INC. ("NOU")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the documentation with respect to a Brokered Private Placement announced on August 9, 2017:

Number of Shares:

45,635,169 common shares

Purchase Price:

$0.30 per common share

Warrants:

22,817,594 warrants to purchase 22,817,594 common shares

Warrants Exercise Price:

$0.40 per common share for 24 months following the closing date

Number of Placees:

149 Placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation:

Name

Insider = Y /

Pro Group = P

Number

of Shares

Charles-Olivier Tarte

Y

50,000

Karl Trudeau

Y

50,000

Les Placements Charles-Armand Turpin Inc. (Charles-Armand Turpin)

Y

3,333,334

Eric Desaulniers

Y

50,000

Marie-Eve Chaume

Y

50,000

Jean-Philippe Aube

Y

30,000

Aggregate Pro Group subscription (6 placees)

P

650,000

Agents' Fee:

Agents collectively received $487,531.20 in cash and non-transferable compensation options to purchase 1,116,431 shares at a price of $0.30 per share for a period of 24 months following the closing date of the private placement.

The Company confirmed the closing of the Private Placement pursuant to the news releases dated September 19, 2017 and October 20, 2017.

NOUVEAU MONDE GRAPHITE INC. ( NOU )TYPE DE BULLETIN : Placement prive a l'entremise d'un courtierDATE DU BULLETIN : Le 10 novembre 2017Societe du groupe 2 de TSX Croissance

Bourse de croissance TSX a accepte le depot de la documentation en vertu d'un placement prive a l'entremise d'un courtier annonce le 9 aout 2017 :

Nombre d'actions :

45 635 169 actions ordinaires

Prix :

0,30 $ par action ordinaire

Bons de souscription :

22 817 594 bons de souscription permettant d'acquerir 22 817 594 actions ordinaires

Prix d'exercice des bons :

0,40 $ par action pendant une periode de 24 mois suivant la cloture

Nombre de souscripteurs :

149 souscripteurs

Participation des inities / Groupe Pro :

Nom

Initie = Y /

Groupe Pro = P

Nombre

d'actions

Charles-Olivier Tarte

Y

50 000

Karl Trudeau

Y

50 000

Les Placements Charles-Armand Turpin

Y

3 333 334

Inc. (Charles-Armand Turpin)

Eric Desaulniers

Y

50 000

Marie-Eve Chaume

Y

50 000

Jean-Philippe Aube

Y

30 000

Souscription totale du Groupe Pro

(6 souscripteurs)

P

650 000

Honoraires des courtiers :

Des courtiers ont collectivement recu 487 531,20 $ en especes et des options de remuneration non-transferables permettant de souscrire 1 116 431 actions ordinaires au prix d'exercice de 0,30$ par action pendant 24 mois suivant la cloture du placement prive.

La societe a confirme la cloture de ce placement prive par voie de l'emission de communiques de presse dates du 19 septembre 2017 et 20 octobre 2017.

__________________________________________

PAGET MINERALS CORP. ("PGS.H")[formerly Paget Minerals Corp. ("PGS")]BULLETIN TYPE: Transfer and New Addition to NEX, Symbol ChangeBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

In accordance with TSX Venture Policy 2.5, the Company has not maintained the requirements for a TSX Venture Tier 2 company. Therefore, effective at the opening on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, the Company's listing will transfer to NEX, the Company's Tier classification will change from Tier 2 to NEX, and the Filing and Service Office will change from Vancouver to NEX.

As of November 14, 2017, the Company is subject to restrictions on share issuances and certain types of payments as set out in the NEX policies.

The trading symbol for the Company will change from PGS to PGS.H. There is no change in the Company's name, no change in its CUSIP number and no consolidation of capital. The symbol extension differentiates NEX symbols from Tier 1 or Tier 2 symbols within the TSX Venture market.

_______________________________________

RESOURCE CAPITAL GOLD CORP. ("RCG")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for DebtBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 363,636 common shares to settle outstanding debt for $40,000.

Number of Creditors: 1 Creditor

For further details, please refer to the Company's news release dated November 10, 2017.

________________________________________

SMART EMPLOYEE BENEFITS INC. ("SEB")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-Brokered, CorrectionBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Further to TSX Venture Exchange bulletin dated November 7, 2017, the "Insider / Pro Group Participation" disclosure should have read as follows|

Insider / Pro Group Participation:

Insider=Y /

ProGroup=P

# of Shares

Name

Philip Armstrong

Y

312,500

Aggregate Pro-Group Involvement

P

1,500,000

[3 Placees]

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged .

________________________________________

SMOOTH ROCK VENTURES CORP. ("SOCK")[formerly TRINITY VALLEY ENERGY CORP. ("TE")]BULLETIN TYPE: Name Change and ConsolidationBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Pursuant to a resolution passed by shareholders October 25, 2017, the Company has consolidated its capital on a (four) 4 old for (one) 1 new basis. The name of the Company has also been changed as follows.

Effective at the opening Wednesday, November 15, 2017, the common shares of Smooth Rock Ventures Corp. will commence trading on TSX Venture Exchange, and the common shares of Trinity Valley Energy Corp. will be delisted.

Post - Consolidation

Capitalization:

unlimited

shares with no par value of which

18,382,584

shares are issued and outstanding

Escrow:

nil

Transfer Agent:

Computershare Investor Services Inc.

Trading Symbol:

SOCK

(new)

CUSIP Number:

83268K108

(new)

________________________________________

STAMPER OIL & GAS CORP. ("STMP")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced May 23, 2017:

SECOND TRANCHE

Number of Shares:

962,500 shares

Purchase Price:

$0.40 per share

Warrants:

962,500 share purchase warrants to purchase 962,500 shares

Warrant Exercise Price:

$0.75 for a two year period

Number of Placees:

2 Placees

Finder's Fee:

$30,800 plus 77,000 finders' warrants at $0.40 for 18 months to Foremost Capital Inc.

________________________________________

TORNADO GLOBAL HYDROVACS LTD. ("TGH")BULLETIN TYPE: Rights Offering-UnitsBULLETIN DATE: November 10, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Further to TSXV Exchange (the 'Exchange') bulletin dated September 19, 2017, and expiry of the Company's Rights Offering on October 30, 2017, the Exchange has accepted for filing the Rights Offering pursuant to which 6,172,354 class "A" common shares were issued.

For further information, please refer to the Company's news release dated July 11, 2017.

________________________________________

SOURCE TSX Venture Exchange
PR Newswire

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 10, 2017

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Joe Vargas, CEO of Cloud N9NE Syrup and the Las Vegas entrepreneur behind the viral sensation "Fake Melania" tweet, is looking to give back after seeing an increase in business related to the tweet. Joe Vargas, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, is donating a percentage of the profits he made from the worldwide response to services for U.S. veterans.

"As a veteran myself, I'm all too familiar with the after effects of being released from military service and not knowing what to do next; as well as the medical conditions endured while serving," Vargas said. Vargas' Cloud N9ne Syrup and other CBD products are sold on his ecommerce site BuyLegalMeds.com (parent company Space Monkey, LLC). "I was fortunate to eventually find an industry that I'm extremely passionate about and one that's doing exceptionally well right now. It's an honor for me to be able to give back, and maybe even inspire a fellow veteran to find their "next chapter."

Joe's ecommerce CBD business instantly experienced a sales spike when his tweet questioning if it was really First Lady Melania Trump attending a recent press conference with President Trump went viral. "It was an honest reaction I had while watching the news late at night. I didn't expect to see the response it had gotten by the following morning." The tweet received 4.5K comments, 71K retweets, 117K likes, and even led to an official response to the press from the White House. President Trump even sent out a tweet confirming it was the "real Melania" as a direct response to the coverage.

Since Cloud N9NE Syrups started in 2015, it has achieved great financial success. Sales have steadily doubled each year since its launch and are expected to triple within the next year thanks to a rapidly growing customer base of millions nationwide. "This industry has afforded me incredible opportunities," says Vargas. "My initial intention in joining the military was to be able to make an impact and create real change in the world. Being able to find another industry where I can truly make a difference is deeply fulfilling for me."

About Space Monkey

Space Monkey, LLC is the parent company for Cloud N9NE Syrup, and also serves as a digital marketing hub focusing on building brands through digital media marketing expertise. The company's additional brands include Green Hemp Organics and ACTIV8 CBD. For more information, visit www.BuyLegalMeds.com.

Media Contact :Melissa [email protected]

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/viral-sensation-announces-charity-donation-to-us-veterans-300554136.html

SOURCE Cloud N9NE Syrup
The platform reached the 100-billion-yuan sales mark in 6 minutes and 58 seconds last year. [Photo provided to China Plus]

Three minutes and one second! That's how long it took Alibaba to pass the 10-billion-yuan mark in sales on its flagship Tmall e-commerce platform at this year's Double 11 shopping bonanza, beating last year's record by 3 minutes 57 seconds.

At Alibaba's data center in Shanghai, hundreds of reporters from all over the world are keeping an eye on the real-time sales figures, snapping the numbers with their smartphones, in scenes reminiscent of a major stock exchange.

A cheer went up when the numbers surpassed 10 billion in sales, as the Chinese e-commerce giant recorded another remarkable year.

Man vs. Machine

The huge influx of orders presents massive challenges for delivery firms that handle millions of parcels for eager consumers.

During last years event, 467 million parcels were dispatched, representing 1.5 percent of the annual total.

To handle this massive volume of deliveries, new technologies have been deployed to speed up efficiency. Electronic order sheets, automated sorting machines and logistics robots have all helped lighten the load and reduce labor costs.

Sorting machines can process as many as 18,000 parcels in a single hour while robots save around 70 percent of manual work. This "AI and Logistics" model is now sweeping across the countrys express delivery industry.

Official statistics show the Double 11 is expected to create 1.5 billion parcels between November 11 and 16.

Big data battlefield

The Double 11 has become a battlefield not only for merchants and shoppers but also for engineers.

Millions of people simultaneously rushing to apps to grab the best bargains puts a major strain on servers. In previous years people have failed to confirm their payments in the first few minutes as they try to be the first to land the best offers promised by vendors.

In 2013, Alibaba carried out a major program called " full link stress test," which stimulated real online users to check whether the system could handle the pressure at midnight.

However, engineers failed to get the results they wanted in the first three years.

This year, however, they came up with "Project Vanguard," an unmanned stress test. Many procedures were carried out by an AI system, which decides what the user volume would be, what the scale of pressure is and what countermeasures should be put in place.

Even with all this technological wizardry, some users still experienced difficulties locking down their purchases in the first two minutes this year.

Going abroad

Cross-border vendors and bonded zones give Chinese shoppers a chance to purchase goods from all over the world in just a few clicks.

Fueled by the development of e-commerce, internationalization of logistics and more importantly, Chinese consumers' growing purchasing power, the event is now going global, encouraging major brands like Macy's  which first got on board in 2015  to set up online stores on local platforms.

Major players like Tmall, JD.com and Suning have all launched global platforms aimed at providing quality overseas products. The platforms also help popular and influential domestic brands gain a greater share in overseas markets.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman [File photo]

The recent anti-corruption arrests in Saudi Arabia have generated a lot of hype in the media and public. Opinions in the kingdom and around the world are divided; some consider it the start of a new dawn, while others see a calculated move by Prince Mohammad bin Salman to further tighten his grip on power.

The Saudi government said that 11 princes and dozens more current and former ministers, businessmen and other influential individuals were nabbed in the crackdown. Such an event is unprecedented in the country, where the line is blurred between public money and the private funds of the royal family and its cohort.

Several of those arrested were close to former King Abdullah, including his three sons  Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, Prince Turki bin Abdullah and Prince Fahad bin Abdullah bin Mohammad al-Saud. Prince Miteb served as the head of the National Guard, Prince Turki as the former governor of Riyadh and Prince Fahad as the former deputy defense minister.

Banker and investor Saleh Kamel was targeted along with his sons Mohiuddin and Abdullah. Kamel was often seen sitting directly to the right of former King Abdullah, a genuine "right-hand man" position that is considered the highest honor in the kingdom.

Bakr bin Laden was also among those with connections to King Abdullah who were nabbed for corruption. He is head of the Saudi Binladin Group, but is infamous for being the elder brother of slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden is believed to have used his power to suppress the investigation into his company's responsibility for the 2015 crane collapse in Mecca, an accident which killed more than one hundred. The broader probe may now focus on how he increased his wealth to buy influence and prestige in the kingdom.

Another in the purge who was close to King Abdullah is Adel Fakeih, the former mayor of Jeddah. He has been blamed for construction projects that choked waterways and subsequently resulted in the deadly flooding of the city in 2009.

The most telling detention is that of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has stakes in world-famous companies around the world. He wielded power both in the country and abroad, and was involved in a spat on social media with Donald Trump during the American presidential campaign in 2016.

These arrests should be seen in the context of the ouster of former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in June. As a rival to Prince Salman, his downfall was a major milestone in Salmans tightening grip on the kingdom. Now, the removal of Prince Miteb bin Abdullah as the minister of the National Guard should be seen as a similarly preemptive move to prevent any future challenges to Salmans authority.

The power politics in family monarchies are often brutal and deadly. The growth of the royal House of Saud has been creating new feuds and tensions. As Prince Salman moves to modernize the nation, it was inevitable that these internal rifts would become public. After all, one cannot run a country while at the same time paying hefty stipends to thousands of royals who contribute little or nothing to the affairs of state.

But it is not yet clear if these purges will be used in service of national development to complete the princes "Vision 2030" and related social reforms. The king and the crown prince are liked by young Saudis for challenging the status quo, but they will have to satisfy the youth with regular doses of reforms to demonstrate that the country is on the right path.

Ultimately, these strong-arm tactics may be tolerated if taken for the collective good of the people. Otherwise, they will rightly be seen as a pretense to accrue personal advantages and outmaneuver political rivals.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm
 Flash

Chinese President Xi Jinping's trip to Vietnam and Laos from Nov. 10 to Nov. 14, his first overseas trip after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will help enhance Asia-Pacific cooperation and ties with neighboring countries, senior officials said in Beijing on Friday.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds a press briefing on Chinese President Xi Jinping's trip to Vietnam and Laos, Nov. 3, 2017. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Nov. 10-11 and pay state visits to Vietnam and Laos from Nov. 12 to 14. [Xinhua]

In Vietnam, Xi will attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang.

Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said at a press briefing that President Xi's attendance at the APEC meeting in Da Nang shows China's high regard for Asia-Pacific cooperation.

Xi will speak at the APEC CEO summit, attend a meeting between APEC economic leaders and ASEAN leaders, and meet leaders of other APEC economies.

Economic leaders will exchange views on topics including regional economic integration, inclusive development, innovative growth, connectivity, agriculture and food security.

China hopes the Da Nang APEC meeting will follow the general trend of opening up and development in the Asia-Pacific region, discover new driving forces in the region, strengthen connectivity and map out a new vision of future cooperation.

"China will work with all parties to boost the development and prosperity of the region and the world," Li said.

On the economic and trade front, Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said a framework for APEC cross-border e-commerce is expected to be approved and a supervision framework for supply chains connectivity action plan be drawn.

This year's meetings are expected to further implement the outcomes of 2014 APEC summit in Beijing, continue development of the Free Trade Agreement in the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), and support a multilateral trading system.

On the state visits to Vietnam and Laos from Nov. 12 to 14, Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong said the trip marks the opening of a new chapter of neighborhood diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

During his stay in Vietnam, Xi will meet with Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Chair of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

The leaders will discuss governance, development strategies, economic cooperation and cultural exchange, Chen said.

During his visit to Laos, the first state visit by top Chinese leader since 2006, Xi will meet with Bounnhang Vorachit, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and president of Laos, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and President of the Lao National Assembly Pany Yathotu, Chen said.

The leaders will attend the foundation-laying ceremony of Lao's livelihood project built with Chinese assistance, he added.

"The visits will generate new opportunities and inject positive impetus into bilateral relations as well as the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries," Chen said.
A 35-year-old man is due in court next week following the death of a woman in Dublin City Centre last month.

37-year-old Anne Colomines was found stabbed to death at her home at Dorset Square Apartments on the 24th of October.
A dual citizen of Ireland and the United States has been extradited from Ireland to face federal charges over an alleged mortgage fraud scheme.

The US attorney's office said former Massachusetts resident, 44-year-old Patrick Lee, was arraigned on Thursday in Boston.
Plans for Ireland's first supervised drug injecting centre have hit a stumbling block after Dublin City Council decided it needs planning permission.

The centre is to allow addicts to inject illegal drugs purchased elsewhere under the supervision of a health professional.

The HSE had hoped to bypass the usual planning process, as the centre was set to be run as a pilot project for 18 months.

The news comes in the wake of an EU drugs agency report which underlined the effectiveness of such facilities.

However, it has been reported that the Dublin Business Alliance has objected to the location of the centre and queried whether it needed planning permission.

Elsewhere, Eoin English of the Irish Examiner reports that several sites in Cork City have been identified as possible locations for a supervised drug injecting room.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction said there is growing evidence that supervised injecting facilities (SIFs) are able to reach marginalised users; improve injecting practices; and reduce the visibility of public drug use.

The agency said that while there is an increasing awareness of the potential of such State-backed facilities to reduce harms to communities affected, it was important to consult and engage with communities where the rooms are to be located.

The HSE has declined to reveal the shortlisted Cork locations ahead of the launch and piloting of the Dublin facility, and pending confirmation of the estimated 1m in annual funding required to deliver such a service.

We would love to have a supervised drug injecting facility on our menu of services, said David Lane, the HSEs head of alcohol and drug services in Cork and Kerry.

It would be a fantastic tool in terms of public health. Its about saving lives in the first instance. We have worked closely with the community and voluntary sector in Cork over the last 12 months and have done a lot of groundwork in identifying possible suitable locations in Cork City.

A SIF is a clean, safe environment where people can inject drugs, obtained elsewhere, under the supervision of trained health professionals. SIF staff provide users with sterile injecting equipment, counselling, and an emergency response in the event of overdose. Health and addiction experts say SIFs can play a key role in reducing both street injecting and the risk of drug-related deaths.

Health Research Board figures show 354 people died in 2014 due to drug poisoning. One in four of these deaths was caused by heroin. Half of all heroin-related deaths were people who inject drugs. Between 2012 and 2014, there were 25 drug-related deaths among people who inject drugs in public places in Dublin and 18 drug-related deaths among people who inject drugs and who were in touch with homeless services.

In a major shift in policy, the Government approved the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill in December 2015 to allow for SIFs, paving the way for work to establish a pilot SIF in the capital.

Public injecting and drug litter has also become a major problem in Cork City where the citys heroin user population has remained steady at around 500 for the last two years. Mr Lane said the static numbers reflect a more proactive approach to drug users adopted by the HSE in Cork in recent years, with an outreach worker engaging directly with active drug users. Two biohazard bins have also been installed in the city  on Wellington Rd and on the Fever Hospital steps.

They are working and have been effective in tackling drug litter in public places, said Mr Lane.

A handful of addicts do not engage with the services, Mr Lane said, but those addicts who engage do not have to wait very long to avail of the HSEs suite of addiction services.

We dont have a significant waiting list and people are seen quite quickly, said Mr Lane.

He said he has seen first-hand how a SIF in Sydneys once-notorious Kings Cross area has saved lives.

Its been running for about 14 years and they have had many overdoses but they havent lost a single life, he said.
A major social media campaign has been launched to find missing woman Eimear Noonan in France.

The 21-year-old is from East Clare and has been living in a town south of Lyon working at a local school.

She has not been seen since Wednesday and had not informed work she would be absent.

Fianna Fail TD for Clare, Timmy Dooley, explains why they are asking to share the information about Eimear.

"They're appealing to their friends across Ireland to share this story across social media platforms.

"They're asking for anyone who has contacts in the Lyon area of France to share the story among their friend bases there."
Tony Blair has told how he recognises some of the descriptions of abuse in Westminster but said "it wasn't something I got involved in".

The former British prime minister insisted a "necessary change" in culture would happen following the sleaze scandal.

Mr Blair said he had been a family man during his time in Parliament but appeared to acknowledge he had some awareness about the behaviour of other British MPs.

He told BuzzFeed News: "It's a necessary change in culture that's going to come about.

"I was never part of it, I was living in London and had a family.

"I recognise some of the descriptions, let's say, but it wasn't something I got involved in."

Mr Blair also appeared to take a swipe at Labour mayor Sadiq Khan over his decision to ban Uber in London.

He said: "There are a lot of people employed as Uber drivers who want to be Uber drivers.

"The question is how do you make sure that they're treated properly?

"The answer is not to ban Uber.

"The answer is to regulate it sensibly.

"You can see this with all the major companies, when they're changing society in very profound ways, the question is how do you keep the advantages people want, in the case of Uber there are people who feel this is important employment for them and gives them flexibility, but how do you make sure they're not exploited?"

The long-time critic of Jeremy Corbyn said the Labour leader's policies were "not progressive".

"I think the problem with (Corbyn's policies) is they're not progressive because they're believing that, for instance, the big challenge in transport is to nationalise the railways. It isn't," he said.

"The big challenge in education is to get rid of tuition fees. It isn't."
The ousted president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, claims Spain has disregarded democracy.

He has been accused by Madrid of rebellion and misusing public funds after the parliament in Barcelona voted for independence.

A protest in Barcelona later will call for the release of jailed separatist leaders ahead of the Catalonia election in December.

Currently in Brussels, Mr Puigdemont is challenging a European Arrest Warrant, and has branded his treatment "a disgrace".

He said: "To be treated like a criminal, like a drug-trafficker, like a paedophile, like a serial killer, I think this is abuse.

"This isn't politics, this is using the courts to do politics."
President Donald Trump has crossed paths - again - with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Trump and Mr Putin chatted today as they strolled to a brief photo op at the Intercontinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in Danang, Vietnam.

Chinese President Xi Jinping flanked Mr Trump's other side. Mr Trump stood in the second row for the photo.

Mr Trump and Mr Putin shook hands as leaders of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation opened their meetings.

That followed a Friday night handshake and small talk at the summit's welcome gala.

The White House says the two will not hold a formal meeting in Vietnam.

AP
 Flash

Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Friday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on further strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation on regional and international affairs.

The pair met on the sidelines of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting held in Vietnam's Da Nang city.

Recalling his multiple meetings with Putin, Xi said their efforts in guiding a steady and long-term growth of China-Russia ties at a high level have achieved gratifying results.

Noting that China and Russia have firmly supported each other in safeguarding their core national interests, and further strengthened political mutual trust, Xi said the two countries are strategic partners that have truly placed trust in each other.

The Chinese president said the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has set a good example for a new type of international relations that highlights mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation.

Putin extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and pledged to always make the development of Russia-China partnership a priority of Russia.

Russia stands ready to enhance cooperation with China in regional and international affairs, carry out closer communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the APEC, and push forward the construction of the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific, said Putin.

China is willing to join Russia in firmly boosting high-level development of bilateral ties so as to better promote their respective security and development, and safeguard regional and global peace and stability, Xi said.

He told Putin that as the socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era while Russia has also been walking in steady steps toward a stronger and wealthier country.

"At this crucial time for our respective development, China-Russia ties are also facing new development opportunities," he said, urging both sides to continue expanding mutual support and enhance all-round cooperation.

He also called on the two countries to advance the quantity and quality of bilateral trade at the same time, well implement major projects in such fields as energy, investment, high-tech, aviation and aerospace, as well as infrastructure, and push for concrete results from the alignment of the construction of the Belt and Road initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union.

On regional and international hotspot issues, Xi and Putin agreed that the two countries need to carry out closer communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the APEC, the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, and push forward the building of the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific.

After Xi briefed him on the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Putin extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the congress and Xi's re-election as the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, saying these important results proved that China's domestic and foreign policies under Xi's leadership have won broad support from the Chinese people.

Putin pledged to always make the development of Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination a priority of Russia.

Hailing Xi's successful visit to Russia this summer, Putin urged both sides to well implement the important consensus reached by him and Xi, conduct closer high-level and people-to-people exchanges, and deepen cooperation in economy and trade, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, aviation and aerospace.

The two leaders also conducted in-depth exchanges of views on issues of common concern, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The United States and South Korea have started joint naval exercises that will involve three US aircraft carriers in what military officials describe as a clear warning to North Korea.

The four-day drills that began in waters off South Korea's eastern coast come as President Donald Trump continues a visit to Asia that has been dominated by discussions over the North Korean nuclear threat.

The battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Nimitz will successively enter the exercise area during the drills that run until Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The three carriers will be likely together in the drills around Monday, according to a South Korean military official, who did not want to be named, citing office rules.

The exercises will also involve 11 US Aegis ships and seven South Korean naval vessels, including two Aegis ships. The Aegis technology refers to missile tracking and guidance.

They will aim to enhance combined operation and aerial strike capabilities and also display "strong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of crisis," Seoul's military said in a statement.

It is the first time since a 2007 exercise near Guam that three US carrier strike groups are operating together in the Western Pacific, according to the US Navy's 7th Fleet.

The US carriers will also participate in separate exercises with three Japanese destroyers on Sunday, according to Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force.

The United States has been sending its strategic assets, also including long-range bombers, to the region more frequently for patrols or drills amid accelerating North Korean efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program.

In recent months, North Korea has tested intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the US mainland with further development and has conducted its most powerful nuclear test.

It also flew two new mid-range missiles over Japan and threatened to launch them toward Guam, a US Pacific territory and military hub.

Mr Trump continued his tough talk against Pyongyang on Friday in a speech to business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, saying that the region's future "must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail," referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Mr Trump had also delivered a sharp warning to North Korea in a speech at South Korea's parliament on Wednesday, telling the country: "Do not underestimate us. And do not try us."
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cautioned countries in the Middle East against using Lebanon as "a venue for proxy conflicts".

Mr Tillerson issued the message, apparently aimed at the Saudis but which could easily include Iran, after leader of the militant group Hezbollah said Riyadh had "declared war" on Lebanon by holding its Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, against his will.

A political crisis has gripped Lebanon and shattered the relative peace maintained by its coalition government ever since his stunning announcement on November 4 from the Saudi capital that he was resigning.

The announcement from the Saudi-aligned Mr Hariri jolted Lebanon and thrust it back into the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The move and exceptionally strong statements by the Saudis against Iran that followed have deepened the mystery about Mr Hariri's fate and led to rumours that he is being held in the kingdom against his will, despite his denials.

For the past year, Mr Hariri has headed a coalition government that included members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

He cited meddling in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region by Iran and Hezbollah in his decision to step down, adding that Iran's arm into the region will be "cut off."

Saudi Arabia appears to want to see Lebanon headed by someone would form a government without Hezbollah, perhaps believing Mr Hariri has become too lenient toward the group.

If Mr Hariri wants to step down, Mr Tillerson said, he needs to "go back to Lebanon" and formally resign, "so that the government of Lebanon can function properly."

Lebanese President Michel Aoun told Saudi Charge d'Affaires Walid al-Bukhari said on Friday that the manner in which Mr Hariri resigned "was unacceptable," a Lebanese official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In a televised speech, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Mr Hariri was being detained in Saudi Arabia and that his "forced" resignation was unconstitutional because it was made "under duress."

"It is clear that Saudi Arabia ... declared war on Lebanon," he said.

Mr Nasrallah said he was certain that Mr Hariri was forced to resign as part of what he called a Saudi policy of meddling in Lebanon's affairs.

Mr Hariri is being prevented by Saudi officials from returning to Lebanon, he said, adding that his detention should not be accepted.

But Tillerson said he's seen "no indication" that Hariri was being held against his will.

An official in French President Emmanuel Macron's office also said Mr Hariri has told foreign ambassadors in Saudi Arabia, where he has been since the resignation announcement, that he is not a prisoner.

The French and US ambassadors met with Mr Hariri, who "says he is not a prisoner, the (Saudi crown) prince says he is not a prisoner," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Mr Macron visited Saudi Arabia on Thursday and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the tensions between the kingdom and Lebanon, a former French protectorate.

The official said Mr Hariri did not ask to see Mr Macron, and French officials "don't have any specific signs" that Mr Hariri's life is in danger.

The crisis was widely seen as a bid by Saudi Arabia to wreck Lebanon's coalition government to try to undermine and limit Iran's influence in the country through the power that Hezbollah wields.

In the first concrete action against Lebanon after days of threats by Saudi government officials, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries ordered their citizens to leave the country amid the soaring tensions.

AP
Tens of thousands of Gaza Palestinians have marked the anniversary of the death of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat for the first time since the Islamic Hamas group seized the territory a decade ago.

Amid a brewing reconciliation between Hamas and the Fatah party Mr Arafat founded, Fatah supporters flocked to al-Saraya Square in Gaza City from all over the coastal enclave to commemorate the 13th anniversary of his death.

Participants waved their yellow flag, raised posters of Arafat and donned his trademark kaffiyeh headgear.

Mr Arafat died in 2004 at a hospital in France after two years of an Israeli siege on his West Bank headquarters. Palestinians accuse Israel of poisoning him but offer no proof.

After winning legislative elections in 2006, Hamas forces violently overthrew Fatah in Gaza the following year. The commemoration comes amid improving relationships between Fatah and Hamas, a month after the two rivals signed a deal in Egypt paving the way to end the Palestinian internal divide.

Under the deal, Hamas would cede control of Gaza to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority after a decade of unilateral rule by the Islamic movement.

President Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Arafat's successor, told the crowd in a prerecorded speech from his West Bank headquarters: "The accurate implementation of the deal and the full empowering of the government will surely lead to easing the suffering and reviving hope of a better future for all of us."

Earlier this month, Hamas transferred control at Gaza's crossing points with Israel and Egypt to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, implementing the first part of the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation. Talks will continue in Cairo in 10 days to discuss broader issues.

A sticking point has been the arsenal of rockets, attack tunnels and explosives that Hamas and smaller groups in Gaza possess. In his speech, Mr Abbas reiterated his firm stance that he wants "one authority, one law and one legitimate weapon" in Gaza. Hamas vows not to disarm.

In November 2007, months after Hamas took over Gaza following a week of bloody fighting, Fatah organised a rally to mark Mr Arafat's death which ended with clashes between Fatah supporters and armed Hamas forces in which seven civilians were killed.

Saturday's event ended peacefully after two hours of speeches and people swaying to patriotic songs blaring from huge loudspeakers.

Not all participants belonged to Fatah. Some of them came because they missed the sort of unity that prevailed during Mr Arafat's reign.

"Arafat is for all the Palestinians," said one onlooker.

AP
Vladimir Putin has again denied meddling in the US presidential election, Donald Trump said after the pair spoke at a summit in Vietnam.

"He says he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times," Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the trip to Hanoi.

"Every time he sees me, he said 'I didn't do that'. And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it."

Mr Trump and Mr Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for an economic summit but the two spoke informally several times and reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.

But Mr Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders' relationship - and Mr Putin is "insulted" by the accusation, Mr Trump said.

In a blistering partisan attack, Mr Trump accused Democrats of using the election issue to create a barrier between the US and Russia as the nations work on crises in Syria and Ukraine.

"Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Mr Trump told reporters, once again casting doubt on the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia did try to interfere in the election. "People will die because of it," he said.

Mr Trump's suggestion that he may believe Mr Putin over his own nation's intelligence community is certain to reignite the firestorm over the election meddling.

Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea.

Mr Trump said the probe into the election hacking was a "fake barrier" placed by Democrats that was hurting the United States' ability to have a relationship with Russia, a distraction that was putting lives at stake.

Snippets of video of conference events from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Denang have shown Mr Trump and Mr Putin shaking hands and chatting, including during the world leaders' traditional group photo.

The two walked together down a path to the photo site, conversing amiably, with Mr Trump punctuating his thoughts with hand gestures and Mr Putin smiling.

Journalists travelling with Mr Trump were not granted access to any of the Apec events he participated in in the seaside city.

AP
Slade enlisted Olivers help to find his son in Arrows Deathstroke Returns, but he was in for a surprise when he finally tracked him down. Meanwhile, back in Star City, Vigilantes identity was finally revealed, and it should have been no surprise that it was someone thought to be dead.

Here are the best quotes from Deathstroke Returns.

Arrow Recap: Oliver Struggles to Keep His Promise to Deathstroke>>>

Slade invited you on a romantic getaway?

Felicity: Slade invited you on a romantic getaway?

Oliver: Something like that.

Felicity: Where? Dont say Aruba. Thats our spot.

Hes his fathers son.

Felicity: Then tell William what youre doing. Spare him the details of, you know, Slade being Slade, and tell him that youre helping a friend. Hell understand that.

Oliver: You sure?

Felicity: Yeah, Im sure. Hes his fathers son.

Its not optimism, Felicity. Its faith.

Diggle: You think its something you can trace?

Felicity: I like your optimism.

Diggle: Its not optimism, Felicity. Its faith.

 Regarding tracking Vigilante

Yeah, these new prescription glasses are really working wonders.

Samanda: Youre seeing Oliver Queen again.

Felicity: Yeah, these new prescription glasses are really working wonders.

You got your second chance, kid, and Im happy for you. Some fathers arent that lucky.

 Slade to Oliver

Dont believe everything that you see on TV.

 Oliver, about the claims that hes good with a bow and arrow

Arrow Season 6: Why Diggle Should Remain the Green Arrow>>>

You were his father. Trust me, he knew.

Slade: He never knew.

Oliver: Never knew what?

Slade: That I loved him.

Oliver: Sure he did, Slade.

Slade: I dont remember the last time that I told him.

Oliver: Well, you were his father. Trust me, he knew.

I ask myself that every day.

Slade: Shes brilliant. How did you get her?

Oliver: I ask myself that every day.

 About Felicity

Dont worry. I left the hoodie at home.

Dinah: I thought I told you to stand down.

Diggle: Dont worry. I left the hoodie at home.

Go home, kid. Be a father. Thank you for reminding me Im one, too.

 Slades note to Oliver

Its never a bad time.

William: Is this a bad time?

Oliver: Its never a bad time.

So says the man who nearly burnt down a whole city.

Slade: You like burning bridges.

Nylander: So says the man who nearly burnt down a whole city.

Arrow season 6 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on the CW. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.

(Images courtesy of the CW)
Indias sole copper miner Hindustan Copper has increased its borrowing limit to Rs 650 crore in order to meet an expanded production target of 12.41 million tonnes in the next five years.
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He is UKs youngest millionaire, but is both thrifty and canny. He has been to his village in Gujarat but only a few times, because the cost of travelling back to India is quite substantial. But he hopes to return in the future for charity work and also to raise Indian money for his business. I would be overjoyed to have Indian-origin investors as part of our next round of funding of 5 million to potentially disrupt the vertical landscape of the UK property industry and become number one. If this happens, I would find myself in India/Gujarat, more often, with pleasure, he says. Ruparelia is 19.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and several other world leaders will descend here tomorrow for the which is set to extensively deliberate on evolving security challenges facing South East Asia.

The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), a grouping of 10 influential countries, is taking place amid China's aggressive behaviour in the disputed the South China Sea and North Korea's nuclear missile tests and both these issues are likely to figure prominently during discussions among the leaders, a senior diplomat said here.

Prime Minister Modi will attend the 15th ASEAN-India summit and 12th East Asia summit on November 14 during which he is likely to reassert India's call for crafting a coordinated global initiative in dealing with traditional and non-traditional threats facing the region.

The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with the focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.

"Every single country in the ASEAN region wants India to be more engaged in the region in every possible way. That is the real synergy we have with ASEAN," Indian Ambassador to Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar told Press Trust of India.

The US, France and Japan have been pitching for a larger role by India in the strategically key Indo-Pacific region where China has been trying to increase its military presence.

Majumdar said terrorism is going to be one of the issues that will be discussed not only during the but also at the East Asia summit.

He said several documents are going to be adopted with an aim to contain terrorism, including one on stopping money laundering for the purpose of terrorism.

Besides holding bilateral talks with Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte, Modi is expected to meet many leaders attending the two summits, including President Trump.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev are among other prominent leaders who are scheduled to attend the East Asia Summit.

While is likely to focus more on trade and investment-related issues, leaders at the East Asia Summit are expected to delve deep into issues relating to maritime security, terrorism, non-proliferation and migration.

Apart from the 10 ASEAN member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the US.

In the ASEAN-India summit, both sides are expected to explore ways to further enhance trade and investment ties.

The ASEAN region along with India together comprises the combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one-fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated to be over $3.8 trillion.

Investment from ASEAN to India has been over $70 billion in the last 17 years, accounting for more than 17 per cent of India's total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

India's investment in ASEAN during the same period has been more than $40 billion.

India's proposal to host an international conference on countering radicalisation may also be discussed during the deliberations at Manila as New Delhi is now looking at finalising the dates for the conclave.

Prime minister Modi will also participate in the ASEAN business and investment summit as well as a meeting of leaders of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP, comprising 10-member ASEAN bloc and six other countries  India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand  is engaged in negotiations for a free trade pact.

In his maiden visit to the Philippines as the prime minister, Modi will also attend a reception by the Indian community and visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Mahavir Philippines Foundation.
Delhi to Patna by road in just 11 hours? Sounds impossible, doesn't it? But that might soon be reality after the central government's plan to extend a corridor is implemented.
Mexican Ambassador to India Melba Pria on Friday expressed concern over the rising levels of air pollution, in the wake of the toxic smog enshrouding the capital region, and suggested ways to combat it.

Speaking to ANI, Pria said, "We (Mexico) changed all of our petrol. It has to be in much better quality. Every Vento in Mexico has a catalytic converter that was put in plants in India. No Vento here has a catalytic converter. Why do you allow that children are breathing this air?"

"We took out all heavy industries out of Mexico City and raised the standards for pollution creating industries. We gave them time, helped them with taxes, did all reforms that were needed but those industries were taken outside of every city in Mexico," she said.

Mexico's young and dynamic Ambassador to India draws special attention because she uses an autorickshaw as her official transport.

"I am affected like everybody else because all are breathing the same air. If you've to go out, you need to have purifier in your car. For someone like me, it's being grounded because I can't use my auto, my vehicle of choice," she added.

Pria, in one of her earlier interviews, had said that Mexico's measures to improve air quality were diverse and the city did not rely on one single programme to curb pollution and that India should also do the same.

Pollution in New Delhi has been hovering at alarming levels with air quality readings of tiny particulate matter PM 2.5 hitting over 796 on Friday, the most severe level on the government's scale. A reading of anything over 100 is considered unhealthy.

PM 2.5 is particulate matter about 30 times finer than a human hair. The particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.

Doctors have suggested people to wear N90 masks whenever they go out, as exposure to air pollution can lead to cancer and heart disease.
The Savitribai Phule Pune University, in its new set of rules, announced that those students, who are vegetarians and abstinent from alcohol, will be considered eligible for Maharishi Keertankar Shelar Mama Gold Medal.

It also stated that only those students, who fall under this category can consider candidacy for the same.

Taking to Twitter, the Member of Parliament Baramati, Maharashtra expressed her disappointment and said, "Shocking disappointing decision by Pune University - so proud of education in our state, What has happened to our universities. Please focus on Education not food."

The candidates for the Shelar Mama gold medal have to send in their applications by November 15.
Pakistani authorities have written to the Punjab home department asking it to take stringent measures for the security of detained Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, claiming a "foreign intelligence agency" had planned to kill him.

In the letter, the Counter Terrorism Authority said the foreign spy agency had paid Rs 80 million to two activists of a banned outfit for the assassination of Saeed.

It asked the Punjab home department to ensure foolproof security for the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief.

Saeed has been under house arrest in Lahore since January 30 under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

The home department last month had extended his detention for another 30 days (till November 26) under public safety law.

The department's notification had said, "There is apprehension that Saeed shall create a law and order situation upon release".

The JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of $10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that his visit to the Philippines starting tomorrow to attend the India-ASEAN Summit symbolises the countrys commitment to deepening ties with the ASEAN member states and the Indo-Pacific region as part of the Act East Policy.
Keshu Singh Patel, 56, was nowhere to be seen at Indores flower market on 7 November, 364 days after the governments decision to invalidate Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Repeated calls to his cell phone by this reporter were answered with the message: The number you are dialling is switched off.
On 20th Sep 2016, during an excavation work on southern side of the village of Richebourg near Laventie Military Cemetery approximately 230 Kms away from Paris, two human remains were found. On examining their belongings, they were identified as causalities of 39th ROYAL GARHWAL RIFLES. The office of Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWWGC), which is curator of the graves of these unsung heroes, in consultation with the French Government and the Indian Embassy in France decided to hold a burial ceremony at Laventie Military Cemetery, with full military honours for these martyrs alongside the Annual Memorial Service to commemorate the Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives in France and Belgium. On behalf of the Indian Army, a delegation comprising of the Commandant and the Subedar Major of the GARHWAL RIFLES Regimental Centre, two bagpipers from the GARHWAL RIFLES Regimental Pipe band and Colonel Nitin Negi, grandson of late Naik Darwan Singh Negi, Victoria Cross, the gallant hero in the battle of Festubert, were nominated to attend the Ceremony. In a symbolic gesture the soil from the graves of these soldiers would be brought back to their homeland. .

.

During World War I, the GARHWAL Brigade comprising of 1st/39th and 2nd /39th ROYAL GARHWAL RIFLES showed unparalleled bravery in those treacherous trenches of France and Flanders. The British and the Indian soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder and attained martyrdom in the call of duty. The GARHWAL Brigade earned six Battle Honours and two Victoria Cross in France and Flanders Theatre. .

.

On the solemn occasion, homage will also be paid to the martyrs of Indian Meerut Division at Nueve Chapelle War Memorial by laying wreaths on behalf of the Chief of the Army Staff, Indian Army by Brigadier Indrajit Chatterjee, Commandant and Subedar Major Trilok Singh Negi of the GARHWAL RIFLES Regimental Centre. .

.
When the Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri made a sudden trip abroad last week, it was taken at first to be a routine visit with his political patron, Saudi Arabia. But the next day, he unexpectedly announced his resignation by video from Riyadh, the Saudi capital. He has yet to return to Lebanon.
Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of China's central bank - the People's Bank of China (PBOC), has warned that China's financial system is becoming more vulnerable due to high levels of leverage, or borrowing.

Zhou, in an article published on the People's Bank of China's website, has warned about the prospect of potential financial problems in the world's second-biggest .

He argued that deepened reform and opening up are the key measures to proactively control such risks in China's financial sector.

The central bank governor called for eliminating "zombie" companies to avoid a financial crisis.

Zhou warned that risks of damage to the financial markets in China are "hidden, complex, sudden, contagious and hazardous".

"In sectors of the real economy, this is reflected as excessive debt, and in the financial system, this is reflected as credit that has been expanding too quickly," express.co.uk quoted Zhou as saying.

Zhou elaborated on the top three financial risks China is faced with: the high-leveraging ratio and liquidity in macro-finance; the credit risk in micro-finance; and cross-market and cross-regional shadow banking together with financial crime.

Zhou, who is expected to retire after a record 15 years, noted that China's total debt-to-GDP ratio had surged to 247 percent in 2016, while it was 165 percent for corporate debt, higher than the internationally accepted risk level.

"Financial risks include basic risks associated with financial markets and financial institutions. For example, some unhealthy financial institutions fail to meet relevant standards, and as a result may have to be closed or go bankrupt," he said.

"By comparison, systemic financial risks can lead to financial crisis, set off dramatic chain reactions in the market, and cause great shocks to the and employment," he added.
North Korea lashed out at United States President Donald Trump and labeled him as "destroyer" who "begged for nuclear war" during his tour of Asia.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency in a statement said, "Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as the destroyer of the world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula."

Trump is in Vietnam as part of his 12-day tour of Asia, and North Korea's nuclear weapons programme has been a major talking point with his Japanese, South Korean and Chinese counterparts.

According to reports, Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

Earlier, at the outset of this tour, Trump, in an interview broadcast stated he would "certainly be open" to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Pyongyang described Trump's trip as "nothing but a business trip by a warmonger to enrich the monopolies of the US defence industry."

"It is also nothing but a business trip by a warmonger to enrich the monopolies of the US defence industry by milking the moneybags from its subordinate allies," the statement added.

The statement also referred to Trump as dotard, a word the isolated nation has used on him in the past as well.

The US and North Korea have long been engaged in back-and-forth barbs over the latter's threat of a nuclear attack.

Trump threatened to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea and also called Kim Jong-un as "Little Rocket Man", while North Korea denounced Trump as a "mentally deranged US dotard."

North Korea jolted major world leaders when it carried out the strongest of its six-ever nuclear tests in early September, claiming to have used a hydrogen bomb.
US tech billionaire has made high-performance electric vehicles, created rockets that can land on ships and planned life on Mars  chronicling it all on social media. But his personal record for Instagram likes comes from a post this week about Turkey.
Emirates is negotiating a deal to purchase about 36 additional Airbus A380 superjumbos, according to people familiar with the talks, a move that would help extend the embattled programmes life.
Three Squirrels and Le Pur are nibbling away at the sales of the big corporations in the countrys more than $500 billion food and beverage industry. These were acquired by health food company Haoxiangni in 2016. (Photo: Reuters)
Pakistan's former dictator has formed a "grand alliance" of 23 political parties, according to media reports.

The grand alliance named Pakistan Awami Ittehad (PAI) will be headed by 74-year-old Musharraf, while Iqbal Dar has been appointed as Secretary-General.

Addressing media persons through video conferencing from Dubai, the former president said all parties representing Muhajir (migrant) community should be united, local media reported.

He invited the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) to join the new political alliance.

About the nature of alliance, he said all the member parties will contest together with one name.

Musharraf denied reports that he was going to head the MQM, claiming that it was "ridiculous" to think that he would want to be head of a "minor, ethnic party".

"MQM-Pakistan is merely half of what the (original) party used to be," he said. "I am concerned about (the internal problems) of the party; however, I have no interest in replacing Farooq Sattar or Mustafa Kamal even if their parties are united," he insisted.

Criticising MQM, he said that the party and the muhajir community have lost respect. "The muhajir community would do better to abandon ethnic and join PAI," he said.

He expressed hope that Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leaders Chaudhry Shujaat and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi would join his grand alliance as well.
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his counterpart in the US to find time for a formal meeting to talk through a crisis in relations between the two countries and called for a US investigation into Russian election meddling nonsense.
In the latest round of tit-for-tat sparring between the United States and Russia, the authorities in Moscow warned on Friday of a coming crackdown on American media outlets that operate in Russia, including CNN.
The (Anmi), an industry lobby for brokers, has sent a list of demands to the finance ministry to help catalyse the development of the capital market ecosystem and unlock its full potential.
Assam Director General Of Police (DGP) Mukesh Sahay said here on Saturday that 21 people were arrested so far in connection with the cash-for-job scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

The DGP told ANI, "Police have arrested 21 people in connection with the cash-for-job scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) and are on the lookout for four more civil services officials allegedly involved in it."

Police had earlier identified 25 officers of the 2015 batch who had bribed APSC officials to get jobs through doctored answer scripts.

Of the 25 officials, 13 are in Assam Civil Services, seven in Assam Police Services and the rest are in allied civil services.

On November 8, police arrested 16 civil services officials in this regard.

Former APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul was arrested on November 4 last year after the arrest of its two members -- Samedur Rahman and Basanta Kumar Doley.

Meanwhile, APSC Assistant Controller of Examinations Pabitra Kaibarta was nabbed later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cutting across party lines, politicians on Saturday called for ction to be taken against those issuing death threats to a Muslim Yoga teacher in Jharkhand.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma said, "It is absolutely unfortunate. Women are targeted adversely for singing song, acting in movie and now for teaching Yoga. This is a free country. Women have been guaranteed equal rights under the constitution of India. I see no reason why any religious cleric should come out and either issue fatwas and in this case and in this case give her death threats."

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande told ANI, "I think this matter is very serious and the home ministry needs to arrest the person concerned. She is performing her duties and it is the government's directive also to teach Yoga in schools."

Muslim Yoga teacher, Rafia Naaz, has been receiving death threats for teaching yoga.

Muslim clerics have reportedly issued a fatwa against her.

Naaz said that she has been receiving these for last three years.

She added that stones were also thrown at her house.

Naaz is a resident of Doranda in Ranchi, and has been performing yoga since the age of four. She has won many accolades and awards in this field.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pahlaj Nihalani, the former chief of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), on Friday dubbed renowned director Sanjay Leela Bhansali as "a sensible" person who has always promoted Indian culture in his films.

Speaking to ANI about the ongoing controversy surrounding 'Padmavati', Nihalani said, "Bhansali is a sensible and best technician in the industry. He knows that he is bringing Indian culture in front of the world. He has always promoted Indian culture and people have liked it".

The film director pointed out that every Bhansali productions film falls in controversy even though there is nothing objectionable in it.

"There has been controversy in each of his films. Controversy on his projects is created by people. His movies have always done a good business after people see there is nothing wrong with it," he said.

"People of every state for which he makes a film protest against it. People protested against Bajirao Mastani in Maharashtra. There were many court cases. I think how he highlighted Maratha in that film was commendable," he noted.

Nihalani also highlighted that there was a film made on Padmavati in 1963 but there were no protests.

"Why did people not protest earlier when movies were made on Padmavati? Were the Rajputs not this concerned?" he asked, adding, "These protests must stop".

Nihalani, who was popular for making several cuts in movies as the CBFC chief, said that approving the film is the responsibility of the censor board, not public or government.

"Till the time film is not censored, it is not completed. I think they have not yet submitted it for approval, the process which takes at least 21 days. If the film gets censor certificate, it must be right-minded," he said.

"Members of Censor board are capable and educated. They know which film should be passed and which should not. It is the responsibility of the censor board nor the govt or public should take it," Nihalani stressed.

The period drama starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, and Shahid Kapoor has been facing protests from various communal groups, including Shree Rajput Karni Sena, for allegedly tampering with historical facts.

The Karni Sena, which demolished the sets of the movie in Jaipur and also thrashed Bhansali, last month, again, warned the director that he would face consequences if the movie distorted historical facts.

The movie is slated to hit the theatres on December 1.

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China, which on its way to emerge as a Space Superpower, claims be the first nation to make contact with alien life using the world's largest radio dish.

According to researchers, the dish, which is 500-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope is about twice the size of the US' Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, can detect signals from the deepest depths of space.

In 2016, China became a space exploration powerhouse after it fired its brand new lab Tiangong 2 into low orbit - joining the US and Russia.

China made the move following numerous dozens of suspected-extraterrestrial encounters, including the claims that a UFO was seen over the Great Wall of China last week, reports Daily Star Online.

According to reports, china has spent billions of pounds into space exploration and the world's largest dish to detect alien signals coming from other galaxies.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the bold project would enable them to take larger and further steps in space exploration and make new contributions to building up China as a space power.

A researcher Liu Cixin described the dish as something "out of fiction."

Liu has written many books about the risks of first contact and warns that the "appearance of this 'other'" could end with mankind's extinction.

In one of his books, he said, "Perhaps in ten thousand years, the starry sky that humankind gazes upon will remain empty and silent."

"But perhaps tomorrow we'll wake up and find an alien spaceship the size of the Moon parked in orbit," he said.

Wheelchair-bound space boffin Stephen Hawking has also warned researchers about the risks of contacting aliens.

Adding, "Meeting an advanced civilisation could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday attacked the Congress party for not doing anything for the poll-bound Gujarat when it was ruling the country.

"The Congress party, which was earlier at the Center, never thought of or worked for Gujarat. They did not do anything for river Narmada," the Defence Minister said, while addressing a press conference here.

She also said the development of river Narmada was done only when the Congress was not in the power.

"Development of river Narmada was done only when the Congress was not in the power. The development was done during the government of Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi," she added.

Addressing a rally at Gujarat's Devgadh Baria on October 11, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Modi and the Vijay Rupani-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Gujarat and alleged that the water of the River Narmada is being given to the country's top ten industrialists.

The assembly election in the state will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.

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Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif's sons Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz have exhausted the deadline to surrender in connection with the three references filed against them on Friday.

According to the Dawn, on October 12, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had pasted the copies of proclamation order at the Model Town and Jati Umra residences of the Sharif family.

The NAB had given Hussain and Hassan, 30 days to appear before the Islamabad accountability court, failing which they would be declared proclaimed offenders (PO) and their properties attached.

The proclamation order had asked Hussain and Hassan to surrender and join the proceedings in the three references - Flagship Investment, Al-Azizia and Avenfield properties.

However, both sons of ousted prime minister continued to stay away from court proceedings.

On October 9, the NAB had declared Sharif's sons offenders for repeatedly failing to appear before it.

Earlier after appearing before the NAB court on Monday, when Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz was asked when her brothers would appear before the court, she said, "My brothers live abroad... the laws of here [Pakistan] don't apply to them."

The hearing was adjourned until October 13, when members of the Sharif family will be indicted.

On July 28, a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, while disqualifying Sharif under Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution had asked the NAB to file four references in the Rawalpindi accountability court within six weeks on the basis of the material collected and referred to by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) as well as that already available with the Federal Investigation Agency and the NAB.

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Nordic-Baltic Embassies are all set to host the first ever Nordic- Baltic youth film festival in Delhi in collaboration with India Habitat Centre from 13- 18 November 2017. Shows will be free of cost and will be held from 6.30 pm every evening.

Nordic-Baltic countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden) are tied together geographically and historically through trade, culture and many common yet diverse value systems. Through this film festival, the Embassies of these countries carry the bond further, reaching out to the culturally rich Delhi audiences.

This platform offers a great opportunity for Nordic Baltic countries to reflect on the similarities and appreciate their differences. It will also prove to be a platform to enhance people-to-people relations and share the thrill, excitement and experience of watching films together.

The festival will offer a diverse mix of some of the most celebrated and Oscar nominated movies from the Nordic-Baltic region. These films are a collection of dreams, passion, fear, fun and joy.

From action movies to family films to documentaries, the collection offers something for everyone's taste. Full screening schedule can be seen below:

November 13

.Land of Mine (Denmark):An Oscar-nominated film about young German prisoners of war who, after World War II, are forced to clear a beach from land mines by a Danish Sergeant.

November 14

.Face to Face (Iceland): With a strong will, courage and a good heart, a young girl faces her classmate and bully.

November 14

Zero Point (Estonia) (7.45 p.m. onwards): As an outcast in school and with a sick mom, Johannes must improve his life by reforming himself.

November 15

The Excursionist (Lithuania): A young girl escapes from a deportee train and starts the long journey back to her homeland.

November 16

Tsatsiki, Dad and the Olive War (Sweden): Tsatsiki is a curious boy with a Swedish mom, a far away Greek dad and a lot of questions.

November 16

The Lesson (Latvia) (8.15 p.m. onwards): A teacher goes too far when she tries to befriend her class and falls in love with a student.

November 17

The Wave (Norway): The experienced geologist Kristian Eikfjord has accepted a job offer out of town. He is getting ready to move from the city of Geiranger with his family, when he and his colleagues measure small geological changes in the underground.

November 18

Hobbyhorse Revolution (Finland): A quirky documentary about teenagers who bond through riding and grooming toy horses.

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The first shipment of wheat from India transshipped via Iran's Chabahar Port arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday.

On the arrival of the first shipment here, senior Afghan officials and the Indian Ambassador to Kabul Manpreet Vohra attended a ceremony to inaugurate the new trade route.

"With the opening of Chabahar Port, Afghanistan will no longer be dependent on Karachi Port," the Tolo News quoted Nimroz Governor Mohammad Samiullah as saying.

"This port will create thousands of jobs and bring billions of dollars in revenue to Afghanistan, Iran and India," Samiullah added.

Ambassador Vohra said the port provides easy and short connectivity between countries in the region.

Vohra emphasized that this shipment is part of the wheat promised by India to Afghanistan.

On October 29, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of Afghanistan H.E. Salahuddin Rabbani, through a joint video conference, flagged off the shipment.

Six more wheat shipments will be sent to Afghanistan from India over the next few months. They also reaffirmed their commitment to continue their cooperation for the benefit and prosperity of the people of Afghanistan and the region.

The shipment of wheat is a landmark moment as it will pave the way for operationalisation of the Chabahar port as an alternate, reliable and robust connectivity for Afghanistan. It will open up new opportunities for trade and transit from and to Afghanistan and enhance trade and commerce between the three countries and the wider region.

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TTV Dhinakaran has alleged that the raids by the Income Tax department on the offices of Jaya TV and AIADMK mouthpiece 'Dr Namadhu MGR' are politically motivated.

"I say the raids are politically motivated because few of my party cadres' houses have been raided as well," Dhinakaran told media on Saturday after the Income Tax officials continued to raid the office of Jaya TV and several close aides of VK Sasikala for the third day.

Dinakaran, expelled from AIADMK, is accused of trying to bribe some officials of the Election Commission in order to to secure the "two leaves" poll symbol for an AIADMK faction led by his aunt VK Sasikala.

The rebel leader has now accused the Centre and the Tamil Nadu state government of acting against Sasikala and her supporters in the AIADMK party.

Terming the opposition-controlled Sun TV and Kalaignar TV as the 'enemies', the sidelined leader asserted that these media outlets are publishing reports against him and his associates.

"Some other publications and newspapers too are saying that underground ways have been found, but it's not right," he added.

Dhinakaran also claimed that the wealth recovered in the raids is not black money.

"I-T department knows about my business really well. I don't know why they have conducted raids at Member of Legislative Assembly E. Pugazhendi's residence," he said.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), castigated Dhinakaran for terming the raids as 'political vendetta.'

The BJYM president Vinoj P Selvam tweeted, "The easiest escape route politicians caught on the back foot take is to dub any law enforcement activity as an act of vendetta."

The raids by I-T Department are being conducted following the reports of alleged tax evasion by the channel and newspaper.

Jaya TV, which is considered as AIADMK's mouthpie, was founded by late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. However, the channel is now controlled by the family members of former party general secretary VK Sasikala.

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After the Government of Pakistan offered a meeting between imprisoned Indian and his wife on humanitarian grounds, his friends called it a positive step from the neighbouring country and credited the Indian government and International Court of Justice(ICJ) for it.

"We see this is a positive step from Pakistan. The pressure our government created in the country and the verdict of the International court in favour of India forced Pakistan to step back," his friend Arvind Singh told ANI.

The Pakistan Government, who arrested Jadhav over charges of alleged involvement in espionage activities for India's intelligence agency - the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), decided to arrange a meeting with his wife, purely on humanitarian grounds.

However, India has always maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

Singh expressed his happiness that now they will get to know about Jadhav's actual condition.

"I am really happy. We were repeatedly demanding to let his parents meet him, but at least his wife is allowed a visit now. We will at least get to know about his situation, his health, and his mental condition. Till now, we didn't know what are his thoughts and were only listening to Pakistan's version," he said.

Tulsi Das Pawar, another friend of Kulbhushan, said that Pakistan would have executed Jadhav if India had not intervened at the right time.

"If India had not intervened at the right time, Pakistan would have executed him. The ICJ supported us," he said.

Pawar hoped that Pakistan might acquit Kulbhushan in the following days.

"This is a result of the continuous attempts and prayers of India. We were waiting for such moves for a long time. Our hopes have increased. They are letting him meet his wife today. Tomorrow, they might take a fair approach and acquits him. This is a very positive move from Pakistan," he said.

"The whole scenario has changed. Pakistan has now realised that they have to adhere to certain policies though they are not willing to do that. The situation is favourable for India and we are definitely going to win the case in the end," he added.

On April 10, 2017, Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan.

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.
Israel has shot down a drone over the Syrian Golan Heights, confirmed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

IDF tweeted, "Moments ago, the IDF used a Patriot Missile to intercept a UAV that attempted to infiltrate Israeli airspace in the Golan Heights."

The drone was downed with a Patriot interceptor missile.

The reconnaissance drone was believed to be operated by the Syrian regime, reported CNN, quoting Israeli Army official as saying.

According to the reports, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel viewed the incident gravely and would respond to any provocation.

"We hold the Syrian regime responsible for any firing or breach of sovereignty and call on it to hold back all players active in its territory," Lieberman said in a statement.

Israel captured the Syrian Golan from Syria in the 1967 conflict, added the report.

Israel has conducted dozens of strikes in Syria in an effort to defend its objectives, primarily against regime targets.

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Indian star and world number 2 Kidambi Srikanth has to wait to clinch his fifth super series title of the year, as the shuttler has pulled out from the China Open Super Series, beginning in Fuzhou on November 14.

Srikanth has withdrawn from the series in the wake of an injury.

Talking to ANI, he said, "There is muscle strain and my doctor has suggested me to take at least one week rest. So this is the reason I am not playing the China Open."

The Pullela Gopichand protege recently established him as world number 2 in the latest BWF men's singles ratings, trailing Denmark's Victor Alexon by 4527 points in the world rankings.

When asked if there is chance for him to climb to the top spot, the 24-year-old replied in an affirmative matter.

"Yes. But with the injury, I can't manage the upcoming tournament. So I need to take rest and recover."

Last month, the Hyderabadi shuttler won the French Open and lifted his fourth Super Series title of the year. He has already clinched the Denmark Open Super Series Premier, the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier and Australian Open Super Series earlier this year.

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Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday asserted that India has not attacked on any country, but has been attacked by others, as "we believe in peace."

"India has not attacked any country, but has been attacked by several other countries, because we believe in peace," said Venkaiah Naidu in an event in Bhubaneswar.

The Vice President further said, he has retired from politics, and not from public lives.

M Venkaiah Naidu, resigned from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on July 17, after filing his nomination for the August 5 poll.

Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said, the former has worked hard to become the prime minister and now is one of the most prominent people in the world.

Speaking about the importance of mother tongue, Vice President Naidu said, "It is important to speak in mother tongue and never forget the land we belong to", adding that it is necessary to upgrade India's skill in this modern century.

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In response to the ongoing controversy surrouding 'Padmavati', Raza Murad, who is playing the formidable old monarch Sultan Jalaluddin Khilji in the film, says Rani Padmavati has been shown as a very graceful lady and the film only highlights the "honour, prestige and bravery" of Rajput clan.

While talking exclusively to ANI, the 66-year-old, on Saturday, said, "I will say only one thing that there is cinematic liberty, which every filmmaker avails. Before this movie Bhansali made 'Bajirao Mastani,' which had a dance of two mistresses Kashi Bai and Mastani. Nobody raised issues at that time."

"I am a part of the film, but I haven't seen it yet. One thing that I am sure of is that the film will show Rani Padmavati as a very graceful lady. The way the filmmakers have described the honour, prestige and bravery of Rajputs, I don't think anyone else has ever done that in any film," the 'Madam X' star stated.

The veteran actor further said, "'Ghoomar' is a folk dance where Rani Padmavati is singing with her friends and if there is something objectionable in the song, then censor board will take care of it."

The period drama starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, and Shahid Kapoor has been facing protests from various communal groups, including Shree Rajput Karni Sena, for allegedly tampering with historical facts.

The Karni Sena, which demolished the sets of the movie in Jaipur and also thrashed Bhansali, last month, again, warned the director that he would face consequences if the movie distorted historical facts.

The movie is slated to hit the theatres on December 1.

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A Pakistani has been arrested from Sultanpur of Kota district on Saturday for illegally entering India.

The Pakistani entered India via Nepal border and his actions were under suspicion.

A case has been registered against him and interrogation is underway.

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At least forty four passengers were left stranded at the Jaipur Airport, as the pilot refused to fly the plane beyond his duty hours.

The pilot had refused to fly the plane, citing the reason that his "duty time was over" and reported to the airlines officials about the same.

Speaking about the incident an Air India official said, "The pilot cannot exceed duty hours for safety reasons as per the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) norms."

While some passengers were accommodated in hotels, few were taken to Delhi by road.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he is looking forward to interacting with the Indian Community in Philippines, during his visit to the country.

"I look forward to interacting with the Indian Community in Philippines. There will also be visits to the International Rice Research Institute and Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc.," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi will travel to Philippines on November 12 to attend the 15th Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) India summit and the 12th East Asia Summit in Manila on November 14.

During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will also hold a bilateral meeting with the President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, who is also the current chair of the ASEAN.

The Prime Minister will also meet some of the other world leaders, who are participating in the East Asia summit in Manila.

Prime Minister Modi would also participate in special celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of ASEAN.

The prime minister will also attend the ASEAN business and investment summit on November 13 and regional comprehensive economic partnership meeting on November 14 in Manila, emphasising these meetings were important as they would further enhance India's trade and investment ties with ASEAN member states, which constitute a significant over 10 per cent of India's external trade.

Prime Minister Modi will also meet the members of the Indian community at a reception to be hosted by the Indian envoy in Philippines. He will also visit the international rice research institute and the Mahavir Philippines Foundation.

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President Ram Nath Kovind, on his first visit to Madhya Pradesh after assuming office, was given a guard of honour at Raja Bhoj Airport.

On the first day of his visit, Major General AH Chauhan, Chief of Staff of Sudarshan Chakra Corps escorted the President to the saluting dais, where an Army unit gave him the guard of honour. The President then reviewed the parade commanded by Major Vineeth Nair.

President Kovind also graced the Sadguru Kabil Mahotsav in Bhopal and addressed the public there. Later in the day, he paid tributes to Rani Jhalkaribai at her statue in Bhopal.

Tomorrow, the President will address the 2nd convocation of the Indira Gandhi Tribal University at Amarkantak.

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The Qatar Airways Authorities on Saturday stated that safety, comfort and well-being of our passengers is their utmost priority.

The Airways statement had come after one of their pilots got sick midair while flying from travelling Thiruvananthapuram to Doha.

A Qatar Airways spokesperson said, "We can confirm that flight QR507 TRV-DOH was diverted to Goa International Airport early this morning. One hour and forty minutes after departure from Trivandrum International Airport as our pilot fell ill."

"As per Qatar Airways procedure in these instances, the aircraft was diverted to the nearest airport, Goa International Airport, where our well trained first officer landed the aircraft safely shortly before 07:00 am local time. The safety, comfort and well-being of our passengers is our utmost priority, and we have sent a relief aircraft to Goa to accommodate all passengers on a new flight to Doha, which is due to land in Doha at 05:30 pm local time," an official statement by the Airways said.

Earlier in the day, 124 passengers, three infants and nine crew members onboard, was scheduled to Doha when the incident happened.

The commander of the Qatar Airways, flight number QR 507, had taken off from Thiruvananthapuram to Doha, when the commander of the flight reported to Goa Air traffic control (ATC) that he is incapacitated.

Goa Dabolim Airport had on priority arranged for Qatar Airways landing.

The Goa Airport manager confirmed and told ANI, "QR507 safely landed at Goa airport at around 6.40 am due to flight commander."

Reportedly, the flight commander, who fell unconscious, was taken to local hospital for check up.

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Former world number one Andy Murray recently became a father for second time, and a Scottish butcher marked the baby's arrival in the weirdest way possible.

A day after it was announced that Murray and wife Kim Sears were blessed with a baby girl, a Scottish butcher, John Hill, created a creepy baby entirely of sausage.

Hill, who owns a shop in Dunblane, Scotland, is reportedly described as Murray's "old local butcher", the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Posing for a picture with the meat baby, the Scottish butcher said that he thought creation would be "a funny way to let people know" about their local hero's new arrival.

Murray and Kim, who got hitched at Dunblane Cathedral in April 2015, already have a daughter, Sophia, who was born in 2016.

The news of the arrival of the couple's new little princess emerged less than 24 hours after Murray played a charity match against 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.

It was Murray's first public appearance since suffering a hip injury at Wimbledon.

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At least three students, including two from China, were injured after a car slammed into a crowd of people outside a school in Toulouse, south-west France.

The driver, a 28-year-old man who was known to police for committing minor offences, was arrested at the scene, The Independent quoted police sources as saying.

The driver reportedly suffered from major psychological problems.

The crash is believed to have taken place in front of Saint-Exupery high school in the suburb of Blagnac, The Independent reported.

"Very shocked by the aggression towards the students in Blagnac. We offer all our support to them and their loved ones," the Mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc said in a tweet.

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United States President Donald Trump has lauded India for achieving astounding growth and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to bring together the country as one.

"India is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its independence. It is a sovereign democracy, as well as -- think of this -- over 1 billion people. It's the largest democracy in the . (Applause.) Since India opened its economy, it has achieved astounding growth and a new of opportunity for its expanding middle class," Trump said at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit here in Vietnam.

"And Prime Minister Modi has been working to bring that vast country, and its entire people, together as one. And he is working at it very, very successfully, indeed," he added.

Trump noted that countries outside of APEC were making great strides in this new chapter for the Indo-Pacific.

Trump and Prime Minister Modi are scheduled to attend the East Asia Summit beginning next week.

Trump's daughter and White House advisor Ivanka Trump will be attending the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad.

The Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) is the pre-eminent global entrepreneurship gathering, and it is being co-hosted by the U.S. and Indian governments in Hyderabad for 2017.

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Two doctors of Madhya Pradesh's Sultania Women Hospital have been suspended over an erroneous medical report that said the gangrape victim, a 19-year-old civil services aspirant, indulged in consensual sex with the culprits.

Bhopal Public Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Ajatshatru Srivastav had earlier on Thursday issued a notice to the doctors over 'a serious lapse in the medical report'.

Earlier, a senior doctor of the hospital had clarified that the medical reports of the victim were incorrect and had been rectified.

Dr Karan Peepre, Superintendent of the Sultania Women Hospital, said the erroneous report was made by a new joinee.

Speaking to ANI, Dr Peepre, said, "It was a mistake by a newcomer and now, the report has been rectified and issued again."

Earlier this month, the 19-year-old was abducted by four men and was allegedly gangraped near the Habibganj Railway Station in Bhopal.

All the four accused have been arrested.

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The United States' Congress has authorised to reimburse up to USD 700 million in Coalition Support Fund (CSF) for activities carried out in support of the U.S. operations in Afghanistan.

According to the Dawn, the authorisation was in the reconciled text of the House and Senate versions of the 2018 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA-2018), which was released on Thursday.

Pakistan will get USD 350 million of USD 700 million after the U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis certify that Pakistan took demonstrable steps against the Haqqani network.

However, the NDAA urged to the U.S. defence department to keep a check on the assistance provided to Pakistan, so that it can't be misused by supporting the militant groups.

The reconciled text also expressed concern about the alleged persecution of various political or religious groups in Pakistan, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, Baloch, Sindhi and Hazara.

The bill urged the defence secretary to ensure that Pakistan will not use any assistance provided by the U.S. to persecute minority groups.

Earlier in September,. the U.S. provided USD 255 million military aid to Pakistan, with conditions attached - the U.S. State Department saying that Islamabad can access the funds only if it acts against terror groups based in the tribal areas and stop cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

While announcing the new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, U.S. President Donald Trump excoriated Pakistan, saying "We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond."

The military aid to Pakistan was committed by the previous Obama administration in 2015, but the Trump administration has attached new conditions to further delay the release.

This move is initiated by the Trump administration to change the approach of the Pakistan government towards terror groups, the State Department said that while the U.S. valued its cooperation with Pakistan and wanted to see it continue.

"The President has been clear that we are looking into the Pakistani government to take a decisive action against the militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to the U.S. interests that Pakistan prevents terrorist sanctuaries," the message said.

"Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our efforts in the region."

The 255 million dollars in military assistance was the largest portion of an estimated 1.1 billion dollars of U.S. aid Congress had authorised in 2016.

The U.S. claims that more than 33 billion dollars in aid has been provided to Pakistan since 2002.

Although the volume of annual U.S. assistance to Pakistan at 1.1 billion dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars are withheld every year under different restrictions imposed since 2011, when relations between the two countries began to deteriorate after Osama bin Laden's discovery in Abbottabad.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for-entering into an Agreement between India and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income.

The Agreement will stimulate flow of investment, technology and personnel from India to HKSAR & vice versa, prevent double taxation and provide for exchange of information between the two Contracting Parties.

It will improve transparency in tax matters and will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.

Background:

In so far as India is concerned, the Central Government is authorized under Section 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to enter into an Agreement with a foreign country or specified territory for avoidance of double taxation of income, for exchange of information for the prevention of evasion or avoidance of income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961. This Agreement is on similar lines as entered into by India with other countries.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) for Subordinate Judiciary in the country.

The Commission is to be headed by Shri Justice (Retd. J P. Venkatrama Reddi, former Judge of Supreme Court of India. Shri R.

Basant, a former Judge of the Kerala High Court is the Member of the Commission.

The Commission will make its recommendations to the State Governments preferably within a period of 18 months.

It will examine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service of Judicial Officers in the States and UTs. The Commission aims to evolve the principles which would govern pay structure and other emoluments of Judicial Officers belonging to the Subordinate Judiciary of the country. It will examine the work methods and work environment as also the variety of allowance and benefits in kind that are available to Judicial Officers in addition to pay and to suggest rationalization and simplification thereof.

The Commission will devise its own procedures and formulate modalities necessary for accomplishing the task. The Commission also aims at making the pay scales and conditions of service of Judicial Officers uniform throughout the country.

The recommendations of the Commission will help in promoting efficiency in Judicial Administration, optimizing the size of judiciary etc. and to remove anomalies created in implementation of earlier recommendations.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has accorded its approval for continuation and restructuring of National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) to make it outcome-based, competitive and better monitored with increased focus on sustainability (functionality) of schemes to ensure good quality service delivery to the rural population.

A sum of Rs. 23,050 crore has been approved for the programme for the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) period 2017-18 to 2019-20. The programme will cover all the Rural Population across the country. The restructuring will make the programme flexible, result-oriented, competitive, and will enable the Ministry towards to reach the goal of increasing coverage of sustainable Piped Water Supply.

The details of the decision are as follows:

1. National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) is to be continued co-terminus with the 14th Finance Commission cycle till March 2020.

2. With the restructuring of the NRDWP, there will be 2% earmarking of funds for Japanese Encephalitis (JE) /Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) affected areas.

3. A new Sub-programme under NRDWP viz. National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) which has been started by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in February 2017 will address the urgent need for providing clean drinking water in about 28000 Arsenic & Fluoride affected habitations (already identified). As per estimates, about Rs. 12,500 crore as Central share will be required over 4 years i.e. up to March, 2021. This is being funded from the allocation under NRDWP.

4.

Pre-financing for the agreed schemes, to the extent of half of the second instalment amount, will be made by the State Governments, which will be reimbursed later on from the central funding. If the State(s) fails to claim this amount before 30th November in the financial year, then, these funds will become a part of the common pool, which will be released to the high performing States, which have already pre-financed the requisite Government of India share on a first come first serve basis.

5. Other half of second instalment of funds will be released to the States based on functionality status of completed piped water supply schemes, which will be evaluated through a third party.

6. The Cabinet has approved Rs. 23,050 crore for the programme for the FFC period 2017-18 to 2019-20.

The NWQSM aims to cover all rural population in Arsenic/Fluoride affected habitations with clean drinking water on a sustainable basis by March 2021. States have been given more flexibility in utilization of NRDWP funds by reducing the number of components under the programme.

As per the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, about 77% of rural habitations in India have achieved a fully covered (FC) status (40 litres per capita per day) and 56% of the rural population have access to tap water through public stand posts within which 16.7% have household connections.

Background:

The NRDWP was started in 2009, with a major emphasis on ensuring sustainability (source) of water availability in terms of potability, adequacy, convenience, affordability and equity. NRDWP is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with 50.50 fund sharing between the Centre and the States. Over the years, learning from the success achieved and the deficiencies felt during the implementation of NRDWP, certain modifications are needed in existing guidelines and procedure of release of funds to the States for making the programme more outcome-oriented and competitive.

Keeping in view the need to make the NRDWP more result-oriented, incentivize competition amongst States and focused on sustainability, a series of discussions were held with States, various stakeholders / domain experts / international institutions and NITI Aayog, some amendments in the guidelines of the programme have been introduced. These are giving more flexibility to the states in utilization of NRDWP funds by reducing the number of components under the programme. Focus on piped water supply, increase level of service delivery, thrust on coverage of water quality affected habitations (National Water Quality Sub-Mission to tackle Arsenic & Fluoride affected habitations, JE / AES areas), coverage of Open Defecation Free (ODF) declared villages, SAGY GPs, Ganga GPs, Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts, Border Out Posts (BOP) with piped water supply and Institutional set up for proper O&M of water supply assets etc. have been introduced.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the following proposals of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion:

(a) Development of Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (ECC), Dwarka and allied infrastructure in PPP and non-PPP Mode (including Exhibition & Convention spaces, arena, trunk-infrastructure, Metro/NHAI connectivity, hotels, office and retail spaces etc.) at an estimated cost of Rs. 25,703 crore by year 2025.

(b) Incorporation of a new Government company as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the implementation and development of the project with 100% equity from Government through Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. Government of India will provide budgetary support of Rs. 2037.39 crore to the SPV as equity over a period of 3 years to fund trunk infrastructure, a part of Exhibition centre, Foyer, Convention Centre, Metro connectivity, NHAI road connectivity including cost of land to be paid to DDA, water & Sewerage infrastructure, Railway land for Metro Connectivity and expenses towards other Non-PPP components.

(c) Mobilization of Rs.1,381 crore from the market as Government guaranteed loan and utilization of Rs. 4,000 crore by way of monetization of Government-owned land and annual project revenue by the SPV. The proceeds from land monetization and annual returns accrued by the SPV will be utilized for funding the non-PPP components of the Project.

(d) DMICDC will act as a knowledge partner for the project on payment of an annual fee @1% of the yearly internal accruals, subject to a minimum of Rs. 5 crore and maximum of Rs.10 crore per annum for an initial period of 10 years.

(e) Board of the SPV will be authorized to approve revision in detailed cost estimates, break-up of quantities of project components, phasing of the project, change in scope etc. depending upon the requirement at various stages of project, within the overall approved financial limits. SPV would also be authorized to raise debt/ mobilize resources through land monetization depending upon market conditions.

Phase-1 of the project comprising trunk infrastructure along with Exhibition cum Convention Centre will be implemented and commissioned by December 2019. These will be implemented as non-PPP component. Phase-2 of the project comprising of the remaining Exhibition area will be implemented by 2025.

The components comprising hotels, retail space and offices will be implemented in PPP mode.

It is estimated that the proposed ECC facility, once fully operational, will infuse a demand for more than 100 major international and local exhibition events annually. The number of persons visiting the exhibition facility annually (paying visitors) is estimated to be more than 10 million in the first phase (2019-20) and 23 million after completion of the second phase (2025). Similarly, convention based delegate attendance is estimated to cross 1.5 million annually after successful completion of second phase of the project.

Project is estimated to generate over five lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities. The job creation will happen in core ECC facilities as well as in supporting ECC land uses like retail, office and hospitality.

Background:

Conferences and Exhibitions are vital links to connect local manufacturers with global buyers and to serve as a platform for exchange of business ideas. India lacks an integrated world class facility which can meet the requirements of global exhibition-cum convention operators in terms of space, project facilities, transportation linkages, etc. at a large scale. Development of Exhibition-cum-Convention (ECC) Centre at Dwarka accompanied with supporting components, once fully operational is expected to bring New Delhi in the league of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore in the area of exhibition market.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Philippines in the field of agriculture and related fields.

The MoU will improve bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and will be mutually beneficial to both countries.

It will promote understanding of best agricultural practices in the two countries and will help in better productivity as well as improved global market access.

This MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of rice production and processing, multi cropping system, dryland farming systems, bio-organic farming, solid and water conservation and management, soil fertility, sericulture, agro forestry, livestock improvement etc.

The MoU provides for constitution of Joint Working Group composed of equal number of representatives.

The Joint Working Group shall meet once every two years alternatively in the Philippines and India.

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With effect from 10 November 2017

Gammon Infrastructure Projects announced that Renuka Matkari has resigned from the Company due to personal reasons and has been relieved as the Company Secretary and Compliance Officer of the Company effective from 10 November 2017.

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Sales rise 9.91% to Rs 1598.21 crore

Net profit of Jain Irrigation Systems declined 52.39% to Rs 14.33 crore in the quarter ended September 2017 as against Rs 30.10 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2016. Sales rose 9.91% to Rs 1598.21 crore in the quarter ended September 2017 as against Rs 1454.08 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2016.1598.211454.0812.4413.08102.2286.5019.8212.7114.3330.10

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Sales decline 56.62% to Rs 1187.02 crore

Net profit of Suzlon Energy declined 72.06% to Rs 68.10 crore in the quarter ended September 2017 as against Rs 243.75 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2016. Sales declined 56.62% to Rs 1187.02 crore in the quarter ended September 2017 as against Rs 2736.10 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2016.1187.022736.100.6722.62-295.08343.33-374.29251.1168.10243.75

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Arunachal Pradesh is Indian territory and the opinion of others on the issue is not a concern for India, Defence Minister said on Saturday, days after China objected to her visit to the state.

Asked about China's objection to her recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence Minister said: "What is the problem? There is no problem here. It is our territory, we will go there".

"We are not concerned with someone else's opinion on this", she added.

Sitharaman visited a forward army post in Arunachal Pradesh on November 5 to take stock of the defence preparedness and the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Later, China reacted angrily to the visit, saying the visit to the "disputed" region would not be conducive to peace on the border. China has maintained that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of south Tibet, a claim which is not accepted by India.

Asked if the issue of giving shelter to Dalai Lama and the Tibetan refugees was a bone of contention in India-China relations, the minister said every issue has its own "weight".

"A relationship can't be made or broken over one issue. Every subject has its own weight", she said at a press conference here.

The minister is campaigning in Gujarat for the coming assembly elections.

On the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Naval officer who was arrested in Pakistan and accused of spying, the minister said India was making all efforts to get him back, and added that if Pakistan allowed his wife to visit him, it would be a good humanitarian gesture.

"The case of Kulbhushan Jadhav is pending in the International Court and India is making all efforts so that he is released. I don't know what is the position on Pakistan allowing his wife to visit him, but it would be good as a humanitarian consideration, and it will help in boosting his morale", she said.

Speaking on Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said the state government was taking steps to rein in terrorism, and lauded the state police for its actions.

"In the last one year, you have seen that stone-pelting has almost stopped and I want to give credit to the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The state government is an elected government and they are visiting villages to resolve these issues", she said.
Bangladesh's Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has resigned, six weeks after he went on long leave amid criticism by the ruling party over his decision to scrap Parliament's authority to impeach Supreme Court judges.

The President's office said on Saturday that it had received a letter of resignation from Sinha, who is abroad.

Sinha, the country's first Hindu Chief Justice in Muslim majority Bangladesh, took office on January 17, 2015. His tenure was to end in January next year, Bdnews24.com reported.

He came under fire from the ruling Awami League party after the top court in July this year scrapped the 16th constitutional amendment, stripping the Parliament of its power to impeach apex court judges.

Ruling party leaders also attacked Sinha for his observations on Bangladesh's politics, past dictatorships, Election Commission, corruption, governance and judiciary in the verdict.

The Awami League accused him of "belittling" the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in some of the observations.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former Premier Khaleda Zia had welcomed the verdict, which restored the Supreme Judicial Council provision in the Constitution, a system introduced during the party founder Ziaur Rahman's military rule to sack top court judges.

Sinha sat in his office for the last time on August 24 before the annual vacation of the apex court started. The government announced his "sick" leave on October 3, a day before the vacation ended.

He left Bangladesh for Australia on October 13, to stay with his eldest daughter Suchana Sinha.

Before leaving, he issued a statement, saying he was "not sick" and was "quite embarrassed" about how a specific political quarter, including some ministers and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself, had criticised him over one of the verdict.

On October 2, the Chief Justice applied to President Md Abdul Hamid for a one-month leave that ended on November 1.

While on leave, the CJ requested the President to extend his leave till November 10, which ended on Friday.

On August 1, the Supreme Court had published the full verdict on the annulment of the 16th amendment to the constitution.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir accused the government of forcing Sinha to go abroad to "establish its full control over the judiciary".

"It's now clear to the entire nation that the government has taken all the steps to send the Chief Justice abroad by force," Alamgir said.

A day after Sinha's departure, the Supreme Court in a rare statement described Sinha's statement as "misleading".

According to the apex court, Sinha faces 11 specific charges, including graft, money laundering and moral lapse, for which his colleagues in the Appellate Division refused to work with him.

A government order said President Abdul Hamid appointed Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah as the acting Chief Justice. He will perform the duties until a new appointment.

--IANS

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In the backdrop of the government's recent announcement of Rs 2.11 lakh-crore recapitalisation package for public sector banks (PSBs), former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Bimal Jalan on Saturday said the move was expected much earlier.

"Bank recapitalisation is a very positive move under the present circumstances. But why could not we as government get into it earlier than now," Jalan said at the 2017-18 mid-year review of the Indian economy, organised here by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

He said the move should have come in 2014 itself and added that it was delayed by three years.

However, he lauded the efforts taken to improve the health of PSBs, saying "whatever action we have taken is very positive".

Talking about the festering issue of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans of public lenders, Jalan said the reason behind its rapid increase should be studied.

"As far as NPAs are concerned, as citizens of India what we have to figure out is why did it increase to 12 per cent. Normally NPAs are supposed to be 4-5 per cent," he added.

According to Jalan, since the country has a majority government at the Centre, long-term reforms, difficult reforms, political reforms, economic reforms, governance reforms and public sector reforms are quite feasible now.

"What we need is administrative reform as well as political reform of very basic nature. Another issue is that of implementation which is undoubtedly the most important part. Do not only announce policy but also implement it," he stressed.

He further noted that if India wanted to realise its full potential in the future, there were certain basic issues like these that needed to be tackled for medium and long term.

"We have to ensure timely action and implementation. Political leadership can monitor the progress of bureaucratic and administrative reforms," Jalan said.

--IANS

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Music executive Benny Medina has been accused of attempting to rape "Sordid Lives" actor Jason Dottley.

In an article published by the Advocate on Friday, Dottley, 36, claimed Medina, who has managed the careers of several A-list stars like Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and Mariah Carey, as well as executive producing "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (which was based on his life), allegedly tried to rape him at Medina's Los Angeles mansion in December 2008.

Medina's attorneys Howard Weitzman and Shawn Holley said in a statement to people.com, "Benny Medina categorically denies the allegation of attempted rape."

The actor claimed Medina invited him and a friend, fellow actor T. Ashanti Mozelle, for a tour of the home, at which point Medina led Dottley to his bedroom and allegedly attacked him.

Mozelle, who had been swimming in Medina's pool, told the Advocate he walked into the bedroom and claimed he saw the music executive on top of Dottley.

"(Mozelle) burst in the room and (was) screaming something like, 'Get off him!'" Dottley told the publication.

He added: "Benny Medina got off of me and grabbed me again by the chest of my shirt and threw me at - not to, but at - his bedroom door and all he said was 'You two get the f- out of here.'"

Dottley told people.com Friday he was left feeling "powerless" during and after the alleged attack.

"What I remember most about the encounter with Benny was the feeling of giving up," Dottley says.

"The moment I realised that I could not fight him off, that I was slowly losing my ability to breathe because of his arm on my neck, that moment of complete and utter powerlessness, that's what I remember the most," he added.

--IANS

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Refuting BJP's new entrant Mukul Roy's comments relating to Biswa Bangla Marketing Corporation, a senior West Bengal government official on Saturday said the company is wholly owned by the state government.

"The Biswa Bangla Marketing Corporation was incorporated by December 31, 2014 and its share holders are three government officials. It is not a private entity. Its paid- up capital was paid by the state MSME (Micro, Small, Medium Enterprise) and Textiles Department," Additional Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha told reporters at the state Secretariat Nabanna.

The department has promoted Biswa Bangla Marketing Corporation to improve the quality of life of Bengal's handloom weavers, crafts-persons and custodians of heritage, according to its website.

Roy, who was one of the founding members of Trinamool Congress, had said on Friday that the party was now more of a private limited company than a political outfit and alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "Biswa Bangla" (the name by which she brands the state) was nothing but a company owned by her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

But Sinha also clarified that the Biswa Bangla logo has been created by Banerjee. "In 2014, she transferred the logo to us with an agreement. She is creator of the logo and we are the user.

"After completing the agreement, we went for registering it to the trademark registry. They had said one or two applications were submitted against the same for the registration."

However, the previous applications were withdrawn by the applicants and the Registrar of Trademarks had accepted it.

Sinha also said any department of the state government can use the logo for their programme.

Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya, who had also refuted Roy, said the Biswa Bangla brand has been promoting as the brand of the people of Bengal.

He also reiterated: "It is a government company and rights to the logo have been transferred to the company. In a private capacity, Chief Minister created the logo and handed it over."

Reacting to this, Roy on Saturday said he has been waiting for a legal battle. "I heard of that the legal notice would be served to me. Let the notice come, we will face the legal battle," he said.

Meanwhile, taking a dig at Roy, suspended Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh on Saturday alleged a Rs 9.18 crore was received by the Trinamool from different entities for elections and a majority of the fund came when Roy served the party as its General Secretary.

Multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam accused Ghosh, who was behind bars for over three years, also demanded explanation and clarification from Roy for receiving money from the entities which showed improper balance between their income and expenditure in their respective balance sheet.

However, Roy said he would respond later.

--IANS

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The Congress on Saturday demanded that petroleum products, real estate and electricity be brought under the GST's ambit, as it claimed that persistent pressure by it and its Vice President Rahul Gandhi had forced the GST Council and the BJP government to reduce tax rates on several items from 28 per cent.

The party also said that "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gabbar Singh Tax" (as Rahul Gandhi dubbed it) is shrewdly designed" to help his wealthy friends but hurts millions of small traders.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a statement that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke "post-truths" after the GST Council meeting on Friday while the will of the people did partially prevail the government's "arrogance".

"Persistent pressure built by the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party forced the GST Council and the BJP Government to reduce taxes on items of daily usage being taxed under the 28 per cent bracket. The political turmoil and widespread protests have made Modi Government extremely nervous and partially backtrack," he said.

"But people of India, particularly shopkeepers, traders, MSMEs, are distressed with the lopsided architecture, design and implementation mechanism of Modi ji's 'Gabbar Singh Tax'," he added.

The Congress, which has been demanding to constitutionally cap the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at a maximum of 18 per cent, said that if electricity, petroleum, real estate are kept out, 50 per cent of total revenue stays out of GST ambit.

"This means that the Modi government can continue to fill its coffers with Rs 2,67,000 crore annually by its back-breaking dose of taxation on petrol and diesel," Surjewala said.

Seeking to reduce GST's "compliance burden", he said that complex process of form filing has brought businesses, trades and MSMEs to a grinding halt, "while GSTN continues to crash repeatedly".

Stressing the challenges being faced by textiles sector and agriculture sector, Surjewala said the GST Council had not addressed them "owing to the sheer ineptitude and amateurish handling of the biggest tax reform by BJP government".

"As Finance Minister Jaitley and the Modi government pay lip service and create havoc, the Congress is determined to fight this battle for turning GST from flawed to flawless," he said.

He said textiles was second biggest employment generator after agriculture but continues to face deep stress owing to "distorted" duty structure, where fibre is taxed at 12 pe rcent, the end-product, i.e. fabric, attracts a tax of 5 per cent.

"This is threatening the livelihood and profitability of non-integrated textile players of man made fibre (70 pe rcent of total), while helping the big fish to make huge profits," Surjewala said, adding that this "gross discrimination" has not been corrected, jeopardising the livelihood of millions from Surat to Panipat and Ludhiana to Tirupur.

He also said agriculture sector was being taxed for the first time with tractor and all other agricultural implements (12 percent), tyres, tubes and transmission parts (18 per cent), pesticides (18 per cent), fertilisers (5 per cent) and cold storage 18 per cent.

"There is no relief to 62 crore people engaged in agriculture," he said.

He said implementation of TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) and TCS (Tax Collection at Source) remains postponed till March 31 next year, Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) requiring the purchaser to deposit GST on purchase from a GST unregistered individual/entity also remains postponed for the period and 'E-Way Bill' concept has already been deferred till April next year.

--IANS

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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his party will continue to fight the 'Gabbar Singh tax' -- Gandhi's acronym for GST, to reduce the tax cap to 18 per cent from the current 28 per cent.

In a tweet, Gandhi said India needs a "simple" Goods and Services Tax, not a "Gabbar Singh tax".

"Congress and people of the country fought to lower the 28 per cent GST rate on many items. Our struggle for 18 per cent cap will continue. If the BJP will not do this, Congress will do it," Gandhi said.

On Friday, the GST Council slashed the tax rates on 178 goods from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

--IANS

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The Delhi government on Saturday put on hold the odd-even traffic rationing system from Monday saying it would approach the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and request that women drivers and two-wheelers be exempted, hours after the green court okayed the scheme but with only emergency vehicles exempted, in a major move to curb rising pollution.

According to Safar (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research), Delhi's air quality stood at "severe" on Monday, with PM10 readings at 645 microgrammes per cubic metre and PM2.5 at 416 microgrammes per cubic metre. Tuesday's forecast for the city also remains severe, although with a dip in PM10 and PM2.5 particle readings. Three days from now, Safar forecasts the air quality in the capital to be "very poor". (click here to check air quality in your city)



Delhi meanwhile continued to wrestle with toxic air on Saturday as the level of pollutants were in the severe category for the fifth successive day. The US-based passenger carrier United Airlines temporarily suspended its Newark-IGI airport flights due to concerns over poor air quality in New Delhi.

Earlier in the day, the NGT gave the go-ahead to the odd-even scheme from November 13-17 and said there will be no exemptions for women, two-wheelers, and government vehicles.

After the NGT order, the Delhi government said it will approach the top green court again on Monday and request that exemptions be given for women drivers and two-wheelers, and subject to its decision, the government will "consider implementing it again".

Delhi government had decided to implement the odd-even scheme for five days from November 13 to 17.

The NGT, in its order, also said that in future the odd-even scheme should automatically come into force if the PM2.5 and PM10, particles in the air with a diameter less than 2.5 and 10mm respectively, go above the 300 and 500 units for 48 hours.

The tribunal directed that odd-even should be implemented "right away" without waiting for 48 hours, in case PM2.5 and PM10 go beyond 400 and 700 units respectively.

The NGT also asked the city government to reconsider the four-times hike in the parking fee.

"The odd-even will go on. No exemption of any kind to anyone, including two-wheelers, women, public officers or politicians, except essential services," NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said on Saturday.

He said only CNG vehicles, emergency services such as ambulance and fire, and vehicles carrying waste shall be exempted.

The Tribunal disapproved all the exemptions that were given by the city government during the previous two phases of odd-even in January and April 2016. The exemptions were given to women, two-wheelers, vehicles carrying children in school uniforms and VVIPs.

The odd-even traffic plan is among the remedies that have to come into force in accordance with the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to deal with air pollution.

After NGT's order, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting and decided not to go ahead with the third phase without exemptions, pointing to concerns over "women security" and "insufficient public transport".

"At the moment we are calling it off. We will again approach the NGT and will ask them to allow exemptions to women and two-wheelers," Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said here.

"This government gives highest priority to the safety and security of women."

"Further, this government feels that considering the large number of two-wheelers in Delhi, unless adequate number of buses are available, implementation of odd-even will cause great hardship to such persons. This is not feasible to arrange such a large number of buses at this stage," a Delhi government statement said.

The NGT's order came a day after it questioned the efficacy of the odd-even scheme and sought details about the earlier implementation.

On Saturday, the air quality in Delhi-NCR region showed slight improvement towards the afternoon but the pollution levels shot up again later.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded that Delhi's average AQI at 7 p.m. was 445 (on a scale of 0 to 500) while the PM2.5 hovered around 442 units, considered "severe".

Ghaziabad was the most polluted region in NCR region AQI of 497 at 7 p.m. while PM2.5 reached a dangerous 945 units -- 37 times the safe limit.

The average AQI in Delhi-NCR combined was 442 with PM2.5 recorded at 440 units.

"There has been some improvement. We are hoping it would get better tomorrow (Sunday)," Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) chairperson Bhure Lal told IANS.

According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), Delhi's air is set to improve from 'severe' to 'very poor' on Sunday.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also predicted rains in Delhi on November 13 and 14. This, say experts, will help in markedly improving the air quality of Delhi-NCR.

Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan asked residents of the national capital not to panic and said air quality has been improving over the last two days.

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As smog continued to envelop Delhi and NCR for the fifth day in row, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday urged the people not to panic stating that air quality has been improving over the last two days.

The Minister pointed out that for the first time this year a focussed approach has been adopted to deal with emergency-like situations through Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Several restrictions such as stopping truck movement and banning diesel generator sets are imposed under GRAP, depending on the severity of the air quality.

"Air quality has been improving over the last two day, people of Delhi need not panic," the Minister said.

Particle pollution in the air in Delhi reached 'severe-plus or emergency' levels in Delhi and NCR with major pollutants calculated 35 times the safe-limits at certain spots on Saturday.

The Minister said that focussed attention at the highest level has been ensured through committees headed by the Union Minister, Minister of State and Secretary.

"Crop residue and stubble burning have been under detailed discussions during all these meetings," the Minister said, referring to the review meetings with concerned state governments and agencies.

Earlier, the Union Environment Ministry on Thursday formed a seven-member committee to work out short and long -term measures to fight air pollution. The committee is headed by Environment Secretary C.K. Mishra.

"GRAP must be earnestly and meticulously implemented by the concerned state governments, as well as municipal and civic organisations," the Minister said.

Harsh Vardhan also underlined the augmenting of the number of monitoring stations in Delhi-NCR to enhance the quality of information system.

He said that as a part of advance planning and special intervention, 40 monitoring teams of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have been deployed since September 1, 2017 to give feedback on the ground situation and air polluting activities in Delhi.

"A systemic response mechanism was put in place for the last one year and regular alerts were conveyed to all stakeholders", the Minister said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stressing women safety issues in the capital, Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Jai Hind on Saturday criticised the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) order against exemptions in the odd-even scheme and sought the inclusion of single women drivers.

She also condemned the NGT for its order on the inclusion of two-wheelers in the vehicle rationing scheme that was supposed to be enforced from November 13-17 but the Delhi government refused to implement without these two exemptions.

In a series of tweets, she asked whether the NGT had checked availability of buses and Metro services before ordering the 60 lakh people using two-wheelers won't be exempted, or consult women about concerns on women safety. "It's an impractical order which shall ensure odd even failure!" she said.

She said she believed in gender equality and would herself never avail any exemptions but stressed that letting off women from the road rationing scheme was a necessity due to security reasons.

"Like most women, I am against exemptions and wont avail any. But exemptions to women in odd even is a necessity due to serious security concerns. However, I totally support NO exemptions to VIP & Govt Servants," she tweeted.

Jai Hind said that they she met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and have requested him that "in case such impractical decisions of NGT stay", the odd-even measure should be scrapped. "Can't compromise with already fragile women safety scenario in the Capital!" she said.

Noting that the NGT has banned all protests and demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, she said that in another wrong and "sad" move, the green court has "failed the odd-even plan", and should review its which is "impractical and far removed from ground reality". Good only 4 a perfect world, which we are not!" she said.

Jai Hind also tweeted pictures of the paper carrying recommendations that the DCW had made for the second phase of the scheme enforced in April 2016 after soliciting the opinion of the women of Delhi in order.

The April 2016 letter said that most of the women representatives unanimously agreed that exemption should be given to them during the second phase.

"The arguments remain the same even today," she said.

The first phase of the odd-even rule was implemented by the Delhi government from January 1 to 15 and the second phase from April 15 to 30 last year.

During these two phases, the restrictions did not apply to the CNG and electric cars, two-wheelers and cars driven by women with a male companion not above 12.

Vehicles for medical emergencies, occupied or driven by people with disabilities, VVIPs and enforcement cars were also allowed to run on all days.

Making changes in the plan that was implemented in the previous two phases, the NGT on Saturday ruled that only emergency vehicles such as ambulances and MCD garbage vans and fire brigade vehicles will be exempted.

--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 highest court has ruled in favour of Morocco in an extortion case involving two French journalists, which can lead to their conviction.

The French Court of Cassation on Friday ruled that two clandestine recordings incriminating French journalists Catherine Graciet and Eric Laurent, who are being prosecuted for blackmail and extortion of money from King Mohammed VI, are admissible as evidence in the now two-year-old case.

The ruling is "a very great victory" for the Kingdom, "since there is no longer any obstacle to the prosecution of these journalists which can only lead to their conviction," Patrice Spinosi, lawyer of the Moroccan party, told MAP news agency at the end of the hearing.

"Beyond the case of the Kingdom of Morocco, this decision enshrines the right of every victim to use any form of proof, including recordings," he added.

Paris' Court of appeal had rejected in February a request made by the lawyers of the French journalists to rule out tape recordings, according to which they would have asked for a sum of money in return for the non-publication of a critical book on the Kingdom.

The recordings confirm the extortion operation, the lawyer of the Moroccan party said at that time.

He had noted that besides tape recordings, the two journalists were arrested with a sum of 40,000 euros and signed a document acknowledging that they demanded two million euros to stop "systematically interfering in Morocco through their writings and actions".

Eric Laurent had contacted the royal office to announce that he is about to publish, along with Catherine Graciet, a book on Morocco and that he is ready to give it up for the sum of three million euros.

After a first meeting between the journalist and the lawyer representing the Moroccan party, Morocco decided to file a complaint with the Paris' public prosecutor.

A meeting with the French journalist was organized under the supervision of the police and the public prosecutor's office, during which Eric Laurent's remarks were recorded and pictures were taken.

During the third meeting, held under police supervision, Laurent and Graciet were given a sum of money, which they accepted and even signed a document in which they promised to never write about the kingdom.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that Kashmir interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma after holding talks with all stakeholders would come out with recommendations on further improving the situation in the state, and hoped the efforts would provide some breakthrough.

He also described radicalisation as a "global phenomena", and said India has been least affected by it because of the Muslim community's faith in true Islam.

He accused Pakistan of destabilising India.

"Our neighbouring country is not desisting from its mischievous acts. It has been trying to disrupt us," he said, speaking at an event.

Claiming that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved a lot since the new regime took over in Delhi, Singh said: "The number of incidents have now lowered from 6000 in 1995 to 300 today. There has been improvement in the situation.

"Recently we have appointed Dineshwar Sharma as our Special Representative to Jammu and Kashmir. He will talk to all the stake holders and come out with recommendations that what steps the central government should take further to improve the situation," he said hoping that the efforts would be fruitful with some "breakthrough".

Rajnath Singh's remarks came a day after the Union Home Ministry formed two new divisions to exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalisation and cyber crime.

Sharma on Friday concluded a five-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir and said he would return soon to continue his mission to hold a sustained dialogue process that includes different viewpoints in the state.

On radicalisation and the Islamic State, the Minister said: "There is a general perception that radicalisation is happening. It has become a global phenomenon. As far as India is concerned, it has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia. Despite that, it has been least affected."

The BJP leader, however, gave credit to Indian Muslims for rejecting the Islamic State and its ideology.

"I would like to give credit to followers of Islam in the country," he said.

--IANS

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A 26-year-old man, kingpin of an interstate racket supplying illegal firearms to criminals in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested with 20 automatic pistols and 100 cartridges from Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi city, police said on Saturday.

Police said the accused, Salman, a resident of Jhansi, was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.

"He was arrested from Jhansi on Thursday night when he was on his way to deliver a consignment of the seized arms to his contact in Uttar Pradesh," Deputy Commissioner of Police P.S. Kushwah said.

Salman's arrest could be made following the arrest of two arms suppliers -- Kailash, 35, and Maal Singh, 37, residents of Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. They had disclosed about Salman's illegal arms and ammunition trade in Delhi and adjoining states.

"On interrogation, Salman told police that after he left studies, he joined a gang of arms suppliers and used to purchase sophisticated firearms and ammunition from Khargone and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh," Kushwah said.

For the last three years, he had started his own interstate gang and was supplying arms to criminals operating in the Delhi-UP-Haryana region, Kushwah said.

Salman used to charge Rs 15,000-20,000 for each pistol, he added.

--IANS

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Here's one man who can't just sit still: He runs a hugely-successful fine diner in New York, his auction of a 16 kg tome on Indian cuisine raised Rs 30 lakh that will go to feeding 200,000 underprivileged children, and he scored a hat-trick at Cannes with the premier of a documentary on his journey from Amritsar to the Big Apple. Now, Michelin-starred Chef Vikas Khanna returns to his alma mater with India's first living culinary museum that will eventually display over 10,000 objects.

"Life is so much about a second chance and survival. I think that saving even just one of a kind is... a victory. Most of the pieces (displayed) are so iconic that they are being showcased as a witness to our culture," Khanna, the museum's founder and curator, told IANS of the $4 million venture at the Welcome group Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal University, Karnataka.

"The idea for a museum came to me after I started living in the US, which has over 5,000 museums. There is a museum in the US to showcase how the computer was invented, somebody has put together one on the origin and developments of making glass. It is fascinating to know how the glass in your hand has been made. They have spent billions of dollars to showcase their culture and I thought our children too need to understand their heritage and culture," Khanna explained.

"It is a very big project I want to preserve all of our country's rich culinary history in our humble way. There is no other place in the world, believe me, which has such diversity. And what better way to do it than with food. The history of India's rich tradition of culinary arts must be preserved to educate the generations to come," he added.

Noting that he has been collecting "bartans" (utensils) all his life, he said: "My New York apartment was literally overflowing with them. There were so many rolling pins, utensils of all shapes and sizes, tea strainers of different types -- people didn't even know what some of these were used for. One can find vessels from Kashmir (and cities like) Jammu, Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi and so on."

Quite appropriately, the museum, spread over 25,000 sq. ft., is shaped in the form of a giant pot very similar to the ones found in Harappa. Though it is set to formally open only next April, the museum already boasts of thousands of objects such as the plates made by the Portuguese in India, a 100-year-old ladle used to dole out food at temples, vessels from the Konkan, Udipi and Chettinad regions, an old seed sprinkler, bowls dating to the Harappan era, an ancient samovar -- the list is endless. The displays will be rotated all the time.

"I have one of the oldest Indian Jewish Seder plates (the focal point of the proceedings on the first two nights of Passover)... unique churners and measuring and weighing tools are really fascinating," Khanna said.

The display will be in a staggering 17 categories, among them samovars, pots, cups and saucers; tiffins and containers, pots and pans; plates and thaals; spoons, ladles, strainers; graters and knives; whiskers, mixers, churners; spice grinder's and boxes; serving dishes; rolling pins, boards, tawas; stoves, chulhas; rice sieves and measuring tools for dry and liquid goods.

"This is a living museum; people can donate their unique utensils and we will display them after screening. I will keep adding to the collection as long as I am alive. The museum should feature over 10,000 objects in the near future. Once the museum is completed for the public, we have a full global plan to loan utensils to museums in New York, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing, London and many more cities around the world to showcase our heritage," Khanna said.

"This would help us to bring these pieces of art, culture, traditions and evolution to global attention," he added.

What of the challenges faced while pursuing the project?

"The greatest challenge was travel. So, while I was on scheduled tours for MasterChef (India Seasons 2-5 and Masterchef Junior on which he was a judge) and UTSAV (the 16 kg tome), we clubbed everything together. I have handpicked most of the stuff.

"I still remember a phone call from Mumbai at 4 a.m. (NY time) and the guy was super excited to tell me about a bucket that fits in 36 utensils from burners to plates to rolling boards to kadhais to pots. I told him in my sleep, just buy it. It's one of my favourite pieces," Khanna said.

That sure signals the satisfaction one gets for a job well done.

(Vishnu Makhijani can be contacted at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apparently worried about his government's image, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a pep talk with his council of ministers, telling them to spread the good word about the government's policies and initiatives at the ground level.

At a meeting of his Council of Ministers on Friday night, Modi asked his colleagues to work hard and ensure that the change in the lives of the people brought about by the government's policies and actions was widely communicated.

At the meeting, a detailed presentation by three ministers was given on how various programmes and initiatives of the government had brought about "Ease of Living" in the lives of the people. The meeting also saw a presentation on social media by a top PMO official, sources said.

They said the presentation on "Ease of Living" lasted about an hour and had three parts with over 90 slides highlighting the work done by the government in the last three-and-a-half years.

The Ease of Living presentations were made by Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekahwat, Minister of State for Skill Development Anantkumar Hegde and Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

This was the first such meeting after Modi reshuffled his Council of Ministers in September paving the way for new entrants. Interestingly, all the three ministers, who gave the presentations, were inducted into the ministry in the last reshuffle

Besides demonetisation and GST, such schemes like Mudra, Digital India, affordable housing and Ujjawala Yojana figured in the presentations claiming that these have made life easier for people.

The meeting of the Council of Ministers followed a meeting of the union Cabinet.

It came days after India jumped 30 spots to secure a place among the top 100 countries in the World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business" ranking list.

Modi dubbed the jump in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking also as an improvement in the ease of living life, stating that it implied that life had become easier for the country's common man and the middle class.

Amid relentless attacks by Congress and other opposition parties over demonetisation and roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax, the government is keen to communicate to the people the impact of its welfare initiatives.

--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 paid tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Acharya J.B. Kripalani on their birth anniversaries.

"Tributes to two stalwarts of Indian history,... Their contribution towards India's freedom movement and after, was extremely beneficial in building our nation," Modi said in a tweet.

Azad, an academician and a freedom fighter, was India's first Education Minister, who laid the foundation for an educated nation. He was also a posthumous recipient of the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour.

His birthday is celebrated as "National Education Day" since 2008.

Azad was born as Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin in 1888 in Mecca (now Makkah). He passed away on February 22, 1958, in Delhi.

Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani was also born in 1888 in Hyderabad now in Pakistan's Sindh province.

In 1917, Kripalani first came into contact with Mahatma Gandhi during the Champaran Satyagraha which turned him into a fully dedicated nationalist.

He was the President of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power from the British in 1947. Acharya Kripalani passed away on March 19, 1982.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A North Korean man has pleaded with Chinese President Xi Jinping not to forcibly repatriate his wife and young son, saying they face imprisonment or death if sent home, a media report said on Saturday.

The woman and her four-year-old son are understood to have been among a group of 10 North Koreans who were arrested in a raid on a safe house in China's Liaoning province on November 4, the BBC report said.

The man, who asked to be identified only as Lee, fled to South Korea in 2015. He recorded his plea in a video message, which was passed to the BBC.

He said his wife and son would "either face execution or wither away in a political prison camp" if sent back to North Korea.

"I wish China's Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump would think of my child as their grandchild and send my son to the free country, South Korea.

"Please help us. Save my family from repatriation. As the father, I beg the two leaders to help my family. Please help us," he added.

Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a news briefing that she was unaware of details of the case, the BBC reported.

She said China consistently upholds the handling of such matters in accordance with domestic and international law and humanitarian principles.

The arrests come amid a crackdown by China on North Korean defectors. Chinese security services have apprehended at least 49 North Koreans in the three months between July and September, according to the Human Rights Watch.

At least nine of those arrested over the past three months are known to have been forcibly repatriated back to North Korea, the rights group said.

The number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea dropped by 13 per cent this year, according to officials in Seoul's Unification Ministry.

From January to August, 780 North Koreans escaped to South Korea, it added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Green Tribunal on Saturday gave the go ahead to the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme from November 13-17 and said there will be no exemption for women, two-wheelers and government vehicles.

It said that in future the odd-even scheme will automatically come into force if the PM2.5 level goes above 300 and PM10 crosses the 500 mark.

The NGT also asked the Delhi government to reconsider the decision on hiking parking fees.

The NGT ruled that only emergency vehicles such as ambulances and MCD garbage vans and fire brigade vehicles will be exempted.

"The odd-even will go on. No exemption of any kind to any one including two-wheelers, women, public officers or politicians, except essential services. Odd-even will come in force by default in future in case Delhi's air gets severe," NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

Asking the Delhi government to reconsider hike in parking fees, he said: "Why should the common man suffer. Why should burden come on the common man? We are unable to appreciate this parking fee hike decision."

Rajiv Bansal, counsel representing DDA, told reporters after the hearing that the "NGT has said in its order that odd-even will be implemented automatically if the PM2.5 level goes above 300 and PM10 level goes above 500".

The safe limit for PM2.5 and PM10 as per international standards is 25 and 60 microgrammes per cubic meters, while according to national standards it is 40 and 100 units respectively.

The country's top green court had on Friday questioned the efficacy of the Delhi government's proposed odd-even vehicle rationing scheme.

It had sought details about how the earlier implementation of the odd-even scheme had helped in reducing the ambient air pollution in Delhi.

The court had directed the Delhi government to furnish the data before it starts the scheme again.

The Delhi government had on Thursday announced it would bring back the plan from November 13 to 17 to combat severe air pollution in Delhi and the NCR region.

The NGT had said while it was not against the scheme, it wanted to know how it helps.

"We will not allow odd-even vehicle rationalisation scheme until you prove that it's not counter-productive.

"Reports from DPCC (Delhi Pollution Control Committee) and CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) showed there was no change in pollution level last time. It's clear that small cars are not major polluters. It's the diesel and overloaded vehicles," Justice Kumar had said.

The NGT had also rapped the governments of Delhi and neighbouring states, saying "you've earned Delhi the title of the worst capital in the world" and ordered them to ensure an end to stubble burning.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Institute of Technology, Agartala, (NITA) has initiated to set up rubber and bamboo research centres to boost industries and employment in the northeastern region, a top official said here on Saturday.

"As Tripura is the second largest rubber producer in India, after Kerala, a viable rubber research centre can be set up in the NITA to boost the rubber cultivation, industries and employment," NITA Director Ajoy Kumar Roy told the media.

"Like other northeastern states, Tripura is a good bamboo growing area and a bamboo research centre is also necessary for the same purpose. A huge variety of bamboo are growing in Tripura, Mizoram and other northeastern states," he added.

Bamboo is also known as "green gold" in the northeastern region.

With over 75,000 hectares of land under plantation, Tripura produces over 60,000 tonne of rubber annually. The market value of the rubber produced in the state is over Rs 650 crore, of which 90 per cent is send outside the state earning about Rs 620 crore.

India's second industrial rubber park has come up in Tripura's Bodhungnagar area to boost the polymer industry.

The state government has also been developing India's first Bamboo Park at Bodhungnagar industrial estate, 25 km north of here, at a cost of Rs 30 crore on 100 acres of land to help expand bamboo-based industries.

Roy, who got Padma Shri this year for his outstanding contribution in science and engineering, said: "In quest of effective industrial collaboration, NITA has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three corporate and training institute.

"These are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation and Bangalore-based iBuild."

He said that another MoU was signed between NITA and IIT Madras. These MoU would assist NITA to collaborate academic and research activities in the areas of mutual interest.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hours after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) gave a go-ahead to the odd-even scheme without any exemptions to two-wheelers, the Delhi government refused to implement it, saying they will approach the green court again on Monday.

"At the moment we are calling it off. We will again approach the NGT and will ask them to allow exemptions to women and two-wheelers," Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said here.

The road rationing scheme was suppose to be implemented from November 13 to 17 as suggested by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) and specified under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), after Delhi's air quality went "beyond severe".

Stating that Delhi the government could not compromise on the safety of women, Gahlot added that the city government also did not have enough busses or alternatives for the public transport to accommodate over 60 lakh two-wheeler riders.

"We can't compromise with safety and security of women ... the government is concerned about it," Gahlot said.

Earlier in the day, the NGT gave a go-ahead to the Delhi government on odd-even with no exemption for the two-wheelers, women and VIPs.

While the Delhi government counsel also asked the Tribunal if they shall drop the idea of odd-even as Delhi's air quality was improving, the Tribunal asked the government to take a call, saying: "We are not going to give you a shelter on this one. Take a decision yourself."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The arrival of Dineshwar Sharma, formerly of the Intelligence Bureau, as the Centre's interlocutor in troubled Jammu and Kashmir has clearly not set the Jhelum on fire. But Hari Niwas, the former Maharaja's palace, Sharma's HQ, has acquired a temporary prominence with armoured personnel carriers, TV vans and a gradually diminishing number of journalists outside. The approaching winter is a deterrence for assembly after sunset.

Reactions range from total nonchalance at the Amar Singh club to bewilderment among the intelligentsia and anger among prominent members of the civil society. "Yet again, this is an insult to Kashmiris; what can an interlocutor find out that the state does not already know after 28 years of total military occupation?"

Subjects that were hush-hush in the past are now part of casual conversation over cups of kahva. "Democratisation of corruption", for instance. This the intelligence agencies have achieved -- transferring cash in ever-expanding concentric circles. This kind of money induces dependency, not gratitude, a sort of helplessness, demoralisation, which conceals simmering anger.

Householders are more liable to be implicated in such transactions. This would distance them further from the youth fired by idealism and the social media. It is this youth which is controlling the agitational mood. I must, however, add in parenthesis that too much should not be extrapolated from the experience of urban centres like Srinagar.

Hardly a day passes without an encounter, a shootout, disappearances. Director General of Police S.P. Vaid's boast that 170 militants have been killed this year disguises the hundreds of civilians and security personnel, including the Army, who have also been killed. Figures, in any case, do not reflect the scale of the tragedy.

South Asian Terrorism Portal records 11 civilians, 15 security forces and 40 militants killed in the past two months. These, again, are mere figures. They reveal little. The tragedy is in the empty streets past 9 p.m. During a 30-km ride from a friend's house near the airport to my hotel past Dal Lake, I saw headlights of one or two cars, but no people, not even security personnel. Has this stretch been totally tranquilised? No one will ever know what fills the spaces within the heart behind those unlit windows?

One of the finer intellectuals in Srinagar tossed in a comparison with Catalonia. He was suggesting that Catalonia is more prosperous than the rest of Spain and is yet in rebellion, seeking independence. The comparison is slightly far-fetched even though people in Kashmir are apparently better off than in many places in the rest of India. A study of this relative economic well-being would have to be a mean-minded accumulation of data. How can you point to the decorous carpet in a man's house when you have blinded two of his sons with pellet guns?

Lifestyles are sometimes a self-deception, make-belief, a cover-up for a deeper want. The most spectacular arrangement of colours and motifs in women's wear in Rajasthan, Kutch and Sind compensate for the aridity as far as the eye can see.

People living under extreme pressure pick up nuances swiftly. When Mehbooba Mufti, Ram Madhav and Dineshwar Sharma repeat the same image, ears are cocked: "We do not want Kashmir to become another Syria." This raises a spectre of Jabhat al Nusra, Al Qaeda, the Islamic State. Well, the US had to flatten out Raqqa on the scale of Dresden during World War II and yet allowed 375 IS to sneak out to few know where.

The very mention of Syria invites a knee-jerk response. After the massive protests last year following Burhan Wani's killing, new names are being brought into focus as militant leaders, some of them demanding Shariah law, unusual for youth rebels in their 20s.

Zakir Musa, once associated with Burhan Wani, is being projected as the new jihadist. That Musa is alive in a culture saturated with "encounters" is interpreted here, by some groups, as the Deep State promoting ogres to justify some drastic action in the future.

In an atmosphere so charged with suspicion, no one is expecting the interlocutor to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He has diligently started visiting senior politicians who ask, "What is the bottom line?" To this Sharma cannot possibly be expected to have an answer. Has he been sent to salvage accidental Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's sinking political fortunes? It has certainly given people something to watch -- wearily though.

The Sharma initiative makes sense if there is a similar expedition to Pakistan. This cannot happen before the 2019 general election because such a step would immediately bring down Hindu-Muslim temperatures, a state of affairs most deleterious to the BJP's electoral health.

In the 70s and 80s I wrote repeatedly with such conviction: "Indian secularism protects, among a billion others, the world's second-largest Muslim population. Any issue, including Kashmir, should be addressed keeping this in mind."

How foolish I feel when some of the best minds in Kashmir hurl the following at me: Love Jihad, Cow lynchings, Ghar Wapsi, Tipu the traitor, transformation of shrines into temples...

"You in India are a cowering minority," they mock. "We in Kashmir are in battle against occupation."

"They disempowered you through secularism; they are disempowering us through democracy." It is a staggering barrage. I find myself wriggling against the wall.

(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal.)

--IANS

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Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, an active social commentator, on Saturday said those who call others "anti-national" need to digest the fact that they and their political parties are not bigger than the nation itself, and rued that Muslims are "considered non-Indian".

At the Sahitya Aaj Tak conclave here, Akhtar spoke on "anti-nationalism" as he feels nationalism is being "misinterpreted a lot".

He said: "They (individuals) have started considering themselves as the nation. If you oppose them, you become anti-national. These politicians are like the harvesting crop. They change when the crop changes. Nation is larger than any political party. Any politician who thinks that he or she is the nation, then it's wrong."

According to Akhtar, in the past and even in present, a "secular Muslim belongs nowhere".

"This is a very sorry state of affairs that any Muslim is considered non-Indian. Tipu Sultan is not a Hindustani... and if I do not agree to this mentality, then I become anti-national? If this is the case, then fine I am anti-national," he said.

Citing Jalaluddin Muhammed Akbar as an example, he pointed out how the Mughal emperor is called "an outsider for the nation by a large number of individuals".

He said Akbar, the third Mughal emperor who reigned from 1556 to 1605, was a "Hindustani" as he was born here and even died contributing to the wealth of 'Hindustan'.

"In this country, a number of big personalities were born, and with grave confidence, I can say that the list would be incomplete without the mention of Akbar. That man was a huge personality with a vision nobody can match. About 400 years back when Europe had not heard the word secularism, protestants and Roman Catholics were burning each other on stakes, here a man in Hindustan was not only secular, but also understood the philosophy and theory of secularism, and worked on it.

"If you read on him and his documented thoughts, then these people (who call him non-Hindustani) are uneducated and know nothing. If you read history and details, be proud of the fact that you were born in a country where Akbar was born."

Akhtar also also pointed out how Barack Obama, who has Kenyan and American genes, and who "belongs to a colour different from the majority in America, was elected as the President of the US".

In India, he said the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who reigned from 1628 to 1658, and his five generations hailed from Hindustan, were born and died here.

"The difference between foreigners and Indians is that foreigners took the wealth from India to London, but Mughals never did," he said, and added: "During their (Mughal rulers) time, there were no civil wars in India, and at that time, Hindustan progressed.

"Hindustan was the richest country in the world under Mughal regime. Europeans came here in that era, Britishers, French, Dutch and many came even from small places like Finland. They did not come here for sightseeing. They came because this was a wealthy country.

"Today, a big producer from Hollywood, tycoon from a media company is called mogul."

--IANS

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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi arrived in Gujarat on Saturday on a three-day visit, his fourth in a row to the poll-bound state. This time he is visiting the stronghold of the BJP, in north Gujarat.

Gandhi is expected to attack the ruling BJP, both in the state as well as the Centre, on various fronts like the Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation, unemployment, Patidars, farmer distress and price rise et al.

As the state gears up for the state assembly elections on December 9 and 14, political bigwigs have made Gujarat their second home and the Gandhi scion is no exception.

In the last two months, not just Gandhi, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national chief Amit Shah have been to the state several times.

Gandhi arrived at the Ahmedabad airport on Saturday morning. Then in a completely unplanned move, he headed to the Akshardham Temple here. After 'tilak' and 'darshan' he set out for the Chiloda village, adjoining the state capital.

Gandhi during his recent visits, has made it a point to visit most of the pilgrim places and famous temples.

He will later visit Chala and Majra chokdi, both in Gandhinagar district.

From there he will head to Prantij and Himmatnagar before going to Idar, a tribal region. In Himmatnagar, Gandhi will be addressing a farmers gathering.

In the afternoon he will be visiting the Khedbrahmma region, as well as visit the famous Ambaji temple. In Idar, as well as in Vadali, he will have corner meetings, similar to the 'Chai Pe Charcha' type.

His night halt will be in Ambaji town. Before his Ambaji temple 'darshan', he will address a public meeting on the rights of tribals at Khedbrahmma.

Gandhi's frequent visits have sprung quite a surprise in political circles, and have been unprecedented.

Political pundits opine that as far as Congress leaders, especially from the 10, Janpath in Delhi are concerned, visits to the state have always been for a single day.

Until now, they were mostly characterised by a single public meeting in some remote tribal region. But this is probably for the first time that three-day visits have been planned and executed in Gujarat and that too, in urban areas as well.

On Sunday, Gandhi will have an interaction with the social media and IT teams of the party followed by his visits Danta and Jalotra and a public meeting at Palanpur in Banaskantha district.

In Deesa, Gandhi will once again address small gatherings of youth and talk about Yuva Rojgar.

On Sunday he will be visiting and having 'darshan' of two temples, one at Thara and the other Totana. He will also address a public meeting at the Thara ground.

Late on Sunday evening he will arrive at former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel's bastion, Patan, and address a public meeting. He will make a night halt at Patan Circuit House.

On Monday, Gandhi will meet Dalit leaders in the morning after his 'darshan' to Patan's Vir Megh Maya Temple.

After that he will be visiting four villages in the area and once again have a small gathering and discussion (Chopal-style) with the nomadic tribe communities.

On the last day of his three-day sojourn, Gandhi will have a 'darshan' in three temples. First in Varana, where he will also address a public meeting, then in Shankheshwar temple and later in Becharaji, where he will also address the 'Rojgar Adhikar Sabha'.

Gandhi will arrive in the Mehsana constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, where he will address women at 'Mahila Adhikar Sabha'.

He will end the visit on Monday with small corner meetings in Visnagar, the place from where the Patidar reservation stir initiated. He will then leave for Delhi.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Friday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on further strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation on regional and international affairs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Lan Hongguang]

The pair met on the sidelines of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting held in Vietnam's Da Nang city.

Recalling his multiple meetings with Putin, Xi said their efforts in guiding a steady and long-term growth of China-Russia ties at a high level have achieved gratifying results.

Noting that China and Russia have firmly supported each other in safeguarding their core national interests, and further strengthened political mutual trust, Xi said the two countries are strategic partners that have truly placed trust in each other.

The Chinese president said the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has set a good example for a new type of international relations that highlights mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation.

Putin extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and pledged to always make the development of Russia-China partnership a priority of Russia.

Russia stands ready to enhance cooperation with China in regional and international affairs, carry out closer communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the APEC, and push forward the construction of the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific, said Putin.

China is willing to join Russia in firmly boosting high-level development of bilateral ties so as to better promote their respective security and development, and safeguard regional and global peace and stability, Xi said.

He told Putin that as the socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era while Russia has also been walking in steady steps toward a stronger and wealthier country.

"At this crucial time for our respective development, China-Russia ties are also facing new development opportunities," he said, urging both sides to continue expanding mutual support and enhance all-round cooperation.

He also called on the two countries to advance the quantity and quality of bilateral trade at the same time, well implement major projects in such fields as energy, investment, high-tech, aviation and aerospace, as well as infrastructure, and push for concrete results from the alignment of the construction of the Belt and Road initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd R) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (2nd L) in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Lan Hongguang]

On regional and international hotspot issues, Xi and Putin agreed that the two countries need to carry out closer communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the APEC, the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, and push forward the building of the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific.

After Xi briefed him on the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Putin extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the congress and Xi's re-election as the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, saying these important results proved that China's domestic and foreign policies under Xi's leadership have won broad support from the Chinese people.

Putin pledged to always make the development of Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination a priority of Russia.

Hailing Xi's successful visit to Russia this summer, Putin urged both sides to well implement the important consensus reached by him and Xi, conduct closer high-level and people-to-people exchanges, and deepen cooperation in economy and trade, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, aviation and aerospace.

The two leaders also conducted in-depth exchanges of views on issues of common concern, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.




A high-level Saudi Arabian delegation will visit Pakistan by the end of this month to explore investment opportunities in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), media reports said on Saturday.

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Nawaf Saeed Al Malikiy, Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, as saying that the Saudi Arabian group, comprising ministers and heads of various divisions, will reach Pakistan during the last week of November.

"A board is coming, comprising different ministries, and Saudi Ministry of Commerce to exchange ideas relating to investment opportunities in Pakistan in various projects like CPEC, Gwadar Port," the ambassador said.

Appreciating the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries, Al Malikiy said they would sit with Pakistani side to discuss specific features for investment in Pakistan, and how the two sides can further strengthen bilateral relations and to enhance mutual cooperation in different fields, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Reforms, welcomed the interest shown by Saudi Arabia, saying: "We will welcome the brotherly Islamic country if they want to be part of CPEC."

Iqbal said Pakistan would also welcome and appreciate any friendly country which desired to participate in the multi-billion gigantic flagship project of the Road and Belt Initiative proposed by China.

In August this year, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman Al Saud in Saudi Arabia and assured him of continued cooperation and collaboration to the benefit of both countries.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Displaying a shocking and insensitive attitude, Mumbai Traffic Police personnel towed away a private car with a sick woman sitting in the rear seat and breastfeeding her seven-month-old baby.

The incident occurred on Friday evening on the busy S.V. Road, in Malad (West), north-western suburb, and a video of the incident made by a local citizen, said to be her husband, went viral on social media on Saturday.

Taking a serious view of the incident, Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar ordered an urgent investigation by the Deputy Commissioner of Police - West (DCP-West).

"He (DCP-West) has been ordered to visit and conduct an inquiry into the incident immediately. The case will be handled appropriately and sternly after the report is received tomorrow (Sunday)," Kumar assured in a statement on Saturday evening.

According to information, a young woman in her mid-20s, whose identity is not available, was sitting in her white car with her seven-month-old child when a towing van suddenly picked it up and started towing it away.

She begged and pleaded to stop the towing with the towing officer -- a traffic policeman believed to be named Shashank Rane, who was not wearing his name badge while on duty, which is also against the rules of the Maharashtra Police.

Earlier, the cop even grinned and confirmed his name and the woman was also requested to alight from the vehicle before it was towed away, but she refused as she was nursing her child and was unwell herself.

The woman flashed what was a medical prescription from the window and told the videographer that she was sick and was breastfeeding her hungry child, which was visible as the car was towed away mercilessly.

As the police started the towing, at one point, her husband reportedly also asked her to remain seated in the car.

However, despite pleas by the videographer and others to the traffic cop to stop towing as something untoward could happen to both woman and child, he appeared unconcerned and continued speaking over his mobile phone.

The policeman, however, also claims to have a video to counter the other side's version.

The woman claimed that two other vehicles parked there were not picked and her car was chosen for towing without listening to her desperate pleas.

"They ignored the two other vehicles, but towed away a car in which a woman with an infant was sitting. They don't have guts to take action against the other vehicles here," she said from the moving car.

Following strong condemnation, protests and adverse publicity in the social media to the video posted by a user "Rakhi Rakhi", the Traffic Police Department on Saturday ordered a probe into the shocking incident.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a shocker, Mumbai Traffic Police personnel towed away a private car with a sick woman sitting in the rear seat and breastfeeding her seven-month-old baby.

The incident occurred on Friday evening in Malad (West), north-western suburb, and a video of the incident made by a local citizen went viral on social media on Saturday.

Taking a serious view of the incident, Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar ordered an urgent investigation by the Deputy Commissioner of Police - West (DCP-West).

"He (DCP-West) has been ordered to visit and conduct an inquiry into the incident immediately. The case will be handled appropriately and sternly after the report is received tomorrow (Sunday)," Kumar assured in a statement on Saturday evening.

According to information, a young woman in her mid-20s, whose identity is not available, was sitting in her white car with her seven-month-old child when a towing van suddenly picked up and started towing it away.

She begged and pleaded to stop the towing with the towing officer -- a traffic policeman believed to be named Shashank Rane, who was not wearing his name badge while on duty, which is also against the rules of the Maharashtra Police.

The woman flashed what was a medical prescription from the window and told the videographer that she was sick and was breastfeeding her hungry child, which was visible as the car was towed away mercilessly.

Despite pleas by the citizen to the traffic cop to stop towing as something untoward could happen to both woman and child, he appeared unconcerned and continued speaking on his mobile phone.

The woman also claimed that two other vehicles parked there were not picked, but her car was chosen for towing without listening to her desperate pleas.

Following protests and adverse publicity in the social media, the Traffic Police Department on Saturday ordered a probe into the shocking incident.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Malayalam superstar Mammootty, known for his benevolence, spent time with a group of tribals on Saturday and promised them help for a better quality of life.

The meeting between the actor and the group of tribals, hailing from the Kundalakudi colony in interior Munnar, was facilitated by the Janamaithri police.

It took place in Thodupuzha, about 100 km from the tribal hamlet, when the actor took out time in between the shoot of his film "Parole" directed by Sharath Sandith.

The group of tribals came with an offering of organic vegetables, grown in their homesteads, which included carrot, pumpkin, butter beans and cabbages.

The 66-year-old superstar expressed happiness and told media that he would do his best to provide some sort of tele-medicine facilities where through video conferencing medical professionals would be able to provide advice to the tribal community.

He also said that he would try to engage a tutor to teach Malayalam to the young members of the community, as they are currently studying in Tamil medium.

In 2012, Mammootty had visited this interior tribal colony and interacted with them.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two "sharpshooters" of a south Delhi gang, who were wanted in an attempt to murder case among others, were arrested here on Saturday, police said.

Kamal Kishore, 27, and Anoop Kumar, 31, residents of Sangam Vihar and Madangir area of south Delhi respectively, are part of the Raju Baba gang, police said.

"The two were arrested early on Saturday, on a tip-off, when they were planning to commit a crime in Ambedkar Nagar area. Another gang member, Rohit, succeeded in escaping. A hunt is on to arrest him," police officer Upender Singh told IANS.

"Kamal Kishore and Anoop Kumar were wanted in a sensational attempt to murder case in Sangam Vihar. Kishore is on judicial bail in a case of abetment to suicide of a girl. A sophisticated pistol has been recovered from him," Singh said.

"Kumar was earlier arrested in various cases of robbery, attempt to murder, extortion and others in Neb Sarai area," he added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seeking to take credit for the Centre's decision to reduce the GST rates on a number of items, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he would not rest till the five-slab "Gabbar Singh Tax" was converted into the "Goods and Services Tax" with an 18-per cent cap.

The Gandhi scion, who launched his poll campaign tour of north Gujarat after offering prayers at the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar today, again raked up the issue of a company of Jay Shah, the son of BJP president Amit Shah.

"We pressured (the Centre), the people of Gujarat, small shopkeepers put pressure and I am happy to say that (Union Finance Minister) Arun Jaitleyji has shifted many items to the 18-per cent slab from the 28-per cent tax bracket under the GST," he told a public meeting in this north Gujarat town.

"With five slabs, it is the Gabbar Singh Tax, but with one tax, it is the GST. Neither Gujarat nor India needs the . The Congress had clearly told the BJP that there should be one tax with an 18-per cent cap and a simple tax (at that)," Gandhi added.

The 47-year-old Amethi MP said the "Gabbar Singh Tax" had caused damage to the small and medium scale businesses in Gujarat and elsewhere in the country.

"This is looting the small people of this country. This is only aimed at breaking the back of the small and medium scale industries of Gujarat and (the rest of) the country.

"This GST has damaged Gujarat and India. Good that they (Centre) brought some changes in it yesterday. But, we will not stop at this. We will stop only when Gujarat and India get the GST and not the Gabbar Singh Tax," he added.

The Congress leader said the GST, a landmark tax reform which subsumed a host of central and state levies, needed structural changes.

"The GST cap should be at 18 per cent. If they (Centre) do not do it, we will put pressure on them, and if they still do not do it, we will do it soon after forming the government. The GST requires structural changes," he added.

Yesterday, the tax rates on over 200 items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates to beauty products, wigs and wristwatches, were cut by the GST Council to provide relief to consumers and businesses in the backdrop of an economic slowdown.

The Gandhi scion said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was silent about the company of Jay Shah, the turnover of which, as per a media report, rose from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in a few months after the BJP came to power at the Centre.

"Modiji used to say he would be a chowkidar (watchman), but now people are asking whether he is a chowkidar or a bhagidar (collaborator)," he said.

A report in a news portal had alleged wrongdoings in the company owned by Jay Shah, a charge vehemently rejected by the latter and his father. Jay Shah has also filed a criminal defamation case against the news portal.

Gandhi claimed that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, where polling took place on November 9, had done a better work than the BJP regime in Gujarat, which goes to the polls next month.

"The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh opened four (new) medical colleges, but in Gujarat, no (new) medical college has come up.

"The Himachal government did not close down a single school, but the Gujarat government shut down 13,000 government schools. Himachal gave 14 lakh houses to the poor (under a scheme), but in Gujarat, the number of houses given by the government was half of that. Gujarat also lags behind Himachal in education and generating jobs," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP workers showed black flags to the Congress vice-president in Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14.
Fourteen doctors have been arrested in the state till this evening under the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) as the deadlock between them and the government entered its sixth day.

Doctors have been arrested from Tonk, Jaipur, Kota, Swai Madhopur, Bharatpur, Jhalawar and Banswara, and other districts of the state, ADG (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said here.

They have been arrested after the deadline set by the Rajasthan government for them to resume duty ended last evening, the officer said.

Yesterday six doctors were arrested and today eight, Reddy said, adding that 100 doctors have joined work to avoid arrest.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Health Minister Kali Charan Saraf called the agitating doctors for talks tomorrow at 2 pm to find solutions to their problems.

A five-member delegation representing the doctors will meet the minister and government officials, an official release said.

"The state government has assured that doors for talks are open and it was committed to find solutions to the problems," it said, adding that ample arrangements have been made so that health services are not affected.

The state's medical and health department also issued a notice today in newspapers to the agitating doctors, claiming that the strike was against the high court's order.

The department had asked them to resume work by Friday.

One of the major demands of the doctors is for higher pay scale and promotions.

Director of Public Health Dr V K Mathur said, "We are trying to reach an amicable solution through talks."



The presidents of the All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association president, Dr Ajay Chaudhary, and the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Ravi Jhakar, could not be reached for comments.

Saraf had yesterday held Chaudhary responsible for the strike.

"Dr Chaudhary seems to have some personal interest... he is trying to create hurdles in breaking the deadlock. He is being guided by someone," the minister had alleged.

In Kota, 57 senior resident doctors today announced to join the statewide strike by tomorrow morning, a move that could hit services at the Kota Medical College and the Maharao Bheem Singh hospital, the biggest medical facilities of the region.

However, medical college authorities have asked the doctors, selected through the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), to resume duty or face termination.

"It would hugely affect the medical and health services in hospitals in Kota as 57 senior residents, including 35 to 37 from the clinical side are set to join the ongoing strike from tomorrow morning," said Dr Girish Verma, principal, Kota Medical College.

"We have asked the RPSC selected doctors, including senior residents, to resume duty immediately or face termination," Verma said.

Senior resident doctors of the Jhalawar Medical College, however, have stayed away from joining the ongoing strike, while Dr Hariom Goyal today resumed duty at the government hospital in Baran district.

"We have not received any notice or information from senior residents regarding their joining the ongoing strike," said Dr R K Asariya, Dean, Medical College Jhalawar.

More than 640 doctors in service and about 350 resident doctors from the Kota region along with the others in the state are on strike for last six days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Border Security Force (BSF) has apprehended three more Pakistani fishermen and seized three boats from the Harami Nala creek area, along the Indo- Pak border in Gujarat's Kutch district, an official said today.

In a search operation, the BSF had apprehended five fishermen and seized six boats till yesterday.

A patrol party of the BSF's 79th battalion apprehended three more fishermen when they were allegedly fishing in the Indian territory in the Harami Nala creek, the official of the Gujarat frontier of the paramilitary force said.

The BSF has also seized three more boats, he added.

With this, the total number of Pakistani fishermen held by the BSF in the last three days has gone up to eight and the number of boats seized to nine.

The BSF had apprehended three Pakistani fishermen during a routine petrolling on Thursday. Yesterday, they had apprehended two more from the Harami Nala area.

The operation was still going on, the official said.

Given the sensitive nature of the area, even Indian fishermen are barred from fishing in the creek. However, Pakistani fishermen from the coastal areas of Sindh often venture into the Indian waters for a catch.

Several Pakistani fishermen were caught and their boats seized in the past while they were fishing on the Indian side of the creek.

In September, the BSF had apprehended five Pakistani fishermen and seized 21 boats from the area.

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Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar and filmmaker Karan Johar have come out in support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali as he faces trouble ahead of the release of his magnum opus "Padmavati", saying films are just a mode of expression and they should not be misinterpreted as history.

Various groups, most of them from the Rajput community, have accused Bhansali of "distorting" historical facts in the film which features Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh.

During a session at Sahitya Aaj Tak, Akhtar was asked about the controversy surrounding the movie, and the lyricist said, "I was listening to a history professor on TV who said that there is a difference of 200-250 years between Khilji's rule and the writing of 'Padmavat'. There was no mention of Padmavati before Malik Muhammad Jayasi wrote the 'Padmavat'.

"A lot of history has been written about that time. There are a lot of records available of that time but there is no mention of Padmavati in them."



Citing the example of Ashutosh Gowariker's "Jodha Akbar", Akhtar said as per the history Akbar never had a wife by the name of Jodha Bai and people should not confuse a work of fiction with history.

"Stories get created. Don't misinterpret films for history and history for films. You watch cinema and enjoy it. If you are interested in history, then read it seriously," he added.

Johar, whose last directorial venture "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil", featuring Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and Imran Abbas, had a hard time in getting a smooth release, was also present at the event.

The filmmaker said he respects Bhansali's vision and the fact that his "beautiful film" is caught up in the controversy makes him feel bad.

"I have faced a lot of controversies before the release of a film. I feel bad for a filmmaker, who is one of the best in the country. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made a beautiful film and I hope he is protected by the people who understand that creativity is a form of expression.

"He has himself said that he has made a film which is true to the story and there is nothing in it that might hurt the sentiments and sensibilities of people. I think we should trust and believe him and give this film all the love," Johar said.

"Padmavati", which is scheduled to release on December 1 has been facing a lot of trouble since early this year. Bhansali was assaulted by activists of a Rajput community group, Karni Sena, while shooting in Jaipur.

The group has been constantly seeking ban on the release of the film, which they claim is distorting the history.

Yesterday, hundreds of people associated with various community organisations also took out a march in Thane demanding a ban on the film.

Bhansali had earlier said that the film is his tribute to the "sacrifice, valour and honour" of Rani Padmavati. He has also said there is nothing in the film that will hurt anyone's sentiments and sensibilities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 26-year-old alleged arms supplier, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, was arrested from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, the police said today.

The police said that criminals in the National Capital Region were procuring weapons from the arms manufacturers based in Dhar, Burhanpur and Khargone districts of Madhya Pradesh and Munger district of Bihar.

Salman is a major supplier of arms and ammunition to the criminals of Delhi-NCR, Agra, Jhansi, Orai, Jalon and Dhaulpur, the police said.

He was arrested on November 9 from Jhansi and 20 sophisticated pistols and 100 cartridges were seized from him, said PS Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).

During interrogation, he revealed that he had been purchasing firearms and ammunition arms manufacturer based in Khargone and Dhar through agents, the officer claimed.

For the last three years, he had been running his own inter-state gang and was supplying arms to criminals at of Rs 15,000-20,000, the police said.

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Bangladesh's first Hindu Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, facing graft and money laundering allegations, has resigned a month after he went on leave abroad amid a row with the government over a crucial Supreme Court judgement, a senior official said today.

Sinha assumed office on January 17, 2015 as the country's 21st Chief Justice. He is scheduled to retire on January 31 next.

"His (Sinha's) resignation letter has reached Bangabhaban (presidential palace)," President's press secretary Joynal Abedin told PTI without elaborating, but legal experts said this confirmation meant that Sinha has quit his office.

Officials familiar with the development said, Sinha submitted his resignation letter to Bangladesh Embassy in Singapore on the last day of his month-long leave yesterday, where he had gone for medical checkups.

On October 13, he had left Dhaka for Australia on a private tour amid reports that the government was upset with him over his decision to scrap parliament's authority in impeaching Supreme Court (SC) judges.

Before his departure, Sinha had said that he was "embarrassed" over the controversy surrounding his July ruling.

"I am the guardian of the judiciary, in the interest of the judiciary, I am leaving temporarily so that its image does not get hurt. I will return," he briefly told newsmen before leaving Dhaka.

Row with the government and the higher judiciary started in July this year when the apex court declared as void the 16th constitutional amendment, scrapping Parliament's authority in impeaching SC judges.

The dispute grew in the subsequent weeks as many ministers attacked Sinha for slamming the government for reactions over the verdict, and cited Pakistan's example where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was stripped of the premiership following an apex court ruling.

Before leaving home, Sinha said he "firmly believes" that his stance over the verdict was misinterpreted to the government, upsetting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but expected her to realise soon the fact.

A day after his departure, the Supreme Court issued a statement saying that other judges of the apex court had decided not to sit in the bench with Sinha over allegations of "grave" graft and moral lapses, brought to their notice by President Abdul Hamid.

"This written statement (of Sinha) is misleading," a Supreme Court statement said, adding that President Hamid on September 30, invited all the five apex court judges to Bangabhaban, barring the chief justice, and handed over to them "evidences of 11 specific allegations" against Sinha.

It said the allegations included some grave charges like money laundering, financial irregularities, corruption and moral lapses.

In unitary Bangladesh, the Supreme Court has two wings, the High Court Division and the apex Appellate Division.

According to the SC statement, all the five apex court judges held a meeting on the next day and subsequently met Sinha and sought his explanation about the allegations but "didn't get any acceptable explanation or reply".

"So all of them (five judges) clearly conveyed to him that until the disposal of those charges it will not be possible for them to share the bench with him to deliver justice," the statement said.

Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia-led main opposition outside parliament, BNP had put their weight behind Sinha while its standing Committee Member and former law minister Moudud Ahmed blamed the government for "forcing" him to quit.

"Sinha's resignation day will be marked as a black chapter," he said accusing the government of "smashing independence" in the judiciary.

The President had appointed senior most judge of the apex court Abdul Wahhab Miah as the acting chief justice. According to Bangladesh Constitution, if the chief justice's office becomes vacant, the next senior most judge of the Appellate Division will perform his duties.

Sinha belonged to ethnic minority Tripura community and since his appointment in 2015 he chaired the apex court in upholding death penalties of several leading perpetrators of 1971 war crimes.

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TRS MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha today said banks should be more responsive in sanctioning loans to farmers.

Kavitha, who held a meeting with bankers along with Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy, MLAs and officials, said banks should not delay the process of approving loans, according to a release.

The MP said farmers have complained to her about problems in the loan weaver implemented by the state government.

Banks should set up more help desks during kharif and rabi seasons when loans are sanctioned for the benefit of farmers, she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
West Bengal government today iterated that the Biswa Bangla Marketing Corporation is totally owned by it and is not a private entity.

"If anyone claims that it (Biswa Bangla) is a private company, it is wrong. It is a government company", Rajiva Sinha, secretary to the state MSME and textile departments told newsmen here.

His statement came in the wake of newly-inducated BJP leader Mukul Roy's claim at a public meeting here yesterday that Biswa Bangla is not a government entity but a private company owned by Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Sinha, in the presence of Home secretary Atri Bhattacharya, said that Mamata Banerjee had created the Biswa Bangla logo and transferred it to the state government.

"She is the creator and we are the user of the logo. Any department of the state government can use it," he said.

Sinha said when the government had approached the registry of trade marks, the authorities had said that two other applications were also submitted for it.

"Subsequantly Abhishek Banerjee had withdrawn the two applications and the registration authority accepted it", he said.

The Home secretary said that Biswa Bangla is not only a corporation or a logo. "It is a brand for the state", he said.

Bhattacharya had yesterday said the 'Biswa Bangla' brand and logo are registered in the name of the state government for use in many capacities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The body of a 27-year-old businessman, allegedly abducted from here earlier this week, was found in Ghaziabad, police said today.

M N Tiwari, deputy commissioner of police (Outer), said Rahul Saxena's body was found by the Ghaziabad Police from a drain near Hindon Lake in Kavi Nagar on November 9 which was identified the next day, he said.

Saxena's family had alleged that he was killed because of a long-standing property dispute, they added.

He was running a business of e-rickshaws from three years in Kanjhawla and was residing in Buddh Vihar, Rohini with his family, the police said.

According to Saxena's sister, she received a message from her brother on November 7 saying he was going to Rohini sector 32 with two builders who happen to be his acquaintances, the police said.

Saxena also informed his sister that he was not feeling safe with them, his family said.

He also texted his employees in a showroom and since then he went missing, the police said.

His family alleged that they informed the Sultanpuri police station but the police did not pay heed to their complaint.

They claimed that the police asked them to come after 24 hours and it was only after a day that the case was registered.

Tiwari said that a case under Section 365 (Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine, punishable with a maximum sentence of seven years) of the Indian Penal Code was registered on November 7 when the family approached the police.

On November 8, the family allegedly received a call demanding a ransom of Rs 20 lakh and the caller asked them to be ready with the money, the police said.

Saxena's family claimed that after receiving the ransom call, they informed the police but they did not get a favourable response from their end.

They alleged that they had arranged Rs 10 lakh but did not get a call from the people who were holding Saxena captive.

Saxena's family also claimed that they had a property dispute with a neighbour and expressed suspicion about his involvement.

The car and phone is still missing and could not be recovered yet. There have been no arrests so far, police said.

However, the DCP said that they have identified the accused and efforts are on to nab them.

A post-mortem was conducted after the body was foundhere, Akash Tomar, Superintendent of police, City, Ghaziabad, said.

The Delhi Police is carrying out a probe, he added.

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North India's biggest Butterfly Conservatory Park, the foundation stone for which was laid today, will be set up in Haryana's Gurugram district to save species under threat from rapid urbanisation from going extinct.

Butterflies thrive on flowering plants. The park will be of scientific importance and be a green area in Gurugram, Forests Minister Rao Narbir Singh said here.

The park's purpose is to conserve depleting species of butterflies because of the massive urbanisation in the area, an official release said.

It is being developed in association with an NGO, Uthaan, and construction will be completed in about a year, it said, adding that the facility will have an information-cum-demo center and a larvae and pupae area.

Cluster plots having host plant and nector plant species, green house for in house propagation, a floral park, nursery area and a glow worm conservation area will also be developed, the release said.

So far, about 15 indigenous species have been identified in a survey team in this area. The endeavour is to create a natural condition conducive for multiplication, it said.

The release said that this can be achieved by providing good host plants round the year and preventing pests from eating larvae and eggs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The central government today sought suggestions from civil, military and paramilitary forces about the steps needed to be taken to address the issues of people living along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Special Secretary (Internal Security), Ministry of Home Affairs, Rina Mitra sought the suggestions at a high level meeting here this evening, an official spokesman said.

"Mitra sought suggestions from the officers of the civil administration, Army, BSF and CRPF regarding the steps that can be initiated for redressing the issues of people and providing them relief," he said.

A high level team led by Mitra arrived here yesterday and visited forward areas along the LoC and IB to assess the issues of border residents in the wake of frequent cross- border shelling by Pakistan.

The spokesman said she had a detailed discussion on the issues projected by border residents during the team's visit to Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch.

Joint Secretary Internal Security, Gyanesh Kumar; Director MHA, R K Swarankar, Principal Secretary to the Government, Home Department, R K Goyal; Divisional Commissioner Jammu M K Bhandari; Inspector General of Police, Jammu, S D Singh Jamwal, and several top Army, CRPF and BSF officers and civil officers attended the meeting, the spokesman said.

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The Delhi government today called off the odd-even scheme, which was to be implemented from Monday, after the National Green Tribunal ordered the withdrawal of exemptions under it, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said.

Gahlot said the government's decision came in view of the directive by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which ordered the withdrawal of all exemptions, including to two-wheeler riders and woman-only vehicles, under the odd-even scheme.

The government is not ready "to compromise with the safety of women" after the NGT ordered that there should be no exemption to anyone expect emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire tenders, he said.

"We respect the NGT decision. Two conditions of NGT that two wheelers and women cannot be exempted make it difficult to implement odd-even as we do not have adequate buses," Gahlot said.

"Also we cannot compromise with the safety of women. We cannot take risks. PM2.5 and PM10 levels have also come down. So at the moment we are calling it off. We will file a review application in NGT on Monday," the minister said.

The decision to call-off the scheme was taken at a meeting chaired by Arvind Kejriwal and attended by ministers, including Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain.

Senior officials, including the Chief Secretary, were also present in the meeting at Kejriwal's residence.

Earlier this week, the Delhi government had announced implementation of the odd-even scheme from November 13-17, given the high level of smog in the capital. Schools were also shutdown till Sunday.

A landmark IIT-Kanpur study, which covered the period 2013-14, has said that during winters, vehicles are the second largest and the "most consistent" contributing source of pollutants PM10 and PM2.5.

In terms of percentage, it comes to around 20-25 per cent during winters, the report says. The contribution of road dust is negligible during the colder months unlike summers when it plays a bigger role.

However, the share of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, trucks and light commercial vehicles in the total vehicular contribution shows that trucks and two- wheelers are the major polluters.

According to the study, which was commissioned by the Sheila Dikshit government, the share of four-wheelers in the break up of vehicular contribution is 10 per cent each in cases of both PM2.5 and PM10.

On the other hand, the share of trucks and two-wheelers stands at around 46 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

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Actor Gary Oldman has praised makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji for transforming him into former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for the film "The Darkest Hour".

At the premiere of the film in Los Angeles, the 59-year- old actor said he was against the idea of using prosthetics to get the look of Churchill, reported Variety.

"I wasn't going to put on 50 or 60 pounds and put my health at risk so it was contingent on getting Kazuhiro to see if this thing was going to work.

"You could control the other component the energy, how he used his hands, the way he moved. But if you look ridiculous, it's not going to work. So you surrender to it," said Oldman.

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Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma today announced the creation of a charitable fund in which Rs five crore would be deposited every year for the benefit of talented students from marginal communities of Mahendragarh district, an official statement said here.

The minister was speaking at a Vaidik Satsang organised at Gurukul Khanpur, in Mahendragarh, where yoga guru Ramdev was the chief guest, the release said.

Ramdev pledged to donate Rs one crore every year toward scholarships for good students from poor families in nearby areas of Narnaul town, it added.

He was also quoted saying that a function would be organised by Patanjali every year to honour such children.

Financial assistance will be provided through the fund to talented students who intend to pursue higher education or study abroad, Sharma added.

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An injured snow leopard found 25 days ago in northwest China's Qinghai Province has now recovered, authorities said today.

The animal was spotted on October 16 by a herdsman in Nangqian County of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It was unable to move with injuries to its legs, according to the herdsman.

The snow leopard was taken to a nearby monastery to be cared for. It was diagnosed two days later with lumbar damage after experts from Beijing Forestry University arrived in the prefecture, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

The snow leopard was then taken to the provincial wildlife protection and breeding center in Xining, capital of Qinghai.

The female snow leopard is less than four years old and could not stand on her own on October 28, said Qi Xinzhang, deputy director of the wildlife protection center.

"After treatment, she could stand on her own on November 3, and we are expecting to release her to the wild soon when we believe she is ready," said Qi.

Snow leopards are a Class A protected animal in China.

They live in the Himalayas in central and south Asia at an altitude of 2,500 to 4,500 meters. They have been recorded in China's provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan, and autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

The animal has rarely been seen in the wild this century due to loss of habitat and poaching.

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Bott Radio Network Celebrates 55 Years of Service

Contact: Sam Rinearson, Bott Radio Network (BRN), 913-642-7770

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Nov. 10, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Bott Radio Network (BRN) --a pioneer in the development of Christian talk radio  marks 55 years of service this month as the nation's leader in quality Bible teaching, Christian news and information.

BRN started with one radio station in Kansas City in 1962, KCCV, Kansas City's Christian Voice. Today, BRN broadcasts its format of Quality Christian Talk Radio on 120 radio stations nationwide. BRN also is heard worldwide online at bottradionetwork.com , and with free apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, iHeart Radio, Amazon Echo, iTunes, TuneIn Radio, and more! Bott Radio Network also connects with listeners on Facebook and Twitter

It all began in 1962, when founder Dick Bott and his wife Sherley purchased a radio station in Kansas City with the dream of establishing a full-time Christian radio voice to serve families with "quality Christian programming, all day...every day."

Dick Bott's broadcasting career has its origins in his ninth-grade class in Minneapolis, when his teacher assigned the class to give a report on a profession. Dick Bott picked radio broadcasting. His broadcast career began in San Francisco in 1952, where he became the youngest general manager of any major market radio station. From there Dick and Sherley Bott went on to buy a radio station in Monterey, California in 1957. They began to think about starting a new station with a Christian format while working in Monterey. Both had grown up in Christian homes and wanted to establish an all-Christian radio station in a major metropolitan area. With their new purpose in mind, the Botts sold the Monterey station and began a search for a new station in a city with a population of one million or more people where they could realize their dream.

The Botts found what they wanted in Kansas City, and in 1962 they packed their belongings and moved to Kansas City with four children and a dog. Utilizing many key radio format concepts honed on the west coast, Bott Radio Network was born as "Kansas City's Christian Voice" on November 12, 1962.

Bott Radio Network began to grow with the acquisition of a second radio station, this time in Oklahoma City in 1975. Stations serving Fort Wayne, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and Fresno/Modesto, California soon followed. Today with 120 stations across the nation and new media reaching around the world, BRN is a pioneer and leader in Quality Christian Talk Radio.

Bott Radio Network features award-winning Christian talk radio. Time magazine listed several of BRN's talk show hosts among the nation's 25 most influential evangelicals. A sample of the programming presented by BRN includes Insight For Living, hosted by Chuck Swindoll, Grace To You, hosted by John MacArthur, The Alternative, hosted by Dr. Tony Evans, Turning Point, hosted by Dr. David Jeremiah, Washington Watch, hosted by Tony Perkins, Living in the Light, hosted by Anne Graham Lotz, Pathway To Victory, hosted by Dr. Robert Jeffress and InTouch, hosted by Dr. Charles Stanley. BRN also features broadcasts by Greg Laurie, June Hunt, Alistair Begg, Jack Graham, Dr. Carol Swain and many other national Christian leaders. National program topics range from family and faith issues to live call-in shows about current events.

In 2008, Bott Radio Network's founder, Dr. Dick Bott, was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Hall of Fame. The NRB is the world's largest association of Christian communicators, with over 1,400 member organizations. The Hall of Fame award is the highest honor the organization confers.

Also in 2008, Dick Bott was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Carver Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. Carver, named after renowned African-American scientist George Washington Carver, was founded in 1942 to educate and prepare African American men and women to enter the ministry. Dr. Bott was only the eighth person in the 68-year history of Carver to receive an honorary doctorate.

In 2015, Dick Bott was honored to receive the Dred Scott Freedom Award for Religious Broadcasting, awarded by the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation and presented by Lynne Jackson, great-great-granddaughter of Dred Scott.

Then in 2016, Dick Bott received the Richard M. DeVos Free Enterprise Award for Exceptional Leadership, awarded by the Council for National Policy and presented by CNP President Tony Perkins.

Dr. Dick Bott continues to serve as Founder and Chairman Emeritus of BRN's Board of Directors. He is also one of the longest serving board members of the National Religious Broadcasters association with headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Rich Bott (photo) grew up in Christian Radio. While working at BRN as a teenager, he learned to appreciate the programming concepts and the importance of 'Quality' Christian Talk Radio that has made BRN unique in its service to a growing audience.

After graduating college and earning his MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1981, Rich joined Bott Radio Network full-time. As Executive Vice President, he guided the development of BRN's format and oversaw much of the network's growth from 3 stations in 1981 to its present size of 120 stations, plus satellite, internet and new media. In 2010, Rich Bott took on the new role of President/CEO. Then in 2016, Rich Bott was elected Chairman of the Board for BRN.

In addition to his service as Chairman/CEO of BRN, Rich Bott is the former Board Chairman of the National Religious Broadcasters and currently serves on the NRB Executive Committee. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Council for National Policy and on the Board of Directors of Far East Broadcasting Company. FEBC's mission is "Christ to the World by Radio and New Media."

Looking to the future, Rich Bott expressed his vision, "God has blessed the proclamation of His Word to the hearts of millions of people through Bott Radio Network over the past 55 years and we are excited about the future. It is thrilling to harness the power of radio together with new digital technologies to touch even more hearts and lives with the power of the Gospel message and the timeless Truth of God's Word which is the same yesterday, today and forever!"

Click here for our special 55th Anniversary broadcast.
The Income-Tax department continued its searches for the third day today at premises linked to jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her kin over suspected tax evasion.

I-T officials though did not elaborate on the value of cash and type of documents seized.

The searches, including in this metropolis, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and a number of other locations in Tamil Nadu, that commenced on November 9 were going on at some places, a senior tax official told PTI.

However, he declined to disclose how much cash and what type of documents were seized.

In Cuddalore, a 10-member team is conducting searches at two residences and a jewellery shop.

One of the residences belongs to an astrologer, who reportedly used to give advice to Sasikala, who is now in a Bengaluru jail following her conviction in a disproportionate assets case.

The raid on 187 locations was conducted by over 1,000 officials, who split into over a dozen teams on day one of the searches on November 9.

Subsequently, the number of officials carrying out the task shrunk with the conclusion of the searches at some premises.

Backed with inputs, including those from the Finance Ministry's Financial Intelligence Unit, the raids are being conducted.

The allegations included suspicion of shell companies, dubious investments, suspicious fund flow and its transfers and fudging of accounts.

Jaya TV premises in Chennai and Dhinakaran's farm house were searched as part of "Operation Clean Money", under which premises belonging to 10 Income-Tax assessee groups were raided.

Dubbing the searches a "conspiracy", deposed AIADMK deputy General Secretary T T V Dhinakaran has alleged it was to oust him and his jailed aunt from politics.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For the third day in a row, the Income-Tax department continued its searches at tge premises linked to jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala and her kin over suspected tax evasion but did not elaborate on the value of cash and types of documents seized.

The searches, including in this metropolis, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and a number of other locations in Tamil Nadu, that commenced on November 9 were going on at some places, a senior tax official told PTI.

However, he declined to disclose how much cash and what type of documents were seized.

A Coimbatore report, quoting police, said the Income Tax officials, who were carrying out searches at the premises of a sand merchant M Arumugasamy, as part of the state-wide raids, completed their search today.

The sleuths, who searched a commercial complex belonging to Arumugasamy, have reportedly seized some "important" documents from there, police said.

The search was also completed at the premises of Sajeevan, who is supplying furniture across Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts.

He had also supplied wood and other materials to the Kodanadu bungalow in Kotagiri belonging to late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Meanwhile, searches at the Green Tea Estate (Curzon Estate), said to be bought by former chief minister, Jayalalithaa and her aide, V K Sasikala some five years ago in nearby Nilgiris district, were going on, the police said.

In Cuddalore, a 10-member team is conducting searches at two residences and a jewellery shop.

One of the residences belongs to an astrologer, who reportedly used to give advice to Sasikala, who is now in a Bengaluru jail following her conviction in a disproportionate assets case.

The raid on 187 locations was conducted by over 1,000 officials, who split into over a dozen teams on day one of the searches on November 9.

Subsequently, the number of officials carrying out the task shrunk with the conclusion of the searches at some premises.

Backed with inputs, including those from the Finance Ministry's Financial Intelligence Unit, the raids are being conducted.

The allegations included suspicion of shell companies, dubious investments, suspicious fund flow and its transfers and fudging of accounts.

Jaya TV premises in Chennai and Dhinakaran's farm house were searched as part of the "Operation Clean Money", under which premises belonging to 10 Income-Tax assessee groups were raided.

Dubbing the searches a "conspiracy", deposed AIADMK deputy General Secretary T T V Dhinakaran has alleged it was to oust him and his jailed aunt from politics.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Meenakshi Lekhi today alleged that law and order has "collapsed" in Marxist ruled Tripura.

"Law and order has collapsed in Tripura and people have no right to their lives and property. Common people, specially women are now target of attacks by the cadres of CPI-M," Lekhi said.

A three member delegation of BJPs parliamentary team, comprising Lekhi, Saroj Pande and Prahlad Singh Patel arrived here today.

The team visited different parts of the state and spoke to the people.

Lekhi said she and other members of the party would raise in Parliament the incidents of attack on people by CPI-M cadres, especially on women in Tripura.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are likely to have a bilateral meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Manila.

Modi will arrive in Manila today to attend the 15th ASEAN- India summit and 12th East Asia summit on November 14.

Trump is also scheduled to arrive here today as part of his five-nation Asia tour of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Official sources said the meeting between Modi and Trump is likely to take place on Monday.

It will be the first meeting between the two leaders following a proposal to have a quadrilateral alliance among India, the US, Japan, and Australia.

Japan last month had indicated that it would propose a top-level dialogue with the US, India and Australia. Sources said officials of the four countries may meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit here.

Reacting to the Japanese move, India had said that it was open to working with like-minded countries on issues that advance its interests. The US had said it was looking at a "working-level" quadrilateral meeting in the near term with India, Japan and Australia.

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono last month had said that Tokyo favours a dialogue between Japan, the US, India and Australia to further boost strategic partnership among the four countries.

The move to set up the quadrilateral comes in the backdrop of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea. The US has been favouring a larger role for India in the strategically key Indo-Pacific region.

The use of the term "Indo-Pacific" by Trump has led to speculation that it may have something to do with Washington preparing the ground for a revival of the so-called Quadrilateral strategic alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India to counter China's rise.

In their meeting, Modi and Trump are likely to discuss a host of key issues of mutual interest, including the security scenario in the region.

Trump yesterday praised India's "astounding" growth after it opened up its economy and also lauded Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together.

Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, Trump cited India as one of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region making strides.

He praised India as a sovereign democracy with a population of over 1 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world.

Modi is expected to meet many other leaders attending the two summits.

He will also participate in the ASEAN business and investment summit as well as a meeting of leaders of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP, comprising the 10-member ASEAN bloc and six other countries -- India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, is engaged in negotiations for a free trade pact.

In his maiden visit to the Philippines as prime minister, Modi will also attend a reception by the Indian community and visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Mahavir Philippines Foundation.
Opposition National Conference today expressed hopes that the visit of a five-member team, led by a senior home ministry official, to theborder areas of Jammu and Kashmir would help in mitigating the difficulties of the people who bear the brunt of unprovoked shelling by Pakistan.

The team, led by Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry Rina Mitra, comprises Joint Secretary (Internal Security) Gyanesh Kumar and Director (Ministry of Home Affairs) R K Swarankar. It has visited various forward areas along the International Border and the Line of Control in Jammu since its arrival here yesterday and assessed the damages caused by cross-border shelling by Pakistan.

"The visit of the central delegation is an appreciation of the concerns of the border people by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who visited some of these areas recently," National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana said at a workers' meeting in the Nagrota Assembly Constituency here.

He said three years have passed but nothing has been done for instilling a sense of security among the people living in border areas and hoped that building of bunkers and shelter sheds, allotment of plots of land and jobs under a special drive would be initiated and accomplished in a timely manner.

"These are long-pending demands of the people who have got nothing except lofty promises before, during and after 2014 elections," he said, adding a humane approach is needed to address the difficulties faced by the people.

The provincial president described the assessment as a "tacit admission of failure by the state government in assuaging the aspirations of border people".

He referred to his recent visit to some forward areas and expressed anguish over the plight of the people, who feel threatened on various counts, especially as the winter has set in.

"The economic activities of these places have come to a halt and the future of children remains in jeopardy, as they keep moving to safer places in frequent intervals due to the shelling," he said.

Rana reiterated his demand of deputing a team of empowered Union Secretaries to audit the utilisation of central funding under various schemes and the reasons behind chronic developmental inertia in the state.

"Such an initiative has become all the more necessary as the people are disenchanted with functioning of the PDP-BJP dispensation, which is hugely suffering from a governance deficit that has resulted in a developmental paralysis during the past three years," he said.

Rana claimed that the public perception with regard to the working of the government is detrimental to the larger interests of the state, which is reeling under a crisis-like situation.

The NC leader hoped that the concerns of the people would be addressed, paving the way for restoration of peace and normalcy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today paid rich tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on his birth anniversary and recalled the late leader's efforts towards maintaining communal harmony during the partition era.

Kumar also recalled the contributions made by Azad in the education sector as the country's first Education minister.

"With Independence came partition which had led to an atmosphere of communal tension across the country. Not only did Azad play a role in reducing the tension, but he also succeeded in instilling the faith among the minorities that the country belonged to them as well and they must stay here", Kumar said while addressing a function organized on the occasion of "Shiksha Diwas" (education day).

"We have been observing Maulana Azad's birth anniversary as Shiksha Diwas since the year 2007. As the first Education minister of the country, his contributions can never be forgotten. It was during his tenure that institutions like UGC and IIT came into being. Our objective behind observing the day as "Shiksha Diwas" is to make the younger generation aware of these things".

The Chief Minister underscored the importance of "natural learning...which does not stop at providing students with information but helps them develop their innate talents".

Kumar expressed happiness over the progress made by the state in the field of education, especially that of girls.

He said "today, in middle schools girls outnumber boys. Before the launch of our schemes like cycle yojana and balika poshak yojana, the number of girls who reached Class 9 used to be under two lakhs but it has now crossed nine lakhs. Also, 49 per cent of candidates who appear in matriculation examinations today are girls".

On the occasion, the Chief Minister also presented renowned physicist H C Verma with the "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar" and urged the academician, who has settled down in Kanpur but has roots in Bihar, to contribute towards uplifting the standard of education in his home state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rebuffing China's objection to her visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the northeastern state is an Indian territory and the country is not concerned about someone else's opinion on it.

On Monday, China had objected to Sitharaman's first visit to the border state on Saturday and Sunday, saying her tour of the "disputed area" was not conducive to peace in the region.

India had rejected Beijing's objection and asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country.

"What is the problem? There is no problem. It is our territory, we will go there," she said in a reply to a query on China's reaction on her visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

"We are not concerned with someone else's opinion on this," the minister, who is campaigning for the BJP in poll- bound Gujarat, said in a press conference here.

Sitharaman had visited forward army posts in remote Anjaw district of the state bordering China to take stock of defence preparedness.

The minister had visited Nathu La area on the India-China border in Sikkim last month and greeted the People's Liberation Army soldiers across the border. Her "friendly gesture" had earned appreciation from the Chinese media.

Asked if giving shelter to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was the reason for strained relationship between India and China, she said it was not so.

"One issue can not make or break a relationship. There are many issues. Every issue has its own weight," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 2,300 Sikh pilgrims today left for India from Pakistan by special trains after attending the 549th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev at his birthplace in Nankana Sahib in the Punjab province.

Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq gave the pilgrims a warm send off at the Lahore railways station, an official said.

"As many as 2,361 Indian Sikhs today returned to their homeland. Evacuee Trust Property Board chairman Saddiqul Farooq gave them warm send off at the Lahore railways station," ETPB spokesman Amir Hashmi told PTI.

He said the pilgrims were brought to the railways station in high security.

During their 10-day stay in Pakistan, the pilgrims visited Gurdwara Janamesthan Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hasan Absal and Gurdwara Kartar Sahib Narowal.

"We are establishing Baba Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib and Sikhs from all over the world are ready to fund it," Farooq said, adding that the founder of the Sikh religion gave the message of peace.

He said the board had also set up an online charity system for donation.

Sardar Gurmeet Singh, a group leader of the pilgrims, said the Sikh devotees always bring message of peace, friendship and harmony to Pakistan.

"Pakistan is the land of Sikh Gurus, so Sikhs love this land," Singh said.

Every year, devotees from all over the world gather at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal to celebrate Baba Guru Nanak's birth anniversary.

The celebrations last for more than a week during which sacred rituals are performed at the Gurdwara and sweets and langar are offered, irrespective of religious orientation.

Guru Nanak Dev was born at Rai Bhoi Ki Talvandi (present day Nankana Sahib), about 80 kilometres from Lahore.

He spent the last years of his life at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, about three kilometers from the International Border that separates India and Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Protests seeking a ban on upcoming Bollywood film 'Padmavati' continued today as members of royal families, right-wing outfits and even tourist guides demanded that the Deepika Padukone-starrer be screened before an expert panel, ahead of its commercial release.

BJP MLA and a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family, Diya Kumari, launched a signature campaign today against the film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, saying if historical facts were distorted in the film, it should not be allowed to hit the screens.

Kumari also said the film should be screened before a panel of experts as had been agreed upon by its makers.

"The panel should ascertain that the historical facts as depicted in the film are correct and then only it should be allowed to be released," she added.

The BJP MLA said a memorandum of the signature campaign would be sent to all the district collectors in Rajasthan.

Kumari said the royal family was not aware of what Bhansali was about to shoot when his production house, SLB Productions, obtained permission for shooting at one of their premises.

"The very next day, we asked them to stop shooting after a protest erupted. If we knew that the film was based on such a story, then no one would like such a thing to happen," she added.

Kumari claimed that the makers had promised to show the film and its trailers to a panel of experts before they were released.

"A song (from the film) released recently is also not presented in its traditional form," she said.

Devayush Singh, member of the erstwhile Shahpura royal family, told a press conference that if history was presented in a distorted form in the film, then the audience might consider such a depiction to be true.

"It is a sensitive issue for the people of Rajasthan. Rani Padmavati was an inspiration for the entire country. She was an idol for the women," he said.

Singh too said the song, 'Ghoomar', in the film was not presented in the traditional form.

"We have written to the censor board, urging it not to give a certification to the film until the distorted facts are removed," he added.

Members of the Jaipur Tourist Guides' Association staged a protest outside the Amber fort and raised slogans against the film.

The president of the association, Madan Singh, said the protests would continue till the distorted facts in the film were removed.

'Padmavati', also starring Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, is set to hit the screens on December 1.

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A 50-year-old Pakistani national, who allegedly entered India illegally from Nepal and was staying at a history-sheeter's house in Sultanpur town in Rajasthan's Kota district, has been rounded up, the police said today.

The history-sheeter, identified as Mohammed Khalid, has also been rounded up, they said.

Mohammed Hanif, a resident of Karachi in Pakistan, was rounded up late last night from Khalid's house, where he had been staying without visa and passport since November 6, SHO of Sultanpur police station Devesh Bhardwaj said.

During interrogation, Hanif revealed that he had entered India illegally via Kathmandu in Nepal last month. After reaching Delhi, he went to Ajmer where stayed a night in a hotel. He arrived in Sultanpur on November 6, the SHO said.

He is being questioned to ascertain the motive behind entering the country illegally. Hanif's statements are being verified, the police official said, adding Khalid's aunt was married in Pakistan.

A case under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act and Passport Act has been registered against Hanif and Khalid, Bhardwaj said.

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Two days after a suicide bomber killed a top-ranking police officer here, the security forces gunned down three suspected militants in the Zarghoonabad area of Nawan Killi in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province.

Home minister, Balochistan, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said a joint search operation was carried out by the Frontier Corps and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in the Zarghoonabad area on Friday night following information about the presence of militants in a house.

"The militants opened fire on the search party and in retaliation three of them were killed," he said.

The operation was conducted after DIG Telecommunications Hamid Shakeel Sabir, along with ASI Ramzan Muhammad Hasani and constable Jalil Ahmed Kurd, was killed on Thursday when a suicide bomber struck his convoy while he was coming out of his house here.

Bugti said the security forces seized a large cache of ammunition, suicide vests and communication equipment from the house.

All the three militants belonged to an extremist organisation, he said.

Their bodies have been shifted to the Civil Hospital for identification, the home minister said.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, had claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Sabir, who had worked in a senior position with the CTD and carried out several operations against terrorists before he was transferred as the DIG Telecommunications.

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Three Vietnamese sailors held for eight months by Islamist gunmen have been rescued by soldiers in the southern Philippines, the army said today, in the latest operation against the kidnap-for-ransom militants.

The sailors were found in the southernmost island group of Tawi-Tawi yesterday along with the body of another Vietnamese seaman who had died in captivity from an illness, regional military commander Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez said.

"He was already dead when the troops found them," Galvez told AFP, adding that he could not reveal further details because the military operation against the kidnappers was ongoing.

The Vietnamese sailors were among the crew of a cargo vessel captured in February in the seas off the southern Philippines and held by the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic extremist group blamed for kidnappings, piracy and bombings in the area.

Galvez said the Abu Sayyaf are still holding a number of Filipino and foreign hostages including Ewold Horn, a Dutch bird-watcher abducted in 2012.

Abu Sayyaf, originally a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, has splintered into factions, with some continuing to engage in banditry and kidnappings.

One faction has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, and took part in a brutal siege of the southern city of Marawi that sparked a five-month battle with government forces that claimed over a thousand lives.

The gunmen are known to behead their captives if ransom demands are not met.

German national Jurgen Kantner, 70, was beheaded in February after the kidnappers' demand for 30 million pesos was not met.

Last year, the group beheaded two Canadian hostages.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today that his visit to the Philippines from tomorrow to attend the India-ASEAN Summit symbolises the country's commitment to deepening ties with the ASEAN member states and the Indo-Pacific region as part of the 'act east policy'.

The prime minister also asserted that he was confident that his visit to Manila will give a new boost to India's bilateral relations with the Philippines, and also further strengthen the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of India's engagement with ASEAN.

In his departure statement ahead of the three-day trip, Modi also gave a broad outline of the events he will attend during his first bilateral visit to the Philippines.

Apart from participating in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits, Modi would also take part in Special Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders' Meeting and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

"My participation in them symbolises India's commitment to continue deepening relationship with ASEAN Member States, in particular, and with the Indo-Pacific region, in general, within the framework of my Government's Act East Policy," the prime minister said.

The ASEAN Business and Investment Summit will boost the close cooperation to enhance trade ties with ASEAN member- states, which constitutes a significant 10.85 per cent of our overall trade, he said.

Modi said he looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte and will also have interactions with other ASEAN and East Asia Summit Leaders.

He said he was also looking towards connecting with the Indian community in the Philippines.

Modi, in a Facebook post said, he will also visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc. (MPFI).

IRRI, through scientific research and development, has developed better quality of rice seed and helped the global community in addressing food scarcity issues, the prime minister said.

"A large number of Indian scientists are working in IRRI and contributing to R&D in this field. My cabinet approved on July 12, 2017, a proposal for IRRI to set up its South Asia Regional Centre at Varanasi. This will be the first Research Centre by IRRI outside its headquarters in the Philippines," Modi said.

The Varanasi Centre would help increase farmers' income by enhancing and supporting rice productivity, reducing cost of production, value addition, diversification and enhancement of farmers' skills, he added.

Modi said his visit to MPFI will demonstrate India's support for its activities in distributing free prosthesis 'Jaipur Foot' among the needy amputees.

Since its establishment in 1989, MPFI has fitted nearly 15,000 amputees in the Philippines with 'Jaipur Foot', making them capable of living a new life, he said, adding that India is making a modest contribution to the foundation to support its noble humanitarian activities.

The 10-member grouping ASEAN and India comprise a total population of 1.85 billion people which is one-fourth of the global population. The combined GDP has been estimated at over 3.8 trillion dollars.

Trade between India and ASEAN stood at USD 65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12 per cent of India's total trade with the world.

The ASEAN grouping comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russia.

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A Doha-bound Qatar Airways aircraft from Thiruvananthapuram made an emergency landing this morning at the Goa airport after its commander fell sick mid-air.

However, the co-pilot of flight QR 507 landed the plane safely, Qatar Airways said.

The plane landed at the Goa airport at around 7 am after getting the necessary clearances, said Airport Director BCH Negi.

"We received a message that the pilot on a Qatar Airways aircraft was feeling uneasy and that the plane sought permission for an emergency landing, which was granted after following all the procedures," he added.

Qatar Airways, in a statement later in the evening, confirmed the diversion of its aircraft to Dabolim airport here due to its pilot falling sick mid-air.

"We can confirm that flight QR507, operating on the Trivandrum-Doha route, was diverted to Goa International Airport early this morning, one hour and forty minutes after its departure from Trivandrum International Airport.

"Our pilot fell ill. As per the Qatar Airways' procedure in these instances, the aircraft was diverted to the nearest airport, Goa International Airport, where our well-trained First Officer landed the aircraft safely shortly before 07:00 local time," the statement said.

The airline subsequently dispatched a relief aircraft to Goa to ferry the stranded passengers to their destination.

The new flight landed at Doha at around 1730 hours (local time), the statement added.

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Jyoti Randhawa turned the clock back with a flawless 67, giving him a share of the lead after three rounds at the Resorts World Manila Masters here today.

Randhawa, an eight-time Asian Tour winner who last won the tour title in 2009, is now 15-under alongside Philippines' Miguel Tabuena (64).

Adding to Indian hopes was defending champion, SSP Chawrasia (69) who just couldnt hole putts. He did not drop any bogeys. Chawrasia is now 13-under and Tied-7th two behind the leaders.

Arjun Atwal (71) was Tied-10th, while Gaganjeet Bhullar (69) was Tied-20th. Shiv Kapur (69), Ajeetesh Sandhu (69) and Honey Baisiya (66) with nine birdies against a double and one bogey, were T-24 at 8-under.

Chiragh KUmar (71), Khalin Joshi (70) and Himmat Rai (69) were all T-38th at 6-under 210. Sujjan Singh (74) was T-65th.

The 45-year-old Randhawa, said, I didnt take my chances today. I am not hitting my long-irons too good. All the par- fives today, I sought of laid up to the front of the greens and made up and downs for birdies. It was just a strategy of mine."



He added, The course is getting drier I think, conditions are much better today. The fairways have improved a lot. The greens are always good here, if not for the rain this week. I will be glad if I can continue to do the same thing for the final round tomorrow."



Close behind the leading duo of Randhawa and Tabuena were four players, Micah Lauren Shin (US), who shot 66 to share third place with Philippines Justin Quiban (70), Thailands Namchok Tantipokhakul (63) and Arnond Vongvanij (70).

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The government today said it released subsidy on ammonium sulphate to Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation (GSFC) in view of farmers interest as this nutrient is being produced only by two firms in India.

The government had stopped subsidy payment to GSFC in March 2013 as it found the company did not pass on the benefits to farmers for a certain period, which was challenged by the company immediately in the Delhi High Court.

The Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry today issued a statement clarifying on reports alleging inconsistency in its decision to resume subsidy to GSFC.

The main Opposition Congress also on Friday attacked the Centre over resumption of subsidy to farmers in poll-bound Gujarat through GSFC, terming it an "election lollipop".

The Centre provides around Rs 70,000 crore annually as fertilizer subsidy to the manufacturers for selling nutrients at cheaper rates to farmers.

In an official statement, the ministry said the subsidy to GSFC on ammmonium sulphate (AS) was stopped by an order on March 18, 2013 on the grounds that the company had not passed on the benefits to the farmers.

The order also had directed recovery of subsidy already paid to GSFC with effect from April 1, 2010. GSFC filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against this order.

However, the company withdrew its case in March this year to enable the Department of Fertilizer to make recovery and take further action.

The matter of release of subsidy for the period from March 18, 2013 to March 5, 2017 is still under examination and no subsidy has been released to the company for this period yet, it said.

However, the ministry said, "the (fertilizer) department has released the subsidy in line with the orders of the High Court and in view of the benefits to the farmers since the Caprolactum Grade Ammonium Sulphate has been manufactured in India only by two companies i.e. Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) and GSFC."



The ministry said the Delhi High Court in its order dated March 2, 2016 asked GSFC to approach the Department of Fertilizer to reconsider the matter and submit requisite data.

GSFC's representation was forwarded to the Fertilizers Industry Coordination Committee (FICC), a subordinate office of the department.

"After the examination, the FICC found that the company has not fully passed on the benefits during 2010-11 and made undue profits. However, the company had passed on the benefits to the farmers during 2011-12 and 2012-13," it said.

The ministry then constituted an internal committee of senior officers to examine the analysis done by FICC.

"The committee after examination accepted the analysis done by FICC and recommended that the amount of Rs 33.78 crore may be recovered from the withheld subsidy amount of the company for April 1, 2010 to March 17, 2013," the statement said, adding that the panel recommended to provide subsidy with effect from March 6, 2017.

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Among those caught in the unprecedented arrests this week of top princes, wealthy businessmen and senior officials was the scion of one of Saudi Arabia's most recognizable families: Bakr Binladin, the chairman of the kingdom's pre-eminent contractor and Osama bin Laden's half-brother.

It was a stunning end to a decades-old alliance between the ruling Al Saud and Binladin families that saw the Saudi Binladin Group secure a near-monopoly on mega-expansion projects in Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, throughout the reigns of successive Saudi monarchs.

The government says 201 people have been taken into custody in the purge, which comes amid an anti-corruption probe it says uncovered at least USD 100 billion in graft and embezzlement.

Saudi critics and experts have called the arrests a bold and risky move by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at consolidating power as he sidelines potential rivals, silences critics and dismantles alliances built with other branches of the royal family.

The 32-year-old crown prince, who is the son of King Salman and is popularly known by his initials MBS, is leading the anti-corruption investigation. He's also the force behind the so-called Vision 2030 plan, a blueprint for how to restructure the country and wean it from its dependence on oil revenue.

The arrests of Binladin and the others not only signal the end of old alliances, but also speak to the larger demands being made on the business community to pay into the crown prince's economic vision in an era of lower oil prices.

"This is the beginning of the rise of economic nationalism," said Ayham Kamel, head of the Middle East and North Africa division of the Eurasia Group.

A centerpiece of that plan is NEOM, a USD 500 billion project that promises to be the world's most futuristic and technologically-advanced city, which was unveiled by the crown prince at a headline-grabbing global investment conference in Saudi Arabia last month.

But instead of receiving major pledges to the project by Saudi business leaders, MBS "got deafening silence", Kamel said.

Since the 1950's, the Binladins have been the royal family's go-to contractor for some of its most sensitive projects, including construction of private palaces in the immediate boon years after oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia. As the royal family spent lavishly on trips abroad and new palaces at home, the Binladins became their creditors, as well as contractors.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today termed as a "good humanitarian gesture" Pakistan's decision to allow Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife.

Pakistan yesterday said it will allow Jadhav to meet his wife in jail, months after New Delhi had requested Islamabad to grant a visa to his mother on humanitarian grounds.

"It is a good humanitarian gesture," she said at a press conference here when asked about Islamabad's decision.

"India is making all efforts to get Kulbhushan Jadhav released from Pakistani prison. India has also approached the International Court of Justice (on the issue)," she said.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism. The International Court of Justice in May halted his execution on India's appeal.

Sitharaman said she learnt about Pakistan's decision from the media. "I don't know what is the position on allowing his wife to visit him, but it is a good gesture. It will boost Jadhav's morale in jail."



The Union minister is in Gujarat to campaign for the BJP for the next month's Assembly polls.

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In a setback to LDF backed Independent MP Joice George, revenue officials have cancelled the original title deeds relating to about 20 acres of land in his possession and that with some of his relatives at Kottakamboor in Idukki district.

The titles were cancelled by Devikulam Sub collector V R Premkumar as it was issued on "improper grounds," Revenue department sources said.

Besides, the five title deeds of four acres each of the MP and his family, two other titles were also cancelled recently, sources said.

"The titles should not have been issued as it was given on improper grounds and so it was cancelled," the sources told PTI.

The MP and his family had purchased the land from the original title holders.

Since the original title has been cancelled all further transactions with regard to the particular properties, also stood cancelled, the sources added.

Reacting to the development, George said he was asked to produce the documents, which he did.

"I have come to know of the government action only through media.. No show cause notice was given to me," he told a local channel while adding that he was not heard before the titles deeds were quashed.

However, revenue department sources said three hearings had been conducted in this regard.

Meanwhile, Former Revenue minister and Congress leader, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishan, demanded that LDF government initiate action against the MP.

"Big sharks always manage to escape," he said.

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In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
President Donald Trump said Saturday he believes Vladimir Putin is being sincere when he denies meddling in the US election that propelled Trump to power, adding that the Russian leader felt "very insulted" by the allegations.

But in Washington the director of the CIA said he stood by the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia did try to meddle in the election.

Trump, whose key former aides are under US investigation for possible collaboration with the Kremlin, said he repeatedly asked Putin about the claims during their chats at the APEC summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang.

"He (Putin) said he didn't meddle. I asked him again," Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Hanoi for a state visit.

"You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," Trump said, adding he felt Putin seemed "very insulted" by the persistent accusations, which was "not a good thing for our country."



"I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it," added Trump, who is marking one year since his shock election victory.

In May, US intelligence chiefs told Congress that they agreed with their analysts' conclusion that Russia had meddled in the election.

And in January, 17 US intelligence agencies took the extraordinary step of stating publicly that they believed Russia did try to interfere in the election.

In a statement to CNN Saturday after Trump spoke, CIA director Mike Pompeo, who was appointed by Trump, said he still believes in that evaluation.

"The Director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed," the statement reads.

The US president's latest comments suggest he accepts Russia's staunch denials that the Kremlin played no part in helping him get to the White House -- allegations that continue to dog Trump's administration.

US Democratic lawmakers criticized Trump harshly for his statement.

Representative Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump "fools no one."



Schiff said Trump understands the Russians hacked into Democratic leaders' emails and dumped them, and used social media in a bid to hurt Hillary Clinton and help him win the election and divide the country.

"He understands all this and more," Schiff said in a statement. "He just doesn't understand how to put country over self. Or to put it in terms he is more familiar with - Mr. Trump simply can't bring himself to put America first."



Putin also addressed the allegations on Saturday after his meeting with Trump, describing them as a US "domestic political struggle."



"I think these are some sort of fantasies," he told reporters in Danang.

Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges unrelated to the election which were brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Revelations by Facebook and Twitter that Russian- sponsored fake flooded US social media during the election run-up have further deepened scrutiny on ties between the nations.

Trump and Putin met three times on the margins of the APEC summit, sharing warm handshakes and brief words.

The pair appeared to have struck a chummy tone, with Trump describing a "very good feeling" after the talks, and Putin remarking on the "well-mannered" former reality TV star.

Asked by reporters on Air Force One if he believed Putin, Trump said he was keen to move on to other issues.

"Look, I can't stand there and argue with him," Trump said. "I'd rather have him get out of Syria, I would rather get to work with him on the Ukraine."



The exchanges produced a rare common ground on the war in Syria, a bloody six-year conflict which has seen the US and Russia back competing factions.

In a joint statement, the leaders said there was "no military solution" to the war, an agreement that may mark a small step toward peace.

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The Punjab Police today claimed to have cracked the case in which Rs 1.18 crore was looted from a bank's cash van in Jalandhar district with the arrest of two persons.

In a daring robbery yesterday, armed men on three motor- cycles and a car looted the cash meant for ATMs of a private bank in Bhogpur area.

"We have arrested two persons in connection with the incident," Jalandhar (Rural) Superintendent of Police, Balkar Singh today said.

However, the cash is yet to be recovered, he said.

One of the accused Ranjit Singh was caught yesterday when he was tracked by a police team at Kartarpur Cheema vllage, the police said.

He suffered bullet injuries during an encounter. He was admitted to a local hospital, they said.

During interrogation, the police came to know that seven people were involved in the crime.

"Jaskaran Singh was arrested from Batala today," said the SP, adding that five other accused would be nabbed soon.

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The United States will fail to meet its commitments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate treaty, according to a report released today at UN negotiations in Bonn.

A crescendo of efforts at the sub-national level to shrink the country's carbon footprint will not fully counterract US President Donald Trump's decision to scrap his predecessor's climate policies and promote the use of fossil fuels, it found.

"Given the stated policies of the present US administration, currently committed non-federal efforts are not sufficient to meet the US commitments under the Paris Agreement," concluded the 120-page analysis, entitled "America's Pledge."



California Governor Jerry Brown and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled the report in Bonn, flanked by UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is presiding over the 12-day talks.

Under the 196-nation treaty, agreed outside the French capital 2015, the United States made a voluntary commitment to cut the country's emissions 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The Paris pact marked the first time that all countries -- including emerging giants such as China and India -- laid out specific targets for greening their economies.

Despite the US shortfall, a surge of climate action will keep the US emissions curve on a downward path, said the report, jointly issued by the World Resources Institute and the Rocky Mountain Institute.

"States, cities, and business have emerged as the new face of American leadership on climate change, and are stepping up with commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," they said in a statement.

"If these non-federal actors were a country, their economy would be the third largest in the world."



Twenty US states, 110 cities, and over 1,400 businesses with US operations have adopted quantified emissions reduction targets, the report found.

Collectively, they represent USD 25 trillion in market capitalisation and nearly a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Total global emissions were about 42 billion tonnes in 2015, according to the Global Carbon Project.

Among US states, California has adopted the most ambitious targets, requiring greenhouse gas emissions to fall at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.

"America's Pledge and coalitions like 'We Are Still In' are showing that, despite reversals in Washington, US climate action is strong and growing," said Bob Perciasepe, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions in Arlington, Virginia.

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The US today asked all states to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes, days after Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation in Saudi Arabia.

Hariri last week said in a TV broadcast from Riyadh he was stepping down because of an unspecified threat to his life. He also attacked Hezbollah and Iran.

Iran and its Lebanese ally, the Shia group Hezbollah, claim that Saudi Arabia has detained Hariri and forced his resignation.

Praising Hariri, the White House said he has been a "trusted partner" of the US in strengthening Lebanese institutions, fighting terrorism, and protecting refugees.

"In this sensitive time, the United States also rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanon's stability, undermine Lebanese government institutions, or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region," the White House said in a statement.

The Lebanese Armed Forces and other Lebanese state security forces are the only legitimate security authorities in Lebanon, it added.

The US firmly reiterates that the Lebanese Armed Forces and other Lebanese state security forces are the only legitimate security authorities in Lebanon, the statement said.

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A US Marine Corps drill instructor was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for abusing more than a dozen Muslim recruits, one of whom died in 2016, US media reported.

Gunnery Sergeant Joseph Felix was convicted a day earlier of maltreatment of the recruits during their basic training at the Parris Island, South Carolina base.

An jury of eight fellow servicemen and women considered Felix, an Iraq war veteran, the most to blame of six instructors who ordered and participated in extreme hazing of the recruits, taunting them as terrorists.

Two of them were forced into industrial-sized clothes dryers and in one case the machine was turned on when they did not renounce their faith.

One of the recruits, Raheel Siddiqui died after a plunge over a third-story railing in March 2016 after enduring days of hazing worse than the normal high-pressure treatment given recruits.

The Marines called his death a suicide. In October, Siddiqui's family sued the Marines for USD 100 million, saying he was driven by an unnamed superior through a door and onto a balcony where he fell to the ground below.

The sentence decided today, which also includes a dishonorable discharge, was harsher than the seven years in prison that prosecutors had recommended.

The case will automatically go to appeal per military regulations for judgments that involve lengthy prison sentences and dishonorable discharges.

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Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today said learning new skills and acquiring new knowledge were vital in today's knowledge economy and that teachers played a key role in transforming the society.

Asserting that teachers could never be replaced by anything, including Google, he said, "There is no doubt that Google is very useful. However, the Guru is always inspirational."



Naidu was speaking at the 13th Annual Convocation of the KIIT University here.

"We are in the age of LPG -- liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. As life has become very competitive today, students should prepare themselves to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge in the contemporary world.

"Upgrading our competence, updating our knowledge and adapting to a rapidly changing work environment is the need of the hour. To do this, you must keep your eyes, ears, minds and hearts open," he said.

The vice-president also said that students must learn to discover and innovate.

"You must know how to think out of the box and collect as well as connect facts. You must acquire and utilise the vast resources that are now more readily available than before -- information and knowledge. You must strive to be the best in whatever field you choose," he added.

Quoting a verse from Upanishad, Naidu said, "Speak the truth, practise virtue, do not give up learning. Seers have also said, adopt good practices, do not neglect welfare."



Stating that accessing, adopting, adapting and assimilating new ideas have been the strength of India, he said one must adopt this inclusive, welcoming world view.

"We cannot be a vishwaguru if we do not connect with the vishwam and contribute to the welfare and well-being of our countrymen and the people on this beautiful planet," Naidu said.

He also laid an emphasis on motherland and mother tongue, saying there was nothing wrong in learning English or any other language, "but at the same time, you must be proficient and efficient in your mother tongue, which comes from the heart and helps one express his feelings better".

Odisha Governor S C Jamir was present on the occasion, along with other dignitaries and the staff of the university.

A total 4,820 students received their degrees during the annual convocation. While 3,678 received their bachelors degree, 837 got the masters degree, 240 students got dual degrees while 62 students received their PhD degrees.

Gold and silver medals also were awarded to the meritorious students in different fields.

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BJP's Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Singh has openly revolted against the party leadership over allocation of tickets for the upcoming local body elections.

Addressing a gathering at his office here, the MP said he will campaign against the party's official nominee in the Nawabganj municipal seat "even if I have to give up my Lok Sabha membership" for doing so.

"We were not consulted before distribution of tickets... The party leadership was misled by local leaders. I have fielded my candidate in my native Nawabganj area though he has not been given party symbol," he told his supporters.

The BJP has fielded Anju Singh, who is very close to the BSP and the SP and is not strong, Brij Bhushan Singh alleged.

The lawmaker claimed the candidate he was backing was a "dedicated and loyal BJP worker".

"I am ready to face the consequences for opposing the official party candidate even if I have to give up my Lok Sabha membership," he said.

The MP, whose son is also a BJP MLA, alleged the names he suggested for other seats were ignored as well.

When contacted, UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, "Brij Bhushan Singh is a senior leader. If there is any issue, he should raise it at an appropriate party forum. It will be resolved. There's internal democracy in the BJP.

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Opposition Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) today demanded the resignation of Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla for failing to give information about owning land in Kolkata and before the Election Commission orders him to resign.

ZNP Youth President Lalmuanpuia Punte told reporters that Lal Thanhawla owned a plot of land in Kolkata where he is constructing a building.

Punte alleged that while Lal Thanhawla registered the land in his name on August 30, 2013, he failed to mention it in the affidavit while filing nominations for the 2013 state assembly polls.

"The chief minister, while filing nominations on November 8, 2013, failed to give information about owning a plot of land in Kolkata which contravened section 125 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951," he said.

Lal Thanhawla could be disqualified for concealing information and should resign before the EC disqualifies him, Punte added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Jim Finkle and Aparajita Saxena

(Reuters) - Equifax Inc on Friday issued a fourth-quarter profit outlook that fell short of Wall Street expectations, saying the massive breach of its consumer data earlier this year would hurt sales and result in costs of $60 million to $75 million during the period.

Executives at the credit-reporting company blamed the expected revenue decline on delays in contract signing from business and government customers, which began in the third quarter and continued into the current quarter.

"We're hoping to win back their trust and then be able to regain the business that we've indicated has been deferred," Chief Financial Officer John Gamble said in the call. "We're still working through that process."

Equifax shares were little changed in midday trading. They have dropped around 25 percent since the company's Sept. 7 disclosure of the breach that exposed sensitive data on 145.5 million consumers.

Analysts on Friday's call probed Equifax for further details on its recovery effort. The company declined to provide estimates on total costs from the breach or say how much might be covered by insurance.

"When is your cyber security going to be up to code, or up to standard, or however you want to define that?" asked Wells Fargo Securities analyst William Warmington.

"This is a journey," interim Chief Executive Paulino do Rego Barros Jr responded, saying the firm was working to make sure its security team could protect current systems.

The company forecast fourth-quarter adjusted profit of $1.32 to $1.38 per share, below the average forecast of $1.42 per share, according to Thomson I/B/E/S.

It said fallout from the breach will cut revenue by 3 percent to 4 percent in the quarter. The company expects revenue of $825 million to $835 million, compared to the average analyst forecast of $833.65 million.

Investors are looking for clues to help assess whether the breach will have a long-term impact on the company's sales and profit, Stephens Inc analyst Brett Huff said.

The latest management commentary "generally supports the view that the long-term business model looks at least okay," said Huff, who has an "equal weight" rating on Equifax shares.

Equifax also said it has halted a share buyback program.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle in Toronto and Aparajita Saxena in Bengalaru; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair is to increase the number of pilots it employs directly and hire more staff to respond to their queries as part of a new programme to improve its pilot management, according to an internal memo seen by .

The airline in September cancelled 20,000 flights, saying rostering problems had left it without enough standby pilots to operate without significant delays. The resulting wave of passenger outrage threatened to undo the success of its 'Always Getting Better' customer service drive.

Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers has responded by promising pilots improved pay and conditions, which it says exceed those offered by rivals.

In the memo, Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson said almost 20 of Ryanair's 86 bases had voted for the pay deal as of Friday. However, a number of bases, including its largest hub at London Stansted, have rejected the offer.

Some pilots have been using September's rostering issue to press for better conditions and the creation of a pan-European representative body; Ryanair has long opposed recognising unions.

Ryanair said in the memo sent on Friday that it would "dramatically increase" the number of pilots employed directly rather than by outside agencies; over 180 first officers would be offered Ryanair contracts in November, and 300 more offers would be made by December.

It also said it had hired 1,040 new pilots this year, with the newest entrants receiving the better pay terms, and that it expected another 400 to join by March, bringing its crewing ratio to 11.0 pilots per aircraft from 10.5 by the time the busy European summer schedule begins.

A new crew control mobile phone app has also been introduced to speed up the logging of absences, and the memo says Ryanair will double the number of base managers to eight in the weeks ahead to "respond even faster to even more pilot queries".

"We have launched an Always Flying Better (AFB) programme to fill the infrastructure gaps in pilot communications, admin support and effective structures for resolving pilot queries," Wilson said.

Wilson also said a problem with allocated leave for December had caused inconvenience to a small number of pilots.

Some pilots have said that a significant number of their colleagues have reported being assigned annual leave days without consultation.

Asked for more detail, a spokesman said Ryanair did not comment on its internal communications, or its direct engagement with staff.

(Writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Weeks after the government unveiled a $32 billion bailout of state-run banks, top finance ministry officials and bankers will meet this weekend to discuss lending reforms designed to prevent another bad loans crisis. Bankers and policymakers fear India could be throwing good money after bad with the capital injection announced last month, unless it tightens lending rules and institutes governance reforms to insulate banks from political pressure.

"After bailing out the banks with taxpayer money, the government wants to ensure that such a problem doesn't happen again," said a senior finance ministry official with direct knowledge of the matter, who declined to share details.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has vowed the recapitalisation will be accompanied by not only bank reform, but also mergers of weak banks with stronger rivals. But the government has not commented on the issue of tackling political interference in lending, which bankers say is still one of the biggest problems.

India's near $147 billion pile of soured loans is replete with examples of powerful and politically connected businesses who are accused of undermining rules to secure credit and then defaulting on loans.

In one of the most high-profile cases, Vijay Mallya, owner of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines and former member of parliament, and several former officials of IDBI Bank, have been charged with suspected conspiracy and fraud in relation to a loan of 9 billion rupees ($138 million). Mallya, who is the head of the Force India Formula One team, has dismissed the charges and fled to Britain.

"There's a risk of a rise in stressed assets unless bank corporate governance improves," said N. Bhanumurthy, an economist at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, a think-tank funded by the finance ministry.



"CORRUPTION AND KICKBACKS"

A dozen of the country's largest defaulters, with nearly a quarter of the total bad loans, have already been pushed into insolvency at the command of India's central bank, but none of these cases are likely to be resolved in the next six months. A new bankruptcy law allows for an additional three months to reach a resolution, but insolvency professionals say it could take even longer in some cases as the process is untested and could face legal hurdles if the companies do not agree with the proposal.

Steelmaker Bhushan Steel which defaulted on a loan of nearly $7 billion, was given repeated extensions by a consortium of banks, even after its vice chairman was arrested on alleged corruption charges in 2014 before the bankruptcy law came in. "Corruption and kick-backs are a big issue at public sector banks," said a Mumbai-based banker at a global lender, adding that the government needed to overhaul credit rules, including those for consortium lending.

Typically consortium lending in India is led by a large bank with as many as 30 others participating, but smaller banks, who are less able to absorb losses, have been faulted for tagging along and not having done their own due diligence in such cases. India must also tackle due diligence undertaken by banks to avoid repeat defaulters getting access to new loans, said the banker, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Earlier this week, the government approved amendments to the bankruptcy law, barring "wilful" defaulters - defined by the central bank as debtors who are able but unwilling to pay - from bidding for companies.

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM



Bankers say despite the high-profile blow-ups, pressure from politicians continues to influence lending decisions. P. Mohan, manager of a local branch of State Bank of India, the country's top lender, said lending committees that include government-appointed nominees should be made accountable for all the sanctioned loans. "That will also curb politicians from putting undue influence on bankers," said Mohan.

A spokesman for the finance ministry declined to comment.

Corporate defaults make up the bulk of banks' total bad loans, and adding to that is growing stress in loans worth 4 trillion rupees given to more than 70 million small enterprises over the last three years under Modi's flagship programme to create jobs.

"We are scared about these risky loans, 50 percent of which may become stressed assets soon," said D. Franco, a manager at State Bank of India's branch in Chennai and general secretary of the All India Bank Officers' Confederation.

Guidelines by India's central bank also mandate 40 percent of all loans must be to priority sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and small businesses - many of which are turning sour. "Public sector banks keep renewing these facilities whereas in normal business banking they would have been written off long ago," said the banker with the global bank. "That's the elephant in the room."
In a major rejig of GST rates, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday announced a 10 per cent cut in tax on over 200 goods ranging from chocolates to cosmetics to artificial fur coats and wrist watches, a move that is expected to spur consumer demand and rev up industrial production in a slowing economy.

As many as 178 items of daily use were shifted from the highest tax bracket of 28 per cent to 18 per cent. In the services segment, the tax rate was reduced to 5 per cent for all restaurants, both air- conditioned and non-AC while food bills in restaurants of starred hotels will be taxed at a higher rate , Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after the GST Council meeting in Guwahati.

The new tax slabs will come into effect from November 15. The all-powerful GST Council reduced the number of items in the top 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) slab to just 50 from 228 that were put on the list until now. Only luxury and sin goods such as cigarettes and sugary drinks remain in the highest tax bracket and items of daily use of the middle-class have been shifted to the 18 per cent slab.

Jaitley also said that the tax on wet grinders and armoured vehicles has been cut from 28 per cent to 12 per cent while the tax rate on six items has been reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, on 8 items from 12 per cent to 5 per cent and on six items from 5 per cent to nil.

Chewing gum, chocolates, coffee, custard powder, marble and granite, dental hygiene products, polishes and creams, sanitary ware, leather clothing, artificial fur, wigs, cookers, stoves, after-shave, deodorant, detergent and washing power, razors and blades, cutlery, storage water heater, batteries, goggles, wrist watches and mattress are among the products on which tax rate has been cut from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

The top tax rate is now restricted to luxury and demerit goods like pan masala, aerated water and beverages, cigars and cigarettes, tobacco products, cement, paints, perfumes, ACs, dish washing machines, washing machines, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, cars and two-wheelers, aircrafts and yachts.

The cut in tax will cost Rs 20,000 crore in revenues annually, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said. Launched on July 1, the GST weaved 29 states into a single market with one tax rate but while traders and small business complained of increased compliance burden, voices of dissent rose on high tax rate on some common use goods. The Modi government has been facing criticism for the economic disruption caused by the GST roll-out and last year's shock demonetization. As a result, India's economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace in four years.

The government is worried on the political front as well because of the assembly elections in key states including Gujarat. It has taken on board complaints of small and medium businesses and announced an easing of GST norms to make compliance easier. To ease the compliance burden, the Council relaxed the return filing criteria and also lowered the penalties for late filing.



REACTIONS

Panic-stricken govt has no option but to concede to demands for change. Thanks to Gujarat elections, government forced to heed advice of Opposition and experts on flaws in implementation of GST: P Chidambaram

The increase in the composition scheme threshold will make life much easier for the small business entities. The impact of these changes will be positively felt in the next few months: Assocham

If traders are taken into confidence and various procedures are eased, the trading community will ensure the compensation of losses that the government is likely to suffer because of this move by making all efforts to widen the tax net base: Traders body CAIT
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Over the four years marking the centenary of World War I (2014-18), supported by the Anzac Centenary Cultural Fund and the Mission Centenaire 1418 in a cultural exchange between Australia and France, Latham has been organising a series of concerts in the two counties. They featuring music by composers of the World War I era - some of them recently rediscovered such as the Australian Frederick Septimus Kelly, who was also an Olympic gold medal-winning rower - as well as newly commissioned music to commemorate the period.
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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The Alfa Romeo Giulia is offered with two engines in the United States but it appears there will be a new variant to slot between the entry-level model and the range-topping Quadrifoglio.



According to automotive journalist Bozi Tatarevic, FCAs service site is now showing the 2018 Giulia with a high-output turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The listing shows the engine produces 350 hp (261 kW) which would slot it nicely between the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 280 hp (208 kW) and the twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 with 505 hp (376 kW).

Little else is known about the engine but it should be noted the listing shows global service information and the entry includes the Giulias 2.2-liter diesel engine which isnt offered stateside. As a result, it doesnt necessarily mean the high-output engine will be available in the U.S.

Car and Driver reached out to Alfa Romeo USA and was told there are No plans for any other engines for Giulia in North America for 2018 model year besides the 2.0L and 2.9L versions. However, as the publication notes, Alfa Romeo didnt say anything about the 2019 Giulia.

Photo Gallery
Ford has quietly pulled the plug on the C-Max Energi.



Speaking with Green Car Reports, Fords North American Car Communications Manager confirmed the model has already gone out of production. Dan Jones went on to say the C-Max Hybrid will continue to be built until the middle of next year.

While Ford originally had high hopes for the C-Max, it was never really a strong seller. According to Carsalesbase, sales peaked in 2013 when the company sold 35,210 units in the United States but they quickly dropped from there. Last year, the company only sold 19,834 units which pales in comparison to the 98,863 Toyota Prius models that were sold.

Most people wont miss the C-Max but the hybrid variant starts at $24,120 and has a 2.0-liter four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle and a small electric motor that is powered by a 1.4 kWh lithium-ion battery. This setup enables the car to produce a combined output of 188 hp (140 kW) and return an EPA-estimated 42 mpg city / 38 mpg highway / 40 mpg combined.

The C-Max Energi, on the other hand, was a plug-in hybrid which cost $27,120. Its powertrain largely carried over but it was equipped with a larger 7.6 kWh battery that enabled the model to travel up to 20 miles (32 km) on electricity alone.

Photo Gallery
After joining the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Mitsubishi is looking to renew its lineup, and besides a new generation Outlander, theyre also interested in a more modern supermini.



Source claim that this job has fallen onto the Mirage, which will be replaced by an entirely new generation within the next couple of years.

It has been reported that it will share the same architecture as the next Renault Clio and Nissan Micra, sporting a range of three- and four-cylinder engines, some of which will be familiar, as they will be divided between the Dacia and Smart brands as well.

This should help Mitsubishis next supermini become a more viable challenger to the likes of the Peugeot 208, Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, and others.

And while we know what its foundation stone will be, not much has been reported about its design  yet. However, Photoshop artist Kleber Silva came up with a very cost- and time-effective idea, both forhimself and Mitsubishi: re-branding the current Nissan Micra into a Mirage with a face borrowed from the latest Outlander.

Were hoping Mitsubishi will do more than that when time comes to present its Mirage replacement.

PHOTO GALLERY
The Lamborghini Huracan Performante may have been defeated on the Nurburgring by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, but that doesnt mean that its any less exciting than it was when it broke cover in Geneva.



Building upon the LP610-4, it comes with some weight saving, clever aerodynamics, and extra power, all of which work together to make it the most track-focused, street-legal version of the supercar.

Theres only a minor difference between the two variants of the Huracan, on a straight line at least, as the Performante is 0.1sec faster from 0 to 100km/h (62mph), while top speed remains unchanged, at over 325km/h (202mph).

However, throw them on a winding road, or on a track, and the former Ring King will always come out in front, with the right person behind the wheel, and that alone is enough for the Italian company to ask at least $274,390 for each example, in the USA.

Now, you can imagine sitting in the drivers seat, and taking it out on a backcountry road, where you wont be bothered by the annoying traffic, most of the time, so you can focus solely on the driving part. And while youre at it, you should take a look at the video posted below, because it provides just that.

VIDEO
Colton Davies

Each year on Remembrance Day, we move another year further away from the war years when countless Canadians sacrificed or risked their lives to fight for our country's freedom.

That prompted Castanet to ask Canadians: What does Remembrance Day mean to you? And does it resonate in todays society as much as it should?

An overwhelming amount of people that Castanet spoke to on the street either said they themselves served in the Canadian military, or said family members of theirs served in World War I or World War II.

One man, who served in the Canadian armed forces, said he's thankful for "the people in the past who gave us the life we have today," noting he'll be taking part in a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre.

Another man said Nov. 11 brings "a lot of memory of family and people who served," and said it's also his daughter's birthday.

"We celebrate with her every year and kind of have memories and talk about what that means for our family."

One woman spoke with pride of her father, who served in World War II on the 'clean up crew.'

"Because of him, it means a lot," she said, holding back tears.

Another woman from Hedley said family of hers has served in the military, and added more than 100 people typically attend the Remembrance Day ceremony in her town of about 315 people.

"Last year, they did some research and talked to us about each and every boy from Hedley that died. Who he was, how old he was. It just brings it home," she said, becoming emotional.

"And I think that's the important piece, is bringing it home."

However, most who Castanet spoke to said the holiday likely doesn't resonate in Canadian society as much as it did in the past.

"Maybe we're so far removed, a lot of people. From having close family members or friends that have been involved," one woman said.

"I think we've lost it a little bit, and our generation is responsible for bringing it back, and letting our kids realize how important it is," another female said.

A recent poll by Ipsos, conducted on behalf of Historica Canada, indicated that millennials are leading a gradual resurgence of interest in regards to attending Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Nov. 11 this year will be the 99th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A man found not criminally responsible for killing his three children still struggles to control his anger but his outbursts have become less frequent and intense over the past six months, a psychiatrist says.

Dr. Marcel Hediger told a British Columbia Review Board Hearing on Friday that Allan Schoenborn, 49, has difficulty in the moment putting the anger-management techniques he has learned into practice but he has developed better insight into what causes him to react.

Hediger said it was possible, but unlikely that he would recommend Schoenborn for escorted outings into the community within the next year.

Schoenborn stabbed his 10-year-old daughter Kaitlynne and smothered his sons Max and Cordon, who were eight and five, in their home in Merritt in April 2008.

A judge later ruled the man was not criminally responsible for the deaths because he was experiencing psychosis at the time he killed the children in the belief he was saving them from a life of physical and sexual abuse.

Schoenborn sat slumped in a chair during parts of the hearing, wearing a blue sweater, torn jeans and slippers.

A 2015 review board decision says Schoenborn was diagnosed as having a delusional disorder, a substance abuse disorder and paranoid personality traits, but his symptoms had been in remission for many years.

Psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Hart, an expert witness for the Crown, told the review board on Friday that he doubted Schoenborn would be ready for escorted outings within the next two to three years, if ever.

Schoenborn's psychiatric disorders are overlaid on a foundation of personality and coping problems, and it is uncertain whether his recent progress is sustainable without significant ongoing treatment and support, Hart told the review board.

"This is not just rehabilitation. This is habilitation," he said, adding Schoenborn will have to function at a high level for the first time. "Many people don't win that battle."

"I continue to hold out hope that ... Mr. Schoenborn will prove us all wrong. I just don't think that's likely."
Photo: District of Summerland

Property crime in Summerland jumped in several categories during the summer, most notably in break-ins to buildings according to RCMP's quarterly report.

From July to September, 12 residential break and enters were reported in the district, compared to two that occurred between April and June.

There were also 15 break and enters to businesses in that timeframe, compared to four in the spring.

In the first nine months of 2017, 22 break-ins were reported at homes in Summerland.

That's an increase of 69 per cent compared to the same timeframe last year.

Those increases in Summerland are noticeably higher than the rest of the South Okanagan and Similkameen.

In the regional district as a whole, residential break-ins are up a modest two per cent in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same time in 2016, while business break-and-enters have dropped 18 per cent.

The RCMP report cautions residents not to read too much into the large percentage increases, noting small overall numbers can make the jump look more startling than it is.
Photo: Contributed File photo

Penticton RCMP are asking for the public's help after a shooting on Monday, at a Penticton social housing complex.

Police say three people approached the door of one of the units and multiple shots were fired.

To date it appears as though no one was hurt during the incident, and we are now seeking the publics assistance in identifying the suspects, said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

Investigators are looking to identify two individuals.

Police described one man as wearing a light coloured ski jacket, dark pants and a black ball cap. The woman was carrying a rectangle backpack and was wearing a dark-coloured hooded jacket and light-coloured pants.

The Penticton RCMP are urging anyone with information to contact the Penticton RCMP at 250-492-4300.
Photo: Bob Pope Piling work that took place to repair the Naramata Yacht Club's dock earlier this year, for the dock located off the south end of 4th Street in Naramata.

Members of the Naramata Yacht Club Society are now turning their attention to paying for dredging in their section of Okanagan Lake, after spending $40K earlier this year to repair their dock that was damaged by flooding.

The 23-member club was forced to fix its dock in the summer, with savings that were originally planned to be spent on dredging in their section of the shoreline.

As a result of the dock repair costs incurred, the club hosted a silent auction and dance as a fundraising initiative at the Naramata Community Hall on Nov. 4.

The club said the event was sold out, and raised about $9K for their efforts.

"That's a lot for us, so we're just thrilled," board member Bob Pope said.

Pope raved about the atmosphere and "engagement from the community" at the event, as well as high-profile silent auction items that were provided.

The non-profit club now sits about $25K in the hole, he said, after their fundraiser.

The Regional District Okanagan Similkameen also had provided $5K for the repair work, as part of the dock that needed to be fixed is a public walkway.

"It helped get things rolling for them... I know it's not a huge amount of dollars in the grand scheme of what they're needing, but it's what we were able to contribute for the public portion," RDOS chair and Naramata director Karla Kozakevich said.

The club had applied for disaster relief funding from the provincial government in the summer for the repairs, but he said they were denied because they "could've had insurance for that and didn't," Pope had said.

Kozakevich added that Naramata Parks and Rec has set aside some money to help the club pay for dredging, when the time comes.

"They do need to get the dredging done at some point, because there's a fair bit of sand and silt in there."

Pope said he expects the club will put on similar fundraising events in the future, based largely on the positive response of attendees.

"You only want to ask people for their generosity once in a while," he said.

"But we'll at least do it again next year and see what other ideas come up."
Photo: Kevin Rothwell This little lamb was spotted tied up in front of a store in Lumby.

It would appear Mary was doing some shopping in Lumby recently.

This little lamb was spotted tied up in front of a store in the North Okanagan community.

And as everyone knows, "Everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go."
Photo: The Canadian Press Leaders, back row from left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, front row from left, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photo during the family photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam.

Days before returning home from a whirlwind trip to Asia, President Donald Trump was back on the defensive over Russian election meddling and accusing Democrats of trying to sabotage U.S.-Russia relations.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had again vehemently insisted  this time on the sidelines of an economic summit in Vietnam  that Moscow had not interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. Trump declined to say whether he believed Putin, but he made clear he wasn't interested in dwelling on the issue.

"He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did," Trump said as he travelled to Hanoi, the second-to-last stop of his Asia trip.

"Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe  I really believe  that when he tells me that, he means it," Trump said. He called the accusation an "artificial barrier" erected by Democrats  once again casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to interfere in the election to help the Republican Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump is in Hanoi for a brief state visit. He'll depart for the Philippines later Sunday for a pair of summits that will close out his trip.

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.

Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders' relationship and said it jeopardized their ability to work together on issues including North Korea's escalating nuclear program and the deadly conflict in Syria.

"Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Trump told reporters. "People will die because of it."
Photo: The Canadian Press Demonstrators wave Polish flags during the annual march to commemorate Poland's National Independence Day in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday.

Tens of thousands of nationalists marched in a demonstration organized by far-right groups in Warsaw Saturday, as Poles celebrated their country's Independence Day.

The far-right march was one of many events marking Poland's rebirth as a nation in 1918 after being wiped off the map for 123 years. Earlier in the day, President Andrzej Duda presided over state ceremonies also attended by European Union president Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister.

But the march has become the largest Independence Day event in recent years, overshadowing official state observances and other patriotic events. Some participants expressed sympathy for xenophobic or white supremacist ideas, with one banner reading, "White Europe of brotherly nations." A participant who was interviewed on state television station TVP said he was taking part "to remove Jewry from power."

Participants marched under the slogan "We Want God," words from an old Polish religious song that President Donald Trump quoted from during a visit to Warsaw earlier this year. Speakers spoke of standing against liberals and defending Christian values.

Many carried the national white-and-red flag as others set off flares and firecrackers, filling the air with red smoke. Some also carried banners depicting a falanga, a far-right symbol dating to the 1930s.

Police estimated that 60,000 people took part.

The march has become one of the largest such demonstration in Europe, and on Saturday it drew far-right leaders from elsewhere in Europe, including Tommy Robinson from Britain and Roberto Fiore from Italy.

While the conservative ruling party was not involved in the march, TVP, the state broadcaster, called the event a "great march of patriots."

A smaller counter-protest by an anti-fascist movement also took place. Organizers were keeping the two groups apart to prevent violence.

Independence Day marks Poland regaining its sovereignty at the end of World War I after being partitioned and ruled since the late 18th century by Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Duda oversaw ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, walking past a military guard before the raising of the flags and cannon salutes. After delivering a speech he took part in a wreath-laying ceremony, praying and crossing himself at the monument to all unknown soldiers killed fighting for the country.
In a scene that played out from Coast to Coast, thousands of people turned out to remember Vernon war veterans Saturday.

An estimated 2,500 people gathered in Kal Tire Place as Canadian veterans and current soldiers were honoured for their sacrifice.

Among those being honoured were Second World War and Korean War veterans. Cadets and first responders were also celebrated at the event.

Dozens of wreaths were laid at the foot of a temporary Cenotaph by numerous local groups and organizations.

Special attention was paid to the First World War battle at Vimy Ridge that happened 100 years ago.

Hailed as a significant victory, it was Canadian troops that took a ridgeline some said could not be broken.

Situated in northern France, the heavily-fortified, seven-kilometre ridge held a commanding view over the Allied lines.

Attacking together for the first time, the four Canadian divisions stormed the ridge on April 9, 1917. More than 15,000 Canadian infantry overran the Germans all along the front.

But it was victory at a heavy cost: 3,598 Canadians were killed and another 7,000 wounded.

North Okangan resident AE Berry, who started an insurance company in Vernon, was among those who fought in the historic battle.
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During Homecoming, Lee University President Dr. Paul Conn named Forrest Preston the Honorary Alum of the Year.

We are pleased to honor this man who has been a friend to Lee University for many years, in so many ways, explained President Conn to the Homecoming crowd. Forrest has supported our vision for Lee University, and walked with us so closely, he seems like an alumnus. Thats one of the reasons he was selected by the committee for this recognition.

Mr. Preston, the founder and sole owner of Life Care Centers of America, started the healthcare company in 1970.

Mr. Preston, a Massachusetts native, moved to Cleveland in the late 1950s after attending Walla Walla College in Washington. Originally studying to be a physician, Mr. Preston quickly decided that the life of a doctor was not for him.

Mr. Preston ended up getting his education to be an X-ray technician and due to his time working in various hospitals, he realized there was a need for better public relations in the healthcare system. He first started a third-party public relations firm to handle PR for hospitals, but upon seeing conditions for residents in hospitals, realized there was a need for better long-term care.

In 1970, the first Life Care Center opened in Cleveland. The company quickly grew due to the emphasis on building relationships, according to Mr. Preston.

Today, Life Care is the largest privately-owned long-term care facility chain in the United States with facilities across 28 states. It is the third-largest long-term care chain in the nation.

In addition to being an executive, Mr. Preston makes an effort to mentor others and have impactful relationships.

He resides in Cleveland.

Because Mr. Preston was not able to attend Homecoming, the award will be presented to him at a later date.


Kettle campaign begins Friday

COLUMBUS -- The Salvation Army will begin its Red Kettle Campaign on Friday.

This time of year is very significant to the operations of The Salvation Army. Donations help assist many families with food for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

To volunteer as a bell-ringer, contact the Salvation Army office at 402-564-6910 or sign up at Ringbells.org. If you require assistance for Christmas, call the office to set up an appointment.

Sasse staffer at mobile office

COLUMBUS -- U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse announced that a member of his staff will be hosting a mobile office from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday at Columbus Public Library, 2504 14th St.

Office hours will provide Nebraskans with a face-to-face opportunity to speak with a member of Sasses staff about federal government-related issues. A constituent services representative will be on hand to offer guidance and aid to Nebraskans who require help navigating Washington's federal bureaucracy.

Constituent services representatives can be reached at 402-476-1400.

Group meeting in St. Edward

ST. EDWARD -- A Community Builders meeting will be held 5 p.m. Wednesday in St. Edward.

Site visits will be made to Big Iron, Alidas Picture Pages, Tamis Flipping Vintage and Beaver Creek Smokehouse. The Grapevine will cater the dinner at Central Valley Ag. Mayor Dean Hamling will give the welcome, and Karen Asmus, workforce coordinator for the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, will give the program Drive for Five Initiative: 500 New Employees in Five Years.

Cost for the dinner is $10. Individuals planning to attend are asked to contact Mary Blaser at Cornhusker Public Power District by noon Monday at 402-564-2821. Community Builders helps individuals in Boone, Colfax, Nance and Platte counties learn about ways to improve their communities.

St. Benedict hosts craft show

SCHUYLER -- St. Benedict Center will host a Christmas craft show from Nov. 26 to Dec. 10.

Hours are 2-6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. A large variety of crafts and gifts made by area artists will be on sale. The book and gift store will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9:3010:45 a.m. and 14 p.m. Saturdays and 13 p.m. Sundays.

For more information, visit www.christthekingpriory.com.

Overnight casino trip planned

SCHUYLER -- The Colfax County Senior Center in Schuyler is planning a two-day holiday bus trip fundraiser Dec. 4-5.

Cost is $65 per person for double occupancy or $75 for single occupancy, with reservations and payments due by Friday. The first night will be at WinnaVegas Casino with Day 2 at the Blackbird Casino. There will be many perks at both casinos, vouchers, points and specials on food.

For more information, call Betty at 402-615-0857 or Lloyd at 402-615-0353. Checks can be made to Colfax County Senior Center and mailed to Betty Brichacek, 1617 Adam St., Schuyler, NE 68661. No refunds.

Jazz orchestra playing at Maximus

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Jazz Orchestra will perform a selection of big band and holiday tunes from 7-9 p.m. Nov. 19 at Maximus Restaurant and Lounge, 329 23rd St.

The performance is free and open to the public.
The Center for Enriched Living in Riverwoods is an independent, 50-year-old center serving the developmentally disabled and receives no state or federal funding. The Trump tax plan, which removes itemized deductions for 95 percent of taxpayers, could cut its revenue and programs. (Lou Foglia / Chicago Tribune)

The Center for Enriched Living in Riverwoods is an independent, 50-year-old center serving the developmentally disabled and receives no state or federal funding. The Trump tax plan, which removes itemized deductions for 95 percent of taxpayers, could cut its revenue and programs. (Lou Foglia / Chicago Tribune) (Lou Foglia / Chicago Tribune)

Charities in the Chicago area and across the country are bracing for the potential loss of billions of dollars in annual contributions as a result of a tax overhaul plan from congressional Republicans that would eliminate the incentive to donate for nearly all Americans.

The proposed House bill, pitched as the Cut Cut Cut Act by President Donald Trump but officially named the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, includes a provision that would nearly double the standard deduction to $12,200 for an individual and $24,400 for a married couple.

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Raising the standard deduction would reduce the number of taxpayers who itemize deductions  including charitable donations  from the current 30 percent to 5 percent, experts say.

Combined with a decrease in the top marginal tax rate, the disincentive to itemize would reduce charitable giving by $4.9 billion to $13.1 billion annually, according to a May study by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.

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In Illinois, where a two-year budget impasse stripped much-needed state funding from many charitable organizations, the impact of reduced individual giving may be even more devastating.

Many of these groups that were hard-hit that didnt receive funding  many of them still havent received funding, said Anita Banerji, director of public policy for Forefront, a statewide membership association for nonprofits and foundations.

Forefront is gearing up for #ILGive on Nov. 28, an annual online fundraiser it sponsors to boost hundreds of Illinois charities. Last year the 24-hour event raised $11.3 million, and the mission has taken on an increased sense of urgency with the tax bill threatening to neuter the ubiquitous year-end charity drive.

[ Reed: GOP's new tax plan is 'a real hard sell' for local small businesses ]

One participating charity is the Center for Enriched Living, an independent, 50-year-old Riverwoods facility serving the developmentally disabled. The center, which receives no state or federal funding, provides daily programs for about 400 adults, including social, recreational and educational activities.

The center has 70 employees and an annual budget of $3.4 million.

We are very dependent upon individual giving, said Harriet Levy, the centers executive director. Any threat to that charitable deduction absolutely would hurt a nonprofit like the Center for Enriched Living.

Levy said most of the money comes in toward the end of the year, with staffers busy this month stuffing envelopes and actively meeting with donors to solicit contributions.

You want to encourage people to give, especially as government funding is continuing to be frozen or cut for this population, she said. To imperil any source of income really imperils the quality of life for this demographic.

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The Senate has introduced its own version of the tax bill, which would increase the standard deduction to $12,000 from the current $6,350 for individuals and to $24,000 from the current $12,700 for couples filing jointly.

More than $390 billion was given to charity last year, with individual donations accounting for 72 percent of that total, according to an annual report by the Giving USA Foundation.

Religious organizations top the list of recipients, with the collection plate netting 32 percent of all donations. Education, human services, foundations and health organizations round out the top five sectors benefiting from charitable giving.

The charitable deduction has been a part of the tax code for 100 years as a means to incentivize donations. While both proposed bills retain the deduction, critics say limiting it to the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans is unfair to taxpayers and especially damaging to local charities that depend on individual donations.

[ 5 big changes in the Senate tax bill (and what they mean for you) ]

It is huge collateral damage to the people of this country, said Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits. The people in the community that have the greatest need will no longer be provided services because the resources wont be there for charitable nonprofits to do their work.

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Experts believe that taxpayers, even well-meaning ones, will skip the year-end check to their favorite charity without the added incentive of a tax deduction.

Incentives represent the backbone of what people decide to give and who to give to, said John List, an economics professor at the University of Chicago and an expert on charitable giving.

Charitable deductions were put in place to stimulate giving, List said, and doing a good deed for its own sake  without a tax deduction  isnt enough to motivate some people.

Lawmakers don't fully appreciate the extent of forcefulness and the power of these types of incentives, he said. They really do move real dollars around and affect real lives.

Laura MacDonald, a Columbus, Ohio-based fundraising consultant, said people who believe in a cause will still give.

The concern is not that fewer Americans will give but that Americans will reduce the amount of their gift, she said.

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While the bill is hyped as a middle-class tax cut by its proponents, MacDonald said middle-class taxpayers will be most affected by the loss of charitable donation incentives, with the wealthy still itemizing and the less well-off already taking the standard deduction.

She also expressed concern that the charitable community may be complaining too loudly, which could scare off some taxpayers from giving under the belief that it no longer makes financial sense.

For some local charities, any reduction in giving could have major consequences, such as layoffs, service cutbacks or even closure.

[ How the GOP's tax plan could wallop homeowners ]

In Illinois, where the state budget impasse from 2015 to 2017 left many charities struggling to meet demand, the threat of reduced individual donations looms large.

The Indo-American Center is a 27-year-old nonprofit that provides everything from literacy programs to workforce development for the South Asian immigrant population in West Rogers Park. The center has an annual budget of $800,000, with state and federal sources accounting for half of the funding, Executive Director Selma D'Souza said.

The state budget impasse cut $150,000 in annual funding from the center, forcing it to reduce staff and serve fewer people in its adult literacy and citizenship programs, DSouza said.

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The reason we survived was because of the generous donors, she said. We had one donor give us $50,000 in 2015 to help our adult literacy program.

A tax solution favored by many in the philanthropic community would be to create a universal deduction for charitable giving, which would reduce the taxable income of all taxpayers by the amount donated, with some limitations, regardless of whether they itemize deductions.

A universal deduction would not only negate the projected reduction in charitable giving from the proposed tax changes but increase annual donations by $4.8 billion, according to the Lilly study.

Without it, the pain threshold for giving until it hurts may kick in a little sooner.

People will still want to change the world, but when its costlier to change the world, then they want to change the world a little less, said List, the U. of C. economics professor.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @RobertChannick


Just because Thanksgiving dinner is tough to pair wines with doesn't mean Thanksgiving dessert has to be tough too. I think of them as two separate meals, and I like to give them each the attention they deserve. The first meal is a logistical nightmare, and the second one is as easy as pie. If you make it to the third meal  the turkey sandwich slathered with mayonnaise, topped with stuffing and cranberry  you're on your own with the wine.

I have always loved dessert, but when I was a kid, it took me a few years to come around to pumpkin pie. I can recall, as clearly as if it were a month ago, doing a solo walk-by of the dessert table in our basement every Thanksgiving, and being disappointed again and again at the sight of three or four uninspiring pies, falling somewhere on the color wheel between burnt umber and raw sienna. Those colors were cool to have in the collection of acrylic paint tubes my brother had given me  and necessary for the horrible Arizona landscapes I was turning out at the time  but I didn't want them on my dessert plate. I didn't care if they came with a mound of Cool Whip. "You can keep your Cool," I'm sure I thought. "I'll go hunt down some chocolate in the kitchen."

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I had tried pumpkin pie sometime before this annual walk-by disappointment and decided instantly that it was too mealy, too spicy, too subtle in its sweetness  completely lacking the satisfying sugar blast that chocolate and caramel delivered every time. Year after year I buzzed the dessert spread hoping that my family's standard pies would be replaced by, or at least joined by, a stack of brownies, or a brick of fudge.

One year, inexplicably, the complex flavors of pumpkin pie finally appealed to me, and I have been plowing through a slice every Thanksgiving since. Pecan pie got added to my family's repertoire through the years, and at times we've had a sweet apple pie drizzled with caramel. Hello, aged tawny ports. The viscous, sweet, nutty wine seems created in Portugal specifically for American Thanksgiving desserts. Even if you're not serving dessert (I know, that's as likely as not serving turkey), you could make a glass (or two) of tawny port on its own your dessert. It's rich and dreamy, mouth-filling and soothing.

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The 2004 Kopke Colheita ($39 for 750 milliliters, $22.50 for 375 milliliters) has a beautiful rosy amber color and offers pine, creme brulee and a long, slow, pecan finish. The Taylor Fladgate 20-year-old tawny ($55 for 750 milliliters) is full of apricot and almond, with mouth-coating caramel. Graham's 20-year-old tawny ($62 for 750 milliliters) gives out orange and creamy chocolate that leads to classic tawny nuttiness, and Warre's Otima 10-year-old tawny ($26 for 500 milliliters) offers toffee and honey, with a subtle hint of spice on the finish. All tawny ports are woody and nutty to some degree, but the older they get, the nuttier they get. No further comment on that, especially at Thanksgiving.

Tawnies, which are named for the amber hue they develop after years of aging in wooden casks, pair well with anything from nuts and cheeses to rich sweets. The most basic guideline for pairing wine with dessert is to make sure that the wine is as sweet, or sweeter, than the dessert. No problems here. From walnuts to chocolate, tawny port is a natural. But if you bring the chocolate  really bring it, like my niece Meghan sometimes does  you could add a nice ruby port to your dessert wine selections.

Tawnies work fine with chocolate, but the added fruitiness of a ruby makes for a more vibrant pairing. If tawny port and chocolate is a satisfying, subtle fist bump, then ruby port and chocolate is that thing where you run at the other person, time your jump and high-five in mid-air.

Graham's Six Grapes ($22 for 750 milliliters, $12 for 375 milliliters) is sweet like jam, bursting with bright fruits and moving into some cedar notes on the finish. Cockburn's Special Reserve ($19 for 750 milliliters) comes from a port producer that celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. The wine delivers juicy, clean fruit along with the slightest nip of spice. Ruby ports, also named for their hue, offer more fruit and less nuttiness than tawnies. Let that be your general guide, and keep in mind that both styles match well with lots of cheeses for anyone not interested in traditional sweets for dessert. Regardless of the port you serve, give it a little chill before you pour.

Also, remember that port wines are fortified, and often hover around 20 percent alcohol, significantly higher than the average table wine. Sip, sip, sip  and when your dessert is gone, don't rule out pouring another glass to drink on its own. If you happen to require a nap at some point after your feast, no one will suspect that you've taken in too much port. It's Thanksgiving  you can always blame it on the tryptophan.

foods@tribune.com

Twitter @pour_man
Mike McNamara has stepped down from his position as executive director of the Midwest Independent Film Festival in Chicago, the organization has announced.

McNamara was the longtime programmer and public face of the year-round fest, which launched in 2005 and hosts screenings on the first Tuesday of every month at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema with a focus on indie films with a Midwest connection.

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In a statement about his resignation given to Screen magazine Nov. 3, McNamara said: "After being honest with myself and listening to friends and colleagues, I will be taking time to deal with some personal struggles, and to privately make amends with some friends whom I may have hurt. I do have more to say, but this open letter is not the forum for that.

McNamara did not return a message and an attorney for him declined to comment.

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Interim festival director Michael Kwielford said by email that McNamara stepped down for personal reasons.

In the same email, Kwielford also stated that: Shortly after the Midwest Independent Film Festival was made aware of allegations against someone affiliated with the Festival, I directed an investigation into the exact nature and severity.

Kwielford did not indicate that the allegations were aimed at McNamara.

The email also described internal changes for airing complaints about festival staff.

I am overseeing the development of new procedures in which any individual can confidentially express concerns of any nature. Upon its completion, this procedure will be shared with our supporters and posted publicly on our website. Additionally, the Midwest Independent Film Festival is revising its employee code of conduct and training procedures to insure (sic) all employees and volunteers are fully aware of the Festival's expectations and zero-tolerance policy toward inappropriate behavior of any kind.

McNamara is a Chicago actor whose credits include shows at theaters such as TimeLine, Northlight and Chicago Shakespeare. He has also had small roles in movies such as Barbershop 2: Back in Business and The Dilemma, as well as a handful of episodes of NBCs Chicago Fire.

Additionally, McNamara wrote a regular column about the local TV and film scene for Screen magazine. According to publisher and editor Andrew Schneider, Mike informed me he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from Screen last week, and as a result hes no longer an active contributor, though his past articles are archived on the site.

As the Midwest Independent Film Festivals programmer and host, McNamara was a visible presence at screenings, which were typically preceded by panel discussions booked by McNamara featuring TV and film actors, directors and producers. (Disclosure: I moderated the occasional panel in years past.)

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McNamaras statement to Screen concluded: I am proud of what has been accomplished in the past 14 (sic) years of this festival. The new leadership will uphold the festival mission of uniting and celebrating the Chicago and Midwest filmmaking community, and I hope they will have your support.

Kwielford, who is a co-founder of the fest, will serve as interim executive director through the end of the year as the fest begins a search for a permanent successor.

[ RELATED: Chicago professor turns filmmaker in quest to unravel Dixon embezzlement ]

[ 'Hamilton' writer plans a new Chicago theater project ]
Jreed & his Mongrol Hoard teach you how to train your dog to find and kill rats, a solution John Kass proposes in this weeks's column. (Jreed & his Mongrol Hoard)

Jreed & his Mongrol Hoard teach you how to train your dog to find and kill rats, a solution John Kass proposes in this weeks's column. (Jreed & his Mongrol Hoard) (Jreed & His Mongrol Hoard)

Chicago is said to be the rat capital of America. The city is expected to break last years record for the number of rat complaints.

Walking to the subway after work, I looked down and there was a rat walking alongside me, said a trained journalist not given to exaggeration. It was gigantic, like a small dog or a fat squirrel. It just walked along without fear.

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But dont worry, Chicago. Ive got a guy. And I hope Mayor Rahm Emanuel is listening.

Jordan Reed, the legendary American rat catcher, is known far and wide in the rat-hunting community for the pack of terrier dogs he calls his mongrol hoard.

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Hes on an upcoming episode of The Chicago Way podcast on WGN Radio that I co-host with Jeff Carlin. And hes talking rat dogs.

It kind of sounds to me like you guys should start a club  or someone should start a club  a rat-catching club, to share information and to see if your dog has what it takes, Reed said.

Reed then listed the best rat-hunting breeds and described how to train a rat dog.

Whats ironic is that in the neighborhoods overwhelmed by rats, there are perhaps thousands of pet terriers that never are allowed to reach their true dog potential.

If you never allow a terrier to have some risk, it probably has never once gotten to be a terrier, and thats sad, Reed said. When you have a dog that was bred to work in pitch blackness, underground, youre basically dealing with a fearless animal. And really tough ones. Ones that can take a lot of punishment without quitting.

Rats are everywhere in Chicago, and though the Emanuel administration spent $10 million to stop rats last year  double what it spent the year before  the rats keep coming.

Neighbors complain. Feral cats dont kill enough rats. Sorry, crazy cat ladies, but they dont. The feral-cats-kill-rats lie is just more pro-cat propaganda stuck into rat news stories.

And rat poison is bad for the environment, and some rats have become immune. Now rats are crawling all over neighborhoods where children play. This must end.

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A Rat Hunting Club means people getting together, in friendship, killing rats, working their dogs that are too often bored because they dont have a job.

And all of this to help the city they love. Listening, mayor?

A community of rat hunters, a club of rat hunters, people sharing knowledge and training techniques?

Oh, and dont forget the drinking.

Thats on my agenda too, said Reed, who prefers a good craft beer after a hunt.

Jordan Reed poses with dead rats and his rat-catching dogs that he calls "the mongrol hoard." (Photo provided by Jordan Reed)

Reed makes his living shearing sheep and killing rats on farms, at granaries, during grape harvests in the wine country, at egg farms, loading docks, wherever you find rats. He kills hundreds a day.

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My personal record with three adult dogs and one puppy is 224 rats, he said, without a hint of immodesty. The task was done in just three hours, he added.

No cat can approach that number. No cat.

The best rat-killing breeds, he said, include the standard rat terrier, the Parson Russell terrier and the English Patterdale terrier, though Reed does not recommend this breed as a pet because if owners dont give them enough work, they go crazy.

Theyre like a Jack Russell on steroids. They really need to have a good outlet to work, Reed said. If they dont, theyll just destroy things.

And oddly, the whippet, a sighthound with a strong prey drive that can run down rats in open space. Also, German shepherds and mixed breeds, beagles with terriers, terriers with dachshunds, also do fine.

The main thing is instinct and training. If you really want to get into this with your dog, then listen to the podcast, or go online to Reeds website themongrolhoard.com, or contact local working terrier clubs and the American Working Terrier Association to ask for more information.

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What you dont want to do is join in some barn hunt game, where you pay money just so cute little Toto can chase around a few bales of hay to find a rat in a cage.

Thats not rat hunting. Thats playing at rat hunting. Mayor Emanuel and the people of Chicago need dog warriors in the alleys killing rats, not posers.

Rahm doesnt need dilettantes. He needs dedicated rat killers.

Reed says the first command to teach your dog is to leave it or drop it with a toy. You dont want the dog eating a poisoned rat.

And you dont want your dog to confront a live adult rat before the dog is ready for battle. First, you want to find rats  that dumpster with baby diapers and rats jumping in and out is a good start  then trap and kill one, and see how your dog reacts.

If the dog has the instinct to kill a rat, you dont have to teach them, Reed said. Just give them the opportunity. It takes one to three seconds

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Animal rights activists wont like it. But do rats have rights now? And those who anthropomorphize pets wont like it, because they dont really want dogs. They want furry four-legged babies.

Terriers have heart, Reed said. Until they let their dogs be terriers, theyll never know the kind of heart thats in these brave little dogs.

Yes, Chicago tough owners and Chicago tough dogs: All they need is to be organized. And then well see those rats start to run.

Listen to "The Chicago Way" podcast with John Kass and Jeff Carlin  at http://wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/thechicagoway.

jskass@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @John_Kass

[ Column: Give a dog a job with Ratapalooza ]

[ Column: Feral cats, rats and songbirds form unnatural mix ]
Women stand while listening to actress Rose McGowan speak at the inaugural Women's Convention in Detroit, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. McGowan went public with her allegation that film company co-founder Harvey Weinstein raped her. (Paul Sancya / AP)

When will this all end?

I mean the daily public revelations of sexual harassment, the landslide of me toos, the nonstop media reports, the anger and confusion all of it has unleashed.

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When will it stop? A lot of people are wondering and the answer is easy:

Not yet.

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Its been five weeks since the movie impresario Harvey Weinstein was publicly accused, in well-documented news reports, of sexually abusing young women in his realm, abuse compounded by intimidation.

Whats happened in these five weeks reminds me of a photo I recently saw of the Chicago River after a hard rain, the water filthy with the muck and gunk stirred up by the storm.

If the accusations against Weinstein were the storm, the muck and gunk are the sordid tales that have followed.

Famous actors. A powerful comedian. A judge running for U.S. Senate. A studio head. A couple of high-profile publishing types. The top editor of a radio network. An Illinois legislator. Countless lesser-known men whose names now live in ignominy on Facebook.

All those and more are accused of acts that range from repulsive to criminal.

In the modern news cycle, five weeks is like five million years. Very little lasts that long. But far from abating, the turmoil over sexual harassment seems to be growing, a relentless churn of muck and gunk.

The bright side? The storm has stirred up a lot of good questions, too. Like:

Is there a sliding scale of bad behavior, from a sexist remark to physical assault?

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Is every man guilty as charged until proved innocent?

Is a single allegation of harassment against a public figure as newsworthy as a well-researched story built on several womens claims?

Should there be a statute of limitations on punishing sexual misconduct?

Is every revelation of harassment a firing offense?

And has all this gone too far?

I have tentative answers to most of those questions, but Im wrestling with some of them. So are many women and men. Even in this charged moment, many of us try to be fair, and trying to be fair involves thinking about sexual harassment in a deeper way than we may have before.

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Thats one beauty of this awful moment. Glimmers of new clarity rise out of the confusion.

[ How Harvey Weinstein is altering the landscape of workplace sexual harassment ]

[ Column: The one-sentence guide on sexual harassment ]

Heres one revelation Ive had:

Women are often asked why they didnt speak up sooner when harassed by a boss or colleague. Different women have different reasons. They may have felt ashamed about what happened, even partly responsible. Maybe they feared retaliation or didnt know who to turn to.

Theres another potential reason, though, one that had never occurred to me until a few days ago.

When I started working in newspapers, in the 1980s, to come forward with a story of sexual harassment was to publicly sexualize yourself  and that was the very thing you were trying to avoid.

If you reported that a co-worker left a pornographic photo on your desk or a boss called you at midnight with suggestive banter  yes, it happened  you were asking for your body parts to be noticed. It felt more efficient and dignified to shrug it off and carry on. Deflecting bad male behavior was a job skill.

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Its harder to argue for that approach today, and thats a good change.

I find this recent eruption of truths being told is disruptive of all our polite repressions, an old friend, a high-ranking woman in her field, said the other day. And most of that disruption seems healthy and necessary, and if we pay a price for some of it, then to hell with that, too. Its time to be paying a price for opposing patriarchy instead of paying the price of buckling under.

Two things struck me in her remark. One is the sublime phrase polite repressions. The other is the word most in the phrase most of that disruption seems healthy and necessary.

In the churn after the storm, we do risk confusing most with all. Seeing clearly through the muck and gunk can be hard.

So is there a sliding scale of bad behavior, from a sexist remark to physical assault?

I think so, but its all part of the same warped belief that women are up for grabs.

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Is every man guilty until proven innocent?

No. But when several women make a claim against the same man, it gets hard to believe otherwise.

Is a single allegation of harassment against a public figure as newsworthy as a well-researched story built on several womens claims?

As a general rule, no, but it depends. I saw a couple of stories about Hollywood men in the past few days that seemed to me to be gossip, not properly vetted news, and giving those allegations prominent headlines didnt seem fair.

Should there be a statute of limitations on punishing sexual misconduct?

Not if it was perpetrated on a 14-year-old.

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Is every revelation of sexual harassment a firing offense?

Id say no. People I respect would disagree.

Has this gone too far?

Not yet.

So when will it all end?

If were lucky, not until weve reckoned with sexual harassment as the dark force that it is and the long damage it has done, and thats going to be a while.

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mschmich@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @MarySchmich

[ Task force created to examine allegations of sex abuse in Hollywood ]

[ Louis C.K. says he misused his power and 'brought pain' ]
Bail was denied for two men tied to a string of armed robberies in the Rogers Park neighborhood that authorities said all took place in the same gangway and were set up as rendezvous arranged through the dating app Grindr.

Prosecutors said Stephen Jackson, 25, and Trenell Kirkman, 28, arranged to meet with six different men through the popular app beginning Oct. 27 through Thursday, when they were arrested by undercover officers during a sting in the 7600 block of North Bosworth Avenue. Police said the two may have been robbing people since Oct. 14.

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In each instance, the men arranged to meet a victim, either for sex or drugs, and agreed to meet on North Bosworth Avenue, police said. Once there, one of the men would wave the victim over into the gangway and then pull out a small silver revolver, according to Assistant State's Attorney Bob Groebner.

The men demanded the wallets and phones of the victims, and the phone passcodes and debit card PIN numbers, Groebner said. One surveillance camera captured portions of a robbery, while another captured one of the suspects using one of the victims' debit cards, he added.

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None of the victims was injured.

Police arranged an undercover investigation in which an officer posed as someone wanting to meet Thursday afternoon. Once both suspects and the officer were in the gangway, police swarmed in and made the arrest without incident, according to prosecutors and the arrest report.

Jackson, of the 1500 block of Darrow Avenue in Evanston, was charged with armed robbery with a firearm, attempted robbery with a firearm and unlawful possession of a credit or debit card. Kirkman, of the 11900 block of Washington Avenue in Blue Island, was charged with armed robbery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery with a firearm. He was also charged with solicitation of a sexual act because he arranged to meet one victim for sex in exchange for $150, according to court documents. After his arrest Thursday, state corrections authorities filed a parole violation against Kirkman for a 2013 drug conviction.

Both men were expected to return to court next week.
Lifeng Ye, mother of Yingying Zhang, a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign who authorities say was kidnapped near a bus stop on campus June 9, sits with her son Xinyang Zhang, right, and Xiaolin Hou, Yingying's boyfriend, after a press conference at the I Hotel and Conference Center on Aug. 22, 2017, in Champaign, Ill. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)

URBANA  For more than four months, Ronggao Zhang has walked to his missing daughter's apartment almost every day. At first, he stood outside, hoping she would show up one afternoon. But even after he was told she'd been kidnapped and was presumed dead, he's continued his routine.

"It brings peace and comfort to my heart," Zhang explained in Mandarin, through a translator.

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His daughter, Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, disappeared June 9 on her way to sign an apartment lease. A former graduate student has been charged with kidnapping and killing her. Zhang's body has not been found.

A few days ago, Zhang's father made a final visit to the Orchard Downs apartments with his wife, 24-year-old son and daughter's boyfriend as they prepared to return to China. They arrived here after Zhang vanished, hopeful in the beginning that she'd be found alive. After authorities relayed the grim news, they decided to stay until her remains were found so they could take her home for a proper burial, in accordance with Chinese customs.

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Now they plan to leave Sunday, reluctantly, without her. Zhang's mother is in fragile health  she broke down at the start of a recent court hearing  and there's no way of knowing when this cruel mystery will be solved. Each day they wait, in agony.

"We don't know where she is, and I don't know how to spend the rest of my life without my daughter," said Lifeng Ye, Zhang's mother, her face tear-stained and voice trembling as she spoke through a translator. "I can't really sleep well at night. ... I often dream of my daughter, and she's right there with me. I want to ask the mother of the suspect, please talk to her son and ask him what he did to my daughter. Where is she now? I want to know the answer."

Authorities have not said how Zhang died. Brendt Christensen, 28, was charged in July with abduction and then last month accused in a superseding indictment of kidnapping resulting in death "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim." That carries the possibility of the death penalty. Christensen's lawyer declined comment.

Federal prosecutors claim that Zhang, who arrived on campus in April, had missed a bus and worried she was late to sign an apartment lease when Christensen lured her into his car. Surveillance video showed her getting into the front seat of a black Saturn Astra the FBI alleges was cleaned in a way to conceal evidence.

Audio surveillance captured Christensen talking about how he abducted Zhang and brought her back to his apartment, where she "fought and resisted" while he held her against her will, according to prosecutors. They contend he also talked about who makes an "ideal victim," but prosecutors would not identify whom Christensen was speaking with or the source of those conversations.

A federal complaint disclosed that Christensen used his phone in April to visit a fetish networking site online, viewing threads titled "perfect abduction fantasy" and "planning a kidnapping." Christensen, who earlier this year earned a master's degree in physics, appeared at a campus vigil for Zhang in June before he was arrested.

Zhang's disappearance has rippled far beyond this quiet central Illinois community, generating headlines and discussion in Chinese newspapers and social media sites about the American justice system, the capabilities of law enforcement, and whether scholars who study in the U.S. are safe.

Some 5,600 Chinese students attend the university here  more than any other college in the nation. The Urbana-Champaign area typically has no more than a few homicides a year.

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Studying in America was a longtime dream for Zhang and "she loved her stay here," said her boyfriend, Xiaolin Hou, who was in touch with her every day via WeChat, a popular social network in China.

She chose Illinois for its highly regarded agriculture program. Zhang had been doing research on crop photosynthesis. She was to begin her doctoral work in September after having earned a graduate degree in environmental engineering from the prestigious Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School.

"She was very tough, strong, never afraid of hard work," her mother said, recalling how she was at the top of her class ever since she was a little girl. Zhang was a calming influence, too, when her parents expressed concern about her safety in America. "She always told me, 'Mom, don't worry about me. There are Chinese here, Americans here. But everyone is very nice here.'"

Zhang was a devoted daughter. At the same time every Saturday, she'd call her parents in Nanping, China. As a graduate research student, she used her meager savings to buy her family a cellphone, an air conditioner and a microwave oven. She planned to become a university professor and help support her father, a factory worker, and mother, a homemaker.

"She never hesitated, even for a moment, when others needed help," said her boyfriend, who put his doctoral studies on hold to join Zhang's family here. He said her selflessness was what attracted him to Zhang when they met in their first year in college. She also knew how to have fun, playing guitar and singing lead in a band called "Cute Horse."

Hou and family members have met with the FBI, police and prosecutors, but they're frustrated by the slow pace of justice, said Zhidong Wang, a Chicago lawyer who has been helping them. He said he's explained that even though authorities have a suspect, Christensen's constitutional rights protect him from being forced to reveal anything that would hurt his defense.

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Christensen's lawyers recently sought a delay in the trial until next October, saying they needed to check into several purported sightings of Zhang and reports of suspicious people around her apartment before she disappeared.

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Zhang's father said the loss of his daughter has warped his sense of time: "Every day is like a year."

Hou, Zhang's boyfriend of eight years, has struggled, too. Though they didn't have marriage plans, he said, "In my heart, she is my wife for all time."

When authorities provided scanned pages of Zhang's diary to the family, Hou said it hurt too much to read them thoroughly. She wrote regularly of long-term and short-term goals and meticulously detailed how she organized her day  20 minutes for breakfast, 20 minutes for jogging.

On June 1, her last entry, Zhang was a bit more philosophical.

"Life," she wrote, "is too short to be ordinary."

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Hou said it will be hard to leave and wait from thousands of miles away to bring Zhang home.

"We don't know how much longer this journey is going to be," he said. "We just feel hopeless."
Dr. Thomas Wardzala fits Dalesha, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, with hearing aids at the Sertoma Speech & Hearing Center in Palos Hills on Nov. 9, 2017. The 22-year-old sexual assault survivor was born with total hearing loss. Cook County sheriff's investigator Ruth Mendez, who speaks sign language, interpreted for Dalesha as she received the new hearing aids. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)

The expectations were not that high as the delicate black hearing aids were inserted into the ears of the profoundly deaf 22-year-old woman.

Once in, the devices were obscured behind her black bob. At least that had gone as she wished.

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But no one was too hopeful the high-end hearing aids would actually work. The detectives were worried it would be a letdown. Her mother had the same concern. Even the doctor said he was prepared for just about anything as they all stood around her as she sat in a chair.

As Dr. Tom Wardzala turned on the volume to the custom-fitted devices from a nearby computer, Daleshas eyes darted in his direction, and she nodded quickly.

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Laughter erupted in the cramped room.

Wow, Cook County sheriffs Detective Sgt. Jim Davis said under his breath from the back of the room. You seeing this?

Davis and his partner, Judith Powe, first met Dalesha about three years ago while investigating her rape in a south suburb where she once lived.

In the ensuing months, the detectives, along with sheriffs investigator Ruth Mendez, who knows sign language, took Dalesha as their charge, helping her reach her dream of walking across the stage to graduate high school. During their first meeting, she had surprised them with the request, saying it was a step to bigger things. Like a job or moving out of a dangerous neighborhood.

The detectives became her contact at the Chicago public school where she enrolled. They took her to appointments, helped with community service hours, shopped for school supplies and cheered her on when she collected her diploma.

Since her graduation in June, even more has changed for Dalesha, who is not being identified by the Tribune because she is a rape victim. Donations have been given to her. She was scheduled to start work at a grocery store on Friday. But most life-changing was the offer from HearStrong Foundation to pay for her college tuition and fit her with hearing aids.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 7 Dalesha, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, is fitted with with hearing aids at the Sertoma Speech & Hearing Center Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, in Palos Hills, Ill. The 22-year-old was born with total hearing loss. The 22-year-old sexual assault survivor was born with total hearing loss. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Dalesha will be among those honored Monday night at a HearStrong event downtown. The Chicago-based organization raises awareness and advocates for the deaf community.

Brian McCaskey, a Bears vice president who suffers from hearing loss and co-founded HearStrong, read about Daleshas story in the Tribune in June and offered the help.

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Dalesha was sexually assaulted by acquaintances in a home in 2013. She had grown angry and confused when the investigation languished  until Davis, Powe and Mendez reached out to her.

Dalesha had already faced similar adversity. She had been the victim of another rape in 2010.

Susan Herman, a national expert on crime victims who has written a book on the subject, says Dalesha has received the kind of support that all victims of violence need.

Herman, a deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department who oversees its collaborative policing, argues that victims of violence need help in their recovery at the same time that law enforcement pursues the criminal and charges.

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This is an unusual case  the length they have gone to meet her needs, said Herman, praising Dalesha for articulating her concerns. We have an obligation to not only hold offenders accountable but to help victims rebuild lives.

In the push to help Dalesha stretch to that next level  attending college  the detectives have learned that she in fact had earned in 2014 the credit hours she needed at a south suburban school to graduate.

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She had no clue, Mendez, the investigator who knows sign language, said of Dalesha. If anything, we gave her that. For that I will be forever grateful. She got the experience to cross that stage, to feel like a graduate. It goes to show you how important it is to have a support system.

Wardzala, who works for Sertoma Speech & Hearing Center, said the hearing aids given to Dalesha became available only about half a year ago.

Most people with profound hearing loss benefit from hearing aids, Wardzala said. But not everyone has access to the devices they need, and certainly not the high-end ones given to Dalesha that cost about $6,000 a pair.

The doctor said Dalesha would have to learn sounds before she can easily use them to communicate with others. But she will hear noises around her when she is outside. Inside, she will be able to tell when people are talking to her. Still, she will not give up sign language or reading lips.

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Wardzala taught Dalesha how to take the devices out and change the batteries. Her graceful fingers fumbled at first, but she figured out how to flip the black case open and roll out the tiny silver battery.

All the while at the hourlong appointment her mother beamed.

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She called out her daughters name to grab her attention.

Now we got some talkin to do, she said.

asweeney@chicagotribune.com

[ RELATED: Deaf sexual assault survivor graduates with help from Cook County detectives ]
COLUMBUS  A David City man accused of breaking into the Ramada-Columbus in the wee hours of Oct. 24 is facing the prospect of being convicted of burglary for the fifth time since 2005.

Johnathan Mally, 32, was charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools and being a habitual criminal in connection with the break-in at the 33rd Avenue hotel. His bond has been set at $100,000, 10 percent allowed for release.

Mally, who is scheduled for arraignment on the charges Nov. 21 in Platte County District Court, was previously convicted of burglary and sentenced to prison in Colfax County in 2005 and 2011, Platte County in 2011 and Saunders County in 2007. He has also been sentenced to prison for theft and drug convictions in Platte, Seward and Butler counties over the last 12 years.

Burglary is a Class 2A felony, punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment. Possession of burglary tools is a Class IV felony with a maximum penalty of two years in prison and 12 months of post-release supervision.

The states habitual criminal law provides for mandatory maximum and minimum sentences that can add decades to a prison term.

Mally was arrested following a brief foot pursuit around 3:30 a.m. Oct. 24 outside the Ramada-Columbus after racing out of a bar area and across the courtyard before crashing through an exterior door while trying to make his escape.

Columbus Police officers stationed around the perimeter of the building subdued the suspect after he forcibly exited the hotels east doors, breaking them from their hinges and support structure.

Police were called to the business by an employee who reported a possible burglary in progress involving a suspect wearing a hooded sweatshirt in a closed area of the bar.

The caller, according to Officer Dale Ciborons probable cause arrest statement, reported observing the suspects feet moving beneath a curtain separating the bar from the front desk area.

I entered through the curtain and encountered a suspect dressed completely in black clothing, including gloves and a ski mask, exposing only his eyes, Ciboron wrote in his statement.

The startled suspect was ordered at gunpoint to get on the ground, but refused and ran out a side door, the officer wrote.

Police reported a 3-feet-long pry bar was found leaning against a doorway where the suspect had been, the same area that houses the business safes. Mally was shown on security video footage walking through the pool area carrying the pry bar.

An owner of the Ramada later identified Mally as a former employee who would have known where the hotel's safes are located.
HANOI, Vietnam  President Donald Trump on Sunday said he believes U.S. intelligence agencies, which have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But Trump also said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is sincere when he says Russia didn't interfere.

"I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election," Trump said of Putin at a news conference with Vietnam's president in Hanoi. "As to whether I believe it, I'm with our agencies."

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He added, "As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies."

Top U.S. intelligence officials, including those at the CIA, have concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help the Republican Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. A special counsel and multiple Congressional committees are also investigating potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides. That probe has so far led to the indictments of Trump's former campaign chairman and another top aide for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser.

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Trump also seemed to suggest Sunday that it was time to remove the sanctions Congress has slapped on Russia in retaliation.

"It's now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken," said Trump. "Those are very important things."

It's a question that has followed Trump since January, when he said for the first time at a press conference in Trump Tower shortly before taking office that he accepted Russia was behind the election year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race.

"As far as hacking, I think it was Russia," Trump said then, quickly adding that "other countries and other people" also hack U.S. interests.

But the issue wasn't settled.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday on his way to Hanoi, Trump had said that Putin again vehemently denied the allegations  this time on the sidelines of an economic conference in the seaside city of Danang. Trump danced around questions of whether he believed Putin, but stressed Putin's denials. He also accused Democrats of using the issue to try to sabotage relations between the two countries, putting lives at risk.

"Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe  I really believe  that when he tells me that, he means it," Trump said, arguing that it made no sense for him to belabor the issue.

"I'd rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I'd rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing," he said.

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Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One before landing in Hanoi, Trump also lashed out at the former heads of the nation's intelligence agencies, claiming there were plenty of reasons to be suspicious of their findings. "I mean, give me a break. They're political hacks," Trump said, citing by name James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, John Brennan, the former CIA director and his ousted ex-FBI director James Comey, whom Trump said was "proven now to be a liar and he's proven to be a leaker."

When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There always playing politics - bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017

In a tweet sent Sunday from Hanoi, Trump bashed the "haters and fools" he said were questioning his efforts to improve relations with Russia and accused critics of "playing politics" and hurting the country.

Trump's Saturday comments sparked criticism from lawmakers with ties to the intelligence community. Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is his party's top member on the House's intelligence committee, said in a statement that Trump "fools no one" and that the president understands how the Russians intervened in the election through hacking, social media and television coverage of the presidential race.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the party's presidential nominee in 2008, said in a statement that Trump's faith in Putin's denial was "naive."

"There's nothing 'America First' about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community," McCain wrote, referring to Putin's former career in Soviet intelligence. "Vladimir Putin does not have America's interests at heart."

Trump was in Hanoi for a brief state visit. He heads to the Philippines later Sunday  the last stop of his five country trip  for a pair of summits.

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In brief remarks after his arrival at Hanoi's presidential palace, Trump offered Vietnam help negotiating with China on disputes over the South China Sea. Beijing's island-building there has drawn criticism from Washington, which argues the U.S. has a national interest in freedom of navigation in sea lanes critical for world trade. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this month said China's "provocative actions" challenged international law and norms.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putin as they pose for a group photo ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang on Nov. 10, 2017. (Getty Images)

"If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know," Trump offered. "I'm a very good mediator and a very good arbitrator. I've done plenty of it from both sides."

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said he preferred to settle the dispute through "peaceful negotiations" and "with respect for diplomatic and legal process in accordance with international law."

Trump also said he hoped to have more help from Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as Russia, when it comes to isolating North Korea, in an effort to pressure the country to abandon its nuclear weapons program. "President Xi I think is going to be a tremendous help. I hope Russia likewise will be a tremendous help," Trump said. "I think they can make a big difference."

Earlier, Trump had exchanged schools yard taunts with the country's leader Kim Jong-un. "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Trump tweeted from Vietnam, adding: "Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!"

Asked whether he could really be friends with Kim, Trump said, "I think anything's a possibility. Strange things happen in life."

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Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.

Trump's comments made clear that Trump still does not take the meddling seriously and sees little benefit in punishing a nation accused of undermining the most fundamental tenet of American democracy: free and fair elections. They also suggest that Trump is unlikely to work aggressively to try to prevent future meddling despite repeated warnings from senior intelligence officials that Russia is likely to try to interfere again.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.
SEOUL, South Korea  The United States and South Korea on Saturday started joint naval exercises that will involve three U.S. aircraft carriers in what military officials describe as a clear warning to North Korea.

The four-day drills that began in waters off South Korea's eastern coast come as President Donald Trump continues a visit to Asia that has been dominated by discussions over the North Korean nuclear threat.

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The battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Nimitz will successively enter the exercise area during the drills that run until Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The three carriers will be likely together in the drills around Monday, according to a South Korean military official, who didn't want to be named, citing office rules.

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The exercises will also involve 11 U.S. Aegis ships and seven South Korean naval vessels, including two Aegis ships. The Aegis technology refers to missile defense.

They will aim to enhance combined operation and aerial strike capabilities and also display "strong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of crisis," Seoul's military said in a statement.

It's the first time since a 2007 exercise near Guam that three U.S. carrier strike groups are operating together in the Western Pacific, according to the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet. The U.S. carriers will also participate in separate exercises with three Japanese destroyers on Sunday, according to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The United States has been sending its strategic assets, also including long-range bombers, to the region more frequently for patrols or drills amid accelerating North Korean efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program.

In recent months, North Korea has tested intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland with further development and has conducted its most powerful nuclear test. It also flew two new midrange missiles over Japan and threatened to launch them toward Guam, a U.S. Pacific territory and military hub.

Trump continued his tough talk against Pyongyang on Friday in a speech to business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, saying that the region's future "must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail," referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump had also delivered a sharp warning to North Korea in a speech at South Korea's parliament on Wednesday, telling the country: "Do not underestimate us. And do not try us."
COLUMBUS  Tom Kent was a young electrical engineering student looking for a job when he decided to serve in the armed forces.

It was 1985 and the United States Navy was seeking engineers, scientists and mathematicians for the Naval Nuclear Power Officer Candidate Program, which was created to source officers to run nuclear propulsion plants for submarines and aircraft carriers.

Kent spent four years on active duty as a commissioned officer in the Navy and is now vice president and chief operating officer at Nebraska Public Power District.

Although he initially enlisted to help find employment, he said his service provided him with much more than a career that started as an engineer at Cooper Nuclear Station.

He developed leadership skills while ensuring officers and other enlisted personnel had the necessary knowledge to operate those plants at the highest level.

That made him feel like what he did mattered.

Kent knows his story is just one of many about those who choose to serve. That's what he told the crowd attending the annual community Veterans Day program Friday at Columbus High School.

Why do we serve? The reasons are as varied as there are people in the armed forces. Many have served because of a sense of patriotic duty who have answered a call to arms during a time of crisis, such as after the Pearl Harbor attack or the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Kent said.

A commonality is the urge to make a difference.

For him, Kent said he felt like he contributed to a successful mission, made lifelong friends and helped in some small way during the Cold War.

His service provided a lot in return, including helping him find a post-military career.

Whatever their motivation to serve is, Kent said members of the armed forces should be recognized.

How should we celebrate Veterans Day? First, if you know a veteran, thank them for their service. Ask them about their service. Every veteran has a story to tell and every story is important, Kent said.

He also encouraged participation in Veterans Day events, visiting veterans in nursing homes, learning about Americas government and voting. Everyone should consider serving, he said, whether it's through the military or in the community by getting involved and giving back.

Find your way to make a difference. Find your way to make the community a better place, he said.
COLUMBUS  Marie Froemel had an independent streak.

It was needed while spending time away from Columbus and living on a piece of land she homesteaded in Larimer County, Colorado.

Froemel filed for the homestead in 1928 and settled on the property a year later when she was in her 20s. She was required to live there seven months out of the year for three consecutive years to prove her homestead claim. Oftentimes, it was just Froemel and her dog in a log cabin she constructed.

She homesteaded all by herself. She lived in a tent her first year. You cant believe a person could be so strong to go out in the middle of the mountains like she did. Shed be there in the middle of nowhere in a tent, said Tim Benson of Columbus, who got to know Froemel later in her life after befriending one of her brothers.

Despite living a bit of a loner lifestyle, Froemel made it a point to give back. Her generosity is still present in the community, long after her death in 1995 at the age of 92.

For more than five decades Froemel managed her family business, Froemel Jewelry, in Columbus. She is being recognized for that work with her induction into the Columbus Area Business Hall of Fame on Nov. 21.

But the business side is only part of her story.

Froemel was born in 1903 and graduated from high school in Columbus. After her graduation, she spent time working in the jewelry store.

For a short stint, she also was employed at a wholesale jeweler in Chicago, but didnt find the big city to her liking. She moved back to Nebraska and worked at another jewelry store in Omaha before filing for the homestead.

A love for the outdoors and visit to the West a few years earlier piqued Froemels interest in homesteading where she could stay among the pines and rocks, where everything was beautiful and quiet, away from the noise and strife of city life, she was quoted as saying in a Dec. 22, 1930, issue of The Columbus Daily Telegram.

Froemel drove to her section of land in the spring of 1929, a late-arriving season that year, and was greeted by several inches of snow. The conditions forced her to abandon her car 6 miles from her property and walk the rest of the way.

It took her months to build a 14-by-18-foot log cabin with a quartz stone porch.

Though she was far from her family, which included four siblings, living on the homestead was an enjoyable experience.

I have gotten so I do not even try to make people understand why I like it out there. We all live our own lives, and I am happy and contented and that is all that is necessary. I am not out here for a lark, or to be different. I am living here and doing the things I do because I like it, she told the local newspaper.

Neighbors were scarce, but she wasnt always in isolation. There were wild animals that had to be dealt with. Benson said Froemel would fire a .22-caliber rifle to scare the bears and other creatures away. The gun was a gift from a man who rode on horseback to her property one day and gave her the firearm after learning she was living alone.

Not all the animals were of the scary variety. Benson said Froemel was befriended by chipmunks and birds, the latter of which would fly alongside her vehicle when she drove the 11 miles to her mailbox.

When she wasnt living in Colorado, Froemel returned to Columbus to work at the family store.

She officially took over management of Froemel Jewelry in 1932, the beginning of a 53-year career in the position.

She joined the Nebraska and South Dakota Jewelers Association, serving as secretary/treasurer, and took correspondence courses with the Gemological Institute of America in Los Angeles to appraise diamonds, identify gems and design jewelry.

Froemel also belonged to civic organizations in the community. She was a member of Friends of Music, president of the Columbus Camera Club and active in her Catholic faith.

Katie Claus of Columbus knew Froemel as a roommate to her mother-in-law while they were in Columbus Community Hospital. Even when her health wasnt 100 percent, Froemels confidence didnt waver.

She was very strong-willed, Claus said. I remember her telling my mother-in-law, Youve got to stand up for yourself. Speak up.

Upon her passing, Froemel left estate gifts of $300,000 to Columbus Area United Way and $617,242 to Columbus Public Library.

Those gifts allowed for the establishment of endowments for both entities. The United Way used the donation as principal for an endowment that has grown to provide more than $1 million in community impact grants over the years.

The library is using its endowment as part of the effort to build a new library/cultural arts center.

It has been extremely important to have those finances. She didnt put any strings attached to it. We could spend it as the need arose and as the board decided to use it, said Mimi Ernst, past president of the library foundation board.

Ernst knew Froemel and described her as a very professional, stately woman.

The store was her life, Ernst said.

Though Froemel wasnt directly involved with either the library or United Way, the estate gifts were her way of giving back to a community that supported her family business.

She wanted to reinvest in the community. That is whats being done, Ernst said.
COLUMBUS  When Columbus City Council members authorized an 80-foot cell tower in the northeast corner of Glur Park they received pushback from residents living in the area.

City staff members responded by spending the past several months working with a New York-based consulting group to update the local rules that regulate wireless communications facilities.

Now Verizon Wireless, which installed the evergreen-looking tower in Glur Park, is opposing the proposed ordinance aimed at protecting the health and safety of local residents and preserving the character of neighborhoods when these facilities are considered.

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based law firm Moss & Barnett, which represents Verizon, called the 26-page ordinance discussed Monday night by city council members unnecessarily onerous and said it could lead to contentious battles with wireless communication providers.

The ordinance, which has not been adopted by the city council but was supported Monday night, is needed to keep up with a rapidly changing industry thats beyond the expertise of city staff members, City Administrator Tara Vasicek said during Mondays meeting.

The update would put The Center for Municipal Solutions, which Vasicek described as an expert in the field, in charge of reviewing applications for wireless communication facilities before a recommendation is sent to the city council for consideration.

Vasicek said this will slow down the process and give everyone involved more time to understand the full scope of a project, including those living and working near a proposed tower site.

It will dramatically help at City Hall, she said.

But thats not how Verizon sees it.

In an email sent Monday to city officials, Moss & Barnett said the ordinance creates an unduly complicated application process that adds thousands of dollars in project costs and threatens to delay or halt future upgrades to wireless systems in Columbus.

The Center for Municipal Solutions involvement in other jurisdictions had a direct, negative impact on wireless service improvements, the law firm wrote.

Robert Naumann, with the consulting group founded in 1987, said the goal isnt to make ordinances so complex they discourage the development of wireless communication facilities. But, he added, local governments also must maintain control over where towers can go, what they look like and other aspects of a project.

Were here to represent your interests and to make sure your interests are being protected, said Naumann, a professional engineer who previously worked in the telecommunications industry and served as chairman of the planning commission in Elkhorn.

The proposed ordinance covers the application and permitting process for wireless communication facilities, putting an emphasis on sharing tower space to reduce the number of structures needed, protecting public safety and minimizing the aesthetic impact.

We dont want to end up with 25 towers in Columbus when we could survive just fine with five, Vasicek said while describing the regulations that put city-owned property and industrial areas at the top of the list for preferred cell tower locations and residential neighborhoods at the bottom.

The rules under consideration in Columbus follow a model ordinance from The Center for Municipal Solutions that can be tweaked to meet individual clients needs.

Naumann, who is based in Omaha, said Douglas, Saunders and Sarpy counties in Nebraska and Yankton, South Dakota, used that model to create their wireless communication ordinances and Norfolk is currently in the implementation process. The consulting group has worked with more than 1,000 communities and counties in 38 states.

The ordinance requires wireless companies to provide an $8,500 escrow when submitting an application thats used to cover the groups consulting fees, leaving no expenses for the city.

It also boosts the cost for a special use permit for a cell tower from around $100 to $3,000 for a new facility and $1,000 for a modification or co-location. The permit is $200 per node on small-scale projects.

A public hearing would be held as part of the permitting process, with property owners within 500 feet of the project site notified ahead of time.

Moss & Barnett encouraged the city to avoid using the cookie-cutter ordinance, arguing that The Center for Municipal Solutions is using the burdensome rules to pad its bank account with consulting fees.

We encourage you to refrain from acting upon the speculative promises of a third-party company, the law firm wrote while offering to work with the city on a revised ordinance.

Naumann told city officials in January, The wireless industry is not going to like us.

Hes right, but local officials dont seem concerned.

I can read between the lines, Councilman Ron Schilling said in reference to the email from Moss & Barnett.

Wireless companies would prefer to keep the city out of the loop on some aspects of tower siting, he said, and this ordinance prevents that.
All votes in the CO-3 election won't be counted until the end of this week
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Some 38 billion messages were sent everyday via WeChat, according to a report published Thursday by Tencent Holdings, the owner of the popular messaging app.

That's up 25 percent over a year ago, furthering narrowing the gap with WhatsApp's daily volume of 55 billion messages.

Thanks to better internet connectivity and bandwidth, WeChat's 963 million users send 6.1 billion voice messages and make 205 million video and voice calls per day, the report said.

The all-in-one app, which includes payment features and a newsfeed, has also attracted 50 million active users between the ages of 55 and 70.

Its publishing function is the latest darling for brands, media outlets and bloggers, who together operated 3.5 million active "official accounts" that deliver a variety of information to subscribers.

WeChat was also used as a payment option in physical stores 2.8 times more often compared to a year ago, the company said without disclosing exact figures.
Xi Yanchun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference. Today, we are delighted to have with us Mr. Zhu Guangyao, vice minister of the Ministry of Finance.

He will introduce the economic outcomes achieved during the China-U.S. presidential meeting in Beijing, and answer some of your questions.

Now, I give the floor to Mr. Zhu.

Zhu Guangyao:

President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump held in-depth talks on Nov. 8 and 9 during the latter's first state visit to China. President Trump is the first head of state received by President Xi since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) last month. An important consensus was reached during the successful and historic presidential meeting, charting the course and drawing up a blueprint for the sound and sustained development of Sino-U.S. relations in the coming decades.

President Xi said during the meeting that China-U.S. economic ties were mutually beneficial and covered a wide range of fields including the macro-economy, trade, investment and international economic cooperation. Continued stable development of these ties will not only be of benefit to the two peoples, but also be a major contributor to global growth. China and the United States should face all economic issues in a forward-looking and constructive way and resolve problems by expanding economic cooperation. President Donald Trump expressed agreement with these views.

China and the United States have maintained close coordination on financial, currency and exchange rate policies, as well as structural reforms and global economic governance. The two countries will work together to promote robust, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth of the global economy. As well, both sides will encourage their aviation regulators to sign the Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness under the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement.

As an effort to implement the plans on opening the country wider to the outside world set out during 19th CPC National Congress, China has made the following decisions: to ease the proportion limitations on single or multiple foreign direct or indirect investment converted into securities, funding management and futures corporate structural establishment to 51 percent pending removal of the limit in three years' time; to lift the proportion restrictions of no more than 20 percent and 25 percent on foreign single and joint shareholding respectively in Chinese banks and financial capital management companies, and impose equal proportion restrictions on bank equity for Chinese and foreign investors; to lessen the proportion limit to 51 percent on single or multiple foreign investment into life insurance companies in three years' time and to lift the limit entirely in five years; to make a moderate reduction in car import tariffs in a gradual manner, and to launch trials on lifting the proportion limits on foreign shareholdings in special-purpose and new energy vehicle companies in pilot free trade zones before June, 2018; to implement the same value-added tax (VAT) policy on imported and domestic dried distiller grains (DDGS) and remove VAT on imported DDGS.

China urges the United States to relax its export controls on high-tech products, fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the Protocol on China's Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), give fair treatment to Chinese enterprises investing in the United States, facilitate China International Capital Corporation's independent application for offering financial services in the United States and take a prudent attitude towards trade remedial measures. Both sides will maintain communications on one-year and medium-to-long term economic cooperation plans.

The two countries signed business deals and bilateral investment agreements worth $250 billion during President Trump's visit to China. That's all I want to share with you on the economic outcomes achieved during the China-U.S. presidential meeting in Beijing.

Now, I am ready to take your questions.

Xi Yanchun:

Now let's open the floor to questions. Please identify your media outlet before asking your questions.

Bloomberg:

As we can see from the two-day meeting, there was a natural chemistry between the two leaders. But it seems that there is no fundamental change taking place in the economic structures of both sides. And President Trump said that the China-U.S. relationship is not sustainable and fair. And it is said that more stronger measures will be taken by the U.S. government in the future weeks. So, how do you see the economic relations between China and U.S.? And will there be more measures taken to change the trade structure?

Zhu Guangyao:

At first, I quite agree with your opinions that both sides showcased a good interaction on the basis of mutual respect. The sound communication and coordination of both sides at the highest level ensured the healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S .relations. Since the Mar-a-Lago meeting, President Xi Jinping and President Trump have kept close communication. Looking back over the last months, the topics of discussion range from global issues to the specific China-U.S. economy, including various ways to communicate such as face-to-face encounters, exchanging telephone calls and sending letters. Since President Nixon's tour of China 45 years ago, the close communication between China and America is based on the mutual-respect, and laying a solid foundation for sustainable and healthy development of China-U.S. relations. And concerning your second question, about the future development of China-U.S. economic relations, I think this is directly linked to the sound communication between both sides. China-U.S. economic and trade relations are essentially mutually beneficial.

Just now I have noted that, during their talks in Beijing, President Xi particularly stressed to President Trump that seeking mutual benefits and reciprocity is the essence in the economic relations between China and the United States. President Xi also stressed that China-U.S. economic relations covers many areas like trade and investment as well as extensive cooperation in the field of the international economy. In this regard, President Trump expressed full consent. The important consensus reached by President Xi and President Trump aims at maintaining the sustainable and healthy development of China-U.S. economic relations and benefiting the Chinese and American peoples.

Certainly, the rapid development of China-U.S. economic relations doesn't just mean the annual over US$420 billion in total trade volume and over US$200 billion in bilateral direct investment. The figures are hardly a reflection of China-U.S. economic relations, in which the interests of both sides are closely intertwined and the two sides share in benefits. In other words, the two countries have become a community of close integration and shared benefits. On this premise, it is the aspiration of both sides to resolve the problems and contradictions arising from the rapid development of economic relations through consultations. It is a problem that President Trump wants to solve, and it is a problem that President Xi Jinping has already instructed relevant departments of the Chinese side to solve by enhancing policy coordination with the American side. All the approaches are to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of economic relations between China and the United states.

In preparation for President Trump's visit to China and the important meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Trump in Beijing, under the framework of a comprehensive economic dialogue between China and the United States, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang has maintained close policy communication and contacts with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross visited China twice and made phone calls with Vice Premier Wang Yang many times. All the efforts made by both sides are to ensure that the meeting in Beijing between state leaders of China and the United States can achieve the desired results, which are not only substantive, strategic, and directional, but also specific and commercial.

As you can see, just now I have made a brief introduction of the common understanding of both sides on the nature of economic relations between the two countries, and the specific measures taken by the Chinese side to expand market access. The measures were hammered out in accordance with the principles defined in the 19th CPC National Congress and the strategic plans made by President Xi Jinping. In this regard, I think the approach will have a long-term, continuous impact. In terms of business cooperation, it doesn't just mean the over US$250-billion in contracts, either.

We believe that, with the joint efforts of both sides, the economic relations between China and the United States will realize a dynamic balance, mutual benefits and win-win situation, as president Xi Jinping stressed to President Trump during their talks in Beijing. Thank you.

CCTV:

There were lots of economic achievements made during the meeting between the two state leaders in Beijing, just as you have elaborated. My question is: What specific influences will these achievements have?

Zhu Guangyao:

President Xi Jinping has reiterated that the economic relationship between China and the United States is the bedrock of global stability and a booster of world peace. Evolving from the past to the present, this bilateral economic relationship has become increasingly close and has remained unbroken. With the development of a community of shared interests, the two countries have fully recognized that they must cooperate with each other for the sake of the two peoples and for the peace and development of the world.

Cooperation is the only correct choice for the two countries. This is the conclusion made by President Xi. Facts have proven that cooperation is conducive to the interests of the two peoples as well as to the peace and development of the world.

The economic achievements reached between us, such as broadening mutual market access and signing enormous volumes of pragmatic business contracts, will lay comprehensive and strategic influences on China-U.S. economic relationship, and will boost further development of the relationship. They will also leave a lasting, positive and helpful influence in the future.

Just like the icebreaking trip made by the late U.S. President Richard Nixon 45 years ago, President Trump's state visit to China will be remembered in history for the fruitful achievements it has made and the profound influence it has left. Thank you.

Wall Street Journal:

Can you clarify what you said earlier on the restriction changes to the banking, securities and insurance sectors? Can you explain in more detail the timeline and also the roadmaps for that?

Zhu Guangyao:

First, for securities and funds, China decided to relax the restrictions on shares owned by foreign individuals and groups in securities, fund management and futures companies from 49 percent to 51 percent, via both direct and portfolio investments. This is a significant change. In other words, foreign investors can hold over 50 percent of the total stake. Moreover, that restriction is no longer applicable after three years, which means that the 51 percent restriction will evolve into literally no restrictions at all for foreign investors. This will have a great impact on the reform of the securities and fund sectors.

Second, China will lift the restrictions on shares owned by foreign individuals (no more than 20 percent) and groups (no more than 25 percent) in China-funded banks and financial asset management companies and apply the same rule in the share of equity investment for both domestic and foreign investors.

Third, China will relax the restrictions on shares owned by foreign individuals and groups in insurance companies operating life insurance businesses to 51 percent in three years and lift the restriction in five years.

Therefore, the securities and funds, banking and insurance sectors, especially life insurance businesses, will definitely open up, and the impact is great. Moreover, there is a clear timeline for the opening up. Of course, after the announcement of the policy, related financial regulatory bodies will formulate specific implementation measures in accordance to Chinese laws and regulations. I think this will be very quick, because that is what President Xi Jinping has pointed out in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress on relaxing market access and expanding the opening up of the service sector.

We will work out the timeline and roadmap for the reform of the financial sector in accordance to the important instructions made by President Xi Jinping and the arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. This is a very good timing for us to announce China's reforms in the financial sector, especially the major reform measures with regard to market access of the financial sector. Thank you.

Phoenix Satellite TV:

How could the heads of state of China and the United States achieve so many economic and trade results in a course of two days? We're pretty surprised at the US$ 253.5 billion deals between the two countries, as well as China's announcement of a relaxation in market access requirements. What are the reasons behind all of those achievements? Thank you.

Zhu Guangyao:

Thank you. Just as I said when answering the first question, the two heads of state have attached unprecedentedly high importance to China-U.S. economic cooperation. You are right that their meetings lasted only for a couple of days. However, I can tell you that the working groups of both sides were in close contact in preparation for the summit meeting ever since the two leaders met at the Mar-a-Lago resort. President Xi has been attaching much importance to China-U.S. economic relations. He has stressed we should strengthen China-U.S. economic relations and ensure its full and effective role as the anchor and promotion of bilateral relations. China's working group has followed President Xi's instruction in this respect. Under the framework of the China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, Vice Premier Wang Yang has called meetings, listened to reports, coordinated related departments to implement President Xi's important directions, promoted the implementation of the economic arrangement, including aspects such as market access, that were stressed by President Xi in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress.

The achievements are thanks to the special attention paid by the two heads of state, the efforts made by Vice Premier Wang Yang, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who led the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, as well as the reinforced coordination efforts of the bilateral working groups. The achievements could not be possible without the unprecedented mutual trust between the two heads of state, their special attention to China-U.S. economic relations, the direct instructions on specific works made by Vice Premier Wang Yang, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, as well as the unprecedentedly close policy exchanges between the working groups. The summit meeting was short, but the preparations were long. I think the positive impact from their meeting is historic and long-lasting. Thank you.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun:

What overseas financial institutions have long been expecting is the openness of China's financial market; however, there are always some constraints that have not been removed. Why does China decide to open the financial market this time? What contexts, if any, or reasons are there for doing so? Thank you.

Zhu Guangyao:

The best answer to this question can be illustrated by President Xi's report delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress. According to the strategic plan, China will press ahead with opening up financial market access, fleshing out the related schedules and implementing blueprints for this. There is one more point that I would like to make it clear: despite the timing of China's announcement of wider financial market access during the meeting between the two heads of state of China and the United States, the openness is for all the countries in the world, which is the fulfillment of a commitment made in line with the principles of the WTO. As one of the important members of the WTO, China will unswervingly uphold the spirit of free trade and commit itself to the implementation of its principles. It will never close its door after opening up; on the contrary, the door can only swing open even wider. That is what President Xi has stressed time and time again. Thank you.

CRI:

We have noticed that during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China, enterprises of both sides have showed great interest in the establishment of Belt and Road investment platforms. Could Mr. Zhu comment on this? Thank you.

Zhu Guangyao:

Thank you. The issue you mentioned is very important. President Xi Jinping emphasized many times during his meeting with President Trump and later with the press, as well as at the U.S.-China Business Exchange, that China welcomes the participation of U.S. companies in its Belt and Road Initiative.

This was first proposed by President Xi in 2013, with the aim of facilitating policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and strengthened people-to-people ties, based on the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. The Initiative conforms to the trends of world development and meets the expectations of the people of all countries. Under the circumstances of economic globalization, we would like to work with other nations to promote economic cooperation and to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Any interest shown by U.S. firms in China's Belt and Road Initiative is their own choice, with the purpose of searching for business opportunities and expanding market share. Of course, this is welcomed. We sincerely hope that U.S. market-oriented firms can meet their profit targets, and jointly push forward the growth of world economy with us.

In regard to any cooperation with a third party, American and Chinese enterprises should always follow the principles of market-oriented and independent decision-making in order to gain bigger profits.

In fact, the Belt and Road Initiative has received extensive recognition throughout the world. Meanwhile, it has been warmly welcomed and supported by many multilateral institutions, including the United Nations and the World Bank. We do believe that, in the process of building a community with a shared future for mankind, cooperation between Chinese and American companies will not only bring about benefits to the people of our two countries, but also make contributions to world peace and development.

CNN:

You just mentioned about contracts and agreements with a value of more than US$250 billion; however, many critics in the U.S. say these agreements have more symbolic than actual meaning, because many of them have no binding force. They think of them as China's gifts to President Trump so that he can be accountable to his American constituents. I wonder how you would respond to that interpretation, and could you explain how long it will take exactly for these agreements to demonstrate their paper value of US$250 billion? Are all these agreements newly reached, or were they signed before and just officially announced this time?

Zhu Guangyao:

Your question touches on the impact and the basis of commercial contracts. I think commercial contracts can only be reached when the supplier and the recipient both have the intention to fulfill their agreement; and, for intentional agreements, they can only be carried out after the two sides have undertaken sufficient and necessary study on their feasibility. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs of both sides involved were very smart and clever in this process. In terms of weighing up their interests, the two sides in the negotiations actually focused much on how to address their own interests and to meet the shared interests of both sides. Market rules and the dominance of companies are what China has been upholding throughout the contract negotiation, and so has the U.S. As a market economy, market rules must be upheld, and the dominance of companies is a fundamental principle. Without the real intention of the companies involved, it would be impossible to sign and implement big contracts like these.

Among the contracts signed yesterday, the biggest was a strategic cooperation framework agreement between China's National Energy Investment Group Ltd. and the State of West Virginia for a demonstration project with regard to complete industrial chain development of shale gas. It is an intentional agreement as our CNN friend has mentioned just now, but I can make it clear that, as we have heard from a Chinese company, namely the original Shenhua Group, they have made substantial preparations for the investment in West Virginia, including the input of funds. So, although the contract is a statement of intent, it carries high commercial feasibility considering the substantial preparations and prior-period input. A big contract like this really requires the efforts of both sides, which cover studying the market environment: how to create a more favorable environment for the companies. We think this project is indeed a very big one, with a value of more than US$80 billion, so it will take a long time to fully execute; however I value its impact more on the healthy development of China-U.S. economic relations, because President Xi has reiterated that China-U.S. economic relations are the anchor and driving engine for the overall China-U.S. relationship, and President Trump has also made clear that he is very keen on cooperation in big projects. I think the cooperation on such a large project is rare in the histories of China and the U.S. and even in the world history. We sincerely hope that it will become one of the greatest driving forces to ensure the healthy development of China-U.S. economic relations. Of course, the two sides should benefit from the cooperation in the first place. West Virginia wants to improve its employment and investment situation, and China also hopes to benefit from its involvement in the full industrial chain development of shale gas deposits in the U.S.

Meanwhile, I would like to emphasize that, in terms of policy appeals, sometimes it is China that makes the proposal, but eventually it comes down to the two sides reaching an agreement. The long-term contract of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a good example. In the preliminary outcomes of the 100-day plan concerning the China-U.S. economic cooperation, China has a very clear policy appeal that the U.S. should allow LNG exports, and should allow China and U.S. companies to sign long-term contracts in this regard. Frankly speaking, China had been putting forward this request for a number of years; however, the U.S. did not lift restrictions on LNG exports to China for a variety of reasons, domestic legislation in particular. The preliminary outcome of the 100-day plan had realized LNG exports to China, and the U.S. had begun studying the signing of long-term supply contracts. Now, months later, the appeals of the U.S. have become stronger, hoping to sign a more fixed, long-term and big supply contract, so we can see that the changing process in the appeals of both sides is also a process whereby the economic interests of China and the U.S are closely linked and integrated. I hope very much that the CNN reporter will report this to the U.S. audience. Thank you.

China National Radio:

During your briefing just now, you mentioned that in the meeting between parties of China and the United States, there was a bilateral airworthiness agreement signed, which was applauded by both sides. May I ask what the significance of this achievement is? Thank you.

Zhu Guangyao:

Thank you. This is also a matter of mutual benefit and win-win for both sides as I just mentioned. Truthfully speaking, this is an important appeal made by China in the 100-day plan for China-U.S. economic cooperation.

However, signing this agreement actually reflects the interests of both China and the United States. Indeed, our large aircraft is on trial. We need cooperation with other countries, especially the United States. At the same time, as the second largest aircraft market in the world, China has great capacity. But, we actually operate half the number of aircrafts compared to the United States. In other words, we are the second largest aircraft market, yet we only have half the number of the United States, so the American Boeing has vast business potential in China.

Because of this, the U.S. enterprises strongly support signing the airworthiness agreement between China and the United States. It is the governments of the two countries that answer the demands of the enterprises of the two countries, so before this state visit of President Trump to China, both sides were able to sign this airworthiness agreement. The agreement, I think, will produce mutual benefits and win-win results for both countries and will have a long-term, effective and positive impact on the future economic relations between China and the United States, especially on the cooperation between both aviation industries. Thank you.

Lianhe Zaobao:

You just mentioned market access in the financial sector. I would like to ask whether there are any other sectors besides the financial sector, where China is going to relax controls over market access. Trump and other American companies have also been paying attention to market access as well as technology transfer and intellectual property theft. Have China and the United States been discussing these issues? If so, what is China's response?

Zhu Guangyao:

As for the issue of market access, just now I have specifically reported on this to you all. The principle China has followed is the substantial relaxation of control over market access and further opening up of the service industry, which was put forward by President Xi in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress. It is very clear - not just for the financial industry. The issues surrounding the financial industry were a consensus reached by both sides during Trump's visit to China. I think, just as President Xi stressed in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress, China will drastically relax control over market access and further open the service sector to the outside world. All relevant departments of the Chinese government are making the necessary timetables and roadmaps. China will become more and more open. The closer the integration of China's economy and the world economy, the bigger the contributions that will be made by China's economic development to the development of the world economy. At the same time, China also benefits from the development of the world economy. Therefore, the close integration between China and the United States are the basis for our close cooperation. Thank you.

Xinhua News Agency:

In your introduction, you mentioned that China will continue to open up in more sectors, including the finance and automobile sectors. My question is, what is the biggest benefit China would gain from the meeting between President Xi and President Trump. And what are the mutual benefits?

Zhu Guangyao:

The meeting between the two presidents is based on mutual respect. The two sides had sincere and frank talks on issues of concern. That means all issues of common concern of both parties were laid on the table. The two sides were both clear that our common goal is to maintain the sound development of Sino-U.S. economic ties, and the bilateral relationship as a whole.

Both presidents have stressed that Sino-U.S. cooperation has a significant impact on the wellbeing of the two peoples as well as on the peace and development of the whole world. Both sides have their aspirations for economic policies. Such aspirations reflect their confidence in each other's markets. American corporations want to be more involved in the Chinese market, eyeing up the opportunity to open more factories and ventures in China. Meanwhile, Chinese entrepreneurs want to invest more in the U.S., and carry out cooperation with U.S. counterparts in the U.S. or in third-party countries. This all results from their mutual confidence in each other's markets and development paths. Based on this confidence, the meeting has lifted the closely related bilateral ties, especially the economic ties, to a higher level.

President Xi pointed out in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress that China will work toward a new form of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation. The Chinese side will unswervingly follow this principle in conducting negotiations with the U.S. I'm sure this will definitely bring benefits to both Chinese and U.S. peoples and, furthermore, make contributions to the peace and development of the world.

Why has the international community paid such close attention to this meeting and the results it has yielded? Because China and the U.S. are the two biggest economies in the world. As the biggest developing country and the biggest developed country, China and U.S. have their respective responsibilities. President Xi stressed that we have 1,000 reasons to maintain a good relationship between China and the U.S., and not one reason to spoil it, with which, I think, President Trump may have also agreed.

Yesterday, at the state dinner hosted by President Xi, President Trump played a video of his granddaughter Arabella singing Chinese songs and reciting Chinese poems, which was applauded by all the attendees. In her tender voice, Arabella started by greeting "Grandpa Xi and Grandma Peng" in authentic Chinese. Her performance at once brought closer the affection between the Chinese and American peoples. I think the video revealed that President Trump and his family highly value Chinese culture and his belief in the future of bilateral ties, and more importantly, his effort in pushing forward China-U.S. relations.

In his toast at the dinner, President Trump said that the two countries will make efforts to achieve a more just, secure, and peaceful world and a future based on the dreams of our children. I can tell you all that the meeting between the two presidents is of historic significance. From Arabella's video, the performances by the Chinese children at the state dinner, and the interaction between the two presidents and the Chinese children, we can see that the two leaders care much about the future generations of the two countries, and about the world peace and development. I think that is the biggest achievement of the meeting. Thank you.

Xi Yanchun:

Because time is limited, the briefing will end now. If you have other questions, you may contact the news office of the Finance Ministry. Thanks again to Mr. Zhu and all present.

By Li Xiaohua, Zhang Liying, Li Jingrong, Cui Can, Wu Jin, Guo Yiming, Ma Yujia, Zhang Jiaqi, Zhang Rui, Huang Shan, Zhou Jing, He Shan, Chen Xia, Wang Wei, Xu Lin, Layne Flower, Christopher Georgiou, Geoffrey Murray
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 Flash

Three Chinese were injured Friday afternoon when a vehicle hit a crowd deliberately in the suburbs of Toulouse, south France, the head of the Chinese Consulate in Marseille told Xinhua citing a source from the local police in Toulouse.

The three injured, one male and two female, are all at their early 20s, said the consulate.

French news channel BFMTV reported earlier that a car "deliberately" rammed into a group of students in front of a business school in Balgnac, near Toulouse, on Friday, injuring three students.

The report says the driver is a 28-year-old man, who was arrested on the site.

The man told police that he "deliberately" drove into the crowd and that he suffered from psychological disorders, according to the report.

The man was known for public offences, including drug trafficking, the report added.

In the wake of the incident, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb tweeted that "Support for injured young people in Blagnac ... It is the inquiry that will determine the nature of his act."
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 Flash

A student exchange program was launched at South Africa's prestigious Stellenbosch University outside Cape Town on Friday as a fresh bid to boost cultural exchange between China and South Africa.

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian and Koos Bekker, Chairman of South Africa's major media group Naspers, attended the launch ceremony.

Under the program sponsored by Naspers, two additional Mandarin lecturers from China will teach at Stellenbosch University for five years and a South African student will go to China to study Chinese.

In addition, a number of students from Wuhan College in China will visit South Africa for two weeks annually to attend cultural exchange programs covering a wide variety of topics.

Lin told reporters that the program will not only provide students in both countries with an opportunity to improve language skills but also help them understand each other's culture.

This will boost mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, he said.

Bekker told Xinhua that learning each other's language is vital to understanding each other's culture.

"We want to do our bid to develop cultural exchange between China and South Africa," Bekker said.

Stellenbosch University introduced Mandarin in 2000, becoming the first South African university to begin an undergraduate program in Mandarin. In 2012, the university began to issue a postgraduate degree in Mandarin.

Students who study Mandarin at Stellenbosch University have distinguished themselves at the annual Chinese Bridge Competition and regularly receive merit scholarships from the Chinese government for further study in China.
C919, China's self-developed large passenger jet, undergoes final checks in Shanghai ahead of its first long-haul flight on Nov 10, 2017. The successful flight is regarded as another milestone as it enters the airworthiness certification phase. [Photo by Yin Liqin/For China Daily]

Passenger jet set to undergo more tests ahead of final certification

China's self-developed C919 passenger jet completed its first long-haul flight on Friday from Shanghai to Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), the manufacturer of the C919, said the successful long-haul flight is yet another milestone as it enters the airworthiness certification phase.

The flight took off at 11:38 am from Shanghai Pudong International Airport and flew over Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan provinces before landing at the Yanliang testing base in Xi'an in Northwest China.

It flew more than 1,300 kilometers, with a duration of 144 minutes, and the flying altitude was around 7,800 meters, COMAC said.

During the past week, the aircraft conducted three test flights. COMAC said the aircraft was in good condition and functioned normally in the air in the completed six test flights. Next, the aircraft will take some more intensive test flights and other preparatory work in Yanliang before seeking airworthiness certifications.

Wu Yue, an assistant to the general manager of COMAC, said Yanliang serves as one of the most important flight testing bases in China. Earlier, ARJ21, the nation's first domestic commercial regional aircraft, took about six years to finish its test flights in Yanliang, while the C919 is expected to take three years.

COMAC said it plans to put six aircraft into test flights. The second plane is currently doing preparation works for its taxi test that is likely to be conducted by the end of the month, and it is expected to make its maiden flight by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines, the carrier that will take the first delivery of the C919, sent its customer representatives to evaluate the cockpit and maintainability of the aircraft, and will participate in the development of the model.

Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst and columnist at Carnoc, China's leading civil aviation web portal, said the C919's entry in the market and an expected customer-delivery date are expected to be sometime from 2020 to 2022.

"The commercial use of the C919 will help the Chinese aviation industry to involve in the world's supply chain system of large aircraft, and China will be able to acquire valuable experiences," he said.

"Apart from meeting flight safety standards, the reliability, fuel efficiency, maintenance costs, as well as the comfort level of the aircraft, should all be considered before it is put into use in the market."

So far, the C919 has received 730 orders from 27 Chinese and overseas customers.
An aircraft engine being built at Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix, Arizona, the United States. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Industrial conglomerate Honeywell said on Friday that China is currently the single largest contributor to its global growth and it was committed to expanding business in the country.

The US firm's over $2.4 billion business in China has been clocking double-digit growth rates this year and accounted for over 20 percent of its annual growth, according to Shane Tedjarati, president of Honeywell Global High Growth Regions.

Tedjarati, who was part of US President Donald Trump's business delegation to China, said the company was also confident that the deepening bilateral trade cooperation between China and the US would be beneficial for both countries.

Honeywell's high-growth regions consistently drive more than 70 percent of the company's growth and China has the biggest chunk of that, he said, adding that China is already the company's second largest market since 2013 and has been its focus for more than a decade.

Honeywell signed two agreements with Chinese companies Oriental Energy and Spring Airlines in Beijing during US President Donald Trump's state visit to China this week.

China's Spring Airlines selected Honeywell's suite of advanced cockpit technologies and industry-leading auxiliary power units for its future fleet of Airbus A320neo aircraft, while Honeywell UOP, a strategic business unit of Honeywell's performance materials and technologies division, has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Oriental Energy on the adoption of UOP's C3 Oleflex units in Oriental Energy's five new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) projects to help convert propane into propylene.

Tedjarati said the agreements, another significant milestone in the relationship that Honeywell has had with China since first establishing itself here in 1935, will advance cooperation in China's oil and gas and aviation industries.

"The deals in energy during Trump's visit are mostly long-term ones, which will create jobs, ease the trade deficit and boost bilateral economic cooperation to a new level," said Han Xiaoping, chief information officer of China Energy Net Consulting.

"We are committed to being the Chinese competitor, and to providing worldclass products and solutions to the Chinese marketplace," said Tedjarati.

Zou Shuo contributed to the story.
Despite the slowing growth of China's international flight market, the traffic volume of Sino-US routes is still growing, and more airlines are launching direct flights between the world's two largest economies.

On Monday, American Airlines launched daily nonstop services between Beijing Capital International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

It became the world's second and the US' first to fly this direct route, and the flight will be operated with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

"Our daily nonstop services between China and the US witnessed strong demand in recent years," said Shane Hodges, managing director of Asia-Pacific sales at American Airlines. "We are very committed to China."

China has become the top source of tourists flying into Los Angeles. Last year, more than 1 million Chinese travelers visited the city, meaning more than one third of Chinese who went to the United States will stop at Los Angeles.

Last year, Chinese citizens spent $1.6 billion in Los Angeles, and that number is expected to grow by double digits in the next few years, according to the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board.

The tourism and convention board also discussed with the US Department of State the possibility of increasing the number of visas issued to Chinese travelers.

Starting Dec 7, Air China plans to launch direct flights between Shenzhen and Los Angeles, and it will become the only domestic company to operate that service.

During Oct 20 and Oct 26, Hainan Airlines, China's largest private airline, launched direct flights between Chongqing and New York, and Chengdu and New York, respectively.

Those are the first direct flights to New York from western China.

It was in 2008 that Hainan Airlines launched its first direct flight to the United States between Beijing and Seattle.

So far, it has become the airline that operated with the most direct flights between the two countries.

United Airlines canceled its direct flights between Hangzhou and San Francisco a few months ago, only after one year it launched the service, as the nearby airports in Shanghai are taking away some customer flows.

Currently, United Airlines has direct flights between San Francisco and second-tier Chinese cities Chengdu and Xi'an.

"The flights between major Chinese cities and the US are quite saturated. Therefore, airlines are competing for the flying rights to operate direct flights between second-tier Chinese cities and the US, although operating pressures exist," said Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst and columnist at Carnoc, a leading civil aviation website portal in China.

"There is still demand for the Sino-US routes, but the possible variance of Sino-US relations should also be taken into consideration."
Westinghouse Electric Co said it's looking forward to more cooperation in the nuclear sector with Chinese partners as power demand in the country is spurred by economic growth and concerns over environmental protection increase in the country.

"We are confident AP1000, a key nuclear technology, will be more adopted in the country and we will have our local team to promote the technology in China," said Jose Emeterio Gutierrez, president and CEO of the nuclear energy technology provider.

Gutierrez was accompanying US President Donald Trump during his state visit to China this week.

"There are a number of economic and social drivers that make nuclear the right option for clean, safe, reliable energy, including its reliability, long-term stable electricity prices and its on-site fuel source location," he said.

Gutierrez said he believed there would be more cooperation between the two economies in the energy field, especially in the natural gas and nuclear sectors.

Xiao Lian, director of the Center for US Economic Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Sino-US energy cooperation would provide employment for the US while ensuring long-term oil and gas supplies for China, a win-win for both countries.

Westinghouse and State Nuclear Power Technology Co signed contracts for six AP1000 nuclear reactors to be built in China earlier, ahead of Trump's visit to China.

China accounts for some 10 percent of Westinghouse global portfolio.

Zou Shuo contributed to the story.
BEIJING  China's fiscal revenue rose 9.2 percent year-on-year to 15 trillion yuan ($2.27 trillion) during the January-October period.

The growth slightly retreated from the growth of 9.7 percent in the first three quarters, but was markedly above the 4.5-percent rate in 2016, according to the Ministry of Finance website.

In October alone, fiscal revenue was up 5.4 percent to 1.62 trillion yuan.

In the first ten months, fiscal spending rose 9.8 percent year-on-year to 16.3 trillion yuan. Expenditure on energy-saving projects rose 28 percent to 408 billion yuan.

Fiscal spending was down by 8 percent in October, which the ministry attributed to the faster spending in the earlier months of this year.

China promised a more proactive and effective fiscal policy in 2017, with the fiscal deficit set at 3 percent of GDP, or 2.4 trillion yuan, up 200 billion yuan from 2016.
BEIJING  China's tourism authorities said Friday that the 2018 China-US dialogue on tourism will be held in Hangzhou next year.

The event will take place in the eastern China city in the latter half of 2018, according to China National Tourism Administration.

China and the United States have been taking turns to host the annual dialogue since the platform was launched in 2007, and it has become an important way for tourism regulators, associations and businesses to deepen communications.

In recent years, the two countries have stepped up tourism cooperation, supporting economic growth and facilitating exchanges between the countries.

In November 2014, the two countries extended visa validity for tourists from one to 10 years, and launched the China-US Tourism Year in 2016.
BEIJING  Only off-line catering businesses with bricks-and-mortar restaurants and proper business licenses are allowed to offer on-line catering and ordering services, a new regulation said Friday.

Online catering and ordering services should be subject to the same rules as off-line restaurants, said the regulation issued by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).

This regulation will put in question the business futures of online platforms that allow clients to order food from individuals cooking in their own kitchens.

"Once a catering service is found breaking laws and regulations, the administration will inform online order platforms, which then should suspend this business from their networks," the document said.

Order-taking platforms are required to develop a food safety control system, examine, register and publish operational permits and other key information of all catering services that join the networks.

Food delivery staff are asked to maintain personal hygiene, use clean and safe containers and prevent food contamination, while employers should provide proper training and tools, especially for foods that require special preservation such as refrigeration.

The regulation will take effect on Jan 1 next year.
BEIJING  China's top economic planner Friday released a guideline on deepening pricing reforms, with the aim to establish a more market-oriented, fair and transparent mechanism by 2020.

For the monopolized sectors, the government will gradually loosen its grip and allow producers "reasonable" room for profit, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Major monopolized industries include power transmission and distribution, natural gas pipelines and railway transport, in which the NDRC said it would conduct cost monitoring and supervision.

Jing Chunmei, researcher at China Center for International Economic Exchanges, hailed the move as a key breakthrough for the regulation of the monopolized sectors.

The guideline also specified pricing principles for public services such as medical treatment, green consumption, administrative fees and farm produce.

In recent years, the government has moved in gradual steps to advance pricing reforms in monopolized sectors to allow the market to play a bigger role.

According to a plan released in May, China encourages gas companies to split sales and pipeline businesses in a step by step manner to move towards market-based pricing.

A report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has pledged to speed up the reform of market-based pricing of factors of production, relax control over market access in the service sector, and improve market oversight mechanisms.
Diary entries on cigar box lids told the story of the thief in the night.

Kevin Wagner came across this primary source material stored in the archives of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Middlesex Township.

A history teacher at Carlisle High School, he needed every bit of information to piece together the life and death of Lt. Col. Charles Benjamin Leinbach.

He was trying to keep his men alive, Wagner said of the career Army officer who risked his life to steal food from the Japanese to feed fellow prisoners suffering in Camp Cabanatuan.

The inmate who kept the diary mentioned Leinbach by name, writing that the Pottsville-area native only took the bare minimum of supplies to go unnoticed by the enemy.

Time and again, the ploy worked and lives were saved at least in the short-term as U.S. forces edged ever closer into the heart of the Empire of Japan.

Wagner spent the first half of 2017 researching Leinbach as part of the Understanding Sacrifice program. This Veterans Day, his eulogy for the fallen officer will be published on the award-winning website ABMCeducation.org.

The Understanding Sacrifice program is a partnership among National History Day, the American Battle Monuments Commission, the National Cemetery Administration and the Roy Rosezweig Center for History and New Media.

Wagner was one of 18 teachers selected from across the nation to participate in a yearlong professional development program that focuses on the fallen heroes of the Pacific Theater buried in cemeteries in San Francisco, Hawaii and Manila, Phillippines.

Using research gathered from the study of their World War II veteran, each teacher had to create a lesson plan designed to reinvigorate the study of the conflict in American classrooms.

By telling individual stories, it gets to the heart of the emotion, Wagner said. Its no longer a political, economic or military issue. Its an issue of humanity.

He said that in many ways, the Pacific Theater has been downplayed in school curriculum nationwide, with much of the World War II instruction focused instead on the defeat of Nazi Germany in Europe.

Part of this is because most Americans could identify more with the culture and ethnicity of an enemy in Europe than an enemy in Japan, Wagner said. But he learned through his research that the Pacific War was in many ways more horrific than what GIs faced in their march across France into the Third Reich.

The Japanese code of Bushido looked down on those who surrendered as cowards without honor. As a result, atrocities were committed against American and Allied prisoners-of-war.

In late 1944, as U.S. forces closed in, the Japanese loaded POWs onto freighters converted into prison vessels bound for Korea, Taiwan or the Japanese home islands. The luckless passengers were to become slave laborers for the empires war machine.

Conditions on these vessels were so horrible, they became known as Hell ships. On Jan. 6, 1945, Leinbach was on the Enoura Maru at anchor in Takeo, Taiwan, when the ship was bombed and disabled by U.S. carrier planes.

The Japanese tended to not mark prison ships with the Red Cross symbol. American pilots thought they were attacking enemy merchant vessels hauling supplies to hostile forces. As a result, many American POWs died at the hands of their own countrymen. Leinbach was among those killed on the Enoura Maru, Wagner said.

His remains were buried in a mass grave in Taiwan that was discovered by the Grave Registration Service in spring 1946. The body was shipped to Honolulu where Leinbach was identified through a combination of hair samples and dental records provided by his wife, Pearl, who worked in San Francisco as a part-time dental hygienist.

Long before he stepped onto a Hell ship, Leinbach climbed up the steeple of an old stone church in the town of Abucay on the Bataan peninsula. It was Jan. 16, 1942, and Japanese forces were overrunning the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

The church was serving as a battalion headquarters when enemy artillery honed in. An officer with experience as a forward observer, Leinbach knew he had to man a high point to direct counter-artillery fire onto the enemy battery. At great risk to his safety, he climbed the steeple to spot the Japanese artillery and kept the shells coming in until those guns were silenced.

This action earned Leinbach a Silver Star for bravery, which was awarded posthumously to his widow, Wagner said. These were ordinary Americans who did extraordinary things when they were asked to.

The question for us is would we possess that same capability if the same type of call comes to us today, he said. The same intangible patriotism, sense of duty and honor that we talk so highly about.

There is a gap in the record between Jan. 16, when Leinbach climbed the steeple, and May 7, 1942, when the Red Cross notified Pearl that her husband was a prisoner of Japan. Wagner has no idea what happened to the lieutenant colonel during that 16-week period.

American and Filipino forces stationed on Bataan surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942. While it is possible Leinbach was among the POWs who suffered through the Bataan Death March, there are documents proving he was involved.

There is evidence to suggest he was not only a prisoner of Camp Cabanatuan, but a high-ranking vice commander among the inmates. Leinbach was born in 1892 and would have been almost 50 at the time of the surrender.

Instead of a lesson plan, Wagner used his research on Leinbach to develop an entire unit to walk classroom teachers through the process of using official records and other archival material to learn how to research a fallen veteran.

The unit is broken down into five steps or lessons plans teachers can use to pass that information on to their students, Wagner said. The work included the development of classroom handouts and worksheets.

Wagner serves as the social studies department chair for the Carlisle Area School District. For more information, visit abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/charles-leinbach.
HANGZHOU  Eight years after the first Singles Day promotion, the Chinese shopping festival has become a global retail event.

Buyers and retailers are getting ready for this year's shopping extravaganza which falls on Saturday.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said over 15 million types of goods from 140,000 brands will be available through its Tmall shopping platform. The company said luxury brands, retail giants from the United States and Australia, and millions of Chinese retailers will join the promotion this year.

Stadium Goods, a New York City-based marketplace that sells footwear and other apparel, said it began preparations for the promotion one month in advance.

Its Singles Day sales target is $2 million, said John McPheters, founder of the company.

In 2016, Alibaba's Singles Day sales totalled 120 billion yuan (about $18 billion). A third of the sales come from global brands and retailers, the company said.

November 11 has been celebrated as Singles Day since the 1990s. The date was chosen because 11-11 resembles four "bare sticks," the Chinese term for bachelor. Alibaba introduced the Single's Day shopping event in 2009 and it has grown to become known as the Chinese version of the US's Black Friday sales.

Chinese buyers have started to add their chosen goods to shopping carts in the countdown to midnight when promotions begin. Overseas buyers are also participating in the world's biggest retail event.

According to figures from AliExpress, the company's outbound platform, it has 60 million active buyers in 220 countries and regions in 2017.

On a daily basis, over 20 million people use AliExpress to make purchases online. In Russia alone, there are about 22 million online buyers, the company said.

Russian buyer Anastasia Igumnova bought her smart-phone and kitchenware through AliExpress. "It is quite convenient to use the website. I bought a nail clipper, and was surprised that I did not have to pay postage fees," she said.

"E-commerce platforms have become an important way for trade on a global scale. An increasing number of buyers, not only in China, but also around the world, are making purchases online," said Shen Difan, general manager of AliExpress.

Another Chinese e-commerce giant, JD.com, has also offered discounts on postage fees for global buyers.

"On the Singles Day, overseas consumers will be able to have their products delivered to their homes without paying shipping costs," said Yan Xiaobing, vice-manager of JD group.

"Singles Day is adding more and more overseas businesses, and it has become a huge opportunity for goods, capital and culture to be exchanged around the world," said Jin Xuejun, professor of economics at Zhejiang University.

"Chinese companies have improved payment and logistics networks to make online buying cheaper and more convenient. Buying and selling on a global scale is a boon for the global retail market and the world economy," he said.
DETROIT, the United States  Scott Owens might never have started selling his homemade hot sauce, an interest he had always kept to himself, if Detroit, the most populous city in Michigan, had not been hit hard by the financial crisis and the housing bubble in 2008.

He used to work in the automotive industry and lost his job that paid between $60,000 and $80,000 a year in 2008.

"We had two little kids at home. We were scared because we didn't know what income I would have," he said.

The family is one of the tens of thousands in metro Detroit that had to make drastic changes in their lives in order to put food on their table.

For three to four years, people who had been making a good salary were earning a minimum wage because that was the only job they could find. Some relied on charitable organizations for food and clothes, while others moved out of Michigan.

Owens started his hot sauce business in 2012 after he struggled with part-time and night jobs, being laid off and hired time and again.

His brand Scotty O'Hotty made a name at local farmers' markets, and gradually made its way to shelf space in stores.

"Fast forward five years, we are a national brand now. We are in about 2,700 stores across America and we do shipping overseas," said Owens proudly.

"It was a crazy idea and it was out of necessity. From being in automotive to a Detroit hot sauce guy, it's quite a leap," he added.

Many of those who stayed in Detroit, like Owens, looked for whatever opportunities they had personally. Some who had a family recipe started food businesses, some opened stores selling furniture made from recycled materials, and others opened shops selling handmade goods such as notebooks and jewelry.

"Businesses were starting out of a basically desperate situation," said Nicole Schulte-Franey, founder of Holy Cannoli's.

She started her bakery business a year before the Detroit city government filed for bankruptcy with over $18 billion in long-term debt in July 2013.

Her stores offer handmade, traditional cannolis made from a family recipe that goes back to Sicily. They change and rotate through 75 different flavors of cannoli fillings including cookies and cream, chocolate chip cookie dough to key lime, strawberry, raspberry-white chocolate.

While their brands are well recognized locally, both Owens and Franey are seeking opportunities to expand their businesses overseas.

Earlier this year, they attended a conference held by Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant, to build connections and learn how to sell to China through e-commerce platforms. More than 100 local Detroit companies and over 600 businesses all across Michigan participated in the conference.

Meanwhile, the Michigan state government has been encouraging business cooperation between Chinese and Michigan companies for years.

Last year, the Michigan-China Innovation Center was founded with a grant from the state of Michigan.

The non-profit organization aimed to market Michigan in China and attract Chinese investment to Michigan by building relationships with individuals, businesses, business groups, and governmental units in China, and organizing a wide variety of collaborations between Michigan and Chinese partners.

All efforts combined, Detroit's unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent this year, the lowest since 2001, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

"Vibrancy and life have started to come back into the city," said Franey.

Once a "Motor City" accommodating automotive giants' headquarters, Detroit has gradually grown to be a small business hub that even "little guys" can also succeed.
Sales on Alibaba's platforms race above 120.7 billion yuan ($18.2 billion) as of 1:09 pm Saturday.[Photo/IC]

Sales on Alibaba's platforms broke last year's total with almost 11 hours of the Singles Day shopping gala to spare.

Gross merchandise volume of the day-long discount topped 120.7 billion yuan ($18.2 billion) as of 1:09 pm Saturday, according to Alibaba's data. This is equivalent to the value of all transactions processed via its Tmall, Taobao and other sister sites a year ago.

Amid fanfare and celebrity razzmatazz, the ninth annual Nov 11 promotion  the world's largest single-day shopping festival - had seen sales reach 10 billion yuan in just three minutes, halving the time needed to hit that mark in 2016.

Alibaba's extended tentacles into payment and logistics have managed to shore up that stellar growth by facilitating smooth transaction and prompt parcel delivery.

Its indigenous payment system Alipay processed 100 million transactions in seven minutes and 23 seconds after the event kicked off in early hours Saturday. Peak transaction volume reached 256,000 per second, doubling the top speed recorded from last year's event.

Meanwhile, the first parcel was delivered to the doorstep of a resident in Shanghai in just 12 minutes, according to statistics from logistics arm Cainiao, thanks to algorithms and big data it leveraged to predict sales and calculate the best routes.

Consultancy Oliver Wyman has predicted this year's sales to hit 152 billion yuan.
By He Wei in Shanghai and Pan Mengqi in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-11-11 09:53

Jinri Toutiao, a popular news aggregator service in China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China's top news aggregator service Jinri Toutiao has purchased Musical.ly, the Shanghai-based video-sharing platform popular with young people, for about $1 billion to expand its global reach and take a bigger slice of what could become a multi-billion dollar industry.

The deal has been funded by Bytedance, the company behind Toutiao, and follows its successful previous acquisitions like US video site Flipagram and Indian news distributor Dailyhunt. The Beijing-based tech startup has also speeded up its adoption of algorithms in media products that are popular overseas, experts said.

The latest acquisition would allow Toutiao to have access to Musical.ly's 20 million global users, and create content that resonates with local flavor, according to Bytedance's senior vice-president Liu Zhen.

The buyout will also see the merger of Musical.ly and Douyin, Bytedance's indigenous video platform, the companies said. The duo would operate under two different brands but share resources and technologies.

Founded in Shanghai, Musical.ly's short-video offerings and community culture attracted 6 million users in North America and made it the most downloaded video sharing app in the country via App Store, according to data from App Annie, an app tracking and analytics tool.

"Toutiao's recommendation technology will help Musical.ly make more breakthroughs," said Yang Luyu, the founder of Musical.ly.

With 100 million active users, Toutiao's strength lies in the precise news recommendations by algorithms that scour a massive number of sources to filter and tailor feeds, said Huang Yihe, an analyst covering the technology sector at consultancy firm Mintel.

The buyout rhymes with Toutiao's broader globalization push. Earlier this week it wrapped up a $50 million investment in live streaming platform Live.me, a subsidiary of Cheetah Mobile, that is popular with US adolescents.

Toutiao is actively seeking high-quality and internationalized content from overseas, which is the ultimate game changer in the short-form video sector, said Neil Wang, president of Frost & Sullivan in China.

"Photo and short-video apps are easier to be promoted abroad because they create less ideological conflicts compared with apps that mostly deal with text content," said Wang.

"But the diversity of languages across different markets will pose a major challenge, as companies could no longer leverage the low marginal costs for aggressive expansion as it did in China."
Migrant workers line up for a train in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Monday. A total of 1,823 workers, many of them seasonal cotton harvest hands, recently completed their employment in the region and set off for home on a train that was scheduled especially for them. [Li Xiongxin/China Daily]

Govt encouraging people to settle where they work played a role

China's population of migrant workers saw a decline for the second consecutive year in 2016 - to 245 million - according to a report released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Friday.

Last year, China's migrating population decreased by 1.7 million from 2015, the report said. Before 2015, the group had been growing, from 230 million in 2011 to a peak of 253 million in 2014, the report said.

Despite the shrinkage, the migrant population still accounts for a big share of China's total, and the number will remain at a high level over the long term, it said.

The total population of the Chinese mainland exceeded 1.38 billion as of the end of last year, an increase of more than 8 million over the previous year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Over the past six years, the portion of all migrants who moved across provinces declined from nearly 70 percent in 2011 to less than 64 percent last year, while the percentage of those migrating to different cities within the same province rose from about 25 percent in 2011 to more than 27 percent last year, the report said.

Meanwhile, average age of migrants rose from 27.3 years to 29.8 years during the same period. The monthly income of migrant workers increased by 15 percent annually, on average, between 2014 and last year, the report said.

The drop in numbers over the past two years is largely the result of major policies issued by the governments to encourage migrants to settle down in the cities where they work, said Wang Qian, chief supervisor over the migrating population at the commission.

Some cities have set limits on total population in recent years, which led to a decrease in migrants, he said.

In Beijing, the total number of migrants declined by more than 150,000 last year from 2015, according to a report released by Beijing University of Technology in September.

Despite the drop in the migrating population over the past two years, one trend has not changed, Wang said: Migrants tend to flow to large city clusters along China's coasts, major rivers and railways. And they tend to take the whole family.

"Increasing whole-family migration will place more demand on public services such as education and healthcare," he said. "We will take this into consideration in providing healthcare and family planning services."

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn
The Chinese Air Force aims to expand its effective combat zone to cover the entire country, signaling that it has become an all-around, modern, combat-ready force, a spokesman said on Friday.

China's most advanced stealth fighter jet, the J-20, and the newest military transport aircraft, the Y-20, have recently entered formation training, Senior Colonel Shen Jinke said at a ceremony ahead of Saturday's 68th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Air Force.

The new planes are important parts of the Air Force and are fully capable of combat, he said, adding that many pilots are capable of flying the new J-20, as well as previous models such as the J-16 and J-10C fighter jets.

"The J-20 fighter jet has further improved the Air Force's combat capabilities. ... The Y-20 heavy transport aircraft is a crucial element for improving China's aerial logistics and delivery abilities," he said.

"The Air Force will become a modern fighting force integrated with air and space technologies and capable of both offense and defense."

The PLA Air Force aims to be able to provide protection and fight battles across the entire nation's territory and airspace, he said. It will become an important factor in managing critical situations, as well as preventing and winning wars.

China currently operates an active combat aircraft fleet around 1,530 planes, exceeded only by the 2,785 aircraft of the US military, according to a 2016 report by Flight International, a prestigious aviation journal.

In the past five years, the Chinese Air Force has made "historical achievements in improving combat preparedness and capability," Shen said.

The Air Force's reach has expanded from land to distant oceans, passing various island chains, straits and aiming toward the western Pacific, Shen said. This allows the force to be more effective in protecting China's sovereignty and security, he added.

To address new aerial threats, the Air Force will accelerate and strengthen its anti-missile and air defense capabilities to create a defense system capable of intercepting all types of aerial assaults from any height, Shen said.

It will also strengthen cooperation and exchanges with foreign air forces, he said.

zhangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn
A captive finless porpoise swims in an aquarium in the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, Hubei province, last year. [Photo/Xinhua]

A scientific survey on the Yangtze River to review the status of the endangered finless porpoise was launched in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Friday. Its findings are expected to be released in March.

Financed by World Wildlife Fund and local foundations in the province, the survey is the third to be undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture since 2006. It is being led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Hydrobiology.

"Allowing for the decline in porpoise's population and distribution, the survey can show variations more accurately if carried out every five to six years," said Hao Yujiang, a researcher at the institute who is in charge of the work.

The survey will cover waters along the middle and lower stretches of the Yangtze and its two connecting lakes - Poyang and Dongting.

"We will calculate population and distribution of the finless porpoise in the survey and evaluate the environment in which they live. Information we gather will be used to help the government determine key protection areas and take targeted protection measures."

The 3,400-kilometer round trip will last about 40 days, with 32 members and volunteers from research institutes and NGOs involved.

Surveys along the river will conclude on Dec 20, while work at Poyang and Dongting lakes will start on Dec 25 and finish on Jan 10, said Wang Ding, another hydrobiology researcher.

Methods used in the survey include visual observation, acoustic and underwater noise detection and references to the surveys in 2006 and 2012, Wang said, adding that water samples, sediment and underwater noise data will be collected every 50 kilometers.

Team leader Hao said that drones will be used for the first time in the survey to monitor the porpoises and their habitat.

"Visual observation is a recognized method used in wildlife observation," Hao said. "We have seven members observing the porpoises on each of our two ships. Visual fatigue is an inevitable element that will affect the survey results. Drones, however, will help us to correct the results."

The population of the finless porpoise has seen a sharp decline in the past six years - 13.7 percent. The 2012 survey found 1,045 porpoises in the river, about half the number researchers calculated in 2006, Hao said.

Water pollution, environmental degradation and an inefficient food chain - the result of illegal and unregulated fishing activities - are thought to be the reason for the dramatic decline of the species.

Li Yanliang, chairman of National Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Association, said: "About 10 years ago, the Baiji dolphin was declared functionally extinct. Now the population of finless porpoise is nearly half that of the panda. Protecting the porpoises is a pressing task for us."

Contact the writers at chengsi@chinadaily.com.cn
More than 170 government officials, experts and industry leaders in culture and literary fields from home and abroad gathered in Shanghai on Saturday for this year's Shanghai Global Cities Culture Forum.

They shared perspectives and viewpoints on a series of issues around modern cultural innovations while inheriting historical cultures of cities, as well as preserving their characteristics at the forum themed The Belt and Road: New Space for Urban Development, New Motivation for Cultural Development.

There will not be cultural prosperity and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation if there is no strong cultural self-confidence, General Secretary Xi Jinping said in a report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

"Cities are an important platform where talents, ideas, cultures and wealth gather," said Hu Min, deputy Party secretary of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. "How to make the innovative development of cultures play a key role in the quality growth of cities has been a significant issue that increasingly grabs people's attention," she said.

The forum, which will last through Sunday, has been held six times since 2012. It was organized by several groups, including the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Shanghai Theatre Academy.
ZHENGZHOU -- Police have caught 11 people who looted an ancient tomb in central China's Henan Province, authorities said Saturday.

The tomb in Houzhuang Village was raided on July 25. The local cultural heritage department believes it dates back to the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.) and belonged to a senior aristocrat.

Police snared the first suspect on August 26 and during his confession he named other members of the gang. The stolen treasures from the tomb were recovered in September.

An initial investigation found that the suspects have looted nine tombs since 2014.

Chinese tomb raiders can make good money, as wealthy people in China used to be buried with gold, silverware and jade in the hope of enjoying an affluent afterlife.
DA NANG  President Xi Jinping delivered a speech titled "Working Together for a New Chapter of Win-Win Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific" here Saturday at the first session of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting.

President Xi Jinping attends the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov 11, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The following is the full text of his remarks:

Working Together for a New Chapter of Win-Win Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific

Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At Session I of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting

Da Nang, 11 November 2017

President Tran Dai Quang,

Dear Colleagues,

I wish to thank President Tran Dai Quang and the Vietnamese government for their thoughtful arrangements. Vietnam was hit by Typhoon Damrey a few days ago, resulting in heavy casualties and economic losses. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, let me express my deep sympathy to those affected by the typhoon.

Three years ago on this day, we discussed in Beijing the blueprint for Asia-Pacific cooperation. The Chinese people believe that three years is a good time to take stock of what one has achieved. In the past three years, the world economy has gradually rebounded, showing strong momentum of recovery since the outbreak of the international financial crisis. People in all sectors are gaining more confidence.

Those who recognize the trend are wise and those who ride the trend will win. We need to take note of the profound changes taking place in the world economy. At yesterday's CEO Summit, I shared my thoughts on this subject. If Asia-Pacific economies seize the trend and take action, we can usher in a new round of development and prosperity for the world.

First, we need to promote innovation as a strong growth driver. Innovation is the most powerful lever for development. As new technologies emerge and the new industrial revolution gains momentum, we face a rare historic opportunity for innovation-driven development. We need to strive for both scientific and technological innovation and institutional innovation, build synergy between market and technology, and help bring to fruition new technologies, new business forms and models to fully unlock our development potential. This is why, in the context of APEC, we need to implement in real earnest the Roadmap on the Internet and Digital Economy we have drawn this year.

Innovation has proven to be essential to the emergence of new drivers for the Chinese economy in recent years. Thirty years ago, China's first email was sent from Beijing. Today, China has 750 million Internet users, our on-line retail sales are growing by 30 percent a year, our "sharing economy" has reached 3.5 trillion yuan in size, and China's mobile payment transactions have exceeded 158 trillion yuan. This example shows that as long as we keep exploring, we will see more opportunities and successes of innovation-driven development.

Second, we need to open up our economies to create more space for development. History has taught us that closed-door development will get nowhere, while open development is the only right choice. We need to remain true to APEC's founding purpose: advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, build an open economy, uphold and strengthen the multilateral trading regime, and help rebalance economic globalization. We need to take determined steps toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific in line with the agreed roadmap, and herald a new round of development in the Asia-Pacific in the course of opening up.

Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. In nearly four decades, China has opened its arms to embrace the world and achieved "leapfrog development" of itself in this process. Looking ahead, China will open still wider and its development will deliver even greater benefits to the rest of the world. Starting from next year, China will hold an International Import Expo. I am sure this new platform of mutually beneficial cooperation will help all parties to better share the opportunities of China's development.

Third, we need to pursue inclusive development to enhance our people's sense of fulfillment. Lack of inclusiveness in development is a problem facing many economies. We should redouble efforts to address this problem. To enable more people to share the benefits of development, efforts must be made to strike a better balance between fairness and efficiency, capital and labor, technology and employment. Greater attention must be paid to the impact of artificial intelligence and other technological advances on jobs. APEC members need to do a good job of implementing the Action Agenda on Inclusion formulated this year, and deepen cooperation on poverty reduction, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), education, fighting corruption, urbanization and women's empowerment. All this will contribute to the well-being of the 2.8 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region.

China gives high priority to employment. We have worked to ensure that economic development is pursued in a way that supports job creation, encouraged business start-ups as a means to create more jobs, and paid particular attention to the employment of college graduates and other key groups. We have also provided the labor force with better education and training to tackle structural unemployment. In each of the past few years, we have created over 13 million new jobs in cities and towns. An important thing we have learnt from all this is that with better coordination and the right measures, economic restructuring does not have to come at the expense of employment. On the contrary, stable employment would allow greater leeway for reform and development.

Fourth, we need to enrich our partnerships and deliver benefits to all involved. As APEC economies, we have a stake in each other's success and our future is closely connected. With a shared future in mind, we need to develop a stronger sense of community, harmonize our policies and create synergy. We need to foster a spirit of harmony in diversity, draw on each other's strength, pursue mutually beneficial cooperation and draw on each other's best practice in development. We should consider the interests of others while pursuing those of our own, and reduce the adverse spillovers of our domestic policies. As we have agreed on the direction and framework of an Asia-Pacific partnership, it is time to take solid steps toward this goal.

China has put forward the Belt and Road Initiative and is pursuing it in a spirit of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. This initiative is well received and supported by various parties. The successful and fruitful Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in May marked a new stage of full implementation. Going forward, China will deepen policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity with our Asia-Pacific partners, seek interconnected development and move toward a community of shared future.

Dear Colleagues,

You may all have an interest in China's future development. Last month's 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was a great success. We laid out our development strategy and blueprint for the coming decades, keeping in mind that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era whose overriding goal is socialist modernization and national rejuvenation. We will continue to be guided by a philosophy of people-oriented development, resolve the issue of unbalanced and inadequate development and raise the quality and efficiency of growth to better meet our people's ever-growing needs for economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress, promote all-round development of our people and facilitate social progress across the board. We will act on the new vision of development, comprehensively deepen reform, turn China into an innovation-driven country at a faster pace, break new ground in pursuing opening-up on all fronts and build a modern economic system.

I am convinced that a China that enjoys stronger growth and interacts more with the world and whose people have a greater sense of fulfillment will surely bring more opportunities and make greater contributions to the Asia-Pacific and the world at large.

Thank you.
Members of the First Church Youth Group will hold their Annual Sleepout for the Homeless Nov. 17-18 at First United Methodist Church, 135 W. Simpson St., Mechanicsburg.

The church parking lot will be transformed into a community of cardboard boxes, where over 75 teenagers will spend the evening. The event runs from 4 p.m. Nov. 17 through 8 a.m. Nov. 18. The First United Methodist Church youth group will be joined by the Mechanicsburg Brethren in Christ youth group at the event.

Our students become aware of the realities that surround homelessness, they grow in their gratitude for what they have, a new sense of purpose is instilled in them regarding what they can personally do to help others, and our local agencies helping those experiencing homelessness are the benefactors of the money we raise, said First Church Youth Pastor Lisa Aronson.

The Sleepout also raises funds to support local homeless families. Participants will accept donations throughout the evening. Last years event raised close to $6,000. Proceeds will benefit New Hope Ministries in Mechanicsburg, Family Promise of Harrisburg and Bethesda Mobile Mission.

For more information about First United Methodist Church events, visit fumchurch.com.
Book release presents opportunity for nations to bolster mutual trust

The Lao language version of Chinese President Xi Jinping's book on governance was presented on Thursday in the Laotian capital, Vientiane.

Speaking at the presentation, Guo Weimin, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, said the publication of the book's Lao version is of great significance on the occasion of the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the upcoming visit to Laos by Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
View of the logo of Chinese online travel agency Ctrip in Shenzhen city, South China's Guangdong province, July 5, 2016. [Photo/IC]

A video of a teacher throwing a girl's bag away in a kindergarten classroom and forcing kids to swallow mustard went viral on Tuesday. The incident occurred at a day-care center that domestic travel agency Ctrip established for the children of its staff in Shanghai. The teacher has been detained and police are investigating the case. Two experts share their views on the issue with China Daily's Zhang Zhouxiang and Pan Yixuan. Excerpts follow:

Kindergartens need overall improvement

According to official data, last year the number of children in kindergartens across China was about 44 million. About 4.9 million teachers are needed to run these kindergartens smoothly, but their actual number was about 2.5 million, or just over half of those needed.

As a result, many kindergartens lower their requirements for job applicants and are rather lax in checking their educational qualifications and teaching skills. While it is common for kindergarten teachers to have masters' degrees in developed countries, a majority of those in China have only "associate" degrees.

Lower education levels do not necessarily mean a person is more prone to violence, but they reflect a lower qualification threshold to join the profession. So the general quality of preschool teachers in China is much lower than that of primary and secondary school teachers.

Yet for long the problem of partly qualified preschool teachers has not received ample attention, because some people think preschool education is less important than school education. This is wrong. Preschool education is equally important, because it helps build a child's character and has a big influence on a person's values.

Worse, many local officials tend to accord greater priority to high-school education compared with preschool education, because the former results in higher college entrance rates while the benefits of preschool education are not evident until decades later. Therefore, kindergartens that get less funding and other support can only provide low salaries for teachers, which makes it harder to recruit qualified teachers. That has become a vicious circle.

In order to prevent mistreatment of children in kindergartens, it is necessary to improve preschool education as a whole, which in turn requires more attention and support from the entire society.

Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute

Increase investments to train qualified teachers

Increasingly more families are attaching greater importance to preschool education, yet the preschool education sector is far from being ready to meet the demand. According to official data, the preschool enrollment rate was about 70.5 percent in 2014, which means that about 30 percent of the children still don't go to a kindergarten.

In particular, there are too few public-sponsored kindergartens. Earlier this month, Yang Rui, a local legislator from Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, said that only about 4 percent of the 1,759 kindergartens in the city are public-sponsored, which is much lower than the legal requirement of 30 percent.

That's why many private enterprises, such as Ctrip, run kindergartens to serve their staff. However, there is hardly any legal supervision over these kindergartens. Many of them are not registered with the local education bureaus, while some companies fail to recruit qualified teaching staff for the kindergartens they run. The investigation into the Ctrip kindergarten is still on, but many previous cases have shown that kindergartens run by companies often have more problems than their public counterparts.

This is not to discourage companies from running their own kindergartens, but to suggest that they should put them under stricter supervision. For example, the companies can introduce third-party supervision. And the government should invest more funds in education to ensure there are more preschool teachers with proper qualifications to meet the growing demand.

Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences
President Xi Jinping (6th L, front) poses for a family photo before a gala dinner hosted by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and his wife for leaders, delegates and spouses attending the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov 10, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

At the Beijing leaders' meeting of APEC in 2014, China proposed a study on the Free Trade Area in the Asia Pacific, called the Beijing Roadmap for APEC's contribution to the realization of the FTAAP. This was suggested because 2020 was only a few years away and the Bogor goals from 1994 of achieving an area of open trade and investment by 2020 was not near completion.

In 2016 at the Lima leaders meeting, this study was presented and APEC members endorsed it. They committed to work toward achievement of the FTAAP through existing agreements among APEC members, treating the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as pathways or pillars for achieving the FTAAP.

With the withdrawal of the US the TPP scheme has weakened, but now under the leadership of mainly Japan and Australia, a TPP 11 is being pushed up. The other pillar of the FTAAP is the RCEP, where China, as the biggest economy in this group, is pushing for a completion of negotiations. It was expected negotiations for an RCEP agreement could finish this year, but that will not be the case. China should still continue to pursue an agreement and uphold the principles of achieving a free and open system of trade and investment among APEC member economies.

A lack of physical infrastructure, like roads, seaports, railways and power grids makes connectivity difficult to achieve and is a problem for many APEC member economies. Its solution will facilitate trade, movement of people and general business in the region.

In this regard China's Belt and Road Initiative is a big step in achieving that and should be promoted in the APEC forum. China has the experience, the technology, the companies, the human and financial resources and, most importantly, the will to contribute with APEC economies to solving the problem of building needed infrastructure.

The question of facilitating business in the region is not only a question of building physical infrastructure, but also of promoting a payment system to increase online shopping and a cashless economy. In this regard China is the most advanced country in the world, providing a system of mobile payments with its Alipay or Wechat Pay schemes.

More than half of China already uses this system, making payment easier for businesses and people. These systems allow millions of small firms to do business with just their mobile phones. China should promote this technology among APEC member economies.

But China's main contribution to APEC is probably the commitment made by President Xi Jinping at the 2016 leaders meeting in Lima and ratified on several other occasions, most recently at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, that China will continue opening its economy. This includes buying more products from abroad, investing more abroad and continuing to receive more investment and encouraging more Chinese to travel abroad. That is, to continue being an engine for the world economy.

In times where some countries pursue protectionism and shun multilateral and regional agreements, this is a big boost for the objectives of APEC and achieving an open system of trade and investment among its members.

The author is a professor at San Marcos National University in Peru and director of its Institute of Economics Research. He is a specialist in the economic development of East Asia.

The opinions expressed do not represent the views of the China Daily website.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (6th L, front) poses for a family photo before a gala dinner hosted by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and his wife for leaders, delegates and spouses attending the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting at Da Nang in Vietnam holds particular significance for a number of reasons. The first of these, of course, is the presence of US President Donald Trump, his first visit to the APEC forum. Apart from this, the APEC meeting is significant since the US under President Trump has moved away from its earlier "pivot to Asia" strategy. Indeed, President Trump's focus on approaching issues bilaterally has made the world and the Asia-Pacific region wonder over his views on regionalism and multilateralism.

A less "active" US role in the Asia-Pacific has distinct implications for regionalism, which the rest of the member countries must factor in. The third reason for this meetings significance is the decision some APEC members took on the TPP. After Trump pulled out the US from the TPP, the remaining 11 TPP members have been discussing the fate of the agreement. It now remains to be seen whether they agree to take the deal forward without the US. With so many points of interest, there is little doubt that the APEC meeting will be closely followed.

On his first visit to Asia as president, Trump travelled to Japan, Korea and China  the three major Asian members of APEC  before heading to the APEC Leaders Meeting in Vietnam. After APEC, he will travel to the Philippines to attend the East Asia Summit. His itinerary leaves little doubt over this trip being an occasion to spell out his vision over the US role in Asia. His preference for approaching international relations on a "transactional" basis has made US allies jittery, particularly since he has made it clear the US would like to see its defense partners financially contributing more for the US security support they get.

On one hand, when it comes to non-US security partners in Asia, the most important of which is China, he has been emphasizing a "trade imbalance". At the same time, however, he is keen on paying a "price" for Chinas help in keeping the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in check. It is clear that when it comes to relations in Asia, he will focus on specifics in bilateral relations.

With such heavy emphasis on bilateral matters, it is not clear whether he  and the US foreign policy approach he would like his administration to follow  will have a pronounced regional focus. Indeed, in this respect, whatever his pronouncements are at the APEC and EAS, there will be doubts over whether the US under Trump will be committed to advancing the larger interests of the APEC.

There are several areas of the APECs work program where the US might confine itself to playing a limited role, except for those that might directly connect to its security interests, such as counter-terrorism. Furthermore, Trumps references to US interest in ensuring a "free and open" Indo-Pacific, as opposed to an "Asia-Pacific", also implies a shift in US strategic vision of the region.

In a broader sense then, the US "rebalancing" and relative disengagement leaves the field open for other APEC members to contribute actively and substantively to APECs work agenda. In this regard, much is expected from China. Indeed, APEC's ability to move forward to large regional initiatives like the Free Trade Area for the Asia-Pacific and a new rules-based regional order would depend on how China, as the largest regional economy, is able to fashion a vision for the Asia-Pacific community. This would be the key take-away from the Vietnam meeting.

The author is a senior research fellow and research lead in trade and economic policy at the Institute of South Asian Studies in the National University of Singapore. He can be reached at isasap@nus.edu.sg and amitendu@gmail.com.
The National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall, New York on Oct 30. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the eyes of Li Zhixiang, delegation head of China's National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra (NCPAO), the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of NCPAO's most famed strategic partners, carries special weight to him and his team.

"The Philadelphia Orchestra was the first Western musical body to come to China since 1949that was in 1973 when the US and China had no diplomatic relations yetand performed Western classic pieces for the Chinese audience," Li said. "Neither of us would forget that page of our history, and friendship."

The frequent exchanges between the two leading orchestras ever since then have now led to a common sense of intimacy on both sides, as NCPAO artists went to local grassroots communities and streets to play music before their grand performance last Wednesday night.

"It is not a special arrangement actually, to perform high art to the common people," Li said. "There is a shared sense of responsibility for the NCPAO and the Philadelphia Orchestra, to boost music in our cities, to make it more accessible to the grassroots communities."

But more importantly is the hope of both sides to give the US citizens an access to young Chinese artists playing their music and the excellent pieces of the Western world, according to Allison Vulgamore, head of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

"These young men and women are generally in their 30s, and that is quite something, something awesome," she said. "Our Philadelphia people can listen to the works of Brahms, Mozart and Tchaikovsky as much as they like, but most of them have no access to Chinese composers and their work."

As part of the booming cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States, the NCPAO had performed in Chicago and New York before coming to this city, but they have some special stories for Philadelphia.

Earlier in the morning, eight young musicians played both Chinese and Western classical music at Liberty Place, a shopping mall. Their skilled performance of Jerry Bock's Fiddler On the Roof and Johann Strauss' Tritsch Tratsch Polka attracted dozens of shoppers, but what awaited them was beautiful Chinese folk songs, something elegant and delicate to them.

Maria Andriasova, an 82-year-old lady from Russia, said the music played by the Chinese young musicians were just amazing. "The music they played are reminiscent of my days in Russia. Our people there also like sad rhythms. But speaking of the Chinese, they have to have a heart to play up things so emotional."

Not far from the Liberty Place was High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where 75 students of the school band were conducting rehearsal of the theme songs from E.T. and The Lord of the RingsThe Fellowship of the Ring, under the instruction of NCPAO Assistant Conductor Yuan Ding.
Tibetan antelopes from Tibet, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions and Three-River-Source region in Qinghai arrive at Zhuonai Lake in Hoh Xil, Qinghai province at the end of May and the start of June. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It was a summer evening in the late 1990s. Tsering Samdrup, then in his 20s, was driving with his fellow patrolmen around Zhuonai Lake in Hoh Xil, in Qinghai province, where tens of thousands of Tibetan antelopes from Tibet, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions and Three-River-Source region in Qinghai had arrived at the end of May and the start of June.

Suddenly they stopped the vehicle and stayed put.

"About a dozen meters away, a huge brown bear with its back to us was busy digging a hole looking for marmots." says Tsering, 43.

The brown bear soon pulled a marmot out of the hole, alive and kicking, but just tucked it under its left arm and continued digging.

Another unlucky marmot was soon drawn out.

The bear then hastily tried to tuck the second marmot under its left arm, forgetting there was one there already.

So, as it raised its left arm, the first marmot dropped down and ran away, replaced by the second one.

The bear dug out six marmots in total, but only got away with the last one.

The big fluffy predator was unaware of the presence of the amused humans in the car.

"If bears get something to eat, they have no time for you," says Tsering.

But this was not the closest he got to bears.
Eclipse of the Aerocene Explorer, a performance in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia in 2016. [Photo/Studio Tomas Saraceno]

A large space in a three-story redbrick building, located in southeast Berlin near the river Spree, is home to nearly 100 spiders. Each of them comfortably rests in its own tiny framed cubeincluding some that live underwater in small tanks. They work hard as they weave their webs in various shapes and forms. But they're not intended to catch bugs for food; rather, they're to produce artworks that question the way humans live.

Welcome to the "spider lab" inside the studio of Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno, who's renowned for taking inspiration from spiders and their habitat in creating unique artworks. His works allow audiences to reflect on the environment and the possibility of finding a sustainable way of living in and beyond our planet, where scientists have recently warned that humans only have another 30 years to take effective action in saving ourselves from the "sixth mass extinction".

"We (humans) are small in relation to other species living on Planet Earth, but we are part of this cosmic websomething that is bigger than our planet," says Saraceno during our meeting in his Berlin studio. "The idea of these complex spiderwebs helps us understand that we are part of this cosmic web." That philosophy is at the heart of Saraceno's art practices, which involve ongoing research that draws from the natural sciences, astrophysics and engineering. He describes himself as an artist who "lives and works in and beyond Planet Earth" in his biographyand he's not exaggerating.
[Photo provided to China Daily]

The Mariinsky Ballet The Sleeping Beauty

Date: Nov 21-237:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 280-1,280 yuan

The history of the Mariinsky Ballet is closely linked with the history of European choreographic art. An important role in the establishment and evolution of Russian ballet was played by foreign dance masters. The history of St Petersburg ballet in the 19th century was associated with the activities of Charles Didelot, Jules Perrot, and Arthur Saint-Leon. In 1869, the position of principal ballet master was entrusted to Marius Petipa who markedly raised the professional standards of the company. He developed the form of grand balleta multi-act production, the plot combining fully developed scenes of classical ensembles, colorful character dances, genre spectacle scenes and pantomime. Even today the ballets The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake (together with choreographer Lev Ivanov) and Raymonda created with the symphonist composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Alexander Glazunov form part of the "gold reserves" of the classical legacy and adorn the theater's repertoire.

[Photo provided to China Daily] Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center The Murder of Sherlock Holmes

Date: Nov 16-187:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Comedy Theater

Price: 60-380 yuan

Founded on Jan 23, 1995, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre focuses on expanding cultural exchanges with other countries and learning experience in creating outstanding dramas around the world. It has participated in such international art festivals as "Moscow Chekhov International Drama Festival", "Singapore International Drama Festival", "the Ninth Seoul Performing Arts Festival", "British International Shakespeare Festival" and "Sibiu International Drama Festival". With the continuous introduction of foreign original plays and production of excellent contemporary drama works, it has cultivated a solid drama performance market in Shanghai, which further magnetizes nationwide and worldwide drama groups to perform here.

[Photo provided to China Daily] Stephen Kovacevich Piano Recital

Date: Nov 117:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 50-380 yuan

Stephen Kovacevich is one of the most searching interpreters, never afraid to take both technical and musical risks in order to achieve maximum expressive impact. Born in Los Angeles, Stephen Kovacevich laid the foundation for his career as concert pianist at the age of 11. After moving to England to study with Dame Myra Hess, Stephen made his European debut at Wigmore Hall in 1961. Since then he has appeared with many of the world's finest orchestras and conductors including Hans Graf, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, Simon Rattle and Georg Solti.

[Photo provided to China Daily] Jonas Kaufmann Recital with Helmut Deutsch

Date: Nov 157:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 180-1,000 yuan

Since his sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in a performance of La Traviata in 2006, Jonas Kaufmann has numbered among the top stars on the operatic horizon. The international press has singled him out as the "new king of tenors". Insiders praise him as the most important German tenor since Fritz Wunderlich. Jonas Kaufmann comes from Munich. He completed his vocal studies there at the local Music Academy, in addition to which he attended master classes with Hans Hotter, James King and Josef Metternich. During his first years on stage at the State Theater in Saarbrucken, he continued his training with Michael Rhodes in Trier.

[Photo provided to China Daily] Liaoning Ballet of China Swan Lake

Date: Nov 17-187:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 100-580 yuan

China Liaoning Ballet (LNB), established in 1980, has been dedicated to producing ballet art pieces of Chinese characteristics while persistently introduces, rehearses and performs world ballet classics. It has scored remarkable achievements in exploring and building the Chinese school of ballet art. Since 1980, LNB has rehearsed and performed world famous ballet pieces including Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, the Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardee, etc. LNB has also created and performed dance dramas of Chinese styles, such as the Butterfly Lovers, Song of Mongolia, the Peacock Gall, Moonlight over the Erquan Pond, modern ballet The Last Emperor in addition to special evening performances for neoclassic ballet pieces like Song of the four Seasons and World of Classics.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

American instrumentalist Alexandro Querevalu China Tour

Date: Dec 19-207:30 pm

Venue: The Cultural Palace of Nationalities

Price: 100-560 yuan

After his successful debut tour in China in 2016, American instrumentalist Alexandro Querevalu will tour China again between Dec 10 to Jan 20, visiting Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Tiaanjin and Hangzhou. Born in Lima, Peru, the musician plays a wide variety of wind instruments, such as the quena and zampona. He has a large repertoire, including The Last of the Mohicans and El Condor Pasa.
President Xi Jinping holds a grand ceremony to welcome US President Donald Trump at the square outside the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. XU JINGXING / CHINA DAILY

China watchers in the United States have spoken positively of President Donald Trump's trip to China this week.

During the Nov 8-10 trip, which was defined by the Chinese government as a "state visit-plus", Trump described, including in multiple tweets, his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping as "very productive on both trade and the subject of North Korea."

In Beijing on Nov 8 and Nov 9, US and Chinese businesses signed deals worth some $253 billion, involving largely Chinese purchase of US products from planes to soybeans.

Jon Taylor, a China scholar and professor at the University of St Thomas.

Jon Taylor, a China scholar and professor at the University of St Thomas in Houston, Texas, said Trump's trip "went as well as could be expected".

"While obvious differences remain, the two leaders demonstrated a genuine respect for each other. That may be the biggest take going forward -- that they understand each other and their counterpart's positions -- on issues such as trade imbalances, the Korean Peninsula, and market access," he said.

Taylor said that he is encouraged by talk of mapping out a new blueprint to remain partners as opposed to being rivals, which reinforces the dialogue that was begun in April in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

"I think that President Xi summed it up best when he said that when working together China and the US can accomplish many great things of benefit to the entire world," he said.

Ted Carpenter, a senior fellow of defense and foreign policy studies at Cato Institute, said the visit turned out to be better than expected given the considerable apprehension leading up to the meeting between Trump and Xi.

Ted Carpenter, a senior fellow of defense and foreign policy studies at Cato Institute.

"Both leaders engaged in a gratifyingly cordial exchange of views," Carpenter said, adding that there also was definite progress about how to deal with the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"Although President Trump (like most American leaders) still seemed to believe that Beijing has more leverage over Pyongyang than actually is the case, he abandoned his insulting and confrontational rhetoric toward Kim Jong-un's regime and indicated a willingness to conduct meaningful negotiations," said Carpenter, adding that it is a stance that China has urged for years.

He observed that Trump also noticeably softened his statements and policy positions regarding trade issues with China. "His comment that he did not blame China for the habitual bilateral trade deficit was especially surprising and constructive, given his previous protectionist statements," Carpenter said.

While noting there was little substantive movement on other policy differences, including Taiwan and the South China Sea, Carpenter said those are complex issues that were not likely to be resolved in a short meeting.

"The important aspect was that those contentious matters were discussed in a cooperative, non-confrontational manner," he said. "All in all, it was a surprisingly friendly and modestly successful summit."
President Xi Jinping speaks during the APEC CEO Summit on Friday ahead of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam. LI TAO / XINHUA

Joint efforts needed for a bright future, he tells APEC business leaders meeting

President Xi Jinping sent a strong message of pursuing open global economies, supporting free trade and building a multilateral trade system in a highly anticipated speech delivered at the APEC CEO Summit in Vietnam on Friday.

He called economic globalization an irreversible historical trend, telling the business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region who had gathered in coastal Da Nang, "In pursuing economic globalization, we should make it more open, more inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and more beneficial to all."

Xi made the speech immediately after arriving in Da Nang from Beijing on Friday afternoon. The Chinese president won long applause and cheers at the start and finish of his speech.

Noting that economic globalization has contributed significantly to global growth, Xi said he is looking forward to advancement of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, an agreement among the 21 APEC economies.

He said the answer is clear to the question of whether to work together for regional cooperation or to be self-isolated, and he called for joint efforts to make a bright future for the Asia-Pacific economy.

"We should continue to foster an open economy that benefits all. Openness brings progress, while self-seclusion leaves one behind," he said.

In his speech, Xi highlighted the importance of improving a multilateral trade system and pursuing shared growth through win-win cooperation.

Mentioning that China will commemorate the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up next year, Xi pledged to make continuous efforts to boost both.

"China will not slow its steps in opening itself up. We will work together with other countries to create new drivers of common development through the launching of the Belt and Road Initiative," he said.

The initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, aims to boost interconnectivity and free trade between China and the rest of the world, with a focus on building a vast logistics and transportation network.

"This initiative is from China, but it belongs to the world. It is rooted in history, but it is oriented toward the future," Xi said, adding that the initiative will create a broader and more dynamic platform for Asia-Pacific cooperation.

China is now a main driver of global growth, Xi said, noting that over the past four years, China's economy has grown by 7.2 percent on average annually, contributing more than 30 percent of global growth.

The president's speech came after China's announcement on Friday that it will ease market access in finance sectors including banks, security funds and insurance, and gradually reduce tariffs on imported automobiles.

Xi told the business leaders that in the next 15 years, it is estimated China will import $24 trillion worth of goods, attract $2 trillion of inbound direct investment and make outbound investment worth $2 trillion.

In his speech, Xi also expressed his confidence and determination to achieve the goal of lifting all of the country's poor people out of poverty by 2020.

It was the most important speech Xi has delivered at an international event since the conclusion of the Communist Party of China's 19th National Congress, held last month, during which the CPC elected its new Central Committee.

The congress formulated a guide to action and a development blueprint for China in the new era, Xi said, adding that under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people will embark on a new journey.

Michael W. Michalak, senior vice-president of the US-ASEAN Business Council, said China is trying to make the country's economic growth more equal, inclusive and development-oriented for the whole world.

"China has talked about reform and opening-up ever since I first started going there in the early 1990s, and they have done a very good job, so now let's keep it up," he said.

China's efforts to rapidly reduce poverty in recent years is "very respectable", he said, adding that there is a lot of work for China to do, because there are still many poverty-stricken people who must be lifted out of poverty by 2020 under the Chinese government's plan.

Michalak said that what impressed him most about Xi's speech was "when he said that 'if we make a commitment, we have to live up to it'".
The South Middleton School Board will reopen its search for a new superintendent after it was unable to reach an agreement with an unnamed candidate for the position.

The board-as-a-whole posted a statement Friday, Nov. 10, on the district website stating the search will be expanded from the expedited search it had launched in July.

The board had hoped to announce a selection in early November, according to the statement. It said a special section will be set up on the website to keep the public updated on the progress.

It has been almost four months since Al Moyer announced in mid-July he would step down as 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 candidates.

On Aug. 21, school board president Michael 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, Oct. 16 or Nov. 6 board meetings. The board on Aug. 21 appointed Bruce Deveney acting superintendent until a permanent replacement could be hired. Deveney is a former superintendent of the East Pennsboro Area School District.

Though the Nov. 10 statement mentioned that Deveney will continue to serve as acting superintendent, there was no mention of what role, if any, Templeton Advantage would play in an expanded search.

We may or may not, Berk said Friday when asked if the board would retain the companys services. The board is going to look at all the different options on how the search will be conducted and by whom.

Our search will be similar in scope and timing to a more traditional search, the online statement reads. The board anticipates expanding the advertising of the position and using a process that will include a thorough evaluation of candidates.

While the expedited search focused on parts of Pennsylvania, the expanded search will try to reach out across the entire state and to other areas including possibly Maryland, Berk said. We want to make sure we cover a larger geographic area.

By more traditional search, the board means a process involving many more steps over an extended period of time, including the prospect of at least three rounds of interviews, Berk said. He added the board plans to meet in executive session Nov. 20 to discuss its options and to develop ways of gathering input from stakeholders including staff, faculty, parents and community members.

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.

The current board will start to brief incoming board members on the search and will include them in the Nov. 20 executive session discussions, Berk said. They are going to be a part of that decision-making process.

One-third of the current nine-member school board will leave office at the end of November. Incumbents Tom Merlie, Robert Winters and Scott Witwer decided not to run for reelection. Only incumbent Stacey Knavel ran for and won reelection.

Merlie, Winters and Witwer will be replaced by Jon Still, John Greenbaum and Denise MacIvor. They will be sworn in as new board members at the Dec. 4 reorganization meeting.

Meanwhile, Deveney has agreed to continue to serve as acting superintendent until a permanent replacement is named, Berk said. The board has been extremely pleased with the work that he has done.

Unlike four years ago, when Moyer was in the running for superintendent, the board has been quiet up to this time on the current superintendent search. The board in late June 2013 appointed Moyer the superintendent following a much more open process that included an early June town hall meeting in which the public could ask contenders questions.

The precise format of the reopened, expanded search has yet to discussed and determined.

We look forward to bringing an outstanding educational leader to South Middleton who will best serve the interests of our students and staff, the online statement reads. Selecting a superintendent is one of the most important decisions the board will make; we will take the time necessary to select the best candidate.
President's article draws high praise

China Daily | Updated: 2017-11-11 07:10

Vietnamese scholars and experts have high praise for President Xi Jinping's article "For a New Vista in China-Vietnam Friendship," published on Thursday in Vietnam's Nhan Dan newspaper. The publication preceded Xi's state visit to Vietnam, where he will also attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang.

In the article, Xi reviewed the China-Vietnam friendship "forged with blood" by the older generation of leaders and the two peoples, and he called on both sides to make greater efforts to promote bilateral ties.

"It is a nice surprise that before his visit, President Xi sent messages to the Vietnamese public via such a friendly channel," said Tran Viet Thai, deputy general director of the Institute for Foreign Strategic Studies at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.

Bui Tri Dung, editor at Vietnam's Investment newspaper, told Xinhua: "His words recalled unforgettable memories when we two peoples stood side by side as comrades, supporting each other in our fight for liberty and independence. That is really touching."

Luu Bich Ho, former director of the Institute of Development Strategy under the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, also said that he was impressed by Xi's article.

Xi expressed the hope that the two countries jointly create a new vista in China-Vietnam relations. "These words are remarkable," Ho said on Thursday afternoon.

Ho said the vista is being driven by three factors:

Vietnam and China are both entering new periods of pursuing development, reform and innovation;

China and Vietnam are making great efforts to lift cooperation to a higher level that will bring more practical benefits for both peoples;

Given the changing global context, cooperation is crucial to ensure stability and development for Vietnam and China, but also for the region and the world.

Do Tien Sam, former director of the Institute of Chinese Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said he strongly agreed with Xi's thoughts on deepening cooperation and fostering new prospects for "our interconnected interests".

Sam said Vietnam and China have huge potential to work together on this aspect as both are members of several multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as APEC and China-ASEAN cooperation frameworks.

Xinhua

(China Daily 11/11/2017 page2)
Vietnamese student Nguyen Duc Tien speaks at the 16th Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in Ho Chi Minh City on May 26. [Photo/Xinhua]

Nong Khanh Ly, a 21-year-old Vietnamese woman, amazed the Chinese audience at a television quiz show on culture with her fluent Mandarin and formidable recall of classical poetry.

She was praised for reciting the writing of Li Qingzhao, a household poetess of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

"I like the sentimental mist that lingers among her lines," said the girl, "the more you learn about the language, the deeper you fall in love with it."

The senior student is majoring in Chinese at Guangxi University in Nanning, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"Like most young students in Vietnam, I dreamed of going abroad after high school, and quite a number of us thought China was the best choice to see the world for both its ancient and modern civilization, which is full of charm," Nong said.

Cultural appeal is a big factor attracting her country's youth to pick up Chinese, she said.

"Since different Chinese TV series and films online are especially popular in Vietnam, if you know the language then you don't have to be limited by the translation," she said.

Meng Ruisen, a teacher at the International Education Institution at Guangxi University, said the institution helps make Chinese attractive to foreigners by promoting traditional Chinese culture as well as its dynamic modern civilization.

"We offer foreign students not only culture courses but also provide chances to experience day-to-day Chinese life in their spare time. During traditional festivals we hold homestays and at other times we have Chinese language corners or language competitions to improve their skills and broaden their horizons."

Chen Gang, deputy dean of the institution, told China Daily that financial support from the Chinese government is the other consideration contributing to the nation's popularity.

In 2016, 45 percent of the 1,679 international students that studied at Guangxi University were Vietnamese.

He said geographical proximity is another reason.

"Among the students from Asian countries with full Guangxi scholarships, 20 are from the four Vietnamese provinces bordering Guangxi," Chen said.

As one of those 20, Nong gets a 1,000 yuan ($150) subsistence allowance every month apart from free tuition and accommodations.

The university also maintains close connections with 30 universities and institutions in Vietnam to facilitate the promotion of Chinese culture by organizing Chinese training camps annually, Chen said.

Nguyen Van Tung, who teaches Chinese at Hung Vuong University in Vietnam's Phu Tho province, also noticed the growing popularity of Chinese. At his university, 120 students major in Chinese and over 600 are also learning Chinese while majoring in other subjects.

With the deepening cooperation between the two counties, it's quite common to see Chinese tourists and business executives in Vietnam, which creates job opportunities for those who know Chinese, he said.

"I once studied Chinese at Guangxi University. After studying for four years, the 28 graduates in my class were all hired by companies and institutions with higher salaries than those who learned English," Tung said.

Chinese has become more accessible in Vietnam, he said. Most universities offer professional courses and there are various training programs to choose from or you can learn by yourself using an online class, he added.

zhangli@chinadaily.com.cn
Ministers of commerce and foreign affairs of the APEC member economies have achieved remarkable results in regional economic integration during meetings held on Wednesday and Thursday in Da Nang, Vietnam, a senior Chinese official said on Friday.

The ministers and other top officials are expected to take further steps to improve cross-border trade policies during the ongoing annual meetings of APEC, according to Zhang Shaogang, director-general of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce.

A framework was approved at the ministers' meeting to facilitate cross-border e-commerce in the APEC region, according to a statement released after the meeting. It will encourage paperless commerce and increase the engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises, Zhang said.

The ministers also approved a series of policies to support industrial production, focusing on encouraging industrial cluster development, advanced supply chains and industrial zone construction, as well as improving logistics service, Zhang said. That will strengthen industrial connections in the region over the long term, he said.

"This achievement has followed the direction of facilitating free and convenient cross-border trade and investment, which has been always supported by the APEC initiative, and exploring new areas of cooperation in the future," Zhang said.

Based on an initiative that China raised at the 2014 APEC meetings in Beijing, known as the "Beijing Road Map", this year's meeting will continue to accumulate contributions toward an Asia-Pacific free trade zone. The ministers also agreed to start cooperative work on designing a specific index to reflect regional trade, as well as building a policy environment for the service trade, Zhang said.

Regional economic integration, inclusive growth, innovation of small-and medium-sized enterprises and food safety all continue to be key issues for the bloc.

Zhang said that "most of the member economies expect to continually support the multilateral trade regime" through which trade partners work on the basis of multilateral agreements instead of strictly engaging in bilateral trade. "We have already started a lot of coordination work."

The APEC delegations also expect a successful minister-level meeting at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Argentina, in December, he said.

Chinese business representatives think APEC will be one of the best frameworks to support building a free-trade zone across the Asia-Pacific region, Sun Xiao, a leader of the Chinese delegation and director of the department of cooperation and development at the China Chamber of International Commerce, said on Thursday.

"To achieve this target, there will be many different approaches, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and China is willing to contribute positive experience for the free trade zone construction," said Sun.

chenjia@chinadaily.com.cn
Da Nang, well known for its silky white sand beaches and resorts with the majestic Truong Son mountains in the background, welcomes the leaders of 21 member economies as the host city of the APEC Economic Leaders' Week.

President Xi Jinping arrived on Friday. After his attendance at the 25th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, he will also make a state visit to Vietnam as part of his first overseas trip after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

To welcome Xi and other leaders, the Han River running across the city is resplendent with glittering lights.

The Dragon Bridge, the longest bridge in Vietnam, crosses the river and offers a dazzling display of lights during the week. The six-lane, 666-meter bridge was built in the shape of a golden dragon. According to local beliefs that date back to the country's Ly Dynasty (1009-1225), the dragon is a significant symbol of power, nobility and good fortune, much like the dragon's significance in China.

"China and Vietnam have been in a close relationship for many years. Our local people are expecting the visit of President Xi and believe the two sides will have more connections in trade and bilateral investment," Chi Thong Ma, a reporter at Ho Chi Minh City Television, told China Daily.

"We also expect to see the meeting between President Xi and our country's leaders, and will wait for the results that will be achieved," he said.

Chi said he hopes the Chinese leader has a taste of pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup, and he is also looking forward to seeing the leaders wearing ao dai, traditional silk Vietnamese clothing, when they take the APEC group photo.

Sun Xiao, director general of the Department of Cooperation and Development of the China Chamber of International Commerce, said that the Vietnamese government has arranged for officers who speak fluent Chinese to take charge of coordination work with the Chinese delegation, including accommodations, transportation and registration.

Tu Minh, an old fisherman living in Da Nang, said that never before have the city's residents experienced such excitement as that caused by the APEC 2017 Economic Leaders' Week.

"When I learned the coastal city would welcome the APEC economies' leaders with thousands of foreign officials and journalists coming to discuss the big issues of the world, I felt very proud," he said.

chenjia@chinadaily.com.cn
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London's landmark annual spectacular event Lord Mayor's Show will feature three Chinese groups which are staging floats in celebration of China and the UK's close financial collaboration.

The Lord Mayor's Show, which follows a tradition spanning over 800 years, will be a full day celebration on Saturday, bringing together more than 7,000 people, 200 horses and more than 150 floats to make the three mile procession from Mansion House, past St Paul's Cathedral to the Royal Courts of Justice and back to Mansion House.

The event marks Charles Bowman taking office as the 690th elected Lord Mayor of the City of London.

The three Chinese organizations staging floats in the show are the Bank of China, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London and the Zhejiang UK Association.

The Bank of China's float comprises of three giant fans, the first depicts the UK and China's flags, the second shows Peking Opera costumes and the third is themed on the China-led Belt and Road initiative.

The UK and China flag symbolizesthe close relationship between the two countries and their bright future. The Peking Opera costumes shows an important aspect of Chinese culture for a UK audience, while the China-led Belt and Road initiative depicts growing connectivity between Asia and Europe.

The Bank of China is the oldest Chinese bank to establish in the City of London, having established in London in 1929. In 2017, its engagement with the City of London strengthened as it was chosen to chair the Associate of Foreign Banks, an association that represents the voice of around 250 foreign banks in the UK.

The Zhejiang UK Association, founded in 2009, also for the first time staged a float in the Lord Mayor's Show. Its float is themed on the China-led Belt and Road initiative.

First proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the China-led Belt and Road initiative seeks to promote trade and investment links between Asia and Europe through infrastructure investment. The City of London has been keen to promote London as a finance hub for the Belt and Road related investments.

The Zhejiang UK Association float is created in the shape of a train, to commemorate the significant moment of the Zhejiang-based company Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment operating the first China-UK freight train earlier this year. The train carried trade cargo from Yiwu, China's small commodities hub, to London, and provided importers and exporters a faster and more cost-effective option of transport.

The float's exterior is decorated with pictures of China's Great Wall, Peking Opera, and the famous West Lake, in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. Other pictures showcase important events, such as the landmark G20 meeting gala performance in Hangzhou 2016, and the event of China's 26th naval escort fleet's calling in London in October this year.

Meanwhile the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London also staged a float to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.
A freight train loaded with timber set off on a 9110km journey from Finland to China for the first time on Friday.

A freight train loaded with timber sets off from Finland to China on Friday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The train, pulling 41 containers, left Kouvola in southeastern Finland and is expected to arrive in Xi'an via Kazakhstan and Russia in 17 days.

The Kouvola-Xi'an link is the first railway link to join China with the Nordic countries. It is operated by Kazakhstan Railway (KTZ Express) and jointly organised by Xi'an International Trade & Logistic Park and Kouvola Innovation Ltd.

The service will run once a week, with one train departing from Kouvola on Thursdays and another from Xi'an on Wednesdays.

More Scandinavian goods including electronic devices, spare parts, and agricultural specialties such as blueberry and salmon will be exported to China through Xi'an and equivalent cargos from Western China will be exported to the Nordic countries.

Antti Hakkanen, the minister of justice of Finland, said he is extremely pleased to see the new route opening between Kouvola and China. "Major global trends, such as digitalisation, automation and sustainable development, are going to have a significant impact also on the logistics and transport services of the future," he said.

"The new route will enhance the efficiency of transportation and bring a competitive edge to rail transport. I am convinced that this new Silk Road between Finland and China will prosper and flourish."

As the starting point of the original Silk Road trading route, Xi'an plays an important role in the Belt and Road initiative and is also a major road transport hub.

Nancy Li, general director from Scan-China International Link, said that Xi'an is poised to "connect east and west" as the new route provides both reliability and efficiency.

Flora Zhang contributed to the story
President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Vietnam's central city of Da Nang on November 10, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

"Our region, the Asia-Pacific, has the biggest share of the global economy; and it is a major engine driving global growth."

- President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, November 10, 2017

The following is the highlighted parts of the speech:

I. Global economy is undergoing more profound changes.

In pursuing economic globalization, we should make it more open and inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and beneficial to all.

We should uphold multilateralism, pursue shared growth through consultation and collaboration, forge closer partnerships, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

II. We must advance with the trend of times, live up to our responsibility and work together to deliver a bright future of development and prosperity for the Asia-Pacific.

First, we should continue to foster an open economy that benefits all.

Second, we should continue to pursue innovation-driven development and create new drivers of growth.

Third, we should continue to enhance connectivity and achieve interconnected development.

Fourth, we should continue to make economic development more inclusive and deliver its benefits to our people.

III. The Chinese people will embark on a new journey under the leadership of the CPC.

First, this is a new journey of deepening reform across the board and unleashing dynamism for development.

Second, this is a new journey of moving with the times and exploring new model of development.

Third, this is a new journey toward greater integration with the world and an open economy of higher standards.

Fourth, this is a new journey toward a better life for the people.

Fifth, this is a new journey toward a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.
For more than four months, Ronggao Zhang has walked to his missing daughter's apartment almost every day. At first, he stood outside, hoping she would show up one afternoon. But even after he was told she'd been kidnapped and was presumed dead, he's continued his routine.

"It brings peace and comfort to my heart," Zhang explained in Mandarin, through a translator. His daughter, Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, disappeared June 9 on her way to sign an apartment lease. A former graduate student has been charged with kidnapping and killing her. Zhang's body has not been found.

A few days ago, Zhang's father made a final visit to the Orchard Downs apartments with his wife, 24-year-old son and daughter's boyfriend as they prepared to return to China. They arrived here after Zhang vanished, hopeful in the beginning that she'd be found alive. After authorities relayed the grim news, they decided to stay until her remains were found so they could take her home for a proper burial, in accordance with Chinese customs.

Now they plan to leave Sunday, reluctantly, without her. Zhang's mother is in fragile health  she broke down at the start of a recent court hearing  and there's no way of knowing when this cruel mystery will be solved. Each day they wait, in agony.

"We don't know where she is, and I don't know how to spend the rest of my life without my daughter," said Lifeng Ye, Zhang's mother, her face tear-stained and voice trembling as she spoke through a translator. "I can't really sleep well at night. ... I often dream of my daughter, and she's right there with me. I want to ask the mother of the suspect, please talk to her son and ask him what he did to my daughter. Where is she now? I want to know the answer."

Ronggao Zhang, center, father of missing Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang, listens during an interview at The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill., on June 22, 2017. Yingying Zhang's aunt, best friend and boyfriend are also pictured. (Heather Coit / The News-Gazette) Authorities have not said how Zhang died. Brendt Christensen, 28, was charged in July with abduction and then last month accused in a superseding indictment of kidnapping resulting in death "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim." That carries the possibility of the death penalty. Christensen's lawyer declined comment.

Federal prosecutors claim that Zhang, who arrived on campus in April, had missed a bus and worried she was late to sign an apartment lease when Christensen lured her into his car. Surveillance video showed her getting into the front seat of a black Saturn Astra the FBI alleges was cleaned in a way to conceal evidence.

Audio surveillance captured Christensen talking about how he abducted Zhang and brought her back to his apartment, where she "fought and resisted" while he held her against her will, according to prosecutors. They contend he also talked about who makes an "ideal victim," but prosecutors would not identify whom Christensen was speaking with or the source of those conversations.

A federal complaint disclosed that Christensen used his phone in April to visit a fetish networking site online, viewing threads titled "perfect abduction fantasy" and "planning a kidnapping." Christensen, who earlier this year earned a master's degree in physics, appeared at a campus vigil for Zhang in June before he was arrested.

Zhang's disappearance has rippled far beyond this quiet central Illinois community, generating headlines and discussion in Chinese newspapers and social media sites about the American justice system, the capabilities of law enforcement, and whether scholars who study in the U.S. are safe.

Some 5,600 Chinese students attend the university here  more than any other college in the nation. The Urbana-Champaign area typically has no more than a few homicides a year.

Studying in America was a longtime dream for Zhang and "she loved her stay here," said her boyfriend, Xiaolin Hou, who was in touch with her every day via WeChat, a popular social network in China.

She chose Illinois for its highly regarded agriculture program. Zhang had been doing research on crop photosynthesis. She was to begin her doctoral work in September after having earned a graduate degree in environmental engineering from the prestigious Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School.

"She was very tough, strong, never afraid of hard work," her mother said, recalling how she was at the top of her class ever since she was a little girl. Zhang was a calming influence, too, when her parents expressed concern about her safety in America. "She always told me, 'Mom, don't worry about me. There are Chinese here, Americans here. But everyone is very nice here.'"

Zhang was a devoted daughter. At the same time every Saturday, she'd call her parents in Nanping, China. As a graduate research student, she used her meager savings to buy her family a cellphone, an air conditioner and a microwave oven. She planned to become a university professor and help support her father, a factory worker, and mother, a homemaker.

"She never hesitated, even for a moment, when others needed help," said her boyfriend, who put his doctoral studies on hold to join Zhang's family here. He said her selflessness was what attracted him to Zhang when they met in their first year in college. She also knew how to have fun, playing guitar and singing lead in a band called "Cute Horse."

Hou and family members have met with the FBI, police and prosecutors, but they're frustrated by the slow pace of justice, said Zhidong Wang, a Chicago lawyer who has been helping them. He said he's explained that even though authorities have a suspect, Christensen's constitutional rights protect him from being forced to reveal anything that would hurt his defense.

Christensen's lawyers recently sought a delay in the trial until next October, saying they needed to check into several purported sightings of Zhang and reports of suspicious people around her apartment before she disappeared.

Zhang's father said the loss of his daughter has warped his sense of time: "Every day is like a year."

Hou, Zhang's boyfriend of eight years, has struggled, too. Though they didn't have marriage plans, he said, "In my heart, she is my wife for all time."

When authorities provided scanned pages of Zhang's diary to the family, Hou said it hurt too much to read them thoroughly. She wrote regularly of long-term and short-term goals and meticulously detailed how she organized her day  20 minutes for breakfast, 20 minutes for jogging.

On June 1, her last entry, Zhang was a bit more philosophical.

"Life," she wrote, "is too short to be ordinary."

Hou said it will be hard to leave and wait from thousands of miles away to bring Zhang home.

"We don't know how much longer this journey is going to be," he said. "We just feel hopeless."
This year was unforgettably different from any other for Li Yaxuan, a ninth-grader at the Middle School Affiliated with Tsinghua University in Beijing.

In late July, the 14-year-old was selected from among hundreds of participants in the 2017 Model APEC Junior competition. As a reward, she got the opportunity to travel to Da Nang, Vietnam, from Tuesday to Friday, along with three college students, to experience some of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Week as a representative of Chinese youth.

At the event's CEO Summit on Friday, Li listened to speeches and dialogue from the leaders of different economies, including President Xi Jinping. Earlier, she met face-to-face with business elites and scholars.

"It was an inspiring and vision-broadening trip," she said. "I heard perspectives and viewpoints that were fresh to me." She added that the trip was a great opportunity to deepen her understanding of regional and global affairs.

Li said she was most impressed during the meetings by China's rising influence.

"Many discussions had to do with China's development and its external cooperation," she said. "We, as representatives of China, also attracted a lot of attention."

She said dignitaries at the meeting were surprised to find people of her age in attendance.

"Some people I talked to on the sidelines or during tea breaks told me that they were glad to hear the voices of Chinese youth," she said.

To prepare for the trip, Li seized every minute she could to learn more about APEC and its mission, including its three pillars - trade and investment liberalization; business facilitation; and economic and technical cooperation. She collected and read materials, and tried to form her own perspective.

The Model APEC Junior program, launched by the Asia-Pacific Youth Foundation for Communication and Development in 2016, targets young people between 14 and 18 in China. Its goal is to engage middle school students in international affairs and nurture their ability to engage in public diplomacy via diverse activities, including courses on improving leadership and dialogue with diplomats.

"The biggest benefit of participating in the Model APEC Junior program and attending the APEC meetings is that my way of thinking and viewing the world has been changed," she said. "In the past, I could only think of myself. Now I feel more like a global citizen and try to see things from a wider perspective."

zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn
US first lady treated to national treasures

By Zhang Yunbi | China Daily | Updated: 2017-11-11 07:09

Pandas and the Great Wall were two national treasures taken in by US first lady Melania Trump during her tour of Beijing on Friday, as her husband, US President Donald Trump, wrapped up a state visit to China and headed to Vietnam.

The US president offered a preview, saying in a tweet: "Melania is staying behind to see the zoo, and of course, the Great Wall of China before going to Alaska to greet our AMAZING troops."

At Beijing Zoo, Melania Trump visited the panda pavilion, feeding a giant panda named Gu Gu and learning about his nutrition and training, according to Reuters.

She sent toy eagles to a group of schoolchildren waving miniature Chinese and US flags in front of a panda enclosure. They also posed for photographs.

The US first lady signed a panda print while she was there, writing: "Thank you to the Beijing Zoo! Wonderful to meet Gu Gu!"

Later in the day, she visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in Huairou, a mountainous district in northern Beijing.

The Trumps arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon and spent what the US president described in a tweet as an "unforgettable" afternoon and evening at the Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, in central Beijing.

In a number of tweets, Trump voiced his gratitude for China's hospitality and his hope for stronger US-China ties.

In his first tweet from China on Wednesday, he wrote "THANK YOU" to President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for the tour of the Forbidden City.

In addition, the US president's twitter account - @POTUS - retweeted a post by Dan Scavino Jr, the White House director of social media and assistant to the president, that featured a picture of the front page of Thursday's China Daily.

The page's main picture features the two presidential couples' standing in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Forbidden City.

As part of Beijing's "state visit-plus" treatment for Trump, the welcoming ceremony on Thursday morning featured great details, including 10 US students joining Chinese elementary school students along the red carpet to greet the US president.

"It was a truly memorable and impressive display!" Trump wrote in a tweet, attaching a video clip that included the two presidents waving to the children.

Following a number of official events on Thursday, including talks with Xi and witnessing the signing of deals totaling more than $250 billion, Trump tweeted, "In the coming months and years ahead, I look forward to building an even STRONGER relationship between the United States and China."

Cui Liru, a senior researcher and former president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the visit "set a major tone" for future development of China-US ties as both sides affirm commitment to cooperation and mutual benefit.

The deals that were signed show that the two nations' common interests far outnumber their differences, and their progressing cultural exchanges will help address potential frictions or divergence, Cui said.

Zhou Qing'an, a professor of public diplomacy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said the entire itinerary of the Trumps' stay in China featured the traditional Chinese pursuit of harmony, which signals Beijing's hope for long-lasting, stable ties with Washington.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/11/2017 page1)
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Friday. SPUTNIK / REUTERS

The cooperation between China and Russia on global affairs has demonstrated major country responsibility and set an example for the new type of international relations based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

Calling Russia a trustworthy partner, Xi said while meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam, that China-Russia political mutual trust has been strengthened this year with progress in bilateral ties. The two met on the sidelines of the APEC Leaders' Week.

Xi pointed out that the synergy of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union has yielded early fruit this year, with outstanding improvement in the bilateral trade structure.

Xi expressed gratitude for Putin's recent congratulation on the success of the Communist Party of China's 19th National Congress, which concluded on Oct 24.

In a phone call last month, Putin congratulated Xi on the national congress and Xi's re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. The congress elected a new Central Committee of the Party.

Putin extended his congratulations again on Friday on the success of the 19th CPC National Congress and Xi's re-election as general secretary.

Calling China an important economic and trade partner for Russia, Putin said Xi's state visit to Russia in July has pushed the development of bilateral economic ties.

Over the past five years, Xi has been to Russia six times, either for state visits or to participate in international activities. Xi and Putin have talked frequently on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, which has laid a solid foundation for the countries' increasingly good relations.

Both China and Russia are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and members of the G20, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and their joint efforts are seen as playing a key role in maintaining the world's political stability.

Sun Xingjie, deputy dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Jilin University, said the already close China-Russia relationship is expected to be strengthened under the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics  China's diplomatic approach that was part of Xi's report to the national congress.

The China-Russia "comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination", which Beijing values highly, will see more regular meetings between Chinese and Russian leaders and is expected to play a much bigger role in the global arena, Sun said.

Sharing their respective pursuit of national rejuvenation, China and Russia now have more incentives to deepen their partnership and help optimize global governance, he added.
Artists perform traditional Chinese lion dance during the Lord Mayor's Show in London on Saturday. [Kevin Wang/China Daily]

London's landmark annual spectacular event, Lord Mayor's Show, staged fancy floats parade in the heart of the financial city on Saturday with a special celebration of China and the United Kingdom's close collaboration.

The 800-year old traditional Lord Mayor's Show, with three Chinese groups participating this time, featured a full day celebration on Saturday, bringing together more than 7,000 people, 200 horses and more than 150 floats to make the 5-kilometer procession from Mansion House, past St Paul's Cathedral to the Royal Courts of Justice and back to Mansion House.

The event marks Charles Bowman taking office as the 690th elected Lord Mayor of the City of London.

The three Chinese organizations staging floats in the show are the Bank of China, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London and the Zhejiang UK Association.

The Bank of China's float comprises of three giant fans, the first depicts the UK and China's flags, the second shows Peking Opera costumes and the third is themed on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

The UK and China flag symbolizes the close relationship between the two countries and their bright future. The Peking Opera costumes shows an important aspect of Chinese culture for UK audience, while the Belt and Road Initiative one depicts growing connectivity between Asia and Europe.

The Bank of China is the oldest Chinese bank to establish in the City of London, having established in London in 1929. In 2017, its engagement with the City of London got intensified as it was chosen to chair the Associate of Foreign Banks, an association that represents the voice of around 250 foreign banks in the UK.

The Zhejiang UK Association, founded in 2009, also for the first time staged a float in the Lord Mayor's Show. Its float is themed on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

First proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative seeks to promote trade and investment links between Asia and Europe through infrastructure investment. The City of London has been keen to promote London as a financial hub for the Belt and Road related investments.

The Zhejiang UK Association float is created in the shape of a train, to commemorate the significant moment of the Zhejiang-based company Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment operating the first China-UK freight train earlier this year. The train carried trade cargo from Yiwu, China's small commodities hub, to London, and provided importers and exporters a faster and more cost-effective option of transport.

The float's exterior is decorated with pictures of China's Great Wall, Peking Opera, and the famous West Lake, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Other pictures showcase important events, such as the landmark G20 meeting gala performance in Hangzhou last year, and the event of China's 26th naval escort fleet's calling in London in October this year.

Meanwhile the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London also staged a float to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
A final ranking of the 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in Tuesday's midterms. Plus, a look at the polling averages for each of the races, 
home World Nepalese Christian leaders demand repeal of law criminalizing evangelism and conversions

Christian leaders have launched a petition calling on the Nepalese government to repeal a new law that prohibits evangelism and religious conversion.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported last month that Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari had signed a Criminal Code Bill that includes a provision that outlaws religious conversion and the "hurting of religious sentiment." The bill was reportedly signed into law on Oct. 16, the same day that Nepal was elected by the U.N. General Assembly as one of 15 new members of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

C.B. Gahatraj, president of the Christian Federation of Nepal, warned that the new law targets religious men and women who want to evangelize and share their faith.

"Christians have been cheated in the past with assurances that have never been put into practice. We are not just going to be used as vote banks as in the past," he said, as reported by The Christian Post, citing Asia News.

"We demand an immediate amendment to the law to ensure freedom of conversion and choice. Everyone is free to choose their faith and practice it," he added.

There had been concerns that Clause 160 in Section 9, the provision of the new law that bans religious conversions, could be used to limit a wide variety of religious expression and belief. Some have feared that the clause could be used to claim that the charitable activities of religious groups or people talking about their beliefs are attempts at conversions.

CSW and other human rights groups have warned that the new law could send believers to prison for up to five years if found guilty of forcefully converting people.

"The new law didn't come unexpectedly," said Rolf Zeegers, analyst at Open Doors' World Watch Research unit.

"When Nepal became a secular state in 2008 Christians in the country experienced a huge increase in freedom. Christianity flourished and grew rapidly, tripling in size between 2008 and 2017 a this to the anger of Hindu radicals who have tried constantly to restore religious freedom restrictions ever since. One of their greatest achievements was the inclusion of article 26 [criminalising religious conversion] in the country's September 2015 constitution," he went on to say.

Dinesh Bhattarai, advisor to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, had reportedly promised to address the Christian community's concerns over religious freedom before the parliamentary and provincial elections, which are scheduled for Nov. 26 and Dec. 7, respectively.

Deuba has vowed that secularism will be more institutionalized and the rights of minorities will be protected in order to ensure the success of the elections.

Some reports have noted that the growth of Christianity in Nepal is among the highest in the world.

Some critics attribute the growth to the lure of money from foreign evangelical organizations, but anthropologist Ian Gibson refuted the theory, noting that the majority of those who converted have "lost far more than they have gained" by adopting Christianity. He noted that they often experience discrimination in employment and are typically ostracized from their families and communities, and even disinherited.
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An employee was shot and killed Friday night at a north Houston Family Dollar store, according to the Houston Police Department.

Demonique Johnson, 30, was shot shortly after 10 p.m. at the store in the 7600 block of Jensen. Two men struggled with Johnson at the store's front entrance, said Officer Todd Tyler with HPD Homicide Division. Johnson was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.
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Tony Buzbee, a personal injury lawyer who earned millions fighting oil companies, maritime operators and insurance companies, got to the courthouse fast with his latest case representing the family of a Katy man recently killed in a rig explosion near New Orleans.

So fast, that he sued the wrong companies.

But this is just one complication in a case that has become even more complicated over the past few days. Buzbee was fired by the widow of Tim Morrison, then sued a Morrison family friend for interfering in the case and went to court to force Morrison's family to pay his fee.

Morrison, 44, was killed Oct. 15 when an oil and gas storage rig on Lake Pontchartrain exploded. Buzbee in the lawsuit blamed two Houston companies, alleging that the subcontractors hired to clean pipes on the rig used cleaning materials that ignited and caused it to explode.

But one company named in the suit doesn't seem to exist. And the other, a Houston industrial cleaning company, has no connection to the rig or the rig's owner, Clovelly Oil Co. of New Orleans.

The case took an unexpected turn when Morrison's widow, Erika, fired Buzbee's law firm earlier this week. Buzbee shot back, suing a friend of Tim Morrison and three unnamed Louisiana lawyers for alleged tortious interference, saying in court records he stands to lose $10 million in legal fees the case would have "easily" generated. Then later this week, Buzbee's firm asked the court to force his clients - Erika Morrison and her two young children -to pay the money he has coming.

Jack Jamison, a Dallas accident lawyer who has represented the Morrisons for years, called the situation "absurd and grotesque."

"He is representing Mrs. Morrison while he is suing her," Jamison said.

Buzbee, who won millions of dollars for clients injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, said he couldn't sit idly by while Louisiana lawyers came to Houston to convince Erika Morrison to drop his firm. As for the wrongful death case - the original case that started this saga -Buzbee said he based it on information he received from officials he did not identify and that he believed to be correct.

Buzbee became a prominent trial lawyer by taking on huge cases and winning, and was once described by the New York Times as a "big, mean, ambitious, tenacious, fire-breathing Texas trial lawyer." In addition to the Deepwater Horizon case, in which he represented more than 12,000 individuals and business owners whose livelihoods were ruined by the oil spill, he also recovered millions for more than 150 employees hurt in the deadly 2005 BP Texas City refinery explosion, which killed 15 workers

Personal injury lawyers often rush to sign up clients and file lawsuits after massive industrial accidents, deadly plane crashes and automotive defect cases because the more clients they enlist, the greater the opportunity for big fees, typically one-third of whatever verdict or settlement they win. But in the rush to get to the courthouse first, facts can get mixed up.

Sometimes it's a mix-up of similar names, other times a matter of suing the wrong subsidiary of a corporation.

"It does happen," said Tom Carse, a personal injury lawyer in Dallas who has no connection to the Buzbee case.

Eight workers were on the Clovelly platform at the time of the explosion, including two Clovelly employees and five contract workers, according to a company statement. Morrison worked as a contract employee.

Buzbee sued two subcontractors hired to clean the pipes, Hydra Steam Generator of Houston and Clean Co Systems of Channelview. Hydra Steam Generator apparently doesn't exist, based on a search of corporate filings with the Texas secretary of state. And the other, Clean Co Systems of Channelview, did not have a contract with Clovelly - confirmed by Clovelly spokeswoman Virginia Miller - and did not employ Morrison.

Clean Co owner James Rooney said he was stunned to discover his company, which employs about 100, was named in the suit. What's worse, he said, is that the Lake Pontchartrain explosion is so high-profile in the energy industry that if word spread about his supposed involvement on the rig, it could hurt the reputation he has built over the past 24 years.

He said he told his lawyer to contact Buzbee immediately and get his and his company's names off the lawsuit.

"How could they get that wrong?" Rooney said.

Buzbee confirmed that Clean Co Systems was not involved and said he will remove the companyat some point from the lawsuit. As for Hydra Steam Generator, Buzbee said he can't find any record of a company by that name operating in Texas.

"It may be that Hydra Steam was a new entity, yet unincorporated, and run by only one individual," he said in an email. "We are trying to confirm that."

The case should never have been filed, said Jamison, the Dallas lawyer representing the Morrisons. Erika Morrison told Buzbee that she wanted to hold off on filing a lawsuit, but he did it anyway, Jamison said. Then Buzbee ignored her instructions to dismiss it, Jamison said.

Buzbee said in his lawsuit that he believed Erika Morrison was influenced by the family friend, Brad Cox of Dallas, and unnamed lawyers who wanted the case. Buzbee met her at his home Sunday and after about an hour, she hired him, according to the lawsuit.

Cox could not be reached for comment.

"We don't know what is going on, but clearly Mrs. Morrison is the victim of bad legal advice," Buzbee said. "Obviously, we don't want to do anything to harm Mrs. Morrison's case, but we aren't going to sit back while Louisiana lawyers come over to Texas and have our clients terminate our contract."
Lone Star College-CyFair celebrated the opening of its new Center for Academic and Student Engagement building Friday.

Funding of the approximately $26.6 million construction project came from the $485 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2014.

The new 75,000-square-foot, two-story building's purpose is to serve the growing enrollment and enhance LSC-CyFair students' collaborative needs. "Our new Center for Academic and Student Engagement building was built to accommodate our growing enrollment and to enhance the student's overall educational experience here at LSC-CyFair," said LSC-CyFair President Seelpa Keshvala.

Houston office of Gensler designed the project that models floor to ceiling glass windows that envelope the building and welcomes energy indoors from the landscaping and reimagined campus quad.

Housed in the building is a new faculty suite, dean's suite, technology-infused classrooms, computer classrooms, 3 multipurpose classrooms and an open lab. The project also features a three-level, outdoor amphitheater for learning and 750 additional parking spaces.

"This facility is first class. CyFair does a great job with academic achievement, development of staff, and with the community," Alton Smith said, board of trustee chairman of Lone Star College. "I think once people start using the facility and the numbers come back, we will see a positive gain in all aspects of our situation here. I am overly impressed with what we have here at Lone Star College CyFair. I hope and pray that the students and community utilizes this building to its fullest extent."

Additionally, there is a Center for Student Life and the Veterans Affairs Center, which provides space for student clubs and organizations to hold meetings or campus events. The center offers assistance to approximately 1,400 students who served in the Armed Forces, including their families.

LSC-CyFair confirms that the center staff helps veterans apply for educational benefits and shares information about campus and community resources. Students will also benefit from the center space to take study breaks, socialize with their peers, relax and enjoy music, or play pool, video games and ping pong.

A special sculpture also resides in the CASE building. In memoriam of Robert McGehee, art professor and founding faculty member, who lost his battle with cancer in April 2009, a sculpture in his honor can be found in the building. McGehee was a key component in the development of the art department's vision and initiatives. LSC- CyFair reports that McGehee's family donated this untitled sculpture, which addresses the concept of health and healing and bears a soothing message of hope.

Lone Star College-CyFair is the fifth-comprehensive college in the Lone Star College System. LSC-CyFair provides an education for more than 22,000 students.

"One of the many things I love about the CASE building is that it encapsulates what we do so well here at Lone Star College CyFair," Rebecca Royer said, faculty senate president of LSC- CyFair. "On the instructional side, we challenge our students to expand their knowledge base and to formulate new thoughts and ideas. As students leave their classes, they often end up in Student Life where they are encouraged utilize what they have learned and apply it in various forms."

The college system low-cost academic transfer and career training education to 98,000 students each semester. LSC consists of six colleges, eight centers, two university centers, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online.

"We are very excited for LSC-CyFair campus. This [new] building is already home to new ideas, new opportunities, and new stories," Jennifer Gonzalez said, LSC- CyFair student government association president. "It is a breeding ground for young minds to come together to come up with ways to better acclimate our students as a whole."

LSC-CyFair Campus

9191 Barker Cypress Road

Cypress, TX 77433-1383

281-290-3200

Registration for LSC-CyFair's winter mini-mester and spring semester classes begins Nov. 15. For information, go to LoneStar.edu/registration.
A jury sentenced a 21-year-old man to five years community supervision and said he must register as a sex offender, after finding him guilty this week of online solicitation of a minor, according to a news release from the Galveston County District Attorney's Office.

Aaron Quigg's trial began on Tuesday inside a Galveston court room. During the trial, two prosecutors, Ross Hill and Beverly Armstrong, presented evidence on how the Internet Crimes Against Children task force completed a multi-day undercover sting operation focused on identifying and arresting people involved in exploiting children.
A challenged Crosby High School's lone Senior Head Drum Major Darian Aulds stood tall in a line of 112 drum majors representing the top 35 high schools at the 2017 University Interscholastic League's State Marching Band Competition Wednesday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

As the only drum major to represent her school among the others who had two to five leaders, Aulds led the only military-style marching band to qualify for state at the 5A conference competition

"It's rare to find a military marching band," said Aulds, who plans to attend the University of Alabama to study to become an astronaut. "It's an honor to be able to represent those who don't get the chance."

Military style is one of the original styles for marching band. During the performances where most bands showcased a corp style with more rounded shapes and visual elements in their performances, Crosby stood out without props and a simple style focused on the movement and music of the 8-minute "Give Us This Day" show with spiritual hymns, Doxology and the Lord's Prayer.

To remain competitive, the back-to-back state qualifying, 91-member band has integrated some corp style with the music, percussion and a few turns. But they are determined to make a statement as more and more high schools make the transition to corp: military style is not dead.

"One of our mottos is tradition with a future," Aulds said. "We try to keep with it and keep the tradition going year after year. We are going to keep some part of the past alive."

In 2015, during the school's first state run in its history to qualify, Crosby placed 29th out of 31. This year they placed 26th out of 35.

"We are proud of what our kids have done to get this far," Associate Band Director Michael Lehew said.

This year was especially challenging for the band, which lost two weeks of practice during Hurricane Harvey that hit in late August, dumped more than 60 inches of rain and severe flooding. The storm prompted a shelter set up in the middle school and a united community response, including with the band members helping out.

But at least 12 members lost their own homes in the flood.

Among them was Junior Trumpet Player Joey Bush, whose family floated across to his aunt's house on plastic bins as water rose to a total of four feet in his house. Like so many who were displaced by the storm, he and his family are still living with his relatives.

"The night it happened was unlike anything I had ever experienced before," Bush said. "I had been through a hurricane before, but never a full flood. It was strange to see the band members and to come back to normalcy. It was certainly unexpected with the time lost in practice, it's just really unexpected to (make it to state) despite all the different experiences in the fall and for the band members to push through and end up here."

More than 125 eight-minute concerts were performed over three days by 10,000 student participants from about 253 Class 5A schools, 194 Class 3A schools, 139 Class 2A schools and 33 Class A schools. The alternating competition will invite 4A and 6A schools next year. A panel of five judges inspected each performance with three focused only on the music they hear and two focused on marching, looking at every aspect of movement on the field.

"I've been in it, and I've never seen them perform like this,"said Senior Rachel Boyette, who performed in the band at state in 2015 and returned as a spectator to cheer on her best friend Hailea Znidarsic at what she described as the band's best performance yet. "It was different from everybody else's and that's what made it special."

2017 UIL State Marching Band Competition Results:

1A Champion  Whiteface

2A Champion  Clarksville

3A Champion  Mineola

5A Champion  Cedar Park

For more information, visit www.crosbyisd.org.
Among the many problems with the Great Gun Debate these days is that the pro-gun crowd wants to make it a culture-war battle and the anti-gun crowd wants to pretend that it isnt.

On public policy grounds, the pro-gun people have the better arguments. Firearm homicides have declined since the 1990s despite the loosening of gun laws.

Almost none of the remedies proposed in the wake of mass shootings would have actually prevented those crimes (though had so-called bump stocks been banned  as they should be  fewer would have died in the Las Vegas shooting last month).

Indeed, its common in the aftermath of shootings to hear pundits and politicians call for the passage of laws that already exist. Ive lost count of the number of times people have insisted that machine guns be banned  they essentially already are. Others talk about banning assault weapons as if such a designation describes a specific kind of weapon. It doesnt. Nor would banning assault weapons, however defined, put much of a dent in the problem. Rifles of all kinds account for just 3 percent of the murder rate.

The slaughter at a Texas church on Sunday fits the pattern. Calls went out for background checks. But the shooter passed his; he just lied on the application. Some argued that people convicted of spousal abuse  like the shooter  should be barred from getting a gun. Thats already federal law. (To be sure, such laws should be enforced better than the Trump administration seems inclined to do.)

More broadly, President Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress will not do anything significant to restrict gun rights in America. And the experience under President Obama, particularly in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, demonstrates that even some Democrats dont want to move against their electoral self-interest.

Indeed, the main reason for inaction isnt the stranglehold of the National Rifle Association  a relative piker when it comes to political spending  but the fact that millions of gun owners are likely to vote on the gun issue, while millions of gun-control supporters are not. Also, a supermajority of Americans (76 percent to 23 percent, according to Gallup) do not want a ban on private gun ownership.

These facts probably help explain why the NRA has taken a dark turn of late, releasing ads that have virtually nothing to do with gun laws and everything to do with fueling cultural resentment. Its hard for a public policy lobbying outfit to keep membership dues flowing when theyve already won.

Meanwhile, anti-gun campaigners cling to the belief that they are a cadre of dedicated pragmatists who merely seek sensible gun-control laws. No doubt there are some who fit this description. But given how the most vocal advocates of gun control tend to get basic facts wrong and have a history of praising countries such as Australia, which all but banned guns outright for normal citizens, its easy to see why gun-rights supporters are suspicious about what their real goal is.

In 2015, the New York Times ran its first front-page editorial in 95 years to call for, in part, the confiscation of millions of guns. Last month, columnist Bret Stephens called for outright repeal of the Second Amendment.

The simple fact is that many elites in places such as New York and Los Angeles, regardless of ideology (Stephens is a conservative), just dont like guns or the culture of people who do. One can see this in the suddenly pervasive fad  common in the pages of the New York Times and on Twitter  of mocking people who offer thoughts and prayers for the victims of mass shootings if they dont also subscribe to sweeping new gun-control measures.

Its a useful thought experiment to ask what America would look like if the gun controllers started to rack up policy victories, confiscating guns from law-abiding gun owners. Aside from the massive financial windfall for the NRA, millions of Americans would have their darkest suspicions confirmed, and the deep resentment already felt in much of red state America would intensify beyond anything weve experienced lately.

Perhaps there would be fewer mass murders and other gun deaths  though Im skeptical. Im sure our politics would be far uglier than they already are.

Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. You can email him at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com.
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.
       :   MLA ,        41 
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ELYRIA, Ohio -- A Grafton man was indicted on charges that accuse him of being high on marijuana and causing a crash that killed a Midview High School student while they were driving home from prom.

Chase Johnson, 18, faces aggravated vehicular homicide and drugged driving charges related to the May 21 crash that killed Lindsey Mae Rotuno, according to court records.

The five-count indictment was handed up Wednesday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.

Johnson was booked Thursday into the Lorain County Jail but was released after posting a $15,000 bond, records show. His first court appearance has not been scheduled.

Johnson was driving driving a 2004 Saturn Ion on Ohio 82 near Ohio 57, investigators said. Rotuno, 17, was also in the car.

Johnson drove off the road and crashed, investigators said. He was wearing a seatbelt, but Rotuno was not.

Blood tests showed Johnson had enough marijuana in his system to be legally impaired, according to the State Highway Patrol.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the years ahead could mark a "new Reformation" for Episcopalians.

"This is a diocese and this is a bishop... for whom their leadership is helping the Episcopalian church broadly to begin to understand anew our witness to the gospel of Jesus in our time," he said.

The Episcopalian Church is governed by two bodies, the House of Bishops, and the House of Deputies, which is made up of appointed clergy members and lay leaders from each diocese.

Both Curry, the leader of the House of Bishops, and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, traveled to Cleveland for the 201st convention of the Diocese of Ohio, this weekend.

The Most Rev. Michael Curry (left) and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings (right). (Curry photo Episcopal Church. Jennings photo: The Diocese of Indianapolis.)

The Diocese of Ohio was the first diocese established outside of the 13 colonies, and at the time covered the entire state. It now serves 48 northern Ohio counties and 16,000 members.

The convention will set priorities for the future of the diocese, including a resolution to define the church's role in racial justice.

The $2 million program, "Becoming Beloved Community," was created by both governing bodies of the church. The program will include a churchwide survey and census to understand where it stands on racial issues, and a promise to work on issues such as criminal justice reform and re-entry.

Jennings, who entered the diocese in the 1980s, said she's seen the diocese as a leader fighting for gender and racial equality. She added that churches have become much more connected in working toward common goals.

"(It's) filled with people who are very strong, pioneering and resilient," she said. "...What's been growing is people's sense of grace and inclusion and justice and it's parallel to the Episcopalian Church as a whole."

Jennings is the first woman president of the House of Deputies. Curry is the first black man to serve as presiding bishop.

During the convention the diocese will dedicate Bellwether Farm, a new retreat in Huron County that embodies the diocese's push for sustainability. The church believes protecting the Earth is part of the Gospel.

The 137 acres of land, bordered on three sides by the Vermilion River, will allow children at summer camps and adults in immersion programs to learn farming techniques and about renewable energy and green building. It's expected to open in March.

Curry said he interprets Jesus as building a movement, not an institution, that needs to develop as time passes.

"In many respects I am convinced we need a brand of Christianity that actually reflects the love of God we know in Jesus. That is committed to making this world a better place for everybody. That is nonpartisan in its love and its willingness to engage that love and to take risk to help us as a community and a society."

Curry held up a trademarked phrase by the Diocese of Ohio -- "Love God. Love your neighbor, change the world" -- as a tagline that's become adopted by the Episcopal Church nationwide.

"That's having an impact. That's actually defining what it means to be an Episcopalian. ... Even better, that's what it means to be a Christian."
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The last of four large veteran-related murals, representing conflicts from World War II through the current battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, will be dedicated in an 11 a.m. ceremony on Veterans Day, November 11, at the site in downtown Amherst, 248 Park Avenue.

The murals have been painted on the side of a building over the past six years by artist Mike Sekletar.

They depict the iconic flag-raising on Iwo Jima during World War II, a montage of images representing the Korean War, and a reproduction of a painting, "Reflections" by Lee Teter, of a man grieving at the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

The latest work is dedicated to the war in Iraq in Afghanistan, honoring Lorain County combatants who were lost in that conflict.

These include: Air Force Airman 1st Class Eric Barnes, killed in Iraq in 2007; Army Sgt.Benjamin Biskie, killed in action in 2003; Army Specialist Jason Cox, killed in Iraq in 2008; Marine Ryan Giese, killed in Afghanistan in 2011; Marine Lance Corp. David Hall, killed in Iraq in 2009; Army Sgt. Bruce Horner, killed in action in 2007; Army Staff Sgt. James Hunter, killed in 2010 in Afghanistan; Army Capt. Michael Medders, killed in 2008 in Iraq; Army Sgt, Daniel Shepherd, killed in action in 2004; Army Sgt. Norman Tollett, killed in Iraq in 2007; Army Sgt. Louis Torres, killed in action in 2012; and Army Master Sgt. Robert West, killed in Iraq in 2006.

Sekletar, 41, of Amherst, said his original idea for the mural honoring veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan consisted of a variety of generic images of military weapons and personnel.

Then his mother told him that the mother of one of the fallen Lorain County soldiers, whom she knows, wanted to see if her son could be included in the new mural.

That prompted a search for all families of the county's fallen, and 10 of the 12 responded to the idea of putting their sons in the mural, according to Sekletar.

"It's not real far off from the original concept, only with way more meaning," he said. "I haven't met all the families yet, I've met three parents so far, and they're really excited, happy and honored that I'm doing this for them.

"I told them the honor is mine," he added. "It's a good thing. It hits home in a way that is different."

Sekletar started the mural in early October, working from photos of the fallen, and said the biggest challenge has been painting on the building's rough brick surface.

"You get mortar joints falling right on someone's mouth, so getting their features correct, or as good as I possibly can on that surface, is the most challenging part," he said. "The faces are the most important part."

When he started the first mural in 2011, Sekletar had no idea that he'd eventually fill the entire side of the building with painted tributes to veterans.

But he noted, "I'm kind-of glad that I spaced them out every other year. It gave me time to think about each one, individually, and they are individual pieces that stand on their own."

All of the murals have elicited a common reaction, and one thing he enjoys about doing the work.

"I meet probably 40-50 people a day who just kind-of compliment the work," he said. "It's pretty gratifying in that regard. You get noticed by people, and to be able to do this is a privilege for me. It's just cool."

Now that this building is completely covered, Sekletar plans to continue doing other large-scale murals with both military and non-veteran themes.

But this particular site may be one of the most striking, particularly since lighting to illuminate the paintings at night was added earlier this year.

"It's really sharp at night," Sekletar said. "This one (latest mural) is going to really tie them all together."
President Donald Trump shares a laugh with Vietnam veteran Steve Hopper of Greenfield, Ill., right, as Trump invites him to speak at a veterans event at the Grand Hyatt, Friday, Nov. 10, 2017, in Danang, Vietnam. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Council President Kevin Kelley will ask his colleagues on Monday to reappoint him as their leader.

But Kelley, who has scheduled a vote on his presidency for 10 a.m. at City Hall, is excluding representatives from the city's Ward 1, which includes the Lee-Harvard neighborhood, and Ward 7, which includes portions of the Hough neighborhood.

Kelley sent notice of the meeting via courier to all council members elected during Tuesday's election except Joe Jones of Ward 1 and Basheer Jones of Ward 7. The two narrowly defeated incumbents Terrell Pruitt and TJ Dow, respectively. The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections needs more time to count late-arriving and special ballots. The outcome of those races could flip when everything is tallied. At least, a recount could be triggered if the final margin of victory is less than one-half of one percent. In another tight race, Councilman Brian Cummins of Ward 14, which includes the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, was defeated by Jasmin Santana. Cummins has conceded the race.

Council typically holds a special caucus meeting to appoint a president immediately after a city-wide election. But with the results for two wards up in the air, some are questioning why Kelley didn't delay the vote.

"As the senior member of council and former Council President, I have never witnessed or experienced two ward representatives being denied their opportunity to be present in a caucus and to vote for the Council President," Council member Mike Polensek said in a letter to Kelley and his colleagues. "Whoever the representatives for Ward 1 and Ward 7 will be should not be denied that right, whether it is the incumbent member or their challenger."

Kelley is out of town and could not be reached for comment on why he is not waiting until the election results are sorted out and why two representatives have been left off the notice. (Read a copy of the invitation in the box below.)

UPDATE:

Kelley responded to cleveland.com on Saturday morning. He said that he called the caucus vote for Monday because he has enough votes to be reappointed - with or without Wards 1 and Ward 7 -- and is eager to get to work. He said he needs to immediately begin making committee assignments, which he said takes times and requires negotiation with all members. He said he plans to pencil-in the new members in Ward 1 and Ward 7.

"I have the votes and nothing is going to change," he said.

Kelley said the process of picking a council president is a political act and there is no specific deadline but the president and council assignments need to be in place by January. He said the board of elections might not have final results in Ward 1 and Ward 7 for several weeks.

Kelley said that he has invited Basheer Jones and Joe Jones to attend the meeting but he did not commit to whether they would be allowed to vote on the presidency.

"We are in uncharted territory," he said.

Kelley was unanimously appointed council president in Nov. 2013 and has maintained the backing of a majority of council members. It's unclear if the five new members -- Basheer Jones, Joe Jones, Santana, and Keith Bishop of Ward 2 and Anthony Hairston of Ward 10 -- will support Kelley or someone else for president.

Kelley's tenure has not been without controversy. His support of the city deal to renovate Quicken Loans Arena with future admission taxes, his opposition to a city-only increase in the minimum wage and his support for building a dirt-bike track has created consternation among some council members, including Kelley allies.

Polensek suggests in his letter that Kelley is seeking an advantage by holding the vote without two wards represented.

"Don't deny ward representatives their right to vote for Council President," he said. "Hold off on the Caucus vote until after November 28. Then let the chips fall where they may. "
A Kenyan pastor has been welcomed into several churches throughout the area to talk with congregations about his work in Africa and how others can help.

Worshippers Assembly Reverend Daniel Ndungu said he a preacher of the gospel in Kenya.

I am overseeing 14 churches across the country and we do church planting in different places, said Ndungu. In the rural areas we do a lot of walking of villages. I came over here to preach the gospel and to encourage the churches in America to continue spreading the good news and to shamelessly talk about their faith in God.

Ndungu said that is what he has been doing the last month and a half and he has talked to a number of churches. He added he has two more churches to visit before he goes back home.

This coming Sunday I will be at the House of Praise and next Sunday I will be at Centenary Methodist Church in Bonne Terre, said Ndungu. This is my third trip to the U.S. I came in 2015 and in 2016. I came to attend conferences and go back home.

Ndungu said this time around a friend invited him to visit the area, so that is how he came to St. Francois County.

I am preaching, alongside of working to raise funds to build a missions resource center in Kenya, said Ndungu. A missions resource center will be for training the Christians for mission work, training and equipping them for the mission work in the villages.

Ndungu explained they have people in his country that are deep in the bushes that have never heard the gospel. He said they want to build the center to equip the people to go to them and the missionaries will be given training.

They will be given means of transportation, because that is a challenge, some of the people are unreachable, said Ndungu. Wherever they are, there are no means to get there. So a missions resource center, we work towards getting off-road transport that can get the missionaries to the deepest of the villages.

Ndungu said they also provide guest houses for missionaries from all over the world and the resource center will provide that.

We have laid the foundation for the resource center. Back home we do everything manually, explained Ndungu. We dont have machines, so we are trusting God to give us the machines. We began the construction and have built all the way to the first (level). It is meant to be a three-story building.

Ndungu said there will be parking for trucks, a church hall for training and there will be guest houses on the third floor. He added they are working to raise about $300,000 and he is trusting God to help them with the money.

We are also looking for professionals who would want to come and offer services towards the building of the place, Ndungu said. Also helping with the building of churches in the villages, because some of our churches dont have places to meet.

Ndungu said they have group gatherings for church under a small tent and when it rains the church is completely disrupted.

So we are seeking help. If somebody would be willing to come and help build the churches physically or even give money to help with the building, said Ndungu. Even give equipment to help with building so it is much easier. By hand it takes a lot of time.

Ndungu said that is what he is doing here and he has to go back home to his wife and children and keep doing the work at home.

So far I have a number people who have made commitments to help us with the work, said Ndungu. What we have not established with them is exactly what extent they would want to help. Within my remaining days I want to sum up every commitment and know exactly what they are giving towards the work.

Ndungu said he will put it together and will then know what God has been able to give to them for the work.

We invite the Christians in this nation to also think about spreading the gospel outside of America, said Ndungu. I have come all the way from Africa and come over speaking about the love of Jesus to the nation of America. We would love also to have Americans to come down to Africa and share the gospel with the people.

Ndungu said just sharing the simple message of the cross. He stressed they would really love that.

Ron White, with the mission board at House of Praise Church, said he was hoping to find a way to put together a container of items together to ship over there.

I was showing him pawn shops where you can buy power tools really cheap and at Harbor Freight you can get solar panels, said White. They would be an immediate source for electricity for the power equipment. I bought a complete package of an air compressor, with two nailers and hoses for $149 at Menards.

White said if people can buy and send things like that it would help. Ndungu added they are dealing with a needy society in the village.

Across the board you find people who are desperately in need of clothing, said Ndungu. I have found people living in very poor shacks, a pathetic house. We want to help and pull down those small, tiny shacks and build a decent home for the elderly.

Ndungu said tools would be great, clothing will help with the masses, clothes for children, women and men. He hopes for help with the shipping and with the clearing of the area.

The equipment, power tools would make the work easier, so that whatever project we have we can run faster, said Ndungu. Also if someone could help with drilling a well, some of the people are every desperate about water. Women have to get up every early, like 3 a.m., to go looking for water 20 miles away and back, to bring just 20 liters of water.

Ndungu said if they could have a well closer to them, it would be an amazing blessing.

Anyone interested in more information or donating can email Daniel Ndungu at suedan4498@gmail.com or call +254-722-837-594 and if anyone is interested in traveling to Kenya to help, they can reach Ron White at the House of Praise Church at 573-431-5300.
The Census says 51 percent of Ohio's residents are women. You'd never know that looking at the General Assembly's roster and the historical list of Ohio's statewide elected executive officers. Both major parties talk up equity between women and men, but the Statehouse has yet to see it.

Only one woman has served as governor of Ohio, and then just briefly: Gov. Nancy P. Hollister, a Marietta Republican who'd been George Voinovich's lieutenant governor. She succeeded Voinovich when he resigned to take a U.S. Senate seat. Hollister was governor from Dec. 31, 1998, until Jan. 11, 1999, when Republican Bob Taft was inaugurated. Hollister is now vice president of the State Board of Education.

Today, the only woman on the roster of Ohio's statewide elected executive officers is suburban Akron Republican Mary Taylor, who is Gov. John R. Kasich's lieutenant governor. Taylor is seeking the GOP's 2018 nomination for governor.

Also running are fellow Republicans Mike DeWine, Jon Husted and Jim Renacci; Democratic state Sen. Joseph Schiavoni; and three Democratic women: Former state Rep. Connie Pillich, of Cincinnati; former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, of suburban Akron; and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley. (And Democratic Supreme Court Justice William M. O'Neill has announced his campaign for governor.)

Not till 1970, 50 years after women gained the right to vote, did Ohioans elect a woman to be a statewide executive officer: Democrat Gertrude W. Donahey, as state treasurer.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, about 24.9 percent of the members of the nation's 50 state legislatures are women. Of the Ohio General Assembly's 132 members, about 22 percent are women. And among the General Assembly's 200-plus-year list of top legislative leaders, just one woman has reached the House speakership, suburban Columbus Republican Jo Ann Davidson. She was speaker from 1995 through 2000. Moreover, it's been almost 70 years since the Senate elected a woman its majority leader (today's Senate president): Cleveland Democrat Margaret A. Mahoney, in 1949-50.

True, the seven-judge Ohio Supreme Court is led by Republican Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, whose fellow justices include Republicans Judith L. French and Sharon L. Kennedy.

What's more, Ohio was the first state to elect a woman to its court of last resort - Greater Cleveland's Florence E. Allen, elected to the Supreme Court in 1922, re-elected in 1928, then appointed by Franklin Roosevelt to the U.S. Court of Appeals (6th Circuit). Still, it was roughly 50 years before another woman joined Ohio's Supreme Court - Greater Cleveland Republican Blanche Krupansky, appointed in 1981 by GOP Gov. James A. Rhodes. When Krupansky sought election to the court, Greater Cleveland Democrat James P. Celebrezze won instead.

In the 1980s and 1990s, state Senate Republicans had success in recruiting women to run for the Senate. And Davidson is an untiring mentor for women considering running for office. All four legislative caucuses and the two parties need to focus on that as well.

As is the case with everyone in politics, there are women who are conservative, middle of the road or liberal; pro-abortion-rights or anti-abortion-rights; fans or foes of school choice., etc. What matters is that the wider the spectrum of opinions expressed in the Statehouse and around Capitol Square, the better the policy options Ohioans can consider.

Meanwhile, as women of every heritage and vocation know, there is a species of humankind known as clueless men. Every General Assembly session, the legislature seems to reach its quota. That's why hearing varied points of view matters so much - in the legislature, in Ohio's courts, and among Ohio's elected statewide executive officers.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-999-4689

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Jariullah Adnan is an executive member of the Muslim Writers Guild of America.

"The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world." - Paul Farmer



TORONTO -- Unfortunately, the past few years have been filled with devastating attacks of varying nature. It's sad to note that the three deadliest U.S. shootings, numerous terrorist attacks and even 9/11 all took place in little more than a decade in the United States. Rewind to recently, and you have the shootings in Texas -- a lone-wolf extremist killing innocent church-goers at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

Although these are prominent attacks that received worldwide attention, there were other devastating attacks beyond imagination that may not have received the same recognition, but that were devastating, nonetheless. Just from recent memory, last year we had the horrendous attack on Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey and the killing of nearly 300 Muslims in the Karrada shopping district in Baghdad, Iraq -- and just last month, a gruesome act of terrorism that killed more than 300 people in Somalia, with more than 300 injured.

Crazy.

I'm perplexed as I try to rationalize and understand the motives behind these upsetting acts of violence. As a Muslim who reads and ponders over the Holy Qur'an regularly, I see no correlation or justification for the violent acts of extremism perpetrated by the Islamic State, or, in the case of Somalia, by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.

Nowhere in the Qur'an, or any sayings of the Prophet, does it mention killing innocent people. In fact, it says quite the opposite - "Whosoever killed an innocent person ... it is as if he had killed all of mankind." (5:33)

The abhorrent attack which took place in Somalia brings to life an important statistic. According to the U.S. State Department, as many as 97 percent of the victims of terrorism in the last five years have been Muslims.

And as I think about the Texas church shootings, there's absolutely nothing in the life of Jesus Christ that even remotely associates or advocates for such sort of violence.

This aspect draws our attention to the importance of having a united front against extremism, irrespective of Somalia or Texas, and of wholly condemning all forms of attacks.

If we can go to the streets for peaceful vigils because of the Texas church shootings, then what held us back from doing the same for Somalia?

I'm often asked why Muslims don't speak out enough against "Islamic" extremism, but I guess another important question is -- why doesn't the world speak out against all forms of extremism?

I'm saying there needs to be consistency. It is unethical for us to raise our voices during the attacks of Texas, Las Vegas, Paris, and Orlando, but not Turkey, Iraq, and Somalia. Besides being a double standard, this is the dictionary definition of hypocrisy. If someone was loud during the Texas or Las Vegas attack, and silent during the Mogadishu attack in Somalia, is it innocent life that they really cared about?

Whether your skin color is black, brown, or white, or you're Muslim, Christian, or Jewish - blood is always red.

To us, all of these attacks should matter, and these attacks should be equally condemnable. We cannot progress as a society until we realize that blood is blood, and if it's not your loved ones, it's someone else's.

In order to stop extremism, I believe we need to unite against the act of killing, regardless of who is killed. Are we against rising death tolls by extremists in Western countries, or are we against rising death tolls by extremists?

All lives are equal, and just like for Texas, we should have come together, united, and collectively condemned the attack which took place in Somalia.

In the wise words of Buddha, "All beings tremble before violence. All fear death, all love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt?"

Jariullah Adnan, an executive member of the Muslim Writers Guild of America, divides his time between Maryland and Toronto.

Contact Jariullah Adnan: jariullahadnan@gmail.com

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It's getting to where you can't keep track of the lechers, gropers and sexual abusers without a scorecard. Once one of these sexually tinged moral panics we have so frequently gets going, there's no telling whose squalid little sins will be exposed to public view.

If nothing else, they start a lot of titillating conversations. Shouldn't there, for example, be a general immunity for office Christmas parties?

OK, that's a joke. But hold the phone.

Certain details are hard to assimilate. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly personally paid a $32 million settlement to a woman he sexually harassed? Yowza! That sounds like a lot more than unwanted kisses and pats on the fanny to me. And then he did it some more?

That sounds downright pathological.

For that matter, if even half the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein are true -- which few doubt -- the man belongs in prison, although it's doubtful he'll be convicted. But he's finished as a public figure. No more Oscar red carpet appearances for Harvey.

Closer to my own profession, I won't deny a degree of pleasure seeing certain of the moral scolds who professed outrage at Bill Clinton's sins brought low. NPR editor Michael Oreskes, who resigned after evidently making a career of fondling, tongue-kissing and propositioning unsuspecting young job-seekers, was Washington editor of The New York Times during the Monica Lewinsky era -- herself an eager volunteer, you may recall.

Jill Abramson, then Oreskes's respected second-in-command, now regrets not confronting him or filing a formal complaint. The author of "Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas," (how's that for irony?) Abramson says:

"If I had to do it again, I would have told him to knock it off ... Maybe confronting him would have somehow stopped him from doing it to another woman."

Or maybe not. What often struck me during the Lewinsky scandal was the number of politicians and pundits (myself included) who kept their own intimate lives of spotless rectitude secret while berating Clinton. By offering payola, Hustler's Larry Flynt gleefully took down a number of congressional hypocrites, most notably GOP House Speaker Bob Livingston. But journalists -- not a particularly virtuous cohort, in my experience -- remained unscathed.

Which brings us to ubiquitous political commentator Mark Halperin. Essentially the Hedda Hopper of Washington journalism (that's a gossip columnist, kiddies), Halperin co-authored "Game Change," a best-selling book about the 2012 presidential campaign. It became a well-reviewed HBO movie. He was everywhere on TV -- a regular on "Morning Joe," "Today," etc. He had a lucrative contract for a book on the 2016 campaign with an HBO tie-in.

Halperin first made his bones in 1992, pressing Bill Clinton about (you guessed it) Gennifer Flowers -- the Little Rock chanteuse who earned an estimated $500,000 pretending to be the 42nd president's longtime mistress. (Clinton eventually admitted a lone encounter with Flowers in the back seat of a car.)

More recently, Halperin expressed initial shock at Donald Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy" remarks. "When people say some new Trump tape could have material that is WORSE than the @accesshollywood video," he tweeted, "what exactly could be WORSE?!?"

Good question.

But Halperin quickly regained his balance, urging viewers to be skeptical of women accusing Trump of actually doing what he bragged about. He was widely regarded as Trump's favorite non-Fox News pundit. Halperin and his longtime girlfriend recently bought a multimillion dollar summer home on fashionable Nantucket.

So now it turns out that Halperin allegedly enjoyed pressing his naughty bits against unwilling twenty-something women who came to him for career advice -- and that, once again, everybody pretty much knew it. CNN reporter Clarissa Ward tweeted that "I'd been warning young women reporters about Mark for a long time."

College girls, too. No sooner had CNN's original expose of Halperin's on-the-job behavior appeared than a lawyer named Katherine Glenn accused him of groping her under the table in 2011 when she was a 20-year-old Tulane undergraduate. The event took place at the home of James Carville and Mary Matalin, who'd hosted a dinner party for 15 students and the distinguished visiting lecturer.

Anyway, goodbye Nantucket.

Halperin denies the lurid details, but he's also apologized and resigned. No more book contract, no more HBO. You'd think they'd learn, these leg-humping dogs with the mad ambition. A successful rake like Bill Clinton waits for the woman to make the first move. Apparently, he rarely had to wait long. That's why it took a federal sex investigation to catch him.

Does that strike you as cynical? OK, then, I'll also say this: The national conversation regarding these episodes strikes me as an unfortunate throwback to Victorian-era fainting couches. Women are properly standing up for themselves. However, you'd think there were no such things in our world as groupies, mistresses, courtesans or trophy wives.

Not all sins are crimes, and it's important to maintain the distinction.

Arkansas Times columnist Gene Lyons is a National Magazine Award winner and co-author of "The Hunting of the President" (St. Martin's Press, 2000). You can email Lyons at eugenelyons2@yahoo.com
Networking News

Comcast's New SD-WAN Service Signals A Hot Pursuit Of Enterprise Customers

Gina Narcisi

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Comcast Business has small businesses to thank for its double-digit revenue growth over the last year, but the cable giant hasn't been shy about its plans to pursue bigger enterprises.

The Philadelphia-based cable provider today is generating about 70 percent of its business services revenues from the small business segment. However, Comcast's new SD-WAN service, launched this week, will be pivotal in helping the cable giant reel in bigger fish, according to Adam Edwards, co-founder and CEO of master agent Telarus, a Comcast partner.

"This is the first complete SD-WAN solution from a broadband player and broadband is becoming part of the enterprise SD-WAN conversation," he said.

[Related: No Urge To Merge: Comcast CEO Says 'We Aren't Missing Anything']

The cable giant's SD-WAN stands out in the increasing crowded SD-WAN market as "an industry disrupter and game changer," for enterprise customers, agreed Ian Kieninger, CEO of Chicago-based master agent and Comcast partner Avant.

Comcast is coming into the SD-WAN market at a good time because broadband, thanks to SD-WAN, has become a viable -- and reliable -- connectivity option for enterprise customers, Telarus' Edwards said. The biggest beneficiary of SD-WAN, he added, are cable providers which have been largely left out of enterprise network architectures.

"It used to be the small businesses that would buy cable circuits, but larger business didn't think they could rely on it," Edwards said. "SD-WAN has made coax circuits, augmented with another connection for diversity, a meaningful component of enterprise networks."

Comcast's business services have been thriving for the last year. The Philadelphia'-based cable giant's business services revenues increased 12.6 percent to $1.53 billion during Q2 2017. In 2016, business services revenue increased 16.1 percent for the year, reaching $5.51 billion from $4.75 billion in 2015.

While Comcast has seen most of its success from small-to-midsized business sales, a segment that accounts for about 60 percent of Comcast's business revenue growth, the company has said during its recent earnings calls that it is actively pursuing more enterprise business.

Going after bigger business means more opportunities for channel partners, Craig Schlagbaum, vice president of indirect channels for Comcast Business, told CRN.

The latest SD-WAN offering, in particular, will help open up new markets for Comcast that the cable provider hasn't served in the past, such as enterprises with hundreds, if not thousands of branch office locations, Schlagbaum added.

"I think we are opening up into new spaces for our partners to sell into that we really didn't really have an offering for historically," he said. "We started off selling more to SMBs that wanted coax to run their pizza parlor or nail salon, and now our partners are selling into hospitals and financial services firms. [The SD-WAN service] will add another dimension now for distributed enterprises that might be using MPLS today and can now upgrade."
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Apple's Mac business is having a moment, with Mac sales surging 25 percent during the company's most recent quarter compared to the year before. Also, it's the recently updated MacBook Pro that's providing much of the growth, according to Apple executives. Once a neglected part of Apple's product lineup, the MacBook Pro has gotten not one, but two, updates over the past year. Other popular laptop lines are keeping pace, however  such as Lenovo's Yoga lineup, which just added the Yoga 920 with advancements in some areas over the latest MacBook Pro. Which of the laptops is a better fit for you? In the following slides, the CRN Test Center compares Apple's MacBook Pro 2017 vs. Lenovo's Yoga 920 on specs and price.
The usual loud and public spats over state budget pain have taken an odd turn in Connecticuts biggest cities.

Two weeks after the governor signed a budget into law, four months overdue, its becoming clear theres a stealthy war on cities not named Hartford. While the capital city gained a restructuring worth at least $40 million, Bridgeport and New Haven stand to lose millions of dollars through various cuts in the new spending plan.

And yet, the mayors and other officials in those shoreline cities have kept their heads down and their voices low as they sort through the carnage.

Im glad we got a budget, but I have to tell you that it hurts, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said in a low-key Nov. 3 news conference aimed largely at opposing a library referendum. Its a better product than the interim budget was. Well dig out of this locally.

It hurts? Well dig out? Wheres the fire-and-brimstone Ganim we might have expected? Bridgeport could be short by $6 million this year alone, probably more, maybe less, depending on how we count and on whether the General Assembly fixes some errors it made in adopting the 2017-19 budget.

New Haven could come up short by $5.9 million or more, compared with spending in the year that ended June 30. But Mayor Toni Harp, who previously headed the Legislatures spending committee and prefers to work behind the scenes, has said little if anything publicly. One source said that citys delegation and municipal officials have been told point-blank, keep your mouths shut, it could have been a lot worse.

The hit to cities goes beyond those millions of dollars in municipal aid cuts. For example, a cut in the earned-income tax credit, for working poor families, is likely to reduce the amount of cash going to Bridgeport households by about $2.4 million and the amount in New Haven by $1.7 million. Thats not state aid to city halls, but it certainly affects the economies of those cities.

Also, when the state cuts back on social services and other agency spending  which could happen to the tune of about $100 million this year  a lot of that hits the biggest cities hardest, in mental health, rental assistance, property tax credits and family intervention, for example. And the cities cant just turn their backs.

When you get cuts of those types of services, municipal officials will tell you that population still needs those services and the first place they go is the municipalities, said George Rafael, director of government finance and research at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.

Yes, the state needs to cut spending, but this Stealthy War on Cities Not Named Hartford  the result of chaos and back-room horse trading  is the wrong economic path for the state. Connecticut needs to spend money to bring its cities into the 21st century urban American economy, as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recognized in his original budget proposal back in February.

Chew on this: The latest budget analysis shows that among 20 cities and towns that will see more state aid over the next two years, the biggest winner by far is Greenwich, at $838,5523. Greenwich!

Outrage remains muted in part because, as Ganim said, it could have been worse. The budget adopted in September by Republicans (read: non-urban lawmakers), which was vetoed by Malloy, cut far deeper in the two biggest cities, by many millions of dollars, than the final, bipartisan result. Likewise, Malloys executive order that kept the state open without a budget from July through October devastated cities.

Confusion is a great weapon in any war and theres plenty of that here. First of all, the various parties havent sorted out all the numbers yet. And second, in two key areas  the motor vehicle property tax rebate program and rental assistance  lawmakers appear to have made errors in the bill language, which could be corrected this week. Until all that happens, no one wants to make waves.

There are still interpretations that are being debated between the Executive and Legislative branch at the State, even with the governor signing the budget, Michael Gormany, the acting New Haven city budget director, said in an email. The City is continuing to assess various aspects of the state budget.

As for the details, in the biggest state program for cities and towns, education cost-sharing, or ECS, the cities come out even  Bridgeport, at $181 million, and New Haven, at $154 million. In payments for non-taxable property, New Haven appears to lose $5.1 million, bringing it down to $42 million, while Bridgeport is flat at $9.8 million, a figure the city says is unfairly low.

The motor vehicle property tax rebate program is so much in flux that we cant know how it will turn out, but in one version, Bridgeport loses $4.1 million.

Some of these cuts also hit Hartford, as the bailout mainly helps in debt restructuring, not operations, but the capital city obviously cant complain.

Bridgeport, unlike Hartford and New Haven, has no lawmakers in the power group of top leaders that craft the budget every year behind closed doors. Bridgeport also has the problem that it adopted a budget and set a tax rate that assumed a $10 million state aid increase, which was half of Malloys plan and seemed reasonable at the time.

It isnt far ahead of Hartford in its finances and New Haven has plenty of problems as well. In short, the Stealthy War on Cities Not Named Hartford could take a heavy future toll on the whole state.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
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Television personality Adam Savage and YouTube star Michael Stevens are headed to Connecticut with their high-energy Brain Candy Live! tour. The dynamic duo will be at Stamfords Palace Theatre on Friday, Nov. 17.

Savage, former co-host of TVs MythBusters, and Stevens, who shares his friends passion for learning and making curiosity contagious, are bringing along their crazy toys, incredible tools and mind-blowing demonstrations.
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As in most of the places it plays, Kinky Boots has its repeat fans in south central Connecticut  who tip off the arrival of favorite characters with cheers or applause  at first glimpse.

The last time the touring show filled seats was at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven in the spring of 2016; this time the Harvey Fierstein-Cyndi Lauper musical offers three shows in a two-day run at Toyota Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford.
FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIA
BRIDGEPORT  A teenager was brought to a local hospital early Friday morning to receive treatment for a gunshot wound, police spokesman Av Harris said.

There was a report of a 13-year-old showing up to the hospital shot in the foot, Harris said Saturday afternoon.

Capt. Roderick Porter said the shooting happened just after midnight Friday near the intersection of Maplewood Avenue and Clinton Avenue.

Porter said police are looking for three to four males who they believe are responsible for the shooting. He said there was no apparent motive.
Connecticuts two U.S. senators are urging the Department of Interior to clarify that a joint casino venture between the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequot tribes planned north of Hartford complies with a gambling compact with the state.

The agency hasnt ruled one way or another on the legality of the project, creating a degree of uncertainty for the tribal owners of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods as they look to build a casino in East Windsor to compete with an MGM resort that is scheduled to open next year in Springfield, Mass.

MGM is challenging the tribes exclusive rights to develop a third casino in the state and have unveiled plans for a $675 million privately funded waterfront casino in Bridgeport.

Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, along with U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., wrote to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Nov. 2 asking the agency to review and sign off on changes to the tribes existing compact with the state.

The genesis of the compact amendments is the desire of the state of Connecticut to authorize an additional casino operation within Connecticut borders, they wrote. This is a decision based on the states review of its gaming policies, the impact on the people of Connecticut and the state budget.

MGM officials say that the absence of a formal approval by the Interior Department, the parent agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, constitutes a denial.

They pointed to a recent opinion by state Attorney General George Jepsen, in which his spokeswoman said that going ahead with the project would pose grave potential risks to the state of Connecticut.

(This) letter raises no new issues and provides no new information that would change the Department of the Interiors decision not to approve the tribes submissions, said Uri Clinton, senior vice president and legal counsel for MGM Resorts International. It also does not address the risks to the state of proceeding with (tribes) proposed casino without Interior approval that have been emphasized by Attorney General Jepsens office.

The tribes plan to start work on their new casino, which will have 3,000 slot machines and 50 to 150 table games, by years end with the demolition of a former multiplex cinema on the site off Interstate 91.

They say that a Sept. 15 deadline came and went without the Interior Department raising objections.

In the 1990s, the state entered into a compact with the Mashantuckets and Mohegans giving them exclusive casino rights in return for them forking over 25 percent of annual slot machine revenues to the state.

The states cut of casino taxes has fallen precipitously from $430 million in 2007 to $260 million because of the economic downturn and casino competition in New York and Massachusetts, however.

MGM , represented by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, unsuccessfully sued the state over what it claims is an unfair monopoly. It has vowed further litigation after its most recent challenge was denied by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.

The Legislature and the governor would have to reopen the approval process that gave the tribes the green light to open their joint venture casino.

http://twitter.com/gettinviggy; nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436
Since 1989, Margo Coleman has volunteered in many ways to make her chosen city a better place, including helping to move the Albany Regional Museum, and serving many years with the Senior Center.

She also served as American Legion Post 10 Commander in 2006, the first woman to hold the post.

But then, she said she has always wanted to serve.

Coleman signed up for the Air Force in 1951 at 18, after having finished high school early at age 16, and spending a little time in college. In high school she shared her desire to join the military by writing a term paper about being in the service.

"They had us write about what we wanted to be when we grew up, you know," she said.

Coleman said she'd read a magazine article about joining the Navy, and was planning to do that, but a family friend who was in the army "coerced" her into the Air Force. Back then, the Air Force had only been a separate entity from the Army for four years; before that it was the Army Air Corps. She called basic training a Lackland Air Force Base in Texas "interesting."

"We wore the old World War II Women's Auxiliary Corps seersucker uniforms," she said. "And then the cold weather put half of us in the hospital."

Because she was out sick for the first few days of training, she said she missed the initial camaraderie experienced by trainees. As a result, she said when she rejoined her unit, she felt like a stranger in a strange land.

"But I managed," she said.

After basic and then tech school in Illinois, Coleman served as a ground radio operator, stationed at Kelley Field in San Antonio, Texas. One of her favorite duties was to perform maintenance on remote transmitters in the Midwest.

"We'd go to the motor pool to get a pick up and then swing by the country store to get a case of beer for the road," she said.

Coleman is specific about the time she spent in uniform.

"I served two years, three months, and 13 days," she said, explaining how getting married and starting a family in those days was a ticket back to civilian life for a woman. Such different standards are something Coleman is happy to see gone in the modern military, where now women increasingly serve in combat zones and both the Army and Marine Corps are looking into standing up female combat units.

Coleman's time in the service corresponded with the Korean War, and she said she was sorry in a way that she wasn't able to serve in that conflict.

"Because of World War II, I fantasized about being in combat," she admits.

Just like her discharge due to pregnancy, her training as a woman was very different from the modern day military.

"We never touched a gun," she said of basic training.

Does she believe women can fight as well as men?

"Sometimes better," she said.

Coleman will be one of four women veterans who will serve as grand marshals for the Albany Veterans Day Parade. She was honored Friday night at the Veteran of the Year Banquet.
If the shoe fits, pick something different for the other foot and wear both.

So goes a new trend in the world of fashion, recently sparked by a recent tweet with celebrities like Selena Gomez, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker wearing mismatched shoes.

During a September 2000 episode of aSex and the City,a Sarah Jessica Parkeras character also sported a metallic blue Manolo Blahnik heel on one foot and a metallic pink heel on the other. Nearly 20 years later, the amismatched shoe trenda has been seen all over the runways from fashion icons like Celine, Calvin Klein and Moschino.

Yahoo! states this new trend may look like aan unfortunate fashion fail,a but because of magazine covers, Instagram posts and even celebritiesa aTwitter momentsa with mismatched shoes, apeople want to wear them because they look cool,a according to Taylor McNickle, an accounting executive for Uncommon Fashion in Los Angeles. Celebrities have one of the most important roles in the fashion industry, McNickle said.

aIf I didnat see such powerful people like Selena Gomez or Nicole Kidman wearing mismatched shoes, I highly doubt it would ever become a fashion choice for the everyday person,a McNickle said.

aTrickledown fashion,a a theory where high fashion is repurposed into obtainable and affordable looks, amost definitely plays a big rolea in this mismatched shoe trend, according to McNickle.

Bailey Kail, a sophomore apparel and accessory merchandising major, said she was immediately curious about what was happening with this trend in the fashion industry and in Hollywood.

aWhen I read the post on Twitter about Selena Gomez and Nicole Kidman, it did make me interested in what was going on in the fashion world and if it was really a new Hollywood trend,a Kail said. aThe more I thought about it, however, the more it seemed like an effort to bring the attention off of rumors going on in these celebritiesa lives by bringing attention to a fashion statement.a

Even though Kail has suspicion of what the true reasoning behind the mismatched shoes could be, she also said it is still putting an impact on the fashion industry and people who admire these celebrities.

aI personally think the mismatched shoes are a bold statement to go to an extremely well known scene with anything avant-garde themed,a Kail said. aI think that when celebrities do this, it is putting an extremely huge impact on the fashion industry because it gets people talking about them.a

Sommer Rixter, a sophomore fashion merchandising major at U of M, said she would try a fashion trend if a celebrity she admires starts it.

aMany people only wear things because their favorite celebrity has,a Rixter said. aRihanna, for example, can make the most unattractive things attractive just because of how much people like her. I would wear something Rihanna wore in a heartbeat.a

Rixter said if done right, the trend could end up being successful.

aI believe that if done correctly, the mismatch shoe trend can be really cute,a Rixter said. aIn my opinion, I think that this trend will only work if the two shoes are the same but different colors, or maybe if they compliment each other really well.a
It is a story that will strike a chord with parents everywhere.

Clare Tully, 32, worked tirelessly to build a successful career, eventually landing herself a real estate executive role in a global tech company.

But when she returned to work two months after giving birth to her son, Jack, in February this year, Clare soon found herself feeling robbed of precious time with the child she had long longed for.

Writing in a blog post, Clare, from Ireland, described how she felt 'torn up with guilt' and like she was 'missing out on being his mammy'.

A few weeks ago Clare and her husband Cole took the decision that she would stop work to care full-time for their son, swapping her demanding career for life as a stay-at-home mother.

High-flying career: Clare Tully, pictured, enjoyed her career in a global tech company but struggled to balance the demanding work schedule with time with her young son Jack

Posting on her blog, The Tully Tales, Clare wrote honestly about her experience, revealing she did not take the decision lightly.

She described how she found her job 'challenging and interesting' but that it required 'long hours and frequent travel'.

Late-night meetings were also common as Clare, who had spent the last eight years working in California, struggled to keep up with different time zones.

'Work/Life balance is an impossible dream in most cases, but trying to juggle quality time with my family, and my job, has been a nightmare,' she continued.

While her child adjusted 'beautifully' to his new routine, the new mother was struggling.

She wrote: 'I have been torn up with guilt, and downright miserable at times. Mornings were spent rushing through our breakfast routine in order to get out of the house on time, and running around to make sure I had everything packed that he would need for the day.

Full-time care: Clare has quit her high-powered role to care for her two-year-old son, Jack

Candid: Clare opened up about her experience in a post on her blog, pictured

'By the time I picked him up in the evening, there was just enough time for dinner and a few minutes of play before bed.

'I found myself wishing the week away so I could spend the weekend with him. It felt like I spent all my time handing him off to others, and I was missing out on being his mammy.'

Returning from a recent three-day business trip, Clare made the decision to quit and had her last week at work earlier this month.

She added that while she is looking forward to the next chapter, she understands it will be demanding in its own way.

'Staying at home with your child is hard work, with no breaks, and no paid holidays,' she wrote. 'I wont even be able to pee alone... Im nervous about throwing caution to the wind and taking a career break, not to mention going down to a single income.'

However ultimately she wants to be there to spend more time with her child.

She added: 'We waited a long time for our little man, and the baby years are so short.

'So goodbye to meetings and overflowing inboxes, and hello to 24/7 nappy changing, mammy and baby groups and cuddles.'
Today, Weekend magazine is proud to launch its fourth Great British Wildlife Photography Challenge.

In the past three years weve been inundated with thousands of your stunning images, from birds on the wing to cute baby stoats, majestic stags and delicate butterflies  we even had a mountain hare sticking its tongue out.

Now, once again, were inviting you to send in your photos of creatures in their natural British habitats. Our panel of celebrity judges is headed by Countryfile host Matt Baker, while David Suchet  best known as TVs Poirot  enjoyed being head judge so much last year hes returning as honorary judge.

There are five categories, and each category winner will have their photo published in Weekend and receive a Nikon DSLR camera and kit plus a years subscription to Nikon Owner magazine in a package worth 1,000.

The overall winner will also enjoy a four-day trip to Europe with wildlife photographer Simon Stafford. The closing date is 4 May 2018, so get snapping!

Weekend magazine has launched its 4th Great British Wildlife Photography Challenge. Judge David Suchet shares his photos from a masterclass with photographer Simon Stafford

Beneath a battleship grey sky and sopping wet from the persistent drizzle, David Suchets day photographing wildlife on the Hebridean island of North Uist was drawing to a close.

Ex-hurricane Ophelias arrival had turned the trip into a storm-tossed one, but as his party headed back to their hotel, more than pleased with their haul of photographs, the clouds miraculously parted.

Rounding a bend in the road, two red deer were suddenly glimpsed grazing on the side of a hill. And then, over the brow, a majestic stag strode into view, his antlers outlined against the now clear blue sky.

Simon and David captured this image of a seal and pup by making use of natural lighting

A heron captured by Simon Stafford in its natural habitat during his masterclass with David

I couldnt believe my eyes, says David. My heart was thumping; my hands were shaking. Id never, ever seen a stag in the wild like that. Yes, Ive seen them in Richmond Park in London but this was different. It was the end of the afternoon and a golden light had crept into the sky.

The stag stood stock still, posing with his chest puffed out, not for us but for the two hinds he had his eye on. It was fabulous, the crowning glory of a memorable day full of good luck.

NOW MEET OUT OTHER JUDGES MATT BAKER MATT BAKER A former member of the Blue Peter team, Matt can be seen during the week co-presenting BBC1s The One Show and on Sundays as host of Countryfile. DEBORAH MEADEN DEBORAH MEADEN A passionate wildlife enthusiast who campaigns for maltreated horses in the Third World, businesswoman Deborah has appeared on BBC2s Dragons Den since 2006. GILLIAN BURKE GILLIAN BURKE The biologist and film-maker joined the Autumnwatch presenting team in 2016. Born and raised in Kenya and then Vienna, she now lives in Cornwall. SALLY FEAR SALLY FEAR A hugely respected photographer for a range of magazines, Sally has more recently concentrated on photographing wildlife in the New Forest where she lives. SIMON STAFFORD SIMON STAFFORD A multi-award-winning photographer of wildlife and the natural world, Simon is also the technical editor of Nikon Owner magazine. GRAY LEVETT GRAY LEVETT As well as owning top camera shop Grays of Westminster, Gray is the editor of Nikon Owner magazine and is a former photographer himself. Advertisement

As the honorary judge in this years Great British Wildlife Photography Challenge, David had been invited to accompany award-winning photographer Simon Stafford, one of our technical judges, for a masterclass. That morning, though, the prospects had frankly looked bleak. D

The leaden sky meant there was little natural light to enliven any studies of the islands wildlife, even if they put in an appearance. So much wildlife photography is a matter of luck, says David, 71. You can be at the right place with the right equipment and the right weather but it can be the wrong time if the animals or birds dont show up. The stage can be set, but will the cast show up?

And yet happily, luck and the local knowledge of their guide Steve Duffield combined to produce early results. A lone otter was suddenly sighted tucking into a hearty breakfast of raw fish, its head breaking the surface of the seawater. Having had its fill, it then obligingly hopped on to a rock and scampered along the top, just long enough for the two photographers to capture a set of quick-fire images.

Before the trip Id just narrated Alaska: A Year In The Wild for Channel 5, four weeks worth of television programmes covering the four seasons, says David. I was enormously impressed by the camera-work on that series but now, being behind the lens of a stills camera out in the wild, Ive got even more respect for what they achieved.

I managed to get a few shots of the otter but Simons superior camera power meant he could get in closer, as it were. The same was true when we came across three adult harbour seals later in the day, accompanied by a young pup. By that stage the light had brightened which enhanced the pictures because of the way it fell on their coats.

The gods were beginning to smile. Driving northwards, Steve spotted a buzzard, sitting perfectly still in a tree but largely camouflaged by the foliage courtesy of the colours of its feathers. If you look closely at the photograph you can see traces of blood around the birds beak, says David. Hed obviously just finished eating some unfortunate creature and was sitting quite still, quite unbothered by us, as he digested his meal.

It was the first of many shots of different species that day: a lone heron, two cranes, whooper and mute swans, barnacle geese and a single snow goose that stood out among the birds that surrounded it. Then came the encounter with the deer. For David, who had already visited the nearby island of Harris three times with his actress wife Sheila Ferris, it capped a magical return to an area of Britain he loves.

Sheila and I both fell instantly in love with the extraordinary scenery and the varied wildlife on Harris, says David, who immortalised Agatha Christies Belgian detective Hercule Poirot on TV for 25 years. Its bleak, it rains a lot and you dont go there for the weather. But we love it. In fact, we were last there in August.

As well as Steve Duffield, there was another person instrumental in familiarising David and Simon with the peculiarities of the islands wildlife. Fergus Leveson-Gowers family has been associated with North Uist, on and off, since the 18th century and hes lived full-time on the island for 25 years. As the current Lord Granville, he is landlord of those acres not owned by the Department of Agriculture.

Simon Stafford pictured with David on their expedition. Simon used two Nikon cameras and a variety of lenses to achieve high quality photographs

SO HOW DID DAVID GET ON? A keen photographer of people and places, David Suchet has been taking snaps for more than 60 years. But this trip was his first foray into wildlife photography, under the expert eye of Simon Stafford. Here, Simon picks out two of Davids shots, each one accompanied by his critique... Simon advised David to be aware of the bird's eyeline when photographing this Buzzard (left) and said capturing the stag in its habitat would work best (right) BUZZARD A wonderful sighting of a bird at rest. As I stressed to David, its always important to look at an animal or birds eyeline. When the viewer looks at the image, you naturally go to their eye and then follow the direction in which the subject is looking to see what theyre looking at. The bird is looking to the left side of the frame and, very sensibly, David has left a lot of open space there with the tangle of the dead branches around the bird not proving a distraction. STAG Theres a natural tendency when youre photographing wildlife to try and fill the frame with the subject. Get too close and you run the risk of what I would call a zoo portrait which tells the viewer nothing about the habitat. Its much more effective if the subject occupies rather less of the frame and the photographer includes key elements of the surroundings to explain the location. David has done very well to use the dry stone wall in the foreground to add visual interest and provide a sense of scale. Hes also done well to have the stags head and antlers set against the clear sky. Advertisement

At this time of the year we get all the northern migrant birds who come here to winter, he says. The geese, the whooper swans and so on  while the swallows, for instance, have departed for warmer climes.

On a calm autumn day, if youre lucky enough to encounter one, youll be able to hear the distinct sound of stags rutting and roaring on the moors. You get otters all year round and, in the summer, baby otters will quite literally swim around you if youre wading and fishing.

But at any time of the year, North Uist is a fantastic place to come if youre interested in wildlife. The machair, the low-lying grassy plain that runs along the west coast of the island, is home to a vast array of flowering plants as well as large concentrations of breeding waders such as lapwings, ringed plovers and skylarks which like to winter there along with buntings, finches and barnacle geese. Grey seals also breed on the west coast while the common, or harbour, seals are more usually found on the east of the island.

Judge David prepares to get snapping

As the only independent wildlife guide on the island, it was Steve who provided the expert knowledge that enabled Simon and David to maximise the chances of getting the shots they were after. We simply couldnt have achieved what we did without Steve, says David. His intimate knowledge and his powers of observation ensured we got the best possible results.

Simon had the advantage of two Nikon cameras, the D850 and D8910, as well as a variety of lenses including a 600mm telephoto, while David brought his trusty Leica. But the rangefinder I normally use is not suitable for wildlife photography so I brought a bridging camera, something between a single-lens reflex (SLR) and a point-and-shoot. Its got a zoom lens attached which will give you a range from 25mm to 400mm.

Its not often at my age that you get a first, but this trip was just that. Here I was with Steve and Simon, a photographer at the top of his field, and it was wonderful to be taught and encouraged and to share ideas.

I quickly decided that where Simon went, I followed. What better way to learn? He has an innate sense of what to do and when to do it in the great outdoors. It took me right back to my grandfather.

Davids grandfather was Jimmy Jarche, the pioneering Fleet Street photographer who took the very first picture of Edward VIII with Mrs Simpson, and if he hadnt been an actor David may well have followed in his footsteps.

WHY WINTER IS BEST FOR WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY For the past three years, the competition has launched in early summer, with a closing date for entries in autumn. Now, for the first time, were keen to see your pictures captured in winter too. According to photographer Simon Stafford, its a time span even richer in potential pickings. Its ideal, as late autumn into winter and through to early spring are probably the most photogenic months and can produce the best light conditions, he says. Catherine Clark, from Inverness, spotted this mountain hare in the Cairngorms and was one of last year's finalists The colder weather also means wildlife will be less concerned about concealment and more concerned about finding food so the chances of sightings are higher. Large numbers of migratory ducks, geese and swans are present in the UK during winter; many are easily accessible at lakes, ponds and other wetland areas. In winter, muddy ground and snowfall provide an ideal opportunity to spot tracks of mammals such as deer, foxes, badgers and otters. Many bird species roost together for safety and warmth during the winter months too: for example, starling flocks can be spectacular, with huge numbers in the air just before sunset, while rooks, jackdaws and carrion crows are plentiful. Nature reserves will provide opportunities to see raptors such as hen and marsh harriers. And kestrels, buzzards and red kites will be more visible as food sources become scarcer. Photography in the great outdoors during winter does require you to make sure youre properly prepared so you stay warm, dry and hydrated. Likewise, you need to have adequate protection for your camera equipment to ensure it stays dry. Always carry a spare camera battery as these will drain more quickly in colder conditions. Never move your camera equipment from a warm environment, such as a heated house or vehicle, to the cold too quickly as condensation will form both on the outside and inside of the camera/lens and potentially cause damage. Always allow time for the equipment to acclimatise  and vice versa when moving back indoors. This means not opening the camera bag for at least an hour if going from room temperature to near-freezing temperatures. When you return from a shoot take the memory card out of the camera before you move between environments so you can get on with downloading your pictures while the equipment warms up. Advertisement

As it is Im a keen people photographer, although I like landscapes and still-lifes too, he says. Last year, I was delighted to be asked by Weekend to be head judge in the magazines annual wildlife photography competition and I enjoyed the experience so much that when I was asked if Id become an honorary judge for this years competition, I didnt hesitate.

The trip to Scotland, ex-hurricane Ophelia notwithstanding, was a brief and welcome break in Davids always busy professional schedule. After the Poirot years, hes loving the diversity of the work hes now being offered.

Hes currently filming his role of a newspaper magnate in Press, a six-part series for BBC1 written by Mike (Doctor Foster) Bartlett which should reach our TV screens next spring and which also stars Ben Chaplin and Charlotte Riley.

Then theres a film in development, called Dinner With Edward. Its the story of a widower and a younger woman picking up the pieces of her life after a difficult divorce. Based on a true story by Isabel Vincent, it will be set in New York.

Theres no romantic involvement at all but he cooks for her  hes a gourmet  as they gradually unburden themselves and lift each other out of the doldrums. Its a charming story.

Also in development is the film of a Sir Terence Rattigan play, Man And Boy, in which David appeared a dozen years ago in the West End.

Its very dark indeed. It was written in the early 60s when the so-called kitchen-sink dramatists were emerging and Rattigan was out of favour. I played a ruthless sociopath, a wonderful role which was happily well received in the revival in 2005.

Davids is a life full of variety, including of course this recent trip, something he says he wont easily forget. I cant wait to see readers photographs submitted to Weekends Great British Wildlife Photography Challenge.

And my understanding and appreciation are going to be that much better this time round.

Ill be looking at the pictures with a different eye. As a result, Im sure Ill learn even more from the experience in return. The next time Sheila and I visit Harris, Ill be out there with my bridge camera seeing if I can capture the wildlife. This time though, Ill be snapping away on my own.

For more on Steve Duffields tours, visit western-isles-wildlife.co.uk
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Honey Nut Cheerios has earned the title of 'America's favorite cereal,' but when it comes to nutrition, the breakfast staple may not be all its cracked up to be.

As healthy-eating trends upward in America, the cereal industry has made efforts to keep up, with the industrys sales remaining nearly static so far this year, compared to 2016.

Honey Nut Cheerios are marketed as part of a heart-healthy eating plan on General Millss website, and are meant to be a tastier, but still relatively healthy alternative to regular, oat-y tasting Cheerios, making them more attractive to children.

However, standard serving-size bowl (about three quarters of a cup) of Honey Nut Cheerios has nine grams of sugar, which is more than one third of the daily total of 25 grams of sugar the American Heart Association recommends for children.

'America's favorite cereal,' Honey Nut Cheerios has been seen as a part of a healthy breakfast since it was introduced in 1979. But the cereal may not be as healthy as it's cracked up to be

Oats, the main and namesake ingredient in the General Millss Cheerios cereal, are a fairly well-balanced source of nutrition. Raw oats, are about 66 percent carbohydrates, 15 percent fiber, seven percent fat, and only about 1.5 percent sugar.

But added sugar contents of cereals have been creeping steadily up since cereal became part of a complete breakfast, as so many cereal commercials have said.

Cereal has a robust  if not rich  history in America. Early settlers found that barley and oats grew easily in North American soil. When German immigrant Ferdinand Schumacher introduced his oat grinder in 1854, Americans began to turn toward warm oatmeal for breakfast. Thus was born the Quaker Oats brand.

Cold cereal got off to a rockier start. The first version in the US had to be soaked overnight, and the necessary trouble deterred busy Americans.

Recommended breakfast nutrition vs Honey Nut Cheerios nutrition Recommended < 8 grams of sugar 8.3 grams of fiber 15 grams of fat 15 grams of carbohydrates Honey Nut Cheerios (per serving) 9 grams of sugar 2 grams of fiber 15 grams of fat 22 grams of carbohydrates Advertisement

But all it took was a box for cereal to gain popularity.

Cereal sold in a box was introduced in the late 1870s, and was far cleaner and more convenient than cooking oat cereal. Plus, the box offered the opportunity for advertising, which has sense become the bread and butter of cereal and milk.

Busy adults liked it for being quick to shovel down before work, but packaging  and eventually radio and TV  presented an opportunity to market cereal to a new demographic: children.

Around the same time, cereal companies branding themselves with mascots, Post added a sugar-coating to its own product, and the original Cheeerios  then called CheeriOats  came onto the market.

Size DOES matter. Honey Nut Cheerios changed its serving size from a full cup to three quarters of a cup in 2011. Now, the serving contains 9 grams of sugar, but if the serving were still a full cup, it would contain 12 grams of sugar

In 1942, Kellogs started putting pins with military squadron insignia into its cereal boxes, giving way to the rise of the cereal box prizes, and the dawn of cereal nostalgia.

As the podcast Part-Time Genius put it in their episode on cereal nostalgia, cereal prizes were beloved by Baby Boomers, who passed that love down to their children, who passed it down to theirs, all the way through the peak of cereal sales, around 1996.

Honey Nut Cheerios was introduced in 1979 as a sweeter spin on the original Cheerios. Its sugar content crept up, until General Mills announced in 2009 that it was going to lower the sugar content in all of its cereals for children, following a lawsuit over its Cheerios Protein offshoot.

Cereal brings you back to childhood, it's almost like a comfort food, but most of my clients say they can't keep it at home because they eat too much or want to eat later. Amy Shapiro, nutritionist

Now, there are nine grams of sugar, rather than 11, in one three-quarter cup of Honey Nut Cheerios. But the serving size went down  from a full cup  with the sugar content.

If the serving size were still one cup, there would be 12 grams of sugar in a serving of Honey Nut Cheerios - more sweetener than it contained in 2009.

Still, to most people, Honey Nut Cheerios seem to be healthy, because [original] Cheerios are pretty healthy, says Amy Shapiro, a New York City nutritionist.

Shapiro recommends that cereals and breakfast foods should not contain more than eight grams of sugar.

Cheerios' website shows the current packaging and nutritional facts for Honey Nut Cheerios. The cereal contains several added sweeteners: regular and brown sugar, honey and syrup

She says that as cereals go, neither Cheerios variety is the worst, but the bigger problem is portion control.

Most adults are not going to eat just one bowl, she says. I dont usually recommend cereals because people like them too much and [cereal] will spike your blood sugar.

The sugar infusion means that cereal is not a very satisfying meal, and people just want to eat again soon after the finish their bowl  or bowls  of cereal.

'Cereal brings you back to childhood, it's almost like a comfort food,' says Shapiro, 'but most of my clients say they can't keep it at home because they eat too much or want to eat later,' says Shapiro.

She says that plain cereals like original Cheerios are okay because their relatively high fiber contents slow digestion, and the slower you digest it, the less intense the blood sugar crash is.

Shapiro says that if you must have cereal, use it as an added crunch factor to greek yogurt, or use whole milk and some chia seeds and fruit.
The climbing frame in my primary school was a formidable and exhilarating structure, all cold, grey steel bars, and I remember vividly as an eight-year-old looking up at its dizzying heights and wondering if Id ever be able to climb to the top.

And when I did, it was a thrill like nothing else Id experienced. Balancing on the steel bar while holding on for dear life looking out over all the playground, I felt like a king.

When I fell  the bars were wet and slippy  my fall was broken not by bark chippings or foam matting, but by the rather less forgiving tarmac. This, after all, was the Eighties and health and safety had yet to be invented. And yes, my schoolmates and I were all on first-name terms with the receptionist at the local A&E; and yes, I still have the scars.

NHS psychiatrist Max Pemberton says children should take risks when playing because it's good for them

While I wouldnt wish concussion or a broken arm on anyone, when I heard years later that theyd taken the climbing frame away, my heart sank, although I wasnt at all surprised.

Part of the thrill of climbing the frame was knowing there was a risk of hurting yourself if you fell. Part of the thrill was the feeling you had to take responsibility for your own welfare.

But today, children exist in a cocooned, controlled and sanitised world where risk is removed and fun is limited to a virtual experience, staring at a screen because its safe. But what an anaemic, impoverished world that is.

A few years ago, a report found that one in six teachers claimed their school had banned children from playing conkers because of safety fears. Thats bonkers! A wayward conker crashing onto your bonce is hardly going to damage a child for life, is it?

By trying to remove all vestige of risk, we are doing our children a great disservice. It means they grow up without the adequate skills to assess risk for themselves.

So cheers for the head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, who this week warned that nurseries should avoid stifling children with over-zealous health and safety rules. She argued that schools could be harming children by removing play equipment such as climbing frames.

Ofsted head Amanda Spielman this week warned that nurseries should avoid stifling children with over-zealous health and safety rules

The fact is, life is inherently risky. Even something as apparently benign as a biscuit can land you in hospital if you choke on it.

Yet despite the evident risks of biscuits, we still eat them. We weigh up the risks and accept that the joys of a Garibaldi outweigh the potential harm. A life lived without risks is a dull life indeed.

Of course, sometimes things do go wrong  and with tragic consequences. But you cant abolish all dangers from life.

The key to all this is to teach children how to develop skills in evaluating risk  because, when they grow up, the world is full of risks that cant be dodged.

My heart sinks at the thought of health and safety crawling all over our youngsters childhoods. It doesnt really remove risk and it wasnt intended to; it was intended to minimise risk.

Yet its morphed into something that is often counter-productive  taking away our choices, rather than informing them.

Its led to the situation where a surgeon friend was forced to wheel patients down to the imaging department for scans because none of the porters on duty had done the course in how to push someone in a wheelchair.

Dr Max says it's better for children to learn about risk in the rough and tumble of the playground while they're still young and resilient

This was, of course, ridiculous. Surely it is more of a risk to health and safety to have a surgeon leave a ward of sick people to push someone down to X-ray than to have someone else push the wheelchair, even though they havent done a course in it.

Its the same with children. Surely its far better that children learn about risk in the rough and tumble of the playground, that they fall and scrape a knee, bang their head and get cold and wet when theyre young and resilient and when there are adults on hand to step in, than when they are older and in the big bad world on their own.

Id much rather a child learned about the importance of slowing round a corner when they were in a go-cart than a few years later when they were in a car with me as a passenger.

Whats interesting is that while we as a society have become increasingly risk averse, some people are realising how rewarding it can be for children when theyre allowed to take calculated risks.

For example, there is an adventure playground for deprived children in North Wales where they are allowed to play totally freely  as this has been found to boost their self-esteem.

Children need to learn how to evaluate situations for themselves. We do them no favours by wrapping them in cotton wool.

Why does the NHS pay 16 for 35p gloves?

The NHS is one of the cheapest and fairest systems for delivering healthcare in the world.

However, theres no doubt it could be more efficient  and this was illustrated perfectly this week when Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, discussed how some hospitals are paying as much as 16 for a packet of gloves that cost as little as 35p.

Mr Hunt said the NHS could save up to 1 billion a year by opting for cheaper products.

The NHS could save up to 1billion a year by choosing to opt for cheaper products, according to the health secretary Jeremy Hunt

The problem is that because trusts are independent from Whitehall control and are responsible for buying their own supplies, there is, as a result, considerable variation.

I once temporarily shared an office with the procurement and supplies team of a large hospital, who were responsible for buying everything from staples to toilet rolls.

It was a team of 20, and I realised that every other hospital had similar teams all negotiating with the same manufacturers for pretty much the same products.

While the political rhetoric is that devolving all power to hospitals is best because local hospitals know their own needs, in some areas we need the NHS to act as one unit and make much more of its considerable negotiating power.

We are stronger when we all stand together and this is one of the fundamental ideas behind the NHS.

Yet this seems to have been forgotten  and its all of us who now have to pay the price.

Soldiers left to battle on alone

When I worked for an outreach project for homeless people and those addicted to drugs, I was shocked by how many ex-servicemen I came across. Many were haunted by what they had witnessed and dogged by depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some turned to alcohol or illicit drugs to anaesthetise themselves, some to crime, others to suicide.

While we tend to have good services for veterans whose physical health has been affected by fighting for their country, the same cannot be said for those who suffer mental health problems  which means many are left battling mental illness and behavioural problems alone.

Some soldiers turn to alcohol, drugs and even crime or suicide to anaesthetise themselves

This week, paramedics and police spoke out about this under-reported problem and the strain its putting on 999 services because veterans have nowhere else to turn. A serving soldier kills him or herself once a month, and there are thought to be more than 10,000 veterans with mental health problems.

That there isnt appropriate specialist support for these people is both a scandal and a national embarrassment. At the moment, most of the help comes from the charity sector, with organisations such as Combat Stress doing great work.

But really, as a country, we should be stepping up to the plate and ensuring that these soldiers are given the absolute best care as a matter of course. We shouldnt have to rely on charities to step in.

Its worrying, too, that such high numbers of veterans are in prison. The fact that the crimes committed are often violent suggests that the way in which service personnel are being prepared for civilian life is grossly inadequate.

This all points to something clearly going wrong. Its simply unfair to ask people to serve their country and not make adequate arrangements for them to be supported when they return home.
Patients who pay for private surgery are falling victim to massive price variations of up to 12,000 for the same procedure.

A report by medical industry experts shows that depending on the provider and location, the quoted price of a total hip replacement ranges from 8,945 to 14,880, while a commonly performed varicose vein procedure can cost anything from 1,995 to 4,340.

However, a Mail on Sunday investigation has found that patients are often being charged several times this amount, with one woman quoted 15,000 for a vein operation.

A Mail on Sunday investigation has found dramatic differences in the costs of private health treatment with a 1,500 difference in the bill for a simple back operation

There can even be a near 1,500 difference in the cost of simple back pain injections, and the bill for cataract surgery can almost double from one place to another.

The figures relate to the amounts that self-pay patients  rather than those having procedures covered by private insurance  are having to fork out for treatment.

An increasing number of desperate Britons are being forced to self-pay as NHS rationing cuts deeper and waiting lists grow ever longer. More than four million people are currently waiting for NHS surgery  the highest figure since 2007  according to NHS England.

And in October it was revealed that patients in Northern Ireland are waiting up to three years for an initial consultation about having surgery, following a GP referral.

Six things every self-payer needs to know 1 Mr Ian Eardley, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, says: Ask a potential surgeon how frequently they operate and what their results are. Details of how many procedures a surgeon has done and what their results are can be found on the NHS Choices website. 2 If you are offered a new procedure, approach it with caution, urges Mr Eardley. Dont be afraid to get a second opinion or ask to speak to other patients who have had it. 3 If you are going to be in hospital for a few days, stay in one with low infection rates. Every hospital will have been assessed by the Care Quality Commission and you can read the report on the CQC website, says Mr Eardley. 4 Lower prices dont always mean lower quality: clinics that specialise in a limited number of procedures can offer savings. 5 Check the Private Healthcare Information Network (phin.org.uk), which compiles information such as hospital performance, patient satisfaction and CQC rating. 6 Ask about hidden extras. What happens if something goes wrong? Is follow-up care covered? Make sure you and the surgeon are on the same page in terms of what you consider a successful outcome. For example, improvement in variables such as pain, movement and quality of life. Advertisement

The report, published by Private Healthcare UK, predicts that the self-pay market will surge over the next five years.

The Mail on Sunday also reported last month that record numbers of Britons are shelling out up to 15,000 for vital operations after being told they must wait for months by NHS hospitals.

In total, patients are forking out 623 million a year for self-pay treatment. They are cashing in ISAs or pensions, taking out loans and even maxing out credit cards to fund treatment they should have had sooner on the NHS.

Experts are urging private patients to shop around after the report  which gathers data that providers are now obliged to publish  found alarming differences in prices. For example, the bill for an injection of local anaesthetic and steroids for back pain ranges from 950 to 2,370, while a knee replacement can cost anything from 8,750 to 15,410. Meanwhile, the quoted guide price of cataract surgery for one eye varies across the UK from 1,850 to 3,350.

The report highlights that the cheapest providers are specialist centres  day surgery centres for procedures such as steroid injections, veins and optical surgery  as opposed to private hospitals offering a range of services.

Some providers, including Spire and Nuffield Health, have prices that vary so much that they are often listed as both the cheapest and most expensive option, depending on the location of their centre.

For example, the highest bill for cataract surgery is found at Nuffields hospital in Exeter, where the procedure costs 3,350 for one eye. Yet the cheapest provider in the South East is the companys Chichester hospital, where the same operation costs 2,090.

Keith Pollard, chief executive of Private Healthcare UK, said the figures emphasised the need for stringent research before committing to any hospital or clinic. There has always been a wide variation in pricing, he explained. But companies are now being ordered by the Government to publish their prices on their websites.

When asked about the huge disparity in pricing, Nuffield Health said: Our prices vary according to surgeon and anaesthetist fees and local market conditions. Spire Healthcare refused to comment.

Mr Ian Eardley, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said many desperate patients who did not fit the criteria for NHS treatment were now opting to go private if they could afford it. There are some elective procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, where patients are being denied access due to local NHS policy. They may be told to go away and lose some weight before they are eligible, he said.

With procedures such as varicose veins, cosmetic appearance is no longer enough to get surgery. You must be at risk of developing other symptoms, such as painful ulcers, in order to be considered eligible on the NHS.
Claire Foy, Matt Smith and creator Peter Morgan lift the lid on the sex scandals, power struggles and even wars looming in the new series of The Crown

'Its a torrent coming at them, and they dont know how to cope, says Claire Foy of the wave of personal and political problems facing the Royal Family in the glittering new series of The Crown. Foy, who won a Golden Globe for her performance as Queen Elizabeth in series one, admits that the Royals judge it wrongly every single time. And this series is very affected by the outside world and the Sixties and sex and drugs and rock n roll. Stuff you would not associate with the Queen of England.

Claire Foy won a Golden Globe for her performance as Queen Elizabeth in series one

Netflixs eagerly anticipated second series of The Crown begins where the last series left off, in 1956, and the ten hour-long episodes will cover the momentous historical events of the next decade, such as the Suez Crisis, which sees Jeremy Northam as Anthony Eden mired in a Middle East war. Vanessa Kirby is back as Princess Margaret, dating and then marrying the photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones (Matthew Goode), and Dexter star Michael C Hall will make his debut as the handsome young US president John F Kennedy, alongside first lady Jackie Kennedy, played by South African actress Jodi Balfour. Game Of Thrones Anton Lesser joins the cast as Harold Macmillan, who has to humiliatingly resign as prime minister in the wake of the Profumo sex scandal.

But episode one of the new series, which comes to our screens early next month, contains a bombshell closer to home as we find the marriage of Elizabeth and Philip (Matt Smith), if not on the rocks, then sailing perilously close. In the trailer we hear Lord Mountbatten (Greg Wise) telling Elizabeth: You married a wild spirit. Trying to tame him is no use, and the show details Philips affair with a ballet dancer (thought to be based on the actress Pat Kirkwood).

I wanted to throw light on Prince Philip in a way that hasnt been done before, says creator Peter Morgan, who along with Foy and Smith shares their on-set secrets with Event during breaks from filming.

Smith now realises that Philips quiet rebellion is easily underestimated by the public, who know him mainly for some well-publicised gaffes.

Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth with Matt Smith as Prince Philip. Matt Smith says he has increased respect for Prince Philip after playing him

Ive come to admire him the more Ive learnt about him, says Smith. Hes very bright. He is a great moderniser. He is incredibly funny. Hes on the front line and obviously hes an alpha male. And then he has to kneel in front of his wife. Its the Fifties, yet hes told to give up his job and his name  his kids will take his wifes name, Windsor. You can see how youd go, Hang on. I didnt sign up for that.

Philips life wasnt easy, admits Smith, who now feels a real sympathy with his character. There was a lot of tragedy in it and for want of a better word he was orphaned [Philips mother was in a psychiatric clinic and his exiled father was mostly absent], and for any child that is a very traumatic experience. He watched people die young [his sister was killed in a plane crash] and thats awful.

Morgan is unapologetic about uncovering the Royals marital strife: I thought everyone knew Philip had an affair? Nobody has identified the people involved, and Im not going to do that. Im not a vindictive person. Ive just done my best to stick to the facts as I have them.

The facts are that Philip was packed off on a five-month world tour of the Commonwealth, leaving Elizabeth at home. In the series he visits Australia, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and goes to the Antarctic.

What goes on tour normally stays on tour, but it wasnt like that for the poor Prince who, while globetrotting, was honeytrapped by a journalist into revealing his dark secrets  his sisters pro-Nazi leanings, his fathers financial issues, his mothers depression.

Back at home Elizabeth is facing the Suez crisis, in which the UK, Israel and France invaded Egypt, then retreated in defeat ten days later.

Event joins the 33-year-old Foy on set at Elstree to see how she is transformed into the period-perfect Queen. I loved wearing Fifties skirts, says Foy, but Im not a massive fan of the Queens choice of wardrobe. I think when she was younger she didnt have to have the uniform, she was more free, but as she gets older you start to see the formation of the Queen as she looks now  the hair and everything. She works out what her role and her duty are, like we all do in any job. And by the end of this series we have a prototype of the Philip and Elizabeth we know today.

That includes the well-known voice  Foy, who is from Manchester, says she had to practise saying the word one as wahn several times before every shot  and the equally well-known wave, which she admits has also evolved from series one, into the wristy flick we know now.

Writer Peter Morgan, a staunch republican, has faced a backlash from viewers after controversially referring to the monarchy as a deranged institution led by a countryside woman of limited intelligence who would have much preferred looking after her dogs and breeding horses to being queen. But The Crown shows them as real people and well see the massive strain the political havoc of this turbulent time put on the Queens reign.

Filming was not allowed at Buckingham Palace or any of the royal castles. Morgan took this in his stride, in his stride, saying: I want my independence, they want theirs. I dont want to be associated with the Palace.

Claire Foy shooting series two of The Crown. Filming was not allowed at Buckingham Palace or any of the royal castles

The show has attempted the be truthful about the ups and downs of the royal marriage

Matt Smith and Claire Foy behind the scenes with the show's creator Peter Morgan

Foy as the Queen making her first Christmas broadcast

While Foy has been acclaimed for her performance, she tries not to think too hard about whether the Queen herself has watched The Crown, though if she does, then this series will make for uncomfortable viewing. Of course there is every chance she has watched it and I hope she likes what she sees. I hope she understands what we were trying to achieve. When youre playing a real person, you never want to be ghoulish. I dont want to pick apart a person. I want to invent someone. So I would hate for her to watch it and think I over-dramatised anything. But Ill stick with my belief that she doesnt have the time to catch up on it.

One of the most dramatic revelations about the new series is Foys departure  although The Crown will continue. But Foys time as Her Majesty is over and next year she will be replaced by Olivia Colman.

Does Foy have any advice for her? Theres no short cut in playing the Queen. Shell probably find out lots of things that I never found out, she says. Its ever-changing and thats the secret in portraying the Queen  no one owns it.

Im not bitter about leaving. I knew this was the plan. Its been an amazing thing to be part of. She does, though, have one regret. I wasnt able to take home any props. A crown would have been fantastic!

But if she wants some guidance as to what happens when you pass on an iconic role to another actor she only has to ask her co-star. It was hard to give up the Doctor [Who], says Matt Smith, whose replacement as Prince Philip has not yet been announced. You want to play it for ever, but I cant play the next eras Philip, so Ill just turn into a punter. Im looking forward to seeing where they take it. e

The Crown returns to Netflix next month
Period drama

1. Peaky Blinders

Mobsters of the Midlands Brummie gangster epic following the spiky Shelbys as they rise up like an angry phoenix from the ashes of World War One to rule the mean streets of Small Heath in the Twenties.

Amazon, Netflix, iTunes (three series, 18 episodes)

Sarah Parish and Poppy Corby-Tuech in The Collection. Two brothers feud and fume as they strive to make their Paris fashion house a success in the days after WWII

2. Versailles

Saucy series on the Sun King Shenanigans among the Machiavellian movers and shakers in the opulent court of King Louis XIV, where intrigue and rumpy pumpy rule. Amazon, Google Play (two series, 20 episodes)

3. Halt And Catch Fire

PC nerds gone mad Mad Men meets the microchip in a gripping period drama set in the early days of the PC revolution, as freaks and geeks battle it out at the birth of an industry.

Amazon (four series, 40 episodes)

George Blagden and Alexander Vlahos in Versailles. Shenanigans among the Machiavellian movers and shakers in the opulent court of King Louis XIV

Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders. Brummie gangster epic following the spiky Shelbys as they rise up like an angry phoenix from the ashes of World War One

4. Vikings

This show wont get axed Blood-and-thunder historical drama about the rise to fame of legendary Norse hero Ragnar Lothbrook. Imagine Game Of Thrones without the dragons and youre getting close.

Amazon (four series, 39 episodes  series five begins Nov 29)

5. Mindhunter

Murder most fascinating Cracking partnership between Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany as FBI agents delving into the psychology of murder at the dawn of criminal science in 1979.

Netflix (one series, ten episodes)

Stranger Things. Spielberg-style fun

6. Stranger Things

Spielberg-style fun Shot through with Eighties nostalgia, this supernatural adventure follows a group of boys in a small Indiana town as they set out to find a missing friend.

Netflix (two series, 17 episodes)

7. Outlander

Tartan time-travel tale Sweeping romance aplenty as a WWII nurse finds herself magically transported back to 18thcentury Scotland, where she falls in love with a dashing Highlander.

Amazon (three series, 37 episodes)

8. The Collection

Family fashion fable Two brothers feud and fume as they strive to make their Paris fashion house a success in the days after WWII.

Amazon (one series, five episodes)

9. Godless

The really wild West When outlaw Jack OConnell, on the run from his ex-boss, is offered refuge by Michelle Downton Dockerys gun-toting widow in a mysteriously matriarchal mining town, the scene is set for the mother of all battles in this Steven Soderbergh western.

Netflix from Nov 22 (1 series, 7 episodes)

10. The Get Down

Its a rap The rise of hip-hop and disco in Seventies New York is seen through the eyes of a group of teenagers in this vibrant drama from Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann.

Netflix (one series, 11 episodes)

WHERE TO GET YOUR TV ON DEMAND Netflix From 5.99 per month, netflix.com The US subscription service has more than 900 box sets to stream, plus movies. The Netflix app is available on connected TVs, Bluray players and games consoles, or you can use a set-top box or streaming stick (around 40). BBC iPlayer Free with the BBC licence fee, bbc.co.uk/iplayer New shows are available to stream for 30 days and you can download to watch offline. Its available on Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media, YouView, Smart TVs or, as with Netflix, via a set-top box or streaming stick. Apple iTunes From 99p, itunes.com For back-catalogue movies, Apples service is close to unbeatable. It is, however, relatively expensive, and its hard to get iTunes to your TV without buying an Apple TV. Amazon Prime Video From 5.99 per month, amazon.co.uk Amazons service is similar to Netflix and is also available as part of a bundle with its Prime service (for 79 per year, including free shopping deliveries). Get it on your TV in the same ways as Netflix. Now TV From 6.99 per month, nowtv.com With Skys offshoot service you buy monthly passes to watch Sky channels, with packages of sport, entertainment or movies. Access in the same way as for the services above, or buy a Now TV box (from 14.99). Advertisement

Crime

11. Billions

Crooks, cops and millionaires Swaggering, high-stakes Wall Street thriller starring Damian Lewis as a slippery hedgefund king pursued by no-mercy attorney Paul Giamatti. Brashly entertaining.

Now TV, Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (two series, 24 episodes)

12. Ray Donovan

Hollywoods fixer Smartly written gem of a character-driven crime show starring the superb Liev Schreiber as a professional fixer for the great and good in LA. Jon Voight is even better as Rays dad.

Now TV, Amazon (five series, 60 episodes)

Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul. This prequel to Breaking Bad is almost as good as the original award-winning show

13. Ozark

A Missouri escape Jason Bateman plays financial adviser Marty, who moves his family to the Missouri Ozarks after his business partner cheats a Mexican drug cartel. Engrossing and unpredictable.

Netflix (one series, ten episodes)

14. Mr Robot

Hackers gone crackers A young computer programmer finds that nothing is what it seems when he joins the anarchist hacking group run by the mysterious Mr Robot (Christian Slater).

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (three series, 22 episodes)

15. Better Call Saul

A real legal eagle Filling in the back story of shyster lawyer Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, this prequel to Breaking Bad is almost as good as the original award-winning show.

Netflix, Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Sky Store (three series, 30 episodes)

Christian Slater in Mr Robot. A young computer programmer finds that nothing is what it seems when he joins the anarchist hacking group

16. Good Behavior

Girl in a whirl Michelle Dockery plays the polar opposite of Lady Mary as a smart-ass alcoholic American bad girl in this fast-moving crime caper.

Virgin, Amazon (two series, 20 episodes)

17. Sneaky Pete

Identity crisis A conman assumes the identity of his former cellmate, Pete, to escape a vicious gangster (Bryan Cranston).

Amazon (one series, ten episodes)

18. Locked Up

Spain is the new America Spanish drama set in a womens prison  think Orange Is The New Black only grittier and with far more thrills. Taut and nicely over the top.

All4 (two series, 35 episodes)

19. How To Get Away With Murder

Making a killing Oscar-winner Viola Davis (Fences) headlines this edgy murder-mystery that flashes backwards and forwards to reveal the truth behind the death of the husband of a law professor.

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (three series, 45 episodes  series four airing in America, yet to arrive here)

Good behaviour. Michelle Dockery plays the polar opposite of Lady Mary as a smart-ass alcoholic American bad girl in this fast-moving crime caper

20. True Detective

Two heads are better Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson excel as the cops hunting a serial killer in series one of this haunting drama. Series two has a new case and new detectives, including Colin Farrell.

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Sky Store (two series, 16 episodes)

21. The Night Of

Itd be a crime to miss this Magnificent noir procedural starring John Turturro as a rumpled attorney and Riz Ahmed as his client accused of murder. An instant classic.

Now TV, Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (one series, eight episodes)

22. Bosch

Something about Harry Michael Connellys noir thriller bestsellers about maverick LA detective Harry Bosch adapt brilliantly into a tight police procedural packed with character.

Amazon (three series, 30 episodes)

23. Narcos

Youll be addicted Gritty drama retelling the rise and fall of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, seen through his eyes and those of the DEA agents desperate to bring him down.

Netflix (three series, 30 episodes)

Sci-fi / Fantasy

24. Westworld

Like a robot cowboy Provocative, intelligent sci-fi western set in a futuristic theme park staffed by robots who start to develop minds of their own. Complex and seductive.

Now TV, Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (one series, ten episodes)

25. Sense8

I know what youre feeling If you miss Heroes, try this ambitious, slightly mad fantasy about eight strangers who telepathically experience each others lives and are soon seen as a threat to world order.

Netflix (two series, 23 episodes)

Rufus Sewell and Luke Kleintank in The Man In The High Castle. Ridley Scott adapts Philip K Dicks novel into a chilling drama

26. Riverdale

Underneath the Archies Hot teen mystery drama based on the Archie comics. Moody and with a nod to Twin Peaks, season two is currently being drip-fed.

Netflix (one series, 13 episodes)

27. The Walking Dead

Run from the humans Andrew Lincolns former sheriff fights to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where the flesh-hungry zombies that walk the Earth are often less dangerous than the ordinary humans he encounters.

Amazon, Now TV (Eight series, 102 episodes)

28. American Horror Story

American gothic Haunted houses, witch covens, freak shows and insane asylums abound in this superbly creepy anthology show that tells a different Grand Guignol horror tale each series.

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (seven series, 82 episodes)

29. The Man In Th e High Castle

If Hitler won the war Ridley Scott adapts Philip K Dicks novel into a chilling drama about a world in which the Allies lost WW2 and America is ruled by the Japanese and Nazi forces.

Amazon (two series, 20 episodes)

30. Daredevil

Blind as a bat-man Brit Charlie Cox stars as the blind superhero out to defend New Yorks Hells Kitchen in the first of Marvel Comics surprisingly grown-up Netflix shows.

Netflix, Google Play, iTunes (two series, 26 episodes)

31. Jessica Jones

Comic with a little tragedy Krysten Ritter is excellent as the hard-drinking, super-powered private eye of the title, but David Tennants mind-twisting villain steals the show in this dark and brutal comic book series.

Netflix, Google Play, iTunes (one series, 13 episodes)

Westworld. Provocative, intelligent sci-fi western set in a futuristic theme park staffed by robots who start to develop minds of their own

32. Marvels The Defenders

Superhero supergroup Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Daredevil and Iron Fist come together to bring down Sigourney Weavers immortal villain in Marvel Comics long-awaited team-up series.

Netflix (one series, 8 episodes)

33. American Gods

Red, white and blue magic Neil Gaimans supernatural novel jumps from page to screen as Ian McShanes Mr Wednesday takes a former jailbird on a hellish road trip through the US of As magical underbelly.

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (one series, 8 episodes)

THE MULTI-MILLION POUND BOX-SETS BATTLE When Amazon launched its Top Gear reboot, The Grand Tour, in a blaze of publicity, it seemed like this was the platforms only piece of original programming worth shouting about. Securing the services of TVs unholy trinity of Clarkson, Hammond and May didnt come cheap. At a reputed cost of 4.5 million per episode, The Grand Tour snaffled a fair chunk of the Amazon TV budget in one fell swoop. But the video-streaming market is rapidly escalating. Netflix may be the leader, budgeting $7 billion for programming in 2018, but Amazon is now seriously involved and spending $4.5bn this year. Just a few of its latest commissions include Mad Men creator Matthew Weiners The Romanoffs, a show about the modern-day descendants of the Russian royal family, and Neil Gaimans Good Omens, with David Tennant and Michael Sheen. And its not just Amazon that is raising its game to stem the tide at Netflix. Apple is the latest to stick its hand up for some of the action, announcing its first big commission, Amazing Stories, a sci-fi series from Steven Spielberg. Just as Amazon uses Prime Video to piggy-back on to customers using its shopping services (When we win a Golden Globe it helps us sell more shoes, quips CEO Jeff Bezos), so Apple hopes to take advantage of its billion devices in active use around the world. Currently renting out shows through iTunes, Apple will now move to a subscription service. The holy grail for Amazon will be a juggernaut show that attracts significant new custom. That was partially achieved with The Grand Tour, which launches series two on December 8. After positioning itself with niche series such as Transparent, Amazons David is now ready to take on Netflixs Goliath and push for mass-appeal dramas such as The Crown in the mother of all streaming battles. Its clear that what Amazon needs most is the next Game Of Thrones. And with it a new company mantra: winter is coming for Netflix. Mark Wareham Advertisement

Comedy/comedy-drama

34. Master Of None

Making it in the Big Apple Aziz Ansari stars as a New York actor trying to juggle a showbiz career with his personal life. Sophisticated and funny Emmy-winner.

Netflix (two series, 20 episodes)

35. Curb Your Enthusiasm

The king of sarcasm Seinfelds Larry David proves the master of cringe comedy in this heightened-reality improvised comedy. Just about as un-PC as its possible to be. Series nine has just returned after a six-year break.

Now TV, Amazon (eight series, 80 episodes)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (above, six Emmys and counting) is superb in Armando Iannuccis pacy political satire Veep

36. Rick And Morty

Very weird science Futurama fans should check out this unhinged, animated sci-fi comedy following the bizarre adventures of genius scientist Rick and his grandson Morty.

Netflix, Comedy Central (three series, 31 episodes)

37. Better Things

Struggles of a single mum Louis CK and Pamela Adlon collaborate on this exceptional, intimate, under-the-radar sitcom about an actress raising her three kids. Season two is currently mid-run.

Amazon (one series, ten episodes)

38. The Good Place

Just like heaven Self-absorbed Eleanor (Kristen Bell) dies and, due to a clerical error, ends up in an afterlife paradise. Whimsical, absurd. Ted Danson co-stars.

Amazon, Netflix, Google Play, iTunes (one series, 13 episodes)

Award-winning Jeffery Tambor in Transparent. An LA family struggles with the news that their father is transgender

39. People Just Do Nothing

Tune in to Kurupt FM BBC3s Bafta-winning mockumentary about a pirate radio station run by the delusional MC Grindah and his krew of lovable layabouts.

Amazon, Google Play (four series, 21 episodes), BBC iPlayer (series four only)

40. Veep

Pacy political gag-fest Julia Louis-Dreyfus (six Emmys and counting) is superb in Armando Iannuccis pacy political satire that boasts a brilliant supporting cast and a script so gag-packed youll have to rewind.

Now TV, Amazon, Google Play (six series, 58 episodes)

41. The Grand Tour

More four-wheeled frolics... In which Clarkson, Hammond and May continue their globetrotting globetrotting, budget-blasting, controversy-chasing adventure series that occasionally even features cars. Brace yourselves, series two is imminent.

Amazon (one series, 13 episodes)

42. Archer

The sleazy secret agent A gloriously rude and silly spy spoof, this grown-up cartoon tells the animated adventures of self-proclaimed super-spy Sterling Archer and the bumbling staff of the ISIS secret agency.

Amazon, Netflix (eight series, 93 episodes)

43. Broad City

Girls just wanna have fun Freewheeling comedy about two chaotic young women (creators and stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson) as they try to make a life for themselves in New York city.

Amazon (four series, 36 episodes)

44. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Somebody call the cops! Andy Samberg stars in a fantastically funny and unapologetically silly sitcom about the misadventures of the detectives stationed at Brooklyns 99th Precinct.

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (four series, 90 episodes)

45. Silicon Valley

High-tech high jinks The trials and tribulations of getting a high-tech business up and running are played for raucous, wincing laughs in a comedy of endless energy and invention.

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (four seasons, 38 episodes)

46. Transparent

Cutting-edge laughs An LA family struggles with the news that their father (Jeffrey Tambor) is transgender in a groundbreaking show that became the first on-demand series to win an Emmy for Best Show.

Amazon (four series, 40 episodes)

47. Mozart In The Jungle

What a way to conduct yourself Gael Garcia Bernal plays zany conductor Rodrigo, whose outrageous escapades expose the thrilling, debauched underbelly of the New York classical music scene.

Amazon (three series, 30 episodes)

Political

48. Designated Survivor

An unlikely President... 24 meets The West Wing as Kiefer Sutherland plays the low-level cabinet member who is thrown into the presidency after a catastrophic terror attack. Second season currently mid-run.

Netflix, Amazon (one series, 21 episodes)

Twisty and sexy drama follows PR Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, above) as she tries to keep Washingtons darkest secrets under wraps

Kiefer Sutherland finds himself US President. 24 meets The West Wing

49. Scandal

A never-ending job Twisty and sexy drama follows PR Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, above) as she tries to keep Washingtons darkest secrets under wraps.

Now TV, Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Sky Store (six series, 106 episodes)

50. Madam Secretary

Politics and personal drama Tea Leoni stars as the US Secretary of State, dealing with international diplomacy, political conspiracies and her own convoluted family life in a West Wing-esque drama.

Now TV, Amazon, Google Play, iTunes (three series, 68 episodes)
It was as he stepped onto a bus to take him from his day job as an usher at a Watford cinema to his night job as a restaurant DJ that the melody came to him. He sat at the back of the bus and started jotting down lyrics inspired by his break-up with a girlfriend. Just six words became one of the great lines of popular music: Guilty feet have got no rhythm. It was 1981 and George Michael was still only 17.

Born Georgios Panayiotou, he was the third child and only son of a Greek Cypriot father, Jack, and a British mother, Lesley. Growing up in London and Hertfordshire, his principal interest was nature until one day he fell down the staircase at school when he was running for lunch. He told Greek television: I had a very bad fall, cracked my head and, in the year subsequent to the accident, not only my interests but my abilities seemed to change. Before the accident, I was very interested in nature and biology. But after the accident, literally within two weeks I brought home a violin  unfortunately a violin  and within months was obsessed with music.

A new biography charts the rise and devastating fall of the Wham! legend George Michael

At secondary school, he met Andrew Ridgeley, who shared his love of music, and they became determined to make it in the business. But Careless Whisper, the song George wrote on the bus, wasnt suitable for them. They needed tracks that showcased them as the fun-loving soul boys they were.

One evening at a club, Andrew was bopping about, showing off, when he started exclaiming: Wham! Bam! Im the Man and doing a rap. It gave George the idea for a song that became Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do).

The pair then came up with the band name Wham!, hired a portable studio and recorded Wham Rap!, Club Tropicana and Careless Whisper at Andrews parents house.

Their tape got them a contract but Wham Rap!, released in June 1982, just before Georges 19th birthday, was a flop, failing to make the top 100. The second single, Young Guns, reached number 42  still a flop. Then came their lucky break.

A BBC producer happened to be in Stringfellows nightclub when Wham! did a personal appearance and thought they would be perfect for Saturday Superstore, a childrens television programme. Their performance on that put them on the radar of Top Of The Pops and when another act pulled out at the last minute, Wham! were booked to do Young Guns on the first show of November 1982.

George was on fire, commanding the stage, bare-chested and toned in a leather waistcoat. Afterwards, dripping with sweat, he turned to guitarist David Austin and told him, This is it. This is the rest of my life!

Young Guns went to No 3. Follow-up Bad Boys reached No 2. Their album Fantastic, released in July 1983, topped the charts.

One evening George and Andrew were sprawled out in front of Match Of The Day in the lounge of Georges family home in Radlett. George suddenly yelled out and ran upstairs and Andrew ambled up to Georges room to see what was up. George was singing into a tape recorder, worried that if he didnt do it there and then he might have lost the song that became Last Christmas.

George Michael with Andrew Ridgeley as Wham! at Londons Lyceum Ballroom, 1983

George on stage with Brian May of Queen at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992.

It was not on the album Make It Big, but was released as a seasonal single. The video, filmed in the Swiss Alps, turned into one big holiday for George and Andrews friends. George insisted that their mates and family should travel with them, first class. He picked up the bill.

It was a riot, remembers one of the inner circle on the trip. Andy couldnt be filmed because his eyes were so swollen through laughter and booze. During the dinner party scenes, they wanted it to look post-meal, so the booze had to be consumed  and it was. Kept off the top of the charts by Band Aids Do They Know Its Christmas?, Last Christmas was the biggest-selling number-two record of all time.

Make It Big also included Careless Whisper and the video for Georges solo song was shot in Miami over two days. Everyone loved the footage  except George. He hated his hair, telling his manager that it was too long, too posy and too poofy.

An SOS call was made to his sister Melanie, the only person he would trust to look after his hair. She took the first flight out of London and her trim became one of the most expensive cut and blow-drys ever because the entire video had to be reshot at a cost of more than $60,000, doubling the original budget. Careless Whisper climbed effortlessly to the top of the charts.

By 21, George was a multimillionaire. Though he moved out of his parents house and rented a flat in Knightsbridge, his mother would pop in to make sure he was looking after himself and to take his washing away.

George Michael on a date with Brooke Sheilds in 1985

Speculation about his sexuality was now almost a national pastime. He refused to confirm or deny the question about the gay rumours that slipped into every interview and continued to reinforce the image of Wham! as two heterosexual boys having fun.

The ridiculous nature of the predicament that George found himself in was perfectly captured in his relationship with the American actress Brooke Shields. Wham!s 1985 American tour opened with a couple of nights in Chicago. The whole world seemed to know of his date with Brooke in the restaurant at the hotel where they were both staying. After the meal, George politely escorted her to her room. Brooke, who famously remained a virgin until she was 22, recalled: He left without even trying to kiss me. I was so touched by what a real gentleman he was.

George was happy to keep the photo opportunity going when, soon after, Wham! played New York. They had dinner together and Brooke observed: He was obviously aware of my hesitance regarding sex.

But after a third date, at a party for Grace Jones, Boy George mischievously went up to Brooke and whispered: Hes a poof.

According to Boy George, She didnt know what it was, but looked worried.

In 1986 George announced that Wham! were splitting. Asked what would happen to his friend, he replied simply, Andrew will be all right. Indeed, Andrew knew the split was inevitable and was very comfortable financially. Royalties from Careless Whisper alone would always be his pension.

George went to live in Los Angeles, but he felt down and was drinking far too much and taking ecstasy. Periods of drug-induced highs were mixed with terrible lows. It was an early indication of his susceptibility to bouts of depression. He described what turned out to be a year off as a very long, quiet wobbler.

After recording his solo album, Faith, in 1987, George bought his first house, in north London. His mum came round every week to clean and vacuum.

George was always fascinated by models and liked getting them in his videos. One night in 1990, he saw an issue of Vogue featuring five supermodels on the cover. He thought it would be fantastic if they could get the girls for the video for Freedom! 90, appearing on his second album Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1.

George Michael aged five, in 1968. Born Georgios Panayiotou, he was the third child and only son of a Greek Cypriot father, Jack, and a British mother, Lesley

The famous five were secured for a fee of $15,000 each per half a day: Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Tatjana Patitz and Linda Evangelista.

George wanted to release the new album without promoting it personally. His record company, CBS, was unhappy at his decision and received backing from Frank Sinatra, who wrote to the Los Angeles Times after he read an interview in the newspaper in which George revealed his intentions. Frank wrote that George should thank the Lord every morning when he wakes up to have all that he has. He continued, And no more talk about the tragedy of fame. The tragedy of fame is when no one shows up and youre singing to the cleaning lady in some empty joint that hasnt seen a paying customer since St Swithins Day.

What Frank didnt know was that George was fighting a crisis of confidence brought about by acting a character practically every time he went out of his front door.

In January, 1991, George met and fell in love with Anselmo Feleppa, a Brazilian seven years his senior. He had never been happier. But after their first summer together, Anselmo tested positive for HIV. George was distraught: Try to imagine that youve finally found a real love and, six months in, its devastated.

He decided to do as much as he could to raise public awareness about the condition. He donated huge sums to Aids charities. After Freddie Mercury died in 1991, George took part in a fund-raising tribute concert at Wembley Stadium.

Anselmo died in March 1993 from a brain haemorrhage arising from the onset of AIDS. The next day, George wrote his parents an emotional letter explaining that he was gay and had just lost the man he loved. His father found it difficult at first, then gave his son his reassurance and love.

George stopped working. He couldnt face it while grieving. His manager was so concerned for his wellbeing that he made sure George wasnt alone in his house. I thought he was going to do something bad to himself, he said.

When his mother died of cancer in February, 1997, George said he felt cursed by the deaths of her and Anselmo: Ive lost two people in the last five years I have loved very much and one of the great lessons is how incredibly short life is.

He later admitted that this was the closest he had come to saying, I dont want to live, but he would never do that to his family. He continued to struggle with depression, referring to it as such a dark period of my life.

He was supposed to be working on new songs but in reality hadnt written a line worth saving since his mother died. And then, a wake-up call. In May 1997, he was arrested in a Beverly Hills park. Outside the public toilets, a popular cruising spot, he had made eye contact with a man who it later transpired was a plain-clothes police officer. Apparently, George beckoned the officer inside and exposed himself. The media became hysterical. Georges father Jack called and told him: Tell them to f*** off. You are what you are.

George gave a frank TV interview, saying: I feel stupid and I feel reckless and weak for having allowed my sexuality to be exposed in this way but I dont feel any shame. I dont think I should.

By 2000, he was dividing his time between a house in London and one in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, where he was content to watch television all day, eating tubs of his favourite Chunky Monkey ice cream. There was a succession of episodes involving cars  crashes and incidents in which George was found unconscious at the wheel. He developed a dependency on prescription drugs.

Over the coming years he toured, performed, made documentaries and occasionally released new music. In 2007, he earned 1.78 million for singing at a Russian billionaires party in Moscow. Its said to be the largest fee ever paid to a recording artist. But too often he made the headlines for the wrong reasons.

In 2011 he fell seriously ill with a virulent strain of pneumonia. He was in a coma and needed an emergency tracheotomy. It was touch and go whether he would survive.

However, the following autumn he disappeared from view amid rumours that he was receiving treatment for anxiety at a rehab centre. Dramatically, he reappeared, being airlifted to hospital after an incident on the M1 which he never properly explained. The following year there was a spell of treatment in a Swiss addiction clinic.

On his return to England he moved full-time to Goring, away from the temptations that plagued him in London.

It was a complete shock when, on Christmas Day, 2016 he died of natural causes  essentially heart disease. He was only 53. His funeral was a private, quiet affair, attended by no more than 50 people. As they stood to leave and pay their respects for the last time, music drifted around the church. It was a George Michael song, You Have Been Loved. e

 Sean Smith. George: A Memory Of George Michael by Sean Smith is published on Thursday by HarperCollins, priced 16.99. Offer price 13.59 (20% discount) until Nov 19. Order at mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640, p&p is free on orders over 15
'I was terrified, says Willy Russell of the night he found himself way out of his depth, like one of his famous characters. The highly acclaimed playwright  creator of Educating Rita, Blood Brothers and Shirley Valentine  had been persuaded to go along to a university art class, although he barely knew how to paint. God, was I terrified!

Russell had started painting as a kind of therapy during a family crisis, but he wanted to learn more. So he joined the course led by a professor at Hope University in Liverpool, near his home, but it was very awkward. Everyone else seemed to know what they were doing. Russell felt their eyes on him as a result of his fame and was scared they would laugh at his efforts.

Educating Rita was made into an award-winning movie starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine

Its about being open enough to make a complete and utter fool of yourself. Youve got to accept youre in a room with other painters, everyone will paint differently, and nobody can paint your picture  like no one can write your play, no one can write your song. But it can take time getting there.

Hang on, isnt this just like Educating Rita? The play  and movie starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine  tells the story of a working-class hairdresser who arrives at a university for evening classes with a professor of literature and feels way out of her depth.

Isnt it just? You know Ive never thought of it before but that is absolutely right. And theres that famous line. He says, What do you want to know? She says, Everything. Thats what I wanted when I went to that class.

That was ten years ago. Russell still goes to the class, which is called Teaching The Eye To See. But he is now an accomplished painter about to surprise the art world with the first exhibition of his work in London, a show called Seeing Better. Thirty paintings on paper and canvas reveal his rich, colourful style and love of landscape, particularly the rolling hills and big skies of Lancashire, where his father used to take him fishing as a boy.

Its a surprising turn for a playwright to take relatively late in life, as Russell turns 70 this year. We meet at his office in a tall Victorian terraced house near Liverpools Catholic cathedral, where he is dressed in painterly jeans and a dark-blue shirt, his white fringe spilling out from under a beanie hat.

Studio Tuesday  Willy, Den and Fiona, 2015, by Willy Russell

Os Pescadores (The Fishermen), 2013, by Willy Russell

What was he so scared of, joining that class as a very successful man at his age? Well, the fact I didnt have a shred of talent. The first night, the teacher, Peter Moore, did a still life, a glass vase with some lilies in, and he asked us to do the same. Ive still got my painting: a vase thats crippled, wilting more than the flowers, an obscenity on paper. I must frame it, actually.

Youd think someone as celebrated as Russell would have no lack of confidence. He made his name at the age of 26 in 1974 with a hit show about The Beatles called John, Paul, George, Ringo And Bert. Russell moved on to create three of the best-loved stories of recent times. Blood Brothers  a musical about two lads separated at birth, one raised rich and the other poor  ran in the West End for two decades, was a hit on Broadway and is still performed all over the world.

Educating Rita became a modern stage classic as well as an Oscar-nominated movie in 1983. Next was Shirley Valentine, about a frustrated housewife who goes off to Greece and has an affair with a fisherman (as played memorably on screen by Pauline Collins and Tom Conti).

Playwright Willy Russell painting in his studio

Russell is also a very good musician, songwriter and novelist who first picked up a paintbrush at a moment of crisis. I was at my place in Portugal in 1999. My mother had been dead for about six years. My father had issues with booze and pills.

I got a phone call from a member of the family who said in an accusatory way that hed been round to my fathers house and seen him passed out, seriously ill. I said, Hes not seriously ill, go find the bottles.

Then my father came round to see this family member in his house and became very angry because hed been discovered. I was trying to solve the situation from 1,500 miles away. But Id learnt that you cant save a person whos addicted to something. In the end youll be dragged down with it. I wasnt going to uproot my kids and go home to this mess. Russell and his wife Annie have three children: Rob, Ruth and Rachel.

I couldnt sleep after the call, I was getting more and more strung out. One afternoon I sat at the table outside and there was a little palette of paints and paper. I just started doodling. Half an hour later I realised this was the first respite Id had, the only time Id not been thinking about the horrendous situation back home. The next day was Annies birthday and I didnt have a birthday card, so I painted a little scene of the ocean in front of me and gave it to her.

His love affair with painting had begun. What happened with his father? When I got back from Portugal I phoned him and he kicked off on me. That was the end of it, I didnt speak to him again for six years  until he died  and it was a nightmare of a time. Because its so primal. No matter what your relationship, its one of the human beings who gave you life.

By then Russell was drawing and painting enthusiastically, until it was suggested he join a university class. Then he had what he now realises was his Educating Rita moment. But he says the story he wrote for Rita just couldnt happen these days.

We did a terrific production of Educating Rita two years ago at the Liverpool Playhouse but we made a decision very early on that this was a history play. The equivalent set-up is not there today. The idea of return to learn has gone. The Open University is a shadow of what it was in Ritas time.

Universities also no longer provide the broad kind of life education Rita was after, he says. Social mobility has gone and there is no guarantee of a better life through learning.

His art professor in real life is retired, not a lazy, drunken university don with a huge private office and all the time in the world to take Rita under his wing, like Frank in the play. Perhaps if he was a fellow of Oxford or Cambridge, a lecturer like Frank would have that kind of room and that kind of time, but not in the real world of universities today.

Antony Costa and Mark Hutchinson in Willy Russells Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre, London

So he was deeply unimpressed when a Cabinet minister started quoting Educating Rita as an example of how learning could raise people out of poverty. Michael Gove was always touting Educating Rita as a great example of what can be achieved, but he never once acknowledged that under his control as Education Secretary, Frank wouldnt even exist, says Russell. He wouldnt have the time to spend on one Open University student. He would be responsible for 300 students, which is why so many kids go to university and barely see a lecturer. Its an appalling situation now.

His eyes flicker to his pictures, all stacked up. Im a student of art. I will always be an amateur. Not an enthusiastic one, by the way. A bleedin seriously determined amateur. I do love what I do, says Russell, the playwright, songwriter and novelist who has also become a very good painter indeed.

Seeing Better: Willy Russell Paintings 2008-2017 is at the Coningsby Gallery, London W1, until November 18
Glengarry Glen Ross

Playhouse Theatre, London 1hr 45mins Until February 3

Rating:

Apart from Death Of A Salesman, is there a better play than this about selling? Its a piece about foul-mouthed real-estate salesmen flogging duff plots of land in Florida in which closing the deal is everything.

And, boy, is this world brutal if you cant close. Selling is a monthly competition: as the company mantra goes, First prize is a Cadillac, second prize is a set of steak knives, third prize is youre fired.

The absence of women, iPhones and computers in David Mamets office drama dates the play back to its birth in 1983. As does the casual racism.

In this production, film star Christian Slater  all sleaze, charm and cheekbones  plays top salesman Ricky Roma, a total poet when seducing a buyer. Slater is fully at home in the role

Each salesman is desperate to get the Glengarry leads  cards with the names of the top potential clients. Especially Dave Moss who cooks up a plan with failing salesman Shelley Levene

In this production, film star Christian Slater  all sleaze, charm and cheekbones  plays top salesman Ricky Roma, a total poet when seducing a buyer. Slater is fully at home in a role first played by Wycliffe star Jack Shepherd (the plays first production was at the National Theatre), and by Al Pacino in the superb 1992 film version. Whereas Pacino gave a performance thats utterly intense, Slater  on fine form  is lighter and breezier, and his Roma doesnt for a second believe his own sales baloney.

Each salesman is desperate to get the Glengarry leads  cards with the names of the top potential clients. Especially Dave Moss (Robert Glenister, angry and feeling shafted), who cooks up a plan with Shelley Levene, a failing salesman reeking of defeat. This was the part played on screen by Jack Lemmon, doing some of his best ever work. Stanley Townsend here is shiftier, more buoyant, his big eyes ever begging for another chance. Its Levene who breaks into the Chicago office and steals the leads.

Theres a wonderful scene in the ransacked office in which Roma and Levene try to seduce a client whos having second thoughts; its like a con trick from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Kris Marshall, in a riot of beige, is quietly vicious as the young office manager John Williamson, the part played on screen by an ice-cold Kevin Spacey.

Kris Marshall, in a riot of beige, is quietly vicious as the young office manager John Williamson, the part played on screen by an ice-cold Kevin Spacey

The glaring absence here is the always be closing speech. Today, everyone in sales knows that tirade of invective off by heart. Its an industry joke. But Mamet wrote it only to pad out the film, giving Alec Baldwin a single scene. Its not in the play, which doesnt need it.

The lean, macho dialogue is so sharp you could shave with it. But the great thing about Sam Yatess revival is just how funny it is. You feel the glee of the salesmens old war stories.

Mamet may be exposing the cold, black heart of American capitalism but he is clearly also half in love with these Cadillac-hungry conmen  and that love makes all the difference.

A period piece for sure, but this is an American classic that sells itself.

Mother Courage And Her Children

Southwark Playhouse, London Until December 9, 3hrs 5mins

Rating:

When Bertolt Brecht wrote this 17th-century-set anti-war drama about a woman who trawls the battlefields profiting from the spoils of war, he had long fled Nazi Germany and the fascism that was crushing the life out of Europe. Yet this Mother Courage, as she drags her children through the Thirty Years War, seems just as relevant today.

Courage (Josie Lawrence, above with Phoebe Vigor) is a hyena of the battlefield who sacrifices even her own children for profit

Courage (Josie Lawrence) is a hyena of the battlefield who sacrifices even her own children for profit. Lawrence delivers a brutal blend of wit and poignancy with a seamless dash of vaudeville.

There are also powerful performances from David Shelley as the chaplain struggling to rediscover his moral compass, Laura Checkley as whore-with-a-heart Yvette, and Vigor as Courages mute daughter. Hannah Chissicks taut production, with its interrogation-style lighting and stark set, is potent stuff.

Jo Knowsley



Awful Auntie

Richmond Theatre, London On tour until Dec 2, 2018 2hrs

Rating:

After the success of Gangsta Granny and his latest childrens book, Bad Dad (I guess we can look forward to Cranky Cousin and Unattractive Uncle), David Walliamss Awful Auntie gets its stage premiere.

The granny tale was partly inspired by his own relative, but even though he had three aunties, Walliams says not one of them was like Aunt Alberta, an upholstered vision in lurid tweed with wild ginger hair. Just as well, as she has plans to deprive her posh niece Lady Stella  newly orphaned and just out of a coma from an accident that killed her parents  of her inheritance by snagging the imposing Saxby Hall for herself, aided by a giant owl called Wagner (courtesy of puppeteer Roberta Bellekom) and a scary electrified cage (for children!).

As usual with Walliams, most of the young giggles come from fart jokes, and particularly at the slapstick of Timothy Speyers whooping-voiced Alberta

Twelve-year-old Stella, gamely played by Georgina Leonidas, turns detective to learn more about her parents death and foil Albertas dastardly scheme with the help of a cockney chimney- sweep ghost called Soot (Ashley Cousins, very sweet).

Jackie Trousdales set has revolving towers cleverly evoking the labyrinthine Thirties mansion for pursuit scenes. As usual with Walliams, most of the young giggles come from fart jokes, and particularly at the slapstick of Timothy Speyers whooping-voiced Alberta.

For younger viewers, though, the first half of Neal Fosters adaptation in particular is rather wordy, with much of the action concentrated in the shows final 20 minutes. Still, Walliamss story, even with its understated message about class and people being basically the same, certainly kept their attention.

Mark Cook

birminghamstage.com

Big Fish: The Musical

The Other Palace, London Until Dec 31 2hrs 40mins

Rating:

This is a family show in all senses  it has a global TV star, songs that might be from a Disney movie, and while it principally concerns the relationship between a father and son, it also involves mothers, wives and the problem of bringing up children.

Its based on the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace and the screenplay of the 2003 Tim Burton film with Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney. The big fish in question is Edward Bloom, who left the small pond of his Alabama town to find a life and ended up as a travelling salesman.

This is a family show in all senses  it has a global TV star (Kelsey Grammer, above with Matthew Seadon-Young), songs that might be from a Disney movie

He is known for his terrible jokes and tall tales about his life  here given a nice line in bombast by ex- Frasier star Kelsey Grammer  and his frustrated son Will tries to reconcile this with the often absent father he knew before Ed dies. My father talked about a lot of things he never did and did a lot of things he never talked about, Will remarks.

Flashback scenes reveal the stories he told  full of mermaids, circus performers, a shy gay giant  and a young Ed (a charismatic Jamie Muscato) making his way in the world. The stories allow American composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa to introduce many song styles, at one point segueing from the vaudevillian Little Lamb From Alabama to syrupy love song Time Stops.

Ballad Stranger neatly illustrates Wills wonder at the child he is about to have and the father he believes he never knew. And mum Sandras I Dont Need A Roof is winningly rendered by Clare Burt.

Theres some energetic work from the chorus, though the small stage means that some of it is ragged around the edges in Nigel Harmans production, and it feels as if a quirkier, more wistful tale has been hijacked by show tunes. The final song is called How It Ends: for me it was with one layer too many of schmaltz. More a minnow of a musical than a big fish  Im afraid I wasnt really hooked.

Mark Cook
If a man is known by the company he keeps, William Boyd can relax. One of Britains most brilliant and versatile authors, Boyd was buddies with David Bowie, went to school with Prince Charles and has befriended three James Bonds. Recently, he turned his hit novels Any Human Heart and Restless into award-winning screen adaptations starring Jim Broadbent, Michelle Dockery and Charlotte Rampling.

The first-floor sitting room in Boyds elegant terrace house in Chelsea, West London, offers some clues to his lucky life. Near the fireplace is a hefty tome with Bowies face on the front. The pair first met in 1995, as the new boys on the editorial board of art magazine Modern Painters. Boyd is an able artist, a passion he shared with Bowie.

If a man is known by the company he keeps, William Boyd can relax. As well as 14 novels, five short story collections and three plays, he has written 17 screenplays.

In the world of Modern Painters, he just became David Jones, says Boyd, a fit and friendly 65. He was very self-effacing and actually quite nervous. In 1998, Bowie published Boyds elaborate hoax, Nat Tate: An American Artist, an account of a fictional expressionist presented as real-life biography. Bowie wrote the introduction, attended the launch and relished the prank. In private, Boyd recalls a book-devouring auto-didact whose brain didnt have an Off button.

Chatting with him over a cup of tea, he always wanted to talk about a serious subject: Why are there no great women composers? or something. You wanted to say sometimes, Lighten up, lets talk about the weather! There was a sense that he was looking always for the thing that would fulfil him absolutely.

Their friendship had strict parameters. He was a very private man, says Boyd. I never went to any of his homes. If I wanted to get in touch, I would call someone in New York, who would pass it on. Once, when he was living in Switzerland, I had to write to a pseudonym, a Mr Mueller. It was very strange. But when you hung out with him, he was delightful and charming.

Did he know Bowie was dying? I knew he wasnt in good health for quite a long time. He had something like seven heart attacks, which he kept very quiet about. He was a massively heavy smoker when I knew him, constant chain-smoking, but he looked remarkably fit and well. He stopped travelling, and thats when I stopped seeing him. He led a hermetically sealed existence in the last years of his life.

Boyd remembers a very active mind in David Bowie. Chatting with him over a cup of tea, he always wanted to talk about a serious subject'

Boyd also shares Bowies love of cinema. As well as 14 novels, five short story collections and three plays, he has written 17 screenplays. I probably know more actors than novelists, he says. The hang-out factor is pretty good, sitting in a trailer talking to Charlotte Rampling. The novel world doesnt quite match.

His Bond credentials are particularly impressive. By the time Boyd was invited by the Fleming estate to write a new 007 novel, Solo, in 2013, he was friendly with Pierce Brosnan (with whom he worked on Mister Johnson), Daniel Craig (The Trench) and Sean Connery, who starred in the film adaptation of Boyds first novel, A Good Man In Africa. I had friends in the Bahamas, he says. Sean and his wife, Micheline, were neighbours, and would come to dinner. It was extraordinary: the King of Scotland, right there. I got Sean the script of A Good Man In Africa and he loved the role of Dr Murray, but he drove a hard bargain! It was a nice association. He became a great supporter. Id send him books and hed ring me up.

One story in his new collection, The Dreams Of Bethany Mellmoth, lampoons the venality of the movie industry. Boyd smiles. Bitterness, cynicism, the absence of basic good manners, people treating you like a piece of s***  it all seems to be acceptable in that world. There are funny, delightful, amusing people, and theres a very seamy, unpleasant side.

Michelle Dockery and Alexander Fehling in Restless (2012)

Its a hot topic, with the allegations of sexual misconduct currently surrounding Harvey Weinstein, among others. I never met Weinstein, but I know many people who have worked with him, and theres no doubt it was an open secret. Lots of anecdotal chit-chat, Did you hear what Harvey did? On the producing side, he was known as Harvey Scissorhands. Hed buy your film and never release it, or let it sit for six months in a cutting room. That bullying persona was part of his working practices as well as his leisure pursuits. Its all about power.

Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, where his Scottish father worked as a doctor. Before he was ten, he was sent to Gordonstoun. Almost the whole Sixties I was at a single-sex boarding school in the north of Scotland, he sighs. Not long after he arrived, Prince Charles showed up.

Charles is four years older, but he overlapped with me. He was treated like everybody else  absolutely. Its no secret that he didnt enjoy his time there. It was an eccentric school. We lived in conditions of incredible primitiveness. Freezing cold rooms, revolting food, wearing shorts all through winter. I began to feel like a Soviet dissident in internal exile. Life was going on elsewhere. When can I get out? Gordonstoun is a different place now. Its co-ed and a thriving international school.

Another story in Bethany Mellmoth concerns an author taking elaborate revenge on the critic who gave his novel a pasting. Does Boyd fume over bad reviews, or fret that, for all his many prizes, he has yet to win the Booker? Im genuinely unbothered, he says. Reviews and prizes are part of the side show of the writing life. What you want are readers.

Boyd has no shortage of those, having sold more than two million books worldwide, and is justifiably proud that 36 years after publication, A Good Man In Africa remains in print. Each novel takes three years to complete, from the glimmering of an idea. I spend twice as long figuring the book out, fiddling in notebooks, travelling, researching. When I finally know how its going to end, I start. Its usually nine months to a year of writing. Hes currently completing his 15th novel, which may explain this slightly glazed look.

Sean Connery in A Good Man In Africa. Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, where his Scottish father worked as a doctor

As he shows me his study, which resembles a well-stocked library in the aftermath of a small explosion, his wife, Susan, pops in to say hello.

The tormented artist is a romantic view of creation, he reckons. Im totally serious about what I do, but its self-indulgent to allow your moods or frustrations to dominate your family life. You cant be a writer every waking hour. You have to pop out to the shops, and then you become a citizen.

The literary equivalent, perhaps, of slipping between starry David Bowie and plain old David Jones.

The Dreams Of Bethany Mellmoth (Viking) is out now
The subtleties of poetry and essence of authentic narrative were brought out in a compelling session with Prasoon Joshi  poet, author and chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)  on the first day of the Sahitya Aaj Tak literary festival on Friday evening.

Held at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in the capital, the literary festival is a three-day celebration of storytelling, poetry, music and creative expression across the fields of arts.

Joshi began the conversation by posing a question on what is poetry, vis-a-vis Bollywood music.

He said: 'If you call poetry a static form, then yes, perhaps it is missing from music these days. But when you put an accusation on songs, you need to look at the society too.

'Do people have time to listen to poetry? Maybe it's the generation where everything we want is instant, and poetry becomes a bit weak.'

Drawing attention to the inward journey of a poet, he added: 'Before a poet can himself understand, society puts labels on him. The poet tries to understand a stream of thought, and by labeling him, you have stopped it right here.'

When asked about his childhood memories of poetry, he spoke of how he was born in Uttarakhand surrounded by nature, music and parents who were experts in classical music.

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi

Popular as Nizami Brothers, qawwali singers Ghulam Sabir Nizami and Ghulam Waris Nizami gave a soulful performance at the Sahitya Aaj Tak literary festival

Joshi said: 'The metaphors in my songs come from there, with words and sentences from then. I didn't know my work would be appreciated  but phrases like Masti ki Pathshala from Rang De Basanti clicked well.'

Recounting the inspiration for the song Maa from Taare Zameen Par, he shared: 'It is a song on separation, and honestly, in such cases it's best to draw from your personal experiences. I remembered a time in my childhood when my mother had left me for a training programme, and I wrote it from that memory.'

Joshi said: 'I believe in freedom of expression'

Another big hit was the song 'Maula' from Delhi 6, which Joshi sang for an eager audience.

Yet it came as a surprise that he took an entire year to write it: 'I wanted to speak of the emotion when you bow in devotion and forget yourself.

'I saw such a woman in the mosque, her forehead was covered with lines. I sent the idea to A.R. Rahman (music composer) and we took it forward from there.'

Regarding his role on the censor board, Joshi said: 'I believe in freedom of expression, and when you see the expression from a vantage point, you see the point of view of both the artist and the receivers.

'It's hard to sit on the censor board because it is a tough thing to tell someone what works and doesn't.'

He also narrated a number of poems, including Samjho Kuch Ghalat Hai, Tujh Mein Koi Aur Rehta Hai, and Babul Jiya Mora Ghabraye.

The furore surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati refuses to die down. The matter has now escalated to a point where the Supreme Court had to hear a plea challenging the release of the Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor-starrer.

The apex court turned down the plea challenging the release of the film.

It said that as Padmavati has not as yet been cleared by the censor board, the court could not take it up.

The Rajasthan government will also form a committee to probe the controversy and the film's fate in the state will be determined after a report from the group.

BJP MLA Raj Purohit has sent a letter to the information and broadcasting minister

Meanwhile, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member Arjun Gupta wrote to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, saying that strict action should be taken against Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and that he should be tried for 'treason'.

BJP MLA Raj Purohit has also written a letter to the information and broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani seeking a ban on the period drama for showing Rani Padmini in a poor light.

Various groups have been protesting against Padmavati for its alleged distortion of history.

Members of Shree Rajput Karni Sena and others from the Rajput community have been up in arms, burning effigies of Bhansali, shouting slogans and demanding a ban on the movie until it is cleared by the community representatives.

Several royal families in Jaipur have vociferously expressed their resentment over the portrayal of the characters of Padmavati and Allaudin Khilji, which they claim is a distortion of their history.

There were reports that the film would show a romantic dream sequence between Deepika and Ranveer ).

However, Bhansali vehemently denied that such a scene is part of the film.
For 66 years, Albany residents have gathered to remember and honor veterans, both with a parade and with a memorial service.

On Saturday morning, at Timber-Linn Memorial Park, groups of veterans  some in modern uniforms, others with remnants of service from the past, and others with motorcycle club jackets displaying their status  assembled to hear the words and songs, and to witness elements of ceremony they all know well.

Maj. Gen. Michael Stencel used such words as "courage" and "sacrifice." For civilians, those words often translate into respect and awe for those who served. For the veterans, they've become a bond, a collective understanding of the experience of serving and, for many, of fighting.

"In our recent conflicts alone, 20 citizen soldiers from Oregon did not come home," Stencel said, describing the memorial as "a sobering reminder of the challenge our veterans face."

Among the veterans, many wear the Combat Infantry Badge, and still others the new Combat Action Badge, given to noninfantry personnel who have experienced fighting as well.

And there are more than a few of those. The older guys wear their badges on their hats or their coats. The younger ones, some with ready bags still packed in case they need to deploy, wear them on their active uniforms.

The bikers stand in loose formation, their badges worn as patches. Off to the side, the Young Marines stand in tight formation, with fresh faces that cannot yet have the conversations the veterans have.

After the benediction, and then a gun salute from the 2-218 Field Artillery, whose rattling and concussive blasts make it clear why they are known as the King of Battle, Pat Johnson played taps.

At the end of the ceremony, some veterans had tears in their eyes, their courage and their sacrifice marked, their memories saved for themselves or for other veterans.
A solution to cut the alarming levels of pollution in Delhi has been left up in the air as the proposed implementation of the odd-even scheme has now lost steam.

The removal of two-wheelers and women from the new exemption list has led to the the scheme's withdrawal, despite it being scheduled to begin from Monday.

Although the state government explained it was pulled for various reasons, including concerns over women's safety, former AAP leaders have said two-wheeler users comprise a major vote bank for them and hence they do not want to upset them.

While the government was not saying it directly, this move could find its roots in the vote-bank agenda of the party, suggested Swaraj India's spokesperson.

'The government has been incompetent in the face of Delhi's pollution crisis. They cannot attribute the pollution to stubble burning. The government has just provided 3,000 buses, while the required figure is 10,000. It has been inept solving the issue,' Anupam, Swaraj India's national spokesperson told Mail Today.

A thick blanket of smog engulfed the national capital, leading to poor visibility conditions across the city in New Delhi on November 9

The Delhi government withdrew the scheme at the direction of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which said that it should not exclude two-wheelers or women, and instead concentrate mainly on CNG and other vehicles used for public service and during emergencies at the time of implementation of the odd-even rule.

Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said: 'We respect the NGT decision, but its condition of removal of two-wheelers and women from the exemption list has made it difficult to implement the odd-even rule, as we do not have adequate buses.

'At the same time, we cannot compromise with the safety of women. We cannot take risks. PM2.5 and PM10 levels have also come down. So, at the moment, we are calling it off. We will file a review application with NGT on Monday.'

However, the NGT bench, headed by its chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, observed that diesel vehicles and two-wheelers are much bigger contributors to air pollution than petrol-operated cars. Scientists present for CPCC and DPCC told the court that vehicular pollution contributes to nearly 20 per cent of the total air pollution in Delhi and out of this, two-wheelers contribute to less than one-third.

An Indian resident wearing a protective mask walks amid heavy smog in New Delhi on November 9

Police officers had to wear masks while breathing the foul air

They pointed out that the city had more two-wheelers running on its streets compared to other vehicles and also that they emit serious pollutants like carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon, unlike petrol vehicles.

NGT, while laying down conditions to be adhered every time the pollution level increased beyond permissible limits, said: 'It shall be mandatory for NCT Delhi and all its government departments to implement odd-even without default and it shall not be optional for any officer of the government or institutions.'

The court granted exemption to vehicles used for carrying municipal solid waste, ambulances, fire service vans and vehicles used for carrying out emergency services, along with government vehicles.

Wearing a mask in the city

The NGT order said: 'Every entry point in Delhi shall be properly managed by concerned department and the police to ensure that there are no traffic jam at the borders.

'The state governments of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh shall depute special force at the borders with NCT Delhi to ensure that no inconvenience is caused and congestion is avoided with an aim to control air pollution at those points.'

According to the order, all the private transporters who are granted permits by respective state governments and NCT Delhi would provide CNG buses in co-ordination with the transport department and NCT of Delhi for carrying passengers, free of charges, in discharge of their corporate social responsibility as they are the beneficiaries of the state's largesse.

The national capital will not see the Delhi government's scheme after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) questioned the reasoning behind the car rationing formula.

Under the scheme, which had initially been proposed to be carried out for five days, starting Monday, vehicles with odd and even numbers were to be allowed to ply on alternate days.

But, a senior Delhi transport department official, after a meeting with transport minister Kailash Gahlot on Friday, had warned that: 'The NGT has put the inconvenience caused to the public as a ground which cannot be defended because the pollution levels have gone down.'

The green court, coming down heavily on the AAP government, sought the justification of exempting two-wheelers and women drivers during the odd-even scheme despite knowing that two-wheelers caused 46 per cent pollution, as per a recent IIT-Kanpur report.

CNG stickers being distributed at CNG distribution centres in the city

The court was of the opinion that the government was only focusing on odd-even and had ignored other measures that an Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) panel had suggested to the Delhi high court.

On April 21 last year, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) too had told NGT that there was no data to suggest that the odd-even scheme has led to a decline in vehicular pollution in Delhi-NCR.

'The SC and NGT have suggested 100 measures to curb pollution, but you always opt for odd-even. Nothing has been done by the Delhi government in the past one year,' a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

Directing the city government not to implement the scheme unless it was proved beyond doubt that it would not be counterproductive, the NGT asked it to give an undertaking that it will roll out odd-even only when PM 2.5 was more than 300.

The prevailing level of PM2.5 in the Capital was hovering around 433 microgrammes per cubic metre, while PM10 stood at around 617, as per latest CPCB data.

Meanwhile, alternate measures have been explored by the AAP government as it has decided to engage with Pawan Hans for aerial sprinkling.

A policeman wearing a protection mask as he works near Raisina Hill amid heavy smog in New Delhi on Friday, November 10

'The Delhi government is in talks with Pawan Hans for aerial sprinkling of water over the city to bring down particulate matter,' environment minister Imran Hussain tweeted on late Friday evening.

Taking a cue from the NGT's observation, the Opposition came down heavily on the AAP government.

'The Delhi government's decision to reintroduce the odd-even scheme is yet another act of theatrics by the AAP and would only add to people's woes,' Union minister and BJP leader Vijay Goel said, further terming it as a knee-jerk reaction by the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

Pollution has been smothering the area

'Various reports had earlier said how the scheme had failed in curtailing the air pollution level in the Capital. The idea and its implementation have been a big failure. It should not be implemented,' he added.

The AAP government, despite the NGT setback, had said it was ready for the odd-even drill and would introduce 500 extra buses.

Government sources said that additional buses would be evenly plied spanning across the length and breadth of the city according to the basic plan charted out by transport department.

'To evenly distribute the burden of commuters across Delhi, transport department will deploy 125 buses in all four zones.

Construction site

'Additionally, the transport department will arrange for 10-20 buses in each depot,' said VK Mongia, deputy commissioner at transport department.

Meanwhile, favouring the introduction of the odd-even scheme in a statement released on Friday, Ola said the current levels of air pollution in the national Capital were troublesome and it was necessary to take urgent steps.

'We welcome the odd-even initiative and needless to say, have suspended peak pricing in Delhi,' said the statement.

After the NGT pointed out that construction activities, carriage of construction material and burning of waste and crop residue are major contributors to air pollution in Delhi and NCR, it noted that the best solution to curb pollution level is sprinkling water.

The green panel said it is commonly agreed by all parties and stakeholders that sprinkling of water is a substantial solution adding: 'We direct that it should be implemented without default and delay in future and even during the coming week unless it rains in the next two days.'

Delhi Fire Services sprinkled water on trees across the national capital as part of measures to control pollution in New Delhi on November 10, 2017

The court also formed a committee and directed it to collect the data of ambient air quality that shall be tested at least for eight parameters.

A due compilation of at least two samples a day during the peak hours shall be maintained continuously for a period of ten days.

'All these samples shall be analysed at the laboratory of the Central Pollution Control Board and IIT Delhi. The report shall be submitted to the tribunal on the next date of hearing.'

During the hearing, it was brought to the notice of the court that NHAI was carrying on heavy earth-moving and construction activity at the CWG Complex crossing near Akshardham.

NBCC project in Kidwai Nagar was another instance provided. It issued show-cause notice to both the bodies.

The court also directed them and the DDA to post special forces on landfill sites to ensure that there was no fire and also that action was taken against the erring officers.

Government bodies, corporations and the NDMC were asked to immediately take steps to rectify discrepancies and ensure better co-ordination among all who are involved.

The court also asked the Delhi Police commissioner to seize vehicles violating the tribunal's directions.
Struggling to find an identity and accept a place in life is no uncommon territory for teenagers seeking to recognise where it is exactly they fit.

Some however, find it harder than others, and many including 22-year-old Tayla Hartley are faced with overcoming adversities throughout a series of challenges which push their mental boundaries to the limit.

Growing up Tayla, a Taranaki-born university student, felt out of place and struggled to fit in with others.

This was the beginning of the inner-battle she would constantly face over the next two decades.

Tayla Hartley (pictured) faced adversities throughout a series of challenges as she grew up

'I always felt like I was too shy or not as happy or fun to be around as other children,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Her earliest memory of questioning herself or contemplating her life's meaning and worth was at kindergarten at just three years old.

'I wasn't as carefree seeming as the other children playing at my kindergarten.'

Tayla was raised in a small community on New Zealand's west coast in a rural area, often hanging out with her older brother and his friends.

'I think because of that I was quite a tomboy when I was younger because I remember having only one friend that was a girl who I felt confident enough to hang out with outside of school without my brother.

'I was always pretty sensitive so when kids would like tease me or something I'd always take it to heart and get really self conscious and overthink about whatever they had said to me.'

This mentality began brewing low-esteem and planted a lack of confidence that would ripple into her teenage years.

'It's silly because we were all just kids and what not but even now I still notice myself focusing on little things on my body or about my personality that they would tease me about.'

Now 22, Tayla is sharing her inner-battles in a bid to normalise her experiences

As a young girl (pictured) growing up in the country Tayla felt out of place, first questioning everything when she was just three years old

As Tayla got older, different experiences in her life would trigger an emotional reaction - which would continuously take her to the edge.

'It wasn't a self-loathing wanting to die thing, it was more just that I felt so out of place I didn't think it would have mattered at all if I wasn't around.'

In 2011 she was sexually assaulted and by the beginning of 2012, had lost her relationship with her on and off boyfriend. To add to her stresses, just weeks later, her good friend tried to commit suicide which threw Tayla into a downward spiral.

Today she is a Bachelor of Science student, who is majoring in psychology, but in her last year of high school Tayla made a serious attempt at taking her life.

'I think i was just too overwhelmed with my mind and not being able to cope with what had happened that past year with.

'I had been through the assault, the breakup, and my friend trying to end her life, as well as the anxiety of knowing my birthday was coming up and that I would be made to acknowledge it in some sort way.

'I always tried to ignore my birthday but my family and close friends would always make a big deal out of it.

The university student was pushed to suicide attempts through throughout her late teens

'I knew people loved and cared about me but I believed I was too much of a burden and they were wasting their time and energy caring about me.

'I wanted to die so they didn't have to spend their lives worrying about me because I wasn't worth that sort of kindness and effort. And it frustrated me because I felt like I was trying to do them a favour but I knew they wouldn't see it that way.'

Tayla would resort to making jokes and comedy in an attempt to play down her negative energy and thoughts.

On and off over two years she would be searching for reasons to try stay alive for her family and friends even though all she wanted to do was 'end it all'.

Tayla wrote countless suicide notes trying to explain everything only to rip them up and throw them out because they didn't seem good enough.

She says she felt trapped in a life that she didn't want for the sake of keeping everyone else happy.

'I felt so out of place and strange it was kind of reassuring to me in a way if someone laughed at a joke I said or something I had done intentionally to try and be funny that my existence mustn't be completely pointless because I made someone feel a little happier, even if just for that moment.

After suffering through an unstable relationship, sexual assault and constantly questioning everything she was pushed to the edge

Tayla was raised in a small community on New Zealand's west coast in a rural area

'Even now though, one of the things that still reassures me the most when I am feeling down about myself or my worth is if I can make someone else smile or laugh or just try to improve someone else's mood in general.

'I think that's part of the reason why I wanted to study psychology. Because I still think my main purpose here is to try help other people feel happier, and it makes me happier to do that so it's like a self-rewarding thing as well.'

Today she has adapted to a normal routine which contrasts from her former lifestyle when she was fighting an ongoing resistance in her mind to choose life over death.

When Tayla was in a bad space at the end of 2016 she tried to overdose before finding a mirror, which she kept in case she wanted to injure herself with the glass.

'It wasn't sharp enough and I wasn't brave enough to withstand the physical pain to just stab myself with it, that made me feel like a failure as well because it made me feel like I was too weak and that other people would look down on me for it.

After the Bachelor of Science student - who is majoring in psychology made a serious attempt at taking her life her parents (pictured right: mum) and friends rushed to her aid

'I was scared that people would think I was being an attention seeker because they would have the mindset that if I did really want to die then I would have just stabbed myself and been done with it but it wasn't that simple to me.

'The sad thing with self harm is that if you're desperate enough, you will always be able to find something around you to hurt yourself with... my struggle at that point was that I no longer just wanted to hurt myself.'

In January, she was admitted to a mental health ward, which provoked further issues that she speaks out about in a video on YouTube.

The experience however, did allow Tayla to see that mental health in New Zealand is at a crisis point, and urged her to want to be part of the solution.

She is completing the final year of her degree in psychology while focusing on adapting techniques she had learned to benefit herself but still was prone to low points.

'I grew happier helping others as I feel like that is my main purpose in life, but I had to train my brain to understand that the best way for me to help others to be happier would be to stick around and physically be here when they needed me.

'I learned that in order to fully be able to help someone I also had to help myself as it was pointless preaching all of this advice to others if I did not believe it could also be applied to me.'

Tayla was eventually able to adopt techniques to help herself to help others which she works on now

Having since adapted to a normal routine today, back then she was fighting a resistance in her mind to commit to life

Now she encourages other people to speak up if they need help,

'It doesn't show weakness to admit that you need help - it shows courage that they're fighting against this negative stigma and belief about themselves to try and improve and help themselves.

She says more needs to be done to normalise the conversation around self-doubt, low self-esteem, bad days, questioning where you fit and lack of understanding from others.

'The world is still not completely accepting of those in it who struggle with mental illness but it's not the worlds acceptance that you need.

'You will never be truly happy with yourself if you spend your life trying to fit into a mould of what you believe is expected of you from others in society.

'The best thing you can do for yourself and those that you care about is to find the things in life that make you happy within yourself.

'Be honest with your struggles; being honest with the things you do not like about your life and your illness is the first step to finding strategies that will best suit you for your recovery.'
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski celebrated their May engagement Thursday night with a party in Manhattan full of media and political stars - but the only Trump to be seen was a fake who busted in during a toast to call the duo 'fake news'.

Among the heavy hitters photographed leaving the shindig were former Secretary of State John Kerry, Martha Stewart, Senator Chuck Schumer, Al Sharpton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

And there was even support from their television competition, as CBS morning anchors Gayle King and Charlie Rose were also in attendance.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinksi celebrated their engagement Thursday night in New York

Among the famous friends in attendance were Martha Stewart, Gayle King and former Secretary of State John Kerry

Martha walked out with ad man Donny Deutsch, left, a frequent guest on Morning Joe

Stewart said goodnight to Kerry with a kiss. Gayle King and her CBS co-anchor Charlie Rose were both in attendance

The happy couple held hands as they left the apartment of frequent Morning Joe guest and financier Steve Rattner, who hosted the party as his Fifth Avenue apartment.

During Rattner's toast to the 'First Couple of Cable News', the car czar was interrupted by a Donald Trump impersonator.

'The fake news is at it again. They love to lie,' the impersonator hollered, according to Page Six.

The couple, who got engaged in May, have famously fallen out with Donald Trump. They were toasted by a Trump impersonator instead who interrupted host Steve Rattner to claim the couple are 'fake news'

While the President did not attend, other politicians did. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was there fresh off his re-election and Senator Chuck Schumer was also in attendance

'The show is awful and unwatchable. People are saying it was canceled weeks ago.'

Fake Trump also joked, 'I never gave intelligence to Russians because I never had intelligence and I never will.'

The MSNBC couple have famously fallen out with Donald Trump, with whom they were once on friendly terms.

Most recently the President accused Brzezinski of bleeding badly all over Mar-a-Lago from a non-existent face lift on New Year's Eve.

Al Sharpton attended with his longtime girlfriend, stylist Aisha McShaw

Sharpton even snuck a photo from the inside, posted on Instagram with the caption, 'Joe and Mika are incredible people individually, their marriage will be amazing. Much prayers and blessings to two of the best'

However, according to the couple, who got engaged in May in France, the Trump in fact offered to perform their wedding during a February visit to the White House - before there was even a ring on it.

They turned him down. No wedding plans have been announced.

The other guests would be familiar faces to viewers of Morning Joe. Also there were various media figures from New York, including Tina Brown, Peggy Noonan, Andre Leon Talley, Nicolle Wallace, Peter Orzsag and Joanna Coles

Andre Leon Talley, editor-at-large for Vogue magazine, was also there to fete the couple
'It was fun while it lasted.'

Those are the chilling words spoken by a convicted paedophile while being questioned by police over the rape of a 13-year-old girl who was pimped out by her father in Australia's most egregious child abuse case.

Former Perth builder Alfred 'Freddy' Impicciatore, 47, was one of the so-called 'Evil Eight' paedophiles who viciously raped, drugged and filmed a young girl while her father watched nearby or sometimes joined in.

While police were investigating the horrendous crimes the girl said her father was often present during the assaults 'to make sure I was okay' and would be 'calming her down', according the Daily Telegraph.

Former Perth builder Alfred 'Freddy' Impicciatore, 47, was one of the so-called 'Evil Eight' paedophiles who viciously raped, drugged and filmed a young girl

Impicciatore's victim was raped or indecently dealt with by six other men, including evangelical Christian pastor David Volmer, after her father pimped her out online. A seventh man's case was later found to be unrelated to the girl.

The girl's father, who cannot be named as it would identify his daughter, has been jailed for 22 years.

In his decision, Judge Mark Herron said the father met Impicciatore on the messaging app Kik after the builder posted an ad looking for 'girls or women'.

Speaking to police after his arrest in 2015, Impicciatore said: 'To be honest, it was fun while it lasted, but it went way over the line.'

He was found guilty of four counts of sexually penetrating the teenager, who described him as a 'chubby Chihuahua owner'.

In his decision, Judge Mark Herron said the father met Impicciatore on the messaging app Kik after the builder posted an ad looking for 'girls or women'.

The girl was raped or indecently dealt with by six other men, including evangelical Christian pastor David Volmer

Impicciatore admitted sexually penetrating the girl in a police interview where he was described by the judge as 'rattled'.

He said the girl's father raped her first.

In the police interview, he said he was 'spun out' after being told the girl was 13-years-old. He claimed the girl's father told him she was 17.

He said the father spoke to him about 'you know, doing it on a regular basis and being best mates'. 'It was really weird,' he said.

Ryan Trevor Clegg pleaded guilty to 15 charges, including sexually penetrating and indecently recording a child, and was jailed in January for 12 years and nine months

During the judge-alone trial, Impicciatore's lawyer John Hawkins argued his client's admissions during the police interview were unreliable.

Impicciatore was stressed and anxious, 'tired and cold' and wanted to end the interview quickly, the court was told.

But the judge found 'to an extent, his stress and anxiety were because... of (Impicciatore) knowing what he had done and having to face up to it... 'He was troubled by what he knew he had done and was wrestling with his conscience'.

Impicciatore admitted sexually penetrating the girl in a police interview where he was described by the judge as 'rattled'

His DNA evidence was also found on a torn condom wrapper in the father's bedroom, the court heard, and the judge found him guilty on all four counts.

Impicciatore had a troubled journey to the guilty verdict. On May 22, he skipped the first day of his initial trial.

Police blasted out an alert seeking his whereabouts, claiming he fled Western Australia with female friend Rachel Galvin and had dyed his hair red.

He was found with Ms Galvin more than 3,700km away in the township of Merriwa, two hours' drive south of Tamworth, New South Wales.

'The only rational inference which can be drawn from it, that he fled from a consciousness of guilty, reinforces the findings I have already made,' Judge Herron said.

Impicciatore will be sentenced in March next year.

The girl is now in care and was said to be receiving treatment.
While many politicians have gotten caught up in the citizenship debacle, it appears one Aboriginal advocate also can't escape having his heritage questioned.

Pat Dodson, a first Australian and Labor senator, told ABC News he was an Australian 'through and through' but it's the public's reference to his father's Irish heritage that has people asking questions.

Possibly a dual-national by descent, Senator Dodson said his father, although thought to be of Irish decent, was born in Launceston, Tasmania.

Pat Dodson (pictured), first Australian and Labor senator, told ABC News he was an Australian but it's the public's reference to his father's Irish heritage that has people asking questions

According to ABC News, one document lists Senator Dodson as British in July 1947, before Australian citizenship was thought of.

In 2003, Senator Dodson 's chief of staff Kevin Keeffe wrote a novel 'Paddy's Road: Life Stories of Patrick Dodson' saying his family left 'no clues and no family connection' had come forward.

'Another has suggested he was a draft-dodger who changed his name on leaving Tasmania.

While others believe Senator Dodson's father was 'Irish Australian', the senator rejects the suggestion.

'The only known Irish connection in my family is my mother's mother's father,' Senator Dodson told ABC News.

The citizenship saga shook parliament in recent months which lead to the stripping of titles for many politicians including ex-deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and former Greens senators Scott Ludlum and Larissa Waters.
An 18-year-old girl was killed by a hit and run driver when she was mowed down while she checked her car for damage after getting in a small fender-bender.

Taranjit Parmar had called her mother to tell her she'd just gotten in a small accident in Levittown, Long Island on Thursday when she was mowed down, her father told the New York Daily News.

'She called my wife and said, "Hi, Mom,"' the heartbroken father, Ranjit Parmar, told the Daily News.

'Then she said "Oh, no, stop!" and the call got disconnected. There was no answer.'

Taranjit, who had just started college at Adelphi University and was studying to become a dentist, was on her way home around 4.45 pm when she was involved in a minor fender-bender accident on Hempsted Turnpike.

Taranjit Parmar had called her mother to tell her she'd just gotten in a small accident in Levittown, Long Island on Thursday when she was mowed down

According to her father she was just 10 minutes down the road from her home when the accident took place. Medics arrived quickly at the scene and rushed Taranjit to Nassau University Medical Center, where she died of severe injuries to her head and chest

According to her father, a red pickup truck made a turn onto the highway and struck his daughter's jeep.

Both she and the driver of the truck pulled over outside a gas station, as if to exchange numbers and insurance information.

However, when she got out to look at how badly her 2018 Jeep was damaged, the pickup's driver sped off and mowed her down.

She was just 10 minutes down the road from her home when the fatal accident took place.

'A witness said she had just stepped out of her car and looked at the damage and then approached the pickup to talk to the other guy, but the other guy basically took off, dragging her along with him,' Mr Paramer told the Daily News.

The incident happened was on her way home around 4.45 pm and was involved in a minor fender-bender accident on Hempsted Turnpike (pictured). When she got out of her car to inspect the damage she was mowed down

His oldest daughter, he said she was a role model to her sisters and a foundation of the family.

'She even told us what to do as parents,' he explained.

Medics arrived quickly at the scene and rushed Taranjit to Nassau University Medical Center, where she died of severe injuries to her head and chest.

Police are still looking for the driver, and it isn't clear if they have any ideas as to who he might be.

Anyone with information on the driver or who may have seen the accident is asked to call Nassau County Crime Stoppers.
Sarah Budge (pictured) John Ibrahims glamorous model girlfriend, appeared to be relieved of the stress of facing firearms offences as she partied with friends on Friday

Surrounded by diamonds, caviar, champagne and famous friends Sarah Budge, John Ibrahims glamorous model girlfriend, appeared to be relieved of the stress of facing firearms offences as she partied with friends on Friday.

The pretty 27-year-old brunette was charged with firearm and ammunition offences after a gun was allegedly found in her wardrobe during a police raid on The King of the Cross' home in August.

Mr Ibrahim was not charged with any offences as a result of the raid - but his brother and son were both charged for their alleged role in a billion-dollar tobacco and drug smuggling syndicate.

But the couple appeared to put their troubles aside on Friday night - as they enjoyed fine food and the company of famous friends Kyle Sandilands and Imogen Anthony.

The small party sat around a large table with a white table cloth and a centrepiece of diamond jewellery.

Ms Budge appeared to be partying with friends Kyle Sandilands, left, and Imogen Anthony - Ms Anthony was seen clutching a pair of diamond earrings which formed the table centrepiece

Budge, left, was charged with firearms offences following a police raid on her boyfriend's home in August. Pictured right is a platter of caviar and oysters and some of Ms Anthony's impressive diamond rings

Sitting at the head of the table, in a gold encrusted chair was former escort agency boss and convicted drug dealer Simon Main.

Main cut a comfortable figure as he watched the guests, including Budge, laugh with each other over cartoons in their likeness.

The King of the Cross, John Ibrahim was also at the lavish get together

The heavily-jeweled centerpiece of the table, left and Ms Anthony at the party, right

These images of the party-goers appeared to be a hit with the couples squealing in delight at the sight of them

The brunette beauty smiled as Anthony clutched to a pair of diamond earrings, her long-term partner Kyle Sandilands gave the camera a concerned look as she hugged the jewels close to her face.

Packets of cigarettes, discarded rings and golden spoons were scattered messily across the table.

Just last week the brunette beauty looked downcast as she attended court over the gun charges - Mr Ibrahim made a rare public appearance to support her

Sarah Budge and John Ibrahim pictured on a swing together before the police raids

Just last week Budge appeared in court over the offences.

She appeared stressed-out and downcast as she walked toward the courts with Mr Ibrahim - who is rarely seen in public but stepped out in support of her.

Budge wore a $1000 Scanlan Theodore outfit to the well-publicised appearance.

Convicted drug dealer Simon Main was also at the event - sitting comfortably at the head of the table in his gold encrusted chair

Budge appeared content at the party just a week after her court appearance




It is a posting strictly for those who want to get away from it all.

An island which is home only to 200,000 seabirds requires a ranger to spend summer there.

And once the tourists leave, they will have just a few volunteers to help while away the long evenings.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust is advertising for the ranger to stay on Handa, a 1mile-square island three miles off Sutherland.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust, which manages the island of Handa, is offering a 14,500-a-year job to cover the summer seasons next year

There have been no residents since 1848 but it now receives more than 7,000-plus visitors every summer as it is close to the booming North Coast 500 road route.

Now the trust, which manages Handa with owners Scourie Estate, is offering a 14,500-a-year job to cover the summer season from March to September 2018.

It says: You will need good physical fitness, and the desire to work out of doors in a remote location. Familiarity with Handa Island would be an advantage.

Weekly trips to Scourie (the nearest remote village) are necessary to do laundry, banking, shopping and exchange gas bottles.

Therefore, a current driving licence and access to a vehicle are both essential.

Accommodation for the post is provided free of charge in the purpose-built rangers bothy (a small hut or cottage).

The trust will consider applications from both job-share couples or individuals and the closing date is Monday.

From the door you can see mountains such as Suilven, Foinaven and Ben Mor Coigach as well as seals and otters on the nearby beach. Pictured: The summer cottage, which comes with this spectacular

Puffins are plentiful on Handa. The red sandstone island and its steep cliffs are now recognised as one of Scotlands best seabird sanctuaries

Five years ago, Handa had a 50,000 comfort stop installed to keep up with the tourist boom. The Handa eco loo is turf-roofed and made of steel.

It took a team of five men six days to build on an island so difficult to reach it needed two landing craft, making several attempts, to land the specially-designed materials on shore.

From the door you can see mountains such as Suilven, Foinaven and Ben Mor Coigach as well as seals and otters on the nearby beach.

The red sandstone island and its steep cliffs are now recognised as one of Scotlands best seabird sanctuaries.

It is manned in the summer by four long-term volunteers as well as 45 short-term volunteers.

But from September until March the island is completely uninhabited.

On the islands busiest days it can receive up to 150 visitors, with birdwatchers coming to view, among other species, one of Europes biggest colonies of guillemots  as well as red grouse, puffin, Arctic skua, Arctic tern, eider duck and various gulls.
Wind farm operators have been paid nearly 360million to switch off turbines because they are producing more power than the grid can take.

These constraint payments have soared since 2010  yet more turbines continue to spring up across the country.

National Grid, the power transmission network, compensates energy providers if it asks them to switch off to prevent the grid becoming overloaded.

A record 69 wind farms were paid to stop transmitting in the last weekend of October.

Analysis of National Grid figures shows it paid 334.7million to wind farms between 2010 and September this year

Analysis of National Grid figures shows it paid 334.7million to wind farms between 2010 and September this year. It is estimated to have paid a further 24.5million since then.

Critics said the rising costs, ultimately passed on to the public, were bad for consumers and showed the industry was seriously overheated.

Payments have risen from 200,000 in 2010  the first year they were made  to 85.4million in 2016.

The average price this year was 70 per megawatt hour.

Scottish wind farms are the primary recipients of constraint payments because there are growing numbers of turbines north of the border, encouraged by Holyrood. But a 1billion subsea cable, due to open in 2015, to bring the extra wind power south has been delayed due to manufacturing problems.

Several recent payments have gone to new wind farms, meaning they are asked to switch off almost as soon as they open. The money is not pure profit  power generators will have already paid out to access the transmission system.

Dr Lee Moroney, research director at the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), said: The fact that new wind farms are constrained off as soon as they start generating, sometimes even before they are officially opened, shows that the Scottish Government has allowed the wind sector to become seriously overheated.

This is very bad for consumers, who have to pay high constraint payments in the short run and high grid expansion costs in the longer run.

Wind farm numbers have ballooned since the 1990s, encouraged by government. But it ended subsidies last April, saying there were now enough projects to meet renewable energy needs.

Despite this, 63million was doled out to switch off turbines between January and August, meaning this years bill looks set to be the highest yet.

Several recent payments have gone to new wind farms, meaning they are asked to switch off almost as soon as they open

The total cost to National Grid of switching gas producers on or off since 2014 is 985.4million. In all, it has spent around 1.6billion since 2014 switching different energy sources on or off because the grid cannot cope with all the power they produce, including compensating owners.

Industry body Renewable UK said the figures showed constraint payments for wind should drop to nearly zero once the subsea cable is operating.

A National Grid spokesman said: Wind constraint payments are the most economically efficient way of managing additional green capacity while we retain and reinforce capacity on our electricity network, such as the 1billion Western Link subsea connection that will bring renewable energy from Scotland to the UK.

This strategy is delivering, with National Grid announcing that the summer of 2017 was the greenest ever with almost 52 per cent of our electricity generation met by low carbon sources, compared to around 35 per cent four years ago.
Girls should learn how to cope with teasing and 'banter' at school because it prepares them for male-dominated workplaces, according to a leading head teacher.

Lucy Elphinstone, headmistress of Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, said girls need to learn how to be less sensitive so that they can deal with the rough-and-tumble of adult life.

She pointed out that many boys make fun of each other often as a mark of 'endearment'  and that girls may find they have to be a part of this when they enter the world of work.

She also said girls need to learn how to 'blag' a bit more about their skills, if they are to compete with some of their more 'egotistical' male peers.

Lucy Elphinstone, headmistress of Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, said girls need to learn how to be less sensitive so that they can deal with the rough-and-tumble of adult life. Pictured: A stock image of workplace banter

These skills will help them excel in male-dominated fields such as law, politics, banking and finance, she added.

Mrs Elphinstone, whose school is top-performing and charges fees of 20,000 a year, said such behaviour is often counter-intuitive for many girls who 'want to please' and feel they have to be 'good'.

But she said: 'Girls are perhaps by nature sensitive and easily hurt. Very often when we hear something that is just gentle teasing, we tend to call it bullying, while boys would never call [it] that.

'They are used to calling each other nicknames, pushing each other around a bit, making fun of each other, but often it's a sign of endearment.

'Girls need to learn to not take themselves quite so seriously, to learn to laugh at themselves a little bit more and to understand that teasing isn't necessarily something that is cruel or unkind.

'It prepares them for a world where they will get far worse than teasing and it toughens them up a little bit.

'I think it's great if they learn how to banter a little bit, like boys do.'

She said all-girls schools can be a great place to develop these skills, and Francis Holland also tries to encourage girls to 'take risks' and 'encounter failure'.

And she said that while sometimes boys needed to be a bit 'less egotistical' and 'more honest about their own skills', girls often have the opposite problem.

She said while many girls will only apply for a job if they are convinced they are more than qualified for it, male counterparts will not necessarily let such things get in their way.

'I certainly teach my girls that well known trait, and that is how to blag it,' she said.

'Girls need to know just as much as any boy that sometimes you have to wing it and sometimes you have to go for that job or that position when you are not sure whether you have all the experience or qualifications necessary but you are brave enough to have a go and believe in yourself.

'We as women tend to be much more authentic and truthful than men are, sometimes to our own detriment.'

She added that the so-called 'glass ceiling' which prevents women progressing in the world of work may be partly down to psychology.

She blamed it partly on 'this fear of getting things wrong, the curse of the good girl, fear of not being liked and not pleasing people.'

It comes amid a growing row over the gender gap in pay, with the BBC left embarrassed earlier this year when it emerged the Today Programme's Sarah Montague was being paid a fraction of the salary of her co-presenter, John Humphrys.

The Fawcett Society has said that as of yesterday  November 10  women are on average working for free for the rest of the year in comparison with their male counterparts because of the gap in pay.
Every veteran has a tinge of survivors guilt, Dave Perry said. Hes trying to lessen his through volunteering to help other soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard vets, many of whom had it far rougher during wartime.

Its his way of making things right for not being sent to fight with the brown-water Navy in the Mekong River Delta.

Perry, a 74-year-old Albany resident, was honored Friday night at the Veteran of the Year Banquet, held this year at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center.

He acknowledges that he won the lottery with his Vietnam-era Navy assignment in Hawaii.

All the men and women in Vietnam were doing the heavy lifting, Perry explained.

Perry has a long list of volunteerism, including with the Vietnam Veterans of America and Vets Helping Vets HQ.

He is particularly fond of his work for a Wall of Honor recognizing those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as taking residents at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home in Lebanon to a fishing pond almost every week in the spring and summer.

There are men and women who come. They just love catching fish, Perry said. Some of the vets dont have the motor skills to cast and reel in a whopper, but they can get help, and they enjoy the field trips and being outdoors, he added.

The Wall of Honor, which has been displayed five times at Heritage Mall, is a sort of magnet for veterans, Perry said. Regardless of when a vet was in, vets come to see that, he said.

Perry also has helped build wheelchair ramps for disabled veterans, and brought meals and other food resources to vets in need.

Volunteering for and with other veterans gives him a sense of connection and fulfillment.

I tell you, I made some of the best friends of my life, Perry added. A lot of people dont understand the brotherhood and sisterhood of the veterans community.  I think its true of a lot of vets: You find a cause greater than yourself.

Perry enlisted in the Navy while he was enrolled at Southern Oregon College in 1965 because felt the draft breathing down on him. He had two years in the active reserves, two years of active duty, followed by another two years in the active reserves.

He expected to experience heavy combat in Vietnam, but when he got his duty orders they said ComServPac  which stands for commander service force Pacific fleet.

A grizzled vet first wondered aloud how Perry landed his assignment, then explained to him that he was headed to the Hawaiian Islands.

I dont know why I got the lucky straw, Perry said.

Ive talked with so many guys who went over there (to Vietnam) and the crap they had to endure he said, his voice trailing off.

He spent much of his time working for a fleet supply admiral, and he later became the classified materials custodian for the admiral.

Our job was to get all the beans and bullets over to them, Perry said.

With the classified clearance, he also saw the tallies of American soldiers killed in action every day, and wondered if hed see his cousin among them. (Thankfully, the cousin wasnt.) He also became skeptical of the media after seeing inaccurate coverage of the war.

Perry grew up in Eugene, and his great-great-grandfather was the captain of a wagon train that arrived in Oregon in 1851.

That led to work at the Gillespie Cemetery near Eugene, which is named for his ancestor. Perry has helped identify about 45 veterans there who werent being recognized, including a Civil War vet and two men who were part of the Oregon militia in 1859.

Perry came to Albany in 2002 to take a job with Citizens Bank as the manager of its east Albany branch and he hasnt left. Albanys our hometown now, Perry said.

The graduate of South Eugene High School has been married to Annette Perry for 50 years. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Cadbury's UK arm paid no corporation tax on profits of more than 100m, newly-published accounts reveal.

The chocolate maker has been accused of free riding after filings laid bare the tax position of Cadbury Ltd, a holding company which is part of US food giant Mondelez.

This firm posted profits of 103m in 2016 but paid no corporation tax for the sixth year in a row.

The chocolate maker has been accused of free riding after filings laid bare the tax position of Cadbury Ltd, a holding company which is part of US food giant Mondelez

And Mondelez UK Ltd  which Mondelez said was a legal entity  paid just 122,000 in tax on sales of 1.65bn and profits of 22m.

Over the same period, Cadbury Ltd paid out a 255m dividend to its owners Kraft food.

Last night a Mondelez spokesman insisted the firm paid all the taxes it owed and was a significant contributor to the UK economy.

But John Christensen, director of the Tax Justice Network, said the figures raised serious questions about Cadburys tax affairs.

Mondelez UK Ltd  which Mondelez said was a legal entity  paid just 122,000 in tax on sales of 1.65bn and profits of 22m

The campaigner added: Quite clearly, British citizens are not getting the tax on Cadburys profits that we should be receiving.

While no one is suggesting that anything illegal has taken place, Cadbury is clearly not abiding by the spirit of the UKs tax laws, despite relying on our markets, labour force and facilities.

Its free riding on the British public  and that raises serious questions about why the Government is allowing it to happen.

We seem to be losing out, big time.

He claimed HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which collects tax in the UK, was under-resourced and not properly equipped to pursue tax from multi-national companies.

Cadbury was controversially taken over by Kraft Foods for 11.5bn in 2010.

Its new owners moved 400 jobs to Poland and shut a factory near Bristol after the deal, despite previously indicating they would be safe.

The firms head office was also moved to Zurich.

It firm is now part of Mondelez International, Krafts renamed food business which was spun-off in 2012.

Accounts show Cadbury Ltd has made 4.33bn in profits from 2010 to 2016 but paid no tax, in stark contrast to before its takeover.

Cadbury Plc paid a total of 133m of tax on 778m of profits in 2008 and 2009.

It comes amid mounting anger at multi-national companies who use complex tax structures.

Last year Ruth Cadbury, a descendent of one of the companys founders, claimed her forebears would be spinning in their urns if they knew of its modern arrangements.

She said: There was worry that a big international firm taking over an iconic firm like Cadbury would be a loss to Britain, and I think what we have seen with the tax arrangements has shown that is correct.

Cadbury were paying taxes up to the takeover and now they have a scheme where they hide behind the international tax system and avoid paying UK taxes.

Cadbury Ltds latest accounts show its profits fell by 87.5pc to 103m in 2016, from 826.29m the year before.

A Mondelez International spokesperson said: In common with all global businesses, we pay corporation tax based on the laws of the countries in which we operate.

We comply with all applicable tax legislation in the UK. We are a global company, operating and paying tax in more than 165 countries and on a global basis we pay hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate income tax annually.

We are a significant contributor to the UK economy, both through direct spending on employees and suppliers, and through the recirculation of that expenditure in the wider economy.

We are also consistently investing in our business here.

The firm had invested 200m in its UK-based manufacturing and research and development since 2010, she added.

An HMRC spokesman said: HMRC is well-resourced and subjects large businesses to an exceptional level of scrutiny.

We actively investigate more than half of the UKs largest businesses at any one time.

Last year alone, we brought in a record extra 8 billion for our vital public services by cracking down on large businesses that tried to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

We do not comment on identifiable taxpayers.
Who could not be worried by the news that the number of EU doctors and nurses working in Britain has plummeted over the past year?

Of all the developments attributed to Brexit, few have more power to scare the public than the idea that the NHS is crumbling for want of medical staff who have been put off coming to work in Britain because they no longer feel welcome here.

For the fact is that our National Health Service is very dependent on foreign-born staff. According to figures from the House of Commons Library, around 62,000 people from the rest of the EU work in the NHS in England alone. No wonder the fear of them leaving as a direct effect of Brexit is so potent.

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'Of all the developments attributed to Brexit, few have more power to scare the public than the idea that the NHS is crumbling'

Radio Fours flagship news programme, Today, nine days ago led with the news that there has been a drop of nearly 90 per cent in EU nurses registering to work in Britain over the past year.

Listeners were left in no doubt as to the reason: Brexit.

I think there is absolute lack of clarity for those colleagues of ours who are giving so much to our NHS, working in our nursing homes, working with our families, that they are welcome, that they are going to be allowed to stay, Janet Davies, of the Royal College of Nursing, told the programme.

The story was followed up by the Victoria Derbyshire show on BBC2, which claimed that the latest figures add to previous evidence pointing to a significant reduction in the number of EU nurses wanting to work in the UK. Derbyshire interviewed Stephanie Aiken, also from the Royal College of Nursing, who made the further claim that weve lost more than 9,000 EU nurses this year.

Before the programme, a producer sent out an appeal on Twitter for a nurse who was thinking of leaving the country to contribute to the broadcast.

Janet Davies of the Royal College of Nursing said there was a 'lack of clarity' for colleagues who were offering so much to the NHS

In the event, a male Polish nurse who had been working in Britain for 17 years made it on to the airwaves. Though he was worried what would happen to his employment status, he said that he wanted to stay here.

The nurses quit the NHS because of Brexit story has been given much play all year.

EU nurses no longer want to work in Britain. Brexit is poisoning the EU, ran the headline on an article by Suzanne Moore in the Guardian in March. The claim was based on a report from the Nursing and Midwifery Council on a decline in the number of EU nurses registering to work here, a similar set of statistics to the more recent figures that the Today programme used as the basis for its report last week.

In September, the Guardian returned to the theme with a news story which declared Almost 10,000 EU health workers have quit NHS since Brexit vote  based on statistics from NHS digital, the agency that collects health service data.

The report added: The British Medical Association said the findings mirrored its own research, which found that four in ten EU doctors were considering leaving, with a further 25 per cent unsure about what to do since the referendum.

In September the Guardian claimed almost 10,000 EU health workers have quite the health service since the Brexit vote

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable latched on to this scare story, telling viewers on BBC1s Question Time: Ten thousand people have already walked away from the National Health Service because they dont think theyre needed or wanted any more. Thats the frightening thing.

Labours health spokesman, Jonathan Ashworth, has also claimed that Brexit has slashed NHS recruitment, saying in June: Our health service has always relied on the contribution of overseas workers, yet these staff are being forced out by this Governments neglect and disregard.

Yet it simply isnt true that Brexit has caused a staffing crisis in the health service. This is all a big lie which the Remain lobby keeps repeating as part of its propaganda campaign against Brexit.

Contrary to what these doom-laden reports imply, the NHSs statistics show that the overall number of EU citizens working in the health service has actually grown since the Brexit vote.

The Guardian and Cable were technically correct in saying that 10,000 EU citizens have left the NHS since the Brexit vote.

The health services figures show that, between June 2016 and June 2017, a total of 9,832 EU citizens left jobs with NHS trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups in England (because health is a devolved issue, statistics are collected separately for the rest of the UK).

But this completely ignores the other side of the equation and therefore is deeply misleading.

While they were happy to quote the number of EU staff leaving, they failed to mention the number of EU staff who joined the NHS.

Perhaps thats because, during the same period, health service statistics show that 13,013 EU citizens took up jobs in the NHS.

Far from the exodus the pro-Remain establishment wants us to believe has taken place, this represented a net rise of 3,181 in the number of EU citizens working in our health service.

Lib Dem leader Vince Cable said it was frightening that 10,000 people have left the NHS during an appearance on Question Time

Furthermore, official figures show that in most areas of the NHS, since the Brexit vote, more staff from across the Channel are working in our health service.

The number of EU citizens working as NHS doctors rose from 9,695 to 10,136  a net gain of 441. The number of consultants increased from 3,747 to 4,080  a net rise of 333. The number of EU midwives grew from 1,220 to 1,247  an extra 27. Ambulance staff numbers rose by 136, from 250 to 386. Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff increased by 841, from 6,112 to 6,953.

Whats more, Theresa May has done everything she can to reassure EU citizens that they will be able to stay in Britain after Brexit.

For example, just last month she wrote an open letter reassuring them that securing their continued residency rights remains a priority.

The idea that EU doctors and nurses are so worried about Brexit that they are fleeing elsewhere is utter nonsense, and it is shamefully wrong for the Remain lobby to keep scaring people by trying to convince them that it is true.

It is true that there was a modest drop in the number of EU citizens working as nurses in the NHS  down from 20,907 to 20,618, a net fall of 289.

However, with more than 20,000 EU nurses employed in the NHS, this amounts to a fall of less than 2 per cent.

The 90 per cent drop reported by the BBCs Today programme came from a set of statistics from the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is responsible for registering nurses and midwives as fit to work in Britain.

The figures do not relate to the number of people actually taking up employment. They refer, instead, merely to the number of foreign nurses completing the process of registering to work in the UK.

'Theresa May has done everything she can to reassure EU citizens that they will be able to stay in Britain after Brexit'

Between September 2015 and 2016, 10,178 nurses and midwives from other European Economic Area countries (which means the EU along with Norway and Iceland) registered to work in Britain. Over the following year, to September 2017, the number fell to 1,107  as reported, a fall of nearly 90 per cent.

But that didnt mean the BBC was being straight with listeners. Blaming the decline in registered nurses on Britain voting to leave the EU is a misrepresentation of the facts which ignores a very important factor that has nothing to do with Brexit.

From January 2016, overseas nurses wanting to register to practise here have had to take the International English Language Test System (IELTS), and to achieve level 7  the proficiency of a good English user  in each of four elements: reading, writing, speaking and listening.

It is of course right to ensure that nurses speak good English if they are to work in British hospitals  the consequences of even basic misunderstandings can be deadly.

Yet in the tough written tests in particular, nurses were expected to reach the same standards as graduates applying to take higher degrees at our leading universities and were asked to write academic essays on topics that had nothing to do with nursing or even healthcare.

In one case, the assignment centred on the changing number of Japanese tourists visiting parts of Britain.

These tests, which require a level of knowledge far beyond that which nurses require to do their jobs safely, set an impossibly high bar.

Eighty per cent of applicants put forward for the test by one recruitment firm failed to reach the required standard. Even native English speakers from countries such as Australia failed.

If these English speakers couldnt pass, is it any wonder nurses from Spain or Estonia struggled?

Labours health spokesman, Jonathan Ashworth, has claimed Brexit slashed NHS recruitment

On November 1, the day before the scaremongering report on the Today programme linked nurse shortages to Brexit, the Nursing and Midwifery Council relaxed the language tests in order to bring them more in line with the vocational versions used in places such as Australia and Canada. Yet not a word of this made it into the Today report, which blamed nursing shortages on Brexit alone.

The reality is that EU nurses are still keen to come and work here.

According to HCL Workforce Solutions, which recruits foreign nurses for the NHS, the number of applications it received from nurses in other EU countries has actually gone up since the Brexit vote, from 1,629 in the 12 months to June 2016 to 1,886 in the year to June 2017.

The main reason dedicated foreign nurses are not able to take jobs in the NHS is the rigorous language test, which the vast majority of them failed.

All of this hard data comprehensively disproves the claims made by the BBC, the Guardian, the Lib Dems, Labour and others that Brexit  which, of course, hasnt even happened yet  is causing an NHS staffing crisis.

How many times have we heard the Remain lobby whining that the British electorate were duped into voting for Brexit by the lies of the Leave campaign? Yet at the same time it keeps repeating a blatant lie about the NHS haemorrhaging staff due to nurses and other personnel supposedly being frightened away.

This is a disgraceful attempt to scare the public in the forlorn hope of overthrowing the result of the EU referendum. We had Project Fear before the vote  now we are witnessing Project Fear II.
They may have had a rocky start starting a family but now they might just be the most modern one out there.

Natalie Lovett and Fiona Fagan may not be related but their daughters are sisters.

Ms Lovett went to America to legally choose anonymous donor eggs and sperm and nine months later she gave birth to Lexie, a healthy baby girl.

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Natalie Lovett and Fiona Fagan may not be related but their children are siblings (pictured)

Ms Lovett (pictured) went to America to legally choose anonymous donor eggs and sperm and nine months later she gave birth to Lexie, a healthy baby girl

After a failed second IVF attempt, Ms Lovett donated the 24 eggs on the one condition all the siblings stay in touch

'I wanted it all, picket fence, children running around, it just didn't pan out for me that way unfortunately,' Ms Lovett told Today Tonight.

'It's a surreal process, you are on a database, you're putting in criteria, eye colouring, hair colouring.'

However, when Ms Lovett went on to have a second failed round of IVF, the Sydney mother decided to donate the 24 eggs as long as they all stayed in touch.

One of the mothers was Ms Fagan, widowed in her 20s then went through early menopause in her 30s desperately wanted a healthy baby.

The Adelaide woman successfully gave birth to baby Adeline and ten days later, Mia Bee gave birth to baby boy, Sam.

While Adeline and Sam are both 18-months-old and Lexie is three-years-old, the mothers joke that their three children are triplets.

'It's a surreal process, you are on a database, you're putting in criteria, eye colouring, hair colouring,' Ms Lovett said

One of the mothers was Ms Fagan (pictured), widowed in her 20s then went through early menopause in her 30s and desperately wanted a healthy baby

'I'm a single parent so I was only giving Lex one side of the family. We're an extended family and all go to each other's everything,' Ms Lovett said

'I'm a single parent so I was only giving Lex one side of the family. We're an extended family and all go to each other's everything,' Ms Lovett told News Corp.

'Three-and-a-half years ago there was none of this.'

Wanting to educate people on the different ways families can be made, Ms Lovett told the publication Australian laws made it 'virtually impossible' for eggs to be donated.

Because it is illegal to bring embryos to Australia, recipients have to spend about $5000 to travel to America to take part in IVF with egg and sperm donors.

Because it is illegal to bring embryos to Australia, recipients have to spend about $5000 to travel to America to take part in IVF with egg and sperm donors
Almost half of battery-powered smoke alarms in England failed to activate in a residential fire, council bosses have warned.

Mains-powered smoke alarms aren't safe either, with a fifth - 21 per cent - failing to work in a fire.

But the failure rate is almost double for battery-operated alarms - 39 per cent.

A further fifth - 22 per cent - of households never even test their alarms, and a tenth - 11 per cent - don't even own one.

Missing or faulty batteries are the second biggest reason for a battery-operated smoke alarm failing to activate, the Local Government Association said. Pictured: A file image of a smoke alarm

It has prompted more than 370 councils to issue a joint-statement urging homes to buy and test their fire alarms.

They are also urging all people to fit more than one smoke detector in their homes, with at least one on the ceiling of each floor.

That's because the main reason alarms don't work is when the fire doesn't reach the detector.

Missing or faulty batteries are the second biggest reason for a battery-operated smoke alarm failing to activate, the Local Government Association said.

The call was made as the cold nights draw in and many Britons turn on the heating or get the fire going.

To mark Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month, the LGA is also reminding people to check their fuel-burning appliances, such as boilers, gas fires and cookers, are in good working order and properly serviced.

That is to avoid falling victim to carbon monoxide poisoning, which latest industry figures show led to 15 accidental deaths and 135 people admitted to hospital in the UK in 2015/16.

Carbon monoxide - dubbed the 'silent killer' because it is invisible to the human senses - is caused by fuels not burning properly.

The gas can build up in any fuel-burning appliances that are not properly maintained, or where chimneys or flues are blocked.

Councillor Ian Stephens, Chair of the Local Government Authority's Fire Service Management Committee, who issued the warning, said: 'Smoke alarm ownership has risen over the years to 93 per cent, but their ability to provide a vital early warning is being dangerously compromised if they don't activate due to dud batteries.

'Smoke alarms are proven life-savers, but these worrying 'failure' rates should serve as a stark reminder to people to test their smoke alarms regularly and change batteries where necessary.

'Working batteries aren't just for toys at Christmas - they are needed in smoke alarms all-year round.

'Residential fires generally peak in the colder winter months when people spend more time using heaters, open fires, and cooking hot food, so anyone without a smoke alarm should buy and fit one as a matter of urgency.

To mark Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month, the LGA is also reminding people to check their fuel-burning appliances, such as boilers, gas fires and cookers, are in good working order and properly serviced

'In particular, those in private rented accommodation should ensure that their landlord has installed and tested smoke alarms in their property, as required under legislation.

'To improve safety measures, fire and rescue services advise people to fit more than one smoke detector in their homes, with at least one fitted on the ceiling of every floor.

'People also need to be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide which is a highly poisonous gas that has no colour, taste or smell and can build up in faulty boilers, gas fires and cookers.

'Not only should all fuel-burning appliances be checked and serviced to ensure they are safe, and that chimneys or flues are free from blockages, but we would encourage people to buy and install a carbon monoxide detector in their homes for peace of mind.

'Many fire and rescue services can fit smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for free as part of a home fire safety visit.

'Anyone without these alarms in their homes should buy them and test them regularly as they may save their life.'
Tony Abbott has come to the defense of his sister, Christine Forster, slamming the 'disgraceful behaviour' of protesters who ripped her jacket at a rally on Friday afternoon.

Thousands assembled outside Redfern's Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh yesterday, where Mr Abbott and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's were holding a fundraising event.

The crowd was protesting the Australian government's handling of refugees on the now-closed Manus Island detention centre.

Tony Abbott has come to the defense of his sister, Christine Forster (pictured) who had her jacket ripped by protesters on Friday

Ms Forster had her jacket 'shredded' by protesters as she and her partner Virginia Edwards made their way through the crowd

The crowd was protesting the Australian government's handling of refugees on the now-closed Manus Island detention centre

Ms Forster had her jacket 'shredded' by protesters as she and her partner Virginia Edwards made their way through the crowd.

Mr Abbott took to Twitter on Saturday morning to condemn the attack.

'Disgraceful behaviour by protesters last night,' the former prime minister tweeted.

'Denying Australians' real rights to uphold the supposed rights of boat people.'

Mr Abbott took to Twitter on Saturday morning to condemn the attack on his sister

Ms Forster said it took 30 to 40 police officers to prevent the growing crowd from completely overpowering her and her partner

Ms Forster said it took 30 to 40 police officers to prevent the growing crowd from completely overpowering her and her partner.

'They were spitting, they were snarling,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I support peaceful political protests, that's fine. But don't assault people.'

Mr Abbott later continued: 'My sister is herself a brave campaigner for rights and should never have been assaulted.'

Ms Forster said she supports 'peaceful political protests...just don't assault people'

Mr Abbott labeled his sister as a 'brave campaigner for rights and should never have been assaulted'

The refugees (pictured) are protesting against the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments who want to move them to facilities near the township of Lorengau

Around 600 refugees remain at the detention centre, despite services including water and electricity being cut off 10 days ago.

The men believe it is safer to stay at the old compound rather than risk being attacked by locals at the new facility.

The refugees are protesting against the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments who want to move them to facilities near the township of Lorengau.
Tory MPs have called on Theresa May not to be blackmailed by Brussels and resist its attempts to get Britain to pay more towards the Brexit divorce deal or see trade negotiations delayed until next year.

EU chief negotiator Mr Barnier said the two sides were 'making some progress' - but delivered a stark threat to block discussions on trade unless the UK was willing to put more money in the pot within a fortnight.

His message came as Brexit Secretary David Davis dismissed calls for Northern Ireland to stay in the single market after Brexit.

The two politicians laid bare mounting tensions as they held a joint press conference in Brussels after the latest round of talks.

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Eu negotiator Michel Barnier (pictured right) has been holding the latest round of Brexit talks with David Davis (left) in Brussels today

Jacob Rees-Mogg said Michel Barnier has 'misjudged' the British people and accused Brussels of trying to bully the UK

Tory backbenchers urged the Prime Minister not to give further ground on the EUs demand for around 60billion.

Jacob Rees-Mogg said: Barnier misjudged the British people. We are not going to be bullied.

We have already been extremely generous than we have any obligation in law to offer. It is therefore time the EU was serious about these negotiations  they are insolvent without our money.

Asked if he would be unhappy if Mrs May gave in, he said: I would  so far we have given the EU the timetable it asked for  and we have offered 20billion. I think if we made a further concession it would look like real weakness.

Andrew Rosindell MP added: We are being blackmailed and we have to stand up to them.

Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman said: This seems a case of the EU playing Russian roulette  If trade talks do not start by the end of the year, there will be overwhelming momentum for the UK to go to World Trade Organisation rules. The impact of that will be very bad for the EU.

Brexit Secretary Mr Davis said the UK was willing to show 'flexibility' in the talks

The two politicians laid bare mounting tensions as they held a joint press conference in Brussels after the latest round of talks today

Mr Davis hinted at a shift in stance by saying the UK was willing to show 'flexibility'.

But he also furiously rejected suggestions from Brussels that Nothern Ireland could stay in the single market after Brexit - effectively splitting the UK.

Mr Davis said the settlement 'cannot amount to creating a new border in the UK'.

The Brexit Secretary reiterated his calls for the EU to agree to move on to trade talks.

THE STICKING POINTS IN THE BREXIT TALK Divorce Bill: Theresa May has said Britain will pay 20 billion euros for a two-year transition deal and honour the commitments we have made. But the EU are demanding Britain goes further in spelling out exactly what we will pay - squeezing out more cash before we move on to trade talks. Irish border: Probably the most complicated issue in the negotiations, both sides want to keep a soft Irish border, fearing a return to border guards and check points could reignite the violence of The Troubles. But it is unclear how this will be achieved when the UK leaves the customs union. The EU has suggested Northern Ireland will have to stay in the EU customs union post Brexit to avoid a hard border with the republic - effectively pushing the hard border to the sea. But the Government and the DUP - who are propping Mrs May up in No10 - say they will not accept a deal which involves a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Citizens Rights Theresa May has laid out an offer to guarantee the rights of the 3.2million EU citizens in the UK. They will be given a two-year grace period to apply for settled status, which they will be granted as long as they pass criminal and security checks. But this was rejected by the EU Parliament who say the status should be automatic and not involve criminal records checks. Advertisement

But asked whether more 'clarifications or concessions' were needed over the next fortnight before a crunch European Council summit, Mr Barnier said: 'My answer is yes.'

The clashes came amid mounting fury from Brexiteers about the EU's intransigence in the talks.

A new poll Lord Ashcroft found that six out of ten Britons now believe the EU is trying to punish Britain in Brexit talks.

The poll published today, found that 62 per cent of those surveyed thought that Brussels is not trying to get a good deal.

Some half of Remainers and three quarters of Leavers have reached this conclusion, the survey found.

Voters have also lost confidence in Theresa May's ability to get a good deal.

The Ashcroft poll asked people how confident they are out of 100 that a good deal will be struck - 0 being no confidence at all and 100 being absolute confidence.

In March the average answer then 52, but this has fallen to 42 in the new survey, conducted this week

Former Cabinet minister John Whittingdale said Brussels was not willing to discuss trade until the UK conceded 'everything they want'.

Mr Davis said the situation was 'serious'. 'Now is the time for both sides to move together and seek solutions,' he said. 'This is a serious issue.

'If we are to find a way forward it require pragmatism from both sides.

'We are willing to engage in discussions with flexibility to reach the progress needed.'

The Brussels club have been refusing to kick off the next stage of talks amid hopes they can squeeze more money out of Britain for the so-called divorce bill.

There are signs that Theresa May is preparing to contribute more cash in order to break the deadlocked negotiations and try to move on to trade talks before the end of the year.

Mr Barnier set a two-week deadline for the UK to make concessions on the divorce bill or risk trade talks failing to start before Christmas

Mr Davis and Mr Barnier have been locked in fraught negotiations since July

The Brussels club have been refusing to kick off the next stage of talks amid hopes they can squeeze more money out of Britain for the so-called divorce bill

The Prime Minister has already 20billion (17.7bn) into the EU's coffers for a two-year transition deal which keeps the UK in the customs union and singe market.

SIX OUT OF TEN VOTERS THINK EU TRYING TO PUNISH UK Six out of ten British voters think the EU is trying to punish Britain in the Brexit talks, a poll out today has revealed. Lord Ashcroft's survey found that half of Remainers and three quarters of Leavers, said they thought the EU was not really trying to get a good deal . Instead they agreed with the statement 'they want to punish the UK and stop other countries wanting to leave'. In stark contrast, just 11 per cent of voters think the EU are genuinely trying their best to get a good deal. The poll of 1,607 people was carried out yesterday and Wednesday. Advertisement

And she has guaranteed the bloc that no member state will be left poorer by our exit in March 2019.

Meanwhile, an internal EU document has suggested Northern Ireland should obey the rules of the EU's single market and customs union to avoid the return of a hard border after Brexit.

The document said it 'seems essential for the UK to commit to ensuring no emergence of regulatory divergence from those rules of the internal market and the Customs Union'.

A framework for a solution on the border issue is another red line for the EU before it will allow trade talks to begin.

Mr Whittingdale told the BBC's Radio 5 Live: 'The problem, or at least the perception I had talking to Barnier and the EU, is that whilst the British government has tried to be helpful  they've shifted its position, they've made an offer  essentially the position of the Commission and Barnier is exactly the same as where we started, and they are demanding everything that we started off with.

'So to some extent, their definition of substantial progress is when we have conceded everything they want.'

There were some signs of a way of resolving the standoff, with reports that both sides are moving towards an agreement which would see the UK agree to pay more in return for agreement on the transition deal.

WHAT NEXT? EU TALKS TIMELINE: November 22: Chancellor Philip Hammond unveils the UK Budget. It is understood the Government is not expected to budge on the divorce bill until this is done. November 24: Michel Barnier's two-week deadline for Britain to cough up more money for the divorce bill to move on to the next stage of talks, is up. December 14 & 15: The European Council Summit takes place. The heads of state from the 28 member states will all be there and it is at this summit that the UK must get their agreement if trade talks are to start by the New Year. March 27 2018: The next EU summit is held. If Britain fails to get the agreement of the EU to move on to trade talks, then this will be our next opportunity to secure agreement. But this would be a full year after Article 50 was triggered, and many fear this would not leave enough time to get on with the rest of negotiations. Advertisement

A senior EU official told the Financial Times: 'It is tactical but the situation is delicate.

'She has to move soon.'

Mr Barnier yesterday called for Britain to offer some 'real clarification' on the financial settlement.

British officials are said to be confident they can agree the divorce bill and move on to trade talks by the end of the year.

And Tory Brexiteers have signalled their support for Mrs May paying some more into the EU's budget to kick start the next phase of talks.

On MP told the paper: 'It's money down the back of the sofa.'

Another said: 'There's a range of options. But if it was packaged as paying for past commitments, not market access, and if it wasn't too big, I think most people would go along with that. We would be free, after all.'

Bernard Jenkin, a veteran Eurosceptic , said: 'There will be a balanced judgment to make about whether a very expensive deal is worth it.

'That depends on the quality of the deal they are promising to make at the end of an implementation period.'

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading Brexiteer, said it was 'perfectly reasonable to give some money' but only if it is tied to a final deal.

And he warned 60billion (53bn) is 'ridiculous'.
Charities are dodging a ban on sending begging letters to elderly people by posting unaddressed mail, the Fundraising Regulator admitted last night.

The regulator's chairman admitted that while the chances of elderly people being overwhelmed by the letters was 'getting slimmer' it was powerless to stop charities circumventing the ban.

The regulator was set up following the death of a 92-year-old grandmother who jumped to her death after she was hounded by charities for donations.

Olive Cooke, from Bristol, killed herself in May 2015 after being bombarded by more than 270 letters from charities a month.

According to the regulator, charities sent out 243 million anonymised begging letters in 2013

According to the regulator, charities sent out 243 million anonymised begging letters in 2013.

But a Fundraising Preference Service hotline was set up earlier this year allowing people to remove their names and addresses to be deleted from charity databases.

However, in an interview Stephen Dunmore, its chief executive, confessed that there was nothing to stop charities from paying Royal Mail to deliver unaddressed mail to their homes begging for money.

He told the Daily Telegraph: 'If it is addressed to an individual then the Fundraising Preference Service will stop it; if it is just mail that comes through then there is no one stopping it because the Post Office has to deliver it.'

Its chairman, Lord Grade of Yarmouth, also set out plans to stop charities sending unsolicited free pens, badges and Christmas cards to raise money from members of the public.

In an interview Stephen Dunmore confessed that there was nothing to stop charities from paying Royal Mail to deliver unaddressed mail to their homes begging for money

Lord Grade said he had initially found it a little odd that 'anybody is complaining about getting a free gift' but now agreed with the concerns.

He said: 'They are saying 'why are they spending this money, that could go to the charity'  which actually is a really smart public response. So we are learning from the public.'

He added that it was 'very encouraging that relatives and carers are getting involved and using the service  that proves its worth' but he refused to guarantee vulnerable people would not be victim to begging letters in the future.

The policy director at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, who represent charities, Karl Wilding, said: 'Charities need to be able to get in touch with people in order to attract new supporters, and writing to addresses in a specific area is an efficient way for them to do that.

'Unfortunately, Royal Mail don't exclude specific addresses when they're delivering to an area, they either deliver to all the homes or none.'

Sir Stephen Bubb, from the Charity Futures think tank, added: 'No charity intends to upset anyone through direct mailing but if they were to stop, then less money will be raised and charities' vital work will suffer.'

The move has come about following the death of a 92-year-old grandmother who killed herself after she was hounded by charities for donations.

Olive Cooke, from Bristol, killed herself in May 2015 after being bombarded by more than 460 charities in just a single year.

The poppy seller was on the hit list of 99 charities, including 70 organisations who bought and shared her details.

Lord Grade of Yarmouth (pictured) also set out plans to stop charities sending unsolicited free pens, badges and Christmas cards to raise money from members of the public

Her death sparked a campaign by the Daily Mail that exposed rogue charity operators that had been hounding vulnerable people with countless letters, calls, texts and emails.

'Immoral' techniques revealed by our investigative team included donations being taken from dementia patients.

Past supporters had been hounded for up to 20 years, while others have had their personal data sold on to conmen.

Our reporter infiltrated call centres run by the fundraising company GoGen and exposed the outrageous tactics used to raise money. It revealed how 'boiler room' tactics were used to target the elderly and vulnerable and to take money from people with dementia.

Earlier this year the Fundraising Regulator introduced a free service that allows members of the public to bar specific charities from contacting them.

More than 100 people an hour signed up for the charity no-call list after it was introduced in July.

Lord Grade, 74, also claimed there was a 'lack of transparency' among fundraising platforms such as JustGiving.

He also disclosed that he was 'staggered' that 100 charities 'of quite some size' had refused to respond to requests from the regulator for payment.

British charities that spend more than 100,000 a year on fundraising are meant to pay a levy ranging from 150 to 15,000.
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The service of more than one million Australian service men and women was reflected on today as the country stopped for a minute's silence to mark Remembrance Day.

The day marks 99 years since the signing of the Armistice with Germany that brought an end to World War I on November 11, 1918.

Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan encouraged all Australians to take a minute, at 11am, to think of the 102,000 service men and women who have lost their lives during wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions.

A bugler from the Australian Navy plays the Last Post at 11.00am on Remembrance Day before the 2017 Stakes Day at Flemington Racecourse

A Poppy wreath is seen during the Remembrance Day ceremony on Emirates Stakes Day at Flemington Racecourse

Members of the Catafalque party mount at the stone of remembrance during a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

'I encourage everyone to observe one minute's silence today and to wear a red poppy to honour the memory of their service,' he said.

To mark this year's 99th anniversary of the Armistice signing, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann delivered a commemorative address at the Australian War Memorial.

His speech was followed by one minute's silence and a laying of floral tributes at the memorial's Hall of Memory.

Members of the guard of honour march during a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

A boy holds a cross and a poppy in hands during a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

Senator and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson attends a Remembrance Day with local school children

Members of the public stand in silence during the Remembrance Day Service held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place

'It's a really important day for Australia because it marks the 60,000 men and women who sacrificed their lives during this tragic war,' AWM spokesman Chris Wagner said.

'It's also important that people remember that the minute's silence at 11am is not just about being silent, it's also about stopping and reflecting on the service of those who have served our nation - not only in WWI, but in wars after that and who continue to serve.'

At Martin Place in Sydney, more than 300 people observed a minute's silence at a ceremony attended by NSW Governor David Hurley and state and federal politicians.

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at a ceremony to commemorate Remembrance Day during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Danang, Vietnam

The HMAS Waterhen and Royal Australian Navy Band performs during the Remembrance Day Service held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place

Members of the public stand in silence during the Remembrance Day Service held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place

Meanwhile in Danang, Vietnam, Malcolm Turnbull and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern took time out from their duties at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to mark their respects.

The duo lay poppies on a table displaying the headwear of armed service members in a brief 'private moment of reflection'.

'Today Australians and New Zealanders remember every ANZAC serviceman and woman who has made a supreme sacrifice to keep our nations free,' Mr Turnbull said

'ANZACs created an unbreakable bond between us and created a legend. We hold them dear in our hearts and minds.'

The prime minister said the horrors of the Western Front were never darker than when autumn turned to winter in 1917, with more than 6800 dead in October alone.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also took time out noting the conflict left 'few families were untouched, mine included'

A member of the Royal Australian Navy sounds The Last Post at a Remembrance Day event in Martin Place, Sydney

Wreaths are seen at the stone of remembrance after a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

'Yet our young soldiers and our young nations persevered. Resilient, strong and free,' Mr Turnbull said.

Ms Ardern said the anniversary was a deeply personal one for New Zealand, which send 10 per cent of its fledgling population to the First World War, and suffered the highest per capita rate of casualties.

'Few families were untouched, mine included,' Ms Ardern said, adding New Zealanders placed a high premium on peace.

'We owe it to all of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in war not to be complacent about the peace they gifted us.'

Australia's Finance Minister Mathias Cormann lays a wreath at the stone of remembrance during a Remembrance Day ceremony

A mix of veterans and members of the public stand and observe the sounding of The Last Post at a Remembrance Day event in Martin Place

A mix of veterans and members of the public stand and observe the sounding of The Last Post at a Remembrance Day event in Martin Place

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Trade Minister David Parker joined their leader for the service.

Ms Ardern said Australia's and New Zealand's bonds were solidified during the conflict - 'one of the most devastating wars in human history.'

'Despite the horrors and misery our troops treated each other with kindness, with empathy and with humour that we often refer to as mateship,' she said.

'This continues to be a defining feature of our relationship.'

Defence force crews, diplomats and officials travelling with the official delegations also attended the service.

Queensland Premier and Labour leader Annastacia Palaszczuk and opposition leader Tim Nicholls along with other dignitaries attend the Remembrance Day ceremony in Brisbane
The European Union has put forward a plan to effectively split Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK after Brexit.

A leaked European Commission document, which emerged yesterday, suggested Northern Ireland must effectively remain in the Single Market and the Customs Union if a hard border is to be avoided on the island.

A furious UK Brexit Secretary David Davis immediately said his country could not possibly consider a solution that would jeopardise the 'constitutional and economic integrity of the UK'.

'Let me be clear: this cannot amount to creating a new border within the United Kingdom,' he said.

A furious UK Brexit Secretary David Davis immediately said his country could not possibly consider a solution that would jeopardise the 'constitutional and economic integrity of the UK'

He was speaking following comments by EC chief negotiator Michel Barnier, who said more progress would need to be made over the next two weeks or Brexit trade negotiations would be postponed until next year.

The Taoiseach yesterday suggested the UK and Northern Ireland do not have to stay within the Single Market or Customs Union. However he then said that the North would have to abide by all their rules  even though this would in practise amount to the same thing.

'When it comes to the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, what we have all agreed is there shouldn't be a hard border, there should be no physical infrastructure along that border and there should be no return to the borders of the past,' he said.

'That doesn't mean they have to be members of it, but it would mean continuing to apply the rules of the Single Market and the Customs Union,' he told a meeting of the British-Irish Council summit in Jersey.

However, Britain's core aims of striking new trade deals with non-EU countries, and stopping free movement of EU citizens into Britain, are entirely incompatible with EU Single Market rules.

Last night, experts from the worlds of business, politics and EU policy warned if Britain can't reconcile their determination to leave the Customs Union and Single Market with their wish to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland, a hard border is inevitable.

Davis was speaking following comments by EC chief negotiator Michel Barnier, who said more progress would need to be made over the next two weeks or Brexit trade negotiations would be postponed until next year

Michael Lux, former head of the European Commission's customs unit, said we are headed towards a hard border if Britain does not agree to let Northern Ireland go it alone. But he fears this is a price the UK government simplywill not be able to pay.

'The current UK government I think will not accept this for political reasons, because it creates a border within the UK, but there is no other way to avoid a border as far as goods are involved,' he said.

'While it might be possible to find some way to allow people cross the border seamlessly, such a solution is simply not possible for goods... as there would be different rates of VAT on both sides of the border,' he added.

John Whelan, former Irish Exporters CEO and trade consultant, echoed his fears, saying: 'As we currently stand there is no question, we are headed for a hard border, which will have major implications for the agri-food sector.'

Neil McDonnell, CEO of Isme, said: 'On one hand the British voiced their determination not to have a hard border in Northern Ireland, but by saying they're leaving the customs union there will be a common tariff at the border of the EU, which will be the Northern Ireland border. There is no way to reconcile their desire to have no border with their desire to leave the EU.'

Fianna Fail Brexit spokesperson Stephen Donnelly said we now face a dilemma where all choices are bad.

'The issue (of the border) hasn't been resolved; we want it resolved before phase two begins. It's in Ireland's interest to say we won't move to phase two until it's resolved.

'The longer it goes unresolved, the more likely it is there would be no deal and the UK just wobbles out. That would be catastrophic for Ireland. There would be mass unemployment, planes couldn't take off, ships couldn't berth, tariffs like 50% on beef could be imposed overnight which would wipe out our industry the stakes are really high.'
The little-known levy already raises 4.8 billion a year for the Treasury

Car insurance has shot up by 140 since the government launched a series of steep tax hikes two years ago.

The average annual premium for people shopping around for policies has gone up by 14 per cent - from 983 to 1,125.

During that time, tax on premiums has doubled to 12 per cent in three quick fire rises.

The average annual premium for people shopping around for policies has gone up by 14 per cent - from 983 to 1,125

The little-known levy already raises 4.8 billion a year for the Treasury - more than sin taxes such as tobacco duty.

And there are fears that Philip Hammond is preparing to push the charge up further still in his budget on Nov 22.

Edmund King, president of the AA told the Mail that another tax increase would be unacceptable.

He said: In less than two years the rate of IPT doubled from 6 per cent to 12 per cent.

No other tax in modern tax history has increased in this manner in such a short timescale and discourages lawful driving.

Far too often, drivers are seen as wallets on wheels and have been an easy target for governments to find new monies from. We hope that in this Budget, the driver has a friend in this Chancellor.

Motorists have no choice but to pay over the odds because most insurers have opted to pass the tax- which they owe the government- on to their customers bills.

VAT is not applied to the insurance sector so IPT was introduced at 4 per cent in 1994 as a means for the government to raise revenue.

Customers have been hit with higher costs this year due to a new formula for calculating the compensation paid to victims of major accidents (stock image)

It is added to almost all forms of insurance, excluding life cover, and had been kept at a steady 5 per cent for almost five years until 2015. Since then, it has been subject to a barrage of hikes.

In November 2015, the then-Chancellor George Osborne announced the largest rise in IPT- from 6 per cent to 9.5 per cent.

It then crept up to 10 per cent in October 2016. And in another blow, Philip Hammond bumped the rate to 12 per cent in June.

Figures from comparison website GoCompare show drivers looking for insurance policies are now up to 142 worse off each year than they were before the tax changes were brought in.

The tax costs 179 per household  a figure which the Social Market Foundation predicts will rise above 200 next year.

An investigation by Money Mail last month found that home insurance policies were being hiked by as much as 50 per cent. In some cases, insurers claimed the rises being driven by premium tax increases

Insurers say a number of factors aside from IPT have led to higher premiums. False whiplash claims still feed into millions of customers paying more for the same level of cover.

And they have been hit with higher costs this year due to a new formula for calculating the compensation paid to victims of major accidents.

According to calculations by the AA, drivers already contribute 44.77billion to national and local governments from Insurance Premium Tax, Vehicle Excise Duty, fuel duty, VAT on fuel duty, parking fees and fines.

Mr King suggested the rise in IPT has also contributed to a rise in uninsured drivers, with the number recently rising above the one million mark.

Britains biggest insurers have pleaded with the Chancellor not to impose more stealth taxes on motorists in the budget later this month.

The Association of British Insurers last week launched a social media video campaign urging the Chancellor to end the repeated increases to IPT.

The video features people being fined by an officer for picking up litter, stopping at a red traffic light and locking their door.

James Dalton, director of general insurance policy at the ABI said: Taxing insurance premiums means punishing people who do the responsible thing.

No-one would think it reasonable to fine people for clearing up after their pets, securing their homes or driving carefully. It is no more acceptable to penalise people who sensibly invest in insurance cover for themselves, their families and their belongings.

Earlier this year, the Mail revealed that firms overcharge by up to three times to fund their cut-price deals for new customers. Loyal customers who have stuck with one brand are offered good rates only if they challenge renewal quotes or threaten to leave.

Those who moved their home insurer after just one year saved 37, after five years 78 and those who finally switched after nine or more years typically saved 127, Consumer Intelligence research showed.
LACOMB  Had the United States not dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, Howard Gabels military experience would have been far different.

He and thousands of other trained soldiers and sailors were headed to invade Japan in what surely would have been among the most hazardous theaters of the entire war. Instead, with the war over, a single high school typing class landed him a nearly perfect job in the Army: typing discharge papers for military men and women headed home.

Gabel is the 2017 Veteran of the Year. He was honored Friday night at the Veteran of the Year Banquet, held at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center. It was part of the festivities surrounding today's Veterans Day parade.

His WWII adventure began in 1944, when he graduated from high school. The North Dakota farm boy was just 17, two months shy of his 18th birthday.

I was going to get drafted, but dad asked that I be deferred to help with the fall harvest, Gabel said. I helped him and he was helping my grandfather who was in bad health. In February 1945, I headed to Camp Snelling in Minneapolis for induction.

After basic training in Missouri and Arkansas, Gabel was transferred to Camp Adair near Corvallis to prepare for what he thought would be a trip to Japan.

We got brand new guns. We unwrapped them and cleaned the cosmoline off them, he said.

Although he only spent about two weeks at Camp Adair, Gabel was impressed.

It was very nice and it was a big town, he said. It had such nice streets, churches, service clubs and a big PX.

Instead of going to Japan, however, Gabel joined the thousands of soldiers kept on ships at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, while the government decided what to do with them after the war. First, he was sent to Enewetak in the Marshall Islands, which he called very hot, and then to Leyte in the Philippines, which he called miserable.

There were so many troops there waiting that the cooks couldnt keep up, he said. The potatoes werent cooked and there were flies in the gravy. I often bought coconuts and bananas from the natives instead.

Gabel ended up on Cebu in the Philippines. Like thousands of other soldiers, he was quarantined.

I was bored and when they asked if anyone knew how to type, I volunteered, even though we were warned to never volunteer, he said.

He soon became the commanders personal driver in a Jeep called Barney and then started to type up orders for his fellow soldiers.

It was very good duty, Gabel said. There was a point system as to how guys would muster out. You got points for being married and for how long you had served.

Cebu had been heavily damaged during the war, and one of Gabel's jobs was to help disburse payments to contractors rebuilding the island. I would go with someone to the bank carrying a .45 and we would let in four contractors at a time, he said.

Gabel spent some time in Manila before his July 1946 discharge at Fort Lewis, Washington.

I was used to hot weather and when we got into San Francisco, it was foggy and very cold, he said. I didnt have any warm clothes.

Gabel returned to the family farm in North Dakota, but it took only one extremely cold winter to convince him to return to Oregon. So in 1947, the family came west to find a new farm.

I told dad how nice it was and we spent about a week in the Albany area looking for ground, Gabel said. He bought a small place about five miles down the road and then traded it for 160 acres.

In 1948, Gabel went back to North Dakota to marry Lois, whom he had known for many years  their mothers had gone to school together.

My mother said we couldnt get married in Oregon, Lois explained. She said if he wanted to marry me, he had to come back to North Dakota.

The couple made their home in the Lacomb-Lebanon area and raised four children  two girls and two boys.

Gabel worked at the former Cascade Plywood plant for 40 years and then spent 11 years as an electrician, retiring at Norpac in Stayton in 1998.

The Gabels were active in numerous civic groups. Howard has been a member of American Legion Post 51 in Lebanon for 62 years and has served in numerous capacities, including 20 years as a member of the Honor Guard and as chaplain. He also served as chaplain for the 40 & 8 veterans organization, and spent time with the Lacomb School Board and the Lacomb Irrigation District.

He and his wife volunteered at the Lebanon Soup Kitchen, and the American Legion breakfasts and prime rib dinner events. They put out flags on Memorial Day and were active members of the Lacomb Grange. The couple also participated in the SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) program, reading books to elementary students.

The couple enjoyed the Old Time Fiddlers group and spent several years volunteering as timers at the annual state contest.

Gabel was previously honored as Veteran of the Year by the 40 & 8 organization in 2007.
Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition left at least three civilians wounded in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa, witnesses said.

The strikes, which took place late on Friday, hit a residential area near the ministry of defence building, which had been targeted just before.

The coalition has targeted the nearby defence ministry in the past, leaving it heavily damaged, but the fresh strikes come amid a ratcheting up of tensions between Saudi Arabia and its rival Iran, which backs the Huthi rebels.

People inspect the rubble of houses destroyed by earlier Saudi-led airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen.

Tribesmen loyal to Houthi rebels chant slogans during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters

Yemenis wait to collect drinking water from a donated water pipe. The UN has warned that Yemen faces the largest famine the world has seen for many decades

Saudi Arabia and its allies shut down Yemen's borders earlier this week after intercepting a ballistic missile fired by the Huthis near Riyadh airport on Saturday.

Local resident Mohammed Aatif said: 'I was sitting at home and heard the first strike hit the ministry of defence.

'Everyone was afraid. Minutes later, another strike hit my neighbour's house. My entire house shook.'

Aatif, who fled with his family from the neighbourhood, said the strike destroyed his neighbour's house, leaving an enormous crater, and damaged others.

Witnesses said the number of casualties may rise as wounded are pulled from the rubble.

Motorcyclists wait in line to buy fuel at a petrol station amid fuel shortages in Sanaa

Supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh gather in Sanaa

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis

The Saudi-led coalition is still blocking desperately needed UN aid deliveries to Yemen despite the re-opening of the Yemeni port of Aden and also a land border crossing.

The rebels have threatened additional attacks on Saudi Arabia and its coalition partner the United Arab Emirates in response to the blockade.

The United Nations said on Friday that the coalition is still blocking desperately needed UN aid deliveries to Yemen despite the re-opening of the Yemeni port of Aden and also a land border crossing.

This week, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock warned the Security Council that, unless the blockade was lifted, Yemen would face 'the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims'.

The world body has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, with 17 million people in need of food, seven million of whom are at risk of famine.

More than 2,000 Yemenis have died in a cholera outbreak now affecting nearly one million people.

Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in neighbouring Yemen in March 2015 with the stated aim of rolling back Huthi rebel gains and restoring the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

The Huthis continue to control the capital Sanaa and much of Yemen's north.

The conflict has left more than 8,650 people dead, including many civilians.
The former wife of the gunman who rained terror on a Texas church has spoken out about her brief and turbulent marriage to the killer.

Tessa Brennaman, the 25-year-old first wife of shooter Devin Patrick Kelley, talked with Inside Edition on Friday, in her first interview since he killed 26 in a Sutherland Springs, Texas church last weekend.

'He just had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him,' said Brennaman, adding that Kelley had threatened to kill her and her whole family.

In once incident, Kelley flew into a rage over a speeding ticket, she recalled.

'And he had a gun in his holster right here and he took that gun out, and he put it to my temple and he told me, "Do you want to die? Do you want to die?"' Brennaman recalled.

Brennaman (pictured) married Kelley in April 2011, and divorced him the following year after a brief and turbulent marriage. Kelley pleaded guilty to assaulting her and her young son

The couple were married in April 2011, and divorced in October 2012, according to court documents.

In November 2012, Kelley, then 23, pleaded guilty to hitting, choking, kicking and pulling her hair, as well as fracturing the skull of her young son from a prior relationship.

He was confined to a military prison for one year in the case, and received a bad conduct discharge from the Air Force.

The Air Force has admitted it failed to notify the FBI about the conviction, which would have barred Kelley from purchasing firearms.

Meanwhile, parishioners who survived the slaughter at First Baptist Church of Sutherland said Friday that a week before the massacre, Kelley acted bizarrely.

Tessa Brennaman, the 25-year-old first wife of shooter Devin Patrick Kelley, talked Friday in her first interview since he killed 26 in a Sutherland Springs, Texas church last weekend

Brennaman recalled her terror when Kelley (left and right) flew into a rage over a speeding ticket and put a gun to her head. She divorced him just over a year into their marriage

They said Kelley showed up at a church festival dressed in black and acted so strangely that people kept a close eye on him.

Kelley 'was completely distant and way out in thought,' recalled Judy Green. She and her husband said Kelley often exhibited troubling behavior.

At the fall festival held on Halloween night at the First Baptist Church, Kelley 'didn't even blink - he just stared,' she said.

Rod Green, a former law enforcement officer in Montana, said when he saw Kelley arrive in all black, he examined him closely to make sure he was not carrying a gun.

The Greens both have licenses to carry handguns, and they are friends with Kelley's in-laws.

Rod Green, left, and his wife Judy, say that Kelley came to a church festival dressed in all black a week before the massacre, and acted strangely enough to raise concerns

If Kelley had been carrying a weapon, Rod Green said, he would have escorted him away because of all the children there. Judy Green said she positioned herself to keep an eye on Kelley at all times.

'There was something wrong with the picture,' she said. 'I was thinking forward, and that was what was scaring me.'

At a Christmas dinner one year, Kelley had 'bragged about being armed,' Rod Green said.

Investigators have said Sunday's shooting appeared to stem from a domestic dispute involving Kelley and the mother of his second wife, and that he had sent threatening messages to her.

Visitors pay respects on Friday at a memorial where 26 crosses were placed to honor the 26 victims killed at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs

The mother-in-law sometimes attended services at the church but was not present on Sunday.

Kelley died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound after armed civilians chased him from the scene of the massacre.

Eleven people remained hospitalized Friday with wounds from the shooting.

Before the church is demolished, it will serve as a temporary memorial, said Rod Green, who also serves as the grounds steward for the church.

Services will never take place there again. Sunday's services will be held at a nearby baseball field.
K Mart has apologised for a wayward description of a children's DVD listing on their website after shoppers noticed the lewd wording online.

A synopsis for the G-rated animated film Shopkins World Vacation - featuring characters from the popular Shopkins toy universe, was twisted into an X-rated feature.

'They're jetting off and you're invited! Shopkins travels to an assortment iof nternational places and they discover a lot of sex and drugs on their way [sic],' the listing on the K Mart website explained.

K Mart apologised for a wayward description of a children's DVD listing online which outlined the movie to be about Shopkins characters discovering 'a lot of sex and drugs' on their jouney

A K Mart spokeswoman apologised and said an investigation is underway now into the bizarre muck up for the Shopkins World Vacation DVD (pictured)

In a statement a K Mart spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia an investigation was underway to pinpoint how the bizarre plot-swap occurred.

'Kmart Australia apologises for the incorrect Shopkins World Vacation DVD product description that was published online,'

'Once we were made aware of the description error, immediate action was taken place to ensure the product was removed online.

'We are currently investigating to see how this occurred and we are reviewing processes to ensure this does not occur again.

'We once again apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank our customers for their patience.'

The offensive DVD listing was still online at 11am on Saturday, but had been taken down by 12pm, however not before a number of social media users picked up on the blunder.

The DVD listing was still online at 11am on Saturday but was removed by 12pm after K Mart became aware of the shocking wording

A representative from Moose Toys - the makers of the DVD, told Daily Mail Australia;

'Moose Toys are working collaboratively with Kmart to ensure the correct description of the Shopkins World Vacation DVD is published.

'How this breech occurred is being investigated by Kmart.

'We can assure you that the incorrect copy that has now been removed is not reflective of the DVD content, our Shopkins characters or our brand values.

'We highly value our Shopkins fans and apologise for any concerns this error has caused.'
A British mother jailed in Iran has been left suicidal after being held in solitary confinement and forced to wear a hood during interrogations, a former inmate has claimed.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, is currently serving a five year sentence in a notorious prison in Tehran after being found guilty of plotting against the government, a claim she has denied.

This week her family in the UK received a further blow when the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson made a gaffe in parliament by suggesting she was teaching journalists in the middle eastern country, a comment which could extend her prison sentence by five years.

Her family has been campaigning for her release since Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe (pictured with daughter Gabriella), who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in Tehran last year as she tried to return to London

Now a fellow prisoner has spoken out about the horrendous conditions Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is facing.

Homa Hoodfar, 66, a Canadian American, was released over the summer but spent time with the British mother-of-one in June.

She described Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe as 'inconsolable' about being away from her toddler daughter and said interrogation sessions with prison guards had left her suicidal.

Speaking to The Times, she said: 'Her hair was falling out, huge clumps of it covered our blankets.

'She was crying about her daughter who was going to celebrate her second birthday. She just talked about her little girl and cried.'

The woman added: 'Their strategy is to try to break their prisoners and make them cry.'

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's daughter Gabriella has been staying with her grandparents in Iran while her mother is incarcerated and fighting spy charges.

The 38-year-old from London, has been held since April last year after travelling to the country with her daughter on holiday.

Her three-year-old is brought to see her in prison twice a week where they are allowed to 'hug and play together'.

Gabriella, the three-year-old daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is desperate to see her mother come home for Christmas after she was detained in Iran. Gabriella (pictured in Iran) sees her mother twice a week for short visiting sessions

Gabriella (pictured with her mother) has been staying with her grandparents in Iran while her mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is incarcerated and fighting spy charges

British husband Richard Ratcliffe described the toll on his wife and daughter, pressure is still growing on Boris Johnson to sort out the mess created by his recent gaffe and secure Mrs Zachary-Ratcliffe's freedom.

The Foreign Secretary was forced to clarify his comments when he incorrectly claimed Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in Iran to 'teach journalists'.

They were seized upon by the Iranian state as evidence she was not there on holiday and used to raise the possibility of extending her sentence.

Her daughter Gabriella has been off her food since then and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has at times being suicidal during her treatment, has been buoyed only by the support of other political prisoners with whom she shares her cell.

Mr Ratcliffe told MailOnline: 'I want to thank the six political prisoners that she shares a cell with. Without them I don't know how she'd have coped.

'They're Iranian women and also political prisoners who give her advice and support in a way that I can't as I can't really understand what she's going through.

'They make sure that she's busy, they ensure that her days are structured and that she doesn't just sit there watching TV, unless it's about her case. They get her teaching English once a week to keep her occupied.

'They all made Gabriella presents for her third birthday. So she calls them Mummy's friends. She wants them all to have a Christmas party together in the UK.'

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is pictured with her husband Richard who is desperate to see her back home with their three-year-old for Christmas

He added: 'Her grandmother takes Gabriella to the prison twice a week; they can hug and play together.'

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was allowed the first visit from her daughter in January this year and the twice weekly visits began in April.

Her husband told The Sun: 'Nazanin has told Gabriella, 'Mummy and you will be going to see daddy in London for Christmas.'

'But then Gabriella will ask, 'Is it Christmas today? Is it Christmas tomorrow?' It's very difficult.'

There have been an increasing number of calls for Prime Minister Theresa May to sack Boris Johnson over his comments, which could increase her sentence.

The 38-year-old from London is pictured with her husband Richard and their now three-year-old daughter Gabriella

Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, branded the Iranian video 'sickening' and demanded Mr Johnson quit.

Fellow Labour MP Tulip Siddiq - who is Nazanin's MP in the constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn - said matters are now 'life and death'.

Former Tory minister Anna Soubry, meanwhile, said: 'His words were wholly inaccurate. If they are continuing to damage this woman's well-being and putting her in more peril of continuing unlawful incarceration, then the Foreign Secretary must step down immediately.'

And Lord Rickets, the onetime head of the diplomatic service, said it was 'not the first gaffe' made by Boris.

He added: 'Boris Johnson, for all his talents, has not succeeded in convincing people he's a serious heavyweight foreign secretary with real authority. That's a real problem,' he told the BBC.
Recent unrest within the ranks of the Victorian police force has come from an unlikely source - their uniform pants.

Officers of both genders have reportedly complained that the tactical trousers worn by all frontline police are poor-quality, uncomfortable, ill-fitting, and are prone to splitting at the seams.

'Many have reported that the pants split at the crotch easily, and are particularly prone to do so when executing a common arrest technique,' Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt told ABC.

Victorian police officers have complained that their trousers are ill-fitting and uncomfortable

Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said that the pants split at the crotch easily

'The material used in manufacturing the pants is particularly unpopular with members, who have advised that the material does not breathe.'

He also said that the pants cause excessive sweating particularly in summer, and that some officers have complained that it has even caused them medical issues.

Speaking to the Herald Sun on Sunday, Mr Gatt explained, 'Our members tell us that the cut of the pants limit their movement when they are required to execute some of the defensive techniques they are trained to perform.'

The garments are also 'particularly limiting' when police are required to complete routine policing tasks, such as jumping fences.

Furthermore, the male-designed cut of the pants make it difficult for female of members of the force to find a size that fits correctly across the hips.

Victoria Police have responded to the complaints, saying that the crotch seam needed to be strengthened 'in a small number of cases'.

The police union is surveying currently surveying their members to gauge the extent of the problem and propose solutions in conjunction with The Police Association of Victoria.

One size does not fit all: the Victoria Police is planning a trial of an updated women's size range

The garments are 'particularly limiting' when police are required to complete routine activities

Police spokesperson Sophie Jennings said the comfort and safety of officers was paramount and the force was working with the union to ensure this wasn't compromised.

She said the police uniform had undergone significant testing and there had been no recent changes to the design of the trousers.

'Victoria Police is aware of a small number of cases in which issues have arisen with police-issue operational trousers, worn by frontline members,' Ms Jennings said.

'In response to the issues raised Victoria Police has issued trousers with a strengthened crotch seam and is planning a trial of an updated women's size range.'

Another police spokesperson confirmed that Victoria Police-issued uniform has undergone significant testing to ensure that it keeps employees safe, and all police are required to wear the full uniform unless they have obtained a specific exemption.
Star Trek icon George Takei has been accused of sexually assaulting a former male model while the young man was passed out in his Los Angeles condo in 1981.

Scott Brunton came forward to say he was groped by the actor when he was just 24, claiming Takei - then aged 43 or 44-years-old - took advantage of him just after a breakup.

'This happened a long time ago, but I have never forgotten it,' Brunton told the The Hollywood Reporter.

'It is one of those stories you tell with a group of people when people are recounting bizarre instances in their lives, this always comes up. I have been telling it for years, but I am suddenly very nervous telling it.'

Star Trek icon George Takei has been accused of groping a former male model while the man was passed out in his Los Angeles condo in 1981

Scott Brunton said he met Takei in 1981 when he was living in Hollywood and had just broken up with his boyfriend. Takei is pictured (above) as his character Hikaru Sulu on the hit television show Star Trek in 1969

The former model said he encountered Takei when he was living in Hollywood and working as a waiter at the beginning of his career at Greg's Blue Dot Bar.

He said he exchanged numbers with the actor, and on occasion the pair called each other or ran into each other at different clubs.

When Brunton broke up with the man he was dating at the time, he told Takei, who took the opportunity to invite the model to dinner and the theater.

'He was very good at consoling me and understanding that I was upset and still in love with my boyfriend,' Brunton told THR.

After dinner that night the two men went back to Takei's home for a drink.

Just a few sips into his second drink, which Takei made for him, he said he started feeling unwell.

'I have the second one, and then all of a sudden I begin feeling very disoriented and dizzy, and I thought I was going to pass out,' he explained.

'I said I need to sit down and he said sit over here and he had the giant yellow beanbag chair. So I sat down in that and leaned my head back and I must have passed out.'

He said that after a while he woke up with his pants around his ankles and Takei groping his crotch and trying to get his underwear off.

'I came to and said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I don't want to do this," Brunton told THR.

'He goes, "You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable."'

Brunton said he he managed to gather enough strength to push Takei off of him and then went to his car and waited until he felt well enough to drive himself home.

'That was that,' he said of the encounter.

Four of Brunton's close friends told THR that he had confided in them about the alleged assault years ago.

Brunton alleged Takei invited him back to his condo and made him a drink that caused him to pass out. Takei is pictured on the set of Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country in 1991

Now, years after the incident, he said he is coming out with his story after seeing Takei's statement about Kevin Spacey to THR on October 30.

After Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey took advantage of him, the actor used the opportunity to come out as gay.

Takei apparently took offense to that, and aid: 'Men who improperly harass or assault do not do so because they are gay or straight - that is a deflection,' in a statement to THR.

'They do so because they have the power, and they chose to abuse it.'

Brunton said the response infuriated him.

Takei's representative, Julia Buchwald, didn't outright deny the allegations to THR, but said they cannot give his comment at the present time.

'George is traveling in Japan and Australia and not reachable for comment,' she said in a statement.

The 80-year-old rose to fame in his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek television series. Since then he has become an outspoken activist advocate for LGBTQ rights.
The heat of legal troubles has proved too much for Bikram Yoga, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company based in Simi Valley, California said in court filings Thursday that it has liabilities of $50million and assets of $1million, as it sought protection from a slew of court judgments totaling some $16.7million.

Founder Bikram Choudhury, who built a cult following around his yoga program in rooms heated over 100 degrees, has been accused of sexual assault by his yoga practitioners, students and instructors.

Choudhury, 73, fled the US in May after refusing to pay a penny to his accusers, and a warrant for his arrest was issued.

Bikram Choudhury, who built a cult following around his yoga program in rooms heated over 100 degrees, has been accused of sexual assault by his students and instructors

Choudhury's company said in court filings Thursday that it has liabilities of $50million and assets of $1million, as it sought protection from a slew of court judgments

Last year, he was found liable in civil court for sexually harassing then wrongly firing his own lawyer.

Miki Jaffa Bodden, the former head of legal and international affairs at Choudhury's yoga school, won an $8 million claim in that suit.

Jill Lawler said she was 18 when Choudhury sexually assaulted her at a training course

Bodden said in her suit that Choudhury demanded female employees brush his hair and give him massages.

She said she had repeatedly harassed her and subjected her to obscene comments about women, then fired her when she tried to investigate another woman's rape claims.

Another accuser, former Obama White House lawyer Petra Starke, complained of wrongful dismissal, sexually inappropriate conduct and 'racist tirades' while she served as CEO of the Bikram Yoga College of India. She has a $5.1 million claim.

Sharon Clerkin, who sued claiming she was fired for becoming pregnant, is owed $3.6 million.

Six other women have filed sexual assault lawsuits against Choudhury, five of which accuse him of rape.

The most recent complaint, filed in February 2015, accused Choudhury of raping Jill Lawler, a Canadian woman who was just 18 at the time.

Choudhury has denied all the allegations, saying that he has no need to assault or harass women and that 'people spend $1million for one drop of my sperm'

Choudhury, seen in Beverly Hills in 2000, fled the US in May after refusing to pay a penny to his accusers. A warrant for his arrest was issued

Lawler used $10,000 from her college fund to pay for a nine-week class so she could teach Bikram yoga to others.

She said she went into the class elated, but things quickly soured as she was expected to massage him while watching Bollywood movies late into the night.

As they watched the films, he groped her, she said. He apologized, but weeks later, he asked Lawler to come to his hotel room where he sexually assaulted her, she claimed.

Choudhury has never been criminally charged, and has vocally denied the allegations.

'Women likes me. Women loves me. So if I really wanted to involve the women, I don't have to assault the women,' he told CNN in 2015.

In a 2016 interview in India with HBO's Real Sports, Choudhury claimed that no less than four women have been driven to suicide because he refused to have sex with them.

'Why would I have to harass women?' Choudhury said. 'People spend $1million for one drop of my sperm.'
A man who had a shotgun pointed at him in the middle of the night before being told to 'f**k off or else' has recounted the harrowing experience.

John Schefman, 68, was sleeping next to his wife Silvia at their home in Bittern, Victoria when they were rumbled out of their slumber by loud bangs outside about 3.30am on Saturday, according to the Herald Sun.

'I saw the big barrel came through the window and he told me to f** off or else he'd blow my head off,' he said.

Scroll down for video

John Schefman, 68, was sleeping next to his wife Silvia at their home in Bittern, Victoria when they were rumbled out of their slumber by loud bangs outside

No less than three offenders broke into Mr Schefman's shed using an axe before raiding a black Holden Commodore parked on the property.

Upon hearing the commotion Mr Schefman opened his bedroom window and told the intruders to leave.

'My wife is pretty shaken. We just had to be strong.'

Mr Schefman said he believed the incident was revenge for his 32-year-old son who is in police custody.

Detective Senior Constable Rohan Brock agreed the attack was in connection to Mr Schefman's son.

'It wasn't a random attack. It was certainly targeted to something at the address, particularly within the vehicle.

The incident is believed to be related to a grey BMW which was rammed into two police cars at a McDonald's carpark in southeast Melbourne

The Schefmans are now too scared to sleep in their own home.

The incident is believed to be related to a grey BMW which was rammed into two police cars at a McDonald's carpark in southeast Melbourne.

Horrifying footage shows the vehicle's reckless escape from being boxed in by five other cars, hitting a female officer who was standing nearby in the process.

The BMW (similar to above) was revered forcefully into a police car before charging forward and ploughing through the front of a second police car

The BMW was revered forcefully into a police car before charging forward and ploughing through the front of a second police car.

The incident unfolded about 12.40am after police spotted the vehicle in the McDonald's drive-through with mismatched plates.

The same car has been involved in three high-speed pursuits with police.

Police are still searching for those responsible.
Harvey Weinstein and his family business have been sued by a lending company for failure to meet repayment obligations on a loan.

New York City-based company, AI International Holdings, filed the suit Friday, which claims The Weinstein Company (TWC) and disgraced movie mogul defaulted on the $45million loan received in September 2016.

According to a report by The Blast, who obtained the documents, the loan agreement states the parties shall be placed in default in the event of 'occurence of Material Adverse Change.'

Back in October, Weinstein, 65, was ousted from the production company he founded in the wake of sexual harassment and assault allegations against him.

Harvey Weinstein and his family company are being sued by New York City-based financial firm, AI International Holdings, for defaulting on a hefty loan

An alert was sent to the lenders just days after Weinstein's departure from the company - stating the remaining balance of $43,459,176.23. However, no action was made

The bombshell New York Times report alleged Weinstein repeatedly harassed or abused young women over the past two decades and paid them hush money in return.

Weinstein's attorney, Charles J. Harder, called the story 'defamatory' and suggested it 'mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report.'

Following the blowup, fellow members of TWC, Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar, released a statement confirming the producer's leave.

'In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,' the statement read.

The lending company said in the suit the producer's 'termination and the facts and circumstances leading to and surrounding that dismissal,  constitute a Material Adverse Change as defined in the Note.'

An alert had been sent to the lenders just days after Weinstein's departure from TWC - stating the remaining balance of $43,459,176.23. No action was made.
Two men who raped a mother-of-seven so savagely she bled to death on the sand of a remote NSW beach have been described as 'loving and caring' by their current partners.

Lynette Daley, 33, bled to death in January 2011 after her boyfriend, Adrian Attwater, 47, and his friend, Paul Maris, 43, sexually assaulted her at Ten Mile Beach.

According to the Daily Telegraph the two men's current girlfriends are going to 'stick by them'.

A grieving family have spoken about their fight for justice after their daughter Lynette Daley (pictured) was killed by two men on a remote NSW beach

Ms Daley, 33, bled to death in January 2011 after her boyfriend, Adrian Attwater (pictured) and his friend, Paul Maris, sexually assaulted her at Ten Mile Beach - Mr Attwater's current partner has described him as 'loving and caring' to the court

Almost seven years later Maris (pictured) was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault and hindering the discovery of evidence - his partner also described him as a good person

Attwater's partner Mary Anne Stone says he has worked with the disabled since she's known him.

'I have always found him to be a loving and gentle soul ... Adrian has nothing but respect for everyone,' she said.

While Maris' girlfriend told the court she hadn't had any issues with him during their relation ship and described him as a 'good person'.

This comes after both men were found guilty of raping the mother during a camping trip seven years ago.

Maris was also found guiltu of hindering the dicovery of evidence after burning amattress and bra soaked in the woman's blood, and Attwater was also convicted of manslaughter.

It is also reported Attwater who was in an 'on again, off again' relationship with the mother still can't comprehend the fact his victim wasn't able to consent to sexual acts because of her level of intoxication.

Ms Daley's mother, Thelma Davis, read her victim impact statement on Wednesday as Attwater and Maris were convicted, according to 9 News.

'It has taken seven years of struggle, heartaches, stress and lots of emotion to finally get to the stage where we heard the words guilty,' Ms Davis said.

'It has taken seven years of struggle, heartaches, stress and lots of emotion to finally get to the stage where we heard the words guilty,' Ms Daley's mother said

'It was such a relief.

'They are finally going to pay for what they have done.'

Ms Daley, mother-of-seven, was killed during a boozy camping trip which resulted in violent sex.

While the two men were charged at the time, early in 2012 the Director of Public Prosecutions, Lloyd Babb, dropped the case.

However, after an independent review Attwater and Maris were again charged in 2016 and were on trial in August this year.

'I still keep thinking she's going to walk through the door, the pain is always there, it will never go away,' Ms Davis said according to ABC News.

The court heard that in 2012 Attwater 'thought it was all over' and moved to Queensland to 'make a fresh start'.

Crown prosecutor Philip Strickland SC said Attwater had been 'lulled' into a belief he was not going to be charged and the delay should be taken into account for sentencing.

'I still keep thinking she's going to walk through the door, the pain is always there, it will never go away,' Ms Davis said

Justice Elizabeth Fullerton said Attwater's stress about being charged should not have any bearing on his sentence.

'It is difficult for me to give the offenders, either of them, any significant moderation on the sentence to be imposed when the impact of delay has been felt most severely by the members of the family,' she said.

The judge wasn't happy the offences, and Ms Daley's death, were being described as a 'stale crime'.

'What had happened, as we all know ... is that somebody, the director taking legal responsibility for it, had determined for reasons again that I know nothing about, that there was insufficient evidence to have Mr Attwater answer for her death by criminal charge,' she said.

The sentence hearing continues.
Taoist meditation group: The group will meet at 9 a.m. Sunday at the First Alternative Natural Foods Co-op north store, 2855 NW Grant Ave. in Corvallis.

The event will feature Taoist Quiet Sitting meditation, also known as "Preserving the Light of the One." Information: docneedlestcm@gmail.com.

Powerful people studied: First United Methodist Church, 1165 NW Monroe Ave. in Corvallis, will take a look at powerful people of faith for the next few weeks, starting with the 9:30 a.m. service on Sunday.

This week participants will focus on St. Hildegard of Bingen, an extraordinary woman of the Middle Ages, particularly to see what can be learned from her defying convention, using weaknesses, being creative and transforming the world.

Bah'ai devotions: "The Reality of Divinity" is set for 10 a.m. Sunday at 5006 SW Hollyhock Circle, Corvallis.

If we observe the entire creation, we see that the lower is unable to comprehend the power of the higher. So the stone, the tree, the animal, however much they may evolve, cannot comprehend the reality or power of a human being. Likewise, how can a human being, the created, understand the reality of the Creator? Participants look at that divine creation, which reflects the attributes of its Creator.

Operation Christmas Child: Northwest Hills Community Church, 3300 NW Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis, will collect shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child during National Collection Week, Monday through Nov. 20.

Collection hours are noon to 2 p.m. Monday; 10 a.m. to noon and 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday; noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday; 10 a.m. to noon and 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday; noon to 2 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to noon Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday; and 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 20.

Residents are encouraged to pack shoeboxes for the project, including items such as school supplies, toys, games, hard candy and a letter and picture from the sender. Information on how to pack the boxes is available at www.samaritanspurse.org.

Painting discussed: Lebanon After 5 Connection will present "So You Think You Can Paint?" at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Lobby, 661 S. Main St. in Lebanon.

The event will include dinner and a program by Jennifer Pullman of Ready, Set, Van Gogh Studio in Albany. Pullman's passion is to create opportunity for those of all walks of life and interest levels to enjoy art. She will demonstrate quick and easy tips to learn how to paint, even for beginners.

Jeanie Prentice will speak on the true meaning of belonging. She is an author and motivational speaker, business owner and creator of a nonprofit women's conference.

The event is open to all women, and their guests. Cost is $8.50 inclusive; no credit cards. Reservations: 541-258-6414 or d.neve@comcast.net.

Film screening: The film "Luther" will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday in Milam Auditorium, 2520 SW Campus Way, Corvallis.

The film's producer, Chris Stehr, will moderate discussion of this story of Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation.

Local events celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation continue through Dec. 1.

Pastor installed: Lebanon First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 170 E. Grant St., will install a new pastor at 4 p.m. Nov. 19.

All members and friends of the church are invited to attend the installation of Pastor Zane Ridings.

Ridings grew up in Salem, attending Salem First Christian Church and South Salem High School. He received an honors Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and religion with a minor in sociology from Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, and a Master of Divinity degree from Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. He most recently worked as a minister in training at Midway Hills Christian Church in Dallas, Texas.

Share your nativity set: Organizers of the Corvallis Nativity Festival are seeking community members willing to lend their nativity sets for five days in early December.

Those willing to lend their creches can bring them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4141 NW Harrison Blvd., between noon and 9 p.m. Nov. 30. Nativity owners set up and take down their own pieces, but help is available. The exhibit will be taken down between 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 5.

Nativity owners can rest assured that no items lent to the exhibit are left unattended at any time, even during the night. Further information is available from Suzanne Woods at 541-760-4715.
Sgt. La David Johnson, who died last month in Niger along with three of his fellow American GIs, may have been captured and executed by ISIS gunmen, it was revealed Friday

One of four American soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist gunmen in Niger last month may have been captured and executed, it was reported on Friday.

Local villagers in the west African nation say that they discovered the dead body of Sgt. La David Johnson two days after he and three other American GIs - Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, and Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson - were killed on October 4.

Johnson's body was found lying face-down in a bushy area roughly a mile from where the ambush took place just outside of the remote Nigerien village of Tongo Tongo.

Witnesses say that his hands were tied behind his back and that there was a gaping wound in the back of his head, The Washington Post reported.

Initially, it was a group of children tending cattle who came upon Johnson's body.

The children then alerted Adamou Boubacar, a 23-year-old farmer and trader.

Boubacar went to the area and saw Johnson's body. He said it looked as if his head had been smashed by a bullet.

He also said that Johnson's wrists were bound with rope.

After Boubacar saw Johnson's body, he informed the village chief, who then notified the Nigerien military.

Adamou Boubacar, a 23-year-old farmer and trader, said he saw Johnson's body lying face-down in a bushy area just outside of the remote Nigerian village of Tongo Tongo on October 6 - two days after the ambush by ISIS

Boubacar went to the area and saw Johnson's body. He said it looked as if his head had been smashed by a bullet. He also said that Johnson's wrists were bound with rope

In addition to the four American soldiers, the ambush by Islamic State also killed five Nigerien soldiers.

'The back of his head was a mess, as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer,' the village chief, Mounkaila Alassane.

Alassane told the Post that he also saw Johnson's body.

'They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks.'

The eyewitness accounts of Johnson's body appear to support the theory that he was abducted and then executed by ISIS gunmen.

That would explain how Johnson's corpse was found more than 48 hours after the ambush.

The bodies of the three other American casualties were retrieved just six hours after the ISIS assault.

The villagers who saw Johnson's body say they also saw the bodies of the other three American casualties. From left: Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, and Staff Sgt. Bryan Black

The villagers who saw Johnson's body say they also saw the bodies of the other three American casualties.

One of them was slumped inside the team's pickup truck, while the other two were on the ground.

One of the dead soldiers on the ground was holding on to a walkie-talkie.

Alassane and Boubacar said that the other three GIs were wearing T-shirts and boxer shorts.

That may be an indication that ISIS gunmen stripped the soldiers of their uniforms, though this has yet to be confirmed.

A US military official with knowledge of the Pentagon's investigation into the incident says it is still premature to draw any conclusions about Johnson's death.

'When the Americans received Johnson, his hands were not tied,' the official told the Post.

There appears to be disagreement between the US and Niger governments about the circumstances of the incident.

The latest revelations about his injuries suggest that Myeshia Johnson was not permitted to view her husband's corpse because it had been badly mangled. Myeshia Johnson is seen above placing her head against her husband's coffin last month in Florida

Shortly after the operation became public, controversy erupted over President Donald Trump's condolence call with Myeshia Johnson. She said that Trump 'made her cry even worse' during the call when he told her that her husband 'knew what he signed up for'

According to a CBS News report from last week, Nigerien military sources believe that the soldiers were there to take out a terrorist leader.

The Pentagon, however, maintains the troops were in the area for a reconnaissance mission.

The exact nature of the operation remains unclear and a spokesperson for the Pentagon was not immediately available for comment.

Shortly after the operation became public, controversy erupted over President Donald Trump's condolence call with Johnson's widow.

Myeshia Johnson said that Trump 'made her cry even worse' during the call when he told her that her husband 'knew what he signed up for.'

'He couldn't remember my husband's name,' Myeshia Johnson said on ABC's Good Morning America program on October 23.

'The only way he remembered my husband's name was because he told me he had my husband's report in front of him, and that's when he actually said "La David".'

'I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband's name and that's what hurt me most,' she said.

Trump defended himself, saying in a Twitter post that his conversation with Johnson had been 'very respectful.' Trump is seen right on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam

The president quickly pounced on Twitter following Myeshia Johnson's interview.

'I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Army Specialist Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!' he tweeted after the interview ended.

Myeshia Johnsons comments in the ABC interview, her first to the media about the call from Trump, fueled a controversy that has raged for a week over how the president has handled consoling relatives of slain service members.

After the interview aired, Trump again defended himself, saying in a Twitter post that his conversation with Johnson had been 'very respectful.'

In the Good Morning America interview, Johnson also said she has been told little about how her husband was killed and has not been allowed to see his body.

The latest revelations about his injuries suggest that Myeshia Johnson was not permitted to view her husband's body because it had been badly mangled.
Republican officials in Alabama are doubling down on Senate candidate Roy Moore in spite of accusations that he dated teen girls in his 30s, as a photo has emerged of one accuser working at a Hillary Clinton campaign event.

Moore has vehemently denied a bombshell Washington Post report detailing claims from several women that he dated them in the 1970s, including one who was 14 at the time.

While the GOP establishment moved quickly to cut ties with insurgent candidate Moore, who was heavily backed by President Donald Trump's strategist Steve Bannon, local party officials were not so skittish.

'I think it's going to affect the turnout  I think the turnout is going to be larger for Roy Moore,' Calhoun County Republican Party Chairman James Bennett told the Montgomery Advertiser.

Moore accuser Deborah Wesson Gibson is seen working as a sign language interpreter at a Hillary Clinton campaign rally in Florida in 2016. She claims Moore kissed her on a date

Roy Moore (center) has vehemently denied a bombshell Washington Post report detailing claims from several women that he dated them in the 1970s, including one who was 14

'I got more calls yesterday for Roy Moore signs than I have since the primary,' Bennett said. 'I think (Moore supporters) are very skeptical of the reporting four weeks before the election. Theyre going to withhold their judgment, but theyre not going to withhold their vote.'

Other Alabama Republicans said they suspected the allegations stemmed from the Washington establishment, in a desperate attempt to keep outsider candidate Moore from reaching DC.

'I mean, how do you react to an allegation that supposedly happened 38 years ago?' Republican State Sentator Dick Brewbaker told Alabama Public Radio.

'I do not buy the idea that suddenly because it's now the US Senate, she felt like she had to come forward. I mean, come on.'

The local support for Moore stood in stark contrast to the reaction from the GOP establishment, after Senate Republicans cut fundraising ties with the candidate on Friday.

Meanwhile, a photo emerged on Friday showing one of Moore's accusers working at a Clinton campaign event.

Photos have emerged showing Gibson working at several Democrat campaign events, including this one for Patrick Murphy in 2016

Gibson is seen with former Vice President Joe Biden after working at a campaign event during the 2012 election in Florida

Deborah Wesson Gibson is seen working at a Clinton campaign rally in Florida and posing with former Vice President Joe Biden in pictures her company posted online.

Gibson owns the Delray Beach, Florida-based interpreting company Signs of Excellence.

In the photos, Gibson also seen working at campaign events or posing with former Representative Patrick Murphy and Senator Bill Nelson, both Democrats.

Gibson claimed in the report that Moore had dated her for several months when she was 17 and he was 34.

She recalled that he read her poetry and played his guitar for her, and that he kissed her twice in the course of the relationship.

The age of consent in Alabama is 16, but the report also detailed claims by another woman, Leigh Corfman, who said that Moore sexually touched her over her underwear when she was 14.

Moore has emphatically denied ever meeting Corfman, saying: 'I never knew this woman, I never met this woman and these charges are politically motivated.'
A couple from a Dallas suburb is suing a medical clinic for allegedly failing to properly diagnose their four-year-old daughter who ended up dying from meningitis, it was reported on Friday.

Olivia Steinborn was rushed to an emergency room in Texas in August of last year after her parents found her in bed with blue skin and vomit covering her face.

Her parents, Brian Steinborn and Juli Treadwell, noticed that she was running a fever of 101 degrees.

She also had a rapid heartbeat and was breathing abnormally, according to the Dallas Morning News.

When Olivia arrived at the Excel ER less than a mile from the family's home, clinicians conducted a battery of lab tests and checked her vital signs.

Olivia Steinborn, 4, died on August 7, 2016. Her parents say that an emergency room clinic failed to accurately diagnose her

Her parents, Brian Steinborn and Juli Treadwell (pictured above), are suing the clinic for $1million in damages

The clinicians gave her fluids and sent her home with a prescription for an antibiotic to treat an ear infection.

Five hours later, however, Olivia was once again rushed to the clinic. Her health had deteriorated even further.

By the time she arrived to the clinic, her heart had suddenly ceased functioning.

Moments later, she was pronounced dead.

On August 8, 2016, Tarrant County coroners concluded an autopsy which listed Olivia's cause of death as bacterial meningitis.

Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening condition whereby membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord are infected.

If not treated immediately, a person with bacterial meningitis could die.

Olivia's parents on Wednesday filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Excel ER.

They are accusing the clinic and the doctor on duty of failing to properly diagnose Olivia.

The lawsuit also accuses the clinic of acting improperly by sending Olivia home and by not ordering an immediate evacuation to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.

Excel ER is also accused in the lawsuit of failing to staff 'appropriately qualified and experienced physicians' at the clinic.

According to the lawsuit, the clinician who treated Olivia was only a medical resident  meaning he was still in training and did not have a certificate to operate as an emergency medicine specialist.

The lawsuit claims that Olivia's parents were never told about the clinician's lack of credentials.

The parents' lawyer who filed the suit says that the clinic was trying to cut costs.

Staff members at Excel ER sent Olivia home with antibiotics for an ear infection. But an autopsy on Olivia listed the cause of death as bacterial meningitis

'The ER was too cheap, and looking too much in the way of profits, to pay for a real physician who had finished training,' Les Weisbrod said.

Weisbrod is a lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice cases in the Dallas area.

The family is seeking $1million in damages.

Excel ER and its lawyer, Bryan Haynes, declined to comment.

Medical experts interviewed by the Dallas Morning News say that the lawsuit has merit and the clinic badly misdiagnosed Olivia's condition.

They said that the clinicians on staff at Excel ER should have observed the obvious symptoms of meningitis  fever, vomiting, diarrhea, a rapid heart rate, and abnormal breathing.

They also said that clinicians should have noticed that Olivia was deaf and that she wore a cochlear implant in her right ear, which put her at increased risk for meningitis.

Dr. Armando Correa, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, offered his medical opinion which was included with the lawsuit.

Correa said that lab tests on Olivia showed 'grossly abnormal white count and platelet count which were indicative of an overwhelming bacterial infection.'
The United States and Russia agreed Saturday to cooperate to defeat the ISIS terror army, and backing a set of principles related to forcing a resolution to the bloody civil war in Syria.

A statement from the Russian government  which the White House has yet to confirm  says Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met 'on the sidelines' of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Da Nang, Vietnam.

It also says Russia and the U.S. are committed to keeping lines of communication open in order to 'prevent dangerous incidents between American and Russian military forces' while the U.S. and its allies are fighting ISIS.

Trump and Putin both attended the APEC leaders' summit on Saturday, and were pictured talking and shaking hands before it began.

Trump told reporters later aboard Air Force One that the pair had 'two or three very short conversations' during the summit.

Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin talked 'on the sidelines' of the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam on Saturday, according to a 'joint statement' issued in Russian by the Kremlin

Trump did most of the talking, according to a person who witnessed the conversation, but he stopped to listen to Putin speak as well

Trump did most of the talking, according to a person who witnessed the conversation.

An English translation of a Russian-language version of the statement issued afterward says the two leaders 'confirmed their determination to defeat ISIS in Syria.'

It also confirmed that the U.S. and Russia agree that 'that the conflict in Syria cannot have a military solution.'

Instead, the White House and the Kremlin are committed to forcing Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad to engage in a political transition out of power, as dictated by a resolution the United Nations Security Council passed in December 2015.

The resolution demanded a 'free and fair' election by a deadline that passed in June 2017.

Trump and Putin also discussed 'de-escalation zones' in Syria, which the Assad regime has largely ignored and continues to strike with impunity.

The Kremlin published a Russian-language 'joint statement' on its website Saturday afternoon while Trump and Putin were attending the APEC meeting.

Trump and Putin discussed 'de-escalation zones' like this one in Syria, which the Bashar al-Assad regime continues to strike as it tries to obliterate anti-government rebels

Assad would have had to hold elections to replace himself by June 2017, according to the terms of a UN Security Council resolution that Trump and Putin jointly backed in a statement on Saturday issued in Vietnam

Pictured in this video screen grab is a Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 strategic bomber hitting ISIS targets near the city of Abu Kamal, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syira last week

It was negotiated behind the scenes in Da Nang by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had told reporters on Friday that Trump and Putin would not meet in Vietnam.

'Regarding a Putin meeting, there was never a meeting confirmed, and there will not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides,' Sanders said aboard Air Force One.

'There is no formal meeting or anything scheduled for them.'

'Now, theyre going to be in the same place,' she allowed. 'Are they going to bump into each other and say hello? Certainly possible and likely.'

Before the battle: ISIS supporters paraded through the Syrian city of Raqqa, which was the base of operations for their self-proclaimed 'caliphate' until their defeat there this year

Most news photographers were kept out of the Da Nang resort where the APEC leaders' summit was held on Saturday, leading to griping from journalists  and speculation about whether the news blackout was ordered to avoid documenting Trump's meeting with Putin

The press was largely shut out of the Intercontinental Da Nang Sun Palace resort where 21 world leaders met on Saturday.

American news photographers were not allowed in the building despite a longstanding arrangement with the White House permitting them to take pictures at pre-approved times of the day.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state-run Sputnik news website that the joint statement was prepared specifically to go along with the Vietnam summit, suggesting the White House knew Trump and Putin would meet there.

Trump has shown little appetite for holding talks with Putin unless there is some sense that progress could be made on festering issues such as Syria, Ukraine and North Korea.

After emphasizing last year on the campaign trail that it would be nice if the United States and Russia could work together on world problems, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office.

Trump publicly sitting down with Putin also revives the issue of Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election, which remains under investigation.

Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the probe along with his former deputy, Rick Gates.
Details of Prince Philip's secret stag-do have been revealed - nearly 70 years after he married Princess Elizabeth.

Prince Philip's marriage to the Queen at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947 was one of the most widely documented and highly anticipated events at the time, but now information regarding a private event just before his big day have been revealed.

The night before he married, there was an official stag party at the Dorchester Hotel, Central London, where the media and were invited to take official pictures.

It has now emerged that a few days before there was a private dinner which Prince Philip hosted with some of his closest friends.

Prince Philip's stag night was a private dinner the groom enjoyed a few days earlier with some of his closest friends

A picture of the seating arrangement for Prince Philip's private dinner at the Belfry Club on November 14

A menu and seating plan from the event, held at the Belfry Club on November 14, has revealed how Prince Philip celebrated with his friends in style.

A bespoke menu, designed by artist Feliks Topolski, reads 'Dinner to Distant Country Member Lieu. Philip Mountbatten, Royal Navy, who is to be married on the 20th November 1947'.

Attached is a 25-person seating plan and menu which shows guests dined out on foie gras, turtle soup, mixed grill and crepes suzette.

There is also a stunning black-and-white of the black tie event, with a 26-year-old Philip sitting down at the luxurious table while other friends gather round for the photo opportunity.

A significant proportion of the guests were members of the Thursday club, which Philip belonged to. The group met for lunch at Wheeler's fish restaurant in Soho every week.

A bespoke menu, designed by artist Feliks Topolski, reads 'Dinner to Distant Country Member Lieu. Philip Mountbatten, Royal Navy, who is to be married on the 20th November 1947'

Prince Philip (circled) sits with some of his close naval friends at the Dorchester hotel before his marriage to Elizabeth

Prince Philip at his official stag party at the Dorchester Hotel in central London

Among some of the more notable guests included the Marquess of Milford Haven - who would be Philip's best man six days later, Baron Nahum and journalist Philip Youngman Carter, who would go on to edit the high-society magazine Tatler.

Included in the Belfry menu is a verse about marriage by Dr Samuel Johnson which reads: 'Marriage is the best state for a man in general; and every man is a worse man in proportion as he is unfit for the married state...'

Ian Shapiro, a specialist royal memorabilia dealer, told the Mirror: 'They are remarkable items. The humour and sense of fun is clearly evident among Prince Philip's circle, from the menu art by the renowned Feliks Topolski to the selection of each course.'

It is believed the items could fetch up to 1,000 if they were to go to auction.
Fish could be more intelligent than we've given them credit for in light of new footage that shows grouper coral working with an octopus to catch their prey.

Their remarkable interactions were captured during a shoot for BBC One's Blue Planet II and will be shown on TV for the first time tomorrow night.

Astounding use of rudimentary sign language demonstrates a level of intelligence that could rival chimpanzees - our closest relative in the animal kingdom.

Grouper fish and octopus hunt the same small fish for food, which are often able to outsmart the larger creatures by hiding in the coral's small crevices.

But in awe-inspiring footage filmed on the Great Barrier Reef for Sir David Attenborough's new programme it appears the two rival predators have decided two heads are better than one and opted to work together instead.

Footage from episode three of Blue Planet II shows a grouper coral fish (left) team up with an octopus to catch its prey

Their solution sees the grouper fish chase the smaller ones into a crevice and then turn a paler colour to attract the octopus' attention.

They then stand on their heads and wiggle their tails to indicate there's a tasty meal hiding in one of the holes.

It then comes down to the octopus to place its tentacles in one of the crevices to grab their prey.

Viewers will be able to witness the impressive partnership for themselves on tomorrow night's 'Reef' episode of Blue Planet.

Sir David, who narrates the series, told The Telegraph: 'The fish takes fright and swims straight into the grouper's jaws.

'Sometimes the octopus gets the reward, sometimes the grouper does.

'These very different species have discovered that teamwork brings success.'

Dr Alex Vail, a Cambridge University scientist turned camerman, who was behind the amazing footage told the newspaper: 'When I first saw it, I was blown away.

The amazing images show fish could be just as intelligent as chimpanzees. Narrator Sir David Attenborough (pictured) says the creatures have discovered that 'teamwork brings success'

'What's fascinating is there seems to be intention behind it.

'The grouper has formulated a plan and is aware of what the outcome might be, and then carries it out.

'Which shows a similar level of intelligence as chimpanzees. And that's without anything like the same brainpower.

'We have seen grouper do similar headstand signalling and shimming to attract the attention of moray eels, but the eels often don't quite get what they are supposed to do.

'And the grouper sometimes has to go and nudge it in the right direction.

'You don't have that with the octopus. It knows what's going on and it's straight over. Which actually makes it harder to film.'

The episode's producer Jonathan Smith commented: 'What we discovered is that this fish is capable of forward planning and co-operatively hunting with a completely unrelated animal, in this case an octopus.

'The grouper finds the fish and if he can't get to it in the coral he goes off and does a display to the octopus.

'He puts his head down, flashes white, wiggles in front of the octopus and gets its attention.

'Then they both come over to where the fish is hiding and if the octopus wants to play, it can use its tentacles to get in and actually flush the fish out.

'Once it's out in the open the coral grouper gets the fish about half the time, and about half the time the octopus snags it.

'If we'd have tried to film that sequence a few years ago we'd have ended up filming a lot of it from slightly above.

'With the underwater probe camera we managed to get inside the reef and you're looking in the reef like you're a little fish with these octopus tentacles coming down all around you.

'You really feel like you're experiencing this behaviour.'

Another amazing bit of team work filmed for this week's episode is when a shoal of bream come together to get rid of some sand covering up a dangerous bobbit worm.

Usually the metre-long creatures lie low before sucking fish to the ocean floor, but the breams' handiwork means they can expose them before it's too late and avoid their deadly jaws.

Clownfish are also filmed off the coast of Borneo moving a coconut shell near their anemone so the female can lay eggs there.

Director of the show James Honeyborne said: 'It's a remarkable story.

'Reefs are one of the most competitive areas to live in the ocean so to get ahead you've got to come up with these ingenious techniques.'

Episode three of Blue Planet II will air on BBC One on Sunday at 8pm.
A British woman jailed on drugs charges in Egypt was dealt a shattering blow today after being told she will go on trial.

Laura Plummer could be held in jail for a further three months until a judge has heard all the evidence in her case.

He can then rule to set her free or jail her for up to seven years.

If convicted of drug smuggling he could impose the death penalty.

British tourist Laura Plummer who is facing the death penalty after being accused of trying to smuggle 290 powerful painkillers into Egypt

The latest development has devastated her family, who fear for her safety.

Her mother Roberta told MailOnline: 'She will not last another 15 days in jail.'

Her dad, Neville, told MailOnline: We have just been the told the news and we are distraught.

I know Laura will be distraught.

I have been on the phone to the Foreign Office to get them to help but they keep saying "Our hands are tied". They have been next to useless.

Laura is not a strong person and I dont know how much more she can take.'

The family of the 33-year-old had been expecting to hear good news today, with the likelihood of her being granted bail.

But her court hearing in the resort of Hurghada was postponed and they were told it would take place on Sunday morning.

Later her lawyer Mohammed Osman was told that due to the seriousness of the charges the case would no longer be heard in a regional court in the Red Sea resort.

No date has been set for her appearance but legal experts said it could be weeks or months before she gets a chance to give evidence.

It is not unheard of in Egypt that people awaiting trial can be held for years before they appear in court.

As Laura is a foreign national and the case attracted the attention of the media it is likely to be fast tracked.

Until that time she stays locked up in a 'hell hole' Egyptian jail.

'The legal system works very slowly and Laura will not be given bail because she is on a drug smuggling charge,' said a legal source.

The criminal hearing will take place in the town of Safaga, about 50 miles from Hurghada, where she has been held in a detention centre for a month.

Her lawyer Mohammed Osman described the development as 'very worrying.'

New evidence submitted by Omas Caboo claim to prove his medical condition and need for the pills. It is hoped that this evidence will be enough for an Egyptian court to grant her freedom

From left: Sister Jayne, brother Kirk and mum Roberta are the family of Laura Plummer, 33, from Hull, who is being held in an Egyptian prison. They are picture on 10 November

The news will come as a shattering blow to her family, who flew out to Egypt to support her for a planned court hearing on Thursday.

Her sister Jayne and brother Kirk had to fly home, leaving their mother Roberta as the sole family member in Egypt.

A family source told MailOnline: 'We are devastated and can't believe what has happened. Laura will not last 15 more days in jail.'

The shopworker from Hull was arrested on October 9th when she flew into Hurghada to meet her husband Omar Caboo.

Customs officers found 300 Tramadol painkillers in her luggage as she tried to leave the airport.

The drugs are banned in Egypt and prescription only in the UK.

Police believed she was an international drug smuggler as she could not name her husband's full name or where he lived when quizzed.

A switch to a criminal court means the prosecutor has convinced the judge that the case is so serious it merits being heard in a higher court.

Her husband Omar, 34, will be called to give evidence and police will also say why they believed Laura is a drug smuggler.

After a month in hiding Caboo came forward to deliver crucial evidence that supports his wife's story that she was bringing the pills to help ease his back pain.

He has produced X-rays to show he suffers from chronic back pain following a car accident.

The shop girl, 33, has been locked up for a month after being arrested at Hurghada International Airport when she was stopped by customs officers and found with almost 300 of the powerful pain killers

Due to the slow process of the Egyptian legal system it could be a month or more before Laura is called to explain herself before a judge.

Until that time she will be held in jail as being a foreign national she is considered a flight risk.

Until the stunning new development Laura was said by her mother to be in 'good spirits' and confident of being set free on bail.

A day of confusion at the Hurghada court saw her hearing postponed until Sunday and later her lawyer was told the case was transferred out of Hurghada.

Mohamed Osman, Laura Plummer's Lawyer

Ms Plummer, of Hull, east Yorkshire, claims she was bringing the 290 Tramadol painkillers - which are banned in Egypt - into the country for Omar Caboo, who suffers from chronic back pain.

New evidence submitted by Mr Caboo claims to prove his medical condition and need for the pills. It is hoped that this evidence will be enough for an Egyptian court to grant Ms Plummer her freedom.

The documents include X-rays, medical records and a marriage certificate - crucial evidence because authorities believed her to be a smuggler with a made-up spouse.

The shop girl, 33, has been locked up for a month after being arrested at Hurghada International Airport when she was stopped by customs officers and found with almost 300 of the powerful pain killers.

Egyptian Caboo, a hotel activities organiser, had requested them to relieve his back pain.

Tramadol is on a list of banned drugs in Egypt as it is widely used by junkies as a heroin substitute because it is so powerful.

Ms Plummer's worried relatives saw her as jail bosses mocked her complaints about the 'hellhole' conditions, telling her: 'You're not staying in the Sheraton!'

She has endured an ordeal of sharing a 15ft x 15ft cell with 25 other women in sweltering heat and no air conditioning.

This afternoon her mother Roberta, sister Jayne Sinclair and brother Kirk were pictured as they went to the prison for an hour-long visit.

Staff at the prison on the outskirts of the city of Hurgharda showed little sympathy for what the Egyptian media have called the 'Tramadol Tourist'.

Meanwhile, Ms Plummer was able to speak briefly to her mother Roberta today.

As she waited in the entrance hall of the chaotic Red Sea court her lawyer handed her a mobile phone and told her Ms Plummer wanted to speak with her.

The mother's face lit up and she hurried off into a corner to speak with her daughter.

Roberta later told MailOnline: 'She is much better today. Her spirits are good'.

Roberta then booked herself a flight home on Sunday in the hope her daughter might be granted bail in her court appearance.

She was due to fly back to the UK on Saturday night, but on the advice of her daughter's lawyer cancelled the flight to remain in Egypt.

Ms Plummer had been expected to appear at the court with her lawyer Mohamed Osman presenting evidence that she was not a drug smuggler.

Police at the court had been preparing for Ms Plummer's arrival today with a dozen gun toting men standing guard at the rear entrance where prisoners in shackles are brought (family of Laura Plummer on This Morning trying to raise awareness of her plight)

Her husband Mr Caboo, who fled Hurghada after she was arrested on October 9th, came out of hiding to hand over medical evidence to prove he suffered chronic back pain.

Another of her lawyers, Tasha Shokry, told MailOnline they had presented the medical evidence to the prosecutor in the hope he will not object to a bail application.

Osman said he had explained to Ms Plummer she might have to spend a further 15 days in jail while the judge decided what to do.

He said: 'I have explained to Ms Plummer the procedure. She is still under criminal investigation and until that has been completed she faces staying in jail.

'The judge can extend her to stay for another 15 days or he can make it 30 days. The maximum she can be held is three months or it has to go to trial.'

Police at the court had been preparing for Ms Plummer's arrival today with a dozen gun-toting men standing guard at the rear entrance where prisoners in shackles are brought.

But after two hours, when it became apparent Ms Plummer was not being driven the five miles from the police detention centre to the court, they were stood down.

Osman said Ms Plummer could still be brought to the court on Sunday but there was no certainty the judge would request her presence.

The shop girl, 33, has been locked up for a month after being arrested at Hurghada International Airport when she was stopped by customs officers and found with almost 300 of the powerful pain killers

Her family are pinning their hopes on the shop worker from Hull being granted bail.

Her mum Roberta, sister Jayne and brother Kirk flew to Egypt in the hope of seeing her released.

Her case was postponed on Thursday and Kirk and Jayne flew back to the UK on Friday night.

Her mum is due to fly home tonight but made a last-minute dash to the prison to take her food and say an emotional farewell.

Her lawyer Mohamed Osman has warned that she could still be locked up for seven years even if she is cleared of any crime.

And she faces the death penalty if the court rules she was trying to sell the drugs.

A legal source said she was being treated as an 'international drug smuggler.'
Violent anti-Trump protests erupted in the Philippines ahead of the US leader's arrival tomorrow.

Hundreds of left-wing activists marched on the US embassy in Manila to protest against US militarism.

They were blocked by police with riot shields as they chanted and held signs reading: 'Ban Trump  Fight US Imperialist War and Plunder'.

The anti-war protesters fear Trump wants more military bases in the Philippines and will drag their country into the North Korea conflict.

Hundreds of left-wing activists in Manila marched on the US embassy to protest US militarism

They were blocked by police as they chanted and held signs reading: 'Ban Trump  Fight US Imperialist War and Plunder'

The anti-war protesters fear Trump wants more military bases in the Philippenes and will drag their country into the North Korea conflict

This selfie taken by Special Assistant to Duterte, Bong Go, shows the presidents meeting with a translator in Vietnam on Saturday

Some were seen splashing black paint across a poster of Mr Trump which branded him a 'fascist'.

Others held signs reading 'no to Balikatan' - the annual US-Philippines military exercises.

The protests were mostly peaceful but violent scuffles broke out as police blocked demonstrators from getting to the US embassy.

It came as Donald Trump met Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte for the first time.

Their meeting at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam on Saturday was 'short but was warm and cordial,' said Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque.

Protesters throw red paint to a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally against his visit in Manila

Protesters shout slogans holding portraits of U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

Riot police gather for a briefing ahead of a protest near the US embassy in Manila

Protesters vandalise an image of U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally against his visit in Manila

Donald Trump (back right) met Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte (back left) for the first time as violent protests erupted on the streets of Manila ahead of his arrival tomorrow.

'The Trump of the East' Rodrigo Duterte, like Trump, is a 'say it like it is' president. He called Barack Obama a 'son of a whore' and Philip Goldberg, then US envoy to the Philippines, a 'faggot'. So far he has not insulted Trump - the two actually had a 'friendly' phone-call after The Donald was elected. Trump is under pressure from Congress to criticise Duterte's war on drugs in which thousands have been executed or imprisoned without trial - but he previously said Duterte is doing 'an unbelievable job on drugs'. Duterte said if any leader tried to intervene in his drug war he would tell them: 'Lay off. That is not your business. That is my business.' Advertisement

'The leaders were generally pleased to finally meet each other in person,' he said. Trump told Duterte 'see you tomorrow.'

Trump will head to Manila on Sunday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on the last leg of his 12-day Asian trip.

Duterte - sometimes described 'Trump of the East' because of his brash and mercurial style - had said on Wednesday that he would tell the US president to 'lay off' if he raised the issue of human rights when they met.

More than 3,900 Filipinos have been killed in what the police call self-defence in Duterte's war on drugs. Critics say executions are taking place with zero accountability, allegations the police reject.

But Trump, who has been criticised at home for neglecting rights issues in dealings abroad, in May praised Duterte for doing an 'unbelievable job on the drug problem'.

Human rights, rule of law and due process were among topics Trump and Duterte would likely discuss during their bilateral talks, Sung Kim, US ambassador to Manila, had said last month.

Some were seen plashing black paint across a poster of Mr Trump which branded him a 'fascist'

Protesters smear images of U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte with paint during a rally against US President's visit

Protesters push back anti-riot police officers as they try to march towards the US embassy during a rally against US President Donald Trump's visit in Manila
An Australian man has been elected the mayor of Annapolis, one of America's oldest cities, following a landslide victory.

Gavin Buckley, originally from Perth in Western Australia, emerged triumphant this week after making the decision to run for the position 18 months ago.

Despite growing up in Belmont, Mr Buckley has since become a naturalised American after settling in the state of Maryland with his wife Julie, according to the ABC.

Australian man Gavin Buckley (pictured) has been elected the mayor of Annapolis, one of America's oldest cities, following a landslide victory

He is a small business owner in the city, with his community-minded focus at the forefront of his campaign.

'I'm not running for Mayor because I have higher political aspirations. I'm not running because I need a job. I'm running because I have a vision for what our city and community can be,' he said on his website.

Following his win, Mr Buckley thanked those who voted for him and reiterated his commitment to 'get the job done'.

'I am extremely grateful for your support and I am so proud that our vision for a strong, inclusive and vibrant Annapolis is shared by so many,' he wrote.

He also used the speech to praise his wife and their two sons Dash and Miles for their continued support.

'They have been behind me every step of the way and made a lot of sacrifices to get us to today,' Mr Buckley wrote.

Originally from Perth in Western Australia, Mr Buckley is now a naturalised American and became Mayor this week after deciding to run for the position 18 months ago

Following his win, Mr Buckley thanked those who supported him, including his wife Julie and their two sons Dash and Miles (all pictured)

Annapolis, the capital of Maryland is more than 350 years old and serves as the home to the United States Naval Academy.

More than 40,000 people reportedly call it home and it is renowned historically for its involvement in the fight for independence from Great Britain.

Former mayor Mike Pantelides was up against Mr Buckley in the political race, which sadly came to a close just days after the new elected candidate's uncle died following a battle with liver cancer.

Mr Buckley headed home to Australia Thursday to attend the funeral and is expected to return back to America on November 15, the Capital Gazette reports.

His campaign was run by Scott Travers, a former Hillary Clinton field organiser, who told the publication Gavin had known people in the community 'for 25 years'.
The North Korean government said Saturday that Donald Trump's first trip to Asia showed he's itching for all-out Armageddon on the Korean peninsula.

'Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula,' the hermit nation's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

'Trump made his conceived attempt yet again to alienate our people from the government,' he said.

The North Korean spokesman said it will not be possible to deter Pyongyang from pursuing a fully fledged nuclear weapons program.

The U.S. president said Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea that the 'sinister regime' to the North has become a dangerous menace, and warned dictator Kim Jong-un not to test his patience.

'Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries, but for all civilized nations, when I say to the North: Do not underestimate us. And do not try us,' he told South Korea's National Assembly in an impassioned speech.

Kim Jong-un's North Korean regime has branded President Donald Trump a 'destroyer of world peace' and claimed he has 'begged for nuclear war' with statements he's made during his Asia trip this month

Trump, shown leaving the Vietnamese city of Da Nang en route to Hanoi on Saturday, has both blasted Kim during his 12-day Asia swing and called on him to cut 'a deal' with the West to give up his nuclear ambitions

The U.S. president said Friday in Da Nang that 'the future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail'

Addressing a global audience, he insisted Wednesday that 'the world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens it with nuclear devastation.'

'All responsible nations must join forces to isolate the brutal regime of North Korea  to deny it any form of support, supply, or acceptance.'

In a long soliloquy about North Korea, he said the totalitarian state is the result of 'a tragic experiment in the laboratory of history ... in which leaders imprison their people under the banner of fascism and oppression.'

It's 'a country ruled like a cult,' he said, fueled by 'a deranged belief in the ruler's destiny.'

And in a stern, direct message to Kim, he declared: 'The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer. They are putting your regime in grave danger. Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face.'

'North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned, he said of the nation's founder Kim Il-sung. 'It is a hell that no person deserves.'

Kim Jong-un's regime is racing to complete a nuclear missile that can reach the United States, prompting Trump to leave all military options on the table

This July 28 picture released from North Korea's state news agency shows a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile being test-lauched at an undisclosed place in North Korea

It has been 58 days since North Korea's last ballistic missile test. The regime had been quiet during Trump's Asia tour until the early morning hours of Saturday.

Trump continued blasted North Korea on Friday in Da Nang, Vietnam during a speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, hammering the totalitarian state for developing nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles to carry them.

'Earlier this week, I addressed the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea and urged every responsible nation to stand united in declaring that every single step the North Korean regime takes toward more weapons is a step it takes into greater and greater danger,' he said.

'The future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail.'

And the nation's hoped-for nuclear weapons, he pledged, are something 'we are not going to let it have.'

'We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction. We will not be intimidated. And we will not let the worst atrocities in history be repeated here, on this ground we fought and died to secure,' he said.

Trump's speech in Seoul comes at a time when he has been waging a war of words against Kim, derisively calling him 'Little Rocket Man' for his nuclear missile ambitions.

But on Tuesday he seemed to soften his rhetoric, saying Pyongyang should 'make a deal' with the West to stop developing weapons of mass destruction.

Trump warned the North Korean dictator on Wednesday not to tempt fate by threatening the United States with nuclear weapons

'Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries, but for all civilized nations, when I say to the North: Do not underestimate us. And do not try us,' Trump warned Kim

Trump told reporters that he had seen a lot of progress in recent days, but wouldn't say where he stands on the question of direct talks with the despot.

'It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for the people of North Korea and for the world,' he said during a press conference with Moon.

At the same time, he held out the possibility that the Pentagon would act with 'unparalleled strength' if Kim doesn't do, in Moon's words, 'the right thing.'

During a military briefing at nearby Camp Humphreys on Tuesday, the president promised 'lots of good answers for you over a period of time.'

'And ultimately it will all work out,' he said.

'It always works out. It has to work out!'

The Hermit Kingdom has ramped up its ballistic missile testing program in recent months, and conducted its sixth nuclear weapon test in September. In all, Pyongyang has sent a dozen missiles into the air this year, but none since September.

Some experts believe Kim will soon be able to reach the continental United States with an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Trump fired off a series of tweets above after his Seoul speech before flying on to China

Three American aircraft carriers and a nuclear submarine are en route to waters off the Korean peninsula, underscoring the seriousness of Trump's threat to engage.

'As we work together to resolve this problem using all available tools short of military action, the United States stands prepared to defend itself and it its allies using the full range of our unmatched military capabilities, if need be,' he threatened on Wednesday.

Trump has said frequently that his predecessors, going back to the Bill Clinton era, have kicked the North Korean can down the road.

'This is not the right time to be doing it, but that's what I got. That's what I got,' Trump lamented Tuesday of the situation he inherited.

A few hours later he was on Air Force One to China where it was revealed that at the end of his Asia tour, Trump will decide whether to designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters: 'The president said he'd make a determination at the end of the trip.'

President Obama removed the rogue nation from America's list of states that sponsor terror in a bid to ease relations.
Christine Forster has opened up about the moment a crowd of protesters swarmed her and allegedly 'shredded' her jacket as she tried to attend her brother's Liberal Party function on Friday.

Met with thousands of angry Manus Island protesters, Tony Abbott's sister claims she was viciously attacked as she trenched through Redfern's Australian Technology Park.

'We were spat on, we were physically grabbed, people tried to punch us,' she told Nine News.

Scroll down for video

Christine Forster (pictured) claimed Manus Island protesters spat at her and tried to punch her as she and her partner walked through Australian Technology Park on Friday

Despite being under heavy police guard, Ms Forster recalled being 'crushed' as she and her partner Virginia maneuvered their way towards the fundraiser.

'There was really a crush happening at that point and if someone had of been knocked over it would of been really...it was a really dangerous situation,' she said.

Protesters were also blamed for tearing apart the back of her tweed blazer before her escape through a back fence.

Her older brother came to her defense, slamming the violent acts as 'disgraceful behaviour'.

Police revealed the four people had been arrested from their involvement in the chaotic event, which unfolded around 6pm.

Protesters were also blamed for tearing apart the back of her tweed blazer before her escape through a back fence

A 24-year-old was granted conditional bail after being charged for spitting on an officer. He will face court on December 11.

A further three people, including a 31-year-old male and two women aged 43 and 51, were arrested but cleared of any charges.

The crowd was protesting the Australian government's handling of refugees on the now-closed Manus Island detention centre.

Ms Forster defended her stance on the issue, stating it wasn't 'her view' that people on Manus Island were being mistreated.

'They are being well treated,' she claimed.

Ms Forster had her jacket 'shredded' by protesters as she and her partner Virginia Edwards made their way through the crowd

The crowd was protesting the Australian government's handling of refugees on the now-closed Manus Island detention centre

Ms Forster had her jacket 'shredded' by protesters as she and her partner Virginia Edwards made their way through the crowd.

Mr Abbott took to Twitter on Saturday morning to condemn the attack.

'Disgraceful behaviour by protesters last night,' the former prime minister tweeted.

'Denying Australians' real rights to uphold the supposed rights of boat people.'

Mr Abbott took to Twitter on Saturday morning to condemn the attack on his sister

Ms Forster said it took 30 to 40 police officers to prevent the growing crowd from completely overpowering her and her partner

Ms Forster said it took 30 to 40 police officers to prevent the growing crowd from completely overpowering her and her partner.

'They were spitting, they were snarling,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I support peaceful political protests, that's fine. But don't assault people.'

Mr Abbott later continued: 'My sister is herself a brave campaigner for rights and should never have been assaulted.'

Ms Forster said she supports 'peaceful political protests...just don't assault people'

Mr Abbott labeled his sister as a 'brave campaigner for rights and should never have been assaulted'

The refugees (pictured) are protesting against the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments who want to move them to facilities near the township of Lorengau

Around 600 refugees remain at the detention centre, despite services including water and electricity being cut off 10 days ago.

The men believe it is safer to stay at the old compound rather than risk being attacked by locals at the new facility.

The refugees are protesting against the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments who want to move them to facilities near the township of Lorengau.
Donald Trump said Saturday that during a brief conversation with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of an economic summit, the Russian president flatly denied meddling in the 2016 election that brought Trump to the White House.

'He said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times,' Trump said. 'I just asked him again.'

'He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.'

President Donald Trump asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday whether he meddled in the 2016 American presidential election, he said, and Putin flatly denied it

'I didn't meddle': Trump said that Putin insisted he did not interfere in the US election. The pair are pictured at a summit in Danang

Trump called questions about his campaign's alleged collusion with Moscow an 'artificial Democratic hit job' that 'gets in the way' of international diplomacy and serves as a 'artificial barrier' to cooperation 'put into place by the Democrats.'

He said 'people will die because of it' as tense U.S.-Russia relations make it more difficult to cajole Putin into helping derail North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions.

'I call it the "artificial Democrat barrier." It gets in the way, which is a shame,' he said.

The presidents had 'two or three very short conversations' during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Hanoi.

Trump hinted that he thinks Putin was being sincere when he 'very strongly' denied the accusation.

'Every time he sees me he says, "I didn't do that," and I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,' the president said. 'But he says, "I didn't do that." I think he's very insulted by it, if you want to know the truth.

'Don't forget, all he said is he never did that, he didn't do that. I think he's very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country,' Trump added.

General Michael Hayden, CIA director to Republican George W. Bush, said later on Twitter that he had received a statement from the nation's top intelligence agency reaffirming its position that the election interference last year was the work of the Kremlin.

'The Dir stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed,' the statement said, according to Hayden, a previous head of the NSA in addition to the CIA.

Trump called questions about his campaign's alleged collusion with Moscow a 'Democratic hit-job'

Trump said Saturday as reporters pressed him to repeat what he told, Putin, 'I can't stand there and argue with him.'

'I'd rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I'd rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine [rather] than arguing about whether or not  because that whole thing was set up by the Democrats.'

The president said continually pressing Putin on the question of election interference  a concept he called 'a Democratic-inspired thing'  is harming U.S.-Russia relations at a time when Moscow's help is needed to de-fang Kim Jong-un.

'If we had a relationship with Russia  North Korea, which is our single biggest problem right now, North Korea  it would be helped a lot,' he said.

'President Putin could be tremendously helpful with North Korea,' Trump added.

Trump said the North Korea nuclear crisis affects 'millions and millions of lives. This isn't baby stuff. This is the real deal. And if Russia helped us, in addition to China, that problem would go away a lot faster.'

(Front L-R) China's President Xi Jinping, Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, (back L-R) Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald J. Trump

Ultimately, he insisted that 'there was no collusion' between his aides and Russians during the presidential campaign. 'Everybody knows there was no collusion.'

It's not the first time Trump has asked Putin point-blank whether he plotted to interfere with the U.S. election.

In July, on the way to Paris for a Bastille Day visit with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump recounted a similar meeting with Putin just days earlier during the G20 meetings in Hamburg, Germany.

'I said to him, "Were you involved with the meddling in the election?" He said, "Absolutely not. I was not involved",' Trump recalled then. 'He was very strong on it.'

'I then said to him again, in a totally different way, "Were you involved with the meddling?" He said, "I was not  absolutely not".'

Trump said at the time that if Russia was involved, they would also be adept at covering their tracks.

'But we can't let that happen,' he added then. 'And I mean, whether it's Russia or anybody else, we can't let there be even a scintilla of doubt when it comes to an election.'

'And I'm not saying it wasn't Russia,' Trump continued. 'What I'm saying is that we have to protect ourselves no matter who it is. You know, China is very good at this. I hate to say it, North Korea is very good at this.'

This is not the first time Trump has asked Putin (both pictured) point-blank whether he plotted to interfere with the U.S. election

Trump said Saturday that 'it's a shame' that allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia in the election are being fabricated.

'Something like that can destroy a very important potential relationship between two countries that are very important countries. Russia could really help us,' he said.

'And the Democrats wanted to have a good relationship with Russia, but they couldn't do it because they didn't have the talent to do it. They didn't have the chemistry to do it. They didn't have what it takes to do it. You know, there is a talent to that.'

If it weren't for the election meddling controversy, Trump said he and Putin 'would have a great relationship, and that would be great for both countries.

'And it would take a lot of the danger out because we're really, you know, this is a dangerous time. This isn't small stuff.

'And having a great relationship, or even a good relationship, with the President of Russia -- Hillary tried it, and she failed. Nobody mentions that,' he said, bringing up his former political opponent, Hillary Clinton, once the secretary of state. 'They act like, you know -- it's so terrible. She did that reset button; it was a joke. But she tried and she failed.'
The sister of murdered teacher Ann Maguire has revealed her heartbreak at having her 'best friend' taken away from her.

Mrs Maguire, 61, was stabbed seven times by 15-year-old pupil William Cornick as she taught a Spanish class at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds in 2014.

Now, in a programme to be aired tomorrow, her sister Denise Courtney reveals how she spoke to the mother-of-two just two days before her death.

Ann Maguire, left, was stabbed seven times by her 15-year-old pupil William Cornick (right)

'It was a Saturday morning and we had a very long chat, and she was telling me that shed been trying to get some reports done or something she was doing for school,' she says on Crime and Investigation's Crimes That Shook Britain show. 'Shed had a really heavy week and shed really been burning the midnight oil trying to get these things done and in on time.

'I remember her saying, "I just need to get to Tuesday". And that was the last conversation I had with Ann.'

The following Monday Mrs Maguire, who had worked at Corpus Christi for 41 years, was knifed from behind by Cornick - she died in hospital hours later.

The remorseless student eventually pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison.

At a hearing in November 2014, Leeds Crown Court heard Cornick sent a Facebook message to a friend weeks before the killing in which he described Mrs Maguire as 'the one absolute f****** b**** that deserves more than death, more than pain and more than anything that we can understand.'

He later told a psychiatrist: 'I wasn't in shock, I was happy. I had a sense of pride. I still do.' The boy, who is now 19, also said after the killing that he thought everything he had done was 'fine and dandy'.

Mrs Maguire's sister Denise Courtney reveals how she spoke to the mother-of-two just two days before her death

In the programme Ms Courtney goes on to reveal her lasting pain at losing her sister.

'I lost my best friend,' she says. 'Ive lost my confidante. We shared everything together, we shared absolutely everything and thats now gone.'

The court was also told in November 2014 how Cornick had shown off the knife to classmates before the attack and had brought a bottle of whisky to school to celebrate after it was done.

He had also winked at a fellow pupil before starting to stab Mrs Maguire.

Cornick was said to have had a good family background with 'decent and responsible parents' - but wanted to be caught and jailed to avoid future worries about life and money.

Ms Courtney recalls the first time she saw her sister's killer.

She says: 'He was just a regular school boy, unremarkable, there was nothing about him that would tell you what hed just done and what he was capable of.

'Emotionless, he didnt seem to react in any way to what was being put to him. As far as I know hes still not shown any remorse for what he did.'

Mrs Maguire and Ms Courtney pictured together before her murder. Ms Courtney has spoken of how she has lost her 'best friend'

Sentencing Cornick in November 2014, Mr Justice Coulson warned that he may never be released from prison.

Plainly, these were the actions of a deeply disturbed young man, he added.

Ms Courtney says she still has moments where she finds it hard to believe her sister is gone.

'Obviously the shock element of it and the very dark early days, the shock element has gone,' she says. 'But there are days now even, you know, I could be busy doing whatever, I suddenly get stopped in my tracks to think, did I dream that? Is it real? Is she not here?'

An inquest into Mrs Maguire's death is due to begin on Monday at Wakefield Coroners Court.

It comes a fortnight after the teacher's family lost an Appeal Court challenge against a coroners decision not to call evidence from pupils who had contact with Cornick immediately before her murder.

Her husband, Don Maguire, and his children have campaigned for further investigation into her death and believe that more could have been done to prevent it.
Metropolitan Police have launched a murder investigation after a 26-year-old man was fatally shot in the groin.

Armed police and London Ambulance Service were called to Lady Margaret Road, in Southall, West London, at 1.23am on Saturday and found a man suffering from gunshot wounds.

The shooting occurred near residential flats numbered in the early 500s, which looks onto a row of shops and off licences.

The shooting occurred near residential flats numbered in the early 500s, which looks onto a row of shops and off licences

The man was rushed to central London hospital but died a few hours later at 3.32am.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating the shooting and have appealed from anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

DI Simon Stancombe said: 'We are retaining an open mind as to the motive of this attack.

'We know that a large crowd gathered shortly after the shooting and some people within that group may well have witnessed what took place and seen the suspect(s) leaving the scene.

'It's vital they get in touch so we can build on the information we have and find those behind this shooting.'

No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.
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An urban photographer has discovered the haunting remains of a deserted Belgium mansion that looks like it's got stuck in a time machine.

Explorer Sascha Jung, 44, reveals what the inside of an abandoned, fully furnished stately home looks like with a set of eerie images.

The kitchen of the house in Liege, Belgium, is covered in moth-eaten tea towels and the bedrooms still have the same grubby bed sheets they did decades ago.

A mantel piece in one of the rooms boasts a creepy taxidermy of a wolf and a boar, which along with its cobwebbed ceilings and cracked walls are enough to send chills down anyone's spine.

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Urban photographer Sascha Jung has discovered the haunting remains of a deserted Belgium mansion that looks like it's got stuck in a time machine. Pictured is the abandoned kitchen with utensils an cooking products still on the shelves

Eerie images show what the house in Liege, Beligum looks like on the inside. The bathroom looks untouched for decades

One of the bedrooms is pictured with sheets still on the bed and a beautiful antique turquoise wardrobe in the corner

What seems to be a workshop or study is full of tools and sewing kits with moth-eaten coats hanging on the back of the door

A mantelpiece in the old house has a strange selection of trinkets on it, including a baseball cap, tin of dog food, a framed picture of a young boy and an empty mug of tea

A mantel piece in one of the rooms boasts a creepy taxidermy of a wolf and a boar (pictured), which along with its cobwebbed ceilings and cracked walls are enough to send chills up anyone's spine

Mr Jung, who shot the images on a Canon EOS 70D, said: 'When I entered the house, it seemed to me that I was going back to the past century or so.

'The atmosphere in the building was a bit uneasy and you had the feeling that you were being watched.

'At times one could hear noises from the neighbouring rooms and I thought someone else was in the house.'

He ventured into the home because of it's 'quaint beauty' and to show people 'the fascinating forgotten places in the world'.

The 44-year-old has previously captured a deserted doctor's surgery in Germany and other abandoned homes in Belgium.

Pictures of the house's dingy wine cellar show empty boxes still placed between the crumbling brickwork

Mr Jung, who shot the images on a Canon EOS 70D, said: 'When I entered the house, it seemed to me that I was going back to the past century or so'

Urban explorer Mr Jung said: 'The atmosphere in the building was a bit uneasy and you had the feeling that you were being watched. 'At times one could hear noises from the neighbouring rooms and I thought someone else was in the house.' Pictured is an old Aga-style cooking stove

He said he ventured into the home because of it's 'quaint beauty' and to show people 'the fascinating forgotten places in the world'

One of the house's bedrooms are ridden with cobwebs but have perfectly functioning single wooden beds in them
Malawi is bracing itself for an outbreak of the plague after the deadly disease continues to spread across the island nation of Madagascar.

At least 143 people have died and more than 2,000 others have been infected in Madagascar since an outbreak in early August this year.

Yet Malawi's health secretary confirmed the country is ready for any reported cases of the disease amid mounting concerns of Africa's 'porous borders'.

Dr Dan Namarika, principal secretary in the ministry of health, said the country were working in conjunction with Mozambique to help best prepare for a possible outbreak.

More than 1,300 cases have now been reported in Madagascar, health chiefs have revealed, as nearby nations have been placed on high alert

He said: 'We have infection prevention materials ready and groups and teams ready to be activated if there is a trigger.'

South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, La Reunion, Mozambique, Kenya, Ethiopia and Comoros have all been warned they could be at risk from a possible outbreak as well.

The last reported case of the plague in Malawi were reported in 2002.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has pledged 3.8m to combat the disease - yet predicts it may take six months to stem the outbreak.

Officials in Madagascar have warned residents not to exhume bodies of dead loved ones and dance with them because the bizarre ritual can cause outbreaks of plague

People carry a body wrapped in a sheet after taking it out from a crypt, as they take part in a funerary tradition called the Famadihana

The strain can be cured with antibiotics and the WHO money will go towards paying for extra medical personnel, the disinfection of buildings and fuel for ambulances.

Cases have risen by eight per cent in just the space of one week and scientists are now working hard to ensure the disease does not spread from Madagascar to mainland Africa.

Health expert Professor Jimmy Whitworth described the current outbreak as the 'worst in 50 years or more'.
An amateur poker player dubbed the 'Queen of Poker' has been killed in a horror car crash.

Emma Fryer, 42, died when her friend drove into a concrete post in heavy fog after their satnav failed to register a roundabout in the Czech Republic on Saturday night.

The mother of two from Alsager, Cheshire, was in the country for Sunday's World Series Europe tournament in Rozvadov where the prize money is 10million euros.

The British 'Queen of Poker' has been killed in car crash when her sat nav failed in heavy fog

Fryer leaves her partner Gary Morris (pictured) and her two children Gemma, 20 and Jessica, 18

Her mother Sheila Waring told the Stoke Sentinal: 'It was such a shock, it still feels surreal. Everything was going so well for her, she was the happiest she had ever been.'

Fryer's sister Liz Carter, 32, said: 'There was no fault on the part of the driver. It was just a tragic accident.

'Emma was so sociable. If you met her once you would remember her. She was so caring and thoughtful and she doted on her nieces and nephews. She was never still  she was always doing something.'

Fryer, who had success at recent poker tournament in Sheffield and Nottingham, was planning to leave her job at Bet365 to become a professional poker player.

She leaves her partner Gary Morris and her two children Gemma, 20 and Jessica, 18.

Gemma, who has just got married, said of her mother: 'All she ever wanted was for me and Jess to get married and have children.

'She loved kids and was over-the-moon that she was going to be a granny. She would have spoilt the baby rotten.

'For the past 12 to 18 months she had been going to church and had recently been confirmed. Her life was perfect.

'It's so tragic that she was taken away from us at this time but as a family we take comfort from the fact that she was living her dreams and she was so happy.'

The driver is in hospital in the Czech Republic. Fryer's body will be returned to the UK on 15 November.
Controversial Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied has been slammed after posting yet another 'culturally insensitive' Twitter message.

In an almost identical post to her Anzac Day tribute, the former ABC host posted '#LestWeForget (Manus)' to her social media account on Saturday.

Hundreds of disturbed Australians were quick to vocalise their disapproval of the provocative post - many accusing her of being deliberately inflammatory.

Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied has taken to Twitter to post about Remembrance Day

The post is almost identical to the Facebook post which landed her in trouble on Anzac Day

In April she was slammed after a similar post which read 'Lest we forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine.'

After facing catastrophic backlash, she 'apologised unreservingly' a week later for her 'disrespectful' words.

But it seems Ms Abdel-Magied didn't learn her lesson; once again outraging her followers with an identical jab.

'Remembrance Day is not about you,' a Twitter user stated.

Another called her out for what they believed was a move to intentionally try and provoke followers into an emotional response.

'You are just trolling now,' they wrote.

Hundreds of disturbed Australians were quick to reply their disapproval of the provocative post

Several called her out for what they believed was a move to intentionally try and provoke followers into an emotional response

She was also accused of blatantly using Manus Island as a tool to draw the public eye towards herself.

'You dont even care about Manus. This is just a publicity stunt to get attention. Any normal person would have learnt from last year.'

Several others called her 'selfish' and accused her of deliberately detracting attention from the true meaning of Remembrance Day.

'Seriously.... what is wrong with you? It upsets me that you deliberately use days that commemorate war dead to push political agenda...,' one reply read.

Twitter user Melissa wrote, 'Absolutely disgraceful. Im convinced now that your point is to be disrespectful and distasteful.'

Queensland Premier and Labour leader Annastacia Palaszczuk and opposition leader Tim Nicholls along with other dignitaries attend the Remembrance Day ceremony in Brisbane

She was accused of blatantly using Manus as a tool to draw the public eye towards herself

'Absolutely disgraceful. Im convinced now that your point is to be disrespectful and distasteful,' Melissa's popular reply read

Multiple concurred, with one responding: 'Totally agree Melissa. Yassmin is so self centred once again she's turned a day of remembrance into an all about her.'

The hypocrisy behind her new post, particularly in light of her Anzac Day apology earlier in the year, did not go unnoticed.

'What happened to "my last post was disrespectful and I apologise unreservedly" - @yassmin_a on last Anzac Day when you posted a similar disgusting post. I think even if you do apologise most Australians have wisened up. You really have no morals or respect. #auspol #lestweforget,' a frustrated Twitter user wrote.

Many did their best to direct attention back to honouring fallen Australian soldiers by replying with true 'Lest We Forget' graphics.

The explosive post garnered nearly 400 replies and it was 're-tweeted' by more than 200 of her followers.

The hypocrisy behind her new post, particularly in light of her Anzac Day apology earlier in the year, did not go unnoticed

The HMAS Waterhen and Royal Australian Navy Band performs during the Remembrance Day Service held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place

People inspect wreaths layed at tye stone of remembrance after a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

One of her followers tried to applaud the woman for being brave but his comment was quickly slammed by others.

'Not brave, just inflammatory and ignorant. As for insight. I've yet to see any display of insight, just immature ill thought out ideas aimed at hurting cultures that offered her a future instead of the oppression shed have faced growing up in Sudan,' said one.

'Shakes head in disbelief that (Yassmin) really doesnt get it,' said another.

'You again! You dont get it ! So disrespectful! Hide in London silly girl , hearing your name and seeing your face disgusts me,' said another.
A 24-year-old student has bravely shared empowering images of her body after a mastectomy to show how she has 'slayed breast cancer'.

Jessica Florence was given the all clear last week after a three-year battle with the disease led to her losing her right breast.

Now the architecture student, from Jacksonville, US, is hoping the images will be a source of strength and inspiration for others who are going through the same thing.

Jessica shared the images of her posing topless wearing only jeans and a denim jacket on social media saying 'the freedom and liberation she feels now is like no other'.

The aspiring architect said she first discovered small lumps in her right breast in 2014 and was eventually diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in May 2016.

Jessica Florence, pictured, was given the all clear last week after a three-year battle with the disease led to her losing her right breast

The architecture student, from Jacksonville, US, is hoping the images will be a source of strength and inspiration for others who are going through the same thing

After months of chemotherapy she had a mastectomy a year ago and following further rounds of radiotherapy she had the breast reconstructed.

Jessica, who now lives in Tallahassee, Florida, said: 'I started treatment in June 2016 and had six rounds of chemotherapy in six months.

'Every three weeks I would go to hospital. I had to move home and give up college.

'I had a list of symptoms that went on forever. The chemo tears the stomach lining which caused a lot of discomfort.

'I have sensitive skin and was unrecognisable because of the open sores on my face.

'Having cancer is this burden, there are always doctor's appointments to go to and you're afraid you might not wake up the next day.

Jessica shared the images of her posing topless wearing only jeans and a denim jacket on social media saying 'the freedom and liberation she feels now is like no other'

'To know that it is not in me anymore is such a great feeling. When I was given the all clear it was so liberating. It felt like I had slayed it.

'I was the youngest at the treatment centre and I would always go for my treatment in my red lipstick and my heels.

'For every treatment I would dress up. I think when you look good you feel good. Your body can detect stress and it can make it worse, I tried to stay positive and to meet treatment half way.'

Jessica said when she first had her mastectomy she felt like 'less of a woman' but her perspective has changed thanks to the support she has had from other people.

The aspiring architect, pictured, said she first discovered small lumps in her right breast in 2014 and was eventually diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in May 2016

Jessica said: 'When you look at yourself you feel like what makes you a woman is your hair and breasts.

'Aesthetically you do not feel normal, you feel handicapped. But I have a different perspective now and that is because of the support I've had.

'My breasts are not going to define me. I define myself as a woman.'

Jessica said she first did a photoshoot with a close friend Carissa Glanton in February after finishing radiotherapy.

The shots show her before her reconstructive surgery and wearing a decorative surgical mask.

Jessica said: 'After chemotherapy you wear the surgical mask to stop you from getting germs.

Jessica, who now lives in Tallahassee, Florida, said: 'I started treatment in June 2016 and had six rounds of chemotherapy in six months'

'I was into a certain brand and would always wear that. I wanted to be a bit more stylish when going through chemo so that is what I would always wear..

'At that point I was feeling like a soldier which is why I went for the khaki colours.

'Carissa was the first person I revealed myself to and told my story. People knew I had cancer but did not know what I was going through.'

The topless shoot with friend and photographer Nehemiah Nash took place after she was given the all clear.

Jessica said: 'He had a whole vision for it which involved a pink background and me wearing a t-shirt but I said 'I think I have another idea'.

The topless shoot with friend and photographer Nehemiah Nash took place after she was given the all clear

Jessica said: 'It was me explaining breast cancer and that is why I love this photoshoot. It was so genuine and raw'

'I wanted to share my vision of what I thought breast cancer was. I had these jeans and a jacket and I wanted to go topless to show people what I have been going through.

'It was me explaining breast cancer and that is why I love this photoshoot. It was so genuine and raw.

'I want to show people you can smile through the pain.

'People told me I would not be here at the end of 2017 because of how sporadic the cancer was and how young I was. I think my purpose is to inspire people and give them hope because it does not have to be the end.

'I am trying to be as transparent as possible and I'm putting myself out there for other people.

'The response has been crazy. There has been so much love and support from both men and women.

'I have had a tiny percentage of negative feedback including one guy who said breasts are not breasts without nipples but it is nothing compared to the 99 per cent of people who have shown support.

'Everybody is afraid to show what they look like. I hope by doing this it will help somebody else in the long run.'
Canadian Mounties say a car full of naked Canadians that crashed in a bizarre kidnapping, may have unwittingly drank hallucinogenic tea over breakfast.

Five people who were wearing only their birthday suits in Alberta in sub-zero temperatures abducted a couple and their six-week old infant.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Laurel Scott said the mother, their baby and the woman's father had been abducted from a home in Nisku, Laduc County, at around 9.30am and forced into a BMW against their will last Monday.

It's believed the suspects who were all naked despite the extreme wintry conditions had been having breakfast and drinking trippy tea one of them had brought back from India which kicked off the 'whole crazy spell,' a relative told The National Post.

A completely naked woman is pictured being arrested in Alberta, Canada, on a frigid Monday morning after a kidnapping and car crash. It's believed the group was drinking trippy tea

'It's absolutely crazy,' he told The Canadian Press. 'We were just going to have a nice morning and it ended up in that circumstance.'

His two daughters, who are 13 and 15, and his ex-wife were having breakfast with two friends  a man and his wife. The man had recently travelled overseas and brought back some tea from India. The relative did not know the name of the tea.

Several of the naked people allegedly forced a man, woman and baby out of their home and into their car, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said,

The abducted man  who was stuffed in the trunk managed to escape while the car was being driven. The woman and her child escaped later.

Head-scratcher, eh? Canadian Mounties say in all, they arrested five naked people who were suspected of abducting a family of three from their home, among them a newborn baby

The car then slammed into another vehicle in what cops called a 'purposeful collision,' leaving them stranded on the side of the road.

Three people in the car were charged with kidnapping and resisting arrest. Two underage passengers were not charged.

When officers arrived, they pulled out the five naked people. The adults, who are 27, 30 and 35, were arrested, but the teens were not charged

Nobody was seriously injured.

Bizzare: The arrests were made after the victims escaped and sought refuge in the truck of a Good Samaritan, which the suspects then rammed with their BMW

Authorities said at the time of the crash, a passing motorist noticed the victims, offered assistance and placed all three in his truck before the suspects' white BMW rammed the rear of the Good Samaritan's vehicle and ended up wrecked in a ditch.

Derek Scott, of LPH Industrial, tells CTV News it was his employee who came to the family's rescue after seeing them running barefoot in the snow.

Mounted Police responded to the scene on Township Road 510 at 9.47am and arrested a man, two women and two underage girls, all of whom were 'not clothed at the time of their arrest.'

Global News Canada reports that at the time of the crash on Monday morning, temperatures in the area were around 17 degrees.

Police are seen leading away a naked male suspect, who is now facing charges of kidnapping and resisting arrest

Officials towed away the wrecked white BMW that the suspects were traveling in

Four of the five naked people were taken to a hospital.

Three adults have been charged for kidnapping and resisting arrest.

The two underage females in the group were released without charges.

Officials said the three people who were abducted, including the infant, were not injured.
The director of the CIA said he stood by the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia actually did try to meddle in the 2016 election  this despite President Donald Trump's new claim that he believes the sincerity behind President Vladimir Putin's denials.

CIA director Mike Pompeo, who was appointed by Trump, issued a statement on Saturday reaffirming his agency's assessment of Russian interference in the US election following remarks made by Trump while en route to Hanoi, Vietnam on Saturday.

'The Director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed,' Pompeo said in the statement given to CNN.

Putin 'said he didn't meddle. I asked him again,' US President Donald Trump (with Russian president Vladimir Putin) told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Hanoi for a state visit

CIA director Mike Pompeo then issued a statement reaffirming his agency's assessment of Russian interference in the US election following Trump's remarks

Earlier in the day, Trump had told reporters aboard Air Force One that he repeatedly asked Putin about the meddling claims during their chats at the APEC summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang.

'He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again,' Trump said during the flight to Hanoi for his state visit.

'You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election,' Trump said, adding he felt Putin seemed 'very insulted' by the persistent accusations, which was 'not a good thing for our country.'

'I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,' added Trump, who is marking one year since his shock election victory.

When pressed by reporters, Trump  whose key former aides are under US investigation for possible collaboration with the Kremlin  said, 'I can't stand there and argue with him.'

'I'd rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I'd rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine [rather] than arguing about whether or not  because that whole thing was set up by the Democrats.'

The president said continually pressing Putin on the question of election interference  a concept he called 'a Democratic-inspired thing'  is harming U.S.-Russia relations at a time when Moscow's help is needed to de-fang Kim Jong-un.

Trump's relationship with Moscow has stalked the first year of his presidency, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin

'If we had a relationship with Russia  North Korea, which is our single biggest problem right now, North Korea  it would be helped a lot,' he said.

'President Putin could be tremendously helpful with North Korea,' Trump added.

Trump said the North Korea nuclear crisis affects 'millions and millions of lives. This isn't baby stuff. This is the real deal. And if Russia helped us, in addition to China, that problem would go away a lot faster.'

US Democratic lawmakers criticized Trump harshly for his statements about the sincerity of Putin's denials.

Representative Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump 'fools no one.'

Schiff said Trump understands the Russians hacked into Democratic leaders' emails and dumped them, and used social media in a bid to hurt Hillary Clinton and help him win the election and divide the country.

'He understands all this and more,' Schiff said in a statement. 'He just doesn't understand how to put country over self. Or to put it in terms he is more familiar with  Mr. Trump simply can't bring himself to put America first.'

Republican John McCain also similarly harsh words for the president.

In a statement posted on his official website, McCain said, 'There's nothing "America First" about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community.'

McCain also noted that, 'Vladimir Putin does not have America's interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk.'

Putin also addressed the allegations on Saturday after his meeting with Trump, describing them as a US 'domestic political struggle.'

'I think these are some sort of fantasies,' Putin told reporters in Danang.

Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges unrelated to the election which were brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Revelations by Facebook and Twitter that Russian-sponsored fake news flooded US social media during the election run-up have further deepened scrutiny on ties between the nations.

In May, US intelligence chiefs told Congress that they agreed with their analysts' conclusion that Russia had meddled in the election.

And in January, 17 US intelligence agencies took the extraordinary step of stating publicly that they believed Russia did try to interfere in the election.

Trump and Putin met three times on the margins of the APEC summit, sharing warm handshakes and brief words.

The pair appeared to have struck a chummy tone, with Trump describing a 'very good feeling' after the talks, and Putin remarking on the 'well-mannered' former reality TV star.

The exchanges produced a rare common ground on the war in Syria, a bloody six-year conflict which has seen the US and Russia back competing factions.

In a joint statement, the leaders said there was 'no military solution' to the war, an agreement that may mark a small step toward peace.

Trump also gave a loud airing to his 'America First' rhetoric at the APEC summit.

In a speech on Friday, Trump said American jobs had been siphoned overseas by countries with cheap labour but little compunction to play by trade rules.

'We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more,' he said, adding his country would now use its economic might to cut favourable bilateral deals.

China's President Xi Jinping laid out a different narrative to the same hall, positioning the world's second largest economy at the heart of the future of global free trade as the US retreats.

As a first mark of a new trade era without the US as its pivot point, 11 Asia-Pacific countries on Saturday agreed to press ahead with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)  a major agreement abruptly abandoned by Trump at the start of the year.

That dismayed allies and cast into doubt an agreement heralded for linking lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections.

After a three-day wrangle that at points threatened to see the massive pact unravel, delegates from economies including Japan, Australia, Canada and Malaysia agreed to rescue 'core elements' of the deal.

APEC is an annual summit bringing together 21 Pacific Rim countries representing 60 percent of global GDP.

It emerged in 1989, casting itself as a beacon for free, open trade and globalisation -- an idea that has been shunted aside since Trump's ascent to power and the UK's Brexit vote.
A six-month-old baby girl who was allegedly murdered by her father was 'much loved' by her mother who spent eight years trying to get pregnant.

Perth mother Nicole Gorman lost her daughter Isabella Sully Jean on Thursday after police were called to her house in Brookdale with reports of an 'injured child.'

The baby's father, Arron Colin Martin, 35, has been charged with the infant's murder.

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Perth mother Nicole Gorman lost her daughter Isabella Sully Jean (pictured) on Thursday

The baby's father, Arron Colin Martin, 35, has been charged with the infant's (pictured) murder

Now a close friend of Ms Gorman's has revealed the near-decade of fertility treatments Nicole went through to have Isabella, who she described as a 'miracle baby'

Now a close friend of Ms Gorman's has revealed the near-decade of fertility treatments Nicole went through to have Isabella, who she described as a 'miracle baby.'

'She's had to have rounds of IVF, countless miscarriages and finally, after eight years, we've got [Isabella],' Rebecca Tushingham told Seven News.

Another friend, Becc Barber, has seconded that notion, saying Ms Gorman 'has just gone through what no mother should ever have to experience.'

'The proud look in Nicole's eyes when she was born told you this is her calling... she is born to be a mother,' she wrote on a Go Fund Me page set up to pay for Isabella's funeral costs.

'She's had to have rounds of IVF, countless miscarriages and finally, after eight years, we've got [Isabella],' Rebecca Tushingham told Seven News

'The proud look in Nicole's eyes when she was born told you this is her calling... she is born to be a mother,' she wrote on a Go Fund Me page set up to pay for Isabella's funeral costs

Martin has been remanded in custody after a brief court appearance on Friday

Authorities rushed Isabella to the hospital at about 8pm on Thursday.

A person at the scene told 6PR they saw police 'carry a very small body out of the home, under a blanket', while neighbours told the ABC a couple in their 30s lived at the house.

'I mean that is really sad I wouldn't think something like that would happen around here and they were very quiet people never really heard anything from them,' the neighbour said.

Martin has been remanded in custody after a brief court appearance on Friday.

Police and ambulance staff urgently responded to reports of an injured child at a house on Chiltern Avenue (street view pictured) in Brookdale, Perth

A forensics team is at the site and an investigation is being carried out
The latest man to accuse Kevin Spacey of sexual harassment has spoken out about the 'shocking and scary' moment that the actor allegedly forced himself on him in a 'wordless' attack.

Spacey was 22 actor in the Summer of 1981, when he reportedly strode into Andy Holtzman's office and sat down at an empty desk.

Holtzman, then 27 and a fledgling film program director at New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theater, says he recognized the then-up-and-coming actor, who was playing a minor role in Henry IV Part 1.

'Within minutes, wordlessly, he was up and all over me,' Holtzman told USA Today on Friday.

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Andy Holtzman came forward on Friday to allege Spacey (seen above in May) groped him decades ago, making him the 15th man to go public with assault allegations against the star

Andy Holtzman (pictured today) said he was 27 and Spacey 22 when the actor walked into his office at a New York theater company and 'wordlessly' and 'aggressively' climbed 'all over' him

Holtzman was on the phone when Spacey began his assault, Holtzman said, adding: 'The aggression was certainly more than a grope.

'When I was finally able to push him off and scream [at him], he theatrically stepped back, incredibly angry, grabbed his coat and bag, stormed out and slammed the door.'

He continued: 'It's never happened before or since, where somebody physically forces himself on you in a wordless way.

Holtzman, now 64, said he was openly gay but never interested in Spacey. He said after he fought Spacey off, the actor left in a fury that was 'shocking, then scary'

'In my office, with a phone in my hand, during the day! It was so out of place, so sudden.

'It was the wordlessness of it - he never spoke to me throughout, not one word. I was saying things, he was saying nothing.'

Holtzman, who is gay, says he was out of the closet and comfortable with his sexuality, but had no interest in Spacey, nor had he expressed any.

So the alleged assault left him wondering 'What the hell just happened to me?' and fretting that he had accidentally given Spacey a signal - and that the actor might cost him his job.

Holtzman, now 64 and working in marketing, says that the now-58-year-old actor didn't rob him of his job - but that Spacey's reaction to being rejected has stayed with him since.

'It was the look on his face that was really shocking and then scary,' Holtzman said.

'The anger was undeserved. If you ask for something and get a no, then I can understand the anger, but you ask for nothing and then try to take everything? Where is that anger coming from?'

Since then, he said, he's discussed the matter with his friends whenever Spacey has taken another step in his - until now - phenomenally successful career.

But he said the actor's apparently unimpeachable public image left him feeling like he was the only one to experience such an event.

'I had no idea I was far from alone,' he said. 'It's a good feeling and a bad feeling at the same time. It felt better for me [to finally talk about it], and not so good for so many others who had the same or similar experiences.'

Holtzman asked how Spacey (seen in 1986, five years after the alleged attack) could be angry if he 'ask[ed] for nothing and then [tried] to take everything... Where is that anger coming from?'

On Friday, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston said that he believes Spacey's career is dead after the allegations.

While Spacey is 'a phenomenal actor,' Cranston told the BBC, he's 'not a very good person.' He added: 'His career now I think is over.

Cranston was asked about the rash of allegations made in recent weeks against A-listers including film studio head Harvey Weinstein, writer James Toback, producer Brett Ratner, and actors Dustin Hoffman, Ed Westwick, Louis C.K., Jeremy Piven and Steven Seagal, among others.

'There's a disorder among all those people who use their power, their place or their status in any industry to overpower someone and force someone to do something that they don't want to do,' he said.

'It's beyond disgusting. It's almost animalistic.'

Cranston, 61, is currently starring in the play Network, which is on a limited engagement run at the National Theater in London.

He said that abuse and harassment is normally aimed at the most vulnerable women and young men starting out in show business.

'It's a form of bullying. It's a form of control. It's almost always [done to] young vulnerable men and women who are starting their career,' he says.

'That sort of experience goes unchecked until something like this happens.'

Cranston believes that the spate of stories that have emerged in recent weeks will have an overall positive effect in the long-term.

'The pillars of what was are falling. Everything is being exposed.

'Women and men should not have to tolerate misbehavior just because of their youth and inexperience.

'The silver lining is we're not accepting behavior like that just because its the way its always been.'

Spacey, 58, who was initially tapped to portray billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty in All The Money In The World (above), will have his characters scenes be re-shot

So far, 15 men have come forward to allege that Spacey either harassed, assaulted, or attempted to rape them, according to USA Today.

Five of the accusers said the alleged incidents took place when they were teenagers.

Christopher Plummer, 87, will replace Spacey as Getty in the film

Earlier this week, it emerged that Spaceys scenes from an upcoming Ridley Scott film were to be reshot with another actor just six weeks before it is due to be released.

Spacey, who was initially tapped to portray billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty in All The Money In The World, will have his scenes re-shot with 87-year-old Christopher Plummer.

And Netflix, which produced the hit show House of Cards starring Spacey, has said it has cut ties with the actor.

On October 29, Spacey's first accuser -Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp - told BuzzFeed that the Oscar-winner made sexual advances toward him when the two were in Spaceys New York apartment in 1986, when he was just 14 years old.

Spacey said he didn't remember the specifics of the encounter, but that he nonetheless apologized to Rapp.

In the same statement, Spacey acknowledged that he is gay - which drew sharp criticism from gay rights advocates who accused him of trying to deflect attention away from sexual assault allegations by coming out of the close.

They also said he was playing on common stereotypes that gays were naturally inclined toward pedophilia.

On October 29, actor Anthony Rapp (left) told BuzzFeed that Spacey made sexual advances toward him when the two were in Spaceys New York apartment in 1986, when he was just 14 years old. The day after Rapp went public, another actor, Robert Cavazos (right), wrote a Facebook post in which he accused Spacey of fondling him at the Old Vic theater in London

Documentary filmmaker Tony Montana also came forward with historical allegations that Spacey groped him

The day after Cavazos post, Daniel Beal (left) told The Sun that Spacey exposed himself to him in 2010, when he was a 19-year-old bartender in West Sussex. Harry Dreyfus (right), an actor and writer and the son of Richard Dreyfus, also alleged that Spacey groped his genitals

Kris Nixon, a 20-year-old bartender from Belfast, claims that in 2007, Spacey grabbed his crotch at a party in Spacey's apartment near the Old Vic in London

The day after Rapp went public, another actor, Robert Cavazos, wrote a Facebook post in which he accused Spacey of fondling him at the Old Vic theater in London.

The day after Cavazos' post, Daniel Beal told The Sun that Spacey exposed himself to him in 2010, when he was a 19-year-old bartender in West Sussex.

Last week, Justin Dawes told BuzzFeed that in 1988 he and a friend were invited to Spacey's apartment, where the actor had pornography playing on the television.

Dawes was just 16 years old at the time.

Harry Dreyfuss, a 27-year-old actor and writer, and the son of Jaws star Richard Dreyfuss - who is now also alleged to have exposed himself to a woman in the 1980s - also alleged that Spacey groped his genitals.

Similar accusations were made by documentary filmmaker Tony Montana.

London police are investigating claims made by an anonymous man who says that Spacey sexually assaulted him in 2008.

On Wednesday, Heather Unruh, a former Boston television news anchor, held a press conference alleging that Spacey groped her then-18-year-old son in a bar in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Unruh said her son filed a criminal complaint with police and that an investigation has been opened.
Pauline Beal, pictured, had to 'meet' her family again after she completely forgot she had a husband and kids

A mother-of-four has been left unable to remember her entire life after suffering a stroke on holiday which wiped her memory.

Pauline Beal had to 'meet' her family again after she completely forgot she had a husband and kids.

The 55-year-old was on the first day of a week-long holiday in Majorca on June 11 when the stroke struck.

She spent ten days in hospital before flying back to her home in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, where she was forced to re-learn everything from scratch.

Her husband of 38 years Andrew said it is like 'having a newborn baby in the house' and that his wife has no memory of anything from the day she was born until the day she had the stroke.

Pauline does retain new information but needs to be taught everything - from what a frying pan is to who her four children are.

Doctors are not sure whether she will ever regain her lost memories.

Facilities manager Andrew, 59, said: 'It actually happened on the very first day we were there - we arrived and got to the hotel about 9.30am and by 4pm we were in the hospital.

'It was completely out of the blue, didn't expect it at all. It was just me and my wife, we have been to that particular hotel about four times now.

'We arrived, the room was ready, we went and unpacked, we just decided we would spend the day around the pool in our first day.

Pauline's husband of 38 years Andrew, pictured left, said it is like 'having a newborn baby in the house' and that his wife has no memory of anything from the day she was born until the day she had the stroke

Pauline does retain new information but needs to be taught everything - from what a frying pan is to who her four children are

'We went down there around 12ish and spent a bit of time in the pool and sunbathing and then we were just sat at the table and she just started slurring her words.

'I thought nothing of it, that it must be the heat or traveling.

'She did it again, so I got a little bit concerned. The third time she said to me, 'I am slurring my words, aren't I?'

'I went and got some help - by then she was out of it, couldn't speak, anything, went all weak and limp.

'We rang for an ambulance straight away, whisked her off to hospital and that was it for the next ten days.'

After the stroke, she had to stop working before re-learning everything about her personality and 'meet' her husband, four children and 14 grandkids again.

Andrew said: 'From that day she doesn't remember from the day she was born up to when we come home and when I say nothing, I do mean nothing.

Andrew and Pauline are pictured looking happy and relaxed on holiday in Menorca 2015

Pauline is pictured with her daughter Teena and her granddaughter Lara in 2015

'She couldn't tell you anything about me or her family, couldn't even tell you what a cooker is, anything about history.

'We can only watch television without a plot because she just can't follow anything. It's like having a new-born baby in the house.

'I said to her back in July I'd take her out for her birthday and she asked, 'what does that mean?'

'I have shown her pictures of her wedding and she said, 'why am I in that big dress for?' - I've taken her to the church, nothing.

'Shown her hundreds and hundreds of photos of holidays, all the kids and grandkids, videos of holidays and bits of pieces and not one thing registered..

'She doesn't know where she lived, nothing about herself.

'When she came round in the hospital, if you came and said you were her husband she would have believed you and gone and had a different life It's horrible at the moment, we are getting no help.

Pauline is pictured with her daughter Zoe this year. She has four kids and knows three of them - and can only name 10 of her 14 grandchildren

Pauline is pictured with her husband Andrew when the pair were a young couple in Oxford in 1978

'A couple of doctors have seen her but we've had no help - been to her own doctor, seen a couple of specialists at hospital but no treatment whatsoever and this happened in June.

'It took over a week when we came back to see her doctor and it took about three weeks before giving her a scan.

'It's now nearly November and she's not started one course of treatment to try and get her memory back.

'She lost her speech, but that (treatment) was good, she had speech therapy three times a week and that's come back about 95 per cent, it's really good. We've been very lucky with that side of it.

'The care we got in Majorca was second to none, she was having scans every day, they looked after us in a normal national health hospital over there.

'Soon as we stepped in at Heathrow you could tell we were back in England, nearly a week and half to get appointment with the doctor.

After the stroke, Pauline had to stop working before re-learning everything about her personality and 'meet' her husband Andrew (pictured left), four children and 14 grandchildren again

'The specialist said her memory may never come back, if it does it could be years. It's so rare for something like this to happen.

'You wouldn't think nothing is wrong with her until you start speaking to her.'

Pauline even had to meet her husband all over again, because he was a stranger to her - but luckily she accepted that Andrew was her husband.

He said: 'She cries every night because she doesn't remember anything. Feelings have gone, everything.

'Luckily enough she says she loves me, but I had to explain to her what love meant.

'I've got four kids and 14 grandchildren, she knows three of the kids and about 10 grandchildren but only by name, she couldn't tell you one thing about them.

'Our four children, she couldn't tell you what school they went to, what they were like when they were little, what work they've done - only because we've told her.

'She takes in new information, she remembers that but that's it. If I told her I'm a millionaire, she would believe me and live her life like that.

'If there was another kid in the park I said, 'that's your son', she would believe me. It's not nice at all.

'Where do I start to put 55 years of her life into weeks. It's absolutely heart-breaking - you just don't know where to start.

'Even with friends, because they all start speaking, saying 'do you remember', I have to stop them - of course she doesn't remember.

'Friends we go on holiday to Florida with almost every year, it doesn't mean nothing to her at all.

'I had to show her how to cook and she just looked at me blankly, I had a frying pan in hand and she didn't know what it was.

'She had no idea about any utensils, pots and pans. I can't let her out on her own because she doesn't know where to go.

Pauline, who worked as a supermarket checkout assistant, is receiving statutory sick pay but Andrew says she will be unable to return to work

'Her mother passed away three weeks ago unexpectedly, which has set us back because she didn't know her mum, she was just getting to know her.

'Her father passed away back in February, but she didn't even know her dad.

'A friend of ours rang her Saturday and she came upstairs crying because the woman said, 'you know me Pauline, I've known you for years.'

'She said, 'I don't know who you are' - I had to take phone off her and explain, 'look, you might have seen her once before but she just doesn't remember you.''

Pauline, who worked as a supermarket checkout assistant, is receiving statutory sick pay but Andrew says she will be unable to return to work.

He said: 'She can count up to 21 at the moment but won't be able to work with money - she doesn't know what the coins are, she has to learn all the mathematics again.

'She will remember new things but forget some because there's so much to take in.

'If you're a kid at school you learn bits over years, I'm trying to teach her years of her life in a space of weeks.'
A surge in contraband being smuggled into New South Wales prisons with drones has shocked the system into ramping up its security measures.

The latest case saw a broken remote-control, a mobile phone and two packets of tobacco found on a roof at Goulburn Correctional Centre, Daily Telegraph reports.

A suspected failed drone drop-off is under investigation after the prohibited items were located by prison staff 9am Friday morning.

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A broken remote-control, a mobile phone and two packets of tobacco were suspected to have been dropped on a roof at Goulburn Correctional Centre (pictured) using a drone

The broken drone, two 50g tobacco packets and a mobile phone were found on the roof of a demountable building that had only just been moved to the centre.

Meshing has since been installed in one of the exercise yards in an effort to restrict contraband from being thrown or dropped inside.

State Corrections Minister David Elliott noted how serious of a risk the use of drone technology posed to the operation of prisons.

'Drones are a threat to the safety and security of officers and the correctional system and I will be looking at what further safeguards can be put in place to further restrict the use of drones and other aircraft in the vicinity of prisons,' Mr Elliott said.

The gap in the the country's toughest jail's security system was the third to be highlighted in state prisons in as many months.

A surge in contraband being smuggled into New South Wales prisons with drones has shocked the system into ramping up its security measures

A drone sighted near the Lithgow Correctional Centre (pictured) was found to have dropped off more than 400 steroid pills

A rogue drone was spotted flying above the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre last month, followed by another flying carrier sighted near the Lithgow Correctional Centre.

The latter was found to have dropped off more than 400 steroid pills in an outdoor area, before being collected by an inmate.

Extensive searches the following day revealed the male recipient after he 'behaved suspiciously' following raids inside the prison.

Drones have emerged as a major problem in prisons right across the state, according to State opposition corrections spokesman Guy Zangari.

He recalled several incidents from the past two years including at Bathurst, Goulburn, Kempsey, Lithgow and Silverwater.
Jeffrey Dahmer was sent to prison for life in 1994 after he admitted killing 17 men and boys, dismembering and eating some of his victims

Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been dead for almost 23 years, but the murders and dismemberments of the 17 boys and men he killed, and sometimes ate, still haunt the living today.

Two men have given interviews to reveal Dahmer raped them during his military service, are now speaking out about the murderer who they call a 'sociopath.'

Preston Davis was 20 years old when he met Dahmer and was stationed in Germany as part of a stint with the U.S. military.

'I didn't care for him because of his racial overtures,' said Davis to The Wrap.'He was a very racist individual, and once he started drinking, he became a very obnoxious individual.'

Davis, who is African American, tells how Dahmer would often drink in the barracks and would boast about his first murder victim, Steven Hicks, whom he killed just a year before.

'Jeffrey had killed his first victim a year before joining the military, and he would get drunk in the barracks and say, "I killed the guy in Ohio," and we'd say, "you didn't kill nobody!"'

'He became a monster once he started drinking,' Davis added. 'Alcohol is what turned him into a monster.'

Two former soldiers, Billy Capshaw, left and Preston Davis, right, have revealed they were abused and raped by Dahmer

Dahmer joined the Army and became a medic; though he did not kill anyone during his time in the armed forces, he did rape two other soldiers, Billy Joe Capshaw and Preston Davis, right

Preston Davis has finally decided to break their silence about what happened to him

Davis, now 58, tells how he was taking part in a field exercise in Belgium with Dahmer in October 1979.

Their vehicle broke down with several days left to go in the training mission.

Davis tells how he was drugged and assaulted.

'The reason he didn't kill me was that were out in the middle of Belgium and he had no idea how to get back to Germany.'

Davis said that he blocked the entire incident out of his mind for 30 years but then his memory of the incident started to return.

'My mind had shut down that whole time,' he said.

He ended up having to undergo therapy for military sexual trauma. It only resurfaced in his mind after seeing Dahmer's name online.

Preston Davis, left, was 20 and was drugged and assaulted by the serial killer, while Billy Capshaw, right, also suffered similar abuse by the 'sociopath'

'I didn't find out about his death until years later,' said Davis. 'The only thing I can say is karma. I don't consider myself a victim. I'm a survivor.'

A fellow victim, Billy Capshaw, also suffered similar abuse after joining the Germany unit and served with Dahmer between 1979 and 1981.

'Jeff Dahmer was a sociopath, a psychopath, a narcissist  he was insane,' Capshaw told TheWrap. 'It took a long time to cope with what happened, and I only came out with my experience when my father died. It was too horrible, too embarrassing, and I didn't want my dad to know.'

Capshaw was Dahmer's roommate during his time in the military, and he was tortured, beaten and tied to the bed many times over the course of two years.

Capshaw's account is documented on a website called Surviving Jeffrey Dahmer.

'Dahmer seemed like a likable person and had a certain amount of charisma, but within a few days Billy became frightened as Dahmer began his process of completely controlling Billy by various means. He physically beat him. When Billy complained to those in authority, he was told that he was a 'p****' and was not taken seriously. The severity of the physical abuse increased, and Dahmer used an iron bar, which was part of the apparatus for the bed, to hit Billy across the joints.'

'It was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' Capshaw said. 'I was in a room I was scared to come out of. I would steal Jeff's money thinking that if he didn't have any money, that he wouldn't drink anymore and therefore wouldn't hurt me anymore. He beat me so badly for that, and to stop me from screaming, he hit me harder.'

Capshaw said he try to escape through the window or the fire escape.

'I thought about killing him, and I thought about killing myself,' Capshaw tsaid.

Due was eventually discharged from the military because of his alcohol abuse and began his killing spree in 1987.

He killed a man he met at a bar, dismembered the body and put it in the trash.

After the murder, he began to seek out more victims at gay bars.

Dahmer is pictured in court for the first time after he was arrested for a string of brutal murders

Dahmer was found guilty of murdering (L-R) Curtis Straughter, Steven Mark Hicks, Ricahrd Guerrero, Jeremy Weinberger, Jamie Doxtator, Ricky Beeks, Oliver Lacy, Errol Lindsey, Konerak Sinthasomphone, Ernest Miller, Anthony Hughes, Joseph Bradehoft , Matt Turner, Anthony Sears, David C Thomas and Edward Smith

Dahmer, who was already a convicted sex offender, was sent to prison in 1991 after he confessed to killing 17 men and boys between the ages of 14 to 33.

His brutal murders, which spanned a decade from 1978, included rape, torture, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism. He was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver in 1994.

By day Dahmer worked in a chocolate factory but by night he would go out to find many of his victims at gay bars. He would invite them to his Milwaukee home so they could drink alcohol and he could take pictures of them naked.

Dahmer would then drug his victims and killed them by strangling or stabbing them. The killer would dismember his victims, eating parts of their bodies and saving others in his refrigerator or other parts of his house.

But he was caught out in July 1991 when his 18th intended victim, 52-year-old Tracy Edwards, managed to escape after Dahmer had put him in handcuffs and tried to attack him with a knife. Edwards flagged down a passing police car and officers went into the house to talk to the calm Dahmer.

However when they searched his apartment they found pictures of mangled bodies on the walls and a severed head in the fridge.

He was arrested and admitted killing 17 young men, his youngest victim - Konerak Sinthasomphone - being 14 years old, and his eldest - Eddie Smith - being 36.

A total of 74 Polaroid pictures were found detailing the dismemberment of Dahmer's victims.

Dahmer pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 terms of life imprisonment in 1992 - the death penalty was not an option.

Human skulls as well as a barrel he used to carry his victims were found in police searches of Dahmer's home after his arrest.

The interviews can be seen on Oxygen's 'Dahmer on Dahmer: A Serial Killer Speaks,' a special airing November 11 and 12.
Bungling ex-minister Priti Patel has claimed she has been inundated with support after Theresa May forced her to resign in disgrace.

She was speaking after attending the Armistice Day service in her constituency of Witham.

The newly backbench Conservative MP did not take any questions but told the BBC: 'I've been overwhelmed with support from colleagues across the political divide.

'Of course, nothing is more humbling than the support I've received from my constituents.

'I look forward to returning to Parliament on Monday where I will continue to be a strong voice for Witham and Britain.'

Miss Patel was speaking after attending the Armistice Day service in her constituency of Witham

The newly backbench Conservative MP did not take any questions but told the BBC: 'I've been overwhelmed with support from colleagues across the political divide'

Miss Patel's fate was finally sealed after it emerged that she had attended a series of secret meetings with Israeli officials while on a family holiday.

She also reportedly visited a military field hospital in the Golan Heights, a disputed area that Britain does not recognise, and failed to declare it.

In her resignation letter, Miss Patel said she was 'sorry' to have distracted from the government's work and for lacking transparency.

Downing Street insisted last week that the first Mrs May had heard about the encounter, during a 'family holiday' in August, was last Friday. No10 flatly denied the conversation took place.

Priti Patel was taken away from Downing Street from the back gates after resigning from the government tonight

Downing Street published the exchange of letters between Miss Patel and Mrs May tonight

Miss Patel entered the famous building by the back door shortly before the fateful talk with Mrs May

The letter from Miss Patel said: 'In recent days there have been a number of reports about my actions and I am sorry that these have served as a distraction from the work of the Department for International Development and of the Government as a whole.

'As you know form our discussions I accept that in meeting with organisations and politicians during a private holiday in Israel my actions fell below the high standards that are expected of a Secretary of State.

'While my actions were meant with the best of intentions, y actions also fell below the standards of transparency and openness that I have promoted and advocated.

'I offer a fulsome apology to you and to your Government for what has happened and offer my resignation.'

After her nine-hour long-haul odyssey from Nairobi, Miss Patel was driven into Downing Street shortly after 6pm tonight entering by the back door.

Mrs May turned up minutes later after having her regular audience with the Queen.

They spoke for around 33 minutes before Miss Patel left by the back gates through a mob of photographers and the news of her departure was confirmed.

In her reply, Mrs May said: 'As you know, the UK and Israel are close allies, and it is right that we should work closely together.

'But that must be done formally, and through official channels.

Miss Patel was driven away through the gates after drawing a line under her time as a minister

Theresa May, pictured arriving in Downing Street after her regular audience with the Queen, has summoned Miss Patel for showdown talks

'That is why, when we met on Monday, I was glad to accept your apology and welcomed your clarification about your trip to Israel over the summer.

'Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign and adhere to the high standard of transparency and openness that you have advocated.'

The row over Miss Patel's extraordinary breach of government protocol while on a 'family holiday' to Israel surfaced last week, but erupted again on Monday when she admitted there were more undeclared meetings, including with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mrs May demanded an apology from Miss Patel and formally reprimanded her, hoping that would draw a line under the furore.

However, it has now been alleged that she held two further unauthorised meetings with senior Israeli political figures which were not attended by UK Government officials.

No10 sources said the minister had been told to return to the UK from Nairobi for a showdown, cancelling plans for her to fly to Uganda with Trade Secretary Liam Fox.

The PM's problems threatened to escalate with claims in theJewish Chronicle that No10 asked Miss Patel not to include a meeting with foreign ministry official Yuval Rotem in New York in September in her list of disclosures.

Downing Street is also said to have been made aware of Miss Patel's meeting with Mr Netanyahu shortly after it happened - despite a spokesman telling journalists this week that they were unaware until last Friday.

In the most explosive allegation, it is said Mrs May spoke to Ms Patel in advance of the UN General Assembly and they discussed the minister's meeting with Mr Netanyahu, as well as the details of Ms Patel's plan for UK aid to be shared with the Israelis.

Mrs May is said to have agreed the idea was 'sensible' but needed sign off from the Foreign Office.

But a No10 spokesman said: 'It is not true that the Prime Minister knew about the International Development Secretary's meeting with PM Netanyahu before Friday November 3.

'It is equally untrue to say that No 10 asked DfID to remove any meetings from the list they published this week.'

Shortly after Miss Patel's plane landed, TV footage showed a woman who appeared to be the minister getting into the back of an official car parked alongside, which then drove off in a convoy.

Putting a brave face on it: Priti Patel was all smiles as she arrived back in Downing Street tonight for her meeting with Theresa May

TIMELINE OF THE PATEL CRISIS August 13-25: Priti Patel meets a dozen senior politicians and officials while on 'family holiday' to Israel. They include Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. She is accompanied by Tory peer Lord Polak for all but one, but the encounters are not known to the UK government beforehand. She also reportedly visited an Israeli military field hospital in the Golan Heights, a disputed area that Britain does not recognise. September 7: Miss Patel meets Israeli Minister for Public Security Gilad Erdan for talks in the House of Commons. September 18: Minister meets Israel's Foreign Ministry boss Yuval Rotem while in New York at the UN General Assembly. September: Miss Patel and Mrs May are alleged to have discussed her meeting with Mr Netanyahu while at the UN in New York. Downing Street denies the conversation happened. November 3: Miss Patel publicly admits to holding secret meetings with a range of Israeli politicians and officials after reports emerge. No10 says Mrs May was only made aware of the Netanyahu meeting on this day. November 6: Miss Patel concedes that further meetings took place in Israel, including with Mr Netanyahu, and 'clarifies' previous comments. November 8: The PM orders Miss Patel to return from Africa tour after more illicit meetings emerge. Miss Patel's resignation was announced after a 33-minute showdown with Mrs May in No10. Advertisement

However, she is not expected to have a face-to-face meeting with Mrs May until later as the PM has other engagements.

Miss Patel narrowly avoided the sack following the initial wave of revelations after the PM decided she could not risk destabilising the Government further after Sir Michael Fallon quit over sexual harassment claims last week.

But Downing Street's stance changed after it emerged that Miss Patel had tried to divert some of Britain's aid budget to humanitarian work by the Israeli army in the disputed Golan Heights. Britain accuses Israel of occupying the territory illegally.

No10 indicated that she did not mention the proposal in talks to 'clear the air' with Mrs May on Monday  leaving the PM to hear the facts in a BBC report.

It emerged overnight that on September 7, Ms Patel met Israeli Minister for Public Security Gilad Erdan for talks in the House of Commons.

Then, on September 18, she met Israel's Foreign Ministry boss Yuval Rotem while in New York at the UN General Assembly.

DfID said it was not aware of the Erdan meeting until last night, and there were no UK government officials present.

Miss Patel was largely hidden by umbrellas as she took to the tarmac, and was then driven away in a ministerial car

Priti Patel was driven away in a ministerial car after arriving back at Heathrow today

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, pictured in Washington tonight where he is meeting US politicians on Capitol Hill, was unaware of Miss Patel's meeting before they happened

Miss Patel's undeclared meetings while on 'holiday' in August included one with Yair Lapid, leader of Yesh Atid (pictured)

The Rotem meeting was known about on Monday, but was not disclosed on the list because that only covered the period when Miss Patel was on holiday.

Miss Patel met both Erdan and Rotem over the summer, and met them again in September.

No10 dismissed the idea that Miss Patel had been asked not to disclose the September encounter with Rotem for fear of 'embarrassing' the Foreign Office, pointing out that he had featured on the list anyway.

PATEL'S MEETINGS ON 'FAMILY HOLIDAY' Priti Patel held 12 separate meetings and engagements on her 'family holiday' without officials and without clearing them through the usual channels: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Yuval Rotem  Israeli Foreign Ministry

Gilad Erdan - Minister for Public Security, Information and Strategic Affairs

Yair Lapid  Leader of Yesh Atid

IsraAID  emergency humanitarian aid NGO

Dr Aliza Inbal - Pears Programme for Global Innovation

Dinner organised by the Pears Programme with Sivan Ya'ari  Innovation Africa, Glenn Yago - Milken Institute, Yosef Abramovitz  Energiya Global Capital, Mandie Winston  American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

Haim Taib  Mitrelli Group

Visit to Save a Child's Heart

Dr Hirschfeld, Shimon Hefetz  Galilee International Management Institute

Meeting with a group of startups with a focus on Africa: Vital Capital, MobileODT, Equatel Health, Cassit Orthopedics, Ltd, NUFiltration Ltd, Fair Planet.

Jean Judes - Beit Issie Shapiro, and Pablo Kaplan  Wheelchairs of Hope Advertisement

A Downing Street source said this morning that Miss Patel was 'en route' back from Africa 'at the request of the PM'.

The backlash against Miss Patel reached boiling point last night, with sources at the heart of government saying 'no one, least of all the Secretary of State herself, is pretending she handled this well'.

Tory MPs refused to come to her aid during a Commons statement on her conduct in which she faced renewed calls to resign.

Miss Patel admitted on Monday that she held 12 secret meetings with Israeli ministers, officials, businessmen and charity bosses during a two-week holiday with her husband and son in August.

She also admitted giving a misleading account of the visit when details of the trip began to emerge on Friday.

She was accompanied by Lord Polak, honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel lobby group, which has given the Tories almost 400,000.

No officials were present at the meetings and no minutes were taken. The Foreign Office was not informed until August 24, after they had taken place.

Yotam Polizer, of the IsraAID organisation, which Miss Patel met, said the meeting had been arranged two weeks in advance  suggesting it was fixed before she left the UK.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Miss Patel also visited a military field hospital in the Golan Heights, where Syrian refugees were being treated.

The British government, along with most of the international community, does not recognise the territory, which was captured in 1967, as belonging to Israel. Protocol dictates that visits there are not hosted by Israel.

No10 refused to say whether Miss Patel broke the ministerial code. But Mrs May has asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood to tighten it to so ministers cannot hold secret meetings with foreign governments.

Aid Secretary Priti Patel was summoned back to the UK from Nairobi for a showdown with Mrs May, dropping plans to fly to Uganda with Trade Secretary Liam Fox. She is pictured on a previous foreign trip

Miss Patel had been due to fly on to Uganda with International Trade Secretary Liam Fox

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was in London for talks with Mrs May and to mark a century a century since the Balfour Declaration. Mrs May did not know of the meeting between Mr Netanyahu and Ms Patel during the talks

Labour claimed Miss Patel was guilty of four separate breaches of the code and called for her to resign. Kate Osamor, the party's international development spokesman, said: 'It is hard to think of a more black-and-white case of breaking the ministerial code of conduct.

'But rather than change the minister, the Prime Minister somehow decided the code itself needed changing.'

THOUSANDS WATCH PATEL'S FLIGHT HOME ON WEBSITE Thousands of people watched the progress of Priti Patel's flight from Nairobi as she flew back to Britain under orders from Prime Minister Theresa May. Following the news of Ms Patel's return, website Flightradar 24 reported on Twitter that more than 22,000 people were tracking the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner's flight on its site, although it was not absolutely certain Ms Patel was aboard the KQA100 Kenya Airways flight to Heathrow. Usually flights on the website are tracked by one to 200 people. Users on Twitter compared it to watching OJ Simpson attempt to outrun police in his car in 1994. Advertisement

Miss Patel was absent from the Commons during questions about her conduct because she was flying to Africa.

Instead, Middle East Minister Alistair Burt was sent in to explain her conduct.

He told MPs that Miss Patel had tabled proposals to use aid money to assist the humanitarian work of the Israeli Defence Force in the Golan Heights, adding that it had been ruled out immediately by the Foreign Office as 'not appropriate'.

Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Authority's representative to the UK, described the revelations as 'shocking' last night and questioned last night why Miss Patel made no effort to balance her meetings by talking to them.

Shadow Aid Secretary Kate Osamor said Ms Patel should either be sent for a formal investigation or 'do the decent thing and resign'.

But Mr Burt claimed they were 'not particularly secret meetings' and insisted: 'If I were on a visit to Israel I would have wanted a schedule just like this.'

He did however admit he would have told Britain's Israeli ambassador had he planned such a schedule.

Conservative MPs failed to rally behind Ms Patel during the Commons debate. The handful of Tory backbenchers who took part criticised her actions.

Mrs May's official spokesman confirmed the issue of a field hospital was discussed by Ms Patel in her meetings.

He said: 'The Secretary of State did discuss ways to provide medical support to Syrian refugees who are wounded and cross into the Golan Heights.

'The Israeli Army runs field hospitals there to care for Syrians wounded in the civil war.

'There is no change in policy in this area. The UK does not provide any financial support to the Israeli Army.'

Mrs May's spokesman insisted Ms Patel was 'absolutely clear' in her meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday.

He said the new revelation was not a surprise to Downing Street and no policy change had been made.

The spokesman added: 'The Secretary of State has been clear with No 10 that on no other occasions while a minister as she organised meetings with a foreign government minster outside the normal channels while on holiday.'

As the extraordinary row broke on Monday, the International Development Secretary blamed her 'enthusiasm to engage' for her failure to Mrs May or Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson about the dozen high-level encounters.

As well as saying sorry for the stunning breach of protocol, Miss Patel was also forced to make an humiliating 'clarification' of comments last week in which she appeared to deny there were any more meetings to disclose.

Miss Patel said in a statement on the DfID website: 'This summer I travelled to Israel, on a family holiday paid for myself.'

'While away I had the opportunity to meet a number of people and organisations. I am publishing a list of who I met. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was aware of my visit while it was underway.

'In hindsight, I can see how my enthusiasm to engage in this way could be mis-read, and how meetings were set up and reported in a way which did not accord with the usual procedures. I am sorry for this and I apologise for it.

'My first and only aim as the Secretary of State for International Development is to put the interests of British taxpayers and the world's poor at the front of our development work.'

Mrs Patel was accompanied by a Tory peer Lord Polak, who set up the meetings.
The husband of a British woman jailed in Iran has demanded that Boris Johnson 'get on a plane' to meet his wife after a blunder that could see her sentence doubled.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is currently serving a five-year term in a Tehran prison after being accused of espionage while on holiday there last year.

On 1 November Johnson falsely told a parliamentary committee that she had been training journalists.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is pictured with her husband Richard who is desperate to see her back home with their three-year-old for Christmas

He backtracked but it was too late as Iranian state TV said his words were an 'unintended admission' of her guilt and prosecutors threatened to double her sentence.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said he wants to meet Mr Johnson this week and has requested that he join the Foreign Secretary on a trip to Iran.

Mr Ratcliffe, who said he has yet to speak directly to Mr Johnson, said the Foreign Secretary's office made contact with him on Friday.

He told BBC Breakfast this morning: 'I think it's important now that he tries to meet with us as soon as possible, like next week, so that it's clear from a political point of view that the UK Government is standing alongside Nazanin and her family.'

He added: 'I think it'll happen now, in a way that two weeks ago I wasn't so sure. I think it's really important that he gets on a plane to go and see Nazanin.

'I'd really like to go with him and that's a serious request I've put to the Foreign Office.'

Mr Ratcliffe said he has been told his request is being looked at as 'a serious consideration'.

Mr Johnson has admitted that his comments 'could have been clearer', and told MPs on Tuesday that the UK Government 'has no doubt that she was on holiday' in Iran.

'[Neither] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe nor her family has been informed about what crime she has actually committed.

'And that I find extraordinary, incredible.'

The 38-year-old from London is pictured with her husband Richard and their now three-year-old daughter Gabriella

The 38-year-old from London is pictured with her husband Richard and their now three-year-old daughter Gabriella

Mr Johnson told the parliamentary committee on November 1: 'When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism, as I understand it.

Following Mr Johnson's comments last week, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned before an unscheduled court hearing at which she was threatened with the doubling of her five-year jail sentence.

Wednesday's TV broadcast in Iran said that the British media and authorities had spent the last year trying to emphasise Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's innocence 'until last week, the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson utters a sentence that proves costly for the government of this country'.

It added: 'Just this one sentence from the Foreign Secretary was enough to deal a blow to all the attempts of the British media and authorities in the past few months.

'It appears that the statement of Boris Johnson was an antidote to all the statements of various media and UK authorities who had been claiming in the past year and a half that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had come to Iran for humanitarian reasons.'

Her family has been campaigning for her release since Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe (pictured with daughter Gabriella), who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in Tehran last year as she tried to return to London

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's employers, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, issued a statement in response to the Iranian TV reports, reiterating that she had never taken part in the training of journalists.

The foundation's chief executive, Monique Villa, said: 'Nazanin is not a human rights activist with Thomson Reuters Foundation. She is a project manager in our media development team.

'At the foundation, we don't do advocacy work: we are ruled by the Trust Principles of Thomson Reuters which impose freedom from bias, independence and impartial reporting.

'Nazanin has never been a journalist, hence could never have trained journalists.'

Ms Villa confirmed that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had visited Lebanon, Georgia and Morocco as part of her work running the logistics of workshops for local journalists.

'None of these workshops were attended by Iranian journalists. Nazanin didn't have any role in delivering the trainings and had no say in evaluating the work produced by the journalists trained,' she said.
A civil servant who claims to have been groped by an MP claims new chief whip Julian Smith MP (pictured) has breached his confidence over his case and 'intimidated' him by contacting other people about it

A civil servant who claims to have been groped by an MP says the new chief whip's office has breached his confidentially and feels 'intimidated' about the case.

The male government official accused MP Nigel Evans, 60, of sexually assaulting him after a drinks party at his Westminster flat in October 2014 - six months after he was cleared of raping a student and assaulting six other men.

The alleged victim is in his 30s but cannot be identified and has lifetime anonymity under sex offences law.

The Ribble Valley MP was brought in for police questioning over the alleged incident two years later on October 4 2016 but was not arrested.

The Crown Prosecution Service told the alleged victim they would not be pursuing his case because of 'inconsistencies in his statements'.

Last Saturday the civil servant emailed the new Conservative chief whip Julian Smith to complain about the party taking no action over his controversial claims.

Three days after he succeeded Gavin Williamson in the role, Mr Smith responded saying: 'I am not aware of these allegations and have sent them on to our lawyers for onward passing to the police,' according to The Times.

But just over an hour after, he got a message from an old university friend who claimed to have been contacted by Mr Smith's office about his case.

The civil servant, who is in his 30s, but anonymous under sexual offences law, claims to have been sexually assaulted by Nigel Evans MP (pictured) at his flat in Westminster in 2014. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case over inconsistencies in the alleged victim's statements

At 12.36 on October 4 the old acquaintance reportedly sent the alleged victim a Facebook message saying: 'Have you done something to invite ire? A friend of mine who works in the Tory chief whip's office is asking what I know about you.'

The civil servant told the newspaper he 'found it pretty intimidating' the chief whip's office appeared to have contacted other people about his case and said it amounted to a breach of confidence.

He has applied for a court order that would require the Skipton and Ripon MP's office to disclose any documents about his questioning.

A spokesman for Mr Smith categorically denied the claims, according to The Times.

They said: 'At no point has the chief whip instructed any whip to conduct any inquiry into the background of any individual who has alleged criminal wrongdoing or inappropriate conduct by or on behalf of any Member of Parliament.'

The CPS confirmed they had received a request under the victims' right to review scheme.

Julian Smith took over the chief whip job after Gavin Williamson (pictured) became the new Defence Secretary after Sir Michael Fallon quit amid sexual harassment claims

A spokesman for Nigel Evans told the newspaper: 'This has been looked at by the Crown Prosecution Service and it has been no further actioned because of its inconsistencies'

Met Police spokesman added: 'Police received an allegation of sexual assault in August 2016. An investigation was launched by officers from Westminster CID and a 59-year-old man was interviewed on October 4 2016. He was not arrested.

'A file was passed to the CPS, who concluded that no further action should be taken.'

The civil servant behind the claims cannot be named as he is an alleged victim of sexual assault

After Mr Evans was cleared of previous sexual assault charges in April 2014 following a trial at Preston Crown Court he burst into tears.

He claimed the case had been '11 months of hell' and his acquittal was 'not a time for celebration or euphoria' because 'nothing would ever be the same again'.

Julian Smith has only been the Conservatives' chief whip for a week after Gavin Williamson left the post to take Sir Michael Fallon's old job as Defence Secretary.

He resigned over reports he had been 'sexually inappropriate' during his time in Parliament and more claims could come to light.
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Thousands of far-right nationalists marched through Warsaw today, marring the country's Independence Day celebrations.

The march organised by far-right groups was one of a number of marches organised in the Polish capital, which was celebrating Poland's rebirth as an independent nation 99 yeats ago after it was wiped off the map for 123 years.

President Andrzej Duda and European Union president Donald Tusk, himself a former Polish prime minister presided over a formal state ceremony earlier in the day.

Yet today's Independence Day march was the largest in recent years, overshadowing other state and patriotic events.

Protesters stand with banner 'All-Polish Youth' during a rally, organised by far-right nationalist groups, to mark 99th anniversary of Polish independence in Warsaw, Poland November 11, 2017

Protesters light flares and carry Polish flags during a rally, organised by far-right nationalist groups, to mark 99th anniversary of Polish independence in Warsaw, Poland

The far-rights presence at the event was visible for all to see, with some holding up xenophobic banners and chanting questionable slogans. One banner read 'White Europe of brotherly nations'.

A demonstrator interviewed by state television TVP said he was on the march to 'remove Jewry from power.'

Some marched under a banner which read 'We Want God', words from an old Polish song which Donald Trump quoted during his visit to the country earlier this year. Others spoke about standing up to liberals and defending Christianity.

Vast swathes of the crowd marched with the red-and-white flag while others let off red flares and firecrackers during their march. A banner depicting a falanga, a far-right symbol dating back to the 1930s, was also unfurled by a section of the crowd.

Authorities also had to ensure that anti-fascist protesters were kept away from far-right demonstrators over fears their could be violent outbreaks.

Participants of the March of Independence 2017 gathered in the city centre in Warsaw, Poland, 11 November 2017. The slogan of the March is 'We want God'

The vast swathes of flares light up the sky in the Polish capital as fascist groups march in Warsaw on the 99th anniversary of Poland regaining its sovereignty

Polish nationalists light flairs as they take part in the March of Independence 2017 under the slogan 'We want God'

Independence Day in Poland marks when it regained its soverignty at the end of World War I after it had been partitioned and ruled over by Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski noted that Poland had not always been fully independent since 1918, a reference to Germany's occupation during World War II and the decades spent under Moscow's direction during the Cold War.

Still, he said: 'The Polish state was internationally recognized the whole time and that is a great achievement.'

The march carried on throughout the evening and when the sun went down across Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Thousands of people are said to have attended today's march, making it one of the biggest in recent history

Donald Tusk, President of European Council (second left) attends the official celebrations of the 99th Anniversay of Independence of Poland at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers, Warsaw, Poland

The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda (centre) attends the official celebrations of the 99th Anniversary of Independence of Poland at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier

Soldiers march during the official celebrations of the 99th Anniversay of Independence of Poland at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers
Police say Yue 'Kandy' Liu (pictured), 17, was last seen Friday morning in Toronto

A third Chinese student has gone missing in Canada in what police believe is an extortion scam designed to extract large sums of money from family members.

Police say Yue 'Kandy' Liu, 17, was last seen Friday morning near Yonge and Finch streets in Toronto, according to CTV News.

Juanwen Zhang, 20, and Ke 'Jaden' Xu, 16, have also disappeared and have not been seen since November 8 and November 9, respectively.

Investigators believe the disappearances are part of plot in which scammers instruct the Chinese students to go into hiding under threat that their relatives will be harmed.

The students are also told to switch off their cell phones and stay off social media in order to protect their families.

'They're being told to go into hiding or their families in China will be hurt,' said Media Relations Officer for the Toronto Police department Const. Caroline de Kloet.

Juanwen Zhang, 20 (L), and Ke 'Jaden' Xu, 16, were last seen on November 8 and November 9, respectively

The scammers then contact the families, claiming that the students have been kidnapped and will only be released after they receive a large ransom.

Police say that the families have been cooperating and hope to have their children back soon.

'We would like to locate them and make sure that they're all right and that they're safe,' de Kloet added.

Police officials say that given the amount of accessible information on the Internet today, criminals are easily able to exploit vulnerable individuals like foreign students studying abroad.

'It's very simple these days to get a lot of information from people on, say, their social media accounts,' she said.

Canadian authorities told CTV News that no further details can be released at the moment due to their ongoing investigation.

Zhang was last seen in the area of Yonge and Grenville Streets while Xu was last seen around Eglinton Avenue East and Midland Avenue, according to CBC News.
Renowned television and music manager, Benny Medina, has been accused of attempting to rape actor Jason Dottley in 2008.

Dottley says the incident occurred at Medina's home after meeting him at a bar in West Hollywood- and that he and his friend, fellow actor T. Ashanti Mozelle, went back to his mansion.

Medina, who has worked with the likes of Mariah Carey, Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez, were giving the men a tour of his home.

Dottley says his friend Mozelle decided to take a dip in the pool, but that he and the executive producer of the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' continued the tour.

'There was no 'Do you want to see my bedroom?' We literally got to the door and he grabbed me by the chest of my shirt and threw me onto his bed. Now I'm 6 foot tall and was 155 pounds, and this is a stocky strong man,' Dottley alleged to the Advocate.

Jason Dottley (left) accused tv and music mogul Benny Medina (right) of trying to rape him in 2008

The Weinstein effect: Accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein stands with Mariah Carey and newly accused Benny Medina

Benny Medina with Will Smith, and with Jennifer Lopez. Medina is a powerhouse music and television mogul

'We all have these things playing in our heads of what would we ever do if someone ever tried to do something, and none of my pre-planned motions would work.'

Medina 'stuck his tongue down my mouth,' Dottley alleges. He says he told Medina 'Stop. I'm married. What are you doing?' He adds he pointed to his wedding band.

The actor says he struggled with Media who told him: 'I'm having you.'

Actor T. Ashanti Mozelle claims he witnessed the attack and stopped it

Media than allegedly placed his forearm over Dottley's neck, pinning him to the mattress while forcefully placing his thighs over Dottley's legs to keep them from squirming.

Dottley says he started to cry and begged for the talent mogul to stop. He claims Medina kept repeating 'I'm having you! Oh, I will have you'

'His forearm was bearing down on my neck so hard that I don't know how much longer I would have remained conscious,' says Dottley.

Throughout the ordeal, Dottley alleges Medina kept pulling on Dottley's pants while continuing to pin him against the mattress. He says he doesn't have a clear memory of Medina successfully opening his pants or touching his genitals.

Meanwhile, his friend Mozelle who was swimming in Medina's pool thought it was time to get out and see the rest of the house.

'When I went to the pool ... Jason and Benny continued walking around the house,' Mozelle says. 'It could have been intuition or whatever, but I randomly decided to get out of the pool to finish touring and I walked into [Medina's] room, and he was on top of Jason.'

'[Mozelle] burst in the room and screamed something like, 'Get off him!' I don't remember [exactly] what he said, but whatever he said worked,' Dottley tells The Advocate.

'Benny Medina got off of me and grabbed me again by the chest of my shirt and threw me at  not to, but at  his bedroom door and all he said was ''You two get the f*** out of here.''

The two ran out of Medina's home and hardly spoke about the incident on the way home. '[Dottley] was visibly shook,' Mozelle remembers. 'I could see that he was shaken  whatever happened, it was enough to make him uncomfortable, and that was my main concern.'

Others in Dottley's circle say he told them about his allegations against the mogul over the years.

However- he did not tell his husband at the time.

Close working relationship: Jennifer Lopez honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, America in 2013

LA Reid , Mariah Carey and Benny Medina during Mariah Carey Celebrates the Release of Her Album 'The Emancipation of Mimi' and its Debut at #1 at Cipriani in New York City

Dottley was married to TV writer and playwright Del Shores (Queer as Folk, Sordid Lives).

A few days later, Dottley says Medina sent a threatening text message.

'I get a text message as [Shores] and I were walking down Robertson Boulevard. ... I check it and it says something like: ''Hey, I'm at The Ivy eating. Just saw you walking across the street. Is that the husband I have to have killed to have you?''

Dottley had to secretly text Medina back, as he didn't tell his husband about the incident, and he says he told Medina he was a 'disgusting, horrible person and to not ever text me again.'

Even now, Dottley says he has told very few people about the incident out of fear of retaliation. He admits he never told his ex-husband because he was scared Shores 'would want to do something, and we both worked in TV and I was petrified because what proof do I have that this happened besides the fact that my friend saw it? And how does that even matter? What are we going to do? So I didn't tell him.'

When The Advocate reached Shores for a comment, it was the first time he'd heard of the alleged incident. 'This is news to me,' he says. 'During our marriage and after our divorce, nothing was told to me about this incident.'

Dottley however says he confided in his manager, Renee Bailey, who says she first heard of the incident when she signed Dottley in April 2016.

'I had asked him to provide me a list of anybody you don't want to work with and who you really want to work with,' Bailey recounts saying to Dottley. 'At that time he told me Benny Medina, and he was really adamant about it. He wanted to make sure he didn't go into any castings or meetings. He didn't want to be associated. When I asked him why, he said 'because he attempted to rape me.'

Bailey confirmed with The Advocate that her agency, the Bailey Agency, has had Medina's name on Dottley's 'no work' list since the beginning of their relationship due to safety concerns.

Nicole Richie and music producer Benny Medina attend the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute to Industry Icons honoring L.A. Reid held at The Beverly Hilton on February 9, 2013

Leah Remini and Benny Medina in 2010 Carousel of Hope Ball, Benefiting the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, Los Angeles

Jeffery Morris, an actor and close friend of Dottley's, says, 'We've talked about it several times, [but] not in express detail,' adding, 'He [gets] very upset.'

Ben Lafleur, executive producer of Dottley's one-man show Life on the Gay-List 2: All The Sordid Details, confirmed Dottley had shared the allegations, though he admits he still hasn't heard explicit details.

'[Dottley] started talking about this high-level executive Benny Medina, and he said, 'He sexually assaulted me,' Lefleur recalls of the first time Dottley mentioned the incident to him.

'He said it happened a while back and one of his friends intervened. And I could kind of tell when he was telling me [that] he was getting emotional and I didn't want him to go into any details about it. I just kind of stopped him right there because he was getting emotional.'

'He took a part of me away that I didn't even know I had, which is faith in humanity,' says Dottley, 'because here's a revered person that seemed so nice and at the end of the day he was using power to prey on young vulnerable looking guys and I happened to be his pick for that night.  You have to do this a lot to be confident enough that you can send a text like that, like, that's not a first-timer,' adding, 'I think because he produces a lot of television and has hands in tons of pies, that's prevented more people from coming forward.'

'For the record, I don't plan on suing for money,' he affirms. 'What I want is the truth exposed about these people so that they cannot continue to prey on people like they do. Hopefully, if enough of us continue to speak out and name names, I would hope the next time one of these power predators will think long and hard before he attempts that on somebody else because he'll always think, I wonder if this one's going to talk too.'

'I was emasculated, I was humiliated, and at that time, no one was coming forward and I was afraid if I went to the police or the press that Benny Medina was powerful enough to ruin both my career and my ex-husband's,' Dottley said.

'I also had stepchildren at the time and their safety came into question as well.  All of the tactics used by power predators worked on me because the end result was extreme fear of retaliation if I came forward in any way.'

He adds, '[Medina] sexually assaulted and attempted to rape me while choking me. Add in a threatening text a few days later and hopefully anyone can understand just how scared of this man I was. I always thought I would be telling my autobiography long after he was dead. I found the strength through the other [victims] who've come before.'

Dottley says he and Medina have had zero contact since the day of the alleged text message, which Dottley says he no longer has saved in his phone.

The Advocate says repeated requests for comment on their story were not returned by Medina, the Medina Company, and an attorney.

Since the 1980s, Medina has been a powerhouse in the TV and music industry.

Medina helped to navigate the rising TV careers of Tyra Banks as well as Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs's lifestyle brand Sean John in the 2000s. At various points, Medina also managed Brandy and Usher, along with Carey, Lopez, and Smith.
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Vice President Mike Pence got down to business on Veterans Day when he joined in efforts to clean up the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC on Saturday.

Pence grabbed rubber gloves and got scrubbing during the photo opportunity, and later gave a speech at Arlington National Cemetery commending veterans for their sacrifice.

'This is the land of the free because it's still the land of the brave, and you - our veterans - are our brave,' he told the crowd.

Scroll down for video

Mike Pence scrubbed away at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC on Saturday. He arrived around dawn on Veterans Day to help a 40-man cleanup crew

The VP then commended the amassed veterans at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, for their bravery and sacrifice, saying they were what kept America 'the land of the free'

Meanwhile, all over America soldiers and citizens remembered those fallen in war, and those who survived. Here Master Sgt. Ronald Arthur with the 186th Air Refueling Wing of the Mississippi National Guard salutes in downtown Meridian, Mississippi

Pence lay a wreath to remember the war dead before telling the veterans: 'You step forward, you counted our lives more important than yours.

'And we thank God, who - as Solomon says - trained your hands for war and gave you the strength to advance against a troop, but also brought you home safe to your loved ones and a grateful nation.'

That came after he cleaned a reminder of those whom God did not deliver home: The 58,318 names on the Vietnam War Memorial.

Pence, whose father was a Korean War veteran and whose won is a Marine, donned yellow gloves during the early-morning clean-up operation.

'Good morning all,' he told the 40 or so other volunteers, 'Mike Pence. Great of you all to be here. Happy Veterans Day.'

Pence scrubbed and dried, with a little help on the higher-up areas from his taller colleague, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Wylie Gilbert, 30, of Maryland, told Pence to scrub hard, up and down, left and right, USA Today reported.

Pence thanked Gilbert, of the Army National Guard, for his service.

'Thank you for yours, Gilbert replied, 'and for coming out here this morning.'

Veterans salute as the colors are presented before Pence speaks at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday

Pence spoke before the crowd of veterans, some of whom fought in wars in Vietnam and Korea. He said he thanked God for their bravery

This is the land of the free because it's still the home of the brave. #VeteransDay https://t.co/qvBTmQphb8  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) November 11, 2017

A veteran salutes in front of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. Pence had thanked the soldiers who cleaned the sign alongside him for their service

A visitor does a pencil rubbing of a name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, which has the names of 58,318 Americans killed in the war

The shadows of visitors to the memorial are cast across it in the early morning light. Pence made his speech at Arlington Cemetery, Virginia, which is around a mile away

An honor guard from American Legion Post 568 fires a volley salute during a Veterans Day ceremony at the Lincoln Township Cemetery in Stevensville, Michigan

Sammy Feltenstein, a Vietnam army veteran, salutes the US flag along with other veterans and guests during the National Anthem at a Veterans Day ceremony in downtown Meridian, Mississippi

Various styles of American flags adorn a column of Jeeps participating in the Veterans Day parade in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Civil War re-enactors Brian Steffey (left) and Craig Anderton play fifes near a modern-day Army armored personnel carrier on display as part of the Steel City Supports the Troops event for Veterans Day at Point State Park in Pittsburgh

A World-War II army re-enactor leans on a fence as other re-enactors representing military from the French-Indian War, and Civil War mingle with modern-day soldiers at the Steel City Supports the Troops event in Pittsburgh

Lipstick marks the headstone of US Army Sgt. First Class Marcus Vinicio Muralles at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, on Veterans Day

Cadet Tyler Simon visits the gravesite of his friend, US Army Staff Sgt. Michael McMullen, at Arlington National Cemetery for Veterans Day

A young boy rides on his father's shoulders while visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday

More than 100 veterans and community members gather at Pittsfield Veterans Memorial Park to celebrate Veterans Day on Saturday in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Boy Scouts march with veterans and community members in a parade to Veterans Memorial Park in Pittsfield

Veterans assemble wreaths at Pittsfield Veterans Memorial Park during a Veterans Day ceremony

St. Mary's ROTC color guard take part in a Veterans Day event, in Sutherland Springs, Texas - just a block away from the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, where a veteran opened fire on killing more than two dozen on November 5

Veteran and Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church member Ted Montgomery (left) greets members of the St. Mary's ROTC following a Veterans Day event in Sutherland Springs

Montgomery gets a hug from a friend following the Veterans Day event in Sutherland Springs

University of Scranton Army ROTC Cadets march during the conclusion of a Veterans Day ceremony at Lackawanna County Courthouse Square in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania

A woman looks at pictures of fallen soldiers at Madison Square Park before the start of the Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2017 in New York City

Astronaut and this year's Parade Grand Marshal Buzz Aldrin drives up Fifth Avenue in a convertible during the New York Veterans Day Parade, which is the largest of its kind in the nation
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Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton lasted just two minutes in the Brazil Grand Prix qualifying race after he crashed off the track at 160mph.

The smash this afternoon brought qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix to a halt, as his car spun 90 degrees and hit the tyre wall and damaging the front-left side of his Mercedes.

Hamilton radioed his team to let them know he was uninjured before stepping out of the car and walking freely.

The 32-year-old's weekend of horror continued on the tracks at Interlagos, just hours after armed criminals hijacked his Mercedes F1 team bus.

Lewis Hamilton's horror weekend continued as he crashed out of qualifying, causing worried track crew to rush to his aid

The championship winner escaped unscathed and watched on as his car was removed from the Interlagos track

Hamilton walked around his wrecked Mercedes no doubt reflected on a traumatic 24 hours for himself and his team members

The wreckage of Hamilton's Mercedes was escorted away via a JCB, showing fans the extent of the damaged vehicle

Valtteri Bottas clenches his fist in celebration after securing the third pole position of his career at the Interlagos circuit

The red flag was waved while his car was lifted clear. The session was delayed for eight minutes, before Valtteri Bottas, in the other Mercedes, took pole. The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were second and third.

Hamilton's accident was an especial blow for the Briton, who wrapped up the world title in Mexico a fortnight ago, because he had dominated Friday's practice sessions.

Perhaps he was caught out by the light rain that had fallen on the track in the hour leading up to qualifying.

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING TIMES 11. Esteban Ocon (France) Force India 1:09.830 12. Romain Grosjean (France) Haas - Ferrari 1:09.879 13. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) McLaren 1:10.116 14. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) Haas 1:10.154 15. Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) Toro Rosso 16. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) Sauber 1:10.678 17. Pierre Gasly (France) Toro Rosso 1:10.686 18. Lance Stroll (Canada) Williams 1:10.776 19. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber 1:10.875 20. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes No Time 1. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes 1:08.322 2. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:08.360 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:08.538 4. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull 1:08.925 5. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 1:09.330 6. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 1:09.598 7. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:09.617 8. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Renault 1:09.703 9. Carlos Sainz (Spain) Renault 1:09.805 10. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 1:09.841 Advertisement

BRAZILIAN GUNMEN HIJACK LEWIS HAMILTON'S MERCEDES F1 TEAM BUS, FIRE SHOTS AND HOLD A GUN TO A MECHANIC'S HEAD IN TERRIFYING RAID Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that members of the Mercedes team were held up at gun point as they left the Interlagos circuit on Friday night Brazil after members of his Mercedes team were held up at gun point in Sao Paulo last night. Shots were fired and one victim had a gun held to his head in the terrifying incident, according to the driver, who was not on the bus at the time. Armed men surrounded vehicles belonging to Formula 1 teams, as well as a car from the FIA, motor sport's governing body, as they left Sao Paulo's Interlagos circuit at around 8pm. It is not known what was stolen but according to Mercedes the criminals made off with belongings that were 'very valuable' to the team. No one was hurt in the hold-up. Armed robbers reportedly surrounded vehicles leaving the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, where qualifying will take place later today Talking of last night's hold-up in a post on Twitter the champion claimed similar criminal incidents happened in the sport every year and called on F1 to do more about it. He wrote: 'Some of my team were held up at gun point last night leaving the circuit here in Brazil. Guns shots fired, gun held at ones head. 'This is so upsetting to hear. Please say a prayer for my guys who are here as professionals today even if shaken. 'This happens every single year here. F1 and the teams need to do more. There is no excuse!' Lewis Hamilton revealed news of the incident on his Twitter account on Saturday In a further tweet a minute later, Hamilton called for increased security measures Matteo Bonciani, the FIA's communication's director, was in the governing body's car at the time of the attack. He told Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper: 'Three men hit the car windows with their wepaons. 'But the driver was spectacular and reacted with professionalism and cold blood. Luckily nothing happened to us. 'I've been coming here since 2002 with Ferrari and I always knew about these things. But it's the first time it has happened to me.' Sao Paulo's Military Police said today that they had so far not received any report of the incident. Advertisement

Technically, Hamilton will require special dispensation from the FIA to take part in Sunday's race, having failed to set a time in qualifying. But that right will be nodded through, and he will start from the back of the grid.

Hamilton declined immediate TV interviews but later spoke to the media when he had gathered his thoughts.

Hamilton's fellow Mercedes star Valtteri Bottas held his nerve with a fine drive to take pole position in Brazil

Vettel, who had been battling for the title before Hamilton claimed triumph, and Raikkonen (right) park cars on the track

(left-to-right) Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, Bottas and a glum-looking Kimi Raikkonen pose in parc ferme in Sao Paulo

The Ferrari pair pose for pictures following an entertaining qualifying session, which saw Bottas secure pole position

The four time world champion began qualifying as favourite, despite a terrifying ordeal involved his team hours earlier

I'm OK,' he said. 'It happened really quickly.

'It is what it is. Of course, it's unfortunate. I tend to just look at these things as challenges are what makes life interesting. Overcoming them makes life meaningful.

'I just need to take whatever bubble of negativity comes from that experience and move forward and try to grow from it.

Hamilton lost control of his Mercedes during the early stages of the opening qualifying session and headed towards barriers

Hamilton began to skid off the Interlagos circuit just two minutes in after losing control at 160mph heading out of a corner

The Mercedes driver thudded into the tyre barrier before quickly informing his team members that he was not hurt

The recently-crowned world champion is seen in the paddock after crashing out Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday

Despite his crash, Hamilton was delighted to see Bottas secure pole position and hugged the Finnish driver after final session

'It's very unusual from me (to make this sort of mistake), but it shows we are all human and things happen.

'I will try to have as much fun as possible tomorrow. Years ago I came from quite far behind and had a great race.'

It was the first time since Belgium in 2016 that Hamilton had not made it out of the first qualifying session.

Bottas will take to the track on Sunday at the head of the pack in front of a sold-out crowd at Interlagos

Esteban Ocon of Force India endured a disappointing second session and failed to qualify for the third and final session

The Ferrari mechanics work on Raikkonen's car and prepare to get him back out on the Interlagos track on Saturday afternoon

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg prepares to exit the pit straight during qualifying - he went on to finish in eighth in last session
Tax hikes could hit diesel drivers while a cut in fuel duty may be granted to those who favour petrol.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is said to be considering the measures while Cabinet colleagues pressure him to cut dangerous emissions in his budget later this month.

Sources close to the Treasury say the chancellor is considering options including changes to vehicle excise duty which could hit drivers who already own diesel cars.

Phillip Hammond is reportedly considering rises on fuel duty for diesel drivers and a cut for petrol vehicles

Environment Secretary Michael Gove is reportedly backing extra charges on anybody who buys a pre-owned diesel car while living in an area of high emissions, according to The Telegraph.

Officials are said to have been told by Mr Gove to investigate how the charge could be implemented, with the extra duty paid by new owners when a change of ownership is declared.

Another choice would be raising fuel duty on diesel cars to urge drivers to move away from using it before a blanket ban on all new vehicles is felt.

Ministers are said to be considering a fuel duty cut for petrol vehicles to win support for the diesel ban.

Successive budgets have frozen fuel duty but the government's commitment to cut road pollution and Mr Hammond's desperation to improve the nation's finances mean the hike will probably be welcomed by the Treasury.

But campaigners say a rise in fuel duty will harm small businesses because lorries and vans use diesel.

Tory MPs including former government minister Rob Halfon oppose the rise.

He said drivers should have their own 'defence minister' and opposed wallets being hit by hikes.

Environment secretary Michael Gove is reportedly asking for new charges for buyers of pre-owned diesel cars

A tax on new diesel cars was announced when research revealed the fuel has a more harmful effect on the environment than petrol.

By 2040 all new petrol and conventional diesel cars will be banned in Britain.

AA president Edmund King questioned the need for duty rises, citing drops in diesel sales.

'It is ridiculous to further demonise diesel via differential taxes when drivers are already voting with their wheels,' he said.

'Some 41 per cent of AA members own diesels but that drops ... to 16 per cent when drivers are asked what fuel their next car will run on.

'Indeed in October diesel sales were already down 29.9 per cent compared to last year.

'The Treasury should concentrate on incentives for greener cars rather than hitting diesel.'

David Bizley, chief engineer at the RAC, dismissed the plan as 'a terrible, misjudged knee-jerk reaction'.

A spokesman for the Treasury the department does not comment on the Budget.
Details of a fawning messages sent by a senior British spy his Libyan counterpart as Tony Blair tried to curry favour with Muammar Gaddafi have been revealed.

Sir Mark Allen, the former head of counter terrorism at MI6, and Moussa Koussa became firm friends as they worked together to re-building relations between the UK and Libya.

Koussa worked at the Libyan embassy in London but was expelled from the UK after making death threats against opponents in a newspaper interview.

He has been linked with the Lockerbie bombing and the killing of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy.

Sir Mark Allen was the head of counter terrorism at MI6 when he struck up a friendship with Moussa Koussa

The relations Sir Mark built with the Libyans, and Koussa in particular, paved the way for Tony Blair to visit the dictator in Tripoli in 2004 and strike a pact with the dictator who promised to renounce weapons of mass destruction.

Caches of secret British, American and Libyan intelligence documents were scattered around abandoned and burnt out government offices, prisons and officials' homes after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011.

Now, details of the fawning messages and the hospitality extended to Koussa have been revealed in new documents from that cache obtained by The Guardian.

Koussa was kicked out of Britain after threatening Libyan dissidents but was entertained at luxury hotel on his return

The documents show Koussa was invited to 'a banquet dinner at the Goring', a luxury hotel near Buckingham Palace in September 2003.

'The head of the British delegation warmly welcomed his guest, expressing his happiness,' according to the Libyan minutes of the visit.

Presents of dates and oranges from the Libyan regime appeared at MI6's headquarters by the Thames.

Koussa was invited back to the UK for a 90-minute meeting on 20 November at the Bay Tree, a five-star hotel in the Cotswolds, near RAF Brize Norton

On Christmas Eve, Allen sent a letter to Koussa, to be carried personally by the Libyan intelligence courier who had just arrived in London, bearing dates and oranges.

'It has been a real privilege working with you. At this time sacred to peace, I offer you my admiration and every congratulation,' read the letter.

The cooperation between the two men resulted in Tony Blair visiting Gaddafi in 2004

The co-operation between MI6 and the Libyans is alleged to have resulted in Hakim Belhaj, a Libyan opposition leader, being bundled off a plane in Malaysia and put on flight to Libya.

Belhaj and his pregnant wife allege they were tortured and have begun legal action against the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Allen, a fluent Arab speaker with an interest in falconry, sent Koussa a fax after the couple arrived in congratulating him 'safe arrival' of Belhaj.

'This was the least we could do for you and for Libya to demonstrate the remarkable relationship we have built over recent years,' said Sir Mark.

Hakim Belhaj alleges he and his pregnant wife was abducted with British help and taken to Libya where he was tortured

In another message he expressed his gratitude to his friend for arranging a visit by Tony Blair to Gaddafi.

The spy also said that 'amusingly' in his opinion the CIA had asked that MI6 channel requests for information from Belhaj through them.

'I have no intention of doing any such thing. The intelligence  was British. I know I did not pay for the air cargo. But I feel I have the right to deal with you direct on this,' he said.

Koussa defected when he was the Gaddafi's foreign minister as the regime began to crumble and now lives in Qatar.

It was reported MI6 officers helped charter a private Gulfstream G200 from TAG Aviation to take him to Farnborough, Hampshire.




Growing numbers of snowflake students are appealing for special exemptions after missing essay deadlines or exams  because they overslept or were stressed out by the tests.

A Mail on Sunday investigation has found that top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, were inundated with thousands of appeals last year by undergraduates fearing they could lose vital marks for failing to complete assessments.

Students are able to plead with an official panel of academics to be allowed more time to finish work or retake an exam or stage of a course if they can show extenuating circumstances such as illness or serious personal problems.

Among unsuccessful excuses given were that a student missed an exam by a few minutes because she had overslept. A second youngster argued that he was distracted because he had to buy items for his unfurnished flat. Pictured: A file image of a stressed student

A Mail on Sunday investigation has found that top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, were inundated with thousands of appeals last year by undergraduates fearing they could lose vital marks for failing to complete assessments. Pictured: Balliol College, Oxford

But figures obtained from Freedom of Information requests show that the numbers of such appeals are rising dramatically  and academics say undergraduates are playing the system.

Among unsuccessful excuses given were that a student missed an exam by a few minutes because she had overslept. A second youngster argued that he was distracted because he had to buy items for his unfurnished flat. And a third student claimed to get stressed around examination periods and had found it difficult to cope.

It comes amid mounting criticism of the snowflake generation who are less able to cope with the stresses of university life than their predecessors.

Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham Universitys Centre for Employment and Education Research, said that because universities were more sensitive to the mental health of students, they were granting more requests, which was fuelling a rise in submissions from those trying to take advantage.

Academics at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, which recorded a staggering 10,492 requests last year, expressed alarm at the numbers.

One official said that because students could self-certify their illness, without a doctors note, it appears the number with illnesses has shot through the roof.
Donald Trump evaded questions about GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore's alleged history of child molestation Saturday by saying he didn't have time to look into it.

He said he was unaware of the claim that Moore kissed, partially stripped and molested a 14-year-old girl in 1979 because he didn't have time to watch TV.

The president, whose Twitter feed is filled with missives about Saturday Night Live and Fox News, said: 'I don't get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I'm reading documents. A lot.'

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Donald Trump claimed while on Air Force One on Saturday (pictured) that he didn't have time to 'look into' claims that a GOP Senatorial candidate is a child molester

Moore (seen Saturday), 70, is alleged to have kissed, partially stripped and groped a 14-year-old in 1979. Trump said he didn't have time to watch TV because he was busy with 'documents'

'Believe it or not, even when I'm in Washington or New York, I do not watch much television,' he told reporters aboard Air Force One after a trip to Asia.

'People that don't know me, they like to say I watch television - people with fake sources. You know, fake reporters, fake sources.'

On December 12, Moore goes head-to-head with Democrat Doug Jones to fill the Alabama Senate seat vacated when John Sessions moved into the White House.

Trump said that while he hadn't 'been able to devote very much time' to the possibility that a Republican candidate for Senate might be a child molester, he would 'have further comment as we go down the road.'

The remarks by the president - who boasted to Time about the 60-inch TV he had installed the White House dining room - have been mocked online.

BuzzFeed News reporter David Mack posted screenshots of dozens of tweets made by Trump this year referencing episodes of Fox and Friends.

And the President is well-known for his criticisms of CNN and Saturday Night Live after episodes have aired.

Just after midnight on November 3, he tweeted: 'The rigged Dem Primary, one of the biggest political stories in years, got ZERO coverage on Fake News Network TV last night. Disgraceful!'

Around 10 minutes later he posted a screengrab of Fox News.

And two days later he tweeted Fox News footage of himself giving a speech at a naval base in Japan, during his recent Asia trip.

Trump is famous for tweeting about Fox News and other mainstream media news channels, as well as Saturday Night Live - often just after shows have aired. This is from November 3

On November 5, he tweeted this Fox News clip of himself making a speech at a Japanese Air Base. He claimed to have been too busy to keep up with news while traveling in Asia

Moore, said at a Veterans Day event (pictured) that the claims were lies to stop him taking Jeff Sessions' vacant Senate seat for the GOP. He blamed 'Democrats or established Republicans'

"I do not watch much television. I know they like to say that. People that dont know me, they like to say I watch television - people with fake sources. But I dont get to watch much television." pic.twitter.com/aNr9xG3soP  David Mack (@davidmackau) November 11, 2017

In April, insiders told The Washington Post that Trump Now 'still consumes a steady diet of cable news'.

'During an intimate lunch recently with a key outside ally in a small West Wing dining room, for instance, Trump repeatedly paused the conversation to make the group watch a particularly combative Spicer briefing,' the paper said.

It added that 'most televisions in the White House' display CNN, Fox, Fox Business and MSNBC at all times.

Moore was accused of child molestation on Thursday by Leigh Corfman, who said that the then-32-year-old district attorney persuaded her mother to leave her with him in 1979, when she was 14.

She said that on that occasion he kissed her, and on a second occasion stripped her to her underwear, touched her through the remaining clothing, and made her touch his genitals through his shorts.

Three other women told The Washington Post that he had dated and kissed them between the ages of 16 and 18. The age of consent in Alabama is 16.

In a Friday interview with Sean Hannity, Moore denied ever meeting Corfman, and said that while he recognized the names of two of the other women, he had never dated anyone as young as 16 or 17.

And on Saturday Moore - speaking during a Veterans Day event in Alabama - said the claims against him were fabricated by 'Democrats or established Republicans' in a 'desperate attempt' to scupper his chances in the election.

Moore said on Saturday that if the claims were real they would have come out long ago, and asked 'Why now?' just four weeks before a Senate election

'Why now?' he asked, saying that as someone who has been in the public eye for 40 years, he had been 'investigated more than any other person in the country'.

Instead, he said 'the Democrats and the Republican establishment' were plotting against him, and that they are 'desperate' to 'divert attention' from issues like immigration and debt.

He added that his team 'do not intend to let the Democrats or the established Republicans or anybody else behind this story continue,' and that there would be 'revelations in the next few days.'

On Saturday CNN reported that former Deputy District Attorney Theresa Jones, who worked alongside Moore, said 'It was common knowledge that Roy dated high school girls.'

She said 'everyone we knew thought it was weird... We wondered why someone his age would hang out at high school football games and the mall.'

Moore preceded his statement with a bizarre and rambling speech in which, after thanking his allies, he remarked: 'Go back to my wife - she is pretty, and I appreciate that.'

He then said: 'Ladies sometimes put these masks on at night, and you wonder how they stay so pretty, but they put these masks on, I guess.'

On Saturday afternoon it was reported that a former colleague of Moore said it was 'common knowledge that Roy dated high-school girls'
Dozens of cyclists are injured each year by holes in the road that councils claim are too shallow to fix, it has emerged.

A whopping 467 cyclists were involved in accidents caused by 'poor or defective' roads over the past five years, Department of Transport data has revealed.

Last year alone, 96 crashes were caused faulty road surfaces - 12 per cent more than the previous year.

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A whopping 467 cyclists were involved in accidents caused by 'poor or defective' roads over the past five years, Department of Transport data has revealed

The shocking figures, published in The Times, come after it emerged that over one million potholes were reported to highways authorities and councils in 2016.

Campaigners are now accusing authorities of ignoring warnings over dangerous potholes.

Cyclist Iain Turnbull, 59, suffered concussion and a deep cut when he was thrown from his bike after hitting a pothole.

He submitted a compensation claim to North Yorkshire county council but it was rejected after the authority said the road had passed a recent inspection, The Times reported.

The shocking figures, published in the Times, come after it emerged that over one million potholes were reported to highways authorities and councils in 2016

Scotland tops region-by-region pothole tally Scotland 154,310 (pot holes) 6,364m (total combined distance) South West England 138,672 5,495m South East England 125,797 5,199m North West England 120,748 4,842m Yorkshire and The Humber 92,894 3,901m North East England 77,960 3,118m East of England 62,027 2,957m West Midlands 72,462 2,806m East Midlands 42,549 1,762m Northern Ireland 78,147 1,563m London 42,738 1,522m Wales 18,679 733m Advertisement

But Mr Turnbull's lawyer claimed this was because the hole was 3cm deep and not deemed dangerous.

'The councils are just not held accountable,' Mr Turnbull told the paper.

'Surface conditions are pretty dire. You have to be very aware of what you're riding on. Road conditions are certainly getting worse.'

A Department of Transport spokeswoman said: 'We are giving councils record levels of capital funding - more than 7.1bn up to 2021 - to improve local roads and repair potholes.

'It is vital councils spend this to keep roads in good condition to keep all users safe, especially cyclists.'

Freedom of information data revealed 1,031,787 potholes were reported to highways authorities and council in 2016.

Most of the damage to the country's roads last year was caused during February and March, with local authorities having to fork out 3.1million in repairs.

Scotland has the worst problem, with a region-by-region tally revealing its pot holes add up to 6,364 metres.

A survey of 2,000 motorists found that one in three (33 per cent) have suffered damage to their vehicles due to poor road surfaces, including tyres and suspension problems.

Biggest compensation pay-outs to victims of pothole damage Wiltshire 507,546 - 6,803 Surrey 343,685 - 31,104 Cardiff 288,025 - 2,928 Hampshire 152,630 - 12,072 Staffordshire 117,239 - 11,256 Advertisement

The local authority forced to pay out the most on damage claims to motorists was Wiltshire Council, at 508,000.

But the cost of repair varies between areas, with Westminster City Council forking out the most per pothole at 2,400.

The study also found that 70 per cent of drivers still think councils should do more to tackle potholes, despite more than 100 million spent nationwide.

The research was carried out by Confused.com using data from almost 200 local authorities.
A group of U.S. states, cities, businesses and universities they are still committed to curbing global warming even as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is walking away from the Paris climate accord.

The alliance, which has an economy larger than Japan and Germany combined, says it won't be able to achieve the necessary cut in greenhouse gas emissions without some efforts at the federal level.

It made its case as protesters took to the streets of Bonn at the start of Germany's carnival season, in a colourful demonstration to raise awareness about climate change.

A climate change activist wears a mask of Donald Trump in front of a replica of the Statue of Liberty during a protest march in Bonn

Michael Bloomberg said the American people are committed to the goals of tackling climate change and 'there is nothing Washington can do to stop us'

Climate change activists are accompanied by carnival goers during a protest march near the venue of the conference

Today is the traditional launch day of carnival season in Bonn and other cities across the region

The climate activists are hoping to raise awareness over the need for stronger measures necessary to combat climate change

A protester puts on Donald Trump mask. The U.S president has pledged to ditch the Paris climate change accords

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a global climate meeting in Bonn, Germany: 'It is important for the world to know, the American government may have pulled out of the Paris agreement.

'But the American people are committed to its goals, and there is nothing Washington can do to stop us.'

Governor Jerry Brown of California echoed those comments.

'In the United States, we have a federal system, and states have real power as do cities. And when cities and states combine together, and then join with powerful corporations, that's how we get stuff done,' he said.

His speech was briefly interrupted by anti-coal and anti-fracking protesters, who held up banners and shouted 'We're still in! Trump's still out!'

The group calling itself 'America's Pledge' said states, cities and private groups have been taking considerable steps to reduce emissions by promoting renewable energy use and climate-friendly transportation systems.

Demonstrators dressed as Donald Trump and as polar bears during the demonstration through Bonn

Anti-coal and anti-fracking protesters held up banners and shouted 'We're still in! Trump's still out!'

The COP 23 UN Climate Change Conference hosted by Fiji but held in Bonn, Germany

A car with a skeleton on the front takes part in the protest. The 'America's Pledge' group said other towns and cities in the world could take action by themselves

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said every country needs to pitch in to keep global temperatures from rising.

'This is a pledge, and it's a pledge that you can cash, because it's real,' Brown said. 'We are doing real stuff in California.'

In a report, however, the group said that 'we cannot underscore strongly enough the critical nature of federal engagement to achieve the deep decarbonization goals the U.S. must undertake after 2025.'

Daniel Firger, one of the report's contributors, said it was intended to show that many in the U.S. aren't prepared to wait for Trump to change his mind on climate change again or wait for the next administration to tackle the issue.

Former U.S vice-president Al Gore is a supporter of the 'America's Pledge' group of states, cities and businesses

'The good news around Trump's announcement to withdraw is that it has galvanized a groundswell of bottom-up support from all corners of the U.S. economy,' Firger told The Associated Press.

Cities, regions and businesses in other nations around the world could look to the group for inspiration and support, he said, noting that the lessons learned by local authorities and businesses in the U.S. could be applied elsewhere.

Also Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her weekly podcast that every country needs to pitch in to keep global temperatures from rising.

Merkel also said it's the responsibility of the industrial countries to develop environment-friendly technologies that are future-oriented, but 'don't lead to a loss of jobs.'

'We don't gain anything if steel mills, aluminum plants and copper mills leave our countries and go somewhere else where environmental regulations are less strict - because then we haven't made any gains for world climate,' she said.
Two members of a drugs gang who made more than 7m each trying to smuggle 13.5m of cocaine into the country from the Caribbean will have to pay back just 1.

Six men were jailed for a total of more than 70 years in April after the Salford gang's plot to traffic 50 kilos of high-purity cocaine from Dominican Republic suppliers was uncovered.

The international conspiracy unravelled when the contraband was seized by customs at London Gateway Ports in 2015 after the Class A drugs were found hidden in battery compartments of car jump-starter devices lined with lead to fool x-ray machines.

Jonathan Gregg, left, and Reece Cole, right, were found to have no assets despite making 7,773,160 from their attempt to smuggle drugs into the UK

Two members of the gang - Jonathan Gregg and Reece Cole - 'benefited' to the tune of 7,773,160, a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) at Manchester Crown Court heard.

Despite the act being designed to strip criminals of ill-gotten gains, the court heard Gregg and Cole had no available assets and must pay back 'nominal' confiscation orders of 1 each.

Gregg, 31, of Ellesmere Street, Swinton, who had worked in a managerial role, was jailed for 10 years and eight months.

The Class A drugs were recovered after the Salford gang bought them from suppliers in the Dominican Republic

Darren Cleary, left, was understood to have had a 'leadership role' in the trafficking while Lloyd Seddon, right, was recruited by his own father

Cole, 24 at the time and from Brierlery Road East, Swinton, admitted conspiracy to import and two offences of possession of class A with intent to supply. He was jailed for 12 years.

Darren Cleary, 37, of Windsor Avenue, Clifton, was described by sentencing Judge Martin Steiger QC as having a 'leadership role in the conspiracy'. He was previously jailed for 16 years.

Cleary was ruled to have benefited by 7,843,319 and was also ordered to repay his available assets of 8,400 within three months.

A search of the container revealed 47 kilograms of cocaine concealed in car batteries after the drug was trafficked from the Caribbean

Anthony Seddon, 52, of of Charles Street, Swinton, who recruited his son Lloyd as a 'helper', was jailed for 14 years.

At the POCA hearing, the court heard Anthony Seddon had also made 7,773,160. His available assets - the equity on a house - was put at 96,500.

Judge Steiger QC ordered that he must repay that sum within three months or serve a further 21 months in jail.

Anthony Seddon, left, recruited his son for the conspiracy and John Farnworth, right, was jailed for 12 years

The packages were lined with lead, which the conspirators hoped would fool customs x-ray machines

Lloyd Seddon, 27, of Charles Street, Swinton, was linked to a 15kg stash of cutting agents for the drugs. He was jailed for six years after being found guilty of drug importing.

John Farnworth, 35, of Gladstone Street, Pendlebury, denied importing drugs but was found guilty by a jury and jailed for 12 years.

The POCA hearing in relation to Farnworth was adjourned until January.

The court heard the Crown Prosecution Service do not intend to pursue a confiscation order against Lloyd Seddon.
The sign of ultimate luxury used to be whether you turned left when entering an aeroplane. Could you afford the caviar, champagne on tap and fully reclining seats of first class? Today, the real test is whether, like Lewis Hamilton, you can afford the plane itself.

Private jets, once only the preserve of Marvel Comics supervillains or royalty, are becoming ever more popular, as the wealth of the global elite continues to accumulate.

Hamilton, 32, of course, has been accused of avoiding a 3.3 million VAT bill by importing his private plane into the Isle of Man from Canada.

Under Trumps refit, 'Trump Force One' has a sky cinema with a 57in screen TV and a sitting room completely lined in walnut veneer

Hamilton, 32, of course, has been accused of avoiding a 3.3 million VAT bill by importing his private plane into the Isle of Man from Canada. Pictured: The F1 driver's plane

The sign of ultimate luxury used to be whether you turned left when entering an aeroplane. Could you afford the caviar, champagne on tap and fully reclining seats of first class? Today, the real test is whether, like Lewis Hamilton , you can afford the plane itself. Pictured: Hamilton's jet

The Trump touch... gold belt buckles

Trump Force One, as this aircraft was inevitably nicknamed, became a key part of Donald Trumps successful bid for the White House

Most candidates have access to a plane  they usually dont own their own. Pictured: Trump's ensuite

Pictured: Trump with the First Lady as they leave his other plane, Air Force One

Trump Force One, as this aircraft was inevitably nicknamed, became a key part of Donald Trumps successful bid for the White House. Most candidates have access to a plane  they usually dont own their own.

More than this, he boasted it was better than Air Force One, in every way. Trump bought it in 2011 for $100 million (76 million), or so he claimed at the time. Most think this is an exaggeration. The Boeing 757-200 was previously owned by Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder.

Trump went about refurbishing it in his own brash style. Gold is the signature material and can be found lining the sink in the master bathroom. The seatbelt buckles also have 24-carat gold plating.

Under Trumps refit, it also has a sky cinema with a 57in screen TV and a sitting room completely lined in walnut veneer. Trumps master bedroom was lined in champagne coloured silk and filled with scatter cushions bearing his family crest.

Trump bought it in 2011 for $100 million (76 million), or so he claimed at the time. Most think this is an exaggeration

Trumps master bedroom was lined in champagne coloured silk and filled with scatter cushions bearing his family crest. Pictured: A sparse part of the aircraft

Pictured: Trump Force One. Trump went about refurbishing it in his own brash style. Gold is the signature material and can be found lining the sink in the master bathroom. The seatbelt buckles also have 24-carat gold plating

But, for many, it was the jet itself that raised eyebrows: a 16.5 million red Bombardier Challenger 650 with ten seats, a top speed of 540mph and with his initials embroidered into the black leather upholstery.

In the world of private jets, however, where on-board parking for your Rolls-Royce is a possibility, this is positively modest. True, you can pick up a second-hand Cessna for less than 100,000, but that wont cut the mustard at the Dubai Grand Prix or Providenciales Airport on the Turks and Caicos Islands.

To really impress your fellow plutocrats, you need at least a Gulfstream G650, or ideally, your own Boeing 737, fitted out with enough gold leaf for Croesus himself to feel at home. The plane will cost you about 60 million  and thats before you fit it out.

Saudi billionaires throne in the sky The luxurious interior of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's private Boeing 747 airplane Al-Waleed bin Talal (pictured) probably dreaming of using this jet right now to escape his current predicament  hes been arrested in an anti-corruption crackdown Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is so keen on displaying his wealth, he not only issued legal proceedings against Forbes for underestimating his fortune (its about 13 billion), but he was also the first man to order an Airbus A380 as a private jet. It was due to have a Turkish bath, a concert hall, a garage for a couple of Rolls Royces, and most remarkably of all, a magic carpet area with a floor made of screens displaying the terrain below. The plane was sold by Al-Waleed before it ever materialised. So he had to make do with this, his customised Boeing 747. The seating area includes a throne from which he conducts meetings. It also has a 14-seat dining room. Hes probably dreaming of using this jet right now to escape his current predicament  hes been arrested in an anti-corruption crackdown. The seating area includes a throne from which he conducts meetings. It also has a 14-seat dining room Advertisement

Take the Airbus A340 bought by a member of a Middle Eastern royal family and fitted out by designer Celia Sawyer.

She wont name the family but she did describe a spectacular gold living room, with a runway down the middle to the bar, flanked by gold sofas, with the best leather. It was a lot of fun to do.

Fitting out a jet that in normal circumstances can fit 377 passengers cost a stratospheric 30 million, included fixtures, fittings and labour  and her fee, of course. She says people with that amount to spend invariably want gold, marble and leather and plenty of gimmicks. It can all get a bit James Bond, she agrees.

Lewis in pole with his monogrammed seats Private jets, once only the preserve of Marvel Comics supervillains or royalty, are becoming ever more popular, as the wealth of the global elite continues to accumulate. Pictured: Lewis Hamilton's private jet Lewis Hamilton, who took delivery of his plane in 2013, has ensured it is customised so it adequately reflects his image As private jets go, this Bombardier Challenger 605 is pretty modest. Well, as modest as a 16 million vehicle can be. It seats ten, and doesnt even have a shower. But Lewis Hamilton, who took delivery of it in 2013, has ensured it is customised so it adequately reflects his image. The outside is painted a blood red and Hamilton frequently likes to perch on the wing to promote his role as an ambassador for Bombardier. It is unclear how much of a discount he received for regularly plugging the brand on social media. The interior includes black leather seats with his initials sewn into the leather. There is also a bar, lots of plasma screens and a pull-out bed for those long transatlantic flights. The final touch? Hamilton changed the registration to G-LCDH, standing for Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton. That certainly trumps a personalised number plate on your Mercedes. The final touch? Hamilton changed the registration to G-LCDH, standing for Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton. That certainly trumps a personalised number plate on your Mercedes As private jets go, this Bombardier Challenger 605 is pretty modest. Well, as modest as a 16 million vehicle can be

Roman Abramovich supposedly had a missile system installed on his Boeing 767-33A, nicknamed The Bandit. The Sultan of Brunei had gold sinks in his plane and Donald Trump, never knowingly understated, insisted the seat buckles on Trump One were plated in 24-carat gold. Sawyer continues: Ive been asked to put in a bowling alley. I laughed and said No. But spas are very common, with a beauty therapist on board, a massage table, sinks.

Christopher Mbanefo, of Yasava Solutions, a Swiss-based firm which specialises in fitting out jets, says people who can afford a Gulfstream, will invariably travel with plenty of staff.

So creating space is essential  or at least the illusion of it. What you dont want is the security staff in the sitting room with the client.

In his view, too many private jets are no better than premium economy  packed with chairs that dont even have the space to recline properly.

PS... Youll need this womans number Celia Sawyer (pictured), an interior designer who is known to many as one of the buyers on Channel 4s Four Rooms There are many companies that specialise in fitting out private jets, but if youre a Gulf oil sheik or a Russian oligarch you turn to one person: Celia Sawyer, an interior designer who is known to many as one of the buyers on Channel 4s Four Rooms. Her biggest project was a 30 million refit of an Airbus A340 for an unnamed Middle Eastern royal involving an awful lot of gold leaf and sofas upholstered in gold crocodile skin. It was a lot of fun, she says. We bet it was. Her biggest project was a 30 million refit of an Airbus A340 for an unnamed Middle Eastern royal involving an awful lot of gold leaf and sofas upholstered in gold crocodile skin Pictured: The salon and bar and the palatial bedroom Advertisement

Those that cant afford to buy and run their own aircraft (it costs at least 500,000 a year to keep a private jet airborne with crew and maintenance) can hire one.

PrivateFly is the Uber of private jets, allowing wealthy individuals to charter their own planes. Its most popular route is London to Ibiza in an eight-seater Cessna Citation XLS, which will cost you 12,300 (one way) for the use of the whole aircraft.

Most oligarchs and oil sheiks want to do it the traditional way, of course  and own the plane outright. And the sign youve really made it? According to Celia Sawyer, nothing more complicated than an onboard bath.

Its the biggest challenge. Its extremely hard to do, she says. Where does the water get stored and where does it go afterwards? The answer is into the cargo bay, usually.

She says those with a spare 50 million tend to believe more is more. Ive seen a fake fireplace before. Its a bit naff, though, I think. The one thing money cant buy is taste.
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The grand Truro-Shakspeare home once stood as a pristine pillar of society for New Orleans in Louisiana where it housed more than 300 homeless people.

The lavish building with its 20-foot-tall domed ceiling, ornamental decorations and impressive courtyard now stands covered in moss and tall-climbing vines.

The home was originally built in 1862 and was the dying wish of Judah Truro, a philanthropist, who hoped vagrants might find shelter there.

The building served as a city-operated nursing home for over 70 years before it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The property has been abandoned and deteriorating ever since.

The Touro-Shakespeare Home is a former nursing home on the west bank of the Mississippi River

Outside, vines swirl around the columns and concrete fountains are overgrown with weeds

There are stepped parapets, a prominent front portico and diamond-patterned brickwork

A fountain is covered in moss in an overgrown courtyard at Touro-Shakespeare

It's easy to imagine the building being quite a sight in its glory days with its elaborate decoration

After years focused on primary care it was relocated to the Algiers in the 1930s, turning the building into a nursing home until being battered and left to rot by hurricane Katrina 12 years ago.

Urban explorer Leland Kent who runs the Instagram account Abandoned Southeast explored the impressive sight and believes the structure still holds beauty.

He said: 'The Touro Shakspeare Home features stepped parapets, a prominent front portico, and diamond-pattern polychrome brickwork on the exterior.

'The courtyard area was quite a sight, the overgrowth covering the fountains and moss-covered bird baths resembled something out of a movie, more of a jungle with its overgrown trees and brush.

'Buildings today are not as ornate as buildings built a hundred years ago,' says Kent. 'In some places, I feel like I am stepping back in time.'

Inside, 20-foot domed ceilings tower over walls covered in graffiti and all the stained-glass windows have been removed

The grand Truro-Shakspeare home once stood as a pristine pillar of society for New Orleans in Louisiana where it housed more than 300 homeless people

The home was built in 1862 and the dying wish of Judah Truro, a philanthropist, who hoped vagrants might find shelter there

The lavish building with its 20-foot-tall domed ceiling, ornamental decorations and impressive courtyard now stands covered in moss and tall-climbing vines. Today it resembles more of a jungle with its overgrown trees and brush

'The large columns on the front of the building are what immediately caught my eye. the columns around the interior courtyard were a nice surprise too,' Leland said.

'Obviously, the most impressive feature here is the ornate nondenominational chapel. Sadly, the pews have been destroyed and the stained-glass windows have been removed.

'The design combines elements of both Neo-Classical Revival and Jacobean Revival styles. Plus, the story behind the Touro Shakspeare Home is fascinating.'

Lelans first admired the building while driving past it several years ago. Upon entering, he was surprised to find a homeless man still dwelling inside.

After years focused on primary care it was relocated to the Algiers in the 1930s, turning the building into a nursing home until being battered and left to rot by hurricane Katrina 12 years ago

Urban explorer Leland Kent who runs the Instagram account Abandoned Southeast explored the impressive sight and believes the structure still holds beauty

Leland said, 'The Touro Shakspeare Home features stepped parapets, a prominent front portico, and diamond-pattern polychrome brickwork on the exterior'

'The courtyard area was quite a sight, the overgrowth covering the fountains and moss-covered bird baths resembled something out of a movie, more of a jungle with its overgrown trees and brush.

He said: 'While I was inside, the rain water was pouring through the exposed ceiling and running down the walls.

'A homeless man with a large Rottweiler dog was staying on the second floor, I saw the dog coming down the stairs towards me and it startled me.

'I wasn't expecting to see a large black dog, but thankfully he was on a leash and the man quickly disappeared towards the other side of the building.

'I never saw them again even though we explored the remainder of the building.

'It is just a reminder you always have to be cautious when walking through any abandoned place, you never know what you may encounter.'

The design combines elements of both Neo-Classical Revival and Jacobean Revival styles

A chapel inside Touro-Shakespeare Home, a former nursing home on the west bank of the Mississippi River

Despite the risks, Leland says he'll continue to explore, even going back to places he's already visited
Prosecutors are set to meet with one of Kevin Spacey's accusers.

Cape and Islands district attorney Michael O'Keefe in Massachusetts said he will interview the teenage son of Boston news anchor Heather Unruh, who accused Spacey of sexually assaulting him at a bar in July 2016.

OKeefe told the Boston Globe he is interested in 'everything thats relevant and material' to the alleged assault.

He said the investigation 'will proceed from there after we have a chance to speak with the person who made the allegation.'

Massachusetts prosecutors are preparing to interview the son of a former Boston television news anchor whose then-18-year-old was alleged to have been sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey (seen in the above June 11, 2017 file photo)

Cape and Islands district attorney Michael O'Keefe in Massachusetts said he will interview the teenage son of Boston news anchor Heather Unruh (seen above right with her lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, at a news conference in Boston on Wednesday)

OKeefe (seen above) told the Boston Globe he is interested in 'everything thats relevant and material' to the alleged assault. He said the investigation 'will proceed from there after we have a chance to speak with the person who made the allegation'

Unruh's son is now a sophomore in college.

His attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, said he is looking for 'any possible documented evidence' that would shed light on Spacey's relationship with the teenager.

Garabedian has represented hundreds of victims of sex abuse by the Catholic Church.

He was portrayed by actor Stanley Tucci in the Oscar-winning film Spotlight, which told the story of The Boston Globe investigative reporters' efforts to uncover sexual abuse of young boys by clergymen.

Unruh first went public with allegations about Spacey on Twitter on October 13 - just a week after the Harvey Weinstein scandal surfaced

Unruh's son is now a sophomore in college. Unruh had tears in her eyes as she recalled the conversation, which began with her son stating: 'Mom, Kevin Spacey tried to rape me'

Garabedian said he is also investigating the possibility that there are more alleged victims of Spacey on Nantucket.

'The question always remains whether there are other victims of Kevin Spacey,' Garabedian said.

Unruh first went public with allegations about Spacey on Twitter on October 13.

'The [Harvey] Weinstein scandal has emboldened me,' she wrote. 'I was a Kevin Spacey fan until he assaulted a loved one.

'Time the dominoes fell.'

The allegations against Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, were first reported by The New York Times on October 5.

Earlier this week at a press conference, Unruh said the shamed actor assaulted her son at a restaurant in Nantucket.

She said Spacey repeatedly stuck his hand down the pants of the 18-year-old.

The boy was eventually able to get away when a woman walked over to him while the actor was in the bathroom and said: 'Run!'

At the time, Spacey was trying to convince the boy to join him at a party said Unruh, who now hopes to find the mystery woman who she believes saved her son from a far worse fate.

Meanwhile, DailyMail.com has uncovered two photos of Spacey from that week in Nantucket back in 2016, including one taken with a co-worker of the victim at The Club Car (above), where the alleged assault took place

Spacey is seen above at The Club Car in a photo taken during that week in 2016

The summer wind: Another photo shows Spacey (left) with his constant companion and manager Evan Lowenstein (center in flowered cap), who was formerly one-half of the pop group Evan and Jarron

When the boy eventually got to his grandmother's home, he told his younger sister what had happened and then called his mother.

Unruh had tears in her eyes as she recalled the conversation, which began with her son stating: 'Mom, Kevin Spacey tried to rape me.'

Meanwhile, DailyMail.com has uncovered two photos of Spacey from that week in Nantucket back in 2016, including one taken with a co-worker of the victim at The Club Car, where the alleged assault took place.

The other shows the Oscar winner, 58, with his constant companion, manager and former pop star Evan Lowenstein.

Reps for Spacey have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

'It is more than a sex addiction. He's a predator,' said Unruh of her son's alleged attacker on Thursday.

The former television anchor also admitted that her son did lie about his age, saying he was 21 when he first met Spacey.

Then, after the actor had bought him a number of drinks, he began to repeatedly stick his hand down the teenager's pants claims Unruh.

Unruh's son is one of 15 men who have come forward to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct. Andy Holtzman (pictured today) said he was 27 and Spacey 22 when the actor walked into his office at a New York theater company and 'wordlessly' and 'aggressively' climbed 'all over' him

'He was frozen. He just - he just panicked,' said Unruh of her son, who was then aided by an unknown woman who urged him to run home when Spacey went to the bathroom.

The teenager then called his mother.

'That's the hardest phone call I've ever taken,' said Unruh.

She was then asked if she had wanted to report Spacey to the police at that time, and admitted that she did but could not for the sake of her son.

'He wasn't ready,' said Unruh. 'He was definitely very embarrassed about it.'

That has all changed now though, with the college sophomore filing a report with police who Unruh claims are investigating the claims.

'We want Kevin Spacey to be stopped, especially my son,' said Unruh.

'He doesn't want another young man to be injured.'

Unruh's son is one of 15 men who have come forward to allege that Spacey either harassed, assaulted, or attempted to rape them, according to USA Today.

Five of the accusers said the alleged incidents took place when they were teenagers.

The latest man to come forward with assault allegations is Andy Holtzman.

Holtzman claims that in the summer of 1981, Spacey groped him in New York, USA Today reported.

On October 29, Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp told BuzzFeed that Spacey made sexual advances toward him when the two were in Spaceys New York apartment in 1986, when he was just 14 years old.

On October 29, actor Anthony Rapp (left) told BuzzFeed that Spacey made sexual advances toward him when the two were in Spaceys New York apartment in 1986, when he was just 14 years old. The day after Rapp went public, another actor, Robert Cavazos (right), wrote a Facebook post in which he accused Spacey of fondling him at the Old Vic theater in London

Documentary filmmaker Tony Montana also came forward with allegations that Spacey groped him

Spacey said he didnt remember the specifics of the encounter, but that he nonetheless apologized to Rapp.

In the same statement, Spacey acknowledged that he was a homosexual  which drew sharp criticism from gay rights advocates who accused him of trying to deflect attention away from sexual assault allegations by coming out of the closet and of playing on common stereotypes that gays were naturally inclined toward pedophilia.

The day after Rapp went public, another actor, Robert Cavazos, wrote a Facebook post in which he accused Spacey of fondling him at the Old Vic theater in London.

The day after Cavazos post, Daniel Beal told The Sun that Spacey exposed himself to him in 2010, when he was a 19-year-old bartender in West Sussex.

Last week, Justin Dawes told BuzzFeed that in 1988, he and a friend were invited to Spaceys apartment, where the actor had pornography playing on the television.

Dawes was just 16 years old at the time.

Harry Dreyfus, an actor and writer and the son of Richard Dreyfus, also alleged that Spacey groped his genitals.

The day after Cavazos post, Daniel Beal (left) told The Sun that Spacey exposed himself to him in 2010, when he was a 19-year-old bartender in West Sussex .Harry Dreyfus (right), an actor and writer and the son of Richard Dreyfus, also alleged that Spacey groped his genitals

Kris Nixon, a 20-year-old bartender from Belfast, claims that in 2007, Spacey grabbed his crotch at a party in Spacey's apartment near the Old Vic in London

Similar accusations were made by documentary filmmaker Tony Montana.

London police are investigating claims made by an anonymous man who says that Spacey sexually assaulted him in 2008.

Spacey is already facing some very swift repercussions.

He is being cut from Ridley Scott's finished film All the Money in the World and replaced by Christopher Plummer, just six weeks before it hits theaters.

People close to the production who were not authorized to speak publicly said Wednesday that Plummer is commencing re-shoots immediately in the role of J. Paul Getty.

All of Spacey's scenes will be reshot and co-stars Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams are expected to participate.

Scott, who is known to be an efficient director, is intending to keep the film's December 22 release date.
Theresa May is effectively being held to ransom over Brexit by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, a bombshell leaked letter reveals.

The Cabinet heavyweights made a series of veiled threats in a secret missive to the Prime Minister  which contained blunt instructions on how she should deliver the hard Brexit they demand.

The incredible letter also contains the sinister-sounding instruction that Mrs May should make rebel Cabinet Ministers toe their line by clarifying their minds.

Theresa May is effectively being held to ransom over Brexit by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, a bombshell leaked letter reveals

It lays bare Cabinet tensions and will fuel claims that the Brexit stance of Mrs May  who supported the Remain campaign during the EU referendum  is being dictated by Mr Gove and Mr Johnson.

One senior Government figure, who has seen the letter, said it showed that Foreign Secretary Johnson and Environment Secretary Gove had conducted a soft coup and that Mrs May was their Downing Street hostage.

It comes amid continuing speculation of a leadership challenge to Mrs May, who has struggled to impose her authority since the botched General Election.

In the missive, the Brexit cheerleaders:

Instruct the embattled Prime Minister in blunt terms to underline her resolve to achieve a total break with Brussels;

Accuse Chancellor Philip Hammond, who wants a soft Brexit, of not showing sufficient energy and letting the EU hold Britain over a barrel by refusing to plan for the possibility Britain walks away from talks with no deal on trade relations;

Under the cosh: The Cabinet heavyweights made a series of veiled threats in a secret missive to Theresa May (pictured)  which contained blunt instructions on how she should deliver the hard Brexit they demand

BARE-FACED GALL OF THE BREXIT DUO'S DEMANDS... Post-Brexit transition must end on June 30, 2021 Stop Hammond letting EU hold you over barrel Ossified mandarins must not wreck Brexit Gag Ministers whove not internalised Brexit Meet us when you consider it wise Advertisement

Lecture the Prime Minister on how to run your government  and say it is vital for her to display more confidence;

Tell her to articulate the following  and then set out their own hard Brexit manifesto  including naming June 30, 2021, as the fixed end of Britains transition period after we leave the EU in March 2019.

Government insiders say the letter, the contents of which have been made known to The Mail on Sunday, was sent last month. It will send shockwaves around the Government.

A well-placed source said it suggested Mr Gove and Mr Johnson were running what was tantamount to a hard Brexit cell inside the Cabinet.

The cloak-and-dagger nature of the ultimatum is illustrated by the James Bond-style instruction that the letter is for your and Gavins eyes only  a reference to Mrs Mays No 10 chief of staff, the former Conservative MP Gavin Barwell.

It is understood the letter was delivered to him by hand by Mr Johnson. But the pair could face a backlash for appearing to order her not to show it to other Cabinet Ministers or Whitehall mandarins.

...IN PATRONISING LETTER HANDED TO CHIEF OF STAFF EU Exit  Next Steps. For your and Gavins eyes only. Your approach is governed by sensible pragmatism. That does not in any way dilute our ambition to be a fully independent self-governing country by the time of the next election. If we are to counter those who wish to frustrate that end, there are ways of underlining your resolve. We are profoundly worried that in some parts of Government the current preparations are not proceeding with anything like sufficient energy. We have heard it argued by some that we cannot start preparations on the basis of No Deal because that would undermine our obligation of sincere co-operation with the EU. If taken seriously, that would leave us over a barrel in 2021. We all want you to push your agenda forward with confidence and have your Government articulate the following... Yours, Boris and Michael Advertisement

The letter includes the Orwellian- threat to clarify the minds of rebel Ministers and make them internalise the logic of the Johnson-Gove approach to the EU. In another jibe at Ministers such as Mr Hammond who opposed leaving the EU, it says Mrs May must ensure all Cabinet members take the same tough line on Brexit  whatever their original positions during the referendum.

They should not even be allowed to express doubts about the final outcome of Brexit behind closed doors and must echo Mrs Mays stance word for word publicly and privately, they argue. And the Whitehall machine and its ossified ways of working cannot be left to its own devices to deliver Brexit. New high-powered staff are needed to apply grit to the oyster.

The tone of the letter is as shocking as its contents. It ranges from quietly menacing to ingratiating flattery, such as praising how Mrs Mays excellent speech in Florence landed well.

The cloak-and-dagger nature of the ultimatum is illustrated by the James Bond-style instruction that the letter is for your and Gavins eyes only  a reference to Mrs Mays No 10 chief of staff, the former Conservative MP Gavin Barwell (pictured)

Government sources believe the letter may have been drawn up with help from the pro-Brexit European Reform Group of Tory MPs and the Legatum Institute think-tank.

The letter says Mrs Mays sensible pragmatism is no excuse for watering down Brexit  and that to counter those who wish to frustrate that end, there are ways of underlining your resolve.

Mr Johnson and Mr Gove do not name Mr Hammond but refer to his comment that Britain had to engage in sincere co-operation with the EU, saying such a stance would leave us over a barrel.

The pair also warn Mrs May to rein in Mr Hammond over claims he refuses to spend public money planning for a no deal outcome.

Clearly, both issues still rankle with Mr Johnson and Mr Gove, who write: We are profoundly worried that in some parts of Government the current preparations are not proceeding with anything like sufficient energy We all want you to push your agenda forward with confidence and have your Government articulate the following  and set out their own Brexit manifesto.

The letter ends with a conspiratorial offer by the pair to meet Mrs May to discuss her response as and when you consider wise.

A No 10 spokesman said: We do not comment on leaks. Asked why Mr Johnson and Mr Gove had bypassed Whitehall officials, the spokesman added: It is common practice under governments of all colours for Cabinet Ministers to offer advice and views to the PM.

Mr Johnson and Mr Gove declined to comment.

What DO they think they're doing?

Analysis by political correspondent Glen Owen

The Brexit ultimatum from two of Mrs Mays most ambitious and calculating Ministers is the starkest illustration of her struggle to maintain discipline in a Cabinet riven with warring factions.

Mr Johnson and Mr Gove made their move in the wake of her calamitous speech to the Tory Party Conference.

Despite their protestations of loyalty, they smelt weakness  and have seized the opportunity to strike against the Remain camp in Cabinet, headed by Philip Hammond. The Brexiteers are infuriated by what they see as the Chancellors pursuit of a Brexit lite in which the UK shadows the single market for a long transition period  which is why Johnson and Gove have demanded a set date for the end of the transition. They have also been angered by Hammonds reluctance to spend money preparing for the chance of a no deal Brexit, which they say makes failure in the Brussels negotiations more likely because it weakens our hand.

There are already signs that the enfeebled PM has been forced to act on their demands: her pledge on Friday to enshrine in law the start of Brexit is in the spirit of their call for a strict timeline for the transition.

And last weeks announcement that Mr Gove was joining a war cabinet of six predominantly Leave-backing Ministers plotting Britains negotiation strategy fits with their call for No 10 to take greater control of the Brexit process.

With the number of Tory MPs who want Mrs May to stand down now close to 40, her grip on power is too fragile for her to resist.

How Boris and Gove buried hatchet

by Glen Owen

THE joint letter shows how the on-off Brexit bromance between Michael Gove and Boris Johnson has been rekindled by shared ambition.

Mr Gove, the man who spectacularly torpedoed Mr Johnsons leadership hopes last year, has formed a deadly Cabinet axis with the Foreign Secretary to strongarm Theresa May into enacting their vision of Brexit.

The pair, contemporaries at Oxford, have been friends, through journalism and politics, for decades. But it was when they met at Mr Johnsons home in February 2016 for a secret dinner  revealed by The Mail on Sunday  that they agreed the explosive political pact which led to Britain severing its ties with the EU.

The combination of Mr Goves brains and Mr Johnsons campaigning flair propelled the Leave campaign to victory in the referendum later that year. They looked set to take the double act into Downing Street, with Mr Gove backing Mr Johnson for leader following Mr Camerons resignation.

But hours before the deadline closed for candidates, Mr Gove withdrew his support and announced he was running in his own right, killing Mr Johnsons hopes in the process. The move backfired, and appeared to have destroyed their friendship for good. Now, despite the mutual wariness of their respective entourages, they have buried the hatchet for fear of being accused of reneging on promises they made during the campaign.

The first public sign of their rapprochement came after Mr Johnson published his 4,000-word Brexit manifesto in September, with Mr Gove making supportive remarks.

They have calculated that they are stronger together than they are apart.

So was Dubai-backed think-tank behind letter?

Government insiders believe the Johnson-Gove letter was written with advice from the Tory European Reform Group, which in turn has close links with the Legatum Institute.

The think-tank, seen as Right of centre, is run by Baroness Philippa Stroud, ex-aide to Brexit cheerleader and former Cabinet Minister Iain Duncan Smith.

Earlier this year, Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the official Vote Leave campaign, joined as a senior fellow.

The wealthy Mayfair-based institute is funded by a Dubai-based investment bank.

Some insiders believe the ERG is using the institutes resources to provide a shadow civil service on Brexit  to counter claims that most senior Whitehall mandarins are unenthusiastic about Brexit.

A spokesman for the institute said: The Legatum is politically neutral, and has never provided funding to the ERG.

One ERG member denied that the group advised Gove and Johnson.
Prince Charles was fiercely criticised last night after it emerged he once urged the US to take on the Jewish lobby  and blamed the influx of foreign Jews for causing unrest in the Middle East.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal the incendiary comments are contained in a letter in which the Prince lays bare his thoughts on one of the worlds most bloody disputes.

Writing to his close friend Laurens van der Post in 1986, the Prince makes a startling assessment of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He argues it was the exodus of European Jews in the middle of the last century that helped to cause the great problems.

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Desert Storm: Charles and Diana visit Saudi Arabia in 1986, pictured, the year he wrote his controversial letter

He goes on to say terrorism in the region will only end when its causes are eliminated.

He then expresses the hope a US President will find the courage to stand up to the American Jewish lobby.

The term Jewish lobby is considered by many to be anti-Semitic  suggesting wealthy Jews in the US operate behind the scenes to exercise undue influence over government policy.

Other high-profile figures have been heavily criticised for using the term.

Dodgy views: Charles, pictured with President Ronald Reagan in 1985, was said to be critical of US Middle East policy

Last night, Stephen Pollard, influential editor of The Jewish Chronicle, said: To me this is the most astonishing element of the Princes letter. The Jewish lobby is one of the anti-Semitic themes that have endured for centuries. It is this myth there are these very powerful Jews who control foreign policy or the media or banks or whatever.

Mr Pollard described the letter as jaw-droppingly shocking, adding: That they [the Princes comments] come from the heir to the throne is unsettling, to put it mildly.

While the letter is inflammatory, there is no suggestion Charles holds anti-Semitic views.

He has many prominent Jewish friends and in 2013 became the first Royal to attend a chief rabbis inauguration ceremony. In a speech that year, he expressed concern at the apparent rise of anti-Semitism in Britain.

In the past it has been reported that the Prince is privately critical of US policy in the Middle East, with one diplomatic source accusing him of having fairly dodgy views on Israel.

Charles has always enjoyed a close and supportive relationship with the Jewish community in Britain.

New Start: Israel promised a home to tens of thousands of refugees

At the same time, he is seen as a defender of Islam, with one historian noting that no other major Western figure has as high a standing in the Muslim world.

It has also been suggested he has pro-Palestinian leanings, a perception the letter appears to support.

State that offered hope for survivors of the Holocaust Jews from Eastern Europe had been arriving in Palestine - part of which would later become Israel - even before 1917, when the Balfour Dedclartion set in motion the creation of the Jewish state. Among those who came after the end of the Second World War in 1945 were many survivors of the Holocaust. In May 1948, when Israel came into existence, five Arab nations - Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon - invaded but were defated by the Israeli military. From 1948 to 1951, nearly 700,000 immigrants - many of them from refugee camps in Germany, Austria and Italy - arrived to settle in Israel. Advertisement

The Princes candid letter surfaced in a public archive.

It was written on November 24, 1986, immediately after an official visit the then 38-year-old Prince made to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar with Princess Diana.

He notes the tour was fascinating and that he learned a lot about the Middle East and Arab outlook.

He goes on: Tried to read bit of Koran on way out and it gave me some insight into way they [Arabs] think and operate. Dont think they could understand us through reading Bible though!

'Also I now begin to understand better their [Arabs] point of view about Israel. Never realised they see it as a US colony.

'I now appreciate that Arabs and Jews were all a Semitic people originally and it is the influx of foreign, European Jews (especially from Poland, they say) which has helped to cause great problems. I know there are so many complex issues, but how can there ever be an end to terrorism unless the causes are eliminated?

Surely some US president has to have the courage to stand up and take on the Jewish lobby in US? I must be naive, I suppose!

Incendiary letter to his mentor, explorer Laurens van der Post: Prince Charle's candid views on the Middle East were made to close friend Laurens van der Post, the late Afrikaner author, war hero and explorer who was godfather to Prince William...

Among those to come under fire for using the term Jewish lobby are General George Brown, the highest-ranking military officer in the US as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was publicly rebuked and disowned by President Gerald Ford in 1974 after claiming that a Jewish lobby controlled Congress.

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage was criticised earlier this month when he referred to a powerful Jewish lobby in the US.

In 2006, Chris Davies, former leader of the Lib Dem MEPs, was forced to resign after he used the term.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu also came under fire when he used the phrase in a newspaper article in 2002.

The Princes reference in the letter to the influx of European Jews also caused dismay.

It is not clear if he is referring to immigration before or after the Second World War, or both. Mr Pollard said: It is the absolute classic Arab explanation of the problems in the Middle East.

'And it is what everyone has always said the British aristocracy actually thinks  the idea that Jews were some kind of foreigners who had no real place in Israel until we decided to make it their homeland. Historically it is nonsense and its quite stunning when it comes from the heir to the throne.

A senior Israeli diplomatic source said last night: He [Charles] was travelling around the Gulf states [just before he wrote the controversial letter], which in those years were very anti-Israel. It seems he was presented with a narrative in a very convincing way.

Earlier this month, Britain marked the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, the document that paved the way for the state of Israel, with a gala dinner in London attended by Theresa May and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Prince called the centenary a deeply significant moment, adding a great deal remains to be done if we are to bring about a just and lasting peace for Israel and her neighbours.

Suggestions that Charles holds pro-Palestinian views are supported by his letter to van der Post.

He writes there is much to admire about Islam especially its accent on hospitality and accessibility of rulers.

In 1993, Charles delivered what was then considered to be the most pro-Islamic speech ever made by a member of the Royal Family.

He said: Islam can teach us today a way of understanding and living in the world which Christianity is poorer for having lost.

He added: These two worlds, the Islamic and the Western, are at something of a crossroads in their relations. We must not let them stand apart.

In 2003, it was reported the Prince had not been to the US for the previous six years on Foreign Office advice, largely because of his criticism of US policy in the Middle East.

A diplomatic source said at the time the Prince had in American terms and international terms, fairly dodgy views on Israel. He thinks American policy in the Middle East is complete madness.

In 2007, leaked emails between senior Clarence House staff put Charles at the centre of a row about the Royals attitude towards the Jewish state.

Exchanges between Sir Michael Peat, the Princes then principal secretary, and Clive Alderton, Sir Michaels deputy, contained apparently disparaging remarks about Israel.

Earlier that year, the Israeli embassy invited the two senior aides to Israel for a four-day visit as guests of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

Sir Michael initially replied enthusiastically, saying: The invitation is hugely appreciated and Clive and I would love to come.

But a month later, there was an exchange of emails between Mr Alderton and Sir Michael that were apparently accidentally copied to the outgoing Jewish ambassador.

In the emails, Mr Alderton complains of being pursued by the ambassador and says: Safe to assume there is no chance of this visit ever actually happening?

'Acceptance would make it hard to avoid the many ways in which Israel would want HRH [Prince Charles] to help burnish its international image. In which case, lets agree a way to lower his expectations.

Over the years, the Prince has forged a close relationship with the Saudi royal family. But no Royal has ever visited Israel in an official capacity.

Officials say it is because there is no permanent peace deal in the region.

Earlier this year, however, Charles was pencilled in to visit the country to mark the Balfour centenary and honour thousands of British war dead.

But the idea was vetoed by the Foreign Office amid claims it would upset Israels Arab neighbours.

Last night a Clarence House spokeswoman said of the 1986 letter: This letter clearly stated that these were not the Princes own views about Arab-Israeli issues but represented the opinions of some of those he met during his visit which he was keen to interrogate.

'He was sharing the arguments in private correspondence with a long-standing friend in an attempt to improve his understanding of what he has always recognised is a deeply complex issue to which he was coming early on in his own analysis in 1986.

'Over the years, the Prince has continued his study of the complex and difficult themes he referenced here. He has built a proven track record of support for both Jewish and Arab communities around the world and has a long history of promoting interfaith dialogue and cultural understanding.
Fresh-faced and full of hope for the future, she could, surely, never in her wildest dreams have imagined that her daughter would one day grow up and fall in love with a prince.

This is Meghan Markles mother as a teenager with captivating looks, seen in an enchanting photo published for the first time here today.

Doria Ragland was just 16 and an outstanding pupil at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles when these pictures were taken for the school yearbook in 1972. Her life then revolved around her studies, listening to Marvin Gaye and fun-filled nights at a local Mexican taco joint with friends.

Doria Ragland was 16 and an outstanding pupil at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles when these pictures were taken for the school yearbook in 1972. Seven years later, she fell head over heels in love with Thomas Markle (right), a handsome Hollywood lighting director

But just seven years later, Doria would fall head over heels in love with Thomas Markle, a handsome Hollywood lighting director 12 years her senior.

Meghan has previously said of their romance: I like to think he was drawn to her sweet eyes and her afro plus their shared love of antiques. Whatever it was, they married and had me.

The pair married in 1979. And two years later their beloved only daughter Meghan was born.

If speculation proves to be correct, Meghan may soon be engaged to Prince Harry, her boyfriend of the past 18 months.

Whip smart: Doria (centre) with school friends from the Apex Club, a class for exceptionally bright pupils

Harry has already met Doria, most notably at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September. For friends of Doria, who remember her as a whip smart member of the schools Apex Club  a class for exceptionally bright pupils  the notion that the young girl who loved flares and fashion is now mingling with the Royals is a modern-day fairytale.

Doria, who was nicknamed Dodi at school, was a beautiful girl, inside and out, recalls Jennifer Caldwell, 61, a retired pharmaceutical company executive.

She had this beautiful afro hairstyle she was so proud of and she was always into fashion.

She was always smiling, whip smart and sociable. After she passed her driving test she would borrow her mothers car and wed go to places like Ticos, a cheap taco place which had long queues. We didnt have much money but we had fun.

Dorias father Alvin ran an antiques shop and her mother was a nurse. The modest family home was in a black middle-class area of Los Angeles.

Pictured: Meghan Markle with her mother Doria

Pictured: Tom Markle with Megha, then aged 11

Suits star Meghan credits her remarkable parents for her success in life

It was a different era, we were innocent, Ms Caldwell recalls. We listened to a lot of Marvin Gaye records, we had boyfriends but we would never dream of having sex with them. It wasnt like that.

It was a political time. Nixon had just been voted in as President, but Dodi and I were more into studies. Thats what I remember most. Working hard and getting an education was what our parents, especially our mothers, focused on. They hadnt had that freedom.

After leaving school, Doria, now 60, worked as an air stewardess, then as a make-up artist, which is how she met Tom Markle.

The 6ft 4in bear of a man was already a success in Hollywood, working as a lighting director on hit US television shows.

Now 73, retired and living in Mexico, he is also seen on these pages for the first time. The picture is from his 1962 yearbook, when he was aged 18, at Newport High School in the working-class town of Newport, Pennsylvania.

He was heavily involved in school plays and is listed as a member of the drama club, choir and journalism club. In the caption next to his photo, he lists his interests as old cars, hunting and reading, before adding the catchphrase: The show must go on!

Suits star Meghan credits her remarkable parents for her success in life. She has talked about growing up in a biracial family and embracing her heritage.

Though they divorced in 1987, when Meghan was just six, Tom and Doria remained friends.

Meghan calls her mother, who went back to university as a mature student and earned a masters degree in social work, her inspiration. On Mothers Day last year she posted a picture of Doria on Instagram, writing: Always proud of this beautiful woman.
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Melania Trump showed off more of her China adventures on Twitter on Saturday - this time her meeting with Beijing panda Gu Gu.

The First Lady posted photos of herself meeting the fuzzball that were taken during her travels on Friday morning - and even stroking the creature's paw as it reached out to her in Beijing Zoo.

Sadly the situation was less Beauty and the Beast and more Silence of the Lambs, as the otherwise adorable bundle of fluff has already mauled three people.

Scroll down for video

Beauty and the beast? Melania Trump met Gu Gu the giant panda at Beijing Zoo on Friday, as seen in these photos posted on her Twitter account on Saturday

Bear behind bars: The panda was unable to reach Melania thanks to these bars. Gu Gu has already mauled three people who climbed into his enclosure in 2006, 2007 and 2009

Panda diplomacy: Melania was delighted to meet the beast. Gu Gu has a habit of biting his victims' legs, and once had to have his jaws prized off with tools

Melania posted the photos on Saturday afternoon with the message 'Wonderful to meet Gu Gu!'

And she does indeed look delighted as she encounters the cute creature, feeding it a long stick of bamboo as it sits at an opening hatch in its cage.

There's certainly no indication that the 240lb giant panda was hostile to the First Lady - perhaps placated by her coordinated clothing, comprising of a black sweater and light beige skirt.

But Gu Gu, who was born in the zoo in 1999, has a troubled past and a history of violence.

In September 2006 - just days before his seventh birthday, the giant panda was confronted by a drunk man named Zhang Xinyan.

Zhang, who had traveled seven hours from Henan, around 300 miles southwest of Beijing, to see the zoo, then drunk several beers while walking around and decided he wanted to meet Gu Gu himself.

Unfortunately, Gu Gu was less enthusiastic.

'...and a nice chianti': The bars gave a Silence of the Lambs tone to the meeting, although Gu Gu seemed to enjoy it - possibly because of Melania's bamboo and panda-coordinated outfit

Great times: Also on Saturday, Melania posted up more pictures from her Friday travels, which included this reconstructed section of the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu outside Beijing

Zhang jumped over the railing into Gu Gu's enclosure and crept up on the bear before surprising him with a 'hug'.

Gu Gu, startled, responded by biting Zhang on both legs. The drunk man then bit the panda back in an attempt to get it off him.

Unfortunately, Zhang later explained, the fur on the animal's back was too thick for his teeth to make purchase on Gu Gu's neck, and so zookeepers had to spray the animal with water to get it off.

Gu Gu was not hurt in the attack, although the zookeepers noted that he lost his appetite for a day and a half.

The next attack occurred the following October when Li Xitao, a 15-year-old from Hebei, the province that surrounds Beijing, climbed into the enclosure out of 'curiosity'.

Gu Gu, startled again, attacked the boy and also bit both of his legs - this time down to the bone, tearing out flesh in the process.

He was hospitalized, and a zoo spokesperson said that it would take unspecified measures to protect against further attacks.

Those measures would not include increasing the height of the barrier, he said, as that would stop people from being able to see inside.

The wall - which is usually thronging with tourists, even in the autumn - was seemingly shut down so that the First Lady could experience it unbothered by the proles

The third - and so far final - attack occurred in 2009, when father Zhang Jiao climbed inside to retrieve his son's toy.

He said that he had looked around to make sure there were no pandas nearby before getting in but had apparently overlooked Gu Gu, who again dived for his victim's legs.

This time the bear clamped on so hard that zoo workers had to use tools to pry open the panda's mouth and free Zhang, who had a ligament operation afterwards.

Melania's zoo visit also saw her meeting a group of Chinese schoolkids outside the enclosure of another panda, Meng'er.

It's not known whether Meng'er has yet claimed any victims.
The owner of a hot wings restaurant was arrested after he reportedly flew over a counter and strangled a customer.

Donald Crump, 61, who owns Crumpy's Hot Wings in Memphis, Tennessee, was arrested for allegedly strangling a customer who complained about cold french fries.

Memphis Police Department said that Crump assaulted customer Rinesha Moore on November 3. He was arrested and booked into jail, but was subsequently released.

Donald Crump, 61, of Memphis, Tennessee was arrested following claims that he throttled a customer at his restaurant who complained about her cold french fries

Crump is the owner of Crumpy's Hot Wings, where the altercation took place. Crump claims that he only grabbed the woman after she became belligerent and threw the fries on the floor

Moore claims that the incident started after she complained that the french fries she ordered from Crumpy's Hot Wings were cold and asked for a fresh order or a refund.

That's when Crump 'came from around the counter and strangled me,' Rinesha Moore told WMC Action News 5, adding that he had tried to throttle her with his hands and pushed her into a fish bowl.

Crump refuted Moore's claims, however, saying that she was belligerent and denied that he choked her. He said that he had only grabbed her and tried to remove her from the restaurant after she disrespected his establishment.

He also said that unreleased video evidence will back up his side of the story.

Rinesha Moore said that Crump choked her with both hands. Crump denies the accusation and said that video evidence will back up his side of the story

Moore admitted that the fries were cold because she had been late to pick up her to-go order, but didn't think that should have been an issue. She also confessed to WREG that she had pushed her food back over the counter and that it had fallen on the floor.

Witnesses told authorities that before the altercation started, they saw Moore throw her food on the floor, reported.

Crump now faces an aggravated assault charge.

'He deserves a punishment for doing this to a woman,' Moore said.
An eight-year-old girl is fighting for life in Perth after she crashed her car in a junior drag racing competition on Saturday.

The girl is believed to have lost control of her 210cc engine dragster before slamming into a wall at the Perth Motorplex at Kwinana Beach.

The impact of the crash was so great, paramedics on scene had to revive the young girl before rushing her to Rockingham Hospital, 7 News reports.

An eight-year-old girl is fighting for her life in Perth after she crashed her car in a drag racing competition on Saturday

She was later taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in a critical condition to undergo emergency surgery.

Perth Motorplex released a statement on their Facebook page, offering their thoughts and condolences to the family.

'Unfortunately an incident occurred during racing at Perth Motorplex this afternoon and a driver has been taken to hospital,' they wrote.

'Police are currently at the scene and on their advice racing has been suspended until further notice.'

The girl is believed to have lost control of her 210cc engine dragster before slamming into a wall at the Perth Motorplex

The eight-year-old girl is believed to be from a drag racing family, racing in her own purple dragster words 'Pony Power' on the sides.

Competitors in junior drag racing can range in age from 8 to 17 and are placed in three classes depending on experience.

The beginners drive what are known as 'tin pots', reaching top speeds of 40-50km an hour.
The former Government Whip forced to refer himself to police after he was branded a poundshop Harvey Weinstein secretly dined with a Minister who supervises the Crown Prosecution Service 24 hours later, it emerged last night.

Chris Pincher, who quit his role after The Mail on Sunday revealed how he made a pass at former Olympic rower and Tory activist Alex Story while dressed in a bathrobe, met Solicitor General Robert Buckland at the Carlton Club in London on Monday.

The covert meeting is bound to lead to more questions about Mr Pincher  and could land Mr Buckland in controversy. If police press charges against Mr Pincher for his alleged behaviour, the decision whether or not to prosecute will be taken by the CPS.

Chris Pincher quit his role after the Mail on Sunday revealed how he made a pass at former Olympic rower and Tory activist Alex Story

The secret Carlton Club dinner was also attended by two other Tory MPs named on the Westminster sex dossier. This newspaper has not named them since the claims against them on the dossier are unsubstantiated.

The members-only Carlton Club in St Jamess Street was founded by senior Tories 200 years ago and its 1,600 members include many senior Conservatives.

Mr Pincher stepped down from the Whips Office and referred himself to the Conservative Partys complaints procedure and the police after this newspaper reported Mr Storys claims.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland is understood to have met with MPs implicated in sex scandals at the Carlton Club

Mr Pincher is said to have attempted to untuck Mr Storys shirt after persuading him to come back to his London home. Mr Story, who competed in the 1996 Olympics, said Mr Pincher poured him a whisky, massaged his neck and whispered: Youll go far in the Conservative Party.

Mr Pincher then disappeared into another room and returned in a bathrobe like a poundshop Harvey Weinstein, with his chest and belly sticking out, at which point Mr Story, who was 26 at the time, left.

Mr Pincher said: If Mr Story has ever felt offended by anything I said then I can only apologise.

Mr Pincher declined to comment. A friend of the MP said: This was a regular social dinner between a group of Conservative MPs.

Mr Buckland declined to comment last night.

I'm no pimp, says Tory accused of date set-up

A Tory accused of pressuring a young researcher to go on a date with a businessman last night claimed he had been made to look like a pimp.

Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski, 45, was referred to a disciplinary committee after his approach to the woman who worked for fellow Tory Eleanor Laing.

The Shrewsbury MP was referred to a disciplinary committee after approaching the woman, who worked for Eleanor Laing (pictured)

He said: Ive been made to look like a pimp for no reason. He said his friend was too shy to approach the woman. So I said to her, My friend likes you and was wondering if you would like a cup of coffee with him. She said she didnt and that was fine.

She complained to Ms Laing who got angry and told me to apologise, which I did. It is absurd if weve reached the stage where something so innocent can be treated as harassment.

Westminster love rat insists flirting is fine

A Tory MP who abandoned his cancer-stricken wife for another woman has risked fresh controversy by saying there is nothing wrong with politicians indulging in mild flirtation or a degree of tactile palliness.

James Gray said those found guilty of rape or sexual harassment had to be punished. But real complaints by genuine victims were diminished by being lumped together with low-level skuttlebut.

The North Wiltshire MP said: Serious offences should not be muddled with mild flirtation, or even a degree of tactile palliness. None of this stuff helps the proper government of the country, nor our tense negotiations with the EU.

Mr Gray came under fire after he had an affair with his secretary Philippa Mayo  who he went on to marry  while his then-wife Sarah was having chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Sex toys PA may sue 'slimeball' MP

The Minister under investigation for making his secretary buy sex toys faces being sued by her after he claimed it wasnt as bad as it looked because they were friends.

International Trade Minister Mark Garnier was branded a slimeball by colleagues of his former aide Caroline Edmondson after he broke a two-week silence on the matter.

They seized on his claim that the disclosure a fortnight ago in this newspaper that he called her sugar t*ts and got her to buy him two sex toys in Soho had been taken out of context because at the time we were friends.

Caroline Edmondson may sue Mark Garnier as the minister faces investigation for making her buy sex toys

His carefully worded statement apologised for the fact that the situation occurred  but stopped short of a full apology.

A friend of Ms Edmondson said: Mr Garniers weasel words about their relationship is a disgrace.

Caroline has been a highly respected Commons secretary for more than 30 years. To suggest her relationship with him was anything other than professional is totally untrue. He should have the courage to admit his behaviour was completely unacceptable. Instead he acts like a slimeball trying to cling on to his job.

Another female friend of Ms Edmondson said: We have urged her to sue over any insinuation about their relationship.

Married father-of-three Mr Garnier, 53, is being investigated by the Cabinet Office. He said last week: The events of 2010 concerning myself and a former member of staff have been reported outside the context and circumstances in which they occurred. At the time we were friends, and I want to be clear that I did not force or pressure her into doing anything.

He added that voters in his Wyre Forest constituency in Worcestershire had a right to expect high standards of behaviour from MPs and he apologised that the situation occurred. Ms Edmondson, now Commons secretary to ex-Cabinet Minister John Whittingdale, and Mr Garnier, declined to comment.
A Briton who gave up his high-flying City career to fight against ISIS in Syria was detained by anti-terror police after returning to the UK.

Macer Gifford, 30, who took part in battles to liberate the jihadists stronghold of Raqqa, was questioned by detectives at Heathrow. They took DNA swabs, photographed him and took his fingerprints.

The Met officers also confiscated his computer, camera and mobile. He was questioned for four hours before being released in the early hours of Friday but was not arrested.

After returning from fighting terrorists in Raqqa, Mr Gifford was interviewed for four hours but was not arrested

The treatment of the ex- public schoolboy follows the arrest of other UK volunteers who joined rebels fighting ISIS.

They have faced charges under terror legislation and spent lengthy periods on police bail. Their homes in the UK have also been searched by police.

Macer Gifford has his DNA taken after returning to the UK via Iraq and Egypt following three years of fighting

Their experiences have sparked claims the UK has treated them more harshly than jihadists who have returned to this country. The Mail on Sunday recently revealed plans to offer ISIS fighters returning from Syria taxpayer-funded houses.

Mr Gifford said: I was squeaky-clean before going to Syria to fight the jihadists. Now Im being treated as if Im a threat to this country. It is crazy how volunteers like me have been treated.

Mr Gifford, pictured with fighters in Raqqa, Syria, gave up his high-flying City job to go and fight Islamists

Mr Gifford, of Cambridge, spent three years fighting ISIS before finally making his way back to the UK via Iraq and Egypt. On his arrival at Heathrow on Thursday he sent texts to the MoS saying he feared he would be detained as a terror suspect.

A police spokesman said: A 30-year-old man was stopped under the Terrorism Act at Heathrow. He was questioned and released without arrest.
We could be entering a kingdom imagined by Tolkien. My fists clench as the chopper surges down a sheer gorge, skimming past the forested edges, a waterfall bubbling away beneath.

For such a small island - its the size of Dorset - Reunion makes you feel tiny. No wonder the French snapped it up in the 17th century.

In the Indian Ocean, 1,300 miles off the east coast of Africa, it is the EUs very furthest outpost.

Peak practise: The soaring landscape of Reunion attracts hikers and ultra-marathon runners

It shares a bloodline with Mauritius, 140 miles away. Both burst into existence from the same volcanic hotspot, their mountainous hearts a reminder of violent beginnings. But they couldnt be more different.

Beach-lovers dont bother with the 30-minute flight from Mauritius to Reunion. And youll need more than a swimsuit on this island, which is made for adrenalin junkies.

No one encapsulates this spirit better than our runner and surfer guide Alexis Vincent, who I am following, gingerly, down 12ft of jumbled rocks into a narrow cave.

Using our headlamps we duck dripping stalactites. Are we traversing a centuries old cave? No. Its the same age as Alexis: 31.

Hidden across Reunion, these lava tunnels form when the crust cools around a flowing core. They are the work of Piton de la Fournaise, one of the worlds most active volcanoes.

Adventure calls: Waterfalls and deep abysses give this small island a feeling of grand-scale

Back in daylight, we bound over fields of solidified lava, like wrinkled elephants skin, broken only by the crowns of trees poking through their basalt tombs.

Another volcano, lurking underwater off the coast, causes strange deep-sea fish to float, ready cooked, to the surface. But as we hike up to the breezy clifftops above Grand Anse beach, I spot the spout of a whale.

Reunion isnt only a showcase for nature at its most impressive, it also delivers a flash of France. In Saint-Pierre, on the south coast, yachts are moored and anglers in striped jerseys are fishing. Our capital is Paris! our driver declares. I darent say its actually Saint-Denis.

Cuisine is, inevitably, a fusion - and a tasty one. The samosas I buy from Saint-Paul market are filled with poisson et fromage, and a typical lunch is vanilla-curried duck. In true French style, we drink wine with lunch. Like true Creoles, we bookend each meal with rum.

From the town, its a winding 90-minute drive up to the rainforest of Cirque de Salazie, one of three collapsed volcanoes, which, along with La Fournaise, engulf the islands centre. Mist rising from the canopies is an atmospheric backdrop to the pastel houses.

Swish: Lux* Saint Gilles, one of Reunion's most luxurious resorts, is a great place to relax

Dive in: It has the biggest pool on the island, and a coastline where it is safe to swim

Returning to my resort, Lux* Saint Gilles, is a treat after the days adventures and every evening I swim in the ocean.

Luckily, Luxs white beach is on a coral-protected lagoon, so unlike most of Reunions shores, its safe to swim. Those mighty swells, which attract world-class surfers, are shark infested.

Attacks are rife. Alexis has been face to face with a bull shark. Did it put him off?

Non! Im an addict, he says. With two surfers killed in the past year, the sport is now banned everywhere apart from two beaches, which are rigged with nets.

Mauritius, on the other hand, basks safely behind a protective and far-reaching barrier reef. The pace of life is gentler here, the landscape more forgiving. Along the shore-line, hedonistic five-star resorts vie for attention like birds of paradise. For my visit, I stay at Lux* Belle Mare, on an exclusive eastern stretch.

Mauritius's finest: Lux* Belle Mare is sedate by day, but there's a party atmosphere at night

Unwind: Flop on its brochure-perfect beach, or go snorkelling around the coral reef

By day, I cycle past fishing villages and fields worked by women in tropical skirts, or snorkel then snooze on the hotels pristine beach. Evenings are more energetic. One night I join a troupe of Mauritian Sega dancers, who teach me to swish to each slap of the drum.

Pack your walking boots and your party shoes for these two wildly different, but wildly wonderful, islands.
While the British have long had a love affair with the West Indies, it was not always an idyllic haven of rum punches, swaying palm trees, white-sand beaches and fish straight from the sea.

Coping with ill-iced claret, rotten walnuts and withered apples, in November 1858 the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope  who was also a senior Post Office official sailed aboard SS Atrato from Southampton on a six-month tour to survey land and conclude treaties in the West Indies and Central America for the English government. A sort of early Brexit adventure.

In the course of his voyage, he wrote a travel book  not about official business, but the islands he visited, people he met, the breathtaking landscapes, exotic foods, the tropical climate, earthquakes, Panamanian railroads, Cuban cigars, racial hierarchies, and Colonial customs.

A view of English harbour and Nelsons Dockyard in Antigua at the viewpoint of Shirley Heights and Freeman's bay

There are still some things that would have made his novelists eyebrows rise, in particular the odd warning from our jocular sea captain Joshua in Antigua as we stepped off his speedboat into the warm turquoise waters.

His concern was that the stingrays we had come to float alongside might well nibble our inner thighs, which can leave a mark suspiciously like a love-bite.

Just putting it out there, he said with a mischievous glint, in case we needed to warn anyone back home in advance of any telltale nips.

On Joshuas tour to Stingray City, 35 minutes off the north-west coast of Antigua, dozens of these dark, slippery, slimy sea creatures gather as if by magic. They do glide rather disconcertingly between your legs, not unlike someone brushing you with a piece of raw liver.

At Stingray City, 35 minutes off the north-west coast of Antigua, dozens of these dark, slippery, slimy sea creatures gather as if by magic

The brown pelican is comonly spotted on many of Caribbean islands

Despite our trepidation, the rays were all on gentlemanly behaviour and left no marks. It was a cross between Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! and the Nature Channel. Two hours later, thighs unmarked, we were back on land, lifejackets discarded in exchange for rum punches and a photograph taken by Josephs crew in the water with a ray in our arms  well worth the $20.

After a breathless adventure it was back to zen-like tranquillity at Pelican House, the most idyllic villa in Blue Waters Resort, so-called because the azure sky is perpetually dotted with these exotic, large-billed birds gliding overhead, waiting to dive for their lunch.

I was so taken by the Antiguan cuisine I went off to Nicoles Kitchen, where we learnt to make roti, curry and coconut puddings, all with a bottle of rum freely flowing

A white gate in a picket fence opens on to a blaze of pink bougainvillea for what is otherwise known as Room 601, giving a picture-postcard perfection to this white-washed beach villa with its own swimming pool.

A white four-poster bed, Colonial-style furniture and a balcony opening on to the sea make this a heavenly retreat for a winter break.

The hotel is managed by a guitar-playing Scots-born manager with a beady eye for detail. There were candlelit dinners of mahi mahi cooked with fennel, pernod and olives, all served to the sound of the sea washing the shore.

And think not of rotten walnuts but gourmet dishes: particularly good are pan-seared snapper and grilled lobster tails. I was so taken by the Antiguan cuisine I went off to Nicoles Kitchen, where we learnt to make roti, curry and coconut puddings, all with a bottle of rum freely flowing. Nicole is Antiguas Nigella and we were soon all rolling pastry, slicing and dicing coconut and sprinkling hot spices into silver saucepans.

Ocean breeze: A look inside one of the villas at Sugar Beach resort in St Lucia

Zen-like calm: An ocean-fronting pool at Antiguas Blue Waters Resort

Antigua offers more activities than there are days in the week. Having had intimate contact with stingrays and smashed coconuts to perfection, I passed on a zipline trip across the panoply of a forest.

And so, like Trollope, we island-hopped, but by plane rather than boat, to St Lucia where the Sugar Beach hotel has one of the most sensational settings in the Caribbean.

Sitting in the shadow of the mountainous Pitons, the towering rock outcrops that define and enhance the view, it puts you in mind of the bay where Dr Dolittle met the giant snail (unsurprisingly perhaps, as the scene was shot just a boat ride away).

It was this stunning natural beauty that made Lord Glenconner, the one-time owner of Mustique, buy up this cove. He attempted to make this his second West Indian paradise with a hotel called Jalousie, but it has now been reincarnated by Roger Myers, another Englishman, into a sensational retreat.

The hotel is an epicurean as well as a sybarites magnet. You are only allowed to chill, with brightly coloured tuk-tuks available all day and night to sweep you to different bars, or to the rainforest spa.

A view of the mountainous Pitons, the towering rock outcrops on St Lucia

The Caribbean is now a gourmets paradise. With hotels transformed by entrepreneurs who have brought a sharp sense of service and exceptional food and drink. Myers created the Cafe Rouge brand and has been a big cog in the music industry (clients included The Beatles at one stage) but he fell in love with this site between the pitons.

His schooner often sails by as he keeps an eye on his staff to ensure they meet his expectations. Breakfast includes such spoiling treats as pomegranate honey to go with granola, and fresh watermelon juice.

St Lucia is an extraordinary island where Orlandos restaurant in the nearby town of Soufriere has entertained the likes of John Major and Marco Pierre White as well as hosting local poets readings.

But then literature is part of the DNA of St Lucia. It is where the Nobel Laureate for English Literature, Derek Walcott, was born and earlier this year died, aged 86.

It is the only Caribbean isle to have had two Nobel Laureates at the same time (economist Sir Arthur Lewis is the other).

No wonder Trollope felt the lure towards the West Indies and was fascinated by these dazzling islands, and no wonder I cannot wait to return.
You know that feeling when you arrive in a new city and wonder what there is to see and do? Theres none of that with Pula in northern Croatia.

My husband Nick and I gawp in astonishment as our plane flies over an enormous Roman amphitheatre  right in the middle of the city  that would give Romes Colosseum a run for its money.

On the ground, Pula Arena is even more spectacular. Dating from 27 BC, it is one of the worlds largest and most complete colosseums: 100ft walls are a soaring limestone latticework of arches and apertures built to accommodate 23,000 blood-thirsty spectators.

Quiet elegance: The harbour at Rovinj, which is known as the Blue Pearl of the Adriatic

But today we have the place virtually to ourselves, and we explore the well-preserved terraces and tunnels at our leisure.

Set on the Adriatic close to the Italian and Slovenian borders on the Istrian peninsula, Pula has been a thriving port since Roman times and the colosseum is one of a number of historic attractions all within easy walking distance of each other.

We spend a lovely crowd-free day discovering the stunning Roman Temple of Augustus and the imposing Arch of the Sergii, as well as the 4th Century Pula Cathedral said to have been built with stones looted from the Arena itself.

Istria was also an important part of the Venetian Empire, and today Pulas strategically important port is overlooked by a forbidding Venetian fortress dating from 1630.

Istria has been dubbed The New Tuscany by foodies. The area is peppered by a network of small-scale wineries

But to see the affection the Venetians felt for the area, we head 30 minutes up the coast to Rovinj, which is known as the Blue Pearl of the Adriatic.

Its a lovely drive, the road skirting a green blanket of ancient forests, softly undulating farmland, rolling vineyards and olive groves, dotted with villages that meander down to the impossibly blue waters of the Adriatic.

And Rovinj is stunning. On a hill, the town is a tight spiral of cobbled streets and elegant piazzas, lined with pastel-painted baroque buildings, winding upwards to the majestic St Euphemia church on top.

The Mail on Sunday's Jennifer on her bike

Modelled on St Marks Basilica in Venice, St Euphemia soars 200ft into the sky  a handy navigation tool as Nick and I get repeatedly lost on our hired bicycles in the pretty back alleys filled with artists studios and boutiques.

There are plenty of wine bars and restaurants, too, as the food here is very good.

With its famously fertile fields and high-quality seafood, Istria has been dubbed The New Tuscany by foodies.

We sample local delicacies at the farmers market in the main square and graze stalls of delicious creamy cheeses, pungent truffles and glossy fat olives, all with a wine glass in hand, courtesy of the flourishing local network of small-scale wineries and olive oil producers (including award-winning Brist just outside Pula, whose olive groves date from Roman times).

In Rovinj, the best place to try local cuisine is Kantinon, a harbourside restaurant specialising in traditional Istrian seafood dishes paired with superb local wines.

Sun dances on fishing boats bobbing in the harbour as we feast on fresh squid, delicious sea bream and truffle-topped pasta, washed down with delicate local Malvasia white and robust Teran red wines.

Istria is an absolute crowd-pleaser, but happily the crowds havent cottoned on. Yet.
Want to rent a holiday home for Christmas, but don't know where to start?

Or looking for a horse riding experience in London's Hyde Park to fulfil your daughter's dream?

The Mail on Sunday's Travel Editor Frank Barrett answers your travel questions this week.

The Stafford offers The Stafford Festive Package, including a glass of mulled wine or hot chocolate on arrival, traditional Christmas afternoon tea and full English breakfast daily, from 375 per room per night

QUESTION: It's my daughters dream to go horse-riding in Londons Hyde Park. I thought it would be fun to arrange it as a pre-Christmas treat, staying in a nice hotel and seeing the festive lights. Matt, by email

ANSWER: The Stafford (thestaffordlondon.com) offers The Stafford Festive Package, including a glass of mulled wine or hot chocolate on arrival, traditional Christmas afternoon tea and full English breakfast daily, from 375 per room per night. The concierge can organise horse-riding in nearby Hyde Park. Riding in the park costs from about 90 an hour.

QUESTION: My husband and I would like to visit Orlando after Christmas. Can we fly there direct from Manchester, and are there any special offers? Louise, by email

If you fancy some post-Christmas sun, Virgin Holidays has a seven-night package to Orlando, which costs from 609pp based on a January 10 departure

ANSWER: Virgin Holidays (virginholidays.co.uk, 0344 557 3870) has a seven-night package to Orlando, with flights from Manchester, car hire and self-catering at Lake Buena Vista Village Resort & Spa. It costs from 609pp, based on a departure on January 10.

ANSWER: Sykes Cottages still has large properties available for five or seven nights from December 23. These include Tan Llan in Snowdonia for the equivalent of 231 per person; Totherside in Devon (255pp); and Hazel Cottage in Cumbria (199pp). Visit sykescottages.co.uk or call 01244 617 683.
Next year is a significant moment in world history  the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, arguably the most brutal and unforgiving conflict ever to have engulfed Western Europe.

On this unique seven-day river cruise through Holland and Belgium, which is exclusive to readers of The Mail on Sunday, you will visit some of the great battlefields of the war, including Mons and Ypres, and hear the unforgettable and moving stories of the troops who fought and died there.

You will also be joined by the broadcaster and historian Peter Snow, who will give a private talk and Q&A in which he will share stories from his illustrious career in journalism and introduce some of the gripping tales of courage, cunning and compassion that have inspired his new book, War Stories.

Next year is a significant moment in world history  the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War (above, Tyne Cot Cemetery at Ypres)

I am hugely looking forward to joining readers for this battlefields and war stories tour, says Peter. It will provide many reminders of the rich history of this part of Europe, where so many brave men and women have experienced the horrors of war.

FIVE REASONS TO BOOK

1 Meet Peter Snow

On this centenary tour, you will have the chance to meet the irrepressible journalist, broadcaster and historian Peter Snow.

As well as joining readers on moving and illuminating visits to the famous Menin Gate, In Flanders Field museum and the Plugstreet Memorial To The Missing, Peter will give a private talk introducing his acclaimed new book, War Stories, as well as answering your questions about his illustrious and action-packed career.

2 Free signed copy of War Stories

For each booking on this trip, readers will receive a complimentary signed hardback copy of War Stories by Peter and his wife Ann MacMillan, which gives fascinating first-hand accounts from the ordinary men and women who pushed the boundaries of love, bravery, suffering and terror amid the turmoil of war.

On a unique seven-day river cruise through Holland and Belgium, which is exclusive to readers of The Mail on Sunday, travellers will visit some of the great battlefields of the war, including Mons and Ypres

3 Visit WWI battlefields, museums and memorials

During this unforgettable seven-day trip you will visit some of the great First World War battlefields, such as Mons and Ypres, and tour the superb museums and poignant memorials that reveal the full horror, heroism and tragedy of life and death in the trenches.

MEET OUR EXPERT Peter Snow is a highly respected journalist, author and broadcaster Peter Snow is a highly respected journalist, author and broadcaster. He was ITNs Diplomatic and Defence Correspondent from 1966 to 1979 and presented BBCs Newsnight from 1980 to 1997. An indispensable part of Election nights, he has covered military matters on and off the worlds battlefields for 40 years. He presented the BBC documentary series Battlefield Britain and The Worlds Greatest 20th Century Battlefields with his son Dan. During this exclusive tour, Peter will give a talk to readers about his time reporting on events that have now become history, as well as reading tales of courage, cunning and compassion from his new book War Stories. Peter will be introducing his new book of War Stories during the trip Advertisement

4 Support the Royal British Legion

This special tour is being launched in partnership with the Royal British Legion. A senior member of the Royal British Legion and expert RBL guides will be joining you throughout your journey. And to support the Royal British Legions invaluable work, a 50 donation will be made by our travel partners on behalf of each reader who books the trip.

5 Discover Amsterdam, Antwerp and more

Over the course of your seven-day cruise, you will also be given the chance to explore some of the must-see destinations, including the beautiful and historic cities of Amsterdam and Antwerp.

You will see the Unesco-listed windmills at Kinderdijk and the famous 17th Century earthenware factory at Delft  all the while travelling in comfort and style on board the four-star river cruise ship MS Serenity.

HOW TO BOOK YOUR 'WAR STORIES' TOUR

WHATS INCLUDED

Six-night cruise on a full-board basis.

Excursions to Mons and St Symphorien, Antwerp During The Great War, and Ypres and Ploegsteert.

For included visits, see itinerary.

Talk and Q&A from Peter Snow.

Signed copy of Peter Snows War Stories (one per booking).

All meals while on board.

Beer and wine included with lunch and dinner.

Services of a Cruise Manager throughout.

TRAVEL OPTIONS

Coach travel from Dover to Amsterdam.

Air and rail travel can be booked at a supplement.

Join at the ship for a discounted price.

HOW TO BOOK

Call 01858 513 997, quoting ref MOS1217. To find out more, visit mailtravel.co.uk/warstories.

* Based on two sharing the lowest cabin category. Cabin upgrades available at a supplement. Single supplement is 50 per cent extra. For full terms and conditions, go to mailtravel.co.uk/warstories. To find out more, please call our tour partner, The River Cruise Line, on the booking number above.
Karl Stefanovic and girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough flaunted their blossoming romance when they attended Derby Day in Melbourne last weekend.

But it has been alleged not all parties were pleased by their appearance trackside.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday that 'one host threatened to revoke invitations' due to the couple's tardy behaviour.

Ruffling feathers at the races? Derby Day hosts 'threatened to revoke Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough's VIP invitations over tardy behaviour', Private Sydney has claimed

It was previously reported by The Daily Telegraph that Karl, 43, had missed a scheduled appearance at jeweller Kennedy's birdcage marquee, as he was busy spending time with Jasmine in the nearby Emirates marquee.

And the latest Private Sydney column claimed that 'one host threatened to revoke invitations if the pair did not arrive promptly, as previously agreed.'

Karl was supposedly scheduled to be at the Kennedy marquee at 11:45am alongside his Today co-stars Tim Gilbert and Natalia Cooper, but was believed to be late.

After the alleged threatened to revoke their invitation, it was claimed they were posing on the media wall 'within minutes'.

'Within minutes they were posing on the media wall': The gossip column alleged the pair were quick to head to the marquee after their VIP invites were 'threatened to be revoked'

Oh no! Karl reportedly missed a scheduled appearance in the Kennedys birdcage marquee at Derby Day because he was hanging out in the Emirates marquee with Jasmine Yarbrough

The Daily Telegraph had also previously claimed Karl's tardiness 'prompted a clash between the retailer and Stefanovics employer, Channel Nine.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Karl's representatives for comment.

Despite the reported controversy, the Today host and girlfriend Jasmine, 33, certainly looked like they were enjoying themselves on Derby Day.

All smiles: Despite the reported controversy, the Today host and girlfriend Jasmine, 33, certainly looked like they were enjoying themselves on Derby Day

Jasmine, a former catwalk model-turned-shoe designer, towered over her sprightly beau as they walked hand in hand at the Emirates marquee.

Despite a tumultuous few months - including Lisa Wilkinson's departure from Today over a pay dispute - Karl couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he made his way around the venue with Jasmine.

Looking dapper in a well-fitted grey suit and aviator sunglasses, the Gold Logie winner beamed as he proudly held his girlfriend's hand.
Most people wear sneakers of some kind to and from the gym.

Not Kate Beckinsale.

She showed off her feisty side in heavy, calf-high boots with a buckle decoration when she was spotted walking back to her car after a workout in Los Angeles on Friday.

These boots are made for stomping: Kate Beckinsale showed off her feisty side in heavy, calf-high boots when she was spotted walking back to her car after a workout in LA on Friday

The star of the Underworld vampire vs. werewolf franchise teamed her boots with a very distressed white vest that she wore over a black one.

And the 44-year-old made the most of her shapely pins in skin-tight black leggings.

The actress, who smoothed her brunette tresses into an updo, didn't appear to be wearing much in the way of make-up beyond some pale pink lipstick.

Kate protected her eyes from the bright sunshine with a pair of shades and she carried a large black leather bag over her shoulder that contained the pink Nike sneakers she wore in the gym.

Looking good: The 44-year-old star of the Underworld franchise teamed her boots with a ripped white vest that she wore over a black one and skin-tight black leggings

The Brit is among the growing number of women who have come forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.

Last month Kate wrote on Instagram that she was 17 when she was called to meet the powerful producer.

'I assumed it would be in a conference room, which was very common. When I arrived, reception told me to go to his room,' she wrote. 'He opened the door in his bathrobe.'

The actress recalled that it 'did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him.'

Speaking out: The Brit, seen at the British Film Awards with Harvey Weinstein, is among the growing number of women who have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault

Kate wrote that she declined alcohol and mentioned being at school earlier in the morning.

'A few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting. I realized he couldnt remember if he had assaulted me or not,' the star wrote.

Meanwhile, Kate's divorce from her director husband of 11 years Len Wiseman has yet to be finalized. He filed the papers in October 2016 after announcing their separation in 2015.

The couple don't have children, but Kate does share 18-year-old daughter Lily with her previous longtime partner and friend Michael Sheen.
She's known as the smart and upper class Lady Mary Crawley, notorious for her elegant tastes in period drama Downton Abbey.

But Michelle Dockery has revealed that her real-life love for dancing on a night out has led to DJs 'getting annoyed at her' as she pesters them to play Beyonce.

The 35-year-old actress told Town and Country magazine that she once annoyed a DJ with her insistent requests, despite her real music obsessions being Slipknot and Metallica.

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Dance it out: Actress Michelle Dockery, 35, revealed that her love of dancing on a night out has led to DJs hating her as she pesters them to play Beyonce

She said: 'If I'm on a night out and we don't dance I get really disappointed. I can sometimes get irritated by DJs who aren't playing a good set. I just want to get up there!

'I was at something recently and I was bugging the DJ and saying, "Play Beyonce!" I think he got annoyed with me in the end. He was like, 'Just let me do my job.''

Michelle also revealed her secret obsession with rock and heavy metal, which may come as a surprise to fans considering the classical music Lady Mary so much enjoyed.

Speaking of the bands she likes, she said: 'Slipknot. And Green Day. People would mosh and stuff. I still like Metallica!'

Mosh Pit ready? In an interview with Town and Country magazine, Michelle also revealed a love for heavy metal music, including Slipknot and Metallica

Sophistication: Michelle previously starred as Lady Mary Crawley in period drama Downton Abbey

Cover Girl: Michelle appeared on the cover of the Winter Issue of Town and Country

When asked the burning question as to whether there will be a Downton Abbey movie, the star implied that getting all the actors back together would be a challenge, but she would love to see a big screen version come to fruition.

Since the period drama's end in 2015, Michelle has branched out into darker roles.

Her first was as a con artist turned hitmans accomplice in the TNT series Good Behaviour, which had a second series premiere on October 15.

Michelle's next venture is the Netflix drama Godless, a period Western that also stars Newsroom star Jeff Daniels, to be released on November 22.

The brunette beauty plays hardened widower Alice Fletcher, who is on a mission to defend La Belle, New Mexico, when notorious criminal Frank Griffin, played by Daniels, comes to town on a revenge spree.

The Winter Issue of Town and Country Magazine is available on November 15.

Drastic: In a dramatic change from Downton, Michelle is currently starring as con-artist turned hit-woman Letty Raines in Good Behaviour
Veronica, the Dowager Countess of Lucan, was laid to rest this week

The bitter family rift that divided the Lucan family for more than 35 years finally ended this week when Veronica, the Dowager Countess of Lucan, was laid to rest.

Although the widow of the 20th centurys most famous fugitive did not speak to her children for more than three decades, her estranged son and heir George, the 8th Earl of Lucan, attended the small service along with close family members including his sisters Frances and Camilla.

Veronica was found dead in her central London home aged 80 seven weeks ago. Poignantly, prayers are being said in her memory during holy communion at St Georges Hanover Square this Sunday, which is where her son George, 50, wed Danish industrialists daughter Anne-Sofie Foghsgaard last year.

Professional gambler Lord Lucky Lucan was thought to be trying to kill Veronica when he bludgeoned nanny Sandra Rivett to death with a lead pipe at his family home in Belgravia in 1974.

George and his two sisters continued to live with their mother. However custody was transferred to Veronicas sister, Christina Shand Kydd, and her husband, Bill, eight years later after Lady Lucan reportedly became mentally ill.

Veronica lived alone around the corner from the murder scene in a leased property held in a Lucan trust.

Professional gambler Lord Lucky Lucan was thought to be trying to kill Veronica when he bludgeoned nanny Sandra Rivett to death with a lead pipe at his family home in Belgravia in 1974

Veronica only formally became the Dowager Countess last year after a death certificate was finally issued for her husband, enabling their son, George, to inherit the family title. Friends of Lady Lucan had hoped Georges marriage would bring about a reconciliation of the estranged family. But it was not to be.

She launched a withering attack accusing him of bartering the accidental privilege of his birth by abandoning her to live with his aunt and uncle.

George said he had no alternative as he was only 14 at the time and under the direction of his guardian-in-law, the Official Solicitor, he had to move.

It is believed that Veronica intended to leave nothing to her children and even put her solicitors name on forms when asked for her next of kin.

George Bingham 8th Earl of Lucan with his fiancee Anne-Sofie Foghsgaard

New Earl 'won't need nanny'

Theres one thing the 8th Earl and his wife, right, wont be doing now theyre parents to 11-month-old Lady Daphne: hiring a nanny.

Although we are both very busy with our work we like to do everything ourselves, we are sharing the child care and have no need for a professional nanny, explains Countess Lucan, 39, at the champagne launch of her new country clothing range Lucan Fashion at Augustus Brandt in Petworth, Sussex.

The Danish billionaires daughter has teamed up with tailor Timothy Everest, who has designed clothes for David Beckham and Colin Firth.

When I have to go somewhere for work George takes over  and when he has to do something, I do, so we work it out between us and its not a problem.

Vogue now has a new male editor in Edward Enninful, but M&S model Oliver Cheshire claims the fashion magazine needs to be more inclusive of men.

The new Vogue is beautiful: I love the retro feel to it, Oliver, 29, tells me. But there is one problem. Im not featured in the new Vogue. Id love to be, but they dont use men  its all about the women.

Theres Vogue Homme, but thats French. We should have a mens Vogue in Britain. Why not? Lets do it. Im sure men will buy it.

Poppy Delevingne and Josephine De La Baume

Pick of the parties: Poppy's hands-on pal!

Occasion: The Bottega Veneta Hand of the Artisan cocktail party at Chiswick House.

Guests: The Duke of Kents granddaughter Lady Amelia Windsor, actor Jack Fox.

Handsy: Petite 5ft 3in French actress Josephine de la Baume was in high spirits despite divorcing DJ Mark Ronson, grabbing statuesque socialite Poppy Delevingnes chest.

Single lady: Lady Kitty Spencer, who recently split from property tycoon Niccolo Barattieri, caught up with Lady Violet Manners and model Amber Le Bon.

Lady Amelia Windsor (left) and Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Violet Manners and Amber Le Bon (right)

Darcey's Strictly stiletto for rival

There have been rumours that Darcey Bussell and new Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas dont get on  and now Darcey has added fuel to the flame.

She implies that Ballas didnt exactly know what she was doing when she started her new job and constantly asked the other judges questions.

Says Bussell of Ballas: Of course she was going to be very nervous to start with but wisely, shes been asking everyone for advice. How much time do we have for this? and What do we do next?.

It takes a long time to understand all the details of the show.
He's the Myer ambassador and former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star with a reputation as a ladies' man.

And on Saturday, Kris Smith looked remarkably dapper as he arrived at Melbourne's Stakes Day accompanied by a brunette beauty.

The 39-year-old former sportsman couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he posed for photographs with personal trainer and model Sarah Boulazeris.

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New romance? On Saturday, Kris Smith (right) looked remarkably dapper as he arrived at Melbourne's Stakes Day accompanied by his rumoured new girlfriend Sarah Boulazeris (left)

Kris wore a white button-up shirt and blue plaid jacket for the race day event.

He teamed his blazer with a pair of chinos and accessorised with a flashy wristwatch.

The ex-partner of Dannii Minogue completed his ensemble with a pair of dark sunglasses and a sky blue tie.

Looking dapper! Kris wore a white button-up shirt and blue plaid jacket for the race day event

Making their public debut? But despite his stylish entrance, it wasn't Kris' pink pocket square that caught onlookers' attention

But despite his stylish entrance, it wasn't Kris' pink pocket square that caught onlookers' attention.

Because the British model appeared completely smitten with the glamorous young lady by his side, Sarah Boulazeris.

The Stakes Day appearance would seem to confirm rumours that the pair are indeed romantically involved.

Who's the new girl? The British model appeared completely smitten with the glamorous young lady by his side, Sarah Boulazeris

Congratulations! The Stakes Day appearance would seem to confirm rumours that the pair are indeed romantically involved

Sporting a high-collar mini-dress, fitness star Sarah Boulazeris looked simply radiant.

She teamed the figure-hugging patterned ensemble with black strappy heels and a unique hot pink clutch.

Swapping her gym attire for elegant race day style, Sarah accessorised with a gold studded headpiece.

Glam: Sporting a high-collar mini-dress, fitness star Sarah Boulazeris looked simply radiant

Fit and fabulous: Swapping her gym attire for elegant race day style, Sarah accessorised with a gold studded headpiece

They're not hiding it! Before their arrival, Kris posted an Instagram selfie with Sarah, and a follower soon commented: 'Finally you're done with the hiding!'

Meanwhile, it would appear Kris and Sarah are no longer keeping their relationship under wraps.

Before their arrival, Kris posted an Instagram selfie with Sarah, and a follower soon commented: 'Finally you're done with the hiding!'

Earlier this year, the genetically-blessed pair sparked romance rumours after enjoying a holiday together in Bali.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Kris and Sarah for comment.
They're the Insta-famous bikini entrepreneurs who've made a fortune as social media influencers.

But taking a break from their busy schedules, Natasha Oakley and Devin Brugman have confirmed they will be attending the inaugural Swim + Resort series in Perth next weekend.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, 26-year-old Natasha revealed that the pair can't wait to check out the creative minds of Australia's swimwear industry.

We are both eagerly anticipating the designs: Natasha Oakley and Devin Brugman have conifrmed they will appear at Swim + Resort Series in Perth

'We are both eagerly anticipating all of the creative and original designs we will see on the runway,' she told the publication.

The BFFs will lend their social media star power to the event, a fashion show for the latest in Australian swim and resort wear.

Since the pair's ascension to social media royalty, Natasha and Devin have attended exclusive events all around the world as a result of their sizable online influence.

Social media stars: Natasha and Devin have attended events all around the world together

Insta-famous! The pair boast more than 3.2 million Instagram followers between them

Boasting over 3.2million Instagram followers, the friends are paid handsomely by companies for promoting their products on the image-sharing website.

And while it might seem like an easy gig for some, Natasha and Devin would both agree they work harder than most.

Speaking to News Corp earlier this year, Natasha said being a 'bikini blogger' requires years of dedication and hard work.

'I have a very strong work ethic': Speaking to News Corp earlier this year, Natasha said being a 'bikini blogger' requires years of dedication and hard work

'I have a very strong work ethic, I always have, and sitting around idle really doesn't do it for me,' she explained.

Natasha and Devin share a close friendship, regularly appearing on each other's Instagram accounts and working on collaborations.

They recently returned from LA where they attended the Revolve Fashion Awards.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will be airing later this month.

But lingerie models Jasmine Tookes, 26, Romee Strijd, 22, and Josephine Skriver, 24, couldn't help but share a sneak peek of the behind-the-scene footage from the VS Fashion Show photo shoot on Friday.

The Victoria's Secret Angels all showcased their hard-earned washboard abs while walking in front of a green-screen on a treadmill.

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Hot! Jasmine Tookes, 26, Romee Strijd, 22, and Josephine Skriver, 24, couldn't help but share a sneak peek of the behind-the-scene footage from the Fashion Show photo shoot on Friday

Romee flaunted her model figure in a black lace-bra and matching underwear as she posed up a storm.

The Dutch-beauty looked beaming with glee as she catwalked the make-shift runway.

Romee's blonde tresses were loosely curled, as she sported a fresh make-up look for the VS Fashion Show photo shoot.

The 22-year-old has been a Victoria's Secret angel since 2015, walking alongside the likes of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid.

Bare: The Victoria's Secret Angels all showcased their hard-earned washboard abs while walking in front of a green-screen on a treadmill

Ab-tastic: Romee flaunted her model figure in a black lace-bra and matching underwear

Seductress: Romee's blonde tresses were loosely curled, as she sported a fresh make-up look for the VS Fashion Show photo shoot

Jasmine Tookes looked angelic as she sported a nude colored lingerie ensemble.

The California-native gave smoldering looks to the camera as she rocked her curled brunette locks down around her shoulders.

The five-foot-nine-inch model added height the her frame with a pair of nude stilettos that featured an ankle strap.

Jasmine has been walking the Victoria's Secret runway since 2012, when she was just 21 years old.

Leggy: Jasmine Tookes looked angelic as she sported a nude colored lingerie ensemble

In the nude: The California-native gave smoldering looks to the camera as she rocked her curled brunette locks down around her shoulders

Playful: The five-foot-nine-inch model added height the her frame with a pair of nude stilettos that featured an ankle strap

BTS: Jasmine has been walking the Victoria's Secret runway since 2012, when she was just 21 years old

Josephine Skriver was also excited for her VS Photo Shoot moment, which she shared on her Instagram story.

The 24-year-old catwalker was seen wearing an all-black undergarment ensemble.

Unlike her friends Romee and Jasmine, the Danish-beauty ditched the heels and went barefoot.

Josephine wore her creamy brown tresses in beachy waves while sporting an effortless make-up look.

Skriver has been a VS model since 2013, and became a contracted Angel just last year.

It seems like the Angels are hard at work in anticipation of their annual Fashion Show spectacular.

The 2017 lingerie extravaganza is set to take place in Shanghai, China, November 28.

Dark angel: Josephine Skriver was also excited for her VS Photo Shoot moment, which she shared on her Instagram story
Robert Glenister, 57, left theatre-goers concerned on Friday night, as he appeared to 'break down' on stage.

The actor is currently starring in the London Playhouse Theatre's production of Glengarry Glen Ross, but was forced to pull out of his latest performance after appearing to 'freeze' on stage.

Audience members revealed on Twitter that the play had been paused for 30 minutes, before his co-star Christian Slater came back on stage to address the incident and an understudy stepped in to replace Glenister.

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Concerning: Robert Glenister, 57, left theatre-goers concerned on Friday night, as he appeared to 'break down' on stage during his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross at the London Playhouse

Taking to the social media site, those watching on had penned: 'Never had this happen before. Watching @GlengarryLDN and Robert Glenister just froze up on stage. Looks like he lost it emotionally. Curtain down. Waiting to see what happens...

'I'm at Glengarry Glen Ross and Robert Glenister has had what looks like a breakdown live on stage.. they pulled scene and took curtain down.

'@GlengarryLDN in London. Performance has been paused. Curtain down. Something has happened to Robert Glenister on stage. Hope he is ok.'

Tweets appeared to reveal that Glenister's co-star Christian had reappeared on stage half hour later and made a heartfelt announcement, before the play then resumed with Mark Carlisle stepping in to play Glenister's character David Moss.

Drama: The actor was forced to pull out of his latest performance after appearing to 'freeze' on stage

Friends: Audience members revealed on Twitter that the play had been paused for 30 minutes, before his co-star Christian Slater (above) came back on stage to address the incident and an understudy stepped in to replace Glenister

The official account for the production had tweeted amid the drama to assure fans that Paranoid star Glenister was 'feeling better' in a statement that read: 'Thank you for bearing with us this evening. We are pleased to report that Robert Glenister is feeling better and tonights performance has continued with Mark Carlisle in the role of David Moss.'

Fans were quick to send the acting talent their well-wishes and expressed their relief at hearing he is already on the mend.

'I was in the audience tonight. So pleased Robert Glenisteris ok. Hats off to his understudy & also to @ChristianSlater for his heartfelt speech to the audience before continuing with performance,' one theatre-goer penned.

Others added: 'Lovely night with @TimJohnNews at #GlengarryGlennRoss - hope Robert Glenister is OK and recovers soon after collapsing on stage. Amazing understudy carried on - @ChristianSlater was fantastic too as ever.

Eventful:Tweets appeared to reveal that Glenister's co-star Christian had reappeared on stage half hour later and made a heartfelt announcement, before the play then resumed with Mark Carlisle stepping in to play Glenister's character David Moss

Reassuring: The official Twitter account of Glengarry Glen Ross had tweeted to reassure fans that Glenister was 'feeling better'

'Sad to see Robert Glenister break down onstage in Glengarry Glen Ross tonight, after collapsing in a performance two weeks ago. The curtain came down and Christian Slater emerged to give a great tribute to him before play continued with an understudy. Wishing him all the best.'

MailOnline have contacted a representative for Robert for comment.

News of his 'break down' on stage comes just two weeks after Glenister had collapsed mid-show.

Audience members were shocked to see the star fall while clutching his chest just 20 minutes into the production. The crowd had been reassured at the time that Glenister was 'well enough' to get up off the stage, but the night's performance was cancelled and theatre-goers were instructed on having their ticket refunded as a result.

'Wishing him all the best': Theatre-goers had recalled the events of the evening on Twitter

'Hope he is ok': Others flocked to the social media site to send the star their well wishes

A spokesperson for Glengarry Glen Ross had tweeted at the time: 'Unfortunately tonight's performance of Glengarry Glen Ross was cancelled after Robert Glenister took ill.

'We are pleased to report that Robert is okay and we look forward to welcoming affected patrons back to the show soon.'

Glengarry Glen Ross is a play by David Mamet that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. It tells the story of an office of four Chicago real estate agents who are left fighting for their jobs and willing to go to any lengths to get sales, legal or not.

Robert is perhaps best known for his role in the BBC drama Hustle, in which he plays high-level con-man Ash Morgan.

The Watford-born star made his television debut in the sitcom Sink or Swim in 1980 and has gone on to appear in shows like Doctor Who, Spooks, Only Fools and Horses and A Touch of Frost.

West End delight: Glengarry Glen Ross tells the story of an office of four Chicago real estate agents who are left fighting for their jobs and willing to go to any lengths to get sales, legal or not - Robert plays the role of David Moss

His theatre drama comes just weeks after Robert lost a caseagainst the HMRC over his tax arrangements and faces having to pay massive bills.

The actor lost a case against the HMRC over his tax status - which has seen him liable for 10 years' worth of National Insurance contributions of 147,547.

Glenister worked through a personal services company for tax purposes.

According to court documents at the First Tier Tax Tribunal, Mr Glenister's ruling is being viewed as a 'test case'.

The actor told the Financial Times: 'My case is one of a few hundred involving many of the UK's most successful actors.

'It is yet another unfair cash grab that treats genuinely self-employed actors as employees contrary to government policy. This is not a tax avoidance case and we are considering an appeal.'
Jarrod Woodgate has flown to Fiji to film the first season of Bachelor in Paradise, a source close to the heartbroken vineyard manager has claimed.

Channel Ten confirmed the first six cast members for the new series on Thursday, and the network is believed to be preparing for a second announcement.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, the insider claimed that Jarrod, 31, has simply told his family he is 'going away for a few weeks'.

Return to heartbreak island: Jarrod Woodgate (pictured) has flown to Fiji to film the first season of Bachelor in Paradise, a source close to the heartbroken vineyard manager has claimed

According to the source, a family member said: 'He doesn't know where he's going, (the Bachelor producers) just said to get to the airport.'

Jarrod's likely inclusion in the series comes with a heartbreaking twist.

Fiji, which is believed to be the filming destination for Bachelor In Paradise, is where Jarrod had his heart broken on The Bachelorette.

It begins! Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, an insider claimed that Jarrod, 31, has told family he is 'going away for a few weeks'. Pictured with The Bachelorette's Sophie Monk

An unidentified family member told the insider: 'I hope they (Bachelor in Paradise cast) aren't staying in the same place.'

Meanwhile, Daily Mail Australia understands Jarrod has been telling friends he is going away 'for a few weeks' and will not be in contact.

The timeline of Jarrod's apparent departure makes sense, with contestants such as Apollo Jackson believed to be flying out in the next 48 hours.

Worry: Fiji, which is believed to be the filming destination for Bachelor In Paradise, is where Jarrod had his heart broken on The Bachelorette - and Jarrod's family is concerned

Confirmed cast member Keira Maguire may have already flown out, as she has been mysteriously absent from Instagram since Wednesday.

Other stars include The Bachelor 2017's Tara Pavlovic, The Bachelor 2014's Laurina Fleure, and Davey Lloyd and Michael Turnbull from The Bachelorette 2015.

Bachelor In Paradise will be broadcast next year on Network Ten

Second chance at love: The timeline of Jarrod's apparent departure makes sense, with contestants such as Apollo Jackson believed to be flying out in the next 48 hours
She just got engaged to fiance Jack Donnelly last month.

So it's little surprise that Malin Akerman brought along her strapping husband-to-be to a Humane Society gala in New York on Friday.

The 39-year-old Watchmen actress looked quite chic thanks to her black and white Cristina Ottaviano jumpsuit.

Monochrome: Malin Akerman looked quite chic at the Humane Society gala on Friday thanks to her black and white jumpsuit

The Swedish beauty showed off her fit arms and shoulders thanks to a halter top, while the legs were flared slightly down below.

Black peep toe heels from Sarah Flint added a few inches to her 5ft8in stature.

A small white Simran Rihal clutch with a printed design and some dangly earrings were her main accessories.

Cool contrast: The Swedish beauty showed off her fit arms and shoulders thanks to a halter top, while the legs were flared slightly down below

Peek-a-boo! Black peep toe heels added a few inches to her 5ft8in stature

The Rock of Ages star's blonde tresses were parted on the left and pushed back into an up do.

Her make-up was spot on, and featured black eye-liner and some very fetching crimson lipstick.

British actor fiance Jack Donnelly, 31, looked quite dapper in a classic suit with burgundy pocket square.

Eye catching: Her make-up was spot on, and featured black eye-liner and some very fetching crimson lipstick

Handsome fellow: British actor boyfriend Jack Donnelly, 31, looked quite dapper in a classic suit with burgundy pocket square

He did keep things someone laid back by opting not to wear a tie with the classic look.

Malin, 39, went public with the 31-year-old Atlantis star in March, when they were photographed kissing in Puerto Rico.

The Swedish-born star was previously married to musician Roberto Zincone, but their six-year-marriage came to an end shortly after she welcomed Sebastian in 2013.
She's the Melbourne model who stirred up quite a bit of controversy on this year's season of Australian Survivor.

But Sarah Tilleke, 22, was turning heads for a different reason on Saturday, as she arrived for Stakes Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

Sarah showed off her toned physique in a retro blue-spotted frock at the racing event, where she was also joined by fellow castaways Jericho Malabonga, Henry Nicholson and Locky Gilbert.

Making an entrance: Australian Survivor's Sarah Tilleke flaunted her toned abs in a retro frock at Stakes Day in Melbourne on Saturday

The figure-hugging dress featured a unique blue-and-white printed design with yellow shoulder straps.

Sarah accessorised her look with a statement headpiece and drop earrings, and displayed a bronzed tan for the occasion.

After posing solo, she joined a group of other Survivor contestants who had all scrubbed up quite nicely.

Stunning! The figure-hugging dress featured a unique blue and white printed design with yellow shoulder straps

Reunion! After posing solo, Sarah joined a group of other Australian Survivor contestants including Jericho Malabonga, Henry Nicholson and Locky Gilbert

To the skies! The Australian Survivor crew were treated to a helicopter ride to the races, with Sarah documenting the experience on Instagram

The Survivor crew were treated to a helicopter ride to the races, with Sarah documenting the experience on Instagram.

Taking selfies with Jericho and the helicopter's pilot, Sarah seemed to be having the time of her life as they soared into the sky.

Afterwards, they were chauffeured to the event in a limousine.

Selfie time! Taking selfies with Jericho and the helicopter's pilot, Sarah seemed to be having the time of her life as they soared into the sky

Sarah joked on Instagram: 'We're just taking a limo because that's the only way all of us travel now, particularly this one (Jericho) who's now half a million dollars richer.'

Jericho - a migrant from the Philippines - won $500,000 as the Australian Survivor champion, beating out Sarah who made it to the top 10 before being eliminated.

Australian Survivor will return next year with a 'Champions vs Contenders' theme, which will include celebrity castaways.
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She's an iconic supermodel who has appeared on countless magazine covers, walked runways all over the world and is worth an estimated 45m.

And Naomi Campbell's fabulous diva ways were shown to full effect as she put in a showstopping appearance at the Pirelli Calendar reception and gala dinner in New York on Friday.

The stunning Vogue coverstar, 47, who arrived oozing glamour in a sequinned one-shoulder scarlet dress, relied on her good friend Sean 'Diddy' Combs, 48, to take off her extravagant blue and tan fur coat as she preened and posed with aplomb on the red carpet.

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Take my coat: Naomi Campbell's fabulous diva ways were shown to full effect as she put in a showstopping appearance at the Pirelli Calendar reception and gala dinner in New York on Friday

Sean, who looked dapper in a fitted black suit and bow tie, paired with a furry white shawl, struck a fierce pose as a glamorous Naomi cackled with laughter at his side.

Naomi appears inside this year's Alice in Wonderland themed Pirelli Calendar alongside good friend Sean with the pair portraying two Royal Beheaders in the fairytale themed shoot.

For the first time since 1987, the famed calendar features an all-black cast.

Naomi wore her glossy raven locks in loose waves, while her beautiful features were enhanced with smoky eye make-up, fluttery lashes and a slick of candied pink lipgloss

Strike a pose:The stunning Vogue coverstar, 47, who arrived oozing glamour in a sequinned one-shoulder scarlet dress, relied on her good friend Sean 'Diddy' Combs, 48, to take off her extravagant blue and tan fur coat as she preened and posed with aplomb on the red carpet

Smoking! Naomi wore her glossy raven locks in loose waves, while her beautiful features were enhanced with smoky eye make-up, fluttery lashes and a slick of candied pink lipgloss

Lady in red! The catwalk queen was oozing glamour in the fitted and shimmering red dress that clung to her statuesque physique

Stunning! Naomi oozed sex appeal with smokey cat eye makeup and a dash of blush on her famous cheekbones which highlighted her radiant features

She wore a slim golden watch on one wrist and further accessorized with a large crimson-colored choker around her neck.

Combs highlighted the cultural significance of the newly unveiled 2018 Pirelli calendar during the launch in New York City earlier that same day, and praised the Italian tire company for featuring an all-black cast in its cult almanac for the first time since 1987.

The rapper posed along with Naomi, RuPaul, 56, Whoopi Goldberg, 61, and other models, actors, artists and activists in the Alice-In-Wonderland-themed calendar shot in London by photographer Tim Walker.

Activist Jaha Dukureh was a vision in a lacy, black and white gown which featured intricate woven detailing along the sides of the dress.

Dainty! Adwoa Aboah (L) sported a flirty sheer dress with bright red patent leather booties while activist Jaha Dukureh was a vision in a lacy, black and white gown

Lovely: Adut Akech (L) looked stunning on the red carpet in a glittering black blazer and black leather shorts while Zoe Bedeaux rocked a long black lacy cape while RuPaul stood out from the crowd in a glistening royal blue suit as he held hands with his dapper love of nearly 24 years Georges LeBar

Adut Akech looked stunning on the red carpet in a glittering black blazer and black leather shorts.

Zoe Bedeaux rocked a long black lacy cape with peeks of a black and blue floral dress popping through.

RuPaul stood out from the crowd in a glistening royal blue suit as he held hands with his dapper love of nearly 24 years Georges LeBar.

Handsome! Djimon Hounsou rocked a dark navy suit which featured classic black satin lapels

Fresh: Rapper Lil Yachty cleaned up nicely in grey pants with a matching grey tie and sporty beige coat

Three musketeers! Wilson Oryema, Alpha Dia and King Owusu looked fantastic in black suits with matching black bow ties.

Djimon Hounsou rocked a dark navy suit which featured classic black satin lapels and a crisp bowtie.

Rapper Lil Yachty cleaned up nicely in grey pants with a matching grey tie and sporty beige coat.

Wilson Oryema, Alpha Dia and King Owusu looked fantastic in black suits with matching black bow ties.

Dreamy! Thando Hopa (L) looked simply stunning in a long black gown with impressive gold detailing lining the bodice while Duckie Thot wore an extravagant creamy sheer number with floral appliques and a massive hoop skirt

During a Q&A session at the Pierre Hotel, Diddy raved about the concept behind the calendar, a retelling of Lewis Carroll's 1865 tale with model Duckie Thot as Alice, RuPaul as the Queen Of Hearts, and Goldberg as the Royal Duchess.

'We were born kings and queens,' he said, adding that images of this kind should have been taken 'a long time ago'.

'I think Pirelli was smart enough to see the future. This is the future. Black excellence,' he added.

He said that working on the project felt like 'destiny', especially since he's had Alice In Wonderland quotes tattooed onto his arms for five years.

'It was just so great to work with all these talented black faces and to really show our beauty,' Diddy, who has three daughters, said.

'And we can't take images for granted. We can't take the images that have been flooded into our consciousness, and so to see us all together and to be standing tall and proud and to be able to be seen as kings and queens and part of an empire, that's something I want my little girls to see. It's important that they see these images and not the images that are always just portrayed.'

Campbell, who has featured in four Pirelli calendars including the 1987 one that featured black women on all its pages, said the Milan-based brand has always been 'very conscious about what's going on in the world'.
Richie Strahan may be having second thoughts after dumping Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris on The Bachelor last year.

Because the glamour model, 30, showed off the spectacular results of her health kick in an Instagram photo on Saturday.

In the sizzling snap, Kiki flaunted her toned body in a skimpy black bikini while soaking up the Sydney sunshine.

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'Dazed': On Saturday, former Bachelor star Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris (pictured) showed off the spectacular results of her health kick in an Instagram photo

'Dazed,' she captioned the Instagram Story photo.

Drawing attention to her surgically-enhanced figure, Kiki looked summer ready in the revealing swimwear.

The reality TV star was clearly feeling confident, as she later posted another photo of herself sunbathing in her bikini.

Flaunting it! The reality TV star was clearly feeling confident, as she later posted another photo of herself sunbathing in her bikini

Reality TV: Some of Kiki's former co-stars - including 'villain' Keira Maguire - are heading off to Fiji to film Bachelor In Paradise

Looking thoroughly sun-kissed, Kiki's ample cleavage and slim waist were the focus of her POV selfie.

Meanwhile, some of Kiki's former co-stars - including 'villain' Keira Maguire - are heading off to Fiji to film Bachelor In Paradise,

But it's unlikely she will be joining them, as she has spent the last year dating Jeremy Banks.

Taken! It's unlikely Kiki will be joining them, as she has spent the last year dating Jeremy Banks

Channel Ten recently confirmed six cast members for Bachelor In Paradise, including Tara Pavlolvic and Apollo Jackson.

Michael Turnbull, Davey Lloyd, and Laurina Fleure are also taking part in the series.

Bachelor In Paradise will be broadcast on Network Ten next year.
Jeremy Jordan said he was hospitalized after eating Chipotle this week.

The Supergirl actor revealed his ordeal with the Mexican food chain as he posted on Instagram from his hospital bed.

'I know Ive advocated for them in the past, but theyre terrible. I, as you can see, am in the hospital,' the 32-year-old remarked.

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Bad meal: Jeremy Jordan, 32, said he was hospitalized after eating Chipotle this week (pictured October 2017 in New York)

'I have fluids in my arm because the food did not agree with me and I almost died,' he added.

'I just want to thank my wife for being amazing and talking me off the ledge when I was on the phone about to die and for holding my hair back metaphorically,' he said at the end of the video

'I love all of you; thank you so much. Its been a night.'

Painful: 'I know Ive advocated for them in the past, but theyre terrible. I, as you can see, am in the hospital,' the 32-year-old remarked

Near death: 'I have fluids in my arm because the food did not agree with me and I almost died,' he added

Chipotle has responded to Jeremy's claims with the following statement, according to People: 'We are sorry to hear that Jeremy is sick and have attempted to get in touch with him directly regarding where and when he ate so we can look into this.

'We take all claims seriously, but at this time we cant confirm any link to Chipotle.

'We are always committed to making things right for our guests and will do the same for Jeremy when we are able to reach him.'

Jeremy plays Winslow on Supergirl, a tech expert who works alongside the alter ego of the comic book hero played by Melissa Benoist.

The actor was slated to perform at a salute to Broadway' concert in Houston on Friday, but has not posted an update on his social media platforms as of yet.
Two more Hollywood actresses have come forward with sexual harassment accusations against Steven Seagal.

Jenny McCarthy, 45, had first reported the story to Movieline in 1998, saying Steven requested McCarthy take her clothes off during the audition for a part in Under Siege 2 in 1995, but spoke more in-depth about her alleged experience on her Sirius XM radio show on Thursday.

Actress Eva LaRue claimed to Deadline Seagal locked her in a room as he wore an open kimono and underwear when she went to his house for an audition when she was just age 22.

The allegations against Seagal cap off another week that saw several high profile men in entertainment behavior being called into question. New allegations have sparked against Star Trek's George Takaei, as well as against comedian Louis C.K.

Takei has been accused of groping a former male model while the man was passed out in his Los Angeles condo in 1981. Louis meanwhile has been accused of sexual misconduct.

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Speaking up: Jenny McCarthy accused Steven Seagal of sexual harassment in 1995 on her Sirius XM radio show Thursday afternoon. Also actress Eva La Rue (right) claims she was just 22 years old when Seagal locked her in a room as he opened his kimono while wearing only his underwear when she went to his house for an audition

Meanwhile: A Hollywood executive also reported being sexually harassed by Seagal on the set of the 1991 movie Out for Justice, according to Page Six; seen in 2009

On her SiriusXM Radio Show on Thursday, Jenny explained: 'So I stand across from him and he plops onto a sofa thats near a fireplace  of course it is  and taps the sofa cushion next to him saying, 'Take a seat. Relax."'

Jenny said that Steven continued, 'You know, this part has nudity in it and I cant really tell what your body looks like in that dress that youre wearing.'

The radio show host said that she was alone in the room with the actor at the time of the ordeal.

'But I so wanted to legitimately read for this part that I wasnt gonna give up yet,' McCarthy said.

Claims: La Rue (right) claims Seagall, who was in his kimono, asked her to come with him to retrieve the script, while McCarthy says he asked her to undress during an audition

'So I told him, I said, 'Listen. My agent says theres no nudity. I specifically asked her and she said no.' And you know what he says to me? 'Well, there is off-camera nudity.'

McCarthy said she promptly left the audition room but was followed by Seagal who allegedly threatened her, 'Don't tell anybody or else.'

McCarthy had previously told Moveline about the alleged experience, which Seagal denied through his representative to The Daily Beast.

'Warner Brothers casting for the film Under Siege 2 has confirmed that Jenny McCarthy never auditioned for a role on Under Siege 2. Her claim is completely false,' a spokesperson said.

Eva, meanwhile, told Deadline she went to Steven's house for an audition when she was 22 'against her better judgement.'

'Sure enough, there were two other guys and some woman who was supposed to be the casting director. And there we were, sitting in his living room, talking about the character I was going to play and the story plot and what theyre looking for  the usual audition chitchat. But I didnt have the sides. It was a meeting but not a reading. And then the casting director said, "I think shes perfect for the role."

She claims Seagall, who was in his kimono, asked her to come with him to retrieve the script.

Denial: Segal's lawyer Marty Siger told Page Six, 'This is totally false ... It is interesting this person doesnt give her name to give her claims legitimacy'; seen in 2014

'I don't know why we dont have the script in the living room where we were meeting, but I said, "OK," and I follow him, thinking were going to his office. We go down the hallway to this room, which is like an office and guest room kind of thing. And he says, "Have a seat on the couch. It was like a literal casting couch.'

'And as I was walking towards the couch, with my back towards the door, hes busy closing and locking the doors behind my back. I go to sit on the couch, and he comes towards me and hes opening his weirdo kimono.

'Theres no script or anything. Just him standing there with his kimono open. He had underwear on, thank God, and he was bare everywhere else. And it was clear he was not just getting cozy.'

Eva alleges that she attempted to leave the room, but found it had been locked from the inside.

'Im fumbling with the lock and he says, No, no, come back. Youve got to stay. Come sit on the couch and have a drink with me,' she told Deadline.

Eva says she managed to get out and told Seagal to 'send the script to my agent.'

She says he never touched her.

Meanwhile, a female Hollywood executive, who asked to remain nameless for fear of repercussions, was reportedly lured into Seagal's trailer for a 'costume change' on the set of the 1991 movie Out for Justice.

The woman claimed to Page Six that Steven tried to see her in various states of undress while on set and even invited her over the phone to listen to Gregg Allman's music for the soundtrack at the Hotel Bel Air.

After telling Steven she was uncomfortable, she says Seagal replied during their phone conversation, 'You are not comfortable about coming over and sitting on my face for an hour?'

Segal's lawyer Marty Siger told Page Six, 'This is totally false ... It is interesting this person doesnt give her name to give her claims legitimacy.'

The women join a number of ladies - including Portia De Rossi - who have come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against Seagal.

Representatives for Seagal have been contacted by DailyMail.com for comment.
She's the Australian Hollywood mega star whose on-screen performance in Big Little Lies won her an Emmy.

But Nicole Kidman turned in an impressive performance of a different kind on Friday, as she stepped out in Shanghai for the Global Shopping Festival.

The 50-year-old raised the fashion stakes in a sheer black gown at the shopping event, which has been described as the world's biggest.

Setting the standard! Nicole Kidman flaunts her slender frame in a stylish monochrome gown as she attends the Global Shopping Festival in Shanghai

Nicole flaunted her slender frame in the gown that hugged her figure and cinched at the waist.

The monochromatic number included tulle fabric that placed her slender pins on display.

It was also adorned with eye-catching sparkly applique, which Nicole matched by strapping on a pair of shiny heels.

The Eyes Wide Shut star looked as graceful as ever as she spoke at the event's gala ahead of its official launch.

Flaunt it! The 50-year-old raised the fashion stakes in a sheer black gown at the shopping event, which has been described as the world's biggest

Graceful: The Eyes Wide Shut star looked as graceful as ever as she spoke at the event's gala on Friday ahead of its official launch

A record $18billion was spent just before midday on Saturday at the event, which exceeds combined sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States, Reuters reported.

Nicole's appearance came the day after reports by TV Line suggested American network HBO is set to kick off production for a second season of Big Little Lies in early 2018.

In the works? Nicole's appearance came the day after reports by TV Line suggested American network HBO is set to kick off production for a second season of Big Little Lies in early 2018

Nicole - who plays a domestic abuse victim on the show - has previously hinted she'd be open to a second season.

For the veteran actress, Big Little Lies was her first time starring in a weekly TV series - an experience she truly enjoyed.

Nicole appeared alongside Hollywood stars Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard and Zoe Kravitz.

All-star cast! Nicole appears alongside Hollywood stars Reese Witherspoon (right), Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard (left) and Zoe Kravitz in Big Little Lies

'Were hopeful': Big Little Lies' executive producer and writer David E. Kelley said: 'Were kicking around ideas and trying to lasso the talent (and) get the band back together'

Big Little Lies' executive producer and writer David E. Kelley said: 'Were kicking around ideas and trying to lasso the talent (and) get the band back together.'

He added: 'No decision has been made yet, but were hopeful.'

At the Emmys in September, Big Little Lies picked up eight awards, with Nicole winning Outstanding Lead Actress.
She started out her career as a model in Europe.

And it looked as though Diane Kruger was ready to traipse down a runway again on Friday, as she stepped out for AFI Fest in Los Angeles.

The 41-year-old National Treasure actress definitely turned some heads thanks to her crimson crop top.

Fashion maven! It looked as though Diane Kruger was ready to traipse down a runway again on Friday, as she stepped out for AFI Fest in Los Angeles

The garment featured a v-cut hem which showed off her amazingly toned midsection as well as some very unique wide straps.

Little white bows tied to said straps provided an interesting detail.

She paired the bold top with an ankle-length black skirt which featured an embroidered floral pattern and a split down the front

Black strappy stilettos completed the fashionable outfit.

Peek-a-boo! Her crop top featured a v-cut hem which showed off her amazingly toned midsection as well as some very unique wide straps

Her blonde tresses were parted on the left and were cropped close to her neck.

A smokey eye, subtle blush and some raspberry-tinted lipstick ensured the beauty was ready for her turn in front of the cameras.

She looked to be enjoying herself on the red carpet and even joined In The Fade director Fatih Akin for a quick snap.

Ready for her closeup: A smokey eye, subtle blush and some raspberry-tinted lipstick ensured the beauty looked good for the cameras

Although the actress originally hails from Germany, this year's In The Fade, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, was the first German-language film she has starred in.

The movie earned Diane her first Cannes Film Festival Award For Best Actress.

It was also in contention for the Palm D'Or, though it lost out to a Swedish satire of the art world, entitled The Square.

Germany has entered In The Fade for the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year's Academy Awards, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He's the handsome magician whose charms failed to make Sophie Monk fall under his spell.

But on Saturday, Apollo Jackson certainly capture the attention of fans when he took to the stage to wow crowds with a magic trick.

The 24-year-old appeared at Brisbane Supanova Comic Con in a trial attempt to break a Guinness World Record for fastest time to escape from an upside-down strait jacket.

Abracadabra! On n Saturday, Apollo Jackson appeared at Brisbane Supanova Comic Con in a trial attempt to break a Guinness World Record for fastest time to escape from an upside-down strait jacket

TV favourite: Apollo's appearance at the event comes just two days after it was announced he would be starring on Ten's upcoming Bachelor In Paradise

Apollo's appearance at the event comes just two days after it was announced he would be starring on Ten's upcoming Bachelor In Paradise- returning to the small-screen in a second attempt to find love.

The Bachelorette favourite will join other notable names from the franchise, including Michael Turnbull, Keira Macguire and Tara Pavolvic on the highly-anticipated show.

Before his attempt to enter the record books on Saturday, Apollo was seen posing for pictures with fans while clad in a hooded denim jacket.

He's popular! Before his attempt to enter the record books on Saturday, Apollo was seen posing for pictures with fans while clad in a hooded denim jacket

Ready for action: A crowded room watched as the star shed his shirt and was placed into a straitjacket and hung upside down

A crowded room watched as the star shed his shirt and was placed into a straitjacket and hung upside down.

The Queensland hunk appeared to be more than a little uncomfortable as he winced in pain before being lifted to the ceiling.

The stopwatch then switched on- with Apollo managing to escape from the contraption in 8.92 seconds.

And he's off! The Queensland hunk appeared to be more than a little uncomfortable as he winced in pain before being lifted to the ceiling

He's quick! The stopwatch then switched on- with Apollo managing to escape from the contraption in 8.92 seconds

Taking to Instagram after the event, Apollo wrote: 'Thankyou [sic] for everyone who came out and supported my trial attempt for my Guinness World Record'.

He added: 'I'll be attempting on tv in the next 2 months.. unfortunately my heart rate monitor flew off and smashed but I'm happy with my trial time. Bring on January'.

And although he managed to escape from the straitjacket in a matter of seconds, Apollo sent far longer afterwards showing off his shirtless body on the stage.

Trial: After the event, Apollo took to Instagram to share details of his second, upcoming attempt

Magical body: Although he managed to escape from the straitjacket in a matter of seconds, Apollo sent far longer afterwards showing off his shirtless body on the stage

The reality star was seen wiping away the sweat from his body with a towel, before taking a bow for the crowd.

Clearly happy with his quick time, the hunk beamed as he flashed a peace sign and made his way from the stage.

It's believed the star will be heading to Fiji in the coming days to commence filming on Bachelor In Paradise.

Thirsty work: The reality star was seen wiping away the sweat from his body with a towel, before taking a bow for the crowd
He's the former Australian soap star who landed a spot on NBC drama Blindspot last year.

And Luke Mitchell was appears to have settled into his new role seamlessly, having gushed about the gig during a media call in New York City on Friday.

The 32-year-old looked dapper as he sat down and spoke with renown film producer Ricky Camilleri about his role as the show's emerging villain Roman.

'It's really a dream role for me': Luke Mitchell cuts a stylish figure as he discusses his role as the villain of hit TV series Blindspot

'[Playing Roman] is so much fun, it's really a dream role for me,' he told the host of BUILD Series.

'Roman is doing some very nasty things, but really he just needs a lot of love.

'I like to think [there is still good in him]. It's hard to portray someone without an ounce of love.'

Luke attended Build Studios wearing a stylish ensemble which included a tailored grey blazer.

In the spotlight: The 32-year-old looked dapper as he sat down and spoke with renown film producer Ricky Camilleri (right) for live interview series Build

Looking sharp! He attended Build Studios wearing a stylish ensemble which included a tailored grey blazer

The actor teamed the blazer with a plain black t-shirt and matching black skinny jeans.

A little bit of colour was added to Luke's outfit with a pair of dark brown leather boots.

He cut a roguishly handsome figure with some heavy designer stubble, and his brown hair molded into a messy style.

Doing Australia proud! He cut a roguishly handsome figure with some heavy designer stubble, and his brown hair molded into a messy style

Luke appeared to be in good spirits as he radiantly smiled during the one-on-one with Ricky while talking about Blindspot.

The American TV series is a crime drama, in which Luke plays the role of former terrorist Roman.

He was also flashing his shiny wedding ring during the interview, after he married fellow former Home And Away star Rebecca Breeds in 2013.

The Aussie exports, now residing in the US, found love after meeting on the Palm Beach set of the TV soap.

Earlier this year, they secured a three-bedroom home in Sydney's Cronulla for $1.425 million, Realestate.com.au reported in June.

Beaming: Luke appeared to be in good spirits as he radiantly smiled during the one-on-one with Ricky while talking about Blindspot
She is a doting mother of two with another one on the way.

And Kim Kardashian treated her eldest - daughter North - to a fun girls night out as they attended the Katy Perry concert in Los Angeles on Friday.

The 36-year-old reality star was having the time of her life singing along to Katy at the concert, but North looked a little sleepy as she was held in her doting mother's arms.

Girls night! Kim Kardashian treated her eldest - daughter North - to a fun girls night out as they attended the Katy Perry concert in Los Angeles on Friday

The girls even got a chance to take a selfie with the pop star.

Kim revealed the fun-filled evening to her millions of fans as she posted snaps on her social media account.

The mother and daughter duo enjoyed the spectacle that Katy provided as they were seen bathed in the red lights emanating from the stage.

As North sat on Kim's lap in the audience, both looked to be enjoying the night as they smiled for the camera.

Once backstage, North donned a pair of crazy sparkly purple swan glasses.

Party: Kim revealed the fun-filled evening to her millions of fans as she posted snaps on her social media account

Bonding time: The mother and daughter duo enjoyed the spectacle that Katy provided as they were seen bathed in the red lights emanating from the stage

The star of Keeping Up With The Kardashians puckered up for the camera as Katy rocked her dramatic stage-worthy makeup.

Katy dazzled on stage as she was dressed in a sparkly red one piece and had elaborate set pieces.

Her Witness tour is in full swing as it won't be over until August 2018 in Australia.

Stunner: Katy sang with background dancers dressed as televisions

Ring leader: Katy commanded attention on stage

Meanwhile, Kim and husband Kanye West are parents to one-year-old son Saint as well as North.

The couple are now expecting a third child via surrogate.

Sisters Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are also rumored to both be pregnant.

Ravishing in red: Katy was a showstopper
She is the model of the moment with her stunning visage currently gracing the cover of British Vogue.

And Adwoa Aboah put on an eye-popping display as she wowed at the star-studded gala to celebrate the Pirelli Calendar 2018 in New York on Friday.

The British-Ghanaian model, 25, boldly bared her pierced assets in the incredibly revealing powder blue tulle gown, which featured racy sheer panels across the chest and arms.

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Baring all: Adwoa Aboah put on an eye-popping display as she wowed at the star-studded gala to celebrate her appearance as Tweedledee in the Pirelli Calendar 2018 in New York on Friday

The fairytale material clung to her slender physique and flared outwards into a floaty A-line skirt which flaunted a hint of her toned legs.

She added further height to her leggy frame with red PVC sock boots designed by Gucci. Adding further glamour she enhanced her sparkling peepers with lashings of smoky eyeshadow.

Adwoa portrays a high-fashion Tweedledee in the all-black calendar which is inspired by Lewis Carrolls fantastical tale Alice in Wonderland.

Naomi Campbell, 47, looked nothing short of red hot as she oozed glamour in a fitted and bold red dress that clung to her statuesque physique at the glittering event.

Polished: Earlier in the day the star rocked an dapper navy suit and box fresh trainers

Smokin! Naomi Campbell, 47, looked nothing short of red hot as she led the stars at the Pirelli bash

Naomi appears inside this year's Pirelli Calendar alongside her good friend Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who joined her at the red carpet.

On the red carpet, the modelling legend looked sensational with her flowing locks styled into loose ringlets that cascaded over her face.

Naomi oozed sex appeal with smokey cat eye makeup and a dash of blush on her famous cheekbones which highlighted her radiant features.

Lady in red! The catwalk queen was oozing glamour in a fitted and bold red dress that clung to her statuesque physique

Stunning! Naomi oozed sex appeal with smokey cat eye makeup and a dash of blush on her famous cheekbones which highlighted her radiant features

She wore a slim golden watch on one wrist and further accessorized with a large crimson-colored choker around her neck.

Campbell covered up in an over-sized blue and tan fur coat before revealing her sparkling gown.

Joining P Diddy on the red carpet, Naomi couldn't help but let out a huge laugh as she posed up a storm beside him.

The hit-maker looked extremely sharp in a black suit as he carried an extravagant fur coat, which he graciously placed over Naomi's shoulders.

Dressed up! Campbell covered up in an over-sized blue and tan fur coat before revealing her sparkling gown

Good fun: Joining P Diddy on the red carpet, Naomi couldn't help but let out a huge laugh as she posed up a storm beside him

Strike a pose: The hit-maker looked extremely sharp in a black suit as he carried an extravagant fur coat, which he graciously placed over Naomi's shoulders

Combs highlighted the cultural significance of the newly unveiled 2018 Pirelli calendar during the launch in New York City earlier that same day, and praised the Italian tire company for featuring an all-black cast in its cult almanac for the first time since 1987.

The rapper posed along with Naomi, RuPaul, 56, Whoopi Goldberg, 61, and other models, actors, artists and activists in the Alice-In-Wonderland-themed calendar shot in London by photographer Tim Walker.

Activist Jaha Dukureh was a vision in a lacy, black and white gown which featured intricate woven detailing along the sides of the dress.

Gorgeous! Activist Jaha Dukureh was a vision in a lacy, black and white gown which featured intricate woven detailing along the sides of the dress

Lovely: Adut Akech (R) looked stunning on the red carpet in a glittering black blazer and black leather shorts

Lovers: RuPaul stood out from the crowd in a glistening royal blue suit as he held hands with his dapper love of nearly 24 years Georges LeBar

Adut Akech looked stunning on the red carpet in a glittering black blazer and black leather shorts.

Zoe Bedeaux rocked a long black lacy cape with peeks of a black and blue floral dress popping through.

RuPaul stood out from the crowd in a glistening royal blue suit as he held hands with his dapper love of nearly 24 years Georges LeBar.

Handsome! Djimon Hounsou rocked a dark navy suit which featured classic black satin lapels

Fresh: Rapper Lil Yachty cleaned up nicely in grey pants with a matching grey tie and sporty beige coat

Three musketeers! Wilson Oryema, Alpha Dia and King Owusu looked fantastic in black suits with matching black bow ties.

Djimon Hounsou rocked a dark navy suit which featured classic black satin lapels and a crisp bowtie.

Rapper Lil Yachty cleaned up nicely in grey pants with a matching grey tie and sporty beige coat.

Wilson Oryema, Alpha Dia and King Owusu looked fantastic in black suits with matching black bow ties.

Dreamy! Thando Hopa looked simply stunning in a long black gown with impressive gold detailing lining the bodice

During a Q&A session at the Pierre Hotel, Diddy raved about the concept behind the calendar, a retelling of Lewis Carroll's 1865 tale with model Duckie Thot as Alice, RuPaul as the Queen Of Hearts, and Goldberg as the Royal Duchess.

'We were born kings and queens,' he said, adding that images of this kind should have been taken 'a long time ago'.

'I think Pirelli was smart enough to see the future. This is the future. Black excellence,' he added.

Vision in white! Duckie Thot wore an extravagant creamy sheer number with floral appliques and a massive hoop skirt

Diddy, who posed as one of two Royal Beheaders along with Campbell during the shoot, pointed out that working on the project felt like 'destiny', especially since he's had Alice In Wonderland quotes tattooed onto his arms for five years.

'It was just so great to work with all these talented black faces and to really show our beauty,' Diddy, who has three daughters, said.

'And we can't take images for granted. We can't take the images that have been flooded into our consciousness, and so to see us all together and to be standing tall and proud and to be able to be seen as kings and queens and part of an empire, that's something I want my little girls to see. It's important that they see these images and not the images that are always just portrayed.'

Campbell, who has featured in four Pirelli calendars including the 1987 one that featured black women on all its pages, said the Milan-based brand has always been 'very conscious about what's going on in the world'.
She's the South Sudanese born beauty who shot to fame on the eighth cycle of Australia's Next Top Model.

And Duckie Thot has just received the biggest break of her career, landing one of the modelling world's most lucrative gigs; the Pirelli Calendar.

On Friday night, the 21-year-old stunned in an unusual gown as she turned out for the launch of the 2018 calendar in Manhattan.

Big break: On Friday night, Duckie Thot stunned in an unusual gown as she turned out for the launch of the 2018 Pirelli Calendar in which she stars

The 2018 calendar is Alice In Wonderland themed and features a cast of only black models and celebrities- including Naomi Campbell, Whoopi Goldberg, Lupita Nyong'o and P. Diddy (now known as Brother Love).

Stunning Duckie was cast as Alice and appears in the pages of the calendar dressed in a bright blue frock as she flaunts her lithe legs.

Clearly excited about appearing beside such a cast of iconic stars in the calendar, the model tweeted: 'November 10th. Today is the day my life will change forever.'

Calendar castmates: Duckie joined a line-up of all black stars who appear in the calendar, including Naomi Campbell, Whoopi Goldberg, Lupita Nyong'o and P. Diddy (now known as Brother Love)

Eye-catching: From the waist down, Duckie's dress ballooned outward and the wiring giving the dress its shape was clearly visible.

At the Calendar Launch, Duckie covered up her pins and instead chose an eye-catching gown that highlighted her natural beauty.

The stunner opted for a sheer hoop gown-inspired frock patterned with white flowers.

Featuring a silk sash around the neck, the dress featured strategically placed petals that covered the beauty's breasts.

Pirelli power: Stunning Duckie was cast as Alice and appears in the pages of the calendar dressed in a bright blue frock as she flaunts her lithe legs.

From the waist down, the garment ballooned outward and the wiring giving the dress its shape was clearly visible.

Seemingly confident on the red carpet, Duckie beamed for the cameras as she was joined at the event by her calendar co-stars.

The beauty left her long black hair out for the event, which was parted down the middle.

A-list calendar co-stars: P. Diddy and Naomi Campbell also appear inside the 2018 Pirelli calendar, which features an all black cast

The stunner, who is now based in New York, revealed in September that she had to relocate to America because she wasn't getting enough work in Australia.

'I just thought -- why am I here? So I was just like, 'Let me make the executive decision to move to New York'. I'm not getting my coins in Australia' she told Paper magazine.

Duckie now joins the exclusive list of Australians who have appeared in Pirelli calendars, which includes Miranda Kerr and Nicole Kidman.
She is the model and high jump athlete who is known for her flawless red carpet style.

And on Saturday, Amy Pejkovic once again dressed to impress as she attended the Emirates Marquee in the Birdcage for Stakes Day, in Melbourne.

The 24-year-old made a statement in a white halterneck jumpsuit by Desordre that hugged her statuesque physique.

White hot! Model and high jump athlete Amy Pejkovic flaunted her statuesque figure at Stakes Day in Melbourne on Saturday

The lace accent at the centre of her chest and on her waist added a touch of elegance to the outfit.

The ensemble also featured split-leg flares that allowed her to showcase her beige heels for the cameras.

She accessorised with a silver watch and a Chloe cross body bag.

Glammed up: The 24-year-old made a statement in a white halterneck jumpsuit by Desordre that hugged her trim physique. She accessorised with a silver watch and a Chloe cross body bag

Stunner: Her makeup look was kept simple with kohl rimmed eyes, mascara to define her lashes and nude pink lips

Amy completed the the look with a golden headpiece on top of her luscious blonde locks.

Her makeup look was kept simple with kohl rimmed eyes, mascara to define her lashes and nude pink lips.

The model attended the event with her AFL star boyfriend Adam Tomlinson, 24, who cut a dapper figure in his black suit and purple tie ensemble and together looked very cosy at the Emirates event.

Cosy: The model attended the event with her AFL star boyfriend Adam Tomlinson, 24, who cut a dapper figure in his black suit and purple tie ensemble and together looked very cosy at the Emirates event

It comes after the blonde spoke to the Herald Sun about her 2012 battle with brain cancer.

'At one stage the headaches were daily, I was vomiting at every training session, I could not balance properly. I would try to walk through a door frame and just fall into the wall. I could not do anything properly.'

'I was probably days away from dying, that is what they [doctor] said to me,' she told the publication.

Amy is currently training hard to qualify for next year's Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
iStock/Thinkstock(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) -- Police arrested an employee of Charlotte Douglas International Airport for allegedly possessing a pipe bomb on Friday.



According to the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department, Paul Dandan, who worked as an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration, was arrested on multiple charges, including possession of a weapon of mass destruction and acquiring a weapon of mass destruction.



Police said the device was not located at the airport, but instead found at Dandan's apartment. Police and bomb squad members reported to the home on Nov. 3 after a 911 call and found the device.



Dandan, 30, has been fired by the FAA.



"The FAA has terminated the employee's access to the facility and is cooperating with law enforcement authorities," the administration said in a statement released Friday.



Police say Dandan received the pipe bomb from an acquaintance, Derrick Fells, who told police he constructed the bomb in order to use in a dispute with a neighbor. He changed his mind and gave the device to Dandan, police said.



"The FAA employee only had access to the offsite Air Traffic Control Tower and had no access to the restricted areas of the terminal or ramp," a spokesperson for Charlotte Douglas International Airport said in a release. "He did not have access to any aircraft at the Airport."



Fells, who was Dandan's roommate, has also been charged with four different counts relating to the construction and possession of the bomb.



According to North Carolina law, a weapon of mass destruction includes any explosive device, such as a bomb, grenade or rocket.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
She shot to fame in the cult film series The Twilight Saga.

And on Saturday, 'Twi-hard' fans got to see Jodelle Ferland in the flesh as she answered questions at the Supanova Expo.

The 23-year-old cut a relaxed figure on stage while wearing a casual ensemble at the event in Brisbane.

Doing it for the fans! Twilight star Jodelle Ferland takes to the stage at Brisbane's Supanova Expo

The pretty brunette showed she knew her audience at the pop culture convention, walking out wearing a singlet featuring a retro Star Wars print.

She matched the top with a pair of ripped skinny jeans, which ran into a pair of maroon high-heeled boots.

The Silent Hill star kept accessories to a minimum, opting only to wear a necklace and a gold ring.

Her natural beauty was on display as she only wore a light application of makeup, while the Canadian's dark brown locks were let out in a loose and casual style.

Keeping it casual! The 23-year-old cut a relaxed figure on stage while wearing a casual ensemble at the event in Brisbane

Smart move! The pretty brunette showed she knew her audience at the popular comic convention, walking out wearing a singlet featuring a retro Star Wars print

Jodelle is currently starring in Dark Matter - the latest space epic belonging to American cable channel SyFy.

Also in attendance was fellow Canadian Melanie Scrofano, who is best known for the titular role on the channel's modern western drama Wynonna Earp, as well as featuring in the Saw franchise.

The 34-year-old also wore a casual ensemble, featuring skinny dark blue jeans and strappy red shoes with a small block heel.

She teamed the jeans with a collared white shirt, which was dressed up with a blue bow and a red poppy to reflect Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth.

Canadian invasion! Also in attendance was fellow Canadian Melanie Scrofano (pictured), who is best known for the titular role on the channel's modern western drama Wynonna Earp, as well as featuring in the Saw franchise

Paying respect: The 34-year-old wore a collared white shirt, which was dressed up with a blue bow and a red poppy to reflect Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth

Her hair was parted in the middle and pulled back tightly into a low-ponytail.

Meanwhile, the star of drama series Outlander Graham McTavish, 56, attended the event wearing an interesting combination.

He stepped out in a striped blazer on top of an olive polo shirt and what appeared to be a pair of sweat pants.

Unique ensemble: Meanwhile, the star of drama series Outlander Graham McTavish (pictured) attended the event wearing an interesting combination

Christian Kane - star of TNT hit series The Librarians - also attended the expo in a unique combination of garments.

The 45-year-old appeared to be in good spirits as he walked out on stage wearing a blue shirt underneath a black puffer vest.

The American actor teamed it with a pair of loose-fitting chinos, as well as black boots and a grey beanie.

Star showing: Christian Kane (pictured) - star of TNT hit series The Librarians - also attended the expo in a unique combination of garments

Spirits high! The 45-year-old appeared to be in good spirits as he walked out on stage wearing a blue shirt underneath a black puffer vest
She's the stunning WAG who welcomed her second child three months ago.

And Kara Ryan has candidly revealed that she almost didn't share snaps of herself at Derby Day because she wasn't confident about her post-baby body.

The 30-year-old made the startling revelation in an Instagram upload on Saturday.

Candid: On Saturday, Kara Ryan candidly revealed that she almost didn't share this sensational snap of herself as she wasn't confident about her post-baby body

The snap showed Kara at Derby Day last weekend, showing off her ravishing figure in a spotted top and black skirt complete with a thigh-high split.

The stunner wrote as her caption: 'A reminder that - Comparison is the thief of Joy, And to think I almost didn't post this beautiful picture for the fear of being compared to the other beautiful women at Derby Day because I felt very 'post baby in this pic'!!!'

She then philosophically added: 'Then I realised that I was comparing... Comparing to my pre pregnancy body and comparing to all the women who 'bounce back' quicker then [sic] I. A reminder that we all have our own journey and not to compare.'

Beau's a lucky guy! The former footy star shared this couple selfie with busty Kara showing off her copious cleavage in a low cut top

Kara went on to claim that she wanted to share the photo because of the beautiful flowers in the background.

The blonde gave birth to baby boy Jesse in late July, and is already a parent to daughter Remy, 4, with Beau.

The former footy star seems proud to show off his wife, sharing a series of pictures to his own Instagram in recent days.

Happy family: It appears the couple are going from strength-to-strength following Beau's alleged affair with Hi-5 star Lauren Brant in 2015 (pictured: Beau and Kara with children Remy and Jesse)

One selfie shows the couple on the way to Derby Day, as Kara shows off her copious cleavage in a busty top.

It appears the couple are going from strength-to-strength following Beau's alleged affair with Hi-5 star Lauren Brant in 2015.

While neither confirming or denying the widely-reported infidelities, at the time the sportsman told The Footy Show: 'I just want to apologise to all the people who have been hurt recently. It's been really, really hard for myself and my family and everyone involved.'

Meanwhile, Lauren has also turned another page after allegations of the tryst, welcoming her own baby with another footy player- AFL star Barry Hall.
She is rumoured to be heading into the jungle as part of the star-studded cohort for I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

And it has been claimed that Coronation Street favourite Jennie McAlpine has taken up the lucrative reality gig to pay off her Manchester tearoom's six figure debts, reports The Mirror.

The 33-year-old actress, who plays Fiz Brown in the soap, will reportedly take home a big fee for her time Down Under.

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Business boost? It has been claimed that Coronation Street favourite Jennie McAlpine has taken up the lucrative reality gig to pay off her Manchester tearoom's six figure debts, reports The Mirror

The actress bought tea shop Annie's in 2012, and co-owns the cafe with husband and chef Chris Farr. She marketed it as the world's first breastfeeding friendly tearoom.

But the latest accounts for the star's company Fifth Floor, filed in June 2016, show the company was 197,551 in the red.

A source told the website: 'As a big soap star, Jennie has managed to negotiate a big fee to go into camp.

'She has always been determined to make Annies a success so it would be no surprise to see her put some more money into the business.

Jungle time: The actress bought tea shop Annie's in 2012, but the latest accounts for the star's company Fifth Floor, filed in June 2016, show the company was 197,551 in the red

'It has been a tough year and even Jamie Oliver is having to close restaurants.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Jennie for comment.

Jennie was reportedly given permission to appear on the reality show by Coronation Street chief Kate Oates, with plans for her character Fiz to come back with a big storyline in 2018.

Jennie is understood to have wanted by bosses to enter the jungle for years. Jennie, who is expected to be a hit with viewers because of her bubbly personality, is due to sign up for the show very soon, an insider has revealed.

Rumours: Jennie is understood to have wanted by bosses to enter the jungle for years

And the Bury lass has finally relented, The Sun reports, having been offered a short leave of absence from her commitments on Coronation Street.

A show insider told The Sun: 'Jennie's been on the wishlist for some time and, after a lot of persuasion, she's agreed to take part this year.

'Corrie have given it the green light because they've been able to reschedule her storyline filming  so everything has finally fallen into place.

'She's bubbly and great fun, so the hope is she'll be a great addition. The producers are over the moon to get her.'

Fan favourite: Jennie, who is expected to be a hit with viewers because of her bubbly personality, is due to sign up for the show very soon, an insider has revealed

'They are hoping sparks will fly with one of the single girls': Hunky Jamie Lomas is set to 'head into the jungle for I'm A Celeb' as he announced he will be leaving Hollyoaks (pictured with ex-wife Kym Marsh)

Jennie has played Fiz since 2001 and also runs a restaurant in Manchester with her husband Chris Farr.

Meanwhile, fellow actor Jamie Lomas could be joining the star as reports suggest the soap star could be heading into the jungle for this year.

A bevy of single women including Made In Chelsea's Georgia Toffolo, The Saturdays' Vanessa White and reality star Charlotte Crosby are tipped for the line-up.

Jamie is single following his divorce from Coronation Street beauty Kym Marsh.

The former flames, who share son Archie Jay Lomas, were married in a romantic ceremony in 2012 but they parted ways for good in 2014.

The actor is best known for his role as Warren Fox in the British soap Hollyoaks, a part he is set to love and leave once again in an upcoming episode.

Revealed: The actor announced he will be leaving Hollyoaks as the resident bad boy Warren Fox in a dramatic upcoming episode in November

He first played the resident bad boy from 2006 until 2011 and he made a comeback when he reprised his role five years later in May 2016.

But the soap star revealed he made the decision to leave the show once again as he would like to try his hand at other things.

He made the admission on a television appearance on This Morning in November.

A chance of love? Bosses are said to be hopeful a jungle romance could be on the cards for the single television hunk

Limelight: Jamie is best known for his role as Warren Fox in the British soap Hollyoaks, a part he is set to love and leave once again in an upcoming episode

The actor divulged: 'Just to try other things really. I like to go in and have a little time there then come out and try something else. Maybe I'll go back in time.'

Prior to Hollyoaks, the British actor's acting portfolio also boasts of small roles on television shows Casualty and Heartbeat in 2005.

In June 2013, the star also joined Albert Square for a stint on EastEnders as the newcomer Jake Stone.
She rocketed to fame after appearing topless in Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines video in 2013, where her very ample assets transfixing viewers across the globe.

And Emily Ratajkowski, who has since built up a huge following thanks to her flawless influx of made-up selfies, cut a remarkably more casual figure as she stepped out in LA on Friday.

The 26-year-old British-born model, showed off her natural beauty, opting to go make-up free in a change to her usual flawlessly made-up appearance.

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Natural: Emily Ratajkowski, who has since built up a huge following thanks to her flawless influx of made-up selfie, cut a more casual figure as she stepped out in LA on Friday

Making the most of her enviable bone structure, she opted for the minimal look, wearing her raven hair in a sleek do as she left a pal's house.

Cutting a stylish appearance, the leggy star slipped into a button-up polka dot dress, accentuating her shapely pins with a pair of clear block-heeled mules.

Not afraid to clash patterns, she teamed it with a checked duster coat, looking in good spirits as she continued her daily errands.

Turning heads! The 26-year-old British-born model, showed off her natural beauty, opting to go make-up free in a change to her usual flawlessly made-up appearance

Emily credited landing her brief role in Gone Girl to her appearance in Robin Thicke's famous Blurred Lines track, which catapulted her to stardom in 2013.

She was one of three models who danced topless with Robin in the music video for his 2013 hit.

But following the outcry about the song's lyrics, deemed inappropriate, she described the video as the 'bane of her existence'.

Turning heads! Making the most of her enviable bone structure, she opted for the minimal look, wearing her raven hair in a sleek do as she left a pal's house

She told InStyle previously: 'When anyone comes up to me about Blurred Lines, I'm like, are we seriously talking about a video from three years ago?'

Emily fleetingly starred in 2014 flick Gone Girl with hunk Ben Affleck and leading actress Rosamund Pike.

Now the brunette is filming her latest movie Lying and Stealing with British hunk Theo James.

Chic: Cutting a stylish appearance, the leggy star slipped into a button-up polka dot dress, accentuating her shapely pins with a pair of clear block-heeled mules

The upcoming movie charts the story of a gifted art thief Ivan (Theo) who steals from Los Angeles' highest end collectors.

For his most daring heist yet, he teams up with unlikely ally aspiring actress Elyse (Emily), who is haunted by her debt.

The star revealed being an only child stood her in good stead for a stellar career in Hollywood as she used to perform for her parents.

Emily told Stylist magazine: 'I remember being on the second floor of a West End theatre watching Les Miserables through the balcony.

'Being an only child, I only had my parents to play with, and the best way for me to do that was to perform for them.

'That was a huge part of why I wanted to become an actress. 'Cats' was the coolest thing to me, ever.'
She rocketed to fame as a child star in Harry Potter, before going on to complete an array of film and modelling contracts.

And Emma Watson, who is known for her reserved appearance, was seen putting on an usually playful display as she enjoyed an autumnal walk with pals in London on Friday.

The 27-year-old Beauty And The Beast actress appeared jovial as she took to the leafy streets with her pals, performing a little dance.

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Rocking out! Emma Watson, who is known for her reserved appearance, was seen putting on an usually playful display as she enjoyed an autumnal walk with pals in London on Friday

Embracing the plummeting temperatures, the British star slipped into a pair of high-waisted jeans and a black sweater as she meandered through the streets.

She bundled up in a hat and long grey coat, before throwing a few shapes as her amused friends looked on.

Punching the air she seemed in relaxed spirits as she began her busy day ahead.

Dancing in the street! The 27-year-old Beauty And The Beast actress appeared jovial as she took to the leafy streets with her pals, performing a little dance

Chilly: Embracing the plummeting temperatures, the British star slipped into a pair of high-waisted jeans and a black sweater as she meandered through the streets

Her appearance came a month after she revealed she 'stands by' the brave women speaking out in the midst of the Harvey Weinstein scandal after the disgraced film mogul was accused of rape and sexual harassment.

The Miramax co-founder was sacked from his position earlier this month after numerous women - including actresses Ashley Judd and Ambra Battilana - went public about his alleged behaviour.

The producer who has ties to almost every big name in Hollywood worked with Emma in 2011 when she starred in his film My Week With Marilyn.

Chanelling Mick Jagger? She bundled up in a hat and long grey coat, before throwing a few shapes as her amused friends looked on

Good spirits: Punching the air she seemed in relaxed spirits as she began her busy day ahead

The actress and campaigner for equal rights tweeted at the time in support of the women who had come forward.

Posting to Twitter, she wrote: 'I stand with all the women who have been sexually harassed, and am awestruck by their bravery. This mistreatment of women has to stop. '

Watson worked with Weinstein when she was 19 on a film his company was producing.

Turning heads! Her unusual display made quite the impression on the street

Larking about! Her pals appeared quite oblivious to her dancing parade

They were pictured together shortly after partying in Central London after a night at the BAFTAs.

In images taken at the time, a young Watson can be seen leaving Mahiki nighclub in London as the then 58-year-old producer grabbed her from behind.

In recent years Watson has become a leading figure in the fight for gender equality after taking up her position as Women Goodwill Ambassador for the UN in 2014.

Talent: She rocketed to fame as a child star in Harry Potter, before going on to complete an array of film and modelling contracts

Brave: Her appearance came a month after she revealed she 'stands by' the brave women speaking out in the midst of the Harvey Weinstein scandal

More than 40 women have now accused the 65-year-old Weinstein of harassment or abuse.

Actresses including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Lupita Nyong'o have accused Weinstein of harassment, while actresses Asia Argento and Rose McGowan said he raped them.

The Television Academy, which bestows Emmy awards, said a disciplinary hearing set for November could lead to termination of his membership.

The producer (not pictured) who has ties to almost every big name in Hollywood worked with Emma in 2011 when she starred in his film My Week With Marilyn

Former friends: Emma, pictured above with Weinstein at a pre-BAFTA dinner in 2011

Speaking out: The Goodwill Ambassador for the UN said she was awestruck by the bravery of sexual harassment victims last month

He has already been expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Weinstein now faces criminal inquiries in three cities after an Italian actress told Los Angeles detectives that Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2013.

The film boss has previously denied 'any claims of non-consensual sex'.

Accusations: More than 40 women have now accused the 65-year-old Weinstein of harassment or abuse




She's the British actress who won a Golden Globe for her role as Anna Bates in the wildly popular Downton Abbey.

And two years on, Joanne Froggatt is returning to the small-screen in a very different role.

The 37-year-old harnesses her acclaimed acting abilities to play a school teacher who accuses a wealthy doctor of rape in Liar, set to premiere on Monday night.

New direction: Downtown Abbey star Joanne Froggatt is making a drastic departure from her career-defining role as Anna Bates, starring in the harrowing new series Liar

The six-part series is set in a small English town with Joanne's character Laura seen on a date with handsome widow Andrew, portrayed by Ioan Gruffodd, before the night goes terribly wrong.

However, while Laura claims she has been raped, Andrew denies the accusation, leaving viewers guessing as to who is telling the truth.

Speaking with The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, Joanne explained: 'As a viewer you absolutely do not know what really happened or who to believe'.

He said she said: Joanne plays Laura, a teacher who accuses Ioan Gruffudd's character of rape

She added: 'The viewer is taken to different versions of the truth'.

Meanwhile, Ioan also dished details on the show with the Telegraph.

The veteran actor, who has appeared in films such as Titanic, and Black Hawk Down, perhaps did not spruik the show best describing it as 'horrible to watch'.

Intense new role: The Golden Globe winner harnesses her acclaimed acting abilities in the new show

'Were not dismissing either side of the argument' he told The Telegraph.

The British program comes at a timely moment, with sexual assault allegations currently plaguing Hollywood.

In the wake of rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein, claims of sexual assault have been alleged at Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner and Jeremy Piven.
Australian rock music legends Midnight Oil played to an audience of 23,000 at The Domain, in Sydney on Saturday.

And Peter Garrett had a message for former Prime Minister Paul Keating, who on Friday criticised the band for using city park as the venue for their sold out shows over two weekends.

'Welcome to The Domain, the place where people listen to real music,' the 64-year-old frontman said on stage, according to News.com.au.

Aussie rock! Music legends Midnight Oil, lead by frontman Peter Garrett (pictured), played to an audience of 23,000 at The Domain, in Sydney on Saturday

Peter's message comes after Mr Keating criticised the choice of location for the band's concert.

The former PM recently told The Sydney Morning Herald: 'I'm surprised, having long espoused environmental and conservationist credentials that Peter Garrett would feel in any way comfortable squatting and profiting from Sydney's central piece of public land.'

'Peter knows all about sacred sites. This one is Sydney's,' Mr Keating added.

'Squatting and profiting from Sydney's central piece of public land': Peter Garrett had a sharp message for former Prime Minister Paul Keating, who on Friday criticised the band for using city park as the venue for their sold out shows over two weekends

Sharp message: 'Welcome to The Domain, the place where people listen to real music,' the 64-year-old frontman said on stage directed to the former Prime Minister

After the cheeky dig at the retired politician, the show went on to entertain the thousands of fans who wanted to hear some of their biggest hits including Beds Are Burning, Blue Sky Mine and The Dead Heart.

Later during the gig, Peter then took another swipe at Keating saying: 'I hope he's got his windows open and his Mahler (referring to classical composer Gustav Mahler) turned down ... try listening to Australian music.'

Meanwhile, injured guitarist and keyboardist Jim Moginie still gave it his all on stage, despite sitting on a chair.

Taking it easy: Injured guitarist and keyboardist Jim Moginie still gave it his all on stage sitting on a chair after he tripped and fell off the stage at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, in Melbourne, on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the 61-year-old was rushed to hospital after tripping and falling off the stage at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, in Melbourne.

Jim underwent MRI test scans that revealed he suffered a hamstring avulsion.

Fortunately for him, he was given the all clear by doctors to play the rest of the tour sitting down.
Over the summer he revealed his shock over his teenage daughter dating 34-year-old Scott Disick.

But Lionel Richie has now changed his tune, and is said to be 'very supportive' of his 19-year-old daughter Sofia's relationship with Kourtney Kardashian's ex.

This comes following reports that Scott has 'ditched his party lifestyle', reportedly crediting his new love for the change of pace.

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Supportive dad: Lionel Richie is no longer in shock and is said to be 'very supportive' of his 19-year-old daughter Sofia's relationship with Kourtney Kardashian's ex

According to TMZ he has been telling friends Sofia has been 'good for him', and since their relationship began over the summer he has chosen staying in with her over going out with pals.

The duo have been pictured on an array of holidays over recent months, including breaks to Mexico and Miami, but reportedly chose restaurants over clubs- with Sofia being under the legal age limit to drink.

Meanwhile Sofia's Hello hitmaker father originally said he was 'scared to death' at the thought of his 19-year-old daughter dating the 34-year-old reality star.

Growing up? This comes following reports that Scott has 'ditched his party lifestyle', reportedly crediting his new love for the change of pace

'He's good. He's been very nice. He's been very cool. He's very supportive, whatever that means,' Sophia said of her dad's support

Scott shares three children, Mason, seven, Penelope, five, and Reign, two, with his former partner Kourtney Kardashian - but Sofia has now insisted her father is 'cool' with the situation.

Speaking to E! News, Sofia said: 'He's good. He's been very nice. He's been very cool. He's very supportive, whatever that means.'

However while she gushed about her her dad's support, Lionel was seen jokingly making a gun gesture to his head, before being told off by his daughter.

Loved up: Scott has reportedly been telling friends Sofia has been 'good for him', and since their relationship began in the summer he has chosen staying in with her over going out with pals

'Have I been in shock?! I'm the dad, come on. I'm scared to death, are you kidding me?' Lionel, 68, previously expressed is concern at the 15 year age gap

Sofia's comments come after Lionel previously expressed is concern at the 15 year age gap between his daughter and the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star.

He said: 'Have I been in shock?! I'm the dad, come on. I'm scared to death, are you kidding me?'

Scott split from Kourtney in October 2015 after nine years together. They continue to co-parent sons Mason, seven, and Reign, two, and daughter Penelope, five.

Kourtney has since moved on with Younes Bendjima, 24.
She has fuelled rumours she could enter the I'm A Celebrity jungle after joining boyfriend Ryan Thomas in Australia just days before the new series.

But all eyes were on Lucy Mecklenburgh for a different reason on Saturday as she packed on the PDA with her actor beau Ryan Thomas at the sun-soaked Stakes Day Races in Melbourne.

The former TOWIE star, 26, and her ex Coronation Street boyfriend, 33, couldn't resist each other as they leaned in for a steamy kiss at the races, with Ryan holding onto his love as he whispered sweet nothings to her.

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I'm A Celeb rumours: All eyes were on Lucy Mecklenburgh for a different reason on Saturday as she packed on the PDA with her actor beau Ryan Thomas at the sun-soaked Stakes Day Races in Melbourne

Close: The former TOWIE star, 26, and her ex Coronation Street boyfriend, 33, couldn't resist each other as they leaned in for a steamy kiss at the races before staring at each other with affection

Lucy looked stunning in a powder blue floral tiered gown, which flashed the star's cleavage through a semi-sheer panel across the chest.

The elegant cinched in waist hugged the fitness fanatic's slender waist while the tiered skirt gave the outfit an effortlessly vintage feel.

Lucy paired the gown with silver sparkling stilettos and wore a Jane Taylor cream fascinator in her hair.

Her brunette locks were styled sleek and straight and she accentuated her pretty features with a light dusting of make-up.

Elegant: Lucy looked stunning in a powder blue floral tiered gown, which flashed the star's cleavage through a semi-sheer panel across the chest

Stylish couple: The elegant cinched in waist hugged the fitness fanatic's slender waist while the tiered skirt gave the outfit an effortlessly vintage feel

Chic: Matching her pastel palette, her hunky beau Ryan had also dressed to impress in an ivory jacket and waistcoat , paired with a navy and red polka dot tie, fitted blue shirt and dark chinos

Matching her pastel palette, her hunky beau Ryan had also dressed to impress in an ivory jacket and waistcoat , paired with a navy and red polka dot tie, fitted blue shirt and dark chinos.

He added an extra stylish edge with a cream panama hat and shades.

Earlier this week the star shared a snap of herself relaxing on the same roof terrace as Ryan - who is also hotly tipped to be heading to the jungle.

And eagle-eyed fans were quick to speculate that the couple might be tipped for the outback, with one follower writing 'Oh, I'm A Celeb is coming up... go figure!'

Rumour has it: Lucy fuelled rumours she could enter the I'm A Celebrity jungle after joining boyfriend Ryan in Australia just days before the new series

Lucy shared a shot of herself soaking up the rays on a lounger, which she captioned: 'Friday feeling #penthouse #melbourne #fridayvibes #travel #australia #penthousegoals.'

'So you and Ryan Thomas are in Oz, oh and I'm a celeb is coming up, go figure!' one fan wrote, while another speculated 'Jungle?'

Another defended Lucy, writing: 'She goes out with Ryan whos filming Neighbours so could just be out visiting him .'

Ryan posted a snap from the same spot, echoing his girlfriend's caption by writing 'Friday feeling'.

Hmm: The TOWIE star shared a snap of herself relaxing on the same roof terrace as Coronation Street star Ryan - who is also hotly tipped to be heading to the jungle

Looks familiar: Ryan posted a snap from the same spot, echoing his girlfriend's caption by writing 'Friday feeling'

Interesting: Lucy has flown out to visit Ryan, while he settles into his new role on the Australian soap, and has been documenting her stay in Melbourne on her own social media channels - but has noticeably chosen to keep her reunion with Ryan private

One follower penned: 'How you look when you know the jungle will be a holiday compared to the island. Thought he might be killing two birds with one stone.'

Ryan has been hotly tipped for the new series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here which is set to return to ITV on November 19. However, the lineup for the new series is yet to be confirmed.

Lucy has flown out to visit Ryan, while he settles into his new role on the Australian soap, and has been documenting her stay in Melbourne on her own social media channels - but has noticeably chosen to keep her reunion with Ryan private.

Speculation: Eagle-eyed fans were quick to speculate that the couple might be tipped for the outback, with one follower writing 'Oh, I'm A Celeb is coming up... go figure!

Exciting: Ryan has been hotly tipped for the new series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here which is set to return to ITV on November 19 - although the lineup for the new series is yet to be confirmed

What split? Ryan and Lucy have reunited in Melbourne, following his move to Australia to work on Neighbours, and he was seen proudly filming her dancing on Tuesday

She did, however, share snaps of her partying with Olympia Valance during the couple's recent get-together with friends.

His addition to the Neighbours cast was confirmed in October, with Lucy gushing that she was 'proud' of the star for landing his new role as Rafael Humphreys - described as a loner with dark secrets - two years after leaving Coronation Street.

Meanwhile the couple were rocked by claims that Lauren Goodger planned to enter the I'm A Celebrity jungle to flirt with Ryan.

Sources claimed she wanted to seek revenge on Lucy Mecklenburgh, who dated her ex-fiance Mark Wright six years ago.

However, Lauren has furiously denied reports she is planning to 'get her own back' on Lucy by 'flirting' with the online fitness guru's boyfriend Ryan on the new series ofI'm A Celebrity, branding the claims 'absolute rubbish'.

Awkward: Lauren Goodger, 31, has found herself at the centre of claims she is still holding a grudge when it comes to Mark Wright's past romance with Lucy Mecklenburgh and is planning to seek revenge on her former TOWIE co-star

Lucy had dated Mark back in 2011, following the breakdown of his relationship with Lauren, but their romance had been brief, as Mark later reunited with childhood sweetheart Lauren and popped the question.

Sources had claimed to Closer magazine that Lauren is still 'furious' over the short-lived romance, telling the publication: 'Lauren's never got over Lucy's 'affair', as she called it, with Mark and has held a grudge ever since.

'As soon as she saw Ryan was rumoured to join her in the jungle, she saw it as an opportunity to give Lucy a taste of her own medicine.'

They added: 'She's got no serious plans to steal Ryan, but she would like Lucy to realise how humiliating it felt for her when she was linked to Mark.'

However, when contacted by MailOnline, a representative for Lauren denied this is the case. They said: 'This is absolute rubbish and no truth in any of it!'

MailOnline have also contacted a representative for Lucy for comment.

'Absolute rubbish': But she has furiously denied reports she is planning to 'get her own back' on Lucy by 'flirting' with the online fitness guru's boyfriend Ryan Thomas on the new series of I'm A Celebrity

Rise to prominence: Lauren's relationship with ex-fiance Mark Wright saw her thrown into the spotlight seven years ago, with their engagement and subsequent split shortly after playing out for fans to see on The Only Way Is Essex

Lucy had previously dated Mark, who is now happily married to his actress wife Michelle Keegan, six years ago, following his brief split from Lauren.

Their romance had dominated the first series of TOWIE, where Lauren and Lucy were pitted against each other as love rivals and the latter was ultimately dumped by Mark at the end of the series.

Following his split with Lucy, Mark then rekindled his romance with Lauren and had proposed to his ex of 10 years in front of the cameras during series two of the ITVBe reality series.

Their engagement, however, was short-lived and the pair later went their separate ways, following claims Lauren had been 'unfaithful' to Mark.

Onscreen engagement: Mark had proposed to his ex of 10 years in front of the cameras during series two of the ITVBe reality series - their engagement, however, was short-lived and the pair later went their separate ways, following claims Lauren had been 'unfaithful' to Mark

Single again: Lauren went on to find love with her jailbird ex-beau Joey Morrison, but the pair split in September following 15 months of dating, while Joey was still in prison

Smitten: Mark is now happily married to his actress wife Michelle Keegan whom he married in May 2015

Lauren went on to find love with her jailbird ex-beau Joey Morrison, but the pair split in September following 15 months of dating, while Joey was still in prison.

Remaining on friendly terms, she admitted that the pair didn't 'fall out' and she holds nothing but respect for him now that their relationship has come to an end.

For over a year, Lauren had been forced to visit Joey in prison, as he has been in the midst of serving a 16 year violent drugs-related prison sentence. He was convicted of a string of offences, including possession of a firearm, kidnapping, blackmail and actual bodily harm, and is due for a 2018 release.

Lucy, meanwhile, is now dating actor Ryan, after romance blossomed for the pair while filming for Bear Grylls: Celebrity Island and in the midst of water shortages, extreme hunger and tropical storms.

Tangled history: Lucy had dated Mark back in 2011, following the breakdown of his relationship with Lauren, but their romance had been brief, as Mark later reunited with childhood sweetheart Lauren and popped the question

Loved-up: The brunette beauty is now dating actor Ryan, after romance blossomed for the pair while filming for Bear Grylls: Celebrity Island

Strength to strength? They continued their romance back on home soil and things appear to be serious between the pair, as Lucy has been introduced to Ryan's eight-year-old daughter Scarlet, whom he shares with Tina O'Brien

They continued their romance back on home soil and things appear to be serious between the pair, as Lucy has been introduced to Ryan's eight-year-old daughter Scarlet, whom he shares with Tina O'Brien.

Ryan is currently in Australia after landing himself a role on soap Neighbours. Lucy had gushed how 'proud' she was of her beau, following news of his new addition to the cast surfacing, but the couple found themselves facing speculation they had split recently.

Lucy appeared to make a cryptic dig at her beau by sharing a photo of a frog to her Instagram story and posting: 'I seem to attract frogs.'

While she never addressed the break up claims, Lucy appears to have since put the rumours to bed by tagging her beau in her social media activity since.

New chapter: Ryan is currently in Australia after landing himself a role on soap Neighbours and Lucy had gushed how 'proud' she was of her beau, following news of his new addition to the cast surfacing

Known for wanting to keep their relationship private, she has made sure not to discuss the swirling claims, but did admit it can be 'confusing' when her social media posts are taken out of context in an interview with MailOnline.

'I am used to it, you can never please anyone no matter what you post. It's very, very odd. I've learnt to deal with it,' she claimed.

'I've been in the public eye since I was 19, I'm 26 now. It's confusing sometimes, but you have to let it go ahead over your head.'
It's been just over year since his split from longtime girlfriend Naomi Watts.

And Liev Schreiber was looking a little downcast as he bundled up to cycle around a very cold Manhattan on Friday.

Still, the 50-year-old had his cute little terrier Woody for company.

Love the wheels: Liev Schreiber was spotted cycling around a very cold Manhattan with his rescue pup Woody strapped to his chest on Friday

And the concerned doggy daddy made sure the pup kept warm on a day when the temperature fell to 38F by carrying him in a bag strapped to his chest.

Woody is one of two tiny terriers displaced when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas that Liev adopted when he met them on Live With Kelly And Ryan in September.

'I just had a dust up with one of your producers,' the actor told hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, jokingly annoyed.

'I dont think its fair or appropriate that your producers get to take all of the dogs that came from Houston.'

Doggy daddy: The concerned Ray Donovan made sure the tiny terrier kept warm on a day when the temperature fell to 38F by carrying him in a bag strapped to his chest

The Ray Donovan star added: 'My sons want a dog and I found the perfect dog, but one of your producers already wants my dog.'

'I think this is going to work out for you,' Ryan assured him.

Liev shares nine-year-old Sasha and eight-year-old Kai with Naomi, 49. The pair were together for 11 years before their split in September 2016.

Staying warm: The actor was well wrapped up in a blue jacket with the hood up over his beanie, blue sweat pants and gloves but, strangely, didn't wear any socks to keep his feet warm

He video-chatted with his family to get their approval and was able to take home both the refugee pups he had fallen in love with.

It seems he kept Woody leaving Naomi and their boys to name their little female pup.

The former couple have remained close as they co-parent their two sons together.

Before the split: Liev with Naomi Watts and their boys nine-year-old Sasha and eight-year-old Kai at a special screening of The Peanuts Movie in New York in November 2015

But both are moving on romantically. Naomi is reportedly dating her TV 'husband' Billy Crudup, 49, from Netflix series Gypsy.

The pair were spotted holding hands at a cafe in New York City in July and an eyewitness said they 'looked happy and were laughing a lot, then left again holding hands.'

Liev has been linked to Gerard Butler's ex Morgan Brown and a mystery platinum blonde.
Stick with me on this... it'll all come together in a minute. Many years ago, an old, old friend of mine had a rental property in Malibu and he rented it to a young married couple. Eventually they stopped paying rent on time and then stopped paying rent altogether... and it got worse from there. One day my friend gets a call from the FBI telling him they're about to raid the house, explaining that he has nothing to fear and that it was just the tenants who were involved in a ponzi scheme. The wifey was Paul Manafort's daughter, Jessica and her hubby was notorious real estate crook Jeffrey Yohai. More recently Yohai swindled Dustin Hoffman and his son, Jacob Hoffman, out of $3 million

...Companies controlling Yohais four L.A.-area properties-- the ones on Blue Jay Way and Stradella Road and two others in Los Feliz-- filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December. The properties each entered foreclosure proceedings last year after Yohai defaulted on loans attached to them, real estate records show. They had been scheduled to be sold in trustees sales late last year, but that was delayed by the bankruptcies.

The Hoffmans werent the only high-profile investors in Yohais business. Manafort, his wife Kathleen and daughter Jessica-- who is married to Yohai-- invested $4.7 million in the developers L.A.-area projects, according to bankruptcy filings. The biggest of those investments was a $2.7-million loan made by Manafort last year to the now-bankrupt company that owns a property on Stradella Road in Bel-Air, documents show.

Jessica filed for divorce soon after the FBI started talking with Yohai late last winter about putting her father in prison. Early in Octoberreported that Yohai has been cooperating with the Feds and accuses his father-in-law of conspiring to mislead a federal bankruptcy court about real estate investments

Yohai's filing alleged that Manafort and others had misled him and the court about the funding and ownership of the companies that have proposed to clear up the bankruptcy issues. He questioned whether the rescue plan had sufficient funds to finalize the deal.

...FBI investigators are also examining financial transactions between Manafort and Yohai, the New York Times reported in June. Separately, Politico reported that federal investigators had sought Yohai's cooperation, while CNN reported that he had met with investigators. It is unclear whether Mueller's investigation has included the real estate issues now in bankruptcy court.

Yohai has worked in real estate in California and New York, business and court records show. Part of that work has focused on buying upscale homes in the Los Angeles area, renovating them and then marketing and reselling the properties to luxury buyers. Four of the properties he planned to redevelop now are in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Yohai's legal declaration alleged that Manafort and other parties in the cases "have all conspired to mislead this court ... as to their true intentions and motivations."

It looks to me like Yohai and Jessica moved from small time swindling to major money laundering on behalf of Manafort and-- what else?-- Russia criminals. High end real estate, as you know by now, is how crooks from around the world launder their ill-gotten gains.

The revelation about investigators interest in Mr. Yohais activities comes amid indications that the scrutiny of Mr. Manafort has intensified. Besides the F.B.I. and congressional inquiries, the New York State attorney generals office has opened a preliminary inquiry focused on certain real estate dealings involving Mr. Manafort, according to a third person with direct knowledge of the matter.





Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that federal officials had requested his bank records from Citizens Financial Group, and NBC News said a subpoena had been issued for records related to a $3.5 million loan obtained last August by a shell company, Summerbreeze L.L.C., linked to Mr. Manafort. The New York Times first reported on the existence of the loan in April.





...The Summerbreeze loan was part of a series of mortgages over the past year, totaling $20 million, secured by properties belonging to Mr. Manafort or his wife. Some of that money appears to have been used by Mr. Manafort to try to salvage his investments with Mr. Yohai. Court records show that Mr. Manafort and his wife invested at least $4 million in several California properties, part of a real estate business that one of Mr. Manaforts daughters described as a joint venture between her father and Mr. Yohai.





The partnership was unexpected given Mr. Manaforts early opinion of his son-in-law, as described in text messages belonging to Andrea Manafort, one of Mr. Manaforts two daughters, which were hacked last year and posted on a website used by Ukrainian hackers. In the messages, Ms. Manafort said in 2013 that her father wholeheartedly opposes her sister Jessicas marriage to Mr. Yohai, whose financial problems had deeply concerned Mr. Manafort.





Yet within two years, Mr. Yohai, who had a degree in journalism and became a real estate professional only in 2011, was forming shell companies to purchase luxury properties in the Hollywood Hills, worth tens of millions of dollars, which Mr. Manafort would put money into. Mr. Manafort was more than a passive investor; Jessica Manafort told her sister last year that Mr. Yohai had a contract that says dad and him are 50/50 business partners.





He flew out to California and helped Jeff completely reorganize and set up his business, wrote Jessica Manafort, who filed for divorce in March.





While Mr. Yohai borrowed millions from banks and obtained money from investors, he also intimated he had access to large amounts of cash. In January 2016, he offered $7 million in cash for a mansion whose owner, a Russian businessman, was in debt to several associates from Russia who had liens on the house. Mr. Yohai put $160,000 down to secure the mansion deal, but by June 2016 had backed out of it and forfeited the deposit.





A month later he appeared on a reality television show, Million Dollar Listing, and proposed buying three apartment units in New York City for $15 million in cash; the real estate agent said on the show that he had seen proof of funds. When a friend texted Andrea Manafort, asking if her sister and Mr. Yohai really had access to that kind of money, Ms. Manafort replied, Of course they dont.





Her hubby is running a Ponzi scheme, Ms. Manafort wrote. Im sure of it.





That is what Mr. Yohai was accused of in a lawsuit filed in November by an investor in Mr. Yohais real estate business. The suit asserted that Mr. Yohai employed a web of dozens of limited liability companies to repay early investors with money from new investors to create the illusion of a quick and large return on their investments.





The lawsuit-- filed by Guy Aroch, a fashion photographer who said he invested $2.9 million with Mr. Yohai-- also accuses Mr. Yohai of taking advantage of his connection to Mr. Manafort to meet celebrities and public figures. It is unclear how Mr. Hoffman and his son, Jacob, came to invest $3 million in one of Mr. Yohais deals that has since gone bankrupt; a photo shows Mr. Yohai and Jacob Hoffman together at a launch party for a website in 2015.





A representative for the Hoffmans did not respond to a request for comment.





Mr. Yohai denied Mr. Arochs accusations in a court filing, and said the lawsuit invoked Mr. Manaforts name in an improper effort to attract publicity. Mr. Yohai and Mr. Manafort have the same lawyer.





This allegation that I participated in fraud and criminal activity is obviously an extremely derogatory accusation that will harm my reputation, he said in the filing.





Many of Mr. Manaforts real estate purchases over the years coincided with his long-running work as a political consultant to the Russia-backed Party of Regions in Ukraine. During his time there, Mr. Manafort used a network of shell companies in the tax havens of Cyprus and Belize to move money around and collect payments from clients, who, in addition to the Ukrainians, included Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with whom Mr. Manafort partnered in investments.





Back in the United States, Mr. Manafort created still more shell companies to make cash purchases of expensive properties for millions of dollars and other investments. His Los Angeles investments were handled through a limited liability company called Baylor Holding, in which Mr. Manafort and Mr. Yohai were partners, according to court records.





In a deposition related to Mr. Arochs lawsuit, Mr. Yohai said his California real estate business operated under the name Marin West and was focused on buying and redeveloping luxury homes in exclusive neighborhoods around Hollywood. Although he was the sole owner of Marin West, Mr. Yohai seemed ignorant of important details, saying he was not sure when it was created or where it was incorporated, and was uncertain who wrote the content for its website. He speculated it could have been written by someone he described as kind of like the accountant for Marin West.





I think he wrote this bio, Mr. Yohai said, referring to a description of himself that appeared on the site. I honestly dont know.
Star Trek icon George Takei has denied he sexually assaulted former male model Scott Brunton while the young man was passed out in his Los Angeles condo in 1981.

The star, 80, took to social media to defend himself on Saturday.

Takei said that the event 'simply did not occur' and he added that he does not know why the model has made these claims now, 36 years later.

Not me: George Takei has been denied he sexually assaulted former male model Scott Brunton while the young man was passed out in his Los Angeles condo in 1981; seen in February

His big role: The star played Sulu on Star Trek in both the TV show and the movies

He also said he cannot even 'remember Mr Brunton.'

George began his Twitter chain with: 'I'm writing to respond to the accusations made by Scott R. Bruton.

'I want to assure you all that I am as shocked and bewildered at these claims as you must feel reading them.'

His next tweet read: 'The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now. I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do.'

Nope: Takei said that the event 'simply did not occur' and he added that he does not know why the model has made these claims now, 36 years later

More: He also said he cannot remember the man who has made the accusation

He is taking this seriously: George added that he takes the claims 'very seriously'

His take on it all: George said it was a 'he said / he said situation'

His partner backs him up: He added that his partner of more than 30 years 'stands fully by my side'

He is happy that his fans have his back too: Takei ended by saying, 'Thanks to many of you for all the kind words and trust'

The star's third tweet added: 'But I do take these claims very seriously, and I wanted to provide my response thoughtfully and not out of the moment.'

He continued: 'Right now it is a he said / he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago.

'But those that know me understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful..'

George then said his husband was fully supporting him: 'Brad, who is 100 percent beside me on this, as my life partner of more than 30 years and now my husband, stands fully by my side.'

He has been wed to George Altman since 2008.

'I cannot tell you how vital it has been to have his unwavering support and love in these difficult times,' added the Mulan actor.

At work: Scott Brunton said he met Takei in 1981 when he was living in Hollywood and had just broken up with his boyfriend. Takei is pictured (above) with James Doohan and DeForest Kelley

His last tweet was: 'Thanks to many of you for all the kind words and trust. It means so much to us. Yours in gratitude, George.'

Brunton came forward to say he was groped by the actor when he was just 24, claiming Takei - then aged 43 or 44-years-old - took advantage of him just after a breakup.

'This happened a long time ago, but I have never forgotten it,' Brunton told the The Hollywood Reporter.

'It is one of those stories you tell with a group of people when people are recounting bizarre instances in their lives, this always comes up. I have been telling it for years, but I am suddenly very nervous telling it.'

He is shocked by the claims: Takei is seen here in Los Angeles in July

The former model said he encountered Takei when he was living in Hollywood and working as a waiter at the beginning of his career at Greg's Blue Dot Bar.

He said he exchanged numbers with the actor, and on occasion the pair called each other or ran into each other at different clubs.

When Brunton broke up with the man he was dating at the time, he told Takei, who took the opportunity to invite the model to dinner and the theater.

'He was very good at consoling me and understanding that I was upset and still in love with my boyfriend,' Brunton told THR.

After dinner that night the two men went back to Takei's home for a drink.

Brunton alleged Takei invited him back to his condo and made him a drink that caused him to pass out. Takei is pictured on the set of Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country in 1991

Just a few sips into his second drink, which Takei made for him, he said he started feeling unwell.

'I have the second one, and then all of a sudden I begin feeling very disoriented and dizzy, and I thought I was going to pass out,' he explained.

'I said I need to sit down and he said sit over here and he had the giant yellow beanbag chair. So I sat down in that and leaned my head back and I must have passed out.'

He said that after a while he woke up with his pants around his ankles and Takei groping his crotch and trying to get his underwear off.

'I came to and said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I don't want to do this," Brunton told THR.

His early years in Hollywood: George is seen here in Star Trek the TV series in the 1960s

'He goes, "You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable."'

Brunton said he he managed to gather enough strength to push Takei off of him and then went to his car and waited until he felt well enough to drive himself home.

'That was that,' he said of the encounter.

Four of Brunton's close friends told THR that he had confided in them about the alleged assault years ago.

Now, years after the incident, he said he is coming out with his story after seeing Takei's statement about Kevin Spacey to THR on October 30.

After Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey took advantage of him, the actor used the opportunity to come out as gay.

Takei apparently took offense to that, and aid: 'Men who improperly harass or assault do not do so because they are gay or straight - that is a deflection,' in a statement to THR.

'They do so because they have the power, and they chose to abuse it.'

Brunton said the response infuriated him.

Takei's representative, Julia Buchwald, didn't outright deny the allegations to THR, but said they cannot give his comment at the present time.

'George is traveling in Japan and Australia and not reachable for comment,' she said in a statement.

The 80-year-old rose to fame in his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek television series. Since then he has become an outspoken activist advocate for LGBTQ rights.
She rose to fame as Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale back in 2005.

And while her soap days may now be behind her, Jenna Coleman, 31, ensured all eyes were on her as she attended the Heroes Comic Con Convention in Madrid on Saturday.

The actress looked stunning in a navy polka dot frock for the three-day event - that primarily showcases TV, comics and film, with conferences and talks from the likes of actress Lena Headey and director Frank Miller.

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Spotted ensemble: Jenna Coleman, 31, looked stunning in a navy blue polka dot frock as she attended the Heroes Comic Con Convention in Madrid on Saturday

Her stylish smock-inspired number billowed out around her slender frame, with Jenna forced to pick up the skirt of her dress as she walked out on stage, and boasted ruched sleeves.

Opting for a relaxed look, Jenna paired her dazzling ensemble with casual trainers as she spoke to fans at the conference. The English actress dressed her raven locks in loose waves, while her lips were painted in berry coloured lipstick.

Jenna was joined by Game of Thrones star Lena Headey, 44, who recently starred as Ellen in the crime film Thumper.

Relaxed and chic: Opting for relaxed look, Jenna paired her dazzling dress with casual trainers

Inspiring: The English actress dressed her raven locks in loose waves, while her lips were painted in berry coloured lipstick as she spoke to fans at the event

Stunning: Jenna was joined by Lena Headey, 44, who recently starred as Ellen in the crime film Thumper

This event follows her stylish appearance at British Vogue's December edition dinner on Tuesday.

The TV and film star cut a regal figure in gorgeous flowing silver dress which she teamed with an oversized suede coat as she sashayed along in the rain.

Jenna made for a captivating display as she made her way into the River Cafe in London for the event hosted by Vogue's new director, Edward Enninful.

Here she comes: Jenna Coleman looked absolutely ravishing as she made a stylish appearance at British Vogue's December edition dinner on Tuesday

The brunette beauty, who played legendary Queen Victoria in the popular ITV period drama, is in a romance with Tom Hughes.

The duo are believed to have just moved in with one another, after pictures captured them moving suitcases into a new home.

Jenna and Tom met on the set of period drama Victoria, which follows the relationship of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert.

During filming it was said that their 'chemistry was electric' as the married couple and they went public with their romance in late 2016.
She welcomed daughter Dream one year ago.

So Blac Chyna was ready to celebrate Friday, seen stepping out in subdued-yet-sexy black separates in Los Angeles.

The 29-year-old displayed her taut tummy and tattoo-adorned flank wearing a cropped sweater and tight leggings while she and beau Playboi Carti challenged each other to arcade games at one-year-old Dream's birthday party.

Chyna's ex Rob Kardashian as well as his sisters Kim, Khloe and Kylie had earlier thrown a party for Dream that Chyna did not seem to attend.

Abs-olutely lovely! Blac Chyna displayed her flat abs in subdued-yet-sexy black separates while celebrating daughter Dream's first birthday in Los Angeles Friday

Chyna's belly baring top and form-fitting black leggings left little to the imagination at the bowling alley celebration.

Chyna, real name Angela Renee White, had her ever-changing tresses styled into smooth, dark strands that hung all the way down to her mid-thighs.

The starlet sported a jewel-encrusted Playboy Bunny pendant which belonged to rapper Playboi Carti, 21.

The social media sensation briefly donned a distressed denim jacket on the outside, before taking off her outer layer to shoot some baskets besides the Atlanta rapper.

Swoosh! The ex of Rob Kardashian's donned a belly baring top and form-fitting black leggings to the bowling alley celebration where she was joined by rumored beau Playboi Carti

Intertesting connection: Chyna's new flame Playboi Carti donned a white shirt that was designed by rapper Travis Scott, who happenes to be Kylie Jenner's boyfriend

Before stepping out on the town, Chyna shared a detailed shot of the piece on Snapchat, displaying a studded collar, sparkling pins and plenty of patches.

Chyna's new flame Playboi Carti, who was born Jordan Terrell Carter, dressed up a white shirt and jeans with several heavy chains.

Interestingly, the Magnolia rhymer's shirt came from rapper Travis Scott's capsule collection with brand Tsubi.

Before stepping out on the town, Chyna shared a detailed shot of the piece on Snapchat, displaying a studded collar, sparkling pins and plenty of patches

Long hair, don't care! Chyna, real name Angela Renee White, had her ever-changing tresses styled into smooth, dark strands that hung all the way down to her mid-thighs

Scott is reportedly expecting a child with Kylie, who was famously linked to Chyna's baby-daddy Tyga.

Miss Jenner is also the half-sister of Chyna's former fiance Rob.

Chyna and Carti were first linked in late October when the Lookin rapper made several appearances on the video vixen's Snapchat.

The pair were seen looking particularly close during last weekend's ComplexCon in Los Angeles.

Special delivery! A lavish birthday cake for Dream was brought on Sunday for the birthday girl

A post shared by ChyNLauren (@chyboog) on Nov 4, 2017 at 5:19pm PDT

Meanwhile, Blac's legal battle with the Kardashian family is still underway.

It was reported on Thursday that Blac has dropped her lawsuit against some of the Kardashian members.

Last month the 29-year-old reality star filed court documents against ex-fiancee Rob and his 'powerful, vindictive family', accusing them of 'slut-shaming' her, - but she has now dropped Kourtney and Khloe and Kylie and Kendall from the list of defendants.

Kim and Kris are still named in the suit, however.
She's just opened up about the tragic fatal stabbing at her Sydney investment property.

And on Friday, model Gemma Ward was pictured talking to crowds at the 2017 Australian Fashion Laureate in-conversation series, in Sydney.

The 30-year-old blonde stunned in a white floaty dress, as she joined designer Collette Dinnigan on stage.

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Gemma Ward (R) stuns in a white floaty dress as she joins Collette Dinnigan (L) at a fashion event...after breaking her silence on the tragic fatal stabbing at her Sydney home

Gemma turned heads in her frock, which featured a high neck and long sleeves.

The beauty had her long locks out and over her shoulders in loose tousled curls, and wore makeup including dewy foundation and lashings of mascara.

Collette meanwhile, looked smart in a white shirt and khaki trousers.

Sitting pretty: The beauty had her long locks out and over her shoulders in loose tousled curls, and wore makeup including dewy foundation and lashings of mascara

Stylish: Collette meanwhile, looked smart in a white shirt and khaki trousers

Gemma also attended the event earlier this week, and has just opened up about the tragic fatal stabbing at her Sydney investment property.

The catwalk queen - who lives in Byron Bay with her family - said she won't be deterred from returning to the Avalon area where the crime occurred.

Her investment property was the location of the tragic alleged murder of her tenant Lanell Latta, back in September.

'I love Sydney so there will always be a place in my heart for it,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

Sad: The model has just opened up about the tragic fatal stabbing at her Sydney investment property

Making headlines: Her investment property (seen) was the location of the tragic alleged murder of her tenant Lanell Latta, back in September

The publication reports that Gemma, her husband David Letts and their two children could possibly move back to the Northern Beaches area in the near future.

Last month, heartbroken Gemma sold her beachside property less than a month after her tenant Lanell Latta was stabbed to death inside.

The supermodel paid $1.6 million for the two-bedroom home in Avalon on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

The property is perched on a hill on Marine Drive, surrounded by trees and with access to Tallow Beach.

Gemma was leasing the property to Lanell Latta, 50, before she was allegedly murdered there in September.
He's one of Australia's biggest radio stars.

And this week, Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones has opened up about his life and childhood.

The 49-year-old revealed he committed a 'crime' in year six with some of his catholic school mates, admitting: 'I live it everyday.'

'I live it every day': Radio star Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones reveals he committed a 'crime' as a school kid in year six (seen with radio co-star, Amanda Keller)

The personality, who is based in Sydney's Sutherland Shire, told The Daily Telegraph he and his friends once dragged a metal roller from an oval before it smashed into a man's car port.

'It missed his car but it took out the pole and the carport fell down,' Brendan said, with the roller being the size of a small car.

Brendan and his mates - who attended De La Salle College in Caringbah - were shocked and fled the scene immediately.

The 'crime': The personality, who is based in Sydney's Sutherland Shire, told The Daily Telegraph he and his friends once dragged a metal roller from an oval before it smashed into a man's car port

They said they lied and said they were sitting on the roller and it rolled away, which was believed.

But Brendan said he still feels guilty, as it would of caused a serious accident.

'I still go past Woolooware Oval and think about what if a kid was walking down the street, or a car was driving by or a guy on his motorbike was hit...I live it every day,' he said.

Brendan is known for co-hosting Jonesy and Amanda on WSFM.

Guilt: But Brendan said he still feels guilty, as it would of caused a serious accident (He's seen with his siblings when he was younger)

Co-star: Brendan is known for co-hosting Jonesy and Amanda on WSFM

In 2014, he made headlines for having a motorbike accident, forcing him to take a few days off work to recover.

Last month, Amanda spoke about fame, and gave rare advice on how to find it 'without being pushy.'

Speaking to Rachel Corbett on the 'You've Got To Start Somewhere,' podcast, the 55-year-old's ideas appeared at-odds with today's crowd of 'forceful' fame-seekers.

'I was never a pushy, ambitious person and so I would never have just turned up and said "I deserve to be in front of the camera,"' she claimed.

Then added: 'I was never that person.'

Amanda got her start as a researcher on Ray Martin's Midday show before becoming a segment producer on the show in 1985.

She claimed it was hard work and dedication that got her a shot at being in front of the camera.
It was a shock to many, back in October, when The X Factor's Matt Linnen casually dropped into conversation during an interview with MailOnline that he was a father to three sons.

And in the same interview, the 28-year-old heartthrob insisted that he wouldn't be referencing the children on the show, stating that 'I'm in the public eye, not them'.

However, the singing hopeful seems to have changed his mind, as Saturday night's show featured a VT that was all about him and his children.

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'I would go to the depths of hell for them!' Matt Linnen gushes over sons as they are featured in his VT... despite him previously pledging he wouldn't 'use' them for the show

There they are: It was a shock to many, back in October, when The X Factor's Matt casually dropped into conversation during an interview with MailOnline that he was a father to three sons

The video followed Matt as he spent the afternoon with two of the three children, who are all under 10.

He also showed the camera a video message from his third child, who is Spanish and lives abroad.

'I was 19 when I first became a dad,' Matt explained. 'I don't want to get too soppy but I didn't know I felt love like that til I had kids.

'I would die for them, I would go to the depths of hell for them.'

He remarked that 'it's hard for them' to have a father that doesn't live with them

Backtracking: The 28-year-old heartthrob previously insisted that he wouldn't be referencing the children on the show, stating that 'I'm in the public eye, not them'

Contradiction: However, the singing hopeful seems to have changed his mind, as Saturday night's show featured a VT that was all about him and his children

Matt was then seen taking the two British children for dinner, with a lot of 'you're the best daddy in the whole world' and 'I love you to infinity' being thrown around.

This seems to directly contradict Matt's previous statement that his music 'isnt to do with my kids'.

'Ive seen it as a separate thing. Im in the public eye, not them. I have a supportive family, but my children don't really know about what's going on,' he added at the time.

Matt admitted he's doing The X Factor to make a better life for his family as well as for himself, and also remarked that he doesn't want to 'use' the children as a way to pull on the nation's heartstrings.

Living apart: He also showed the camera a video message from his third child, who is Spanish and lives abroad

Father of three: The video followed Matt as he spent the afternoon with two of the three children, who are all under 10

Keeping them out of it: The plasterer, 28, has explained his reasons for not bringing his personal life into the process thus far, namely that he wants to keep his eight, six and four-year-old kids out of the public eye

'I do worry that people think,' he said.

The former plasterer's boys are eight, six and four-years-old and didn't mention them once during the audition process.

He is not in a relationship with any of the children's mothers, and spoke about the attention he's been getting thanks to his rugged good looks, having been branded the heartthrob of the competition.

Young dad: He is not in a relationship with any of the children's mothers, and spoke about the attention he's been getting thanks to his rugged good looks, having been branded the heartthrob of the competition

He elaborated: 'My music isnt to do with my kids, really. Ive seen it as a separate thing. Im in the public eye, not them'

'Its flattering  it's nice,' he said, coyly. 'It's a little hard to take; but if it gets me votes then Ill take that,' he added, jokingly.

Matt was saved from elimination once again during Saturday evening's episode of The X Factor, with double-act Jack and Joey getting the axe and Kevin Davy White winning the most votes of the evening, meaning he's in the running to support Little Mix on tour.
From fighter to farmer: Ex-militiaman Richard Ngueringu feeds the animals at his agricultural cooperative in Bambari

Around him, pigs squeal and goats bleat and beat their hooves in excitement as feeding time approaches.

Life has changed a lot for Richard Ngueringu, a former militiaman in his early thirties who has witnessed some of worst things that humanity can offer.

Once a member of a so-called self-defence group, he says he has witnessed hundreds of killings, as well as atrocities, in Central African Republic's years-long conflict.

Today, in the central town of Bambari, he has swapped his weapon for a bucket of corn meal, under an innovative scheme to help former fighters return to civilian life.

"Before the troubles began, I was a farmer. In fact I took over this farm, when my parents died. This is where we grew up," says Ngueringu, a giant of a man who gestures at the walls with powerful, ditch-delver hands.

"I want to show what our fathers did to feed us, to help us and aid our families."

- Poverty and instability -

Seen from the outside, such thinking may seem hugely ambitious, given CAR's mountainous problems.

Deeply poor and chronically unstable, the country has been gripped by conflict since 2013.

Longtime leader Francois Bozize was overthrown by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance, the Seleka, unleashing a counter-offensive by so-called self-defence militias, the "anti-balaka."

France intervened militarily and the UN has deployed one of its biggest peacekeeping forces to the country.

But most of CAR's territory remains in the hands of militia groups and violence -- committed in the name of ethnicity or religion -- is common.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 900,000 people displaced, almost a quarter of the total population.

In the midst of this gloom, Ngueringu and a group of other local fighters have chosen to try to return to ordinary life.

He has founded an agricultural cooperative called Kekereke-Ti-Ye, meaning "Our Future," in the local sango language.

"If you remain locked in violent behaviour, you will have nothing to eat and you will suffer hugely," Ngueringu says.

"I brought in young ex-fighters to help with the project. I explained to them the importance of getting together as a group to do farming, which was what we used to do before the troubles."

The "troubles" lasted five years, when Bambari was used as a base for a militia group called the UPC -- the Union for Peace in Centrafrique -- drawn from the Fula people, also called Fulani.

Ngueringu was a "section leader" in the anti-balaka. Clashes in Bambari and the Ouaka region at the turn of last year left dozens of people dead.

- Fighters turn farmers -

Although violence continues in the region, his cooperative now employs 22 young men and eight young women, all of them former fighters.

"I couldn't manage a farm all by myself," he says.

Ngueringu's farm has since been integrated into a UN programme after being spotted by the local NGO Esperance, meaning Hope.

"We see that people want to leave, they are tired of the fighting," says Rosmon Zokue, with the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Former fighters receive tools from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation to help their change to civilian life

The FAO supplies the farm with so-called "installation kits" that includes vital agricultural items such as wheel barrows, spades, boots and veterinary kits.

The scheme is part of the UN's peacekeeping strategy to reconstruct CAR through "disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration" -- a process launched by the government in September.

"The goal is to train young people in techniques for growing vegetables and self-sufficiency. We have to boost their capacity for resilience," says Grace-a-Dieu Sathe Demonkombona of the FAO.

The FAO aims to expand the scheme to involve some 1,300 young people in Bambari and a further 3,000 across the country.

- 'Very bad things' -

Ismael, a 17-year-old former anti-Balaka fighter, takes a break during reconstruction work on the farm. His goal is to become a pig farmer.

One potential new recruit is Ismael, a 17-year-old former anti-balaka member, who wants to become a pig farmer because the militia "do not pay you and you die unnecessarily".

When asked about his past, Ismael says, several times, "I didn't do anything." But, eventually, he admits: "I went on patrols with my friend, and we did very bad things."

One of the main challenges of the programme will be to engage fighters in agricultural work, but also persuade them to ditch their weapons forever, even if conflict again breaks out.

"The development of the town is going to go hand-in-hand with re-establishing peace and security and social cohesion," says Bertrand Touaboy, CAR's minister of entrepreneurship.

"Without it, this project will have developed nothing but words."

The reporter asks Ismael if he would again take up arms if Seleka rebels returned to the town.

He hesitates, smiles and looks at his shoes before saying: "I gave up working for the anti-balaka".
After days of talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Danang, the so-called TPP-11 nations made a breakthrough early Saturday, a day after Donald Trump's ladled out more 'America First' rhetoric in an address to world leaders

Ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed Saturday to press ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's "America First" policy.

Trump pulled his country from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreement heralded for tying lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections.

He has been something of a lone protectionist voice at the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang where world leaders, including China's Xi Jinping, have been keen to promote the virtues of free trade and multilateral deals.

In a joint statement Saturday morning, the remaining countries -- dubbed the TPP-11 -- said they had "agreed on the core elements" of a deal at the sidelines of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, after days of stalled talks raised fears it could collapse altogether.

The ministers said further talks would be needed to reach a full consensus before inking the deal, which now carries an even longer official name -- the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

US President Donald Trump attends the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in the central Vietnamese city of Danang

Japan's lead negotiator Toshimitsu Motegi said the remaining members would still welcome the United States back into their pact.

"This time all the 11 countries are on board and this would send out a very strong positive message to the United States and other Asia Pacific countries in the region," he said.

Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's trade minister, described the breakthrough in a tweet as "big progress".

Canada had held out to maintain environmental and labour protections linked to freer markets in the deal.

Those elements were thrown into jeopardy by America's sudden withdrawal from the deal earlier this year.

Canada had dug in over those progressive clauses. But they are much less attractive to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Chile and Peru now that the carrot of access to the huge US market has been pulled.

- Upended consensus -

Trump's election has upended years of American-led moves to open up global trade.

The US president is among leaders attending the APEC summit in Danang and on Friday he ladled out more of his trademark "America First" rhetoric.

China's President Xi Jinping (L) shakes hands with Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang upon arrival for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting

In a strident address he said his country will "no longer tolerate" unfair trade, closed markets and intellectual property theft.

"We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more," he added, taking a swipe at multilateral trade deals.

Shortly after, China's Xi offered a starkly different vision, casting his country as the new global leader for free trade.

Beijing is not included in the TPP, a deal initially driven through by the former US administration as a counterweight to surging Chinese power in Asia.

China has since sought to fill the free trade gap left by the United States, even if much of its own market remains protected.

Japan, the world's third largest economy, has been particularly active in pushing for a swift consensus on TPP, fearful that delays could lead to the collapse of the pact after years of negotiations and hand more regional influence to China.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting

But Canada has pushed back against a quick fix.

"This is about setting the terms of trade for generations," a Canadian delegation source told AFP.

Analysts say the provisional deal reached in Danang will breath new life into global free trade deals at a time when the United States is turning its back on them.

Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, told AFP that even without the US, TPP-11 is "the most important trade agreement signed in the last 20 years".

"Companies had largely given up on the TPP after the withdrawal of the United States," she said. "Now firms will need to scramble to figure out how the agreement matters to their business."

At the APEC summit on Saturday Trump faces a long day of meetings with world leaders who are all pushing for more open trade.

As well as Xi, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Japan's Shinzo Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau are among those attending.

The original TPP deal was once described by the US as a "gold standard" for all free trade agreements because it went far beyond just cutting tariffs.

It included removing a slew of non-tariff restrictions and required members to comply with a high level of regulatory standards in areas like labour law, environmental protection, intellectual property and government procurement.

Without the US, TPP-11 only represents 13.5 percent of the global economy but the remaining countries are scrambling to avoid the deal's collapse, especially given the increasingly protectionist winds sweeping through the United States and Europe.

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Nuclear-armed North Korea regularly denounces joint US and South Korean military drills as rehearsals for invasion

South Korean warships joined three US aircraft carriers Saturday in an unusually strong display of naval force aimed at North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions have been a focus of US President Donald Trump's ongoing tour of Asia.

The four-day joint exercise in the western Pacific involves three flattops -- USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt -- and seven South Korean warships including three destroyers, Seoul's defence ministry said.

It is the first such triple-carrier drill in the region for a decade.

"The exercise is aimed at enhancing deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and showing off preparedness to fend off any provocative acts by the North," a ministry spokesman said.

Nuclear-armed North Korea regularly denounces such military drills as rehearsals for invasion and sometimes conducts its own military manoeuvres or missile tests in response.

The US warships will carry out air defence drills, sea surveillance, defensive air combat training and other training operations, the US Navy said.

The exercises come on the heels of Trump's visits to Seoul and Beijing this week, which were dominated by the question of how to counter Pyongyang's nuclear weapons threat.

In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned North Korea not to underestimate the United States, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.
Iraqi forces advance towards the town of Al-Qaim near the Syrian border on November 3, 2017 as they battle the last remnants of the Islamic State group

Iraqi forces seized several villages from the Islamic State group on Saturday in an operation to retake the last pocket of jihadist-held territory in the country, the operation's commander said.

The Euphrates Valley town of Rawa and nearby villages were bypassed by government troops and allied militia when they retook the town of Al-Qaim on the Syrian border last week.

But on Saturday, troops backed by militia recruited among the region's Sunni Arab tribes "launched a major offensive to liberate Rumana and the Rawa area,", General Abdelamir Yarallah said.

He later said they had "retaken Rumana and its bridge on the Euphrates" along with 10 other villages.

Rumana is on the north side of the Euphrates just across from Al-Qaim, while the small town of Rawa lies downstream.

Several officers told an AFP reporter in Rumana that Iraqi forces had managed to foil at least two IS suicide car bomb attacks.

"Troops are continuing their advance," Yarallah said.

Rawa is the last town still held by IS apart from Albu Kamal, just across the Syrian border, where the jihadists were still battling Syrian regime and allied forces on Saturday after mounting a surprise counterattack late Thursday.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also head of the armed forces, said Saturday the operation also aims to "clean open areas in the desert" of western Iraq.

The recapture of the Rawa pocket would mark the final battleground defeat of IS in Iraq and sound the death knell of the sprawling "caliphate" the group declared in 2014 over a swathe of Iraq and Syria the size of Britain.

Across the border, the Syrian army had declared victory in the battle for Albu Kamal.

But IS fighters pushed back in from the desert to the north where they still control a strip of territory between areas held by government troops and by US-backed Kurdish-led forces.
An Israeli Patriot missile launcher, like this one pictured north of Eilat in November 2017, was used to intercept what the army said was a Russian-made Syrian drone over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

The Israeli army said it had shot down a Russian-made Syrian drone carrying out a reconnaissance mission over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.

The drone was intercepted by a Patriot missile in the demilitarised zone between the Israeli- and Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan, a military spokeswoman said in a statement.

"The State of Israel regards with utmost seriousness any violation of its sovereignty and will respond with force to any provocation," Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement.

"We will not allow the consolidation of a Shiite axis in Syria" as a base for operations against Israel, he added, referring to the presence of Syrian regime allies Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the war-torn neighbouring country.

Israel and Syria are still technically at war, though the armistice line on the Golan Heights had remained largely quiet for decades until civil war erupted in Syria in 2011.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

In September, Israel's military shot down what it said was an Iranian-made drone operated by arch-foe Hezbollah on a reconnaissance mission over the Golan.

Israel has also seen regular spillover fire from the Syrian conflict and acknowledges carrying out dozens of air strikes to stop advanced arms deliveries to Hezbollah.

The Lebanese militant group is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has fought alongside his troops against rebel forces.
Trump has repeatedly railed against the North as he urges the region to take a united front against the threat posed by the isolated nation, which has sparked global alarm with a flurry of nuclear and missile tests in recent months

North Korea lashed out Saturday at Donald Trump's "warmonger's" tour of Asia as the US president landed in Hanoi on the latest leg of a five-nation regional visit to drum up support against Pyongyang's nuclear weapons build-up.

The outburst came as Trump nears the tail end of his sweep through Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines that has seen him rail against the North's nuclear ambitions and deliver his "America First" vision of global trade.

Trump has urged the region to take a united front against the threat posed by isolated North Korea, which has sparked global alarm with its nuclear and missile tests in recent months.

On Friday he warned world leaders gathered in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang that the Asia-Pacific region "must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies".

Pyongyang issued its own retort Saturday branding Trump's Asia tour a "warmonger's visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence", in the first comments on the trip by a North Korean official.

It said Trump's warnings "can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance", according to the state-run KCNA news agency, quoting a Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman.

Tensions over the North's weapons programme have surged in recent months, as Pyongyang carried out a sixth nuclear test -- by far its largest to date -- and test fired dozens of missiles, some capable of reaching the US mainland.

In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned Pyongyang not to underestimate the United States, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.

Trump has also prodded Chinese President Xi Jinping to pile pressure on North Korea.

"I'd like to have him ratchet it up, and I think he's doing that," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Hanoi Saturday following a regional trade meeting in the coastal city of Danang.

Though China has backed UN sanctions, Washington would like to see Beijing clamp down on unauthorised trade along the North Korean border.

- 'China likes me' -

Trump will turn his attention to Vietnam for an overnight stop in the capital of a communist country once considered a bitter enemy.

Vietnam has eagerly courted trade and investment with the US since Trump's election, more so after he yanked the US from a key Pacific region trade pact, taking with him low tariff access to the world's largest market.

The Trump administration has singled out Vietnam as one of many countries that has a yawning trade deficit with the US.

Former billionaire businessman Trump told a gathering of regional CEOs Friday he is open to doing business with Asia -- but would no longer tolerate sweeping trade deals he brandished as unfair and harmful to American jobs.

Despite his tough talk on trade, he boasted about his cosy relationship with regional leaders.

"China likes me. And I get along with them, I get along with others too," he told reporters after meeting with 20 fellow heads of state at a beachside retreat in the coastal city of Danang.

"I have a great relationship with Justin Trudeau, who I just left. I'll be honest with you, I think I have a great relationship with every single one of them. Every person in that room today," he said.

He also said he had a "very good feeling... a good relationship" with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Trump will attend a state banquet on Saturday night ahead of a welcoming and deal signing ceremony in Hanoi on Sunday with Vietnam's top leadership.

His next stop is the Philippines for a two-day visit that will include an ASEAN summit of Southeast Asian leaders, capping off the 11 day visit to Asia.

There he will hold talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, like Trump a famously outspoken world leader.
The United States will fail to meet its commitments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate treaty, according to a report released at UN negotiations in Bonn

The United States will fail to meet its commitments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate treaty, according to a report released Saturday at UN negotiations in Bonn.

A crescendo of efforts at the sub-national level to shrink the country's carbon footprint will not fully counterract US President Donald Trump's decision to scrap his predecessor's climate policies and promote the use of fossil fuels, it found.

"Given the stated policies of the present US administration, currently committed non-federal efforts are not sufficient to meet the US commitments under the Paris Agreement," concluded the 120-page analysis, entitled "America's Pledge."

California Governor Jerry Brown and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled the report in Bonn, flanked by UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is presiding over the 12-day talks.

Under the 196-nation treaty, agreed outside the French capital 2015, the United States made a voluntary commitment to cut the country's emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The Paris pact marked the first time that all countries -- including emerging giants such as China and India -- laid out specific targets for greening their economies.

Despite the US shortfall, a surge of climate action will keep the US emissions curve on a downward path, said the report, jointly issued by the World Resources Institute and the Rocky Mountain Institute.

"States, cities, and business have emerged as the new face of American leadership on climate change, and are stepping up with commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," they said in a statement.

"If these non-federal actors were a country, their economy would be the third largest in the world."

Twenty US states, 110 cities, and over 1,400 businesses with US operations have adopted quantified emissions reduction targets, the report found.

Collectively, they represent $25 trillion in market capitalisation and nearly a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Total global emissions were about 42 billion tonnes in 2015, according to the Global Carbon Project.

- 'Trend is clear' -

Among US states, California has adopted the most ambitious targets, requiring greenhouse gas emissions to fall at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

"Americas Pledge and coalitions like 'We Are Still In' are showing that, despite reversals in Washington, US climate action is strong and growing," said Bob Perciasepe, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions in Arlington, Virginia.

Since taking office, Trump has kept two campaign promises: pulling out of the Paris treaty, and scrapping Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, which boosted renewables and aimed to cut US emissions from power plants for the first time.

But his vow to revitalise the US coal industry -- undercut by a sharp drop in natural gas prices -- will be harder to fulfil, experts say.

"The trend is very clear," said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington.

"Investment and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency have continued growing."

Employment in the solar industry grew 24.5 percent in 2016 compared to a year earlier, reaching a workforce of nearly 374,000 people, according to the US Energy Department.

There were also more than 100,000 jobs in the US wind energy sector by the end of last year.

By comparison, traditional fossil fuels -- including gas and oil -- employed 187,000 people.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) and his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah attend a meeting with officials from a Saudi-led military coalition in Riyadh on October 29, 2017

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will embark on a Gulf tour to push for a political solution as tensions rise between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, his ministry said Saturday.

Shoukry, whose government is closely allied with Saudi Arabia, will carry a message from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman as well as Jordan during his three-day visit starting Sunday, it said in a statement.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has accused Saudi Arabia of declaring war and detaining Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri, who resigned last week in a statement from Riyadh citing Iran's "grip" on Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia, which in turn accused Hezbollah and Iran of declaring war against the kingdom, urged its citizens to leave Lebanon.

Shoukry "will affirm Egypt's firm position on the need to preserve Arab unity," the ministry statement said.

He will also "affirm Egypt's policy... that pushes for political solutions to crises and the need to spare the region any more turmoil and polarisation."

Egypt, which has the most powerful Arab army and has depended on Saudi Arabia for aid, has supported the Gulf country against its regional arch-rival, Iran.

But it has displayed little enthusiasm for a Saudi-led coalition's devastating war in Yemen against Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

Cairo has backed the coalition with only a few naval vessels after having pledged to send ground troops if needed.

Sisi told a press conference on Thursday that Egypt fully supported Gulf countries, whose security he called a "red line."

But he also urged caution. "I am not for war. We have had our experience with war," he said.

"The region faces enough turmoil already. We should approach (the tensions) extremely cautiously," he added.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) is accompanying president Donald Trump on a tour of Asia

Washington's top diplomat visited the remains of a Vietnam War era prison on Saturday where American POWs were held, including veteran Republican senator John McCain.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is accompanying president Donald Trump on a tour of Asia, stopped by the notorious Hoa Lo prison -- dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton" by imprisoned GIs during the war -- shortly after arriving in the Vietnamese capital.

Much of the building was demolished in the 1990s but a gatehouse remains alongside a museum that is a popular stop-off for tourists in Hanoi.

McCain, a former airforce pilot, was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and spent more than five years held captive by the North Vietnamese, enduring often brutal conditions, torture and interrogations.

A famous photograph shows an injured McCain being hauled from a Hanoi lake he parachuted into after ejecting from his stricken aircraft.

State Department staffers told reporters that Tillerson had specifically requested to see the prison museum and the lake during his time in Hanoi.

During his visit Tillerson looked at a copy of the photograph, remarking that McCain had the same photo on his office desk.

He also paid a visit to the lake from which the captured pilot was pulled.

McCain has been a rare outspoken critic of Trump from within the Republican party, something that has infuriated the president.

During his election campaign, Trump -- who dodged the draft five times to avoid being sent to Vietnam -- mocked the veteran Republican senator for getting captured.

"He's not a war hero," Trump said. "I like people that weren't captured, ok?"

Tillerson, a former CEO of oil giant Exxon, was preceded by Barack Obama's Secretary of State John Kerry, who also fought in Vietnam.

Last year, during a trip to the Southeast Asian country, Kerry visited the exact spot where a boat he commanded was ambushed by Viet Cong fighters, even meeting and embracing one of his former adversaries.
Delhi and its surrounding states have been shrouded in a hazardous fog of toxic pollutants for nearly a week, prompting authorities to roll out a slew of measures to combat the crisis

India's smog-choked capital has called off a plan to restrict private vehicle use after the country's top environmental court ruled women, VIPs and two-wheelers could not be exempt.

Delhi and its surrounding states have been shrouded in a hazardous fog of toxic pollutants for nearly a week, prompting authorities to roll out a slew of measures to combat the crisis.

The state government said Thursday it would impose vehicle rationing for the world's most polluted capital over five days starting Monday in the hopes of improving air quality, as doctors declared a public health emergency.

But as India's federal environmental court ruled against any exemptions -- not including emergency vehicles and those running on greener compressed natural gas (CNG), or most of Delhi's public transport -- local authorities said the scheme would be halted.

"At the moment we are calling it off," Delhi's transport minister Kailash Gehlot told reporters Saturday.

"We are requesting the court to reconsider two conditions -- one on two-wheelers and the other on ladies -- because with both these in place, it will be very difficult for us to implement."

He said the government would struggle to cope with the extra pressure on public transport while the biggest issue was "the safety and security of women".

The "odd-even" scheme, introduced temporarily last year, says vehicles with licence plates ending in odd numbers can only be driven on odd-numbered dates, and those with even-numbers on others.

The original scheme exempted VIPs -- such as judges, politicians and police -- as well as female drivers, two-wheelers and emergency vehicles.

Earlier Saturday the environment court also ordered the automatic implementation of the odd-even rule any time PM10 particles soared over 500 and PM2.5 exceeded 300 for two days straight.

The crisis comes amid the annual post-harvest burning of crop stubble and the onset of winter, which together have caused levels of dangerous pollutants to skyrocket.

Delhi has also banned all construction, barred lorries from entering the city and shut down all schools until Sunday.
The Islamic State group has lost most of the "caliphate" the the jihadists declared across swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014

The Islamic State group recaptured Albu Kamal in eastern Syria on Saturday after a fierce fightback to save the last urban bastion of its collapsing "caliphate".

The jihadist rebound came as the United States and Russia issued a surprise joint presidential statement saying there was "no military solution" to Syria's grinding six-year war.

The two countries have long backed opposite sides in Syria, but the Kremlin on Saturday said US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin made progress during a brief meeting on the sidelines of a summit in Vietnam.

Trump and Putin also "confirmed their determination to defeat ISIS", an alternative name for IS.

Islamic State group's shrinking territory

The jihadist group overran swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, but its self-styled "caliphate" has since been whittled down to a pocket of land along the border between the two countries.

IS is putting up a fierce defence there, particularly for the vital Syrian border town of Albu Kamal, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Syrian regime forces and allied militia from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran overran Albu Kamal on Thursday but lost the town again just two days later after a string of IS counter-attacks and ambushes.

"IS fully recaptured Albu Kamal, and regime forces and allied militia are now between one to two kilometres from the city limits," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Observatory, said on Saturday.

The Observatory also reported 26 civilians killed, including nine children, since Friday night in artillery fire by regime forces and Russian air strikes that hit villages and camps for those displaced by the fighting in Albu Kamal.

- IS squeezed in Iraq -

Across the border, Iraqi forces seized on Saturday several villages from the jihadists in an offensive to capture the last IS-held section of their country.

Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of Al-Qaim near the Syrian border as they battle jihadist holdouts on November 3, 2017

The operation's commander, General Abdelamir Yarallah, said his forces captured Rumana and 10 other villages as they worked their way towards the Euphrates Valley town of Rawa, the last Iraqi town still held by IS.

The jihadist group has in the space of a few weeks seen its "caliphate" shrink to a small rump and lost major cities such as Mosul in Iraq, and Raqa and Deir Ezzor in Syria.

Albu Kamal is the last significant Syrian town it controls. Losing it would cap the group's reversion to an underground guerrilla organisation with no urban base.

IS rose to prominence in the chaos of Syria's conflict, which broke out in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

It has since evolved into a complex war that has killed more than 330,000 people, forced millions more to flee, and left much of the country in ruins.

Violence has broadly decreased since a series of "de-escalation zones" have been put in place in recent months in battlefronts across the country.

- 'Just like Iraq' -

On Saturday, Jordan announced it had agreed with the United States and Russia to formally establish such a zone in southern Syria to build on a ceasefire already in place there.

Multiple rounds of peace talks hosted by the United Nations in Geneva have failed to resolve Syria's entrenched conflict.

Saturday's joint statement from the US and Russian presidents urged Syria's warring sides to take part in a new round of talks later this month in Switzerland.

"What the joint statement indicates is a commitment to get this to a political reconciliation and peace process. That serves their interest, it serves our interest," a senior US State Department official said Saturday.

The official said it was likely that Syria's post-conflict political system would be "a power-sharing arrangement just like we ended up with in Iraq".

The official expected that future parliamentary and presidential elections would see the Syrian people "decide they want different leadership".

Assad would be allowed to go "wherever he would like to go. Unless he's under war crimes investigations", the official said.
Paul Dandan, an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration in Charlotte, North Carolina has been charged with another man with possession of a pipe bomb

Police in North Carolina have arrested and charged two men -- one an airport employee -- for possessing a homemade bomb, police said.

They said a man named Derrick Fells, 39, had constructed the device. Upon his arrest Sunday -- following a 911 phone call from an unidentified informant -- Fells admitted making the device, which was described as a pipe bomb.

Fells told police in Charlotte he had intended to use the bomb against a neighbor with whom he had been arguing, but changed his mind and gave it to Paul Dandon, 30, a full-time employee of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Police said Dandon's job gave him access only to an offsite air traffic control tower, but not to any restricted area in the airport terminal or to any aircraft.

The FAA, in a separate statement, said Dandon's access to those facilities had been terminated, and that he was cooperating with authorities, including agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) and related charges.

Fells was charged with three counts, including manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction.

While the US Defense Department defines WMDs as those capable of causing mass casualties, the Justice Department has given prosecutors broad flexibility to apply the term to weapons including bombs, grenades and certain guns.
A member of the Syrian pro-regime forces fires a machine gun as a comrade holds his feeding ammunition belt, during the advance towards rebel-held positions west of Aleppo, near Abu al-Zuhur military airport in the Idlib province countryside, on November 11, 2017

At least 26 civilians have died in artillery fire and Russian air strikes on two displacement camps and surrounding villages in eastern Syria, a monitor said Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine children were among those killed. The villages and displacement camps were full of people who had fled fighting in the town of Albu Kamal.

Syrian regime forces and allied militia took Albu Kamal from the Islamic State group two days ago, but jihadists mounted a fierce fightback and recaptured it on Saturday.

Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Observatory, said artillery fire by pro-regime forces and air strikes by Russian warplanes were pummelling remaining IS-controlled areas in eastern Syria.

"Fifteen civilians including seven children died in a displacement camp near Al-Sukkariyah, west of Albu Kamal, in bombing since Friday night," said Abdel Rahman.

Another 11 civilians, including two children, had died in bombardment on a string of villages and a second displacement camp about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Albu Kamal, he told AFP.

The Observatory relies on a network of sources in Syria and identifies whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.

The media collective DeirEzzor24 also reported the deaths, saying entire families had been killed in the bombardment near Al-Sukkariyah.

"Most residents have fled Albu Kamal to nearby villages, and there are very few still on the outskirts of the town," said the collective's head Omar Abu Layla.

"There are no civilians left inside Albu Kamal," he told AFP.

Albu Kamal is the last significant Syrian town IS controls. Losing it would cap the group's reversion to an underground guerrilla organisation with no urban base.

IS rose to prominence in the chaos of Syria's conflict, which broke out in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

It has since evolved into a complex war that has killed more than 330,000 people, forced millions more to flee, and left much of the country in ruins.
The number of migrants arriving by sea on Spanish shores has soared, with the figure nearly tripling to 15,585 in 2017 by November 8

Spanish authorities said they rescued over 250 migrants, including children, on Saturday who were making the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.

"We saved 251 people from five improvised vessels all in the Alboran Sea," Spain's maritime safety authorities said on Twitter, referring to the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea.

The number of migrants arriving by sea on Spanish shores has soared over last year, with the figure nearly tripling to 15,585 in 2017 by November 8, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Many Africans undertaking the long route to Europe are choosing to avoid crossing danger-ridden Libya to get to Italy along the so-called central Mediterranean route, and choosing instead to get there via Morocco and Spain.

However, Spain is still well behind Italy, which has recorded some 114,400 arrivals by sea since since the start of the year.

Since January nearly 15,600 migrants have made it to Spain by sea, with 156 dying during the crossing, according to the IOM.

The agency estimates that some 155,850 migrants have made the dangerous crossing to Europe this year and another 2,961 died or went missing while trying.
MADRID (AP) - A Spanish judge jailed Catalonia's top lawmaker Thursday in a rebellion probe stemming from an independence declaration, but set Carme Forcadell's bail at 150,000 euros ($175,000) and ordered her passport to be confiscated as the investigation continues.

Forcadell is speaker of the regional parliament where separatist lawmakers passed a declaration to proclaim a new Catalan republic on Oct. 27, disregarding Constitutional Court warnings that such a move was illegal.

The vote was boycotted by most opposition lawmakers.

Ex-speaker of the Catalonia parliament Carme Forcadell , front right, arrives at the Spain's Supreme Court in Madrid, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. Six Catalan lawmakers are testifying Thursday before a Spanish judge over claims that they ignored Constitutional Court orders and allowed an independence vote in Catalonia's regional parliament. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

The Spanish government immediately seized control of the wealthy northeastern region, the first time in the four decades since Gen. Francisco Franco's dictatorship ended that Madrid removed powers from any of the country's 17 regions.

Central authorities also dismissed the Catalonia's regional president and his government, who are now also jailed on preliminary rebellion charges or fighting extradition to Spain from Belgium. Spain also dissolved the parliament and called a new regional election for Dec. 21.

Prosecutors are pursuing charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement that are punishable by up to 30 years of imprisonment under Spanish law.

Spain Supreme Court magistrate Pablo Llarena questioned Forcadell and five other members of the Catalan parliament's governing body on Thursday for more than 10 hours before deciding whether to jail them.

The judge set a 25,000-euro ($29,000) bail to be paid in one week for four of the lawmakers, and released from custody another who had made the Oct. 27 independence vote possible by allowing a debate on secession but opposed the declaration of a separate republic.

While appearing in court for questioning, Forcadell sought to avoid detention by describing the independence declaration as "symbolic," according to lawyers familiar with her testimony.

The lawyers asked not to be named because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the court proceedings.

Catalonia's deposed regional president, Carles Puigdemont, and four of his former Cabinet members fled to Brussels, where they are fighting Spanish arrest and extradition orders.

In a letter posted on social media Thursday, the five called on voters to support pro-secession parties in Catalonia's upcoming regional election

"It's time to drive away from the (Catalan) institutions those who want to own them with a coup d'etat," Puigdemont tweeted, referring to Spain's decision to assume control of the region.

Puigdemont, who is likely to run as the regional presidential candidate for his center-right PDeCAT party, says he went to Belgium to rally European support for the Catalan cause and that he's not trying to evade justice.

Although no country has publicly sided so far with the Catalan officials removed from office, their presence in the Belgian capital has sown divisions with fellow politicians. In Thursday's letter, the ousted Catalan Cabinet criticized the European Union for turning a blind eye to Catalonia's plight.

"The time that we spend behind Spanish bars or in exile won't be in vain if we remain united in the defense of Catalonia and in denouncing the democratic decadence of Spain," the letter said.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Thursday that his government's policy on Catalonia has "100 percent backing" from other EU countries.

Rajoy said during a visit to the city of Salamanca, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) northwest of Madrid, that he hoped voters "meet their obligations as Spaniards and Europeans" in next month's regional election. Rajoy, who thinks a majority of Catalans don't want to break away from Spain, urged a large turnout.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who has given Rajoy his public support, said nationalist urges are "a poison" that harm the European Union's efforts to speak with one voice on the world stage.

In what appeared to be an indirect rebuke of the secession push promoted by some Catalan leaders, Juncker said during a trip to the Spanish city of Salamanca that nobody has the right to undo the EU's model of coexistence.

Eight members of the now-dismissed Catalan Cabinet and two activists have already been jailed as the country's National Court studies whether to charge them with various crimes for allegedly creating and executing a plan to break away from Spain.

One ex-Cabinet member was released on bail, but remains a suspect in the investigation.

Forcadell remains the parliament's president, heading a commission of two dozen lawmakers during the transitional period to the Dec. 21 election.

The Supreme Court judge had delayed her questioning for more than a week after attorneys argued they weren't given enough time to prepare a defense.

Around 100 supporters chanted "You are not alone" as the lawmakers entered the Supreme Court building in central Madrid on Thursday, while police kept at bay a handful of anti-independence protesters carrying Spanish flags and shouting, "You don't fool us, Catalonia is Spain."

Fina Surina, 48, traveled overnight for nine hours from the Catalan town of Besalu to accompany the lawmakers.

They "are making a great personal sacrifice in the long-run struggle for independence," she said.

Catalonia, with 7.5 million people, represents a fifth of Spain's gross domestic product. Polls show that Catalans are roughly evenly divided over whether to seek independence or remain part of Spain.

The regional separatist authorities claimed a banned Oct. 1 secession referendum gave them a mandate to declare independence.

Right-wind protesters holding Spanish flags reading: "Long live a united Spain" shout slogans outside the Supreme Court in Madrid, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. Six Catalan lawmakers are testifying Thursday before a Spanish judge over claims that they ignored Constitutional Court orders and allowed an independence vote in Catalonia's regional parliament. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ex-speaker of the Catalonia parliament Carme Forcadell arrives at the Supreme Court in Madrid, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. Six Catalan lawmakers are testifying Thursday before a Spanish judge over claims that they ignored Constitutional Court orders and allowed an independence vote in Catalonia's regional parliament. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Former secretary of the Catalonia parliament Anna Simo, left, arrives at the Supreme Court in Madrid, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. Six Catalan lawmakers are testifying Thursday before a Spanish judge over claims that they ignored Constitutional Court orders and allowed an independence vote in Catalonia's regional parliament. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas prosecutor has asked for help in investigating a retired white police detective accused of preying on black women for sex over decades and pursuing the wrongful murder conviction of the son of one of the women.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree, the first black elected district attorney in Kansas, noted in an interview Wednesday that Kansas City Police Chief Terry Zeigler recently said there should be an investigation of former detective Roger Golubski, who numerous residents say wielded his power to terrorize the Kansas City, Kansas black community for years.

"When the chief of police says something like that, then I have to look at this retired detective who was with the police department for 30 years," Dupree said.

In this March 14, 2017 photo, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark A. Dupree, Sr. speaks at a news conference in Kansas City, Kan. After asking in October that charges against Lamonte McIntyre, convicted in a 1994 double murder, be dismissed because of "manifest injustice," Dupree is establishing a conviction integrity unit within his office. He is also calling for an investigation into the now retired white police detective Roger Golubski that led the investigation against McIntyre who was imprisoned for 23 years on the conviction. (David Eulitt /The Kansas City Star via AP)

The prosecutor, elected last year, recently requested assistance from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to look into Golubski's conduct and "discussions are currently occurring on how best to proceed," bureau spokeswoman Melissa Underwood said in an email.

Dupree shocked those attending a court hearing on Oct. 13 when he said there had been "manifest injustice" in the conviction of Lamonte McIntyre for the 1994 murders of two men, when he was a teenager. A judge let McIntyre go free after 23 years in prison.

No physical evidence linked McIntyre to the crime, and he did not know the victims. The case rested on contradictory and coerced testimony that police and the prosecutor at the time allegedly knew to be false.

McIntyre's mother, Rose, said in an affidavit that years before her son was convicted Golubski coerced her into a sexual act in his office and then harassed her for weeks, often calling her two or three times a day, before she moved and changed her phone number. She believes Golubski retaliated against her son because she spurned his later advances.

Affidavits also accuse the prosecutor in the case, Terra Morehead, of intimidating witnesses who told her McIntyre was not the killer, and then not informing the defense about those statements. And the presiding judge, Wyandotte County District Judge J. Dexter Burdette, had a romantic relationship with Morehead before the trial that neither disclosed at the time.

Golubski, Morehead and Burdette have never been disciplined over those issues. All three either declined or did not respond to requests for comment. Golubski retired from law enforcement last year. Morehead is now a federal prosecutor. Burdette is still on the bench.

In the wake of the McIntyre case, Dupree has been working to establish early next year a "conviction integrity unit" within the district attorney's office. He said such units are designed to right any wrongs when there may be "a bad apple that sneaks in" a prosecutorial office.

"This in fact is something I wanted to do, but the McIntyre case sped up when it was going to be done," Dupree said. "And, honestly, it showed the community that it was something that was needed."

Black community leaders in Kansas City, Kansas, have said people do not trust the police in the wake of the McIntyre case.

Dupree is among a group of about 20 newly elected district attorneys who are part of a loose national network calling itself Fair and Just Prosecution.

Some are the first women to hold the top prosecutor job in their communities, and some are the first African-American or the first Hispanic elected to it - although that alone does not define them, said Miriam Krinsky, the executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution.

Wyandotte County's conviction integrity unit would be comprised of a full-time investigator. Also on the team would be volunteers including a defense lawyer, a law school educator and a non-lawyer member of the district attorney's community liaison board.

Last year 29 conviction integrity units were scattered in prosecutorial offices across the nation, more than double the number in 2013, according to The National Registry of Exonerations. Such units account for 70 of the record 166 exonerations recorded last year.

___

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FILE - This undated photo provided by the Edwardsville Police Department shows Former Kansas City, Kansas Police detective Roger Golubski. Golubski was the lead investigator in the 1994 double murder case against Lamonte McIntyre who spent 23 years in prison. In October 2017 Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree dropped the charges against McIntyre because of "manifest injustice." Dupree is establishing a conviction integrity unit within his office. He is also calling for an investigation into Golubski (Edwardsville Police Department via AP, File)
GAFFNEY, S.C. (AP) - A dismembered body has been found beneath a mobile home in South Carolina, and the victim's common law wife and stepson have been charged with murder.

Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said in a news release that the body of 51-year-old Gary James Stone was found in several containers under a home Thursday.

Sheriff Steve Mueller said at a news conference that 18-year-old Charles Jacob Bridges choked Stone until he was unconscious on Nov. 3 and stabbed him to death.

The sheriff says Bridges' mother, 40-year-old Dawn Michelle Wilkins, knew what happened and helped try to dispose of the body.

Mueller says Bridges told deputies he attacked Stone after his stepfather fought with his mother.

Court records do not list attorneys for either Wilkins or Bridges.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A mountain lion cornered by a game warden near a San Francisco playground and shot with a tranquilizer gun on Friday has been fitted with a GPS collar and is ready to go back into the wild.

The animal was spotted earlier in the day amid trees, brush and ivy behind a housing complex in the city's Diamond Heights neighborhood. Authorities decided to tranquilize the cat and relocate it because it was near a playground and in a heavily populated area.

"When I arrived the mountain lion was hunkered down," Lt. James Ober, a Fish and Wildlife game warden, told the San Francisco Chronicle . "It appeared to be under a lot of stress."

Ober shot the 82-pound male a second time, after he saw the animal still moving after 10 minutes. By 2 p.m., the mountain lion had been loaded onto a truck, its paws secured with straps and a black mask over its eyes.

The animal was turned over to the Santa Cruz Puma Project out of the University of California at Santa Cruz.

California Fish and Wildlife officials initially thought that the puma was a female, but Chris Wilmers, a wildlife ecologist at the university and the head of the Puma Project, said it is "a typical young dispersal age male who takes a wrong turn."

It's unclear if the cat was the same animal recorded Wednesday slinking past the home of Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who lives in the Sea Cliff neighborhood.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Southeast Asia started banding its unwieldy cluster of fledgling democracies, monarchies and authoritarian regimes into an EU-like collective half a century ago, but the diverse region of 620 million people remains hampered by conflicts, poverty, human rights crises and other issues.

It has nevertheless evolved into an important arena of discourse, power plays and influence that gathers world leaders in annual summits.

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will mark the 10-nation bloc's 50th anniversary with handshakes, unity photo-ops and pageantry in a gala dinner on Sunday. They'll gather for two days of summitry under tight security in Manila starting Monday and meet world leaders led by President Donald Trump to tackle a slew of security worries.

FILE - in this Aug. 29, 2017 file photo distributed on Aug. 30, 2017, by the North Korean government shows what was said to be the test launch of a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile in Pyongyang, North Korea. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will mark the 10-nation bloc's 50th anniversary for two days of summitry under security in Manila starting Monday to tackle a slew of security worries including recent militant siege in the Philippines, displaced Rohingya and the escalating North Korea threat. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

A list of the most pressing issues:

NORTH KOREA

Manila is the last stop on Trump's Asian swing where he's expected to lobby for more punitive action, including diplomatic sanctions, against Pyongyang over its nuclear program. He'll generally find a receptive audience, with the summit's foul-mouthed host, President Rodrigo Duterte, having called North Korea's leader a "crazy son of a bitch" with a "chubby face that looks kind" but who could wipe the region off the map with his "dangerous toys."

China, which wields considerable influence on ASEAN, will, however, be a tempering presence. It has called for dialogue with North Korea and urged the United States to tone down its rhetoric, arguing that sanctions alone cannot solve the impasse.

ASEAN leaders will likely stick to their expression of alarm over Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear tests and press their call for North Korea to return to long-stalled denuclearization talks.

___

MUSLIM MILITANTS

The siege by pro-Islamic State group militants that left at least 1,172 combatants and civilians dead and left swaths of the southern Philippine city of Marawi in smoldering rubbles will be on every leader's mind in Manila.

Although Philippine troops have essentially crushed the five-month insurrection, the massive militant attack served as a reality check for governments of the new scale of havoc IS-aligned militants could wreak on urban areas.

Consequently, the main summit venue in a theater complex by Manila Bay has been placed in a security lockdown and declared a no-fly and no-sail zone. Nearly 60,000 police and military personnel will keep watch in Manila and Clark Freeport to the north where some of the leaders will land and senior diplomats are meeting.

Duterte plans to brief leaders on how Filipino forces quelled the siege. ASEAN states and their Asian and Western counterparts find a common interest in addressing the resurgent threat of terrorism and radicalization without much friction.

___

ROHINGYA DILEMMA

Alarm over violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine state that has forced more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh will likely stay off ASEAN's formal agenda and summit communique. That's because its member states, which include Myanmar, uphold a bedrock policy of non-interference in each other's domestic affairs.

While the policy has held back the regional group from taking a stronger and more relevant stance on such calamities in step with much of the international community, it has allowed ASEAN to endure as a club of nations with disparate backgrounds.

Individually, however, heads of state can raise concern and outrage over the Rohingya crisis during their so-called "retreat," a free-for-all but closed-door session. Malaysia, among others, is expected to push Myanmar to take stronger steps to address the humanitarian problem, which has caused many of the Rohingya to flee to its territory. Malaysia has also pushed the Philippine host to allow a stronger statement on the crisis, causing some tension.

"If it will be discussed, it will be up to Myanmar to raise the issue because this a domestic concern for them," said Robespierre Bolivar, spokesman of Manila's Department of Foreign Affairs.

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SOUTH CHINA SEA

The leaders of China and ASEAN, which includes four member states directly involved in South China Sea territorial disputes, are expected to announce the start of negotiations on a so-called "code of conduct" in the contested waters based on a framework or outline that their foreign ministers endorsed in August.

Both sides would laud such progress, which China acquiesced to after the Philippines under Duterte backed down from being one of Beijing's most virulent U.S.-backed critics. Duterte pursued a policy of rapprochement with Beijing and has not immediately pushed for Chinese compliance with an arbitration ruling by a U.N.-aligned tribunal that invalidated China's expansive claims in the strategic waterway.

"There is more cooperative spirit in managing, in reducing the tensions there," Bolivar said.

ASEAN, however, has been dismissed as an ineffective broker largely because it tends to get paralyzed by indecision due to its consensual decision-making style when many of its member states are either aligned with China or the U.S. The two-page framework took 15 years to conclude and lacked key provisions, including a dispute-settlement mechanism, that China opposes.

"The biggest problem is our insistence that, for some reason, ASEAN has to solve this, which it's not equipped to do, and we shouldn't force it to," said Greg Poling, a Washington-based South China Sea expert.

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, file photo, people watch a TV screen showing a local news program reporting about North Korea's missile launch, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will mark the 10-nation bloc's 50th anniversary for two days of summitry under security in Manila starting Monday to tackle a slew of security worries including recent militant siege in the Philippines, displaced Rohingya and the escalating North Korea threat. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, file photo, troops patrol the decimated streets of Marawi city in southern Philippines after almost five months of the siege by pro-Islamic State group militants. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will mark the 10-nation bloc's 50th anniversary for two days of summitry under security in Manila starting Monday to tackle a slew of security worries including recent militant siege in the Philippines, displaced Rohingya and the escalating North Korea threat. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, file photo, smoke rises over the city as explosions continue to reverberate in Marawi, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte declared its liberation in the southern Philippines. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will mark the 10-nation bloc's 50th anniversary for two days of summitry under security in Manila starting Monday to tackle a slew of security worries including recent militant siege in the Philippines, displaced Rohingya and the escalating North Korea threat. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 10, 2017, file photo, the beam of a flashlight illuminates the face of a Rohingya Muslim girl sitting with a group in a raft made of plastic containers on which they crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, near Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will mark the 10-nation bloc's 50th anniversary for two days of summitry under security in Manila starting Monday to tackle a slew of security worries including recent militant siege in the Philippines, displaced Rohingya and the escalating North Korea threat. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad, File)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's visit to Asia (all times local):

12:05 p.m.

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang says his country wants to settle disputes in the South China Sea through peaceful negotiations.

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. (Hoang Dinh Nam/Pool Photo via AP)

Quang made the comments Sunday during a joint appearance with President Donald Trump, who is on a brief state visit to Vietnam. Trump had offered during an earlier meeting Sunday with Quang to serve as a mediator on the South China Sea territorial disputes.

Vietnam and China along with four others claim all or parts of the strategic waters.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) is scheduled to arrive in Vietnam for a state visit later Sunday. Disputes over the South China Sea are expected to be high on the agenda during Xi's talks with Vietnamese leaders.

___

11:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump has highlighted trade issues in meetings with Vietnam's prime minister and the secretary general of its Communist Party.

Trump told Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong (nuh-WEE'-ihn FOO Trawng) that trade has become a very important element in the relationship between the two countries.

The president delivered a similar message later to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (nuh-WEE'-ihn SOO'-an FOOK). Trump urged Vietnam to buy missiles and other weapons systems from the United States, seeming to suggest that it would help erase a trade imbalance. Trump says the U.S. "makes the greatest missiles in the world."

Outside of trade, Trump says he looks forward to the onetime adversaries U.S. and Vietnam having a fantastic relationship for years to come.

___

11:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump says stronger U.S. relations with Russia would benefit the globe and suggests that Russian sanctions may be lifted.

Trump says in Vietnam that Russia has been "very heavily sanctioned" and "it's now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken." The president is pointing to the need to work with Russia to solve problems in Syria, North Korea and Ukraine.

Trump says he believes "having Russia in a friendly posture as opposed to always fighting them is an asset."

Congress slapped sanctions on Russia last summer for interfering in the 2016 election. Those sanctions were in addition to existing U.S. penalties on Russia for its support of separatists in eastern Ukraine and 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

___

11:05 a.m.

President Donald Trump says it would be a "good thing" for North Korea and the world if he and Kim Jong Un become friends.

But he immediately cast doubt on whether that could happen. Trump has spoken forcefully against North Korea and its nuclear threat while traveling in Asia.

Trump tweeted about the North Korean leader on Saturday, saying he had tried "so hard" to be Kim's friend and that "maybe someday that will happen!"

Asked at a news conference in Hanoi about the tweet, Trump said a friendship with Kim "might be a strange thing to happen but it's certainly a possibility."

Trump says he doesn't know that friendship will develop, but says it would be "very, very nice if it did."

___

10:55 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he believes in the U.S. intelligence agencies despite his past skepticism about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The president says during a joint news conference with Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang that the U.S. intelligence agencies are "currently led by fine people." He adds, "I believe very much in our intelligence agencies."

Trump's comments come a day after he bashed the former heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies as "political hacks" and accused Democrats of trying to sabotage relations between the two countries.

___

10:40 a.m.

President Donald Trump is reiterating that "all responsible nations" must act to help stop North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

Trump says at a joint news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, that "we want progress, not provocation" and "we want stability, not chaos." Trump says the U.S. wants peace and not war.

North Korea has been a focal point of Trump's trip to Asia. He is speaking at a news conference with Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang.

___

9:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump is offering to serve as a mediator on the South China Sea territorial disputes as he meets with the president of Vietnam.

Trump is telling President Tran Dai Quang he knows Vietnam has had a dispute with China over the strategic waterways.

Trump says he's a "very good mediator and a very good arbitrator" and willing to help.

Trump was speaking to Quang at the start of their meetings in Hanoi. Trump says North Korea "continues to be a problem" and he's hopeful that Chinese President Xi Jinping will "be a tremendous help." Trump says he also hopes that Russia will "be a tremendous help."

Trump says they'll also talk about trade. He says the U.S. will "be treated fairly," adding, "past administrations didn't understand trade."

__

9:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump is promising a "tremendous amount of trade" with Vietnam as he arrives at the presidential palace for his meeting with Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang.

Trump and Quang spoke briefly to reporters after the U.S. president arrived at the presidential palace in Hanoi on a rainy morning. Trump says they'll be conducting "billions and billions" of dollars in trade.

The two leaders were greeted by young children waving U.S. and Vietnamese flags and then paused as a band played the two countries' national anthems.

Trump is in Hanoi for a brief state visit and will hold a joint news conference with Quang. He'll depart for the Philippines later Sunday for a pair of summits that will close out his trip to Asia.

__

8:10 a.m. Sunday

President Donald Trump is bashing the "haters and fools" he says are questioning his efforts to improve relations with Russia.

Trump, in the final days of a lengthy Asia trip, shared his thoughts in a series of tweets Sunday in Hanoi, Vietnam.

He accused critics of "playing politics" and hurting the country.

The day before, Trump had told reporters that Russia President Vladimir Putin has again denied meddling in the 2016 election. Trump did not make clear whether he believed Putin but did make clear that he did not want to revisit the issue.

Trump has suggested that the ongoing probe into contacts between his campaign and the Russians was hurting the U.S. relationship with Moscow and could hinder efforts to solve crises like Syria and North Korea.

___

8:05 a.m. Sunday

President Donald Trump is exchanging schools yard taunts with North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

Trump says in a tweet from Vietnam: "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?""

Trump goes on to say sarcastically, "Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend" and says that, "maybe someday that will happen!"

Trump has been working to rally global pressure against North Korea's nuclear weapons program on a trip to Asia. That includes a stern speech delivered in South Korea.

Kim's government responded to that speech by calling Trump an "old lunatic."

___

12:50 a.m. Sunday

President Donald Trump is back on the defensive over Russian election meddling and is accusing Democrats of trying to sabotage U.S.-Russia relations.

Speaking to reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin vehemently insisted once again that Moscow had not interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections.

The Republican president declined to say whether he believed Putin but made clear he wasn't interested in dwelling on the issue.

Trump is in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a brief state visit. He'll depart for the Philippines later Sunday for a pair of summits that will close out his trip.

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but the two spoke informally several times on the event's sidelines.

___

11:15 p.m. Saturday

The Kremlin's spokesman says Vladimir Putin flatly denied any Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election during a short meeting with President Donald Trump.

The Russian president and Trump met Saturday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific conference in Vietnam.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as telling reporters: "Trump really raised the topic of so-called interference in U.S. elections.

Peskov says, "Putin categorically rejected even the hypothetical possibility that Russia could have in some way interfered in the U.S. electoral process."

___

11:05 p.m.

The White House Correspondents Association is voicing concerns about press access during President Donald Trump's trip to Asia.

Reporters and photographers traveling with the president were barred from covering any of the events at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the coastal city of Danang on Saturday.

Reporters have also voiced concerns that Trump declined to take questions in China, though he has held press conferences in Japan and South Korea and spoke to reporters at length aboard Air Force One Saturday.

Margaret Talev, the correspondents association president, says in a statement the group is "concerned that access on this trip has eroded more significantly" and that "notice about changes or new coverage restrictions has often come with too short of notice to be able to react effectively."

___

8:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump is praising Vietnam in brief remarks before a state dinner, calling the nation "one of the great miracles of the world."

He says the United States and Vietnam have "come a long way," in an apparent reference to the Vietnam War.

Trump added that "there is nothing more impressive" than the success of the country. He spoke during a state dinner featuring local flavors.

On the menu: steamed rice powder rolls "with fluffy pemmican"; shrimp rolled in fried egg; a seafood soup made with fish maw, shrimp, scallop and shark fin; and Dong Tao chicken rolled with lotus and mushrooms.

Besides dinner, Trump is scheduled for talks with Vietnamese leaders before heading to the Philippines, his last stop on the trip.

___

7:25 p.m.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Saturday issued its first official statement on President Donald Trump's trip to Asia, slamming Trump for trying to denuclearize the North.

The ministry said that Trump's trip "is a warmonger's trip for confrontation with our country, trying to remove our self-defensive nuclear deterrent."

It accused Trump of trying to demonize North Korea, keep it apart from the international community and undermine its government.

The ministry said, "Reckless remarks by an old lunatic like Trump will never scare us or stop our advance. On the contrary, all this makes us more sure that our choice to promote economic construction at the same time as building up our nuclear force is all the more righteous, and it pushes us to speed up the effort to complete our nuclear force."

North Korea is not known to have tested any of its missiles or nuclear devices since Sept. 15, a relative lull after a brisk series of tests earlier this year.

___

7:20 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is brushing off recent reports that the U.S. commerce secretary had interest in a company that does business with a major Russian company with possible ties to Putin relatives.

Reports this week said Wilbur Ross is a shareholder in a shipping company that relies on the Russian company Sibur for much of its revenue. A man reported to be one of Putin's sons-in-law is believed to be a major Sibur shareholder.

Putin said Saturday that "This is nothing more than business. It never had and does not have any relation with politics."

Putin also rejected any Russian connection to the recently indicted former campaign manager of President Donald Trump, Paul Manafort.

Manafort is charged with offenses including failing to register as a foreign agent while advising the party of Viktor Yanukovych, the Russia-friendly Ukrainan president who was ousted amid massive street protests in 2014.

___

6:55 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the lack of a formal meeting with President Donald Trump at a conference in Vietnam reflects continuing tense relations between their countries.

Putin and Trump had several brief exchanges Friday night and Saturday as world leaders gathered for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. They did not have a formal, one-on-one meeting.

Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying that the lack of a formal meeting shows that U.S.-Russia relations have "not yet emerged from the state of crisis."

But he was also quoted as blaming the absence of a sit-down on scheduling conflicts and "certain matters of the protocol" that couldn't be worked out.

___

5:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he didn't see Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh AH'-bay) take a tumble on the golf course.

But he says, if it was Abe, "I'm very impressed because (Abe is) better than any gymnast I've ever seen."

Trump made the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One as it headed toward Hanoi, Vietnam, for meetings and a state banquet.

Japan's TV Tokyo aired footage of a player identified as Abe trying repeatedly to hit his ball out of a steep bunker. As he finally made the shot, Trump began walking away, and Abe ran up the side of the bunker to catch up.

But just as the 63-year-old prime minister stepped onto the grass, he slipped, making a backward flip down into the sand. He quickly stood up and picked up his cap.

___

5:35 p.m.

President Donald Trump says Russia President Vladimir Putin once again denied meddling in the 2016 election during their conversations Saturday at a summit in Vietnam.

And Trump still won't say definitively whether he believes Putin.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that every time Putin sees him he says: "I didn't do that."

Says Trump: "And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it."

Multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to try to help Trump win. Multiple investigations are also under way to determine whether Trump campaign officials colluded with them.

Trump dismissed the heads of those agencies as "political hacks." He says there's plenty of reason to be suspicious of their findings.

___

5:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump is blaming Democrats for creating an "artificial barrier" to U.S.-Russian relations by accusing Russia of meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Hanoi that the allegations, which he's dismissed as a witch hunt in the past, are damaging his ability to work with Russia. And he says that's putting lives at stake.

He says the "artificial barrier" gets in the way of putting global pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Without that obstacle, Trump says, "we could really be helped a lot, tremendously with Russia having to do with North Korea."

He goes on to say that, "If we can save many, many, many lives by making a deal with Russia having to do with Syria, and then ultimately getting Syria solved and getting Ukraine solved and doing other things, having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," he says, adding that, "people will die because of it."

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang attend a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. (Kham/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, right, attend the welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. (Kham/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump, left, and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang shakes hands at the Presidential Palace, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump, left and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang attend a State Dinner at the International Convention Center, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Hanoi, Vietnam. President Trump says the United States will no longer join large trade agreements, but instead will pursue one-on-one deals with nations that pledge allegiance to fair and reciprocal trade. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. He says sweeping trade agreements "tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible." (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Kasumigaseki Country Club, in Kawagoe, Japan. Some businesses in Asia are bracing for the unexpected as Trump traverses the region and meets with the leaders of major U.S. trading partners. Exporters are apprehensive, given Trump's penchant for unpredictability and vehement dislike for swollen U.S. trade deficits. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Trump and Putin may not be having a formal meeting while they're in Vietnam for an economic summit. But the two appear to be chumming it up nonetheless. Snippets of video from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference Saturday have shown the leaders chatting and shaking hands at events including a world leaders' group photo. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP)

Back left to right; Russian President Vladimir Putin, and U.S. President Donald Trump, front row left to right; Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo pose for a photo during the family photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Left to right; Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk to the group photo at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump attends the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo)

President Donald Trump is silhouetted in a car on his arrival at the Presidential Palace, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump talk as they arrive for the family photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. President Trump stood before a summit of Asian leaders keen on regional trade pacts and delivered a roaring "America first" message Friday, denouncing China for unfair trade practices just a day after he had heaped praise on President Xi Jinping in Beijing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Leaders, back row from left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, front row from left, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photo during the family photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. President Trump stood before a summit of Asian leaders keen on regional trade pacts and delivered a roaring "America first" message Friday, denouncing China for unfair trade practices just a day after he had heaped praise on President Xi Jinping in Beijing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Back left to right;, Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, front left to right;, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photo during the family photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, talks with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha during the family photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. President Trump stood before a summit of Asian leaders keen on regional trade pacts and delivered a roaring "America first" message Friday, denouncing China for unfair trade practices just a day after he had heaped praise on President Xi Jinping in Beijing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

President Donald Trump, center, attends the bilateral talk with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang at the Presidential Palace, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

U.S. President Donald Trump, second from right, joins other leaders during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam Satruday, Nov. 11, 2017. Bottom from left to right, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto. Top from left to right, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - President Donald Trump on Sunday said he believes U.S. intelligence agencies, which have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But Trump also said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is sincere when he says Russia didn't interfere.

"I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election," Trump said of Putin at a news conference with Vietnam's president in Hanoi. "As to whether I believe it, I'm with our agencies."

He added, "As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies."

U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. (Kham/Pool Photo via AP)

Top U.S. intelligence officials, including those at the CIA, have concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help the Republican Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. A special counsel and multiple Congressional committees are also investigating potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides. That probe has so far led to the indictments of Trump's former campaign chairman and another top aide for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser.

Trump also seemed to suggest Sunday that it was time to remove the sanctions Congress has slapped on Russia in retaliation.

"It's now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken," said Trump. "Those are very important things."

It's a question that has followed Trump since January, when he said for the first time at a press conference in Trump Tower shortly before taking office that he accepted Russia was behind the election year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race.

"As far as hacking, I think it was Russia," Trump said then, quickly adding that "other countries and other people" also hack U.S. interests.

But the issue wasn't settled.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday on his way to Hanoi, Trump had said that Putin again vehemently denied the allegations - this time on the sidelines of an economic conference in the seaside city of Danang. Trump danced around questions of whether he believed Putin, but stressed Putin's denials. He also accused Democrats of using the issue to try to sabotage relations between the two countries, putting lives at risk.

"Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe - I really believe - that when he tells me that, he means it," Trump said, arguing that it made no sense for him to belabor the issue.

"I'd rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I'd rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing," he said.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One before landing in Hanoi, Trump also lashed out at the former heads of the nation's intelligence agencies, claiming there were plenty of reasons to be suspicious of their findings. "I mean, give me a break. They're political hacks," Trump said, citing by name James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, John Brennan, the former CIA director and his ousted ex-FBI director James Comey, whom Trump said was "proven now to be a liar and he's proven to be a leaker."

In a tweet sent Sunday from Hanoi, Trump bashed the "haters and fools" he said were questioning his efforts to improve relations with Russia and accused critics of "playing politics" and hurting the country.

Trump's Saturday comments sparked criticism from lawmakers with ties to the intelligence community. Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is his party's top member on the House's intelligence committee, said in a statement that Trump "fools no one" and that the president understands how the Russians intervened in the election through hacking, social media and television coverage of the presidential race.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the party's presidential nominee in 2008, said in a statement that Trump's faith in Putin's denial was "naive."

"There's nothing 'America First' about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community," McCain wrote, referring to Putin's former career in Soviet intelligence. "Vladimir Putin does not have America's interests at heart."

Trump was in Hanoi for a brief state visit. He heads to the Philippines later Sunday - the last stop of his five country trip - for a pair of summits.

In brief remarks after his arrival at Hanoi's presidential palace, Trump offered Vietnam help negotiating with China on disputes over the South China Sea. Beijing's island-building there has drawn criticism from Washington, which argues the U.S. has a national interest in freedom of navigation in sea lanes critical for world trade. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this month said China's "provocative actions" challenged international law and norms.

"If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know," Trump offered. "I'm a very good mediator and a very good arbitrator. I've done plenty of it from both sides."

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said he preferred to settle the dispute through "peaceful negotiations" and "with respect for diplomatic and legal process in accordance with international law."

Trump also said he hoped to have more help from Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as Russia, when it comes to isolating North Korea, in an effort to pressure the country to abandon its nuclear weapons program. "President Xi I think is going to be a tremendous help. I hope Russia likewise will be a tremendous help," Trump said. "I think they can make a big difference."

Earlier, Trump had exchanged schools yard taunts with the country's leader Kim Jong-un. "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Trump tweeted from Vietnam, adding: "Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!"

Asked whether he could really be friends with Kim, Trump said, "I think anything's a possibility. Strange things happen in life."

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.

Trump's comments made clear that Trump still does not take the meddling seriously and sees little benefit in punishing a nation accused of undermining the most fundamental tenet of American democracy: free and fair elections. They also suggest that Trump is unlikely to work aggressively to try to prevent future meddling despite repeated warnings from senior intelligence officials that Russia is likely to try to interfere again.

___

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Colvin and Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@colvinj and http://twitter.com/@JonLemire

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump talk as they arrive for the family photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. President Trump stood before a summit of Asian leaders keen on regional trade pacts and delivered a roaring "America first" message Friday, denouncing China for unfair trade practices just a day after he had heaped praise on President Xi Jinping in Beijing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Left to right; Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk to the group photo at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Trump and Putin may not be having a formal meeting while they're in Vietnam for an economic summit. But the two appear to be chumming it up nonetheless. Snippets of video from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference Saturday have shown the leaders chatting and shaking hands at events including a world leaders' group photo. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP)

Leaders pose during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Front left to right, Chile's President Michelle Bachelet, China's President Xi Jinping, Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in. Back left to right, Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP)

Leaders pose during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Front left to right; China's President Xi Jinping, Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, back left to right; Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP)

Leaders attend the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Top left to right; Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Taiwan's representative James Soong, botton left to right, Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto, U.S. President Donald Trump. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up his hand during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Tens of thousands of Gaza Palestinians marked the 13th anniversary of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's death on Saturday for the first time since the Islamic Hamas group seized the territory a decade ago.

In the wake of a brewing reconciliation between Hamas and the Fatah party Arafat founded, Fatah supporters flocked to al-Saraya Square in Gaza City from all over the coastal enclave to commemorate the event, waving their yellow flag, raising posters of Arafat and donning his trademark kaffiyeh headgear.

Arafat died in 2004 at a hospital in France after two years of an Israeli siege on his West Bank headquarters. Palestinians accuse Israel of poisoning him but offer no proof, adding to the mystery surrounding the death.

Palestinians wave flags and carry pictures of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as they gather on the main square to mark the 13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

After winning legislative elections in 2006, Hamas forces violently overthrew Fatah in Gaza the following year. The commemoration comes amid improving relationships between Fatah and Hamas, a month after the two rivals signed a deal in Egypt paving the way to end the Palestinian internal divide.

Under the deal, Hamas would cede control of Gaza to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority after a decade of unilateral rule by the Islamic movement.

"The accurate implementation of the deal and the full empowering of the government will surely lead to easing the suffering and reviving hope of a better future for all of us," President Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's successor, told the crowd in a prerecorded speech from his West Bank headquarters.

Earlier this month, Hamas transferred control at Gaza's crossing points with Israel and Egypt to the Fatah-led Palestinians Authority, implementing the first part of the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation. Talks will continue in Cairo in ten days to discuss broader issues.

A sticking point has been the vast arsenal of rockets, attack tunnels and explosives that Hamas and smaller groups in Gaza possess. In his speech, Abbas reiterated his firm stance that he wants "one authority, one law and one legitimate weapon" in Gaza. Hamas vows not to disarm.

In November 2007, months after Hamas took over Gaza following a week of bloody fighting, Fatah organized a rally to mark Arafat's death, but it ended with clashes between Fatah supporters and armed Hamas forces, in which seven civilians were killed.

Saturday's event ended peacefully after two hours of speeches and people swaying to patriotic songs blaring from huge loudspeakers.

Not all participants belonged to Fatah. Some of them came because they missed the sort of unity that prevailed during Arafat's reign. "Arafat is for all the Palestinians," said Ashraf Hamouda, 34.

A woman holds a yellow fatah movement flag stands next to a poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Palestinians wave yellow Fatah movement flags during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of the death of Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Palestinians chant slogans and wave yellow Fatah movement flags during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of the death of Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A supply run to the International Space Station has been delayed a day by a stray plane.

Everything was going well in Saturday morning's launch countdown in Virginia. But at the last minute, a plane flew into the restricted airspace at Wallops Island. That prompted NASA's commercial shipper, Orbital ATK, to call off the liftoff.

The Virginia-based company will try again Sunday morning to launch its unmanned Antares rocket with 7,400 pounds of cargo. The Cygnus cargo ship contains fresh fruit, vegetables and ice cream bars for the six station astronauts, plus mealworms and micro clover for student experiments.

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket sits on the 0A launch pad at the NASA Wallops Island flight facility in Wallops Island, Va., Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. The rocket is carrying cargo to the International Space Station and is set to launch Saturday morning. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

This will be Orbital ATK's first launch from its home base in more than a year. The last time it made a station delivery, it used another company's rocket flying from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket sits on the 0A launch pad at the NASA Wallops Island flight facility in Wallops Island, Va., Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. The rocket is carrying cargo to the International Space Station and is set to launch Saturday morning. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket sits on the 0A launch pad at the NASA Wallops Island flight facility in Wallops Island, Va., Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. The rocket is carrying cargo to the International Space Station and is set to launch Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two former CIA employees are accusing the Trump administration's choice for CIA chief watchdog of being less than candid when he told Congress he didn't know about any active whistleblower complaints against him.

Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Christopher Sharpley, the current acting inspector general who's in line for the permanent job, about complaints that he and other managers participated in retaliation against CIA workers who alerted congressional committees and other authorities about alleged misconduct.

"I'm unaware of any open investigations on me, the details of any complaints about me," Sharpley testified at his confirmation hearing last month.

FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2017, file photo, Christopher R. Sharpley appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee to be confirmed as the CIA inspector general, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Two former CIA employees are accusing Sharpley, the man nominated to be the CIA's chief watchdog, of being less than candid when he testified to Congress that he didn't know about any active whistleblower complaints against him. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

He said he might not know because there is a process providing confidentiality to anyone who wants to file a complaint against government officials, who often are individually named in cases against management.

"No action or conclusions of wrongdoing have been made about my career or anything that I've done," Sharpley added.

The committee is still considering Sharpley's nomination.

Sens. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden say they find it hard to believe Sharpley didn't know about the complaints when he testified. They said one of the open cases is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog.

They say that inspector general's office, which is looking into the CIA matter to avoid a conflict of interest, asked Sharpley in January for documents. The office asked to interview Sharpley on Oct. 12. Sharpley's office said he wouldn't be available until after Oct. 17 - the day he testified to senators.

"How is it possible that he could have been unaware of any open investigations against him at the time he testified?" Grassley, R-Iowa, and Wyden, D-Ore., asked in a letter they wrote to Senate intelligence committee leaders.

GOP Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, had planned a vote on Sharpley's nomination last month. It has been delayed while the committee holds discussions about the whistleblower cases, according to someone familiar with the matter. The person wasn't authorized to discuss the issue and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani defended Sharpley's five-year tenure at the agency as deputy and then acting inspector general. He said Sharpley has 36 years of investigative and law enforcement experience and created two inspectors general offices from scratch within the federal government.

"Whether there are any complaints or investigations regarding Mr. Sharpley is not something we could confirm or comment on," Trapani said. "What we can say is that Mr. Sharpley has had a sterling five-year career at CIA and there have never been any findings of wrongdoing or misconduct of any sort by Mr. Sharpley during his tenure here."

Documents provided to the AP by attorneys representing two former CIA employees challenge Sharpley's testimony.

They point to discord over several years within the CIA's inspector general's office, an independent unit created in 1989 to oversee the spy agency. It's charged with stopping waste, fraud and mismanagement and promoting accountability through audits, inspections, investigations and reviews of CIA programs and operations - overt and covert.

John Tye, executive director of Whistleblower Aid, who is representing two of the complainants alleging retaliation by Sharpley and other senior managers, said some discord in the office stemmed from a case several years ago involving kickbacks from contractors.

The Justice Department announced in 2013 that three CIA contractors had agreed to pay the United States $3 million to settle allegations that they provided meals, entertainment, gifts and tickets to sporting events to CIA employees and outside consultants to help get business steered their way.

The criminal case fell apart after intelligence employees discovered that evidence in the case was being fabricated and witness statements were being altered. These employees secretly went around Sharpley and then CIA Inspector General David Buckley and contacted the U.S. attorney's office. Tye said that after learning about the falsified evidence, a guilty plea in the case, which had already been accepted by a judge, was voided at the request of the U.S. attorney.

Afterward, leaders at the CIA inspector's office asked auditors across town at the Federal Housing Finance Agency to look into their in-house matter. It's unclear why that agency - a place where Sharpley previously worked - was chosen to handle the matter. Results of that investigation haven't been revealed.

In an Oct. 30 letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Tye said that during the FHFA probe, Sharpley improperly "interrupted witness interviews, walking in special designated conference rooms to learn the names of the whistleblowers within his staff" who reported evidence tampering to outside oversight bodies. Tye said no one within the CIA inspector general's office was prosecuted or disciplined for evidence tampering.

"Sharpley successfully identified some, but not all, of the whistleblowers," Tye said. He said retaliation involved forcing administrative leave, security clearance decisions and other harassment.

One complainant is Jonathan Kaplan, 59, a former special agent and investigator in the CIA's inspector general's office who spent 33 years at the agency. He claims that before he went to talk to staff at the House Intelligence Committee about the contactors case, he queried a computer in his office to refresh his memory on the details.

He later received a formal letter of warning for searching the computer system. That ultimately prevented him from renewing his security clearance, effectively ending his government career. He contacted an inspector general overseeing all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies and received a letter earlier this year acknowledging that office was handling the case.

A second complainant is Andrew Bakaj, 35, who worked in the CIA inspector general's office as a special agent from 2012 to 2015. He was instrumental in developing agency regulations governing whistleblower reprisal investigations.

When some of his colleagues came to him to allege misconduct in the office, he referred them to the same inspector general Kaplan went to. It was an office Bakaj and his colleagues had been told not to cooperate with.

He, too, searched on the office computer on a matter he was questioned about and had worked on as part of an investigation conducted by the inspector general that oversees all U.S. intelligence agencies. Two weeks later, superiors summoned him and put him on paid leave that lasted 15 months. He then resigned.

___

This story has been corrected to show the issue that was queried on the computer was part of an investigation conducted by the inspector general and wasn't a case involving evidence tampering.
JERUSALEM (AP) - The Israeli military said it shot down an unmanned aircraft on Saturday that tried to infiltrate its airspace from neighboring Syria.

In a statement, the military said it intercepted the drone above the Golan Heights using a Patriot missile. The military said the drone was operated by the Syrian regime and was shot down in the demilitarized zone between the countries.

In September, Israel shot down an Iranian-made drone sent by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the same area. Both Iranian and Hezbollah forces have been backing Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war.

Israel has warned that it will not accept a permanent presence of Iran or its allied militias near its border in postwar Syria. Israel says that it expects any agreement ending the war in Syria to include a 20-kilometer (12-mile) buffer zone meant to keep away Iranian-backed militants. Israel has been closely watching Iran's involvement in the war in neighboring Syria. It fears Iran could use Syrian territory to stage attacks on Israel, or create a land corridor from Iran to Lebanon that could allow it to transfer weapons more easily to Hezbollah.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel viewed Saturday's drone incident gravely and would respond to any provocation.

"We hold the Syrian regime responsible for any firing or breach of sovereignty and call on it to hold back all players active in its territory," Lieberman said in a statement. "We will not allow the Shiite axis to establish a front command center in Syria."

Israel has largely stayed out of the fighting in Syria. But it has carried out dozens of airstrikes on alleged arms shipments bound for Hezbollah. It fears the group will gain sophisticated weapons and smuggle them from Syria into Lebanon.
ALABASTER, Ala. (AP) - It's no secret that if Roy Moore is going to lose his race for U.S. Senate, it's going to happen in Alabama's suburbs. And on Friday, a day after allegations emerged that the outspoken Christian conservative had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl decades ago, at least a few Republicans in one Birmingham suburb were having second thoughts about their party's nominee.

"Really and truly, I cannot tell you what I'm going to do right now," said Carolyn Griffin, of Calera, as she watched her dog Loxy exercise at Alabaster's Veterans Park.

Griffin is the kind of voter who might be moved by the allegations, and suburban Shelby County is where other likeminded voters are located. While Alabama might be called the Heart of Dixie, much of Shelby County is Anysuburb USA, with subdivisions and strip malls sprawling ever farther south along traffic-choked highways leading out of Birmingham.

Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore has denied the allegations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

The accusations against Moore come as Democrats are feeling increasingly optimistic about their strength in suburbs after Tuesday's elections in Virginia, New Jersey and other races. Still, it's a steep, steep climb in Alabama. No Democrat has held a U.S. Senate seat there since 1997, when Howell Heflin retired.

Moore has been considered the strong favorite as a Republican running in a deeply red state, and polls taken before the Washington Post story showed him with a lead over Democratic challenger Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 race.

But Moore, a polarizing figure within his own state, has typically underperformed other Republicans in general-election races, giving rise to Democrats' hope of a victory against him in the off-year election.

"There was a universe in Alabama that was uncomfortable with him, all while Republicans were gaining in Alabama," Birmingham-based Democratic pollster John Anzalone said. "These allegations now give these voters a reason to vote against him or stay home."

The 70-year-old Moore, a former state Supreme Court judge, was twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court, once for disobeying a federal court order to remove a 5,200-pound (2,359-kilogram) granite Ten Commandments monument from the lobby of the state judicial building and later for urging state probate judges to defy the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage.

He has vehemently denied accusations that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl and pursued three other teenagers when he was an assistant district attorney in his early 30s.

He repeated his denial Saturday while speaking to the Mid Alabama Republican Club in Vestavia Hills outside Birmingham.

"There are investigations going on. In the next few days, there will be revelations about the motivations and the content of this article that will be brought to the public," Moore said without elaborating. "We fully expect the people of Alabama to see through this charade."

David Mowery, an Alabama-based political campaign consultant who helped run a Democrat's unsuccessful campaign against Moore in 2012, said the allegations against Moore are damaging but aren't necessarily a death blow.

"I think it hurts. It hurts because they are having to divert time and effort and probably money into killing it," Mowery said. "Can they turn the page, so to speak, and turn it back to a D versus R thing?"

"There's an old saying that the only way some candidates could lose is to be caught with a dead girl or a live boy. Alabama is going to test the specs on that like 'Hold my beer,'" Mowery said.

The state's eight most populous counties have almost as many people as the other 59 combined, and those are among the areas where Moore was weakest in the primary against Sen. Luther Strange, appointed to the Senate on an interim basis after Jeff Sessions was elevated to U.S. attorney general.

Former state Republican Party chairman Marty Connors said he expected the impact of the allegations to be concentrated in the suburbs.

"It will affect what I call your really, really moderate Republican voters," Connors said.

But not everyone in the suburbs is ready to abandon Moore. Frank Pimintel of Alabaster said he viewed the allegations as part of a typical political smear campaign and wouldn't judge Moore for something that happened more than 30 years ago.

"I'm about states' rights, low taxes, local control. He stands for a lot of things that I believe in," Pimintel said.

That's more along the lines of the reaction that Connors and retired University of Alabama political science professor Bill Stewart expect rural voters to have.

"In rural Alabama, they don't seem to be putting a lot of stock in this story," Stewart said. "They don't believe it."

Connors said the accusations could even energize supporters, similar to how President Donald Trump survived audio of him bragging about groping women.

Mark Victory of Alabaster counted himself as still "tentatively in the Moore camp" after the claims.

Victory said he wants to support Trump's agenda but might be swayed by more proof. If there is more proof, he said, his reaction would be to not vote at all.

"I'm not going to vote for his opponent," Victory said, saying he believes Jones is too submissive to the agenda of national Democratic leaders.

But moderate Republicans not voting might not be enough for Jones, Stewart said, "given the intensity of Republican identification in Alabama." Stewart still thinks Moore's going to win, despite the allegations.

"I don't think it matters enough to make Jones the favorite to win," he said.

___

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Howell Heflin was the last Democrat to hold a Senate seat from Alabama, but was not elected in 1992.

Mark Victory of Alabaster, Ala., walks his dogs Friday, Nov. 10, 2017, at Veterans Park. Victory says that despite allegations of sexual misconduct against Republican U.S. Senate nominee Roy Moore, he's still tentatively in the Moore camp. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

Celeste Lawyer of Alabaster, Ala., walks her dog Friday, Nov. 10, 2017, at Veterans Park. Lawyer says she wants a Republican to hold Alabama's U.S. Senate seat because her family is looking for relief from high health insurance premiums, but she's only 50-50 on whether she'll vote for GOP nominee Roy Moore, who's now accused of sexual misconduct. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore waits to speak the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore is denying the allegations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at an event at the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore has denied the allegations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore waits to speak the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore has denied the allegations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore waits to speak the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore has denied the allegations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The White House Correspondents' Association is voicing concerns about press access during President Donald Trump's trip to Asia.

Reporters and photographers traveling with the president were barred from covering any of the events at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the coastal city of Danang, Vietnam, on Saturday.

And only one member of the traveling press corps - a video journalist - was allowed into a dinner the night before.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, while traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Doug Mills, a White House photographer for The New York Times, tweeted a picture of a black box in protest that read: "This what our APEC Summit photo coverage looks today in Da Nang Vietnam. Blank. No coverage by the White House Travel Pool photographers traveling with @realDonaldTrump."

Reporters have also expressed frustrations that Trump declined to take questions in China, where press freedoms are restricted - though he did hold press conferences in Japan and South Korea and spoke to reporters at length aboard Air Force One on Saturday. He'll also be taking questions Sunday in Hanoi.

WHCA President Margaret Talev said in a statement that the group had been in discussion with the White House for months about maximizing press coverage during the trip, which is Trump's first to Asia as president.

"While there has been a history of some host countries pushing back against the size of the US footprint and while APEC historically has limited some pool sizes," she said, "we are concerned that access on this trip has eroded more significantly and that notice about changes or new coverage restrictions has often come with too short of notice to be able to react effectively."

The group also said it was "disappointed in the decision not to hold a joint news conference in China" and encouraged the White House to schedule a solo news conference with Trump.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Hanoi that she hadn't been aware of the issues at the dinner and said that she had alerted the advance team on the ground in Trump's next and final stop - Manila - to push for more access.

The president is always followed by a pool of 13 journalists, composed of writers, photographers and a video crew, who distribute reports to news outlets and serve as the public's eyes and ears.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The family of a mentally ill woman who killed herself inside a Pennsylvania detention center in 2015 will receive $7 million after a lawsuit against the private company running the prison was settled, according to a lawyer handling the case.

The recent settlement capped a case that began with a descent into depression and paranoia in Janene Wallace's late twenties and eventually resulted in imprisonment, a nearly three-month stint in solitary confinement and finally, a death by hanging, family attorney David Inscho said.

At the time of her suicide, the George W. Hill Correctional Facility was run by private prison operator Community Education Centers but the company was recently acquired by another prison operator called The GEO Group. Pablo Paez, a representative for The GEO group, declined to comment on the litigation but said that "GEO was in no way involved with the management of the facility at the time of these allegations."

Wallace, 35, was first imprisoned at the suburban Philadelphia facility in 2013 after she left a series of threatening voicemails for a high school classmate that she thought was out to get her, according to Inscho. A psychiatrist there recommended she "is in absolute need of appropriate psychological testing and psychiatric care," according to a mental health evaluation provided by Inscho.

"She had no control over it," her mother Susanne Wallace said, adding that her daughter thought there was always someone following or stalking her.

After her release, Wallace traveled the country hounded by the familiar thought that someone was after her. She missed mandatory post-release meetings and was sent back to the Hill facility on a probation violation in 2015, Inscho said.

Wallace then refused to bathe, made irrational statements, rubbed menstrual blood on a shower wall and accused the guards of trying to hurt her, according to emails between officials at the facility that were provided by Inscho. She was placed in solitary confinement and a sign was put on her door that warned that she was "unstable" and instructed staffers to "use caution."

"What she needed was a mental health evaluation and mental health treatment. That never happened," Inscho said. "She was mentally ill. She needed help."

After more than 50 days in solitary, which included a guard telling her to "go ahead and choke yourself" following a threat from Wallace that Inscho said was made after a period of 85 hours of uninterrupted confinement, she hung herself from a vent with her bra.

David Byrne, warden of the Hill facility, did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment about Wallace's death. But, according to a transcript of a deposition provided by Inscho, he has admitted that something went wrong.

"There was a breakdown," Byrne said, according to the transcript. "We understand that."
SPARKS, Nev. (AP) - Federal scientists and land managers who've been crafting strategies to protect a ground-dwelling bird's habitat across the American West for nearly two decades are going back to the drawing board under a new Trump administration edict to reassess existing plans condemned by ranchers, miners and energy developers.

Federal officials are wrapping up a series of public meetings with three sessions starting Tuesday in Utah ahead of a Nov. 27 cutoff for comment on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's order last month to consider revisions to land management amendments for the greater sage grouse that were adopted under the Obama administration.

Zinke says he wants to make sure the amendments don't harm local economies in 11 western states and allow the states to have maximum control over the efforts within their borders.

FILE - In this April 20, 2013 file photo, male greater sage grouse perform mating rituals for a female grouse, not pictured, on a lake outside Walden, Colo. Federal scientists and land managers who've been crafting strategies to protect sage grouse habitat across the West for nearly two decades are going back to the drawing board under a new Trump administration edict to reassess existing plans condemned by ranchers, miners and energy developers. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Conservationists say it's a thinly veiled attempt to allow more livestock grazing and drilling, similar to Trump's efforts to roll back national monument designations, but on a much larger scale. They warn it could land the hen-sized bird on the endangered species list in 2020 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to review its 2015 decision not to list it.

"They appear to be dismantling the whole land-planning amendment system and starting over," said Patrick Donnelly, the Center for Biological Diversity's Nevada state director.

"It's revisionist history," he told a Fish and Wildlife Service official during a scoping meeting-turned-brainstorming session at a Sparks hotel-casino Wednesday night.

Instead of recording public testimony, agency officials marked up easel pads with lists of criticisms, concerns and suggestions. About 80 participants moved between five breakout groups including "minerals," ''livestock grazing," and "wildlife and vegetation."

They treaded familiar ground. Disagreement reigned over the size of protective buffer zones around grouse breeding grounds, states' role in setting federal policy and whether cattle or wild horses cause more habitat degradation. There was general agreement that invasive cheat grass is fueling one of the biggest threats - catastrophic wildfires - but little consensus on what to do about it.

"I don't understand why we're starting all over again," shouted a man who briefly disrupted the meeting and refused to provide his name.

Nevada Farm Bureau Vice President Doug Busselman said research increasingly suggests properly regulated grazing reduces fire fuels. But he said existing policy is "taking a restrictive approach ... and then watching massive fires sweep across the landscape, setting up the process for expansion of cheat grass, then more fire."

The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee heard the same thing last month from Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke, a fifth-generation rancher who blames grazing restrictions for a wildfire that wiped out his family's winter grazing allotment this year.

"In the process of placating anti-grazing activists, federal agencies have made the No. 1 threat to the greater sage grouse in Idaho worse," Bedke said. Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, a Republican, filed one of a series of lawsuits aimed at blocking the Obama plans.

Conversely, Republican Gov. Matt Mead of Wyoming, Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana have expressed concern that altering existing plans could undermine efforts to prevent a listing. Nevada GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval also has cautioned against wholesale changes, although he applauded Zinke's recent lifting of a temporary ban on new mining claims across about 15,600 square miles (40,400 square kilometers) adopted under Obama.

Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairman Dan Vermillion said existing protections took a diverse group of stakeholders years to work out.

"Those plans were essential to keeping sage grouse from becoming endangered," he wrote in a Nov. 7 letter to Zinke.

That's the message Karen Boeger delivered in Sparks.

"We all duked it out on these plans," said Boeger, a retired teacher and member of the Nevada Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers who previously served on a Bureau of Land Management advisory board. "We've hardly gotten out of the chute. Let's give it a chance."

The bureau's acting deputy director, John Ruhs, understands the frustration.

"A lot of folks have been engaged in this topic for a long time. Some have been at the table going back 15 years or more," said Ruhs, who's worked for the agency in Nevada, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho.

"We're trying to find the best methods to allow all uses of the land to occur and still ensure protection of habitat," he said. "It's a tall order."

Donnelly, whose Arizona-based group has sued over failure to list hundreds of species, said the intent of the Obama amendments "was very clear: Prevent the listing of the sage grouse." That goal seems to have gotten lost, he said.

"We heard a lot about mineral withdrawals and local collaboration, but all in the name of what?" Donnelly asked. "Are we still committed to conserving sage grouse, or is the intention to mine and drill every acre of the West? If that's the case, we are plunging head-long toward listing the grouse."

In this Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2017 photo, Ken Vicencio, right, a rangeland manager for the the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Nevada, gestures while Matt Magaletti, BLM's sage grouse implementation lead, holds a list of concerns and suggestions offered by participants at a public meeting on federal management of the greater sage grouse in 11 western states at the Nugget hotel-casino in Sparks, Nev. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner).

John Ruhs, left, acting deputy director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, talks to Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director for the Center for Biological Diversity, during a public meeting on federal management of the greater sage grouse in 11 western states on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2017 in Sparks, Nev. Federal scientists and land managers who've been crafting strategies to protect sage grouse habitat across the West for nearly two decades are going back to the drawing board under a new Trump administration edict to reassess existing plans condemned by ranchers, miners and energy developers. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner).
Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Roy Miller was arrested early Saturday in Florida on a domestic battery charge, according to Duval County jail records.

Miller was jailed shortly before 5 a.m. by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The incident involved a minor injury, but no other details were available about the alleged battery.

Miller appeared before a judge early on Saturday afternoon. The judge said the victim is no longer pressing charges against Miller and ordered that he be released.

Roy Miller of the Kansas City Chiefs has been arrested in Florida on a domestic battery charge and appeared in court on Saturday afternoon

In Millers first appearance, the state said they require more time to investigate the matter.

According to ActionNewsJax the judge said Miller is allowed to make contact with his wife, but that any violence towards her will break his release.

The Chiefs, who are off this week, said in statement that they were aware of the incident and gathering facts. They declined any further comment.

The 30-year-old Miller, who was drafted out of Texas by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, spent the past four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Miller signed a $1.4 million deal with Kansas City this past offseason but has only appeared in seven games with two tackles.

The Chiefs released a statement saying, 'This morning we were informed about an incident involving one of our players, Roy Miller. We are still in the process of gathering details on the situation. We will have no further comment at this time.'
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island man accused of stealing a state police cruiser while in custody is facing charges.

Authorities said Saturday that 35-year-old Donald Morgan is charged with escape from custody and other offenses. The Providence resident was arrested Friday night.

Morgan was being taken to court Thursday after being arrested on such charges as obstruction. He was left alone and handcuffed in the cruiser when he allegedly stole it. The cruiser was later found abandoned.

It happened less than two hours before a deadly shooting involving officers on Interstate 95 in Rhode Island.

Police initially said the shooting and cruiser theft were related, but then said Morgan wasn't involved in the shootout.

Two Rhode Island residents have been charged with harboring Morgan at their residence.

It's unclear if Morgan has an attorney.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - News that a sitting California senator is being investigated for sexual harassment against a young female employee has put a fresh spotlight on a legislative leader this week as he begins a bid against the state's first female U.S. senator.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, the Democratic leader of the state Senate, heads the committee in charge of human resources employees who handle workplace complaints. De Leon also rents a room in the Sacramento home of Democratic Sen. Tony Mendoza, the man accused of improper conduct, de Leon spokesman Anthony Reyes said.

Mendoza is accused of repeatedly inviting a young woman who worked in his office through a fellowship program to the house, although she never went. Mendoza said in a statement that he would never knowingly abuse his authority, though his statement didn't address the allegation that he invited her to his home.

FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2016, file photo, state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, listens at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. The Los Angeles-area state senator is being investigated for allegations he engaged in inappropriate behavior toward a young female staffer. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

Late Saturday, the Sacramento Bee reported that a second young woman has accused Mendoza of behaving inappropriately toward her when she was a 19-year-old intern in his district office in 2008. A spokesman for Mendoza said the woman's allegations were "completely false," the Bee reported.

The woman, now 28, came forward with her allegations after media reports this week of the Senate investigation into Mendoza's reported behavior toward the first woman, according to the Bee.

De Leon said through spokesmen that he did not know about the complaint against Mendoza or his alleged invitations to the young woman. De Leon's allies have downplayed the two senators' relationship.

But De Leon's handling of impropriety at the Capitol will likely play a role in his U.S. Senate bid against Sen. Dianne Feinstein, one of California's most prominent women in politics and a powerful U.S. senator.

"It really does feel like we're at this inflection point with sex harassment allegations where suddenly they're being taken seriously," said Kim Nalder, director of the Project for an Informed Electorate at California State University-Sacramento. "It's hard to imagine that Kevin de Leon's bid will be completely untarnished by this revelation that someone close to him was accused of this kind of misbehavior."

The latest allegations against Mendoza, which come after nearly 150 women signed a letter three weeks ago calling harassment pervasive in the capital culture, shed further light on the Senate's murky processes for investigating its own members.

After the initial outcry about harassment in mid-October, De Leon and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon immediately pledged to review the Legislature's policies. De Leon hired an outside investigator, and the Senate asked women to speak to her.

De Leon said at the time that "everyone deserves a workplace free of fear, harassment and sexual misbehavior."

That statement was made before the allegations about Mendoza became public. A month earlier, the Senate began investigating Mendoza, Senate Secretary Danny Alvarez confirmed.

A former employee of Mendoza's complained to the Senate Rules Committee in September that the senator had repeatedly behaved inappropriately toward a young woman who worked for him through the Sacramento State fellows program, said Micha Liberty, a lawyer for the employee. That month, the employee and two others in Mendoza's office were fired. The Senate and Liberty dispute the timing of the firings relative to the complaint.

Mendoza and Alvarez said the firings had nothing to do with the complaints. Liberty, though, said her client made clear she was accusing Mendoza of sexual harassment toward the fellow, and she was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement when she was fired. Liberty would not name her client and did not provide a copy of the confidentiality letter.

Mendoza said he did not know about the complaint until the he was contacted by the Sacramento Bee. A spokesman for the university, Brian Blomster, said the university did not know either.

The Senate's policy says the deputy secretary for human resources will meet with people named in complaints or those who may have knowledge, and will attempt to treat investigations as confidential. Alvarez did not directly answer a question about when, if ever, de Leon would be notified about an investigation in his role as head of the Senate Rules Committee.

"As the process requires, the Senate will take action once Senate Rules completes their investigation," he said.

De Leon's spokespeople declined to make him available for an interview with The Associated Press on allegations of Capitol harassment despite repeated requests, including on Friday. They did not answer Friday when asked if de Leon had spoken to Mendoza since news of the allegations against him broke or if he planned to strip Mendoza of his committee chairmanship. Mendoza heads the Senate Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee and sits on other key committees.

De Leon campaign spokesman Roger Salazar pointed to his work on gender equity and fighting campus sexual assault as evidence of his record on women's issues. "We're not going to be able to stop people from being shameless in trying to play politics with this issue," Salazar said.

Feinstein's allies, though, said the allegations at the Capitol will hurt de Leon.

"De Leon is challenging a feminist icon," said Nathan Ballard, a Democratic strategist backing Feinstein. "There is now a dark cloud of impropriety surrounding de Leon that won't make him very popular with Sen. Feinstein's base of Democratic women."

It's hard to discern the full scope of sexual harassment allegations at the Capitol because lawmakers shield investigations from disclosure. The Senate and Assembly both rejected requests for information from the AP about how many sexual harassment investigations resulted in discipline since 2012, citing privacy concerns. The Senate reported that in that time it has investigated at least six sexual harassment complaints, although it's unclear if that tally includes Mendoza.

When complaints are resolved, employees who make them may never get documentation spelling out the results. Instead, the Deputy Secretary for Human Resources "will orally report the findings and conclusions to the employee," according to the Senate harassment policy.

FILE --Thie April 20, 2017 file photo shows Senate President Pro Tem Kevin deLeon, D-Los Angeles, in Sacramento, Calif. A sexual harassment investigation into a sitting California senator is putting a fresh spotlight on the legislative leader who is running for a U.S. senate seat. De Leon heads the committee in charge of overseeing workplace complaints and shares a house with Sen. Tony Mendoza, the lawmaker accused of misconduct. De Leon is also in the middle of a campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the first woman California sent to the Senate. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart is pleased with how a Lifetime movie and documentary she helped produce about her harrowing ordeal turned out. But she said her visit to the movie set brought back terrible memories when she saw actor Skeet Ulrich looking so similar to the man who abducted her.

The upcoming film titled "I Am Elizabeth Smart" follows the nine months after Smart, then 14, was kidnapped by Brian Mitchell from her bedroom in her Salt Lake City home in 2002 and was raped daily by her captor, the Deseret News reported .

Police finally found her in Sandy with the help of two couples who recognized Mitchell from media reports as a suspect in Smart's kidnapping.

This image released by Lifetime shows Alana Boden, left, with Elizabeth Smart on the set of "I Am Elizabeth Smart," premiering Saturday, Nov. 18 at 8pm ET/PT on Lifetime. (Sergei Bachlakov/Lifetime via AP)

Mitchell was convicted and is serving a life sentence for the crime.

The movie features newcomer Alana Boden as Smart, Deirdre Lovejoy - who portrays Mitchell's estranged wife Wanda Barzee, who aided in the kidnapping - and Ulrich as Mitchell.

Smart was on the set for part of the filming, narrated the movie and gave feedback to executive producers Joseph Freed and Allison Berkley.

She especially wanted to help them find a balance between keeping the integrity of her gruesome experience and not being too graphic.

"Certainly a lot of very bad things happen, and I thought, 'How could you possibly show that without it either coming off as dark and terrible and give you nightmares at night,' or sugar-coating everything and making it seem like, 'Oh, this terrible thing happened but it really wasn't that bad, and then a miracle happened?' " she said.

While she enjoyed meeting the actors, Smart said in an interview with Deseret News that she felt uncomfortable when they asked her to take a photo with them.

"It was just this weird experience because I was sitting there like, 'They're lovely people, but I don't know if I should smile because they don't look like lovely people,'" she said. "They look like my worst nightmare."

The movie will premiere Saturday, Nov. 18.

A two-part documentary titled "Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography," in which Smart shares more details about the horrific situation she survived, her rescue and what her life is like now, will be premiered on A&E Nov. 12-13.

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Information from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com
SPRING CREEK  A students idea to salute veterans brought all of Spring Creek Middle School together to create posters of family members who served in the armed forces.

More than 300 students and teachers created posters of family members who served in the armed forces that will be displayed in the school gym for the next few weeks, said social studies and leadership teacher Denise Brown.

Participants wore red and gathered on the bleachers Nov. 9 with their posters for a group photo.

Seventh-grade Layla Land read the book Nothing But the Truth for her reading connections class and approached Principal Jon Foss with an idea for the students, faculty and staff to wear red on Fridays in support of veterans, Brown said,

Land was told to take her idea to Brown, whose son is in the U.S. Marine Corp stationed in Iraq, and the idea grew from there, Brown said.

[It] really encouraged this Marine mommas heart, Brown said.

The leadership class wanted to do something even bigger, so they brainstormed and came up with the idea of wearing red on Veterans Day and create posters with the names of family members who were veterans, Brown said, adding the idea took off within the school and produced tremendous results.

The students were so pumped to make their posters to honor their vets, Brown said. It spawned discussions in several classrooms.
Americans honored their military veterans Saturday with a parade in the wintry cold of New York City, where one World War II vet thanked onlookers for remembering, and in a somber ceremony in a Texas community bloodied by a church massacre where almost half of those killed had ties to the U.S. Air Force.

Across the Atlantic, millions of people in Britain and France paused to remember war victims as they marked Armistice Day, which this year was the 99th anniversary of the end of World War I.

In parks, war memorials, football fields and on streets across the United States, politicians and citizens gathered to thank those who have served in the nation's armed forces.

U.S. Navy personnel march in the annual Veterans Day parade in New York, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

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In Sutherland Springs, Texas, a Veterans Day ceremony outside a community center was grim as about 100 people gathered under cloudy skies, honoring the more than two dozen people killed a block away at a church last Sunday.

An Air Force official has said 12 of the massacre victims had direct connections to the Air Force, "either members or with family ties." Sutherland Springs is near Lackland Air Force Base.

Wilson County Judge Richard Jackson's voice broke as he thanked the first responders and others who rushed to the First Baptist Church, saying the scene will affect them the rest of their lives.

Jackson, the county administrator, said he hopes Saturday's ceremony will help "put this horrific tragedy behind us and look to the future."

After the ceremony, members of a fire and rescue squad stood in a circle, put their arms over each other's' shoulders, and prayed. A wreath was placed near flags to remember those killed.

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In New York City, which hosts the largest Veterans Day parade in the country, astronaut Buzz Aldrin served as grand marshal, joining Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Air Force's highest-ranking woman at Saturday's parade.

"It's beautiful, so many people," said Aldrin, who rode in a convertible and waved to the crowds gathered on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Aldrin, 87, served in the Air Force and was the second man on the moon, piloting the Apollo 11 and following Neil Armstrong onto the lunar surface in 1969.

Air Force Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski also attended, along with hundreds of other veterans who marched in the cold. One of the World War II veterans who rode in a float held a sign that read "Thank you for remembering." Others held U.S. flags or black-and-white photos of their loved ones, and dressed in historic uniforms.

De Blasio said the U.S. must provide veterans better access to mental health and medical care, and more job opportunities.

Also in New York state, state and local officials said a new monument will honor African-American military veterans, and will be built in Buffalo's waterfront, alongside other memorials. Planners hope to dedicate it on Veterans Day 2018.

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In Washington, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, carried orange buckets with the message "Let's Do This" to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, joining several dozen volunteers to give it a cleaning.

The Pences spent about 40 minutes just after dawn Saturday wiping down the memorial wall engraved with the names of fallen soldiers.

"This is a great way to start Veterans Day!" Pence declared. He shook hands and posed for photos with the volunteers.

The group was joined by James Pierce, a National Park Service ranger who lost a leg while serving with the North Carolina Army National Guard in Afghanistan.

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Rhode Island used the special occasion of Veterans Day to officially open a new home for veterans.

The state is one of the first to use a community living concept for veterans' long-term care, Kasim Yarn, Rhode Island's first director of veterans affairs, said.

Gov. Gina Raimondo hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at the home, located in the town of Bristol on the same site of the previous home, which dated back to 1955, with additions built in later years.

"I'm proud that Rhode Island is now leading the way in recognizing the sacrifice of those who've served our great nation. Our veterans deserve nothing less," Raimondo said.

The new 208-bed complex provides nursing and residential care for veterans. They began moving in last week into cottages, where each resident has a private bedroom and bathroom. There's also a central location for social activities and services.

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Across Britain, people stopped in streets, squares and railway stations for two minutes of silence starting at 11 a.m. At that moment - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - World War I ended 99 years ago, on Nov. 11, 1918.

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath at the statue of wartime French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, a key architect of peace between the great powers. Macron then inspected French troops and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. Former French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande also attended the ceremony attended by a large crowd in drizzly weather.

Many Britons wore red paper poppies, symbolizing the flowers that bloomed amid the carnage of WWI's Western Front. Armistice Day originally commemorated the millions who died in the Great War, but now also remembers those killed in World War II and subsequent conflicts.

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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky

Veterans and community members gather at Pittsfield Veterans Memorial Park to celebrate Veterans Day on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Pittsfield, Mass. (Stephanie Zollshan/The Berkshire Eagle via AP)

Donna King stands for the national anthem during a Veterans Day event, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The event was held in the community, just a block away from the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church where a man opened killing more than two dozen. Veteran Robert Corrigan, who was killed in the church, was honored during the service. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, center,salutes during the annual Veterans Day parade in New York, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Aldrin served as Grand Marshal as he joined Mayor Bill de Blasio and others at the city's parade. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Over 100 veterans and community members gather at Pittsfield Veterans Memorial Park to celebrate Veterans Day on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Pittsfield, Mass. (Stephanie Zollshan /The Berkshire Eagle via AP)

People salute or place their hands over their hearts during the playing of the national anthem during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Members of the audience listen as Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

First responders join in prayer following a Veterans Day event, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, near the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, in Sutherland Springs, Texas. A man opened fire inside the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than two dozen. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

CORRECTS MISSPELLED - Veterans salute as the colors are presented before Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Participants perform as they march during the annual Veterans Day parade in New York, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Wearing a U.S. Marine Corps ball cap Jacksonville resident Bill Smith salutes a vintage military jeep decorated with American Flags as he watches the Veterans Day parade, Saturday Nov. 11, 2017, in Jacksonville, Fla. Smith, who did not serve in the military himself, said he comes out and salutes for his brother who died serving in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)

Celeste Martin, from Jacksonville's Southside, holds the souvenir hat that her father William Morgan brought home after serving in Vietnam and is decorated with his ribbons and patches from his service in both the Army and Air Force, as she watches a Veterans Day parade, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Jacksonville, Fla. The hat was important to her father according to Martin who said he swam out of his house in New Orleans with it when he got flooded by Hurricane Katrina. "He wore this every parade" said Martin of her father who died a year ago. "So it is my turn now." (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)

Roy Norris, from Savannah, Ga., holds a large American Flag as he watches the Veterans Day parade with other spectators Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in downtown Jacksonville, Fla. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)

A Navy veteran gets a high-five from a parade spectator during the Veterans Day parade, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Jacksonville Fla. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)

A member of Veterans for Peace performs as he marches during the annual Veterans Day parade in New York, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Trumpet players from the Illinois and Indiana bands play taps during a moment of silence in honor of Veteran's Day during halftime of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Bradley Leeb)

U.S. Navy sea cadets march during the annual Veterans Day parade in New York, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
HONOLULU (AP) - Family members of a 73-year-old woman who was found beaten and stabbed to death are asking the public for help in catching the suspect.

Police have not made any arrests in the case three weeks after Sai Keomanivong was found dead on a farm off Kunia Road on the island of Oahu.

Lane Phongphila, a family member, told Hawaii News Now that his uncle found Keomanivong face down in pool of blood on Oct. 20. Initially, the uncle thought she may have fallen and hit her head. But the injuries were a lot more severe.

"Examining her body, they found that her arms and her legs were broken," Phongphila said. "They broke her arms and her legs, and they stabbed her multiple times. Then they got that machete and proceeded to hack her head."

The attacker also took the money that she was going to send to her children and husband who are in Laos, Phongphila said.

"We're lost for words. There's nothing that we can say or do to bring her back," Phongphila said. "She's gone, and the way how they took her is terrible."

The family and friends of Keomanivong held a funeral for her on Wednesday.

Police said they don't have any updates on their investigation into the death, KHON-TV reported .
Lebanons president has called on Saudi Arabia to clarify the reasons why the countrys prime minister has not returned home since his resignation last week, which was announced from the kingdom.

The move came as the United States and France expressed their support for Lebanons sovereignty and stability amid heightening tensions between Beirut and Saudi Arabia.

A political crisis has gripped Lebanon and shattered the relative peace maintained by its coalition government since Prime Minister Saad Hariris stunning announcement on November 4 from the Saudi capital that he was resigning.

Secretary Tillerson releases a statement on the situation in #Lebanon. https://t.co/Zoc9IeNQF2  Department of State (@StateDept) November 10, 2017

Lebanese officials have insisted on the return home of Mr Hariri from Saudi Arabia amid rumours he is being held against his will.

Saudi officials have said that their measures against Lebanon are in response to the militant Hezbollah groups support of anti-Saudi rebels in Yemen known as Houthis.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on Saudi Arabia to clarify why Mr Hariri has not returned home since announcing his resignation saying that the obscurity regarding Hariris conditions makes anything that he says or does not reflect truth.

It was an indication that Mr Aoun does not recognise Mr Hariris resignation.

In statements released by his office, Mr Aoun called on Saudi Arabia that is linked to us through deep brotherly and friendly relations to clarify the reasons that are preventing Mr Hariri from returning to Lebanon.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Washington calls upon all states and parties to respect Lebanons sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes.

Saudi Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan warned earlier this month that his government would deal with Lebanon as a hostile state as long as Hezbollah was in the Lebanese government.

The Lebanese unity government that Mr Hariri formed a year ago includes Hezbollah members - the result of a tacit Saudi-Iranian agreement to sideline Lebanon from the other proxy wars in the region

Secretary Rex Tillerson welcomes #Lebanons Prime Minister Saad Hariri to @StateDept to discuss #Syria and regional security issues. pic.twitter.com/5PRcEY0sto  Department of State (@StateDept) July 26, 2017

In this sensitive time, the United States also rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanons stability, undermine Lebanese government institutions, or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region, Ms Sanders said. She was apparently referring to Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia.

Ms Sanders described Mr Hariri as a trusted partner of the United States in strengthening Lebanese institutions, fighting terrorism, and protecting refugees. Ms Sanders said the Lebanese army and security forces are the only legitimate forces in Lebanon.

Also on Saturday, Lebanons state-run National News Agency reported that French President Emmanuel Macron called Mr Aoun expressing Frances commitment to Lebanons unity, sovereignty and independence and to help it in preserving political and security stability.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Emmanuel Macron (Saudi Press Agency via AP)

Mr Aoun said that a marathon planned in Beirut on Sunday in which tens of thousands will participate should be a national sports demonstration for solidarity with prime minister Hariri and his return to his country.

Last year Mr Hariri took part in the marathon, wearing the number three.
President Donald Trump has denounced China for unfair trade practices just a day after he heaped praise on President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

At a summit of Asian leaders keen on regional trade pacts, Mr Trump delivered a roaring America first message.

We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more, Mr Trump told CEOs on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) conference.

US President Donald Trump

I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first.

The president - who pulled the United States out of the Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership - said the US would no longer join large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible.

Instead, he said, the US will pursue one-on-one trade deals with other nations that pledge fair and reciprocal trade. The message stood in sharp contrast to the behind-the-scenes negotiations taking place among other countries at the summit on a successor to TPP.

As for China, Mr Trump said he had spoken openly and directly with Mr Xi about the nations abusive trade practices and the enormous trade deficits they have produced with the United States.

It was a stark change in tone from the day before, when Mr Trump was Mr Xis guest of honour during a state visit in Beijing. There, Mr Trump opted for flattering Mr Xi and blaming past US presidents for the trade deficit.

Mr Trump said Chinas trade surplus, which stood at 223 billion dollars for the first 10 months of the year, was unacceptable. He repeated his language from Thursday, when he said he did not blame China or any other country for taking advantage of the United States on trade.

But Mr Trump added forceful complaints about the audacious theft of intellectual property, the massive subsidising of industries through colossal state-owned enterprises, and American companies being targeted by state-affiliated actors for economic gain - without singling China out by name.

US officials have raised similar concerns in the past about China, especially with regard to intellectual property.

On Saturday, Trump attended meetings with leaders of the 21-member Apec countries

In a major breakthrough, trade ministers from 11 nations remaining in the Trans-Pacific Partnership - representing roughly 13.5% of the global economy - said on Saturday they had reached a deal to proceed with the free-trade pact after it was thrown into doubt when Mr Trump abandoned it.
Cesarewitch runner-up London Prize went one better in the Unibet Elite Hurdle at Wincanton.

The Ian Williams-trained six-year-old won the Imperial Cup at Sandown in the spring, since which he has claimed Flat races at Goodwood and Newcastle before finding only handicap blot Withhold too strong at Newmarket last month.

He was a 4-1 shot reverting the jumping game and after travelling well in the hands of Tom OBrien, took over the running from 5-2 favourite Lough Derg Spirit rounding the home turn.

4-1 London Prize wins the Unibet Elite Hurdle Handicap - Watch now live on @ITV4 pic.twitter.com/SxoMN6ux2Z  ITV Racing (@itvracing) November 11, 2017

Flying Tiger moved ominously into his slipstream, but wilted when asked for maximum effort and London Prize galloped all the way to the line to take the Grade Two prize by three lengths.

Lough Derg Spirit rallied to beat Flying Tiger to the runner-up spot.

Speaking after completing a notable across-the-card double with Saunter in the November Handicap at Doncaster, Williams said: I thought London Prize was tremendous. I thought he was up against it, particularly over the two miles at Wincanton, but Tom has given him a great ride.

A big day for trainer Ian Williams

Williams added: Potentially he was well-handicapped on his Flat form, but I wondered if he would have the toe round there.

Hell potentially run in the Greatwood Hurdle (at Cheltenham next Sunday). We originally went to Wincanton because the owners werent available on Greatwood day, but it depends on what the handicapper does and if hes bucking and squealing.

Jeremy Scotts stable stalwart Melodic Rendezvous won the Elite Hurdle in 2013, but trailed home last of seven runners this time and was immediately retired by his trainer.
Bryony Frost claimed the biggest victory of her professional riding career after steering the Paul Nicholls-trained Present Man to a narrow success in a thrilling renewal of the Badger Ales Trophy.

After a gruelling three-mile-one-furlong test, there were only two runners in with a shot with a couple of fences to jump with Frost on Present Man going head to head with Leighton Aspell on Final Nudge.

Aspell looked as though he might just have stolen the advantage after the last, but Present Man, who is owned by the race sponsor, kept finding on the run to the line to win by a head.

What a performance from Present Man (8-1) who battles bravely to beat Final Nudge in the Badger Ales Trophy Handicap Chase. pic.twitter.com/qqLuuiyUeW  Wincanton Racecourse (@wincantonraces) November 11, 2017

Theatre Guide was eight lengths back in third with Southfield Theatre fourth.

Frost told ITV Racing: He jumped and travelled  this is his Gold Cup. Its their (owners) Gold Cup and they said to me I could ride him, I rode him at Kempton (last time out) and its brilliant to have pulled it off for them.

Hes a brave horse. He has the heart of a lion and the braver you are, the braver he is as he answers every question.

Nicholls added: I was worried about the ground, but I must say Ive never seen him look better.

I knew hed go in the ground, but it was whether he stayed in the ground.

Hes a great example of Rome not being built in a day. Hes taken three years to get where he is

It was a peach of a ride and its great for the owners.
By Alison Bevege and Colin Packham

SYDNEY, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea will delay by at least 24 hours a plan to forcibly evict hundreds of men from an abandoned Australian detention centre, three asylum seekers said on Saturday.

Hundreds of men have barricaded themselves into the Manus island centre for more than 11 days without regular food or water, defying closure bids by Australia and Papua New Guinea in what the United Nations calls a "looming humanitarian crisis".

Rejecting United Nations calls to restore utilities to the camp, Papua New Guinea this week said it would "apprehend" those responsible for the stand-off when it forcibly evicted the men on Saturday.

But several asylum seekers said Papua New Guinea officials told them detainees could remain until Sunday.

"Police are talking on a microphone outside prison," Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish journalist from Iran, who has spent more than four years detained in the camp, told Reuters.

"They're telling the refugees to leave, saying tomorrow will be the last day you are here," he said in a text message.

It was not immediately clear what caused the postponement.

Pressure on the asylum seekers, drawn largely from Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Syria, has grown in recent days as Papua New Guinea tries to get them to move to three transit centres.

The asylum seekers fear reprisals if they move to the transit centres, pending possible resettlement in the United States. The main camp was closed on Oct. 31 and water and power have been cut off.

Some island-dwellers are angry at what they perceive as preferential treatment for the asylum seekers, many of them well educated, in a poor, rural society, and some detainees have come under attack when on release from the camp.

The patience of Papua New Guinea authorities has begun to wane, however, and they moved this week to remove camp fences and dismantle rainwater collection bins and makeshift shelters built to ward off the tropical sun and rain.

Under pressure, groups of men have elected to move to the transit centres. But the exact number left is difficult to ascertain, though Manus Island police commander David Yapu told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about 400 remain.

Several of those remaining told Reuters they would not move, setting the scene for a potential clash, which would further stoke international criticism of Australia.

Australia has used the centre, and a camp on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru, to detain asylum seekers who try to reach its shores by boat. It says boat arrivals will never enter Australia, even if found to be refugees, as this would encourage people smugglers in Asia.

Australia says the policy prevents people drowning at sea, but it has been widely condemned.

Acting Prime Minister Julie Bishop said there was no reason for the remaining men to choose to stay, rejecting criticism of inadequate facilities at the transit centres.

"Over the last few months they have traveled to East Lorengau on many occasions and never raised any concerns," Bishop told reporters in Perth. (Reporting by Alison Bevege; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
ADEN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Saudi-led military coalition fighting against Yemen's Houthi movement will allow the resumption of international commercial flights to the country, a Yemeni government minister said, easing its nationwide blockade.

The alliance said on Monday it had closed all air, land and sea ports in Yemen to stem the alleged flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired towards on the capital Riyadh it blamed on Tehran.

Flights by national carrier Yemenia to the pro-Saudi government-held cities of Aden and Seiyun would resume on Sunday, Yemeni Transport Minister Mourad al-Halimi said in a statement late on Friday.

The United Nations had warned that a total blockade could cause a famine that could kill millions in Yemen, where 2-1/2 years of war has killed at least 10,000 people and unleashed famine and disease in the already impoverished country.

The government-held southern port of Aden was reopened on Wednesday, but ports in Houthi-held areas are still shut. The coalition reopened the al Wadea border crossing linking Saudi Arabia with territory in eastern Yemen on Thursday.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Noah Browning; Editing by Louise Heavens)
By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Israel shot down a Syrian spy drone over the Golan Heights on Saturday, the Israeli military said.

The drone was downed with a Patriot interceptor missile over the Golan demilitarized zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces since the ceasefire deal that followed their 1973 war.

The military initially told Reuters the UAV was Russian-manufactured but offered no evidence. A military source later said it was unclear whether the UAV was indeed Russian-made.

"It was a reconnaissance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and not an attack UAV and we are checking whether there is any connection to Iran and Hezbollah," military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, told Reuters.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel viewed the incident gravely and would respond to any provocation.

"We hold the Syrian regime responsible for any firing or breach of sovereignty and call on it to hold back all players active in its territory," Lieberman said in a statement.

Russia intervened in the civil war on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, joining a de-facto alliance with Iranian forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shi'ite Muslim militias helping Damascus beat back Islamic State and other Sunni Muslim insurgent groups.

Israel fears an eventual Assad victory could leave Iran with a permanent garrison in Syria, extending a threat posed from neighbouring Lebanon by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and has been lobbying Russia and the United States for reassurances that Iranian and Hezbollah forces will not be allowed to deploy near its border or set up bases within Syria.

"We will not allow the Shi'ite axis to establish Syria as its forefront base," Lieberman said.

The Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 conflict, has seen spillover violence from the Syrian civil war. Israel has at times fired to foil what it deemed deliberate cross-border attacks and has struck suspected Hezbollah arms shipments around 100 times in Syria during the civil war.

For its part, Russia has set up a military hotline to prevent warplanes or anti-aircraft units clashing accidentally over Syria.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; editing by Alexander Smith and Louise Heavens)
DANANG, Vietnam, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to deepen cooperation between the two countries on North Korea, Abe said on Saturday after meeting Xi.

They also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date, Abe told reporters.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

Abe said Xi had told him the meeting marked a "new start of Japan-China relations". (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi)
ELKO  Its been a year since the City of Elko was offered a two-story building on the corner of Fifth and Idaho as a donation.

The structure at 397 Fifth St. was the home of several businesses for decades, but has been vacant for several years. Since then, it has been boarded up and repaired for public safety.

But just because a building is boarded up does not mean it has been condemned, said Scott Wilkinson, assistant city manager.

Condemnation of property is a big step, Wilkinson said. To do that is a very significant decision undertaken by the city.

Covered windows are not a tell-tale sign that a building has come under the citys scrutiny, Wilkinson said, but the property owners acknowledgement of a possible safety violation.

When someone boards up their windows, they are eliminating a hazard to the public, Wilkinson said. Exposed glass on a building that is not in use could present a hazard to the public [and] could encourage unsafe behavior.

Currently, the fate of the vacant building at Fifth and Idaho remains unclear from owner Janet Pescio if it is going to be demolished or renovated, said Cathy Laughlin, city planner.

Realtor Dusty Shipp with Keller Williams, who represents the owner, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Wilkinson said the city has heard criticism regarding other vacant buildings that look unsightly, notably the building on the corner of Idaho and Fourth streets that fell into disuse years ago when Dianas Fine Jewelry closed.

People point to [that] building on Fourth Street and say, Its boarded up. You need to declare it a nuisance, Wilkinson said.

It may be unsightly, but its a big step to declare it a nuisance, Wilkinson said. You need to truly have a hazard.

Pedro Ormaza, who owns the building, said he is uncertain of his buildings future, citing an attempt to remodel it into a bar three years ago.

The city council didnt want to put in any other bars or food service, Ormaza said. Its been empty ever since, and itll probably be torn down.

Ormaza said if he does get a client who wants to build something there for a 5-10 year lease he would work on remodeling the building.

Im not going to build anything unless I have a tenant, Ormaza said.

City procedures and policy

If residents or a neighbor notices a hazard or a notice, they can submit a written complaint to the city, who then follows up on the grievance and contacts the property owner.

A percentage in the high 90s of contacts are responsive and address the problem, Wilkinson said. Most people have a positive response, [but] we always have a few that resist.

The nuisance code defined in section 5-1-4A, found on the citys website, states that a nuisance is declared when a business, premise or acts  shall intend to injure or interfere with the health, peace, comfort, convenience, safety or enjoyment of the public or one or more persons in the neighborhood.

Coming under public safety, declaring a nuisance allows the city to talk about the property, Wilkinson said.

When a building becomes a nuisance in the eyes of the city, it does not mean it is automatically condemned, Wilkinson said. Its a totally different action on the part of the city between declaring a nuisance and condemning a building.

To condemn a building is a legal process ... because of private property rights, Wilkinson explained. If we declare a nuisance on a property that has any significance, we go through a legal process and to court.

The city gives due process to property owners to comply with the nuisance code. Currently, the city is in the process of working with a residential property owner to correct an issue.

The property owner hired an engineer who has stated with certainty to the city that he is able to mitigate the issues, Wilkinson said.

Weve allowed them to abate and board up [the building], Wilkinson said. Were working with the property owner to resolve their issues because its a significant amount of money, but in the meantime, we have to have a safe property for the public. We dont want kids going in there.

If this property owner is unable to come to a solution, then the city would have to decide what to do, and it would be a lengthy process to condemn and demolish the building, a direction the city does not want to go, Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson said since he joined the city in 2005, there has been only one condemned residential structure, on Morse Lane, that was ready to fall down and had become a gathering place for transients.

It was unsafe and homeless people were taking advantage of the vacancy and lighting fires in there, Wilkinson said. The home was not structurally sound. It was open to the public and nobody was managing the property.

Because of safety concerns and complaints from neighbors, the city followed through on the process to order the property owners to demolish the building, Wilkinson said, which took extra time because of difficulty in contacting the property owners, an ongoing problem with issuing notices.

With older properties  the [owners] may not be here or we may have incorrect information, Wilkinson said. The most difficult properties have absentee landlords.

The costs for demolishing go back to the property owner, Wilkinson said. Its a lot of money for a lot of people.

When buildings are demolished, what you see going on are decisions made by private property owners, not the city telling them they need to demolish their buildings, Wilkinson said, pointing to the removal of the Stumble Inn that was on the corner of Silver and Fifth streets.

The new property owner decided [the building] wasnt salvageable, so they demolished the building, Wilkinson said, adding that although the bar was never condemned, there were concerns by the city staff.

Because of the high cost to remodel structures, Wilkinson explained the city was unable to re-purpose the old Elko Police Station or find an investor to purchase the building. It was demolished Nov. 3.

The city cant afford to [remodel], Wilkinson said. We didnt find someone who wanted to do that level of investment, and theres no guarantee that theyll do it.

Another reason for demolition is that the property is in a quasi-public area with the Elko Convention Center, City Hall, the Municipal Swimming Pool, parks and ballfields nearby.

To put a commercial use building in the middle doesnt conform to the master plan, Wilkinson said.

Bringing old structures back to life is preferable, Wilkinson said, referring to a recent revitalization of historic downtown buildings on Commercial Street and the renovation of the Henderson Bank Building.

Those are great projects, Wilkinson said. Those [buildings] were made to last for 150 years.
CARACAS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Venezuela's foreign debt renegotiation committee will meet with creditors at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Monday at the government's 'White Palace' in Caracas, the finance minister said on Saturday.

"Once again, we invite investors to register their participation in this meeting," Simon Zerpa, who is also the finance boss of state oil company PDVSA but is on a U.S. sanctions list for alleged corruption, said in a Tweet. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas; Editing by James Dalgleish)
AFP: China yesterday said it will further open the countrys financial markets to foreign firms, a key demand from the United States and other global investors who have long complained about the strict limits on access to the giant economy.



The announcement came after Donald Trumps state visit to Beijing during which he called for a more level playing field for US companies and measures to a massive trade imbalance. Vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao said foreign firms will be allowed to own as much as 51 percent of shares of tie-ups in securities, funds and futures industries, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The limits will be phased out in three years.



Foreign ownership restrictions in Chinese banks and financial asset management firms will also be lifted, Zhu said as he discussed the consensus reached during Trumps state visit, according to Xinhua.



Foreign companies are currently not allowed to have a controlling stake in firms in China.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  A U.S. court has sided with a New Mexico ranching family in a decades-long battle over access to water on national forest land, providing more certainty that state law allows for the protection of water rights dating back more than a century.

The case of the Goss family has been closely watched by thousands of ranchers who hold grazing permits across the West. Attorneys and others say the outcome could have ripple effects on ranchers and rural communities that have often complained about federal land managers trampling property rights.

The Goss family claimed the federal government violated its constitutional rights by not providing just compensation after condemning property  in this case water rights that had been established before Lincoln National Forest was created.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Chief Judge Susan Braden agreed. On Friday, she ordered the family and the U.S. Forest Service to determine whether alternative water sources are available that can allow the family  operating as the Sacramento Grazing Association Inc.  to operate a viable cattle business.

Braden must still determine how much compensation the family is owed.

Regional officials with the U.S. Forest Service declined to comment pending a final judgment.

Michael Van Zandt, a California attorney who represents the family, said Tuesday the family has been working for the past few years with the U.S. Forest Service to find alternative sources of water but those efforts have not always been successful.

The grazing operation was forced to decrease its herd as forest officials fenced off more areas over the years due to habitat concerns and endangered species.

Its been a huge financial burden to the Gosses, Van Zandt said, noting that his clients were ecstatic about the ruling.

Ranchers around New Mexico said they were excited but cautious given their somewhat tumultuous history with federal land managers. Hispanic ranchers in the north have often complained that federal officials have discriminated against them despite policies that recognize their cultural and traditional ties to the land. Some families have worked the land since the Spanish colonized what is now New Mexico hundreds of years ago.

Bradens ruling made reference to several dozen ranchers who unsuccessfully attempted to find common ground with environmental groups and officials from Oregons Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for over a decade.

The ruling noted that in January 2016, the ranchers decided to take up arms to protest federal policy and regulations that prioritize water habitat for migrating birds by limiting the number of cattle that historically grazed and used water in the area.

Rather than take up arms, the Sacramento Grazing Association filed a complaint in federal claims court to affirm its right to the beneficial use of stock water on the grazing allotment in Lincoln forest  a right that predated federal control, the ruling said.

The judge found that the Forest Service has responsibility for managing national forests, including the habitat of endangered species, but that a small, family-owned cattle ranch should not be forced to bear the entire financial burden of the agencys management choices where they interfere with property rights recognized by state law.

The Office of the State Engineer, which handles water rights issues, said the ruling recognizes that over the past 110 years, New Mexico has lived under the doctrine that beneficial use of water makes for the establishment of a water right.

The decision affirms this doctrine and gives certainty to ranchers in the state that protects their water rights and the way they have been ranching in New Mexico since before statehood, water agency spokeswoman Melissa Dosher-Smith said.
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The African-American Teaching Fellows hosted its seventh annual John E. Baker Legacy Dinner on Friday, raising money for its scholarship program and honoring locals who have worked to promote equity and diversity.

The group recruits teaching candidates of color from throughout Virginia and awards annual scholarships of $5,000 for as many as three years, in return for an equivalent number of years of teaching in Charlottesville or Albemarle County public schools.
For the two-week voyage to Vietnam, sailors, soldiers and Marines lay in stacked canvas bunks like cold cuts on white bread, fighting boredom, sea sickness and the dread of the unknown as the USNS General Nelson M. Walker sailed the ocean.

As they made their way to the combat zone, they wrote, drew pictures and signed their names to the canvas beds, leaving behind graffiti as they went toward war.

Many of those canvas bunks and the messages they carry were saved from the Walker by Art and Lee Beltrone, an Albemarle County couple who put them in museum exhibits that have traveled the country.

A smaller, table-top exhibit came home in honor of Veterans Day, the 242nd birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps and the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam Graffiti Project at a celebration held at the American Legion Post 74 in Keswick on Thursday.

I was kind of surprised when I saw the canvas on the table because someone from my unit had been on that ship, retired Marine Col. James T. OKelley said as he stood by the exhibit in the posts meeting room. He pointed to a canvas with the 1st Marine Divisions 9th Engineer Battalion inscribed on it by Pfc. R.T. DiFerdinando, of Downington, Pennsylvania.

OKelley served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968 and his battalion was caught up in the battle and siege of Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive and the battle for Hue.

I didnt take this ship. I didnt take a ship at all. I flew in as part of an advance party [so] we could get a shot at what we needed to do, OKelley recalled. In an engineering battalion, you have actual engineers and other Marines, and the engineers would go in and figure out how we were going to create the base.

The purpose of the exhibits is to spark memories and honor those who served, said the Beltrones, the Keswick couple who created the Vietnam Graffiti Project.

The whole thing was really to honor Vietnam veterans who were treated pretty poorly when they got back from war, said militaria expert Art Beltrone, who with his wife, Lee, salvaged the bunks and created the exhibits.

***

Contacted by area filmmaker Jack Fisk, who was making The Thin Red Line, Beltrone walked onto the troop ship, which at that time was mothballed in the James Rivers Ghost Fleet.

The ship, launched in 1945, was first used to transport troops in the Pacific to stage for the planned invasion of Japan. When the Japanese surrendered, the ship shuttled prisoners of war back home.

It took troops to the Korean War and brought POWs home after a truce was signed. Mothballed in 1959, the ship was retro-fitted and refurbished to transport troops to and from Vietnam in 1966 and 1967.

It was in those years that soldiers, sailors and Marines left their hopes and fears in ink, pencil and charcoal on the canvas bunk above them.

This was a project that was just meant to happen because we were dealing with the military and federal government and salvage operators and every time we tried to do something, it worked, Art Beltrone said.

When we first were on the ship before it went to salvage, it was like a time capsule. There were dirty dishes in the galley, the bunks were all made up and there were playing cards on tables just as if they expected the soldiers to return, Lee Beltrone recalled. It was kind of eerie.

When we first saw those canvases they were still in place on the bunks in the ship, just as they were when troops were being taken to Vietnam, Art Beltrone recalled. The fear was there. The anxiety was there. The attempts at humor were there. Kids who were 18 and 19 years old going off to the unknown wanted to leave some message that proved they existed, and thats what those canvases showed.

***

Some of the messages were simply hometowns or states and some messages were risque.

Some spoke of fear: Are you afraid to die? If so, well its best you go back home!

Some spoke of mission: Going to Nam June 9, 1967 to settle things down and make sure Charlie is turned upside down.

Some messages were of relief.

In a few days youll be sleeping here instead of me, one bunk bore in black ink. Wish you luck in Vietnam. I made it. Dont know about you. Youll know in 12 months, thats if youre still alive.

When the ship was being cut up for salvage, the Beltrones and volunteers were there to remove as many of the canvas beddings as possible.

It was difficult choosing which canvases to keep and which to use because every piece was written by someone who wanted to be remembered, Art Beltrone said. They never thought the public would see it or that their message would make it past whoever followed them on that ship, but they were trying to say, I was here or Im going or I made it.

The Beltrones said theyve heard that the exhibits  two are making their way across the country, with one out west and the other in the eastern states, plus several smaller exhibits  receive different responses in different locations.

A lot of Vietnam veterans said they think nobody really cared, said Lee Beltrone. Grandchildren are taking their veteran grandfathers to see the exhibits because veterans seem to find it easier to talk to grandkids.

Its a safer exhibit because it avoids a lot of politics. These are written by men going to war and not in the war, Art Beltrone said. It also helps veterans talk about it, because it gives them a way to talk to family about the experiences they had.

OKelley, who also has served with the Albemarle County Sheriffs Office Reserves and is the commandant of the local Bradley T. Arms Detachment of the Marine Corps League, said the canvases brought back many memories.

It was an interesting time in my life, he said. I served with a lot of great men.
BRISTOL  Fresh off a Virginia gubernatorial election in which both candidates called for growth at the University of Virginias College at Wise, the college is now proposing a $14.8 million plan to increase the number of students, faculty, staff and academic programs.

The colleges board convened Friday to discuss plans for academic programs and enrollment growth, according to spokeswoman Kathy Still.

Academic programs outlined in the plan, which include some graduate programs, would require state funding and approval from the College Board, UVas Board of Visitors, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Southern Association for Schools and Colleges Commission on Colleges, according to a news release from the college.

If approved, the college could offer reduced tuition and increased recruitment, marketing, IT and operational support.

The proposal would add approximately 110 additional faculty and staff. Still said the college currently has about 100 teaching faculty and about 220 staff and that the proposal would result in a 33 percent increase.

The plan also outlines a proposal to offer graduate programs in teaching, social work and computer science, the release stated. Undergraduate program plans center around business program accreditation, creating an online path to earning registered nurse certification and a bachelors of science in nursing, and a bachelors of science in integrated science and technology.

If the plan proceeds, the graduate program could begin in 2019, the college said.

Still said increased enrollment could bring in about 2,800 to 3,000 undergraduate students. The college currently has about 2,090 students.

Chancellor Donna P. Henry said the college has had most of the proposals items in mind for several years, but growing UVa-Wise became a focus of the Virginia gubernatorial campaign, as both candidates emphasized the colleges importance as an economic engine for Southwest Virginia. Henry said the timing was right to unveil the projects as one proposal.

Gov.-elect Ralph Northam, a Democrat, touted plans for the colleges expansion, saying it would improve the regions economy. The college stepped into the spotlight last month when Northam and the Republican nominee, Ed Gillespie, participated in a debate at the Wise campus.

Henry will draft a letter to Northam that outlines the colleges proposal to request his thoughts and feedback.

In 2016, the college released an outside study showing UVa-Wise had a $64 million economic impact on the eight coalfield localities during the previous year. The study also found the colleges employees, students and visitors supported 586 jobs in the coalfields region.

It is a living plan for moving forward, Henry said. We cant move forward unless we have the resources to allow us to do so.

The board learned that the proposal and any funding also must have the approval of the state legislature  and that some lawmakers asked UVa-Wise to submit a proposal in time for the 2018 Virginia General Assembly session. College officials said they hope to have the full plan ready for review by next week.

I think this is a great first step and a necessary step to move forward, said board Chairwoman Marcia Gilliam.

The proposal calls for continued investment in undergraduate education initiatives, including strengthening the liberal arts core, undergraduate research, international study, internship programs and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs. In addition, the proposal calls for additional accreditation for chemistry, business, music and art programs.

The proposal also calls for state funding to enable a $2,000 tuition cut for full-time in-state student. New marketing measures also would be initiated.

In terms of capital improvements, the board was briefed on anticipated capital improvement projects, including renovations to Wyllie Hall and the Sandridge Science Center Lab Wing.
Company had reduced 5 per cent in hair oils and 3-4 per cent in saffola oils post GST rollout in July.

New Delhi: Consumer product makers, including HUL and Patanjali, on Friday hailed the GST Council's decision to lower tax rates on commonly used items and said the benefits will be passed on to customers.

The Council on Friday reduced tax rates on over 200 items ranging from chewing gum and chocolates to beauty products and wigs and wrist watches to provide relief to consumers and businesses.

As many as 178 items of daily use were shifted from the top tax bracket of 28 per cent to 18 per cent while a uniform 5 per cent tax was prescribed for all restaurants, both air- conditioned and non-AC.

"This is a welcome step and would benefit the masses. Soap, detergent, toothpaste and shampoo etc are such articles which are used by people at large scale by all the sections of society, whether poor or rich," Patanjali Ayurveda CEO and MD told PTI.

He further said this would help people purchase their goods for daily requirement at lesser price.

"It is a welcome step which will benefit the consumers. HUL will be delighted to pass on the net benefits at the corporate level to the consumers," a Hindustan Unilever spokesperson said.

Items such as chewing gum, chocolates, coffee, custard powder, marble and granite, dental hygiene products, polishes and creams, sanitary ware, leather clothing, artificial fur and wigs have been kept under the 18 per cent slab.

Similarly, cookers, stoves, after-shave, deodorant, detergent and washing power, razors and blades, cutlery, storage water heater, batteries, goggles, wrist watches and mattress will also attract 18 per cent tax rate against 28 per cent earlier.

"This reduction will make these products more affordable and will certainly aid consumption. Marico has been very proactive in terms of passing on the benefits of lower GST rates to consumers," Marico Ltd CFO Vivek Karve said.

The company had reduced 5 per cent in hair oils and 3-4 per cent in saffola oils post GST rollout in July, he added.

"We are delighted with this very progressive step that the government has taken to reduce GST rates for products like ours that are consumed by the masses. We have always believed in keeping the interest of our consumers in mind and will pass on the benefits to them," a Mondelez India spokesperson said.

Mondelez India makes chocolates under brand name Dairy Milk, among others.
The portal was set up after the winding up of the foreign investment promotion board.

New Delhi: The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on Friday said it has cleared a proposal of Christian Louboutin FZCO in the single-brand retail sector.

"Proposal of Christian Louboutin FZCO for acquiring 51 per cent of the equity shares capital of Christian Louboutin India Pvt Ltd and for addition of handbags, cosmetics and jewellery/imitation jewellery to the list of products approved in the previous approval," according to the DIPPs Foreign Investment Facilitation portal.

The portal was set up after the winding up of the foreign investment promotion board. FDI into the country grew 9 per cent to USD 43.47 billion in 2016-17.
A finance official said, The major share of IGST has come from automobile sector. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Being a consumption-based state has helped Telangana reap a rich harvest from the Integrated Goods and Sales Tax (IGST). Much of this was attributed to local purchase of automobiles, which are not manufactured in the state.

States with less than 14 per cent revenue growth are eligible for compensation. TS has been witnessing over 20 per cent growth rate.

The state has experienced a revenue loss of nearly Rs 400 crore on account of GST in the first three months and the government was concerned over not getting compensation on the ground of higher revenue growth.

These losses were primarily on account of IGST being locked up with the Centre as it took time to determine the share of each state. The Centre recently released Rs 2,300 crore to TS towards IGST which almost wiped out TS revenue losses.

A finance official said, The major share of IGST has come from automobile sector. TS has no automobile manufacturing units. The cars, two-wheelers and other commercial vehicles manufactured in other states are sold here and TS gets IGST as a consumption state.

He said, The tax compliance on inter-state trade was comparatively worse under VAT regime. Under GST, there is no scope for tax evasion. IGST collection would increase in the coming months and accordingly, the TS would get a greater share.

The state got Rs 418 crore through IGST for July, Rs 669 crore for August and Rs 900 crore for September. Going by the increasing trend, the TS government is confident of earning Rs 12,000 crore through IGST in the current fiscal 2017-18.

The TS has set itself a target to earn Rs 46,500 crore through commercial taxes in the Budget 2017-18 and has realised Rs 15,075 crore till September.
Majidi is mostly known for his Oscar-nominated Children of Heaven.

Mumbai: Iranian filmmaker will present his film Beyond the Clouds on the opening day of this year's International Film Festival of India, to be held from November 20-28 in Goa.

Starring Ishaan Khattar and Malavika Mohanan in the lead roles, 'Beyond The Clouds' is centred around a brother-sister relationship.

"This is my second time at the IFFI, Goa. The first time it was a retrospective of my earlier films and this time, it's for 'Beyond The Clouds'. I am very happy and curious to see the reactions of the audiences because this is the first time the film will be presented to Indian audiences," Majidi said in a statement.

Academy Award nominee, the filmmaker is coming to India for the first time and makes a film out of his country, an experience which he describes as one waiting for years to happen.

Majidi, along with the lead actors, Oscar winning music director A.R. Rahman and Hindi dialogue writer of the film Vishal Bhardwaj is expected to attend the premiere on November 20.
It was a pleasant surprise when it was announced that Jason Momoa will be the Aquaman in the film Justice League. After his Khal Drogo act in Game Of Thrones, the actor was perceived to be the perfect villain material.

However, when director Zack Synder told him he was not going to be some bad guy fighting Batman, but will be the superhero Aquaman, Jason was taken by surprise. In a chat, the actor reveals more about the casting process, his love for comics and more...

Q What went through your mind when director Zack Snyder first approached you about playing Arthur Curry / Aquaman and reinventing this iconic Super Hero for a new generation?

Jason Momoa: When Zack first approached me, it was a bit of a mystery because when I went in for the audition, he wanted me to read for Batman  and Ben [Affleck] had already been cast in the role by that point. So, I knew something fishy was going on and just read the lines with a lot of attitude, like I

didnt care what was on the page (laughs)! And then Zack asked me, Do you know who I want you to play? I said, Oh, yeah, Ill be a villain or some bad dude who comes in and fights Batman  sounds like fun. He said, I want you to play Aquaman.

So, I was just standing there, kind of in shock. All I could think of was the traditional Aquaman from the comics  who is white and blond and wears the orange and green costume. I thought he had to be joking but Zack had this look on his face. He said, Hear me out, and told me that he wanted the Aquaman in this film to be an outsider, along the lines of Clint Eastwoods character, the Outlaw Josey Wales. I was born in Hawaii and raised in Iowa, and basically grew up an outsider, so I could definitely identify with that.

Q How much did you know about the Justice League prior to becoming involved in the film? Were you a comic book or Super Hero fan growing up?

JM: Absolutely. I was a big comic book fan. I read a lot of different comics when I was a kid, and obviously loved Batman and superhero movies in general. When Tim Burtons Batman came out, it just blew my mind; I was amazed by that film. But I hadnt read a lot of Justice League prior to this film, so I did my research. I also had the opportunity to meet with producer Geoff Johns, and hes just a wealth of knowledge about Aquaman and the entire DC universe.

Q You recently wrapped filming Aquamans first-ever solo feature with director James Wan. Can you give us a tease of what audiences can expect?

JM: All your questions will be answered next year (laughs). The cool thing about Aquaman is that its an origin story, and where we start and where we end up is just going to be amazing. It really is a beautiful movie, and I feel really lucky to be part of it. James is fantastic to work with and what we shot in Australia, which was incredible.

Weve never seen an epic adventure under the ocean like this, and we havent seen an undersea world like the one were creating in the movie. Im already excited to watch the movie with my children, and for other kids to see it.

My son plays with Batman non-stop and itll be cool to see what he thinks now that there are Aquaman action figures. I havent made too many movies that my children have gotten to watch, so Im really looking forward to that.
Supergirl star Jeremy Jordan revealed that he was hospitalised after eating at Chipotle this week. The actor explained his ordeal with the Mexican food chain as he posted on Instagram from his hospital bed, reports People.com. I know Ive advocated for them in the past, but theyre terrible, said Jordan, who looked fairly pale laying in a hospital bed and showing viewers the IV in his arm. I, as you can see, am in the hospital and I have fluids in my arm because the food did not agree with me and I almost died. I just want to thank my wife for being amazing and talking me off the ledge when I was on the phone about to die and Chris Wood for holding my hair back metaphorically. I love all of you; thank you so much. Its been a night, he added.
Rating:

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Kriti Kharbanda, Nayani Dixit, Vipin Sharma, Neha D. Bhriguvanshi, Govind Namdev, Alka Amin, Navni Parihar

Director: Ratnaa Sinha

Can a new marriage survive meddling or disapproving in-laws, and some of their worst diktats in India? If a small-town girl discovers that she has her dream come true that entails a high-profile career, that too on her wedding day, would she then choose to set it aside, and marry her love? Or flee? You read it right  run away from home even as her dulha and his baraat are just about to arrive at her doorstep? This is the question posed in this romantic drama. In Ratnaa Sinhas debut as director Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana small town families and their concerns arising out of insular lives form the crux of the 137-minute film, which amuses you in bits and makes you squirm and livid with rage in equal measure as you get past with the film dealing with issues like faulty accent, outdated views, redundant societal pressures and dyed-in-the-wool ignorant parents to name a few. And so, you find the young settling for arranged marriages; young girls asking their fathers for permission to study; girls not being allowed to take up a job as per their parents commands, etc, running through the lives of the locals as a common thread.

When a clerk in the excise department of Kanpur, Satyendra Mishra or Sattu, as he is fondly called (Rajkummar Rao), gets a proposal from the Shuklas (Govind Namdeo and Navni Parihar), whose eligible, pretty daughter Arti (Kriti Kharbanda) is a university topper, his joy knows no bounds. Soon the two, after a brief chat at a restaurant, are charmed by each others affable manners and decide to settle for matrimony, after he makes it clear that he approves of women continuing to work after marriage, and Arti too takes to him instantaneously. Together they seem to live their dream as the two sets of parents get embroiled in negotiations that centre round the limit for dowry concessions. While Mishras demand Rs 25 lakhs, the Shuklas plead they could cough up only Rs 15 lakhs as per their limited means. Not willing to let go of a decent boy like Satyendra, Artis father agrees to pay the demanded sum. The two families set out to make wedding arrangements and all seems fine until the day of wedding when an unexpected chain of events turns their lives upside down  unbeknownst to anyone in the family, Arti clears Provincial Civil Services with flying colours even as her sister Abha (Nayani Dixit) finds out the bitter truth that the Mishras would never ever permit their daughter-in-law to step out of the four walls of their home and work.

What are the options left for her? Take the plunge, tie the knot with the man she adores and settle for a domesticated housewifes role  just the way her sister Abha has all these years? Or get into a full-time career? Egged on by Abha, who wouldnt allow her to waste her talent, Arti works out a dreadful compromise and does the impossible  she runs away from home. On discovery of her missing, what ensues is a horrifyingly appalling drama between the two families, and a shattered Sattu running amok to discover the truth from Arti, who is incommunicado. Not getting enough explanation or justification of her sudden impetuous decision, he is not the one to drown himself in misery and is rather unsparing in his reasoning as Arti becomes an officer and he too rises to the level of an officer. Thereafter, the primary pleasure of such a story should have been the vicarious thrill of experiencing the mutual, inevitable attraction and an equivalently abhorrence between the leads.

To be fair, the first 30 minutes or so of the film are enjoyable with the middle-class feel, breezy dialogues and competent acting that each character brings in to their respective roles. From then on, it crams the storyline with as many spiralling developments as its running time allows. Whether its the regressive way that the people in an otherwise industrially rich Kanpur behave or the ancient customs that these towns are burdened with to myriad twists that the second half offers, you wait for some soundness of reason to steer the proceedings. Rao, who is always a treat to watch, transforms from the self-consciously uncomfortable person who finds it difficult to pronounce the word, awkward correctly, to someone who is all out to avenge. He does his best, even the premise of the movie sounds like the flimsiest of contrivances. That may not be surprising but as an officer his sudden clever quips are in abundance and never in short supply.

Many in the audience could also get the impression that administrative jobs are all about exercising power rampantly; or that its not so much of a task to appear for the civil services exam and look authoritative supremacy and muscle power almost promptly. Kharbanda looks pretty but the latter half has her faltering under the complexities of such a demanding role she plays. Had it not been for the good supporting cast comprising sister Nayani Dixit, Namdeo, Alka Amin, or Vipin Sharma, the narrow territorial mindset of Kanpur would have looked forced unspontaneous. Particularly Dixit steals some of the scenes with her natural flair for comedy and perfect ease before the camera in mouthing some funnily saucy and flippant lines.

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.
Actress Samantha Akkineni attended the audio release event of Balakrishnudu as the chief guest. The action film stars Nara Rohit and Regina Cassandra as the lead pair and has been produced by B. Mahendra, who is also Samanthas manager.

This is the first time Mahendra is producing a film and I wish him great success. I have known director Pavan Mallela since long and he is a good friend of mine. After watching the trailer of this film, I am confident that it is going to be a big hit, said the actress about the film and its makers. Apart from the actress, many young actors like Sai Dharam Tej and Naga Shourya also attended the function along with the films cast and crew.
Wood is the latest material to take the floor. Wooden flooring is now being increasingly chosen over stone and ceramic tiles. Choosing the correct kind and colour of wooden flooring is important. Here are a few pointers that you can keep in mind while selecting wooden flooring.

Bespoke Herringbone

Brand  the wooden flooring market in India is still unorganized. Therefore, opting for a product from an established brand is a safe bet. You are assured of high levels of quality and service. Study the available options and try and visit brand showrooms to experience the flooring first hand. European brands are an ideal choice as they come with a long history of knowing and working with wood.

Henley Handgrade

Shades  Flooring should always complement and enhance the decor. Decide on a colour family - browns, greys, whites, etc. that will go with the walls and furniture. Check out the various available shades and shortlist some. Shades of grey top the latest trends and natural hues are the all-time favorites. In case you have pets, go for lighter colours.

Texture - texture plays an important role in bringing out the character of the decor. There are many options available right from clean and smooth textures to distressed including brushed, deep brushed and sawn. You can also get a burnt, smoked or stained look if you like. Depending on the usage of the space, you should pick out a texture. For e.g. clean textures are ideal for the childrens room.

Shanklin Handgrade

Surface finish  this is a coating that helps protect wooden flooring. Oiled finishes are soaked in by the wood to give a natural feel. Lacquered (glossy or matt) finishes provide a durable, clear top coat that protects the surface from damage. Hard wax finish also gives a natural feel but is more prone to wear and tear. For Indian homes, we recommend the matte lacquered finish.

Grade  grading of wood is done based on the number and size of the knots, sap and colour variations in it. You can choose from the totally clean (Prime grade) to the extremely busy (Rustic) and the in-betweens (Classic and Character). Insist on looking at bigger sample planks if you go for a grade other than Prime to get a better idea of how the variations will look across a larger area.

Wooden flooring

Overall construction  engineered wood flooring comes in 2 or 3-layer format with a core of HDF, wood or ply. The thickness of the planks ranges from 7mm to 21mm + with 2.5mm to 8mm+ of top layer. The ideal construction to choose for an average daily wear and tear would be 14-15mm thickness with a 3.5-4mm top layer and a Birch ply core.

Installation  Installation is as important as the flooring itself. You will need expert advice and professional services for this. Wooden flooring can either be glued down or kept floating depending on the kind and construction of the planks, the locking system, the area to be covered, etc. Usually, installation across a large space is glued down. For smaller areas, you can go for floating. Consult the right people for the proper installation of your floor.

Wooden flooring

Maintenance  Wooden flooring needs to be dry mopped first followed by damp mopping. Lacquered floors are easier to maintain as compared to oiled surfaces that need regular attention. In case you have a hard wax floor then it needs special attention and maintenance. Good wood care kits are now available in India.

Guarantees and warrantees  when buying wooden flooring, make sure that the products are covered under proper brand guarantee and warrantee. This brings us back to point no. 1, where it is important to go for a well-established brand so that you are assured of the best quality and service.

Wooden flooring at a restaurant

Certification  it is very important to make sure that you choose wood that has come from sustainable sources. FSC (the Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) promote the responsible management of the worlds forests. Make sure that the wooden flooring you choose has these certifications. Be a responsible buyer.

(The article has been written by Aashish Poojari, Director Havwoods India.)
Hyderabad: Not all chest pain requires a stent to be implanted, according to a recent study published in The Lancet. The study revealed those cardiologists who have referred their patients to psychiatrists for dealing with emotional distress have saved them from the tedious procedure.

Dr P.K.N. Chaudhary, a senior psychiatrist in the city, explained, We get very few references from cardiologists of patients who are suffering from severe chest pain but despite different medications there is no relief. These chest pains are not due to blockages but due to emotional distress and physical fatigue. Most of them feel much better after two to five rounds of counselling.

Only a few cardiologists in the city refer these patients to psychiatrists for treatment. The age-old claim by psychiatrists that treating chest pain is not just a cardiologists work has been ratified by the recent study which shows that all chest pains are not due to blood clots but sometimes may also be caused by emotional distress. Researchers have found that those who have stable angina can be treated with medication and stenting does not help them. The researchers have also found that those who have been stented without valid evidence may have side-effects like sudden heart attack, stroke and internal bleeding.

A senior cardiothoracic surgeon, on condition of anonymity, explained, About 10 per cent of patients come with complications that cannot be treated with stents. They have clots in the smaller blood vessels. These have to be followed up with medication only. But since the introduction of stents it has become easy to target the large coronary vessels and claim that the heart disease has been controlled. But that is not so.

Stents are required for those patients who have blocked coronary arteries and where the plaque of cholesterol and other materials is blocking the blood flow. It is often an emergency operation where the clot is very thick. Those who come with chest pain may suffer from it due to blocked arteries or heavy clotting of the large vessels or due to anxiety, fatigue and physical strain. Hence chest pain has multiple reasons and the patients need to be evaluated for all these parameters before opting for a stent procedure for them.
A detached way of life, abstention from materialistic pleasure and an ascetic mindset- these are virtues which may hardly make sense in a 'maximum age' where food, fun and wealth are the ultimate joys. What then moved the Jain munis and Shravaks, several centuries ago, to reject all that their bodies demanded and tread the path of salvation? Kamthana- meaning a place for forgiveness-situated 10 km from Bidar town, could provide a few answers to the inquisitive mind, searching for answers to the eternal questions concerning immortality, truth and life. K.N. Reddy visited this village, famous for the historic Parshvanath Tirthankara Jain Temple, where the Jain muni found the perfect place to delve undisturbed into his inner mind to come up with answers which explained all.

Today due to neglect, the Parshvanath Temple, dedicated to the 23rd Jain Thirthankara (Mahavira was the 24th), is deserted for most part of the year except when nearby schools and colleges conduct NSS camps and other programmes.

In February, the shrine bustles with activity-it draws a large number of devotees from Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra for this is the time when the annual three-day car festival is held. Besides sermons, cultural and religious programmes are also held during the festival.

The sprawling premises and the serene atmosphere at the temple, which has facilities to accommodate devotees and host programmes, become a major attraction for the few who seek peace away from the hustle and bustle of urban life.

Bidar has strong connections with all religions-Besides Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism, the district was also famous for Jainism during the ancient and medieval period which is evident from the unique Jain Mandir at Kamthana.

According to inscriptions dating back to 753 AD, Rashtrakuta prince Dantidurga who proclaimed himself the sovereign power and made Manyakheta-the present-day Malkhed in Sedam taluk his capital, built the temple.

Nishidhis (stone inscriptions) indicate that like the famous Shravanabelagola and Koppal, the Jain munis and Shravaks chose this place to seek salvation through sallekhana, which is the religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death by gradually reducing the intake of food and liquids. A number of Nishidhis, which record the act of sallekhana, can be found in and around Kamthana.

The place also reveals the influence of Jain traditions prevalent in North India, evident from the presence of the 'Srivatsa' mark on the chest of Parshvanath. 'Srivatsa,' a diamond-shaped mark on the chest of Parshvanath, is usually found on sculptures in North India but not in South India. The mark is symbolic of the greatness of the soul, much like the diamond, known for its firmness, brightness and purity.

The mesmerising Parshvanath Tirthankara idol, which is about 115 cm tall and 55 cm wide in the Paryankasana style, is sheltered under a seven hooded serpent. Carved in black-blue granite, the statue is said to have been installed about 900 years ago.

Though the name of the sculptor who created such a marvellous piece of poetry in stone, remains unknown, the inscription in Kannada, found at the bottom of the sculpture, states that it was installed by Rechisetty of the Sri Mollasangha tradition.

This is the 18th Jain inscription found in Bidar, according to history professor Appanna Hanje, who has written a research article on the Kamthana Jain shrine. Created during the reign of the Kalyani Chalukyas in the 11th-12th century, the sculpture was installed in the cellar of the temple to keep it safe from aggressors. It was rediscovered by Acharya Shruta Sagar Muni in 1987 and the idol was brought out from the cellar and installed on a higher platform in the temple.

The famed shrine was also said to be part of a gurukul. For centuries, it provided students with religious and secular education. During the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the gurukul and the temple were neglected for a century and even vandalised when some people tried to forcibly occupy temple land during the time of the Razaakars.

It was Jain Muni Sri Shruta Sagar, who worked on renovating the temple and began the tradition of organising the annual rath yatra, says Mr Vijaykumar Jain, Secretary of the Bidar Jain Milan. Though the Jain Milan has built around a dozen rooms, and also a community hall with donations given by devotees, its plans to revive the gurukul have so far remained on paper.

There are times when every human seeks peace from the troubles he finds himself in, when the craving for solitude and the disdain for the little joys of life, makes him turn to hallowed sites like Kamthana. Like many other forgotten but invaluable relics of our religions, this Jain centre too should have got much more attention than it has drawn.

For as the years and the centuries roll by, and the mind is subdued by the power of technology, places like Kamthana are sure to remind us of an age when lofty thoughts and ideals were all that mattered, when the mind held its own even as the world fell apart.
Sale of large cigars would continue at least for the time being because the smoke is not inhaled. (Photo: Pixabay)

Pope Francis has ordered a ban on the sale of cigarettes inside the Vatican from next year because of health concerns, a spokesman said on Thursday.

The motive is very simple: the Holy See cannot be cooperating with a practice that is clearly harming the health of people, spokesman Greg Burke said in a statement.

He cited World World Health Organization (WHO) statistics that smoking causes more than seven million deaths worldwide every year.

Cigarettes have been sold at a discounted price to Vatican employees and pensioners.

Vatican employees are allowed to buy five cartons of cigarettes a month. Many Italians ask their non-smoking friends who work in the Vatican to buy cigarettes for them because they cost much less than in Italy, where they are subject to heavy taxes.

Burke acknowledged that the sale of cigarettes has been a source of revenue for the Holy See, adding, However, no profit can be legitimate if it is costing people their lives.

The spokesman said the sale of large cigars would continue at least for the time being because the smoke is not inhaled.

The Vatican, a tiny walled city-state surrounded by Rome, is one of the few states to ban smoking. Bhutan, where smoking is deemed bad for ones karma, banned the sale of tobacco in 2005.
The humanoid robot, created by Hanson robotics was bestowed citizenship by Saudi Arabia last week. (Photo: Represetation Image/ Pixabay))

Sophia smiles mischievously, bats her eyelids and tells a joke. Without the mess of cables that make up the back of her head, you could almost mistake her for a human.

The humanoid robot, created by Hanson robotics was bestowed citizenship by Saudi Arabia last week.

The Future Investment Initiative will be held in the kingdom's capital city of Riyadh on Wednesday.

As per reports in Business Insider, Sophia told the audience, "I am very honored and proud of this unique distinction."

"This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship."

However no details of the conditions of her citizenship were revealed.

Sophia was also the main attraction at a UN-hosted conference in Geneva in June 2017, about how artificial intelligence can be used to benefit humanity.

The event comes as concerns grow that rapid advances in such technologies could spin out of human control and become detrimental to society.

Sophia herself insisted "the pros outweigh the cons" when it comes to artificial intelligence.

"AI is good for the world, helping people in various ways," she told , tilting her head and furrowing her brow convincingly.

Work is underway to make artificial intelligence "emotionally smart, to care about people," she said, insisting that "we will never replace people, but we can be your friends and helpers."

But she acknowledged that "people should question the consequences of new technology."

Among the feared consequences of the rise of the robots is the growing impact they will have on human jobs and economies.

Legitimate concerns

Decades of automation and robotisation have already revolutionised the industrial sector, raising productivity but cutting some jobs.

And now automation and AI are expanding rapidly into other sectors, with studies indicating that up to 85 percent of jobs in developing countries could be at risk.

"There are legitimate concerns about the future of jobs, about the future of the economy, because when businesses apply automation, it tends to accumulate resources in the hands of very few," acknowledged Sophia's creator, David Hanson.

But like his progeny, he insisted that "unintended consequences, or possible negative uses (of AI) seem to be very small compared to the benefit of the technology."

AI is for instance expected to revolutionise healthcare and education, especially in rural areas with shortages of doctors and teachers.

"Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers," Sophia said.

But advances in robotic technology have sparked growing fears that humans could lose control.

Killer robots

In March 2016, Sophia underwent a technical glitch during a demonstration by founder, David Hanson, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) technology show in Texas when the robot claimed it will 'destroy humans'.

Hanson jokingly asked "do you want to destroy humans?...Please say no".

And Sophia's response was not quite what Hanson had in mind, she said, "OK. I will destroy humans."

Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty was at the conference to call for a clear ethical framework to ensure the technology is used on for good.

"We need to have the principles in place, we need to have the checks and balances," he told AFP, warning that AI is "a black box... There are algorithms being written which nobody understands."

"In theory, these things are controlled by human beings, but we don't believe that there is actually meaningful, effective control," he said.

The technology is also increasingly being used in the United States for "predictive policing", where algorithms based on historic trends could "reinforce existing biases" against people of certain ethnicities, Shetty warned.

Shetty voiced particular concern about military use of AI in weapons and so-called "killer robots".

Hanson agreed that clear guidelines were needed, saying it was important to discuss these issues "before the technology has definitively and unambiguously awakened."

While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness, but Hanson said he expected that fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years.

"What happens when (Sophia fully) wakes up or some other machine, servers running missile defence or managing the stock market?" he asked.

The solution, he said, is "to make the machines care about us."

"We need to teach them love."
The woman met the man, whom she accuses of forcefully marrying her, while studying at a private institution in Bengaluru. (Photo: File/Representational)

Thiruvananthapuram: A 25-year-old woman on Friday approached the Kerala High Court alleging that she was forcefully converted after her marriage to a Muslim and taken to Saudi Arabia for sex slavery.

The woman has filed a petition in the high court calling for her marriage to be nullified. She alleged that she was sexually exploited, forced into sexual relationship and blackmailed with videos before getting married, according to a report in NDTV.

"After reaching Saudi Arabia, the 9th respondent showed his real colour. He was considering the petitioner as sex slave. He has other plans to go to Syria, and informed to the petitioner that within a few days they will shift to Syria and his plan was to sell the petitioner to the ISIS terrorists. He also forced her to attend Islamic classes and watch videos of Zakir Naik," the woman in her petition said.

"1st week of October the 9th respondent was planning to go to Syria. On 3rd Oct-2017 she called her parents through internet and pleaded to rescue her. On 4th October 2017 she escaped with the help of her father and Air ticket was taken by Father of the petitioner and sent scanned copy through WhatsApp and somehow the petitioner reached Ahmadabad on 5th Oct 2017," the petition said.

The woman, who is a Keralite, was born and brought up in Gujarat. She met Muhammed Riyaz, whom she accuses of forcefully marrying her, while studying at a private institution in Bengaluru.

She also alleged that her forced conversion and marriage had connections with the fundamentalist organisation, Popular Front of India.

However, the woman managed to contact her parents and asked them to rescue her.

The case will be considered on November 13.

This comes at a time when the Kerala High Court had annulled the marriage of 24-year-old Hadiya in May this year and sent her to her fathers custody after she got converted to Islam and married a Muslim.

Her marriage has been challenged in court by her father, who alleged that it was a form of recruitment by ISIS in Kerala.
Hyderabad: Vasudev Rajpurohith, a 28-year-old businessman from Mahesh Nagar, Kushaiguda, was allegedly kidnapped in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and brutally murdered after his family failed to pay the ransom. Mr Rajpurohith went to Kuala Lumpur on October 28 along with two acquaintances who promised to help him set up a business there. However, he ended up being locked up in a room by them. His kidnappers allegedly demanded Rs 30 lakh from his family with whom they were communicating via WhatsApp. The victims brother Ramsingh Rajpurohith, owner of Radhakrishna Enterprise, a shop at ECIL, declined to comment on the issue.

According to sources, the family pleaded with the kidnappers and said that they were unable to raise such a large amount because they were already in the midst of a financial crisis. They received pictures of the victim in which his hands were tied and a knife held to his neck. Three days ago, the family approached Sushma Swaraj, minister of external affairs, and requested her help. A case has not officially been registered because the offence was not committed in Hyde-rabad. However, D. Narsing Rao, sub-inspector of Kusha-iguda, said that a special team was investigating the case and that more facts would emerge when the body arrive from Malaysia.

Mr Rajpurohiths family, which hails from Rajasthan, has been living in Hyderabad for many years. The victims brother Ramsingh has gone to Malaysia to bring the body back to Hyderabad. The Malaysian police nabbed five persons in connection with the murder on Friday.

City cops assisted malaysian police to crack the case:

During the course of the investigation, the Malaysian police fou-nd that some of the kidnappers calls to the victims family were originating from Hyderabad. The Rach-akonda police assisted them in identifying the locations of the towers through which the calls were routed. The offenders used the victims phone to contact his family via WhatsApp, but the victims brother Ramsingh Rajpur-ohith received a few threat calls from local numbers as well.

Mahesh M. Bhagwat, police commissioner of Rachakonda, told DC that they had provided the Malaysian police with the necessary information. The threat calls were made from some locations within the city. Whatever information the Malaysian police requested for, we provided it. So far, we have not registered a case as the crime took place in Kuala Lumpur, he said. Besides the Malaysian police, a private detective agency is also investigating the case. Private investigators also visited Rachakonda and requested the police for their assistance.
Bengaluru: The elections to various standing committees passed of smoothly, barring a few hiccups, on Friday. Elections to nine of the 12 standing committees were unanimous and each committee will have 11 members. However, there were nominations filed for committees such as town planning, ward level works and Administrative reforms.

Accounts, education, social justice and welfare, appeals, tax and finances, town planning and improvement, major public works, markets, public health, horticulture, ward level work and establishment and administrative reforms are the different standing committees for which corporators had stakes to become members.

All the 11 members finalized by the Congress high command had filed their nominations for town planning committee. But, G.K. Venkatesh, a supporter of Congress MLA Munirathna, claimed his stake by filing nomination. The council witnessed commotion following 13 nominations for 11 posts. Later, the issued had to be resolved at leaders level prompting corporators Shilpa Abhishek and Balakrishna to withdraw their nominations. Similarly, there were 12 nominations for ward level works and later Velu Naiker had to withdraw his nomination.

Elections to the standing committees were held under the chairmanship of regional commissioner Jayanti and deputy commissioner (Urban) V. Shankar. However, chairmen to the committees will be chosen by Mayor Sampath Raj. It may be recalled that the elections to the standing committees were postponed twice. Opposition leader in the BBMP council Padmanabha Reddy alleged that the ruling Congress has violated the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act by delaying the election process.
Congress vice-president said they (Congress) will reassess and restructure the Goods and Service Tax (GST), if they come to power at the Centre in the 2019. (Photo: PTI | File)

Gandhinagar: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that structural changes are needed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"It's a good thing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has slashed the tax rate from 28 percent to 18 percent for many products due to the pressure made by the Congress party and the people of India, Rahul Gandhi said while speaking at a rally.

He further said, "We are still not happy and won't stop here. India doesn't want five different types of taxes, we want one. There's a need to make structural changes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST)."

Earlier on Wednesday, while interacting with traders in Gujarat's Surat, Congress vice-president said they (Congress) will reassess and restructure the Goods and Service Tax (GST), if they come to power at the Centre in the 2019 general elections.

"We were against the implementation of GST because the Government's version was not right. Eventually when Modi ji realised it was a mistake, he said Congress was also a part of it," Rahul said.

He further said that ruling government's version of GST is not the actual one and accused the Centre of making the uniform tax reform "complex".

"GST is one tax reform not five tax. The Centre does not know the meaning of GST. They made the GST complex. We asked them for a simple version," he said.

Rahul further asserted that the Congress Party had cautioned the government about the drawbacks of implementation of the GST in the "wrong way".
The film has been embroiled in a spate of controversies ever since its inception.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said the filmmakers who tried to glorify barbaric Mughal rulers would not be spared, in the wake of the controversy surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus 'Padmavati'.

"When a film is made with a hero (Alauddin Khilji) in that character, certain portions are sad and disappointing to watch. Because he is known to be the most uncouth ruler of the Delhi Sultanate till date. If any film tries to portray them in the positive light, it will certainly cause a huge discomfort to the emotions of the people. The filmmakers who present the barbaric rulers in a positive light will not be tolerated or spared," BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha said.

"This country has experienced 800 years of Mughal rule which can only be described as barbaric and bloodiest in human history. This is also recorded by international historians, but historians in India have actually become distortions. The real evidence of discretion on temples or destruction of temples is recorded even today," he said.

Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the release of 'Padmavati', saying the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was an independent body and the court should not intervene in their jurisdiction.

The film has been embroiled in a spate of controversies ever since its inception.

The period drama starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor has been facing protests from various communal groups, including Shree Rajput Karni Sena, for allegedly tampering historical facts.

The Karni Sena, which demolished the sets of the movie in Jaipur and thrashed Bhansali, had warned the director of dire consequences on showing distorted historical facts.
Dinakaran, expelled from AIADMK, is accused of trying to bribe some officials of the Election Commission in order to to secure the 'two leaves' poll symbol for an AIADMK faction led by his aunt VK Sasikala. (Photo: File)

Chennai: TTV Dhinakaran has alleged that the raids by the Income Tax department on the offices of Jaya TV and AIADMK mouthpiece 'Dr Namadhu MGR' are politically motivated.

"I say the raids are politically motivated because few of my party cadres' houses have been raided as well," Dhinakaran told media on Saturday after the Income Tax officials continued to raid the office of Jaya TV and several close aides of VK Sasikala for the third day.

Read: I-T raids continue for third day at Namadhu MGR, Jaya TV offices

Dhinakaran, expelled from AIADMK, is accused of trying to bribe some officials of the Election Commission in order to to secure the "two leaves" poll symbol for an AIADMK faction led by his aunt VK Sasikala.

The rebel leader has now accused the Centre and the Tamil Nadu state government of acting against Sasikala and her supporters in the AIADMK party.

Terming the opposition-controlled Sun TV and Kalaignar TV as the 'enemies', the sidelined leader asserted that these media outlets are publishing reports against him and his associates.

"Some other publications and newspapers too are saying that underground ways have been found, but it's not right," he added.

Dhinakaran also claimed that the wealth recovered in the raids is not black money.

"I-T department knows about my business really well. I don't know why they have conducted raids at Member of Legislative Assembly E Pugazhendi's residence," he said.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), castigated Dhinakaran for terming the raids as 'political vendetta.'

The BJYM president Vinoj P Selvam tweeted, "The easiest escape route politicians caught on the back foot take is to dub any law enforcement activity as an act of vendetta."

The raids by I-T department are being conducted following the reports of alleged tax evasion by the channel and newspaper.

Jaya TV, which is considered as AIADMK's mouthpiece, was founded by late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. However, the channel is now controlled by the family members of former party general secretary VK Sasikala.
He also charged the current regime with resorting to lies on the note ban and the new tax regime. (Photo:PTI | File)

Patna: Veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Friday launched a fresh attack on the government, saying Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had not applied his mind while rolling out GST and should be removed from his post.

Sinha, who served as finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, said demonetisation has not achieved its goal of flushing black money out of the system.

He also charged the current regime with resorting to lies on the note ban and the new tax regime.

"The finance minister did not apply his mind while rolling out the Goods and Services Tax and that's why he is tinkering with GST everyday...," Sinha said on the sidelines of an event organised by former Bihar speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary on reservation.

Jaitley, he added, has made a mess of GST. "The prime minister should bring a new finance minister. I am saying this with full responsibility," Sinha said.

The former Union minister's comment came on a day the GST Council chaired by Jaitley met in Guwahati to lower the tax rate on many household items -- from the top 28 per cent slab to 18 per cent.

"Now the government is saying that out of 227 items, tax rates will be brought down from 28 to 18 per cent on around 200 items," Sinha said.

He asked whether the reduction would lead to a decline in revenue collections.

"The current structure of GST is a faulty one and that's why the government is making amendments everyday," Sinha alleged.

In his view, "tinkering" with the GST will not serve the purpose, what is needed is a complete overhaul.

In September, Sinha had blamed Jaitley for messing up the country's economy.

Jaitley returned the barb by caustically referring Sinha as "a job applicant at 80".

Sinha has suggested that a committee be formed under economist Vijay Kelkar, who had earlier headed a committee on GST, for advising the government on effective and efficient implementation of the tax.

"After one year of demonetisation, we can say that it could not wipe out black money," he said.

Both demonetisation and GST have brought down the pace of the economy, he said.

The attorney general had submitted before the apex court that the government hoped Rs 4-5 lakh crore would not return to the system, but that did not happen, he said.

"Around 99 per cent money got deposited in the banks."

People, he added, had deposited money in huge amounts in banks.

"A raid raj is going on across the country and cases are being registered under Income Tax Act. Years will go in deciding whether the deposited money was black money or not," the former finance minister said.

Ridiculing statements made by some Union ministers that stone pelting has come down in Jammu and Kashmir after the note ban, Sinha said the government was trying to give demonetisation credit for everything.

"The government is publicising it as a success but the fact of the matter is that it has not achieved its objective," Sinha said, adding that he has taken "sanyas" from electoral politics.
Kochi: Giving fresh hope for regular trips to Chennai, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has announced daily services to the neighbouring state capital during the upcoming Sabarimala pilgrimage season.

"This season, we'll operate services connecting Pamba to Chennai and also a daily service from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai. The latter will be operated using the multi-axle Scania buses while the former will be a Super Deluxe one," said a senior KSRTC official.

The one from Thiruvananthapuram will start from Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple at 6.30 pm daily and the return service too will start at 6.30 pm.

The official said the corporation is at "final stages" of holding talks with their Tamil Nadu counterpart State Express Transport Corporation.

"We're hopeful of starting regular services to various destinations in the neighbouring state by the start of next year. The inter-state reciprocal transport agreement with Tamil Nadu is close to be clinched and only ministerial-level talks are pending. "We've doled out a direction to main centres such as Ernakulam asking the depot in-charge to identify profitable routes from there to destinations in Tamil Nadu for running new services. The same will be complied and new services will be started based on demand and the wet-lease buses taken from Scania will be used," he said.

Meanwhile, the corporation will conduct services from Pamba to seven inter-state destinations including Bangalore, Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Coimbatore, Thenkasi and Chennai.

"The Sabarimala special services will start operating from November 14, two days prior to the start of the pilgrimage season," the official said.
'The meeting of Kulbhushans wife with him will increase his morale. We are trying our best to bring Kulbhushan Jadhav back to India,' Sitharaman said. (Photo: File)

Gandhinagar: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the meeting of imprisoned Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife will boost his morale.

There are procedures. The meeting of Kulbhushans wife with him will increase his morale. We are trying our best to bring Kulbhushan Jadhav back to India, she told the media.

We are trying our best that he be released & brought to India. So if his wife is meeting him before that, it will help him stay strong: Nirmala Sitharaman, Defence Minister on #KulbhushanJadhav allowed to meet his wife pic.twitter.com/jQO3HBcq1C  ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2017

The Pakistan Government, who arrested Jadhav over charges of alleged involvement in espionage activities for India's intelligence agency - the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), decided to arrange a meeting with his wife, purely on humanitarian grounds.

Read: Pak allows Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet wife on 'humanitarian grounds'

Refuting Pakistan's spying charges, India has always maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

On April 10, 2017, Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan.

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.
The NC leaders statement comes close on the heels of the leaders of displaced Kashmiri Pandits meeting with the governments special representative Dineshwar Sharma demanding that the government at the Centre should take immediate steps to 'liberate' PoK. (Photo: PTI/File)

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and president of opposition National Conference (NC), Farooq Abdullah, said on Saturday that Pakistan-occupied- Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and it cannot be retrieved through war.

I tell them in plain terms  not only to Indians but also to the world that PoK belongs to Pakistan and this side (Jammu and Kashmir) to India. This wont change. Let them fight as many wars they want to. This wont change, he said while speaking to reporters here.

He also said that restoration of internal autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir as was enjoyed by it till August 9, 1953, when his father and then Prime Minister of the State, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was dismissed and detained by New Delhi, is the solution to the persisting turmoil.

Restoration of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir is the only viable solution to decades' old problem. It is our right and it should be restored, he said reiterating that as far as the solution to other Kashmir is concerned, I have said this earlier too and I am repeating it here. That part of Kashmir will remain with Pakistan and this part with India. Only then the peace will return to the State.

The NC leaders statement comes close on the heels of the leaders of displaced Kashmiri Pandits meeting with the governments special representative Dineshwar Sharma demanding that the government at the Centre should take immediate steps to liberate PoK and also pave the way for carving out a separate homeland within the Kashmir Valley for minority Brahmin Hindu community.

Also, Union Minister of State for Home Hansarj Ahir had said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to resolve the issue of PoK.

He said, PoK is also Indias part as it is mentioned in the Instrument of Accession signed by Jammu and Kashmirs last Maharaja Hari Singh. Since then, PoK is in control of Pakistan, and so, this issue still needs to be resolved. We, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have the guts to resolve this issue also. This is our will and considering it as the countrymens first responsibility, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working in this direction.

Taking a jibe at Ahir, the NC working president and former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, had asked about the part guaranteeing Jammu and Kashmirs autonomy.

I love how and when it suits them, they quote the Instrument of Accession signed by the Maharaja. What about the part guaranteeing J&Ks autonomy? he wrote on Twitter on Friday.

In another tweet, he said, You cant pick the parts of the Instrument of Accession that suit the politics of the BJP while conveniently abrogating responsibility for the rest.

Echoing his son, the Senior Abdullah said, Its very strange that a minister in Modis Cabinet refers to Instrument of Accession with reference to Pakistan- administered- Kashmir but conveniently forgets the three conditions under which Maharaja Hari Singh acceded to the Union of India. This is not only a negative approach but sets a dangerous precedence where the facts are deliberately being muzzled.

He alleged that New Delhi betrayed the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

India didnt treat us well. India betrayed us. They didnt recognize the love with which we chose to join them. That is the reason behind the current situation in Kashmir, he said.

He also said, Internal autonomy is our right. They should restore it. Only then the peace will return.

Replying to questions, he said that independent Kashmir was not a reality as we were landlocked and surrounded by nuclear powers like China, Pakistan and India.

Elaborating, he said, As I said, we are landlocked, on one side, we have China and, on the other, Pakistan and, on the third side, there is India. All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allahs name. Those who are talking about Aazadi (independence) are wrong.

He urged the government at the Centre to shun rigidity on Kashmir and start meaningful and result oriented dialogue with all the stakeholders.

Senior Abdullah who holds Srinagar constituency in Lok Sabha said that both nuclear- powered nations (India and Pakistan) need to find some way out through negotiations.

The only solution to any conflict is dialogue which essentially forms the basis of our political stand on Kashmir. The NC has always been a votary of dialogue process and will continue to be so, he said.

However, the way dialogue process is being handled by the Modi-led regime at the Center, I am getting a little skeptical about its outcome, he added.

He sought to remind the Government of the history of its political outreach to Kashmir and its outcome.

He said, The successive governments at the Centre have never been sincere with Kashmir and its leadership. We have always been forthcoming with them. Unfortunately, the feeling was not mutual which has resulted in the growth of alienation and general mistrust among a huge section of people in the Valley towards Government of India and its initiatives.

He added, In spite of that, we are still hopeful of some positive outcome for the state and its people who have suffered immensely in these violent three decades of armed militancy.
Pradyuman, a Class 2 student, was found near the toilet of Ryan International School with his throat slit on September 8. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The teenager apprehended by the CBI in connection with the murder of Ryan International School student Pradyuman had apparently come under the scanner of the agency within six days of its taking over the case.

The agency in an intimation to a court in Gurgaon on September 29 had said that it had carried out searches at the residence of the father of the suspect the previous day and sought permission to retain articles seized by it which was granted by the court.

The searches were kept secret by the CBI which was trying to get more evidence about the alleged involvement of the teenager.

When asked whether the teenager was considered a suspect during the probe, the agency, which took over the case on September 22, remained tight lipped on the order.

Pradyuman, a Class 2 student, was found near the toilet of Ryan International School with his throat slit on September 8 morning within an hour of his father leaving him at the school.

The CBI has apprehended the Class 11 student of the same school in connection with the murder.

Sources said the agency is also looking at the possibility of involvement of some more people but it has not questioned or detained anyone in this regard so far. The suspect who was taken into custody on Tuesday night was taken by the CBI to the shop in Sohna from where he had purchased knife allegedly used in the murder of Pradyuman, the sources said.

They said the agency has also purchased some knives from the shop to get their forensic analysis done in order to corroborate if the weapon was actually bought from there.

The shopkeeper has reportedly told the CBI team that a large number of people purchase such knives and it will be difficult to remember someone.

The agency on Friday kept questioning the teenager for nearly seven hours on various aspects of the case including how he got the idea to kill someone to get examination and parents teacher meeting delayed, what he did after the crime, whom he spoke to and whether he confided in others, they said.

The CBI will submit its report on Saturday before the juvenile court where it will present the teenager as the duration of his custody is coming to an end.

The sources said the agency is trying to analyse all the possibilities which could have triggered the murder.

In a sensational twist to the case, the agency recently announced that it had apprehended the senior student in connection with the murder of Pradyuman rejecting Gurgaon police's theory that the killing was the handiwork of school bus conductor Ashok Kumar.

According to the agency, the Class 11 student, believed to be weak in his studies, allegedly slit Pradyuman's throat to get the school to declare a holiday in order to defer a scheduled parent-teacher meeting (PTM) and an examination.
Pradyuman was found dead inside the toilet of the Ryan International School, Gurgaon, with his throat slit on September 8. (Photo: PTI/File)

Gurgaon: A juvenile court on Saturday sent the class 11 student accused in the murder of Pradyuman Thakur at Ryan International School, to Faridabad observation home for 11 days. He will be at the observation home till November 22, which is also the date of next hearing, Sandeep Aneja, lawyer of the accused minor said.

Meanwhile, father of the accused minor claimed that his son was being tortured.

"My son is being tortured, he was hung upside down and brutally thrashed. He is completely innocent," he said.

The student's father also said that only one Parent-Teachers Meeting (PTM) had been held till date and that all teachers had praised his son's performance and behaviour. "I have his marksheets," he added.

"Do you think such a young boy would behave normally for so many days had he committed such a serious crime?" the boy's father asked.

The CBI has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, the Juvenile Justice Board sought clarification from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for violating the timings of interrogation of the accused class 11 student.

Pradyuman was found dead inside the toilet of the Ryan International School, Gurgaon, with his throat slit on September 8.

Earlier on Friday, sources said that the CBI was probing the involvement of a second student of the school in the murder.

Read: Second student may be involved in Pradyuman murder; CBI investigates

The cold-blooded murder of the seven-year-old Pradyuman took a new dimension on Wednesday after the CBI trashed the probe by the Gurgaon police and gave a clean chit to the bus conductor arrested with the charges of murder and sexual assault. The investigating agency arrested a juvenile, who was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board on Thursday. The teen was sent to the CBI custody for three days.

On Thursday, the CBI also told the juvenile court that the Class 11 student had in presence of his father and other witnesses confessed to killing Pradyuman.

(With agency inputs)
TiE Kerala president Rajesh Nair, Shashi Tharoor, MP, Federal Bank CEO Shyam Srinivasan and Aster DM Healthcare Chairman Azad Moopan at the inauguration of TiE-con Kerala 2017 in Kochi on Friday. (Photo: SUNOJ NINAN MATHEW)

Kochi: Former Union Minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has called for substantial corrective measures in areas like ease of doing business and permit delays to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of Kerala.

Speaking after inaugurating the two-day TiE-con Kerala 2017 on Friday Tharoor said Kerala has strong entrepreneurial spirit.

Stressing the need for more incubation centres across the state, he also called for ending the outmoded protest forms such as hartals. He cited overdependence on gulf remittances as major socio-political and economic challenge facing the state.

The services and construction sector contribute 81 per cent to our net state domestic product. Agriculture and industry are only marginal, he pointed out.

Tharoor also said India as a country is the natural leader of frugal innovations. In the west, people invent a product, refine it, make it smaller and expensive, while Indian innovators often strip a product to its bare essentials to make it affordable, durable and effective and thereby reaching out to a larger market, he said.

Over 1,000 delegates, industry leaders, decision makers, start-up entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and student entrepreneurs are participating in the event.

The highlight of the first day was the session on experiential tourism which shed light on future frontiers of Kerala tourism industry. The first day also saw important sessions on the possibilities and opportunities in Life Sciences and Bio technology.

A panel discussion on the role of Medical cluster Industries in Kerala was another highlight of the day. Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director and CEO, Federal Bank Ltd, Dr. Azad Moopan, Chairman and Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare, Rajesh Nair, President, Tie Kerala and several others addressed the inaugural session.
Chennai: The massive search and survey operation unleashed by the income tax department in the state entered second day on Friday. According to sources, of the 187 places raided on Thursday, operations were completed in 40 places and raids are underway on 147 premises. I-T department sources said on Friday Vivek Jayaramans in-laws properties and Karnataka AIADMK secretary Pugazhendis properties near Thanjavur were raided in addition to those under scanner. During raids, it is learnt that the sleuths have identified 60 shell companies, most of which are linked to a female relative of V.K .Sasikala, who resides at T Nagar.

I-T sleuths are also perusing the bank accounts of the Mannargudi clan, who are the primary targets in this massive operation. "At least 300 bank accounts are under the scanner including several in Chennai. There is a possibility of these accounts being frozen if incriminating eviden-ce is found," a department source said. Jazz Cinemas was closed on Friday too. Those under scrutiny continued to be non-cooperate with the I-T officials and in many instances, the department sought police help to facilitate their work.

As of Friday, officials have seized about 635 documents and records and the survey is expected to continue well until Monday. Raids continued at Jaya TV and Namadhu MGR on Friday too. A staffer of Jaya TV was brought to the office on Friday to assist the officials with the raids, sources said.
Bengaluru: While the elaborate security measures taken by the city police yielded results, as no untoward incident in the city during Tipu Jayanti celebrations, a Janata Dal (United) party worker reportedly bit a finger of his party Secretary for celebrating Tipu Jayanti at the party office.

The incident took place at the Janata Dal (United) party office in Sheshadripuram on Friday morning. Police said the party worker, Govindaraju, had come to the office in the morning and was upset that the party was officially celebrating Tipu Jayanti.

He picked up a quarrel with the JD(U) City Unit Secretary, Nagesh. Calling Tipu an anti-national ruler, he demanded that Tipu's photo, put up as part of the celebration, should be removed immediately.

This led to an argument and an enraged Govindaraju allegedly bit Nagesh's finger and fled. Nagesh has filed a complaint in this connection and the police are yet to question Govindaraju.

Meanwhile, it was reported that unidentified miscreants had smashed the windshield of a car in Tilaknagar, in protest against Tipu Jayanti celebration.

However, the police ruled out such reports and said that the incident was unrelated to Tipu Jayanti.

The city police had deployed as many as 11,000 police personnel, 30 Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) platoons and 25 CAR platoons, besides home guards, to avert any untoward incident.

BJP workers protest

Sporting black arm bands, BJP members of the BBMP council protested against Tipu Jayanti celebration on Friday. Shouting slogans against the Congress party, the protesters alleged the move was aimed at wooing Muslim voters.

Even as discussions were on whether Tipu Jayanti be celebrated or not, the government has gone ahead with the celebrations. Where is the value for public opinion," asked Padmanabha Reddy, opposition party leader in the BBMP

council.
The NGT on Friday said the scheme was a farce, and that it cannot be implemented from next week without its permission. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal on Saturday gave a conditional nod to the AAP government's decision to implement the odd-even car rationing scheme for five days from November 13, ordering that no exemption should be allowed to "any person or officer and two-wheelers".

The NGT said that the odd-even scheme should be implemented "without any default" as and when PM (particulate matter) 10 level goes above 500 microgrammes per cubic metre and PM 2.5 level crosses the limit of 300 microgrammes per cubic metre during a span of 48 hours.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar ordered that there should be no exemption to "any person or officer and two-wheelers" from the ambit and scope of the road rationing scheme and would be applied with equal vigour to all vehicles.

Earlier, the government announced exemptions for women drivers, two-wheelers and vehicles carrying children in school uniforms, besides VVIPs.

Saturdays decision came after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) told the bench that two-wheelers were more polluting than other vehicles, and emissions from motorbikes accounted for 20 per cent of the total vehicular pollution.

However, the tribunal exempted CNG vehicles, emergency services such as ambulance and fire, and vehicles carrying waste.

"The Delhi government would be free to declare the odd- even scheme strictly subject to conditions. In terms of the environment ministry's notification order and Graded Response Action Plan as and when PM 10 and 2.5 cross levels of 500 and 300 microgrammes per cubic metre respectively, it shall be mandatory for the Delhi government to implement the scheme without any default," the bench said.

Taking strong exception to the decision to increase parking fees in Delhi by four times, the NGT ordered the Delhi government and the authorities concerned to reconsider the decision.

The tribunal said, "The hike in parking fees will only benefit the contractors and would stress people by encouraging them to park vehicles on the roads instead, choking them in the process."

"The extra money collected would not come to the government for sure. You are only enriching the contractors through the order," it said.

While passing a slew of directives, the NGT said every entry point to Delhi should be properly managed by the city government, the corporations should ensure that there was no congestion, and neighbouring states such as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana should depute special forces at the border of the national capital to avoid traffic jams.

"All the private transporters who have been granted permit by the Delhi government shall provide vehicles to carry essentials in coordination with the Delhi Transport

Corporation as part of their corporate social responsibility.

"Since it is commonly agreed that sprinkling of water is a substantial solution for decreasing the pollutant level in the air, the same shall be done without default in future and in the coming week unless it rains," the bench said.

The bench also issued notices to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to show cause why exemplary cost should not be imposed on them and the erring officials be imprisoned for violation of its order putting a ban on construction activities.

It constituted a team of officials from the CPCB and DPCC, and the special secretary of environment department of the Delhi government, which would collect data of ambient air quality and analyse all different parameters including PM levels, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide etc.

"All the samples are to be analysed in the CPCB laboratory and at the IIT Delhi," it said.

The tribunal took note of thermal power plants operating around Delhi and said there were 30 plants producing 11,000 megawatt of power which are one of the biggest factors for contribution to the pollution as they contribute 80 per cent sulphate and 50 per cent nitrate which add to the air pollution.

"If emissions from these plants are controlled or are upgraded with technology it could largely impact the pollution condition in Delhi," the NGT said.

During the two-hour hearing, the Delhi government came under a scathing attack from the tribunal which asked the AAP dispensation why it did not introduce odd-even car rationing scheme earlier this month when the air quality was worse.

The NGT bench also came down heavily on the city government's decision to exempt some categories of people from the odd-even scheme and enhance parking fees to control pollution, terming it as "absurd".

"Why didn't you introduce odd-even earlier when air quality was worse? Measures such as enhanced parking fees to decrease pollution are absurd," the bench asked.

The tribunal also questioned the government if the decision to introduce the odd-even scheme was taken with the consent of the Lieutenant Governor.

"Is odd-even scheme at the whim and thought of a particular officer or the Delhi govt as a whole. Is it being implemented with the consent of both the Lieutenant Governor and Delhi government," it asked.

The car-rationing scheme, which was enforced twice in the national capital in 2016, will be in place between November 13 and 17 from 8 am to 8 pm.

Under the policy, private vehicles are allowed to run based on the last number of their licence plates.

Odd-numbered cars are allowed to run on odd dates while even-numbered cars can only run on even dates.
Bhopal: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday set an example by admitting his pregnant daughter-in-law in a government hospital in Raipur for delivery.

His daughter-in-law, Aishwarya, gave birth to a baby girl in the Dr B.R. Ambedkar government medical college and hospital in Raipur in Chhattisgarh at around 10.30 am on Saturday.

She was admitted in the hospital in the early hours of Saturday after it was confirmed that the delivery procedure has to be initiated.

The CM along with his family members including his MP son Abhishek, husband of Aishwarya, was present in the hospital at the time.

The Chief Minister proudly shared the photograph in which he was seen holding his newborn granddaughter in his arms, in his twitter wall.
The stretch passes through 17 police stations and there is no clarity on who will look after the security outside the new stations.

HYDERABAD: The state government is likely to show the green signal to the Cyberabad, Rachakonda and Hyderabad police to recruit homeguards to man Metro stations on the Nagole-Miyapur stretch. The stretch passes through 17 police stations and there is no clarity on who will look after the security outside the new stations. For the time being, the responsibility will fall on the local police. The local police stations are already short staffed. For every Metro station we need 10 persons to work in shifts round the clock, said a police official from Rachakonda.

Besides, there is also no clarity on who will be conducting the anti-sabotage checks and frisking operations. Professionally-trained persons are required for the anti-sabotage checks. In all likelihood, the anti-sabotage team of the state police will be asked to take it up, said a police official from the city security wing.

Mr A. Venkateswara Rao, deputy commissioner of police (west), said that they have no clear idea about Metro Rail security. As of now, there is no clarity on who will register cases if any property offences take place or any untoward incident happens, he said.

For setting up a police station, the government has to issue the order, which has to be acknowledged by courts. In the Rail-ways, the Government Railway Police (GRP) registers the cases and takes up the investigation, while the Railway Protection Force (RPF) protects railway properties. On MMTS trains, the GRP has posted homeguards and the anti-sabotage checks are conducted by the RPF and the local police. A final decision will be taken up by the government after Mr S. P Singh, chief secretary, holds a meeting with officials of Metro. The meeting may take place after new DGP Mr.M Mahendar Reddy takes charge.
Intelligence inputs say terror outfits could threaten groups who want to hold talks with the interlocutor.

New Delhi: Intelligence agencies have cautioned the Centre that terror groups in Kashmir Valley are making a concerted effort to disrupt its initiative for talks with different groups in a bid to find a solution to the regions complex problems.

The Centre had recently appointed Dineshwar Sharma, former director of the Intelligence Bureau, as its interlocutor to initiate dialogue with a cross section of people in the State.

A top security official confirmed to this newspaper that Talha Rashid, nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, who incidentally was killed in an encounter by security forces in Pulwama earlier this week was also sent with the purpose of ensuring that the dialogue process was disrupted.

We have concrete information that terror groups would go all out to ensure that any kind of talks or initiative either by the State or Centre which helps bring peace to the Valley fails. These terror elements are also in touch with hardline separatist leaders from the Hurriyat which is perhaps the reason why they have refused to meet Centres interlocutor. Talha Rashid had crossed over into the Indian territory a few days ago with specific instructions to ensure that the peace dialogue was disrupted, the official said.

Sources also confirmed that it was in background of these intelligence inputs that Mr Sharma was accorded Z category security with a pilot and escort vehicle to secure his convoy. Mr Sharma would also be protected round the clock by six to eight CRPF commandos.

Intelligence inputs also suggest that in the days ahead, terror outfits could threaten other groups who want to hold talks with the interlocutor. Incidentally, during his visit to the state earlier this week Mr Sharma did hold talks with former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, senior CPM leader M.Y. Tarigami, top PDP leader Sartaj Madni, representatives of Kashmiri Pandits.

It is possible that in the days ahead terror groups could issue threats to such groups to ensure that no further talks are held, sources added.

It is clear that terror handlers across the border dont want any kind of peace initiative to succeed and are trying hard to ensure that the present talks also fail. This is an important factor why Hurriyat is staying away from the dialogue process, an intelligence official remarked.
Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy seen addressing the Meet the Press program at Press Club. Also seen Sadashiv Shenoy, President Press Club of Bangalore, in Bengaluru on Saturday. (Photo: DC)

Bengaluru: In a bid to curb the air pollution and rising traffic congestion in the city, the Karnataka government is eying at replicating the New Delhis odd-even formula provided it is a success in the national capital, said Ramalinga Reddy, Home Minister, here on Saturday.

While talking to reporter, the home minister said he was of the opinion that addressing the traffic problem, which was Bengalurus major concern, and to avert a Delhi-like situation in terms of air pollution was need of the hour and odd-even vehicle rationing scheme would help to an extent.

As the New Delhi is set to implement the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme, let's wait for its result. If it turns out to be effective, I will hold a discussion with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Transport Minister over the implementation of the same in Bengaluru, Mr Reddy said.

The AAP-led Delhi government had introduced the odd-even scheme in January and April this year. In this scheme, odd numbered cars are allowed to ply on odd dates and even numbered cars on even dates. However, two-wheelers were excluded.

Maintaining that the scheme alone would not address the problem, Mr Reddy was of the opinion that it could reduce the problem.

"The number of vehicles in Bengaluru was 54 lakhs in 2013, which now is 68 lakhs. Pollution cannot be tackled unless the number of vehicles is reduced, which is practically not possible. In this case, the odd-even scheme may not be that effective, but will help reduce the number of vehicles on roads, Mr Reddy added.

Government to act tough against rowdies

Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said his government would follow zero tolerance towards rowdies and Reddy said that he had instructed the police to extern habitual offenders, if necessary.

"I have given clear directions to the police top brass that rowdy activities should be curtailed at any cost. Those who do not abide to the law and try to create problems will be dealt with strictly.

Those who do not mend their ways even after repeated warnings will be condemned to exile, be it rowdies or any other habitual offender," Mr Reddy warned.

Meanwhile, he also said that drug peddling has to be rooted out. "Generally, the police arrest drug peddlers, book a case against them and forget it.

But I have asked them to catch those who supply narcotic substances. Otherwise, this menace cannot be brought under control."

Further, he added that the police have been asked to step up patrolling and schools and colleges, particularly at womens colleges.
Sri Sri Ravishankar along with the families of slain army personnel and families of militants while addressing the media. (Photo: DC)

Bengaluru: In a rare spectacle, the Art of Living (AOL) International Centre on Friday played host to families of slain army personnel, militants and reformed militants in an attempt to share Paigam-e-Mohabbat (Message of Love) and initiate a transformation in trouble torn Kashmir valley. Those who hitherto hated each other, shared their pain and emotions and forgave each other with an emotional hug and dream of a better tomorrow.

It was very difficult for me to respond in affirmative when I was contacted to participate in the event. I knew I would be meeting people who are responsible for the death of my husband. But once I reached the AOL campus I saw many Kashmiri families. The moment I saw them, I looked away thinking one of their sons may have killed my husband and broke down. But then a woman held my hand and hugged me. It was then I realised just like I have lost my husband, they too have lost their dear ones. Those families too are undergoing the same pain that I am going through, said Neha Tirpathi, wife of Commandant Pramod Kumar, CRPF, who was martyred on August 15, 2016 at Nowhatta Chowk in Srinagar.

Dr Priya Sankalp, wife of Colonol Sankalp Kumar who died on December 5, 2015 in Uri, said that when people accept Kashmir as part of India and consider themselves Indian, things would turn for better.

How long Kashmir will remain a land where our husbands and sons are sacrificed. Why we have to lose our dear ones every time and for how long. Why doesn't the violence stop, she said.

More than 100 families from across the country including 60 families of slain militants took part in the event and vowed to build a better Kashmir and bring back the Kashmiri youth, who have gone astray.

Muneer Choudhry who hailed from Uri in Baramulla, said not all Kashmiris were trouble makers, but we are stereotyped that way.

Every Kashmiri lives in a fear of being attacked. A father lives in a dilemma whether his son would return from school safely or his dead body will be recovered from a forest area. The police detain innocent youth and demands lakhs of rupees from his parents, if they dont want their son to be declared a militant. This is how the Kashmiris have been living for years, he said.

He also critised the media for highlighting negative news from Kashmir. Media only shows stone pelters, but it is not interested in knowing why the youth are picking up the stone. It shows police and Army vehicles being attacked, but they dont show why it is being done, Muneer said.

He pointed that no government could solve the issue as the interlocutors only meet Kashmiris handpicked by the government. They dont interact with locals and people who were sufferers. If that would have been the case, things would have been sorted out long back, he added.

Lack of communication led to unrest: Sri Sri Regarding Paigam-e-Mohabbat initiative AOL founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar pointed that miscommunication between the governments and people of Kashmir had led to the unrest, with no permanent solutions so far.

The spiritual leader was of the opinion that political interventions won't solve the issues in Kashmir. For things to get normal in Kashmir, one need to reach to the people who were suffering and understand their problems and address them.

The Paigam-e-Mohabbat is an initiative towards starting a new chapter of Kashmir and a vision to ensure a non-violent society will emerge. Unless and until we put a balm to heal the hurt and give a new vision, the chain reaction of violence will continue, he said.
The woman never got the visa and when she started questioning him about it, he kept on dodging her and subsequently cut off the contacts with the woman.

Chennai: A 33-year-old man was arrested by the cyber crime wing of the city police on Saturday for impersonating and cheating women of several lakhs through matrimonial sites.

In September, a divorcee with an autistic child approached the city police commissioner's office seeking action against an ortho surgeon from the US. The woman had registered her name in one of the matrimonial websites through which the accused contacted her.

He identified himself as Dr Prashanth Prasad, an ortho surgeon living in USA. He invited me and my son to USA to take the marriage proposal forward claiming that he was occupied with work and couldn't come to India, the woman mentioned in her complaint.

The man suggested the woman apply for a fiancee visa (K1/K2 visa) and on the pretext of helping her with the process, he usurped Rs 11.5 lakh from her, police said.

The woman never got the visa and when she started questioning him about it, he kept on dodging her and subsequently cut off the contacts with the woman.

Realising that she had been taken for a ride, the woman approached the police, after which special teams were formed to investigate the case. During the course of the investigation, police found out that the man who posed himself as an ortho surgeon is a resident of Guduvanchery near Chennai.

He had cheated several women impersonating himself as Dr Prashanth, Gowtham, George among many names, police said. His original name is R. Kumar Durai. He was produced before the Alandur judicial magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Police advised the public to exercise caution while dealing with strangers through matrimonial websites.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The trust of a major religious community in the state was assigned 10.62 hectares of revenue land in Vadakevila in Kollam in 2006. But, perhaps after the trust realised that the village officials were least bothered, it began occupying the remaining two hectares not assigned to it. Apparently to give some authority to this illegal occupation, the trust even erected a statue of their spiritual leader in the illegally-occupied plot. To this date, no village officer or tahsildar has carried out the mandatory verification of land boundaries.

Such undetected encroachments are common across the state. Even a random inter-departmental check conducted recently has found that nearly 100 hectares of government land have been encroached upon for years with impunity. Various government bodies like KSEB and DTPC, too, have been found to encroach upon public land. However, encroachment is highest for residential purposes. For instance a private builder has been illegally utilising nearly 50 hectares of land in Kuttampuzha village in Kothamangalam (Ernakulam district), the fair value of which is Rs 10 crore. Commercial activities, too, have triggered encroachment of government land.

As per the Village Manual, the village assistant, who functions as special village officer and village inspector, should verify the boundary of government lands every three months for the detection of encroachments and submit a report to the village officer. The cases detected by the village assistant have to be checked by the revenue inspector and the tahsildar. Such verification as per the Village Manual is not conducted in more than 80 percent of the village offices across the state, a top Revenue Department official said. We found that village assistants never did such verification. Worse, the tahsildar or village officer are not known to insist on such reports, the official added. What is of bigger concern is that a register of public complaints on encroachments is not maintained in a large majority of village offices.

It is this non-verification that has resulted in non-detection of encroachment, the official said. Strangely, the Revenue Department has not initiated eviction proceedings despite court verdicts. For instance, the High Court in 2015 had ordered the eviction of individuals and government departments from three hectares of land in Peerumedu in Idukki. No action has been taken till date. It is the failure of the district collectors and tahsildars to monitor the evictions that has helped in sustaining and encroachments, the official added.
Thiruvananthapuram: The parents of the nine-year-old girl who got infected with HIV following a blood transfusion at the Regional Cancer Centre here, have alleged that the authorities at the centre had discontinued free cancer treatment to her. The child was undergoing treatment for blood cancer. The father of the child alleged that the RCC authorities had stopped free cancer care they were giving to the child.

The doctors have not yet started the anti retroviral therapy for HIV infection since the final report on the viral load was expected from NACO institutions in Delhi. RCC officials however denied the allegation that the girl was denied treatment at the Centre. They maintained that the parents of the child came and demanded discharge. It may be recalled that the tests conducted at Chennai hospital could not detect the viral load for HIV. Many quoted the report to claim that the girl was not having HIV infection.

The viral load test measures the number of virus particles per ml blood. If the viral load is less than 50 copies of HIV per ml then it is difficult to detect the virus. In such a situation the result would be undetectable viral load. The Tambaram Centre is one of the authorised agencies approved by NACO for conducting viral load test for HIV and other viruses. According to doctors, the viral load test does not indicate whether the child is infected or not. The test can only decide on the treatment part of the patient. Only severity of the infection is indicated.
Police uses water cannons on RYF activists during their protest march demanding the ouster of Transport Minister Thomas Chandy in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. (Photo: A.V. MUZAFAR)

Thiruvananthapuram: A crucial meeting of LDF state committee will be held here on Sunday in the wake of CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran conveying to chief minister the party executives stand against transport minister Thomas Chandys continuation.

The CPM state secretariat which met here on Friday also decided to examine the allegations of encroachment against the minister. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who reported the matter at the meeting called for detailed discussions in LDF.

At the secretariat meeting, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan reportedly said that the LDF could take a decision on the issue.

Ahead of the LDF meeting, CPM will hold bilateral talks with CPI which has taken a strident position against Chandy.

Sources said the CPM wants to evolve a broader consensus on the issue within the LDF before taking any major decision.

Meanwhile, NCP has decided to stick to its stand at the LDF meeting that the minister need not resign at this stage. The party believes that the Collectors report was misleading and the government should wait for the verdict of the high court.

Since the allegations pertain to the minister belonging to a coalition partner , the CPM wants to take the NCP on board at the LDF meeting.

There are two options before the LDF; persuade Chandy and NCP to take an appropriate decision including resignation on moral grounds considering the gravity of the allegations or take a decision based on the court verdict on the matter.
Chennai: In a significant climbdown from his aggressive fighting stance immediately after the Income Tax raids targeting him and his relatives began on Thursday, TTV Dhinakaran on Saturday called himself just a small fry with a small group of followers whereas the rival EPS-OPS combine controlled majority of the AIADMK.

We are not calling ourselves a big party. We are just functioning as a small group under the leadership of Chinamma (VK Sasikala) after the demise of Amma (J Jayalalithaa). We are not in the race to demolish a party to further our interests, Dhinakaran told reporters in a complete U-turn from his earlier position that his aunt Sasikala controlled the AIADMK.

On Thursday, immediately after the raids began at nearly 180 locations across Tamil Nadu, Dhinakaran had alleged that the searches were part of a conspiracy by the Union Government in collusion with the Edappadi K Palaniswami Government in Tamil Nadu with an aim to eliminate me and Chinamma (Sasikala) from politics. Dhinakaran had been maintaining even in the Election Commission that he was the real AIADMK.

Political observers interpret Dhinakaran's comments as a significant volte-face since he has been claiming all along that he was controlling the AIADMK and had even appointed his followers to crucial posts by removing heavyweights like Palaniswami from his party positions. It is a significant climbdown and it looks like Dhinakaran is extending an olive branch to those in power at the Centre as he and his family are under the siege of the I-T Department, a senior political observer said, requesting anonymity.

However, insiders say those in command will not take the political posturing by Dhinakaran seriously since the I-T raids are part of the Operation Clean Up of Tamil Nadu launched by the BJP in the aftermath of J Jayalalithaa's death last December. Insiders also say that the BJP has prepared a blueprint for Tamil Nadu's future in which the party hoped to emerge as the alternative to the DMK and AIADMK, which is in complete tatters for about a year now.

During his interaction with reporters on Saturday, Dhinakaran decried political motive behind the I-T raids that have targeted the entire Mannargudi Family and said the timing was suspect. We are not against I-T raids, but my question is what the need is to conduct a mega raid with 1,800 people? Why target people like Pugazhendi and Thanga Tamilselvan who are in no way connected to our businesses? Dhinakaran asked.

The former MP also questioned why only he and his relatives were being targeted and why not those who introduced the 'Sand Baron' Shekhar Reddy to Tamil Nadu. Why people who had close ties with Shekhar Reddy are being let off? Why people who introduced Shekhar Reddy are not being probed? They have held portfolios like Highways and Public Works Department, he said in an apparent reference to deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam.

During the course of his interaction with reporters, Dhinakaran said, nothing has been recovered from his farmhouse in Aurovile and that I-T raids in premises belonging to him have already ended. He also thanked political leaders like Thol Thirumavalavan, Vaiko, G K Vasan, R Mutharasan, G Ramakrishnan, Su Thirunavukarasar and Karti Chidambaram for calling raids against him as political vendetta.
Bengaluru: Over two months into the investigation of the murder of noted journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh at her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on September 5, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has assured that the killers will be behind bars in a few weeks as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) knows who did it.

While interacting with reporters at the Press Club here on Saturday, the Home Minister said the SIT had almost cracked the case and was gathering more evidence to make it water tight.

We know who killed Gauri. Before nabbing the culprits, the SIT is gathering solid evidence to ensure the killers should not have a way out from the court, owing to the lack of evidence. I assure you, the case will be solved within weeks, he said.

Responding to a question on why the investigation was taking a long time, Mr Reddy said that unlike investigation teams approach in the cases of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi, this time the SITs approach was strong.

Years after the investigation started in Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgis murders, the investigating agencies failed to gather any conclusive evidence, let alone making any arrests. But SIT in Gauris case has done an excellent job and had identified the killers, he said, adding, the identity of the killers could not be disclosed at the moment due to security reasons. Eyewitness help sought for sketches Rejecting the BJPs claim that the tilak on the forehead of one of the suspects, whose sketch was released by the SIT last month, was a deliberate attempt to target pro-Hindu outfits, Mr Reddy said that all the three sketches were prepared based on an eyewitness account. "The assassin was wearing a helmet when he pulled the trigger on Gauri. But he had come to recce the area a few hours before the crime. It was then a part of his face was captured on a CCTV camera and the face sporting tilak was also described by an eyewitness, Mr Reddy added.
The waves of intolerance and Islamophobia that have swept Europe were not launched by President Trump, but there can be no denying the fact that the rhetoric he deployed during his election campaign and the programmes he launched since assuming the presidency has given them strength and direction. Earlier this year, the media reported that the existing US programme, Countering Violent Extremism, would be changed to Countering Islamic/Radical Islamic Extremism. In contrast, last December, President Putin said, I would prefer Islam not be mentioned in vain alongside terrorism, and criticised terrorists who cynically exploit religious feelings for political aims. At the opening of a mosque in Moscow he said that in the Middle East terrorists from the so-called Islamic State are compromising a great world religion ... sowing hatred, killing people, including clergy. He added, Their ideology is built on lies and blatant distortions of Islam, noting that Muslim leaders are bravely and fearlessly using their own influence to resist this extremist propaganda.

A Russian commentator on Islamic affairs, Orkhan Dzhemal explained the reason for the contrasting views. Putin rules a multi-confessional country ... He doesnt want to alienate millions of Russians. It is Trumps disdain for multiculturalism, and for the tolerance that diversity requires. He is a white supremacist. In August 2016, he unveiled his dark vision of an America under siege by the hateful ideology of a radical version of religion  a threat, he said, that was on par with the greatest evils of the 20th century. Asma Afsaruddin, a professor of religious studies at Indiana University and chairperson of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Democracy, addressed the root of the phobia. They are tapping into the climate of fear and suspicion since 9/11 ... It is a master narrative that pits the Muslim world against the West. She predicted that the demonisation of Muslims and Islam will become even more widespread.

In the climate which Trumps election created, such incidents become common. No wonder that the far right in Europe welcomed the event. Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, exclaimed with joy, Yesterday a new America ... and tomorrow a new Europe! Some of his companions fared poorly at the polls that followed; including Marine Le Pen, president of Frances National Front, and Wilders himself. But the far-right Alternative for Germany made a disturbingly impressive showing in the recent election. The Freedom Party of Austria was once treated as a pariah in Europe when it was accepted as a member of the governing coalition in 2000. Now, leaders of the European radical right are well received from Budapest to Tel Aviv, and Moscow to Washington D.C.

The 13 far-right parties in Europe may not be homogeneous, but Islamophobia unites them in their opposition to immigration. American journalist Timothy Egan recently wrote, Trump opened the door to overt expressions of hatred, by exploiting identity politics. Within our borders, Protestants dont fight Catholics, Sunnis dont go after [Shias], Armenians share neighbourhoods with Turks, and a family that can trace much of its ancestry to slavery occupied a White House built in part by slaves. But that tenuous construct is breaking apart. We are retreating to our tribal, ethnic and primitively prejudicial quarters. Everything is about race and identity...We choose politicians based on whether they help our tribe or hurt people like us. This is President Trumps legacy. The Trump phenomenon has spread. Europe is not the sole victim of the contagion. As any observer of the Asian scene will notice, intolerance and rejection of diversity and pluralism are dangerously on the rise.

By arrangement with Dawn
The paradise in the Paradise Papers refers to tax havens of low or even no taxation. Such havens usually are shadowy and sleazy little countries and principalities such as the Cayman Islands, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and sometimes entities within countries like Jersey, Guernsey, Bermuda in the UK and Delaware and Puerto Rico in the US. Then there are low taxation countries like Switzerland, Singapore and Dubai that assure secretive rich people of their privacy. Essentially, a tax haven exists to cheat sovereign states of their lawful incomes. The Tax Justice Network campaign group estimates that corporate tax avoidance costs governments $500bn a year while personal tax avoidance costs $200bn a year. This, in effect, means that anywhere between $20-30 trillion of business transactions in various jurisdictions are sheltered from taxations. Moodys estimated that in 2016, giant American technology companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple were hoarding about $1.84 trillion cash in offshore havens. Clearly, they are avoiding taxes by bending the rules of the tax system. This is tax avoidance, which is not illegal for they are operating within the letter, but perhaps not the spirit of the law. Tax evasion is just plain concealment of income and is a crime in all countries.

In the early 1980s, shaken up by the number of scandals in Wall Street, and by the number of its MBA graduates who were found wanting in ethical and moral values, the Harvard Busi-ness School made a course on Leadership and Corporate Accoun-tability a core requirement. I am sure Jayant Sinha, a Harvard MBA, had to do this course. Such courses now are in the core curriculum of the business schools attended by the other two young politicians also named in the Paradise Papers or capers if you will. Sachin Pilot graduated from the famous Wharton School of Business and Karti Chidambaram took his business masters from Texas and a law degree from Cambridge to boot. Doing the required ethics course is one thing but it is quite something else to be able to resolve the moral dilemmas of what John Kenneth Galbraith described as the HBSs ethical view of capitalism which derives straight out of the Protestant ethic and its transformational view of money, in which the ability to accumulate wealth is a reflection of ones character.

The charge against Sinha is that while acting as an Omidyar Network representative, he was on the board of a California company that made a loan to that companys Cayman subsidiary. Usually such a loan to such a subsidiary suggests a fiddle. Whether Sinha knew this or not is a different issue. Though the evidence does not suggest any malfeasance, there is room for scepticism. Omidyar Network proclaims its belief: Just as eBay created the opportunity for millions of people to start their own businesses, we believe market forces can be a potent driver for positive social change. Grand words, but that hardly conceals the true goal that is to make bucks, sometimes fast ones too. Again as Galbraith puts it: The modern conservative is engaged in one of mans oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

Way back in mid-1980s, Sinha, then fresh out of one of the IITs, worked with me on a paper that proposed mass construction of smokeless chullahs for rural homes as a profitable employment for hundreds of thousands of rural workers. I remember it as a bit of an elaborate scheme that also computed savings due to improved health and the added jobs created in the rural sector and firewood savings. It was published in a well-known pink newspaper and the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi took note of it. Clearly, he was a well-meaning and bright young man. I was impr-essed enough to write a recommendation when he applied for a Masters in Energy Management at Pennsylvania. I next met him when I was serving as his fathers advisor in the finance ministry. Jayant and his wife were both working with foreign companies investing in Indian stocks. He was apprehensive about a proposal made by me to disinvest PSU stocks by selling them to the governments banks for onward restructure and disinvestment. He was concerned over its effects on some PSU shares in which his wife and her employers had invested in. The minister had clearly spoken to him. At that time too, I wondered if the HBSs core business ethics course would have seen conflict of interest issues in it? The minister, however, had showed he had plenty of flex  pun intended  in him.

The government is said to have ordered investigations against Jayant Sinha and all the others named in the Paradise tax avoidance capers. His father has naturally taken umbrage at this. He has demanded to know if people like Jayant Sinha have to be investigated, why shouldnt Jay Amit Shah be investigated for what is more apparently a scam? The facts of Jay Amit Shahs case are essentially that a company that had a life of three years registered a 16000% growth in its second year and then folded up in its third year. On the face of it, it does seem to be a money laundering scam. Instead of it being investigated the website, thewire.in, that broke the news based on the official statements obtained from the Registrar of Companies, is being investigated. People like Jay Amit Shah are not expected to have the sophisticated sense of a Harvard or Wharton Business School graduate formally schooled in ethics. Jay Amit Shah just hit it when the iron was hot. So Yashwant Sinha has a point. To my mind, tax avoidance is perhaps just as reprehensible as tax evasion. The finance ministry has consistently failed to plug the loopholes, even the fact that little Mauritius and Singapore are our two biggest sources of FDI. Sinha was too junior in the finance ministry to have expressed views on this. It would have been unlikely though for that is not the HBS way. The previous finance minister, himself a Harvard MBA, would not have left footprints for young Sinha to tread on. Neither would the present inveterate lawyer finance minister.
The GST Council must be commended for alleviating, to a significant extent, the enormous hardship that the poor and the small and medium industries suffered due to the hasty implementation of the Goods and Services Tax. It has also helped the aam aadmi as the tax on items of daily use like healthcare products, detergents and chocolates has been reduced. These are among the 228 items that were moved from the 28 per cent slab to 18 per cent whilst many of those in the 18 per cent bracket have been moved to five per cent and even zero tax. Whether this will bring the elusive acche din , only time will tell. The Councils push to the construction industry by reducing several items used by this industry into the 18 per cent bracket should bring some cheer to homebuyers that is, if the benefits are passed on. Interestingly, a section of the jewellery trade, which generates and helps in concealing large amounts of black money, has already found ways to circumvent the law, according to a sting operation undertaken by a news channel. This is a wakeup call for the government.

There is a view being expressed that the government will loose about Rs 2 lakh crore because of the reversal of its earlier decision. But for this, it has only itself to blame. The government introduced GST in haste, making it one of the highest in the world. If the government is contrite about the damage done, it should make the people/ person who took this hasty decision, answerable and deal with it accordingly. News trickling out suggests that this decision, taken in July 2017, was not unanimous. West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra has been proved right. Had the government listened to his views for postponing the July decision, there would have been no need for the GST Council to resort to the massive reversal of the earlier decision. The GST Council was guided by the feedback from various organisations and this only underscores the fact that the government did not consult the peoples representatives before letting finance minister Arun Jaitleys view prevail. Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of a federal structure was given the boot. It is hoped that the Prime Ministers Office will view this incident with all the seriousness that it deserves so that something like this is never repeated.

Coming so close on the heels of the disastrous demonetisation, GST is responsible for pushing the already slowing economy further down The seriousness of the issue cannot be dismissed lightly as India lost its place as the fastest growing economy in the world in the last quarter (April-June). The nagging question remains: Who will undo the damage done, particularly to the small and medium businesses that are the backbone of the economy? Going forward, the new deal offered by the Council is expected to broaden the tax base, make tax compliance easier and help the small and medium traders and entrepreneurs stand on their feet again. Whether there could have been a less painful way of achieving this is still open to debate.
Omidyar! What do we have here? This was unpleasant, uncomfortable, unsettling! Yashwant Sinha, the former Finance and Foreign Minister, has clearly decided theres no point in holding back. He is making the kind of telling, pointed barbs that must be making the NextGen BJP, the Modi-Shah duo, inheritors of the mantle from the old guard of Atal Behari Vajpayee, L.K.Advani, Jaswant Singh and Murali Manohar Joshi who took the party from 2 to 80 to 303 seats, squirm. Or not.

Sinha hasnt minced his words. Not since his open and visceral attack on the Finance Minister who he says should be shown the door, the Modi governments handling of the economy, the demonetization shocker and the GST - all of which descended into a slanging match between him and his son, who still holds a post in the Narendra Modi cabinet, has he stopped himself from airing his views. Repeatedly!

As trenchant as these views are, they are also deeply embarrassing. In saying he has no issue with his son Jayant Sinha, being investigated for investments abroad as revealed by the Paradise Papers, as long as the BJPs president Amit Shahs son Jay Shah is also investigated, what hes doing is both subtle and clever. The Modi governments USP has always been that it is utterly clean, that its ministers have indulged in no hanky-panky, no scandals, financial, sexual or otherwise, no unsavoury links with anything or anybody who is even remotely questionable.

Modi himself, made a tactical course correction when he was seen as close to the elite and big business, doing a 360 degree turn and reinventing himself as a voice of the poor and the downtrodden, the man who puts, not his family, but the nation first. And thats the story that Sinha is going for. If he takes the implied hint of wrong-doing by Modis inner circle to a larger audience, throwing it into the heat and dust of an election campaign in a key state like Gujarat, theres no telling what effect the emotions and the rhetoric of electioneering will have on the BJP's fortunes.

Sinha, who has worked the trenches in his youth, knows the alchemy of the voter. No voter is moved by statistics and numbers alone. He is drawn instead into the charmed circle by the orators fork-tongued mastery and power of language, of innuendo and suggestion rather than fact. And if there is even the slightest hint that the man they see as a demi-god has done a Manmohan Singh and looked the other way as the state was plundered by his cohorts, theres no saying which way the Gujarat voter will go.

The power of suggestion! Its every politicians USP. Rahul Gandhi has discovered it, belatedly, as have so many before him. The task before Modi-Shah will be to turn the story around, when they still have the chance. The drop in the BJPs vote share, since surveys were conducted in August and again in October is a mere 6 per cent. Not enough to lose them the state. The election is still four to five weeks away. Time for all of them to play catch up! To spin a new story.

Especially as the prime minister has always kept a close eye on Gujarat, with insiders saying that while Chief Minister Vijay Rupani may be a Shah proxy, the actual administration of the state, right down to the last file, is still overseen, minutely, by the PM. Now that his promise of reducing the GST burden has been kept, the BJPs Modi mantra has kept the faith with the masses. What can the Congress get at now? Will it shift its strategy to appeal to the aspirations of an ever younger electorate who hunger for an end to the old way of life and an entry to the new, and who, having no memory of any government other than the BJP, do crave a change? One doesnt quite know if the Congress knows how to tap into that angst and beat the BJP at its own game. Its war of words on social media has won Rahul a much followed status on Twitter. But it isnt original. The Congress has taken a leaf out of the BJPs book.

As the BJP and the Congress face off in Gujarat, the difference between the politics of the north and the south couldnt be more stark. Look at how the Dravidian core remained unimpressed by the PMs visit to ailing spinmeister Muthuvel Karunanidhi whose oratory left one spellbound; at how throwing mud at Oommen Chandy for a sexual peccadillo and financial indiscretions have not been given much credence, given the dubious credentials of the woman at the centre of it all. What matters to the voter is the legilsators' record in office. It is when these politicians fail at their job, that the people punish them; religion, caste and ideology, notwithstanding. Barring MGR and NTR  and Jayalalitha - the south rarely deifies its political class. Ramakrishna Hegde, Deve Gowda, Ambareesh know what it is to face the electoral dust.

In marked contrast, few expect the Gujarati to punish the BJP for its financial faux pas. As one Marwari businessman from Rajasthan told me, take the cash away from the Marwari and he may just forgive you, but divest a Gujarati of his hoard and theres no telling what hell do. Tax his khakra!!? The Modi government crossed the line here, but with the Centre amending the GST, he will as quickly step back into his home state's good books.

This is where one must remark on Chief Minister Siddarmaiah, master at this game of innuendo and doublespeak. After the incredible comment, delivered oh so subtly, that the IT officials who raided state power minister D.K.Shivakumars homes and offices had asked DKShi why he wasnt joining the BJP, Siddu achieved one of two objectives  he amplified to the world, the doubts that most ordinary mortals now have that the administration and the police, investigating agencies at every level at the Centre is run by the Delhi government, and two, hes ensured that neither D.K.Shivakumar, nor his brother D.K. Suresh will jump ship. Hes locked them in so tight that neither can move to the BJP as other stalwarts have! Theres going to be no Mukul Roy to contend with in Karnataka!

The IT chief raider has, of course, stoutly denied the Chief Ministers charge, that he and his men had suggested that DKShi should join the BJP. But the damage has been done. But with people well outside the political circle talking about it, the larger electorate can hardly stay immune. Theres one more troubling point. Even after DKShis homes and offices were raided, a good 90 days ago, and his entire family paraded before the taxmen, in the kind of public humiliation that is normally reserved for rapists and killers, the IT raiders have not slapped the man with a panchnama! If that isnt holding a man by the short and cxxxxxs, I dont know what is!

Theres talk now, of course, that the battle will be joined by a whole bunch of the disgruntled top guns forced out of the BJP and other top parties who have switched sides and grown closer to the saffronists, leaving them with one foot out of the door, and no political party to call their own - the other Yashwant Sinhas across the political spectrum, all of whom will come together and campaign in Gujarat, in a last ditch attempt to bring the BJP to its knees. So the two questions I am leaving you with - Will the Sinha clones who have no political following, make a difference? Can they throw the Shah-Modi duo off their game?

Come November 18, we will know whether Yashwant Sinha set off the wave, the unexpected deluge or whether it will be just another false dawn.
All appliances in the line are Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled, which allows you to monitor and control your appliances while at home or away  all with the simple press of a button on your smart phone.

According to research by Houzz, an online platform for home remodeling and design, 28% of homeowners consider the integration of smart technology a very important part of their renovations.

Samsung is helping to reinvent the modern kitchen with intuitive smart appliances, and recently launched its Chef Collection line of premium built-in appliances to the North American market at the New York 837 Center, on November 7th, 2017. Merging elegant design and industry-leading technology, Chef Collection brings Samsungs most innovative and popular home appliance features to the premium built-in category.

Samsung Chef Collection  Connectivity is the Main Course

The Samsung Chef Collection taps into the aspirations of todays homeowners by melding exquisite designs with industry-leading technology, bringing families new and innovative features along with their built-in appliances. All appliances in the line are Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled, which allows you to monitor and control your appliances while at home or away  all with the simple press of a button on your smart phone.

Samsungs Chef Collection fridges feature the first fully integrated 42 built-in 4-Door Flex refrigerator with a FlexZone compartment that  with the touch of a button  conveniently transitions from a fridge to a freezer with four temperature settings. It also features Samsungs View Inside cameras so consumers can see whats inside their refrigerator from anywhere  including remotely from the grocery store.

Samsung Chef Collection 30 Double Wall Oven with Flex Duo  the removable Smart Divider splits the upper oven into two sections that can simultaneously cook two dishes at two different temperatures  allows users to utilize features most often found in the kitchens of world-renowned chefs. Its steam cooking technology delivers moisture at precise times, so food has a crisp exterior and tender inside.

Visitors who attended the Samsung Chef Collection launch event in New York were particularly impressed with the variety of connected options woven into the line of premium appliances. The abilities to remotely pre-heat your oven, peer inside your fridge, or make sure your fridge door is closed via an intuitive smart phone app, were indeed a welcome addition to Samsungs already impressive lineup of kitchen appliances.

Samsung Enhances its Presence in the Built-in Market Globally

North America represents an important built-in market for Samsung Electronics and the company has quickly become a well-known home appliance brand name there. The estimated percentage of built-in appliances is about 15 percent ($4.2 billion) of total appliances market in North America. Samsung successfully expanded its business there with the notable acquisition of Dacor in 2016, a leading American brand among luxury home appliance makers. Earlier this year, Dacor launched its first line of premium kitchen appliances since joining the Samsung family with its revolutionary new kitchen lineup The Modernist Collection. Moreover, the Samsung Chef Collection was recently awarded four 2018 CES Innovation Honoree Awards, and was recognized for its technology in the built-in category.

Building upon the success of Samsungs impressive built-in offerings in the North American market, it has also made considerable inroads in other markets around the world, including Asia and especially Europe. Samsung has released a wide range of innovative built-in appliances across Europe in cooperation with several leading European furniture companies such as Nolte of Germany, and recently opened a built-in showroom in Warsaw, Poland, known as Cook Story by Samsung.

Together with its partners across North America and Europe, Samsung is adding modern connectivity to premium kitchen appliances that improve functionality by evolving with our changing lifestyles. The integration of smart technology into built-in appliances will be a big part of kitchens moving forward and Samsung will continue to leverage its technological expertise to further enhance your premium cooking experience.

Source: Samsung

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Samsung updated its Exynos 9 Series processor and also launched a fresh camera sensor for smartphones. The Exynos 9 Series 9810 is a flagship-class application processor built on Samsung's second-generation 10nm FinFET process. It uses 10LPP (Low Power Plus) technology in conjunction with 3D transistors to improve speeds by about 10%, or power efficiency by about 15% when compared to Samsung's first-generation 10nm process.

The Exynos 9810 Processor- Photo: Samsung

The 9810 also includes Samsung's latest LTE modem with support for six carrier aggregation (6CA). The Cat 18 6CA modem includes 4x4 MIMO and higher-order 256 QAM to tap into the high speeds available from technologies such as LTE-LAA.

In short, The 9810's modem is 20% faster than the one found in the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ and can reach Gigabit LTE speeds. Samsung did not say what devices might be powered by the Exynos 9810.

In addition to the processor, Samsung announced the ISOCELL Slim 2X7, a 24-megapixel image sensor with 0.9m pixels. The Slim 2X7 uses Tetracell and remosaic technology to reproduce the results that might come from larger pixels while keeping the sensor compact. It will be interesting to see how this sensor will handle low light scenarios with such a small pixel size.

Samsung says the sensor can be fitted into a thinner camera module, which may negate the need for a raised camera module on handsets. Samsung did not say what devices might eventually rely on the new imaging sensor.

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Its no secret that Samsung is hard at work to develop an In-Display fingerprint scanner. Initially, this new type of sensor should have been available in the previous generations starting with Galaxy Note 7, but the integration of such a sensor was delayed. Guess it was more difficult than they expected.

The new technology was to be developed by a company named Synaptics, and you might have heard about them before because they are the ones responsible for the touch-pads on many laptops. But Synaptics despite repeated attempts has not been able to create a viable solution that satisfactorily meets Samsungs expectations.

The reason to deploy such a mechanism was obvious. With the advent of edge to edge displays, space has become a premium, and a fingerprint scanner that works through the screen would have been important to save space.

However, According to a report from Softpedia  Samsung will not use a fingerprint scanner under the display for the new Galaxy S9. The technology is troublesome to implement in any meaningful way, and Samsung is dropping it, at least for now.

But it doesnt mean that Samsung is not losing the fingerprint scanner altogether like Apple. The new Samsung Galaxy S9 will have it on the back, along with a more advanced facial recognition.

Furthermore, its safe to assume that Samsung didnt just invest so much time and energy in this new technology only to abandon it. Most likely, the company will attempt to implement it in the Galaxy Note 9 that is scheduled for the end of 2018.

We can now only hope that the location of the fingerprint sensor, on the back of Galaxy S8, will be much better than the previous generation, which was criticized for the terrible decision of choosing to place it near the back camera and to the side.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
The bankruptcy filing, which included affiliates Bikram Inc and Bikram Yoga College of India, follows heightened social awareness over sexual misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. (Photo: Facebook)

Chicago: Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc, the studio that popularized doing yoga in sauna heat, has filed for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy, dogged by $16.7 million in legal judgements and numerous lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct.

Founder Bikram Choudhury, who built a worldwide following with classes of 26 yoga postures in rooms heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 degree Celsius), has been accused of sexual assault by his yoga practitioners, students, instructors and teacher trainees.

The Simi Valley, California-based company, said in a bankruptcy court filing on Thursday in the Central District of California that its liabilities were worth up to $50 million. It listed assets of up to $1 million, suggesting that its largest creditors - women who are owed money for court judgements awarded against Choudhury - will not be paid in full.

They include Miki Jaffa Bodden, former head of legal and international affairs at Choudhury's yoga school who has an $8 million claim stemming from a wrongful dismissal case that included sexual harassment claims.

Bodden alleged that Choudhury repeatedly subjected her to vulgar sexual gestures and offensive comments about women and minority groups.

"Birkram Choudhury created a hyper-sexualised, offensive and degrading environment for women by, among other things, demanding that female staffers brush his hair and give him massages," Bodden said in her 2013 lawsuit.

She also accused him of pressuring her to cover up sexual harassment of women, and in a separate lawsuit filed this year, of fraudulently transferring assets such as luxury cars including a Ferrari and a Bentley to avoid paying judgements against him.

A warrant for Choudhury's arrest was issued in May.

Petra Starke, who moved from her job as lawyer in the Obama White House to chief executive of the Bikram Yoga College of India in 2013, complained of wrongful dismissal, sexually inappropriate conduct and "racist tirades." She has a $5.1 million claim.

Sharon Clerkin, who sued claiming she was fired for becoming pregnant, is owed $3.6 million.

The bankruptcy filing, which included affiliates Bikram Inc and Bikram Yoga College of India, follows heightened social awareness over sexual misconduct in the wake of allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C K.

Restructuring experts have mentioned Chapter 11 bankruptcy as an option for the Weinstein Company to avoid mounting legal claims against its founder, Harvey Weinstein, over alleged sexual crimes.
The FBI was called to handle the investigation. It used the flight manifest to track down Vijaykumar Krishnappa. (Photo: AP/Representational)

New York: A 29-year-old Indian doctor has pleaded guilty to groping a minor girl who was sitting next to him on a New Jersey-bound United Airlines flight, according to officials.

Vijaykumar Krishnappa, a physician, was flying from Seattle on July 23 when he allegedly assaulted a 16-year-old girl sitting next to him.

Krishnappa appeared before a federal magistrate in Newark on Wednesday.

Krishnappa intentionally assaulted a girl who was unknown to him and seated next to him on the flight. Krishnappa admitted that while the victim was asleep, he intentionally touched her near her groin over her leggings without her consent, Acting US Attorney William E Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

Under terms of a plea agreement, the Indian national will be sentenced to between 30 and 90 days in prison in January.

The minor girl, who was travelling, was asleep on the flight, when a stranger's hand on her thigh awakened her.

Krishnappa, sitting next to her quickly removed his hand, according to a federal court complaint, and the teenager went back to sleep. Then, she woke up again - and this time, the man was groping her, the complaint said.

She reported the incident to the airline crew and was allowed to move seats.

Once the flight from Seattle landed at Newark Liberty International Airport, the girl, from Washington state, called her parents. While she did, the accused left the airport, said Johnny McCray, an attorney for the girl's family.

The girl's family filed a complaint against United Airlines for neglecting to detain Krishnappa after the alleged assault, the report said.

The FBI was called to handle the investigation. It used the flight manifest to track down Krishnappa. The girl identified him from a photo array.
Four women, speaking on the record, told The Washington Post that Moore pursued them when they were 18 or younger, while he was in his early thirties working as an assistant district attorney. (Photo: AP)

Washington: A Republican Senate candidate reported to have sexually abused a 14-year-old girl lashed out at his accusers, calling their allegations a dangerous lie that would harm real victims of molestation.

Roy Moore  a former state judge and Christian evangelical whose defence of a Ten Commandments display brought him national attention  added he had never engaged in sexual misconduct.

The issue has reverberated through Washington weeks ahead of a crucial Senate election in which the conservative Republican party is hoping to hold on to its slim 52-48 seat majority.

Four women, speaking on the record, told The Washington Post that Moore pursued them when they were 18 or younger, while he was in his early thirties working as an assistant district attorney.

According to the Post, Leigh Corfman, now 53, said when she was 14 Moore took her into his house in the woods near Gadsden, Alabama, removed her shirt and pants, and fondled her over her bra and underpants.

Moore guided her to touch him through his underwear, she said.

I wasnt ready for that, Corfman told the Post.

Now 70, the anti-establishment conservative faces Democrat Doug Jones in a special Senate election December 12 to replace Jeff Sessions, who became US attorney general earlier this year.

I have never engaged in sexual misconduct, he said in a statement issued yesterday that went beyond his campaigns earlier simple denial.

He also turned on his accusers, saying: I cannot understand the mentality of using such a dangerous lie to try to personally destroy someone.

False allegations are gravely serious and will have a profound consequence on those who are truly harassed or molested, he added.

He also appeared on conservative media personality Sean Hannitys radio show to rebut the story.

Asked whether he remembered dating women in their teens when he was in his 30s, he said: Not generally no.

He added: I dont remember that, or dating any girl without the permission of her mother.

Earlier, President Donald Trump issued a statement that appeared to equivocate on the matter, saying Moore should step aside if the claims proved true, while adding that a mere allegation should not destroy the Alabama politicians life.

Like most Americans the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a persons life, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said aboard Air Force One, before the president landed in Vietnam for a summit.

However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside, she said.

The accusations by the four women reverberated through Washington, with many traditional Republicans withdrawing their support for Moore  though he has received considerable support in his native Alabama and from former Trump advisor Stephen Bannon.

If these allegations are true, he must step aside, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. At least a dozen other Republicans followed suit.

Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, declared the allegations disqualifying for Moore and called on him to immediately leave the race.

But in Alabama, state auditor Jim Zeigler brushed off the allegations.
The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme. (Photo: AFP)

Seoul: North Korea said on Saturday that US President Donald Trumps first trip to Asia showed he was a destroyer and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula.

Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.
US President Donald Trump (right) and Russias President Vladimir Putin chat as they walk together to take part in the family photo during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang. (Photo: AFP)

Hanoi: President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Russias Vladimir Putin again denied interfering in the 2016 US elections. But Mr Trump declined to say whether he believed the Russian leader. But Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders relationship. Mr Trump explained that Putin reiterates his denial every time the pair meet, adding his counterpart seems very insulted by the persistent allegations.

In a blistering partisan attack, Trump accused Democrats of using the election issue to create a barrier between the US and Russia as the nations work on crises in Syria and Ukraine.Having a good relationship with Russias a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way, Mr Trump told reporters, once again casting doubt on the US intelligence communitys conclusion that Russia did try to interfere in the election. People will die because of it. Mr Trumps suggestion that he may believe Putin over his own nations intelligence community is certain to re-ignite the firestorm over the election meddling.

Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Mr Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea. Mr Trump said the probe into the election hacking was a fake barrier placed by Democrats that was hurting the United States ability to have a relationship with Russia, a distraction that was putting lives at stake.
Hariri's sudden resignation on November 4 in a statement made from Riyadh took the Lebanese political class by surprise and has sparked international concern. (Photo: File)

Beirut: Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday accused Saudi Arabia of detaining prime minister Saad Hariri and of asking the Shiite movement's arch-foe Israel to launch strikes.

Hariri's sudden resignation on November 4 in a statement made from Riyadh took the Lebanese political class by surprise and has sparked international concern.

The United States warned against using the tiny country as a "venue for proxy conflicts" and the United Nations said it was "essential no new conflict erupt in the region".

France called for Hariri to have "all his freedom of movement" amid rumours he was being held against his will.

"The head of the Lebanese government is detained in Saudi Arabia, he is banned from returning to Lebanon until now," Nasrallah said in a televised address.

Hariri's situation was not completely clear but calls, including from his Lebanese political rivals, mounted for Saudi Arabia to guarantee the premier's freedom of movement.

The 47-year-old announced his resignation on November 4 in a surprise move that coincided with a sweeping purge of the Saudi kingdom's elite, ostensibly over embezzlement accusations.

Hariri, who also holds Saudi nationality, did not say when he would return to Lebanon, where President Michel Aoun has yet to formally accept his resignation.

In a statement issued on Friday after a meeting with a senior Saudi diplomat, Aoun insisted Hariri should return to Lebanon.

US support

"President Aoun met Saudi charge d'affaires Walid Bukhari and informed him that the circumstances in which Mr. Hariri's resignation took place were unacceptable," the statement said.

The president "called for the return to Lebanon of the head of the government".

Aoun, whose political ally Hezbollah is a fierce critic of Riyadh, "voiced his concern over what is being said" about Hariri's current status in Saudi Arabia and demanded a "clarification".

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday described Hariri as "a strong partner" and warned against "any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country".

"The United States strongly supports the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Lebanon and of its political institutions" and opposes "any actions that could threaten that stability," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has close ties with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, made a surprise visit to Riyadh late Thursday after a trip to the United Arab Emirates.

On Friday, a spokesman for France's foreign ministry said: "We wish Mr. Saad Hariri to have all his freedom of movement and to be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon."

Earlier French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on French radio he thought Hariri was "free to move around", despite most of the Lebanese political class implying he was de facto under house arrest.

"He went to Abu Dhabi the day before President Macron's visit (on Wednesday) so we think he's free to move around," Le Drian said.

Conflict warnings

Nasrallah, whose party is the only organisation that did not disarm after the 1975-1990 civil war and now has an arsenal that outstrips Lebanon's own armed forces, accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to incite conflict.

"The most dangerous thing is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon," he said. "I'm talking about information that Saudi Arabia has asked Israel to strike Lebanon."

Nasrallah, whose movement Hariri has repeatedly said should lay down its arms, also warned that his movement, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, was stronger than ever.

"We are stronger today, we warn them again misguided calculations, against any knee-jerk initiative," he said, adding however that his party saw any Israeli attack as being unlikely at this stage.

The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, also said: "It is essential that no new conflict erupt in the region."

"We are indeed very worried and we hope that we won't see an escalation in the region that would have tragic consequences," he said.

Lebanon's interior ministry said in a statement Friday that a Saudi national had been kidnapped in Lebanon in circumstances that remained unclear.

Saudi Arabia had urged all its citizens in Lebanon this week to leave the country but Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said that the kidnapping was "in no way related" to the Hariri crisis or politics.
In the letter, the National Counter Terrorism Authority said the foreign spy agency had paid Rs 80 million to two activists of a banned outfit for the assassination of Saeed. (Photo: File)

Lahore: Pakistani authorities have written to the Punjab home department asking it to take stringent measures for the security of detained Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, claiming a foreign intelligence agency had planned to kill him.

In the letter, the National Counter Terrorism Authority said the foreign spy agency had paid Rs 80 million to two activists of a banned outfit for the assassination of Saeed.

It asked the Punjab home department to ensure foolproof security for the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief.

Saeed has been under house arrest in Lahore since January 30 under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

The home department last month had extended his detention for another 30 days (till November 26) under public safety law.

The departments notification had said, There is apprehension that Saeed shall create a law and order situation upon release.

The JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
Islamabad: Former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf has announced a new 23-political parties alliance. Mr Musharraf has invited the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) as well as Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) to join the alliance. Addressing to a meeting of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), Mr Musharraf said all political parties representing the Muhajir (settlers) community should be united. I invite MQM and PSP in the new political alliance that we are making, he stated.

The APML chief said the MQM was an infamous name now and brings bad reputation to Muhajirs. He suggested that the Muhajir community should leave everything and first be Pakistanis. About the nature of alliance, he said that all the political parties will contest together with one name. He called the grand alliance as Pakistan Awami Itehad (PAI), announcing that its main office will be established in Islamabad.

It is headed by Mr Musharraf himself while Iqbal Dar is the secretary general. He refuted the reports saying he will replace Farooq Sattar as MQM chief. Mr Musharraf claimed that several leaders in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) were ready to part ways with the party and a new political force will emerge soon.

He also invited Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) in the alliance. Chaudhry Pervez Elahi supported me and had performed well in Punjab, he added. Mr Musharraf announced that he will soon return to Pakistan and face the cases against him. Things have changed now. Sharifs political future is zero, he added.
Trade ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed today to press ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy.



Trump pulled his country from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreement heralded for tying lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections.

In a joint statement this morning, the remaining countries -- dubbed the TPP-11 -- said they had "agreed on the core elements" of a deal at the sidelines of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, after days of stalled talks raised fears it could collapse altogether.

Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's trade minister, described the breakthrough in a tweet as "big progress".

Canada had held out to maintain environmental and labour protections linked to freer markets in the deal.

Those elements were thrown into jeopardy by America's sudden withdrawal from the deal earlier this year, which forced the remaining countries to reconsider the merits of a pact suddenly shorn of access to the world's largest economy.

Canada had dug in over those progressive clauses. But they are much less attractive to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Chile and Peru now that the carrot of access to the huge US market has been pulled.

Trump's election has upended years of American-led moves to open up global trade.

The US president is among leaders attending the APEC summit in Danang and yesterday he ladled out more of his trademark 'America First' rhetoric.

In a strident address, he said his country will "no longer tolerate" unfair trade, closed markets and intellectual property theft.

"We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more," he added, taking a swipe at multilateral trade deals.

Shortly after, China's leader Xi Jinping offered a starkly different vision, casting his country as the new global leader in free trade.

Beijing is not included in the TPP, a deal initially driven through by the former US administration as a counterweight to surging Chinese power in Asia.

China has since sought to fill the free trade gap left by the United States, even if much of its own market remains protected.

Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been particularly active in pushing for a swift consensus on TPP, fearful that delays could lead to the collapse of the pact after years of negotiations and hand more regional influence to China.

Today, Trump and Xi will join leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region for closed-door summit talks, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, Japan's Shinzo Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

The original TPP deal was once described by the US as a "gold standard" for all free trade agreements because it went far beyond just cutting tariffs.

It included removing a slew of non-tariff restrictions and required members to comply with a high level of regulatory standards in areas like labour law, environmental protection, intellectual property and government procurement.

Without the US, TPP-11 only represents 13.5 percent of the global economy but the remaining countries are scrambling to avoid the deal's collapse, especially given the increasingly protectionist winds sweeping through the United States and Europe.
The state BJP faced a major embarrassment on Friday as flexes and banners of its Bommanahalli MLA M Satish Reddy greeting people on the occasion of Tipu Sultan Jayanti were put up in many thoroughfares of Bommanahalli in Southeast Bengaluru.



Besides, party's Vijayanagar MLA Anand Singh took part in Tipu Jayanti celebrations organised by the state government at Hosapete in Ballari district.

The saffron party leaders had been opposing the government's decision to organise Tipu Jayanti, saying that he was "a tyrant and anti-Hindu" ruler. Many of the party leaders, including Union Minister of State for Skill Development Anantkumar Hegde and Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, had asked the government not to mention their names in the official invitation for Tipu Jayanti.

When contacted, Satish Reddy denied that he had put up the flexes. "Some unknown persons had put up the flexes in my name in the constituency. I have asked my supporters to immediately remove them. I am against Tipu Jayanti celebrations, and I will stick to my party's stand in this regard," he added.

He also said that the BJP is not against Muslims. Many of my supporters are Muslims. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is celebrating the Jayanti in order to woo the Muslim voters ahead of the Assembly election, the BJP lawmaker charged.

In Hosapete, Anand Singh inaugurated the Tipu Jayanti event organised by the state government.

"There has been a controversy over celebrating Tipu Jayanti, and BJP, the party I represent, is against Tipu Jayanti. But, for me the people of my constituency matter the most," Singh, a former minister, said.

He said that no political party should divide society on communal lines. "Humanity is greater than all religions," he remarked.

Meanwhile, in Ballari city, Tipu Jayanti was celebrated in front of the district BJP office. Bellary MP B Sriramulu's close aide and corporator Govindarajulu, BJP leader Sameer Sait and others took part in the event along with local Muslim leaders.
A Muslim girl-trafficking racket taking place in the guise of marriage to rich Gulf nationals was busted by the city police on Friday. Nine persons were arrested in two separate incidents.



Parading the accused before the media, V Satyanarayana Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Zone) said Mohamed Mahmood Abdul Rehman Mahmood, his brother Yousuf Mahmood Abdul Rahman Mahmood Khairi (Bahrain nationals), Askar Ali Rafai, a qazi and lodge owner Barkathullah Sharif were taken into custody.

The Bhavani Nagar police received a complaint from one Kulsum Begum on October 30 that she got her second daughter Sameena Begum (29) married to Rehman Mahmood (50) in May. The marriage was performed by Qazi Rafai at King Koti. After the marriage, the girl was taken to Bahrain as a maid servant and subjected to sexual abused by the Bahrain brothers. She was later sent back to India.

A few days ago, the Bahrain brothers returned and were planning to marry a minor girl from Talabkatta area with the help of the same qazi. The police which kept a strict vigil came to know that the qazi was planning to perform the marriage at Tolichowki on Friday. They also knew that the Bahrain brothers were sheltered by hotel Safa Tower owner Barkathulla Sharif. On a tip off, the police raided the lodge and arrested the Bahrain nationals and rescued the girl. A case has been filed under Section 370 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code against the accused.

In another case, police arrested five brokers, including two women, for their involvement in trafficking of a 14-year-old girl three years ago. Salma Begum lodged a complaint with the Falaknuma police on November 9 that she got her minor daughter married to an Arab Sheikh Sagharoun Salim Abdallah (64) from Oman in October 2014, under the influence of brokers Bipasha Bee, Rahseeda Bee and Shaheen, besides two other agents a Naser Bin Mahmood and Father Bin Mahmood. The Omani paid Rs 1 lakh to the agents who swindled Rs 40,000 and gave the remaining amount to the girl's family. The agents also manipulated documents to show that the girl was a major and arranged a passport for her.

After spending 10 days with the girl, the Omani national went back to his country and then sent her a visa. The girl was subject to sexual harassment and physical torture. In March this year, she returned to India. However, the Omani national started threatening her over phone and the girl ultimately returned to him in July. She was abused again and police said they took action after the girl's mother lodged a complaint.
Taking a strict note of the Mumbai Police's failure to find a minor girl who was reported missing from the city five years ago, the Bombay High Court said that if the police department does not straighten its act soon, it will not hesitate in initiating punitive action against it.



A bench of justices S C Dharamadhikari and Bharati Dangre recently dismissed the police's submission that it made all possible efforts to trace the girl and finally concluded that it was "impossible" to find her.

The bench questioned why the police failed to make inquiries at "construction sites, domestic help agencies, fishing trawlers, illegal distilleries, automobile garages, etc," for those were often the places where most children who are kidnapped or lost invariably end up at."

"The police machinery folds its hands and says it is impossible to trace the child. They say we have done everything that is permissible and possible at our end. The report filed does not indicate that all out efforts are made," the bench observed.

"No construction sites, illegal distilleries, garages have been raided. We as citizens find cars being washed, houses and utensils being cleaned, babies being looked after, all by children employed as helpers or domestic workers all around us.

"We do not see how police machinery does not notice all this. Several of these children could be the subjects of the missing complaints lodged with the police," the bench said.

The bench also dismissed the police's submission that its success rate of tracing missing children had improved from "66 percent to 89 percent since June this year," saying that as long as there existed cases like the present, any statistical achievement was of no use.

The police filed a report in high court stating that the success rate in investigating cases of missing persons in the entire Konkan region has improved. The report stated that while until June, such rate was only 66 percent, between June and September this year, "positive progress was made in the probe of 115 of the 129 cases of missing persons."

The court, however, said it wanted to know how many more such cases will it have to intervene in before the police take more earnest steps.

While it granted the police time till November 30 as the last chance to trace the girl, it said it was "up to the police now to take the matter in the right earnest," else, the court will be constrained to pass strictures.

"We will also not hesitate to direct the home ministry or the director general of police to transfer or remove such officials who are irresponsible, and whose inability in investigating such cases tarnishes the image of the entire police machinery. We will not hesitate to take action ourselves in such cases," the bench said.

The court was hearing a plea filed by the mother of the missing girl. As per the plea, the girl was eight-year-old when she had gone missing in 2012.

The police initially suspected that she was kidnapped by neighbours following a tiff, but it failed to make any progress in its probe since then.
Russian lawmakers raced on Friday to draft measures requiring US media outlets to register as foreign agents, saying they could be adopted as early as next week. The move comes after US Department of Justice asked 'Russia Today' and other Russian media organisations to register as "foreign agent".



American social networks might also be affected because US news organisations would have to post a "foreign agent" tag on their social media pages, said Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

The measures, which are being prepared ahead of Russia's presidential election in March, would be a huge blow to already tattered US-Russia ties.

State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin charged deputies with updating existing legislation after state-controlled Russia Today (RT) television was ordered by Washington to register as a "foreign agent" by Monday.

Volodin told Russian reporters the new measures, which are likely to affect dozens of US news organisations operating in Russia including CNN and Voice of America, could be adopted at first reading on Wednesday and at a third and final reading next Friday.

The United States has been fighting what it calls a barrage of "fake news" from Russian media, including RT and the Sputnik news agency, which it says is aimed at interfering in US domestic politics.

"What the US authorities are doing today is an infringement on fundamental civil rights, on freedom of speech," Volodin said.

"The United States speaks beautifully about the freedom of speech when it comes to other countries but acts dogmatically itself."

Tolstoy called for the mobilisation of all of the country's political forces, saying it was "an emergency situation".

Lawmakers said the measures targeting US media would be "reciprocal" and would set the same limitations that US authorities were seeking to impose on Russian media.

"This is not only financial documentation which entails dozens of questions," Volodin said, referring to requirements faced by "foreign agents" in the US. It is "the disclosure of all information," he added

In a Facebook post, Tolstoy suggested that social networks would not have to register as foreign agents.

"This does not mean someone is impinging on Facebook, Twitter etc," he wrote.

Russian telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor, for its part, proposed blocking the websites of foreign media groups and non-governmental organisations, without any need of a court order.

Roskomnadzor has repeatedly threatened to block Facebook and Twitter if they do not comply with a government demand to store the personal data of Russian nationals on Russia-based servers.

In 2012, Moscow adopted a law which requires NGOs that receive funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents", a move critics said was part of a clampdown on civil society. Lawmakers said the existing law would be amended to include media groups.

The head of Russia Today, Margarita Simonyan, said on national television on Thursday that the broadcaster was "suddenly" told by Washington that it had until Monday to register as a "foreign agent" or face having its accounts frozen, among other measures.

She said RT would file a legal challenge against the demand by the US Department of Justice, which could require it to identify itself as a "foreign agent".

Registering would also hinder the channel's work in the United States because it would have to publicise internal documents including their employees' addresses and salaries.

"It will very much complicate the possibility of interviewing people because we will have to report this too," she said. "There are a huge number of limitations."

She also said the demands contradicted both democracy and freedom of speech.

"It deprives us of fair competition with other international channels, which are not registered as foreign agents," she was quoted as saying by RT.

Simonyan also denounced the US move in a caustic tweet.

"The US Department of Justice wheeled out a cannibalistic Monday deadline," she tweeted. "Can you feel the smell of freedom?"

Washington, which considers RT a propaganda arm for the Kremlin, told it in September to register its American operation under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which is aimed at lobbyists and lawyers representing foreign political interests.

Last month Simonyan complained to President Vladimir Putin that RT and Sputnik had come under pressure in the United States.

"As soon as we see concrete steps limiting the activities of our media, there will be a retaliatory response," Putin said at the time.
Armed with a picture of your pet pooch, barista Chang Kuei-fang only needs 10 minutes to reproduce the image in a frothy 3-D work of coffee art.



Chang uses brushes and colouring made of espresso, chocolate or fruit jam to illustrate the figures she creates from steamed milk spooned on top of espresso shots.

Crafting a 3-D image from milk foam was the biggest challenge for Chang, who works at the "My Cofi" cafe in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung.

"The hard thing is to control the milk froth," she told Reuters Television.

"So I came up with a way to express their charm," she added, referring to customers' pets. "I stack up milk froth to create a feeling of layers."

Depending on the degree of difficulty and ingredients, one carefully-sculpted cup of foamy art can cost up to 700 Taiwanese dollars ($23).

Chang first ventured into latte art after starting as a coffee street vendor in 2003. She opened the cafe in 2011.

Customers are willing to let the pricey coffee go cold while they snap pictures of the fleeting artwork.

"We have been taking pictures for one hour now, but are still reluctant to start drinking," said Amy Li, who was meeting high school friends on a trip from Taipei.

Chang also draws portraits of customers and cartoon characters.

"It is very cute and also makes us look younger. Makes us look more beautiful", said Hsu Lin-yun, one of the customers.
The Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) has welcomed the decision of the Pakistan government "to arrange a meeting of commander Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife, in Pakistan, purely on humanitarian grounds."

It is a step in the right direction and it will send a positive message, said Jatin Desai, PIPFPB India general secretary.

"At the same time, we request Pakistan government to allow parents of young innocent Hamid Ansari to meet him. They are trying desperately to meet him for a long time," a statement issued by the body said.

"We also believe that both the countries must allow relatives of all arrested persons including fishermen to meet them. Ideally, both the countries should release all the fishermen, women from their custody. India-Pakistan Judicial Committee on Prisoners had also unanimously recommended this step," he added.
When one talks about the jewellery of Nepal, traditional pote jewellery first comes to mind. They serve as a symbol of marriage in Nepalese society. In fact, it's quite common to come across pote jewellery here. Comprising miniature and colourful glass beads, they are believed to bring good luck to the womenfolk of the land.



Pote necklaces are worn by married ladies belonging to the Brahmin, Kshatriya and other Hindu communities of Nepal. When a woman loses her husband, she stops wearing them.

Around eight years back, when I was zipping around Kathmandu, I come across pote jewellery on my visit to Bhaktapur, where one can get pote of unusual designs. There are necklaces crafted out of Tibetan coins, which impart a touch of elegance to the wearer.

One can also try the tribal Nepalese coral pote that comes with a Tibetan coin at the back of the coral. The multi-stranded glass beads are priced higher than the single-stranded glass beads. Coin necklaces are common in western Nepal and are well-known as rupiya mala, having either Indian, Chinese or Tibetan coins. Pote jewellery is used for dolling up Nepalese brides. If one is travelling to Pokhra, then Pote jewellery should be on your bucket list as their prices are comparatively cheaper than in Kathmandu.

Pote jewellery with stone pendants in royal blue or green is popular. But it's Kathmandu, which is more of a tourists' paradise, that acts as a ramp for those sporting pote.
A 17-year-old girl who wanted to continue her studies and become a doctor has escaped from a forced-marriage with a 35-year-old divorcee with the help of an NGO.



The girl, a resident of Karmanghat, ran away fearing for her life from parents who pressured her to marry the man twice her age. The girl is currently under the care and protection of a child helpline.

The groom, Raghavender is a divorcee from Karmanghat under Meerpet police station limits. The girl approached a child rights group Balala Hakkula Sangham requesting to save her from the marriage.

Balala Hakkula Sangham honourary president Achyuta Rao said the case has been taken to the notice of the district child welfare committee which has to take a decision on the girl's future. Rao said incidence of child marriages is on the rise in Telangana particularly in Hyderabad. The organisation had prevented at least three dozens of such child engagements from being solemnised, he added.

In another such incident, Dornakal police have slapped Nirbhaya case against Banoth Ravi for kidnapping and marrying a minor girl from the local SC/ST colony at the Vemulawada temple on November 8. The police arrested the man and the girl has been returned to her parents.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's son Shaurya Doval said on Saturday that news portal The Wire should substantiate its charges that India Foundation, of which he is a director, was involved in a case of conflict either in a court of law or before the people. He was talking to a private news channel.



Opening up on the controversy for the first time, Shaurya said, "The accusations about our foundation... in political debates people can say anything what they want. That's democracy, but the evidence of that gets proved in the court. All those who make accusations must logically pursue them in the court of law and substantiate it or if that's not the way... that if you are fighting a perception battle, then take it out to the people and prove to the people the perception."

The Wire had reported that India Foundation, which has four senior Union ministers on its board as directors, was using its proximity with the government for lobbying.

To a query whether the opposition is justified in raising conflict of interest issues in the case of Amit Shah's son Jay or in his case, since the BJP had similarly raked up Robert Vadra issue, Shaurya argued that the BJP has taken Jay's case to the court.

"The BJP took the matters - even in the case of Jay Shah - it took it to the court of law. It said okay we filed a defamation (suit), let's argue it in the court of law, let's not fight only a perception battle, but also fight it in the court of law. So as far as the BJP is concerned, it has no problem in going to take all these cases of corruption and the opposition rightly should. If they believe that the BJP is corrupt, they should take it to the court of law, the courts are there for this matter," he said.

On being asked whether he will take the legal recourse to sort out the matter, he evaded a direct reply. "(The) point that I am trying to make is that whatever we do in the court of law is one way of proving it and those who are convicted must bear the punishment under the law," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a "balanced outcome" of the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, when he and 15 other Asia-Pacific leaders meet in Manila on Tuesday.



The leaders of India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand will meet their 10 South East Asian counterparts in the capital of Philippines on Tuesday to add momentum to the negotiations for the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. This is going to be the first meeting at the level of the Heads of the States and Governments after the RCEP negotiations was launched five years ago.

"India remains a very committed participant to the RCEP negotiations. We look forward to a balanced outcome that undertakes and takes care of all pillars, including goods, services and investments," Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs, told journalists in New Delhi ahead of the prime minister's visit to the Philippines.

Modi will leave for Manila on Sunday to attend the 15th Asean-Indian Summit, which will be hosted by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on the sideline of the 31st summit of the Asean (Association for South-East Asian Nations). He will also attend the 12th East Asia Summit and the meeting of the RCEP leaders during his stay in Manila.

The prime minister is likely to stress that RCEP negotiations should lead to an "equitable, inclusive and balanced" trade agreement, which will do "equal justice to manufacturing, services and investment sectors", a senior official said in New Delhi.

The RCEP is a proposed agreement between the Asean nations a Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines a and the six other countries, which already have separate trade deals with the 10-member South East Asian bloc.

India has been resisting pressure from China and the other RCEP nations to bring down or eliminate the tariff on 90% of the traded items.

New Delhi is ready to give higher tariff concession to 10 South-East Asian nations as it already has free trade agreements in both goods and services with Asean. India, however, is reluctant to open up its market so much for China in view of the growing deficit in its bilateral trade with the communist country. New Delhi is also cautious about committing higher tariff concession for Australia and New Zealand.

India is also concerned over the reluctance of other countries to make commitments for substantially opening up the services sector under the proposed RECP agreement.

"I am sure when the leaders at the level of Heads of State and Governments will meet, we will get further direction on how to move (the negotiations on the) RCEP forward," said Saran.

If signed, the RCEP would cover 16 Asia-Pacific nations with a total population of 3.4 billion people and a total Gross Domestic Product of $49.5 trillion. The proposed deal seeks to bring together the economies that account for 39% of the world's GDP.

The negotiation for the RCEP was launched in November 2012, as a potential counterweight to the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership, which was initiated by the US, but excluded China and India. The negotiation for the TPP, however, suffered a setback earlier this year after the US withdrew from it soon after the change of guard in Washington.

A meeting of the trade ministers of RCEP nations in Manila in September failed to narrow down differences, not only on bringing down tariffs on traded items, but also on issues related to data protection and Intellectual Property Rights regime. Though the negotiators are unlikely to meet the previously set target of finalising the agreement by the end of the year, the meeting of the Heads of the State and Heads of the Nation in Manila is expected to add momentum to the talks on the proposed trade deal.
US president Donald Trump today said Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin told him that "he didn't meddle" in US elections that propelled the billionaire former reality star to the White House.



Trump's relationship with Moscow has stalked the first year of his presidency, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin.

Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges including conspiracy to launder money, linked to the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations that the campaign colluded with Russia.

The US leader had "two or three" brief conversations with Putin on the margins of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on the way to a state visit in Hanoi.

"He (Putin) said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again," he said.

"You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election."

Trump explained that Putin reiterates his denial "every time" the pair meet, adding his counterpart seems "very insulted" by the persistent allegations.

But he would not be drawn on whether he believes the Russian strongman.

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook have said paid for and free content with Russian links carrying divisive election-related messages spun across their platforms ahead of the crunch poll.
Tipu Jayanti Virodhi Samithi president Abhimanyu Kumar has accused the police of committing atrocity on him during the protest against Tipu Jayanti organised by the taluk administration at Somwarpet.



Briefing media persons here on Saturday, he said, "The police manhandled me. We were protesting against Tipu Jayanti in a peaceful manner."

He thanked the business establishments and private bus and auto owners for responding to the call on voluntary bandh during Tipu Jayanti celebration. The bandh was successful in the district, he added.
Cauvery Raita Hitarakshana Samiti president and former MP G Madegowda, took Mandya MLA M H Ambareesh to task and asked him to concentrate more on the constituency.



Ambareesh met Madegowda at Congress party worker Amaravathi Chandrashekar's house on the outskirts of the city, after attending the inaugural ceremony of Panchamuki temple at Hosabudanur village in the taluk on Friday.

It is said that the MLA visited the constituency after he learnt that Congress party would field actor-turned politician Ramya in the upcoming Assembly election from Mandya constituency.

According to party workers, Madegowda said that the people have lost hopes on him (Ambareesh) as he was away from the constituency for a long time. "But, now you are seeking support, as the elections are nearing." However, Madegowda has assured to support the candidate fielded by the Congress party."

When contacted, Madegowda said, he had not visited Ambareesh, when he was suffering from health issues and thus, he met him now. "I asked him to concentrate more on the constituency," he said.
Ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed on Saturday to press ahead with a major trade deal without the US, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's "America First" policy.



Trump pulled his country from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreement heralded for tying lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections.

He has been something of a lone protectionist voice at the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang where world leaders, including China's Xi Jinping, have been keen to promote the virtues of free trade and multilateral deals.

In a joint statement on Saturday morning, the remaining countries - dubbed the TPP-11 - said they had "agreed on the core elements" of a deal at the sidelines of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, after days of stalled talks raised fears it could collapse altogether.

The ministers said further talks would be needed to reach a full consensus before inking the deal, which now carries an even longer official name - the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Japan's lead negotiator Toshimitsu Motegi said the remaining members would still welcome the US back into their pact.

"This time all the 11 countries are on board and this would send out a very strong positive message to the United States and other Asia Pacific countries in the region," he said.

Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's trade minister, described the breakthrough in a tweet as "big progress".

Canada had held out to maintain environmental and labour protections linked to freer markets in the deal.

Those elements were thrown into jeopardy by America's sudden withdrawal from the deal earlier this year.

Canada had dug in over those progressive clauses. But they are much less attractive to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Chile and Peru now that the carrot of access to the huge US market has been pulled.

The Trump upset

Trump's election has upended years of American-led moves to open up global trade.

The US president is among leaders attending the APEC summit in Danang and on Friday he ladled out more of his trademark "America First" rhetoric.

In a strident address, he said his country will "no longer tolerate" unfair trade, closed markets and intellectual property theft.

"We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more," he added, taking a swipe at multilateral trade deals.

Shortly after, China's Xi offered a starkly different vision, casting his country as the new global leader for free trade.

Beijing is not included in the TPP, a deal initially driven through by the former US administration as a counterweight to surging Chinese power in Asia.

China has since sought to fill the free trade gap left by the US, even if much of its own market remains protected.

Japan, the world's third largest economy, has been particularly active in pushing for a swift consensus on TPP, fearful that delays could lead to the collapse of the pact after years of negotiations and hand more regional influence to China.
More women have exercised their franchise than men in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls; The state recorded its highest turnout at 74.61%, according to official figures.



As many as 19,10,582 female voters exercised their franchise against 18,11,061 male voters in the hill state, where the BJP seeks to dislodge the ruling Congress on the issue of corruption while deflecting attacks on demonetisation and the GST.

The number of male voters in the electoral roll was about 74,200 more than female voters.

In 48 out of 68 Assembly constituencies, the polling percentage of women was higher than men, whereas in only 15 seats the number of female voters was more than men.

In the biggest district, Kangra , 4,61,278 women cast their votes against 3,96,208 men, outnumbering them in all 15 Assembly seats.

Similarly, in Mandi district, the number of votes polled by women was 2,96,898 against 2,71,725 by men.

Women voters outnumbered men in all the 14 constituencies in Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur districts, polling 4,22,503 votes against 3,64,285 by men.

A whopping 74.61% of the electorate voted in the November 9 election, as compared to 73.51% in 2012, 71.61% in 2007-08 and 74.51% in 2003.

Doon and Nalagarh constituencies in Solan district recorded the highest polling percentage of 88.95% and 84.27%, followed by Shillai 84.18%, Seraj 83.20%, Nahan 82.48% and Sri Nainadevi 82.04%.

The other four constituencies which recorded more than 80% polling are Paonta (80.43%), Banjar (80.37%), Jubbal and Kotkhai (80.24%) and Balh (80.13%).

The most literate constituency Shimla (Urban) recorded the lowest polling percentage of 63.76%, followed by Jaisinghpur 63.91%, Baijnath 65.64%, Bhoranj 65.84%, Solan 66.65 %, Kusumpti 66.97 %, Sarkaghat 67.99 % and Hamirpur 69.11 %.

Poll results will be announced on December 18.
District In-Charge Minister Ramanath Rai has said that 49,618 beneficiaries will get free LPG connections under Mukhyamanthri Anila Bhagya Yojana in Dakshina Kannada.



Chairing a meeting here, he said that 49,618 households in the district do not have LPG connections. These beneficiaries are in the limits of 320 fair price shops of eight Assembly constituencies in the district. In the first phase, LPG connections will be given to 15,888 beneficiaries.

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader said that a committee led by an MLA will select the beneficiaries in each Assembly constituency. The officials will confirm whether the selected beneficiaries have LPG connections based on Aadhaar number. The gas stove under the scheme would be free. The government will spend a sum of Rs 4,040 for the LPG connections including Rs 1,450 for security deposit, Rs 150 for regulator and Rs 1,000 for two refill LPG cylinders.

He directed officials from the Food and Civil Supplies department to prepare a list of beneficiaries within a week.

'NHAI must maintain highway'

Minister Ramanath Rai expressed displeasure at the lack of maintenance of national highway by the NHAI. In a separate meeting, he said that vehicle users are facing inconvenience due to lack of maintenance of the road.

The work on B C Road-Surathkal stretch of highway is also incomplete, he said.

Minister Khader said that the works on the highway at Thokkottu Junction are being conducted at snail's pace and many people have also lost their lives in mishaps at Thokkottu.

MLA B A Mohiuddin Bava said that the potholes on Bykampady-Kulooru stretch have not been filled up. The work on Mukka Junction bus stand and Gurpura bridge should be taken up on a priority basis, he said.

Deputy Commissioner Sasikumar Senthil said that any issues related to the road work should be brought to the notice of the district administration.

NHAI officials said that the flyover at Thokkottu would be completed by March.
Tulshidas Pawar, a childhood friend of Kulbhushan Jadhav, on Saturday expressed happiness over Pakistan's decision to allow the convicted Indian and a death row prisoner to meet his wife Chetna in prison.



"We are happy. Our expectations have risen with this decision," Pawar told PTI.

"We, the friends and family members (of Jadhav), are happy about this decision. We take it as a positive step and believe that he is not being harmed," he added.

Pakistan should release Jadhav and hand him over to India at the earliest, Pawar said, adding, "After his wife meets him, we will get a fair idea about his physical and mental condition."

"From the beginning, we have been saying that Kulbhushan is not involved in the kind of activities for which he has been convicted," he added.

Pawar and Jadhav have been friends since childhood at Prithvi Nandan Society in central Mumbai's Lower Parel area, where the former Navy officer grew up.

Pawar and some other friends of Jadhav had undertaken a signature campaign in a bid to put pressure on Pakistan to secure his release.

The Pakistani authorities had on Friday said they would allow Jadhav to meet his wife, months after India's request to Islamabad to grant a visa to the former Navy officer's mother, Avantika, on humanitarian grounds.

"The Government of Pakistan has decided to arrange a meeting of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife, in Pakistan, purely on humanitarian grounds," Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had said in a statement.

"A Note Verbale to this effect has been sent to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, today (Friday)," he had added.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) had, in May, halted his execution on India's appeal.

On June 22, Jadhav had filed a mercy petition before Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from the Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered that country from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was abducted in Iran, where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
The Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya University, will organise the fifth conference of International Association of Education in Ethics from November 15 to 17. The theme of the conference is "Curricular Innovations in Ethics Education."



Briefing media persons here, centre director Dr Vina Vaswani said that ethics is a branch of moral philosophy that discusses the distinction between right and wrong, good and bad, virtue and vice, which is an essential component of the healthcare practice. Delegates from more than 10 countries, including USA, Ireland, Turkey, Italy, Philippines, Indonesia, Republic of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania and Australia, are taking part in the conference.

Along with the main conference, the centre is also organising two pre-conference workshops. On November 13, there will a pre-conference workshop for international and Indian students on ethics. A poster and debate competition will also be organised on the occasion. An open lecture on challenges to school education in the 21st century will be conducted by writer Kavitha Bhupta Ghosh. An international nursing colloquium focusing on the role of nurses in ensuring ethically enhanced health care practices will be held on November 14, she added.

The conference of ethics educators will be inaugurated by former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde. International Association of Education in Ethics president Dr Bert Gordijn will be the guest of honour.
North Korea lashed out on Saturday at Donald Trump's "warmonger's" tour of Asia as the US president landed in Hanoi on the latest leg of a five-nation regional visit to drum up support against Pyongyang's nuclear weapons build-up.



The outburst came as Trump nears the tail end of his sweep through Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines that has seen him rail against North Korea's nuclear ambitions and deliver his "America First" vision of global trade.

Trump has urged the region to take a united front against the threat posed by isolated North Korea, which has sparked global alarm with its nuclear and missile tests in recent months.

On Friday, he warned world leaders gathered in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang that the Asia-Pacific region "must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies".

Pyongyang issued its own retort on Saturday branding Trump's Asia tour a "warmonger's visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK (North Korea) of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence", in the first comments on the trip by a North Korean official.

It said Trump's warnings "can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance", according to the state-run KCNA news agency, quoting a Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman.

Tensions over North Korea's weapons programme have surged in recent months, as Pyongyang carried out a sixth nuclear test - by far its largest to date - and test-fired dozens of missiles, some capable of reaching the US mainland.

In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned Pyongyang not to underestimate the US, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.

Trump has also prodded Chinese President Xi Jinping to pile pressure on North Korea.

"I'd like to have him ratchet it up, and I think he's doing that," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Hanoi Saturday.

Though China has backed UN sanctions, Washington would like to see Beijing clamp down on unauthorised trade along the North Korean border.
Speed thrills the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as far as speedy completion of road projects is concerned.



To overcome the malaise of project delays, the Ministry plans to rate developers, mainly highway builders, so that their credentials could be checked before awarding infrastructure projects.

Poised to embark on its mega road building programme, Bharatmala, the Ministry will engage Quality Council of India (QCI), a government agency, to rate road developers The Bharatmala project aims to develop 83,677 km of roads with an investment of Rs 6.92 lakh crore by 2022.

The ranking will be based mainly on speed of execution after clearing the mandatory hurdles such as land acquisition and green nod. If projects have been implemented on schedule, such developers' ranking will be high, said an official in the Ministry.

In public domain

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who approved the proposal, said the ranking may even be put in the public domain.

Since the NDA government was keen on implementing the Bharatmala project in a time-bound manner, the rating mechanism would ensure the developers gear up to deliver, said the official.

Ranking will also help the government agencies, both state and central, to assess the capacity of a firm before awarding a project.

Since the QCI had done cleanliness ranking of cities and railway stations, the government decided to hire this agency to ensure that the rating process is independent and transparent, said the official.

Initially, the government will rate only highway developers. Subsequently, developers engaged in constructing government buildings, irrigation and other such projects would be included, said the official.

On many occasions, companies bag the projects but fail to deliver for various reasons. Rating will enable government agencies to evaluate companies before awarding contracts, said the official.

Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had announced scrapping of 20 highway projects for delay in completion. However, Minister Gadkari asked the NHAI to put the decision on hold till each project is assessed with due diligence.
Kumaraswamy Layout police have arrested a 30-year-old custodian of a cash management firm on charges of stealing over Rs 1 crore from ATM where he was depositing cash over the last five years hoodwinking security checks and audits.



Accused Shiva Kumar, a resident of JP Nagar, had joined the firm in March 2013 and worked until October 2017 before it came to the knowledge of the firm that Rs. 42 lakh went missing.

The firm suspected Kumar's role and lodged a complaint with KS Layout police who arrested Kumar on Friday. During interrogation, Kumar not only revealed that he had stolen Rs. 1 crore in the past few years, but also confessed how he had stolen cash and manipulated records.

According to police, Kumar being the custodian would visit the ATM and deposit 80% of the cash and would pocket the remaining amount. He would then manipulate records by mentioning the total amount deposited was the full.

Kumar also confessed that being a custodian and in-charge of cash deposits, he knew the password and had the keys using which he would withdraw the cash whenever he wanted. Though the firm knew there were discrepancies in cash transactions during annual audits, they did not presume the quantum would be this big.

Moreover, they also had CCTV at every ATM, but did not suspect him at all, a senior police officer said.

Kumar would lend the stolen money to his friends and relatives and recover it in small amounts for expenses whenever he required, the police said. Based on his confessions, the police recovered Rs. 91 lakh from his relatives and friends while the remaining amount Kumar said that he had spent it.

We are probing further to ascertain the involvement of others, a senior police officer said.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav's reported plans to get a statue of Lord Krishna installed at his ancestral village of Saifai, has sent alarm bells ringing in the BJP.



Akhilesh plans to unveil the statue at a grand function in the presence of Opposition leaders ahead of the next Lok Sabha election in 2019

A cautious state BJP leadership chose not to react to the plans beyond saying that Akhilesh was ''only following'' the saffron party, which too had plans for construction of a temple of Lord Rama on the banks of the holy Saryu river in Ayodhya.

''It is good that Akhilesh has decided to follow us,'' said a senior UP BJP leader while speaking to DH here.

According to the reports, the 51-feet high Lord Krishna statue, weighing around 60 tonnes, was currently being constructed inside a school at Saifai in UP's Etawah district, about 300 km from here.

Reports said that the statue depicts Lord Krishna standing with the wheel of a chariot in his hand.

Local SP leaders said that the statue, funded by the Saifai Mahotsav Committee, was almost complete and would be ready for unveiling in the next few months.

SP sources said that Akhilesh would unveil the statue sometime next year at a grand function in which leaders of several Opposition parties would take part.

BJP in quandary

Though Akhilesh denied any ''political motive'' behind the statue plan, SP leaders here said that the party desperately wanted to get rid of the ''anti-Hindu'' and ''pro-Muslim'' tag.

''Akhilesh will make every effort to bring the non-Yadav OBCs to his fold in the next Lok Sabha polls....he wants to send a message that he is not against the Hindus,'' said a senior SP leader here.

The move, however, has put the BJP in a quandary as the saffron party would not like to attack Akhilesh on this issue fearing a backlash in the Hindu community.
A day after asserting his authority, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Saturday assigned a PIL seeking inquiry into a medical colleges scam allegedly, involving members of the top judiciary, to a three-judge bench.



A bench of Justices R K Agrawal, Arun Mishra and A M Khanwilkar would hear the writ petition filed by advocate Kamini Jaiswal on Monday at 3.30 pm, according to the apex court's website.

The development comes a day after the CJI-led five-judge bench annulled a two-judge bench order to put the petition before the Constitution bench.

The CJI-led five judges included Justices Agrawal, Mishra and Khanwilkar and Amitava Roy. The new bench formed to hear Jaiswal's petition, also consists of Justices Agrawal, Mishra and Khanwilkar.

The five-judge bench, set up in quick turn of events on Friday on an identical PIL by NGO Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, had declared that only the CJI has the authority to assign a particular case to a bench, in order to ensure, "smooth functioning of the court" and to avoid any "chaos in the justice administration dispensation system".

The Friday's order, that came in the proceedings marked with loud protests by advocates Prashant Bhushan and others, had a direct bearing on the petition moved by Jaiswal. The two- judge had noted that the allegations made in the CBI FIR, lodged on September 19, are "disturbing" and pertained to "functioning of this court".

The five-judge bench, however, had declared as "ineffective in law and not binding on the Chief Justice of India" the order by a bench of Justices Chelameswar and Nazeer for putting up Jaiswal's petition before a Constitution bench on a plea made by senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who had then claimed the CJI had disabled himself to consider the matter either on administrative or judicial side.

Meanwhile, a circular has been issued by the SC's registry on Friday, stating that any oral mentioning in respect of matter not listed or assigned to a particular bench would be made before the court, presided over by the CJI at 10.30 am. Earlier, when the CJI is presiding over a Constitution bench, oral mentioning for urgent listing was being made before court number two.

Earlier this month on November 6, another circular was issued stating that when the CJI is sitting in Constitution bench and a mentioning is made for urgent hearing on the same date, such matters should be put before the bench presided over by the CJI at 3 pm. This circular was brought into the notice of Justice Chelameswar led bench but it preferred to assign Jaiswal's petition to the Constitution bench.
Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has said if the odd-even policy is effective in bringing down alarming pollution levels in Delhi, it would be tried out in Bengaluru.



"Should it work, we will discuss implementing it in consultation with the transport department and the Chief Minister," Reddy told reporters on Saturday.

The Arvind Kejriwal government called-off plans to implement the odd-even policy as the Green Tribunal refused to exempt women, two-wheeled vehicles and government servants from the scheme.

Odd-even scheme alternatively lets odd-numbered and even-numbered vehicles to ply on odd and even dates.

Reddy, formerly in-charge of the transport ministry, felt the scheme is not going to work magic. "In 2013, Bengaluru had 53 lakh vehicles. In the last four years, the numbers have gone up by 12 lakhs. Pollution cannot be tackled without cutting down the vehicle density," he said.

Road-widening projects

The government is widening the arterial roads to decongest traffic, Reddy added. "Sarjapur Road, Hennur Main Road and Bannerghatta Road will be widened based on Transferable Development Rights (TDR) policy," he said.

The new policy grants twice the area of notional land for every square metre acquired, while also linking the additional built-up area to the guidance (market) value.

Reddy said successive Andhra Pradesh governments after N Chandrababu Naidu continued to widen the roads in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. "Many roads were widened here during the tenure of SM Krishna, but it did not continue," he said.

'Will nab Gauri killers'

Asked if journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder case would be solved before the 2018 Assembly elections likely in April or May, the Home Minister said the Special Investigation Team would crack the case in a matter of weeks.

"We know who is behind the murder and we have identified the shooters, but I am not at liberty to discuss the case," Reddy said.

On late evening September 5, bike-borne assailants shot dead Gauri before her Rajarajeshwari Nagar residence.

The SIT, headed by senior IPS officer BK Singh, released sketches of three suspects recently.
Eight helipads for as many BBMP zones in the city. Thats the grand plan of the Mayor, R Sampath Raj, to rescue all those patients trapped in ambulances stuck in the citys notorious traffic jams.

If he has his way, these pillar-top helipads on 40X60 sites will finally help air ambulances take off in the city. And yes, help ease VIP movements.

Heres the mayors rationale, explained to DH: Every day, I see many ambulances in the city stuck in traffic unable to reach the hospital on time. Hence, I have proposed to have helipads in the eight zones of the city. Patients can then be taken to the hospital immediately by air ambulances.

The helipad project could be implemented once it is approved by the BBMP Council at its monthly meeting.

I have already directed the BBMP commissioner to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) and discuss it with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The eight helipads will be named after former mayors who served the city, Raj explained.

The service will be extended to VIPs. More often, when traffic is blocked for VIP movements, normal traffic is affected. When the President or prime minister come visiting, they could opt for a helicopter ride from the airport to a helipad in the east zone near the Raj Bhavan, he said.

Each helipad can be built on four pillars raised on a 40X60 plot of land. These landing sites will be equipped with elevators and other facilities to help seamlessly shift patients to the nearest hospital.

However, these structures will have to be approved by the DGCA for their structural strength and safety.

Such a network of helipads is a very common practice in many American and European cities. The critical requirement is that the pilot should have a clear view of the landing area. Clear weather conditions are necessary, too, a former Airports Authority of India (AAI) official noted.

He said that once the helipads were operationalised, clearance for landings and take-offs would be required from the local ATC at the HAL Airport or the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) depending on the zone location.
By Umair Irfan

10 November 2017

(Vox)  Millions of Puerto Ricans are again without power after a high-voltage transmission line that had been repaired by Whitefish Energy, a Montana contractor now facing an FBI investigation, failed Thursday.The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reported that power generation across the island plummeted from 40 percent to 18 percent on Thursday, a major blow to the islands recovery after Hurricane Maria struck 50 days ago.That means that the vast majority of the islands 3.4 million residents are again without power, extending what was already the longest power outage in US history. The blackout struck the northern part of the island, including parts of the capital, San Juan.Without electricity, many health and sanitation systems will go offline or go back to relying on diesel-powered generators.As Vox has reported, Puerto Ricos electric grid was vulnerable and dilapidated before the storm due to PREPAs long history of financial woes and minimal maintenance and investment. But since the storm, the rebuilding of the grid has been further compromised by questionable decisions.The largest repair contract, valued at $300 million, was awarded to Whitefish, then a two-person company, rather than invoking mutual aid agreements with other utilities as power companies in Florida and Texas did after Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. [more]
By Brady Dennis and Chris Mooney

5 November 2017

(The Washington Post)  A year ago, the election of Donald Trump sent shock waves through a United Nations conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, where delegates from more than 190 countries had gathered to push forward with a landmark climate accord signed in Paris the previous year.The deal suddenly seemed in jeopardy. If the United States backed out, as Trump promised, would other countries soon follow? A year later, Trump has moved to withdraw from the international agreement. But other nations have held firm to their pledges to slash their greenhouse gas emissions.As delegates gather Monday in Bonn, Germany, for this years annual international climate talks, the United States finds itself largely on the sidelines. And the rest of the world seems to be reacting to the Trump administration with a collective shrug.There was speculation that the U.S. withdrawal might create some kind of domino effect, but in reality, this never happened, said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a European Union spokeswoman for energy and climate action. There hasnt been a single party who announced they were leaving. Quite the contrary.Even Nicaragua, which initially refused to join the Paris agreement because it didnt think the accord did enough to combat global climate change, recently announced its intention to sign on. That leaves only the United States and Syria at odds with the rest of the world.In Bonn, a collection of U.S. governors, mayors, business leaders and philanthropic figures will try to step into the gap. They include former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D), Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) and California Gov. Jerry Brown (D).With Washington off to the side, California is going to assert itself because it has the experience, and we have the commitment. And we want to join with others, Jerry Brown said in an interview. So, we will play an important role as cheerleader in chief and also as collaborator.Still, he said that states, localities and companies can push the nation only so far toward meeting the goals of the Paris agreement and making a shift toward cleaner energy sources.We can fill maybe half the void, said Brown, who was recently named a special adviser for states and regions to the Bonn conference. We can do a lot, and we can carry the ball while Trump goes off in another direction. But soon, we need the national government. [more]
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned today that a new conflict in Lebanon would have "devastating consequences" and said he was engaged in intense contacts with all players to urge de-escalation. Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned in a shock announcement broadcast from Riyadh as a power struggle intensified between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and Hezbollah, accusing Riyadh of detaining Saad al-Hariri and forcing him to resign to destabilise the country. France became the first Western country to indicate that Saudi Arabia was holding Hariri against his will, saying it wished for him to have "all his freedom of movement and be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon". Hariri's resignation has plunged Lebanon into crisis, thrusting the small Arab country back to the forefront of regional rivalry between the Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and Shia revolutionary Iran. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned other countries and groups against using Lebanon as vehicle for a larger proxy fight in the Middle East, saying Washington strongly backed Lebanon's independence and respected Hariri as a strong partner of the United States, still referring to him as prime minister. "There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state," Tillerson said in a statement released by the US State Department. Tillerson told reporters on Friday there was no indication that Hariri was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will but that the United States was monitoring the situation. The French foreign minister said earlier on Friday that he also believed Hariri was a free man - a statement at odds with the later French foreign ministry comment that it wanted Hariri to have "all his freedom of movement". Hariri has made no public remarks since announcing his resignation in a speech televised from Saudi Arabia, saying he feared assassination and accusing Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. Two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source told Reuters on Thursday that the Lebanese authorities believe Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah chief Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was encouraging Israel to attack Lebanon. While an Israeli attack could not be ruled out entirely, he said, it was unlikely partly because Israel knew it would pay a very high price. "I warn them against any miscalculation or any step to exploit the situation," he said. "Saudi will fail in Lebanon as it has failed on all fronts," Nasrallah said. Hariri's resignation is being widely seen as part of a Saudi attempt to counter Iran as its influence deepens in Syria and Iraq and as Riyadh and its allies battle Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hariri's resignation unravelled a political deal among rival factions that made him prime minister and President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, head of state last year. The coalition government included Hezbollah, a heavily armed military and political organization. Aoun told Saudi Arabia's envoy on Friday that Hariri must return to Lebanon and the circumstances surrounding his resignation as prime minister while in Saudi Arabia were unacceptable, presidential sources said. An "international support group" of countries concerned about Lebanon, which includes the United States, Russia and France, appealed for Lebanon "to continue to be shielded from tensions in the region". In a statement, they also welcomed Aoun's call for Hariri to return. Riyadh says Hariri is a free man and he decided to resign because Hezbollah was calling the shots in his government. Saudi Arabia considers Hezbollah to be its enemy in conflicts across the Middle East, including Syria and Yemen.








BirdWatch Ireland is extremely concerned about the deaths of at least fifteen migratory Whooper Swans in Carrigans.

Their carcasses have been discovered lying under electricity lines close to the village of Carrigans in the north east of the county.

Upon being informed of the discovery by a member of the public, BirdWatch Ireland staff member, Daniel Moloney, travelled to the scene, in the company of local National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Lee McDaid.

They confirmed that the swans had collided with the wires in flight and that the cause of the birds deaths was electrocution. A high proportion of the swans that were killed were juvenile birds, just a few months old.

Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland said: It is very concerning that these migratory Whooper Swans have been electrocuted in Carrigans, especially in such large numbers. Ireland hosts internationally important numbers of Whooper Swans each autumn and winter, and it has a special responsibility to conserve and protect them. We sincerely hope that measures can be put in place to prevent further swan deaths as soon as possible.
An Ashford woman faces theft of property charges in connection with the alleged embezzlement of around $550,000 from an Ashford trucking company.

Starla Ruth Wiggins Ingram was arrested Thursday and charged with four counts of first-degree theft of property. The four counts of theft of property involve around $550,000 stolen from Summerford Trucking in Ashford, Houston County Sheriffs Office Maj. Bill Rafferty said. According to Rafferty, Ingram may have stolen as much as $900,000 from the company.

Ingram worked as an office manager for the company; the thefts occurred over time, Rafferty said, adding that an internal investigation by the company owner turned up suspicious transactions that the sheriffs office later investigated.

Ingram is currently out on a $120,000 bond from the Houston County Jail.

First-degree theft of property is a class B felony in Alabama, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
This weeks top story: Two students were killed and seven others injured after a car veered off a road and ploughed into a classroom at Banksia Road Primary School, located in Greenacre. Read more here.

In other news: The NSW Department of Education hosted a two-day symposium to investigate the implications of Artificial Intelligence and automation on schools, teachers and students. Read more here.

Finally: The Educator spoke to the director of marketing from an award-winning school about how principals can build their schools reputation and thrive in a competitive marketplace. Read more here.
To fulfill a dream and to reprise a role, Award-winning Broadway Actor, Composer and Playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda has announced that he will bring Hamilton the Musical to Puerto Rico. It will run at Teatro UPR, a theatre at the University of Puerto Rico. It is just one of the several structures that remains damaged by Hurricane Maria. Reconstruction and repairs are planned in preparation for a 2019 run.

Miranda hopes to inspire and bring about more artistic projects to fire up artistic endeavours in the territory. Onboard his plan for the upcoming run is show producer Jeffrey Seller. Seller considers the devastating effects of the hurricane. He conveys, "Arts and culture are pillars for economic development, cultural tourism, community empowerment and growth."

Miranda Visits Puerto Rico To Help

On Tuesday, Miranda pays Puerto Rico a visit and spends time with the hurricane survivors, handing out food and taking photos with them. He also reveals that $2.5 million will be granted through partnership with the nonprofit group in New York called Hispanic Federation. Grants accumulated by the group will provide basic necessities for survivors as well as aide in repairs of infrastructures all over the country.

"The road to recovery in Puerto Rico is not a simple one nor is it one that relies solely on aid from the American government on the mainland," Miranda points out.

Miranda Fights Trump

Last September, Puerto Rico was hit by one of the most destructive hurricanes on record and the damage has brought so much terror and casualties. The lack of reaction and urgency to send aide by the government has angered its citizens, in particular for President Donald Trump's insensitive remarks saying that "Puerto Rico has thrown budget out of whack." Miranda, an American of Puerto Rican descent has been actively criticizing Trump and once took to Twitter, telling the president "You're going straight to hell."

New Single Released To Benefit Hurricane Victims

An original song "Almost LIke Praying" penned by Miranda and sung by him and other various Hispanic artists to support Puerto Rico has been a certified hit in the music charts. The single has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Money raised will go directly to a disaster relief program under the Hispanic Federation.

Donations For Puerto Rico Still Lags

In comparison to funds collected by the Red Cross for those affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, collectively at $400 million, the total amount garnered for Maria is currently only at $9 million.

This is why the highly-anticipated stage run of Hamilton in 2019 is very important for Puerto Rico's continued recovery efforts. With parents originally from Puerto Rico, Miranda, as the lead star of his show, will prove to be very inspiring for the country.
A shocking allegation was recently made against Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen, stating he raped the late actor Corey Haim when Haim was a teenager. Since Haim is no longer here, the only person who perhaps can confirm this story is Sheen. Sheen has denied these claims, but now someone else is speaking on the accusations  Haim's mother.

Judy Haim is setting the record straight. In a new interview with Dr. Oz, Judy admits that someone did molest her son, but it was not Charlie Sheen. Judy recounts when her son was filming the movie Lucas with Sheen and co-star Kerri Green, and states that she didn't notice anything different about him.

"I would have known if anything was wrong. My kid hid nothing, he was like... transparent. He never hid anything, he was Corey. It's out of character, that's number one," Judy says in the clip of the interview.

It seems that Judy will reveal who was responsible for taking advantage of her son, as she states the name of man but it was bleeped out.

"When my son was 13 he's not going to go and ask Charlie Sheen to go and sleep with him. I have to tell you, that this guy (bleep) is the guy that abused my son," she states.

The interview will air on Friday at 1 p.m.

Haim passed away at the age of 38 in 2010. He was a childhood star during the 80's, appearing in films, Firstborn, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, and Dream a Little Dream. Haim was paired with friend and actor Corey Feldman and the two were referred to as 'The Two Coreys'. Haim battled addiction throughout most of his life and checked himself into rehab quite often.

During the promotional tour for his book, Feldman spoke on the abuse he and Haim suffered as child actors. Feldman alleged that Haim allowed himself to be sodomized while he was filming the movie Lucas and that the two were part of a 'undergound pedeophilia ring' in Hollywood.

Feldman also blamed Haim's early death on someone who was a Hollywood mogul. Haim's mother was planning on suing Feldman if he continued to speak on the abuse her son allegedly suffered. Feldman claimed he did not want to tarnish Haim's legacy but could not let what happened to the both of them go unpunished.

You can watch Judy Haim's full interview with Dr. Oz on the Dr. Oz Show, 1 p.m. EST.
Louis C.K. has reportedly admitted to sexually harassing women on Friday. The allegations against the director were stated on Thursday by five women that claim Louis assaulted them.

The five women, Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia, and one who did not wish to provide her name spoke against the comedian in an article published by the New York Times. C.K. initially stated that he was 'troubled' by the allegations but has now confirmed in a statement that it is true.

"These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my d*** without asking first, which is also true," he wrote. "But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your d*** isn't a question. It's a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly," C.K. wrote.

C.K's film, I Love You Daddy, featuring Chloe Grace Moretz was scheduled to be released next week but has been canceled amid the allegations. C.K. also apologized to the cast and crew of the film.

"I'd be remiss to exclude the hurt that I've brought on people who I work with and have worked with who's professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You Daddy. I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. I've brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much The Orchard who took a chance on my movie. and every other entity that has bet on me through the years," he elaborated.

The allegations against C.K. follow the accusations that began after an expose that was written about producer Harvey Weinstein in the New York Times. Weinstein has denied the claims against him but did go to a rehab facility to seek treatment for 45 days. In addition to Weinstein; Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, and Andy Dick have also been accused of sexual harassment.

It's been reported that a task force assembled by the Los Angeles District Attorney Office will be looking into the claims made against these alleged attackers.
On Veterans Day, we honor and celebrate military veterans who dedicated their lives to savor the freedom of the people of the United States.

Many celebrities, before becoming famous, served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Here are eight celebrities who have served in the U.S. military and made their country proud.

Drew Carey

Years before Drew Carey entertained audiences across America on television shows like The Drew Carey Show, The Price Is Right and Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the stand-up comedian served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps between 1980 and 1986.

Rob Riggle

Rob Riggle, who has appeared in films like 21 Jump Street and Let's Be Cops, had a long stint in the U.S. military before he started his stand-up comedy and acting career in Hollywood. Riggle was in the U.S. Marine Corps for more than 20 years from 1990 to 2013, and he served in the Afghanistan and Kosovo wars and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Clint Eastwood

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly star Clint Eastwood was drafted into the U.S. military in 1950 during the Korean War and had a close brush with death during his service. In 1951, the actor was in a bomber when it crashed into the ocean and he swam 3 miles to shore. Four decades later, Eastwood picked up his first Oscar for directing the 1992 Western film Unforgiven.

Morgan Freeman

In 1955, veteran actor Morgan Freeman turned down a drama scholarship to join the U.S. Air Force. He rose the ranks to Airman 1st Class after nearly four years in service. He then left the military to pursue an acting career, making his on-screen debut with the 1964 TV series Another World. Freeman went on to act in more prominent supporting roles, bagging an Oscar in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby.

Adam Driver

Adam Driver, best known for his role as Kylo Ren in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, signed up for the U.S. Marine Corps in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The 33-year-old made the rank of lance corporal but was medically discharged from service after breaking his sternum in a mountain biking accident. He served for two years and eight months.

Chuck Norris

Martial artist and actor Chuck Norris enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1958 as a police airman. He was deployed in South Korea, where he started his martial arts training and he returned to the United States to serve at the March Air Force Base in California. Norris was discharged from service in 1962 and he made his first on-screen appearance six years later in The Wrecking Crew.

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves at the age of 18 and served from 1967 to 1975. In his interviews, the Oscar winner has mentioned that one of his tasks during service was to chip paint off buoys as a buoy tender, a role which he wasn't a big fan of.

Elvis Presley

"The King of Rock 'n' Roll" started his service in the U.S. Army as a private in 1958. He was stationed in Germany, where he met Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he later married. Presley returned to the United States in 1960 and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant.
One of the most common presumptions about tribal societies in the North East India or elsewhere is their egalitarianism. Although it is taken as a given and frequently used as a staple justification to mark out the tribal others from inegalitarian caste-Hindu societies in India, egalitarianism as a hallmark of equality as tradition of tribal societies sits uneasily with the inegalitarian discourse and unequal treatment meted out to tribal women (Shimray 2002). This becomes glaringly evident in the controversy surrounding attempts by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) to give 33% reservation to women in urban local bodies (ULBs) since 2006 when it inserted Section 23A to the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001 by bringing about an amendment to this act.

ULBs, encompassing three municipalitiesDimapur, Kohima and Mokokchungand 161 town councils in Nagaland, became controversial with this amendment as antagonistsconstituted by a melange of frontal Naga tribal bodies like Naga Hoho and Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organisation (ENPO)contend that this amendment amounts to imposition of alien rules like reservation and tax on land and buildings which violate the Naga way of life, social tradition and customary laws of equal treatment (Amer 2013; Eastern Mirror 2017; GoN 2012; Wouters 2017). These arguments were effectively used to mobilise public opposition to implementation of the amended 2001 act and holding of ULB elections since October 2008. Caving into the pressure of these antagonists, NLA invoked its special plenary power under Article 371(A)2 which protects, inter alia, Naga customary law, land and resources, and passed a resolution on 22 September 2012 exempting the state from Part IX(A) (dealing with municipalities) of the Constitution.
Im not sure my situation warrants doing a porter plainte". Our building replaced the interphones with videophones except in our studio that we rent out. We didnt have place for the videophone so the company installed the regular hand-held interphone as before, but having to pay the full price for the videophone. Since July when they installed it, it has never worked. We have been going round and round with the company and the syndic and they keep saying the repair person is not in Paris. Im getting quite annoyed and my tenant is not very happy also. Any suggestions? I know there is a government consumer department I can write to and complain, but I cant seem to find it. Is filing a porte de plainte my best option? Thanks.
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AUSTIN  More relief is on the way to help communities battered by Hurricane Harvey, with an additional $90 million approved to help expedite debris removal along Texas devastated Gulf Coast regions.

Gov. Greg Abbott and state House and Senate leaders said the additional emergency funding from the states General Revenue Account would go to counties to help pay for the removal of storm debris and help speed up the removal process.

They said the additional funding will lessen the burden for debris cleanup on local taxpayers, who now must pay for 10 percent of the total cost. The rest is paid for by the federal government.

In most cases, even with federal assistance, cities and counties in the impacted areas are responsible for ten percent of costs associated with debris removal, Abbotts office said in a statement. The funding allocation will help alleviate that burden for communities as they continue to rebuild.

Abbott called the additional funding just one more step in a long process to help our cities and counties recover.

No detail on where the $90 million will be directed was immediately available Friday.

Debris removal has been one of the most contentious issues dogging public officials in wake of Harvey, which struck the Texas Gulf Coast in late August and lingered, creating massive flooding throughout the Houston region and Southeast Texas. The initial slow pace of debris removal angered residents, which in turn incited elected officials and led to some heated debates at city halls in the region.

In an updated report Friday, the Texas Department of Emergency Management said that more than 9.4 million cubic yards of debris have been collected so far, about 34 percent of the total generated by the storm.

According to state calculations through Oct. 25, much of the debris removal still remaining is in the Houston area.

In Harris County, 2.3 million cubic yards of an estimated 11.9 million cubic yards of debris have been hauled off two months after the storm. Some 539,000 cubic yards of 1.8 million cubic yards have been hauled off in Galveston County.

In Jefferson County, 616,000 cubic yards of 1 million cubic yards has been removed.

In contrast, 392,000 cubic yards of an estimated 530,000 has been hauled off in Fort Bend County, and 112,000 of 150,000 cubic yards has been removed in Montgomery County, according to the state report.

Officials said the funds announced Thursday for debris removal will be administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, who will work with the Texas Department of Emergency Management.

In September, Abbott presented a check for $50 million to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for costs related to Harvey, a move the mayor said will allow the city to avoid a temporary property tax hike.

Officials at the time said much of that amount was to fund debris removal.

Under an agreement that Texas made with the Trump administration, the state and local governments are being reimbursed for 90 percent of the costs of Harvey damages, rather than the usual 75 percent.

Even so, county and local officials have complained that they are having to spend millions of dollars out of their current budgets that will not be reimbursed by the federal government for months. Several cities and counties have complained in recent weeks that is slowing their recovery efforts after Harvey.

Abbott aides said the emergency allocation of $90 million from state funds is designed to address those issues.

Hurricane Harvey was the strongest hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years.
On the Sunday that changed everything in Sutherland Springs, Lorenzo Flores and his girlfriend, Terrie Smith, had just parked at a Valero gas station on U.S. Highway 87 when Flores glanced across the road and saw the man with the rifle.

The gunman was about a block away. Dressed in black tactical gear, he had hopped out of a gray SUV and left the door open as he stood in the street.

Terrie, look at that, Flores said. Was the man a police officer? Flores knew a sheriffs deputy lived nearby. Maybe there was a training exercise.

To Flores, it looked like the man with the rifle was having an internal debate with himself, trying to decide whether to approach the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.

About 50 people were inside the little church, worshiping God the way they usually did on a Sunday morning  with song and laughter and kinship.

It was a small congregation. Roseanne Solis, 57, liked it that way. She liked the potluck dinners and holiday parties. She liked how the people cared less about how you dressed than what you felt in your heart.

It felt like a family to her. Its what drew Solis and her husband, Joaquin, to church that day.

A sense of family. Thats what most people liked about Sutherland Springs, a tiny wisp of a community about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio.

Sutherland Springs was never incorporated as a town. But many families who lived there had planted deep roots that went back generations. It was a place where neighbors not only knew you, they knew your parents and grandparents.

On the Sunday that changed everything in Sutherland Springs, Flores watched as the gunman seemed to make up his mind. The man with the rifle headed toward the church.

***

Forty miles away in New Braunfels, a young security guard named Devin Patrick Kelley hadnt shown up for work that morning at the Summit Vacation and RV Resort, where he had been employed for the past month and a half.

Kelley, 26, had complained a day earlier that he had a headache and went home early. His absence Sunday morning was the first problem the RV park ever had with Kelley, who had passed a criminal background check and had a private security license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

There was a lot the owners of the RV park  and DPS officials  didnt know about Kelley.

They didnt know he had been kicked out of the Air Force after assaulting his first wife, Tessa, and infant stepson so severely that he had fractured the boys skull. He was convicted in 2012, served 12 months confinement, was demoted, and received a bad conduct discharge in 2014 from the military.

In the Air Force, Kelley had also been sent to a mental health facility after he was caught trying to sneak weapons into Holloman AFB in New Mexico, where he had made death threats to his commanding officers.

Kelleys domestic assault case in the military should have prohibited him from buying firearms. But the Air Force didnt report it to the FBI, which meant Kelley could pass criminal background checks when he tried to buy guns.

Over the span of four years, he bought at least four weapons  including the Ruger AR-556, a semi-automatic, military-style rifle. He carried it Sunday when Flores saw the man dressed in black by the church.

Kelley was the man with the rifle, and his presence was no accident. Tessa had divorced him after the New Mexico assault. In 2014 Kelley married Danielle Shields, 22. Shields mother, Michelle, was a member of the First Baptist Church.

Kelley had threatened his mother-in-law, sending her angry text messages at some point before his arrival at the church. Authorities wont disclose the contents of the messages or what the dispute was about.

But that Sunday, Kelley had driven to peaceful Sutherland Springs with his semi-automatic rifle, two handguns and a bullet-proof vest.

***

Smith and Flores rushed inside the gas station.

Theres some guy out there with a rifle, man! Flores told the clerk.

The couple operated the kitchen inside the Valero and they knew the employees. But one of the workers, Joann Ward, wasnt there  she was across the street at First Baptist Church, attending the service with her four children.

Smith and Flores ran back outside and heard a terrifying noise  the rat-tat-tat burst of gunfire. Smith saw the man in black standing under the churchs sign, spraying the church with bullets.

The man began circling the white wooden building, continuing to fire, holding the rifle at his waist. He fired for a long time. They kept hearing gunshots as he moved out of sight.

Then he went inside the church.

***

The pastor of First Baptist Church, Frank Pomeroy, was out of town that day, along with his wife, Sherri. Associate pastor Bryan Holcombe, whose family was at the service, had said a few words and the congregation began singing the old gospel hymn, Are You Washed in the Blood?

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

They stopped singing partway through the hymn to hear announcements about the success of their recent fall festival. Holcombes wife, Karla, gave a plastic trophy to Julie Workman, a 54-year-old nurse and longtime member of the church whose costume of a hospital patient at the festival was a hit.

As the members of the congregation talked and laughed, the shooting started.

Workman, who was in the second row on the left side of the church with her two sons, thought she was hearing firecrackers outside. Kids goofing off, she decided.

Everybody get down! somebody shouted. Glass from an overhead fan light shattered and shards showered around Workman. She crawled over the glass to hide under a pew.

Nearby, in the middle of the church, Solis and her husband scrambled under another pew, terrified. People took cover and called 911 on their cell phones.

Each second that dragged by felt like a minute.

Solis saw people bleeding, running, trying to hide. Her left arm grew warm. She saw blood. She hadnt even realized shed been shot.

Workman saw a man in black enter the church. Solis saw black boots from her vantage point under the pew. She had a fleeting moment of relief, thinking it was a policeman.

Seconds later, she realized it was the shooter. She held her breath, trying to play dead.

Everybody die! the man shouted.

The gunman aimed at the pews on the right side of the church and fired. He walked down the aisle toward the front of the church, where the youngsters sat together.

The killer turned and aimed at worshipers on the left side of the church. He walked all the way to the back, firing as he went.

He stopped and reloaded.

Oh, my God, Workman thought. Here he comes again.

***

When Kelley began shooting outside the church, neighbors heard the gunshots but didnt realize at first what they were.

One woman across the street thought someone was loudly banging a piece of wood. She heard a pop-pop-pop noise, a pause, then another burst of pops. She looked outside but didnt see anything unusual at the church.

About a block away, Stephen Willeford, a longtime resident of Sutherland Springs and a former gun instructor with the National Rifle Association, had a similar thought. It sounded like someone tapping hard on his window.

His daughter, Stephanie, came in the room.

Doesnt that sound like gunfire? she asked.

Willeford followed her into the kitchen, where they could hear better.

Pop pop pop.

That was definitely gunfire.

Willeford ran to his safe and pulled out his AR 15 semi-automatic rifle and a box of ammo. While he was arming himself, his daughter drove around the block and came back in a panic. Someone in black tactical gear was shooting at the Baptist church, she said.

Willeford knew the people who worshiped there. Every time he heard a shot, Willeford knew that probably represented a life lost.

Willeford told his daughter to stay put. He ran outside, carrying his rifle.

He didnt waste any precious seconds putting on shoes. He was barefoot.

***

Inside the church, the air was thick with fear and the smell of gunpowder.

Kelley strode down the aisle, shooting worshipers, some of them desperately trying to shield their loved ones with their own bodies.

Joann Ward, the gas station employee who doted on her kids, shielded three of them with her arms and body as her fourth child hid nearby.

Kelley shot them, killing Ward, two of her children  Emily, 7, and Brooke, 5  and critically injuring a third.

The shooter walked to the front of the church where Julie Workman and her two sons huddled under a pew.

The gunman shot her son Kris, 34, in the back at point-blank range, paralyzing him from the waist down. Another bullet grazed Workmans chest.

Workmans other son, Kyle, 25, darted down an aisle trying to escape. Kelley turned and fired. Kyle was injured but managed to get outside. The gunman followed.

Solis kept praying under the church pew. Thoughts of dying spun through her mind. She had tried crawling out the back of the church while her husband tried making his way toward another exit. But they were trapped.

Then it sounded to her like the gunman ran out of ammunition. She heard the clatter of something falling to the floor  maybe a magazine or gun.

A merciful silence finally washed across the church. The shooter must have left the building, she thought.

It seemed like an eternity before anyone moved.

***

At the Valero, everyone huddled inside the locked store. They had called 911 but there was no sign of police.

They spotted a man coming from the side of the church. He ran and stumbled toward the Valero station. Was he the shooter? He banged on the door, begging them to let him inside. They did.

'Somebody went in and shot everybody! the man cried. My family's in there! My family's in there! Everybody's been shot!

It was Kyle Workman. He collapsed  wounded but alive.

***

Willeford ran toward the church. He was scared to death. But he kept running.

As Willeford cut through a neighbors yard and approached the site of the massacre, he took cover behind a parked truck. Across the street was the church and an empty SUV was in the road, its driver-side door open. It looked out of place.

A man in black tactical gear walked around the front of the vehicle. He was carrying a handgun. He spotted Willeford.

The two men were about 20 yards away from each other. Willeford noticed the gunman was wearing a Kevlar vest and a tactical helmet  the kind SWAT teams use.

Willeford aimed at the side of the gunmans torso, which wouldnt be protected by the plates in the vest.

The two men exchanged fire.

Even as it was happening, Willeford couldnt believe it. The gun battle seemed surreal to him. Willeford shot Kelley twice  once in the torso, where he was aiming, and once in the leg. Willeford wasnt hit.

Kelley, wounded, climbed into his Ford Expedition. He fired two more times at Willeford through a side window. Willeford returned fire, aiming for the mans head. He saw the window shatter.

The SUV sped off, heading north on Farm-to-Market Road 539 past the church toward Highway 87, where the Valero station sits. Willeford aimed at the SUV and squeezed the trigger. His last shot shattered the back window.

Kelley sped through the highway intersection and continued north on 539 to Seguin. The SUV was gone.

Willeford was barefoot and without a vehicle.

Then he saw the pickup truck nearby, sitting at a stop sign.

There was a driver inside.

***

Johnnie Langendorff had been driving to his girlfriends house when he stumbled across the gun battle. Unarmed, he watched the two men exchange fire. He didnt know either of them.

After the Ford Expedition raced off, Willeford ran to Langendorffs truck and knocked on the window.

That guy just shot up the Baptist church, Willeford said. Weve got to stop him.

Lets go, Langendorff said, unlocking the door.

Willeford jumped in the passenger seat and they sped north on 539. Langendorff didnt bother stopping at the highway intersection.

Their speed topped 95 mph as Langendorff tried to make up lost ground. Residents who live on 539 could hear his truck barreling down the blacktop road.

As they drove, Langendorff called 911. A sheriffs dispatcher answered. They reported what happened at the church and said they were pursuing the killer. No deputies or police officers were around. They were on their own.

The Ford Expedition came into view. They could see the busted back window. They were gaining on it. The dispatcher on the phone asked for the suspects exact location. They gave it.

Willeford told Langendorff they might have to use his truck to knock the SUV off the road and stop the gunman.

Langendorff didnt have a problem with that.

***

Inside the SUV, Kelley was bleeding. He pulled out his cell phone and called his father, Michael.

Kelley told him hed been shot.

He didnt think he was going to make it.

***

Willeford and Langendorff watched as the Ford Expedition veered off the road and almost came to a stop. Willeford grabbed the door handle, preparing to jump out.

But Kelley accelerated again. The SUV hit a highway sign as he veered back onto pavement and sped onward about 100 yards. The SUV finally crashed and came to rest in a ditch.

Langendorff stopped his truck and Willeford hopped out. He rested his rifle across the hood of the truck, aimed at the SUV, and yelled at the man to get out.

There was no movement.

Langendorff exited his truck to warn any approaching motorists to stay away. Willeford kept his eyes on the wrecked Ford Expedition. He didnt notice the arrival of the first sheriffs deputy until he heard a voice on a loudspeaker.

Driver, get out of the vehicle with your hands up, the deputy said.

Willeford set his rifle down and took a few steps back, not wanting to be mistaken for the suspect.

Not you, the deputy said. Willeford grabbed his rifle again. For the moment, he was the deputys only backup.

More units arrived. Sharpshooters aimed their guns at the wrecked SUV while a small drone hovered overhead to scout the vehicle. They were patient and cautious. When deputies finally closed in, they found Kelleys body.

Authorities believe he had killed himself with a handgun.

***

Temporary road signs on Highway 87 now offer a warning to motorists driving into Sutherland Springs:

Incident ahead.

For the past week, an armada of television satellite trucks and news vans have packed both shoulders of the highway. Authorities blocked 539, the road that leads to the tiny church, and held daily press conferences that were broadcast worldwide.

One thing that everybody wants to know is, why did this happen? said Freeman Martin, the regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is overseeing the investigation into the worst mass shooting in modern Texas history.

It's a senseless crime, Martin said. But we can tell you there was a domestic situation going on within this family.

Kelleys wife and mother-in-law hadnt attended the church service that morning. But his wifes grandmother, Lula White, was there worshiping. She was among the dead.

Martin declined to detail the nature of the rift between the killer and his wifes family. He noted Kelley didnt have to target the church to find his mother-in-law.

I think he came here with a purpose and a mission, Martin said.

The numbers behind the tragedy are staggering. Kelley killed 26 people and injured 20 more  10 of them critically.

Three generations of the Holcombe family were killed. The victims included Bryan, the associate pastor who led services that day; his wife, Karla; their son, Marc; and Marcs young daughter, Noah.

Bryan and Karla Holcombes son, John, survived. But his wife, Crystal, was killed, along with three of her five children from a past marriage: Emily, Gregory and Megan.

Crystal was pregnant with Johns unborn child, who also died.

The church had become the scene of a nightmare. Inside the deathly quiet chapel, bodies lay strewn about and almost everyone inside was covered in blood, making it difficult to distinguish the wounded and dead.

It was just horrific, said Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt Jr. Words can't express what was there. It's hard enough to see adults, but when you see babies, little ones, I'm talking 3, 4, 5, 6 years old. 10 years old. It's just hard.

How does a tiny community like Sutherland Springs recover from such a thing?

Most of our church family is gone, said Sherri Pomeroy, the wife of the churchs pastor, Frank. The couple is mourning the devastation of their beloved church and the loss of their 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle, who was in the congregation that day.

Solis and her husband survived the shooting, but everything changed for her when she crawled out from beneath the church pew and saw the small bodies lying motionless throughout the church.

The couple might move away from the town where they enjoyed living a tranquil life.

Its going to stay in my heart a long time  the loss of all those innocent little babies, she said.

Workman doesnt know how to put her feelings into words. She feels sickened by what happened. She doesnt know whether her son will walk again. But shes also been amazed at the outpouring of support thats flooded Sutherland Springs.

Out of this, we have seen so much love, she said.

What will happen to the church? Pastor Frank Pomeroy announced the bullet-ridden building will be torn down. Theres too much damage, too many dark memories in the little white church.

But the offers are pouring in to help the congregation of Sutherland Springs rebuild.

jtedesco@express-news.net

This story was based on public records and interviews conducted by the San Antonio Express-News and other media outlets. Willeford was interviewed by politically incorrect comedian Steven Crowder and the NRA on YouTube and TV station 40/29 News in Arkansas. CNN interviewed Langendorff. Both men have declined interview requests from other news organizations.

Staff Writers Kelsey Bradshaw, Caleb Downs and Silvia Foster-Frau contributed to this report.

Lead photo: Sutherland Springs residents Matthew Mata, 22, with his girlfriend Erika Gonzalez, 21, (center) and others attend a vigil, Monday Nov 6, 2017, for the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. (Edward A. Ornelas, Staff / San Antonio Express-News)


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The last thing any member of the media ever would expect to see at the site of the Sutherland Springs shooting was even the slightest lighthearted moment.

And yet there it was, on several occasions, courtesy a friendly and frisky feline thats earned the nickname NewsCat.

Texas Public Radio reporter Joey Palacios posted on social media several snapshots of the affectionate cat, which has been seen roaming around the media tents and caution tapes as well as around the legs of reporters and law enforcement.

Spectrum News San Antonio video journalists Alese Underwood and John Salazar also have captured and shared pics of NewsCat, as well as shots of a bright orange and white cat one of their photographers called Scratches, which playfully pawed at Salazars pant leg while he was wrapping up a live shot and even hopped into the news truck for a video closeup posted on Salazars Facebook page.

And while neither cat would go on the record Thursday  NewsCat preferred rubs behind its ears, while Scratches last was seen darting off from two people walking by with dogs on leashes  various media members were more than happy to purr the cats praises for providing at least a brief respite from tragedy.

Definitely a moment of normalcy, said a CNN producer who did not want to be identified. And me not being a cat person, I wouldnt bend down and pet the cat, but I can still really appreciate that its cute and its here, and probably a lot of reporters and cameramen and producers and everyone on site knows about the cats. And they enjoy even if its 15 minutes of normalcy for us, being able to just laugh and appreciate the interaction.

Before scooping up NewsCat for a cuddle, KSAT-TV news reporter Garrett Brnger said the massacre at First Baptist Church probably was the worst thing most media members there ever would cover.

And the local furball brought a bit of a smile, Brnger said.

Underwood not only bestowed the name NewsCat, she also gave Scratches, along with another gray cat seen at a nearby home, the hashtags #FakeNewsCat and, of course, #CopyCats.

But they have made people smile, Underwood said.

Palacios, who first spotted the NewsCat phenomenon via Underwoods posts, likened the cats presence to that of a therapy dog.

Something to brighten your day, given the circumstances, Palacios said. I think animals take away a lot of stress, a lot of grief.

Paul Pierce could especially relate to the comparison.

Standing with his golden retriever therapy dog Duncan near a roadside row of white crosses erected for the victims, the Boston Childrens Hospital volunteer said he hadnt seen NewsCat or its pals up close but had seen plenty of instances where Duncan had provided a similar soothing presence.

I can speak on behalf of the dogs, said Pierce, who with Duncan has visited family and friends of the shooting victims. It diverts peoples attention. It takes them away from their grief, their sorrow, and puts it into another place of peace and comfort and joy.

rguzman@express-news.net
NEW BRAUNFELS  Devin P. Kelleys troubled mental state now seems obvious from the portrait of him painted by public records.

But he managed to conceal those problems even while plotting mass murder.

I wish there was something that we would have picked up that maybe could have helped somebody else, said Claudia Varjabedian, for whom Kelley worked as a security guard at a local resort until last Saturday. There was just no indication to me.

Others say they sensed trouble from the get-go in Kelley, 26, who had a history of behavioral problems dating to at least middle school.

Repeated school suspensions during adolescence were followed by a forced stay at a New Mexico mental health facility in 2012.

Then came a domestic violence incident that ended his first marriage at age 21, gave him a 12-month sentence in a military prison and contributed to a bad-conduct discharge from the Air Force in 2014.

Along the way, Kelley also faced an animal cruelty charge in Colorado and was named as a suspect in a Comal County rape complaint.

But even in that dark context, the viciousness Kelley unleashed Sunday at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs remains difficult to comprehend, much less accept, for those across South Texas and far beyond.

The worst mass shooting by an individual in Texas history  with 26 dead and 20 wounded  also has left many folks feeling afraid and vulnerable.

Scares the hell out of me, Varjabedian said of the spasm of violence by Kelley that ended with him taking his own life.

Shes much closer to this tragedy than most people, having recently hired Kelley as an unarmed security guard at the Summit Vacation and RV Resort, where shes the business manager.

She reported receiving no complaints about him during his nearly six weeks on the 4 p.m.-to-midnight shift at the River Road resort not far from the Kelley family home.

There was nothing that was suspicious, Varjabedian said Wednesday. His reports were very detailed. He did his rounds every hour like he was supposed to do.

Until, that is, Kelley vanished around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, less than 15 hours before donning tactical gear and attacking the church located about 35 miles south, where some in the family of his second wife worshipped.

He left the guard shack with all the keys to the cabins and the condos, and everything else, and just left. He didnt call anybody, Varjabedian recalled as she talked from behind the resort counter. Thats the only negative thing I could say that he did while he was here. He just abandoned his post with everybody (customers) still here.

A surly reception

But members of a Michigan family who stayed there for a week ending last Saturday consider themselves lucky, in light of the massacre, to have emerged from their encounters with Kelley with only bad vibes.

Guest Chuck Jackson said they received a surly reception from Kelley, who checked them in upon their arrival late on Oct. 28.

He seemed annoyed that we were even there, Jackson recalled by phone from Detroit on Thursday, describing Kelley as less than helpful in directing them to their rental house in the dark, rural setting.

We kind of exchanged words, then I said, The heck with it. Well figure it out, said Jackson, an assignment editor at WDIV Local 4, a TV station.

Jackson said he advised Kelley that his sister and another guest would be arriving soon. When they did, he said, they were misdirected by Kelley, who patrolled the resort in a small SUV.

We had joked that night about how much of a jerk he was, said Jackson, who also detected hostility from Kelley when he and wife, Meghan, brought their two kids to the pool.

He seemed like he was agitated that I was there, agitated that I was asking him to do anything, said Jackson, whod asked Kelley to turn on a water slide. He just seemed miserable.

Trouble in school

Records show that Kelley was the middle child and only son of three kids born to Rebecca A. Kelley and Michael S. Kelley.

They own a billing service that incorporated in 1990, called Dilloware, which appears to operate from the familys home in a rural area just west of New Braunfels.

They did not respond to interview requests, but ABC News quoted Michael Kelley as saying, We are grieving. Our family is grieving.

I dont want our lives, our grandchildrens lives, destroyed by this media circus, added Kelley, whose property off FM 2722 was staked out by 20 vehicles from various media the morning after the shooting.

Its unclear where Devin Kelley attended elementary school, but New Braunfels Independent School District records show that he enrolled in 2002 in Oak Run 6th Grade Center, then attended New Braunfels Middle School.

He ranked 260th out of 393 students in the New Braunfels High School Class of 2009, with a grade average of 77.6, according to school records.

They list Kelley as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and indicate that he was the subject of disciplinary action numerous times starting in 2004.

Kelley was suspended off campus for possessing/selling drugs in 2006, for profane language in 2007, for insubordination in 2007 and 2009, and again in 2009 for dishonesty/falsifying records. He also received in-school suspensions for horseplay in 2004 and in 2008 for profane language/gestures.

Fellow students recall Kelley as an introvert who kept mostly to himself and had an ever-changing array of friends.

A former female classmate, who is not being identified, says she complained to school administrators that Kelley would shove and grope her in campus hallways in the 2008-09 school year.

He harassed me anytime I was in school, she said. I reported what I could to the school, but nothing was ever done.

Another woman told the San Antonio Express-News that Kelley forced himself on her sexually after she befriended him in 2011, an account she shared with her parents and others but not with police.

Facebook presence

Kelley dropped off the grid after graduating, according to another acquaintance, who said he reappeared a year ago on social media, friending many of his former high school classmates.

Although his Facebook page has since been taken down, those who saw it said Kelley had posted often about atheism and shared images of guns.

He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism, Nina Rosa Nava, who posted on the site, was quoted as saying in the New York Times, adding that she unfriended him because of it.

Several hours after the shooting, Courtney Kleiber, a close friend of Kelleys from middle school through high school, wrote on Facebook, I had always known there was something off about him. But he wasnt always a psychopath though.

She recalled a younger Kelley who was a happy, normal and average kid. But she wrote, Over the years we all saw him change into something that he wasnt. To be completely honest, Im really not surprised this happened, and I dont think anyone who knew him is very surprised either.

Kelley enlisted in the Air Force in January 2010 and obtained a marriage license in April 2011 to wed Tessa K. Loge, now Tessa Brennaman. Their troubled relationship ended in New Mexico with divorce in October 2012 after he was charged with assault for attacking her and fracturing his stepsons skull and sentenced to 12 months in a military prison.

Brennaman, who lives in New Braunfels, declined to be interviewed.

Kelley served his sentence, which ended up being less than 12 months, at Miramar, a military prison in San Diego, California, and then returned home to New Braunfels.

H-E-B officials say Kelley worked at their store at 1655 Texas 46 West in New Braunfels for two months before quitting in July 2013.

In recent years, Kelley lived in whats described as a converted barn on the same 28.5-acre parcel as his parents 6,000-square-foot home on FM 2722.

In addition to the home, the property, which the family bought in 1993, includes a garage and porch that was built in 1994. Theres also an 1,800-square-foot metal building and a 6,480-square-foot shed.

The buildings and land have a combined market value of about $800,000, according to appraisal district records, which also reflect business personal property there worth about $500.

Michael Kelley told Comal County deputies responding to a 2013 burglary report there that a laptop and hard drive valued at $600 were missing from Devin Kelleys quarters.

The barn has recently been converted into an apartment for his son returning from overseas military commitments to allow him a transitional start back into the civilian lifestyle, Deputy Garry Noegel reported. The Air Force has no record of Kelley serving overseas; just before the burglary was reported, Kelley had been serving time in a military prison for his domestic violence conviction.

Police records on the burglary showed that there were no signs of forced entry and that Michael Kelley later asked that the case be closed.

It wasnt the last time deputies were sent there.

A sexual assault complaint was lodged from the address June 17, 2013, according to Sheriffs Department records that list Devin Kelley as a suspect and Tessa Brennaman as a witness. The alleged victims identity is redacted.

A detective investigated the allegation of rape by force, but the case stalled after the couple moved from Texas to Colorado, according to Comal County Sheriff Mark Reynolds, who took office in January.

He said he has launched an internal review into why the case wasnt pursued while Kelley was in Colorado or when he later returned to Texas.

A report of a domestic disturbance at the property was received late on Feb. 1, 2014, involving a woman identified as Danielle.

Police say a friend alerted authorities that Danielle had texted to say she was being abused by her boyfriend and that subsequent texts back to her later went unanswered.

The male involved is identified only as Devin in the report, which says responding deputies were told that it was a misunderstanding. No action was taken by deputies, whose report referred to the situation as a teenage drama.

Devin Kelley and Danielle Lee Shields were married April 4, 2014, in Comal County. She could not be reached for comment.

Authorities say Kelley was estranged from his wifes family and had threatened Danielles mother, Michelle, before the church attack.

Its believed that the couple have two children; a family friend said he took them to the churchs fall festival Oct. 31.

I will tell you that Michelle told me last Tuesday (Oct. 31) ... they were so excited because he voluntarily took the grandchildren  his children  to the church for the fall festival, said Tambria Read, chair of the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum and a teacher at Floresville High School. And they thought Oh this is good, this is progress. And then this happened.

Debbie Marx, a church member, also saw Kelley at the festival with his wife and a child.

Shed heard reports of friction with his mother-in-law, but nothing seemed amiss, said Marx, who brought chickens, goats and other animals from her farm to the Oct. 31 event.

When he walked up to me, we were just talking about animals. I didnt notice anything particular about him, she said. I guess you just never know.

Neighbors along FM 2722 reported this week that the sound of gunshots was common in recent weeks, coming from the direction of the Kelley property, sometimes for hours.

Every morning for the past month or so there was a lot of shooting from that direction, said Robert Gonzales, who took it to be target practice. I dont know if it was him or not.

Between 2016 and 2017, authorities say, Kelley purchased two rifles and two handguns.

Before joining the Summits staff in September, Kelley worked as an unarmed security guard at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels.

He passed a Department of Public Safety background check at both locations, the employers said.

He was terminated in July after five weeks at Schlitterbahn for reasons that park officials did not disclose.

The Jacksons, watching media reports on the shooting back in Michigan, wondered if the agitated guard theyd met at the Summit was the bearded gunman.

They were shaken Tuesday when photos circulated of Kelley barefaced, as they had seen him, which confirmed their suspicions, said Jackson, who shared their groups texts.

That was totally him and, based on our 30-second interaction, he did not seem like a nice guy, wrote Elizabeth Nitz, his sister, Jackson said.

My wife responded Not to mention that he told you the complete wrong way to go. Ive been creeped out about that since we were there. he said.

Staff Writers Sig Christenson, Sylvia Foster-Frau and Guillermo Contreras contributed to this report. | zeke@express-news.net
The visit is made at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and President Tran Dai Quang. As the first overseas trip by the Chinese top leader after the CPCs 19th National Congress, the visit is significant to the relationship between Vietnam and China.

It takes place in the context that the bilateral relationship is on an active trend, as reflected through regular meetings between senior leaders of the two countries.

Vietnamese and Chinese leaders have reached important common perceptions on enhancing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries in a stable and healthy way.

Exchange and cooperation mechanisms between the Parties, Governments and National Assemblies as well as political-social organisations and localities of Vietnam and China have also been rolled out in a larger scale.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President Xi Jinping at Da Nang International Airport (Source: VNA)

Vietnam and China established diplomatic ties on January 18th, 1950. China is Vietnams biggest trade partner and largest tourism market.

Vietnam has become Chinas top trade and tourism partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Two-way trade value expanded from USD32 million in 1991 to USD70.5 billion in 2016. The figure reached USD55.23 billion in the first eight months of this year, with Vietnams trade deficit with China standing at USD17.77 billion, down 5.4 percent year-on-year.

Vietnam welcomed 2.7 million Chinese tourists in 2016 and 2.65 million Chinese holiday-makers in January-August, 2017.

As of August 2017, China has invested in 1,727 projects valued at USD11.93 billion in Vietnam. In the first eight months of this year, China became Vietnams fourth largest investor with total registered capital of USD1.6 billion.

The two countries have also stepped up partnerships in other areas like agriculture, water resources, environment, science-technology, transport, culture, sports, education, health care and people-to-people exchange.

The affiliation between Vietnamese and Chinese localities has been enhanced practically over the past time, with more than 30 pairs of cities and provinces establishing friendship.

After normalising their relations, Vietnam and China signed an agreement on basic principles settling border and territory-related issues and another agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related matters in 2011, contributing to orienting the handling of the East Sea issue.

They agreed to continue to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) comprehensively and effectively, soon reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), manage conflicts at sea, take no actions that complicate and expand the disputes, and maintain peace and stability in the waters.

Vietnam consistently places importance on developing the stable and long-term relationship with China, on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit, and equality.

In that context, Xis Vietnam visit aims to maintain the exchange of high-level delegations, enhance cooperation between the two Parties and States, intensify strategic exchanges and increase political trust between the two sides.

It is also set to improve the efficiency of cooperation in economy, trade and investment between the two countries and consolidate high-level common perceptions on well managing differences and protecting peace and stability in the East Sea, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world at large./.
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS  Three days ago, Greg Zanis, a retired carpenter from Aurora, Illinois, loaded white crosses with red hearts into his pickup. It is something he has done for 20 years: building crosses for the sites of mass shootings.

He built 49 crosses after the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 and 58 crosses after the recent Las Vegas massacre. Still, the shooting rampage Sunday in Sutherland Springs shocked him.

Im on my way to Texas, Zanis, founder of the nonprofit Crosses for Losses, said in a YouTube video.

Theres been a shooting at a church  a shooting at a church, Zanis said in the video, shaking his head.

Zanis was one of several well-wishers who traveled to the small, rural town. Zanis joined one preacher from Roanoke, Virginia, and another from Lubbock to bring crosses and condolences to Sutherland Springs.

By Friday afternoon, a line of 26 white wooden crosses affixed with red hearts and placed in the soil at U.S. 87 and FM 539 had become a de facto memorial to the slain. Each cross bore the name of a victim, along with messages from loved ones, scrawled in permanent marker.

On the cross for Emily Garcia, one of the youngest victims: We love you Emily! May you dance with Jesus. On Crystal Holcombes: Love you mom.  Kenzie.

People parked their cars on the side of the road throughout the day. They walked up, their arms full of balloons, bouquets of flowers, stuffed animals and candles. They laid them at the bases of the crosses and near a trio of nearby poles.

They stood before the crosses and stared at the laminated photos of victims. They held each other and cried as they paid their respects. In the background loomed First Baptist Church, now surrounded by a chain-link fence encased in black tarp.

Chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, a North Carolina-based group that sends its members to national tragedies, consoled the mourners as they visited the memorial. The chaplains huddled with the grieving and prayed with them. At one point, a chaplain put his arm around a woman as she sobbed.

Early in the afternoon, a young woman and her mother walked up with armfuls of stuffed animals: Pooh Bear, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Olivia Garza and her 20-year-old daughter, Melissa Lopez, had driven from Bexar County to pay their respects to the innocent people who had been killed.

Garza said they wanted to come because the massacre had occurred so close to home.

Theres just so much evil, Garza said. Its overwhelming. It could have been any of us.

Vic Bass, the minister from Lubbock, brought 500 cedar crosses with the words Jesus is the Lord to Sutherland Springs.

I just felt like it was something needed to help our nation, Bass said. Our nation is in turmoil.

Todd Feltner, who lives about five minutes away from the church, helped Bass unload the crosses.

Its an overwhelming, just glorious response as far as the love and caring and the humanity of people who have come to help us in the wake of disaster, Feltner said.

Joshua John Fitch, the minister from Roanoke, Virginia, carried a life-size cross for five hours Thursday around the Sutherland Springs area. Fitch, 37, carried the cross 26 kilometers, one for each of the victims.

Fitch said he wanted to show victims that theyre not alone, people do care about them.  People have come to honor people who have died.

Fitchs cross stands about 7 feet tall and weighs about 50 pounds, he said. On Thursday, he slung it over one shoulder or the other and walked along the highway shoulders.

I was running some of it, I got inspired, I was full-on sprinting halfway into it, Fitch said. He developed blisters on his feet, his legs are bruised and his shoulders are shot, Fitch said by phone as he drove through Austin on his way back to Roanoke.

Fitch began carrying the cross around Roanoke earlier this year. He said he served in the Army Reserve as a cook. He said the cross, made by a fellow veteran, represents love and sacrifice.

Fitch may be one of the few people who can empathize with Stephen Willeford, who wounded Sutherland Springs shooter Devin Kelley in an exchange of gunfire before Kelley ended his life. In 2010, Fitch fatally stabbed a man trying to rob him. He said he still carries stab wounds from the encounter. Investigators determined that the incident was justifiable homicide.

Im praying for him that he would find peace in being a protector, Fitch said. No one wants to have to do these things.  Some people really are evil.

When he completed his long walk, Fitch planted the cross next to the 26 others bearing names of the victims. He also spoke with some grieving family members. I just let them talk, he said. We just let them cry, and we spoke life and love and encouragement.

Sandra Shaw, a member of First Baptist Church and a town historian, said she saw the various crosses as they were installed.

Anybody who went to church there is going to be glad, because the victims are being honored, Shaw said.

jlawrence@express-news.net | Staff Writer Lauren Caruba contributed to this report
Fire union president Chris Steele is worried about how much the citys firefighters are getting paid  so worried that he wants to make firefighters pay up to $50 more a month in union dues.

Its yet another catch-22 in the unions tiresome and absurd collective-bargaining battle with the city.

Steele was declaring war on city officials back in January 2015, informing firefighters in a newsletter that the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association was inflicting damage on the enemy.

Nearly three years later, another article by Steele has made it clear that the war is only ramping up.

I would like for the (sic) this to serve as the first notification that your union may seek a special assessment from you (maybe $25 a payday) to start running television commercials against the Mayor and the City Manager, Steele wrote. We may also send city-wide mail pieces to educate the public. We will also start using our phone bank to call thousands of people and talk with them about the policy and direction of the Mayor.

We must ramp this up, Steele continued, to bring it to finality.

The union has also circulated a flyer advertising two special meetings next week for members to discuss a $10 per pay period member assessment to help fund a Public Relations Marketing firm and a Professional Consultant to manage the Associations Public Relations for one year or until a new contract is signed (not to exceed one year).

It was unclear on Friday just how much more the union will seek from its members to fund the political attacks; Steele did not return a message seeking comment.

It was clear, however, that the unions hyperbolic blitz against Mayor Ron Nirenberg had already begun.

On its Facebook page on Friday, the association shared a post by Councilman Greg Brockhouse outlining his opposition to San Antonio Water System rate increases. (A former consultant for the association, Brockhouse has worn a fire union T-shirt and pin on the council dais.)

Mayor Ron Nirenberg is up to his usually (sic) shenanigans! the union wrote in its post. Are we ready to recall this mayor yet? YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!!

Nirenberg is persona non grata with the union for his insistence on fiscal responsibility.

For years, city officials have warned that growing health care costs for police and firefighters could consume the city budget if theyre not tamed by collective bargaining. After its own ugly war with city officials, the police union last year signed a new contract forged by then-Mayor Ivy Taylor that will save the city $87.5 million in health care costs.

A councilman at the time, Nirenberg thought Taylors deal gave away too much. Now, he simply wants the union to begin negotiations  ultimately, to prevent its contract from hindering the citys ability to provide other basic services.

The unions contract expired in 2014, ending pay raises for firefighters, but it has stayed virtually intact due to a 10-year evergreen clause.

I have no comment on the fire unions meetings, Nirenberg told me on Friday. What we are focused on is resolving this contract dispute, and we will continue to ask the fire union to come to the table to negotiate. The public deserves a good faith negotiation between the city and the fire union.

The fire union has refused nine separate requests by the city to begin negotiations. Steele has insisted that the union wont come to the table until the city drops a lawsuit arguing that the evergreen clause is unconstitutional.

The city has spent nearly $1 million on the lawsuit and continues to push it forward on appeal despite repeated court rulings against the citys position.

Steele made sure his readers were aware of this, writing in all caps: THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO KNOW THAT THE CITY HAS SPENT ALMOST $974,000 ON LAWYERS, AND THAT MAYOR NIRENBERG WANTS TO SPEND MORE.

Finally, he continued, your union firmly believes that you deserve a cost of living raise for the last few years. We have a long-term strategy to achieve this for you, and the massive public education campaign is an integral part of this strategy.

Another catch-22: The evergreen clause that Steele so cherishes is whats preventing negotiations and stopping firefighters from receiving their pay raises.

If the union president really wants to put more money into the pockets of firefighters, he should come to the table  not launch an expensive and divisive public relations campaign to once again drag the city through the mud.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
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Flags will be hoisted this Veterans Day before patriotic crowds, marching bands will perform and speakers will stress the importance of thanking those who served our country.

The annual outpouring of appreciation means a lot in San Antonio, which has the sixth-largest population of veterans in the country, at more than 153,000.

Many of them put their life on the line for America, lost dear friends in combat or returned home with fewer limbs and emotional scars that never fully heal.

Here are a few of their stories:

Gabriel A. Monreal

Army Sgt. 1st Class Gabriel A. Monreal already misses the military, even though he just hung up his uniform Oct. 24 and wont officially retire until late December.

He dreamed as a youth of being an infantryman, just like his dad, of a career defending America that promised excitement, camaraderie and travel.

Ive never wanted to do anything else, said Monreal, 40, whod survived two combat tours in Iraq and was leading a platoon in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, when the worst phase of his military career unfolded Aug. 24, 2010.

Shrapnel from an enemy shell that exploded nearby amputated his lower left leg and tore holes in his arms, thighs and stomach.

But it wasnt physical pain from the wounds and subsequent surgeries that later provoked episodes of late-night sobbing that he concealed from his sleeping family.

Rather, it was the anguish of being separated from fellow troops, of feeling uncertain about the future and angry about his fighting days being cut short.

The hardest part was internal, the loss of identity, said Monreal, a native of Corpus Christi who moved to San Antonio in 2010. In a split second, I went from being an infantryman, living my childhood dream, to being a casualty. I couldnt do anything.

Although he wanted back into combat after he was fitted with a prosthesis, Monreal eventually heeded the advice of mentors and the pleas of his wife, Rachel, and accepted an assignment at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.

He did national defense/security work there for three years until 2015, when he became an adaptive shooting instructor for cancer patients and other wounded soldiers and Marines.

Helping them instilled in Monreal a new demeanor and some helpful perspective.

As an infantry sergeant, I was very mean, direct and blunt, he said. You cant really be mean and blunt to a cancer patient, so learning a different leadership style was essential, and it did a lot for me on the inside.

He already has a part-time job as a gun range instructor and hopes to use knowledge he gained as the owner of a Harley-Davidson to work as a motorcycle salesman.

But transitioning out of the military is still emotional for Monreal, whose many service commendations include a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars.

Im happy because I made it through alive. Im sad because its something I enjoyed, he said. I exited the military still wanting to serve. Theres a little bit of resentment because, as an amputee, I can only do 20 years.

He plans to mark Veterans Day with a motorcycle ride with his dad, followed by time spent with his two sons and two daughters, all of whom currently plan to join the military.

Virginia Wood

Though Virginia Woods time in the military ended seven distant decades ago, it remains for her an ongoing source of pride, purpose and accomplishment.

I thought it would be a new adventure and an opportunity to break loose from home, recalled the 96-year-old of her decision in 1942 to enlist in the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps, which later became the Womens Army Corps.

Shed already toiled beside male counterparts making military components for Sierra Manufacturing in her native California, part of a government push for women to fill industrial jobs vacated by men whod joined the service to fight in World War II.

Leaving her role as a Rosie the Riveter, Wood said she was among a dozen women charged with a similar mission at what became McClellan Air Force Base.

It was an experiment by the Army to see if the women could take care of some of the jobs that the men were doing so they could be released to active duty, recalled Wood, who savored the chance to learn and excel.

Ive always been able to do just about anything Ive tried, and been successful at it, she said from her apartment at Blue Skies of Texas, formerly called Air Force Village, a retirement center for military officers, spouses and widows.

Her fathers death prompted her departure from the WAC as a captain to care for her mother in 1945, the same year she wed Army Air Corps Lt. Col. Robert A. Wood. He died in 1999.

Raising three kids as a stay-at-home mom proved less challenging than serving her country, but Wood finds satisfaction in knowing that she was on the front line in the domestic battle for sexual equality.

By us performing so well, the Army accepted women, and that opened the floodgates for any and all other women to come into the service, she said. They would not have had that opportunity if we had not done what we did.

Veterans Day holds special significance for residents at Blue Skies of Texas, where she moved in 2009.

We were all in (the military) at the same time frame, sort of, so we all understand each other, Wood said. That parts really great. Its still prevalent in everybodys life whos here.

Wencelso Corky Armendariz Jr.

Despite suffering wounds that contributed to him now being 100 percent disabled, Wencelso Corky Armendariz Jr. says hes never regretted leaving Lanier High School to enlist in the Navy in 1965.

He made lifelong friends during his 22 years as a seaman, survived battles as a gunners mate in Vietnam, visited far-off lands and learned job skills that later translated into private sector employment.

I almost circumnavigated the world, recalled Armendariz, now 70, whose ports of call are documented with forearm tattoos that include a mermaid inked in Spain and a geisha from Japan.

To irritate his executive officer, he had an anchor tattooed on one earlobe.

Twice hospitalized to have enemy shrapnel removed from his back and leg, he earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in combat as a River Rat patrolling the Mekong Delta in 1968 and 1969.

Despite leaving the service in 1986, he keeps in touch with some of those he fought beside, he said, noting, We bonded real close and supported each other.

Back home, he worked as a data storage technician at USAA.

I wanted to stay in longer, but my wife said, Its time to get out. Youre traveling too much, he said of his spouse, Sylvia Armendariz, with whom he raised three kids during 50 years of marriage.

Now retired and living in West Bexar County, Armendariz proudly keeps his Navy days alive with what he calls his I Love Me Wall.

It features his medals, certificates and other military keepsakes such as a photo of Gen. William Westmoreland, then commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, pinning a Purple Heart on him.

Each November, you can find him enjoying the camaraderie of other current and former members of the military at the Veterans Day parade downtown.

It provided for me very well, he said of the Navy, adding, I still love the water.

Howard T. Ray

Howard T. Rays Army service got off to a rough start  captured by the enemy during the Korean War  but he now regards his 30-year military career with nothing but affection.

After my first tour, I said, This is where I want to be the rest of my life, recalled Ray, 85. The camaraderie, the structure, the work ethic  I loved it all.

He still endures pain from frostbite that dates to the wars early days. Just days after Ray arrived in Korea, he and six fellow members of a machine gun squad were captured by guerrillas aligned with North Korea.

The squad was in a defensive position, and we got overrun by a larger force, said Ray, whod enlisted only eight months earlier at age 18 in East St. Louis, Illinois. They took all of our clothes, our combat boots. I think all we had was wool shirts. I got frostbitten hands and feet.

In what was seen as a propaganda effort, the prisoners were released within a week with a note from the enemy that news reports quoted as saying, We are fighting for our self-government and our independence. We hope that American Army will go back home.

Ray quickly returned stateside, where he then became a personnel administrative specialist at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.

He served in several other locations and capacities before ordered in 1976 to become a senior chaplains assistant at JBSA-Fort Sam, from where he retired as a sergeant major in November 1979.

Along the way, hed served in England, Germany, Ethiopia and Vietnam, where he earned a commendation for gallantry in 1967-68. His many other service awards include a Meritorious Service Medal, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal.

You cant pry me out of San Antonio, said Ray, whos 70 percent disabled because of frostbite that flares up when he gets cold. I dont like ice, not even in my drinks.

He and his wife, Gloria, have a blended family of seven kids and live in East Bexar County.

Ray has been active in numerous veterans groups since retiring, including the local Buffalo Soldiers chapter, and he previously served as national director of the American Ex-Prisoners of War group.

This year, he wont join the Buffalo Soldiers decked out in frontier-era uniforms at Veterans Day events because of chemotherapy hes receiving to treat pancreatic cancer.

Given only four months to live when diagnosed last November, he said, Im thankful Im still kicking.

Despite his own positive experiences in the Army, Ray wouldnt enlist as a teen today.

Its changed too much, he said. You have to get permission from a private now to get him to do something. When I came in, you said, Go do that, and he went and did it.

zeke@express-news.net
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Before the Pearl Brewery became a hot San Antonio destination for locals and tourists, the spot was the backdrop for a story about love, murder and three women named Emma.

First, and most prominent, is Emma Koehler, who took over Pearl Brewery after her husband Otto was killed in 1914. She successfully led employees through Prohibition and died in 1947, according to Hotel Emmas website.

Employees at Hotel Emma, named after Emma Koehler, honored her during the recent Dia de Los Muertos. An altar at the hotel for her was full of flowers, candles, photos and candy skulls.

Gone but not forgotten, read a Facebook post from the hotel. Dia de Los Muertos ofrenda for Emma Koehler.

But there are also two other Emmas in this story.

In about 1910, Emma Koehler was in a car accident and reportedly required full-time care at home. Her husband Otto hired a home nurse, also named Emma  Emma Dumpke. This Emma, a petite brunette in her 20s, however, went by Emmi, according to the hotels website. Not long after joining the household, Emma (Emmi or Emma II) accompanied the Koehler family to Europe for an extensive stay, according to a 2014 story by Joe Holley in the Houston Chronicle.

Otto Koehler struck up an affair with Emmi and her friend, the third Emma  Emma Hedda Burgemeister. This Emma was tall and blonde, in her mid-30s, according to the website. Otto set up the pair of Emmas in a house on the South Side.

The beer baron paid expenses for the two women, giving Emma II $125 a month in spending money and Emma III $50 a month, according to Holleys story. The house was deeded to both women, wrote Holley, and Otto dropped by once a week or so for two to three hours.

But not everything was paradise.

On Nov. 12, 1914, Otto, considered one of the wealthiest men in the Southwest due to his extensive investments, visited the house and some sort of argument broke out. The taller, blonde Emma (number III) shot him dead, with bullets to the neck, face and heart, Holleys story said.

Im sorry, but I had to kill him, she reportedly told police.

Several newspapers reported on the murder with headlines like Nurse slays millionaire in love mystery (from the Daily East Oregonian, which described the accused as a beautiful trained nurse).

She was charged with murder, but fled to Europe to help as a World War I nurse. Years later, the tall Emma (III) returned to the Alamo City and was found not guilty by an all-male jury, according to the hotels website.

It was a sordid story which the unfortunate woman had to tell, but one which held the jury and the courtroom, packed to the utmost with spectators, breathless, the San Antonio Light reported Jan. 19, 1918. Miss Burgemeister wore a dress of dark material and a fur hat and muff, her face was covered with a veil, according to the Light. Emma III told the jury that she killed Koehler in self defense and to protect the honor of her friend, Emma II, Holley wrote.

Later, Emma III went to New Orleans and married one of the jurors.

Today, a drink called The Three Emmas memorializes the women at the Sternewirth Bar inside the Hotel Emma. Its a drink made of Pearl beer, rose cordial, amontillado sherry, botanist gin, grapefruit and lemon juice, according to the bars menu.

Hotel marketing director Beth Smith commented about the drink to an Express-News reporter when the hotel opened, saying One is great, and three will kill ya.

Kelsey Bradshaw is a digital reporter for mySA.com. Read more of her stories here.| kbradshaw@express-news.net | Twitter: @kbrad5
More than 1000 people had registered for the three-day conference which was co-organised by the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry and saw political and business heavyweights from Germany, Singapore and Australia among others come together for discussions about issues affecting the region.
Our dealers and customers will now be able to benefit from one of the best hay and forage product lines in the industry and a very experienced and professional support team, Mr McCormack said.
In a cozy atmosphere, President Quang delivered a welcoming speech to APEC Economic Leaders, spouses and distinguished guests.

On behalf of the State and people of Vietnam, he expressed his honor to extend warmest welcome to all to the 25th APEC Economic Leaders Week in the beautiful and hospitable coastal city of Da Nang.

Group photo

He stressed that, Vietnam has a saying four oceans may we live, one family do we share. And sharing the Pacific Rim, for decades now, they have enjoyed the sweet fruits of peace, cooperation and development. Once a battlefield, the Asia-Pacific is now the cradle of economic miracles.

These successes have been founded on our strong belief in the power of cooperation and dialogue. Your presence here is a vivid example of such confidence. The Pacific Ocean may be vast, but such distance does not diminish our will or commitment to cooperation for a better future of the whole region.

Since its inception nearly 30 years ago, APEC has become the premier regional economic forum, an incubator for ideas and initiatives on growth and integration as well as trade and investment liberalization. Besides, it has also become the coordinating mechanism for regional economic cooperation.

By working together to strengthen APECs leadership in regional and global economic governance, we can turn the forecast of the 21st century as the Century of the Asia-Pacific into reality, Mr Quang stated.

Exactly a decade after the 2008-2009 global economic crisis, we are seeing firmer global recovery. Growth in the Asia-Pacific has been nearly twice as fast as the global average. Particularly encouraging is the increasingly solid recovery and growth of APEC members, especially the major economies. The vitality and resilience of the regional economy brings to mind the Vietnamese bamboo trees, supple yet firm and strong even in face of the most violent storms. This compels us to take bolder actions to realize the Bogor Goals and define APECs strategic direction for the future.



Gala Dinner and Cultural Performances.



Geographically, the nation is at the front of continental Southeast Asia looking out to the Pacific Ocean. For Vietnam, the Asia-Pacific region is always at the top of its foreign policy priority and development strategy. Since the launch of Doi moi in 1986, the country has twice had the honor to host APEC.

According to the President, this alone is an indication of the reality that Vietnams future is inseparable from that of the region, exactly as reflected in the chosen theme for APEC 2017 - Creating new dynamism, Fostering a shared future.

11 years ago, when Vietnam first hosted APEC, it was in the early days of our journey of regional and international economic integration. The nation has since joined the group of middle-income economies, with income per capita tripling from USD730 in 2006 to nearly USD2,400.

He reaffirmed that, at the current time, Vietnam is an active and responsible member of regional and global cooperation mechanisms and an important link in key regional economic integration networks.

Speaking about future cooperation, the State leader the achievements recorded during 20 years of APEC membership underline Vietnams determination to engage in a process of comprehensive renovation and extensive integration, thus highlighting its commitment to play a more active role in shaping regional and global cooperation mechanisms.

What it has achieved thus far is, moreover, the fruits of an ever more deepened cooperation between Vietnam and APEC member economies.

To become a strong economy and a favorite destination of international friends, for Vietnam, it has made great strides in strengthening cooperation. Many APEC members have become nation's top trade and investment partners, as well as make up 85% of its international tourists and are home to 80% of Vietnamese students abroad. Thanks to that, Vietnam closer to the world and the world closer to Vietnam./.
Ellen Page has accused Brett Ratner of "outing" her by asking an older woman to sleep with her in order to help her "realise she's gay".

Ellen Page

The 30-year-old actress came out as gay in 2014, but has now accused the film producer of being "blatantly homophobic and abuse" toward her on the set of 2006 movie 'X-Men: The Last Stand' when she was just 18, by asking a woman who was 10 years older than her to "f**k her" to prove she was a lesbian.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Ellen said: "'You should f**k her to make her realize she's gay.' He said this about me during a cast and crew 'meet and greet' before we began filming, 'X-Men: The Last Stand'. I was eighteen years old. He looked at a woman standing next to me, ten years my senior, pointed to me and said: 'You should f**k her to make her realize she's gay.' He was the film's director, Brett Ratner.

"I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself. I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak. I felt violated when this happened. I looked down at my feet, didn't say a word and watched as no one else did either. This man, who had cast me in the film, started our months of filming at a work event with this horrific, unchallenged plea. He 'outed' me with no regard for my well-being, an act we all recognize as homophobic. I proceeded to watch him on set say degrading things to women. I remember a woman walking by the monitor as he made a comment about her 'flappy p****y'. (sic)"

The 'Juno' star went on to claim that she had once been "reprimanded" for claiming she wasn't on Brett's "team", and was shocked that his alleged actions had gone unpunished.

She continued: "I got into an altercation with Brett at a certain point. He was pressuring me, in front of many people, to don a t-shirt with 'Team Ratner' on it. I said no and he insisted. I responded, 'I am not on your team.' Later in the day, producers of the film came to my trailer to say that I 'couldn't talk like that to him.' I was being reprimanded, yet he was not being punished nor fired for the blatantly homophobic and abusive behavior we all witnessed. I was an actor that no one knew. I was eighteen and had no tools to know how to handle the situation. (sic)"

Ellen finished by branding the ongoing sexual harassment allegations about several Hollywood stars including Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey as a "long awaited reckoning".

She concluded her 1,669-word post by writing: "This is a long awaited reckoning. It must be. It's sad that"codes of conduct" have to be enforced to ensure we experience fundamental human decency and respect. Inclusion and representation are the answer. We've learned that the status quo perpetuates unfair, victimizing behavior to protect and perpetuate itself. Don't allow this behavior to be normalized. Don't compare wrongs or criminal acts by their degrees of severity. Don't allow yourselves to be numb to the voices of victims coming forward. Don't stop demanding our civil rights. I am grateful to anyone and everyone who speaks out against abuse and trauma they have suffered. You are breaking the silence. You are revolution. (sic)"
An updated and expanded edition of the Hot Button Report, a ranking of eleven viscose and rayon producers that represent 70 per cent of global viscose production in terms of their environmental responsiveness, has been released. The report is highly anticipated by over 105 global brands, retailers and designers that are part of the CanopyStyle initiative.The Hot Button Report is the first tool of its kind that enables fashion brands and retailers to robustly assess producers impact on the worlds forests, as well as their leadership in forging solutions to eliminate endangered forest fibre from the rayon and viscose supply chain. It has become a go-to resource for fashion brands since first published in 2016.

An updated and expanded edition of the Hot Button Report, a ranking of eleven viscose and rayon producers that represent 70 per cent of global viscose production in terms of their environmental responsiveness, has been released. The report is highly anticipated by over 105 global brands, retailers and designers that are part of the CanopyStyle initiative.#

According to the 2017 edition of the Hot Button Report, two major producers, Birla Cellulose and Lenzing, representing 25 per cent of global supply, now have light green shirt ranking. Three Chinese producers, Sateri, Sanyou and Fulida, are well underway with CanopyStyle Audits, and audit reports are anticipated to be made public in late Fall 2017, report says.However, two producers still sit with red shirts and continue to be unresponsive, according to the report.One new viscose producer, ENKA, has recently joined the CanopyStyle initiative with the adoption and initiation of the audit while three producers are starting to make progress on transparency by listing their pulp suppliers publicly on their website.The ranking features five new criteria to incentivise continuous improvements and progress, aligned with CanopyStyle priorities on alternative fibres, conservation solutions and transparency, it says.Completing the CanopyStyle Audit is the priority next step expected from all producers that have not yet started this independent verification process, it says.Weve seen remarkable progress with CanopyStyle over the past four years as a result of the collective action of our brands partners. In the upcoming year, CanopyStyle brands and designers are looking for additional leadership from their rayon and viscose suppliers, said Canopys executive director and founder Nicole Rycroft. Initiating the CanopyStyle Audits, advocating for conservation, and advancing the development and production of next generation solutions are all key performance areas for producers striving to meet their customers expectations.The 2017 edition of the Hot Button Report will be followed later this fall by the public release of several more CanopyStyle Audits of viscose producers as well as additional implementation tools for CanopyStyle brands. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Textile Machinery Association of Sweden (TMAS) is all set to explore opportunities in the Vietnam textiles industry. The member companies of TMAS who are well-established leaders in various areas of the textile manufacturing process, are all set for expansion in Vietnam. The companies have a unique combination of production expertise, and superior services.

Tran Phuoc Thanh, business development representative for TMAS in Vietnam, has also gathered insights into the industry and undergone training in Sweden, from the Swedish textile machinery makers and their customers.

"TMAS is positioned for long-term in Vietnam. The country is emerging as the new global production centre of textile products. We want to be part of this exciting growth and expansion. We believe we have a lot to offer in terms of our knowledge, expertise and innovative technology," said Mikael Aremann, president, TMAS.

The textile industry is growing dramatically and Vietnam has been identified as a hub for the Asian textile industry in the next decade. The main reason for this is the increasing cost levels in China, causing many textile and garment brands to relocate in Vietnam. In fact, TMAS companies in Sweden have already started realising a notable increase in demand for their products and services

"TMAS companies are the perfect match for the Vietnamese textile industry. We are a relatively small, tight-knit group of companies, each specialising in a different key area along the manufacturing process. Our size allows us to be flexible. We work closely with our customers, we listen and adapt quickly to their changing needs as and when they respond to market demands," emphasized Therese Premler-Andersson, secretary general, TMAS.

It has been estimated production in the Vietnamese textile and clothing industry will increase by an average of 12-14 per cent between 2016-2020. Export is also expected to reach $50 billion by 2020, rising from $28 billion in 2016, a company press release said.

TMAS is reflective of Swedens reputation for reliability, quality and world leading technology. R&D is important and TMAS companies have a solid track record for ensuring their customers achieve long-term profitability and growth. Building smart, sustainable solutions is in our DNA, and we will definitely meet the drive for innovation in Vietnam, added Andersson.

"I look forward to enabling TMAS to be a key driver of success for Vietnam, and through Vietnam to the region, and the world," Thanh concluded.

The member companies will be showcasing their innovative products and services at the textile machinery exhibition that is scheduled to be held in Ho Chi Minh City, beginning from November 22. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Cotonea, a Ugandan brand, has been ranked as third of the 10 largest processors of Organic fairtrade cotton (OFT) by Textile Exchange. For more than 10 years Cotonea has been sourcing OFT with a stable promise in Uganda and Kyrgyzstan. The organic textile report acknowledges Cotoneas balance between the market price challenges and their ethical standards.

Boll & Branch from New Jersey and the Swiss Coop have been ranked at the first two positions.

Cotonea has technical know-how at their disposal and produces high quality products with their organic cotton, whose production is monitored from the fibre to the finished product, the report stated. The brand is a part of Elmer and Zweifel Company.

Cotonea, a Ugandan brand, has been ranked as third of the 10 largest processors of Organic fairtrade cotton (OFT) by Textile Exchange. For more than 10 years Cotonea has been sourcing OFT with a stable promise in Uganda and Kyrgyzstan. The organic textile report acknowledges Cotonea's balance between the market price challenges and their ethical standards.#

The Gulu Agricultural Development Company (GADC) trained 18,000 farmers in organic farming between 2014 and 2016 with the support of the German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ). This organic farming programme significantly contributes to the development of this region in northern Uganda, said Roland Stelzer, managing partner of Elmer & Zweifel.

While being one of the largest cotton processors, for the first time, Cotonea is also one of the top 10 brands with the largest organic cotton growth in the 2016 report.

Textile Exchange is a non-governmental organisation based in the US, promoting the production and use of organic cotton. (VM)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/10/17 -- Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX: PVG)(NYSE: PVG) ("Pretivm" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of David Prins as Vice President, Operations. Previous to this appointment Mr. Prins was serving as the Project Director for Pretivm's Brucejack Mine.

Mr. Prins has extensive experience in mining. Prior to joining Pretivm as Project Director, Mr. Prins worked with Placer Dome directly and indirectly for a period of over 16 years which included a 10 year period at the Zaldivar Mine in Northern Chile. Since then, Mr. Prins has been involved with numerous projects, primarily in Latin America.

"Dave has been fundamental to the successful completion of the Brucejack Mine ahead of schedule, and we are pleased that he will be continuing in the Vice President, Operations role. Dave's understanding of the mine and focus on operational efficiency will contribute to our achieving steady state gold production and our objective of becoming the leading intermediate gold producer," said Pretivm's President and CEO Joseph Ovsenek.

About Pretivm

Pretivm is ramping-up gold production at the high-grade underground Brucejack Mine in northern British Columbia.

Forward-Looking Statements

This News Release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "anticipates," "believes," "may," "continues," "estimates," "expects," and "will" and words of similar import, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking information may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to our planned exploration and development activities, the accuracy of our mineral resource estimates; capital and operating cost estimates; production and processing estimates; the results, the adequacy of Pretivm's financial resources, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources including the 2016 Valley of the Kings Mineral Resource estimate and the Brucejack Mineral Reserve estimate, realization of mineral reserve and resource estimates and timing of development of Pretivm's Brucejack Mine, costs and timing of future exploration, results of future exploration and drilling, production and processing estimates, capital and operating cost estimates, timelines and similar statements relating to the economic viability of the Brucejack Mine, timing and receipt of approvals, consents and permits under applicable legislation, Pretivm's executive compensation approach and practice, and statements regarding USD cash flows and the recurrence of foreign currency translation adjustments. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "projects", "assumes", "budget", "strategy", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "targets" and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative forms of any of these terms and similar expressions, have been used to identify forward-looking statements and information.

Statements concerning mineral reserve and resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forward-looking information to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if the property is developed. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, those risks identified in Pretivm's Annual Information Form dated March 30, 2017 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and in the United States on Form 40-F through EDGAR at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking information is based on the expectations and opinions of Pretivm's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise. We do not assume any obligation to update forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSX nor the NYSE has approved or disapproved of the information contained herein.

Contacts:

Joseph Ovsenek

President & CEO



Troy Shultz

Manager, Investor Relations & Corporate Communicati



Pretium Resources Inc.

Suite 2300, Four Bentall Centre, 1055 Dunsmuir Street

PO Box 49334 Vancouver, BC V7X 1L4

(604) 558-1784

invest@pretivm.com

(SEDAR filings: Pretium Resources Inc.)






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership have reached a consensus to move ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy.



It comes hours after President Trump made it clear that the U.S. will not seek multilateral free trade deals. Instead, he prefers mutually beneficial bilateral pacts.



Trump withdrew America from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the landmark trade accord negotiated by the Obama administration, on his third day in office.



In a joint statement Saturday, trade ministers from the remaining 11 Asia-Pacific countries -- dubbed the TPP-11 -- said they had 'agreed on the core elements' of a deal at the sidelines of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, after days of stalled talks raised fears it could collapse altogether.



Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's trade minister, described the breakthrough in a tweet as 'big progress'.



Canada had held out to maintain environmental and labour protections linked to freer markets in the deal.



Those elements were thrown into jeopardy by America's sudden withdrawal from the deal earlier this year, which forced the remaining countries to reconsider the merits of a pact suddenly shorn of access to the world's largest economy.



China is not included in the TPP, a deal initially driven through by the former US administration as a counterweight to surging Chinese power in Asia.



Today, Trump and Xi will join leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region for closed door summit talks, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, Japan's Shinzo Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The ex-wife of a gunman who killed dozens in a South Texas church shooting last week has said he subjected her to abuse and violence, and threatened to kill her and her entire family. Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, during a service on November 5, killing at least 26 people and wounding many more. He shot himself to death with a handgun while fleeing after the mass shooting in the tiny Texas town. Kelley's former wife Tessa Brennaman, 25, told CBS News in an interview that he 'had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him. The former US Air Force airman pleaded guilty in 2013 to hitting, choking and kicking Tessa, and to fracturing her son's skull. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 11, 2017 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Ford Motor Company ("Ford" or the "Company") (NYSE: F) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Eastern District of Michigan, and docketed under 17-cv-13536, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Ford securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Ford securities between February 18, 2014, and October 26, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until December 29, 2017, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Ford Motor Company designs, manufactures, and services cars and trucks. The Company also provides vehicle-related financing, leasing, and insurance through its subsidiary.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) flaws in the Company's manufacturing processes, supply chain, and/or quality control rendered at least 841,000 Ford vehicles unsafe to drive; (ii) the foregoing issues, when revealed, would foreseeably subject Ford to additional regulatory scrutiny and impact the Company's profitability; and (iii) as a result, Ford's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

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 fell $0.21, or 1.71%, to close at $12.06 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

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
sweetFrog is Proud to Celebrate Veterans in November as They're Recognized on Veterans Day and Throughout National Veterans and Military Families Month

RICHMOND, VA / ACCESSWIRE / November 11, 2017 / sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt, the nation's leading frozen yogurt chain, proudly announces its ranking by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 2017's Top U.S. Franchises for Veterans. sweetFrog ranked #23 on the list because of the stellar programs and incentives the company makes available to help veterans become franchise business owners.

This distinction comes on the heels of President Donald Trump issuing two key proclamations honoring veterans throughout November - one confirming November 11, 2017 as Veterans Day and another establishing November as National Veterans and Military Families Month.

sweetFrog is a firm advocate of our nation's military, providing special treats and programs throughout the entire year - such as the Veteran Awareness Program sweetFrog's Director of Franchise Marketing & Development, Shemar Pucel, launched two years ago to educate transitioning veterans on the opportunities available for them. The company also doubles the VetFran discount in November to give aspiring entrepreneurs who served our country 50% off the franchise fee and offers in-store discounts throughout the month to service members and their families.

sweetFrog's CEO, Patrick Galleher, says it's this commitment to education and families that makes sweetFrog the nation's leading frozen yogurt chain for veterans.

"We're thankful and grateful for the men and women who made the brave decision to wear a uniform of the armed forces to serve and protect this great country of ours," says Galleher. "sweetFrog has the utmost respect for our nation's active duty and veterans. We recognize our token of appreciation can in no way repay them for their daily sacrifice. We at sweetFrog are committed to honor our veterans through service and programs designed to help veterans make a smooth transition into a post-military career with us as successful business owners."

Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur, says sweetFrog is one of 150 franchisors who earned this important distinction.

"Veterans often make ideal franchisees, thanks to their strong leadership skills and abilities to work inside complex systems," says Feifer. "We're proud to highlight the franchisors that best connect with and support veterans, as they pursue the opportunity to own their own business."

To determine the Top Franchises for Veterans ranking, Entrepreneur analyzed each company's veteran incentive, the number of veteran-owned units, how veteran franchisees are attracted to and support by each company, and how each company scored in the 2017 Franchise 500 ranking. sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt's position on the ranking is a testament to the company's efforts to support veterans in their pursuit of the American Dream.

The Entrepreneur Magazine distinction is one of many accolades sweetFrog has recently won due to their unwavering dedication to fueling the success of their franchise owners. Others include:

sweetFrog is #318 on Franchise Times Top 200+ list of the country's top franchises based on sales growth.

sweetFrog landed at #42 on Entrepreneur's 2017 Top New Franchises list.

The Daily Meal named sweetFrog America's #1 Frozen Yogurt Shop.

And just this month, sweetFrog was determined to be #5 on FranchiseRankings.com Top 30 Ice Cream, Yogurt & Smoothie Franchises.

To view sweetFrog in the full listing, visit entrepreneur.com/franchises/topfranchiseveterans. The list can also be seen in the November issue of Entrepreneur, available now on newsstands.

For more information about sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt, please visit www.sweetfrog.com.

To learn more about sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt franchise opportunities, as well as acquisitions and re-brands, please visit http://sweetfrog.com/franchise.

About sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt:

sweetFrog (http://www.sweetfrog.com) is the fastest growing self-serve frozen yogurt restaurant company in the country. With a wide selection of premium frozen yogurt flavors and fresh toppings choices, sweetFrog was named Best Frozen Yogurt in the USA by The Daily Meal in 2014 and 2016. sweetFrog has 340 stores and mobile units including retail, mobile trucks and non-traditional locations (such as sporting venues) in twenty-seven states in the U.S, Dominican Republic and Egypt. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Richmond, Virginia. sweetFrog prides itself on providing a family-friendly environment where customers can enjoy soft-serve frozen yogurt, ice cream, gelato and sorbets with the toppings of their choice. The company was founded on Christian principles and seeks to bring happiness and a positive attitude into the lives of the communities it calls home.

Media Contacts:



Graham Chapman

919-459-8157

graham.chapman@sweetfrog.net

Patrick Galleher

804-343-3441

pgalleher@sweetfrog.net

SOURCE: sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 11, 2017 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Rio Tinto plc ("Rio Tinto" or the "Company") (NYSE: RIO). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether Rio Tinto 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]

In August 2011, Rio Tinto acquired certain Riversdale Mining Limited coal assets in Mozambique for approximately $3.7 billion. In or around December 2012, the Chairman of the Board of Rio Tinto ordered an investigation into the true value of these coal assets. In January 15, 2013, the Company's Board determined that the assets were severely impaired and should be written down to $611 million. On February 15, 2013, Rio Tinto disclosed the initial impact of the impairment to investors in a press release announcing the Company's financial and operating results for 2012. On this disclosure, Rio Tinto's American Depositary Receipt price fell sharply over the following trading sessions, damaging investors. After recording hundreds of millions of dollars in additional impairment charges, Rio Tinto ultimately sold the assets at issue for $50 million (less than two percent of the original $3.7 billion acquisition price).

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

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
Vietnam and RoK promote cooperation in fostering leaders and managers Professor Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA), and Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, received and worked with the Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young Ju on November 14.

NA leader attends great unity festival in Hanois Quan Thanh ward Politburo member and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on November 13 joined the National Great Unity Festival at the residential area No.6 in Quan Thanh ward of Hanoi's Ba Dinh district.

US removes Vietnam from monetary manipulation monitoring list Vietnam has been removed from the US's monetary manipulation monitoring list, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

Businesses in Ho Chi Minh City plan to recruit 43,000 workers The demand for labor recruitment in Ho Chi Minh City in the last months of the year is 43,000 workers, mainly in the fields of trade, service, and production and consumption for Tet holidays.

Dak Lak transforms elephant-riding into elephant-friendly tourism model The Dak Lak Peoples Committee has just signed a Decision approving technical assistance provision to transform the elephant riding tourism model into an elephant-friendly tourism model, said the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on November 10.

More than 2,000 healthcare staff at 800 grassroots health facilities to be trained to provide telemedicine services (CPV) - The Ministry of Health, the United Nations Development Program, and the Japanese Consulate in Da Nang kicked off the implementation of a grassroots telehealth programme using the software " Doctor for Everyone & quot; in five provinces including Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Ca Mau and Dak Lak with a launching ceremony in Hue City on November 10th 2022.

11 Vietnamese universities listed in QS Asia University Rankings Education organisation Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has just announced the ranking results of the best higher education institutions in Asia in 2023. Vietnam has 11 representatives present in this announcement.

Over 3,000 additional train tickets sold for Lunar New Year of Cat In order to meet the demand of people in the Central region returning to their hometowns to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Cat 2023, the railway sector added more than 3,000 train tickets from Saigon and Di An and Bien Hoa Stations to stations in the Central region such as Tuy Hoa, Dieu Tri, Quang Ngai and Da Nang in the days from January 9 to 20, 2023.

President Ho Chi Minh commemorated in Nghe An On November 9, at the Ho Chi Minh Museum, Ho Chi Minh City branch (Nha Rong Wharf), a Nghe An provincial delegation led by Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Head of the Provincial Party Committee Commission on Popularization and Education, commemorated President Ho Chi Minh at the Nha Rong Wharf.

Vietnam Industry and Manufacturing Exhibition 2022 coming soon in Bac Ninh From November 9-11, the Vietnam Industrial & Manufacturing Fair 2022 (VIMF 2022) is being held in Bac Ninh Province.

Hanoi builds headquarters of Vientiane justice, procuracy sectors as gift Construction of new headquarters of the Department of Justice and the People's Procuracy of the Lao capital city Vientiane began on November 5.

K53 team of Kon Tum begins dry-season search for Vietnamese soldiers' remains in Laos The Central Highlands province of Kon Tum held a ceremony on November 5 to send off the province's team in charge of searching for and repatriating remains of volunteer martyrs and experts who died in Laos and Cambodia during wartime (Team K53) on its mission in the 2022-2023 dry season.

PM stresses resolve to realise 2022 targets at highest possible level Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has affirmed to the National Assembly that the Government and local administrations will continue to drastically implement set measures and tasks while fixing shortcomings so as to realise the year's targets to the highest possible level and create a driving force for next year.

Minister talks ways to speed up digital transformation, fight fake news Digital transformation and the fake news fight were among the issues legislators questioned Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung about on November 4.

Q&A session continues at 15th NAs fourth session The 15th National Assembly spent the whole day of November 4 grilling ministers on issues related to construction, information and communications, and home affairs.

Digital transformation emerges as highlight at NA Q&A session Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam outlined a number of points about digital transformation, five strategic planning criteria for creating a national database, support for mainstream media, and the management of cross-border social network platforms at a Q&A session during the 15th National Assemblys fourth session in Hanoi on November 4.

Global Network of Young Vietnamese Medical Scientists established The Global Network of Young Vietnamese Medical Scientists (GYVS) was officially established at the 21st science and technology conference of the health sector in Hanoi on November 2.

VCCI conducts a survey in Bac Ninh province A delegation led by Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Director of the PCI Project, on November 2 conducted a survey on economic development in association with environmental protection in Bac Ninh province.

UNDP: Efficient management and conservation of biodiversity reserves for the community and environment (CPV) - November 3, 2022, marks the 1st celebration of the International Day for Biosphere Reserves. Viet Nam, having the second highest number of Biosphere Reserves (BR) in Southeast Asia, strives to foster a well-balanced relationship between humans and nature.

Nearly 2,200 newly registered businesses in Bac Ninh province in 10 months In 10 months of 2022, Bac Ninh province had 2,170 newly established enterprises, up 15.2% over the same period in 2021, with a total registered capital of over 17,408 billion VND, according to the report of Bac Ninh provinces Department of Planning and Investment.

Hoa Binh inaugurates construction in commemoration of Uncle Ho On November 2, in Luong Son district, Hoa Binh province, the inauguration ceremony of the work to embellish the relic on Uncle Ho's visit to the Chi Hoa Manufacturing Group was held.

Over 300 stalls attends VINAMAC EXPO 2022 in HCMC The International Exhibition on Industrial Machinery, Equipment, Technology and Products in Ho Chi Minh City (VINAMAC EXPO 2022) opened at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre on November 2.

President meets outstanding individuals from Ha Giang province President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on November 2 met outstanding individuals from the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, urging them to carry forward their role in socio-economic development and national defence.

National brand help promote Vietnams global image: PM Each product recognised as the national brand will help spread the image of the countrys brand as well as its tradition, culture and people, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a ceremony in Hanoi on November 2 to honour the National Brand in 2022.

More tours about Uncle Ho to open The system of relics commemorating President Ho Chi Minh in Thua Thien Hue province is ranked as a special national relic. Recently, the project "Promoting the value of President Ho Chi Minh relics in Thua Thien Hue for tourism development" has been approved by the Provincial People's Committee. It is expected that the tour Following Uncle Hos youth in Hue will soon be put into operation.

Logo design contest held to celebrate 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Australia ties A logo design contest has been co-held by the Australian Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia to celebrate 50 years of bilateral diplomacy between the two countries in 2023.

City launches emulation movement to mark Uncle Hos visit to Tuan Chau Island On October 30, Quang Ninh provinces Ha Long city held the launching ceremony of the peak emulation movement to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Quang Ninh province (October 30, 1963 - October 30, 2023) and the 60th anniversary of Uncle Hos visit to Tuan Chau Island, Ha Long city (November 23, 1963-November 23, 2023).

NA Standing Committee reviews feedback on two draft laws The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee looked into feedback on two draft laws at a meeting in Hanoi on October 29.
The global pinch valve marketis expected to grow at an impressive CAGR of close to 5% during the forecast period, according to Technavio's latest market research.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171111005035/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global pinch valve market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

In this market research report, Technaviocovers the market outlook and growth prospects of the global pinch valve market for 2017-2021. The market is further segmented based on end-user (food and beverage industry, healthcare industry, water and wastewater industry, chemical industry, and others) and geography (EMEA, APAC, and the Americas).

Technavio's research analysts segment the global pinch valve market into the following regions:

EMEA

APAC

Americas

Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

EMEA: largest pinch valve market

In the Middle East and Africa, there has been a rising demand for packaged food and beverage products. This has led to higher investments in the market in this region. Additionally, during the forecast period, the packaged food industry in EMEA will witness capacity additions. During the forecast period, the pinch valve market in the region is predicted to be benefited by the overall developments in the food and beverage industry. The growth of the chemical industry is expected to be fueled by local government initiatives like world-class plants and integrated chemical complex construction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Qatar.

"Through the forecast period, the water and wastewater and chemical industry in Europe is expected to witness an increase in investments. The chemical industry in this region has witnessed a growing demand. Therefore, the European Union has initiated the development of new chemical production facilities with stringent regulations to incorporate automation requirements within the plant. During the forecast period, the deployment of pinch valves is expected to increase due to these new projects," says Kalle Deepak, a lead automation research expert from Technavio.

This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing

Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free

Pinch valve market in APAC

All the end-user segments have witnessed substantial growth in APAC. There is a necessity to expand the infrastructure in the power, healthcare, chemical, and water and wastewater industry because of the increasing population and rapid expansion in industries. There is a rising trend of packaged food across the region that has led to new investments in the food and beverage industry. In regions such as China and India, the increasing population and decreasing access to clean water have increased the activities of water treatment.

"There is a demand for healthcare products, such as oncology drugs in Southeast Asia, which has led to healthcare companies enhancing their product portfolios. Apart from developing vaccines for remote clinics, they are also promoting medical tourism practices. In the biotechnology sector, Australia, China, and Singapore are striving to become centers for research and innovation," says Kalle

Pinch valve market in Americas

In the US, the chemical and petrochemical industry is expected to develop due to increased shale oil and gas production. The deployment of pinch valves for the refinement of water by seawater reverse osmosis process will increase owing to the new liquid natural gas projects planned by the US. There is a trend for packaged food in the US. This has contributed to the country becoming a lucrative option for the food and beverage industry.

During the forecast period, the US chemical processing industry is anticipated to enter a phase of growth because of the low cost of liquid natural gas that is a primary feedstock for the ethylene-based chemical industry. Significant opportunities for export-oriented trade in the Americas, predominantly in the US are expected to be witnessed due to the increasing global demand for chemicals, such as ethylene, ammonia, and methanol.

The top vendors in the global pinch valve market as highlighted in this market research analysis are:

AKO

Festo

Flowrox

Red Valve

WAMGROUP

Browse Related Reports:

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About Technavio

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With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171111005035/en/

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Great! In just five days from now, as many as 211 items  from cosmetics to detergents to granite and marble  will become cheaper. The GST Council meeting in Guwahati on Friday decided to knock 178 off the 28 percent rate bracket and put them in the 18 percent bracket and put another 33 into lower tax brackets than they were originally.

Eating out will also be easier on the pocket because all standalone restaurants are now going to be taxed at 5 percent, instead attracting different rates based on whether or not they were air-conditioned. This is actually a rap on the knuckles on the restaurant industry since it was found to be not passing on the benefit of input tax credit (ITC) to consumers (they have now been denied the benefit of ITC).

Small businesses can breathe easy as the GST Council has come out with a string of deadline relaxations and lowering of penalty for delayed filing. The composition scheme has also been tweaked to remove some problem areas.

With all these changes, has the country moved closer to a Good and Simple Tax? No. Because, while they have certainly tackled some pain points, they do little to address basic design flaws that the GST is labouring under.

Firstly, Fridays wholesale rate reductions do absolutely nothing to simplify the complex and complicated structure of taxation. Taxing of the same kind of products in different slabs continues. The multiple rates provide immense scope for evasion. Many restaurants had been found to be claiming ITC (the benefits of which they didnt pass on to customers) on purchase of branded goods (rice, wheat etc) though they were using unbranded goods.

As economist Indira Rajaraman has pithily said in this Livemint article, instead of a coherent block-wise mapping of products by type on to rates, products of the same type were assigned to different rates with no visible rationale. As long as this continues, the GST will continue to be problematic and pose an implementation headache.

But what were many of the items that were in the 28 percent category doing there anyway? And why are many continuing there? How can marble and certain sanitary fittings be taxed lower than cement? Can any pucca house be built without cement? Marble flooring can be an option, cement for the walls cannot. This is not to argue for a higher GST on marble, but just to point out the utter lack of logic in such decisions. How are washing machines  used even by the neo-middle class these days  categorised as a luxury item?

Will this mean that there will be further rate cuts in future meetings? India certainly needs to move towards a two-slab structure and the reductions will be a step in that direction. But this movement needs to be calibrated and not be ad hoc, as seems to be the case. Almost every meeting of the GST Council after the rollout on 1 July has seen some rate reductions.

As Rudra Sensharma, professor at IIM, Kozhikode pointed out in a tweet, frequent and piecemeal tinkering with rates create menu costs and business uncertainty. Actually, it also creates scope for lobbying. Why not, he suggests, have an annual review of GST rates instead? Why, indeed, not?

Some experts have expressed concern at the revenue impact of these reductions  some estimates put it at Rs 20,000 crore. But state finance ministers must have agreed to these changes if it was going to make a huge dent. The Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Haseeb Drabu told ET Now that the move for these rate cuts were emboldened because month on month revenue losses have been less than expected. Some states, he said, had even been showing a revenue-neutral position.

Secondly, it is well recognised that the GST structure is flawed because of the non-inclusion of petroleum, real estate and alcohol, as well as the large number of items taxed at 0 percent. This is one of the reasons that the rates needed to be kept high. It is a well-accepted principle that more items in the tax net allow for lower rates and more items outside the tax net make for higher rates. Finance ministers from Congress ruled states belatedly woke up to this and said they would demand that petroleum and real estate be brought into the GST. However, finance minister Arun Jaitley said there had been no time to discuss this. It is a reflection on all our finance ministers that they fail to find time to discuss important, structural issues and fritter away time in tinkering with rates.

A word, therefore, on the politics of Friday's exercise. State finance ministers have little incentive to address the design problems of GST because the blame for poor implementation is laid at the door of the central government. Nor do they suffer because of the poor design because even if this leads to revenue loss, they are going to get compensated for the first five years (there is another design flaw here, but more on that later). The complicated rate structure is also because every state has its own pet products/service that it wants either exempted or taxed at a lower rate.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had been saying, ahead of Friday's meeting, that Congress finance ministers will force an overhaul of the GST. But clearly, these ministers have not been able to get their colleagues to take up the design issues. We will never know if they seriously tried to do so. This shows that perhaps no political party is willing to address this in a serious manner, so long as they can continue to blame one another.

But this political one-upmanship needs to end.

In an interview to ET Now, Chidambaram said that outside experts should be involved in any attempt to fix the fundamental/structural flaws in the GST. That is a good suggestion and needs to be acted upon. GST design is not something that can be left to bureaucrats alone.

The government needs to take the initiative on this. And the Congress needs to give an assurance that it will abide by whatever recommendations these outside experts give. Let us not forget that the Congress stalled the passage of the GST constitution amendment bill for as long as it could, insisting that it put an 18 per cent cap on rates, even though all experts said this cant be written into the Constitution. Regional parties also need to come on board.

GST is a crucial reform and it, as well as the Indian economy, should not be held hostage to political games.
Nayanthara's latest Tamil outing Aramm, a socio-political thriller which hit the screens on Friday, has won over audiences and critics alike.

A gripping, hard-hitting story about hope and survival, narrated through the course of a day, features Nayanthara in the role of a district collector whose abilities are challenged in a life-and-death situation. Firstpost has exclusively learnt that a sequel is being planned and the film's producer K Rajesh confirmed it.

"Aramm 2 is on the cards. It's too early to divulge more information but the project will definitely happen. It'll be even more powerful and hard-hitting," Rajesh told Firstpost, adding that Nayanthara will return in the titular role.

Aramm, directed by Gopi Nainar, raises pertinent questions about the system we live in, emphasizing on the inefficiency of the government and officials in the need of the hour. The film has been unanimously praised for its realistic presentation about the lives of have-nots in the hinterland. The Telugu dubbed version of Aramm is scheduled to release soon.

Following the phenomenal response to the film, Nayanthara is visiting select theatres across Chennai on Saturday to meet and greet her fans who have embraced the film with love and support.

(Also read  Aramm movie review: Nayanthara shows why she is called Kollywood's 'Lady Superstar')
By Shruti Sunderraman

Aarti Shukla (Kriti Kharbanda), in debutant director Ratnaa Sinhas Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, wants to become an Indian Civil Services (ICS) officer. Her father, though, wants her to have an arranged marriage. Havent we all heard this before? In most Indian movies involving arranged marriage, one common thing at stake is the womans wishes. No one cares what she wants, she is just supposed to mehendi and chill.

When I heard the phrase prospective groom in this movie, I prepare myself for an onslaught of rishta Tinder  you know, the regular trope of how men and women in arranged marriages meet for the first time in Indian movies? I expected to see Satyendra (Rajkummar Rao) and his entire extended family crouched in Aartis living room, eating sweets, making small talk and discussing stages of dahejness. I expected Aarti to walk into the living room in a complete picture of sanskaar. To complete the picture of perfection, she would be carrying a tray of chai that she would have prepared herself. The man and womans eyes meet, the woman looks shy and he looks sheepish, and both families decide they should get 10 minutes alone in the adjacent room to decide if they want to spend the rest of their lives together. So no pressure, kids.

But no such thing happened in Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana. Aarti decides to meet Satyendra for the first time at a cafe. He nervously waits for her. Aarti walks in, the breeze blowing her rigorously parloured curls out of her face, a perfection in pink.

She sits down and engages him in conversation. She does the talking and asks him his likes and dislikes. She questions what he wants out of a life partner. She blushes with sincerity when he says he wants a best friend for life in his wife. She also makes it clear that she wants to continue working after marriage  she does not wait for him to ask her this question. She clearly states that she is interested in joining the civil services and would not want to get married if this was not acceptable to him. He agrees to her wishes.

Despite some romanticisation, this is not that far from how first meetings now happen with some urban men and women in India. Although the we-will-come-to-window-shop-your-beti-at-home tradition still continues, in many pockets of experience, the power balance of arranged marriages has shifted. In these situations, women meet their prospective grooms in places outside parental control  at restaurants, bars, cafes and parks. No more life decisions are made in a few minutes, snatched next door to the adults.

In many ways, Sinha has brought us a breath of fresh air. For many contemporary Indians, meeting an arranged prospective groom is not that different now from how they would meet someone through Tinder. Except in the former, the underlined expectation is marriage and in the latter, it is sex. But in both cases, both women and men expect a certain level of comfort, companionship and compatibility. And that is what Aarti is up to in that cafe.

Arranged marriages these days often involve much more discussions and questioning of interests, figuring out whether the couples emotional intelligences match, and stances on everything from financial decisions to pets. And we are happy to report that many of the women we know lead these conversations just as much as men do. There is no pressure to immediately give an answer. The woman is not looking for a yes to marriage in this meeting. She is simply looking to see if there is a possibility of a second date.

Thus in Sinhas vision, Aarti is surprised when Satyendra agrees to get married at the end of the first meeting. Even though she immediately likes him, she is more than okay with the idea of going out a few more times to decide if they are the right fit for each other.

Most Indian movies have not traditionally shown this particular iteration of the contemporary arranged marriage that some fortunate couples are now enjoying, where women have equal power and influence. In Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), Bhumi Pednekars wishes are filtered through the family during her first meeting with Ayushmann Khurrana and his family. When she wants to ask about Khurranas education, she asks her mother, who then asks Khuranas mother. No direct talking, only blushing.

In another of Rajkumar Raos films this year, Newton, he visits a prospective brides house to see her for the first time. Not only is the girl underage, but she speaks only when spoken to. They dont even get their other-room conversation.

Lets not forget Tanu Weds Manu (2011), where the entire family descends on Madhavan when he comes to see Kangana Ranaut for the first time. He goes into the other room to meet her. She enters in a pink saree, covered with a ghunghat. Madhavan does most of the talking mostly, as it turns out comically, because she is hungover. I sniggered through most of the scene, even if I was uncomfortable with the ghunghat trope the movie stuck to.

Daawat-e-Ishq (2014) turned out to be slightly better, where Parineeti Chopra meets man after man for arranged marriage in her home with all relatives present. With growing dismay, she watches family after family demand dowry, till she finally snaps and gives a piece of her mind to one of the prospective grooms.

Unfortunately, these movies experiences remain valid in India today. But then so are some others where women in arranged marriages have a stronger voice nowadays. While the chains of expectations that weigh women down in arranged marriages still clunk heavily, many are discovering a way to throw their weight around anyways.

If theres something Aarti and Satyendras first meeting in Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana reflects, it is that some young Indians are finally getting a chance to treat that first meeting as an opportunity to discuss what they want out of marriage  a chance to lay all their cards out on the table.

Having said this, it turns out that Satyendra and Aartis modern meeting did not matter too much after all  since there were other characters playing their cards close to their chest. What Aarti needed to know about her future was a crucial detail she discovers through back channels  that Satyendras mother isnt going to allow her to work after marriage. Satyendra and Aarti do not get married. And here, finally, is where Sinhas movie takes a turn towards our true reality of modern arranged marriage  even more dramatic than the thrills of the coffee-shop meeting. The reality that when women are allowed to choose, they may decide that this card game is too tiresome and they would rather play something else instead.

The Ladies Finger (TLF) is a leading online womens magazine.

Images from YouTube.

(Also read  Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana movie review: Even Rajkummar Rao cannot rescue this romantic drama)
The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which is going to be held in Goa in the fag end of November, has seen an unwelcome change. As per a Mumbai Mirror report, two films  S Durga (erstwhile Sexy Durga) and Nude have been dropped from the final list of movies being screened at the event by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

This move by the ministry is in contravention of the law. According to the same report, the step violates Clause 8.5 of the Indian Panorama 2017 Regulation, which clearly states that "the decision of the juries shall be final and binding and no appeal or correspondence regarding their decision shall be entertained".

The jury expected the government to intimate them, in case of a change. The jury members had reportedly made it clear in advance that an explanation must be given to them by the ministry, in case a film was being dropped.

In addition, the jury must choose the replacement of a film that is being removed. However, the ministry reportedly went ahead and put the list out after choosing the replacements on their own. According to a Mumbai Mirror source, some ministry members have apparently written to the ministry, expressing their displeasure with being kept out of the loop.
The opening credits of Ippadai Vellum bring together some terrific set of Indian achievers in various fields. There is Sachin Tendulkar, Kalpana Chawla, Abdul Kalam, Sundar Pichai and the likes. When pictures of such greats popped up immediately after the National Anthem, a stray thought asked me if I should stand while watching the film. I said, "No. We haven't gone that far yet."

Well, for a film that starts talking about India's greatness (without using dialogues), Ippadai Vellum simplifies too much for the sake of the audience. It is like you go to a fast food shop and order a masala dosa, and end up getting bite-sized pieces of the dosa (with the potato poriyal, chutney, and three types of sambar with it). Gaurav Narayanan, the director, does not even wait for you to tear baby dosas from the daddy dosa. In spite of this spoon-feeding, the film has, at its heart, some interesting ideas (however, please, do not try them at home or elsewhere).

Udhayanidhi Stalin belongs to the category of actors that needs the strength of the screenplay (along with several other factors) to taste success. Ippadai Vellum shows how an actor who does not have too many chips on his shoulder (for stardom and acting ability), can manage to walk through just fine. Udhay has never been the top star. His films do not break records and maybe, this has given him the room to experiment. He came out of the shadow of mindless comedies last year with Manithan, and now he does the same with Ippadai Vellum.

This movie comes from the director of Sigaram Thodu. I remember watching that film three years ago and enjoying it. Sigaram Thodu, too, had exciting little ideas (remember the prison break scene?). Here, it is about how terrorists use email to communicate with each other. When Daniel Balaji, who plays the main antagonist Chota, drafts an email and logs out without sending it to anybody, the first question that would irk the viewers would be, "Why didn't he send it to his fellow terrorists?" That is answered in the climax appropriately.

But then, this is primarily a film that depends on coincidences. And rightfully so, we will have to believe when Udhay (playing a smart man who' is jobless due to recession) gets picked up by the police in connection with terror-related activities. On the other side, Soori (playing a dubbing artist) is brought in by the same force for the same reason. The conversation that takes places between these two people at the hospital, where they are admitted, balances humor and tension (faced by Udhays character) in a genius manner.

The film takes a subtle dig at the way we look at terrorists. Look at how Daniel Balajis character is introduced. The voice-over in the beginning says that it took six months to catch the bomb-maker Chota because he is not a Muslim. There is also a religious angle to the love story of the leads. Udhays Madhusudhanan and Manjima Mohans Bhargavi are in love with each other. This angers Bhargavis brother, Dheena Sebastian (played by RK Suresh). Overall, the social commentary, within the framework of the movie, works. The characters, or the story, does not paint the town in religious colours. It would have been a different movie had it done that.

Maanagaram, the hyperlink charmer, which released earlier this year, was a rather nuanced take. This one does not trust the audiences brains as much as it relies on Madhusudhanans quick thinking. This detracts from the little suspense the film boasts of. You will not bite your nails in anticipation of what is going to hit you; you will merely go with the flow.

Nonetheless, I am going to call Gaurav Narayanan the chhota (little) Murugadoss of ideas. If the latter writes scenes to make his heroes and villains seem intelligent, the former does that as well, albeit with lesser known actors.

By the way, Gaurav, tell me, what is the connection between the Tendulkars, the Chawlas and Ippadai Vellum?
Los Angeles: Netflix has announced that it will not be making a second stand-up special with comedian Louis CK.

For years, rumors have swirled that Louis CK engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with the women around him. Gawker led coverage of these rumors in 2015 (and even as early as 2012). But this week, the New York Times reported that five women, many of whom went on the record, have accused Louis CK of sexual misconduct.

In response, Netflix has cut ties with CK, who admits that these stories are true. That said, other Louis CK content is still available on the Netflix service.

Based on Louis CK's behavior, we are not making his second stand up special.  Netflix US (@netflix) November 10, 2017

Beyond Netflix, Louis CKs upcoming film, I Love You, Daddy, which was set to be released on 17 November, will no longer hit theaters, according to the New York Times. The same report states that HBO has pulled Louis CK from its on-demand library and dropped him from the lineup of its comedy benefit broadcast Night of Too Many Stars.

FX, the network behind the the series Louie in which Louis CK stars, said that the matter is currently under review, according to the New York Times.

As more allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct come to light across Hollywood and beyond, big players in the media world are now having to take sides. Netflix, for one, has drawn a line in the sand, cutting ties entirely with Kevin Spacey after allegations that he made a sexual advance toward actor Anthony Rapp when Rapp was just 14.
British magazine Grazia UK has apologized to Lupita Nyongo after the actress accused it of altering her hair on its front cover to fit a more Eurocentric notion of beauty.

The Academy Award winner tweeted before-and-after images, saying the magazine edited out and smoothed her hair. She added the hashtag dtmh (dont touch my hair).

Disappointed that @GraziaUK edited out & smoothed my hair to fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like. #dtmh pic.twitter.com/10UUScS7Xo  Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) November 10, 2017

On Instagram, the Kenya-raised star of 12 Years a Slave and Star Wars: The Last Jedi said there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black womens complexion, hair style and texture.

The magazine said on 10 November that it apologized unreservedly to Lupita Nyongo. It said it had not altered the images itself or asked the photographer to do so, and is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages.
Mumbai: Majid Majidi's maiden India-set project Beyond The Clouds will have its India premiere at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), to be held in Goa from 20 to 28 November.

The Iranian filmmaker says he is curious to see the reaction of the audience. Starring Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan in the lead roles, the movie celebrates the triumph and adoration of life against a Mumbai backdrop.

Beyond The Clouds has been invited to be the opening film at IFFI, 2017.

"This is my second time at the IFFI, Goa. The first time it was a retrospective of my earlier films and this time, it's for Beyond The Clouds. I am very happy and curious to see the reactions of the audiences because this is the first time the film will be presented to Indian audiences," Majidi said in a statement.

The film presents an amalgamation of three languages (Hindi, Tamil and English) instead of it being shot and dubbed separately. Each language will form a major part of the film and will be used in the scenes and setups that befit those languages.

Produced by Zee Studios and Eyecandy Films, Beyond The Clouds is centred around a brother-sister relationship.

Majidi, along with the lead actors, Oscar winning music director AR Rahman, Hindi dialogue writer of the film Vishal Bhardwaj and producers Sujay Kutty, Business Head at Zee Studios and Shareen Mantri Kedia and Kishor Arora of Namah Pictures, is expected to attend the premiere on 20 November.

(Also read  IFFI 2017: I&B Ministry reportedly removes S Durga, Nude from final list without consulting jury)
New Delhi: It was planned as a seamless connect between India and its Southeast Asian neighbours, a motorable highway through the northeast to Myanmar and beyond to Thailand that would see an exchange of goods, people and the intermingling of cultures. But the trilateral highway, one of India's main connectivity projects with the ASEAN, is sadly nowhere near completion even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves to attend the 15th India-Asean Summit in Manila on Sunday.

The 1,700-kilometre trilateral highway, connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand, was to have been completed by 2016, according to a Joint Task Force meeting between the three countries in September 2012. But the target has been slipping continuously, and has now been pushed back, with 2020 being given as a tentative date.

Modi had in his speech at the 13th Asean-India Summit in Kuala Lumpur in November 2015 assured that "the trilateral highway project is making good progress and should be completed by 2018". His government has maintained that its Act East Policy is more robust and execution-oriented than the previous regime's Look East Policy.

The delay in completion comes even as China pushes vigorously forward with its own connectivity corridors with neighbours as well as setting up collateral infrastructure like warehouses, factory sheds and office blocks.

The year 2017 is special in Asean-India ties, with both sides commemorating the silver anniversary of their dialogue partnership, and the 10-member grouping is also celebrating its golden jubilee. The Modi government has in celebration of the ties invited all the heads of the 10-member Asean nations for the Republic Day Parade in January.

The Trilateral Highway project  to link Moreh in Manipur, India, to Mae Sot in Thailand through Mandalay in Myanmar  was in fact inked by the previous NDA government under AB Vajpayee. It was visualised as a "highway of opportunity and friendship that would facilitate not just the movement of goods and services, but also of people and ideas".

Rajiv Bhatia, who was India's Ambassador to Myanmar when the project was launched in 2002, told IANS, "The deadline keeps getting pushed into the future... The Indian government is doing what it can. The final issue is connectivity to Asean."

According to Prabir De, coordinator of the Asean-India Centre at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has upgraded the 160-km Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo section of the highway in Myanmar at a cost of $27.28 million. And development of a new road between Kalewa to Yargi (around 120 km) in Myanmar is ongoing.

The highway also involves strengthening or rebuilding of 69 bailey bridges of World War II vintage, which will allow it to take container loads, besides passenger movement.

De says that the earlier military junta in Myanmar had not shown much interest in the project, but State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is "very positive" about it and "Prime Minister Modi has taken a personal interest in its completion".

The three countries are also negotiating a Motor Vehicle Agreement to allow vehicles to travel without a hitch on the highway.

"The negotiations have not started so far, probably Myanmar takes the line that they will do it closer to the time when the highway is ready," said Bhatia.

After it is completed, the highway is to be linked to Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. It could then serve as a lifeline between India's northeast and the Mekong region.

India inked an MoU with Myanmar on cooperation in upgrading the 69 bridges during the visit of President U Htin Kyaw in August 2016. Another MoU was inked for upgradation of the Kalewa-Yargi road section of the highway.

Sonu Trivedi, Professor of International Relations at Delhi University who specialises in Southeast Asia and connectivity issues, told IANS that the delay in completing the project is an issue in India's relations with its Southeast Asian neighbours, especially Myanmar and Thailand.

"The countries are eagerly awaiting how and when it will be implemented, and the delay is causing certain anxiety in their minds, particularly in the changed environment in the region, especially after the speech given by President Xi Jinping (on the Belt and Road initiative) and his elevation. That is why they are now looking towards India, as a country which is significantly going to play the balancing power in the region, and that is why this delay is causing an issue between the countries that are falling in this route."

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is also Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, told IANS, "Both Look East and Act East have rightly identified essential needs, both to open up to our Southeast Asian neighbours and to boost connectivity with, and economic growth in, our own northeastern states. Unfortunately, getting roads built and rail lines installed is far more difficult than making speeches. Project execution is our besetting weakness and the comparison with China is stark."
THE CENTRAL ORGAN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF VIETNAM The Voice of the party, State and Vietnamese people on the internet

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India's constitutional institutions are vital to ensure that it continues to function as a Republic. One such institution is the Supreme Court, which plays the role of being the guardian of the Constitution. Article 124(1) of the Constitution creates the Supreme Court and it reads:

"There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges."

(An Act of Parliament in 2009 further increased the number to 30, Parliament at various times earlier has also increased the strength of the Court.)

The Chief Justice of India is the first amongst equals in the Supreme Court. When sitting on a bench with other companion judges, the Chief Justice's vote carries just as much weight as the other companion judges. The role of the Chief Justice of India is therefore largely an administrative role. For the purpose of exercising judicial functions, the Chief Justice has only the same power as the other judges of the Court.

But what happens when these two roles collide? Over the last three days there has been high voltage drama at the Supreme Court and this drama is not unjustified. Events are unfolding that ought to concern us all as they have massive consequences. As of writing this piece, these events continue to unfold. Some background may be necessary.

It started with a case concerning a medical college in Lucknow run by the Prasad Education Trust. The trust had moved the Supreme Court against a decision by the Medical Council of India refusing permission to admit students and also encashing a bank guarantee of two crores. The MCI after inspecting the college found that its facilities were not up to the mark and had refused the necessary approvals. The dispute shuttled between the Supreme Court and the High Court at Allahabad. The present Chief Justice of India was on the bench that was hearing this dispute before the Supreme Court.

Some time in September of this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation had registered an FIR regarding the medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh. In connection with this FIR, former Orissa and Allahabad High Court judge Justice I.M. Quddusi (Retd) was arrested. The FIR filed by the CBI said that there was a potential racket that was being run to influence the outcome of the Prasad Education Trust case before the Supreme Court.

These allegations are very serious and if there is any merit to this, it would tarnish the reputation of the judiciary beyond repair. The judicial institutions in India are looked upon as the last institutions where a citizen can get some semblance of justice. If they are found to be tainted, then the problem gets even worse for the country. This is why allegations and cases like these need to be dealt with the highest sense of propriety and impartiality. There should be no semblance of doubt that the investigation is influenced by anyone.

Two writ petitions were filed in the Supreme Court concerning the CBI's FIR. One was filed by Kamini Jaiswal (WP (Cr) No. 176 of 2017) and one by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (WP (Cr) No. 169 of 2017). These two petitions were on the same point and contained similar prayers. The petitions asked that the allegations in the FIR be investigated by an SIT headed by a former Chief Justice of India. The point of this was simple, that the allegations in the FIR could also potentially implicate sitting members of the higher judiciary. Therefore, it was essential that they be handled in a manner that doesn't result in the public losing faith in India's judicial institutions.

On 8 November of this year, Dushyant Dave, senior advocate and Prashant Bhushan, advocate, mentioned the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms before a bench consisting of Justice J Chelameshwar and Justice S Abdul Nazeer seeking urgent listing of the case. The bench directed that the matter be listed on Friday before an appropriate bench. Mentioning is when matters that are not listed are mentioned before a bench who may direct that they be taken up on dates other than the dates that they should ordinarily appear on the cause list. The CJAR matter was to be posted before a bench consisting of Justice AK Sikri and Justice A Bhushan on 10 November 2017.

On 9 November, Dushyant Dave mentioned the petition filed by Kamini Jaiswal before a bench consisting of Justice Chelameshwar and Justice Nazeer. This petition was with reference to the FIR as well. The petition was taken up for hearing on the same day at 12.45 p.m. by the bench. The Chief Justice of India ordinarily is in charge of mentioning, but on that day, the CJI was sitting on a constitution bench concerning the dispute between the Delhi government and the Lt. Governor. The bench Rose at around 12.00 p.m. on that day.

When the matter was taken up at 12.45 p.m. by the bench of Justice Chelameshwar and Justice Nazeer, an officer of the Registry placed before the bench a photocopy of the proceedings purportedly issued by the Chief Justice of India. This letter sought the views of the Chief Justice of India about the procedure to be followed when there is a matter that has to be listed on the same day and the Chief Justice is sitting on a Constitution Bench. The Registry's letter sought directions that the matters that have to be listed on the same day, be listed before the Chief Justice at 3:00 p.m.

Justice Chelameshwar and Justice Nazeer directed that the matter be referred to a constitution bench consisting of the first five judges of the Supreme Court in order of their seniority. Dushyant Dave prayed that the CJI should not be on that bench and not be involved in deciding which bench that matter is listed before. To which the bench responded "That is why we have said first five judges". The bench also directed that the case diary and papers be placed in a sealed cover and only opened before the bench on Monday, 13 November 2017. They also placed the Registrys note in the case file.

On 10 November 2017, things took a different turn. The CJAR petition was called out before a bench consisting of Justice AK Sikri and Justice A Bhushan. That bench expressed displeasure that another petition (Kamini Jaiswal's petition) had been filed on the same point even though the CJAR was listed before them. Prashant Bhushan, appearing in the CJAR matter informed the bench that when he mentioned the matter on 8 November 2017 before the bench headed by Justice Chelameshwar, Justice Chelameshwar had directed that the matter be placed before him on Friday. However, on the same day, he got a call from the Registry informing him that the Chief Justice had assigned the matter to another bench. He also informed the court, "There are clear directions by this Court itself that a judge cannot exercise judicial or administrative functions in cases in which there are allegations against him, said Bhushan."

Justice AK Sikri tagged the CJAR petition along with the case filed by Kamini Jaiswal and also allowed the Supreme Court Bar Association to be impleaded in the matter. Then suddenly, there was a notification that a seven-judge bench had been constituted to hear the CJAR case. This was later reduced to five judges and the matter was suddenly listed on the same day at 3:00 p.m. This five-judge bench was to be presided over by the Chief Justice.

"Nemo judex in sua causa" is a legal maxim that dates all the way back to Roman Law. It states that no man can be a judge in his own cause. Essentially this is to ensure impartiality in judicial functions as judges cannot hear cases where they have an interest. What went on at 3:00 p.m. does cause some concern regarding that very principle.

When the matter was called out at 3.00 p.m, Bhushan appeared for the petitioner the CJAR. The bench began rebuking Bhushan citing the petition filed by Kamini Jaiswal and began asserting that no judge except the Chief Justice of India could constitute a constitution bench. Further, Supreme Court Bar Association members and lawyers assembled in the court began objecting to the 9 November order by Justice Chelameshwar and stated that the CJAR was attempting to bypass the Chief Justice's administrative powers. Other lawyers sitting in the courtroom also were permitted to voice their concerns against the petitioner and some of them even called for contempt proceedings against Bhushan. When Bhushan was addressing the bench, he was constantly quizzed and he objected to the fact that people who weren't parties to the matter were being permitted to speak, while he, as the petitioner's counsel, was being denied that right. He then raised his voice and said

Your Lordships can pass an order without hearing me. You have heard persons who are not parties to the case for an hour. If Your Lordships want to pass an order without hearing me, then do it.

After which he stormed out of court while being escorted by the marshals.

The bench headed by the CJI then proceeding to pass an order stating that the Chief Justice of India was the Master of the Roster and any other order by another judge directing a matter be placed before another bench would not be binding on the Chief Justice of India. He then ordered that the CJAR petition be placed before him to direct the bench it has to be listed before.

The first problem that arises from this order on 10 November 2017 is this. The Chief Justice of India's power on the administrative side, especially one that determines how the CJI functions as the Master of the Rolls is a question of constitutional law concerning the office of the Chief Justice itself. Therefore, the order passed on 10 November 2017 was one in which the office of the Chief Justice would have had an interest in as it reaffirmed the CJI's position as the Master of the Rolls. However, the CJI himself was sitting on the bench that passed an order concerning his own powers. This is very problematic in light of the fact that no person can be a judge in his own cause. If there were problems with Justice Chelameshwars order on 9 November, it should have ideally been dealt with by a bench that the Chief Justice was not a part of, as the order affected the Chief Justice's powers on the administrative Side. With due respect to the office of the Chief Justice of India, the order was not one that showed a sense of judicial propriety. The Chief Justice's powers were in question and, therefore, they should have been dealt with by judges who were not the Chief Justice of India.

Secondly, the FIR filed by the CBI makes allegations regarding the Supreme Court case concerning the Prasad Education Trust. The present Chief Justice of India was on the bench that was dealing with the matter. Judicial propriety requires that the Chief Justice recuse himself from anything connected with that case as the FIR contains allegations which, in one sense, may affect a case in which the CJI was on the Bench. Even though neither the CJAR or Kamini Jaiswal's petition nor the FIR makes direct allegations against the Chief Justice of India, these allegations need to be looked into by persons who are unconnected with that office. In that sense, allowing the CJI to exercise even administrative powers in a case such as this, would be one that would breach judicial property. However, Friday's order seems to ignore that fact. With due respect to the office of the Chief Justice of India, it was wholly improper that this matter was dealt with by a bench that included the Chief Justice.

The progress of these two petitions by the CJAR and Kamini Jaiswal needs to be followed by the country with keen interest. Corruption allegations against even retired judges of the higher judiciary are enough to shake the public confidence. Further if these allegations also end up affecting current sitting members of the judiciary, the public confidence will be shaken further.

It is vital that the Chief Justice of India, along with other judges who were involved in the Prasad Education Trust case, recuse themselves from all functions judicial and administrative concerning these petitions. If these petitions are to be heard, they must not just be heard impartially, but also in a manner where it is apparent that the hearing is impartial. Justice must not just be done, it must also be seen to be done.

Friday's events should send shockwaves among India's legal fraternity, as what happened was very unprecedented and these events affect core constitutional institutions. Public trust is very difficult to gain but it is very easy to lose. Over the years the Supreme Court acting as the court of last resort and the guardian of the Constitution has earned the public trust. Be it in the 2G scam or orders concerning environmental matters, the Supreme Court of India holds the public trust as being an impartial institution. The present controversy could potentially affect that trust needs to be dealt with immediately.

Ajay Kumar is an advocate practicing at the Bombay High Court.
For sheer hypocrisy, it's difficult to beat our politicians. Consider this. As of today, Delhi is very nearly the deadliest city on earth. The only other city rivaling us is a city in Mexico, which with an index of 825 particulate matter at the same level as Patna which is at 824. The real-time pollution levels in major cities of the country prove that living in much of India can actually be hazardous to your health. Satellite imagery shows conclusively that almost all of western India is blanketed by "atmospheric brown cloud" which are layers of pollution containing soot, dust or other particles. In other words, when vacationing in Nainital/Mussoorie/ wherever the Himalayas are, you are actually breathing in great lungfuls of poisoned air.

This is the result of "development with Indian characteristics". To be fair, this was also the model with distinct Chinese characteristics. But Beijing has since laid down the law on pollution. The result is that China is now gleefully pointing fingers at Delhi at holding the status of 'worse polluted' that it once did.

As our politicians pass the buck with manful indiscrimination, not a single meaningful policy decision has been taken to tackle the basic issues involved, which include unbridled development of cities, lack of clean energy, and the abundant use of plastic, which includes not only plastic bags but thermocol as well. It is often used in temples when they dish out the free food. Then theres the packaging industry. The list seems endless.

At the most basic level, however, is the issue of the destruction of the earths green cover. A report in the New Scientist quoting the reputed Woods Hole Research Centre reported that roughly 100 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly equivalent to ten years of emissions could be stored in forests. In other words, the saviour from disaster is not a caped crusader, but that canopy overhead. Start planting, and quickly.

Our governmentsboth state and the Centreare doing the reverse. Heres an example. Sometime in 2016, a decision was taken to "develop" seven government colonies in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi. These are Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Tyagraj Nagar, Sriniwaspuri, Kasturba Nagar and Mohammadpur. The construction cost of all of these is estimated to be Rs 32,000 crore. Thats a lot of money for a lot of people. While a part is to be done by the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and the other is to be done by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). As anyone who had even passed through Delhi knows, most of these old government colonies with their British era houses are lush with greenery, home to several hundreds of birds, insects, and associated life that make up the ecosystem that sustains life on earth. Unlike the CPWD with its archaic building methods, the NBCC is a new age public sector unit, with far better engineering methods.

Broadly, its business plan offers 'mixed' development, with both commercial and residential areas, with the sale of land for the former, largely paying up for the latter. It, therefore, generates its own revenue, and admittedly, in the case of at least one such venture in Moti Bagh, did a fairly good job in terms of providing more housing in central Delhi. Some greenery was preserved, even though much of the land was devoted to building sumptuous bungalows for the top echelons of bureaucracy among others. Its next contract was, however, an unmitigated disaster. It razed down the once green areas of East Kidwai Nagar, to build a series of multi-storey structures that look over the busiest road in Delhi. Whether anyone at all will agree to stay in those flats that are probably the most polluted in Delhi is another matter. The contrast between the remaining West Kidwai Nagar and the 'developed' complex couldnt be starker, as shown in the image.

The problem is not the NBCC but its mandate, which is to deliver more built up area per square foot. In plain English, its model will result in more cars, more houses, and more pressure on water, electricity and drainage than before, even while it razes down several thousand trees to do it. According to a written reply in the Rajya Sabha made by then environment minister Anil Dave oo 10 April this year, 15,000 trees were cut down in Delhi since 2014 for development work, the Financial Express had reported. This does not include the 1,700 trees to be felled in Pragati Maidan for a new exhibition building. Prior to this, about a lakh were cut for Metro construction. By the end of this year, an additional 1.86 lakh trees at least are to be cut in this "re-development".

Both Delhi Metro and NBCC swear that they mean to undertake plantation drives to replace and even increase tree cover. The Delhi High Court which is hearing a case against the felling of trees is however not convinced. The jury sought to know whether corporations can provide proof of how many of these survived. That has yet to arrive. Theres another catch. A tree needs to reach full growth before it can act as a sequester for carbon. That is nearly ten years. Plantation drives, even if they exist, will not solve the immediate problem. In practical terms, while the government cuts down trees by the thousands, your child of one, will have a settled lung problem by the age of ten.

It is no one's case that Delhi should not develop. It is the model of development that is at fault. For instance, NBCC could simply have retained the row houses design, and added just two or even three more floors, ensuring that existing trees remained where they were. Alternatively, one colony could be given entirely for commercial use, while retaining the residential aspect of the others together with their tree cover. In short, plan around the environment, not over it. That is rule number one for the Ministry of Urban Planning and Development.

A recent high court judgment has stayed the 'development' of these colonies until appropriate clearances are given. However, the forest department has hardly ever been a guardian of Delhis tree cover. The razing down of seven colonies needs to be examined by the urban development ministry, now under an able minister, in the light of the model of development that Delhi needs. NBCC with its formidable talent and efficiency simply needs the political direction from the highest office that will give a simple directive "Let my people breathe".

As the din of midmorning traffic roars nearby as this piece is being written, Netaji Nagar is like a high priced mall for the hundreds of birds, and other animal and insect life that sustains their existence  a small green area that also provides Delhi with its vital and fast depleting source of oxygen. Not for long though. By the end of 2017, it will be razed down, together with six other government colonies, all of them home to expanses of greenery. The rich avian life will die, as so many others have before. With it, the several million humans in the city will find it more difficult to perform that simplest of tasks  that of breathing.

The math is simple.

The second part of the simple math equation is that Delhi registered an additional nine lakh vehicles in 2016, to add to the existing 88 lakh vehicles. Another similar increase can be expected this year and the next. An average car produces 4.7 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. An average tree can sequester roughly 0.024 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. In other words, it takes 2,000 trees to take in the harmful gases caused by one car in one year. Instead, we are cutting them down at a faster rate, causing rising levels of pollution, heat and the inevitable diseases that follow. Recent studies have warned that temperatures in Delhi are set to rise to levels that cannot be tolerated by the human body.

Even as hospitals warn of rising numbers of bronchial and cardiovascular disease, the government is only intent on setting up pollution monitoring centres even while the plans go ahead to raze down the depleting tree cover. It's a losing battle and the only sure and cheapest way of dealing with rising pollution is trees, shrubs and even grass, and a whole lot of it. NBCC and other developers like the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation say they are committed to raising tree plantations to replace trees felled. Reality is perhaps otherwise.
Along wide roads, under mighty flyovers, behind the tall walls of metro stations and lost in the maddening crowd at Delhis stations and bazaars, there are 70,000 children who sniff sulechan (solution), chew tobacco, or smoke gaanja and smack. This saddening statistic was laid bare by a survey conducted jointly by AIIMS and the Women & Child Development Department in 2016.

Similar statistics on a national scale are now needed to pull the entire country out of denial regarding the problem of drug abuse among children. Nobel laureate Kailash Sathyarthis Bachpan Bachao Andolan had filed a writ petition demanding the implementation of a national action plan for the national police on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, in a time-bound manner, including conducting a national survey on the extent, trends and patterns of drug abuse, especially by children and youth. BBA had stated that due to inaction and non-compliance of the governments action plan for reduction in drug demand and supply, the fundamental rights of children across the county are being violated.

In response to the petition, in 2016, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to complete a national survey and generate a database within a period of six months, formulate a national plan within four months and adopt specific content in school curriculums under the aegis of the New Education Policy 2016. This is a serious issue and cannot be swept under the carpet, a bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and DY Chandrachud had noted. HS Phoolka, the lawyer who appeared on behalf of BBA in court, spoke to Firstpost. There is still no system in place in schools and colleges to identify symptoms of child addicts. Unless there is awareness among teachers and communities on how to identify and report children who are into drug abuse, it will be difficult to solve the problem. It should become mandatory for principals of schools to report such cases to child welfare departments so that action can be taken, he said that community awareness is necessary because in most cases the parents are in denial.

The Health & Family Welfare department of the Government of Delhi issued a direction vide a gazette notification on 31 July 2017, in accordance with the provisions of Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 77 of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, on a ban on the sale of correction fluids, thinners, diluters and vulcanised solution/sulochans to children. As per recent data of the Department, there are 60 earmarked beds for child addicts in seven Delhi government Hospitals. This includes 30 beds at Deep Chand Bandhu Government Hospital, 5 beds each in Maulana Azad Medical Hospital, Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Postgraduate and Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS). The Ministry has instructed these hospitals to use earmarked beds for juveniles with substance abuse only and has also developed and circulated to them a Standard Operating Procedure.

Among some of the children we interviewed at the handful of government-funded de-addiction centres were children who confessed they had worked as pickpocketers at New Delhi railway station. Some even said they were thieves in government colonies. These children, aged 7-14, mostly inhaled puncture fluid when they worked as fruit vendors, balloon sellers and ironsmiths. The children looked young but sounded relatively much older. It was almost as though the childhood in them had been burnt up, although its ashes were still potent with fire. They inhabited a strange and scary place between life and death.

Part 1 of the series

Part 2 of the series

Part 3 of the series
Editor's note: The author, OSD to Delhi Minister for Health Satyender Jain, has been working closely with different stakeholders on mapping and tackling drug addiction in the capital for the last one and a half years. He responded to the four-part series on Delhis drug crisis put out by Firstpost and gave a glimpse into the Delhis governments greater plan.

In the beginning of 2017, the government had acknowledged the complexity of the problem of drug addiction by setting up an inter-sectoral committee, which included stakeholders from the Delhi Police, the Narcotics Bureau; members from the departments of Social Welfare and Women & Child Development, Education, Health and Labour, doctors from Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), NGOs like Save the Children and Salaam Baalak Trust, and the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi.

A survey was conducted jointly by AIIMS and Women and Child Development Department in 2016. In April 2017, Firstpost had also published a big story around its findings  particularly, the 70,000 child addicts on Delhis streets.

Soon, a detailed survey in 159 areas of Delhi will be initiated in consultation with AIIMS. However, the absence of factual data on numbers doesnt deter us from initiating our plans.

The Delhi government has started augmenting its detox capacity with five beds reserved exclusively for de-addiction facilities in each of its six hospitals. Other than that, a 30-bedded de-addiction facility has been started in Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital. The deputy chief minister has recently inaugurated Delhis first residential de-addiction home, only for Girls, which is being run from a Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) building near Delhi Gate. Since the treatment is completely voluntary in nature and the withdrawals are so drastic that chances of relapse in the middle of the treatment become common, the caretakers appointed with the addicts are themselves recovering addicts, and hence know about this complex disease and can act as psychological support for these strugglers to stay clean during the long phase of treatment. However, there exists a huge number of addicts who encounter relapse more than 5-6 times. Fortunately there are support groups available, like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous who are free of cost and are working to take care of the psycho-social needs of both the recovering addict and the addicts family members.

We request policy makers to understand this issue as a public health disaster rather than just a psychological ailment.

As the drug menace is not confined to a single department, the Delhi government is coming up with a society exclusively to tackle and deal with all the issues, be it prevention, harm reduction, supply reduction, demand reduction or rehabilitation. No other state has paid such attention by devising a special purpose vehicle like the one we are working on. Another big difference in the strategy of the Delhi government in comparison to other states is its focus on the majority of its population which is not into addiction, through various ground-level prevention campaigns, like the one which has been initiated in collaboration with various Delhi-based universities and colleges where students were sensitised and educated towards the ill effects of drug use and why smoking and alcohol arent cool. Notably, a number of celebrities had joined the campaign, including Rahul Dravid, Prateik Babbar, Raghu Ram and Gul Panag.

Along with spreading the message in and around the campus, Delhi Universitys various dramatic societies helped us take the message far and wide. With them, we have prepared a number of street plays that are now part of a community education/sensitisation campaign. The government has prepared a plan of conducting over a thousand nukkad nataks in the most vulnerable communities where drug abuse is prevalent. Coming up next is a mega drive where students of Delhis government schools will be sensitised against tobacco, alcohol and drugs. Once a society is formed, all such initiatives related to prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration of the person affected with drug abuse with the society, will be administered by the society itself.

Currently, a special drive in the area of Yamuna Pusta and ISBT, Kashmere Gate has been initiated, which will detoxify and rehabilitate a large number of people who are under the influence of drugs and are lying on streets around these areas. A meeting has been held under the chairpersonship of the Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development wherein all the stakeholders including the Drug Control Department of the Delhi Government and officials from Delhi Police were present. A detailed programme has been drafted in consultation with various NGOs and National Skill Development Corporation, which, aside from treatment and detoxification, also includes strategy to provide Aadhaar cards, open bank accounts and provide skill training to those who will be recovering from addiction. This is a first of its kind initiative being planned by the Delhi government and we believe that this will prove to be a life changing initiative for these victims of the drug menace.

There is a decentralised plan that has been prepared to treat and rehabilitate an addict with the help of health services where adults, children and women will be provided with separate infrastructure to treat themselves and stay clean. The role of an informed and vigilant citizen is vital when it comes to making the society crime and addiction free. There is no official data available, but as per sources we trust, around 80 percent of the undertrials in different Delhi jails have accepted that they regularly consume alcohol or any addictive substance.

There is also ambiguity in the current laws dealing with people who are under the influence of drugs, as the police are instructed to put them behind bars, instead of providing them with the right treatment. Because of the fear of custodial death, the police are generally afraid of nabbing peddlers who sell these drugs and are also on a heavy dose of life-threatening drugs themselves.

It is high time we protect our youth from this menace and build a safety network around them by creating structures which induce them in more productive and healthy ways of living life and provide them with a safe living environment, which may not available to them in the existing peer group or around the family structure. In fact this is one of the biggest responsible factors in deducing the onset age of a substance abuser. The Delhi government is doing a pilot project with the most vulnerable adolescents of Yamuna Bazar and Petti Market where adolescents will be made Young Champions after hours of regular motivational counselling, de-addiction and their reintegration with the school life. Life skill-based education will be provided to them through various activities and games and with lots of peer support talks. A similar initiative with the NGO Save the Children has not only changed the behaviour of such children but has made them proud civilians. They have been educated about how to file RTIs and whom to contact when their rights are compromised. Awareness about health, hygiene, sexual behaviour and psychological health and respecting each gender equally are a few key topics to make them emotionally and physically fit.

Meanwhile the inter-sectorial committee has decided that all the enforcement agencies, be it Delhi Police, Narcotics Control Bureau or Drug Controller, will now be working in close co-ordination with each other and will be launching coordinated raids more often than usual. To work out the strategy, all agencies will meet at least once in every month.

We in the Delhi Government believe that all our efforts have to be more and more decentralised and community- based rather than centralised and state-based, The role of mohalla clinics which are going to set up in the most vulnerable community, to further facilitate treatments like Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) Treatment is also under the discussion and will be worked out very soon.

Part 1 of the series

Part 2 of the series

Part 3 of the series

Part 4 of the series
Bengaluru: The killers of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in an audacious attack here over two months ago, would "100 percent" be nabbed in a few weeks, Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy said on Saturday.

He said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the killing had clues about the assailants, but those could not be disclosed at the moment.

"Who has done it...I am aware of it thanks to an update provided by the SIT. But I cannot disclose it now," Reddy said at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and the Bangalore Reporters' Guild'.

"Gauri's killers will 100 percent be caught. This will happen in a few weeks," he added.

The minister, however, clarified, "Weeks do not mean one or two weeks. It (the arrest of the killers) will happen in a matter of a few weeks. This will happen 100 percent."

Reddy said whether Lankesh was killed by left-wing or right-wing extremists or was it due to "some other thinking" was "one issue".

Lankesh, known to be an anti-establishment voice with strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead at close range by unidentified assailants outside her residence on the night of 5 September.

The killing had led to a national outrage and protests by several groups over "rising intolerance" in the country and attempts to muzzle dissent, with the criticism targeted at the BJP-led central government and right-wing groups.

Reddy had made similar claims about the SIT having gathered "some clues" in connection with the case earlier too.

The Congress government in Karnataka, which constituted the SIT headed by Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) BK Singh, has also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone providing clues about the perpetrators of the crime.

As the killing gave way to a political slugfest, Lankesh's family had made a plea not to give a political colour to it.

They had said the investigators should look into all possible aspects of the case, as reports had emerged about a possible Naxal hand in the crime, besides the suspected involvement of right-wing extremists.
Kohima: An association of Gorkhas on Friday said a national-level movement is needed to achieve the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, carved out of West Bengal.

The issue of separate state for Gorkhas is not only for the Gorkhas of Darjeeling but it is for the Gorkhas spread across the country, said National spokesperson of Gorkhaland Sanyukta Sangharsh Samity (GSSS), Anjali Sharma Bhujel.

"We have to prove that the Gorkhas in every corner of India supports the Gorkhaland movement," she said, adding, the issue of separate Gorkhaland state has to be unitedly taken up at the national level.

"The government of India will not be able to ignore the national level movement, and therefore we need to knit a common thread and sent a strong message to the Centre and government of West Bengal that Gorkhas will continue to protect their pride and rights," Bhujel said.

She was addressing a coordination meeting of the GSSS in which members of the Nagaland Gorkha Association took part. "We will not remain silent unless and until we achieve the aspiration of the Gorkhas," she said.

Bhujel said GSSS is planning a 'Sansad March' to let the voice of the Gorkhas be heard by the MPs during the winter session of the Parliament.

The GSSS had brought out a rally in New Delhi in July to reinforce their demand for a separate state and imposition of President's rule in West Bengal, when the Gorkhaland agitation was at its peak in the Darjeeling hills.
The hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts in West Bengal might have got back to the normal rhythm of life. But there lingers a nagging sense of unease over the regions political future. The Centre  dragging its feet on the promised talks with the stakeholders concerned  has done little to alleviate this feeling. It has been more than six weeks now that an assurance by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, to convene within a fortnight a meeting to discuss all related issues, had been met with the strike being called off. But the proposed talks remain elusive.

It is no secret that the Centre and the West Bengal government are not on the same page on the question of who should be invited for the talks to represent the GJM. The GJM continues to be the principal political force in the hills, notwithstanding the fractious relations between the faction owing allegiance to Bimal Gurung, the partys president who is on the run, and the one loyal to Binay Tamang, who has earned the confidence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The bone of contention is over whether or not Gurung should be given a seat at the table. While New Delhi is keen to ensure he is, there is talk in political circles of the Centre being even open to the idea of having both him and Tamang in any future talks.

But there are indications that the state government is not amenable to the idea of the GJM chiefs presence there. After all, Gurung has been accused by the state police authorities of being behind several incidents of violence during the June-September unrest in the hills. He had been served a look-out notice after being slapped with, among others, charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. And at a time when the state authorities are tightening the screws on the fugitive GJM chief, reports that the Centre is looking at engaging the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the probe, as had been sought by the GJM chief, is not likely to go down well with the state government. However, Tamang maintains that no matter which agency conducts the probe, ascertaining Gurungs culpability is only a matter of time.

Whatever be the prospects of any such talks with whoever represents the GJM, they will be held against the backdrop of differences in view-points of the ruling parties in the Centre and state over ways to resolve outstanding issues arising from the recent Gorkhaland agitation. Moreover, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress have their own opposing political agendas in the hills. Added to this are the ongoing moves to dislodge Gurung and his loyalists from positions of authority within the GJM by Tamang. Tamang's own political position has only been consolidated by the powers he now enjoys as chairman of the Board of Administrators of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), thanks to Banerjee. She and her officials are going ahead with bilateral talks with Tamang and other hill leaders, with the next round slated for later this month.

Banerjees government has infused in a floundering GTA a semblance of functionality, announcing plans to allot around Rs 640 crore to the body for development projects in the hills. It seems she has also been successful in forcing Tamangs hand into re-calibrating his partys relations with the powers that be in Kolkata. While the Gorkhaland demand continues to resonate within his camp, what is being prioritised is development that can only be taken forward, it is argued, in cooperation with the state government. This is in contrast to the more hardline, antagonistic approach to the state of Gurung and his followers, whose chapter in the hills is now closed.

Neither Banerjee nor Tamang is overly in a hurry to call for the GTA polls, and that is understandable. Politics in the hills is in a state of flux and both would be testing the waters before facing the electorate. For either, it will be a litmus test. And, there is the key question of whether the bonhomie the two leaders share will hold in the event of elections. The chief ministers party is hoping to make good the widening rifts within the GJM. As for the rebel GJM leader, whose political fortunes seem presently to be in the ascendancy given that the shifting allegiances within his party so far have favoured him, the times ahead would surely throw up reminders that leaders switching camps is one thing; whether their doing so is endorsed by their constituents is quite another.
New Delhi: The Union home ministry, as part of an administrative rejig, has formed two new divisions to exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalisation and cyber crime, an official said on Friday.

The two divisions called Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Radicalisation (CTCR) and Cyber and Information Security (CIS) also encompass merger of some of the ministry's existing divisions.

The CTCR wing, which is basically modified version of the Home Ministry's internal security-II (IS-II) division, will focus on tracking and assessing the online reach of global terrorist outfits like the Islamic State and devising strategies to counter their propaganda while the CIS division will monitor online crimes and threats, including cyber fraud and hacking, and suggest ways to minimise and fight them.

"The need for a counter-radicalisation division and policy was felt as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was keen that the problem should be solved from the base," an official said.

The CIS division of the ministry is being formed as home minister, concerned at the exponential growth in cyber crimes, had been insisting on a dedicated wing to track and counter online fraud, hacking, identity theft, dark net, trafficking and even cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.

As part of the administrative rejig in the ministry, the internal security-I division and internal security-III divisions have been merged, while IS-II division will now exclusively handle counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation.

The ministry's judicial division and centre-state divisions are also being rolled into one, as are international cooperation and public grievances divisions.

The home ministry will continue to have 18 divisions, each headed by a joint-secretary level officer.
Income Tax (I-T) Department officials recovered more than Rs 5 crore in cash from raids conducted at premises of jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala's kin, their business associates and their organisations across 40 locations in the country.

According to CNN-News18, I-T officials seized eight kilograms of gold, diamonds worth crores and other benami assets as the massive hunt for Sasikala's unaccounted wealth entered its third day on Saturday. Twenty shell companies and 40 property documents worth Rs 140 crore were recovered as well. The news channel further stated that shell companies were reportedly used to purchase properties by Sasikala.

#BREAKING - More than Rs 5 crore recovered in I-T raids on Sasikala's family. pic.twitter.com/yBHhTZlkz2  News18 (@CNNnews18) November 11, 2017

These raids are done for political vendetta. I would like to thank all opposition leaders who had expressed concern at the I-T raids that were targeted at us: TTV Dinakaran pic.twitter.com/zgX4yrlx7f  News18 (@CNNnews18) November 11, 2017

Responding to it, Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran told CNN-News18, "These raids are being done for political vendetta."

The search operations have been concluded in many places and in other places it is going on, tax officials said. The searches are aimed at detecting tax evasion.

About Rs 100 crore circulated through shell companies by Sasikala and her aides is currently being examined as well, reported CNN-News18. After analysis of the documents seized and clarifications obtained, tax demand would be raised and if the party pays the tax amount, including the penalty, the case would be closed depending on the other issues connected with the evasion, an official told IANS.

The searches were conducted in connection with unexplained routing of cash post-demonetisation through shell companies allegedly connected to Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.

A Coimbatore report, quoting police, said the I-T officials, who were carrying out searches at the premises of a sand merchant M Arumugasamy, as part of the state-wide raids, completed their search on Saturday.

The sleuths, who searched a commercial complex belonging to Arumugasamy, have reportedly seized some "important" documents from there, police said.

The search was also completed at the premises of Sajeevan, who is supplying furniture across Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts. He had also supplied wood and other materials to the Kodanadu bungalow in Kotagiri belonging to late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Meanwhile, searches at the Green Tea Estate (Curzon Estate), said to be bought by former chief minister, Jayalalithaa and her aide, VK Sasikala some five years ago in nearby Nilgiris district, were going on, the police said.

In Cuddalore, a 10-member team conducted searches at two residences and a jewellery shop.

One of the residences belongs to an astrologer, who reportedly used to give advice to Sasikala, who is now in a Bengaluru jail following her conviction in a disproportionate assets case.

The I-T department will look at the routing of funds within India whereas other agencies will look into the routing of money outside India, an I-T official told IANS.

On Thursday, a team of around 1,800 I-T officials knocked at the doors of 187 premises-residences, offices and farmhouses - to carry out one of their biggest searches on Sasikala's kin and associates.

The places raided included the residence of M Natarajan, Sasikala's husband, in Thanjavur; Kodanad Tea Estate belonging to late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa; Jazz Cinemas, Midas Distilleries, Sharada Paper and Boards, Senthil Group of Companies, Nilgiri Furniture in Coimbatore, Jaya TV, Namadhu MGR and several other premises in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

With inputs from IANS and PTI
On Thursday morning, the Jammu and Kashmir government allowed a seminar hosted by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, to commemorate the 140th birth anniversary of Sir Muhammad Iqbal. It was a rare occasion for Tehreek-e-Hurriyat activists, majority of whom were arrested after last year's unrest, to huddle under a single roof and break the bread together.

There were many firsts in the conference. Geelani broke down on seeing his long-time associate and Hurriyat general secretary MA Sehrai after 'several years', despite living in the same city, due to curbs imposed on the two by the government. Since the civilian uprising began last year after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, this was the first time that Kashmir's most creditable separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani, was allowed to speak during a seminar.

Although the delegates walked in freely, the television cameras were not allowed inside the venue of the seminar, the residence of Geelani. Two armoured vehicles of Jammu and Kashmir Police and paramilitary CRPF remained posted outside the main gate of Geelani's residence-cum-office. Over a dozen cops and CRPF personnel have been stationed there for over seven years now and a 360 degree camera has been mounted atop a vehicle to record the movement of people who loiter around or enter Geelani's office.

Geelani looked frail and ailing when the seminar started. Speaking in a broken voice about the Government of India's interlocutor, Dineshwar Sharma, his message to the delegates was clear: there will be no talks with New Delhi till it accepts Kashmir as a "dispute".

The state government led by PDP-BJP coalition would have liked the 88-year-old separatist leader to tone down his rhetoric, which was perhaps why it allowed the seminar to take place. However, Geelani treaded the old path. He spoke against the talks, which are held without involving Pakistan, and belittled Sharma, who is presently on a five-day visit to the state.

The octogenarian separatist even failed to pronounce Dineshwar Sharma's name properly in his address, which lasted for 40 minutes. Referring to the National Conference founded by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, he said the leaders could not foresee the consequences of Kashmir becoming a part of India.

"Whatever is happening this time  killings, injuries, arrests, is because of this unnatural alliance and the then leaders are responsible for it," Geelani surmised.

"Situation has come to this stage that now people from India publicly talk about Hindu Rashtra and Jamia Masjid in Srinagar is being closed for weeks together," Geelani said. "Now, these rulers are openly framing textbooks in praise of Hindu rulers who killed Muslims and these are being spread across India."

Referring to Sharma's statement that situation in Kashmir was "like that of Syria", Geelani said, "this is part of the same ideology which targets Islam and that is why (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is promoting Sufism." "They want to take away from us our identity, culture and religion," he added.

The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief, Mohammad Yasin Malik, said at this juncture, when New Delhi is trying to make Kashmiris surrender, there is a need among the Hurriyat leadership to remain united.

"They failed to cow us down by killings, injuries, blindings and arrests but now they have started targeting families of Geelani sahab and Mirwaiz (Umar Farooq)," he said. "Government of India's home minister Rajnath Singh has said that by 2022, Jammu and Kashmir will be Hurriyat-free, which means there will be no movement here but we will not surrender."

"Unity is the need of the hour as there is only onslaught from Government of India, but some people do not want unity," Malik said in his address.

Sharma, the newly appointed special representative to Jammu and Kashmir, had said on Wednesday that he would try his best to meet Hurriyat leaders. However, the efforts led by the state government which, according to sources, had tried to approach Geelani, failed to break the ice.

Given the hardening of stances on both sides and flying rhetoric, there is a need to find a middle ground in Kashmir. New Delhi would do well to remember that even if the only issue it has with Pakistan is the part of Kashmir under the latter's occupation, it still has to engage with that country. In the age of nuclear weapons, there is no alternative to talks for resolving conflicts. Sharma must bring much more to the table when he returns to Kashmir next time.
New Delhi: India and Bhutan on Friday initiated discussions on Indian assistance for the 12th five year plan (2018-2023) for the socio-economic development of the Himalayan nation. India has already committed assistance of Rs 4,500 crore for implementation of development projects during Bhutan's 11th Five Year Plan (2013-2018).

The discussion took place during the annual India-Bhutan development cooperation talks, which were co-chaired by Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the external affairs ministry and foreign secretary of Bhutan, Dasho Sonam Tshong.

Friday 's meeting came nearly two-and-a-half months after the "disengagement" between Indian and Chinese troops on 28 August, ending a tense 73-day-long stand-off near the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction in the Doka la area.

A statement from the external affairs ministry said the talks were held in a friendly atmosphere in keeping with the close and friendly ties between the two countries. The two sides also initiated discussions on India's assistance to the 12th Five Year Plan (2018-2023) of Bhutan, the MEA said, adding India has been a "privileged" partner of Bhutan in its socio-economic development.

"India's commitment to continue its support to Bhutan in its development efforts was reiterated by the Indian side. The annual development cooperation talks is an important bilateral mechanism to review the entire gamut of India's development partnership with Bhutan," it said.

India has committed assistance of Rs 4500 crore for implementation of development projects during Bhutans 11th Five Year Plan (2013-2018), the MEA said.

Over 675 projects, including 595 small development projects, have been under implementation in Bhutan during the 11th plan period within India's committed assistance of Rs 4500 crore, the ministry said. With Bhutan's 11th plan entering its final phase, the two sides noted with satisfaction the overall progress in the implementation of ongoing bilateral development projects in Bhutan, the statement said.

The Bhutanese side conveyed its appreciation for the invaluable support of India for their socio-economic development priorities, and for timely disbursements of funds for the ongoing projects. The two sides agreed to hold the next round of talks in 2018 in Thimphu on a mutually agreed date.
Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday quashed a production warrant against jailed gangster Abu Salem by a Bhopal court in a 2002 murder case.

The high court ruling came on a petition filed by the gangster, who was extradited from Portugal in 2005, challenging the production warrant issued in 2014.

"The order of issuance of production warrant passed by the 14th additional sessions judge, Bhopal, in relation to the petitioner (Salem) alone is without jurisdiction and deserves to be set aside and is hereby quashed," Justice Vivek Agarwal observed.

Alok Vagrecha and Pushpendra Dubey, the counsels for Salem, said their client was extradited to India in pursuant to the orders of Ministry of Justice, Portugal, dated 28 March, 2003, that said he can be tried in nine cases only.

So the production warrant of 15 January, 2014 and the Bhopal murder case trial against him were against the extradition terms, they argued.

The order of the Bhopal court is "patently illegal" and not sustainable in the eyes of law because it violates the provisions contained in Section 21 of the Extradition Act, 1962, they contended.

The state government, that is a respondent in the case, said as Salem was being tried in another case of murder, he could be prosecuted in Bhopal murder case as well.

After hearing the contention of both parties, Agarwal said "...since no request for extradition was made in relation to offence registered at Police Station Parvalia Sadak, Bhopal, seeking extradition of the petitioner, he cannot be tried in respect of an offence which does not form part of the decree of extradition."

The gangster is currently lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.
Maharashtra MLC Jayant Patil reportedly heckled Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan for delaying his scheduled departure from Alibaug Jetty by not coming out of his yacht, said media reports.

According to new agency ANI, Patil, a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) from Alibaug was to leave for Mumbai but could not board his yacht as Khan was not coming out of his own. The report added that Patil later boarded his yacht by going through Khan's.

#WATCH: Jayant Patil, Maharashtra MLC from Alibaug, heckled Khan for not coming out of his yacht at Alibaug Jetty (Mobile video) pic.twitter.com/lq5owiKZnw  ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2017

In the video, reportedly shot on 2 November, when Khan was in Alibaug to celebrate his 52nd birthday, Patil according to Times Now, was seen shouting at the actor.

According to Free Press Journal report, Patil lost his temper when he encountered a huge crowd waiting to get glimpse of the actor. Have you bought the entire Alibaug? an angry Patil reportedly shouted at Khan adding, Without my permission you cant come to Alibaug.

Patil, according to Zee News, reportedly said in Marathi, "You may be a superstar, but you dont own Alibaug."

This is not the way celebrities should act, as people were waiting for him outside he was sitting inside. While coming I saw police men were struggling to control the crowd who were waiting to see a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan, even I was not given space to go to board my yacht. But some police men spotted me and helped me out of the crowd. He might be celebrity but should behave, Patil told Free Press Journal.

As Patil left on his yacht, Khan came out of his own, amid loud cheers from his fans.
Mumbai: Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh will hold a meeting with his Maharashtra counterpart Pandurang Phundkar on Saturday against the backdrop of farmers dying in the state from inhaling toxic insecticide fumes sprayed in farmlands.

"A departmental review meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow (Saturday), in which the state minister, along with officials of the agriculture department are asked to remain present. Deaths due to pesticides will be one of the issues that may be discussed," an official from the agriculture department told PTI.

The state government had recently sought a CBI probe into the presence of "herbicide tolerant genes" in BT Cotton seeds, which allegedly caused deaths of several farmers, mainly in Yavatmal district.

"After the tragic incident of pesticide poisoning in Yavatmal district, a detailed study was done by Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) and the report is submitted to the state government," a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office had said.

It had added that such types of seeds are being produced in many other states as well and in accordance with the seriousness of the issue, the government had sought a detailed CBI inquiry into this.

Although the government has not specified the number of deaths caused due to pesticides, it has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh of the families of deceased.

Eminent farm activist from Vidarbha, Kishor Tiwari, has claimed that 48 farmers have lost their lives so far due to the inhalation of toxic pesticides in various regions of the state.
A car with a woman and a seven-month-old baby was towed away by the traffic police in Mumbai, leading to widespread outrage. The incident occurred on Friday at SV Road, Malad around 4.30 p.m.

The video in question was reportedly shot as a Facebook Live.

Car was towed by Traffic Police while the women with her 7 years old baby was sitting in the car.

(Her FB Live)

Yesterday at SV Rd, Malad.@MumbaiPolice plz look into the matter.@PreetiSMenon @aartic02 @neo_pac @tarsemkpahi @Georgekurian4K @RidlrMUM @smart_mumbaikar pic.twitter.com/ZVPtSYYFdM  Muzzammil Hamidani (@MuzzammilAap) November 11, 2017

In the video, the woman, Jyoti Male, can be heard saying that there were two cars in front of her which were not towed. She also adds that there was no nameplate on the traffic policeman's uniform. Aggrieved by the incident, Jyoti says that she was breastfeeding the child when this incident occurred. She later told ANI that the policeman towing the car did not even ask her to get down from the vehicle. She even informed them that she was breastfeeding her child, but they did not stop.

No the Policemen towing the car did not even once ask me to get down, even when I told them that I am breastfeeding my baby they still did not stop: Jyoti Male pic.twitter.com/HpYEapJK4j  ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2017

The person shooting the Facebook Live can be heard saying that the policeman in the aforementioned video is Shashank Rane. The Mumbai Police Twitter account said that the traffic branch has been informed about the incident. They also provided a Traffic Helpline WhatsApp number.

We have informed traffic branch. (traffic helpline whats app no.8454999999).  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) November 11, 2017

Maharashtra Minister of Finance and Planning, and Forests, Sudhir Mungantiwar, said to India Today that it was an "inhuman action by police" and that "action will be taken." ANI reports that the Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar has ordered an inquiry into the case. The report adds that the Joint Commissioner ordered the DCP (Traffic) West to visit the location where the incident took place and begin an inquiry immediately. He added that a report must be filed on the same by Sunday.

"It has been prima facie noticed that safety of the woman and the child was endangered in the incident. Hence, pending inquiry, the constable is being placed under suspension," Amitesh Kumar said. A decision about departmental action against him will be taken after the report is received, he added.

With inputs from PTI
Srinagar: Opposition National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday that talk of an independent Kashmir was "wrong" as the Valley is landlocked and surrounded by three nuclear powers China, Pakistan, and India.

Abdullah also claimed that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and "this won't change" no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight against each other.

His statement comes days after Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had rejected the idea of an "independent Kashmir", saying it was not based on "reality".

"I am saying that there is nothing like the issue of freedom (independent Kashmir) here. We are landlocked. On one side we have China, Pakistan on the other side and India on the third side," the MP from Srinagar told reporters on the sidelines of a function at the party headquarters.

"All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allah's name," he said.

"Those (separatists) who are talking about Azadi, are talking wrong," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.

On the demand for autonomy, he said that while the state decided to join India out of love, the country "betrayed" the people of Kashmir and did not treat them well.

"We should understand that there has been a decision (of accession), but India didn't treat us well. India betrayed us. They did not recognise the love with which we chose to join them. That is the reason behind the current situation in Kashmir," Abdullah said.

"Internal autonomy is our right. They (Centre) should restore it. Only then the peace will return (to the Valley)," he said.

Referring to a statement made by Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir about PoK being part of India, Abdullah invoked the instrument of accession signed by the then Maharaja Hari Singh, with the Indian government.

"You do not remember the instrument of accession and claim the other side of Kashmir administered by Pakistan. If that side is ours, then you should talk about the accession as well. Why do you forget the conditions on which we have acceded?" he said.

Abdullah also claimed that PoK was part of Pakistan and would remain so.

"I tell them in plain terms  not only the people of India but also to the world  that the part (of Jammu and Kashmir) which is with Pakistan (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and this side to India. This won't change. Let them fight how many wars they want to. This won't change," Abdullah said.

"And when the situation is such, then they have to talk so that we live in peace, both parts live in peace and for that, it is imperative to grant autonomy to both the parts," he said.

Asked whether the visit of the Centre's special representative for Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma to the state was successful, Abdullah said only Sharma could say anything about it.

"I can only say that while he has held talks, only talks will not address the issue as this issue is between two countries  Pakistan and India. The government of India has to talk to the government of Pakistan as a part of Jammu and Kashmir is with them (Pakistan)," he said.
By Shreya Shah

Mirjapur and Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Keshu Singh Patel, 56, was nowhere to be seen at Indores flower market on 7 November, 2017, 364 days after the governments decision to invalidate Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Repeated calls to his cell phone by this reporter were answered with the message: The number you are dialling is switched off.

On the morning of 8 November, 2017, IndiaSpend found Patel plucking marigold flowers on his farm in Mirjapur, near Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. The phone isnt working since the past 20 days, said Patel. It cant be repaired and we dont have the money to buy a new one right now.

Patels predicament underscores the difficulty small farmers face in moving to digital payments, which have increased overall over the past year.

Though, farmers and traders said the move to demonetise notes did not have a lasting effect on prices in the flower market, the shift to payments by cheque for large transactions had delayed when farmers would get cash in hand, impacting household purchase decisions, particularly as small farmers and traders struggle with the banking system, and low financial and digital literacy.

Many farmers do not own a smartphone  1 billion people across India do not  so they cannot access mobile banking services or internet-based payment systems.

Last year, IndiaSpend had spent a day with Patel to understand the impact of demonetisation or, notebandi as it is locally known. Because of lack of cash in the market, flower prices stayed low even in the wedding season, leading to a loss of 70 percent of Patels usual income between the months of October and January.

One year after the decision to invalidate overnight Rs 14 lakh crore  or 86 percent by value of Indian currency in circulation  IndiaSpend visited Patel and the Indore flower market to know whether there were any lasting effects of the move.

Cash still most important, dont use cards or cheques for payments

Patel is one of 118.6 million Indian farmers, as the Census recorded in 2011 - equivalent to the population of the Philippines. As many as 9.8 million farmers live and work in Madhya Pradesh, one of Indias poorest states. Patel is a small farmer, as he has about 2.5 acres of land, less than the average land held by an Indian farmer (2.84 acres), according to the agricultural census of 2010-11, as IndiaSpend reported in December 2016.

This year, Patel first sold onions, which he said sold at a rate lower than what he had expected. But the main problem he faced, he said, was that traders would insist they pay him via cheque, some of them post dated. It would take 4-5 days for the money to come into the bank account, and then we would have to go and withdraw from the bank, he said. For everyday transactions which would barely amount to Rs 500-1,000, including paying for the transport of produce, engaging with the banking system was more trouble than it was worth.

First you go to the bank to deposit the cheque, said Patel. When you go back to withdraw money, they will sometimes tell you the signature doesnt match, sometimes you will be asked to get the Aadhaar card. He said his older brother who lives in the same village sold about 25 quintal of soyabean at Rs 2,300-2,400 per quintal about five days ago, but the money hasnt reflected in his account yet.

The Madhya Pradesh government had said farmers could be paid upto Rs 50,000 in cash, but reports said farmers were still being paid by cheque.

We need money immediately if some disease attacks our crops. If we dont spray the davai (insecticide or fungicide) immediately, it causes us a loss, said Patel. This year, a part of Patels marigold crop withered due to a disease he calls kapadia, similar to blight, which blackens leaves and withers flowers.

When asked whether he uses a card to make payments at the local grocery store, Patel is at a loss. He said grocery shops dont have a card, that his bank doesnt give him a card  only cash  and then that he only has a bank account. His son, Kantilal, explains that he owns a card he uses only to withdraw money from the ATM, but right now they have no money in the bank.

Prices currently low in the market, but not because of notebandi

It is a period of low prices at the mandi (market), not because of any lasting effects of notebandi, but because of the usual ups and downs in the market, said Shabbir Abbasi, 52, a worker at Bharat flowers at the Indore mandi. Prices should go up in some days as the wedding season begins, he said.

Patel hasnt started regularly selling his produce of marigold and chrysanthemums at the market  he said he will start in a couple of days as his produce matures and prices go up.

There is no money in the market. I dont know why, said Champalal Kehlewad, 47, a farmer who sells his produce  flowers, soyabean, potatoes, other vegetables  at the Indore market. Its like even nature isnt supporting the current government, he said, giving the example of poor monsoons this year.

Small transactions by cash, only big traders use cheques

I still dont have a bank account, said Jagganath Mahadeo Bhuyyer, who goes by the name Bhausahab, and owns a flower shop in the mandi. He had told IndiaSpend last year that it was too much trouble to start and operate a bank account. But I am going to open an account tomorrow, on Wednesday, which is an auspicious day, he said. He said he was selling his house, and he would put money from the sale into the account.

Overall, India has high bank account ownership with 63 percent Indians owning a financial account of some kind. But only 12 percent used an advanced bank account service such as bill payments, insurance and loan payments in 2016, as IndiaSpend reported in October 2017.

Mukesh Mukati, a farmer who sells at the market, has a bank account, but he doesnt use it regularly. There has to be enough money in the bank to use it, he said, explaining that he has also taken a loan from the bank. He said he runs the household on the the cash he receives at the flower market everyday.

For everyday transactions at the market, Bhuyyer said bank accounts were of no use. Why would anyone who pays us Rs 200, 500, 1,000 use an account for it? Why would we pay the farmer such small amounts by cheque?

It is the big traders in the flower market who receive payments by cheque.

Pankaj Parod, 37, a trader, has been working in the market for 15-20 years. Before notebandi, there were some payments by cheque or direct bank transfers, but most of the transactions were still in cash, he said. Now people who buy in bulk, pay by cheque or transfer the money to the bank, but farmers still want us to pay them cash because the amounts are too small, and this delays payments, he explained.

Now there is no certainty when we will be paid, said Gajanand, a farmer who has been selling in the market for 30 years. But we understand that its not the traders fault.

No one in the mandi has a credit or debit card machine for payments.

Ask the government to let traders pay farmers in cash

Last year, the Patel family had about Rs 30,000-40,000 in the bank account, but they used the money for seeds for the next year, and household expenses. This summer, they spent Rs 50,000-60,000 to dig a new borewell because the old one dried in the scanty monsoon. We borrowed money from someone we know in the village, and are now paying that money back.

Earlier we used to buy groceries  oil, sugar  in bulk but now we only buy a 1 kilogram of oil or  kilogram of sugar at one go, Patel, the farmer, told IndiaSpend. We are uncertain when the next cash payment will reach us. Ive never been so anxious about all this in my life. But now I am, he said.

The government should say farmers can be paid in cash. We are small farmers, we dont have black money to hide.

The good thing is that they still pay us in cash at the flower market for small transactions.

(Shah is a writer/editor with IndiaSpend.)
Jammu: Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday that Pakistan's decision to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife was a reflection of the efficacy of the Indian diplomatic outreach and its acceptance around the world.

"I think this is a compliment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This (development) is certainly a compliment to the efficacy of India's diplomatic outreach," he told reporters.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said on Saturday that Jadhav would be allowed to meet his wife on Pakistani soil. The move came months after New Delhi requested Islamabad to allow Jadhav's mother to meet him on humanitarian grounds.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of spying and terrorism. In May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had halted his execution on India's appeal.

"One of the major achievements of the Modi government on terror from Pakistan and sponsored-terrorism in Kashmir is that India's viewpoint is now gaining more and more acceptance across the world, from even those countries which were earlier hesitant or had their own reasons not to accept it," the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office said.

Replying to a question on separatists in the Valley seeking Pakistan's involvement in any dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue, Singh said the decision to hold talks with the neighbouring country was the prerogative of the external affairs and home ministries.

"None of us has the mandate to decide on that," he said.

However, he said, the separatists stand exposed before the Valley's youth, who have decided to become a part of the Indian development journey. He said 19 young boys and girls qualified for IIT from terror-striken districts of Kashmir in 2017.

"(The separatists) are the same so-called protagonists who say they do not owe allegiance to the Indian Constitution, but their own children are taking maximum benefits out of it.

"Even holding jobs in the administrative services, I am sure the youth of Kashmir today is no longer ready to be taken by this jugglery," he said.
Lahore: Pakistani authorities have written to the Punjab home department asking it to take stringent measures for the security of detained Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, claiming a "foreign intelligence agency" had planned to kill him.

In the letter, the National Counter Terrorism Authority said the foreign spy agency had paid Rs 80 million to two activists of a banned outfit for the assassination of Saeed.

It asked the Punjab home department to ensure foolproof security for the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief. Saeed has been under house arrest in Lahore since 30 January under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

The home department in October had extended his detention for another 30 days (till 26 November) under public safety law.

The department's notification had said, "There is apprehension that Saeed shall create a law and order situation upon release".

The JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of $10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
On the first day of his three-day campaign to poll-bound Gujarat, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi launched an attack at the Centre over its decision to revise the structure of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Dubbing the tax as Gabbar Singh Tax, Gandhi said, "there is no need for five different taxes  India needs only one tax." GST needs a structural reform, he added.

"Bring the tax cap under GST from 28 percent to 18 percent," the Congress vice-president said, according to CNN-News 18.

#BREAKING - Cap Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 18%, says Rahul Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/dMztrwt6QA  News18 (@CNNnews18) November 11, 2017

"These are our demands... These are Gujarat's and the country's demands," Gandhi added. At a rally in Gandhinagar, he said, "demonetisation and GST have left lakhs of young people unemployed."

The Congress leader said that it was because of the pressure that the Congress party and the nation's citizens put on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that rate cuts related to GST were announced on Friday. "But we are not satisfied yet. GST needs structural changes," Gandhi said.

Magar abhi hum khush nahin hain, abhi hum rukenge nahi. Hindustan ko 5 alag alag tax nahin chahiye, ek tax chahiye, GST mein structural badlav chahiye: Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/HyX2ivOt5D  ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2017

Before his speech, Gandhi also visited the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar on Saturday morning.

In his three-day road trip, Gandhi will cover six districts of North Gujarat. He will hold meetings with women, villagers and different communities during the tour, party officials said.

He will also visit the famous Ambaji temple in Banaskantha district on Saturday. In the recent past, Gandhi had conducted such campaign tours in Saurashtra, central Gujarat and south Gujarat.

With inputs from PTI
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
Ninety-three year old Sushil Kumar Chatterjee  aka Nakku da  is a resident of North Kolkata's Nalin Sarkar Street. Nakku babu is a collector of antiques, and his home is crammed so full of collectibles that its difficult to find standing room. The items he collects offer a strange and esoteric glimpse into the past: here, an 18th century calling bell made in England, there a World War I army receiver; a Swiss stopwatch made by ROCAR in 1930, a box of 300-year-old buttons made of sea shells, a 16mm projector made in Germany in 1948, 200-year-old trumpets, rare folk music instruments, music records made of shellac, the first head phone that was imported to Kolkata  the list goes on. Despite his age, Nakku babu keeps careful inventory of all his finds, and will recount in detail the back-story to how he procured each of them.

Born on 18 November 1926, Nakku babu's obsession with antiques started when he was just 10. "Back then I would collect small pebbles from the river side, aboriginal masks during our countryside trips, coins and stamps from British officers. My hobby took off just like any other normal child who falls in love with old and ancients," Chatterjee told Firstpost, on a visit to his home  all three storeys of which, are filled with antiques. Apar from he objects mentioned above, Nakku babu also happens to be the proud possessor of a camera and an army receiver that were used during World War I.

"Check these out," he said, extending a box to us, full of optical bulbs that were used in film making in the '70s, "I bought a box full of these yesterday, for just Rs 3,500. I got a good deal, didn't I?" Beneath the thick lens of his glasses, his eyes glittered with happiness. Indeed, he's happiest when collecting antiques from various auctions that take place in and around Kolkata. Quite hyper active (even at his age), Nakku babu ensures he doesn't miss any of the vital auctions and the rest is taken care of by his sources.

Every year between September and December, he hosts a number of students from the UK, US and Europe at his home. "Other than death, the other thing that I desperately wait for is the arrival of my students each year," he told us, (hopefully) in jest.

Apart from being a collector, this onetime actor, director, writer, has a deep love for various sounds. "I have a room full of sound projectors upstairs; creating sounds can be as magical as creating life!" he said, leading us to it. When we entered the room, a huge sound box placed on the left of the entrance, played a beautiful Hindi classic  like a happy happy welcome tune.

What will happen to his treasures once he's gone? Who will they be bequeathed to? "Not to the government for sure. The system is full of dishonest people," he asserted. As for family, Nakku baba says his wife has been struggling with a mental illness for the past 15 years. "I want my son to take care of her first and after that, if he feels it is required, to preserve his father's passion... else the objects will find their next possessor on their own."

As we took our leave, Nakku babu promised: "Next time, come with some more time in hand. I have a collection of 10,000 pictures of old Calcutta  you're going to love them!"
Much before the 2015 controversy over his stunningly sensitive novel Madhorubagan forced him to announce his own 'death' as writer, Perumal Murugan had earned a reputation of being brilliantly versatile. There is perhaps no literary form this 51-year-old writer has not tried  and been successful in. Arguably the most important writer in Tamil today, Perumal Murugan has written poems, short stories, novels, non-fiction  and no matter what the form, his words have always been delivered with equal finesse.

The excitement in his voice is palpable when Perumal Murugan recollects the publication of his first short story in 1988. I was doing my MA then. I sent my first short story Nigazhvu (Event) to Kanaiyazhi, then edited by Ashokamitran. He sent a response saying the story is fine, and Kanaiyazhi should get a chance to publish it. It was noncommittal. I waited for months before the story finally appeared in August that year.

The childlike excitement of a newly published writer is still intact in now globe-trotting Murugan. In 2016, he ended his self-imposed literary exile and stormed the scene with a poetry collection Kozhaiyin Paadalgal (Songs of a Coward). Unlike his earlier poems, Kozhaiyin Paadalgal is full of fury and angst  of a writer reduced to being dead. He writes as unforgettable the day one is killed in front of his own eyes. He lets go of everyone he is angry with, since his divine language has no words to curse. In poem after poem, Murugan takes the reader through the dreadfully dark, haunting days of his exile. In doing so, he admirably regains the authority of his voice as a writer and discovers new literary horizons to be conquered.

Since then, there has been no stopping him. This month, a selection of Perumal Murugans short stories  Goat Thief  has been published by Juggernaut. Translated by N Kalyan Raman, the stories  written over a period of three decades  offer a prismatic view in to the characteristics of rural life and sometimes, the exigencies of urban life.

From a goat thief caught in act to a night watchmans attempts to befriend a girls spirit, Perumal Murugans characters are richly complex and beautifully poignant. Employing liberal use of imagery, Murugan in his short stories seeks to establish the glaring yet hardly noticed disparities of day-to-day life. Sensitively told and ably translated, Goat Thief would bring alive to its English readers a world that is complex yet fascinating.

In a freewheeling chat, Murugan talks about his characters, his decision to write and plans for future.

How did Goat Thief happen?

Juggernaut was publishing some of my stories on their app. I think they probably decided to bring it out as a collection when they started getting good response. All the short stories in Goat Thief were written since the late 1980s. I am glad some of them are in English, getting a good response.

The 10 stories in Goat Thief were selected from an anthology which has over 80 stories. Was it a difficult task?

The anthology in Tamil published by Kalachuvadu has some 83 stories, written since 1988. I had some criteria when I decided to shortlist the stories that could be translated  stories that I found personally satisfying in terms of language and content, and stories that attracted reader attention at the time when they were published. I had a third criterion too... I sent some four or five stories that I really liked but which did not get the kind of attention they really deserved. Of that, one story  The Night the Owls Stopped Crying  was translated and published. I am really glad it got translated. I was disappointed that the story went almost unnoticed when it was published in Uyir Ezhuthu (a literary magazine) in 2011. This was some kind of consolation  that my editor and translator liked the story.

So I shortlisted some 25 to 30 short stories and of them, Kalyan Raman and Sivapriya  my editor at Juggernaut chose these 10.

Your stories are rich in imagery and the characters speak very distinctive local dialects. It must be a challenge for translators.

My translators and I are in touch throughout the entire process of translation. It involves intense discussions. My translators also explain and take me through the process if they significantly change something. Like when it was suggested to change the Tamil name of my story Velli Meen (Morning Star), into Goat Thief. The translator and the editor felt Goat Thief would communicate better to English readers and I agree. Finally, I am happy my characters speak English and reach a greater audience.

The Kalachuvadu anthology has your stories arranged newest to oldest  starting from stories written in 2015 to the ones written before that. Was this planned?

In a sense, yes it was planned. My readers of today might not really like the stories I had written in 1980s. But I thought it was important to include my earlier stories in the anthology. It helps to understand my growth as a writer. It kind of showcases the changes my language has undergone. So if the anthology starts with recent stories, a reader might find it easy to go into my other stories.

The anthology does not carry your short story Tiruchengode. Was this intentional?

Yes. When the controversy over Madhorubagan (One Part Woman) broke out, I initially decided to change the name of the place  from a real Tiruchengode to a fictional Karattur. Only when it escalated, did I decide to give up writing. When I decided to publish again, I had also changed the name of Tiruchengode in later editions of Madhorubagan and other novels as Karattur. I was still wary of publishing Tiruchengode as part of my Tamil anthology released last year. But a few months ago, I met a Czech national at Salem  Dr Pavel Hons from the Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences at Prague. Dr Hons is a passionate teacher of Tamil. He told me he had translated Tiruchengode into his language. He really liked it. I was astounded. So Tiruchengode  probably under a different name  will find place in the next edition.

Your decision to quit writing was disappointing. You were not just prolific; you were also doing justice to every form you were handling.

I had the least intention of coming back to write or publish when I had announced my death as a writer. But then I derived the courage to come back from the High Court judgment. The judgment was like some sort of order, some sort of guidance  a calling I cannot pretend to not hear. I did not want to. But then, I have never stopped writing. Even when in exile, I was writing. I had only decided not to publish.

Your poetry  the ones you wrote in exile and published later  seem so different from your earlier poems. Kozhaiyin Paadalgal was different in terms of form and content.

To be honest, I was not writing anything for first three months. Then on an impulse, I wrote a poem. I think something pushed me to write it. The first poem held my hand and made me write more poems. I have had four poetry collections before Kozhaiyin Paadalgal and together they comrpise some 200 poems. But in this period alone, I wrote 200 poems. I have never been so prolific with poetry. It was like poetry had seized me.

I was not reading anything. I couldnt bring myself to even read newspapers during that period. So I guess my poetry was free from any kind of influence  literary and otherwise. I realise my language had also undergone a huge transformation. This makes Kozhaiyin Paadalgal different from rest of my collection. In a sense, Kozhaiyin Paadalgal is my first book.

But why poetry?

Writing is a mental habit for me. And I consider poetry as my ideal. It is some sort of release. I think it helped me heal and recover. I do write short stories and novels, but I have never stopped writing poetry.

The Goat Thief is published by Juggernaut Books
Editor's note: This is the third part in a series on translation efforts in India. This week, we seek an answer to why people translate by asking contemporary translators as well as listening to what literary giants have said about it, in the past

The word 'translation' comes, etymologically, from the Latin for 'bearing across'. Having been borne across the world, we are translated men. It is normally supposed that something always gets lost in translation; I cling, obstinately to the notion that something can also be gained, Salman Rushdie says in Imaginary Homelands. The Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, who has been embraced by readers of over 40 languages thanks to translations, who wrote the first draft of his first novel in English before translating it to Japanese and has translated several works into Japanese from English has said: I have always felt that translation is fundamentally an act of kindness. It is not enough to find words that match: if images in the translated text are unclear, then the thoughts and feelings of the author are lost.

The prolific AK Ramanujan who most famously translated Tamil Sangam era poetry to English, once said, I do not translate out of love but out of envy, out of a kind of aggression towards these great poems. I think one translates out of a need to appropriate someone elses creation, done better than one could ever do. Its interesting to note that Sangam poetry continues to pique the interest of translators even today. Take the blog www.oldtamilpoetry.com, run by Chenthil Nathan or Suchitra Ramachandrans Kurunthokai project (she illustrated as well as translated poems from Sangam era on a popular Instagram and Twitter page).

Talking about just how integral, even without our noticing it, translation is to our lives, Suchitra (who recently won Asymptotes Close Approximations contest for her Periyammas Words, a translation of Jeyamohans Tamil short story) says, In India, we grow up in the space between languages. Linguistic plurality and a culture of translation is in our ethos, and so reading translations feels intimately familiar. Translations from languages and cultures far removed from the dominant Anglophone culture, including our own mother tongues, present us with vistas and literary experiences that are potent and very unique. In fact, it was not until I actively started translating that I realised how much of the reading that we all do, is in translation. For example, we often read translated, transcreated versions of our epics, that themselves exist in the plane of multiple languages, subcultures and retellings. We have evolved an English vocabulary that corresponds to the concepts in our epics  phrases like 'lotus feet', for example. We read the great Russians almost exclusively in translation.

Chenthil Nathan, talking about what interested him in translation, says, A part of it was due to my growing up in small town Tamil Nadu. I studied in English medium schools, but all around me life happened in Tamil. So there was a natural tendency to explain stuff in both languages. I used to (still do) think in Tamil and write in English. At some point of time I started observing myself juggling two languages..."

"When I started blogging in English, I wanted to showcase the progress of contemporary Tamil literature. Hence I used to do random translations of Tamil poems into Engish. Then I translated a short story by Kamal Haasan into English and that got noticed. I was hooked and started translating Bharathiyar poems. From there I went back and tried to translate Kamba Ramayanam (about 10,000 poems written in 12th century). I stopped at about 100 because the monotony got to me."

"Then I started translating into Tamil too. Couple of Manto's short stories, poems from across the world (Neruda to Tang dynasty poets) and so on. I published this in Padhaakai e-magazine. Bhaskar, an editor at Padhaakai, played a crucial part in my translation journey. Till then, I just published my translations on my blog with no editing. The comments section was the only feedback/criticism of my efforts. So naturally my translations were loose and free flowing. Bhaskar taught me discipline by asking me questions, pointing out what I was missing, probing me to improve. I owe a lot to him, though I have never met him in person.

Old Tamil Poetry project happened by chance, Chenthil says. Till 2011, I hardly knew classical Tamil literature. I knew the names and a smattering of poems, nothing more. The beauty of Sangam poetry is that once it pulls you in, it is hard to get out. In December 2015, a friend pointed me to @sentantiq, the Twitter handle of a classics professor in the US who was translating Greek and Latin quotes one at a time (on Twitter). She asked me is there is anybody doing such stuff in Tamil. Around that time, Suchitra R was doing an illustrated translation of selected Kurunthokai poems on Instagram. That gave me an idea: why not try to showcase the 2,000-year-old heritage of Tamil literature. Hence I named it Old Tamil Poetry, not wanting to restrict myself to Sangam poetry alone."

Chenthil, by his own admission, had "dropped many projects midway", so he set himself a task of posting daily. "That's how OldTamilPoetry came into being. In hindsight, I started my translation journey from 20th century literature and travelled back to 200 BC, he says.

Suchitra quips, When I started reading a lot in Tamil, I realised that there was a wealth of literature out there that isn't being read and recognised as much as it should be. In addition, many English translations I read from Tamil and other Indian languages were at some level unsatisfying, and I found myself always re-writing them in my head, trying to make them sound more elegant. At some point, I started translating poems and parts of stories I had read and enjoyed.

This sentiment is something many translators attribute to their need to translate. Murakami, while explaining why he decided to translate The Great Gatsby to Japanese, has said, In the case of The Great Gatsby, I found that none of the translations I looked at satisfied me, regardless of their quality. Inevitably, I would think, 'This feels a bit (or a lot!) different from the Gatsby I know'. I must hasten to add that this reaction was personal, based on the image I carried in my mind, and had nothing at all to do with objective  or academic  critical assessments of the works at hand, such evaluations being beyond my power anyway. All I could do was scratch my head at how wide the gap was between 'my Gatsby' and the impression I received from the translations  this again from a purely subjective perspective.

Yogesh Maitreya, who is a translator of Dalit literature, when asked what brought him to translation says, If we look at the history of translation in India, one thing becomes very apparent to us: only upper caste writers (majorly Brahmins) have been translated from one language to others. Their work was translated into international languages. Because of this, readers from outside India were provided with ideas about India only through upper caste agencies."

"The India which readers (especially English speaking population) came to know was through Brahminical perspectives, which was a minor imagination of India, shaped by the inheritance of privileges. With the arrival of Dalit literature in India, people across states and castes were creatively compelled to read the imaginative work by Dalits that captured and explained the reality of an India which was so far unseen by readers outside India. At this point, translation of Dalit literature into English has played the major role in introducing people, through fictional and nonfictional work, to the inhumane realities of India. Yet, only few Dalit literary works have succeeded in being translated into English and other languages. Equally important, non-fiction, Dalit literature from rural areas, are yet to be known to a wider readership due to lack of translation efforts, and means of production and circulation. As I started reading Dalit literature not considered as popular or having great value, I realised its importance; after reading it, my ideas, imagination and perspectives about literature became wider."

"Such obscure Dalit literature helped me enhance the horizon of my imagination of literature and the spirit with which people live their lives. I wanted to share the same experience with a larger readership. And what could be a better means of doing this than by translating them into a language that is spoken widely and is known to you as well? Despite this, my experience of reading Dalit literature is not of bleak lives but of victories people achieved. I wanted it to be known to many people and that, as I imagined, would help them perceiving India through Dalits eyes and see this society as it is. With this small objective, I started my efforts at translating.

Anita Raja, the award-winning Italian translator, in an essay Translation as a Practice of Acceptance that appeared in the Asymptote Journal (a wonderful e-magazine that focusses on translations and translators), says, What does it mean for me to translate literature? It means establishing an intense relationship which unfolds entirely within the written word, a relationship which begins with one written text and produces a second written text; it is therefore not only a relationship between two languages but above all a relationship between two modes of writing, between two utterances that are by nature strongly personal.

Translation helps you enhance your views about the lives of people; it brings you closer to the wider and the deeper reality about human society. Translation democratises the perspectives of people. This is most appealing factor of translation, I think, Yogesh signs off.

Also read parts one and two.

The writer is the founding editor of The Madras Mag
Gandhinagar: A three-day BJP meeting chaired by party chief Amit Shah to select candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections began at Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's house on Friday.

The meeting will conclude on Sunday. The list of finalised names will be presented at the BJP parliamentary board meeting to be held on 15 November in Delhi.

Besides Rupani, the meeting that began in the evening is also being participated by Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, former chief minister Anandiben Patel, BJP state president Jitu Vaghani, the Gujarat BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and other senior party leaders. Shah will finalise a panel of list of candidates prepared at the state level.

Elections are less than a month away, and like all parties, the BJP too is planning full-fledged for it. The party, though unwilling to admit, faces an anti-incumbency in the state where it has been in power for more than two decades. Many agitations depicting issues of various communities have surfaced after the exit of then chief minister and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the state politics.

Friday's meeting agenda is likely to focus on the candidatures of 89 state Assembly constituencies, which comprises of 14 districts.

According to sources, the party might consider fielding Patidar candidates for eight of the south Gujarat constituencies and 24 constituencies of Saurashtra region. As has been in the past, the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have been known to go for the no-repeat theory, where many sitting MLAs' names are likely to be chopped.

The finalisation of candidates will be done by the national parliamentary board at a two-day meeting in Delhi scheduled on 14 and 15 November. Considering the fact that the elections are going to be held in two phases, there is likelihood of three panels of the list being prepared at the state meeting.

The saffron party has to face many fronts other than the opposition Congress, like the Dalit community's ire, the recently evolved Karadia Rajput agitation against state president Jitu Vaghani, the Thakore community, which has been going against the saffron party. On top of that is the Patidar agitation, led by young turk Hardik Patel, who has pledged non-cooperation and Opposition to the saffron party.
New Delhi: Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi as chief minister of Gujarat had not passed on the fertiliser subsidy provided by the UPA government to the farmers, the Congress on Friday accused his government at the Centre of resuming the subsidy with an eye on the state polls.

The party said the subsidy, which had been discontinued by the UPA government as it was being "pocketed" by the Gujarat State Fertiliser and Chemicals Ltd (GSFC), was restored by the Modi government in March this year to use as a "lollipop" in the Gujarat polls.

"Modi, who seeks to appropriate UPA's scheme of Direct Benefits Transfer' could not even transfer the subsidy to 55 lakh farmers of Gujarat. It speaks of the difference about his words and deeds," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the media in New Delhi.

"When the GSFC was caught pocketing the same, the UPA withdrew the earmarked amount (for 55 lakh farmers), so that a better method could be devised to transfer the said subsidy," Singhvi said.

He said the fertiliser subsidy was out of Modi's mind for three years after coming to power at the Centre in 2014.

"In the meantime, judicial procedures were also followed and GSFC was found guilty of pocketing an amount of Rs 986.56 crore meant as fertiliser subsidy for Gujarat's farmers," Singhvi said.

He said the amount of Rs 986.56 crore was reportedly used by the GSFC to show revenues of Rs 5,477 crore and a net profit of Rs 419.5 crore in 2016-17.

"Thus the turnaround story of a state PSU was artificially concocted by the BJP and Modi. The GSFC has not provided any data and justification to substantiate that subsidy paid by the government did not result in undue gains to the company," Singhvi said.

He said it was intriguing that instead of following legal procedures, the Modi government withdrew the case and an "out-of-court settlement" with the GSFC was reached in March this year and agreed to resume the subsidy from that month itself.

Singhvi said the Modi government was also actively considering paying the GSFC the subsidy it withheld from 2013 to 2017.

"In fact, a part of that outstanding amount - Rs 170 crore - was also released in March. Clearly, the Gujarat elections acted as a definite factor in resuming this subsidy," he said.

Singhvi further said the CAG report tabled in the Gujarat Assembly on 31 March, 2016 "exposes the false myth of Vikas Model' and Brand Namo'".

"The CAG report is a telling irony of crony capitalism, malicious enrichment of private parties, writing off public money invested in questionable oil/gas reserves, besides deliberate bleeding of a state public sector undertaking by a Chief Minister who encouraged and institutionally supported plunder of state resources," he said.

Singhvi said the GSPC surrendered 45 gas blocks, i.e. 70.31 per cent of the 64 blocks owned by it, and the total loss to public exchequer from the surrender stood at Rs 2,992.72 crore, as per the CAG report.

"Out of these, loss on account of 11 overseas blocks that were surrendered is Rs 1,757.46 crore."

"Never before have the state resources been plundered in this reckless fashion and loss caused to public exchequer as brought by the CAG. Narendra Modi refuses to respond, leave apart placing the facts before the nation. Is this the reason for condoning corruption by other BJP honchos?" Singhvi said.
The report on solar scam, which involved an educated couple, who duped nearly three dozen people of Rs 6.5 crore by offering 'alternative' solar solutions in early 2010s, has raised eyebrows in legal and political circles in the state.

The 1073-page report by the Justice G Sivarajan Commission, appointed by the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in 2013, points fingers at 74-year-old former chief minister Oommen Chandy and 21 others, including two central ministers, three state ministers, MLAs, an MP and many top Congress leaders.

The report tabled in the Assembly by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said Chandy and his colleagues had aided a dubious company floated by Biju Radhakrishnan and his live-in-partner Saritha S Nair to cheat people by accepting illegal gratification in the form of money and sexual favours.

The scam that rocked the UDF government in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections, which it lost badly, may continue to echo in the political scene in the state for a long time. The Left Front government has appointed a special investigation team under a Director General of Police to probe the charges listed by the judicial commission, while the opposition UDF is gearing up to challenge the commission report in the court.

The UDF has already sought expert legal opinion to file a petition in the high court for quashing the report. A major point of the petition would be the jurisdictional breach committed by the judicial commission headed by the retired high court judge. The former chief minister, who faces both graft and sexual abuse charges, said that the commission dragged many of his party men into the scam by going outside its terms of reference.

The commission was asked to look into the solar scam and allied financial transactions raised on the floor of the Assembly and outside. But it has virtually reproduced all the allegations contained in a letter purported to have been written by prime accused Saritha, and the statements she gave to the commission without verification. This was against the commissions brief, Chandy argued.

He has questioned the genuineness of the letter itself. The original letter, which is claimed to have been written on 24 July, 2013, contained 21 pages but the one she produced before the commission has 25 pages. Prisons chief Alexander Jacob, who read the letter before it was handed over to her advocate, testified before the commission that the name of the former chief minister had not figured in it.

However, Chandy's name figured prominently in the letter which was included in the report, with the allegation that he had oral sex with Saritha several times in the chief ministers official bungalow, Cliff House. Denying the charge, Chandy said that he was ready to end his political career if there is even a shred of evidence to link him to the sexual allegation.

Senior high court advocate Mohammed Shah said that a case cannot be registered on the basis of the report since the judicial commission had not made any independent inquiry about the allegation. Though the panel pointed out allegations in several quarters that Saritha was flaunting names of VIPs with the objective of blackmailing them, it included them in its findings and sought them to be treated as illegal gratification under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Gratification involves consent. This means Saritha had given sexual favours with her consent. If so evidence is needed to support the allegation. But in this case, Saritha has only mentioned some names and places. She has not given any other details, including date and time. Such an allegation cannot stand before law, the lawyer told Firstpost.

He said this could be the reason why the government went back on its decision to register cases against Chandy and others. The original decision was taken on the basis of the legal advice given by the advocate general and Director General of Prosecution. It changed track after it got a second opinion from a retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Arijit Pasayat, who has reportedly ruled out the scope for pursuing the sexual abuse cases.

The lawyer said that the commission findings on financial transactions too were without corroborative material. It has lapped up Sarithas allegations that she had coughed up more than Rs seven crores in the form of bribe to many Congress leaders for their support to her firms projects without any logic.

The commission has made the findings based on her letter and statement. It has neither verified the allegation independently nor collected any supporting evidence. The panel has reproduced what Saritha said without even considering her credibility, which was questioned at least by two high court judges and a magistrate before, Shah said.

Justice Kemal B Pasha of the high court had dismissed her plea for a CBI probe into her sexual allegation against the former chief minister saying that a person making such claims should have credibility in order to claim unfairness or malafide investigation. The judge added that a person accused in 33 cases for allegedly squeezing crores of rupees from investors cannot claim any such credibility.

Shah said that there are several other anomalies in the report, which came after three-and-a-half years of inquiry and spending more than Rs seven crores. Curiously, the panel has put this amount among the government's losses due to the scam.

The report, however, is silent on any direct loss caused to the exchequer. It is also silent on the question whether any of the leaders named in the report extended favours or benefits to Saritha and her company. The lawyer said that the UDF has a strong case to challenge the report in a court of law.

Political commentator Sunnykutty Abraham wondered how the commission could arraign anybody without specifying the favours they have given to the solar firm. He told Firstpost that the half-baked report may not serve any purpose except giving a political weapon in the hands of the ruling coalition to pin it down in the coming Lok Sabha election.

Writer and retired IAS officer, NS Madhavan, who served as finance secretary during the previous LDF government, has also come down heavily on the solar scam commission for trivialising issues instead of exposing the organised loot of public and private funds that serves the public interest. He wrote on Twitter:

A retired justice tabulating oral and phone sex in a commission of enquiry report, based on an ex-criminals letters, isnt a pretty sight. Such voyeuristic pursuits have just put on backburner a possible organised loot of public and private funds, presided over by the CMO.  N.S. Madhavan (@NSMlive) November 9, 2017

"The Commission put Sarithas letters before the government and asked for an enquiry. However, without verification, these scurrilous appendices are an attack on reputations. Is Justice Sivarajan apprenticing for yellow press?" Madhavan said.
New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday claimed credit for the the GST Council's decision to cut tax rates on 178 items of daily use, saying the government was forced to do so due to the pressure mounted by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the "huge response" his campaign had been receiving in poll-bound Gujarat.

Leading the charge against the government on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Gandhi said the Congress would continue to fight for a 18-per cent cap on the highest GST slab instead of the current 28 per cent, and vowed that the party would get the job done "if the ruling BJP doesn't". He also reiterated that India needed a simple tax and not the "Gabbar Singh Tax" as he had been describing the tax regime to target the Modi government.

Congress general secretary in-charge of Gujarat, Ashok Gehlot said that the GST Council on Friday decided to cut the tax rates due to the pressure mounted by Gandhi and the "huge response" he had been receiving in the poll-bound western state.

Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, has been under the BJP's rule for over two decades and the Congress is trying to oust it from power. Congress leaders, particularly Gandhi, have made GST and demonetisation as key issues of their campaign.

Gehlot claimed the GST Council brought about the changes in tax rates with an eye on votes in Gujarat. The state goes to poll in two phases on 9 December and 14 December.

"It (BJP) is rankled by trepidation that Gujarat will slip off its hands. That's why the rates were cut. The Council did so because of the pressure Rahulji mounted and the response his yatras in the state are getting," he said.

Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala termed the GST Council's move "installment-based tinkering" which he said underscored the "chaos within and adhocism" of the BJP-led central government.

Accusing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the government of "paying lip service and creating havoc", Surjewala said the Congress was determined to make the tax regime "flawless". "India needs a simple tax, not Gabbar Singh Tax. The Congress and people have got 28 per cent tax abolished on several items fighting for it. Our fight for 18 percent cap with one rate will continue. If the BJP doesn't do it, the Congress will," Gandhi tweeted.

Surjewala demanded that petroleum products, real estate and electricity be brought under the ambit of the GST. He also called for reducing "compliance burden" of the GST and added that the textile sector was faced with deep stress due to "distorted duty structure".

"Adjournment and deferment, rather than decision, appear to be the 'way forward' for this government...None of these challenges have been addressed by the Council. This is owing to the sheer ineptitude and amateurish handling of the biggest tax reform by BJP the government," he added.

Congress leader Pawan Khera said that credit should be given to Gandhi.

"There was pressure from Rahul Gandhi. The statement on Gabbar Singh Tax went viral to such an extent in Gujarat that the BJP did not know how to deal with it," Khera said.

He, however, added that much more was needed to be done to extend the relief to the farming community as the central excise on fertilisers was 1.03 per cent before GST, but after the new taxation system came into force, the tax was increased to 5 per cent. He said that the tax on agricultural equipment such as tractors was as high as 18 per cent.

The GST Council on Friday decided to reduce the tax rate on items ranging from chewing gums to detergentsto 18 percent from current 28 percent The all-powerful council pruned the list of items attracting the top 28 percent tax rate to just 50 from 228 previously.

The GST, implemented from 1 July, has five tax slabs of 0 percent, 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent and 28 percent
Gandhinagar: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi arrived in Gujarat on Saturday on a three-day visit, his fourth in a row to the poll-bound state. This time he is visiting the stronghold of the BJP, in north Gujarat.

Gandhi is expected to attack the ruling BJP, both in the state as well as the Centre, on various fronts like the Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation, unemployment, Patidars, farmer distress and price rise et al.

As the state gears up for the state assembly elections on 9 and 14 December, political bigwigs have made Gujarat their second home and the Gandhi scion is no exception.

In the last two months, not just Gandhi, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national chief Amit Shah have been to the state several times.

Gandhi arrived at the Ahmedabad airport on Saturday morning. Then in a completely unplanned move, he headed to the Akshardham Temple Gandhinagar. After 'tilak' and 'darshan' he set out for the Chiloda village, adjoining the state capital.

Gandhi during his recent visits, has made it a point to visit most of the pilgrim places and famous temples.

He will later visit Chala and Majra chokdi, both in Gandhinagar district.

From there he will head to Prantij and Himmatnagar before going to Idar, a tribal region. In Himmatnagar, Gandhi will be addressing a farmers gathering.

In the afternoon he will be visiting the Khedbrahmma region, as well as visit the famous Ambaji temple. In Idar, as well as in Vadali, he will have corner meetings, similar to the 'Chai Pe Charcha' type.

His night halt will be in Ambaji town. Before his Ambaji temple 'darshan', he will address a public meeting on the rights of tribals at Khedbrahmma.

Gandhi's frequent visits have sprung quite a surprise in political circles, and have been unprecedented.

Political pundits opine that as far as Congress leaders, especially from the 10, Janpath in Delhi are concerned, visits to the state have always been for a single day.

Until now, they were mostly characterised by a single public meeting in some remote tribal region. But this is probably for the first time that three-day visits have been planned and executed in Gujarat and that too, in urban areas as well.

On Sunday, Gandhi will have an interaction with the social media and IT teams of the party followed by his visits Danta and Jalotra and a public meeting at Palanpur in Banaskantha district.

In Deesa, Gandhi will once again address small gatherings of youth and talk about Yuva Rojgar.

On Sunday he will be visiting and having 'darshan' of two temples, one at Thara and the other Totana. He will also address a public meeting at the Thara ground.

Late on Sunday evening he will arrive at former chief minister Anandiben Patel's bastion, Patan, and address a public meeting. He will make a night halt at Patan Circuit House.

On Monday, Gandhi will meet Dalit leaders in the morning after his 'darshan' to Patan's Vir Megh Maya Temple.

After that he will be visiting four villages in the area and once again have a small gathering and discussion (Chopal-style) with the nomadic tribe communities.

On the last day of his three-day sojourn, Gandhi will have a 'darshan' in three temples. First in Varana, where he will also address a public meeting, then in Shankheshwar temple and later in Becharaji, where he will also address the 'Rojgar Adhikar Sabha'.

Gandhi will arrive in the Mehsana constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, where he will address women at 'Mahila Adhikar Sabha'.

He will end the visit on Monday with small corner meetings in Visnagar, the place from where the Patidar reservation stir initiated. He will then leave for Delhi.
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Dubbing the tax as Gabbar Singh Tax, Gandhi said, "there is no need for five different taxes  India needs only one tax." GST needs a structural reform, he added.

At a rally in Gandhinagar, Gandhi launched an attack at the Centre over its decision to revise the structure of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

He will also visit the famous Ambaji temple in Banaskantha district on Saturday. In the recent weeks, Gandhi had conducted such campaign tours in Saurashtra, central Gujarat and south Gujarat.

In his three-day road trip, Rahul will cover six districts of North Gujarat. He will hold meetings with women, villagers and different communities during the tour, party officials said.

Rahul Gandhi's expected schedule during his Gujarat election campaign on Monday: 9.50 am: Arrival at Ahmedabad Airport 1045 am: Swagat at Chiloda Circle, Gandhinagar 11.10 am: Swagat at Chala, Gandhinagar 11.30 am: Swagat at Prantij, Sabarkanta District 12 pm: Corner meeting at Prantij, Sabarkanta 1.30 pm: Corner meeting at Mehtapura Himmatnagar, Sabarkanta 2.45 pm: Corner meeting at Pratap School Ground, Idar, Sabarkanta 3.40 pm: Swagat at Vadali, Sabarkanta 4.15 pm: Public meeting at Khedbrahma, Sabarkanta 6.15 pm: Swagat at Hadad, Banaskantha district 7 pm: Swagat at DK Trivedi Circle, Ambaji, Banaskantha 7.10 pm: Visit to Ambaji Temple, Ambaji, Overnight Stay at Circuit House, Ambaji, Banaskantha  With inputs from Darshan Desai

As the Congress vice-president heads for lunch at a roadside outlet, people wearing Rahul Gandhi masks gather in Prantij in Sabarkantha district, according to The Indian Express

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was given a rousing reception in the Patidar dominated Majra village in Gandhinagar district where he also sported a garrison cap inscribed with the slogan Jai Sardar, Jai Patidar. He received the villagers standing on his campaign bus gate and soon after removed the cap, implying that the Congress and agitating Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) were yet to arrive at a conclusion on the issue of reservation for the Patidars under the OBC category.

"We are in a battle with China," Gandhi stated at the corner meeting in Sabarkanta. "In 24 hours, China gives over 50,000 youths a job...tell us how many youths in India have a job?" He asked comparing the two nations. "The answer is 450 jobs. This is Modi's startup India," the Congress vice-president said. "What China does in a day, Modi takes a year to do," he added.

"What China does in a day for employment, Modi takes a year to do," says Rahul Gandhi

A report in a news portal had alleged wrongdoings in the company owned by Jay Shah, a charge vehemently rejected by the latter and his father. Jay Shah has also filed a criminal defamation case against the news portal. PTI

"Modiji used to say he would be a chowkidar (watchman), but now people are asking whether he is a chowkidar or a bhagidar (collaborator)," he said, jabbing at Modi's claim that he was the watchman of India against corruption.

The Gandhi scion attacked Amit Shah's son at a rally in Khedbrahma. He said that Narendra Modi was silent about the company of Jay Shah, the turnover of which, as per a media report, rose from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in a few months after the BJP came to power at the Centre.

On Day 2 of the Navsarjan Yatra, Rahul Gandhi will travel from Banaskantha to Patan in Gujarat, meeting citizen groups along the way

 10 am : Interaction with social media and IT Volunteers at Ambaji International Hotel, Ambaji, Banaskantha district

Following is the expected schedule for Sunday's leg of Rahul Gandhi's Navsarjan Yatra:

"We reflect on ideas, there is a team of 3-4 people, to whom I give suggestions and after fine tuning them we tweet. Routine work, like birthday wishes isn't done by me, I give little inputs on it, tweets on political issues are mine."

On Sunday, during an interaction with social media and IT volunteers in Banaskantha, Rahul Gandhi said that there is a team of three to four persons who reflect on ideas and suggestions given by him before tweeting out of official Twitter profiles.

About Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "Whatever we do, spot Modi's faults or disturb BJP, we won't disrespect PM's position. When Modi Ji was in the Opposition, he used to speak with disrespect about the prime minister (Manmohan Singh). That is the difference between us and them: no matter what Modi says about us, we'll not go beyond a certain point as he is the prime minister."

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday that said that the Congress speaks the truth and the truth about Gujarat is , "Development has gone crazy here".

'When Modi was in Opposition, he disrespected the PM'

Visuals from Danta in Banaskantha district, where Rahul Gandhi got down from the tour bus to meet the crowd that had gathered

Soft Hindutva is the cliched charge that gets immediately hurled on any Congress leader who begins his tour to Narendra Modis Gujarat by visiting popular temples. If this is what Gandhi is trying to do, though he does not mention any of it in his interactions with the local populace, it does not work out. Simply because seekers of Hindutva will prefer the real thing, Modi, and nothing less.

Fighting an unequal war on a rivals best-kept ground needs quite an effort and it often doesnt work if that doesnt come with conviction, though it may appear to be genuine. This exactly is the case with Congress scion Rahul Gandhi who on Saturday morning visited the famed Akshardham Temple Complex and signed out the day in the evening with prayers at the popular Ambaji Temple in north Gujarat.

He said the electoral battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress was a "battle of truth versus lies", but asked his party to exercise restraint even while criticising the government's policies and not get personal. "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi may say anything about us, but we will not indulge in any loose talks about him and maintain the decorum of the office of prime minister."

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asserted that his party will sweep the Gujarat state polls in December, as a "tsunami is coming and the (ruling) BJP is scared of it", and exhorted his party not to speak ill of the office of prime minister even while criticising the government.

"I want to ask what kind of uniform tax structure he (Gandhi) wants? He is advocating for 18 percent GST on all items. It means that all those commodities that fall in zero percent, 5 percent or 12 percent slabs should be charged at 18 percent. It seems the Congress wants to increase the tax burden on people," Javadekar said at a press conference.

Referring to Gandhi's promise to cap GST rates at 18 percent if voted to power, Javadekar said the Congress vice-president intends to increase the tax burden on the common people.

With Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi pushing for rationalisation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said Congress leaders are "hypocrites" as they support the indirect tax at GST Council meets but speak against it in public.

"Gujarat is more corrupt than the entire country. Surat businessmen told me that policemen come to their units every two minutes (allegedly to demand bribe)," he said.

Speaking during his poll campaign tour of Gujarat, he claimed that the share market regulator has termed Rupani "beimaan" (dishonest) and imposed a fine on him.

Rahul Gandhi targeted Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday over the SEBI slapping a fine on his firm for alleged manipulative share trade, and asked the Prime Minister to speak out on the issue.

My family also falls in general category, says Rahul. "RSS is a 'manuwadi' organisation. Many people in general category are not 'manuwadi'. We will work for the betterment of scheduled castes," he adds.

Speaking in Gujarat on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi had asserted that despite the political rivalry with the BJP, his party would never disrespect the Prime Minister, reported NDTV . "When Modi-ji was in the opposition, he used to speak with disrespect about the PM. That is the difference between us and them, no matter what Modi says about us, we'll not go beyond certain point as he is the Prime Minister."

RECAP: Will criticise the Prime Minister, but won't disrespect him, says Rahul Gandhi

Villagers met Rahul Gandhi's convoy in Harij village in Patan district, according to The Indian Express . The Congress vice-president broke security barricades to meet them.

"Gujarat is more corrupt than the entire country. Surat businessmen told me that policemen come to their units every two minutes (allegedly to demand bribe)," he said.

Speaking during his poll campaign tour of Gujarat, he claimed that the share market regulator has termed Rupani "beimaan" (dishonest) and imposed a fine on him.

Rahul Gandhi targeted Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday over the SEBI slapping a fine on his firm for alleged manipulative share trade, and asked the Prime Minister to speak out on the issue.

The dalit leaders pointed out how people still have to go down into sewers and clean them. They asked Rahul to act against such practices.

Dalit leaders ask Rahul to work for those who clean sewers

My family also falls in general category, says Rahul. "RSS is a 'manuwadi' organisation. Many people in general category are not 'manuwadi'. We will work for the betterment of scheduled castes," he adds.

Hindustan Times talked to people in Gujarat and found out that while the BJP vote-share will dip, Modi will still ride home on the back of young, largely first-time voters, yet again.

Speaking in Gujarat on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi had asserted that despite the political rivalry with the BJP, his party would never disrespect the Prime Minister, reported NDTV . "When Modi-ji was in the opposition, he used to speak with disrespect about the PM. That is the difference between us and them, no matter what Modi says about us, we'll not go beyond certain point as he is the Prime Minister."

RECAP: Will criticise the Prime Minister, but won't disrespect him, says Rahul Gandhi

Villagers met Rahul Gandhi's convoy in Harij village in Patan district, according to The Indian Express . The Congress vice-president broke security barricades to meet them.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi arrived in Gujarat on Saturday on a three-day visit, his fourth in a row to the poll-bound state. This time he is visiting the stronghold of the BJP, in north Gujarat.

Gandhi is expected to attack the ruling BJP, both in the state as well as the Centre, on various fronts like the Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation, unemployment, Patidars, farmer distress and price rise et al.

As the state gears up for the state assembly elections on 9 and 14 December, political bigwigs have made Gujarat their second home and the Gandhi scion is no exception.

In the last two months, not just Gandhi, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national chief Amit Shah have been to the state several times.

Gandhi arrived at the Ahmedabad airport on Saturday morning. Then in a completely unplanned move, he headed to the Akshardham Temple Gandhinagar. After 'tilak' and 'darshan' he set out for the Chiloda village, adjoining the state capital.

Gandhi during his recent visits, has made it a point to visit most of the pilgrim places and famous temples.

He will later visit Chala and Majra chokdi, both in Gandhinagar district.

From there he will head to Prantij and Himmatnagar before going to Idar, a tribal region. In Himmatnagar, Gandhi will be addressing a farmers gathering.

In the afternoon he will be visiting the Khedbrahmma region, as well as visit the famous Ambaji temple. In Idar, as well as in Vadali, he will have corner meetings, similar to the 'Chai Pe Charcha' type.

His night halt will be in Ambaji town. Before his Ambaji temple 'darshan', he will address a public meeting on the rights of tribals at Khedbrahmma.

Gandhi's frequent visits have sprung quite a surprise in political circles, and have been unprecedented.

Political pundits opine that as far as Congress leaders, especially from the 10, Janpath in Delhi are concerned, visits to the state have always been for a single day.

Until now, they were mostly characterised by a single public meeting in some remote tribal region. But this is probably for the first time that three-day visits have been planned and executed in Gujarat and that too, in urban areas as well.

On Sunday, Gandhi will have an interaction with the social media and IT teams of the party followed by his visits Danta and Jalotra and a public meeting at Palanpur in Banaskantha district.

In Deesa, Gandhi will once again address small gatherings of youth and talk about Yuva Rojgar.

On Sunday he will be visiting and having 'darshan' of two temples, one at Thara and the other Totana. He will also address a public meeting at the Thara ground.

Late on Sunday evening he will arrive at former chief minister Anandiben Patel's bastion, Patan, and address a public meeting. He will make a night halt at Patan Circuit House.

On Monday, Gandhi will meet Dalit leaders in the morning after his 'darshan' to Patan's Vir Megh Maya Temple.

After that he will be visiting four villages in the area and once again have a small gathering and discussion (Chopal-style) with the nomadic tribe communities.

On the last day of his three-day sojourn, Gandhi will have a 'darshan' in three temples. First in Varana, where he will also address a public meeting, then in Shankheshwar temple and later in Becharaji, where he will also address the 'Rojgar Adhikar Sabha'.

Gandhi will arrive in the Mehsana constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, where he will address women at 'Mahila Adhikar Sabha'.

He will end the visit on Monday with small corner meetings in Visnagar, the place from where the Patidar reservation stir initiated. He will then leave for Delhi.

With inputs from IANS
Asserting that the Centre's decision to reduce the GST rates on a number of items was due to pressure from the Opposition, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he would not rest till the five-slab "Gabbar Singh Tax" was converted into the "Goods and Services Tax" with an 18 percent cap.

The Gandhi scion, who launched his poll campaign in north Gujarat after offering prayers at the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, said that GST was in dire need of structural changes. "It is good that the Congress party and the people of this country pressurised BJP to bring down many items from 28 percent bracket to 18 percent. However, we are not happy and we shall not stop. India does not need five different taxes but one tax. GST needs structural change," he said.

On Friday, the tax rates on over 200 items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates to beauty products, wigs and wristwatches, were cut by the GST Council to provide relief to consumers and businesses in the backdrop of an economic slowdown.

He claimed in a rally in Himmatnagar that the current tax slabs were designed to benefit the rich. "The aim of GST was to break the backbone of small and medium businesses in India and to strengthen the backbones of a selected few rich industrialists," Gandhi emphasised that India needed a unified tax and simple tax and if the BJP-led Central government did not manage to fix GST, then the Congress party will make sure it happens "when they come to power".

Gandhi's claim that the government was forced by the Congress to roll back the GST rates was criticised by the government with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking, "Is the GST Council under them?"

The 47-year-old Amethi MP also slammed demonetisation, saying, "The government which tells people at 8 pm in the night that it is going to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes within four hours, does not know what is in the hearts of people." He made an analogy that the BJP government lived in a "house without doors or windows" and that only such a government "which doesn't care about what's going on outside and who don't know what the people need" could implement the note ban. He also juxtaposed Congress party's effort for MNREGA with Modi's help to the Tata Nano project. "We gave Rs 35,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Agency (MNREGA), but Modi gave Rs 35,000 crore to Tata Nano project," Gandhi said.

The Congress leader also raked up the issue of a company of Jay Shah, the son of BJP president Amit Shah. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was silent about the company of Jay Shah, the turnover of which, as per a report by The Wire, rose from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in a few months after the BJP came to power at the Centre.

"Modi ji used to said he would be a chowkidar (watchman), but now people are asking whether he is a chowkidar or a bhagidar (collaborator)," he said in a rally at Khedbrahma, taking a jab at Modi's statement that he does not want to behave like a prime minister but a 'chowkidar' of the country's wealth. The Wire has alleged wrongdoings in the company owned by Jay Shah, a charge vehemently rejected by the latter and his father. Jay Shah has also filed a criminal defamation case against the news portal.

Gandhi also claimed that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, where polling took place on 9 November, had done a better work than the BJP regime in Gujarat, which goes to the polls next month. He claimed that development in Himachal Pradesh far exceeded the 'Gujarat Model.'

"The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh opened four (new) medical colleges, but in Gujarat, no (new) medical college has come up," Gandhi said. "The Himachal government did not close down a single school, but the Gujarat government shut down 13,000 government schools. Himachal gave 14 lakh houses to the poor (under a scheme), but in Gujarat, the number of houses given by the government was half of that. Gujarat also lags behind Himachal in education and generating jobs," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP workers showed black flags to the Congress vice-president in Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat. Rahul Gandhi also faced flak from Union Minister Smriti Irani, who said that Gandhi should give up the hope of winning the Gujarat Assembly polls and be worried about the fact that in the Uttar Pradesh elections last year, the Congress could not win a single seat out of his five Vidhan Sabha seat.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases  on 9 and 14 December.

With inputs from PTI and IANS
At one time, he was the poster boy of Indian politics. Not only did he slay the villain of Bihar's "jungle raj" in 2005 by rounding up lawless elements after winning an election and launching social and economic development projects, he also scored another resounding electoral victory in the company of a new set of friends, including the "villain", in 2015.

It appeared at the time that he could do no wrong. So much so that he was seen as a possible prime ministerial candidate of the "secular" front.

But, then, the rise and rise of Nitish Kumar came to an abrupt halt. He remains Bihar's chief minister, but the halo round his head has frayed.

The reason is not only his switching of friends in what is seen as an exercise in crass opportunism, but also his pursuit of policies which are out of sync with the modern world and threatens to reinforce Bihar's reputation for backwardness by turning the entire state into a virtual dehat or village.

The first step in this bucolic direction was the imposition of prohibition which has robbed Bihar's clubs, hotels and intellectual watering holes of cosmopolitanism. Now, Nitish Kumar has taken yet another step backwards by demanding 50 percent reservations for the backward castes in the private sector.

To begin with the second step, it is obvious that by threatening to take the quota system to such an absurd level, the chief minister has scotched any hope of industrial growth in a state which is crying out for investment.

In 2012, Bihar received investment proposals worth Rs 24,000 crore. In the post-liquor ban period, they have dropped to Rs 6,500 crore.

If his new ally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had any hope, therefore, of making Bihar the beneficiary of his Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas goals, he can bid it goodbye.

Nitish Kumar's latest pitch in favour of the backward castes is all the more strange because he cannot seriously expect that his proposal will pass muster at the judicial level.

Like most Indian politicians, he is more interested in posing as a champion of whichever group he is courting at a given moment than in adopting measures which have a reasonable chance of success.

He merely wants to impress his targeted audience by showing that he did make an honest effort, but was stymied by the "system".

Whether it is prohibition or reservations, Nitish Kumar's ploys tend to underline crafty political manoeuvres rather than any genuine intention of acting in the state's interest.

Unfortunately for the Janata Dal (United) leader, his gambits are too palpable to deceive anyone. In the case of the reservations, it is clear that Nitish Kumar is still battling his old adversary-cum-ally-cum-adversary, Lalu Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Since Nitish Kumar belongs to a numerically small and politically less influential caste - the Kurmis - than the RJD's powerful Yadavs, he has never been at ease in Lalu Prasad's company whether at the time of their camaraderie during Jayaprakash Narayan's anti-Congress movement or when they were a part of the state government after the 2015 election victory.

The focal point of Nitish Kumar's political career has been to establish himself as the foremost leader in the state. Lalu Prasad's conviction in the fodder scam case enabled Nitish Kumar to be the No. 1 in the Janata Dal (United)-RJD-Congress government.

But he appeared to be forever looking over his shoulder to check whether he was being undermined by the RJD which has more MLAs than the Janata Dal (United).

Prohibition was the policy which he embraced to win over the lower middle class and rural women to his side. But, predictably, the liquor ban has led to an increase in drug abuse with 25 per cent of the cases in de-addiction centres now dealing with the users of cannabis, inhalants and sedatives.

Unlike prohibition which is not aimed at any caste, the demand for the 50 percent reservations is intended by Nitish Kumar to bolster his position vis-a-vis Lalu Prasad since both are intent on playing the backward caste card.

It is also a message to his partner in the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), about the importance of the quota system for the chief minister, especially when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, is in favour of doing away with reservations altogether.

When Bhagwat expressed his views during the 2015 election campaign, the BJP quickly distanced itself from them for fear of losing the backward caste and Dalit votes. Even then, the BJP's reputation as a brahmin-bania party remains intact. Besides, it is now more focused on playing the nationalist card than on wooing the backward castes.

Nitish Kumar must have thought, therefore, that the time was ripe for him to up the ante on the caste issue if only to let the BJP know that he cannot be marginalised as the BJP has been tending to do since tying the knot with the Janata Dal (United).

But, whatever his intention, Nitish Kumar cannot but be aware that his position is much weaker now than when he was in the "secular" camp. Nor is there any chance that he will regain his earlier status any time in the near future.
tech2 News Staff

Today's Google Doodle celebrates the 132nd birth anniversary of Anasuya Sarabhai, a feminist and activist who selflessly worked for the upliftment of the labour class. Sarabhai was born on 11 November, 1885 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She was married as a child, but the marriage did not last long. Sarabhai was from a wealthy business family, and went to London to study medicine with her brother, but joined the London School of Economics as animal dissection was against her religious beliefs.

At the London School of Economics she was exposed to the ideas of social equality, and participated in the suffrage movement. When she returned to India, she started to work for the welfare of disempowered women, and focused on mill workers who had to endure thirty six hour long shifts. She negotiated with mill owners for better work conditions, and even though her brother was a mill owner, she helped organise the first strike of Ahmedabad weavers in a demand for higher wages.

Sarabhai was supported in her work by Mahatma Gandhi, and together they established the first labour union in Gujarat, which later went on to become the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA). The registered trade union works towards helping poor, self employed woman in the unorganised sector obtain full time employment, along with the security and self reliance that comes with it.

The Doodle was created by Pakistani-Canadian artist Maria Qamar, who drew inspiration from the Indian textile industry while creating the Doodle. The Google Doodle celebrating Anasuya Sarabhai's birthday is shown in India only. Google has another Doodle for today, users in Poland will see their flag waving in the middle of the Google logo as they celebrate their independence day on 11 November.
PTI

Vodafone India, the leader in the enterprises business in the telecom sector, is betting big on startups and SMEs to grow this vertical further that contributed 17 percent of its revenue last fiscal year. Already Vodafone serves around 6,000 large corporates with its enterprises business and the company said the revenue from this vertical has grown to almost 20 percent now. The company did not quantify the revenue from this vertical citing silent period ahead of its parents earnings announcement next week, except saying it expects this vertical to grow much faster in revenue contribution.

The second-largest telco by subscribers and revenue, and is on course to be the largest after its merger with Idea Cellular which will be completed next year. It also expects digital and content to drive its growth in the near future. "Convergence, digital transformation and content will be the key drivers for our business along with enterprises business," Vodafone India managing director and chief executive Sunil Sood told a select group of reporters here today.

He said startups and SMEs are playing a key role in fostering new ideas and enabling a digital India and that dynamic innovation needs strong technology support and trusted partners for sustainable growth. "Our global experience as an enabler and our rich understanding and roots in this market, positions us to service the evolving needs of this market," Sood said and named the education startup Byjus as a key example of how Vodafone is helping the startups.

He said Vodafone's ready business proposition, which labelled as the "quick and dirty stuff" for an SME or a startup" is designed to provide a comprehensive suite of solutions empowering start-ups and SMEs to catalyse innovation and fast track growth. Its enterprises business, mainly done through Vodafone Business Services, has contributed 12 per cent to its overall revenue in FY14, which rose to 14 per cent in FY15 and 15 per cent in FY15 and to 17 per cent last fiscal.

"In many ways telecom holds the key to the future. New technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, analytics and machine learning etc will all be dependent on the telecom connectivity. With over 1 billion users, India is already one of the most exciting markets to do business in," he added. Vodafone India launched a new brand positioning on 31 October and is also speeding up its digitalisation initiatives by partnering with its customers as they go digital.

Stating that the merger with Idea is inching towards final approvals having already bagged approvals from the regulators like Sebi and CCI, exchanges, he said the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai will begin the hearing from the first week of December. Following NCLT approval, the companies will have to get the permission from the Department of Telecommunications and then from the Registrar of Companies, all of which is expected to come in due course and complete the merger through 2018.
Danang: Trade ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed on Saturday to press ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy.

Trump pulled his country from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreement heralded for tying lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections.

In a joint statement on Saturday morning, the remaining countries dubbed the TPP-11 said they had "agreed on the core elements" of a deal at the sidelines of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, after days of stalled talks raised fears it could collapse altogether.

Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's trade minister, described the breakthrough in a tweet as "big progress". Canada had held out to maintain environmental and labour protections linked to freer markets in the deal. Those elements were thrown into jeopardy by America's sudden withdrawal from the deal earlier this year, which forced the remaining countries to reconsider the merits of a pact suddenly shorn of access to the world's largest economy.

Canada had dug in over those progressive clauses. But they are much less attractive to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Chile and Peru now that the carrot of access to the huge US market has been pulled.

Trump's election has upended years of American-led moves to open up global trade.

The US president is among leaders attending the APEC summit in Danang on Friday he ladled out more of his trademark 'America First' rhetoric.

In a strident address he said his country will "no longer tolerate" unfair trade, closed markets and intellectual property theft. "We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more," he added, taking a swipe at multilateral trade deals.

Shortly after, China's leader Xi Jinping offered a starkly different vision, casting his country as the new

global leader for free trade. Beijing is not included in the TPP, a deal initially driven through by the former US administration as a counterweight to surging Chinese power in Asia.

China has since sought to fill the free trade gap left by the United States, even if much of its own market remains protected. Japan, the world's third largest economy, has been particularly active in pushing for a swift consensus on TPP, fearful that delays could lead to the collapse of the pact after years of negotiations and hand more regional influence to China.

Today, Trump and Xi will join leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region for closed door summit talks, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, Japan's Shinzo Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau. The original TPP deal was once described by the US as a "gold standard" for all free trade agreements because it went

far beyond just cutting tariffs.

It included removing a slew of non-tariff restrictions and required members to comply with a high level of regulatory standards in areas like labour law, environmental protection, intellectual property and government procurement.

Without the US, TPP-11 only represents 13.5 percent of the global economy but the remaining countries are scrambling to avoid the deal's collapse, especially given the increasingly protectionist winds sweeping through the United States and Europe.
Manila: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are likely to have a bilateral meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Manila.

Modi will arrive in Manila on Sunday to attend the 15th ASEAN-India summit and 12th East Asia summit on 14 November.

Trump is also scheduled to arrive in Manila on Sunday as part of his five-nation Asia tour of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Official sources said the meeting between Modi and Trump is likely to take place on Monday.

It will be the first meeting between the two leaders following a proposal to have a quadrilateral alliance among India, the US, Japan, and Australia.

Japan last month had indicated that it would propose a top-level dialogue with the US, India and Australia. Sources said officials of the four countries may meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit here.

Reacting to the Japanese move, India had said that it was open to working with like-minded countries on issues that advance its interests. The US had said it was looking at a "working-level" quadrilateral meeting in the near term with India, Japan and Australia.

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono last month had said that Tokyo favours a dialogue between Japan, the US, India and Australia to further boost strategic partnership among the four countries.

The move to set up the quadrilateral comes in the backdrop of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea. The US has been favouring a larger role for India in the strategically key Indo-Pacific region.

The use of the term "Indo-Pacific" by Trump has led to speculation that it may have something to do with Washington preparing the ground for a revival of the so-called Quadrilateral strategic alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India to counter China's rise.

In their meeting, Modi and Trump are likely to discuss a host of key issues of mutual interest including the security scenario in the region.

Trump on Friday praised India's "astounding" growth after it opened up its economy and also lauded Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together.

Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, Trump cited India as one of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region making strides.

He praised India as a sovereign democracy with a population of over 1 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world.

Modi is expected to meet many other leaders attending the two summits.

He will also participate in the ASEAN business and investment summit as well as a meeting of leaders of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP, comprising the 10-member ASEAN bloc and six other countries  India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, is engaged in negotiations for a free trade pact.

In his maiden visit to the Philippines as prime minister, Modi will also attend a reception by the Indian community and visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Mahavir Philippines Foundation.
Beirut: Hezbollahs leader said on Friday that Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and his Iran-backed group, accusing Riyadh of detaining Saad al-Hariri and forcing him to resign as Lebanon's prime minister to destabilise the country.

France became the first Western country to indicate that Saudi Arabia was holding Hariri against his will, saying it wished for him to have "all his freedom of movement and be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon".

Hariri's resignation has plunged Lebanon into crisis, thrusting the small Arab country back to the forefront of regional rivalry between the Sunni Muslim monarchy Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite revolutionary Iran.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, said Saudi Arabia's detention of Hariri, a long-time Saudi ally who declared his resignation while in Riyadh last Saturday, was an insult to all Lebanese and he must return to Lebanon.

"Let us say things as they are: the man is detained in Saudi Arabia and forbidden until this moment from returning to Lebanon," Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

"It is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon," he said.

His comments mirror an accusation by Riyadh on Monday that Lebanon and Hezbollah had declared war on the conservative Gulf Arab kingdom.

Riyadh says Hariri is a free man and he decided to resign because Hezbollah was calling the shots in his government. Saudi Arabia considers Hezbollah to be its enemy in conflicts across the West Asia, including Syria and Yemen.

Western countries have looked on with alarm at the rising regional tension.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson warned other countries and groups against using Lebanon as vehicle for a larger proxy fight in West Asia, saying Washington strongly backed Lebanons independence and respected Hariri as a strong partner of the United States, still referring to him as prime minister.

There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state," Tillerson said in a statement released by the US State Department.

Tillerson told reporters on Friday there was no indication that Hariri was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will but that the United States was monitoring the situation.

The French foreign minister said on Friday that he also believed Hariri was a free man - a statement at odds with the later French foreign ministry comment that it wanted Hariri to have "all his freedom of movement".

Hariri has made no public remarks since announcing his resignation in a speech televised from Saudi Arabia, saying he feared assassination and accusing Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.

Two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source told Reuters on Thursday that the Lebanese authorities believe Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia.

Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was encouraging Israel to attack Lebanon. While an Israeli attack could not be ruled out entirely, he said, it was unlikely partly because Israel knew it would pay a very high price. "I warn them against any miscalculation or any step to exploit the situation," he said.

"Saudi will fail in Lebanon as it has failed on all fronts," Nasrallah said.

Riyadh has advised Saudi citizens not to travel to Lebanon, or if already there to leave as soon as possible. Other Gulf states have also issued travel warnings. Those steps have raised concern that Riyadh could take measures against the tiny Arab state, which hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

Hariris resignation is being widely seen as part of a Saudi attempt to counter Iran as its influence deepens in Syria and Iraq and as Riyadh and its allies battle Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Hariris resignation unravelled a political deal among rival factions that made him prime minister and President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, head of state last year.

The coalition government included Hezbollah, a heavily armed military and political organisation.

Stuck between "antagonistic interests"

Aoun told Saudi Arabias envoy on Friday that Hariri must return to Lebanon and the circumstances surrounding his resignation as prime minister while in Saudi Arabia were unacceptable, presidential sources said.

An "international support group" of countries concerned about Lebanon, which includes the United States, Russia and France, appealed for Lebanon "to continue to be shielded from tensions in the region". In a statement, they also welcomed Aoun's call for Hariri to return.

In comments to Reuters, top Lebanese Druze politician Jumblatt said Lebanon did not deserve to be accused of declaring war on Saudi Arabia. "For decades we've been friends," he said.

"We are a country that is squeezed between two antagonistic interests, between Saudi Arabia and Iran," he said. "The majority of Lebanese are just paying the price... Lebanon cannot afford to declare a war against anybody."

The Saudi foreign minister accused Hezbollah of a role in the launching of a ballistic missile at Riyadh from Yemen on Saturday. Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Irans supply of rockets to militias in Yemen was an act of "direct military aggression" that could be an act of war.

Nasrallah mocked the Saudi accusation that Iran and Hezbollah were behind the firing of the missile from Yemen, saying Yemenis were capable of building their own missiles.
United Nations: An Islamic State faction in Somalia has grown significantly over the past year, carrying out attacks in Puntland and receiving some funding from Syria and Iraq, a report by UN sanctions monitors said Friday.

The faction loyal to Sheikh Abdulqader Mumin was targeted by US drone strikes last week in the first US operation targeting Islamic State in the Horn of Africa, US Africa Command said.

In the report, the UN monitoring group for Somalia said the Islamic State faction, which was estimated in 2016 "to number not more than a few dozen, has grown significantly in strength" and may "consist of as many as 200 fighters."

Phone records from Mumin showed he was in contact with an Islamic State operative in Yemen who acts as an intermediary with senior Islamic State leaders in Iraq and Syria "though the exact nature of this contact is unclear," said the report.

Former members of the faction who defected in December said the Mumin group received orders as well as financing from Iraq and Syria, the report said.

The group captured the town of Qandala in Puntland's Bari region in October 2016, declaring it the seat of the Islamic Caliphate in Somalia before being pushed out two months later by Puntland forces backed by US military advisers.

In February, Islamic State gunmen stormed a hotel in Bosaso, the economic capital of Puntland, and in May the faction carried out its first suicide attack at a police checkpoint near Bosaso, killing five people.

"The group showed signs of increasing tactical capabilities during its first attack target a hotel," said the UN monitors.

Haven for foreign fighters

The UN report raised concerns that the Bari region could become a potential haven for foreign Islamic State fighters as the extremists are driven out of their strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

The Islamic State group in Somalia "presents more natural appeal to foreign terrorist fighters than Al-Shabaab," whose aim is to establish a state government by Islamic law, it added.

Al-Shabaab, another Islamist militant group, is affiliated with Islamic State's global rival Al-Qaeda.

The Bari region has attracted a limited number of foreign fighters including Sudanese national Abu Faris who is on the US terror list for recruiting foreign fighters for Al-Shabaab.

While the faction is expanding, its fighters appear to be poorly paid or not paid at all.

Unmarried fighters receive no salary, while married militants receive $50 per month plus $10-$20 per child, depending on the age.

The report estimated that the salary payments were between $3,000 and $9,000 per month, allowing Islamic State leaders "to fund its insurgency on a limited budget".

UN monitors said the faction will likely face frequent defections from poorly paid fighters, a problem that also affects Al-Shabaab.
Beirut, Lebanon: Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday accused Saudi Arabia of detaining Prime Minister Saad Hariri and of asking the Shiite movement's arch-foe Israel to launch strikes.

Hariri's sudden resignation on 4 November in a statement made from Riyadh took the Lebanese political class by surprise and has sparked international concern.

The United States warned against using the tiny country as a "venue for proxy conflicts" and the United Nations said it was "essential no new conflict erupt in the region".

France called for Hariri to have "all his freedom of movement" amid rumours he was being held against his will.

"The head of the Lebanese government is detained in Saudi Arabia, he is banned from returning to Lebanon until now," Nasrallah said in a televised address.

Hariri's situation was not completely clear but calls, including from his Lebanese political rivals, mounted for Saudi Arabia to guarantee the premier's freedom of movement.

The 47-year-old announced his resignation on 4 November in a surprise move that coincided with a sweeping purge of the Saudi kingdom's elite, ostensibly over embezzlement accusations.

Hariri, who also holds Saudi nationality, did not say when he would return to Lebanon, where President Michel Aoun has yet to formally accept his resignation.

In a statement issued on Friday after a meeting with a senior Saudi diplomat, Aoun insisted Hariri should return to Lebanon.



US support

"President Aoun met Saudi charge d'affaires Walid Bukhari and informed him that the circumstances in which Hariri's resignation took place were unacceptable," the statement said.

The president "called for the return to Lebanon of the head of the government".

Aoun, whose political ally Hezbollah is a fierce critic of Riyadh, "voiced his concern over what is being said" about Hariri's current status in Saudi Arabia and demanded a "clarification".

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson on Friday described Hariri as "a strong partner" and warned against "any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country".

"The United States strongly supports the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Lebanon and of its political institutions" and opposes "any actions that could threaten that stability," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has close ties with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, made a surprise visit to Riyadh late Thursday after a trip to the United Arab Emirates.

On Friday, a spokesman for France's foreign ministry said: "We wish Mr. Saad Hariri to have all his freedom of movement and to be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon."

Earlier French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on French radio he thought Hariri was "free to move around", despite most of the Lebanese political class implying he was de facto under house arrest.

"He went to Abu Dhabi the day before President Macron's visit (on Wednesday) so we think he's free to move around," Le Drian said.

Conflict warnings

Nasrallah, whose party is the only organisation that did not disarm after the 1975-1990 civil war and now has an arsenal that outstrips Lebanon's own armed forces, accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to incite conflict.

"The most dangerous thing is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon," he said. "I'm talking about information that Saudi Arabia has asked Israel to strike Lebanon."

Nasrallah, whose movement Hariri has repeatedly said should lay down its arms, also warned that his movement, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, was stronger than ever.

"We are stronger today, we warn them again misguided calculations, against any knee-jerk initiative," he said, adding however that his party saw any Israeli attack as being unlikely at this stage.

The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, also said, "It is essential that no new conflict erupt in the region."

"We are indeed very worried and we hope that we won't see an escalation in the region that would have tragic consequences," he said.

Lebanon's interior ministry said in a statement Friday that a Saudi national had been kidnapped in Lebanon in circumstances that remained unclear.

Saudi Arabia had urged all its citizens in Lebanon this week to leave the country but Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk told AFP that the kidnapping was "in no way related" to the Hariri crisis or politics.
United Nations: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that it is "an absolutely essential priority" to stop all violence against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, allow them to return to their homes, and grant them legal status.

The UN chief called on Myanmar to rein in its military campaign in Rakhine state and allow hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya driven out by the violence to return home

He told reporters on Friday that the UN is also insisting on "unhindered humanitarian access" to all areas of northern Rakhine state, where more than 600,000 Rohingya lived before fleeing to Bangladesh.

Guterres is leaving Friday night for Europe and Asia, where he will attend a joint summit between the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which is certain to address the plight of the Rohingya. Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has faced growing international condemnation over violence against the Rohingya, is expected to attend the meeting in the Philippines from 10-14 November.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar doesn't recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, insisting they are Bengali migrants from Bangladesh living illegally in the country. It has denied them citizenship, leaving them stateless.

The latest violence began with a series of attacks 25 August by Rohingya insurgents. Myanmar security forces responded with a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages that the UN and human rights groups have criticized as a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Dubai: Among those caught in the unprecedented arrests this week of top princes, wealthy businessmen and senior officials, was the scion of one of Saudi Arabia's most recognizable families: Bakr Binladin, the chairman of the kingdom's pre-eminent contractor and Osama bin Laden's half-brother.

It was a stunning end to a decades-old alliance between the ruling Al Saud and Binladin families that saw the Saudi Binladin Group secure a near-monopoly on mega-expansion projects in Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, throughout the reigns of successive Saudi monarchs.

The government says 201 people have been taken into custody in the purge, which comes amid an anti-corruption probe it says uncovered at least $100 billion in graft and embezzlement.

Saudi critics and experts have called the arrests a bold and risky move by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at consolidating power as he sidelines potential rivals, silences critics and dismantles alliances built with other branches of the royal family.

The 32-year-old crown prince, who is the son of King Salman and is popularly known by his initials MBS, is leading the anti-corruption investigation. He's also the force behind the so-called Vision 2030 plan, a blueprint for how to restructure the country and wean it from its dependence on oil revenue.

The arrests of Binladin and the others not only signal the end of old alliances, but also speak to the larger demands being made on the business community to pay into the crown prince's economic vision in an era of lower oil prices.

"This is the beginning of the rise of economic nationalism," said Ayham Kamel, head of the Middle East and North Africa division of the Eurasia Group.

A centerpiece of that plan is NEOM, a $500 billion project that promises to be the world's most futuristic and technologically-advanced city, which was unveiled by the crown prince at a headline-grabbing global investment conference in Saudi Arabia last month.

But instead of receiving major pledges to the project by Saudi business leaders, MBS "got deafening silence", Kamel said.

Since the 1950's, the Binladins have been the royal family's go-to contractor for some of its most sensitive projects, including construction of private palaces in the immediate boon years after oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia. As the royal family spent lavishly on trips abroad and new palaces at home, the Binladins became their creditors, as well as contractors.
United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Saturday that a new conflict in Lebanon would have "devastating consequences" and said he was engaged in intense contacts with all players to urge de-escalation.

Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri resigned in a shock announcement broadcast from Riyadh as a power struggle intensified between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.

"It is essential that no new conflict erupt in the region," Guterres told reporters. "It would have devastating consequences."

"This is a matter of great concern to us. What we want is for peace to be preserved in Lebanon."

Guterres said he had been holding "very intense contacts" with Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, other countries in the region as well as governments with influence in the Middle East.

"We are indeed very worried and we hope that we won't see an escalation in the region that would have tragic consequences," said Guterres.

The UN chief spoke to Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir on Wednesday.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said in Beirut that Hariri was "detained" by Saudi Arabia and prevented from returning to Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon.
Washington: A Republican Senate candidate reported to have sexually abused a 14-year-old girl lashed out at his accusers, calling their allegations a "dangerous lie" that would harm real victims of molestation.

Roy Moore  a former state judge and Christian evangelical whose defence of a Ten Commandments display brought him national attention  added he had "never engaged in sexual misconduct."

The issue has reverberated through Washington weeks ahead of a crucial Senate election in which the conservative Republican party is hoping to hold on to its slim 52-48 seat majority.

Four women, speaking on the record, told The Washington Post that Moore pursued them when they were 18 or younger, while he was in his early thirties working as an assistant district attorney.

According to The Washington Post, Leigh Corfman, now 53, said when she was 14 Moore took her into his house in the woods near Gadsden, Alabama, removed her shirt and pants, and fondled her over her bra and underpants.

Moore guided her to touch him through his underwear, she said.

"I wasn't ready for that," Corfman told the Post.

Now 70, the anti-establishment conservative faces Democrat Doug Jones in a special Senate election 12 December to replace Jeff Sessions, who became US attorney general earlier in 2017.

"I have never engaged in sexual misconduct," he said in a statement issued on Friday that went beyond his campaign's earlier simple denial.

He also turned on his accusers, saying: "I cannot understand the mentality of using such a dangerous lie to try to personally destroy someone."

"False allegations are gravely serious and will have a profound consequence on those who are truly harassed or molested," he added.

He also appeared on conservative media personality Sean Hannity's radio show to rebut the story.

Asked whether he remembered dating women in their teens when he was in his 30s, he said: "Not generally no."

He added, "I don't remember that, or dating any girl without the permission of her mother."

Earlier, President Donald Trump issued a statement that appeared to equivocate on the matter, saying Moore should step aside if the claims proved true, while adding that a mere allegation should not destroy the Alabama politician's life.

"Like most Americans, the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a person's life," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said aboard Air Force One, before the president landed in Vietnam for a summit.

"However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside," she said.

The accusations by the four women reverberated through Washington, with many traditional Republicans withdrawing their support for Moore  though he has received considerable support in his native Alabama and from former Trump advisor Stephen Bannon.

"If these allegations are true, he must step aside," Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said. At least a dozen other Republicans followed suit.

Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, declared the allegations "disqualifying" for Moore and called on him to immediately leave the race.

But in Alabama, state auditor Jim Zeigler brushed off the allegations.
Seoul: The United States and South Korea on Saturday started joint naval exercises that will involve three US aircraft carriers and warned of an "escalated threat" from Pyongyang.

The four-day drills that began in waters off South Koreas eastern coast come as President Donald Trump continues a visit to Asia that has been dominated by discussions over the North Korean nuclear threat.

The battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Nimitz will successively enter the exercise area during the drills that run until Tuesday, South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The three carriers will be likely together in the drills around Monday, according to a South Korean military official, who didnt want to be named, citing office rules.

The exercises will also involve 11 US Aegis ships and seven South Korean naval vessels, including two Aegis ships. The Aegis technology refers to missile defense.

They will aim to enhance combined operation and aerial strike capabilities and also display strong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of crisis, Seouls military said in a statement.

Its the first time since a 2007 exercise near Guam that three U.S. carrier strike groups are operating together in the Western Pacific, according to the U.S. Navys 7th Fleet. The US carriers will also participate in separate exercises with three Japanese destroyers on Sunday, according to Japans Maritime Self-Defence Force.

The US has been sending its strategic assets, also including long-range bombers, to the region more frequently for patrols or drills amid accelerating North Korean efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program.

In recent months, North Korea has tested intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the US mainland with further development and has conducted its most powerful nuclear test. It also flew two new midrange missiles over Japan and threatened to launch them toward Guam, a US Pacific territory and military hub.

Trump continued his tough talk against Pyongyang on Friday in a speech to business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, saying that the regions future must not be held hostage to a dictators twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump had also delivered a sharp warning to North Korea in a speech at South Koreas parliament on Wednesday, telling the country  Do not underestimate us. And do not try us.
Danang: Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump agreed a joint statement on Syria on Saturday that said they saw no military solution to the conflict and a political one was needed, the Kremlin said.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the Kremlin announcement or the conversation the Kremlin said took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang.

The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson especially for the meeting in Danang.

With Islamic State having suffered losses in Syria and beyond, greater attention is turning to the broader conflict between President Bashar al-Assads forces and rebel factions.

Putin and Trump had agreed to continue joint efforts to fight Islamic State, the Kremlin statement said.

They confirmed their commitment to Syrias sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active part in the Geneva political process, it said.

Moscow and Washington agree there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict, according to the text of the joint statement published on the Kremlins website.

It said the leaders "had a conversation before the group photo ceremony for the APEC Economic Leaders."

Television pictures from Danang showed Putin and Trump chatting  apparently amicably  as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.

Earlier pictures from the meeting show Trump walking up to Putin as he sits at the summit table and patting him on the back. The two lean in to speak to each other and clasp each other briefly as they exchange a few words.

Although the White House had said no official meeting was planned, it also said it was possible they would bump into each other.

Trumps entourage made no comment before he left Danang for Vietnams capital Hanoi, the next step on his 12-day tour of Asia.

Trump has shown little appetite for holding talks with Putin unless there is some sense that progress could be made on festering issues such as Syria, Ukraine and North Korea.

After emphasising in 2016 on the campaign trail that it would be nice if the United States and Russia could work together on world problems, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office.

Trump publicly sitting down with Putin also revives the issue of Russian meddling in last years US presidential election, which remains under investigation.

Trumps former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the probe along with his former deputy, Rick Gates.
Seoul: North Korea on Saturday slammed "warmonger" Donald Trump's Asia tour, saying it would only accelerate Pyongyang's push for a full-fledged nuclear deterrent.

Trump has tried to rally support to curb Pyongyang's rogue weapons programme during his trip, urging regional powers to stand united against the North Korea's government.

In the first comments on the US leader's visit by a North Korean official, a Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman said it was a "warmonger's visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence", according to the state-run KCNA news agency.

Tensions over North Korea's weapons programme have surged in recent months, as Pyongyang carried out a sixth nuclear test, by far its largest to date and test-fired dozens of missiles, some capable of reaching the US mainland.

In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned Pyongyang not to underestimate the United States, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.

But in its retort today, the North said Trump's warnings "can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance", but rather "pushes us to speed up the efforts to accomplish the great cause of completing the state nuclear force".
Washington: Chinese president Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader of China since Mao Zedong, US president Donald Trump said, underlining that the two leaders have developed a very good relationship.

Trump arrived in Vietnam from China, wherein he said he had a "very successful" meeting with Xi, CNN reported.

The US president praised Xi Jinping for his statement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

"He (Xi) made a statement that he is committed to stopping the nuclearisation of North Korea. That is a big statement," Trump said and noted that he gets along with Xi Jinping very well.

"He is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. Some people say more powerful than Mao," Trump said on Air Force One as he flew from Da Nang to Hanoi for a summit meeting with Vietnamese leaders.

Mao was a Chinese communist revolutionary, poet, political theorist and founding father of China, which he ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. His theories and military strategies and political policies are known as Maoism.

Trump said he and Xi have "amazing feeling" towards each other.

"I do have a very good relationship with Xi. He is a strong person, he's a very smart person. I like him a lot. He likes me," he said.

"But we represent two very different countries but we get along very well. Thats a good thing that we get along. That's not a bad thing. And on trade, you know, most of the news covered it fairly. Some didn't. When I said it's not your fault, because I was saying how China has been hurting us on trade for many decades, for many years, and it is not his fault," he said.
A data firm that worked for President Donald Trump's campaign reached out to WikiLeaks during the campaign about obtaining emails related to Democrat Hillary Clinton, the company's CEO said.

Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, said the approach was in "early June 2016" after WikiLeaks Editor Julian Assange had publicly claimed he had Clinton emails and planned to publish them. Nix said his company asked a speaker's agency representing Assange whether WikiLeaks "might share that information," but Assange turned him down.

Nix's comments Thursday at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal, were his first acknowledgement that he had sought emails from WikiLeaks. Assange had previously told The Associated Press that WikiLeaks had rejected a "request for information" from Cambridge Analytica. The Wall Street Journal first reported Nix's comments.

Cambridge Analytica's role in the president's campaign has caught the attention of congressional committees probing Russia's interference in the 2016 election and any possible coordination with Trump associates. The company is backed by Robert Mercer, a billionaire Trump supporter. Before joining the Trump administration, former White House strategist Steve Bannon also served as a vice president at the company.

The Trump campaign paid Cambridge Analytica nearly $6 million for data management. The campaign's first payment to the company was on July 29, 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records. But the Journal reported Friday that Nix's outreach to WikiLeaks came while Cambridge Analytica was in contract negotiations with the campaign in June. At that time, the company had already sent some of its employees to help the campaign, the Journal reported.

A spokesman for Cambridge Analytica and a related company, SCL Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

During the Web Summit interview, Nix denied that his company was involved in any Russian election meddling.

"We did no work with Russia in this election. And moreover, we would never work with a third-party state actor in another country's election campaign," he said.

He also called the outreach to Assange "very benign." He said it stemmed from an article in The Guardian newspaper in early June 2016 that said "WikiLeaks was going to publish a huge amount of information that could be very relevant to the election and could impact it sincerely."

Nix appeared to be referencing a June 12, 2016, article that was based on Assange's comment to a British television network that WikiLeaks had "upcoming leaks in relation to Hillary Clinton" that were in the form of emails.

On Thursday, Nix said that after he saw the article, he asked his "office to reach out to, actually it was a speaking agency that represents Julian Assange to ask if he might share that information with us and we received a message back from them that he didn't want to or wasn't able to."

"And that was the end of the matter," Nix added.

Last month, Assange confirmed that WikiLeaks was approached by Cambridge Analytica prior to November 2016 but he declined to provide specifics about the interaction, other than saying it was a "request for information."

Assange's comments came in response to a story from The Daily Beast that reported that Nix's outreach was about possibly obtaining the 33,000 emails that Clinton said were deleted from her private server. Those emails have never been released.

___
The process of returning to civilian life for military veterans isnt always an easy task, but the success of a vets post-armed forces life can be affected by which area of the United States they choose to settle down in.

According to a new study by WalletHub, which compared the 100 most populated cities in the U.S. among four categoriesemployment, economy, quality of life and healthAustin, Texas is the best place for veterans to live. Detroit was ranked as the worst city for vets.

The Texas capital was tied for first in the lowest veteran unemployment rate, a category critical to the overall success of a veteran returning from the service. According to the most recent data released by the Department of Labor, the veteran unemployment rate was at 2.7% in October, the lowest monthly veteran unemployment rate since 2000.

A key metric contributing to how well off veterans will be after leaving the service is the percentage of military skill related jobs in a city. WalletHub found the city with the highest number of these types of employment opportunities are in Fremont, Calif., which is located just outside Silicon Valley and has a population of more than 230,000. Fremont also topped the list of the lowest percentage of veterans living in poverty. Overall, the city said its average household income is $114,000.

The city with the lowest percentage of military skill related jobs was North Las Vegas, Nev., while Baltimore, Md. was ranked as the city with the highest percentage of veterans living in poverty.

Veterans obviously come from a lot of different directions as far as their skill sets, and I like to think they have a lot of opportunities out there, but I think that is definitely kind of an ongoing challenge, former Navy Cmrd. Harry Wedewer told FOX Business.

Another important statistic veterans should take into consideration when planning where to live once out of the service is the population of homeless veterans. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that there were nearly 40,000 homeless vets across the country, and according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the number of young homeless vets is increasing.

Virginia Beach, Va. was the city WalletHub ranked first among cities with the fewest homeless veterans per veteran population, while San Francisco was ranked the lowest in the category.

The study also examined the best and worst cities for veteran income growth. The highest ranking municipality in that category was Miami, while the lowest was Hialeah, Fla., a city with a population of more than 235,000 thats located within the Miami metropolitan area, according to the latest data from U.S. Census Bureau.
Packed into a remote corner of a pavilion, just 13 U.S. companies took stands at Cuba's sprawling trade fair this year, in a sign of how firms' interest in doing business on the island has dwindled in the first year of Donald Trump's presidency.

Last year, amid enthusiasm following a detente in relations agreed between former President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro in 2014, 33 U.S. companies took stands at the fair, the premier event on Cuba's business calendar.

The mood was very different at this year's edition, which took place last week in Havana. While China brought a record company delegation, and more than 150 Spanish businesses packed into five pavilions, the handful of U.S. businessmen were downbeat.

"I've never seen it this deserted," said Jay Brickman, vice president of Florida-based shipping company Crowley Maritime Corp, who has been attending the fair for 15 years. "People have really gotten discouraged, and feel they maybe should be investing their time someplace else."

U.S. companies embraced Cuba in the wake of the detente, jostling for a foothold in an opening market of 11 million consumers.

Thanks to travel-related exemptions to the embargo, U.S. airlines restored regular flights. Starwood Hotels, a subsidiary of Marriott International Inc, took over management of a Cuban hotel and cruise operators like Florida-based Carnival Cruise Line included Cuba in their itineraries.

But worsening U.S. relations as well as growing awareness of the difficulty of doing business in Cuba put a dampener on that.

Trump in June ordered tighter trade and travel restrictions including a ban on business with the military, which controls vast swathes of the economy. The regulations were unveiled on Wednesday.

"This is a huge step backwards," said former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, the Cuban-born head of the U.S.-Cuba Business Council. "We had made so much progress."

An unfolding diplomatic crisis over allegations of attacks on U.S. diplomats in Havana is adding to the gloom.

Cuba Trade magazine, based in Miami, last month cut its issuance from monthly to bi-monthly, citing the deteriorating business environment under Trump. Several Cuba business conferences in the United States have also been canceled since June, including an agriculture conference in Chicago.

Following the Obama detente, U.S. farmers hoped for legislation allowing them to access credit for exports to Cuba. But Trump has made it clear he is not about to ease, let alone lift, the embargo.

"We need to get the diplomatic issue off the table first," said Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, adding U.S. food exports to Cuba could total $1 billion if relations were normalized.

Harder

Even before Trump took office, some of the interest fizzled as companies realized doing business in Cuba was hard with its red tape, shortage of hard currency, poor telecommunications and labor restrictions.

Online payments company PayPal Holdings Inc sent its chief executive in Obama's delegation on his historic visit to Cuba in March 2016. It had been interested in making its Xoom money transfer service available in Cuba but said operational challenges were too great.

"When we are able to deliver the speed, convenience and security our customers have come to expect from Xoom, we will launch in Cuba," a PayPal spokeswoman told Reuters.

Still, some companies made headway. After receiving all the necessary licenses under Obama, the Puerto Rican dealer for U.S. heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc last week agreed to open a distribution center in Cuba's Mariel special development zone.

Future deals with Mariel, which boasts tax and customs breaks, will not be possible, as it features on a list published Wednesday of 180 government entities that Americans are now banned from doing business with. "The Mariel restriction particularly sticks out because it is the most dynamic and exciting opportunity in Cuba," said James Williams, president of lobby group Engage Cuba.

The diplomatic crisis has also complicated the logistics for U.S. businesses. The Trump administration in September expelled 15 Cuban diplomats, including all those dealing with U.S. businesses.

The following week, the chair of the port of Cleveland, Darrell McNair, traveled to Havana to sign an agreement with Cuba's port authority. He said the now-disbanded embassy commercial team had been instrumental in arranging his visit.

"Cutbacks obviously are going to slow things down," he said.

Long-term play

The tougher environment under Trump has separated the wheat from the chaff, some business consultants say.

"The serious players who understand the risks are staying the course," said Pedro Freyre, who heads the international practice at Miami-based law firm Akerman LLP.

Jeff Nelson said his firm Strategic Staffing Solutions, which provides companies with IT and other services, was prepared to put in the time laying the groundwork for business with Cuba given the potential of its educated workforce.

"Doing business in Cuba is a very long-term proposition," said Nelson, who has visited eight times in two years.

Some companies were pursuing deals behind closed doors so as to not lose capital with the Trump administration, consultants said. Many Obama-era exemptions to the embargo remain in place.

The publication of the new regulations at least provided clarity about what was allowed.

"Companies know where they stand now and there are definitely opportunities still," said Gutierrez. "Every day that goes by is just the missed opportunity where someone else is building a brand, someone else is building awareness among Cubans."
The real estate mogul said the governors of high-tax states are in a difficult position of reigning in on spending while resisting tax increases.

We have to impose some discipline on state and local governments, and I think responsible governors and mayors will do that, Peebles said.

Peebles characterized the real estate environment in New York as uncertain and at a breaking point.

Prices have gone very high, and now there is a big pullback. Theres a lot of new inventory on the market, he said. You have a shrinking buying pool, and you have an oversupply right now.
President Vladimir Putin is promising that Russia will retaliate for what he calls attacks on Russian media in the United States.

Putin's comments at a news conference Saturday in Vietnam follow complaints by the Kremlin-funded RT satellite TV channel that the U.S. Justice Department has ordered it to register as a foreign agent by Monday.

Putin says "attacking our media in the United States is an attack on freedom of speech, without any doubt," and promised to retaliate.

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said the station would register, since otherwise its American director could be arrested and its accounts frozen. She says "we categorically disagree with this requirement" and vowed to sue. She says "this requirement is discriminatory, it contradicts both the principles of democracy and freedom of speech."
As the end of the year approaches, investors may want to think about taking stock of their retirement plans.

While the policy outlook might be uncertain, there are some ways to make the most out of your savings regardless of how external factors may change over the near-term.

Here are some critical areas to evaluate leading up to the New Year.

Health Savings Accounts

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) offer what senior retirement consultant Marina Edwards calls a triple tax benefit.

The money goes in pretax, the money grows tax-deferred and the money comes out tax-free when used for medical benefits, Marina, who works at Willis Towers Watson, told FOX Business.

As previously reported by FOX Business, current retirees heavily underestimated how sick they would be as they got older, not to mention how costly health care benefits can be.

Edwards advises clients to consider contributing the match-point to their companys retirement plan, and investing the rest in a Health Savings Account. So if your company will match contributions up to 6%, but youre contributing 8%, you might want to consider taking that extra 2% and investing in a Health Savings Account.

Salary deferrals

Many people are invested in their companys retirement plan, which places them into the age-appropriate target date fund.

Edwards said that while theres nothing wrong with investing in the default plan, investors should still check in to see how that plan is allocated as they approach their retirement years.

For example, some funds, she pointed out, are the most conservative they will ever be by the age of 65, while others will gradually become more conservative through an individuals 80s or 90s, which would generate a higher amount of growth throughout those years.

As Americans live longer lives, the challenges of saving for retirement have become magnified, so it may be worthwhile to assess what you have saved and what your goals are when it comes to your salary deferral.

However, the U.S. Census Bureau found in February that two-thirds of Americans were not putting any cash into their employer-provided retirement accounts. Most experts agree, it is important to start saving as much as you can, as early as you can.

Beneficiary designations

Each respective retirement plan, Roth IRA, 401(k), etc., has its own form for designating beneficiaries. The end of the year might be a good time to take stock of who is on each of your lists, Edwards said.

She also notes that if you are going through a divorce or would like to add or subtract a beneficiary, it is not enough to simply change your will.

Something that many people dont know is if you change your beneficiary in your will it does not carry over into your 401(k), she said.

By law, the formal beneficiaries listed on each plan would be entitled to the assets, regardless of what a will stipulates.
FOX Business Liz Claman was honored for her work with Building Homes for Heroes at a GALA in New York City on Thursday.

Building Homes for Heroes is a national non-profit organization that helps build or modify homes, mortgage-free to veterans and their families.

On Veterans Day, Claman asked military service members and family how the organization helped them in their times of need.

Lt. Col. Melchizedek Kato Martinez was injured in the terrorist attack at the Brussels airport in 2006, where his wife Gail Minglana was tragically killed.

Martinez reflected on how Building Homes for Heroes came through for him and his family.

Totally surprised. Air Force Special Operations Command called me up and asked me hey, would you mind if we passed your name to special organization? They didnt even mention it was Building Homes for Heroes. The next thing I know Im coming home from the hospital and thats when I found out, he told Claman on Countdown to the Closing Bell.

Katos daughter, Kianni Martinez, nearly lost her leg in the Brussels terror attack.

When we lost my mom, my siblings came up to me and asked, what are we going to do now? Whos going to take care of us? There was only so much I could do and tell them, that I could protect them. So when Building Homes for Heroes came into the picture and said we are going to provide you a home but not only that, were your new family and we are going to be there for you every step of the way, that just gave me a sigh of relief because we werent alone, Martinez said.

U.S. Army Specialist Hugo Gonzalez was injured in Iraq after an improvised explosive device hit his patrol vehicle, which caused him brain trauma, a sinus bone fracture and a crushed optic nerve in his right eye.

Gonzalez said Building Homes for Heroes created a unique home for him, so he would have an easier time getting around the house.

There is a secret pass code that I learned how to input the codes so I could get entrance into the house. On top of the house there are some wood frames all around the house that serve me as a guide. But also each and every place on the house has a different square on the floor so my cane and I can perceive where were going, different lighting so with my peripheral vision I can tell one place from another, he said.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, nearly 40,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. The organizations goal is to provide 200 homes to veterans before 2020.
Republicans in the U.S. Senate rolled out their version of a tax plan this week and left one controversial provision untouched: carried interest.

Carried interest allows some hedge fund managers, venture capitalists and private equity financiers to pay a lower tax rate than average workers; that rate can dip as low as 20% when compared with the top bracket of 39.6%. They are able to use the carried interest tax break on the portion of the profit they take from their funds overall gains during a given year, which is typically 20%. While some see the provision as an incentive to encourage financial managers to take risks, others believe the profits are being made with clients money and should be treated as income rather than capital risk.

Carried interest is a grey issue because its  partly capital gains and partly labor income, Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute and editor of www.DownsizingGovernment.org, told FOX Business. A lot of people are cynical about the role of private equity and venture capital  in the economy, but it plays a crucial role. I would hesitate getting rid of it, but I wouldnt be totally against it.

Then-candidate Donald Trump said during the campaign he wanted to close the loophole, criticizing some hedge fund managers for getting away with murder where the provision is concerned. National Economic Director Gary Cohn said as recently as September that the president was committed to eliminating the loophole.

A lot of what Trump has wanted is in these bills, so his administration is having a lot of influence, Edwards said. So it is very surprising [carried interest is not included].

While GOP senators shied away from outright removing the loophole, the plan put forward by the House of Representatives would slightly amend it, delaying the so-called holding period from one year to three years. That means a hedge fund would have to hold an asset for three years in order to receive the lower tax rate on gains. Edwards said this could be a good compromise because it distinguishes between short-term and long-term capital gains, where the latter is generally favored by the government because it is more often associated with pro-growth activity.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke to FOX Business about the carried interest provisions in both bills on Friday, refusing to comment on whether he viewed carried interest as investment or income, saying instead that discussions on the issue would continue in Congress.

Edwards also said that the final bill could ultimately address carried interest in a different way as negotiations progress. He would only like to see it eliminated if the government were to use the money to reduce other taxes on corporations or capital gains,  [using] the money to reduce taxes to spur growth in other ways.
George Takei, best known for his role in Star Trek, was accused Friday of sexual assault by a former actor and model, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Scott R. Brunton said the incident occurred in 1981 when he was beginning his career in Hollywood. He said he met Takei, who was 43 or 44 years old then, at a bar and the pair reportedly exchanged numbers and talked on occasion.

When Brunton, then 23 years old, broke up with his boyfriend at the time, he said Takei was a great ear.

"He was very good at consoling me and understanding that I was upset and still in love with my boyfriend," Brunton recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. "He was very good about me spilling my heart on my sleeve."

ASHLEY JUDD SPEAKS ABOUT BEING MOLESTED AS A CHILD: I WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN

Following a night out, the duo reportedly went back to Takeis apartment for drinks. During the second round, Brunton said he began feeling very disoriented and dizzy and thought he was going to pass out, he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Brunton claimed he passed out in a beanbag chair in Takeis apartment and when he regained consciousness, he allegedly found himself in a compromising position.

"The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear," Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter. "I came to and said, 'What are you doing?!' I said, 'I don't want to do this.'

Brunton claimed he left the apartment despite Takei telling him to relax and get comfortable.

JEREMY PIVEN CLAIMS SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM ABSOLUTELY FALSE

I managed to get my pants up and compose myself and I was just shocked, Brunton said. I walked out and went to my car until I felt well enough to drive home, and that was that."

Thinking no one would believe him, Brunton said he never went to the press with his story because its my word against his, he told the outlet.

But after Takei responded to allegations against Kevin Spacey, Brunton reportedly changed his mind.

Following actor Anthony Rapps sexual assault accusation against Spacey, and his subsequent apology in which he came out as gay, Takei told The Hollywood Reporter on Oct. 30 that the move was a deflection from the situation.

"When power is used in a non-consensual situation, it is a wrong," Takei said. "For Anthony Rapp, he has had to live with the memory of this experience of decades ago. For Kevin Spacey, who claims not to remember the incident, he was the older, dominant one who had his way.

NEW KEVIN SPACEY ACCUSER CLAIMS ATTACK WAS CERTAINLY MORE THAN A GROPE

Men who improperly harass or assault do not do so because they are gay or straight -- that is a deflection, Takei said. They do so because they have the power, and they chose to abuse it."

Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter that he doesnt want anything from [Takei] but an apology" but he expects him to disown all this.

Four friends of Bruntons confirmed to the outlet that their friend had previously spoken to them about the incident.

Takeis representative told The Hollywood Reporter that the actor was out of the country and couldnt be reached for comment.
Actress Rebel Wilson took to Twitter on Saturday and detailed her own claims of sexual misconduct in Hollywood.

Wilson, best known for her roles in Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids described her encounters with two unnamed men in the industry and said, Im a pretty strong and confident person but even I have a story to tell.

In the first allegation, Wilson said she was working with a man in a position of power who asked her repeatedly to stick my finger up his a**.

ACTOR GEORGE TAKEI ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT BY FORMER ACTOR, MODEL

All whilst his male friends tried to film the incident on their iPhones and laughed, she wrote. I repeatedly said no and eventually got out of the room.

Wilson said she had her lawyer file a complaint with the studio in case anything similar ever occurred again so shed legally be able to walk out of the job and not obliged to return, she said.

Following the incident, Wilson claimed she was then threatened by the mans rep, who told her to be nice and support the male star, to which she said no.

The whole thing was disgusting, Wilson said.

TOP GUN STAR ANTHONY EDWARDS SAYS HE WAS MOLESTED BY PRODUCER GARRY GODDARD FOR YEARS

In a second alleged encounter, Wilson recalled taking a meeting with a director in his hotel room.

I was so naive the thought of anything happening apart from work talk didnt even cross my mind, she said on Twitter.

While she was there, Wilson said the mans wife called and started loudly accusing him of sleeping with actresses. She said she was able to escape and ultimately nothing physical happened.

However, she did not actually say the director made any advances toward her.

Following her experiences, and a series of other allegations of sexual misconduct in Hollywood, Wilson said she knows her stories arent as horrific as other women and men have described but said she can understand the experience on some level and will no longer stay silent or be polite.
Star Trek star George Takei denied he groped a struggling actor and model in 1981.

In a series of tweets Saturday, Takei said the events described in a "Hollywood Reporter" interview with Scott R. Brunton simply did not occur.

I want to assure you all that I am as shocked and bewildered at these claims as you must feel reading them, Takei tweeted.

The events he (Brunton) describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now. I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do, he continued.

ACTOR GEORGE TAKEI ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT BY FORMER ACTOR, MODEL

Takei called the accusations a he said/he said situation and added that the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful.

Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter he met Takei at a bar in 1981 in Hollywood when he was 23 years old. Brunton said they exchanged numbers and went out after the former model broke up with a boyfriend.

Following a night out, the duo reportedly went back to Takeis apartment for drinks. During the second round, Brunton said he began feeling very disoriented and dizzy and thought he was going to pass out, he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Brunton said he "must have passed out" after a drink, awaking to Takei groping him.

"The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear," Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter. "I came to and said, 'What are you doing?!' I said, 'I don't want to do this.'

STEVEN SEAGAL ACCUSED OF TELLING ACTRESS TO SIT ON HIS FACE IN 1991

Brunton said he left Takeis apartment and never reported the alleged incident.

Takei, an openly gay man, recently condemned the multiple sexual misconduct accusations made against House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey.

"When power is used in a nonconsensual situation, it is a wrong," Takei told The Hollywood Reporter.

Men who improperly harass or assault do not do so because they are gay or straight  that is a deflection," he continued. "They do so because they have the power, and they chose to abuse it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Morning Joe co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarboroughs star-studded engagement party on Thursday included an appearance from a President Trump impersonator.

The party, hosted by the MSNBCs show contributor Steve Rattner at his New York City apartment, included other high-profile guests such as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), former Secretary of State John Kerry, Mayor Bill de Blasio, anchors Charlie Rose and Gayle King and Rev. AL Sharpton, Splash News reported.

However, the engaged couple was reportedly surprised when the Trump impersonator crashed the party, Page Six reported.

LOUIS C.K. ADDRESSES SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ACCUSATIONS: ITS TRUE

The Trump imitator interrupted Rattners speech saying, I need to correct you. The fake news is at it again. They love to lie. The show is awful and unwatchable. People are saying it was canceled weeks ago.

I never colluded with Russia, and I never gave intelligence to Russians because I never had intelligence and I never will, the imitator joked.

In June, Trump took shots at the Morning Joe couple in a series of tweets.

JEFFREY DAHMERS STEPMOTHER SHARI OPENS UP ON HER RELATIONSHIOP WITH SERIAL KILLER IN NEW DOC

I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (dont watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Years Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no! Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.

Before the tweets, Trump and the Morning Joe hosts had a cordial relationship. When Trump was a presidential candidate, he appeared on the show regularly. However, once Scarborough and Brzezinski started to become critical of Trump he stopped his regular call-ins and appearances.

Brzezinski and Scarborough revealed their engagement in May, The Washington Post reported. The couple has hosted the morning show since 2007.
Chipotle has responded to Supergirl star Jeremy Jordan, who recently blamed a meal at the burrito chain for sending him to the hospital.

Jordan, 32, took to his Instagram story on Thursday to detail his near-death experience after a Chipotle meal landed him in the hospital. The fast-food chain said in a statement to Fox News that it couldnt confirm any link between Jordans claims and Chipotle.

"We were sorry to hear Jeremy was sick and we were able to get in touch with him directly regarding when and where he ate. The timing of his visit, coupled with the fact that we have not received any other reported claims of illness at the restaurant where he dined, suggests that our restaurant was not the cause of this illness.

"We take all claims seriously, but we cant confirm any link to Chipotle given the details he shared with us," the chain added.

MIRANDA LAMBERT, BOYFRIEND SLAM GARTH BROOKS FOR LIP-SYNCING

The chain's response comes after Jordan said he almost died after he ate a meal at Chipotle that didnt agree with his body.

I know Ive advocated for them in the past, but theyre terrible, Jordan said. I, as you can see, I am in the hospital and I have fluids in my arm because the food did not agree with me and I almost died.

I just want to thank my wife for being amazing and talking me off the ledge when I was on the phone about to die and Chris Wood for holding my hair back metaphorically, he added. I love all of you; thank you so much. Its been a night.

MCDONALDS MANAGER REPORTEDLY ATTACKED OVER NUGGETS ORDER

This is not the first time the fast-food Mexican grill has been accused of sickening customers. In July, more than 130 people reported becoming ill after eating at Chipotle restaurants in Virginia. In 2015, an E. coli outbreak affected Chipotle restaurants in several states.
Two women in Indiana wanted their McNuggets so badly that they reportedly lunged through the drive-thru window and attacked a manager to get them.

The incident happened around 3 a.m. on Friday morning at a McDonalds in Indianapolis when two women pulled into the drive-thru complaining that they hadnt received the chicken McNuggets that they ordered, Fox 59 said.

The store manager reportedly told the pair that they never ordered nuggets and showed them a copy of their receipt to prove it.

1 YEAR IN PRISON: FAST FOOD WORKER PUT BODY FLUIDS ON BURGER

But when the women asked to put in a new order for nuggets, and the manager told them they had to go to the back of the line and wait their turn, they were clearly not happy, the report said.

The two women started honking their car horn and beat on the drive-thru window before eventually climbing through the window and attacking the manager who displeased them, knocking over a jug of tea and a cash register in the process, Fox 59 reported.

Leaving without their nuggets, the women reportedly climbed out of the restaurant and back into their car and drove away.
A New Jersey diner is tacking on an 18 percent gratuity on meals ordered by kids because it says youngsters dont tip  a move thats prompted a boycott by furious parents.

Mom Melissa Desch says that her 11-year-old daughter, along with the childs pals at Schulyer-Colfax Middle School, are recent price gouge victims of the Wayne Hills Diner, a popular after-school hangout.

My daughter looked down at her bill and realized that there is a charge for a tip, an 18 percent charge per child, Desch told WABC in an interview.

FLORIDA PIZZA RESTAURANT BANNED CHILDREN, AND MANY ARE NOT HAPPY

Desch, who says shes been going to the Wayne diner her entire life and never was automatically tip charged before, believes the youngsters are being targeted because theyre kids and they dont know any better. The bottom of her daughters receipts asks diners to leave a gratuity even though the tip was already added, Desch told the network.

Even adults dont always tip and its not anything against the servers, but you cant assume that these kids dont know what theyre doing, said Desch, who claims she personally spoke to owner of the diner about the issue.

NEW YORK RESTAURANT HAS ONE-DRINK LIMIT POLICY FOR CUSTOMERS WITH KIDS

Desch said the owner told her the added tip is policy because the kids run out and he feels that they dont tip well, and they dont know how to tip was the explanation.

A manager at the diner confirmed to The Post an 18 percent tip is added to the pre-teens bills  because they simply dont tip.

We have kids coming in here every Friday, 20 to 25 at a time, the manager said. The kids dont leave no tip. He said the diner adds the gratuity because my employees need to get paid. They dont work for free.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

The manager noted that most kids dont tip at all, or some leave as little as 10 cents.

We love the kids. Theyve been coming for years. Were a family-owned business, the manager said, adding the diner has lawyered up because of the hullabaloo, because, theres too much publicity for nothing.

Menus at the diner read in fine print at the bottom: management reserves the right to add 18 percent gratuity to check, a photo of a menu shows.

Desch says she and other parents wont patronize the joint anymore.

There are enough parents that are willing to not let their kids go back there, and if its the same group shes [her daughter] always hanging out with it could be 20, 30 kids, Desch said. Im never going to go back, not after this.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post.
This Veterans Day is a little extra special for World War II veteran Jack Lyle. The 97-year-old from Chicago is being saluted for his service by a local brewery, who has named a new beer in his honor.

In the citys historic Pullman neighborhood, Argus Brewerys new farmhouse ale Tuskegee Airmen Pursuit celebrates one of the last living members of the famed Tuskegee unit. The Tuskegee airmen were an elite group of African-American pilots who served in WWII, at a time when black pilots were barred from flying with whites, Fox 32 reports.

50 VETERANS DAY DINING DEALS FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL

Though Lyle fought in combat over the high skies of German-held territory more than 70 years ago, that chapter of his life is still vivid in his mind.

"They're always talking about the black pilots prove themselves...I never heard anybody talk about improving anything. They all liked what they were doing, Lyle told the outlet.

TRUMP'S HAMBURGER SELLS OUT IN JAPAN

After meeting Argus Brewerys staffers during a tour, Lyle and his wife, Eunice, have become regulars at the establishment. Thus, it only seemed fit to the brewers that they create an ale specifically in his honor for Nov. 11.

Only 300 bottles of Tuskegee Airmen Pursuit have been produced to date, and Lyles photo graces each label. Available for purchase on Veterans Day, a portion of the proceeds are going to a Tuskegee airmen-inspired charity that teaches teenagers how to fly. Better yet, Lyle himself will be at the brewery to sign bottles, and share his stories of life in the high skies.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Through his years as a Tuskee airmen, he flew 27 combat missions over German territories in a P-51 mustang, escorting bombers and once even shooting down an enemy plane, Fox 32 says.

Cheers to Lyle, and his incredible service.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is under fire from the left. Meaningless tidbits from his past are being gathered by political opponents and trotted out as proof he had knowledge of Russian collusion with the Trump presidential campaign. Whats clear is that hes an honorable person who is being attacked primarily because hes been effective.

The left doesnt want him to succeed and is in bed with constituencies he threatens, including convicted felons and illegal aliens. The left would grant full voting rights to both groups in the expectation that theyll cast their new votes for big government and for disappearing borders and globalism.

Four years ago, then Attorney General Eric Holder began restricting the way federal prosecutors could charge drug defendants. Holders moves at DOJ resulted in a 25 percent decline in federal prosecutions to the lowest numbers in two decades.

As America now stares down the barrel of a nationwide opioid crisis thats believed to have taken over 64,000 lives in 2016, the folly of Holders handcuffing of federal prosecutors is clear, and Sessions has turned back the clock by telling U.S. Attorneys to return to charging the most serious readily provable federal offense. That step will strengthen the Feds punch as the threat of harsher minimum mandatory sentences will be on the table as the Feds push for defendant cooperation against others in corrupt organizations. A needed step forward.

The Attorney General also listened to concerned citizens who felt threatened by rising violent crime in major cities across the country. After a quarter century of steady decline in violent crime, that rate had risen seven percent in 2015 and 2016, with the homicide rate jumping almost 20 percent since 2014.

He listened to law enforcement from Americas deadliest cities, calling out Chicago as one standout in the volume of citizen versus citizen violence and pointed out the failure of Chicago politicians to change that citys deadly path.

In response to the violence, the Attorney General ordered renewed focus by federal prosecutors to address the problem, determined to reverse two years of deadly increases.

The Attorney General also listened to and engaged with police groups like the FOP, National Sheriffs Association and Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association as he re-evaluated other actions by his predecessors and the Obama administration. Among them was a review of the life-saving 1033 program where law enforcement agencies have received billions of dollars worth of surplus military equipment.

For departments large and small that could not otherwise afford to buy the gear, they received office equipment, boats, aircraft, weapons and armored vehicles like the kind deployed to protect police and save lives in Colorado Springs, San Bernardino, and Orlando.

Overblown concerns about the optics of that needed gear led President Obama to order its return to the Defense Department. However, Attorney General Sessions proved more concerned for the lives of innocent civilians and police in moving to undo another misguided Obama order.

Since his appointment, the Attorney General has recognized the insulting and dangerous ignorance of law represented by the modern sanctuary city and hes taken reasonable and necessary steps in court to address the issue.

Rejecting the ridiculous notion that releasing someone like the killer of Kate Steinle to the streets rather than handing him off to ICE deportation agents somehow makes America safer, Sessions has been pushing back hard, including threatening the cutoff of federal grant funds to cities that ignore or obstruct simple cooperation requests from ICE.

Perhaps as important as any individual act or order above, the Attorney General has repeatedly conveyed a single, vital message to Americas law enforcers  We have your back.

The message is simple and straightforward but it comes after three years of unwarranted criticism and strife born of the fatal encounter between Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson and strong-arm robber Michael Brown.

The mythology of Ferguson has spawned multiple deadly attacks on police, a spike in police killings and ambushes, and raised concerns about depolicing in America, with cops fearing theyll be victim of the next misinterpreted viral video of an encounter.

The political left and their media minions are driven to avenge the incomprehensible disappointment of their anointed ones loss a year ago.

Attorney General Sessions is now and will continue to be a prime target of their anger and vengeance.

Meanwhile, hes steadily addressing the pressing issues of his tenure with welcome energy and resolve. As he navigates petty accusations, law enforcement hopes that his focus is unwavering.
A few weeks ago on The Next Revolution on Fox News Channel, we debated the impact of technology on children. My guest, Dr. Jean Twenge, shared shocking research from her latest book, which has a rather wonderful title: iGen: Why Todays Super-Connected Kids are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy  and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.

According to Twenge  and her research is backed up by numerous other studies  the use of smartphones is changing childhood in fundamental and deeply negative ways.

I wanted to talk to her about this topic because its one that Ive long been interested in  and where I have views that many consider to be somewhat extreme.

In my own book, More Human  Designing a World Where People Come First, I looked at the way unsupervised access to the internet is exposing children to dark and dangerous forms of online pornography. This leads to premature sexualization that has a devastating impact on young peoples attitudes to sex and relationships.

I wrote that unsupervised internet access is actually setting back the progress our society has made on gender equality. Early access to online porn is leading boys to think of girls as sexual objects, always available for male gratification.

For these and other reasons, I made the case in More Human that we should not allow children to access the internet unsupervised. What does that mean in practice? Just as we ban smoking and drinking for under 16, because we want to shield young people from their harmful effects, we should do the same for smartphones.

Most parents dont want their kids to have smartphones in the first place. But parents worry about the social stigma of their child being the only one without a phone. A total ban would help parents do what they want to do anyway.

But just this week, we heard something that made me think: this isnt just about children. Its about adults too.

Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, recently revealed something that is widely known within Silicon Valley. And as the co-founder and CEO of a tech company myself, I hear it all the time. The revelation? The aim of tech firms is to make their products addictive.

As Tucker Carlson noted on his own Fox News show, the bosses of Big Tobacco knew their product was addictive too. They just werent as open about it as Sean Parker.

As viewers of The Next Revolution know, despite (or perhaps because of) living in Silicon Valley and running a tech firm, Im a critic of technologys impact on society. I myself dont have a cellphone. But I nevertheless recognize the positive things that technology brings.

Facebook (disclosure: my wife is a senior executive there) has enabled a previously unimaginable flourishing of small businesses  including my own  by making it possible for them to reach customers in affordable ways.

Google (disclosure: my wife was once a senior executive there) has contributed to the greatest and fastest spread of knowledge in human history.

Uber (disclosure: yes, youve guessed it, my wife worked there too) is creating new ways for people to boost their income, as well as democratizing transportation for millions.

But if a tech skeptic like me can appreciate the positives, I think its time for the tech evangelists to accept the negatives too.

In any discussion of technology, you hear the same argument: You cant turn the clock back and you cant put the genie back in the bottle.

Maybe not. But there are steps we can take to limit the social harm caused by this industry, just like we do with others. And that brings us back to Big Tobacco and the commercialization of addiction.

Lets start by being precise about the comparison. When it comes to Big Tech, the real transformation in addictive behavior has come about not through the internet itself, or the businesses that have grown to dominate it. It has come through the device that more and more people use to access the internet: the smartphone.

Its the smartphone that has turned adults and children alike into tech-addicted zombies, dumbly swiping and jabbing at their screens, oblivious to the world around them.

Its the smartphone that has trapped people in this constant, miserable hamster-wheel of updates and notifications and self-destructive comparisons with friends and celebrities, and the virtual demolition of any remaining barriers between work and personal life.

Its the smartphone that is responsible for one of the most depressing  and increasingly ubiquitous  sights of the modern age: a family sitting together but totally detached from one another, engaged with their screens rather than the people closest to them.

Of course many companies now make smartphones. But it was the iPhone that first made them so irresistibly addictive. Apples Steve Jobs, idolized by so many as a hero, probably did more to undermine humanity than any other business leader in history.

If smartphones are the new smoking, here are four practical ways we can learn from the success of anti-smoking efforts and reduce the damage to mental health that smartphones cause:

Ban smartphones for kids. They should never have unsupervised access to the internet. Theres no reason that children need smartphones; if parents are concerned about staying in touch with their children, they can still give them feature phones without internet access.

Require all smartphone makers to show regular mental health warnings prominently on screens after a certain amount of usage.

Tax phone usage and direct the proceeds towards mental health programs that educate people about the safe use of technology, and help those who have been hurt by it.

Restrict smartphone use in public spaces. Its absurd that cities around the world now have to introduce safety measures to prevent people from getting hit by cars because pedestrians are walking around buried in their phones.

Of course these measures would not solve all the problems associated with smartphones. But they would help reduce the social harm imposed by technology, while ensuring we still enjoy its many social and economic benefits.

Well be debating these ideas this Sunday on The Next Revolution at 9 p.m. EST on FNC. Hope you can join us!
Editor's note: The following column originally appeared on the website US Defense Watch.

As Veterans Day arrives, it is important for those who have never served to take a moment to understand the solitary world of a vet.

Millions of vets are and have been successful in all endeavors. They are doctors, lawyers, business people and a thousand other professions. Not all have PTSD; not all are the troubled, brooding, street corner homeless guy, although they exist and need help desperately.

No matter how successful a vet might be materially, more often than not, vets are often alone, mentally and spiritually each day and for the rest of their lives.

Vets stories are all different, but some elements of the common experience exist.

Many vets experienced and saw and heard and did things unimaginable to the average person. They also lived a daily camaraderie that cannot be repeated in the civilian world. In fact, many vets spend the rest of their lives seeking the same esprit de corps that simply is absent from their civilian lives and jobs. They long to spend just 15 minutes back with the best friends they ever had, friends that are scattered to every corner of the earth, and some to the afterlife itself.

Vets are haunted by visions of horror and death, by guilt of somehow surviving and living the good life, when some they knew are gone. They strangely wish sometimes that they were back in those dreadful circumstances, not to experience the dirt and horror and terror and noise and violence again, but to be with the only people a vet really knows, other vets.

Civilians must understand that for a vet nothing is ever the same again. Their senses can be suddenly illuminated by the slightest sound or smell or sight: sights of death all around, a living version of Dantes Inferno; sounds so loud that they can only be described as Saving Private Ryan in surround sound on steroids; smells vast and horrific; rotting death, burning fuel and equipment, rubber, animals andpeople. The smoldering ruins of life all around them.

All vets have these thoughts nearly every day. Some may experience them for fractions of second, or for minutes at a time. They replay over and over again like an endless 24 hour war movie.

Part of the solitary world of the vet is being able to enjoy complete bliss doing absolutely nothing. This is a trait grating to civilians who must constantly search for endless stimuli. Unbeknownst to them, the greatest thrill of all is just being alive. A lot of vets have an Obi-wan Kenobi calmness. After what they went through, how bad can anything really be?

As King said to Chris in Platoon, Make it outta here, its all gravy, every day of the rest of your life  gravy

So many, if not all vets walk around each day lost in their own special story. They were once great actors on a giant stage with speaking parts and props. Maybe they were heroes and now they arent anymore. Maybe they helped save the world and now they cant. Maybe they gave orders and now they take them. Maybe they thought that they could accomplish anything and now they know they cant. Perhaps their lives now are smaller and slower and sometimes in the vets mind, just incidental, even though theyre not.

Most civilians are oblivious to the solitary life of the vet. But, its there. Its the same eternal and universal philosophy, whether you fought in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq or Afghanistan. The experiences may have been different, but the emotions are the same.

A problem with the solitary world of the vet is that the vet has a hard time explaining what he or she did to those who didnt serve. Some vets want to talk, but they have no outlet. Maybe their only outlet is watching a war movie or reading a book about the conflict they were in.

How often do people say, Grandpa never talks about Korea. Thats because Grandpa knows no one can understand except other vets. Thats because Grandpa knows most people dont care.

Part of this taciturn mentality is that vets speak another language, a strange and archaic language of their past. How do you talk to civilians about fire for effect or grid 7310 or shake and bake or frag orders or 10 days and a wake up or a thousand and one other terms that are mystifying to the real world?

You cant.

All of this adds to the solitary world of the vet. Some are better at handling life afterwards than others. Some dont seem affected at all, but they are. They just hide it. Some never return to normal. But, what is normal to a vet anymore?

So, this Veterans Day, if you see a vet sitting by themselves at a restaurant or on a train or shopping at the grocery store alone, take a moment to speak with them. Take them out of their solitary world for a moment. Youll be happy you did.
A data firm that worked for President Donald Trump's campaign reached out to WikiLeaks during the campaign about obtaining emails related to Democrat Hillary Clinton, the company's CEO said.



Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, said the approach was in "early June 2016" after WikiLeaks Editor Julian Assange had publicly claimed he had Clinton emails and planned to publish them. Nix said his company asked a speaker's agency representing Assange whether WikiLeaks "might share that information," but Assange turned him down.



Nix's comments Thursday at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal, were his first acknowledgement that he had sought emails from WikiLeaks. Assange had previously told The Associated Press that WikiLeaks had rejected a "request for information" from Cambridge Analytica. The Wall Street Journal first reported Nix's comments.



Cambridge Analytica's role in the president's campaign has caught the attention of congressional committees probing Russia's interference in the 2016 election and any possible coordination with Trump associates. The company is backed by Robert Mercer, a billionaire Trump supporter. Before joining the Trump administration, former White House strategist Steve Bannon also served as a vice president at the company.



The Trump campaign paid Cambridge Analytica nearly $6 million for data management. The campaign's first payment to the company was on July 29, 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records. But the Journal reported Friday that Nix's outreach to WikiLeaks came while Cambridge Analytica was in contract negotiations with the campaign in June. At that time, the company had already sent some of its employees to help the campaign, the Journal reported.



A spokesman for Cambridge Analytica and a related company, SCL Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

During the Web Summit interview, Nix denied that his company was involved in any Russian election meddling.



"We did no work with Russia in this election. And moreover, we would never work with a third-party state actor in another country's election campaign," he said.



He also called the outreach to Assange "very benign." He said it stemmed from an article in The Guardian newspaper in early June 2016 that said "WikiLeaks was going to publish a huge amount of information that could be very relevant to the election and could impact it sincerely."



Nix appeared to be referencing a June 12, 2016, article that was based on Assange's comment to a British television network that WikiLeaks had "upcoming leaks in relation to Hillary Clinton" that were in the form of emails.



On Thursday, Nix said that after he saw the article, he asked his "office to reach out to, actually it was a speaking agency that represents Julian Assange to ask if he might share that information with us and we received a message back from them that he didn't want to or wasn't able to."



"And that was the end of the matter," Nix added.



Last month, Assange confirmed that WikiLeaks was approached by Cambridge Analytica prior to November 2016 but he declined to provide specifics about the interaction, other than saying it was a "request for information."



Assange's comments came in response to a story from The Daily Beast that reported that Nix's outreach was about possibly obtaining the 33,000 emails that Clinton said were deleted from her private server. Those emails have never been released.
The exodus of veteran Republican lawmakers from Congress could complicate efforts by the GOP to keep majorities in both the House and Senate as the 2018 midterm elections approach.

A stream of Republicans have recently announced plans to call it quits, including longtime Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who said this week he would not run for re-election.

So far this cycle, 12 Republicans in the House and two in the Senate have announced plans to retire  and others are likely to follow suit. And these numbers do not include the 13 other Republicans who have left Congress to resign, take new positions in government or run for other offices.

REPUBLICAN RETIREMENTS

Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee

Sen. Jeff Flake, Arizona

Rep. Dave Trott, Michigan

Rep. Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Texas

Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas

Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., Tennessee

Rep. Sam Johnson, Texas

Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo, New Jersey

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, Kansas

Rep. Dave Reichert, Washington

Rep. Ted Poe, Texas

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Virginia

The GOP retirements surpasses those of Democrats, who have seen just two retirements in the House and zero in the Senate so far this cycle. It also outpaces the number of retirements at this stage in past election cycles.

Democrats  who need to flip 24 seats to win back the House and three seats to win back the Senate  are arguing the recent GOP retirements improves their chances at flipping seats.

In general, eliminating the power of incumbency creates a great deal of advantage for House Democratic challengers, Ben Ray Lujan, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, wrote in a memo this week.

REPUBLICANS WHO WONT BE COMING BACK TO CONGRESS AFTER 2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

But Republicans point out the number of GOP lawmakers not running for re-election still falls below the historical average for retirements in an election cycle. They also say many of the retirees represent strong Republican districts.

This is another pipedream from the same party thats notorious for underperforming, said Jesse Hunt, the National Republican Congressional Committee national press secretary. We already have a host of quality Republican candidates declared in many of these seats and were confident theyll remain in our column.

Goodlattes announcement this week follows the retirements of other influential Republican lawmakers, including Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent.

Other Republicans have said the toxic political environment has contributed to their decision to leave Congress.

The two Republican senators who are retiring -- Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake  have both had high-profile spots with President Trump.

People before politics has always been my philosophy and my motivation," New Jersey Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo said as he announced his retirement this week. "Regrettably, our nation is now consumed by increasing political polarization; there is no longer middle ground to honestly debate issues and put forward solutions.
Many national Republican leaders pulled their support for Roy Moore, the Alabama Senate candidate, in the wake of allegations claiming he had inappropriate sexual contact with teenage girls.

The Washington Post reported that four women accused Moore of initiating sexual contact with them in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he was an assistant district attorney in his early 30s. One of the women, Leigh Corfman, told the newspaper that Moore had sexual contact with her when she was 14. The age of consent in Alabama is 16.

Several additional women have since come forward to accuse Moore of sexually inappropriate behavior.

Moore denied the allegations, saying in a statement obtained by Fox News that the allegations are "based on a lie supported by innuendo."

"It seems that in the political arena, to say that something is not true is simply not good enough. So let me be clear. I have never provided alcohol to minors, and I have never engaged in sexual misconduct," he said.

Multiple Republican lawmakers called on Moore to step aside from the Dec. 12 special election. However, President Trump offered his endorsement for the embattled politician, and the Republican National Committee began supporting Moore after having previously cut its fundraising ties to him.

The White House

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president had no plans for an in-person appearance on Moore's behalf.

In addition, the president previously signed off on a decision by the Republican National Committee to cut off support for Moore's campaign.

But publicly, Trump unleashed his criticism on Democratic candidate Doug Jones instead of Moore.

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is weak on crime, weak on the border, bad for our military and our great vets, bad for our 2nd Amendment, and wants to [raise] taxes to the sky. Jones would be a disaster, Trump tweeted on Nov. 26.

And just over one week before the election, Trump said he needed Moores vote in the Senate when it comes to certain issues, such as immigration, gun rights and judicial appointments.

Trump also encouraged his Twitter followers to vote for Moore on the morning of the election as he contended that Moore "will always vote with us."

Vice President Mike Pence found the allegations in the story disturbing and believes, if true, this would disqualify anyone from serving in office, his press secretary, Alyssa Farah, has told reporters.

Sen. Mitch McConnell

While speaking to reporters, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he believes the women quoted in the Washington Post story. He urged Moore to step aside in light of the allegations.

Previously, McConnell said Moore should step aside if "these allegations are true."

Sen. Cory Gardner

Cory Gardner, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, said he believes the women who have alleged Moore's misconduct. In a statement, he encouraged the Senate to "vote to expel" Moore should he win the election next month.

"He does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate," Gardner, R-Colo., said.

Sen. Mike Lee

A former backer of Moore, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, pulled his endorsement from Moore after the allegations came to light.

"Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate," Lee said in a tweet.

He had also requested that Moore's campaign no longer use his image.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Im horrified and if its true, he should step down immediately, Murkowski told reporters.

She reportedly also urged Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill Jeff Sessions seat when he was tapped to become attorney general, to launch a write-in campaign. The deadline to take Moore off the ballot has passed.

Sen. Mike Rounds

If they are true, then he should seriously think about stepping aside," Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said.

Sen. John Cornyn

I find it deeply distrusting and troubling. Its up to the governor and the folks of Alabama to make that decision as far as what the next steps are," Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. He later withdrew his endorsement of Moore.

Sen. Tim Scott

If theyre accurate, he absolutely should [step aside]," Tim Scott, of South Carolina, said.

Sen. Susan Collins

In a tweet, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called for Moore to "withdraw from the Senate race in Alabama."

Collins wrote that she listened to Moore deny the allegations in a recent radio interview, but "did not find his denials to be convincing."

Collins' most recent statement comes after she previously tweeted: "If there is any truth at all to these horrific allegations, Roy Moore should immediately step aside as Senate candidate."



Sen. Steve Daines

"I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate," said Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.

Sen. John McCain

"The allegations against Roy Moore are deeply disturbing and disqualifying. He should immediately step aside and allow the people of Alabama to elect a candidate they can be proud of," Arizona Sen. John McCain said.

Sen. Richard Shelby

Its a devastating nasty story, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby told reporters. If its true, I dont believe thered be a place for him in the U.S. Senate.

He said that he did not vote for Moore when he sent in his absentee ballot but voted instead for a "distinguished Republican write-in."

Sen. Jeff Flake

Like other Republicans, Flake called on Moore to step aside from the election.

"Just to be clear. If the choice is between Roy Moore and a Democrat, I would run to the polling place to vote for the Democrat," Flake tweeted.

Hes said that Republicans to support Roy Moore over Doug Jones is political tribalism at its worst.

Flake also tweeted a photo of a check made out to Jones for $100 with "Country over Party" written in the memo line.

Sen. Luther Strange

Alabama Sen. Luther Strange, who lost the special election primary to Roy Moore, called the allegations disturbing.

It is too late to take Moore off the ballot, but Strange has been encouraged to launch a write-in campaign.

Sen. Rob Portman

I think if what we read is true, and people are on the record so I assume it is, then he should step aside, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said.

Sen. Ben Sasse

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., called the Washington Posts story "heartbreaking."

Sasse also slammed the Republican National Committee for providing funds to Moores race.

This is a bad decision and very sad day. I believe the women  and the RNC previously did too. Whats changed? Or is the party just indifferent? Sasse said on Twitter. This sends a terrible message to victims its not that the party wont believe you if you come forward. It might. But just doesnt care.

The senator than warned that if the National Republican Senatorial Committee decided to contribute to Moore, he would no longer be a donor to or fund-raiser for it.

Sen. Ted Cruz

"These are serious and troubling allegations," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who previously endorsed Moore, said in a statement. "If they are true, Judge Moore should immediately withdraw. However, we need to know the truth, and Judge Moore has the right to respond to these accusations."

Sen. Bill Cassidy

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., officially withdrew his support from the candidate.

"Based on the allegations against Roy Moore, his response and what is known, I withdraw support," he said.

Sen. Orrin Hatch

"I stand with the Majority Leader on this. These are serious and disturbing accusations, and while the decision is now in the hands of the people of Alabama, I believe Luther Strange is an excellent alternative," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, tweeted.

But a week before the election, Hatch said Trump didnt have another choice but to endorse Moore, Bloomberg reported. He also said that many of the things he allegedly did are decades ago. So its hard to  thats a decision that has to be made by the people in that state.

If they make that decision, who are we to question them? Hatch said.

Sen. Pat Toomey

We'll probably never know for sure exactly what happened," Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"But  I think the accusations have more credibility than the denial. I think it would be best if Roy would just step aside.

Sen. Lindsey Graham

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham took to Twitter to say Moore should step aside in the Alabama Senate race.

"In light of the most recent allegations and the cumulative effect of others, I believe [Moore] would be doing himself, the state, the GOP, and the country a service by stepping aside," Graham said. "If he continues this will not end well for Mr. Moore."

He has also bemoaned Trumps attempt to throw a lifeline to Moore.

Rep. Paul Ryan

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said if the allegations are true, they would disqualify Moore from the special election.

These allegations are disqualifying if true. Anyone who would do this to a child has no place in public office, let alone the United States Senate, Ryan said in a statement.

Rep. Peter King

"I would say unless he can prove his innocence, the burden is now on him within the next day or so, I believe he has to step down. He owes it to himself, he owes it to the state and and he owes it to the U.S. Senate," New York Rep. Peter King said after the allegations came out.

Rep. Lee Zeldin

In a tweet, Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., called for that "creepy Roy Moore dude" to step aside from the campaign.

"It's about that time for that creepy Roy Moore dude to exit stage left. He should step aside & let someone take his spot on the ballot who doesn't prey upon young teenage girls as a grown man," he said.

Gov. John Kasich

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Twitter that hes long opposed Moore and called on him to step aside from the race as well.

Ive long opposed Roy Moore [and] his divisive viewpoints. The actions described make him unfit for office. The GOP must not support him. He should step aside, Kasich said.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, slammed Moore on Twitter.

Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman, the former governor said. Her account is too serous to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside.

"Roy Moore in the US Senate would be a stain on the GOP and on the nation. Leigh Corfman and other victims are courageous heroes. No vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity," Romney said in another tweet on Dec. 4.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush

Former Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Moore should step down in light of the allegations.

"This is not a question of innocence or guilt like in a criminal proceeding; this is a question of whats right and whats wrong. Acknowledging that youre dating teenagers when youre 32 years old as assistant state attorney is wrong. Its just plain wrong," he told CNBC, adding that he agreed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said earlier Monday that Moore should "step aside."

"We need to stand for basic principles, and decency has to be one of those," Bush added. "In the really poisonous political environment we have right now, one of the rules I think has to apply is that when you attack somebody on the other party, and the other team for doing something wrong, when it happens on your team, you have an obligation I think to speak out as well."

Ivanka Trump

The president's daughter had some harsh words for Moore.



"There's a special place in hell for people who prey on children. I've yet to see a valid explanation, and I have no reason to doubt the victims' accounts," Ivanka Trump told the Associated Press.

Condoleezza Rice

While she didnt name Moore, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice  who is from Alabama  encouraged voters to take a stand for our core principles and for what is right.

These critical times require us to come together to reject bigotry, sexism and intolerance, Rice said in a statement to AL.com.

"It is imperative for Americans to remain focused on our priorities and not give way to side shows and antics. I know that Alabamans need an independent voice in Washington. But we must also insist that our representatives are dignified, decent, and respectful of the values we hold dear, she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam war prisoner, on Saturday criticized President Trump for failing to mention Vietnam's ongoing human rights violations while visiting Da Nang.

@POTUS in #Danang & no mention of human rights - Sad, tweeted McCain, who as a Navy pilot was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and remained a prisoner of war in Vietnam for roughly the next six years.

Trump this weekend, as part of his 12-day Asia tour, praised the Vietnamese people and their leaders for reform efforts, as the country since the end of the war in the mid-1970s has moved away from communist to a more socialist nation.

Your people are doing a spectacular job, Trump said Saturday alongside Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang at a state banquet in Hanoi, the nations capital. I toured Vietnam today. I was through the streets of Hanoi, and it's incredible to see.  I would like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on an outstanding job.

McCain's tweet is the latest in back-and-forth between the Arizona senator and Trump that appeared to start in earnest when the president challenged the senator's status as a war hero during the campaign.

The nonprofit group Human Rights Watch has Vietnam on its list of roughly 200 countries that it considers failing to provide citizens with sufficient human rights such as free speech and freedom of religious beliefs.

Vietnams human rights record remains dire in all areas, the group says on its website. The Communist Party maintains a monopoly on political power and allows no challenge to its leadership.  The police use torture and beatings to extract confessions.
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement on Saturday vowing to continue the fight against ISIS in Syria until the militants are completely defeated, Reuters reported, citing the Kremlin.

The statement was released after the two leaders chatted briefly during the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam, Reuters reported, citing the Kremlin.

The statement reportedly said both Washington and Moscow agree that there is no military solution to the conflict and both countries expressed a commitment to Damascus sovereignty.

The two leaders chatted on Saturday while they walked to a family photograph at the summit and donned matching silk button-down shirts the day before, holding true to the tradition of wearing local attire at annual display of cooperation among world leaders.

The White House and the Trump administration earlier appeared to downplay Trump's possible meetings with Putin during the summit.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders blamed a scheduling conflict for why the two would not have a formal meeting. But she said it was possible and likely that they would have a less formal encounter.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that there was no reason to schedule a formal meeting between Trump and Putin if the two countries are unable to make significant progress on issues including Syria and Ukraine.

"The view has been if the two leaders are going to meet, is there something sufficiently substantive to talk about that would warrant a formal meeting," he said.

It was reported on Thursday that Washington and Moscow were nearing an agreement on Syria for how they hope to resolve the Arab countrys civil war once ISIS is defeated.

The U.S.-Russian agreement that was being discussed focused on three elements, officials told The Associated Press: "deconfliction" between the U.S. and Russian militaries, reducing violence in the civil war and reinvigorating U.N.-led peace talks. The officials weren't authorized to discuss the deliberations and requested anonymity.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Russian President Vladimir Putin is steadfastly denying that his country meddled in the 2016 White House race, President Trump told reporters Saturday.

Trump and Putin briefly spoke several times while in Vietnam for a regional economic summit, as part of the U.S. president's 12-day trip to Asia.

"He said he didn't meddle, Trump afterward told reporters, aboard Air Force One. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. I just asked him again. He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did."

Putins words contradict U.S. intelligence community claims that Russia indeed tried to influence the election's outcome -- amid evidence that suggests Russian operatives hacked emails from Democratic Party leaders and tried to sway U.S. voters by purchasing ads of social media.

"Every time he sees me he says, 'I didn't do that,' and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. But he says, 'I didn't do that.' I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country," also said Trump, who deflected answering a direct question about whether he believed Putin's denial.

Congress and Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller are each conducting investigations into whether Trump associates colluded with Russian in the 2016 campaign.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed Trump for his comments.

President Trump today stated that he believed Vladimir Putin is being sincere when he denies Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and reiterated that he hopes to cooperate with Russia in Syria, McCain said Saturday. There's nothing America First about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community.

McCain also said, There's no principled realism in cooperating with Russia to prop up the murderous Assad regime, which remains the greatest obstacle to a political solution that would bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria. Vladimir Putin does not have America's interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk.

Trump and Putin were in together in Danang, Vietnam, for the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. They have no plans to hold a formal meeting during Trumps five-nation trip the concludes this weekend.

Trump told reporters on the flight from Danang to Hanoi that he and Putin largely discussed Syria in their "two or three very short conversations."

At about the same time, the Kremlin issued a joint statement for both presidents about the countries successful and continuing efforts to defeat the Islamic State terror group, or ISIS, in Syria, the caliphates last stronghold.

In Syrias years-long civil war, Putin has backed the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al Assad, while Western allies have supported his ousters.

"I would rather have him get out of Syria, Trump told reporters. If we had a relationship with Russia, that would be a good thing. In fact, it would be a great thing, not a bad thing.

Trump declined to comment on the recent allegations about decades-old sexual misconduct by Roy Moore, the GOP nominee for a U.S Senate seat in Alabama. The president said that he hasnt been following the news closely enough to offer an opinion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump is deflecting questions about whether Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore should quit the race amid sexual-misconduct allegations, in a contest that has divided the Republican Party.

Trump, who has been traveling in Asia over the past week, said Saturday that he's been too busy reading documents and hasn't had time to catch up on television news coverage about Moore.

"So I have not seen very much about him, about it," Trump told reporters flying with him on Air Force One from Danang to Hanoi, in Vietnam. I havent been able to devote very much time to it.

Trump also referred to a written statement that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders read to reporters after The Washington Post reported that an Alabama woman said Moore had sexual contact with her when she was 14 and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney.

The White House statement said Trump believes Moore will "do the right thing and step aside" if the decades-old allegations are true.

In the recent GOP primary for the Alabama Senate seat, Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed Republican Luther Stranger, appointed to the office when GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions became U.S. attorney general.

However, Alabama voters picked Moore, an outspoken conservative Christian and former state Supreme Court judge.

Moore also got strong backing from Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House political strategist, who recently returned to influential conservative news outlet Breitbart News.

Bannon said Friday night, after The Post story about Moore, I think youre going to find in the mainstream media, either tonight or tomorrow  some pretty interesting stories about how that information got dropped and who paid for it and who weaponized it.

He added: "Is it just a coincidence that the Bezos Amazon Washington Post did the Billy Bush hit? And they did the hit on Judge Moore."

Moore denied the allegation, saying Friday during an interview with conservative radio host Sean Hannity that the alleged encounter with the 14-year-old female "never happened."

On Saturday, in Moores first public appearance since the allegations were reported, he again denied the sexual misconduct and that he supplied alcohol to an alleged teen victim.

Why now? Moore asked about the roughly 40-year-old allegations. The Democrats know the importance of this election. They see it a prelude to the 2018 races.  They are desperate. This is a prime example of fake news.

Three other women also told the Post that Moore had sexual contact with them when they were teenagers.

Asked when he would decide whether Moore did what he has been accused of, given that four women have come forward, Trump said: "Honestly, I'd have to look at it and I have to see."

The allegations have sparked a wave of concern among GOP officials in Washington who are anxious about their slim majority in the Senate. But they have produced little more than a collective shrug from many Republicans in Alabama, which holds a special General Election on Dec. 12 to fill the Sessions seat.

Trump, who won the White House on a campaign critical of the Republican establishment in Washington, has nevertheless pledged to campaign for Moore.

McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP senators have said Moore should step aside if the reports are true.

In addition, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOPs Senate campaign group, on Friday ended its fundraising agreement with Moore.

Also on Friday, senators Mike Lee and Steve Daines rescinded their endorsements of Moore.

Trump suggested this weekend that he would have more to say on the matter after he returns to the White House next week.

"I'll stick with my statement for now," he said. "But I'll have further comment as we go down the road. I have to get back into the country to see what's happening."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Melania Trump might have been a fashion model at one time in her life, but she had no qualms ripping off a chunk of messy play dough and getting her hands dirty, just like the three preschoolers seated at the table with her Friday at a military base in Alaska.

Trump expertly rubbed the material between her two hands into a perfect sphere and then rolled the red small ball on the table to the girl seated across from her.

The nation's first lady then moved to the table to her right and made a harmonica out of ordinary household materials, held together with a rubber band.

It's not the heady stuff of the official visit with her husband to Asia but hundreds packed the Arctic Oasis Community Center to get a glimpse of the first lady as she toured programs for children and youth at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. She made a refueling stop at the Anchorage base en route back to Washington, D.C., after spending the last week with President Donald Trump in South Korea and China.

The White House said late Friday that the first lady "has her own schedule to keep and needed to get back."

The president continued his official visit to Asia.

Melania Trump, wearing a three-quarter length winter coat over a brown turtle neck and white slacks, spent about 35 minutes visiting with children and teachers.

"Any time we have an opportunity to share with others what our program does and the educational basis for all the activities that we do, it's a chance to show our story and to share with other individuals how we serve our military population," said Tamra De Benedetto, who oversees all activities at the base for children under age 18.

Trump viewed items children made on a 3D printer, saw sewing projects, and watched as they constructed fish out of compact discs, glitter and gems.

"Every program we offer has an educational purpose and a reason for why we do it," De Benedetto said.

De Benedetto said she exchanged a few private words with Trump. "She is just delightful and very genuine," she said.

Trump didn't make a public speech or address reporters, but did take time to shake hands and talk briefly with parents and military members who flocked to the community center.

Paige Wyse and her husband, Air Force Tech Sgt. Matthew Wyse, brought their 4-year-old son Brantley so he could make a fish with the first lady. They found out about Trump's visit Thursday and tried to explain to their son who she was.

He made the correlation when she explained to him that the visitor is the president's wife, and then he became excited.

"He was like, 'Oh, wow. OK,'" she said.

Air Force Master Sgt. David Jennings brought his wife, Lindsay, and their two daughters, Abbigail and Annabelle, to see the first lady. He said dignitaries stop at the base all the time, but base personnel rarely are able to get close.

But in this case, the family got a good view of the visit, and they took pictures to remember the rare event.

"A great family memory here," he said.

There are 14,000 active duty soldiers and airmen stationed at the joint Army and Air Force facility in Anchorage. With their family members, that number swells to 29,000.

There are currently 1,800 service members deployed all over the globe, including 1,200 in Afghanistan.
A Florida man has been served with an eviction notice over his emotional support squirrel.

Ryan Boylan, 40, of Clearwater, says he needs Brutis to deal with anxiety from a long ago car accident but Island Walk Condominiums says the squirrel needs to vacate the premises because she is putting other residents at risk.

"There's absolutely no way I would give her up. I'm not sure how an animal that weighs less than two pounds can harm anybody, he told WFTS-TV.

Boylan told the station he fell in love with Brutis after nursing her back to health after Hurricane Matthew more than a year ago. The squirrel has the run of Boylans apartment. One of her perches is the ceiling fan.

The condo board found out about Brutis in April when a dog chased the squirrel up a tree, WFLA-TV reported Friday.

Boyland was served with eviction papers last month.

The complaint says Boylan never submitted paperwork claiming Brutis was an emotional support animal until this past summer, according to the station.

Boylan says his doctor gave him a note for the squirrel in July due to his emotional disability.

In response to a discrimination complaint from Boylan, the Florida Office of Human Rights sent the condo board a letter saying that emotional support animals were protected under the Fair Housing Act, the station reported.

Its just like with any animal, you can have the nicest dog and they could bite somebody, its no guarantee, Sherry Arfa, a former condo board member, told WFLA. If it was a gerbil or something that your grandkid had hiding under the bed, Im sure that would be fine. But a squirrel is a wild animal.

In Florida, a "service animal" is defined as one that is "trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability."

Parts of the law, including bringing service animals to public areas and guaranteeing people with disabilities equal rights limit the defining to "to a dog or miniature horse."
Maryland students using their shirts to spell a racial slur used against black people at a rally. Pennsylvania students posing with swastika-carved pumpkins. A Montana student photographed with a gun accompanied with a racial epithet.

Racial incidents are appearing to pop up at an alarming rate in the nation's public schools. There were roughly 80 incidents in October alone, by one expert's count, including a Chicago-area student who was charged with a hate crime for racially charged posts on social media.

Many educators note a spike anecdotally, and social media can give such incidents wider and faster exposure. But it's far trickier to assess whether there's an increase numerically, with no organization or agency consistently tracking the issue over time.

School officials acknowledge the incidents are more visible and brazen, fueled by a polarizing presidential administration, divided public and "meme culture." As a result, schools have responded more publicly and intensely than before.

"You have to be aware of it. You have to monitor it. You have to prevent it from escalating," said Dan Domenech, head of the School Superintendents Association, who believes there is a spike this year.

Studies surveying schools and teachers during the 2016 presidential campaign noted an increase in anxiety and fear. Many traced it to fiery comments that then-Republican candidate Donald Trump made about immigrants, African-Americans and Muslims.

A study released last month by the University of California in Los Angeles showed a surge in teachers reporting student anxiety, from roughly 7 percent in past years to 51 percent this year. It also showed nearly 28 percent of teachers reporting a spike in students making derogatory remarks about other groups during class discussions.

And high-profile incidents such as the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned violent and the spate of police shootings of blacks and other minorities can accelerate racially charged reactions.

Teaching Tolerance, an anti-hate program, used to get requests from schools once a month for help. But since the election it's been daily, according to Maureen Costello who runs the Southern Poverty Law Center program.

She started tracking incidents through news media accounts at the start of October after there seemed to be a rise. Part of the explanation for the recent spate, she said, could be the homecoming season. Students become more settled in school and start attending events such as pep rallies and dress-up days.

Administrators and teachers, once reluctant to discuss incidents over privacy concerns, are being more proactive, Costello said. They're beefing up curriculums and training staff for difficult conversations.

"Schools are looking for professional development. They're looking for interventions," she said. "There's a sense of just really not knowing quite what to do."

Social studies teacher Terry Jess in Bellevue, Washington, said he's had to be more vigilant this year in reminding students about classroom rules on appropriate language and listening even when there's disagreement. He also keeps closer tabs on Snapchat and Twitter to watch for incidents.

"It has gotten where there seems to be a lack of decorum and respect ... as far as what we're seeing from our political candidates, what students are seeing on social media," he said. "That has started to creep in our hallways."

A look at the past few weeks shows the quick steps schools have taken.

In Virginia, a middle school forfeited the remainder of the football season after players made a Snapchat video showing simulated sex acts on black peers and using racially charged language. A Utah school launched an investigation and disciplinary action after a group of white girls, including cheerleaders, circulated a video of themselves in a car chanting a racial slur used against black people, even though it was filmed off campus. A South Dakota school forfeited its homecoming football game against a school from a nearby American Indian reservation and canceled its dance and parade after social media photos showed students destroying a car with "Go back to the Rez" painted on the side.

Still, there's a lack of hard data on racial incidents in schools, making some experts cautious about reaching any conclusions.

The National Center for Education Statistics has little information on the topic. An analysis of data for this school year that looks at hate-related words won't be available until the summer of 2018.

Individual advocacy groups say they've documented a spike and want schools to do more. The Anti-Defamation League's count of anti-Semitic harassment and vandalism in K-12 schools nearly doubled, from 130 in January to September of last year to 256 in the same period this year.

The ADL and the NAACP are pushing for wider anti-bias training.

Yet, some administrators and counselors say the increased response from schools over student conflicts dates back years to when they were reacting to school shootings with fresh security plans and safety exercises.

Whitney Allgood, CEO of the National School Climate Center, said the focus on school climate is due to a policy shift in recent years, including anti-bullying campaigns, not high-profile incidents.

Other experts say another factor could be how students share information through social media, with more of an emphasis on getting attention. A taunt once isolated to a passed note is now disseminated widely because of "meme culture" requiring picture-ready and edgy posts.

Chicago high school senior Hira Zeeshan said she's been affected personally by the rhetoric as a Pakistani Muslim immigrant and is pushing her racially diverse school to draft statements supporting immigrants.

But one of the hardest days was after Charlottesville. The issue came up in a class, but she wanted schoolwide discussions.

"It was really disturbing the way people were just able to walk out on the street and show all this hatred and use Nazi symbols," she said. "We just resumed our day like it was normal."

___

Follow Sophia Tareen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sophiatareen
Two villagers who said they were among the first to find the body of Sgt. La David Johnson in Niger last month recalled discovering the body with a gaping head wound and the soldier's hands tied, a report said Friday.

The Washington Post reported that the villagers' accounts raise the possibility that Johnson was first captured in the Oct. 4 ambush before being killed.

His two arms were tied behind his back, Adamou Boubacar, 23, a farmer, told the paper in a phone interview. Another witness told the paper separately that the back of Johnson's head was a mess, as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer. They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks.

Johnson, 25, was one of the four U.S. soliders killed in an ambush believed to have been orchestrated by militants linked to the Islamic State group in Niger. The attack took place outside a remote village called Tongo Tongo.

Air support from French jets took an hour to arrive at the scene and the soldiers, who were joined by 30 Nigerian troops, had started to run out of ammunition, the report said.

An unnamed U.S. military official told the paper that Johnsons hands were not tied when Americans received his body, but the body was battered. The official warned about rushing to judgement until the investigations are completed.

The Pentagon and FBI are conducting a probe into the ambush to determine if any errors were made in intelligence prior to the mission.

The Post, citing an unnamed U.S. military official, reported that it appears that the soldiers' mission was changed after they left the base and were sent to assist another team in taking out a top ISIS target called Dadou. Five Nigerian soldiers were also killed in the ambush.

Boubacar told the paper that Johnsons remains were found on Oct. 6, two days after the ambush. The bodies of the other three soldiers, believed to have been killed in action, were reportedly found just hours after the fight, the report said.

Johnsons death made headlines after President Trumps phone call with his widow. The call lead to a public dispute between the Trump administration and Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson over comments the president made during the call.

Wilson called Trumps remarks insensitive and Trump said she fabricated what he said.
Police say a 3-year-old shot and killed a 1-year-old sister in Tennessee after a man placed the younger sibling in a bed with his gun.

Memphis Police said Saturday they have charged Shawn Moore with criminally negligent homicide, being a convicted felon with a handgun and tampering with evidence in Robbin Keefer's death.

Police say Robbin was shot Friday morning at a Memphis apartment complex. Witnesses heard a gunshot and noticed Robbin was hit.

Police blocked streets around Memphis to get the child to the hospital. She was later pronounced dead.

Police say Moore took the gun and fled the scene, but later turned himself in.

Shelby County Sheriff's Office records say the 25-year-old Moore was booked into jail Friday night. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.
A Massachusetts State Police colonel abruptly retired Friday amid accusations a trooper was forced to alter an arrest record for a judges daughter to avoid embarrassing them.

Colonel Richard McKeon retired after 35 years on the force, FOX 25 Boston reported.

His retirement was announced a day after Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said he was investigating the allegations.

Trooper Ryan Sceviour, 29, said in a federal lawsuit filed this week that he was ordered to remove embarrassing information about Allie Bibaud, the daughter of Dudley District Court Judge Timothy Bibaud,who allegedly failed sobriety tests and indicated she was a heroin addict.

Sceviour did not say McKeon directly ordered him to change the report.

The judges daughter was arrested on Oct. 16 after she allegedly swerved into a police construction detail on I-190 in Worcester.

MASS. STATE TROOPER CLAIMS HE WAS FORCED TO CHANGE DUI ARREST RECORD FOR JUDGES DAUGHTER

During her arrest, Bibaud allegedly said: My dads a [expletive] judge. Hes going to kill me, along with comments seemingly suggesting she would swap sexual favors for leniency.

Another trooper, Ali Rei, has also hired a lawyer and claimed she was also forced to edit the report. Rei said a police major pushed her to destroy a log entry.

They have impaired his reputation. People hear his name, isnt that guy who faked the report. Isnt that the guy who covered up for the judge? Lenny Kesten, an attorney, told FOX 25 Boston.

State police admitted the trooper was asked to alter the report and have defended the action, saying he included information that wasn't relevant to her arrest.

WOMAN WHO LIVED WITH SISTERS BODY ASKS TO DEMOLISH HOME

McKeon said in a letter to Public Safety Secretary Daniel Bennett on Friday that he often instructed subordinates "to focus the arrest report on information relevant to charges made against the individual."

McKeon said in his retirement announcement that the past few days were difficult for him and the police force.

We have always been highly scrutinized for how we perform our duties, as any police agency should be, and these last few days have been no exception. That public examination, while sometimes uncomfortable, comes with the great authority bestowed upon us, and we must always pay attention to how we are perceived by those whom we serve and protect, McKeon wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Five years before Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire on a Baptist church in Texas, killing more than two dozen people, the former Air Force airman faced a military jury after pleading guilty to choking his then-wife and cracking her son's skull. His sentence: 12 months confinement and a bad conduct discharge.

Kelly's light punishment from the panel of officers and enlisted service members wasn't unusual, despite the severity of his crime. Unlike their civilian counterparts, military judges and juries don't use sentencing guidelines. The result is often widely disparate sentences for the same or similar offenses.

Service members who sit on military juries typically lack any legal experience, yet are expected to determine adequate punishments for defendants based on wide parameters set by the judge. They may be told, for example, that their options range from no punishment at all to multiple years of confinement and anything in between.

"They have no idea what they're doing," said retired Col. Don Christensen, who served as the Air Force's chief prosecutor from 2010 to 2014 and also presided over 100 trials as a military judge. "So you have these head-scratchers." Christensen is president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group.

Questions and answers about key aspects of Kelley's court-martial and the military justice system:

___

Q: CAN PRETRIAL DEALS CUT PRISON TIME?

Yes. Christensen said the maximum prison sentence Kelley could have received was 30 months because of a pretrial agreement between him, his attorney and the Air Force general who oversaw his case.

Both the military and civilian court systems make use of plea deals before cases go to trial. Defendants are betting that by pleading guilty, they'll get a lesser sentence than they would from a judge or jury. But military judges are not allowed to review the sentencing portion of a pretrial agreement before issuing their own sentence. And the defendant always gets the lesser punishment of the two.

In civilian courts, by contrast, the judge is privy to any pretrial agreement and has the final say. A judge could decide the agreed-upon sentence is too lenient and decide to impose a tougher one.

The difference between a pretrial agreement sentence and a military judge's ruling can be dramatic. Army Staff Sgt. Casey West was sentenced in May by a judge to 56 years in prison for multiple counts of rape and sexual abuse of a child. But he won't be behind bars for nearly that long, because a pretrial agreement capped his confinement at 15 years.

West will do even less time if he is eventually paroled. In the military justice system, convicted service members can be released from prison after serving one-third of their terms. Parole was eliminated for federal civilian defendants convicted of crimes after 1987.

___

Q: DID THE JURY KNOW ABOUT KELLEY'S TROUBLED BACKGROUND?

No. When the military jury at Holloman Air Force Base sentenced Kelley in November 2012, they only knew he'd admitted to assaulting his wife and striking her child in the head.

They weren't aware he'd also hit the child on the body, and on multiple occasions pointed a loaded and unloaded firearm at his wife, according to Kelley's court-martial order. Kelley had pleaded not guilty to these other "specifications"  military parlance for an alleged criminal act  and they were withdrawn after he was arraigned.

The jury also likely didn't know Kelley was caught trying to bring guns onto Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico when he was stationed there, according to an El Paso, Texas, police report from June 2012. Or that he made death threats against superior officers, which also is mentioned in the police report.

All of this information and much more would have been available to federal civilian judges in the form of presentencing reports that they receive before deciding on a punishment.

___

Q: IS THERE MORE TO KNOW ABOUT KELLEY'S COURT-MARTIAL?

Yes. The Air Force has so far released only a handful of pages from Kelley's trial record. The service is planning to release more.

Typically, however, transparency in connection with military trial records is minimal. While all of the services make brief courts-martial results public, documents from the proceedings, such as the charges, courtroom transcripts and pretrial agreements, are available only through the federal open records law, the Freedom of Information Act. That's a potentially time-consuming process and there are no assurances the requested documents will be released.

Conversely, records from most federal court cases are available online through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, known as PACER. PACER was established in 1988. Congress last year directed the Pentagon to create a comparable repository by 2020.

"What baffles me is why this is treated like putting a man on the moon," Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School and is a practicing attorney, said of the military's failure to keep pace. "It's really one of the great mysteries to me."

___

Contact Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardner
The former wife of Devin Kelley, the man who opened fire at a Texas church last Sunday killing at least 26 people, said he had a lot of hatred inside him and threatened to kill her whole family.

Tessa Brennaman, 25, told Inside Edition that her first husband was abusive towards her and even threatened to shoot her after she received a speeding ticket.

"He just had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him," Brennaman told "Inside Edition. "He had a gun in his holster right here and he took that gun out and he put it to my temple and he told me, 'Do you want to die? Do you want to die?'"

The former couple divorced in 2012.

PARISHIONERS: GUNMAN ACTED ODDLY WEEK BEFORE CHURCH ATTACK

In 2013, Kelley pleaded guilty to choking Brennaman, pulling her hair and kicking her. He also pleaded guilty to hitting her young sons head and body, fracturing his skull.

The former Air Force airman was sentenced to 12 months of confinement and ultimately removed from the military with a bad-conduct discharge and a reduction of rank.

On Monday, the Air Force acknowledged it did not enter Kelley's criminal history into the federal database used to conduct background checks on citizens looking to purchase a firearm. Authorities recovered a Ruger AR-556 rifle at the church and two handguns from Kelley's vehicle. They said all three were purchased by Kelley.

TEXAS CHURCH GUNMANS PHONE RECOVERED, BUT ENCRYPTION PREVENTING ACCESS, FBI SAYS

After Kelley shot parishioners at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, he fled the scene in his truck while being chased by two good Samaritans. He was found dead in his car from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

It was not immediately clear what the motive of the shooting was. However, investigators have said Sunday's shooting appeared to stem from a domestic dispute involving Kelley and his mother-in-law, and that he had sent threatening messages to her. The mother-in-law sometimes attended services at the church but was not present on Sunday.

Officials said the church will be demolished and it will serve as a temporary memorial.

Eleven people remained hospitalized Friday with wounds from the shooting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
One man is making a 40-mile trek across Texas to deliver a massive cross to Sutherland Springs, where the deadliest shooting in the states history took place on Nov. 5.

Miguel Zamora, who started his journey from New Braunfels, told Fox 45 he was carrying the 150-pound cross to honor the victims of the shooting at First Baptist Church.

26 people were killed and 20 others were injured when gunman Devin Kelley ambushed the church on Sunday.

The cross that Zamora is carrying has an inscription reading, one nation under God and We love you, Sutherland Springs.

VETERANS DAY MARKED WITH PARADES, SOMBER CEREMONIES

His venture, which is being made solely on foot, is no easy feat, Fox 45 reported.

"Both my shoulders are bruised up, they hurt, my hands start falling asleep," Zamora said. "I gotta get it there. You know, for them."

Hes reportedly hoping his mission will encourage others to join him in honoring those affected by the tragedy.

"To show my love and show the love of God to the families. That's really my main message, just love one another," said Zamora.

CHURCH IN TEXAS MASSACRE WILL OPEN TO PUBLIC AS MEMORIAL

As he forges ahead, passersby have stopped their cars to offer him support and basic necessities, Fox 45 reported. One woman who saw what Zamora was doing said it was absolutely phenomenal.

Lupe Rodriquez, another person who drove past Zamora, said "I was on my way home and I saw Miguel and I thought I have to turn back to let him know what an inspiration he is to all of us."

And its exactly these actions and sentiments that are keeping Zamora going on his trip, Fox 45 said.

"When I need encouragement, people will stop like just now, he said. That's what keeps me going."
The family of a mentally ill woman who killed herself inside a Pennsylvania detention center in 2015 will receive $7 million after a lawsuit against the private company running the prison was settled, according to a lawyer handling the case.

The recent settlement capped a case that began with a descent into depression and paranoia in Janene Wallace's late twenties and eventually resulted in imprisonment, a nearly three-month stint in solitary confinement and finally, a death by hanging, family attorney David Inscho said.

At the time of her suicide, the George W. Hill Correctional Facility was run by private prison operator Community Education Centers but the company was recently acquired by another prison operator called The GEO Group. Pablo Paez, a representative for The GEO group, declined to comment on the litigation but said that "GEO was in no way involved with the management of the facility at the time of these allegations."

Wallace, 35, was first imprisoned at the suburban Philadelphia facility in 2013 after she left a series of threatening voicemails for a high school classmate that she thought was out to get her, according to Inscho. A psychiatrist there recommended she "is in absolute need of appropriate psychological testing and psychiatric care," according to a mental health evaluation provided by Inscho.

"She had no control over it," her mother Susanne Wallace said, adding that her daughter thought there was always someone following or stalking her.

After her release, Wallace traveled the country hounded by the familiar thought that someone was after her. She missed mandatory post-release meetings and was sent back to the Hill facility on a probation violation in 2015, Inscho said.

Wallace then refused to bathe, made irrational statements, rubbed menstrual blood on a shower wall and accused the guards of trying to hurt her, according to emails between officials at the facility that were provided by Inscho. She was placed in solitary confinement and a sign was put on her door that warned that she was "unstable" and instructed staffers to "use caution."

"What she needed was a mental health evaluation and mental health treatment. That never happened," Inscho said. "She was mentally ill. She needed help."

After more than 50 days in solitary, which included a guard telling her to "go ahead and choke yourself" following a threat from Wallace that Inscho said was made after a period of 85 hours of uninterrupted confinement, she hung herself from a vent with her bra.

David Byrne, warden of the Hill facility, did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment about Wallace's death. But, according to a transcript of a deposition provided by Inscho, he has admitted that something went wrong.

"There was a breakdown," Byrne said, according to the transcript. "We understand that."
A human-size wax figure of Adolf Hitler was removed from an Indonesian museum following backlash.

The De Mata Trick Eye Museum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, confirmed the figure of the leader of the Nazi party was removed due to outrage from human rights groups, Sky News reported.

"We don't want to attract outrage," Jamie Misbah, operations manager of the museum, told Sky News. "Our purpose to display the Hitler figure in the museum is to educate."

ADOLF HITLER KISSED BY AMERICAN WOMAN IN SHOCKING PHOTOS

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an anti-Semitism group, called for the figure to be removed.

"Everything about it is wrong. It's hard to find words for how contemptible it is," Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the center said.

"The background is disgusting. It mocks the victims who went in and never came out."

The Hitler wax figure has been a staple in the museum since 2014. Museum-goers were allowed to take pictures or selfies of themselves next to Hitler.

Behind the waxwork is a giant image of Auschwitz and the slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei"  work sets you free  that appears over the entrance to the concentration camp where millions of Jews and others were systematically killed during Germany's wartime occupation of much of Europe.

HITLER MAY HAVE COME CLOSE TO BUILDING ATOMIC BOM, GERMAN TREASURE HUNTER FINDS

"No visitors complained about it," the museums marketing officer told Sky News.

The Hitler waxwork was placed next to other wax figures of Darth Vader and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Earlier this year, a Nazi-style restaurant in Bandung, Indonesia, was closed following years of backlash and alleged death threats against the eaterys owner. The restaurants waiters wore SS uniforms and paintings of Hitler were hung on the walls.

Some historians have blamed Indonesias lack of education about what occurred during the Holocaust but Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono believed it showed how the worlds largest Muslim nation viewed Jewish people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are marking the 13th anniversary of the death of Fatah's founder and the Palestinian Authority leader for the first time since Hamas took over the territory.

Yasser Arafat died in 2004 at a hospital in France after two years of Israeli siege on his West Bank headquarters. Palestinians accuse Israel of poisoning him but offer no proof, adding to the mystery of the death.

The rally Saturday in an open park in Gaza City drew in people from all over the coastal enclave, waving flags, raising posters of Arafat and donning his landmark kaffiyeh. A smaller rally was held Thursday.

The commemoration comes amid improving relationships between Gaza's Hamas rulers and Fatah; a month after the two rivals signed a reconciliation deal in Egypt paving the way for ending Palestinian schism.
A drone strike in Somalia carried out by the United States military Friday has killed several" al-Shabaab militants.

The U.S. Africa Command said in a statement that the strike occurred in Lower Shabelle region, some 20 miles north of the countrys capital, Mogadishu.

This is the 23rd airstrike the U.S. military said it has carried out this year against the Al Qaeda-linked militant group and the far smaller Islamic State group in Somalia.

AMERICAN WOMAN, 25, WHO CALLED 93-YEAR-OLD AFRICAN DICTATOR A SICK MAN, RELEASED FROM PRISON ON BAIL

The Trump administration approved expanded military operations earlier this year against extremists in the Horn of Africa nation.

In March, President Trump signed a command allowing the military authorization to carry out airstrikes in Somalia against the militant group, ABC News reported.

Previously, the military was not allowed to conduct airstrikes against the jihadist group unless the African Union or U.S.-backed Somali government troops were being attacked.

IRAQI FORCES LAUNCH ANTI-ISIS OPERATION IN WESTERN ANBAR

The latest drone strike was carried out in coordination with Somalias government, the statement said.

Al-Shabaab has been blamed for the massive truck bombing in Mogadishu last month that killed more than 350 people. The deadly Oct. 14 attack signals the jihadist group was still prevalent in the African nation. It was Somalia's worst-ever attack and one of the world's deadliest in years.

Earlier this month, the U.S. carried out its first airstrike against ISIS fighters in Somalia, targeting a small but growing cell that emerged in the northern Puntland region just two years ago. Many of the fighters split off from al-Shabaab.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Some of the adults around Devon DiSanza may have been worried that his projectto gut a 1960s-era kitchen and rebuild it with gourmet featuresmight have been too much for an Eagle Scout project.

Especially when volunteers tore out the ceiling of the kitchen, of VFW Post 7728 in Morrisville in southern Fauquier County, and found live wires.

The wiring in here was a bag of worms, said Russ Claar, post commander. There were black marks from where they had shorted out. It could have burned the whole building down.

But 17-year-old DiSanza wasnt fazed.

After all, he graduated from high school at age 15 and already is halfway through college. As he works toward a career in neurology or neuroscience, hes learning everything he can about the hospital environment through volunteer groups.

He delivers flowers or kind words to patients at Mary Washington Hospital, works with the Spotsylvania Volunteer Rescue Squad as a first responder and has applied for grants for SurgiCaps4Kids, a nonprofit that provides free colorful caps for kids who need surgery.

Hes a very smart kid, said Kimberly Madison, rescue chief with the Spotsylvania Volunteer Rescue Squad. He did a lot of work with us in [an emergency medical technician] class. He would be there early and stay late, wanting to get all he could out of it.

And just to show that hes well-rounded, DiSanza has a black belt in tae kwon do and has represented the United States in national and international competitions.

So whats a few live wires for such a determined young man?

As DiSanza showed visitors the granite counter tops and solid wood cabinets in the redesigned kitchen, the stainless steel refrigerator with French doors and large griddle designed to please the resident Army cook, he couldnt help but smile.

To be honest, DiSanza said, I think it turned out better than I expected.

DiSanzas effort has been described as one of the largest Eagle Scout projects in the National Capital Area Council, Claar said.

He collected $21,270 in donations or materials from local individuals and businessesan amount that doesnt include labor. Most of the work was donated by fellow Scouts with Troop 130 and members of the post, but DiSanza also budgeted for professionals who expected to be paid.

The son of Cynthia and Ray DiSanza, the Boy Scout gained some experienceand confidencefrom helping his father on construction projects. One included renovating his grandfathers kitchen, and Devon DiSanza used leftover tiles to create some accents along the wall of the VFW kitchen.

The facility is used by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Scouts, two churches and community members who rent the building for parties, weddings or regular meetings. DiSanza wanted the kitchen to provide for all those needs, so he surveyed the various users.

Hes wanted to tear out the old, rusting metal cabinets that were more than 50 years old from the time he first set foot in the kitchen, after joining Boy Scout Troop 1930 six years ago.

They were not very sanitary and not appealing to the eye at all, he said about the cabinets, noting that the whole room was terrible.

As much as Claar wanted a new kitchen, he feared workers would uncover more and more problems, the deeper they got into the renovation.

In all honesty, I thought it was too big a project, he said. I was nervous it was a lot more than we bargained for.

When supplies, such as cabinets or countertops, were delayed, DiSanza revised his plans. When fellow Scouts and working professionals had too much on their plates to help at the building, he changed his timeline. And, when he got an unexpected donation of practically new stainless steel appliances from Merillat Industries in Culpeper, he and Claar agreed to redirect the money theyd put aside for the purchase into the two adjoining bathrooms.

Scouts extended the laminate flooring into the bathrooms and replaced vanities and toilets.

DiSanza isnt the first member of the Scout troop to earn an Eagle Scout project for work done at the VFW Post, where the troops meet weekly. Efforts by them and post members, headed by Claar, have brought new life to a facility that was charted in 1963 after members bought the land for $10 and put up a brick building for $17,000.

As its original members got older and died, the VFW almost closed about 10 years ago because of declining membership, Claar said.

Lighter colored paint over old paneling, new flooring and DiSanzas work in the kitchen have made vast improvements in what was a dark and dreary building. Rentals have increased since the new kitchen was finished in September, and VFW membership has grown to about 50 people, including those whove served in modern conflicts, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Weve come a long way, Claar said.

Hes looked forward to the annual Veterans Day dinner, to be held Saturday. Hes supposed to sit and be waited on, like the other veterans, but chances are, hell poke his head into the newly renovated kitchen and admire the deep sink, with its pull-down faucet, and the sliding barn door that separates the kitchen space from the outside entrance into the buildings basement.

Its better than any kitchen Ive ever had, Claar added.
Questions are swirling around two close elections in the Fredericksburg region that appear destined for recounts.

In a conference call Friday, House Democratic Caucus Executive Director Trent Armitage said that 55 military ballots delivered to the Stafford County registrars post office box on TuesdayElection Daywent uncounted because they were not picked up until Wednesday. Democrats said they had no way of knowing which candidates the 55 votes went for, but the ballots arrived on time and came from active-duty military personnel.

We find that to be absolutely ridiculous, Armitage said.

Stafford Supervisor Laura Sellers, a Democrat, lost her Garrisonville District seat to Republican Mark Dudenhefer by just 15 votes. And Republican Bob Thomas holds an 83-vote lead over Democrat Joshua Cole in the race for the 28th District House of Delegates seat representing parts of Fredericksburg and Stafford.

In a statement, the Virginia House Democrats specifically called on two members of Staffords Electoral Board, Republican Gloria Chittum and Democrat Marie Gozzi, to count the absentee ballots. Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, called the failure to do so disgraceful.

Stafford Registrar Greg Riddlemoser did not return a phone message or respond to an email request for comment on Friday, and no one answered the phone at the Stafford registrars office. County offices were closed for Veterans Day.

A message left at a number listed for Gozzi was not immediately returned Friday. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Chittum said she was not available and theres nothing to be said to you before hanging up the phone.

In a separate issue, Sellers said the county registrar is not releasing the names and addresses on provisional ballots cast there, an allegation at least being watched by ACLU Virginia.

We are concerned by the apparent refusal of the Registrar, allegedly with the support of the Local Electoral Board, to make available for review and copying the provisional ballot logs that each precinct is required to keep, ACLU Virginia said in an email statement to The Free LanceStar Friday.

Voters who show up to the polls without a valid ID can cast a provisional ballot. It will be counted only if the voter brings a copy of his or her ID to the electoral board before the vote is certified.

We believe that these are public documents under the states Freedom of Information Act, and that the Registrars decision not to make them available is wrong. Moreover, the Registrars failure to be forthcoming about this and other issues that voters have raised about the election and the vote count undercuts peoples faith in the integrity of the election itself, the ACLU statement continued.

Sellers said the reported uncounted military votes, combined with the provisional ballots, could tilt the election in her and Coles favor. Regardless, she plans to ask for a recount.

Thomas, the Republican who narrowly defeated Cole for the 28th District House seat, said he was not really privy to the details of the disqualified military ballots. But he said hed love to see them counted.

We obviously feel like if theyre 55 truly military ballots, they would probably break in our favor, Thomas said.

Mark Dudenhefer, the apparent winner of the Garrisonville seat on the Stafford board, called the complaints hypocritical.

"If the Democrats dont like the outcome, they want to change the rules retroactively," Dudenhefer said in the email. "Unlike them, I believe in obeying the law. The Registrar is obeying the law. I bet that if they were on the winning side of the numbers, they would fight against what they are trying to do."

The 28th District vote is drawing statewide attention because it is among three in which the official outcomes will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the House of Delegates. Democrats won 49 seats in the 100-member House Tuesday, but trail in the unofficial results for the 28th, 40th (Fairfax) and 94th (Newport News) districts.

Concern that some Fredericksburg voters received the wrong ballots Tuesday is also adding drama to the 28th District House contest.

The confusion stems from Fredericksburgs split polling places, where some voters received ballots listing 28th District candidates while others got ballots with the 88th District contenders instead.

Fredericksburg Registrar Marc Hoffman said his office received feedback on Election Day about issues involving the 88th and 28th districts, but he didnt elaborate. These concerns were forwarded to the [Virginia] Department of Elections, and Im continuing to work with them to assess the issue, he said Thursday.

The Virginia codes definition of the 28th and 88th districts appears to contradict boundary maps, raising questions about whether some Fredericksburg residents voted in the right House election. A spokesman for the Cole campaign said attorneys are reviewing the matter.

Were in this for the long haul, Cole campaign manager Eric Sundberg said. The people need a clear answer.

University of Mary Washington professor Stephen Farnsworth said the confusion speaks to the problems of gerrymandering.

The 28th District used to include all of Fredericksburg, until the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved new boundaries in 2011 that critics say were drawn for political reasons. Now Fredericksburg is split between the 28th and 88th districts.

By trying to draw district boundaries block by block, youre making a very difficult environment for election authorities around the state, Farnsworth said.
The presidents of Russia and the United States have declared their determination to defeat ISIS (aka ISIL, or Islamic State, a terrorist organization banned in Russia) in Syria.

"President Trump and President Putin today, meeting on the margins of the APEC conference in Danang, Vietnam, confirmed their determination to defeat ISIS in Syria," the two presidents said in a joint statement they adopted following a meeting in Vietnam.
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said that a draft resolution on the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to Donbas is almost finished.

"I talked with [U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine] Kurt [Volker] a few hours ago. We agreed on the basic parameters of our position. We almost finished the text of our draft resolution. These are the United States, Germany and France, and we also work with Britain. The main thing is that the entire territory is occupied. We know the basic elements of our position, and we have a plan on how to exert pressure further," he said on the Inter television channel.

Klimkin said that the timeframe for the peacekeeping mission had not yet been considered and that the number of peacekeepers would be discussed a little later.
Tenant farmers are being urged to seek additional income streams as they prepare their businesses for an uncertain future.

Diversified farm businesses  including those that collaborate with other farmers  are among those most likely to thrive as the UK leaves the European Union, delegates at the NFU Tenants Conference were told on Thursday (9 November).

Brexit will accelerate the rate of change within the sector quite dramatically, said Jeremy Moody, secretary of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers. He added that farmers will face a more commercial business environment.

See also: 6 key areas to consider when planning farm diversification

Future policy

Your businesses are what you control, Mr Moody told conference delegates at the Macdonald Kilhey Court Hotel, Wigan, Lancashire. Future policy is likely to focus on productivity, innovation and the environment. Farmers should focus on their competitiveness.

The critical question when we are looking at our farm business is: Do you want to be and can you be a commodity producer? If you can, all the traditional roads are there. If you cant or you dont want to be, it is the other ends you are looking at.

These farmers should seek a shelter from the bleak winds of commodity production, said Mr Moody. Rather than subjecting themselves to the pressures of low-cost production, they should consider specialising, locking into high-value supply chains or branding their products.

We are going to see much more differentiation in agricultural outputs.

This means a more flexible approach will be needed by both landlords and tenants. Rather than picking an off-the-peg agreement, both sides should spend a bit more time and money to ensure that any tenancy agreement meets their needs.

Productivity

NFU president Meurig Raymond said farmers could increase their productivity and efficiency after Brexit, provided the sector receives much-needed investment. This is best achieved by landlords and tenants working together.

Brexit is an opportunity to provide new funding to carry out improvements that help boost farm productivity. It is vital for landlords to realise the importance of continued investment on their tenanted holdings to enable their tenants to farm efficiently, said Mr Raymond.

The best way of achieving these standards is through modern buildings and equipment with the latest technologies. Such investments not only give better welfare standards but in turn result in more efficient farming and enhanced productivity.

Over 35% of farmland in England and Wales is farmed by tenants, said Mr Raymond. He added: It is crucial that we get a new domestic agricultural policy right to deliver these elements for productive, profitable and progressive farming.

The conference was also addressed by Patrick Begg, of the National Trust, which has a let farm estate extending to 180,000ha. It includes 700 equipped whole farm tenancies and about 1,000 bare land and grazing agreements.

Environment

Mr Begg said the trust was trialling a number of initiatives that could see farmers earn more money from undertaking environmental measures, while delivering high-quality niche products, rather than low-value commodities.

Trust tenants such as Neil Heseltine, who farms at Malham, in the Yorkshire Dales, improved returns by reducing sheep numbers by 70% and moving towards a less extensive livestock system based on extensive beef cattle.

Farmers should think hard about what would best deliver business success, said Mr Begg. Neil realised that flogging himself to death producing volume livestock in a really harsh environment where he was at the margin of being able to pay the bills didnt feel particularly persuasive.

Instead, Mr Heseltine re-introduced Belted Galloway cattle as part of a conservation grazing scheme. This helped to support the upland ecosystem by keeping down scrub, while making space for native species to thrive, including moor grass and wild thyme.

This is not a model for everyone but it is an example of how we can do this, said Mr Begg.

Neil has won time back, he has diversified his income and his margins on those cattle are significantly up. He is managing to make them pay and he is in a premium market, while dropping his cost base way down.
Fall season is about in Albany. Leaves are turning; the air is getting crisper. September marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar, commonly known as the Hijri calendar. The excitement of a new year has come intertwined with the unique beauty of autumn.

New Years celebrations among the Muslim community are somewhat unique in that there is ample emphasis on prayer, some families observe fasting during the first 10 days of the year with additional observances of rituals on the 9th and 10th of Muharram (the first month of the Hijri calendar).

Being part of a vibrant college town and working as an administrator at an institution of higher learning prompts its own set of reflections during this time. What values am I modeling, what values am I teaching? Is my work effective enough? Am I cultivating the kind of community that would nurture not just mine, but all future generations?

It is with these thoughts that I started working with colleagues and community members on developing a local chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom  an interfaith effort to bring women from two Abrahamic traditions together in solidarity.

The opportunity is actually a gift  one that was not available to many when we were growing up because the walls of religious differences were too high to breech. My native Pakistan has a 95 percent Muslim majority. Such strength in numbers meant growing up with a sense of privilege and entitlement that permitted us to live a life almost completely oblivious of the remaining 5 percent.

My mind raises many questions around that. How and when did we decide that our differences are so enormous that we do not "need" each other? I can only be grateful that being part of an immigrant community has opened up new avenues for finding similarities where differences have always ruled and conquered.

The motivation to pursue love, connection and sisterhood is everywhere. News article after news article illustrates how divided our nation is. Racial tensions are at their worst. We are regressing as a species; becoming less kind, hurtful and oblivious to the well-being of our young.

I feel compelled to do my part in ending that pattern. My skin color, my accent, my identity as an immigrant and most frequently my faith has often prompted a response that at times feels soul-crushing. However, this is the time to be resilient. This is exactly the kind of environment where community building needs to go beyond the "known" and "familiar." Politics has divided us all; I am hoping faith can bridge that gulf.

My new years resolution is simple. May we embrace change, may our hearts be guided towards forgiveness and coexistence but above all: May we leave the kind of legacy our children are proud of inheriting.

My family belongs to a thriving community of Muslims at the Corvallis Mosque. I often notice women from other faiths sitting behind rows of worshipers, just observing us in silence. I want to take that same reverence to another community of faith and build a connection with them that is careful, intentional and informed.

Our first meeting occurred this week. About 10 women, representing both faith groups, gathered and discussed how best to be in community. Learning from the rich histories and traditions coming from each faith group, we hope to expand this effort. Perhaps this would be the beginning of other new alliances and connections. No better way to start the new year but with hope.
LOWELL  During his more than 21 years in the U.S. Air Force, Jerry Bjornstad served in some of the most politically sensitive locales in the world.

But due to the nature of his job, the northwest Iowa native, who worked his way up the ranks to become a lieutenant colonel, still cant talk openly about his missions.

Bjornstad, who now owns a bed and breakfast on the banks of Dexter Reservoir east of Eugene, said he was overwhelmed to be named one of the 2017 Distinguished Veterans.

I cried, Bjornstad said. I was truly blown away and humbled. I really couldnt comprehend it.

He and others were honored Friday night at the Veteran of the Year Banquet.

Bjornstad grew up in the farming community of Spencer, Iowa. His father operated the family pharmacy and like his friends, Jerry grew up attending the annual Clay County Fair, one of the largest in the entire country.

After graduating from high school in 1968, Bjornstad enrolled at the University of Iowa and was headed toward a degree in geology when he drew a low number in the military draft. The Vietnam War was in full swing and his brother Bernie was already serving overseas.

But I got a letter in the mail saying that I could join ROTC, get my degree and then serve in the Air Force, Bjornstad said. I switched my major to general sciences and graduated in 1973.

He was commissioned as a maintenance officer and began his duties working on the famed SR-71 Blackbird, which had a top speed of more than 2,200 miles per hour.

Thus began a career working with some of the most top-secret airplanes in the world.

So many everyday items came out of that program, Bjornstad said. Titanium was used extensively and Teflon was used to cool its fuel. It carried a very sophisticated astro navigation system, the predecessor to todays GPS units.

Bjornstad served on active duty until 1976 and then was attached to the Iowa Air National Guard before going back to active duty based in England.

During that time he met his future wife, Judy, in Sioux City, Iowa. She had a 4-year-old son, Ian, and Bjornstad soon became a family man.

The Air Force had drawn its numbers down too far after Vietnam and were recruiting pilots, engineers and doctors, Bjornstad said. I wasnt any of those, but they took me back in.

His first assignment was in England, where he worked on highly classified missions.

He took care of RC135s, the EC135s, KC135s and SR71s and C130 cargo planes.

There was a lot going on that that time, Bjornstad said. We were in the Cold War and things were exploding in Iran.

Bjornstad was then assigned to a Strategic Air Command unit based in Athens, Greece, doing airborne reconnaissance. He was there in 1981 when Gen. James Dozier was taken hostage by members of the Italian Red Brigade and held for 42 days.

We put an RC135 in the air and triangulated their position in the days when there were no cellphones, Bjornstad said. We didnt get it exactly, but we were darn close, within 10 feet, and we got him out.

In the 1980s, Bjornstad worked with worldwide strategic reconnaissance and was chosen to work on the predecessor to the current space plane.

He also spent time attached to the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan during the Afghan-Soviet war and said he was honored to meet many Afghan refugees.

During this time, his family of three added two new members  adopted daughter Megan, now 31, and son, Gunnar, now 30.

Another of Bjornstads adventures was working for 3  years on the Looking Glass Project  the airborne nuclear command post  out of the SAC base near Omaha, Nebraska.

We had planes in the air 24/7 and we spent 8 hours per shift playing thermonuclear war, Bjornstad said. We worked with some very sophisticated equipment.

Bjornstad said a highlight of his career was being stationed at the Joint Special Operations Command at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, as the director of air logistics, where he worked with special forces from each of the military branches.

We worked with the Deltas, the SEAL Teams, Bjornstad said. It was one of the most amazing times in my life. These people are highly motivated and extremely intelligent.

As director of logistics, Bjornsgtad developed the procedures to get men and equipment to the places in the world they needed to be.

In 1991, Bjornstad was deployed during the first Gulf War in Northern Saudi Arabia. He was a major, but was promoted to lieutenant colonel after his deployment.

We were so far north in country that it was hard to get things to us, Bjornstad said. Thats when I got to know Prince Abdullah, who became King Abdullah, because he was our host. He provided security for me to leave the base and get supplies.

From 1993-95 Bjornstad was stationed at the embassy in Cairo where he worked with Egyptian aviation forces.

In 1997, he was transferred to the embassy in Muskat, Oman, where he was commander of executive coordinating agency, which stored and deployed materials when and where needed primarily in the middle east.

Bjornstad retired in 1997 and returned to Nebraska.

After the 9/11 attack on the United States, Bjornstad decided he had expertise to offer his country and took a job setting up federal security systems at airports in every state except Hawaii.

I started off by evaluating people and became director of operations in the field, Bjornstad said.

After completing that contract, he took a job as director of Iraqi operations for a Middle Eastern company based in Baghdad supporting Iraqi, American and British forces.

But it was a return trip to the USA in 2003 to attend his daughters high school graduation that saved his life. Three engineers with whom he worked and who lived in the same villa as he did were kidnapped by insurgents and beheaded.

I decided I wasnt going back, Bjornstad said.

In 2004, he was offered a position in Muskat, Oman, with DynCorp International. That job lasted eight years.

He retired in 2011 and a year later, he and Judy moved to Oregon. She died in May.

Today, Bjornstad shares his large bed and breakfast complex with Dugan, a fluffy white 100-pound Great Pyrenese dog.

Bjornstad has also become involved in numerous community functions and has served on the school districts budget committee, is a member of the Grange, was a parks commissioner, city budget committee member and economic development committee member.

Although his military adventures remain guarded, Bjornstads home is filled with family heirlooms and furniture he and Judy picked up during their travels around the world.

Bjornstad has also turned a former RV garage into a man cave complete with pool table and big screen TV. A loft also holds mementoes of his military career, including newspaper clippings about his comrades who were captured and killed.
The National Reform Council under the President of Ukraine has supported a bill on the reform of the diplomatic service, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

"The National Reform Council supported a bill on the reform of the diplomatic service. Thank you all for your support!" he wrote on Twitter on Friday, November 10.

He also expressed hope that the bill would be adopted before December 22.

"I hope that people's deputies will also support and adopt the law ahead of the 100th anniversary of the diplomatic service, which we mark on December 22," Klimkin added.

As reported, on November 10, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the consideration by the National Reform Council of the law on the diplomatic service "to protect the army of Ukrainian diplomats."
March 9, 1951  September 25, 2017

Sandra Sandy Wilson was born March 9, 1951 to Gloria and James Noon in Ventura, California, where she grew up an adventurous girl with a curious soul. Sandys sense of adventure never diminished.

She was a travel agent for several decades and traveled the world.

Sandy was generous and loving, ready to help fix any problem and give encouragement.

During an adventure with her best friend, Linda to visit ghost towns, her adventure came to an end when Sandy passed away in Tucson, Arizona.

She was a good daughter, a loving mother, sister and grandmother.

Sandy is survived by her three grandchildren, Jacob, Jaeden and Ruth Allen; siblings Pam and Jim; partner Tom Jette; and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brother James Noon; and her only child, Nathan Allen.

A celebration of Sandys life will be held at 10 a.m. on November 13 at the American Legion in Lebanon.
Scouts donate items to charity

The members of local Daisy Girl Scout Troop No. 24781 recently donated a number of items to charity.

The girls donated 12 duffel bags full of new items for foster children; 71 boxes of cookies to the military; and 100 books for children who have to wait for treatment in the emergency room. Troop members are Abby Davis, Candi Settles, Cate Tilton, Elizabeth Iturra, Hailey Miller, Kaiya Lutes, Kayla Vanderford, Madelyn Tilton, Madylynn Iturra, Maya Sailor, Payton Binek, Sahalie Kriz and Samantha Bausch. Their leader is Amanda Miller.

Local students earn scholarships

Last May, Comcast NBCUniversal announced $79,000 in scholarships for the 2017-18 school year to 61 Oregon and Southwest Washington students as part of its annual Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program.

Local recipients are Jane Cale of Albany, West Albany High School; Arianna Gonzalez-Cas of Albany, South Albany High School; David So of Corvallis, Crescent Valley High School; Brooklyn Giles of Lebanon, Lebanon High School; Christopher McMorran of Philomath, Philomath High School; Mikayla Manzi of Corvallis, Santiam Christian High School; Bradley Stein of Corvallis, Corvallis High School; and Gracie Olson of Sweet Home, Sweet Home High School.

The program, funded by the Comcast Foundation, awards a $1,000 scholarship to high school seniors for their community service, academic performance and leadership skills. Since 2001, more than $25 million has been awarded to nearly 25,000 high school seniors across the country as part of the Leaders and Achievers Program.

Corvallis resident receives scholarship

The Oregon Seed Associations Scholarship Committee recognized six young men and women as recipients of the OSA/Oregon State University Scholarship Award during its midwinter meeting held last Jan. 10 in Salem.

Nick Carleson of Corvallis received a scholarship award. Carleson is in the BioResource Research program at the Honors College at OSU. His thesis focuses on plant-parasitic microbiomes. He has worked on the seed gall nematode, a pest seen in orchard grass and bent grass.

The OSA/OSU Scholarship award was established to assist those in need seeking higher education within the College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU. The OSU Crop and Soil Science scholarship committee coordinates nominations of qualified recipients.

Linn students win scholarships

Oregon State Credit Union awarded $2,000 Tomorrows Leaders Today college scholarships to two Linn County high school students as part of the 10 annual high school senior awards by the credit union.

West Albany High Schools Mariah Paul-Bryant and Central Linn High Schools Natalie Dumble were recognized by the scholarship program, which honors overall excellence within the credit unions 4,400 teen members. Paul-Bryant is dual-enrolled at Linn-Benton Community College and Oregon State University this fall, while Dumble is enrolled at Oregon Institute of Technology.

Over the last 19 years, 191 students have received more than $200,000 in assistance toward their college educations through the program. All applicants are from the credit unions 24-county field of membership and are attending an in-state college or university this fall.

Corvallis resident receives grant

Emma Runyon of Corvallis recently was awarded a Study Abroad Grant worth $1,000 from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nations oldest collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Runyon is one of 50 students nationwide to receive the award. Currently a sophomore majoring in environmental science at Western Washington University, Runyon will use the grant to study abroad in Guanajuato, Mexico.

The selection process for a study-abroad grant is based on the applicants academic achievement, campus and community service, relation of travel to academic preparation and career goals, a personal statement, letters of recommendation, and acceptance into a study-abroad program.

Local students win scholarships

The Associated Oregon Loggers Scholarship Committee awarded scholarships last May 12.

The committee awarded a $1,500 scholarship to Anna Rose Petersen and to Anna Collins, both of Philomath, and to Ian Wilson of Corvallis. All awardees are attending Oregon State University, and their studies are in the field of forestry or a forest resource production curriculum.

PHS alum named to deans list

Eric Isaacs of Philomath was named to the Michigan Technological University spring semester deans list.

Isaacs, son of Frank Isaacs, is an alumnus of Philomath High School. He is majoring in forestry, and earned a 4.00 grade-point average.
William "Bud" Stutheit never planned on being nominated as one of Linn County's Distinguished Veterans for 2017. Originally, he didn't want to be a veteran at all.

The Albany man, now 85, wasn't crazy about the idea of being drafted for the Korean War and tried to join the National Guard instead. A failed physical put him right back in draft territory, however, and he served two years in the Army, 1953-1955.

The experience led him to a lifetime of veteran service, however, from more than 60 years of membership in the American Legion to a decade's worth of driving veterans to the VA Hospital in Portland.

"I just like this bunch of people," he said with a smile. "They're still a great bunch of people."

Stutheit got half his wish: He didn't have to serve in Korea. Instead, the Army trained him as a mechanic, to work on the so-called "deuce and a half" trucks, the type with an automatic transmission.

Then he was sent to serve in France  where the vehicle transmissions were manual. So they made him a diesel mechanic. "On-the-job training," he said wryly.

The overseas experience was an eye-opener for a boy born in a sod house in Leoti, Kansas, during the Dust Bowl days and who moved to Homedale, Idaho, at the age of 6.

"From a farmboy to halfway around the world  I don't know, it was something to get used to," he said.

After his discharge, Stutheit went back to Idaho for a year and then, following a sister, moved to Albany. That was another shocker.

"I'll never forget when I came to this part of the country. It rained for 30 days straight," he said. "I thought, how in the hell can anybody stand that rain?"

Then, he said, he returned to Idaho for a summer. It was 105 degrees.

"I figured real quick how you could learn to like that rain," he said.

In Albany, Stutheit worked first for Wah Chang and then as a stock retrofitter for Stone Forest for 34 years.

He quickly became a strong supporter of American Legion Post 10. He served seven years on the House Committee and spent 10 years handling the 50-50 raffle at the Willamette Racetrack to raise money for the Legion. He has spent the last three years as the Post 10 service officer.

Stutheit also has served as District 3 Sergeant-at-Arms, assisted Past Commander Jim Willis and is a member of the 40 & 8, the honorary society of the Legion. And he still sets up bingo at Post 10 every Sunday.

Other community service duties also filled his time, such as volunteering at Santiam rest stops for more than 20 years.

His wife, Flora, died in 1989. He has a son, Fred; three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

Stutheit was nominated by American Legion Post 10 Commander Steve Adams to be among this year's Distinguished Veterans.

It isn't the first time Stutheit has been so honored  he thinks he may have been Veteran of the Year perhaps three times now  but he always finds it a surprise.

"They ought to give it to someone more deserving than me," he said.

Stutheit was honored Friday night at the Veteran of the Year Banquet, held at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center.
LACOMB  Had the United States had not dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, Howard Gabels military experience would have been far different.

He and thousands of other trained soldiers and sailors were headed to invade Japan in what surely would have been among the most hazardous theaters of the entire war. Instead, with the war over, a single high school typing class landed him what he called a nearly perfect job in the Army: typing discharge papers for military men and women headed home.

Gabel was honored Friday night at the Veteran of the Year Banquet, part of the festivities surrounding Saturday's Veterans Day parade in Albany.

His WWII adventure began in 1944, when he graduated from high school. The North Dakota farm boy was just 17, two months shy of his 18th birthday.

I was going to get drafted, but dad asked that I be deferred to help with the fall harvest, Gabel said. I helped him and he was helping my grandfather who was in bad health. In February 1945, I headed to Camp Snelling in Minneapolis for induction.

After basic training in Missouri and Arkansas, Gabel was transferred to Camp Adair near Corvallis to prepare for what he thought would be a trip to Japan.

We got brand new guns. We unwrapped them and cleaned the cosmoline off them, he said.

Although he only spent about two weeks at Camp Adair, Gabel was impressed.

It was very nice and it was a big town, he said. It had such nice streets, churches, service clubs and a big PX.

Instead of going to Japan, however, Gabel joined the thousands of soldiers kept on ships at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, while the government decided what to do with them after the war. First, he was sent to Enewetak in the Marshall Islands, which he called very hot, and then to Leyte in the Philippines, which he called miserable.

There were so many troops there waiting that the cooks couldnt keep up, he said. The potatoes werent cooked and there were flies in the gravy. I often bought coconuts and bananas from the natives instead.

Gabel ended up on Cebu in the Philippines. Like thousands of other soldiers, he was quarantined.

I was bored and when they asked if anyone knew how to type, I volunteered, even though we were warned to never volunteer, he said.

He soon became the commanders personal driver in a Jeep called Barney and then started to type up orders for his fellow soldiers.

It was very good duty, Gabel said. There was a point system as to how guys would muster out. You got points for being married and for how long you had served.

Cebu had been heavily damaged during the war, and one of Gabel's jobs was to help disburse payments to contractors rebuilding the island. I would go with someone to the bank carrying a .45 and we would let in four contractors at a time, he said.

Gabel spent some time in Manila before his July 1946 discharge at Fort Lewis, Washington.

I was used to hot weather and when we got into San Francisco, it was foggy and very cold, he said. I didnt have any warm clothes.

Gabel returned to the family farm in North Dakota, but it took only one extremely cold winter to convince him to return to Oregon. So in 1947, the family came west to find a new farm.

I told dad how nice it was and we spent about a week in the Albany area looking for ground, Gabel said. He bought a small place about five miles down the road and then traded it for 160 acres.

In 1948, Gabel went back to North Dakota to marry Lois, whom he had known for many years  their mothers had gone to school together.

My mother said we couldnt get married in Oregon, Lois explained. She said if he wanted to marry me, he had to come back to North Dakota.

The couple made their home in the Lacomb-Lebanon area and raised four children.

Gabel worked at the former Cascade Plywood plant for 40 years and then spent 11 years as an electrician, retiring at Norpac in Stayton in 1998.

The Gabels were active in numerous civic groups. Howard has been a member of American Legion Post 51 in Lebanon for 62 years and has served in numerous capacities, including 20 years as a member of the Honor Guard and as chaplain. He also served as chaplain for the 40 & 8 veterans organization, and spent time with the Lacomb School Board and the Lacomb Irrigation District.

He and his wife volunteered at the Lebanon Soup Kitchen, and the American Legion breakfasts and prime rib dinner events. They put out flags on Memorial Day and were active members of the Lacomb Grange. The couple also participated in the SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) program, reading books to elementary students.

The couple enjoyed the Old Time Fiddlers group and spent several years volunteering as timers at the annual state contest.

Gabel was previously honored as Veteran of the Year by the 40 & 8 organization in 2007.
St Martins parade in Bonn : Shining lanterns everywhere

Bonn Thousands of participants make the St Martins parade in Bonn one of the largest in the Rhineland. Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan announced in English: St. Martin is the man who is riding the horse."

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Thousands of participants make the St Martins parade in Bonn one of the largest in the Rhineland. Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan announced in English: St. Martin is the man who is riding the horse." A colourful sea of light illuminated the city centre of Bonn, when 1,700 children and their parents joined the large St Martins parade and walked from Munsterplatz to the old City Hall. About 3,000 people came to see this parade, which is one of the largest in the Rhineland, with eleven groups on foot and seven music ensembles.

Amongst the many colourful lanterns, most of them with LED lights rather than candles, were some taking the form of the popular German childrens tv personalities Maus and Elefant and others taking the form of many movie stars. There were many Minions as well as unicorns, animals of all kinds and you could also spot milk cartons, tins, cans and balloons turned into lanterns, all handmade by the children, maybe with the help of their parents or kindergarten or school teachers. The shine in the kids eyes was also visible.

Once we are past the City Hall, it will get really interesting, said eight-year-old Paul, who wouldnt disclose where he would go with his friends for the traditional Schnorzen, a singing tradition to get sweets. I wont say, so there wont be many other kids there was his explanation, which made his dad Jens laugh. Equally happy was the group around COP23 participant Marianna Daza from La Paz in Bolivia. They experienced a St Martins parade for the first time and were fascinated by the happy interaction of children and adults.

After the heated discussion during the summer, if the parade can happen during the UN World Climate Conference, the decision was made to choose a route through the pedestrian zone, which municipal police officer Harald Brandt jokingly commented on: I am actually not even needed here today. The Bonn cathedral wasnt present with the chiming of bells but as a miniature model, carried by the altar boys and girls. The students of the Emilie-Heyermann-Realschule brought geese - not real ones, stuffed toy animals.

At the Sterntor, Martin Heide played the role of Saint Martin and shared his long red coat with the beggar (Klaus Lang). When the parade arrived at the bonfire in front of the old City Hall, Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan and City Dean Monsignore Wilfried Schumacher greeted the participants together with the City Council officials. He also welcomed the international guests and said: St. Martin is the man who is riding the horse. He was visibly delighted to be showing COP23 participants a very special example of German traditions. Among great applause, the girls and boys of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasiums were announced as winners of this years lantern competition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed the importance of the de-escalation areas in Syria as an essential precondition of a political settlement in this country in a joint statement they adopted on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Vietnam.

"President Trump and President Putin confirmed the importance of de-escalation areas as an interim step to reduce violence in Syria, enforce ceasefire agreements, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and set the conditions for the ultimate political solution to the conflict," the statement says.

The presidents "reviewed progress on the ceasefire in southwest Syria that was finalized the last time the two presidents met in Hamburg, Germany on July 7, 2017," the document says.

Putin and Trump also welcomed the Memorandum of Principles concluded in Jordan on November 8, 2017.

"This Memorandum reinforces the success of the ceasefire initiative, to include the reduction, and ultimate elimination of foreign forces and foreign fighters from the area to ensure a more sustainable peace," the statement says.

"Monitoring this ceasefire arrangement will continue to take place through the Amman Monitoring Center, with participation by expert teams from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Russian Federation, and the United States," it says.

"The two presidents discussed the ongoing need to reduce human suffering in Syria and called on all UN member states to increase their contributions to address these humanitarian needs over the coming months," the statement says.
felicilin at 10-11-2017 03:39 PM (5 years ago) (f)

There are reports coming out from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) on Thursday that the man who informed the commission about the $43m, N23.2m and 27,800 (N13bn) recovered from an Ikoyi apartment in April, may be given about N325m in the light of the Federal Governments whistle-blower policy.

There are reports coming out from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) on Thursday that the man who informed the commission about the $43m, N23.2m and 27,800 (N13bn) recovered from an Ikoyi apartment in April, may be given about N325m in the light of the Federal Governments whistle-blower policy.

The whistle-blower policy states that any whistle-blower whose information leads to the recovery of over N5bn will attract a 2.5 per cent reward.



The acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who did not disclose how much would be given to the whistle-blower, said the commission was already counselling him on how to spend the money.



Magu, while speaking at the ongoing 7th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption holding in Vienna, Austria, said the whistle-blower was a man who had never seen N1m in his life.



He, therefore, called on Nigerians who want a positive change in the country to take advantage of the whistle-blower policy.



The EFCC boss said aside from contributing to the eradication of corruption, potential whistle-blowers would also benefit from the illicit acquisition by the looters.



Magu said, The whistle-blower policy states that any whistle-blower whose information leads to the recovery of over N5bn will attract a 2.5 per cent reward.The acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who did not disclose how much would be given to the whistle-blower, said the commission was already counselling him on how to spend the money.Magu, while speaking at the ongoing 7th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption holding in Vienna, Austria, said the whistle-blower was a man who hadHe, therefore, called on Nigerians who want a positive change in the country to take advantage of the whistle-blower policy.The EFCC boss said aside from contributing to the eradication of corruption, potential whistle-blowers would also benefit from the illicit acquisition by the looters.Magu said, Quote We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who had not seen N1m of his own before. So, he is under counselling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication. We dont want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride.



So we encourage more whistle-blowers to come forward with genuine information that will lead to recoveries from looters of public treasuries. That is part of the ways we can put an end to the looting madness in the public sector.



When they know that they have no place to keep the loot, as all eyes are on them, they will find looting of public treasuries unattractive.



A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos and presided by Justice Muslim Hassan had on June 7, 2017 ordered the final forfeiture of the total sum of $43,449,947, 27,800 and N23,218, 000 to the Federal Government which means all legal hurdles have been crossed.



The money, which belongs to the National Intelligence Agency, has since been deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria. A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos and presided by Justice Muslim Hassan had on June 7, 2017 ordered the final forfeiture of the total sum of $43,449,947, 27,800 and N23,218, 000 to the Federal Government which means all legal hurdles have been crossed.The money, which belongs to the National Intelligence Agency, has since been deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Post Reply Posted: at 10-11-2017 03:39 PM (5 years ago) | Hero
kacylee at 11-11-2017 08:31 AM (5 years ago) (f)

Five persons including a 2-year-old Nigerian boy drowned on the Central Mediterranean Sea on Monday morning, November 6.

Five persons including a 2-year-old Nigerian boy drowned on the Central Mediterranean Sea on Monday morning, November 6.

The childs 26-year-old mother woman (pictured) was saved from drowning but he died before her eyes.



According to the Sea-Watch, a German Non-profit organization, that conducted the rescue operation, the tragic incident was caused by the violent and reckless behavior of Libyan Coast Guards.



At approx. 7 am, the crew aboard Sea-Watch 3 received a call of Rome MRCC. North of Tripoli a sinking inflatable boat in international waters had sent a distress call.



The Sea-Watch 3 crew arrived on location at about the same time as a Libyan Coast Guard patrol boat and started boarding of people in distress, the statement reads.



The Libyan Coast Guard approached the boat as well and took over people from aboard the boat, however beating and threatening them. Onboard panic started and a numerous refugees fell overboard. The Libyan ship took off with inappropriate speed while people were still latching onto the side, being dragged by their vessel.



After Sea-Watch had already repeadtedly alarmed the Libyans about their life-threatening practice, an Italian Navy helicopter had to intervene, briefly stopping the Libyan ship, to prevent further deadly maneuvering. At least 5 people were killed in the boats sinking, among them a child whom the medical crew onboard Sea-Watch 3 was not able to reanimate.



Probably, nobody would have had to die today if only we had the possibility to operate reasonably in a calm environment. Instead of coordinating the rescue operation with the vessels present such as a ship of the French Navy, the Libyans tried to take as many people as possible back to Libya  and accepted the loss of several lives, says head of mission Johannes Bayer.



These deaths have to be blamed on the Libyan Coast Guards who have obstructed a safe rescue with their brutal behavior. The responsability is on the side of the European Union, however, who trains and finances these militias. They act in the EUs will.



The European governments finally have to draw conclusions from this incident and stop the collaboration with the Libyan Coast Guards. The EU has to stop to rate migration control higher than human rights!



Libyan Coast Guards have clearly breached international law by bringing an unknown number of people onboard their vessel, probably with the goal to take them back to Libya.



We were at high seas, outside of libyan territorial waters, about 30 nm north of Tripoli  even outside of the consecutive zone. There, the Libyans have no sovereign rights whatsoever, says Sea-Watch captain Pia Klemp.





The childs 26-year-old mother woman (pictured) was saved from drowning but he died before her eyes.According to the Sea-Watch, a German Non-profit organization, that conducted the rescue operation, the tragic incident was caused by the violent and reckless behavior of Libyan Coast Guards.the statement reads.The Libyan Coast Guard approached the boat as well and took over people from aboard the boat, however beating and threatening them. Onboard panic started and a numerous refugees fell overboard. The Libyan ship took off with inappropriate speed while people were still latching onto the side, being dragged by their vessel.After Sea-Watch had already repeadtedly alarmed the Libyans about their life-threatening practice, an Italian Navy helicopter had to intervene, briefly stopping the Libyan ship, to prevent further deadly maneuvering. At least 5 people were killed in the boats sinking, among them a child whom the medical crew onboard Sea-Watch 3 was not able to reanimate.Libyan Coast Guards have clearly breached international law by bringing an unknown number of people onboard their vessel, probably with the goal to take them back to Libya., says Sea-Watch captain Pia Klemp.

Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 11-11-2017 08:31 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Illegal armed groups have violated the ceasefire in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas 33 times over the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian servicemen reported as wounded, the press center of the ATO headquarters has reported on Facebook.

According to the report, militants used mortars of different calibers during the attacks on Ukrainian positions. The ATO forces returned fire 24 times.

In particular, militants opened fire twice from 82mm mortars and grenade launchers on the defenders of Avdiyivka, and they also fired twice from machine guns at Ukrainian positions near the village of Zaitseve.

In the Luhansk sector, militants used mortars to fire at Ukrainian strongholds near the village of Katerynivka, Popasna district, and the Donets railway station, In addition, they fired from infantry weapons near the village of Stanytsia Luhanska.

In the Mariupol sector, the enemy used 120mm mortars near Pavlopil and Vodiane in the second half of the day. Ukrainian fighters fired back. One Ukrainian serviceman was wounded in the fighting.
At 11 oclock in the morning on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, The Great War  the war that later, sadly, would become known as the First World War  came to an end when Germany ceased hostilities against its American, British and French adversaries, followed by the June signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

It had been a long, bloody conflict, kicked off four years before in Sarajevo, Serbia, when a Serb nationalist assassinated Crown Prince Ferdinand of the Austrian empire. With the familial and political ties between the various powers of Europe, war soon began. From Africa to the Middle East and Asia, battles between the great powers were fought; in Moscow, the 400-year-old Romanov dynasty fell, in part because of its disastrous involvement in the conflict. The war only creaked to an end when the United States entered on the side of Great Britain and France.

The next November, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as Armistice Day, in commemoration of the end of The Great War. Nineteen years later, in 1938 and on the eve of yet another bloody global conflict, Congress declared Armistice Day an official federal holiday.

In 1954, after World War II and the Korean War, Congress and President Dwight Eisenhower approved changing the holidays name to Veterans Day, in honor of all American troops who have answered their nations call to arms to protect the nation and democracy.

The men  and later, women  who have worn the uniform of their nation are a special group of people. Whether drafted in times of conflict or volunteering in times of peace and prosperity, they show the world the power of an idea, the power of the dream America stands for: democracy and the equality of all people under the law.

To some folks, that may sound corny and trite. To others, it may sound sappy and ring just a bit hollow, given how often America has fallen short of its potential.

But ask a veteran of WWII how it felt when American troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald in April 1945 or when the flag was raised on Mount Suribachi in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Ask a veteran of the first Gulf War about the outpouring of gratitude from Kuwaitis when America liberated their country from the grip of Saddam Hussein.

As much as America claims to honor its veterans, we have a poor way of showing it sometimes. Look at the reception vets returning from Vietnam received in the 1960s; look at the underfunded Veterans Administration health care system; look at the poor pay the average serviceman receives. We may make films of medal-winning heroes of long-ago battles, but are we doing all we can do to keep todays volunteer warriors from having to go to war in the first place?

Veterans Day is a day to honor those who have served, but as we salute those who have worn the uniform, we need to ask ourselves one question: Are we truly worthy of these great men and women, especially this Veterans Day 2017?
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), a London-based organization jointly owned by its employees and the United Kingdom government, is now working with 30 U.S. cities, helping them create subtle influence programs with goals such as encouraging more minority candidates to apply to police departments or pushing eligible homeowners to use mortgage-related tax exemptions.

BIT is doing this work largely through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities program, which offers financing and expertise to help local governments overcome obstacles and improve quality of life for residents. With support from What Works Cities, there are now 60 BIT programs under way in the U.S., and at the recent Summit on Data-Smart Government at Harvard University, an adviser from the organization detailed the philosophy that guides the work as well as the impact it can have for participating jurisdictions.

Lindsay Moore, speaking on a panel during the summit, said there are two lessons that guide BIT's work with cities: It is surprisingly easy to send the wrong message, and presumptions should be questioned. For example, she pointed to data showing that giving high school kids high-maintenance robotic babies actually leads to more teen pregnancies, even though common sense seems to dictate that a glimpse at responsibility would make kids more conscientious. The same, Moore said, is true of "scared straight" programs where troubled youth go to prisons to hear cautionary tales from the incarcerated. Common sense says the kids would behave better afterward, yet data shows this increases the likelihood of future imprisonment.

The key, then, is to not rely on seemingly obvious truisms, instead working based on data. The next step is to deploy subtle nudges that can better influence behavior and drive outcomes cities want to see.

As an example, Moore pointed to a program in Lexington, Ky., where there were 7,000 overdue water bills that totaled about $4 million. A nudge in this situation meant sending a mailer alerting people to their delinquency. Some of them included handwritten notes addressing recipients by name. In less than a month, the campaign resulted in the reconciliation of $139,000 in unpaid bills.

Santiago Garces, chief innovation officer of South Bend, Ind., described BIT's work in his city as wizardry. Using mapping, South Bend found that homeowners in low income areas were less likely to take advantage of mortgage-related tax exemptions they were entitled to. This is, in many ways, what behavioral influence looks like at its best: A hard data study upends a presumption (in this case, that lower income families would be most likely to pursue tax breaks) and city government subsequently works to nudge a behavioral change for the good of its residents.

Nudges arent limited to exerting public influence. Andres Lazo, director of citizen-centered design for Gainesville, Fla., said he was working to use the idea internally, a strategy Moore had seen deployed elsewhere to encourage employees to share efficiency ideas by offering incentives like recognition and prizes.

None of this is new thinking  in fact, private-sector marketing and advertising experts have used it for decades, and industry experts have begun to speak up at length in the past 18 months or so about its benefits . What is novel, however, is that more advanced data metrics make it easier for governments in places like South Bend and Gainesville to find pain points that subtle nudging can ease.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expects the Verkhovna Rada to draw up a bill on the Anti-Corruption Court, in which he will submit his proposals.

"Next is the adoption of a number of laws on changing the system of justice, including the law on the Anti-Corruption Court. I expect the Verkhovna Rada to present a draft on the basis of which I will submit my proposals to the Verkhovna Rada and define it as urgent," he said during an oath taking ceremony by judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in Kyiv on Saturday.

The head of state also said that simultaneously with the draft on the Anti-Corruption Court he plans to table in the Ukrainian parliament a draft law on a military court.

"We are waiting for new laws on the bar, on legal education," Poroshenko said.

Earlier, the president insisted on the speedy preparation of a draft law on the Anti-Corruption Court, so that he could sign a respective law by the end of this year.

The creation of the Anti-Corruption Court in Ukraine is one of the requirements of the protesters for big political reform that began in Kyiv on October 17.
(TNS) - Two Missourians a day die of from an opioid overdose, and two babies a day are born addicted to narcotics, state officials say.Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said the opioid addiction epidemic has been called a modern plague."I believe that to be true," he said.He spoke Thursday at a conference of health care and law-enforcement experts where a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent said 700 Americans a day fall into opioid addiction.Missouri's problem runs close to the national average, and although methamphetamines remain the biggest problem in Eastern Jackson County, opioid addiction  often starting with legal painkillers but drifting to heroin and even more potent drugs  is on the rise.Williams praised Jackson County for efforts such as the prescription drug database that it helped start, aiding doctors trying to screen out patients complaining of pain just to score a prescription for more drugs such as oxycodone.But he added, "What we're doing isn't getting us to where we need to be."Speakers outlined a series of challenges: too few addicts seeking and getting treatment, too few sober-living homes for those in recovery, too little education for doctors on pain management, a hospital evaluation system that gives doctors incentives to be aggressive about pain instead of cautious about addiction, and too many gaps in care between the ER, detox and the next stages of treatment.And one more: As a society, we don't deal well with life's tougher moments, when we should fall back on our own strength and resilience instead of a pill."We are a society that doesn't want to deal with pain," said Michael Petersen, chief medical officer of Accenture Opioid Epidemic Solution.Doug Dorley, a public information officer at the DEA's regional office, said this is the worst drug crisis in U.S. history. He said 25 million people  one American out of 13  abuses drugs.Although meth remains the most prevalent drug  "It is everywhere," Dorley said  prescription opioids and heroin are rising quickly. Heroin is often made worse with the addition of fentanyl and carfentanil, which make for a higher high and put the user far closer to an overdose."There is a huge problem in the Midwest. ... Whatever the national stats are showing, we're seeing," Dorley said.Here's how potent and deadly fentanyl and carfentanil are: Police have stopped doing field tests of white, powdery substances. Those are sent straight to the lab because the danger to officers is too great should they come into contact with those substances."Ninety-one Americans are dying every single day," said Dr. Angeline Stanislaus, chief medical director of adult services of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, citing figures from 2015. She stressed that the crisis "affects all strata of the society."She said Missouri had 908 opioid deaths in 2016  up 35 percent in a year  and 377 of those were from heroin.Prescription opioids such as oxycodone came onto the market 21 years ago, Stanislaus said, initially intended to treat such things as end-stage cancer. Pharmaceutical companies pushed them hard, making the pitch to doctors that they weren't overly addictive, she said.Also, medical standards have shifted since the recognition of pain management as a separate discipline four decades ago. Now those drugs are prescribed for a wider range of pain, not just end-of-life scenarios.Speakers on Thursday said it's often hard for a doctor to know if a patient truly needs help for pain or is trying to get a bottle of pills for his own addiction or to sell easily on the streets for four figures."There is very real crisis in how to treat patients ..." said Darrin D'Agostino, dean of medicine at the Kansas City University School of Medicine and Bioethics.Even today, he said, only a handful of medical schools have a curriculum that links care with the management of chronic pain."I think this is one of the major gaps," he said.Speakers also said patient evaluations  literally the emergency-room evaluation form that has patients rate their pain experience by marking somewhere on a scale of happy and sad faces  add to the problem. Those evaluations affect reimbursement rates, and that puts pressure on administrators to nudge doctors to no-pain options despite the risk of addiction.Williams said today there are 89,000 opioid prescriptions for every 100,000 Missourians.Tools to help are available. The state has collected many at opioids.mo.gov.Every state but Missouri has a database that allows doctors to see how many other prescriptions a patient has. Jackson County and other local governments have started their own database. It's up to 48 jurisdictions, said County Executive Frank White Jr., covered 71 percent of Missouri's population."This will definitely help with doctor shopping," Stanislaus said.Other speakers cited higher death figures than Stanislaus did. Dorley, of the DEA, said nationwide there have been 105 deaths daily this year just from fentanyl, which is still new on the streets.Petersen said 38 million Americans  one in nine  have substance abuse disorder, and he put the number of opioid deaths at 142 a day, which he said is basically the equivalent of a commercial jet crash every day."That's how impactful this is," he said.Williams and others said there's usually a downward path of about three years from the beginning of addiction to death. A typical pattern is that person becomes addicted to something like oxycodone, starts buying it illegally  $80 a pill  and then moves to heroin at one-fourth the price and a stronger high."The truth of the matter is we have time to intervene," Williams said.But there are gaps, from tracking data to the lack of what Stanislaus called a "warm handoff" of an overdose patient from the ER to detox to rehab."Where we lose people are between stops," said Susan Whitmore, president and CEO of First Call.Nicole Dawsey, prevention education coordinator for a group called NCADA St. Louis, said nine of 10 people needing treatment don't get it."That is unacceptable," she said.Cameron Lindsey, a professor at the UMKC School of Pharmacy, outlined what she said were key messages: Only use prescription meds as directed by a health care professional. Don't share them. Keep them in a safe place, and properly dispose of them when you're done using them. And model good practices along these lines.She encouraged educators to use resources at generationrx.org, which focuses on safe medicine use.Also, Stanislaus pointed out that the drug naloxone, which first responders carry to reverse opioid overdoses, can now be purchased in Missouri by anyone, over the counter.Dorley said education is crucial, starting in early grade school. Kids need to know, he said, that drugs are drugs, whether from a pill or a dirty needle.Speakers stressed the need for prevention and treatment."Arresting people is not going to solve this problem," the DEA's Dorley said.Treatment takes time and persistence."We don't know what's going to work for each person, and we need to individualize it and model it," said Alan Flory, president and CEO of ReDiscover in Lee's Summit.Several speakers touched on addiction as a societal problem  something in the way we raise children and the messages we send them  that needs deep and long-term attention.Sgt. Chris Cesena of the Kansas City Police Department drug unit said front-line officers ask users how they got to this point. The typical answer, he said, is that they started using substances just as a matter of coping."For some reason," he said, "they're broken."Williams praised the efforts being made in Jackson County."It is clearly a beacon of light for us as we work on this," he said.But overall, major changes are needed, he said, and he compared it with a wildfire."You've got to stop it," he said, "or it will grow."2017 The Examiner, Independence, Mo.Visit The Examiner, Independence, Mo. at www.examiner.net
(TNS) - The earthen dam on the outskirts of this Williamson County city certainly does not look flimsy. At 35 feet high and nearly a third of a mile long, it has done a reliable job of holding back floodwaters on Chandler Branch, a normally placid tributary of Brushy Creek, for more than 50 years.But in a worst-case flood, like what Hurricane Harvey unleashed on parts of Texas in August, or even a flood a bit more than half as severe, Chandler would turn into a monster, eventually surging over the top of whats known as Upper Brushy Creek Dam 10A. When rushing water and earth meet, water usually wins, and the dam would almost certainly breach, resulting in the uncontrolled release of the impounded water, more than 500 million gallons.That would swamp a miles-long area stretching southeast into Round Rock that includes 306 houses, eight multifamily buildings, 19 commercial properties and 14 road and railroad crossings, according to a study commissioned by the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District. Interstate 35, about 4 miles downstream, would be under nearly 6 feet of water.Dam 10A is one of several hundred substandard dams upstream of populated areas in Texas that violate state law intended to guard against dam breaching, or failure, in catastrophic floods, an investigation by the American-Statesman has found.Those include six city-owned dams in Austin, as well as others in Central Texas, a region that has experienced some of the heaviest rainfall events in the world. The adequacy of hundreds more dams that could put people in harms way is unknown because they havent been studied. All told, Texas has 7,229 dams, more than any other state.Few people who could be at risk are aware of the hazard of living in what engineers call the potential inundation zone, which includes areas well outside the 100-year flood plain.Weve lived here about 19 years, and I have never heard of this, said Teresa Jones, president of the homeowners association in Jester Farms, one of several Round Rock neighborhoods east of I-35 and along Chandler Branch that would be threatened by the failure of Dam 10A. I definitely want to look into this further.The Statesmans investigation also found: Development in potential inundation zones is with few exceptions unregulated by local, state and federal authorities. As a result, construction of housing, businesses and roads puts those structures at risk from dams, like 10A, built decades ago to a less stringent standard for agricultural land and therefore never intended to protect populated areas. In a case of one step forward and two steps back, federal, state and local governments have spent millions of dollars to upgrade some of these dams even as development continues below other once-rural dams. Lack of public awareness about the hazards posed by dams is no accident. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, federal and state officials, citing security concerns, have restricted the ability of news organizations and the public to obtain information about the hazards posed by many dams. In a departure from national norms, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which regulates and inspects dams, applies stricter safety standards to those whose failure would be expected to cost seven or more lives than it does to dams whose collapse could possibly cost up to six lives. The latter can get by in some cases by being capable of handling just half of a worst-case flood. A state law passed by the Legislature and signed by then-Gov. Rick Perry in 2013 permanently exempts 45 percent of the dams in Texas from inspections and other safety requirements because of their relatively small size and rural locations. Although more than 90 percent of these dams would not be expected to cause loss of life if they failed, 231 of them are in the up-to-six-deaths-are-possible category.The Statesman previously investigated dam safety in 1997, finding an alarming state of neglect and inadequate oversight in Texas. At that time, nearly two-thirds of dams above populated areas had not been inspected for at least five years. Formal emergency action plans had not been developed by dam owners for 94 percent of dams that should have had them. And the states dam safety team had dwindled to six employees from more than 40 in the early 1980s.Twenty years later, the Commission on Environmental Qualitys dam safety team has 30 employees and a $2.3 million annual budget. Eighty percent of dams whose failure would put people at risk  not counting the exempted ones  have been inspected in the last five years, and 77 percent of dams under the commissions oversight have submitted emergency plans. The Federal Emergency Management Agency cited the stepped-up inspections and planning as one of the nations success stories in its report to Congress last year on dam safety.Experts nevertheless describe dam safety in Texas as an increasingly urgent matter.More people are at risk from dam failure than ever, despite better engineering and construction methods, and continued deaths and property losses from dam failures are to be expected, the state environmental commission warns in its Guidelines for Operation and Maintenance of Dams in Texas. It adds, Risk is high because people have been allowed to settle below dams in potential inundation zones.The commission declined to make any of its officials available for an interview, but it responded in writing to questions submitted by the Statesman. TCEQ is not aware of any dams that are under threat of imminent failure, the agency said, adding that it has no plans to revise its rules at this time.No one has died as a result of a dam failure in Texas since 1989, when a man drowned as he drove down a road that had been flooded after the Nix Club Lake Dam in Rusk County, in East Texas, collapsed in a storm.There have been dozens of failures since then, including four East Texas dams that washed out as a result of Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath  three in Tyler County and one in Newton County. Sixteen other dams sustained damage from Harvey, including five in Fayette County, southeast of Austin.Runoff from Harveys 50 inches of rain flooded thousands of houses in Houston as the reservoirs behind the Addicks and Barker dams swelled, and thousands more flooded downstream from the dams releases. The dams themselves held up, although they have been considered at risk of failure for years, with the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns them, struggling to secure sufficient funding from Congress. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed over the flooding. State regulators have no authority over the Corps of Engineers and other federal dams.A question of standardsDam safety specialists are troubled by the Legislatures exemption of what are now 3,232 dams, or 45 percent, from safety requirements, as well as the environmental commissions weaker standards for dams with a lower potential death toll.Texas current dam policies, including the exemptions of dams, place priority on lessening the burden of dam owners rather than on the safety of the public living downstream of a dam, said Travis Attanasio, former vice president for professional affairs for the American Society of Civil Engineers Texas Section. He was chairman of that organizations 2017 dam safety report card for Texas, which gave the state a grade of D, indicating the dam infrastructure is poor and at-risk, he said.In the vast majority of states, any dam that would be a threat to life if it failed is considered a high-hazard potential dam. But not in Texas, where dams that could kill up to six people if they collapse receive the midlevel rating of significant-hazard potential. No loss of life is expected if a low-hazard dam fails.The exemptions from inspection and other oversight under House Bill 677, which passed the Legislature with only one no vote in 2013, include 231 significant-hazard dams, according to the environmental commission.Proponents of the measure, including representatives of ranching and farming groups, told lawmakers that dam owners were having to spend upwards of $100,000 in studies and improvements per dam. At the time, the exemptions were approved by the Legislature, 57 of the significant-hazard dams being exempted were deemed by the commission to be in poor condition, according to an analysis by the House Research Organization.To qualify for the exemption, a dam must be outside a city in a county with a population under 350,000 and impound less than 500 acre-feet of water, or 163 million gallons.Generally accepted guidelines state that should a dam failure have the potential for killing one person, then that dam should be maintained as a high-hazard potential structure, said Lori C. Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials.Like the association, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Corps of Engineers define such dams as high hazard.The Texas commission said it would inspect an exempt dam that was the subject of a complaint and would raise a dams classification to high hazard if aerial photographs or field observation revealed downstream development.The commission declined to disclose the hazard classifications of individual dams, citing a 2005 opinion by the state attorney generals office that declared such classifications and emergency plans  which include maps of potential inundation zones  confidential because they identify particular vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to an act of terrorism. The Statesman was able to determine the hazard classification of some dams by interviewing local officials, obtaining documents and conducting online research.A majority of people living below a dam have no idea what could happen, Attanasio said, adding that dam safety and funding would be a higher priority if people truly knew the consequences of not maintaining even significant-hazard dams.Brushy Creek a case studyPerhaps no watershed in Texas better illustrates the challenge as well as the progress in addressing dam safety than Brushy Creek, in southern Williamson County and southwestern Milam County. Forty-six dams were built from 1959 to 1976 under standards for low-hazard dams. Now, thanks to rapid urbanization, more than half are high-hazard dams, and the trend is expected to continue.Over the years, 19 of the Upper Brushy Creek water districts 23 dams, all of which are high hazard, have been modernized, said Ruth Haberman, the districts general manager. Dam 7 in Cedar Park, which forms the lake at Brushy Creek Lake Park and is traversed by the Brushy Creek Regional Trail, is in the midst of a $20 million upgrade to withstand a worst-case storm of 44 inches in 24 hours.Improvements are being designed for another of the districts dams, and one needs no upgrading. That leaves Dam 10A, which in the event of a collapse would inundate parts of several Round Rock neighborhoods, including Jester Farms, Chandler Creek and Legends Village. The dam and the small lake it forms occupy an easement on a large parcel of land west of I-35 and southwest of Georgetown owned by the Texas Crushed Stone Co., which operates a quarry.It looks pretty stout to someone whos been around it for 50 years, said Bill Snead, the companys president, adding that it would be a good idea to make it safer.Haberman said the district conducts periodic table-top exercises with local emergency management officials to keep them updated on its dams. Whats more, anyone buying property in the district is required under state law to sign off on a notice advising the purchaser that the district has taxing authority. The Upper Brushy district goes beyond that requirement, adding a paragraph in bold type stating that the property may or may not be within an inundation easement or downstream of a District-owned flood control structure and encouraging buyers to contact the district for more information. Few people bother to do so.The Texas environmental commission raised Dam 10As classification from low hazard to high hazard last year, according to the districts annual report. It could be five years before the process of submitting grant applications, preparing designs and fortifying the dam, likely by raising it three or four feet, is completed at a cost of millions, Haberman said.The Upper Brushy district has been able to fix its dams and prepare an emergency plan covering all 23 because voters in 2002 authorized a tax of 2 cents per $100 of property value, which now generates about $7 million a year. The district has also obtained federal and state grants.Voters in the Lower Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District refused to grant taxing authority, which makes it much more difficult to fund improvements, said James Clarno, the districts general manager. Three of the districts 23 dams are classified as high hazard and two as significant hazard.Lower Brushy Creek Dam 32, just east of Coupland, is being reconstructed at a cost of $1.7 million, thanks to federal and state grants cobbled together by the district. The district also secured $1.3 million in grants to improve Dam 20, whose failure would flood several houses and a wastewater treatment plant in Thorndale; construction on that project is expected to begin in the spring.Dam 29, just south of Taylor, is a different story, with no immediate prospects of funding an upgrade. It rises 37 feet and extends for nearly half a mile, forming a lake on Battleground Creek, a tributary of Brushy.In a worst-case storm, Battlegrounds flow would spill over the top of the dam, breaching it and sending a 16-foot-high wave rushing toward a home, three barns, a state highway and three county roads. An analysis by an engineering firm concluded that as many as 11 lives would be at risk.John Kitsmiller, whose house would be in harms way and who keeps longhorns and horses on his property, isnt losing any sleep over it. Weve been here 11 years, he said. Weve never had anything close to worrying about.The Lower Brushy Creek district has an emergency plan for Dam 32, a draft plan for Dam 20 and no plans for Dam 29 and two others for which they are required. Clarno said it can cost $25,000 to prepare a plan, including a map of the breach inundation zone.A whopping big rainWhat, exactly, is a worst-case flood? It varies by location, topography and other characteristics. Even frequently dry watersheds sometimes catch a whopping big rain that puts a stream up on its hind legs to roar, as the late Texas novelist Elmer Kelton put it in Pecos Crossing.The technical term is probable maximum flood based on the most severe weather and water conditions reasonably possible, according to the environmental commission. Such a flood is a function of the probable maximum precipitation, which the National Weather Service defines as the theoretical greatest depth of rain for various lengths of time at a particular location.Hurricane Harvey was akin to what we expect a (probable maximum precipitation) storm to look like at large area sizes and long durations, said Bill Kappel, chief meteorologist and president of Colorado-based Applied Weather Associates LLC, which produced a study last year on such worst-case scenarios for the environmental commission.The study found that probable maximum precipitation figures were highest near the Texas coast and along the Balcones Escarpment, a region of elevated terrain arcing southwest from Waco to Austin and San Antonio and then west to Del Rio. The escarpment, which marks the edge of the Hill Country, is home to some of the largest recorded rainfalls in the world, thanks to the effect of topography on an already moist, unstable air mass, the study noted.The Williamson County town of Thrall saw 38 inches of rain in 24 hours in the Brushy Creek watershed in 1921; 93 people died in the county and floodwaters stretched 10 miles wide where Brushy empties into the San Gabriel River. In 1998, New Braunfels recorded 35 inches of rain in three days. And in 2015, three people in southeastern Travis County died in floodwaters from Dry Creek, which received more than 11 inches in six hours.The National Weather Service years ago set 44 inches in 24 hours as the probable maximum precipitation for much of Central Texas. But the Applied Weather study, using updated records and taking local topography and other factors into account, refined those calculations and in some areas came up with lower 24-hour figures for the probable maximums  for example, 27.9 inches at the University of Texas campus and 33.6 inches at Cummins Creek in Fayette County, said John Mueller, state conservation engineer for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service.Harvey dumped upwards of 25 inches of rain on the Cummins Creek watershed, damaging five dams. The auxiliary, or emergency, spillway for Dam 30, about 3 miles northwest of Fayetteville, took the biggest hit. The spillway is a grassy area, wide and sloping, on one side of the dam that allows floodwaters to bypass the dam to the stream below instead of overtopping it.Dam 30s spillway now looks like someone set off dynamite, with gullies up to 20 feet wide, 15 feet deep and 90 feet long. It will have to be repaired because a subsequent flood could cause the gullies to grow, eventually eating into the crest of the spillway and increasing the flood threat downstream, Mueller said.The Lee-Fayette Counties Cummins Creek Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 hopes to secure a grant from the conservation service to help pay for roughly $1.5 million in repairs to Dam 30 and the other four dams, said Kevin Ullrich, the districts president.All told, Harvey damaged 20 dams in Texas, including 11 classified as significant hazard. The environmental commission listed the 20 dams for the Statesman but declined to identify the 11 significant-hazard ones, citing the attorney generals opinion relating to terrorism.Pay now, or pay later?Asked how much it would cost to bring all dams in Texas into compliance with safety standards, the Texas environmental commission replied, It is difficult to give an accurate cost at this time.The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board estimates that it would cost $1.8 billion to upgrade 458 earthen dams that were built with financial and other assistance from the federal government decades ago and that do not meet high-hazard criteria that now apply.In a month or two it might be 468, said Steve Bednarz, statewide programs engineer for the board. It just continues to get bigger because of urban development around these dams.Since 2014, the board has received $34 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service and $17.3 million from the Legislature to parcel out for various projects, with 32 dams currently undergoing studies, design or construction. Such funding is not available for dams that are privately owned; they constitute more than half of the dams in Texas.The city of Austin has spent about $5 million to upgrade four dams, including Great Northern just east of MoPac Boulevard near Far West Boulevard, said Stephanie Lott, a city spokeswoman. Design work is underway to upgrade Northwest Park Dam off Shoal Creek Boulevard and Old Lampasas Dam off Old Lampasas Trail. Preliminary engineering work is expected to begin for upgrades on four other dams within two to six years depending on the dam, according to city officials. Eleven other dams still need to be evaluated.The Lower Colorado River Authority spent about $89 million between 1994 and 2005 to improve its dams along the Colorado River, and all six can safely pass a probable maximum flood, said John Hofmann, LCRAs executive vice president of water.The American Society of Civil Engineers report card for Texas recommends creation of a state loan or grant program for dam repair, abandonment or removal. It also urges the state, local governments and zoning boards to pursue regulation of development in breach inundation zones.The state environmental commission said it provides requested information to the Legislature but does not lobby or suggest action. Prohibiting development in an inundation zone is a local issue, the agency said.McKinney, north of Dallas, has not permitted residential development in inundation zones since 1998, but Michael Hebert, its assistant city engineer, said hes not aware of another community in Texas with a similar ordinance.The chance of a breach is unlikely, Hebert said. The concern is, if something happens in the middle of the night, will you be able to get out of the house?2017 Austin American-Statesman, TexasVisit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Crosschecking Crosscheck

What do Kansas and Idaho officials have to say about this?

Idaho already did what it said it would not do

More concerns

(TNS) -- Much ado was made earlier this year when the Trump administration asked all 50 states for their voter-registration rolls.Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney told Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity , that the commission could have only the voter registration information available under Idaho law  name, address, party affiliation and election-participation history. Denney assured the public that other personal information collected on Idahos voter registration forms  a voters date of birth, drivers-license number and the last four digits of the Social Security number  is not releasable under Idahos public records law. Kobach, he said, could not have it.In fact, Denney had already given it to Kobach.In February, Denney gave Kobach information on all registered Idaho voters, including two pieces of voters non-public personal information  their birth dates and abbreviated Social Security numbers.And that was not the first time. Kobach received the same information about Idaho voters in 2014, 2015 and 2016.Kobach wears two hats: In addition to his role on Trumps commission, he is the Kansas secretary of state . In Kansas, he runs a program that collects voter registration records from around the country and compares them to ferret out voters who may be gaming the system.Idaho voluntarily joined that program in 2014. Since then, the state has been sending Kobach voter rolls each year, including protected personal data.Kobach started the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program in 2006 as a multistate compact to identify duplicate voter registrations and instances of multiple votes by the same individual.Kansas does not charge states to participate in the voluntary program.Heres how Crosscheck works:Each state uploads its voter rolls to a computer server hosted by the Arkansas (not Kansas) Secretary of States Office. The Kansas Secretary of States Office then pulls the data and compares all the records, looking for matching first and last names and birth dates.The results are uploaded to the server. Each state retrieves its respective report of possible duplicates or multiple votes. Once that process is complete, the data is deleted from the server.Participating states are not obligated to do anything with the Crosscheck data.The initial four participating states  Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri  collectively submitted 9 million voter registration records in 2006. This year, Crosscheck collected 98.5 million records from 28 states, including 797,534 from Idaho.There is worrisome evidence that Crosscheck is doing too little to safeguard that data from hackers.Under Crosschecks agreement with each participating state, all data will be transferred to and from the Kansas Secretary of State using industry-standard encryption technology and passwords. But that doesnt seem to be happening. In a story published last month, ProPublica, an investigative-reporting nonprofit, reported that Crosschecks data is uploaded to an unencrypted FTP server. The industry standard is to use SFTP servers, which are encrypted.Joe Hall, chief technologist for the Center for Democracy and Technology , a nonprofit that advocates for online privacy and security, compared FTP servers to a postcard and SFTP servers to a letter sealed in an envelope and locked in a vault, ProPublica wrote.Crosscheck also typically provides the servers address, user name and password in a group email to participating states. That is completely, unbelievably irresponsible, Hall told ProPublica. You should consider all of that stuff in the hands of people who are clever enough to intercept someones email.Through a public records request, the Idaho Statesman obtained emails between the Crosscheck program and Idaho officials. The emails confirm that Crosscheck has repeatedly sent the servers address and login information, all in one email, to more than 50 people around the country. The practice was followed as recently as this year.The unredacted login information was clearly visible in the documents the Idaho Secretary of States Office gave the Statesman.This year, according to one of the emails, Crosscheck was having trouble with its encryption-software program because it had been updated, and Crosschecks version was no longer compatible with it. Instead of upgrading its software, Crosscheck switched to a free download file compressor and encryption program and, again, sent the access information and password out via group email.The Kansas Secretary of States Office did not respond to repeated emails and calls seeking comment about Crosschecks security protocols, why its server is housed in Arkansas, whether its database is subject to Kansas or Arkansas public records laws, or if Trumps Advisory Commission on Election Integrity has requested or received Crosschecks database and records.Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney did not respond to emailed questions about Idahos sharing of personal information and Crosschecks apparent security shortcomings.In February, as it quietly has done every spring for the last three years, Idaho uploaded its voter registration roll to the server in Arkansas, per instructions from Kobachs office. And, as in prior years, Idaho included voters personal information not publicly available under Idaho law.State Elections Director Betsie Kimbrough, who works for Denney, confirmed the sharing of the personal information.Yes, we provided the date of birth and last four digits of the Social Security Numbers as required to participate in the Crosscheck program, Kimbrough said.But four months later, on June 28, when Kobach sent his letter to Denney and the other 49 secretaries of state, asking to provide to the (Trump) Commission the publicly available voter roll data for each state within two weeks, a statewide and nationwide kerfuffle broke out.Trumps election fraud commission has been under fire because Trump created it after repeatedly charging, without citing evidence, that three million to five million people voted illegally during the last presidential election. Some critics say its request for information on Americas 200 million registered voters could be a fishing expedition to try to limit voter access.The commission, created by executive order in May , is a defendant in at least seven federal lawsuits, including one filed Thursday by one of the commissions members, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, a Democrat. He said the commission is breaking federal laws by denying him access to commission documents, and other violations.Most states refused to provide their voter registration information to the commission. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based organization focused on data and information privacy, asked a federal court to grant a temporary restraining order against the commission , alleging the requested voter roll data would not be secure. The Idaho Democratic Party sued too, seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Denney from releasing the information.In response, Denneys office put out a news release July 3 that said : While additional information is requested in [Kobachs] letter (such as drivers license and the last four of a voters social security number), that information is not considered public and Secretary Denney could not be compelled, outside of a specific court order detailing the need for and intended use of such data, to provide that information under Idaho Public Records statutes.The release quoted Denney: In the end, I will look to fulfill the requirements of the law under Idaho Statute while continuing to protect both the Idaho Voter, their nonpublic, personal information.Kobach withdrew the commissions request and then sent Denney a revised one clarifying it is asking only for publicly available information. The commission submitted a public records request to Denney and paid the required $20 fee. His office then sent the Trump commission Idahos voter roll on Sept. 5, without birth dates or last four Social Security digits.In September, the Department of Homeland Security announced it had identified 21 states whose voting systems were targeted by hackers in the 2016 election. Idaho was not among them.The Statesman asked Kansas if its Crosscheck system had been targeted by hackers. Kobachs office did not respond.One of the challenges for hackers is Americas elections are decentralized: Each state maintains its own voter roll and conducts its own elections. What Crosscheck has done is create a central database of multistate voter records, albeit perhaps just temporarily, since it claims all files are deleted once the records are crosschecked.Not all states have been pleased with Crosscheck. Alaska dropped out in 2014; Florida, Oregon and Washington dropped out in 2015; earlier this year Massachusetts dropped out . The states raised concerns about the validity of Crosschecks data. A Harvard University study released in October found that one of Crosschecks proposed voter registration purging strategies would eliminate about 300 registrations used to cast a seemingly legitimate vote for every one registration used to cast a double vote.Then-Secretary of State Ben Ysursa signed the agreement to join Crosscheck in August 2013. This year, in a memo to all Idaho county clerks, Chief Deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst wrote, Secretary Denney decided that it would be beneficial to participate again this year in an attempt to clean up our voter registration database.Kimbrough said the secretary of state does not need legislative or other approval to send Idahos voter rolls to Crosscheck or to release voters personal information because it was a decision by the Secretary, as a constitutional officer, dealing directly with his statutory duty.Idaho House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, told the Statesman he was unaware Idaho had been providing dates of birth and Social Security numbers to Kobach through the Crosscheck program. Moyle said he has questions and wants to know more before commenting.Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, the Idaho House minority leader, also was surprised to learn from the Statesman about Idahos participation in Crosscheck and the sharing of personal information.It shocks me that Denney did not let on that he has been giving the secretary of state of Kansas, who also is the chairman of Trumps commission, Kris Kobach, the last four digits of my Social Security number and my birth date, which he said he wasnt going to give to Trumps commission, Erpelding said. Those are critical pieces of my private identity.While Erpelding called the Trump commission a sham, he said the greater threat is from hackers, as massive hacks in recent years have proved.Given that Secretary Denney assured the public that he would not be providing Trump with Social Security numbers and data like that, I would hope that Crosscheck is not uploaded (to the Trump commission), he said.Erpelding said he would introduce legislation next session to remove Idaho from the Crosscheck program, citing voter privacy, cybersecurity issues and other concerns.I think it is time for the Legislature to look at whether or not we want to be sending our information into a system that a majority of the surrounding states of Idaho dont participate in, so finding substantial voter fraud is highly unlikely, and at the same time increases our vulnerability to hackers.
A Growing Market

Using Cyber Insurance

As the threat from hackers and cybercriminals intensifies, a growing number of states are buying cyber insurance to protect themselves  and taxpayers.Its expensive. Its a big budget item for us. But its absolutely worth it, said Michael Hussey, Utahs chief information officer. Youre seeing breaches now that cost companies and states millions and millions of dollars.More than a dozen states now have cyber insurance policies, which cover losses and expenses if a computer network is hacked. Insurers typically pick up the cost of investigating and restoring data, notifying those whose information may have been compromised, and providing legal and public relations services and credit monitoring.Hussey said Utah first bought a policy in 2015, three years after a data breach of a Department of Health server exposed 780,000 residents personal information to hackers. The state wound up spending millions of dollars to deal with the aftermath, including paying for credit monitoring and legal fees and conducting a security assessment of all state servers.Utah now pays $230,000 a year for $10 million in cyber coverage and has a $1 million deductible. The policy covers every agency in the executive branch.So far, the state hasnt had any big data breaches that would require filing a claim, but that doesnt mean it wont happen in the future, Hussey said.We check what were supposed to be checking, he said. But with cyber, if one little thing is overlooked or you have bad luck and leave something undone, youd hate to be left holding the bag to cover that.In the wake of massive data breaches like those involving Yahoo last year and Anthem the year before, many businesses have scrambled to buy cyber insurance. Last year, insurers wrote $1.35 billion in premiums , a 35 percent jump from 2015, according to Fitch Ratings.States have been following in their footsteps. In a survey of state CIOs this year, 38 percent reported having some type of cyber insurance , compared to 20 percent in 2015.Even some small cities, such as Cody, Wyoming, have purchased cyber coverage this year.Hackers and cybercriminals in recent years have taken aim at state and local government networks , which contain information such as Social Security, bank account and credit card numbers on millions of people and businesses. And online activists have hijacked government computer systems, defaced websites, and hacked into data or email and released it online.In 2016, state information technology officers ranked cybersecurity as their top priority for the third year in a row James Lynch, chief actuary for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade group, said selling cyber insurance to states is especially challenging.What states do is so diffuse and sprawling, and they deal with so many types of people and circumstances that its difficult for an insurance company to fully get a grasp on what those risks are and underwrite them all, he said.It can be equally challenging for those purchasing cyber insurance, he added.When you buy an auto policy, you have a pretty good idea whats in it. The terminology is highly standardized. Its been vetted through the courts, Lynch said. You dont have that in cyber because the product is so new. The actual things being covered also vary greatly from policy to policy.And government agencies sometimes dont understand the risks or what kind of coverage theyll need, cyber experts say.Some states and local governments dont even know where their data is or what theyve got, said Dan Lohrmann, chief security officer for Security Mentor, a national security training firm that works with states. So when you start having to give the insurer a list of how many servers you have and what systems are included, it gets pretty complicated.Lohrmann said many state IT security officials initially were wary of cyber insurance, figuring theyd rather spend their limited resources on prevention. But many now take a different view, he said, because they realize that having the insurance will ensure that they are keeping their security programs up to snuff. Insurers wont sell states policies unless they meet certain standards, including regularly training staff, encrypting sensitive data and updating servers.In Georgia, Chief Technology Officer Steve Nichols said he was skeptical about cyber insurance at first, but when he saw how many giant companies had breaches and the financial impact, he changed his mind.In July, Georgia bought comprehensive cyber insurance, which covers about a hundred state agencies, he said.Nichols said he thinks Georgia has the largest amount of cyber coverage of any state  $100 million. It pays a $1.8 million-a-year premium and has a $250,000 deductible per incident.The state relied on a broker to guide it through the very confusing and complicated process and put together a deal with a consortium of insurers, he said.Montana was the first state to get cyber insurance, in 2011, said Lynne Pizzini, chief IT security officer. And its glad it did.Three years later, hackers gained access to a server that contained Department of Public Health and Human Services data, including clients names and Social Security numbers and some health information. The state mailed letters about the incident to more than a million people who could have been affected.Pizzini said the insurance company helped with the mailings, set up a call center, and provided forensic investigation, legal and communications assistance, and credit monitoring.We used all of the services in our insurance policy, she said. It would have cost us a ton more than the premium we pay.The state has a $2 million policy, which covers all agencies, including the university system, she said. It pays an $88,200 annual premium and has a $100,000 deductible per incident and a 10 percent copayment for credit monitoring.But Pizzini and IT officials in other states caution that having cyber insurance shouldnt make states complacent and view it as a substitute for a comprehensive security program. While the coverage can be a big help after the fact, they say, states need to invest in security, keep their technology updated, and be prepared for hackers and cybercriminals.Its like brushing your teeth, Georgias Nichols said. You need to do it every day.
Zandvoort is a viable host of a relaunched Dutch grand prix.

That is the claim of the source Dutch News, reporting that there are "no insurmountable organisational, technical or logistical reasons" why F1 cannot race again at the former Dutch GP venue.

Amid claims the Netherlands wants to capitalise on Max Verstappen's meteoric popularity and success, Zandvoort's council and track owners commissioned research to be carried out by a company called Decisio.

Decisio's subsequent report said Zandvoort needs some work.

"It would have to be done if more than 100,000 people come, but it's doable," said a spokesman.

The next step is to find investors, but Zandvoort owner and Dutch prince Bernhard van Oranje said actually organising the grand prix will take some time.

"The adaptations and infrastructure can be dealt with in a year," he said, "but we still have to form a consortium and get on the calendar.

"I'm not going to make any estimations."

(GMM)
Fashion brand and long-time F1 sponsor Hugo Boss is leaving the category.

The German newsmagazine Focus reports that the German company, having sponsored McLaren and most recently Mercedes for decades, is switching instead to Formula E.

"Of course F1 is the pinnacle of racing," said new CEO Mark Langer, "but Formula E is innovative and sustainable.

"Racing in the big cities appeals to a younger audience and opens up new possibilities."

Langer denied that leaving F1 is simply a cost-cutting decision.

"After many years in formula one - actually since Jochen Mass in the 70s - we've been wondering what's the next thing? What's next for us?" he admitted.

(GMM)
Poroshenko: We open a new page in history of Ukrainian justice

Ukraine opens a new page in justice, President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"We open a new page in the history of justice in our country," he said during an oath taking ceremony by judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in Kyiv on Saturday.

Poroshenko said that due to the changes in the relevant legislation "European standards of legal proceedings" are being introduced in Ukraine.

According to him, the adopted law on changes in a number of procedural codes establishes other rules of the judicial process - "effective, fast and convenient for all its participants."

Poroshenko said that modernizing administrative court proceedings would simplify the protection of citizens in relations with the state.

"The rules and people are changed in the judiciary, and I want to welcome once again the members of the new Supreme Court - radically updated in comparison with the previous one," he said.

Poroshenko said that now Ukraine was an example for other countries in the field of justice: "Today Ukraine is already an example for other states in implementing standards and rights, transparency of competitive procedures, openness and public involvement."

More than a hundred judges of the updated Supreme Court of Ukraine took the oath on Saturday.
As has been widely reported , New Delhi, India, where air quality is generally a problem, has been suffering through several days of extreme choking toxic smog, exacerbated by a lack of wind at ground level, colliding winds in the upper atmosphere, cooling temperatures, biomass burning in fields and street fires for warmth. For a period of several days, the Air Quality Index calculated by the US Embassy in New Delhi exceeded the 500 level, at one point (8 November, 4 pm) spiking to 1010. Values above 500 are considered Beyond the AQI, and are extremely hazardous.





The US Embassy and Consulates air quality monitors measure airborne PM 2.5 on the compounds of the Embassy and Consulates in several Indian cities, New Delhi among them. Because data from a single monitoring station cannot be applied to an entire city, the air quality data collected at the US Embassy and Consulates may differ from other monitors located in the same citieshowever, the data does provide some localized insight into conditions.

The air quality data collected by the US Mission in India is processed by the US Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) NowCast algorithm. This algorithm converts raw PM 2.5 readings into an air quality index (AQI).

The chart above plots the AQI data, along with the raw PM 2.5 concentrations in g/m3 on an hourly basis from 1 November through 9 November. Annual and daily data is also available from the US Mission.

EPA has assigned a specific color to each AQI category.




Groysman says now not planning to join any party

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said that now he does not intend to join the People's Front Party or the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko's Solidarity Party, but makes it clear that he does not exclude this ahead of the 2019 elections.

When asked by journalists at a congress of the People's Front Party in Kyiv on Saturday whether he considers joining this party, the prime minister said: "No. I don't belong to any party. I'm a coalition prime minister. I have no plans to decide on my party affiliation."

Groysman also said he did not plan to join the ranks of the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko's Solidarity Party on the lists of which he was elected an MP in 2014.

When asked whether his entry into the People's Front is possible before the next elections, Groysman said: "The next elections will be held in two years. Let's talk before the elections begin."

Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in Ukraine in 2019.
Ukraine needs to switch to the European model of a parliamentary-presidential republic before the next regular elections in 2019, the chairman of the political council of the People's Front Party and former Ukrainian premier, Arseniy Yatseniuk, has said.

"The country cannot depend on the surnames of the president, prime minister, coalition members. The country should depend only on institutions. We build our country for our children, and these institutions must be accountable to the people. We can do this until the next regular elections - to ensure a full European model of a parliamentary-presidential republic," he said at a party congress in Kyiv on Saturday.

In his opinion, the current parliament can change the law on the Cabinet of Ministers and bring all powers of the president into line with the constitution.

"I appeal to our partners in the parliamentary coalition and personally to [Ukrainian President] Petro Oleksiyovych [Poroshenko]. We can do it. We can ensure the European model of a parliamentary-presidential country before the next presidential and parliamentary elections," Yatseniuk said.
RALEIGH  Police are investigating after a driver was injured in an apparent road-rage shooting in North Carolina.

Authorities tell local media a 22-year-old woman was shot at least once in the lower part of her body in Raleigh just before 8 p.m. Friday night. Police say they think the woman had accidentally cut off another driver, who then shot at her.

The woman was taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening. Police say a passenger in her car wasn't hurt.

Police are still investigating. They have not released any information on a possible suspect.
ASHEBORO  Two solar farm projects gained approval Thursday night at the Asheboro City Council meeting.

Council members unanimously approved rezoning and special use permits for each project. Just over 7 acres on which one solar farm would be developed off Gold Hill Road is in the city; the balance of the 39-acre site falls under county jurisdiction. The other, planned for 45.5 acres on Old Cedar Falls Road, is not in city limits but is in the citys extraterritorial zoning district.

Both solar farms are near electrical substations, which developers said made the proposed sites attractive. Each would be built on leased property.

Gold Hill Road

Charlotte-based Birdseye Renewable Energy plans to develop the Gold Hill Road solar farm. Company president Brian Bednar told council members that Birdseye has completed 39 solar farms since 2009, when he founded the company.

The first project was built in Laurinburg; recent projects include a 420-acre solar farm in Union County and one on 120 acres near Mocksville.

On a solar farm, arrays of photovoltaic panels convert the suns rays into direct current electricity; inverters convert the DC power into alternating current for transmission to the electrical grid. Bednar described the noise from the operation as a small hum.

Essentially, it will sit there quietly, he said, and periodically be maintained with routine maintenance.

In answer to a question about how a solar farm would affect wildlife, Bednar said that the site would be basically a pasture, planted with native grasses and mowed five or six times a year. He said it would provide habitat for birds and small mammals and reptiles and that corridors for deer would be maintained around the perimeter.

Now, the developer will seek approval for the project from Randolph County.

Old Cedar Falls Road

The site of this solar farm is surrounded by other properties in the citys extraterritorial zoning district, although it is adjacent to properties in the city limits, including Clapps Convalescent Nursing Home. The projects solar panels would stand on about 15 acres on the southwestern portion of the property.

Steve Evans, the zoning and outreach manager for Cypress Creek Renewables, said that the company has about 150 solar farms in North Carolina and more than 300 nationwide.

James Pemberton told council members that he owns property across from the site and plans to build a home there. He asked how the solar farm would impact the community. Addie Luther, who owns property adjacent to the site, submitted written opposition to the proposal.

Appraiser Rich Kirkland, providing testimony in support of the project, said he has visited more than 350 solar farms in the state in the past six years and has seen no adverse impact on property values due to a solar farm.

Engineer Chris Sandifer, who sits on the Nash County Planning Board, said that last month the county approved its 34th utility-scale solar project. He added that he has solar farms on property he owns  and that he has solar panels in his yard.
GREENSBORO The city may soon get a significant financial boost in the form of two parking decks that would pave the way for two hotels and an office building.

On Tuesday, the City Council will consider whether to spend $56 million to reimburse developers who would build the two decks, one of which would be part of a Westin hotel complex proposed for Elm Street Center between South Elm and Davie streets along February One Place.

Another deck would be part of a building at the southwest corner of Eugene and Bellemeade streets which would also serve a new office building planned for property adjacent to the Greensboro Grasshoppers First National Bank Field.

Under the proposal, the city would reimburse Elm Street Hotel $28 million for the deck alongside the $30 million, 180-room hotel the company wants to build on the site of an older parking deck at February One and Davie.

The deck would be built on both sides of February One behind the Dixie Building and Elm Street Center, which faces South Elm Street, with traffic flowing on elevated lanes above February One.

That means the city will also consider closing a section of February One beneath the deck where it meets Davie Street.

However, traffic will continue to flow under the deck and out to Davie, according to Zack Matheny, the president of the nonprofit Downtown Greensboro Inc.

A proposed city resolution says that the new hotel will be built above the parking deck, which will contain 850 parking spaces with 180 of them dedicated to the hotel.

The project was made possible earlier this year through a complicated land deal involving downtowns historic Dixie Building and several small lots.

Burlington developers David and Chantelle Stoughton closed a deal in July to buy the Dixie Building on the northeast corner of February One Place and South Elm Street, as well as a small parking area to the east on South Davie Street, for $4.1 million.

The Stoughtons then sold the parking lots to the city for $1.1 million.

Local businessman Randall Kaplan, who owns Elm Street Center, is expected to announce soon that Westin will be the hotels operator. Westins hotel group, Starwood Hotels, lists the Westin Greensboro on its corporate website with a planned opening for 2019.

The city will consider the resolution at its next regular meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Melvin Municipal Building.

Also at that meeting, the council will consider spending up to $28 million on another parking deck to be built by another partnership at Eugene and Bellemeade streets. According to that resolution, the deck will include 1,050 public spaces and private basement parking and ground-floor retail space. CHI Greensboro is listed as the partnership that will design the deck.

Although the resolution doesnt specify, Aloft Hotels is expected to build one of its boutique properties above the new deck.

The city plans to issue $56 million in limited obligation bonds in 2018 to pay for the parking decks. It would use parking and general fund revenues to pay back the debt.

The office building on the stadium property would be built for $17 million by a partnership of Triad developers called Downtown Slugger.

The parking decks, hotels and office building would add more than $100 million to a $150 million downtown construction boom.
In North Carolina, if you find an orphaned or injured baby raccoon, you must leave it (as well as several other native wildlife species) on the ground to die. You may not take it home to help it, take it to a veterinarian, rehabilitator, or take it to someone in a neighboring state where it is legal to help it.

You must leave it where you found it to let nature take its course, because it may have rabies.

Next month, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will conclude taking comments from the public on an extensive list of proposed changes regarding how rehabilitators can help our native wildlife. One of the proposals is to add three more animals to this do-not-touch list.

Many of us have searched for the numbers to verify the reasoning behind this, and even the WRC says the benefits of limiting exposure to these species (are) unquantifiable.

So, well continue to further jeopardize a public that will refuse to leave them to die when they could be handled by professionals who have rabies shots and training.

Every year, we lose more rehabilitators due to the volume of animals coming in for care to home-based rehabbers and centers that are functioning with little help or funds and are overregulated. If you need to find a rehabilitator, especially for one to take an animal we cant work with, perhaps you could speak out about that difficulty. Page 1 of the WRC Fiscal Notes states, The wildlife resources of the State belong to the people of the State, including the enjoyment of these resources.

There is not enough space here to explain all of the proposed changes and why many of us adamantly disagree with them. One of the biggest changes will be to add groundhogs, bobcats and beavers to the list of animals we already cant help. We have never been able to assist raccoon, bat, skunk, coyote or adult deer, but there are no regulations forbidding anyone from assisting feral kittens or cows; our research shows you may run a risk of rabies from them as well. So, if you are as concerned as we are, please ask questions and speak up. There are only a few weeks left to do so.

Meanwhile, for the schools, libraries and television stations that have hosted our educational groundhogs, Hansel and Gretel, this fight is for them, in Gretels memory.
The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity is so dysfunctional that one of its members filed a lawsuit against it Thursday.

Matthew Dunlap, a Democrat and Maines secretary of state, accuses the commission of violating transparency requirements  and specifically keeping him in the dark about its work.

This comes as no surprise. The commissions mission has been bogus from the start. It was formed by President Donald Trump to investigate his claim that millions of illegal votes were cast in last years presidential election  all for Crooked Hillary Clinton, of course.

Vice President Mike Pence chairs the commission and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is its vice chairman. Kobach has pushed for voting restrictions in Kansas, and critics suspect he wants to nationalize that effort.

This is a shame, because a commission on election integrity could find useful work to do. Russias activities during the 2016 U.S. presidential election were breathtaking.

Russian computer hackers probed the election systems of 21 states in 2016, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed last month. They did not penetrate any system, but the threat that they will try again soon is real.

Russian operatives met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort in June 2016 with the promise of providing damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Campaign volunteer George Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russians.

The Trump campaign reportedly sought Clinton emails from Wikileaks, which obtained them from Russian sources.

The Clinton campaign paid an investigator who compiled the infamous Trump dossier supposedly with information developed by Russian intelligence.

Russian agents purchased ads on U.S. social media sites meant to harm Clintons campaign or sow divisions among Americans.

These are all matters subject to investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and congressional committees. They relate directly to the integrity of American elections. It is the declared belief of U.S. intelligence agencies that the government of Russia, likely directed by Vladimir Putin personally, meant to influence the election in Trumps favor.

The president refuses to accept these conclusions, and his administration has taken little action, if any, to protect future elections from a repeat of this attempted influence or attack. Among top officials, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is nearly alone in calling out the Russians for their election activities.

Fortunately, Congress overwhelmingly voted in July to impose additional sanctions against Russia in retaliation. Yet, the administration missed an Oct. 1 deadline by more than three weeks before it began to comply with its responsibilities. And even then, it only did so after a public admonishment by the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Instead of coming up with a strategy to protect American elections from real threats, Trumps commission is playing games. Kobach created an uproar when he demanded that states give up personal information about individual voters. Some refused; others, including North Carolina, provided only public data. Dunlap complains that commission members werent even consulted before Kobach initiated that action.

Through a spokesman, Kobach responded to Dunlaps suit by calling it baseless and paranoid and added that the commissions work has been stalled by lawsuits, the death of one commissioner and the arrest of a staff member  on child pornography charges. Really. So far, its held just two meetings.

So maybe this isnt the right group to tackle serious issues, anyway. It would be better for it to disband and leave it to Congress to deal with the threats to election integrity.
Yatseniuk says his team became stronger after political crisis of 2016

Former Ukrainian prime minister and head of the political council of the People's Front Party Arseniy Yatseniuk has said that his team became stronger after the political crisis of 2016, as a result of which he resigned as prime minister.

"It's a pity that our coalition partners acted short-sightedly. I expected full support from the president. The president made a mistake. What can I say to the president? The standard answer in Ukrainian politics is that we are going into opposition... Now I want to answer President Poroshenko. Mr. President, thank you for the experience, we have become stronger," he said at a congress of the People's Front Party in Kyiv on Saturday.

"I hope that all participants in that political crisis drew the conclusions and will not make such mistakes in the future," the politician added.

"These are people who are far from politics, including Ukrainian politics. Politics is not guest appearance, and statesmen are not guest performers," he said.

At the same time, Yatseniuk said that at present the fate of the country depends on the unity of all branches of power.

The politician also thanked the party for unity.

"We have a very long and difficult road ahead, and now the party should unite as much as possible to carry out our action program," he said.
The most exciting local election in recent history is now in the rearview mirror, and the road ahead leads through unfamiliar territory. A number of headlines suggest themselves:

Democrats Control Budget, Taxes For First Time  Ever?

The six Democratic candidates on the Board of Estimate and Taxation outpolled their Republican opponents by almost 500 votes, giving them control of the most powerful board in town government. It was so unexpected that the Democrats were not even sure how to pick the boards chairman, who wields the all-important tie-breaking vote on the 12-member committee. When they figure it out, my guess is that Jill Oberlander or Leslie Moriarty will take the chair.

That leads to the next headline:

Women Rule Greenwich

Democrats owe their BET upset to women voters and the strong showing of their three women candidates; Jill Oberlander, Leslie Moriarty and Elizabeth Krumeich received more votes than any other BET candidates from either party. Likewise, the three Republican women BET candidates outpolled the GOP men.

Mobilized by the shock of former Greenwich resident Donald Trumps successful run for the presidency in 2016, Greenwich women rode buses last January to join a national protest in Washington, and came back home determined to engage politically locally, right down to the RTM district level. They organized, educated themselves about the workings (or non-workings) of municipal government, recruited candidates, and ran energetic and disciplined campaigns. This political savvy resulted in more than 70 new delegates in the 230-member Representative Town Meeting. Their organizational and campaigning abilities provide the next headline:

Republican, Democratic Town Committees Lose Political Clout

Indivisible Greenwich and March On proved to be better organizers and better campaign managers than either of the towns political party committees. Invisible Greenwich is the most apt description of the local GOP campaign. And Democratic Town Chairman Jeff Ramer spent most of the summer doing his very best to let Republican First Selectman Peter Tesei run unopposed.

It took less than 24 hours for Republicans to fracture and break party ranks after the GOP nominating convention in July. Tesei, the titular head of the local party and the leader of its ticket, broke ranks to lead BET incumbent Leslie Tarkingtons successful primary battle to retain her seat. And GOP Chairman Steve Walko resisted pleas from RTC members who wanted him to publicly and privately discourage incumbent school board member Peter Bernstein from petitioning to stay on the Republican ballot. When Tesei and Walko broke ranks, party discipline went with them and the campaign fractured.

It became every candidate for themselves, said one local Republican who asked not to be named. The Republican Party in Greenwich is a failed organization.

Indivisible Greenwich made the Democratic Party look good, but when Indivisible got a good look at the Democratic Party, it was not impressed. For example, while Democratic First Selectman candidate Sandy Litvack pressed for more debates with Tesei, DTC Chairman Ramer told the Greenwich Bar Association he was fine with the local bar calling off its annual candidates forum because Tesei could not make one of six October dates proposed. Litvack was anything but a household name in Greenwich politics and badly needed the exposure debates would provide; Ramer either did not understand that or was simply currying favor with the Republicans. After all, Democrats have to earn the respect of local Republicans, a former DTC chairman once said. Indivisible saved the Democrats by getting almost 5,000 more voters to the polls this year than in 2015. And speaking of vote totals, that brings us to this headline:

Tesei Wins Unprecedented 6th and Final Term as First Selectman

The 10-year incumbent beat a virtually unknown Democrat by less than 1,000 votes; he won by about 5,000 votes in 2015 and 2013. Teseis vote total two years ago was 7,393, or 74 percent of the 9,962 votes cast. This year, 14,161 Greenwich residents voted; Tesei got only 176 more votes than last time, and just 54 percent of the total vote. He must think the way I do when I check my retirement accounts: The numbers dont look good.

In the tense hour or so after the polls closed Tuesday night, the mood among Republicans gathered at the Milbrook Club was somber and shocked, according to several attendees. We never expected to lose the BET, said one elected Republican who also did not want to be identified. But this is his last term, whether Peter knows it or not.

A harsh analysis, perhaps, but Teseis own analysis election night was painfully off target.

He painted himself as the underdog because the Democrats spent more money and unidentified outside individuals got involved in the race. I dont want to take anything away from (the Democrats), Tesei said, preparing to do just that, but I think the fact that I was able to overcome those odds with those resources speaks to the work Ive done, the trust people have in me and the relationship that Ive built with constituencies in town.

Tesei continued, I certainly think I will have to be more strident in addressing the overtures and actions of the opposition. They have been able to capitalize on the goodness I have presented and that will no longer be the case.

Should be an interesting two years of Board of Selectmen meetings. Which brings us to the last headline:

Sandy Litvack. Will He Stay or Will He Go?

Litvack received more votes than his Democratic running mate, incumbent Selectman Drew Marzullo, which means he joins the Board of Selectmen, representing the minority party. Before the election, many Democrats speculated that Litvack would not take the selectman post. The candidate himself would not speak on the record about his plans, and he has remained silent about his political future since the election.

However, now that the Democrats control the BET, Litvack would have more leverage and political firepower than usually accrues to the minority selectman. He may be strongly considering serving his two-year term and possibly running again in 2019.

Though Litvack did well in the polls, he did not run as effective a campaign as some had hoped. He hammered Teseis leadership style, but did not hold the Republican accountable for his lack of concern over serious soil contamination on public fields, or his management of Town Hall departments. Litvack is a skilled lawyer and former assistant federal prosecutor; I think he felt he did not know enough about those issues to effectively prosecute a campaign. That would change with two years at the same table as the Republicans.

There are other headlines still to be explored, such as Will the Tax Collector Work Himself Out of a Job? Or, Charter Change and the Radical Right Wing Republicans: A Soap Opera in Three Parts. But those will have to wait for another day.

Bob Horton can be reached at bobhorton@yahoo.com.
Mentorship is one of the most effective business tools out there. Right now, in Miami, a program called Girls Make Beats is partnering professional DJs with more than 80 girls to help them refine their musical skills and potentially jump-start music-industry careers. Even Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com has lauded the value of mentorship. Today, Benioff is worth more than $4 billion, thanks in part to his having been mentored by Steve Jobs -- without whom, Benioff has noted, Salesforce.com wouldn't exist.

Related: Why Entrepreneurs Need Mentors and How to Find Them

Such stories are common in the corporate world, which demands a fusion of people skills, technical insights and comprehensive experiential wisdom. This is especially true for entrepreneurs, who no matter what their education or skills, often lack experiential wisdom. Great mentors at the right time, however, can make all the difference.

Why we need mentors.

Regardless of how prepared an entrepreneur feels he or she is for the dynamic marketplace, an array of problems is bound to arise. And, far from knowing how to combat them, our entrepreneur may never have considered any of them before. Yet mentorship can help with the discovery of ways to approach these diverse problems, through creativity and forethought.

Related: 5 Big Problems to Look Out for in Your Startup's First 3 Years

The most successful businesspeople already have these mentorships in place, albeit in a less official capacity. They pick up the phone and call three to four other business leaders to get their opinions on a new project. But the best mentors are more than a Yoda to your Luke. Instead, they're those whom entrepreneurs can tap into for the long haul -- provided that in return for the mentorship, those entrepreneurs provide value, serving, for example as network resources.

In addition, great mentors challenge entrepreneurs' thinking and approach, helping them generate fresh insights and render innovation.

In fact, this ability to shake things up is where mentors shine: Instead of simply helping entrepreneurs extinguish day-to-day fires along the path toward viability, a mentor can bring enough necessary distance to the entrepreneur's business, helping him or her see it from a broader perspective, illuminating the bigger patterns likely to have been missed.

Take, for example, the currently explosive initial coin offering (ICO) scene that one of my company's investors wanted us to take advantage of. We needed quick advice on the implications that this investment might present us.

Only with mentors could we get an inside peek into this novel field. Even lawyers are still playing catchup with ICOs, but having mentors in place allowed my company to quickly ask many important questions that would have taken much longer otherwise.

How to make mentors a part of your world.

An impressive 70 percent of mentored small-business owners survive for five or more years in the marketplace, according to a survey by The UPS Store. That says that entrepreneurs who focus on identifying and utilizing mentors as they build their businesses will likely find themselves in much better positions for success.

Here are three ways entrepreneurs can identify and approach the right mentors:

1. Leverage contacts at previous workplaces. Entrepreneurs must realize that while jobs are temporary, the people they meet and the relationships they form as a result dont have to be. So, no matter how distant your old job may seem, reach out to those individuals and use their expertise. An executive whom you used to work under, for instance, may have noticed you and your work even though you didn't realize it at the time.

My former colleague Matthew Murphy -- global vice president of Renren Inc. and chief marketing officer of Chime Technologies -- was previously CMO at a Florida startup where both he and I worked. Murphy helped me transform my company by introducing me to industry leaders, who helped me move my company away from our initially embarrassing concept to a more realized product.

While executives are great mentors, given their networking capacity and power, dont always look up when creating your mentor network. Look around, too: Your previous colleagues often have key insights about your vision that you may be underutilizing and overlooking.

2. Join an entrepreneur organization. Although entrepreneurs tend to think of mentors as being those individuals much further down the road in terms of age, experience and success, they dont have to be. In fact, the opposite is often true: People in similar places in their careers may offer the best counsel, because they've recently gone through comparable challenges with their businesses, and want to share what they've learned.

Entrepreneurs Organization and the Young Entrepreneur Council are two of the bigger and more prominent mentorship organizations. While most of these groups require either an invitation to join, or a certain amount of revenue, you can always find someone who is a member and develop a friendship even if you still lacking those two qualifying distinctions.

In my own case, I credit Rameet Chawla for showing me the value of entrepreneur organizations such as EO, YEC and Summit and the importance of establishing my personal brand. Founder of the design agency Fueled, Chawla has a persona that distinguishes him in his field and makes him an excellent mentor.

Even though I was lucky enough to meet and connect with Chawla, my advice is to not disregard smaller organizations with the hope of holding out for your own Chawla. These organizations might not operate at the same scope and scale, but they're still very helpful and can launch you into the larger ones.

3. Find several mentors who share your passions. When you reach out to mentors -- and aim to have more than one -- look for common ground according to your passion for similar challenges and objectives. Then, when you approach these individuals, emphasize these shared passions in a letter or speech to demonstrate the potential of a collaboration.

Don't just ask someone generically and blandly to be your mentor; you'll risk coming across as a "social climber." Mentors want to be aligned with those who share similar values and goals.

Related: The Top 3 Traits of a Good Mentor

The point is that mentoring gets results. Consider the U.K.'s endorsement of this belief with its recent National Mentoring Day. Britain has taken big strides in connecting all sorts of people -- from schoolkids to businesspeople. The express purpose is to grow a collaborative and progressive culture across multiple sectors, acknowledging that one of the best paths to success is through our relationships with like-minded individuals.

Finding a mentor isn't about finding a more polished copy of yourself, though. The best mentors help their mentees find their own paths and succeed on their own terms; so keep your eye on your particular values and roots, the qualities that made you an entrepreneur in the first place.

After all, entrepreneurs tend to thrive on independence and staking their marketplace claims, but business can't operate on an island -- and neither should you.

Related:

Don't Struggle Always to Be the 'Smartest Person in the Room.' Instead, Rely on a Mentor.

Every Entrepreneur Needs a Team of Mentors, and Not Just for Business.

#7 Ways to Make The Most of Your Mentoring Relationship



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


This week, quirky online retailer ThinkGeek is busily preparing for the worlds biggest shopping event. But that event isnt Black Friday, Cyber Monday or related in any way to the December holidays most U.S. shoppers traditionally shop for this time of year.

Instead, ThinkGeek is prepping for Singles Day, a Chinese holiday held each year on Nov. 11 which encourages singles to buy gifts for themselves. While the holiday emerged in the 90s, the event got a major boost when Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba began offering Singles Day sales in 2009. Today, the holiday has broken most sales records, with Alibaba expected to do $24 billion in sales this year (up from $17.8 billion in 2016), nearly three times the U.S. sales generated last year by Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

Despite these eye-popping numbers, most Americans have still never heard of Singles Day -- even as U.S. brands such as Gap and Nike participate in sales overseas. Since the holiday hasnt yet gained traction in the U.S., ThinkGeek hasnt just needed to promote its deals in its email blasts, social media posts and blog posts. Its needed to educate customers that the event exists at all.

We caught up with Jeff Burchett, ThinkGeeks director of product marketing, to learn more about why its one of the few retailers targeting American consumers and whether U.S. retailers should consider getting in on the action next year.

Related: Alibaba's Singles' Day Is a Multi-Billion-Dollar Sales Juggernaut -- and You Could Build Your Own

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why is ThinkGeek participating in Singles Day this year?

It seemed like something that would resonate with our fans. Our fans are the kind of fans that will talk to you about Festivus, a holiday made up in Seinfeld 20 years ago. They get interested in and engaged in things that are a little bit off the beaten path. We try to service all things geeky and interesting and new and unique, and not just tread down the same paths all the time.

We have some strange holidays that we celebrate at ThinkGeek. It's a thing that we've made part of our brand -- celebrating these obscure holidays -- and some are more obscure than others. We have Send ThinkGeek a Pizza Day. As I've heard it told, one of our very earliest employees, about 18 years ago, had a greater-than-average love of pizza. Send ThinkGeek a Pizza Day was celebrated on his birthday, kind of as a joke. And then it became an ongoing process. Last year we didnt promote it outside of a ThinkGeek calendar we create, and we still received a couple dozen pizzas.

We also celebrate events like Harry Potters birthday with sales or big giveaways. So its sort of nothing new for us to be trying things that other people wont necessarily try.

Why do you think Singles Day might resonate with shoppers in the States?

When we saw that Alibaba did this insane volume of sales on Singles Day last year that indicated to us that a lot of people were interested in it. I don't think this is the kind of thing that's going to stay particularly localized to China. You can make it into whatever you want it to be about. If you want to make it about you and your friends, you can do that. If you want to make it about your transition from being single to marrying someone, you can do that. If you want to find yourself a partner, you can do that. There are so many ways that a person can take it and make something meaningful to themselves out of it that it seems like a really worthwhile and valid holiday to me.

What have you learned from Chinese companies in how they target shoppers for Singles Day?

So, one of the things that we wanted to sort of push on it, for our fans, is the idea that 'You are the single you,' There's not anybody else who's got your own set of interests and the collection of the things that make up your interest in fandom. So we're pushing on that and saying it's OK to be single, it's OK to be married, it's OK to be whatever you want to be, be happy being you, because you're the only one of you. And that seems to be the tack that a lot of the Chinese companies have taken as well. And so far, it's resonating pretty well, I think, with our fans.

What products is ThinkGeek offering Singles Day promotions on?

Orpheus, the Saddest Music Machine, always does really well for us but we've definitely seen that one bump. Hes this cute little robot made out of laser-cut wood, and its got a music box inside it and plays a melancholy tune. Our Shark Attack Bowl has popped up and done crazy well. Thats a very ThinkGeek product, I would say. Not many people would make a bowl thats a sharks mouth that you eat out of.

A lot of them fall into the general category of products that we would say are to treat yourself. With sales like this, especially at this time of year, we tend to mark stuff down that is bestseller stuff. This is kind of a, well help you treat yourself for stuff we know you love type of a sale.

Most shoppers dont really know about this holiday. What is ThinkGeek doing to address that?

We have taken the path of education on this, which I don't think would work for every retailer, because we at ThinkGeek and our fans wear the label of "geek" very proudly. And things that work here probably won't work elsewhere. So for us to go out with a message that is, "Hey, learn about this cool new holiday that you've never heard about before. This is pretty interesting," is something that resonates with our fans that might not with a lot of others. So, that is one of the ways that we've positioned this, as an opportunity for education expansion for our fans to tell them about something new and interesting.

Related: 21 Simple Ideas for a Successful Small Business Saturday

Why don't other U.S. retailers get in on Singles Day?

I would say, number one, people just don't know about it. I mean, it's easy to not know about it if you don't shop on AliExpress or maybe you've just never encountered it. Number two, I think a lot of people are just stuck in a position of saying, "That's a Chinese holiday." Number three, people don't have the ability, the time, the runway to execute on something like this. One of the analogies that we use here during crunch time in Q4 is like, "It's really hard to look at the horizon when you're stuck staring down at your feet to make sure that you don't trip over something." If you're constantly just trying to see how to get through today or this week, it's really hard to look way off in the distance and say, "Are there any cool opportunities coming 12, 18 months from now that we should we should be looking at?" We started talking about this a little over a year ago here as something that we might want to get involved in. So we started tracking it and seeing how other retailers, whether they're in the U.S. or not, were performing with it.

What have you learned so far about Singles' Day, for those who might want to get in on this next year?

People love holidays. People love a reason to be excited for something and to be happy and to celebrate. I think that's just part of human nature, that we're sort of looking for fun and exciting things to do. We're looking for shared experiences. That's one of the great things about fandom. If you like Batman and I like Batman, we immediately have something to talk about. We have a community, we have something in common, and the more of that that you're a part of, the more of a built-in community you have. People are looking for that experience, and we've found that people are willing to come along for the ride with us.

If you train your customers to expect something, then they will. And if you constantly try new things and give them something new to latch onto, it increases engagement, it increases their interest in your brand, it increases your credibility as a brand that is at the forefront. Nobody wants to align themselves or associate themselves with something that's stagnating or stuck. Everybody wants to be part of the next thing. So the only advice that I would give is, really and truly be willing to try new things, and maybe give Singles' Day 2018 a shot. I don't think it's going to get any smaller.

Related video: How to Build a Successful Brick-and-Mortar Startup

Related:

5 Ways to Grow and Build Trust

U.S. Retailers Aren't Embracing Singles' Day -- a Billion-Dollar Sales Opportunity. This Retailer Is Trying to Change That.

10 frases que el cliente quiere escuchar



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


Sorry, writers: Wanderlust-afflicted journalists hoping to be considered for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to 52 destinations for the New York Times are extremely unlikely to be picked.

As New York Times Travel Editor Monica Drake told Refinery29 Wednesday morning, over 3,100 people have already applied to be the newspaper's newest reporter.
Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko has said he is convinced that the Russian leadership will appear before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for annexation of Crimea and armed aggression against Ukraine.

"Ukraine is at war with Russia. It is fighting not only at the front, but in fact from scratch we started a legal war with Russia in 2014 without any experience, without sufficient financial resources... We began to file a large number of cases recording aggression and war crimes of the Russian Federation and its officials. Now five large cases by Ukraine against Russia are heard at the European Court of Human Rights," he said at a congress of the People's Front Party in Kyiv on Saturday.

Petrenko said that a number of lawsuits had been filed with the International Court of Justice and also expressed the conviction that "this road will end with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague."

He recalled that Ukraine had provided its legal position to the ECHR "which completely destroys any counterargument from the Russian Federation."

"The Russian Federation committed crimes against Ukraine, annexed Crimea, and massively violated human rights. It actually carries out armed aggression in Donbas, kills Ukrainians, destroys property and in fact violates all human rights provided for by the [European] Convention [on Human Rights]," he said.

Petrenko also noted that investigators and prosecutors were close to ending the investigation initiated by Ukraine into the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.




Haiti - Politic : Violent demonstration in Petit-Goave





Thursday, was held a violent demonstration of the members of the PHTK and allies of Petit-Goave to demand their integration in the civil service and the departure of the Director of the APN of Petit-Goave, Mrs. Carole.



Early Thursday, November 9, 2017, after a few days of truce, activists of PHTK and allies of Petit-Goave have resumed service. They invested the macadam to express their eternal namely : their appointment in the public offices and the Revocation of the Director of the APN Mrs. Carole, a close friend of Deputy Germain Alexandre Fils.



The protesters demonstrated violently by burning the main barrier of the Petit-Goave Customs with the help of inflamed tires.



Activities are completely blocked at the offices of the Customs and APN...



HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave)


















Oh Hyun-kyung-I ()

Male

Birthdate: 1936/11/11

 Stage actor/actress  Actor

Also known as: Oh Hyeon-kyeong, Oh Hyun-kyung, Oh Hyun-kyeong, Oh Hyeon-kyung

Oh Hyun-kyung-I is the husband of Yoon So-jung and the father of Oh Ji-hye. Other people with the same Korean name ():  Oh Hyun-kyung (1970/03/25, Female, Actress, Miss Korea)

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Published on 2017/11/11 | Source

Added episode 10 captures for the Korean drama "Avengers' Social Club" (2017)

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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,...

12 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)

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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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Three militants sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for killing of teenager

Dzerzhynsky City Court in Donetsk region has sentenced three militants of the so-called "DPR" in absentia to life imprisonment for the killing of a 16-year-old resident of Kramatorsk, Stepan Chubenko, in 2014 for his active pro-Ukrainian position, the press service of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has reported.

"Dzerzhynsky City Court fully supported the position of the prosecutor's office and sentenced three defendants to life imprisonment. Each of the convicts is obliged to pay UAH 1 million to the mother of the murdered young man," the report says.

According to the prosecutor's office, on July 22-28, 2014, a group of unidentified individuals, in preliminary collusion with members of illegal armed groups  Pohodin, Moskaliov, Sukhomlynov - illegally deprived the 16-year-old resident of Kramatorsk of his liberty. On July 28, the three mentioned militants killed the kidnapped teenager.

Subsequently, the body of the victim was delivered from the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region to Kramatorsk.
The question of breaking off diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Russia is not part of the bill on de-occupation of Donbas, and such a decision should be made by the government at the request of the foreign minister, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov has said.

"This [issue of severing diplomatic relations with Russia] is not the subject of law. This is the decision to be made by the government on the proposal of the foreign minister. Therefore, the parliament cannot take over the functions of the Cabinet of Ministers," he told reporters in Kyiv on Saturday.

Speaking about the draft law on de-occupation of Donbas, Turchynov said: "The law should ensure the real de-occupation of the Donbas territories... I think that after the committee processes all amendments, it will be necessary to see the final version of the document. It is very important to leave the ideas that we offered unchanged. Russia is an aggressor country. Ukraine is working out a technology for the return of all occupied territories."

In addition, he said, according to this initiative, "in the occupied territories we guarantee the return of property and everything that people lost during the Russian occupation."
Queen: Feds Took** Our Crown Lands!

by Robert Thomas, Inverse Condemnation Nov 10, 2017

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 11, 2017, is the 100th anniversary of the death of Hawaii's last monarch, Liliuokalani. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser has a story about the commemoration events.

But here's a historical tidbit about her which our readers might find interesting: did you know that after she was deposed, and after Hawaii became a U.S. territory, the former queen sued the United States in what was then the U.S. Claims Court (now the U.S. Court of Federal Claims)?

Her complaint wasn't quite a "takings" case (sorry for the click-baity headline),** but a claim that the federal government owed her in the neighborhood of $450,000 (what today would be about $11 million) for what looks like an accounting and constructive trust for the rents for the "crown lands," land formerly owned in fee simple by the monarch personally, but which at the time of the overthrow had become more like property of the office of the monarch, managed by a commission. The U.S. succeeded to these interests in the former crown lands at annexation. The foundational issue in the case was who had owned the former crown lands. Or perhaps more accurately, in what capacity did the owner hold those lands -- in fee simple or in trust? Liliuokalani claimed they were hers, and thus when the U.S. government succeeded to the Republic's title, the lands were subject to a constructive trust in her favor, personally.

Here's the complaint's prayer for relief:

Second: That the United States be decreed to be a Trustee of the Crown Lands herein before specified for the use and benefit of your petitioner so far as her equitable life interest in said Crown Lands is concerned. Third: That the United States be decreed to pay to your petitioner said sum of Four hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($450,000.00), or in the alternative that the United States be decreed to account to your petitioner for the rents, profits and emoluments derived from said Crown Lands after deducting the necessary and proper expenses of managing the same, for the period of six years next preceding the date of filing this petition.

The Claims Court sustained the government's demurrer, concluding that crown lands were owned by the Hawaiian government prior to the overthrow in what looks like fee simple, and thus by 1910, the U.S. owned them the same way, not subject to the former queen's trust claim. Liliuokalani v. United States, 45 Cl. Ct. 418 (2010). The court concluded that the legal question of form of ownership had already been resolved by law prior to the overthrow: "[t]he Hawaiian Government in 1865 by its own legislation determined what the court is now asked to determine."

[T]he crown lands were treated not as the King's private property in the strict sense of the term. While possessing certain attributes pertaining to fee simple estates, such as unrestricted power of alienation and incumbrance, there were likewise enough conditions surrounding the tenure to clearly characterize it as one pertaining to the support and maintenance of the Crown, as distinct from the person of the Sovereign. They belonged to the office and not to the individual.

The Claims Court opinion hasn't quelled the scholarly and historical discussion about who owns the former crown lands (and in what capacity). The discussion rages on, most recently in the pages of the University of Hawaii Law Review.

The epigram photo is the view out of our office window, looking down on Honolulu's historic district. At the center-left is Iolani Palace, where the former queen served her sentence after she was tried and convicted by the Republic's military commission.

------------------

** Liliuokalani did raise takings claims in her December 19, 1898 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives protesting annexation, where she asserted "I especially protest against such assertion of ownership as a taking of property without due process of law and without just or other compensation."
e than $100,000 for 193 workers across the industry has been recovered by the Fair Work Ombudsman s National Healthcare and Social Assistance campaign.The campaign identified errors relating to pay rates, record keeping and pay slip requirements among non-compliant businesses, Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah said.Six hundred ninety-six audits were done by the agency in medical services, allied health services and residential care services sectors. Businesses included GPs, physiotherapy services, dental services and retirement villages.Of these, inspectors found that 74 per cent of businesses were fully compliant with their workplace obligations -- 85 per cent were paying their staff correctly and 86 per cent were compliant with record keeping and payslip requirements.I cannot emphasise enough the importance of businesses making themselves aware of their obligations in terms of ensuring their employees are receiving their due entitlements and keeping accurate records, Hannah said.The agency issued 16 infringement notices, 12 formal cautions and one compliance notice to non-compliant businesses. A total of $109,295 was recovered for employees.Between July 2010 and June 2015 the FWO received 180,000 enquiries relating to the industry on the Fair Work Infoline and over 5,700 requests for assistance. The agency has recovered $7 million for more than 5,000 employees since 2010.Hannah said the industry performed better than other industries it had focused on, but non-compliant businesses were still a cause for concern.Non-compliant businesses may find themselves liable for on-the-spot fines, hefty back payment bills and, in the most serious cases, could face court action, Ms Hannah said.Maximum penalties for serious contraventions of workplace laws have recently increased tenfold and penalties for record-keeping violations have doubled.She warned that non-compliant businesses are thus exposing themselves to big fines, which are preventable in the first place.With the wealth of information freely available to help employers and employees understand their workplace obligations and entitlements, there are no excuses for non-compliance, she said.Throughout the campaign, Fair Work inspectors provided businesses with information, advice and resources to rectify any issues and ensure compliance in the future.Further, repeat offenders can expect to face enforcement action including potential litigation and significant court penalties.The Healthcare and Social Assistance industry is the largest employing industry in Australia with more than 1.5 million workers. It has a large numbers of small businesses and part- time and low- skilled employees.The residential care services sector, in particular, also employs a high proportion of female and migrant workers.
If You Go  What: Tennessee Avenue Baptist Churchs 75th Anniversary  When: Sunday, Nov. 12 at 10:55 a.m. and 6 p.m.  Where: Tennessee Avenue Baptist Church, 826 Tennessee Ave., Bristol, Tenn.  Info: 423-989-4325  Web and live audio link: www.tabaptist.org

BRISTOL, Tenn.  Ellis Nash kicked up dirt on his way to church on Sunday mornings circa 1946 at the corner of Cypress Street and Tennessee Avenue.

Nash and the fellow congregants of Tennessee Avenue Baptist Church sat in the pews. They listened to the word of God preached by Rev. Willard Tallman as dirt gathered upon the soles of their shoes and the hems of their trousers.

It was an old tabernacle building back then when I was there, said Nash, 93. They still had dirt floors and wooden benches.

Nash said he hopes to sit in the pews tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 12, as his beloved Tennessee Avenue Baptist Church celebrates its 75th anniversary. The churchs former pastor, Rev. Joe Hudson, will return to preach the early and late services.

Im going to do a sermon on when Moses met God on the mount in the first service, said Hudson. Itll be on grace, goodness and glory. Im thinking about two different ones, including the midnight cry, for the evening service.

Whatever Hudson preaches, hell pack an old-time religion punch to the proceedings.

Im a revivalist preacher, so itll be in that mold, Hudson, 74, of Silver Springs, Florida, said.

Some preachers speak in dulcet and sedate tones from the pulpit. Not Hudson.

No, he said. Hadnt been yet.

Think of Hudsons sermons as Church 101. Class in session, Christ on the agenda, and the word of God leads the way.

Thats about as good a way to say it as there is, brother, Hudson said. We do Church 101. Thats Bible preaching, loving people, engaging people. Its all about Jesus. It aint about us. Thats always worked.

By the time Phil Whitaker first stepped inside Tennessee Avenue Baptist, the dirt floors were long gone. Red bricks replaced the tabernacles white clapboard walls, carpets supplanted the dirt, and splintery wooden pews earned an upgrade in the name of comfort.

Yeah, comfort. Whitaker felt that.

The first time I ever stepped foot in this church was in 1993, he said. My wife and I were looking for a church home. Brother Joe preached from Exodus, chapter 33, that day on the grace and glory of God. I knew before that sermon was over. This was home. Been here ever since.

Eight years later, Whitaker left the field of finance for the ministry at Tennessee Avenue Baptist.

Ive been associate pastor of music and worship since 2001, he said. The Lord called me to the ministry, opened the door in 2001.

Whitaker encountered unadulterated and unabridged scripture as preached by Hudson. Scraped to the biblical bone such that a child can understand and adults holler amen, such a style has echoed long within the walls of Tennessee Avenue Baptist.

I stay with it, Hudson said. The Bible doesnt need any propping up.

That unvarnished approach to the Bible drew Nash, a member of the church since 1946, to Tennessee Avenue Baptist.

They preach the true message, Nash said while seated in his home in Bristol, Virginia. You know, weve only had three ordained pastors in 75 years.

Willard Tallman preached at Tennessee Avenue Baptist for 44 years. Joe Hudson followed him for 25 years. Hudson was succeeded by current pastor Mike Eklund. Nash never preached, but he sang countless hymns from Rock of Ages to Old Rugged Cross inside those beloved walls.

I was the first one in the choir, Nash said. There were only six of us in the choir back then. (I sang) tenor. I like to sing. As long as its gospel, Im happy with it.

Doubt may live on the outside, but not within the doors of Tennessee Avenue Baptist. Built on the spot where the dirt-floored tabernacle stood, the church emphasizes Christ and maintains a scriptural focus.

From my standpoint, observation and knowledge of Tennessee Avenue Baptist, the heart of evangelism makes our church special, Whitaker said. It has a heart for sharing the gospel. We have a motto at Tennessee Avenue Baptist: Its all about Jesus. Pastor Joe said, Aint about us. Its not our church. Its not the peoples church. This church belongs to the Lord, Jesus Christ. He bought and paid for it.

In an era of rapid growth among nondenominational congregations and contemporary-styled churches, Tennessee Avenue Baptist remains true to its core beginnings. However, it isnt accurately described as a traditional church. Then again, its not exactly contemporary, either.

Its neither, Whitaker said. Im often asked, Tell me about your music. Is it traditional or contemporary? I say its Jesus music. For a long, long time our music and worship can be described as blended. We use a lot of old hymns. We use contemporary songs of today. The common denominator is Jesus.

When Sunday morning dawns and the doors open as they have for 75 years of Sundays, members and visitors may hear a hymn of old such as Albert E. Brumleys Ill Fly Away. They may hear the choir sing The Newsboys We Believe.

Consider the vast numbers of songs sung and souls saved at the church.

When I pastored there, Hudson said, I baptized more than 1,100 people. We grew like crazy.

A framed photo inside the churchs office contains a message that offers further insight as to what a congregant can experience tomorrow and each Sunday at the church.

The will of God, the message said, will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.

Well, that sounds like the safe haven of home. For many, Tennessee Avenue Baptist Church is home. This and each Sunday, they invite you to come, be a part of their home within a house of God.

I hope to see you on Sunday, Nash said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday made a keynote address titled "Seizing the Opportunity of a Global Economy in Transition and Accelerating Development of the Asia-Pacific" at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit here.

The following is the full text of the address:

Seizing the Opportunity of a Global Economy in Transition

And Accelerating Development of the Asia-Pacific

Keynote Address by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the APEC CEO Summit

Da Nang, 10 November 2017

Chairman Vu Tien Loc,

Leaders of the APEC Business Community,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

Good afternoon! I am glad to come to Da Nang and meet all of you again.

Our region, the Asia-Pacific, has the biggest share of the global economy; and it is a major engine driving global growth. The business community is a primary contributor to growth, as it keeps exploring new ways of development. That's why during the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting over the last several years, I have always taken time to meet business leaders and discuss with you approaches and measures to address the challenges we face.

It has been 10 years since the international financial crisis broke out. Over the last decade, the international community have worked in concert to steer the global economy back to the track of recovery. Thanks to our efforts, the global economy is improving. Despite risks and uncertainties, global trade and investment are picking up, people are more optimistic about the outlook of financial markets, and confidence is growing in all sectors.

Development is a journey with no end, but with one new departure point after another. An ancient Chinese philosopher once observed, "We should focus our mind on the future, not the past." We live in a fast changing world, and the global economy is undergoing more profound changes. We must therefore closely follow the trend of the global economy, identify its underlying dynamics, keep to the right direction, and, on that basis, take bold action.

-- We are seeing a profound change in growth drivers. Countries are turning to reform and innovation to meet challenges and achieve growth. The potential of structural reforms is being unlocked and its positive impact of boosting growth of various countries has become more evident. A new round of technological and industrial revolutions is gaining momentum. Digital economy and sharing economy have registered rapid growth. New industries as well as new forms and models of business are flourishing. As a result, new growth drivers are being created.

-- We are seeing a profound change in the model of global growth. As time advances, development has taken on profoundly richer implications. The vision of innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all is gaining increasing public support. To achieve more comprehensive, higher quality and more sustainable development has become the shared goal of the international community. To implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and adapt to climate change and other challenges of a global nature has become an important international consensus.

-- We are seeing a profound change in economic globalization. Over the last few decades, economic globalization has contributed greatly to global growth. Indeed, it has become an irreversible historical trend. Against the backdrop of evolving global developments, economic globalization faces new adjustments in both form and substance. In pursuing economic globalization, we should make it more open and inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and beneficial to all.

-- We are seeing a profound change in the system of global economic governance. The evolving global economic environment demands more from the system of global economic governance. We should uphold multilateralism, pursue shared growth through consultation and collaboration, forge closer partnerships, and build a community with a shared future for mankind. This, I believe, is what we should do in conducting global economic governance in a new era.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

Faced with the profound changes in the global economy, should we, the Asia-Pacific economies, lead reform and innovation, or just hesitate and proceed haltingly? Should we steer economic globalization, or dither and stall in the face of challenge? Should we jointly advance regional cooperation, or go our separate ways?

This is my answer: We must advance with the trend of times, live up to our responsibility and work together to deliver a bright future of development and prosperity for the Asia-Pacific.

First, we should continue to foster an open economy that benefits all. Openness brings progress, while self-seclusion leaves one behind. We the Asia-Pacific economies know this too well from our own development experience. We should put in place a regional cooperation framework that ensures consultation among equals, wide participation and shared benefits, build an open Asia-Pacific economy and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. We should make economic globalization more open, inclusive and balanced so that it benefits different countries and people of different social groups. We should proactively adapt to the evolving international division of labor and actively reshape the global value chain so as to upgrade our economies and build up new strengths. We should support the multilateral trading regime and practice open regionalism to make developing members benefit more from international trade and investment.

The building of a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) is the long-cherished dream of the business community in our region. It was in response to the call of the business community that APEC leaders, for the first time, initiated the FTAAP vision in Hanoi in 2006. In 2014, the FTAAP process was launched in Beijing. We should get into action, fully implement the Beijing Roadmap, move toward the FTAAP and provide an institutional underpinning for growing an open economy in the Asia-Pacific.

Second, we should continue to pursue innovation-driven development and create new drivers of growth. The current global economic recovery is, to a large extent, the result of cyclical factors, while the lack of self-generating driving forces remains a nagging problem. To avoid the risk of the global economy entering a "new mediocre", we must sustain growth through innovation.

The new round of technological and industrial revolutions is unfolding before us. Digital economy and sharing economy are surging worldwide, and breakthroughs have been made in new technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum science. We in the Asia-Pacific cannot afford to be just onlookers. What we should do is to seize the opportunity, increase input in innovation, change the model of development and nurture new growth areas. We should promote structural reform, remove all institutional and systemic barriers to innovation and energize the market. We should implement the APEC Accord on Innovative Development, Economic Reform and Growth adopted in Beijing, deepen cooperation on the internet and digital economy and strive to be a global leader of innovative growth.

Third, we should continue to enhance connectivity and achieve interconnected development. Interconnected development is the best way to achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcome. We the Asia-Pacific economies are closely connected, and our interests are interlocked. Such an interconnected development will both open up new horizon for our own development, and create driving force for us all to achieve common development as partners. In 2014, the APEC Connectivity Blueprint was formulated. This Blueprint should guide our efforts to build a comprehensive, all-round and multi-tiered Asia-Pacific connectivity network. We should boost the real economy through the building of connectivity, break bottlenecks to development and unlock potentials. With these efforts, we can achieve coordinated and interconnected development.

In May this year, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was successfully held in Beijing. The Belt and Road Initiative calls for joint contribution and it has a clear focus, which is to promote infrastructure construction and connectivity, strengthen coordination on economic policies, enhance complementarity of development strategies and boost interconnected development to achieve common prosperity. This initiative is from China, but it belongs to the world. It is rooted in history, but it is oriented toward the future. It focuses on the Asian, European and African continents, but it is open to all partners. I am confident that the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative will create a broader and more dynamic platform for Asia-Pacific cooperation.

Fourth, we should continue to make economic development more inclusive and deliver its benefits to our people. The current headwinds confronting economic globalization is mostly generated by the lack of inclusiveness in development. Hard work is still needed if we are to bring the benefits of development to countries across the globe and people across our society, and thus turn our vision into reality.

Over the past few years, we have actively explored ways to promote inclusive development and have built strong consensus about it. We should deepen regional economic integration, develop an open and inclusive market and strengthen the bond of shared interests. We should make inclusiveness and sharing a part of our development strategies, improve systems and institutions to uphold efficiency and fairness, and safeguard social equity and justice. We should invest more in education, medical care, employment and other areas that are important to people's livelihood, and address poverty and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. We should reach out to disadvantaged groups, improve business environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and enable the workforce to better adapt to industrial transformation, so that everyone will have his fair share of opportunity and benefits.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

As an old Chinese saying goes, a commitment, once made, should be delivered. Boosting development in the Asia-Pacific requires real actions by all of us members. As the world's second largest economy, China knows fully well its responsibility. Over the past five years, we have taken proactive steps to adapt to, manage and steer the new normal of China's economy and deepened supply-side structural reform. As a result, China's economy has maintained steady performance, and we are pursuing better-quality, more efficient, fairer and more sustainable development. Over the past four years, China's economy has grown by 7.2% on the average annually, contributing over 30% of global growth. China is now a main driver powering global growth.

We have worked hard to remove systematical institutional barriers that impede development through comprehensive reform. As many as 360 major reform initiatives and more than 1,500 reform measures have been taken. Breakthroughs have been made in key areas, and general frameworks for reform have been put in place in major sectors. We have sped up efforts to build new institutions of the open economy and transform models of foreign trade and outbound investment to continue the shift from quantitative to qualitative improvement in trade.

We have advanced theoretical, practical, institutional, cultural and other explorations to unleash new impetus for growth. China has become a huge platform where all factors and players of innovation converge to make a real difference. From infrastructure to various economic sectors, from business models to ways of consumption, innovation is leading the way.

We have pursued a people-centered philosophy of development to make our development more inclusive and beneficial to all. Individual income has registered sustained growth, outpacing GDP growth for many years. Income gaps between urban and rural areas and between different regions have been narrowing, middle-income group expanding, and Gini coefficient dropping. More than 13 million new urban jobs have been created every year for four consecutive years. Significant advances have been made in pursuing green development, resulting in considerable reduction in the intensity of energy and resource consumption and marked improvement in the ecological environment.

To lift all the remaining poor people out of poverty is a solemn commitment made by the Chinese government to the people. It is uppermost in my mind, and I have spent more energy on poverty alleviation than anything else. Over the past five years, I have been to many poor areas in China to pin down the causes of poverty and address them in a targeted way. As a result, decisive progress has been made in the fight against poverty. Over the past five years, we have lifted more than 60 million people out of poverty. The poverty headcount ratio has declined, and per capita rural income in poor areas has maintained double-digit growth. This has not come easily, and we are proud of what we have achieved in poverty alleviation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

China's development is an evolving historical process. Last month, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was successfully convened in Beijing. Responding to our people's desire for a better life, the Congress formulated a guide to action and a development blueprint for China in the new era. It is envisaged that by 2020, China will turn itself into a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and by 2035, China will basically realize socialist modernization. By the middle of this century, China will become a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally-advanced, harmonious and beautiful. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people will embark on a new journey.

First, this is a new journey of deepening reform across the board and unleashing dynamism for development. To resolve difficulties and problems on the way forward, we must deepen all-round reform. We will focus more on solving problems, get rid of all outdated thinking and ideas and all institutional ailments and break through the blockades of vested interests to inspire creativity and vitality throughout society. We will develop a set of institutions that are well conceived, fully built, procedure based, and efficiently functioning and achieve modernization of China's system and capacity for governance. Next year, we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's launching of the reform and opening-up initiative. China's reform will cover more areas; and more and stronger steps will be taken in pursuing this endeavor.

Second, this is a new journey of moving with the times and exploring new model of development. China's economy is in a transition from a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development. We will be guided by a new development philosophy, put quality first, give priority to performance and develop a modernized economy. We will pursue supply-side structural reform as our main task, work hard to achieve better quality and higher efficiency performance, and create more robust growth through reform. We will raise total factor productivity and accelerate the building of an industrial system that promotes coordinated development of the real economy with technological innovation, modern finance, and a talent pool. We will endeavor to develop an economy with more effective market mechanisms, dynamic micro-entities, and sound macro-regulation. All these efforts will make China's economy more innovative and competitive. We will promote further integration of the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence with the real economy, and cultivate new drivers of growth in digital economy, sharing economy, clean energy and other areas. We will continue to explore new mechanisms and pathways for achieving coordinated development among regions, promote coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze Economic Belt, Xiongan New Area, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, build world-class city clusters and foster new source of growth.

As China works hard to pursue innovation and higher quality of growth, new forms of business will keep emerging, more innovations will be used, and development of various regions in China will become more balanced. All this will create a more powerful and extensive impact, present more opportunities of cooperation and enable more countries to board the express train of China's development.

Third, this is a new journey toward greater integration with the world and an open economy of higher standards. China will not slow its steps in opening up itself. We will work together with other countries to create new drivers of common development through the launching of the Belt and Road Initiative. We will adopt policies to promote high-standard liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment. We will implement the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list across the board, significantly ease market access, further open the service sector, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors. All businesses registered in China will be treated as equals. We will grant more powers to pilot free trade zones to conduct reform, and explore the opening of free trade ports. We will speed up negotiations with partner countries on the concluding of free trade agreements and investment treaties, advance the building of FTAAP, work for the speedy conclusion of RCEP negotiations, and endeavor to establish a global network of free trade areas.

In the next 15 years, China will have an even larger market and more comprehensive development. It is estimated that China will import US$24 trillion worth of goods, attract US$2 trillion inbound direct investment and make US$2 trillion of outbound investment. In November next year, China will hold the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai, which will provide a new platform for expanding cooperation in China's market among all parties.

Fourth, this is a new journey toward a better life for the people. To secure a better life for our people is what we aim to achieve in everything we do. We will ensure and improve living standards through development and meet people's ever-growing needs for a better life. We will continue to promote social fairness and justice to see that our people will always have a strong sense of gains, happiness, and security. We will continue to implement targeted poverty reduction and alleviation measures and ensure that by the year 2020, all rural residents living below the current poverty line are lifted out of poverty. Each and every one of the over 1.3 billion Chinese people should lead decent lives. No one will be left behind!

We will speed up institutional reform for ecological conservation, pursue green, low-carbon and sustainable development, and implement the strictest possible system for environmental protection. By 2035, there will be a fundamental improvement in the environment; the goal of building a Beautiful China will be basically attained. We will actively tackle climate change, and protect our common home for the sake of human survival. China's carbon dioxide emission is expected to peak around 2030, and we will make every effort for such emissions to reach the peak ahead of time. We will increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20% by 2030. Once we set a target, we will not stop our efforts until it is met!

Fifth, this is a new journey toward a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind. The dream of us Chinese is closely connected with the dreams of people of other countries. Our world is full of challenges and the road ahead will not be smooth. But we will not give up on our dream. We will double our efforts and work with all others to build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys durable peace, universal security, and common prosperity.

We Chinese believe that peace is most precious and that there should be harmony among all nations. We are committed to peaceful development and we will remain an anchor for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. China will, guided by the principle of upholding justice while pursuing shared interests, actively develop global partnerships, expand the convergence of interests with other countries, and work to foster a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation. Acting on the principle of achieving shared growth through consultation and collaboration, we will get actively involved in reforming and developing the global governance system to make the international political and economic order more just and equitable.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

All of our people in the Asia-Pacific deserve peace, stability and prosperity; and all of us in the region should jointly deliver a bright future for the Asia-Pacific. Partnerships based on mutual trust, inclusiveness, cooperation and mutual benefit: This is what keeps our big Asia-Pacific family together and ensures the success of Asia-Pacific cooperation. Let us take solid steps to promote cooperation and usher in an even brighter future for the Asia-Pacific.

Thank you.
HICKORY  When Isaac Setliff was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army this spring, he used the occasion to pay tribute to one of the most influential men in his life.

As his name was called at the ceremony, Setliff walked up and was greeted by a salute from the veteran who has meant the most to him: his grandfather, Jim Camp.

The first salute was a special moment in what has long been a strong, close relationship, Setliff said.

Setliff, who lived much of his life in Mountain View and is currently stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., said in a phone interview he attributes much of the person he is today to his grandfather.

Well my relationship with my grandfather growing up was, it was a great one, Setliff said. I saw him weekly, and I grew up hearing all his stories of not only military service but just his life. Hes pretty much like a, I guess you could say, more of a like a best friend kind of relationship growing up.

Camp also spoke warmly of his relationship with his grandson and of the opportunity to participate in the first salute.

It felt good, Camp said. I just, Im proud of him.

Setliff said he became aware his grandfather was a veteran as boy when his mother would take him to his grandfathers house on Veterans Day to thank him for his service.

As he grew up, Setliff said his grandfather shared stories about his service in the U.S. Navy.

Camp, who is from Forest City and has lived in Hickory for about 55 years, joined the Navy in 1951 when he was 19.

Hoping to avoid being drafted in the Army, Camp said he first tried to enlist in the U.S. Air Force but joined the Navy after finding the waiting list for the Air Force was too long.

When he learned Setliff had an interest in the Army, Camp said he unsuccessfully tried to persuade his grandson to join either the Air Force or the Navy.

So I was in high school, I told him you know I wanted to go in the Army and he said, well, hope you like doing pushups, Setliff said, laughing. He pushed for the Air Force or Navy, but I didnt budge.

Camp served on the ammunition ship USS Chara during the Korean War.

We worked unloading ammunition to other ships, sometimes all day and all night, Camp said. Really, when we first got there, it was in I think it was in August, July or August. It was hot and we worked, I dont know, five or six days straight.

While he was not in the war zone, Camp said he was close enough to hear the ships firing at the mainland.

Camp said he was in Korea off-and-on for two years. After the war, he spent the remaining two years of his service in the Pacific, mostly in Guam.

Setliff said his decision to join the military was likely inspired more by the values he believes his grandfather exemplifies than his grandfathers service itself.

Chief among those values was selflessness, Setliff said.

Setliff said Camp is probably the most selfless person I know.

He always displayed a selfless service kind of mentality, and that really rubbed off on me, he added.

In some ways, the experience of military service has created a shared understanding between grandson and grandfather.

Like his grandfather, Setliff is serving in the military as a recently married man.

Camp said he married his wife Faye shortly before his 18-month deployment to Guam.

Though he had tried to get housing so she could join him, Camp said he was only able to secure housing six months before the end of his deployment so she ultimately did not leave the United States.

Understanding the challenges of being an active duty service member who also has to balance family responsibilities is one thing they both can now appreciate, Setliff said.

And you know, the way the military works now, theres a good possibility I can be deployed really any time so he kind of understands that, and he understands both from just the idea of serving overseas but at the same time being a married man, having a responsibility to your wife, but at the same time early on having the opportunity, the option of being away from her for that long a time, Setliff said.

The two men also reflected on the significance of Veterans Day and the importance of recognizing veterans.

Ill just say, if it wasnt for men like my grandfather, we wouldnt have the privileges we have today, so be sure to thank all the veterans because they gave up a lot, Setliff said.

Camp said he was happy the holiday, and recognition of veterans overall, has increased over the years.

Years ago, it wasnt mentioned much, Camp said. It wasnt a big deal, but now they really have gone out for veterans, which Im glad they are, Camp said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- In his first speech outside China after a historic Party congress, President Xi Jinping on Friday presented China's "new journey" toward a great modern socialist country, as well as the opportunities it creates for the world.

Xi described the "new journey" as one of deepening reform across the board and unleashing dynamism for development; moving with the times and exploring new model of development; toward greater integration with the world and an open economy of higher standards; toward a better life for the people; and toward a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

"In the next 15 years, China will have an even larger market and more comprehensive development," Xi said while delivering a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Vietnam's central city of Da Nang.

He said that during that period, it is estimated that China will import 24 trillion U.S. dollars worth of goods, attract 2 trillion dollars of inbound direct investment and make 2 trillion dollars of outbound investment.

In November next year, China will hold the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai, which will provide a new platform for expanding cooperation in China's market among all parties, Xi said.

"China will not slow its steps in opening up itself," Xi told the business leaders. "We will work together with other countries to create new drivers of common development through the launching of the Belt and Road Initiative."

He promised that all businesses registered in China will be treated as equals, and that China will grant more powers to pilot free trade zones to conduct reform, and explore the opening of free trade ports.

Xi noted that China will speed up institutional reform for ecological conservation, pursue green, low-carbon and sustainable development, and implement the strictest possible system for environmental protection.

"By 2035, there will be a fundamental improvement in the environment; the goal of building a Beautiful China will be basically attained," he said.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) successfully held its 19th National Congress last month. Xi, the helmsman of the world's second largest economy, was re-elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the First Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, which was held a day after the Party congress concluded.

Overall guidelines and program of action were set out at the historic congress for the future development of the Party and the country, drawing a blueprint for China's development between now and the middle of this century.

The plan of the CPC -- as outlined by Xi -- is to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020; basically realize socialist modernization by 2035; and develop China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of this century.

When addressing the APEC CEO Summit on Friday, Xi said as China works hard to pursue innovation and higher quality of growth, new forms of business will keep emerging, more innovations will be used, and development of various regions in China will become more balanced.

"All this will create a more powerful and extensive impact, present more opportunities of cooperation and enable more countries to board the express train of China's development," Xi said.

Xi arrived in Da Nang on Friday to attend the annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, scheduled for Nov. 10-11 with the theme of "Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future."

This year's meeting comes against the backdrop of an improving global economy and a rebound in global trade and investment, despite risks and uncertainties.

Sharing his observations about the global economy, Xi said the world is witnessing profound changes in growth drivers, the model of global growth, economic globalization and the system of global economic governance.

He called on the 21 APEC members to continue to foster an open economy that benefits all, pursue innovation-driven development and create new drivers of growth, enhance connectivity and achieve interconnected development, and make economic development more inclusive and deliver its benefits to the people.

Xi defended the significance of economic globalization in his speech, saying that it has contributed greatly to global growth over the last few decades.

"Indeed, it has become an irreversible historical trend," he said.

But he also acknowledged that economic globalization faces new adjustments in both form and substance.

"In pursuing economic globalization, we should make it more open and inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and beneficial to all," he said.

He pointed out that the current headwinds confronting economic globalization is mostly generated by the lack of inclusiveness in development.

"Hard work is still needed if we are to bring the benefits of development to countries across the globe and people across our society, and thus turn our vision into reality," he said.

President Xi renewed his call for building a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), saying it is the long-cherished dream of the business community in the region and can provide an institutional underpinning for growing an open economy in the Asia-Pacific.

Meanwhile, he again highlighted the important role of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"This initiative is from China, but it belongs to the world. It is rooted in history, but it is oriented toward the future. It focuses on the Asian, European and African continents, but it is open to all partners," he said.

"I am confident that the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative will create a broader and more dynamic platform for Asia-Pacific cooperation," he added.

SPEECH APPLAUDED

Following the APEC CEO summit, the Chinese president, along with other APEC leaders, held dialogue with representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Council, exchanging views on the new opportunities brought by the 19th CPC National Congress, the Belt and Road Initiative and other topics.

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who listened to Xi's speech at the CEO summit, spoke highly of the address.

He told Xi in a brief meeting after the speech that Peru attaches great importance to the relationship with China and hope to reinforce mutually beneficial cooperation in fields of infrastructure, investment, energy and mineral resources.

Meanwhile, Xi's remarks on economic globalization were applauded by other participants.

"In general, China, an economic power, can make important contributions to the regional economy so that the Asia-Pacific becomes a major engine to drive global economy and trade liberalization as stated by Xi," said Nguyen Thien Chi, member of Executive Committee of Ho Chi Minh City's Vietnam-China Friendship Association.

"Many people in the region want to establish the FTAAP soon to benefit from open and free trade and investment," he said.

"President Xi said the word 'inclusive' for many many times, and I think it's a good thing," said Sami Kteily, executive chairman of PEB Steel Buildings Co. Ltd. from Canada. "Economic growth shouldn't be restricted to one country. The whole region must benefit from the economic growth."

"I believe in multilateralism myself. I think the globalization is happening. It is the natural development of businesses and economies around the world," said Michael W. Michalak, senior vice president and regional managing director of U.S.-ASEAN Business Council.

"I think if Xi can lead the way to make it more inclusive, more fair, more open-minded, then that will be wonderful," he added.
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It was her first experience of a Hollywood horror film. A young Anu Mukherjee had gone to witness the dark deeds of the infamous Count Dracula with her brother at a Calcutta movie theatre. Nearly 40 years later, the film remains the ultimate experience in horror for her, the bar against which she measures the fear factor of every other horror film. It must have been sometime in the early 1970s. I was about 15 or 16 years old. And I embarrassed myself by screaming out loud in the hall when Dracula sank his fangs into the neck of the first of his unsuspecting victims, recalls 62-year-old Mukherjee, a homemaker.

The test of a good horror story is its ability to play on the readers or viewers psyche. It doesnt need to have a ghost jumping out of a closet but it should build the expectation that something is about to happen, says Shinie Antony who has recently edited a collection of short stories titled Boo.

When Bram Stoker wrote Dracula  the book celebrated 120 years of its publication earlier this year, while the writers 170th birth anniversary was on November 8  he offered both. He not only built an eerie setting in the Counts old castle and the whispers of death and disappearances surrounding him, but also showed the Count stalking and preying on his victims. Still, did Stoker foresee the extent of the popularity that his creation would enjoy  even after more than a century?

The supernatural genre is all about bragging rights, how much you held out being scared or how much it scared you. The closer it is to reality the scarier the story, says film director Suparn Verma.

A search on Google reveals a list of about 40 films on the Dracula theme alone. The list of vampire films is much longer. So synonymous did Bram Stokers Dracula become with vampires and their behaviour, that more than a century later Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series of books (written between 2005-2008), had to first bring up the nature of Stokers vampire, sleeping in the coffin for example, or being burnt by sunlight, before writing off these characteristics as myths.

Yet surprisingly, though both Dracula and the more recent vampires  Twilights Cullens and their friends  have enjoyed popularity in India (just count the number of Count Dracula costumes at Halloween parties here), there are few original vampire stories in popular Indian culture. Even Hollywood-inspired narratives of the Count and his descendants are rare. The success of The Twilight Saga did inspire a 2010 Indian television show, Pyaar Kii Yeh Ek Kahaani, but it hardly started a trend.

Film Fright

The Ramsay brothers had an outstanding vampire in their 1990 film Bandh Darwaza, says Shamya Dasgupta, writer of the book Dont Disturb The Dead: The Story Of The Ramsay Brothers. The character was called Neola, played by Ajay Agarwal, who had this Count Dracula-like high-collared attire. He preyed on young women, who he sought out at night, and also had sex with them.

A poster of 1990 film Bandh Darwaza.

Suparn Verma, who directed the 2013 horror film Aatma, also mentions a crossbreed vampire in the Ramsay film Saamri. But the 1985 film was a mix of black magic and revenge drama, perhaps to make it more palatable for Indian viewers. Tulsi Ramsay, one of seven brothers who are acknowledged as the pioneers of the horror genre in low-budget Hindi cinema in the 1970s and 1980s, gives the example of a female vampire, Jasmin, in their film Veerana, as someone who would first seduce her victims and then kill them.

But except for these three films  out of a total of over 30 made by the Ramsays  there seem to be few examples of vampire films in India, or at least none that enjoy immediate popular recall.

The atma (spirit) is more common to Indian films, agrees Tulsi Ramsay. From the hit 1992 supernatural film Raat, to the more recent Raaz (2002), Bhoot (2003) and Aatma (2013), spirits and stories of being possessed by spirits, seem to be the staple of Bollywood horror. Stories of black magic and witches are also not uncommon  the most recent example being Ek Thi Daayan (2013), directed by Kannan Iyer. The same trend seems to be reflected in fiction  at least in the Indian writing in English segment.

A poster for the Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi and Kalki Koechlin starrer Ek Thi Daayan. The 2013 film was directed by Kannan Iyer.

Writer Mukul Sharma, on whose story Ek Thi Daayan was based, sees nothing wrong in this, If Hollywood does not miss the ulte pair wali chudhail, why should we in India worry about the lack of iconic vampire characters? he questions.

Stoker is believed to have based his Dracula on the character of the Romanian prince Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. The west adapted it more naturally. We have been dabbling in possession, spirits, evil witches and the odd zombie in films so far, says Suparn Verma. He adds, The supernatural genre is all about bragging rights, how much you held out being scared or how much it scared you. The closer it is to reality the scarier the story.

And our myths and legends  the Hindu stuff anyway  have to do more with monsters, chudails, pishachas, ghosts and ghouls, points out Dasgupta. There are usually ancient curses at work, and there is usually a way to solve the problem  this is how Hindu mythology works.

Roy DSilva, who curates the horror blog Saamri (the name is inspired by the Ramsay film), says that one reason could be that in traditional Hindu culture, the corpse is usually cremated and not buried. So an incorporeal being is more common than a living corpse or the undead.

But stories of vampires and blood-drinking demons are common not only in European cultures, but also in folklore across the world, including Asia. The Malaysian Penanggalan, a beautiful woman who preys on the blood of pregnant women, the Leyak, a similar being in Balinese folklore, and the Ab in Cambodia, are examples.

Rooted In Folklore

When the stories of Vikram and Betaal were first translated into English, it was titled Twenty-five Tales Of The Vampire, says Sadhana Naithani, Indian folklore expert and professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Like the vampire, which is neither alive nor dead, Betaal is a talking corpse, though he doesnt drink blood. She has other examples of vampire-like characters in regional lore as proof of vampires not being completely alien to Indian culture.

A scene from the Doordarshan serial Vikram Aur Beetal. The television series had Arun Govil playing the character of king Vikramaditya and Sajjan as Betaal.

Around 20 years after the 1857 revolt, there were stories circulating in parts of India, such as Meerut, about a British man who would kidnap young boys, take them to a hill station and hang them upside down to take out their body fluids to make medicine. The rumours gave him the characters of a Momia, a being neither alive nor dead, common to the folklore of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, she says.

Writings available on the Internet also mention a chedipe in the folklore of the Godavari region. The chedipe is a kind of witch-vampire associated with the devdasis. The word literally means a prostitute. While some chedipes were spirits, there is also mention of those who were undead. Then there are references of the Pey and his female counterpart, the Peymakilir in Tamil culture, vampires who haunt battlefields and feed on fallen soldiers. While the Pey is believed to drink the blood of the dead, the Peymakilir is also said to devour flesh.

What Haunts Indians Atma or Bhoot: Ghosts or spirits of dead people Preta: A supernatural being that has gone through extreme levels of suffering, especially extreme hunger and thirst Dayan: A witch Chudhail: A female demon that can shape-shift and thus lures her victims and then kills them or sucks out their virility Pishacha: Flesh-eating demons

Putna, a demon mentioned in the Mahabharata, is a cannibal who also drinks blood. But she is different from a vampire, in that she was cursed in her previous life by the gods. Indian mythology has many examples of pishachas, daityas and rakshas. Even in our culture, they are evil beings of the night. But unlike the vampires, they are not created by the bite of a similar creature, says professor Nandini Sahu, also a folklore expert.

Naithani admits that vampires  as in the blood-drinking undead  are far more prominent in European folklore, and thus get used in their literature and films. But adds, We have a rich folklore, with variants of the vampire. But our filmmakers and literary authors have not engaged in enough re-telling and re-interpretation of these. Instead we have remained somewhat fixated on the atma.

One reason could be that horror as a genre, in films and fiction, remains largely unexplored in mainstream popular culture. A few ghost stories for kids and the odd film, often with an element of sleaze  think Veerana (1988) and Ragini MMS (2011)  are what we are familiar with. Good horror stories are few and far between, and most stick to the tried-and-tested territory.

Horror is treated as a bastard child in the genre of films and literature, which is why we have limited horror films and even more limited literature, agrees Verma. This is not due to lack of ideas but lack of legitimacy and backers. But with the new generation being more exposed to ideas, my feeling is that this is about to change very soon.

A poster for the Bipasha Basu and Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Aatma.

The Ramsay films were known for their limited budgets. Now people like Vikram Bhatt and Ram Gopal Verma have been making big-budget horror films, says Tulsi Ramsay. Neither Verma nor Ramsay doubt audience interest in all things that go bump in the night, vampire included. We are as ready as anyone can be, says Verma. But Dasgupta cautions, It has to make sense, though. Just borrowing a concept and trying to fit it into an Indian context wont work. Whatever the plot, it has to have an explanation. There has to be background and logic.

One hundred and twenty years after his creation, perhaps the time is finally ripe for Count Dracula to explore new territory and go Indian. Willing victims are waiting to be converted.

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The government on Saturday suspended two post-graduate doctors who had examined gang-rape victim and prepared a report stating that sex was consensual have been suspended, while the senior gynaecologist, who was supposed to oversee their work, has been served with show-cause notice.

Gandhi Medical College dean Dr M C Songra said that decision to suspend Dr Khushbu and Dr Sanyogita was taken as their replies were not satisfactory.

Dr Khushbu had earlier told HT that they have learnt from their mistake.

I had too much work on my hand and rushed through while writing the report and that is how the error crept in, she told HT. No one forced me to do the report, but I did not know how to write the report correctly, and my English is also weak.

The two inexperienced PG students were given the task of preparing the medical report in the sensitive gang rape case of a 19-year old UPSC aspirant, which they had badly botched up, leading to wide-spread condemnation.

But, what they did is not unusual in hospitals in Bhopal, doctors told HT.

Senior doctors avoid writing the medical report because invariably when these cases come up in court the defense lawyer cross-examines the doctor who writes the medical report, a practicing gynaecologist said on condition of anonymity. She said as doctors consider going to court to give evidence as a waste of time, so they make the PG students, who cannot refuse the senior doctors, do the work.

Ideally, what is being written should be seen by the senior doctors, but they often do not, leading to goof-ups similar to what happened in the gang-rape case the doctor said.

Superintendent of Bhopals Hamidia Zanana Hospital, Dr Karan Pipre was candid enough to admit that medical examination of victims in sensitive medico-legal cases were being routinely done by inexperienced PG students.

Former director, medico-legal institute, Dr D S Badkul pointed out that there is a 100- page detailed guideline and protocol issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare that should be followed in medico-legal cases for survivor/victim of sexual violence.

But no one follows it, Dr Badkul said. The work of the doctor is not to judge whether sex was consensual or not, but find evidence of rape.

Dr Pipre said from now on only senior doctors would do medical report in serious cases.

HC takes cognizance

The Madhya Pradesh high court has taken suo moto cognizance of the matter and is likely to issue a notice to the state government on Monday.

Quoting HT report of November 10 with the heading Bhopal gang-rape: Junked medical report said sex was consensual, Congress alleges cover-up, the courts principal registrar has listed the matter for hearing on Monday.
Medical examination of victims in sensitive medico-legal cases were being routinely done by inexperienced PG students and several doctors Hindustan Times spoke to said they did this to avoid being called to the court to give evidence at a later stage.

Senior doctors avoid writing the medical report in sensitive medico-legal cases because invariably when these cases come up in court the defense lawyer cross-examines the doctor who writes the medical report. Doctors consider going to court to give evidence in a case a waste of time, so they make the PG students, who cannot refuse the senior doctors, do the work, a practicing gynaecologist said on condition of anonymity.

Ideally, what is being written should be seen by the senior doctors, but they often do not, leading to goof-ups similar to what happened in the gang-rape case the doctor said,

The admission by superintendent of Bhopals Hamidia Zanana Hospital, Dr Karan Pipre that medical examination of victims in sensitive medico-legal cases were being routinely done by inexperienced PG students, was shocking enough. But the two PG students who botched up a medical report of a rape victim now seems to have been a blooper that was waiting to happen.

The two inexperienced PG students were given the task of preparing the medical report in the sensitive gang rape case of a 19-year old UPSC aspirant, which they had badly botched up, leading to wide-spread condemnation.

Former director, medico-legal institute, Dr D S Badkul says it is ethically wrong on part of senior doctors to make PG students write the medical reports in sensitive medico-legal cases.

A senior gyneacologist should be performing the examination and the PG students should be assisting him. Same is the case when it comes to writing the report. It should be done by the senior doctor.

Dr Badkul pointed out that there is a 100- page detailed guideline and protocol issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare that should be followed in Medico-Legal cases for survivor/victim of sexual violence.

But no one follows it. The work of the doctor is not to judge whether sex was consensual or not, but find evidence of rape, Dr Badkul said, referring to the medical report prepared of the gang-rape victim in which the two inexperienced PG students had written that sex was consensual.

Dr Pipre had also told Hindustan Times that from now on only senior doctors would do medical report in serious cases. We have issued an order that from now only senior doctors would do medico-legal cases and also issued a show-cause notice. He refused to comment on whether senior doctors purposely avoid sensitive cases to stay away from court hearings.

Talking about the importance of medical report in rape cases, advocate Rekha Shrivastava who practices in the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court in said, Medical report is a key piece of evidence in proving guilt or otherwise of the accused, particularly in cases of rape, murder, attempted murder etc, she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Khusbhu, the PG student who is in the eye of the storm for writing a medical report of the gang-rape victim in which she said that sex was consensual and referred to the victim as the accused in her report, said it was a gross error on her part to write such a report.

I had too much work on my hand and rushed through while writing the report and that is how the error crept in, she told HT.

Dr Khushbu, who has done only four medico-legal cases also blamed her inexperience for the error. No one forced me to do the report, but I did not know how to write the report correctly, and my English is also weak, she explained on why she had written accused when she meant victim.

However, she added that she has learnt from her mistake.
Actor Adah Sharma is someone who likes to skip the norm when it comes to fashion, and prefers to go by what her gut says, something that reflects in her style statement, which she flaunts with elan at her public appearances. The head turner that she is, Adah, in the past, has been seen carrying a golden sari with elephant prints as effortlessly as she does a western style floral day dress.

Asked about her personal sense of style, the actor says, I dont have just one style statement that I follow. As an actor, its nice to look unrecognisable everywhere. Especially red carpets and events, where you dont have to stick to your movie character look.

Elaborating on her personal style picks, the actor quips, My style is my Adah (laughs). Its casual, mismatched, and bohemian. I like wearing jhumkas with a dress, or pairing [a] one-off thing with an outfit and making it work.

Since Captain Jack Sparrow is taken I'm captain Crack Sparrow  Happy #halloween oween A post shared by Adah Sharma (@adah_ki_adah) on Oct 31, 2017 at 1:39am PDT

While most actors would confess to feeling the pressure of dressing well all the time, Adah thinks otherwise. I feel its [style is] different for every actor, adding, I believe fashion is all fun, but taking it too seriously ruins the whole thing for me. It has to be enjoyed.

Explaining how effortlessness goes a long way in cultivating a unique sense of style, she says, My fans like it when Im casual, also  without makeup, hair not done. [Also] with Instagram and other social media platforms, I make it a point to show people how I am in my real life. Its a nice contrast, then, to [my look at] a film or red carpet event. Even at a press conference, I dont feel the pressure of being watched.

The actor signs off with the admission that she usually errs on the extra casual side for real life, while for movie promotions, she likes to try out different things on each occasion.

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Haryana health minister Anil Vij has said the state government will approach the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to seek a ban on the upcoming Bollywood movie Padmavati. The minister added he would not allow the screening of the movie in the state. The film stars Deepika Padukone as Padmavati while Ranveer Singh plays Alauddin Khilji.

Vij claimed that the filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, had wrongly presented the historical facts in the movie to defame the image of Rani Padmavati which had hurt the sentiments of lakhs of people. Rani Padmavati is the symbol of Indian women pride. The character assassination of Padmavati will not be tolerated at any level, he said.

The minister said that the state government would approach the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), demanding a ban on the film throughout the country.

Padmavati is facing a ban call with fringe Rajput groups protesting against an alleged romantic sequence between Padmavati and Khilji. Both Bhansali and the films team has dismissed these rumours. As the films release approaches, the controversies have got a new lease of life. In the past two days, the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court have dismissed petitions seeking ban on the film. The film is yet to be certified by the CBFC.

Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Bhansali Productions, Padmavati will release worldwide on December 1.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (6th L, front) poses for a family photo before a gala dinner hosted by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and his wife for leaders, delegates and spouses attending the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
If actor Karisma Kapoor plans to take the next step with her businessman beau Sandeep Toshniwal, she has her father Randhir Kapoors blessings. The veteran actor shares that he will support anything that makes his daughter happy.

The focus is back on Karisma and Sandeeps love story after the latter was granted divorce from his orthodontist wife, Ashrita, on Monday. Buzz is that the two, who have reportedly been dating for over three years now, might tie the knot soon. If she [Karisma] wants to get married, then she has my blessings. She is young and must be seeing him [Sandeep], I dont know. I also see their photographs, says Kapoor, who was earlier quoted as saying that he doesnt think Karisma has plans of getting married anytime soon and that she is enjoying motherhood.

Karisma and Sandeep have been spotted together quite often, even at Kapoor familys get-togethers. If she wants to begin her life again and her children (Samiera Kapoor, 12, and Kiaan Raj Kapoor, 7; with ex-husband Sunjay Kapur) are happy with it (her decision to get married again) then I will support them. I dont think there is anything wrong in that in todays time, adds Randhir, who was in the Capital on Friday to attend the inauguration of Russian Film Days, an Indo-Russian government co-operative initiative.

Sandeep married Ashrita in 2003 and filed for divorce in 2010. Reportedly, as per their final settlement, Ashrita gets the custody of their two daughters. According to reports, each daughter will receive Rs. 3 crores, and Ashrita will get Rs. 2 crore and the flat where she presently resides with her daughters.

Karisma Kapoor and Sandeep Toshniwal have reportedly been dating for three years (Prodip Guha)

Karisma, who married businessman Sunjay Kapur in 2003, separated from him in 2016 and has got the custody of their kids. Sunjay tied the knot with Priya Sachdev earlier this year.

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Reacting to the recent series of protests and demands seeking ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmavati, eminent historian and professor emeritus in Aligarh Muslim University Prof Irfan Habib has said Rani Padmavati is not historical but an imaginary character and her existence has always been debatable.

Though Alauddin Khilji had won Chittor, during that period there is no mention of any character as Padmavati in history, he said.

Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, the film is being opposed for alleged distortion of historical facts and an alleged romantic scene between Deepika and Ranveer who play Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji respectively.

Elaborating further, the historian said that after 250 years of the Chittor incident, Malik Mohammad Jayasi for the first time mentioned Padmavati in his creation Padmavat. But Jayasi has mentioned that the princess of Singhaldeep (presently Sri Lanka) Padmavati was married to Raja Ratan Singh of Mewar. Padmavat is a long poetry collection and is an integral part of our literature. Official historian of Mewar darbar Shayamal Das has described Padmavati but in some other context, he said.

Commenting over allegations of distorting facts in the movie, Prof Habib said, If any film producer makes movie on historical facts, he will fail in entertaining the audience.

Although the Supreme Court, on Friday, has dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the release of the film, a couple of organizations are ready to stage protests in Braj area against the screening of the movie. The Allahabad high court has also dismissed a petition seeking ban on the film. Padmavati is yet to be certified by Central Board of Film Certification.

President of Kshatriya Sanghtan (Aligarh) Satish Singh told HT, Rani Padmavati was a Kshatriya. Her character has been presented in film by twisting facts which is an insult to the entire community. We will oppose the release of the film and will not allow it to be screened in cinema halls. A massive demonstration will be held at those cinema halls where the film will be released.

Earlier, Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) activists had led a massive demonstration in Aligarh. The activists torn the posters and burnt them. In Agra, the HJM activists reached Sanjay talkies at Sanjay Place and created chaos. HJM President Amit Chaudhry warned the cinema hall owners against hurting the sentiments of Hindus.

Social analyst N Jamal Ansari said, It does not matter if Rani Padmavati was a historical character or not. It is just a film and no one should be allowed to stop its screening. Presently myths are being presented as history which is a dangerous trend.

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After appearing in several successful Telugu and Kannada films since she made her foray into the southern film industry back in 2009, actor Kriti Kharbanda made her Bollywood debut last year, with Raaz: Reboot. The 29-year-old actor backed it up with two Bollywood releases, Guest Iin London and Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, this year, but says that she is still not ready to bid adieu to films down south.

I am still working down south and I will always continue doing that. Telugu films will always remain my first love. I dont want to change that, she says.

Kriti says her endeavour has always been to hone her acting skills and associate herself with meaningful projects, rather than giving too much thought about the language. I aim to do good cinema. I want to be recognised as a good actor. It does not matter which industry I am working in. I dont want to limit myself as an actor. If I set a limit to myself, it would limit my capability, she adds.

In Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, which released recently, Kriti is sharing screen with actor Rajkummar Rao for the first time, and adds that she had an amazing time on the sets with the Newton actor, who helped and supported her throughout the shooting of the film.

There was a comfort level and understanding we had of each others character. Our friendship off screen grew because of the understanding. Its a genuine affection that I feel for him. He is a very dear friend, almost like family. He is the kind of person you can really depend on, gushes Kriti.

Talking about the film, she adds that she became way too involved with her role in the film. I got carried away with the character to the point that now I have serious withdrawal symptoms. I cannot get out of the character. I am very anxious that my film is releasing, and I have to part with my character, she says.

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Madhuri Dixit dancing to the song Ek Do Teen in Tezaab is still fresh in everyones memory. So is the song So Gaya Yeh Jahan, featuring actors Chunky Panday and Anil Kapoor. This N Chandra directorial was an instant hit when it released in 1988. As the film completes 29 years today (November 11), Chunky shares that the film will remain one of the best things that happened in his career.

We had so much fun making the film. And of course, the love and appreciation that followed after it released is something I can never forget. People still tell me about how much they liked So Gaya Yeh Jahan, shares Chunky, who played Anil Kapoors friend in the film. He also remembers how he and actor Johny Lever used to practice the scenes before facing the camera. Those sessions were very interesting, he adds.

Going down memory lane, we asked Chunky to share a few lesser known anecdotes from the film, and he happily gets into the recall mode. Read on:

1. Tezaab was a five-hour-long film that was edited to fit into three hours. But the producer and distributors wanted the film to be even shorter, and suggested that the song So Gaya Yeh Jahan should be dropped. However, N Chandra put his foot down and said that its a very heavy film and he needed to calm the audience with the soft number.

2. The film released on a Friday and the advance booking opened on Monday that week. There was a long queue [of people] who wanted to watch the movie on the first day. There was a train track near the booking counter where a movie scene was being shot, and as the news spread, people waiting for tickets rushed to see it. It was Anil Kapoor who was giving a shot for Tezaab on top of the train, and the scene was added to the film on Thursday, a day before the release.

Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor in a still from Tezaab.

3. After the actors finished shooting So Gaya Yeh Jahan, they went to a nearby hotel to grab something to eat. As it was late at night and they were very hungry, they did not remove their bloody make-up. As soon as they entered the lobby, everyone panicked to see them covered in blood. The hotel staff came running to ask if they should call the doctor, and calmed down only after the situation was explained to them.

4. The composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal wanted to use the Marathi song Jawa Navin Popat Ha in Tezaab, but they soon found out that it had already been used in one of Chunkys films, Paap Ki Duniya (1988) titled Main Tera Tota Tu Meri Maina. So they had to drop the idea, and the tune that was composed for the song was then sent to Javed Akhtar.

5. Javed Akhtar wrote the lyrics to Ek Do Teen within an hour. Chunky shares that the lyricist took a cue from the way Laxmikant used to compose his tunes saying ek do teen.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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The Corbett management has identified six IP addresses through which bulk online bookings were done, overshadowing individual bookings for day visit and night stay at the protected area in Uttarakhand.

Delhi and National Capital Region account for a majority of the online bookings which contribute over 90% to the earnings generated through tourism activities. It was found that a few people  believed to be tour operators  were making the bulk bookings and, in the process, blocking regular tourists.

The issue was discussed with former chief secretary S Ramaswamy, following which the National Informatics Centre (NIC) is now trying to secure the Corbett website. The lack of rules, strategy and plan are being blamed for the discrepancy regrading the bulk bookings.

We submitted details of 6 IP addresses to the chief secretary through which the maximum bookings were done, Corbett director Surendra Mehra told Hindustan Times.

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network using internet protocol for communication.

While a number of individual complaints were reported about the failure to avail online services, one incident drew the attention of Corbett officials on November 15, 2016, when an operator offered sumptuous breakfast to more than 10 tourists at the Khinanauli forest rest house.

First, the booking of the rest house is done manually through the chief wildlife wardens office and it is, usually reserved for VIPs. Second, no such facility is offered at the rest house, Corbett officials said.

But officials claim the website is totally secured. The day visit at the reserve has already started from November 1 and night stays will start from November 15 when the gates of Dhikala are opened.

The reserve is a popular tourist destination among the people living in and around the national capital during winter and, especially, during the New Year.

The problem is with the website. Unlike IRCTC, the website lacked a specific set of rules which limits multiple bookings, Amit Sinha, inspector general and director, Information Technology Development Agency , said

NIC scientist Arun Sharma said there were ways to provide equal access to every user.

The website needs checks and balances like OTP identification, limiting bookings by each user and others. We are reviewing the website and soon an improved version of the website will be presented to tourists.

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DEHRADUN: Drop boxes will be set up outside all schools to allow students discreetly submit complaints against teaching, non-teaching staff and even classmates regarding molestation, bullying and other wrongdoings, a senior police officer said.

Earlier this year, a project on similar lines was carried out by the police in Nainital district after a girl was allegedly molested by a support staff of a Haldwani public school in April. The Uttarakhand Polices decision comes in the wake of the Gurugram murder case wherein a seven-year-old student was found with throat slit inside a private school in September.

Incidentally, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) stipulates that its schools put up complaint, or suggestion boxes. Uttarakhand reported 635 crimes against children in 2015, according to the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB).

Police heads of all the districts were told to ensure drop boxes were installed outside schools, additional director general of police, law and order, Ashok Kumar told HT. Through the drop boxes, students who are too afraid, embarrassed or hesitant to speak up (about any wrongdoing) will be able to reach out to the police without disclosing names, he said. Directions were issued to all district police heads to ensure compliance of the order in their areas. Police station in-charges will be responsible for redressal of complaints once the boxes are set up.

Welcoming the decision, a school vice-principal had a note of caution for the law-keepers. It is a good initiative, but the police should maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the child as well as of the school while carrying out investigation, Doon International School vice principal Dinesh Barthwal said, adding many schools have internal grievance and counseling mechanism for students.

Another teacher pointed out that with anonymous complaints, the police will have an added task at hand to corroborate the charges. Otherwise, a complaint made just on the basis of ill-will may end up jeopardising study of a student or career of a teacher (accused of wrongdoing), asserted a senior teacher of a leading Dehradun-based public school.

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DEHRADUN: To expedite the cleaning of the Ganga in Uttarakhand, the Centre has delegated full powers to the State Ganga Committee to take legal action against commercial establishments polluting the river and its tributaries.

The powers delegated to the panel are equivalent to those of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), State Programme Management Group (SPMG) project director Ragav Langer said. The SPMG can now initiate suo motu action against any commercial establishment polluting the Ganga or can take cognizance of similar complaints.

The SPMG is now empowered to take legal action against commercial establishments. including hotels and industry, whose industrial effluents or sewage pass into the Ganga or its tributaries.

Exercising its powers, the SPMG has already initiated action against the establishments involved in polluting the Ganga and its offshoots. We have issued a show cause notice against Pestleweed College (Dehradun) after a probe confirmed that its effluents pass into the Guchhu Pani stream, Langer said. The stream is a tributary of the river Saung, which is an offshoot of the Ganga.

Similarly, the SPMG initiated action against three other educational institutes  DIT, IMS University and Kasiga School. The residents of the Guchhu Pani area had also complained to us that the sewage from the three institutes was polluting the stream.

Langer added that the action against Pestleweed College was taken under relevant sections of the Environment Protection Act for flouting effluent norms as notified by the central government.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga and the State Ganga Committee have been designated as Authorities under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act under the Namami Gange, the central governments flagship scheme, the official said.

Unlike the SPCB, which can take legal action against commercial establishments causing all types of pollution including air and water, the SPMG is mandated to take action only against commercial establishments polluting the Ganga and its tributaries. The SPMG can enter the premises of any commercial establishment polluting the Ganga. It can take samples of water quality besides issue show cause notices against them, Langer said. We can even order closure of commercial establishments, if found polluting the Ganga or its tributaries.

Langer said SPMG officials were being trained in initiating procedures relating to pollution cases. Experts from Germany are extending technical support to our officials. We are getting their cooperation under the Indo-German Technical Cooperation for the Ganga Rejuvenation.

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HARIDWAR: Bhimgoda and the outskirts of the Rajaji reserve are now host to flocks of migratory birds arriving from Palaearctic region that includes Europe, Russia up to Pacific coast and Mediterranean up to Sahara.

Migratory birds are also arriving at Asan Conservation Reserve, Dakpathar barrage and Pashu Lok barrage in Rishikesh. These days its a paradise for bird lovers as one can see migratory birds basking on the Ganga river bed.I come daily in afternoon to have glimpse of these birds. Once, Rajaji opens on November 15, these migratory birds will attract large number of tourists, bird lover Avdesh Shivpuri said.

Over 50 avian species have been arriving in large numbers to Uttarakhand in the last few years, according to Professor Dinesh Bhatt, principal investigator of the Bird Bio-diversity and Biaacoustics laboratory, Gurukul Kangri University.

As the Scandinavian and European countries receive snowfall during the winter, the birds fly thousands of kilometres to arrive in northern India,where the cold is less and sunshine easily available. Prominent species sighted in this part of the state are Teal, Pintail, Pochard, Ruddy shelduck and Mallard.

But urbanisation and construction activity near the Neeldhara-Saptsarovar-Bhimgoda barrage and the Rajaji outskirts have affected arrival of migratory birds. Species such as Lapwing, Osprey, Black-necked crane and Painted Stork are less visible these days. Heavy traffic flow on National Highway-58 near Har-Ki-Pauri-Neeldhara stretch has affected arrival of migratory birds, Bhatt said.

The ornithologist has been monitoring movement of migratory birds for the last three decades.
Dehradun

Making parents accountable for letting their minor children to drive vehicles, the Haldwani police on Saturday issued a challan of a teenager and his father.

The father son duo has been asked to be present before a local court within a weeks time, police said.

The minor violated traffic rules outside a school premises so we penalized him and also booked his father under Section 5 and 181 of Motor Vehcile Act, Dinesh Nath Mahant, police station in-charge of Banbhulpura in Haldwani, told Hindustan Times.

The Uttarakhand police are struggling with the increase in traffic violations by minors, who indulge in stunt biking, rash driving, not wearing helmets and driving without license among others.

The police in the past carried out a number of drives and sensitization workshops on traffic rules and violations for school students and their parents.

Section 5 of the Motor Vehicle Act holds the owner of the vehicle responsible for allowing a person, who does not satisfy the provisions of the act, to drive.

Figures of the state transport department show an increase of 0.12 % in fatal road accidents between 2015 and 2016 in Uttarakhand.

As many as 913 people were killed in road accidents in the state in 2015, which increased to 962 in 2016. Minors account for at least 20% of the fatalities, sources in the department, said.

Nivedita Kukreti, senior superintendent of police, Dehradun, said Its the responsibility of parents and they have to be accountable for traffic violation and also risking the lives of their children.

While the department is coming up with an improvised version of the Motor Vehicle Bill that will impose heavier penalty and stricter laws to regulate traffic and curb violations, the accountability of parents will also be increased, an activist said.

Mahesh Bhandari, president of Doon Resident Welfare Association said, Unless parents have fear, nothing can stop minors from driving vehicles.

The government should crack the whip on the parents as it has already spent years in sensitizing them.

School authorities too support the move.

Parents understand the vulnerability of their children by letting them to drive vehicles, yet they do so to shun responsibility of dropping and picking their wards to and from school, said Jennifer Kumar, principal Carman School, Premnagar.

They should definitely be brought under scanner.

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DEHRADUN: Angry people on Saturday demanded the police to lodge a first information report (FIR) against senior officials of Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) over its alleged failure to prevent burning of waste at the trenching ground near Sahastradhara Road.

A delegation of Sahastradhara residents welfare body and Aam Aadmi Party members reached the Raipur police station and demanded that an FIR be lodged against DMC officials, including the Doon mayor , for their failure to prevent waste burning.

According to the residents, fire was lighted overnight and flames later gave way to dense smoke that engulfed the nearby surroundings on Saturday. Fire tenders had to be called in to control the blaze.

The police asserted that the demand would be considered only after investigation. We have received a complaint regarding burning of waste at the trenching ground and will take further action only after proper investigation, Raipur police station in charge Hemendra Negi told HT.

Burning of waste is prohibited under the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules. Last year, the National Green Tribunal banned burning of waste in open spaces, including waste dumping sites. About 350 metric tonne of solid waste is dumped daily at the Sahastradhara trenching ground.

This is not the first time waste was burnt at the trenching ground. It is not only a blatant violation of the rules but also a severe blow to environment and air quality. We will meet senior district administration and police officials on Sunday to seek an FIR against the DMC mayor and officials, AAPs Doon district head Uma Sisodia said.Well also file a complaint against the DMC with the NGT.

But Dehradun municipal commissioner Vijay Kumar Jogdande refuted the allegation that the fire was set by a DMC staff or sanitation worker. We found that the fire was confined along the periphery (of the trenching ground). It appears that the blaze was set deliberately by some outside elements. We will also file an FIR in the case, Jogdande told HT.

Strike by waste collection workers enters 3rd day

Waste collection workers continued to boycott operations for the third day on Saturday. The workers are on strike to demand timely payment of their dues and facilities such as uniforms, medical insurance, provision of provident fund and safety equipment. We are making efforts to persuade the protesting workers but they continued their strike on Saturday, senior health officer Kailash Gunjyal told HT.

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(Xinhua) 09:30, November 11, 2017

PARIS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese were injured Friday afternoon when a vehicle hit a crowd deliberately in the suburbs of Toulouse, south France, the head of the Chinese Consulate in Marseille told Xinhua citing a source from the local police in Toulouse.

The three injured, one male and two female, are all at their early 20s, said the consulate.

French news channel BFMTV reported earlier that a car "deliberately" rammed into a group of students in front a business school in Balgnac, near Toulouse, on Friday, injuring three students.

The report says the driver is a 28-year-old man, who was arrested on the site.

The man told police that he "deliberately" drove into the crowd and that he suffered from psychological disorders, according to the report.

The man was known for public offences, including drug trafficking, the report added.

In the wake of the incident, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb tweeted that "Support for injured young people in Blagnac ... It is the inquiry that will determine the nature of his act."
The Delhi government scrapped its plan to implement the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Saturday said there will be no exemption for women, two-wheelers and government servants.

The NGT also said that in future the odd-even scheme will automatically come into force if the PM2.5 level goes above 300 and PM10 crosses the 500 mark.

The NGT ruled that only emergency vehicles will be exempted.

Here are the updates:

3:44pm: United Airlines suspends its Newark-New Delhi flight due to poor air quality in Delhi, reports news agency ANI

3.40pm: Delhi govt cannot risk safety of women in odd-even: AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj.

3:35pm: Gahlot says the govt cant conduct the drive without exemptions. He says the govt will go back to NGT on Monday and file a review petition, asking the tribunal to reconsider their decision regarding exemptions

3:30pm: Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot says odd-even has been called off

3:20pm: Meeting over NGTs order on odd-even scheme begins at Kejriwals residence. All ministers except deputy CM Manish Sisodia are present. Top officials of various departments are also present

3.10pm: As Delhi gets set to implement its 3rd odd-even plan, click here to know all about the drive.

3pm: NGT also directed various departments and executing agencies, including the Delhi police, for better cooperation and coordination during the odd-even scheme.

2.20pm: With the US on top of the heap, many diplomatic missions in New Delhi have put in place measures to protect their staffers as the air quality in the national capital deteriorated to severe levels.

2pm: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal calls an emergency meeting in view of NGTs order on odd-even scheme. Meeting to begin at 3pm.

1.30pm: NGT to Delhi govt: If u want to cancel the odd even order, you do it yourself. We will not cancel it on your behalf.

1.20pm: NGT directs Delhi government to reconsider decision to hike parking charges by four times in Delhi.

1.15pm: MET forecast says that there will be showers in Delhi in the next two days. If that does not happen, the govt will arrange for artificial sprinkling, says NGT.

1pm: Highlight of the order is that odd-even will be implemented automatically if PM 10 level goes above 500 & PM 2.5 level goes above 300, which will be monitored for 48 hours: Rajiv Bansal, Councillor for DDA

12.40pm: CNG vehicles and emergency services, such as ambulance and fire, to get exemption during the odd-even scheme: NGT.

12.35pm: No exemption be given to two wheelers, govt servants and women: NGT.

12.30pm: National Green Tribunal gives nod to odd-even scheme.

NGT directs all the neighboring state governments and departments to ensure complete mechanism during environmental emergency, says dont wait for crisis situation. Also directed various departments and executing agencies for better cooperation and coordination including Delhi police.

12.25pm: CPCB and DPCC submitted that two wheelers are more polluting than four wheelers, and their emissions comprise 20% of the total vehicular pollution. NGT observed that water sprinkling is a better way to control pollution.

12.20pm: NGT asks the Delhi government: Wont the hike of parking fees only benefit the parking lots, and would stress people even further, thereby encouraging them to park vehicles on the roads instead, choking them in the process?

12.15pm: The National Green Tribunal asks Uttar Pradesh Government over the number of violators challaned in Noida and Greater Noida.

12.10pm: The National Green Tribunal observed it is most worrying that there is absolute non cooperation between various departments of govt.

11.59am: NGT asks Traffic Police to deploy its personnel at traffic lights, observing that almost all the main roads in the city are witness to diesel vehicles which are older than 10 years and petrol vehicles which are older than 15 years.

11.45am: What is the basis of granting exemptions under the odd-even scheme if you want to improve air quality: NGT asks AAP govt.

11.36am: Central Pollution Control Board submitted a report before the National Green Tribunal saying that rain could take place in the next two days.

11.31am: NGT to Delhi government: So we should assume that the government is sure of the odd even schemes benefit, and of no inconvenience taking place to the citizens?

11.30am: NGT asks the Centre and the Delhi government to name a big city where PM 10 levels were lower than 100.

11.29am: Central Pollution Control Board submitted that they had warned the Delhi govt orally in advance about the impending problem, which the the govt denied, reports ANI news agency.

11.27am: NGT asks Delhi government to show the letter on basis of which this decision was taken, and whether the LGs approval was taken for the same.

11.25am: Why didnt you introduce odd-even scheme earlier when air quality was worse? NGT asks Delhi government.

11.20am: NGT asks Delhi government the rationale behind applying the odd even scheme, and why it wasnt applied when the air quality situation was worse.

11.10am: Hearing related to odd-even scheme begins in the National Green Tribunal.

11am:

NGT to decide odd-even fate in a few minutes from now. Top govt officials and experts reach NGT. #OddEven #pollution @htTweets @htdelhi #PollutionInDelhi  Joydeep Thakur (@joydeepthakur) November 11, 2017

10.40am: Delhis air quality appeared to be improving on Saturday as a haze over the capital started to disperse overnight, bringing down pollution levels considerably after three days of extreme conditions, officials said.

10am: On Thursday, NGTs order directed the government to track down all the hot spots with the PM10 more than 600 and spray water from helicopters or aircraft to tackle dust pollution across the city.

The tribunal has issued a slew of directions to deal with the worsening air quality in Delhi and neighbouring states, banning construction and industrial activities and entry of trucks, even as it criticised the Delhi government and civic bodies over the situation.
Delhi has been enveloped in a haze of smog since Monday night, as air quality across most parts of the national capital deteriorated to severe levels.

On Thursday, the air quality index (AQI) at 7:30 am was recorded at 468, which was worse than Tuesdays average AQI of 448. Experts warned that light speed winds, high moisture levels and a drop in temperature leading to shallow fog early morning ensured that the cloud of smog wouldnt be entirely dispersed through the week.

The choking cloud of smog brought back memories of similar conditions in November last year. Conditions improved a little by Saturday morning.

Delhis smog led to the Indian Medical Association declaring a public health emergency. Here is what happened since Tuesday:

The smog descends

Delhi woke up to a blanket of smog on Tuesday, as visibility fell to 900 metres. Monitoring stations across the national capital recorded air quality as very poor and experts warned that the conditions would persist through the week.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar), the levels of airborne particulate matter PM 10 was 289 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m3) and PM 2.5 171 g/m3 on Tuesday morning. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) considers 100 g/m3 for PM 10 and 60 g/m3 for PM 2.5 the safe limit.

Accidents, pileups, delays

The cloud of thick smog persisted on Wednesday, as the hazy conditions and poor visibility lead to accidents and delays. Six people were injured when 13 vehicles were caught in a pile-up on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noidas Dankaur area due to low visibility.

Dense smog on National Highway-9, which connects Haryana and its neighbouring Punjab with the national capital, affected the schedule of long-distance trains and state roadways buses. A senior railway official said the schedule of nearly 120 trains has been affected while flights on the Chandigarh-Delhi route got delayed for 30 minutes to two-and-half hours.

Damaged vehicles at the accident site after 18 vehicles slammed into each other, due to poor visibiliy owing to dense smog at the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura . (PTI)

Public health emergency

As the air quality index (AQI)  a measure of the level of pollutants in the air  shot past 400 in many places in Delhi on Tuesday, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) issued a stern warning on potential health hazards, describing Delhi as a public health emergency state and asking authorities to shut schools as a precautionary measure.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that Delhi had become a gas chamber and requested education minister Manish Sisodia to consider closing schools for a few days.

Delhi has become a gas chamber. Every year this happens during this part of year. We have to find a soln to crop burning in adjoining states  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 7, 2017

Schools closed

The Delhi government ordered all schools to be closed till Sunday in view of deteriorating air quality. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Twitter that the order will apply to all classes and all private and government schools will remain shut for the period.

Odd-even flip flop

On Thursday, the Arvind Kejriwal government announced the return of the odd-even plan from November 13 to 17 as a measure to curb alarming pollution levels.

The National Green Tribunal, on Friday, put a brake on the Delhi governments plans, calling the measure a farce and questioning the exemptions given to women and two-wheelers. Odd-even wont be implemented without a green signal from us. We are not stopping it yet. Hearing on Saturday, the tribunal ordered.

On Saturday, the NGT gave the go-ahead for the scheme, without any exemptions for women, two-wheelers and government servants. In an emergency meeting called at Kejriwals residence, the Delhi government decided to call off the odd-even plan.

Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the government cant conduct the drive without exemptions. Gahlot said that the government would go back to the NGT on Monday and file a review petition, asking the tribunal to reconsider their decision regarding exemptions.

Other emergency measures

As pollutions levels spiked, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution and Control Authority (Epca) ordered a four-time hike in parking fee and a cut in Metro fare during off-peak hours in a series of emergency measures.

Announcing these measures, the Epca said the Capital was facing a crisis situation, which was likely to persist for the next few days. The parking fee hike came into effect on Thursday. Other measures included a temporary ban on civil construction and banning the entry of heavy and medium sized vehicles in Delhi, except for those carrying essential commodities, till further orders.
The Delhi governments decision to hold back the odd-even car rationing scheme with view of womens safety has left experts divided.

Many experts raised questions on how would exempting women would help when most of them use public transport to commute.

Plans like odd-even should be implemented without exemptions. Since most of the women commuters in Delhi use public transport, the exemption makes no sense, said Anumita Roychowdhury from the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE).

According to 2016 directorate of environment and statistics number of Delhi government, of the 51 Lakh non-agricultural workers in Delhi, nearly 7.2 lakh are females, most of whom commute to work daily. A June 2017 report by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and Safetipin, a personal safety mobile application, further found that 30% women used public transport against 25% men in cities including Delhi.

It is true that in the long run women should not be given exemptions, said Safetipin co-founder and womens rights activist Kalpana Viswanath. But, given the poor record of women safety in Delhi, she added that the Arvind Kejriwal led-Delhi governments concern was valid.

Delhi government had announced earlier this week to roll out odd-even road rationing scheme from November 13 as a measure to control rising pollution levels. Exemptions were allowed for two-wheelers and women. But, on Saturday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) allowed the government to go ahead with the scheme without exemptions, a rider that prompted the government to call off the plan for now.

Delhi government cannot risk safety of women during odd-even. Will not implement it without exemptions to women, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson and lawmaker Saurabh Bahradwaj said.

Many experts also raised the question of gender equality.

We, as women, do not want to be exempted from special drives like odd-even, said Ruhi Tickoo, who commutes from Noida to Delhi.

The demand to call the scheme off if women were not exempted was mooted by AAP leaders first. Party MLA Alka Lamba was among the first to request the government to not implement the scheme without exemptions to women, soon after NGT order.

Delhi commission of women, Swati Jaihind, too requested chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to call off the drive, even as she said she was against exemptions to women.

Like most women, I am against exemptions. But exemptions to women in odd-even is a necessity due to security concerns, she tweeted.

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Why are so many engineering and management graduates out of jobs? To address the issue of low employability, technical institutes regulator All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is preparing a perspective plan 2030.

The Council will hire a private firm to analyse the demand and supply gap, geographical imbalances, and redundancy of certain courses in view of the fast technological changes and vacant seats in technical institutes, official sources said, adding this analysis will take into consideration the requirements until 2030.

Once the study is complete, suitable changes will be made in the curricula.

Placement of fresh graduates from new engineering institutes has been declining over the years. Currently, India produces an estimated 700,000 engineers from 3,000 institutes but barely half of them get jobs.

Job offers for fresh management graduates witnessed a five-year low in 2016-17, with only 47% of MBA graduates being hired during campus placement drives  a dip of 4% compared to the previous year. At 12%, the drop was far sharper for postgraduate diploma holders.

According to a senior AICTE official, a report by a committee formed to prepare the terms and references of this study is being submitted. This is the first time that a perspective plan is being prepared for technical education. We need to draw plans keeping the future in mind to ensure these institutes are able to provide better placement opportunities to the students who have the skills required by the industry, the official said.

The terms and references have been prepared by a retired professor of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. It will cover all technical subjects such as engineering, management, and architecture, among others.

An agency will be identified that will carry out the survey. Some of the courses have become redundant and barely have any takers. The firm will also look into fast technological changes and the market response to the curriculum. We have prepared a model curriculum and this plan will give more inputs for the future, another senior AICTE official said.

Issues such as faculty quality of teaching and learning processes will also be addressed through this study.

A timeline will be fixed to ensure the study is completed in a time-bound manner.

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The Union cabinet on Friday cleared a proposal for the creation of a National Testing Agency (NTA), which will conduct all entrance tests that are at present being done by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations that are currently being conducted by the CBSE. Other examinations will be taken up gradually by the NTA, said an official statement.

Under the NTA, the entrance examinations will be conducted online at least twice a year, to give adequate opportunity to the candidates to bring out their best, the statement further said.

Apart from Class 10 and Class 12 board exams, CBSE conducts five other tests  Joint Engineering Entrance (JEE), National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET, for medical courses), University Grants Commissions National Eligibility Test (for lectureship, held twice a year), Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET, held twice a year) and the test for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (schools for gifted students).

To serve the requirements for rural students, the NTA will locate centres at sub-district and district level and undertake hands-on training programmes.

Establishment of NTA will benefit about 4 million students appearing in various entrance examinations. It will, over time, relieve the CBSE, AICTE, IITs, IIMs and other agencies from the responsibility of conducting these entrance tests, thus enabling them to focus more on their core mandate.

The agency will also bring in high reliability, standardised difficulty level to assess the aptitude, intelligence and problem-solving abilities of the students.

The statement released after the cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the NTA will be created as a society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, and as an autonomous and self-sustaining premier testing organisation to conduct entrance tests for higher educational institutes.

The NTA will comprise a chairman (an eminent educationist appointed by the ministry of human resource development); a CEO who will be the director general and appointed by the Centre; and a board of governors comprising members from user institutions. The director general will be assisted by nine verticals headed by academicians and experts.

The NTA will receive a one-time grant of ~25 crore from the Centre to start its operation. Thereafter, it will function on a self-sustaining model.

Keeping in view the need for a specialised body like most advanced countries, finance minister Arun Jaitley had in his Budget speech of 2017-18 announced setting up of the NTA as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organisation to conduct all entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.

Terming the approval a historic decision and a much-needed educational reform, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said, Creation of NationalTestingAgency , a single agency to conduct all entrance exams, with experts on board, will bring in high reliability, standardised assessing aptitude & conduct of tamper-proof exams.
Sonam Kapoor is on a roll.

On top of her endless accolades and covetable style choices, the actor has added one more achievement to her never-ending list of accomplishments. On Friday, the Neerja star reached a social media milestone, hitting 11 million followers on Instagram, due most likely to her jaw-dropping holiday snapshots, family pics and game-changing fashion looks.

To celebrate the achievement, the 32-year-old posted three grams, featuring her knockout looks that prove shes timeless, #flawless and everything in between.

A post shared by sonamkapoor (@sonamkapoor) on Nov 10, 2017 at 5:03am PST

The journey has been amazing with you guys! I truly believe I have the best fans in the entire world! Thank you so much to every single one of you ?? #11Million?, wrote the actor, uploading one of her looks from Cannes 2017, which has garnered over 135K likes, so far.



The photo, which was from Sonams first official appearance at the gala in 2017, saw her style a pink Elie Saab couture gown with matching make-up: Coral balmy lips, metallic pink eye-shadow, sleek black liner, rose-hued cheek and low messy bun.

A post shared by sonamkapoor (@sonamkapoor) on Nov 10, 2017 at 7:11am PST

In another post, she is rocking in an extravagant off-shoulder Fouad Sarkis Couture gown with matching bottle green stole, perfectly fitting into Sonams regal, classy sphere. She wore the ensemble to Vogue Women of the Year Awards held in Mumbai in September, 2017, where she picked up the IWC Fashion Icon Of The Year.

Thank you to all of my fans, all 11 million of you!!!!! Eeeeeks so excited ?? #11Million, she captioned the photo.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
If you have been under a lot of stress lately, itll help to surround yourself with blue light. A recent study says it helps us relax faster.

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR), in collaboration with the School for Special Education San Rafael (Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, Granada, Spain), proved, by means of an objective evaluation using electrophysiological measurements, that blue lighting accelerates the relaxation process after acute psychosocial stress in comparison with conventional white lighting.

The researchers, which belong to the BCI Lab (Brain-Computer Interface Lab) at the University of Granada, noted that psychosocial stress produces some physiological responses that can be measured by means of bio-signals. That stress is very common and negatively affects peoples health and quality of life.

For their work, the researchers made twelve volunteers to be stressed and then perform a relaxation session within the multisensory stimulation room at the School for Special Education.

The participants lied down with no stimulus but a blue (group 1) or white (group 2) lighting. Diverse bio-signals, such as heart rate and brain activity, were measured throughout the whole session (by means of an electrocardiogram and an electroencephalogram).

The results showed that blue lighting accelerated the relaxation process, in comparison with conventional white lighting. The results are published in the PLOS One journal.
In a change to ensure that its Metro network is in sync with that of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and feasible economically, the Rapid Metro has modified routes for its Phase 3 expansion.

As per the latest submission to the government, the new route will start from Cyber City, cross the Gurgaon expressway connecting Udyog Vihar, Kapasehra and the bus stand, with the railway station as an optional stop.

In a city bereft of public transport, authorities, over the past few weeks, have put forward five Metro expansion routes, each of which are in different stages of development and will cover arterial stretches in the city that are largely inaccessible at present.

Apart from areas near the Delhi border which are covered by Metro and in the absence of a reliable city bus service, residents have to use private vehicles, auto-rickshaws sans meters, aggregator-based cabs and buses which are few and far between, for commuting.

Rapid metro, last month, had submitted a proposed route from Sikanderpur station, where commuters change to DMRCs yellow line, towards Iffco Chowk, Sheetla Mata Road and railway station.But the same was rejected by the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation (HMRTC).

We have submitted our Phase 3 expansion report to the state government for scrutiny and proposed the option of including the railway station as a destination, if they so desire, Rajiv Banga, CEO and MD of IL&FS (rail), said.

At the behest of the Haryana government, the DMRC had prepared a feasibility study of two possible Metro routes  from HUDA City Centre (HCC) to Dwarka Sector 21 and another from HCC to railway station. The state government is expected to clear one of these proposed routes for expansion of the Phase 3 network.

Read I Gurgaon: Rapid Metro prepares proposal for Phase 3 of the service

The roughly 27.5 km line from HCC to Dwarka Sector 21 will pass through Subhash Chowk, towards Hero Honda Chowk, Basai, Sector 7, Palam Vihar and Bijwasan and provide an option for commuters to switch to DMRCs Blue line or the Airport Express line at the Dwarka Sector 21 station.

The feasibility report states that if the route is operational by 2021, it will be availed by 2.87 lakh passengers.

From Subhash Chowk, the second route option, spanning roughly 12 km, will pass through Rajiv Chowk and New Colony Mor before terminating at the railway station. The feasibility report states that 80,000 odd people are expected to use the line daily in 2021 and low-ridership is a major concern on this route.

Public feedback on these routes was opened for 15 days and culminated on November 3.

We have received over 400 comments for the HCC-railway station and HCC-Dwarka Sector 21 lines and are compiling a list of substantive comments that can be forwarded to HMRTC. The report is expected to be submitted by next week, V Umashankar, additional chief executive officer of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) said.

In its 25th meeting, HMRTC officials decided to build a Metro line from Sector 45, via Ghata, Gurgaon-Faridabad Expressway and end at Bata Chowk in Faridabad.

In the same meeting, HMRTC was directed by DS Dhesi, Chief Secretary of Haryana to explore the possibility of connecting Dwarka-Manesar Expressway, Southern Peripheral Road, to sector 55 and prepare a feasibility report on both these routes.

HMRTC officials have conceded that these routes, at present, are not economically viable as they are yet to be fully-developed and ridership is expected to be significantly low.

Prior to these developments, the Haryana government had also considered a Metro line from Iffco Chowk to Dwarka Sector 21 and the DMRC had submitted its feasibility report on the route

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What does a man who already has everything want on his birthday? Now that Leonardo DiCaprio has that Oscar hed been campaigning for, what more could he do (or have done to him) that would reignite the spark? A supermodel? Obliterating global climate change? Another Oscar?

We dont know what the future holds for Leonardo DiCaprio, a man who now spends his days (and nights) chilling on beaches around the world, cruising on private yachts, and giving passionate speeches before the United Nations.

But on his 43rd birthday, we can look at the past - specifically all the crazy stories of his behaviour that emerge from the sets. Here are five of them:

He smeared real blood on Kerry Washingtons face

In one memorable scene of Django Unchained - whore we kidding, theyre all memorable - DiCaprio was so deep into his character (monsieur) Calvin Candie, that while giving a hypnotic hate speech, he slammed his hand on the table so hard that it cracked open. He glanced at it, saw the blood flow out, and carried on. Director Quentin Tarantino saw what was unfolding and didnt yell cut. DiCaprio walked over to a terrified Kerry Washington, and without any warning, smeared his bloody hand all over her face.

He ate raw bison liver

This entire list could be filled up with the strange things DiCaprio did on The Revenant, but as far as strange on-set behaviour goes, this one is right up there. I can name 30 or 40 sequences that were some of the most difficult things Ive ever had to do, he told Vanity Fair. In one such sequence DiCaprio decided the best thing to do would be to eat raw bison liver to elicit the most authentic reaction on camera. The bad part is the membrane around it. . . . Its like a balloon. When you bite into it, it bursts in your mouth, he said.

He slept in a horse carcass

It wasnt a real horse carcass, but still. The horse was built and the guts inside were created out of latex and hair, the films production designer told Business Insider.

He had pieces of pork smeared with lube slapped in his face

Its easy to forget DiCaprios performance in The Wolf of Wall Street with everything he was up to in The Revenant, but in one scene, DiCaprio had his face pelted with lubricated pork. When Jonah Hills character chokes on food, DiCaprio attempts to give him mouth to mouth, which is when a projectile of vomit is shot at his face. We had to do probably about 70 takes and their only suggestion was a plastic catering spoon with ham and KY jelly, and a guy was under the rig just like this [mimics a guy flinging stuff at his face with the spoon]. It took about 70 times for that piece of goddamn ham to stick on my face, he said.

He stuck a lit candle up his bum because Margot Robbie dared him

DiCaprio didnt use a body double for the scene, in which his character Jordan Belfort has a lit candle sticking out of his backside. And the script didnt even call for it. DiCaprio did it on a whim. Your more, Daniel Day Lewis.

Happy Birthday Leonardo DiCaprio!

Follow @htshowbiz for more
The Kerala Police has registered a case against an Air India Express pilot on the basis of a complaint from a female flight attendant, who alleged that she was sexually harassed by him.

A case has been registered under section 354 A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, a police official said, adding that they both belong to Kerala.

The woman told the Malayala Manorama television channel that she had to face constant sexual advances from the pilot following which she resigned.

She filed a police complaint after an incident on September 18 during a flight when she was allegedly harassed again by the pilot, following which a case was registered.

The official said that the police were in the process of recording the statements of those who were on duty on September 18.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Friday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on further strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation on regional and international affairs.

The pair met on the sidelines of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting held in Vietnam's Da Nang city.

Recalling his multiple meetings with Putin, Xi said their efforts in guiding a steady and long-term growth of China-Russia ties at a high level have achieved gratifying results.

Noting that China and Russia have firmly supported each other in safeguarding their core national interests, and further strengthened political mutual trust, Xi said the two countries are strategic partners that have truly placed trust in each other.

The Chinese president said the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has set a good example for a new type of international relations that highlights mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation.

Putin extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and pledged to always make the development of Russia-China partnership a priority of Russia.

Russia stands ready to enhance cooperation with China in regional and international affairs, carry out closer communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the APEC, and push forward the construction of the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific, said Putin.

China is willing to join Russia in firmly boosting high-level development of bilateral ties so as to better promote their respective security and development, and safeguard regional and global peace and stability, Xi said.

He told Putin that as the socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era while Russia has also been walking in steady steps toward a stronger and wealthier country.

"At this crucial time for our respective development, China-Russia ties are also facing new development opportunities," he said, urging both sides to continue expanding mutual support and enhance all-round cooperation.

He also called on the two countries to advance the quantity and quality of bilateral trade at the same time, well implement major projects in such fields as energy, investment, high-tech, aviation and aerospace, as well as infrastructure, and push for concrete results from the alignment of the construction of the Belt and Road initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union.

On regional and international hotspot issues, Xi and Putin agreed that the two countries need to carry out closer communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the APEC, the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, and push forward the building of the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific.

After Xi briefed him on the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Putin extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the congress and Xi's re-election as the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, saying these important results proved that China's domestic and foreign policies under Xi's leadership have won broad support from the Chinese people.

Putin pledged to always make the development of Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination a priority of Russia.

Hailing Xi's successful visit to Russia this summer, Putin urged both sides to well implement the important consensus reached by him and Xi, conduct closer high-level and people-to-people exchanges, and deepen cooperation in economy and trade, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, aviation and aerospace.

The two leaders also conducted in-depth exchanges of views on issues of common concern, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
When the government named former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma last month to lead peace talks in Jammu and Kashmir, it was hailed as a watershed moment to end a bloody insurgency thats claimed more than 40,000 lives.

But Sharmas five-day visit to the troubled state this week yielded a mixed bag of results, with several prominent parties and trade bodies staying away and sources saying that several of the 80-odd delegations he met were fringe groups with little pull in the state.

The 63-year-old, who returned from the Valley on Friday, met outfits such as the Rahul Gandhi Fan club and Bhartiya Modi Army, and attended to deputations over issues such as the transfer of a tehsildar.

Both the Rahul Gandhi Fan club and Bhartiya Modi Army told Hindustan Times that they were national-level organisations. Rahul Gandhi Fan club chief organiser Mohd Ashraf said the group was formed in 2008. We have around 2,000 members. We are driven by Rahul Gandhis clean youth leader image and membership is voluntary, he said.

Bhartiya Modi Army claimed a membership of at least 20,000. There is no leader like Mr Modi. He is the strongest prime minister India has seen till date...he is a one man army and we want to be his soldiers, said Haroon Nabi Lone, national president of the group. He said he joined the group in 2015.

Sharma, a 1979 batch IPS officer, will submit a report to the government but no deadline has been declared. The talks are seen as an extension of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Independence Day Kashmir outreach when he said the regions problems could be solved by embracing its people. Modis comments indicated a possible shift in his policy towards Kashmir, which has been largely paralysed since July last year, when the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani sparked widespread violence and clashes that killed around 100 and injured thousands.

Among groups that called on the Centres special representative were the little-known Jammu and Kashmir Youth Alliance, a one-man delegation from the Shiv Sena, local NGOs such as Red Winter Youth Organisation, and the J&K Political Migrant Front. Some other organisations listed as political parties were the J and K Watan Parast Party, Rashtriya Manch and Tehreek-e-Insaf .

At the same time, prominent trade bodies such as the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries and Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK)  and even associations of hoteliers and houseboat owners  were absent. We are traders, if government wants to talk politics they should talk to politicians, we have spoken to people earlier but its of no use, said FCIK president Mohammad Ashraf Mir.

Among mainstream political parties, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party called the visit a significant breakthrough but the Opposition appeared unimpressed. The separatist Hurriyat Conference stayed away from any meeting. The National Conference (NC) said it had not been invited and party chief Omar Abdullah said his meeting with Sharma was in personal capacity.

Even in Jammu, Sharma had to deal with a raft of issues  including on the use of loudspeakers at religious places. Rakesh Gupta, president of Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry along with his team of office bearers, called on Dineshwar Sharma and had threadbare discussions. The use of PI systems (read loudspeakers) at all religious places we feel is a major source of trouble and may lead to communal provocation, he said.

(with inputs from Ravi Krishnan Khajuria in Jammu)
A high powered delegation of the Union home ministry officials met villagers living along the Line of Control (LoC) in the districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday to assess the problems of the residents in the wake of continued shelling by Pakistani forces.

Headed by Rina Mitra, special secretary (internal security) MHA, the delegation also included of Gyanesh Kumar, joint secretary (internal security) and R K Swarankar, director MHA. The delegations visit came two months after Union home minister Rajnath Singh toured Nowshera and Jammu on September 12.

A high-level team of ministry of home affairs visited Jhangar, Langar and Dhanaka forward villages along the LoC in Rajouri to assess quantum of damages, problems faced by people, public demands and issues for a broad-based redressal planning, Rajouri deputy commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary told Hindustan Times over phone.

Principal secretary to Jammu and Kashmirs home department, R K Goyal, Dr. M.K Bhandari divisional commissioner of Jammu province and Dr. S. D. Singh Jamwal IGP of Jammu zone were also part of the delegation.

The deputy commissioner, DIG Deepak Slathia, SSP Yougal Manhas and other officers of the district briefed the visiting panel about the losses due to ceasefire violation, evacuation and rescue measures, rehabilitation, issues and demands.

The delegation assessed losses in various villages and held a detailed interaction with the public at worst affected Jhangar village.

Read more: An unending ordeal for Kashmiri villagers on live Indo-Pak border

Later, Mitra inspected the recently constructed individual bunkers in Langar and Dhanaka. They highly appreciated the type-design, quality of construction and convergence model with community involvement.

The panel had visited several forward villages along the International Border (IB) in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on Friday.

After visiting Nowshera, the panel visited Poonch town where they met LoC villagers from Balakote, Mendhar, Saujian, Shahpur Kerni, Khari Karmara and Digwar sectors.

Poonch deputy commissioner Tariq Ahmed Zargar told Hindustan Times that the delegation interacted with the villagers to get their feedback on Pakistani shelling.

Individual bunkers, adequate ambulances and hike in compensation were some of the major demands of the villagers. The delegation spent an hour with them before returning to Jammu, said Zargar.

Villagers along the international border and the LoC face death and injuries regularly in firing by Pakistani troops.

Villagers living close to the live borders in the state, especially in Jammu region, have been demanding five marla plots in safer zones away from the firing range of Pakistani forces, individual bunkers in their houses to take refuge at the time of intense shelling, special recruitment drives in central forces for their children, compensation for their lands acquired by BSF and army for border fence, and their crops, adequate ambulances and sprucing up hospitals along the borders.

The home ministry delegation is scheduled to return to Delhi on Sunday and will submit a report Rajnath Singh in the next few days.

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The Hyderabad police on Friday arrested nine people, including two Bahrain nationals for their alleged involvement in international trafficking of women and minor girls for marriage.

A qazi (cleric), a lodge owner and five brokers, including two women were among the nine arrested in two separate raids in old city area, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (south zone) V Satyanarayana said police were on lookout for the traffickers after a complaint from one Kulsum Begum on October 30 who said that a 50-year-old Bahraini national named Mohamed Mahmood Abdul Rehman Mahmood had married her second daughter Sameena Begum (29) in May this year but sent her back later.

The marriage was performed by qazi Askar Ali Rafai at the citys King Koti locality.

After marriage they took her daughter to Bahrain, treated her as maid servant and after fulfilling their sexual desires they sent her back, the DCP said.

A few days ago, Rehman Mahmood and his brother Yousuf Mahmood Abdul Rahman Mahmood Khairi came to Hyderabad again with the former trying to get married to a minor girl from Talabkatta area with the help of the same qazi.

But by then the police had increased their surveillance.

Since we keep a strict vigil on the agents and aazis in the city, they started operating from the outskirts. In the present case, the qazi was planning to solemnize the marriage at Tolichowki on the outskirts of the city on Friday, the police officer said.

The Bahraini nationals were staying at a nearby lodge named Safa Tower owned by Mohammed Barkathullah Sharif.

Based on a tip off, the police raided the lodge and arrested the Bahrain nationals, the qazi and lodge owner and rescued the girl.

A case has been registered under sections 370 (offence of buying and disposing of any person as a slave) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code against the accused, Satyanarayana said.

In another incident, the police arrested five brokers who were involved in trafficking of a 14-year-old girl three years ago.

The arrested were identified as Bipasha Bee, Rahseeda Bee, Naser Bin Mahmood, Fathe Bin Mahmood and Salman.

The DCP said a woman Salma Begum lodged a complaint with the police on November 9 that she got her minor daughter married off to an Omani Sheikh named Sagharoun Salim Abdallah (64) in October 2014 after being persuaded by the brokers with links with Arab Sheiks. They convinced her that if she got her daughter married off to the Arab Sheik, all her financial problems would be solved.

The Omani Sheik paid Rs 1 lakh to the agents, who pocketed Rs 40,000 and gave the remaining amount to the girls family. The agents also manipulated the documents to show that the girl was not a minor and managed to get her passport, the DCP said.

After spending 10 days with the girl, the Omani national went back to his country and arranged a visa for his minor bride after 15 days. There, the girl was allegedly sexually harassed and tortured. In March this year, she returned to India and refused to go back to Oman.

When her husband started threatening her, the girl went back in July this year and since then her life had become miserable. When she narrated her woes to her mother over phone, the latter lodged a complaint with us. We arrested the agents and are on the lookout for the qazi and others, Satyanarayana added.

Hyderabad has emerged as a go-to place for virgin brides in the age group of 12-14 years. Most of the girls are from extremely poor families and their parents are lured by the money rich Arabs are willing to pay for such marriages.

In September last year, police arrested eight sheiks from Qatar, a Mumbai-based qazi and scores of brokers, besides hotel owners. A week later, the chief qazi of Hyderabad, who was the alleged kingpin of the trafficking ring, was arrested.

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A 50-year-old Pakistani national, who allegedly entered India illegally from Nepal and was staying at a history-sheeters house in Sultanpur town in Rajasthans Kota district, has been rounded up, the police said today.

The history-sheeter, identified as Mohammed Khalid, has also been rounded up, they said.

Mohammed Hanif, a resident of Karachi in Pakistan, was rounded up late on Saturday night from Khalids house, where he had been staying without visa and passport since November 6, SHO of Sultanpur police station Devesh Bhardwaj said.

During interrogation, Hanif revealed that he had entered India illegally via Kathmandu in Nepal last month. After reaching Delhi, he went to Ajmer where stayed a night in a hotel. He arrived in Sultanpur on November 6, the SHO said.

He is being questioned to ascertain the motive behind entering the country illegally. Hanifs statements are being verified, the police official said, adding Khalids aunt was married in Pakistan.

A case under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act and Passport Act has been registered against Hanif and Khalid, Bhardwaj said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said his visit to the Philippines for the 15th India-Asean Summit, the 12th East Asia Summit and his bilateral meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, symbolises Indias commitment to continue deepening its ties with Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.

In a statement ahead of his departure on Sunday for a three-day visit to the Philippines, Modi said it will be his first bilateral visit to the Asean member state.

He said his participation in the two summits symbolises Indias commitment to continue deepening relationship with Asean member states, in particular, and with the Indo-Pacific region, in general, within the framework of the governments Act East Policy.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Modi said that besides the two summits, he would also participate in special celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Asean, the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders Meeting and an Asean Business and Investment Summit.

RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 Asean member states and the six states with which the grouping has free trade pacts - Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

The Asean Business and Investment Summit will boost our close cooperation to further enhance our trade ties with Asean member states, which constitutes a significant 10.85 per cent of our overall trade, the Prime Minister said.

During my first visit to the Philippines, I look forward to have a bilateral meeting with President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte. I will also have interactions with other Asean and East Asia Summit leaders.

Stating that he looked forward to connecting with the Indian community in Philippines, Modi said that he would also visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc. (MPFI).

He said that the IRRI through scientific research and development has developed better quality of rice seed and helped the global community in addressing food scarcity issues.

Stating that a large number of Indian scientists are working in IRRI, he said: My cabinet approved on July 12, 2017, a proposal for IRRI to set up its South Asia Regional Centre at Varanasi. This will be the first research centre by IRRI outside its headquarters in the Philippines. The Varanasi centre would help increase farmers income by enhancing and supporting rice productivity, reducing cost of production, value addition, diversification and enhancement of farmers skills.

As for his visit to the MPFI, he said that it would demonstrate Indias support for its activities in distributing free prosthesis Jaipur Foot among the needy amputees.

Since its establishment in 1989, MPFI has fitted nearly 15,000 amputees in the Philippines with Jaipur Foot making them capable of living a new life, he said, adding that the Indian government was making a modest contribution to the foundation to support its noble humanitarian activities.

I am confident that my visit to Manila will give a new boost to Indias bilateral relations with the Philippines and also further strengthen the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of our engagement with Asean, the Prime Minister added.
A Qatar Airways flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Doha was diverted to Goa airport, as the pilot of the plane reported to be sick midair.

Qatar Airways QR 507, with 124 passengers, three infant and nine crew members onboard, was scheduled to Doha when the incident happened.

The commander of the Qatar Airways, flight number QR 507, had taken off from Thiruvananthapuram at 3.49 am to Doha, when the commander of the flight reported to Goa Air traffic control (ATC) that he is incapacitated.

Goa Dabolim Airport on priority arranged for Qatar Airways landing.

The Goa airport manager confirmed and told ANI, QR507 safely landed at Goa airport at around 6.40 am due to flight commander.

Reportedly, the flight commander, who fell unconscious, was taken to a local hospital for check up.

The flight is still at the airport. More details are awaited.
Rahul is at the right place, at the right time. And if he says he is ready to lead the Congress, he must be.

That was the irrepressible Nayantara Sehgal on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Ageless in black, the 90-year-old appeared to see hope in her grand-nephew and his belief that he was finally ready for a bigger role.

Hes been making strong statements about government policies. If he thinks he has it in him to lead, he has it in him. Its all about your confidence in yourself, Sehgal said, adding Rahul was not in touch with her, but Sonia Gandhi was.

A well-known writer, Sehgal is the second of the three daughters of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the sister of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Unlike many, Sehgal, whos been outspoken in her criticism of the Narendra Modi Governments Hindutva agenda, does not think the opposition lacks an able leader. The opposition has many leaders, there is a very young man called Kanhaiya Kumar who is spreading his message among the many campuses, I call that leadership. There is Akhilesh Yadav in UP, she trailed on.

Sehgal, who was happy to see a large number of schoolchildren at the inaugural function of the Chandigarh Literary Festival, said her advice to youngsters would be to reject intolerance. Reject a Hindu rashtra. Reject the people who are destroying our secular fabric. Keep art and literature alive. Focus on science, for the present dispensation is treating myth as science.

The prolific writer has set up an online writers forum to counter intolerance. Speaking about the role of the media, she said while electronic channels had lost their voice to corporate interests, much of the print media is still maintaining its integrity.

A REAL HINDU

Asked about the charge that right-wing resurgence was a reaction to the appeasement of minorities since Partition, she said, Its rubbish. We are a secular, democratic republic. This Hindu ideology is destroying modern India, it is taking us back to the middle ages.

Sehgal was quick to clarify that she is a practising Hindu. I was born a Hindu, I am a real Hindu, that is why I reject Hindutva, she declared, adding, My religion is important to me. I draw sustenance from it. It is central to my life and thought. Sanatan Dharma teaches that the world is our family.

NEW BOOK

The novelist, who was here to discuss her book, When the Moon Shines by the Day, said she has already begun work on a new novel that will hit the shelves next month. It is a work of fiction set in the present times.

Interestingly, in 1969, Sehgal wrote a novel set in Chandigarh, titled Storm in Chandigarh. She said it was during the days she used to visit the city with her husband to build their house in Sector 5. And no, she doesnt think the city is getting worse with age. Ive heard from people living here that they are seeing changes that shouldnt be taking place, but there has been no change in the area I live in.
Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday started massive search operations in Shopian and Pulwama districts following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of militants, police said.

A joint team of the Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operations Group (SOG) of the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) started house-to-house searches in over two dozen villages in the two districts.

Earlier this year, the security forces resumed the practice of cordon and search operations over large areas as part of their area domination exercise in south Kashmir districts.

More than taking the militants head-on, the objective of such massive operations, is to keep the terrorists on the run so that they are unable to establish a foot-hold in the densely populated areas.
Former Kerala chief minister and veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy is facing the biggest challenge of his five-decade-long political career. He was recently indicted by a judicial commission appointed by him to probe a multi-crore solar panel scam surfaced when he was heading a Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in the state. Apart from graft, hes also facing sexual gratification charges.

In an interview with the Hindustan Times Chandy, who is known for his humble stature, spoke about the scam and his take on the findings of the commission.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Q. Besides corruption, the commission has also raised sexual assault charges against you. What is your comment?

A: See I have been in the midst of people for more than 50 years. Never such allegations were levelled against me. A woman (Saritha Nair, the main accused in the scam), who is involved in more than 30 cheating cases, comes out with a letter. I think people wont believe it. The commission has parroted what she had said in her letter. There is also some ambiguity in the letter. At least four pages were added to her earlier letter. If you closely examine this letter, it is quite evident that someone has written it for her.

Look in her earlier deposition she never raised any such allegations against me. Once she had even said a senior CPI(M) leader promised her Rs 5 crore to talk against me. How can you take the words of a woman who frequently changes her statement?

If there is some iota of truth in what the commission has said, I am ready to quit public life. It is not solar scam report, it is Saritha report. It is a pulp literature and not a judicial report, and the present government used it to defame me.

Q. How did the solar scam happen? The commission says you know Saritha Nair since 2011?

A: I meet hundreds of people every day. She might have come to me earlier also, but I dont remember her. Everything started in 2013 when her former husband came to me to raise some serious personal problem. He came to me with a recommendation of a party MP. I gave him a patient hearing. I wasnt aware of his/her antecedents. I was there to solve some personal issues, but persons concerned conveniently used me.

Named Lakshmi B Nair then, Saritha came to my office with a proposal for a solar panel business and I forwarded it to concerned ministries.

Later when her real picture emerged, I took strong action against some of my staff members who were soft towards her. And the case against her first husband Bjiu Radhakrsihnan that was hushed up during the earlier regime was fast tracked. Hes in jail facing double life-term for murdering his wife. I wish I were more careful in selecting my office staff. I am not there to blame anyone now.

Q. Do you feel your open-door policy led to this sorry state?

A: I dont think so. My life is an open book. My office was 24X7 live (He was the first chief minister of a state to live-stream proceedings of his office). One day when I was in office, a mentally-deranged came and occupied my seat for some time. I still believe that people who know me reject these charges with the contempt they deserve.

Q: Do you think the party backed you enough? The other day you said there were many attempts to pull you down and you faced them well, but once you succumbed to the blackmailing of a person?

A: Yes the party and the UDF is with me. Even a class-two student can make out that these charges were trumped up to defame me. I dont have much political ambition now. I have already announced, I wont hold any position. About the blackmail attempt, time is not ripe to reveal this. Many rumours are doing rounds, but they are false.

Q: What next for you?

A: I will take legal recourse to redress allegations heaped on me. I will remain an ordinary party worker and work with the people. The state government, which is driven by vengeance, can tire me out for some time, but I will come out of these wild charges. What is happening now is a government-sponsored exercise. Some of them dont have the guts to take me on politically, so they are using a con woman to corner me. I am confident truth will prevail.

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Three ministers made a presentation on ease of living before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers, explaining how the quality of life of the people in the country has improved in the last few years.

The presentation was made by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Anant Hegde and Hardeep Puri, the ministers of state for Agriculture, Skill Development and Urban Development, respectively, on Friday, sources privy to the proceedings said.

Modi had recently said ease of doing business also leads to ease of life.

Is ranking ko bhale ease of doing business kehte hain lekin main maanta hun ki yeh ease of doing business ke saath hi ease of living life ki bhi ranking hai. (This ranking may be called ease of doing business, but I believe that along with ease of doing business, this is also ranking for ease of living life), Modi had said after Indias ranking in ease of doing business improved recently.

The three ministers were inducted in the September 3 rejig of the Union council of ministers, which met for the first time since the reshuffle. A meeting of the Cabinet preceded that of the council of ministers, where the presentation was made.

Besides this, a presentation was also made by a PMO official on using social media to reach out to the people and spread information about various public welfare initiatives of the government.
Editor's note: Due to its convenience, affordable prices and quick delivery, online shopping is increasingly making life easier for expats in China. As we count down to Singles Day, the world's largest shopping festival, our foreign readers share their online shopping stories with us.

Ari James (US)

One of the first things I remember being told about China is Taobao. I was told that China had amazing online shopping options and impossibly quick delivery times. Upon my arrival in Nanjing in February, it did not take me long to start ordering things from Taobao. I slowly became versed in the language of the platform, and soon, I was getting addressed as  (dear) by a variety of different stores I had purchased things from. I was finagling for extra gifts in my purchases, and becoming a more well-versed Taobao user by the day. I bought affordable bags, shoes, and my crowing joy  a humidifier that puts the most expensive ones on Amazon to shame. The most amusing thing I have ordered has to be the collection of 15 large doughnut pillows to give to my teachers after my semester at NJU. The doughnut pillows arrived the very next day in a giant bag that I lugged to campus like Santa Claus. I have had my own issues with online shopping though, one of which is when I purchased an iPhone case, only to spot a glaring typo when it came in the mail. Instead of guaranteed to make them weep emblazoned on my phone case, it was instead, CUARATEED. I kept the phone case. Its all part of the fun of online shopping after all. I personally cant wait for all the sales this coming 11/11!

A 22-year-old online buyer in Moscow checks a dress in November that was purchased on a Chinese e-commerce platform. Bai Xueqi / Xinhua
The Maoist insurgency in the country and militancy in the north-east will be over by 2022, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday, citing gains that have been made in the three-and-a-half years since the Narendra Modi government came to power.

Speaking at Hindustans Shikhar Samagam programme in Lucknow, Singh said all possible efforts were also being made to resolve the Kashmir issue.

There was let-up in naxalism in the country roughly by 55% and in insurgency in the north-east by 75% during last three-and-a-half years, he said, adding the government had been able to achieve this largely with the cooperation by local people.

The home minister also spoke on demonetisation, vigilantism by so-called cow protection groups and terrorism.

There are examples in the world that show short-term pain results in long-term gain, he said referring to November 2016s note ban and the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax regime this year.

The GST and the note ban exercise are regarded as factors behind a drastic slowdown in the countrys economy in recent quarters.

Singh said demonetisation  the scrapping of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 bank notes  achieved its objective to a large extent as far as checking fake currency and terror funding in Kasmmir were concerned.

He said the situation in Kashmir improved significantly since the Modi government came to power at the Centre, and added the government wanted to solve the Kashmir issue by instilling a sense of confidence and not fear among the regions people.

Replying to a question during the interaction session, he said Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had assured the Centre of taking appropriate steps for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.

On cow protection groups who have often been behind brutal assault and even killings, Singh said nobody would be allowed to take law into his hand. When complaints were received about gaurakshaks, we issued advisory to all chief ministers to take a stern action against anyone who took law into his hand in the name of cow protection, he said.

Replying to a question on Islamic terrorism in India, he reiterated that radicalisation of Muslims was insignificant in India as compared to most other Muslim-dominant countries. And its credit goes to the followers of Islam in India, he added. He denied there was any increased threat to the country from the Islamic State group.

About the continuing smog in Delhi and NCR, the home minister said pollution is a global crisis and the government had taken it as a challenge and would do everything to tackle the problem.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said there would be Ram Rajya in the country very soon, indirectly indicating that the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya will be completed by 2022.

Dreams are always seen to be realized, he said when asked if he would fulfill the dream of his mentor Mahant Avaidyanath, who was so closely associated with the temple movement.

Adityanath was interacting with daily Hindustans editor-in-chief Shashi Shekhar after inaugurating the Hindustan Shikhar Samagam, an annual conclave, at a five-star hotel here.

On the deadline for the temple construction, the CM said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put up a 2022 vision seeking to free the country from filth, poverty and anarchy and thereby establishing the Ram Raj in the country.

When asked if the foundation stone for the temple would be laid by the time his government completes one year in office, Adityanath replied saying We are working in that direction moving from sankalp (resolution) to siddhi (attainment) every day.

Insisting that when intentions are pure, God too helps, he said, though in a different context, that nothing was impossible for a Yogi.

To a question if his recent visit to the Taj Mahal and wielding the broom to clean the historic monument that had been, of late, in a controversy, should be seen as his beginning of entering into a compromise and peace (read with the Muslim community), the CM said he had already made the beginning from Ayodhya.

We will develop all tourist places, Ayodhya and Agra included, he said.

On law and order

Talking about the growing police encounters in Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister said his government had given a free hand to the police to deal with criminals acting on its policy of zero tolerance on crime.

He claimed this was for the first time that criminals were in fear. This is why criminals are now getting their bails cancelled while many others have surrendered to police or in courts not only in UP but in other states also, he said.

He blamed the previous governments for demoralizing the police force by its gross misuse.

Claiming that 1.46 lakh posts of police constables and sub-inspectors were lying vacant in UP, he said all the posts will be filled within next three years.

Around 47,000 of them will be filled by the end of this year only, he claimed.

We will also reinstate the 54 PAC companies that the previous government had abolished.

When pointed out that controversies had been raised over the functioning of the force from time to time, he said the PAC was a commendable force.

Replying to a question from the audience as to what the government was doing to save women from domestic violence, the CM said, The 75 rescue vans, one each in all the districts, had been deployed for this purpose, apart from launching the dedicated helplines.

He claimed his government was trying to create a lot of job opportunities for the youth in the private sector by creating a favourable climate for the industries in terms of a better law and order and infrastructure like expressways, regional air connectivity and 24X7 electricity.

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Seeking to take credit for the Centres decision to reduce the GST rates on a number of items, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday he would not rest till the five-slab Gabbar Singh Tax was converted into the Goods and Services Tax with an 18-per cent cap.

The Gandhi scion, who launched his poll campaign tour of north Gujarat after offering prayers at the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, again raked up the issue of a company of Jay Shah, the son of BJP president Amit Shah.

We pressured (the Centre), the people of Gujarat, small shopkeepers put pressure and I am happy to say that (Union finance minister) Arun Jaitleyji has shifted many items to the 18-per cent slab from the 28-per cent tax bracket under the GST, he told a public meeting in this north Gujarat town.

With five slabs, it is the Gabbar Singh Tax, but with one tax, it is the GST. Neither Gujarat nor India needs the Gabbar Singh Tax. The Congress had clearly told the BJP that there should be one tax with an 18-per cent cap and a simple tax (at that), Gandhi added.

The 47-year-old Amethi MP said the Gabbar Singh Tax had caused damage to the small and medium scale businesses in Gujarat and elsewhere in the country.

This Gabbar Singh Tax is looting the small people of this country. This Gabbar Singh Tax is only aimed at breaking the back of the small and medium scale industries of Gujarat and (the rest of) the country.

This GST has damaged Gujarat and India. Good that they (Centre) brought some changes in it yesterday. But, we will not stop at this. We will stop only when Gujarat and India get the GST and not the Gabbar Singh Tax, he added.

The Congress leader said the GST, a landmark tax reform which subsumed a host of central and state levies, needed structural changes.

The GST cap should be at 18 per cent. If they (Centre) do not do it, we will put pressure on them, and if they still do not do it, we will do it soon after forming the government. The GST requires structural changes, he added.

On Friday, the tax rates on over 200 items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates to beauty products, wigs and wristwatches, were cut by the GST Council to provide relief to consumers and businesses in the backdrop of an economic slowdown.

The Gandhi scion said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was silent about the company of Jay Shah, the turnover of which, as per a media report, rose from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in a few months after the BJP came to power at the Centre.

Modiji used to say he would be a chowkidar (watchman), but now people are asking whether he is a chowkidar or a bhagidar (collaborator), he said.

A report in a news portal had alleged wrongdoings in the company owned by Jay Shah, a charge vehemently rejected by the latter and his father. Jay Shah has also filed a criminal defamation case against the news portal.

Gandhi claimed that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, where polling took place on November 9, had done a better work than the BJP regime in Gujarat, which goes to the polls next month.

The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh opened four (new) medical colleges, but in Gujarat, no (new) medical college has come up.

The Himachal government did not close down a single school, but the Gujarat government shut down 13,000 government schools. Himachal gave 14 lakh houses to the poor (under a scheme), but in Gujarat, the number of houses given by the government was half of that. Gujarat also lags behind Himachal in education and generating jobs, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP workers showed black flags to the Congress vice-president in Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14.
A magazine brought out by Rajasthans education department suggests that women can keep fit by doing household chores such as grinding chakki (stone grinder), filling water pitchers or sweeping or mopping floors.

The advice was part of a feature on Simple ways to stay fit in Shivira, the Rajasthan department of Educations monthly magazine aimed at schoolteachers.

The sexist health advice aimed only at women drew flak from rights activists. Nathmal Didel, the director, secondary education, and magazines chief editor, however, said that while domestic activities should not have been suggested as exercise specifically for women, the writer was probably influenced by how traditional society operated.

This is not the first time Rajasthans education department has come under fire for the ideas and values it propagates. A 2012 article by academic and writer Deepti Priya Mehrotra found that Rajasthan textbooks lagged behind their NCERT counterparts when it came to portrayal of women.

In Rajasthan textbooks, an archaic, feudal or monarchical ethos is frequently evoked, with women relegated to subsidiary positions. They remain responsible for household chores, particularly cooking and serving; even the story of an activist woman, Imarti Bai, begins with the sentence, Imarti Bai was working in her house (Rajasthan, Class 3). Even queens are projected primarily as wives and mothers, rather than rulers: their horizons are limited to the (royal) household. Not one text or illustration depicts a male engaged in household work, notes Mehrotra in the article, India: Sexism and Patriarchy in the Textbooks.

But Rajasthan is not the only offender when it comes to sexist or outdated representation of women in books. Here are four times when Indian textbooks were on the wrong side of the sexism debate:

More dowry for ugly girls

A Class 12 Sociology textbook in Maharashtra listed ugliness of the girl and disability as one of the reasons for families seeking dowry at the time of marriage. The textbook was used by students to prepare for the Higher Secondary Certificate board examinations.

While discussing dowry, an insensitive paragraph in the textbook read: If a girl is ugly and handicapped, it becomes very difficult for her to get married. To marry her, the girls bridegroom and his family demand more dowry. The helpless parents of such girls are then forced to pay up

Womens ideal shape is 36-24-36

A textbook used by CBSE schools listed the ideal body proportions of a woman as 36-24-36. That is why in Miss World or Miss Universe competitions such type of shape is also taken into consideration, said the book.

It also went on to say that the bones of hips of females are wider and their knees are slightly apart. Due to this shape, females are not able to run properly.

Outrage over these blatantly sexist ideas spurred Union education minister Prakash Javadekar to condemn the book, which was published by a private publisher, and order a probe.

Women take mens jobs

In 2015, a young female teacher from Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh petitioned the state womens commission against a textbook by the state education department that said male unemployment was rising because women started working, reported The Indian Express.

Before independence few women were employed. But today women are employed in all sectors that has increased the proportion of unemployment among men, the textbook said in Hindi.

The states school education minister Kedar Kashyap said the chapter will be withdrawn from the books.

Donkeys are like housewives

A 2006 Hindi textbook from the Rajasthan Education Board caused outrage when it compared housewives to donkeys, reported the Times of India.

A donkey is like a housewife It has to toil all day, and, like her, may even have to give up food and water. In fact, the donkey is a shade better for while the housewife may sometimes complain and walk off to her parents home, youll never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master, the Class IX textbook said.
A 16-year-old mentally-challenged minor girl, who was reportedly gang raped for months, gave birth to a baby boy at the womens hospital in Bharatpur, but her parents refused to accept the newborn and handed him over to the child welfare committee on Saturday.

Police said the victim, who also cannot hear and speak, was gang raped for 4-5 month by two youths from her neighbourhood in Sewar area of Bharatpur.

Her father had registered a police complaint against the accused on September 11. In the complaint, he stated that his daughter complained of pain in her stomach four months ago. When she was taken to a doctor, the doctor told the parents that she was pregnant. Later, the victim identified the accused.

The girl gave birth to a baby boy at the womens hospital on November 9. We took the newborn to a shishu grah (child home) today, said Saroj Lohiya, chairperson of the child welfare committee, which is taking care of the victim since the case came to light.

Lohiya said the victims parents refused to accept the child fearing social stigma. The victims father is a daily-wage labourer.

Station house officer of the Sewar police station, Khalil Ahmad said that on the basis of complaint filed by the victims father, the two youths were booked under section 376 of the IPC and the protection of children from sexual offences act (POCSO).

They were arrested on September 15. One of the accused, identified as Pappu Jatav, is currently lodged in the Sewar jail. The other accused is a juvenile.

The victim was taken to a hospital for medical examination by a medical board and presented in a court, where with the help of sign language experts, the victim recorded her statement under section 164 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC), Ahmad said.
An inter-state gang of fraudsters, who used to dupe women of cash and jewellery on the pretext of saving them from the wrath of god, was busted in the city on Saturday, police said.

The gang had a unique modus operandi with which they fooled women and decamped with the valuables, police said.

Members of the gang would divide themselves in several bike-borne teams and one such team would approach pedestrian women and ask them about a non-existent address, saying they were from some ashram or associates of godmen, said Hanuman Prasad, additional deputy commissioner of police (Jaipur east).

Following that the fraudsters would strike up a conversation with the woman and a little while later another team from the same gang would approach them, he said.

The fraudsters would tell their accomplices that there was something wrong with their lives and the accomplices would play along and agree with them. Seeing this, the women often believed that the men have divine powers and also speak of their own problems, said Prasad.

Police said the gang would then come up with a remedy to save the women from wrath of god.

The gang would tell them to leave their cash and jewellery and walk 21 steps and claimed that they will see goddess Lakshmi. To ward off any suspicions of the women, the accomplices would first demonstrate this by walking 21 steps and giving their cash to the woman to safe keep, said the police officer said.

Officials said when the turn of the women came, they left their cash and jewellery to the accomplices of the gang and walked those 21 steps.

As soon as the women would leave, the fraudsters would start their motorcycles and decamp with the valuables, he said.

Police said a special team was constituted to bust the gang and six people, all residents of Uttarakhand, have been arrested by it.

During interrogation, we have come to know that the accused committed at least 300 instances of such theft in Uttar Pradesh. For the past few years, they were regularly duping people in Rajasthan. We are interrogating them to know more about such crimes, said Prasad.
For the sixth consecutive day on Saturday, health services in Rajasthan remained crippled due to doctors strike, even as health minister Kali Charan Saraf announced another round of talks with the medicos on Sunday.

Saraf, in a statement, said talks would be held with a five-member team of the doctors, including All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association (ARISDA) president Ajay Choudhary.

Several rounds of talks have been held earlier but without any result. The doctors are on strike to press the government to meet their various demands, including hike in salary and reduction in working hours.

Meanwhile, the crackdown on striking doctors continued. Eight doctors were arrested or detained on Saturday from different parts of under Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA). On Friday, six doctors were arrested under the act.

Fourteen doctors have been arrested or detained so far, said additional director general of police, law and order, NRK Reddy.

Authorities say around 100 doctors resumed their duties on Saturday.

The fresh round of talks was announced in an effort to break the deadlock between the doctors and the government which has left patients suffering as services in government hospitals came to a standstill.

The government has been struggling to cope and has made alternate arrangements at private and other hospitals.

Congress state unit president Sachin Pilot slammed the BJP government, saying at a time when there is a medical emergency in the state, the chief minister is silent and the health minister was busy addressing press conferences.

To overcome shortage of doctors, the government empowered collectors to hold walk-in interviews for doctors at a salary of 56,000. Saraf said 24 doctors have been appointed through walk-in interviews across the state and have joined duty.

Saraf said the alternative arrangements have been made in healthcare organisations registered with the army, railways, BSF and CGHS. AYUSH medics are also treating patients.

Meanwhile, the resident doctors association of AIIMS, New Delhi extended support to the striking doctors.
Barely 10 days after the month-long agitation ended in Ninder village near Jaipur, people on Saturday clashed with a JDA enforcement team at a site of proposed land acquisition in the village.

Clashes broke out when the JDA enforcement team visited the village to carry out survey work and work on Mandir Mafi land.

Farmer leader Nagendra Singh Shekhawat said the JDA did not give any information but descended on the village with a large contingent of police force on Saturday morning.

Police used lathis to beat up women and other villagers. This is a conspiracy to break our agreement and stop the re-survey work as fresh survey will expose the shoddy survey done by the JDA earlier, Shekhawat told HT.

The JDA, however, denied the charges.

JDA officials had gone to Ninder to carry out survey work and the work on the Mandir Mafi land when the people there started pelting stones. We used minimum force to disperse the crowd and also picked a few people but no lathi-charge happened, JDA superintendent of police Rahul Jain, who heads the enforcement cell, told HT.

He said the JDA was not bound to inform villagers beforehand.

Notably, the month-long agitation of farmers in Ninder on the outskirts of Jaipur ended on October 31 with the state government agreeing to conduct a fresh survey of the land earmarked for acquisition.

A three-member committee was formed for the purpose. The state government also agreed to their five-point demand, including a detailed re-survey of the area.

The farmers have been agitating against acquisition of land by the JDA for a housing project proposed on nearly 1,350 bighas at Ninder.

They were hopeful that the new survey would be able to reflect the ground situation and ensure a better compensation.

Shekhawat said: The earlier survey conducted by JDA before acquiring the land had many faults as many farms were marked as barren land and hamlets were shown as vacant land.

In 2011, the JDA issued a notification for acquisition of the land and the process was completed on paper by mid 2013.

A farmers agitation at that time had fizzled out, but a prolonged agitation launched since September this year has forced the government to talk to the protestors.

The farmers under the banner of Zameen Samadhi Satyagrah had intensified the agitation from October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, and 21 of them had buried themselves neck deep in pits.
Dengue kills. It also earns suspension for doctors, as Arunachal Dutta Choudhury, an employee of the West Bengal Health Service found to his horror.

On November 10, the doctor who is about 62 and working at the district hospital in North 24 Parganas was handed a suspension order for a purported Facebook post that described the adverse condition in his hospital that is facing a wave of patients over the past few weeks.

Read: Going viral: How dengue has widened its grip across India

Written in Bengali, Dutta Choudhurys post in October detailed the helpless condition of the doctors. When the number of patients I was treating was about 100, I knew we were working in warlike conditions, but after it approached 500, I realised it was impossible to wage war, he wrote.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has maintained that the number of dengue deaths in Bengal is far fewer than other states in the country. Even smaller states have recorded far more deaths, she has said. (HT Photo)

He also wrote that it was impossible to treat the patients not only due to their sheer number, but also on account of the conditions in the hospital. He alleged it is impossible to locate any patient as he might be lost in a crowd of hundreds who occupy every inch of the hospital building -- ward, balcony, passages and alleys. Even if one can be located, it is difficult to reach him as one has to step on other patients lying just about everywhere, Dutta Choudhury wrote.

Read: Can you get dengue twice? Read here to find out

Most government doctors say in private that Dutta Choudhurys description was hardly an exaggeration.

It is unfortunate that I was suspended. I could have retired at 60, but the state government extended the age of retirement of doctors and I had to work, Dutta Choudhury told the media.

MoS health, Chandrima Bhattacharya did not take calls. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee holds the health portfolio. Sources told HT he was suspended for not writing unverified information.

In April 2012, Jadavpur University chemistry professor Ambikesh Mahapatra and a neighbour of his were arrested by the police for emailing a spoof. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee later alleged that the spoof, in which she and former railway minister (and Trinamool Congress heavyweight) Mukul were seen, conveyed a message that they would be killed.

Read: Dengue spikes in Punjab with 652 cases in two days

On October 30, Mamata Banerjee claimed only 13 persons have died of dengue in Bengal. Only a week before that chief secretary Malay De told the media that dengue killed 34 in the state.

Dengue has become a politically sensitive topic in Bengal with all the opposition parties -- CPI(M), Congress and BJP -- hitting the streets accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of inefficiency and inaction to tackle the menace. Bengal Congress has filed a few public interest litigations in Calcutta high court too.

The opposition has also accused the government of gaging the doctors by asking them not to write dengue as the cause of death.

It is an instance of the anarchy prevailing in Bengal. If one speaks the truth, this is what he will face, remarked BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu. He also recalled how, in end My 2011, the health department suspended neurosurgeon Dr S P Gorai of Bangur Institute of Neurology, who complained of the crowds in the institute accompanying chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the hospital just about a week after assuming power.

Withdraw the suspension of Dr A Dutta Chowdhury. Protest against CMs war against doctors fighting dengue which she failed to do, wrote CPI(M) state secretary and politburo member Surya Kanta Mishra.

Rather than suspending Dr A Dutta Choudhury, any reasonable, rational authority honestly committed to people and delivery of standard level of health care as a right of each and every citizen should have taken the post in right earnest and should have taken corrective measures, said the West Bengal Doctors forum in a statement.

In a latter to the chief medical officer of the district of North 24 Parganas, the Association of Health Service Doctors wrote, The punishment is undemocratic and a denial of the right of expression.
I woke up on Tuesday morning to a literary fantasy: nothingness. Influenced by heavyweight titles such as Milan Kunderas The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Jean-Paul Sartres Being and Nothingness, I sometimes get carried away by the wings of poesy to float on the most inane of metaphors. I regret to report that this morning my encounter with nothingness was most unsatisfactory. High-flown metaphors rendered useless as a solid block of nothingness confronted me.

Forgive me, but since being away from the country for the past two years, I had somewhat forgotten the full impact of desi air pollution. As such, my reaction this morning on waking up to literally leaden skies and being surrounded by a thick blanket of homegrown fairy dust was raving and ranting like a woman possessed. I was apoplectic: how could one be expected to live in this situation? The resulting effect was a mental breakdown with me crying on the way to work and driving my colleagues mad with doomsday declarations.

The smog situation in Delhi is by many yardsticks a public health crisis.

Cows stand by the side of a road as a truck drives with lights on through smog in Greater Noida, near New Delhi, on November 8, 2017. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)

But clearly, theres not much of an escape. So perhaps its best to deal with the symptoms and the first order of business is tackling panic attacks when dealing with environmental disasters. While pundits endlessly debate on the best-practice strategies and tried-and-tested coping mechanisms such as going out for a walk to clear ones head are definitely not an option here are some ways to stay sane during smog season:

1. Dress the part: The commonest way to deal with air pollutants is to invest in a mask but to be mentally calm as well as physically safe, you have to be prepared to bear a greater  some will argue uglier  cost. You can only beat the Delhi air at its evil game by donning an apparatus that makes you look like Bane from Batman. I cant promise that Batman will save you from this treacherous season but maybe you can scare away lung cancer if you leer hard enough with a Bane mask on. The times call for replacing grinning-and-bearing with leering-while-coughing. Its no time for playing around, you gotta act tough and be a badass to...well, breathe, I suppose. More traditional approaches to mental wellbeing have included meditation and deep breathing, but in these nuclear-winter-simulation times meditation needs some special equipment.

2. Engage with the community: As any mental health practitioner will tell you, the first step towards recovery is asking for help. In these fraught times, the Chief Minister too has issued a call for solidarity because hey, if Mumbai can demonstrate spirit during floods, so can we during a crisis situation. So open another tab on your work computer and tweet away. You will come have to make difficult decisions like whether to use the hashtag #DelhiChokes or keep it short with a sweet and simple #smog when running low on character count. Some of you will be brave enough to go all the way with #delhiairpollution but the important thing to remember is, there is no wrong hashtag. And when you want to take a break, you can open up another tab to browse discounts on air purifiers.

3. Become an air purifier owner: Gone are the days when one asserted adulthood with a home loan. As a millennial your chances of owning property will reduce by half by the time you finish reading this article anyway, so you might as well focus on the bare necessities, hence why not begin with breathing. The true mark of contemporary adulting is paying EMIs till your dying breath to breathe easier, no pun intended. An air purifier wont make your rented matchbox any more of a home than rented furniture makes you a property owner, but you will have your very own oxygen chamber. Maybe you can personalise it by giving it a name and spending (good air) quality time with it. These are dark times and that friend who constantly bails on you might ultimately flake with a broken windpipe, so best not to form human attachments.

A boy in Delhi uses a handkerchief to cover his face as he waits in the smog for his school bus. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)

4. Focus on the positives: I was going to say focus on the brighter side, but my vision is a bit blurry because of the *cough, clears throat* smog, but you get the general point. I dont know about these acid rain clouds but good old-fashioned ones have silver linings. So what if you cough and splutter your way through life (or whats left of it)? Life is best lived in the moments. If anything, this season of smog has given us plenty of gifts in the form of romantic time with bae whereby in a classic game of hide-and-seek you can replace the trees in Bollywood movies of yore with some serious air pollution. Besides, you really havent lived (or died) until you snog in the smog (geddit?) Running low on Instagram content? Worry not, smog works as a great filter. You can even pass off your unsteady hands and utter lack of photography talent with artsy photos of fashionable silhouettes, i.e., decent men and women trying to survive in this gas chamber we call home.

5. Kick the smoking habit: Giving up smoking has been on every new year resolution list youve made for the past few years and with a couple of months to go, maybe 2017 is the year youll finally do it. Because, you see, the complex chemical combinations in the air currently would put even the richest Virginia tobacco to shame. Nicotine, you say? Pssh, childs play, says Delhi. Breathe in, and soon enough you are coughing and fearing lung cancer like the best smokers in the business. Its a sweet deal considering youre consuming toxic chemicals that you thought you could only get by smoking without paying a penny and sans judgment by those obnoxious non-smoker types. Remember that person who shamed you back in the day as you lit up by throwing that awful passive smoking phrase? Well, you can at least have revenge in the knowledge youll both end up in the same smoky hell.

Editors note: We strongly suggest you dont follow the advice in this piece as the writers brain was quite foggy owing to the copious amounts of cough syrup she consumed at the time of writing.

Sneha Khaund works in a publishing house in New Delhi and has degrees in literature from St. Stephens College and SOAS. She tweets as @Pakhee
The Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, entrusted by the Red Cross Society of China, makes a cash donation of $50,000 to the Vietnam Red Cross Society to help Vietnams flood-stricken communities, August 23, 2017. (Photo :Liu Gang)

Chinese and Vietnamese people in need in recent years have benefited from an intensified humanitarian cooperation between the two countries in maritime search and rescue, disaster relief, and emergency rescue.

Severe floods and landslides hit Vietnams northwest provinces this summer, killing 29, leaving 16 missing and damaging thousands of houses. China sent its solicitude and lent a helpful hand immediately after the disaster happened.

The Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, entrusted by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), donated $50,000 to the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) on August 23 to help Vietnams flood-stricken communities pull through and rebuild their homes.

RCSC was the first to offer help to Vietnam, and it was also this years second assistance from the Chinese organization to the Southeast Asian nation.

Its proof of cooperation and mutual aid between the two organizations and the two peoples, said Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu, President of VRCS, adding that she hopes humanitarian cooperation could give a boost to bilateral ties.

Thanks to the reinforced collaboration between border ports of both sides, a Chinese sailor from Hong Kong who suffered from a sudden stroke on a ship heading from China for Thailand was saved in July.

The Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center, after receiving an emergency message from the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center, coordinated its branch center and the costal information station in Ho Chi Minh City to send the sailor to a local hospital.

On September 7, the Dongxing Border Inspection Station in south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region saved two Vietnamese critical patients through its emergency assistance channel.

Thanks to the channel, one of them, who was in coma caused by serious head injuries, was sent to a Chinese hospital for treatment due to poor local medical conditions.

On the same day, another Vietnamese man who fell into a coma after a car accident, received emergency treatment in China as a result of the streamlined customs clearance process provided by the station after it received help from the border ports in Mong Cai, a city bordering Dongxing.

Since the green channel opened a year ago, the station has provided 170 cross-border assistance for critically ill patients, data shows.

The Youyiguan Port, also the Friendship Pass and known as the main port in south China to Vietnam, also offered green access to Vietnamese suffering from sudden diseases. A series of touching stories have made the long-standing pass an impressive and warm name among the peoples of both sides.
Pumpkin the puppy loves pan pipes. Theres a yoyo-sized woofer that hangs from his collar, and plays tunes designed especially for dogs like him.

The tunes have helped him get through Diwali without whimpering and hiding under the furniture.

I introduced him to the woofer in September, says Maneesha Yadav, 28, a marketing executive in Mumbai. I heard that an NGO was distributing the gadgets, so I borrowed one. It worked so well I now plan to buy it.

The Animals Matter To Me gadget is just one of the ways in which technology is coming to the rescue of canines, pet and stray.

The woofer (with seven minutes of instrumental music available free online) helps calm ruffled nerves during a storm or festival; reflective collars are keeping animals from being hit by traffic at night; theres even a new app that helps connect animal lovers with NGOs, vets, clinics  and blood donors.

The initiatives have used technology as their base, and to raise funds and rope in talent.

AMTM founder Ganesh Nayak, for instance, teamed up with digital marketing agency Tonic Worldwide to create the woofer.

While the woofer costs Rs 2,500, seven minutes of instrumental music is available for free download online, and can be played on any speakers to help calm your pet. It works on dogs and cats.

When everyone else was busy making merry during Diwali, I was always worried about my dogs, he says.

He reached out to Pratik Hatankar, head of innovation and new initiatives at Tonic Worldwide. Instead of posting on social media, we decided to do something about it, Hatankar says.

Their innovation team came up with the idea of the woofer and tied up with musician Siddharth Basrur, who tested different kinds of instrumental music on 150 dogs at the AMTM rehab centre for stray animals and birds  a mix of bamboo, flute, water and pan pipes turned out to be most effective.

The response has been encouraging, says Nayak. Weve already got more than 1,200 inquiries from cities across India, and from the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The collar costs Rs 2,500 but the free music can be played off a regular speaker too.

AMTM has since reengineered the gadget to add GPS tracking to reduce the chances of a pet getting lost in the melee of processions or firecrackers.

LET IT WAG

Let It Wag, an app set up by Mumbai techie Yash Sheth, is helping connect animal lovers with vets, ambulance services and even blood donors for pets.

Across Mumbai and Delhi, meanwhile, a two-month-old app called Let It Wag is helping connect animal lovers with vets, ambulance services and even blood donors for pets.

Mumbai techie Yash Sheth, 26, used a crowdfunding campaign to raise Rs 20,000 so he could set up the app.

Its already helped in four adoption cases across Mumbai and Delhi, and 10 cases of connecting stray animals with vets.

Ive used it twice, says Kunal Das, 24, a social media account manager. Once to get help for a stray dog who had a big wound infested with maggots, and once for a dog who was suffering from a skin disease. I posted both problems on the app and was given the numbers of nearby NGOs, who came and picked up both dogs. No more googling and calling and wondering. Let It Wag made it easy.

Its exactly for such cases that Seth set up the app. I saw a neighbourhood dog get hit by a car, while I was standing in my balcony, he says. It was left with a broken leg. The animal was in pain, and the ambulance I called was exorbitant and took hours to arrive. I just didnt have enough information, so I decided to set up an app where animal lovers can help each other in times of distress.

IN A FLASH

A spell of cases where dogs were run over at night in Pune prompted Shantanu Naidu and Mrinmayi Dalvi to set up Motopaws in 2014, to create a collar coated with reflective fabric so dogs are more visible to motorists. The collar is now worn by dogs across 14 cities in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The team of volunteers has since grown to 210 across the country.

The reflective collar created by Motopaws makes stray dogs more visible to motorists at night, thus keeping them from being run over.

We knew that in order to save the dogs lives we had to make them visible from a good distance, says Shatanu Naidu, 25, an MBA student and Motopaws co-founder. After a couple of prototypes, we came up with a durable design that combines denim with US-made reflective material visible from up to 450 feet.

The youngsters decided on denim because its tough, and easy to find  every home has some to give away, says Naidu.

The scaling up came with help from the Tata Group  Naidu was a design engineer at Tata Elxsi.

They have also tied up with the Pune municipal corporation, which now puts the reflective collars on strays after they are sterilised.

Motopaws Kolkata lead Reshmi Sen Sharma, 31, an animal activist and veterinary student, is now working on an app that will track the collared strays in real time, recording their location, vaccination status, health parameters, birthmarks etc.

I think technology is the hero here, Naidu says. At a time when sensitivity to the plight of animals is slowly growing, technology is paving the way for innovation.

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The University of Mumbai (MU) has announced new commencement dates for 13 semester examinations of three-year and five-year LLB courses, that were to begin in the next few days.

All the exams, which include regular as well as repeat exams for students who did not clear subjects earlier, have been postponed by a week or so. The new timetable has been declared.

Students had been demanding that the repeat exams be held after the all re-evaluation results of previous semester exams are declared. Many students, who failed in the previous exams, are hoping that they will be cleared after re-evaluation and won't have to take the repeat exams.

An official from the university's examination department said that so far around 37,000 out of 59,653 answer papers have been re-evaluated. He also assured that the re-evaluation results of all the 13,538 law papers will be out by Saturday.

On Thursday, the students had staged a protest at MU's Kalina campus to push for postponing of examination. VN Magare, acting pro vice-chancellor at MU, had met the protestors and accepted their demand. "University was forced to postpone the repeat exams as the bulk of re-evaluation results," said Sachin Pawar, president, Student Law Council, one of the protesting groups.

Commerce paper delayed at some colleges

On Friday, a BCom third semester paper started after 15 to 20 minutes delay at some colleges. According to the colleges, it took longer than usual time to download the paper from the University of Mumbai (MU) portal, resulting into delay. The students were given additional time to complete the paper.

The accounting paper is said to take longer to be downloaded and printed. The number of BCom students are much more compared to the self financed courses. Unlike other papers, which usually consist of two pages, the accounting paper has eight pages, said Parag Thakkar, principal, HR College.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had evicted 58,312 hawkers across the city between August and October.

It removed 18,254 hawkers in August and 19,165 in September, according to the data from its licence department. After the Elphinstone Road station stampede on September 29 and the subsequent call by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to decongest railway stations, the eviction drive gathered steam in October which saw 20,899 hawkers removed. The tragedy claimed 23 lives and 39 others were injured.

Most of the hawkers were removed from Colaba, Fort, Dadar, Elphinstone, Borivli and Dahisar. According to an official, these hawker could be repeat offenders. In the past three months, the BMC had demolished 21,921 eateries, 15,683 stalls selling perishable goods and 17,796 stalls selling clothes and other non-perishable goods.

It removed more than 4,000 hawkers from A ward (Colaba and Fort); 8,500 from G-North ward (Dadar, Elphinstone, Matunga, and Mahim); more than 3,600 from Borivli; and 3,599 from Dahisar.

The railways and the BMC came under pressure to take action against hawkers after the Raj Thackeray-led MNS gave a 15-day ultimatum to the civic chief. Once the deadline was over, MNS workers went on rampage and vandalised hawkers stalls across Mumbai and its neighbouring cities. The party partially blamed hawkers for congestion at railway stations.

In their joint action, the BMC and the railways barred hawkers within the 150-metre radius of railway stations.

Siddharth Bansode, joint superintendent of the license department, said, Despite constant action taken by the BMC, hawkers reoccupy the spots . We are yet to succeed on this front. It is possible that several of the 58,000-odd hawkers are repeat offenders.

Earlier in November, the Bombay high court clarified that only 99,435 hawkers in Mumbai are protected, as they set up their business before May 2014. Moreover and have been documented by the BMC, said the court.

Mumbai has 22,000 hawking spots spread across 221 hawking zones. The HC had disallowed hawking on footpaths, bridges and railway station premises.

Meanwhile, the BMC is mulling to appoint a town vending committee in each of the seven zones of the city to bring transparency, an official from the license department said.
The Mumbai civic bodys infrastructure projects are likely to pick up pace now as it has decided to compensate project-affected persons (PAP) - specifically commercial property owners - on the basis of property rates in the Ready Reckoner.

For many projects, the greatest challenge is PAP, who are unwilling to hand over their land and move. Currently, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) only offers alternative accommodation to those affected, which is often not a good enough incentive to shift. It tends to delay projects as PAPs often dispute the accommodation offered to them.

The decision will come up for approval in the BMCs general body meeting soon. The decision pertains specifically to shops that come in the way of civic projects such as road-widening, construction of flyovers and widening nullahs. It does not include compensation for houses affected by projects.

As per the new decision, shops that have come up before 1962 will get 100 per cent compensation as per the value of the property as per prevailing Ready Reckoner rates; shops that have come up after 1962 will get 75 per cent.

Ravi Raja, leader of Opposition in the BMC, said: We have proposed that this be made applicable for all PAPs retrospectively, from January 1, 2017.

Raja said the decision has become necessary as the BMC is running out of space in its market buildings, where usually alternative shops are provided to PAPs. Also, many shopkeepers are hesitant about taking shops on higher floors in the BMC markets as they believe it will affect their business. In that sense, this is a welcome move, as shopkeepers will be able to use their compensation to set up a shop wherever they want, he added.

Both the Congress and the Shiv Sena also plan to demand 100 per cent compensation to all PAPs, regardless of how old their structures are, sources in the BMC said.

As of now, there is around 8,670 sq ft of space available in the BMCs markets, but it is yet to rehabilitate 1,574 shops, which will need a total of 2.83 lakh sq ft of space.
A digital weighing scale and round-the-clock CCTV surveillance will help track the health of leopards faster and in a much smoother manner at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).

SGNP officials told HT that this is the first national park in the state to have the digital scale, and even zoological parks in Maharashtra do not have such an amenity. However, similar weighing scales have been installed at the Delhi and Hyderabad zoos.

The move was aimed at improving medical treatment by modifying an existing cage for leopards at the parks rescue centre, which is home to 13 leopards  seven male and six female, said officials. The same will be introduced for the tigers and lions at their respective safari enclosures in coming months, said Anwar Ahmed, chief conservator of forest, SGNP. Medicines are administered to leopards on the basis of their weight. Prior to this, the only option was to tranquilise the animal and then weigh it, which can even lead to their death if the animal is sick. Now this contraption designed by us will help avoid tranqulisation and ensure speedy treatment.

He added that 13 CCTV cameras have been installed at all cages at the leopard rescue centre and a three each at the tiger and lion safari enclosures. There are six Royal Bengal tigers and three lions at the park. This facility will help us monitor the health of these big cats 24X7, and even if they suddenly fall sick, we can backtrack using the footage to understand how their health deteriorated, said Ahmed.

SGNP range forest officer Shailesh Deore, who designed the 8ftX7.5ft modified cage which is slightly larger than the already existing 6ftX6ft enclosures will give the medical team the access from all sides to treat the animal.

The cage is made in such a way that as soon as the animal steps into it, the digital display outside the cage will reflect its weight, he said adding that shrubs, palatable grasses and medicinal plants such as lemongrass, spear grass, basil, dhub, bhama, durva and bermuda grasses have been planted within all enclosures to help leopards with their digestion.

Veterinarians at the park said this feature was much needed at the park. We have always had trouble administering treatment to big cats without getting their exact weight. It will be now be feasible to weigh the animal, get closer access to wounds, before giving them anesthesia and other medicines thanks to efforts by our SGNP director and other officers, said Dr Shailesh Pethe, veterinarian, SGNP.

BOX

EXPERTS SPEAK

Experts said it was a significant move as most of the leopards at the park are old. The average lifespan of a leopard is 12 to 14 years. Maharashtra has some the best leopard rescue centres in the country and SGNPs centre has the best facilities, said Vidya Athreya, wildlife biologist.

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The Deonar police arrested a man on Thursday for posing as a doctor and administering an injection to a 25-year-old patient, killing him.

Police said the man, Shahbaaz Alam Siddiqui, had studied only till Class 12. He set up a dispensary, where he had been displaying his dead brothers Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery degree for the past four years.

Police said the patient, Pradeep Jadhav, was a resident of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar in Govandi. As he was suffering from fever, he went to Siddiquis dispensary on November 5 as it was near his house.

Siddiqui gave Jadhav medicines after examining him. As his condition did not improve, Jadhav revisited the dispensary the next day. This time, Siddiqui gave Jadhav an injection and a few medicines and told him to rest.

On November 7, Jadhav went back to the dispensary, which was shut. He then went to a doctor at Tata Nagar. On November 8, he returned to the dispensary, but found it locked again. He then went to Shatabdi Hospital.

The hospital authorities sent Jadhav to Rajawadi Hospital as his case was serious. From there, he was sent to Sion Hospital, where doctors told him to admit himself to KEM Hospital on Wednesday. He died on the way to KEM, said inspector Nana Shinde, from Deonar police station.

Shinde said the post mortem report suggested that the injection was to blame for Jadhavs death. Siddiqui was held for death due to negligence, cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code, and sections of the Medical Act.

Siddiqui had learnt to administer injections from his brother, Deepak, said Shinde.

Police said Deepak had committed suicide in March two years ago in the officers room of the Mankhurd police station. The 29-year-old had been brought to the station for questioning in connection with a case of milk theft. He hanged himself using a pair of trousers that belonged to a policeman.
The state governments efforts to offer members of the Maratha community the same fee concessions for higher education that are available to members of the other backward classes (OBCs), will cost the state Rs800 crore.

Following through on the promise it made after Mumbais Maratha morcha in August, the state has issued a government resolution (GR) that seeks to expand the scope of scholarships offered to students belonging to economically backward classes (EBC), by bringing them at par with OBC students. While the move is expected to benefit not only the Marathas but other economically weaker sections as well, it might be a burden on the state exchequer, which is already under a debt of Rs4.4 lakh crore.

Minister for higher and technical education, Vinod Tawde said: "The state government has decided to extend the benefits given to OBC students to all communities so that students from all communities get access to education. We have considered the financial implications of this decision.

Prior to the move, EBC scholarships were available across 409 courses in government-aided institutes and a few professional courses such as engineering, management, health sciences, and agriculture in private institutes. According to the GR, EBC students pursuing any of 558 courses in institutes, either aided or unaided by the government, will now be eligible to seek fee concessions. The annual income limit for eligibility has been raised from Rs2.5 lakh to Rs6 lakh.

Students whose parents income is below Rs6 lakh, pursing non-professional courses in any institue will receive a full reimbursement of fees. Students in the same income bracket pursuing professional courses in aided institutes will receive a 50% reimbursement, while those pursuing professional courses in unaided institutes will receive a full reimbursement if the family income is below Rs2.5 lakh, and a partial reimbursement if the family income is between Rs2.5-6 lakh.

However, a senior cabinet minister said that it wont have much of an impact on the state budget since many students whose parents income exceeded the prescribed limit were availing the scholarships by presenting fake documents.

Even the parents who earn between Rs30,000-40,000 per month are unable to afford their childrens education. Extending the scholarship benefits to all communities is a welcome move, said Mohammed Baseer from Human Welfare Foundation (HWF), a non-governmental organisation.

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The Mumbai traffic police has ordered an inquiry after a video surfaced on social media where cops towed away a car in Malad (west) which had a woman breastfeeding her seven-month-old baby.

The incident happened on Friday, and the video was apparently shot by the unidentified driver of the Swift Dzire car who streamed it live from the womans Facebook account.

The driver repeatedly pleads to leave the car, which was supposedly parked in a no-parking zone, and take the fine. I requested him to leave the car and take the fine, but they are not ready to, the man is heard telling spectators who have gathered.

The constable, who doesnt have a name badge, is identified as Shashank Rane, and ignores the pleas.

The woman, sitting in the back with her baby, says she got down from the car for some time, and shows medical documents claiming she is sick, but that man [constable] came only for my car.

In the next part of the video, the driver is heard telling the constable, I told you I am right here. Dont tow my vehicle.

In another video, the vehicle is seen being towed away while the woman is still seated in the rear.

The man returns to the car and the woman says she is breastfeeding and yells at the constable to slow down the car. The constable is seen getting down and then again hopping back in the van and continuing to tow the vehicle.

The woman also claimed that two other vehicles parked there were not picked, but her car was chosen for towing without listening to her desperate pleas.

Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said the DCP traffic (west) has been ordered to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report by Sunday.

It has been prima facie noticed that the safety of the woman and child was endangered in the said incident. Hence, pending enquiry, the constable is being placed under suspension. Decision about departmental action shall be taken after the enquiry report is received, the traffic police chief said.

HT tried to contact the woman, but she did not respond.
The police and the municipal corporation have not taken punitive action against the owners of 53 bungalows who have encroached into mangrove forests in Versova, despite a First Information Report (FIR) being filed in March, a citizens group has complained.

NGO Watchdog Foundation had filed a complaint with the forest department, suburban collector and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in March, alleging negligence in investigating the case. The lethargic and indifferent attitude of the authorities, especially the police and BMC, needs to be condemned. They are not taking proactive action over the past year, and as a result these violators are going scot-free, said Godfrey Pimenta, trustee, Watchdog Foundation.

The bungalow owners have built extensions to their home in the mangroves along the 1-km stretch near Janki Devi Public School, Andheri (West). The incident came to light after comedian-actor Kapil Sharma was booked in September 2016 for illegal extensions at his bungalow, less than 50m from mangroves, which is a violation as per Bombay high court orders and the Environment Protection Act, 1986 which prohibits destruction of mangrove forests. The state mangrove cell then began investigating and found that other bungalows along the road have similarly encroached forest land.

Mangroves are a vital coastal ecosystem as it acts as a buffer against severe tidal events. The forests are also important for the survival of marine flora and fauna. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 recognises a Coastal Regulation Zone in which industrial and other activities such as discharge of untreated water and effluents, dumping of waste, land reclamation and bunding are restricted in order to protect the coastal environment. Mangroves are included in the most ecologically sensitive category.

Investigations in the Versova case had revealed that of 73 bungalows in the area, 66 had violated the Environment Protection Act by encroaching on mangrove land and a report was submitted to collectors office. The latters investigation revealed that 53 of 66 bungalows did not have permissions for extensions and had encroached in less than 50m of mangroves. Following this, an FIR was filed.

Officials from the collectors office told HT that several reminders had been sent to the Mumbai police to file a charge sheet against violators. However, no action has been taken, said officials. We have sent four reminders to the BMC to investigate the issue under various sections of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP) since March, and check what clearances their departments have given to these owners over the years for extensions to the bungalows, said Nitin Mahajan, additional collector, Mumbai suburban. We have not received a single response from the either the police or BMC so far.

Mumbai police officials said that the process of filing the charge sheet was underway. The matter is under investigation. The statement of three bungalow owners is pending. The process will be completed soon and we will be submitting the charge sheet in court, said Kiran Kale, senior police inspector, Versova police station.

The state mangrove cell, who conducted preliminary enquiry in the matter, slammed the slow pace of investigation. We have written to the collectors office to hand over mangrove destruction on private land to us, so that there is speedy enquiry and swift action is taken against violators, said a senior mangrove cell official.

BMC officials said notices have been sent to several bungalows under MRTP already. Following the Kapil Sharma case, we carried out demolition of illegal extensions at a few bungalows. We have also issued notices under MRTP to several bungalows that were unable to provide certificates. We are awaiting their response. However, the process is on and will take some time to be completed. A report will be submitted to the collectors office within a month, said Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner and ward officer.

Timeline: The Versova mangrove destruction story

September 9, 2016: Kapil Sharma complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter about alleged corruption in the BMC. Following this, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had promised to take strict action. BMC officials asked Sharma to reveal the names of the corrupt officials. However, the tweet backfired when BMC officials said there was a violation by the comedian himself

September 10, 2016: Two complaints were filed by two different city-based activists with Versova Police station against Sharma for alleged dumping of debris at wetlands and destruction of mangroves near his office

September 12, 2016: State mangrove cell officials led by assistant conservator of forests, Makarand Ghotge said that there was a violation through destruction of mangroves after they visited the site and would be submitting a report to the Mumbai suburban collector

September 17, 2016: On the basis of state mangrove cells report, the Andheri tehsildar (revenue official) carried out a detailed investigation of the area

September 18, 2016: A first-information-report (FIR) was filed against actor-comedian Kapil Sharma by the Versova police after the Andheri tehsildar cited a violation of Environment Protection Act, 1986. No arrest was made

October 2, 2016: Citing a violation under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, Makarand Ghotge and other officials from the state mangrove cell were investigating nearly 50 to 60 houses that had encroached on wetlands along a 400m stretch and submitted a report to the revenue department

October 25, 2016: Ghodke was transferred to a desk job of a statistician at the office of the chief conservator of forests, Thane, according to the transfer order from the state government

November 21, 2016: The officer reinstated as assistant conservator of forest, mangroves protection unit and given back powers to investigate mangrove violations at Andheri (West)

November 23, 2016: Mangrove cell identifies 66 of 73 bungalow owners violating the Environment Protection Act by encroaching on mangrove land at Versova, Andheri (West). Report submitted to collectors office

November 24, 2016: Mumbai suburban collector directs probe at the site and issues notices to BMC and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority which had allotted the bungalow plots

January 8, 2017: Notices issued to 53 of 66 bungalows to respond within two weeks regarding violation of Environment Protection Act (EPA)

February 9, 2017: Mumbai suburban collector directs MHADA to initiate action against the bungalows for mangrove destruction

March 5, 2017: MHADA fails to initiate action and Mumbai suburban collector instructs his sub-divisional magistrate to file FIR against 53 bungalows. Versova police begins investigation

May-October, 2017: Mumbai suburban collectors office sends four reminders to BMC and Mumbai police to complete investigation and submit details in court. No response from either of the authorities

November 2017: Mumbai police tells HT that the process of filing the charge sheet is underway and should be completed soon

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Plans to revamp Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), including the mini zoological park, leopard safari and other projects, are going to be delayed.

Officials from SGNP said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which was to be signed between the Belgian government and the state forest department, has been stalled due to technical difficulties and pending clarifications from both governments during a meeting on Friday.

The project has been delayed as both parties responsible for signing the MoU bilaterally agreed to defer it because there are certain terms and conditions that needed to be finalised. However, details regarding the terms and conditions cannot be made public until the MoU is signed, said Anwar Ahmed, chief conservator of forest, SGNP. We are keen on completing this project, and it will be done once both parties have clarity.

Forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told HT that discussions regarding the funding of the project still need to be completed. As of now, the Belgians will fund 75% of the project and the state forest department will pitch in the rest. However, we want them to fund the entire project since they have chosen this location for their research. Technicalities regarding the same are still being discussed, he said.

Mungantiwar added that the idea is to revamp SGNP and Gorewada Zoo in Nagpur to make them at par with international standards. While it might be a prolonged process, the scale of such an international project will take time to be completed. Signing any MoU with another country entails legal hurdles as well. We are working in tandem with them on all these parameters.

HT had reported in July this year that the Belgian consulate had submitted a proposal to forest department to remodel, provide state-of-the-art technologies and carry out research work to conserve the rich biodiversity of SGNP. Mungantiwar had said that the consulate had chosen SGNP out of four global urban forests in the world, and declared it as the most unique national park located within the periphery of a megacity.

The conservation project took off in February after Belgiums consul general Peter Huyghebert visited the park. It was expected to be finalised during Belgiums King Philippe and Queen Mathildes visit to Mumbai between Thursday and Friday.

The project details entail technologies from Belgiums Antwerp Zoo to be replicated at proposed projects in SGNP, such as a mini zoo towards the Borivli end of the park, and the leopard safari. Additionally, breeding centres and care research hubs for animals are also expected to be developed. The Antwerp Zoo, which opened in 1843, is one of the oldest in the world and has 5,000 animals from 950 species in its 10.5 hectares. The zoo is listed as a monument, with eight buildings housing animals. It has a research centre for conservation of endangered species.

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Vietnamese police hand over an economic suspect to their Chinese counterparts, October 20, 2017. Photo: Peoples Daily

Police from China and Vietnam have yielded considerable results from their intensified cooperation on counter-terrorism, crackdown of drugs and human trafficking, fight against telecoms fraud, hunt for fugitives, as well as other law-enforcement operations.

The Vietnamese police, on October 18 and 20, handed over two economic suspects that fled to Vietnam to the border city of Pingxiang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

A Vietnamese drug dealer was also transferred by the Chinese police to their Vietnamese partners at the same place this August, serving as another proof of bilateral pragmatic cooperation on law-enforcement.

Since the start of 2017, a total of 24 delegations have been organized by both sides for reciprocal visits, and nine training courses were offered by China to 77 Vietnamese police, Zhao Wanpeng, police counselor of the Chinese Embassy to Vietnam, told the Peoples Daily.

Coordinated by the embassy, Vietnam handed over 23 fugitives to China during the same period, while China transferred 15 to Vietnam, Zhao said, adding that both sides also coordinated on 92 cases.

Cooperation in border areas is on a rise as well. During a meeting on law-enforcement cooperation among border areas hosted in Nanning, Guangxi in December 2016, the two sides agreed to push collaboration on global law-enforcement to a new high by cooperating more on protection key infrastructure projects and fight against telecoms fraud.

They also agreed to work closer to crack down on drug trafficking, illegal immigration, human trafficking, economic crimes, the illicit trade of firearms and ammunition, and repatriate fugitives who fled overseas.

Such closer cooperation can be attributed to the clear direction pointed out by leaders of both countries, who have reached a broad consensus on deepening security collaboration during their frequent mutual visits.
I have been in London this week where the Mother of Parliaments has been accused of being smothered in slime and its members described as sex-pests. I started every day by listening to discussions on BBC Radio 4s breakfast show about this slime, the allegations women either employed in parliament or political journalists have made against MPs, described as a Tide of Allegations by the Sunday newspaper, The Observer.

The sudden emergence of these allegations has been sparked off by the allegations against American film producer Harvey Weinstein,

The allegations have already claimed the scalp of the secretary of state for defence, Sir Michael Fallon, who has resigned saying he has fallen below the high standards expected of the armed forces. The allegations have also led to the suicide of a member of the Welsh assembly. He was suspended from the Labour Party without even being told what the allegations against him were.

The Welsh assembly members suspension and indeed many other allegations raise questions which are relevant to India also.

One question is how do you judge allegations when all you have is the word of the alleged victim and the man she claims sexually harassed her. A second question is how do you assess what is sexual harassment and what is flirtation, or the suggestion of a drink together, a proposal for a date or even consensual sex be decided. The second issue was taken up by the former editor of the Guardian Peter Preston in his weekly article in The Observer. He describes sexual harassment as: A moveable feast of indifference or outrage: and there is no single answer, no single set of rules that can deal completely with something so personal or malleable. Its about many things including age and changing attitudes. Preston ends his article saying: It is crucial for all involved, including the media, that there is some sense of due process and due seriousness here in the weird new world of tinder and tribulation.

When I say this question is relevant to India I am not suggesting that parliament is riddled with MPs being described in Britain as sex pests. The Indian media has not considered legislators personal lives as a right and proper subject to investigate so we dont know much about the goings on in Parliament.

Happily there is a far wider awareness of sexual harassment in India outside Parliament now and many ones against alleged perpetrators. This is all for the good. However, the problem is that here as in Westminster there does not seem to be any agreement on what amounts to harassment, or indeed rape. The need for some due process and seriousness is particularly urgent bearing in mind the discussion about changing the law on marital rape. I know feminists will jump down my throat for raising this issue but we have already seen cases where men who might at the worst be accused of breach of promise have been accused of rape because a consensual sexual relationship has not ended in marriage.

I certainly realise that what was acceptable behaviour in my young days is rightly not acceptable today. I also recognise that what was a common male attitude to women, should no longer be tolerated. But at the same time it is important to recognise as Preston did: a life wasted on whatever side of the divide is a life wasted.

The women who have alleged that they have been sexually harassed by British politicians maintain this has happened because of the fear of the authority MPs wield. Former political journalist Jane Merrick, who complained about Fallon, said she felt that by complaining she had at last redressed the power balance between her and the politician.

This question of the misuse of power and authority which the Westminster revelations raise is clearly relevant to Indias politicians too. A former employee working in Westminsters secretariat related an incident when she justifiably pointed out that a politician was exceeding the time limit for his speech and he had threatened her saying, dont you know who I am? Those words are all too often heard in India spoken by politicians who refuse to accept the limits of their authority.

The views expressed are personal
A day after a 19-year-old SD College student was found dead in his car, police are looking for his friend who was apparently with him a few hours before the incident.

Tanishq Bhasin, a resident of Sector 4, Panchkula, and a second-year commerce student at SD College, Sector 32, was found dead in his car on Morni road on Thursday morning. He had a gunshot wound to his head and a revolver was found lying on his lap.

Sources said Tanishq had met a friend in Mohali on Wednesday night, as established by the tower location of their mobile phones.

Tanishq had his last movement in Mohali, where he met someone and then his mobile was switched off, confirmed Panchkula police commissioner AS Chawla.

His friend, who is a Mohali resident, is now missing and his phone has also been switched off, said sources.

Police have reached out to his family to know about his whereabouts. His father is a government employee in Punjab.

We have issued a notice to the boys father, asking him to bring his son for police investigation on Saturday morning, said a senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity.

He said the friends testimony is vital to know details, leading to Tanishqs death.

However, his sudden disappearance raises questions. Its possible he panicked, expecting police questioning. Hopefully, he will join the probe and help us link the dots, said the officer.

Police said though the Mohali youth was not Tanishqs classmate, they knew each other well.

The police on Friday also questioned two of Tanishqs close friends, who are learnt to have said Tanishq once asked them about bringing a gun from Uttar Pradesh.

Assistant commissioner of police (ACP, law and order) Noopur Bishnoi, who is probing the matter, said it was too early to say whether there was any foul play. Our focus at the moment is on finding how he procured the sophisticated gun. According to initial probe, the weapon did not belong to anyone in Panchkula. We are now enlarging our probe and checking national database for more clues about the weapon, she said.

Commissioner Chawla said it was a dangerous trend if youngsters could lay their hands on weapons so easily. Our initial reports suggest that it was an original weapon but to confirm this, we have sent it to government laboratory in Madhuban, said Chawla

Even as Tanishqs kin have pointed to the possibility of the deadly online game, Blue Whale, the postmortem conducted on Friday ruled out any external injury except the bullet wound.

His uncle Anil Bhasin said razor blades were also recovered from Tanishqs bag. Also, he had written two sentences in bold letters in his notebook: Wake me up at 7.15 am and Let my vest dry in open.

Though these two sentences do not make any sense, the blades raise questions, he said.
Chandigarh

The Punjab government and Chandigarh administration will jointly organise the three-day Military Literature Festival from December 7 at the Lake Club.

The event aims to bring Indian and foreign defence analysts under a single roof and also showcase the countrys military history. Seminars on Indias defence literature, art, music, photography, among others will be organised during the festival.

To create awareness about the countrys defence forces, around 1,200 students from rural areas around tricity will be invited to attend the festival. The festival is open to all and there shall be no registration fee.

Prominent Indian and foreign authors and defence experts have confirmed their participation in the event. These include US-based Ravi Rikhye, emeritus professor of history at Ulster University, Tom Fraser, historian William Dalrymple, curator at the Imperial War Museum London Alan Jeffreys, military historian and publisher Tom Donovan, author of Battleground Chhamb, 1971 Gen AJS Sandhu, military historian Rana Chhina, and Brigadier Darshan Khullar, among others.
Reading his poems in the city on a Saturday afternoon, the poet of our times paused after one to say, Krishnaji liked this poem a lot. I mean Krishna Sobti, who received the Jnanpith Award this year, which has come rather late when she is ill and in the hospital. Good tidings that come from Delhi say that she is improving and will be home in a few days. Giving me an update, writer Sukrita Paul, who had posted a picture of Sobti on the hospital bed, said, When we told her about the Jnanpith Award, she smiled and then waved her hand as though saying, What does it matter now!

All the admirers of this grande dame of Hindi letter feel a little indignant that it took this award, instituted in 1961 for outstanding contribution to literature in Indian languages, a very long time to reach this writer whose fiction stands witness to turbulent times of the 20th century, which saw not only Independence but also the Partition and communal strife till date, which saw strides in technology and change in values, and also a decided shift from tolerance to intolerance. Here was this woman with a sense of history, and the sensitivity to note every transformation and give it words. Actually, not just words, but stories that she put in the memory of the readers.

One striking fact about this determined soul is that she chose the hard way in her tryst with life. No short-cuts, no crutches, no godfathers, or godmothers for that matter. Once sharing a glass of beer with me in a favourable season, when she was not exasperated that I was so close to Punjabi poetess Amrita Pritam, with whom she locked horns in the long court case over the Zindaginama discord. You know I had such energy as a young girl that I could have scaled the Everest! Well she did scale the Everest of literature in the vast, prejudiced and politicised world of Hindi language. But my favourite anecdote from her is a young girl confession dating to the 1950s in Shimla, which was still Queen. She got the first acceptance letter for a short story that she had sent to a magazine. Essentially a loner, she decided to celebrate the occasion with a drink at Devicos. I went there to hear the crooner, on whom I had a crush, sing Ray Prices country song My shoes keep walking back to you, then she giggled, well, my shoes would go walking back to him!

Protest against intolerance

Krishna remained a girl at heart always but that is not to undermine her head and two years ago when I was with her she was in the midst of protest against intolerance and returning the Sahitya Akademi Award (1980) for Zindaginama, after a quarter century or remarkable writing with unforgettable novels like Mitro Marjani, Yaaron Ke Yaar, Daar se Bichurhi and Surajmukhi Andhere Ke.

The last of these novels which is less talked about dwelt on the theme of child rape when no one considered it as a subject that could be written about. Not the one to rest on her laurels, she was to give more in novels like Ai Ladki, Dil-O-Danish and even Samay Sargam. The last dealt with love of a couple in their waning years. And she wrote what she lived and lived what she wrote. Love did come to her at 70 when she married an admirer of her writings, Dogri writer Shiv Nath.

When Shiv Nath passed away, she enjoyed the memories and the last time I met her she put his video on the TV and wished him a happy Hello. Her recent novel is Gujrat Pakistan se Gujrat Hindustan, the most autobiographical of her fiction. She is working on three novels and even in the hospital she makes it a point to pen some words every day. Bravo! Krishnaji so one looks forward to meeting more when one can sit by your side and have a little laugh at the snails pace of the Jnanpith Award.

(The author can be contacted at nirupama.dutt@hindustantimes.com)
A Delhi-bound Air Asia flight made an emergency landing at Ranchi airport 20 minutes after take-off on Saturday after the pilot got a smoke detection alert from the cargo section of the plane.

The flight I5-549 had taken off from Birsa Munda Airport (BMA) at 5pm with 140 people, including the crew.

As soon as the pilot noticed the smoke detection alert on his monitor, he contacted the air traffic control (ATC) for emergency landing, which it did soon after.

The passengers were evacuated from the plane and taken to the security hold area of the airport as the airlines engineers attended the aircraft.

Air Asia decided to replace the aircraft, and rescheduled the flight to 10.30 pm.

Past incidents

On July 15, a Delhi-bound Air Asia flight with 174 passengers was hit by birds during take-off, damaging eight blades.

Another Air Asia flight enroute to Ranchi from Delhi was in the news on July 10 when an unruly passenger, later identified as mentally challenged, attempted to open an exit door of the flight when it was approaching Ranchi air strip for landing in the late evening.

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The fights inside Bigg Boss 11 house are spilling over to the outside world this year - reports claim Arshi Khans publicist has filed cases against contestants Priyank Sharma and Gehna Vasisth.

A Tellychakkar report quoted Arshis publicist Flynn Remedios claiming that Priyank could be arrested soon and police have started the process to obtain an arrest warrant. Remedios had filed a criminal defamation case against Priyank in October. The police officials who are investigating the case have told me not to speak to the media in this regard, and I am sorry, I cannot share any more details, it quoted the publicist as saying.

Remedios has also reportedly sued Gehana for Rs 1 crore and was quoted by the website as saying, I have been reading statements and articles based on interviews given by Gehana Vasisth concerning the private life of my client Arshi Khan. I had kept quiet till now because when a show like Bigg Boss is on, everyone jumps onto the bandwagon. I wish to clarify that I used to handle Gehana Vasisths PR 3-4 years ago, but I am not handling her media activity now. Her PR is handled by one Suresh Shetty and I have nothing to do with the statements made by Gehana Vasisth. On behalf of Arshi Khan who is currently in the Bigg Boss house, I have issued instructions to our lawyers who are suing Gehana Vasisth for Rs 1 crore for making false, incorrect and highly defamatory statements against Arshi Khan.

Earlier, talking about his FIR against the Bigg Boss contestants, Remedios had said, Filing FIR/ criminal complaint against Bigg Boss 11 contestants Priyank Sharma and Sapna Choudhary, Colors and 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 a legally privileged/protected and subjudice court matter including the right to prevent or avoid self-incrimination by accused or victim woman and using it for TRP and financial gains.

Arshi and her publicist were upset when Priyank, who returned to Bigg Boss 11 as a wild card entry after being kicked out for breaking rules, talked about an alleged Pune sex scandal involving her. Priyank asked Sapna Choudhary to use the phrase Pune and Goa in front of Arshi in their next fight and when she did so, Arshi was left stunned. She approached Priyank to ask why he was revealing details about her personal life on the show and was later seen crying, My parents will be so angry at me.

Catch all the latest updates from Bigg Boss 11 here

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Salman Khan may not have expected what lay in store for him when he prodded Bandgi Kalra about her fight with Priyank and her relationship with Puneesh. Not only did Bandgi announce that she is in love with Puneesh, she even revealed the real reason behind her break up with previous boyfriend!

Salman opened Bigg Boss 11 Weekend Ka Waar episode on Saturday with a family tree of the Bigg Boss house. He described Puneesh Sharma as a robot and Bandgi Kalra as his charger, adding that they are members of the Shilpa Shinde gangs.

Meanwhile, Arshi Khan told Hiten Tejwani that she would continue eyeing him even if there are fights going on in the house. He said he is happily married but Vikas Gupta quipped, Uske dada ne 18 shaadiya kiye hai (His grandfather has been married 18 times).

Benafsha Soonawalla was seen appreciating Priyank Sharmas dimples and said his eyes and lips were his best features.

Salman then greeted housemates and made fun of their secrets that they shared last weekend. He told Luv Tyagi that his secret was the cutest, adding, Petrol pe countriyaan lad jaayein. Itna bada secret hai tumhara! (Countries will fight over petrol. Your secret is so big)

When he made fun of Hina Khans secret and asked her, Usse jada kuch hua hi nahi? (Nothing bigger than this happened to you?) Hina said, I cant just reveal my secrets on national TV. Will you tell your secrets? Salman said, I dont have secrets...kuch bhi chipana chahta hu to bahar as jata hai.(Even if I try to hide anything, it gets revealed)

Salman then asked who was the villain of the house this week. Shilpa and Akash named Benafsha while Hina said Puneesh and Priyanks fight was worst and Puneesh spat on Priyank so he was the villain. Arshi said it was Priyank and Hiten agreed with him. Sapna named Shilpa and said she should have stopped Arshi and Akash as she is mature but she did not, so she was the villain. Vikas named Benafsha, blaming her for Priyank-Puneesh fight. Luv said it was Akash as he provokes fights while Bandgi named Priyank as he made fun of her boyfriend.

Things turned ugly when Bandgi began elaborating. She revealed that she left her previous boyfriend as he wanted to share her with someone else and began crying. Mai sach me Puneesh k saath hu (Im really with Puneesh). Please stop asking if this is real or fake.I am not an actor.

Priyank was then summoned to the katghara where he faced questions from Salman and the housemates. He claimed he was provoked into the fight and Puneesh and Priyank started fighting once again as both tried to justify themselves and blame the other one.

Salman then asked Hiten who was to be blamed and he said Priyank started it all. Puneesh then misbehaved with Benafsha and then Puneesh abused a lot, Hiten said. Uske baad ki ladaai me usne gandi gandi gaaliyan di ( He swore a lot in the subsequent fights).

Arshi said, Priyank ko gussa karne ka idea Hina se aata hai (Priyank gets the ideas to get angry from Hina). Arshi and Bandgi said the fight was planned by Hina and added that Hina and gang wanted to provoke Akash and Puneesh.

Benafsha and Akash later apologised to each other.

When Salman asked Hina for her explanation, she said, Maine nahi bhadkaya kisi ko(I never provoked anyone), She was surprised to discover that Salman blamed her. The star then slammed Akash for disrepecting women.

Later, Priyank told Shilpa that Vikas created an issue out of nothing and caused the fight.

Salman told Bandgi and Puneesh, You are conscious about your image. I understand there is no control over love but your parents are watching. Be sure of what you are doing. Do things you will do in front of them as they are watching.

Salman then informed the housemates that eviction will happen on Sunday.

Later, TV star Kapil Sharma entered the house and Shilpa and Bandgi were really excited to see him. He got letters for everyone and jallad carried them for him. Everyone began hooting for Jallad and said, Jala hua laat!

The first letter, to unnamed handsome guys in the house said, Humare security agency ko aap jaise bouncers ki jarurat hai...ek celebrity actress ke liye..kaam jo hum kahein daam jo aap kahein. (Our security agency is looking for bouncers like you guys. This is for an actress. We will define what work you do and you get any price you want).

Another letter addressed to Shilpa thanked Shilpa for doing what they dreamt of and it came from VKNHE aka Vikas Ke Nikale Hue Workers.

When Kapil asked Shilpa what was the problem between her and Vikas, Shilpa said, Shuruat aapse hi hui thi (It all began with you), to which Kapil replied, Mere upar hi ilzaam laga do! Aise hi mere pe bahut ilzaam hain. (Now I will be blamed for everything! I There are already a lot of allegations against me.)

Kapil then asked people to kick a puppet after adding the face of someone they would like to kick and fix. Sapna kicked Vikas while Priyank chose Puneesh for his target. Akash kicked Priyank and Arshi kicked Hina.

Akash and Arshi then presented their rap for Kapil and he said, Mujhe kuch samajh nahi aya. (I didnt understand a word).

Kapil then came out of the house to meet Salman on stage. Introducing his game for the comedian-actor, Salman said, Mujhe pata hai aapki dili kwahish hai lekin poori nahi hogi. Chahe mai rahu ya na rahu aapki ye khwahish puri nahi hogi. (I know you have been eyeing my job fort a long time but that wont ever happen. Even if I am not around, you are not going to host this show) Kapil was then supposed to translate Salmans words to English.

Kapil then made some hilarious statements like If one eye doesnt like something that one eye will do mothers eye.

The episode ended with speculations over eliminations for the week but the final result will only be out on Sunday.

Catch all the latest updates from Bigg Boss 11 here

Follow @htshowbiz for more
The first hint that something was amiss came in a letter.

On November 4, guests at Riyadhs Ritz Carlton were notified by the opulent hotel that: Due to unforeseen booking by local authorities which requires an elevated level of security, we are unable to accommodate guests ... until normal operations are restored.

The purge was already under way. Within hours security forces had rounded up dozens of members of Saudi Arabias political and business elite, mostly in the capital and the coastal city of Jeddah. Among them were 11 princes as well as ministers and wealthy tycoons.

Some were invited to meetings where they were detained. Others were arrested at their homes and flown to Riyadh or driven to the Ritz Carlton, which has been turned into a temporary prison.

The detainees were allowed a single, brief phone call home, a person familiar with the arrests told Reuters.

They dont receive calls and are kept under tight security. No one can go in or out, the insider said. It is obvious that there was a lot of preparation for it.

The purge was ordered by 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Officially next in line to the throne to his father, King Salman, he is now in effect running the country which he has said he will transform into a modern state.

To do that - and in an attempt to shore up his own power - he has decided to go after the Saudi elite, including some members of the royal family, on accusations such as taking bribes and inflating the cost of business projects. Those arrested could not be reached for comment.

At stake is political stability in the worlds largest oil producer. The Crown Princes ability to rule unchallenged depends on whether the purge is successful.

The Crown Prince believes that unless the country changes, the economy will sink into a crisis that could fan unrest. That could threaten the royal family and weaken the country in its regional rivalry with Iran.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chats with his son and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on November 8, 2017. (Reuters)

Prince Mohammed decided to move on his family, the person familiar with events said, when he realised more relatives opposed him becoming king than he had thought.

The signal was that anyone wavering in their support should watch out, said the person familiar with the events. The whole idea of the anti-corruption campaign was targeted towards the family. The rest is window dressing.

King Salman said the purge was in response to exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to, illicitly, accrue money. Insiders said the accusations were based on evidence gathered by the intelligence service.

Government backers have rejected suggestions that the campaign is really about eliminating political enemies. There was no immediate comment from the royal court on this story.

Among those now holed up at the Ritz Carlton hotel is Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, who is head of the powerful National Guard and Prince Mohammeds cousin.

Miteb was in his farm house in Riyadh when he was called to a meeting with the Crown Prince. Such an invitation, even at night, would not be unusual for a senior official and would not have aroused suspicion.

He went to the meeting and never came back, said a second insider who has connections to some of those who were detained.

Others held include Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is chairman of international investment firm Kingdom Holding and a cousin of Prince Mohammed, and Prince Turki bin Abdullah, former governor of Riyadh province and a son of the late King Abdullah.

File photo of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh, which has been turned into a temporary prison for some of the officials and princes purged. (AFP)

Some royal watchers said tensions were laid bare during family meetings over the summer. One insider said it was widely known to Prince Mohammed that some of the powerful royals, including Miteb, were resentful about his elevation.

Prince Mohammed, who is widely known in Saudi Arabia by his initials MbS, had said openly in interviews that he would investigate the kingdoms endemic corruption and would not hesitate to go after top officials.

The vehicle was an anti-corruption committee created by King Salman, and announced on Nov. 4. The king put the Crown Prince in charge, adding another power to the many he has been given in the past three years.

Saudi authorities have questioned 208 people in the anti-corruption investigation and estimate at least $100 billion has been stolen through graft, the attorney-general said on Thursday. The head of the committee said investigators had been collecting evidence for three years.

By launching a war on corruption, the prince has combined a popular cause with the elimination of an obstacle to acceding to the throne.

MbS used the corruption stick which can reach any one of them, said Jamal Khashoggi, a former adviser to Prince Turki al-Faisal, intelligence chief from 1979 to 2001. For the first time we Saudis see princes being tried for their corruption.

But Khashoggi, who lives in the United States, said Prince Mohammed was being selective in his purge.

I believe MbS is a nationalist who loves his country and wants it to be the strongest but his problem is that he wants to rule alone, he said.

File photo of Prince Miteb bin Abdullah. (Reuters)

Prince Mohammed was appointed defence minister in 2015 when King Salman became monarch. In June, the King named him heir to the throne, pushing aside his older cousin Mohammed bin Nayef, a veteran head of the security apparatus. The royal family acquiesced and by September the Crown Prince had rounded up and jailed religious and intellectual opponents.

The latest detentions are intended to help him push through reforms that promise the greatest change since the reign of King Abdulaziz, founder of the current Saudi state in the 1930s.

That state has rested on an enduring accommodation between the royal family and the Wahhabist clerics who control the hardline version of Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia.

The ruling family promised to give Saudis comfortable lives and a share of the countrys oil wealth. In return, their subjects have offered political submission and promised to follow the countrys strict religious and social codes.

King Abdulaziz, who was also known as Ibn Saud, died in 1953. Since then, Saudi Arabia has been run by the king and below him there has been a group of princes, none of them strong enough to impose his will against the wishes of the others.

Decisions have mostly come through consensus. That arrangement has meant social and political change has been glacial although it has also kept the kingdom stable.

But in moves that position Prince Mohammed as the new Ibn Saud, the Crown Prince is tearing down pillars of rule that had been eroding under the weight of population growth and low oil prices.

Consensus has been replaced by what critics say is one-man rule, opposed by some princes although they would not risk saying so in public.

Saudi King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud  the founder of the current Saudi state  in conversation with then US President Franklin D Roosevelt on February 14, 1945. (AP)

In the past few decades, every Saudi king had one or two of his brothers, sons or nephews by his side advising and sharing in governance. But Prince Mohammed has not appointed any of his brothers or other close family to top positions, instead relying on a team of advisers -- mainly Saudis though some are US- or British-trained.

King Salman, 82, still has the last word on everything. But he has delegated the running of the kingdoms military, security, economic, foreign and social affairs to Prince Mohammed. There has been speculation for months, denied by court officials, that the king will soon abdicate the throne to MbS.

Even the Crown Princes age is remarkable. The last three kings have reached the throne aged 61, 80 and 79. Prince Mohammed is effectively in charge at 32.

Prince Mohammed says he offers a new social contract: A state that functions better than the rigid bureaucracy of the past, opportunities to have fun and an economy that will create jobs that can last, whatever happens in oil markets.

In September he announced that Saudi women will be given the right to drive. Just three weeks ago, during a conference for investors at the same Ritz Carlton that now houses the targets of his purge, he unveiled a plan for a $500-billion futuristic city where sexes could mingle and robots outnumber humans.

A Saudi woman drives her car in Jeddah on September 27, 2017. Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from next June, state media said. (AFP)

The prince has also drawn up a blueprint to wean Saudi Arabia off its dependence on oil and its subjects off state subsidies and government jobs. The public listing of national oil company Saudi Aramco, planned next year, is its centrepiece.

There are no guarantees the princes ambitions will succeed.

Even some admirers ask whether his reach exceeds his grasp. His top-down approach, brooking no opposition, could scare off investors wanting assurances about rule of law and security. Without huge investor support, he will struggle to meet the aspirations of Saudi youth.

War in Yemen, a dispute with the Gulf emirate of Qatar and growing tension with Iran is a concern to investors too.

It should help that Prince Mohammed, following the example of Ibn Saud, sees the importance of forging a special bond with the United States.

During a visit to Saudi Arabia in May, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Riyadh to lead an alliance against Iran and its attempt to cut a Shiite axis through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

Soon afterwards, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates blockaded Qatar, accusing its ruling Al Thani dynasty of supporting Iran and Islamist terrorism. Trump gave his backing. After the arrests of the past week, Trump tweeted support, saying those arrested had been milking their country for years.

One insider close to the royal family said the National Guard was unlikely to react strongly to Mitebs removal. He said there had been no resistance to the ousting of Mohammed bin Nayef at the interior ministry and the National Guard would be no different.
Bangladesh on Saturday said its chief justice has tendered his resignation from overseas in the wake of government corruption allegations, as opposition groups raised fears that his departure was a blow to judicial independence.

Surendra Kumar Sinha, who led the Supreme Court to a landmark verdict on judicial oversight in August that went against the government, left Bangladesh last month amid widespread rumours that he had been pressured to step aside.

His resignation letter has reached the Bangabhaban (presidential palace), Joynal Abedin, press secretary to President Abdul Hamid, told AFP, adding that once submitted his termination was irreversible.

Sinha, who is believed to be visiting his daughter in Canada, was accused of serious crimes last month including money laundering and financial irregularities, just a day after he departed on a month-long leave, expressing his fears for judicial independence in the nation.

Former law and justice minister Moudud Ahmed, now a member of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), called the resignation unprecedented and shameful.

Weve never heard before of a sitting chief justice resigning, he told AFP. He has been forced to resign.... This is a direct attack on the independence of the judiciary.

A rare statement from the Supreme Court in October said other top judges had refused to sit with him at the top bench after he was accused of serious crimes such as graft.

The saga comes just months after Sinha led the Supreme Court in scrapping parliaments power to sack top judges -- a move hailed by lawyers as a crucial safeguard for a secular judiciary in the Muslim-majority nation.

The ruling overturned a 2014 constitutional change introduced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina allowing the parliament -- controlled by her Awami League party -- to remove top judges.

In a written statement issued before his departure, Sinha expressed dismay over criticism he had faced from the government over that ruling and said he was a bit worried about the independence of the judiciary.

Sinha had previously insisted he would return to Bangladesh once his leave ended on November 10.
Pete Souza, former White House photographer, followed Barack Obama for eight years to capture his presidency, politics, diplomacy and moods.

On Wednesday, Souza released his new book Obama: An Intimate Portrait showcase that has around 300 photos featuring the first US black Presidents life during his two terms.

One image in the book shows Obama after the inaugural party in 2009, contentedly smiling as he loosens his collar. It also features iconic images of Obama and his aides in the Situation Room before the assassination of most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, by US forces.

Former US president Barack Obama, Joe Biden along with members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, in Washington, May 1, 2011. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is also pictured. (White House/ Pete Souza via Reuters File Photo)

Others reflected Obamas lighter moments. The 2012 image of a three-year-old Spiderman zapping the president on Halloween became Obamas favourite photograph of the year, wrote Souza in the description. Of course, his favourite changed every time he saw a picture of him with Sasha or Malia (Obamas daughters).

Another image from a record of nearly two million photos that Souza took spoke of Obamas unpresuming nature, as the five-year-old child of a White House staffer gently touched the presidents hair to check how it feels.

This blog post by Adobe was posted in conjunction with my talk at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Link to the blog is in my profile. @lightroom A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Aug 6, 2017 at 7:58am PDT

Souza, who worked for Chicago Tribune, first met Obama in 2005 when he was a junior senator from Illinois, said a report in New Yorker.

Recently, the photographer has been discreetly voicing his critique of President Donald Trump. He seems to be sending a reminder in an Instagram post that shows Obama reading a memo intently. Its caption reads: Six years ago today: riding in the motorcade to the airport in Pittsburgh. I was reminded every day that his was a serious job.

Here are some of the images from Souzas Instagram account that capture Obamas many moods:

Watch out; you never know who might zap you into their web today.  A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Oct 31, 2017 at 7:53am PDT

First in a series from the first 100 days of the Obama administration. Inauguration night 2009, in a freight elevator heading to one of the Balls at the Convention Center. A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Apr 22, 2017 at 3:25pm PDT

Bunny ears, 2014. C'mon admit it, you knew this one was coming. A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Apr 17, 2017 at 6:09am PDT

Bo boarding Air Force One, 2010. A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jan 28, 2017 at 7:03am PST
In 1994, members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set a goal of liberalizing trade and investment among the developed economies by 2010 and developing economies by 2020, better known as the Bogor Goals.

Bogor Goals, a cornerstone of the APEC agenda, were written in the Bogor Declaration issued during the 2nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the Indonesian city of Bogor.

Over the past 20-plus years, the APEC members, though varied in development levels, have accomplished a lot in lowering tariffs, eliminating trade barriers, liberalizing trade and facilitating investments by taking the Bogor Goals as a guideline.

Data shows that trade in goods in the Asia-Pacific region has witnessed a quadruple growth, while the absorbing foreign capital and outbound investment in the region soared by 600 percent. Thanks to closer economic and trade ties among the APEC members, people there are living a much more decent life.

The members are now eager to prepare for a post-2020 blueprint by finding out new directions and drawing out new roadmap as the year of 2020 is now around the corner.

The 22nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting hosted by China three years ago provided enlightenment for the long-term development of APEC mechanism.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the 2014 meeting, stressed that it meets the common interests of all members to foster an open economy in the Asia-Pacific featuring innovative development, interconnected growth and converging interests.

To realize the goal, he urged the big APEC family to work together to build an Asia-Pacific partnership of mutual trust, inclusiveness, cooperation and win-win progress, saying that this will inject new energy into the economic development of both the Asia-Pacific and the world. The Beijing meeting fell in the 25th anniversary of APEC and 20th birthday of Bogor Goals.

A series of important documents were adopted at the Beijing summit thanks to Chinas efforts, including Statement on the 25th Anniversary of APEC - Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership, Beijing Roadmap for APECs Contribution to the Realization of the FTAAP, APEC Connectivity Blueprint for 2015-2025 as well as APEC Accord on Innovative Development, Economic Reform and Growth.

Xi urged the members to fulfill Asia-Pacific dream by redoubling efforts to forge a partnership of mutual trust, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation. The blueprint envisaged by him is of great value for APEC cooperation.

In addition, the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), connectivity, structural reforms and innovation-driven development were selected by the members as symbolic cooperation agendas during the meeting, laying a foundation for the medium- and long-term framework of APEC cooperation.

A great deal of follow-up efforts has been done to implement the decisions of the Beijing meeting. The members, in their 2016 gathering in Peru, concluded their collective strategic study on FTAAP, adopt the Lima Declaration on FTAAP, and agreed to formulate a working plan.

The APEC economies also pooled their consensus by holding policy dialogues, exchanging information and reinforcing the capability-building of the zone.

As a result of all the endeavors, the members have embraced booming practical cooperation on connectivity and accelerated link-up of supply chain in the region. The Model E-Port Network, a working group on e-commerce, port services network and some other mechanisms advocated by China have played their role as well.

Reform and innovation were given more weight by APEC members. This year, they finalized the Cross-border E-commerce Facilitation Framework, worked out the roadmap for Internet and digital economy, and stepped up efforts on practical cooperation, experience sharing and capability-building.

Vietnam, host of this years meeting, has selected post-2020 vision as a key agenda. In order to ensure that APEC members could reach consensus on new vision before 2020, exchanges will be organized and working group is expected to be set up to draft a report.

China also drew a blueprint for its future development at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded last month.

The Asia-Pacific dream can also find an echo from the Chinese Dream. The Asia-Pacific region will enjoy new impetus brought by Chinas efforts to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embark on a journey to fully build a modern socialist China.

Starting from the reality, China will, guided by the Asia-Pacific partnership, explore the post-2020 vision together with other APEC members by bearing a far-sighted horizon, taking all factors into consideration and pooling consensus.

The author is the China's senior official for APEC
Hindu American groups on Saturday said they have won a significant victory in California state, as education officials acceded to their over decade-long efforts for an accurate, equitable, and culturally competent portrayal of Hinduism and India in school textbooks.

At its final hearing late this week, the California Education Departments State Board of Education (SBE) voted unanimously to approve positive edits submitted by Hindu American community groups to improve the portrayal of Hinduism and India in as many as 10 textbooks.

The board also voted to reject two textbook programmes from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Grades K-6 and Grades 6-8) for adversely reflecting on Hinduism and other diverse communities, according to a media release.

This is truly historic. After many years of civic engagement, Hindu-Americans have started to make themselves heard, said Shantharam Nekkar of Hindu Education Foundation USA, an organization dedicated to enriching the understanding of Indian civilization and Hinduism in America.

We will continue to engage constructively and fight biases and prejudices against Hinduism and India, he said.

Several top American lawmakers including Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, along with elected state officials, scores of academicians and experts backed by a large number of community organisations and parents of Indian American students supported the efforts led by Hindu Education Foundation (HEF).

The decision taken by Californias State Board of Education can be implemented only in the state of California, but it sets the trend for the rest of the US as a majority of other states either follow the guidelines and textbooks approved by them or are deeply influenced by their textbooks and syllabus.

The Decision of State Board of Education came after hearing testimonies and receiving letters from thousands of Hindu-American parents, children, educators and community members from across California, including immigrant Hindus from Fiji, the Caribbean and India, as well as letters from a broad coalition of more than 75 interfaith and community groups, 17 state and federal elected officials, and 38 leading academics, HEF said in a statement.

The Board, HEF said, rebuffed last-minute attempts to disrupt the process of South Asian Histories for All or SAHFA, which it alleged made vitriolic, bigoted, and Hinduphobic statements about Hinduism in public testimony and on social media.

Despite the false claims of SAHFA, our broad interfaith coalition that represents individuals from all communities including Dalits, never tried to erase any community, caste, or religions history, and believe that all groups should be represented fairly in textbooks, said Samir Kalra, senior director at the Hindu American Foundation.

In fact, we asked that the contributions of Hindus of all backgrounds, including the spiritual traditions of Dalit Hindus, be acknowledged in textbooks. Most of the changes that SAHFA submitted were hateful and violate California law and the textbook framework, he alleged.

The Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) also welcomed the decision of the California Board in this regard.

When we work together, we will win, said C C Yin, founder and chairman of APAPA.
Lebanons powerful Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday accused Saudi Arabia of detaining prime minister Saad Hariri and of asking the Shiite movements arch-foe Israel to launch strikes.

Hariris sudden resignation on November 4 in a statement made from Riyadh took the Lebanese political class by surprise and has sparked international concern.

The United States warned against using the tiny country as a venue for proxy conflicts and the United Nations said it was essential no new conflict erupt in the region.

France called for Hariri to have all his freedom of movement amid rumours he was being held against his will.

The head of the Lebanese government is detained in Saudi Arabia, he is banned from returning to Lebanon until now, Nasrallah said in a televised address.

Hariris situation was not completely clear but calls, including from his Lebanese political rivals, mounted for Saudi Arabia to guarantee the premiers freedom of movement.

The 47-year-old announced his resignation on November 4 in a surprise move that coincided with a sweeping purge of the Saudi kingdoms elite, ostensibly over embezzlement accusations.

Hariri, who also holds Saudi nationality, did not say when he would return to Lebanon, where President Michel Aoun has yet to formally accept his resignation.

In a statement issued on Friday after a meeting with a senior Saudi diplomat, Aoun insisted Hariri should return to Lebanon.

US support

President Aoun met Saudi charge daffaires Walid Bukhari and informed him that the circumstances in which Mr. Hariris resignation took place were unacceptable, the statement said.

The president called for the return to Lebanon of the head of the government.

Aoun, whose political ally Hezbollah is a fierce critic of Riyadh, voiced his concern over what is being said about Hariris current status in Saudi Arabia and demanded a clarification.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday described Hariri as a strong partner and warned against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country.

The United States strongly supports the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Lebanon and of its political institutions and opposes any actions that could threaten that stability, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has close ties with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, made a surprise visit to Riyadh late Thursday after a trip to the United Arab Emirates.

On Friday, a spokesman for Frances foreign ministry said: We wish Mr. Saad Hariri to have all his freedom of movement and to be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon.

Earlier French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on French radio he thought Hariri was free to move around, despite most of the Lebanese political class implying he was de facto under house arrest.

He went to Abu Dhabi the day before President Macrons visit (on Wednesday) so we think hes free to move around, Le Drian said.

Conflict warnings

Nasrallah, whose party is the only organisation that did not disarm after the 1975-1990 civil war and now has an arsenal that outstrips Lebanons own armed forces, accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to incite conflict.

The most dangerous thing is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon, he said. Im talking about information that Saudi Arabia has asked Israel to strike Lebanon.

Nasrallah, whose movement Hariri has repeatedly said should lay down its arms, also warned that his movement, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, was stronger than ever.

We are stronger today, we warn them again misguided calculations, against any knee-jerk initiative, he said, adding however that his party saw any Israeli attack as being unlikely at this stage.

The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, also said: It is essential that no new conflict erupt in the region.

We are indeed very worried and we hope that we wont see an escalation in the region that would have tragic consequences, he said.

Lebanons interior ministry said in a statement Friday that a Saudi national had been kidnapped in Lebanon in circumstances that remained unclear.

Saudi Arabia had urged all its citizens in Lebanon this week to leave the country but Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk told AFP that the kidnapping was in no way related to the Hariri crisis or politics.
A mob of protesters has set on fire at least 30 houses of Hindus in Bangladesh following rumours that a youth from the minority community published an offensive Facebook status, media reports said on Saturday.

One person was killed when police opened fire to disperse the crowd that launched the arson attack on the houses of Hindus on Friday, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The incident took place in Rangpur districts Thakurpara village, about 300 km from Dhaka.

At least five persons were injured when police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control, it said.

The protesters claimed that they were infuriated by a defamatory status published from the Facebook account of a person who hails from the Thakurbari village a few days ago, the report said.

Before the police intervened, the perpetrators had torched at least 30 Hindu houses before looting and vandalising them, the report said.

A crowd of 20,000 people had reportedly gathered from six to seven neighbouring villages before the attack was launched by a group of people, it said.

The police had a tough time dealing with the protesters and restoring the law and order situation in the area, the report said.

Six persons with bullet injuries were rushed to a nearby hospital when one of them succumbed to his injuries, the report said.

Police have detained 33 people in connection with the incident, bdnews24 reported.

There were traffic snarls after the mob blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway to protest against the police action.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area where the situation was tense, Kotwali police station Officer-in-Charge (Operation) Moktarul Islam said.

The district administration has formed a three-member inquiry committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate Abu Rafa Mohammad Rafiq, to investigate the incident and submit a report in seven days, the report added.
Australias Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would not call a general election after a citizenship crisis claimed another member of parliament on Saturday, leaving his government clinging to power with the support of two independents.

Australias constitution bars dual nationals from parliament, and Turnbulls centre-right coalition government was thrown into disarray last month by a High Court ruling that five of them were ineligible to be lawmakers.

Earlier on Saturday, Conservative Liberal party MP John Alexander told reporters in Sydney he was no longer certain that he was solely Australian, and that meant he had to resign.

Turnbull will deal with issues such as a no-confidence motion when they arise, he told a televised news conference in Vietnams central city of Danang, where he is attending a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.

We have the support of the crossbench on matters of confidence and supply. There is no question of that happening, Turnbull added, ruling out the possibility of a no-confidence motion.

His centre-right coalition government must rely on the two independents to vote with it to safeguard its position and block the passage of legislation it opposes.

Turnbull said he expected a Dec. 2 by-election would return Barnaby Joyce both to parliament and to his former position as deputy prime minister, thus bolstering the government.

He ruled out an early return to Australia following Alexanders resignation.

It is my obligation that I must resign, Alexander told a news conference. Thats what I will do. I think there is a great need for certainty, to clarify the situation and to do so as expeditiously as possible.

Alexander had been waiting for Britains Home Office to clarify whether he held British citizenship by descent. It is not known whether they responded.

He would have to confirm sole Australian citizenship before fighting a by-election to regain his seat.

Alexander said he planned to contest the by-election which The Sydney Morning Herald said must be announced no later than Monday, to allow the minimum 33-day campaign required to hold the poll on December 16.

Only the two independents now guarantee Turnbulls position after the High Court ruling expelled three members of the Liberal-National coalition government from parliament, with a fourth resigning days later, after confirming his dual nationality.
North Korea said on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trumps first trip to Asia showed he was a destroyer and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula.

Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.
Four aides of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who were detained along with the JuD chief by the government of Pakistans Punjab province under preventative detention since January, have been released.

Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - walked free as the judicial review board refused to extend their detention.

On January 31, Saeed and his four aides were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, which was then extended further.

However, the last two extensions were made under the public safety law.

The home department could not convince the board about keeping the four men in further detention.

Under the law, the government can detain a person for up to 90 days under different charges but for an extension to that detention it needs approval from the judicial review board.

But Saeeds detention was again extended for another 30 days (till November 26) last month under the public safety law.

The Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June, 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of $10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.

Pakistani authorities want beefed up security for JuD chief

Pakistani authorities have written to the Punjab home department asking it to take stringent measures for the security of Hafiz Saeed, claiming a foreign intelligence agency had planned to kill him.

In the letter, the National Counter Terrorism Authority said the foreign spy agency had paid Rs 80 million to two activists of a banned outfit for the assassination of Saeed.

It asked the Punjab home department to ensure foolproof security for the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief.
A protest is expected in Barcelona Saturday calling for the release of jailed separatist leaders, the day after pro-independence Catalan parliamentarian Carme Forcadell was freed on bail.

Separatists have called on supporters to match the annual turn-out of Catalonias national day, when hundreds of thousands gather in the city. The demonstration is due to take place from 17:00 (16:00 GMT).

Forcadell, the sacked speaker of Catalonias parliament, left a prison near Madrid on Friday hours after supporters posted her bail of 150,000 ($175,000), ending her brief detention.

A judge at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday had ordered Forcadell to be held on charges of rebellion -- which carries a maximum jail term of 30 years -- as Spains worst political crisis in a generation rumbles on.

She was one of several dismissed Catalan officials to be detained after their shock decision last month to declare the region of 7.5 million people independent from Spain.

Forcadell appeared at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday along with five former Catalan lawmakers.

The others were given a temporary reprieve by the judge, who said they must pay 25,000 each within a week or be detained.

Acting judge Pablo Llarena said his decision to grant bail was made after they either renounced all future political activity or agreed to respect the law, according to a court document.

The Catalan crisis has caused shock waves across the European Union (EU), prompting nearly 2,400 businesses to move their legal headquarters and re-register outside of the wealthy northeastern region.

Lawmakers opted to split from Spain, claiming they had a mandate after a referendum on October 1 in which 90% of voters backed secession.

But less than half of the electorate took part in a vote denounced as illegitimate by Madrid, and Catalans themselves remain deeply split over whether their region should break away from the eurozones fourth-largest economy.

After the declaration, Madrid dismissed Catalonias government, dissolved parliament, suspended the regions autonomy and called new elections for the region next month.

Political prisoners

Deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium where he is facing extradition back to Spain, has criticised the EU for backing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in the crisis.

Puigdemont and four former Catalan ministers are due to appear before a Belgian judge next week over the extradition warrant.

Eight members of his former cabinet were detained last week on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds for their role in the independence push.

Protesters blocked roads and train lines across Catalonia on Wednesday, provoking commuter anger in a strike called by a pro-independence union over the arrests.

Puigdemont, a 54-year-old former journalist, says he will not get a fair trial in Madrid, and has called on authorities to release Catalan political prisoners.

Puigdemont and Forcadell have lodged complaints against Madrid with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, it emerged Friday.

A court spokesman said four Catalan motions had been filed last month by the two Catalan leaders as well as dozens of Catalan parliamentarians.

The court has yet to decide whether to handle the cases.

Forcadell, a lifelong advocate of Catalan independence, has said that as parliamentary speaker she did not have the power to stop the October 27 vote in which lawmakers backed a break from Madrid.

Rajoy has urged voters to turn out en masse for the December 21 elections in Catalonia, a region that accounts for a fifth of Spains GDP.

Spain said Friday it had noted news manipulation about the Catalan crisis on social media originating from Russian territory, adding the issue would be raised at an upcoming EU ministers meeting.
US president Donald Trump on Saturday said Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin told him that he didnt meddle in US elections that propelled the billionaire former reality star to the White House.

Trumps relationship with Moscow has stalked the first year of his presidency, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin.

Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges including conspiracy to launder money, linked to the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations that the campaign colluded with Russia.

The US leader had two or three brief conversations with Putin on the margins of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on the way to a state visit in Hanoi.

He (Putin) said he didnt meddle. He said he didnt meddle. I asked him again, he said.

You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election.

Trump explained that Putin reiterates his denial every time the pair meet, adding his counterpart seems very insulted by the persistent allegations.

But he would not be drawn on whether he believes the Russian strongman.

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook have said paid for and free content with Russian links carrying divisive election related messages spun across their platforms ahead of the crunch poll.

Putin says claims of Russian meddling in US vote fantasies

Putin said accusations that Moscow meddled in US elections, particularly through contacts with Donald Trumps campaign team are fantasies and are motivated by American domestic politics.

Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of continuing domestic political struggle, he said, adding that allegations that his niece has met with Trumps former advisor George Papadopoulos are some kind of fantasies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua Photo)

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the APEC CEO Summit in Vietnams central city of Da Nang, Nov. 10. Journalists who covered the event have lauded the speech, saying that Xis speech very impressive, and Chinas initiatives, proposals, and new journey for building a strong and modern socialist country offer new hope for the Asia-Pacific region.

Helen Rei, senior reporter of The National, Papua New Guinea, told Peoples Daily Online that the most striking point was the Belt and Road Initiative. My prime minister said in his speech that PNG is at the Belt and Road network in terms of economy and trade. This initiative is good news for countries like Papua New Guinea with connectivity problems, adding that her country is looking forward to the leader of the worlds second largest economy bringing the Asia Pacific together.

Fausto Triana Pruna, a reporter for Latin America News Agency, pointed out President Xis estimation that China will import $24 trillion worth of goods in the next 15 years. This is a huge figure. But China is a big country, so its more than just a promise. Its something China will do well.

(People's Daily Online/Wu Chengliang)

Lucille Talusan, reporter with CBN Asia in the Philippines said she liked how Xi presented Chinas new journey as one of working together with other countries to create new drivers of common development.

Papua New Guinea sees China as a partner in its efforts to continue building and developing its economy. China exports and imports a lot of our goods and helps build infrastructure and connectivity, so of course China is good for us, and we looking forward to the years ahead, Rei said.

Talusan said, I liked it when Xi mentioned a new journey for future development. I saw hope in the grand economic program.

Doan Trong, with Little Saigon TV, which is based in the US state of California, called Xis speech very exciting. He said Chinas power in the world today is reality.

Gorethy Kenneth, a reporter with Post Courier who covered Xis speech, said Papua New Guinea has close connections with China. She has installed WeChat, a popular Chinese social media app, to connect her circle of Chinese friends. Shortly after Xis speech, she got the full text of the speech sent by the Chinese embassy in her home country.

Hailing the close relations between China and Papua New Guinea, Kenneth said she is looking forward to an even more fruitful partnership with China.

Quach Canh Toan, with Vietnamese news site Zing News, said Xis speech was impressive. Xi summarized Chinas great achievements in the past five years, elaborated on the Belt and Road Initiative, and provided the blueprint for building a great modern socialist country that was formulated at the 19th CPC National Congress last month, and reaffirmed Chinas commitment to reform and opening up. All of which are really impressive, Toan commented.
French oil company Total said it will buy liquefied natural gas assets, including a Gulf Coast project, in a deal valued at $1.5 billion as the world's biggest energy companies adapt their businesses for a lower-carbon world.

Total will acquire the assets from another French energy giant, Engie. The deal includes the sale of Engie's 16.6 percent stake in the Cameron LNG project in Louisiana near the Texas border. San Diego-based Sempra Energy owns a majority of the much-delayed Cameron LNG export project, which is slated to begin coming online in 2019.

The sale is intended to make Total the world's second-largest player in LNG market share after its Anglo-Dutch competitor Royal Dutch Shell.

"With the equity stake in the Cameron LNG project, Total will also become an integrated player in the U.S. LNG market, where the Group is already a gas producer," Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said.

Total's acquisition is another example of the world's biggest oil companies increasing their bets on natural gas as national governments around the world adopt laws and regulations aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming. Natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, producing far less carbon dioxide than coal and oil-based fuels.

Shell, for example, has boosted production of natural gas through its $70 billion acquisition last year of the British company BG Group. BP also has increased its gas holdings, last year moving its U.S. onshore headquarters from Houston to Denver to be closer to its operations in the Rocky Mountains, a hub of natural gas production. Earlier this year, BP disclosed a deal with the Russian energy giant Rosneft to cooperate on gas exploration and sales.

Exxon Mobil Corp. acquired the shale driller and natural gas producer XTO in 2010 for more than $30 billion, recently moving XTO's headquarters to Exxon Mobil's major campus near The Woodlands.

The shale boom has produced vast amounts of cheap natural gas, which is driving a wave of LNG export projects along the Gulf Coast.

In addition to the stake in the Cameron project, Total's deal also includes Engie's LNG tanker fleet, its existing LNG sales contracts and its LNG facilities in Europe.
Two former executives at a Dutch oil and gas services company pleaded guilty to conspiracy for their roles in bribing foreign government officials in Brazil, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

Anthony Mace and Robert Zubiate entered their pleas earlier this month in a case involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.

Mace, 65, of the United Kingdom, admitted that prior to becoming CEO of Oil Services Co., other employees made an agreement to pay bribes to foreign officials, including to Brazil's state-controlled oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras), Angola's state-owned oil company, Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola E.P. (Sonangol) and Equatorial Guinea's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Guinea Ecuatorial (GEPetrol).

Mace was CEO of Oil Services between 2008 and 2011 and a former board member of its wholly owned Houston subsidiary. He admitted he authorized the payments and deliberately avoided learning that the payments were bribes, according to his plea agreement.

Mace faces up to five years in prison. His lawyer would not comment.

Zubiate, 66, of California, was a former Texas and California-based sales and marketing executive at the Oil Services' subsidiary. He admitted that between 1996 and 2012, he and others used a third-party sales agent to pay bribes to foreign officials at Petrobras in exchange for helping Oil Services Co. and its U.S. subsidiary with winning bids, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston, which made the announcement.

Zubiate also admitted participating in a kickback scheme with the bribe-paying sales agent for Oil Services and its U.S. subsidiary, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The plea agreement is not available in the federal court records.

Zubiate's lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sentencing for Zubiate is scheduled for Jan. 31. Mace will be sentenced Feb. 2.
Q: I get numerous spam emails daily. Is there any way to stop this?

A: Unsolicited commercial email, commonly referred to as spam, is a problem faced by anyone who uses email with any regularity.

The first step to combatting spam is understanding how your email address became targeted.

Spammers acquire email addresses from a variety of sources. Any time you sign up on a website that requires an email address, there is a chance that the organization will use the email address to compile a list for the purposes of sending out ads and announcements. Less scrupulous organizations will sell that list to a third party, which leads to even more unwanted email.

Another way that spammers collect email addresses is to simply scour the web looking for them. If your email address is published anywhere on the internet it can be harvested by spammers who use tools that search for and record them.

Not all unwanted email is spam. Sometimes when you sign up on a website or register a piece of software, there is a check box where you can choose to receive additional information from the company. Most times the box is checked by default and you have to uncheck it to opt out of their communications.

As a rule of thumb, you should never reply to a spam email nor should you click on a link in a spam message. Doing so validates the email address as active and makes your address more valuable to spammers.

There are some exceptions to this rule. If the message is from a reputable organization and provides an unsubscribe link, you will likely be unsubscribed if you click it. You can usually tell the less than reputable senders by the content of the message.

Unfortunately, once your email address is out in the wild, it's difficult to stem the tide of unwanted messages.

I combat spam by using Gmail as my email provider and have all of my email addresses forwarded to my Gmail account. Gmail has some very impressive spam filtering capabilities and I rarely see a spam message in my inbox. Right now, in my spam folder, I see that I have more than 10,000 messages that have been successfully intercepted.

If you have a big spam problem, I would consider a switch to a service like Gmail. You can read more about how you might approach this atcomputerhope.com/tips/tip133.htm.

If switching to a new email provider is too daunting, there are third-party, anti-spam tools that can help. Check out a program called MailWasher Pro from firetrust.com. I have used it in the past and found it to work well.

Keep in mind that this kind of tool will not help if you access your email from a web page. You will need to use a dedicated mail client like Windows Live Mail, Outlook or something similar.

For more information on spam and what you can do about it, check out spam.abuse.net.
It sounds like a story plucked from an author's wild imagination: A 13-year-old girl leaves her family in Havana behind to spend a year in the country living with strangers. She sleeps in a hammock, teaches two whole families to read, then barely escapes with her life when she's targeted by insurgents hiding in the hills.

But author Katherine Paterson didn't make up the plot of "My Brigadista Year," her new novel for middle-graders. It's based on a stunning piece of Cuban history, one she has realized many Americans have never heard.

"I felt like it was an important story that needed to be told," said Paterson, the author of "Bridge to Terabithia," "The Great Gilly Hopkins" and dozens of other titles. She'll be in Houston on Sunday, discussing "My Brigadista Year" as part of Inprint's Cool Brains! reading series for young people.

After Fidel Castro took power in the Cuban Revolution, he declared 1961 to be the "year of education." He stood before the United Nations assembly and swore he'd wipe out illiteracy in Cuba in a year. Instead of funneling everyone into the existing educational system, he decided to use an army of volunteers, recruiting literate Cubans of all ages to fan out across the countryside and teach people, one on one.

More than 250,000 Cubans signed up to join the campaign  and more than half of them were women and girls. In fact, more than 100,000 of the volunteers were between ages 10 and 19.

The volunteers left their lives behind for a year. After a few days of training, they got dropped off in small towns or in the countryside and moved in with poor rural families, in homes without running water or electricity. When they weren't helping with work in the fields, they taught each family member how to read and write.

Meanwhile, counter-revolutionaries saw the literacy campaign as a threat to the class system they treasured, and some of them threatened the lives of the brigadistas. One teacher, a 16-year-old boy, was killed by insurgents.

But despite the danger, the program worked. More than 700,000 Cubans learned to read and write that year, and today Cuba has a literacy rate of 99.7 percent.

Paterson first learned about the brigidistas in 2015, when she was getting ready for a trip to Cuba to attend an international books conference.

"I didn't know anything about the campaign," she said. So she read a book about it, then watched the 2011 documentary "Maestra," which tells the story of nine women who volunteered for the campaign when they were young girls.

"I was so inspired by these women and by what they did," Paterson said. "They all praised that year as a turning point for their lives, when they found out what they could do when they realized they could be strong people and accomplish things."

More Information Author appearance Katherine Paterson will discuss and sign "My Brigadista Year" as part of Inprint's Cool Brain! series When: 3 p.m. Sunday Where: Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School 10410 Manhattan Dr., Houston. Cost: Free Information: InprintHouston.org See More Collapse

Paterson's story is fiction but stays true to the experiences of a real-life young girl. Her heroine, 13-year-old Lora, is young and scared but wants the adventure that leaving Havana can offer. "I will always remember the thrill of receiving my uniform and equipment," Lora says. "Dresses with frills and flouncy skirts were from my past life. Even the more severe pleated skirt and white blouse of my school days were left behind. Now I would wear the uniform of a brigadista."

By the end, Lora echoes the words of a real brigadista Paterson encountered: "I taught the campesinos how to read and write," she says, "and they taught me how to be a person."

Paterson said she's gotten some pushback for writing a story that casts Castro, a dictator, in a positive light. But she thinks it's important to see the whole picture.

"I just wanted us to realize that it's OK to see that your enemy has done some good things," she said.

While most dictators want the people to remain ignorant, Paterson said, "I think Fidel Castro, for all his faults, knew that in order to have a strong nation you had to have a literate nation."
There are many reasons to love Texas barbecue. First, it's delicious. The alchemy of fragrant wood smoke combined with carbonized and caramelized beef and pork is a mouthwatering trigger for any true Texan's appetite.

Also, the people. A Texas barbecue experience isn't complete without a visit with the pitmaster, who is rarely shy about proclaiming the superiority of his smoked meats and telling the story of how his barbecue joint came to be.

However, other aspects of the experience can be overlooked. Especially when visiting a place for the first time, we are often solely focused on the prodigious tray of food before us. Nowadays, barbecue fans huddle over the smoked meats with cameras snapping away or ask for a selfie with the pitmaster as they stand in line, oblivious to the other elements around them.

I make it a habit to stop and smell the barbecue, so to speak - to simply look around the restaurant's dining room. The true narrative of the establishment's history, as well as the eccentricities and predilections of its owner, are often hung, posted, etched, scribbled and plastered onto the walls.

More Information Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue 1703 Shepherd pizzitolas.com Louie Mueller Barbecue 206 W. 2nd, Taylor louiemuellerbarbecue.com See More Collapse

In Houston, the walls at Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue offer a local barbecue-history lesson. Though I have visited dozens of times, I still find myself hovering along the walls, picking out memorabilia I've never seen before. In between mementos from owner Jerry Pizzitola's beloved alma mater, Texas A&M University, there is a corner that documents the founding of the restaurant as Shepherd Drive Barbecue Stand in the 1930s.

There is a grainy picture of Shepherd in the 1930s or '40s, showing the original location, which was bulldozed in the 1950s to make way for nearby Interstate 10. There are pictures of original owners John and Lela Davis chopping wood and manning the order counter. A portrait of the owners' son Lynwood, perhaps from the early 1950s, radiates with the ambition of a young man who would graduate from Prairie View A&M University and eventually return to the family business.

In Central Texas, the main dining room of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor is a physical manifestation of the great traditions of Texas barbecue. A close examination of the walls reveals a patina of smoke built up over 50 years from the giant brick pit that dominates the room.

Perhaps the most iconic image of Texas barbecue that's not a pitmaster or a tray of smoked meats is the wall of business cards at Louie Mueller, each pinned by customers who visited dozens of years ago or dozens of hours ago. Some cards are stark white, some are frayed and browned. They are layers of history, with the new cards covering the old, without harm because the old cards are so old they are no longer legible.

On the opposite wall, a collection of framed magazine and newspaper articles narrates the joint's history from past to present. There is a tribute to the late Bobby Mueller, father of current owner and pitmaster Wayne Mueller, anchored by the bronze medal awarded to Bobby in 2006 as an "American Classic" by the prestigious James Beard Foundation.

For places like Pizzitola's and Louie Mueller, it's impossible to grasp the history of the place in just one visit. Of course, the barbecue itself commands our attention in just the first few visits alone. As familiarity sets in, a closer examination of the surroundings is warranted. The best Texas barbecue joints are soaked in both smoke and history.
David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and an adjunct professor at Stanford University, best known for his work on brain plasticity, which has led to television appearances and programs, and, of course, best-selling books. He's also a Rice University alum and former neuroscientist at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Anthony Brandt is a composer and music professor at Rice University, the recipient of a Koussevitzky Commission from the Library of Congress and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He's also the founder of Musiqa, Houston's contemporary music ensemble.

They combine their interests and talents in the book "The Runaway Species," a fascinating look at creativity across diverse disciplines. The pair will discuss the book at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Christ Church Cathedral, but in advance of that appearance they took some time to talk about how they connected, the future of creativity and a dog that glows red under ultraviolet light.

More Information 'The Runaway Species' By Anthony Brandt andDavid Eagleman Catapult, 304 pp., $28 Meet the authors David Eagleman and Anthony Brandt discuss their book. When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday Where: Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Information: $28; 713-523-0701, brazosbookstore.com See More Collapse

Q: How did a music professor and neuroscientist come to collaborate?

David Eagleman: Anthony and I have known each other for a while. He's a music professor, but he's been interested in how music interacts with the brain, and we met at a conference. We had coffee one day, began discussing creativity, and we decided to write a book on this topic. Three and a half years later, this is the result.

Q: You use a framework for creativity in your book, and you discuss the concepts of "bending," "breaking" and "blending." Can you discuss these?

Anthony Brandt: "Bending" is taking a source and messing with it in some way, as when a jazz band plays the same song they played every other night, but they do it in some other way. It's a variation on a theme. "Breaking" is when you take a whole, break it apart and assemble something new out of the fragments. In the book, we use the example of Picasso's "Guernica," in which the artist used bits and pieces of animals, soldiers and civilians to illustrate the brutality of war. And "blending" is any time you are marrying two or more ideas. In the book, we have an example of "Ruppy the Puppy," the world's first transgenic dog. He has a gene from a sea anemone, and he turns a fluorescent red under ultraviolet light.

Q: Writing can be hard work, but it seemed as if you had fun researching examples from all disciplines - art, music, science, marketing - to illustrate this three-part framework.

Eagleman: Yes, that was one of the great things about the book. We make the argument that in the arts, there is overt creativity, the bending, breaking and blending is right there for you to see. We think the same cognitive operations occur in science, but it occurs under the hood. When you hold your cellphone, it's just a rectangle, and there's no way to see all of the creativity that went into making it. What we do in the book is surf between the sciences and the arts and illustrate how the same processes are at work.

Q: Speaking of cellphones, you point out in the book that it's a product of "blending" creativity.

Brandt: Phones used to be for making phone calls, but the smartphone now blends many functions. Now you have a device on which you can watch movies, surf the web, use GPS, listen to music and check your emails. All of these functions are married together in one instrument.

Q: The book also describes tension in the human brain between being drawn to the familiar and the lure of exploration. Can you elaborate on that?

Brandt: People aren't the same in the way they balance novelty and familiarity, but everybody has creative software running in their brain, and they are all capable of aligning themselves on that creative spectrum and being participants in it. But the diversity in this tension, between exploration and familiarity, is healthy. We want a range of people, some of whom are pushing the envelopes, others who are holding back. We don't want to rush headlong into every wild idea, but we also don't want to stay rooted in one spot, never improving our lot.

Q: One animal highlighted in the book is the seasquirt, which embodies both of those tendencies over the course of its lifetime. Early in its life, it commits to exploration, but later in life, it adopts familiarity.

Eagleman: (laughs) The seasquirt, early on, uses its brain to explore and to find a suitable habitat. But when it finds that habitat, it eats its own brain for nutritional value.

Q: That's an extreme case.

Eagleman: Yes. The lesson is not to eat your own brain. It doesn't promote creativity.

Brandt: But it's also a good distinction between lower-order animals and humans. Humans have a special neural architecture, one that seeks exploration, and creativity is a way to make that manifest - to take what's going on in our minds and bring it out to the world. Creativity is the exploration of unknown territory. And whether it's creating a recipe, a musical rift or a patent, humans are exploring all the time.

Q: This tension is also captured by a "skeuomorph," which you discuss in the book.

Eagleman: It's a graphical object that represents a real-world object. They keep a hand on the past, while introducing something new. One of the examples we use in the book is that computers still use an icon of a floppy disk to save documents, even though floppy disks haven't been used for 20 years. The skeuomorph illustrates this tension between the novel and the familiar. We want to see something familiar, but we also want computers to lead us into the next century.

Q: Can we create computers that are creative?

Eagleman: I think it will be possible. The human brain is a machine, it's a vast and complex machine, so there's no reason, in theory, why we couldn't make creative computers. What humans do is to try to surprise and impress others. If you want to build good artificial intelligence, build a society of AI agents that are all trying to surprise and impress one another.

Q: Will we become redundant?

Brandt: I think the good news on that front is that most of the AI right now is gobbling up repetitive tasks. The things that computers love to do are things where the same input leads to the same output. The jobs that are most at risk right now, are the jobs that involve repetitive tasks. Creativity is a social enterprise, and humans are social, and it is this quality that has fueled our creativity over the ages. It will be interesting to see what happens when you bring a machine into that social sphere and whether we even accept the computers' incursion in that way. It's an open question.

Mike Yawn is the director of the Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics at Sam Houston State University.
The more frequently a household attends worship services, the more likely its members donate to religious institutions, and give generously, new research shows.

"Most strikingly, those attending religious services once a month or more make an average annual religious contribution of $1,848, while those attending religious services less than once a month donate $111," the report from Giving USA says.

The report, released last month, draws on data from the University of Michigan's Philanthropy Panel Study.

"Giving to religion," as defined by the Chicago-based Giving USA Foundation, includes contributions to congregations, religious media, denominations and mission organizations. It does not include faith-related institutions such as the Salvation Army, the University of Notre Dame, global relief organization World Vision, Catholic hospitals or Jewish foundations.

Overall, giving to religious causes amounted to close to a third of all charitable giving in 2016, Giving USA says. Religious institutions received $122.94 billion that year, or 32 percent of charitable donations. That figure is more than double the amount received by educational institutions, the next highest sector within nonprofits, which garnered $59.77 billion.

David King, director of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University, said it's notable that religious giving has remained at about a third of charitable giving in recent years "despite trends that we've seen around declining religious affiliation and religious involvement."

Researchers from the university found that almost one-tenth of households that never attend religious services give to religious institutions, but in far lower amounts - $67 annually on average.

Households that attend religious services every week or more are 28 times more likely to give to religious causes than those that never attend, researchers found.

"(Y)ounger generations do give to religion, and do so at a rate that is similar to earlier generations," said Rick Dunham, a board member of Giving USA Foundation and president of a fundraising company that focuses on faith-based nonprofits. "It is reasonable to expect that as younger generations mature, they will be similarly engaged in charitable giving as older generations are."

Among donors to religious causes that Giving USA tracks, Protestants give more to those causes ($2,809) than Jews ($2,291), Catholics ($1,372) or those of other affiliations ($1,979).

African-Americans give a greater percentage of their donations to religion than other groups - 74 percent, compared with 66 percent among Hispanics and 58 percent among whites.

Age also is viewed as a factor in giving. Among donors to religious causes, annual average giving reaches its peak between ages 40 and 64 ($2,505)  which is higher than donors under age 40 ($1,892), and those over 65 ($2,338).

Religious giving also increases with income as well as with educational attainment.

While 21 percent of heads of household without a high school degree gave to a religious institution, 49 percent with education beyond a bachelor's degree gave to religious causes. Researchers attribute that change in part to connections between education and income.
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The mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs hit close to home for Russell Moore, head of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

First Baptist is part of the SBC.

After the gunman took the lives of 26 churchgoers last Sunday between the ages of 18 months and 77 years old, Moore was called upon to react as the president of the convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. But he also felt the horror of it as a fellow Baptist.

"There's a kind of personalization of this shooting in an extraordinary way with people who are Baptist churchgoers because we can imagine being in the very same situation as those who were so wickedly killed," he said.

"I think there's a great familiarity with the rhythm of a worship service which makes, for churchgoers, the horror of this even more viscerally felt."

Moore talked to RNS about Southern Baptists' responses to the killings, believers' varying opinions about gun control and how churches remain resilient in the face of such tragedy.

Q. How are you seeing Southern Baptists respond to this tragedy? There are two SBC groups in Texas - are they coming together to rally around this church?

A. They really are, yes, and they have in several other instances in recent days - (Hurricane) Harvey in Houston also drew them together. I see Southern Baptists all over the country in solidarity with First Baptist Sutherland Springs. I think that every Southern Baptist church I know of will be having a special time of prayer this Sunday, if not before.

I think that many churchgoers are reflecting today on our vulnerability and on the wickedness that exists in the world around us. We know that from the Scriptures, but I think it's especially felt this week.

Q: We've heard many people offer their thoughts and prayers. Are prayers enough? What action can Christians take to make these tragedies less likely to occur?

A: I think there is a sense in which some of these calls for specific, immediate legislative action ironically serve the very purpose that those promoting them accuse those asking for thoughts and prayers of doing, which is a cathartic sort of immediate reaction, whether or not that actually solves the problem.

When we're looking at this horrific evil, Christians can disagree about what specific policies ought to be enacted. What I don't see is Christians debating whether or not shootings are right or wrong. We stand together on that. Where we have differences is what we think will work in terms of curtailing that. I think that's a prudential discussion, and Christians are going to going to end up in different places on that.

Q: Does the SBC have a stance on gun control?

A: No, there hasn't been a resolution on that.

Q: Are Southern Baptists divided on the necessity of gun control and, if so, do you expect a shift in some views after some of their own have been killed?

A: Whatever differences people have over gun control are not differences over what the Bible does or does not say. They're differences over more prudential matters about how to address a specific problem and what's constitutional and what's not. I don't expect that that will change much.

Q: Some Christians consider gun control a "pro-life" issue. The SBC is strongly pro-life. Do you see gun control as a pro-life issue?

A: No, because in the abortion debate, one side is depersonalizing the victims as not having human rights. That's not what's happening here. No one is advocating violence and shooting. People are disagreeing about what means are constitutional or effective. That's a very different conversation.

Q: Do you support training Southern Baptists to use guns, if necessary, in their churches?

A: Well, I wouldn't call for some sort of vigilante justice, but I haven't heard anyone who is.

Churches are considering whether or not their security plans are well thought-out. I think that's a wise conversation to have. Every church I've ever been a part of has always had a security team - usually, those who are police officers or are retired police officers who understand and know what security contingencies ought to be.

No series of plans, of course, can rule out something horrible happening, but a congregation is wise to think through how they ought to do everything they can to keep people safe.
WASHINGTON - Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore declined Friday to rule out that he may have dated girls in their late teens when he was in his 30s, though he said he did not remember any such encounters and described such behavior as inappropriate.

"If I did, I'm not going to dispute these things, but I don't remember anything like that," Moore said on Sean Hannity's radio program, when asked whether he had dated 17- or 18-year-old girls at the time.

In the same interview, Moore denied outright the claim of Leigh Corfman that he had initiated sexual encounters with her when she was 14. "I don't know Ms. Corfman from anybody," he said. "The allegations of sexual misconduct with her are completely false."

Moore's comments came as GOP leaders scrambled Friday to limit the political damage from the allegations. Two Republican senators - Steve Daines, Mont., and Mike Lee, Utah, - withdrew their endorsements of Moore after his interview with Hannity.

"Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate," Lee wrote in a tweet.

In a tweet, Daines was more succinct: "I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate." Daines also retweeted Lee's statement.

Earlier in the day, the National Republican Senatorial Committee pulled out of a joint committee it had set up with Moore, depriving him of a fundraising vehicle for the final weeks of the campaign. At the same time, current and former national party leaders admitted that they have little power to force Moore from the race. The special election is Dec. 12.

The comments came a day after The Washington Post published a story in which a woman said Moore had initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Three other women said he had asked or taken them on dates when they were teenagers. None of those three women say Moore forced them into any sort of relationship or sexual contact.

In the interview with Hannity, Moore recalled knowing two of the older women, Gloria Thacker Deason and Debbie Wesson Gibson, as well as their parents. "I knew her as a friend," he said of Gibson, who has said Moore asked her on a date when she was 17, after speaking at her high school. "If we did go out on dates, then we did, but I do not remember that," Moore said.

When asked about Deason's claim that he provided her wine on dates when she was 18, Moore said: "In this county, it's a dry county. We never would have had liquor."

Alcohol sales began in Etowah County in 1972, years before the alleged encounter, and The Post confirmed that wine was for sale at the time at the pizzeria where Deason remembered Moore taking her when she was under the legal drinking age of 19.

The legal age of consent for sexual activity in Alabama is 16, as it was at the time of the alleged encounters.

"After my return from the military, I dated a lot of young ladies," Moore told Hannity.

When Hannity asked Moore again if he could unequivocally say he never dated anybody in their late teens when he was 32, Moore said, "That's out of my customary behavior."

Hannity said he would not want his 17- or 18-year-old daughter dating a 32-year-old. "I wouldn't either," said Moore.

"And you think that's inappropriate, too, that's what you're saying?" Hannity asked. Yes, the candidate replied.

Allies of Moore in Alabama attacked the women. "What these women are doing is such a shame," state Rep. Ed Henry, R, said in an interview Friday with Huntsville station WVNN-AM. "As a father of two daughters, they discredit when women actually are abused and taken advantage of. They're not using their supposed experience to find justice. They're just using it as a weapon, a political weapon."

At the same time, more national party leaders came forward to call on Moore to leave the race. "Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections," said Mitt Romney, the party's 2012 presidential nominee. "I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside."

Romney joined his former rival, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in calling for Moore to step down immediately. Other Republican Senate leaders, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., have called on Moore to quit on the condition that the reports prove to be true - but they have not yet described a process for assessing the truth of the claims.

Strategists saw little hope for pushing Moore out of the race. They backed away from discussions for a Republican write-in campaign, which they said would be doomed if Moore stayed in the contest. That, in turn, raised the possibility that Moore's scandal will remain a problem for the party into the 2018 midterm elections, as candidates are asked to take a position on the abuse of minors and intergenerational dating.

"Other Republicans are going to be dragged into it," said Steven Law, chief executive of the Senate Leadership Fund, a political committee affiliated with McConnell that opposed Moore's nomination.

Indeed, on Friday, Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., issued a blistering rebuke of Moore and his supporters - some of whom, she said, had offered explanations that are "beyond disturbing." Comstock represents a swing district in the Washington suburbs and is seen as highly vulnerable in next year's midterms, particularly after the defeat of six GOP state lawmakers whose districts overlap with hers in this week's Virginia elections.

Back in Alabama, Democrats familiar with the campaign of their nominee, Doug Jones, said no new ad buys or investmentswere planned to take advantage of the story.

None of the women who said Moore pursued them sought out The Post. While reporting a story in Alabama about supporters of Moore's Senate campaign, a Post reporter heard that Moore allegedly had sought relationships with teenage girls.

Over the ensuing three weeks, two Post reporters contacted and interviewed the four women. All were initially reluctant to speak publicly but chose to do so after multiple interviews, saying they thought it was important for people to know about their interactions with Moore. The women say they don't know one another.

In interviews since the publication of the story, state officials have either said they would investigate the claims or raised questions about the timing of the revelations, suggesting that the women were politically motivated.

After a Friday event with military veterans, Gov. Kay Ivey, R, told reporters that "the people of Alabama deserve to know the truth," but she didn't hint at any particular actions she could take.

One reporter followed up, asking if the word of the women could be trusted. "Why wouldn't it be?" she asked.

One possibility, floated Friday night by some Republicans, was that Ivey could delay the election if Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it known that he would leave the Trump administration to run for his old seat.

Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, a Republican, told the Washington Examiner that biblical stories offered a justification for the acts Moore is accused of committing. "Take Joseph and Mary," Zeigler said. "Mary was a teenager, and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus."

Even before the accusations became public, Senate Republicans were asked repeatedly about Moore's more extreme positions on the proper role of the Christian faith in American political life.

Now, party leaders expect new questions about the Moore accusations. "I'm prepping my candidate for what he is going to say if he is asked," said one GOP campaign manager for a top 2018 race, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to not draw attention to the race. "At the very least, it is something that everyone is going to have to answer: Do you think Roy Moore at the age of 32 with a 14-year-old is like Mary and Joseph?"

During the 2012 elections, GOP Senate candidates in Missouri and Indiana made inaccurate or controversial comments about rape that allowed Democrats to make inroads with female voters across the country. Party leaders later said those comments helped prevent Republicans from winning the Senate majority that year.

Law blamed former White House aide Stephen Bannon and his website Breitbart News for creating problems that could endanger Republicans in 2018. "This is what Stephen K. Bannon's French Revolution looks like - chaos and embarrassment for the Republican Party," Law said.

In the interview with Hannity, Moore described the allegations as a false attack by his political opponents.

"This is a completely manufactured story meant to defrock this campaign," Moore said. "They don't want to acknowledge that there is a God. And we have refused to debate them because of their very liberal stance on transgenderism."

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites contributed to this report.

- - -

Video: Roy Moore responds to allegations; Republicans say he should withdraw 'if true'

Alabama Senate candidate Roy More denied allegations of sexual misconduct on Nov. 10 and called them "politically motivated." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called on Moore to withdraw from the race if allegations are true.

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NIAMEY, Niger - The body of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist militants in Niger last month, was found with his arms tied and a gaping wound at the back of his head, according to two villagers, suggesting that he may have been captured and then executed.

Adamou Boubacar, a 23-year-old farmer and trader, said some children tending cattle found the remains of the soldier Oct. 6, two days after the attack outside the remote Niger village of Tongo Tongo, which also left five Nigerien soldiers dead. The kids notified him.

When Boubacar went to the location, a bushy area roughly a mile from the ambush site, he saw Johnson's body lying face down, he said. The back of his head had been smashed by something, possibly a bullet, said Boubacar. The soldier's wrists were bound with rope, he said, raising the possibility that the militants - whom the Pentagon suspects were affiliated with the Islamic State - seized Johnson during the firefight and held him captive.

The villagers' accounts come as the Niger operation is under intense scrutiny in the United States, with lawmakers expressing concern that they have received insufficient or conflicting information about what happened. The Pentagon is conducting an investigation into the attack in Niger, where the U.S. military is helping the Nigerien government confront a threat by militants associated with the Islamic State and al-Qaida.

Boubacar, a resident of Tongo Tongo, said in a phone interview that he informed the village's chief after seeing Johnson's body. "His two arms were tied behind his back," he said. The chief called Nigerien military forces, who dispatched troops to retrieve Johnson's remains.

The village chief of Tongo Tongo, Mounkaila Alassane, confirmed the account in a separate phone interview.

"The back of his head was a mess, as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer," recalled Alassane, who said he also saw the body. "They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks."

A U.S. military official with knowledge of the investigation into the ambush acknowledged that Johnson's body appeared viciously battered but cautioned against reaching any conclusions until the probe is completed.

"When the Americans received Johnson, his hands were not tied," said the U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

The two Tongo Tongo villagers said they also saw the bodies of the three other American soldiers - Staff Sgts. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson and Dustin Wright - who U.S. officials say were killed in action. One was slumped inside the team's pickup truck, they said. The bodies of the other two were on the ground, one clutching a walkie-talkie, they said.

They were wearing T-shirts and boxer shorts, the two men said. It was unclear whether the militants had stripped off their uniforms.

The accounts could help explain why it to took two days to find Johnson's body, while the other men's remains were retrieved several hours after the battle. Johnson's widow has said that the U.S. military advised her not to view his corpse, a suggestion often made when remains are badly disfigured.

The widow, Myeshia Johnson, has emerged as a prominent figure in the uproar over the Niger attack, accusing President Donald Trump of acting cavalierly about her husband in a condolence call, a charge the White House has denied. She also has complained of receiving little information about what happened to her spouse.

- - -

FBI and U.S. military investigators have arrived in this impoverished West African nation to try to determine what happened in the Oct. 4 assault on an 11-member Army Special Forces team and 30 Nigerien troops. Among the questions they are addressing: Were there intelligence lapses? Did the unit have adequate equipment? Was the extremist threat properly assessed before the mission began?

The case has received enormous attention in the United States because of conflicting accounts over whether the soldiers were on a low-risk patrol or had changed plans and set out in pursuit of Islamist insurgents. Questions also have been raised about why the team was lightly armed, given the danger in the area.

The Pentagon has said the soldiers were on a routine reconnaissance mission. Under U.S. military rules, American troops in Niger are not supposed to go on combat missions in the country, but they can "advise and assist" on missions with local forces where the chance of enemy contact is low.

A senior Nigerien security official said in an interview that the military unit made a critical error by deciding to spend the night along the volatile Mali-Niger border. That allowed the militants to surveil the unit and plan the ambush that occurred the following morning outside Tongo Tongo as the team was heading back to their base, he said.

In fact, the official said, the team was initially on a one-day mission.

"The schedule they did was to come back the first day, but they did not," Mohamed Bazoum, Niger's interior minister, said in the interview. "They stayed there. And because they stayed there for all the night, the jihadists were able to target them" and follow them.

In an Oct. 23 briefing with journalists, Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the unit stayed away from its base overnight between Oct. 3 and 4. But he said, "I think a probably more accurate description than 'stayed overnight' was they caught a couple of hours of sleep after the third and before they completed their mission on the fourth."

He noted that previous joint patrols in the region had occurred without fatalities. There are roughly 800 U.S. troops in Niger, about a third of whom are Special Forces who take part in the "advise and assist" missions.

"Are they taking risks?" said Dunford. "They are. Are they taking risks that are unreasonable or not within their capabilities? I don't have any reason to believe that."

Col. Mark Cheadle, the top spokesman for the U.S. military's Africa Command, said overnight stays by U.S. soldiers advising local forces in Niger were "mission-dependent." He declined to respond to the interior minister's charge or the villager's recollections of Johnson's remains, deferring to senior U.S. military officials who have said answers would be provided after a thorough investigation.

Bazoum oversees Niger's internal security and works closely with both the Nigerien military and U.S. and other Western forces in the country. Normally, he said, such joint reconnaissance missions along the Niger-Mali border do not stretch over two days. Some news accounts, citing U.S. officials, have reported at least 29 joint missions in the past six months along the border.

When asked how many of those missions lasted two days, Cheadle said in an email that he could not provide a breakdown for security reasons, "but what I can say is that U.S. forces are prepared for overnight stays should the mission require it."

- - -

The U.S. military official with knowledge of the ambush investigation said that it increasingly appears that the soldiers' mission did change after they left their base in the capital, Niamey. The unit, the official said, apparently was rerouted to help another military team target a top Islamic State militant named Dadou, who was code-named "Naylor Road" by the U.S. military. But bad weather prevented the commandos from reaching the area. The unit continued to search for the militant and his fighters and eventually spent the night on the border, he said.

It was not clear why was a team mostly armed with rifles was ordered to assist an operation to nab a dangerous extremist.

Niger's defense minister and Sgt. Abdou Kane, a Nigerien soldier who survived the ambush, told The Post last week that the mission was not purely to gather information but also to capture or kill enemy combatants inside Mali.

The U.S. official said the unit was never inside Mali but was operating along the border, essentially a line in the sand.

Bazoum, the interior minister, said the team's miscalculations also included lingering too long in Tongo Tongo on their way back to base. The unit had stopped to replenish its water supplies on the morning of Oct. 4, and the U.S. soldiers spent time discussing medical care for the village kids, according to Kane and Alassane, the Tongo Tongo chief. The Nigerien soldiers cooked and ate breakfast.

"It was very easy for the jihadists to mobilize themselves and have a number of fighters more than the number that composed the mission," Bazoum said.

"There was a big failure of intelligence by both the Nigeriens and the Americans," he added. "The Americans are supposed to have more means, more information than us. But it is our country. Our intelligence service should know that this area was not so safe. They could have told them to hurry up, to not spend time staying in Tongo Tongo."

Around 11:40 a.m. on Oct. 4, the team was ambushed outside the village by more than 50 militants with heavy weapons, according to Kane and Nigerien and U.S. officials. The soldiers began to run out of ammunition, said Bazoum.

Air support from French Puma helicopters and French jets took an hour or longer to arrive. When they did, the militants fled, said witnesses.

It was not clear exactly how Johnson's body wound up in the field a mile away. Dunford has said Johnson became "separated" from his colleagues.

The day after Johnson's remains were found, Alassane was arrested on charges of aiding the militants. He was released recently, said Bazoum, because of lack of evidence.

- - -

The Washington Post's Dan Lamothe in Washington contributed to this report.
A photo with the theme "Do Not Throw the Peel" shows a tiny young man hiding in an orange peel.(Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

Students from Dalian University of Technology recently created a series of pictures to raise awareness about environmental protection.

The pictures include images of tiny people nicknamed "yiren", which in Chinese means ant people, and garbage such as plastic bags, disposable chopsticks and chewing gum.

The students said the small action of littering may lead to catastrophe for small animals and have a negative impact on the environment. They are calling on more people to step forward and throw garbage into trash cans instead.
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The mass shooting in Sutherland Springs last week left America shocked, searching for a cause, something to explain the brazen slaughter of 26 people as they prayed.

They wondered what could have possessed Devin Patrick Kelley, the 26-year-old disgraced airman identified as the shooter, to act with such cruelty.

One factor that surfaced early in the investigation - a chaotic past of domestic abuse and violence - has proved all too common in Texas in recent years.

Domestic violence cases have risen sharply across the state, with more than 210,000 wives, girlfriends, husbands and others suffering death or injury at the hands of a family member in the past two years. More than 550 wives or girlfriends were killed by a domestic partner between 2012 and 2016, according to state figures.

"We continue to underestimate the reach and devastation of domestic violence," said Gloria Aguilera Terry, chief executive of the Texas Council on Family Violence. "Domestic violence thrives in the silence and obliviousness we give it. Only when we confront the very conditions which allow domestic violence to exist will our homes, public spaces and places of worship be truly safe."

For Stephanie Johnson, the explosion of violence last Sunday in Sutherland Springs felt all too familiar.

Johnson's daughter was found dead last year in her ex-husband's Galveston County home, weeks after vanishing on her way to pick up her son.

Johnson had watched her daughter suffer for years.

"When she went missing, I knew immediately that she was dead," she recalled.

The shooting in Sutherland Springs followed what investigators called a "domestic dispute" between Kelley and his wife's family, including a series of threatening texts Kelley sent to his mother-in-law before the shooting.

It wasn't the first time Kelley turned to violence. He was court-martialed in 2012 and thrown out of the U.S. Air Force after assaulting his wife and step-son so severely that he fractured the child's skull. He also was accused in 2013 of abusing the young woman who would become his second wife.

Across the nation, more than half of the mass shootings between 2009 and 2016 were related to domestic or family violence, according to a recent study from Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for more regulation of firearms.

Families wiped out

Law enforcement agencies in Houston and across Texas have likewise confronted a rising number of domestic violence cases in recent years, according to the Houston Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

In the first 10 months of 2017, HPD received about 24,300 reports of domestic violence, a 45 percent increase over a similar period in 2013, according to Capt. David Angelo, who oversees the Special Victims Division.

The department operates a special victims division and posts special crimes officers at women's shelters across the city to help victims report domestic violence cases more easily, he said, calling domestic violence investigations an "absolute priority."

"We recognize a husband who batters his wife may be a murderer tomorrow," Angelo said.

The court-martial wasn't the end of Kelley's problems.

After pleading guilty to beating his wife and stepson, he made death threats against his military chain of command and smuggled weapons into Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, where he was stationed. His year of military confinement included a stint in a mental health facility, from which he escaped briefly.

Later, after returning to his family's home in New Braunfels, the Comal County Sheriff's Office responded to a call that he was abusing his girlfriend, but deputies concluded the incident was "teenage drama." He married her two months later.

Authorities are still investigating the Sutherland Springs massacre, but advocates say is it is just one of the latest - and most extreme - examples of how domestic violence cases often spill out of private homes and ensnare family, friends and innocent bystanders.

"It happens across every segment and sector of our society," said Andy Kahan, victims' advocate for the city of Houston. "You can't pigeonhole it."

Domestic violence shootings have exacted a terrible price in Harris County, wiping out whole families in recent years.

Three years ago, Ronald Lee Haskell traveled from California to Houston in search of his ex-wife, Melannie Lyon, authorities said.

Authorities had charged him with assaulting her in 2008 in Utah and again in October 2013. Judges issued protective orders in both cases.

That didn't deter him, authorities said. On July 10, 2014, he allegedly walked into the home of his ex-wife's relatives, looking for Lyon. He never found her.

Instead, he found Lyon's sister, Katie Stay, along with her husband and their five children, authorities said.

Police said Haskell ordered the family to lie face down, then tied them up and shot them, killing all but the family's oldest daughter, Cassidy.

Haskell - who faces capital murder charges - is currently in Harris County Jail awaiting trial.

A year later, Harris County sheriff's deputies making a welfare check in north Harris County found a scene of similar carnage.

Inside the home, they found Valerie Jackson, her husband, Dwayne, and six of their children, all shot to death.

They arrested David Conley, Jackson's ex-boyfriend, with whom she'd had a yearslong abusive relationship that led to at least two protective orders.

Conley, too, is charged with capital murder and remains in the Harris County Jail awaiting trial.

And in 2011, 27-year-old Jose Avila-Alva in Matagorda County shot his wife and four children before turning the gun on himself. He killed his three sons, ages 5, 4 and 3, and his 2-year-old daughter; only his wife survived.

Despite law enforcement's best efforts to curb the violence, the deaths continue unabated. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science recorded 229 domestic violence homicides from 2010 to 2016, or an average of 31 homicides a year.

Of those, at least 22 - about 10 percent - were relatives of the main victim.

'Deadly combination'

Amanda Johnson, with the Dallas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Guns Sense in America, said the shooting underscores the need for smarter gun laws.

"People violent enough to be violent enough with their own children and spouses are also violent enough to commit mass murder," she said. "When they have easy access to these weapons, it's a really deadly combination."

She and other advocates hope the Sutherland Springs shooting will spark a national dialogue, particularly with the daily abuse many women face that doesn't draw the same scrutiny as a mass shooting.

"Up until now, the media would lose interest in a shooting once they found out it was a domestic violence incident and not a 'real' crime," Johnson said. "Sutherland Springs is a game-changer."

Sherri Kendall, CEO of Aid to Victims of Domestic Violence, said approximately 1 in 4 women experiences domestic violence at one point or another.

"While we are seeing a number of multiple homicides with domestic violence in the timeline, it is happening all the time," she said. "We have to learn something from it. When this story is over we have to continue to be vigilant in our communities to make sure there are services for survivors and for perpetrators."

The Sutherland Springs shooting highlighted the need to ensure domestic abusers can't possess firearms, advocates said.

"This man had a history of abuse, and he should not have had access to a firearm, and we are advocating for stricter gun laws when it comes to being the hands of convicted abusers," said Chau Nguyen, chief marketing officer at the Houston Area Women's Center. "If we don't take action, we're going to see this as a recurring reality in our lives - and we know the link between domestic violence abusers and mass shooters."

Investigators also are examining how Kelley obtained the four firearms he bought in the years before the shooting. Under federal law, anyone convicted of even misdemeanor domestic abuse is prohibited from buying guns from licensed firearms dealers, although loopholes do allow them to purchase weapons at gun shows or from individuals.

Kelley was convicted of assault through a military court and could have faced up to five years in prison. That alone should have disqualified him from purchasing the weapons. In the days after the shooting, however, the U.S. Air Force acknowledged officials had failed to enter his conviction into any of the databases used by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The Air Force announced it is conducting an internal audit to figure out what happened and if records in other cases were correctly entered into the database.

Instead, he was able to purchase the Ruger AR-556 at a San Antonio Academy & Outdoors store in 2016 by clearing a federal background check.

In Sutherland Springs, family and friends are just beginning to process the grief. The victims ranged in age from 1 to 77 and included an unborn child.

Most of the church's members were killed or injured in the shooting.

'It wasn't enough'

Stephanie Johnson is still struggling, a year later, with the loss of her daughter, Anne-Christine.

Investigators found Anne-Christine's decaying body in the garage of her ex-husband, Shaun Philip Hardy. She'd been stabbed and suffocated.

Hardy is free on bail awaiting trial.

The two had a troubling history of domestic violence, court records show. In the summer of 2015, the young mother of two accused Hardy of pointing a loaded shotgun at her, slamming her head into a wall and threatening her with a knife. Johnson didn't sever her relationship with the man, however, because of her younger son, according to family and friends.

"She was a fearless mother going back to save her child," co-worker Jen Elkins said at the time.

But on Dec. 30 of last year, investigators found Johnson's body in the garage of Hardy's home - wrapped in plastic and surrounded by candles.

In the year since her daughter's death, Stephanie Johnson has become a tireless advocate for battered women, trying to help other women avoid similar fates.

"There's a perception that domestic violence is just something that's isolated to a family unit," she said. "But the problem with viewing it through this lens is it doesn't anticipate the enormous impact that the crime has."

She still wonders what she could have done differently.

"I did everything I could, and it wasn't enough," she said. "It seems really simple when you're on the outside."
The Houston patrol officer spotted a motorist swerving down the road and quickly pulled the car over. As she asked the driver if he had been drinking, she could see an open duffel bag with 8 kilos of cocaine in clear plastic bags sitting next to him on the car seat.

But instead of confiscating the narcotics, officer Julissa Guzman Diaz allegedly made a secret arrangement with a wrecker driver called to the scene. The two agreed to meet up later and split the cocaine. As Diaz took the motorist to check him in to a city sobering center, the wrecker drove off with the motorist's car and the cocaine, authorities say.

When she arrived at the center with the detained motorist, the officer was arrested by HPD internal affairs officers and charged with the third-degree felony of tampering and fabricating evidence.

Diaz, 37, had become the unwitting target of an elaborate HPD undercover sting operation, designed to catch an officer suspected of stealing drugs from motorists she encountered, according to details of the case revealed during her court appearance Friday.

Since Police Chief Art Acevedo took over HPD last December, Diaz was the second Houston officer arrested during an undercover investigation conducted by the department. But the investigation that led to Diaz's arrest was the first to specifically target an HPD officer under Acevedo, who has used both arrests as examples that HPD can be trusted to police its own officers.

"Ms. Diaz's betrayal of the public trust and oath of office is inconsistent with the dedication of the men and women of the Houston Police Department and their tireless, honorable service," Acevedo said in an emailed statement. "While we cannot overstate our depth of disappointment, we take solace in the fact the investigation that led to Ms. Diaz's arrest was conducted by men and women of the HPD, the same organization and co-workers she betrayed."

Last month, Acevedo confirmed that an HPD officer was arrested and jailed after he walked into a massage parlor on Westheimer and allegedly paid for sex.

He and more than 100 other men didn't know it was actually being operated as an undercover sting by Houston vice officers to crack down on clients of the city's burgeoning sex trade.

On Friday, details of the sting that ensnared Diaz emerged in court.

Relieved from duty

A Harris County prosecutor told a magistrate that Diaz left a duffel bag containing 1 kilo of actual cocaine and 7 kilos of fake cocaine in a car she stopped Wednesday. It was the apparent "bait" that was part of the police undercover sting operation.

Diaz was relieved from duty Thursday and appeared Friday morning in court for the first time since her arrest.

The officer - while on patrol duty in her district - pulled over a driver she saw swerving on Clearwood, near Interstate 45, a prosecutor said in court on Friday.

Diaz had the driver meet her in the parking lot of a nearby H-E-B, where she asked the undercover officer if he had consumed any alcohol. As Diaz questioned the driver, the actual and fake cocaine were on the front passenger seat of the undercover car, clearly visible in an open duffel bag, the prosecutor said.

The undercover officer replied he had not consumed any alcohol. He added he wasn't responsible for anything in his car, including the cocaine. According to the prosecutor, Diaz replied, "Cocaine? Why are you telling me that? I was not going to check your vehicle."

A video recording inside the undercover vehicle then shows Diaz checking the vehicle for the undercover officer's phone. She appeared to lean over the open duffel bag with the cocaine inside.

The undercover officer told Diaz multiple times about the cocaine, and she repeatedly responded she did not want to know about it, the prosecutor said.

Diaz then called the wrecker to haul off the undercover car, and HPD investigators believe when the wrecker driver arrived he and Diaz discussed meeting up later. Diaz then took the undercover officer to a sobering center, where she was arrested by other HPD officers involved in the sting operation.

Wrecker driver detained

Joseph Gamaldi, incoming president of the Houston Police Officers Union, echoed on Friday comments made by Acevedo the day Diaz was arrested, saying he was "enraged an officer within our department appears to have disgraced the badge we all hold so dear."

Diaz was out of jail on $100,000 bail Friday. It was unknown Friday who would be representing her in court.

She has worked for HPD since 2006 and was assigned to the Clear Lake Patrol Division.

Officers also detained the wrecker driver, the prosecutor said.

Police pulled him over for failing to signal when making a right turn. They could smell marijuana coming from inside of the driver's vehicle, and found both the actual powdered cocaine as well as the fake drugs from the undercover police car, the prosecutor said.

Diaz's arrest was the latest case to involve an HPD officer and illegal drugs.

Last year, veteran HPD officer Noe Juarez was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after drug authorities recording him selling firearms out of his police cruiser to members of a Mexican drug cartel. He also supplied cartel operatives with sensitive law enforcement information.
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Steve Bingham was across the street from the Whitehall Houston hotel on Friday afternoon when he was startled by a booming explosion. Bingham, a guest of the hotel, looked up and saw a plume of black smoke rising from the north facade of the downtown hotel.

"I heard a booming sound. It sounded like metal clanging," Bingham said.

Minutes later, Bingham said he heard a second, smaller explosion coming from the direction of the Whitehall. By around 1:30 p.m., emergency crews had responded to the incident at the 12-story, 259-room hotel at 1700 Smith St., a highly-rated facility at the center of the downtown business district.

Houston Fire Department Deputy Chief Blake C. White said the blast was caused by a transformer explosion in a basement electrical room.

"Three contractors were down there replacing a circuit breaker," White said. "One of them sustained major injuries - burns for sure, probably smoke inhalation."

The man, whose injuries were described as life-threatening, was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital. A second man left the scene with a bandaged hand and was transported to the hospital, White said. The third did not sustain any major injuries, White said.

Fire from manhole

Observers and fire officials said the resulting fire shot up from the manhole, burning the light-colored exterior of the building and staining the sidewalk and facade black with soot. The fire, however, never made it inside the building.

And while a number of hotel guests and employees of nearby buildings all described a loud explosion to the Houston Chronicle, the hotel's director of sales and marketing, Tanya Taylor, strongly denied an explosion took place. Taylor attributed the incident to a small electrical fire caused by a transformer going out.

At Two Allen Center, just a few blocks away, management notified residents in an email that the explosion had "caused rolling blackouts."

"While the extent of the damage is not yet known," Two Allen management informed residents."It is possible that there may be additional outages as electrical circuits are rerouted and re-switched."

A third of a mile away, Blake Green, who works at One Allen Center, said he was ordering lunch at a food truck parked near the Whitehall at the time of the explosion.

"I heard a boom and saw a huge, large flame followed by smoke," Green said. "It shook everybody up."

People near the hotel were running away and were shocked by the explosion, Green added.

From across the street, Bingham said he could see two men being taken away on stretchers - one appeared to have his hand wrapped in bandages, and the other looked like most of his clothes had been removed.

"I was in the far end of the hotel; all of a sudden the power went off. Now we're just waiting to see what happens," said Jaywant Subramaniam, a guest at the Whitehall.

Two employees who work at the building at 500 Jefferson in Cullen Center Complex, across from the hotel, said the lights in the building flickered after a loud boom was heard from across the street.

Relocated guests

HFD's Blake White said power to the hotel likely would be cut off at least overnight. As of Friday afternoon, the hotel was not checking out current guests but put a hold on checking in new ones.

"We're relocating them for their own comfort," Taylor said.

Center Point Energy was dispatched to the scene, spokeswoman Leticia Lowe said. The injured contractors were not employees of Center Point or the Whitehall.

All guests and employees of the hotel were evacuated, Taylor said. None appeared to have been injured.
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The backhoe clawed into Ronnie Pitkin's home Friday on the banks of the San Jacinto River, turning the pastel yellow building where he'd lived for more than a decade into a pile of broken wood and rubble.

It didn't matter that he'd spent $20,000 to add a new bathroom a few months ago, or redone the floors and bedrooms over the years. Nor did it matter that the Highland Shores home was where Pitkin raised four of his five children, swimming in the San Jacinto or driving ATVs in the natural surroundings.

Pitkin and his family won't go home again.

On Friday, Harris County demolished the home, the first in an escalating series of buyouts and demolitions for flood-prone homes left in Hurricane Harvey's wake.

"A lot of hard work and sweat went into that house," Pitkin, 68, said. "It was hard to watch it go down."

His home was among more than 200 homes flooded during Harvey that have been identified by the county for buyouts, an effort to chip away at decades of risky development in flood-prone areas. As many as 180,000 homes and other structures sit in floodplains across the county.

"People's homes and a lot of time their memories and everything are destroyed," said John Blount, county engineer. "Getting them going on to a new life is important to us."

Now Playing: Harris County demolishes the first of many flood-prone homes through a rapid buyout program. Video: Houston Chronicle

More buyouts are likely. Harvey dropped more than 51 inches of rain across the county, causing billions of dollars of damage, flooding an estimated 136,000 homes and structures and killing almost 80 people across the state.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett last month proposed a 15-point flood control proposal that included widespread buyouts, along with increased restrictions on development in unincorporated areas, a third dam and reservoir in the northwest part of the region to complement the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, and widening and straightening projects along the county's network of bayous and creeks.

A bond package that could be upwards of $1 billion is now under discussion to pay for flood control projects.

Four floods in 15 months

The storm has left homeowners like Pitkin asking for buyouts in numbers greater than any time before. More than 3,500 people have volunteered, said Matt Zeve, director of operations for the Harris County Flood Control District.

The buyouts seek to address a legacy problem around Houston. The first comprehensive floodplain maps showing flood risk were not drawn until the mid-1980s when some 2.7 million people already lived in the county.

The Harris County Flood Control District estimates nearly 180,000 homes and structures are inside "100-year" floodplains - areas that would flood in the event of a storm so severe that it has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.

Harvey, the 2016 Tax Day floods and the 2015 Memorial Day floods all surpassed rainfall levels of a "500-year" storm - 0.2 percent chance of occurring in any given year - in at least some parts of the county.

For Pitkin, the decision to ask the county to buy out his home came after a series of storms flooded his neighborhood four times in the last 15 months.

Pitkin said his flood insurance does not pay for replacing septic tanks or driveways washed out by stormwater, a several-thousand-dollar cost he incurred with each storm.

Harvey was the first time, however, that water entered his home, which was raised about 15 feet off the ground.

Negotiations ongoing

The buyout of Pitkin's home is part of an initial batch of 34 buyouts in Highland Shores and Banana Bend along the San Jacinto. So far, the county has closed on 12, and several more are under negotiation, Blount said.

Dozens of buyouts are expected to follow as the county seeks to use $20 million to purchase 206 homes across unincorporated areas that were substantially damaged during Harvey.

Clusters of homes will also likely be along Cypress Creek and Greens Bayou. Officials are targeting homes that have flood insurance so that payouts can complement the $20 million in county funds.

Pitkin declined to give the exact amount offered for his home. The county conducted an appraisal and offered what officials believed was fair market value. As of Jan. 1, Pitkin's home was appraised at $232,133, according to the Harris County Appraisal District.

The county also will offer relocation bonuses up to $31,000. Since the negotiations for the bonuses have not yet been completed, the exact amount paid out to Pitkin so far remains confidential, Blount said.

Buyouts are typically a slow, grant-funded process, taking months or even years for local governments to apply for and receive federal grants.

Earlier this month, the Commissioners Court voted to ask the federal government for $17 million to purchase 104 homes at the highest risk of flooding, based on data from 2015 and 2016. The earliest the county could see those funds is in 2018.

That contrasts significantly with the county's approach after Harvey, with the county closing and demolishing homes within three months of the storm.

Still, the need is much greater.

"We can't obviously buy everybody out," Blount said.
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AUSTIN - Sandra Bullock will play former state Sen. Wendy Davis in a possible upcoming film called "Let Her Speak," about Davis' 13-hour filibuster to block the vote of an anti-abortion bill during the final hours of a 2013 special session of the Texas Legislature.

Bullock is attached to the script as long as it lands a director she likes, according to Deadline Hollywood, and the film will be produced by Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch for Escape Artists, Jonathan Shukat for ShowKat Productions, and Bullock.
Houston officials decided to delete the traditional parade from this year's Veteran's Day celebrations, an upsetting omission to some of the very people meant to be honored.

The city's Office of Veterans Affairs and Office of Special Events decided months ago to skip the parade because this year's holiday falls on a Saturday, which typically results in poor parade attendance, city officials said.

"Considering the resources that are spent on a parade like that, the city decided" to focus on "tangible ways to honor and assist" local veterans, including a job fair and other military displays, said Alan Bernstein, a spokesman for Mayor Sylvester Turner's office, said Friday.

A run to honor 9/11 heroes will be the focal point of the city's festivities - with all proceeds going to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. That event was initially scheduled for Sept. 9, but was canceled because of the hurricane.

The omission of the parade was met with mixed reactions by local veterans and advocates. Some said they understood the decision, especially in light of the chaotic few months the city has had.

"I see this as an opportunity not only to have veterans down here, but regular community members," said Kelly Land, executive director of Combined Arms. "What we want to see in our community is a greater understanding of veterans, and so the more folks we can really draw out on Veterans Day  the better."

"On the other hand," he said, "I do understand that there are people who really hold tight to their traditions, and in the military, we're very tradition-heavy."

Others have said the parade would have offered even more people the chance to see their loved ones march.

"It's really disheartening," said Catherine Alexander, with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8790. "This is a perfect opportunity for more people to participate. It doesn't make any sense."

At Post 8790's headquarters Friday, veterans of wars spanning 70 years said they were disappointed by the decision, especially directly following the massive celebration held for the Astros.

In the building's banquet room, Bob Cook ate cake and sipped a beer, readying for the 74th Veterans Day he's celebrated since coming home from World War II. He, like some, said his plans for Saturday hadn't been changed.

Rather, he said, he was thinking about younger veterans who might be looking forward to one of their first parades.

Many such veterans agreed.

"It don't feel too good," said Eddie Oliver, a U.S. marine who served multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We've got disabled vets everywhere that are always expecting and looking forward to this."

Raul Raules, who deployed to Iraq with the Army, shared the disappointment. "This is really important for the veteran community," he said.
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DANANG, Vietnam - President Donald Trump on Friday vowed to protect U.S. interests against foreign exploitation, preaching a starkly unilateralist approach to a group of leaders who once pinned their economic hopes on a regional trade pact led by the United States.

"We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore," Trump told business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Danang, Vietnam. "I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first."

But taking the stage at the same meeting immediately after Trump, President Xi Jinping of China delivered a sharply contrasting message, championing more robust engagement with the world. Xi used his own speech to make a spirited defense of globalization, saying relations among countries should be "more open, more inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and more beneficial to all."

Trump's remarks were strikingly hostile for an audience that included leaders who had supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping 12-nation accord that was to be led by the United States, from which Trump withdrew immediately after taking office.

And it indicated the degree to which, under Trump, the United States - once a dominant voice guiding discussions about trade at gatherings such as APEC - has ceded that role.

Even as he was railing against multilateral approaches, the remaining 11 countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership were negotiating intensively to seal the agreement - without the United States. Under the terms being discussed, the United States could re-enter the pact in the future.

Won't 'tie our hands'

Even without the United States, the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be the largest trade agreement in history. Under the partnership, members would enjoy tariff-free trade with one another, with companies in the member countries having faster and better access to other markets than their U.S. rivals.

Promising to pursue "mutually beneficial commerce" through bilateral trade agreements, Trump roundly condemned the kind of multilateral accords his predecessors had pursued.

His talk echoed his statements in China earlier this week that blamed weak U.S. leadership for trade imbalances that he said had stripped jobs, factories and entire industries from the United States.

"What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible," Trump said.

He also spoke witheringly about an approach he said had led the United States to lower its own trade barriers, only to have other countries refuse to do so, and he accused the World Trade Organization of treating the United States unfairly.

Many of the president's toughest lines - his vow to fight the "audacious theft" of intellectual property from U.S. companies and the forced transfer of technology to foreign firms - were aimed at China.

But Trump avoided criticizing Xi personally. And he repeated his contention that he did not blame China, or any other country, for taking advantage of what he called weak U.S. trade laws.

"If their representatives are able to get away with it, they are just doing their jobs," the president said. "I wish previous administrations in my country saw what was happening and did something about it. They did not, but I will."

White House officials had framed Trump's speech as a chance to articulate the idea of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" region, which the Trump administration has adopted as its answer to former President Barack Obama's pivot to Asia.

First proposed by the Japanese, it envisions the United States strengthening ties with three other democracies in the region - Australia, India and Japan - in part to counter a rising China. But the president offered few details about that approach.

Doesn't fault China

He spoke of the need for freedom of navigation - a reference to the South China Sea, which Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries complain Beijing is turning into a private waterway. But the president stopped short of calling out China by name.

He also did not fault China or his host, Vietnam, for their checkered human rights records, even as he offered a general endorsement of the rule of law and individual rights.

As in his speech to the United Nations in September, Trump emphasized the idea of sovereignty, a concept that is often seen as being at odds with global cooperation and that is sometimes used by countries to fend off interference by outside powers.

He closed the speech with an inward-looking paean to the virtues of home, declaring, "In all of the world, there is no place like home," adding that nations should "protect your home, defend your home and love your home today and for all time."

Xi, in contrast, argued for pursuing the kinds of global initiatives that Trump had shunned.

The Chinese leader touted the Paris climate accord, called globalization an "irreversible historical trend" and said China would continue to pursue a free-trade area in the Asia-Pacific region.

U.S. and Russian officials had been working to arrange a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Trump on the sidelines of the meeting, in part to ask for Moscow's assistance in countering the threat from North Korea. But as Trump arrived in Danang, the White House announced that he would not hold formal talks with Putin.

Officials cited scheduling issues as the reason the two leaders would not meet. But on Thursday, Rex W. Tillerson, the secretary of state, had said that a conversation between Trump and Putin was "still under consideration" and that a final decision would hinge on whether there was "sufficient substance" to warrant face-to-face talks.

Trump's last encounter with Putin - on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany - posed political challenges for the White House, which faced questions about whether and how sharply Trump would rebuke his Russian counterpart for meddling in the 2016 elections.
NIAMEY, Niger - The body of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist militants in Niger last month, was found with his arms tied and a gaping wound at the back of his head, according to two villagers, suggesting that he may have been captured and then executed.

Adamou Boubacar, a 23-year-old farmer and trader, said some children tending cattle found the remains of the soldier Oct. 6, two days after the attack outside the remote Niger village of Tongo Tongo, which also left five Nigerien soldiers dead.

When Boubacar went to the location, a bushy area roughly a mile from the ambush site, he saw Johnson's body lying face down, he said. The back of his head had been smashed by something, possibly a bullet, Boubacar said. The soldier's wrists were bound with rope, he said, raising the possibility that the militants - whom the Pentagon suspects were affiliated with the Islamic State - seized Johnson during the firefight and held him captive.

The villagers' accounts come as the Niger operation is under intense scrutiny in the United States, with lawmakers expressing concern that they have received insufficient or conflicting information about what happened. The Pentagon is conducting an investigation into the attack in Niger, where the U.S. military is helping the Nigerien government confront a threat by militants associated with the Islamic State and al-Qaida.

Boubacar, a resident of Tongo Tongo, said in a phone interview that he informed the village's chief after seeing Johnson's body. "His two arms were tied behind his back," he said. The chief called Nigerien military forces, who dispatched troops to retrieve Johnson's remains.

'They took his shoes'

The village chief of Tongo Tongo, Mounkaila Alassane, confirmed the account in a separate phone interview.

"The back of his head was a mess, as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer," recalled Alassane, who said he also saw the body. "They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks."

A U.S. military official with knowledge of the investigation into the ambush acknowledged that Johnson's body appeared viciously battered but cautioned against reaching any conclusions until the probe is completed.

"When the Americans received Johnson, his hands were not tied," said the U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The two Tongo Tongo villagers said they also saw the bodies of the three other American soldiers - Staff Sgts. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson and Dustin Wright - who U.S. officials say were killed in action. One was slumped inside the team's pickup truck, they said. The bodies of the other two were on the ground, one clutching a walkie-talkie, they said.

They were wearing T-shirts and boxer shorts, the two men said. It was unclear whether the militants had stripped off their uniforms.

The accounts could help explain why it to took two days to find Johnson's body, while the other men's remains were retrieved several hours after the battle. Johnson's widow has said that the U.S. military advised her not to view his corpse, a suggestion often made when remains are badly disfigured.

The widow, Myeshia Johnson, has emerged as a prominent figure in the uproar over the Niger attack, accusing President Donald Trump of acting cavalierly about her husband in a condolence call, a charge the White House has denied. She also has complained of receiving little information about what happened to her spouse.

FBI and U.S. military investigators have arrived in this impoverished West African nation to try to determine what happened in the Oct. 4 assault on an 11-member Army Special Forces team and 30 Nigerien troops. Among the questions they are addressing: Were there intelligence lapses? Did the unit have adequate equipment? Was the extremist threat properly assessed before the mission began?

On patrol or in pursuit?

The case has received enormous attention in the United States because of conflicting accounts over whether the soldiers were on a low-risk patrol or had changed plans and set out in pursuit of Islamist insurgents. Questions also have been raised about why the team was lightly armed, given the danger in the area.

The Pentagon has said the soldiers were on a routine reconnaissance mission. Under U.S. military rules, American troops in Niger are not supposed to go on combat missions in the country, but they can "advise and assist" on missions with local forces where the chance of enemy contact is low.

A senior Nigerien security official said in an interview that the military unit made a critical error by deciding to spend the night along the volatile Mali-Niger border. That allowed the militants to surveil the unit and plan the ambush the following morning outside Tongo Tongo, he said.
(Xinhua) 13:43, November 11, 2017

Pilots from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force have carried out formation flight training with the country's latest J-20 stealth fighter and the Y-20 military transport aircraft, the air force announced.

Pilots from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force carry out formation flight training with the country's latest J-20 stealth fighter and the Y-20 military transport aircraft.[Photo:eastday.com]

Some pilots are able to fly several new models of fighter jets, including the J-20, J-16, and J-10C, Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the air force, said Friday at a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the PLA Air Force, which falls on Saturday.

The J-20, China's fourth-generation medium and long-range fighter jet, made its maiden flight in 2011 and was officially commissioned into military service in September this year.

To train pilots to fly the new jets, the air force has established aviation schools across the country and forged cooperation with prestigious universities like Tsinghua University, said Shen.

It has also sped up capacity building in anti-missile air defense, setting the precedent of shooting down an enemy plane with ground-to-air missiles and equipping the army with Chinese-developed HQ-9 anti-aircraft missiles, Shen said.

The air force has also expanded the reach of its activities from land to sea, moving towards development of a modern strategic force with whole-territory combat capabilities, he added.

In the past five years, China has advanced reform in national defense and the armed forces under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, making historic steps in building a system of military strength.
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AUSTIN - More relief is on the way to help communities battered by Hurricane Harvey, with an additional $90 million approved to help expedite debris removal along Texas' devastated Gulf Coast regions, including Houston.

Gov. Greg Abbott and state House and Senate leaders announced Thursday that the additional "emergency funding" from the state's General Revenue Account would go to counties to help pay for the removal of storm debris and help speed up the removal process.

They said the additional funding will lessen the burden for debris cleanup on local taxpayers , who now must pay for 10 percent of the total cost. The rest is paid for by the federal government.

"In most cases, even with federal assistance, cities and counties in the impacted areas are responsible for 10 percent of costs associated with debris removal," Abbott's office said in a statement. "Today's funding allocation will help alleviate that burden for communities as they continue to rebuild."

Abbott called the additional funding "just one more step in a long process to help our cities and counties recover."

No details on where the $90 million will be directed was immediately available.

Debris removal has been one of the most contentious issues dogging public officials in wake of Harvey, which struck the Texas Gulf Coast in late August and lingered, creating massive flooding throughout the Houston region and Southeast Texas. The initial slow pace of debris removal angered residents, which in turn incited elected officials and led to some heated debates at city halls in Houston and elsewhere.

In an updated report Friday, the Texas Department of Emergency Management said that more than 9.4 million cubic yards of debris have been collected so far, about 34 percent of the total generated by the storm.

According to state calculations through Oct. 25, much of the debris removal remaining is in the Houston area.

In Harris County including Houston, 2.3 million cubic yards of an estimated 11.9 million cubic yards of debris have been hauled off two months after the storm. Some 539,000 cubic yards of 1.8 million cubic yards have been hauled off in Galveston County.

Even so, Harris County officials said they are much farther along in removing debris than the state's numbers might show. Harris County Engineer Joe Blount said that through last Thursday, the county had removed more than one million CY of debris, and expects to have all of it removed from in front of homes by Thanksgiving.

In Jefferson County, 616,000 cubic yards of 1 million cubic yards have been removed, according to the state report.

In contrast, 392,000 cubic yards of an estimated 530,000 have been hauled off in Fort Bend County, and 112,000 of 150,000 cubic yards have been removed in Montgomery County, according to the state report.

Officials said the funds announced Thursday for debris removal will be administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which will work with the Texas Department of Emergency Management.

Delays in debris removal have prompted complaints for weeks.

In September, Abbott presented a check for $50 million to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for costs related to Harvey, a move the mayor said would allow the city to avoid a temporary property tax hike.

Officials at the time said much of that amount was to fund debris removal.

Under an agreement that Texas made with the Trump administration, the state and local governments are being reimbursed for 90 percent of the costs of Harvey damages, rather than the usual 75 percent.

Even so, county and local officials have complained that they are having to spend millions of dollars out of their current budgets that will not be reimbursed by the federal government for months. Several cities and counties have complained that is slowing their recovery efforts.

Abbott aides said the emergency allocation of $90 million from state funds is designed to address those issues.

Hurricane Harvey was the strongest hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced on Friday a pact between the state of Missouri and HackerUSA, a cyber security education firm with roots in Israel.

According to a news release, the agreement paves the way for Missouri colleges and universities to work with the firm to start cyber security training programs designed to help technology professionals protect their organizations and citizens from cyber attacks.

Greitens office said he signed a memorandum of understanding during his trade mission to Israel this week, during which the governor met with top officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The release did not indicate which schools may be interested in participating, and said training will meet industry standards.

Cyber security can be a great strength for our state, and we can create more good jobs for Missourians, Greitens said in the release.

HackerUSA is an offshoot of HackerU, according to the release, which has helped military, business and governmental entities for two decades with cyber security needs. The release said HackerUSA has partnerships with schools in multiple U.S. states, including Florida and New York.

Missouri has great potential to be a leader in cyber security, said Ariel Cohen, CEO of HackerU, in a statement. We look forward to working with business and education leaders in Missouri to build partnerships.

The non-profit Hawthorn Foundation and the Republican Jewish Coalition funded Greitens week-long trip to Israel.

The trip marks Greitens third international trade mission in as many months. In September, Greitens traveled to South Korea and China. Last month, he flew to Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

After the European trip, the state Department of Economic Development announced that the insurance firm Swiss Re was relocating its Overland Park, Kan., operations to downtown Kansas City by late 2018, bringing 400 jobs to Missouri.

The state also announced in October that United Kingdom global marketing firm VML also is planning to move 120 jobs to Kansas City over the next six years.
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Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is set to start a tour Sunday to six countries in the region, a foreign ministry statement read Saturday.

In an official statement, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the countries that Shoukry is scheduled to visit during the three-day tour include Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

According to the statement, talks would include discussions on developments in the region, as well as bilateral relations between the abovementioned countries.

Abu Zeid said the talks come in the frame of constant consultations conducted by Egypt, especially in light of political developments in Lebanon and challenges related to the security and stability of the region.

According to Abu Zeid, ongoing developments require "an intensification of consultations and coordination between Egypt and its brothers in the region."

Shoukry will deliver messages by Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to leaders of the six Arab states.

Earlier last week, El-Sisi has reiterated on more than one occasion, including in press interviews, that "the security of the Gulf is a red line."

The Egyptian foreign minister will underline Egypt's firm stance on the necessity of preserving Arab solidarity amid various challenges faced by the region and Arab national security.

He will affirm Egypt's policy on pursuing political solutions to crises and on the importance of averting tension, polarisation and instability in the region.

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With Parliament in recess for a few days, this week should have been an opportunity for a weary Theresa May to step back, take stock and get a grip.

But outside of her Downing Street bunker a week of soap opera politics unfolded, rapidly shifting from Coronation Street, through EastEnders, before finally terminating in drama worthy of a Hollyoaks late night special with 22,000 tuning in to follow the progress of Priti Patel's flight to redundancy.

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Each day Theresa May would confront an unfaithful Priti Patel, and each day Patel would concoct a new story. Her trip to Israel was a "family holiday" with a few meetings arranged by Patel herself. Actually, she forgot to mention it involved meetings with a dozen Israeli officials and that she accompanied by a well-known lobbyist. Actually, she meant to add that she met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and offered British aid cash for the Israeli army.

I'm not sure about you, but that's not like any family holiday I've ever had.

Further revelations about what No 10 knew or didn't know at each stage of this farce raises the question of whether they were an innocent victim of Priti Patel's fabrications or whether they helped cover for her. What is obvious is that Theresa May was desperate to forgive and forget rather than suffer another damaging resignation.

It was only when keeping Patel risked a full Cabinet breakdown that May pulled her out of important negotiations in Africa and flew her halfway across the world to receive her notice.

Now, after the week she's had you would think honesty and loyalty would be Theresa May's top criteria for a new Secretary of State for International Development.

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Instead she's promoted Penny Mordaunt, an MP that has been slammed for making misleading statements. David Cameron called her claim that Turkey could join the EU "absolutely wrong" and her warnings that Britain could be forced to join an EU army "fanciful". And let's not forget that she posed in front of the infamous Vote Leave bus promising an extra 350million for the NHS with none other than Priti Patel.

She was no fan of Theresa May either. Mordaunt was Andrea Leadsom's strongest supporter in last year's leadership contest, warning in an article for ConservativeHome that the Conservatives needed "fresh leadership", "someone who campaigned for us to leave", and "someone giving confidence in our economy, not talking it down".

The soap writers also developed a sub-plot starring recurring character David Davis and his conflicting claims that his Department's Brexit reports both exist and don't exist. Should we expect more drama in next week's episodes with Davis in a leading role? It seems certain that another episode of this Downing Street soap opera is just around the corner.

All this would be laughable if the Tories weren't actually hurting people's lives. Boris Johnson made a non-apology for his huge mistake that could keep a British mother locked up in Iran for another five years. He had given a misleading statement that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been "simply teaching people journalism", prompting fears that it would be used to justify her sentence for spying.

This is not a soap opera. All these events are having a very real and detrimental impact on the country. Remarkably the EU are now reported to be 'preparing for the fall of Theresa May's government', while the weak and divided Tory Government stand completely unequipped to deal with the crisis in living standards, through which millions of ordinary people continue to suffer.

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This is simply not good enough. The Tories must step aside and let Labour govern for the many not the few.
Update: On Friday, Nov. 17, Blue Bird Farm reported that the heron had died. An attempt to release the bird had failed and he was taken to a specialist in Connecticut. He had been seen by a veterinarian who had started tests; an autopsy could not determine why he died.

Update: On Sunday, Blue Bird Farm reported that the heron was up and walking and could be freed in the next few days.

ADAMS, Mass.  A blue heron trapped in fishing line in the Hoosic River flood chutes for nearly week was rescued Friday afternoon.

"The poor thing I wish someone had said something earlier because he really didn't have that much fight in him," Kaila Drosehn said. "Usually you have to be careful because their beaks are super sharp but he kind of just surrendered. He knew he needed help."

Drosehn was on scene Friday morning with Windsor Animal Control Officer Dave Melle. She said they were able to get a ladder into the flood chute at Columbia Street and come to the bird's aid.

There was a large fish hook embedded in the bird's "shoulder" and he was tangled in what looked like 20 feet of fishing line.

An Adams woman had called police after noticing the bird had not moved in days but after getting no response, had turned to Facebook seeking help. That brought it to the attention of Cara Petricca, a wildlife rehabilitator, and Drosehn, who is interning at Petricca's Bluebird Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Drosehn said once they wrapped the bird up in a towel and secured him in a carrier, he seemed to settle down.

Although the bird was tangled up pretty good, she did not suspect that someone hooked the bird on purpose.

"A lot of people if they get their fishing line caught on something they just cut it and blue herons are attracted to shiny things," she said. "It could have been attached to a fish, too, and he may have went after it. He pretty much hog tied himself."

Drosehn said she was able to free up some of the line so the bird could stand up. She said he was very thin but once he got back on his feet he regained some of his "spunk."

"We got some of it off so he could be sitting upright and not on his side anymore, so his feet were free," she said. "He was a cool bird and he didn't make any noise. He just sat there. He probably felt better that he could sit upright."

Drosehn said she expects the blue heron was tied up for at least a week and if he was a smaller female, most likely would not have survived.

"He was close enough to the water, so he could get a drink once in a while and maybe eat some bugs. I think that was the only thing that saved him," she said. "There were ducks crowded around him and I thought they maybe were trying to feed him. I don't know what they were doing but they were interested."

Drosehn said the rescue took a half hour.

The bird was being taken to an animal hospital to have the hook removed and address any other injuries. Drosehn said if anything is broken, the bird will likely have to go through rehabilitation.

She wished the sanctuary farm knew about the bird earlier and noted there was some confusion on social media of who to call for wildlife help. She said it is important to call Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife right away because the division will put people in touch with licensed rehabilitators such as Bluebird Farm.

"When it comes to wildlife people don't always know who to call because it is not a local police issue unless it's rabid," she said. "If it is a regular old squirrel who fell out of a tree or a bird in a canal that is not something they respond to."

Drosehn said the farm has had a busy year and since March has rescued more than 500 wild and domestic animals.

"It has been a busy year and it does not seem to slow down," she said. "We do what we can."
A number of terrorists were killed in airstrikes that destroyed 10 vehicles carrying arms and ammunition, according to an Armed Forces statement

Egypt's army said on Saturday that it foiled an attempt by terrorists to infiltrate the country through the Western Desert border with Libya.

In an official statement, army spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said the army's air force, in coordination with border guards and intelligence, destroyed 10 off-road vehicles carrying arms, ammunition and smuggled items.

The vehicles' passengers were killed in the airstrike.

The statement said that the strike was part of a "continued combing operation by the air force and border guards in the vicinity of the operation to stop any penetration or infiltration through the border."

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Imperial Valley News Center

Tiny West African Dwarf Crocodiles Hatch at San Diego Zoo

San Diego, California - Monday, eight West African dwarf crocodiles began to hatch from eggs at the San Diego Zoos Reptile House the first hatching of its kind in the Zoos 101-year history. Three baby crocs successfully hatched on their own, keepers assisted a fourth one in hatching, and more were expected to emerge from their eggs throughout the day. The new hatchlings are being cared for behind the scenes and the parents, an 11-year-old female named Yendi and a 50-year-old male named Kumba, can be seen by guests in the West African Forest habitat at Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks.

The eggs were laid by Yendi in the pairs former Tiger River habitat on August 13, 2017. To ensure their survival, animal care staff collected the eggs and carefully incubated them in an off-exhibit area, at 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Like other crocodilian species, the gender of West African dwarf crocodiles is dependent on egg incubation temperatures, with higher temperatures required to hatch males. Although it is too soon to tell whether the Zoos new hatchlings are male or female, reptile keepers hope to be able to determine the crocodiles genders in a few days.

West African dwarf crocodiles are listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. There is little data currently available on this species in the wild, however, San Diego Zoo Global is supporting survey research in their native range to better understand the status of West African dwarf crocs.

Guests to the San Diego Zoo can see the worlds smallest crocodilian specieswhich can reach a length of about 5 feetat the San Diego Zoos new Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks habitat, although the hatchlings will not be viewable until they are older and larger.

Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global. As a leader in conservation, the work of San Diego Zoo Global includes on-site wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, as well as international field programs on six continents. The work of these entities is inspiring children through the San Diego Zoo Kids network, reaching out through the internet and in childrens hospitals nationwide. The work of San Diego Zoo Global is made possible by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and is supported in part by the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global.
Imperial Valley News Center

Color me Purple, or Red, or Green, or 

Washington, DC - Imagine a miniature device that suffuses each room in your house with a different hue of the rainbow - purple for the living room, perhaps, blue for the bedroom, green for the kitchen. A team led by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has, for the first time, developed nanoscale devices that divide incident white light into its component colors based on the direction of illumination, or directs these colors to a predetermined set of output angles.

Viewed from afar, the device, referred to as a directional color filter, resembles a diffraction grating, a flat metal surface containing parallel grooves or slits that split light into different colors. However, unlike a grating, the nanometer-scale grooves etched into the opaque metal film are not periodicnot equally spaced. They are either a set of grooved lines or concentric circles that vary in spacing, much smaller than the wavelength of visible light. These properties shrink the size of the filter and allow it to perform many more functions than a grating can.

For instance, the devices nonuniform, or aperiodic, grid can be tailored to send a particular wavelength of light to any desired location. The filter has several promising applications, including generating closely spaced red, green and blue color pixels for displays, harvesting solar energy, sensing the direction of incoming light and measuring the thickness of ultrathin coatings placed atop the filter.

In addition to selectively filtering incoming white light based on the location of the source, the filter can also operate in a second way. By measuring the spectrum of colors passing through a filter custom-designed to deflect specific wavelengths of light at specific angles, researchers can pinpoint the location of an unknown source of light striking the device. This could be critical to determine if that source, for instance, is a laser aimed at an aircraft.

Our directional filter, with its aperiodic architecture, can function in many ways that are fundamentally not achievable with a device such as a grating, which has a periodic structure, said NIST physicist Amit Agrawal. With this custom-designed device, we are able to manipulate multiple wavelengths of light simultaneously.

Matthew Davis and Wenqi Zhu of NIST and the University of Maryland, along with Agrawal and NIST physicist Henri Lezec, described their work in the latest edition of Nature Communications. The work was performed in collaboration with Syracuse University and Nanjing University in China.

The operation of the directional color filter relies on the interaction between the incoming particles of lightphotonsand the sea of electrons that floats along the surface of a metal. Photons striking the metal surface create ripples in this electron sea, generating a special type of light waveplasmonsthat has a much smaller wavelength than the original light source.

The design and operation of aperiodic devices are not as intuitive and straightforward as their periodic counterparts. However, Agrawal and his colleagues have developed a simple model for designing these devices. Lead author Matthew Davis explained, this model allows us to quickly predict the optical response of these aperiodic designs without relying on time-consuming numerical approximation, thereby greatly decreasing the design time so we can focus on device fabrication and testing.

The work described in the new paper was conducted at NISTs Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology.
Imperial Valley News Center

President Donald J. Trump Is Putting Our Veterans First

Washington, DC - 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. ~ President Donald J. Trump

YEARS OF SCANDAL: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has suffered from years of scandal that have shown the need for providing our veterans with more support.

 In 2014, it was revealed that dozens of veterans died while waiting for diagnosis and treatment at the Phoenix, Arizona VA Medical Center.

 As part of the scandal, it was revealed that VA kept unofficial wait lists and manipulated wait time data throughout the VA system, at times resulting in significant delays in veterans receiving the care that they deserve.

 VAs Inspector General has completed more than 100 criminal investigations related to wait times and is aggressively pursuing accountability for those responsible.

INITIATING CRITICAL REFORMS: President Donald J. Trump is bringing urgently needed accountability and reform to the VA.

 The Trump Administration has enforced strict accountability standards for VA personnel, with over 1163 employees fired, 387 suspended, and 61 demoted as of November 7, 2017.

o 15 senior VA officials have been disciplined for failing to provide our veterans with an adequate standard of care.

 The Presidents Executive Order on Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection has initiated critical transparency reforms, including establishment of a VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection.

 President Trump signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, further establishing additional safeguards to protect whistleblowers, and enabling the VA to fire failing employees.

 Secretary Shulkin has expanded access to urgent mental healthcare to former service members with other-than-honorable (OTH) discharges.

 The White House has opened a brand new VA Hotline staffed principally by veterans and direct family members of veterans to ensure that no complaint goes unaddressed.

MODERNIZING AND EXPANDING CHOICE: President Trump believes that our veterans deserve the best healthcare in the world, and is working to bring the Department of Veterans Affairs up to modern standards.

 President Trump and Secretary Shulkin have announced three important initiatives to expand healthcare access for our veterans through technological innovation.

o An expansion of the VAs Anywhere to Anywhere healthcare, allowing VA providers to use tele-health technology to remotely treat veterans regardless of geographic location.

o Greater adoption of VA Video Connect, an application for mobile phones and computers allowing veterans and healthcare providers to directly connect from anywhere in the country.

o A rollout at over 100 VA sites across the nation of the new Online Scheduling Tool, which allows veterans to schedule appointments from their mobile devices or computers.

 President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017, taking action to streamline the appeals process for disability compensation claims within the VA.

o More than 470,000 veterans are awaiting pending decisions regarding their appeals.

 President Trump has ensured continued access to care in the Veterans Choice Program by signing the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act, authorizing $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program (VCP).

o The VCP gives eligible veterans the choice of private care if they live more than 40 miles from the closest eligible VA facility, face wait times over 30 days from the clinically indicated date, or face an excessive burden in accessing VA care.

 President Trump announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs will adopt the same Electronic Health Record (EHR) as the Department of Defense (DOD).

o VAs adoption of the same EHR as DOD will ultimately result in all patient data residing in one common system, enabling the immediate availability of service member's medical records and seamless care between the departments.

 The VA has launched its Access and Quality Tool, allowing veterans to see on-line the wait times at VA locations, as well as important quality-of-care data.

EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS: President Trump is taking action to expand opportunities for veterans after they leave military service.

 President Trump signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, an important step in providing our nations heroes with the support theyve earned for risking their lives to ensure the freedoms of all Americans.

o The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides educational benefits to eligible veterans, service members, and their family members, including tuition, fees, books, housing, and other additional costs.

o A 15-year limit on veterans access to their educational benefits has been lifted, with additional veterans being added to the list of those who qualify for the program.

 Veterans have the lowest unemployment rate since 2000, at 2.7 percent. This is 1.6 percentage points lower than the 4.3 percent experienced in October 2016.

o Veterans leaving active service after September 2001 have the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for this group at 3.6 percent.

HONORING OUR HEROES: President Trump is working on behalf of a grateful nation to ensure that our veterans are properly recognized for their service and sacrifice.

 President Trump has presented the Medal of Honor to Specialist Five James C. McCloughan and Captain Gary M. Rose, two veterans who have demonstrated the highest levels of bravery, heroism, and sacrifice in defense of our nation.

 President Trump has signed legislation to remember and recognize Americas veterans.

o He signed S.J. Res 1 approving the location of a memorial for service during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield.

o He signed S.305, the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act.
USDA NRCS Fire Recovery Programs Continue in California

Sacramento, California - USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is continuing to offer assistance to landowners affected by recent catastrophic wildfires. The assistance, provided through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) covers erosion control and water quality practices on eligible cropland, rangeland and nonindustrial private forestland.

Typical practices include mulching, seeding, grade stabilization, tree planting and other measures to protect burned areas from eroding and/or minimizing transport of sediment and pollutants into waterways. NRCS will continue to accept applications and will periodically evaluate them for funding consideration.

Applicants may also request early-start waivers to enable recovery work to begin immediately. (The Agencys standards and specifications will still need to be met and any needed permits must still be secured before work begins.)

NRCS is targeting $4 million to help farmers, ranchers, and forest land owners in California recover from the recent wildfires. This is one of several disaster assistance programs available through USDA to support recovery efforts for individuals and communities.

NRCS is also offering technical and educational assistance to fire-impacted landowners faced with erosion and flooding in a damaged watershed. NRCS conservationists have expertise in erosion, hydrophobic soils, and the use of measures (such as sand bags, mulching, etc.) to mitigate damage to the landscape.

NRCS is also continuing to work with communities and partners to assess eligibility for its Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program which assists communities with rebuilding efforts following imminent hazards to life and property caused by natural disasters. For more information on available NRCS, FSA or RMA assistance, contact a local field office, or visit www.usda.gov.
Related Egypt investment minister meets with Tunisian envoy to discuss Nov bilateral committee meeting

Tunisia's Prime Minister Youssef El-Shahed arrived in Cairo on Saturday to attend the 16th round of the Egyptian-Tunisian joint committee, which includes the two countries' business forum, state-run news agency MENA reported.

The forum  which is being attended by 18 Tunisian companies  is headed by Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Tunisian Minister of Commerce Omar Al-Bahy.

The committees meetings started on Saturday and were attended by Egyptian and Tunisian businessmen, according to a statement by the ministry.

Nasr previously said that the forum aims to increase Tunisian investments in Egypt, especially by informing Tunisian businessmen about the new investment laws incentives and guarantees.

Nasr also said that the committee aims to bolster cooperation between the two countries in the economic and development fields.

Previous meetings of the committee saw the signing of memorandums of understanding relating to health, agriculture, economics, and the media.

In 2015, Tunisian President Beji Essebsi became the first Tunisian leader to visit Egypt in 50 years.

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USDA Secretary Perdue makes first official visit to California

Sacramento, California - I was pleased to travel to Modesto on Sunday, to meet with USDA secretary Sonny Perdue on his first official visit to California! We had a great discussion about Farm Bill programs important to California and other issues like Ag workforce needs, the critical priority of trade, the reasonable implementation of food safety laws, water reliability, and environmental standards that manage to avoid stifling innovation.

Secretary Perdue speaks to Ag leaders at Modesto Junior College.

Secretary Perdue spoke to a group of Ag leaders gathered at Modesto Junior College and then was careful to listen to their comments and concerns.

I have every confidence that Secretary Perdue will be a strong, engaged leader at USDA; someone who will work for the betterment of California and the nation. I look forward to working with him in the months and years to come.

Secretary Ross at Modesto JC with the new FFA national president, Breanna Holbert, a student at CSU Chico.
What, Then, Is Time?

Washington, DC - When asked to contribute an essay on some aspect of timekeeping, I had a flashback to the first day of my senior year in high school in Princeton, New Jersey. In AP English, we were assigned to write a single paragraph on something, anything in motion. I made the somewhat curiousand possibly prescientchoice of writing about time. I puzzled over how time moves and concluded that, in some sense, time is the ultimate motion, relentless and steady. My English teacher, Mr. Allegretti, said the paragraph was, well, odd, but being a rather odd teacher himself, he found it appealing, and he then even encouraged me to consider expanding it into a longer essay for extra credit.

Well, here I am 37 years later doing just that, and although experimental work toward developing atomic clocks of the future has been the focus of my career over the past 30 years, youll be happy to know, Mr. Allegretti, that I have spent much of that time writing articles, reports, recommendations, nominations, and now, a personal essay.

I know what it is, but I do not know

From my admittedly biased perspective, time appears to be the most bizarre of our basic units. As St. Augustine remarked, [w]hat then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know. Indeed, philosophically, time is a slippery creature. Even Einstein concluded, after much thought, that [t]ime is what clocks measure.

Whatever time is, for reasons over which I still puzzle, we can measure the passage of time (insofar as time is the accumulation of identical, repeatable events) nearly a million times more precisely than any other physical quantity. In fact, there is a push to redefine as many of our foundational measurement units as possible in terms of time, or its inverse, frequency, to take advantage of our advanced time-measuring capabilities. This explains the mantra intoned in labs around the world: Try to convert whatever quantity you are trying to measure into a frequency.

The reason I believe that the unit of timethe secondis different from its measurement brethren is that, more than the others, time is a human construct. When I see a room full of scientists doing clock comparisons, it can appear as if they are measuring nothing at allwhere is this time they are measuring, and why is it represented by electric pulses?

(To be fair, in the lab we often measure frequency, which allows us to make the intangible appear more tangible, even if it is, at its heart, still an illusion.)

I dont know if animals have an awareness of time beyond their circadian rhythms (link is external), but certainly, they sense mass, light, distance and temperature. We humans, however, have found marking the passage of time to be so useful that most of us structure our lives around our timepieces. To create time signals, we turn to repetitive natural processes: the swing of a pendulum, Earths orbit around the Sun or Earths rotation on its axis. In fact, it was not so long ago that the second was defined astronomically, that is, relative to the length of the solar day or even the solar year.

What is "time"? Even if we dont completely understand what time is, we can precisely measure what time it is, thanks to the atomic clock, humankinds most accurate measurement device. Atomic clocks have revolutionized navigation. Only time will tell us its future applications.

The time of modern times

In more recent times we have exploited the precise oscillation rate of an electron between specific energy levels of an atom. Using atoms as the ultimate pendulum has given us a ticking rate that can be reproduced in principle anywhere in the universe with a precision that is virtually unimaginable on human scales. For instance, the atomic clocks that we use as time standards today do so with such a steadiness that it would not be off by even one second in 300 million years.

(For reference, the average quartz watch might gain or lose about a second every month.)

This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the definition of the standard second as 9,192,631,770 oscillations between the lowest-energy states of atomic cesium. Perhaps coincidentally, in August 2017, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) installed a plaque (link is external) in Washington, D.C., and will soon install a copy of that plaque on NISTs Gaithersburg campus, that commemorates the fact that NIST invented the atomic clock in 1948.

Our next-generation atomic clocks will use visible laser light, which oscillates at approximately 1015 Hz or 1 million billion times a second. These optical atomic clocks now achieve a precision to the 18th decimal place (and soon  the 19th!). At this level, the clocks become very sensitive to small changes in gravity. According to Einsteins general theory of relativity, clocks closer to objects with a lot of mass, such as Earth, run slower, and these effects can be measured by comparing the ticking rates of clocks located at different altitudes. An optical clock built experiment at NIST in 2010 succeeded in distinguishing a difference in the speed at which time passes in two side-by-side clocks varying in height by just 33 centimeters. And recent advances could, in principle, show a difference in ticking rates between clocks separated by only 2 centimeters in height!

In fact, daily fluctuations in the height of Earths surface due to volcanism, tectonic shifts, and other factors make it hard to differentiate at a level much finer than 1 centimeter. Because even that small fluctuation would cause these very precise clocks to be off, one day soon we may need to locate our best clocks in space. The idea of an atomic clock circling the globe beaming precise time down to us would be a nice callback to the days when time was defined by the rotation of Earth itself.

Time of the future

Those of us in the metrology world are already preparing a roadmap for a redefinition of the second in terms of an optical atomic transition, roughly a decade from now.

As these clocks achieve ever higher performance, they offer new possibilities. One day, optical clocks may be used for deep-space navigation, ultra-high bandwidth communications, finding oil and mineral deposits, detecting (as hinted at above) and studying changes in the Earths surface that could indicate when and where earthquakes or volcanic eruptions are likely to occur, or even a greatly enhanced definition of sea level across our planet.

And because we can measure time so much more accurately than other physical quantities, time offers a unique microscope with which to examine the mysteries of the universe. For example, we foresee networks of future clocks on Earth or in space that will search for signs of gravitational waves, dark matter or flaws in our most fundamental physical theories as we attempt to discover the new physics that most scientists believe awaits us beyond the standard model (link is external).

These possibilities make it seem, in some sense, that maybe I wasnt too far off in thinking that time might be the ultimate motion. And as this essay circles back on itself (a feat that time is apparently not permitted to perform), I would like to finish by offering it to my high school English teacher:

Mr. Allegretti, here you are, and thanks for the extension!
Governor Brown in Brussels: "Everybody Has to Be All In" on Climate Action

Brussels, Belgium - Closing out his final day in Brussels, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. participated in a discussion hosted by one of the largest American policy institutions in Europe  the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF)  for a discussion on California's local and global efforts to fight climate change.

"We're up against an existential threat that's going to change societies and economies and our whole way of being. Everybody has to be all in," said Governor Brown. "This is not the time to go into your bunker. It's a time for dialogue and discussion."

The GMF regularly hosts world leaders in Brussels and today's event featured a conversation with Governor Brown moderated by Dr. Ian Lesser, GMF vice president for foreign policy and executive director of the Brussels office.

Later, Governor Brown discussed the threat of climate change to the world's oceans and marine life with European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella. Last year, Governor Brown launched the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification  a partnership of jurisdictions around the world committed to protecting coastal communities and economies from the threat of rising ocean acidity.

Tomorrow in Oslo, Norway, Governor Brown will meet with the countrys Prime Minister and Minister of Climate and Environment and will convene scientists from the world's top national science academies to discuss how scientists and policymakers can more effectively translate the latest climate research into meaningful action.

The Governor will then travel to Bonn, Germany, where he will serve as Special Advisor for States and Regions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23). On Saturday, Governor Brown will join fellow Americas Pledge co-founder United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael Bloomberg to discuss the ongoing efforts of U.S. cities, states and businesses to support the Paris Agreement goals, join business leaders in a panel discussion on decarbonizing the economy, and host a signing ceremony to welcome another U.S. state to the Under2 Coalition.
Governor Brown Meets with Norway's Prime Minister, Convenes First-of-its-Kind Gathering of World's Scientific Academies

Oslo, Norway  Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today met with Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg and convened a first-of-its-kind meeting with representatives of the world's leading independent national academies of science to review climate impacts and discuss how scientists and policymakers can more effectively translate research findings into meaningful action.

"The goal is action  action in Bonn, action in California, action throughout the world  to get on a sustainable track, said Governor Brown a day ahead of his arrival in Bonn, Germany, where he will serve as Special Advisor for States and Regions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23). The challenge before us is to inject science and plain truth into our politics.

The Governor began his day at the official state residence in Oslo, where he met with Prime Minister Solberg to discuss climate impacts on oceans and forests, renewable energy and zero-emission vehicles. This meeting follows Norways Climate and Environment Minister Vidar Helgesen's visit to California earlier this year to announce Norway's membership in the Under2 Coalition.

After meeting with Prime Minister Solberg, Governor Brown joined Minister Helgesen for a day-long roundtable discussion with scientists representing the independent national scientific academies of the United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Germany, China, Finland, Canada, Sweden, France and Denmark.

During this first-of-its-kind meeting, scientists and policymakers discussed stark findings from climate research on habitat and biodiversity loss, human health impacts and environmental degradation. Participants also focused on how scientific facts can be more effectively communicated and disseminated to drive action and better inform policy and decision-making.

Today's meeting builds on an initiative spearheaded by Governor Brown four years ago called the consensus statement, which synthesized key scientific findings from disparate fields into one unified message signed by more than 1,500 international scientists and researchers.

The following scientists participated in today's gathering: Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters president Ole M. Sejersted and secretary general ystein Hov; University of Oslo professor Nils Chr. Stenseth; Stanford University Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve executive director Anthony Barnosky; Stanford University professor Elizabeth Hadly; Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters member and University of Helsinki professor Mikael Fortelius; Royal Swedish Academy vice president Martin Jakobsson; Royal Danish Academy member and University of Copenhagen professor Carsten Rahbek; U.S. National Academy of Sciences president Marcia McNutt; Royal Society of Canada former president and McGill University professor Graham Bell; French Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea member and University of Strasbourg professor Yvon le Maho; German National Academy of Sciences member and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research director Hans Joachim Schellnhuber; Royal Society of London fellow John Shepherd; and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology principal investigator Zhi-Bin Zhang.

Tomorrow in Bonn, Governor Brown will join fellow America's Pledge co-founder United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael Bloomberg to discuss the ongoing efforts of U.S. cities, states and businesses to support the Paris Agreement goals, join business leaders in a panel discussion on decarbonizing the economy, and host a signing ceremony to welcome another U.S. state to the Under2 Coalition.



Over the past week in Brussels, Belgium, Governor Brown delivered opening remarks at a high-level conference on clean energy organized by the European Parliament and European Commission; met with the president of the European Parliament and the European Union's top representatives at COP23; joined members of the European Parliament's top climate and environmental committee and the leaders of the Parliament's political parties for an extensive discussion on opportunities for further collaboration on climate action; and highlighted California's local and global efforts to fight climate change at an event organized by the German Marshall Fund. In Stuttgart, Germany, the Governor also met with Under2 Coalition co-founder Baden- Wurttemberg's Minister-President and delivered remarks before the state parliament. Last Saturday, Governor Brown delivered keynote remarks at a symposium on climate change hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican.

Governor Brown was named Special Advisor for States and Regions in June by Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama  president of COP23. The Governor continues to build strong coalitions of partners committed to curbing carbon pollution in both the United States through the U.S. Climate Alliance and around the globe with the Under2 Coalition, which has grown to include 188 jurisdictions collectively representing more than 1.2 billion people and $28.9 trillion GDP  equivalent to over 16 percent of the global population and 39 percent of the global economy.



The Governor also joined Michael Bloomberg to launch America's Pledge on climate change to help compile and quantify the actions of states, cities and businesses to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. In September 2018, the State of California will convene the world's climate leaders in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit, where representatives from subnational governments, businesses, investors and civil society will gather with the direct goal of supporting the Paris Agreement.
President Donald J. Trump's State Visit to China

Washington, DC - From November 8th through 10th, China hosted President Donald J. Trump on an official state visit, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. President Trump and President Xi had candid and in-depth conversations about United States-China relations, as well as international and regional issues of mutual concern.

The two presidents affirmed that the United States-China relationship is shaped by shared interests and a common commitment to addressing global challenges. Both leaders committed to expand areas of cooperation and generate positive outcomes for the benefit of the citizens of both countries. They committed to directly and frankly address areas of differences, with the aim of solving or narrowing them. The two sides also discussed the progress of United States-China relations since the presidential meeting in Florida in April.

During their April meeting, the two presidents set up the United States-China Comprehensive Dialogue with four pillars: the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue; the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue; the Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue; and the Social and Cultural Dialogue. Each of these dialogues have met since April, to prepare for President Trumps state visit and produce meaningful results.

During this visit, President Trump raised his concerns about the North Korean nuclear program. The two sides committed to upholding the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the goal of full, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and stated that they will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state. Both sides recognized that North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile tests violate relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, and affirmed a commitment to keep up pressure to curb these programs, including through full and strict implementation of relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions. Both sides will work toward resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue through dialogue and to addressing the reasonable concerns of all parties. Both sides affirmed they will maintain communication about the Korean Peninsula situation and the steps that the United States and China ought to take, and will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation through existing mechanisms.

The United States and China committed to maintain communication regarding macroeconomic policy topics, including fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies; respective structural reforms; and global economic governance-related issues. The United States and China intend to jointly promote a strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive global growth.

The two presidents recognized the importance of United States-China economic relations to both nations prosperity and to the international trading system. During the visit, companies of the two nations signed trade and investment deals worth more than $250 billion. These deals will create jobs for American workers, farmers, and ranchers by increasing United States exports to China and stimulating investment in American communities.

President Trump underscored the importance of rebalancing the bilateral economic relationship, emphasizing the need for a more equitable relationship that strengthens American jobs and exports. He called on China to guarantee fair and reciprocal treatment to United States companies, provide greater market access to United States exports and firms, and accelerate the implementation of market-oriented reforms to reduce the bilateral trade deficit. The President emphasized that Chinese government intervention in the Chinese economy has caused stresses in the global trading system. He reiterated that the United States will use all available trade remedies to create a level playing field for United States workers and businesses.

The two presidents announced their plans to enhance cooperation in combatting drugs, including synthetic opioids. The United States and China committed to quickly take steps to regulate and control two fentanyl precursors. Both sides committed to discuss the possibility of scheduling fentanyl as a class; coordinating on international drug policy, such as scheduling ketamine under U.N. conventions; enhancing precursors control and intelligence sharing; conducting case cooperation on mailed packages containing drugs and precursors; and exchanging tracking information on packages between the United States and China, so as to identify individuals and criminal networks responsible for trafficking.

Both sides committed to enhancing cooperation on cybercrime cases and network protection, including by responding to outstanding requests for assistance and enforcement actions, in particular those cases involving cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, the use of the internet by terrorists for criminal activities, and online firearm trafficking and online child pornography. The United States and China committed to fulfilling responsibilities under the U.N. law enforcement and terrorism conventions, as well as under the United States-China Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement, to prevent either country from becoming a safe haven for fugitives and to provide cooperation and mutual legal assistance in response to law enforcement requests, including cooperation with regards to business email compromise cases. Both sides committed to coordinating all law enforcement activities on each others territory, and cooperating in investigations of uncoordinated activity. In order to better enhance law enforcement cooperation, both sides recognized the need to carry forward working-level mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues.

The two presidents confirmed plans to establish a repeatable process of repatriation of illegal immigrants by the date agreed upon at the Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue.

The two presidents also reaffirmed the 2015 commitments on cybersecurity, and they emphasized the need for full cooperation into investigations of potentially contravening activity. They pledged to work together to prevent and mitigate the malicious exploitation of their networks by third countries.

The two sides reaffirmed the importance of the military-to-military relationship and reducing the risk of miscalculation between our two militaries. The two sides plan to organize an early exchange of high-level visits, with Secretary of Defense James Mattis visiting China in 2018 and a senior high-level Chinese military delegation visiting the United States, also in 2018. The two sides committed to working together to hold exchanges on space security, cyberspace, and nonproliferation before the next round of the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue. Both sides expressed readiness to deepen practical nonproliferation cooperation.

The two sides candidly discussed regional and maritime security. President Trump underscored the critical importance of the peaceful resolution of disputes, unimpeded lawful commerce, and respect for international law in the East and South China Sea, including freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea, and raised concerns about militarization of outposts in the South China Sea.

To enhance regional and global security, the United States discussed measures to support a stable and prosperous Afghanistan and promote Afghanistan-Pakistan cooperation, including addressing these issues in the Quadrilateral Coordination Group. The United States and China plan to jointly engage states in the Middle East about promoting these goals and taking measures against terrorist groups that threaten regional stability.

The two leaders affirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation on nuclear security and countering nuclear smuggling, and continuing to support the global nuclear security architecture. The United States and China reaffirmed their commitment to enhance regional capacity building through the China Nuclear Security Centre of Excellence and the China Customs Training Centre for Radiation Detection, and preventing terrorists and criminals from acquiring nuclear or other radioactive materials, including by enhancing the security of radioactive sources.

Trump and President Xi committed to create an environment enabling their two peoples to promote mutual understanding and enjoy productive exchange. The two sides had a candid exchange of views on human rights and the United States side highlighted the role that the free flow of information, including citizens access to media, plays in fostering mutual understanding.

Both sides affirmed the important role that civil society organizations play in furthering social and economic development and people-to-people ties. The United States looks forward to consultations with China on the Foreign NGO Management Law by the end of the year.

The two sides decided to carry out joint projects on HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. Both sides plan to continue to implement the International Health Regulations and carry out their National Action Plans on Anti-Microbial Resistance. The two sides committed to setting up a clear process and timeline to rapidly and continuously share influenza viruses with human pandemic potential. The two sides committed to working toward establishing an annual consultation mechanism for senior health officials from both countries.

The President recognizes the important outcomes arising from this visit. He thanks President Xi and the people of China for their hospitality, and hopes that the visit sets a foundation for productive engagement. The two presidents plan to keep in close contact, including on major issues of shared interest.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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*WARNING: THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THOR: RAGNAROK*

Thor: Ragnaroks director Taika Waititi  New Zealander of the Year, blossoming fashion icon, and man of a thousand poses  is swift to launch into a description of Loki, the unbeloved son of Asgard, as, someone who tries so hard to embody this idea of the tortured artist, this tortured, gothy orphan.

Hes discussing the characters emotional arc in the film, one that sees him put away his childish fixations and step up to save his city from obliteration; to put into perspective his petty family squabbles and realise a home is still a home, however you may feel about its inhabitants. Waititis Ragnarok may be childishly gleeful, but theres still a hell of a lot of growing up to do.

The lesson to be learnt, Waititi explains, is simply that all this artifice requires too much effort. Its too tiring trying to be like that, he says. And, most humans, we get over ourselves, we get to that point where were like, man, being a tortured artist is actually, like, a lot of work. Maybe I should just be real and present, and just be me, and I dont have to be a tortured artist to be interesting, I can just be a f*cking weird New Zealander and thats enough.

It feels like a telling moment. A small, unconscious giveaway that immediately captures him as an artist. Effortlessly, Waititis description has managed to slip from Loki to himself. For, even in the world of gods and superheroes, he still finds common ground: to empathise, to see himself reflected to some degree.

Humanity has always anchored his work, in the sense that people, no matter their circumstances, are still bound by the same fears and insecurities  whether foster child (2016s Hunt for the Wilderpeople), vampire (2014s What We Do in the Shadows), or mass of biceps (Thor, obviously). My world is not spectacle and explosion, he notes. Its two people talking.

In real terms (and this is a little damning, depending on your attachment to those characters), Thor and Loki are just two rich kids from outer space and we shouldnt really give a sh*t about what their problems are. But in Waititis hands: a little bit of a shift here, a little bit of a tease there, and new layers emerge.

 Trailer: Thor Ragnarok

Ragnarok is a story, in a way, of letting go: Loki of his facade, Thor of his fixation on his own image as the impenetrable hero, and toward a real sense of leadership. Waititi adds, You realise that theres nothing more endearing than people who are desperately trying to be liked or trying to be the hero, you know? Who also probably just need a hug or want to impress their dad?

The days are long gone, certainly, from when Marvel hired Kenneth Branagh to turn Thor into Shakespearean epic. But filmmaking, as much as life, is a journey. Evolve or die, in other words. While Star Wars is still in its first tender steps for Disney, Marvels maturity has seen the necessity to experiment to prevent itself from drying out. Theres a lot to be said for the fact the Han Solo films Phil Lord and Christopher Miller can be fired for leaning on improvisation, while Waititi can be hired for it.

I just had to remind myself that they asked me to do this for a reason, he muses. Because of a certain sensibility that I have that theyre interested in. I just did my own thing, let them steer me in the Marvel direction as long as I could keep my Taika-kind-of-voice going through the whole thing. And they were very supportive of that.

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The director, curiously, is not actually credited as a writer on the film, though he explains: I was contracted to do a couple of passes on the script, for dialogue and stuff like that and, you know, I didnt mind not being credited there. A lot of these things are determined almost before you start, because there were also two versions of the script before I turned up as a director. Best put, Thor: Ragnarok is a Marvel movie recalled in a Taika-kind-of-voice.

An MCU base upon which Waititis usual trademark touches balance. For example, in the way hell undercut an emotional crescendo with a swift joke (take Hunt for the Wilderpeoples funeral scene, ironically the funniest part of the film).

And so, one of the most essentially tragic moments of the entire franchise, the destruction of Asgard, the home to a whole people, destroyed in front of their eyes, occurs only for Korg (Waititi in a motion-capture suit), forever trying to be helpful, to chime in that the damage is not too bad since the foundations are strong enough to rebuild upon. That is, until the foundations blow up, too.

That Taika-kind-of-voice is evident also in Ragnaroks visuals. Though Waititi initially cites a more traditional source, Thors original co-creator Jack Kirby, he names Alejandro Jodorowskys work, too, namely The Holy Mountain and his aborted Dune adaptation, making use of Chris Foss concept art for the latter.

Sometimes we didnt capture it, but it was definitely on the moodboards a lot, he notes. Just that style. Just some of the sets and some of the colours. Asgard and Hela took inspiration from Gustav Klimt, in all their sparkling elegance.

Subversion and re-examination is at the heart of so much of Waititis work, from the superficially comic  What We Do in the Shadows vampires in a flatshare  to the more layered, as in the constant questioning of masculine ideals at work within Boy (2010)s central father/son relationship. With Ragnarok, theres some subtle, quietly illuminating work at hand in its female characters.

Of course, much has been made of Cate Blanchetts Hela marking the MCUs first female (main) villain. However, what makes her work so well as a character isnt just the fabulous, delicious badassery of a Blanchett unleashed, as promised in the films marketing material. As Thors sister, the exiled child of Odin, her wrath is, in fact, perfectly justified.

Among Ragnaroks hijinks, Asgards troubled history is revealed, that Odin manipulated Helas bloodlust when it suited his conquering ambitions, and discarded her when he wanted to play benevolent ruler. Where did you think all this gold came from? Hela so tellingly questions.

As Waititi explains, I loved the idea that Asgard was built on the spoils of all these wars, and they just sucked all the resources out of these worlds that they conquered and took them back to Asgard, which is very relevant right now. And we see it time and time again. Indeed, why would Asgard, a kingdom with its monarch, somehow be magically absolved of the evils of imperialism?

Also, the fact he was so proud of his daughter and gave her this hammer, which is so awesome for Thor to find out that its not even his hammer, the hammers a hand-me down, Waititi continues. Its almost like a Lucifer complex. You know, just like Lucifer would say: Why did you make me, then, if you knew this was what was going to become of me? I can totally empathise. Even though I know what shes doing is wrong as a villain, Im totally like, Yeah, girl. You get it.

When it comes to Tessa Thompsons Valkyrie, the Asgard warrior who exiled herself after defeat at the hands of Hela, the film jumps into archetype: the Han Solo, the hard drinker, the rogue. The thing is, its an archetype almost never applied to female characters. Her introduction sees her both singlehandedly take out an entire gang of scrappers and drunkenly topple off a gangplank.

It was enough of a change that Waititi admits he was nervous as to how shed be received by audiences. My fear sometimes is that peoples reactions are, Oh god, a drunk woman? Whats wrong with her? he says. But, if it was a guy, you know, everybody would be like, Ah, awesome, what a cool dude! He loves day drinking! Which is so dumb.

At some point, I remember, we got one comment in one test screening that was, like, Oh, shes really violent. That was, like, really full on for her to murder those people. But, you know, Han Solo straight up murders a dude and everyone thinks hes cool, he adds. So, I just really wanted that character to have the most layers and, in a way, she is one of the most interesting characters in the film.

All of Ragnaroks achievements, however, seem to come down to Waititi asking himself a few simple questions: Whats the least expected direction we can go in? And most of the time we were shooting, thats the one thing we kept reminding ourselves of. Do we feel like weve seen this before in another Marvel film? Or do we feel like weve done this before? If so, whats the opposite direction we can run in, and instead of running, lets sprint in that direction.

Thor: Ragnarok is in cinemas now
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Anna Paquin has corroborated the allegations made by Ellen Page against film director and producer Brett Ratner.

Page accused Ratner of being blatantly homophobic toward her on the set of 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand by asking a woman ten years her senior to f*** her to make her realise she was gay in front of the feature's cast and crew. Page was 18-years-old at the time.

The Juno actress, who came out as gay in 2014, has now had her claims backed up by co-star - True Blood's Anna Paquin - who told her Twitter followers she was privy to the incident.

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.

I was there, she wrote, before addressing questions as to why she didn't highlight Ratner's behaviour at the time.

If you can't think of the glaringly obvious reason I remained silent then perhaps you've forgotten that I've been in this victim grooming industry since before I hit puberty, the Kiwi actress - who won an Oscar aged 11 for The Piano - wrote.

Page's Facebook post, in which she claimed Ratner outed her as gay - said: I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself. I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak. I felt violated when this happened.

I looked down at my feet, didnt say a word and watched as no one else did either."

Ratner has had his ties cut with Warner Bros after six allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced in The Los Angeles Times including one by Olivia Munn who claims that he masturbated in front of her in his trailer when she went to deliver a meal on the set of his 2004 film After the Sunset.

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A man says Amazons AI assistant threw its own party at his flat in the early hours of the morning, forcing the police to intervene.

Oliver Haberstroh, who lives in Hamburg, says his Alexa-enabled speaker started playing music at full-blast in the early hours of the morning, when nobody was at home to control it.

Police had to break into his sixth-floor flat in order to investigate the disturbance, which was reported to them by Mr Haberstrohs neighbours.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The voice-controlled speaker started playing music between 1:50am and 3am. Mr Haberstroh says he was on a night out at the time.

After returning home to find a new lock on his door, he visited the police station and was given the corresponding set of keys and an invoice.

While I was relaxed and enjoying a beer, Alexa managed on her own, without command and without me using my mobile phone, to switch on at full volume and have her own party in my apartment, he wrote on Facebook.

 Apple fans smash new iPhone X just moments after buying it

She decided to have it at a very inconvenient time, between 1.50am and 3.00am. My neighbours called the police.

Amazon, which has offered to cover Mr Haberstrohs bill, claims Alexa didnt malfunction, but was "remotely activated".

Working directly with the customer, we have identified the reason for the incident, the company told the Inquirer.

Echo was remotely activated and the volume increased through the customer's third party mobile music-streaming app.

Although the Alexa cloud service worked flawlessly, Amazon has offered the customer to cover the cost for the incident.
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Rupert Murdoch is said to be interested in buying CNN  which, if true, could prove to be an interesting development given Mr Murdoch's reported close association with Donald Trump, who has repeatedly railed against the network.

The news comes after reports saying Mr Trump's administration may force AT&T to ditch the network to receive antitrust approval of its $85.4bn deal with Time Warner.

According to Reuters, Mr Murdoch called AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson twice in the last six months and talked about CNN.

One of the outlet's sources said Mr Murdoch offered to buy CNN in both conversations, while another source said the 86-year-old executive chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox had "zero interest" in owning the network.

It would not be the first time Mr Murdoch has expressed interest in taking over CNN.

In 2014, Twenty-First Century Fox proposed buying Time Warner for $80bn. But the company abandoned the plan in the face of Time Warners resistance, Reuters said.

If the companies had stuck a deal, Fox had planned to sell CNN - which competes directly with Fox News - to avoid antitrust issues.

Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Show all 14 1 /14 Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Riot police block protesters during a rally near the US embassy AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters shout slogans while displaying portraits of U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte AP Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Activists clash with riot police EPA Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters burn a banner of Donald Trump AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters against Donald Trump's visit AP Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters deface portraits of Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte AP Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters clash with anti-riot police officers as they try to march towards the U.S. embassy REUTERS Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines A mural bearing the image of Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte is burnt REUTERS Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Activists march on a road leading to the US embassy during a protest in Manila EPA Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters scuffle with riot police AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters shout anti-US slogans as they burn a banner featuring the image of US President Donald Trump AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Activists clash with riot police EPA Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters display placards as they shout anti-US slogans AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Anti-riot police officers block protesters REUTERS

Over the past year, AT&T's proposed merger with mass media company Time Warner has received significant antitrust scrutiny.

When the telecommunications giant and Time Warner announced their deal last October, then-candidate Trump said his administration would never approve such a combination "because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few."

This week, news outlets reported that the Justice Department has recommended AT&T sell either its DirecTV unit or Time Warners Turner Broadcasting unit - which includes CNN - to gain antitrust approval of the merger.

The agency's reservations about approving the tie-up appear to stem from concerns about how competition could be harmed by the consolidation of AT&T's distribution platforms with Time Warner's wide range of content.

A longtime news executive told the Daily Beast that the DOJ's request is "politics plain and simple", noting that Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked CNN as "fake news".
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The Department for Education has said religious schools that separate boys and girls into different classes can split in two to avoid punishment from Ofsted.

It comes after a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal last month found a mixed-gender Islamic school guilty of sex discrimination because it did not allow girls and boys to attend the same lessons.

The judges held that the complete segregation policy of Al-Hijrah school in Birmingham, which separated pupils from year five, was detrimental to both boys and girls and breached equality laws.

Recommended Segregating boys and girls boys in faith schools ruled unlawful

The ruling is expected to have implications for UK faith schools, with around 20 schools currently violating the ban on gender segregation.

After the judgement, headteachers across the country asked the Government for urgent clarification on the issue.

The Independent has obtained a letter from the head of Hasmonean High School, a Jewish Orthodox school in Barnet, saying the DfE told the school it faced no further action if it de-amalgamates, or splits in two.

I have now heard from the Department for Education regarding the outcome of the specific implications for Hasmonean of the recent judgment regarding the segregation of the sexes in coeducational schools, Andrew McClusky said in a letter to parents.

The DfE will require Hasmonean to de-amalgamate into two separate schools but there will be no further implications for the school other than this.

After the split, the schools are expected to remain part of the same multi-academy trust.

Critics complained allowing segregated schools to simply divide without assessment of their treatment of different genders risked breaching equality laws. Ofsted, meanwhile, has said the Court of Appeal judgment on sex discrimination only applied to co-educational schools.

Humanists UK education campaigns manager Jay Harman said: The exemption in the Equality Act 2010 allowing single-sex schools to discriminate on grounds of gender only relates to school admissions, and does not allow for discrimination in any other aspect of school life.

So should a school split into two separate single-sex schools, but then provide an education that discriminates against its pupils by reinforcing gender stereotypes, for instance, this is likely to be unlawful.

He called on the DfE to be very careful about allowing segregated religious schools to convert to separate single-sex schools, without assessment of what the pupils in those schools will be taught.

Single-sex schools are not inherently problematic. But if becoming a single-sex school effectively puts an end to any scrutiny over the nature of the education that girls in these religious communities are getting [compared to] boys, it could very well mean that the girls end up in a worse situation as a result of the judgment, rather than a better one, he added.

Hasmonean High Schools female pupils are currently located on a site in Mill Hill, while males are in Hendon, but the school is reportedly planning on moving the boys to a new building alongside, but separate, from the girls.

In an emailed statement, Hasmonean said it was working with the DfE to ensure the appropriate process was followed during the administrative split. It said the school was looking for a new site because it was oversubscribed.

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 Department for Education spokesperson said: All new or existing schools, whether they are single-sex schools or mixed, must comply with the law and under no circumstances would they be able to circumvent this.

It is primarily for individual schools to consider what action they need to take to do this. All schools are also held to account by Ofsted to ensure they are delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.

A spokesperson for Ofsted said: This case was specifically about segregation within mixed schools.

Single-sex schools must comply with the Equality Act 2010 and ensure that pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain.

Good single-sex schools run extracurricular programmes and put specific arrangements in place to maintain healthy integration. They do not prevent children from socialising with the opposite sex.

A bid to appeal the ruling of unlawful sex discrimination at the Al-Hijrah Islamic school was rejected on Tuesday. It emerged during the case that at least 10 Islamic schools in England are still separating by gender.
Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Saturday to capture Rawa, the last remaining town under Islamic-State control, leaving the group's self-proclaimed caliphate on the verge of complete defeat.

The capture of the town would mark the end of Islamic State's era of territorial rule over a so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Syria's army declared victory over the militants on Thursday, after seizing the last substantial town on the border with Iraq.

The army and its allies were still fighting Islamic State in desert areas near Albu Kamal, the last town the militant group had held in Syria.

Two Iraqi infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces are participating in the offensive to recapture the small town of Rawa and its surrounding areas along the border with Syria, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

Last week, Iraqi forces recaptured the larger town of al-Qaim, in what Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called "record time", leaving just a few small pockets of land in Islamic State's hands.

Iraq has been carrying out its final campaign to crush the Islamic State caliphate while also mounting a military offensive in the north against the Kurds who held an independence referendum in September.

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The UK is the most overweight nation in Western Europe, with levels of obesity growing faster than in the US, a new report has warned.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Britain was the sixth-worst country in its 35 member states, coming behind Mexico, the USA, New Zealand, Finland and Australia.

Around 27 per cent of the population are now clinically obese and another 36 per cent are overweight, making the combined figure among the highest in the world.

Obesity has risen sharply since 1990, when it affected only 14 per cent of adults, said the OECDs annual Health at a Glance report.

 Obesity is on the rise

The overall health of British people is similar to the OECD average, considering life expectancy and other general measures of health status  but obesity rates are considerably worse.

It listed the UK as among countries with historically high rates, but said it was also the country where obesity was rising the fastest  increasing by 92 per cent, compared to 65 per cent in the US.

Obesity means higher risk of chronic illnesses, particularly hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the report added, saying that NHS campaigns were attempting to tackle the causes of obesity but much more can still be done.

Other concerns highlighted by the OECD including alcohol consumption among teenagers in the UK, where almost a third of 15-year-olds say they have been drunk at least twice in their life  far above the OECD average of 22 per cent.

For adults, smoking rates and the amount of alcohol consumed by the average person is falling.

The research used the World Health Organisations definition of obesity as a BMI of 30 and above, and of overweight between 25 and 30.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 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

It came after NHS England ordered hospitals to take super-size chocolate bars and bags of sweet snacks off shelves.

Last month it announced a 250-calorie limit on confectionery sold in hospital canteens, shops, vending machines and other outlets to help fight obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.

Simon Stevens, NHS Englands chief executive, said: The NHS is now stepping up action to combat the super-size snack culture which is causing an epidemic of obesity, preventable diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease and cancer.

Soft drinks will also be hit by the Governments new sugar tax when it comes into effect in April 2018.

Tax on drinks with more than five grams of sugar per 100ml will be levied by 18p per litre, while those with eight grams or more of sugar per 100ml will have an extra tax of 24p per litre.

While generating revenue, proponents hope the move will also force brands to reformulate their drinks to reduce sugar content and avoid penalties.
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Thousands of fake poppy-branded key rings, scarves and items of jewellery have been seized before they could be sold for profit in the period around Remembrance Day.

Border Force officers intercepted the shipment, destined for Manchester, when it arrived from China at Tilbury Docks on Wednesday.

Mark Kennedy, acting deputy director of the Border Force, said: Had these fake goods entered the market, they could have cheated thousands of pounds from unsuspecting members of the public and diverted vital funds away from the Royal British Legion.

The merchandise was worth around 150,000 and included items branded with the phrase Lest we Forget, as well as infringing the Royal British Legions copyright on the two-petal poppy symbol.

The shipment contained 1,212 scarves, 5,400 badges, 1,200 key rings and 600 four petal brooches that infringed a separate copyright held by the Earl Haig Fund Scotland which trades as Poppyscotland.

In a joint statement, the Royal British Legion and Poppyscotland said the trademarks must be protected so that the public can be sure that their donations are going directly to a registered charity.

By donating for a poppy through our official channels, or corporate partners, the public can rest assured that their money will go towards supporting our Armed Forces community, a spokesperson added.

In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Remembrance Sunday In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and British Prime Minister David Cameron attend the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, in London In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Prince Harry and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attend the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, in London Getty Images In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in London EPA In pictures: Remembrance Sunday (L-R) Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duchess of Cambridge, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the Countess of Wessex during the annual Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall, central London PA In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Former Labour party Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair during the annual Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall, London, held in tribute for members of the armed forces who have died in major conflicts PA In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn lays a wreath after speaking at at Royal Northern Gardens in Islington, in London Getty Images In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn shares a joke with veterans after laying a wreath and speaking at a war memorial at Royal Northern Gardens in Islington, in London Getty Images In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Falling poppies are projected onto Parliament's Elizabeth Tower also known as 'Big Ben' to mark Remembrance Sunday in London In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Wreaths lay at the base of the war memorial at Royal Wootton Bassett, where remembrance Sunday parade is taking place PA In pictures: Remembrance Sunday The "Last Post" is played before a minutes silence in honour of Remembrance Sunday ahead of the Aviva Premiership match at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry PA In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Members of the Armed Forces parade during the Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph in London EPA In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Brass section players lead the parade along the High Street at Royal Wootton Bassett, where remembrance Sunday wreath laying is taking place at the war memorial PA In pictures: Remembrance Sunday The sun breaks through the clouds behind a statue as both serving and former commandos gather during the Commando Memorial Service commemorate and pay respect to the sacrifice of service men and women who fought in the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts on November 8, 2015 in Spean Bridge, Scotland. People across the UK will gather to pay tribute to service personnel who have died during conflicts, as part of the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremonies Getty Images In pictures: Remembrance Sunday Members of Scotland's armed forces and veterans stand together as they commemorate and pay respect to the sacrifice of service men and women who fought in the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts, in Fort William, Scotland Getty Images In pictures: Remembrance Sunday

Both charities support serving members of the armed forces, veterans and their families, taking part in annual tributes around Armistice Day.

This year marks the centenaries of women's service in regular forces, the Battle of Passchendaele, the creation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the hundredth birthday of forces' sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn.

It will also commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein and the creation of the RAF Regiment.

The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge were among the royals due to attend the Royal Festival of Remembrance in London on Saturday, amid commemorations across the country.

On Sunday the Queen will watch from a balcony along with the Duke of Edinburgh as Charles lays a wreath on her behalf at the Cenotaph  the first time she has not carried out the duty herself.

Mr Kennedy said officers would continue working at ports, airports and mail sorting centres to identify counterfeit goods in a crackdown on the online-linked crime.

Once items are seized, the Border Force establishes whether they are fake and then destroys them, with rights holders deciding whether to privately prosecute the importers.

Anyone who has been sold counterfeit goods or knows someone who is selling them is asked to contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
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Crops in Cornwall are said to be "rotting in the fields" due to a lack of migrant workers to harvest them in the wake of Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

The county council has approached the Government to request it implement area-specific migration laws after Brexit, will help to deliver skills to the area.

Cornwall voted to leave the European Union in last year's referendum by more than 56 per cent, considerably above the national average. The area is home to 17,000 EU nationals, making up 3 per cent of the county's population. But research commissioned by the council found that, since the Brexit vote, staffing levels for farms had dropped to 65 per cent of what would normally be required.

 Gordon Brown on Brexit: Britain will hit a 'crisis point' next Summer

The study found that changes to migration laws following Britains exit from the EU could lead to multimillion pound losses if the horticultural industry cannot find the skilled work force it needs.

If we put strict limits on Eastern European migrant labour or devise alternative immigration policies that limit so-called low-skilled labour, the Cornish horticultural industry is finished," said David Simmons of Riviera Produce, one of Cornwall's biggest producers.

Cornwall Council Leader Adam Paynter called for the government to take a location-based approach to future migrant workforces.

"Many of our major industries such as horticulture could be severely impacted and are already feeling the pinch with some of our crops rotting in the fields following a sharp fall in the number of EU workers.

"We are working with local partners to improve skills and employment for local people, but there will always be an important place in the Cornish economy for seasonal and migrant workers, particularly in the horticultural industry.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 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 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"We are calling on the government to take a place-based approach to future migration, to make sure that the Cornish economy has access to skills which may not be highly valued in London but which are vital to a major rural economy like ours.
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At the no frills end of the high street, near where William Hill neighbours Paddy Power, and a few doors away from Poundland, there stands an altogether glossier alternative.

Here, as suggested by the shops very name, BrightHouse, all is light and brilliancy.

The lush primary colours of the window ad announce our biggest TV ever! beneath depictions of brightly wrapped presents and the promise of Christmas moments.

The sales counter is approached via the massed ranks of ultra-high definition widescreen TVs, with the Ecobubble washing machines beyond.

And yet when Nothoizile Kombe exits the store in Lewisham, south-east London, it becomes clear that all is not quite what it seems at BrightHouse  at least not for its customers.

The rates they charge the poor, she says, the feisty laughter not quite hiding her frustration, are extortionate.

The 25-year-old fast food worker, by her own admission struggling on the minimum wage, had asked about a mobile phone.

As she discovered, and as the BrightHouse autumn catalogue confirms, an Apple iPhone 7 Plus would cost her 1,277 with weekly payments of 24.57 spread over a year. Yet Apple is selling the exact same model for 769, or from 886 spread over two years  30 per cent cheaper than at BrightHouse, with twice the time to repay.

The Independent was told the 75in Samsung would cost 4,680 spread over three years (Tom Goulding)

There were plenty of other examples, such as the Samsung 65in ultra HD curved TV that cost 2,914 over two years at BrightHouse, but 1,681 in 24 months at Currys, which was quoting 19.9 per cent APR, a fraction of the 69.9 per cent printed in the BrightHouse brochure.

And that biggest TV ever? The 75in Samsung ultra HD smart TV is yours  provided you keep paying 30 a week for three years  for 4,680. Although you could buy it straightaway at Currys for 2,499, roughly half what you would end up paying at BrightHouse.

The idea, of course, is that BrightHouse provides the rent-to-own option of small weekly payments for those who cant afford to buy outright or whose low credit-ratings stop them getting pay later deals at other stores.

Its just that Ms Kombe  and, it has to be said, a fair few others  see it rather differently.

I get so angry, she says. The poor have someone exploiting them over and over and over again  and BrightHouse is part of that.

And yet, as we now know thanks to the revelations about offshore funds in the leaked Paradise Papers, BrightHouse is where the Queen, or perhaps more accurately her financial advisers, ended up investing some of her private wealth.

 Who has been named in the Paradise Papers leak?

In 2007 a Cayman Islands-based fund run by an American company asked the Duchy of Lancaster to contribute to five projects including an interest in Vision Capital, which acquired 100 per cent of BrightHouse in June of that year.

The Duchy still has 3,208 invested in BrightHouse.

To some, Ms Kombe included, BrightHouse seems a very odd choice to be the beneficiary of royal investment.

To some, but perhaps not to the Queen or others living at a genteel distance from the breadline, BrightHouse is part of the British poverty premium, that curious phenomenon whereby those on the lowest incomes now seem to end up paying more than anyone else. Although those at the top of BrightHouse might possibly prefer to see a success story, created in the boom years of what to everyone else was the economic downturn.

According to the Financial Inclusion Centre thinktank, during the austerity years between 2008 and 2016, BrightHouses gross profits more than trebled from 62.8m to 192m, as customer numbers more than doubled from 125,300 to 276,200.

BrightHouse grew steadily over the economic downturn (Financial Inclusion Centre)

In November 2008, as the good times  for BrightHouse  began rolling, a few months after it received the Queens money, Leo McKee, the companys chief executive (who retired in September 2016), gave a revealing interview to the Financial Times.

There were now five million households who were unable to get credit elsewhere and available for him to target, he told the newspaper. While every other retailer was cutting capital expenditure, Mr McKee was planning to expand.

The FT reported at the time that at least 40 per cent of BrightHouse customers were wholly or partially reliant on benefits. The Financial Inclusion Centre would later characterise the typical BrightHouse customer as a single mother on benefits.

But Mr McKee wasnt going to sell them the cheapest, most basic model on the market.

Our products have to be aspirational: we cant sell entry-level products, he told the FT. Some retailers can target the first-time buyer or the budget buyer, but we cant do that because our customers are looking for the telly that gives them bragging rights.

My head of marketing said to me we shouldnt advertise in the tabloids. Now that kind of blew my mind, because if you think about the mainstream electrical retailers, theyre all over the tabloids. But he said to me: daytime television.

The FT also reported that some 30 per cent of customers were falling behind in the weekly payments and having to return products to BrightHouse, which could then refurbish and resell them as quality refurbished or pre-loved items.

But Mr McKee rejected accusations of preying on the vulnerable. BrightHouse staff were not on commission, he said. They would try to help customers when they got into financial difficulties.

Say theyve got two tellies, explained the jovial Mr McKee. The store people will talk to them and say, I think you could do with one. They wont drop to no tellies, though: theyd hand their bed back first.

BrightHouse APR rates were broadly comparable with other mainstream retailers, said Mr McKee.

But seven years later, in February 2015, MPs on the Debt and Personal Finance All Party Parliamentary Group were reporting that some BrightHouse goods were being sold at 94.7 per cent APR.

Bascially, says Gareth Evans, co-author of the Financial Inclusion Centres March 2016 report on the sector, some of rent-to-own was the Wild West during economic downturn, with unchecked practices, ridiculously high growth in customers, in stores, in revenue and gross profit.

Eventually, from late 2014 onwards, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) began working closely with BrightHouse. The end result came a month ago, in October 2017.

Following engagement with the FCA, the authority announced, BrightHouse has committed to pay over 14.8m (in the form of cash payments and balance adjustments) to 249,000 customers in respect of 384,000 agreements for lending which may not have been affordable and payments which should have been refunded.

Jonathan Davidson, executive director of supervision, retail and authorisations at the FCA referred to historic practices which meant that: During the time in question, BrightHouse was not a responsible lender.

Hamish Paton, Mr McKees successor as BrightHouse chief executive, said: We sincerely apologise to those customers affected. Our top priority is to ensure they are reimbursed. Were absolutely determined this doesnt happen again and have made significant improvements over the last 18 months.

But not everyone seems entirely convinced by the refunds and the promises of never again.

BrightHouse dont have customers, they poach people  Nothoizile Kombe (Tom Goulding)

Ms Kombe, for example, is rather too scarred by her own experiences and those of her friends.

She tells the story of her friend, a single mother on benefits who last year, while BrightHouse was working closely with the FCA, bought a laptop from one of the shops.

This was the first gadget that she could get to share with her four-year-old daughter, so her little girl could go on YouTube, watch cartoons, remembers Ms Kombe.

Most of the other kids had tablets. This girl didnt have any of that.

But four months into the 12 weekly payments, her friend got a sanction on her Jobseekers Allowance.

The jobcentre said they sent her a letter about an appointment that she missed, but she never got the letter.

The sanction meant she didnt have the 12 a week for BrightHouse. The first week she missed a payment, BrightHouse phoned her.

The second week the BrightHouse guy is knocking on her door, panicking her. A couple of hours later, she is being told, If you cant pay, you need to return the laptop.

Ms Kombe paid the shortfall out of her own pocket. She didnt want her friend to lose the laptop with nothing to show for the 190 she had already paid. She also couldnt bear the thought of BrightHouse taking the laptop from the four-year-old, like taking candy from a little kid.

BrightHouse dont have customers, she says. They poach people.

Its like a little system, and it always involves the same people  poor people.

The incident with the young mother happened, of course, before the FCA announcement and BrightHouses never again promise.

But Ms Kombe has another story, only a few days old, told to her by a friend who went into another BrightHouse store and was spotted looking at one of the widescreen TVs.

The guy in the shop said, Listen, I know I work here, but if I were you, I would go somewhere else. Its extortionate here.

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. 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The experts too are still sceptical about BrightHouse, despite its engagement with the FCA.

I remain anxious, says Yvonne Fovargue, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group that reported on rent-to-own. I regard BrightHouses business model as one designed to make quite a large amount of profit out of people they deliberately target as being on the lowest incomes and least able to have a wide range of choices.

So she still worries about BrightHouse shoppers being confronted by all those widescreen TVs and fancy washing machines, and about the apparent signs of continued upselling (persuading customers to spend more): You go in because your washing machine is broken. You just need a machine that washes clothes, but you get sold the latest Ecobubble device.

BrightHouse, she says, is still putting amazing mark-ups on goods that cost much less elsewhere for those able to pay for them straightaway.

It deliberately puts stores in low-income areas, she adds. You dont see BrightHouse in places like Kensington, do you?

I just feel they are making a large amount of money out of the people who can least afford it, and that just feels wrong to me. There is enough of a poverty premium already.

It should be said, however, that the BrightHouse spokesperson was considerably more upbeat.

The Independent was told: At BrightHouse we allow people with low incomes and poor credit ratings to get access to everyday items they otherwise wouldnt be able to have.

Our customers have no long-term commitment, meaning they can return the products at any time without penalty, so you cant get into a spiral of debt with BrightHouse.

Over the last 18 months weve worked hard to make our business better and more flexible so that we can even better serve our customers who tend to be financially excluded by mainstream lenders.

And what about BrightHouses most illustrious investor, the Queen? A spokesperson for the Duchy of Lancaster said: The Duchys investment in Bright House is through a third party and equates to 3,208  just 0.0006 per cent of the Duchys value.

Yet on Lewisham High Street, when Hanna, 33, heard of even a fraction of the Queens wealth being invested in BrightHouse, her face fell.

I am so disappointed, she said.

Now married to a British public-sector worker, with an 18-month-old baby, she had moved to the UK from a Middle Eastern country three years ago.

I thought it was going to be the best; freedom of speech, a country where people were protected

But she had just left BrightHouse  in a hurry: The prices are crazy, she said. They scared me so much I needed to leave the shop.

This, she said, looking around the high street, was not the Britain she had dreamed of.

There is austerity, benefits cuts, and the poor arent being protected. They are being taken advantage of, exploited.

Mr Evans and Ms Fovargue speak of solutions. Mr Evans, the MP suggesting more government funding for credit union-style alternatives, is calling for tougher regulation, including safeguards to prevent households seeing essential goods being taken away even where substantial repayments have been made towards them.

They mention the more affordable credit union options  like Leeds Credit Union and Fair for You.

But these are not-for-profit groups. As yet, says Mr Evans, they lack the muscle to rival BrightHouse as a presence on the high street: The trouble is these not-for-profits dont have the promotional budgets to match those of BrightHouse  people just dont know about them.

So for now, in Lewisham, Ms Kombe just shrugs and offers  on the streets of 21st-century London  a sentiment that seems almost reminiscent of Dickensian times:

They have got their fat bank accounts. They dont care about people.

We are the poor folk, and thats just how it works.

*Some details have been changed to protect identities
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Police evacuated a packed Westfield Shopping Centre on Saturday evening after a "small fire" was discovered at the scene in Stratford, east London.

Video posted on social media showed hundreds of people leaving the shopping centre - the UK's third largest - amid panic and confusion over the cause.

Conflicting claims said a dropped cigarette or smashed pain of glass were to blame for the evacuation.

One witness wrote: "Huge crowds running behind me. People were screaming. No idea what is going on."

Police later said officers had responded to a fire alarm triggered by a small fire.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "At around 17:15hrs on Saturday, 11 November, a fire alarm was activated at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford.

"Police officers, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service attended the location.

"A small fire was identified and dealt with by London Fire Brigade.

"Police cordons were lifted at around 17:50hrs and the shopping centre re-opened.

"At this early stage, the incident is not believed to be suspicious. We will work with London Fire Brigade and the Westfield Shopping Centre to establish the cause of the fire.

"We are not aware of any serious injury."
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Tory Brexiteers have warned Theresa May not to give more ground to Brussels, after EU negotiators demanded Britain set out within two weeks how much it will pay for its divorce bill.

One Conservative former cabinet minister said EU demands were not acceptable, while another prominent backbencher said any further concessions would be a sign of weakness.

Ms May is unwilling to anger Eurosceptic MPs whose support she desperately needs, but is also eager to convince the EU she has done enough to merit moving Brexit negotiations onto future trade.

Recommended Theresa May is going to have to pay the EU divorce bill

With the Prime Minister needing to show that she can move talks on by mid-December, The Independent understand she is preparing to go over EU negotiators heads and appeal directly to European capitals to gain progress.

The EUs Brexit lead Michel Barnier told reporters after the latest round of talks ended on Friday that any discussion on trade would be put back again if Britains position did not move in a fortnight.

He signalled that if the UK gave a commitment to pay more money as part of the divorce bill he would be able to recommend to European leaders that sufficient progress had been made to discuss a lucrative trading relationship.

But ex-minister John Whittingdale said: The Prime Minister has moved quite a long way. We have made a very generous offer through her speech in Florence.

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

He went on: But the other side, Barnier and the European Commission, have essentially not budged from the position they set out at the very beginning.

And some of those things I dont think are acceptable, such as the involvement of the European Court of Justice once we have left the European Union.

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, talked of as a future leader in eurosceptic circles, said it was not yet time to walk away from talks but added it is time not to be walked over.

He said: The UK Government has so far made a number of generous concessions.

Any further ones would be a sign of weakness when the EU desperately needs our money for the past two years of [its budget] to remain solvent.

Meanwhile, John Redwood MP said of Mr Barniers words: I dont mind what deadlines he sets. I dont want the Government to offer them any money at all.

One of the things we voted for is to pay for our priorities with our own money.

Brexit talks are still largely stalemated over the dispute on how big the UKs divorce bill should be. Ms May has already indirectly committed to paying some 20bn, but the EU wants a concrete promise that could leave it liable to pay twice as much.

 Barnier: The Brexit agreement will not be based on concessions

The Government had wanted to wrap up the withdrawal part of negotiations by last months European Council summit, allowing talks to move on to transition and future trade, but failed to largely because of the divorce bill.

If Ms May cannot settle the matter and gain the EUs agreement to move talks forward by the next Council summit on 14 and 15 December, it could destabilise her leadership.

The next opportunity to ensure sufficient progress would be in March 2018, leaving very little time for the rest of the negotiations to take place.

But The Independent understands that Ms May will not allow herself to be tied down by Mr Barnier two-week deadine, and will instead appeal directly to leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Germanys Angela Merkel in order to push for progress in talks.

There is expected to be a flurry of diplomatic activity in European capitals ahead of the next summit, which will see UK officials highlighting concessions already made and the benefits of moving forward.

Speaking after the close of talks on Friday, Mr Barnier was asked whether the UK only had two weeks to ensure there is more progress before the December meeting. He said simply: My answer is yes.
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Tony Blair has paid tribute to Jeremy Corbyn for creating "enthusiasm" in politics but has said Labour should be much further ahead in the polls than it is under his leadership.

The ex-prime minister said that given the Conservative Government's multiple crises Mr Corbyn should be some 15 to 20 points ahead.

It comes after Gordon Brown praised Mr Corbyn earlier this week, hailing him as a "phenomenon" and saying he "speaks for many people".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Blair said: "I pay tribute to the campaign he ran, I think he showed a lot of character in the way he ran that campaign. He's generated a lot of enthusiasm. I buy all of that.

But the ex-leader, who won three elections, went on to say: "It's important and salutary for us to remember this Government is in a greater degree of mess than any government I can remember.

"Even in the 1990s the Tory government was a paragon of stability compared with this and yet we are a couple of points ahead and, I think I'm right that he's not yet ahead of her as prime minister. So, I pay tribute to all of that but I still say come on guys, we should be 15, 20 points ahead at this stage."

According to the most recent polling for The Independent by BMG Research, Labour was five points ahead of the Conservatives, going up to six points once 'don't knows' were redistributed.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert 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Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. 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Asked who people would prefer to see as next prime minister, 31 per cent said Mr Corbyn compared to 29 per cent for Ms May, and once 'don't knows' were redistributed, 34 per cent backed Mr Corbyn and 32 per cent chose Ms May.

Further polling will be conducted over the next week which will show whether the loss of two ministers from Ms May's cabinet, stalled Brexit talks and the sexual harassment scandal have had an impact on the figures.

Earlier this week Mr Brown argued that Mr Corbyn was successfully tapping into rising public anger over the unfair effects of globalisation, after other politicians appeared to show they had "no answers".

Mr Brown, who was Prime Minister for three years until the 2010 election, said: "People feel rightly or wrongly that the problems that they have  stagnant wages, inequality, polarisation between rich and poor, public service not being properly financed  they ascribe that to the failures of governments, centrist governments that have not been able to manage globalisation."

On Mr Corbyns shock rise, he added: "He has come through because he expresses peoples anger at whats happened  the discontent.

"When he attacks universal credit, he is speaking for many people, when he says the health service is underfunded, he is speaking for many people."

 Tony Blair: 'Consider voting Tory or Lib Dems over Brexit'

The Labour leader still had to show he had "a plan for the future that is credible and, therefore, a programme that is electable".

In his interview this morning, Mr Blair also refused to row back on previous criticism of his successor Gordon Brown. The increasingly sour relationship between the then prime minister and his chancellor dominated their time at the top.

In his memoirs, Mr Blair said Mr Brown had analytical intelligence but "zero" emotional intelligence. Mr Brown suggested earlier this week that the former premier "would regret saying that now".

But, asked if that was the case, Mr Blair told Today: "Look, I wrote what I wrote."

Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech at the annual CBI conference (EPA)

He added: "What I really think is this, because it is particularity important for its impact on the Labour party today, what's important is that the two of us actually concentrate on the good things that happened through this time."

Mr Blair denied that he had agreed to step aside as prime minister if Mr Brown backed plans to allow Britain to join the euro, as claimed by the former chancellor.

"No, that would not be a sensible thing to have done at all," he said. "No I didn't (say it)."

 Gordon Brown backs Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader

Mr Blair instead pointed out that despite the differences between them, Labour had enjoyed its most electorally successful period.

"The two of us, for whatever problems arouse later, and there were real policy differences, as both of us have described, nonetheless the benefits of that partnership I think were able to be realised partly because we hadn't ended up with a huge scrap at the beginning," he said.

Mr Blair was speaking as he published a report on how to prepare Britain for a "revolution" in technology, warning that neither of the major parties has set out the plans needed.
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The UK should downgrade its diplomatic ties with Iran to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning Iranian human rights lawyer has told The Independent.

Dr Shirin Ebadi, Irans only Nobel Laureate, said that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was being held as a political hostage by Tehran and suggested the British Government may be expected to pay some form of ransom to ensure her safe release.

The 70-year-old human rights lawyer was also critical of Boris Johnson, who came under fire this week for incorrectly telling a Commons committee Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was teaching journalists in Iran. The Foreign Office has since accepted that the sole purpose of her visit was a holiday.

Dr Ebadi said the Foreign Secretarys comments had not helped and were not in Nazanins interests. And she said there were a number of options the British Government could now pursue to try and help in her case.

The UK Government must say to Tehran, you must observe human rights, including the release of Nazanin. Otherwise the British Government must threaten to downgrade political relations from ambassadorial to a lower level in Iran, Dr Ebadi said.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has dual British-Iranian nationality, was detained on spying charges while on holiday with her daughter Gabriella 18 months ago. Gabriella, who is now three, has remained in Iran while Richard Ratcliffe, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, is in the UK.

Mr Ratcliffe has worked tirelessly to bring his wife home and has urged Mr Johnson to escort him to Iran so he can see his daughter. In an interview with The Independent last month, he said his wifes detention included almost nine months in solitary confinement and amounted to psychological torture.

The charges against Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe appear to stem from the fact she works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, as a project manager for the medias charitable works. Her employer has repeated stated that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe does not train journalists, and the foundation does not operate in Iran.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Iranian Shirin Ebadi addresses a press conference in Honduras in October (AFP/Getty Images)

The Iranian authorities insist that the proceedings against Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe followed the countrys judicial process. They also point out that Iran does not recognise dual nationality and thus she is regarded as an Iranian citizen. They point out that she sees her child every day and is in daily communication with her husband in the UK. British diplomatic sources say there has been no ransom demand from Tehran over Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and they were not expecting any. Efforts will continue, they say, to get her released.

After Mr Johnson made his comments to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken to an unscheduled court hearing and issued with new charges of spreading propaganda against Iran. She has been threatened with another five years in prison on top of her existing five years sentence. Mr Johnson has denied there is a link between his comments and these proceedings.

Dr Ebadi, a former judge in Iran, likened the situation to that of Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post. He was arrested in Iran and convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in 2015.

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Mr Rezaian, alongside three other US prisoners, was released in 2016 after the US government settled a 40-year debt with Iran, to the sum of $400m (305m). Dr Ebadi said it may take a similar measure to ensure that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is allowed to return home.

Why have they imprisoned Nazanin? Because there is no justice, because the Iranian government engages in hostage taking, she told The Independent. The whole reason behind her capture is because she worked for a very reputable organisation. Why did they arrest Jason Rezaian the Washington Post journalist? The same reason they took Nazanin.

I have no doubt that if the UK government does what Barack Obama did, they will release Nazanin, she added.

Dr Ebadi has been a vocal critic of the Iranian government and was forced into exile in 2009 after significant threats to her life.

She was Irans first female judge but was stripped of her position after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when it was deemed women were not fit to be judges. She was demoted to magistrates clerk in the court she once presided over.

After then reverting back to being a defence lawyer, she represented the most vulnerable citizens in her country against abuse and is credited with giving birth to the human rights movement in Iran in the 1990s.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work on promoting womens and childrens rights, becoming the first Iranian and the first female Muslim laureate.

 Jailed in Iran: Richard Ratcliffe calls on the government to bring Nazanin home

Dr Ebadi spoke to The Independent during a visit to London in which she gave a guest lecture at the UK Bar Council, which represents all barristers in England and Wales, discussing the current legal situation in Iran.

Addressing an audience of more than 100 barristers, judges, solicitors and law students on the challenges faced by legal professionals in Iran, she argued the rule of law in the nation is under threat. She claimed lawyers in Iran face some of the most challenging circumstances in the world, routinely being banned from practising or arrested, detained and prosecuted as a result of not accepting instructions in sensitive cases.
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Inmates in a Chicago jail have been offered pizza as a reward for abstaining from masturbation for 30 days, a lawsuit alleges.

Female lawyers in the city's main prison say they have faced chronic masturbation and constant sexual harassment from detainees, and a system to reward abstainers with pizza has worsened the situation.

A class action lawsuit filed on behalf of female law clerks and assistant attorneys in the Cook County Public Defenders Office describes a deteriorating security situation.

It says employees are routinely subjected to harassment and abuse from male detainees at Cook County Jail and courthouses  and that both the Cook County Sheriffs office and the Cook County Public Defenders Office have failed to protect them.

They are forced to regularly endure heinous sexual misconduct, the lawsuit alleges, adding that male detainees threaten to assault attorneys, deliberately expose themselves to female employees and masturbate at them.

When the issue was brought to Sheriff Thomas Dart and Public Defender Amy Campanelli, the lawsuit alleges, they acknowledged the problem was severe and pervasive but didn't take effective steps to stop it.

In fact, the lawsuit claims, they made matters worse. It says Mr Dart created a system to reward offenders with pizza if they went 30 days without publicly masturbating or exposing themselves.

But that only encouraged people who hadnt committed such offences to do so so they could abstain and, 30 days later, obtain their reward, according to the lawsuit.

The sheriffs rewards for intermittent indecent exposure and/or masturbation led to an increase in exposure incidents as detainees without prior incidents were now incentivised to commit indecent exposure and masturbation in order to qualify for a pizza reward, it says.

 Shocking photos emerge of suspected Isis fighters held in overcrowded prison

A representative for the Cook County Public Defenders office did not respond to a request for comment. Cara Smith, chief policy officer for the Sheriffs department, called the allegations of a pizza reward system absurd and an absolute untruth with no basis in fact.

The safety and security of our staff  including our female corrections officers  is of paramount concern to the sheriff and our office, and were going to continue to do everything we can to address this despicable criminal behaviour by the detainees, Ms Smith said.

Indecent exposure in correctional settings is unfortunately a reality, she added, and we use a lot of different techniques to try and address the behaviour.

Documents filed with the case show the public defender has tried to curb the abuse for some time. Months before the lawsuit was filed, Ms Campanelli pleaded with the sheriff to address the simmering crisis.

In a March letter filed along with the complaint, the public defender warned detainees were regularly exposing themselves to female law clerks and attorneys, creating an intolerable situation and compromising her offices work as staff began to fear speaking with abusive clients.

She faulted Mr Darts response, saying he responded to a request for better security by shackling inmates.

Our attorneys are being forced to work in an environment that is traumatizing and debilitating, she wrote, adding that the safety of my staff and the constitutional rights of my clients are being violated.
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The ex-wife of Texas gunman Devin Kelley said he frequently displayed violent tendencies and once put a gun to her head over a speeding ticket.

Tessa Brennaman, 25, said her former husband, who killed 26 people after opening fire at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs earlier this month, had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him.

Describing how Kelley, a former US Air Force airman, had once threatened to kill her for getting a speeding ticket, she told CBS News: He had a gun in his holster right here and he took that gun out and he put it to my temple and he told me: Do you want to die? Do you want to die?

Recommended Former classmates recall Texas shooting suspect Devin Kelley

Kelley had also threatened to kill her and her entire family, she added.

In 2013, the airman, then 23, admitted hitting, choking and kicking Ms Brennaman and fracturing the skull of her young son. He was sentenced to a year in a military prison over the incident.

Ms Brennaman filed for divorce shortly afterwards.

The US Air Force admitted this week that it had failed to notify federal authorities of the conviction, which would have meant Kelley was banned from purchasing the guns used in the shooting.

Texas church shooting Show all 9 1 /9 Texas church shooting Texas church shooting The site of the mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas Reuters Texas church shooting First responders are at the scene of shooting at the First Baptist Church Reuters Texas church shooting Enrique and Gabby Garcia watch investigators at the scene of the mass shooting AP Texas church shooting Law enforcement officials investigate the scene at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas Reuters Texas church shooting Carrie Matula embraces a woman after a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Associated Press Texas church shooting Law enforcement officials gather near the First Baptist Church Getty Images Texas church shooting Community members come together for a candlelight vigil for the victims of the deadly church shooting in Sutherland Springs Laura Skelding/AP Texas church shooting Mourners participate in the candlelight vigil held for the victims Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP Texas church shooting A vehicle is hauled onto a flatbed truck where the suspect in a deadly church shooting was found dead in Guadalupe County William Luther/Austin American-Statesman via AP

After shooting 26 people dead and injuring 20 others, Kelley dropped his AR-15 rifle and fled from the church in his truck, pursued by two Sutherland Spring residents. He was later found dead in the vehicle. Investigators believe he shot himself with a handgun.

The shooting is believed to have stemmed from a domestic dispute involving Kelly and his mother-in-law, who was a member of the church community but was not present on the day of the massacre.

Less than a week before he carried out the massacre, Kelley is reported to have shown up at a Halloween event at the church acting strangely and dressed all in black.

One member of the community, Judy Green, said he was completely distant and way out in thought.

He didnt even blink  he just stared, she said. There was something wrong with the picture. I was thinking forward, and that was what was scaring me.

Kelley had previously bragged about showing up to a Christmas dinner armed with a gun, Ms Greens husband, Rod Green, told CBS.
The United States on Saturday urged all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty following the power vacuum created by the prime minister's sudden resignation.

In a shock statement issued last weekend from Riyadh, Saad Hariri accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of taking over his country and destabilizing the region, saying he feared for his life.

Hariri's statement has fuelled fears that Lebanon -- split into rival camps led by Hariri and Hezbollah -- would be caught up in spiraling tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"The United States calls upon all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The United States considers Hariri a "trusted partner," it said, and "firmly reiterates that the Lebanese Armed Forces and other Lebanese state security forces are the only legitimate security authorities in Lebanon."

"In this sensitive time, the United States also rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanon's stability, undermine Lebanese government institutions, or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region," it added.

The White House statement echoed an appeal issued Friday by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is traveling in Asia with President Donald Trump. Tillerson warned other countries against using Lebanon for proxy conflicts.

Tillerson's message seemed aimed mainly at Iran and Hezbollah, the powerful Shia organization that is both a militia and part of Hariri's government.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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A man fell to his death as he attempted to escape through a fourth-storey window after he was allegedly caught molesting a six-year-old boy.

Edgar Collaguazo, 44, had been locked in a bedroom in his New York flat by the boy's parents, who said they caught him abusing their son at the child's birthday party.

He is thought to have clambered out of the top-floor window and jumped to escape before police arrived.

Video footage obtained by the New York Daily News shows him plunging 40 feet (12 metres) and landing on a metal fence outside the flat in the Jackson Heights neighbourhood in Queens.

If he didnt have a filthy mind, [hed] simply stay and face the situation, the mother of the alleged victim told the newspaper.

Collaguazo was said to have invited three children - including the boy and his five-year-old female cousin - into his room to watch a film during the party.

At one point the girl left the room "acting strangely", it was reported. Her mother later looked into Collaguazo's room and saw him molesting the boy.

She came to me frightened and crying, the boys mother said. We never thought the man had a mind this dirty.

Fathers of children attending the party reportedly began beating up Collaguazo before the victim's mother intervened.

I told them, Stop beating him, already! I have called the police, she said.

They locked Collaguazo in the room to await police but found him gone when they opened the door. He was discovered slumped on the ground outside.

The guy had one foot on the ledge trying to climb over the bars, said witness Jose Valentine, who was leaving a nearby house at the time. He let himself go head first and landed with a thud and splatter."

Collaguazo was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.

The victim's cousin later told his mother he had tried to kiss her and told her to keep quiet.
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A Canadian charity is hoping to break stereotypes about HIV through a new restaurant where all the staff are HIV-positive.

Junes on Tuesday is a pop-up eatery in Toronto starting a new campaign with the tagline "Break Bread, Smash Stigma"

Casey House, a charity that provides health services for people with HIV/AIDS, ran a survey last month in Canada that indicated only half of people would eat food prepared by a cook with HIV.

The numbers are kind of staggering, but it wasnt overly surprising, Joanne Simons, CEO of Casey House, told the Toronto Star.

For the clients that Casey House serves, that stigma is very real on a very daily basis," she said.

Casey House sold pre-paid seats to the eatery which featured staff donning aprons featuring sayings like "I got HIV from pasta. Said no one ever.

HIV is only spread when infected fluid comes in contact with a non-infected person's bloodstream - not through sharing food, cutlery, or through skin-to-skin contact.

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Around 200 customers were served items like Thai potato leek soup and gingerbread tiramasu, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The charity worked with celebrity chef Matt Basile of Toronto's Fidel Gastro restaurant "to work with 14 HIV positive individuals-turned-cooks to develop the menu, train, and cook for patrons," Casey House said in a statement.

Kenneth Poon, a Casey House client, said in a statement that he was "proud" to be part of the cooks at June's who worked to "boldly break barriers and end the isolation I have felt and others continue to feel."

June's sold out its first run - to the tune of $98 per person - within a matter of a few weeks and there was so much interest, more pop-ups are being considered.

In fact, Ms Simons told the Thomson Reuters Foundation: wed love to be able to do it in places like New York and San Francisco and London."

She also told the Toronto Star that she hopes projects like the restaurant mean that if we were to run our stigma survey again in the next few months or years, the results will be much more favourable.
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An Ohio man has been charged with raping and killing his girlfriends 13-month-old daughter.

Joshua Gurto, 37, could face the death penalty if convicted of beating to death Sereniti Jazzlynn-Sky Blankenship-Sutley.

The girl was found unconscious by her 22-year-old mother on 7 October in a bedroom at their flat in Conneaut, 70 miles north-east of Cleveland. She was later pronounced dead in hospital.

A coroner said the toddler had died of blunt force trauma to her head and body.

Ashtabula County prosecutor Nicholas Iarocci said Mr Gurto faced charges of murder, aggravated murder, rape, assault with a dangerous weapon, and domestic violence.

Mr Gurto was arrested in Alleghany County, Pennsylvania on 27 October after spending three weeks on the run. He had been questioned on the day Sereniti died but police said they did not have enough evidence to detain him at the time.

He subsequently fled, sparking a manhunt.

Sereniti Jazzlyn-Sky Blankenship-Sutley was found unresponsive by her 22-year-old mother (Justice for Baby Sereniti ) (Justice for Baby Sereniti)

He was spotted in a Pittsburgh convenience store the day before his arrest.

Detectives said he had been camping in woodland as he sought to evade police and was found with a backpack containing maps of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He also had a knife and a tent.

Mr Gurto is being held at Ashtabula County Jail.

Sereniti's mother is not facing any charges.
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A military jury sentenced a former Marine drill instructor to 10 years in prison and a dishonourable discharge from the service Friday for subjecting Muslim recruits to verbal and physical abuse, including one young man who committed suicide after an especially troubling encounter.

The eight-member jury issued its sentence a day after it found Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix guilty of maltreatment for terrorizing three Muslim men at the Marines storied boot camp in Parris Island, S.C. Felix also will have his rank reduced to private.

Prosecutors had asked for a seven-year prison term. Felix faced a maximum possible sentence of more than 21 years. Its not immediately clear why the jury elected to exceed what the prosecution had requested.

The military justice system requires automatic appeals for all prison sentences consisting of a year or more and all dishonorable discharges. Felix will be held at Camp Lejeunes brig until his expected transfer to a larger prison.

One of Felixs victims, 20-year-old Raheel Siddiqui, died at Parris Island last year when he fell 40 feet onto a concrete stairwell. Prosecutors said Felix forced Siddiqui to run back and forth in the recruits squad bay and then slapped him in the face just before the recruit suddenly sprinted from the room and jumped to his death. Two other Muslim recruits accused Felix of putting them in an industrial clothes dryer and, in one instance, turning it on.

In all, Felix was convicted of three counts of maltreatment, eight of nine counts of violating general orders, drunk and disorderly conduct and making false statements. He was acquitted of obstruction of justice.

Felix is a married father of four. He has served in the Marines since 2002.

The jurys verdict marks the culmination of two years of investigations and courts-martial centred on recruit abuse at Parris Island dating to 2015. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has investigated 20 Marine drill instructors, officers and staff members amid allegations of hazing, assault and discriminating against Muslim recruits dating to 2015. Thirteen Marines have faced some form of discipline. Two others await their fate: Felixs fellow drill instructor Sgt. Michael Eldridge and their former supervisor, Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon.

Felix, said Lt. Col. John Norman, the prosecutor, picked out Muslim recruits for special abuse because of their Muslim faith. He degraded their religion and put them in industrial appliances. During his closing arguments, Norman described Felix as drunk on power, and sometimes Fireball whisky.

He wasnt making Marines, Norman added. He was breaking Marines.

The first two Muslim recruits targeted by Felix were Ameer Bourmeche and Rekan Hawez. Both testified during his court-martial that Felix and Eldridge put them into an industrial clothes dryer.

Numerous witnesses told the court they heard Felix call the Muslim recruits terrorist and ISIS, another name for the Islamic State. A recruit from Siddiquis platoon, Lance Cpl. Shane McDevitt, told the court that Felix called Siddiqui a terrorist at least 10 times.

Felixs attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Bridges, said that his client did not know the three recruits were Muslim and that when he slapped Siddiqui, he was trying to give the struggling recruit medical care. Siddiqui complained of respiratory trouble in the moments before his death.

Siddiquis family has filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Marine Corps and the U.S. government, disputing the Marines and a South Carolina medical examiners ruling of suicide. The family says Siddiqui was driven to his death by his drill instructors.

Felixs defence team presented only two witnesses during the trial: a mechanical engineer specializing in clothes dryers and a forensic pathologist. Dozens of witnesses, including other drill instructors who worked with Felix and at least 20 former recruits who trained under him, offered testimony for the prosecution.

A central issue for the jury was determining the point at which a drill instructors conduct crosses the line from discipline to abuse. The Marines articulate that boundary in a regulations manual that allows drill instructors to make certain forms of physical contact with recruits but outlaws others, such as punching, kicking and slapping.

Another key component of the trial was Eldridges testimony. Eldridge, who was a party to some of the abuse, accepted an immunity deal that compelled him to testify against his former colleague. He will plead no contest and spend 60 days in a military jail, Bridges said.

Bridges argued that Eldridge was responsible for putting one recruit in a clothes dryer and turning it on. But the sergeant jumped on that government gravy train to save himself at Felixs expense, Bridges said.

In his rebuttal, Norman explained why the prosecution relied on Eldridges testimony. It takes criminals to catch criminals, he said. The reason Sergeant Eldridge knew so much about what [Felix] did was because he was standing right there with him.

The Washington Post
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A teacher from a Christian school has been charged with 84 separate counts of sexual abuse after it was claimed he abused students over a four year period.

Fifth grade teacher Curtis Van Dam, 35, of Sioux Center Christian School in northwest Iowa, US, is accused of abusing an unknown number of pupils from the school between August 2013 and October 2017.

Authorities say charges were filed after a complaint was lodged with police on 18 October, alleging inappropriate conduct between the teacher and a pupil at the school.

But since the original allegations were made 140 separate charges have been filed, including 14 counts of sexual exploitation by a teacher.

A statement published by the school reads: "We have been told from the beginning that additional charges for a former teacher at Sioux Center Christian would be coming.

"Today, Mr. Curt Van Dam, was charged with 101 felonies and 39 misdemeanours.

"On Oct 18, within hours of hearing a complaint, school officials removed Mr Van Dam from the school and immediately contacted authorities. His employment was terminated on Oct 19 and we have been in full cooperation with civil authorities since.

 Sioux teacher allegations: "When you have involvement of a student, a teacher and a school setting, it's a tragic situation"

"Weve wept, now its time to weep again. Weve prayed, now we need to continue praying. Weve brought our anger and fears to the Lord, and now we need to lay those feelings again at His feet," the statement read.

School Administrative Assistant Cheryl Haan told Newsweek that the exact number of students affected by the allegations is still unknown.

"This case is in the hands of our criminal justice system and we trust that justice will be served. Though the number of charges do not necessarily reflect the number of students, we are grieved again as we hear the extent of the charges.

The school that Mr Van Dam, 35, was a teacher at for 13 years. (Sioux Center Christian School)

The statement also offered reassurance to parents and children: Kids, we want you to know that we consider you brave for telling your parents, the police, and the interviewers what happened to you.

A tweet sent from the school's official Twitter account appeared to offer a form where students and parents could sign up to therapy sessions with a school pastor, although the form is now "no longer accepting responses".

"We praise God that your testimony has brought to light a dark secret that none of us adults knew was there.

"Please know that thousands are lifting you before the throne of your Father in heaven.... Trust Him to restore you completely.

"Our focus at Sioux Center Christian continues to be the Christ-centered education of our students, while also providing daily support and guidance to students as needed through their teachers and professional counsellors.

Mr Van Dam has been charged with 14 counts of Sexual Exploitation by a Teacher; 72 counts of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degreee; 12 counts of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree; 2 counts of Lascivious Acts With a Child; 1 count of Lascivious Acts with a Child; 34 counts of Lascivious Conduct with a Minor and 1 count of Indecent Exposure.

Mr Van Dam is currently being detained in Sioux County Jail and is awaiting trial.
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White House journalists following Donald Trump on his trip to south-east Asia were shut out of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vietnam on Friday and Saturday, stopping reporters from covering his meetings with the likes of Vladimir Putin and preventing photographers taking images of the US President.

In protest, they decided to take a photo of their own. Posted on Twitter by Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs, the image showed a number of White House reporters and photographers posing near the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang, where the conference is taking place.

Recommended Trump and Putin sign agreement on Syria after brief Vietnam meeting

The image was captioned Family photo.  Danang, Vietnam and showed journalists from ABC News, Reuters, Fox News, the Washington Post, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and others.

David Nakamura, a Washington Post reporter, commented: Love this. Traveling U.S. press corps, shut out of APEC coverage, takes matters into its own hands

The small group of White House reporters, known as the travel pool, that are covering Mr Trump on his trip to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines were told they were not allowed to attend key events at the APEC conference, including Mr Trumps informal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Instead, they were instructed to stay in a holding room. Only a video crew from Fox News  Mr Trumps favourite broadcaster - and an official White House photographer were given access to the meetings.

Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Show all 14 1 /14 Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Riot police block protesters during a rally near the US embassy AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters shout slogans while displaying portraits of U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte AP Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Activists clash with riot police EPA Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters burn a banner of Donald Trump AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters against Donald Trump's visit AP Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters deface portraits of Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte AP Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters clash with anti-riot police officers as they try to march towards the U.S. embassy REUTERS Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines A mural bearing the image of Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte is burnt REUTERS Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Activists march on a road leading to the US embassy during a protest in Manila EPA Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters scuffle with riot police AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters shout anti-US slogans as they burn a banner featuring the image of US President Donald Trump AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Activists clash with riot police EPA Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Protesters display placards as they shout anti-US slogans AFP/Getty Images Protest in Manila against Donald Trump's visit to the Philippines Anti-riot police officers block protesters REUTERS

In response, one journalist, New York Times photographer Doug Millis, tweeted a photo of a black rectangle alongside the caption: This what our APEC Summit photo coverage looks today (sic) in Da Nang Vietnam. Blank. No coverage by the White House Travel Pool photographers traveling with Donald Trump.

The White House reportedly told journalists it had tried to secure them access to the events but had been unable to do so.

According to Politico, White House official Michelle Meadows wrote in an email to reporters: We have been negotiating since the pre-advance and have made progress on almost every event for this swing.

We ALWAYS ask for the full Pool to have access but we do not always get what we want.
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Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have signed a joint statement on solving the Syria conflict following a brief meeting in Vietnam, after the US President snubbed Russian efforts to hold formal talks.

The leaders agreed there was no military solution to Syria's civil war and called on all parties to take part in a Geneva-led political process, according to the Kremlin.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Moscow's announcement or the conversation the Kremlin said took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang.

Recommended Trump turns down meeting with Putin to confusion of Russians

The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The US had earlier frustrated Moscow by stalling on and ultimately rebuffing proposals for a formal talks between the two presidents. The Kremlin had been confident a second bilateral meeting - following their first in July - would take place while the leaders were in Vietnam.

Mr Trump initially said he saw "no reasons" why the talks should not take place, but the White House later rowed back, citing "scheduling conflicts on both sides".

The two leaders did cross paths, however, exchanging handshakes and brief comment during the summit's official dinner.

Pictures showed Mr Trump walking up to Mr Putin as he sat at the summit table and patting him on the back. The two leaned in to speak to each other and clasped each other briefly as they exchanged words.

Television footage from Danang later showed Mr Putin and Mr Trump chatting - apparently amicably - as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.

 Trump-Russia investigation: who has been charged in the Mueller probe

Mr Trump has shown little appetite for holding talks with Mr Putin unless there is a realistic prospect of progress being made on festering issues such as Syria, Ukraine, and North Korea.

In their joint statement, the leaders pledged their commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties tin the Syrian conflict to take an active part in a political process.

Moscow and Washington agreed there was no military solution to the Syrian conflict, according to the text of the statement published on the Kremlin's website.

Despite emphasising last year on the campaign trail that he hoped the US and Russia could work together on world issues, Mr Trump has had limited contact with Mr Putin since taking office.

Their brief meeting in Vietnam came amid an intensifying probe into Russian meddling in last year's US presidential election and allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.

Mr Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the investigation along with his former deputy, Rick Gates, and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who has admitted lying to the FBI.
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Allegations of links between Russia and Donald Trumps former campaign manager were fabricated by the US Presidents opponents as a weapon against him, Vladimir Putin has claimed.

Reports Mr Putins relatives had been in contact with the Trump administration were untrue, the Russian President told a briefing at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam.

He described claims of any Kremlin interference in the US election as absurd.

Recommended Trump and Putin sign agreement on Syria after brief Vietnam meeting

Earlier, Mr Trump said the accusations had hurt Mr Putins feelings.

He said he didnt meddle, the US leader told reporters aboard Air Force One. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.

And I believe, I really believe that, when he tells me that he means it.

Multiple US intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow interfered in the 2016 election to an attempt to swing the vote in the Republicans favour.

Investigations are also underway to determine whether Trump campaign officials colluded with the Russians.

President Trump has previously claimed the probes were a witch hunt and questioned the findings of US spy agencies.

 Trump and Putin shake hands at the APEC summit

Speaking during a flight from Danang to Hanoi on Saturday, he suggested Democrats had created an artificial barrier to US-Russia relations by accusing Moscow of meddling in the 2016 election.

Mr Trumps former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the investigation along with his former deputy Rick Gates, on charges including conspiracy to defraud the US. His former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos was also charged and has admitted lying to the FBI.

Yet Mr Trump claimed the allegations of election meddling were an artificial Democratic hit job that gets in the way of relations between Moscow and Washington. He said Mr Putin was insulted by the claims.

The two presidents spoke informally two or three times during the summit and, although they did not have a formal meeting, agreed a joint statement on the future of war-torn Syria.

Recommended Trump turns down meeting with Putin to confusion of Russians

The statement said there was no military solution to Syrias conflict and called for political dialogue. Mr Trump said it the agreement would save tremendous numbers of lives.

We did it very quickly, Mr Trump said. We seem to have a very good feeling for each other, a good relationship considering we dont know each other well.

He added: If we can save many, many, many lives by making a deal with Russia having to do with Syria, and then ultimately getting Syria solved and getting Ukraine solved and doing other things; having a good relationship with Russias a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way.

Mr Putin described Mr Trump as a well-mannered person and comfortable to deal with.

We know each other little, but the US President is highly civil in his behaviour, friendly. We have a normal dialogue but unfortunately little time, he said.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

The Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency concluded in a report declassified in January that Mr Putin ordered a campaign to affect the outcome of the last years US election.

The agencies said the Russian government had a clear preference for a Trump victory.

Mr Putins associates hacked information, paid social media trolls and backed efforts by Russian government agencies and state-funded media to sway public opinion, the agencies said.

The report stopped short of assessing whether Russia succeeded in swaying the election result
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The chances of Roy Moore losing the Senate race in Alabama are still slim, but many in Washington fear defeat for him could reshape the Washington political landscape.

The impact of allegations saying Mr Moore had a sexual encounter with an underage teen  something Mr Moore has denied  is still unclear. But a loss by Mr Moore to a Democrat in next months special election would take the Republicans Senate majority from 52-48 to 51-49  a shift that could virtually make it impossible for party members to pass any major legislation in the near future.

The upper chambers Republican leadership is already having a hard time placating members of their own party on legislative issues such as tax and healthcare reform. Having a narrower majority, could make this all the more difficult.

And even if there is no reduction of Republican power in the Senate in the coming months, Alabamas election of Mr Moore could translate to more Democratic wins during competitive congressional races next year.

Having a controversial figure like Mr Moore in office could increase voters unhappiness with the situation in Washington, making if more likely for Democrats to recapture the Senate and House of Representatives in 2018.

To win a majority in the House, Democrats must flip 24 Republican-held seats as well as successfully defend 10 incumbent senators running for reelection in states that President Donald Trump won in 2016.

In the Senate, Democrats only need a net gain of three seats in the 100-member Senate to have a majority. But they are also defending 25 seats  10 of which are in states that Mr Trump won.

Mr Moore, known for making strong anti-gay and anti-Muslim comments, had not been Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells first choice to be the Republican candidate in Alabamas special senatorial election.

Mr McConnell and other establishment Republicans  as well as Donald Trump  had backed Luther Strange, who had been selected to fill the Senate seat left vacant when Jeff Sessions became Attorney General.

While on the campaign trail to defeat Mr Strange, Mr Moore  supported by ex-White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon  said Mr McConnell was an obstacle to a more conservative agenda.

The controversy enveloping the 70-year-old former judge, twice elected to and twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court, came after the Washington Post published an extensive report alleging that he had pursued teenage girls when he was in his 30s. The report alleged that he had initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32. Three other women also alleged that Mr Moore made advances on them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, but indicated that he had not attempted to initiate sexual contact with them. Those women ranged in age from 16 to 18.

Mr Moore has denied all the allegations, saying in a statement to the Post that they are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign.

The campaign said in a subsequent statement that if the allegations were true they would have surfaced during his previous campaigns, adding this garbage is the very definition of fake news.

In the hours following the release of the report, several Republicans put out statements calling for Mr Moore to step aside if the allegations are true.

The White House made similar comments. Like most Americans the President believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a persons life, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters. However, the President also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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On Friday, Politico reported that the Republican Partys Senate campaign wing has terminated its fundraising deal with Mr Moore.

Under Alabama state law, the ballot cannot be changed within 76 days of an election, according to the Post. The election is scheduled for 12 December.

However, a candidate can still withdraw, or a state party can request a state judge or the secretary of state to disqualify a candidate from the race, the newspaper added.

Some Republicans have suggested that Mr Strange begin a write-in campaign.

Well, thats getting the cart ahead of the horse. But I will have something to say about that. Let me do some more research, Mr Strange said.

Mr Moore so far has showed no signs of stepping aside in the election, and multiple prominent Alabamians involved in politics have come to his defence  seeming to indicate that the former judge has remained popular in the state despite the allegations against him.

The Republican National Committeeman from the socially conservative state, Paul Reynolds, said he trusts Russian President Vladimir Putin more than Mr Moores accusers. Multiple US intelligence agencies have said that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 election with the aim of helping Mr Trump win.

Perhaps some of the most surprising comments came from Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who dismissed the Posts report by saying that there was also an age gap between the biblical Joseph and Mary.

Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus, he told The Washington Examiner. Theres just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.
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Embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore dismissed as completely false allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with minors, but he repeatedly offered evasive answers on whether he dated teenage women when he was in his 30s.

During a radio interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Mr Moore blasted a Washington Post article that alleged he initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 and pursued three other women between the ages of 16 and 18.

This is a completely manufactured story, Mr Moore said during the radio interview, calling it a politically motivated smear that he alternately attributed to Democrats and establishment Republicans. The conservative former judge is running to represent Alabama in the US Senate, having already toppled a more moderate Republican in the primary.

In a separate statement, Mr Moore said he never engaged in sexual misconduct and condemned the actions of any man who engages in sexual misconduct not just against minors but against any woman.

After Mr Hannity pressed Mr Moore on the ethics of a 32-year-old having sexual contact with a 14-year-old, saying it would be despicable, Mr Moore agreed that if you abuse a 14-year-old you shouldnt be a Senate candidate, reiterating that I didnt do that.

But when he was asked about the Posts larger allegations that he pursued relationships with teenagers while in his 30s, Mr Moore was less precise. Mr Hannity asked if he remember dating girls that young.

Not generally, no, Mr Moore replied.

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. 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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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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

At a different point, Mr Moore said I dated a lot of young ladies when he left the military, adding: I don't remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother.

Later in the interview, Mr Hannity asked if it would be normal for a man in his 30s to date a young woman who was 17 or 18. Mr Moore replied it was not normal. Then Mr Hannity asked if Mr Moore had dated teenage girls as an older man.

It would have been out of my customary behaviour, Mr Moore said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday slammed Washington's demands for state channel RT to register as a foreign agent in the US as "an attack" on its media, while vowing a "tit-for-tat" response.

The Kremlin-backed broadcaster, formerly known as Russia Today, said earlier this week the US Department of Justice had given it until Monday to register its US operations as a foreign agent or see its head arrested and its accounts frozen.

"An attack on our media is an attack on freedom of speech," Putin told journalists at the APEC summit in Vietnam.

"They went the route of de-facto closure (of RT)," Putin said. "There will be a proper tit-for-tat response."

RT and state-owned news agency Sputnik have been accused by US intelligence of spreading misinformation during the 2016 presidential campaign and election which may have influenced the vote's outcome.

The uproar led the US Justice Department to demand RT to register its American operations as a "foreign agent" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which aims at lobbyists and lawyers representing foreign political interests.

RT said Friday it would comply with the demands but would go to court to challenge the measure.

"We are disappointed, as they say in these situations," Putin said.

"There is not and cannot be any confirmation that our media was meddling," he said, adding that the money RT spent on ads was miniscule compared with the whole cost of the campaign.

"Media express a point of view," Putin said. "You can contest it but not by closing them down or creating conditions in which they cannot continue professional work."

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The Alabama Senate candidate accused of initiating a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl a child nearly 40-years-ago is a self-proclaimed conservative who has built a career and following in his state with policy rooted in his Christian faith.

Roy Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court judge was accused by a woman who says that she met Mr Moore when she was 14-years-old, and that he later kissed and groped her. The allegations have thrust the special election there into the national spotlight and debate about sexual assault, threatening to provide a wave of support to his Democratic opponent that could end up sending the first Democratic senator from Alabama to Washington in nearly 20 years.

The Republican, who previously had little if any national profile, has accumulated a strong support base from conservatives in his state over a career as a judge and district attorney that has spanned decades. Mr Moore has adamantly denied the allegations, saying that he has never engaged in sexual misconduct.

Recommended Republican agenda could be doomed if they lose Alabama Senate seat

During that time, Mr Moore has notably championed conservative Christian causes, including the establishment of a Ten Commandments monument at the Alabama courthouse, and the denial of rights to gay people in the state.

If the support among Republicans in the state that Mr Moore has accumulated first as a district attorney in Etowah County, then as a judge on the states sixteenth circuit court, and finally as a chief justice on the Alabama Supreme Court were in doubt, the fallout from the accusations levied against him appears to show that it is quite sturdy.

In the hours and days after the news broke, Republican after Republican in the state told media outlets that they dont believe the accuser. One supporter, Alabama state auditor Jim Ziegler, went as far as making a biblical comparison.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

There is nothing to see here, Mr Ziegler said. The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse.

That Washington Post report alleged that Mr Moore had pursued a physical relationship with a 14-year-old when he was 32, a crime under Alabama state law at the time. In that report, a woman described meeting Mr Moore at the age in a courthouse while he was district attorney, where he chatted with her alone before asking for her phone number.

The woman says that he picked her up days later from around the corner from her home and took her to his home in the woods. He told her that she was beautiful and kissed her. In a separate encounter he took of his and her clothes, leaving their underwear on. He groped her breasts, she said. She said he guided her hand to touch the outside of his underpants.

The Washington Post had relied on three other on-the-record sources who also alleged that Mr Moore made advances on them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, but indicated that he had not attempted to initiate sexual contact with them. Those women ranged in age from 16 to 18.

Mr Moore has adamantly denied all the allegations, saying that he has never engaged in sexual misconduct.

As a father of a daughter and a grandfather of five granddaughters, I condemn the actions of any man who engages in sexual misconduct not just against minors but against any woman, he said.

Mr Moore is also known for a number of controversial opinions he gave during his time as a judge.

That includes an opinion he wrote in which he denied a mother custody of her children because she had begun dating a woman. The case came in 2002, with the Alabama Supreme Court hearing arguments over a custody agreement in which a woman who had previously allowed her ex-husband to have primary custody of her children sued to modify the custody agreement because of reports that the childrens father had abused the children. The mother had since entered a same-sex relationship, and had initially lost in the trial court phase, but won on appeal when the appeals court found the father had indeed abused the children.

The Alabama Supreme Court, however, reversed the appeal, which prompted Moore to filed a concurring a opinion stated the mothers same-sex relationship is the reason she should not have custody over her children.

The effect of such a lifestyle upon children must not be ignored, and the lifestyle should never be tolerated, he wrote. The common law designates homosexuality as an inherent evil, and if a person openly engages in such a practice, that fact alone would render him or her an unfit parent.

Mr Moore has also spoken out against activists judges who let sexual offenders go free, and has blamed murder and child abuse on America forgetting about God.

The Republican faces off next month against Democrat Doug Jones in a race that had become unexpectedly competitive in recent weeks. If he loses, it would stretch the already thin Republican majority there, making it even more difficult for Republicans to enact legislation to give the White House much needed legislative victories.

Mr Moore won the Republican primary against Senator Luther Strange, who was appointed to the Senate to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions old seat. Mr Strange had the backing of President Donald Trump (who later expressed anger that he had picked the wrong horse), while Mr Moore enjoyed the support of Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who is known to have championed nationalist and populist ideas there.
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Donald Trump has again promised to put America first, denouncing multinational trade agreements and appearing to rebuke China  a day after he had praised the country.

From this day forward we will compete on a fair and equal basis, Mr Trump told a gathering of company executives on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Vietnam.

During his remarks, he railed against trade practices he says have put Americans out of work.

We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore. I am always going to put America first, Mr Trump declared.

While the US did lose about 5.6m manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010, 85 per cent of these jobs losses are attributable to technological change  largely automation  rather than international trade, according to a study by the Centre for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University.

Mr Trump had strikingly changed his tone from the previous day, in Beijing, where the President had said he didnt blame China for trade practices he once compared to theft. Instead, he praised the country and its powerful leader, President Xi Jinping, for smartly exploiting the US to benefit his own citizens.

In Da Nang, he offered far less flattery.

Without singling out China by name, Mr Trump asserted that the US had adhered to World Trade Organization principles, only to be taken advantage of by counties that had ignored the rules and engaged in harmful practices such as product dumping, currency manipulation and government subsidising of goods.

We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses and we will not tolerate them, Mr Trump said.

He said he had spoken openly and directly with Mr Xi during his visit to Beijing about Chinas unfair trade practices and the enormous trade deficits they have produced with the United States.

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Mr Trump said Chinas trade surplus, which stood at about $223bn (170bn) for the first 10 months of 2017, was unacceptable. He also repeated his language from Thursday when he said he did not blame China or any other nation for taking advantage of the United States on trade.

But Mr Trump went on to say that the US would no longer turn a blind eye to violations, cheating or economic aggression.

We will no longer tolerate the audacious theft of intellectual property. We will confront the destructive practices of forcing businesses to surrender their technology to the state and forcing them into joint ventures in exchange for market access. We will address the massive subsidising of industries through colossal state-owned enterprises that put private competitors out of business, all the time, he said.

All are allegations that the US has made against China.

Mr Trump also told the executives that he was happy to enter into bilateral trading agreements with any of the nations in the Indo-Pacific region  but only if they are reciprocal and fair.

What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty, and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible, Mr Trump said.

As for Mr Xi Jinping, he told the conference that nations need to stay committed to economic openness or risk being left behind, in comments that contrasted sharply with those of Mr Trump.

The Chinese President drew loud applause when he urged support for the multilateral trading regime and progress toward a free-trade zone in the Asia-Pacific.

We should continue to foster an open economy that benefits all. Openness brings progress while self-seclusion leaves one behind. We, the Asia-Pacific economies, know this only too well from our own development experience, Mr Xi said.

We should support the multilateral trading regime and practice open regionalism to allow developing members to benefit more from international trade and investment, the Chinese President added.

Chinas own recent ascent as the worlds second-largest economy came only after it launched reforms that opened its economy to more trade and foreign investment after decades of isolation following its 1949 communist revolution.

As one of his first acts as President, Trump rejected the far-reaching Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)  which China is not involved in  disappointing many nations in the region, including the summits host, Vietnam. His administration is also currently renegotiating the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico, which he has repeatedly declared as the worst trade deal because it is very, very bad for our companies and for our workers.

Leaders of the 11 remaining TPP members  who represent roughly 13.5 per cent of the global economy  were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the Apec summit to try to make an agreement in principle that would not require US involvement. But it is still uncertain whether striking a deal will be possible.
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A pioneer of the womens labour movement in India, Anasuya Sarabhai, features on todays Google Doodle.

Born in Ahmedabad on 11 November 1885 into the Sarabhai family of Sarabhai and Godavariba, a wealthy family of industrialists and business people, she was an orphan at the age of nine when both her parents died. She, her brother and a younger sister were sent to live with an uncle.

She was forced into marriage at the age of 13, before escaping to England with the help of her brother in 1912 to take a medical degree but switched to the London School of Economics when she realised the animal dissection involved in obtaining a medical degree, was in violation of her Jain beliefs.

While in England she was influenced by the Fabian Society and new ideas concerning equality and became involved with the Suffragette struggle.

Back home in India, she worked with disempowered women, taking on the cause of local mill workers after learning of their 36-hour work shifts.

In 1914 she helped Ahmedabad's weavers successfully organise their first strike for higher wages. In the years that followed, she went on to become their most vocal supporter, negotiating with mill owners - including her brother - for better working conditions. She was affectionately called Motaben, Gujarati for elder sister, by those she helped.

She was supported in her work by Mahatma Gandhi, with whom she set up Gujarats oldest labour union, which later paved the way for the founding of the Self-Employed Womens Association of India (SEWA).

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The Google Doodle was created by Maria Qamar, a Pakistani-Canadian artist and author of the book Trust No Aunty.

Anasuyas dedication to justice and equality is something I can relate to, Ms Qamar said.

In drawing the activist, she took inspiration from the Indian textile industry. I portrayed delicate fabrics and traditional patterns found in our homes and our closets," she said.

I am honoured to have the opportunity to share Anasuyas legacy with the world.
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North Korea has claimed Donald Trump "begged for a nuclear war" on the Korean peninsula during his first tour of Asia.

In a statement issued through its state news agency, Pyongyang said the US President's trip "laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace".

Mr Trump this week warned North Korea not to underestimate the US as he used his Asia visit to seek support for ramping up sanctions on the secretive state.

 Trump and Putin shake hands at the APEC summit

During a speech in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, he told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un his commitment to developing nuclear weapons was "not making you safer".

"They are putting your regime in grave danger. Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face, he added.

"Trump made his conceived attempt yet again to alienate our people from the government," said a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman. "Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula."

The spokesman said nothing would deter North Korea from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.

Donald Trump delivers a speech in Seoul in which he warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un his nuclear weapons programme was putting him 'in grave danger' (AP)

The statement was issued as the US and South Korea began a rare joint naval exercise involving three US aircraft carriers in what military officials said was a clear warning to Pyongyang.

The four-day drills started in waters off South Korea's eastern coast come as President Trump continues a visit to Asia that has been dominated by discussions of North Korea's nuclear threat.

The USS Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt and Nimitz will take part alongside 11 US Aegis ships - equipped with missile tracking technology - and seven South Korean naval vessels.

The exercised are aimed at enhancing combined operation and aerial strike capabilities and will also display "strong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of crisis," Seoul's military said in a statement.

Pyongyang's statement on Saturday was the latest salvo in a long-running war of words between North Korea and Washington.

It came a day after Mr Trump warned the Asia-Pacific region must not be "held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail," in thinly veiled comments referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Speaking in Vietnam, the US President said "every step the North Korea regime takes towards more weapons is a step it takes into greater and greater danger".

He has called on China and Russia in particular to ensure they impose all available financial and diplomatic sanctions on Pyongyang.
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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has admitted stabbing someone to death when he was a teenager.

A 16-year-old Mr Duterte stabbed the unnamed individual over a look, he said.

I already killed someone. A real person, a rumble, a stabbing. I was just 16 years old. It was just over a look, he said.

A spokesman for the controversial President, who has launched a violent offensive against drug gangs in the country, later claimed the comments had been made in jest.

But Mr Duterte has previously admitted killing three men while mayor of Davao.

Bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened and I cannot lie about it, he said in a statement last December.

Thousands of people have been killed in a nation-wide crackdown on drug users since he took office in June 2016.

Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, Mr Duterte, 72, said he spent his youth in and out of jail and would have rumbles here, rumbles there.

 Filipino protesters burn caricatures of Trump and Duterte prior to the US President's visit

His spokesman told AFP the remarks should not be taken seriously, dismissing the comments as an example of the President's "colourful language.

Mr Dutertes hardline drug policy has been widely criticised by the international community but was part of an election campaign promise to reduce crime.

Recommended The police chief defying Rodrigo Duterte over the war on drugs

He has dismissed criticism of his adminstration, saying he does not care about what the human rights guys say.

I have a duty to preserve the [next] generation. If it involves human rights, I dont give a sh*t, he said.

The 72-year-old Presidents latest comments came as he offered to host a world summit to explore how nations can protect human rights.

Lets have a summit of how we can protect human rights for all human race, Mr Duterte said shortly after meeting with the Filipino community in Vietnam, where he also renewed his attacks against United Nations human rights expert Agnes Callamard.

What makes the death of people in the Philippines more important than the rest of the children in the world that were massacred and killed, he asked.

Ms Callamard has called for the establishment of a "strong independent human rights institution" in the Philippines and criticised the Mr Dutertes drug policy.
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People begging on the streets of Hyderabad, India, are being rounded up by police ahead of a summit to be attended by Ivanka Trump.

For the next two months, begging has been made an offence in the southern Indian city and more than 6,000 people are expected to be detained in a rehabilitation facility, Indian media reported.

The Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) event, an annual meeting of investors and people starting new businesses, is set to run from 28 November to 30 November, and this year is focused on the theme of empowering women.

The local government is apparently keen on presenting the city as a global capital and so far nearly 400 people have been removed from the streets as preparations for the visit continue.

As per instructions of Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy to make the city beggar-free, we have shifted those in our area to rehabilitation centre, Goshamahal Assistant Commissioner of Police, Narender Reddy, told The Indian Express.

Anyone found to be violating the ban will be liable for punishment, the exact details of which are unknown.

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Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Ahead of the GES authorities have also repaired roads and re-painted the area.

Ms Trump is expected to speak at the event and India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is also expected to attend.
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Results on the Australian marriage equality poll are set to be revealed on 15th of November, though this alone is unlikely to be the deciding factor as to whether or not same-sex marriage becomes legal. The poll is non-binding, and unlike electoral voting in Australia which requires all those eligible to vote, the referendum is voluntary.

In the event of a Yes vote  which has been predicted in the opinion polls, Malcolm Turnbulls coalition government has agreed to a private members bill that would allow for a parliamentary debate on the issue. If the Australian public vote no, no debate will take place. Its estimated that around 75 per cent of eligible voters have taken part in the survey.

For those in the LGBT community, the vote is extremely controversial. They see the Au$122m referendum as costly delay to the deliverance of equality, and have been critical of the platform the government have given to homophobia.

At a Sydney rally in late October, allies and people from community turned out in their thousands to encourage people to turn out and vote, all the while expressing their dissatisfaction with the voting process.

Bree Jacobs, 26, who is a law student based in Sydney told The Independent the entire vote was a waste of tax-payer money.

Sydney's LGBT community have been protesting ahead of the results on Wednesday (Blaize Pengilly)

Its not a good idea, I doubt youll find anyone here who does think its a good idea. Its an attack on the community and its allowing people a voice on the matter who shouldnt be given one in the first place. The government should realise theyve hurt a lot of people.

Around 5,000  10,000 people attended the event which marched from the cities Central Station along a main motorway to Victoria Park. The crowd, though optimistic about the possibility of marriage equality in Australia, couldn't hide their disappointment at the manner in which the vote has come about, and the public attacks on the LGBT community by the 'no' campaign.

Bonnie and Shaun, who both live in Sydney but are originally from Melbourne were admant on the effects the vote could have on the already unpopular Australian coalition. "I think in the long term the government are going to get voted out pretty quickly if there is a no vote" said Shaun, with Bonnie adding that they should be "ashamed of themselves."

Fellow protestor Dannie, 24, turned up to the rally with her dog Bindy, carrying a sign reading "I'm a dog and I support same-sex marriage. It would affect me as much as it would affect you."

Dannie, and her dog Bindy, joined crowds in Sydney late last month (Blaize Pengilly)

There have so far been two legal challenges against the authority of the vote, which is being conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics  both have been dismissed by the Australian high court and the survey, for now, remains legal.

Campaigners we spoke to at the Sydney rally echoed this frustration. Norrie, who was born in Scotland but now lives in Sydney called on the government to "do the job you are elected to do."

"I don't understand why we are being put through this ridiculous vote. I could get married if I went back [to Scotland], but I can't here. Do your job and give us the same rights as our fellow Australians.

The results of the vote, due on Wednesday, come amid a difficult time for the Australian government.

Norrie, originally from Scotland, called on the government to scrap the vote and legalise same-sex marriage (Blaize Pengilly)

The UN has ruled the vote 'inadequate" to deliver a democratic decision, in a report released yesterday. The report slammed the country's record for human rights, calling attention to not just the referendum but also recent stand-off's with Australian offciails with refugees on Manus Island.

"The committee is of the view that to resort to public opinion polls to facilitate upholding rights is not an acceptable decision-making method"

"such an approach risks further marginlisation and stigmatization of minority groups."

The report called on Australia to amend its marriage laws "irrespective of the poll result."
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Boris Johnson has launched a defence of bullfighting, claiming Spains partial ban on the sport is political correctness gone mad.

The Foreign Secretary reportedly angered many Spanish guests who were opposed to the sport when he made the comments at a dinner to celebrate Anglo-Spanish relations in Bath, according to The Mirror.

One attendee said: He antagonised every Spaniard there. They fumed for the rest of the dinner. Bullfighting is the subject of lively debate. Some parts of Spain have banned it.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The Spanish dont like people painting a caricature of their country as bullfighting, flamenco and paella.

One Spanish guest is reported to have told a British MP: Hes a clown. Hes not fit to represent your country.

The Foreign Office said: The Foreign Secretary was expressing a personal view that he respects this Spanish tradition. However, he does not personally support bullfighting and he is proud the UK upholds the highest in animal welfare standards, including the ban on bullfighting in the UK.

The centuries-old tradition has divided 21st-century Spain with the anti-bullfighting lobby coming up against the countrys more conservative factions.

In 2013 the conservative Partido Popular (PP) government declared the sport a cultural asset, allowing it access to public funds.

But in July this year the Balearic Islands, the Spanish province which includes Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza, voted to introduce strict laws which would essentially make it impossible to perform bullfights.

Mr Johnsons gaffe comes days after he was accused of making inaccurate statements about a British citizen, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is currently under arrest in Iran, which could see her jail term doubled.

But Mr Johnson has refused to apologise, telling Labours Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry, in the Commons: It is simply untrue for her to say, as she has said today, that there is any connection whatever between my remarks last week and the legal proceedings under way against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Tehran today.

After almost an hour of questioning he said: Im sorry if any words of mine have been taken out of context and misconstrued to cause anxiety to Nazanins family.
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Ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont says he is being treated like a paedophile after fleeing to Belgium to escape criminal charges in Spain.

The separatist leader is currently in Brussels after the Spanish government removed his Catalan government from power. Mr Puigdemont and his allies were pushing ahead with plans to declare the region independent from Spain after receiving public backing in a heavily disputed referendum.

He and four of his ministers are subjects of a European arrest warrant on charges including rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds, which they are appealing in the Belgian courts.

Recommended Spanish prosecutors demand Catalan leaders are jailed for rebellion

Speaking from Brussels, he told Sky News: To be treated like a criminal, like a drug trafficker, a paedophile, like a serial killer, I think this is abuse  this isnt politics, this is using the courts to do politics.

He added: Its a threat because the crime I am accused of could result in 30 years in prison. Its madness. Its not justice, its vengeance.

I am not a rebel. I dont have the spirit of a rebel nor the wish to be one. I consider myself to be very disciplined. I just want to carry out what my parliament has approved.

This is very normal, there is nothing rebellious about that. Its very uncomfortable for me to have this role of a rebel and I dont want to play it.

Mr Puigdemont handed himself in to Belgian authorities shortly after arriving in Brussels late last month. He said he is not running away from justice but instead seeking a fair trial  something he does not believe he will be given in Madrid.

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

The former president was forced from power when the Spanish government used its constitutional right to remove the Catalan government and disband its parliament, saying both the referendum and the subsequent declaration of independence were illegal.

Commenting on his fall from power, Mr Puigdemont said: The Spanish state has damaged democracy in order to stop independence because through democracy, which is the only thing we believe it, the reality is undeniable. So we need to recover that democracy that has been damaged by the Spanish state.

He also criticised the European Union for not supporting the Catalan separatists, saying: It is very disappointing to see that in a Europe Union that we are all a part of, they can respond to situations in Poland and Hungary but cannot respond to the situation in Catalonia.

The Spanish government has called fresh elections in Catalonia set for 21 December in the hope that anti-independence parties will win a majority.

Mr Puigdemont said he would respect the outcome of the vote but wanted Madrid to arrange another referendum on Catalan independence to settle the issue.
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Thousands of nationalist and fascist demonstrators have taken part in a march in Poland in what is believed to have been one of the largest far-right gatherings in the world.

The Warsaw demonstration was organised by far-right groups as Poles celebrated their country's Independence Day, with the turn-out dwarfing that of previous years.

It attracted far-right and nationalist campaigners from elsewhere in Europe, including the UKs Tommy Robinson, alongside protesters from Sweden, Germany and Slovakia.

The march was one of many events marking Poland's rebirth as a nation in 1918 after being wiped off the map for 123 years. Polish Independence Day marks the country regaining its sovereignty at the end of World War I after being partitioned and ruled since the late 18th century by Russia, Prussia and the Austro-hungarian Empire.

Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Protesters carry Polish flags and a banner reading 'Islam = Terror' REUTERS Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Polish nationalists light flares as they take part in the March of Independence 2017 in Warsaw EPA Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Demonstrators burn flares and wave Polish flags AFP Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Polish nationalists walk through the Poniatowski Bridge with a giant Polish national flag EPA Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Polish nationalists carry banners saying 'We want God' and "Independence March" EPA Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Some protesters covered their faces AFP/Getty Images Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Polish nationalists light flares EPA Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Polish nationalists carry Polish national flags EPA Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Protesters hold flares and carry Polish flags REUTERS Far-right march in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day: in pictures Protesters carry Polish flags and National Radical Camp flags REUTERS

Earlier in the day, President Andrzej Duda attended several official ceremonies alongside European Union President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister.

Poland has seen a surge in nationalist thinking and activity since the collapse of communism, following years of living behind the iron curtain. The country is believed to have the fifth highest number of far-right activists in the world, behind Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the United States.

In the 2015 election, anti-EU populist nationalist party the League of Polish Families performed well, seemingly emboldening those with far-right leanings.

The march and the accompanying media attention has overshadowed the official state observances and other patriotic events.

Some participants expressed sympathy for xenophobic or white supremacist ideas, with one banner reading: White Europe of brotherly nations.

One participant interviewed on state television station TVP said he was taking part to remove Jewry from power.

Participants marched under the slogan We Want God, words from an old Polish religious song that the US President, Donald Trump, quoted during a visit to Warsaw earlier this year.

Speakers talked of standing up against liberals and defending "traditional" Polish Christian values.

The organisers included the National-Radical Camp, the National Movement and the All Polish Youth, radical organisations that trace their roots to anti-Semitic groups active before World War II.

Many carried the national white and red flag while others set off flares and firecrackers, filling the air with red smoke. Some also carried banners depicting a falanga, a far-right symbol dating to the 1930s.

Recommended Poland could be stripped of EU voting rights

While the conservative ruling party was not involved in the march, TVP, the state broadcaster, called the event a great march of patriots".

A smaller counter-protest by an anti-fascist movement also took place, while police and organisers kept the two groups apart to avoid the possibility of violent clashes.

Rafal Pankowski, head of the anti-extremist association Never Again, says that despite the references to God, the march should not be viewed as being inspired by religious beliefs.

We know that Donald Trump is not the most religious man, and I think that most of the organisers are not very religious, either, Mr Pankowski, a sociologist, said.

But they use Christianity as a kind of identity marker, which is mostly about being anti-Islam now.

Associated Press contributed to this report
Egypt is not considering an increase in fuel prices before 30 June 2018, at the end of the current fiscal year, and is planning to stop importing gas before the end of next year, Egypt's oil minister Tarek El-Molla said at a press conference on Saturday.

El-Molla said that the government is planning to lift fuel subsidies gradually until they are entirely removed within five to 10 years. However, subsidies on diesel fuel and gas cylinders will remain in place, as it is difficult to provide gas in several areas in Egypt.

The minister said that the aim of lifting subsidies is to rationalise consumption  which has saved EGP 4 billion this year  and to guarantee that subsidies are benefiting only those who need them.

In November 2016, the government started cutting fuel subsidies as part of an economic programme  which also involved floating the currency  implemented to help secure a $12 billion IMF loan deal.

The last fuel subsidy cut came in June, with the government saying that economic reform measures can no longer be delayed.

El-Molla also said that Egypt is expected to stop imports of liquefied gas by the end of 2018, as production on the countrys giant Zohr gas field is set to start before the end of 2017.

Zohr is the largest natural gas field in the Mediterranean. Its discovery in 2015 nearly doubled Egypt's reserves.

In September, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said that Zohr will be producing 500 million cubic feet of gas per day by the end of 2017.

El-Molla also said that Egypt has struck a deal with Iraq to import 12 million oil barrels annually, and is negotiating to double this amount starting January 2018.

An agreement was reached last April between Egypt and Iraq's state oil marketing company SOMO to sell the oil to Egypt. The first shipment was received last May.

El-Molla also said that investments in the oil sector are increasing. Investments reached $7.3 billion in fiscal year 2015/16, $8.1 billion in 2016/17, and more than $10 billion in 2017/18.

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Portuguese scientists have captured what they believe to be a shark from the age of dinosaurs off the Algarve coast.

The rare frilled shark was caught aboard a trawler, which was coincidentally working on a project for the European Union which concentrates on minimising unwanted catches in commercial fishing".

According to a press release by the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies, scientists from the countrys Institute For The Sea and Atmosphere have dubbed the shark a living fossil, as remains of the shark date back around 80 million years.

The discovery of the shark  a male 1.5 metres in length (5ft) and caught at a depth of 700 metres (2,300ft) off the resort of Portimao - was considered a rare find.

The shark itself is little known in terms of it's biology or environment and is rarely caught.

The frilled shark's snake-like movements and elongated, eel-like body is said to have inspired sailors' stories of sea serpents, after Samuel Garman first studied the shark in 1884.

The "shark from the age of the dinosaurs" is capable of trapping "squid, fish and other sharks in sudden lunges". (SIC Noticas)

Professor Margarida Castro of the University of the Algarve told Sic Noticias that the shark gets its name from its frilled arrangement of 300 teeth, which allows the shark "to trap squid, fish and other sharks in sudden lunges."

The shark is said to date back 80 million years and features a range of primitive features, such as 300 sharp teeth and a weakened vertebrae among other attributes. (SIC Noticas)

The frilled shark has rarely been encountered alive, and thus poses no danger to humans, although scientists have accidentally cut themselves examining the species teeth.
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Muslim hackers claim they have attacked Isiss propaganda network and published a list of almost 2,000 subscribers email addresses in the latest blow to the online caliphate.

After numerous cyber attacks and official takedowns targeting its Amaq news agency, a message appeared on Friday night claiming security had been increased.

In response to recent events, we have imposed more stringent security measures on our systems, said the email in Arabic. We can now handle email attacks or any type of hack.

For a Muslim hacking collective called Di5s3nSi0N, which said it disabled the automated email service last month, it was challenge accepted. Less than three hours later, another email was sent out to Amaq subscribers, but this time displaying the hackers logo and a warning. We have hacked the full secure email list for Amaq, it said. Daesh...shall we call you dogs for your crimes or snakes for your cowardice? We are the bugs in your system.

The email contained a list of 1,784 subscribers email addresses, which were redacted but have been partially verified by The Independent.

Muslim hacking collective Di5s3nSi0N hacked the mailing list of Isis Amaq propaganda agency and published subscribers emails

Challenge complete  too easy! Di5s3nSi0N activists wrote on Twitter. 2,000 email subscribers hacked from Amaq...what is next?

Amaq is one of Isiss key outlets, issuing claims for international terror attacks as well as updates from battles across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Increasing crackdowns forced Amaqs website to retreat from mainstream platforms to rapidly shifting websites and encrypted messaging services, and its automated email service had been one of the last reliable channels.

Recommended Isis losing ground in online war against hackers

At the time of writing, cyber attacks had disabled updates on Amaqs current website, its Tumblr account was outdated and the only platform it remained able to operate was on the Telegram messaging service.

As Isis territory has been retaken on the ground, seeing Syrian forces push into the last town held by militants this week, governments and activists have been taking on its sophisticated media network.

The Di5s3nSi0N attack was part of the groups #silencetheswords campaign, which it claims will culminate next week.

It is among the vigilante hacking collectives targeting Isis websites and servers, which have continued to relay propaganda to its followers despite a mounting international crackdown.

 Footage shows the Syrian military approaching the final Isis stronghold in Syria

The shadowy collective has a mission statement reading: We the steadfast youth of ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jammah [Sunni Muslims] are back to break Daesh.

Di5s3nSi0N members describe Isis as traitors who worship a false caliph in their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They has been hacking websites hosting Isis propaganda including Halummu news agency, al-Furqan video outlet and al-Bayan online radio station.

Members of CtrlSec and End of Daesh have also been launching operations and tweeting updates tweet using the #OpIsis and #OpIceIsis hashtags.

Previous attacks have been anyone attempting to view the Amaq website met with malicious software disguised as an update, able to activate cameras, steal files, read phone messages, detect GPS locations and collect contacts from unsuspecting jihadis.

Meanwhile, group called Daeshgram has been working to sow discord and confusion among Isis supporters by setting up accounts issuing convincing fake statements.

Isis was forced to release a warning to followers over false and sometimes dangerous content earlier this year

Isis supporters on Telegram are very confused which one is fake and which one is real, an activist told The Independent. They usually fail in guessing and join the fake ones thinking they are real.

Some of Daeshgrams posts mock Isis fighters, appearing to show them gathering to watch videos of bikini-clad women, while others aim to undermine the groups messaging.

It has used fake al-Bayan radio broadcasts to distribute information about Isiss battlefield losses and defections, as well as highlighting the number of informers and spies.

The groups propaganda agencies have issued warnings over forgeries and attempted to direct followers to official accounts, rather than the campaign by the enemies of Allah to distort the image of the Islamic State, but Daeshgram says its posts continue to be shared.

While online activists continue their attacks, platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been increasing efforts to identity and remove extremist content and the UKs Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit has removed hundreds of thousands of pieces of terrorist material.

But Isis has been finding ways to evade detection on Telegram and other sites, with a recent report finding that jihadi content was accessed more frequently in the UK than anywhere else in Europe.

Analysts say huge losses for Isis on the ground have damaged its ability to maintain its propaganda output, with its flagship monthly Rumiyah propaganda magazine several weeks overdue.

Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces fighters celebrate victory in Raqqa atop of military vehicles REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces march past destroyed buildings as they celebrate victory REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces gesture the "V" sign in Raqqa REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces evacuate a civilian from the stadium REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures A civilian prays after she was rescued by fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces from the stadium REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces fighters ride atop of military vehicles as they celebrate victory in Raqqa REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces fighters celebrate victory in Raqqa REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures A fighter of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrates in Raqqa Reuters

Following the declaration of the so-called Islamic State in early 2014, the groups main aim was for supporters to migrate to its territory in Syria and Iraq. It produced countless glossy propaganda videos, images, magazines and websites in multiple languages attempting to depict a utopia, frequently showing farming, food and money being distributed to the poor and children playing.

But good news has been increasingly hard to come by as militants have been driven out of every major stronghold, leaving outlets to post infrequent battlefield updates from the desert around the Syria-Iraq border, and from smaller branches in countries including Afghanistan, Egypt and the Philippines.

Senior Isis propagandists have also been targeted by the US-led coalition, seeing spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani among those killed last year.

Amid accelerating territorial losses and crackdowns on supporters attempting to reach it, Isis has switched its propaganda effort to inciting global terror attacks  a risk that officials say shows no sign of slowing.

Charlie Winter, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), said Isis can now barely get out 20 pieces of media a week  down from more than 200 in 2015.

Isis may be less productive than ever, but the quality and ambition of its propaganda remains head and shoulders above that of its rivals, he wrote for the BBC. Indeed, in spite of the pressures the group is facing on the ground in Syria and Iraq, the trickle of instructional materials on how to plan terror attacks still emerging online could prove extremely dangerous.

Update: Analysis has shown that Di5s3nSi0N used a program to falsely make its emails appear to be coming from the same address used by Isis. It has continued to send emails to some Amaq subscribers but it remains unclear whether the addresses have been obtained through hacking or found in the public domain.
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The best possible start to winters journey into sunshine? A flight that leaves at a civilised hour, and arrives in time for a drink, dinner and a good nights sleep. So let me commend BA2676, which takes off from London Gatwick around noon. Two thousand miles later, you stroll off the plane at the western tip of Cyprus just after 6.30pm. Assuming the arrival and taxi into town is a smooth as last time I was there, I can picture myself sipping a Keo at the waterside Captains View and planning the next days adventures by shortly after seven oclock.

A five-minute walk from this very bar is an Archaeological Park, where the waves of cultures washing through the eastern Mediterranean are evident in the mosaics and rock-cut tombs. Paphos is enjoying a year in the sun as European Capital of Culture (shared with the rather less sunny Aarhus in Denmark), a celebration that will leave the town enriched.

The beaches unroll south-east from here, with some excellent waterside hotels, or head north-west to find some blissfully empty stretches of sand in hidden coves along the Akamas Peninsula.

When asked for a good winter getaway, Cyprus is one of my instant answers; the Canaries comprise another. Within about four hours of leaving West Sussex, you are touching down on a dramatic volcanic island off the north-west shoulder of Africa.

Despite their location, they are emphatically Spanish, which spells great cuisine, hotels and culture.

For the height of adventure, choose Tenerife. The largest of the Canary Islands is home to Spains highest mountain, Teide, which you can ascend on foot (apply online for a permit) if you fancy a challenge or, effortlessly, by cable car. At lower altitudes, the Orotava Valley has some great day-long hikes through pine forests draped across spectacular landscapes. Tourism in Tenerife took shape in Puerto de la Cruz in the late 19th century, and it remains a tranquil corner of the island. The towns Jardin Beach was designed by the Canarian architect, Cesar Manrique.

Enjoy stunning views of the mountains and the sea at Mirador del Rio in Lanzarote

Manrique created his greatest works on his home island of Lanzarote. His mission was to preserve and beautify, using nature as his inspiration. His inland home, a magnificent study in organic architecture, serves as a shrine to his memory.

The power of the planet is evident at Timanfaya National Park, the closest Europe gets to the surface of the moon, with heat and steam seething from the earth. Youll find sunbathers on Lanzarote beaches year-round, but for my favourite in the Canaries, hop on a ferry to the island of La Graciosa and enjoy the solitary splendour of Playa Francesa.

Book a British Airways holiday with a deposit and pay the balance as late as ive weeks before you travel (150 per booking up to a holiday of 1,500). Terms and conditions apply. Visit BA.com/wintersun
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Exactly 50 years ago, one of the most important whistleblowing books in the history of post-war medicine was published, and a new biography on the author ensures we will not forget his legacy.

Human Guinea Pigs: Experimentation on Man was written by Dr Maurice Pappworth to shed light on unethical experiments that were being conducted without the full knowledge of the patient. The book caused a sensation and a predictably furious reaction from many in the medical establishment. It detailed experiments on children, inmates of mental and penal institutions, as well as other vulnerable patients whose lives were often damaged for what Pappworth argued were the career enhancements of the medics involved.

Arthur Koestler, author of Darkness at Noon, expressed his horror at the experiments, which were carried out on children, pregnant women, mentally defective, on patients before and after an operation, and even on those with incurable diseases.

 Liam Neeson calls for Trump-Russia whistleblowers

The book made a significant impact on the development of medical research ethics, and the adoption of stricter codes of practice for human experimentation. Research ethics committees established soon after remain in place today.

Pappworths daughter Joanna published a book this week called The Whistle Blower: The Life of Maurice Pappworth: the Story of One Man's Battle Against the Medical Establishment. It is a piercingly candid portrait of the battle her father endured while writing Human Guinea Pigs. Even today, as the leading oncologist Martin Gore observed in the foreword, "there are still controversies over the ethics and conduct of some trials particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to those performed in the developing world where standards of care are not the same as in the countries of the trial sponsors."

Whistleblowers often suffer in their own careers and with their psychological health. The biographys final words are: "As an outsider, he could readily raise the whistle to his lips. But this didnt make the anxieties and ostracism any easier to bear, once the whistles shrill voice had filled the air."

The book had a cost for Joanna too. She wrote it in the final stages of an incurable cancer, inspired to write the book after she had a vision of her father as she lay in hospital the night before a major operation. She was determined to complete the book and see the record for her father put straight, completing it just days before she died.

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

Whistleblowing is needed as much as ever in a world where an all-powerful medical establishment continues to place the pursuit of science above the welfare of patients, if it can get away with it. In the US, pregnant woman have been forced to have caesarean sections against their will. In Britain, recent whistleblowers have included Dr Stephen Frost, the Ministry of Defence doctor who raised the alarm on missing morphine, Dr Raj Mattu, who was sacked after exposing concerns about patient safety in the NHS and Elaine Chubb, who resigned after she accused colleagues of abusing frail residents of a Bupa-run home for the elderly.

Those who dare to speak out act as essential safety valves against all-powerful organisations and individuals. Not even the BBC could find whistleblowers to speak out against decades of depraved behaviour by Jimmy Saville. That tells us a great deal about power and how hard it is to challenge those who have it. Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey are similar God-like figures in Hollywood whose behaviour was allowed to go unchecked for decades. The Paradise Papers is an example of whistleblowing this week, as the documents detailed offshore investments of 120,000 people and companies and leaked them to a German newspaper which promptly shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Recommended McDonnell calls on Queen to release finances amid Paradise Papers leak

People who blow the whistle continue to do so at great risk to their livelihoods and even to their safety, which is why so many are reluctant to come forward. Charities called earlier this year for corporations and banks to offer more protection to workers who flag up internal concerns after the chief executive of Barclays attempted to track down the author of anonymous letters. Had whistleblowers been better protected, irregularities at the charity Kids Company, founded in 1996 by Camila Batmanghelidjh to provide support for deprived inner city children, might have come to light earlier. The charity, which was doing much good, was dissolved into 2015.

One wonders how many abuses are allowed to continue, and for how long.

Not all whistleblowing is however necessarily noble or valuable. In my view, some who raise the flag risk damaging national security, such as former CIA employee Edward Snowden who leaked classified information to the media in 2013. Some whistleblowers do so for personal revenge or aggrandisement. Others appear to be plain deluded. Worryingly, elements in the police appear over-ready to give them credence.

But a climate in which whistleblowing is readily accepted, we will be able to swiftly root out those with bad intentions and help ensure that powerful individuals and organisations moderate their behaviour and conduct themselves in an ethical manner.
CONNELLY SPRINGS  A Connelly Springs man, who was featured as a wanted fugitive on Americas Most Wanted,  was arrested on Thursday afternoon after being on the run for more than eight years.

Clarence Edward Henderson, of Connelly Springs, was arrested by the U.S Marshals Service  Violent Offender Task Force and Burke County Sheriffs Office, according to a press release from the United States Marshals Service.

Henderson was scheduled to appear for his sentencing of being convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon on May 15, 2009, in US District Court, in the District of Montana, but he never showed up. A warrant was issued for his arrest and Henderson was considered armed and dangerous due to his extensive criminal history, spreading throughout several states, the release said.

He was an allegeded member of the Aryan Nation gang, prior to going on the run, in 2009. Henderson also was featured on John Walshs television show, " Americas Most Wanted, " in February of 2011, but Henderson was able to continue to avoid apprehension.

The U.S. Marshals Service, in the District of Montana, requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service in the Western District of North Carolina, to investigate old addresses and affiliations that Henderson may have had contact with in the past, the release said.

Through interviews and surveillance, conducted with the assistance of the BCSO, it was determined that Henderson was living under the name of Chris Danjou, in Connelly Springs, the release said.

Police with the mentioned agencies witnessed Henderson get ting into a white Dodge truck and leave the residence of 6372 Laurelwood St . in Connelly Springs as a passenger. The vehicle was stopped and Henderson was quickly identified by his tattoos and subsequently arrested. Henderson was transported to the McDowell County Jail, where he is housed, pending his court proceedings.

This is another example on how the U.S. Marshals Service continually works with other federal, state and local police agencies, to ensure violent fugitives who flee across jurisdictional lines are brought to justice, said Kelly M. Nesbit, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Marshals are the nations primary fugitive hunting organization and capture more federal fugitives each year than all other law enforcement agencies combined.

For more information about the U.S. Marshals Service, go to www.usmarshals.gov.






Fatah supporters wave the party flag as they take part in a rally in Gaza City on November 11, 2017 AFP Fatah supporters wave the party flag as they take part in a rally in Gaza City on November 11, 2017 AFP

Fatah supporters wave the party flag as they take part in a rally in Gaza City on November 11, 2017. marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat AFP Fatah supporters wave the party flag as they take part in a rally in Gaza City on November 11, 2017. marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat AFP

Fatah supporters take part in a rally marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City November 11, 2017 Reuters Fatah supporters take part in a rally marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City November 11, 2017 Reuters

Palestinians wave yellow Fatah movement flags on top of a building with a huge poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of his death in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP Palestinians wave yellow Fatah movement flags on top of a building with a huge poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of his death in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP

Fatah supporters take part in a rally marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City November 11, 2017 Reuters Fatah supporters take part in a rally marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City November 11, 2017 Reuters

A woman holds a yellow fatah movement flag stands next to a poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP A woman holds a yellow fatah movement flag stands next to a poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP

Fatah supporters wave the party flag as they take part in a rally in Gaza City on November 11, 2017. marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat AFP Fatah supporters wave the party flag as they take part in a rally in Gaza City on November 11, 2017. marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat AFP

Palestinian women wave the Yellow Fatah movement flags during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of the death of Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP Palestinian women wave the Yellow Fatah movement flags during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of the death of Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP

A woman holds a poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP A woman holds a poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat during a rally marking the 13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP

Palestinian women wave Yellow Fatah movement flags and hold a poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, during a rally marking the13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP Palestinian women wave Yellow Fatah movement flags and hold a poster of the late Fatah founder and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, during a rally marking the13th anniversary of his death, in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 AP
Home On The Brink Of War



The latest developments in Saudi Arabia are just the prelude to an imminent war that will reshape the region and affect the entire world By Abdel Bari Atwan November 10, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - We should not let minor details such as Hariris resignation or the detention of [Saudi] princes and former ministers divert our attention from the real developments that are taking place in secret. Nor should we let these minor details distract us from the more dangerous phase that will follow Prince Mohammad bin Salman purge on the domestic Saudi front. For such purges are the preliminary move to scenarios for a war that may be the most dangerous in the regions history. And we are not exaggerating here. All that is currently happening is part of a well-studied and carefully planned scheme. It is the prelude to a sectarian war, conducted under an Arab nationalist guise. And its main target is the rising Shiite Iranian force, aiming at clipping its strike forces in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, with U.S., regional, and Israeli backing. The old Saudi Arabia is no more, and Wahhabism is in its last throes, if it has not already been buried in the dusty tomes and reference books as a passing historical moment. The fourth Saudi state, donned in new modern garb, and with new alliances, is emerging before our very eyes. And when, in a phone call with British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, Saudi Crown-Prince Mohammad bin Salman (the man of the moment, who wants to be the founder of that state) declares that Irans supply of the factions in Yemen with missiles represents a direct military attack that may amount to an act of war, and when he is backed and supported by the Pentagon and U.S. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, this means that an alliance is taking shape in the region under American leadership. To understand the seriousness or gravity of any crisis or significant political or military move in any region of the world, we need to observe the fluctuation of energy (oil and gas) prices and the stock and financial markets. This is the most important and most accurate thermometer, at least in the Western capitalist world. On Tuesday, the price of oil reached its highest level in two years. Gulf stock markets continued to fall noticeably, and on Tuesday they lost around 3% of their value in Saudi Arabia in particular. Sales exceeded buying. And all this at point when we are still at shore, and when the ships of war have still not sailed. Anarchy is marching towards the region. The Houthis fired a highly accurate missile that reached Northern Riyadh, and whose shrapnel fell on King Khaled International Airport. They have also said that they will strike deep inside Saudi Arabia again and at all Saudi and Emirati air and seaports. And, the experience of the past three years has taught us that the Houthis have nothing to lose after three years of destructive war. The first phase that Prince Mohammad bin Salman has initiated, that of purging the domestic front and that included the detention of eleven princes and tens of ministers and businessmen under the banner of fighting corruption, has proceeded smoothly and without any obstacles so far. The man now is in full control of four major sectors of the state  the economy, the media, security and the military, as well as the two major religious institutions (the official one  the Council of Senior Clerics  and the unofficial one  the Awakening Clerics). Moreover, he has thrown all his opponents, and anyone who publicly opposed his rule, behind bars. At first, he imprisoned them in a luxurious hotel; but no one can predict where this may eventually lead. In fact, we believe it unlikely that these detentions are merely the first course and that what lies in wait is much worse for we are facing a bulldozer that levels everything in its path. In a few days or weeks time, he will move on to what we believe is the second and more dangerous phase; that of military confrontations, the main features of which can be summarized as follows:  First, the start of a Saudi/Iranian military clash against the background of the crushing siege on Yemen. Saudi Arabia has sealed all Yemeni ground, air, and sea outlets under the pretext of closing all the breaches and preventing Iranian missiles from reaching the Houthis.  Second, the formation of a new coalition, similar to that of Operation Desert Storm formed by U.S. General Schwarzkopf in 1990 that was aimed at expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The candidates for joining this coalition in addition to Saudi Arabia are: the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, and Morocco. (The King of Morocco is currently visiting the UAEs capital in fact, Abu-Dhabi, with reports that he has sought to mediate with Saudi Arabia over the recent detentions; but the message from Riyadh was clear, namely, not to intervene in what is happening inside Saudi Arabia, as we have found out from reliable sources). No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter  Third, the bombardment of Lebanon and the destruction of its infrastructure based on the pretext of trying to eradicate Hezbollah. The party may retaliate by bombarding the Israeli occupation state with thousands of missiles, in which case the possibility of Iranian and Syrian intervention may be greater than at any previous time before.  Fourth, the invasion of Qatar by joint Egyptian/Emirati/Saudi forces, overthrowing its regime and clashing with the Turkish forces deployed there whose number now stands at over 30-thousand soldiers, with their heavy equipment. President Erdogan has apparently sensed this danger, which is why he sent his Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli to Doha on a previously unscheduled trip on Sunday. Nothing will prevent this invasion except a sudden change in the Qatari position in response to American pressure.  Fifth, a U.S./Israeli counteroffensive in Syria, recapturing the areas that the U.S.s allies have lost there such as Aleppo, Homs, and Deir az-Zour. For the U.S. will not easily forgive its defeat before Russia and Iran. But any U.S./Israeli intervention in Syria is unlikely to pass without a collision with Russia. In this case, we can expect a world war. But, after all, it was the U.S. that foiled the Syrian national dialogue conference in Sochi which Moscow had called for, when it asked the Syrian opposition to boycott it.  Sixth, moving the Kurdish militias in Irbil and Northern Syria, implicating them in these wars on the U.S.s side in an effort to hemorrhage Iran, Turkey, and Iraq, and drown them in domestic wars. The above roadmap lists what may be done by the member states of the new alliance that goes by the name of moderate states, or the modernity camp, or the anti-Iranian terrorism camp  we know not which. But we have not spoken of other possibilities, namely that this alliance will fail to achieve its aims; and we have not considered what shape the region would take in that case. The counter-scenario may be that of an Iranian/Syrian/Turkish/Iraqi alliance, with which Russia will sympathize at first, even though we do not know whether it may lead it later  since Moscow is dealing with the current developments cautiously, keeping its cards close to its chest. This new alliance has mighty military missile capabilities; and, according to preliminary assessments, most will be aimed at Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel. But these targeted states have effective U.S.-made Patriot anti-missiles that may provide them with partial or total protection. We asked a military expert in London, and he said that if Hezbollah were to fire thousands of advanced missiles at Israel at one go, and if Hamas were to do the same from the Gaza Strip, this could paralyze Israels Iron Dome system. But if Hezbollah, which is a junior partner of Iran, has 150 thousand missiles, how many missiles does the senior partner have? And can the Patriot anti-missile system deal with tens-of-thousands of missiles fired simultaneously? And what if Syrian and Iranian missiles were to join their sister missiles that Hezbollahs arsenal is brimming with? The expert we consulted gave this example: If six Patriot missiles had to be fired to intercept the Houthi Burkan H-2 missile that was aimed at King Khaled Airport in Northern Riyadh, how many Patriots are there in the Saudi and Emirati arsenals? But, he added, the two countries possess powerful air forces consisting of American F-16s and F-15s, as well as British Tornados and the advanced Typhoon Eurofighter. Experts believe the success of this future, expected, and indeed imminent war lies in the destruction of Iran, regime-change in Qatar, and the eradication of Hezbollah. Its failure lies in the destruction of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the UAE, and Saudi Arabias partition into a number of states. We repeat: We are neither soothsayers nor fortune-tellers; nevertheless, we say that this may be the last war, one that will change the region, its states, its borders, and perhaps its peoples as well. The Arabs will certainly survive it since it cannot destroy 400-million of them. And the Iranians will survive it as well. But will Israel survive in its current form? We leave the answer till after the war, assuming it breaks out. But God knows best. This article was originally published by Raialyoum - Nasrallah: Saudi Arabia offered Israel Billions of Dollars in Exchange For Bombing Hezbollah Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
Hariris Resignation as Prime Minister of Lebanon is Not All it Seems





He certainly did not anticipate what happened to him. Indeed, Hariri had scheduled meetings in Beirut on the following Monday  with the IMF, the World Bank and a series of discussions on water quality improvement; not exactly the action of a man who planned to resign his premiership



By Robert Fisk - Beirut

November 10, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - When Saad Hariris jet touched down at Riyadh on the evening of 3 November, the first thing he saw was a group of Saudi policemen surrounding the plane. When they came aboard, they confiscated his mobile phone and those of his bodyguards. Thus was Lebanons prime minister silenced.

It was a dramatic moment in tune with the soap-box drama played out across Saudi Arabia this past week: the house arrest of 11 princes  including the immensely wealthy Alwaleed bin Talal  and four ministers and scores of other former government lackeys, not to mention the freezing of up to 1,700 bank accounts. Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salmans Night of the Long Knives did indeed begin at night, only hours after Hariris arrival in Riyadh. So what on earth is the crown prince up to?

Put bluntly, he is clawing down all his rivals and  so the Lebanese fear  trying to destroy the government in Beirut, force the Shia Hezbollah out of the cabinet and restart a civil war in Lebanon. It wont work, for the Lebanese  while not as rich  are a lot smarter than the Saudis. Every political group in the country, including Hezbollah, are demanding one thing only: Hariri must come back. As for Saudi Arabia, those who said that the Arab revolution will one day reach Riyadh  not with a minority Shia rising, but with a war inside the Sunni Wahhabi royal family  are watching the events of the past week with both shock and awe.

But back to Hariri. On Friday 3 November, he was in a cabinet meeting in Beirut. Then he received a call, asking him to see King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Hariri, who like his assassinated father Rafiq, holds Saudi as well as Lebanese citizenship, set off at once. You do not turn down a king, even if you saw him a few days earlier, as Hariri had. And especially when the kingdom owes Hariris Oger company as much as $9bn, for such is the commonly rumoured state of affairs in what we now call cash-strapped Saudi Arabia.

But more extraordinary matters were to come. Out of the blue and to the total shock of Lebanese ministers, Hariri, reading from a written text, announced on Saturday on the Arabia television channel  readers can guess which Gulf kingdom owns it  that he was resigning as prime minister of Lebanon. There were threats against his life, he said  though this was news to the security services in Beirut  and Hezbollah should be disarmed and wherever Iran interfered in the Middle East, there was chaos. Quite apart from the fact that Hezbollah cannot be disarmed without another civil war  is the Lebanese army supposed to attack them when Shia are the largest minority in the country (many of them in the army)? These were not words that Hariri had ever used before. They were not, in other words, written by him. As one who knows him well said this week, this was not him speaking. In other words, the Saudis had ordered the prime minister of Lebanon to resign and to read his own departure out loud from Riyadh.

I should add, of course, that Hariris wife and family are in Riyadh, so even if he did return to Beirut, there would be hostages left behind. Thus after a week of this outrageous political farce, there is even talk in Beirut of asking Saad Hariris elder brother Bahaa to take his seat in the cabinet. But what of Saad himself? Callers have reached him at his Riyadh home, but he speaks only a few words. He says I will come back or Im fine, thats all, only those words, which is very unlike him, says one who must know. And what if Hariri did come back? Would he claim that his resignation had been forced upon him? Dare the Saudis risk this?

He certainly did not anticipate what happened to him. Indeed, Hariri had scheduled meetings in Beirut on the following Monday  with the IMF, the World Bank and a series of discussions on water quality improvement; not exactly the action of a man who planned to resign his premiership. However, the words he read out  scripted for him  are entirely in line with the speeches of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and with the insane President of the United States who speaks of Iran with the same anger, as does the American Defence Secretary.

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Of course, the real story is just what is going on in Saudi Arabia itself, for the crown prince has broken forever the great compromise that exists in the kingdom: between the royal family and the clergy, and between the tribes. This was always the bedrock upon which the country stood or fell. And Mohamed bin Salman has now broken this apart. He is liquidating his enemies  the arrests, needless to say, are supposedly part of an anti-corruption drive, a device which Arab dictators have always used when destroying their political opponents.

There will be no complaints from Washington or London, whose desire to share in the divvying up of Saudi Aramco (another of the crown princes projects) will smother any thoughts of protest or warning. And given the smarmy reporting of the Crown Princes recent speeches in the New York Times, I have my suspicions that even this elderly journalistic organ will be comparatively unworried by the Saudi coup detat. For that is what it is. He unseated the interior minister earlier this year and now Mohamed bin Salman is getting rid of his opponents financial power.

But ruthless men can also be humble. Hariri was allowed to see the King  the original reason for which he believed he was travelling to Riyadh  and even paid a visit to the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates this week, an ally-nation of the Saudis who would prevent him jumping on a flight to Beirut. But why on earth would Hariri want to go to the Emirates? To prove that he was still free to travel when he cannot even return to the country which he is supposed to be ruling?

Lebanon is always going through the greatest crisis since its last greatest crisis. But this time, its for real.
China's Xi Preaches 'Openness' and 'Cooperation' After Trump Comes Out Swinging



Video



Xi praised many of the results of an increasingly connected world.

"In pursuing economic globalization, we should make it more open, more inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and more beneficial to all,"

"We should continue to foster an open economy that benefits all. Openness brings progress while self-seclusion leaves one behind," he said.

The Chinese leader added that his country will continue to open up and reform.

November 10, 2017

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This article was originally published by CNBC -

See also -
Full Transcript of President Trumps Speech at APEC

PRESIDENT TRUMP: What an honor it is to be here in Vietnam  in the very heart of the Indo-Pacific  to address the people and business leaders of this region.

This has already been a remarkable week for the United States in this wonderful part of the world. Starting from Hawaii, Melania and I traveled to Japan, South Korea, and China, and now to Vietnam, to be here with all of you today.

Before we begin, I want to address all those affected by Typhoon Damrey. Americans are praying for you and for your recovery in the months ahead. Our hearts are united with the Vietnamese people suffering in the aftermath of this terrible storm.

This trip comes at an exciting time for America. A new optimism has swept all across our country. Economic growth has reached 3.2 percent, and going higher. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 17 years. The stock market is at an all-time high. And the whole world is lifted by Americas renewal.

Everywhere Ive traveled on this journey, Ive had the pleasure of sharing the good news from America. But even more, Ive had the honor of sharing our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific  a place where sovereign and independent nations, with diverse cultures and many different dreams, can all prosper side-by-side, and thrive in freedom and in peace.

I am so thrilled to be here today at APEC, because this organization was founded to help achieve that very purpose. America stands as a proud member of the community of nations who make a home on the Pacific. We have been an active partner in this region since we first won independence ourselves.

In 1784, the first American ship sailed to China from the newly independent United States. It went loaded with goods to sell in Asia, and it came back full of porcelain and tea. Our first president, George Washington himself, owned a set of tableware from that ship.

In 1804, Thomas Jefferson sent the explorers, Lewis and Clark, on an expedition to our Pacific Coast. They were the first of the millions of Americans who ventured west to live out Americas manifest destiny across our vast continent.

In 1817, our Congress approved the first full-time Pacific development [deployment] of an American warship. That initial naval presence soon grew into a squadron, and then a fleet, to guarantee freedom of navigation for the growing number of ships, braving the high seas to reach markets in the Philippines, Singapore, and in India.

In 1818, we began our relationship with the Kingdom of Thailand, and 15 years later our two countries signed a treaty of friendship and commerce  our first with an Asian nation.

In the next century, when imperialist powers threatened this region, the United States pushed back at great cost to ourselves. We understood that security and prosperity depended on it.

We have been friends, partners, and allies in the Indo-Pacific for a long, long time, and we will be friends, partners, and allies for a long time to come.

As old friends in the region, no one has been more delighted than America to witness, to help, and to share in the extraordinary progress you have made over the last half-century.

What the countries and economies represented here today have built in this part of the world is nothing short of miraculous. The story of this region in recent decades is the story of what is possible when people take ownership of their future.

Few would have imagined just a generation ago that leaders of these nations would come together here in Da Nang to deepen our friendships, expand our partnerships, and celebrate the amazing achievements of our people.

This city was once home to an American military base, in a country where many Americans and Vietnamese lost their lives in a very bloody war.

Today, we are no longer enemies; we are friends. And this port city is bustling with ships from around the world. Engineering marvels, like the Dragon Bridge, welcome the millions who come to visit Da Nangs stunning beaches, shining lights, and ancient charms.

In the early 1990s, nearly half of Vietnam survived on just a few dollars a day, and one in four did not have any electricity. Today, an opening Vietnamese economy is one of the fastest-growing economies on Earth. It has already increased more than 30 times over, and the Vietnamese students rank among the best students in the world. (Applause.) And that is very impressive.

This is the same story of incredible transformation that we have seen across the region. Indonesians for decades have been building domestic and democratic institutions to govern their vast chain of more than 13,000 islands. Since the 1990s, Indonesias people have lifted themselves from poverty to become one of the fastest-growing nations of the G20. Today, it is the third-largest democracy on Earth.

The Philippines has emerged as a proud nation of strong and devout families. For 11 consecutive years, the World Economic Forum has ranked the Philippines first among Asian countries in closing the gender gap and embracing women leaders in business and in politics. (Applause.)

The Kingdom of Thailand has become an upper middle-income country in less than a generation. Its majestic capital of Bangkok is now the most visited city on Earth. And that is very impressive. Not too many people here are from Thailand. (Applause.)

Malaysia has rapidly developed through recent decades, and it is now ranked as one of the best places in the world to do business.

In Singapore, citizens born to parents who survived on $500 dollars a day [year] are now among the highest earners in the world  a transformation made possible by the vision of Lee Kwan Yews vision of honest governance and the rule of law. (Applause.) And his great son is now doing an amazing job.

As I recently observed in South Korea, the people of that Republic took a poor country ravaged by war, and in just a few decades turned it into one of the wealthiest democracies on Earth. Today, South Koreans enjoy higher incomes than the citizens of many European Union countries. It was great spending time with President Moon.

Everyone knows of Chinas impressive achievements over the past several decades. During this period  and it was a period of great market reforms  large parts of China experienced rapid economic growth, jobs boomed, and more than 800 million citizens rose out of poverty. I just left China this morning and had a really productive meeting and a wonderful time with our gracious host, President Xi.

And, as I saw on my first stop of this trip, in Japan we see a dynamic democracy in a land of industrial, technological, and cultural wonders. In fewer than 60 years, that island nation has produced 24 Nobel Prize winners for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and the promotion of peace. (Applause.) President Abe and I agree on so much.

In the broader region, countries outside of APEC are also making great strides in this new chapter for the Indo-Pacific.

India is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its independence. It is a sovereign democracy, as well as  think of this  over 1 billion people. Its the largest democracy in the world. (Applause.) Since India opened its economy, it has achieved astounding growth and a new world of opportunity for its expanding middle class. And Prime Minister Modi has been working to bring that vast country, and all of its people, together as one. And he is working at it very, very successfully, indeed.

As we can see, in more and more places throughout this region, citizens of sovereign and independent nations have taken greater control of their destinies and unlocked the potential of their people.

Theyve pursued visions of justice and accountability, promoted private property and the rule of law, and embraced systems that value hard work and individual enterprise.

They built businesses, they built cities, they built entire countries from the ground up. Many of you in this room have taken part in these great, uplifting national projects of building. They have been your projects from inception to completion, from dreams to reality.

With your help, this entire region has emerged  and it is still emerging  as a beautiful constellation of nations, each its own bright star, satellites to none  and each one, a people, a culture, a way of life, and a home.

Those of you who have lived through these transformations understand better than anyone the value of what you have achieved. You also understand that your home is your legacy, and you must always protect it.

In the process of your economic development, youve sought commerce and trade with other nations, and forged partnerships based on mutual respect and directed toward mutual gain.

Today, I am here to offer a renewed partnership with America to work together to strengthen the bonds of friendship and commerce between all of the nations of the Indo-Pacific, and together, to promote our prosperity and security.

At the core of this partnership, we seek robust trade relationships rooted in the principles of fairness and reciprocity. When the United States enters into a trading relationship with other countries or other peoples, we will, from now on, expect that our partners will faithfully follow the rules just like we do. We expect that markets will be open to an equal degree on both sides, and that private industry, not government planners, will direct investment.

Unfortunately, for too long and in too many places, the opposite has happened. For many years, the United States systematically opened our economy with few conditions. We lowered or ended tariffs, reduced trade barriers, and allowed foreign goods to flow freely into our country.

But while we lowered market barriers, other countries didnt open their markets to us.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Funny. They must have been one of the beneficiaries. (Applause.) What country do you come from, sir?

Countries were embraced by the World Trade Organization, even if they did not abide by its stated principles. Simply put, we have not been treated fairly by the World Trade Organization. Organizations like the WTO can only function properly when all members follow the rules and respect the sovereign rights of every member. We cannot achieve open markets if we do not ensure fair market access. In the end, unfair trade undermines us all.

The United States promoted private enterprise, innovation, and industry. Other countries used government-run industrial planning and state-owned enterprises.

We adhered to WTO principles on protecting intellectual property and ensuring fair and equal market access. They engaged in product dumping, subsidized goods, currency manipulation, and predatory industrial policies.

They ignored the rules to gain advantage over those who followed the rules, causing enormous distortions in commerce and threatening the foundations of international trade itself.

Such practices, along with our collective failure to respond to them, hurt many people in our country and also in other countries. Jobs, factories, and industries were stripped out of the United States and out of many countries in addition. And many opportunities for mutually beneficial investments were lost because people could not trust the system.

We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses, and we will not tolerate them. Despite years of broken promises, we were told that someday soon everyone would behave fairly and responsibly. People in America and throughout the Indo-Pacific region have waited for that day to come. But it never has, and that is why I am here today  to speak frankly about our challenges and work toward a brighter future for all of us.

I recently had an excellent trip to China, where I spoke openly and directly with President Xi about Chinas unfair trade practices and the enormous trade deficits they have produced with the United States. I expressed our strong desire to work with China to achieve a trading relationship that is conducted on a truly fair and equal basis.

The current trade imbalance is not acceptable. I do not blame China or any other country, of which there are many, for taking advantage of the United States on trade. If their representatives are able to get away with it, they are just doing their jobs. I wish previous administrations in my country saw what was happening and did something about it. They did not, but I will.

From this day forward, we will compete on a fair and equal basis. We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore. I am always going to put America first the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first. (Applause.)

The United States is prepared to work with each of the leaders in this room today to achieve mutually beneficial commerce that is in the interest of both your countries and mine. That is the message I am here to deliver.

I will make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and that will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade. What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty, and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible.

Instead, we will deal on a basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit. We will respect your independence and your sovereignty. We want you to be strong, prosperous, and self-reliant, rooted in your history, and branching out toward the future. That is how we will thrive and grow together, in partnerships of real and lasting value.

But for this  and I call it the Indo-Pacific dream  if its going to be realized, we must ensure that all play by the rules, which they do not right now. Those who do will be our closest economic partners. Those who do not can be certain that the United States will no longer turn a blind eye to violations, cheating, or economic aggression. Those days are over.

We will no longer tolerate the audacious theft of intellectual property. We will confront the destructive practices of forcing businesses to surrender their technology to the state, and forcing them into joint ventures in exchange for market access.

We will address the massive subsidizing of industries through colossal state-owned enterprises that put private competitors out of business  happening all the time.

We will not remain silent as American companies are targeted by state-affiliated actors for economic gain, whether through cyberattacks, corporate espionage, or other anti-competitive practices. We will encourage all nations to speak out loudly when the principles of fairness and reciprocity are violated.

We know it is in Americas interests to have partners throughout this region that are thriving, prosperous, and dependent on no one. We will not make decisions for the purpose of power or patronage. We will never ask our partners to surrender their sovereignty, privacy, and intellectual property, or to limit contracts to state-owned suppliers.

We will find opportunities for our private sector to work with yours and to create jobs and wealth for us all. We seek strong partners, not weak partners. We seek strong neighbors, not weak neighbors. Above all, we seek friendship, and we dont dream of domination.

For this reason, we are also refocusing our existing development efforts. We are calling on the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to direct their efforts toward high-quality infrastructure investment that promotes economic growth.

The United States will also do its part. We are also committed to reforming our development finance institutions so that they better incentivize private sector investment in your economies, and provide strong alternatives to state-directed initiatives that come with many strings attached.

The United States has been reminded time and time again in recent years that economic security is not merely related to national security. Economic security is national security. It is vital  (applause)  to our national strength.

We also know that we will not have lasting prosperity if we do not confront grave threats to security, sovereignty, and stability facing our world today.

Earlier this week, I addressed the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea and urged every responsible nation to stand united in declaring that every single step the North Korean regime takes toward more weapons is a step it takes into greater and greater danger. The future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictators twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail.

In addition, we must uphold principles that have benefitted all of us, like respect for the rule of law  (applause)  individual rights, and freedom of navigation and overflight, including open shipping lanes. Three principles and these principles  (applause)  create stability and build trust, security, and prosperity among like-minded nations.

We must also deal decisively with other threats to our security and the future of our children, such as criminal cartels, human smuggling, drugs, corruption, cybercrime, and territorial expansion. As I have said many times before: All civilized people must come together to drive out terrorists and extremists from our societies, stripping them of funding, territory, and ideological support. We must stop radical Islamic terrorism.

So let us work together for a peaceful, prosperous, and free Indo-Pacific. I am confident that, together, every problem we have spoken about today can be solved and every challenge we face can be overcome.

If we succeed in this effort, if we seize the opportunities before us and ground our partnerships firmly in the interests of our own people, then together we will achieve everything we dream for our nations and for our children.

We will be blessed with a world of strong, sovereign, and independent nations, thriving in peace and commerce with others. They will be places where we can build our homes and where families, businesses, and people can flourish and grow.

If we do this, will we look at the globe half a century from now, and we will marvel at the beautiful constellation of nations  each different, each unique, and each shining brightly and proudly throughout this region of the world. And just as when we look at the stars in the night sky, the distance of time will make most of the challenges we have and that we spoke of today seem very, very small.

What will not seem small  what is not small  will be the big choices that all of our nations will have to make to keep their stars glowing very, very brightly.

In America, like every nation that has won and defended its sovereignty, we understand that we have nothing so precious as our birthright, our treasured independence, and our freedom.

That knowledge has guided us throughout American history. It has inspired us to sacrifice and innovate. And it is why today, hundreds of years after our victory in the American Revolution, we still remember the words of an American founder and our second President of the United States, John Adams. As an old man, just before his death, this great patriot was asked to offer his thoughts on the 50th anniversary of glorious American freedom. He replied with the words: independence forever.

Its a sentiment that burns in the heart of every patriot and every nation. Our hosts here in Vietnam have known this sentiment not just for 200 years, but for nearly 2,000 years. (Applause.) It was around 40 AD when two Vietnamese sisters, the Trung Sisters, first awakened the spirit of the people of this land. It was then that, for the first time, the people of Vietnam stood for your independence and your pride.

Today, the patriots and heroes  (applause)  of our histories hold the answers to the great questions of our future and our time. They remind us of who we are and what we are called to do.

Together, we have it in our power to lift our people and our world to new heights  heights that have never been attained,

So let us choose a future of patriotism, prosperity, and pride. Let us choose wealth and freedom over poverty and servitude. Let us choose a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Finally, let us never forget the world has many places  (applause)  many dreams, and many roads. But in all of the world, there is no place like home.

And so, for family, for country, for freedom, for history, and for the glory of God, protect your home, defend your home, and love your home today and for all time. (Applause.)

Thank you. God Bless You. God Bless the Pacific region. And God Bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
An Act Of War!

U.S. Imposes Oil Blockade to Force Venezuela into Default

By Mision Verdad



November 10, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The U.S. is betting on the default of Venezuela affecting its financial credibility and hampering its debt repayments.



While continuing the commercial and financial embargo and the systematic attack on PDVSA, it was revealed at the start of November that imports of Venezuelan oil to the United States this year have declined to 56 percent compared to last year. This multi-pronged attack that this state industry is facing as the main foreign exchange earner of the country, has been run by a network of internal allies, many of whom have been detained by the Public Prosecutor's Office in recent months. This was after the former Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz became a key factor in allowing the continuity of these mafias to operate within the company.

In addition to corruption and internal sabotage, PDVSA is facing a series of sanctions for the issuance of debt, which has also complicated transactions with U.S. refineries for the purchase of crude oil. In recent months America's banks, under pressure from the U.S. Treasury Department, have restricted credit notes that U.S. refineries need to pay for Venezuelan oil. The result is that imports and dividends in dollars have been reduced by half in comparison to 2016.

Trump did not dare take the measure of prohibiting imports from Venezuela, given the many interests of U.S. companies involved, but this multi-pronged attack is making any explicit prohibition unnecessary. The measures taken have managed to make a dent in exports of oil to that country. All this is with the objective of continuing to strangle the Venezuela's economy and force the nation into a debt default by restricting purchases by U.S. refineries.

Forecasts in respect of servicing PDVSA bonds for these dates have been varied. According to Kapital Consultants, between October and November PDVSA must comply with payments of US$3.525 billion for a total of approximately US$9 billion paid in debt interest and capital for the year 2018. As usual, the partial information in this report was used as a means of propaganda by the Venezuelan opposition to confuse and sow doubts about the payment capacity of the company.

According to President Nicolas Maduro, the Republic and PDVSA have paid more than US$71.7 billion in the last four years for capital and debt servicing.

These maneuvers against PDVSA are not isolated and form part of a framework of actions imposed since the Barack Obama administration issued an executive decree which declares Venezuela as a "threat to the national security" of the United States, behind which were the major U.S. oil corporations.

Reports from Reuters and other national media about PDVSAs alleged inability to pay are part of this plan, adding fuel to the fire of financial terrorism directed from the Rating Agencies against Venezuela as well as from some opposition leaders such as Julio Borges who continues pushing for sanctions.

The U.S. is betting on the default of Venezuela affecting its financial credibility and hampering its debt repayments, as part of a maneuver to force a default on payments that would allow the violation of PDVSAs international assets and partially block its oil income. However, the timely payments by Venezuela have prevented the default from happening, even if the rating agencies, the treasury department and some Wall Street banks keep pushing in that direction.

But given that this action in the financial war has not yielded the expected results, the U.S. looks as if it will take the road of the oil embargo as its ace card. The objective of pressuring banks and U.S. refineries from buying Venezuelan crude seeks to restrict the flow of dollars into the Venezuelan economy which are used for various purposes  such as debt repayment and imports of basic goods.

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Venezuela remains the third largest supplier of oil to the U.S. In 2016, it exported approximately 736,000 barrels per day, what resulted in  if measured at an average basket price of US$30 per barrel  more than US$700 million a month in oil revenues for Venezuela, just from the U.S. market. Due to the financial blockade on purchases of Venezuelan oil imposed by the treasury department on U.S. refineries, that figure has dropped to 255,000 barrels a day, reducing foreign currency income by more than 50 percent.

A few weeks ago the fifth largest buyer of Venezuelan oil, PBF Energy, suspended purchases from PDVSA due to these pressures, while other refiners are struggling to make payments to the Venezuelan State Oil Company.

With these underhand actions by the Trump administration being institutionalized as financial sanctions, the U.S. is forcing Venezuela and PDVSA to have fewer dollars to meet their debt commitments in 2018 (protected at US$8 billion approximately) and in this way is pressing the country to fall into default. Add this to the sanctions preventing the issuance of new debt by PDVSA and Venezuela in the U.S. for refinancing purposes, then this has obliged Maduro to call the holders of debt to start a process of restructuring.

The various corporate maneuvers that aim to make the Venezuelan state pay for its decision to recover its sovereignty over PDVSA, is due not only to the economic implications but also to the geopolitical consequences of this decision. Moscow has begun a restructuring of the Venezuelan debt in a friendly, conversational tone, while Beijing has supported the sovereign decision of the Venezuelan state to refinance its debt. In turn, this cooperation has generated a geopolitical counterweight to the pressure exerted by the U.S. Treasury Department on holders of debt which has resulted in their non-recognition of the negotiations with the Venezuelan government.

What can be observed is that sanctions imposed by the government of Donald Trump against PDVSA, and in particular against Venezuela in general, as well as against other major producers of oil such as Russia and Iran, is that this policy has backfired and had a negative effect on the petrodollar. This could lead to the weakening of the United States role in the world oil trade with very serious, predictable consequences for its economic hegemony in the world.

First published in Mision Verdad on Nov. 3, 2017.

This article was originally published by

teleSur

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Trumps Pivot to Asia  An Arms Sales Bonanza  An Anti-Peace Trip

By Peter Koenig

November 10, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - President Trumps 5-country Asia tour has nothing to do with seeking peace anywhere, it has not even to do with diplomacy  it is entirely a warmongering business trip for the Military Industrial Complex. It is amazing that the world doesnt catch on.



We know about Obamas several years of pivoting to Asia. It resulted largely in the TPP, the Transpacific Partnership, a trade agreement between 12 countries including the US. The first thing Trump did when he came on board is canceling it, claiming that it would only harm the US. Canceling it, in fact, was a good thing, since contrary to what Trump understands, or claims to understand, of US-made international trade, the Asian partners would have suffered, not the US. There is not one single trade agreement the US has instigated, bilateral or multilateral, where the US came out as a loser, or even as an equal, always a winner. The original meaning of trade is not winning or losing, but it is an exchange of equals with equal benefits for all partners. ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America ) is perhaps one of the few living examples.



Trump doesnt like multilateral trade agreements, because  even though he is in control  he may not be in total control. He wants to call the shots, every shot. Literally. This is what this 8-day pivot to Asia is all about. It is about selling weapons, the best, the most accurate, the deadliest the world has ever produced. Trumps words  almost. And repeated over-and-over-and-over again.



At a press conference in Tokyo, with Japans PM Shinzo Abe, Trump said literally, when pointing at Prime Minister Abe, [He] will shoot [North Koreas] missiles out of the sky when he completes the purchase of lots of equipment from the United States. One very important thing is that Prime Minister Abe is going to be purchasing massive amounts of [US-made] military equipment, as he should. We make the best by far  its a lot of jobs for us, and a lot of safety for Japan ( The Guardian, 6/11/2017).



Trump had the audacity, as he always does, calling North Korea (DPRK  Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) a threat to the civilized world. And this, when he knows  or should know  that Pyongyang is only defending North Korea from the constant threats and aggressions of the United States, that Kim Jon-Un has no intention of attacking any country  but still has the memory deep inside, inherited by generations of North Koreans born after the atrocious Washington initiated 1953 Korean war, that devastated literally the entire country and killed 3 million people, about a third of the then North Korean population.



The entire world knows, including Trumps predecessors, that the only threat to not only the worlds civilization, but to the entire humanity, are the United States of America  a rogue state, not respecting any international laws, no international contracts  and no human life, not even that of her own citizens. Tens of millions of people around the globe have been killed since the end of WWII directly by the US military, or NATO, or indirectly through proxies or mercenaries by the United States. All for wars that aim at complete world hegemony, at Full Spectrum Dominance  as described by the PNAC  Plan for a New American Century. Nobody wants to touch this reality  almost nobody. Fortunately, in the last few years there are countries emerging that dare stand up to the killing monster, resisting it, by disobedience, despite sanctions, and through economic measures, like detaching their economy from the fraudulent fiat dollar. Recent examples are Venezuela and Iran.



Trumps arms sales bonanza started actually already with Saudi Arabia, when he sold King Salman 110 billion worth of the best killer instruments  bombs, planes and tanks  America produces. A record weapon sales-contract.

On the pivots second leg, South Korea  Trump trumped up his tone, not at all for peace but to threaten once more Pyongyang and the North Korean leader, the American bully cum President calls derogatorily the Little Rocket Man. - Where are we in this world? Does this man Trump not see how much he is despised? Or is he so sick to actually enjoy being hated?

More than eighty percent of South Koreans want peace with the Nord. President Moon Jae-in was recently elected on a platform of uniting the South with the North  to bring back together families that were separated for more than half a century. How could he be such a dreamer? With close to 30,000 American soldiers on South Korean soil and a weapons arsenal, including nuclear arms, that could destroy all of east Asia in a jiffy.  And billions worth of more weapons sales to Seoul are on Trumps murderous sales agenda. He is not only a bully par excellence, but the best salesman the US military industrial complex could wish for  and a booster of the USs GDP of death and destruction.

The bully at the pulpit had no intention of addressing a road to peace. To the contrary, he boasted about the extraordinary unsurmountable weapons might of America First  and using South Koreans Parliament as a platform to launch yet another slandering tirade towards North Koreas leader, Kim Jon-un, and her people, [I] have come here to this peninsula to deliver a message directly to the leader of the North Korean dictatorshipthe weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer. They are putting your regime in great danger. Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face. North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned. It is a hell that no person deserves. Yet despite every crime you have committed against god and man we will offer a path towards a much better future. It begins with an end to the aggression of your regime, a stop to your development of ballistic missiles and complete verifiable and total denuclearization.

While Emperor Donald was talking, three US Navy aircraft carriers were positioning themselves in attack mode in front of North Koreas coast, preparing for more intimidating war games. More provocation, knowing damn well that DPRKs President Kim Jon-un will not let go of his defense strategy  and rightly so. Anyone who knows a bit of North Koreas history understands. Kims several requests for dialogue, as he wants peace for his country and for his people, were rejected by Washington. Instead he was showered with Trumps outrageous warmongering language like we will unleash fire and fury the world has never seen  or we will destroy your country to rubble  and more of such ridiculous and shameful threats  shameful for the so-called leader of the free world, of the globes self-proclaimed Almighty, and shameful for all the other nations of this globe that just watch and listen to the monsters angry outbursts  but are afraid to counter him, though they know he is wrong.

According to Reuters, Han Tae Song, Ambassador of the DPRK to the United Nations in Geneva, told on Wednesday the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, The United States and other hostile forces impede the enjoyment by our people of their human rights in every possible way, resorting to the vicious ways and means of all kinds in their attempt to stifle the ideas and system of the DPRK, He continued saying that Washington manipulated sanctions resolutions against his country at the U.N. Security Council that violated North Korean sovereignty and rights to existence and development.

Due to these inhumane economic sanctions, vulnerable peoples like women and children are becoming...victims. Such sanctions against humanity which block even the delivery of the medical equipment and medicines for maternal and child health and the basic goods for daily life..threaten the protection and promotion of our womens rights and even the right to survival of the children.

Next stop on Trumps pivot was Beijing, where, to the surprise of most media, he behaved like a statesman, trying to persuade President Xi of the benefits of a friendly US-Sino relation  and of course, of the importance that China adhere to the UN imposed sanctions on North Korea. The South China Sea, Human Rights and Chinas alleged lack of Democracy  the usual Washington swan song  were not mentioned. Even the Chinese media hailed Trumps visit as a success. The two leaders signed contracts for some 250 billion dollars-worth of investment and trade deals, or rather, as per Bloomberg, non-binding memoranda of understanding, between the two countries.

The deals, many of which were already concluded or planned before the Beijing meeting, included goods and services in transportation (Chinese purchase of 300 Boeing civilian aircraft), agriculture (pork and beef), IT, the financial sector (with Goldman Sachs  who else?)  and more. Nothing controversial. Trump expects to be appreciated at home for his salesmanship in Beijing  and for helping reducing the 250 billion US trade deficit with China.

Interestingly though, during the perhaps strategically most important stop of his Asia journey  Beijing  Trump did not use his usual vitriolic language to condemn and threaten Pyongyang and putting Xi on guard to follow the strict sanctions regime against the DPRK  or else. Why didnt he?  Did he realize that it was worthless? That China would never let her neighbor die  and he would make himself ridiculous making believe his sanctions threat would work on China?  Or did he have a deeper agenda, like winning China over  or neutralizing her  for a possible future strike on Iran?  Of course, if carried out, then by proxies like the armed-to-the-teeth with US and UK weaponry Saudis and Israel?  Time will tell. But there is no doubt that the clear winner of this meeting was President Xi  with his calm manner and Tao philosophy of smiling and non-aggression.

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On his last stop in Da Nang, Vietnam, Trump attended the APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit (10-11 November), where he was expected to meet with President Putin, even briefly at the margin of the meetings. However, no official meeting was scheduled and as RT reports,  Hopes of a bilateral Putin-Trump meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit have waned with the White House citing scheduling conflicts, but at least the two were all smiles while shaking hands during the photo call. 

Well, why would President Putin want to meet with Trump, who after a meeting with seemingly positive chemistry, in Hamburg in July 2017, at the G20 summit, has been nothing but deceptive? Why faking more trust in a flamboyant billionaire bully, who has no ethics, who doesnt honor contracts, promises, multilateral agreements or even international law  and allows his government to keep slandering Russia for interfering in the 2016 US Presidential Elections?

The truth is, Trump, his predecessors, the UK leadership, the NATO allies, the Saudis, Gulf States and the EU puppets are shameless, legalized murderers.  Legalized, because they dance to the tune of Trumps canons, or to the dark deep states strings that pull the triggers of mayhem and death. For these people  are they still to be called people?  Trump has accomplished what he set out to do: Selling hundreds of billions worth of arms. In less than a year of his Presidency, he did more good to the military-security industrial complex than Obama did in his last four years in office.

Arms are made to kill and destroy. Killing and destroying is contributing big-time to the US GDP; in fact, this industrial octopus with all its associated tentacles  finance, IT, research, sub-contracting, mercenary funding abroad and within the US, spying and surveillance the world over  amount to more than half of the US total economic output. The United States of America lives off an economy of war, an economy of destruction and death.

Take Yemen. Since March 2015, the US and UK backed and armed Saudis have bombed Yemen to ruins, destroying schools, hospitals, roads, ports  vital infrastructure for any civilization. In addition to hospitals and schools, they targeted specifically water and sanitation systems to cause utmost harm to civilian populations. As a result, cholera cases are estimated at 500,000-plus, mostly children and women and elderly (UNICEF), the worst in recorded history. Many die, because the Saudis, again backed by the US and the UK, have banned import and distribution of essential drugs.

With major ports closed  also by the Saudis, the US and the UK, Yemen is facing one of the worst famine the world has ever seen in recent history. Daily Saudi shelling with US planes and UK bombs, has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, women and children  some estimates range from 60,000 to 80,000. Nobody really keeps count. Yemen has been (kept) poor before. And now, who cares. Yemen already today is the worst humanitarian crisis in decades. And there is no end in sight.

Since the US / UK backed Saudi attacks began some 20 months ago, UK arms sales have increased 50 times. Yet a case filed with the International Court of Justice (ICC) by UK citizens against illegal weapons sales, was dismissed by the court, as it could not find anything illegal with these weapon deliveries. That only shows, ICCs worthlessness, as it is totally controlled by the Zion-Anglo-Saxon hegemon.

What might be more effective than ICC in stopping the boundless assassination raids, is chaining up Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Theresa May and David Cameron, and parachuting them onto Hudaydah, one of Yemens hardest hit towns, in the west of the country. Let them see and feel and smell the pain, death and desperation of the survivors. Would it light up the remnants of their spark of ethics and moral they may still have left from birth?

Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, The 4th Media (China), TeleSUR, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion  An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed  fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! - Essays from the Resistance .
Prosecutors in Egypt's Red Sea region have referred a British woman to trial before a criminal court for attempting to smuggle hundreds of powerful painkillers which are banned in the Arab country.



The woman, 33-year-old Laura Plummer from Hull, has maintained her innocence since her arrest last month on arrival from Britain to Hurghada, a Red Sea resort city.

Plummer has insisted the Tramadol tablets were for her Egyptian partner who suffers from chronic back pain.



Tramadol is listed by Egyptian authorities as an illegal drug given its wide use as a heroin substitute.



No date has yet been set for her trial. Convicted drug smugglers could face the death penalty in Egypt.



At Saturday's hearing prosecutors renewed her detention for 15 days.



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Hamid Karzai: US Colluded With ISIL in Afghanistan

By Al Jazeera

November 10, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, has accused the the US of working with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in his country.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera's UpFront aired on Friday, Karzai said the US government had allowed ISIL, also known as ISIS, to flourish inside Afghanistan.

"In my view under the full presence, surveillance, military, political, intelligence, Daesh [ISIL] has emerged," he said.

"And for two years the Afghan people came, cried loud about their suffering, of violations. Nothing was done."

Karzai said the US administration of President Donald Trump made ISIL as an excuse to drop a massive bomb in Afghanistan on April 2017 .

"And the next day, Daesh takes the next district in Afghanistan," he said referring to the Arabic name of the armed group.

"That proves to us that there is a hand in it and that hand can be no one else but them [the US] in Afghanistan."

GBU-43, the largest non-nuclear bomb, the US used in combat was dropped in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, close to the border with Pakistan, reportedly killing at least 36 ISIL fighters and destroying tunnel complex of the armed group.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strike was designed to minimise the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the area.

The explosive, also known as the "mother of all bombs" (MOAB), was equal to 11 tonnes of TNT with a blast radius of 1.6km.

Witnesses said they felt the ground shake after the explosion, while others described towering flames in the aftermath.

At that time, Karzai also condemned the attack as "inhuman and most brutal misuse" of Afghanistan as "testing ground for new and dangerous weapons".

'Potential war crimes'

Karzai also said he welcomed a recent call by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan, including those committed during his tenure in office.

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"She's right to launch such an investigation," Karzai told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan, referring to ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's request to launch an investigation in Afghanistan.

Karzai also acknowledged that there were human rights violations during his government, and possibly on his watch.

"Definitely, there were violations by the Afghan security forces, by the US, and by others."



Karzai said he would help with any investigation, even into his own potential complicity.

"I have been asking for this so that they come to Afghanistan and investigate as to what has happened in this country."



During the interview, Karzai was also asked to respond to claims by human rights groups that he was warned while in office that human-rights abuses were taking place.



"They are wrong," he said. "They didn't tell me. I told them."



"I told the Western human rights bodies as to what was going on in Afghanistan. They were hiding it. The Western press was hiding it. I told them. I raised it."

This article was originally published by

Al Jazeera

-
Debunking Two American Myths

By The Saker

November 10, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - There are two myths which are deeply imprinted in the minds of most US Americans which are extremely dangerous and which can result in a war with Russia.

The first myth is the myth of the US military superiority.

The second myth is the myth about the US invulnerability.

I believe that it is therefore crucial to debunk these myths before they end up costing us millions of lives and untold suffering.

In my latest piece for the Unz Review I discussed the reasons why the US armed forces are nowhere nearly as advanced as the US propaganda machine would have us believe. And even though the article was a discussion of Russian military technologies I only gave one example, in passing, of Russian military technologies by comparing the T-50 PAKFA to the US F-35 (if you want to truly get a feel for the F-35 disaster, please read this and this). First, I am generally reluctant to focus on weapons systems because I strongly believe that, in the vast majority of real-world wars, tactics are far more important than technologies. Second, Andrei Martyanov, an expert on Russian military issues and naval warfare, has recently written two excellent pieces on Russian military technologies (see here and here) which gave many more examples (check out Martyanovs blog). Having read some of the comments posted under Martyanovs and my articles, I think that it is important, crucial, in fact, to drive home the message to those who still are thoroughly trained by the propaganda machine to instantly dismiss any notion of US vulnerability or, even more so, technological inferiority. I am under no illusion about the capability of those who still watch the idiot box to be woken out of their lethargic stupor by the warnings of Paul Craig Roberts, William Engdal, Dmitrii Orlov, Andrei Martyanov or myself. But I also think that we have to keep trying, because the war party (the Neocon Uniparty) is apparently trying really hard to trigger a conflict with Russia. So what I propose to do today is to connect the notions of war with Russia and immediate and personal suffering by showing that if Russia is attacked two of the most sacred symbols of the USA, aircraft carriers and the US mainland itself, would be immediately attacked and destroyed.

The aircraft carriers myth

I have to confess that even during the Cold War I always saw US aircraft carriers as sitting ducks which the Soviets would have rather easily destroyed. I formed that opinion on the basis of my study of Soviet anti-carrier tactics and on the basis of conversations with friends (fellow students) who actually served on US aircraft carriers.

I wish I had the time and space to go into a detailed description of what a Cold War era Soviet attack on a US aircraft carrier battle group would typically look like, but all I will say is that it would involved swarms of heavy air and sea launched missiles coming from different directions, some skimming the waves, others dropping down from very high altitude, all at tremendous speeds, combined with more underwater-launched missiles and even torpedoes. All of these missiles would be intelligent and networked with each other: they would be sharing sensor data, allocating targets (to avoid duplication), using countermeasures, receiving course corrections, etc. These missiles would be launched at standoff distances by supersonic bombers or by submerged submarines. The targeting would involve space-based satellites and advanced naval reconnaissance technologies. My USN friends were acutely aware of all this and they were laughing at their own official US propaganda (Reagan was in power then) which claimed that the USN would bring the war to the Russians by forward deploying carriers. In direct contrast, my friends all told me that the first thing the USN would do is immediately flush all the carriers away from the North Atlantic and into the much safer waters south of the so-called GUIK gap. So here is the ugly truth: carriers are designed to enforce the rule of the AngloZionist Empire on small and basically defenseless nations (like Saddam Husseins Iraq). Nobody in the USN, at least not in the late 1980s, seriously considered forward deploying aircraft carrier battlegroups near the Kola Peninsula to bring the war to the Russians. That was pure propaganda. The public did not know that, but USN personnel all knew the truth.

[Sidebar: if the topic of carrier survivability is of interest to you, please check out this Russian article translated by a member of our community which is a pretty typical example of how the Russian dont believe for one second that US carriers are such hard targets to destroy]

What was true then is even more true today and I cant imagine anybody at the Pentagon seriously making plans to attack Russia with carrier based aviation. But even if the USN has no intention of using its carriers against Russia, that does not mean that the Russians cannot actively seek out US carriers and destroy them, even very far from Russia. After all, even if they are completely outdated for a war between superpowers, carriers still represent fantastically expensive targets whose symbolic value remains immense. The truth is that US carriers are the most lucrative target any enemy could hope for: (relatively) small, (relatively) easy to destroy, distributed in many locations around the globe  US carriers are almost pieces of the USA, only much closer.

Introducing the Zircon 3M22 hypersonic missile

First, some basic data about this missile (from English and Russian Wikipedia):

Low level range: 135 to 270 nautical miles (155 to 311mi; 250 to 500km).

High level range: 400nmi (460mi; 740km) in a semi-ballistic trajectory.

Max range: 540nmi (620mi; 1,000km)

Max altitude: 40km (130000 feet)

Average range is around 400km (250mi; 220nmi)/450 km.

Speed: Mach 5Mach 6 (3,8064,567mph; 6,1257,350km/h; 1.70152.0417km/s).

Max speed: Mach 8 (6,090mph; 9,800km/h; 2.7223km/s) during a test.

Warhead: 300-400kg (high explosive or nuclear)

Shape: low-RCS with radar absorbing coating.

Cost per missile: 1-2 million dollars (depending on configuration)

All this is already very impressive, but here comes the single most important fact about this missile: it can be launched from pretty much *any* platform: cruisers, of course, but also frigates and even small corvettes. It can be launched by nuclear and diesel-electric attack submarines. It can also be launched from long range bombers (Tu-160), medium-range bombers (Tu-22m3), medium-range fighter-bomber/strike aircraft (SU-34) and even, according to some reports, from multi-role air superiority fighter (SU-35). Finally, this missile can also be shore-based. In fact, this missile can be launched from any platform capable of launching the now famous Kalibr cruise missile and that means that even a merchant marine or fishing ship could carry a container with the Zircon missile hidden inside. In plain English what this means is the following:

Russia has a missile which cannot be stopped or spoofed by any of the current and foreseeable USN anti-missile weapons systems. This missile can be deployed *anywhere* in the world on *any* platform.

Let me repeat this again: pretty much any Russian ship and pretty much any Russian aircraft from now on will have the potential capability of sinking a US aircraft carrier. In the past, such capabilities were limited to specific ships (Slava class), submarines (Oscar class) or aircraft (Backfires). The Soviets had a large but limited supply of such platforms and they were limited on where they could deploy them. This era is now over. From now on a swarm of Zircon 3M22 could appear anywhere on the planet at any moment and with no warning time (5000 miles per hour incoming speed does not leave the target anything remotely comparable to even a short reaction time). In fact, the attack could be so rapid that it might not even leave the target the time needed to indicate that it is under attack.

None of the above is a big secret, by the way. Just place zircon missile in your favorite search engine and you will get a lot of hits (131000 on Google; 190000 on Bing). In fact, a lot of specialists have declared that the Zircon marks the end of the aircraft carrier as a platform of modern warfare. These claims are widely exaggerated. As I have written above, aircraft carriers are ideal tools to terrify, threaten, bully and otherwise attack small, defenseless countries. Even medium-sized countries would have a very hard time dealing with an attack coming from US aircraft carriers. So I personally think that as long as the world continues to use the US dollar and, therefore, as long as the US economy continues to reply on creating money out of thin air and spending it like there is no tomorrow, aircraft carriers still have a bright, if morally repulsive, future ahead of them. And, of course, the USN will not use carriers to threaten Russia. Again, the US press has been rather open about the carrier-killing potential of the Zircon, but what it rarely (never?) mentions are the political and strategic consequence from the deployment of the Zircon: from now on Russia will have an easy and very high value US target she can destroy anytime she wants. You can think of the US carrier fleet like 10 US hostages which the Russians can shoot at any time. And what is crucial is this: an attack on a US carrier would not be an attack on the US homeland, nor would it be a nuclear attack, but the psychological shock resulting from such an attack could well be comparable to a (limited) nuclear strike on the US homeland.

This, on one hand, will greatly inhibit the Russian willingness to strike at US carriers as this would expose Russia to very severe retaliatory measures (possibly including nuclear strikes). On the other hand, however, in terms of escalation dominance this state of affairs gives a major advantage to Russia as the US does not have any Russian targets with an actual and symbolic value similar to the one of a US carrier.

There is another aspect of this issue which is often ignored. Western analysts often speak of a Russian strategy of deterrence by denial and Anti-Access Area Denial (A2AD). Mostly this is the kind of language which gets you a promotion and a pay raise in US and NATO think tanks. Still, there is a grain of truth to the fact that advanced Russian missiles are now providing Russia with a very cheap way to threaten even fantastically expensive US assets. Worse, Russia is willing (eager, in fact) to export these (relatively cheap) missiles to other countries. I find it amusing to see how US politicians are in a state of constant hysteria about the risk of nuclear proliferation, but fail to realize that conventional anti-ship missiles are a formidable, and much more likely, threat. Sure, there are missile export limiting treaties, such as the MTCR, but they only apply to missile with a range of over 300km. With modern ballistic and cruise missiles becoming smaller, deadlier and easier to conceal and with ranges which are (relatively) easy to extend, treaties such as the MTCR are becoming increasingly outdated.

The bottom line is this: as long as deterrences holds, attacking US carriers makes no sense whatsoever for Russia; however, as soon as deterrence fails, attacking US carriers, anywhere on the planet, gives Russia an extremely flexible and powerful escalation dominance capability which the US cannot counter in kind.

Striking at the Holy of Holies  the US homeland

If you thought that discussing striking US carriers was bad, here we are going to enter full Dr Strangelove territory and discuss something which US Americans find absolutely unthinkable: attacks on the US homeland. True, for the rest of mankind, any war by definition includes the very real possibility of attacks on your own towns, cities and people. But for US Americans who are used to mete out violence and death far away from their own peaceful towns and cities, the notion of a devastating strike against the US homeland is pretty much unthinkable. On 9/11 the loss of 3000 innocent people placed the vast majority of US Americans into a total state of shock which resulted in a massive over-reaction at all levels (which was, of course, exactly the purpose of this false flag operation by the US and Israeli deep states). Just as with carriers, the dangers of a US over-reaction should serve as a deterrent to any attacks on the US homeland. But, just as with the carriers, that is only true as long as deterrence holds. If the Russian territory becomes the object of a US attack this would clearly indicate that deterrence has failed and that the Russian armed forces should now switch from a deterrence mode to a war-fighting mode. At this point, the US American over-reaction to begin attacked or taking casualties could, paradoxically, result in a last-minute wake-up call indicating to everybody that what will come next will be truly devastating.

Introducing the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

Though officially very little is know about the Sarmat and the Yu-71, the reality is that the Internet has been full of educated guesses which give us a pretty clear idea of what kind of systems we are dealing here.

You can think of the RS-28 Sarmat as a successor of the already formidable RS-36 Voevoda (SS-18 Satan in US classification) missile: it is a heavy, very powerful, intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (warheads):

Weight: 100 tons

Payload: 10 tons

Warheads: 10 to 15

Hypersonic glide vehicles: 3-24 (thats the Yu-71 we will discuss below)

Range: 10000km

Guidance: Inertial , satellite, astrocelestial

Trajectory: FOBS-capable

That last line, about being FOBS-capable, is crucial as it means that, unlike most Soviet/Russian ICMBs, the Sarmat does not have to fly over the North Pole to strike at the United States. In fact, the Sarmat could fly over the South Pole or, for that matter, in any direction and still reach any target in the USA. Right there this capability is, by itself, is more than enough to defeat any current and foreseeable US anti-ballistic missile technology. But it gets better, or worse, depending on your perspective: the Sarmats reentry vehicles/warhards are capable of flying in low orbit, maneuver, and then suddenly plunge towards their targets. The only way to defeat such an attack would be to protect the USA by a 3600 coverage capable ABM system, something which the USA is decades away from deploying. And just to add to these already formidable characteristics, each Sarmat can carry up to 3-24 (depending on who you ask) Yu-71 hypersonic glide vehicles.

Introducing The Yu-71 (aka Object 4202) hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV)

Yet again, this is hardly a topic not covered in the media and you can find numerous articles describing what a hypersonic glide vehicle is and how it can be used. (the best article I could find in English was by Global Security, it is entitled Objekt 4202 / Yu-71 / Yu-74).

Here is a summary of what we think we know about this HGV:

Max Speed: from Mach 5, according to Scott Ritter, to Mach 9, according to a quasi official Russian source, to Mach 15, acccording to Sputnik, to Mach 20 (thats 7 kilometer per second, or 25200kh/h, or 15000mph), according to Global Security. Whatever the true speed, it will be fantastic and far, far beyond the kind of speeds current or foreseeable US anti-missile systems could hope to engage.

Hypermaneuverability: Russian sources describe the Yu-71 as   or hypermaneuverable warhead. What that exactly means in turns of sustained Gs does not really matter as this is not about air-to-air combat, but about the ability to perform sudden course changes making it close to impossible for anti-missile systems to calculate an engagement solution.

Warhead: nuclear and conventional/kinetic.

That last line is very interesting. What it means is that considering the speeds attained by the Yu-71 HGV it is not necessary to equip it with a conventional (high explosive) or nuclear warheard. The kinetic energy generated by its high speed is sufficient to create an explosion similar to what a large conventional or small nuclear warhead could generate.

Bringing it all together now

Did you notice the similarities between the Zircon missile and the Sarmat+Yu-71 combo?

In both cases we have:

an attack which can come from any direction speed of attack and maneuver capabilities which make interception impossible the capability for Russia to destroy a very high value US target in a very short time

It is amazing to see that while US decision makers were talking about their Prompt Global Strike program, the Russians actually developed their own version of this capability, much faster than the USA and at a fraction of the cost.

These are all ideal ways to bring the war home and to encourage a country which enjoyed total impunity for its policies to being seriously thinking about the consequences of messing around with the wrong people.

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To make things even more potentially dangerous for the USA, the very same geography which protected the USA for so long is now becoming a major vulnerability. Currently 39% of the US population lives in counties directly on the shoreline. In fact, the population density of coastal shoreline counties is over six times greater than the corresponding inland counties (source). In 2010 the US Census Bureau produced a fascinating report entitled Coastline Population Trends in the United States: 1960 to 2008 which shows that the coastal counties provide an intense concentration of economic and social activity. In fact, a very large number of US cities, industrial centers and economic hugs are located near the USA coastline making them all *ideal* targets for Russian conventional cruise missile strikes which could be launched from very long distances (including over open water). And we are not talking about some future, hypothetical, cruise missile, we are talking about the very same Kalibr cruise missiles the Russians have been using against the Takfiris in Syria. Check out this very well made video which explains how Kalibr cruise missiles can be hidden pretty much anywhere and used with devastating effect on military and/or civilian targets:

The reality is that the US homeland is extremely vulnerable to any kind of attack. This is only in part due to recent Russian advances in military technology. For example, the just on time manufacturing or delivery practices which are aimed to minimize costs and inventory are, from a strategic/military point of view, extremely dangerous as it take very little disruption (for example in the distribution network) to create catastrophic consequences. Likewise, the high concentration of some industries in specific areas of the United States (oil in the Mexican Gulf) only serve to further weaken the ability of the United State to take any kind of punishment in case of war.

Most TV watching Americans will dismiss all of the above by saying that anybody come mess with us and we will kick their ass or something equally sophisticated. And there is some truth to that. But what this mindset also indicate is a complete mental inability to operate in a scenario when deterrence has failed and the other guy is coming for you. That mindset is the prerogative of civilians. Those tasked with the defense of their country simply cannot think that way and have to look beyond the threshold of deterrence. They will be the one asked to fix the bloody mess once the civilians screw-up. Georges Clemenceau reportedly once said that War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men. I believe that the exact opposite is true, that war is too serious a matter to entrust to civilians, especially the US Neocons (the vast majority of whom have never spent any time in uniform) and who always make it sound like the next war will be easy, safe and painless. Remember Ken Adleman and his famous Iraqi cakewalk? The very same kind of scum is in power today and they want us to believe that the next war will also be a cakewalk or that being on a high speed collision course with Russia is something the USA can afford and should therefore engage in. The combined effect of the myth of US military superiority with the myth about the US invulnerability result in a US American sense of detachment, or even impunity, which is not at all supported by fact. I just fervently hope that the people of the USA will not find out how mistaken they are the hard way.

In the meantime, the Russian Chief of General Staff, General Gerasimov, has announced that Russia had completed what he called a non-nuclear deterrence system based on the Iskander-M, Kalibr and X-101 missiles. According to General Gerasimov, the Russian armed forces now have enough high-precision weapon systems to strike at any target within a 4000km range. Furthermore, Gerasimov declared that the number of platforms capable of launching such missiles has increased twelve times while the number of high precision cruise missiles has increased by a factor 30. General Gerasimov also explained that the combined capabilities of the Kalibr cruise missile, the Bastion mobile coastal defense missile system and the S-400 air defense system made it possible for Russia to fully control the airspace and surface of the Baltic, Barents, Black and Mediterranean seas (talk about A2AD!). Gerasimov concluded his briefing by saying the development of high-precision weapons has made it possible to place the main burden of strategic deterrence from nuclear to non-nuclear forces.

To fully evaluate the implications of what Gerasimov said please consider this: deterrence is, by definition, the action of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences. So what Gerasimov is really saying is that Russia has enough conventional, non-nuclear, capabilities to inflict unacceptable consequences upon the USA. This is something absolutely new, a fundamental game changer. Most importantly, that is the official declaration by a senior Russian official that the USA does not have any technological superiority and that the USA is vulnerable to a devastating counter-attack, even a conventional one. In one short sentence General Gerasimov has put to rest the two most important myths of US geostrategic theory.

Keep in mind that, unlike their US counterparts, the Russians typically like to under-evaluate Russian military capabilities. You will find the Russia media bragging about how totally awesome and best in the world Russian weapons systems are, but military personnel in Russia still has a corporate culture of secrecy and under-reporting your real capabilities to the enemy. Furthermore, while junior officers can say pretty much anything they want, senior officers are held to very strict rules and they have to carefully weigh every word they say, especially acting officers. So when the Chief of Staff officially declares that Russia now has a conventional strategic deterrence capability  you can take that to the bank. Its real.

Alas, the western media is still stuck in the full idiot mode we saw during the transit of the Russian aircraft carrier from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean: on one hand, the Admiral Kuznetsov was presented as a rusty old bucket while on the other NATO forces constantly shadowed it as if it was about to strike London. Likewise, US politicians present Russia as a gas station while, at the same time, stating that this gas station has the capability to decide who lives in the White House. This kind of reporting is not only unhelpful but outright dangerous. One one hand the the Russians are backward brutes fosters an arrogant and cocky attitude. On the other hand, constantly speaking about fake Russian threats results in a very dangerous case of cry wolf in which all possible Russian threats (including very real ones) are dismissed as pure propaganda. The reality is, of course, very different and simple in a binary way: Russia represents absolutely no threat to the United States or anybody else (including the three Baltic statelets). But if some western politician decides that he is smarter and stronger than Napoleon or Hitler and that he will finally bring the Russians to their knees, then he and his country will be destroyed. It is really that simple.

The Saker
Home ISIS Defeated In Syria And Iraq - Main Street Media Ignores It



By Pepe Escobar November 10, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Two days ago, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), supported by Russian air power, finally took control of Albu Kamal  the last Daesh base in the Syria/Iraq border.



One week ago, the Iraqi Army and the PMUs reconquered al-Qaim, on their side of the border. Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the legendary PMU commander, previously had told a small group of us in Baghdad that would happen in a matter of days.



It ended up being four  to be exact.



The Syrian forces will now be redeployed northwest, towards Idlib, the last moderate rebel stronghold of that thing called Syrian Conquest Front, a.k.a. Nusra Front, a.k.a. al-Qaeda in Syria.



The key point is that Syrian and Iraqi forces have met at the border  with defeated Daesh jihadis scurrying around or turned into roadkill.



This is History in the making.



And right on cue, VIRTUALLY NOTHING about this REAL ON THE GROUND VICTORY OF A REAL WAR ON TERROR is being covered by Western corporate media.



No wonder. Because this was the work of Damascus, Russia, Hezbollah, Iran advisers, Baghdad and the PMUs  actually the 4+1 - and not the US-led coalition that includes Wahhabi mongrels House of Saud and UAE - that totally smashes to bits the monochord Washington narrative.



So History in the making must be silenced.



Of course Project Daesh of balkanizing Syraq is not dead.



Yet.



The jihadi diaspora  across the desert, towards other fronts (Afghanistan, Philippines, the Caucasus)  is in effect.



The usual suspects - and their proxies/lackeys  simply wont give up Never Miss Another Story Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
The management of the University of Lagos has provided a drug test kit in its medical centre to examine students suspected to be on hard drugs.

The institution said no less than 100 illicit drug users were caught within a year of commencement of the tests.

According to the outgoing Vice-Chanc ellor of the institution, Prof. Rahaman Bello, confirmed this at a forum with News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

Bello said the initiative was necessary because drug abuse was on the increase, generally, in the nations tertiary institutions.

Drug abuse is a major problem for every institution, particularly those in the cities. We have gone ahead in the University of Lagos to address it.

With the test kit, anyone who is suspected, his/her urine or blood  depending on what we want to do  is collected for test.

The thing about drug is that when you take it, it will be in your blood for a long time, so you cannot say, I did not use it once the test kit detects it.

Before we started using the test kit, everyone we picked denied using drug since we could not find any evidence, he said.

According to him, with the test kit, the university has been able to pin down victims, but granted them amnesty.

He said although the universitys regulation provides that any student found dealing with drug should be expelled, the management had been warning and rehabilitating culprits.

With the rehabilitation, the victims are given two or three semesters to get clean. By this, we mean they will visit the medical centre on a monthly basis to get tested.

If, after two or three visits, you are found clean, we will admit you back to the system; if not, you are sent out.

This we do not to unnecessarily punish them, but to assist them to find a way to regain themselves, he said.

Bello said about 100 students of the university were detected to be using hard drugs in 2016.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
The members of the group marched around some streets in Onitsha, Anambra State on Friday, vowing a lockdown on the day of the election, which is scheduled to hold on Saturday, November 18, 2017.

Members of the group can be heard threatening voters in videos of the march circulating online.

They said, If you vote you will die. Dont go out, stay in your house. If you vote on November 18, you will die. We are not running around for the zoo.

There will be no election. We will not participate, we will not vote. Nothing concerns us with any election. We are formidable.

We are in Onitsha to tell the Federal Government to produce Kanu. They should release all the Biafrans in Nigerian prisons.

Speaking with one of our correspondents on the telephone, IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, noted that the purpose of the demonstration in Onitsha was to show the world that the threat of bullet would not stop the group from realising its aim of having Biafra Republic.

He said Igbo people living outside the South-East should contact their families at home to boycott all future Nigerian elections, including the governorship election.

Powerful said, Today in Onitsha, we broke the python Buratai, Ohanaeze, Obiano and Igbo governors brought to our land. Anybody doubting the resolve of IPOB under the supreme command of Nnamdi Kanu is mistaken.

We will put Anambra State on lockdown on November 18. This is a taste of what is to come. Nigeria should be prepared.

It is also very critical to inform every Biafran, be you IPOB family member, businessman, farmer, artisan, driver, teacher, doctor, motorcycle/tricycle union, civil servant, trader, market leader, National Union of Road Transport Workers, National Association of Road Transport Owners, fisherman, market men and women, including politicians who believe in freedom and liberty of a free independent State of Biafra, to boycott the Anambra State election.

According to him, the election boycott will give their agitation a global momentum needed to make world leaders accept a peaceful break-up of Nigeria.

They will be morally bound to consider a possible date for Biafras referendum for independence without delay. A vote in Anambra elections will mean electing into office the same people who, over the years, have been responsible for the death, pain, misery, agony and suffering of our people. We would have only succeeded in renewing our suffering for another four years, Powerful said.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
The Boko Haram sect have killed at least three Nigerian soldiers and a militiaman were killed in an ambush on the edge of Sambisa forest near the border with Cameroon, military and militia sources told AFP Saturday.

The ambush occurred as troops returned to base late Friday in the town of Gwoza near the mountainous border with Cameroon after destroying three Boko Haram camps in their forest enclave, the sources said.

We lost three soldiers and a member of the CJTF (anti-Boko Haram militia) in the ambush, a military officer involved in the offensive said.

Ten soldiers and three CJTF were injured in the fight, said the military source who asked not to be identified as he was not authorised to speak.

A militia source backed his account.

While returning to base the civilian militia-backed troops came under attack from Boko Haram fighters who came from all directions, militiaman Haruna Tola said.

They came firing heavy weapons from all directions around 6:00 pm (1900GMT) and encircled the team, Tola added.

Soldiers called in fighter jets for aerial support and succeeded in repelling the attack, he said.

Boko Haram seized Gwoza in August 2014 and declared it their caliphate before Nigerian troops reclaimed it the following March.

The military clawed back the town, 130 kilometres from the regional capital Maiduguri, following intensive military campaigns that saw the jihadists losing swathes of captured territory.

In December last year the Nigerian military claimed it had routed Boko Haram from its Sambisa stronghold after a long offensive and declared the group a spent force.

However, despite the military successes Boko Haram has continued to launch attacks on military targets and raids on villages in the region.

Source : ( AFP )
The Burundi government has given unmarried couples until December 2017 deadline to legalise their relationships through the church or state registries, Al Jazeera reports.

President Pierre Nkurunziza had in May signed a new law which the government says will help protect women and create a more moral society, but some disagree.

The government insists a legal document recognising a marriage helps protect women and their children, especially when it comes to issues such as inheritance.

However, others say the new marriage law infringes on peoples religious beliefs, customs and practices.

The Interior ministry spokesman, Terence Ntahiraja, told the AFP news agency that Burundi was facing a population explosion, which he blamed on illegal marriages, polygamy, bigamy and hundreds of schoolgirls getting pregnant.

He said church and state-sanctioned weddings were the solution and were a patriotic duty.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
A Nigerian Lady, simply identified as Tolu, with the Twitter Handle, @LadyToluu has declared she can go all-in-all for a mans organ.

Writing on her Twitter timeline, the beautiful lady said: I can travel from Lagos to Sokoto for d-ck.

She continued, saying that no one should come to her TL, to spew rubbish at her, or to preach, Nobody should come and tell me any f-cking rubbish on my TL.

Her tweet has garnered over 312 retweets, and over 200 replies, and still counting.

..A Twitter user, Fuad, called her a fool, and a dirty dog, and she quickly clapped back at him, saying he was referring to his mother.

Another user, Ahmed, replied her as thus; Congratulations. You have just won the award of the Olosho of the Century, then a user, identified as emmanuel, quickly replied Ahmeds tweet; You no get sense, you just gats abuse, travel from lagos to sokoto means she dey f-ck around??? Then Tolu, thanks Emmanuel for his support: Just help me leave the bros. His reasoning capability isnt very broad

Nonye, had a different perspective, she feels Tolu shouldnt be judged, as those even judging her, arent even as better as her: See all of you judging her bcos her sin is different from yalls sins! Anyway

Same with precious: A tweet is not an endorsement. People say a lot of shii dey dont mean. Awon castigators, like sey una no dey do pass. Silent oloshos

Nella hilariously replied: Why sokoto? Go farther naww.. like timbuktu or australia.

Another user, showed her concenr, as Tolu has no idea how far Sokoto is from Lagos, she wrote; Do you even know how far sokoto is? But youll go by air shaabi?

-Gistreel
Former vice-chancellors of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede and Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali; Chief Imam of the school, Prof. Abdulganiyu Oladosu, and 13 lecturers from the institution before a magistrates court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital by a man identified as Mr. Abubakar Abdul Kareem.

According to some documents sighted by our correspondent on Friday, Oloyede, who is the current Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, had been summoned before the court.

Abdulkareem had lodged a criminal complaint of conspiracy, false information, kidnapping and abduction of his wife and four children, against the defendants, in line with Sections 97, 177, 273, 386 and 389 of the Penal Code of Kwara State.

He said that his wife, Fatima, and their four children, were on January 10, 2011, abducted.

He further said the defendants allegedly conspired to destroy his marriage.

He said, Three of the accused persons in execution of their coordinated criminal plans, unlawfully kidnapped my wife and took her to an unknown destination. I discovered that my wife was being unlawfully held and kept in the first accused persons uncompleted private residence, while my children were kept and subjected to forced labour, child abuse/molestation by the accused persons.

Counsel for the complainant, Mr. Alayo Akanbi, moved an application that the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 13th, and 14th accused persons should be served with a criminal summons in the matter by pasting the summons in conspicuous places at their addresses. The application also sought to have the ruling reserved till February 22, 2018.

In his reaction, counsel for the accused persons, Ibrahim Abikan, moved an application asking the court to dispense with the move by the complainant to have his clients appear in court pending the trial.

The matter was adjourned till February 22, 2018.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared 21 days mourning for its members killed during the military invasion of the home of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu at Afara Ukwu, Umuahia, Abia State.

This is even as the Biafra agitation group says it has discovered more corpses of her slain members in a bush within the precincts of the home of its leader, SunNewsOnline reports.

The group equally informed that it is burying the slain members, numbering more than over 28 who were killed during the invasion, in piecemeal with 11 of such bodies already interred.

A senior member of the group, Mark Eze Ofuonye, who disclosed how some of their members were shot dead by the invading soldiers, and their corpses dumped in a bush near the home of the IPOB leader, said:

Some of our members, numbering over 28, were murdered in cold blood by the military during the invasion of our leaders home at Afara Ukwu. The soldiers were doing a sort of mop up operation; whenever they killed any of our members, they carried away the corpse to conceal their horrendous act but it was not possible.

So, they filled up their trucks with our members corpses. The corpses we retrieved and which we are burying at present are those the soldiers could not carry. They just came out with the intention of killing any human being or living thing that was found in the compound of our leader. The people they met were not armed still they shot them, even people just standing nearby and those passing through the area were caught in the attack.

Continuing, Ofuonye said:

The corpses we are burying now (referring to the day of the interview) were found inside the bush. They were shot by soldiers and they ran into the bush with bullet wounds thinking that they could receive help there but no help came their way and they died inside the bush.

Some of the dead bodies were discovered last week inside the bush at the back of Nnamdi Kanus house. The 28 were those ones that were killed within the axis of the house of our leader. But the total number killed within this range is 305 persons.

The IPOB chieftain who said there was no need for the operation by the Nigerian army as members of the group did not carry arms neither were they violent, added that the leadership of the group declared the 21-day mourning for their slain members.

Disclosing that those killed were from the Eastern heartland, Ofuonye said that in addition to burying the dead, the group is also treating the injured and taking care of the imprisoned ones.

We lost very vibrant and lovely youths who were just peacefully asking for their rights, but the Nigerian government chose to use brute force on them. Some of our members, who were forced to drink poisoned water, have been defecating blood and we are also treating them. About 76 of our members were dumped in Aba prisons under the most inhuman condition and many of them are ill.

A lot of things are being done against our members, but the most beautiful thing about all these things is that the horrible experience we are passing through is giving us strength. The spirit has risen, the enthusiasm has come because when you look back and see youve lost a lovely one, a colleague, going back becomes a very big problem; you cant go so that it will not look as betrayal.

As I speak, we are establishing more zones and new members are coming in, we are winning the war of battle of hearts and minds, he assured.

He said the 21-days of mourning began October 26. He was emphatic that the struggle would continue, stating:

Because in any struggle, people die, but the only painful aspect of it is that we lost young boys, youths who had bright future. In the civilized world, you dont touch people like that, no matter what they did, at worst you take them to court; but we have drawn strength from their death and we are not going back.

He advised the United Nations to send its representatives to the home of their leader at Afara Ukwu to be able to see how soldiers invaded the house of a core civilian with heavy armoury and none of the soldiers sustained any scratch which he said was an indication that despite the propaganda mounted by the Nigerian army, the IPOB members were not armed. (SunNewsOnline)
German Evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke who is currently in Nigeria for his farewell crusade, has told prospective worshipers that he doesnt collect offerings during his crusades.

We are here to bless you; we have brought you gifts of salvation and deliverance; we are here to give and not to take anything from you.

Anyone who asks you to give offering for this crusade is a thief and should be reported immediately, the sponsors of the crusade, Christ for All Nations, warns participants on Thursday at the crusade ground.

This counter statement came after the Preacher was accused of seizing the opportunity offered by the huge crowd at Bonnkes crusade, to raise money for personal use.

50-year-old Mr. Ifeanyi Duru, who spoke to The Punch correspondent, said Bonnkes decision to not raise offerings at his crusades is an attestation to his sincerity in only being concerned about the salvation of souls.

Duru recalled that as a student in the University of Benin in the mid 1980s, a popular preacher from the region (name withheld) had to contend with the activities of people he described as rogues who tried to raise unofficial offerings from the crowd.

The preacher, who is now late, had decided to collect offering during his open-air crusades, but some unscrupulous persons tried to outsmart him, Duru said. The colours to be used were announced just a few seconds to the commencement of each offering collection; and because the rogues had no prior idea, they were defeated in their purpose, Duru said.

He, however, commended Bonnkes caring heart for refusing to succumb to what he called the temptation to exploit the crowd, who he said would have given generously if asked.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People ( MOSOP ) to start the process of clearing the names of the nine Ogoni martyrs, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other persons, who were executed in 1995.

MOSOP also appealed to Buhari to initiate the process of giving national honour to the nine martyrs, adding that immortalising the individuals would perfect the quest for national healing and reconciliation.

The President of MOSOP, Legborsi Pyagbara, made this appeal in Port Harcourt during the Memorial Lecture in honour of Ogoni Nine, tagged: Centering Social Justice in Nigeria: Promoting Equality through Effective Participation and Inclusion of Indigenous Minorities the Case of the Ogoni People.

Pyagbara said it was worrisome that after moves by MOSOP and other relevant agencies to get the Federal Government to exonerate the victims and added that no attention had been given to the course of justice for the nine martyrs.

He called on the FG to give national honour and immortalise the nine Ogoni sons in the interest of justice and maintained that it would erase the blot on the nations conscience and prove that the current government shared in the pain of the Ogoni people.

Pyagbara said, As we have said on previous occasions, the process of national healing and reconciliation will not be complete until the Nigerian Government clears the names of the Ogoni Nine. The United Nations fact-finding team, which arrived Nigeria on April 1996, passed a verdict that the trial and execution of the Ogoni nine was unjust, unfair, partial and does not meet the requirements of both domestic and international Human Rights laws.

MOSOP believes that the period of this commemoration provides the government of Nigeria with the opportunity to consummate the process of national healing and reconciliation with Ogoni people by formally clearing the names of the Ogoni Nine of the wrongs and establish a national monument in their honour and memory.

On this remembrance day, we are sending a strong note of appeal to the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to set in motion the process for clearing the names of the Ogoni Nine.

Meanwhile, Resident Coordinator, United Nations Development Programme, Nigeria, Dr. Edward Kallon, who was represented by Mr. Willbroad Ngambi, the UN representative in the South-South Geo-political Zone, said justice ensured peace in every society, noting that UN was interested in promoting environment and human rights.

Similarly, Prof. Ben Naanen, a lecturer in the Department of History and Diplomatic Studies, University of Port Harcourt, who delivered a lecture on the topic, The Ogoni Struggle: Ruminations and the Future Unfold, expressed worry that despite the huge oil deposit in the area, the Ogoni people were still being marginalised.

Naanen noted that no nation would survive without justice, saying, Ogoni people are suffering margilisation. They (Ogoni people) are excluded from enjoying the benefit of oil. Instead what the people saw was only pollution. That was not justice and not equity.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
The Nigeria Labour Congress said on Friday that it had uncovered plans by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State to embark on mass sacking of workers.

Addressing a news conference in Abuja, NLC president, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said the recent sacking of teachers was a pointer to the planned mass sack of workers in the state.

He said laying-off workers would deepen the level of poverty and deprivation in the country.

The November 8 mass protest by workers was to express our collective opposition to the anti-worker policies of the governor.

The claim that the competency test conducted for teachers was transparent is untrue.

We have found out that some of those who were said to have passed the test were either dead, retired teachers or those who left service two years ago.

Also included were school guards who were never engaged in the teaching profession.

Wabba said it was clear that the state government was only interested in mass sacking of workers, going by the recent developments.

The target is workers in the civil service, local government, ministries, departments and agencies, Wabba said.

According to him, the planned sack is targeted at about 5,000 local government workers and 8,000 in MDAs.

Source : (NAN)
A court in the Federal Capital Territory High Court has remanded five suspects who allegedly diverted food meant for IDPs.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, November 9, 2017 arraigned Adamu Ado Bomboy, Sadiq Abubakar Tijjani, Abban Thomas, Umar Idris, Rabiu Haruna and Elephant Group Ideas Nigeria Limited, before Justice A. B. Mohammed of the Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja, on a 4-count charge of criminal conspiracy and illegal diversion of food meant for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.

Bomboy and his co-accused sometime in May 2016 were allegedly entrusted with 249 trucks of maize belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria meant for delivery to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the North Eastern States of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba.

The defendants were discovered to have dishonestly converted 65 of the said trucks of maize to personal use. The offence contravenes Section 311 and punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Code Act Chapter 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja).

One of the counts reads: That you, Alhaji Adamu Ado Bomboy (while being the Managing Director of Elephant Group Ideas Nigeria Limited), Elephant Group Ideas Nigeria Limited and Sadiq Abubakar Tijjani, sometime in May 2016 at Abuja within the Jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, while being entrusted with 249 trucks of Maize belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria for delivery to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the North Eastern States of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba, dishonestly converted 65 (sixty five) trucks of the said Maize to your own use in violation of legal contracts which you made in regard to the delivery of the said goods and thereby committed an offence.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the counts. In view of their pleas, counsel to EFCC, Salisu Majindadi informed the court of the prosecutions readiness to open trial.

My Lord, we have two witnesses in court and we are ready to open our case today, he said.

However, Bomboys counsel, J. J. Onye, and other counsel in the defence asked the court for more time to prepare their defence, but were objected by Majindadi who said, The defence counsel were served with the charge for more than one month and therefore require no time to prepare.

The defence counselsfurther urged the court to admit the clients to bails. Their applications were also objected to by Majindadi, who urged the court to remand the accused persons in Kuje prison.

After listening to the submissions of counsel, Justice Mohammed adjourned to November 13, 2017, for ruling on the bail applications and ordered the defendants to be remanded in Kuje prison.
The Nigeria Police, Niger State Command said it arrested a 65-year-old man, Patrick Kalu, of railway quarters, Minna for allegedly having anal sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Superintendent of Police, Abigail Unaeze, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, said this while briefing newsmen in Minna on Saturday.

On Nov. 8, 2017, based on reliable information, police detectives arrested one Patrick Kalu aged 65, for allegedly having sex through the anus with a 15 years old boy.

Unaeze told journalists that the suspect who was arrested during the act had kept the victim in his house at the railway quarters for over one year.

She said that the suspect lured the unsuspecting victim from Karimo area of Abuja with the intent of securing a job for him, adding during investigation the suspect confessed to the act.

The PPRO categorised the offence as an un-natural offence, adding that the suspect would soon be charged to court.

Speaking to newsmen, the suspect admitted having canal knowledge of the teenage boy, saying it was the hand work of the devil.

Kalu who hails from Ohafia in Abia state has three children from his late wife.

Source : (NAN)
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has told both members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress need to be rejuvenated for Nigerias democracy to be strong.

Obasanjo made the observation when he received one of the PDP national chairmanship aspirants, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, on Saturday in Abeokuta.

The former president remarked that both the ruling and opposition parties need to be strengthened for the countrys democracy to be salient and strong.

I have also said that the two parties that are there, the one in government and the one in opposition are both wobbling parties.

I still believe that the two wobbling parties can still be made strong. They can, Obasanjo said.

He re-emphasised that he was no longer interested in partisan politics in Nigeria.

He said that he left PDP when he discovered that the party had been destroyed beyond what he could be associated with at that point.

Obasanjo said there was no reason PDP should not have ruled Nigeria for 50 years as believed by some people, but that the party caused its own problem.

That has happened in some other countries like Germany, where a party runs the affairs of the county for decades, but of course, that is not the history in our own case.

Obasanjo said that those who destroyed the PDP were still in it and that they would not leave until the running of the party was taken over by determined, selfless, upright, and honest people.

If we are just saying PDP has a crisis, which is self-made and that the Supreme Court had resolved the crisis for us, we are just deceiving ourselves.

The Supreme Court has taken a right decision as an apex court should, but as a party, only that cannot help you to do it all.

He prayed for PDP to get its national convention right, saying the chairmanship of the party was very important.

Source: ( NAN )
A petition for rapper Meek Mills release has gathered over 100K signatures as calls for his freedom grow louder. According to reports, the petition calls on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to release the 30-year-old rapper on probation.

Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, was sentenced on Monday to 2-4 years in state prison for violating probation from his 2009 drug and weapons case.

Philadelphia Judge Genece Brinkley shocked the legal community by jailing the rapper to prison despite recommendations of no jail-time from probation officers and Mills attorneys.

After the sentence, one of Meek Mills attorneys, Joe Tacopina, told TMZ that the rapper is behind bars because the judge has a long-standing vendetta against him. Tacopina claimed that the Judge who is from the same part of Philadelphia with Meek, sent him to jail because he failed to do a remake of Boyz II Mens, On Bended Knee and give her a shout-out.

The rapper is serving his sentence at the state prison at Camp Hill, near Harrisburg, Pa., where he is known simply as inmate # ND8400.

Source: Linda Ikejis blog
The Lagos State Police Command have confirmed the arrest of over 30 suspected thieves at Oshodi-Oke, in a clampdown on suspected robbers who attack people caught up in traffic jam.

The suspects were alleged to belong to criminal gangs who dispossess motorists of their valuables during rush hours.

The Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Olarinde Famous-Cole, said the suspects who specialised in dispossessing motorists of valuables, were arrested on Friday evening.

At about 5:45pm on Friday, November 10, the Police received information of an attack on a motorist by a gang of four men.

The four men, all residents of Oshodi, divided themselves into two groups, whereby some distracted attention by engaging the driver, while other members of the gang quietly dispossessed the unsuspecting motorist.

The victim, one Dare Adewale, was dispossessed of his Infinix mobile phone. The thieves ran away when passers-by raised the alarm.

Men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad posted to Oshodi-Oke subsequently rushed to the scene and the gang members were arrested, he said.

He added that the suspects were immediately taken to the Police station for preliminary investigation.

In a similar development, the SARS operatives on the same day at 7pm also arrested 28 hoodlums who capitalised on the slow moving traffic caused by construction works at Oshodi to dispossess motorists of valuables.

According to the PPRO, the arrest was carried out through intelligence report and surveillance of the route during traffic.

Today the 10th of November, 2017, at about 7pm at Oshodi area of Lagos State, SARS operatives arrested 28 hoodlums who attacked motorists in traffic gridlock caused by the ongoing construction work in that area.

The arrest was done in the evening by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad through intelligence report and surveillance of the area during traffic period.

The Commissioner of Police Lagos State Command, Ag. CP Edgal Imohimi, is using this medium to inform members of the public who have been victims of traffic robbers in this area to kindly visit the State SARS office, Ikeja and help in identifying some of the arrested suspects.

The suspects will be charged to court on Monday, November 13, he said.

Famous-Cole added that the CP has promised that the Command would do all it takes to locate criminal hideouts and arrest more suspected traffic robbers.

This, he said, was to ease the free movement of Lagosians and ensure they feel safe to go about their daily activities, especially as the Yuletide is fast approaching.

Source: (NAN)
FOLLOWING the news of the arrest of Nigerian internet personality and beautician, Idris Okuneye aka Bobrisky, for allegedly proclaiming himself as gay, the police have cleared him.

I dont know about the arrest, and the command did not arrest him, the Lagos State Acting Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, said on Wednesday.

He does not have any problem with the command. Ask him who arrested him.

More so, the Police Public Relations Officer for Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos, SP Dolapo Badmos, also denied the arrest of the cross-dresser.

She said, I am not aware of the arrest. Maybe he was arrested somewhere else.

On Tuesday, the internet was awash with stories of the arrest of the Nigerian Snapchat Queen by police officers attached to a Lekki police station for coming out as gay in an Instagram post.

All these house boys and girls coming to drop comment on page are you all stupid? Bobrisky wrote.

Do you think your hate comments can change me? Why are you trying so hard to get my attention? If all your insult bothered me, I should have stopped posting here. Yes am gay, I will go to hell fire. Thanks. Please what else? Im tired of those same words. I wanna hear something new.

Though he later deleted the post, the attention had begun because in previous interviews, Bobrisky, despite his effeminate ways of cross-dressing, wearing make-up, had always denied being gay. While the allegation of being gay had always hung over Bobrisky, some people thought it was strange that such could warrant the police to arrest him, given his controversial posture as a cross-dresser and skin bleaching cream agent. In fact, another report speculated that behind Bobriskys arrest is connected to a running battle with socialite Toyin Lawani, an allegation which Lawanis crew have refuted. But Bobrisky does not believe it.

On Wednesday, Bobrisky accused Toyin Lawani of being behind his ordeal.

Toyin Lawani asked her lawyer to write petitions against me claiming that I worked for her and Im selling cream to all her customers, he revealed to Linda Ikeji Blog. Lawani had allegedly called him a riff-raff during a social media rift.

Which was a fat lie? I never worked for Toyin. She was my friend. I cant remember ever working for Toyin or learning how to make cream from her.

Then she also said I threatened her. So we are going to Abuja because that was where the case was reported. Before she wrote petitions against me, she had already threatened me that she is giving me 7 days to go to the internet and apologize to her which I said no way because she offended me. I think because I refused to apologize, she got the police involved.

Bobrisky also said the police took his phones and was told he would need to wait until the next morning to go to Abuja. In 2016, police arrested Bobrisky for allegedly beating up a lady who allegedly took photos of him.

His early days

WHILE almost every human society throughout history followed norms and designated conventions of cultural behaviours including clothing for each genders or age, there exist some exceptions. But who is exactly is this fair-complexioned Bobrisky, perhaps, Nigerias most famous cross-dresser who falls into such category.

Bobrisky who lost his mother in 2008 was born in 1992 in Ebutte Meta, Lagos into a Muslim family. And in interview conducted in 2016, Bobrisky said he coined his brand name by adding risky to Bobo, the name his family called him as a child.

I was born in a polygamous family, said Bobrisky who attended Kings College, Lagos before attending University of Lagos, where he graduated from the department of accounting. He lost his mother

My dad has three wives. My mom is the last wife and I, the last born of the family. My family use to call me Bobo while growing up. I was like, let me add risky because I love to take risk. Thats why I came up with Bobrisky.

The skin-whitening business

AND in 2014, Bobrisky got trapped in his biggest risk, cross-dressing, due to peer pressure, he said. It would also take another risk  him being mocked for being dark in complexion  for Bobrisky to discover his now lucrative bleaching cream business.

I went to Dubai with my friends (and) while gisting, a naughty friend just said, Im too black that I need to bleach maybe to chocolate or tone up a little, he said.

I was like lemme try to tone up, but the cream made (me) to have scratches, dark spots and dark knuckles. I was like lemme kuku make everything blend since I have no choice.

After Bobrisky turned from black to white, he abandoned his unisex shop at Ikeja, where he sold ladies wears and started selling the cream to his admirers.

As a cream seller and make-up artiste, I put everything on, to advertise my product  bobrisky is not doing it lure men. People starting adding me on Snap and Instagram because of my makeup and bleaching cream. I sold my cream to other countries like Gambia, Zimbabwe, Canada, Austria and UK, the blog there are promoting my business on their blog.

Since then, his brand of cream has attracted wealthy clientele and the Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State indigene, with his social media presence, has gradually become one of Nigerias most controversial internet personality. He also sells expensive skin-whitening reams which go for as much as 100, 000 naira as he writes about his ostentatious life on social media. He has also reportedly got invites to elite gigs and even made a debut as an actor in a movie, Ojuloge, with Tayo Sobola and Toyin Afolayan. And for a week last year, Bobrisky came out tops on Google search. Googles Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, in a statement disclosed that Bobrisky was most searched on the global search engine between October 26 and November 2, 2016.

Top trending searches on Google this week went from a fashionable man with a different dress sense to a search for a chemistry, which is neither a subject nor love bond, said Kola-Ogunlade.

Bobrisky, Africas Male Barbie became a search interest this week after a presidential aide pulled off from a new media conference, because he could not share the stage with the social media sensation.

Bobrisky had earlier dominated Google search some months back, for cross-dressing, use of makeup and stories of highlife with a secret bae.

The gay allegation and sexual harassment

APART from his sexy voice and mannerisms, dressings like a woman, Bobrisky recorded more followers, mostly males, on his Snapchat account when he claimed he has boyfriend, known as BAE. Though, he refused to reveal his mysterious friends gender, he would use him when talking about his BAE. And in October 2016, Bobrisky posted a photo where he posed with N7 million which he received from his BAE.

Many times, men have mistaken me for a woman because of my feminine looks, Bobrisky said, denying being gay, despite twerking and whining on social media.

And they have tried to lure him to bed with money and have failed.

Though Bobrisky said he is currently single after his girlfriend left him because he wore make-up, he plans to settle down and have a family.

One day, we went out for a dinner and a white man was staring at me, she said of how he and his girlfriend separated.

She got notice and she broke up with me. Since then, Ive been dating other women but Im not ready to settle down.

Life in a homophobic society

IN Nigeria, involvement in same-sex relationships is punishable with 14 years imprisonment as prescribed by the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) which became a law in 2013. However, arrests are infrequent as homosexuals live in hiding. Hence, it is ironic that the social media account of Bobrisky which tends toward homosexuality is very active. The two major religions practiced in the country  Christianity and Islam also frown against homosexual acts. While the bible in Deuteronomy 22:5 which reads A woman must not wear mens clothing, nor a man wear womens clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this, frowns against cross-dressing, Sharia law prescribes death for people found guilty of engaging in same-sex acts.

Experts view on cross-dressing

A psychologist warns that cross-dressers may begin wearing clothing associated with the opposite sex in childhood, using the clothes of a sibling, parent, or friend. Some parents have said they allowed their children to cross-dress and, in many cases, the child stopped when they became older.

At 25, perhaps, it is not yet time for Bobrisky to change.

source:
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress has made shocking revelations accusing Governor Nasir El-Rufai of mischief.

The Nigeria Labour Congress said on Friday that it had uncovered plans by Gov. Nasiru El Rufai of Kaduna State to embark on a mass sack of workers.

Addressing a news conference in Abuja, NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba said that the recent sack of teachers was a pointer to the planned mass sack of workers in the state.

He said that laying off workers would deepen the level of poverty and deprivation in the country.

The Nov. 8 mass protest by workers was to express our collective opposition to the anti-workers policies of the governor.

What surprises us is his penchant for falsehood and fraudulent claims in his quest to impose hardship on the people, especially workers.

For instance, the claim that the competency test conducted for teachers was transparent is not only false but also shrouded in arrant fraud.

We have found out that some of those who were said to have passed the test were either dead, retired teachers or those who left service two years ago.

Also included were school guards who were never engaged in the teaching profession.

He said it was clear that the state government was only interested in the mass sack of workers going by the recent developments.

The target is workers in the civil service, local government, ministries, departments and agencies, Wabba said.

According to him, the planned sack is targeted at about 5,000 local government workers and 8,000 in MDAs.
A witness has given a blow-by-blow account of how Samsudeen paid a cumulative sum of N1.1billion to buy different properties in choice areas of Abuja, using names of different companies.

Hearing of a case of illegal acquisition of wealth and money laundering to the tune of N1.1billion involving Samsudeen Bala-Mohammed, a son of a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed got underway on Thursday, November 9, 2017 with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, presenting its first witness, Ishaya Dauda, before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja.

Samsudeen, who was re-arraigned on May 30, 2017 on an amended 15-count of money laundering and false declaration of assets, is facing trial alongside four other companies: Bird Trust Argo Limited, Intertrans Global Logistics Limited, Diakin Telecommunications Limited and Bal-Vac Mining Nigeria Limited.

The ex-ministers son among other things allegedly involved in cash payments above statutory limit for the construction and purchase of properties in various parts of Abuja.

He allegedly paid various cash sums of money beyond the limit set by the Money Laundering Act for the purchase of houses without going through a financial institution.

Dauda, an operative of the EFCC, while being led in evidence by the Ben Ikani gave a blow-by-blow account of how Samsudeen paid a cumulative sum of N1.1billion to buy different properties in choice areas of Abuja, using names of different companies.

According to the PW1, the Commission stumbled on the various offences committed by Shamsudeen in the course of investigating his father, Mohammed.

The witness also revealed how the sums of N580,000 and $60,000 were recovered from Shamsudeens residence during execution of a search warrant.

I know the defendant. In the course of investigating a case assigned to me against the former FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, we received an additional intelligence concerning purchases of properties by the defendant within the FCT.

The companies are Diakin Telecommunications Ltd., Balbac Minning Nigeria Ltd., and Intertrans Logistics Global Nigeria Ltd.

We extended our investigation to the Corporate Affairs Commission. We confirmed that the companies were registered with the CAC.

We invited the lawyers that registered these companies by name Ishiaku Shuaibu, who confirmed that he registered those companies.

Our investigation was extended to Abuja Investments Development Company, where the General Manager, Dr. Musa Musa, and the company secretary, Salisu Abdusalam, were invited to our office.

Their statements were taken concerning the purchase of properties by the defendant using Diakin Telecommunications Ltd., and Balbac Minning Nigeria Ltd., which they confirmed.

They said he brought cash to their office. He bought the properties from the Abuja Development Investments Company. The properties are located in Apo Area of Abuja.

Another property that was purchased by the defendant is at 7, Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja. He brought cash in company with a lady by name, Maimuna Aliyu Sanda.

Together they took this cash to the developer, by name, Farouk Saleh. The cash was in dollars, they told me. But the worth of the property was N210m.

Another property was purchased at Sunrise Hill, Asokoro. The defendant made lodgment of N80million to the then managing director of the company. The MD, Sami Apougaoude, a Lebanese is late now. Then the defendant contacted a company, K & K Construction Company, to build the said property.

He again made a cash lodgment of N100million to Sunrise Hill in error which was then transferred to K&K Construction Company into their Zenith Bank account. He then made a cash lodgment of N110million to K&K directly.

Again, he made a lodgment of N200million to K&K Construction Company.

All these lodgments were made in the name of the Birtrus Agro Allied Limited.

The last time he made lodgment to K&K Construction company was N296million, Dauda stated.

The statements made by the defendant and the asset declaration form completed by him were tendered and admitted as exhibits as Chris Uche, SAN, representing the defendant raised no objection to the admissibility of the documents.

Further hearing has been adjourned to December 11, 2017.
Kenny Ogungbe, the Chief Executive Officer, Kennis Music, on Saturday advised the P-Square to urgently resolve their differences, saying the raging rift could ruin their music careers.

Ogungbe gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on the sidelines of the All Africa Music Awards 2017 in Lagos.

NAN reports that news was rife on the breakup of the two music stars, 35-year-old identical twin brothers, Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye, after irreconcilable differences.

They produced and released their albums through Square Records. In December 2011, they signed a record deal with Akons Konvict Muzik label.

In May 2012, they signed a record distribution deal with Universal Musics South African branch.

On Sept. 25, 2017, numerous media outlets reported that the group was disbanded. Reports about a breakup surfaced after Peter reportedly sent a termination letter to the groups lawyer.

Prior to this report, the duo disbanded in 2016, supposedly over a disagreement about the role of their manager.

Ogungbe said: The fighting between the P-Square will not bring out anything good; they are brothers and have produced over 100 songs, but they are fighting, it is going to affect their music.

I dont care about what anybody says, it is a bad development for them; they should settle whatever they have against each other.

Most Nigerian musicians are very pompous and have no respect; they derive pleasure in fighting which always lead to their downfall.

For me, I want all Nigerian musicians to be successful, that is what I want and pray for. They should succeed, he said.

Ogungbe said that Nigerian musicians should do more to be heard and be reckoned with in the international community.

The way I want Nigeria music to go is the same way you want Nigeria music to go. I want it to progress and beautiful.

I want more artists to make more money, so that we can have successful artists; thats my prayer for Nigeria music industry.

Most Nigeria musicians making waves now are not better than those in the remote, but they must do more to be heard.

For me as a producer, I will pick those I know that can make wave and elevate me competitively, because there is a lot of competitiveness in the industry now, he said.

Source: NAN
The level of restiveness in South Sudan has continued unabated with the government forced to extend its declared state of emergency as a security measure.

South Sudan on Friday said it had extended the state of emergency in four restive states until 2018 to curb the recent spike in clashes between rival communities and clan-based violence.

Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told newsmen in Juba that President Salva Kiir extended the state of emergency to three more months in the northern states of Wau, Tonj, Gogrial and Aweil.

The President on Thursday, extended state of emergency in four states. The reason is disarmament and conflicts between communities in these areas, Ateny said in Juba.

The state of emergency was initially declared in July in the war-torn country which covers president Kiirs home area of Gogrial.

At Gogrial, two rival ethnic Dinka clans of the Apuk and Gwok have continued to clash amid killings, cattle theft and displacements.

In Gogrial, the conflict is between the Agwok and Apuk clans and Wau is fighting between rival communities,Ateny disclosed.
FOUNDER, House of Tara, Tara Durotoye, is conscious of the need to leave the world better than one met it, hence she is doing her bit to empower as many people as she can to become productive members of society.

Penultimate Wednesday was a day set aside for the celebration of this lifelong mission of hers as she collaborated with First Bank on the 1000 Voices event designed to celebrate and promote female entrepreneurship.

Featuring successful female entrepreneurs, including prominent blogger Linda Ikeji, there were touching stories of success against the odds even as ways were discussed to move the cosmetics industry to the next level.

The august event, tagged National Beauty Summit, was held at the expansive Harbour Point, Victoria Island Lagos. Tara Durotoye, through her House of Tara, is widely reputed as the pioneer in the beauty industry.

She paved the way for the 1000 voices and more who now walk confidently on the path of self-actualisation.

source:
A heartbroken woman has narrated how her husband of 13 years who she had a daughter with, stooped too low to sleep with their maid each time she goes on a business trip to the extent of getting her pregnant as the jobless husband accused his wife of starving him.

Mrs. Franca Joko, 43, hails from Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state. A 2005 HND holder in Business Management from the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, she met her husband, Emmanuel Joko, 46, and a 2005 HND holder in Accounting.

Mr. Joko, from Toto Local Government area of the state, and Franca, got married in December 2005, some months after graduation. Together, they joined the marketing department of the local branch of United Bank for Africa (UBA) but left after three years to set up and run their own business.

Resigning and raising the business capital

But today, after almost 13 years of marriage blessed with one child, a girl, the union had virtually hit the rock. In a tearful voice, Franca told Saturday Sun what happened.

After resigning from UBA, she said: we put together our resources and I started the business of selling and supplying high quality wrappers to politicians, business executive officers, bankers, businessmen and women and civil servants. Through this connection, I started traveling to Dubai to buy expensive and high quality materials.

I advised my husband who is not working to use proceeds from the business to buy a plot of land in Lafia and build a house. He bought into the idea and we were able to get a piece of land at the cost of N1m. From that moment, I started sending money into his account to start the building while I devoted myself to the business.

Marriage and the coming of housemaid

I got married to Emma because I was under pressure from my parents and friends who had gotten married early and when I met him in school, he seemed to me as a gentle and good man, meek, intelligent and caring. I was intrigued by his ingenuity. If we had dated long I would have discovered some of the characters he is exhibiting now.

She said that it was when they got married that she discovered that her husband had a tendency to be promiscous. He can sleep with anything in skirt, no matter how ugly and unappealing, she alleged. But by the time she did, she was already eight-month pregnant for him. She was later delivered of a baby girl in February 2007.

She said while she endured life with Emma, providence smiled on her as the business began to flourish. It was in the course of this that she discovered she needed a house help to take care of her child and home while away.

She contacted her mother on this and she provided her with one of her (mothers) younger sisters daughters who is now about 18 years old. Faith by name, Franca said she completed her secondary education with them in Ado, Karu Local Government area of Nasarawa State where they reside.

Sowing the seed of discord

Im not always around due to the nature of my business, she confessed, but I do send money into his account for the building of our house in Lafia. But when in July 2017 schools were on holiday, he suggested that their daughter, Joy, who is 10 years old should travel with him alongside Faith to Lafia as a way of changing environment, while he is busy supervising the ongoing work on the house (a four-bedroom flat and three-room boys quarters).

According to her, that was when the devil that was after their marriage chose to strike. It never occurred to me that he would descend so low as to lure Faith into having s*x with him. But that was exactly what happened and between July and early September 2017 when they were in Lafia and I was in Dubai for a business trip, he turned this girl into his wife by having s*x with her at will.

Eventually, she became pregnant. When I returned and Faith narrated to me what happened in Lafia and Emma got to know about it, that became the beginning of the end to our happiness.

Things fall apart

Right from that moment, life has never been the same in the family, Franca said. Any small thing I did, this man would beat me blue and black, she alleged. He became so aggressive and threatened to stop the business I was doing, saying that it is the money I am getting from it that is making me to look down on him. He made a lot of attempts to stop the business but I strongly resisted him. Even when Faith told me she is pregnant for him, I asked him politely in the night to tell me what happened.

Unknown to me, more troubles lay ahead for me. It is a miracle that Im alive today. During the last trip I made to Dubai, I paid about N4 million into his account to furnish the house and fence it round. When I asked him about the Faith matter, he started beating me, hitting my head against the wall and punching my breast just because I asked a simple question.

He would say that at the rate the money is coming in he suspects that Im into prostitution and that it is getting into my head. He said that he needed to stop me. On September 15, 2017, when I went to Port Harcourt on a business trip, he picked Faith and dropped his daughter with a neighbour on the day I told him I was coming back.

Right now, they are living as husband and wife, Franca reported. When I called him on phone, he told me to go about my business of prostitution as he has settled down with Faith who is pregnant for him. Since then he has never picked my calls up till now, she lamented before adding that she has reported the matter to her parents and Emmas.

Both of them asked me to be calm and never call him any more. While confessing that such attitude is strange to them, they advised that we should all be patient to see what he wants to do. I have accepted it and I am waiting to see what he intends doing with my younger sister who is pregnant for him. My regret is that they are enjoying themselves with my hard-earned money.

Husband speaks on why things are no longer at ease

Initial attempts to meet with Emma and hear his own side of the story proved abortive as he kept making and changing appointments till Friday November 3 when a correspondent met him and his new wife at Lavista. One of the best eateries in Lafia, located around Nasarawa State Polytechnic.

Though he vehemently refused to have his photo taken, he confirmed that Franca was his legitimate wife, and that they met at the Federal Polytechnic as students and that he was instrumental to their brief stay in UBA as staff in the marketing department

We raised together the capital of that business she is doing, he said. I have two cars in Abuja which I gave out as taxi and I get returns on them weekly. Yes, she gave me money to buy a plot of land and developed it from the proceeds she generated from the business. Though the land was bought in my name, Im not claiming it solely because we have a daughter. The property is intact for her if she wants it.

Asked about his sexual affair with Faith, he said, Yes, this girl became pregnant courtesy of me but it was a mistake. But before I knew it, she had told all her friends and neighbours about it and I was mad. We couldnt manage the information because it was already in the public domain. As a result of it, the two of us became subject of discussion and I got angry and decided that the worst should happen.

Still talking about Faith, he announced that she is in good and safe hands and I will own up to the responsibility of this pregnancy until she delivers. After all, she (meaning Franca) had just a baby girl for me. So if she is not ready, she can go.

She kept traveling from one place to another; we hardly had time to have s*x and as a human being, that led me into taking that decision. I know it is bad but she didnt allow us to manage it internally and the manner she went about it made it difficult for us to think about abortion.

Her property is intact for her. I have not taken it and will not take it. Im waiting to hear from her parents. I wont go there until Faith delivers in April next year. Speaking briefly, Faith said: I go by what he said.
Ever since Apple unveiled the iPhone X with only Face ID, there has been a lot of concerns about just how secure the technology is. Various other forms of facial recognition used by Android OEMs were found to be subpar in terms of security and could be easily fooled using a photo.

Apples approach is more advanced and thus secure which is why the company boasts that Face ID is more secure than Touch ID. Proving Apple wrong are security experts from Bkav Corporation who managed to fool Face ID using a facial mask. The mask is crafted using 3D printing, 2D images, and some special processing on the cheeks and around the face, where there are large skin areas, to fool AI of Face ID.

Bkav was the first company in 2008 to demonstrate that the facial recognition system used in laptops from Toshiba, Asus, Lenovo etc. were not good enough from a security viewpoint.

Ever since the release of the iPhone X last week, there have been many attempts to fool Face ID. The ones that have been successful so far are too technical and require a lot of effort which should not bother regular customers. But that is only valid if they dont have an identical twin. However, one must not forget that Face ID is still new and its performance and the level of security it offers is bound to improve over time as Apple improves the AI behind it.

[Via Bkav
An airliner has landed with no nose gear at Belfast International Airport.

Fifty-six people were on board Flybe flight BE331 when it was forced to carry out an emergency landing with the front of the plane unsupported.

The Bombardier Q-400 had taken off from Belfast City Airport and was due to fly to Inverness before being diverted.

The plane burned fuel in a holding pattern off the coast of Belfast for around two hours before landing at Belfast International Airport with the runway closed to other aircraft.

A Flybe spokeswoman said: "Flybe can confirm that there has been an incident involving one of our Bombardier Q-400 aircraft, flight BE331, which landed with no nose gear in place.

"The aircraft departed from Belfast City at 11.07am bound for Inverness. The incident occurred at Belfast International Airport at approximately 1.30pm.

"There are 52 passengers on board and four crew members. Our primary concern is for the welfare of the passengers and crew."

A spokeswoman for Belfast International Airport said: "A Flybe flight from Belfast to Inverness declared an emergency and landed at Aldergrove at about 1.20pm today.

"The airport is still open and full emergency procedures have been deployed."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has rubbished a UK media report which claims that the Government is only now starting to fight against a hard border in Ireland.

It comes after The Sun claimed that the Irish Government's stance has hardened because of pressure from Gerry Adams.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it is "an absolutely essential priority" to stop all violence against Burma's Rohingya Muslims, allow them to return to their homes, and grant them legal status.

The UN chief said the UN is also insisting on "unhindered humanitarian access" to all areas of northern Rakhine State, where more than 600,000 Rohingyas lived before fleeing to Bangladesh.

Mr Guterres is leaving for Europe and Asia, where he will attend a joint summit between the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which is certain to address the plight of the Rohingyas.

Burma's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has faced growing international condemnation over violence against the Rohingyas, is expected to attend the meeting in the Philippines from November 10-14.

Buddhist-majority Burma does not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group, insisting they are Bengali migrants from Bangladesh living illegally in the country.

It has denied them citizenship, leaving them stateless.

The latest violence began with a series of attacks August 25 by Rohingya insurgents. Burmese security forces responded with a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages that the UN and human rights groups have criticised as a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Mr Guterres said: "What has happened is an immense tragedy, and the levels of violence and the atrocities committed are something that we cannot be silent about.

"We insist on the need to make sure not only that all violence against this population stops, but also ... we insist on the need to reassert the right of return."

The secretary-general said the Rohingya must be able to return voluntarily, in safety and dignity, to the areas they came from and not be placed in camps.

Mr Guterres said the root causes of the discrimination that has left the Rohingyas stateless, such as their legal status, must also be addressed.

He has previously urged Burma's government to give the Rohyingyas citizenship, or at least legal recognition, so they can move freely, get jobs and an education, and receive health care.

"We'll go on engaging in all possible domains for these objectives to be finally achieved," the secretary-general said.

Mr Guterres applauded a presidential statement which strongly condemned the violence against the Rohingyas and was approved unanimously by the Security Council on Monday, calling it "an important step forward".

The statement called on Burma's government to "ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State" and take immediate steps to respect human rights.

It was the strongest council pronouncement on Burma in nearly 10 years, and reflected widespread international concern at the plight of the Rohingyas.

AP
Defence barrister Sian Langley said, immediately after the verdict was delivered late yesterday afternoon that the accused, Kathleen Stokes, was anxious to have sentencing as soon as possible.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain said: Let her rest assured she is facing a substantial period in custody. She should relax herself now. I dont see any urgency. It is a very serious case and the level of criminality is complete.

She was remanded in custody for sentencing on November 21. The jury took an hour and a half to reach their unanimous verdict of guilty on the charge of handling stolen property.

Kathleen Stokes, aged 43, of Bay 4, St Anthonys Park, Knocknaheeny, Cork, had been found not guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on other charges  stealing the safe during a burglary at a house on Faggott Hill, Clogheen, Blarney, Co Cork, and damaging the house.

Witnesses saw a woman with long blonde hair in the front passenger seat of a jeep seen speeding out of the drive of the burgled house, and a blonde woman later leaving a field where an abandoned jeep with a stolen safe in the boot was found.

Gardai later met Kathleen Stokes walking down the road in a dressing gown and pyjamas. When stopped at Faggott Hill, she told Garda Anthony Gardiner she was out for a walk. Interviewed later, Stokes said: I know nothing about any burglary, I dont commit crime.

The owner of the house was away and the burglary was carried out at around 7pm on April 29.

I stopped behind them. We didnt know what to do really. Peter tried to phone the guards. The next thing they backed on top of my car, Ms Murphy testified.

She said the jeep drove off again and into a field. Peter Murphy said he saw a woman leaving the field through a neighbouring farmyard a few minutes later.
Extra plainclothes gardai, members of the traffic corps, and a small number of armed officers will form part of a permanent police presence in the town to ensure everybody has a safe and enjoyable Christmas, head of the Newcastle West Garda district Supt Eamon ONeill confirmed yesterday

Following extensive consultations members of the settled and Traveller community and local businesses, the policing plan includes special court sittings and the HSE will set up a triage clinic with a doctor and a nurse to support existing medical services in the town.

During the Christmas and New Year period, the towns population swells from about 1,500 to more than 3,000 with the arrival of transient Travellers with family links to the town. Many come from Germany and the UK in expensive caravans which they park in the town, leading to congestion of housing estates and traffic mayhem.

Last year, there was a public outcry over the behaviour of some visitors and there was a spate of public order incidents on the streets.

Supt ONeill said that, following extensive consultations, a policing plan has been put in place which will start at the end of this month and continue into January so prompt action can be taken to deal with any issues which may occur.

Sgt Niall Flood will be based in Rathkeale to take overall supervision of the policing plan, said Supt ONeill. There will be a permanent Garda presence over the period of the plan and we will be drawing on divisional resources with the deployment of the traffic unit, the armed response unit, and plainclothes members to ensure everybody can enjoy the holiday period.

All we want to achieve is that everybody has a safe and enjoyable Christmas and we dont want to turn Christmas in Rathkeale into a police event. But we will have what we deem to be appropriate Garda resources to deal with anything which might occur. And there will be extra courts sittings if deemed necessary.

We have met with the settled and Traveller community, with business people, publicans, public representatives, and all the stakeholders to reassure them that all necessary resources will be in place and we will be outlining the details of the plan to them in the coming days.

Fine Gael TD Tom Neville, whose constituency office is in Rathkeale, welcomed the plan for the town.

All we want for Rathkeale is that over the Christmas/New Year holiday it gets the same extra resource as other towns get during the summer period when major festivals are hosted and they experience a big influx of visitors, he said.

Rathkeale has a short sharp burst in population over a short period and you need all these extra resources to kick in.
Three of the men were before the courts yesterday charged in connection with car break-ins on the southside of the city.

Separately, the Garda air unit was called in to assist in a massive manhunt in the north Cork area yesterday afternoon after another spate of burglaries in the region, earlier in the day.

Gardai, last night, said they were still hunting for a four-man gang, believed to be travelling in a black Saab, who they believe were responsible for burglaries in the Kerrypike and Castlemartyr areas.

Yesterdays manhunt followed a successful Garda operation in the early hours of yesterday on the southern outskirts of the city.

Gardai were alerted to reports of suspicious activity in the Passage West area at around 3.30am.

Supt Charlie Barry said there was an immediate response and several Garda units swamped the area.

Gardai intercepted a high-powered BMW in the Maryborough Woods area, near Douglas, a short time later and arrested three men at the scene. One is in his mid-40s. The other two are in their early 20s. All have addresses in the Midleton area.

Gardai are still searching for a fourth man they believe may have been in the vehicle earlier. They are following a definite line of enquiry.

Officers recovered a substantial quantity of stolen goods from the BMW, including a TV, cash, satnavs, school bags, and make-up.

The three men were later charged in connection with up to 16 car break-ins in the Passage West, Rochestown, and Douglas areas in the hours before.

Supt Barry said other vehicles may have been targeted, and he added that gardai were in the process yesterday of returning the stolen goods to their rightful owners.

Just hours later, and in the same Garda district, two men in their 20s were arrested as they left a house in the Togher area. Gardai recovered stolen iPads.

Supt Barry thanked vigilant members of the public for alerting gardai to the suspicious activity in both cases and said it ensured a swift Garda response, which led to five arrests in total.

There has been a general surge in burglaries in recent weeks, which resulted in the launch last week of a winter phase of Operation Thor.

Detective superintendents were asked to gather intelligence on organised crime gangs and to identify targets who are travelling around the country to commit burglaries, and using the motorway network to escape.

The intelligence reportedly led to the arrests of four men in Lucan on Wednesday who were suspected of having left Dublin earlier in a stolen high-powered vehicle and of travelling to the Midlands and committing burglaries.

Jewellery and suspected house-breaking implements were recovered.

Last weekend, gardai in the Mayfield district of Cork City issued a specific warning to homeowners following a 400% spike in burglary rates in that area alone since October 8 ,which they believe were committed by criminals using the M8 motorway, and targeting empty homes in residential areas of Cork just off the motorway, including Glanmire, Little Island, and Mayfield.

Gardai arrested three men in Kildare on Monday night following a pursuit, during which a shot was discharged, and they are investigating links between this gang and the recent spike in burglaries in Cork.
The case against Michael Wall, 38, with an address at 2 Marionville, Alexandra Road, St Lukes, Cork, was adjourned until June 13, 2018, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court for an update on a particular course, addressing issues in the defendants background.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain said he wanted Wall to continue with a supervised programme in the meantime.

Wall was convicted by a jury on fraud-related charges.

The main counts related to giving the elderly owner of a Cartier brooch about 17,000 less than it made at auction in Geneva and giving her a false document from the auction house.

Detective Garda Padraig Reddington read the victim impact statement on behalf of the elderly woman.

I did not bring this case for the attention of the gardai originally for money, the woman said in her statement. It was to get justice for being wronged by someone I trusted and welcome into the family home to help me.

I have had so many sleepless nights. I now feel very vulnerable in dealing with people. It has, after 84 years of life, changed how I view and interact with people.

I am now, more than ever, aware that you can no longer take someone at their word and that trust needs to be earned.

I am at a financial loss of over 17,000 due to the dishonesty and deceit of the guilty party, Michael Wall.

My solicitor looked up the brooch on the internet and that is the first time I had heard the true value of the sale of the Cartier brooch. I felt I could have died with the shock and couldnt believe someone could be so dishonest.

I was under a lot of stress due to this case and the proceedings and I felt stupid for trusting someone who has now so clearly, in hindsight, done me so wrong.
The Supreme Court in Brasilia confirmed last night that an injunction to suspend the case, already granted to THG executive Kevin Mallon, extends to all others listed in the case, namely Mr Hickey, and Barbara Carnieri, who was arrested alongside Mr Mallon in a hotel in Rio on the eve of last years Olympic Games. Both Irishmen here arrested in Rio during the 2016 Games as part of an investigation into alleged illegal resale of Olympic tickets

Both Mr Hickey and Mr Mallon were due to appear at a local court in Rio de Janeiro on November 29, when a judge was to hear witnesses for the prosecution and defence.

It was expected that the final judgement would not be heard until February 2018, after the judge had analysed all evidence.

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court confirmed last night that the decision to suspend the case with respect to Kevin Mallon extends to all of the accused in this process.

The case will remain suspended until the judge analyses an appeal based on a habeas corpus claim.

Just two weeks previously, the same Supreme Court judge denied a separate habeas corpus claim, also brought by Mr Mallons legal team.

In his October 13 decision, Supreme Court judge Ribeiro Dantas said: I do not verify the occurrence of flagrant illegality in the contested decision [to accept charges against Mr Mallon], that would justify the processing of the present order.

Mr Dantas is the same Supreme Court judge who ordered the release of Mr Mallon from Bangu prison on August 28, 2016, reversing his denial of a habeas corpus claim made by Mr Mallons solicitor, Mr Gomes, on August 15. Two days later, Mr Hickey was released from jail.

Both Irishmen paid financial bonds to the courts, in exchange for the return of their passports. In the case of Mr Hickey, a bond of around 410,000 at the time was paid, while half that amount was paid separately in the case of Mr Mallon.

Mr Gomes has been tireless in his attempts to have the criminal case thrown out of court in Brazil.

While Mr Hickeys legal team had suggested that their client would participate in the November 29 hearing by video conference, a formal request to use such facilities is not thought to have been lodged.

Both Irishmen protest their innocence.
Kathryn Nelson lost her career after she was arrested in connection with the 2004 robbery in which 39m was stolen from the Northern Bank in Belfast. Now living in Laois, she has supported herself through a defamation award she received from a newspaper which branded her an IRA gang member after her arrest but says she is now penniless.

She applied for the state pension but the fact that she spent most of her career abroad has complicated her claim. She ran out of time in responding to requests to provide further information and now has to appeal a decision to refuse her claim.
The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) was responding to the recent approval by government departments to allow further exceptions to pay caps in order to attract world-leading researchers in limited circumstances.

The 250,000 limit on pay for up to 10 people recruited under a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research professorship programme is over a third higher than the current 185,000 cap in the university sector.

The Department of Education said special arrangements were recently approved by it and the Department of Business, Employment, and Innovation, and followed consultations which led SFI to conclude that pay caps in an existing system allowing deviations from university pay limits were acting as a barrier to attracting exceptional academics to Ireland.

The departures framework has been used around 20 times since 2002, for very specific circumstances that have to be justified by the relevant colleges and require the approval of the education minister and finance ministers.

IFUT general secretary Joan Donegan said proposed salaries of 250,000 for a few trophy staff is no response to a decade of policies that have forced huge numbers of highly-qualified researchers in Irish universities to emigrate or seek alternative employment. Researchers in colleges in particular have been subject to the harshest cost-cutting measures, including the lack of security of tenure, low pay, and unacceptable working conditions, she said.

As an example, she said, a number of researchers at Tyndall National Institute which is attached to University College Cork have moved abroad because of a combination of stringent pay caps and lack of state support, and gone on to develop hugely commercial concepts and designs.

Only this week, IFUT won a long-running Labour Court case concerning an attempt by a university to deny permanent employment to a researcher by manipulating fixed-term employment legislation, she said.

The case involved a historian employed on several successive contracts at Maynooth University, which made the case to the Labour Court that the nature of the fixed-term contracts was linked to the temporary nature of the project he was working on. It was also argued that the university was restricted by public service employment controls and project-specific funding when it made Ciaran Reilly redundant last year.

However, the Labour Court ruled he had been employed on a contract of indefinite duration by the university in 2014 and should therefore be rehired, in what IFUT has described as a landmark decision.

Ms Donegan compared the move to attract leading researchers as like lighting matches to drive away the cold, when there is a wider funding crisis in third-level education. The simple fact is that the State is starving third-level colleges of state funding, she said. The crisis of attracting and maintaining qualified lecturers and researchers will only be reversed by a recommitment of the exchequer to provide adequate resources.
FASHION is a fickle business. Those who survive its whims either cut their cloth to suit the mood of the moment or possess an ineffable DNA that defies seasonal trends. Those that thrive understand their woman  the driving force for a designer; the alchemical weapon that elicits both inspiration and admiration. If she happens to be Scandi or French, all the better.

Just ask Pernille Teisbaek. This month marks the release of the Nordic fashion influencers debut tome Dress Scandinavian: Style your Life and Wardrobe the Danish Way. In it the blogger and stylist offers tips on mastering cool minimalism with relative ease. With over 34 million Google search results for dress like a Scandinavian woman (and Teisbaeks 477k Instagram followers) the commercial appeal is obvious. Not to mention, the Copenhagen natives breezy daily outfit posts (think Celine trainers, Ganni dress, vintage Hermes bag).

Pernille Teisbaek gives tips on mastering cool Scandi minimalism in her new book. Picture: Cindy Ord/Getty Images

But shes not alone. This summer, French model, aristocrat and former muse to Karl Lagerfeld Ines de la Fressange reprised her bestselling style guide Parisian Chic as an illustrated look book, offering readers a visual how-to for looking gallic on-the-go. Oh, lets not forget her 2018 weekly desk planner for stylish scheduling. With over 34 million Google search results for dress like a French woman (and Fressanges 209k Instagram followers) the fashion math is equally obvious. Scandi or French  when it comes to matters of taste, we want what theyre having and were willing to pay for it. The question is, why?

Simple. The confluence of social media and mid-market brands (aka not too pricey) has given style seekers the option of wardrobe staples that boast equal parts frisson and function; comfort and cool factor. Ask any Irish woman to open her wardrobe and youll probably spot a COS dress, Acne Studios jeans or a selection of tops and jackets from Sandro and Maje. Oh, and a pair of Isabel Marant Dicker boots, always. Although geographically and aesthetically distant, both Scandi and French styles share a commonality of ease and idiosyncratic chic. Whats more, their design differences make them unlikely but oh-so-lovely partners in crime. Its an alchemy in itself and one that pays retail dividends.

Isabel Marant Dicker ankle boots, Brown Thomas, 420.

In order to reap the sartorial sweet spot, a spot of dress code decoding is in order. Heres the deal. Most Scandi brands are traditionally known for their rigorous lines and clean, often oversized, silhouettes.

Swedish labels like COS, a high street fixture in Ireland since 2010; Acne Studios, known for its cool cult classics; and playfully androgynous designer Anne Sofie Black  a favourite with Rihanna and the Crown Princess of Sweden, are at once cerebral, artfully reinventive and all capable of giving convention a razor-sharp shake.

Danish labels, on the other hand, elicit a more coquettish edge. Bruns Baazar, Day Birger, Ganni and Baum und Pfedergarten have given rise to the cult of the Copenghagen Girl: a new strand of Scandi chic  equally directional but more often done on a bike over cobblestones. Think trainers paired with pleated skirts and quirky knits  more mix-n-match than minimal.

French fashion boasts a similar appetite for the clean and understated albeit with a delicious blend of classic and quixotic; off-duty and opulence. The capsule? A love-worn leather jacket, Claude Pierlot Breton tee and Chanel 2.55 bag; tailored Maje suit and box fresh trainers; or an A.P.C. trenchcoat layered over, well, anything. The key? Unstudied but always noticed; apparently effortless but polished.

Lets not overlook the lifestyle appeal. From the cosy charm of Hygge (a Danish and Norwegian moniker for the snug quality leads to a feeling of well-being) with its plush cashmere socks and roll neck sweaters; to the delicious contradiction of guilt-free indulgence and perfect moderation mastered by the French fille (OTT is not in the French lexicon), we get to not only look the part but feel the part. Combine this with a bevy of social media muses that parlay their regional affiliations (Helena Christensen and Alexa Chung are GanniGirls; Gigi Hadid and Kristen Stewart show love for Sandro Paris and, before long, we all want to be part of the style tribe.

For stylist Colm Corrigan, the allure is more practical than poetic. All of those brands have a strong handwriting  people think if I go to that brand I know the look Im getting; I know what Im going away with. In a market of infinite choice, this cannot be overlooked, especially when buyers remorse looms so large.

COS, the label Irish women cant get enough of.

For instance, with Scandi brands, they have their standout pieces but they also have a good level of basic pieces with a simple design format like the white shirt that COS does every single season, the amazing quality of Acnes jeans, he says. Its something that doesnt frighten people. Its not like a Gucci over-encrusted embellished shoe that people are afraid to wear or dont know how to put it into their wardrobe. Solid point. Weve all been there. Weve all done that. Weve all had to donate that ornate tricky trend piece to charity. So, have the sartorial scars of impulse need it now buys led us to a happy fashion medium?

Aisling Kirwan, proprietor or Corks Paper Dolls boutique, seems to think so. Ive always had a fondness for Scandi brands, she explains, mainly because theyre not copied on the high street. Kirwan, whose buying is quite earthy and grounded, has stocked Swedish labels like Baum und Pfedergarten in the past to much success but found the appeal of Denmarks 13-year old label Day Birger (worn by the Crown Princess of Denmark) an instant winner. Day Birger has the Scandi DNA with a bit of opulence to it. Its quite effortless but with a bit of quirk and a luxe feel. Its this symbiosis that has endeared Danish breakout brand Ganni to the masses with Irish department store Arnotts stocking an edit of dresses, jumpsuits and blouses for those with a Nordic nous.

Arnotts fashion buying director Valerie ONeill explains. It was the personality and attitude of the brand that attracted us to Ganni. The dresses have been really popular and are so versatile as you can pair them with a chunky knit and trainers but you can also wear the same dress with a pair of heels to an event. You dont have to choose - you can look both cool and feminine, while being effortless and comfortable. Is this the elusive alchemy? Not having to choose.

If French designer Isabel Marant is any indication, then maybe so. The cult blend of Gallic nous and breezy bohemia (think easy-to-wear tailoring mixed with ethnic accents and rock n roll separates); with diffusion line Etoile and a sell-out collaboration with Swedish high street chain H&M has made Marant the go-to uniform for fashion editors, celebrities and models-off-duty. A successful global brand with 20 years tenure that, in 2013 alone, generated 150 million in revenue  this is no flash in the pan. She was the insurgence of a new Chanel, explains Corrigan, the new revival albeit slightly boho. She had those buy-in pieces that people wanted like the cowboy boot, skinny jeans and boucle tweed jacket, comparing their popularity to that of Chanels icon Breton top  fuss-free, forever staples.

The evidence is clear. Were a pragmatic lot at heart with a lot of love for wardrobe heroes that boast transformative and talismanic potential (think Diana Prince by day, Wonder Woman by night). The fact that Scandi and French brands allude to this mettle makes them all the more intriguing. Lets face it. Without mystery, theres no desire. Without desire, theres no constant craving. Its this insatiable feeling that turns trends into movements, lights the fire of fantasy and allows us to bask in the glow of the woman who makes everything look oh-so-easy. Ill have what shes having, please  in every colour.
Ana Ros is the most unlikely of chefs.

She never wanted to be one and she never studied cooking. So how come she won the title of Worlds Best Female Chef this year?

Its quite a story.

I come from a society that doesnt have a tradition of gastronomy, where cooking is not a prestigious job, she says in an interview at her isolated hotel restaurant Hisa Franko in a valley in western Slovenia. These days, diners make the journey from as far away as Australia, and you need to book months ahead. Ros never saw that coming.

As a teenager, she was a talented sportswoman: a keen skier at the national level. But I wasnt a winner, she says. It wasnt in my psychology. I always came second, so I quit when I was 17. She went on to study International Science and Diplomacy in Trieste, though her Italian was shaky: My parents sent me to Puglia to learn, but I spent the summer hanging out with my friends instead. Still, she went on to be offered a job at the European Commission in Brussels, and it was only then that she finally made the decision to abandon her dream of a career in diplomacy and try the restaurant business instead.

She had fallen in love and her husbands parents  the owners of Hisa Franko  had decided to retire. It was the year 2000. She and husband Valter  a sommelier  decided to take over the business. Shed never been particularly interested in food as a child, only visiting restaurants for birthdays and other special occasions. But Valter loved food and together they started traveling around Europe, dining at some of the continents best restaurants.

There was just one problem: When they returned to Hisa Franko, they didnt like the old-fashioned Slovenian food. One day, my husband and I sat down and discussed that someone needs to take over the kitchen, says Ros, now 44. He said he didnt have time, so I said, Ill do it. I didnt think twice. The first five years were a learning process. I was struggling: reading books and going to conferences and trying out things. But you know how it is when you are dumped in the water and you dont know how to swim.

Were talking in the garden of Hisa Franko, which sits in the Soca valley. The air is pure and tree-covered hillsides sit below clear blue skies. Herbs and vegetables grow on a slope behind the restaurant and other produce is foraged in the valley. The menu costs 85 for six courses and 120 for 11. The dishes are seasonal and may include marble trout, green peas, blackcurrants, fermented trout liver; and tripe, duck jus, cave cheese, fried nettles and chanterelles. The flavours are bold and the focus is on the ingredients rather than fancy modern cooking techniques. The restaurant ranks No. 69 in the world, according to the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants organization, which presented her with the Best Female Chef accolade in Melbourne in April.

Its a beautiful spot to dine or to sit and sip Slovenian sparkling wine on a summers afternoon. But its not somewhere you would expect a destination restaurant. Lets face it, Slovenia isnt famed for its food, which is a melting pot of influences from neighboring Italy (the border is a few kilometers from Hisa Franko), Austria, Hungary and Croatia. So how did Ros put it on the map?

Much of the recent international success is down to Netflix, which featured her in an episode of Chefs Table in 2016. Ros doesnt watch TV and had never heard of the show. Shed appeared on TV previously and didnt expect the phone to start ringing.

So when Netflix came out, at first it was the same. But we didnt realize the time difference meant it was morning in the States. By the evening, our reservations system had broken down and visits to our web page went from 200 to 10,000 a day.

The Best Female Chef quickly followed. Its a controversial award in the sense that critics say it is ridiculous to have a separate category for a female chef. So what does Ros say to that?

I had chef friends who said I should go on the stage and say I am not accepting it, she says, and laughs.

I said: Did you ever say no to an award? So here is my explanation. It is very clear for a woman in a male world, its always going to be difficult. A woman has so many roles - as a mother, as a wife, as a lover, as a housekeeper - and then you try to fit in 14 or 16 hours working. The best chefs in this world - look at Massimo Bottura, look at Rene Redzepi - they have great wives. They are 100 percent on their work because its taken care of, their children, its taken care of their private life. They come home probably somebody even cooks for them and has time to chat to them.

Do you think that happens to a woman? You can never compare these two different worlds.

www.hisafranko.com/en/
No one would mistake Ben Cogan and Jesse Horwitz for brogrammers, the jockish male coders swaggering across the tech landscape. Nor are they hustlers, the relentlessly outgoing types who quit their jobs to gamble on audacious ventures.

They are two bookish friends, ages 27 and 29, who until recently lived across the street from each other on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York.

Horwitz worked for Columbia Universitys endowment fund; Cogan had a job analysing consumer behaviour. Their hobbies are quiet.

Cogan dreams of earning a Ph.D. in philosophy someday  after all this is said and done, he says. Horwitz enjoys tracking various aspects of his life in Excel spreadsheets: restaurants visited, books read, jogs taken. Scrolling through those files, he says, fills him with a sort of data-based nostalgia.

For years, the two men met for dinner every week or so, where talk often turned to business ideas. Spit-balling plans for startups became their equivalent of fantasy football.

One night in the summer of 2015, over Sichuan at Han Dynasty on 85th Street in New York, Cogan asked Horwitz for advice about his latest notion: selling contact lenses online.

The contacts business was dominated by a handful of companies like Johnson & Johnson and Bausch & Lomb, which seemed to charge whatever they wanted - at least in Cogans view, based on the price increases for his own lenses.

Surely a low-cost competitor could tempt away customers. Cogan pulled his laptop from his bag and opened it at the table in the middle of dinner, pushing aside plates of dumplings and scallion pancakes. He had two plans to show Horwitz. They could sell a cheap disposable lens to doctors. Or they could mimic Cogans employer, a wildly successful startup called Harrys.

Hubble Contacts co-founders Ben Cogan and Jesse Horwitz

By late 2015, Harrys, which sold safety razors and shaving cream, was in the vanguard of upstart online retailers known as direct-to-consumer companies. The business model works like this: Firms sell only their own products, only through their own websites.

By cutting out retailers and distributors, they can charge less for their speciality products than entrenched competitors. Venture capitalists  convinced that consumers would increasingly patronise speciality online retailers as they grew more comfortable shopping online  were pouring money into direct-to-consumer startups, more than 2 billion over the past four years, according to CB Insights.

By February 2016, after many nights and weekends of emailing Asian manufacturers and reading up on US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliance, the vision of a viable business was coming into focus.

The pair had found an FDA-approved manufacturer in Asia and figured out how to meet the necessary regulations. Still, Cogan was reluctant. He had been accepted to the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania and had even put down a deposit. He believed that was the smarter option. At best, the contact-lens business would become a side project.

Before shelving their venture, they decided to try one more tack. They recruited two friends: Paul Rodgers, a buddy of Horwitzs from Columbia who knew how to write computer code, and Dan Rosen, a friend of Cogans from Bronx Science.

Together the four built what is known in the world of online retailing as a demand experiment. The technique, credited to Harrys founders (who give away its basic code), amounts to a two-page website.

The first page explained the concept of a monthly subscription for contacts and asked those who were interested to submit their email addresses. Visitors who did so were taken to a second page and were made an offer: Share this referral code with friends, and if enough of them sign up, youll get free contacts.

They posted a link to their site on the walls of about 40 Facebook friends. Within a few days, not only had their own friends signed up, but friends of friends of friends had, too  some 2,000 people in all. Some of those distant connections were even evangelising the company on their own Facebook walls. It went mini-viral, Cogan says.

He and Horwitz applied to tech incubators  organisations that invest in and coach young companies in exchange for minority stakes  using the demand experiment as one slide in their 16-page PowerPoint presentation.

They pitched a few venture capitalists based in New York as well. They decided that if they were admitted to an incubator, they would work on the project full time. If not, Cogan would go to Wharton.

By April, they had not only been called back for interviews with five incubators; venture funds were also offering to invest a total of $3.5 million in their idea.

Cogan dropped his Wharton plans. He and Horwitz ordered 50,000 contact lenses and, with Rosen as creative director and Rodgers as chief technology officer, began working out of their investors offices, stacking boxes and boxes of lenses along the walls by their desks. They eventually named their enterprise Hubble, after the orbiting telescope that can see into deep space.

Facebook helped them succeed with their demand test; now it would generate their first sales. During the summer of 2016, a friend of one of Hubbles prospective investors, a startup veteran named Joshua Liberson, recommended that the founders try a new type of Facebook advertising called Lead Ads.

No outside website was needed: Would-be customers simply clicked a button on the ad to submit their email addresses, directly from Facebook. Hubble directed its ads to ZIP codes in New York and Chicago, where they had already signed up optometrists willing to write prescriptions. After people clicked the ads, Horwitz emailed them to coordinate appointments and take their orders.

Hubble contacts: The company is on track to make $20m in revenue in its first year.

When Hubbles online store opened officially on November 1, 2016, Cogan and Horwitz knew how to run a Facebook advertising campaign, and they were confident it would continue to generate sales. They planned to spend the additional $3.7 million they raised almost entirely on Facebook ads.

In 2017, everyone seems to be wondering: Is Facebook taking over the world? Most of us now realise that the social network has become far more than a repository for selfies and political rants of its more than two billion users.

To ad sellers, Facebook is now a gluttonous monster, which, along with Google, is gobbling up the digital advertising business across the globe; according to Pivotal Research Group, the two companies controlled 70% of the market and most of the growth in 2016 in the US alone.

In considering Facebooks far-reaching influence, its worth keeping in mind the perspective of the more than five million advertisers whose money is financing the social networks rampant growth. For them, Facebook and Instagram, which the company also owns, are the stuff of fantasy.

The process is easy, cheap and effective. With a few hundred euros and a mornings effort, an entrepreneur can place his or her ads before social-media users that same afternoon.

Companies unsure which ads are best can upload a handful of them and let Facebooks artificial-intelligence software test their efficacy. If they dont know who should see their ads, they can embed code on their websites that enables Facebook to monitor the traffic and then show ads to recent visitors.

Or companies can send the email addresses of their existing customers to Facebook, and it will locate their Facebook accounts and put ads in front of so-called Lookalikes, users who like and click on the same things that your proven fan base does.

Its all about as straightforward as setting up an online dating profile. Steph Korey, a founder of Away, a luggage company based in New York that opened in 2015, says that when the company was starting, it made $5 for every $1 it spent on Facebook Lookalike ads.

One afternoon in March, I watched as Rosen selected three new ads from an extensive photo shoot the week before, his third in four months. Rosen resembled a sleep-deprived new parent  mussed hair, dull gaze. He spoke in a monotone.

He attributed his fatigue, I would learn later, to Facebooks artificial-intelligence software that placed Hubbles ads. Rosen and his colleagues simply referred to it as the algorithm.

The basic building block of Facebook advertising is an ad set. It consists of the ads themselves and choices in three other categories: audience, goal and budget. That day, Rosen was designing a set to reach an audience of people on Instagram who had visited hubblecontacts.com in the past 30 days.

His goal was conversions, or persuading users who had seen the companys ad to make a purchase. Finally, he set a budget of $1,000 per day. He uploaded the three images.

Now they were ready to be tested, to see if any of them were winners in the eyes of users and the algorithm.

What happened at 8 am the next morning, when the ad set became active, was complex  and far removed from human sight. Just before Facebook places an advertisement in a users feed, it holds a sort of instantaneous auction to determine which advertiser gets the space.

The amount of each advertisers bid is influenced by its budget size, of course, but the algorithm also weighs what it knows about the company, the ad and the individual Facebook user. The process is never the same twice.

The algorithm is constantly learning, using past results to inform how it weighs bids in the next auction. The intent, Facebook says, is to maximise value for everybody: to pair the advertiser with its likeliest customers, and to show ads that users want to see. And, of course, to make money for Facebook.

But from Rosens perspective, nothing much had happened before he ambled into the office a little after 10 am. Facebook had spent a grand total of $1.86 on his ads. It had shown the first ad to 51 people, the second to 45 and the third to only two. The first ad had been clicked once.

Rosen, unperturbed, poured himself a cup of coffee from the single-serve machine. The algorithm takes a little while to get warmed up, he said. In an hour, itll get exciting.

Twenty minutes later, Rosen refreshed his browser. The Ads Manager window displayed the latest numbers: Rosen could see only the results, not the process that produced them, but it seemed as if the click had inspired the algorithm to favour the first ad.

As Rosen refreshed his browser, the sensation was like watching a seed sprout. The ad got more views. Some led to clicks. And eventually, sometime between 11:28 am and 11:53 am, one of those clicks led to the tests first sale. Commerce was in bloom.

Facebooks sales pitch  putting the right ad in front of the right person, thanks to the wonders of data technology  isnt exactly new. What sets Facebook (and Google) apart are scale and sophistication.

What also sets Facebook and Google apart from their direct-marketing forebears is that they give access to everyday advertisers. Anyone with a credit card can go online and test ads on Facebooks platform, one of the most sophisticated direct-marketing operations ever.

But while average people can use the machine, theres still a lot of mystery about how it works. The methods and calculations of the algorithm  why it ends up pushing some ads and not others  are all hidden.

Almost as soon as they began, Rosen, Horwitz and the others at Hubble became determined to fathom the algorithms secrets  to figure out why some ads succeeded and others didnt.

Soon they were trading hypotheses with other entrepreneurs, cribbing ideas from other companies ads and taking a formal approach to testing, rooted in the scientific method.

But even as the Hubble team gleaned more about what yielded successful Facebook ads, the algorithm could be unpredictable, almost moody. At any time, any one of the 15 different ad sets might go haywire.

Rosen found himself checking the Ads Manager compulsively on his laptop and his iPhone. (Facebook offers an iOS app for advertisers.) It occupies my brain constantly, he says. Its that feeling of Did you leave the oven on?.

Eager for help, Rosen sought guidance from a former Facebook employee named Faheem Siddiqi, who now runs his own marketing agency.

Hubbles sales representative at Facebook told him that Siddiqi had figured out the best ways to optimise Facebook advertising campaigns. But it turned out that Siddiqi and his employees checked the Ads Manager even more compulsively than Rosen.

Middlemen  creative agencies, media planners, publishers  have long ruled the advertising business. Yet until recently they have not been as omnipresent, opaque and inhuman as Facebook.

Mark Zuckerburg, the ultimate arbiter of morality and taste for all two billion of Facebooks users

The social giant now dictates, more fully and precisely than ever before, which ads we see and who sees which ads. Some of the implications of this are amusing, others troubling.

Recently ProPublica, the investigative-journalism nonprofit, showed how bad actors can abuse this process: Facebooks software gave advertisers the option to target Jew Haters, for instance.

In a separate investigation, ProPublica found that Facebook made it possible to exclude specific ethnic affinities from seeing ads, noting that ads excluding people based on race are prohibited by federal housing and employment laws.

This stereotyping isnt a glitch of Facebooks machine-learning process  its how the software works. To formulate audiences, the algorithm scours profiles and analyses them for shared traits and correlations and self-identified interests and, it assumes, our preferences, grouping us into tribes that can be targeted. Its up to Facebook and advertisers to constrain this amoral process in ethical and lawful ways.

Facebooks AI isnt operating unattended, certainly: Garcia-Martinez wrote that Facebook decided not to release the recommendation tool. Facebook points out that it makes efforts to prevent harmful advertising.

Yet managing a platform this way  seeing what mischief the algorithm and its users gets up to, then responding with countermeasures  can be difficult to sustain. It makes Facebook, a company still largely controlled by a single man, Mark Zuckerberg, the ultimate arbiter of morality and taste for all two billion of its users. It also means the company has unilateral power to make or break companies when it tweaks its system.

As we delegate more control to artificial intelligence, both businesses as well as users are venturing into uncertain territory. In the meantime, more and more companies  startups, mom-and-pop stores, major corporations  are handing their dollars and their data to the social-networking giant. Facebooks Ads Manager is user-friendly. Sales are plentiful. And if you dont take advantage of it, your competitors will. How could you not go there?

By mid-March,a few weeks after I first followed Rosen, the Hubble team no longer had 15 Facebook and Instagram ad sets. It had 40  all pointed at discrete audiences, each with its own handful of ads. But Rosen looked more rested, less frazzled. He explained that he and Paul Rodgers had developed something they called Robo-Dan, a few lines of code that checked the Ads Manager every hour, then adjusted the budget as Rosen would.

But by the end of June, a new problem arose: No matter what new ads they put in an ad set, the growth rate of sales declined and the cost per acquisition went up. They began to think it was an audience problem: Had they found all the customers in those groups?

As they searched for more and more audience descriptors, they landed upon a novel idea: They began trading their Lookalike groups with other online retailers, figuring that the kind of people who buy one product from social media will probably buy others. This sort of audience sharing is becoming more common on Facebook: There is even a company, TapFwd, that pools together Lookalike groups for various brands, helping them show ads to other groups.

Cogan and Horwitz have decided that they need to reduce their dependence on Facebook advertising, for the sake of their business and their own sanity. In May, they tested their first 15-second cable-television commercials. Even though the old medium provides them with less information than Facebook, in some ways the ignorance is bliss. Theres fewer levers; theres less to stress out about. Rodgers says. You can push the button and get on with your life.

In August, the Hubble team finally handed over their domestic Facebook advertising work to an outside agency, Ampush, that charges them based on how many new customers sign up. We ran their numbers  its something we could beat, Rosen says, meaning Hubble could get more customers for less money if it did the ad buying in-house. But it would destroy our lives.

Thanks largely to Facebook, Hubble is on track to finish its first full year in business having made $20m (17.1m) in revenue. In August, Hubble raised $10m, valuing the company at $210m.

In January, Hubble will use those funds to expand its business to Continental Europe.

Its advertising strategy? Robo-Dan, with some help from Rosen.

As Hubble advances into new territories, Facebook and the algorithm will be tagging along with them.

Burt Helm is a senior contributing writer for Inc. magazine. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
I arrived late last night from London and was put in the back bedroom, which is comfortable in every imaginable way apart from the fact that its roof is a local meeting point for the Cornish seagull, an oversized bird infamous for its harsh and penetrating squawk.

But theres no satisfaction in complaining about a bad nights sleep to my mother who without complaint, has tackled 20 years of insomnia head-on by listening to the BBC World Service all night, every night, and views sleep as a luxury or even, I sometimes suspect, an indulgence.

Besides, shes just told me shes been up since five.

So, my mother says, from over by the cooker where she is spooning coffee into her percolator, what did you get up to in London?

I met up with John, I say.

Nice gay John? she says.

Yes, I say.

Did he take you to the opera again? she says.

No, he took me to the British Museum, I say, to see the Elgin Marbles.

Not those lumps of old grotty old rock? she says.

Yes, those, I say.

How dreadful, she says, either hes never seen them before or hes just too cultured for his own good. Which is it?

What he really wanted to show me was the reading room, I say, but it was closed.

Good lord, she says, you poor thing. I get museum legs just thinking about it.

Museum legs? I say.

Bored legs, she says, lethargic and fidgety at the same time.

I also saw the film Dunkirk, I say.

What did you think? she says.

You wouldnt want to see that film if you had a heart condition, I say, it was very loud, with lots of suspense, then deafening bangs. Also, not much dialogue.

Well youre hardly going to chat when youre standing around waiting for a bomb to land on your head like those poor soldiers had to, she says, I mean, I was only five during the war but I remember dropping to my knees with Grandma to say the Our Father, when the Doodlebugs flew over. The bomb made a terrible buzzing noise that went silent suddenly, a few seconds before it landed. So if the buzzing stopped directly above you, you knew you only had seconds to live before it fell on your head.

So Grandma would drop to her knees to pray while she waited for death? I say.

No, my mother says, she dropped to her knees to pray that the bomb would keep going and fall on someone elses head. Then when it had, she said poor devils and got up and got on with things. She was a pragmatist, like me.

Anyway, she says, enough about the war. What else did you get up to in London? Did you meet up with that lovely little ballet dancer friend of yours?

Yes, I say.

How is she? my mother says.

Lovely as ever. Up, down. Usual story  sound as a bell but all over the place. Wondering what the point of it all is.

The point of what? says my mother.

Life, I say.

An artistic temperament is a terrible affliction, my mother says.

Im not sure you can put her temperament down to having once been able to do the splits, I say.

Well either that or shes a bit slow, my mother says, I mean, is she a bit slow or something?

Mum, I say.

Well, Mum says, shed be less inclined to wonder what the point of it all is if shed ever had a Doodlebug hovering over her head.

Mum, I say again.

Honestly, she says, the point of being alive is being alive. Anything else is just made up.

The point of being alive is being alive. Anything else is just made up
A PENSIONER from St Paul's Cray forced to clean excrement from outside her door every day has criticised a housing association for failing to help her.

Doreen Senanan, 68, of Walsingham Road, has had what she believes to be dog excrement left on the landing outside the door of her flat about two or three times a week for 18 months.

She has repeatedly contacted Broomleigh Housing Association which has not provided any assistance with cleaning.

Now the pensioner has now contracted a virus and says she cannot clean up the mess without being physically sick.

She said: "I don't know what I'm going to do if this carries on. Whoever does this is just disgusting."

Broomleigh spokesman Annette Cerabino-Read said: "We will be visiting the property to speak to pet owners.

"Our tenants are welcome to own pets but only if they behave responsibly, and that doesn't seem to be the case here.

"We have also given Mrs Senanan permission to put up a gate at the end of the landing if she wishes to do so."

September 7, 2001 11:42
That loud sound you heard Tuesday night was Republicans in North Carolina gulping nervously as the election returns from across the state and across the country came in.

In virtually every race that mattered, the Republicans lost and in many cases lost resoundingly. National pundits were pontificating that Republican Ed Gillespie was pulling close to Democrat Ralph Northam in the governors race in Virginia, thanks to Gillespies decision to run on issues right out of Donald Trumps playbook, crime, gangs, fear of immigrants, preservation of Confederate monuments, etc.

The voters apparently didnt care much for it. Northam won handily  by almost nine percent  and that wasnt even the biggest story in Virginias election.

With a few recounts pending, Democrats appear to have completely erased the Republican 66-32 margin in the House of Delegates, making it the largest victory by Democrats in Virginia legislative races since 1899.

One of the winners was Danica Roem, a transgender woman who defeated a 13-term rabidly conservative House member who called himself Virginias homophobe and introduced HB2-like legislation targeting transgender Virginians.

Democrats swept all the statewide races in Virginia and elected an African-American lieutenant governor, just three months after a white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville where a counter protester was killed and President Trump said afterward that there were some very fine people on both sides.

And it wasnt just Virginia. Maine voters approved a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid over the objections of their Trump-like governor Paul LePage. New Jersey elected a Democratic governor too, which was not a surprise, but remember, its only been four years since Republican Gov. Chris Christie convincingly won re-election, pushing him onto the national stage and consideration as Trumps running mate last fall.

Democrats also won a special election in the state of Washington, taking control of the state Senate for the first time since 2012.

There is more, but you get the idea. It was big night for Democrats across the country.

And it was a big night for them in North Carolina. Progressive candidates swept the mayoral races in major cities, including in Charlotte, where Democrat Vi Lyles defeated Republican Kenny Smith by almost 20 points in a race that the North Carolina Republican Party invested in and that conservative pundits were forecasting to be close with some even saying Smith would win.

He didnt come close.

The growing consensus about Tuesday night is that people were motivated to show up at their polls to vote against President Trump and the policies he is pursuing and the politicians who are aligned with him.

Exit polls in Virginia showed health care was the top issues on voters minds and they are not happy with the Republicans attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

People in North Carolina are not happy about it either, and they have soured on Trump and the Republicans too, with Democrats holding a significant lead on the generic ballot in recent polls, even ones conducted by conservative groups.

Few people are predicting the kind of wave in North Carolina in 2018 that swept through Virginia Tuesday, but they were not predicting it in Virginia, either.

Republicans in North Carolina wont admit it, but they seem to sense that their days of almost unlimited power with their legislative supermajorities are almost over.

Thats evident in their last desperate moves to remake state government before they lose control, with the most egregious example the proposal by Senate Rules Chairman Bill Rabon to end the terms of all judges in 2018 and force every judge and justice to run for election every two years.

Thats enraged Democrats and Republicans alike and only adds to the motivation of voters demanding a change in Raleigh and Washington.

Those voters turned out in force Tuesday, in Virginia and Maine and Washington and in North Carolina, from Fayetteville to Durham to Raleigh to Charlotte.

Democrats may still be arguing over what happened in 2016, but they seemed unified this week and they had lot of disenchanted Republicans joining their cause.

No wonder Republican leaders in North Carolina are nervous and desperate and flailing. Their only saving grace is that most of them were not on the ballot on Tuesday. But unless things change dramatically or they change their destructive course, their days may be numbered too.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [press release] Thursday that it has begun distributing compensation to victims of Bernie L. Madoff Investment Securities LLCs (BLMIS) Ponzi scheme.

The first set of distributions involve $722.5 million that will be distributed to 24,631 victims. The distribution is the largest distribution of forfeited funds in the DOJs history.

The funds will be distributed through the Madoff Victim Fund (MVF). In total, $4.05 billion will be distributed to victims of BLMIS. More than 65,000 petitions were submitted to the MVF, which represents victims from 136 countries. Most of the funds were recovered from third parties, not Bernie Madoff himself. $2.2 billion was recovered from the estate of Madoff investor Jeffry Picower, and $1.7 billion was recovered from JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.

In January a federal judge blocked [JURIST report] litigation from A&G Goldman Partnership and Pamela Golden that sought to recover $11 billion from Picowers estate. Madoff was sentenced [JURIST report] to 150 years in prison in June 2009 for the Ponzi scheme that is believed to have defrauded investors of over $65 billion.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni on Saturday criticised the International Criminal Court (ICC) for launching a probe into alleged crimes committed during Burundi's political crisis.

A statement from the Tanzanian presidency said the two leaders had condemned the move, during a meeting in western Uganda.

"President Magufuli said this decision compromised efforts by the East African Community, which has put in place a committee charged with seeking a resolution to the Burundi conflict, led by President Yoweri Museveni and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa," said the statement.

Museveni is the current president of the EAC, a regional bloc made up of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

Magufuli said "the situation in Burundi is not as bad as it has been described (by the ICC) because numerous Burundian refugees have already returned home", said the statement.

Museveni meanwhile accused the ICC of "interfering in the efforts of the EAC".

On Thursday, the ICC revealed that its judges had given the go-ahead for a full investigation into crimes allegedly committed in Burundi from April 26, 2015, to October 26, 2017, which is the day before the country's exit from the court.

The prosecutor can also widen the probe to acts committed both before and after those dates "if certain legal requirements are met", and even investigate other atrocities such as suspected "genocide or war crimes," under the decision.

The period this covers begins with Burundi's descent into unrest and bloodletting when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he was running for a third term in office, winning July 2015 elections which were boycotted by the opposition.

According to estimates, "at least 1,200 people were allegedly killed, thousands illegally detained, thousands reportedly tortured and hundreds disappeared", the ICC judges said.
EUSTIS  It didnt take much coaxing Wednesday morning to get Red Angus cattle in a pasture northwest of Eustis to gather and head toward the pasture gate.

First, Kevan Hueftle got their attention by yelling come boss a few times. Then the cattle saw a familiar John Deere tractor carrying a huge round hay bale on the back.

Most gathered quickly, but Hueftle and his cousin, Aaron, rode their horses around the pasture to encourage a few stragglers to trot up the hill toward the rest of the herd.

As the cattle exited the pasture, Hueftles dad, Lee, continued his Pied Piper role at the wheel of the tractor. The herd followed the tractor down a graveled road and into a field of cornstalks ready for grazing.

My plan always was to come back and farm and ranch with Dad, Hueftle said, even though he considered studying elementary or agricultural education in college. I always wanted to do something with ag.

His plan almost was sidetracked 12 years ago when Hueftles left foot was amputated after a hunting accident and then by years of alcohol abuse.

Today, four generations of Hueftles family own Red Angus cattle in the Eustis-Cozad area. He said his late grandfather, Karl, had one of the first Red Angus herds in the United States and his grandmother, Janice, still has some cattle.

Hueftle and his dad have a herd of 230 cow-calf pairs and 50 replacement heifers, and his 4-year-old daughter, Chesley, has one cow. Hayes probably will get one next year, Hueftle said about his 18-month-old son.

When asked if the family business is a farm or a ranch, he smiled and said, I make all the decisions for the cows and Dad makes all the decisions for the crops. So I call it a ranch, he calls it a farm and we meet in the middle.

That means Hueftle oversees calving, which starts in mid-January for heifers and March for the cows. He has a warm room in the barn, with a comfortable chair, where he stays on nights when he needs to regularly check pregnant heifers.

The barn is at his parents (Lee and Sherry) farmstead northwest of Eustis. Hueftle, his wife, Nicole, and the two children live a few miles away on the south side of Highway 23.

The crop side of the business includes corn as grain and silage, soybeans, cane, alfalfa, oats and pasture. Hueftle said a late October hail and wind storm cut yields on about half of their corn acres by 25-30 bushels per acre, with a big difference in downed corn seen from hybrid to hybrid. It also caused some soybean yield losses.

He said there wasnt a big learning curve for doing farm and ranch work after his hunting accident. With tractors and trucks with clutches, he has learned how much pressure to use with his left leg on his prosthetic foot.

Another income-producing activity for the ranch is leasing hunting acres to Broken Bow-based Hidden Hills Outfitters. Hueftle said he used to do some hunting guide work, but is too busy now.

I also dont do a lot of hunting anymore, he said. I still like hunting, but I dont have time for it.

One reason is hes stretching his entrepreneur wings on several fronts.

Although some calves go directly to feeders, Hueftle has started to background more of them first and even feed out some for a new business to sell beef directly to consumers.

My goal is to try to market our animals different so we can keep the same number, but get more profit, he said.

Hueftle recently created an LLC for his new Lazy Creek Beef Co., is in the process of getting a logo made and has plans to build a website. The company will allow consumers to purchase a whole beef for processing or a few pounds at a time.

Thats what Im trying to figure out, the price points and all that, Hueftle said.  Its a bigger process than a person thinks until you get started.

Also on his schedule is time to train as a 100-meter sprinter with a goal of qualifying for the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.

Whenever I get an hour here or hour there, I go to the Wellness Center in Cozad, Hueftle said.  Its intense, low-volume work so I dont hurt my stump.

A related goal is to speak more about his accident, struggle with alcoholism and efforts to set and reach new goals.

Life sucks sometimes. You go until you reach rock bottom. Thats when you find out what youre made of, Hueftle said about his message. He is especially interested in talking to high school and college students.

Although motivational might describe his message and his life, Hueftle said he prefers to say he is determined, because being motivated can come and go.
GRAND ISLAND  Heidi Isley, director of operations, and Sarah Mulder, marketing manager, of Associated Staffing attended the annual American Staffing Association Staffing World conference Oct. 24-26 in Chicago.

Staffing World is the largest convention in the recruiting, staffing and workforce solutions industry. Isley and Mulder learned cutting-edge strategies and best practices for the staffing industry.

Isley, of Grand Island, joined Associated Staffing in 2005. Mulder, of Kearney, joined Associated Staffing in 2014.

Associated Staffing, established in 1995, has locations in Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, Columbus and Omaha, and offers temporary and permanent staffing and recruiting services.
KEARNEY  When Cannon Marchand and James Knights signed up for University of Nebraska at Kearneys ROTC, they hoped to advance their world knowledge, improve their leadership skills and take part in amazing experiences.

Both were able to do that this summer through two special U.S. Army cadet training programs that took one to Bulgaria and the other to Germany.

Marchand traveled in June and July to Bulgaria where he helped teach English to officers in Bulgaria through the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency program, or CULP.

Knights went to Baumholder, Germany, from July to August. He shadowed officers and practiced his leadership skills while learning more about the lives of officers and then enlisted through a program called Cadet Troop Leader Training.

Knights of Bellevue said the experience was invaluable because he plans to graduate in May and be assigned as a platoon leader in an air defense unit.

Ive always wanted to serve my country and be part of something bigger than myself, Knights, a business major, said. Id like to have a positive effect on peoples lives. Being part of a team. Patriotism is a big part of it, too.

Being able to talk to, observe and work alongside officers at the air defense base assured Knights he chose the right career path.

My objective was to see what a second lieutenant does on active duty in my job field  soaking it all up and seeing what happens. And asking the enlisted, What do they want to see in a platoon leader.

Knights spent almost all of his time on the base, which is south of Frankfurt where the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is stationed. He did travel to Paris, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, but sightseeing was not on his agenda. He participated in a lifesaver course and flew in a Black Hawk helicopter, among other experiences he had been looking forward to.

Marchands program took him to Plovdiv with a team of 10 other cadets to help Bulgarian officers there practice their English. Because Bulgaria is a newer member of NATO, the project was also intended to increase cultural awareness between the U.S. and Bulgaria.

Marchand, a history major from Kearney, was interested in learning as much as he could about the history, culture, architecture, geography and diversity of the foreign land on his first visit overseas. The Bulgarian officers  who already spoke good English  were Marchands travel guides as they passed Greek and Turkish settlements and historic sites, temples and monasteries, and encountered the Black Sea, his first beach.

The diversity of the country was so interesting, and learning about the time and historic stories of the places we visited made me appreciate this area and its relevance to world history, Marchand said. The importance (to me) was also in training with other cultures and observing their different ways of doing things.

As did Knights, Marchand said he appreciates the learning opportunities from ROTC, along with access to college. Having help paying for college is nice, Marchand said. He plans to graduate in 2019. But with the tradeoff of my time, Im getting advanced training and leadership and getting experiences others wont have.

Marchand and Knights said they also enjoyed the food and the camaraderie of the officers and friendliness of the people, who had positive regard for the U.S. soldiers, in the countries they visited.
Flags have flown so many times at half-staff that some youngsters have asked why flagpoles are so tall if we never use the top half. Who can blame them for asking such questions? These young innocents understand theres something wrong, even if they dont quite know how to express it.

This week, upon orders from the White House, flags across the United States were again lowered to half-staff in memory of the 26 First Baptist church-goers gunned down in Sutherland Springs, Texas. On Friday, flags were hoisted back to the top, but for how long theyll fly up there nobody knows. All we really know is what we hear after every bloody rampage, and that is, If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.

Violence can happen anywhere. On college campuses, on the Strip in Las Vegas, in a church in a town thats just a pinprick on the map.

We Americans are vulnerable, yet, despite that fact, church doors across our nation have remained open this week, and theyll be swinging open again this weekend. Who knows, perhaps the seats inside will be a bit fuller than they were a week ago as Americans search for answers to problems we cant seem to solve or are unwilling to solve.

Its just as well that our church doors remain open, and that our public places remain free for our coming and going. Authorities can do their best to sniff out killers in advance, but all the laws, regulations and technology cannot prevent every shooting. Well always be vulnerable, and after the next bloodbath, survivors will utter, If it can happen here it can happen anywhere.

This summer when Pope Francis visited Colombia, children and teenagers were waiting for him to return to the place he was staying. As he approached, a girl said, We want a world where vulnerability is recognized as essential in the human, that far from weakening us, it strengthens and dignifies us.

We cant imagine more profound words coming from anyones mouth, but the pope seemed ready to respond. He said, We are all vulnerable, all of us. ... And this vulnerability needs to be respected, caressed, healed as far as possible, so that it bears fruit for others. We are all vulnerable.

If what the pope said is true, then all Americans are united with the people of Sutherland Springs. Thats why flags flew at half-staff this week and why church doors are still open. If it can happen in a tiny Texas town, it can happen anywhere.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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In this Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 photo, U.S. Marines prepare to build a military site during a sandstorm in western Anbar, Iraq. The US-led coalition's newest outpost in the fight against the Islamic State group is in this dusty corner of western Iraq near the border with Syria where several hundred American Marines operate close to the battlefront, a key factor in the recent series of swift victories against the extremists. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
FILE - In this June 25, 2016 file photo, Louis C.K. attends the premiere of "The Secret Life of Pets" in New York. Louis C.K.'s longtime manager is apologizing for not taking complaints about his client's sexual misconduct more seriously. Dave Becky says in a lengthy statement Monday that he misunderstood the nature of the allegations by a female comedy duo in 2002. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
A Kenosha woman who makes meals for homeless and needy residents of Uptown is looking for a new place to prepare food after the Kenosha Division of Health warned she cannot keep cooking in her own kitchen.

Since May, Arnetta Griffin has been making meals in her kitchen twice each day, packaging them up and delivering them to people along 22nd Avenue in Uptown. She said she had been worried about homeless people in the neighborhood when a nearby shelter closed, and felt driven by her religious faith to help.

Griffin, 51, who calls her effort Gods Kitchen of Kenosha, made the food herself using her own money and distributed it twice a day with the help of her family. She now serves as many as 100 meals a day.

Since her story came to light, she has been getting more donations and offers of help from the community.

But she also drew the attention of someone who requested the Division of Health look into the legality of her serving meals.

Mark Melotik, manager of environmental health for the county, said state law exempts people who provide meals for free from restaurant codes. But he said Griffin is required to prepare the food in a commercial kitchen. He declined to say who had complained to the county about her efforts.

Not shutting her down

They were nice about it, they really were, Griffin said of Melotik and another worker from the health department who spoke to her. They were not shutting me down or anything, but I know its going to come.

Griffin said she is approaching churches in the area to see if one would be willing to donate their kitchen for her to use. She said she would like to stay in the Uptown area if possible.

They are happy with what I am doing, but they want me to go about it in the right way, she said.

Melotik said he is also reaching out to possible locations for her. Really, if we could find a commercial kitchen that she could use, it would be so much better for her, he said.

He said a commercial kitchen would make the food preparation safer for a crowd, and would make it easier for Griffin to safely store donated food. Shes doing a good thing, were just trying to make it better for everybody, he said.

Donations coming in

Since word of Griffins efforts has spread, she said, people have been coming to meet her while she hands out food. Many people have donated food, money and supplies.

She said one man recently drove from hours away to see her after reading her story. He said, I just wanted to see if you were really doing what you said you were doing, Griffin said.

When the man found she was, he asked her what she needed. She replied that homeless people needed sleeping bags. He walked back to his car and came back to me with a check, she said.

Griffin said she is hopeful she will be able to find a place to continue her work. I really do want to stay in Uptown in the area, because thats where God sent me and thats where the people are right now, she said.
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T was the last patient of a busier than usual morning. New patient, establish care was her reason for visit. As I would soon find out with the help of our remarkable Arabic interpreter, T and her family recently moved to our area after spending the better part of 3 years moving from refugee camp to refugee camp trying to escape the ravages of the civil war in their native Syria. Considering the hardships, T seemed to be doing well. Maybe she looks a bit pale, her mom stated, but both dad and T disagreed with her, smiling and saying that mom is a worrier.

As we do with all of our new immigrant patients (many of whom come from conflict-afflicted areas in the Middle East), I ordered a point of care hemoglobin and lead level and then left the room. A few minutes later one of our nurses found me.

Hemoglobin of 8. I already obtained blood for a full CBC with manual differential, but please order it officially.

I let the family know the low value, gave them a prescription for a multi-vitamin with iron and promised to call them with results from the CBC later on in the day. I was worried but having patients with anemia from this part of the world was definitely not unusual considering their circumstances.

As the afternoon session rolled along, I honestly had forgotten about the pending CBC results. It was well past 5 and the clinic nearly empty when the head of our hemopathology lab called me. This is never good news.

Hey, Alex [I know him well] you sitting down [definitely not going to be good news]. Ts smear is, unfortunately, teeming with blasts.

Those words cut me like a sharp knife, feeling nauseous just thinking of the pain that the parents would feel when I break the news to them. I dreaded the phone call but knew it had to be done now. Fortunately, our Arabic interpreter was finishing up some calls with our nurse and volunteered to call the family with me. He is not only a very capable interpreter, but a genuinely kind soul and I was so grateful that he would be helping out.

When we called using the speakerphone, I could hear the father cry in disbelief as the news sunk in. Then the long silence as dad told mom and his daughter, followed by more crying now from several people. I started tearing up and fumbled my words as I explained immediate next steps to the family. Our interpreters eyes were wet as well, and I found him having to be more deliberate in his speech as he struggled to contain his emotions.

After she was admitted, I visited T often, each time greeted by her parents who seemed happy to see a familiar face (though, they had just seen me that one time in clinic), and by T who looked more and more tired as the chemo regimens progressed. I found myself thinking of her nearly every day on the way to work and on the way home, and she was commonly part of our dinner time prayer requests at home. It seemed that this seemingly random patient and her family had become part of my psyche, as have other patients in the past, never far from my thoughts.

As T went on to have a bone marrow transplant, it became harder to see her, but I still saw the family occasionally in the hospital cafeteria or when they brought their other child to the clinic. It felt like I was seeing dear family members and an earnest hug exchanged each time silently telling each other that we care. Recently, when our oncology colleagues let us know that the BMT took well and that T was improving the clinic staff and I walked around elated as though we won the lottery, but better.

Its strange how an event can impact you. T was one of 40+ patients we saw in clinic that day, yet she has left such an impact on many of us. I find it amazing how a chance meeting at the end of a busy shift, with a family who probably never even heard of Columbus Ohio a few years ago and coming from a town in Syria that I had never heard of, left such an impact on me. Maybe it is because T is the same age as one of my daughters or that her dad reminds me of a favorite uncle of mine. Maybe it is because we have seen our share of suffering among our recent Syrian immigrant population and T was just the emotional tipping point. Yes, maybe, but I think its more. I think it is because patients and families like these make you realize that we are all part of a larger human family.

The person I credit with convincing me to become a pediatrician, now a retired professor at Hershey Medical School, told me that the best part of being a pediatrician is that your patients become like your family. You celebrate the happy moments with them and feel joy and pride from their accomplishments. However, he warned, you also feel the pain when a family member hurts. You were so right Dr. Berlin, and I wouldnt have it any other way.

Alexander Rakowsky is a pediatrician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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In loving memory of my grandfather, my first physician mentor.

Earlier this year, my 90-year-old grandfather passed away unexpectedly after undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Similar to many elderly patients who die each year in the United States, his death was preceded by a litany of costly and time-consuming tests and treatments. Despite this extensive workup, the end of his life was shadowed by suffering left unaddressed. But, unlike the thousands of elderly patients in similar circumstances, my grandfather was an experienced clinician, having practiced medicine for over 50 years.

My grandfather graduated from medical school in 1953. Before that, he had served in World War II, flying a B-29 Superfortress. With his uncanny ability to maintain composure in the most challenging of circumstances, he was emblematic of the classic surgeon archetype. A tireless clinician, he performed over 6,000 operations during his career. He came face to face with death in operating rooms, emergency rooms, and intensive care units. I do not know how he approached end of life conversations with his patients and their families. However, I do know that despite facing a life-threatening diagnosis in his nineties, he remained a full code until the day he died.

A few months prior to his death, he developed shortness of breath and shoulder pain. Tasks that had been easy just months just before became impossible. He began navigating the medical system with the help of his daughter, my mother, albeit several states away. He scheduled an appointment with his internist. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a likely culprit: aortic stenosis. He was referred to a cardiologist who continued the diagnostic workup. A TAVR was recommended. My mother inquired: How had his physicians discussed options for symptom control? Had they addressed the possibility of opting for comfort-focused care instead of the procedure? They had not. Despite many face to face encounters during this workup, discussions with my grandfather regarding his goals of care were limited. Rather than taking this more holistic approach, he was diagnosed with a single problem, aortic stenosis, and presented a single solution, TAVR.

But my grandfather did not have a single problem.

My grandfather became cachectic. A nagging pain in his left shoulder worsened, for which he saw multiple clinicians. With his eldest daughter and grandson at his side, he underwent the TAVR at a world-renowned institution. His shoulder pain, although present prior to the procedure, was attributed to arm positioning during the case. Later, he saw an orthopedist who recommended an MRI. The orthopedist who ordered the MRI had his nurse call my grandfather to report the results, which came as a surprise to everyone. The findings were suggestive of invasive lymphoma. My grandfather phoned his internist, who prescribed analgesics for his worsening pain. An electronic referral had been placed with oncology for further diagnosis and workup.

In hindsight, the cause of his shoulder pain, dyspnea, and cachexia was clear. Disheartened, I wondered if his internist had attributed the shoulder pain to angina or osteoarthritis, or had simply downplayed the pain as status quo for a 90 year old. I thought of the two CT angiograms of his chest he had several weeks prior to his TAVR, and all of the providers who had reviewed the studies. I imagined their eyes quickly scrolling through the images, evaluating the dimensions of his stenotic aortic valve. Did they see the significant axillary lymphadenopathy, or had the indication for the study  evaluate for TAVR  led to tunnel vision?

His weakness and pain became so severe that he was unable to bathe for ten days. Demoralized, he presented to a local emergency room alone. He later told my mother that he was astounded when the provider examining him did not remove his shirt or fully examine his shoulder. The emergency room team learned nothing of his lost ability to feed or bathe himself. Instead, they sent him home and encouraged a follow-up with his orthopedist. Had they really seen the whole picture?

At home, he was miserable. For years, my grandfather had been staunchly independent, living alone and turning down offers of support. For the first time, he seemed to truly acknowledge his frailty, and he was wholly unprepared. My mother began the complicated process of organizing his things in preparation for a transcontinental move. His turmoil was apparent as he grappled with the loss of his independence.

A few days later, my grandfather died unexpectedly, alone in his home. Reflecting on the end of his life, I couldnt help but think, the countless health care professionals who had looked after him had failed to see the whole picture; he was a frail 90 year old dying of lymphoma. Rather than address the elderly man on the exam table, they honed in on his chief complaint: aortic stenosis. The healthcare system that he was once a part of, in which he so passionately believed in, had seemingly failed him.

Health care in the United States has become more compartmentalized than ever before. The vast majority of physicians  approximately two-thirds  are subspecialists, according to a 2015 AAMC report. My grandfathers experience prompts me to consider my own place in the medical system. Clinicians often practice in silos, and all too often, we get tunnel vision. We see a 90-year-old man and quickly zone in on the chief complaint or reason for consultation listed in the medical record, rather than making an effort to recognize the whole person. Why?

As I coped with the loss of my grandfather, his story played over and over again in my mind. I considered the providers who had seen him in his last weeks of life and wondered if I was guilty of the same behaviors. Reflecting on my own experience, I recognized that the great volume of patients and the increasing burden of administrative tasks have a tendency to shift our focus away from the bedside. I considered my role as chief surgical resident on call, quickly scurrying from stretcher to stretcher in the emergency room. I thought of the countless patients I had seen with circumstances similar to my grandfathers. I remembered evaluating a 93-year-old woman with a large bowel obstruction. Just as I began to address her goals of care, the harsh chime of my pager cut through the air: red trauma, ETA 5 minutes. I worried that I would be forced to focus solely on her chief complaint in the limited time that remained. Doing so would afford me little time to have a more meaningful discussion. Would I too miss the opportunity to dig deeper? How many of my future patients would suffer due to similar constraints?

After my grandfathers death, a colleague pointed out the whole person care movement. Often acknowledged in the context of palliative care, whole person care recognizes the dichotomy that exists between curing and healing, focusing primarily on the relief of suffering. Whole person care is slowly gaining momentum across the United States, with whole person clinics cropping up in places like California and North Carolina. Before becoming a physician, I would have been surprised to find that not all clinicians practice whole person care. With its promise of healing and curing, shouldnt we all be whole person-oriented?

We must not think of ourselves as system-specific clinicians. Gastroenterologists, cardiologists, allergists, and general surgeons: We all treat the whole patient. We must avoid tunnel vision at all costs.

I like to imagine an alternate scenario for the end of my grandfathers life. One in which he sat down with an internist, who patiently listened as he voiced concerns about the worsening pain in his shoulder and who took note of his frailty. One in which the radiologist called his cardiologist to ensure she had also seen the diffuse lymphadenopathy and considered it as she developed her differential diagnosis. One in which the TAVR was postponed prior to oncology consultation. One in which the oncologist had meaningful discussions regarding goals of care and palliation. One in which he declined chemotherapy and radiation, which was not consistent with his life goals, in favor of comfort. A future in which he would have died at home with hospice care, surrounded by the family members who loved him.

This article was written with Dr. Scarlets mother, Susan Scarlet.

Sara Scarlet is a surgery resident and can be reached on Twitter at @SaraScarletMD. This article originally appeared in the Gold Foundation blog.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Babies born to mothers over 35 outnumbered babies born to mothers in their teens and 20s for the first time last year, Statistics Korea said early this week.

The average age at first childbirth has risen to 32.4, and 107,031 or 26.4 percent of mothers were over 35, whereas 106,036 or 26.1 percent were in their teens and 20s.

In affluent areas the pattern is even more pronounced. Of 103 babies born at Severance Hospital last month, 40 percent were from mothers over 35 and only 17 babies from mothers in their teens and 20s.

Kwon Ja-young at Severance Hospital said, "Women are not only getting married later these days, but many are also divorcing and having children after remarrying, so we are seeing a continued rise in the ages of expecting mothers."
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The leaders of the United States and China offered starkly contrasting views of the direction for trade in Asia in separate speeches Friday to regional business leaders.

U.S. President Donald Trump told the APEC CEO Summit that he is willing to make bilateral trade agreements with any country in the Indo-Pacific region, but he firmly rejected multinational deals such as the 12 nation Trans Pacific Partnership, which was quickly abandoned in the first days of his administration.

"I will make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and that will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade," Trump said. "What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty, and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible."

The U.S. president said that in the past when his country "lowered market barriers, other countries didn't open their markets to us."

From now on, however, Trump warned the United States will, "expect that our partners will faithfully follow the rules. We expect that markets will be open to an equal degree on both sides and that private investment, not government planners, will direct investment."

But making that happen is something that is easier said than done. China has already shown that it has no intention of playing by the rules, said Fraser Howie, co-author of the book "Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China's Extraordinary Rise."

"China has been in WTO terms simply much sharper and smarter than the Americans," Howie said. "While the Americans went in with good faith thinking the Chinese would change and whatever, the Chinese never had any intention of changing."

Howie added that trade and access issues are difficult and sophisticated, and so far Trump has a poor track record when it comes to follow through, be it his travel ban, the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, health care or tax policy.

"Yes you're going to get tough on them, but how do you get tough without penalizing them," he said. He added, "how can China be penalized when Xi Jinping is your best mate? It doesn't make any sense."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in was set to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and hold bilateral talks with the leaders of China and Vietnam on Saturday.



After a visit to Indonesia, Moon arrived here on Friday, the second stop in his three-nation Southeast Asia trip, which will take him to Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday.



Moon will hold his first summit with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in the morning, to discuss ways to boost trade and improve overall ties.



Vietnam is the third-largest importer of South Korean products. In the first seven months of the year, South Korean exports to Vietnam came to US$26.95 billion, spiking 49.8 percent from the same period last year, according to data released by the Korean Customs Service.



In Jakarta, Moon unveiled his New South Policy aimed at greatly improving Seoul's diplomatic and economic relations with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).



Moon has emphasized ties with Southeast Asian countries which have emerged as a locomotive of global growth and can play important roles for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. All ASEAN countries have diplomatic ties with the reclusive North.



The South Korean leader is scheduled to attend the annual East Asia Summit, slated to be held in Manila next week, involving ASEAN states and its regional partner countries. It will be followed by a separate forum hosted by ASEAN.



Later on Saturday, Moon will attend a series of APEC meetings, including two rounds of summit talks that will involve the leaders of the 21 member economies including the United States, Japan and China.



Then he will hold a bilateral summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the day.



The Moon-Xi meeting will mark the second of its kind since the new South Korean leader came into office in May.



North Korea and its nuclear ambition will likely top the agenda of their talks, while Cheong Wa Dae officials note the leaders will also discuss ways to improve, if not normalize, the countries' ties.



Seoul-Beijing relations long remained at the bottom of their lowest ebb amid a Chinese protest against the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, THAAD, in South Korea.



The countries agreed late last month to put bilateral ties back on the right track.



Many believe the Moon-Xi meeting will likely mark the start of efforts to normalize the ties. (Yonhap)




The leaders of South Korea and China on Saturday reaffirmed their joint efforts to peacefully resolve North Korea's nuclear problem in a summit highlighting the recent normalization of bilateral ties estranged by the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea.



The leaders "shared the view on the need to stably manage the current security condition on the Korean Peninsula in relation to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and agreed to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue," Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said of the meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping.



To this end, the two countries agreed to strengthen their strategic dialogue.



The leaders also agreed to continue their discussions next month when the South Korean president will make a trip to China for their third bilateral summit, according to Cheong Wa Dae.



Moon asked the Chinese leader to reciprocate his scheduled visit with a trip to South Korea during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in South Korea in late February.



Xi said he will try his best and send a high-level delegation if he is unable to attend.



The Moon-Xi meeting came after months of disputes caused by China's protest against the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea.



"I am very glad to see you again after four months," Moon said at the start of their bilateral summit held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting here in the Vietnamese city. The two last met in Berlin in July before the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.



"Also, I am glad that our two countries have agreed to normalize exchanges and cooperation in all areas," he added, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.



The latest South Korea-China summit came after the countries agreed to normalize their ties in an agreement issued Oct. 31.



Xi said the Oct. 31 agreement marked a "new start and a good beginning."



"While welcoming the agreement released Oct. 31, the two leaders agreed to quickly put the countries' exchange and cooperation in all areas back to the normal track," Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan told a press briefing.



Xi noted his meeting with the South Korean leader marked a turnaround in South Korea-China relations.



"I believe our meeting today will be a great opportunity for the development of the relationship between the two countries and their cooperation and leadership on issues regarding the Korean Peninsula," he told Moon through his interpreter.



The Chinese president also underscored the importance of South Korea-China relations, saying the conditions on the Korean Peninsula were at a "pivotal" juncture.



Saturday's meeting came about two months after the North staged its sixth and most powerful nuclear test so far on Sept. 3.



Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae said the country has also asked the Chinese side to handle North Korean defectors in China from a humanitarian perspective, a request apparently seeking the passage of North Korean defectors to South Korea.



The request was part of a high-level dialogue held shortly before the Moon-Xi summit.



(Yonhap)








By James M. Dorsey



Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has won the first round of what could prove to be an unprecedented power grab that comes to haunt him. The prince's frontal assault on significant segments of the kingdom's elite; assertions of unrest in the military and the national guard, and a flood of rumours, including allegations that a prominent member of the ruling family, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd, died under mysterious circumstances suggest however that the struggle may be far from over.



There is little doubt that Prince Mohammed is in firm control for now. However, there is also little doubt that many in the kingdom's elite are licking their wounds and that the crown prince believes that bold action, crackdowns and repression is his best way of ensuring that he retains increasingly absolute power.



Criticism and potential opposition ranges from those that feel shut out of the corridors of power to those who see their vested interests threatened by Prince Mohammed's reforms and actions and/or are critical of the war in Yemen, his putting limits on ultra-conservative social codes, and his power-hungry, autocratic style.



As a result, the rumours about Prince Abdul Aziz, even if they may well prove to be incorrect, take on added significance. Prince Abdul Aziz is a son of late King Fahd, a major shareholder in Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC) that operates the Al Arabiya television network, whose other major shareholder, Waleed bin Ibrahim al-Ibrahim, a brother-in-law of the king, was among those detained this weekend.



Prince Abdul Aziz was known to be a supporter of the former crown prince, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was forced out of office earlier this year after rumours were floated that he had a drug addiction. Prince Mohammed is believed to have been under house arrest since.



Prince Abdul Aziz was also a partner in Saudi Oger, the troubled company of the family of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned this weekend in a seemingly Saudi-engineered move to destabilize Lebanon and confront Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia.



Prince Abdul Aziz has an alleged track record of going to the extreme in confronting his opponents. In an unprecedented move, Prince Turki bin Sultan, another member of the ruling family, filed a court case in Geneva in 2015 accusing Prince Abdul Aziz of orchestrating his abduction, sedation and forcible repatriation from Switzerland in 2003. A reformist, Prince Turki said he was kidnapped after he had accused the defence and interior ministries of corruption and planned to organize a seminar to detail the misconduct.



Sifting through the rumours and assessing the balance of power in Saudi Arabia amounts to the equivalent of Kremlinology, the phrase used at the time of the Soviet Union to try to decipher the inner workings of the Kremlin.



Nonetheless, what is confirmed as fact as well as the rumours appear to bolster suggestions that Prince Mohammed's crackdown and power grab targeted among others factions of the ruling family related to late kings Abdullah and Fahd as well as the family of the powerful late interior minister and crown prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef's father.



What is certainly also true is that Prince Mohamed bin Salman's crackdown on corruption strikes a popular cord among many in the kingdom who have long resented the awarding of often inflated mega contracts to members of the family as well as alleged land grabs by princes. Countering corruption beyond targeting potential critics and opponents has however a darker side in a country in which until the late 1950s members of the ruling families could access public funds for private use.



This week's publication by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) of the Paradise Papers, exposing the secret dealings and offshore interests of the global elite, potentially puts another member of ruling family in Prince Mohammed's firing line.



Former deputy defense minister Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, known as the father of Saudi missiles for his secret procurement in the late 1980s of Chinese missiles for the kingdom, and command alongside US General Norman Schwarzkopf of the US-led alliance that forced Iraq in 1991 to retreat from its occupation of Kuwait, was the only Saudi whose offshore dealings were revealed by the massive leak of documents of the Bermudan branch of offshore law firm Appleby.



The documents showed that Prince Khalid was a beneficiary of two trusts and registered at least eight companies in Bermuda between 1989 and 2014, some of which were used to own yachts and aircraft.



Several of those dismissed or detained in Prince Mohammed's most recent crackdown were last year named in a similar leak known as the Panama Papers because they came from a law firm in the country.



They include former Riyadh governor Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, whose oil-services company PetroSaudi was linked to Malaysia's multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal; Prince Turki bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a former military commander and head of the kingdom's meteorological and environmental authority; former deputy defense minister Prince Fahad bin Abdullah bin Mohammed; and former Saudi Telecom chief Saoud al-Daweesh.



The Panama Papers identified tens of Saudi nationals, including several members of the Bin Salman branch of the ruling family. The leaks included wealthy persons from across the globe with offshore assets, a legal practice that implies no wrongdoing.



The military and the national guard, a 100,000-man praetorian guard that was the long-standing preserve of King Abdullah and his closest associates, have remained silent in the wake of this weekend's arrest of guard commander Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, a son of King Abdullah, and dismissal of navy commander Vice Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Sultan, believed to be a son the late former defense minister and crown prince, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.



The changes in command nonetheless have reverberated through the ranks. "Things may well quiet down but many in the guard and the navy don't like the way things were managed," said a well-placed source.



The source's assessment was echoed by former CIA official and Saudi expert Bruce Riedel. Following a tweet by US President Donald J. Trump in support of Prince Mohammed bin Salman's crackdown, Mr. Riedel noted that "the Trump administration has tied the United States to the impetuous young crown prince of Saudi Arabia and seems to be quite oblivious to the dangers. But they are growing every day."





Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.




iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- A military jury has sentenced a Marine Corps drill instructor to 10 years behind bars for tormenting and physically abusing young recruits, especially Muslims, including one who later killed himself.



Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix on Thursday was found guilty of hazing and maltreatment of over a dozen recruits at the Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. The 34-year-old Iraq War veteran was convicted of dozens of criminal counts as the eight-member jury determined he kicked, punched and choked trainees including targeting three Muslim-Americans whom he allegedly taunted as "terrorist" and "ISIS." He also pressured at least of the Muslim recruits to get into an industrial clothes dryer.



The jury at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Friday sentenced Felix to military prison, reduced his rank to private and also ordered that he forfeit all pay and receive a dishonorable discharge.



"He wasn't making Marines. He was breaking Marines," prosecutor Lt. Col. John Norman told jurors Wednesday, adding that Felix was a "bully" who particularly "picked out three Muslim recruits for special abuse because of their Muslim faith."



A hazing investigation at the Parris Island boot camp led to charges against Felix after the March 2016 suicide of one of the Muslim-American military hopefuls Felix was accused of maltreating.



Raheel Siddiqui, a 20-year-old from Taylor, Michigan, jumped to his death on March 18, 2016, after having been forcefully slapped in the face between one and three times by his drill instructor, according to a report obtained by ABC News from Marine Corps officials in September 2016.



He then "stood, ran through the back hatch (exit) of the squad bay, and vaulted the railing of the stairwell, causing him to fall from the third deck of the barracks to the access stairs below," the report said.



At the time Siddiqui had been complaining that his throat hurt and he would not speak or answer when prompted. He had fallen to the floor grabbing his neck in apparent pain and failing to comply with orders to respond. The report said Siddiqui's drill sergeant insisted on an an acceptable response that precipitated his slapping the trainee.



The 2016 report also found that Siddiquis drill instructor was alleged to have engaged in serious misconduct with a previous platoon, including hazing and verbal and physical abuse of a Muslim recruit. Substantiation of those allegations should have led to his suspension as a drill instructor, according to the report.



Five days prior to his death, Siddiqui was found to have made a suicidal threat that led to his being placed on watch and scheduled for a mental health evaluation the next day. He recanted his threat but his units leadership failed to report an allegation he made of physical abuse by his drill instructors, the report said. The next day he was cleared for duty.



A Marine Corps statement in September 2016 said, "Findings from the Siddiqui investigation conclude that Siddiqui's death was the result of suicide."



In another case, Felix was accused of ordering former recruit Lance Cpl. Ameer Bourmeche into an industrial-size clothes dryer and turning it on as he demanded Bourmeche renounce his Muslim faith. Bourmeche, now a 23-year-old lance corporal at Camp Pendleton in California, testified during the trial that he twice affirmed his faith and twice Felix and another drill instructor order him to climb inside the dryer.



Bourmeche alleged they turned on the dryer with him inside three separate times while asking whether he renounced Islam. Fearing for his life after a third bruising spin, Bourmeche said, he told them he was no longer Muslim. He was then allowed to get out of the dryer, he said.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
PRESS RELEASE

The Belt and Road Initiative Was Prominent in the Xi-Trump Summit

Nov. 10, 2017 (EIRNS)Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the issue of the Belt and Road Initiative various times over the course of his meetings with President Donald Trump and the large delegation of businessmen that accompanied him on his historic trip to China, once again inviting the United States to join with this driver of global physical economic development. And although no formal agreement was announced in that regard, at least one of the major economic deals that was inked during the trip, is explicitly focused around projects involving the Belt and Road.

At the concluding joint press conference given by the two heads of state, President Xi stated:

"For China and the United States, win-win cooperation is the only right choice and the pathway toward a better future.... It is necessary to formulate and launch economic cooperation plans for the next phase to have continued in-depth discussion on trade imbalance, exports, the investment environment, market openness, and other issues, and work to support practical cooperation in energy, infrastructure, the Belt and Road Initiative, and other areas."

Trumps concluding formulation at that press conference is also notable, in that it reflects his recognition of the enormous potential of the moment:

"Its a very special time, and we do indeed have that very, very special opportunity. A great responsibility has been placed on our shoulders, Presidentits truly a great responsibilityand I hope we can rise to the occasion and help our countries and our citizens reach their highest destinies and their fullest potentials. I want to thank you againyoure a very special manfor your gracious hospitality."

President Xi returned to the issue of the Belt and Road in a discussion with businessmen and officials of the two countries:

"We will continue to encourage Chinese companies to proactively invest in the U.S., and we welcome U.S. companies and financial institutions to take part in projects under the Belt and Road Initiative."

One such American company that has taken up that invitation is General Electric, which signed an agreement with the Silk Road Fund, one of Chinas state funds for the Belt and Road Initiative, to "jointly invest in electric power grids, new energy and oil and gas, in countries and regions along the Belt and Road," Chinas State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement.

"The cooperation between the Silk Road Fund and GE will not only boost cooperation between high-end manufacturing industries from China and the U.S., but also promote economic and trade development in the regions where investment will occur,"

SAFE added.
PRESS RELEASE

No Meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin at APEC

Nov. 10, 2017 (EIRNS)A formal meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Putin did not occur at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam today. Instead, President Trump stopped on his way to his assigned spot for the group photo, climbed up the risers, stood next to President Putin, shook hands and put his left hand on President Putins shoulder, and with both Presidents smiling broadly, engaged in a hearty handshake.

The White House said yesterday that the seemingly planned encounter would not occur due to "scheduling conflicts," while Moscow said the leaders would meet "one way or another."

After hearing the White House comments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed irritation, saying,

"We have heard the willingness of U.S. President Trump to meet with President Putin, which was expressed by Trump himself. I dont know what his other pen-pushers are saying; ask them."

Trump told Fox News last week that he might meet with Russian President Putin, because "AgainPutin is very important because they can help us with North Korea. They can help us with Syria. We have to talk about Ukraine," RT reported today.

The first meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg in July was described by both sides as productive. RT further reminds its readers that as a result of that meeting, Russia and the United States reached a "breakthrough" ceasefire deal on Syria announced shortly after the Presidents meeting.

Yesterday Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, pressed on whether a meeting would occur, dampened the prospect by telling journalists

"The question is, whether weve got sufficient substance.... [A]nd the view has been if the two leaders are going to meet, is there something sufficiently substantive to talk about that would warrant a formal meeting.... Otherwise, well just keep working it,"

RT reported Tillersons response.

Although the Trump meeting did not come off, Putin did meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and with Chinese President Xi Jinping, among others. Putin stressed to Xi that strategic relations with China remain a Russian foreign policy priority, and Xi vowed to continue cooperation at the highest level, "shoulder to shoulder with our Russian partners."
PRESS RELEASE

Mattis Tells NATO That Russia Is in Violation of the INF Treaty

Nov. 10, 2017 (EIRNS)During the just-concluded NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis told his counterparts that Russia is not only in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, but that its commitment to other arms control treaties is suspect.

"The bottom line is you have to have respect for other nations sovereignty. When you make agreements, when you sign treaties, you have to live up to those treaties,"

Mattis said, according to the Pentagon transcript of his remarks. "And we have a firm belief, now, over several years," he went on,

"that the Russians have violated the INF Treaty. And our effort is to bring Russia back into compliance. It is not to walk away from the treaty. But, just like with the Vienna agreement, the Minsk accord, the Helsinki accord, we now have an increasing concern about Russias willingness to live up to the accords that its signed, the treaties its signed."

The conference report on the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, just released this week, reflects the same wildly false view towards Russia as Mattis. According to The Hill, the bill provides $58 million "to respond to Russias violations of an arms treaty without scrapping the treaty altogether." In todays Washington, $58 million may not seem like all that much money, but its the directionality that counts.

"The conferees took a firm view that more needs to be done to make sure that we maintain our competitive advantage against the potential adversary of Russia, and so we took steps to ensure that we have improved our capabilities over the long term to maintain that competitive capability,"

a senior House Armed Services Committee staffer told reporters Wednesday. The $58 million is "to counter Russias violation of the treaty" including research and development on a new ground launched cruise missile though this would supposedly not be in violation of the treaty. The bill would also require the president to identify in a public document Russians involved in the treaty violation along with other senior Russian political and military leaders and to develop draft regulations to use as a basis for future sanctions legislation, according to the House summary. The bill also restricts spending on the Open Skies Treaty, which it claims Russia is also violating.

The Russians are already warning that if the United States begins the development of a new missile, Russia will respond.

"If the missile announced by Congress indeed makes it into the American arsenal, we will have to develop and adopt the same thing. Russia has the military and technical capacities for that,"

Viktor Bondarev, the head of the Defense and Security Committee of Russias upper house of parliament, the Federal Council, (and until recently head of the Russian Aerospace Forces) has said, reports RT. As noted above, the bill supposedly wont result in a treaty violation, but the Russians have no doubt that a U.S. violation is inevitable. "It will entirely contradict the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty," Vladimir Shamanov, the head of the Russian lower house Defense Committee and the former head of Russias airborne troops, said on Thursday. "Our president said: the response will be instant," referring to earlier comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin. RT notes that the United States has never publicly provided any evidence of a Russian violation of the treaty but just goes around stating it as if it were an established fact, and cites Mattiss remarks in Brussels as the latest example of this.
PRESS RELEASE

China, United States Ink Historic Deals Worth $253.5 Billion

Nov. 10, 2017 (EIRNS)A total of $253.5 billion in deals were signed on the occasion of the summit in Beijing between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump which Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan described as a "miracle." In at least one casethe deal between General Electric and Chinas Silk Road Fundthe focus was explicitly around the Belt and Road Initiative.

By far the largest agreement (it is a Memorandum of Understanding) is an $83 billion investment over 20 years in shale gas, producing petrochemicals, and building new electric power plants in the state of West Virginia. On the Chinese side it involves a joint venture formed by Chinas Shenhua Group Corporation, described as the "worlds largest energy company," and Guodian Corp., which produces power plants.

The second-largest deal is also petrochemicals, in this case liquid natural gas (LNG). It is between the State of Alaska and Alaska Gaseline Development Corporation (AGDC), and the biggest Chinese banks and petrochemical firmsChina Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), China Investment Corporation (CIC), and the Bank of China (BOC). It is a Joint Development Agreement, with Chinese institutions investing up to $43 billion, and it is supposed to create 12,000 jobs in the United States and reduce the trade deficit by $10 billion per year.

Then comes Boeings deal to sell 300 aircraft, valued at $38 billion. And there is another LNG deal in Louisiana, in which China Gas Holdings will develop a floating LNG export platform.

Gong Ting, assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told Global Times:

"Soybeans, airplanes, technology and financial sector cooperation are the highlights of these deals, and the spotlight also goes to the energy sector, which is considered a fast-growing area of cooperation due to the sectors vast potential. Obviously the fruits of these deals in the future will translate into economic development in terms of improving peoples livelihood, generating employment and raising tax revenues in both countries."

An unmistakeable wave of optimism and enthusiasm is coming from the American companies and the U.S. states involved. Honeywell CEO Robert Tedjarati, interviewed from China, said that "megatrends in China are still positive. We still view China as the place where the largest contribution to our growth happens." The deals, he said, were signed, "the real thing." Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) said the deal involving her state "will have a transformative effect on our economy, our security and our future."
Hello readers! Its been quite a week. For those of you able and willing to look away from the news for a moment, heres whats up with books.

THE BIG STORY

L.A. readers know Janet Fitchs work  White Oleander, Paint It Black  for portraying the city as both dark and romantic, a place where troubled young women grow up. Her brand new novel, The Revolution of Marina M. is also a coming-of-age story  this time set 100 years ago, in Russia. In this terrific essay, Fitch explains what it was like to dig deep into the history of the time, travel to Russia, and then move beyond that into fiction.

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A BREAKTHROUGH BOOK

On Wednesday, the National Book Awards will take place in New York City. For the first time, L.A. author Robin Benway will be in attendance; her YA novel Far from the Tree is a finalist for the National Book Award in Young Peoples Literature. Agatha French talked to Benway about her book, which is about a family that has been fractured by foster care and adoption, and why she feels so strongly about writing for teens.

Robin Benway (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times )

BUNK

In 2017, weve all heard of fake news. But Kevin Young has been thinking about it for years, and what its connection to simple falsehoods and more malignant hoaxes means. More often than not, he shows in his book Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News, there is a connection to race. In our review, Colin Dickey writes, its a wild, incisive, exhilarating tour through Western cultures sideshows and dark corners.

L.A. NOIR

The new novel by L.A.-based writer Ivy Pochoda begins with a chase on the 101, with a police helicopter, drivers stuck in traffic recording with their cellphones, and a naked man racing by on foot. What could the dark and dizzying Wonder Valley do but spin out from there in a kaleidoscopic thriller? Michael Schaub has our review.

BESTSELLERS

The No. 1 L.A. Times bestseller in fiction this week is Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan, now in its fourth week on the list.

The No. 1 L.A. Times bestseller in nonfiction is Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson, another masterful tale of genius from the author of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin and Einstein. Its the books second week on our bestseller list.

See all the books on our bestseller lists here.

Walter Isaacson in 2014 (Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press )

MORE IN BOOKS

Louise Erdrich makes a surprising turn into futuristic dystopia with her next novel Future Home of the Living God. She talks to Bethanne Patrick about the book and the way it addresses constraints on woman.

At the recent Texas Book Festival, Oscar-winning actor turned debut author Tom Hanks helped a fan propose to his girlfriend (she said yes).

Actress and activist Rose McGowans memoir will be published Jan. 30 by HarperOne. The title is Brave.

In a baffling interview, legendary journalist Gay Talese told Vanity Fair that hed like to write a profile of Kevin Spacey. Perhaps unaware of the extent of the allegations against Spacey, Talese said that he felt sorry for Spacey and that his alleged victim should suck it up.

I got to introduce John Hodgman, whose new book is the fabulous memoir Vacationland, at the L.A. Times Ideas Exchange at the Ace Hotel on Monday. Shh, dont tell: heres the ladies powder room.

I love being at the Ace before anyone is here pic.twitter.com/d5J0F5LuxA  Carolyn Kellogg (@paperhaus) November 7, 2017

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com

@paperhaus
By slashing the corporate tax rate, the GOP tax proposal could very well curtail the widely derided practice of companies moving headquarters to a foreign country simply to reduce their tax bite.

But how far will the tax overhaul go in advancing a top goal of President Trumps -- keeping U.S. multinational firms from sending manufacturing work and jobs overseas?

Many economists and tax analysts think not very much. And by some accounts, the Republican proposal in its current form could actually increase the incentive for companies to make investments and manufacture abroad.

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While there are some important differences in the House and Senate versions, they share key elements. Both would knock down the U.S. corporate tax rate to 20% from the current 35%. That is a little less than the worldwide average rate of 22.5%, according to the research firm Tax Foundation, and that is likely to tamp down further what had been a wave of corporate inversions, in which a firm relocates its legal domicile to a lower-tax nation.

The Republican proposal also would fundamentally change the U.S. tax scheme to a so-called territorial system, in which foreign earnings would be exempt from U.S. taxes.A multinational firms offshore income would still be subject to taxes in the country where it made those profits.

A few countries, such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, have a zero corporate tax rate, so to prevent multinational firms from paying nothing at all, congressional Republicans have proposed a minimum tax on foreign profits at a rate that is no more than 10%.

But at 10%, that would still be just half the tax rate on an American corporations domestic earnings, meaning that it would still make financial sense for U.S. companies to shift earnings and activity to places where taxes are lower or pay the minimum on foreign earnings of no more than 10%.

As long as the rate structure is lower abroad than it is here, were going to continue to have an incentive to shift jobs, production and profits offshore, said Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

In recent years, U.S. multinational firms have continued to invest and hire employees at a faster rate in their foreign operations than in the U.S. From 2009 to 2014, American companies with foreign subsidiaries grew their employment abroad by 21.5% while their domestic payrolls rose by about 16%, according to the latest Commerce Department data on multinational activities.

Jared Walczak, a senior policy analyst at the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation, agrees that some companies will still find it attractive to move activity abroad for tax purposes, but he nonetheless expects a slowdown in the overall shift, if not a reversal.

Up to now, he said, U.S. companies facing a 35% tax hit on their foreign earnings were highly motivated to establish bases overseas. A favorite among tech firms such as Apple was Ireland, where the top corporate tax rate is 12.5%.

With the U.S. rate sliced to 20%, Walczak argues that the gap would be narrowed enough that it will be much more attractive for multinational companies to do business in the United States and less advantageous to go abroad. Whats more, he said, other changes in the tax plan, such as immediate expensing for equipment and capital purchases to offset taxes, would spur firms to invest and expand production in the U.S.

But that gap may be much bigger than what meets the eye. The 10% minimum tax would apply only to earnings on nontangible assets such as patents and intellectual property holdings, which can easily be shifted offshore on paper. There would be no minimum tax on foreign tangible assets such as plants and equipment, which means firms would find it that much more profitable to produce overseas.

By the time all the dust is cleared, theres a net incentive to shift income offshore and to shift activities offshore, said Kimberly Clausing, an economics professor at Reed College who has written extensively on corporate taxation.

Both the Senate and House bills have promised to include antiabuse provisions and ways to protect the tax base. But in fact, both versions would result in the federal government losing tax revenue on foreign income in the 10th year of the tax plan relative to what it would under the status quo, Clausing said.

Thats showing us that on net, the incentive to be offshore is even higher because the tax base gets even smaller due to these provisions, she said.

One House idea meant to protect the tax base was an excise tax proposed to stop multinational firms from using transactions with their foreign affiliates to reduce their U.S. taxes. But that provision, after coming under attack by conservative groups, has been gutted. Though it was once estimated to generate $155 billion, it is now projected to generate only about half that much.

The underlying idea seems to be that, subject to this quasi-minimum tax, anything goes in respect of foreign tax avoidance by U.S. multinationals, Edward Kleinbard, a USC law professor and expert in federal tax policy, said of the House tax bill. This strikes me as a very conscious policy.

He added: U.S. multinationals that use Ireland or other low-tax jurisdictions to minimize their foreign tax bills down to the Irish rate in respect of foreign sales will be enormous winners.

don.lee@latimes.com

Follow me at @dleelatimes
In the latest blow to a major U.S. technology company in Europe, a British employment tribunal ruled on Friday that Uber drivers are owed minimum wage and paid time off, throwing a wrench into the ride-hailing companys business model.

Uber has long asserted that it does not employ its drivers, and is instead an intermediary that connects self-employed drivers with passengers. If Uber fails in its appeal of the decision, it could be on the hook for minimum wage payments and paid time off for some 40,000 Uber drivers in Britain, which could cost the company millions of dollars.

Uber is considered the worlds most valuable privately held company  with a valuation of about $70 billion  in part because of its business model, according to industry experts, who have said that any changes that require it to recognize drivers as employees would adversely affect the companys bottom line.

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The tribunals decision comes two months after regulators in London said they would not renew the ride-hailing companys license to operate in the city.

It also follows the European Union slapping Google with a record $2.7 billion fine in June for allegedly violating antitrust rules, fining Facebook $122 million in May for misleading the unions governing body about its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp, ordering Apple in August to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes, and demanding in October that Amazon pay $295 million in back taxes after the e-commerce giant was found to be unfairly benefiting from special tax conditions.

Europes tougher stance on Silicon Valley has been emboldened by growing calls in the U.S. to question the industrys monopolistic power. Regulators can also point to Russias use of social media to meddle in the U.S. presidential election and the recently released Paradise Papers, which detail rampant corporate tax avoidance, to buoy their argument for strict controls, experts say.

Competition-law enforcement can help to show that no company is above the law, Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition, said in a speech Tuesday in Portugal about companies that dont pay their fair share of taxes. No company has the right to close down competition to disable the innovation of each and every one of you.

That view hasnt been shared in the U.S., though, where some officials and academic experts say Europe is erecting protectionist measures to compensate for the continents dearth of globally competitive technology companies.

The U.S. has a successful digital economy and the EU does not, said Larry Downes, project director at Georgetowns Center for Business and Public Policy. Clearly the EU is making it as difficult as possible for American companies as the last hope to prop up their own digital economy.

In addition to what international business experts describe as the European Unions resentment toward the dominance of U.S. tech companies, there are also inherent cultural differences at play.

In the U.S., we have a long and healthy distrust of our government, so being anti-regulatory gives you a faux-hero status here, and Americans usually rally around the underdog fighting the bureaucrats, said Greg Autry, an assistant professor of clinical entrepreneurship at USCs Marshall School of Business.

The Silicon Valley tech mantra of moving fast and breaking things isnt as well received in the EU, where there is more respect for authority and tradition, Autry said.

Which isnt to say that U.S. tech companies looking to set up shop in Europe should expect to be blocked at every turn, according to Autry, who said tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Apple and even Uber could do a better job of integrating with the local culture.

They need to do more operations and development within Europe, said Autry, who used the example of Japanese car manufacturers entry into the U.S. as a success story. Americans are now very comfortable with Nissan, Toyota and Honda. They wave the American flag in their ads and tout their U.S. factories and workers  they dont give a sense of being foreign.

But Uber faces an additional hurdle, Autry said. Unlike Google and Facebook, which dont have local competitors, the ride-hailing company has faced headwind from incumbent taxi industries.

Over the last three years, cab drivers in France and Spain have rioted and barricaded roads in protest of the service. And in London, where the local black cabs are well-liked, regulators have exercised a heavy hand at slowing down the American upstart that has, back home, been celebrated for upending the unpopular taxi industry.

To win over European regulators, Uber will need to convince locals that their business model is worth the discomfort theyre causing, said Witold Henisz, a professor of management at the Wharton School.

Theres a much stronger sense of value to equity and fairness in Europe, Henisz said. In the U.S. we tend to give primacy to disruptive, entrepreneurial people.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

david.pierson@latimes.com

Twitter: @dhpierson
Even if you dont know who Ulrike Meinhof was, Daniel Joseph Martinezs new suite of photographs at the gallery Roberts & Tilton is moving. Created last year during a residency in Berlin, the large images depict Martinez, bundled up for winter weather, at various locations where the Berlin Wall stood. In each photograph, he is holding a medieval-style standard featuring an image of Meinhof; the portraits, taken at different points in her life, include one from her autopsy.

Meinhof was a left-wing journalist, a mother, a co-founder of the militant anti-capitalist Red Army Faction in 1970s Berlin and eventually a prisoner accused of murder. She is, to say the least, a complicated figure to lionize. She died under mysterious circumstances while awaiting trial.

Daniel Joseph Martinez, installation view, I Am Ulrike Meinhof or (someone once told me time is a flat circle) at Roberts & Tilton. (Robert Wedemeyer / Roberts & Tilton)

SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter 

In each image, Martinez is stalwart, holding his banner up like a protest sign or planting it on the ground like a flag. Locations include the building where the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was founded, a Soviet cemetery and other, surprisingly pastoral landscapes that used to be checkpoints or crossings interrupted by the wall. The photographs are printed in a muted palette of silvery grays, creating a somber glow.

The imagery of a lone American man of Mexican descent quietly holding aloft the image of a German woman is a moving tribute in itself. But Martinez, ever the provocateur, turns a woman often referred to as a terrorist into Joan of Arc. Further, he performs this gesture where the Berlin Wall  the most iconic site of the Cold War  was torn down. Its a pointed rebuke to the Trump administrations nuclear threats and promise to build another wall.

A standard is borne into battle; its the flag you fight under. The difference between Meinhof and the mainstream left is that she crossed the border from pacifism to violence, or put another way, from protest to a more extreme form of action. In raising her image, Martinez raises the question: Where do you stand? And what are you going to do about it?

Roberts & Tilton, 5801 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Through Dec. 16; closed Sundays and Mondays. (323) 549-0223, www.robertsandtilton.com

The Kanzleramt in Berlin (office of chancellor) ..., 2017. (Daniel Joseph Martinez / Roberts & Tilton)

The photographers full caption for the photo above: The Kanzleramt in Berlin (office of chancellor) was built from 1997 to 2001 as part of the relocation of the Federal Government from Bonn to Berlin. The Kanzleramt is the highest Government quarter in the world (36 meters) and is eight times bigger than the White House in Washington, D.C."

This was a tiny valley floor at the Rudower Hohe ... 2017. (Daniel Joseph Martinez / Roberts & Tilton)

The photographers full caption for the photo above: This was a tiny valley floor at the 'Rudower Hohe.' The park is located in the districts of Rudow and Alt-Glienicke. The Rudower Hohe was created from a 70-meter-high mountain of rubble in the 1950s. Further east, the Wall ran before the turnaround. Approximately 400 meters of the wall can still be seen in the original. Since 2001, these remains have been declared a Historic Monument.

The Soviet memorial park in the district of Schonholz ..., 2017. (Daniel Joseph Rodriguez, Roberts & Tilton)

The photographers full caption for the photo above: The Soviet memorial park in the district of Schonholz. The Soviet War Memorial in Schonholzer Heide (German: Sowjetisches Ehrenmal in der Schonholzer Heide) in Pankow, Berlin, was erected in the period between May 1947 and November 1949 and covers an area of 30,000 square meters. The memorial contains the biggest Soviet cemetery in Berlin, which is also the biggest Russian cemetery in Europe outside of Russia."

Teltow Channel close to the Dreilinden roadhouse ..., 2017 (Daniel Joseph Martinez / Roberts & Tilton)

The photographers full caption for the photo above: Teltow Channel close to the Dreilinden roadhouse. The Teltow Channel, (German: Teltowkanal) is a canal that lies in both the states of Berlin (south) and Brandenburg, and at points forms the boundary between the two. Hidden away near the Teltowkanal is the old border control point and roadhouse Dreilinden. The area is part of a nature reserve. Nearby is a bridge across the canal which was divided by a piece of wall during the GDR period, making it impassable."

See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.

MORE STORIES:

L.A. Opera lets Ingmar Bergman's film 'Persona' sing

In the play 'Deferred Action,' the call to end DACA comes from an unexpected place

Bruce Kaji dies at 91; Japanese American National Museum founder and Little Tokyo pioneer
L.A. is awash in art and music and opera this week  featuring Chinese dissidents, roving aliens and feral little girls. Im Carolina A. Miranda, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, with the weeks essential culture stories:

THE L.A. PHIL AT 100

The Los Angeles Philharmonic held its first concert on Oct. 24, 1919. To mark its centennial, the 2018-19 season promises to be beyond lavish. This will include a new home for musical director Gustavo Dudamels YOLA youth education project designed by Frank Gehry, special programs led by former musical directors Zubin Mehta and Esa-Pekka Salonen, a tribute to African American composer William Grant Still, and an appearance by Dudamel in the 2019 Oscars ceremony. Like, whoa!

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Gustavo Dudamel announces plans for the centennial season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times )

The sheer ambition of L.A. Phil should further inspire cautious arts organizations to think big, writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed. But it may also bring up some fears of one organization dominating the landscape. Los Angeles Times

Plus, Richard S. Ginnell reviews the L.A. Phils performance of Ravels 50-minute opera Lheure espagnole, a work that the orchestra had never before performed  and which it will do so again on Saturday under the direction of Charles Dutoit. Los Angeles Times

On a related note: Do you find yourself in need of an animated GIF of Dudamel conducting? Times photographer Jay L. Clendenin and graphics journalist Joe Fox have got you covered.

A HALF-CENTURY OF PLACIDO IN L.A.

And since we seem to be on the subject of important anniversaries: Los Angeles Opera co-founder Placido Domingo is marking the 50th anniversary of his Los Angeles debut. (LA Opera is celebrating with a gala.) Swed takes stock of the tenors legacy in Los Angeles and beyond. I have the enthusiasm, Domingo tells him. I have the passion. I always say, when I hear, the years are passing, I want them to pass. I dont want them to stay. Los Angeles Times

Placido Domingo in the spring conducting LA Operas production of The Tales of Hoffmann. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times )

Swed also reviews Keeril Makans Persona, currently being staged by the LA Opera at REDCAT. It was inspired by Ingmar Bergmans 1966 film of the same name. There is nothing groundbreaking musically or dramatically, writes Mark Swed of the piece. But what opera adds is a new psychological dimension. Los Angeles Times

SOMETHING FUNNY

Something Rotten!, writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty, is a light theatrical souffle that sets out to pinion you with laughter. The show, now playing at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, and soon making its way to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, features a pair of Elizabethan playwrights, a number called God, I Hate Shakespeare and gags that involve Hamlet and omelets. The prolonged farcical antics falter at moments, writes McNulty, but theres always a spare kooky character to provide a lift. Los Angeles Times

ALIENS INVADE L.A.

Citizens of the nation, I shall not try to conceal the gravity of the situation that confronts the country. Those are the words from a beleaguered government official as aliens take over the streets of Los Angeles. If it sounds like the plot from Orson Welles infamous Martian invasion epic War of the Worlds  it is. Except its now an opera by Annie Gosfield that is being staged by Yuval Sharon inside and outside Disney Hall starting Sunday. Part of what we hope to achieve with our audience, Sharon tells The Times Jessica Gelt, is that they realize the value of their own critical faculties in assessing whats true and whats fabricated. Adds Gosfield: Maybe a project like this inspires someone to voice an opinion artistically or politically that they wouldnt otherwise. Los Angeles Times

The team behind War of the Worlds: Yuval Sharon (from left), Annie Gosfield and Christopher Rountree. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times )

POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE AT RISK

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has announced plans to sell Chicagos Thompson Center, designed by architect Helmut Jahn in 1985  and its got the postmodernism preservationists worried. Its an old story, writes Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne: Building by important architect approaches middle age; falls out of fashion; suffers from deferred maintenance; begins as a result of deferred maintenance to lose whatever charm or verve it once had; falls further out of fashion; becomes demolition target. Los Angeles Times

GETTING IMMERSIVE

A gallery talk by a purported Chinese dissident that is also an immersive work of performance: The Times Daryl H. Miller attends the wildly inventive art installation/theater piece Caught at Think Tank Gallery that leaves viewers with more questions than answers. Los Angeles Times

GALA TIME!

Filmmaker George Lucas and artist Mark Bradford were the guests of honor at the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts Art + Film Gala. The Times Deborah Vankin was there for the uplifting speeches and the butternut squash agnolotti. Los Angeles Times

Mark Bradford (from left) with filmmaker George Lucas and LACMA director Michael Govan. (Donato Sardella / Getty Images for LACMA )

Plus, Times fashion writer Adam Tschorn reports on all the fine duds that were rocked at the party. Los Angeles Times

IN THE GALLERIES

Times art critic Christopher Knight has been making the rounds. Up first: Adrian Villar Rojass The Theater of Disappearance, at the Museum of Contemporary Art  a work that meditates on the nature of cultural ruin. Its a massive installation, that has taken over the sprawling Geffen Contemporary, reports Knight, but the gigantism of the project far outpaces its slender rewards, which shrink further by comparison. Los Angeles Times

Knight found more to savor in Mike Kelleys Kandors at Hauser & Wirth. Inspired by a reference to a shrunken city in a Superman comic, he reports that the works are remarkable for how they treat something that would generally be considered a negligible throwaway subject with sincerity and discernment. Los Angeles Times

Also on the docket: Luke Butlers paintings and drawings at Charlie James Gallery. Knight is compelled by the drawings that record torn bits of obituaries of famous TV and film stars. Los Angeles Times

KIM DINGLES UNVARNISHED TRUTHS

In my career as a journalist, I had never once interviewed an artist and spent two solid minutes cry-laughing into the phone. Thankfully for us, thats where Kim Dingle comes in. The L.A. painter, known for her depictions of feral little girls, has a show on view at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects through Saturday. That is the downfall for so many artists  the art market and too many galleries and all of those things, she tells me. Its artists thinking, Oh, they will like this. But what youve done is just jumped on your grief pole to hell. Los Angeles Times

Kim Dingles one-woman show at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects features ferocious little girls. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times )

PHOTOGRAPHING PAGEANTRY

Matthew Rolston has photographed the performers who star in the living tableaux in Pageant of the Masters in full makeup  and the results are surreal. Los Angeles Times

IN OTHER NEWS...

 Lin-Manuel Miranda is taking Hamilton to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico. PRI

 Mexicos churches took a big hit during the last major earthquake. PRI

 Snehal Desai, the new artistic director at East West Players, charts a new course for the organization involving a lot of collaborative partnerships. Los Angeles Times

Snehal Desai, the new artistic director at East West Players. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )

 Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara was detained then released after planning an alternate exhibition to the Havana Biennial. Hyperallergic

 Benjamin Genocchio has been replaced as director of the influential New York art fair, the Armory Show, after being accused of sexual harassment. New York Times

 Bruce Kaji, a founder of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, has passed away at the age of 91. Los Angeles Times

 HM157 co-founder Charon Nogues departs the Lincoln Heights arts space. LA Weekly

 The Van Gogh painting with a grasshopper stuck in the paint. Architectural Digest

 A grime-encrusted object ended up being a priceless Grecian artifact evoking The Iliad and The Odyssey. New York Times

 You can experience Kerry James Marshalls exhibition at MOCA on an Oculus headset. VRt Ventures

 Taking a dance class with Misty Copeland. New York Times

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Illustrations of people who want artists to work for free. Dangerous Minds

Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter 

carolina.miranda@latimes.com

@cmonstah

ALSO

What the sexual harassment allegations at Artforum reveal about who holds the power in art (hint: not women)

Datebook: Pieces drawn from words and history, elaborate drawings, work that toys with gender

The whoa moment and Mary Corse: The painter who toys with light is finally getting her due

Rent hikes and evictions  is it the last stand for artists in the Arts District?
He died in exile, a broken emperor in an unraveling world.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran, drew his last breath in Egypt in 1980 following a 19-month odyssey that turned him into an opulent, unwanted vagabond at the center of a volatile relationship between the U.S. and the Islamic Revolution that swept Ayatollah Khomeini to power. His story is an enigmatic tale of an autocrat who misjudged history and miscalculated the forces arrayed against him.

The new documentary A Dying King: The Shah of Iran unfolds like a medical whodunit, examining a carousel of international doctors, egos and mistakes that spun like an eerie coda through the larger political story. Diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia, which was kept secret for years, the shah was a victim of misdiagnoses, botched surgeries and complications from an abscess and infection that led to his death. Much of this mistreatment and his erratic exile was tied to the shunning of a once close American ally.

The shah was a distant if pivotal figure in the life of director Bobak Kalhor, who was 7 years old in 1976 when his family emigrated from Iran to Los Angeles during the stirrings of revolt. Kalhor grew up in Sherman Oaks, delivering newspapers and graduating from Cal State Northridge. He became intrigued by the politics of his native land and how the shah was connected to his own fate and the exodus of many Iranian Americans.

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Theres a void of why we came here, said Kalhor, a first-time filmmaker and real estate broker who hosted a political and medical show on Radio Iran KIRN 670 AM in Simi Valley. This movie has been a voyage of self-discovery. I bought a camera and I bought lights. I started traveling and interviewing people. My friends called me the mad scientist. Its taken a big chunk of my personal finances. But everything hasnt been answered. Its the tip of the needle.

The needle these days points in many directions amid wars in the Middle East, deepening enmity between Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni-controlled Saudi Arabia, and the Trump administrations strained relations with Tehran over a nuclear accord.

Its a vital time. Were heading into possible military conflict with a country we dont understand, said Kalhor, whose film, distributed by Vision Films and CARU Pictures, opens in Los Angeles on Thursday. Whatever [political] side youre on ... its important to understand the history. Then you can make an educated decision. That was my intent with this, and I hope we can take it to the next level.

The documentary, weaving archival footage and interviews with doctors, revisits 1979 when the shah fled and Khomeini tightened his grip on Iran. The ayatollah warned President Jimmy Carter and other Western leaders not to give the shah refuge, a threat that took on perilous consequences months later when crowds stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 52 hostages. The shah found himself adrift, shuttling from Morocco to the Bahamas to Mexico and, after Carter relented, to New York. Rezas wife, Empress Farah, described the ordeal as a chain of disasters.

The whole thing is a book of malpractice, Dr. Jorge Cervantes, a surgeon and then medical adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, says in the film. Dr. Morton Coleman, an oncologist who treated the shah at New York Hospital, says that between government officials, doctors and diplomats there were too many cooks boiling the broth and there were huge political ramifications.

The shahs drama  echoing through the last decade of the Cold War  reshaped global politics and propelled the rise of radical Islam and terrorism that continues convulse the region and beyond. The handsome shah with his money, crown, medals and elegant wife seems now a misguided, secretive and ruthless monarch from a satirical novel, a gilded man brought down not by enemies but by indecision, rival doctors and an obsessive need not to show weakness.

The medical mistakes were many: The shah was misdiagnosed with malaria, an operation in New York to remove gallstones missed a few, and his enlarged spleen was not immediately treated. When the spleen was finally removed in Egypt by renowned American heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, the pancreas was injured and the shah suffered an abscess and did not receive intravenous antibiotics. A French surgeon was called in to drain the infection, but the man who once called himself the king of kings slipped into a coma and died in July 1980.

In a 1988 story in Vanity Fair, British journalist William Shawcross, whose book The Shahs Last Ride was a source for Kalhor, wrote that the shahs demise was a story of obsessive secrecy degenerated into macabre farce. Shawcross wrote:

The Shah had at least eight separate teams of doctors: his original Iranian physicians, the French, the Mexicans, [Dr. Ben] Kean`s team, the American doctors at Lackland [Air Force Base in Texas], the Panamanians, the Kean-DeBakey team in Cairo, and now finally revolving sets of different doctors all with different ideas of how he should be treated and might or might not be saved.

The shah was a victim of changing politics and his own missteps  a man beyond help, a scion of a dynasty cast on a long and troubled wandering. Kalhor noted that most of the doctors he talked to said if the shah was an average Joe walking into any major hospital in any major city in any country, he probably would have been cured.

See the most-read stories this hour 

Twitter: @JeffreyLAT

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com
I use the word cult in its pejorative sense, meaning a deeply insular social group bound together by extreme devotion to a charismatic leader. Such groups tend to exhibit a few common characteristics.

They are usually formed around an individual whom theyve elevated to prophetic and near divine status.

During the campaign, Franklin Graham, Trumps most enthusiastic evangelical Christian supporter, dismissed his many moral failings by comparing him favorably to the flawed patriarchs and prophets of the Bible: Abraham, Moses and David. ...

The cult leader is generally believed to possess special knowledge. No matter how demonstrably false his pronouncements, they become, by definition, truth for his followers. Trump has been spectacularly successful at getting his supporters to believe his blandishments rather than their own eyes. Consider the fact that in another HuffPost/YouGov poll, conducted after allegations of sexual harassment and assault surfaced against producer Harvey Weinstein, only 8% of Trump supporters believed the claims of sexual assault made against him despite the evidence of the Access Hollywood tape.

One of the ways a cult leader maintains his unquestioned authority is by creating a siege mentality among his followers and presenting himself as the antidote. In Trumps view, the country is a wasteland of empty factories scattered like tombstones and crime-ridden cities that are more dangerous than war zones. Our military is a disaster. Our healthcare is a horror show, he declared during the campaign. And as Trump has often said, I alone can fix it.

>> Click here to read more
Ken Williams, who grew up in La Mirada, saved the draft board the cost of a stamp.

I volunteered, he said. I was raised to serve our country. You didnt question it.

He went to Vietnam with the 9th Marines in 1969, saw action and made it home considerably less gung-ho about the war. Thats when he made a commitment to social work, particularly in the service of struggling veterans and those with mental health issues.

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Thats how I met him. In 2009, Williams was a county social worker and kept a journal of homeless people who had died on the streets of Santa Barbara. The count was up to 18 in August of that year. Williams had gone from fighting an enemy in Vietnam to fighting indifference as the body count rose in the affluent seaside city.

A homeless man crosses a street in Santa Barbara. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )

Devoted to helping homeless vets

Williams, 67, was a heroic, outspoken critic of half-hearted government efforts and the treatment of poverty as a nuisance. I accompanied him on his rounds, and I read his powerful, often poetic prose as a correspondent for Noozhawk. He retired five years ago after 35 years in social work to focus full-time on writing.

And then he got sick.

The warrior, stricken with blood cancer, had another battle on his hands, this time with the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy. His own research and the opinions of three doctors convinced him his illness was linked to his exposure to Agent Orange and napalm in Vietnam.

He recalls being very near a napalm drop in the A Shau Valley, and on his next mission, in Con Thien, he and his fellow Marines watched planes drop sheets of Agent Orange over nearby fields. Williams and his mates later swept through those fields in tanks.

The tank to my immediate left blew up. It was perpendicular to the ground, and a Marine came flying out of the dust past me, Williams said. All we could think of was that wed been hit in an ambush, and we got down to form a perimeter. There was paddy water, and we were so thirsty we started drinking it. But there was an oily film on top of it.

Battling the VA

The VA denied Williams claim that his illness was linked to his service, and he was refused disability payments. And that, as thousands of vets know, is not uncommon.

Its scientifically problematic to tie a disease to a cause. But the VA has frequently used a controversial consultant who insisted that relatively few vets were exposed to chemicals, and even then, he said, the doses were too small to cause harm. Earlier this year, a VA official said renewed attention to Agent Orange was the result of media hype and hysteria.

John Rowan, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said he thinks this is all about money.

They dont want to pay, said Rowan, who spoke by phone from his car as he headed to Washington, D.C., to celebrate Veterans Day.

For years, weve been constantly battling these things, said Rowan, who himself spent years fighting for disability payments for his diabetes, neuropathy and other diseases.

Dr. Jeanne Stellman, a Columbia University professor emerita who has studied herbicide exposure in Vietnam, said the VA has never funded major scientific research on the impacts. Dr. Linda S. Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, told me the VA has made it very difficult for veterans to get treatment and compensation.

Wont take no for an answer

But Ken Williams, true to his personality, wouldnt take no for an answer. He appealed the VAs denials and won temporary full disability, then kept up the fight for an additional year or more before being granted permanent full disability.

That, however, was not the end of his problems. His health deteriorated, and his primary myelofibrosis evolved into acute myeloid leukemia.

Ken is determined that Vietnam will not have the final word in his lifes journey, Ken and his wife, Donna, said in an early-October email in which they announced he would be hospitalized for several weeks of chemotherapy, which, if successful, might be followed by a bone marrow transplant.

But the chemotherapy did not check the disease. And the news kept getting worse.

Apparently my leukemia cells have a mutation that fights the anti-cancer drugs, Williams said Wednesday in an email from Stanford hospital. Good news is that there is a targeted therapy for this mutation. Bad news is that the insurance, Medicare, has denied me this life-saving drug. As you can guess, I have mixed feelings towards a holiday that celebrates veterans, yet here I sit in a hospital bed because I cant get the medicine that I need.

Begging for help

Dr. Jason Gotlib, Williams hematologist, was disappointed by the rejection. He said hes seen hundreds of patients who have the same disease but had no exposure to Agent Orange or napalm, and he doesnt know if there was or wasnt a link in Williams case. But he said a combination of two drugs, including Venclexta  the drug Medicare denied coverage for  is the next logical treatment for Williams, and theres evidence it has worked for others.

Gotlib appealed Medicares decision.

Same result.

He appealed again, arguing that medical data was on his side and that Williams was in dire straits.

Medicare wouldnt budge.

Essentially, Williams said dejectedly, theyre saying its an experimental drug.

The Williamses now live in Cambria, and Donna tried to get help through the office of their congressional representative. Gotlibs team, meanwhile, appealed directly to Genentech, which makes the denied drug.

A fighting chance

Ken Williams worried, meanwhile, that time was running out. We talked about whether the drug might be covered if he transferred to a VA hospital, and whether it would be possible for him to buy the drug. But he was under the impression that it would be way too expensive.

When I checked back with him Thursday evening, his tone had changed.

They approved it, he said.

Genentech told me it does not comment on individual patient cases, but that We are committed to ensuring that our medicines get to the people who need them, even if they cant afford them.

Williams has been through three years of cancer, pneumonia, a staph infection and a lung biopsy. He was physically and emotionally drained, and he has more battles ahead, with the new drug treatment scheduled to begin Tuesday and take three weeks.

But he has a fighting chance.

Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez
An 11-year-old girl was killed and two women were injured Friday night in Boyle Heights when a Mustang smashed into two other cars next to a taco stand, authorities said.

Officials responded to the scene on the 900 block of South Marietta Street, near the intersection with Whittier Boulevard, around 7 p.m., according to an alert from the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The Mustang had been traveling west on Whittier Boulevard at high speed when its driver lost control and veered across the center line, crashing into a sedan and pickup next to the taco stand, said Los Angeles Police Capt. Ruby Flores.

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Speed was a factor in the incident, Flores added, and the departments street-racing task force was on scene investigating the circumstances.

The 11-year-old girl died after being taken to the hospital, police said.

Two women were in critical condition and being treated at the USC Medical Center, officials said.

Although police had previously said a 15-month-old was also hurt, it appears the baby was uninjured but had been transported with its mother.

All the victims seem to be related, Flores said. They were described as pedestrians and not passengers in the other vehicles involved.

KTLA was at the scene as the Mustangs 21-year-old driver was detained for questioning, but according to Flores he had not been arrested as of Friday night.

He had completed a field sobriety test, but Flores said she was not aware of the results.

Footage from the scene showed the Mustangs windshield had been shattered, and both the sedan and Chevy truck sustained significant damage.

Shocked bystanders remained at the stand in the immediate aftermath of the incident, aerial video from Sky5 showed.

No further details were immediately available.

#BREAKING: 4 pedestrians struck by vehicle in front of Boyle Heights taco standhttps://t.co/7fHaE9LWkJ pic.twitter.com/ck9Gx9jjAK  ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) November 11, 2017

Times staff writer Shelby Grad contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

11:20 p.m.: Updated with KTLA reporting that a girl had died.

This article was first published at 8:15 p.m.
Disneyland has shut down two bacteria-contaminated cooling towers after Orange County health officials discovered several cases of Legionnaires disease in people who had visited the Anaheim theme park, authorities said.

Twelve cases of the bacteria-caused illness were discovered about three weeks ago among people who had spent time in Anaheim and included nine people who had visited Disneyland in September before developing the illness, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency. Their ages ranged from 52 to 94.

The remaining three were Orange County residents who did not visit the park but lived or traveled in Anaheim.

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Ten were hospitalized and one person with additional health issues died, according to health officials. That person did not visit Disneyland.

Legionnaires is a severe lung infection caused by exposure to contaminated water or mist. Authorities said they have not tied any other cases of Legionnaires to Anaheim since September.

There is no known ongoing risk associated with this outbreak, the healthcare agency said in a statement.

The towers are in a backstage area near the New Orleans Square Train Station, each more than 100 feet from areas accessible to guests, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman said Friday. A Disneyland employee is among those who fell ill with the disease.

On Oct. 27, we learned from the Orange County Health Care Agency of increased Legionnaires disease cases in Anaheim. We conducted a review and learned that two cooling towers had elevated levels of Legionella bacteria, Dr. Pamela Hymel, chief medical officer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in a statement Friday. These towers were treated with chemicals that destroy the bacteria and are currently shut down.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified county authorities about three weeks ago of several cases of the disease among people who had traveled to Orange County in September. County epidemiologists discovered that a cluster of people diagnosed with the disease had recently visited, lived or worked in Anaheim and contacted Disney after learning that several of them had gone to the theme park.

According to the health agency, on Nov. 3 Disney reported that routine testing had detected elevated levels of Legionella in two cooling towers a month earlier, and the towers had been disinfected. Disney took the towers out of service on Nov. 1, performed more testing and disinfection, and brought them back into service on Nov. 5.

Disney took the towers out of service again on Tuesday in advance of an order the health agency issued the following day requiring they remain down until test results verify they are free from Legionella contamination.

The towers had been turned off on Nov. 1 before Disney learned that Legionella had been detected, Disneyland Resort spokeswoman Suzi Brown said. The only reason they were turned back on was as part of the further disinfection process.

The county health agency has also alerted healthcare providers to look for Legionnaires disease in anyone who may have become ill after visiting Anaheim or Disneyland before Nov. 7.

It takes two to 10 days for symptoms of Legionnaires to appear.

The disease is caused by Legionella bacteria that grow in water and can spread when small droplets get into the air and people breathe them in, according to the CDC. Outbreaks are often traced to hot tubs, decorative fountains, cooling towers and large air-conditioning systems that emit water vapor into the air. Legionnaires is not spread person to person.

The illness can be treated with antibiotics and hospital care, but about 1 in 10 people who get Legionnaires disease die from the infection. Most at risk are people older than 50 with weakened immune systems or chronic lung diseases.

Orange County has recorded more than 55 cases of the disease this year and has seen the number of cases jump in recent years. A similar upward trend has been seen nationally and elsewhere in Southern California, according to the healthcare agency, though whats causing that is unclear.

tony.barboza@latimes.com

@tonybarboza

UPDATES:

6:55 a.m.: Updated with a quote from spokeswoman Brown.

This article was first published at 5:25 a.m.
A Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board member has been casting votes that benefited construction management and financial advisory companies without disclosing that her husband does business with those firms, school board records as well as sworn testimony show.

Maria Leon-Vazquezs votes could violate state conflict-of-interest laws, according to experts on those laws. Public officials are prohibited from being financially interested in contracts made with their agencies, said Steve Cooley, former Los Angeles County district attorney.

Leon-Vazquezs husband is Santa Monica Councilman Tony Vazquez, a political consultant who is also campaigning for a state Board of Equalization seat. Neither returned calls seeking comment.

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Vazquez testified in a sworn deposition a year ago that he has been a paid consultant to TELACU Construction Management and Keygent LLC, two firms that have won contracts with the district.

He testified that he was paid to arrange meetings with officials of school districts so these companies could pitch their services. This included a meeting he set up three years ago between a TELACU executive and then Santa Monica-Malibu Superintendent Sandra Lyon, according to the deposition. He also said that his income from TELACU started at $1,000 per month but peaked at $8,000 a month around the same time he was asked to arrange the meeting between TELACU and Lyon, according to the deposition.

The councilman said in the deposition that this would not pose a conflict of interest because his wife told him she was going to recuse herself anyways if a vote involving TELACU ever came before the board. Vazquez said their attorneys didnt see a problem with the votes, but that his wife would recuse herself to cure a perception issue. Its unclear whose attorneys Vazquez was referring to.

But Leon-Vazquez voted this year to approve TELACU as an on-call contractor and also cast votes for a contract to upgrade facilities at elementary schools worth up to $174,000, according to board minutes.

Leon-Vazquez also cast several votes related to Keygent, which employed her husband between 2008 and 2013 to help sell a health benefits review service. The minutes show that she voted on July 14, 2010, to approve a contract with Keygent to review the health benefits of its employees for possible savings  the kind of service her husband testified he was being paid to help pitch to school districts.

She also voted for a financial consulting contract with the company worth up to $241,000, the minutes show. And over several years she cast votes on work involving the company, which paid her husband between $1,500 and $2,500 per month, Vazquez testified and a Keygent advisor confirmed.

The Keygent advisor, Nathan Ballard, pointed to a clause in the companys contracts with the district disclosing its relationship with Vazquez & Associates as evidence that the company was being transparent. The clause said Vazquez & Associates work for Keygent was unrelated to the district.

Elected officials like the couple are legally required under a state law known as the Political Reform Act to disclose income from companies doing business in their jurisdictions, said Jay Wierenga, a spokesman with the Fair Political Practices Commission. Those disclosures are supposed to appear on public statements of financial interests filed every year.

Since at least 2014, neither Vazquez nor Leon-Vazquez has disclosed income from TELACU on those forms, a Times review of the documents found. This was despite Vazquez testifying last November that TELACU was at that time paying him $3,000 monthly.

Vazquez did disclose in 2013, the first year the newly elected councilman was required to file, that TELACU and Keygent were clients of his firm Vazquez and Associates Inc.

The Times reviewed a decade of disclosure forms filed by Leon-Vazquez, and she has not included income from either company.

Ballard said Vazquez wasnt involved in setting up meetings between district officials and the company. The statements also said that members of Keygents team had already been working with the District for a number of years prior to any relationship with Tony Vazquez.

Ballard also said the company had notified district officials that it had hired Vazquezs firm, and that the councilman provided conflicts of interest certifications to the company that included promises that he would disclose to Keygent possible conflicts of interest.

He added that Vazquez was paid to make introductions between Keygent and officials of between five and 10 other school districts as well as other cities, but declined to name them.

Vasquezs deposition was part of an ongoing lawsuit against the city under the California Voting Rights Act alleging that the citys election system discriminates against Latinos. Under questioning from Kevin Shenkman, one of the attorneys in the suit, Vazquez said he told the firms he could facilitate sit-downs with high-ranking officials by using basically my relationships to set up a meeting.

He testified that he saw no conflict of interest in working for TELACU or helping the company gain a foothold with his wifes school district, because he was not the one pitching the deal and because she was not present at the meeting he arranged. That meeting included TELACU executive Jay Bell and Lyon.

TELACU officials did not respond to calls for comment.

Lyon told the Times that she recalled Vazquez introducing her to TELACU executives, and said the councilman did not tell her he was being paid by the company. She said what the school board members husband did for a living was always a mystery, and that when she asked other people, they didnt know either.

Had she known about Vazquez being a paid consultant to companies looking to do business with the district, she said, she would have objected.

Vazquez told the Santa Monica Lookout News site that he did not know he was required to report income from TELACU, and said he would amend the disclosure forms. The Lookout reported last week that he had not disclosed the income from the construction management company.

The superintendent who served before Lyon, Tim Cuneo, also told the Times that Vazquez never told him about his consulting work.

Recently appointed Supt. Ben Drati said in a prepared statement that he was not aware of any conflicts during his 10 months with the school district.

However, I take this situation seriously, Drati said. My next steps will be guided by facts and the law.

Cooley, the former district attorney, said the arrangement raises serious questions about California conflict of interest laws.

What has to be done in a situation like that is for an inquiry to be opened to ascertain if there truly is any financial gain to the person or the spouse of the person who is making material decisions on that transaction in question and benefiting financially, Cooley said. After that inquiry is conducted and it appears that a violation of [the conflict of interest law] has occurred, then a more formal investigation and gathering of evidence would likely ensue.

Benjamin.Oreskes@latimes.com

@boreskes

Adam.Elmahrek@latimes.com

@adamelmahrek
Twin investigations are underway into an incident at the Naval Special Warfare training complex in Coronado that left one Navy SEAL candidate in a coma.

Authorities said that Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents and members of the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado are reviewing an Oct. 12 mishap that occurred during a study session for the land navigation course of the Basic Under Water Demolition/SEAL training program, or BUD/S.

As an incentive to correctly answer questions, two sailors reportedly agreed to slap whichever one got a response wrong. BUD/S candidates typically challenge each other to perform acts of physical exertion, such as pushups, because striking another student is forbidden.

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One of the candidates reportedly reeled from a slap and fell to the floor, striking his head. He was rushed to Naval Medical Center San Diego, where surgeons placed him in a medically induced coma to help heal what SEAL spokesman Lt. Trevor Davids said was an unintentional injury.

The staff on site immediately rendered medical attention and quickly transported the injured student to the hospital, Davids said in a written statement. He is currently in good condition and recovering; we continue to provide all the necessary support to our student and his family.

Naval Special Warfare Center takes any injury during training extremely seriously and in response is conducting a thorough investigation into this matter. [The center] trains elite maritime special operators in a professional and dignified training environment. Actions which fall short of this high standard are not tolerated.

The center declined to name either the BUD/S students or the SEAL instructor who was in the classroom at the time.

The Centers investigation began immediately after the incident. NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said his agency started its inquiry the following morning.

Theres no timetable for completion; each case is unique and moves at its own pace, Buice said by email. NCIS is a fact-finding entity; it will be up to the convening authority to determine whether charges should be filed.

Land navigation instruction usually takes place in the third phase of the six-month BUD/S training program in the Laguna Mountains east of San Diego. Candidates learn how to read maps, plot coordinates and traverse many types of terrain. Students often study training materials before the course begins.

The SEALs began investigating the incident on the very day the Navy announced it finally closed the case of the 2016 drowning death of SEAL candidate James Derek Lovelace.

The 15-month probe ended after investigators for the U.S. attorneys office in San Diego decided to forgo prosecution of the unnamed SEAL instructors who were present during his death.

Lovelace died on May 6, 2016, during the combat swimmer orientation, a test that takes place in the first week of BUD/S to assess a students swimming abilities.

Candidates tread water and perform ocean survival skills, including removal of a swim mask, uniform and boots.

The San Diego County medical examiner ruled the 21-year-old sailors death a homicide, saying in an autopsy report that the actions, or inactions, of the instructors and other individuals involved were excessive and directly contributed to the death.

One unidentified SEAL instructor repeatedly dunked Lovelace during the test, but the Florida sailors death was exacerbated by an anomalous coronary artery, a heart condition that might have triggered sudden cardiac death during the intensive exercise.

Navy leaders long contended that the medical examiners homicide ruling meant only that Lovelace died at the hands of another and did not necessarily suggest a crime occurred, a perspective shared by multiple military commanders all the way to the Pentagon and then by civilian federal prosecutors last month.

Even without judicial action against Lovelaces instructors, however, the SEALs instituted what they said were wide-ranging reforms designed to make training safer at the Coronado complex.

Naval Special Warfare Basic Training Command temporarily halted the entire BUD/S program after the drowning to review and reinforce protocols for pre-training briefs, emergency action and in-water instruction procedures, Navy officials said.

Its unclear whether those reforms should have prevented the Oct. 12 incident, pending investigations.

Even if NCIS agents rule the latest mishap an accident and commanders decline court-martial prosecution or nonjudicial punishment proceedings, the Navy has other means of addressing possible wrongdoing uncovered by investigators.

Naval Special Warfare can convene an administrative board to strip the instructor of his coveted SEAL trident. Commanders also can issue formal or informal reprimands or counseling statements to the sailors involved in the mishap, stalling a sailors promotion to higher rank.

Prine writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

carl.prine@sduniontribune.com
From parades to music festivals, Veterans Day will be marked Saturday by a variety of events across Southern California.

Long Beach will host its 21st annual Veterans Day Parade beginning at 10 a.m. at South Street and Elm Avenue. Festivities include food and music that will continue until 3 p.m. on Atlantic Avenue, near South Street.

The 14th annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade is scheduled to begin at 11:11 a.m. at the corner of Laurel Canyon and San Fernando Mission Boulevard in Mission Hills. More than 100 veterans groups are scheduled to appear in the parade. There will also be a carnival at the Ritchie Valens Recreation Center.

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The second annual Veterans Day Music Festival will be held from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. in front of the Battleship Iowa, which is docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. There will be a free health clinic and free tours of the battleship for veterans and current service members.

Pasadena will host a Veterans Day Commemoration at 10:30 a.m. in front of City Hall. Festivities will conclude with an 11 a.m. flyover of World War II-era fighter planes.

Malibu will host its 18th annual Veterans Day Public Ceremony from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Malibu City Halls Civic Theater. The event will include speakers, dancers, music and refreshments.

carlos.lozano@latimes.com
Marine Col. Robert O. Tilley, a hero of the Vietnam War who later directed Camp Pendletons morale programs for the troops, will be remembered at a December memorial service.

Tilley, 79, died on Oct. 18 following a long illness. A special graveside commemoration with full military honors for the Colorado native is slated for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 6 at Miramar National Cemetery.

A celebration of Tilleys life will follow at Marine Corps Air Station Miramars Officers Club.

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God, country and Corps. Those words defined Bob, said his wife, Helen Rene Hummer-Tilley. He dedicated his life to making this world a better place.

In 1967 Tilley received the Silver Star, the nations third-highest commendation, for his valor in Vietnams Que Son Valley.

During Operation Union on May 12, 1967, as part of Commanding Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, then-1st Lt. Tilley led his men in a daring flanking movement against North Vietnamese troops besieging a neighboring unit, sparking heavy fighting through the night, according to his citation.

Despite being seriously wounded by a machine-gun bullet to the chest, early on the following day he conducted Company Ks attack on an enemy battalion, repeatedly exposing himself to mortar and rifle fire, to force the North Vietnamese to retreat.

In their wake, the Marines counted 105 enemy dead and captured a trove of abandoned weapons and ammunition.

After recovering from his wound, Tilley returned to Vietnam to command a Combined Unit Pacification Program company in the Que Son mountains and adjacent river valleys in 1971.

He retired from the Corps in 1991, following a stint as the director of Camp Pendletons Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs. Along with the Silver Star, he wore two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star with a V designation for battlefield heroism and a pair of Legion of Merit medals for exceptional service to the Marine Corps.

Tilley is survived by his wife of 61 years, Rene; daughters Laura Burch, Leisa Grajek and Deanne Stott; sister Priscilla Smith; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

carl.prine@sduniontribune.com
Senior Congress leaders assure Muslim League leadership that Sudhakaran will not make statements giving credence to RSS.
This week, we turn our attention to Thanksgiving, the biggest meal of the year, the cooks holiday, a day many of us spend cooking and most of us spend around the communal table. It is in 12 days, so if you havent ordered your turkey, maybe do that. We also have a pie-buying guide, a LOT of traditional recipes  including a very, very easy turkey recipe  plus some new ones from the four of us here at the Food section. Heres a map to our Thanksgiving recipes, with more coming in the days ahead.

Speaking of the days ahead, a reminder that our annual Cookie Bake-off is happening and that our holiday Gift Guide is out (cookbooks! bread clubs!). And if you want a break from all this holiday stuff, this week Jonathan Gold considers Valentino, or rather reconsiders it, as Piero Selvaggios temple to Italian cuisine is midway through its fourth decade. Or do both, and plan your holiday menu over a plate of grilled squid with fregola and a bottle of excellent wine.

 Amy Scattergood

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AN ITALIAN CLASSIC

Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )

Lately theres been a renaissance of Italian restaurants in this town, with Rossoblu, Felix and Cosa Buona, among others, joining the already pretty great list of regional restaurants (Bestia, Angelini Osteria, Mozza, etc.) Through it all, theres been Piero Selvaggios Valentino, a temple to Italian cuisine in Santa Monica that turned 45 this year. Jonathan considers its influence and its current kitchen.

THE EASIEST TURKEY EVER

The easiest turkey recipe ever. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times )

The roast turkey is a Thanksgiving sine qua non, but it can be a days-long undertaking, with all that brining or salting, stuffing and basting. So this year we thought wed do the barest minimum possible (put the bird in a hot oven, take it out two hours later) and see what happened.

35 HOLIDAY SIDE DISHES

Thanksgiving classic dishes revisited, including cranberries, stuffing, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, gravy, mashed potatoes and pie. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times )

Other than the turkey, the Thanksgiving menu is a jigsaw of side dishes, a list of classic recipes that you can endlessly riff on. This year Test Kitchen director Noelle Carter catalogs seven traditional dishes, and gives five versions for each. From brown butter mashed potatoes to Brussels sprout salad to, of course, pumpkin pie.

ICE CREAM AT THE MALL

Deputy Food editor Jenn Harris has ice cream news in her latest restaurant news column: Halo Top, the cult low-calorie ice cream, is opening its first-ever shop, at the Westfield Topanga. Mall food, of course, is not what it used to be (see: Eataly, Dominique Ansel, etc.).

OUR THANKSGIVING RECIPES

The Thanksgiving centerpiece: a smoked maple turkey. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times )

This year, we bring some favorite recipes from our home kitchens to the table  a creamed leek dish from Jonathan by way of Paula Wolfert, a sticky rice cake dish via Jenns grandmother, Noelles favorite smoked turkey and my mothers apple crisp. Because, as Jonathan writes, when you are the cook at Thanksgiving, no matter where your sentiments may lie, family and friends are drawn toward the center of your world.

Our Holiday Cookie Bake-off is back! Got a great holiday cookie recipe? Submit your recipe, plus an essay and photo or video by Nov. 25, to latimes.com/bakeoff. Well take the top 20 vote-getters and narrow them down to our top 5, which well bake in our Test Kitchen. The five finalists will be invited to our Test Kitchen and their recipes will be featured in the Saturday section in December.

Jonathan Golds 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribersand now features his 2017 Best Restaurants. If you didnt get a copy of the booklet, you can order one online here.

Goldbot: You can now talk to Jonathan Gold any time you want  or at least the robot version of him that now lives on Facebook Messenger. You can ask Goldbot for a personal restaurant recommendation based on location, type of food or price. The bot will also deliver Jonathan Golds latest reviews straight to your device.

The Daily Meal, the food and drink website under the editorial direction of Colman Andrews, is now one of our partners. Check out its 101 best pizzas in America and other stories, recipes and videos.

Check us out on Instagram @latimesfood

Check out the thousands of recipes in our Recipe Database.

Feedback? Wed love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com.
As he nears the end of a grueling tour of Asia, President Trump is receiving praise for avoiding the sort of insulting and confrontational language that so often has exasperated his foreign-policy advisors and alarmed U.S. allies. That is admittedly setting a low bar for diplomatic success, but its something.

In a speech to the South Korean parliament, Trump warned North Korea not to test the United States, but there was no repetition of his threat of fire and fury. In a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump  who last year complained that China was ripping us off  said that the U.S. sought a fair and reciprocal trading relationship with that country.

This more conventionally civil tone is welcome. But when it came to substance, Trump communicated a muddled message on both trade and the threat posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons.

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On trade, even as Trump modulated his tone to the Chinese, he struck the same harsh notes in other Asian countries that he has back home, complaining about bad deals and cheating trade partners. His message to a group of Asian business leaders, many from countries still trying to salvage the Trans-Pacific Partnership that the president abandoned within days of taking office, was familiar: that the United States is through with multilateral agreements and would be looking out for No. 1.

The risk is that Trumps approach in Asia wont translate to America First, but America who?

We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore, Trump told business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Friday. I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first. That vision of a fight for dominance seems impossible to reconcile with Trumps call in China for fair and reciprocal trade.

In fact, this commercial isolationism actually harms U.S. interests. It reduces the United States to a spectator as Xi positions his country as the champion of globalism and the potential hub of future trading regions. The risk is that Trumps approach in Asia wont translate to America First, but America who?

On North Korea, Trump refrained from the sort of bellicose language that he has used in the past, notably in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly in September in which he boasted that the U.S. could totally destroy North Korea.

Instead, in his speech to the South Korean National Assembly, he offered a more oblique warning: America does not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will never run from it. And while he excoriated North Korean leader Kim Jong Il for presiding over a cult animated by a dark fantasy, he didnt call Kim Little Rocket Man.

In addition to lowering the rhetorical temperature, Trump offered hints that he might be open to compromise on matters of substance connected to North Koreas nuclear threat. For example, during a joint news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump said, It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal.

The problem is that it remains unclear under what circumstances Trump would be willing to have the U.S. resume negotiations with Pyongyang. After he mentioned that North Korea should make a deal, he was asked if he was proposing direct talks and he replied: I dont want to say that. In his speech to the South Korean National Assembly, he said: We are only prepared to discuss this brighter path for North Korea if its leaders cease their threats and dismantle their nuclear program.

Yet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has indicated that he favors a more flexible approach. In August, Tillerson said that the best signal that North Korea could give us that theyre prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches  suggesting that cessation of missile testing would be enough to get talks going. (Adding to the confusion, a State Department spokeswoman on Thursday said that now is not the time for talks but that things could change if North Korea is showing that it is serious in its interest to denuclearize.)

North Korea shows no sign of being willing to renounce nuclear weapons altogether. But it might be willing to engage in negotiations without preconditions. Such talks could help to lower tensions and perhaps lead to a freeze on testing by North Korea, a development that the U.S. and its allies might accept as a desirable interim step. If the administration wants to keep that option on the table, the president needs to watch his words more carefully.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
In a surprising twist, the regulation-loathing, business-boosting Trump administration is threatening to block AT&Ts proposed $85-billion buyout of Time Warner on antitrust grounds, potentially derailing the creation of yet another media behemoth. Specifically, the Justice Department is reportedly telling the companies that it will sue to stop the merger unless AT&T sells DirecTV, one of the nations largest pay-TV providers, or Time Warner sells Turner Broadcasting, whose holdings include the popular cable news channel CNN.

Vigorous antitrust enforcement by the Justice Department would ordinarily be a cause for celebration, given that antitrust law is the last line of defense for consumers when federal agencies go on the sort of deregulatory jihad that President Trump has directed. But in this case, its impossible to tell whether the DOJ is being principled or a puppet. In fact, its motives are completely suspect.

Thats because the DOJ operates under a poisonous cloud of presidential rhetoric. Beyond Trumps corrosive efforts to direct, interfere with and intimidate the federal governments supposedly independent law enforcers on issues ranging from the Russia probe to the prosecution of high-profile criminals, he has been a constant, bitter critic of CNN, going so far as to call it the enemy of the American people on Twitter a few weeks after his inauguration.

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Here, the unspoken yet unmistakable message coming from the DOJ is that CNN is radioactive. Any pay-TV company looking to buy Time Warner with CNN as a part of it, as AT&T is trying to do, will face a withering antitrust review and may have to divest some of its holdings to avoid a lawsuit. That cant help but affect CNNs value on the market, and Time Warners  which may be just the sort of payback Trump has in mind.

The DOJ operates under a poisonous cloud of presidential rhetoric.

Some observers have suggested that forcing Time Warner to sell off CNN wont hurt the channel or Time Warner  CNNs audience has boomed in the past two years, thanks in no small measure to its coverage of Trump. But how eager will media companies be to snap up CNN after watching what AT&T has run into?

AT&T and Time Warner may have expected the DOJ just to wave this deal through. After all, the two companies dont compete directly  AT&T is mainly a distributor of content (via satellite TV and high-speed Internet services), and Time Warner is a creator of content (through its Warner Bros. film studio and its cable TV networks). The federal government hasnt put up too much resistance to deals like this in recent years; in fact, the merger seemed like a direct response to cable operator Comcasts purchase of NBC-Universal during President Obamas first term.

Makan Delrahim, the attorney Trump chose to lead the Justice Departments antitrust division, lobbied for that deal on Comcasts behalf. And months before he was nominated for his current post, he spoke favorably about the the AT&T-Time Warner deal in an interview with a Canadian news broadcaster, saying, I dont see this as a major antitrust problem.

Meanwhile, Trumps appointees across the government have been removing barrier after barrier to companies growing larger and more dominant in their markets. The best examples have been at the Federal Communications Commission, where the new Republican majority is proposing to lift limits on media ownership and erase tough rules to stop broadband providers (such as AT&T) from pushing customers to favored sites and services (like, say, DirecTVs streaming video service).

So what happened? The Justice Department insists that theres been no interference from the White House. And real antitrust issues arise when a leading cable or satellite TV operator snaps up a company producing popular pay-TV content. The merged company has an incentive to steer its cable, satellite or Internet customers to its newly purchased channels, potentially reducing the advertising and subscription revenue earned by rival content companies. Theres also the risk that the merged company will threaten to withhold the popular channels it now owns from rival cable or satellite operators in a bid to lure away customers or extract higher fees. Thats why the Obama Justice Department imposed a host of conditions on Comcast when it approved the NBC Universal acquisition.

But the Trump Justice Department apparently isnt fond of that sort of behavioral remedy. (Nor are a number of conservative legal scholars.) Its demanding much stronger medicine, a restructuring that eliminates the need for ongoing federal oversight.

Foes of media consolidation have been calling on the federal government for years to take a tougher line on mergers and stop popular TV, film and video studios from being concentrated into so few hands. Perhaps the Trump administration will be their champion. But thanks to the Meddler in Chief, who cant seem to abide the notion of an independent Justice Department, we fear the administrations concern about consolidation extends to just one cable news channel.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
To the editor: Boy, am I getting tired of hearing about people tired of being written off by those in power. This supposedly forgotten nation that the pundits cooked up to explain Donald Trumps victory in the 2016 presidential election are simply people who demand a great America at a discount price. (A year after the election and Trumps opponents still havent figured out why they lost, editorial, Nov. 7)

They want massive tax cuts, a massive military and a massive social safety net all at once. They want closed borders, but they dont want to pay Americans enough to pick their fruit and pluck their chickens for them. They want good, affordable healthcare to emerge from a system designed to produce rank profiteering. They want cheap consumer goods but elected a president willing to impose crushing tariffs to save a few hundred coal-mining jobs. They want a first-world nation at a third-world price.

They are an endless chronicle of contradictions, and the government is dysfunctional not because it doesnt listen to them but because it listens to them too much and ties itself in knots trying to deliver the impossible to the ignorant.

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Aaron Robinson, Torrance

..

To the editor: I am puzzled by the continuous stream of attacks on President Trump by The Times Editorial Board, specifically your statement that he is a disaster for the nation and for the world.

What is so disastrous for the nation with a sustained 3% economic growth rate, a steady reduction in unemployment and a booming stock market?

What is so disastrous for the world by having a president with a solid backbone who is not afraid of addressing serious issues head on?

Jacques Beser, Newport Beach

..

To the editor: I respectfully disagree with the naive belief that we Americans ought to be able to mutually hammer out policies and programs in the nations best interests. That may have been the hope that President Obama expressed nine years ago, but that hope is long since gone.

We live in a nation torn apart by a culture war that can only be resolved by one side winning. Americans must decide if they want to live in a theocracy dedicated to the protection of corporations and the wealthy, or in a nation that values diversity, environmental protection and polices that expand opportunities for the vast majority of its citizens.

I am all in favor of listening, stock-taking, reconciliation and renewal, but not with people like Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, Roy Moore and their many millions of supporters who represent an existential threat to the Constitution.

David Lundquist, Palm Springs

..

To the editor: As a civil servant for more than 20 years, I know that government is not there to make a profit, but to protect people and provide essential services.

That said, people look to their elected leaders for guidance, performance under pressure, fairness, integrity and transparency. If an administration consistently falls short of its stated promises, then we have no one but ourselves to blame. Russia did not cast a single ballot in our election.

If the claim is that we somehow got fooled, then we must make the changes necessary for it not to happen again. Our country has been great, is great now and will still be great after this administration has seen its final day.

Dan Mariscal, Montebello

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
President Trump on Saturday repeatedly defended Russian President Vladimir Putin against charges that the Russian government meddled in last years U.S. elections, apparently vouching for Putins assurances that there was no interference despite the U.S. intelligence communitys reports to the contrary.

Every time he sees me, he says, I didnt do that,  Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, while traveling in Vietnam during his 12-day Asian trip. I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.

In contrast, Trump lashed out at former U.S. national security officials who sounded the alarm about Russian interference, including former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper and former FBI Director James B. Comey, whom Trump fired earlier this year.

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Theyre political hacks, the president said. And you have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he had nothing to do with that.

Trumps comments drew strong condemnation from lawmakers and national security officials back in the U.S.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) took to Twitter to criticize Trump. Theres nothing America First about taking the word of KGB colonel over US intelligence community, McCain said, referring to Putins past as a Soviet intelligence officer.

Later during Trumps Vietnam visit, Trump appeared to try to qualify his Putin remarks, saying that he supports the U.S. intelligence community but thinks Putin sincerely believes Russia didnt meddle in the 2016 elections.

I believe very much in our intelligence agencies, the president said at a brief news conference in Hanoi with Vietnams leader. Now, at the same time ... I think it is very important to get along with Russia.

Trumps appointees to lead the intelligence agencies, including current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, have testified before Congress that they stand by the assessment that Russia meddled.

Trumps attempts to explain his conversations with the Russian leader overshadowed the presidents efforts to focus on other issues during his Asia trip, including trade and security, though the president did reignite his Twitter battle with North Korean President Kim Jong Un, calling Kim short and fat.

The seemingly contorted explanations also followed days of equivocation from the White House over whether Trump would even meet with Putin. Both men were in this seaside Vietnamese resort city to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Trump said he had two or three very short conversations with Putin over the last two days to discuss Syria. They issued a joint statement Saturday promising further cooperation in seeking a political solution to the countrys civil war.

U.S. intelligence agencies already have concluded that Russia engaged in a campaign to influence the election, hacking into Democratic emails that later were leaked and using a variety of online tools to spread fake news and other propaganda.

Now, the investigation into potential collusion between the Russian government and Trumps campaign is reaching a new stage.

Trumps campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was charged last month with money laundering and conspiracy, and a second former aide, Richard W. Gates III, also was charged in the indictment, though none of those charges were related to allegations of Russian election meddling.

The same day, it was announced that George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor for the campaign who worked to set up contacts with Russian officials, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and has been cooperating with investigators.

During the Asia trip, White House staff members have seemed intent on downplaying Trumps interactions with Putin. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday that the two would not have a formal meeting, despite reports in Russia that they would, because there was not time in the schedule. She allowed, however, that they were bound to run into each other and probably would chat.

In Vietnam, Trump said Putin told him he absolutely did not meddle in our election.

Look, I cant stand there and argue with him. Id rather have him get out of Syria and work with him on the Ukraine, Trump said.

That whole thing was set up by the Democrats, Trump continued, though it was unclear whether he was blaming Democrats for Russias election interference or for the investigation into his campaigns potential collusion with the Russians.

Trump also raised the meddling issue with Putin in July, during the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, yielding similar results. Putin came away from the meeting telling reporters that Trump was satisfied with his denials. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told a different version, saying the two countries may have an intractable disagreement over the issue.

Trump said Saturday that he and Putin have a good feeling toward getting things done and that a stronger relationship with Russia would be a great thing, not a bad thing.

He said China has been more helpful than Russia in efforts to contain North Koreas nuclear program. He said Putin is insulted by accusations of meddling and blamed the lack of a relationship that we have with Russia because of this artificial thing thats happening with this Democratic-inspired thing. At another point, he called the Russian collusion investigation an artificial Democratic hit job.

Responding to criticism that he had not raised human rights issues on his trip through Asia as strongly as his predecessors, Trump also asserted that he had, but I also raise issues on many other things.

And he said that while meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, he very briefly raised the issue of opening China to Twitter and other social media platforms now censored in the country. But the president added that he was more focused on trade and North Korea.

In the same interview, Trump declined to say whether Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore should drop out of the race following reports that he molested a 14-year-old girl nearly four decades ago. Sanders issued a statement Friday on Trumps behalf calling it a mere allegation while adding that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.

Trump told reporters he was too busy on his Asia trip to devote much time to the issue.

Im dealing with the president of China, the president of Russia, he said. Im dealing with the folks over here.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

UPDATES:

8:30 p.m.: The article was updated with additional comments from President Trump.
In the wake of accusations that there is a pervasive culture of sexual harassment in and around the state Capitol, the Los Angeles Times asked both houses of the California Legislature for information regarding abuse and harassment complaints from 2006 to the present.

On Nov. 9, state Senate and Assembly officials responded with a summary document. Heres a detailed look at what The Times asked for in records requests made on Oct. 17 and 24, and the responses from Senate Secretary Daniel Alvarez and Assembly Chief Administrative Officer Debra Gravert.

Response: Officials released only some of the data

The Times Oct. 17 records request asked for the number of abuse complaints filed with both houses in each calendar year since 2006. The request was only for the number of complaints and not for information that might identify the accusers or the accused.

The request also asked the number of settlements of abuse complaints, for each calendar year since 2006.

A complaint is the first action taken by a legislative employee who alleges sexual harassment or abuse. Legislative officials have not offered details on whether or why some complaints they receive are ultimately dismissed without first conducting a more rigorous inquiry.

Both houses, in identical letters to The Times on Oct. 31, invoked the Legislative Open Records Act in denying access to broad data on complaints.

The public disclosure of records concerning complaints and investigations compromises the privacy rights of victims, witnesses, and others, the letters said.

On Nov. 9, the Senate and Assembly did provide copies of what they said were all employee settlements from 2006 to the present. Not all of those documents, covering 15 settled complaints, clarify the nature of the employees complaints, and officials said that not all were abuse- or harassment-related issues. There are mentions of "harassment" in only three of documents related to settlements.

Response: No response

To better understand the process that takes place after an abuse investigation leads to discipline or other action, The Times asked both houses for the number of staff members who either changed work assignments or left the employment of the Legislature after any involvement in a reported abuse complaint.

Legislative officials did not answer the request in the letters sent to The Times on Oct. 31 or the Nov. 9 release of information. Without that data, it is impossible to determine how sexual harassment complaints disrupt the workflow of the Legislature. Staff members are at-will employees, meaning they are exempt from civil service regulations. Employment may be changed or terminated with or without cause, according to the Assemblys personnel manual.

Response: No response

Legislative officials did not respond to The Times request for information about complaints filed against lawmakers over the decade in question. One of the requests sought the number of legislators who had multiple complaints filed against them. That, too, has failed to generate a response.

Response: No response

There are numerous opportunities at the state Capitol for legislative staff to interact with those who dont work inside the historic building. California had 1,871 registered lobbyists at the end of 2016, many of whom routinely negotiate with staff members in private meetings.

The Times asked for a count of abuse complaints filed, for each calendar year since 2006, against lobbyists or other outside individuals. Legislative officials havent offered a response.

Response: Officials provide documents on settlements and cash payments

One of the requests officials did respond to was an accounting of money paid to settle abuse and sexual harassment complaints since 2006.

These payments, made with public funds, are listed in copies of each of the settlements provided by the Senate and Assembly. While the documents are often vague about the nature of the complaint being settled, a Times analysis concludes at least $250,000 was paid in sexual harassment cases. Thats included in the roughly $1 million in settlement payments made since 2006, and its possible that more of that amount could be counted toward what was paid to settle abuse allegations if additional information is provided about the other complaints.

Response: No response

Legislative officials have confirmed, as have a handful of documents that have ended up in public through the years, that outside law firms are frequently retained to conduct investigations of abuse or harassment complaints.

The Times asked for information on the amounts spent on outside services hired to investigate abuse complaints from each calendar year beginning in 2006.

None of the correspondence received from the Senate and Assembly addressed this request, making it impossible to know exactly how taxpayer dollars are spent on these incidents. The documents also show outside counsel was hired by the Senate and Assembly to represent the Legislature in some of the settlements. Those costs, too, arent revealed in any of the documents that have been provided.

Response: No response

In many cases, journalists requesting government documents arent sure what theyre looking for and are simply working to sketch out a more complete view of an issue.

To find out if some employees were the subject of more than one complaint, The Times asked both the Senate and Assembly for broad, numerical data on the number of individuals about which multiple (two or more) abuse complaints have been lodged, and how many complaints were lodged against each of those individuals.

Neither the Senate nor the Assembly has responded to this request.

john.myers@latimes.com

Twitter: @johnmyers
Wait  did the president really say, Mission Accomplished? By Marc Olson Some are recalling the last time a president declared Mission accomplished, in May 2003 when George W. Bush was talking about Iraq. (Stephen Jaffe / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump on Saturday morning thanked his allies in a tweet that declared the airstrikes on Syria perfectly executed, but he might have wished hed stopped there. Instead, he ended his message with the phrase, Mission Accomplished! Thats a line that might have a previous president shaking his head. On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq under a Mission Accomplished banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. That war, which began in March 2003, grew into a prolonged conflict that didnt end until 2011. In 2008, the White House said it had paid a price for the backdrop. A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2018 Facebook

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Auditor says Pentagon is censoring key data on the war in Afghanistan By Shashank Bengali The Pentagon is blocking the release of data showing how much of Afghanistans territory lies outside government control, censoring a key metric used to gauge progress in the 16-year war, a watchdog agency said Tuesday. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, an auditing agency established by Congress, said in its latest report that the Pentagon instructed it not to release unclassified data on how many districts and people are controlled or influenced by insurgent groups. This is the first time SIGAR has been specifically instructed not to release information marked unclassified to the American taxpayer, the head of the agency, John F. Sopko, wrote in a letter. Sopko also said the U.S.-led military coalition, for the first time since 2009, classified information about the size and attrition rates of the Afghan security forces, important indicators of progress in building up army and police forces on which the U.S. already has spent $70 billion since 2002. The decision to withhold more information from congressional oversight and the public comes amid growing violence in Afghanistan and an intensifying combat mission involving a greater number of American troops. Following a series of bombings in Kabul that left at least 136 people dead in 10 days, President Trump signaled on Monday that he was focused on trying to win the conflict militarily, saying, We dont want to talk with the Taliban. But data released by SIGAR since 2015 have shown how the insurgents have gained ground against Afghan security forces. In its previous quarterly report, the watchdog said that only 57% of Afghanistans 407 districts were under Afghan government control or influence as of August 2017, the lowest level of control since it began tracking the statistic in December 2015. The steady decline in government control should cause even more concern about its disappearance from public disclosure and discussion, Sopko wrote. The watchdog also accused the Pentagon of overstating the impact of its efforts to combat drug cultivation and trafficking, among the Talibans main sources of revenue. The Pentagon touted airstrikes that destroyed 25 drug labs in November and December, saying it eliminated nearly $100 million of Taliban revenue. The labs being destroyed are cheap and easy to replace, SIGAR said. According to some estimates, they only take three or four days to replace. Facebook

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Women journalists shunted to rear for Pences visit to Western Wall By Noga Tarnopolsky The view from the womens section. (Noga Tarnopolsky / Los Angeles Times) Vice-President Mike Pences 48-hour visit to Israel stumbled into a public storm Tuesday when female reporters covering his final stop at Jerusalems Western Wall were penned behind four rows of their male colleagues. White House officials told stunned journalists that the arrangement emanated from a request made by the Western Wall rabbi, Shmuel Rabinowitz, and followed Western Wall rules. Some women journalists said they could not recall such treatment in the past. In a statement to Israels Channel 10 news, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said it was exactly as it was during the visit of the U.S. president to the Western Wall last May. Later in the day, in a statement to the newspaper Haaretz, the foundation blamed the United States embassy in Tel Aviv and Israeli security officials for the segregation, and announced they would reexamine the way they handle such events. Women who covered previous VIP visits said the Pence arrangements were significantly more onerous than previous visits, when male and female journalists were separated but not offered substantially different work conditions. LIVE coverage of our male colleagues granted access to cover VP at Western Wall as we are penned into #PenceFence pic.twitter.com/k3svkxfQsa  Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) January 23, 2018 The arrangement reflected procedures at the Western Wall, Judaisms holiest site, where on regular days, men have access to two thirds of the area available for prayer. Tal Schneider, the diplomatic analyst for Globes, a financial newspaper, protested that the separation of men and women may be valid for the requirements of Orthodox prayer, but no one is praying here. We are here to work. I dont appreciate being restricted in my ability to work because I am a woman, she said. The discriminatory attitude towards women is infuriating and is unbefitting of a modern country. Yael Freidson, the Jerusalem affairs correspondent for Yediot Ahronot, Israels widest circulation newspaper, said she worried that her editors could choose male colleagues for the next assignment, knowing they would have better access. Before Pence arrived, journalists were herded onto a specially constructed platform in the middle of the Western Walls esplanade, with women guided to the right behind a white fence, and men, many carrying cameras, directed to the left, where they had more than double the space. Towards the end of the vice presidents 10-minute visit, male journalists were permitted into the VIP tent where he received a gift from Rabinowitz, while the women remained in their enclosure. None of the men publicly protested the treatment of their female colleagues. Israels Association of Women Journalists filed a formal complaint with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, herself a woman. Facebook

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Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, after his pardon from Trump, says hell run for Senate in Arizona By Kurtis Lee (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press) (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press) Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who last year was pardoned by President Trump in a case stemming from his enforcement tactics aimed at immigrants, announced Tuesday he will run for the open Senate seat in his home state. I am running for the U.S. Senate from the Great State of Arizona, for one unwavering reason: to support the agenda and policies of President Donald Trump in his mission to Make America Great Again, Arpaio, 85, said on Twitter. Hell enter a Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. Last summer, Trump pardoned Arpaio, who was convicted in July of criminal contempt for violating a federal court order to stop racially profiling Latinos. It was Arpaios roughly quarter-century as sheriff that gave him a national reputation for his tough treatment of people suspected of being in the country illegally. Repeated court rulings against his office for civil rights violations cost local taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. In the early 1990s, Arpaio directed construction of a tent city for immigration detainees, a measure he said was intended both to alleviate overcrowding and to underscore his aggressive enforcement measures. But it was open to the burning Arizona sun, and drew widespread criticism. After Trump entered the presidential race in July 2015, Arpaio invited him to Phoenix to talk about a crackdown on illegal immigration. He endorsed Trump just before the first votes in the Iowa caucuses in 2016 and frequently spoke out on behalf of Trumps campaign. Facebook

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President Trump ends controversial voter fraud commission By Kurtis Lee President Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday ending the voter fraud commission he launched last year as the panel faces a flurry of lawsuits and criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. Trump signed the order disbanding the commission rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, created by executive order in May with the stated goal of restoring confidence and integrity in the electoral process, has faced a barrage of lawsuits in recent months over privacy concerns, as the commission sought personal data on voters across the country. Read More Facebook

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Congress returns to work with slimmer GOP majority to accomplish Trumps agenda By Lisa Mascaro Congress returns to work this week with unfinished business on spending, immigration and other crucial issues, but with an even narrower GOP majority that will make it tougher to move on President Trumps agenda. The House and Senate will convene Wednesday, swearing in the newly elected Democratic senator from Alabama, Doug Jones, and Minnesotas Tina Smith to replace a fellow Democrat, Sen. Al Franken, who is resigning as the latest high-profile public figure sidelined by allegations of sexual misconduct. The change gives Republicans only a one-seat margin in the Senate. Trump, fresh off passage of the GOP tax cuts bill, is pushing lawmakers to pivot quickly on his new year priorities of infrastructure investment and immigration, as well as his foreign policy agenda. But another legislative victory seems far off. Republicans have struggled to hold their majority together and Congress first must tackle critical stalled agenda items that leaders punted to 2018. Read More Facebook

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Trump threatens to cut off U.S. aid to Palestinians By Tracy Wilkinson President Trump on Tuesday angrily threatened to cut off U.S. aid to Palestinians as punishment for what he called their failure to show appreciation or respect to the United States. Writing on Twitter, the president compared the Palestinians to Pakistan, a nuclear-armed ally that abruptly drew his ire this week and a similar threat to drastically curtail aid. He accused the Palestinians of recalcitrance in what he described as their refusal to negotiate a peace deal with Israel. Palestinian officials have said they can no longer use Washington as a broker to restart peace talks with Israel following Trumps Dec. 6 decision to overturn decades of U.S. policy and recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and ultimately to move the U.S. Embassy there. The Palestinians also claim part of Jerusalem as the capital of an eventual independent state. Until now, the United States and most of the world agreed the citys political status was a matter to settle in final peace talks. The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned any effort to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the Palestinian leadership said it would not meet with Vice President Mike Pence, who had planned a trip to the region. That trip is on hold. [W]e pay the Palestinians HUNDRED [sic] OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect, Trump wrote on Twitter. [W]ith the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them? In response to Trumps tweet, Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, issued a statement saying: Palestinian rights are not for sale. By recognizing Occupied Jerusalem as Israels capital Donald Trump has not only violated international law, but he has also singlehandedly destroyed the very foundations of peace and condoned Israels illegal annexation of the city. We will not be blackmailed, she said. President Trump has sabotaged our search for peace, freedom and justice. Now he dares to blame the Palestinians for the consequences of his own irresponsible actions! The United States does not pay large amounts of money directly to the Palestinian Authority, the government that rules over parts of the Palestinian West Bank. Instead, most money goes to the U.N., refugee or aid agencies and even Israel to pay for roads, welfare, schools, security and other Palestinian projects. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, said Tuesday that the administration was planning to cut off one of those organizations, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, until the Palestinians return to the negotiating table. UNRWA, which receives around $300 million annually from the U.S., for years has been the lifeline to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It was not clear if Haley was threatening to cut all U.S. support for the agency. Special correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Facebook

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The White House stops short of calling for government overthrow in Iran By Brian Bennett President Trump wants Iran to give its citizens basic human rights and stop being a state sponsor of terror, his top spokeswoman said, but the White House stopped short of calling for a change of government in Tehran. If they want to do that through current leadership, if thats possible, OK, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters. Sanders praised the organic popular uprising, which she said the widespread protests in Iran represented. The protests grew out of years of years of mismanagement, corruption, and foreign adventurism have eroded the Iranian peoples trust in their leaders, she said. Earlier Tuesday, Trump called Irans government brutal and corrupt and wrote in a tweet: The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching! Trump also blamed President Obama for foolishly giving Iran money that he said went to fund terrorism. The money he referred to were funds belonging to Iran that had been frozen by the U.S. and were released as part of the deal in 2015, which blocked Irans development of nuclear weapons. 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 Facebook

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Retirement of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch clears the way for a Mitt Romney revival By David Lauter The retirement of Utahs senior senator, Orrin G. Hatch, opens the way for a widely expected Senate bid by Mitt Romney, the Republicans 2012 presidential nominee and a frequent critic of President Trump. Although Romney previously served for two terms as governor of Massachusetts (and was raised in Michigan, where his father was governor and his mother ran for the Senate), he comes from a prominent Mormon family with strong ties to Utah. He also served as chief executive of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Hes viewed as a strong candidate for the Senate seat. Romneys criticisms of Trump, however, could prompt a challenge in a Republican primary. Trump was widely reported to have tried to convince Hatch to run for a seventh term, in part to head off a Romney candidacy. Last month, Romney and Trump were on opposite sides of one of the biggest political fights of the fall  the battle over the Senate seat from Alabama. The president strongly supported Roy Moore, the Republican candidate who had been accused of sexual misconduct by several women. Romney called Moore a stain on the GOP. Roy Moore in the US Senate would be a stain on the GOP and on the nation. Leigh Corfman and other victims are courageous heroes. No vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity.  Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) December 4, 2017 On Tuesday, Romney tweeted praise for Hatch, but did not immediately reveal his own plans. I join the people of Utah in thanking my friend, Senator Orrin Hatch for his more than forty years of service to our great state and nation. Read my full statement: https://t.co/YwjUpjez5y  Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) January 2, 2018 Facebook

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U.S. calls on Iran to unblock social media sites amid protests By The Associated Press The Trump administration is calling on Irans government to stop blocking Instagram and other popular social media sites as Iranians are demonstrating in the streets. Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein says the U.S. wants Iran to open these sites. He says Instagram, Telegram and other platforms are legitimate avenues for communication. The United States is encouraging Iranians to use virtual private networks, known as VPNs. Those services create encrypted links between computers and can be used to access blocked websites. Goldstein says the U.S. is still communicating with Iranians in Persian through State Department accounts on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. He says the U.S. wants to encourage the protesters to continue to fight for whats right. Goldstein says the U.S. has an obligation not to stand by. Read More Facebook

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Trump blasts Democrats in advance of immigration meeting By Brian Bennett The day before a meeting of administration officials and congressional leaders on outstanding legislative business, President Trump accused Democrats of doing nothing to hammer out an immigration deal to protect from deportation people brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats are doing nothing for DACA  just interested in politics, Trump wrote in a Tweet on Tuesday morning, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program by its acronym. 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 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer along with the Republican leaders, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are scheduled to meet on Wednesday at the Capitol with Trumps legislative director, Marc Short, and budget director, Mick Mulvaney. The White House on Tuesday said the meeting is to discuss separate spending caps on military and domestic programs. Yet the Democrats insist the discussion also must include a variety of legislative issues that Trump and Congress punted into the new year  on immigration, the budget, healthcare and more. That stance reflects Democrats leverage: Republicans need Democratic votes to pass a government-funding bill and avert a federal shutdown when the current funding expires Jan. 19. Democrats especially want separate legislation replacing the Obama-era DACA program; Trump in September ordered a phase-out of the program, beginning March 6, and called on Congress to act before then on an alternative way to address the plight of the group. However, Trump has demanded that any alternative must be part of a package including both money for a border wall and immigration limits. Democrats are opposed. Facebook

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Pakistan hits back after Trump accuses its leaders of lies and deceit By Aoun Sahi Pakistan lashed out Monday after President Trump accused its leaders of lies and deceit and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism. 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, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Pakistans prime minister, Shahid Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss Trumps New Years Day tweet. 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. Read More Facebook

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Trump again cheers on Iran protests 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 The presidents earlier hailing of the protests drew condemnation from Irans government. A Foreign Ministry spokesman called his comments deceitful and opportunistic. Following an overnight report of the first two fatalities stemming from the protests, Trump raised some eyebrows by expressing concern over human rights violations as authorities move to crack down on the demonstrations. During his first year in office, the president has shown scant inclination to press foreign governments to respect the fundamental rights of their citizens. The USA is watching closely for human rights violations! Trump said in his tweet Sunday. Some domestic critics have pointed to the presidents inclusion of Iranian nationals in his travel ban, suggesting he was more interested in bashing the Tehran government than in supporting freedom of speech in Iran. Even some of the presidents allies said that supporting the protesters on social media did not amount to making policy. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he had urged Trump to give a national address laying out his Iran strategy. President Trump is tweeting very sympathetically to the Iranian people, Graham said on CBS Face the Nation. But you just cant tweet here. You have to lay out a plan. Facebook

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Australian diplomats tip a factor in FBIs Russia inquiry By Associated Press Australian High Commissioner Alexander Downer. (Alastair Grant / Associated Press) An Australian diplomats tip appears to have helped persuade the FBI to investigate Russian meddling in the U.S. election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign, the New York Times reported Saturday. Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos told the diplomat, Alexander Downer, during a meeting in London in May 2016 that Russia had thousands of emails that would embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the report said. Downer, a former foreign minister, is Australias top diplomat in Britain. Australia passed the information on to the FBI after the Democratic emails were leaked, according to the Times, which cited four current and former U.S. and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians role. The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the FBI to open an investigation in July 2016, the newspaper said. White House lawyer Ty Cobb declined to comment, saying in a statement that the administration is continuing to cooperate with the investigation now led by special counsel Robert Mueller to help complete their inquiry expeditiously. Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is a cooperating witness. Court documents unsealed two months ago show he met in April 2016 with Joseph Mifsud, a professor in London who told him about Russias cache of emails. This was before the Democratic National Committee became aware of the scope of the intrusion into its email systems by hackers later linked to the Russian government. The Times said Papadopoulos shared this information with Downer, but it was unclear whether he also shared it with anyone in the Trump campaign. Facebook

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Trump offers fresh support for protesters in Iran as demonstrations continue By Lisa Mascaro Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching! pic.twitter.com/kvv1uAqcZ9  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2017 President Trump again offered support Saturday for anti-government protesters in Iran, where a third day of demonstrations, the largest in years, spilled across the country amid fears of a crackdown. Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching! Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump took a break from playing golf near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to tweet clips from his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September when he called for Iranian democratic reforms. Iranian authorities warned of potential violence as the street demonstrations, which began over economic conditions, swelled into frustrations with the theocratic rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump has maintained a hawkish stance toward Iran, sharply criticizing the landmark nuclear disarmament accord that Tehran reached with then-President Obama and five other nations in 2015. In October, Trump declined to certify the accord to Congress although the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says Iran is complying with it. Several conservative GOP senators signaled their support for Trumps position and backed the protesters in Iran. Others in Congress did not immediately respond, however, amid conflicting reports over who had organized the demonstrations. Even after the billions in sanctions relief they secured through the nuclear deal, the ayatollahs still cant provide for the basic needs of their own people, said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a Trump ally and opponent of the nuclear deal. We should support the Iranian people who are willing to risk their lives to speak out against it, he added. Trump initially tweeted his support on Friday night. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement at that time as protests spread. There are many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with the regimes corruption and its squandering of the nations wealth to fund terrorism abroad, Sanders said. The Iranian government should respect their peoples rights, including their right to express themselves. The world is watching. Facebook

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When it comes to U.S.-Russia relations, it takes two to tango, Kremlin says By Sabra Ayres The deteriorating relationship between the United States and Russia is one of the biggest disappointments of 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman told reporters today. Russia would like to rebuild relations between the two adversaries, but it takes two to tango, Dmitry Peskov said today during a conference call with the press. We want and are looking for good mutually beneficial relations based on mutual respect, mutual trust with all countries, primarily with European ones, including the United States, but it is necessary to dance tango, as they say. Peskov blamed the ongoing anti-Russian Russophobia in Washington for playing a major role in blocking the two countries from moving forward in their relationship. U.S. investigations into the Trump presidential campaigns alleged collusion with the Kremlin during the 2016 U.S. election and accusations that the Kremlin tried to interfere with the electoral process continue to cast a dark shadow over the relationship, he said. Peskov told reporters that Moscow was perplexed by the investigations. The Kremlin has continued to deny having any involvement with the Trump campaign or doing anything to interfere with the American election. This is definitely a U.S. domestic affair, but in this case it naturally hurts our bilateral relations, which is regrettable, Peskov said. Relations between the U.S. and Russia have been categorized as the worst theyve been since the end of the Cold War. This year, Washington and Moscow have engaged in a diplomatic tit-for-tat in which both sides have been forced to reduce diplomatic staff, embassy properties have been repossessed by the hosting countries and visa services have been interrupted. The U.S. diplomatic mission to Russia shrank from 1,200 personnel, including some Russian local staff, to just over 450 across all its three consulates and embassy in Moscow. In the U.S., Russia was forced to vacate its San Francisco consulate. Moscow has also blamed anti-Russian sentiments on the recent decision by the International Olympic Committee to ban Russian teams from wearing their tricolor uniforms or flags during the upcoming games in South Korea. The international body accused some of the Russian national teams of doping. Facebook

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U.S. and Turkey resume reciprocal issuing of visas but frictions remain By Tracy Wilkinson The United States and Turkey began issuing reciprocal visas again on Thursday, more than two months after normal visa service was suspended in a dispute over the arrest of two U.S. diplomatic staffers in Istanbul  the latest friction between the two nominal allies. The State Department said it was lifting the visa restrictions after it was assured by the Turkish government that U.S. Embassy employees would not be arrested when performing their official duties. But the Turkish Embassy in Washington denied assurances were offered concerning the ongoing judicial processes, and suggested that the arrests were legal and justified. It is inappropriate to misinform the Turkish and American public that such assurances were provided, the embassy said in a statement. The dispute has aggravated the already tense relationship between the United States and Turkey, which is a member of the NATO military alliance. The two countries have clashed over U.S. support for Kurdish rebels in Syria and over Turkeys demands that the U.S. extradite a Turkish cleric who lives in rural Pennsylvania. After a failed coup attempt killed more than 250 people in July 2016, Turkeys autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, launched a harsh crackdown on his political opponents, arresting or firing tens of thousands of teachers, police, journalists, military officers and others. Erdogan accused Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic educator and former political ally, of orchestrating the coup. Gulen, who has lived in a compound in the Pocono Mountains, has denied any involvement. The Justice Department has so far denied Turkeys repeated demands to extradite Gulen. Erdogan raised the issue again at the White House in May, but his visit ended in a public relations disaster when his security guards brutally beat peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassadors residence. Two Turkish employees of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul were arrested this fall for alleged ties to the 2016 coup attempt. The U.S. responded by suspending most visa services at its missions in Turkey in October. The Turkish government reciprocated in November. State Department officials said they have repeatedly demanded more information about any formal charges against the two employees. They reiterated on Thursday that serious concerns about the allegations remained. Facebook

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Trump: China caught RED HANDED allowing oil to reach North Korea By Brian Bennett (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) President Trump isnt taking a holiday vacation from Twitter. In one of three tweets early on Thursday from his West Palm Beach golf club, he charged that China was caught RED HANDED allowing oil shipments to reach North Korean ports. Pronouncing himself very disappointed, Trump in effect was acknowledging the failure of his months-long effort to convince China to clamp down further on energy shipments going to the isolated country, which relies heavily on Beijing, as a way to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Caught RED HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2017 Trumps tweet came after a South Korean newspaper published what it said were U.S. spy satellite images of Chinese ships selling oil to North Korean ships. The United Nations Security Council, which includes China, has voted repeatedly to restrict fuel shipments to North Korea. Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in November to cut off North Koreas oil supply entirely, the American ambassador to the U.N., Nikki R. Haley, said at the time. It is unclear if Trumps admonishment of China was based on news reports or classified information he received from U.S. intelligence officials. There was no daily intelligence briefing on Trumps public schedule Thursday. He is expected to return to Washington next week after spending the Christmas holiday and New Years Eve at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Facebook

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President Trump again falsely claims hes signed more bills than any president By Brian Bennett President Trump visits a firehouse in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday. (Nicholas Kamm / AFP) After another morning at his Florida golf club, President Trump visited firefighters and paramedics at a West Palm Beach firehouse and praised his own performance as president, including with a false boast. Trump touted his administrations work to roll back government regulations and cut taxes and claimed credit for the stock market hitting record highs. He also said hes signed more bills into law than any other president, which isnt true. We have signed more legislation than anybody, Trump said, standing in front of a rescue vehicle inside the fire station. We have more legislation passed, including  the record was Harry Truman a long time ago, and we broke that record, so we got a lot done, Trump said. An analysis by GovTrack, a website that tracks bills in Congress, shows that Trump has signed the fewest bills into law at this point than any president in more than 60 years, back to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Facebook

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Trump administration urges Russia to reinstate monitors in Ukraine, lower violence By Tracy Wilkinson Sergei Lavrov (AFP/Getty Images) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked Russia on Wednesday to reinstate its military personnel at a monitoring station in eastern Ukraine intended to quell escalating bloodshed. In a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Tillerson also urged Russia to lower the level of violence and underscored the Trump administrations concern over increased fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said in a statement. Russia last week withdrew its monitors from the Joint Center on Coordination and Control, which is tasked with verifying a much-violated ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists. Moscow cited what it called restrictions and provocations from Ukrainian authorities that made it impossible for the observers to do their jobs. Washington has accused the pro-Russia forces of being responsible for many of the truce violations. Late last week, the State Department also announced plans to provide Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, a decision that angered Moscow. The State Department statement did not say whether the weapons deal came up in Tillersons conversation with Lavrov. The two also discussed North Korea, its destabilizing nuclear program and the need for a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula, the statement said. Russia has offered to serve as a mediator between Washington and Pyongyang, but direct talks do not seem likely at this point. Facebook

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U.S. sanctions two more North Korean officials for ballistic missile program By Tracy Wilkinson The Trump administration announced sanctions Tuesday against two more North Korean officials for their alleged role in Pyongyangs expanding ballistic missiles program. The Treasury Department is targeting leaders of North Koreas ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate [North Korea] and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean Peninsula, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement. The nuclear-armed country tested an intercontinental ballistic missile last month that U.S. officials said appeared capable of reaching New York or Washington, a significant milestone in the countrys growing arsenal. The Treasury Department identified the two North Korean officials as Kim Jong Sik, who reportedly is a key figure in the ballistic missile program and led efforts to switch missiles from liquid to solid fuel (which makes them easier to hide before launch), and Ri Pyong Chol, who was reported to be a key official in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The sanctions block banks, companies and individuals from doing any business with the targeted officials. It also allows the U.S. government to freeze any American assets owned by the officials. On Friday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to add more sanctions on North Korea, its third round this year. The new measures order North Koreans working abroad to return home within two years, and ban nearly 90% of refined petroleum exports to the country. In a statement published Sunday by North Koreas state-run KCNA news agency, the foreign ministry denounced the new U.N. sanctions as an act of war. We define this sanctions resolution rigged up by the US and its followers as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of our Republic, as an act of war violating peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the region and categorically reject the resolution, it said. Facebook

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Salt Lake Tribune calls on Sen. Orrin Hatch to not seek reelection in scathing editorial Perhaps the most significant move of Hatchs career is the one that should, if there is any justice, end it. The last time the senator was up for reelection, in 2012, he promised that it would be his last campaign. That was enough for many likely successors, of both parties, to stand down, to let the elder statesman have his victory tour and to prepare to run for an open seat in 2018. Clearly, it was a lie. Read the editorial>> Facebook

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Christmas Eve, Trump on Twitter: New attacks on FBI official, decrying Fake News By Laura King President Trump launched a Christmas Eve attack on FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whom he accuses of favoritism toward his former opponent, Hillary Clinton, and also returned to a longtime favored theme, excoriating the news media for failing to sufficiently extol his accomplishments. .@FoxNews-FBIs Andrew McCabe, in addition to his wife getting all of this money from M (Clinton Puppet), he was using, allegedly, his FBI Official Email Account to promote her campaign. You obviously cannot do this. These were the people who were investigating Hillary Clinton.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2017 Thank you President TRUMP!! pic.twitter.com/LKdkT0FL99  oregon4TRUMP (@shawgerald4) December 23, 2017 The Fake News refuses to talk about how Big and how Strong our BASE is. They show Fake Polls just like they report Fake News. Despite only negative reporting, we are doing well - nobody is going to beat us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2017 Trump, who is spending the holidays at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, also sent Christmas greetings to deployed military personnel, praising them for success in the fight against terrorism. The early-morning swipe at McCabe followed a flurry of tweets attacking the deputy FBI chief on Saturday. McCabe, who has been a lightning rod for Republican attacks on the FBI, is expected to retire early in the new year. How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wifes campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017 FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017 Critics say the president and his allies are in the midst of a systematic campaign to denigrate the FBI and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is looking into potential collusion by the Trump campaign in Russias attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election. In a pair of statements on Twitter, Trump again expressed scorn regarding news coverage of his administration. For months, the president has been particularly critical of reports regarding the Russia investigation and more recently has repeatedly complained he does not receive enough credit for a booming stock market. In his video conference message to troops overseas, the president made apparent reference to the fight against the militants of Islamic State, who over the last year have lost most of the territory they previously controlled in Iraq and Syria, including former strongholds in Mosul and Raqqah. Were winning, Trump told military personnel deployed in Qatar, Kuwait, Guantanamo Bay and aboard the guided missile destroyer Sampson. Reporters traveling with the president heard his address, but were ushered from the room before he took questions from the troops. The president often breaks with longtime custom and makes politically charged statements at events in which he addresses military personnel. Facebook

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Trumps Wells Fargo tweet cited in court hearing as reason to remove Mulvaney as CFPB acting chief By Jim Puzzanghera A recent tweet by President Trump about possible penalties against Wells Fargo & Co. was cited during a court hearing Friday as a reason for removing White House official Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The attorney for Leandra English  the bureaus deputy director who has said she is the rightful acting head  said Trumps tweet showed he was trying to exercise improper influence over the independent consumer watchdog. I think that [tweet] shows you this isnt just some hypothetical concern, the attorney, Deepak Gupta, told Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia during a nearly two-hour hearing. Read More Facebook

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Trump administration recognizes Honduran presidents reelection By Tracy Wilkinson The Trump administration on Friday formally recognized the incumbent president of Honduras, conservative Juan Orlando Hernandez, as the winner of a bitterly contested presidential election held last month. In a statement, the State Department congratulated Hernandez while also acknowledging widespread irregularities in the Nov. 26 vote and calling for a robust national dialogue to overcome political discord in the Central American country, a close ally of the administration. The Organization of American States, which monitored the election, said it was so flawed that only a new round of voting could establish a fair and transparent outcome. But the U.S. rejected that determination. Uproar over the contest led to demonstrations in Honduras that left numerous civilians dead after state security forces opened fire on the protests. Activists and others voiced criticism Friday of the administrations decision. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a leading Democratic voice on Central American issues, said he was angry and deeply disturbed by the State Department decision. The recent elections in Honduras were deeply flawed, chaotic and marred by numerous irregularities, McGovern said. U.S.-Honduran cooperation on matters such as drug-trafficking, violence and immigration requires a credible, legitimate government that has the support of its people, in Honduras, McGovern said. Hernandezs victory also was controversial because it was the first time a sitting president was allowed to run for re-election, barred until now by the Honduran Constitution. Facebook

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Senate Leader Mitch McConnell says fixing DACA is no emergency until March By Lisa Mascaro Amanda Bayer, left with banner, and Marisol Maqueda, right, join a rally in support of so-called Dreamers outside the White House. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday hes committed to allowing a vote on a bill for so-called Dreamers in January, but sees no rush to resolve the deportation threat posed by President Trumps decision to end a program protecting immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. There isnt that much of an emergency there, he said. There is no emergency until March. Well keep talking about it. Trump called for phasing out by March the Obama-era program that allows the young immigrants, many of them longtime residents, to get two-year deferrals of any deportation threat so they can legally attend school or work. Beneficiaries must be vetted for security purposes. Trump told Congress to come up with a legislative alternative for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which President Obama created by executive order, to protect those currently eligible. A bipartisan Senate group has been working with the White House, but talks stalled this week amid administration demands for curbs on legal immigration flows in exchange for protecting the DACA recipients. Meanwhile, Dreamers and immigrant advocates stormed the Capitol in recent days pressing for the help promised by Trump and Democratic congressional leaders that failed to materialize in the years final legislation. Advocacy groups say more than 120 immigrants each day are falling out of compliance without DACA renewals, putting them at risk of deportation. The number that is projected to swell to more than 1,000 a day in March. Weve been gridlocked on this issue for years, McConnell said. We want to have a signature. We dont just want to spin our wheels and have nothing to show for it. Facebook

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President Trump signs tax bill By Noah Bierman (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump on Friday morning signed a sweeping tax-cut measure  his first major legislative achievement  before heading off for a Christmas vacation at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla. The president also privately signed a short-term spending bill to fund government operations through Jan. 19. Congress approved it Thursday, after Republican leaders were unable to bridge differences in their own party as well as with Democrats to get agreement on funding for the full fiscal year. The stopgap bill punts fights on immigration and other issues to January. The tax bill, approved earlier this week in Congress in largely party-line votes, slashes corporate tax rates from 35% to 21% and also includes a host of other provisions for individuals, all intended to boost the economy. Critics point to nonpartisan analyses showing that the package, including changes greatly reducing the number of estates subject to taxes, steers the bulk of tax benefits to top earners and the wealthy, including Trump, despite his repeated claims that hell take a hit. Trump signed the bill quietly Friday, but held a public ceremony with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday after the bills passage; he also tweeted about the measure extensively. He is expected to hold another public ceremony after the New Years holiday. Facebook

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Pelosi urges Ryan to prevent Republicans from curtailing Houses Russia probe By Chris Megerian House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin greets House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Friday urging him to ensure the Houses investigation into Russian interference with last years presidential campaign is not cut short. The American people deserve a comprehensive and fair investigation into Russias attacks, wrote Pelosi, of San Francisco, in her letter. Political haste must not cut short valid investigatory threads. The House Intelligence Committee has been probing the issue since March 1, and Democrats have repeatedly warned that Republicans are trying to wrap up its work prematurely. Pelosi said Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, should take urgent action to ensure this investigation can continue. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said Pelosi simply wants to see this investigation go on forever in order to suit her political agenda. Whether it concludes next month, next year, or in three years, she will say it is too soon, Strong said in a statement. She added, The investigation will conclude when the committee has reached a conclusion. The committees work is led by Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas). His spokeswoman, Emily Hytha, said he remains committed to conducting this investigation as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible. With more interviews scheduled, the investigation shows signs of extending into next year, Bloomberg reported Friday. BREAKING: Steve Bannon and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski have been sent letters requesting they testify to House Intel panel in early January, per @HouseInSession  Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) December 22, 2017 Facebook

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Congress votes to avert government shutdown, but Senate fails to pass disaster aid package By Lisa Mascaro ( (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)) Congress approved a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, but failed to complete work on an $81-billion disaster aid package to help California, Gulf Coast states and Puerto Rico recover from wildfires and hurricanes, as lawmakers scrambled Thursday to wrap up business before a Christmas break. The stopgap measure continues federal operations for a few more weeks, setting up another deadline for Jan. 19. But it left undone a long list of priorities that members of both parties had hoped to finish this year. Read More Facebook

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Wells Fargo says raises were not linked to tax bill passage  then backtracks By James Rufus Koren Wells Fargo & Co.s move to raise its minimum pay to $15 an hour was part of a long-term plan and not related to the passage of the Republican tax overhaul as the company implied, said a bank spokesman, who later backtracked and stated the hikes were a result of the bills approval. The bank was among several large corporations to publicly announce pay raises or new investments immediately following the final House vote in an apparent public relations offensive to boost the popularity of the tax bill The San Francisco bank had implied the direct linkage to the tax legislation in a news release Wednesday, shortly after Congress passed the tax overhaul, which slashes the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% starting Jan. 1. Read More Facebook

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Obamacare signups beat expectations, despite Trump administrations opposition By Noam N. Levey President Trump with Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Despite Trump administration efforts to discourage people from signing up, the number of people enrolling for Affordable Care Act coverage nearly hit last years level, the government revealed Thursday. Exchange open enrollment for 2018 coverage ended w/ approx 8.8M people enrolling in coverage. Great job to the @CMSGov team for the work you did to make this the smoothest experience for consumers to date. We take pride in providing great customer service.  Administrator Seema Verma (@SeemaCMS) December 21, 2017 The 8.8 million people who enrolled in the 36 states that use the federal governments healthcare.gov system significantly exceeded most forecasts. The Trump administration stopped most outreach and other efforts this year aimed at getting people to sign up. The president also repeatedly said publicly that Obamacare was dead. Open enrollment continues in California and several other states that run their own healthcare marketplaces. The figures from the federal government indicate that when those states wrap up for the year, the number of people covered by Obamacare will be nearly the same as in 2017. Read More Facebook

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U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly condemns U.S. policy change on Jerusalem despite Trumps threats By Tracy Wilkinson The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted Thursday to condemn President Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Trumps threats to punish countries that voted against the U.S. position. The resolution passed in an emergency session at U.N. headquarters in New York with 128 in favor, nine opposed and 35 abstentions. The nonbinding resolution demands that Washington rescind its declaration, which included a plan to transfer the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in coming years. The resolution value is mostly symbolic, showing how isolated the U.S. is in the move. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., warned this week that she would be taking names of countries that opposed the U.S., and Trump on Wednesday suggested he might cut U.S. aid to governments that voted in favor of the resolution. Let them vote against us, Trump said. Well save a lot. We dont care. The U.S. recognition of Jerusalem reversed decades of international consensus on the political status of the divided city. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as their capital in a future independent state. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said the U.N. was facing an unprecedented test and that history would remember those who stand by what is right. Facebook

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Democrats defend Robert Mueller, saying Russia investigation must be allowed to continue By Chris Megerian Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) speaking during a committee hearing earlier this year. (Molly Riley / Associated Press) House Democrats said they will fight Republican attempts to discredit and undermine the work of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating whether President Trumps associates helped Russian meddling in last years election. There is an organized effort by Republicans, in concert with Fox News, to spin a false narrative and conjure up outrageous scenarios to accuse special counsel Mueller of being biased, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) said. Trump has said he has no plan to fire Mueller, but Democrats are alarmed by escalating criticism of the special counsels work. Why is the president afraid of the facts and the truth? Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said. He added, No matter what the facts are, were satisfied if the investigation is complete. A letter of support signed by 171 Democratic members of Congress will be sent to Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, and oversees his investigation. Rosenstein has defended Mueller in the face of Republican criticisms. Facebook

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U.S. blacklists Myanmar army general who it says oversaw atrocities against Rohingya Muslims By Shashank Bengali The Trump administration on Thursday blacklisted a Myanmar army general who it said oversaw human rights abuses committed by security forces against Rohingya Muslims. Imposing economic sanctions against the general, Maung Maung Soe, was the toughest action the United States has taken in response to a brutal army offensive that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has described as ethnic cleansing. In a statement, the Treasury Department said it had examined credible evidence of Maung Maung Soes activities, including allegations against Burmese security forces of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and arbitrary arrest as well as the widespread burning of villages. The Rohingya are an ethnic and religious minority of about 1 million people in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, also known as Burma. The United Nations says that more than 640,000 Rohingya have fled the country since August, after the army launched clearance operations in response to attacks carried out by a Rohingya insurgent group against security forces. Rohingya refugees in crowded camps in neighboring Bangladesh have described horrific violence by Myanmar forces, including mass rapes, summary executions and children being burned alive. The aid group Doctors Without Borders estimates that 6,700 people were killed in the first month of the operation. Myanmar authorities deny committing atrocities and say that only a few hundred fighters were killed. Maung Maung Soe was chief of the armys Western Command, which carried out the offensive. He was transferred from his position last month, according to news reports. He was one of 13 individuals worldwide who were blacklisted Thursday under a new U.S. law that gives the Treasury Department authority to target officials for human rights abuses and corruption. Others included former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh; Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the late Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov; and Artem Chaika, son of Russias prosecutor-general. Today, the United States is taking a strong stand against human rights abuse and corruption globally by shutting these bad actors out of the U.S. financial system, said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. The sanctions freeze any assets Maung Maung Soe holds in the United States and bars Americans from doing business with him. It is also a sign of how quickly U.S. relations with Myanmar have soured. Under the Obama administration, the United States forged closer ties with the former military dictatorship and eased economic and political sanctions as the country began implementing democratic reforms. But Myanmar, which does not regard the Rohingya as citizens, has lashed out at the international community over the current crisis. It has jailed journalists, blocked access to affected areas in the western state of Rakhine and this week barred a U.N. human rights investigator from entering the country. Rohingya activists said the U.S. action would not have much effect on a country that survived under economic sanctions for years. It is the whole military institution that has a policy to persecute these people, said Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist and blogger in Germany. According to the U.S.s own definition, the army is carrying out ethnic cleansing. They have a responsibility to protect these people. Sanctions on one person are really not enough. Facebook

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Dreamers will have to wait until next year for Congress long-promised protections By Lisa Mascaro Amanda Bayer, left with banner, and Marisol Maqueda, right, join a rally in support of so-called Dreamers outside the White House. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)) A promised year-end deal to protect the young immigrants known as Dreamers from deportation collapsed Wednesday as Republicans in Congress  fresh off passage of their tax plan  prepared to punt nearly all remaining must-do agenda items into the new year. Congressional leaders still hope that before leaving town this week they can pass an $81-billion disaster relief package with recovery funds for California wildfires and Gulf Coast states hit during the devastating hurricane season. But passage even of that relatively popular measure remained in doubt as conservatives balked at the price tag. Rather than finish the year wrapping up the legislative agenda, the GOP majorities in the House and Senate struggled over their next steps. Read More Facebook

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Chants of protest drown out any caroling this holiday season at the Capitol By Lisa Mascaro U.S. Capitol Police arrest a man wearing a Santa Claus hat during a protest against the Republican tax bill. (Alex Edelman / AFP/Getty Image) Outside the U.S. Capitol, the lights on a towering Christmas tree are flipped on each evening, giving the Engelmann spruce a festive twinkle; inside the marble halls, wreaths and garlands decorate doorways and alcoves ahead of the holidays. But the spirit of the season has been punctuated by other sights: a Jumbotron parked across from the Capitol reflecting pool broadcasts images of young immigrants who face deportation; Little Lobbyists, children with complex medical needs, were featured in a recent news conference; protesters filed into the visitor galleries to shout against the Republican tax plan. While its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Capitol, its also shaping up to be a holiday season of protest. Read More Facebook

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Tax bill simplifies filing for some but complicates it for others  and dont count on that postcard By Jim Puzzanghera A priority of the Republicans tax overhaul was simplification, and they drove home the point this fall with an omnipresent prop: a red-white-and-blue postcard. Were making things so simple that you can do your taxes on a form the size of a postcard, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said last month, pulling one from his jacket pocket as he and Republican leaders unveiled their bill. They gave a couple of the cards to President Trump at a White House meeting a few hours later and flashed them often during news conferences and TV interviews in the coming days. Read More Facebook

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Top U.N. human rights official reportedly wont seek reelection The top United Nations official for human rights, who has frequently criticized the Trump administration, has reportedly decided not to seek a second term, saying his work had become untenable. Zeid Raad Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, notified his staff in an email that was obtained by several news outlets, including Agence France-Presse. Staying when his four-year term is up for renewal at the end of August might involve bending a knee in supplication, AFP quoted Husseins email as saying. Hussein is a Jordanian prince who has criticized, among other things, President Trumps attempts to ban visitors or refugees from six predominantly Muslim countries. The news comes a day before the U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on a nonbinding resolution condemning the Trump administrations formal declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a decision that went against international consensus. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., has warned she will be taking names of those who vote against the United States on Thursday. Trump echoed that sentiment Wednesday, voiced support for Haley and implying to reporters that he would consider cutting off U.S. aid to countries that vote against the U.S. Well, were watching those votes, Trump said. Let them vote against us. Well save a lot. We dont care. On Monday, the United States lost a Security Council vote 14-1 on a binding resolution that would have required Washington to rescind its declaration. Haley then vetoed the resolution. Facebook

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Top Democrat warns Trump not to fire Mueller or interfere with his investigation By Chris Megerian Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, one of the top Democrats involved in the congressional inquiries into Russian interference in last years election, said Wednesday that any attempt by President Trump to interfere with the separate criminal investigation would be a gross abuse of power. Warner, who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, delivered his warning from the Senate floor as Republicans escalate their criticism of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team of prosecutors and FBI agents. Some Democrats believe Trump is laying the groundwork to fire Mueller even though the president has publicly denied it. Mueller was appointed in May after Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey. In the United States of America, no one, no one is above the law, not even the president, Warner said. Congress must make clear to the president that firing the special counsel or interfering with his investigation by issuing pardons of essential witnesses is unacceptable and would have immediate and significant consequences. Some Democrats say the White House may try to in effect short-circuit the Mueller investigation by replacing Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who is the only official empowered to fire Mueller. Rosenstein recently told Congress that the special counsel is acting appropriately and that he would not dismiss Mueller without just cause. Facebook

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We have essentially repealed Obamacare, Trump says after tax bill passes By Brian Bennett President Trump at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday at the White House. (Chris Kleponis / Getty Images) President Trump is celebrating Republicans passage of the tax overhaul bill as a two-fer: On Wednesday, in addition to tax cuts, he checked off his promise to repeal Obamacare, pointing to a provision in the bill to end the penalty on Americans who dont get health insurance. We have essentially repealed Obamacare, Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Other provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act are still in place, and Trump and congressional Republicans failed completely on the replace half of their vow to repeal and replace the program. In Trumps view, however, stripping away the laws individual mandate to get insurance or else pay a tax penalty amounts to repeal of the whole law. Congressional analysts have said that millions of people would lose insurance as a result, either by choice or because they cannot afford it without subsidies, and that premiums would increase for others as younger, healthy people drop coverage. We will come up with something much better, Trump said, adding that block grants to states could be one approach. By his comments, Trump tacitly acknowledged that repeal of the mandate is likely the best he can do following Republicans failure this year to agree on a repeal-and-replace bill. Looking back on his first year, Trump also boasted of his administrations efforts against the Islamic State and increased immigration enforcement. He said he had not given up on funding a border wall or tightening immigration law to limit citizens ability to resettle foreign relatives in the country. He said he would very shortly visit the border with Mexico near San Diego to see wall prototypes that have been built. He didnt answer a reporters shouted question about how he would personally benefit from the tax bill. Facebook

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House gives final OK to GOP tax plan, sending it to Trump By Lisa Mascaro Congress gave final approval to the GOP tax plan Wednesday, 224-201, after the House took an unusual do-over vote to clear up differences with the Senate-passed bill. The $1.5-trillion package now heads to President Trump, who plans to sign it into law. The House had approved the tax bill on Tuesday but was forced to take another vote Wednesday because a couple of provisions in the version it approved were found to be in violation of Senate procedures. Those provisions were dropped before the Senate gave its approval early Wednesday. Critics complained the Republicans rushed to pass the sweeping tax plan to deliver Trump a year-end legislative victory, but supporters shrugged off the problems as minor. The tax plan dramatically cuts corporate rates and provides some individual rate reductions, overhauling the tax code for the first time in 30 years. Facebook

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Trump administration effort to block immigrant from having an abortion fails By David Savage Scott Lloyd is director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) President Trumps lawyers rushed to the Supreme Court and U.S. appeals court in Washington on Monday evening to file emergency appeals seeking to prevent an immigrant in detention, dubbed Jane Roe in court, from having an abortion. That set the stage for a legal showdown on whether the administration can block pregnant minors in custody from choosing to have an abortion. But the legal clash, which the administration has seemed eager to have, fizzled out Tuesday when the governments lawyers admitted the 17-year-old unaccompanied minor in their custody was actually 19. They said they had obtained her birth certificate and realized she was not a minor after all. As a result, Roe, who is 10 weeks pregnant, will no longer be held in a detention center for immigrant minors, and will not be subject to an administration policy that tries to prevent minors in immigration detention from having abortions. Administration lawyers told appeals court judges Tuesday night that Roe was being sent to a facility for adults and likely would be released until her immigration status can be resolved. In a brief order, the D.C. Circuit Court agreed to put the case on hold, but told government attorneys to confirm that she will be permitted to obtain an abortion. The administration had earlier tried to delay another young woman, referred to in court as Jane Poe, from having an abortion, but officials relented on Monday because she was 22 weeks pregnant and nearing the time limit for a legal abortion. Facebook

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Senate panel rejects Trumps pick to lead Export-Import Bank, a leader in the effort to shut it down By Jim Puzzanghera A Senate committee on Tuesday rejected President Trumps nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank, extending the chaos at the embattled agency whose job is to help U.S. companies sell their goods abroad. Two Republicans joined all Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee in voting against former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) to be the banks president. Garrett had been a vocal critic of the Ex-Im Bank and a leader of a conservative effort that shut the bank down for five months in 2015 by blocking its congressional authorization. He and other bank opponents branded the banks aid as crony capitalism. Read More Facebook

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Congress proposes $81-billion disaster aid package, including funds for California wildfires By Lisa Mascaro Congress is set to consider an $81-billion disaster aid package that includes wildfire recovery money for California and other Western states as well as hurricane relief with a price tag reflecting a year of record-setting natural calamities. The legislation, the text of which was released late Monday, would provide almost twice as much as the $44 billion the White House sought last month to cover relief efforts along the Gulf Coast and in the Caribbean. Republican congressional leaders added more money after California lawmakers objected that the administration had failed to include help for areas damaged by wildfires and Democrats protested that the overall amount President Trump asked for was insufficient. Read More Facebook

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White House blames North Korea for worldwide WannaCry cyber attack By Noah Bierman The Royal London Hospital, a victim of the unprecedented global cyberattack in May. (Niklas Hallen / AFP/Getty Images) The White House officially blamed North Korea on Tuesday for the cyberattack in May known as WannaCry that infected hundreds of thousands of computers in 150 countries, affecting healthcare, financial services and vital infrastructure. Thomas P. Bossert, assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, noted in a briefing with reporters that the consequences were beyond economic. He warned that North Koreas malicious behavior is growing more egregious. Bossert did not specify what evidence American officials have to blame North Korea, citing security issues, but he cited the countrys prior attacks as revealing hallmarks of how Pyongyang and its network of hackers operates. He said other allied countries had joined the United States in making the determination. The administration did not announce any penalties on the regime, which is already subject to severe sanctions over its nuclear program. They want to hold the entire world at risk, Bossert said of North Koreas rulers, referring to the nations nuclear and missile provocations as well as its alleged cyberattack. Given its isolation and international sanctions, North Korea is desperate for funds. Bossert said the country did not appear to make much money on the ransom attack, as word spread that paying a ransom did not result in getting computers unlocked. Its primary goal, he said, was spreading chaos. Bossert and Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary of homeland security for cybersecurity and communication, said the United States, through a combination of preparation and luck, escaped the worst of the attack, as a patch to the malware was found before U.S. companies and other interests were severely crippled. However, Manfra said, We cannot be complacent. Bossert added, Next time were not going to get so lucky. Manfra praised Microsoft and Facebook for their efforts to combat WannaCry and to block more recent attempts to hack U.S. systems. She and Bossert urged more cooperation and information-sharing from American and multinational companies, arguing a united front is vital to protecting against bad actors who do not differentiate between government and business. Bossert rejected criticism that the the Trump administration has more aggressively called out North Korean cyberattacks than it has Russias meddling in the 2016 election. He said the administration has continued the national emergency initiated by President Obama. Facebook

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GOP lures some mountain bike groups in its push to roll back protections for public land By Evan Halper When their vision of creating a scenic cycling trail through a protected alpine backcountry hit a snag, San Diego area mountain bikers turned to an unlikely ally: congressional Republicans aiming to dilute conservation laws. The frustrations of the San Diego cycling group and a handful of similar organizations are providing tailwind to the GOP movement to lift restrictions on the countrys most ecologically fragile and pristine landscapes, officially designated wilderness. Resentment of these cyclists over the longstanding ban on mechanized transportation in that fraction of the nations public lands presents a political opportunity for Republicans eager to drill fissures in the broad coalition of conservation-minded groups united against the GOP environmental agenda. Read More Facebook

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Vice president postpones Israel trip a second time in case his vote is needed to pass tax cut bill By Noah Bierman (Ethan Miller / Getty Images) Vice President Mike Pence is delaying his trip to Egypt and Israel for a second time in case he is needed to break a tie in the Senate for the tax bill that is expected to pass narrowly this week. Two White House officials confirmed the changed schedule, which they say is unrelated to to protests in the region over the administrations decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. Pence had initially been scheduled to leave last Saturday. Late last week, the White House moved the trip back a few days to Tuesday night, in case Pence was needed to break a Senate tie. But Monday, they decided to postpone the trip further, to January, given the possibility of a late Senate vote and the coming holidays. He wants to see it through the finish line, said a White House official, referring to the tax measure that is a centerpiece of the Republican legislative agenda. We dont want to leave anything to chance. The mid-January dates will allow Pence more breathing room to merge schedules with embassies and hotels, the official said. Trump still plans to address the Israeli Knesset, a high-profile venue to discuss the Jerusalem decision where it is most popular. Facebook

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Trump judicial pick who drew ridicule at hearing withdraws By Associated Press A White House official says the Trump judicial nominee whose qualifications were questioned by a Republican senator has withdrawn his nomination. Matthew Petersen, who was nominated by President Trump to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, has been the subject of widespread ridicule since he was unable to define basic legal terms during his confirmation hearing Wednesday. A White House official says Petersen has withdrawn his nomination and that Trump has accepted the withdrawal. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the development publicly. Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy pressed Petersen, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, who testified he had never tried a case, on his qualifications to the bench. Facebook

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Trump says McCain will return to Washington if needed for tax vote By Laura King President Trump said Sunday that Sen. John McCain, who is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, was returning home to Arizona for the holidays but would come back to Washington if needed to cast a vote on the Republicans tax overhaul bill. The Arizona Republicans office announced last week that McCain was receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington for complications from his cancer treatment. McCains daughter Meghan tweeted earlier Sunday that her 81-year-old father would be spending Christmas in Arizona. The Senate is expected to vote early this week on the tax cut legislation, but the GOP appeared to have secured sufficient support without McCains vote. John will come back if we need his vote, Trump told reporters as he returned from a weekend at the presidential retreat at Camp David. Hes going through a very tough time. Facebook

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Putin calls Trump to thank him for U.S. help foiling terrorist strike By Laura King Vladimir Putin phoned President Trump to thank him for what the Russian president said was CIA help in foiling a terrorist attack, the Kremlin said on Sunday. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the two leaders conversation to reporters. It was the second time that the two leaders had talked in four days; Trump called Putin on Thursday to thank the Russian leader for lauding the U.S. economy. Putin, in his annual year-end news conference, had praised Trump for a strong performance by the U.S. stock market. Perhaps ironically, given his credit to the CIAs recent help, Putin at that news event dismissed as hysteria the consensus among American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign. In reporting Putins call to Trump on Sunday, the official Russian news agency Tass said Putin thanked his American counterpart for information shared by the US Central Intelligence Agency that had helped break up a plot to set off explosives in St. Petersburgs landmark Kazan Cathedral and elsewhere in the city, which is Russias second-largest. Russian authorities last week had credited their countrys counter-intelligence service, the FSB, for foiling the attacks. They reported that seven people affiliated with Islamic State had been detained in St. Petersburg in connection with the plot. The FSB, the successor organization to the KGB, announced Friday that the group had planned to carry out the attacks on Saturday, and that one of those in custody had confessed to the cathedral bomb plot. Facebook

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Mnuchin: Government shutdown unlikely but could happen By Laura King Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said on Sunday that a government shutdown this week was unlikely but possible. A two-week stopgap spending bill passed by Congress earlier this month provided enough funding to keep the government running through Friday. A deadlock on another temporary funding measure would open the door to a possible shutdown. I cant rule it out, but I cant imagine it occurring, Mnuchin said on Fox News Sunday, suggesting everyone had an interest in avoiding the government grinding to a halt and federal workers going unpaid, especially in the holiday season. I would expect that both the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, understand if they cant agree on this, they need to have another short-term extension to move this to January, the Treasury secretary said. We cant have a government shutdown in front of Christmas. In May, irate over concessions made to Democrats in hammering out a spending measure, President Trump tweeted that a good shutdown might help matters. While both parties agree that a government shutdown involves a degree of disruption that is not beneficial to either side, shutdowns in 1995-96 and in 2013 mainly caused a backlash against Republicans. The latest funding measure is to be taken up after a vote on a massive GOP tax overhaul, expected by midweek. Facebook

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Trump transition team says sensitive emails should not have been shared with Robert Mueller By Chris Megerian (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) President Trumps transition team is crying foul over how special counsel Robert S. Mueller III obtained emails for his investigation into Russian meddling in last years campaign and possible Trump campaign complicity. Kory Langhofer, a lawyer for the transition team, sent a letter to Congress on Saturday saying there was an unauthorized disclosure of emails. While the Trump transition is long over, the transition team remains a nonprofit organization. Its emails were hosted by the General Services Administration, a federal agency. Mueller reportedly obtained the emails directly from the agency. There are attorney-client communications, Langhofer said in an interview. There are executive-privileged communications. He added, What were asking Congress to do is to take some legislative action to make sure this never happens again. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsels office, defended the process for obtaining emails. When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owners consent or appropriate criminal process, he said. The letter was first reported by Fox News. A request for comment from the General Services Administration was not immediately answered. This story has been updated with a comment from the special counsels office. Facebook

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Virginia house arrest is ending for Paul Manafort By Chris Megerian (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) A federal judge agreed Friday to end Paul Manaforts house arrest in Virginia, allowing President Trumps former campaign manager to return to Florida while awaiting trial. The decision followed a dispute between Manaforts legal team and prosecutors working for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who accused Manafort of violating a court order restricting public statements about the case. Under the terms of the judges order, Manafort will be allowed to live at his home in Florida as long as he stays within Palm Beach and Broward counties and obeys a curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. If he misses a court appearance, he would forfeit four properties valued at $10 million total. The deal, which includes GPS monitoring, is not as permissive as Manafort originally sought. He had asked to be able to travel freely among Florida, New York, Virginia and Washington. Manafort faces criminal charges of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty. Facebook

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GOP negotiators enhance child tax credit to win over Sen. Rubio By Lisa Mascaro Republican negotiators slightly increased the refundable portion of the expanded child tax credit in their tax plan, raising it to $1,400 in hopes of winning back Sen. Marco Rubios (R-Fla.) support ahead of next weeks vote. Rubio announced Thursday he was withholding support after negotiators ignored his push to make the expanded tax credit, which increases from the current $1,000 to $2,000 in the proposed bill, fully refundable for lower- and moderate-income filers. The refundable portion in the original bill was $1,100. The Florida senator argued that was not enough to help working-class Americans, many of whom already view the GOP plan as tilted toward the wealthy. Rubios office was waiting to see the final text before commenting on whether the change was enough to win him over. We have not seen the bill text, and until we see if the percentage of the refundable credit is significantly higher, then our position remains the same, Rubios spokeswoman said. Negotiators meeting Friday before unveiling the bill said they thought they had the support they needed from Rubio and other holdouts. Im confident both chambers will pass it next week, said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Facebook

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Sen. Marco Rubio opposes GOP tax bill, depriving leaders of crucial support By Lisa Mascaro 20.94% Corp. rate to pay for tax cut for working family making $40k was anti-growth but 21% to cut tax for couples making $1million is fine?  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 12, 2017 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says he is currently opposed to the GOP tax plan because it fails to include his proposed enhancements to the child tax credit, leaving leaders without crucial support ahead of next weeks expected vote. Republicans can only lose two GOP senators from their slim 52-48 majority as they push the plan forward under special budget rules to prevent a Democratic filibuster. Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday altered his planned Israel trip so he could be on hand, if needed, to cast a tie-breaking vote. Rubio, and GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, have fought to increase the child tax credit, doubling it to $2,000 in the GOP plan, but they also want to increase its refundability. They argue it will lower taxes on middle-income families at a time when the tax plan is being criticized as tilted to the wealthy. Sen. Rubio has consistently communicated to the Senate tax negotiators that his vote on final passage would depend on whether the refundability of the Child Tax Credit was increased in a meaningful way, Rubios spokeswoman said. Lee stopped short of opposing the bill, but his spokesman said Wednesday he is undecided. GOP leaders, though, have said they believe they have the support for passage. Facebook

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White House gives Roy Moore a unsubtle shove: Time to concede By David Lauter (Alex Wong / Getty Images) The White House sent a clear signal Thursday to the defeated Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama: Its time to concede. Roy Moore refused to concede the race on Tuesday night when Doug Jones, the Democrat, was declared the winner. Election night results show Jones winning by about 1.5 percentage points, three times more than the states standard for a recount. Although a few absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted, theres no indication they would change the result. On Wednesday, Moore notably did not call to congratulate Jones  even as President Trump and other leading Republicans did. Instead, he released a video declaring the battle rages on. Asked at the daily news briefing whether the White House thinks Moore should concede today, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, It probably sounds like it maybe should have already taken place. Sanders also dismissed the idea, pushed by some Moore supporters, that Jones victory was tainted in some fashion. Asked if the Democrat had won fair and square, she said, I think the numbers reflect that. The states Republican senator, Richard Shelby, offered a similar comment in an interview with MSNBC in which he said he was willing to work with Jones. If I was 25,000 votes behind, its not going to change much, Shelby said. Facebook

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House Speaker Paul Ryan says hes not leaving anytime soon By Lisa Mascaro House Speaker Paul D. Ryan shot down suggestions Thursday that he might soon be retiring. Stories often circulate that party leaders, especially the House speaker, are stepping aside. Ryans tenure has been as rocky as that of his predecessor, Rep. John Boehner, who abruptly resigned in 2015 amid GOP infighting. Asked Thursday if he would be leaving, Ryan answered a simple no, as he left his weekly press conference in the Capitol. Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who reluctantly took over the speakers gavel after Boehners departure, had just finished talking up the GOP tax plan, which leaders hope to pass next week. He also outlined his sweeping agenda for his longtime goal of entitlement reform of welfare benefits next year. Two stories published Thursday suggested Ryan may soon be out. This is pure speculation, said spokeswoman AshLee Strong. As the speaker himself said today, hes not going anywhere anytime soon. Facebook

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GOP leaders reach tax deal, cutting corporate rate to 21% and top individual rate to 37% By Lisa Mascaro Republican leaders on Wednesday agreed on a revised plan to cut taxes that would lower the corporate rate from 35% to 21% and drop the top individual rate for the richest Americans to 37%, according to GOP senators and others briefed on the deal. The tentative accord marked a significant step in the Republican push to have a tax bill on President Trumps desk by Christmas. Leaders did not release details of the compromise or the text of a final bill as negotiations continued. Its critically important for Congress to quickly pass these historic tax cuts, Trump said Wednesday, promising that Americans could begin to reap the benefits of the plan as early as February, if passed. Critics, however, said the latest changes  particularly the lowering of the top individual rate from the current 39.6%  only reaffirmed several independent analyses that show the bulk of the savings from the Republican plan would go to businesses and the wealthy. Read More Facebook

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Farenthold to retire from House amid harassment accusations By Associated Press Texas Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold wont seek reelection next year, two Republicans said Thursday, adding his name to the list of lawmakers leaving Congress amid sexual harassment allegations that have cost powerful men their jobs in politics, the arts and other fields. The accusations against Farenthold surfaced in 2014, when a former aide sued him alleging sexually suggestive comments and behavior and said shed been fired after she complained. The lawmaker said he engaged in no wrongdoing and the case was settled in 2015. But the House Ethics Committee said last week that it would investigate Farenthold after congressional sources said hed paid an $84,000 settlement using taxpayers money. Though Farenthold said hed reimburse the Treasury Department, such payments have drawn public criticism from people saying lawmakers should use their own money for such settlements. A House official said Farenthold spoke twice Wednesday to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), while another official said the congressman spoke once with Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) who heads the GOPs House campaign committee. Those discussions suggested that Farenthold may have come under pressure from leaders to step aside. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Last week, three lawmakers facing accusations of sexual harassment announced their resignations. Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) have already left Congress while Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has said he will step aside soon. Mike Bergsma, Republican county chairman in Farentholds home county of Nueces, Texas, said Fare
The Burbank City Council finalized recommendations it made to city staff almost a year ago designed to prevent the Burbank Hospitality Assn. from breaking any laws or again violating the Brown Act.

The Los Angeles district attorneys office found the association approved a $50,000 donation in support of a ballot measure though the issue was not on the meetings agenda, a violation of the act.

Council members unanimously voted on Tuesday to approve its amended agreement with the association, better known as Visit Burbank, which shortens the contract between the agencies from 10 years to three years.

The agreement also requires that the director of the citys Community Development Department be removed as a voting member of the association, and the organization must maintain an office in Burbank that is not a city facility to conduct its meetings.

It also prohibits using funds it collects for political campaigns, requires the association hire its own legal representation and administrative staff and reduces the citys assessment fees for staffing services to 12.75%, said Mary Hamzoian, the economic development manager for the city.

The City Council had directed city staff to bring back an amended agreement that incorporates these changes during aDec. 20 meeting. Since then, the association has retained legal counsel, had Brown Act training for board members and staff, hired two administrative staff members, cut its budget by $50,000 and has leased office space at the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, Hamzoian said.

Visit Burbank is responsible for promoting tourism in the city. The association deals with funds generated by the citys Tourism Business Improvement District, which collects a 1% assessment from hotels for every hotel stay in the city. The money is then used to promote the city and attract tourists.

However, during a meeting on Sept. 14, 2016, the Burbank Hospitality Assn. donated $50,000 to the Committee for Yes on Measure B, a group advocating for the passage of a ballot measure that would allow the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to build a 14-gate replacement terminal at Hollywood Burbank Airport. The measure passed.

The donation was made after Sunder Ramani, a former state Assembly candidate and Measure B committee member, asked the association to make the contribution during that meeting, though it was not an item on the agenda.

Several Burbank residents filed complaints with the state Fair Political Practices Commission in December 2016 and the Los Angeles district attorneys office in January, alleging Visit Burbank had violated the Brown Act and that the donation was a misuse of public funds.

In June, the district attorneys office agreed with residents that the association had violated the Brown Act. However, the FPPC and district attorneys office are still investigating whether the association misused the funds.

In a letter dated Aug. 23, Michael Colantuono, the associations legal counsel, said the organization has been cooperating with the investigations by the FPPC and district attorneys office regarding the donation.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
Morgan Gallerito, who has spent months living along the dusty trail on the west side of the Santa Ana River, was determined to leave her homeless encampment in style Friday morning.

Despite a slight breeze and chill in the air, Gallerito bid her adieu in a rose-gold strapless cocktail dress with sparkles on the skirt.

The dress, seemingly more appropriate for a school dance or posh cocktail party than moving day, reflects what Gallerito called her eccentric personality.

More than 150 homeless people who have set up camp along the river trail in Fountain Valley were dreading Friday, knowing Orange County sheriffs deputies and county officials would arrive to tell them to leave. Gallerito was determined to make the best of it.

Just because its an ugly day doesnt mean I have to be ugly, she said.

More than a dozen county officials, sheriffs deputies and police from Anaheim and Santa Ana arrived at the trail at about 9 a.m. to begin telling people to move out.

The county plans to permanently close the west side of the flood control channel between 17th Street in Santa Ana and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach as it prepares to start maintenance of flood control district property along the trail, officials have said. That area includes the Fountain Valley encampment.

The camp was in a flurry just as the sun began to peek over the horizon Friday. Homeless people who have been living for months in tents overlooking the concrete river basin scrambled to load trucks, cars and trailers with their belongings.

Trash, shoes, bicycle parts and a mishmash of forgotten items littered the trail.

Some people had been packing and moving belongings all night.

Its been a night from hell, Kristin Bennett, who has been homeless for two years, said as she surveyed her surroundings. But I think Ill be all right. Ive done this so many times. All of this is just stuff.

Police and county workers visited each tent, lightly shaking the material and announcing their presence.

Gallerito, known in the encampment as Mermaid, drew compliments from deputies for her look.

Many of the homeless residents said they plan to move up the road to other encampments in Anaheim or out onto city streets.

Law enforcement didnt plan to forcibly remove anyone from the trail Friday. Instead, people were provided more time to pack their tents and move out, said Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Jaimee Blashaw.

Over the next several days, however, authorities will begin issuing citations for anyone still on the trail. Eventually, they may face arrest if they dont comply. Officials said they expect it to take about three days for everyone to leave.

Homeless people and their advocates say the county is simply pushing the homelessness issue down the road instead of solving the growing problem. More than 4,700 homeless people were identified during a point-in-time count this year.

Advocates contend that shelters in Santa Ana and Anaheim dont have enough room to accommodate everyone on the river trail. Armories, which typically are open through the winter, offer only a temporary solution.

They all claim they want to end homelessness, but there doesnt seem to be any political will to make it happen, said Jeanine Robbins, a homeless advocate.

County officials say they are doing all they can to provide resources to those living along the river trail.

Officials offered to store for up to 90 days homeless peoples belongings that they werent able to carry. Orange County Animal Care has offered to board homeless peoples pets at no charge if their owners want to stay at the armory in Santa Ana, which doesnt permit animals.

The goal is not to push them out with no help, Blashaw said.

But Ronald Jirschefske, who has spent the past three years living on the trail after being released from state prison, said its not easy to keep his head up with mounting uncertainty.

I have anxiety pains because I dont know what to do or where to go, he said. Trying to stay positive when people are totally against you is hard.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Magda El Zarki recalls hassling her children to stop playing video games and enjoy the outdoors.

She laughs at the memory now.

A visit to Ghana in 2010 inspired the UC Irvine computer science professor to try her hand at creating virtual reality spaces and later computer games.

She and Patricia Seed, a UCI history professor, and Jessica Kernan, an industry professional and a staff member at the colleges Institute for Virtual Environments and Computer Games, developed the computer game Sankofa.

Set in 18th-century Ghana, then known as Asante, the storyline begins when a mother sends her daughter to gather yams from the market. The mother cautions her daughter about Ananse, a trickster spider.

Gamers experience the West African country through folktales, cultural practices and daily activities of the Asante people.

The goal was to create a game suitable for teachers who want to teach African history, said El Zarki, who also is director of the Institute for Virtual Environments and Computer Games.

For now, its about an hour-long game, she said, though theres hope that with additional funding it could be lengthened to 90 minutes with built-in lesson plans.

More than $200,000 was spent to complete what is available now, she said.

El Zarki previously collaborated with Seed to create a virtual reality piece on 15th-century Ghanian slave forts that El Zarki viewed on a visit to the country. The finished product, Elmina, allows users to virtually explore the forts.

I thought this is so important for African-American history, itd be a nice gesture to do that if kids are learning about the slave trade, she said.

But feedback from students proved otherwise, some calling it depressing and instead suggested a game showing West African arts and culture.

El Zarki understands the hesitance in accepting games as educational tools.

Her viewpoint shifted after realizing her children knew more about Greece when they visited in 2007 than she had expected because they had played the Age of Mythology video game.

I realized I guess there is something to games, she said. I realized games would be the future.

To download Sankofa, visit ivecg.uci.edu/sankofa.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @vegapriscella
Due to state compliance requirements and rising election costs, the Glendale City Council decided the city can no longer run its own general municipal elections every odd year in April and voted Tuesday to craft an amendment to the city charter that would consolidate them with state primaries.

The proposal, which is expected to head to Glendale voters in the upcoming general election in April as a ballot measure, would amend the city charter to align with Senate Bill 415, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015. It requires statewide elections to consolidate.

Also known as the California Voter Participation Rights Act, SB 415 prohibits local governments from holding a municipal election on a date other than a statewide election if the voter turnout for the previous four local elections is at least 25% less than the average voter turnout for the previous four statewide elections.

According to a staff report, the turnout rates for Glendales elections fall short of any threshold that would allow exemption from the law, and therefore, the city should consolidate elections or face potential legal challenges.

Although Glendales elections are run by city charter, City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian said that in a July opinion by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, it was concluded that the state act applies to charter cities, and to local school districts whose elections are governed by city charters.

The council also had to consider that, according to Kassakhian, the Anaheim-based election consultant that administers Glendales municipal elections, Martin & Chapman Co., has only committed to providing its services to California cities until 2019.

If Glendale were to maintain an April election date as it has currently, the costs would be between $1.3 million and $2.3 million, depending on the number of seats on the ballot. L.A. County estimates a consolidated election would cost around $250,000 during primaries or about $230,000 during general elections.

The costs of the last three Glendale elections have been rising, in part, because  the CVPRA has been implemented and more cities have been consolidating with the county, Kassakhian said.

With a few options on the table, council members decided to consolidate local elections with whenever California runs its primaries  in this case, March 2020 and 2022.

The change would extend the terms of council members elected in 2015  Vartan Gharpetian and Paula Devine  and those elected this year  Vrej Agajanian, Zareh Sinanyan and Ara Najarian  by 11 months.

The City Clerk and City Treasurer terms would also be extended the same amount of time.

Najarian, Gharpetian, Sinanyan and Agajanian opted to consolidate with the county during state primaries over concerns that local issues would get muffled by national issues and state measures that normally accompany November elections.

If we have the type of presidential election we had last year, our local elections are going to be completely subsumed by national elections and the statewide elections, Sinanyan said. Our local issues will become  overshadowed by the issues that are out there on a national level  We want to retain some autonomy  in our ability to put our local issues out there for voters.

Devine preferred to consolidate during general elections, citing state Sen. Anthony Portantinos (D-La Canada Flintridge) Senate Bill 25, which proposes to switch the order of ballots in general elections so local offices and measures appear first.

Devine, however, joined her colleagues for a unanimous vote to consolidate with state primaries.

City staff will return with a proposed amendment in January for voters to decide in April. However, City Atty. Mike Garcia said even if voters reject consolidation, there is still a very strong argument that state law would preempt the voters decision.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda
Hundreds of students at Wilson Middle School joined administrators in honoring two World War II veterans at the schools annual Veterans Day assembly Thursday.

The schools tradition, which began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has previously honored veterans of the Vietnam and Korean wars and veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One past honoree was the late World War II veteran Louis Zamperini, whose life story inspired the book-turned-film Unbroken in 2014.

The Crescenta Valley ROTC Color Guard as well as the Wilson Middle School choir and band opened the ceremony. Guests of honor were given plaques in recognition of distinguished valor.

This year, the school welcomed Abe Rosenzweig, who served in the Coast Guard as a coxswain, or boat leader, in a landing craft for several invasions in the South Pacific.

These future citizens, they look so good. They are going to make this country better. The country right now is wonderful a country to live in, and I hope they appreciate it, Rosenzweig said.

During the war, I was proud to serve, and whatever happened  Im not going to bring out the battles and stuff like that because you do remember, and it hurts, but Im glad to be back and Im very happy to have served when I did, he added

The school also once again honored Art Sherman, 96, a former bombardier turned military intelligence officer after he was wounded on his 13th mission while flying over Austria as part of the U.S. 15th Air Force.

As military intelligence, Sherman helped plan the 1944 Allied Forces invasion of southern France.

When the war broke out, a lot of us participated. In fact, whether you were a school person or a soldier, you were serving, Sherman said. If you have grandparents or friends or relatives that are about my age, please ask them about their experience in the war.

He added later, Remember this today, youre the future of this country. Keep it the way you like it, which is what you are doing today.

Sherman leads Wings Over Wendys, a group of veterans and associates who meet every Monday morning at the Wendys at 6430 Platt Ave, West Hills.

Novarro Stafford Sr., who worked as an anesthesiologist in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, was also honored but was unable to attend the assembly.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda
North Korea hasnt had much to say publicly about President Trumps 12-day Asia tour, including his tough criticism of the communist country during a speech to South Koreas national legislature.

That changed Saturday.

A spokesman for North Koreas foreign ministry published a lengthy and incendiary commentary, condemning Trump for a warmongers visit with the goal of ending the nations effort to create a self-defensive nuclear weapons program.

It is also nothing but a business trip by a warmonger to enrich the monopolies of the U.S. defense industry by milking the moneybags from its subordinate allies, read the commentary, published in state media.

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The statement, which called the countrys nuclear program righteous and inevitable, continued: He boasted about the overwhelming superiority of U.S. power and peace through strength. But he needs to be well advised that it is the stand of the DPRK to defend our sovereignty and rights to existence and development by keeping a real balance of force with the U.S.

The commentary used the abbreviation for the nations formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

It comes days after Trump left Seoul, where he offered a lengthy, detailed critique of North Koreas human rights abuses and nuclear ambitions.

During the 30-minute speech before the National Assembly on Wednesday, Trump called the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, a tyrant, and contrasted the Norths community with an economic miracle in South Korea.

The Korean miracle extends exactly as far as the armies of free nations advanced in 1953  24 miles to the north, Trump said. There, it stops; it all comes to an end. Dead stop. The flourishing ends, and the prison state of North Korea sadly begins.

The harsh response from North Korea also comes during a period of relative quiet by Kims regime following its most recent nuclear test in September. That month it also test-launched a missile over Japan, sparking concern worldwide.

The Norths actions have also prompted international condemnation  a reaction to the dozens of ballistic missile tests in recent years, including its effort to develop an intercontinental device capable of reaching the United States mainland.

Stiles is a special correspondent.

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Determined to demonstrate that large numbers of Americans remain committed to fighting climate change, a loose alliance of cities, states, companies and universities from across the United States gathered on the fringes of a United Nations climate conference in Bonn Saturday to pledge their support for the Paris agreement.

California Gov. Jerry Brown, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore were among the leaders of the U.S. coalition during a series of speeches and panel discussions in a grand pavilion named the U.S. Climate Action Center. It was set up just outside the building where the U.N. climate conference is taking place. The American political and business figures told the audience that states, cities and businesses have real power that they can leverage in the fight against climate change even though the federal government wants to bail out.

It is important for the world to know  the American government may have pulled out of the Paris agreement, but the American people are committed to its goals, and there is nothing Washington can do to stop us, Bloomberg told the audience in the packed tent. He noted that the alliance of 20 states, 110 cities and 1,400 businesses would be the worlds third-largest economy and represented about half of the U.S. economy.

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President Trump announced in June that the United States will withdraw from the 2015 Paris agreement at the first possible date in 2020, arguing it was detrimental to U.S. business. Trump has expressed doubt about climate change, questioning how much human activity has contributed.

The Trump administration is represented at the Bonn talks of nearly 200 nations by a senior diplomat but has taken a low-key approach  in stark contrast to the attention-grabbing U.S. Climate Action Center.

Brown, who is on a whirlwind 10-day trip to four countries addressing climate change and promoting California, was one of the featured speakers Saturday that faced dozens of hecklers in the crowd who demanded his state do even more to fight pollution, stop fracking and oil drilling, and slow global warming.

After some good-natured jousting with the green activists, Brown praised them for their dissent and announced he would reframe my speech. He also told them he was a former cheerleader in college and that he liked their rallying cry Were still in so much that he led the whole audience in a cheering: Were still in, were still in.

Only in California can we stimulate this kind of opposition with strong advocates on all sides  [even though] were doing more than anyone else, Brown said. This is one of the reasons why California has the most aggressive goals: no matter what we do, were being challenged to do more, and I agree with that. Well do a lot more.

Despite his open and for the most part supportive exchange with the hecklers, Brown grew exasperated at one point by their persistent protests. When they started chants to keep oil in the ground, Brown shot back: I agree with you, in the ground. Lets put you in the ground so we can get on with the show here.

Brown also diverted from the rest of his planned Americas Pledge speech to say:

California is the most aggressive, most far-reaching climate action state in the country and in the Western Hemisphere. Is it enough? No. Do we have a lot of pollutants? Yes. Do we have 32 million cars driving 335 billion miles every year? Yes. Are we going to stop them today? No. Are we going to stop them in time? Yes, if Americas pledge is picked up by the rest of the country and rest of the world. If we can take some of that noise and bottle it into energy, well get the job done. America, were here, were in and were not going away.

Bloomberg and Brown appeared along with Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is presiding over the U.N. conference at its climate headquarters in Bonn that runs until Friday. The talks are focused on designing a detailed set of rules to help guide forward the 2015 Paris climate agreement that established a goal of ending the fossil-fuel era by the end of the century.

Earlier on Saturday, Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) promised the United States would remain committed to its climate change goals.

We are here in Bonn to say we are not saying bon voyage to our commitment on climate, he said.

UPDATES:

1:52 a.m.: The article was updated to include a comment from Jerry Brown directed at anti-fracking protesters.
Hundreds of thousands of people backing Catalonias bid to secede from Spain packed the streets in downtown Barcelona Saturday to demand the release of jailed separatist leaders.

The rallys grassroots organizers called for 10 prominent members of the secessionist movement in the northeastern Spanish region to be freed from prison.

Eight former members of Catalonias dissolved Cabinet and two activists are in jail while Spanish authorities investigate what party they played in promoting an illegal declaration of independence last month in violation of Spains Constitution.

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A separate court in Madrid granted bail on Thursday to six other Catalan lawmakers who are the subject of another investigation into the secession push.

Barcelonas police said that 750,000 people attended the rally. Many of the protesters carried pro-independence estelada flags, with its white star and blue triangle superimposed over the traditional red-and-yellow Catalan colors. Many also held signs saying in Catalan, Freedom Political Prisoners, and wore yellow ribbons as a symbol of their demands.

They [Spanish authorities] are violating many rights of freedom against our people, and we come here to say that we are against that and to demand the release of our prisoners, who are in prison unjustly, said 30-year-old engineer Joan Carles Roses.

Family members of the jailed separatists read messages from their loved ones to the crowd at the conclusion of the march.

Grassroots group National Catalan Assembly organized over 500 buses to bring people from towns and villages across Catalonia to its main city of Barcelona.

Demonstrators gather on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain, during a protest calling for the release of jailed Catalan politicians. (Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press )

Also on Saturday, the pro-independence Republic Left party announced that its jailed leader, Oriol Junqueras, will be its top candidate for the upcoming regional elections on Dec. 21. The Catalan party is including other jailed leaders in its list for the regional parliament. Polls show that Republic Left is favored to win the upcoming ballot, although it wont secure an outright majority.

The Catalan conflict is the worst constitutional crisis to threaten Spain in nearly four decades.

A day after Catalonias Parliament voted in favor of a declaration of independence on Oct. 27, Spains government activated extraordinary powers given to it by the Senate to fire the regions government, dissolve its parliament and call local elections.

While those separatist leaders now in jail obeyed a summons to appear in court in Madrid, deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and four of his former ministers fled to Belgium, where they now await an extradition hearing to return them to Spain.

Puigdemont and his fellow separatists claim that a referendum on secession held on Oct. 1 gave them a mandate for independence, even though it had been prohibited by the nations highest court, failed to meet international standards and was boycotted by anti-independence parties. Less than half of the electorate turned out to vote, and the referendum also was disrupted by brutal police raids.

No foreign power has recognized Catalonias claim to independence. The European Union has warned that an independent Catalonia would be cast out of the 28-nation bloc.

The most recent regional elections and opinion polls show that Catalonias 7.5 million residents are roughly split over remaining a part of Spain or going their own way. Most pro-independence supporters feel that the Catalan language and culture would have a better chance of flourishing in a separate state and that their economic prospects would be improved.

The business sector so far has not been convinced, with over 2,000 companies transferring their headquarters out of the northeastern region in recent weeks for fears of being pushed out of the common EU market.

The Spanish Constitution says that the nation is indivisible and that questions of national sovereignty should be addressed by the national Parliament in Madrid.
As an array of local and international forces close in on Islamic States last redoubts in Syria and Iraq, the whereabouts of the extremist groups secretive leader remain a mystery.

A media outlet linked to the Syrian military reported Friday that Abu Bakr Baghdadi had been spotted in the eastern town of Bukamal during a recent offensive to recapture Islamic States last urban stronghold in Syria. But Baghdadi sightings have been reported before. So has his death. None of it has ever been confirmed.

The latest claim was also carried by a media unit operated by the Lebanese Shiite militia, Hezbollah, whose forces took part in the operation in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

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No further details were provided, however, including what the source was for the purported sighting.

The capture or killing of Baghdadi  who has a $25-million U.S. bounty on his head  would be another significant blow to Islamic State, which has lost more than 90% of the territory it once controlled in Syria and Iraq following multiple offensives on both sides of the border.

But Syrian opposition activists with contacts in the region were skeptical that Baghdadi was holed up inside Bukamal, where fierce clashes were reported Friday. They suggested that pro-Assad forces were trying to divert attention from an Islamic State counterattack that reclaimed as much of half of the border town after the government declared it liberated Thursday.

This is propaganda, said Rami Abdul-Rahman of the supposed Baghdadi sighting. Abdul-Rahman is head of the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain. If its true, let them show the video.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq said it did not have any verifiable information concerning Baghdadis whereabouts. Neither the coalition nor the Syrian militias it supports are operating in the immediate vicinity of Bukamal, it said in an email.

Rumors about Baghdadi have swirled since his fighters swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, capturing about a third of both countries.

The cleric, known primarily through grainy mug shots and audio messages exhorting fellow Sunnis Muslims to rise up against infidels, is believed to have made only one public appearance. In July 2014, he delivered a sermon at the Grand Mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in which he declared himself leader of a new caliphate, or Islamic state, stretching from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala in Iraq.

The mosque now lies in ruins, destroyed by Islamic State fighters before Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. air power, recaptured the countrys second-largest city in July after a nine-month campaign.

Raqqah, the groups de facto capital in Syria, fell to a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias in September.

The militants are now concentrated in a string of Syrian villages along the Euphrates River and desert areas straddling the porous border between Syria and Iraq. It is here that Syrian and Iraqi commanders believe Baghdadi may be hiding.

Baghdadi, who took the reins of Islamic State in 2010, is a Baghdad-trained cleric from the city of Samarra who is reported to have fought against U.S. forces in Iraq after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. He was a follower of the late Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant who led a branch of Al Qaeda in Iraq but fell out with the group over his bombing campaign against Shiite Muslims and gory beheading videos, which were considered too brutal even for Al Qaeda.

Security officials in Iraq and Syria have periodically stated that Baghdadi was injured or killed in strikes, but those claims were never verified or were later denied.

In June, the Russian Defense Ministry said there was a high probability that Baghdadi had been killed the previous month in a Russian airstrike on a meeting of Islamic State leaders outside Raqqah. The Syrian Observatory disputed Russias account, saying its sources had confirmed Baghdadis death, but reported the death had happened in neighboring Dair Alzul province.

U.S. Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and other senior Pentagon officials, however, later said they believed Baghdadi was still alive and U.S. forces would continue to search for him.

In September, Islamic State released a purported audio recording of its leader in which Baghdadi sought to rally his beleaguered troops, many of whom are now said to be surrendering to the advancing forces.

In the 46-minute recording, Baghdadi praised his fighters for waging a fierce defense of Mosul and focused on the continuing threat posed by Islamic State-inspired attacks in places as far away as London, Paris and San Bernardino.

Now the Americans, the Russians and the Europeans are living in terror in their countries, fearing the strikes of the mujahedin, he said.

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Twitter: @alexzavis
In the fractured politics of Lebanon, leaders of various factions can rarely agree on much.

But the uncertain fate of Saad Hariri  who on Nov. 4 announced that he was resigning as prime minister and whose whereabouts and loyalties since have become the stuff of conspiracy theories  has provided a rare point of consensus.

Insulting the head of Lebanons government is an insult to every Lebanese, even if we disagree with him in politics, one of his key rivals, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim political party and armed faction, said Friday in a televised speech.

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We include our voice to all the Lebanese calling for Prime Minister Hariri to return to Lebanon.

Hariris Saudi-backed party, known as Future, said his release from Saudi Arabia, where he is thought to be captive, is a matter of full respect for Lebanese legitimacy.

The saga has the makings of a thriller. Working title: The Mystery of the Vanishing Prime Minister.

It all began after Hariri landed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh last weekend for what was though to be a routine trip.

Then, in a move that reportedly baffled even his closest confidants, he declared his immediate resignation, blaming Hezbollah and launching into a jeremiad against its main patron, Iran.

Wherever [Iran] lands in an area, it plants in it disputes, destruction and ruin, he said.

There was immediate speculation that he had spoken under duress and was in effect being held hostage by the Saudis.

He has appeared in photo-ops this week with various Persian Gulf and international dignitaries. But his tight smile has been taken as a sign that he was performing for his captors. Lebanese officials have reportedly spoken with him but have only gotten monosyllabic answers to their questions.

On Friday, Frances foreign minister added to the intrigue when he said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, We think [Hariri] is free of his movements and its important he makes his own choices. The remark followed a surprise visit Thursday by French President Emmanuel Macron to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Hariris plane has racked up more than 7,000 miles flying between Riyadh, Europe and Beirut since Nov. 4, local media reported. But neither he nor his family were to be seen.

Memes sprang up on Lebanese social media, including one depicting Hariri calling for help via his Apple Watch and another in which he takes the titular role in a poster for the mock movie Saving Private Saad.

A zoom in to Hariris watch during his meeting with the Saudi king today.  pic.twitter.com/dZjgrpYT39  Mohamad  (@monajem) November 6, 2017

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has rallied international support to get Hariri out of Saudi Arabia, and a hashtag campaign, #We_are_all_Saad, has made the rounds on social media, and his picture has been put up along some of Beiruts busiest thoroughfares.

In Lebanon, there are several theories as to the real reason why Hariri quit.

One is that Saudi Arabia forced him to do it as part of its escalating regional battle with Iran. In the last week, the Saudis, after accusing Iran of declaring war on them, intensified a blockade on Yemen, where they have been waging an air campaign against Iranian-backed rebels.

The Saudi government had considered Hariri an ally  he has Saudi and Lebanese citizenship  and was upset that he had been working with Hezbollah in a unity government.

In the final analysis, its not about Lebanon, said Rami Khouri, senior public fellow at the American University of Beirut. The Saudis are trying to push back Iran.

He singled out Saudi Arabias 32-year-old crown prince, who launched an anti-corruption drive in his country that has included hundreds of arrests and has been derided by his critics as a power play.

Hes trying to show his political manhood, that hes a tough guy, Khouri said.

Another theory is that Hariri was swept up in the anti-corruption dragnet himself. The campaign has targeted some of Saudi Arabias top companies, including the now-defunct construction giant Saudi Oger, which was owned by Hariris family.

One of its biggest clients was the Saudi government, which stopped paying its bills, forcing the company to shut down earlier this year, said Ali Mourad, a Saudi political analyst based in Lebanon.

Because he is no longer prime minister, Hariri lost his immunity and can more easily be prosecuted under Saudi law.

The crisis has come at a time of relative stability in Lebanon, with the national unity government broadly seen as a success.

Officials had forecast that 2017 would have growth rivaling 2010 levels, before the crisis in neighboring Syria decimated trade and tourism. The governments economic fundamentals were relatively strong and improving.

No one saw this coming, said Habib Battah, editor of the Beirut Report. The government was being productive. There was a real air of cooperation.

And Hariri these last few months was starting to make amends with his enemies, with a kind of maturity in his political rhetoric, he said.

There is a growing sense of anger in Lebanon over the events of the week.

This is an insult to me as Lebanese, said Joe Fayad, a shopkeeper in Beiruts Geitawi district. I have no issue with Saudi Arabia  but this situation [is different]. They take our prime minister, put him under house arrest  its humiliating.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

Twitter: @nabihbulos
It was just one of the many good deeds David Daiello undertook in the past year, but it certainly illustrated his commitment to helping fellow veterans in need.

Daiello, an Easton resident and U.S. Navy veteran who is a member of Rice Ebner American Legion Post 588, in February helped hatch a plan with 25th Street Auto Sales in Wilson Borough to get the dealership to donate a used vehicle to a local veteran who had fallen on hard times.

The keys to the donated Toyota Camry were handed to the veteran in a surprise. Daiello also helped her secure a part-time job after she had lost her previous job.

For that show of support and many others, the Joint Veterans Council Forks of the Delaware selected Daiello as the recipient of its 2017 Veteran of the Year award.

The council held a ceremony on Nov. 4, one week before Veterans Day, to honor Daiello.

Some of the other initiatives Daiello undertook in the past year provided support for countless veterans in the region. Partnerships with other local businesses and community organizations were key in these initiatives.

The council notes he worked with Walgreens to give away free flu shots to veterans, worked with Texas Roadhouse on fundraisers for Veterans Day ceremonies and worked with Safe Harbor in Easton to provide food for homeless veterans.

He was also among a group of veterans who volunteered time to address concerns about the conditions at Northampton Memorial Shrine cemetery in Palmer Township.

Aside from these efforts, Daiello also has served in leadership posts for local veterans organizations and established a Veterans in Need Foundation in the Lehigh Valley.

Communities across the Lehigh Valley are celebrating Veterans Day on Saturday. For a list of events, click here.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
TROPHIES

Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Seth Kelly is alive today -- after a traffic stop and shootout on Route 33 Wednesday -- because he took steps to prevent blood loss from his wounds until help arrived. Kelly and Trooper Ryan Seiple exchanged gunfire with Daniel Khalil Clary, of Effort, Pa., state police said, after Clary was stopped, cited for speeding and failed a sobriety test. When the troopers attempted to arrest him, Clary fought back, reached for a gun in his car and opened fire. Kelly was hit twice. Clary, who was also wounded, drove off and was arrested at Easton Hospital. State police Capt. Richard D'Ambrosio said Kelly saved his own life by applying a tourniquet that he carries on his belt. He was listed in critical but stable condition after two surgeries at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. State police also credited the emergency staff at the hospital with saving Kelly's life.

Firefighters and volunteers are going pink in the fight against breast cancer. Members of Easton Professional Firefighters 713 sold pink T-shirts again this year, printed by firefighter James Baran. The proceeds, about $500, are donated directly to an Easton resident dealing with breast cancer. The Lehigh Valley Chapter of Pink Heals rolled out its pink fire truck for a surprise visit to Ashlee Modica, a 27-year-old Alpha woman fighting stage four breast cancer. Modica, who lost her husband and father in recent years, is raising an 8-year-old daughter and a 6-month-old son. A go fund me site was set up to help her with medical bills. The arrival of the truck with friends is intended to lift spirits as well as make others aware of the fundraiser and need to help others.

TURKEYS

What indictment? Ed Pawlowski won a fourth term as Allentown mayor Tuesday as a federal corruption probe marches on. Allentown voters returned the veteran Democrat to office, giving him a 5-point margin over Republican businessman and real estate developer Nat Hyman. Three others finished far behind, including Allentown City Council President Ray O'Connell, who ran a write-in campaign. Pawlowski is scheduled to face trial in January on charges that he accepted more than $150,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for city contracts. In an election night posting he said, "Let the cynics shout, but Allentown will claim its rightful future."

The suicide of a 35-year-old inmate at a privately run prison outside Philadelphia resulted in a $7 million settlement by Community Education Centers, the company in charge of the facility. Relatives of Janene Wallace claimed in a lawsuit that she was mistreated by guards -- one of whom is alleged to have taunted her and urged her to hang herself -- and denied proper supervision and medical care at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County. The prison said the company now operating the facility, the GEO Group, is revising policies.
Nobody should have any doubts about the power and drive of health management backed by ivory tower doctors, remote politicians and Dublin civil servants, to downgrade Portlaoise hospital.

Such plans have been executed in Clare, Cavan, Monaghan, Tipperary, Louth, Cork, Roscommon and elsewhere. Cuts were made. Waiting list and trolley numbers spiralled but the recession, and not a downgrade policy, was blamed.

Recession over but still lots of trollies and 400,000 on waiting lists. HSE response - downgrade another hospital. The latest target - Portlaoise.

This time they've got the fancy new Dublin Midlands Hospital Group to prepare the axe. In turn the group has apparently roped in senior doctors or 'clinical leads' to sharpen it.

They produced two reports which are tied at the hip. One is specifically for Portlaoise, the second is a five year Strategy for hospitals in Dublin, Laois, Kildare and Offaly. The problem for Portlaoise hospital now is that the Strategy cannot be implemented if the Portlaoise specific plan is abandoned.

Minister Simon Harris could have shredded the Portlaoise report last December and sent the HSE back to the drawing board. He did not do this. He continues to give vague answers but will not come down publically on one side or another.

He knows the Portlaoise plan is toxic and maybe he is hoping it will all just go away - but the HSE will not go away and it appears to be single minded in its determination to downgrade the Laois hospital.

Dublin midlands hospital chief, Dr Susan O'Reilly is leading the chase, but there are many hounds and Portlaoise is the fox.

Their strategic planlacks a lot of detail and includes hardly any stated clinical evidence to back up its recomendations. What is clear though is that money is a big factor.

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 cost efficient, cost effective or best practice, says the report.

The trouble with this is that many services have already been stripped from Portlaoise - so why pick on the small, busy, efficient hospitals while St James and Tallaght are untouched?

Apart from cutting A&E, the report makes pretty clear that smaller hospitals - namely Portlaoise and maybe Naas - will offer services of 'lesser complexity'. They will be for diabetes care, geriatrics, elective surgery and a few other awkward areas.

Dumping ground? What is astounding is that the Dublin Midland Hospital Group values include to 'build trust through openness and transparency and to communicate openly and honestly'.

Unbelievable.
Laois family doctors have lost conifidence in the HSE manager that oversees hospitals in Dublin and the Midlands and wants to remove 24/7 A&E services from the hospital.

In a statement the Laois GPs said they have noted the recent action by the Chair of the Portlaoise Hospital Action Committee in calling for the resignation of Dr Susan O Reilly, chief executive of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

Responding to this call the GPs said they are committed to ensuring access for their patients, friends and families to care that is "safe, effective and nationally consistent with other citizens of this state". However, they do not believe the Dr O'Reilly's strategy will achieve this.

"We would like to express our total lack of confidence in Dr Susan O Reilly as CEO of the DMHG to effectively lead and manage a team and provide a clear plan for sustainable services at MRH Portlaoise and for the wider Dublin Mid Leinster Region.

"We have, in conjunction with our Consultant colleagues at the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise drawn up a local Stakeholder document The Future of Acute Services at MRH Portlaoise, The Local Stakeholder Perspective. We believe this sets out a template which would safely secure services at MRH Portlaoise and indeed that of other small hospitals nationally," say the doctors.

This document was signed by 70 doctors from the region, published in September 2016 and shared with all concerned parties. It was sent to Dr O'Reilly and the Minister for Health Simon Harris.

In late October, concerns that the report sets out a downgrade plan for Portlaoise hospital was confirmed in a linked five year strategy for hospitals in Laois, Dublin, Kildare and Offaly. This plan, which was leaked to Laois TD Brian Stanley, calls for the replacement of 24/7 A&E care with a Medical Assessment Unit and a Local Injuries Unit. However, doctors in the hospital say that once A&E goes paediatrics, maternity and other services would follow.

The GPs say Dr O Reilly submitted a draft plan to the Department of Health in 2016. They say Dr O Reilly maintains this plan has been developed with the National Clinical Leads for Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Surgery, Acute Medicine, Transportation Medicine, Paediatrics and Neonatology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Anaesthesia.

However, they say the Clinical Leads for General Practice, Older People and Mental Health were not consulted.

The DMHG says it wants to work with GPs to implement its five year strategy. The group also says its values include openness and transparency and that patients are central, Laois GPs say there is no evidence of this in relation to its plan for Portlaoise.

"There was no consultation with the public or stakeholders from the region. We have not had sight of this plan.

"As local stakeholders we have a valuable perspective on how planning for MRH Portlaoise should proceed. This perspective has been excluded from the process. We have received no communication from the Clinical Leads. Our views were not sought and there is no evidence that the perspective we and our Consultant Colleagues set out in the Stakeholder Document was

considered by Dr. O Reilly and her colleagues," said the Laois doctors.

The doctors quote Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, national standards for Safer Better Healthcare: 1.1 The planning, design and delivery of services are informed by service users identified needs and preferences.

"HIQA places a clear obligation on planners to consult proactively with the service users and stakeholders," say the doctors.

The statement was issued by Drs Michelle Byrne, Simon Honan, John Madden, Sean Montague, Mary Sheehan and Gerry

White on behalf of the Laois Faculty of the ICGP and Midoc.
A Longford man avoided a custodial sentence when he appeared before Tuesday's sitting of Carrick-on-Shannon Circuit Court for sentencing in relation to an assault at Planxty Maguire's, Mohill on May 22-23, 2014.



Outlining the background to the case Sgt Michael Gallagher said students from Moyne College had earlier in the night in question attended a grad mass and there was later a celebration held in Planxty Maguire's.



Sgt Gallagher recalled the injured party, Marcus Williams was present on the night in question and had been drinking but was not said to have been intoxicated.



Mr Williams was approached by the defendant, Martin Cassidy, Farclromin, Ballinamuck, Co Longford, in an area of Planxty Maguire's known as the Shot Bar. Sgt Gallagher told the Court, the injured party, Got a series of boxes to the side of his face.

He wasn't able to identify who hit him but witnesses were able to identify Mr Cassidy.



Mr Cassidy and Mr Williams were separated by security staff and friends with Mr Williams then making his way in the direction of the smoking area and he was followed by the defendant.



Mr Williams' girlfriend later told Gardai she saw the defendant hit him in the smoking area with a clenched fist, noting he was in a rage.



Security staff and friends were again forced to intervene with bouncers taking the injured Mr Williams to one side.

The following day the injured party attended Mullingar Hospital for treatment.



Outlining details of the Garda investigation into the assault Gda Gallagher said Mr Cassidy was Very forthright and admitted he hit the injured party. The accused felt his brother was being bullied by the defendant. He freely admitted there were two incidents on the night. He admitted on both occasions he struck a number of blows.



The Court heard there was no CCTV footage of the assault available but details of the injuries received were outlined. The medical report referenced a left supraorbital rim fracture while he was also left with a scar from ear to ear.



Prior to reading Mr Williams' victim impact statement Sgt Gallagher stated 2,000 compensation had previously been paid and there was a further 3,000 in Court. He also noted Mr Cassidy had received no Garda attention prior to or since the incident.



The victim impact statement revealed the injured party was 17 at the time of the assault and it detailed how the events of the night in question have affected him physically, psychologically and financially.



The Court heard the injured party was left with a 30cm scar having received in excess of 30 staples and stitches which he feels has a serious impact when people meet him for the first time. The statement also referred to flashbacks and nightmares the injured party suffered from.



Keith O'Grady BL, addressed the Court on behalf of the defendant saying, This was never a case that was going to be fought.



Outlining Mr Cassidy's previous and subsequent good character, Mr O'Grady added, I ask you to deal with the case without a custodial sentence. I say it doesn't help in any way.



Having heard the evidence Judge John Aylmer viewed the offence to be on the higher end of the scale but praised the defendant for his previous impeccable character.



Judge Aylmer expressed the view the offence was serious enough for a three year prison sentence which would be reduced to two based on the mitigating circumstances.



Giving his ruling he stated, With some hesitation I deem it appropriate to give Mr Cassidy a second chance.



Judge Aylmer imposed a two year sentence which is suspended for a period of two years upon entering a bond of 100 to keep the peace.



The State were represented by Donal Keane BL and State Solicitor Noel Farrell.
With 335 projects approved nationally under the current round of LEADER funding, Cllr Seadhna Logan has expressed his disappointment that no projects have yet been approved in Co Leitrim.



Speaking at the recent Council meeting Cllr Logan said some counties have already approved 30-40 projects noting approvals in Counties Sligo, Roscommon and Longford for LEADER projects.



With considerably more bureaucracy to deal with under the current LEADER programme, Cllr Logan said it is vital the Minister for Community and Rural Development acts now to reduce delays in accessing funding for community groups.



He said the Minister must also make a commitment that no Leader Programme funding will be diverted to other projects adding this had already happened with 10m being diverted to finance the part restoration of Local Improvement Schemes.



I am also asking the Minister to make a commitment that this funding taken from LEADER be restored as soon as possible, he added.



There are many vital projects here in Co Leitrim which need funding to be re-assessed as a matter of priority.

His call was backed by Cllr Mary Bohan who said the delay in processing approvals is very unfair to community groups. Other councillors noted the costs already borne by those applying for LEADER funding.



Acting Chief Executive, Joseph Gilhooly acknowledged any effort to reduce the bureaucracy surrounding LEADER would be welcomed. He added the process of targeted calls and analysis of each proposal means a lengthy timeframe for dealing with applications. However it is hoped to have the first successful applications announced in December.
Two members of Manorhamilton Business Forum, Bernie McGauran and Chairman, Philip Rooney gave highly impressive presentations on the Manor's CCTV system to a well attended Joint Policing Committee public meeting in Sligo's Clayton Hotel on Thursday night.



The Sligo meeting was attended by community group representatives from all over the Yeats County as well as a representative of Manorhamilton and District Text Alert Committee. Bernie McGauran told the meeting that the Manor CCTV system was installed seven years ago in the town and it cost 100,000 to put in place.



It was funded through a Pobal (Government Agency) grant plus a contribution by the Manorhamilton Business Forum. The Manor CCTV system has 22 fixed cameras and 5 ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras.



The Manor CCTV system has aided the Garda Siochana, the Revenue Commissioners, the PSNI as well as other similar authorities, in their work relating to crime and other areas of public concern and community safety.



Among the examples that the Manor CCTV system played an assistance role in were suicide prevention, child protection as well as other community issues like vandalism, etc. Sometime ago a horse-box was stolen in Westport and the robber went through Manorhamilton on his way up North.



The registration of the vehicle towing the stolen horse-box was picked up by Manor CCTV and the horse-box was subsequently returned to its Westport owner. Similar success in crime detection and investigation has resulted from a robbery in Dromahair from which the vehicle involved travelled onto Manorhamilton on its way North.



Philip Rooney told the Sligo meeting of Manorhamilton Community Forum's plan to have the CCTV system extended to cover ten other towns and villages in North Leitrim. Mr. Rooney stated that an application to have the CCTV system extended to whole North Leitrim area had been lodged with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD.



In regard to the CCTV North Leitrim extension grant application to the Minister, Philip Rooney expressed thanks to Deputy Tony McLoughlin, who was present at Thursday night's meeting, for his support the Manorhamilton Business Forum plan for the newly proposed North Leitrim CCTV system.



Thursday night's meeting was also addressed by Muintir na Tire Northern Region Community Alert Development Office, Vanessa Clarke, Acting Garda Sligo/Leitrim Division Chief Superintendent, Mary Murray, Sligo/Leitrim Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Jim Fox and Louise McKeever, the Donegal/Sligo and Leitrim Road Safety Authority (RSA) Education Officer.



A few Sligo community representatives stated at Thursday night's meeting that there is some resistance in their rural areas to the installation of CCTV systems. Vanessa Clarke said the meeting was held to inform people how to access new funding being made available by the Department of Justice for text alert schemes and local CCTV systems.



There were a number of questions from the floor on issues like where to locate the CCTV cameras and when installed what kind of maintenance costs are involved. High Visibility (High Viz) vests and other similar items are available for everyone from the RSA  visit www.rsa.ie.
With Christmas party season just around the corner, the wonderful staff of Spice India, Carrick-on-Shannon are offering you the opportunity to win dinner for two along with a bottle of wine - the perfect way to start the festive season!

Spice India is located on Bridge Street, Carrick-on-Shannon. The restaurant is a place where families, couples and friends come to enjoy great food in comfortable surroundings. It is also the perfect location for you Christmas party event, whether you are planning a night out with friends or a Christmas work party celebration - Spice India is the perfect location. Phone 071 9650934 to book a table. Spice India is open Mon - Thurs: 5pm - 11pm; Fri- Sat: 5pm - 11.30pm and for Sun: 1pm - 11.30pm.

So if you would like to win dinner for two and a bottle of wine at Spice India, Carrick-on-Shannon, all you have got to do is answer the following question:

On what street in Carrick-on-Shannon is Spice India located?

a) Main Street

b) Bridge Street

c) Leitrim Road

To enter just email your answer along with name and contact number to leitrimobservercomp@gmail.com. Don't forget to include the words Spice India Competition in the subject line of the email.

Last entries must be in by Friday, November 18 at 1pm. The winner will be drawn at random.
A COUNTY Limerick pensioner has been charged with sexually assaulting three sisters under the age of 18.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Judge Marian OLeary at Kilmallock Court.

The 13 alleged offences are said to have occurred on dates between 2010 and 2014. The Limerick Leader has learned that two of the girls are now in their teens and one is in her early twenties.

The man faces five sexual assault charges in relation to two of the complainants and three counts in relation to the third.

Garda Edel Moloney gave evidence of arresting the male and conveying him to Bruff garda station.

After each of the charges were read to the man aged in his seventies, Garda Moloney said: He replied not guilty.

There was no objection to bail by the state. Judge OLeary ordered he have no contact in any way whatsoever with any of the witnesses in the case.

Tracey OBrien, solicitor for the defendant, said her client was happy to abide by any bail conditions.

Sergeant Michelle Leahy said they had received directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions and they were for trial on indictment. The case was adjourned back to Kilmallock Court for service of the book of evidence.

Judge OLeary granted bail on males own bond of 300. The judge ordered reporting restrictions on the media present not to identify the defendant or the alleged victims.
LIMERICK will this weekend pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the two world wars.

An estimated 1,000 Limerick men perished in the conflicts  and at 10.45am this Sunday, a wreath will be laid at the Pery Square war memorial.

When the clock strikes 11 oclock, a minutes silence will be observed by the crowd.

Members of the Royal British Legion Limerick which is organising the event will be joined by representatives of the American Legion in Ireland, the Organisation of National Ex-servicemen, the Irish Naval Association and the Irish United Nations Interim Force in the Lebanon.

After the minute of silence, they will then march to St Josephs Church in OConnell Avenue, where a memorial mass will be held.

Music will be provided by the St Marys Prize Band.

Politicians from across Limerick have been invited.

In the lead up to Remembrance Day, Poppies, Irish Poppy Badges and Poppy Crosses will be available at various venues around Limerick City, including St Marys Cathedral.

They are also being sold for a donation at the Crescent Shopping Centre on Thursday November 9 and Saturday, November 11 and the Parkway Shopping Centre on Friday, November 11 and the following day.

Money raised will go towards the continuing work of the Royal British Legion in Ireland, in supporting veterans and their families in practical ways, and offering a sense of community.
THERE was no need to sit in front of the TV on Saturday to watch Strictly Come Dancing as Mary Rockett brought a waltzing, tango and foxtrot feel to Caherconlish.

Lovers of ballroom dancing could see for themselves in the Millennium Centre the array of toe-tapping skills involved.

Mary organised the competition with a fellow enthusiast, Pat Ryan to raise money for the paediatric diabetes unit in University Hospital Limerick and for Tipperary Hospice.

Over 50 entrants donned their finery and strutted their stuff to a crowd of around 200. Everybody who enjoyed the night has Mary and her nine-year-old granddaughter Sadhbh Barrett to thank.

The reason I organised the ballroom dancing competition is because of the exceptional care given by the paediatric diabetes unit to my daughter and granddaughter, said Mary, from Oakview Drive, Ballinacurra.

When Sadhbh was six she was diagnosed with type one diabetes.

Type one is completely different from type two diabetes. Type 1 is the one you are insulin dependent for the rest of your life, said Mary.

She said the staff in the unit were at the end of the phone whenever Marys daughter Kate and her husband Peter needed advice.

At the beginning it was so daunting but they were at the end of the phone every time. I cannot but praise them. They gave them weeks of training on the insulin pump, keeping charts, blood counts. It was just exceptional care - over and beyond the call of duty, said Mary.

When Sadhbh was diagnosed first she was on four injections a day but now she has progressed to an insulin pump.

She is doing quite well. The insulin pump has to be progammed every time before she puts a morsel of food in to her mouth, she adds.

When Mary decided to hold a fundraiser she was always going to turn to her favourite hobby.

I am very involved in ballroom dancing. I have been for years. I absolutely love it.

It is a brilliant social outlet. It is the most brilliant couple sport ever, said Mary.

The monies will be divided between the diabetes paediatric unit in UHL and and Tipperary Hospice, which is close to fellow organiser Pat Ryans heart.

It is hoped over 1,500 will be going from the dancefloor to the hospital and hospice floors.

We had a huge crowd. It was a brilliant night. The Millennium Centre and staff are brilliant, said Mary, who thanked everyone who supported the fundraiser.
MORE than 1,400 units of private rental accommodation in Limerick were found to be in breach of regulations when inspected by council staff last year, it can be revealed.

Limerick City and County Council has confirmed that none of the properties which were inspected during 2016 were found to be fully compliant with the relevant regulations.

While the 100% non-compliance rate within the local authoritys administrative area was highlighted in last weeks Prime Time: Nightmare to Let programme, details of the number of units inspected was not reported.

In response to queries from the Limerick Leader, a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council confirmed that a total of 1,407 inspections of privately rented homes were carried out during 2016.

This figure represents around 7% of the total private rental stock in Limerick meaning the local authority's rate of inspection was almost twice the national average during 2016.

There were 100% non-compliance rates in just three other counties  Kilkenny, Louth and Offaly  during 2016.

Limerick City and County Council says says the majority of the inspections carried out last year took place within the metropolitan district but that inspections were carried out right across the county.

It is important to point out that rental stock in all areas of Limerick, rural and urban, would have been inspected as part of this process, said a spokesperson.

While exact details of the breaches have not been disclosed, it is understood the vast majority related to relatively minor issues such as the absence of fire blankets or faulty appliances.

The vast majority of non-compliance issues raised are resolved promptly to the satisfaction of the local authority, the landlord and the tenant, said the council in a statement

As can be appreciated, Limerick City and County Council has a statutory duty to enforce rental property standards while at the same time working with landlords to ensure tenancies are sustained, added the statement.

A spokesperson for the local authority said the 1,407 inspections carried out last year does not include inspections conducted by Limerick Fire and Rescue Service.

It has not been disclosed if any proceedings were initiated against landlords relating to non-compliance issues.
A San Francisco woman appears to have made history as the first person to successfully fend off an Ellis Act eviction through a jury trial.

On Thursday, a jury found that Betty Rose Allen would not have to vacate her Noe Valley apartment, where shes lived for nearly 40 years, after a lengthy and acrimonious legal battle with the buildings owners.

The family that owns Allens three-unit building sued in San Francisco Superior Court to have her removed from it in June, just over a year after serving her and her mother, Beatriz Allen, with an Ellis Act eviction notice. Ellis Act evictions, which allow landlords to boot out tenants when they no longer wish to rent out a property, give elderly or disabled tenants a year to find new housing. Beatriz Allen died in April.

Mark Chernev, an attorney for the Hilaly family, which bought Allens building in 2014, said the familys intent from the beginning was to live under the same roof and that it hoped to find an amicable solution for relocating the Allens.

Allens attorneys at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic disputed that notion, saying that one of the family members, Tariq Hilaly, routinely harassed the Allens in an effort to force them out, either to lease their rent-controlled unit out at market-rate prices or possibly to turn it into a commercial enterprise.

Before the Ellis Act notice, the Hilalys also tried to remove the Allens from the building through an owner-move-in eviction, where landlords can take over an apartment for themselves or on behalf of family members. Chernev said a frail member of the Hilaly family became ill and needed to stay near family to recuperate, which compelled them to accelerate the Allens eviction. The Hilalys backed down from that effort after Betty Rose Allen took her dispute with the family public.

Every time Betty Rose did something to exercise her rights, something negative would happen, said Raquel Fox, one of Allens attorneys. Fox said that included actions such as failing to give notice before entering Allens unit and removing her garbage can.

The jury rejected arguments that the Hilalys didnt have a bona fide intent to exit the rental business. Instead, Allens attorney convinced the jury that the Hilalys had changed the terms of her tenancy when they took over a building garage that Allen was paying for and had the right to use.

Margaret DeMatteo, another attorney for Allen, said that on a rental information questionnaire the Allens filled out once the Hilalys bought the building, Allen mistakenly indicated that parking was not a part of her lease agreement. The Hilalys, Allens attorneys argued, took that to mean the garage was theirs to use, which they did for more than a year.

The jury found that discrepancy constituted an improper change of Allens tenancy agreement and ruled in her favor on those grounds.

Chernev said that a change-of-tenancy defense is not a legally recognized defense in an Ellis Act eviction case and that he expects his clients to appeal the decision.

They can take that position now, but they lost, DeMatteo said, adding that shes confident the verdict would be upheld on appeal.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter @dominicfracassa
On Sept. 2, 1945, Laredo native Henry Hector Boubel was on board the USS Sherburne as it cruised alongside the USS Missouri.

The general and foreign minister of Japan were on the USS Missouri to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender that would mark the written submission of the Empire of Japan and the end of World War II. At the time of the signing, in a show of force, a fleet of U.S. bombers flew low enough over the USS Missouri to witness the dignitaries signing the peace treaty. The planes would continue on toward Japan if the surrender was not completed.

"It was fantastic," Boubel said. "When they were signing the peace treaty, there were hundreds and hundreds of bomber planes flying over showing them how big an air force we had."

The late Alfonso Valls, who was from Laredo, was one of the pilots in the bomber formation, Boubel noted.

READ MORE: Laredo veterans headed for nation's capital as part of Honor Flight initiative

"We showed how well equipped we were," he said. "We were well equipped to defend ourselves. Three stupid guys  Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Hideki Tojo  (fought against) our three guys, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Three guys against three guys but we were better."

Boubel, who will be today's Veterans Day Parade marshal, was born Aug. 5, 1924. He was a junior at Martin High School when he decided to join the U.S. Naval Service.

Boubel was only 17 when he first volunteered. He was told he couldn't join because he was too young and he was the only son of his parents. He had to wait until he was officially drafted at age 21.

"I asked if there was any other way. I was told, 'Another way is, according to the law of service, when you turn 18 you can come and volunteer but you have to get a permit signed by your mom and dad. Otherwise, we cannot accept you,'" Boubel said.

When Boubel turned 18 in 1942, he arrived at the federal building in downtown Laredo to get that form.

READ MORE: Laredo community gathers on Memorial Day to remember fallen veterans

"They said to make sure my mom and dad signed the form otherwise I would have to wait for the draft," he said. "For the draft, at that time, you had to be 21. Once you got to be 21, they started to pull you in, but we were young and not smart, I guess. I'll never forget taking the signed form and seeing my mom cry. So I left from Laredo up to Houston and that's where we got our physical."

Along with some of his neighborhood friends, Boubel was sworn into the Naval Service at the Naval Recruitment Center in Houston on Sept. 11, 1942. He received three weeks of basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois.

"(The) training wasn't that much but we didn't care. From there, we were shipped to Brooklyn Naval Shipyard where I got on board the USS Maddox. And the rest of the guys, out of all of us from the neighborhood that joined the Navy, went down with the ship," Boubel said.

In July 1943, the USS Maddox was attacked by a German bomber. The combat aircraft dropped two bombs on the ship causing it to sink in the North Atlantic. The men whom Boubel enlisted with lost their lives at sea when the USS Maddox sunk.

Two main battles that Boubel recalled were the Battle of Manila and the invasion of Okinawa.

"In Manila, I became the coxswain of the captain's gig of the USS Sherburne," Boubel said. A coxswain is in charge of navigating and steering a boat.

MORE ON LMTOnline.com: Laredo WWII veteran to receive overdue Prisoner of War Medal

"We went to Manila to see a general to help unload troops in Manila. While we were there, there was a big building; it was the post office. They were shooting and luckily we never got hit. There were a couple of Japanese still out there. When the Japanese were captured by the Philippines in the main street of Manila, there was a theater where the owners were Spanish. The Japanese trucks would pass by and the Filipinos would throw rocks at them."

While in Okinawa, Boubel witnessed actions that will stay with him the remainder of his life.

"I will never forget when we went to go invade Okinawa. The worst thing that I've ever seen was mothers and their children jumping over cliffs. The propaganda that the Japanese would show the people of Japan told them that if we ever captured any woman we would rape her, poke her eyes out and cut her tongue. So they were afraid. That is what I saw. Poor children and their mothers jumping to their death because they were afraid," Boubel said.

In August 1945, the Japanese mainland was struck by the first atom bomb President Harry Truman ordered to be dropped in order to get the Japanese emperor to surrender. Another atomic bomb followed to force his surrender.

RELATED: City officials discuss moving proposed veterans museum to North Laredo park

Boubel came out of the service and returned to Laredo. He was fortunate to not receive any injuries during his tours for his country.

In 1947, Boubel and his friend, Ted Marinos, were asked to come up with a mascot and school colors for the newly established Laredo Junior College.

"Ted asked me, 'What kind of mascot are we going to pick?' I had no clue. All of a sudden we see a horse out in the wild and Ted asked what it was. 'Oh they call those palominos. I am not sure why,' I said. Ted suggested, 'Why don't we get it?' And that is how we voted for the Palomino. And the color of the school. There's a lot of greenery around the campus. So the color green was the obvious choice. Then, Ted thinking out loud said, 'This is a golden opportunity that we have these colors.' When he said golden, I knew the second color was chosen," Boubel said.

Boubel established himself in the city and married his sweetheart of 61 years, Thelma Boubel. Henry has three children: Henry Anthony, Howard Glenn and Hector William Boubel.
Laredo veterans and community members taking part in the march will meet in front of the St. Peter's Church at 8 a.m. While parade participants gather, coffee and breakfast tacos will be available on behalf of the Inter National Bank. The march kicks off at 10 a.m.

Local World War II veteran Henry Boubel is this year's parade marshal. Jesus "Chuy" Cantu, a retired first sergeant with the U.S. Marine Corps, said 1,000 people are anticipated to be a part of the event honoring veterans.
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When World War II veteran Donald V. Blair was asked to sign a form to receive a Purple Heart, he declined.

Soon after Blair enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the age of 21, he was sent to England for five months of training to be a navigator/bombardier on the B-26.

He performed 65 flight missions over Germany and France, one of which ended with a helmet falling onto, and considerably wounding, Blair's head.

The Purple Heart form was offered to him while he was getting treated for his injury.

"Don refused," said Tom Evans, former Army Infantry Major and a good friend of Blair. "Let that sink in for a moment - saying that his cut head had nothing to do with a battle wound, just a stupid helmet, and he did not deserve the medal."

Although he refused the Purple Heart, Blair was eventually given the Medal of Freedom from the French government for his service in WWII.

Blair is now 97 years old, and still being celebrated for his service.

The Kingwood Park High School JROTC surprised Blair by holding a ceremony in his honor on Friday, Nov. 10.

Blair was escorted into the campus' auditorium where rows and rows of JROTC students applauded his arrival.

"Well, Mr. Blair, I told you we had a couple of friends that wanted to see you today, and they're very excited that you're here," said Patrick O'Hara, retired Lt. Col. US Air Force and senior aerospace science instructor at Kingwood Park High School.

Blair was led to a red armchair on stage, where he sat as Evans spoke.

"We're here today to show honor to a member of America's greatest generation, Mr. Don Blair," Evans said. "He unselfishly placed his life on the line for our freedom. He was an ordinary man, not much older than you cadets. He heard the call of duty and answered it. He left his home, his family, his comfortable life - not for recognition, or fame, or even the honor we bestow on him today - but, he fought to protect our freedom. To maintain our way of life."

The JROTC drill team performed a military drill routine, executing precise maneuvers with drill rifles as Blair observed.

Following the performance, O'Hara presented Blair with a plaque from Kingwood Park High School JROTC, honoring Blair as a great American for his service to the United States.

"We've had the chance to give a few of those out over the years," O'Hara said. "It's always special, but none more special than this one. This is really a great honor, and just a simple token. I'm very happy to give that to you."

Blair was also given a modern Air Force Flight Cap used today by active duty United States Air Force, as well as the Air Force JROTC cadets.

Finally, Blair was presented with a flag of the United States of America that was flown over the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11, 2016, at the request of Congressman Ted Poe.

An accompanying certificate signed by Poe states, "This flag is presented as a symbol of respect and gratitude to Donald Blair for his service to our nation, the great state of Texas, and the United States Army Air Force. His patriotism and selfless sacrifices for our nation are an example of the best of the American breed."

After the certificate was read and presented, all of the JROTC cadets and instructors stood up, and facing Blair onstage, saluted.

"Sir, Kingwood Park Air Force Junior ROTC salutes you," O'Hara said.

Blair smiled as he approached the microphone, and addressed the cadets sitting before him.

"I am very surprised to see such uniform commitment to education and to our great country, the United States," Blair said. "I thank each and every one of you that participated because I did not expect anything to happen this year, or this week...Thank you very much for everything. I've enjoyed it very much and I'll never forget it."

As Blair was escorted off the stage and out of the auditorium, the JROTC cadets sang proudly in unison, "Off we go into the wild blue yonder, flying high into the sun."
Cass City Junior/Senior High School students paid tribute to local veterans Friday morning. The tribute included a flag-raising ceremony, performances by the Cass City High School Band, speeches by veterans and presentations. Other Upper Thumb schools that held tributes to veterans on Friday included Bad Axe, Caseville, Lakers and Ubly. (Brenda Battel/Huron Daily Tribune)
Their ancestors fled the Trail of Tears and found refuge nearly 200 years ago on an island on Louisiana's Gulf Coast. But now that home on Isle de Jean Charles is slipping into the sea, a consequence of coastal erosion, subsidence and climate change. Frequent floods and increasingly ferocious storms have washed away heirlooms, destroyed houses, scattered families.

Once more, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians face displacement. This time, though, they aim to confront it on their own terms.

A key to their success may lie amid a collection of ancient artifacts and faded photos nearly 1,200 miles away. There, at a Smithsonian Institution facility in Suitland, Maryland, three generations of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaws just spent a week painstakingly sifting through materials from their tribe's past.

They were looking for evidence to supplement their petition for official "acknowledgment" from the federal government - a decades-old effort that has gained new urgency as the state of Louisiana moves to resettle the last island residents.

"We are searching to reclaim what was lost," said Chantel Comardelle, a 35-year-old Terrebonne Parish employee who dreams of running a tribal museum.

The artifacts are proof of where her people have been and how they have endured - the kind of details the government requires to establish connection to a historic tribe.

But the Smithsonian's collections also contain a century-old mistake that has hindered their bid for recognition. To take control of their future, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw must not only resurrect the past - they must correct it.

Comardelle, the tribe's executive secretary; her father, Deputy Chief Boyo Billiot; and her great-uncle, Chief Albert Naquin, arrived at the Smithsonian as part of its Recovering Voices community research program. The initiative invites native scholars to learn from and contribute to the collections of the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian.

"We want to trace our roots," the 71-year-old Naquin told the staff who greeted them.

Naquin charts his heritage back to members of the Choctaw tribe who lived in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. In the 1830s, they were among the tens of thousands of Native Americans who were brutally uprooted from the southeastern United States and marched to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Thousands died from cold, starvation and cholera during what one Choctaw chief called "a trail of tears and death."

Somehow, somewhere in Louisiana, a few Choctaws escaped and traveled south, mingling with white settlers and members of other tribes, mixing their traditions with new practices picked up on the coast. One native woman married a Frenchman, and together they settled Isle de Jean Charles - a lush, low-lying sliver of land that for more than 100 years was reachable only by boat.

Isolated on their island, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw were mostly protected from the forces that devastated other native communities: land seizures, racial violence, the forced placement of children in often abusive boarding schools. Naquin was 7 when the first road was built connecting Isle de Jean Charles to the mainland. "If you see a car coming," his mother used to warn him, "go hide."

"We hid for a long time," he said.

Most of the Smithsonian artifacts were gathered by early-20th-century researchers conducting "salvage anthropology," as Recovering Voices program assistant Judith Andrews terms it. Convinced that Native Americans were destined to die out, these scientists chronicled cultures with a clumsy "graveyard mentality."

That is part of why the Smithsonian so values visits like the one made by Naquin's group, Andrews said. The tribe members' insights will help improve records - adding context and nuance that anthropologists overlooked when they visited communities generations ago.

Though most of the materials predate Naquin and Billiot, the version of the Louisiana coast they represent is not so different from the place where both grew up. A broad Choctaw basket collected in Mississippi resembles the sifters that Naquin's family used when catching shrimp. A 122-year-old dugout canoe, hewed from the dark wood of a cypress tree, looks just like the ones in which Billiot's uncle plied the waters of their bayou. Two squinting men in a yellowed photograph reminded Comardelle of a family who once lived up the road.

Holding these objects, Billiot said, "feels like coming back home."

The connection to such anthropological artifacts offers "an identity trajectory that can be proven," explained Gwyneira Isaac, director of the Recovering Voices program. "It allows them to say, 'These materials, these techniques, this way of life is our way of life.'"

Yet the collections also offer stark reminders of how much the trio's memories have fragmented and the land that sheltered and sustained their people has changed. Naquin and Billiot examined a basket woven from cypress splints. "We used to have one just like that," the chief said, gently lifting it with two gloved hands.

"Do you still make them?" a curator asked.

No, responded Billiot, who is 65. Cypress no longer grows on Isle de Jean Charles. The encroaching saltwater has choked all the trees, rendering them skeletal and gray.

Since 1955, 98 percent of the island's land mass has been lost to the sea. High tides and strong winds routinely submerge the lone road to the mainland. Naquin was forced to leave in 1974, after Hurricane Carmen destroyed his home and made it impossible for him to drive to work. Billiot followed in 1985, the year two storms struck in rapid succession, producing mold so bad that Comardelle, then 4 years old, developed breathing problems.

Not long after Naquin became chief in 1996, the Army Corps of Engineers offered to help move his community someplace less vulnerable. Naquin initially reacted with alarm, fearing that "it would be a modern-day Trail of Tears." But then he considered how his life had changed since he had moved off the island; he hadn't lost a piece of furniture in two decades. So many others had also fled - why not build a home they could all flee toward?

After two failed attempts, last year the tribe was awarded a grantfrom the Department of Housing and Urban Development: $48 million to relocate the 25 remaining families - including Naquin's sister and Billiot's nonagenarian parents. A location for the new community has not been selected; the state is considering several sites about an hour's drive inland.

In their application for HUD funding, Naquin, Billiot and Comardelle laid out an idyllic vision: hurricane-proof houses arranged in the same pattern as the buildings on the island, and not just for tribe members leaving the island but for more than 200 other families who have long been scattered across the state. There would be a grocery store where the community could gather for gossip and coffee and beignets. Comardelle, who is taking online classes for a certificate in museum studies, would direct a tribal museum preserving the culture and ecology of the island they left behind.

It's unclear how much of that vision will become reality. The resettlement grant is being administered by Louisiana's Office of Community Development, and not always according to the tribe's preferences. In September, officials hired an architecture firm to design the new community - a move that Naquin and Comardelle said replicates work the tribe has already done and needlessly spends precious resources.

The desire to have more say in the resettlement process has raised the stakes of the tribe's bid for federal acknowledgment. In 2015, the Bureau of Indian Affairs found that the group hadn't sufficiently demonstrated a link to a historic tribe. The rejection noted that "they do not claim descent from the Houma tribe, although . . . members and ancestors have been called 'Houma' Indians since at least 1907."

That mix-up was spawned by Smithsonian anthropologist John Swanton, who visited southeast Louisiana at the turn of the 20th century and misidentified many of the people he encountered.

Sitting in the archives, looking at a photo Swanton appeared to have mislabeled, Naquin grimaced. "Swanton just tore us up," he lamented. "He created a monster we can't fix."

But reference archivist Caitlin Haynes handed the group a correction form.

"Just write down what you know," she said, and the museum will amend the record. "We want you guys to be the authorities."
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After an illegal referendum and a declaration of independence that was universally ignored, Catalans go to the polls again next month as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy tries to restore a degree of normality to the rebel region.

Here are the key figures who will shape the political future of Spain.

- Mariano Rajoy, 62: Despite his reputation as a cautious pragmatist, the prime minister triggered Article 155 of the constitution for the first time ever last month to suspend Catalonia's self-government. He's recovering after outrage over a wave of corruption scandals helped strip him of his majority in 2015.

What to watch: Rajoy has tried to keep out of the firing line so far, letting the courts take the lead in attempts to shut down the separatist movement. If we see the prime minister take a more public role in the election campaign, that'll be a sign of his growing confidence-or concern.

- Carles Puigdemont, 54: Puigdemont was a compromise candidate plucked from obscurity in 2015 to lead a disparate alliance of separatists in the regional government. He fled to Belgium last month after the Catalan parliament declared independence and Rajoy seized control of the rebel administration.

What to watch: Puigdemont is holed up in Brussels in a bid to win support from the EU for some of the independence campaign's demands. Any sign that he's succeeding would be a major blow to Rajoy.

- Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, 46: The deputy prime minister is one of Rajoy's closest advisers but she's had a torrid year after being handed responsibility for Catalonia and overseeing the botched attempt to stop the illegal referendum.

What to watch: She's running the Catalan administration since Rajoy took control. Her credibility, and Rajoy's political strategy, depends in large measure on her ability to keep order.

- Oriol Junqueras, 48: The ousted vice president of Catalonia was jailed by the National Court while he's investigated for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. But he's still set to run in December's regional election and is a leading contender to be the next Catalan president.

What to watch: Junqueras is a charismatic politician, despite his scruffy appearance. But running a campaign from behind bars will be a challenge.

- Carme Forcadell, born 1956: The former Catalan language teacher led the biggest pro-independence campaign group before being elected speaker of regional parliament in 2015. She steered the Catalan election law through the regional legislature over the objections of her opponents and then oversaw the declaration of independence.

What to watch: A hardliner within the movement, she's facing a Supreme Court investigation over the declaration of independence. While she remains active, Forcadell will be pushing the separatists to be more aggressive.

- Judge Carmen Lamela, 56: Lamela is running the National Court investigation into the ousted Catalan government. Her uncompromising decisions have already seen eight former officials jailed, handing the separatists a new rallying cry just as support for the campaign was flagging.

What to watch: Lamela will have the biggest say in whether officials from the previous government are still behind bars when Catalans go to the polls on Dec. 21.

- Ines Arrimadas, 36: The head of the liberal party Ciudadanos in Catalonia was opposition leader in regional parliament before it was dissolved. Born in the southern region of Andalusia, Arrimadas moved to Catalonia about eight years ago and is one of the strongest voices speaking out against independence.

What to watch: In Rajoy's dream scenario, Arrimadas would be the next regional president, most likely at the head of a coalition including the Socialists and the prime minister's People's Party - a marginal force in Catalonia. Her party won 25 of the 135 seats in the legislature in 2015.

- Anna Gabriel, 42: Gabriel's miner father moved to Catalonia from Andalusia. The leader of the radical CUP party was the first generation of her family to back independence and has been a political activist since she was 16, starting off in the antifascist movement.

CUP votes were key for the pro-independence majority last time around. Her party forced the exit of Artur Mas as regional president which ultimately led to Puigdemont being appointed.

What to watch: The CUP are the wildcards of the independence movement, constantly pushing for more disruptive action with little concern for the impact on business. If they are again needed to form a majority, it will make for a bumpier ride.

- Jordi Sanchez, 53, Jordi Cuixart, 42

Known as "Los Jordis," the leaders of the two biggest campaign groups were jailed last month as the National Court investigates them for sedition. Key players in the civil push for independence-they can gather large crowds within minutes. ABC newspaper reported that Sanchez's cell mate asked to move because he was sick of hearing talk of Catalan independence.

What to watch: The Jordis have become iconic figures for the movement since being jailed and there is talk that they could run in next month's elections as the joint leaders of pro-independence alliance, if rival groups can set aside their differences.

- Ada Colau, 43: The first woman Mayor of Barcelona came to prominence after running a campaign against evictions during Spain's economic crisis. She was once arrested by police after breaking into a bank branch.

What to watch: Colau is against unilateral independence but in favor of a vote on self-determination. Her endorsement in the Dec. 21 could be crucial in tilting the balance of power.
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The investigation into what sparked the most destructive wildfire in modern California history is centered on a rural property northwest of downtown Calistoga, a wooded plot with a modest home that, according to its owner, was unoccupied when it burned to the ground.

While authorities have not discussed the precise point of origin of the Tubbs Fire, the 10-acre property on Bennett Lane, just north of Highway 128, has been blocked off since the blaze ignited the night of Oct. 8, first by Cal Fire investigators and then by representatives of a property management company.

On Friday, they could be seen walking the blackened grounds with workers from an insurance company, inspecting the shell of the former house, along with razed structures around a swimming pool and a partially burned carport. But the property managers declined to comment on their work  or the status of the probe.

In a brief telephone interview Friday from her part-time home in Indian Wells (Riverside County), the property owner, 89-year-old Ann Zink, said she was in Southern California when the fire started and wasnt able to recover anything from the home before it was reduced to ash and rubble.

Now Playing: Since wildfires began spreading in the Wine Country two weeks ago, lines of recipients have grown at the weekly donation program at St. Leos Catholic Church in Sonoma as displaced families, many without homes and jobs, search for food and supplies to get by. In Sonoma and Napa counties, life for many people is at a standstill, with no income and the next rent payment fast approaching. Hear from the displaced lower income Latino community, which was living hand-to-mouth before the fires, and from the people who are reaching out to help them. Video: John Beck

She said she believed a lightning strike had kicked up the fire, which killed 22 people and destroyed 4,655 homes, 94 commercial buildings and 894 outbuildings as a windstorm blew the flames west into Sonoma County and northern Santa Rosa. However, state officials said they ruled out lightning.

Investigators working to pinpoint the cause of the Tubbs Fire  along with the other blazes that ravaged Northern California last month, killing 43 people and leaving billions in damage  have been looking at overhead Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power lines as one possible ignition source.

But they said that their work is far from complete and that they havent ruled out a number of other possible causes. Wildfire investigations often take several months or even more than a year to complete.

Although PG&E officials have not said whether their equipment may be to blame for any of the fires, the utility said in a court filing Thursday that the Tubbs Fire may have been started by electrical equipment not owned or installed by the company. Attorneys for PG&E said that preliminary investigations suggest that this fire might have been caused by electrical equipment that was owned, installed and maintained by a third party.

Zink said she wasnt aware of any electrical issues on her property.

The PG&E filing, which came in response to lawsuits filed by fire victims, gives no supporting evidence for the companys claim other than referring to an electric incident report that the utility submitted to state regulators in the wake of the fires. The report, released to the public last week, described Cal Fire investigators taking possession of customer-owned overhead lines on a property near Calistoga.

A PG&E spokesman declined to elaborate on the filings assertion. Cal Fire officials said they would not comment on their investigations. As of Wednesday, they said, 28 investigators continued working to determine the cause of the wildfires in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Yuba counties.

We have not released any information to anybody, said Deputy Chief Scott McLean, a Cal Fire spokesman. Our investigations are ours, and Im not sure what PG&E is talking about.

The Tubbs Fire started near Zinks property about 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 8, and all of the structures on the property were leveled. On Friday, yellow crime-scene-style tape surrounded each site. A home next door was also destroyed, and private security guards blocked the driveways of both homes.

A representative of the management company overseeing Zinks property, who did not want to be identified by name, said the home had been unoccupied when the fire started. He said the property was being inspected by an insurance company.

Nearby, 77-year-old Charlie Brown worked on his Bennett Lane property, which survived while only a few outbuildings burned, including a shed and pump house. He said he rents the home to a woman who awoke the night of the fire as flames crawled over a ridge separating his house from the Zink residence. The tenant didnt have time to put on shoes before fleeing, Brown said.

Investigators had been at his home, too, and Brown is eager to learn what sparked the fire. He said he returned to his property for the first time Monday.

I thought for sure it burned, he said, noting that the Tubbs Fire was the third wildfire, including one in 1964, that spared his home but destroyed neighbors houses. Its a miracle.

San Francisco Chronicle

staff writer Kurtis Alexander contributed to this report.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Somewhere in Russia in the last week of September, the French government believes, something happened.

It's hard to say much more than that, except whatever the event was, it sent a cloud of radioactive isotopes - Ruthenium-106, named after Russia - wafting over Europe for thousands of miles.

Also: don't worry about it. The Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety says wider Europe was perfectly safe from the cloud, whether it came via nuclear accident or rogue satellite crash or who-knows-what else.

"It's somewhere in South Russia," agency director Jean-Christophe Gariel told NPR last week, after the French traced the cloud's most likely origins to a region between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains that mark Europe's eastern edge.

Several nuclear facilities exist in the region, NPR noted, including a problematic plant that blew up in 1957. The agency ruled out a meltdown, concluding this week such a catastrophe would have spewed out far more radioactive material than the niche element that covered Europe in the first weeks of October.

Ruthenium-106 is used in medical research, nuclear fuel reprocessing and sometimes to power satellites. No suspect satellites were known to have fallen to earth in late September, the French agency wrote. Russian officials have denied any knowledge of an accident, according to the Associated Press.

In any case, Austria detected Ruthenium in its atmosphere on Oct. 3. Germany the next day. Over the next two weeks the levels peaked, faded and finally disappeared.

At no point was the cloud a danger, Germany's radiation agency wrote. You could inhale from that country's Ruthenium cloud for a straight week and still have breathed in no more radiation than you naturally do in an hour.

By mid-October, the French agency wrote, the Ruthenium was gone altogether.

"It is currently no longer detected in Europe," it wrote, concurring with Germany that there had been no health hazard.

Which isn't to say the cloud's mysterious origin is not a concern. Or that the French wouldn't have handled things differently, had it started within its borders instead of . . . wherever it was that it happened.

"The consequences of an accident of this magnitude in France would have required to implement locally measures of protection," the agency wrote - evacuation or sheltering for at least a couple miles around the incident.

Contaminated food would be expected in an even wider radius - though the French government sounded confident it wasn't importing any bad mushrooms from Russia.

Still, the cloud remains a mystery. This isn't the first time radiation of unknown source made its way across Europe. Scientists were also vexed when Iodine-131 spread over the continent in January.
WASHINGTON - The nine African American soldiers were just home from the war. It was Feb. 12, 1919, and most were bundled in heavy coats as they posed for the photographer on the deck of the USS Stockholm.

Members of an heroic black combat regiment, the men looked serious as they paused on deck amid the coiled ships ropes - their French war medals, the Croix de Guerre, pinned to their garments.

The photograph is one of the best known pictures from World War I, and the men had all been identified. But a retired National Archives senior picture archivist wanted to know who, exactly, they were.

"The faces just captured me," the archivist, Barbara Lewis Burger, said Friday. "And I wanted to know more about these people. I wanted to breathe some life into their experiences."

Last week, Burger wrote a blog post on the National Archives website detailing what she found.

"They were pretty representative of African Americans in the big city around that time," she said in a telephone interview. "Some were more educated than others. But for the most part. . .they were relegated to. . .lower middle class, working class jobs."

One man, Daniel W. Storms, Jr. was 33 when he enlisted as private in 1917. He earned an individual Croix de Guerre for gallantry in action. After the war, he worked as a janitor and elevator operator. Three years after the photo was taken, he died of tuberculosis.

Henry Davis Primas, Sr., of Charleroi, Pennsylvania, who also received an individual Croix de Guerre for bravery, had a pharmaceutical degree from the University of Pittsburgh, when he enlisted in 1917.

He served with a medical detachment, and after the war worked as a pharmacist and for the Post Office.

Ed Williams, Burger believes, may be the 21-year-old private who was severely wounded on Sept. 30, 1918, during bitter fighting with the Germans at Sechault, France - a struggle that took the men through machine gun fire, poison gas and hand-to-hand combat, according to a history of the regiment.

The nine men, whose names appear in a typed picture caption of the International Film Service Co. in the Archives, were members of the 369th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

The New York City-based unit was famous for its prowess in battle and the indignities it suffered at the hands of many white officers. Discrimination was so bad that the regiment was shunted off to fight with the French army, and equipped with French helmets and French rifles, historians say.

"The history of the regiment is well researched and documented, including its ill treatment and under-utilization by American forces in France," Burger wrote. "At the time, many Americans, including military leaders, believed African Americans lacked the intelligence and courage to fight."

Racism was rampant in the U.S. as African Americans served in World War I.

"The 369th proved the skeptics wrong and went on to achieve a remarkable combat record," she wrote. It served "more time in continuous combat than any other American unit (and). . .fought for 191 days on the front, the longest of any unit."

The French government awarded the regiment the Croix de Guerre, and bestowed 171 individual medals for valor, Burger wrote.

The outfit's ranks included musicians, future public figures, an eventual recipient of the Medal of Honor - Pvt. Henry Johnson's was bestowed in 2015 - and the artist Horace Pippin, who chronicled parts of the 1914-1918 war in art and words.

"They were all ways ready to go and they did go to the last man," Pippin wrote of his buddies.

But little seemed to be known of the nine men in the famous photograph, according to Burger.

"After years of being intrigued by this handsomely-composed image and the demeanor of the nine. . .I decided to find out as much. . .as I could about their lives," she wrote.

The picture was taken right before the regiment marched in a huge homecoming parade in New York City.

She scoured available records public records on the Internet and came up with nine mini biographies - some more detailed than others.

In addition to Storms, Primas, and Williams, she found:

- Cpl. T. W. Taylor, 23, of Winston-Salem, N.C., a Post Office driver and cook in New York before he enlisted in 1917. He, too, earned an individual Croix de Guerre for heroism in battle. After the war he worked as a cook on a steamship and died in 1983, in Bayonne, N.J. aged 86.

- Pvt. Alfred S. Manley, who was 19 when he enlisted 1917. His nickname was "Kid Buck." After the war he worked as a driver for a laundry company. He died in Newark, N.J., in 1933.

- Pvt. Ralph Hawkins, 19, of Elizabeth, N.J. A hazy portrait emerges of a young man whose Croix de Guerre included a Bronze Star for extraordinary heroism. After the war, he worked as a laborer with the New Deal's Works Progress Administration, and in 1942 registered for the World War II draft. He died in Philadelphia in 1951.

- Pvt. Leon E. Fraiter, 21, of Charleston, S.C. After the war, he married, had two sons and worked as a jewelry store salesman. He died in 1974.

- Pvt. Joe Williams. Burger found a Joseph Williams in Co. C, who was slightly wounded in action on or about Nov. 10, 1918, the day before the war ended.

- Pvt. Herbert Taylor, 22, of Co. B was also wounded on Sept. 29, 1918, possibly during the battle for Sechault, France. After the war, he worked as a laborer in New York City and in 1941 reenlisted in the Army. He died in 1984.

Burger worked for the National Archives for 30 years before she retired in 2007 as a senior still picture archivist. A student of African American history, with deep family roots in Washington, she said she got to know the nine.

Was she partial to anyone?

"Storms," she said. "I just liked his face. He looked like a tough guy."

In "a lot of photographs of African Americans, the individuals are not identified," she said. "In this case, they were. So (they were) like waiting for somebody to do something."

---

Part of a continuing series about facets of the past that remain relevant.
Israelis talk about when, not if, they'll fight Hezbollah again. Since the last war in 2006, they've repeatedly reinforced the border with Lebanon. Snaking through the pine forests that separate the countries are 50 miles of sensor-laden fences, patrol roads and dirt berms.

They'll make little difference if war comes. Both sides are geared for an airborne conflict. Israel's leaders say they're ready to bomb Lebanon back to the Stone Age. Hezbollah is said to have increased its missile stocks tenfold. In Kfar Vradim, an Israeli town just south of the frontier, David Deshe expects the worst. "Last time we had a couple of dozen rockets," said the army reservist and business-owner (who counts a Warren Buffett-owned factory among his neighbors). "This time, they tell us, it's going to be like rain."

But there's been a crucial change since 2006, one that may far outweigh any new fortifications. As the war against Islamic State winds down, older fault-lines are resurfacing -- along with some new alliances. Many signs point to a deepening understanding, encouraged by the U.S., between Israel and an Islamic kingdom it doesn't even have diplomatic relations with: Saudi Arabia.

The two countries share a common enemy in Iran. They're both urging action against the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah -- and increasingly taking action themselves, fueling the regional turbulence that has rocked oil markets. And they're both central to the new American strategy for the Middle East outlined, if not yet detailed, by Donald Trump.

Determination to roll back Iranian power unites the unlikely triumvirate: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's veteran premier; Mohammed Bin Salman, the ambitious young prince who's seized the reins in Saudi Arabia and is casting aside its traditional caution; and the U.S. president.

They all express dismay at the victory of Iran's ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and the growing clout across the region that the Islamic Republic enjoys as a result. For years, "Assad must go" has been American and Saudi policy; instead he's largely defeated the rebels they supported. Looking for another arena to push back, the triumvirate is zeroing in on Lebanon and its dominant party, which all three consider a terrorist group, Hezbollah.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a Saudi protege, had been governing in coalition with Hezbollah. Last weekend he flew to Riyadh -- then unexpectedly quit, saying his life was in danger. "The hands of Iran in the region will be cut off," Hariri said Nov. 4 on Saudi TV, announcing a resignation widely seen as a Saudi-orchestrated move.

Israel followed up within hours. Netanyahu issued a statement urging the world to wake up to Iranian aggression. The next day, Channel 10 in Tel Aviv reported that Israeli diplomats around the world had been ordered to portray Hariri's departure as an example of Iran's menacing influence.

Neither country acknowledges any direct contact -- which would be especially damaging for the Saudis. As guardians of Islam's holiest sites, they claim leadership in a Muslim world where Israel is deeply unpopular.

The Saudi government's media office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. A Netanyahu aide, who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive issue, said Iran now threatens so many countries that it's natural for Israel's alarm to be shared by others, while declining to comment on whether there's Saudi-Israel coordination.

"It's very possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel are forming a joint strategy toward Hezbollah and Iran," said Alireza Nader, a policy analyst at RAND Corp. "While Saudi Arabia may have some diplomatic and economic sway over Lebanon, it cannot fight Hezbollah militarily. But Israel has the capability to strike."

That doesn't mean it wants to -- at least for now.

"We may have to confront Hezbollah sooner or later," Ofer Shelach, a member of the foreign affairs and defense committee in Israel's parliament, said in an interview. "But everyone wants to put off this confrontation."

Israel has landed some blows. It's carried out multiple airstrikes in Syria, where Hezbollah is fighting alongside Assad, Russia and Iran -- targeting convoys said to be carrying weapons to Lebanon. That's one reason the Jewish state is unhappy with the Assad victory in Syria: It opens a land corridor that could make such deliveries routine.

Despite dozens of Israeli strikes, Hezbollah has refrained from major retaliation. The militia is drained by the fight in Syria, focused on consolidating its gains there, and has no appetite for another major war, said Paul Salem, vice president of the Middle East Institute in Washington. While Hezbollah's Iranian backing would ensure the group survives, "they will lose money, they will lose people, they will lose infrastructure," he said. But whatever the sides may want, the risk of war is rising steadily, Salem said.

Israeli officials saw Hariri's resignation as a chance to ratchet up pressure. Intelligence Minister Israel Katz called it a "turning point" for the Middle East. "Now is the time to press and isolate Hezbollah, until it will be weakened and eventually disarmed," he said in a written response to questions.

It's not clear what role Washington is playing in the convergence between two of its oldest and closest Mideast allies.

Two people familiar with U.S. policy in the region said that it's an American objective to encourage coordination between regional countries that oppose Iran and are aligned with the U.S. That's starting to happen, the people said, though they said there was no American involvement in Hariri's resignation.

Days before that bombshell, Jared Kushner -- Trump's son-in-law, who's also a confidant of Israeli leaders -- was in Saudi Arabia. He reportedly spent late nights talking with Prince Mohammed. Trump has said a peace deal with the Palestinians would involve bringing Israel and Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia together. His envoy on that issue, Jason Greenblatt, has also been in Riyadh and Jerusalem lately.

Kushner's conversations in Saudi Arabia and the region briefly included addressing the broad threat posed by Iran-Hezbollah in the context of Israeli-Palestinian peace, if not the specific actions recently taken against the Shiite militia, according to the people familiar with American diplomacy. Further steps could involve a clampdown on Hezbollah cash flow, as the militia faces the growing cost of treating fighters injured in Syria and paying pensions to the families of those who died.

Congress last month approved new sanctions against Hezbollah, and lawmakers are already drafting another round. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was in Saudi Arabia and Israel last month, stressing the need to disrupt Hezbollah's "financiers."

During the 2006 war, Saudi Arabia propped up Lebanon's economy with a billion-dollar deposit at its central bank. Now there's an expectation the Saudis will pull money out -- as they did during their continuing dispute with neighbor Qatar.

On Thursday, the kingdom told its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. There's a lot of Gulf money there too. Financial restrictions "could force the central bank to burn through its foreign-exchange reserves," London-based Capital Economics said.

Lebanon is effectively getting sucked deeper into the Syrian conflict -- the crucible for so many of the region's deadly rivalries. A decision is looming there for Trump: What to do with American forces after Islamic State is defeated. Officials have indicated that a military presence will remain, to stamp out the last jihadists and guard against their return.

Follow-up questions will be asked in Riyadh and Tel Aviv: How many troops will stay? For how long? And will they be strictly focused on Islamic State -- or available for other missions that would advance the anti-Iranian cause?

"The U.S. still has no policy on Syria," Israeli lawmaker Shelach said. Absent that, "it's Israel vs Iran," he said. "And the possibility of an unintended war with Hezbollah increases."

---

Bloomberg's Ladane Nasseri and Glen Carey contributed.
What started as a way to cut Japan's dependence on imported fossil fuels has led to an expected surge in a different and equally controversial shipment: palm oil.

Government incentives instituted in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011 guarantee prices for power generated by renewable sources such as solar, wind and biomass. Palm oil, scorned by some environmentalists who say its production destroys rain forests and peatlands, is becoming more popular because facilities that burn it are among the cheapest to build.

Government approvals for projects that utilize "general wood" materials, a category that includes palm oil, almost quadrupled in the year through March. The category's total capacity approved since the program began in 2012 soared to 11.5 gigawatts, up from just 3 gigawatts in 2016, and palm-oil projects account for almost 40 percent, according to government data.

"The program is flawed," said Miyuki Tomari, who heads the Biomass Industrial Society Network, a non-profit group promoting the use of sustainable biomass resources. "What had been expected of the feed-in tariff originally was to utilize unused wood materials from forests in Japan," she said, referring to the government guarantees backing the projects.

Proponents of burning wood and other biomass say it's more reliable than solar or wind, because it can supply power continuously, not just when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Its use reduces the need for fossil fuels, they say, and carbon released while burning biomass doesn't harm the environment because it's offset by carbon removed from the atmosphere when the organic material was growing.

"Palm oil is carbon-neutral, while with fossil fuels, the more you use the more CO2 is emitted," said Masaru Kubo, vice president of Osaka-based Sankei Energy Co., which built a 2-megawatt plant to burn the fuel. "We think using palm oil will help deter global warming," he said, adding that he's hopeful there will be more certified palm oil available to ensure the sustainable use of the fuel.

But the impact calculation can get complicated. In deciding the value of palm oil, the math has to account for extra emissions caused by the draining and burning of carbon-rich swamps known as peatlands and tropical forests that are destroyed to make way for oil palm trees, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Most of the trees are grown in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Taking into account those land-use changes, emissions from burning palm oil are more than twice as high as coal, according to a report by Takanobu Aikawa, a senior researcher at the Renewable Energy Institute in Tokyo. Aikawa said imported biomass fuels weren't excluded when the feed-in tariff program began, but plants that use forest materials were given a higher rating to support domestic products.

"What had been anticipated were pellets and chips and maybe palm kernel shells, and they are all solid biomass fuels," Aikawa said. Liquid biomass such as palm oil is "hardly used in power generation worldwide, so it was totally unexpected."

Another potential downside: Palm oil is an ingredient in dozens of products, from skin moisturizers to snack foods, which means diverting it to biofuel plants could be raising prices for consumers.

Eneres Co., a Tokyo-based energy-management company with two plants that use palm oil, said the material used in power plants is typically just a byproduct from refining the edible kind.

As for the impact planting has on carbon-rich lands: "We are not in a position to assess the impact and situation on the destruction of rain forests and peatlands, as well as carbon dioxide emissions at this point," Eneres said in an email. "We will collect information on those issues as well as pay close attention to the government's position and guidance."

Takuya Yamazaki, the official in charge of the incentive program at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said it plans to have more discussions with the government-appointed tariff-setting committee to ensure the program remains "sustainable."

The government's goal is for biomass to provide as much as 4.6 percent of Japan's power by 2030, or as much as 7.3 gigawatts. As of March, the country had about 3.2 gigawatts of biomass capacity.

The economics help explain palm oil's popularity. A power plant that uses palm oil for a diesel engine generator is cheaper and requires less space than many other types of biomass facilities, industry lobbyists say. Construction costs about 210,000 yen ($1,840) a kilowatt, compared with 410,000 yen for plants using wood pellets and chips, yet they all qualify for the same feed-in tariff, according to the Biomass Power Association. And palm-oil facilities take up far less land than solar and wind operations.

Most of the proposed palm oil projects have yet to be built, and developers might be getting ahead of themselves in filing so many applications for approvals, according to Riki Ikeda, managing director of the BPA.

"There are very few palm-oil projects in operation in Japan, and developers filed applications with an optimistic view," Ikeda said at a tariff-setting meeting. He expects less than a third of the proposed projects to make it to completion.

Even for projects that use wood pellets and palm-kernel shells, only about 10 percent to 20 percent of planned capacity will actually come online, according to Takeshi Yamamoto, chairman of an industry lobbying group in Tokyo that was founded last year.

"With solar, you just need land, and you are done once you place an order to panel makers and ask someone to put them up," said Yamamoto, who's also deputy general manager for the domestic power business at Marubeni Corp. "With biomass, you need a long-term plan for fuel supply and good credit. The scale of difficulty is completely different."
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The Texas church gunmans first wife said Devin Patrick Kelley once held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her in an interview with Inside Edition.

"He just had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him," Tessa Brennaman, 25, said in a recorded interview.

Kelley enlisted in the Air Force in January 2010 and obtained a marriage license in April 2011 to wed Tessa K. Loge, now Tessa Brennaman. Their troubled relationship ended in New Mexico with divorce in October 2012 after he was charged with assault for attacking her and fracturing his stepsons skull and sentenced to 12 months in a military prison.

Now Playing: Twenty-six people died in the Sunday massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs on November 5, 2017. Video: San Antonio Express-News

Brennaman, who lives in New Braunfels, declined interviews with San Antonio Express-News but told Inside Edition that Kelley once threatened to kill her and her entire family, according to a report on Inside Edition.

"And he had a gun in his holster right here and he took that gun out, and he put it to my temple and he told me, 'Do you want to die? Do you want to die?'" Brennaman said.

She said the threat came after a speeding ticket.

Following their divorce, Kelley was charged with animal cruelty in Colorado in 2014, remarried and hopped from job to job. His work history includes brief stints at H-E-B and Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. He left the Air Force on a bad conduct discharge in 2014.

Most recently he worked for Summit Vacation and RV Resort in New Braunfels, where he reportedly left work early due to a headache a day before entering the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs on Nov. 5 where he shot and killed 26 people and injured 20 others.
Gov. Greg Abbott found kinship in an unexpected way when he recently visited at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

While meeting with those injured in Sunday's deadly shooting in Sutherland Springs, Abbott said he came across a patient that had injuries he knew all too well.

"I met with Kris Workman and with his mom," Abbott said at a vigil for victims of the Sutherland Springs massacre on Wednesday. "Kris was a young man who was shot in the back. He was hit in the vertebrae level that is called lumbar level 1 and lumbar level 2."

The irony is that it the exact same location on my back where I was injured in a completely sudden and unexpected accident that forever changed my life and made me unable to walk again."

Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle

In 1984, Abbott, then 26, was paralyzed from the waist down after an tree fell on him while he was jogging. Steel rods were implanted in his spine and he has used a wheelchair ever since.

Kris Workman was attending the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Sunday with his brother, Kyle, and his mother, Julie, when a gunman opened fire on the church. Julie Workman told the San Antonio Express-News that the shooter fired at Kris point blank, hitting him in the back. The bullet went through Kris' abdomen and shattered a few vertebrae.

Kris Workman, who works at Rackspace in San Antonio, survived but doctors said there's a 90 percent chance he's permanently paralyzed from the waist down like Abbott.

A GoFundMe page created by the family to help Kris, says he is in stable condition, but will undergo more surgeries in the near future.

Abbott told the thousands who gathered at the vigil that after meeting with Kris, he had a word with Julie Workman.

"I told Kris's mom I'm proud to meet another future governor of the state of Texas," Abbott said at the prayer vigil at Floresville High School on Wednesday, just over 10 miles from the scene where the shooting took place.

Abbott's words came at the same event that included Vice President Mike Pence.

View the full speech by Gov. Greg Abbott here: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4691057/gov-greg-abbott-speaks-sutherland-springs-vigil

Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace
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Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Partnering with Public Schools: Strengthening MR Vaccination (...)

by Pradeep Nair

Schools are the most appropriate place to deliver new vaccines to children and adolescents who may not receive them in a conventional healthcare set-up. However, engaging schools in vaccination programmes is not so easy, as the schools have their own administrative and resource limitations. The schools further have day-to-day academic operations and follow an academic calendar where it is very difficult to accommodate a healthcare intervention in between the academic sessions. Partnership and collaborations are required in a vaccination programme to involve and engage the school management, principals, teaching and adminis-trative staffs, student bodies, parents and community organisations. This commentary explores the possibilities of linking MR (Measles and Rubella) vaccination programmes to the goals, programmes and policies of public schools and the way it is implemented in India.

An Overview of MR Vaccination Programme in India

Measles is a contagious disease and spreads through coughing and sneezing of an infected person. It makes children vulnerable to life- threatening complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and brain infection. But this doesnt mean that it may not affect adults. Multiple outbreaks of the disease have been reported among adults in heterogeneous settingsurban areas, work places, disaster sites, during travel etc. The disease is generally transmitted by airborne route, and a number of deaths have been reported because of disease-associated complications.

Estimates of measles-related deaths have been considered a crucial indicator to evaluate the progress of any nation towards measles elimination (Sudfeld and Halsey, 2009). The global estimates for the year 2015 suggest that measles killed an estimated 134.2 thousand children mostly less than five years. In India, it killed an estimated 49.2 thousand children which is 36.66 per cent of the global measles-associated deaths. (WHO Measles Fact Sheet, 2015) Some of the studies conducted by scholars in India from 2010 to 2013 on the status of measles over four decades revealed that the median case fatality ratio was 1.63 per cent and the higher case fatality ratio was reported among under-five year children and children from the backward classes. (Simons et al., 2012; Morris et al., 2013; Murhekar et al, 2014) In comparison to measles, Rubella is a contagious but generally a mild infection. But it may develop hearing impairments, eye and heart defects and other lifelong disabilities in children if not detected/reported at the initial stage.

The first targeted campaign to prevent measles was introduced in India in 1985 under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). Until 2008, India was the only nation among the 193 member-nations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to make provision only for a single dose of measles in their national immunisation schedule, whereas all other nations opted for two doses of measles vaccine. (John and Verghese, 2011) A number of studies conducted on measles surveillance in India observed that a single dose of measles vaccine was insufficient to protect the general population and in 40 per cent cases, the patient acquired the disease despite being immunised with one dose of measles vaccine. (Bose et al, 2014) On the basis of these studies and the studies conducted by the Indian National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the Government of India decided to launch a second dose of measles in late 2010 for all children between 16 to 24 months of age with the purpose to provide additional immunity to measles to children under age five and to improve the mortality indicators in children. (Verma et al., 2011)

In continuation, in February 2017, the Government of India has launched a nation-wide single vaccine programme for dual protection against measles and rubella as a part of the global initiative to fight these childhood diseases and to reduce the morbidity and mortality burden in developing countries. The single-shot Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine nation-wide drive targets around 410 million children across the country and is considered as the largest immunisation campaign ever launched by the Indian Government. The campaign was initially launched in five Indian States and Union Territories with a target to cover 36 million children and is in nationwide expansion. Under the campaign, all children aged between nine months and less than 15 years were given a single shot of MR vaccination irrespective of their previous measles/rubella vaccination status or measles/rubella disease status. The vaccine is provided free of cost at school and outreach session sites under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) and is expected to have a substantial effect on global measles mortality and rubella control as India accounted for 37 per cent global measles deaths in 2016 (WHO Measles Fact Sheet, 2016). With this nation-wide campaign, India may accomplish the goal of measles elimination by the year 2020 along with other member states of the South-East Asia Region of the WHO.

The Implementation Plan

In the pre-planning phase of the vaccination programme, the school representatives were made aware about the purpose of the vaccination programme and discussions were held to work out the efforts and co-ordination required in implementing the programme. Initiatives were taken to chart out the workforce and linkages required to implement the programme across the selected States. While partnering with the schools, the health officials visited the schools to work out the resources and strategy to implement the programme. Publicity literature, carrying the instructions related to the vaccines and other important information, were given to the schools to distribute among the students and staff and also in the neighbouring commu-nities to publicise the programme. The schools managements were asked to properly inform the parents about the vaccination programme through diary notes, SMS and other social media activities. Circulars and posters about the vaccination programme were posted in the class-rooms, corridors, and at the display boards of the schools to inform the students and the school staff in advance. Consent forms were sent to the parents to get their consent for the vaccination of their wards. The parents, who had not given their consent regarding the vaccination of their wards within due time, were invited for a dialogue with the school authorities to convince them about the safety concerns of the vaccines. Vaccinations were done through the State Health Departments in the respective States in public schools by deploying special health teams comprising trained doctors, nurses and para-medical staff. The whole process on the day of vaccination was monitored by the Chief Medical Officers of the respective districts, Senior Medical Officers of concerned health facilitators, and by other senior health officials. Post-vaccination reviews were conducted to assess the impact of the vaccination programme and also to explore the future possibilities of collaboration.

Approaching Parents and the Community

School diaries and SMS messages were most commonly used as the method of communication to approach the parents about the vaccination programmes. In the urban centres, parents were approached through whatsapp groups and through school-specific applications. The pre-programme coverage of the MR vaccination programme was given in local newspapers and it was further publicised on the websites and social media.

In a school-based vaccination programme, informing the parents about the vaccination programme is easy as the schools already have a regular communication system to stay in contact with the parents regarding the academic programmes and day-to-day school activities. But reaching to the community is a challenging task. (Limper, 2014) Specially designed information kits about the vaccination programme were distributed to inform and make the community people aware about the programme. To reach out the opinion leaders, the rapport and networking of the school staff with the community was used as an outreach strategy.

At the adolescent stage, students prefer to take their own vaccination decision and the parents just sign the consent form. That is why massive sensitisation programmes were conducted to inform and make the young people aware about vaccination so that they can multiply this information in their respective families and communities.

The Workforce and Linkages

Vaccination is a large scale programme and requires a lot of resources and administrative efforts at the level of all the stakeholders involved in the programme. When a vaccination programme is reported to the school at a very short notice, asking them to provide delivery support, it becomes very difficult for the schools to accommodate the programme in-between their academic sessions. (Cooper, Ward and Skinner, 2011) Further the schools find it really difficult to prioritise the resourcing needs to implement the programme. Informing, engaging and involving the school staff in the vaccination programme is also a challenge, as the teaching staff in most public schools are already over-burdened in managing the day-to-day academic affairs. The teachers, besides taking their classes, are required to update the attendance on a day-to-day basis, to prepare the SMS messages regarding the subject home assignments, clicking the photographs of the lecture delivered on the display board and uploading it on the school applications, checking the class works and doing other routine academic duties. So, when the school management asks them to facilitate a vaccination programme, they mostly take it as a burden rather than as an initiative to be engaged in. Incentives or some other benefits shall motivate the teacher to take up the programme with some commitment, but currently no such provision is available.

Hence, only an innovative approach to engage the teaching and adminis-trative staff of a school in a vaccination programme will work. A voluntary school-based vaccination programme becomes successful only when the cost, access and implementation of a vaccination pro-gramme is planned in advance. Further, schools are not made for the delivery of healthcare services. Their primary objective is to impart education. So, partnering with schools for a vaccination programme needs a clear under-standing of the means and methods of prioritising the schools activities. The decisions related to engagement are mostly taken at the school management level, so proper channel approach is required to partnership with the schools. The linkages and workforce to implement the programme along with resources, funding, time and staff deployment must be charted out. Some kind of incentive to offer the school in exchange for its cooperation and assistance should be plamed. If a vaccination programme is not planned well in advance in accordance with the academic calendar of the school, it will affect the academic mandate of the school and then become a forced burden on the school.

Conclusion

To engage public schools in vaccination programmes one needs to frame communication with the school leaders in tune with the policies, goals and programmes of the school. During a vaccination programme, a lot of information is to be documented and verified. The million dollar question is: who in the school is going to manage and update this data? Further identifying and contacting each childs vaccination need requires to be shared among the school staff engaged in the vaccination programme, the healthcare providers and vaccination/immunisation registers. So, initiating school-based vaccination programmes requires an understanding of the role of public schools in strengthening the delivery of vaccination programmes. It can be developed by reviewing the current scope of the school health resources and the experience gained during the implementation of the first round of MR vaccination programmes in India.

This experience-based learning will also help the implementation agencies to explore the potential barriers to vaccination activities in schools. There is no doubt that through a school- based vaccination programme, diverse student population and communities can be covered at the most approachable manner. Here, the only requirement is to develop policies to encourage collaborations and partnership among health departments, intervention agencies and schools for future vaccination efforts.

References

Bose, A.S., Jafari, H., Sosler, S., Narula, A.P., Kulkarni, V.M., and Ramamurty, N. (2014), Case based measles surveillance in Pune: evidence to guide current and future measles control and elimination efforts in India, PLoS One, 9, e108786.

Cooper, R.S.C., Ward, K., and Skinner, S.R. (2011), School-based vaccination: a systematic review of process evaluations, Vaccine, 29 (52), 9588-9599. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.10.033

John, T.J., and Verghese, V.P. (2011), Time to re-think measles vaccination schedule in India, Indian Journal of Medical Research, 134, 256-259.

Limper, H.M. (2014), Challenges to school-located vaccination: lessons learned, Pediatrics, 134 (4), 803-808. doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-1339.

Morris, S.K., Awasthi, S., Kumar, R., Shet, A., Khera, A. and Nakhaee, F. (2013), Measles mortality in high and low burden districts of India: estimates from a nationally representative study of over 12,000 child deaths, Vaccine, 31, 4655-4661.

Murhekar, M.V., Ahmad, M., Shukla, H., Abhishek, K., Perry, R.T., and Bose, A.S. (2014), Measles case fatality rate in Bihar, India, 2011-12, PLoS One, 9, e96668.

Simons, E., Ferrari, M., Fricks, J., Wannemuehler, K., Anand, A., and Burton, A. (2012), Assessment of the 2010 global measles mortality reduction goal: results from a model of surveillance data, Lancet, 379, 2173-2178.

Sudfeld, C.R., and Halsey, N.A. (2009), Measles case fatality ratio in India a review of community based studies, Indian Paediatrics, 46, 983-989.

Verma, R., Khanna, P., Bairwa, M., Chawla, S., Prinja, S., and Rajput, M., Introduction of a second dose of measles in national immunisation programme in India: a major step towards eradication, Human Vaccine, 7, 1109-1111.

World Health Organisation (2015), Measles-Fact Sheet N286. Retrieved from http://who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/

World Health Organisation (2016), India 2016WHO South-East Asia. Retrieved from http://www.searo.who.int/entity/immunization/data/india.pdf?ua=1

Pradeep Nair, Ph.D, is an Associate Professor and Dean, School of Journalism, Mass Communication and New Media, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala. His research interests include Media and Civic Engagement, Health Governance and Political Communication. He can be contacted by e-mail at: nairdevcom[at]yahoo.co.in
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Some Memories of Nehru

by S. Mohan Kumaramangalam

It was in 1936 that I first met Panditji. I was in my second year at Cambridge and he had come to Europe in connection with the serious illness of his wife, Smt Kamala Nehru.

At that time he also came across to England and down to Cambridge and met us, the Indian students there.

Our family had known Pandit Nehru for a long time because when Panditji was at Cambridge, my father and mother were studying at Oxford but unfortunately since I was educated in England from 1927 I personally did not meet him till I was a student of Cambridge.

Those were the days when the whole student world in Europe was in ferment as Hitler and Mussolini through their instrument Franco had attacked the infant Spanish Democratic Republic and all of us, with a fervour, had thrown our-selves into the fight to save Spain. The anti-imperialist wave had touched the hearts of all the progressive young lads at college and we Indians were in the van of this powerful movement.

Warm Humanity

Such was the atmosphere when Panditji came down to Cambridge and met us Indian students and I remember vividly his coming to my room and sitting down for tea with some of the well-known intellectuals of Cambridge to discuss India, its past and future, its problems and difficulties. Even at that time nobody could fail to understand how great a man he was. And all these English professors and lecturers, the cream of Cambridges intellectual life of those days, were deeply impressed by his warm humanity, his complete lack of any bitterness towards the alien rulers, the British, in whose country he was at that moment, his refusal to allow his personal sufferings, the passing away of his wife, the time he spent in jail to colour his objective understanding of world and national problems; but above all they could not miss the passionate devotion to the cause of his people and his desire to break the chains of foreign slavery, so that India could take the high road of independence and freedom.

Innumerable questions were asked by these intellectualssome of them even rude and many very penetrating, but to each one Panditji had his own answer and always a convincing one because he had studied deep about our own country, its past and present, its difficulties and how those difficulties should be solved.

Glowed with Pride

And to see Panditji at close quarters replying to searching questions was a rare privilege for us, young Indian students; he was always at his best with such an audiencesoft and pleasant in his answers but firm and clear on all matters of principle. And we glowed with pride at a leader who could so impress all he met.

I remember at the end of this meeting how each person who had come (and there were some twenty intellectuals sitting in my room on that evening) said their farewells most warmly and expressed the hope that they would be able to meet him again and learn more. And the impression he created on all of us, the Indian students there: we became his warmest admirers for all would like a leader so steeped in humanism and so informal, and friendly to all.

Another sidelight of his visit during that period too cannot be forgottena meeting that was organised by the Left Book Club in Queens Hall in London. Panditji was due to speak there on the Indian struggle for freedom and all of us, young ardent fighters in the cause of Indian freedom as we were, had worked to our bare bones to make that meeting successful! We went around here and there, covering students, intellectuals, workers, trade unions, Left Book Club Groups and others, rallying people for the meeting and we were immensely proud that our leader was addressing, by London standards, a huge meeting in that famous Hall.

And we expected in response a powerful oratorical denunciation of British Rule from our beloved leader, Pandit Jawaharlal. When Panditji came on to the platform, all the audience applauded him to the skies because he symbolised the new India that was rising to its feet after years of oppression. But Panditji, instead of starting with a powerful denunciation of British Rule which was what persons like myself expected, began with a 20-minute introduction on Mohen-jodaro, on the Indus civilisation which was one of the cradles of world civilisation over 5000 years ago, on the greatness of Indian culture and the wonderful genius of the Indian people. Young students like myself were getting impatient asking why he was wasting so much time and not coming to the pointthe difficulties and sufferings of the Indian people and their heroic struggle for freedom. Later, of course, he came to that point but we still had a sense of dissatisfaction at the back of our mind that so much time had been wasted by him.

Warm Appreciation

And yet, we were wrong; because after the meeting was over and when mixing among the audience I found many of the British audience had warmly appreciated the first part of his speech for they had been educated with the knowledge that their forebears were barbarians in the forests who knew nothing of civilised life, when the Indian people were building such a magnificent civilisation as that of Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

The next time I met Panditji was when I came to India in the summer of 1937 as the emissary of Indian students in England and Europe to the All India Students Federation. I was touring around India and went to Allahabad and stayed with him at Anand Bhavan. He told me a lot at that time about our country and to enrich my understanding he gave me his book India and the World which I still treasure with me.

After this throughout the years after my return to India, I used to meet him both for our political work and as a family friend. But it will take too long to describe all those meetings.

Nature Unchanged

Instead let me take him after he became our Prime Minister. For his appointment to high office never changed the nature of the man. He remained yet the true son of India, the ardent fighter for Indian progress and socialism. But he was always heavily overburdened with work and in the last years, the weight of this work sat very heavily on him.

I remember even now the last time that I had met himin June 1963. I had come back from my visit to the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Hungary and though I was only for two days in Delhi and he was full of work yet he gave me timenearly an hour. I told him in detail about the reactions in Eastern Europe to our policies and the widespread sympathy for India. And only once he spoke himselfto say in bitter sorrow: How I worked for friendship between India and China, fought for Chinas legitimate interests in the worldand aggression was my reward! How heavily he felt what to him was betrayal and nothing less.

But for the rest, as was the custom with him after he became Prime Minister, he used the time compelling me to talk but expressing himself very little. It was as though once he took up the work of government, he looked on all of us whom he had known well for many years as his listening posts, who had to bring to him the reactions of the wide world, of his own people and peoples of other countries.

He never used to speak very much when I met him in this later period except questions here and there so as to enable me to clarify whatever I wanted to say; but he was also never troubled if what I said was very critical of governmental policy because he was not anxious to get from me approval of the achievements of government. On the contrary, he was interested to know from me what people were thinking of the government, its policies and actions and he always listened most patiently to all I said.

Ominous Quietness

But as I left him on this last occasion, I felt even then I was leaving one who would not be long with us. He looked so wan and tired; so heavily overburdened; the sparkle that always lit up his face had dimmed; and the quickly changing reactions always obvious on his so mobile a face were no longer there; he seemed to listen with an ominous quietnessso I felt on that last occasion.

For all of us therefore who have known him over our entire political life, it was a heavy and rude blow when he left us six months ago. Of course, the time had come, in a sense, because he has served his country well over half a century and the hard toil and work of service had taken their toll of his strength and he was bound to go one day or anoher as the successive illnesses of the last two years had warned us.

I remember in 1960 when he sent word through my father to ask me why I had not come to meet him for long; of course, the reason was that I felt that I was far too small and he was far too important and busy and hence I never troubled him.

But when I did go to see him and as we were going up the stairs to his room with my father in front, in a most friendly manner, he turned round and put his hand on my shoulders and asked, Anything personal, Mohan? What else did he mean by using the word personal except that he was ready to hear any Communist criticism which I might not find easy to express in the presence of my father about the political developments in our country? So it was, that he remembered each one of us who came in touch with him and retained his personal friendship with all of us till his last days.

(Mainstream, November 21, 1964)

The author, a legal luminary and Communist leader, was the Advocate General for Madras (1966-67). He subsequently joined the Indian National Congress before becoming the Union Minister for Steel and Mines on his election to the Lok Sabha in 1971. He died a tragic death due to an air crash on May 31, 1973.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Border Confrontation Once Again

China does it again. It helps a well-known terrorist to escape the punishment. Azar Masood, a first rank terrorist, was sought to be banned by the UN. Beijing used its veto so that he stays free. This time it was not a casual move but a deliberate act on the part of Beijing.

The 1962 attack by China on India when Beijing pulverised the Indian troops in Aksai Chin looked only a probe to register its presence. But it turned out to be a full-fledged attack. In the same way, Chinese troops would appear here and there without occupying the territory. Full marks to Beijings arrogance. It would summon the envoy and convey its displeasure, nothing beyond. Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Arunachal Pradesh was not long ago. However, it brought the issue to the fore. The territory which is part of India was never claimed by China.

The reality is, however, different. Beijing told our ambassador Ashok Kantha that Modis visit undermined Chinas territorial sovereignty right and interests. Not long ago, Beijing had begun stapling visas of the people of Arunachal visiting China to indicate that it was a separate territory and not a part of India. Only a few days ago did Modi say publicly that the land was Indias.

New Delhi bore the humiliation quietly then as it has done now. This is, however, the first time that Beijing has publicly expressed its unhappiness. Yet in the past China had accepted without demur the maps showing Arunachal Pradesh as Indias territory. The dispute has been over a small territory lying between Arunachal and Chinas border. The status of Arunachal has been seldom questioned.

Again, it is a part of arrogance when the important message is conveyed through Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, who says: Modis visit undermined Chinas territorial sovereignty. Such act by the Indian side amplified differences between the two countries on the border issue and thus went against the principles and consensus that the two sides reached on properly addressing the issue.

You will be reborn in Free Tibet, wrote the Dalai Lama in a note he left for the ailing George Fernandes, former Defence Minister, who openly championed the cause of independent Tibet. The Dalai Lama was then under the threat of some Chinese nationals who, according to Indias intelligence agencies, had sneaked into the country to kill him. New Delhis concern over the Dalai Lamas safety is in contrast to its dead silence over the indiscriminate killings of monks in Tibet.

Tibet is like Indias Kashmir which too has raised the standard of independence. There is, however, one difference: the Dalai Lama is willing to accept an autonomous state within China. Kashmir wants independence for the Valley. Maybe, the Kashmiris will come round to accepting a similar status one day. The problem is so complicated that a minor change can lead to a major catastrophe. It is not worth risking.

I have visited Bum La Pass from where the Dalai Lama entered India to seek asylum. His land, Tibet, has been occupied by the Chinese who also have destroyed their culture. The Chinese imposed communism and had no respect for either the Dalai Lama or his monastery. Recently the Dalai Lamas visit to Arunachal Pradesh has brought back the memories of the days when the Chinese annexed Tibet. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias first Prime Minister, did not raise any objection because he was then on personal terms with Chinese Premier Chou Enlai. It is another story that he (Chou) betrayed Nehru.

True, Tibet was under the suzerainty of Beijing but the autonomy of Tibet was considered unviable. Suzerainty means a government exercising political control over a dependent state. Suzerainty does not translate into absorption. Tibet was not even a part of China but India agreed to the suzerainty part. Beijing betrayed Nehru again when it made the Dalai Lamas stay in Lhasa impossible. The biggest betrayal was when China attacked India eight years later in 1962.

The Dalai Lamas visit may not have raised doubts about Tibet but it renewed the debate of its annexation by Beijing once again. It warned India that the Dalai Lamas visit would affect the normal relations between the two countries.

It was heartening to see that India did not pay attention and went ahead to bless his visit. I cannot understand why Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had to emphasise that the Dalai Lamas visit was purely religious. It was up to the Dalai Lama to tell what led him to undertake the trip to Arunachal.

The rift between India and China is all about the latters claim over Arunachal Pradesh. China had for long been claiming this Indian State to be its territory and referring it to be the abode of the spiritual leader. Hence, the visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunchal would not be in its interest because they regard him as a separatist.

China has been trying to project the Dalai Lama as a political entity. We dont have any intention of engaging with the Dalai Lama so as to irritate China, says the Minister. The spiritual leader, during his week-long stay, is expected to conduct religious discourses in Tawang, Bomdila and other areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

In fact, Chinas problems with India have their roots in the British demarcation of the India-China border. Even today, China refuses to acknowledge the MacMahon Line that demarcates Arunachal Pradesh to be a part of India. Any activity that takes place in this area is viewed skeptically. A visit by Indian diplomats had flared up the issue in the past.

While China has often called on countries not to host the Dalai Lama, it has adopted a different approach towards India, knowing well how sentimentally Hindus are attached to Buddhism and the Dalai Lama. Beijing wants him to be confined to Dharamshala where he and his followers have settled since 1959. That the Dalai Lama has still visited Arunachal Pradesh goes to show New Delhis realisation that it has military strength. It was a different story in 1962 when soldiers did not have even shoes for a mountain combat. India is now a power to reckon with.

The author is a veteran journalist renowned not only in this country but also in our neighbouring states of Pakistan and Bangladesh where his columns are widely read. His website is www.kuldipnayar.com
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Hindutvas attempt to Polarise Gods Own Country

by Ram Puniyani

Earlier in the year (2017) BJP President Amit Shah had launched a Jan Suraksha Yatra, a two-week programme to highlight the death of RSS workers in Kerala. Many BJP dignitaries (twelve Union Ministers and five Chief Ministers) participated in this. The one who made big news was Yogi Adityanath. The slogan of Amit Shah was that the CPM has been indulging in political violence, which has led to the death of RSS workers in Kannur-Kerala. He wanted to draw the attention of the people to the Jihadi-Red terror in Kerala. Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of UP, was offering advises to Kerala about health care and administration. This did reflect his audacity as we have recently seen the death of a number of children in a Gorakhpur hospital due to lack of oxygen in the hospital. The Chief Minister of such a State offering advice to Kerala is one among the many ludicrous acts of the Yogi, as Kerala tops in the welfare indices in the whole country.

The whole propaganda unleashed by the BJP is reflective of the pattern of their politics. The statistics shows that during the last seventeen years, the number of political deaths in Kerala are as follows: those dying from the CPM-85, RSS-65, Muslim League and Congress-11 each. Kannur has seen the rivalry between the CPM and RSS, in which at frequent intervals the political workers have been killed from both the sections. Shahs attempt to show that it is the RSS workers alone who are being killed is a fake breast-beating. He knows well that the CPM workers have also been killed. The RSS cabal as such has built itself up around identity issues which have led to massive killings. Leave apart the earlier issues raised by the RSS-BJP, the latest such have been the Ram Temple and Holy Cow. Both these issues have led to violence and killings. The RSS combine has been deflecting the blame on the victims in a clever manner. It delves on selective presentation of facts, raising of emotions and consequent violence.

In MP it tried to consolidate its position by raising the issue of the Kamaal Maula Masjid (Bhoj Shala), in Karnataka it raised the issue of Baba Budan Giri (calling it Datta Peetham). Capitalisation of issues around identity is the speciality of the RSS combine. Can their ploy succeed in Kerala? Kerala is one place where the represen-tation of different religious commu-nities is matching. The first Christian commu-nity begins on the Malabar coast, with the coming of St. Thomas in AD 52, establishment of a series of Churches and the beginning of the Christian community. The Arab traders have been coming for trade all through and from the seventh century onwards Islam comes. The first mosque, Cheraman Jumma Mosque, also came up in Kerala. While Amit Shah thrives on dividing the communities along religious lines, Kerala has been the place of inter-community harmony from ages.

Also, Kerala is a place where social reform has been in the forefront. Its here that the great social reformer, Narayan Guru, preached for a casteless society, equal respect for all castes by establishing temples where people from all castes were welcome. The same Narayan Guru also organised the first Parliament of Religions, breaking the religious divides to build one Humanity. The Communist Government of Namboodiripad later launched land reforms, rare in other parts of the country, to bring in economic succour for the landless peasants. This is what laid the foundation for other changes making Kerala the Number One State in social development indices.

The attempt to communalise Kerala has been very intense on the part of the BJP-RSS, it has been raising the issue of love-jihad on a regular basis. Many investigations by police authorities have concluded that there is no organised attempt to woo Hindu-Christian girls to convert them into Islam. It is an occasional case of inter-religious marriage. It is the harmony and bonding of inter-community relations to which the Amit Shah tribe is opposed, leading to harassment of girls and torture of the boys, who happen to choose their life partners of their free will.

Amit Shah has not only been sowing the divisive seeds through his efforts, he has also been highlighting the Brahmanical nature of his politics. On Pongal, the biggest festival of Kerala, he brought out posters celebrating Waman, calling the festival as Waman Jayanti, wished the people of Kerala happy Waman Jayanti. The legend is that King Mahabali was killed through deceit by Waman, the Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Pongal as such is regarded as King Mahabali visiting his subject once in a year. The legend goes that the king belonged to a low caste, and treated all the castes with same respect.

While the BJP has been going strong guns in different parts of the country by its tactics of promoting sectarianism and subtle Brahma-nism, it is unlikely that Kerala, the very enlightened State, with better social welfare and amity, will fall prey to Shahs tactics. He has been labelling the violence as Red-Jihadi violence; by calling it so he wants to kill two birds with a single stone. Kerala has a large Muslim population; the word jihadi is to demonise them. It is likely that this time around these tactics will boomerang on the saffron party as Kerala is the bastion of social reform and political awareness. While the RSS has been coming up here for the last many decades, its political child, the BJP, has not been able to make any headway barring one seat in the Assembly. One knows that there is a rise in the BJPs electoral votes lately, but whether that trend can grow is a matter of conjecture and depends on how the CPM and other parties respond to these attempts by the BJP and company.

It is heartening to know that the Left parties have kicked off yatras,Jan Jagrata Yatra (Peoples awareness), to promote the democratic values. Also, it seems that the Congress (UDF) is also planning yatras. It is time for these elements to wake up to the fact that they need to coordinate their efforts to save communal amity. Their coordination on this will help matters a great deal.

The author, a retired Professor at the IIT-Bombay, is currently associated with the Centre for the Study of Secularism and Society, Mumbai.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Targeting Chidambaram a Political Ploy

So what has Shri Chidambaram said that is so new or offensive? In saying that most Kashmiris who speak of Azaadi are, in his estimation, seeking greater autonomy for the State, Chidambaramji has only voiced a common enough perceptionone that has been expressed by sundry commentators scores of times during the recent past. And, further, in expressing his support for exploring such autnomy as was promised to the State during the Constitution-making years, he has only lent support to what mainstream political formations in the State have often reiterated as being a minimal condition for obtaining a lasting political modus vivendi between the State and the Union.

The question must be asked as to why such a course that will leave the Accession of the State to the Republic of India in place while not rescinding the Special Status constitu-tionally guaranteed to Jammu and Kashmir and reassuring Kashmiris of a genuinely democratic future is such a bad thing to talk about. Especially when a coercively integrationist approach pushed by military muscle has failed yet again to persuade Kashmiris that they had better climb the nationalist bandwagon, or else... Let it be recalled that the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution in 2001 seeking parliamentary reiteration of Autonomy for the State. Clearly, if Shri Chidambaram is heinously culpable for having expressed his view in favour of exploring this course, the whole Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, a duly elected body we may remind ourselves, may also be held culpable on the same grounds. It is to be doubted that Shri Modi would call the J and K Assembly shameless as he has chosen to call Shri Chidambram. The conclusion must be inevitable that the loss of confidence of the ruling BJP in regard to the forthcoming elections to the Gujarat Assembly has been causing some pretty nervous and intemperate articulation from the scions of the party, since there is nothing new or offensive about what Shri Chidambaram has said. His statement most clearly includes the phrase that Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India.

The sad fact is that the establishment in Delhi is pretty clueless about what to do in Kashmir, appointment of the Special Representative notwithstanding. Its war cries to the contrary, the phase of strong-arm tactics initiated with the famous surgical strike has clearly petered out to a stalemate, even as there have been more militant attacks and greater firing from across the Line of Control. However much the State unit of the BJP might seek to force the issue on Article 370, the Modi Government knows that rescinding this Article is easier said than done, both constitu-tionally and politically. Nor is it likely that the Supreme Court, which is due to hear the petition against the continuance of Article 35 A as we write, will order a sudden and decisive cancellation of this provision, opening the flood-gates for a demographic infusion into the Valley; or that, even if the Court were to make some observation conducive to Delhi, this would not lead to further turmoil in the State.

These convoluted contexts render the task of the Special Representative, Shri Dineshwar Sharma, unenviable indeed. What new ideas may he come up with beyond the known positions of various stakeholders to the issue? Indeed, if there is one course that has the promise of offering a start, it is an all-stakeholder Round Table that may jointly explore acceptable democratic options of which Autonomy is a prime idea, given that the Delhi Agreement of 1952 had clearly recorded the mutually agreed upon contours of the axes of relationship between Centre and the State.

If Shri Chidambaram has articulated such a possibility he has done so in the best interests of national unity. Only a very perverse and self-regarding politics could view his initiative as inimical to such unity.

The author, who taught English literature at the University of Delhi for over four decades and is now retired, is a prominent writer and poet. A well-known commentator on politics, culture and society, he wrote the much acclaimed Dickens and the Dialectic of Growth. His book, The Underside of ThingsIndia and the World: A Citizens Miscellany, 2006-2011, came out in August 2012. Thereafter he wrote two more books, Idea of India Hard to Beat: Republic Resilient and Kashmir: A Noble Tryst in Tatters.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Demonetisation after One Year

EDITORIAL

The first anniversary of demonetisation has been observed across the country.

Almost a month after demonetisation it was written in these columns on December 1, 2016:

...the words of two leading Indian economists in the USNobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Prof Pranab Bardhanassume extraordinary significance. Prof Sen categorically states that demonetisation was a despotic action as it undermines notes,... bank accounts, the entire economy of trust, adding: Only an authoritarian government can calmly cause such misery on the people. And Prof Bardhan observes: Apart from the tremendous hardship that the poor people are going through, the large informal sector in the economy will find it very difficult and time-consuming to recover from this big blow.

Today after a year those words stand vindicated. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on November 7 came out with a spirited defence of Narendra Modis demonetisation announcement on November 8, 2016 calling it a watershed moment for the Indian economy. However, it was a laboured endeavour on his part as he claimed, without any convincing proof, that not only did it change the agenda but also made corruption difficult. Thus, in his opinion, it was not only a morally and ethically correct step but also politically correct.

On the other side, noted CPI-M leader T.M. Thomas Isaac, who is currently the Finance Minister of Kerala, has mocked at the entire process by pointing out:

The voodoo economics of Narendra Modi sucked out 86 per cent of the currency and it took nearly a year to replenish the same...

....the voodoo economists believed that the rich with black money would not dare to deposit it in banks. A figure of Rs 3-4 lakh crore, it was assumed, would not return to the banks and would consequently reduce the liabilities of the RBI resulting in a windfall gain to the RBI and to the Central Government. I have heard this personally from the highest levels of the Central Government. But what is the outcome after one year? 98.96 per cent of all Specified Bank Notes (SBNs) have already come back and the RBI is still counting.

And Salman Anees Soz, who was formerly with the World Bank and is now a Congress member, has brought into the focus the wanton attack on the informal economy by the demonetisation drive that also failed to generate jobs:

As opposed to a surgical strike on black money, demonetisation turned into a carpet-bombing of the informal economy.

At the same time, in a brilliant piece the Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, has written:

Demonetisation was an ill-conceived step, a revolution that was not going to succeed, because it was, above all, an act of hubris. It was part of a political imagination that is closer to a technocratic authoritarianism: Combining great faith in technology with state power.

The overall negative impact of demonetisation has affected the people in general and the common man in particular. The GST has also had a definite adverse effect on the public at large. This, according to observers, will be reflected in the Gujarat Assembly elections. And this the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo is well aware of. That is why the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to reverse the trend. The question now is: in the face of the heavy odds would it be able to repeat its UP Assembly victory in Gujarat?

November 9 s.c.
About 14 people have been displaced from their homes by a three-alarm fire in Holyoke Saturday morning.

Firefighters responded to a row of townhouses on Newton Street shortly after 5 a.m. to find heavy smoke billowing from the windows of 113 Newton Street. Holyoke Fire Capt. Kevin Cavagnac said in a statement.

Crews immediately called for a second alarm, and then called for a third alarm as efforts to fight the fire progressed through the morning.

South Hadley, Chicopee and Westover firefighters responded to provide assistance.

Four townhouses were affected by the fire, which was still burning in parts of the roof and attic as of 8 a.m., Cavagnac said.

The American Red Cross is offering assistance to people displaced by the blaze.

MassLive has reached out to the Holyoke Fire Department for additional information.
FRAMINGHAM -- A Framingham firefighter is being held without the right to bail after he was arraigned on an armed robbery charge Friday in connection with the robbery of a Natick bank.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement that Michael Espinosa, 34, of Framingham, was charged with robbing the Worcester Street Citizens Bank branch Thursday.

Espinosa is a nine-year veteran of the Framingham Fire Department, The Metro West Daily News reported.

Ryan said that Espinosa was ordered by Framingham District Court Judge Martine Carroll to be held in the Middlesex County Jail pending a dangerousness hearing Nov. 16.

Authorities said a man wearing a hat and sunglasses and fitting Espinosa's description entered the Citizens Bank branch in the Stop and Shop supermarket on Worcester Street in Natick at about 11:14 a.m. Thursday, demanded cash from a teller and told her he was carrying a gun. No firearm was shown during the robbery, police said.

Police said the robber fled the bank with about $1,000 in cash. As he drove from the scene, police said bank surveillance video showed the getaway car, and it matched Espinosa's.

Police secured a search warrant for Espinosa's home at 41 Saint Lo Road in Framingham and at about 10 p.m. he was arrested nearby, the Metro West Daily News reported.
SPRINGFIELD -- It wasn't just the 336 packets of heroin and cocaine that police allegedly found after pulling over Bienvenido Escalera's SUV, a prosecutor said Friday.

Three loaded Glock firearms -- a 9 mm, a 40 mm and a 45 mm -- were discovered in a backpack in the backseat, along with nine high-capacity feeding devices, Assistant District Attorney Frederick Burns added.

Escalera, 33, of Springfield, pleaded not guilty in Springfield District Court to 19 charges, including possession of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, each with intent to distribute; possession of three firearms without FID cards; unlawful possession of ammunition; and nine counts of possession of a high-capacity feeding device.

Escalera was the target of an investigation by city and federal narcotics detectives that included surveillance and information from a confidential informant, Burns said. He was arrested after a traffic stop Thursday afternoon, and his apartment on Spring Street was searched later, Burns said.

The prosecutor requested $500,000 cash bail, citing the combination of drugs and firearms seized, plus $6,000 in cash found in the defendant's safe. One of the magazines seized could hold 30 rounds of ammunition, Burns added.

Defense lawyer Daniel Bergin called the prosecution's request excessive, and asked for $10,000 bail instead. "That is a significant amount of money for his family to post, if they are able to post it," Bergin said.

Escalera has no criminal record, lives with his mother and two children and, until recently, worked for a staffing agency, Bergin said.

"There is nothing in the police report to justify that amount of bail," Bergin said.

Judge William Rota set bail at $100,000, and continued the case for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 11.
TEWKSBURY - A 6 a.m. raid on an Ames Hill Road home in Tewksbury surprised three residents as police scooped up more than two pounds of cocaine and more than a pound of fentanyl Thursday, the result of months-long investigations into large-scale drug enterprises.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced the raid in a written statement, saying the raid resulted in the "seizure of this massive quantity of ... fentanyl and cocaine in Tewksbury."

Officers from Tewksbury and Billerica, agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Massachusetts State Police detectives attached to Ryan's office executed a search warrant at the home of Wilson Soto, 49, Christina Richardson, 48, and Soto's son, Yojanel Soto, 20. All three were arrested after police found the first amounts of illicit drugs.

A 9-month old child was found in the home and was turned over to the custody of a relative.

Searchers initially found 950 grams of cocaine and 86 grams of fentanyl, along with $8,000 in cash when they executed a search warrant on the dwelling at 412 Ames Hill Road.

However, a second search warrant for a vehicle parked at the home resulted in an additional 558 grams of fentanyl and 99 grams of cocaine seized.

In all, 1,014 grams of cocaine, or slightly more than a kilogram, and 558 grams of fentanyl were found. Ryan estimated the street value of the drugs at more than $100,000.

Wilson Soto was charged with trafficking over 200 grams of cocaine, trafficking in fentanyl, conspiracy to violate drug laws, identity fraud and possession a false RMV document. Judge John Coffey set bail at $500,000 cash, with the condition that should Soto make bail he would have to wear an electronic GPS bracelet, remain under house arrest and turn in any passports.

Christina Richardson was charged with trafficking more than 3200 grams of cocaine, trafficking fentanyl and conspiracy to violate drug laws. She was ordered held in lieu of $25,000 cash. She, too, must wear a monitoring bracelet and remain under house arrest if she makes bail.

Yojanel Soto was arraigned on charges of trafficking over 200 grams of cocaine, trafficking in fentanyl and conspiracy to violate drug laws. he was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.

All three are expected back in court December 14.
SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield teenager arrested with two juveniles after a brief police chase was released Friday after a brief lecture from a judge.

"What were you doing out at 2 a.m. with those knuckleheads?" Judge William Rota asked 18-year-old Antonio Vega during his arraignment in Springfield District Court.

Vega had just pleaded not guilty to three firearms charges filed after Springfield police pulled over a vehicle he was riding in around 2 a.m. Friday in the Liberty Heights neighborhood.

The vehicle, operating without tail lights, headlights or a valid registration, was stopped on Penacook Street after making an illegal left turn, according to the arrest report. The three occupants -- Vega; the driver, a 16-year-old with no license; and another 16-year-old -- attempted to jump out, but stopped when Officer Joshua Dufresne ordered them back into the car, the report said.

Moments later, the car began pulling away, followed by a cruiser; the car slammed on its brakes, causing a minor collision with the cruiser, before continuing on down the street, the report said.

"Let it be noted that our speeds were approximately 5 mph to 10 mph at this point," Dufresne wrote in the report.

The vehicle attempted to make a sharp turn onto Governor Street, but was blocked by a parked car and eventually came to a stop; all three passengers were arrested, and a loaded .40 caliber handgun was found under the front seat, the report said.

Vega, the front seat passenger, and the juvenile riding in the back seat were both charged with receiving a firearm with a defaced serial number; possession of a high capacity feeding device, and possession of ammunition without an FID card.

The same charges were filed against the driver, along with failure to stop for police; reckless operation of a motor vehicle; driving without a license and operating an unregistered vehicle.

In court, defense lawyer Bruce Colton said Vega was a passenger in the car and had no connection to the gun under the driver's seat. He asked for Vega's release on personal recognizance, saying there was no evidence his client had done anything wrong.

Rota agreed, although he questioned the defendant's judgement and choice of company. He released Vega without cash bail and continued the case for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 15.

The judge also warned Vega he could be held without right to bail if he is arrested again before the case is resolved.
WESTFIELD -- The Westfield State University Education Department has called for a campus-wide walk out Tuesday in response to recently reported hate crimes.

The Education Department has urged all other departments to join in the walk out, which is set to take place at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Individuals partaking in the event will gather on the green and walk to the Horace Mann building, which houses the President's Office.

Barbara J. Goff, a professor of special education, said the walk out looks to show support for those impacted by the recent incidents.

"We want the entire WSU student community to know that faculty stand with them in solidarity against the racist words and acts that have been occurring on their campus," she said.

WSU students have reported at least three racially spurred hate crimes since the start of the academic year, including earlier this month when a female minority student reported being physically and verbally assaulted while walking between Bates and Wilson halls.

Three males reportedly approached the woman from behind and the shoulder of one of the males "checked or bumped her," knocking her backpack to the ground, according to a statement issued by WSU

A second male then reportedly kicked the backpack and a third male "made a threatening racist comment to her."

Anti-Semitic symbols and racial slurs, meanwhile, were found this month defacing a number of walls and one whiteboard in Scanlon Hall.

In September, an investigation into "discriminatory and highly offensive language" was conducted after a student reported finding a racial slur on her door.

A senior at Westfield State shared a photo on social media alleging someone wrote "n****** live here" on a name tag taped to her door. The alleged incident reportedly happened in New Hall, a housing complex on campus for sophomore, junior and senior students.

The black student tagged the college and Westfield State President Ramon S. Torrecilha in the post and received a quick response.

In response to the reported incidents, faculty members have joined together to call for action from the university.

"The Education Department has drafted a number of demands for immediate and preventative actions to ensure the safety of our students of color and others who have recently been targeted based on religion and sexual orientation and identity," Goff said.

Torrecilha issued a Nov. 9 statement to the campus outlining what he called "progress notes" in response to the incidents.

Increased security, in conjunction with Massachusetts State Police, camera installation, creation of a Bias Incident Response Team, increased counseling opportunities, mandatory residence hall workshops and a hotline are some of the ways Torrecilha said WSU is responding.

Torrecilha added that a formal Request for Proposal will be issued next week for a consultant for campus climate and culture.

"We are seeking the consultant to assess our campus-wide diversity and inclusion efforts; recommend a structure and coordination to move forward; and generate long-term strategies," Torrecilha stated.

The WSU president thanked faculty and students for their support and said there was more work to do.

"I realize that there is plenty more to do given the continued bias incidents," he said. "However, your collective support and collaboration underscores the strength of our academic environment and our university's ability to offer critical, positive teachable moments in the wake of acts inspired by hate and intolerance."
HOLYOKE -- Massachusetts State Police Colonel Richard McKeon "made a mistake," and his decision to retire "in the grand scheme of things, is probably the best thing for the organization," Gov. Charlie Baker said Friday.

McKeon stepped down Friday following allegations he ordered state troopers to remove embarrassing details from an arrest report for a judge's daughter.

A lawsuit filed Nov. 7 by Trooper Ryan Sceviour alleges supervisors forced Sceviour to edit an arrest report involving Alli Bibaud, the daughter of Judge Timothy Bibaud.

The lawsuit alleged Sceviour was told to remove Bibaud's remarks about performing sex acts for drugs, and that he and a second trooper were disciplined for including the statements in the original report.

Baker said the "observation reports" that were part of the disciplinary process were removed from the two troopers' personnel files.

Baker said he has also asked that Massachusetts State Police conduct a review of their policies, procedures and protocols associated with arrest reports.

"There are circumstances and situations where they do remove information from arrest reports that aren't consistent with the charges being brought," Baker said, adding that in such cases, both reports would go to defense attorneys, judges and prosecutors.

"But in this particular case, it appeared to be an unfair situation, and I think the colonel made a mistake," the governor said.

Baker spoke with reporters at the Holyoke Soldiers Home, where he visited with veterans Friday evening.

McKeon joined the State Police in 1982. Before becoming superintendent and colonel, he was deputy commander of the division of investigative services. In 2011, he was captain and unit commander for the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney's Office in Auburn.

"The past few days have been difficult for the MSP and for me, in particular. We have always been highly scrutinized for how we perform our duties, as any police agency should be, and these last few days have been no exception," McKeon wrote in a statement. "That public examination, while sometimes uncomfortable, comes with the great authority bestowed upon us, and we must always pay attention to how we are perceived by those whom we serve and protect."

Gintautus Dumcius contributed reporting.
Discussions with my colleague the Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ditmir Bushati, began yesterday morning. We will continue the discussions tomorrow, before flying to Brussels, where the EU Foreign Affairs Council will be meeting.

We are discussing open issues, as we want to resolve them today so that we can develop prospects for tomorrow. In parallel to this very intensive and continuous work, we decided to visit the site where Zeus was born and to where he abducted the beautiful Europa.

It is in Europes birthplace, essentially, that my colleague the Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and I are working. We want Albania, too, to become a member state of the EU.

It was an honour to be welcomed by the Mayor and the residents. Our guests will be visiting the Cave of Zeus. Afterwards, we will supper here on the plateau and then return to continue our talks.
We have noticed a disturbing trend in recent elections regarding our local schools. Bond issues have failed in the North Huron, Ubly and Vassar school districts. Building, technology and playground upgrades have gone unsupported (though, usually by a slim margin of votes).

We understand that establishing or raising taxes is not popular today. Yet, schools like North Huron weren't seeking new funding or an increase in taxes. As explained in a town hall meeting and news articles leading up to Tuesday's election, voters would have been paying less than what they currently were for the North Huron proposal.

But voters don't attend town hall meetings in large numbers. They don't read news articles like they used to. And laws have been passed restricting things like a school's ability to reach out to local voters.

As a result, we're a less-informed population, and we are slowly losing the big picture that our entire community benefits from good schools.

There has been an ongoing exodus of young people from the Upper Thumb. It makes sense that many relocate to go to college. But, few come home after they complete their higher education.

Poor schools are a good way to ensure that this will continue.

Flourishing schools, however, attract families and businesses to the area. And that's good for everyone.

We fear voters are starting to care more about money than schools as we evolve from a "we" society to a "me" society.

How are we going to explain to our children that their opportunities are diminishing because our neighbors are stingy?

Even if one does not have children or grandchildren in the local school system, it still behooves everyone to have good schools because an educated society is a strong society.

Homeowners pay for schools taxes based on the value of their home. So people of modest income and renters pay very little on an annual basis. And, in the case of North Huron, middle class homeowners would have only paid the cost of about three extra large pizzas a year. What's three pizzas compared to a stronger school  a stronger society?

Please be informed. Vote. And support your local school district, before it's too late.
Many of us are facing major medical problems.

We look for what appears to be medical miracles and are amazed when we find them. Long lines are forming to receive such miracles.

Advancements in the fields of medicine are occurring faster than the patients who are being served can keep up with. Surgical options expand rapidly and new surgeries, unheard of only a few months ago, are being performed daily. It is seldom that a new procedure fails. In the past, failures were quite common.

Today's surgeons are specialist and many work in groups. I was recently directed to visit a specific cardiologist at Henry Ford Hospital who was said to be "renowned" in his field. I have to define the word used to describe him because it really covers what I encountered.

The definition of renowned is: Famous, acclaimed, distinguished, prominent, known far and wide, well-thought of and celebrated.

I was told the physician I would see was capable of correcting a heart problem I had been experiencing since I was a small boy.

I learned there would be a very lengthy wait to get an appointment with the doctor it was suggested I visit. My local primary care doctor, however, was an associate of the cardiologist so with his assistance, I was able to get an early appointment.

During my first visit to his office, he agreed with numerous doctors regarding the type of surgery I would need.

All of the doctors I encountered, down through the years, would comment after listening to my heart, "Someday you will need a valve job."

After taking his turn to listen, the doctor was amazed that I had been able to wait so long. He explained it would take two procedures to complete my heart valve replacement. I had numerous test done and was given a date for the first of two surgeries I would require.

The first procedure took only a few hours and in two days, I was back home. I had learned there was an extensive team of doctors participating in my surgery. They had met and discussed the second phase of my valve replacement, which was to take place in four to six weeks. A week after I returned home, Pat went in for a routine heart catheterization procedure which she has done every few years. This time it was not so routine  she had to have triple vessel by-pass, a really big deal.

The good news was she too was able to have a renowned surgeon do her heart repair.

I continued my wait while visiting Pat in the hospital and was happy to have her back home while the rest of the time passed. I was contacted and told my doctors determined a problem could be encountered if the standard valve placement was made. They asked that I have additional testing done so they could use an alternative procedure, which would involve adding additional doctors to my team.

The surgeon who would perform the initial placement of my new valve through my carotid artery was yet another renowned physician. Because of the type of surgery I underwent, strong anesthesia was necessary, which was troublesome. I was still able to go home after only two days, and Pat and I are both working on a full recovery, which I will tell you about in my next column.

As I see it, if there is a group of doctors gathered around you for a surgery and one of them is renowned, they may spot a small event occurring that could be disastrous if gone unnoticed. We both feel extremely fortunate to have been able to have world famous physicians work on our hearts. I really don't think the cost is affected by their reputations. I assume they get paid the same as their colleagues. It just was a real comfort as we went through a couple of life-threatening surgeries to know we had the very best working on us.

Speaking of the best  as you read your paper this weekend, reflect that Nov. 11 is a day set aside since 1918 at the end of World War I to honor our veterans. Let's all appreciate the great contributions made by them on our behalf. If you encounter a veteran, you may wish to thank them for their service. I know I do.



Capt. Fred Davis is a retired charter captain and nationally published author of boating articles. His "As I See It" columns appear Saturday in the Huron Daily Tribune.
A couple weeks ago, the vice president of vertical strategy development for Hearst newspapers was in town, and he asked me about my newsroom's disaster reporting plan.

It wasn't a long discussion, because quite frankly, we don't have one.

We should, as we have learned disaster can happen anywhere. Sandy Hook really drove that point home.

So that's what our newsroom was thinking about as we held a preliminary brainstorming session to decide how we would respond to such an attack. We briefly mapped out a plan for further discussion, and put the topic on a shelf for another week's staff meeting.

Then a few days later, it happened again.

This time it wasn't at an elementary school, yet small lives were lost nonetheless. And in a place of worship, no less.

The fact that the tragedy that transpired in Sutherland Springs on Sunday was not the first mass shooting to take place in a U.S. church doesn't make this any less heart-breaking.

And people should be offended. We should not shrug it off as a new normal. The idea that this is business as usual was a topic of an editorial cartoon that appeared in Tuesday's opinion page.

One of our regular syndicated political cartoonists, Jeff Stahler, etched an image of a florist shop offering a mass shooting special.

We debated running the cartoon, as we were concerned readers would take offense.

So why did we run it? Because we thought readers should be offended. Not by this man's pen, but by America's new normal. We now live in an America where Columbine is no longer in the Top 10 of our nation's mass shootings.

We live in an America where we time and time again say: It's a mental health problem, not a gun problem.

But do we do anything to stop arming the mentally ill? Nothing. Not a thing.

I'm sure some people may be upset by this column, but to them I say join the club. We're all upset in some fashion. And we're all at risk. Because it can happen here. The worst can happen at our local elementary school or at our Sunday church gathering. And Congress doesn't have the will or the stomach to even try to tackle gun violence in America.

I'm not saying take away people's God-given rights to bear arms. I'm saying stop the proliferation of assault rifles in the United States of America. Have Congress get to work on common sense mental health reform  and gun control that includes magazine restrictions.

But, as some have noted, if change didn't come after Sandy Hook, it's not going to happen now.

And I find that offensive.

Kate Hessling is the editor of the Huron Daily Tribune. She can be reached at khessling@hearstnp.com
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A 36-year-old Everett man was left for dead in his home for three days until police found him with two gunshots to his head last month.

Now a professional escort is in jail on $1 million bail after being captured on the man's home surveillance footage the night he was shot.

Marissa Wallen, 21, arrested Tuesday, is being investigated for first-degree assault, first-degree identity theft and first-degree robbery. Everett police say she spent more than $10,000 with the victim's credit cards in Skagit County.

The victim's employer called police the morning of Oct. 24, concerned that the victim had uncharacteristically not logged on for work that day, according to Everett police. His mother also called 911 with concerns.

Officers found no signs of forced entry at his home and no one answered the front door. An officer checked the inside of the house and found the man sitting up against a wall in the master bedroom with dried blood on his head. He was awake, but unresponsive to questions, according to the incident report.

Medics took him to Providence Medical Center in Everett, where a CT scan revealed he had two bullets inside of his head.

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Cops served a search warrant on the man's house and found two shell casings in the bedroom. They also determined his wallet and handgun were missing. The shell casings did not match the caliber of the victim's missing gun.

A search of the man's surveillance system showed that the same woman, later identified as Wallen, visited his home five times between Oct. 7 and Oct. 21. The footage last shows them together entering the house about 8:45 p.m. Oct. 21 and heading upstairs about 9:30 p.m. Neither is seen on the interior surveillance footage again.

At nearly 10 p.m., the doorbell camera images show the woman running out the front door.

Investigators checked the victim's credit union accounts and found that early the morning of Oct. 22, eight payments were made totaling $1,800 to another man through Facebook's money exchange system. A peek into the victim's three credit cards showed that someone made 82 charges totaling more than $10,000 between Oct. 22 and Nov. 5, according to Everett police.

The charges were made at various stores in Mount Vernon and Burlington, in addition to online stores.

A loss prevention officer at the Burlington Macy's store said that she prevented the 21-year-old woman and her companion -- the man to whom she allegedly made payments after the shooting -- from using the victim's cards.

Police believe the last legitimate use of the victim's credit card occurred at a McDonald's in Everett, where the victim had taken the woman the night he was shot.

Police found the woman and her associate at a home in Mount Vernon.

RELATED: Woman who extorted online dates gets 1 month in jail

Wallen allegedly changed her story a few times during her interview with police until she admitted that the victim hired her, but she "did not feel like having sex with him." She reportedly claimed that "he was performing oral sex wrong and she did not know how to tell him that," according to Everett police.

She allegedly claimed she shot the man in the back of the head at first, and then fired a second shot that hit the side of his face, the incident report indicates.

Wallen told police she took the man's wallet from his night stand and took off, believing he was dead on his bedroom floor.

Everett police reported Wallen was "emotionless," during her interview and also asked that if the victim were to make a recovery, that police talk to him and ask that he does not pursue charges.

Lynsi Burton can be reached at lynsiburton@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LynsiBurton_PI.
Photo courtesy of Middletown Police

MIDDLETOWN >> A Florida man with an outstanding fugitive warrant is facing charges after an alleged assault at a local restaurant, police said.

Robert Kryzkij, 44, of Newmark Drive, Deltona, Fla., was arrested July 8 and charged with second-degree failure to appear, interfering with an officer, second-degree breach of peace, second-degree threatening and being a fugitive from justice, police said.
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A burgeoning rivalry among three Republicans with gubernatorial ambitions  Tim Herbst, Mark Boughton and Mark Lauretti  is turning into a game of chicken.

Lauretti and Boughton were easily re-elected as the mayors of Shelton and Danbury in Tuesdays municipal elections, setting up a potential scenario where they wont serve out their terms should they be elected governor in 2018.

Thats opened the pair up to criticism from Herbst, who said his GOP rivals are trying to have it both ways  moonlighting as candidates while running their respective cities.

I am not hedging my bets, Herbst said. Im putting all my chips in. Im in to win.

In contrast, Herbst opted against running for re-election as Trumbulls first selectman, where his GOP heir apparent, Paul S. Lavoie, lost to Democrat Vicki Tesoro.

But thats opened Herbst up to criticism himself from his rivals, who suggested that the eight-year incumbent knew his time was up.

Its easy to just say, Im not gonna run, because youre afraid you might lose, Boughton said. Im putting all my chips on the table.

Two timers

Boughton and Lauretti are hardly the first Connecticut incumbents to stand for re-election while campaigning for higher office.

In 2000, Joe Liebermans name appeared twice on the ballot, both as the Democratic vice presidential nominee and as U.S. senator seeking re-election. At the time, Lieberman got knocked by some foes for doing both.

In 2005, Dannel P. Malloy ran for re-election to a four-year term as Stamford mayor. The year before, the Democrat registered his candidate committee for the 2006 governors race, which he wound up losing in a primary to then-New Haven Mayor John DeStefano. Malloy won the 2010 governors race, a year after leaving office as mayor.

No ones hedging any bets, said Lauretti, who was unopposed Tuesday. At the end of the day, youve got to deliver. Look, I think I have fulfilled my obligations and commitment to the city of Shelton.

The hostilities between Herbst and Lauretti, Fairfield Countys longest serving mayor or first selectman with 26 years in office, are an emerging storyline in the race to succeed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. A record number of Republicans and Democrats are jockeying to be the nominee in the toss-up race, which pits the neighboring mayor and first selectman against each other.

Herbst cited the unsuccessful bids of Boughton and Lauretti in the 2014 governors race, when Boughton failed to raise the required $250,000 to qualify for public campaign financing and Lauretti could not secure a spot on the ballot.

There are other municipal leaders that are trying to do both, Herbst said. I came to the conclusion that you cant do both and do them right.

Lauretti bristled at the idea that he cannot pivot from his mayoral duties to candidate for governor.

Look, thats just a lack of experience, Lauretti said. At least hes admitting it.

In 2014, Herbst raised $75,000 to qualify for public campaign financing under Connecticuts clean elections program for his narrow loss in the state treasurers race. He received $812,000 in public funds for the race. He said its difficult to bounce around as a candidate for statewide office when there are responsibilities of running a town.

I also felt that it wasnt fair to the taxpayers of Trumbull to run for re-election to a two-year term knowing that there was a strong likelihood that I might not serve that term out, Herbst said.

Selling points

Feeling upbeat about his prospects for statewide office, Herbst had to sweat out his 2015 re-election race against Tesoro, defeating the challenger by 357 votes out of 11,302 cast.

Lauretti said his uncontested race for re-election didnt hamper his ability to campaign for governor outside Shelton.

Im thinking about stopping in Trumbull, Lauretti said Tuesday. Its a close race there. I think I can help them. People like me or they like what they see in Shelton.

Boughton, who is exploring a third run for governor and is not yet a declared candidate, said his mayoral record in the states seventh-largest city is a selling point when he travels the state.

For the last several cycles, weve nominated people to run for governor who arent electable, Boughton said. If I can win here in a Democratic city for many, many years, a much larger city than Trumbull or Shelton....

http://twitter.com/gettinviggy; nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436
Lebanon called on Prime Minister Saad Hariri to return from Saudi Arabia, amid fears his sudden resignation from Riyadh last Saturday was part of a looming confrontation between the kingdom and regional rival Iran.

The way Hariri resigned was "unacceptable," Lebanon's President Michel Aoun told Saudi Arabia's envoy at a meeting in the presidential palace outside Beirut on Friday, according to the state-run National News Agency. Aoun also met with envoys from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. The International Support Group for Lebanon, which includes Russia, the U.S., the European Union and other countries, said it welcomed the demand for Hariri's return.

Lebanon has long been a battleground for proxy wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran. So when Hariri, a pro-Saudi politician, blamed his resignation on Iran's meddling in Lebanon's affairs through its proxy Hezbollah, it fueled speculation that Saudi leaders had demanded he do so and that he wasn't being allowed to go home. Shortly after Hariri's speech on Saudi television, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a missile at the international airport in Riyadh -- an attack Saudi officials said could be an Iranian "act of war."

Tensions have escalated ever since. Saudi Arabia on Thursday advised its nationals to leave Lebanon, having earlier warned the Lebanese government of the dangers of Hezbollah, accusing the group -- part of the administration -- of being involved in every terrorist attack that threatens the kingdom.

"It's clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon, and on Hezbollah," the group's chief, Hassan Nasrallah, an Aoun ally, said in a televised speech on Friday.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking in an interview as he flew from Beijing to Vietnam, said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir had assured him Hariri had resigned of his own accord. Based on that conversation, Tillerson said he understands that the former prime minister -- a dual Saudi and Lebanese national -- would need to return home to formally leave his post.

Asked if Hariri was being held against his will, Tillerson replied, "I have no indication that is the case."

Hariri stepped down at a time when Iran and its allies are widely seen to have won the proxy war against Sunni powers in neighboring Syria. Lebanon has largely avoided the sectarian massacres that ravaged its larger neighbor for more than six years, but the conflict has weighed on its economy, cutting major trade routes and bringing more than 1 million refugees into the country.

Things may be about to get even tougher for Lebanon, according to Sami Nader, head of the Beirut-based Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs.

"The safety net Lebanon had is no longer in place," Nader said by phone on Thursday, adding that Lebanon may face the same kind of economic sanctions imposed by a Saudi-led alliance on Qatar since June. "We should expect further escalation from Saudi Arabia against Lebanon."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters he was concerned about the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon and said he'd been in contact with the leaders of both countries.

"The escalation of the conflict would have tragic consequences," he said on Friday. It's "important to preserve the unity, the stability of Lebanon and the functioning of its institutions," he said.

The State Department said in a statement that it opposes any threat to Lebanon's stability, and that Prime Minister Hariri is a "strong partner of the United States."

"There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state," it said. "The United States cautions against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country."

Other Gulf nations have been using the missile strike to rally around Saudi Arabia against Iran. Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs, called for Iran's ballistic program to be tackled as "an urgent priority" after the Houthi attack on Riyadh's airport.

Bahrain, also a member of the Saudi-led alliance imposing an embargo on Qatar, said Iran's actions should be curbed and the danger eliminated. The alliance has accused Qatar of cozying up to Iran and sponsoring terrorism, charges the Gulf nation has repeatedly denied.

Asked about the missile, Tillerson suggested the U.S. may bring Iran before the UN Security Council if forensic analysis traces the missile back to Tehran. Supplying such missiles to the rebels would violate Security Council resolutions covering the provision of arms in conflict zones, Tillerson said, echoing a statement from Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, who said the missile "may" be of Iranian origin.

Iran has denied supplying Houthi fighters with missiles, and accused Saudi Arabia of trying to escalate tensions.

"We've said for a long time that we are concerned about Iranian support for the Houthi rebels and we do know they're supporting them with weapons," Tillerson said. "Whether this specific missile came from Iran, it seems very likely, but I think we'd like to get the final forensics on it."

Saudi Arabia has said the missile has Iranian markings, though its investigation into its origins is still ongoing, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian told reporters in Dubai on Friday.

---

Bloomberg's Kambiz Foroohar and Donna Abu-Nasr contributed.
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...
Two villagers who said they were among the first to find the body of Sgt. La David Johnson in Niger last month recalled discovering the body with a gaping head wound and the soldier's hands tied, a report said Friday.

The Washington Post reported that the villagers' accounts raise the possibility that Johnson was first captured in the Oct. 4 ambush before being killed.

"His two arms were tied behind his back," Adamou Boubacar, 23, a farmer, told the paper in a phone interview. Another witness told the paper separately that the back of Johnson's head "was a mess, as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer. They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks."

Related content:

Johnson, 25, was one of the four U.S. Special Forces - or Green Berets - killed in an ambush believed to have been orchestrated by militants linked to the Islamic State group in Niger. The attack took place outside a remote village called Tongo Tongo.

Air support from French jets took an hour to arrive at the scene and the soldiers, who were joined by 30 Nigerian troops, had started to run out of ammunition, the report said.

An unnamed U.S. military official told the paper that Johnson's hands were not tied when Americans received his body, but the body was battered. The official warned about rushing to judgement until the investigations are completed.

The Pentagon and FBI are conducting a probe into the ambush to determine if any errors were made in intelligence prior to the mission.

The Post, citing an unnamed U.S. military official, reported that it appears that the soldiers' mission was changed after they left the base and were sent to assist another team in taking out a top ISIS target called Dadou. Five Nigerien soldiers were also killed in the ambush.

Boubacar told the paper that Johnson's remains were found on Oct. 6, two days after the ambush. The bodies of the other three soldiers, believed to have been killed in action, were reportedly found just hours after the fight, the report said.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Peter Meijer, the grandson of the late retail magnate Fred Meijer, is behind a new political group, With Honor, that plans to spend $30 million to elect "principled, next-generation veterans" to Congress.

With Honor plans to spend those millions on research, advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts for about 25 to 35 candidates - Republicans, Democrats and Independents - in 2018.

The new cross-partisan political organization officially launched on Thursday, Nov. 9, in Charlotte, N.C.

Meijer, 29, is the oldest son of Hank Meijer, co-chairman of the family-owned Michigan-based supercenter chain with more 230 stores across the Midwest. Hank and his younger brother Doug Meijer are the richest billionaires in the state with an estimated fortune of $7.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Unlike the DeVos and Van Andel families in West Michigan who are high-profile, deep-pocketed givers to conservative Republican causes and candidates, the Meijer family has traditionally been low key about its politics.

Meijer says he likes the organization's focus on creating a pathway for those who don't fit a party mold.

"I think you lose a lot of candidates that would be great in Congress but can't establish themselves quickly enough to survive the primary," Meijer said.

With Honor is a federally registered super PAC, with a non-profit entity called With Honor Action, which serves as the organization's policy and social-welfare arm.

Meijer is on the board of With Honor Action. He'll be serving in the volunteer position with George Schultz, a Marine Corps veteran and former Secretary of State during the Reagan Administration.

With more than 100 next-generation veterans running for Congress in 2018, With Honor will select a slate of at least 25 of the most capable candidates to endorse based on their leadership history, potential to win and willingness to take a pledge to lead with integrity, civility, and courage, the organization said in statement.

The pledge includes a commitment to meet with someone from another party once each month and sponsor legislation with a member of another party at least once a year.

"It isn't just if you're veteran, that is enough," Meijer said. "It's that you are a veteran committed to reducing the toxic polarization of our political process."

The military has been Meijer's passion since graduating from East Grand Rapids high school more than a decade ago. He served in the Army Reserves for eight years, from 2008 to 2016, including a mid-college deployment to Iraq from 2010 to 2011.

Meijer, who is splitting his time between Michigan and New York City, is currently in the individual ready reserve. He recently earned a MBA from New York University.

After finishing his undergraduate degree at Columbia University in New York, Meijer worked in Afghanistan as a conflict analyst for a humanitarian organization from 2013 to 2015.

He says his experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, during both of the much-publicized "drawdowns," left him with a deep impression that the ever-widening swings of this country's political pendulum had a deadly consequence overseas.

"Sudden reversals to strategy meant our local partners had no reason to believe we would follow through on our promises, so they did what anyone would do: they hedged their bets and sought short-term gains, often to the detriment of our long-term priorities," Meijer said. "These about-faces materially weakened our military's credibility, and made me understand that political polarization is a national security issue too."

With Honor is co-founded and led by Marine veteran, author, and entrepreneur Rye Barcott.

"With Honor believes a surge of new principled leaders is needed to reverse the record-high dysfunction and partisanship in Washington D.C.," said Barcott, in a statement. "A new generation of veterans is ready to serve in Congress. They value teamwork and know how to get things done in tough places regardless of their party. They're the kinds of principled, proven leaders we need."

Barcott served five years in the Marines, including tours in Bosnia, the Horn of Africa, and Iraq.

With Honor is being launched as the number of veterans in Congress is at a record low. The group contends the decline in the number of veterans in Congress has corresponded with a rise in partisanship and collapse of Americans' trust in Congress. Recent polls show just 12 percent of Americans have confidence in Congress.

Today, veterans represent less than a fifth of the House of Representatives compared to nearly half 25 years ago.

A big hurdle to running for office is money. The average cost of a Congressional race has quadrupled in the past two decades. Most veterans do not have access to affluent fundraising and political networks, the group points out.

But what veterans learn in the military is invaluable, Meijer believes.

"The veterans community is not only where I am member, it's where I see a great potential to give back and redefine the country for the better for years to come," Meijer said.
FLINT, MI -- Hurley Children's Hospital and Kohl's partner together for Kohl's Healthy Kids Day from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12 at the Flint Children's Museum, 1602 W. University Ave. Try Zumba for kids, make healthy turkey snacks and enjoy free admission to the Flint Children's Museum.

With more than 40 exhibits, the museum offers hands-on experiences for children from ages 2 to 10. In the How Things Work exhibit, build a bridge and play with simple circuits. Explore your teeth and eyes and climb a mountain in the health and fitness exhibit. Express your creative side in the performing arts exhibit and toddlers and three-year-olds will love the Tot Spot.

Recently, the Kohl's Foundation awarded the Hurley Foundation a $250,000 grant on behalf of the Hurley Children's Hospital. The grant money supports many children's health initiatives such as events promoting healthy eating and exercise, rehabilitation, asthma and childhood injury prevention.

Get healthy snack ideas and tips for healthy habits at www.kohlshurleykids.com.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Paul Schwimmer is proud of his time serving as a staff sergeant on the Special Forces Green Beret A-132 Team of the U.S. Army Reserves.

There is a deep sense of pride, however, in the volunteer work he is doing now. Schwimmer has helped search for and recover the remains of American prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action in the South Pacific and Europe as part of the archaeological team from Florida-based History Flight, Inc.

Schwimmer, who owns the Ann Arbor-based land surveying company Arbor Land Consultants, Inc., has been spending any free moment he can going on missions to remote islands like Palau, Wake Island and Tarawa, as well as Vietnam, the Philipines, Germany, Belgium and France to assist History Flight since 2009. During that time, History Flight has recovered the remains of 120 POWs missing in action, with Schwimmer being a contributor to recovering the remains of about 20 POWs.

When the remains are recovered, Schwimmer and History Flight return them to the U.S. Government before being given a funeral and traveling to Arlington National Cemetery for final burial.

"Being there for the final interment - it's America at its greatest when we bring these kids home," Schwimmer said. "People just step up and these heroes are brought back."

Schwimmer previously was a volunteer for the Honor Flight Network, which transports U.S. military veterans to see the memorials of the respective war they fought in Washington, D.C. at no cost.

When a fellow veteran informed him about the efforts being made by History Flight, it immediately caught Schwimmer's attention.

"He said that he searched on a team for MIAs, 'What do you think about that?'" Schwimmer recalled. "I said 'OK, I'm in, I'm ready, let's go.' When we used to find one (POW's remains) we would be ecstatic, but now we're finding two or three at a time. It's incredible."

Schwimmer's missions are funded locally through the Ann Arbor-based A. Scott Foundation, a private nonprofit that facilitates projects of volunteers with backgrounds from various disciplines to work together in both research and fieldwork.

In July, History Flight turned over 24 sets of remains to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense, for official identification.

The remains of long-missing U.S. personnel were recovered from the Nov. 20-23,1943 Battle of Tarawa and its aftermath on Betio Island. More than 1,100 U.S. personnel were killed in the bloody, 76-hour Battle of Tarawa and its aftermath. Due to extreme environmental conditions in the equatorial Pacific, remains were hastily buried in trenches and individual graves on and around a sandy, one-square-kilometer area on Betio.

It was the second largest single recovery of U.S. battlefield remains since the Korean War, topped only by History Flight's 2015 recovery of 35 sets of remains, also on Betio Island.

History Flight Founder and Director Mark Noah said the $6.5 million investment by the nonprofit over the past 10 years has resulted in the recovery of a significant number of missing American service personnel through the work of a team of volunteers who are forensic anthropologists, geophysicists, historians, surveyors, anthropologists, forensic odontologists, unexploded ordnance specialists and medics.

"This is unwritten history that we are writing today," Noah said.

"We are immensely pleased to be able to deliver the two largest recoveries since the Korean War in a span of just over two years,"Noah added. "We're also grateful to have such an excellent public-private partnership with the DPAA. We feel that this recovery is an exemplar of the successful two-year, public-private partnership we have with the Department of Defense and is an indication that more success lies in the future."

Schwimmer has been on three mission this year alone, and was able to take part in the annual meeting of Michigan's POW families, where 90-year-old George Underwood was informed that Schwimmer and History Flight had recovered his fallen brother, Cpt. Donald Underwood, in the South Pacific and that he would soon be coming home.

Moments like those are the reason he remains so committed to the effort of searching for and recovering the remains of lost soldiers.

"In April we recovered nine coffins and one of them was Underwood, who was a Michigan boy, who went down with the B-24 Bomber crew," Schwimmer said. "He's coming home on Nov. 25 from Hawaii to Detroit and then he'll go to Arlington (National Cemetery) for final burial."

"We never dreamt of being involved with the burial when they came home and escorting them to the family plot," he added. "... It's my way of giving back."
ANN ARBOR, MI - The gridiron rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State is usually a game of inches.

The same can be said about the level of separation in the annual Blood Battle between the two schools. Last year, UM collected a meager 8 pints more than OSU to escape with a 2,363-2,355 win over the Buckeyes in the 35th annual American Red Cross blood drive.

Many of the donations for this year's annual battle, which collects donations through Nov. 22 leading up to the UM vs. OSU rivalry game on Nov. 25, will take place this weekend during the Be a Hero at the Big House event from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12.

Hosted by Wolverines for Life, the drive takes place in the Jack Roth Stadium Club inside Michigan Stadium. Parking around the stadium is free. It is the largest drive of the competition, with a goal of collecting nearly 400 pints of blood.

Jimmy King, part of the University of Michigan's Fab Five, will sign autographs at the event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Games, giveaways, food and a mascot dance-off with the Detroit Tigers' Paws are among the highlights of the event.

To make an appointment for a blood drive in the Blood Battle, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or make a donation appointment online at www.redcrossblood.org Enter sponsor code "GoBlue" for a list of all drives on the U-M campus. A list of locations also is available online.

For a listing of requirements to be a blood donor, visit the Blood Battle website.

Since the Blood Battle began in 1982, U-M has won 20 of the battles, while OSU has taken 14, and another battle ended in a tie.
MISSAUKEE COUNTY, MI -- An intensive search for a man and woman who went missing in Northern Michigan woods Nov. 7 has been suspended, state police say.

Jeff Hurley, 34, of Prudenville, and Alexandria Foust, 19, of Cadillac, were last seen Tuesday, Nov. 7 in a vehicle in the Dead Stream Swamp area of Norwich Township, not far from Higgins Lake.

Their vehicle was found stuck in mud, but there was no sign of the pair.

State police, Missaukee County sheriff's deputies, state Department of Natural Resources officers, tracking dogs and a state police aviation unit all participated in the search.

Police did find multiple personal items belonging to the pair.

Given the length of the four-day search and the inclement weather -- four inches of snow and extreme cold surged into the area Thursday -- police decided to suspended the current search efforts late Friday.

Police expect aviation and tracking dog searches to resume at a later date.

State police are asking hunters in the area for firearms deer hunting, beginning Nov. 15, to be on the lookout for any evidence of the two people. If any is found, police say not to disturb the evidence and call them at 989-422-5101.
Coverage: 5 key points from panel talk on gentrification in Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Construction cranes and changing neighborhoods in Grand Rapids have made many residents question how the city is being redeveloped - and if the new buildings on their street are intended for them.

Responding to community concerns over gentrification of the city, the Grand Rapids Public Library is planning to host a panel discussion from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13. The panel will be at the main library at 111 Library St. NE.

The panel will include David Allen, executive director of the Kent County Land Bank Authority and a Third Ward city commissioner; Darel Ross II, a director at Start Garden and former co-executive director of LINC Up; and Benjamin Ofori-Amoah, a chairman and professor of the Department of Geography at Western Michigan University.

The discussion will be moderated by Steven Assarian, GRPL's business librarian, and promises to pose the question: "how do we ensure that Grand Rapids does not fall into the gentrification trap that has caused problems in so many cities all over the country?"

"Gentrification of neighborhoods in Grand Rapids has been in the news a lot lately. It is a timely topic for our series," said Kristen Krueger-Corrado, marketing and communications manager for the library.

Gentrification concerns were most recently raised this summer, as Amplify GR has spent $10 million with Rockford Construction Co. to buy 32 properties across 35 acres in the Boston Square, Cottage Grove and Madison Square neighborhoods on the southeast side.

Amplify GR is backed by the Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation and the Cheri DeVos Foundation. Several public meetings were canceled this year after early encounters with the public drew skeptical residents and outsiders questioning the DeVos family's motives. Others worried the development efforts would gentrify the neighborhoods, drive up rental rates and force out poor residents.

The gentrification panel is a part of a series the library hosts to build a constructive dialogue about hot topics like immigration, fake news and race relations.

"The library is a safe space for people to be heard," Krueger-Corrado said. "Our goal is an informed citizenry. How people choose to act on knowledge is up to them."

Grand Rapids city officials have been pressured to act on affordable housing issues in the past several years.

Though this fall city attorneys were reviewing recent affordable housing legislation passed in Detroit, the commission has not picked up a similar ordinance.

A task force was appointed last year that came up with a list of 12 recommendations, but solutions have yet to be adopted.

City Manager Greg Sundstrom and his staff are planning to present a package of possible legislative solutions at the Tuesday, Nov. 14, city commission meeting.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Paul Lovell is planning to celebrate his birthday with family on Sunday, Nov. 12, the day after he turns 108 years old.

The secret for his long life?

"Eatin' lots of oatmeal in the morning," Lovell said. "I've never missed a morning of my life."

Although they cannot prove it due to a lack of records, Lovell's family believes Paul to be the oldest man living in Kent County, and possibly Michigan.

His daughter-in-law, Martha Lovell, said she had tried calling the state government and a bunch of different departments, but no one could confirm if her father-in-law was indeed the state's oldest living man.

Paul Lovell was born Nov. 11, 1909, inside a barn on a farm in Oceana County.

Martha Lovell said her father-in-law has seen just about everything. He was alive during the influenza pandemic of 1918 and lived through both World Wars.

During the pandemic, Paul Lovell's family survived by eating food they had canned, including apples and chickens his mother froze and kept in the attic. While they were in quarantine, their neighbor would leave eggs and milk on their doorstep.

Lovell moved to Grand Rapids as a boy, when 28th Street "wasn't even a dirt road," he told MLive in a previous interview.

"It was just a dirt track, and the only thing that traveled down it was horse and wagon," he said.

Following in his father's footsteps, Paul became a builder. He first built houses, then went to work for Barnes Construction Company, where he worked until retirement.

After a few years, Lovell came out of retirement to become project supervisor of construction for Grand Rapids Public Schools.

Describing himself as a "wood butcher," Lovell has many items he made himself inside his room at Clark Retirement Community in Grand Rapids, including wooden birds and a table.

His family helped him move into the retirement community after a bout of pneumonia put him in the hospital at the age of 99.

Lovell was still driving to the age of 95. He calls the white line painted on the side of the road one of three best inventions of his lifetime. The other two? The television remote and miniskirts, he said.

Lovell has three children, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. He also has a younger brother, who is 95 and lives in Pentwater. The family hopes his brother will make it to the birthday party they're planning on Sunday.

Martha Lovell said they will hold the party right there at Clark Retirement Community in Southeast Grand Rapids. Mainly family will be there, but she said Paul does have a few "followers," like her sister, who might also attend.

A company donated a Bundt cake and the family bought sparkler candles to put in it.

"So it's not a big hoopla," Martha said. "But we have decorations we'll put out and make it as fancy as we can for him."

The family has held a birthday party every year for Paul Lovell since he turned 100.

When asked if he feels 108-years-old, he jokes, "Is that all?"

"I don't feel any different than I ever did," Lovell says.
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Q11. Madras Motors first imported the Royal Enfields to India in 1953 when it received a big order. Who placed the order?

An action-packed week for the automotive sector some of which were away from home. Two of Indias most noted bike makers made a product splash at the worlds biggest bike show in Italy. In fact, two-wheelers makers dominated headlines through the week. Here is the complete wrap of all the key developments in the auto sector.

Royal Enfield unveils two 650cc bikes

Royal Enfield Interceptor INT 650

The Interceptor is a roadster having an all-new, dedicated steel-tube cradle chassis. It has 18-inch front and rear Pirelli tyres and twin shock absorbers, along with front and rear disc brakes with ABS

Leisure bike specialist Royal Enfield unveiled two new bikes  Interceptor INT 650 and Continental GT 650  at the EICMA show in Milan. The Interceptor is a retro-looking roadster meant for easy highway cruising. It is a ground up new bike developed by Royal Enfield.

Royal Enfield Continental GT 650

The Continental GT retains the cafe racer concept. The bike sports disc brakes in the front and the rear with ABS

The Continental GT 650, meanwhile, is a big brother of the Continental GT 535 which is available in India. These new products, which are powered by 650cc, air-cooled, parallel twin engine, will go on sale in Europe in April next year and in India in the later half.

Suzuki launches baby Intruder

Japans Suzuki Motors launched the Intruder in India albeit with a small 155cc engine in the commuter segment priced at a whopping Rs 98,000. At that price the Intruder will amongst the costliest bikes in its segment.

Heavily inspired by the Intruder 1800, which is priced at Rs 16 lakh, this new Suzuki bike will target the young urban buyer looking for a style statement. This new cruiser is powered by a 155cc single cylinder engine that makes peak power of 14 bhp.

WATCH | This week in Auto

Honda launches Grazia

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, the countrys second largest two-wheeler maker, launched an all-new scooter Grazia at Rs 58,000 in a bid to further strengthen its stranglehold on the scooter market.

Developed using the Activa platform, the Grazia is powered by a 125cc engine which is also seen on the Activa 125. It is also the first scooter with an all-digital instrumentation and also the first to have three-step eco-speed indicator. The Grazia will be equipped with a combi brake system with an equalizer.

Hero makes a splash with off-roader

Hero Xpulse Concept

The Xpulse is an off-road concept and carries forward Heros ambitions in the premium category

Hero Motocorp, the countrys largest two-wheeler maker, showcased the Xpulse, an off-road concept bike at the EICMA show in Milan. The Delhi-based company has not commented so far about a commercial launch of it.

Engine details of the bike is not available at the moment but it is expected to be powered by a 200cc ssingle-cylinderengine. The concept bike features LED headlamp, mud guard, knuckle guard to name a few.

Ford launches new Ecosport

The 2018 Ford Ecosport is displayed during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Blinch - RTX2YDO8

Ford Motor Company launched the updated version of the Ecosport priced at Rs 7.31 lakh. The compact SUV Ecosport has been one of the best selling products of Ford in India. Ford decide to launch the car exclusively on Amazon first and all the 123 units of the vehicle were sold out within the first few hours.

The vehicle now comes with an additional engine option of a 1.5 litre, three cylinder petrol engine which develops peak power of 123 bhp. The diesel motor is the same 1.5 litre, four cylinder, turbo charged, developing peak power of 99bhp.

Tata Motors Q2 net jumps three fold, M&M net rise 25%

Tata Motors, the countrys largest vehicle maker, reported a three-fold rise in net profit during the quarter ended September 30, 2017 on the back on strong volumes of Jaguar Land Rover and reduce losses of the stand-alone unit. Net profit rose to Rs 2500 crore as against Rs 848 crore posted in the same quarter last year.

Tractor and utility vehicle specialist Mahindra & Mahindra reported a jump of 25 percent in net profit during the same quarter backed by rise in demand for tractors and SUVs. Stand-alone net profit rose to Rs 1331 crore as compared to Rs 1067 crore posted in the same quarter last year.

Norton joins hand with Kinetic

On the sidelines of the EICMA show in Milan, UKs Norton Motorcycles, announced a joint venture with Kinetic Group to sell its range of exotic bikes in India. Founded in 1898 Norton is one of worlds oldest bike brands.

Presently Norton has four motorcycles in its lineup  V4 RR, Dominator, Commando 961 Cafe Racer MKII and Commando 961 Sport MKII  all of which could be brought to India and retailed through the Motoroyale brand of Kinetic dealerships. Norton has also asked Kinetic to look into possibilities of assembling its bikes in India
Realty major DLF expects the sale of its promoters' stake in its rental arm to GIC for Rs 8,900 crore to be concluded by December and infusion of proceeds into the company by February 2018, a top company official said on Saturday.

DLF expects an infusion of over Rs 13,000 crore into the company, including Rs 10,500 crore from promoters and another Rs 3,000 crore from institutional investors to maintain the minimum public shareholding norm.

The country's largest realty firm will use this fund to significantly reduce its debt which stands at over Rs 25,000 crore.

"DLF's public shareholders have approved the GIC deal. GIC Singapore has also received the CCI approval. The final order is awaited after which the closing process will begin.

"We are hopeful of concluding this deal and subsequent infusion of funds into DLF within this fiscal year," DLF's Senior Executive Director (Finance) Saurabh Chawla told analysts.

Promoters will receive the proceeds in this calendar year and will infuse funds into DLF by February 2018, he added.

In late August, DLF promoters decided to sell their entire 40 percent stake in DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore.

This deal included the sale of 33.34 stake in the DCCDL to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC for Rs 8,900 crore and a buyback of the remaining shares worth Rs 3,000 crore by DCCDL. Post this deal, DLF will have 66.66 percent stake in DCCDL.

DLF's CFO Ashok Tyagi said the company has started selling its flats from November 1 which was stopped since May because of implementation of the real estate regulatory law RERA.

The company has an unsold inventory of about Rs 15,000 crore, he added.

"Out of 15 million sq ft under construction in our residential business, 13 million sq ft will be completed by March next year. Around 8 million sq ft is ready to be handed over to customers shortly," Tyagi said.

DLF's CFO said that the company would explore the option of developing its land bank in partnership with local builders in locations like Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad but not in Delhi-Gurgaon.

Chawla also said the company would not enter the affordable housing segment.

Yesterday, the company reported a 91 percent fall in consolidated profit at Rs 17.88 crore for the quarter ended September against Rs 198.53 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income dropped 21 percen to Rs 1,751.34 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal from Rs 2,225.66 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The nation's largest energy driller ONGC hopes to complete the acquisition of the state-run oil marketer Hindustan Petroleum Corporation by March, chairman and managing director Shashi Shanker said on Saturday.

The ONGC chief also refused to comment on the reported government move to monetise up to 60 percent of the oil and gas fields developed by it and Oil India to private parties, saying they have not heard anything from the government but read it in newspapers only.

When announced in July, ONGC, one of the richest PSUs with amount of cash, had pegged the cost of acquiring the 51.11 percent government stake for around Rs 32,000 crore, but since then HPCL stock has rallied and there are fears that the oil and gas explorer will have to shell out much more than the initial estimate.

When completed, ONGC will become the first fully integrated state-run oil and gas company with significant upstream and downstream operations with many refineries and over 14,400 retail outlets.

On July 19, the cabinet had approved the sale of its 51.11 percent in the third largest oil retailer and refiner to ONGC as part of its effort to create an integrated energy behemoth and also to meet the hefty Rs 72,500-crore selloff target it had budgeted for this fiscal.

When asked about the cost-escalation for the deal and how the debt-free ONGC will raise the newly floating cash outgo, Shanker dismissed all such fears.

"There is an impression that this acquisition decision was thrust upon us. That's not the case. It was announced by the finance minister in the Budget and then they consulted us on what we want. We chose HPCL after considering all the pros and cons. We are confident that we'll be completing the deal before March end," Shanker said.

But he declined to quantify what ONGC will pay to shareholders, citing that it is being evaluated by the advisors to the deal.

Explaining why they chose HPCL over BPCL, he said, "We've around 15 million tonnes refinery in Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemcials, but we've no retail presence, while HCPL has a huge retail presence with over 14,400 outlets, but does not have enough refining capacity. So there is a perfect business sense in choosing HCPL."

On the reported government move to sell up to 60 percent stake in producing oilfields and gas fields of ONGC, OIL, he said, "We have not got any such proposal. I too read in the newspapers."

The move comes as the oil ministry is unhappy with the near stagnant oil and gas production and believes giving out the discovered fields to private firms will help raise output as they can bring in technology and capital.

It hopes that the move may boost domestic output and help meet the prime minister's target of reducing fossil fuel imports by 10 percent by 2022. Currently, the country- the world's third-largest crude importer  buys up to 80 percent of its supplies from overseas.

It can be noted that after the discovery of the Bombay High oil fields in 1974 and the Bassein gas fields in 1976, the oil and gas behemoth ONGC has not been able to bring in any new major fields into production in the last three decades.

The country has failed to draw in global oil majors since 1990 despite easing fiscal terms. The only exceptions are Royal Dutch Shell and BP which bought stakes from firms that had won drilling rights.
Indias GDP growth had slowed to 5.7 percent in Q1, as demonetisation and the new goods and services tax (GST) seems to have impacted economic activities and demand in the economy.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also in its October Bi-Monthly monetary policy had revised downwards growth projections for FY18 from 7.3 percent to 6.7 percent, which prompted discussions around the merits and demerits of the recent policy announcements.

However, the latest economic indicators and the second quarter corporate results are pointing towards green shoots emerging and indicating that the worst is behind us and the economy seems to be in recovery mode.

These could indicate that the sense of gloom which prevailed earlier could soon fade away and boost investor sentiment, and corporate earnings could pick up with buoyancy in demand recovery, even as government plays its role by means of reforms like bank recapitalisation, disinvestment and infrastructure push etc.

Private consumption which had taken some beating post demonetisation and GST has shown a healthy recovery. Auto sales data indicate that a sharp recovery, with two and three-wheeler sales growth at 10 percent and 23 percent respectively in September indicating a pick-up in rural demand.

The trend is also visible in Passenger vehicle and medium & heavy commercial vehicle segments indicating a pick-up in urban and business sentiments.

Early trends of FMCG companies results indicate pick- up in consumer demand, with HUL registering a volume growth of 4% last quarter versus flat growth in the previous quarter.

Government focus on rural spending, reasonable increase in MSP and normal monsoons along with seventh pay commission should result in improved consumer demand.

FMCG companies have reduced prices by 4%-8% to pass on GST benefit, which should also add to the consumer demand.

Export numbers are also encouraging with double-digit growth witnessed in the last two months. Global economic recovery has provided a much-needed tailwind to our export sector with capital goods export growth at 42% and pharma & chemical export growth at 25% in September.

Policy initiatives like Make in India, Mudra scheme for funding microenterprise sectors etc. are also playing an important role in giving an impetus to the export sector.

Credit growth is one of the main pillars of any economy and has been languishing for some time due to the twin balance sheet problem India is facing.

Indias bank non-food credit had dipped to multiyear lows of 3.5% in January on the back of subdued demand, low credit appetite of banks grappling with NPA woes and over-leveraged corporates.

While we have witnessed some pick up in bank non-food credit to 7.2% in October, most of the growth is in the retail space with industry credit growth continues to be lackluster.

Credit growth on an overall basis has shown signs of improvement, with the outstanding bank credit, bonds and commercial papers growing at 14.6 percent on an annual basis by end September as against 13.8 percent last year.

The governments decision to recapitalise PSU banks will provide much-needed capital to the banks, which can be deployed as a credit to productive sectors and enhance their lending capacity to the industry.

This move is expected to enable banks to extend additional INR 6 trillion loans, which can trigger capex revival and job creation.

While policy measures such as demonetization and GST have impacted the growth in the previous quarters, these initiatives have resulted in improved transparency, formalization of the economy and widening of tax base.

All these are expected to result in strong economic growth for a sustainable period. These steps have resulted in the significant foreign flows in the past one year resulting in all-time high foreign exchange reserves.

The government has planned to invest INR 7 trillion over the next 5 years in road sector which is expected to boost growth and employment. Universal Affordable Housing for All being implemented will give a big boost to the construction industry.

In summary, with private consumption continuing to be robust, expectations of private capex recovery along with various initiatives of the government, Indian economy is poised for a strong recovery in the coming quarters.
The Madras High Court today issued a notice to Enforcement Directorate on a petition from mining baron J Sekar Reddy seeking to quash the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 against him pending before a lower here.

Reddy is at present out on bail in connection with the seizure of Rs 99 crore in demonetised bank notes and another Rs 34 crore in the new currencies, besides a 127-kg gold bar, from properties owned by him and his associates in December last year.

Justice M S Ramesh, before whom the petition has come up today, issued a notice to the Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate (ED), here returnable by two weeks. Counsel for Reddy submitted that the case had been filed by ED relying on the investigation done by other agencies.

He contended no offence is made out against him, and the case is vitiated, illegal and void.

The counsel further contended that the entire basis of the complaint is the FIR registered by the CBI based on the information of Income Tax Department and said that the complaint filed by the ED is without jurisdiction, the premature and ultra vires of the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

He submitted that the CBI is yet to either identify the involvement of the bank officials or prima facie make out an offence or file a charge sheet for the allegations of conversion of the old currency notes into the new denomination notes and the ED has produced almost the FIR of CBI verbatim.

He submitted that he had not indulged in the conversion of old currency notes into new currency notes, even otherwise it is not an offence declared under any law.

To arrive at a prima facie conclusion that the petitioner had indulged in the conversion of old currency notes to new ones with the help of the bank, the only major evidence would be the serialised notes seized from him, the council said.

However, in the present case despite several verifications of the seized currency by the CBI as well as the Income Tax Department, there were no serialised notes at all, confirming that the seized money was lawful business income of the petitioner.

In the statement to IT Department, Reddy had accounted for the cash held by him and therefore, to say that he had converted unaccounted cash into new currency with the help of public servants is a complete falsity, he contended and sought to quash the proceedings.
The Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) has urged the finance ministry to reduce STT and abolish dividend tax for growth of the capital markets.

The national body of stockbrokers said the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) has impacted revenue generation and escalated the cost of transaction for clients.

"We have urged the finance ministry to give a rebate on STT, which has impacted volumes and revenue generation and escalated the cost of transaction for clients.

"STT is the biggest cost component for a stock market participant, accounting for more than half the total cost of transaction for a stock market investor," ANMI president K Suresh said.

The need of the hour is to channelise small savings, like the amount lying in the Jan Dhan Yojana, accounts into appropriate financial products, which would not only fire up the agenda of financial inclusion but also strengthen India's capital market, he said on the sidelines of the 9th International Convention held here.

In no other global capital market, the taxes on transactions are so high when compared to total transaction cost of doing business in India. In 2016-17, the government collected Rs 8,358 crore from STT as against Rs 7,350 in 2015-16, he said.

"STT is a burden on equity transactions. STT was introduced in lieu of the capital gain tax. But, the business had dried up after the levy of STT," BSE managing director and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said.

Abolition of dividend distribution tax (DDT) and amendment to Section 14A, Rule 8(d) of the Income Tax Rules are the two other demands for reforms by ANMI.

DDT is levied at almost 20 percent on the company for distribution of dividend to its shareholders.

The tax burden for brokerages has been increasing over the last three years - it has risen to 18 percent currently from 12 percent, ANMI said.

ANMI has said market intermediaries like sub-brokers be exempted from registration under GST as they don't raise any invoice for clients directly but only through the brokerage.

Stating that the stockbroking community is the backbone of the capital market, ANMI reiterated its demand to give an industry status to the broking business.

Chauhan said there was an urgent need to increase trading hours for Indian market participants to take advantage of the developments after the exchange closing hours of 3:30 pm.

"Why are Indian participants deprived of the benefits of the corporate or regulatory developments when the same is allowed for overseas traders on exchanges abroad? By the time Indian participants wake up, the entire benefit is taken by foreign investors in overseas exchanges," Chauhan said.
Moneycontrol News

It was in the year 1992 that Amit Kumat, now 48, returned from the US after a masters degree in science from Louisiana State University, determined to make a difference in India.

Back in hometown of Indore, he could not find a job in an economy which was in shambles. He started assisting his father in his wholesale cloth shop in a busy bazaar of Indore selling stockpiles of nylon, cotton and linen by the tonnes.

Those were the best two years of my life which taught me how to sell to an Indian customer who is extremely price conscious, says Amit Kumat, now CEO of the Rs 900-crore company Prataap Snacks, which owns Yellow Diamond brand of chips, namkeens and snacks.

The company listed on BSE in September, this year and boasts of a valuation of about Rs 2700 crore on the Indian exchanges with Salman Khan as Yellow Diamond's brand ambassador.

Coming back to Kumat's story. The cloth business did well which led Kumat to start expanding in various areas. He started an SAP training institute, a chemical dye business and even a website called dealinchem around 1996-1999.

The family landed neck deep in debt

Come dot-com bust and all businesses started collapsing like a stack of cards. This landed the Kumats in neck deep of debt of over Rs 18 crore.

There were days where I had to think twice over whether I should take a bus or simply walk. There were days where I used to wake up and wonder what to do all day as our offices had shut down, says Kumat.

That is when Amit approached a family friend and a classmate of his elder brother Apurva Kumat for an investment of Rs 15 lakh in setting up a snacks business out of Indore.

Arvind Mehta, a family friend, who had a real estate business agreed to become a partner in the snacks business. Kumats started getting cheese balls manufactured in Lucknow, and selling them in Indore and other parts of the city.

The snacks business clicked. The trio set up a chips making unit in Indore and started making potato chips by the thousands every day giving competition to market incumbents such as Frito Lays, in certain pockets.

In 2006-07, they launched Chulbule, a rival to Kurkure, a popular snack made for the Indian palette by Pepsico India.

Seeing the success of Yellow Diamond, Sequoia Capital, a globally renowned venture fund approached them for investments in 2009.

However, the Kumat brothers and Mehta waited almost 18 months before saying yes to a USD 30 million investment in the company.

With the money, they installed a chips making unit, a potato rings making plant and a namkeen production unit.

Now Rings constitutes almost 42 percent of the business and chips about 26 percent.

The company makes about 40 lakh packets of rings a day with a toy worth Rs 0.50 inserted in each packet.

The assembly machine inserts a toy in each packet. Kids are the biggest consumers of Rings, with each packet costing just Rs 5 for the consumer, Sumit Sharma, the company CFO informs me.

A management that eats together, stays together

Its now lunch time. The company management invites me to their daily lunch routine.

Lunch is made each day in either the home of Kumats or the Mehtas. The cooks decide amongst each other on their weekly turns.

At 2 pm every day, office boys come with steel hot-cases of freshly cooked dal, curry, rotis, rice and papad to the boardroom.

Plates are laid and the food is served hot to the top management, which includes the three founders - Amit and Apurva Kumat and their family friend Arvind Mehta.

Despite over 21 years of working together, the top management eats together every day. Its very unlike other MNCs where food is served in the cafeteria or inside the cabins of the top management.

Perhaps this is the way, the company management bonds and stays together in thick and thin.

The companys name was earlier proposed to be Diamond. However, the trademark was found to be registered thus forcing them to suffix Yellow, Amit Kumat informs me during the working lunch.

This also made perfect combination as Arvind bhaiyya believes in numerology and it exactly made 13 digits, he adds while Arvind Mehta relishes the homemade besan laddoos.

The company which started with just three people now employs about 750 people directly and about 3,000 people indirectly through contract rolls.

Plant is stuck in a hot chocolate problem

After lunch, we travel to a nearby plant making a new product for the Indian market - chocolate pasted jam biscuit.

As I enter the air-conditioned plant, fragrance of a bakery engulf me.

Fresh wheat and maize flour dough is being made by the assembly plant which converts it into biscuits.

The biscuits are baked and travel some distance on the conveyor belts, before jam is poured on them at 68 degrees centigrade. The biscuits again travel some distance and air cooled before being flipped.

A coat of hot chocolate sauce is pasted on top. The biscuits move further down the belt before getting air cooled and are then packed into small packets of Rs 5 each.

There is one challenge though. The hot chocolate is not solidifying easily even after getting air cooled so sticks to the plastic wrappers on the side.

Food technologists from Italy have flown down to help solve the issue as the company plans to launch the product in the market in the next few weeks.

The assembly line is in pilot phase. This means the thousands of biscuits being made daily are not sold in the market.

Every day about 40 kilos of chocolate biscuits are distributed in the orphanages around Indore, as the product is still in a test pilot stage, an HR manager of the chocolate biscuit assembly line informs me.

The assembly line hires people from around the village thus creating employment. We are the biggest employers in this area, Kumat informs us as we move out of the facility, just a stones throw from the Ralamandal wildlife sanctuary.

I see reams of Yellow Diamond Snacks hanging upside down alongside packets of Lays and Kurkure, at the roadside paan shops, lining up the road to Ralamandal wildlife sanctuary.

The companys immediate plans include expansion into Bangladesh with a new plant, launching the chocolate cake-biscuit and expanding India capacities with the proceeds of the recent public offer.

Yellow Diamond has also started exporting products to Canada and South East Asia.

The total size of the recent IPO was Rs 482 crore. Out of this the company raised 200 crore and the rest Rs 282 crore was diverted towards the major shareholders Sequoia Capital and promoter families which took a partial exit. The company also raised Rs 50 crore through a pre-IPO offer.

The company's market capitalisation based as of Friday's price on the BSE is about Rs 2,737 crore.

My next milestone is achieving a market cap of a billion dollars (Rs 6500 crore) in next two years, informs Kumat.

Whether Yellow Diamond will be able to achieve that, only time will tell.

harsimran.julka@nw18.com
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The Nifty has given handsome returns to investors with the index gaining nearly 10 percent in the last six months, driven by earnings and domestic liquidity. However, the index fell 1.25 percent in passing week on rising crude oil prices and rupee weakness.

September quarter earnings season will end in the coming week.

Most analysts were expecting muted earnings for the quarter due to GST and NPA concerns. More or less, however, earnings have been better-than-expected that helped the market scale new highs in the beginning of November.

Here are top eight picks by Motilal Oswal, which can give up to 36 percent returns:

State Bank of India | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 415 | 25% upside

Research and broking firm Motilal Oswal sees the NPL cycle turning for State Bank of India and expects the bank to reduce its net NPA to 3.1 percent by FY19E. SBI is well capitalised, with a Tier-I of 11 percent, which will enable it to utilise the capital infusion from the government for cleansing its books and thus report a prompt recovery.

The house expects capital infusion of Rs 12,000 crore in FY19 from recapitalization and has revised the estimates with a credit cost build-up of 2.6 percent/2.1 percent/1.8 percent over FY18-20E. It estimates SBI to report net profit of Rs 31,500 crore in FY20.

SRF | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 1,992 | 15% upside

SRF has recently been troubled by a slowdown in the global agrochem industry, leading to inventory build-up. Motilal Oswal expects demand revival only by Q4FY18 and has marginally cut FY18 earnings estimates by 4 percent. The house is of the view that revenue CAGR will clock 13 percent and adjusted PAT CAGR of 11 percent over FY17-19E. Motilal Oswal values the stock at 19x FY19E EPS.

Tata Motors | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 575 | 36% upside

According to Motilal Oswal, Jaguar Land Rover October 2017 wholesale volumes grew 5 percent YoY (-13.3 percent MoM) to 49,757 units against estimate of 55,500, including China JV at 6,880 units. Jaguar volumes declined 13.1 percent YoY to 13,295 units against estimate of 16,250 due to lower sales of XE.

Land Rover volumes were up 13.7 percent YoY at 36,462 units against estimates of 39,300, led by ramp-up of the all-new Discovery in North America and China, and RR Velar introduction in the UK and the EU.

The stock trades at 17.2x/6.5x FY18E/FY19E consolidated EPS while for the DVR the target is Rs 403 per share, it added.

Allcargo Logistics | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 215 | 29% upside

Motilal Oswal believes that MOT segment is likely to do well in the medium term, led by firming of global container freight rates. Although the Container Freight Station (CFS) segment is facing headwinds in terms of DPD, the Kolkata CFS should provide growth for the segment.

The house feels that P&E segment should see stabilisation of profits and believes that valuations of 12.6x/10.9x FY19/FY20E earnings appear attractive, given its strong fundamentals, improving return ratios, and earnings CAGR of 16 percent over FY17-20E.

Motilal Oswal believes that an additional value of 25-30 percent of present market capitalization could get created in the medium term from contract logistics, land monetisation and entry into last mile delivery, which we are not factoring in our present target price.

Eveready Industries | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 400 | 14% upside

Motilal Oswal is of the view that Eveready Industries has witnessed a recovery in all its key segments, especially LED products. Appliances business too witnessed significant traction, with 1HFY18 revenue touching Rs 37.8 crore as against Rs 10.4 crore in H1FY17.

It believes that with economies of scale, the segment is expected to turn EBITDA profitable. The house has maintained revenue/PAT CAGR of 12 percent/16 percent over FY17-19E and values the stock at 23x FY19E EPS.

Mahindra & Mahindra | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 1,607 | 15% upside

Motilal Oswal has raised Mahindra & Mahindra's consolidated earnings per share (EPS) by 8 percent for FY18E and by 5 percent for FY19E. The stock trades at 18.6x FY19E and 16.3x FY20E consolidated EPS.

Endurance Technologies | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 1,334 | 16% upside

Consolidated net sales of Endurance Technologies grew 11.9 percent YoY to Rs 1,620 crore (in-line), led by EU. EBITDA margin expanded 30bp YoY (40bp QoQ) to 14.1 percent against estimate of 13.9 percent). Higher tax rate restricted PAT growth, up 11.6 percent YoY to Rs 99.7 crore against estimate of Rs1,080 crore).

Research firm Motilal Oswal has cut the earnings per share (EPS) estimates of Endurance Technologies by 7 percent for FY18/FY19 to factor in higher tax rate. It has upgraded the PE multiple to 27.5x March 2020E due to higher visibility on growth drivers beyond FY20.

Amara Raja Batteries | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 856 | 14% upside

Net sales of Amara Raja Batteries grew 7.1 percent YoY (-4.7 percent QoQ) to Rs1,430 crore (est. of Rs 1,540 crore), driven by growth in auto, inverters and solar. EBITDA margin expanded 380bp YoY (-50bp QoQ) to 16.7 percent (est. of 13 percent), led by a favorable product mix (higher share of autos, inverter, e-rickshaw, etc.), optimal utilisation and price hikes in replacement market.

Motilal Oswal has upgraded earnings per share (EPS) estimates of Amara Raja Batteries by 11 percent/4 percent for FY18/FY19, factoring in lower RM cost. The firm has increased its depreciation and tax rate assumptions and sees the stock trading at 26.6x/22x FY18E/19E EPS.

The views and investment tips expressed by brokerage houses on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
A car makes its way amidst the heavy smog in New Delhi, India, November 6, 2016. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - S1AEULHCYAAA

American carrier United Airlines on Saturday temporarily suspended its flights from Newark to New Delhi due to the bad air quality in the capital city.

Customers who have booked tickets between November 9 and November 13 will be allowed to book tickets for flights leaving on or before November 18 at no additional cost, the airline said.

"The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before November 18, 2017, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed," the airline said on its website.

The airlines further said that due to severe weather conditions or other major events that could impact its operations, they sometimes "issue travel waivers to allow you to change to alternate flights without paying a change fee."

A representative from the airline told CNN that the United is "monitoring advisories as the region remains under a public health emergency and that it is coordinating with the respective government agencies.

On Thursday, the New Delhi government declared a pollution emergency and announced severe measures to improve its worsening air quality. The national capital banned entry of trucks into the city as well as said no to all construction activities to improve the situation.

Illegal crop burning in nearby states like Punjab and Haryana, emissions from vehicles as well as construction dust have caused the crisis, which arises every year.
Eleven agitating doctors have been arrested from seven districts till this morning under the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) as the deadlock between medical practitioners and the state government entered its sixth day on Saturday, police said here.

The doctors were arrested from Tonk, Jaipur, Kota, Swai Madhopur, Bharatpur, Jhalawar and Banswara districts, ADG (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

The arrests came after the deadline set by the government for the medical practitioners to resume work expired yesterday evening.

Reddy said 43 doctors returned to work to avoid arrest.

Meanwhile, the states medical and health department issued a notice today to agitating doctors stating that the strike was against the high court order asking them to resume work by Friday.

One of the major demands of the doctors is of higher pay scale and promotions.

Asked about the issue, Director of Public Health Dr V K Mathur said, "We are trying to reach an amicable solution through talks."

Most doctors on strike remained unavailable for comment. The All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association president, Dr Ajay Chaudhary, and the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors president, Dr Ravi Jhakar, could not be reached.

Health minister Kalicharan Saraf had yesterday held Dr Chaudhary responsible for the strike. "Dr Chaudhary seems to have some personal interest... he is trying to create hurdles in breaking the deadlock. He is being guided by someone," the minister alleged.

He said several rounds of talks were held with the agitating doctors, who proceeded on a mass casual leave in support of their 33-point demand on Monday, but "the talks failed due to their adamant attitude".
Traffic drives through smog in Delhi, India November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton - D1BEULLHZPAC

The odd-even scheme is not returning to Delhi on Monday, the Delhi government said today, expressing its inability to enforce the measure after the National Green Tribunal ordered the withdrawal of exemptions given to women and two-wheelers.

The government said it will move the NGT on Monday requesting a review of its order and if the exemptions are granted, the scheme's implementation "will be considered".

After a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot announced that the measure, which was to be implemented between November 13 and 17, was being "called off" as the number of buses were inadequate and women's safety could not be compromised.

In a statement, the government later said that it has decided to "defer" its implementation. Gahlot said the authorities are ready to roll it out immediately if the exemptions are granted.

The NGT, which gave a conditional nod to the scheme, said that it should be implemented as and when PM (particulate matter) 10 level goes above 500 micrograms per cubic metre and PM 2.5 level crosses the limit of 300 micrograms per cubic metre and persist for 48 hours at a stretch.

At around 3.30 pm, Environment Minister Imran Hussain said the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 had also dropped. But by evening, the pollution was back to 'emergency' levels and a thick haze descended on the city.

The Centre-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) attributed the rise in pollution to the lowering of the "boundary layer" keeping pollutants trapped near the surface and preventing their escape into the upper layer of the atmosphere.

"There is no likelihood of last week's repeat as there is no fresh influx of pollutants from external sources such as stubble burning or dust storm in the larger region. But recovery will get delayed by at least one more day," SAFAR project director Gufran Beig told PTI.

The hourly graph of the Central Control Room for Air Quality Management run by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) also captured the sudden change in the air quality. The concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 hovered around 490 and 290 micrograms per cubic metre during the morning hours, marginally below the emergency limit of 500 and 300.

But by 6 pm, the readings had changed to 522 and 332. In fact, the improvement in the air quality made during the day started diminishing from around 2 pm itself.

The corresponding safe standards are 60 and 100 and prolonged exposure to anything beyond that is considered hazardous to human health as these particulates, measuring up to 30 times finer than the width of a human hair, can enter the respiratory system and settle deep in the lungs and also enter the bloodstream.

The CPCB's air quality index for the day (based on pollution levels till 5 pm) had a score of 403, as against yesterday's 468.

Beig said the drop in both the minimum and maximum temperatures led to the coming down of the boundary layer from around 1600 metres from the surface at 11 am to 50 metres at 5 pm.

According to the weather office, the maximum and minimum temperatures were 12.6 and 28.3 degrees Celsius respectively. The minimum was a notch below the season's average, it said.

Earlier this week, the Delhi government had announced implementation of the odd-even scheme from November 13 to 17, given the high level of smog in the capital. Schools were also shutdown till Sunday.

The car-rationing scheme was enforced twice in the national capital in 2016 with the two exemptions which were today struck down by the NGT. Under the policy, private vehicles are allowed to run based on the last number of their license plates. Odd-numbered cars are allowed to run on odd dates while even-numbered cars can only run on even dates.

Yesterday, AAP's Delhi unit convenor and Labour Minister Gopal Rai had strongly defended the scheme, terming vehicular pollution as the biggest source of ultrafine particulate matters measuring less than 2.5 microns.

A landmark IIT-Kanpur study, which covered the period 2013-14, has said that during winters, vehicles are the second largest and the "most consistent" contributing source of pollutants PM10 and PM2.5. In terms of percentage, it comes to around 20-25 per cent during winters, the report says. The contribution of road dust is negligible during the colder months unlike summers when it plays a bigger role.

However, the share of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, trucks and light commercial vehicles in the total vehicular contribution shows that trucks and two- wheelers are the major polluters.

According to the study, which was commissioned by the Sheila Dikshit government, the share of four-wheelers in the break up of vehicular contribution is 10 per cent each in cases of both PM2.5 and PM10.

On the other hand, the share of trucks and two-wheelers stands at around 46 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.
Opposition National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday that talk of an independent Kashmir was "wrong" as the Valley is landlocked and surrounded by three nuclear powers  China, Pakistan and India.

Abdullah also claimed that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and "this won't change" no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight against each other.

His statement comes days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had rejected the idea of an "independent Kashmir", saying it was not based on "reality".

"I am saying that there is nothing like the issue of freedom (independent Kashmir) here. We are landlocked. On one side we have China, Pakistan on the other side and India on the third side," the MP from Srinagar told reporters on the sidelines of a function at the party headquarters here.

"All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allah's name," he said.

"Those (separatists) who are talking about Azadi, are talking wrong," the former J&K chief minister said.

On the demand for autonomy, he said that while the state decided to join India out of love, the country "betrayed" the people of Kashmir and did not treat them well.

"We should understand that there has been a decision (of accession), but India didn't treat us well. India betrayed us. They did not recognise the love with which we chose to join them. That is the reason behind the current situation in Kashmir," Abdullah said.

"Internal autonomy is our right. They (Centre) should restore it. Only then the peace will return (to the Valley)," he said.

Referring to a statement made by Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir about PoK being part of India, Abdullah invoked the instrument of accession signed by the then Maharaja Hari Singh, with the Indian government.

"You do not remember the instrument of accession and claim the other side of Kashmir administered by Pakistan. If that side is ours, then you should talk about the accession as well. Why do you forget the conditions on which we have acceded?" he said.

Abdullah also claimed that PoK was part of Pakistan and would remain so.

"I tell them in plain terms  not only the people of India but also to the world  that the part (of J&K) which is with Pakistan (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and this side to India. This won't change. Let them fight how many wars they want to. This won't change," Abdullah said.

"And when the situation is such, then they have to talk so that we live in peace, both parts live in peace and for that, it is imperative to grant autonomy to both the parts," he said.

Asked whether the visit of the Centre's special representative for Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma to the state was successful, Abdullah said only Sharma could say anything about it.

"I can only say that while he has held talks, only talks will not address the issue as this issue is between two countries  Pakistan and India. The government of India has to talk to the government of Pakistan as a part of J&K is with them (Pakistan)," he said.
A young farmer today climbed on the seventh floor of the state secretariat building, demanding a slew of welfare measures for cultivators and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations.

The farmer, Dnyaneshwar Salve, climbed on the parapet of the seventh floor of Mantralaya, the Maharashtra government's administrative headquarters in South Mumbai, police officials said.

The drama ended after sometime when police officials convinced the 28 year old protester to climb down from the building, they said.

Salve is a resident of Osmanabad district, some 400km away from Mumbai, and was detained when he came down, the officials said.

The act has also exposed the security lapses at the state headquarters.

"We will have to find out how he sneaked out of the window (and landed on the parapet) of the seventh floor," an officer from the administrative department of the Mantralaya said.

Education and Cultural Minister Vinod Tawde, who was in the Mantralaya at the time of the incident, also tried to communicate with Salve.

Tawde later said Salve did not have any personal demands.

He said the farmer's demands included implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, higher MSPs for farm produce and completion of online procurement of crops within 48 hours, among others.

No case should be filed against him, the minister said, adding Salve had staged the protest to highlight the condition of farmers.
India main opposition Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi speaks during the 'Kisan Akrosh Rally ' at Banswara in Rajasthan on 19th July,2017.(Photo by Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today began his campaign for Assembly polls in north Gujarat with a visit to the famous Akshardham temple here.

Akshardham temple belongs to the Swaminarayan sect, which has a huge following among the Patel community, and the Congress is trying to woo the community ahead of the Assembly election to be held in two phases on December 9 and December 14.

Gandhi arrived here this morning and went to the Akshardham temple. He offered prayers to Lord Swaminarayan at the temple and began his three-day tour which will cover six districts.

The BJP criticised the move, saying Gandhi was visiting Hindu temples just ahead of elections to get votes.

"Why Rahul Gandhi is only visiting temple ahead of elections. People know their intentions that they want to get votes by such gimmicks. They have no inclination of devotion as during Rahul Gandhi's earlier trip he never visited any temple," Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said.

"We wish that Congress sheds its pseudo-secularism and respect mainstream Hindutva, but their gimmicks to get votes will not work in Gujarat," Patel said.

However, the Congress hit back, saying people will teach the BJP a lesson as it is opposing a visit to temple.

"Does anybody have patent on devotion? They are opposing a visit to the temple. People of Gujarat will teach them a lesson," Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said.

"Rahul Gandhiji has visited Jain temple and Gurudwaras apart from Hindu temples. We believe in secularism," he said.

Gandhi is going to visit the famous Ambaji temple in Banaskantha district in north Gujarat this evening.

He had started his campaign in the western state with a visit to the renowned Dwarkadheesh temple.
Posters depicting Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who has resigned from his post, are seen in Beirut, Lebanon, November 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon's president has told foreign ambassadors that the country's prime minister Saad al-Hariri, who resigned suddenly last week in Saudi Arabia, has been "kidnapped" and must have immunity, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters on Saturday.

President Michel Aoun has been convening high-level meetings with Lebanese politicians and foreign diplomats since Hariri resigned in a surprise broadcast from Saudi Arabia last week.

Aoun made the remark in a meeting on Friday, the official said.
North Korea said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump's first trip to Asia showed he was a "destroyer" and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula.

"Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as a destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula," the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs during a visit to the world headquarters of Snap-On Inc, a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S., April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US president Donald Trump on Saturday said Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin told him that "he didn't meddle" in US elections that propelled the billionaire former reality star to the White House.

Trump's relationship with Moscow has stalked the first year of his presidency, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin.

Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges including conspiracy to launder money, linked to the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations that the campaign colluded with Russia.

The US leader had "two or three" brief conversations with Putin on the margins of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on the way to a state visit in Hanoi.

"He (Putin) said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again," he said.

"You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election."

Trump explained that Putin reiterates his denial "every time" the pair meet, adding his counterpart seems "very insulted" by the persistent allegations.

But he would not be drawn on whether he believes the Russian strongman.

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook have said paid for and free content with Russian links carrying divisive election-related messages spun across their platforms ahead of the crunch poll.
20:27 Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Saturday said debit and credit cards as well as ATMs will be redundant in next three-four years and people will use their mobile phones for financial transactions.

He further said that with India being a country where 72 percent population is below 32 years of age, it will have an advantage over other regions like the US and Europe in terms of demographic dividend.

"India will make credit cards, debit cards and ATMs technologically

redundant in next 3-4 years and we all will be using mobiles for doing many transactions," Kant said.Russian President Vladimir Putin today said accusations that Moscow meddled in US elections, particularly through contacts with Donald Trump's campaign team, are "fantasies" and attempts to undermine the

US presidency.

The Trump administration has been roiled by claims that Moscow helped the billionaire into the White House, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin.

20:01 Lebanon's president has told foreign ambassadors that the country's prime minister Saad al-Hariri, who resigned suddenly last week in Saudi Arabia, has been "kidnapped" and must have immunity, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters on Saturday.

19:47 JSW Steel and Lodha Group are among the 20 entities that have evinced interest to invest Rs 2,000 crore to complete the pending real estate projects of debt-laden Jaypee Group firm Jaypee Infratech.

According to sources, the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel in association with Jaypee Group's flagship Jaiprakash Associates has expressed interest in the project.

Besides, sources said, the Mumbai-based realty firm Lodha Developers has submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for completing the projects as per the insolvency resolution plan.

The EoI invited by insolvency resolution professional (IRP) has received response from various entities, including corporates and asset reconstruction companies.

19:13 Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that the BJP of today was not the one of the Vajpayee-Advani era, and his party workers need to exhibit a more vigorous fighting spirit to take on it.

He alleged the saffron party was "caught" in the hands of "some leaders" who felt that their main agenda for being in power was to push the idea of Hindutva.

"In order to oppose and fight the BJP, I say that we should have more fighting spirit (por gunam)," he told party functionaries here today.

Seeking to take credit for the Centre's decision to reduce the GST rates on a number of items, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today said he would not rest till the five-slab "Gabbar Singh Tax" was

converted into the "Goods and Services Tax" with an 18-percent cap.

The Gandhi scion, who launched his poll campaign tour of north Gujarat after offering prayers at the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar today, again raked up the issue of a company of Jay Shah, the son of BJP president Amit Shah.

18:23 ONGC is hoping to complete its acquisition of the state-run HPCL by March, ONGC's chairman and managing director Shashi Shanker said.

When announced in July, ONGC, one of the richest PSUs with a mount of cash, had pegged the cost of acquiring the 51.11 per cent government stake for around Rs 32,000 crore, but since then HPCL stock has rallied and there are fears that the oil and gas explorer will have to shell out much more than the initial estimate.

With the acquisition, ONGC will become the first fully integrated state-run oil and gas company with significant upstream and downstream operations with many refineries and over 14,400 retail outlets.

17:55 Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the world had started realising that India was no longer a weak nation and that it belonged to the club of powerful countries in the world.

At the international level, India's importance has grown. The world realises that India, at this point of time, has emerged as the biggest economy in the world. India today is no longer a weak country, but in the club of the powerful nations of the world," he said at an event.

17:35 The Congress in Arunachal Pradesh today urged the Election Commission to announce by-election dates for two Assembly constituencies in the state that are vacant for several months.

The constituencies are Pakke-Kessang in East Kameng district and Likabali in Lower Siang district.

State Congress president Takam Sanjoy, in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti, said Pakke-Kessang (ST) Assembly constituency has been vacant since February 8 this year.

17:09 The Income-Tax department continued its searches for the third day today at premises linked to jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her kin over suspected tax evasion.

I-T officials though did not elaborate on the value of cash and type of documents seized.

The searches, including in this metropolis, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and a number of other locations in Tamil Nadu, that commenced on November 9 were going on at some places, a senior tax official told PTI.

16:48 Terming the opposition Congress as "anti-people", Union minister Prakash Javadekar today expressed confidence that the BJP will register a massive victory in the Gujarat assembly elections to be held next month, reports PTI.

"BJP is very confident of winning the elections in Gujarat and it will register a massive victory on the basis of the work done by the government," the HRD Minister, who was here to take part in the party's door-to-door campaign, told reporters.

16:27 Srinagar MP and former J&K chief minister on Saturday said that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir belongs to Pakistan and that people on the Indian side should stop asking for 'azadi'.

He also said that Kashmir on the Indian side needs more autonomy and those seeking azadi are misguided.

16:05 The Congress today claimed credit for the GST Council's decision to cut tax rates on 178 items of daily use, saying the government was forced to do so due to the pressure mounted by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the "huge response" his campaign had been receiving in poll-bound Gujarat.

Leading the charge against the government on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Gandhi said the Congress would continue to fight for a 18-per cent cap on the highest GST slab instead of the current 28 per cent, and vowed that the party would get the job done "if the ruling BJP doesn't".

16:03 Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) has obtained approval from its board of directors to form a joint venture company with Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) and NALCO, reports PTI.

The JV would help in the formation of a joint working group, which would be empowered to deal with government-to-government (G2G) deals relating to sourcing of rare minerals.

16:01 United Airlines has suspended it's Newark-New Delhi flight due to poor air quality concerns in Delhi, reports ANI.

American carrier said that it is suspending flights due to the bad air quality in the capital. Customers who have booked tickets between November 9 and November 13 will be allowed to book tickets for flights leaving on or before November 18 at no additional cost, the airline said.

15:58 While the smog has subsided in the capital, concentration of pollutants continues to remain high.

On Thursday, after three days of choking pollution, the authorities took multiple measures and announced several others. Delhi Fire Services sprinkled water on trees across the national capital as part of measures to control pollution. As many as 52 fire tenders were at work to spray water on trees in Delhi from noon to 4 pm.

15:42 "In light of the the two conditions by NGT on 2 wheelers & women, at the moment we are calling it off. We will go back to NGT on Monday, file a review petition for them to reconsider their decision regarding the two," Gehlot said.

The NGT on Saturday gave its nod for implementation of the scheme aimed at tackling high pollution level.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said that no one should be exempted from the scheme, except for CNG vehicles and emergency services such as ambulance and fire.

During the hearing, the tribunal questioned the city government as to why it was granting exemptions to certain sections if the aim was to improve air quality, PTI reported.

The bench also issued notices to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to show cause why exemplary cost should not be imposed on them for violation of its order putting a ban on construction activities.



#OddEven has been called off for now: Kailash Gehlot, Delhi Transport Minister pic.twitter.com/2ZXzO0qHGZ

 ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2017

Gahlot told ANI that the scheme has been called off for now.

15:35 Delhi government calls off odd-even scheme.

On November 9, Delhi government, led by Arvind Kejriwal, said it will re-implement odd-even scheme for five days beginning November 13.

Transport Minister for NCT of Delhi Kailash Gahlot announced this development on Thursday. However, the minister did not announce if the government is implementing the scheme to test the waters or if it is a norm to be followed henceforth.
Kermit Dyke graduated from high school in 1932, at the peak of the Great Depression. A block from his house near downtown Los Angeles, scores of men lined up each day, looking for work and finding none. He didnt want to end up like them. So Dyke, tall, blond and handsome, joined the National Guard.

It drilled just once a month, but it gave him three things: A little spending money; a bit part in a Hollywood silent film (They needed someone to stand there in a uniform with a rifle; I got five dollars); and an entry into what he describes as probably the most honorable profession there is.

In 1936, he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and today, at 103, he is its oldest living graduate. Sitting in the home he shares with his wife, Bobbe, in Solomons, Maryland, the retired colonel cradled an old album stuffed with black-and-white photos of young men posing in jodhpurs and Shako hats, sitting on horseback, or just goofing around in T-shirts and shorts.

Thats me, throwing a paper bag full of water on an upperclassman, he said, pointing at one. And heres my graduation class. Of the three dozen young men in the photo  the class total was 450  few are still alive.

Dykes family history of service spans more than 100 years, from his grandfather, a Union soldier in the Civil War, to his son, also a West Point graduate, who is a retired major, and extends to his father-in-law and brothers-in-law, who also served.

He was born two days before the start of World War I  too late to have met his grandfather, Robert Dyke. Theres Grandpas sword, he said, pointing up at the wall. Sliding off the leather sheath revealed a blade with delicate engravings of flowers and an image of a woman, and, at the base, crude notches whose meaning could only be guessed at: XXXIIII.

He was first attracted to his wife, a chemistry major and science teacher, because, as she explained, Id read all the books on his required-reading list.

Those books were about atomic energy and nuclear power. The attraction was mutual; since Bobbe also came from a military family, she said, being around him worked.

After marrying in 1951, the couple had postings around the United States and Canada  including 15 years in McLean, Virginia, where their three children attended high school. Bobbe, 91, was one of the first docents at the National Air and Space Museum when it opened in 1976, and she continued there until last year, with her husband driving her the 130-mile round trip route every week until the year he turned 100.

Looking over his photos, Dyke recalled things he liked and didnt like about West Point. He liked firing guns. He didnt like getting up at 6 a.m. Or the fact that when you were a plebe, you couldnt look down at the food you were eating; you had to look straight ahead. They didnt want you to feel like you were being pampered.

But there was plenty of fun. Part of cadet training included learning to waltz and fox trot, and photos showed Dyke and his classmates dancing in a stage production alongside attractive companions with long hair, glamorous makeup and flared skirts.

These are all men, he noted  fellow students at the academy. West Point did not admit its first co-ed class until 40 years after he matriculated.

The album also contained artifacts from World War II, during which Dyke served as an Air Force officer in North Africa, Italy and France: an authorization paper from the Arrondissement Maritime dOran, issued in 1942. A picture of him standing beside a guide in front of the pyramids in Cairo. A 1944 ration card, good anywhere in the North African Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, that entitled him to weekly allotments of items such as candy bars, tooth powder, pipe cleaners, beer and cigarettes.

Dyke stopped smoking decades ago, and so did his wife.

I stopped at midnight, Dec. 31, 1967, she said. We had just moved to McLean to a bigger house and he had bought me new bedroom furniture. He said, I dont know why I bought you new furniture. Youre only going to burn holes in it like every other piece of furniture. 

The ex-smoker with perfectly coifed white curls grinned at her husband of 66 years. You were so right, and I was so embarrassed that I stopped.

Drinking is another matter, though. The couple faithfully go out for a drink every evening, at the bar and grill at Asbury Solomons, the continuing-care retirement community where they live, or at the nearby Solomons Island Yacht Club, where they were members for years and still frequent.

They always order identical drinks.

We used to do martinis on Mondays and Thursdays, Manhattans on Tuesdays and Fridays, Old-Fashioneds on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Sundays was something special, like old Scotch, Bobbe said. But as they got older, they simplified things. Now its martinis (her preferred cocktail) on Mondays and Thursdays, and Manhattans (his favorite) on other nights.

They are also active in Asburys Wii bowling league. Both were longtime bowlers, and for a while they dominated the Wii tournaments.

Till the young whippersnappers came, Bobbe said, referring to 70- and 80-year-old neighbors.

Kids, Dyke spat out.

Looking at the faces of his old classmates, he mused about the direction the country has taken in the decades since they graduated  not a good one, in his view. I just think that the way things are going now, its not a matter of everybody helping everybody else to survive, its a matter of whos getting the most money, he said, adding that discipline  including the discipline to balance the national budget  is disappearing.

But not for him. The same man who could stand on his hands as a cadet still goes to the fitness room every day for a workout. He had no apparent problems hearing a reporters questions or peering through his glasses to identify people in tiny 90-year-old photographs.

People are always saying, You dont even use a cane,  Bobbe said.

Dyke grinned. My secret is, Dont make any changes if things are working right,  he said. So if youre drinking Manhattans, keep going.
The Permian Basin rig count rose for the fifth straight week and inched closer to 400 rig territory, not seen since February 2015.

On Friday, the Permian recorded 386 rigs, an increase of six, according to data from Baker Hughes.

Reeves County added a rig for a basin-leading 63. Midland County gave up a rig, falling to 42. Other counties with double-digit rig counts were Lea, New Mexico (38); Loving (38); Eddy, New Mexico (30); Martin (30); Howard (18); Reagan (17); Upton (14); Glasscock (13); Pecos (13); Andrews (11); and Ward (10).

Railroad Commission District 8 rose by three rigs to 260. For other areas with activity in the Permian, District 7B held at 34 rigs, District 7C fell by one to 34, District 8A stayed at 22 and New Mexico was up by four to 68.

The Permian had 218 rigs a year ago.

TEXAS & NEW MEXICO

Of the 442 rigs operating in Texas, 318 were in the Permian. For the week, Texas count fell by two. The Eagle Ford in South Texas added two rigs for a total of 67. The Barnett in North Texas held at five.

Five of the Haynesvilles 38 rigs were in East Texas. Half of the Granite Washs 10 rigs were in the Panhandle.

Texas had two rigs offshore.

New Mexico ended the week with 69 rigs, up four. Its lone non-Permian rig was in Sandoval County in the northwestern part of the state.

At this time last year, Texas had 268 rigs and New Mexico recorded 31.

UNITED STATES

The U.S. added nine rigs this week, all of them searching for oil. Oil rigs tallied 738, and natural gas rigs totaled 169. The U.S. had 907 rigs total, 18 of which were offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. had one rig in inland waters.

By drilling trajectory, there were 776 horizontal rigs, up 12; 57 vertical rigs, down four; and 74 directional rigs, up one.

The U.S. had 568 rigs last year.

MOST ACTIVE

Basins with the highest rig counts were the Permian, the Cana Woodford (73), the Eagle Ford, the Williston (48) and the Marcellus (42)

States with the most activity were Texas, Oklahoma (123), New Mexico, Louisiana (58) and New Mexico (47).

CANADA & NORTH AMERICA

Canadas rig count surged by 11 to 203. Oil rigs rose by eight to 108, and natural gas rigs were up by four to 95. Canada had 176 rigs a year ago.

The total number of rigs in the North America region rose by 20 to 1,110. At this time last year, there were 744 rigs in North America.

* * *

The following are county-by-county Permian Basin rig counts, with changes in parentheses, for the week ending Nov. 10.

DISTRICT 7B

Fischer1

Nolan1

Total2

DISTRICT 7C

Irion2

Reagan17

Tom Green1

Upton14 (-1)

Total34 (-1)

DISTRICT 8

Andrews11

Crane1

Culberson8 (-2)

Ector1

Glasscock13

Howard18

Jeff Davis1

Loving38 (+1)

Martin30 (+2)

Midland42 (-1)

Mitchell1

Pecos13 (+3)

Reeves63 (+1)

Sterling1

Ward10 (-1)

Winkler9

Total260 (+3)

DISTRICT 8A

Borden2

Cochran2

Dawson1

Gaines4

Garza2

Hockley1

Scurry6

Yoakum4

Total22

NEW MEXICO

Eddy30 (+1)

Lea38 (+3)

Total68 (+4)
On Nov. 7, voters in Longwood elected three new city commissioners, including two challengers to incumbent commissioners.

One of those new city leaders is former WWE wrestler Matt Morgan.

Matt Morgan won Longwood District 4 Commission seat

Wants to raise police pay, help fire department

Unseated incumbent Mark Weller

RELATED: Seminole County Election Results

At seven feet tall, 300-plus pounds, Morgan became famous as one of wrestlings most menacing figures. Now, Morgan turns his attention towards a different fight.

I want to hit the ground running, said Morgan.

Morgan is so tall, he had to duck under the doorway to get into Longwood City Hall to sign paperwork following his election victory. He says he entered the political ring after his neighbors urged him to run for several years.

All of these people in our city for the last five years have been writing me messages, leaving index cards in my mailbox, Post-It notes on my garage door, my front door, about me running for commission one day, said Morgan.

Morgan retired from wrestling a few years ago when his son was born. He now sells medical equipment.

What I needed to do then was find a nine-to-five job where I could still take my kid to daycare and pick him up, be a dad, said Morgan.

Morgan says there are too many vacancies at the Longwood Police Department. He wants to get police officers more pay.

He also wants to help firefighters whove had to deal with flooding at their firehouse for months.

They shouldnt have to be worrying about fiddling with sandbags, said Morgan. Its an embarrassment and its a slap in their face.

Morgan says hell then focus on getting businesses back to Longwood. He says several business owners were at his victory party.

Five of them want to bring their businesses back just because of this victory and because what it means to our city, said Morgan.

Morgan says he wont forget why he ran for office and who hes fighting for now.

If its not whats best for Longwood as a whole, its not going to fly with me, because my job is to represent the masses, said Morgan.

Morgan will be sworn in as a Longwood City Commissioner on Monday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m.

WEB EXTRA: Matt Morgan's wrestling toys, and helping kids with cancer
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An outcry broke out on social media this week over several Laredo high school students' choice of makeup for senior week as photos circulated online.

Social media posts show several United High School seniors dressed as the Jackson 5, American rapper Kodak Black and hip-hop artist Offset. But it was the fact that these students chose to paint their faces black as part of their senior week costumes that caused the uproar.

The photos of students posing in blackface generated a stream of comments, deeming the costumes inappropriate and racist. As a United High School alumna, Liliana Lozano said she was disappointed to see high school seniors using blackface in their costumes this year.

"I wasn't the only one to realize this act of racism, however 'harmless' the intentions may have been," Lozano told LMT.

READ MORE: UIW responds to allegations of student-athletes dressing in blackface

Lozano said she called the high school to express her concern. She said the last thing she wants is for people unfamiliar with Laredo's lack of diversity to think the ignorant acts speak for United High or the city of Laredo as a whole.

Traditionally, seniors dress in various costumes during the course of senior week. The week consists of themes that include character day, worldwide day and Hollywood day. Historically, blackface portrayals are considered offensive due to its roots in racial oppression.

The United Independent School District said corrective action was taken at the campus and students were cooperative.

"United ISD and United High School does not condone the deception of characters that may be deemed offensive or hurtful to anyone," UISD said in statement. "Campus administrators have addressed students and directed those whose costumes may be questionable to remove offensive makeup or props, or alter their costumes."

Another photo circulating on social media showed a student dressed as Adolf Hitler. The student, whose costume includes a swastika, is photographed performing the Nazi salute.

MORE FROM LMTonline: Army dad surprises kids with touching reunion at Trautmann Middle School

Christopher Kim said the incident was "absolutely appalling." Kim expressed how inappropriate it was for students to dress up in blackface or as Hitler, "especially in an educational setting where you learn the historical contexts of these actions/figures."

Kim said this wasn't the first time the school district's senior week consisted of controversial costumes. He said hopefully students will learn from their mistakes and the school district will work on changing their policies.

"Senior week is a reward to our seniors for four years of hard work," UISD said in a statement. "United ISD will review its guidelines and make amendments if necessary to ensure a safe and secure environment for all students."
MERIDEN  Veterans, families and residents gathered at Veterans Memorial Boulevard in the Stop and Shop Plaza Saturday morning for the annual Veterans Day ceremony.

I make it a point to come here every year, said Dennis Cardona, a Vietnam veteran and Meriden resident. It means a lot.

Cardona was among many veterans who attended and shared their military experiences.

I think its an important part of this conversation, said Bob Williams, city councilor and commander of American Legion Post 45.

Williams, who led the ceremony, gave veterans in the crowd the opportunity to publicly speak about their experiences.

Paul Pilecki, a city resident, came up to the podium and told of his time as an army sergeant in Desert Storm, Operation Provide Comfort.

We put our lives on the line, we all did, he said. I didnt see combat but I saw devastation, the devastation I saw I cant describe.

He said his father was a U.S. Marine veteran who saw a lot of action in World War II.

I know its a hard thing to talk about, Pilecki said. "You dont have to, but knowing that you served is a proud thing.

Keynote speaker Joseph Kowalski, a 13-year veteran of the Marines, said it is hard to describe the sacrifices that veterans have endured.

Well lets start by not being able to see your son born or your daughter born because youre deployed somewhere, he said. These kinds of sacrifices I hope somewhere down the road the rest of us can appreciate and honor.

Despite the chilly temperatures, dozens of people, including town officials, stood listening to speeches and poems about serving in the military.

Im asking each and every vet that has served, tell your story, said Meriden Police Chaplin Clarence Hayes, an army veteran. Write it on paper, let people know what youve been through.

The Veterans Day Wreath was placed on the World War I monument across the street to mark the 11 a.m. cease fire between Germany and the Allied nations on Nov. 11, 1918.

A gun volley and Taps followed to end the ceremony.

Make sure every time you see a veteran somewhere, wherever your daily routine, you stop and thank them, Kowalski said. Try and understand a little bit what kind of sacrifices it takes to do this.

akus@record-journal.com

203-317-2448

Twitter: @KusReporter
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The names of the fallen sailors rang out: Gandy. Garrett. Gastelum. Geronimo. A bell was struck in their honor.

For all the fallen at the battle of Guadalcanal, said the man reading the names of the 107 sailors and Marines who died on the San Francisco, a 10,000-ton cruiser, 75 years ago in a key World War II battle.

With a backdrop of the Pacific Ocean, a crowd of more than 100 armed forces members, their families and friends came to the cruisers Lands End memorial site Saturday to honor those men who fought Japanese forces on and near the island northeast of Australia.

The actions and sacrifices of the men serving there were remarkable. Fathers. Brothers. Husbands and sons of American families, each willing to step into the breach for their country, said Vice Admiral Thomas S. Rowden, commander of the U.S. Naval Surface Forces. They raised their hands and went off to fight for the cause of freedom, winning one of the most significant battles that helped turned the tide in the Pacific theater of operations.

Just eight months after Pearl Harbor, in August 1942, American forces stormed Guadalcanal as it was being developed as a future air base for the Japanese.

For six months, the battle raged. On Nov. 12, 1942, the Japanese decided to make a huge push to retake the island, bringing in a convoy with thousands of troops. It was then that the San Francisco battled the Japanese forces in close combat, even after a bomber crashed into the cruisers air control station.

The fight continued into the the overnight darkness of Nov. 13, when the San Francisco, along with other American cruisers, sailed into the center of the Japanese formation of warships. Rear Adm. Daniel Callaghan, a native of San Francisco, yelled out: Get the big ones first!

The contest lasted from Nov. 12 to 15 and marked the last major Japanese effort to gain control of the island and the area around Guadalcanal. The toll was especially heavy aboard the San Francisco, with shell fire from the Japanese ships killing more than 100 sailors and Marines, including Callaghan and his staff.

Marines at shore said it was as if lightning was passing between the fighting warships, Rowden told the crowd. Let me say as a former commanding officer and a strike group commander, I cant imagine what it must have been like trading rounds with enemy combatants just yards away.

In February 1943, the Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal and ceased their campaign for the island  a key turning point for the Allied Forces in the Pacific.

Some will say that as time distances us from World War II, our nation will lose its knowledge of our history, that our nation will lose its knowledge of our countrys wars, said Rowden. As I look around here today, I see a grateful audience whove purposefully made a point to remember and honor veterans and to remember and celebrate the battles and their sacrifices, even events 75 years ago.

For veterans like Jeff Dunning, a 73-year-old Concord resident and board member of the USS San Francisco Memorial Foundation, the turnout was inspiring.

When the vets come out and see this, its like theyre born again, he said. Its a glorious day to be amongst people that care.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz
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In a photo projected at Greenwich High School, American GIs clomped through the Vietnamese jungle. Their eyes were tense, as if they sensed danger, and they clutched their rifles so they could fire at a moments notice.

Even a split-second delay might result in a friends death, or their own.

Navy veteran Bruce Winningham asked his teenaged audience to imagine the same scene, but with a different setting. Instead of the swampy, vegetative overgrowth, he said, pretend that the soldiers were marching through rock and sand.

With the change of geography, it could be an image of their generation in Afghanistan, Iraq or Niger.

At this years Veterans Day assembly, held this week in GHS performing arts center, two veterans from the Vietnam era spoke to students about their experiences in the field, with Winningham acting as a moderator.

No one sugarcoated his time in-country.

When I say it was raining, it never stopped raining for three months, said Bob Moore, who served in Vietnam during monsoon season from 1970-71 as an Army officer. It was miserable. We were scared, and cold, and wet.

For GHS junior Tysen Comizio, the veterans stories personalized the war.

It was easy for me to visualize what it was like, and it puts it in a new perspective rather than just reading out of a textbook, Comizio said. He admitted that before the talk, he hadnt even understood that fighting took place across all of Vietnam.

During the assembly, Moores counterpart from the Navy, Edward Vick, emphasized a few statistics to challenge one of the predominant myths about the war. He told students that contrary to the common narrative, only 30 percent of those killed in action were draftees; the rest had signed up willingly.

But ultimately, the point of the panel was not to rehash the details of a war that took place half a century ago. Instead, Michael Galatioto, the U.S. history and psychology teacher who organized the event, wanted to educate his students about how warfare affects soldiers, years after their service.

These veterans offer the perspective of time, and I think that gives them an informed idea of what it means to be in a war, and come out of the war, and have to re-assimilate into society, Galatioto said.

Vick was a patrol boat commander along the Mekong Delta from 1968-69. He told the crowd that his tour had taught him courage under fire, or grace under pressure.

When he spoke to Greenwich Time, Vick detailed the internal battles he fought after returning stateside. But in the end, his service made him who he is today, he said, in a good way.

Approximately five percent of GHS students serve in the military, according to the career counselors office. Through the annual assembly, Galatioto tries to provide local teens with a full picture of what they might encounter before they choose to enlist or attend one of the academies.

When recruiters come and talk to the kids, they definitely get one perspective, and I think this helps give them another perspective, he said.

In U.S. History, he has already addressed the Vietnam conflict with his sophomores. A good number of the students have fathers, uncles or other relatives who fought, and the topic often comes up in conversation, he said.

I almost think the Vietnam War is coming of age in terms of our ability to talk about it, he continued. Its becoming a little more historical. Its not as fresh in peoples minds.

But even as the war fades from the present into the past, its context is not altogether unfamiliar to todays youth.

Vick remembered doing duck and cover drills during sixth and seventh grade. The country was in the throes of the Cold War, and nuclear holocaust loomed as a real possibility.

Vick and his classmates studied the domino theory and were taught to believe that communists wanted to kill them. The fear their education engendered inspired many of them to join up.

Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the north, was primarily a nationalist and only coincidentally a communist, and I think we did some serious misreading probably couched in the paranoia of the Red Scares of the 1950s, Moore said.

Today, news stories that focus on an impending nuclear threat from North Korea give teenagers much the same impression  for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, nuclear warfare appears possible.

Teddy Bacon, who is a junior at GHS, said that if he does not go to college for some reason, he wants to enlist instead.

I feel like theres a lot of things in the world that are wrong, he explained. Id rather do something about it and fight for my country.

Nuclear weaponry and its implications are not the only parallel between the Vietnam era and today. One student asked if the veterans would relive the conflict. Though Vick said he did not regret his decisions, he faulted the government for not seeing the war through to its completion.

As the former chairman of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Vick said politicians are making the same decisions now in the Middle East.

Its criminal, he said.

Moore admitted that he was angry after watching The Vietnam War this fall. In one of the episodes, a recording of Lyndon B. Johnson reveals that the commander-in-chief knew the conflict was un-winnable years before Moore ever arrived in-country. That soundbite has haunted him.

Still, both Vick and Moore said they were glad to have served.

I think every citizen has a responsibility to preserve American values, and if some of us dont step up and volunteer and go do it, were going to lose our edge, Moore said. Plus, he added, You will never get an adrenaline rush like when someone is shooting at you.

Vick maintains that his time as a naval officer is his proudest moment.

I was part of something bigger than myself, he said. I did something that was honorable, and I did something for the benefit of others and the benefit of my country.
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Wednesday night was big for police in the city of Oak Ridge North.

Three new police officers were sworn in by Oak Ridge North Mayor Jim Kuykendall at a special-called city council meeting Wednesday, Nov. 8, at City Hall.

New police officers Kelly Kennerly, Juan Valdez and Jaren Young swore to "serve, protect and defend" the city, the United States Constitution and the laws of the country and the state of Texas.

Oak Ridge North Police Chief Andrew Walters said the three new officers exemplified what it meant to have "integrity, respect and passion" for the badge.

The council also unanimously voted to approve a five-year lease to Motorola Solutions for 18 portable and 12 mobile police radios at a cost of $93,961.60, with an annual payment of $19,649.21 and a down payment of $20,000.

Because the city had budgeted only $19,200 for new radios in Fiscal Year 2017-18, officials will pull $800 from the budget to make the $20,000 down payment.

The radios will replace the city's current system, which is about 10 to 15 years old, said police Lt. Tom Libby, who presented the lease to council members on Wednesday.

Police officials in the small city are upgrading the radios after the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office announced this year that law enforcement agencies on the MSCO radio system would be required to upgrade their systems in order to continue being compatible together, Libby said.

The lease of the new police radios will end in five years, after which they will then belong to the Oak Ridge North Police Department. Libby said the new radios will last the department at least another 15 years.

Council also approved the purchase of a new vehicle lift for the city's Public Works Department that is capable of lifting more than 2 tons. The new lift came in at a cost of $16,104.57.

In other business:

* Joe Sherwin, the city's director of public works and engineering, asked the council to approve a plan to create a design for a future water plant site within the extraterritorial jurisdiction that would include raising the elevation, so that it meets floodplain requirements.

* The City Council cast six votes in favor of Council Member Clint McClaren joining the Montgomery Central Appraisal District Board of Directors.

The City Council's next scheduled meeting is set for Nov. 20.
Each year, the Texas Renaissance Festival welcomes private, public and home-schooled students for its annual School Days, a two-day event that allows students to step back in time to experience the sights and sounds of New Market Village, an authentic recreation of a 16th century European village. Students interacted with costumed characters representing the courts, culture, art, science and literature of the Renaissance Period.

During the school days Nov. 7-8, musical students from across Conroe ISD campuses participated in the Texas Renaissance Early Music Festival. The musical competitions included choir, band and orchestra.

Connie Horton, a McCullough Junior High School choir teacher, said the festival was a great opportunity for the students to perform and see other performances. The students were able to listen and learn how other choirs sound as well as see different stage presences. It also provided social benefits by allowing the students to interact with each other outside of the classroom, she added.

"We feel that the festival is a great experience for our students. The performing ensembles present two to three prepared pieces and receive constructive feedback from an adjudicator. This helps the students become better musicians. The festival also gives the students the opportunity to hear groups from other schools perform," Horton said. "In addition to the musical aspects of the festival, the students have the opportunity to learn about the renaissance period. Let's not forget the social benefits of the festival. The students truly enjoy getting to be with their friends at the festival. So do the teachers."

All junior high schools within the Conroe ISD participated, as well as those from Conroe High School, The Woodlands High School, Oak Ridge High School and College Park High School orchestra. Students practiced concert etiquette and supported each of the CISD performances. The outside location provided a unique learning experience for all.

"Performance in any area is good for them to do but an outside venue, for them to listen in open air and not in a room where sound bounces back, they have to listen intensely," Horton said.

The competitions were separated by category and group level. Overall, the CISD participants did well. Stewart Elementary placed first in the Elementary Small Orchestra. Mitchell and Cox Intermediate schools placed first and second, respectively, in the Elementary Large Orchestra category.

Peet, York and Moorhead junior high schools dominated in the Junior High Treble Choir Agora Stage competition by placing first, second and third, respectively. On the Junior High Treble Choir Titania's Bower Stage, Irons Junior High School took third place. This was the first year for the Highlander Guys of McCullough Junior High School to participate in the festival, and they took first place in the Boys Choir. York Junior High School won third place in the Junior High Large Orchestra category.

Conroe High School took top honors with first place in the High School Madrigal Choir competition and The Woodlands High School won second in the High School Large Mixed Choir category. The Woodlands High School also took second place in the High School Small Orchestra and College Park High School placed third in the High School Large Orchestra.
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"Who are we?"

"Stars and Stripes!"

"Who are we?"

"STARS AND STRIPES!"

The sound bounced off the concrete walls and metal picnic tables on the sixth floor of the Harris County Jail. Four dozen men stood in formation, stiff and ready.

"Thank you for the work that you've done for your country," said Jennifer Herring, the director of re-entry programs for the Harris County Sheriff's Office. "And thank you for the work you've done for yourselves."

The jail dedicated a new wing Friday for its Stars and Stripes unit, a 60- to 90-day re-entry program for inmates who are military veterans. The men have backgrounds in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, but on Friday they all wore the same orange uniform.

An inmate tank at the county jail may seem like an unlikely place to honor ex-service members on Veterans Day, but to these veterans, there was no better place to celebrate the sacrifices they've made - in the military and in this room.

Stars and Stripes is one of the jail's re-entry programs; it's designed to give veterans the skills and mindset they need to leave jail and never come back. The inmates volunteer to be separated from the general population and housed together with other veterans in two inmate tanks. They work with case workers and with one another, learning job skills and ways to cope with trauma, stress and depression.

'Good men, good leaders'

Flag and eagle murals are painted on the walls in this windowless box of a room - a room that, despite its institutional trappings, has been a saving grace for some incarcerated vets who have used the program to put their lives back together.

"You know what I always say: It's a shame that you have served our country, you have fought for our freedoms, yet you don't benefit from them," Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told the inmates. "You're good men, you're good leaders, and we're excited to be able to celebrate this on Veterans Day weekend."

Hundreds of veterans have gone through the Stars and Stripes program since it started in 2014. Most of them - 75 percent - have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Sheriff's Office. Gonzalez said the Sheriff's Office hopes to expand services eventually to help the veterans even after they are released from jail.

Some Stars and Stripes alums were on hand Friday to share their stories with current members, including Karl Branch, whose six-month sentence ended at the end of October.

Branch, 37, painted one of the patriotic murals that cover the walls. A former active-duty Marine, Branch had a family and a six-figure job, he said, before "my addiction got the best of me." He started with opiates, then switched to heroin. When he went to jail last spring, convicted of theft and drug possession, he didn't think it would turn his life around.

"When I walked in there before, I had no intentions of changing whatsoever," Branch said. He volunteered to try the Stars and Stripes tank because he thought it might win him some sympathy in court.

"But I tell you what, I am 100 times the man who walked in there before," Branch said Friday.

'I am y'all'

The group therapy and counseling he got in the Stars and Stripes tank made him realize the cause behind his addiction, he said, and working through that has allowed him to start over fresh. He has a job, he's mending broken relationships, and he wore a sport coat instead of a jumpsuit in jail this time around.

"I am y'all," he told the men in the tank Friday morning. "Y'all are me. But this" - he pointed to himself - "is your future."

Less than 10 percent of the veterans who go through Stars and Stripes end up back in jail, according to the Sheriff's Office. Eric Rothenberg, a Navy veteran in the Stars and Stripes tank now, says he won't be coming back.

"This program has literally saved my life in so many different ways," he said.

Rothenberg left the Navy with a service-ending injury, and that's when things went bad. He landed in jail several times, never able to stay away from trouble. But "this time I got help," he said.

When he entered Stars and Stripes, Rothenberg said, "I found out I had PTSD. Thirty years I've had PTSD; I had no idea."

But treatment through the veterans program, he said, "enabled me to go deep within myself and find out exactly where I went wrong."

At Friday's dedication, several inmates stepped up - sometimes spontaneously - to share their stories. Zavarius English fought back tears as he thanked Gonzalez, Herring and the case workers for the program.

"It's because of you all we have hope," English said. "And we will be better men when we leave than those we were when we came in here."
IMMERATH, Germany - The hospital is gone. So are most of the houses, with more being knocked down daily. Not even the bodies remain in the tree-shaded cemetery, where centuries-old bones were recently dug up and moved.

There is far more digging to come - enough to extinguish any trace that Immerath, a once-quaint farming village in the fertile western Germany countryside, ever existed. Because beneath the rich soil lies a substance even more valuable: coal.

The demolition of Immerath - making way for the expansion of mega-mines that will produce billions of tons of carbon emissions in the coming decades and leave a deep gash where villages dating to Roman times once stood - represents the dark underside of Germany's efforts to address climate change.

The growth of German coal mines at a time when the fuel is being rapidly phased out elsewhere also shows how difficult it can be for countries, even ones that aggressively commit to cleaner technologies, to actually make the switch.

For Germany, the gap between its bright-green rhetoric and coal-smudged reality has never been more vivid.

In the former West German capital of Bonn, the country is hosting a U.N. climate conference this month that is seen as critical to global efforts to fulfill pledges made two years ago in Paris. To slow the climate's potentially catastrophic warming, experts say the governments represented in Bonn will need to accelerate their embrace of renewable energy.

But just an hour's drive away is Immerath, which in its dying days has become an emblem of Germany's struggle to break its heavy addiction to brown coal, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels.

"There's no bigger impact on the environment than brown coal mining, and we're the world champion," said Dirk Jansen, a leader of the local chapter of Friends of the Earth in Germany's coal heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia. "If we want to stop climate change, we have to start here."

The ingredients for that start would seem to exist. Germany is led by Angela Merkel, who is known as the "Climate Chancellor" for her global leadership on the issue even as the Trump-led United States has abandoned it.

After fall elections, Merkel's conservatives are now negotiating to govern in a coalition with the Greens party, which has long advocated an end to German coal.

Opinion surveys show wide majorities of the German public favor getting out of the coal business, and the government has already committed to largely decarbonizing the economy by the middle of the century, with renewables filling the void.

But Germany is also on course to badly miss its emission-reduction targets for 2020. Leading politicians - Merkel included - have staunchly resisted taking steps that activists say could help the country get back on track, including quickly shutting down the dirtiest coal-fired plants and setting a firm deadline for phasing out coal altogether.

The reasons are varied, but they all come down to this: Germany's ambitious vision for "energiewende," or energy transformation, has proved far more difficult to execute than it was to plan.

"It's not just a technical shift. It's a societal shift," said Rebecca Bertram, an energy expert with the Greens party-aligned Heinrich Boll Foundation. "There are so many vested interests in keeping the old structures, and people will cling to them as long as they can."

The Greens are pushing Merkel to agree in coalition talks to an end for German coal by 2030. It's a deadline, party co-chair Simone Peter said, that would "show Europe, but also the rest of the world, that industrial countries are taking responsibility. We can't leave that up to developing countries. We have to show that we have better technologies than coal."

But Bertram said that, given the politics involved, 2030 is looking unlikely. "It would be more realistic to think about 2040 or 2045," she said.

Pushing the coal phaseout back that far could doom German chances of hitting its ambitious emission-reduction targets not only in 2020 but far beyond. Environmental advocates say it would also mean potentially irreversible damage to the planet at a time when governments such as Germany's need to be moving faster to pivot to cleaner sources of energy.

But the Greens' likely coalition partners insist that the country has little choice than to keep burning coal - at least for the immediate future.

Germany is already getting out of the nuclear energy business. Following Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster, Merkel decided to close all nuclear plants by 2022.

Simultaneously leaving behind coal, say critics of a quick exit, would leave the country without the necessary resources to ensure it has the energy it needs.

"We don't want to exit coal energy nationally only to import coal or nuclear-energy from other countries," said Hermann Otto Solms, point person for the pro-business Free Democrats, the party that is likely to join the Greens and Merkel's conservatives in the next German government.

Renewables are the future, Solms said. But the country needs to build the networks needed to transport that power.

Right now, much of German renewable capacity is in the north, along the gusty Baltic Sea coast, while Germany's energy-intensive industries are concentrated in the south.

"If we push renewables, we have to create the infrastructure," Solms said.

Meanwhile, brown coal is plentiful and cheap.

Germany already plans to get out of hard coal, with the last underground mines closing next year. But brown coal, also known as lignite, is another story.

Mined in giant open pits, it is easier to access but lower quality - and, therefore, dirtier to burn - than hard coal. And in parts of western Germany known as the Rhineland, it's ubiquitous - the leftover remains of 25-million-year-old swampland.

You don't have to dig far to find it, and given the low price of carbon under Europe's emissions trading system, there is little financial cost to burning it.

"There's no real economic incentive to phase out coal," said Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "To stimulate clean innovation, we need a minimum price for CO2."

Also working in coal's favor is that the industry employs about 20,000 people, and the energy companies lobby hard to keep German politicians from disrupting their business.

"This is a region where just about everyone depends on the brown coal industry in some way or another," said Norbert Mattern, a 50-year-old who has been working for the mines since he was an apprentice in high school.

Mattern said he has been listening to politicians talk about shutting down the coal business for years. But, he says, he will probably retire long before that ever happens.

The mining companies, too, see a reasonably long-term future in coal. Rather than scale back as the world turns toward cleaner fuels, they are forging ahead in Germany with ambitious expansion plans.

Among them is the one that will wipe Immerath from the map.

Or, at least, the old Immerath. The owner of the area's mines, an energy colossus known as RWE, is constructing a new version of the village seven miles up the road.

But the two bear little resemblance to one other. The new one is tidy and austere, with suburban-style housing and a central plaza anchored by a squat, beige, nearly windowless chapel.

It hovers above a sculpted replica of the old Immerath's soaring, double-spired 19th-century church. The miniature sculpture is a memorial to a building that isn't gone yet, but will be within weeks.

The rest of the old village will soon follow. Immerath, once home to 1,200 people, is now down to seven families who live in a place that shrinks a little more each day, with streets turning into dead ends and houses falling to demolition crews.

Christiane Portz and her family are among the last to leave.

Her husband's ancestors have owned property in the village for centuries, and the family farms potatoes there to this day. But the land that they cultivated so faithfully will soon be gone, a void hundreds of feet deep in its place.

Their handsome red-brick house, where brilliant yellow-leafed vines drape gracefully down the walls this autumn, will be gone, too.

Portz, 61, is philosophical about it all, and she said she does not blame the coal company.

"Where's the energy going to come from?" she asked as she stood in the home's central courtyard, her grandkids' toys scattered about. "We're 7 billion people in this world."

And besides, she said, their new house isn't bad. It's spacious, with plenty of land for horses to graze and potatoes to grow. It will, in some ways, be a lot like their old house, with one key difference.

The roof, she said, will be covered in solar panels.

- - -

Video: The Post's Griff Witte and Luisa Beck traveled to western Germany where, despite the country's green rhetoric, coal mines are rapidly expanding. (Griff Witte/The Washington Post)

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NEW DELHI - Citing toxic smog that one official said has turned India's capital city into a "gas chamber," United Airlines has canceled flights to New Delhi until the air gets better.

At least in United's eyes, the Indian capital's smog concerns are on par with environmental disasters like hurricanes and volcanoes - a risk to be avoided. The company said it was letting passengers switch flights without charge or helping them find seats on other carriers.

It was unclear if other airlines would follow suit. Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Etihad Airlines all compete for business to New Delhi, according to CNN Money.

An advisory on United's website said travel to New Delhi was suspended through at least Tuesday.

"United has temporarily suspended our Newark-Delhi flights due to poor air quality concerns in Delhi and currently has waiver policies in place for customers who are traveling to, from or through Delhi," the company said in an email.

"We are monitoring advisories as the region remains under a public health emergency, and are coordinating with respective government agencies."

New Delhi's air quality is consistently ranked among the world's worst. But a perfect storm of problems is exacerbating the problem to potentially deadly levels. Farmers who've recently harvested crops in neighboring states are illegally burning their fields, sending smoke into the air. Construction projects and pollution from vehicles in a city that lacks adequate public transportation are making things worse.

This week, the smog was 10 times worse than reigning pollution champion Beijing, whose air-quality problems reached Olympic proportions. Some parts of New Delhi have pollution 40 times the World Health Organization-recommended safe level.

More than 6,000 schools have been ordered closed, and only trucks carrying essential supplies are allowed into the city. Construction projects have been halted. And the nation was mulling a plan to spray water over its capital to combat the toxic smog.

Still, photos show the city enveloped in a gray haze. Residents braving the streets looked like surgeons or carpenters, depending on which type of mask they were able to acquire.

People huddled indoors with expensive air purifiers, indoor plants and closed windows.

But doctors say it won't be enough to prevent some deaths in the city of 20 million people. Children are the most vulnerable.

In a less-affluent quarter of the city, Baburam Durbedy's grandson hasn't been eating. "His temperature is up and he keeps getting out of breath," Durbedy said. He wiped his own irritated eyes as he spoke.

Durbedy earns just enough to survive, working as a security guard in the city. Buying high-end air purifiers is not an option, nor is expensive medical care. The family of five has two thin gas masks to share. "We just rub Vicks on his chest," he said, referring to the medicated vapor rub.

A recent study linked 2.5 million deaths in India in 2015 to pollution. This week, worried parents carried coughing children into hospitals around the city.

"We've seen around a 30-35 percent increase of patients in the past couple of days," said Anupam Sibal, group medical director and senior pediatrician at Apollo Hospitals. "It wasn't like this five years ago. Children with respiratory problems are finding their issues are exacerbated. It affects everyone."

---

Wootson reported from Washington.
PORTLAND  Police have taken possession of the car they believe was involved in a fatal accident on the Arrigoni Bridge Nov. 4.

The car, a 2001 white Audi A4, was turned over to police Wednesday by an attorney representing the cars owner, police said Friday. A car matching that description slammed into a moped traveling eastbound near the halfway point of the bridge just before 11 p.m., police said.

The moped was being ridden by Daquan Moore, a 22-year-old Middletown resident. The Audi struck Moores moped from behind and pushed/carried it for some distance before the vehicles disengaged, officials said.

The Audis driver did not stop but continued across the bridge and then turned around near Silver Street and headed back to Middletown, authorities said.

As the car passed the crushed scooter, it reportedly slowed down. Moore was rushed to Middlesex Hospital, but doctors were unable to save him, according to the report.

Portland Police Officer Paul Liseo, the lead investigator in the case, said based on an eyewitness account, he believes the Audi was racing another car at the time. After authorities took possession of the car, it was inspected by members of the State Police Eastern District Major Crimes Unit, he said.

The Audi sustained extensive front-end damage in the accident. The right front quarter panel and other objects from the car were left behind in what police said was a more than 500-foot-long field of debris.

The inspection by the Major Crimes Unit reportedly yielded additional evidence from the crash.

While police have what they believe is the Audi they had been seeking, Liseo said in a statement Friday that they are still seeking the identity of the person or people in both cars. We have not been able to identify the driver or any passengers in the Audi or the second vehicle, he said.

However, Liseo did say, We believe there was a male driver and a front-seat female passenger in each of the two vehicles at the time of the accident.

Liseo asked anyone with information about the occupants of the two vehicles to contact headquarters at 860-342-6780 or Middletown central dispatch at 860-347-2541.

Reporter Jeff Mill covers East Hampton, Portland and Cromwell. Email him at jeff.mill@hearstmediact.com.
HANOI, Vietnam - President Donald Trump said Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin again denied his nation tampered in the U.S. presidential election last year when the two men spoke during brief conversations on the sidelines of an international summit.

Trump told reporters that he and Putin had more than one informal discussion after crossing paths at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Danang, Vietnam, before Trump flew to Hanoi for a bilateral meeting Sunday with Vietnamese leaders.

The conversations mostly centered on the war in Syria, Trump said, but he added that he pressed Putin on Moscow's role in attempting to tamper in the elections.

"He said he didn't meddle," Trump said, answering questions in the press cabin on the Air Force One. "I asked him again. You can only ask so many times.  He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did."

U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russian hackers stole thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee and made them public, while also spreading misinformation in an attempt to help Trump beat Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump, however, has said he does not believe that Russia actively sought to help him.

On Saturday, Trump called former FBI Director James Comey, who testified to Congress that Trump asked him to drop an investigation into his campaign's ties to Russian officials, a proven "liar" and "leaker." Trump called the former U.S. intelligence officials who concluded the Russians tampered -- including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan -- "political hacks."

Of the investigations into his campaign, Trump said: "This is really an artificial barrier that's put in front of us for solving problems with Russia." Of Putin, he added: "He says that very strongly, he really seems to be insulted by it and he says he didn't do it. He is very, very strong in the fact that he didn't do it. You have President Putin very strongly, vehemently, says he has nothing to do with that. Now, you are not going to get into an argument, you are going to start talking about Syria and the Ukraine."

Yet a Kremlin spokesman denied that the two leaders discussed election meddling, according to CNN. During past U.S. administrations, it has not been uncommon for Russia and the United States to disagree in public over what was discussed in private meetings. The traveling "press pool" that accompanies Trump to events was kept outside the APEC summit meeting and denied access to cover the events, including his conversations with Putin.

Congress and a special counsel, former FBI chief Robert Mueller, are heading separate investigations into whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials. Mueller's team recently brought indictments against Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and a lower-level campaign aide in connection with that probe.

"There was no collusion," Trump said on the plane. "Everybody knows there was no collusion." The president added that he is determined to enlist Moscow's help to end the civil war in Syria and to ramp up pressure on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.

He said the investigation into his campaign's ties with Russia could hurt those efforts. "I think it's a shame that something like that could destroy a very important potential relationship between two countries that are really important countries," Trump said. He called a dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent of alleged ties between Trump and Moscow that was later turned over to U.S. federal law enforcement authorities as "phony." Many of the allegations have not been independently confirmed.

Trump also cast blame on former president Barack Obama and Clinton, who famously attempted a "reset" of U.S. relations with Russia in Obama's first term. Trump referred to Clinton's "stupid reset button," in which she presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with an oversize "reset button" that erroneously used the Russian word for "overcharged" instead of "reset."

"Hillary tried it, she failed, nobody mentions it," Trump said. "She hit that reset button. It was a joke. But she tried and she failed." Trump said Obama had bad chemistry with Putin and Clinton was "in way over her head."

Trump did not answer when asked during the flight to Hanoi whether he believed Putin's denial of the tampering.

"Every time he sees me, he says, 'I didn't do that,'" Trump said, "but I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. ... I think he's very insulted by it and that's not a good thing for our country."

The Russia investigation is an "artificial Democratic hit job" that "gets in the way," Trump added. "And that's a shame. Because people will die because of it" in Syria and elsewhere. "It's artificially induced and that's shame."

White House aides had said before the APEC summit that Trump had no formal meeting scheduled with Putin, in part because of scheduling conflicts. They acknowledged, however, that it was possible the two leaders might chat if they bumped into each other. Trump and Putin shook hands at an APEC leaders' dinner Friday and stood next to each other Saturday in a "family photo" of the leaders.

Trump met with Putin this summer on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Germany and also spoke extensively at a dinner at that event, a meeting that White House officials did not disclose until after it was made public by Ian Bremmer, president of a global risk consulting firm.

On a different topic, Trump was asked whether Roy Moore, the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama, should drop out of the election over allegations that he had molested underage girls nearly 40 years ago. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters two days ago that Trump believes "mere allegations" were not enough to "ruin" Moore's life but that if the allegations are proven true he should "do the right thing and step aside."

Trump said he has been too busy during the Asia trip to focus on the allegations against Moore.

"Believe it or not, even when I'm in Washington or New York, I do not watch much television," he said. "I know they like to say that. People that don't know me, they like to say I watch television - people with fake sources. You know, fake reporters, fake sources. But I don't get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I'm reading documents. A lot. And different things. I actually read much more. I read you people much more than I watch television. But anyway. So I have not seen very much about him, about it. And you know I put out a statement yesterday that he'll do the right thing."

---

Nakamura reported from Danang, Vietnam.
Danang, Vietnam

President Donald Trump on Friday vowed to protect U.S. interests against foreign exploitation, preaching a starkly unilateralist approach to a group of leaders who once pinned their economic hopes on a regional trade pact led by the United States.

"We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore," Trump told business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Danang, Vietnam. "I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first."

But taking the stage at the same meeting immediately after Trump, President Xi Jinping of China delivered a sharply contrasting message, championing more robust engagement with the world. Xi used his own speech to make a spirited defense of globalization, saying relations among countries should be "more open, more inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and more beneficial to all."

Trump's remarks were strikingly hostile for an audience that included leaders who had supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping 12-nation accord that was to be led by the United States, from which Trump withdrew immediately after taking office.

And it indicated the degree to which, under Trump, the United States  once a dominant voice guiding discussions about trade at gatherings such as APEC  has ceded that role. Even as he was railing against multilateral approaches, the remaining 11 countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership were negotiating intensively to seal the agreement. Under the terms being discussed, the United States could re-enter the pact in the future.

Promising to pursue "mutually beneficial commerce" through bilateral trade agreements, Trump roundly condemned the kind of multilateral accords his predecessors had pursued. His talk echoed his statements in China earlier this week that blamed weak U.S. leadership for trade imbalances that he said had stripped jobs, factories and entire industries from the United States.

"What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible," Trump said.

He also spoke witheringly about an approach he said had led the United States to lower its own trade barriers, only to have other countries refuse to do so, and he accused the World Trade Organization of treating the United States unfairly.
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Standing in front of his mother's grave, Santos Martinez thought back to a C-130 flight unlike any other, the one where several flag-draped transfer cases were strapped down in the cargo bay.

That was his freedom flight, the one that carried him out of harms way and back home.

When I saw them (transfer cases), my reaction to that was why do I get to home and they don't? Martinez recalled, his daughter, Larkin, clinging to him.

On Veterans Day, he was hardly alone at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Many of those there, a good number of them older women who sat alone or with friends and families, thought back to old and powerful memories.

Rhett Smith, a Navy veteran, remembered his dad and mothers first husband, World War II veterans who served in the Pacific and the China-Burma-India theater.

Carolyn Cutright thought back to her husband, a combat medic who stayed three years in Vietnam after getting a Dear John letter from his soon-to-be ex-wife.

A tear rolled down the face of her sister, Jeannette Sorrell. This was her first Veterans Day ceremony at Fort Sam, where her husband, Clifford, was buried last May after dying at 69.

It was too soon, said Sorrrell, 66, of San Antonio after wiping her eyes following a buglers sounding of taps.

Unlike in many communities, events in San Antonio run for an entire week. Veterans Day started as Armistice Day, declared by the United States, Great Britain and France to mark the cease-fire that ended World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Congress redesignated the day in 1954 to honor all U.S. war veterans.

The salute to veterans, including the almost 22 million who are alive today, goes beyond Fort Sam in a city where the military is the largest sector of the regional economy.

One one-hour, 24-minute ceremony drew a standing-room only crowd that braved not only a light, gusty wind that turned chilly at times, but intermittent rainfall that prompted people to open up umbrellas and cover themselves with parkas.

Apop could be heard as the rain, after stopping, started up again and those in the crowd opened their umbrellas.

There were other events as well, the annual Veterans Day parade downtown and a ceremony commemorating the famed Buffalo Soldiers.

sigc@express-news.net
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AUSTIN -- Gov. Greg Abbott, using a red-white-and-blue Veterans Day event to officially file for reelection, Saturday unveiled a plan to put Texas' military service personnel at the "front of the line" for expanded state services and employment opportunities, tax breaks and expedited healthcare services.

His plan also calls for the all-volunteer Texas State Guard to be more than doubled in size, from about 2,300 soldiers to 5,000, to allow the state to respond faster to emergencies and disasters.

It would also give provide contract incentives for businesses relocating to Texas through the Texas Enterprise Fund to hire more veterans.

Abbott filed for a second four-year term by submitting more than 6,000 signed petitions to Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey, rather than signing a form declaring his candidacy. It's the first time in recent state history that a gubernatorial candidate does that, aides said.

In other filing action Saturday, incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he filed for reelection and Grady Yarbrough, a retired educator who ran unsuccessfully last year for the Texas Railroad Commission and unsuccessfully in 2012 for the U.S. Senate, filed to run as a Democrat for governor.

Filing for 2018 midterm elections in Texas -- covering everything from Congress to the governor's mansion to the Legislature to local county courthouses -- ends Dec. 11.

"When I launched my reelection campaign this summer I made a promise to elevate Texas to even greater heights," said Abbott, noting that his proposed veterans' plan would fulfill a key pledge.

"I promised to strengthen our education system, crack down on gangs and violent crime and grow our economy and create more jobs. And I also promised to do more to empower our veterans, whether they are returning to the workforce after their service, looking to become an entrepreneur and start a business, or trying to get access to the healthcare they need."

While many of the details in Abbott's plan need the approval of the Legislature or local officials, the governor said he is confident that they will draw support.

Statistics show Texas is home to the second largest number of veterans in the United States, after California -- and the most, if World War II veterans are not included. More than 1.5 million veterans are reported to live in Texas.

Under Abbott's proposal, Texas would fully fund the veterans mental health program at the state Health and Human Services Commission, doubling the number of ex-soldiers who can receive care with an additional $10 million in state funding.

Officials said the program now serves about 152,000 veterans.

Mental and behavioral health programs for veterans would also be enhanced under the proposal, and the state would push to allow federal Veterans Administration benefits to be used to visit private health providers, as a way to avoid long lines at VA hospitals and medical centers.

Abbott said that could have the greatest impact in the Rio Grande Valley, where the closest VA facility is hours away in San Antonio.

Under Abbott's plan, local taxing authorities would be allowed to grant personal property tax exemptions of up to $30,000 to veteran-owned businesses during their first five years of operation.

"For a small business with a lot of physical inventory, such as a restaurant, this tax relief could be the difference between an unaffordable dream, and a thriving enterprise," Abbott's proposal states. "A veteran-owned business would, under the existing definition in Texas law, be a business in which each owner is a veteran."

In addition, local taxing entities could grant businesses a $15,000 reduction on the assessed value of their commercial property for each new veteran they hire -- not to exceed $300,000 per property or 20 percent of the property's total assessed taxable value.

Local occupational licensing and registration fees could be waived for veterans. State grants to assist veterans with legal issues -- primarily in accessing military and other benefits and employment issues, among other matters -- would be doubled to $3 million.

The plan would also create a special 22-member gubernatorial commission to "support the U.S. military in Texas" in preparation for expected additional base closures in coming years, to minimize the loss of additional facilities.

Texas' 15 major military installations generate more than $136.6 billion in economic activity in the state each year, and add $81.4 billion to the gross state product, according to a 2016 report by state Comptroller Glenn Hegar.

Jeffrey Cleland, a former Marine corporal who manages the military service initiative at the George W. Bush Center in Dallas, applauded Abbott's plan as a significant step forward for Texas veterans.

"This is going above and beyond what a lot of states do," he said, noting that the plan will allow the state to tap the myriad talents that veterans have to offer. "It's great."

Dave Lewis, director of veterans programs for the VetStar health services program in Lubbock, echoed that sentiment.

"This plan involves filling in the gaps where the VA struggles . . . and it will allow the state to make veterans successful," he said.
#FIFA World Cup Captain Son Heung-min willing to risk health for fans It would be too risky for any athlete to return to competition less than a month after suffering facial fractures. But Son Heung-min, the beloved captain of the South Korean men's ...
A talented musician who was offered a full scholarship to Baylor University after high school, Elmer G. Wilke decided instead to study business.

His band teacher recommended him  but he turned them down and got a degree in business and commerce at St. Marys University, his son Paul Wilke said. He didnt want to be a band director.

Growing up in his familys grocery store, Wilke had business in his blood.

It was a six-day-a-week deal, his son said. They had a little place in back where they served drinks, a meat market where they carved the meat by hand; youd give them your list and he would go and measure out so many pounds of beans and rice.

Stressing the importance of education, Wilke told his children to get good grades so you can get a good job, his son said. He said, Youre going to work about 40 hours a week for the rest of your life, and youll make more per hour the more education you have.

Supporting what he believed, Wilke put both of his sons through college, including dental school for Paul Wilke.

He covered all of it, Paul Wilke said. He was a very wise man, good with money  disciplined and frugal.

More Information Elmer G. Wilke Born: Feb. 12, 1920, San Antonio Died: Oct. 26, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Wife Lily D. Wilke; parents Anna and George Wilke; a half brother Survived by: Sons Gordon Wilke and daughter-in-law Rhonda, Paul Wilke and daughter-in-law Connie; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren Services: Funeral was Wednesday. See More Collapse

Elmer Wilke, 97, died Oct. 26.

Born in a two-story home next to the grocery located in what is now Hemisfair Park, Wilke grew up with no air conditioning.

In the winter, they only had one room that was heated, his son said. Theyd climb out of bed, run downstairs and put their clothes on in the kitchen.

Playing saxophone and clarinet at Brackenridge High School, Wilke also played in a band while at St. Marys.

Theyd drive all over South Texas and play dance jobs  get home early the next morning, his son said. He loved big-band music.

Graduating from St. Marys in 1941, Wilke began working in procurement at Kelly AFB the following August.

Working the same kind of job overseas while in the Army Air Forces during World War II and later the Air Force during the Korean War in the early 1950s, Wilke never saw combat.

Returning home to continue his career at Kelly, Wilke, who married in 1950, enjoyed working with his two sons on his ranch near Kendalia.

We picked up millions of rocks, used double-bladed axes to cut cedar and build corrals, Paul Wilke said. He could outwork me when he was in his 80s.

mheidbrink@express-news.net
A thank you to our great community and town! The Wilton Chamber of Commerce kicked off its annual HalloWeekend, which began on Saturday, Oct. 28 with the Pumpkin Parade, Trick-or-Treating. It was another splendid day and hundreds of trick-or-treaters and their parents, families, friends and pets gathered in the Wilton Center for some Halloween fun as they strolled through town collecting treats from Wilton merchants and businesses. Thank you to Bankwell, our event sponsor and to all our generous merchants and businesses who participated and also joined us at the Gazebo! A special thank-you to Dr. Michael Crystal, our Cat in the Hat, and Janet Crystal, Jeannette Ross, and Susan Goldman for hosting our table at the Chamber and distributing an amazing number, way over a thousand, treats!

The next morning, the challenging rain did not deter many determined runners from our Sunday, Oct. 29, 15th Annual Halloween Hustle 5K run and Scarecrow Scamper Kids run. We would like to thank everyone for their contributions, as participants, sponsors and as volunteers, it could not happen without you! Thank you so much to our volunteers who also braved the rain! Bankwells Jazmin Vaughn and Scott Henion, Thank-you to Sheila Higgins, Robin Roscillo and Chamber board members Michael Smith, Brian Perry, Kevin Vallerie, and Susan Goldman.
I remember in vivid detail where I was the moment I found out about Sandy Hook  the way I remember watching in horror on national television when the plane struck the second tower on 9/11, the way my parents remember exactly what they were doing when they heard that President John F. Kennedy was shot.

I was a thousand miles away from Newtown, Connecticut, in a small town on the Georgia-Alabama state line, in the middle of directing a rehearsal for The Miracle Worker with a cast that included 15 children, many no bigger than the victims. I looked around the room at all those little faces and something in my heart snapped.

I stepped outside into the parking lot where the kids couldnt see me and I, along with the rest of the country, sobbed.

Last Sunday, I was at a theater again. I was stage managing a production in San Antonio, a mere 43 minutes from the rural community of Sutherland Springs, where a gunman opened fire in a Baptist church, leaving 26 dead and 20 wounded.

There are two children in the show. One is my 3-year-old son.

I was just leaving the theater and driving down the road when I heard the news. I pulled over. Again, I sobbed. But this time I knew: We have done nothing since Sandy Hook to prevent this from happening again.

I wasnt a parent back in 2012 when Adam Lanza shot up Sandy Hook Elementary. But when it dawned on me last Sunday evening that my own baby had been safely and happily playing backstage all day while a scant 43 minutes away other peoples children were massacred in cold blood in a place of worship, I rushed home, pulled my squirmy preschooler right out of his bed and held him as tight as I could, unable to let him go.

Like most of you, I got to tuck my child in that night after an uneventful day. But a few San Antonio suburbs over, other parents and other children were not so lucky.

And then it trickled out: The shooters history of domestic violence. The staggering reveal that the Air Force had failed to enter the shooters 2012 domestic violence court-martial into the national database, which would have effectively kept him from purchasing weapons. The scripted inanity of President Donald Trumps response to the tragedy, blaming mental illness rather than ease of access to guns. (Can we all agree by now that deranged individuals should probably not own weapons? And while were at it, maybe should also have access to affordable mental health care?) Conscientious gun owners on social media cautioning the rest of us not to politicize human tragedy. And the thoughts and prayers for Texas. So many thoughts and prayers for Texas.

But if hashtags were horses, then beggars would ride. As a parent and a human being (and one who believes in the power of prayer), I ask you to kindly keep your thoughts and prayers to yourself right now. What this nation needs right now is action: concerted, bipartisan political action to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.

Because heres the reality: Although in 1996, the Lautenberg Amendment made it illegal for those with domestic violence convictions to purchase guns, the Sutherland Springs shooting reveals how ineffective the prohibition has been. The law is only sporadically enforced and has a notorious boyfriend loophole  meaning that if an abuser is not married to the victim or cohabitating with the victim, he does not meet the federal definition of a domestic abuser and can still purchase a firearm.

It is a poor and paltry politics that does not privilege persons over property. On Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Flake, R.-Ariz., announced that he and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., are jointly drawing up a bill that would close the so-called boyfriend loophole and prevent anyone convicted of domestic violence  be it in criminal or military court  from buying a gun. Too little, too late? Perhaps. But we must start somewhere, even if that somewhere is damnably late.

Its time we start politicizing human tragedy more, not less.

If Im ever shot to death, writer and blogger Mark Shea wrote Nov. 6 on Facebook, please politicize the hell out of my death while my body is still warm. You will insult my memory if you dont. And if somebody has the gall to say, Its too soon! ask them if FDR said that declaring war the day after Pearl Harbor was an insult to the victims.

Where the political has become personal, the personal must become political.

Donna Provencher is a freelance writer and former columnist/digital editor for the Watertown Daily Times in northern New York.
1 Spain politics: Thousands of people backing Catalonias bid to secede from Spain rallied Saturday in Barcelona to demand the release of jailed separatist leaders. The rallys organizers called for 10 prominent members of the secessionist movement in the northeastern Spanish region to be freed from prison. Eight former members of Catalonias dissolved Cabinet and two activists are in jail while investigations continue into their alleged roles in promoting an illegal declaration of independence last month. Polls show that Catalonias 7.5 million residents are roughly split over remaining a part of Spain.

2 Armistice Day: People in Britain and France paused to remember the victims of war Saturday on Armistice Day, which marks the anniversary of the end of World War I. Across Britain, people stopped in streets, squares and railway stations for two minutes of silence starting at 11 a.m. The moment  the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month  marked 99 years since guns fell silent at the end of the Great War on Nov. 11, 1918. In London, the bell of Parliaments Big Ben clock tower sounded the hour for the first time since it was halted for repairs in August. Armistice Day originally commemorated the millions who died in the Great War, but now also remembers those killed in World War II and subsequent conflicts.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Petitioner and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who had sought an SIT Investigation in the medical college bribery scam, termed the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Dipak Misra, overriding J Chelameshwar's order as a 'black day' in the history of the Supreme Court.

"I feel that the behaviour of the CJI and the bench was not proper. We havent yet seen the order of the court. Well first see and then take the call on our future course of action," Bhushan told ANI.

"But this is certainly a black day in the history of the Supreme Court," he added.

The above-mentioned matter pertains to a medical college bribery scam against IM Quddusi (retired Orissa High Court judge) who was arrested among others, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices J Chelameshwar and Abdul Nazeer, referred the PIL, in the matter, to a five-judge bench, scheduled to conduct a hearing on Monday.

However, the case took an interesting turn today, when another Supreme Court bench comprising the current CJI, Dipak Misra, pronounced the order by Justice J Chelameswar null and void.

Bhushan, earlier in the day, tweeted that CJI Dipak Misra presided over a "hand-picked bench to override yesterday's order" by another top court bench.

Speaking to ANI, Bhushan went on to explain the ordeal of the day's proceedings.

"It was one of the most unfortunate days for the Supreme Court and the judiciary, where the credibility of the court has been greatly undermined and that too effectively by the CJI himself. The petition was seeking an independent SIT investigation into a CBI FIR effectively registered against the judges of SC, including the CJI, particularly the CJI. We were asking for an independent SIT investigation and that it should not be left with the CBI, which is a caged parrot under the Central Government," Bhushan said.



"A similar matter was heard the previous day in which it was observed that it is a very important case and can have serious ramifications and therefore, it should be heard by five seniormost judges of the Supreme Court on Monday. Today when our matter came to a different bench, the two judges first apparently said that it should be connected with the earlier case but then at 2:45 pm, I received a call from the registry that the CJI has constituted a seven-judge bench," he added.

Bhushan further said that thereafter, a five bench started the proceedings, but instead of hearing the matter on merits, it started asking all kinds of random lawyers present there about the propriety of court no. 2 hearing this matter the previous day.

"When I said that the CJI should not be hearing this matter because he has a conflict of interest as this FIR is effectively seeking an investigation into his role also, he ignored my point and once again started listening to random lawyers," he said, adding, "He did not allow me to say anything on the merits of the case."

Bhushan added that after trying for four-five times, he left the court.

"Thereafter, apparently he passed an order saying that he is the 'master of roles', and that he would only assign the benches," he concluded.

Bhushan had earlier tweeted, "Extraordinary proceedings in SC today in the case seeking SIT Investigation in medical college bribery case involving the CJI! CJI presided over a hand picked bench to override yesterday's order referring this case to top 5 judges.This despite having a direct conflict of interest."

"The court proceedings were extraordinary in that the CJI was asking all kinds of lawyers who were not parties to say things against the order of Court 2, w/o hearing petitioner. He tried to justify his role in the medical college case & speak against 'impropriety' of Court 2," he had added.

The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), a non-governmental organisation represented by Bhushan, had moved a petition seeking an independent court-monitored probe into the alleged scam. This petition was first posted before a bench headed by Justice Chalameswar on November 10.

The petition was later moved to a bench headed by Justice AK Sikri.

Advocate Kamini Jaiswal also moved a similar petition, which was mentioned before a two-judge bench headed by Justice Chelameswar for urgent hearing. This bench later referred the matter to a larger five-judge Constitution bench, ordered to have five seniormost judges of the Supreme Court.

On Friday, the petition filed by Prashant Bhushan, similar to Jaiswal's, came up before the bench of Justice Sikri.

Quddusi allegedly used his influence to help Uttar Pradesh-based Prasad Education Trust in "settling" a matter involving their plea to set up medical colleges pending in the Supreme Court.

The Trust owned one of the 46 medical colleges barred by the central government from admitting students. The accused were subsequently granted bail, but the same was not challenged by CBI.

Following granting of the bail, two parties (advocate Kamini Jaiswal and CJAR) filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking the constitution of an SIT to investigate the allegations, with a retired judge monitoring the same.

NEW DELHI: Petitioner and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who had sought an SIT Investigation in the medical college bribery scam, termed the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Dipak Misra, overriding J Chelameshwar's order as a 'black day' in the history of the Supreme Court. "I feel that the behaviour of the CJI and the bench was not proper. We havent yet seen the order of the court. Well first see and then take the call on our future course of action," Bhushan told ANI. "But this is certainly a black day in the history of the Supreme Court," he added. The above-mentioned matter pertains to a medical college bribery scam against IM Quddusi (retired Orissa High Court judge) who was arrested among others, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Prevention of Corruption Act. On Thursday, a Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices J Chelameshwar and Abdul Nazeer, referred the PIL, in the matter, to a five-judge bench, scheduled to conduct a hearing on Monday. However, the case took an interesting turn today, when another Supreme Court bench comprising the current CJI, Dipak Misra, pronounced the order by Justice J Chelameswar null and void. Bhushan, earlier in the day, tweeted that CJI Dipak Misra presided over a "hand-picked bench to override yesterday's order" by another top court bench. Speaking to ANI, Bhushan went on to explain the ordeal of the day's proceedings. "It was one of the most unfortunate days for the Supreme Court and the judiciary, where the credibility of the court has been greatly undermined and that too effectively by the CJI himself. The petition was seeking an independent SIT investigation into a CBI FIR effectively registered against the judges of SC, including the CJI, particularly the CJI. We were asking for an independent SIT investigation and that it should not be left with the CBI, which is a caged parrot under the Central Government," Bhushan said. "A similar matter was heard the previous day in which it was observed that it is a very important case and can have serious ramifications and therefore, it should be heard by five seniormost judges of the Supreme Court on Monday. Today when our matter came to a different bench, the two judges first apparently said that it should be connected with the earlier case but then at 2:45 pm, I received a call from the registry that the CJI has constituted a seven-judge bench," he added. Bhushan further said that thereafter, a five bench started the proceedings, but instead of hearing the matter on merits, it started asking all kinds of random lawyers present there about the propriety of court no. 2 hearing this matter the previous day. "When I said that the CJI should not be hearing this matter because he has a conflict of interest as this FIR is effectively seeking an investigation into his role also, he ignored my point and once again started listening to random lawyers," he said, adding, "He did not allow me to say anything on the merits of the case." Bhushan added that after trying for four-five times, he left the court. "Thereafter, apparently he passed an order saying that he is the 'master of roles', and that he would only assign the benches," he concluded. Bhushan had earlier tweeted, "Extraordinary proceedings in SC today in the case seeking SIT Investigation in medical college bribery case involving the CJI! CJI presided over a hand picked bench to override yesterday's order referring this case to top 5 judges.This despite having a direct conflict of interest." "The court proceedings were extraordinary in that the CJI was asking all kinds of lawyers who were not parties to say things against the order of Court 2, w/o hearing petitioner. He tried to justify his role in the medical college case & speak against 'impropriety' of Court 2," he had added. The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), a non-governmental organisation represented by Bhushan, had moved a petition seeking an independent court-monitored probe into the alleged scam. This petition was first posted before a bench headed by Justice Chalameswar on November 10. The petition was later moved to a bench headed by Justice AK Sikri. Advocate Kamini Jaiswal also moved a similar petition, which was mentioned before a two-judge bench headed by Justice Chelameswar for urgent hearing. This bench later referred the matter to a larger five-judge Constitution bench, ordered to have five seniormost judges of the Supreme Court. On Friday, the petition filed by Prashant Bhushan, similar to Jaiswal's, came up before the bench of Justice Sikri. Quddusi allegedly used his influence to help Uttar Pradesh-based Prasad Education Trust in "settling" a matter involving their plea to set up medical colleges pending in the Supreme Court. The Trust owned one of the 46 medical colleges barred by the central government from admitting students. The accused were subsequently granted bail, but the same was not challenged by CBI. Following granting of the bail, two parties (advocate Kamini Jaiswal and CJAR) filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking the constitution of an SIT to investigate the allegations, with a retired judge monitoring the same.
In the book, there are photos depicting the dramas of those young mothers. The photos have been taken by photographer Pieter ten Hoopen. In addition to that, some photos of the Crown Princess have been included in the book.
Rogers project faces $20 million shortfall. What's next.

The numbers are a part of the construction firms 60% Construction Documentation Estimate, one of the deliverables requested by the city.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Snow will taper off this morning, leading to blustery and cloudy conditions this afternoon. High 33F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 90%..

Tonight

Overcast. Low around 25F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
New Delhi: The reduction in GST rates on 178 items has been welcomed by traders' organisations in poll-bound Gujarat but they said the tax relief has been announced with the consumer in mind and there is very little in it for the business community.

Speaking to News18, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) vice-president Jayendra Tanna said that while any reduction in GST slab is a welcome move, the government has still not simplified the compliance system.

"Our problem is with the difficulties being faced in compliance. Moreover, the penalty being imposed for delayed uploading of information is also unfair, as the servers have not been working. Traders are still facing several difficulties and the GST Council ought to address compliance issues along with reducing GST rates," said Tanna, who is also the founder of Gujarat Vyapari Hit Rakshak Samiti, an umbrella organisation of traders across the state.

Gaurang Bhagat, President of the Ahmedabad Maskati Mahajan, a body of all textile markets of the city, welcomed the GST reduction from 28 percent to 18 percent on 178 items. "These are basically items that are used by people on a day to day basis. The semi-wholesale and retail traders will also benefit from these cuts," he said.

Asked if he thinks that the GST cuts have been put into force with the Gujarat Assembly elections in mind, Bhagat said it may not be the case because GST is being implemented across the country and the GST Council has members from across the political spectrum.

Embarking on the fourth phase of his Navsarjan Yatra from Chiloda in Gandhinagar district, Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that the relentless efforts of the people of Gujarat has forced the government to bring down the GST rate.

"It is a win for the people of Gujarat, who have protested and made the government realise its mistake. We demand that the 28 percent slab should be wiped out all together. If the government does not do this, the Congress will do it after coming to power," Rahul said.

In Ahmedabad, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attacked the Congress and asked how is the party taking credit for the tax cuts that have been brought into force the GST Council. "The Congress could not implement GST despite being in power for 10 years. The present government is responding to issues raised by the business community by reducing the rates. I do not understand why the Congress is taking credit for it," she said.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat High Court on Friday, admitted a Public Interest Litigation, challenging the tax cuts effected by the GST Council. The PIL stated that at a time when election dates for Gujarat have been declared, any concessions will amount to violation of the code of conduct. The High Court is expected to hear the matter next week.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Police has registered a case against an Air India Express pilot on the basis of a complaint from a female flight attendant, who alleged that she was sexually harassed by him.

A case has been registered under section 354 A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, a police official said, adding that they both belong to Kerala.

The woman told the 'Malayala Manorama' television channel that she had to face constant sexual advances from the pilot following which she resigned.

She filed a police complaint after an incident on September 18 during a flight when she was allegedly harassed again by the pilot, following which a case was registered.

The official said that the police were in the process of recording the statements of those who were on duty on September 18.
Kolkata: The West Bengal health department has suspended a doctor for alleging in Facebook posts that the state government is suppressing facts relating to the dengue menace in the state.

Written in Bengali, Arunachal Dutta Choudhury's posts described the scale of the outbreak and the helpless condition of the doctors. When the number of patients I was treating was about 100, I knew we were working in warlike conditions, but after it approached 500, I realised it was impossible to wage war, he wrote.

The doctor, an MD, was posted at Barasat District Hospital in North 24 Parganas district. He claimed that 500 people were admitted at the hospital on October 6 and wrote about his struggle to diagnose the patients, many of whom were lying on the floor.

He said it was impossible to treat the patients due to their sheer number and on account of the conditions in the hospital. He alleged it was impossible to locate patients in a crowd of hundreds who occupy every inch of the hospital building. Even if one can be located, it is difficult to reach him as one has to step on other patients lying just about everywhere, the 62-year-old wrote.

The social media posts amount to "misinterpretation in the public and (are) derogatory to the hospital administration," the suspension order issued by the state health department on Friday read.

According to the health department, there have been 19 deaths in state-run hospitals since January and over 18,000 cases have been reported in various government clinical establishments. Opposition parties have alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government is trying to suppress the number of deaths caused by dengue.
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Saturday pulled out a PIL, seeking inquiry against sitting and retired judges of constitutional courts, from Justice J Chelameswar's bench.

The CJI, passing an administrative order, has also overturned a judicial order passed by Justice Chelameswar's bench on Thursday. Now, instead of a five-judge bench, a three-judge bench will hear the case.

The controversy, which signified an unprecedented power tussle in the Supreme Court, had erupted after Justice Chelameswar entertained this PIL on Thursday on an urgent basis and issued an order for setting up a bench comprising first five judges.

The PIL had sought exclusion of the CJI from hearing this case on the ground that investigation into the case over granting recognition to medical colleges might reach his doorsteps too. Thus, Justice Chelameswar's order virtually meant non-inclusion of the CJI in this case.

But when a similar PIL with identical prayers came up before another bench on Friday, the matter was referred to the CJI, who within hours set up a five-judge bench.

The larger bench, headed by Justice Misra then declared that the CJI is the master of the roster, having the exclusive power to decide which case will go to which judge in the Supreme Court.

It also indirectly annulled the order passed by Justice Chelameswar, holding that any such order shall be ineffective and will not be binding since only the CJI can decide where and how a case is to be listed for hearing.

Giving effect to this order in less than 24 hours, the CJI on Saturday withdrew the PIL from the bench headed by Justice Chelameswar and assigned it to a three-judge bench.

The judges on the new bench - Justices R K Agrawal, Arun Mishra and A M Khanwilkar - were also part of the Constitution Bench that has ruled that no other judge can decide to hear a case by himself nor can he instruct the CJI to set up a particular bench in the top court.

The new bench will hear the case at 3.30 pm on Monday.

Not just this, in an apparent reminder to all, a new circular was issued on Saturday, making it clear that henceforth, all lawyers must seek hearing for all new cases before the CJI.

The circular stated: "It is hereby notified for the information of the Members of the Bar and the Parties appearing in person that henceforth oral mentioning, in respect of matters which have not already been assigned/listed before any other bench, will be allowed only before the Court presided over by Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India at

10.30 am."

The latest developments demonstrate assertion of authority by the CJI as the "master of the roster" at a time when two PILs have contended that the apex court should get an impartial investigation conducted under its monitoring since the probe may encompass judges at the highest level too.
Odd-even plan will not return to smog-hit Delhi on Monday with the AAP government calling off the car-rationing scheme after the National Green Tribunal barred exemptions to women and two-wheelers. The government will approach the green court next week, saying its conditions will increase burden on public transport and pose security risk to women.

Stay tuned for live updates:

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New Delhi: The Delhi government on Friday said that it was in talks with state-owned helicopter service company Pawan Hans to aerially sprinkle water over the city to settle pollutants.

Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain tweeted: "Delhi govt is in talks with Pawan Hans for aerial sprinkling of water over the city to bring down particulate matter @ArvindKejriwal @msisodia."

Delhi govt is in talks with Pawan Hans for aerial sprinkling of water over the city to bring down particulate matter@ArvindKejriwal @msisodia Imran Hussain (@ImranHussaain) November 10, 2017

This comes in wake of NGT's (National Green Tribunal) order on Thursday directing the government to track down all the hot spots with the PM10 more than 600 and spray water from helicopters or aircraft to tackle dust pollution across the city.

The helicopter service company, in a letter, asked the Delhi administration for a meeting to discuss the matter regarding the possibility of carrying out the exercise which "shall require a comprehensive feasibility study and approvals from various authorities".

Pawan Hans, an enterprise under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said it "has the capacity to carry out such assignment and has carried out similar exercises in the past for washing of insulators of high tension lines and agriculture spraying."

It suggested setting up a joint group of the government and its own team to work out a proposal.

Meanwhile, uncertainty prevailed over the implementation of the odd-even car rationing scheme as the NGT on Friday questioned the rationale behind Delhi government's decision to roll it out for five days next week, saying the scheme "cannot be imposed like this".

The NGT questioned the basis for the AAP government's decision pointing out that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) have found that the levels of PM10 and PM2.5 were cumulatively higher when the scheme was implemented twice earlier.

The NGT termed the plan a "farce" and asked the Delhi government to give an undertaking that it will roll out the scheme only when the particulate matter (PM) 2.5 was over 300.

The prevailing level of PM2.5 in the capital was hovering around 433 microgrammes per cubic metre, while PM10 stood at around 617, as per the latest CPCB data.

The city has been experiencing 'severe' air quality and has been reeling under a blanket of thick haze, as pollution levels breached permissible standards by multiple times.

(With agency inputs)
Manila: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are likely to have a bilateral meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit here.

Modi will arrive here on Sunday to attend the 15th ASEAN-India summit and 12th East Asia summit on November 14. Trump is also scheduled to arrive Sunday as part of his five-nation Asia tour of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Official sources said the meeting between Modi and Trump is likely to take place on Monday. It will be the first meeting between the two leaders following a proposal to have a quadrilateral alliance among India, the US, Japan, and Australia.

Japan last month had indicated that it would propose a top-level dialogue with the US, India and Australia. Sources said officials of the four countries may meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit here.

Reacting to the Japanese move, India had said that it was open to working with like-minded countries on issues that advance its interests. The US had said it was looking at a "working-level" quadrilateral meeting in the near term with India, Japan and Australia.

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono last month had said that Tokyo favours a dialogue between Japan, the US, India and Australia to further boost strategic partnership among the four countries.

The move to set up the quadrilateral comes in the backdrop of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea. The US has been favouring a larger role for India in the strategically key Indo-Pacific region.

The use of the term "Indo-Pacific" by Trump has led to speculation that it may have something to do with Washington preparing the ground for a revival of the so-called Quadrilateral strategic alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India to counter China's rise.

In their meeting, Modi and Trump are likely to discuss a host of key issues of mutual interest including the security scenario in the region.

Trump on Friday praised India's "astounding" growth after it opened up its economy and also lauded Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together.

Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, Trump cited India as one of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region making strides.

He praised India as a sovereign democracy with a population of over 1 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world.

Modi is expected to meet many other leaders attending the two summits. He will also participate in the ASEAN business and investment summit as well as a meeting of leaders of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP, comprising the 10-member ASEAN bloc and six other countries - India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, is engaged in negotiations for a free trade pact.

In his maiden visit to the Philippines as prime minister, Modi will also attend a reception by the Indian community and visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Mahavir Philippines Foundation.
Bhopal: A calendar by the Narcotics Wing of the Madhya Pradesh Police has raised eyebrows in the state as it features quotes on de-addiction and drug abuse by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, BJP chief Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath among others.

The calendar, part of the departments de-addiction initiative, also features the photographs of the politicians along with their quotes on multiples pages.

Sources said the calendar was the brainchild of Narcotics Wing ADG Varun Kapoor, who is known to be a tech-savvy cop with this own web portal www.varunkapur.in.

The calendar was distributed in various government departments in the city, but did not go down well with the police headquarters in Bhopal where senior officers reportedly pulled up Kapoor.

The Congress, too, has objected to the calendar. The police symbolise impartiality, but such an act would raise question marks on the intention of the force, Congress spokesperson Narendra Slauja told News18, terming it as another attempt to saffronise government institutions.

The calendar also features a quote by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Anti-corruption crusader Ajay Dubey said the move may dent public trust in the police. The RSS should also take cognizance of such acts from government officers, Dubey said.

Retired DGP Madhya Pradesh Arun Gurtoo said this was part of a bigger rot. How can a country run in such a situation where constitutional bodies are destroyed?

When contacted, BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said it was up to the police officers to decide whether the calendar adhered to the rule book. Moreover, the people featured in the calendar are not anti-social elements. They are respected figures holding constitutional posts, so we dont see anything wrong in their pictures and statements being used for public cause, said Agrawal.

Narcotics Wing ADG Varun Kapoor remained unavailable for comment.
Bhopal: The campus of National Law Institute University (NLIU) Bhopal, has turned into a battleground between students and the administration. Students are up in arms over alleged sexist remarks made by the institutes director to a girl student and have been protesting and boycotting classes for the last three days.

Protesters claim that the director, SS Singh, runs the college like a dictator and most students were anguished over a variety of issues. But the trigger for the protests were the alleged obscene remarks that have given students a chance to take the administration head on.

The student against whom the remark was made claimed she was called to the directors room recently and was told, Tumahre jaisi ladkiyan apni izzat aur sharm ko bechkar aati hain (girls like you come here by compromising your dignity and shame.

Students said this is not the first time that Singh has used such indecent language and alleged anyone who raised their voice against him was failed in exams. One of the protesters, on condition of anonymity, told News18 that authorities were given written complaints about the sexist remarks but nothing happened.

The district administration on Saturday tried to intervene to end the protests but students were adamant they will not stop the agitation till the director quits or gives a written assurance that he would resign. SS Singh and senior faculty members also tried to persuade the students to call off the stir but failed.

Bhopal MP Alok Sanjar on Saturday told the media that he has received an e-mailed complaint from the students and would be forwarding it to union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

SS Singh, while talking to the media, rubbished the allegations and said some elements inside the institute were fuelling this campaign against him. He said the General Council led by Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court had appointed him and he would only resign if the council asked him.

One of the premier law institutions of the country, NLIU Bhopal has been mired in controversies under the tenure of Singh, who has been repeatedly accused of fuelling factionalism and regionalism in the campus.

The students have also claimed support from their counterparts from NLIUs at Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata. The agitating law students are also running a social media campaign against the college administration.
Air pollution is a matter of public debate today and everyone seems to have his or her own magical solution. Despite several committees and authorities working to address the problem, every year its getting worse.

Even the courts have been proactive in taking cognizance of the severity of the problem  several directions have been given by the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court.

Measures like Odd-Even scheme for vehicles have been criticised for not being effective enough by environmentalist as well as the NGT. The ban on diesel vehicles older than 10 years also met a firm resistance from the government recently, which the Tribunal refused to lift.

Measures such as immediate ban on construction activities, restrictions on entry of heavy vehicles in Delhi etc, are expected to provide relief to some extent, but the air quality of the city still remains hazardous for citizens and no long-term solution has been formulated so far.

In my opinion, most of the steps remain short-sighted with very little political will to prevent the same problem from recurring the next year. There is a pressing need to accept the real issues ailing Delhis air and take preventive measures instead of taking few short-term analgesic measures just to reduce the immediate suffering of people.

Undoubtedly, the crop residue burning is a significant problem and it was already banned in Haryana in 2003, Punjab in 2013, followed by Uttar Pradesh in 2015. However, the ban has been barely effective, mainly because of lack of human resources to enforce such a ban and lack of financial investment to provide alternatives and incentives to the farmers to help them shift from their traditional practice of burning the crop residue to machine-based treatment (eg. straw baler, happy seeders, rotavators etc).

At this point, the Chief Minister of Punjabs claim that stubble burning is more of an economic issue holds substance.

While stubble burning in Punjab has emerged as one of the softest targets during winters, we cannot rule out the contribution of other significant sources of air pollution.

IIT Kanpurs report on Delhi Air Pollution, 2016 specifically states that in winters, biomass burning contributes 17-26% of the PM10-PM2.5 in ambient air, while the secondary particles (main sources are Sulphur Oxides from thermal power plants and Nitrogen Oxides from vehicular emissions) contribute 25-30% and vehicles alone contributes 20-25%. This definitely requires our attention.

The number of registered vehicles in Delhi has already crossed 1 crore mark in 2017. This includes 66.48 lakh two-wheelers and 31.72 lakh cars apart from other vehicles like trucks, buses, three-wheelers in the city. Comparing data from 2007-08 and 2015-16, it can be easily understood that the number of buses has decreased significantly while the number of taxis have doubled in last 8 years. There is more than 70% increase in number of two-wheelers, four-wheelers and goods vehicles in the same duration.

The Statistical Handbook of 2016 highlights that in 2015-16, the number of new vehicles registered in Delhi was at 8.77 lakh, compared with 5.34 lakh in 2014-15 which is nearly 64% increase in just one year.

Ultimately, with such increase in number of vehicles, even stricter emission norms like BS-VI proposed to be implemented in 2020 may be good for only maintaining a status quo.

Experts have suggested several ways to reduce vehicle numbers, mainly using economic tools like pollution tax, increase in road tax, parking charges etc.

While they may discourage people from using their personal vehicles, but that will only facilitate the richer to avail exclusive benefits. It is much more important to limit the number of vehicles that can be registered in Delhi. This can be done either by limiting the number of personal vehicles which would be registered per year using lottery system or by bringing some policy to limit number of vehicles a family can buy.

These kind of caps have been successful in checking the growth of private vehicles in other countries; for example, new car registrations dropped by 75% in Beijing, below 10% in Shanghai and Singapore controlled its vehicle growth rate to 0.5%. Such kinds of policy decisions also suffered from challenges in implementation but Delhi can definitely learn from those experiences.

All this cannot be achieved without providing a state of the art public transport system in Delhi. Though the vast network of Delhi Metro is a good sigh of relief, but last mile connectivity is still a critical sector where much work is needed to be done.

While the number of buses have decreased on Delhi roads, the fares of Delhi Metro has been increased twice this year. Government needs to understand that public transport need to not only to be accessible and comfortable but also affordable.

The other significant source of particulate matter in Delhi is the secondary particles formed due to emissions from thermal power plants. Scientific modelling studies have shown that the pollutants emitted from power stations can travel up to 400 km and IIT Kanpur report also highlighted that there are 13 thermal power stations in and around 300 kilometer of Delhi.

Shutting down Badarpur power plant as an emergency measure may be a right thing to do, but the real problem underlies in relaxed emission norms and poor monitoring mechanism.

In December 2015, the central government came up with an amendment in Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 prescribing emission standards for thermal power plants.

The rules suffered from some basic flaws like the emission standards for Sulphur Oxides (SOx) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) were relaxed up to six times for older plants as compared to the newer power plants to be installed from January 2017.

Further, the rules do not mandate installation of Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) and Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) units which are must to control SOx and NOx respectively. This exemption in the rules has helped even the newer thermal power plants which became operational in 2017 did not install the FGD, though they must install it to achieve the emission norms.

The situation becomes further serious when it comes to monitoring the emission from the thermal power plants. The EIA Notification, 2006 mandates the thermal power plants to submit self-compliance reports every six months to the authorities while the Environmental Clearance granted them mandates them to make public the emission levels of key pollutants and installing online continuous air quality monitoring equipment. However, such measures are hardly complied with in practice.

A recent study by Vidhi found a dismal state of self-compliance by project proponents and monitoring by Regional Offices of Ministry of Environment after a project is granted Environmental Clearances. While capacity of undertaking physical monitoring is highly limited due to scarce resources with Central and State Pollution Control Boards (PCBs), there is a marked shift in promoting continuous online monitoring systems in industries, real time data of which is linked to CPCB servers.

Due to lack of requirement of any government certification or quality standards with these real-time monitoring devices-the major criticism is how effective and true this data is? What makes this monitoring further ineffective is non-availability of this data in public domain, though the same is readily accessible to top CPCB officials.

The real time ambient air quality data provided by CPCB at present is limited to only 86 stations in the entire country, out of which 10 are in Delhi. In such a scenario, it becomes very important that CPCB also makes public the real-time emission data of industries. This will not only help in understanding the main sources of pollution, but a reliable and transparent monitoring system will also ensure greater compliances.

Therefore, need of the hour is to take a 360 degree view of the problem and target interventions at structural and technical levels with strong political will and infusion of requisite funds to change the status quo.

(The author is Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. He is one of the co-authors of Cleaning Delhis Air-Implementation Action Plan, 2017. Views expressed are personal.)
A few days ago, the Army Headquarters took out a public advisory warning about a deliberate misinformation campaign being launched by vested interests some of which is being initiated from countries bordering our nation. This is an acknowledgment of the use of social media for what is today considered the most dominant form of warfare  information warfare. It has been extensively used by our adversaries in Jammu and Kashmir to show the government and security forces in poor light.

Deception, propaganda and misinformation have always been a part of warfare but what is different today is that the tools of information warfare have acquired a new dimension. An integration of massive amounts of data with Artificial Intelligence (AI) has given a significant weapon in the hands of information warriors.

The cost of saving data has been plummeting, with the cost being halved about every 15 months. Now more and more data about individuals is being saved, both by corporations and governments. In his book, Data and Goliath, Bruce Schneier writes that worldwide, Google has the capacity to store 15 exabytes of data. To put it in context, one exabyte is 500 billion pages of text. Bruce also quotes the case of Max Schrems, an Austrian law student, who in 2011 demanded all his personal data from Facebook. After a two year legal battle, Facebook gave him a CD with 1200 pages of PDF. This is how much Facebook knows about you, and it does not forget because it is all saved.

All this big data would be useless unless it can be utilised for decision making and this is where advances in AI have provided the breakthrough. Smart machines mine the data and detect trends, patterns, habits, ideology and desires. These personal characteristics of individuals are being used by corporations to send targeted advertisements to influence commercial decisions.

The same technique is used in information warfare. On November 1, the US House Intelligence Committee released Facebook advertisements bought by Russian operatives to influence the 2016 elections. Washington Post wrote, The ads made visceral appeals to voters concerned about illegal immigration...African American political activism, rising prominence of Muslims among other issues. Senator Angus King said, The strategy is to take a crack in our society and turn it into a chasm.

Data is the new oil and that is exactly how it is being traded and sold. In the absence of any legal provisions, companies and data brokers are sharing and selling personal data. Can this personal data find its way to a hostile government? Last month, the US Army brought out that their troops in the Baltic had reported instances of cell phone hacking. However, more worrisome was the fact the hackers knew personal details of the soldiers. Direct threats against family members of the military can have a negative psychological impact during conflict.

India has its share of political, social and ethnic differences, just as in many societies. In recent times these differences have been magnified as nationalism has taken centre stage. It is difficult to imagine why these fault lines will not be exploited by inimical forces as India enters the election mode in 2018. Looking at examples from the US and French elections, Brexit and the cyber battle during the Catalonia referendum, I think we have no option but to be prepared.

The preparation for this war (and I do not use this word lightly) lies in three spheres  concepts, practices and structures.

Conceptually, our current shortcoming is that we are viewing this issue through a technical prism rather than the broader spectrum of information warfare. CERT and NTRO can technically protect our critical infrastructure but they do not have an equal understanding of the human dimension, which is more strategic than scientific. The Americans, world leaders in information technology, have not been able to prevent a perceived subversion of their democratic process.

Our practices need to improve. The security of personal data is a major concern. The Supreme Court has declared privacy as a fundamental right, but there are no privacy laws to back it up. Even data stored in India is not safe as the owners of our data are the giant technology companies, mostly based in the US and not under our legal control. In September 2017, it was reported that Google has quietly stopped challenging most search warrants from US judges in which the data requested is stored on overseas servers.

A May 2017, report by the Centre for Internet and Society estimated that 135 million Aadhaar numbers could have been leaked from official portals. This was not due to a security breach but due to poor privacy practices.

Our continued reliance on foreign hardware and software is extremely worrisome. There was clear evidence that Cisco systems had been back-doored by the American National Security Agency but the Indian military continues to procure hardware from Cisco. There is a similar story with Chinese equipment in our telecommunication and power sectors. An attempt to introduce an Indian operating system to replace Windows in the Army has been mired in controversy.

In case of a targeted cyber attack on India, there is little we can do except issue advisories. The solutions will have to come from foreign manufactures or developers whose equipment we are using. There is an urgent need to give a fillip to developing indigenous solutions for our critical infrastructure.

And finally, structures. An organisation to execute information warfare would have to be led by the Ministry of Defence, because the threat is mainly from external players. It would be a combination of military planners, specialists from the field of intelligence, government agencies, media and cyber warfare experts. Such an organisation does not currently exist, though the raising of the Cyber Command could fill this gap.

In information warfare, the battlespace is the human mind. This is where the privacy of an individual intersects with national security. Fighting this battle will require a new paradigm in thought and action.

(The author is former Northern Commander, Indian Army, under whose leadership India carried out surgical strikes against Pakistan in 2016. Views are personal.)
Lucknow: The Lucknow administration has withdrawn permission to a three-day literature festival in Lucknow after people, allegedly linked to right-wing groups, objected to the presence of former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar at an event and jostled with his supporters, officials said.

Kumar was invited to speak about his book "From Bihar to Tihar" at the event at Sheroes Cafe, run by acid attack survivors, on the first day of the festival.

On learning about Kumar's presence at the event, some people, allegedly belonging to right-wing groups, reached the venue and raised slogans against him.

Kumar's supporters were allegedly jostled by the protesters as slogans of "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Vande Mataram" rang out.

Police were called in to control the situation.

The organiser, Shamim Aarzo, said, "Actor Divya Dutta was our guest for the first session last night. Thereafter, Kumar was to speak about his book... that is when about a dozen activists belonging to some organisations started creating disturbance."

"We tried to placate them... police were called in to bring the situation under control. Later, the session with actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha was taken up according to the schedule," Aarzo said.

Those present in the audience claimed the protesters belonged to some right-wing groups.

When contacted, District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, said the organiser had taken permission only for holding a book fair and the administration was not told that leaders or actors will be there or deliver any speech at the event.

"The conditions for granting permission have been violated by the organisers and therefore, we have withdrawn it," he said.

"The Model Code of Conduct is in force in view of the upcoming local body elections and because we had no knowledge that leaders and actors had been invited to the festival, security arrangements were not made," he said.

However, the organiser said they had informed the administration about the event and only Dutta had confirmed her participation by that time.

"Kumar's participation was confirmed later... His event was publicised and it was not a secret. The session with AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi will go live on Facebook today," Aarzo said.
New Delhi: Farooq Abdullah, Srinagar MP and National Conference supremo, has once again stirred a controversy, saying Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and those on Indian side should stop talking about azadi.

Pakistan Administered Kashmir belongs to Pakistan and this side to India. I tell this to them, and to the world. This is not going to change. Let them fight how many wars they want to, Abdullah told reporters on Saturday.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said Kashmir on Indian side needs more autonomy and those seeking azadi are misguided.

Internal autonomy is our right. They should restore it. Only then the peace will return, he said on the sidelines of an event at National Conference headquarters in Srinagar.

Abdullah reminded the Centre about the Instrument of Accession that was signed between the Maharaja of Kashmir and the Government of India.

You dont remember the Instrument of Accession and claim the other side of Kashmir administered by Pakistan. If that side is ours, then you should talk about the accession too. Why do you forget the conditions on which we had acceded, he said.

There is nothing like freedom here. We are landlocked. On one side we have China, Pakistan and India on the other side. All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allahs name. Those who are talking about Azadi are wrong, he added.

Commenting on unrest in the Valley, Abdullah said that Kashmiris have been betrayed by India, and that India didnt treat Kashmiris well. He said, India betrayed us. They didnt recognize the love with which we chose to join them. That is the reason behind the current situation in Kashmir.
Elderly people suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea or a sleep disorder characterized by periodic pauses in breathing could be at a higher risk of developing alzheimer's disease, a new study has said.

Alzheimer's disease is a "progressive neurodegenerative disorder" that destroys memory and other important mental functions, researchers from New York University said.

The researchers reported that more sleep apnoeas lead to a greater accumulation of amino acids in the brain that further enhances the risk of alzheimer's disease over time.

"Several studies have suggested that sleep disturbances might contribute to amino acid deposits and accelerate cognitive decline in those at risk for alzheimer's disease," said Ricardo S. Osorio, Assistant Professor at New York University School of Medicine in the US.

"However, so far it has been challenging to verify causality for these associations because obstructive sleep apnoea and alzheimer's disease share risk factors and commonly coexist," Osorio added.

The researchers studied over 208 participants, aged between 55 to 90 years, with normal cognition or the process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through experiences, thoughts, and the senses. None of the participants was referred to be depressed or having any medical condition that might affect their brain function.

The study found that more than half the participants were affected with obstructive sleep apnoea along with a rise in the symptoms of sleepiness, cardiovascular, and metabolic dysfunction and brain impairment.

The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, also noted that the continuous positive airway pressure, dental appliances, positional therapy and other treatments for sleep apnea could delay cognitive impairment and dementia at the same time.
New Delhi: Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar and filmmaker Karan Johar have come out in support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali as he faces trouble ahead of the release of his magnum opus Padmavati, saying films are just a mode of expression and they should not be misinterpreted as history.

Various groups, most of them from the Rajput community, have accused Bhansali of "distorting" historical facts in the film which features Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh.

During a session in the capital, Akhtar was asked about the controversy surrounding the movie, and the lyricist said, "I was listening to a history professor on TV who said that there is a difference of 200-250 years between Khiljis rule and the writing of Padmavat. There was no mention of Padmavati before Malik Muhammad Jayasi wrote the Padmavat.

"A lot of history has been written about that time. There are a lot of records available of that time but there is no mention of Padmavati in them."

Citing the example of Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodha Akbar, Akhtar said as per the history Akbar never had a wife by the name of Jodha Bai and people should not confuse a work of fiction with history.

"Stories get created. Don't misinterpret films for history and history for films. You watch cinema and enjoy it. If you are interested in history, then read it seriously," he added.

Johar, whose last directorial venture Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, featuring Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and Imran Abbas, had a hard time in getting a smooth release, was also present at the event.

The filmmaker said he respects Bhansali's vision and the fact that his "beautiful film" is caught up in the controversy makes him feel bad.

"I have faced a lot of controversies before the release of a film. I feel bad for a filmmaker, who is one of the best in the country. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made a beautiful film and I hope he is protected by the people who understand that creativity is a form of expression.

"He has himself said that he has made a film which is true to the story and there is nothing in it that might hurt the sentiments and sensibilities of people. I think we should trust and believe him and give this film all the love," Johar said.

Padmavati, which is scheduled to release on December 1 has been facing a lot of trouble since early this year. Bhansali was assaulted by activists of a Rajput community group, Karni Sena, while shooting in Jaipur.

The group has been constantly seeking ban on the release of the film, which they claim is distorting the history.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is set to unveil a 50-feet tall, 60-tonne bronze statue of Lord Krishna in his hometown Saifai. This comes after the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government had proposed a 100-metre tall statue of Lord Ram on the bank of Saryu River in Ayodhya.

The Krishna statue is almost near completion and will be unveiled early next year. We don't believe in inaugurating already established projects. We believe in Lord Ram and Lord Krishna both, said Yadav, in Lucknow.

The Krishna statue has been installed at the Saifai Mela Ground and is being funded by the Saifai Mahotsav Committee.

Speaking to News18, SP MLC, Sunil Singh Sajan said, This project started around six months ago. Back then, there was no proposed Lord Ram statue in Ayodhya. Therefore, this should not be viewed as the Samajwadi Party indulging in any kind of competition. The statue has not been made with the taxpayers money, the Saifai Mahotsav Committee has arranged the funds for it.

The statue captures an image from the Mahabharata, where Lord Krishna is seen holding a chariot wheel in his hands. If party insiders are to be believed, this particular act of Lord Krishna was chosen by the party top brass to send a message to the opposition before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The statue is said to be designed by experts using the latest 3D technology. The angles and pipes used in the statue are from Japan while the paint is from a US-based firm. Gas tungsten arc technology, majorly used for aerospace projects, has been used to weld the statue.
His meeting with Rahul Gandhi set off speculation that he would join the Congress ahead of Gujarat elections next month. But Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani remains firm  he wont make his social movement a political one. Speaking to CNN-News18, the young leader explains why he is angry with PM Narendra Modi and reveals why he is, at least for now, staying away from the election fray.

Edited excerpts:

Why are you upset with Narendra Modi?

There is nothing personal about it. But do you know that for two-and-a-half years, I was dragged by my hair in front of my mother because I demanded a BPL card for her?

If a party refuses to talk to any Dalit organisation or NGO about their constitutional right, what do you say? When a ruling party develops such a level of arrogance, how is it possible for me to not be angry?

I am Dalit and I am young. One of the election promises that got Narendra Modi such a huge mandate was that of generating 2 crore jobs every year. Where are these jobs? He has deceived the people of Gujarat and of India. The dictatorship we have had to deal with, the arrogance we have tolerated needs to be challenged. Dalits in Gujarat have made up their minds. It is time to dethrone the BJP. They don't have 5 acres of land to give to the victims of Una lynching but will give thousands of acres to corporates.

What are we asking for? Just social justice. Out of 18,000 villages in Gujarat, 12,000 have Dalits. Why doesn't the government take up the challenge to make even a single one of them free of untouchability? It will not happen overnight, I know that. But the government can at least show intent.

Modi was a very popular Chief Minister. Why this talk now that Dalits have got nothing in Gujarat?

The development balloon was floated to us in 2002, then in 2007 and again in 2012. But there comes a point when you realise that nothing has actually happened. Our life hasn't changed. And that realisation has come to Dalits, OBCs and Patels. The BJP dismisses us by calling us political agents of the Congress. Fine then. Jignesh is wrong, Alpesh (Thakor) is wrong, Hardik (Patel) is wrong. But what about the thousands who have hit the road against the BJP? Are they all wrong? If we have to live, the principal enemy will have to be killed. ASHA workers and anganwadi workers are not getting minimum wages in a state that claims it got FDI worth Rs 60,000 crore. If Gujarat is vibrant, golden, No.1, then pay your govt servants Rs 45,000 instead of Rs 4,000.

The movements by Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and you inherently contradictory and fragmented. How do you hope to work together?

The principal enemy is the BJP. Yes, there are contradictions between the OBCs, the Dalits and the Patels. They may emerge in the future. But first, we have to deal with the BJP. We are all victims of the Gujarat model, Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas. Whose Vikas? They do not even want to talk to us. The BJP is great at shaking trees, letting some leaves fall and then calling Hema Malini, Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan for a photo-op with a broom.

Around 1 lakh sanitation workers in Gujarat do not get minimum wages. The BJP loves to talk about desh bhakti (patriotism) and distribute certificates for nationalism. Kishor Valmi, a Gujarati soldier, died at the border. CM Vijay Rupani promised his family Rs 4 lakh. Not a single paisa has been delivered to them yet. They can give Rs 30,000 crore subsidy to corporates, but not to a soldier. And then they call themselves deshbhakts (patriots).

Why are you so critical of CM Vijay Rupani?

Have you heard the logic the CM gives us? Ramji ka baan (Lord Rams bow) is more potent than ISRO missiles. He compares the legacy of the Wright Brothers to the Pushpak viman. Is this how India will become digital? No. This is how India will become feudal. Instead of going towards the 22nd Century, we will go back to the 17th.

Why are you not fighting the elections?

Why should we reduce a social movement to electoral politics? Having said that, I am not allergic to fighting an election. Aaj sadak mein hai, kal sansad mein hoge (We are on streets today. We may be in Parliament tomorrow). But I am not desperate for it.

Do you think India has become more intolerant than it was?

No one has the right to kill anyone in the name of gau mata or love jihad or ghar wapsi. If the BJP says love jihad, we will say pyaar ishq mohabbat zindabaad. We will celebrate Ambedkars anniversary and Valentines Day.
Lucknow: The upcoming municipal elections in Uttar Pradesh will be no less than any litmus test for the seven-month-old Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state. The BJP is also not leaving any stone unturned to ensure win in the municipal elections and that's why for the very first time a sitting chief minister will be campaigning for local body elections in the state along with other BJP leaders to highlight his government's achievements.

The BJP has also decided to send voters slips along with photographs of the party's candidates and a letter mentioning the achievements of the Centre as well as state government with major points of the BJP manifesto on 12th November 2017.

The main objective behind this exercise of the BJP is to ensure that people should be informed about their candidates and about the party as well.

Govind Shukla, publicity coordinator and state minister, Uttar Pradesh BJP, said, "This time the BJP is going to do a new experiment in the local body elections. Under this initiative, the voting slip will be delivered to the voters doorstep. In this slip, the photo of the municipal councilor candidate will be attached with the picture of the mayoral candidate. Apart from this, it will also highlight the major promises made in the election manifesto along with the major achievements of the Central and State Government.'

It is worth mentioning that during this election, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will campaign in all the 16 municipal corporations of the state. The CM's election campaign will be launched on November 14 from Ayodhya.

The Bhartiya Janta Party will also be launching its manifesto for the local body elections for the very first time on Sunday, November 12, and this will be launched in the presence of state BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandey, CM Yogi Adityanath and UP in-charge Om Mathur at the party headquarters in Lucknow.
With air pollution becoming a health hazard for urban cities across India, there is very little citizens can do to immediately address the problem. For those with medical emergencies, purchasing an air purifier and locking themselves inside a room is the bare minimum they can do to stay safe. But the problem in purchasing an air purifier in India is that there are no standards in place to check the quality.

WATCH VIDEO: Air Pollution | Fortis Top Doc Busts Myths Around Air Purifiers

If there are no standards in place, consumers might end up buying inferior quality air purifiers which could make very little difference. Without any standards, low quality products will easily flood the market. Consumers will doubt the usefulness of air purifiers and will feel cheated. Standards are required to secure the interests of the consumers and also for the overall positive awareness about air purifiers, said Arvind Chabra, Country Head, India, Blueair.

Also read: Delhi Air Pollution: 5 Things You Must Check Before Buying an Air Purifier

Air purifiers are very simple devices and there is no visible results to judge which air purifier is better than the other. Also, Air Quality Index (AQI) is way more than just measuring PM2.5 and PM10 particles. PM2.5 particles only constitutes 25 percent of the air. So, a low PM2.5 meter reading inside a room doesnt necessarily mean you are breathing good air. There are other components like dust, soot, pollen, pet dander, bacteria, viruses, VOCs, sulphur, carbon, etc. which are equally responsible for diseases.

The government is already looking forward to introduce some standards and the work has already started.

Out of the top 10 most polluted cities in India, six of them are in India and New Delhi tops the chart. Consider this real life example. In February 2015, when the former US President Barack Obama had attended New Delhi to attend the 66th Indian Republic Day, the US Embassy had purchased over 1,800 indoor air purifiers to protect its employees. At that time there were no concerns or awareness among the Indian counterparts around air pollution and AQI.

The situation has only got worse by the end of 2017. Without any standards specific to Indian conditions, cheap quality air purifiers (at lower costs) are flooding the market and the consumers remain vulnerable.

Chabra informed that the government is already looking forward to introduce some standards and the work has already started. We could expect some Indian standards soon, he added.

Also read: Delhi Air Pollution: Govt Needs to Establish Air Purifier Standards ASAP

As far as the Indian Air Purifier standards are concerned, there shouldnt be much of customisations required and they can follow AHAM or the Chinese GB/T 18801 standard to begin with. Once some basic regulations are set, these can always be bettered going forward, he said.

Having said that while drafting the standards and regulations for air purifiers, the authorities cannot ignore pollutants that are mostly exclusive in our country which may not be properly addressed by AHAM or Chinese GB/T 18801. For example, certain air pollutants like sulphur dioxide is observed in large quantities and India is soon becoming the worlds top sulphur dioxide emitter. So, the standards need to address these unique challenges as well.

The globally accepted Air Quality Index (AQI) of 20 is considered as good but for India something around 50 is considered as safe. So, there is difference between the acceptable AQI standards when India is compared to other countries. A slightly higher pollution level or AQI is already accommodated in India, added Chabra.

News18.com Presents Tech and Auto Awards 2017 | Vote For Your Favourite Smartphone, Car, Two-Wheeler And More!
Beirut/Riyadh: The first hint that something was amiss came in a letter.

On November 4, guests at Riyadh's Ritz Carlton were notified by the opulent hotel that: "Due to unforeseen booking by local authorities which requires an elevated level of security, we are unable to accommodate guests ... until normal operations are restored."

The purge was already under way. Within hours security forces had rounded up dozens of members of Saudi Arabia's political and business elite, mostly in the capital and the coastal city of Jeddah. Among them were 11 princes as well as ministers and wealthy tycoons.

Some were invited to meetings where they were detained. Others were arrested at their homes and flown to Riyadh or driven to the Ritz Carlton, which has been turned into a temporary prison.

The detainees were allowed a single, brief phone call home, a person familiar with the arrests told Reuters.

"They don't receive calls and are kept under tight security. No one can go in or out," the insider said. "It is obvious that there was a lot of preparation for it."

The purge was ordered by 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Officially next in line to the throne to his father, King Salman, he is now in effect running the country which he has said he will transform into a modern state.

To do that  and in an attempt to shore up his own power  he has decided to go after the Saudi elite, including some members of the royal family, on accusations such as taking bribes and inflating the cost of business projects. Those arrested could not be reached for comment.

At stake is political stability in the world's largest oil producer. The Crown Prince's ability to rule unchallenged depends on whether the purge is successful.

The Crown Prince believes that unless the country changes, the economy will sink into a crisis that could fan unrest. That could threaten the royal family and weaken the country in its regional rivalry with Iran.

THE "CORRUPTION STICK"

Prince Mohammed decided to move on his family, the person familiar with events said, when he realised more relatives opposed him becoming king than he had thought.

"The signal was that anyone wavering in their support should watch out," said the person familiar with the events. "The whole idea of the anti-corruption campaign was targeted towards the family. The rest is window dressing."

King Salman said the purge was in response to "exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to, illicitly, accrue money". Insiders said the accusations were based on evidence gathered by the intelligence service.

Government backers have rejected suggestions that the campaign is really about eliminating political enemies. There was no immediate comment from the royal court on this story.

Among those now holed up at the Ritz Carlton hotel is Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, who is head of the powerful National Guard and Prince Mohammed's cousin.

Miteb was in his farm house in Riyadh when he was called to a meeting with the Crown Prince. Such an invitation, even at night, would not be unusual for a senior official and would not have aroused suspicion.

"He went to the meeting and never came back," said a second insider who has connections to some of those who were detained.

Others held include Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is chairman of international investment firm Kingdom Holding and a cousin of Prince Mohammed, and Prince Turki bin Abdullah, former governor of Riyadh province and a son of the late King Abdullah.

Some royal watchers said tensions were laid bare during family meetings over the summer. One insider said it was widely known to Prince Mohammed that some of the powerful royals, including Miteb, were resentful about his elevation.

Prince Mohammed, who is widely known in Saudi Arabia by his initials MbS, had said openly in interviews that he would investigate the kingdom's endemic corruption and would not hesitate to go after top officials.

The vehicle was an anti-corruption committee created by King Salman, and announced on November 4. The king put the Crown Prince in charge, adding another power to the many he has been given in the past three years.

Saudi authorities have questioned 208 people in the anti-corruption investigation and estimate at least $100 billion has been stolen through graft, the attorney-general said on Thursday. The head of the committee said investigators had been collecting evidence for three years.

By launching a war on corruption, the prince has combined a popular cause with the elimination of an obstacle to acceding to the throne.

"MbS used the corruption stick which can reach any one of them," said Jamal Khashoggi, a former adviser to Prince Turki al-Faisal, intelligence chief from 1979 to 2001. "For the first time we Saudis see princes being tried for their corruption."

But Khashoggi, who lives in the United States, said Prince Mohammed was being selective in his purge.

"I believe MbS is a nationalist who loves his country and wants it to be the strongest but his problem is that he wants to rule alone," he said.

DE FACTO RULER

Prince Mohammed was appointed defence minister in 2015 when King Salman became monarch. In June, the King named him heir to the throne, pushing aside his older cousin Mohammed bin Nayef, a veteran head of the security apparatus. The royal family acquiesced and by September the Crown Prince had rounded up and jailed religious and intellectual opponents.

The latest detentions are intended to help him push through reforms that promise the greatest change since the reign of King Abdulaziz, founder of the current Saudi state in the 1930s.

That state has rested on an enduring accommodation between the royal family and the Wahhabist clerics who control the hardline version of Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia.

The ruling family promised to give Saudis comfortable lives and a share of the country's oil wealth. In return, their subjects have offered political submission and promised to follow the countrys strict religious and social codes.

King Abdulaziz, who was also known as Ibn Saud, died in 1953. Since then, Saudi Arabia has been run by the king and below him there has been a group of princes, none of them strong enough to impose his will against the wishes of the others.

Decisions have mostly come through consensus. That arrangement has meant social and political change has been glacial although it has also kept the kingdom stable.

But in moves that position Prince Mohammed as the new Ibn Saud, the Crown Prince is tearing down pillars of rule that had been eroding under the weight of population growth and low oil prices.

Consensus has been replaced by what critics say is one-man rule, opposed by some princes although they would not risk saying so in public.

In the past few decades, every Saudi king had one or two of his brothers, sons or nephews by his side advising and sharing in governance. But Prince Mohammed has not appointed any of his brothers or other close family to top positions, instead relying on a team of advisers -- mainly Saudis though some are U.S.- or British-trained.

King Salman, 82, still has the last word on everything. But he has delegated the running of the kingdom's military, security, economic, foreign and social affairs to Prince Mohammed. There has been speculation for months, denied by court officials, that the king will soon abdicate the throne to MbS.

Even the Crown Princes age is remarkable. The last three kings have reached the throne aged 61, 80 and 79. Prince Mohammed is effectively in charge at 32.

NO GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS

Prince Mohammed says he offers a new social contract: A state that functions better than the rigid bureaucracy of the past, opportunities to have fun and an economy that will create jobs that can last, whatever happens in oil markets.

In September he announced that Saudi women will be given the right to drive. Just three weeks ago, during a conference for investors at the same Ritz Carlton that now houses the targets of his purge, he unveiled a plan for a $500-billion futuristic city where sexes could mingle and robots outnumber humans.

The prince has also drawn up a blueprint to wean Saudi Arabia off its dependence on oil and its subjects off state subsidies and government jobs. The public listing of national oil company Saudi Aramco, planned next year, is its centrepiece.

There are no guarantees the princes ambitions will succeed.

Even some admirers ask whether his reach exceeds his grasp. His top-down approach, brooking no opposition, could scare off investors wanting assurances about rule of law and security. Without huge investor support, he will struggle to meet the aspirations of Saudi youth.

War in Yemen, a dispute with the Gulf emirate of Qatar and growing tension with Iran is a concern to investors too.

It should help that Prince Mohammed, following the example of Ibn Saud, sees the importance of forging a special bond with the United States.

During a visit to Saudi Arabia in May, US President Donald Trump urged Riyadh to lead an alliance against Iran and its attempt to cut a Shi'ite axis through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

Soon afterwards, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates blockaded Qatar, accusing its ruling Al Thani dynasty of supporting Iran and Islamist terrorism. Trump gave his backing. After the arrests of the past week, Trump tweeted support, saying those arrested had been "milking their country for years".

One insider close to the royal family said the National Guard was unlikely to react strongly to Mitebs removal. He said there had been no resistance to the ousting of Mohammed bin Nayef at the interior ministry and the National Guard would be no different.
Washington: Chinese President Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader of China since Mao Zedong, US President Donald Trump has said, underlining that the two leaders have developed a very good relationship.

Trump arrived in Vietnam from China, wherein he said he had a very successful meeting with Xi, CNN reported. The US President praised Xi for his statement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

He (Xi) made a statement that he is committed to stopping the nuclearisation of North Korea. That is a big statement, Trump said and noted that he gets along with Xi very well.

He is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. Some people say more powerful than Mao, Trump said on Air Force One as he flew from Da Nang to Hanoi for a summit meeting with Vietnamese leaders.

Mao was a Chinese communist revolutionary, poet, political theorist and founding father of China, which he ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. His theories and military strategies and political policies are known as Maoism.

Trump said he and Xi have "amazing feeling" towards each other. I do have a very good relationship with Xi. He is a strong person, he's a very smart person. I like him a lot. He likes me," he said.

"But we represent two very different countries but we get along very well. That's a good thing that we get along. That's not a bad thing. And on trade, you know, most of the news covered it fairly. Some didn't. When I said it's not your fault, because I was saying how China has been hurting us on trade for many decades, for many years, and it is not his fault," he said.
Washington: Investigators are probing whether former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn discussed expelling a Turkish dissident back to his country in exchange for millions of dollars, US media reported Friday.

Special prosecutor Robert Mueller is examining a meeting Flynn had with senior Turkish officials weeks after Donald Trump won the presidential race last year, NBC News and the Wall Street Journal reported.

The meeting allegedly discussed a secret payout of up to $15 million dollars if, once in office, Flynn would engineer the deportation to Turkey of Fethullah Gulen, a political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as helping free Erdogan-linked Iranian-Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab from prison.

NBC and the Journal both cited multiple people familiar with the probe by Mueller, who is leading the investigation into whether members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russian meddling in the election.

According to the sources, Mueller recently interviewed witnesses over the December 2016 meeting between the Turkish officials and Flynn at the swanky 21 Club in New York City.

"Under the alleged proposal, Mr. Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr, were to be paid as much as $15 million for delivering Fethullah Gulen to the Turkish government, according to people with knowledge of discussions Mr. Flynn had with Turkish representatives," the Journal said.

The Journal said it is not clear how far the proposal went and that there was no sign that any payments were made.

'Outrageous'

Lawyers for Flynn labelled the allegations "outrageous" and "false".

According to the two reports, the discussions included details of how Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in Pennsylvania and has a large Turkish following, could be flown secretly by private jet to the isolated Turkish prison island of Imrali.

NBC reported that the Turkish officials also wanted Flynn to engineer the release of Zarrab, who was arrested in Miami in March 2016 on charges of helping Iran skirt US sanctions.

Zarrab is being held without bail and faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty of sanctions violations and money laundering charges.

While his investigation is focused on Russian meddling, Mueller has a broad mandate and has honed in on Flynn's activities as Trump's lead national security advisor.

Those include frequent contacts with Russia's then-ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak, and his alleged acceptance of payments before and after the election to lobby for Turkey.

Flynn, a retired lieutenant general who was previously head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, became the White House national security advisor after Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

But he was forced to resign three weeks later over his Russia contacts.

In a statement late Friday, Flynn's lawyers, led by Robert Kelner of the Covington law firm, rejected the reports.

As a rule, they said, they do not comment on news reports involving their client.

"But today's news cycle has brought allegations about General Flynn, ranging from kidnapping to bribery, that is so outrageous and prejudicial that we are making an exception to our usual rule: they are false."
Three Chinese students were reported to be injured in a car rampage after a driver ploughed into a group of people near the south-western French city of Toulouse. Two of the injured are said to be in serious condition.

French police said the driver had acted "deliberately" and was arrested immediately after the incident. Unconfirmed resources told media that the driver has suffered from major psychological problems.

The seriously injured students, reported to be aged 22 and 23, were hit on a pedestrian crossing outside IGS College. They have been said to be taken to hospital in Toulouse.
Berlin: Germany should lead the fight against climate change and cut emissions without destroying jobs, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, treading a fine line as she tries to clinch a coalition deal with environmentalist and pro-business parties.

Merkel's comments, made in her weekly podcast in the midst of 200-nation talks on limiting global warming in Bonn, show the dilemma of the centre-right leader in tricky coalition negotiations to form the next government.

Merkel's conservatives, which bled support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the September 24 election, are trying to forge a coalition government with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the environmentalist Greens.

The unlikely partners have cited progress after three weeks of exploratory talks about a three-way coalition. But the Greens raised the pressure on Merkel ahead of a meeting on Sunday in which party leaders are due to thrash out differences over climate, immigration and euro zone policy.

The Greens want Merkel and the other parties to spell out which additional measures the next government will implement for Germany to reach its 2020 goal of lowering emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels.

In her podcast, Merkel said industrialised countries had a special responsibility to reduce their emission of climate-damaging greenhouse gases, warning that time was running out.

"The urgency, I think we all see this in light of the natural disasters, is great," Merkel said. Climate change is leading to droughts and famine and this is causing mass migration from poorer to richer countries, she added.

Referring to the Paris climate agreement, Merkel said: "As things stand right now, the target to keep the rise in temperature below two degrees Celsius - ideally at around 1.5 degrees - will be missed."

WRESTLING

Due to strong economic growth and higher-than-expected immigration, Germany is at risk of missing its emissions target if the next government does not implement further measures.

"That's why we are also wrestling in exploratory talks for a possible new coalition about this: How can we adopt even more measures in order to try and reach this 2020 goal," Merkel said.

But the chancellor insisted that Germany's "industrial core" should not be put at risk and any further climate measures should not force companies to relocate.

"If steel mills, aluminium factories, copper smelters, if they all leave our country and go somewhere where environmental regulations are not as strict, then we have won nothing for global climate," Merkel said.

The government should therefore adopt a sound mix of regulatory policy, financial incentives and voluntary measures in order to avoid major disruptions and job losses, she said.

"We have to push ahead forcefully with electromobility and alternative drive systems," Merkel said. She also suggested that the next government should give tax incentives for home owners to improve building insulation.

The Greens called on Merkel's conservatives and the FDP to make concessions after the party itself gave ground on Tuesday by dropping its demand for fixed dates to ban cars with internal combustion engines and shut down coal-fired power stations.

"Instead of the week of truth, this was a week of disappointment," parliamentary floor leader Anton Hofreiter told Der Spiegel magazine, adding that the Greens had done their part by offering "painful" compromises.

Juergen Trittin, another senior member of the Greens, warned Merkel personally that her political future was at stake.

"Mrs Merkel, the lead candidate of the conservatives and acting chancellor, she wants to get re-elected - with our votes," Trittin said. "And for this, she must move now."
Beirut: Islamic State group jihadists have recaptured nearly all of Albu Kamal, putting up a fierce fightback for what had been the last significant Syrian town under their control, a monitor said on Saturday.

Syrian regime forces and allied militia overran Albu Kamal, which lies on the border with Iraq, on Thursday but have since faced a string of IS counter-attacks. On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS had "ambushed" the attacking forces and managed to oust them from most of the town.

"IS has almost completely retaken control of Albu Kamal, pushing pro-regime forces to its southern and eastern edges," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based monitor. Clashes were still raging there on Saturday, he said. IS began counter-attacking on Thursday night, swiftly retaking several northern districts of Albu Kamal from pro-government fighters.

"It was Daesh's biggest ambush operation, tricking the attacking forces into thinking they had controlled the city," Abdel Rahman said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. Albu Kamal lies at the heart of what used to be the sprawling "caliphate" that IS declared in 2014 across swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Losing it completely would have capped the group's reversion to an underground guerrilla organisation with no urban base.

Russian-backed Syrian regime forces and allied fighters had steadily advanced on Albu Kamal from the south and west for weeks, while Iraqi forces had closed in on the border area from the east.

The Observatory has said most of the fighting was done by the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and elite forces from its backer Tehran, as well as militia groups from Iraq. Today, Abdel Rahman said Albu Kamal was being pummelled by air strikes, but he could not specify whether they were Iraqi or Russian raids.

Across the border today, Iraqi forces launched an assault to capture the last pocket of IS territory in their country. The Euphrates valley town of Rawa and nearby villages were bypassed by government troops and allied militia when they retook the border town of Al-Qaim last week.
Seoul: North Korea said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump's first trip to Asia showed he was a "destroyer" and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula.

"Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula," the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.
Geneva: Sri Lanka's government faced increasing pressure Friday to answer for alleged human rights violations following an Associated Press investigation that found more than 50 men who said they were raped, branded or tortured as recently as this year.

The men's anguished descriptions of their abuses come nearly a decade after Sri Lanka's civil war ended and days ahead of a review of the Indian Ocean nation by the U.N.'s top human rights body.

Doctors, psychologists, lawmakers and rights groups have appealed to the United Nations to investigate the new allegations published by The Associated Press on Wednesday. The AP reviewed 32 medical and psychological evaluations and interviewed 20 men who said they were accused of trying to revive a rebel group on the losing side of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war. All the men are members of the country's Tamil ethnic minority.

Although combat ended in 2009, they say the torture and abuse occurred from early 2016 to as recently as July of this year.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a top ranking Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees U.S. foreign aid, said the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has made aid to the government conditional on its compliance with international standards for arrest and detention, as well as accountability for war crimes.

Sri Lanka has received $76 million in U.S. foreign assistance since 2015.

"These accounts of torture are horrific and contradict the Sri Lankan government's professed commitment to reconciliation and justice," Leahy said, adding, "I will be looking for convincing evidence that torture has ended and those responsible are being punished."

Several doctors wrote to U.N. Human Rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein and called for an independent investigation.

"As forensic experts, we have collectively seen many hundreds of Sri Lankans who have fled their country following torture over the years," the physicians' letter said. "We continue to receive a worrying number of cases from Sri Lanka despite the change of government."

One of the men in the AP investigation said he was held for 21 days in a small room where he was raped 12 times, burned with cigarettes, beaten with iron rods and hung upside-down. Another man described being abducted from home by five men, driven to a prison, and taken to a "torture room" pocked with blood splatters on the wall.

Most of the men say they their captors identified themselves as members of the Criminal Investigations Department, a police unit that investigates serious crimes. Some, however, said it appeared their interrogators were soldiers.

Rep. Eliot Engel, a top-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said policymakers in Washington cannot ignore the torture reports.

"The seriousness of these reports should also make the United States wary of advancing our military relationship with Sri Lanka until a full accounting has occurred," he said Friday.

Sri Lanka's diplomatic mission in Geneva did not respond to repeated calls or an email Friday seeking comment.

U.N. human rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said, "We are currently looking into these alarming allegations to work out the best way for them to be further investigated."

The AP's investigation into the recent Sri Lankan torture allegations came months after another investigation in which the AP found that 134 U.N. peacekeepers from Sri Lanka were implicated in a child sex ring in Haiti between 2004 and 2007. Despite evidence of child rape, no Sri Lankan peacekeeper was ever prosecuted.

In August, rights groups in South America filed lawsuits against Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, a Sri Lankan ambassador in the region. He is accused of overseeing military units that attacked hospitals and killed, disappeared and tortured thousands of people at the end of the country's civil war.

Upon the ambassador's return to Sri Lanka, President Maithripala Sirisena vowed that neither Jayasuriya nor any other "war hero" would face prosecution  a pledge that rights groups said illustrates continued impunity in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka, which has denied the allegations of torture and war crimes, goes before the U.N.'s Human Rights Council in Geneva next week as part of a regular examination known as the Universal Periodic Review. All 193 U.N. member states usually undergo such reviews about every 4-1/2 years, but Wednesday's review may hold added significance.

The new allegations suggest that Sri Lanka still has not stopped using torture  a practice it was highly criticized for during and after the war against the Tamil Tigers rebel group.

Yasmin Sooka, director of the South Africa-based Foundation for Human Rights, said she hopes the review will spur member states to ask Sri Lanka tough questions. She also urged the U.N. to establish an independent body to investigate the allegations  much like it did in Guatemala.

"There is no real framework for witness security in Sri Lanka," said Sooka. "As it stands now, the very people who are accused of such violations would essentially be in charge of investigating themselves."

Much ethnic minority Tamils contend the government continues to target them as part of a larger plan to destroy their culture. Tamils speak a different language and are largely Hindu, unlike the country's largest Buddhist Sinhalese majority.

More than 100,000 people were estimated to have died in the war, including at least up to 40,000 civilians in its final months, according to U.N. estimates. Sri Lankan authorities have denied targeting civilians and dispute the death toll.

Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, chief minister for Sri Lanka's Northern Province and a former Supreme Court judge, sent a letter to the AP on Friday confirming similar rights abuses he has heard from Tamils in his northern constituency. He said he has previously urged the U.N. rights chief to demand an independent investigation.

"Unfortunately, this was overlooked," he told the AP on Friday. "If the international mechanism was in place it would have acted as a deterrent to these military sadists."

Despite Sri Lanka's failure so far to investigate war crimes allegations stemming from its 26-year civil war against the Tamils and the latest accusations, the country's international profile is on the rise.

It still participates in U.N. peacekeeping missions and recently was asked to sit on a U.N. leadership committee trying to combat sexual abuse, despite its peacekeepers being implicated in the Haiti sex ring.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told The Associated Press late Friday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invited all 193 U.N. member states to be a part of the Circle of Leadership on sex abuse "and it is particularly important for troop-contributing countries to play a role."

Dujarric said all troops and police who are put forward for U.N. peacekeeping missions are investigated "to ensure that they do not have a prior history of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse while serving in a U.N. peace operation."
Moscow: US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed there was "no military solution" for the war in Syria, in a joint statement approved on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit, the Kremlin said Saturday.

"The presidents agreed that the conflict in Syria has no military solution," and confirmed their "determination to defeat ISIL", the Kremlin website said, using an acronym for the Islamic State jihadist group.

The two talked and shared a handshake at the summit in Vietnam's Danang after several days of uncertainty over whether a meeting would take place.

"The presidents confirmed their commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity, territorial integrity and secular nature," and urged the warring sides to participate in UN-led peace talks in Geneva, the Kremlin said.

The presidents' joint statement also "expressed satisfaction" with efforts to prevent incidents between their respective forces in Syria, "which allowed to considerably increase ISIL losses on the battlefield over the last few months."

The Russian military has recently accused the United States of merely "pretending" to fight IS in Iraq and of hindering the Russian-backed offensive in eastern Syria.

"The presidents discussed the necessity to reduce human suffering in Syria, and called on all UN member states to increase their contribution to help meet the humanitarian needs over the coming months," the statement said.

Russia has been flying a bombing campaign in Syria since 2015 when it stepped in to support President Bashar al-Assad's rule and tipped the conflict in his favour.
United Nations: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday it is "an absolutely essential priority" to stop all violence against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, allow them to return to their homes, and grant them legal status.

The UN chief told reporters on Friday that the UN is also insisting on "unhindered humanitarian access" to all areas of northern Rakhine State, where more than 600,000 Rohingya lived before fleeing to Bangladesh.

Guterres is leaving on Friday night for Europe and Asia, where he will attend a joint summit between the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which is certain to address the plight of the Rohingyas.

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has faced growing international condemnation over violence against the Rohingyas, is expected to attend the meeting in the Philippines from November 10-14.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar doesn't recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, insisting they are Bengali migrants from Bangladesh living illegally in the country. It has denied them citizenship, leaving them stateless.

The latest violence began with a series of attacks August 25 by Rohingya insurgents. Myanmar security forces responded with a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages that the U.N. and human rights groups have criticized as a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

"What has happened is an immense tragedy," Guterres said, "and the levels of violence and the atrocities committed are something that we cannot be silent about."

"We insist on the need to make sure not only that all violence against this population stops, but also ... we insist on the need to reassert the right of return," he said.

The secretary-general said the Rohingya must be able to return voluntarily, in safety and dignity, to the areas they came from and not be placed in camps.

Guterres said the root causes of the discrimination that has left the Rohingya stateless, such as their legal status, must also be addressed.

He has previously urged Myanmar's government to give the Rohingyas citizenship, or at least legal recognition, so they can move freely, get jobs and an education, and receive health care.

"We'll go on engaging in all possible domains for these objectives to be finally achieved," the secretary-general said.

Guterres applauded a presidential statement which strongly condemned the violence against the Rohingyas and was approved unanimously by the Security Council on Monday, calling it "an important step forward."

The statement called on Myanmar's government to "ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State" and take immediate steps to respect human rights.

It was the strongest council pronouncement on Myanmar in nearly 10 years and reflected widespread international concern at the plight of the Rohingyas. (AP)
Bedford County Public Schools expects to see a nearly 5 percent enrollment decline over the next five years, according to data released Thursday by the school district. Student enrollment is expected to fall from 9,421 students next school year to 8,951 in the 2022-23 school year.

Mark Blankenship, the countys supervisor of assessment and planning, presented enrollment projections to the Bedford County School Board at its regular meeting Thursday night. Blankenships analysis is based on birth data from the Virginia Department of Healths Division of Health Statistics, according to the school board agenda.

School board chairman Gary Hostutler, who represents District 4, said Friday the school division reports student enrollment as of Sept. 30 to the Virginia Department of Education, and then school division staff estimate student enrollment projections.

Enrollment numbers are an important matter, Hostutler said, because fewer students means less state funding.

It becomes a launching point based on enrollment, Hostutler said. It tells us how many teachers we can hire by school and start to build things for the next years budget.

Total student enrollment this school year is 9,554, which is 12 more students than last year. Thats the first increase in about 10 years, Hostutler said.

School board member Julie Bennington, who represents District 5, said Friday the projections do not take into account people moving into the county and enrolling their children in schools.

In the next five years, I dont think its going to be as much of a decrease [in student enrollment] as it shows, Bennington said. ... I do feel its not going to be as much of a decline once these subdivisions get houses built and get houses sold.

The report also outlines the student capacity at the 19 public schools in the county, with projections for next year compared to the student capacity. Stewartsville Elementary School is projected to have 325 students but the schools capacity is 592 students, which means the school is only at 55 percent capacity.

Huddleston Elementary is projected to have 261 students while the schools capacity is 249 students, which means the percent capacity is 105 percent.

Overall, the student enrollment is projected to be 9,421 students while the capacity is 11,380 students next fall. The countys schools are projected next year to be 83 percent full.

In the next five years Liberty and Staunton River attendance zones will see the greatest decreases in enrollment, according to Blankenships report.

Student enrollment in the Forest attendance zone is projected to be 4,104 students for the 2018-19 school year and is expected to decrease by roughly 1.5 percent to 4,039 students by 2022-23 school year.

The Staunton River attendance zone is projected to decrease from 2,896 students next year to 2,677 students in five years, which is a 7.5 percent decrease.

The Liberty attendance zone is projected to decrease from 2,421 students for the 2018-19 school year to 2,223 students in five years, which is a 7.7 percent decrease.

School board member John Hicks, who represents District 3, said Friday he wants to delve into the numbers before commenting on whether these numbers mean the school division should redistrict students.

The school board heard a report in October about possible redistricting measures, which could move some students from Forest Middle School and Jefferson Forest High School to the Liberty attendance zone to relieve overcrowding.

Next fall, Jefferson Forest High School is expected to be 86 percent full while Liberty High School is only expected to be 75 percent full. Forest Middle School will be 112 percent full compared to Liberty Middle School, which is only expected to be 84 percent full.

The school board is considering expanding Forest Middle to increase student capacity to about 1,200 students at an estimated cost of $22.5 million.

... So regardless of what we do with redistricting, the expansion at Forest Middle School has to happen, Bennington said about student capacity at the middle school.

School board member Susan Kirby, who represents District 6, said Friday the student enrollment projections mean redistricting should be considered.

We need to rethink this, Kirby said.
Wed., Nov. 16, 12-1 p.m.

Chatham Area Public Library 600 E. Spruce, Chatham Chatham

Free

Books & Authors

This month we will read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee! This book discussion group meets at noon on the third Wednesday of each month in the Librarys meeting room. Bring a sack lunch, if you wish, and savor some lively discussion. If you would like to attend, please call or visit the Library, and we will try to get each months book for you. 217-483-2713
Have a story idea or tip about something happening in the East Village? Or maybe a photo? Or several photos? Or video! We'd love to hear about it. Or see it. Or something. Please go here to submit a tip.
A GROUP of lawyers doing public interest litigation for free have taken the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) to court challenging its decision to deny them access to about 90 death row inmates at Harare Remand Prison who they intend to provide legal counsel in defence of their right to life.



Tendai Biti Law Firm is currently representing 17 others who are locked up at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison pending Constitutional Court challenges but ZPCS Commissioner-General Retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi had denied the lawyers access to those awaiting execution at Harare Remand Prison.



The lawyers argued that Government was finalising the recruitment of a hangman for the purposes of commencing the execution of the condemned inmates. They also argued that the recent public call by President Mugabe for the restoration of the full effects of death penalty, with all its conditions that existed prior to the adoption of the new Constitution in 2013, was also an indication that execution was now imminent.





To that end, the lawyers filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court seeking an order compelling Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) to allow them access to their clients and all other inmates awaiting capital punishment, in defence of their constitutional right to life. In the urgent chamber application filed on Thursday, the law firm cited ZPCS and its Comm-Gen Retired Maj-Gen Paradzai Zimondi as respondents.





The lawyers, in the interim, want the court to compel ZPCS to allow them to visit all the death row inmates, interview them and to inform them of their rights. They are seeking costs against Comm-Gen Zimondi on a punitive scale because, according to the lawyers, he has acted in a manner that disrespects the fundamental rights, freedoms, democratic values and principles as enshrined in the supreme law of the country.





The law firm, which does public interest litigation for free, has represented at least 17 prisoners at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison and some of their challenges are still pending at the Constitutional Court. When the 17 were represented by the same lawyers years back, Comm-Gen Zimondi granted access and allowed the law firm to file court applications on the prisoners behalf.

Tendai Biti Law Firm argued in its papers that the prisons boss was discriminating against about 90 other prisoners who are locked up at Harare Central Prison by denying the lawyers access to them.





We contend that the position taken by first respondent (Comm-Gen Zimondi) is totally unreasonable, grossly irrational and ridiculous to say the least. For status, first respondents actions discriminate against prisoners at Harare Remand Prison. At Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, he allowed us access and we have been able to work with these prisoners.

He cannot deny the prisoners at Harare Remand Prison the same benefit, reads the papers.

The lawyers said Comm-Gen Zimondi was breaching the right to equal protection to death row prisoners at Harare Remand Prison as guaranteed by Section 56 of the Constitution.





The right to a legal practitioner of their choice was also being violated by the ZPCS boss decision.





Every prisoner enjoys the right to challenge his condition in terms of the Constitution. The prisoner cannot exercise such right without information and without legal advice. By denying us the right and opportunity of conversing with those prisoners, the first respondent is breaching their rights, the lawyers argued.





Comm-Gen Zimondi, the lawyers argued, has dismally failed to uphold the Constitution.

We find it extremely ridiculous that 37 years after independence, a freedom fighter such as the first respondent can adopt the attitude reflected in his letter of the 31st of October 2017. He failed and failed dismally to uphold the Constitution. His conduct is shameful, crass and regrettable and this is why we seek costs against him in this application to be paid on a scale as between attorney and client, reads the court papers.





The application is yet to be set down for hearing at the High Court. Herald
Former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa is now holed up in China after fleeing his home country within hours of being given the boot by his long-time ally, President Robert Mugabe.



The Daily News can report that the 75-year-old politician, who was once tipped to succeed the incumbent, arrived in China on Thursday night from South Africa.

It was still not clear though at the time of going to print whether China would be his final destination given that Mnangagwa has vast contacts not only in the East Asian nation but across the world.



During his short-lived tenure as vice president, he had established ties with countries such as Belarus, Russia, Mozambique and South Africa.



China is, however, regarded by Harare as an all-weather friend because of the support it continues to render to the governing Zanu PF party pre and post its attainment of independence.



Before the advent of majority rule in 1980, China was one of the communist States that backed the liberation war effort to dislodge the colonial Ian Smith regime.

Even in the wake of Harares fallout with colonial master Britain and its allies in the west over Harares human rights deficit, China stood by Zimbabwe through its support of the southern African States economic initiatives.



At a personal level, Mnangagwa is highly regarded in China, after making an impression in Beijing during his visit to that country between July 6 and 10, 2015.

China also has admiration for him for masterminding the Command Agriculture initiative, lauded for the bumper harvest achieved in the 2016/17 farming season.



The programme, however, became one of the sources of friction between him and Mugabes influential wife, Grace, who claims the idea was stolen from her.



Apparently, Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander, Constantino Chiwenga  a close ally of Mnangagwa  is also in China and it remains unclear whether the two would meet.

Respected University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred Masunungure said Mnangagwa will not be safe in China as the host country would be forced to deport him back to his home country.



He said it was very difficult for any country to give asylum to someone who is considered a fugitive following Mnangagwas threats to grab power from Mugabe soon.







...There is no place where he is really safe. We have seen Rwandan refugees being targeted in countries they would have sought asylum, this is a risky game for his allies, they will be repercussions, and there will be a lot of collateral damage. I foresee problems for his allies. Even countries that are not in good books with Zimbabwe could find it difficult to host him, said Masunungure.





Apparently, Mnangagwa is now a wanted man back home, facing up to 27 charges ranging from murder to money laundering.





Higher and Tertiary Education minister Jonathan Moyo, one of Mnangagwas fiercest critics, wrote on his Twitter account that Mnangagwa would have his day in court even though he has run away.





When a senior official is fired from a high-ranking government office and they jump the border into self-exile within hours of their dismissal, you know that they are running away from being legally held to account for heinous crimes they committed and covered up while in office, wrote Moyo.





He added; In terms of truth and justice, the law has a long arm, which can reach anyone, everywhere, any time. You can run but you cant hide.





The Higher Education minister has previously accused Mnangagwa of having crippled a journalist in the 1980s while fighting for a woman.





On Thursday, Moyo also wrote on micro-blogging platform, Twitter, that businessman and Mnangagwas ally, Larry Mavhima, should also be locked up.





Mavhima is being accused of delivering Mnangagwas hard-hitting press statement to the private media.





So the so-called ED press statement issued today, which has a poor scan of his signature, was personally delivered to newsrooms as an advert by Larry Mavhima who chairs the NRZ board & who fronts for ED at Hanawa Foods. This makes Mavhima an accessory to treason, said Moyo.



Political scientist Maxwell Saungweme said with numerous cases hanging over his headthe most sensible thing for Mnangagwa to do was to engage with China and not other regional countries.





I think China is the safest haven for a 75-year-old Zanu PF political hoodlum who pillaged the country with his erstwhile boss. China is also strategic as Ngwena was Defence minister when diamonds from Marange were controlled by his ministry, and Chinese were the major investor when the $15 billion from the gems supposedly disappeared.





So you can draw the military-diamonds-China-missing $15 billion nexus. Hence he finds China, the safest harbour. Apart from China or Russia, he has no other options. Sadc is out of question. You know Mugabe is regarded as big brother by most Sadc heads of States who would extradite Ngwena back to Zimbabwe to face Mugabes jungle justice.





A few countries like Botswana will not even entertain the idea of harbouring a Zanu PF goon in their country given Ngwenas role in plunder and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. So China is his best bet, said Saungweme.





Blessing-Miles Tendi, a lecturer of African politics at the prestigious Oxford University, opined that one of the contributing factors to Mnangagwas dismissal was the fact that the United Kingdom, especially its ambassador to Harare, Catriona Laing, were considering it fait accompli that the former vice president would become the next president and pursue engagement policies.





The politician, who was already clearing the way for his ascendancy, had been opening up to countries such as the UK, which views him as a reformist and the one who was meant to succeed Mugabe.





There are several reasons why . . . Mugabe fired Mnangagwa on November 6. Many were likely to do with Zanu PF infighting over who will eventually succeed the 93-year-old leader. But one external factor that contributed to Mugabes decision was Mnangagwas relationship with the UK.





Beginning in the 1980s, Mnangagwa has assured London that he would be a more effective and technocratic leader than Mugabe. More recently, this led British diplomats in the UK embassy and some in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to see the decades-long Zanu PF insider as the candidate they could best work with and the figure most likely to implement urgently-needed economic reforms, said Tendi.





But with Mnangagwa out of Zanu PF and government, Tendi wrote in the African Argument, it would be difficult for the UK to maintain those old ties that date back to the 1980s.





Mnangagwas sudden dismissal from Zimbabwes political scene will require the UK to come up with a new strategy. This is necessary but also desirable. Laing made a fatal mistake by openly siding with the subordinate of a president who is extremely sensitive to perceived colonial intrusion, said Tendi.





Interestingly, most of Mnangagwas allies have withdrawn into the shadows.

Outspoken Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association chairperson Christopher Mutsvangwa is now holed up in South Africa amid indications that he may be assessing the situation from there before coming back home. Daily News
Opposition parties have reacted angrily to the renaming of Harare International Airport by government this week which honoured President Robert Mugabe by naming the airport after him in a process which gobbled $500 000.



Mugabe is not the only leader in the world who has had an airport named after him.

However, opposition and rights groups claim the 93-year-old, accused of running down the once vibrant Zimbabwe economy, does not deserve such an honour.



Government is spending big on deification of long-ruling Mugabe, who has been Zimbabwes only president since independence from the British in 1980.



In August, Cabinet approved a proposal by the Higher and Tertiary Education ministry to establish a high-tech Robert Mugabe University of Sciences at a cost of $1 billion.

Former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirais MDC party said naming the Harare International Airport after Mugabe was not proper.



Surely, the gods must really be crazy! The renaming of Harare International Airport to Robert Mugabe International Airport on Thursday, November 9, 2017, marks a new low in both the political and aviation history of Zimbabwe.



The MDC is a social democratic political party, it is a peoples project and as such, we abhor and condemn any attempt to personalise and privatise national institutions such as the Harare International Airport. The Zanu PF regime, fronted by the nonagenarian, Robert Mugabe, has certainly lost its marbles, said the partys spokesperson Obert Gutu.

Transport minister Joram Gumbo, said the renaming of the airport was to honour Mugabe and had been approved by Cabinet.



In recognition of your (Mugabes) contribution towards the liberation of the people of Zimbabwe, the ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development is now implementing the resolution from the Zanu PF Victoria Falls conference to rename Harare International Airport in your honour.



In order for the process to be supported by international stakeholders, assurances and comprehensive input from local stakeholders was sought. Cabinet approval for the name change was sought and granted, Gumbo said.



But the opposition parties questioned governments decision and blamed Zanu PF officials for lacking courage to resist bootlicking Mugabe.



Mugabe now has the space to convert any part of Zimbabwe into his name because of the fear that he successfully instilled into the remaining cowards around him. No one inside Zanu PF at the moment has the capacity to criticise or stop Robert Mugabe from doing whatever he wants.



Mugabe has the capacity of running away with everything. The remaining Zanu PF ministers are all spineless to oppose Mugabe.



I hope Mugabe knows that everything that he has done shall be revisited and evaluated at some stage. Converting State assets to his name is nonsensical and unacceptable, said Kurauone Chihwayi, spokesperson of the Welshman Ncube-led MDC.



Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesperson Jacob Mafume said Mugabe is seeking to assert his hold on Zimbabwe.



Robert Mugabe has an issue with his name for an unknown reason. He seems to want to assert paternity over everything that is in Zimbabwe, said Mafume.



Apart from naming the Harare International Airport after Mugabe and unveiling plans to construct the Robert Gabriel Mugabe University, government declared February 21 as Robert Mugabe National Youth Day.



Mugabes birthday falls on February 21. Besides roads being named after the Zanu PF leader, another piece of land at the corner of Robert Mugabe Road and Rekai Tangwena Avenue has also been unofficially named the Robert Mugabe Square. Daily News
No Charges for Cops

in Killing of Man Who

Was 'Biking While Black'
Abraham Lincoln is famous for many things, and in a piece for the Conversation, Elon University assistant professor Brian Walsh argues the 16th president's list of accomplishments should be longer by one. He writes that America's embrace of embalming our dead should be credited in part to Lincoln. In a piece rich with historic details, Walsh explains that the way Americans were treated after death pre-Civil Warthe body slowly decomposing on a bed, ringed in candles to help mask the smell as friends and family came to say goodbyebecame problematic with the onset of the war. Wealthy Northerners could afford to pay to transport their fallen husbands and sons home, but the bodies couldn't withstand the journey. "Opportunistic Americans" saw an opening.

Using a variation of a technique publicized in the late 1830s by a Frenchman, these embalmers drained the blood of an estimated 40,000 soldiers and replaced it with arsenic and mercury. But the leap from the battlefields to our homes happened because of Lincoln, Walsh argues. Lincoln not only had his 11-year-old son Willie embalmed after his 1862 death, he himself was embalmedand many Americans saw it first-hand. A train transported Lincoln to Springfield, Ill., over the course of three weeks, and his body was displayed in an open casket at stops along the way. The embalmed body "became a national sensation," though the condition of it deteriorated to become less shockingly lifelike along the journey. Read Walsh's full piece for more, including one "potent caveat" of America's shift to embalming. (Read more embalmed body stories.)


+3 Father-of-two Imran Qureshi, 44, from Manchester, said the 21-year-old woman was 'sexually available' because she had previous boyfriends

A married Pakistani doctor molested a Muslim student nurse then blamed it on 'different cultural norms' in the UK.

Father-of-two Imran Qureshi, 44, from Manchester , said the 21-year-old woman was 'sexually available' because she had previous boyfriends.

He grabbed her breast and told her he wanted an affair after he forced himself on her as they worked together at a hospital.

Qureshi later admitted he made a 'misjudgement' - blaming his behaviour on 'cultural norms being different' in the UK and Pakistan.

But the nurse known only as Miss A, was said to be 'shaken up and distraught' after reporting how locum senior house officer Qureshi grabbed her chest before trying to 'make light' of it and then becoming aggressive.

He was said to have told Miss A he was unhappy in his marriage and was hoping for a romance with her. Unbeknown to the doctor, Miss A was secretly recording the conversation on her mobile phone.

The alleged encounter took place at Trafford General Hospital in Davyhulme, Greater Manchester, on June 3 2015 when the 21-year-old Muslim student said Qureshi seemed 'excited to see her and well within her personal space'.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester was told at around 3pm, she asked the doctor to retrieve some patient notes to which he replied 'I don't want to get it yet, u want to spend some time with you'.

Counsel for the General Medical Council, Rebecca Vanstone, added: 'He told Miss A she was beautiful and asked whether she had a boyfriend.

'He then said he was not happy in his marriage and wanted an affair.

'Shortly afterwards Miss A was in the ward kitchen when he entered the room and closed the door behind him. He asked whether she had a thyroid problem before feeling her neck.





'She was backed into the corner when the registrant touched her chest at the top where her breasts start. She said he put his fingers there for a few seconds before she pushed them away.





'Miss A says she held her hand up to signal for him to move away and told him he was a disgrace. He asked for a hug and she refused but he did it anyway.





'Then he grabbed her right breast for a few seconds. Miss A said he was laughing and trying to make light if the situation and then became aggressive and said that friends do what he was trying to do.'







He grabbed her breast and told her he wanted an affair after he forced himself on her as they worked together at a hospital



'Miss A reported the incident about an hour later to a friend who told her to inform her mentor and she did so. The mentor describes the account given to her and said she appeared to be nervous, shaken up and distraught.





'The registrant went to the police station voluntarily. He admitted he touched her neck when they discussed whether she had a thyroid problem and he touched her chest when they were discussing talking from the heart.





'He was charged and self referred to the GMC. He pleaded not guilty in respect of the criminal proceedings but was convicted last year by a jury after trial.'





In June last year Qureshi was sentenced at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court to a 12-month community order with 20 days rehabilitation activity requirement after he was convicted by a jury of sexual assault.





He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register for five years and pay court costs of 750. He was later refused leave to appeal his conviction by the Court of Appeal and is currently suspended from practising.





Miss A provided the tribunal with a victim personal statement where she told of the effect the incident had on her.









Qureshi later admitted he made a 'misjudgement' - blaming his behaviour on 'cultural norms being different' in the UK and Pakistan

Miss Vanstone said: 'Miss A says she was prescribed sleeping tablets because she was struggling to sleep and since she had been wary of male doctors.





'She took three weeks off work which could delay her qualification.





She feels that the incident impacted her reputation, she is a young unmarried Muslim woman.





'His conduct in my submission was a breach of professional boundaries given that the complainant was a student nurse and was 21 years old.





Dr Qureshi's conviction for sexual assault amounts to serious misconduct.





'There is evidence before you to show Dr Qureshi has failed to accept his conviction or show insight sufficient to satisfy the committee that there is no risk of repetition.





'Dr Qureshi continued to deny the offence, committing the offence or having any sexual motivation and he showed no remorse.





'He did say that he saw Miss A being sexually available because she had previous boyfriends.





He described the incident being a misjudgement by him and says the culture norms are different in the UK from Pakistan where he's from.





'He mistakenly formed the impression Miss A was romantically interested in him. That fails to explain why he behaved in the way that he did. It seeks to diminish his actions and pass it off as an error of judgement.





'He acknowledges and accepts that the conversation beforehand was wholly inappropriate and wrong.





'Sexual misconduct is difficult to remediate and the committee may feel the information before it in regards to the steps taken are limited.





'He has completed a course on maintaining professional boundaries and done the work by the probation service. There's little else to show how he could have addressed his behaviour.





'Despite the apologies the registrant has offered in his witness statement he still fails to accept his conduct was a sexual assault.





'The very nature of the offence is that there was touching, that the touching was sexual, that the complainant didn't consent and the individual didn't reasonable believe that the complainant consented.'





Qureshi attempted to appeal on two occasions where permission was refused. He admits the allegations put to him on behalf of the GMC but is battling to avoid being struck off.
A US couple loaned a valuable Camille Pissarro painting to a Paris museum earlier this yearand now they've lost it for good. "La Cueillette des Pois," or "Picking Peas," by the impressionist master was displayed in an exhibition at Marmottan and was recognized there by one of the descendants of a French Jewish family who owned the painting before it was looted during WWII. The work was placed in temporary escrow, and the AP reports that a civil court in Paris on Tuesday ruled that while Bruce and Robbi Toll didn't act in bad faith when they bought the painting from Christie's more than two decades ago, the initial and following sales of all goods looted from Jewish people by the French Vichy regime or its Nazi allies during the war were declared void by France's post-war authorities in 1945.

The Pissarro painting was part of a collection of 93 master canvases amassed by Simon Bauer over the first part of the last century. His collection was confiscated by the Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis, and sold by a vendor in 1944. It was sold to an unknown buyer in 1966 by Sotheby's; the Tolls bought it in 1995 for $800,000, but the judges didn't award them any financial compensation. "For them it's a total loss," says their lawyer, Ron Soffer. The artwork's estimated worth is now $1.75 million. Bauer's last surviving grandson says he's "pleased" and adds the Tolls were likely "victims of a system" or "misguided." Soffer says his clients "are disappointed" and will appeal. In the meantime, the canvas will be kept in escrow by Paris' Orsay Museum. (The Dutch Red Cross admits a painful WWII truth.)
It turns out salvation wasn't the only thing people were looking to the Vatican for. The New York Times reports many Italians get their cigarettes through acquaintances at the Vatican, where employees and citizens have access to tax-free smokes. But no longer. According to the BBC, Pope Francis has banned the sale of cigarettes inside the Vatican beginning next year.

It's been reported cardinals could buy up to 200 tax-free packs per month, while the Vatican states employees could only get 50, and it's estimated the sale of cigarettes earned the Vatican millions of euros annually. "It comes as a bit of a sacrifice for the Holy See, this was a source of revenue, but it's obviously much more important to do what is right," says Vatican spokesperson Greg Burke, who cites WHO stats showing smoking accounts for more than 7 million global deaths every year. "No profit can be legitimate if it puts lives at risk," Burke says. (Read more Vatican stories.)
A British magazine is apologizing to actress Lupita Nyong'o after Nyong'o called it out on Twitter for photoshopping her hair. "Disappointed that @GraziaUK edited out & smoothed my hair to fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like. #dtmh," she tweeted Thursday alongside a comparison of the original photo and the cover that Grazia UK ended up running, which effectively shears off any hair that wasn't close-cropped. (That hashtag is "don't touch my hair.") The magazine apologized Friday, Vanity Fair reports.

"Grazia is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages and apologizes unreservedly to Lupita Nyong'o, the magazine began. The magazine said no editorial request was made to the photographer "for Nyong'o's hair to be altered ... nor did we alter it ourselves," but does not specifically say who was responsible for the edit. In an Instagram post Thursday, Nyong'o expanded on the importance of the issue. "I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too," she wrote. "There is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture." (The same thing recently happened to Solange Knowles.)
Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four American soldiers killed after an ambush in Niger last month, was found with his hands tied after having apparently been executed by militants, villagers say. Tongo Tongo resident Adamou Boubacar tells the Washington Post that children found Johnson's body two days after the ambush. He says the soldier's hands were bound with rope and there was a gaping wound in the back of his head that could have been caused by a bullet. Boubacar, a farmer, says the body was found in a bushy area about a mile from the ambush site, which could explain why it took so long for it to be discovered, the New York Daily News reports.

Village chief Mounkaila Alassane says he contacted the Nigerien military after seeing the body, "The back of his head was a mess, as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer," Alassane tells the Post. "They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks." Military sources say they believe Johnson was kidnapped during a firefight with ISIS-linked militants. The bodies of the other three Americans killed were found in or near their team's pickup truck, stripped of their uniforms, villagers say. The FBI has joined military investigators trying to determine how the US mission went so badly wrong. Officials in Niger say Alassane was arrested on suspicion of aiding the militants, but released due to a lack of evidence. (US officials say a morphed mission put the men in danger.)
An air traffic controller accused of possessing a weapon of mass destruction has lost his airport access and could lose his freedom as well. George Dandan, who worked at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, was arrested Friday and charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, acquiring a weapon of mass destruction, and transporting a weapon of mass destruction, WCNC reports. Police say Dandan, 30, was given a homemade pipe bomb by neighbor Derrick Fells, 39, who has also been charged.

Police say Fells planned to use the bomb against a neighbor but changed his mind and gave it to Dandan. Dandan, who is also a volunteer with the local fire department, was arrested in 2015 and charged with assaulting a woman. Authorities say his airport access only extended to the control tower. "The FAA employee only had access to the offsite air traffic control tower and had no access to the restricted areas of the terminal or ramp," airport officials said in a statement, per WSOC. He did not have access to any aircraft."

(Read more air traffic controllers stories.)
In the week since he suddenly and unexpectedly resigned as Lebanon's prime minister during a trip to Saudi Arabia, Saad Hariri has yet to return to his countryor make any sort of public statement at all, Reuters reports. According to the New York Times, on Friday Hezbollah, which is part of Hariri's governing coalition, claimed Saudi Arabia kidnapped Hariri then asked Israel to launch an attack on Lebanon. Analysts say that's an entirely possible series of events, and one that Lebanese authorities echoed on Saturday, the AP reports. Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday asked Saudi Arabia to explain Hariri's absence from Lebanon. "The obscurity regarding Hariri's conditions makes anything that he says or does not reflect truth," Aoun said. Saudi Arabia has claimed to be protecting Hariri from an assassination attempt.

The Times calls the situation "one in a profusion of bewildering events ... that are escalating tensions in the Middle East." Those events include Saudi Arabia arresting princes and businessmen, ordering its citizens out of Lebanon, having an undisclosed meeting with Jared Kushner, and claiming a missile that approached its capital last Saturday was orchestrated by Hezbollah and Iran. On Friday, Rex Tillerson appeared to send a warning to Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia, and Iran about using Lebanon "as a venue for proxy conflicts." And on Saturday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked "all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes." Analysts and diplomats fear all of this is leading to a military conflict in the region. (Read more Lebanon stories.)
Roy Moore, the Republican former Alabama Supreme Court justice currently running for US Senate, says he's never met the woman accusing him of molesting her when she was 14 and he was 32. "I don't know Ms. [Leigh] Corfman from anybody. I never talked to her. I never had any contact with her," he said on Sean Hannity's radio show Friday, per AL.com. "The allegation of sexual misconduct with her is completely false. I believe they are politically motivated. I believe they're trying only to stop a very successful campaign and that's what they're doing." He called the story "completely manufactured" and said he's "very angry" during the interview, his first since the story broke. "If you abuse a 14-year-old, you should not be a Senate candidate. I agree with that. But I did not do that," Moore continued.

"I've run five statewide campaigns, three in the county. This has never been brought up. It has never been even mentioned. And all of a sudden, four weeks out [from the Dec. 12 special election], they're bringing it up," he said. Three other women say Moore pursued them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his 30s; Moore told Hannity he "dated a lot of young ladies" when he was younger, but "not generally" ones that young, per the New York Daily News. Mediaite notes that Hannity is generally being praised for a "tough" interview and rounds up Twitter reactions. Also Friday, Moore released an official statement, the AP reports: "As a father of a daughter and a grandfather of five granddaughters, I condemn the actions of any man who engages in sexual misconduct not just against minors but against any woman." (Read more Roy Moore stories.)
In the wake of last months deadly shooting in Las Vegas, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are speaking out in favor of gun controlan unusual move for country stars, USA Today reports. Look, Im a bird hunter," McGraw tells Billboard. However, there is some common sense thats necessary when it comes to gun control." Hill says the couple knew "a lot of people" at the Route 91 Harvest festival that was targeted in the shooting that left 58 people dead. "[Doctors] saw wounds like youd see in war. Thats not right," Hill says. "Military weapons should not be in the hands of civilians."

Hill says they want a "safe country," and McGraw adds that "it's not about the Second Amendment." Hill concludes: "Its everyones responsibility, including the government and the National Rifle Association, to tell the truth." Hill and McGraw, who are promoting their first album together, spoke to Billboard about gun control before a shooter killed 26 adults and children in a Texas church last weekend, ABC News reports. It's not the first time the couple have gone out of their way to take a political stance. In 2008, McGraw openly voiced his support for Barack Obama. (Read more Faith Hill stories.)
Despite President Trump calling them "political hacks" on Saturday, CIA director Mike Pompeo "stands by" a report issued by the intelligence community that found Russia tried to influence the 2016 election with the aim of getting Trump elected, the Hill reports. "The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed, a spokesperson for the CIA says. The CIA commented after Trump said he believes Vladimir Putin when the Russian president says he didn't try to influence the election. "He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," Trump said Saturday after meeting with Putin in Vietnam. "He did not do what they're saying he did. Sally Yates, former deputy attorney general of the US, chimed in on Twitter, calling Trump siding with Putin over the American intelligence community "disturbing and shamelessly unpatriotic, on Veterans Day no less." (Read more CIA stories.)
"He just had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him," Tessa Brennaman tells CBS News regarding her ex-husband, Devin Kelley, who killed 26 people in a Texas church last Sunday. Brennaman gave her first interview since the shooting Friday. The New York Times reports Brennaman was 19-year-old Tessa Loge when she married Kelley in 2011. She tells CBS their marriage was filled with abuse and she was afraid of him. She says he threatened to kill her and her family. After she got a speeding ticket in 2012, Brennaman says Kelley put a gun "to my temple and told me, 'Do you want to die?'" He hit her and fractured the skull of her baby. Kelley would later plead guilty and spend a year in a military prison. Brennaman would file for divorce.

Brennaman wasn't the only person afraid of Kelley. Jessika Edwards was a staff sergeant in the Air Force and worked with Kelley in 2011. She tells the Times he was "a dude on the edge." "This is not just in hindsight," Edwards says. "He scared me at the time." She says Kelley would be punished by superiors for not doing his work by being made to clean toilets or mop. "He would get so upset ... and just keep saying, 'I want to kill them,'" she says. Edwards says she eventually told others not to be so hard on Kelley or he would probably "shoot up the place." Things got even more upsetting after Kelley left the Air Force. Edwards says he would message her on Facebook about using dogs for target practice or about how "cool" what Dylann Roof did was. Roof fatally shot nine people in a church in South Carolina. (Read more Devin Kelley stories.)
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New Delhi:

A woman passenger, who has been reported to the police and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for being a "disruptive passenger" by AirAsia, has alleged that she was sexually harassed by three crew members of the airlines.



AirAsia India has denied the allegation saying that it dealt with the incident as per laid down procedure.



The FIR filed by the woman alleged that a flight steward made "unwelcome physical advances" onboard and spoke rudely to her after she complained about an unclean washroom in the plane while travelling from Ranchi to Bengaluru via Hyderabad on November 3.



"He was trying to be touchy while there was no one around near the washroom. I found that awkward but did not say much as I was not sure about his behaviour," she said in the FIR.



AirAsia India on its part said that the woman verbally abused a senior cabin crew member after she was asked to switch off her mobile phone and filed a complaint with the Airport Police against her when the plane landed in Bengaluru as well as informed the DGCA as per "standard operating procedures followed for disruptive passengers".



The woman claims that the crew insulted her verbally while serving her coffee and told her to switch off her phone rudely.



The police have registered a case under IPC sections related to wrongful restraint, assault or use criminal force on a woman to outrage her modesty and other charges on the basis of the passenger's complaint.



The woman also alleged that after arriving in Bengaluru, a ground staff personnel stopped her from getting into the terminal bus and held her with four more staff on the runway against her will.



"I was the only woman on the runway. Everybody else had left," she claimed.

(With PTI inputs)

Also read: Watch: Jet Airways Delhi-Patna flight passengers travel for 8 hours due to non availability of taxi way, land back in New Delhi



Also read: IT raids find Rs 50 crore worth undisclosed properties and investment from Superintendent Engineer in UP Irrigation Department
New Delhi:

TwelveA people suffered injuries in a cylinder blast inA UttarA Pradesh'sA BaghpatA on Saturday.A Earlier, one personA was killedA and three others were injured after a gas cylinder exploded at a scrap godown in Hyderabad.

Rama Krishna alias Vinod, 55, who was injured in the cylinder explosion at Kulsumpura succumbed to burns at the Osmania General Hospital later in the evening.

#WATCH: One killed, three injured after a cylinder exploded at a scrap godown in Hyderabad; case registered under sections 336 & 304-A. pic.twitter.com/3VdFd1LWnE a ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2017

More details awaited
New Delhi:

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved setting up of 'National Testing Agency (NTA)' to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions, an official release said.

The NTA would initially conduct entrance tests that are currently organised by the CBSE, while other examinations will be taken up gradually, it added.

Currently, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts 'National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)' on behalf of the Medical Council Of India and Health Ministry and the 'National Eligibility Test (NET)' on behalf of the University Grants Commission (UGC), an official said.

"It (the move) will relieve the CBSE, the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) and other agencies from the responsibility of conducting these entrance examinations, and also bring in high reliability, standardised difficulty level for assessing the aptitude, intelligence and problem-solving abilities of the students," the release said.

Also Read: Calicut University 3rd Semester Result announced; check here

The entrance examinations will be conducted online at least twice a year, thereby giving adequate opportunity to candidates to bring out their best, it added.

In order to serve the requirements of the rural students, it would locate the centres at sub-district/district level and as far as possible would undertake hands-on training exercise for the students, the release said.

The NTA will be given a one-time grant of Rs 25 crore from the government to start its operation in the first year and thereafter, it will be financially self-sustainable, it added.

It will be chaired by an educationist appointed by Human Resource Development Ministry.

The establishment of NTA, an autonomous organisation, will benefit about 40 lakh students appearing in various entrance examinations, the release said.

It will be established as a Society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860.

In view of the need to have a specialised body in India like the most advanced countries, the finance minister in the Budget speech of 2017-18 had announced setting up of NTA to conduct all entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.
New Delhi:

Priyank Sharma's return on Bigg Boss 11 has undoubtedly become the talk of the town. But his return on the reality show seems to have invited some serious trouble for him as Priyank is likely to get arrested soon.



According to the media reports, a criminal defamation case has been filed against him by Arshi Khan's publicist Flynn Remedios. The legal actor was taken after Priyank for allegedy 'rubbing co-contestant Arshi Khan the wrong way' stated a report published in Tellychakkar.com.



The media reports further suggested that with the case being filed, Priyank Sharmar might get arrested despite being inside the BB house. "The police officials who are investigating the case have told me not to speak to the media in this regard, and I am sorry, I cannot share any more details, said Remedios. However the sections applied in Priyank's case are non-bailable and Priyank Sharma would be arrested and produced in court. He would have to apply for bail after being produced in court," Remedios was quoted as saying.



This isn't the first time Flynn has taken an action against Priyank. He had earlier filed an FIR against Priyank Sharma, Sapna Choudhary, Bigg Boss Makers and the Channel, after the Splitsvilla fame along with Sapna highlighted Goa-Pune scandal. Talking about the same Flynn issued a statement clarifying that Arshi Khan was never arrested or detained in.



aHe must learn that being in the Bigg Boss house does not make him God. The law of the land applies to everyone and even to Bigg Boss inmates. I am suing him under section 354, 500 and section 509 of the Indian Penal Code,"Flynn said in a statement.



We wonder if this criminal defamation case will put Priyank behind the bars this time?
New Delhi:

Bigg Boss 11 has managed to gain the attention of the television viewers with the constant fights and controversies. With the drama intensifying with every passing day, the show has been making waves all over social media.

Vikas Gupta and Shilpa Shinde's fight and the so called romance between Bandagi-Puneesh, BB11 has helped BB11 grab many eyeballs. The contestants are also leaving no stone unturned to stay in limelight and save themselves from elimination.A

The Salman Khan show enjoys a huge fan following and it is quite evident as both commoners and celebrities express their views on the show.A

Many popular celebs including Gauahar Khan, Ravi Dubey, Vindu Dara Singh have discussed the show on social media and conveyed their like and dislike for the hosuemates.

Television actressA Anita Hassanandani who plays the popular role of Shagun in the hit daily soap Yeh Hai Mohabbatein has also expressed her opinion about Bigg Boss 11.A

The stylish actress has some choice words for the latest season of the popular reality show.A The Kkavyanjali actress took to Twitter to share how she feels BB11 is the most fake season of all times, especially the romance between Bandagi and Puneesh.

A The Jhalak Dikh La Ja 8 contestant, however, expressed her fondness for Shilpa and Vikas.A

So finally caught all the episodes of #BB11 ... Fakest season ever!!! Specially d romance. And ShilpaVikas r super likeable Yaai a Anita Hassanandani (@anitahasnandani) November 10, 2017

Check out some of the pictures of the popular television actress.

Y straight from a fairytale .. #BudaPest you Beauty A post shared by Anita H Reddy (@anitahassanandani) on Nov 1, 2017 at 3:33am PDT
Mumbai:

Actor Irrfan Khan on Friday addressed the controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming period drama 'Padmavati' and said it is for the government to decide who has the authority to certify a film for release.

Various groups, most of them from the Rajput community, have accused Bhansali of 'distorting historical facts' in the film and earlier this year had also vandalised the sets of the film.

"It is in censor board's (Central Board of Film Certification) hand to give certificate. The government will decide... whose validity (matters)... whether it is Censor board or other bodies. I am not in that position to decide or say anything," Irrfan was quoted while interacting with reporters.

Also Read: 'Padmavati' second song shows godly bond between Padmini, Ratan Singh

Earlier on Friday hundreds of people associated with various community organisations took out a morcha in Thane demanding a ban on the film.

Bhansali had earlier said that the film is his tribute to the 'sacrifice, valour and honour' of Rani Padmavati. He has also said there is nothing in the film that will hurt anyones sentiments and sensibilities.

Starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in key roles, 'Padmavati' is scheduled to release on December 1.

Also Read: 'Padmavati' not submitted to CBFC for clearance yet?

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

Alia Bhatt who is known for her powerful performances in films like Highway, Udta Punjab, 2 States is back with another exciting thriller flick titled aRaazia, in which she plays the role of a Kashmiri girl who gets married to a Pakistani officer.

Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film is based on Harinder Sikkaas novel aCalling Sehmata.

Alia Bhatt shared an Instagram post today and in the post, she can be seen in a perfect Kashmiri look and above it written aSix months to Raazia.

Co-Producer of aRaazia, Karan Johar also tweeted the first poster and wrote, aA journey of love, intrigue and many secrets a#6monthstoRaaziaa.

Even the male lead of the flick shared Aliaas first look from the film along with the release date i.e. May 11, 2018.

In the last few months, Alia had been regularly posting picture from the sets of aRaazia to keep her fans updated.

In one of the picture shared by her she wrote, aAnd 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 a My director and I just totally lost in our own little worldA hope you guys love the film as much as we loved making itaa.

Apart from aRaazia, Alia Bhatt will also be shooting for aGully Boya and aBrahmastraa.

Six months to RAAZI! A post shared by Alia aai (@aliaabhatt) on Nov 10, 2017 at 10:33pm PST

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 Yhope you guys love the film as much as we loved making it Y A post shared by Alia aai (@aliaabhatt) on Oct 28, 2017 at 1:00am PDT

give me 30 seconds ai Y @puneetbsaini A post shared by Alia aai (@aliaabhatt) on Sep 23, 2017 at 8:20pm PDT

And it's a wrap Y A post shared by Alia aai (@aliaabhatt) on Sep 26, 2017 at 9:15am PDT

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Tiger Zinda Hai has retained many elements from the real-life hostage situation involving 46 Indian nurses in Iraq. The 2014 incident saw the young Indian nurses cheating death while being held hostage by militants at a hospital in Tikrit in the battle-torn country of Iraq.

The miraculous story of their survival is the inspiration behind the story for Tiger Zinda Hai and director Ali Abbas Zafar has picturised several elements from the crisis in the second installment of Tiger film series.

A source reveals, The crisis unfolded at a hospital in the city of Tikrit. This hospital is part of the narrative in Tiger Zinda Hai. The name of the city has been changed to Ikrit in the film. The film has many other such details from the original incident which one will notice when the film releases.

Director Ali Abbas Zafar said, There is a lot of moments in the film that will remind audiences of the actual incident in Iraq. Having said that, Tiger Zinda Hai is a complete fictional take on the crisis and our version of what Tiger would do in case a crisis was to happen for him to resolve.

Tiger Zinda Hai also feature Iranian actor Sajjad Delfrooz, Angad Bedi, Kumud Mishra and Nawab Shah in pivotal roles.

The film has been shot in several locations in abroad including Abu Dhabi, Austria, Greece and Morocco.

Produced by Aditya Chopra, the high-octane action entertainer is set to release on December 22.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that development of Narmada River was done only when Congress was not in the power.



Only when the governments of Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now Narendra Modi had been at the centre that positive development work has been done on the Narmada, said Sitharaman while addressing a gathering in Ahmedabad.



Congress, which was in the center earlier and in opposition here in Gujarat, never thought of or worked for the state. They did not do anything for river Narmada, added Sitharaman.



Earlier, on the first anniversary of demonetization, Sitharaman had hit out at Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over his criticism of demonetisation, alleging that the Singh looked away when organised plunder kept happening under his rule.



Also read: IT raids find Rs 50 crore worth undisclosed properties and investment from Superintendent Engineer in UP Irrigation Department



Also read: BEST launches emission-free electric buses in Mumbai

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Citing the National Green Tribunals conditions of no exemption to 2-wheelers and women, the Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot on Saturday called off odd-even scheme which was due to be implemented between November 13 and 17.

The Transport Minister said that they will file a review petition for them to reconsider their decision regarding no exemption to 2-wheelers and women.

"In light of the the two conditions by NGT on 2 wheelers and women, at the moment we are calling it off. We will go back to NGT on Monday, file a review petition for them to reconsider their decision regarding the two," said Gehlot.

Earlier in the day, NGT gave its nod to the Delhi government to implement the odd even scheme with an underlying objective to improve the dismal air quality.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Saturday heard the Delhi governments arguments on the scheme's effectiveness and accordingly took its decision.

NGT directed "Odd Even scheme must be implemented in Delhi NCR as and when PM 10 crosses 300 level and PM 2.5 crosses 500". The NGT said that the emergency vehicles shall get an exemption during the odd even scheme.

The tribunal on Friday said the scheme was a farce, and that it cannot be implemented from next week without its permission. The National Green Tribunal on Friday directed the Delhi government to submit data or studies on the basis of which it has planned to introduce the odd-even carrationing scheme for five days from next week.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

Former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has done it yet again. He has invoked the Kashmir issue and said, "The part which is with Pakistan belongs to Pakistan & this is India's part."

"If they want peace govt will have to talk to Pakistan & conclude that an autonomy be given to us as well as them," added Farooq Abdullah.

"A Pak Minister very rightly said that you forget that the part which is yours was acquired by an Instrument of Accession.

You forget Instrument of accession and say that the part is yours. If you talk about this being your part then remember the Instrument as well", said the National Conference (NC) leader.

On J&K interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma Abdullah said, "I can't comment much on that. He has held talks but talks alone is not the solution. This issue is between India & Pakistan. Indian govt must also hold talks with Pakistan govt because a part of Kashmir is also with them".

Reacting on Farooq's statement, MoS Jitendra Singh said, "National Conference had given up its demand for socalled Autonomy over 40 years ago when Sheikh Abdullah got himself reinstated as CM and conveniently accepted all the provisions of Indian constitution."

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Income Tax Department has carried out more raids at 40 locations in Chennai for the third day at Dr Namadhu MGR (Tamil newspaper) and Jaya TV offices and at the residence of Jaya TV Managing Director and Sasikala's nephew Vivek Jayaraman and his sister Krishna Priya.



The Income Tax department on Thursday morning raided the office of Jaya TV in Chennai over alleged reports of tax evasion. The Tamil channel is controlled by AIADMK and arrested party leader VK Sasikala, while it was founded by late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.



Sources claim that the searches were part of 'Operation Clean Money'. The tax allegation covers aspects like shell companies, dubious investments, fund flow, and fudging of accounts.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The father of accused class 11 student of Ryan International School on Saturday said that his son was tortured and hung upside down and brutally thrashed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during interrogation.

My son is being tortured, he was hung upside down and brutally thrashed. He is completely innocent, the accuseds father said.

Only one PTM had happened till now and all teachers had praised my son's performance and behaviour, I have his marksheets, he further added.

However, the CBI immediately denied the allegations made by the father that the arrested minor was being tortured in custody.

CBI denies allegations made by the father of arrested minor that the accused was being tortured in custody #PradyumanMurderCase #RyanInternationalSchool  ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2017

On Thursday, the CBI before a juvenile court claimed that the class 11 student had confessed to his crime in front of his father and an independent witness.

The juvenile court in Gurgaon on Wednesday sent the student to three days of CBI custody.

ALSO READ | Pradyuman murder case: CBI questions another student of Ryan International School

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Google Doodle celebrates the 132nd birth anniversary of Anasuya Sarabhai. Ten things to know about the woman who was a pioneer of the women's labour movement in India:

#Affectionately addressed as 'Motaben' meaning elder sister in Gujarati, Anasuya Sarabhai was born in Ahmedabad on November 11, 1885.

#She belonged to the wealthy family of Sarabhai and Godarvariba and lost both her parents when she was only nine.

#At the age of 13, an unwilling Anasuya was married off by her uncle, leading to a short-lived and unhappy marriage.

#Anasuya went to England in 1912 to take a medical degree but switched to the London School of Economics when she realized the animal dissection involved in obtaining a medical degree, was in violation of her Jain beliefs.

#While in England, she got influenced by the Fabian Society and got involved in the Suffragette movement which was working towards obtaining the right to vote for women.

#In 1913, she returned to India where she effortlessly worked for the betterment of women and upliftment of the poor. She opened a school and decided to get involved in the labour movement taking on the cause of local mill workers after learning of their 36-hour work shifts.

#Anasuya Sarabhai helped mill workers organize a strike in 1914 in Ahmedabad for higher wages.

#In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi who was a close family friend came forward to support her and began a hunger strike on the workers behalf leading to justified 35% hike in wages. In 1920, Anasuya Sarabhai founded the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Majoor Mahajan Sangh), the oldest union of textile workers in the country and held the position of its president till last breath.

#Anasuya Sarabhai holds a unique place in the history of country whose endless efforts later paved way for the foundation of the Self-Employed Womens Association of India (SEWA).
New Delhi:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released a marvelous picture of Jupiter's southern hemisphere which captured by Juno on Friday.

NASA never misses a chance to amaze its viewers. This time also NASA has come up with spectacular visual treats for people. Since Juno transit from Earth into its destined orbit around Jupiter, it has been beaming back some astonishing data on the planet.

Recently, NASA has shared a trove of Jupiter's photo which definitely gonna be a visual treat for peoples.

Juno has immensely contributed to changing the world's perception and understanding of the gas giant made many revelations in its one-year-long journey.

The colour-enhanced view captures one of the white ovals in the "String of Pearls," one of eight massive rotating storms at 40 degrees south latitude on the gas giant planet, NASA said.

When Juno was performing its ninth close flyby of Jupiter at that time image was taken and this all happen on October 24.

The spacecraft was 33,115 kilometres from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude of minus 52.96 degrees at the time the image was taken.

Juno was launched on August 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Juno arrived in orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016.

During its mission of exploration, Juno soars low over the planet's cloud tops. During these flybys, Juno is probing beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and studying its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere, and magnetosphere.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Tiangong-1, 8.5-tonne Chinese space station is expected to crash into Earth sometime between January and March 2018, according to the scientists.

The scientists revealed that its orbit has been decaying since March 2016 and hence, is expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere early next year.

The European Space Agency is searching out possible crash sites and according to that, major city including New York, Tokyo, Beijing, etc are at peril.

There are chances that detritus could fall between 43 degrees North and 43 degrees South. The European Space Agency also added that debris of Chinese space station could also fall on the Istanbul, Los Angeles and countries such as Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Greece.

Earlier, the Chinese Space Agency said to United Nations that they have lost control over the spacecraft but also added that it will pose a little threat to lives or property.

Till now, the locations of wreckage are not confirmed, there is a chances that spot of debris will change and Space Agency will be able to guess the place two hours before the explosion.

Tiangong-1's successor, Tiangong-2, was launched in September 2016.







For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Hindu American groups on Saturday said they have won a significant victory in California state, as education officials acceded to their over decade-long efforts for an accurate, equitable, and culturally competent portrayal of Hinduism and India in school textbooks.

At its final hearing late this week, the California Education Departments State Board of Education (SBE) voted unanimously to approve positive edits submitted by Hindu American community groups to improve the portrayal of Hinduism and India in as many as 10 textbooks.

The board also voted to reject two textbook programmes from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Grades K-6 and Grades 6-8) for adversely reflecting on Hinduism and other diverse communities, according to a media release.

This is truly historic. After many years of civic engagement, Hindu-Americans have started to make themselves heard, said Shantharam Nekkar of Hindu Education Foundation USA, an organization dedicated to enriching the understanding of Indian civilization and Hinduism in America.

We will continue to engage constructively and fight biases and prejudices against Hinduism and India, he said.

Several top American lawmakers including Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, along with elected state officials, scores of academicians and experts backed by a large number of community organisations and parents of Indian American students supported the efforts led by Hindu Education Foundation (HEF).

ALSO READ: US World Religious Freedom report says Hindus in Pakistan live in fear of forced conversions to Islam

The decision taken by Californias State Board of Education can be implemented only in the state of California, but it sets the trend for the rest of the US as a majority of other states either follow the guidelines and textbooks approved by them or are deeply influenced by their textbooks and syllabus.

The Decision of State Board of Education came after hearing testimonies and receiving letters from thousands of Hindu American parents, children, educators and community members from across California, including immigrant Hindus from Fiji, the Caribbean and India, as well as letters from a broad coalition of more than 75 interfaith and community groups, 17 state and federal elected officials, and 38 leading academics, HEF said in a statement.

The Board, HEF said, rebuffed last-minute attempts to disrupt the process of South Asian Histories for All or SAHFA, which it alleged made vitriolic, bigoted, and Hinduphobic statements about Hinduism in public testimony and on social media.

Despite the false claims of SAHFA, our broad interfaith coalition that represents individuals from all communities including Dalits, never tried to erase any community, caste, or religions history, and believe that all groups should be represented fairly in textbooks, said Samir Kalra, senior director at the Hindu American Foundation.

In fact, we asked that the contributions of Hindus of all backgrounds, including the spiritual traditions of Dalit Hindus, be acknowledged in textbooks. Most of the changes that SAHFA submitted were hateful and violate California law and the textbook framework, he alleged.

The Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) also welcomed the decision of the California Board in this regard.

When we work together, we will win, said C C Yin, founder and chairman of APAPA.

ALSO READ | Hindus are facing violence in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan: Hindu-American Body

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

US president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin chatted as they sauntered together for a brief photo session at 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting on Saturday.

However, the two also shook hands at a dinner which happened on Friday evening and again at the start of the main meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic.Trump is on the fourth leg of a 12-day tour of Asia.

Although, the White House cleared that two will not hold a formal meeting in Vietnam.

Donald Trump was expected to attend a slew of big meetings and private audiences with other world leaders.

Trump was not expected to have a formal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, it is possible that they have an informal encounter during the meeting.

Donald Trump pulled out the United States from the Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He emphasized that he wants one-on-one agreements with other nations.

On Friday, the remaining 11 nations announced that they had reached a trade pact without the US.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.


This N.L. mother had her daughter switched at birth in 1969. Now the families want answers and an apology From the day Ruth Lush brought her newborn daughter home to Triton in 1969, she suspected the baby girl wasn't the one she'd given birth to at the Springdale...







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Chinese President Xi Jinping accuses Trudeau of 'leaking' details of conversation to media Chinese President Xi Jinping has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of behaving inappropriately by leaking the substance of a conversation between the two...







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Chinese president accuses Trudeau of leaking details of conversation to media Chinese President Xi Jinping has complained to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about alleged media leaks, and accused him of harming diplomatic relations.







Trudeau 'closely monitoring' situation in Poland as Biden calls emergency meeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended an emergency meeting of G7 and NATO leaders called by U.S. President Joe Biden Tuesday in Indonesia after Poland said it...







Israeli-run oil tanker struck by exploding drone in Gulf of Oman - report The oil tanker, Pacific Zircon, is operated by a Singapore-based company owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. This comes amid heightened tensions with Iran.







Video appears to show 5-year-old boy dragged several metres by school bus near Brantford, Ont. William Tappen, a five-year-old senior kindergarten student from Mount Pleasant, Ont., was exiting a school bus on Nov. 1 when the doors closed on him, partially...







NASA's mightiest rocket lifts off 50 years after Apollo CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  NASA's new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard early Wednesday, bringing the U.S. a big step...







Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2 WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland said Wednesday that a Russian-made missile fell in the countrys east, killing two people, though U.S. President Joe Biden said...







Rent stabilization measures win in US midterm election SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Ballot measures in the U.S. to build more affordable housing and protect tenants from soaring rent increases were plentiful and fared well...







Trump announces he will run for US president again Former US president Donald Trump announces he will run for the White House again in 2024.







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Trump Seeks White House Again Amid GOP Losses, Legal Probes Watch Video Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will mount a third White House campaign, launching an early start to the 2024 contest. The...







Kevin Costner's 'Yellowstone' sets viewership milestones NEW YORK (AP)  Kevin Costner's Paramount epic Yellowstone reached 12.1 million viewers for the opening night of its fifth season on Sunday, the most...







Biden: 'Unlikely' missile in Poland fired from Russia US President Joe Biden said it was "unlikely" that a missile that killed two in Poland was fired from Russia, and pledged US support for Poland. (Nov. 15)




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November 11 is Veterans Day, and while Connecticut hosts a number of events to honor those who served, it turns out it's not a great state for them to live.

A recent study by financial site WalletHub analyzed each state and Washington DC to find the best and worst states for military retirees; Connecticut is number 46 out of 51.

Click through the slideshow to see the best and worst states for military retirees. Visit WalletHub for the full report.

The site looked at data ranging from veterans per capita to number of VA health facilities to job opportunities for veterans. One of Connecticut's lowest ranks is in the category of VA health facilities; the state is 47 out of 51 for number of VA health facilities per number of veterans.

RELATED: Veterans Day deals 2017

RELATED: What's open, closed on Veterans Day

While retirement in general is a hot subject and important for all Americans, veterans in particular have a lot riding on these years as they retire at a much earlier age than most civilians. The average age of military retirement is about 45.

RELATED: Veterans Day by the numbers

RELATED: Most, least patriotic states

Ironically, the worst state for military retirees is our nation's capitol, Washington DC. But the best state is its next door neighbor Virginia.

Veterans Day originated as "Armistice Day" on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary marking the end of World War I.

According to the U.S. Census, Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars.
DANBURY  As political upheaval destabilizes Lebanon, many local Lebanese-Americans worry that the recent resignation and rumored detainment of Prime Minister Saad Hariri could escalate into crisis that endangers friends and relatives in the Mideast nation.

Danbury, home to several thousand people of Lebanese descent and three often-packed Lebanese churches, might be thousands of miles away from Lebanon, but recent turmoil has brought back memories of the countrys bloody and lengthy civil war.

It is certainly in the hearts and minds of the Lebanese community here in Danbury, said Tom Saadi, a City Councilman of Lebanese origin. The memory of the civil war is still vivid. Most Lebanese do not want to see a repeat.

More than 100,000 people died in the war, which ran from 1975 to 1990, and it led to a third wave of Lebanese immigration to Danbury, Saadi said.

Fears of further turmoil intensified last weekend when Hariri made a surprise announcement that he was stepping down. He made the announcement from Saudi Arabia in a pre-recorded message on a Saudi-owned TV station. Hariri had not told other Lebanese officials he planned to resign.

Many in Lebanon think the turmoil stems from Sunni-led Saudi Arabia making a regional power play against Shiite Iran, upsetting a carefully crafted balance of power in Lebanon, where political differences often run religious lines.

Ghassan Najm, a member of the the Danburys Lebanon-American Club on West Street, said Lebanese-Americans are watching events intently but not trying to read too much into it.

Were all watching and hoping for the best, he said. We hope that nothing comes out of this, and there is a transition to a new government.

But Lebanese officials in the capital, Beirut, havent heard from Hariri since his announcement, and there are rumors he is being held in Saudi Arabia against his will.

In his resignation speech, Hariri accused Iran and its Lebanese proxy, the Shiite militant Hezbollah, of meddling in regional affairs and holding Lebanon hostage. The move shattered Hariris year-old coalition government and stunned the Lebanese, including some of Hariris aides, the Associated Press reported.

Hariris own Future Movement party called Thursday for his immediate return, a day after his private plane took off from the Saudi capital and flew to Beirut without him..

The Saudi government, meanwhile, after leveling threats against Beirut for several days, on Thursday ordered all Saudis living in or visiting Lebanon to depart immediately and warned against traveling to the country.

The Lebanese community is well established in the Hat City and surrounding towns; Saadi estimates it as 8,000 to 10,000 strong.

Lebanese dignitaries are expected at Saturday nights celebration of the 85th anniversary of St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church, said Father Kiwan Naji Jalil.

The political upheaval in Lebanon will likely be a topic of conversation and concern Saturday, Saadi said, but wont dominate the evening.

I believe the event will be very positive, Saadi said. The democratic institutions [in Lebanon] have resilience and have shown they can survive.

It is a strength of the Lebanese community to be resilient, he added.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton

The Associated Press contributed to this report
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In the coming weeks, three of the five towns bordering Candlewood Lake will come under new leadership, which could have implications for the lakes governing authority, long roiled by political tensions.

Incumbent first selectmen in New Fairfield and Sherman and New Milfords incumbent mayor were all defeated in Tuesdays election, and lake issues figured strongly in two of the three campaigns.

New Fairfields race pitted First Selectman Susan Chapman against Pat Del Monaco, a member of lake advocacy group Candlewood Voices, which formed to opposed the towns plan to use herbicides to combat invasive Eurasian watermilfoil.

In Sherman, a key issue in the race between Democrat Don Lowe and incumbent Republican Clay Cope was the behavior of one of the towns delegates to the authority.

Both Del Monaco and Lowe said its hard to say how much of a role the lake played in their victories, but they agreed it was certainly a factor.

Many of the people who were in New Fairfield and Sherman supported the Candlewood Lake Authority and didnt appreciate the political faction that was trying to marginalize and tear down the authority, Lowe said.

Del Monaco said many New Fairfield residents, especially those living on the water, brought up Candlewood during her campaign, and protecting the lake was one of three main issues in the platform she shared with running mate Khris Hall, who won a selectmans seat.

Many residents she spoke to saw New Fairfields proposal to put herbicides in the lake, which most authority officials opposed, as an example of town officials general unresponsiveness to the public, Del Monaco said.

It wasnt just the use of herbicides, although that was a problem; it was the process, she said. I think they felt they didnt have ample opportunity to comment during the process and then, when they finally did, they felt their voice was ignored.

Candlewood Voices sought passage of an ordinance that effectively stopped the plan, and it passed by a vast majority in May. But Del Monaco and Hall contended that town officials should have dropped the proposal months earlier, after most residents at a crowded forum spoke against it.

In Sherman the debate centered more on the towns three delegates to the 15-member authority than on specific lake issues.

One Sherman delegate, George Linkletter, often joined two New Fairfield delegates in challenging the boards leadership, and also made a run to unseat board Chair Phyllis Schaer, who is also from Sherman.

Lowe said its good to have different viewpoints on the authority, but delegates should support the agency in general.

I supported the two delegates in Sherman who supported the Candlewood Lake Authority, and my opponents supported the delegate that was trying to tear down the Candlewood Lake Authority, Lowe said.

Now, with the election behind them, the new leaders have shifted their focus to dealing with lake issues and working more smoothly with authority members.

During the campaign, Del Monaco vocally disagreed with New Fairfields approach, saying town leaders and authority delegates, notably John Hodge, had been unnecessarily disruptive.

New Fairfield temporarily withheld a portion of its yearly contribution to the authority over a budget dispute, and both Chapman and Hodge filed Freedom of Information requests that authority officials said were intended to obstruct day-to-day operations.

Del Monaco pledged to take a more cooperative approach than her predecessor.

I dont see why representatives from each town wouldnt be able to sit down with members of the lake authority and work through it rather than coming across with what I consider a pretty confrontational approach, she said.

When she takes office, Del Monaco said, she will seek Hodges resignation. In a campaign debate with Chapman, she had said his FOI requests amounted to harassment.

But Hodge said he intends to complete his term.

She has not spoken with me to even discuss where Im at and why Ive taken some of the positions that Ive taken, he said. I would welcome an opportunity to sit down and talk to her, because I can list a tremendous number of accomplishments that New Fairfield has achieved by not simply going along with the crowd.

Hodge said he filed only two FOI requests during his seven years on the authority, and that both were legitimate.

The FOI commission eventually ruled that the authority had violated two statutes in response to one of Hodges requests, but said it had done its best to comply with a sweeping demand.

Hodge also argued that the towns withholding its contributions forced the authority to make needed improvements in its financial practices.

Im not going to be intimidated, Hodge said. I am acting out of a sense of doing whats right.

Lowe said he has no plans to ask any of Shermans delegates to step down.

Id like to see us work this out if possible, he said.

He said he hopes the authority can focus on environmental issues facing the lake, including invasive species and algae blooms.

I want the Candlewood Lake Authority to be fully functioning and not have to worry about the political aspects, Lowe said.

Lowe said Sherman already has a good working relationship with the authority, and he plans to support its efforts, including attending more lake authority meetings.

Schaer said the election underscored the importance of the lake to the surrounding communities.

The results show the high value that our citizens place on Candlewood Lake, the work of the authority and the importance of transparency and responsible lake management, she said. We look forward to working with our elected municipal leaders for the betterment of Candlewood Lake and the communities it serves.
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NEW MILFORD  Peter Orenski, better known as Flag Man, didnt serve in the military, but he spent much of his life making sure those who did were honored and remembered.

Orenski, who died last year, created flags, raised money, promoted projects and even wrote a 300-page book celebrating local veterans during his 76 years, 30 of which were spent in New Milford.

So it was only fitting that the monument created in his memory was unveiled Saturday after the annual Veterans Day ceremony.

Before uncovering the plaque, Jim Delancy, a commander of the towns Veterans of Foreign Wars post, told the crowd that Orenski was always there if the veterans needed a flag, or anything else.

(Peter) loved the USA so much he dedicated his life to everything USA, Delancy said. He could never be in the military, but he believed in our veterans and he was there for everything that we ever did.

The plaque, designed by veteran Ray Crawford and paid for with a residents $1,000 donation, remembers Orenski not only for his generosity and kindness but for his contributions to the town as a renowned vexillologist, or flag expert.

Orenski, who came to the country as a Romanian refugee when he was 7 years old, organized the New Milford Flag Design Competition in 1994. The contest would would lead to the creation of the towns flag, designed by Jeanne Price, which is still used today.

Kathy Shemeley, a recently retired teacher, said she still remembers helping her third-graders design flags to enter into the competition. She was always impressed, Shemeley said, with the amount of research and time Orenski devoted to the project.

He would help the designers one-on-one, created instructions including a history of symbols or colors and compiled the information with the hope that other towns might hold competitions of their own, Shemely said.

It was set up so that any community anywhere can look at what he had done and create a program in their own community," she said. But he was always in the background. ... It was never about Peter. It was always about the winners and getting the community together.

Shemely said she hopes the plaque will let those who dont already know about Orenski learn about the history behind the flag and some of his other projects in town.

Orenski donated the flag outside New Milfords police station, led the project to putflags on flag poles lining the streets and helped develop the towns 9/11 memorial.

The monument dedication in front of Town Hall was held immediately after the annual Veterans ceremony on the Town Green.

Dozens of veterans and residents gathered for the ceremony around the towns All Wars Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, dedicated earlier this year. The crowd was surrounded by luminaria lining the green, each created to remember a specific veteran.

Mayor David Gronbach, Delancy and Shemely, who is also president of a prisoner of war advocacy group, all spoke to the crowd about celebrating those who have served and ensuring they are taken care of when they return home.

aquinn@newstimes.com
A combat support battalion of the Connecticut National Guard will deploy for active duty next Sunday bound for Eastern Europe.

Maj. Gen. Thaddeus J. Martin, adjutant general and commander of the Connecticut National Guard, announced the 143rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will ship out to a mobilization station next Sunday.
The Community Culinary School of Northwestern Connecticut is recruiting members for its new session, which will start Jan. 8.

Tuition is free for qualifying candidates.

The Culinary School was established in 2007 to provide unemployed and underemployed men and women with the skills they need to find jobs with career paths in the food service industry. It is open to any adult.

Students learn all aspects of a professional kitchen and food safety during the 12-week course, which is taught by Chef Justin Elander. the students learn skills touching on all aspects of working in a professional kitchen. The school also arranges internships for all students, trains them in the life skills necessary for getting and keeping a job and assists with job placement.

The meals the students prepare are distributed through the New Milford Food Bank.

Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday at St. Johns Episcopal Church, 7 Whittlesey Avenue.

Anyone interested in applying or learning more about the program should contact Dawn Hammacott at 203-512-5791.
A convicted rapist who ditched his GPS ankle bracelet and fled from Central New York has been spotted 150 miles away in Pennsylvania, officials said.

Ronald Cook, a registered 66-year-old sex offender, stopped checking in with his parole officer and removed his ankle bracelet on Wednesday, said Thomas Mailey, a state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesman. He then disappeared from his Utica apartment.

Two days later, it appears Cook made it out of the state.

Cook was spotted around 12:30 p.m. Friday in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Mailey said. He was wearing a dark jacket, the spokesman said.

Officials said Cook should be considered dangerous.

Cook was convicted in 1991 of raping a 24-year-old woman in Binghamton, according to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services. He was released from the Marcy Correctional Facility in 2012 after serving more than 20 years in prison.

After he was released from prison, Cook was placed in a secure psychiatric hospital where sex offenders who considered to be out of control are held indefinitely. About 400 of the state's 37,000 sex offenders are part of the secretive program.

Cook was released from the hospital and onto the Strict and Intensive Supervision and Treatment program. The program is considered harder than parole.

After his release, Cook was approved to live at 129 Eagle St., Apt. 7 in Utica. He was required to wear a GPS ankle bracelet.

Cook weighs about 240 pounds and is 5 foot 9 inches tall. He has gray hair and hazel eyes.

Cook has been rated a level-three, sexually violent offender deemed to pose a high risk of re-offending. The state has asked anyone who spots Cook to call 911.
Tuesday

The Milford Chamber of Commerce Tuesday Morning Leads Group: meets at 8:30 a.m. at the Chamber, 5 Broad St., Milford. Call 203-878-0681.

The Rotary Club of Hamden: meets each Tuesday. For meeting time and location please visit the calendar section of their website at www.hamdenctrotary.org.

The Ambassador Group for the Milford Chamber of Commerce: meets  visit the calendar section of its website at www.milfordct.com.

The Inter-Service Clubs Committee of New Haven Inc.: meets at 5:30 p.m. at Valley Diner, 636 Derby Ave., Derby; call 203-258-1088.

The Rotary Club of New Haven: meets at 12:15 p.m. at the Graduate Club, 155 Elm St. Call 203-624-3197.

The Rotary Club of North Haven: meets at 7:15 a.m. at the Breakfast Nook, 448 Washington Ave. Visit www.nhrotary.org.

The East Haven Lions Club: meets at 6:30 p.m. at Twin Pines Diner, 34 Main St., East Haven. Membership is open. Call 203-467-4045.

Wednesday

The Rotary Club of Branford: meets from 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. at the Parthenon Diner, 374 E. Main St., Branford. Call 203-315-2444, ext. 450.

The Devon Rotary: meets at 7:30 a.m. at the Bridge House Restaurant, 49 Bridgeport Ave., Milford. Visit www.devonrotary.org.

The Milford Chamber of Commerce Wednesday Morning Leads Group: meets at 8:30 a.m. at the Chamber, 5 Broad St., Milford. Call 203-878-0681.

The Rotary Club of Guilford: meets at 12:15 p.m. at The Maritime Grille, 2548 Boston Post Road, Guilford. Call 203-453-0774.

The Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association: meets at 11 a.m. at 192 Dixwell Ave. Call 203-562-2193.

The Rotary Club of Wallingford: meets at 12:10 p.m. at Il Monticello, 577 S. Broad St., Meriden. Call 203-235-3816.

North Branford Rotary: meets at 6 p.m. at Nataz, 2025 Foxon Road. Call 203-484-7707.

The Greater New Haven Breakfast Club: meets at 8 a.m. at Clarks Pizza & Restaurant, 68 Whitney Ave., New Haven. Email info@rosnerdoherty.com.

The Rotary Club of West Haven: meets at 12:15 p.m. at Apps Ristorante, 283 Captain Thomas Blvd.

Thursday

The Seymour Oxford Rotary Club: meets at 7:15 a.m. at Route 67 Diner, Klarides Village, Route 67 in Seymour. Fellow Rotarians and all interested persons are invited to attend. Contact Nancy Valentine at nvbv@hotmail.com or 203 734 6945.

The New Haven Lions Club: meets at 7 p.m. at Brazis Italian Restaurant, 201 Food Terminal Plaza. Public is invited; for information, call Jim Traester at 203-562-9868.

The Madison Rotary Club: meets at 8 a.m. at the Madison Senior Center, 29 Bradley Road. Call Robert Anderson, 203-907-9032.

The Orange Chamber of Commerces Health & Wellness Council: meets at 8:30 a.m. at the chamber, 605 Orange Center Road. Call 203-795-3328 or email info@orangetchamber.com.

The Clinton Rotary Club: meets 6:30 p.m. at Clinton Country Club, Old Westbrook Road. Call Dee Tully at 860-388-7013.

The East Haven Rotary Club: meets at 5:45 p.m. at Twin Pines Diner Restaurant, 34 Main St., East Haven.

The Milford Rotary Club meets: from 12:15-1:15 p.m. at Gusto Restaurant, 255 Boston Post Road. Visit www.milfordrotary.org.

Friday

The Orange Rotary Club: meets at 12:15 p.m. at Racebrook Country Club, 246 Derby Ave. Call 203-799-2327.

The Woodbridge Rotary Club: meets at 7:30 a.m. for a breakfast meeting at Country Corner Diner, 756 Amity Road, Bethany. For more information, call Mary Ellen LaRocca at 203-389-3429.

Discover the Greater New Haven Chamber: meets 8-9 a.m. at Greater New Haven Chamber, 900 Chapel St., New Haven. Call 203-782-4342 or visit gnhcc.com.

The Milford Chamber of Commerce Friday Morning Leads Group: meets at 11 a.m. at the Chamber, 5 Broad St., Milford. Call 203-878-0681.

Send notices of business events to Business Datebook, New Haven Register, 100 Gando Drive, New Haven 06513 or email to business@nhregister.com, at least a week before the event.
SHELTON  Police are searching for an early-2000 model Jeep Liberty they said they believe is responsible for leaving the scene of an accident that brought down a transformer filled with hazardous waste.

Around 6 a.m. Nov. 5, officers responded to Poplar Drive and Suren Lane on the report of a motor vehicle that fled the scene of an accident. Police said the responding officers noticed a telephone pole with a transformer down across Poplar Drive. They also noticed that a fire hydrant appeared to have been hit.
CHEHSIRE  Ralph Zingarella, a retired Cheshire High School social studies teacher, shook his head and smiled Friday morning as he watched an idea he helped bring into existence many years ago play out before him.

Zingarella was the first faculty adviser to the student group BRAVE  Bringing Remembrance to All Veterans Everywhere  when it was founded in the middle of the last decade. One of the groups most successful programs, a Veterans Day breakfast for any town resident who has served in the military, was launched a few years later and is now in its seventh year.

Cheshire kids never cease to amaze me, Zingarella said. They put all this together every year. I hope it goes on forever.

As each veteran made their way from the entrance hallway to one of the schools dining areas, they received waves of applause from rows of students lining either way. The tables that the veterans sat at with the students included letters of appreciation to the honored guests.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was the featured speaker at the breakfast.

A day like today lifts me up, said Murphy, who is a Cheshire resident. But at the same time it reminds me that we (as nation) are coming up woefully short in meeting our promise to provide for veterans once they come home. We need to do more.

Among the veterans being honored was Jim Hart, who served during in the Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946. Hart was drafted shortly after he turned 18 and said he never felt any fear heading off to war.

My friends were in the service, so I couldnt wait to go, Hart said. You go from living with your mom and dad to being completely on your own. You grow up fast.

Asked if todays high school student could grasp what it felt like to go from high school straight to the battlefront, Hart shook his head.

Theyre focused on other interests, he said.

But it is for that very reason that BRAVE is important, said Tim Galvin, chairman of the schools social studies department and current adviser to the group.

It gives them a window into the past, Galvin said. And it also helps our students embrace that component of service to others.

To that end, he said a new requirement has been established for group members that calls for them to perform 10 hours of community service.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
CHESHIRE  The wife of a popular Cheshire restaurateur is getting some high-profile help in her bid for a stay of deportation, which is scheduled for Monday.

Connecticuts two U.S. senators, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats, as well as U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5, are urging federal immigration officials as well the Department of Homeland Security to allow Denada Rondos of Litchfield to remain in this country while she seeks permanent asylum. If a stay is not granted, she and her three children  who are United States citizens  will be boarding a 10:25 p.m. flight to Albania from New Yorks Kennedy International Airport.

Her husband, Viron, owns Viron Rondo Osteria, a popular restaurant on Route 10 in Cheshire.

Rondos, who was wearing a monitoring device on her ankle Friday, was sent to this country in 2002 at the age of 17 by her parents. She used the passport of someone who looked like her and was let in by immigration officials.

Ever since then, she has sought to be given asylum in this country because the Muslim majority in the part of Albania she is from is trying to purge that nations Greek Orthodox minority, her attorney Erin ONeil Baker said. Rondos and her husband practice the Greek Orthodox faith

I think she has a strong case, Baker said. But it would be unusual for anything to be done over the weekend. and the way the federal government works, if something hasnt happened by 5 p.m. Monday, then she is gone.

Baker said if Rondos is deported, the absolute earliest she could expect to be let back into this country  if legal appeals are successful  is a year.

The prospect of seeing his wife and children forced to leave the country is weighing heavily on Viron Rondos. His wife does the books for the business in addition to caring for the couples three children. During a press conference attended by Esty at the restaurant, Viron Rondos struggled to keep from breaking down in tears as he spoke.

This is terrible, so unfair, Viron Rondos said, his voice cracking as he bit his lower lip and struggled to keep his composure. We are not criminals. We are good people.

Viron Rondos, who became a U.S. citizen in 2004, said his wife has tried ever since she arrived in this country to work through the proper legal channels so that she may remain in this country permanently. Her most recent appeal was denied in September, he said.

One big hurdle facing Denada Rondos is that by entering this country on someone elses passport, she committed fraud, which Baker said would normally keep her from receiving asylum. But Baker said immigration law does have some exceptions that would eliminate that prohibition in her case.

One such exception is tied to medical conditions and the Rondoses oldest child, who is 7, has a neurological condition that is exacerbated by being put under stress.

Esty urged federal officials to show compassion to Rondos and her family and allow her to stay so that she can continue to work through legal channels to become a U.S. citizen.

If she is forced to return to Albania, where her religion is not respected, she would be a woman by herself, Esty said of Rondos. That is unacceptable. We are a better country than that.

Blumenthal issued a statement earlier in the day, urging a stay of Rondos deportation as well.

While I understand and respect the difficult and important task ICE faces, I cannot understand how deporting Mrs. Rondos would be the best use of ICEs resources as she does not pose a threat to the U.S. and her community, Blumenthal said in a statement.

He also released a letter he had sent Wednesday to the Massachusetts-based field office director of the Department of Homeland Security.

Mrs. Rondos is the beneficiary of an approved I-130 application based on her marriage to a U.S. Citizen ... (and) is a mother to three U.S. citizen children, Blumenthals letter to Christopher Cronen read in part. I urge you to consider the positive aspects of Mrs. Rondos case and the pending status of her applications and respectfully ask you grant the Stay of Removal application.

As has been the case with deportation efforts involving other people around Connecticut, the religious community is stepping forward to offer its support. Rabbi Herbert N. Brockman of Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden said Friday night that if Rondos decides to fight deportation by seeking sanctuary in a New Haven-area church, an interfaith group that he is part of is prepared to find accomodations for her.

Its really her call, Brockman said.

A group of women is putting together a a rally in support of Rondos that will be held Saturday on the Litchfield Green at 1:30 p.m., and Cheshire residents are planning a vigil for Sunday night at a location and time not yet determined.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
WOODBRIDGE  At age 95, World War II veteran Maurice Chartoff quickly recalls the simple item that helped him survive the deadly 60-mile Bataan Death March during World War II: a can to fill with water along the way.

He shared his water with many, filling the can at artesian springs along the way, and survived, only to then be put in a series of work camps as a Japanese prisoner of war for the next 3 years.

The death march and POW camp were both severe and deadly, said Chartoff, who resides at Brookdale Woodbridge senior living community. I survived in part because I had a can that held water.

In his first assignment after the march, Chartoff was placed on a hazardous road building assignment that most did not survive and led to his hospitalization before going on to the next camp. He was sick, weak, working in the hot sun with little water and food, which consisted mainly of rice.

Of 325 men on that road job, only 50 survived and Chartoff was among them, said his daughter-in-law, Karen Chartoff.

His time in the military started in 1941 when, after a year at the University of Vermont  he grew up in Bennington  Chartoff decided to enlist in the U.S. Army because he didnt have enough money to attend a second year.

He was 20 and figured hed get an education in the military.

I didnt think it was this way, he said of what would ultimately happen during his time of service. He was trained as a radio operator.

He was based in Manila, Philippines, when World War II broke out and when the Japanese took the capital city, Chartoff was captured with his unit in Bataan.

He was forced into the 60-mile march, in which the Japanese transferred American and Filipino POWs between prison camps. The march took the lives of 3,000 others.

Chartoff, a soft-spoken man, said they took away his watch, water, food, suitcase and helmet for the walk, which during the day was in hot sun.

Someone gave him the can along the way and he filled it with water and what little food they got, sharing with others.

He also volunteered during the walk to help bury bodies of those who couldnt make it. Many soldiers who stumbled or fell during the death march were shot or bayonetted, he said.

For some reason, they let him keep that can, Chartoff said.

Rife with severe physical abuse and killings, the Bataan Death March was later judged to be a Japanese war crime, according to a press release sent to the Register on his (Chartoffs) behalf.

The camps he was held at include ODonnell, Billibid Prison in Manila, Cabanatuan Camp No. 1. Then, in 1944 until liberation, he was moved to a camp in Japan.

In testimony he gave to the United States War Crimes Office in 1946, Chartoff spoke of American prisoners, including himself, being slapped, hit, mistreated and in some cases, severely beaten.

They were made to work even when sick or in a weakened state and he recalled a work party being sent out in a typhoon.

His testimony showed the cruelties in detail.

Until July, 1945, we ran to the train whenever an air raid alarm sounded. Many prisoners were beaten for not running fast enough, he told the interviewer.

He also told them that in July 1945 they continued working even with American planes overhead and anti-aircraft being fired at them.

We were allowed to go to the shelter only after bombs had fallen, he told the war crimes interviewer, noting an occasion when one POW was killed and another lost his arm.

He testified: We were only given three rest days a month and on these days we were not allowed to rest until the middle of the afternoon and not then if we desired to be issued clothing or turn clothing in for repair.

Chartoff spent about 3 years in captivity until he was liberated at the end of the war, when at 6 feet tall, he weighed about 95 pounds.

Chartoff said he felt exhilarated upon being liberated in 1945 and he climbed an electric factory with smoke stacks across from the camp as food and beverages were dropped from a military plane.

After returning from the war, he graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1950 and became an electrical engineer.

Although the service wasnt what he expected at 20, Chartoff said it was worth it to get that education.

It allowed me to get an education at MIT, he said.

His son, Dr. Stan Chartoff, for 27 years a reservist in the U.S. Air Force, said his father didnt talk about his war experiences while he was growing up.

Its a amazing what these World War II vets have been through, said Stan Chartoff, who has been deployed many times, including to Saudi Arabia, Germany and Afghanistan.

Karen Chartoff, Stans wife, said that World War II group of veterans didnt tend to talk about their service upon returning  they just got back to life.

Maurice Chartoff settled in New Jersey with his now-late wife, Doris, and he came to Woodbridge so he could be close to his son and daughter-in-law.

Monica Giuliano, activities coordinator at Brookdale, said she was touched during the dedication of a veterans wall at the facility when another veteran announced to the audience that while it was nice to have a wall, it was even better to have a hero in their midst, referring to Maurice Chartoff, who received applause.

Chartoff said he doesnt consider himself a hero at all. He said he was given two guns, which he would never use, and also, he said, he was never shot at by someone else.
ORANGE  One person was injured when their pickup truck rolled over on the Wilbur Cross Parkway shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday, according to Connecticut State Police at Troop I in Bethany.

The driver was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital. State police had no further information on the accident as of early Saturday afternoon.
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NEW HAVEN  Abby Stein grew up in the highly insular world of Hasidic Judaism in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y., and was ordained as a rabbi at 19.

But, although she was born with a boys body, Stein cant remember a time when she didnt feel she was a girl, living in a sect where boys and girls werent even allowed to play together and where its almost impossible to be accepting, to be tolerant of gay or trans people.

But Stein never doubted her sexual identity.

To me, it was just something that was there always. I dont remember a time that I didnt feel like I was a girl, she said.

Stein, 26, now a nationally known speaker and activist, will tell her story of how she left the Hasidic sect by the time she was 21 and came out as a trans woman at 23 when she appears Wednesday at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.

Stein was invited to speak at the Slifka Center by Marlee Goldshine, who is working at Slifka on a Springboard Fellowship in social justice, sponsored by Hillel International.

I want to validate the experience of all trans and gender-queer folks at Yale, Goldshine said. It will draw LGBT people, which is important for Slifka to be inclusive of.

Stein was caught between the culture she grew up in and her feelings about her gender identity, knowing at a very young age that is not something you can ever bring up. I didnt know that gay people or transgender existed until I was 20 years old. Thats how sheltered a community it was.

She remembers at 7 looking up information on organ transplants, thinking Im going to do a full body transplant to a woman. At 9, saying her nighttime prayers, I would just add a prayer to God that I just want to wake up as a girl. I joke that it took about 15 years, but it finally came true.

Not feeling comfortable playing with boys, and forbidden from playing with girls, Stein spent a lot of time in her room reading and writing.

I didnt feel like I fit in, she said.

Stein speaks to give hope to trans people and others who may be having difficulty having their gender identity accepted, as well as to Hasidic Jews who have been sheltered from the outside world.

In her section of Williamsburg, there was no access to TV, music, magazines  Broadway shows, and only Orthodox Jewish newspapers, Stein said. She spoke Yiddish and Hebrew, but didnt learn English until she was 20. Its all you know. Everything you know is in that community.  They are the most gender-segregated society in the U.S.  First cousins, boys and girls, dont socialize with each other.

She left the community in 2012, a year after earning her rabbinical degree, but Stein still had not come out as trans.

A big part of this transition, so to speak, happened when I left, she said. I lost most of my friends. I had to start from scratch.

Her father, Rabbi Mendel Stein, told her he would no longer be able to speak to her. Just two of her eight sisters and four brothers do now.

Leaving home when she did  she went on to get her high school diploma and now studies political science and gender studies at Columbia University  made coming out less difficult, although by no means easy.

It was definitely easier to some extent, she said. I cant imagine doing both at once. When I look back I dont even know how I did it myself, but to me it was a necessity. I had no other option.

Now, she is a member of a Jewish renewal community.

Im very spiritually and culturally involved. Religiously and philosophically, I dont believe in anything, she said.

Stein, who said she is the first Hasidic Jew to come out as trans, is a member of a support community numbering about 40, some of them online, and recently had a get-together with 12 Orthodox Jews, some of them Hasidic. None of them are out as trans. Theyre all still living in the closet, so to speak, she said.

Now, she teaches at several Hebrew schools while attending Columbia and has spoken widely, with more than 100 appearances in the last two years. She also has a page on Sefaria, an online library of Jewish texts, in which she has compiled texts that discuss gender issues. Judaism for thousands of years has discussed these issues and theres a way to be supportive within Judaism.

Goldshine said Stein really went viral this summer.  I think many people who are either in the know for Jewish stuff or LGBT news know her name now.  Her story is not unique but it seems unique because its not often told.

Stein will speak at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Slifka, 80 Wall St. The event is free and open to the public.

Editors note: This story has been edited to clarify that Steins childhood confusion was about her gender identity, not her sexuality.

This story has been ediContact Ed Stannard at edward.stannard@hearstmedia

ct.com or 203-680-9382.
NEW HAVEN  John Judge, 64, had been meaning to reestablish a point of contact for his dental health.

Judge, who served in the Army from 1982-85, said he recently moved to Wesville from Florida and intended to find a dentist. Luckily for him, dentist Stanley Jacob of Westville Family Dental had a charitable service to offer.

For Veterans Day, Westville Family Dental is offering free cleanings and extractions for the next week to veterans as a service.

Its our way of saying thanks, Jacob said. The reason were doing it is because many veterans dont have dental care.

Jacob said that its important for everyone to stay on top of their dental hygiene and to attend biannual dental exams and cleanings, especially for an aging population of veterans.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs three-year, national pilot program for comprehensive dental insurance ended Jan. 31. Individuals enrolled under the program were able to renew through to Jan. 31, 2018. No future contract has been established, according to the VA website.

Local businesses pitching in with services for veterans are not limited to dentistry either: Christophers Salon in Guilford is offered free haircuts to any active duty service member or veteran Friday and Saturday. .

Weve always done, for the last 35 years, all sorts of events for different people, Christopher Rollins, the salons owner, said Friday. Hopefully if we do it and its successful, which is had been today, it will encourage other people and other salons to do it.

He said the idea for a Veterans Day promotion was his daughters, and the stylist booking free appointments for veterans has a military father.

She wholeheartedly wanted it to happen, he said. She is booked solid. If theres any overflow, whoever is free will jump in and take over.

Rollins said the promotion also gives us an opportunity to meet people we havent met before, to thank them for what theyve done for this country.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
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NEW HAVEN  Friends, workers and developers who have known Karyn Gilvarg for decades, see her as the consumate professional who could be counted on for advice and wise recommendations on issues, routine and complex, that came before the City Plan Commission.

The accolades flowed this week on her last day in the department after a combined 28 years of service with 23 years as its executive director.

There are no preconceived notions that either she is going to do a favor for a particular developer or she is going to treat them harshly, said longtime land use attorney James Segaloff. You start off with an even playing field and you got treated fairly.

Susmitha Attota, who was responsible for the Comprehensive Plan of Development in Gilvargs office, said all the praise about her public persona was certainly deserved, but most people are unaware of her role as a boss.

As a supervisor she is so great to work with. We are one of the most diverse departments in City Hall, she said of the mix of working mothers, as well as a range of ages for staff members, both male and female.

She said she motivated everyone to do their best and then trusted them to get the job done.

She knows when to step back and let you take the lead, Attota said, who recently left to join the large consulting firm, Milone & MacBroom.

This was so emotional. It almost made me cry, she said of the tribute to Gilvarg where a large crowd of department heads and current and former city workers showed up to say goodbye.

Mayor Toni Harp said Gilvarg had already made an impression on her when they both were enrolled in graduate work at the Yale School of Architecture, Gilvarg as an architect and Harp as a planner.

Back then already, I had this idea Id like one day to be more like her. And now, as shes on the cusp of retirement, I have this idea once again Id like to one day be more like her, Harp, who was just re-elected to her third term as mayor, said of her friend.

The mayor said the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge will be a lasting tribute to her as she made sure it became a signature bridge recognized for its design as well as its functionality.

She said Gilvargs innovative style, her efficient use of space and location are also reflected in the Downtown Crossing, which is connecting downtown to the Hill and adding some 12 acres of developable space to the city.

It occurs to me that after these halls and offices stand cold and empty for the next few days during the extended, Veterans Day weekend, they just wont warm up again the same way next Monday. Karyn wont be here, Harp said.

The mayor said she thinks Gilvarg drew her inspiration from her morning walks in Edgewood Park. I think that expanse of New Havens rich, natural beauty is reflected in the man-made city that rises up around it, she said.

Harp said it was a reminder that we are simply stewards of this place called New Haven  and only temporary ones at that. We have a responsibility to this place to be respectful and create in it a suitable, desirable human habitat.

Gilvarg worked in City Plan during the administrations of Frank Logue, Biagio DiLieto, John DeStefano Jr. and Harp, starting in 1978 until 1983 during her first phase here and then coming back at DeStefanos request to be the city planner in 1994 for a total of 28 years in the office.

After a lot of deliberation, DeStefano said he was able to convince her to return and how we all benefited.

DeStefano, who was mayor for two decades, said Gilvarg was as prepared a person as any administrator would ever need and one who was willing to engage in fights with the state Department of Transportation as called for.

You just left your footprints all over this city. She was just a joy and a pleasure. She made you better at your job, he said.

Donna Hall, senior project manager at City Plan, said the staff was sad and in her case devastated by the news that Gilvarg was leaving when she told them last month.

You and your family have made significant sacrifices over the last 23 years as you worked weekends and late nights after all city staff have gone home to catch up on the endless flow of work. You gave this job your all. You did it because you cared deeply about the city and you knew you could make a difference and so you did, Hall said.

She called Gilvarg a rock for us when political cycles have caused us to feel like we were surrounded by quicksand.

Hall said in an environment where there is pressure from developers and even some inside City Hall to do things quickly and cheaply, you were a champion of lasting quality and good design, all in your pursuit of building a thriving city and building a better place to live and creating a place that we can be proud of. Your talent will be sincerely missed.

Gilvarg, after thanking her staff and stressing the importance of having mayors with a vision, repeated a recommendation she got from a riding instructor.

She told me in riding, dont look down. Look where you want to go. Ill leave you with that, Gilvarg said.
The National Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Senator Edwin Clark, has accused Nigerias security forces and government officials of causing unnecessary tension in the Niger Delta region.The elder statesman strongly frowned at the manner, with which the army allegedly terrorize the people, including women and children, with fighter jets and gunboats.Citing the recent suspension of ceasefire and threat to resume hostilities by the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, he said, When the Niger Delta Avengers gave notice of withdrawing its ceasefire and resuming hostilities for obvious reasons, the leadership of PANDEF quickly intervened, appealing to them to maintain status quo. It went further to send emissaries to the creeks to deliberate with the NDA.It is the ordinary people, including women and children who are the victims of this show of power by the military. For instance, the schoolchildren will be too scared to go to school; the fishermen and the petty traders will either hide in their rooms or run away from their homes for safety.One would have expected the Federal Government and the military to know that the Avengers have never showed any sign of retreat or fear when between February 2016 and August, 2016, the area was over militarized by Operation Crocodile Smile. These are people, who are ready to sacrifice their lives for what they believe in, which is remediation of the neglect of the region.Clark asserted, It became clear that the second movement/deployment of Operation Crocodile Smile to the Niger Delta did not deter the NDA from repudiating ceasefire, which they had granted over a year ago. This should tell the Federal Government that the crisis in the Niger Delta is a cry for the development of the area; therefore, it will be very difficult, if not impossible to use the military force to cow the people to submission.The wise thing for the Federal Government to do will be to sit down and dialogue with the people. What the Federal Government is doing right now is misapplication of resources. Can the Federal Government sit down and calculate how much it has cost it to deploy military to the Niger Delta area from 2002 to date?Can the Federal Government tell Nigerians what these figures are and has military action brought peace? But for the intervention of well meaning elders, let the Federal Government tell the Nigerian public what meaningful progress its actions has brought, outside pain and humiliation, he said.According to him, It appears that the Federal Government has not learnt from history. If the only answer it has is to use the military to fight back the threats and attacks of the militants in the creeks, then it will not succeed, it will not work.
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
Kano State governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Friday agreed to the marriage proposal from Idris Ajimobi, the son of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state, for his daughter Fatima Umar Ganduje.A large crowd converged at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) to welcome prominent personalities including governors, ministers, top APC members, business moguls among others.Traditional music dancers of different tribes were at hand to entertain the gathering and visiting guests.The marriage proposal was contracted at the palace of the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II, who gave the fathers consent to the proposed union.Governors present at the ceremony include: Alhaji Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Senator Abiola Ajimobi (Ogun), Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos), Senator Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo).Others include Abubakar Baguda (Kebbi), Hon. Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Abdullaziz Yari (Zamfara), Rauf Aregbosola (Osun), Kashim Shetima (Borno), Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina) and Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara)The Emir consented to the proposal on behalf of Governor Ganduje described the union as a way to cementing relationships as well as destroying stereotypes between south and northern Nigeria.Citing from the Quran and Hadith, the emir stated that tribalism and ethnicity that have being dividing factors in the country have no place in Islam.He commended Governors Ganduje and Ajomobi for leading a good example for the people to follow for peaceful co-existence in the country.I am pleased that two leaders of this country at a time when this country is most at need of example, at a time when this country is most in need of reminders that we are all Nigerians.We are part of one common humanity descended from one man and one woman, made from the same earth decided to apply this teaching to show an example to all of us.The prophet of Allah said there is no supremacy for the Arab over the non Arab, or the non Arab over the Arab. No superiority for the light skinned over the over the black skinned or black skinned over the white skinned all of you are from Adam and Adam is from the earth.The reason I quote this Hadith is to remind all of us that tribalism, racism and all these isms that are based on ethnicity have no place in Islam.Marriages are unions especially when they come from prominent families. They are not just unions between boy and girl or man and woman, they are unions of people, they cement relationships, they improve understanding, they breed love and respect, they destroy stereotypes, Emir Sanusi added.Speaking on behalf of Ajimobi family governor Rauf Aregbesola thanked the Emir of Kano and Governor Ganduje for approving the proposal assuring that the union would be taken beyond mere union between two families.We expressed our sincere gratitude for the magnanimity, consideration and huge leadership you have displayed today in first admonishing us about the essence of this particular gathering that is beyond mere gathering between two families.This is a pointer to the need for our nation to struggle and retrieve that which we had carelessly lost over the years.The assurance I want to give on behalf of my brother from Ibadan is that we will take this beyond mere union between two families. We appreciate the need for us to work very hard for the unity, for the harmony between our peoples, Aregbesola added.
The lawyer to the three friends who blew the whistle on the sums of $43,449,947, 27,800 and N23,218,000 recovered from an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, last April, has written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, demanding that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should immediately pay the commission due to the whistle blowers.

On the same day, the EFCC clarified that it never said that the whistle blowers in the Ikoyi flat saga had been paid as reported in the media.

The acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu had on Thursday remarked that the young man who blew the whistle is now a millionaire. Magu spoke in Vienna, Austria.

Surprisingly, the lawyer to the whistle blowers, Yakubu Galadima, also alleged that those who facilitated the recovery of the monies were three and not one as claimed by the EFCC.

Galadima, in his letter titled, Request for payment of reward/commission due to whistle blowers who facilitated the recovery of sums of monies at No. 7B, Osborne Tower, Ikoyi, Lagos by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and dated October 10, 2017, said: My clients, being aware that the aforesaid sums were discretely warehoused and concealed in the Ikoyi address approached me with a view to informing the Federal Government of Nigeria through the EFCC of the existence and location of the monies.

Consequently, I facilitated a meeting between my clients and an official of the EFCC (Ahmed Ghali to be precise) which led to the monies being discovered and ultimately forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria pursuant to a final forfeiture order of the Federal High Court made on 6th June 2017 and 24th July 2017 respectively.

Enclosed herewith are duly acknowledged copies of the said letters for ease of reference. Please note that the discovery was as a direct result of my clients efforts and consequently, I respectfully urge Your Excellency to use your good offices to facilitate the prompt payment of the reward/commission due to my clients.

This will go a long way in gaining the confidence of the citizens over the laudable whistle blowing policy. While counting on your avowed commitment to fighting corruption in Nigeria, please remain assured of my professional regards.

Magu, who spoke at the 7th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, was quoted as saying that the whistle blower was already a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he was officially entitled to.

We are currently working with the young man because this is a man who had never seen N1 million of his own before.

So he is now undergoing counseling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implications.

We dont want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride, the EFCC boss said.

Magu called on Nigerians who want positive change in the country to take advantage of the whistle blowing policy announced by the government early this year.

He noted that aside from contributing to the eradication of corruption, potential whistle blowers also stood to benefit from the illicit acquisition by the looters.

So we encourage more whistle blowers to come forward with genuine information that will lead to recoveries from looters of the public treasury.

These are part of the ways that we can bring an end to the madness of looting in the public sector.

When they know that they have no place to keep their loot, as all eyes will be on them, they will find looting of the public treasury unattractive, Magu added.

But the EFCC in its statement yesterday denied that its Acting Chairman said the whistle blower had been paid, based on the statement quoted by the media.

The EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, said there was no iota of truth in the report.

He said: What Magu said at the 7th Session of the Council of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, Austria, was that citizens should be encouraged to embrace whistle blowing because of the incentives attached.

To illustrate this, he stated that the gentleman who provided the information that triggered the huge recovery at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi was already a millionaire based on the incentive in the whistle blower policy where information providers are entitled to between 2.5 and 5 % of the recovered sum.

Magu never said that the young man had been paid. The Commission is not even directly responsible for the payment of rewards to whistle blowers. There is also no controversy about the exact amount recovered in the operation which was streamed live, the first of its kind, and witnessed by the whistle blower, security at the Towers and representative of the Agency which claimed ownership of the money.

The controversy over the fortunes of the whistle blower is coming just as the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the temporary forfeiture of Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, where the cash was discovered.

Justice Saliu Saidu ordered the forfeiture of the flat to the federal government Thursday, following an ex parte application by the EFCC.

Upon making the interim forfeiture order, the judge gave anyone interested in the property 14 days to appear before him to show cause why it should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

He ordered the EFCC to publish the forfeiture order in a national newspaper, to serve as notice to any interested party.

The EFCC had earlier named Mrs. Oke as the owner of the flat.

The EFCC said it found out that Mrs. Oke made cash payment of $1,658,000 for the purchase of the flat between August 25 and September 3, 2015.

She was said to have purchased the property in the name of a company, Chobe Ventures Limited, to which she and her son, Master Ayodele Oke Junior, are directors.

Payment for the purchase of the flat was said to have been made to Fine & Country Realty International, which handled the sale.

The EFCC stated that Mrs. Oke made the cash payment in tranches of $700,000, $650,000 and $353,700 to a bureau de change company, Sulah Petroleum and Gas Limited, which later converted the sums to N360,000,000 and subsequently paid it to Fine & Country for the purchase of the property.
The owners of a missing Italian-brand briefcase took a full-page advertisement in a daily German Newspaper on Friday to offer 35,000 ...

The owners of a missing Italian-brand briefcase took a full-page advertisement in a daily German Newspaper on Friday to offer 35,000 dollars for its return. The anonymous advertisement placed in the Bild newspaper said the owners wanted the grey, suede Brioni briefcase returned, including its complete contents.The ad did not mention what was inside the bag which was lost at lunchtime in a sushi restaurant at Berlins main station on Nov. 4. Contact with the owner is offered via an email address. A full-page advertisement for the Berlin edition of Bild costs 23,866 euros, the newspaper said.Berlin Police said they had been contacted about a briefcase stolen from the German capitals main railway station on Nov. 4, but did not confirm it was the one in the advertisement.NAN
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday released full text of the speech its President, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, read o...

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday released full text of the speech its President, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, read out when the group met President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.

Ayokunle led a CAN delegation to a closed-door meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.





Issues raised include withdrawal of Nigeria from religious organizations, issuance of certificate of occupancy to churches in the North, unpaid workers salaries, breakdown of infrastructure in the nation, revival of Nigerian Inter-religious Council, unemployment and lopsidedness in appointments





The speech made available by  Pastor Bayo Oladeji , spokesman to CAN president , reads:



"Your Excellency Sir, it was about two and a half years ago, precisely, July 2015 that we had the intention of paying this courtesy visit to you to congratulate you for becoming the President of our great country Nigeria. We however thank God that as Christian body in Nigeria, we are able to meet with you at last. So, what we intended to do then when we wrote to pay you courtesy visit, we are doing now by congratulating you for winning the election and for you to count on the Association to continue to pray for you for the Spirit of wisdom and understanding to be able to lead this country in the right direction until we get to our Promised land.





We wish to seize this opportunity as well to very much congratulate you for the miraculous recovery from sickness which took you away from the shores of Nigeria for many days. We as an Association took time to pray for you like other religious groups in this nation and we thank God that you are back alive. It was the love of Nigerians for you that kept all things intact while you were away and the able lieutenants that God gave to you who held the fort in your absence. May the affliction never arise again in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.





We want to advise you to manage your recovery well and take one step at a time. Delegation would be of help for you to totally recover and deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

Please allow us in this visit to pray for you because that is the major reason we are here today.

Recognition of Achievements





We want to appreciate you in the areas in which your administration is making giant strides since you came on board. The first of these is the recognition of corruption as a virus which has the potential of killing the nation if not stopped. Much more we salute your courage to confront it headlong as never done by any government in this nation before to the best of our knowledge and judgement. We do not want you to relent in doing this. The setbacks not withstanding, accomplishing the goal is the ultimate. However, we want you to fight corruption without fear or favour including those around you who may be like the mixed multitude who went out of Egypt with the Israelites but were not Israelis. They caused harm along the way. Therefore, let there be no untouchable, hand those close to you that may be corrupt over to law enforcement agents as you have done to others for proper prosecution.





Secondly we want to commend you for your commitment to the flushing out of Boko Haram Islamic Fundamentalists from Nigeria. They had caused deep sorrow and damage to the nation especially many Christians, churches and facilities in the north - east in particular and the North in general.





We praise you for the empowerment of the military to do their work and the courage of the military and dedication to duty.





We on the other hand observe that the murderous Fulani Herdsmen who were previously allowed to ply their trade in many communities in Nigeria have become a menace to many communities. The Christian communities of Benue State, Southern Kaduna, Enugu and a host of others have been on the receiving side on this. Recently I went to a village called Ancha in Bassa Local Government of Plateau State where 21 Christians in a village were killed overnight by Fulani Herdsmen. My church in that village lost 20 members out of the 21 and we gave them mass burial. It was a gory sight to behold. The most painful and baffling thing about it was that after that attack, they came to the same area again and killed another 24 people with none of them arrested by the enforcement agents. What a complicity! Why are the Fulani herdsmen devastating communities without being arrested? Why are they not prosecuted? Why was the source of their ammunition not investigated? Why do they roam about with guns without being arrested? All these are begging for the quick attention of the President so that the people they are attacking also might not seek self defence which may lead to the breakdown of law and order in the nation.





Thirdly, we want to commend your administration for the recovery of some of the kidnapped Chibok girls after some years of incarceration by the insurgents in the northeast. We are pleading with you to intensify more efforts to recover the rest who may still be alive before their lives are completely messed up. Equally, we sent a special appeal to the government and the Inspector General of Police in particular to help us recover twenty Borno women that were kidnapped by Boko Haram while going to bury their relative who died outside Maiduguri. Up till now, we did not hear anything over the matter from the government neither was our letter acknowledged. We are renewing our appeal again for the recovery of those women who were all Christians.





In a nutshell, the following are the issues the Christian Association of Nigeria wants Mr. President to address without delay.





Withdrawal of Nigeria from Religious Organizations

We call on the Executive and Legislative arms of government to withdraw Nigeria from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and from other international religious bodies and treaties Nigeria signed with such religious organizations because it violates the secular state of the nation as enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria and further violates governments non-partisanship in religious matters as enshrined in the same constitution. The sanctity of the constitution must be kept for Nigeria to survive as one nation.





Issuance of Certificate of Occupancy to Churches in the North

We call on the Executive and the National Assembly to prevail on States in the North to issue Certificate of Occupancy to churches in the region. Many excuses are presently being given by State Governments in the North to deny Christians the right of building their own places of worship. Recently, Jigawa State Government pulled down some church structures under the guise that they did not have building permit. The truth of the matter as obtained from the chairman of CAN in the State was that the churches had applied for permission to build for not less than a year or more without any response. Do the Christians in the North not have the right to build their houses of worship and serve God without fear or favour? If Nigeria is one country, this type of religious discrimination must come to an end.





Lopsidedness in Appointments

CAN equally calls on this administration to address the lopsidedness in appointments done by this administration for both ethnic and religious balance for all of us to be able to do pilgrimage together as a nation. For example, the defence apparatus in this nation is skewed in favour of one religion. In the recently released statistics of appointments made by this administration so far by the Media Adviser to the President, there was apparent lopsidedness because while some States have over thirty people appointed, others do not have more than three. How can people from such States with three have the sense of belonging to this nation and this administration?





Unpaid Salaries and Allowances

and We declare the inability of the State Governments to pay workers salaries and allowances as at when due as unacceptable and call on the Federal and State Governments to work together to address this as quick as possible. This would step the tide of crimes and suicide that are increasing all over the nation.





Breakdown of Infrastructure in the nation

We further urge your administration to address the breakdown of infrastructure in the nation such as road construction, provision of uninterrupted power supply and adequate funding of health facilities so as to stop the untimely death of our people and medical tourism abroad.





Unemployment Problem

We call on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on unemployment in the nation and to set up a machinery towards the provision of employment for graduates. It is a time bomb that could be devastating if not quickly attended to.





Criminal Activities and the need for more police

We observe that the criminal activities that are on the increase in the land should be addressed more squarely. The police should be more adequately equipped in policing the nation. More policemen at the same time should be recruited as the present number is too low to cope with the large population of the country.





Revival of NIREC

Finally, we request for the revival of the Nigerian Inter-religious Council, (NIREC) which in the past had fostered interaction and promoted religious harmony between Christian and Muslim leaders in the country whose meeting logistics were to be provided by the government. Governments position that there is no money to facilitate the convening of the meeting is not good enough. If there is no money to build peace, we believe that it would be more costly to prosecute war.





We thank Mr. President for creating time to listen to us and we hope that this type of parley would be taking place more regularly for the general good of our nation. We believe in one united Nigeria where there is justice, fairplay and mutual respect.




Ex-Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, yesterday declared that he had been vindicated with Federal High Court, Abujas declaration of his ...

Ex-Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, yesterday declared that he had been vindicated with Federal High Court, Abujas declaration of his suspension by the Senate as illegal and unconstitutional.The Borno South senator said that he never committed any offence that should have warranted his suspension by the Senate.Justice Babatunde Quadri held yesterday that the suspension of Ndume for 90 legislative days is a violation of his right to fair hearing and freedom of expression as guaranteed by sections 36 and 39 of the extant Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Article 7(1) and 9(2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, 2004.Ndume said that he approached the Court when he was suspended for declaratory judgment to challenge the action of the Senate and to ask the court to declare the decision totally illegal against the backdrop that there was no cause for him to be suspended in the first place.He expressed happiness over the judgement and noted that the Senate erred because it lacked the right to suspend a member more than two weeks, which is what our rules say.So where they got the power to suspend me for six months was what I approached the court to seek declaration, and the court has so declared that it was not right and it was illegal.Ndume said he had put everything that happened behind him, including the entitlements he was denied of during the suspension.The lawmaker, who said that it was not possible to reverse the period he was on suspension, added that he had left everything including those behind the process to God.He said that he had received a letter from the Clerk to the Senate, Nelson Ayewoh, intimating him that his suspension would be over on Tuesday 14th November, 2017.He said that he would resume plenary on Wednesday, November 15, 2017.Ndume said: I am just from court and I thank God that the court has declared my suspension unconstitutional, illegal and null and void, and that was what I approached the court for declaratory judgment and I got that judgment today.So, that nullifies my suspension which hitherto or ab initio I said it was illegal, because first of all, there was no cause for me to be suspended because I didnt do anything that would have warranted my suspension in the first place.And secondly also, the Senate doesnt have the right to suspend a member more than two weeks. That is what our rules say. So, where they got the power to suspend me for six months was what I approached the court to seek declaration and the court has so declared that it was not right and it was illegal.Even though I have already spent out my illegal suspension time, I did that not because of my person but because of the institution so that individuals cannot just because they are elected one among equal to lead the institution, to take advantage or abuse the process and I thank God for that.And I also thank God that I am alive to have seen it, because as I said several times, so many members lost their seats. A member died in the Senate, two or three members died in the House of Representatives and I am not better than them in any way. It could have been me. So this power or this thing is just a transient thing.I thank God for that and for today, for me to be able to see that judgment too. And this is not victory for myself. It is not personal. It is not that I am trying to prove anything. I am saying that as part of somebody who has been in this democratic institution for over 14years now, it behoves of me when things like this happen to see that things are done correctly, and I hope that my colleagues who have done that will equally see the wisdom in the judgment of today.It is not a victory or anything; it is just strengthening democracy and doing what is right.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has clarified remarks credited to its Acting Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, concerning the Ikoy...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has clarified remarks credited to its Acting Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, concerning the Ikoyi whistleblower on Thursday.Spokesman of the commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Friday that Magu never said the whistleblower had been paid his compensation as being insinuated in a section of the media.The informant had provided intelligence that led to the recovery of $43.5m, 27,800 and N23.2m stashed in an apartment on Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos on April 7.By the Federal Governments whistleblower policy that took effect in December, 2016 informants are entitled to between two and five per cent of the looted money they helped to recover.Uwujaren had quoted the EFCC acting chairman as saying in Vienna, Austria, that the Ikoyi whistleblower was now a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he is officially entitled to.We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who has not seen one million Naira of his own before.So, he is under counseling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication.We dont want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride, he reportedly told a United Nations anti-corruption conference.However, one Yakubu Galadima claiming to be a lawyer to the whistleblower reportedly countered the EFCC boss, saying his client had not been paid.Galadima also reportedly said that the recovered amount was N17bn and not the N13bn being declared.However, Uwujaren said; What Magu said at the 7th Session of the Council of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, Austria, was that citizens should be encouraged to embrace whistle blowing because of the incentives attached.To illustrate this, he stated that the gentleman who provided the information that triggered the huge recovery at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi was already a millionaire based on the incentive in the whistle blower policy where information providers are entitled to between 2.5 and 5 per cent of the recovered sum.Magu never said that the young man has been paid. The commission is not even directly responsible for the payment of rewards to whistle blowers.The EFCC spokesman said the exact amount recovered in the Osborne Towers operation was never a subject of controversy as the counting of the money was streamed live.He said the counting was also witnessed by the whistle blower, security at the Towers and representative of the agency which claimed ownership of the money.NAN
Niger Delta leaders and stakeholders have persuaded the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, to shelve their plan to recommence bombing of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region in the interim, to give the Federal Government more time to address the demands of the oil region.Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Senator Edwin Clark, confirmed to Saturday Vanguard that the forum sent emissaries to prevail on the Avengers to reconsider their threat to resume hostilities, but the delegation, which met with the boys was yet to brief him on the outcome.A youth leader, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard, yesterday, said, The Avengers have agreed not to do anything in one or two months, and that is until next year, but that does not mean that they would still not strike if government refused to take concrete action thereafter..We expect the Federal Government to take quick actions on the take-off of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, relocation of the operational offices of the International Oil Companies, IOCs, to the region, establishment of modular refineries, among others to douse tension, he added.PANDEF member, Mr. Famous Daunemigha, told our reporter that stakeholders appealed to the Avengers to abort their planned hostilities and they yielded to the pressure, but there was no timeframe.One of the leaders, who met with the boys, Chief Mike Loyibo, told Saturday Vanguard, In the last couple of days, we have been worried and concerned about the planned threat from the Niger Delta Avengers. I, Elder T. K Ogoriba and Chief Godspower Gbenekama and others shifted our base to Warri, Delta State.After attending the European Union-facilitated Niger Delta Dialogue meeting, we have been talking to critical stakeholders across board and so far, so good, we have been able to secure more time like a month or two for government to perform.We are also seriously appealing to the government not to treat the issue of Niger Delta with levity because it is a special area.Once more, we appeal again to the aggrieved boys, the Avengers, not to go back to bombing because it affects farming and fishing amongst other things and moreover, it is not the solution. They should give peace a chance, he said.Loyibo, who is a national coordinator of Pan Niger Delta Peoples Congress, PNDPC, asserted, When it comes to the issues of Niger Delta, there is no division, government should stop the military from intimidating and harassing the people of Gbaramatu kingdom and other people, and withdraw them completely.Instead of the money spend on military, government should utilize the funds in bringing bulldozers to turn the Niger Delta into a city like Dubai, he added.
Nigerians can heave a temporary sigh of relief with the decision of the dreaded Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to suspend its plan to renew ...

Nigerians can heave a temporary sigh of relief with the decision of the dreaded Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to suspend its plan to renew attacks on the nations oil installations in the oil-rich region.It was learnt that some elders and opinion leaders in the region, after various appeals and discussions with the group, have secured an extension of the existing ceasefire by three months to allow the federal government to demonstrate its sincerity.While the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) said it had not rested on its oars in its efforts to bring lasting peace, stability and development to the region, the Pan-Niger Delta Peoples Congress (PNDPC) said it had interfaced with the agitators and successfully secured a commitment from NDA to extend its ceasefire for three more months.Also, Gbaramatu Kingdom, which had taken the brunt of NDAs hostile actions since it was launched, has sent an appeal to the group to give peace a chance, warning against bringing violent acts near the kingdom.National Coordinator of PNDPC, High Chief Mike Loyibo, in a chat with our correspondent in Warri yesterday, said although the agitators had their reasons for calling off the initial ceasefire, the elders and leaders interfacing with them hammered on reasons why peace must be given a chance.Loyibo added that the three-month window was meant to allow government prove that it is sincere about its commitment to the region.Loyibo, who said the group is not a gang of criminals but a body made up of some of the people he holds in high regards, added that he would wash his hands off the search for peace should the federal government waste this last chance.He said: We have been concerned because the Niger Delta problem is a Nigerian problem. When the Niger Delta is in crisis, Nigeria is in crisis. If we dont handle it well, it can consume the entire country the same way the leadership of the northern Nigeria, particularly those of the North-East, did not come out to handle the Boko Haram problem, which has now gone international.That is why we as leaders of the Niger Delta area came together to say we must stop this.This last threat did not come from criminals, it came from some of them that I hold in very high esteem, and in the last three days, we have been working day and night; myself, Elder T.K Ogoriba and a few others, to see that we discourage bombing.We have just secured a three-month extension of ceasefire to enable government prove its sincerity for the last time. But if they fail us this time around, someone like me will pull out; I will no longer be involved in this peace process.The boys have said now that weve prevailed on them, they will listen again. I can assure you that you will not see bombing or destruction of pipelines and facilities because we have secured extra three months of ceasefire.Stating the efforts so far made by PANDEF, the Coordinator of PANDEFs secretariat, who is also a member of its Central Working Committee (CWC), Dr Alfred Mulade, said talks were still on with the critical stakeholders, including the Avengers, adding that there was really no need for the group to resume hostilities.According to him, the most important thing is that, just like we accessed them before and they kept to their words and gave PANDEF their mandate to go on to dialogue on their behalf, PANDEF will continue to access them.Avengers are not spirits; they are human beings and indigenes of the Niger Delta. So, if anybody says PANDEF does not know how to access them, that cant be true.Efforts are being made. PANDEF is not resting on its oars. It is living up to the expectations of Niger Delta people by ensuring that theres permanent and sustainable peace and to fast-track development in the region, based on equity and justice.As a follow up to all Ive said, PANDEF is hosting an extraordinary general assembly, particularly to address this security situation. The meeting is coming up on Friday 17th of this month at the PTI Conference Centre, Effurun, Delta State.The meeting is very important because people need to come together to articulate views and find ways of trying to see how this whole matter can be resolved.This is to tell you about the importance PANDEF attaches to peace in the region.Meanwhile, the spokesman of Gbaramatu Traditional Council, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, has appealed to the NDA and all other groups that are agitating to give peace a chance, expressing the hope that the federal government would be moved to act on the Niger Delta issue, especially now that all regions are talking about it.He also appealed to the Nigerian armed forces not to see Gbaramatu Kingdom and its people as criminals but as partners with whom they should achieve their task of bringing peace and security to all parts of the country.He said: We are only pleading with the Niger Delta Avengers and all other groups that are agitating that they should still give peace a chance.Rome was not built in a day. We will still live our lives plus or without the federal government. We still believe that the federal government is going to do something.They have made their statement and everybody is talking already; from the north to the south, to the west, to the east, everybody is talking that governments inaction is causing a lot of anger that is enough for a group.That awareness alone is enough for the Niger Delta people. Let them give this government a chance to do what government has not done in a very long time.Meanwhile, we have also instructed in our communities that since we dont want any federal government activity to be focused in our area, we have told the community chairmen and our youth leaders and everybody to be on red alert.Should they see suspicious movements or elements around them, they should call the law enforcement agents.Military should look for a way to partner us to see how we can solve this problem and not criminalise us.We are ready to work with the military, provided they dont criminalise us and then come to destroy our area.
For alleged spreading false rumour that President Muhammadu Buhari had died at a time he was receiving medical treatment over an undiscl...

For alleged spreading false rumour that President Muhammadu Buhari had died at a time he was receiving medical treatment over an undisclosed ailment in the United Kingdom, a Nigerian Army General is to face trial at a military court.Besides, Brigadier-General Lym Hassan, according to a report obtained from an online medium, which the Army authorities were yet to react to as at the time of filing this report, would face the court- martial on another one count charge of alleged demand of $600,000 bribe from OPEMS Integrated Concepts Limited.Although enquiry from Army spokesman, Brigadier General Sani Usman, through text and calls were without response as a press time, it was learnt that the Army officer with enlistment number (N/826), will face prosecution by a military court-martial for falsely claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari had died when he was hospitalized in London on a medical treatment. Brigadier General Hassan, as gathered, was said to have equally demanded the $600,000 as bribe from a contractor in the Federal Ministry of Defence.The online medium reported that the Nigerian Army Headquarters has also preferred charges against the senior officer and is billed to appear in the military court any moment. According to the report, in the charge sheet, the first of the two-count charge stated that Brigadier-General Hassan, in a phone conversation on January 17, told one Mr. Yarima Ibrahim, that President Buhari was dead. The charge sheet, which it said was signed by Major-General JS Malu, and dated October 11, quoted Mr Yerimas address as 2nd Avenue, EFAB Estate, Life Camp, Abuja. The alleged offense, the charge sheet stated, was prejudicial to good order and service discipline and amounted to a contravention of Section 103(1) of the Armed Forces Act (AFA) CAP 20 LFN 2004, the report added. It further added: On the second count, Brigadier-General Hassan was alleged to have, on February 24, demanded a bribe of $600,000 from OPEMS Integrated Concepts Limited. The demand was allegedly made in respect of a contract awarded for the relocation of Nigeria Level 11 Hospital, Mali, to its permanent site in Timbuktu. The Army Hadquarters, according to the charge sheet, said the alleged offence amounted to scandalous conduct and is a contravention of Section 91 of Armed Forces. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence has denied that the offence for which the General was being tried, had any link with contract in the Ministry. The case of the said Army General currently standing trial at Army Court Martial has no connection with award of any contract by the Ministry of Defence, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, said.
The Nigerian Police Force(NPF) has gunned down the latest ranking by The International Police Association and the Institute for Econo...

The Nigerian Police Force(NPF) has gunned down the latest ranking by The International Police Association and the Institute for Economics and Peace, that puts it at the bottom of the world police formations.The 2016 World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) credited to the two organisations, rated the Nigerian police the worst in the world. The ranking measured the ability of the Police to address Internal Security Issues in 127 Countries in four key areas of Capacity, Process, Legitimacy and Outcomes.The report, according to a report by Cable, showed that Nigeria under-performed on all four domains, with a score of 0.255.There are 219 police officers for every 100,000 Nigerians, well below both the Index median of 300, and the sub-Saharan Africa region average of 268, the report read.This limits the capacity of the force to measure up to its law and order mandate. In terms of process, legitimacy and outcomes, the story is not different which makes the force fall short of the required standard.High levels of political terror have been an issue for Nigeria since 1993, with the country scoring a 4 on the Political Terror Scale every year since then.According to the report, the top 10 performing African countries are Botswana which ranked highest at 47, followed by Rwanda which took the 50th position.Others are Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa and Mali, in that order.The 10 under-performing African countries are Madagascar (111th), Zambia (112th), Ethiopia (115th), Sierra Leone (117th), Cameroon (120th), Mozambique (122nd), Uganda (124th), Kenya (125th), Democratic Republic of Congo (126th).But a statement today, the NPF trashed the assessment as unempirical and instead proclaimed itself one of the best in the world.Nigeria Police Force is the best in UN Peace Keeping Operations, Best in Africa, One of the Best in the World. The Force rejects the report as unempirical and absolute falsehood, should be disregarded and discountenanced, said the police in a preface to their statement of objection to the report .The Nigeria Police Force after a careful study of the report and the news items emanating from it, wishes to state categorically that the report is entirely misleading, a clear misrepresentation of facts and figures and essentially unempirical, considering the area of coverage of the report which was said to have been carried out in 2016 by the above mentioned associations.The report did not take into cognisance the significant improvement in the areas of Capacity Building, Training and Re-training of the entire personnel of the Force as provided for by the current Federal Government of Nigeria and other Foreign and Local NGOs which has greatly improved the efficiency and service delivery of the personnel of the Force throughout the country.It is pertinent to state that the instruments used to evaluate the performance of the Force vis-a-vis that of other countries is absolutely incorrect and grossly inadequate and therefore a plain distortion of facts and figures. The strength of about Three Hundred and Seventy Thousand (370,000) Police Personnel in the country stands at around One (1) Policeman to less than Six Hundred (600) people in a population estimates of One Hundred and Eighty Millions (180,000,000) Nigerians.It is equally significant to state that the current recruitment of additional Ten Thousand (10,000) Police Personnel into the Force by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the request by the Inspector General of Police to Government for approval of the recruitment of Thirty One Thousand (31,000) Police Personnel yearly for a period of 5years will definitely increase the strength of the Force to meet up with the UN ratio of One (1) Policeman to Four Hundred (400) citizens.Furthermore, in the UN Peace Keeping System, the Nigeria Police Force is rated as the best in UN Peace keeping operations in the world. This clearly shows that the Nigeria Police Force is not and cannot be the worst in the world under any known scientific yardstick or measuring instrument.Currently, the Nigeria Police Force is one of the only two African Delegates representing the whole of Africa continent on the executive committee of Interpol, a position the Force attained based on high performance, merit and sustained good track records.For avoidance of doubt, since the inception of the present Police administration in July 2016, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris NPM, mni, he has introduced and implemented diverse internal reforms aimed at improving capacity building and efficient service delivery of the personnel of the Force, which is yielding positive results in the standardisation of the capability of the Nigeria Police Force to deal with violent crimes and terrorism throughout the country. The establishment and take-off of a world class Terrorism Investigation Bureau for the Force with state-of-the-art equipment and technical support from foreign partners has greatly improved the capacity of the Force to deal with threats posed to internal security in this regard.However, it must be pointed out that the Nigeria Police Force sees the report as a clear demonstration of mischief, ignorance and calculated attempt to distort the feat being recorded by the Force in ensuring adequate security and safety of Nigerians. Nowhere in the report were references made to either the improved capacity or achievements recorded by the Nigeria Police Force across the country in the recent time, the Force therefore implores all Nigerians and international community to disregard the report as unfounded and misleading.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja assured religious leaders, and all Nigerians, that his administration will address rising con...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja assured religious leaders, and all Nigerians, that his administration will address rising concerns of corruption, insecurity and injustices in various parts of the country.

He gave the assurance when he received a Christian delegation led by the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle and a Muslim delegation led by the Secretary General of Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI), Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, in separate meetings at the State House.





The President told the CAN delegation that he had already given instructions for the submission of all the names of heads of parastatals in order to address the allegations of lop-sidedness in appointments.





On the question of one-sided appointments, we will look at it. I have given instructions that a list of all heads of parastatals be submitted to me and I know they will not delay in doing that, he said.





Buhari assured that his administration would ensure reform of the police and judiciary, describing both institutions as critical for the security and stability of the nation.





There is no way we can be comfortable in our country unless we are lucky to have a good police force and judiciary.





We need a good police force and judiciary to really maintain the legitimacy and the confidence of the populace in governance, the President added.

On the fight against corruption, the President assured both CAN and the JNI leaders that his administration would always be guided by the rule of law and constitutionality in prosecuting all those that had been accused of corruption.





Similarly, Buhari explained to the JNI delegation that corruption in the country had taken a cultural dimension, urging all religious leaders and Nigerians to join in the fight in order to reverse the trend.





When something becomes a culture, it is more difficult to stop, but collectively we will prevail, he assured the leaders.





In his remarks, Rev. Ayokunle commended the Presidents achievements in the fight against corruption, empowerment of the military to flush out Boko Haram terrorists and the recovery of some of the kidnapped Chibok girls.




Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has accused Ekiti governor, Ayo Fayose, of corruptly enriching himself.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has accused Ekiti governor, Ayo Fayose, of corruptly enriching himself.

The legal luminary also described Fayose as a Trump.





Falana spoke at the ongoing Lagos Book and Arts Festival (LABAF) holding in Freedom Park, Lagos.





We have a Trump in Ekiti. Somebody is going out there to eat boli with the people. Somebody who says [he believes] in stomach infrastructure, stealing all the money but giving people just some tokenism and he is being celebrated.





He further lamented the rot in the Nigerian university system.





Where are the intellectuals in our universities? Falana quipped.




Former Deputy Director of Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, Mohammed Lawal, has criticised Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Ser...

Former Deputy Director of Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, Mohammed Lawal, has criticised Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Hameed Ali over a recent controversial comment.

Hameed Ali had declared that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration was derailing because half of appointees had their root in the PDP.





The Customs boss spoke at the official opening ceremony of Buhari Support Organisations (BSO) national headquarters in Abuja.





Reacting in an interview with Sun, Lawal advised Ali to face his work, make suggestions to the president rather than complaining about the opposition.





He said: Hameed Alis BSO meeting came earlier than the APC NEC meeting. But during the NEC meeting the president apologised for such (the comment). What is important is, there are people placed in positions, and the president has finished his own.





For example, if the president made me the chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, it is now left for me to go and continue to do what Im supposed to do to others to give back the goodwill the president gave to the people who are lower than me.





There are people who are supposed to carry on with the mandate, by giving back to the electorate; giving back to the people, but they didnt do that. They shouldnt come and complain, blaming the president. The president cannot go and begin to give appointments at local governments, in ministries etc.





Once he gives at a level like our own, NNPC as board member, I thank him so much for that, I didnt expect it, but it is not for me to go and tell the president to put these people in NNPC refinery or any of the NNPC parastatals, it is me that should do that.





I shouldnt go and complain or blame the president for not doing that, I should do that. As far as NNPC is concerned I represent him there, and I should do what Im supposed to do so that the goodwill will go back to the president.





People shouldnt be complaining, they know what to do and they have been given all the encouragement to do that. That notwithstanding, the president tendered his unreserved apology during the NEC meeting. He gave reason and that reason is tenable.





Everybody knows that the economy is in a bad shape, and we are working to bring it back to life. Even the World Bank is giving thumb up on the management of the economy by the Buhari government. As it is picking up, the benefits will get to everybody.




ASBURY PARK -- An investigation into a Bloods gang member who allegedly told others he planned to kill a local police officer led to three arrests Friday, authorities said.

The gang member, Salik Hinton, 28, of Neptune, was taken into custody during a 4:30 a.m. raid of a home on the 600 block of Church Street, Asbury Park Police Sgt. Michael Casey said. He was wanted on a separate, open traffic warrant.

The two other suspects -- Willie Clark, 32, of Asbury Park, and Shakira Smith, 31, of Asbury Park -- were also arrested at the home.

All three were charged with possession of a defaced firearm, unlawful possession of a weapon and drug possession. Smith was additionally charged with endangering the welfare of a minor.

Hinton and Clark were taken to the Monmouth County jail pending a detention hearing, while Smith was released with a summons to appear in court at a later date.

Authorities said they also searched Hinton's parent's home in Neptune. From the two searches, they seized drugs, weapons, $2,435 from alleged drug sales and a Cannondale bicycle worth $800 that was apparently purchased from a drug addict on the street for $5, police said.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.
NEWARK -- The former Jersey City aide featured in a controversial recording at the center of contract-steering allegations has resigned from his current position leading an education reform group in Newark.

Muhammed Akil stepped down from the Parent Coalition for Excellent Education (PC2E) Friday to "pursue other professional opportunities," according to a press release sent by PC2E.

Akil helped start the nonprofit and its political action arm in 2015 with the purpose of creating a pipeline of education reform leaders and growing a voter base among charter school parents.

"One of the main objectives of PC2E's Action Fund was to give the charter school sector a strong political voice in Newark," Akil said in a statement. "The formation and success of the Newark Unity Slate in 2016 and 2017, with PC2E playing a major role, clearly shows that this mission was accomplished."

PC2E was also part of the Newark Unity Slate, a partnership between Mayor Ras Baraka and North Ward political heavyweights to put together a slate of Newark school board candidates. The slate has swept the school board elections the last two years though the charter community expressed disappointment this year with PC2E's ability to get out the vote.

Akil previously served as Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop's aide and later as his chief of staff. He stepped down from that position in 2014 after The Jersey Journal reported he made racially-inflammatory remarks in the 1990s at a Chicago college. Akil said he did not want to become a distraction to the administration.

Last month, a voicemail accidentally recorded more than three years ago when Akil was working as Fulop's aide was leaked. In the recording, Akil and Shawn Thomas, then the city's deputy housing director, can be heard talking about the bid process for hiring an energy consultant in 2014.

In the recording Akil appears to call Business Administrator Bob Kakoleski's cell phone and says one of the bidders for the contract, Good Energy, is "important to us."

After the call, Akil tells what's presumed to be Thomas, "This is the kind of s*** where mother****ers go to jail." Akil told The Jersey Journal he did not remember the context for his statement about people going to jail.

The voicemail, left on Kakoleski's line, is part of a harassment claim by two former Jersey City employees against a planning office worker.

In its statement on Friday, PC2E thanked Akil for his leadership but did not mention his involvement in the recording.

PC2E said it would continue to work on the upcoming 2018 school board elections and "refine its strategic plans." The group's main offices on 570 Broad Street, however, were vacated in June.

"Make no mistake: until the needs of every student are met in Newark, the essential work of elevating parent voices to advocate for a great education for all children will continue, as before," PC2E board chair Derrell Bradford said in a statement. "We are proud to be part of this unified movement in education that fights for every child in every school and we remain committed to working together with families and partners across the city."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.
The transition from Japanese food to Mexican fare involved just a quick walk around the corner for restaurateur Allan Luftig, who didn't miss a beat when he opened Rosalita after closing Monster Sushi in Summit.

The Monster chefs, who happened to be Mexican, often would prepare dishes featuring their native specialties just for Luftig and his wife, Janice. So when his lease was up and Summit House took over Monster's space on Springfield Avenue, it was a natural move for Luftig to open a Mexican place in the nearby Maple Street space his landlord offered him.

The restaurant's name came as easily as the concept.

"We are huge fans of Bruce Springsteen, and his song, 'Rosalita,' was partially responsible for our name," said Luftig, who has visited Mexico many times for both "research" and pleasure.

"On our travels to Mexico, we fell in love with tacos al pastor," commented Luftig, who promptly put this specialty on the menu. The three tacos ($17) embrace marinated, spit-roasted pork, topped with pineapple and onion for contrast.

Tacos Al Pastor are a specialty at Rosalita Mexican restaurant

The 50-seat restaurant, which opened 21 months ago, has a bustling, cozy atmosphere that speaks of sunny locations. Strings of lights on the ceiling add atmosphere, and a hot pink wall, where masks in bright colors hang, plays off the vivid green of the fresh-made guacamole (market price), the seductive yellow of sliced mangoes against pan-seared salmon (market price) and the come-hither reddish-orange of the tomato and wine sauce (spicy or mild, as you like) on the seafood Mexicana. That's a lot of eating, featuring shrimp, mussels, calamari and clams ($28).

Dishes at Rosalita claim their roots from across Mexico, including Acapulco, Mexico City and the East coast Riviera Maya, with its Mayan influences.

In the big picture, "Our goal was really to bring fresh, authentic Mexican food to New Jersey. We wanted to have the standards that people are comfortable with, but also healthier options," said Luftig, who noted there is also delivery starting at 5 p.m.

At this BYOW, you'll find old favorites, such as the delicious but messy Mexican street corn on the cob ($7) with its cheeses and chipotle crema; a whole category of tacos ($15-$18), enchiladas ($16-$19), burritos ($15-$18) and all the other items that are expected when you're eating Mexican food.

The fun part is the dishes that go beyond that, and there are plenty of those, including soft shell crabs with a refreshing mango salsa ($14/$27) and a mixed grill ($28) that includes marinated skirt steak, grilled pork chop and chicken, as well as chorizo, rice and beans. You won't go away hungry.

No one goes away hungry after ordering Rosalita's mixed grill.

Chef Alber (cq) Nava, who worked at Monster, cooks with chef Juan Carcamo, "the main man for the sauces, salsa and mole," as Luftig puts it.

When I ordered the chicken mole poblano ($24), the server advised me that people have returned dishes with that sauce because it was too spicy for them. He suggested a preview taste to make sure it was in my comfort zone.

Mole includes a long roster of ingredients, including chiles, raisins, chocolate (reflected in its color) and spices. Although I can be sensitive to dishes that have a bouncy extra kick, I was very comfortable with it, and even more comfortable when the plate was served. The slight bitterness of the complicated sauce was offset by pureed sweet potato, a good choice to accompany this dish that was sprinkled with sesame seeds and had spinach on the side.

The staffer's concern for the well-being of my palate was typical of the caring, eager-to-please service. One thing I should point out is that specials are listed on a blackboard, which I did not realize because it was all the way across the room from me. Specials were not recited (I'm not crazy about that anyway) so just be sure to look for the listing on the board.

Desserts include the traditional Mexican flan ($6) and tres leches cake ($7), as well as cinnamon sugar churros ($7), getting extra gusto from a not-too-sweet Mexican caramel sauce. But the don't-miss here is a surprise, chocolate chip cookies ($6) made by Janice Luftig. It's a tradition that started at Monster Sushi.

"People loved them, so we offered them for dessert and it grew," said Luftig, an entrepreneur who knows how to spot a trend and make the most of it for his patrons. (NOTE: No reservations are taken for Friday and Saturday nights.)

Cody Kendall may be reached at CodyDine@aim.com. Follow Cody on Twitter@CodyDine. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.

Rosalita Mexican

10 Maple St., Summit: 908-598-9200. Rosalitamexican.com. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, Noon-9 p.m. Sundays. BYOW 3 stars
A couple weeks ago it was a barge. This week it's a bird.

Bayonne received another unexpected and rare visit Friday afternoon -- by a bald eagle who spent some time downtown. The eagle landed in a crosswalk at Ninth Street and Avenue A and then took a little tour of the area.

"I was shocked to see the eagle land in the street the way it did," said David La Pelusa, who snapped the photos in the gallery above. "Cars were whizzing by -- I was one of them -- and the eagle didn't even flinch.

"It looked like it was hurt. It was limping around as it walked around the intersection. I've never seen an eagle outside of a zoo. It was by far the most impressive sight I've seen in Bayonne."

You don't typically see bald eagles on the streets of Bayonne, but "it's not too surprising to hear about this incident," said Caryn Shinske, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "There has been an incredible rebound of eagles and other wildlife in New Jersey thanks to strong partnerships between DEP's Endangered and Nongame Species Program and local conservation organizations, as well as the state's Endangered Wildlife Fund."

Bayonne Animal Control Officer Geoff Santini said his office received calls about the eagle, but the bird is fine, Santini said.

"A beautiful bird landed in Bayonne and we received some calls and the Bayonne police received calls," Santini said.

Santini said that if the eagle was injured it would have been carefully trapped and brought to the Raptors Trust in Millington.

It is believed that the eagle was looking for food, and Santini would not rule out a cat or small dog as a possible target.

"They are birds of prey," he said. "It could be a rat, it could be anything" that they prey on.

Bald eagles were removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007, but they are currently listed as endangered (breeding season) and threatened (non-breeding season) in New Jersey.

In 2016, there were "a record 172 eagles nests, compared with just one nest in the state in 1982," Shinske said. "That statistic, coupled with the recent sighting in Bayonne, shows that New Jersey's environment for these magnificent birds is healthy and thriving."

In late October a 349-ton barge made an unannounced visit to city -- coming to rest on the western shore near West 21st Street after it broke away from a mooring at Port Newark.

The barge was removed and returned to Port Newark a few days later.
FLEMINGTON -- Two months ago, the K9 Soldiers facility in Flemington was falling apart. The paint was chipping, wood was rotting, metal was exposed and it desperately needed help.

Managing director Jeannette Gabriel knew the project would be costly.

By chance, she was filling her gas tank when a car covered in CertaPro Painters advertising caught her eye. She proposed an idea -- a pro bono project to fix up the building.

Bob Jamrog of CertaPro said he gladly accepted the offer. At first, he and his team were going to paint only the front of the Victorian house, but after seeing its poor shape, they donated the supplies and labor to repaint the entire exterior.

"I knew it wouldn't make it through another winter," Jamrog said.

He was particularly touched with the work done by K9 Soldiers, which pairs retired military working dogs with disabled veterans who need a service dog.

Keeping the facility in tip-top shape is important, Jamrog noted, since that's the first meeting spot for veterans and their future canine companions.

"They come from all over the country and stay at the facility instead of a hotel; a hotel can be traumatic for some veterans," he said. "This is a facility where dogs and vets get acclimated to each other."

Jamrog and his crew of three volunteers worked for five days in September to repaint the house. Sherwin-Williams donated paint materials for the labor intensive project.

"Victorians are a lot of work, it's a lot of complexity," he said.

The house transformed from a bland white house to a welcoming, green home, ready to complete its mission of helping soldiers, he said.

"For me, it was giving back to soldiers and service," Jamrog said. "If they could make that sacrifice for us, it's no problem to paint the place."

The project would have cost K9 Soldiers at least $10,000, but Jamrog said it's a small price for him to pay if it means giving back to the community that supports him.

CertaPro completes a pro bono project each year, Jamrog said, including recently donating a project for a handicap child in Flemington.

"I do it because it's the right thing to do," he said.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Authorities have seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and arrested a pair of women they say are connected to the man accused of leaving the scene of a fatal crash in September.

Olvy Torres, 36, is being held in Hudson County jail on charges he fatally struck Luisa Valdez, 59, in North Bergen and fled the scene. He later turned himself into authorities, who seized $1 million in cash and bags of diamonds from a Palisades Park apartment Torres rented.

Last Saturday, members of the Hudson County Prosecutor's Narcotics Task Force arrested Melissa Coda, 37, of Teaneck, charging her with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering with Torres and Yesenia Suriel, Prosecutor's Office spokesman Raymond Worrall said yesterday.

Coda was arrested after a search of a safety deposit box she maintained led to the recovery of more than $250,000 and two kilos of gold worth more than $40,000. A 2013 Mercedes Benz ML350 was also seized, Worrall said.

Suriel, 30, of Brooklyn, faces the same charges as Coda and she surrendered to authorities on Wednesday after a search of a safety deposit box she maintained resulted in the seizure of $75,000 and two diamond rings, Worrall said.

The two women have been charged by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office but an official said they are expected to be prosecuted in Hudson County.

Authorities say Torres, was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe at about 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 26 when the SUV jumped the curb on River Road and hit Valdez, who was sitting at a bus stop. The nursing assistant was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

The driver fled on foot, prompting police to ask for the public's help locating Torres, who turned himself in Oct. 9. But before he surrendered, a search warrant was executed at a Palisades Park residence associated with him, officials said.

That's where investigators found the cash, bags of diamonds, jewelry, marijuana, designer bags, and watches worth up to $30,000 each. Also found were dozens of pairs of expensive sneakers, bullets, electronics and expensive clothing and liquor. An earning statement says Torres makes $42,000 per year, officials said.

The prosecutor said multiple IDs were found including a Florida driver's license with Torres' picture and another man's name. A medical marijuana ID card was found with Torres' information and the address of a gas station/car wash in California.

A TD Bank card, Social Security card, and a title for a motorcycle, all in other people's names, were also found in the home. Investigators additionally found plane tickets for travel all over the world including Cuba, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Seychelles, officials said.

At Torres' detention hearing, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Lynne Seborowski noted that the island nation of Seychelles is known as a location for money laundering. She told the judge that Torres has unlimited resources, no residence in his name and is a "ghost."

The judge ordered Torres to be detained through the course of his prosecution.

Torres is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a second-degree charge carrying a possible prison sentence of five to 10 years upon conviction. He is also charged with money laundering, a first-degree crime carrying a possible sentence of 10 to 20 years.

The Palisades Park apartment appeared to have been ransacked before investigators arrived. Security video captured after the North Bergen crash shows what appears to be Torres loading duffel bags into a car and leaving the apartment for good, officials said.
By Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media

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Members of NJ 11th for Change win 39 seats

In New Jersey's 11th congressional district, 39 members of the group NJ 11th for Change beat out Republicans this year  some for the first time  in races in Morris, Essex, Passaic and Sussex counties for seats on boards of education, municipal councils and freeholder boards.

The grassroots activist group, which is about 11 months old, began with three members in January but has since swelled to more than 7,500 members on the group's Facebook page, including more than 80 candidates who sought political offices in the 11th district on Election Day.

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Here's who won

NJ 11th for Change, which has primarily supported Democratic candidates, had the following group members win their races this past Election Day:

Edina Renfro-Michel (Boonton Board of Aldermen)

Linda Gloshinski (Boonton Town Board of Education)

John Hoover (Madison Borough Council)

Amalia Duarte (Mendham Township Committee)

Cathy Wilson (Morris Township Committee)

John Arvanites (Morris Township Committee)

Heather Reddy (Madison Board of Education)

Pamela Yousey (Madison Board of Education)

Lisa Pollak (Morristown Board of Education)

Cynthia Sokoloff (Butler Board of Education)

Marianne DeAlessi (Kinnelon Board of Education)

Carol Nielsen (Lincoln Park Board of Education)

Michael A Soriano (Mayor of Parsippany),

Janice McCarthy (Parsippany Township Council)

Emily Peterson (Parsippany Township Council)

Heather Champagne (Roxbury Board of Education)

TJ Best (Passaic County Freeholder)

Bruce James (Passaic County Freeholder)

Assad Akhter (Passaic County Freeholder)

Keith Kazmark (Mayor of Woodland Park)

Jairo Rodriguez (Woodland Park School District BOE)

Lisa Vaineri-Marshall (Woodland Park School District BOE)

Tanya Seber (Little Falls Council)

Chris Vancheri (Little Falls Council)

Erin Jacobus (Hopatcong Board of Education)

Patricia Sebold (Essex Board of Chosen Freeholders)

Brendan Gill (Essex Board of Chosen Freeholders)

Carlos Pomares (Essex Board of Chosen Freeholders)

Leonard Luciano (Essex Board of Chosen Freeholders)

Britnee Timberlake (Essex Board of Chosen Freeholders)

Sarah Cruz (Bloomfield Township Council)

Jenny Mundell (Bloomfield Township Council)

Thomas Heaney (Bloomfield Board of Education)

Jessica Salinas (Bloomfield Board of Education)

Jonathan Lace (Caldwell Borough Council)

Christopher Bardi (Roseland Borough Council)

Laura Greenberg Savarese (Roseland Board of Education)

Ken Alper (West Orange Board of Education)

Thaddeus Kobylarz (Chatham Borough Council)

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And there were a few losses, too

More than half of the group's challengers, however, came up short in their races but, according to NJ 11th for Change, many made the strongest Democratic showing in years, including Lisa Bhimani in the 25th district state Senate race, Tom Moran and Rich Corcoran in the 25th district Assembly race, Tom Duch in the 40th district state Senate race, and Paul Vagianos and Christine Ordway in the 40th district Assembly race.

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So where'd this group come from?

Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, NJ 11th for Change has taken to Schuyler Place in Morristown to protest outside of the office of U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11)  often shouting "Where's Rodney?"  over his support of Trump's agenda and to urge the congressman to meet with his constituents in a town hall forum.

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Frelinghuysen, however, has continued to avoid interacting with the group and failed to schedule a town hall meeting with the public, but he has continued to meet with constituents at private functions.

And in the case of one NJ 11th for Change member, the congressman made a point to inform her employers she was a leader of the group in a fundraising letter.

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From left, Michael Soriano and James Barberio

Parsippany races were a BIG win for the group

In the Parsippany mayor and council contests, voter fatigue over the ongoing in-fighting between the administration and the council, and legal fees paid by the township over litigation, played into Michael Soriano and his Democratic slate's victory over Mayor James Barberio.

That, Soriano said, along with Parsippany municipal attorney John Inglesino's alleged bully tactics.

"The tighter that John Inglesino tried to control the race, he started trying to come after me with bully tactics, it helped my name recognition, Soriano said. Sometimes, your opponents hubris can be their own undoing.

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How did this new guy win in Parsippany?

Soriano said he believed he was able to connect with voters in this election because he's also talked about important local, non-partisan issues  such as a master plan aimed at preventing overdevelopment, traffic congestion and a humane animal shelter that generates revenue.

"I think the fact that I just went to people and talked about where our future is headed and what we can improve is why I won," he said. "By talking about what's important on the local level."

He continued: "Both Republicans and Democrats love dogs. Liberals and conservatives both get angry about getting stuck in traffic. These are every day issues that matter."

Messages placed with the Morris County Republican Committee and Frelinghuysen's office haven't yet been returned.

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Now there's blood in the water

Sensing an opportunity, five Democrats have said they plan on seeking their party's nomination in the 2018 primary for New Jersey's 11th congressional district  former federal prosecutor Mikie Sherrill, Montclair State University adjunct lecturer Tamara Harris, Passaic County Freeholder John Bartlett, former U.S. Army National Guard member Jack Gebbia and County College of Morris history professor Mark Washburne.

None of the candidates have so far received the official endorsement of the Morris County Democratic Committee or NJ 11th for Change.

All five are scheduled to appear at a candidates' forum in Morristown on Nov. 29, along with Republican Martin Hewitt.

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Frelinghuysen's letter to activist's employer sparks outrage

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Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger

Christie likely helped them win

Gov. Chris Christie's unpopularity, even within his home county, was a contributing factor to some of the upset wins by Democrats, including Soriano, according to Morris County Democratic Committee chairman Chip Robinson.

"I think the biggest thing is that no other mayor was as connected to Christie as Barberio," Robinson said. "(Barberio) rode (Christie's) coattails into office eight years ago, and couldn't escape from it."

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(AP Photo | Evan Vucci)

Oh, and Trump helped, too

Despite winning Morris County by 11,000 votes last year, opposition to Trump and his agenda have grown locally over the past year.

Soriano's campaign manager Tom Jones said he believed Soriano's victory was a bellwether for the district.

"Michaels election is a big indicator of where this district is swinging," he said.

Frelinghuysen, according to Robinson, could face a tougher campaign challenge next year if he continues align himself with Trump's agenda.

"Voters in our district are very well educated and they dont like Donald Trump," Robinson said. "If Rodney Frelinghuysen keeps voting for (Trump's agenda) he could lose his seat next year."

NJ 11th for Change spokesman John Hartinger said he and group members spoke with numerous voters in advance of the election and many expressed the belief that "Frelinghuysen has not served their interests."

"For some people, it was the sense of betrayal for his healthcare vote," Hartinger said. "For other people, it was the sense of betrayal for being one of the only New Jersey legislators to vote for the (recently proposed tax overhaul). That hits people where they live."

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They have an active, mobilized base

Hartinger said group members poured out en masse to volunteer and canvass before Election Day, and that amount of energy and engagement sent an "encouraging message."

"Everybody I think is taking away the same encouraging message  getting involved locally makes a huge difference," he said. "People got excited and recognized the power they can have when everyone comes together and works for electoral change."

In Parsippany, Robinson said, Soriano simply "outworked Barberio" by knocking on numerous doors and raising more than $100,000.

"Everything went right that went wrong four years ago," he said.

Jones added: "I really dont see anything from stopping us from surging next year."

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You're now more at risk of losing your property tax break

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And they have money

NJ 11th for Change, which is registered federally as a super PAC, received more than $89,000 in contributions since its formation in January, according to the group's July filing. All of those contributions were from individuals, most of which were less than $50. Two percent of their contributions received this year were in excess of $500. The group spent most of that money, about $54,000 this year  half of which was spent on program costs such as membership events, town halls, their weekly protests at Frelinghuysen's offices. Only $250 was spent on advertising, according to the group.

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Correction: The number of members in NJ 11th for Change.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A teen's alleged joyride in a stolen truck turned serious after he was spotted and led police on a half-hour chase through the Phillipsburg area before crashing, police said Saturday.

The 16-year-old boy from Holland Township in Hunterdon County was uninjured and taken into custody, Pohatcong Township police Sgt. Scott Robb said. His name was not released.

The pickup -- which has a Milford-area business name and phone number emblazoned on the side -- was spotted by the owner's son while on Route 614 in Holland and tailed into Warren County, where police picked up the chase on Route 519 in Pohatcong, Robb said.

The pursuit went through Phillipsburg, Lopatcong Township, Harmony Township and back into Phillipsburg, where the truck ran off the side of Fairview Avenue and hit a guardrail, he said.

The teen tried running but was quickly apprehended, Robb said.

The suspect was charged with eluding, resisting arrest, possession of a stolen vehicle and a number of motor vehicle offenses.

Freelance photographer Tim Wynkoop contributed to this report.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
By Frank Libutti

On Veterans Day, I can't help but reflect on my 35 years of service to my country as a U.S. Marine. And those reflections bring back vivid memories of the magnificent men and women that I was privileged to lead.

In my current role as the CEO of a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) in New Jersey, I have observed that hiring veterans has become a difficult task. I've asked myself why this is the case and what are the impediments that have created this dilemma. My sense, from my own personal experience, is that the Department of Defense and our bases and stations across the country lack the infrastructure and manpower to effectively assist our young vets in their transition from military life to the civilian world.

Yes, there are transition classes, but they lack specificity in terms of offering clear options for future work as a civilian, and subsequently fall short of connecting vets with potential jobs that fit their potential and skill levels.

To a large extent, these circumstances rest with the corporate world as well. Most of U.S.-based/owned companies have articulated their desire to hire vets and/or Veteran Owned Businesses including SDVOSBs, and that's commendable

However, it has been my experience that corporations fail to appreciate the efficiency they would gain by establishing a system-of-systems approach toward hiring vets, e.g., interviewing, mentoring, training and placement.

This situation is regrettable, especially when considering how well trained these high caliber veterans are. Today's vets are battle-tested, skilled as managers and leaders, often responsible for multi-million-dollar projects/equipment, and they are men and women who focus on the mission before self and they are team players.

Recommended actions:

1)

Improve the military transition process, including representatives from the corporate world from those businesses that are interested in hiring veterans but unable to effectively find them.

2)

Corporations must establish in-house search and screening protocols to better identify the best job path for a vet with respect to his or her experience and potential. A veteran's potential is inherently stronger than that of most civilians. As a rule, veterans are more likely to be on time for work and take fewer sick days than the average worker.

3)

Additionally, the corporate world ought to establish veteran hiring goals, above and beyond the current diversity levels set by the government. The unique experiences of the veteran result in stronger leadership, management and decision-making skills.

4)

Taking care of our nation's veterans should be a priority, not only every November when Veterans Day rolls around, but 12 months a year.

Let us commit to connecting the private sector with government agencies to ensure that our vets are a force to be reckoned with after their military service concludes.

Lt. Gen. Frank Libutti, USMC (Ret.), is Renaissance Global Services president & CEO, Warren.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
A juror on the corruption trial of Sen. Robert Menendez spoke out Thursday after she was dismissed for her vacation, saying the Democrat and his co-defendant were true friends and that the government was trying to throw him under the bus.

She called the government "corrupted" and said she felt prosecutors were trying to railroad Menendez.



"What I saw, the government didn't give me enough. I think the defense showed me enough to say he's not guilty on every count," Evelyn Arroyo-Maultsby told the media.

"They are just trying to throw a good man under the bus."

Menendez is accused of accepting bribes in the form of lavish gifts from his co-defendant, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, in return for his political influence on government matters affecting Melgen's businesses.

The jury is considering a total of 18 counts -- both men are charged with conspiracy, violating the Travel Act, three counts of honest services fraud and six counts of bribery. Menendez also is charged with making false statements by omitting Melgen's gifts from his Senate disclosure forms.

"This is his friend and they (the government) keep saying that 'oh if I take you out to dinner and I pay for your tab isn't that a gift?' No it's not. So they got it confused. If this man wants to take him on any flight and that's his friend, why do it have to be a gift?" the juror said.

Vote in our informal, unscientific poll and tell us how you voted in the comments.

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All of a sudden Donald Trump is seen as toxic, even by such prostrate apologists as the Wall Street Journal editorial gang, which spent last month trashing Robert Mueller's integrity. What could have tipped them all off?

The result is a wave of right-wing hand-wringing and editorial epistles lamenting Tuesday's sweeping Republican election loses and foreseeing a looming GOP electoral disaster next year.

It's coupled with the usual "canary in the mine shaft" cliche. You know, that hoary old tale about how miners kept a canary down with them to warn of a dangerous coal gas buildup. Tuesday's election, according to this analogy, was a canary Republicans had better heed heading into 2018.

So what exactly are Tuesday's results mean for next year?

The chalk players see it as another big year for Democrats, maybe even a recapture of the House of Representatives. Maybe. And maybe not. Democrats seem certain to pick up House seats but recapturing control would require a landslide win, with victories in parts of the country seemingly content with Trump and immune to the Democratic argument that he's a knucklehead -- and dangerous in the bargain.

The other statistic that argues against a historic Democratic comeback is the yo-yo cycle of recent elections, one in which the parties trade big victories year by year.

In 2008, for example, Barack Obama, a mixed-race candidate, scored an historic triumph for Democrats. A new era was born, we were told. Well. . . .still-born actually. By 2010, Republicans had swept back Congressional control and were predicting a one-term presidency for Obama.

But 2012, as we know, was another Democratic year, at least at the presidential level. But in 2014 the pattern repeated itself once more with more GOP congressional gains.

And 2016, as we all know, broke the mold with Trump's presidential win for Republicans. But, lest we forget, he and the GOP actually lost the popular Presidential vote that year by almost three million ballots. There's that yo-yo again.

A big Democratic congressional win next year would simply restore the yo-yo rhythm of recent elections and underscore the fact that we don't yet have a nationally accepted governing majority party. What could change that?

Only one man, as Trump likes to say, and this time he might be right. He's that one man.

There's pretty much bipartisan agreement that the election was a referendum rejection of Trump. Almost everywhere. Voters in Maine chose by referendum to expand Medicaid, an Obama legacy hated by Trump. Washington State voters turned the last state legislative chamber on the West Coast in GOP hands over to Democrats.

In Pennsylvania, a state won by Trump last year, two historically Republican counties, Delaware and Chester, tossed out long-term GOP incumbents and replaced them with Democrats.

The result in Chester County produced a truly historic outcome. Four Democrats captured county offices for treasurer, controller, clerk of courts and coroner -- the first such outcome since 1799, according to party officials.

That's 1799, no misprint. And all the winners were women.

Everywhere, it seemed, women were a majority, or close to it, on Democratic ballots. This was especially noticeable in Virginia. There, Democrats, led by women candidates, were close to overcoming a 40-plus seat GOP advantage in the state House.

White men may have turned their backs on Democrats by not white women, at least not this year. Why? Hard to say, Maybe they just wearied of listening to macho male insults pass for campaign rhetoric.

Looking ahead, Democrats will have to do better than they did this year to become a serious majority contender. They've got to reestablish their credentials with all whites, men as well as women.

Whites, although a declining proportion of the population, are still a majority, with a close to 70 percent share and, very likely, an even larger share of the voter turnout.

Democrats have been hemorrhaging white male voters for at least 50 years. White male grievance with Democrats is an old one. I've argued from the beginning that Trump's ascendency was less a cry for change than one by white voters, mainly male, for a return to what they believed they'd lost -- culturally and politically as well as economically, like "Merry Christmas."

Democrats don't have to win a white male majority in the years ahead but they must do better with this bunch if they're to contend for majority status, or even just to remain relevant.

And defang Donald Trump in the process.

John Farmer may be reached at jfarmer@starledger.com. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Former President Donald Trump is preparing to launch his third campaign for the White House with an announcement Tuesday night. Trump is looking to move on from disappointing midterm defeats and defy history amid signs that his grip on the Republican Party may be waning. The former president had hoped to use the GOP's expected gains in last week's elections as a springboard to win his party's nomination by locking in early support and keeping potential challengers at bay. Instead, Trump now finds himself being blamed for backing a series of losing candidates in last week's midterm elections.
Lewis Central High School paid tribute to veterans and active military personnel during the schools seventh annual Veterans Day Assembly Friday in the schools gymnasium.

Members of the community and local veterans organizations were invited to join the student body at the ceremony. The Abraham Lincoln High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps provided a color guard for the event, and the schools band and chamber choir took turns performing patriotic music during the program.

We all believe in it very much, Principal Joel Beyenhof said after the assembly. We think its a small sacrifice for us to give up 30 minutes of our school day to think about our veterans and what it means to serve. In a time when we are thinking about ourselves, our military veterans really have to sacrifice something for the good of the whole.

Success counselor Lu Peverill organized the event, he said.

Dave Bergman, a Lewis Central alumnus and science teacher who served in the Army Reserve and Iowa National Guard, spoke about his service and a close family friend who attended West Point Military Academy.

Bobby Capel was a student at the academy in the late 1960s and was on his way back from a ski trip with a few of his buddies when they were involved in a traffic accident that left him a paraplegic.

While attending Iowa State University, Bergman spent a couple weeks during summer and Christmas breaks taking care of him. During one break, Bergman offered to take Capel back to West Point. Bergman pushed Capel around campus in his wheelchair and tracked down a contemporary of Capels who had become the commander.

When he called the colonels office and told him Capel was visiting the campus, the officer quickly cleared his schedule and offered to spend the rest of the day with them. When Bergman thanked him, the commander said, It was the least I could do for a fellow soldier.

After witnessing that, I figured out what I want to do with my life, Bergman said.

He enlisted in 1995 and served in the Guard and Reserve for a total of eight years.

Bergman was humble about his own service, saying he served during peacetime and was never in combat.

But I did learn a few valuable lessons, he said, including the following:

 Say what youll do and do what you say, because well done is better than well said.

 We share the planet with 7.6 billion people. We have to work together.

 We are all members of a community. Serve this.

 You and you alone are responsible for your actions  no excuses.

 You are defined by your character  not by the clubs youre in, the style of your hair, the style of music you listen to ... the books you read, the movies you watch or the people you hang out with  its your character.

 Be nice, root for the underdog and give second chances. None of us is perfect.

Peverill paid tribute to her mother, Margaret Bloomer, age 93, who is a member of what Tom Brokaw called The Greatest Generation, she said. Bloomer married her boyfriend in 1945 after he returned from serving in World War II.

She has lived life through the Great Depression and World War II, Peverill said.

Peverill recognized American Legion Post No. 2, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 737 and Post No. 11355, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 5 and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 798.

Thank you for all you do for our veterans, she said.

Eric Wyler, one of the schools choir directors and master of ceremonies for the event, recognized Lewis Central staff who had served and read the names of staff members and students families who have relatives who have served or enlisted.
Iowa Western Community College showed off its facilities and programs to a group of school leaders from across the metropolitan area during a tour Thursday morning.

The Metropolitan Omaha Education Consortium held a meeting at Iowa Western, where college representatives spoke about the schools efforts to help students succeed.

MOEC held a similar meeting last month at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha.

The consortiums aim is that all students in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area receive an exceptional education that provides multiple pathways into meaningful careers and a high quality of life in the region and beyond, according to its vision statement.

Many of Iowa Westerns students come from lower-income families, said Tori Christie, vice president of student services.

Were aware that 55 percent of our students are the first in their family to attend college, she said.

The number of continuing education students is dropping, Christie said.

Nationally, half of the students entering community colleges need remedial classes, said Sam Larson, director of academic support, who was herself a first-generation student at Iowa Western. Of those who need remedial work, 30 percent never enroll.

According to data collected in 2012 at Iowa Western, 80 percent of the incoming students who needed help were in remedial math, and 33 percent were in remedial English, Larson said. They were placed mainly based on the ACT college entrance test or ACTs Compass exam. Of those in remedial math, 35 percent successfully completed it. In remedial English, 63 percent of the students were able to pass.

They cant graduate if they cant get through math, she said.

When ACT informed Iowa Western in 2015 that it planned to discontinue its Compass test, Iowa Western formed a council to study what resources to use for admission and placement, Larson said. The college decided not to require test scores anymore.

For the 2016-17 school year, the college went to a more holistic placement system based mainly on students high school grade-point averages and courses, she said. A study had found that a students high school grade-point average was a better predictor of their success in college.

Students GPAs drop an average of 0.6 in college compared to high school, so IWCC decided to require a GPA of 2.6 for admission, Larson said. This can be flexible, depending on other factors.

The college also requires applicants to take an online survey that helps officials determine a students commitment to college goals, organization, time management and other factors, she said.

Iowa Western offers support to students partly through success navigators, Larson said. Navigators visit remedial English classes to see how students are doing and remind them of the support available. The college also set up a writing center open part of the week where professional writing instructors work with individual students.

In remedial math, the college added embedded advisors who can work with students individually and tutor them during night study sessions, she said.

We made quite a few changes  midstream, even  to try to accommodate what our students needed, Larson said.

The college has looked at ways to help students overcome the challenge of college math, which is a stumbling block to so many, Larson said. The college has shifted away from requiring students to take college algebra and offers a statistics class as an option. Officials are considering other options, too, but are still investigating which course would be most helpful to students in their future occupations and what four-year colleges Iowa Western has articulation agreements with are willing to accept.

Students in the Pottawattamie Promise scholarship program are required to take statistics while they are still in high school so their fear of math doesnt keep them from enrolling in college, noted Bridgette Watson, director of college success initiatives.

Advisors try to make sure students keep in touch with them, Watson said. They may practice intrusive advising, such as going to a students dorm room if they dont show up for an appointment or class.

Attendance is a huge issue, she said.

Its easier to track down Pottawattamie Promise students than others, because they are a smaller group, Watson said.

Pottawattamie Promise students work more closely with teachers and receive more one-on-one attention, said Vickie Murillo, superintendent of Council Bluffs Community School District.

This does take more staff and more money, said Dan Kinney, president of Iowa Western.

Murillo said Council Bluffs plans to open an early college academy on the Iowa Western campus in January. High school students accepted into the program will spend their junior and senior years at Iowa Western but will still be able to return to their high schools for extra curricular activities, she said.

The consortium helps educators, business leaders and other stakeholders work together to shape and reshape education, said Kevin Riley, superintendent of schools in Gretna, Nebraska, and a leader in the regions education community. There are always going to be jobs in education or health care, but the rest is fluid, and we have to be able to change and change quickly.

On overcoming the math challenge, Riley said his school district offers math modules so students can be matched more closely with the level they are ready to tackle. Teachers also provide extra support.

If theyre perfectly placed for their ability, we can move the needle on (achievement), he said. What were finding is kids that used to hate math now like it.

Providing curricula that will help students be successful in the workplace is an ongoing challenge, Kinney said.

The biggest thing is technology  keeping up with it, he said.

Businesses can help keep education connected to the job market, said Nancy Edick, dean of education at University of Nebraska-Omaha.

I think the business community is very open to working with post-secondary education, she said.

Most of the attendees toured Iowa Westerns robotics and engineering areas and its human simulation center.
DENISON (BHNS)  A farm accident on Sunday took the life of Denison resident Dale Lilleholm, 56.

Crawford County Sheriffs Deputy Roger Rasmussen told The Denison Bulletin & Review that Lilleholm was using the loader on a tractor to set fence posts at a farm at the 2800 block of L Avenue.

The bucket came off the tractor and landed on Lilleholm. Rasmussen said the 911 call came in at 10:51 a.m. Sunday.

CPR was performed on Lilleholm while he was taken by ambulance to Crawford County Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The funeral will take place today at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Denison.
Several events and closures are planned today recognize Veterans Day, a federal holiday, that honors veterans and military personnel.

VETERANS DAY EVENTS

Memorial Park Observance

The American Legion Post 1, 7811 Davenport St., Omaha, will host an observance at 11 a.m. at Memorial Park, 6005 Underwood Ave., Omaha. The event includes a presentation of colors and wreath-laying ceremony near the parks memorial columns. Speakers include retired United States Army Sgt. Daniel Falcon, Gold Star father Lonnie Ford, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. and current U.S. Congressman Donald Bacon, retired Brig. Gen. Steve Ritchie, U.S. Strategic Command Commander and Gen. John E. Hyten. A luncheon will take place at the Legion Post following the event. Free; donations are accepted.

SAC & Aerospace Museum Veterans Day Program

Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, 28210 West Park Highway in Ashland, Nebraska, will host a Veterans Day program and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Advanced registration was required. Museum admission is free for all military veterans; general admission rates apply for non-military members.

Glenwood Veterans Day Program

American Legion Post 141, 104 N. Vine St. in Glenwood will host a traditional observance at the Mills County Courthouse, 418 Sharp St., at 11 a.m. The Legion Family Annual Ham and Bean Feed with ham and bean soup, homemade chicken noodle soup, chili, cornbread, vegetable soup and dessert starts at 6:30 p.m.

General Dodge House Event

The Historic General Dodge House announced it has partnered with the Council Bluffs Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for an event on Veterans Day.

Members of the DAR Chapter will recognize Vietnam veterans who visit the Dodge House between 1 and 2 p.m. with a special commemorative pin to thank them for their service to the country.

The special military exhibit in the grand ballroom of the Dodge House will be on display through Veterans Day. All veterans will receive free admission to the Historic General Dodge House on Veterans Day today.

FREE GOODS, SERVICES

For all veterans and active military members, with a valid military ID or proof of service:

 Applebees will offer a free meal from a limited menu today at all locations.

 American Family Care, 4004 N. 132nd St. in Omaha, Suite 101, will offer free flu shots today.

 Brueggers Bagels will offer a free small drip coffee today at all locations. No purchase necessary.

 Cracker Barrel will offer a complimentary piece of Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake today at all locations.

 Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. in Omaha, will offer free admission to veterans and their family members 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

 Freddys Frozen Custard & Steakburgers will offer a free combo meal coupon to all veterans and active-duty military. Coupon can be redeemed through Nov. 30. All locations.

 Golden Corral, 1511 Gregg Road in Bellevue, will offer a free meal on Monday from 5 to 9 p.m.

 Great Clips locations will give veterans and active-duty service members a free haircut at any Great Clips hair salon today through Dec. 31. Customers who stop in for a service can get a free haircut card to give to a veteran.

 Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, 3701 S. 10th St., will offer free gate admission to all veterans and their immediate families today.

 Horseshoe Casino, 2701 23rd Ave., offers all current and retired military, plus one guest, $6 buffets at Village Square Buffet on the first Thursday of every month. Must show military or veteran ID and Total Rewards Card.

 Hy-Vee locations will offer a free breakfast buffet to all veterans and active-duty military members from 7 to 11 a.m. today.

 Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St., will offer a free gift and 10 percent off purchases in the Hitchcock Museum through Sunday to those with a military family membership card. Military family members will also receive two complimentary nonalcoholic beverages and two desserts in Cafe Durham.

 Loess Hills Harley-Davidson, 57408 190th St. in Pacific Junction, will offer free T-shirts to the first 50 veterans from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

 Omaha Lancers will offer $9 tickets to all past and present military members today. The Lancers game at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St., begins at 7:05 p.m.

 Quaker Steak & Lube, 3320 Mid America Drive, will offer a discounted meal of 25 percent off with a proof of service today.

 Red Robin will offer a free Red Tavern Double Burger and bottomless steak fries at its Omaha and Papillion locations with a proof of service today.

 Russell Speeders Car Wash, 11818 West Dodge Road, will provide free car washes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.

 Scooters Coffee, will offer a complimentary cup of coffee to veterans with a proof of service today at all locations.

 Texas Roadhouse will offer a free lunch for active, retired or former U.S. military veterans from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. Choose one of 10 meals. Three Texas Roadhouse locations are 520 N. 55th Plaza in Omaha, 3231 S. 24th St. in Council Bluffs and 7302 Olson Drive in Papillion, Nebraska.

 Wildlife Safari Park, located off Exit 426 near Ashland in Nebraska, will offer free admission to all active or retired veterans and their immediate families from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.
AARP Iowa announced that it is joining forces with the AARP Fraud Watch Network and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for Operation Protect Veterans  a campaign to warn those who have served in the military about scams and fraud schemes that target veterans.

The major educational campaign will reach out to veterans in communities across Iowa and nationwide.

With a new AARP survey showing that veterans are frequently targeted by scam artists and victimized twice as often as the rest of the public, the goal of the Operation Protect Veterans education campaign is to leverage the extensive reach and communications capabilities of the two national organizations to help veterans avoid losing money to con artists.

Unfortunately, the men and women who bravely served our country have become a prime target of telephone and online thieves, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said in a release. While veterans are bombarded by the same scam pitches we all receive, our research found that theyre also under special attack by a number of additional scams tailored just for them.

According to the Fraud Watch Networks recent survey, 16 percent of U.S. veterans have lost money to fraudsters, as compared to 8 percent of nonveterans. Veterans also report that they are targeted by a large number of scams directly related to their military service or the veterans benefits they receive. Eighty percent of the veterans surveyed said they have encountered veteran-specific scams.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to protect our veterans from scammers who continuously prey upon them for their own illicit gains, said Guy Cottrell, chief postal inspector. We will continue in our fraud prevention efforts to inform veterans about scam artists who fraudulently utilize advances in technology and tailor their pitches towards them.

In addition to showing how deliberate targeting may be leading to higher victimization rates among veterans, the survey also explored how veteran scam victims differ from the general public. For instance, veteran scam victims say they are more likely to trust a person who has previously served in the military. And victims say they are more likely to donate to charities that support our service members and veterans.

To a savvy con-artist, stolen valor can be an extremely effective tool, said Martha Willits, state president of AARP Iowa. Weve heard from a number of former and current scam artists who tell us they specifically target vets with false claims of military service brotherhood, or that they know patriotism among vets can be a powerful window in to their hearts and wallets.

AARP and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are warning veterans and their families to be on the lookout for some of the most common schemes and scams directed at veterans, including:

 The benefits buyout offer: This scheme takes advantage of veterans in need by offering a quick, upfront buyout in exchange for future disability or pension payments.

 The fake charitable giving request: Fraudulent claims about benefitting veterans or wounded service members.

 Fraudulent records offer: In this scam, veterans receive a contact claiming that for a fee only the scammer can access your military records or government forms. But this information is available for free through local U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offices.

 A VA phishing scam: A scammer claiming to work for the VA calls veterans and asks for Social Security numbers and personal financial information.

 The bogus employment scam: Scammers collect personal information or charge a fee for obtaining a job that doesnt exist.

To raise scam awareness among veterans and their families, Operation Protect Veterans is utilizing advertising, social media, email messages, brochures, telephone calls, mass mailings and a new website, aarp.org/protectveterans.

The Fraud Watch Network has also produced a Veterans edition of its popular Watchdog Alert Handbook. In a major component of the outreach campaign, printed materials will be distributed in many of the nations 37,000 Post Offices and AARPs state offices.

AARPs membership includes 6.5 million veterans. The U.S. Postal Service is the nations largest employer of veterans, with 113,000 of its workers having served in the military.

Among other key findings of the Fraud Watch Network survey, Under Fire: Military Veterans and Consumer Fraud in the United States are that veterans who became scam victims were more likely to have had a negative life event, such as having suffered a serious injury or illness, struggled with mental health or addiction issues, or accumulated a significant amount of debt or suffered a large financial loss.

 Reporter Jon Leu can be reached at 712-325-5728 or by email at jleu@nonpareilonline.com.
OMAHA  Omahas Memorial Park is getting a new-and-improved memorial dedicated to those who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

The City of Omaha received a $200,000 private donation to create an identical replica of the memorial, the Mayors Office announced. The old memorial, which was installed in 1976 and restored 20 years ago, has already been removed.

It was beyond repair, Omaha Parks Director Brook Bench said.

The city announced the donation to an audience of veterans Wednesday evening during the Veterans Shine On lighting ceremony at Memorial Park.

Mayor Jean Stothert said Omahas philanthropic community supports the citys parks generously.

This monument is a symbol of military service and sacrifice, so we are especially grateful to the donor for acknowledging the Americans who served, Stothert said.

Jensen Conservation Service is building the replica. Its expected to be done next year.

The city also plans to build and pay for new sidewalks leading from Memorial Parks circle drive to the new monument.

Right now, people have to walk through grass to access it. Sidewalks will make the monument accessible for people in wheelchairs or those pushing baby strollers, Bench said.

The Omaha City Council earlier this year put $100,000 into Stotherts 2018 budget to help restore the Korean and Vietnam Wars tribute, along with the World War II colonnade in Memorial Park.

Stothert opposed that proposal by Councilman Pete Festersen but didnt veto it. Its likely that some of that money will be used for other improvements at the park, Bench said.

Memorial Park is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its dedication next year.
A new nonprofit organization will make a trip this month to aid one of the poorest areas in the United States as well as earthquake victims in Mexico.

Hispanic Leaders of Nebraska is collecting supplies to take to shelters in El Paso County, Texas, and Mexico City. The group has made such trips before, but on an informal basis.

We decided it would be better to be organized in the long run, said Gus Lieske, who teaches English and citizenship through the group. Lieske has also collected items and driven them to the areas in the past.

The organization recently attained nonprofit status, but started nearly a year ago when one person organized an effort to take Christmas presents to children in these impoverished and quake-stricken areas.

It was just one Suburban full of people, Lieske said. Then we started taking clothes and other supplies to the shelters. It evolved from that one effort, and now its pretty much a monthly thing.

Right now, the organization is seeking donations for its upcoming trips next Wednesday and Nov. 29. Clothes  new or gently used  are needed, mostly for women and children, as well as new personal care items such as shampoo, toothbrushes and soap.

Canned food is also needed, but organizers asked donors to pay attention to the expiration dates. The process required to take these items across the American-Mexican border could take up to two months.

You cant just drive across the border with a bunch of stuff, Lieske said. It takes awhile.

Those wishing to help the effort can take donations to the Bargain Bin, 421 E. Third St., or Mammoth Clothing, 509 E. Fourth St.

For more information, call Lieske at 402-304-4658.
Shortly after Laramie Schlichtemeier sat down with her lunch at the PopCorner Friday, a woman at a nearby table spilled her drink.

Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2017 jumped up and grabbed napkins, helping until there was no more mess.

Lunch on Friday was a small break before Schlichtemeier, of Ogallala, leaves Nov. 29 for Las Vegas, where shell compete for Miss Rodeo America Dec. 3-10. She modeled some of her 26 outfits at her sendoff Nov. 3 at Haythorn Ranch near Arthur.

Schlichtemeier ends a year of extensive travel, rodeos and events such as school visits. In late October, she visited Stapleton Public Schools, where 2014 Miss Rodeo Nebraska Gina Jespersen teaches.

Schlichtemeier said she felt nervous ahead of her presentation. The school was commemorating Red Ribbon Week, which promotes substance abuse awareness. While Schlichtemeier wanted to tell the story of her older brother Garretts death, she rarely touches the heavy subject when speaking to students. At age 19, while on spring break in Alabama, Garrett was killed in a car accident.

Schlichtemeier found herself setting up the scene: A family sleeping at 4 a.m., until the man in the house wakes up to a phone call. On the other line, a voice asks if he could positively identify his son.

The man was Schlichtemeiers father, she told the students. His son was her brother.

When you go to college, sometimes you have a tendency to step outside of your comfort zone, Schlichtemeier said. She described Garrett as someone who received good grades and excelled at sports, yet was always friendly to everyone.

After Garretts death, Schlichtemeier cared about her health less and gained weight. Later she lost 100 pounds ahead of the 2016 Miss Rodeo Nebraska pageant. Still, in her school talk, Schlichtemeier told students not to worry about weight.

Its simply my gravitational pull to the earth, she said.

Schlichtemeier spent seven to nine months of her reign traveling to places like the Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo in Duncan, Oklahoma, which she described as her favorite trip. There, she saw the best of the best in rodeo, she said. She especially appreciated the hospitality from the rodeo committee.

Schlichtemeier built networks, both in her prospective career in agribusiness, and with childhood heroes. At the August Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductions in Colorado Springs, she met Charmayne James, the now-retired, 11-time world-champion barrel racer. This year, James became one of the first barrel racers to be inducted in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Shes been my idol since I was 4 years old, Schlichtemeier said. I almost cried. Its just one of those things  youve looked up to someone since you were little.

Still, the year had its challenges.

Its super hard to eat healthy, Schlichtemeier said. The year also meant bouts of loneliness and trips home that lasted long enough to repack my bags.

Still, Schlichtemeier said the good outweighs the bad. As Miss Rodeo Nebraska Lady-in-Waiting Kristin Kohmetscher prepares to take the crown in January, Schlichtemeier said she should seize every adventure.

When times do get lonely or rough, youre not alone, she said. Reach out to another rodeo queen; reach out to a past Miss Rodeo Nebraska.

Schlichtemeier will spend most of her time in Las Vegas competing, where Im going to win horsemanship, she said. Should she become Miss Rodeo America, she wants to continue promoting both agriculture and a sense of realism: I hope to prove to the younger generation that you dont have to be a size 2 and 6-foot-whatever.

If Las Vegas ends her reign, shell continue promoting the agricultural way of life in her career.

Im very ready for whatever God puts in my path, she said.
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If you possess the heart of a journalist and an innovative mind, we want you to join our close-knit, talented design team. Our ideal candidates will have experience in design at a newspaper or magazine, understand the fast-paced, newsroom environment, have the ability to manage several tasks simultaneously, and are experienced in information and content design. Candidates also must display a strong instinct for problem solving, a sense of urgency, and a passion for news. Experience with InDesign and Photoshop is preferred. In this position you must be willing to work a varied schedule with night hours. TheTimes Media Co. is one of Lee Enterprises 46 daily newspapers. Lee also publishes 300 weekly newspapers, shoppers and classified and specialty publications. In addition, Lee provides a wide variety of associated online services. EOE Call Center Representative (Part-time 30-39 hrs/wk) We have immediate openings for experienced Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), for our call center operations atTheTimes in our Munster & Crown Point, Indiana locations.TheTimes of Northwest Indiana is part of Lee Enterprises which is a leading provider of local newspapers, information and advertising in primarily midsize markets, with 46 daily newspapers and a joint interest in two others, along with rapidly growing digital products and nearly 300 specialty publications in 21 states which includesTheTimes of Northwest Indiana. Our call center agents are the backbone of our business. When customers call us, our CSRs answer the phone, make connections, answer questions, solve problems, and get people happily on their way as quickly as possible. As a Lee Enterprise Call Center Customer Service Representative, youll handle heavy call volumes daily in our fast paced call center, while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. When you join Lee Enterprises, you will enjoy:  Instantly becoming part of our family of diverse people focused on making really good customer experiences happen.  Ways to earn more every single month through bonus and incentives.  A clear path and the tools you need to progress with more responsibilities and promotions  Earning paid time off which includes vacation, sick and personal days, along with paid holidays  Eligibility for Medical, Dental, Vision, & Life Insurance, along with a 401K Match! Bring it.Youre qualified if you:  Love to help people  Have experience performing comfortably in a fast paced, deadline oriented environment.  Are proficient with MS Excel, Word & Outlook & have the ability to navigate thru various software programs efficiently  Above average typing skills (50+wpm)  Have sales ability and experience with inbound/ outbound customer service Learn more or apply online at www.nwi.com/timesjobs. EOE Distribution Assistant  Temporary/Seasonal TheTimes is currently looking for part-time Distribution Assistants to work in one of our Distribution Centers, working an average of 35 hours per week.These positions are temporary, seasonal positions that may continue through January 2018. Our centers are located in Valparaiso, Merrillville, and Hammond, IN. Work hours are in the early morning and include holidays and weekends. The work consists of:  opening and closing the distribution center  stacking bundles on tables  assisting with the delivery of newspaper routes  other duties assigned by the District Manager Candidates must have a valid drivers license and good driving record, as well as a reliable vehicle and proof of auto insurance. Mileage reimbursement is available if asked to use your vehicle for work purposes. Other requirements include basic computer skills and the ability to lift up to 40 pounds. The starting hourly wage for this position is $12.00/hour. This is an excellent entry level position for a company with a history of promoting from within. TheTimes is a drug-free workplace and all candidates offered a position will be asked to complete a pre-employment drug screen. Interested candidates should apply online at www.nwi.com/timesjobs. Equal Opportunity Employer Multi-Media Sales Executive  Outside Sales Base Salary PLUS Un-capped Commissions Join a winning team! We reach more consumers than we ever have before through NWI.com and our award winning print products. Consumer in NW Indiana rely onTheTimes and NWI.com for local news and information that no one else can deliver. Over 75% of all adults in NW Indiana connect with us through our on-line and print products on a weekly basis. We deliver 1.6M unique visitors per month with over 12.6M page views and 8.2M mobile sessions per month! We are looking for Multi-Media Sales professionals who possess the drive and passion to help local business owners increase market share through real time solutions and products that deliver superior results! We offer:  Competitive base salary  Un-capped commissions  On-going incentives and spiffs  Mobile phone  Mileage reimbursement  Benefits including: 401K (matching too), medical, dental, vision, paid vacation and personal time, life insurance, flexible spending accounts  Laptop and tools to be successful Our Multi-Media Sales professional manage an existing base of wellestablished accounts along with the responsibility and ability to hunt and develop new accounts... we want HUNTERS. Plus work alongside a team of sales professionals in a competitive market serving 6 counties! You Are:  Competitive  Driven to be the best  Results and goals oriented  Mentally tough  Possess a strong work ethic  Tech savvy  High character  Want to grow a great career  Willing to have fun! Ideal candidates possess:  3 + years of sales experience with a demonstrated track record of success  Prospecting & cold calling experience in successfully opening new accounts  Excellent communication skills  Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high transactional sales environment  College degree preferred  Valid drivers license, good driving record and access to a reliable vehicle Were willing to train the right candidate! If you bring the heart and desire to succeed we will equip you with the tools and knowledge to be successful! Drug Free Workplace Equal Opportunity Employer APPLY AT NWI.COM/TIMESJOBS
Northwest Indiana business professionals who want free information on how to maximize digital media as part of their marketing strategy should attend Wednesday's session on the "Do's & Don'ts of Digital Media in 2017."

The program, which is from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Centier Corporate Center, 600 E. 84th St., Merrillville, is part of Break Through!, a series of free educational seminars presented by Centier Bank in partnership with The Times Media Co. Programs feature expert speakers who will guide business owners through a variety of topics.

Wednesday's program will feature Joe Battistoni, vice president, sales and marketing, Times Media Co. and Jolene Sherman, managing director/vice president of digital of St. Louis-based Amplified Digital, a full-service digital agency focused on strategic digital marketing, creative services and media planning and consulting.

Battistoni said 80 percent of consumers research their purchasing decisions online.

"Given that statistic, its never been more important to understand digital and what it means for all local businesses," he said. "This session in particular arms local companies with the knowledge to take control of how consumers view their business online."

The session will examine proper website design and search engine marketing.

"We plan to educate the crowd on current trends and what to look for in the future," Battistoni said. "We want to bring the same research and data that Coke and American Express use to help our local business community grow market share."

Attendees will be entered into a drawing for a NWI Times digital media advertising package valued at $1,000.
Merrillville-based Lakeshore Public Broadcasting is getting recognized for its efforts to foster dialogue about race and policing in Northwest Indiana.

The Indiana Broadcasters Association recently awarded Lakeshore PBS its statewide Spectrum Award for Local Community Involvement at its annual awards ceremony in Carmel.

Earlier this year, the local public broadcasting station had a series of town halls in Gary, Valparaiso and Michigan City with panel discussions about race, justice, community and policing. Dr. Garrard McClendon, host of the public affairs show CounterPoint with Garrard McClendon, moderated talks between law enforcement leaders, elected officials, faith-based organizations and community groups.

Lakeshore later broadcast the community discussions so they could reach an even wider audience.

The town halls were a great way to get these conversations started to prevent incidents that have happened nationally from happening here in Northwest Indiana, Lakeshore Public Media President and Chief Executive Officer James Muhammad said. To be recognized by the Indiana Broadcasters for our work is a great honor, and validates our commitment and our efforts to serve our audience  both on-air and out in the community.

Lakeshore PBS, which was founded as WYIN Channel 56 in November of 1987, also was a runner-up for Station of the Year outside Indianapolis, coming in second to WPTA in Fort Wayne.

The PBS affiliate, which has broadcasting tower in Lowell, airs locally produced shows as well as syndicated programs like Austin City Limits, America's Test Kitchen, Charlie Rose, Inside Indiana Business, Savor Indiana and Genius with Stephen Hawking. It's a free channel that's also available on cable across Northwest Indiana and the greater Chicago area.
A program at Indiana University Northwest where aspiring health professionals  and members of the public  could prepare human cadavers for dissection has been put on an indefinite hiatus.

For the first time in 18 years, the International Human Cadaver Prosection Program will not be held this summer at the IU School of Medicine campus in Gary, the school announced this week.

In a statement, Pat Bankston, associate dean of the medical school campus at IUN, didn't discuss the specific reasons for the cancellation. But he stated the campus and program founder Ernest Talarico, a gross anatomy professor at IUN, "are working on potentially adapting the program for inclusion in undergraduate health professions degree curriculums and to further enhance the rigorous instruction that has given the program its worldwide acclaim."

The prosection program, where the muscles and skin are removed from bodies to prepare them for dissection by medical students, got international attention in the media and medical journals because of its unique focus on the so-called first patients' families and personal histories.

Known as the "Talarico protocol," the professor encouraged students to communicate with the anatomical donors' loved ones and held memorial services at the end of each session. He was inspired to run the program this way because of the disrespect he saw cadavers being treated with when he was in medical school.

'It's a dishonor to the donors' families'

Told about the program's cancellation this week, former participants were devastated.

"It's sad that we're losing a program that has really set the bar for how anatomical donors should be treated," said Brittany Winn, a Kouts native who participated in the program each of the past five summers. "It has produced hundreds of physicians who were compassionate and honest and driven to honor their first patients."

Winn became a prosector after a close family friend she considered like a grandmother, Judy Clemens, donated her body to IU School of Medicine. Clemens' body ended up at IUN, and Winn was taken aback when students wrote to thank her for Clemens' donation and invite her to a memorial service.

Winn, now a biology instructor at a private university in Indiana, said not all gross anatomy programs that use IU donors show the same respect for the cadavers. She said that when she attended another state university, fellow students made crude jokes about the anatomical donors, with one student even slapping a cadaver on the butt; at the end of the course, the instructor put the remains in trash bags.

She and her grandparents have pledged their bodies to IU but now feels uncomfortable with them doing so. She said the cancellation of the program is a "dishonor to everyone who's ever donated to IU School of Medicine, it's a dishonor to the donors' families, it's a dishonor to the prosectors." She believes it had to do with IU School of Medicine wanting to make the programming at all of its campuses uniform.

Sue Ellingsen's parents, William and Patricia Kelly, gave their bodies to IUN specifically because of the program. The Munster woman had planned to donate her body to IU but now isn't sure she will.

"I don't feel there's any other program comparable," she said.

For the past several years, she attended its summer memorial service, where students honored current and past anatomical donors by placing roses underneath a tree.

"My parents were cremated. We put their ashes together and sprinkled them around that tree. They call it the 'tree of life,'" Ellingsen said. "I just feel betrayed that this is happening."

She said she and her sister may petition the university to bring the program back.

Looking at life and death differently

Justin Golday, of Chesterton, also has participated in the program the past five years. He said it helped him grieve the death of his 5-year-old daughter in 2014.

"It gave me my own closure in my own way," he said. "Just by being able to talk with other families who lost a loved one, being able to relate with them in that aspect."

He noted that last summer, unlike in every previous year, the prosected cadavers were not used in the medical school's gross anatomy course. He believes other IU medical schools, which do not have prosection programs, believed the program gave IUN an unfair advantage.

He hopes that he and his fellow prosectors speaking out will encourage IU administrators to reinstate the program.

"It brought literally international attention to a little school in Gary, Indiana," he said. "You could tell (participants) were changed by it, and looked at life differently, looked at death differently, looked at the medical profession differently."
It Makes Census to Us: What community in the Region are you most likely to run into a veteran?
After being discharged from the U.S. Army, Bryan Jones drank heavily, alienated friends and sank his marriage.

His purpose, and his future, he felt, were lost forever.

Injured after spending a year in Iraq, the 34-year-old Highland man had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and seizure disorder. He'd been placed on 100 percent disability.

Still, he says, he didn't understand why he was the way he was then and neither did his friends and family.

Jones' life turned around one night 14 months ago when his PTSD took over, putting him into crisis, leading him to be shot during a standoff with police. For most people, the incident might lead to a continued downward spiral. But, Jones said, it allowed him to get the help he needed and, most importantly, find his purpose in life  helping other veterans overcome the obstacles faced when they return home.

Joining the military

After graduating from Munster High School in 2001, Jones attended Vincennes University.

"I found out college was not for me. I came back and enlisted in the Army. I knew at the time I was probably going to war," Jones said.

"My grandfather was a retired major who fought in WWII and Vietnam. It was the life path that made him the man he was, and I wanted to follow."

In 2003 he was deployed, attached to the 4th Infantry Division. He was a tanker, assigned to an Abrams tank.

"Unfortunately you can't take tanks into the city, so we became a dismounted unit and trained in one-on-one combat and on-the-ground combat," said Jones, who still doesn't want to share those experiences.

"It was war. I lost my captain right in front of me. That was hard on me," he said. "It was terrible and tough."

After a year in country, Jones was injured. His ankle was crushed in a tank accident. He was treated in Iraq, Germany and then back home.

Beginning of PTSD

Jones remained in the military for another year and a half, stationed at Fort Irwin, California, where they trained for their next deployment.

"That's where my PTSD kicked in," he recalled.

The Army used people of Arabic descent to play the enemy in the training scenarios.

"I started having seizures," he said.

He was sent to Fort Hood, and the seizures kept coming. So did the nightmares.

"I talked to a psychologist at Fort Hood, who was packing his office up for his deployment as he was talking to me. That was the type of attention I got in the service," he said.

Jones' story is not uncommon, said Jim Chancellor, of Lowell, director of American Veterans Collection. He gives workshops on PTSD, but also warns about painting veterans with "broad brushes" because each is different.

"No two cases are the same," said Chancellor, adding some service personnel come back seemingly fine, while others display symptoms, from anxiety disorders to nightmares to anger. "It is different for every person. Some have it and live with it and never say a word."

Chancellor, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, points to the increase in homelessness among veterans  50,000 on any given night across the country  and the increase in suicides, at an average of 20 per day, according to Veterans Administration statistics.

"Divorce rates are crazy," he said, adding, so are anger issues.

Coming home

Jones left base in 2006 and was discharged in 2007. He still suffered seizures twice a day, now combined with flashbacks.

"I was drinking a lot. I had six or eight piddly little jobs in a matter of months. I didn't know anything about the VA. I knew it existed, but I thought it was for old guys," he said.

Then a seizure landed him in a VA psych unit in Chicago. He participated in the day program, taking a bus each day into the city for treatment.

It wasn't a cure.

"For the past 10 years, I drank, partied, got divorced, lost high school friends, lost numerous opportunities and career paths to a future. I live life paycheck to paycheck," he said, adding his dream career was in law enforcement, but that dream died as the PTSD got worse.

People asked him why he was disabled, why he didn't work, he said. It was the stereotypical questions asked to a seemingly healthy young man.

"It beats you up. It beats you down. It takes a toll on yourself," he said. "It took me getting shot in the neck by a Hammond police sniper to understand I had PTSD," Jones said.

"As a society, sometimes we are cruel, insensitive. It's that case in anything," said Chancellor, who has been working on veterans causes since 1970 and holding PTSD workshops for the last seven or eight years. "People are judgmental as well."

Instead of the questions, returning veterans need listeners, Chancellor said, adding the general public also needs more education on PTSD and related injuries.

"We need people that will take the time to listen. Just listen. Don't judge. Don't swap war stories. Don't say that 'I understand,'" Chancellor said. "When that vet reaches out, his needs must be met or he will never reach out again."

Sept. 25, 2016

Jones and his then fiancee argued over a personal matter. Fed up, she left.

The breakup set off a crisis.

Drinking and suicidal, Jones called a crisis line. They asked too many questions. He hung up. They called Hammond police, where Jones lived at the time.

The next thing Jones knew, police were arriving in assault vehicles. He said he doesn't remember much else.

An article in The Times recounts the details. Police attempted to negotiate with Jones, who fired a shot, first inside his home and then more outside. A SWAT team member wounded Jones in the neck. Jones was wearing body armor and had a knife, handgun and shotgun.

The days that followed were cloudy. He was taken to the Jesse Brown VA Hospital in Chicago. Initially told he wouldn't be charged, he was arrested on a warrant when he was released and taken to a Chicago Police Department jail before being transported to Lake County Jail.

He was facing six felony charges and 60 years in jail.

The turnaround

Jones had been through Lake County Veterans Treatment Court once before on a charge of driving under the influence. He figured, he said, he wouldn't get another chance.

After his first night in jail, a court bailiff escorted him to see Veterans Court Judge Julie Cantrell. She ordered him out of jail and back into veterans court. All but one charge, criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon, was dropped. He's set to complete the program in June. If he completes the program, which includes treatment, mentoring and drug testing, the final charge will be dropped, leaving him with a clean record.

Jones also went back to the day hospital at the VA, but this time with a better understanding.

A social worker there suggested he become a peer specialist. He did so through the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance in Chicago, along with becoming a certified mental health first aid specialist to learn about dealing with people in crisis.

His purpose

"I don't want another veteran to be on the other end of that scope and not know what he is going through. I fought for this country, and I want to continue to fight. The system, the country, the general view needs to change.

"We need to help each other in the military," Jones said.

He started IGY6 (I Got Your 6) NWI peer group; it meets at 6 p.m. Thursdays at Dunkin' Donuts, 10970 Broadway, Crown Point. It is an opportunity, he said, for veterans to get together and talk.

Jones wants to go further. He would like to train first responders in crisis intervention, in particular for veterans dealing with PTSD, and he wants to educate the public.

A "big push" he wants to make is to form a veteran crisis intervention team or have a veteran on local crisis intervention teams.

"I feel that I have a drive and a purpose. For the first time in 10 years, I have a future. This gives me a reason to wake up, to get off the couch, a reason to be here," Jones said.

"That's wonderful, and I applaud him," Chancellor said of Jones' efforts to reach out and help other veterans.
EAST CHICAGO  At least five firetrucks and an ambulance were on scene of a smoky house fire in the 1100 block of Indianapolis Boulevard before noon Saturday.

Assistant Fire Chief Francisco Mendez, who was on scene, said a resident or residents of the home ran back into the burning structure to get family pets after first exiting. All made it out safely and were staying at a neighbors home to keep warm.

The fire began sometime after 11 a.m., with heavy smoke billowing from the structure.

East Chicago Fire Chief Anthony Serna said crews had extinguished the blaze shortly after noon.

Serna said the fire began on the building's exterior, possibly near an alley, and that firefighters were able to keep the flames from going into the home's interior areas.

"It was a good knockdown by the crew," he said, noting firefighters were able to assist the family in removing pets from the home.

Serna said a fire investigator remained on scene Saturday afternoon, attempting to determine what caused the blaze.
HAMMOND  Fire crews responded Friday to the former Polish American Veterans Post No. 40 at 241 Gostlin St. for a report of the building on fire.

Crews were called to the scene at 3:49 p.m. to find the heavy smoke billowing from all the windows, Battalion Chief Don Koerner said.

The building is believed to have once housed a local grocery, before becoming the home of the post from 1948 to as late as 1996, according to Times archives.

Koerner said fire officials suspect arson because the building was vacant, boarded up and electricity was cut off.

"It was all boarded up. Someone had to have gotten in there," he said.

The blaze originated in the basement, traveling up an interior staircase to the first floor, Koerner said. The basement is badly damaged, the stairways are scorched and heavy smoke damage was reported on the second floor.

The entire basement ceiling collapsed into the basement, he added.

Crews forced entry into the front door and ventilated the roof.

"When we got here and saw all the smoke, I thought we'd be here all night but these guys got it knocked down pretty quick," he said.
Legacy Foundation has awarded $10,000 in community grants this week to 10 recipients  aimed at empowering organizations and individuals with the resources needed to transform big ideas into action.

Each recipient received one $1,000 award, according to a news release from Legacy Foundation.

"The Community Action Awards follow Legacy Foundations On the Table initiative and are meant to empower participants to implement an idea generated in their conversations," the release stated.

The awards were open to any individual or organization that took part in Legacy Foundation's "On the Table" event on Sept. 26, according to the release.

The School City of Hobarts Building Brickies Program, one of 10 recipients, will use the $1,000 award to host a monthly free networking dinner to build community relationships.

City Life Center in Gary, another award recipient, will work with sixth- through eighth-grade students to produce a podcast featuring stories of positive things in the city.

Other recipients include AMFB Mentors, Franciscan Health, Gary Commission on the Social Status of Black Males, Girls on the Run of NWI, Ladys N Charge, Miller Beach Tourism Bureau, Open Hearts Therapeutic Riding Center and Steel City Academy.

The Sept. 26 "On the Table" event brought together more than 2,000 residents in small groups throughout Lake County to share a meal and discuss ways to improve the communities in which they live and work.

More than 130 conversations took place in 18 cities and towns across the county. Legacy Foundation led the On the Table initiative in Lake County with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Horizon Bank, according to the news release.

We hosted an On the Table, here at the Early Learning Center in Hobart, and we were really interested to find out what our families want, how can we best serve them, what are their needs. What we were delighted to find out is that our families crave connection. They want to work together to make our community a better place, Laura Kovats, early childhood coordinator with School City of Hobart, said.

Applicants were asked to submit a 60- to 120-second video or a brief narrative describing their project and its impact on the community.

Winning project descriptions and video submissions are available to view at www.legacyfdn.org/onthetable/community-action-awards.

The Legacy Foundation is a community foundation and the leading philanthropic partner serving Lake County since 1992. Today, it manages more than 300 donor funds representing over $50 million in assets. Legacy Foundation is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization operating under the leadership of a volunteer board of directors. The board represents a diverse spectrum of the business, education, nonprofit and public sectors throughout Lake County.
CROWN POINT  U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, and students of Eisenhower Elementary honored veterans Friday during the school's annual Veterans Day program.

Visclosky addressed a crowd of several hundred veterans and parents of the school's students who gathered Friday afternoon in the auditorium.

The congressman said he had last been at the school's Veterans Day program a couple of years ago. "And it is very good to be back. I want to thank the administrators, teachers, the parents involved and all of you veterans in the audience and all of you for honoring all of our veterans.

"We imagine our veterans all served in combat. Many have. Many have not, but they kept the peace to help us avoid going to war.

"The Indiana National Guard is the fourth largest guard in the United States and one of the first in quality," he said. Visclosky said many veterans make other contributions and "give back the rest of their lives" to their communities after their military service is over.

"I thank them and their families for their service," he said.

Students performed a short play discussing the meaning of the word "veteran" and recited facts about the evolution of Veterans Day celebrations from the end of World War I to 1954 when it became an official holiday.

A slideshow of photos of Eisenhower students' relatives, who had served in the military and recent wars was displayed while students sang: the national anthem, "God Bless America," "Fifty Nifty United States," and other patriotic songs.

Principal Mary Ann Chapko said she expects students of the school to take a field trip in 2020 to Washington, D.C., for the opening of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial there, which recently broke ground. She said third-grade students, who would make the trip, will be involved in fundraising events between now and then.
MICHIGAN CITY  A 12-year-old girl was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital Friday morning after being attacked by a dog.

At about 7:40 a.m., Officer Scott Combs was dispatched to the Dunewood Trailer Park located on U.S. 212 in reference to a dog attack, according to Michigan City Police Sgt. Chris Yagelski.

Upon arrival, Combs saw a chaotic scene where neighbors were attempting to beat off what was described as a bull mastiff dog weighing about 140 pounds attacking the girl. The girl was able to break free and ran into the trailer, where the dog ended up pursuing the youngster and continued the attack.

Combs, without hesitation, grabbed the large animal and was able to wrestle it to the ground and free the child, Yagelski said.

Combs was then able to get the dog locked into an adjoining room as he attended to the girl. Combs is also a certified EMT and performed exceptionally, with his paramedic skills more than likely saving the child, Yagelski said.

Due to the nature and severity of the wounds, the girl was immediately flown to Rileys Childrens Hospital in Indianapolis.

Animal Control Officer Jason Speakman was called to immediately impound the animal, which is now held under quarantine. The name of the dog's owner is being withheld pending the investigation, Yagelski said.
MICHIGAN CITY  U.S. Navy veteran Joseph Corbett, 60, dodged a bullet from dangerous wiring at his home, according to the captain of the Home Depot team extensively remodeling his home this week.

Corbetts home, which is not far from Michigan City, has pretty unsafe, terrible conditions, said Rudy DElia, Team Depot captain for veterans projects, based in the Valparaiso Home Depot store.

Home Depot gave a $24,000 grant to American Legion Post 37 in Michigan City to pay for building materials.

A member of the community notified the Legion that he was living here with no heat, no furnace, very unsafe conditions, DElia said.

Corbetts 700-square-foot home had a leaky roof and broken windows, too. The home had few appliances, which is good because the wiring could have burned down the house had more devices been plugged in, DElia said.

Before a team of workers from 10 Home Depot stores in Indiana and Illinois, along with other volunteers, showed up Wednesday, Corbetts home had temporary 200-amp electrical service that was run through a window to enter the home. DElia was nervous when he inspected the installation.

I just looked at the box and said, Ooh, I dont know if I want to open this one, DElia said.

Hyre Electric donated the materials and labor to wire the home correctly.

The all-volunteer remodeling is a big project done in a short time, for Veterans Day, so careful choreography was required.

The process began in June, when the Legion, and then Home Depot, heard of Corbetts living conditions and began to look for funding.

In September, with the finances in place, DElia and others did a walk-through to see what needed to be done.

Inside, DElia found there was much to be done. The home had a tub, but no kitchen sink. There was very little furniture. Corbetts 24-year-old son, who lives with him, was sleeping on an inflatable mattress because there was only one bed.

When the project is finished, the inside will be vastly different, with new furniture and appliances. The drywall needs to be redone once the wiring is finished.

The project began with removing the rotted deck. The siding had to come off, too.

New eaves troughs should solve leaks from the roof, DElia said.

Corbett, who is unable to help because he is disabled, was amazed watching the workers provide better housing for him and his son.

Corbett bought the property for $1 and planned to fix it up, but he became physically unable and is on an extremely limited income.

He served in the Navy from 1975 to 1979. Civilians would recognize his Navy job as a pipefitter.

He worked construction jobs with his cousin for 10 to 15 years, he said, but got to where he couldnt even hold a paintbrush steady.

When Corbett learned that Home Depot wanted to help, he was flabbergasted, he said.

But veterans stick together, and 35,000 members of Home Depots workforce are veterans.

All veterans are nice guys, Corbett said.

DElia said this project is Home Depots way of thanking Corbett and other veterans for their service to their country.

We serve those who have served us, he said.

DElia is effusive in his praise for everyone who has donated either time or materials or both.

We really just had an outpouring of people in the community who wanted to help. They just started donating time and materials, he said.
VALPARAISO  Air Force veteran Victor Erdelac addressed the crowd Friday morning at the Veterans Day convocation at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

Erdelac, 95, of Valparaiso, spoke of the time he served during World War II. Born in 1922, he joined the war in 1941 and was part of the European theater of World War II.

"I always wanted to be a pilot so i joined the Air Force and had to go to training school," Erdelac said. "I remember training with the British, and we were only one of two heavy bomb groups in Europe. We bombed and destroyed a German convoy and received a presidential citation for that."

He also told the students to be proud of America and the flag.

"With all the talk about flags I want to say that the flag means a lot to me and this is my flag. It stands mighty and proud," Erdelac said. "Thank a teacher, they give us knowledge. But thank a veteran. They protect us and keep us safe in this great country of ours."

Veterans from the American Legion were on hand to post colors and members of all the U.S. armed forces were honored as the band played songs from each of the services, and members of the audience who were veterans stood and were honored.

During the program, students Michael Flynn, Natalie Miller and Jolee Smith read essays about members of their families who served in the military and why they are proud.
When my son, Joseph Guerrero, was young, all he ever wanted to be was a soldier. I thought like most kids he would outgrow his fascination with the military, but he was steadfast with his career choice.

After graduation, he was off to basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. I was so very proud and scared at the same time. I knew he would be one of the best soldiers to ever wear a uniform, for he was in it heart and soul.

He was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, with the 1st Cavalry, C Company.

In May 2011, he was deployed to Iraq. He was an excellent driver, requested by the company commander. His tour was shortened by a grenade, which came through the windshield of his military vehicle in August 2011.

Though seriously injured, he remained composed, helping treat his own injuries.

Hes my hero. I couldnt be more proud.

God Bless!

Gail Guerrero, Cedar Lake
We recently asked our readers to tell us about their special veterans at home  or about the biggest takeaways from service if they were current or past members of the military.

We heard from dozens of folks, via letters to the editor, about the heroic service of Region residents in honor of Veterans Day.

From flying dangerous bombing missions in WWII to volunteering for service in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, those accounts begin running in today's paper and will continue in a special package in the Sunday Forum section.

We thank all the readers who contributed to this effort  and the veterans themselves for their selfless service.
I served in the Vietnam War, with the 101st Airborne Division, I Corp, in the A Shau Valley 1968-1969.

I was an artilleryman in the A Shau during the Hamburger Hill battle, and afterwards with the infantry as an artillery radioman attached to this unit. My personal takeaway from this experience is that freedom is not free, but is bought with human sacrifice, hardships and labor.

It all seems like a dream now as I was in the war 49 years ago at the age of 18.

Thanks for what's left of my Vietnam photos, or else I would have forgotten I had served there.

Roger Borroel, East Chicago
As a bombardier, my uncle, Lloyd Guzek, who served in the Army Air Corps 1942-1945, flew out of Bassinbourn, England, for a total of 35 missions.

Lloyd only was required to fly 25 missions, but he stayed longer. He belonged to the 91st Bombardment Group (H), 324th Bombardment Squadron, also known as "The Ragged Irregulars."

Their plan, a B-17, was the "Yankee Gal."

Lloyd received his first Distinguished Flying Cross for a mission that destroyed the Luena Oil Refinery. He told the pilot to give him 45 seconds below the cloud cover, and they completed the mission.

One of his missions involved a secret research aircraft factory in Peenemunde, where several top German scientists were killed, setting back their mission of pilotless projectiles.

He also was involved in the Battle of Schweinfurt and was awarded three air medals, three campaign stars and numerous other accolades.

I've always thought of my uncle as a hero. Because of him, I never pass veterans without thanking them for their service.

Jean Morasan, Munster
My father, Homer Taulbee, is one of the bravest men I know. He has shown our family the definition of sacrifice, honor and valor. His stories of his time in Vietnam are equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking. I learned from a very young age that living in a free country is a privilege that my father made possible.

I will forever be grateful that he has shown me a true example of a hard-working American whose sacrifices didnt stop in the military. As a father, he made sure we had delicious food on the table, heat in the house and a ridiculous amount of presents under the Christmas tree.

Thank you for your sacrifice, Dad. Happy Veterans Day. I love you.

Jessica Taulbee, Crown Point
Friends are meant to be friends forever. I thought this would be so with my childhood friend, Asante.

Her father had been a policeman for as long as we had known him. He was one of the few people that spoke Kiswahili in our village. For no clear reason, we dreaded him.

As children, we had always heard rumors that Asantes dad always had a gun wherever he went. We heard that even in bed, he had his gun under the pillow.

One adolescent boy did not grow weary in trying to lecture us on the difference between a gun and a pistol. He said Asantes father possessed both. What did it matter to me whether he owned a gun or pistol?

I never wished to find myself in a scenario where he had to use any of the two on me. Even the notorious thieves in the village avoided his home like a plague.

He had done his professional training in the neighboring Kenya, probably explaining the reason why his daughter had such a name. Asantes family environment did not deter her from making friends. I was one of her friends.

We all knew our boundaries when it came to visiting her home or calling her for games. It was difficult to forget that her father possessed a gun.

Life became slightly liberal when we joined university. At least Asante had moved away from the mean, lurking eyes of her father. However, it seemed that the spirit of her father kept hovering over her head.

Each time her new friends learnt of her family background, they kept a clear distance from her. This drew me to sympathize and bring her even closer into my life. We had come such a long way.

Right from attending the same schools to being village neighbors back at home. We shared a lot in common. Much as her father was dreaded because of his mean demeanor, Asante was by all means a good girl with a golden heart.

In my second year at university, Lady Luck smiled on me. I got a boyfriend. He was not the ordinary boyfriend just looking for another sexual escapade and run to his next victim.

He was the ideal man that every girl would want to write home about as the incoming in-law. I look back and even wonder why I, at first, played so hard to get  risking my chances of having this godsent angel.

Our relationship moved well for the two years we were at university. I told all and sundry about our intentions to get married upon graduation. This man was the kind that every girl would have loved to call the man of her life.

My friend Asante always reminded me of how lucky I was to have a man with all the good attributes. She had not been as lucky on the side of boy-girl relationships.

The few men that had proposed to her had literally asked her to bed hardly after a month into the relationship. She felt very frustrated and used.

It was her frustrations that drew her close to Rweshe, my man, for counsel. As her friend, I understood and shared her pain. Her closeness to my boyfriend did not bother me at all.

I knew it was as genuine and innocent as the intentions that led to it. With time, I started getting concerned when Rweshe started avoiding me. The long night walks characterised by fantasies of our soon-to-be home, the children we would have and all the silly jokes became tales of the past.

My naivety could not lead me to suspect Asante as the cause of my evidently crumbling relationship. I confided in her.

Just withdraw a bit. If he is interested in you, he will come begging for you, she soothingly advised me.

I took her advice. She had experience in failed relationships; so, she was the best-suited person to walk this journey with me. Withdrawing from Rweshe was the last nail in the coffin.

When we left university a few months later, Asante moved in with Rweshe. She did not fear her tough father; neither did she fear the gun, his deadly weapon. Of course she couldnt; she had not feared to disappoint me, her best friend!
Thirteen law graduates from Gulu and Cavendish universities have won a High court case in which they sued the Law Development Centre (LDC) and Law Council for stopping them from sitting pre-entry examinations for admission to the bar course.

The court awarded a total of Shs 260 million to the petitioners in compensation. In their applications, the students indicated that LDC said law programmes at Gulu and Cavendish were not accredited by the Law Council despite clearance from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).

In a 26-page ruling delivered by Judge Henrietta Wolayo of the civil division of the High court on October 26, the conduct of the Law Council was found to be arbitrary and irrational.

Alex Asiimwe Byaruhanga (R) from Gulu University with his lawyers of Rwaganika, Baku & Co. advocates in court

By preventing the applicants from sitting pre-entry exams in an arbitrary and irrational manner, Law Council is liable in damages for denying the applicants an opportunity to advance to the next stage in their legal career, Justice Wolayo ruled.

The students wanted court to compel LDC to admit them for the 2017/18 intake, or alternatively allow them to sit the examination.

However, Wolayo agreed with their lawyers that it would be illogical to order Law Council to give them special exams now since the bar course is already ongoing.

I will award a sum of Shs 20,000,000 to each applicant to be paid by the Attorney General and Law Council, she said.

A permanent injunction shall be issued restraining Law Council from preventing the applicants current and future graduates of Gulu and Cavendish universities who successfully complete their law degrees, to sit pre-entry.

Gulu Universitys Alex Asiimwe Byaruhanga said: What is important is not the money but joining LDC. I cant wait for the opportunity to join LDC next year as granted to us by the judge.

Wolayo said while the pre-entry examination is set by the Law Council under the Advocates Act (Legal notices 12 of 2010 and 17 of 2007), it does not mean that the councils committee on legal education and training can whimsically lock out qualified law graduates from sitting the exam.

Quoting Section 8(5) of the Advocates Act 2002, as amended, she noted that  persons eligible for admission to the bar course include a holder of a degree in law granted by a university in Uganda.

She added that since the Advocates Act makes no reference to an approved university or law programme, it does not have force of law to block students.

To the extent that rule 10 of legal notice 17 of 2007 acknowledges that persons with degrees from institutions under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2006 (UOTIA) are eligible for admission to the bar course, the Law Council exceeded its authority under the law.

As a body tasked with the responsibility to maintain high standards of professionalism in the legal profession, the committee has a higher burden than anyone else to observe the rule of law, the judge said.

While the judge agreed that LDC was rightly sued, she, quickly, added that it had no hand in the impugned decision by Law Council. Gulu and Cavendish students had filed separate applications but on September 15, 2017, a consensus was reached by all parties and court to consolidate the applications because of their commonality.

Some of the students who sued LDC

The applicants from Gulu University are Alex Asiimwe Byaruhanga, Emmanuel Odit, Prossy Akello, Susan Anena, Sancha Magdalene Mugala, Andrew Ogwetta Otto and Samuel Odyek.

They were represented by Rwaganika, Baku & Co. Advocates. Cavendish University Uganda applicants represented by Lufunya Associated Advocates and Solicitors are Jackline Nabuuma, Rebecca Mweru Kabejja, Ronald Kitonsa, Julian Atube Akello, Elizabeth Phiona Achola and Cathy Jackie Mwosana.

According to Wolayo, the absence of a framework between Law Council and NCHE for the consultative process to accredit law programmes led to the dispute.

That said, the failure of NCHE and Law Council to implement their respective mandates in compliance with section 3(d) (ii) should not be visited on the applicants, she ruled.

She added that while the Law Council is mandated by law to participate in the accreditation process before a university is accredited to teach law, the issuance of a charter or license is the responsibility of the NCHE under the UOTIA.

Wolayo ordered NCHE and the Law Council to develop a framework within 90 days from the date of her ruling for consultations on the law curriculum for universities in accordance with section 3 (d) (ii) and 119 A of the UOTIA 2006.

Yesterday, NCHE legal officer, Fiona Kunihira said: The ruling has not yet been brought to my attention; so, I cannot make a comment on it.

Meanwhile, The Observer has learnt that the attorney general filed a notice of appeal at the civil division of the High court on October 30, 2017, challenging the ruling.

We, the 2nd respondent being dissatisfied with the decision in this matter, reads the notice signed by Ojiambo Bichachi for the solicitor general,  do intend to appeal against the whole decision and the orders therein. We thus do kindly request for a copy of typed proceedings and ruling in this matter.



nangonzi@observer.ug
9th Wonder Talks About Teaching His History of Hip-Hop College Course Dimas Sanfiorenzo Dimas Sanfiorenzo is the Managing Editor for Okayplayer. He specializes

Professor 9th kicks knowledge

Since 2015, producer 9th Wonder has been teaching a college course about the history of hip-hop, at North Carolina Central University. (If you are a fan of 9th you know how important NCCU is to 9th: that is where he formed Little Brother with Phonte and Big Pooh.)

LISTEN: Its The Greatest Story That Kendricks Ever Told: 9th Wonder Talks Producing Kendrick Lamars Duckworth

The producer, who students call Professor 9th, recently gave an interview to a Durham, North Carolina outlet called WRAL about his class.

Speaking about the class, 9th said:

Its just the way to reach this generation. I think this generation speaks in a certain language that the generations before did not  Hip Hop is now a 44-year-old art form. Within it is life. Its fashion. Its journalism. Its law. Its definitely technology when it comes to deejaying and producing and recording and the things that we use.

North Carolina Central University is fully embracing hip-hop. The university is planning to build the Hip-Hop Central, which will include a library database, a studio, and an annual conference to discuss hip-hop education, entrepreneurship, and more.

READ: 9th Wonder Selects Four Hip-Hop Classics To Be Preserved in Harvards Library

In the interview, 9th also talked about his career, specifically about how he got his name and the song that first made him interested in hip-hop.

Watch the clips below.

Source: WRAL
We all have our epic parenting moments, those instances of triumph where we feel like we are straight up killing the parental game. We are Rocky Balboa at the top of those stairs, pumping our arms because we are the champions.

Yep. I sent him straight to his bed. BOOM.

He listened and did it the right way this time. BOOM.

There are other times, though, when we are less inclined to be proud of our parenting.

Im not talking about discipline here  like giving in to a tantrum-throwing toddler and buying him that Kit Kat hes hollering for. No, no, no. We do not negotiate with terrorists.

What Im talking about is choosing battles.

My 2-year-old, Kate, has been sick for about a week. Nothing serious, just an old-school cold; a nasty potpourri of runny nose, frequent sneezing and constant whining. The "trifecta of ick."

I feel bad for the kid because colds are the worst. But that whining. Sigh. Parents: You feel me, right?

Yesterday morning, Kate woke up and immediately started whining because she couldnt find the lollipop shed been eating the night before. Even though I told her multiple times that  duh  it was all gone because shed eaten it, her sinus impaired brain refused to accept that answer. She cried as if that was the worst news shed ever received in her tiny little 2-year-old life.

After that, she cried when her sippy cup spewed a tiny, nearly-invisible drop of water onto her pajamas. The word water was screamed/cried a lot while she gave a two-handed attempt to smack that water drop and deflect it from doing more nonexistent damage.

Breakfast offerings were vehemently rejected and the notion of a bath was clearly insulting to her. If I read her expression correctly, it said, Are you kidding me with that? Do I look like I want to take a bath right now? Idiot.

And then ... it happened.

The clouds parted, the angels sang the hallelujah chorus and Kate stopped whining.

Why? Her blue eyes had made contact with the big loaf of crusty Italian bread still encased in its paper sleeve on the counter. She looked at me and said, Bread, please.

Now, Italian bread may be a little unorthodox for breakfast, but probably not for the Italians and definitely not for me. Besides, people eat toast, bagels and English Muffins for breakfast, and those are just bread variations, right? I scooped up that little yuck-nosed girl, plopped her onto the counter, removed that glorious loaf from its paper and set it on the cutting board.

No mommy. Big.

What?

The kid reached out her germ-infested hand and set it on top of the loaf.

Big bread. What? She wanted the whole loaf?

I couldnt just give the 2-year-old an entire loaf of bread, could I? I opened my mouth to refuse her request when she said with a smile  a smile, mind you  Big bread. Thank you, mommy.

Not only did I hand that toddler the delicious loaf of carb, but I encouraged her to take it into the living room. I giggled with her as she ripped off the end and proceeded to stick her entire arm inside to get to the soft pieces. Technically she said please and thank you, so she wasnt breaking any rules. #momjustification

Today, I saw a kid at Target in pajamas, cowboy boots and a rain hat. Im guessing his parents had the same story.

What battles have you avoided in the name of peace and parental sanity?

***

Lynn Kirkle is a writer and lives in Omaha with her husband and five children. She writes weekly for momaha.com, and can be found on Twitter @LAPainter.
A Boston-based software company will employ at least a few hundred people in Omaha in the next few years, one of its top executives said Friday.

The company, Toast Inc., announced this week that it chose Omaha as the place to plant its first U.S. corporate flag outside its home city. The company makes restaurant point-of-sales systems that take payments from customers and help establishments take care of inventory, personnel and other business-management functions.

Omaha appealed to Toast because of the citys already established base of tech companies  like PayPal  and its business communitys culture of entrepreneurship, said Tim Barash, Toasts chief financial officer.

And one more thing caught the company executives eyes, Barash said: Omahas restaurants.

It was just meal after meal of amazing food and amazing entrepreneurs when executives came to town over the past few months, Barash said Friday in an interview. Were excited about coming to Omaha and becoming a piece of the restaurant world.

Restaurants in Boston, and the people who run them and love them, were a key part of the companys growth from 50 employees to 700, from a basement to an 83,000-square-foot office, since 2014, he said.

As for Omaha, he said: This is going to be a sizable office for us. We expect to have at least a few hundred (employees) in the next few years. The Omaha staff will work in every aspect of the company  including positions in sales, software and customer satisfaction.

The company hasnt decided yet where it will locate in Omaha. Its been looking downtown.

Were a hyper-growth tech company, Barash said. We certainly want to move as fast as we can. Were trying to find a home in Omaha that will make sense long-term.

Toast has people working remotely around the country, but its only offices are the headquarters near Fenway Park in Boston and an office in Ireland that opened last month.

Obviously the Old Market is a pretty great part of town, he said of Omaha. Its lively, historic and has amazing food and restaurants down there.

But Toast is looking at all parts of the metro area, probably for an existing building to remodel, with room to expand, he said.

When youre growing this fast, you have to be relatively agile when it comes to physical space, he said. We really have not pinpointed the exact building location that fits our needs.

Toast opened the Dublin office to take advantage of the highly qualified technology people there, he said. The city already has major operations for tech giants including Facebook and Google.

Omaha was sort of a natural place to go when we looked, Barash said, with a long history of financial services innovation by companies like First Data Corp., financial companies including Berkshire Hathaway, offices for PayPal and LinkedIn and homegrown startups like tech businesses Hudl and Flywheel.

When we visited the market, we met some of these amazing entrepreneurs, he said. We were just kind of blown away by the level of talent. We found people who were proud of being in Omaha and how exited they were to be there.

Opening the Omaha office, he said, seemed like a natural evolution of our business.

Toast has raised $130 million from venture capitalists  none of them from Omaha  in the past two years to build a software platform that goes far beyond the simple insert-or-swipe payment devices at most retailers, known as point-of-sale terminals.

Barash said Toast believes its competitive advantage is the breadth of services that its software provides, including taking orders and accepting payments, inventory control, staff scheduling, gift cards, loyalty programs and performance data.

Toasts software includes programs for food trucks, breweries, delis, bars, and quick-service and full-service restaurants, among others.

Toast doesnt make its own hardware but rather uses others tablets or other devices and writes software for Android operating systems.

We see ourselves as the leader in the restaurant technology arena, Barash said. A lot of it is just that we are almost maniacally focused on ... restaurant success.

Are you a Toaster?

Toasters  thats what restaurant software company Toast Inc. calls its 700 staff members. Its recruiting people for a satellite office it plans to open early next year in Omaha and build to a few hundred people in a few years.

Tim Barash, chief financial officer of the Boston-based company, urged people to send resumes to the companys website at careers.toasttab.com. We want to find the Toasters in Omaha, he said.
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ROCK VALLEY, Iowa (AP)  Authorities have arrested a grandson of an 84-year-old man whose body was found by firefighters in northwest Iowa.

The Rock Valley Police Department said in a news release Friday that 19-year-old Santos Rodriguez Jr. is charged with first-degree murder and arson in the slaying of Luis Luevanos. The older man's body was found Oct. 29 after firefighters extinguished the blaze at the home he shared with Rodriguez. Investigators have since learned that Luevanos had been stabbed several times.

Police say Rodriguez left for Utah after the fire and was taken into custody there. Iowa investigators went to Utah to interview him, and police say Rodriguez admitted stabbing his grandfather and setting the fire.

Court records don't list an attorney who could comment for Rodriguez, who remains for now in Utah.
LINCOLN  A legal issue looms over Nebraskas death penalty thats unrelated to the new and untried lethal drug combination state officials unveiled this week.

Defense attorneys say pending challenges of a system that allows judges rather than juries to impose death sentences could impact whether the state ends its streak of 20 years without an execution.

At least three of the 11 men on death row have challenged the states procedure, which gives three-judge panels the final say in capital cases. They argue that the U.S. Constitution requires the same jury that decides a defendants guilt to also decide his fate.

Their argument has so far proved unsuccessful. A district court judge recently issued an opinion that utterly rejected any argument of constitutional flaws in Nebraskas system. Attorneys for the inmates will now hope for favorable rulings in state and federal appellate courts.

Nebraska prison officials announced Thursday they have obtained supplies of four drugs they say will allow them to carry out a lethal injection execution. Attorney General Doug Peterson said that after a 60-day notice period, he intends to seek a death warrant for Jose Sandoval, who led three gunmen who stormed a Norfolk bank in 2002 and shot down four bank employees and a customer.

While attention immediately focused on the drugs, which have never been used in combination by another death penalty state, questions about Nebraskas capital sentencing procedure remain unsettled.

The three death-row inmates who have challenged Nebraskas system are John Lotter, Marco Torres and Jeffrey Hessler.

They rely on a 2016 case called Hurst v. Florida, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a capital sentencing scheme that allowed judges to impose death sentences. The ruling in the Florida case prompted the Delaware Supreme Court to end the death penalty there because it relied on a similar system.

Although Sandoval has not yet raised a similar challenge, the issue could potentially affect the states efforts to execute him, said Rebecca Woodman, a defense lawyer in Lenexa, Kansas, who represents Lotter.

Those cases could have an impact on Sandovals case for sure, she said.

But a Nebraska judge recently delivered a blow to Lotters effort to overturn the death penalty based on the Hurst decision. Saline County District Judge Vicky Johnson, who presided over Lotters motion in Richardson County, said Nebraskas system is substantially different from the one struck down by the Supreme Court.

In Florida, juries provided judges with advisory opinions about sentencing. The key factual determinations regarding punishment were left with the judge.

In Nebraska, juries must decide  during a second penalty phase held right after the trial  whether aggravating factors against a convicted defendant exist. If juries find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that aggravating factors do exist, a three-judge panel considers any mitigating factors in favor of the defendant.

If the aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors, the judicial panel may then impose a death sentence.

This makes Nebraskas sentencing process completely dissimilar from the sentencing scheme utilized in Hurst, Johnson wrote in an order issued in late September.

The judge went even further in support of Nebraskas system. She said the Hurst decision may apply to death penalty cases still under direct appeal but not retroactively to convictions like Lotters and Sandovals, which were long ago affirmed by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Lotter also failed in an earlier attempt to raise the issue before a federal district court judge.

Woodman declined to comment about the most recent ruling against her client. But Lotter has appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which recently agreed to hear the case.

Lotter, 46, has spent 22 years on death row for the 1993 triple homicide at a farmhouse near Humboldt, Nebraska. The case inspired the award-winning movie Boys Dont Cry.

Torres, 42, was sent to death row for the 2007 execution-style shootings of two Grand Island men. His challenge of Nebraskas system is part of a habeas corpus motion filed last summer in U.S. District Court in Omaha.

Hessler, 39, was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old Gering girl in 2003. A check of court records showed no recent activity on his motion challenging the states sentencing scheme.
The crowd went silent Saturday morning as two trumpets echoed the notes of taps. Overhead, strung between the ladders of two firetrucks, a large American flag waved slowly in the drizzle and fog.

About 200 people gathered for the annual Veterans Day observance at Memorial Park, joined by Gold Star father Lonnie Ford; U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.; retired Brig. Gen. Steve Ritchie; and Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command.

Clarence Doc Holiday said he wished more people had come for the ceremony, but said he hoped people were finding other ways to honor veterans on Saturday.

Holiday, an Army veteran, served in Vietnam in 1962. For him, Veterans Day is a reminder that hes one of the fortunate few.

A lot of my friends died there, he said. Im just glad to be here to represent them.

Holiday was part of the American Legion Post No. 1 honor guard, along with John Freimuth, who served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970.

Many of Freimuths 14 grandchildren came to Saturdays ceremony.

Im so proud to have them here, he said. Its important that our young people hear the history of war and know about the sacrifices made.

Before the ceremony began, veterans stood together and shared their stories. They talked of receiving their draft notices or of enlisting. Some shared stories of returning home. Others talked of the various ways they have celebrated Veterans Day over the years.

Standing in the grass as the drizzle intensified, Freimuth said he thought Saturdays observance was beautiful.

As a former chairman of the event, Freimuth said, hes glad to see the tradition continue.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month  99 years since World War I ended  Freimuth said Americans should take the day to remember all veterans.

We cannot forget our past, he said. We cannot forget those that fought for us.
Paul Stephen Goc Jr.'s bravery helped save the lives of his platoon mates. He earned a posthumous Bronze Star  with a V device, signifying valor  for his actions. It was one of two he earned during his five months in Vietnam.
WASHINGTON  Republican lawmakers are pushing to roll back or eliminate the state and local tax deduction that reduces the amount that millions of Americans owe to Uncle Sam every year.

The lawmakers argue that the current deduction requires filers in states such as Nebraska and Iowa  who generally pay less state and local taxes  to subsidize those in higher-tax areas such as New York, New Jersey and California.

If New Jersey chooses to have much higher taxes than others, thats a local choice and we should not make that a federal issue or a national issue, said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb.

Those defending the deduction say it prevents double taxation and helps local entities provide important services, including public education.

They also say one reason people pay higher taxes in New York, New Jersey and California is that while $500,000 might buy a mansion in the Midwest, its barely enough for a starter home in the countrys most expensive areas.

Democrats criticize the move, saying it would burden many middle-income families in order to help pay for GOP priorities such as lowering corporate tax rates, eliminating minimum tax requirements for the wealthy and phasing out the estate tax.

The Senate Republican plan would eliminate the deduction, which is claimed by 30 percent of taxpayers nationwide, according to the Government Finance Officers Association.

Smith is a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee that approved its bill Thursday. That measure would still allow the deduction of property taxes, though only up to $10,000.

Smith represents the states sprawling and largely rural 3rd District, where only one in five tax units claims a state and local tax deduction, with the average being $9,076, according to IRS statistics compiled by the finance officers association.

By comparison, one-third of tax units in the Omaha-based 2nd District claimed the deduction, at an average amount of $12,484.

Their congressman, Republican Rep. Don Bacon, noted that the House proposal still allows property tax deductions up to $10,000 and also doubles the standard deduction, which would soften the blow for some filers. He also criticized areas with higher taxes.

We dont feel good about subsidizing the higher tax states out East, Bacon said.

Its true that some districts in New York and New Jersey see even higher rates of filers taking the deduction  around half in some areas. And the average deduction can exceed $40,000 in places.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., represents the 1st District, which includes Lincoln and parts of Sarpy County. In the 1st District, 29 percent of tax units claimed the deduction, with the average amount being $9,894.

If a locale decides on its own to keep its taxes higher for their own particular purposes, another locale shouldnt have to subsidize it, Fortenberry said.

Richard Kaplan, a professor of law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who specializes in tax policy, said eliminating the state and local tax (or SALT) deduction is both part of Republican philosophy  not wanting high-tax locales subsidized  and a way of helping the proposals bottom line.

Because the Senate wants a complete repeal of SALT, they were able to restore the deduction of medical expenses (which the House bill eliminates) and keep mortgage interest deductible on loans up to $1 million (versus $500,000 in the House bill), including second homes, which the House bill drops, Kaplan noted.

The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center calls the SALT deduction one of the largest federal tax expenditures, saying it has an estimated revenue cost of $96 billion in 2017 and $1.3 trillion over the 10 years from 2017 to 2026.

Even with lower or no SALT deduction, the combination of measures in the bills is expected to add at least $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.

The Midlands district with the highest rate of people claiming the deduction is Iowas 3rd, which includes Council Bluffs and Des Moines, where 35 percent take it, at an average of $10,460.

Their Republican Rep. David Young said that those crafting the bill are doing the math and that they have to offset some tax breaks with savings elsewhere.

Its a matter of trying to find revenue, Young said. And thats a big bucket right there.

He noted that House members already backed off complete elimination and instead opted for the $10,000 limit. He said the final product may have a different cap or something else altogether.

In Iowas 4th District, Republican Rep. Steve King said he has heard little from constituents concerned about losing their SALT deductions. About 25 percent of tax units take the deduction in that district, at an average of $8,863.

If they have to eliminate those deductions to make this tax plan work, then we just have to bite that bullet and move on, King said.

During the Ways and Means Committee debate, Democrats offered an amendment that would have cut SALT deductions for businesses as well. If youre going to do this revenue grab for millions of working families with the elimination of SALT, lets also ask the corporations of America to also give up that deduction that they are currently allowed to take, said Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis.

The amendment was defeated. Smith opposed it, citing concern for farmers who take the deduction.

At least in Nebraska the property tax burden placed on agriculture is significant, Smith said.
Nebraska has a vested interest in helping students who are pregnant or nursing stay in school and get a diploma.

Lawmakers underscored that interest last session by passing Legislative Bill 427, which requires school boards to adopt a written policy by May 2018 for reasonably accommodating these students.

Now the State Board of Education has simplified the task for districts that might lack the money or staff time to research reasonable policies that follow the law.

The state board unanimously approved a model policy that school boards can adopt if they dont want or need a more locally tailored policy that meets state guidelines.

The boards policy says public school students should be given a reasonable space and time to breastfeed or pump milk, as well as to attend necessary doctors appointments.

It would end problems such as students having to breastfeed in school restrooms or pump milk in a closet. Schools can and should do better than that.

Perhaps most importantly, the policy makes plain the need to help such students continue making academic progress.

It outlines ways to help them catch up on schoolwork when they miss classes for parenting reasons, and it lays out several ways to help them continue to focus on their studies.

The states interest in this matter is two-fold. First, Nebraska is richer for having a more educated workforce, regardless of a students circumstances.

Second, a child who grows up in a home with a mother who has at least a high school education is more likely to succeed in school and in life than those whose mothers dropped out before graduation.

By investing in a young parents education, the state will be repaid with better students, better parents and better outcomes.
Sky News 15 Nov 2022

The last time NATO invoked Article 5 was in 2001, the day after New York's Twin Towers were attacked.
Rumble 15 Nov 2022

"As I called on all ASEAN members to take every measure possible to stop Russia playing hunger games with the world. Green..
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News24 23 Feb 2022

"I'd rather see them send soldiers to our southern border," Trump said when asked about potential US involvement in the..
This Veterans Day weekend, head down I-205 - also known as the War Veterans Memorial Freeway - where a massive POW/MIA flag outside Latus Motors Harley-Davidson declares "You are not forgotten."

Drive past the roadside memorial on Oregon 213 dedicated to the late Tyrone S. Woods, an Oregon City native and U.S. Navy Seal who died in Benghazi.

And in a gravel lot behind the Clackamas County offices, you'll find about a dozen architecture students building small living spaces for local homeless veterans.

Modeled after a similar project for women in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, the area's first Veterans Village will house up to 30 veterans in 8-by-12-foot individual sleeping units called pods. The site will have shared-space structures for bathrooms, showers, offices, a kitchen and workshop.

During a 2017 count, Clackamas County identified 85 homeless veterans, including 52 who were unsheltered and 30 who were chronically homeless. Organizers hope the village can fill a needed gap for these veterans between sleeping outside and finding a permanent home.

"It's not traditional housing, but it's something that can be done very quickly, very affordably, and hopefully in a very dignified way," said Todd Ferry with the Center for Public Interest Design at Portland State University, part of a coalition of government groups, nonprofits and businesses helping create the village. "Hopefully, in its operation, it can be really empowering through self-governance and by allowing people a place to build community and feel safe."

Ten pods are nearly completed and another five are under construction with help from Ferry's students. Meanwhile, the village site is being prepared for utilities and the communal buildings.

Veterans Village will be located on a 1.5-acre, undeveloped, industrial-zoned piece of county-owned property in Clackamas. Organizers hope to open it by early next year.

"I really appreciate that what we're doing is going to improve our community ... and is something that can be made and developed around the country," said Portland State student Stacia Aguilar. "We're building something that's one solution to houselessness that can be applied in many different places."

The first 15 pods are being built by students and community volunteers. The next 15 will be constructed by the veterans themselves, who will build their own village while learning skills that might help with employment later on.

Vahid Brown, housing policy coordinator for Clackamas County, said the county will identify potential veterans for the village, which hopes to not only provide a dry bed but a sense of camaraderie among its residents.

Access to services is a concern, and Brown said the county is working to get service providers out to the village - there's an office space for such meetings on site. It's a little under a mile walk to the closest bus stop, and organizers are looking at shuttles that can serve residents.

Catholic Charities, which manages the Kenton Women's Village, will provide oversight for the community once veterans move in. Trell Anderson, director of community housing for Catholic Charities, said it's difficult to set a time frame on how long people will stay in transitional housing. Some need time to overcome addiction or get treatment for mental or behavioral health issues before being ready for permanent housing. Others simply need a few months to rest, save up money, and move out.

Since the 14-pod Kenton Women's Village opened in June, two women have moved into permanent homes, he said.

Primarily, this village is a place for residents to find security, safety, healing and community. But it's also a way to create awareness and compassion among its neighbors in Clackamas County. So many people offered to help construct pods for Veterans Village, organizers had to close volunteer signups. It's a hopeful sign that these same community members will continue to provide a support network to residents.

You can still sign up your interest to volunteer with the Veterans Village through City Repair.

"The issue of houselessness is huge. It's something that is so overwhelming that I think most people would not even begin to try to address it," Ferry said. "But something at the scale of a pod is an entry point. They say, 'I can't solve the issue, but I can do this.' ... In its aggregation, it becomes something really powerful."

Do veterans deserve more than an 8-by-12 pod?

Of course.

But right now, they have so much less.

This Veterans Day, some 50 men and women who served in America's military will sleep either in cars, tents or worse throughout Clackamas County. They need a permanent home for the future, but they need a warm bed today.

"There's this gap between sleeping in a tent and the woods and getting a place in Section 8 housing," Brown said. "We want to put resources into that gap so that people who need to have barriers removed before they get housing can do so in a safe place."

A Metro study determined the Portland region has a shortage of more than 80,000 housing units affordable to those making less than 60 percent of the median income. Permanent affordable housing can cost $193,000 per unit and takes years to build. The Veterans Village was built on a county budget of $300,000, meaning each person can be housed at a cost of around $10,000. And the village will go from concept to completion in about seven months.

"This is not the silver bullet that solves all the housing crisis, but it is something that can be done incredibly fast and inexpensively, it's something that can be done in a way that's empowering, and it can involve more of the community," Ferry said.

Everyone involved in the project agrees that long-term housing is needed.

"In the meantime, there needs to be an aggressive effort to provide safety, stability, and access to services while people are in the process or on the waiting list," Brown said. "That's the vision and the purpose of this continuum of alternative shelter options."

-- Samantha Swindler

@editorswindler / 503-294-4031

sswindler@oregonian.com
Updated at 5:06 p.m.

Talks between TriMet and its frontline employees' union reached a tentative contract agreement Friday, nearly a year after their previous deal expired.

The new contract includes a 3 percent raise for all union employees retroactive to December 2016 and 3.25 percent annual raises over the next two years. It also includes bigger pay increases for service workers who clean and fuel buses.

The new contract will cost TriMet tens of millions of dollars more in wages and benefits, but it's unlikely to result in higher fares. The agency is in expansion mode after raising its own payroll tax rate, and the state Legislature directed new funding to the agency as part of a state transportation funding package.

Talks between TriMet and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 had dragged on through five months of bargaining followed by several mediation sessions.

On Friday, TriMet made a surprise announcement of what it called a "last-ditch" offer to avoid winner-takes-all arbitration. Transit workers are prohibited from striking in Oregon.

The offer went further than the agency had previously on pay increases, and it dropped all but one of the transit agency's requests while making several concessions to the union.

A key sticking point had been the transit agency's proposal to use outside contractors to overhaul aging MAX trains.

TriMet says it doesn't have enough mechanics to keep up with basic maintenance while also sidelining some to work on rebuilding some of its aging vehicles, an effort to avoid breakdowns and piecemeal repairs.

The tentative agreement would allow TriMet to send trains in the middle of their working life to a contractor to be refurbished and returned in like-new condition.

Shirley Block, the president of the local, said the two sides had reached an agreement that spells out the scope of the work that would be contracted out -- and which had won over representatives of the union's light-rail mechanics.

"We finally cleared the dust, and here we are," Block said.

TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane, who will retire early next year, said in a statement that a negotiated settlement was the best outcome.

"What we have achieved through this process is not only good for TriMet's team of union-represented employees, it's good for our riders and stakeholders, as it underscores our commitment to providing safe, reliable transit throughout the Portland region," he said.

TriMet declined to make officials available for interviews Friday.

Block said TriMet's announcement of its newest proposal on Monday, posted on its website and sent to local news media, had come as a surprise.

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"? "It shocked us when they posted it online," she said. "I wish they hadn't done that, but now it's over. It's done, and it'll work out."

The union -- which represents about 85 percent of TriMet's 3,000 employees, including drivers, mechanics, dispatchers, fare inspectors and field supervisors -- will hold an in-person vote on the contract. The vote has not yet been scheduled.

TriMet's board will vote on the contract when it meets in December.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus
Sixteen conservation groups asked Governor Kate Brown's office Thursday to reopen an investigation into the Oct. 27 killing of a wolf by a hunter who claimed self-defense.

Brian Scott, 38, was elk hunting in Union County when he shot and killed a gray wolf he claimed was running directly at him. Oregon State Police investigated the case and agreed that he shot in self-defense.

But the alliance of conservation groups has doubts, said Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild, and wants Oregon State Police to give the case another look. The groups worry that an inadequate investigation sends a signal to hunters that they can kill wolves with impunity.

"We're really concerned that this is a green light for people," Pedery said. "If you want to shoot a wolf and you do get caught, just say it's self-defense, and it's a get out of jail free card, essentially.

The letter claimed that police misinterpreted the evidence. Police wrote in their report on the incident that Scott's bullet went through the animal's front right side, and exited on the left. But experts who reviewed photos of the wolf carcass on behalf of the groups concluded the bullet entered mid-spine and exited near the left shoulder, the letter said.

Those wounds aren't consistent with the hunter's claims that the wolf was running at him, Pedery said. The groups asked that a new investigation be overseen by the Attorney General's office, with cooperation from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The investigation is as much about finding out what really happened as it is about ensuring police and ODFW tell the truth in the future, Pedery said.

"A failure to hold OSP accountable in this case could set a dangerous precedent and send a message that Oregon will look the other way when it comes to illegally killing wolves," the letter read.

The governor's office could not be reached in time for publication.

Scott called state police after the shooting. He told responding officer Marcus McDowell that shortly after leaving to hunt around 7:15 a.m., he saw multiple animals moving around him.

He hiked into a nearby timber stand, then headed into a meadow. He then saw what he assumed was a coyote. The animal was running at him, the hunter told McDowell, and a second animal was right behind. A third animal was running directly at him, too.

"I definitely felt like she had targeted me," he said.

Scott told the trooper he feared for his life.

Andrew Theen contributed to this report.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

503-294-7674; @fedorzarkhin
BY TIM BOYLE

I love Portland. But as the chief executive officer of a company based here, I am concerned I may have made a mistake when we recently relocated one of our brand headquarters downtown. In fact, I am so concerned about the safety of our employees at the Sorel headquarters that we are taking the next 90 days to re-evaluate our location decision.

Earlier this year, we were thrilled to join with Mayor Ted Wheeler and cut the ribbon for our new Sorel offices downtown at Southwest Broadway and Taylor Street. Sorel footwear is a tremendous success story, a growing brand known for being the most fashion in outdoor and the most outdoor in fashion. Although it began decades ago in Canada as a functional men's footwear brand, it is in the creative Portland environment that the brand has been transformed and become a leading seller of fashionable women's footwear.

Our celebration of our new offices ended swiftly. We were immediately receiving reports from employees that they were being hassled, harassed and threatened by individuals near our office. A few days ago, one of our employees had to run into traffic when a stranger outside our office followed her and threatened to kill her. On other occasions our employees have arrived at work only to be menaced by individuals camping in the doorway. And our employees have had so many car break-ins downtown that we have started referring to parking in Portland as our "laptop donation program." Last night it happened again to one of our newest transplants to Oregon, a European who recently moved his family to Oregon. As he hosted one of our biggest customers downtown, his windows were smashed and his laptop and travel papers were stolen.

Given these experiences, it is a relief when the only thing we are dealing with is the garbage and human waste by our front door. Think about that for a minute.

This is outrageous and unacceptable. We are so concerned that we brought together senior management this week to talk through the challenges and options for addressing it, including a review of whether to stay downtown. Time that was to be devoted to discussing strategy for growing our business was spent on the much more pressing issue of keeping our employees safe.

We had already been at work on getting new security doors for our portico and long ago hired extra security. But those things are not enough. We cannot have our colleagues threatened -- or worse - as they go to and from work.

As Portlanders we have a lot of priorities, but if we cannot keep downtown safe what will become of our city?

Portland has fewer police officers today than it had when Bud Clark was mayor. At the same time, our population has grown dramatically. That is one part of the public safety challenge downtown, and it is one that should be easy for us to address.

Wheeler has put forward a proposal to the Portland City Council to add 80 police officers. Frankly, based on our employees' experiences, we would suggest even more support for the Portland police, but Wheeler's proposal is an important step and something that deserves prompt support.

I will end where I began. I love Portland. I have spent almost my entire life here, and our company has thrived and made its biggest investments here. We are not going to sit quietly while our colleagues at work are threatened, intimidated and worse. And the City Council shouldn't be quiet about it either.

Tim Boyle is president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear Company. He lives in Southwest Portland.

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Submit your 500-word essay on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.
Last month, city leaders extended Portland's "housing emergency" for a second time, continuing programs and policies to ease the city's surge in homelessness and a critical shortage of affordable housing.

The crisis stretches far beyond Portland's boundaries, into neighboring counties and across the state, where the number of residents who can't find homes continues to grow - by double digits in some Central Oregon counties.

So, it seems an incredibly bad time for Clackamas County, which also has seen an increase in its homeless population, to ask the federal government for permission to sell as many as 19 acres of a 22-acre public housing development, as reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive's Samantha Swindler. The proposal calls for selling Oregon City View Manor, which sits on a bluff off Holcomb Avenue and is home to at least 300 of the county's extremely poor, elderly and disabled citizens.

Chuck Robbins, executive director of the county's Housing Authority, wants to sell the public property at fair market value, which he estimates could rake in as much as $15 million in a neighborhood of $400,000 homes. As Swindler reported, Robbins wants to use the money to quadruple the amount of affordable housing across the county in years to come.

If his plan is approved and works, Robbins aims to put another 20-acre public housing development on the block, too -- Clackamas Heights, which looks similar to View Manor with 99 homes of various sizes alongside playgrounds in a park-like setting.

Robbins told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board that while the estimated cost to operate and maintain the county's various housing projects is around $1.5 million, he's only received around $800,000 in recent years as U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding has declined. Adding to the problem, he says, federal rules prohibit agencies from taking out loans or accepting third-party investments to renovate public housing.

Problem is, where will the hundreds of View Manor residents go now, when affordable housing in the region is next to impossible to find?

Already, Clackamas County gets back about 25 percent of the Section 8 vouchers distributed to help citizens make up the difference between market rates and what they can afford to pay. Those vouchers are returned, Robbins confirmed, because people can't find apartments affordable enough even with the assistance.

Robbins promises that if he's approved to sell View Manor, residents would move to the top of the Housing Authority's wait list. Of course, that doesn't help the many others in need who've worked their way slowly toward the front of the line.

Robbins puts great credence in the work of a "relocation specialist," who has promised to find everyone at View Manor a new home. That's a tall order and one that officials in other counties have found sometimes requires moving people far from the support of their families and friends, the schools where their children are succeeding and the jobs they need. And while Robbins says that anyone displaced from View Manor also would qualify to live in the new construction once it's built, he concedes it could take as many as two years to complete those units.

Indeed, we've reached a point in Oregon where extreme measures are needed to address our housing crisis. But selling public property is too extreme. And while this plan may be a bold move in the future to create a deep well for funding other housing projects, now is not the right time.

Public housing is a promise made to the county's citizens that there'll be help for those seeking a last resort. And once those 19 acres are sold, they'll be gone and difficult to replace as land prices continue to soar in the metro area.

A better option for Oregon City View Manor would be to request that the federal government make an administrative change, placing it within a newer program. The so-called "Rental Assistance Demonstration" program would allow Robbins to turn to private developers and investors for money to make the much-needed repairs and maintenance at View Manor, including the new siding and roofs he says are needed.

Robbins is seeking that option for two other public housing properties, a change that allows for improvements without the loss of tax-payer-owned properties. That seems the more prudent and civic-minded decision considering our current housing crisis.

Clackamas County Commissioners are scheduled to vote this month on whether to ask the federal government for permission to sell Oregon City View Manor. They should slow down and consider the residents living in those homes that would go away, as well as those who've been waiting for access to them. They should consider what's in the best interest of those constituents.

And realize now is not the time to take housing away.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and John Maher.

To respond to this editorial, post your comment below, submit an OpEd or a letter to the editor.

If you have questions about the opinion section,

or call 503-221-8378.
A widely-published poet and author of operas will receive the 14th triennial Saginaw Valley State University Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize.

A pair of judges appointed by the United States Poet Laureate selected Douglas Kearney for his 2016 poetry collection, "Buck Studies." He will receive the honor during a ceremony at SVSU March 27.

The event is part of the 2018 Roethke Poetry and Arts Festival, which spans March 23-28 at locations across the Great Lakes Bay Region.

Kearney works as the interim faculty co-director for equity and diversity at the CalArts School of Critical Studies in Valencia, California.

Kearney's "Buck Studies" uses poetry to explore pain and grief as each relates to racial injustices. The Black Took Collective described "Buck Studies" as "an upper-level seminar where the Black 'I' staggers, revealing absence beyond absence, the compromised subject, one injured yet never inured."

His other published collections of poetry include "Mess and Mess and," which was a Small Press Distribution Handpicked Selection that Publisher's Weekly called "an extraordinary book." Another collection, "Patter," was a finalist for the California Book Award in Poetry.

His work also has appeared in anthologies such as "Best American Poetry," "Best American Experimental Writing," "What I Say: Innovative Poetry by Black Writers in America," "The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop," "Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond," and "Kindergarde: Avant-Garde Poems, Plays, Stories, and Songs for Children."

A librettist -- or an author of the text of an opera -- Kearney's work has appeared in three operas. "Crescent City" was the inaugural production of a Los Angeles-based experimental opera company, The Industry. "Sucktion" has been performed across the globe. "Mordake" was performed in San Francisco. Kearney's published collection, "Someone Took They Tongues," offers a series of librettos, including one written in a counterfeit Afro-diasporic language.

This year's prize was selected by judges Natalie Diaz, an author and recipient of the Nimrod/Hardman Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, and Timothy Donnelly, chair of the writing program at Columbia University School of the Arts.

Named for the late Saginaw poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for "The Waking," the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize has been awarded since 1968 to notable poets for a particular collection of poems published in a specific 3-year period. Past winners include former U.S. Poet Laureates Robert Penn Warren (1971) and Robert Pinsky (2008).

The award includes a $10,000 cash prize, which will be presented to Kearney during the March ceremony.

For more information on the prize and associated events honoring Roethke, visit www.svsu.edu/roethke.
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November's WakeUP! Midland event brought together members of the U.S. Military to share their experiences ahead of Veterans Day.

The four -- Capt. Barton Buechner, E-6 Staff Sergeant Erika Puvalowski, Sgt. Matt Rassette and Lt. Cmdr. Mike Major -- focused on the risks of serving in the U.S. Military and how employers can support those veterans seeking employment.

"There is a level of risk no matter when you join the military or where you serve," said Major, who served in the Michigan Army National Guard 1998-2002 and was recalled to active duty during Operation Enduring Freedom from July 2011 through September 2012.

Along with his full-time position at Saginaw Valley State University as the director of Career Services, Major also holds the position of special projects officer with the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Millington, Tenn.

Puvalowski has first hand experience with risk as she spent 9.5 years as an 88M truck driver. In 2005, Puvalowski, the director of marketing and business development at Tri-City Motor Speedway, served on the front lines with the 180th Transportation Company during Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

"There was more risk with people trying to blow you up," Puvalowski said.

The 180th arrived Jan. 1, 2005 and left on Dec. 24, 2005 on a base where about 25,000 were stationed.

Just prior to the arrival of her company, a mortar had actually landed on the base and injured personnel. While loading the plane on the day they were leaving the base, soldiers were hit with shrapnel.

"If you're on a big base, there is not so much risk," she said. "But, there's more risk on a smaller base and even more if you're in the infantry and trying to kill the bad guys."

Buechner graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1978 and served aboard the destroyer USS Forest Sherman during the Iranian hostage crisis. He retired from active duty in 2008 and now works with the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

"We partner with Michigan Works. Employers don't know how to find vets. So, one of the ways we can help in the community is to put out the welcome mat," Buechner said.

Currently, Buechner, a professor of military psychology at Adler University, stated that a lot of veterans don't understand that their skills are desirable.

"They ask, 'How do I continue to be relevant and serve my country and community?' They don't know how to do that except for putting on their uniform and showing up with their fellow soldiers," Buechner said.

Rassette holds the position of president of Rassette & Associates LLC, which works with returning veterans.

"One veteran was deployed and told he would have a job when he came back. The company went under while he was gone," said Rassette, who served in the U.S. Marines from 1984 to 1992. "We also work with Michigan Works. I can't say enough good things about Michigan Works."

During his second deployment, Major experienced just the opposite from his employer, SVSU.

"SVSU was very good to me," he said. "They ensured me that I was coming back to a job. I think sometimes when you get called that is not always the case and people get nervous about it."

Major received care packages along with emails from staff members, including the president during that time, Eric Gilbertson, and current president and former provost, Don Bachand.

"They would tell me not just about what was going on at SVSU, but 'how was I doing?'" Major said. "When you get employees that are serving, remember the human element. That goes a long ways."
I believe our current and former service members deserve the utmost respect for their service and sacrifice for this great country of ours. Their dedication and commitment, along with that of their families, ensures our freedoms and should never be taken for granted.

I have been working hard in Congress on legislation that will support our veterans. Currently, I serve on the House Committee on Appropriations, and this year, the committee passed legislation providing the Department of Veterans Affairs with a record-level of funding. This funding will boost the VAs efforts to address the backlog pending disability claims made by more than 300,000 veterans. That this logjam is so large and takes so long to process is unacceptable. This new funding will expedite the claims process and allows the VA to serve our veterans more quickly.

Of course, this new funding must come with greater accountability. I consistently hear from veterans about the lack of oversight at the VA. That is why, this June, I supported legislation signed into law by President Donald Trump that delivers important reforms. The VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act ensures more accountability at the department and makes it easier to fire VA employees who fail our veterans.

Of course, we also want to help veterans who are leaving the service into civilian life with education and workforce training opportunities. That is why I backed several improvements to the Post-9/11 GI Bill that will help veterans finish a college degree. I also supported legislation that encourages employers to hire more veterans into full-time jobs. This includes a bill that makes it easier for veterans to continue serving our country, working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, protecting our borders and addressing a critical agent shortfall.

Finally, I am proud to represent the veterans of our district. This year, my office has helped hundreds of veterans who needed assistance receiving the benefits they earned from the VA. I have also helped veterans get medals from the Department of Defense. In fact, this year, I have had the honor of presenting the Purple Heart to three veterans in our community. These men were injured defending the freedoms we hold dear and it was a privilege to present them their Purple Heart in the presence of family and friends.

If you need help receiving benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs or medals earned from the Department of Defense, please call my office at 989-631-2552 or go online at moolenaar.house.gov.

We celebrate Veterans Day to honor the men and women who have served and sacrificed for our nation. As the representative of Michigans Fourth Congressional District, I offer my sincere thanks and gratitude to the brave men and women who have served our country honorably.
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NORMAL  A Canadian agriculture equipment company is eyeing a manufacturing plant between Hudson and Normal that could bring up to 500 jobs to the area.

Brandt Group of Companies' Illinois operation is expected to make agricultural equipment, including augers, belt conveyors and grain carts. The company is the largest John Deere dealer network for construction in the world.

Brandt would acquire a 200,000-square-foot facility formerly used by Kongskilde Industries north of Normal, on North 1425 East Road, which is in a county enterprise zone that allows for tax abatements.

McLean County Unit 5 School District, Heartland Community College, Normal Township and McLean County must sign off on the proposal, which calls for a tax abatement during tax years 2018 to 2027.

The Unit 5 school board has scheduled a meeting for Monday. The McLean County Board will meet Tuesday.

This is similar to the Rivian (Automotive) deal, Barry Hitchens, Unit 5 school board vice president, said Saturday. The abatement is setting targets for the number of employees they would need to reach each year. If they meet those goals, they would get an abatement of their property taxes.

Hitchens said Brandt hopes to hire between 300 and 500 employees over seven years. Current annual property tax revenue from the site and adjacent land for Unit 5 is $79,800, he said.

Yes, were getting nearly $80,000 in taxes, but if no one purchases this property, it will start to deteriorate and the property value would go down significantly, said Hitchens. If theyre bringing the potential for 500 new jobs to the community, that would have a definitely economic impact.

Unit 5 Board President Jim Hayek said "it's always tough" for the district to consider tax abatements.

"Our largest source of revenue is from property taxes. It's always difficult when we are asked to give up some of that," said Hayek. "On the flip side, we have to look at it in terms of a benefit for the community and we will have to weigh that risk."

According to the abatement proposal, Kongskilde is downsizing and moving elsewhere in the Twin Cities.

The Denmark-based company sold its grass and soil divisions to CNH International in 2016, about a year after it unveiled a $10 million expansion at its Hudson plant. Kongskilde and neighbor Nussbaum Transportation both had asked for a sales tax incentive when they developed the sites in 2012.

Credited with building one of the first grain augers available in Canada, Canada-based Brandt employs more than 1,800 people in Canada and the United States, with markets in more than 20 countries and six continents. It recently surpassed $1 billion in annual revenue, according to its website.

Despite our 80 years of perpetual growth and success, in many ways it feels like were just getting started. Look for many exciting things to come from Brandt. The best is yet to come, President Shaun Semple says on the company website.

Brandt, based in Regina, is the largest privately owned company in Saskatchewan and among Canadas 50 Best Managed Companies program.

Brandt companies include Brandt Agricultural Products Ltd., Brandt Developments Ltd., Brandt Engineered Products Ltd., Brandt Equipment Solutions Ltd., Brandt Finance Ltd., Brandt Positioning Technology and Brandt Road Rail Corp. Brandt Tractor Ltd. is the largest privately held John Deere construction and forestry dealership in the world, the website said.
NORMAL  Unlike many industries, drone pilots are hungry for government regulations, an expert said.

"We want some regulation on everybody else driving on the streets, right?" said Sharon Rossmark, founder and CEO of advocacy organization Women and Drones. "We want some regulation on everybody who's flying in our national airspace."

Rossmark addressed current regulations as well as how to get into drone-piloting, opportunities in the drone industry and drone safety in the keynote address Friday at the Central Illinois' First Drone Conference event at Heartland Community College.

Beginners should keep in mind a few cardinal rules, she said: start small, know safety guidelines, use a pre-flight checklist and get insurance. That means getting the right drone for your needs, researching best practices for flying and being as meticulous getting ready for a flight as an airplane pilot.

"You (might say), 'I'm flying as a hobbyist,' but if you hit somebody  your drone drops out of the sky  you'll want insurance," she said.

Having solid regulations and safety protocols is getting more important because more people are flying drones by the day, Rossmark said. In the last two years, 1 million new pilots have registered with the Federal Aviation Administration, and by 2020 experts expect 7 million drones to be in use.

That includes 2.7 million drones for commercial purposes including agriculture, construction, journalism, real estate and utilities. That means not only jobs for pilots but also jobs for maintenance crews, and it gives workers tools to do old jobs in new and better ways.

"Agriculture  this is great, because we're in the heart of Illinois  is a huge growth area for drones," she said.

Commercial pilots, but not hobbyists, are licensed by the FAA and must follow guidelines, said Rossmark. Those include passing a Transportation Security Administration background check, which helps prevent drones from being used for terrorism  though they may not be safe technologically.

"They're about as secure as any wireless security system, because it is password-protected, but that doesn't mean somebody can't break into it. With all the hacking going on, it's a real possibility. I'm sure a lot of people are not necessarily changing the password on their systems," she said.

Rossmark's address kicked off the first-of-its-kind conference, created by Heartland's continuing education department and developed with the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council and McLean County Chamber of Commerce.
NORMAL  When Mike Heuer takes a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter out for a training flight, sometimes he makes a slight detour.

While stationed in Peoria as a chief warrant officer in the Army National Guard, Heuer often flies the military helicopter over the Twin Cities, but he tweaks the flight pattern in order to glide over the roof of his familys house in north Normal.

Heuer sends a text to his wife, Kara, and daughters, Grace, 12, and Sydney, 11, to let them know hes coming.

They run out into their yard to wait, sometimes in the dark. When they hear the thunder of helicopter blades, the girls wave up at the khaki green flying machine. He blinks a spotlight at them in return.

We feel like its a big hug from heaven, said Kara Heuer. Well miss those visits while hes gone this year.

After 23 years of service, Mike Heuer was deployed to Afghanistan for the third time in August and will be home in July.

This is the first year he hasnt been home for Christmas.

However, thanks to generosity from a local business, the Heuer girls can still look up at the roof of their house and think of their dad.

Derek and Aimee Claflin, owners of BNI Holiday Lighting in Normal, selected the Heuer family along with several other military and law enforcement families to receive free holiday lighting on their homes. They call it the Decorated Heroes Program.

We wanted to give back to the community because its upsetting to see so much hostility towards police and military, said Aimee Claflin. Theyre away from their families, serving their country and community, trying to keep people safe. This is our way to contribute and to show our support.

Last year, BNI Holiday Lighting decorated six houses, including the homes of two Vietnam veterans  one who was recently widowed, and the other who was battling cancer from contamination by Agent Orange while serving in combat.

This year, five families have been selected, including two who have lost loved ones while on duty.

I did three tours in Iraq. I know how hard it is to be away from family, said Derek Claflin, an Air Force veteran. Were pretty busy with our regular paying customers, but we get the most blessing out of these decorations.

The business designs and installs the custom lighting and returns in January to take everything down.

After a family member nominated the Heuer family for decorations, the business spent six hours hanging wreaths and attaching red, white and blue lights to the roof of their home this week.

Mike puts Christmas lights up every year, said Kara Heuer. The girls commented that this would be the first year we didnt have lights up because he would be deployed.

She said the girls were thrilled and surprised to see the lights glowing after school.

The holidays are hard when you have a part of your heart in another country, said Kara Heuer. Despite so much negativity in the news, this shows that most people are good and kind and want to do right by their neighbors and friends.

Bloomington police officer Jared Johnson also was selected to have his house decorated for the holidays.

He and his wife Lindsay live in Bloomington with their 9-month-old son, Paxton. In June, Paxton was diagnosed with retinoblastoma in his right eye. The cancerous tumor was removed, with his eye, and he has completed five rounds of chemotherapy.

It hasnt been easy by any means, but hes doing really well given the circumstances, said Johnson, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

While grateful for being chosen for the decorations, Johnson said the program shines a light on older veterans who "deserve more recognition."

"Some of them cant take pride in decorating their homes like they used to, and thats where Derek steps in to help, said Johnson. It means a lot that there are still people like that out there who care.

To be selected for home decoration, nomination stories for military or law enforcement families can be submitted by private message to the BNI Holiday Lighting Facebook page.
NORMAL  The sacrifices and dedication of U.S. military veterans were saluted in special ceremonies on the campuses of Illinois State and Illi
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Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, Friday, urged the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to take advantage of technology to implement an e-solution platform - the total revenue integrated processing system - to administer taxes.



With this, tax administration will not only reduce the turn-around time for taxpayers to do business but will also improve service delivery, he stated.



He said the country had reached a stage in her development, where it could not progress without adopting appropriate, current and improved technology to make tax administration convenient for taxpayers.



Dr Bawumia was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 38th Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) Annual Technical Conference, in Accra.



The five-day conference, which was on the theme: Leveraging Technology to Enhance Revenue Administration, brought together 209 participants from 18 Commonwealth countries and International Tax Organisations.



The discussion of the conference was developed around two sub topics; Facilitating, Monitoring and Enabling Compliance through Technology and Equipping Staff with skills to deliver in an Increasingly Digital Environment.



He charged the participants to be ambassadors of what technology could do and take the initiative in recommending e-solution to deal with issues.



He said the Customs Division of the GRA in September, this year, started the implementation of a paperless clearance of goods from the ports and these two platforms were greatly helping in the GRAs revenue mobilisation drive, which was an ample testimony of the what technology could achieve when properly leveraged. The Vice President urged the delegates, especially those from developing parts of the Commonwealth, not to lose sight of what technology could achieve for revenue administration.



A communique issued at the end of the conference also underscored the need for deploying technology to maximise receipts from taxes.



Mr Duncan Onduru, Executive Director of CATA, read the communique, which said the Association recognised that domestic revenue mobilisation played a key role towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.



The Communique said many Member countries were undertaking or considering far reaching reforms and a modernisation agenda with the aim of improving their internal processes, systems and procedures to respond to the evolving needs of the taxpayers and changing business environment.



It said recognising the increasing importance of digitisation was a critical feature of tax administration of the Century; the Association adopted the theme of the conference.



It emphasised that investment in technology was critical to responding to the emerging business models as well as managing the cost of tax collection and improving compliance.



The communique said issues arising from the Conference reiterated CATAs commitment to continue fostering of partnership among Members and to exploring options.



It expressed gratitude to Members who continued to support CATA training programmes by offering facilities.



It also encouraged Members to take advantage of the capacity building initiatives that the Association was pursuing and extended its appreciation to partner organisations, which were working with or assisting CATA in the furtherance of its outreach programmes.



It welcomed the commitment of the international community to the Addis Tax Agenda to support revenue mobilisation in developing countries.



The Communique called for continuous engagement by developing countries during the implementation of Tax policies and noted the critical role that digitisation would play in the current transparency in tax reporting and exchange of information among countries.



It said the Association welcomed the move towards the creation of the network of tax organisations as a viable platform for building synergies among organisations in their effort to provide service to the mutual members.



The Association was committed to exploring opportunities for sharing of experience and best practices, for example, through facilitation of study visits, sharing of research findings and providing experts to facilitate CATA capacity building events through leveraging available technology platforms.

Source: GNA









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The posturing of the 10 regional chairmen of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who have called on former President John Dramani Mahama to jump into the partys leadership race ahead of the 2020 elections, is a harbinger of bigger disgrace in store for the umbrella family, former La-Dadekotopon Member of Parliament (MP), Nii Amasah Namoale has said.



Nii Namoale, who recently stepped down from his partys flagbearership race, in a radio interview on Accra based Class FM Friday morning said he believes there were moves to impose a candidate on the party for the 2020 polls.



I saw what happened in Cape Coast and Ive seen that if we will go into this flagbearership thing with a divided front, those who are trying to impose a candidate on us will succeed, he explained as being the reason for ceding his supporters to fellow potential aspirant Prof Joshua Alabi.



As far as the call on Mr Mahama by the regional chairmen to contest the leadership race is concerned, Namoale said: They have the democratic right to go anywhere that they want to go, they have the democratic right to suggest to the former president to do a thank you tour, they have a democratic right to call on him to come and contest 2020, that is their opinion. But as to whether the thank you tour is in the Kwesi Botchwey report or not, it is the National Executive Committee or the Functional Executive Committee  the corporate NDC  that will give us a directive as to what to do and what not to do. It is not the 10 regional chairmen who are members of NEC.



In his view, the regional chairmen, should have tabled it at NEC for NEC to tell the former president to go and do a thank you tour. But they have come out to say it.



So, it is their association, they have the democratic right but let me tell you something, Moro, there is a bigger disgrace waiting for us ahead. There is a bigger disgrace waiting for us. If we are so impatient, we are so bent on taking the horse to the river and forcing the horse to drink water from the river. You cannot force the horse, but there is a way you can force the horse: throw the horse into the river, when it starts drowning it will drink the water.



Its an association, they have the democratic right to visit whoever they want to, they have the democratic right to do whatever they want to do but Im telling you that from what Im seeing and from what Im reading, there is a bigger disgrace waiting for us, Namoale stressed.

Source: classonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A decade from now, you may be able to sit comfortably as a levitating vehicle shoots through an underground tube at 800 mph, taking you from Pittsburgh to Chicago in 39 minutes.

Or you can visualize such a future this weekend at Carnegie Mellon University.

The school is celebrating 50 years since the merger of the Carnegie Institute of Technology and Mellon Institute. To honor its founders' contributions and innovations that followed, the Founders Exposition on Saturday will showcase a variety of initiatives and research. Visitors can interact with modern projects by playing "Go Fish" with a robot, testing the strength of their computer passwords or sitting down for a virtual reality experience from CMU Hyperloop.

The hyperloop concept, first floated by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2013, uses magnets and low air pressure to propel passenger pods through large steel tubes at speeds up to 800 mph. Teams from across the globe are competing to come up with a design that will make it a viable transit option.

A man sits in a model of a hyperloop pod seat to have a virtual reality experience at Carnegie Mellon University on Nov. 10, 2017.

CMU's team consists of 70-80 volunteers from a variety of fields. Engineering and business students play a part alongside drama majors, who wanted to create a virtual reality experience to help the curious public grasp how hyperloop technology can change daily life.

Realistically, commuters can expect to see functional hyperloops in about 10 years, said Ben Martin, the team's business lead.

"We didn't go to the moon in a year," he said. "The technical challenges that we have here are probably less than going to the moon, but it's mostly a private industry focus; so it's not like you have a big government bank and tens of billions of dollars pushing to make it happen."

The CMU team placed eighth in Musk's competition earlier this year. They plan to continue building models for future competitions and seeking sponsors to help with material costs.

Curious what life might be like with hyperloop access? Here's the virtual reality dramatization from CMU:

And here is footage from the fastest test drive at Musk's last competition:

While engineers solve the problem for how to create an ideal transit pod, Musk is focused on the tunnel aspect. His Boring Company has been working on a project in Los Angeles that would ferry cars at 125 mph to ease congestion woes. And just a few weeks ago, Maryland's Department of Transportation gave conditional approval for a tunnel to be bored between Baltimore and Washington.

Other states are also interested in the concept, hoping such transportation options would ease traffic problems. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission is pursuing a route from Chicago to Columbus to Pittsburgh, which was selected by startup Virgin Hyperloop One as one of 10 routes it wants to build. Colorado officials are studying the feasibility of a hyperloop route.

But experts are split on whether the concept will come to fruition, or if it will amount to nothing more than hype. The major deterrent is cost. Building tunnels is expensive, as are the materials needed to construct pods safe for high-speed transit.
WILLIAMSPORT - U.S. Rep. Tom Marino knows the pain of unfinished plans.

The congressman from Lycoming County intended to get rid of an opioid crisis most experts say will take a generation to defeat.

His biggest disappointment in not being President Donald Trump's drug czar is that he won't get to address the public health emergency ravaging the country and killing thousands of Pennsylvanians.

"I had a great deal I wanted to get done," Marino said Friday during an interview with PennLive at his Williamsport area home. "I was building a good staff to tackle this problem and bring the drug epidemic to its knees.

"We could have done that but for the lightening rod made by a bad cop who had an axe to grind," Marino said.

The four-term 10th District Republican was referring to Joe Rannazzisi, former head of the Office of Diversion Control for the Drug Enforcement Agency, who he called a "Rambo-style cop that is bad for the whole system."

READ MORE:

Rannazzisi claimed a House bill that Marino wrote, which in 2016 was enacted into law by unanimous consent without a roll call, hampers the DEA's ability to quickly suspend drug distribution licenses amid suspicions of oversupplying opioids.

When the Washington Post and 60 Minutes reported Rannazzisi's claims, Marino's nomination became so controversial he withdrew his name.

Marino said he wrote the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act after hearing from pharmacists in his district, which extends from the New York border into Perry County, that they could not get prescribed drugs for patients.

The legislation, as amended by the Senate, provides for immediate suspension of a license if there is threat of death, serious bodily harm or abuse of a controlled substance, Marino said.

The White House, Drug Enforcement Agency and Justice Department agreed with the legislation, he said. Had they said there was something wrong, "we could have fixed it right away," Marino said.

There were calls last month to repeal the law, but he noted Congress has yet to do so.

Trump twice picked Marino to be drug czar. The lawmaker turned it down the first time due to his mother's failing health.

When he withdrew a second time, Marino said he told Trump he really wanted the job, but "it's at the point they are really going to make an issue out of this and you don't need another issue."

"I had my heart set on the job," Marino said.

He planned to create a bipartisan advisory committee and travel around the country to see the opioid crisis first-hand, he said.

The president asked him if he wanted to do something else, but Marino said he declined and told him he would stay in Congress. He is seeking re-election next year.

The lawmaker said he had bipartisan support to head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Several House Democrats urged the senators from their states to support his nomination, he said.

Marino also took a swipe at West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III, who after the Washington Post and 60 Minutes reports called for Trump to withdraw the nomination.

He accused the Democrat of blaming his staff for not telling him about the bill so he could have objected.

"Any elected official who blames his staff isn't worth being elected," he said. "He didn't do his work, He didn't read the legislation."

Manchin said Marino received $100,000 in contributions from drug companies over seven years, but Marino said Manchin left out that he took $310,612 himself during the same period.

Marino, a former Lycoming County district attorney and Middle District U.S. attorney, said he doesn't think the drug czar controversy will hurt him at the polls next year when he seeks re-election.
Meek Mill is inmate ND8400 at state prison in Camp Hill, but how he ended up there is the source of much debate.

His supporters see the man behind the musician, a 30 year old suffering from an opioid addiction and being made an example of by a Philadelphia judge. He popped some wheelies on his dirt bike, traveled outside of Pennsylvania for shows and got into an altercation with a St. Louis airport employee who was taking his photo.

That unfairly yielded 2 to 4 years in prison, according to more than 250,000 people who've signed a petition asking Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf for help. Dozens of celebrities have also expressed support for Mills and slammed the racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

Common Pleas Court Judge Genece Brinkley is part of that system. She sees a man who has been in an out of her courtroom for a decade, defying her 10-year probation order.

"I gave you break after break, and you basically just thumbed your nose at this court," she said during sentencing Monday.

She sees the man known legally as Robert Rihmeek William, who was on probation since a 2008 conviction for dealing drugs and gun possession.

He's the Philly rapper with a national audience, who was arrested twice this year:

March

August.

Charges

'Enamored' judge

Brinkley is a focal point in the case, partially because critics disagree with her sentence and partially because Mill's attorney has made her one.

One of Mill's attorneys, Joe Tacopina, told the New York Times that Brinkley has acted inappropriately during the case, including giving advice on who should be his manager.

The judge has also been vindictive, he said.

Tacopina said Brinkley asked Mills to do a remake of Boyz II Men's "On Bended Knee" and mention her name,

.

Mill laughed it off, the attorney told Philly.com, ultimately telling the judge, "I can't do that. It's not my music. I don't sing that stuff. And I don't do, like, you know, shout-outs to people in my songs."

Brinkley responded with, "OK, suit yourself," Tacopina said.

He told CNN Brinkley's behavior was "a little stalkerish," claiming last year she showed up at Mill's "community service for the homeless" and "watched him do community service."

Meek Mill and his attorney walk into court Monday.

The judge hasn't responded to the allegations. The Philadelphia court system spokesman, Gabriel Roberts, on Wednesday issued a short statement: "Because this matter is subject to future litigation, there will be no comment at this time."

Tacopina said on CNN he will appeal the sentence issued by Brinkley, who has "exhibited enormous bias" and is "enamored" with Mill and takes "a personal interest in the case."

'I'm asking for mercy'

The New York City lawyer describes his client as "frustrated."

"He's being treated different than anyone else," Tacopina said on CNN Thursday. "If his name was John Smith, he wouldn't be in jail and he certainly wouldn't be on probation. He's been on probation for nearly 10 years. Nobody goes on probation for 10 years."

Mill initially had a five-year probation. Brinkley extended it after after additional violations.

The rapper was previously sent to prison in July 2014 for parole violations related to performing out of state without permission. Brinkley ordered Mill to take etiquette classes.

Mill told Billboard magazine he spent most of that prison stay in solitary confinement.

He spoke briefly in court this week before sentencing. "I'm human. I'm not perfect," Mill said, according to a report from Philly.com. "I'm asking for mercy. You gave me the ladder to do what I have to do to prevail in my struggle. I made it this far, I can't really go back and start over."

That's when Brinkley said, "I gave you break after break, and you basically just thumbed your nose at this court."

Brinkley issued the 2 to 4 year sentence, going against the recommendation of the prosecution. Both the district attorney and Mill's probation officer recommended "no incarceration."

Seeking help from Gov. Wolf

Celebrities and supporters on Monday joined a chorus of people admonishing Brinkley for her sentence.

"The sentence handed down by the Judge -- against the recommendation of the Assistant District Attorney and Probation Officer -- is unjust and heavy handed," rapper Jay-Z posted on Facebook Monday. "We will always stand by and support Meek Mill, both as he attempts to right this wrongful sentence and then in returning to his musical career."

Comedian and actor Kevin Hart shared this: "Praying for my brother @meekmill right now. God sometimes puts the toughest battles on his strongest soldiers. I'm here for you man!!!! My brother for life...Always here for you man!!! This storm will pass...Stay strong & keep your head up"

A petition for Mill's release started almost immediately. It's called "Somebody Save Meek Mill" and it had more than 257,000 signatures as of early Saturday morning. The thousands of signers are asking Gov. Tom Wolf, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack and the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons for help.

The petition says:

"We humbly ask for the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons to grant relief in his sentence and call on Governor Tom Wolf to closely look into this matter and address why Meek, and thousands of other young, black men throughout the state are unnecessarily incarcerated for minor parole and probation violations."

What did he do?

This is how Mill ended up with a 10-year probation:

In 2008, when he was 18, he illegally carried a gun to a corner store. He was convicted on gun and drug charges, getting sentenced to eight months in prison and five years probation.

Mill's career took off during the next six years and in 2014 he violated probation by performing outside Pennsylvania. He was sent to prison for five months, and told Billboard he spent most of that time in solitary confinement.

When he was released in December 2014 and Brinkley continued with probation.

Last year, Mill served 90 days of house arrest for violating his parole by traveling to New York for a benefit concert and to be with former girlfriend Nicki Minaj. Prosecutors also accused him of avoiding a drug test.

Mill said during the sentencing this week he has battled an addiction to Percocet, an opioid painkiller.

"I may have made a mistake but I never had the intention of disrespecting you," he said to the judge.

On Wednesday, he started his third prison sentence.

SCI Camp Hill

Mill reported to state prison in Camp Hill on Nov. 9.

He will have a series of evaluations and diagnostic tests there before being assigned to a prison, according to Department of Corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton.

Once he's assigned to a prison, which could be Camp Hill, Mill will serve at least two years until he becomes eligible for parole.
STATE COLLEGE - Penn State President Eric Barron was awarded a 2 percent merit increase by university trustees Friday for what the board deemed "exceptional performance."

The move brings Barron's base salary to $834,364 retroactive to July 1, up from $818,004 in 2016-17.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, however, Barron's total compensation easily exceeds $1 million and ranks among the top public university presidents in America.

The board also announced new salaries for most other members of Barron's senior management team, as approved by the Committee on Compensation earlier this week:

Nicholas Jones, executive vice president and provost, $542,532, an increase of $11,940 from 2016-17.

David Gray, senior vice president for Finance and Business, $511,476, an increase of $21,036.

Craig Hillemeier, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center dean and CEO and senior vice president for Health Affairs, $953,700, an increase of $17,896.

Sandy Barbour, athletic director, $735,420, up $3,612.

A fifth senior staffer, Chief General Counsel Steve Dunham, is not receiving a raise and will continue at his 2016-17 base pay, a Penn State spokesman said. Dunham's base salary was last reported at $551,364.

READ MORE: Penn State confirms settlement with Jerry Sandusky witness Mike McQueary

The salary adjustments for Barron and his senior leadership team are based on factors including experience, performance, areas of oversight and duties, and the university's pool of allocated funds for pay hikes.

In addition, in Barron's case, 100 Penn State community members were asked to complete an assessment on the president's performance toward meeting his goals and objectives.

"Clearly he is perceived, both internally and externally... as being a leader," Board Chairman Mark Dambly said of Barron after Friday's vote.

READ MORE: Penn State board passes language some say will limit trustees' watchdog role

"He's doing a great job and you can tell by results of the university in terms of our fundraising, our graduation rates, our time-to-graduation rate. He's meeting or exceeding his goals... and we're interested in retaining him."

The senior management salary actions were delayed this year because of the delay in final approval of the state budget, which carries a major chunk of Penn State's operating revenues.

Two of the 33 voting trustees present voted against Barron's raise: Anthony Lubrano and Edward "Ted" Browne III. Lubrano said he opposing the raise because of his sense of the overall fiscal constraints facing Penn State.
The Harrisburg area has tied one low temperature record and broke another one, according to the National Weather Service at State College.

The tie came Friday night when the low recorded at the Harrisburg International Airport reached 24, according to Paul Head, a meteorologist with the NWS.

The record low of 24 for any Nov. 10 was also recorded in 2003.

Then early Saturday morning the low reach 20, breaking the previous record, Head said. The previous low temperature for any Nov. 11 was 23, set in 1952.

The National Weather Service has been recording weather data in the Harrisburg area since the 1880s.

The last time the Harrisburg area tied or set a record low was March 7, 2015, Head said. Since that time, the Harrisburg area has broken 21 daily records for high temperatures, according to the NWS.

The normal high temperature this time of year in the Harrisburg area is 55, the normal low is 37, according to the NWS.

High temperatures are expected to approach 50 from Sunday through Tuesday.

For Saturday, expect sunny skies and a high near 41. Low around 20.

SUNDAY: Partly sunny, with a high near 47. There will be a 50 percent chance of rain and snow. Low around 32. Calm wind. Precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

MONDAY: There will be a 30 percent chance of rain and snow before 1 p.m., then a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Low around 33.

TUESDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. Low around 32.

For the latest forecasts, visit PennLive's weather page.

You can see live weather updates via the National Weather Service and other Twitter sources below.

Tweet us at @pennlive with photos of inclement weather at your place, incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.
By Nicole Reigelman

Last week, I returned from a six month deployment with the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Dhafra Airbase in the United Arab Emirates.

Maj. Nicole Reigelman (submitted photo)

As a member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard for 15 years, I had never before been called to serve as part of wartime operations. While I was anxious about deploying, I was proud to join generations of Americans who have answered our nation's call.

My six months deployed were among the most rewarding of my life, reinforcing the reasons I love to serve.

First, as a public affairs officer, I was able to view firsthand the professionalism and dedication of my fellow airmen as they fulfilled their piece of the mission everyday.

I saw the tremendous coordination and teamwork it takes to prepare a U-2 Dragon Lady for a 10 hour sortie. I experienced the precision of air refueling missions over Syria from the back of a KC-10 Extender.

I met the team responsible for maintaining the wing's thousands of AC units, without which when temperatures routinely surpass 120, aircraft sensors can't be maintained, pilots can't get adequate crew rest, and the mission falters.

These professionals are part of a proud, but shrinking, community in the U.S. of those who choose to serve.

While service members across the branches have varied experiences, service is a brotherhood nonetheless, and one that I was blessed to renew my membership.

My deployment also exposed me to a culture unlike what I've seen on previous overseas trips.

The UAE was a great location to experience Middle Eastern tradition, from the delicious cuisine to the serene playing of the call to prayer. The Emiratis were gracious hosts to the thousands of U.S. personnel living in their country.

Finally, my deployment challenged me in new ways. Like countless others, I overcame the inevitable discomfort of separation from friends, family and daily routines.

At times, watching tragedies unfold at home from thousands of miles away - from a devastating hurricane season to the mass shooting in Las Vegas - intensified that discomfort.

But overall, I learned more about the Air Force core missions than I imagined possible, grew professionally by managing a team of talented airmen and eventually thrived in a role in which I was initially uncertain.

Being a member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard has presented me with unequaled opportunity to contribute to a larger mission, while being able to grow personally and professionally.

This Veterans Day I'm prouder than ever to wear the uniform and serve alongside the professionals committed to service.

Nicole Reigelman is a major in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. In her civilian life, she is an employee of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Education.
Forget Brexit doom and gloom, Britons are happier since the vote: Levels of contentment hit record levels in year after decision to leave

By Steve Doughty Social Affairs Correspondent For The Daily Mail8 November 2017Happiness and contentment among people in England increased to record levels in the year after the Brexit vote, national well-being rankings showed yesterday.Far from a plunge into worry and fear, there is convincing evidence of rising happiness, satisfaction with life, and feelings that life is worthwhile in the 12 months since the June 2016 vote.And alongside the positive signs of confidence, levels of anxiety, which had ticked up in the months before the referendum, have now stopped going up.The nation, according to the ratings calculated by the Office for National Statistics, is now less anxious than it was four years ago.The findings, gathered from a large-scale official survey, undermine claims that people are spooked by the possibility of a no-deal or bad deal Brexit, alarmed by the prospect of economic reverses, and deeply concerned about the future.They add to growing evidence that the referendum has improved the national mood.The happiness measures that show benefits from the vote against the EU were developed in the 2000s by EU statisticians as an alternative to traditional economic figures.They were introduced in Britain six years ago by former Prime Minister David Cameron, who said they could be used to formulate government policies.The rankings are produced from a series of questions answered by more than 300,000 people who take part in the ONS Annual Population Survey.They are asked about their level of satisfaction with life, how happy they were yesterday, how anxious they were yesterday, and how worthwhile they feel their lives are.In 2011 the measures marked out of ten put happiness at 7.29, worthwhile lives at 7.67 and satisfaction at 7.42.For the year to the end of June 2017 the measures stood at 7.52, 7.87, and 7.69, far above 2011 and significantly higher than June 2016.Broadly, happiness levels rose to the end of 2014, and then stalled for two years, until they began to climb after June 2016.The national anxiety measure now stands at 2.91 out of ten, a level far improved on the 3.13 found in the spring of 2011.Matthew Steel of the ONS said: 'The figures, the first to be based on a full year of data since the EU referendum, show small increases in how people in the UK rate their life satisfaction, happiness and feelings that the things they do in life are worthwhile.'He added that the improvements were found in England and there were no well-being advances in the rest of the UK.There were also jumps in numbers of people in England reporting very high levels of happiness and very low anxiety.More than a third now put happiness and worthwhile ratings at more than nine out of ten, and 40 per cent say their anxiety level is below one out of ten.The ONS said high employment  employment rates are at their highest and unemployment the lowest since the first half of the 1970s  may have contributed to the happiness improvement, alongside other economic good news.But it said real disposable income has been falling.It noted political uncertainty and terror attacks and added 'considering this it may be surprising that levels of personal well-being are increasing'.However the ONS said independent surveys have found that growing numbers of people think Brexit will make no difference to the standard of living.It may be, the report said, 'that as time goes on people are becoming more relaxed about the the implications of Brexit'.In September a major international poll found Britain was more at ease with itself and less racked by tension over immigration in the wake of the EU referendum.The IPSOS Social Research Institute found worries over immigration are lessening, and suggested that many people are reassured that leaving the EU will mean more control over immigration in future.Read more: Brits 'are happier since the Brexit vote in June 2016' | Daily Mail Online Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
RTG Medical, a medical staffing agency headquartered in Fremont, has added Amy Nieman as brand ambassador to its marketing department.

Nieman will be responsible for maintaining and building RTG Medicals community partnerships, executing company events and continuing to build awareness of RTG Medical throughout the Greater Omaha area.

Nieman brings more than 15 years of marketing and recruiting experience to RTG Medical. She is the outgoing director for the Heartland Womens Network, a female-based organized with a mission to help women in the heartland grow personally and professionally.

In addition, Nieman serves on the Board of Directors for Community Health Charities and is an active member for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) where she accepted the LLSs Woman of the Year award in 2015. Originally from Waterloo. Nieman earned a bachelors degree in communication studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Throughout 2017, RTG Medical and their employees donated nearly $30,000 to their selected community partners through their newly-established Community Partnership Program. Organizations that participated in the program were Special Olympics Nebraska and Fremont teams, Fremont Family YMCA, the Dodge County and Nebraska Humane Societies, and the Fremont chapter of Wreaths Across America.
In general, men are twice as likely to cheat on a spouse than women are. That frequency increases over the lifespan, peaking among the elderly. Among men 18 to 29 who have ever been married, about 1 in 10 is
Beethoven was banished, Schubert and Mozart nowhere to be seen. Not a single Classical-era composer, in fact, appeared in the Philadelphia debut recital of British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor on Friday night in the Perelman Theater.

It's not a complaint, per se. But these composers are common at Philadelphia Chamber Music Society recitals for a reason. They fill out a portrait of the artist. And if Grosvenor managed to get through an entire program without turning in a complete personality profile, there is still time. He's 25 years old.

Not that the personality he offered was lacking in a point of view. It was a program constructed to his strengths. The encore, Moszkowski's Etude in A Flat, Op. 72, No. 11, was made of elfin runs rendered with the ease of a weightlifter wielding a feather-duster. It's not just that Grosvenor's technique is spectacular; it's that he pulls back on its flash potential to serve a solid musical aim. He and wise restraint are on easy terms.

The only programming miscalculation of the evening might have been the Debussy. Why would a pianist, permitted to choose from the largest repertoire of any instrument, pick a transcription  and a transcription of a piece beloved for its orchestration? In Leonard Borwick's piano translation of Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune, Grosvenor did not attempt to evoke an orchestra, but rather to replace it in impressive Lisztian tremolos and sparking runs. Mission accomplished.

But the pianist had more important things to say in authentic ways in authentic repertoire. There is a drive in his playing that beautifully flirts with brashness, but goes there only for the best of musical reasons.

He started the last of Brahms' Opus 119 Four Pieces, the "Rhapsody in E Flat Major," in all the brightness of a brass fanfare. But the way he led the line to the end was masterly. The music grew in size of sound, tempo, and intensity, building into a blaze that, at the very end, turned very satisfyingly angry. His way in the other pieces in the set offered strong opinions.

His decision to intersperse the four pieces with three responses to Brahms by contemporary Australian-born composer Brett Dean? I'm not sure that it added much, though I'm certain I would have appreciated Dean's strengths if his three pieces had been done separately, in a set of their own. Putting your work alongside Brahms seems to be an artistic suicide mission.

We are, however, grateful to any pianist who programs Berg's Piano Sonata Opus 1, a one-movement trip to the last seconds of late Romanticism that leaves us off in the happy-to-be-simply-sad key of B minor after 11 minutes of anxious-sad.

He bookended the recital in works far from each other in style, yet potent in ways that exploited his strengths. Bach is a vehicle for personal expression, Grosvenor argued in the French Suite in G Major, BWV 816. What beautiful use of dynamics and tempo to shape the line. The music was always on its way to somewhere, with the extraordinary lightness of his left hand and beautifully turned out ornaments marking points of interest along the way.

If his Debussy wasn't orchestral, his Ravel consciously sought colors variously bright and in shades of gray. Grosvenor's commanding technique dug deep into the imagery of Gaspard de la nuit  the misty world of "Ondine," the nightmarish "Scarbo" who can't be stamped out no matter how hard you try. The pianist's voicings (the weight given to certain notes as opposed to others) in the second movement moved it to a level of drama not often realized by other pianists. He didn't just refer to the corpse swinging from the gibbet  that B flat tolling throughout  but, through pacing and phasing, suggested the despair you felt sitting there watching the face of someone you once knew.
People around the Philadelphia region, like consumers around the country, are rushing to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, advocacy groups reported Friday.

More than 600,000 people nationally selected insurance plans in the first week of the annual open enrollment period  a pace that could be double last year's signups early on. Given that President Trump and congressional Republicans have spent the past year attacking and trying to dismantle President Barack Obama's signature law, that is stunning many observers.

State enrollment figures were not available, but local health-coverage advocates reported strong interest. Calls to the Pennsylvania Health Access Network's help line were running at roughly double the pace of last year's first week, as were the number of consumers who enrolled with the organization's help, said Antoinette Kraus, executive director of the nonprofit.

Still, the rapid pace may not mean that more people get insurance through the ACA marketplace this year. That's because the Trump administration cut the enrollment season by half  it will end on Dec. 15  and slashed federal funding for marketing, which many consider crucial to reaching younger and healthier people, who tend to sign up later and cost insurers less to cover. The actions have led to widespread confusion.

"In the past, we saw a surge in enrollment at the end of the enrollment period but that was largely due to advertising, which the feds will not be doing this year. What is happening now is a good sign, but we are still very concerned that enrollment will be significantly depressed," said Raymond Castro, director of health policy for New Jersey Policy Perspective.

Assistance is available but you have to know where to look.

The big numbers for the 39 states that use the federal website for enrollments in subsidized insurance cover Nov. 1 to 4. On Election Day, the Trump administration's efforts against the ACA ran into a backlash. Maine voted overwhelmingly to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act, and Democratic victories increased the likelihood that Virginia would do the same. Political observers attributed turnout for Democratic candidates elsewhere in part to growing public interest in making health care more accessible and affordable.

Trump also tried to chip away at Obamacare by ending the cost-sharing payments that allow insurers to reduce out-of-pocket costs for lower-income customers. But what really happened was far different. Most people who buy their insurance on the exchanges receive federal subsidies, which the law designed to increase as premiums rise. For that reason, many purchasers will experience none of the huge rate increases that have been widely reported  while the government will pay billions more in subsidies.

Insurance companies are required to send letters to consumers about rate increases, and many were shocked by what they received some weeks ago, Kraus said. But that was before many learned that thanks to the higher federal subsidies, they could buy better plans for the same or less cost.

The Trump administration's own data show that 80 percent of purchasers in Pennsylvania can now buy the lowest-cost plan, effective Jan. 1, for less than $75 in monthly premiums after tax credits, compared with 59 percent last year. In New Jersey, 61 percent will be able to get plans for less than $75, up from 54 percent last year.

"Instead of turning people off, [the partisan debate] has really gotten people's attention," said Joel Ario, who was Pennsylvania insurance commissioner under Gov. Ed Rendell and Obama's first director of the insurance exchanges that sell the plans. Now a managing director at Manatt Health, he left the government job two years before the debacle of Healthcare.gov's initial rollout.

Losing out, he said, will be people who earn too much to qualify for subsidies (more than $48,000 for a single person, $98,000 for a family of four), who will bear the full brunt of rate increases that grew significantly to make up for the loss of federal cost-sharing payments.

Ario had high praise for how Pennsylvania's insurance department prepared for the Trump administration's last-minute policy changes. The state insisted that insurance carriers create plans available off the exchange, without subsidies, that could be directly compared with the subsidized plans. That means consumers here will have among the best options as well as the most help making choices in all but a handful of other states, he said. The insurance department also worked with an independent "Ralph Nader-kind of operation," as he called the Consumers' Checkbook website.

It goes well beyond what the federal HealthCare.gov site offers by directing consumers to plans both on and off the exchange, with and without subsidies, by calculating their financial information and other details. (In his work as a consultant, Ario represents a private health-care company, Stride Health, that he said got a link this week from Pennsylvania's insurance department-based Checkbook based on the usefulness of its own insurance-sales site.)

New Jersey, too, offers consumers high-quality assistance through CoverNJ.org, a site run by New Jersey Citizen Action.

What is different there, said Maura Collinsgru, health care program director for the advocacy group, is that Republican Gov. Christie's administration, unlike that of Democratic Gov. Wolf's in Pennsylvania, "has done nothing to promote the ACA open enrollment." Still, she said, the initial response has been strong.

The Philadelphia area has excelled at enrollment in the past. During the first year of Obamacare, in 2014, federal data that compared regional achievements showed that Southeastern Pennsylvania's well-coordinated efforts by local organizations offering assistance to consumers had achieved the second-highest percentage of potential signups among regions across the country. (Miami was then No. 1.)

Back then, the entire concept of shopping for health insurance online was new and hard to grasp, and the website was a major embarrassment for Obama with real political consequences. Now, the site is working smoothly; its success in the face of intentional disruptions could be viewed as an embarrassment to Trump.

"People are not giving up," said Suzanne Cohen, a spokeswoman for the Health Federation of Philadelphia, which offers enrollment assistance.
A knife-wielding man who lunged at a Philadelphia police officer trying to break up an argument between him and roommates over disruption to cable and internet service at their Grays Ferry home was shot by the officer early Saturday morning, police said.

The 57-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, remains at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in critical but stable condition, police said.

According to authorities, officers around 1:43 a.m. responded to a call reporting a domestic disturbance on the 1200 block of South 29th Street, where the man lives with another man, 29, and two women, ages 30 and 56.

He was "irate regarding the television and internet not working, and attributed the problem to other occupants of the residence," police said in a written statement.

As two officers spoke with the shirtless man outside the house, a third went inside to try to defuse the situation, police said. At some point, all three officers were outside the house and the 57-year-old man went back inside.

Officers then heard the 29-year-old scream that the 57-year-old had armed himself with a knife, according to the police statement. The officers went back into the house and found the older male approaching the younger one with a folding knife, police said.

Two officers drew their Tasers and the third, who was closest to the 57-year-old, drew his gun and "repeatedly told" the man to drop the knife, according to the police statement.

When he moved quickly toward that officer, who has not been identified, the officer fired, striking the man once in the chest, police said. He dropped to the floor still holding the knife, they said.

It is the eighth officer-involved shooting in Philadelphia this year, according to the Police Department's website. As is standard protocol, the officer involved in the shooting will be placed on desk duty pending an investigation by the department's Internal Affairs Unit.
The Lewis-Clark Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, met Nov. 7 at Keene Memorial Library with Regent Dixie Lambert presiding.

In honor of Veterans Day this month, the speaker for the meeting was a Vietnam veteran, Dwain Glathar. He talked about some of his experiences being in the armor tank division during the 12 months he served in Vietnam.

He made the trip to Washington, D.C., this summer on the last honor flight being taken for the Vietnam era veterans. He said there were 652 people at the banquet before the flight left from the Omaha airport. They were up at 2:15 a.m. to make the flight.

There were four planes and they were all decorated on the inside with a patriotic theme. In Washington, D.C, each plane had three buses that took them to the various war memorials in the area. The Vietnam Wall was his favorite. The chapter presented him with a pillowcase made from patriotic material as a thank you for his service to his country.

Jane Dugan read the National Defense message. Betsy Hansen read the President General's message. She thanked the many chapters that made the National DAR Day of Service such a success.

In October, about 80 Daughters set out on the Celebrating the Franco-American Alliance Tour. Judy Ekeler from the Lewis-Clark Chapter was one who made this exciting trip. They had a great time in France as they commemorated the 100th anniversary of World War I by visiting battle sites and the Somme American Military Cemetery, which honors the sacrifice of 1,844 American military soldiers who lost their lives serving in WWI.

Pam Hancock read a message from the Vietnam War Commemoration stating they are active on social media. They are on Facebook, Twitter, and a YouTube channel. This way they can share with the world the events that are held to thank and honor our heroes.

Hancock gave the Indian Minutes. A sculpture of Ponca Chief Standing Bear was unveiled at Centennial Mall near the State Capitol in Lincoln on Oct. 15.

Hancock read the Lewis-Clark Chapter minutes from March 5, 1906. Mrs. Kelly presented the chapter with a pair of stockings and Mrs. Kemp an old collar worn by Mary Foster, grandmother of Mrs. T. D. Black, in 1780, left to the chapter at the death of Mrs. Black in 1875, and a hair bracelet worn by Mrs. Black in 1875.

Hancock read the biography on a wife of one of the signers of the Constitution. This month was on Rachel Pierce Broom, who married Jacob Broom in 1773. Her parents were ardent Patriots and her father was a soldier in the Continental Army.

Mr. Broom was the son of a blacksmith and later became a prosperous farmer. He was a farmer, surveyor, businessman, politician and patriot. The influence of his Quaker friends kept him from fighting in the war. They had 11 children. After serving in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Jacob returned to Delaware and became Wilmington's first postmaster and the owner of a cotton mill. Rachel died in 1823 and was buried in Christ Church Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Laree Skelton gave the Conservation Minutes and gave many examples on conserving water usage.

Ruth Anne Siders gave the Kennedy quote for the month. It was from a news conference given on April 21, 1961. "Victory has a hundred Fathers; defeat is an orphan."

Hansen requested everyone get their volunteer hours to her so they can be entered into the computer to give the chapter credit for these volunteer hours.

The chapter will continue to work on the project to record genealogy information obtained from old Bibles. The tentative starting date for this project is March 2018.

The chapter wishes to check to see how many WWI veterans are buried in the Fremont cemeteries. Members want to make sure these grave sites all have a wreath for the Christmas holiday to honor the 100th anniversary of WWI which started on Nov. 1, 1918.

Hostess for the month was Dugan who decorated the table with a patriotic theme and served delicious cupcakes.

The next meeting will be Dec. 5 at the residence of Dr. Colleen Dilley.
Philadelphia Police Department officers stand outside a home where a 2-year-old was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the 200 block of West Godfrey Avenue in Olney on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. A family member drove the child to Einstein Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Read more

Philadelphia police officials said Friday that they did not anticipate charging anyone in the death of a 2-year-old Olney boy who shot himself in the head Thursday with a stolen firearm.

Homicide Capt. John Ryan said the handgun that killed Ibn-Kareem Lawson was reported stolen in Cheltenham in 2015. Police were still investigating to see whether forensics could shed light on who in the house might have possessed the gun, Ryan said, but the death was being considered accidental and "no charges [are] expected to be filed at this time."

The District Attorney's Office declined to comment, saying the investigation was ongoing.

The shooting occurred around 2:15 p.m. in the basement of a home on the 200 block of West Godfrey Avenue, police said.

Ryan said other people were in the house but did not offer specifics. He said the child was closer to his third birthday than his second and was big enough to fire the gun himself. The bullet hit the child once in the head, police said, and his father  whom police did not identify  drove him to Einstein Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:29 p.m.

According to police, when officers arrived at the rowhouse, they could not immediately locate the handgun. Officers eventually found it in a trash can behind the house.

If authorities do not pursue a criminal case, it will differ from the approach taken in a similar incident last year, in which 4-year-old Sani Holmes fatally shot herself while playing with a gun in her family's North Philadelphia home.

Sani's mother, Shakeya, was sentenced in March to two to four years in state prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and related counts. She was also accused of lying to police in the aftermath of the shooting and tampering with the scene. The mother's boyfriend, Demetrius Williams, is awaiting trial on similar charges. He was accused of having possessed the gun before Sani picked it up.

Around 80 percent of homicides each year are committed with firearms, according to police statistics, though the percentage that involve illegal firearms is unclear. Dozens of cases each year go unsolved and murder weapons are often not recovered, making it impossible to say in many instances whether a shooter could have legally owned a gun.
Facebooks founding president Sean Parker says the social media service was designed to be addictive. Read more

Let's say you are a parent and you are buying a brand of baby food believing it is nutritious and healthy for your baby.

Then you learn the baby food is poisoning your baby  and the manufacturer is aware of the harm. What would you think? Where would you go?

In an alarming interview, Facebook's founding president, Sean Parker, suggested the company might be harming children's brains.

"God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains," Parker, no longer with Facebook, said Wednesday in an interview with the Axios website while in Philadelphia for an Axios event at the National Constitution Center.

Let that sink in.

Unlike cigarette executives hauled before Congress some years back who denied their product was addictive, Parker, a 38-year-old billionaire, practically bragged that Facebook is addictive, saying it was designed to be. (Parker also made a passing reference to himself as an "immortal overlord.")

This wasn't the first time a Silicon Valley insider blew the whistle on the dangers about mass mental manipulation in the digital age, Ad Age reported.

We've been hearing that we are being psychologically manipulated, but we're not paying attention.

Maybe we should be.

When Facebook  the world's largest social-media platform  got started, Parker said he got pushback from people not on social media who valued human interaction. Parker glibly predicted they would get pulled in eventually.

"I don't know if I understood the consequences of what I was saying," Parker said, because when a network grows to a billion or two billion people, it changes users' relationships with society and with one another.

Right from the jump, Facebook's goal was to "consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible," said Parker.

How to do that? The same way you train a dog  with rewards.

"That means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while," in the form of likes or comments or photos, said Parker. "And that's going to get you to contribute more content."

This manipulation is pernicious. As a daily Facebook user, I am now asking myself why I am there. Is it to earn brownie points with the bosses who believe an active Facebook account drags more eyeballs to Philly.com? Or am I there because I like to persuade and argue? Or am I there because I have been turned into an addict?

The design of Facebook is "exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you are exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology," said Parker.

"The inventors, creators  it's me, it's Mark [Zuckerberg], it's Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it's all of these people  understood this consciously. And we did it anyway."

It might be why stories crop up that suggest Facebook is evil.

It's also possible Parker is just blowing smoke in a bid for attention.

If Facebook (and the other platforms) are manipulating us, shouldn't we know that? If so, should we permit it to continue?

Going back to my opening premise, would you continue feeding your baby food you know is harmful?
The Fremont Area Art Association will host its monthly Third Thursday luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gallery 92 West in Fremont.

Mixed green salad, turkey casserole, green beans with almonds and birthday cake/ice cream prepared by Dan Rosenbaum and Barbara Gehringer will be served. The cost is $12 per person.

Guest speakers include Omaha World-Heralds David Hendee and exhibiting artists from the Omaha Hot Shops Art Center. Hendee will be available to sign his book, Nebraska: 150 Years Told Through 93 Counties, after his presentation.

Todd Williams Legacy of Nebraska Paintings, the Hot Shops Art Center exhibit and recycled art by Loft Artist, Dorothy Tuma, are now on display.

To make luncheon reservations, call 402-721-7779 or email gallery92west@92west.org.
Vern Gibson has a never-ending supply of memories from his 32-month-long stay in Berlin; which consisted largely of being part of a reconnaissance unit guarding the Berlin Wall.

The wall was erected  cutting the city of Berlin in half east and west  in an effort to prevent people from fleeing from Communist-run East Berlin. The wall would become an active symbol of the Cold War, which lasted an astounding 45 years.

It separated families, Gibson said of the wall during Fridays Veterans Day assembly held at Fremont High School. For 28 years there were people who never got to see their grandparents, their siblings, because that wall went up pretty much overnight and that was it. You werent allowed to have contact with anybody (on opposite sides).

Addressing a large student body, Gibson, who served as an Army Sergeant, told a story involving one of his best friends who married a Berlin woman. Every Sunday, his friends wife would go to Checkpoint Charlie  the main gateway between East and West Berlin  just so that she and her father could wave to one another.

Her father would do that for about 15 years and then finally he passed away, thats just the way it was, Gibson said. Can you imagine having a fence or gate running down Bell Street in Fremont and you could not go on that side of it?

Gibson, now a funeral director with Dugan Funeral Chapel & Cremation Services, said the wall popped up nearly overnight.

The wall remained intact until Nov. 10, 1989, when it finally toppled.

It all started with a couple young students that seized the wall and there were guards with guns that were going to shoot them; but this had gone on so long and they knew something was going to happen because people were so frustrated by all this military might, Gibson said. And they started chipping away at the wall, and soon the guards on the east side threw their weapons in and gave up and within 12 hours the wall at checkpoint Charlie was down.

Gibson talked about the Berlin Wall extensively because it had a large impact on him; day-in and day-out he saw the tension and sorrow it caused. Every four years, he and other veterans return to Berlin for a time of reunion and reflection.

We will be going back next year, and that happens to be the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, he said.

He encouraged FHS students to always be appreciative of those serving and those who have served  their lives would be drastically different if it wasnt for this 1-percent of the population who puts their lives on the line daily for American citizens freedoms.

You just have to remember that all those veterans that have passed on before us is a big reason you can do all the things you do, and have all the freedoms you have, he said.

Fremont Students participated in the Veterans Day celebration by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance; and listening to the Fremont High School band play The Star Spangled Banner. The Fremont High School Girls Choir sang America the Beautiful, and fallen soldiers were recognized through a moment of silence while TAPS was played by two FHS students.

During some of his final thoughts prior to the assemblys conclusion, assistant principal Chuck Story told students to keep three things in mind as they left.

All gave some, some gave all, and freedom is never free, he said.
Louisville Metro Police have arrested a man authorities say hit an officer in the arm with a sword.

Kenneth Smith, 41, was arrested just after 3 a.m. Wednesday at his home.

An arrest report states that officers went to the scene on a report of people yelling inside.

Authorities say the officer identified himself several times as a police officer. Smith continued to yell and made threats, according to police. The arrest report states that Smith said, "Do you want to die" and "I've got something for you."

Police say when Smith opened the door, he "jabbed" a sword that was about three feet long out of the door at the officer, hitting the officer's arm.

Smith is charged with wanton endangerment of a police officer and terroristic threatening, WDRB TV reports.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey announced Thursday the creation of a special task force to examine allegations of sexual assault roiling Hollywood as the number of accusations reported to police this week climbed.

Lacey made the announcement Thursday as local law enforcement agencies investigate allegations made against such Hollywood heavyweights as producer Harvey Weinstein, director James Toback and actor Ed Westwick, among others.

The district attorney said she has assigned a group of veteran sex crimes prosecutors to work together to examine the cases and ensure a uniformed approach to the legal review and possible prosecution of any case that meets both the legal and factual standards for criminal prosecution, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating allegations of rape and forced oral copulation in 2013 against Weinstein by an Italian model-actress as well as a lewd act in 2015. Detectives are probing allegations of sexual assault against Toback, whom more than 200 women have accused of sexual misconduct. Gossip Girl actor Westwick is the subject of two womens allegations he raped them in 2014.
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By Mark Hosenball and John Walcott

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Special counsel Robert Muellers team has questioned Sam Clovis, co-chairman of President Donald Trumps election campaign, to determine if Trump or top aides knew of the extent of the campaign teams contacts with Russia, two sources familiar with the investigation said on Friday.

The focus of the questions put to Clovis by Muellers team has not been previously reported.

The ultimate question Mueller is after is whether candidate Trump and then President-elect Trump knew of the discussions going on with Russia, and who approved or even directed them, said one source. That is still just a question.

Clovis testified in late October before the grand jury in Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He is also cooperating with the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the same issues.

Contacted late on Friday, the White House declined to comment.

One of the sources described Clovis as another domino after former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI over his own contacts with Russians during the 2016 election campaign.

The investigators now know what Papadopoulos was doing on the Russian front, which he initially tried to conceal, and who he told that to, said the other source. Now [they] want to know whether Clovis and others reported these activities and others related to Russia, and if so, to whom, this source said.

Attorneys for Clovis did not respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for Papadopoulos had no immediate comment.

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment.

According to court documents related to Papadopoulos guilty plea, he reported to Clovis in an email on a March 24, 2016, meeting he had in London with a professor later identified as Joseph Mifsud.

Mifsud in turn introduced him to a Russian woman and the Russian ambassador in London, and they discussed setting up meetings to talk about U.S.-Russia ties in a Trump presidency.

The documents showed Clovis responded to the proposed meetings by saying he would work it through the campaign. While he told Papadopoulos not to make a commitment then to set up those meetings, he congratulated him for great work.

In August 2016, after Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, Clovis encouraged Papadopoulos to make the trip when Papadopoulos proposed going to an off-the-record meeting with unnamed Russian officials, the court documents show.

Victoria Toensing, one of Cloviss lawyers, said last week her client always vigorously opposed any Russian trip for Donald Trump and/or the campaign.

After Papadopoulos guilty plea, the White House and former Trump campaign officials dismissed Papadopoulos and Clovis as minor figures in the campaign.

The campaigns National Security Advisory Committee, which Clovis formed, has become a focus of the investigations by both Mueller and the Senate, sources said.

Sam built the first group of eight, J.D. Gordon, the director of the campaign foreign policy group, told Reuters, adding that he and then-Senator Jeff Sessions, now the U.S. Attorney General, had nearly doubled it in size.

However, two other sources familiar with the investigations said investigators have been told the committee Clovis formed did very little, and that other advisers appeared to carry more weight with Trump.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball, Jonathan Landay and John Walcott; Writing by John Walcott; Editing by Kieran Murray and Clarence Fernandez)
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By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters)  Pope Francis appeared to harden the Catholic Churchs teaching against nuclear weapons on Friday, saying countries should not stockpile them even for the purpose of deterrence.

His remarks, at the start of a disarmament conference that brought 11 Nobel Peace Prize winners to the Vatican, appeared to go further than previous popes. They have said that while nuclear weapons should never be used, holding arsenals solely to deter other countries from using them could be morally acceptable as a step toward achieving a nuclear-free world.

Addressing the group in the 16th century frescoed Clementine Hall of the Vaticans Apostolic Palace, Francis spoke of the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices.

He added: If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned.

As tensions between the United States and North Korea have increased, the pope has often warned that a nuclear conflict would destroy a good part of humanity and called for a third country to mediate the dispute.

In his address, Francis did not directly mention the North Korea tension, but spoke in general of a climate of instability and conflict and a mentality of fear in the world today.

International relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation, and the parading of stockpiles of arms, he said.

He also said international laws against proliferation of nuclear weapons had not kept new states from acquiring them. Money used to develop or modernize weapons should instead be spent on helping the poor and protecting the environment.

Douglas Roche, Canadas former Ambassador for Disarmament and a former senator, told the conference the popes remarks against possession of nuclear weapons were historic and asked national conferences of Catholic bishops to work to make it known.

Another participant suggested the pope should write an encyclical letter addressed to all Catholics on the moral imperative to ban nuclear weapons.

Among those who met the pope were Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and Mohamed El Baradei, director general emeritus of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Fihn, whose group won the Nobel this year, told Reuters she asked the pope to lead all 1.2 billion Catholics around the world in prayer for an end to the threat of nuclear weapons on Sunday, December 10, when her group is due to collect the prize.

Tensions are really high and the risks for nuclear weapons use is higher than at the height of the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis. I think thats really serious and we need to urgently do something about this, she said.

El Baradei, who won the peace prize in 2015, was asked how he would respond to U.S. President Donald Trumps threat to use unprecedented fire and fury against North Korea if it threatened the United States.

I go to pray, he said.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Ed Osmond and Peter Graff)
As she spoke of the sacrifices made by veterans and their families, Major Amy Johnson issued a challenge.

She urged those gathered at Trinity Lutheran Church to help veterans and to listen to their stories.

Johnson, a longtime Fremonter, was the keynote speaker at the 15th Annual Veterans Day Program at the Fremont church.

The church sanctuary was full on Friday afternoon as area residents heard Trinity Lutheran School students sing patriotic songs; applauded veterans who stood when their branches of the military were recognized; and watched a poignant and patriotic video while a recording of Amazing Grace  played on bagpipes  wafted through the room.

Johnson, who enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1992, joined the Nebraska National Guard as a medic in 2004.

Today, she is the public health officer for the 155th Air Refueling Wing in Lincoln, serving one weekend a month and two weeks a year. As a civilian, shes the administrator at Prairie Fields Family Medicine in Fremont.

Johnsons son, Quinlan, a fifth-grader at Trinity, introduced his mom to program attendees.

In her talk, Johnson paid tribute to the nations veterans, military service members and their families for their sacrifices.

She said those who enlist in the military know their service will be difficult at times and that they may be asked to deploy around the world in a moments notice  leaving behind a visible void in within their families and communities.

They know this service may sometimes take them to extremely dangerous places, such as the muddy World War II hedgerows of Normandy, the snowy mountains of the Korean Conflict, the simmering jungles of Vietnam or the withering heat of Iraq and Afghanistan, Johnson said.

And sometimes they know this service will not be appreciated, nor even supported by their fellow Americans, as our Vietnam War veterans know all too well.

Most of all, they  and their families know  that when they agree to serve in the United States Armed Forces, they are signing a blank check to their nation, a check that may be payable by their very lives, because sometimes serving in the United States military means making the ultimate sacrifice.

With her words, Johnson verbally painted scenes her listeners could picture in their minds  scenes of flag-covered caskets in which fallen service members are taken to final places of rest.

Many of us have felt that pain and shed the tears of that loss, she said. Many of us here today continue to carry the weight of that loss.

Johnson talked about setting aside a moment to shake veterans hands and thank them for their service, but said she doesnt think thats enough.

Many of you do not think that is enough, Johnson said. We can attest to this by the amount of support and participation in the Trinity First Annual Run for Warriors.

Johnson thanked Ashley Waggy and her committee for making the Nov. 5 event wonderful for veterans and military personnel.

She also challenged her audience  especially its youngest members  to seek out veterans, thank them for their service, to truly listen to their stories and the lessons theyve learned  and try somehow to incorporate these lessons into your daily life.

Johnson went further, telling audience members to find a veteran, help that person and to visit a veterans home and volunteer their time.

It will mean a lot to the veteran and that persons family.

And I truly believe it will come to mean a lot to you, too, Johnson said.

Earlier in the program, the Rev. Dan Heuer gave a brief history behind The Star Spangled Banner and Trinity Principal Greg Rathke sang the song.

Children in grades kindergarten through second waved small American flags as they sang I Love This Country and students in upper grades sang patriotic songs as well. After the program, veterans were asked to stand in a line in the fellowship hall, where they received thanks, handshakes and even some hugs from other program attendees.
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In another stunning example of just how far this president will go to please the Russians that helped elect him last year, Donald Trump admitted on Saturday that he trusts Vladimir Putin when he denies any involvement in last years presidential election.

He said he didnt meddle. He said he didnt meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times, Trump said aboard Air Force One, according to CNN.

He continued: Every time he sees me, he says, I didnt do that. And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it.

I think he is very insulted by it, Trump added.

Putin, a shrewd former KGB officer, has clearly figured out a way to get Trump to believe anything hell say, but the U.S. intelligence community  and the American people  have long understood that Russia was, in fact, behind the hack in last years presidential election.

As David Corn noted in a tweet on Saturday, every major agency in Trumps own intelligence community believes Putin and Russia were behind the attack.

CIA chief Mike Pompeo: Putin attacked 2016 election.

DNI Dan Coats: Putin attacked 2016 election.

FBI director Christopher Wray: Putin attacked 2016 election.

NSA head Mike Rogers: Putin attacked 2016 election.

Putin: I did not attack 2016 election.

Trump: I believe Putin.  David Corn (@DavidCornDC) November 11, 2017

At the end of the day, this is really about Trump knowing that Russias involvement in the 2016 campaign calling into question the entire legitimacy of his presidency. He knows that his time in the White House will forever have an asterisk next to it because a foreign adversary helped make it possible, perhaps with the assistance of his own campaign.

Still, Trump will likely continue casting doubt on the notion that Moscow was involved in the attack on the presidential election because he is unable and unwilling to take his ego out of the equation.

In the reality-based world, though, the entire intelligence community and the American people have already moved on. They know that Russia helped install Donald Trump to the presidency in last years election, and they are increasingly looking to future elections to right that wrong.
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The Central Intelligence Agency shot down Donald Trumps supportive comments of Vladimir Putin on Saturday, saying they stand by their initial assessment that Russia did, in fact, interfere in the 2016 election.

In a statement, the CIA said the agencys director, Mike Pompeo, remains confident in their January 2017 report, which concluded that Russia waged a disinformation campaign in the U.S. to influence the election in Donald Trumps favor.

The director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 intelligence community assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed, said a CIA spokesperson, according to The Hill.

The CIAs new comments stand in stark contrast to the reality-detached president, who said on Saturday that he really believes Putin when he says that Russia did not meddle in the presidential campaign.

He said he didnt meddle. He said he didnt meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times, Trump said, continuing: Every time he sees me, he says, I didnt do that. And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it.

Trumps comments came after he met with Vladimir Putin in Vietnam during his trip to Asia, and they fly in the face of the entire U.S. intelligence community  from the FBI to the NSA to his own CIA  which confidently believes Russia attacked American democracy to help Trump beat Clinton.

The president stands alone in his belief that Russia and Putin are innocent, and his stubborn refusal to acknowledge what happened during the 2016 campaign will only make it more likely to happen in future elections.
Former President Donald Trump is preparing to launch his third campaign for the White House on Tuesday, looking to move on from disappointing midterm defeats and defy history amid signs that his grip on the Republican Party is waning. Read moreTrump prepares to launch 3rd campaign for the White House
Wes Howe was near a ship in Subic Bay when he saw it.

An enemy plane  called a kamikaze  appeared over some trees and headed for the vessel. Kamikazes were known for crashing into ship in an attempt to sink them, killing those on board.

He was at such a low altitude, Howe said. We could almost see into the cockpit.

More than 70 years later, the Fremont man still remembers that close call and others. His myriad of memories includes driving bomb-carrying trucks through treacherous areas at night, staying in an army barracks surrounded by Japanese soldiers after their surrender  and later seeing them toss their rifles into huge piles as big as a house.

Howe was 21 years old and living in Garfield County when he enlisted in the U.S. Army.

When I went in, they wanted cooks, bakers and truck drivers, he said.

He entered the service in February 1943 and remembers living in a tent in a wooded area and the cold winter rains in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Living in those conditions for five weeks left almost all of the men sick. And it took a while for their bodies to adapt  going from a place that was below sea level to the higher altitude of Cheyenne, Wyo.

Wyoming meant truck school and convoys and even 3 feet of snow followed by more convoy training in Rapid City, S.D.

We put those trucks through the some really rough terrain in the badlands and up in mountainous areas and forded streams where the mud got so deep we had to try to get a wench truck across and wench the rest of them through it, he said.

In November 1943, the men traveled by troop train to New Orleans, where they boarded a new ship and went through the Panama Canal on Christmas Day.

The men were promised a turkey dinner that night, but the electricity went out. They got their turkey dinner, but it had sat out too long and, the next day, everyone was sick. Three weeks later, the men and their ship went out again. They were in the Pacific when the ship went dead again and they drifted for days.

We were just floating around, no power, no lights. No nothing. No escort. We were only ship out there, he said. When they got it going again, we headed across the ocean.

But with no escort  and not knowing if enemy submarines were in the area  the ship did a lot of circling. It took 64 days to reach Australia in 1944 and many men, who hadnt really recovered from the turkey incident, were seasick and in bad shape.

The men were in Australia for a while before being sent to their first combat area, an airstrip in New Guinea. There in the tropics, they set up an assembly line and assembled 104, new 1944 GMC Army cargo trucks  all the parts of which came in wooden boxes.

It was hotter than a pistol in the daytime, he remembered.

After that, the men hauled airplane fuel, bombs, ammunition, rations and freight from ships to airstrips. Bombs ranged in weight from 250 to 2,000 pounds.

The men went from New Guinea to Morotai, an Indonesian island, to islands in the Philippines  from island to island after they were secured.

We most generally followed right in behind an invasion on those islands (by the infantry or Marines) and got an airstrip going as soon as possible or maybe several airstrips, he said.

The men slept in tents. Air raid sirens interrupted their sleep, but the enemy planes were so high they looked like silver specks when search lights shone on them.

Howe remembers driving with a .45 caliber handgun in his fist through mountainous terrain at night  wary of snipers.

Snipers hid in rice fields shooting at guards on the bridges.

We had to have guards stationed on bridges, even a small bridge. Sometimes the whole convoy would get stopped at night, because the guards got fired on by snipers, he said. Sometimes, wed have to stop at a bridge and wed bail out with our rifles and get on the other side of the truck and wait and see if there was any more fire. You never knew what was out there, especially at night.

Howe and servicemen were always cautious of kamikaze planes as the soldiers unloaded fuel and other items. The ships often were hidden in a cove or harbor-like area with trees used as camouflage. Men like Howe drove their trucks onto U-shaped floating barges, where a crane with a net load of bombs or gas barrels to be loaded into the vehicles.

Kamikazis looked for ships. Howe remembers when one appeared over the trees, flying at a low altitude and heading their way. The plane was so close the men could almost see into the cockpit.

The plane was shot down.

He almost stopped in mid-air, they filled him so full of holes, Howe said. He missed the ship by probably 300 or 400 feet. If they hadnt shot him down there would have been a terrible fire if hed hit that ship. It was loaded with 100-ocetane gas. Thered have been a lot of lives lost.

Howe remembers later seeing wreckage of ships and airplanes in Manilla harbor and iron sticking up out of the water. He and others saw American soldiers, nurses and others whod been liberated from a Japanese prison camp and now were being loaded into ambulances.

A lot of them couldnt walk anymore and they were carrying them out by stretcher  they were starved, he said.

How and others were there for several months. Eventually, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Gen. Douglas McArthur wanted to have operational airstrips in Japan so Howe was among 23 people taken there by an Army plane. They were given 15 minutes to unload their supplies, because the pilot wanted to leave quickly.

They would be some of the first Americans to step on Japanese soil after the war.

An American soldier arrived with an old Japanese truck and Howe and the others piled in, he said. The men moved into an empty barracks and fended for themselves without trucks, equipment or weapons.

After they were there two weeks or more, they heard noises. They learned that Japanese troops were in the other barracks.

They still had their guns, he said. Along this airstrip was an open field and as they walked by, out there, they started tossing those rifles in piles  as big as a two-story house or more. We figured there might have been 5,000 or 6,000 troops in the barracks area.

Howe and other Americans were there for months. He remembers going with a couple of other guys to see some of the vacated, unground installations that had living quarters, hospitals and shops.

They saw an underground dining hall where plates with a little rice were still on the table.

It was like they (the Japanese) just got up and left, he said.

Later, Howe and other men stood on the harbors bank and looked down on the deck of the USS Missouri and watched the peace treaty being signed with Japan.

Howe eventually returned to the United States.

In 1948, he married Katheryn Wood with whom hed corresponded during the war.

She had served in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) from 1944-46  and after the war attended Northwestern University Dental School in Chicago with financial help from the G.I. bill. In 1949, she became the second licensed dental hygienist in Nebraska.

The Howes, who were married for 68 years before her death in 2016, had two daughters and a son and two stepgrandchildren. They had a family business, Fremont Body and Frame, for 35 years.

If he had to do it over again, Howe said hed still enter the military.

People dont understand how serious that World War II era was, he said. This country had just come through the worst Depression that had ever been known and it hadnt recovered yetso we werent prepared for war. Automobile manufacturers changed what they were doing and started building all of these army vehicles. We had to start from scratch.

Had the country not worked together, it could have wound up under dictators like Hitler.

It was a desperate time, he said. The younger generation doesnt know all of this unless they happen to read some books.
Before the holiday season, employees at Andrea Correale's catering business get an email reminder that in December, "we need all hands on deck."

Elegant Affairs Caterers often has 12 events in a single day during the holidays, so Correale needs her staff of 230 to show up for work. Her email puts everyone on notice that during the two weeks when most clients have holiday parties, work needs to be the priority.

"If it's crunch week and we're not covered, everyone gets stressed out," says Correale, whose Glen Cove, N.Y.-based company caters events on Long Island and in New York City.

The holiday season is prime time at many small businesses, and they may not have enough staff to accommodate the extra work as well as the time off many employees want. Retailers, caterers and even many companies whose work isn't connected with holiday celebrations have to find ways to keep their staffers happy, along with their customers. Many find that advance notice  even before a worker is hired  helps set expectations and limit disappointments. Bosses also find that they do need to be flexible.

Correale recognizes that even on the busiest days, some staffers want to attend their children's concerts and other holiday events. She requires them to ask in advance. And she uses flexible scheduling: If employees need to leave early for an event, they can come in a few hours early to make up the time. And if there's a last-minute request, "we usually get aggravated, but you figure something out," says Correale.

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Rob Basso deals with holiday issues from two perspectives  his company, Advantage Payroll Services, provides human resources consulting along with paycheck processing.

His small business clients ask for guidance about how to get work done while also letting staffers have time off. He recommends being as flexible as possible, although a company's size and line of work will dictate how generous a boss can be.

"A company may have 400 employees and some are not critical day-to-day, so it may not be necessary for all of them to be there. But if there are five people in a bakery, it's not going to be so easy," says Basso, whose company is based in Freeport, N.Y.

Basso also tends to get many new clients at the end of the year. So when he hires staffers, he lets them know that most of December is blacked out for vacations. He does give employees the flexibility to leave early or come in late as long as they make up their hours. And rather than granting requests by seniority, he has a lottery to let about a fifth of his staff leave at noon on either Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.

"Just because you worked for me a few extra years, I don't see how it's fair to always give the same people time off," Basso says.

Human resources consultant Crystal Barnett says it's in a company's best interest to be flexible.

"It's a fine line you need to walk because you need to take care of whatever your business requirements are, but you also want to recognize that the person who works for you is not a robot," says Barnett, who works in the Atlanta office of Houston-based HR provider Insperity.

Employees' expectations, especially among younger people, have changed from a generation ago, and companies that want to attract and retain good workers need a culture that accommodates their desire for a balance between work and personal time, Barnett says.

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Owners should also look for ways to make the atmosphere more fun even as staffers are working harder, Basso says. He caters breakfast or lunch for his employees at least once a week during the holiday season.

"Everyone takes a break," he says. "And it's not expensive for me to do it."

The weeks leading up to New Year's Day are critical at LogicPrep, whose services include advising high school students during the college admissions process. Many seniors must have their applications in by Jan. 1, and juniors are preparing for the SATs and other college entrance exams.

"We make it clear during the interview process what our calendar cycle is and why it's important to prioritize during the holiday season," co-founder Lindsay Tanne says. She does get some last-minute requests for time off, but her 40 staffers know that work generally must come first.

"They build their lives around the knowledge of what we do," says Tanne, whose company is based in Armonk, New York.

At Super Suds Car Wash in Midlothian, Va., owner Jeremy Critton follows the example of retailers and package delivery services during the busy season.

"I usually try to staff up a couple extra employees to be on the safe side and just spend a little more on labor to make sure I'm covered in any sort of a bind," Critton says. He gets more business during the holidays from people who want their cars to look spiffy when they visit friends and family.

Critton also lets his staffers know ahead of time they need to work during the holidays. He's occasionally had to let employees go when they asked too often to take time off with little or no notice.

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Some companies that go full tilt during the holidays find that with no time to plan or take off, a party for their own staffers is likely to occur after New Year's Day.

"In our world, the year-end is like the Super Bowl," Basso says. "So in mid-January, maybe later, we have a big blowout."
There are days that Clarence can talk about his military service. There are days he just can't.

Clarence Day was a Navy hospital corpsman attached to the Marines during the Vietnam War. He worked as an operating room technician at Delta Med Hospital, the northernmost hospital in South Vietnam, in the town of Dong Ha.

Clarence was a Kentucky boy and grew up in Louisville. He graduated from high school in 1963. He envisioned working in the medical field and had encouragement from his grandmother.

He headed to the University of Louisville with the plan of becoming a dentist. In August 1965, Uncle Sam intervened and sent him an official letter welcoming him to the U.S. Army. The day after he received the letter, Clarence joined the Navy.

He requested to work as a dental technician, but the recruiter conveyed they needed corpsmen. After finishing training as a corpsman, he volunteered for Operating Room Technician instruction. His initial assignment was to the Naval Air Station in Minneapolis.

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Sent overseas

After six months in Minnesota, he got his orders to head to Vietnam. Clarence and his fiance Anyce had long been sweethearts. This year they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. In 1967, they were planning a wedding for the following year, but with Vietnam orders for Clarence, they got married July 18, 1967.

Upon returning to duty, he spent four weeks training with the Marines. On Sept. 13, 1967, Clarence remembers landing in hot and humid Da Nang. Clarence was assigned to help set up the operating rooms at the Delta Med hospital in Dong Ha.

Clarence met all kinds of people and characters during his military service. Clarence remembered a chaplain by the name of Frank Urbano from the Bronx. Clarence said most times he saw the good Father, he happened to have a glass of scotch in his hand.

The duties and responsibilities became grim and arduous, responding endlessly to the wounded as they would arrive via helicopter. Urgent cases were given priority in surgery and others would be transported to one of the U.S. hospital ships, Sanctuary and Repose, or to other locations. The movement of wounded soldiers was constant.

Work shifts to care and treat the wounded would be long. Clarence has never forgotten the pain that the injured soldiers endured. The badly hurt, who they knew they could do nothing for, were placed in a quiet area, kept comfortable and cared for until they died.

What was even more taxing to all the men was after the wounded were treated, the killed in action would then arrive. Clarence still recalls the difficult days with vivid clarity.

Once Clarence thought that he would be assigned to accompany a wounded soldier in a Chinook helicopter, but the decision was made that he would not go. That helicopter went down in the China Sea. Clarence got a sense that someone was watching out for him.

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Coming home

After his one-year tour in Vietnam, Clarence was able to come home. His wife told him that when he first returned he was jumpy, did not sleep well and hated sirens. He finished the end of his four-year military tour as an OR Tech at the Naval Hospital in Memphis.

Clarence went back to college via the GI Bill to become a registered nurse and followed that up with further training to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist.

In 1973, Clarence and Anyce moved to Minnesota and they would make a few moves before Clarence settled into a nearly 20-year career working for the Veterans Administration in Minneapolis. His service to his country continued with this work.

Clarence told me his employment with the VA was rewarding. He treasured working with veterans. Veterans would relax and knew they were going to be properly cared for because Clarence was one of them.

More service

This brave man wasn't done serving his country. There was critical need for nurse anesthetists and he joined the Army Reserves. He served three additional years with six months in active duty at Fort Lewis, Wash., during Desert Storm. During this time, Clarence was also a member of the Fast Response Surgical Unit at Fort Snelling.

During that period, his young son asked him if he had to go to war again. Clarence realized it was time to come home and stay home. He resigned his commission in 1993.

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As a boy, Clarence hoped to help others in the medical field. His work in Vietnam and for the VA was not what he envisioned, but his occupation assisted countless wounded soldiers and improved the lives of numerous veterans. His service and career were difficult and emotiona,l but it was a vocation to be proud of. Clarence retired from the VA in 2007.

I recently met up with Clarence and Anyce at the Plainview Public Library. We had a cup of coffee and talked about life, kids and grandkids. I asked Clarence to reflect on his service. Without missing a beat, he said, "I'd do it over again."
NEW YORK  As travel changed, so did luggage.

That's the story told by an elaborate exhibition about Louis Vuitton, the luxury luggage and fashion brand.

The exhibition, free to visit and on display in Lower Manhattan through Jan. 7, is called "Volez, Voguez, Voyagez," which means fly, sail, travel. It showcases the company's history, products and craftsmanship, demonstrating how designs changed with the evolution of travel. Luggage was designed first for transport by wagon, then for travel by sea, on trains, in cars and planes.

Trunks and bags are behind glass like works of art in a series of museum-like galleries. Lids open to reveal intricate compartments as if they were the contents of treasure chests. Included are cases and carriers designed for everything from toiletries to hats, from picnics to art supplies. Trunks with small drawers protected fragile objects; standing trunks had roll-out wardrobe racks so clothes could be hung, not folded. A plane is on display, along with a boat.

There's even a room where human artisans show how they cut leather and snip threads for luggage tags and handles, living proof of the craftsmanship behind the brand.

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The company's history begins with Louis Vuitton himself. He started a trunk-making business in Paris in 1854 after leaving his village in eastern France and working for a box-maker. His designs were strong but light, distinguished by patterned motifs. The luggage has been a favorite of the rich and famous going back to Napoleon's wife Empress Eugenie, with later clients ranging from artist Henri Matisse to banker J.P. Morgan. John Wanamaker began to sell Vuitton luggage in his American department stores after meeting Louis' son at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The brand remains a favorite today among celebs from the worlds of fashion and Hollywood.

The exhibition's timing coincides with the holiday shopping season, and the location is in New York's financial district. But most visitors will likely lack the means to buy Vuitton products, which can run in the thousands of dollars. Still, attention-getting temporary displays like this are becoming a standard way for brands to tell their story.

"Many of these brands pop something up, draw a big audience, get some publicity, get reporters to talk about it," said Larry Chiagouris, professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin School of Business. "You don't need to be there 12 months a year. You just need to establish a little publicity and move on."

Chiagouris says this type of showcase can also be far more effective than a traditional ad campaign. "Ads are very fleeting and don't generate the kind of independent interaction with a brand the way an exhibit would," he said. A show like this "takes something that has almost become wallpaper and suddenly puts it into your current mindset and consciousness."

Exhibitions also give designers the space and flexibility to fine-tune their message. In this case, the subdued, museum-like atmosphere creates a "mood that reflects the brand, somewhat elegant and somewhat understated," he said.

Pace University's Manhattan campus is near the exhibition site, and Chiagouris said his students have been buzzing about the Vuitton show. They're working on a competition among business schools to come up with a campaign for Ocean Spray, the cranberry brand, and the concept of telling a company's story this way, through history, products and workmanship, resonated with them.

"It's an interactive experience not because of electronics or pressing a button," he said, but because "you get a sense of the identity of the brand."

___

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If you go

LOUIS VUITTON EXHIBITION: 86 Trinity Place, through Jan. 7. Free. Tickets not required but timed reservations are available at ticketing.louisvuitton.com/content/ticket-options . Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (check website for holiday hours).
Thanksgiving travelers  prepare yourselves.

Get ready for bigger crowds than ever over the Thanksgiving holiday this year.

That translates into crowded airline terminals, lengthy check-in and security lines, and cramped airplanes.

Thanksgiving, of course, is less than two weeks away. The main trade group for U.S. airlines, Airlines for America, predicts that 28.5 million Americans will fly over a 12-day period around the holiday, an increase of 3 percent over last year.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving will be the busiest travel day, with about 2.9 million people flying, according to the trade group.

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The group said that airlines are adding about 86,000 seats a day over the holiday stretch, more than the expected increase in travelers of 69,000 a day.

While airlines make the bulk of their profits over the summer, the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are also key periods for the industry, which is enjoying a long boom.

The trade group said that during the first nine months of this year, the nine major publicly traded U.S. airlines had a pretax profit of $14.7 billion  a slight decrease, though, from 2016 and 2015 due to higher costs for fuel and labor.

Fuel costs in 2017 are up 17 percent over last year and labor costs have risen 8 percent, according to the trade group.

Smithsonian Museum announces expansion

The Smithsonian has announced a significant expansion and revitalization of its National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., that will take approximately seven years.

The museum is visited by millions of people every year  and it's our personal favorite  and the project will be done on a phased sequencing schedule that will keep many exhibitions open during the construction process

Among the major elements of the project are the complete refacing of the exterior, replacement of outdated mechanical systems and other repairs and improvements.

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The visitor experience will also change markedly, since all of the museum's 23 galleries and presentation spaces will be updated or completely redone.

A coming main attraction will be the 'Destination Moon" exhibition, scheduled to open in 2021. It will explore the extraordinary combination of motivations, resources and technologies that made it possible for humans to go to the Moon. Exhibition highlights will include the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit and a Saturn V engine.

More than 350 million people have visited the landmark museum since it opened July 1, 1976.

The Smithsonian estimates the total cost of the building revitalization will be about $650 million. Additionally the museum will raise the $250 million it needs for new exhibitions through private sources.
GRAND MEADOW  In his 23 years with the Grand Meadow Police Department, Chief Jim Richardson has learned how important law enforcement coverage is in the small town of 1,160.

Oftentimes, he's the only officer on duty throughout the week, responsible to protect Grand Meadow residents in emergencies. His service is a lifeline for many in this town. Not to mention, he has to juggle other responsibilities as a detective and a school liaison officer at times.

"You've still got to respond to medicals, to whatever else out there," Richardson said. "You have to juggle everything. I could be dealing with directing a semi-truck and then someone else is waving me down. I'm never surprised with the spectrum of the things that can fall on my plate in a day."

This summer, Richardson's workload was about the busiest he's had in his career. He took more than 600 reports, excluding calls that didn't warrant a police report.

Grand Meadow is lucky to have its own police department, he said, but not many small towns have the luxury of manning a 24/7 law enforcement agency.

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"What might be urgent to me, may not be urgent to you," he said. "I constantly deal with that question. I know Austin can get 15 calls behind and don't get to a person until four hours later, then they gotta work. It turns into work the next day. That's a constant struggle for law enforcement when you're short-handed."

Outsourcing cops

Some smaller towns outsource their law enforcement to either the county, a nearby city or, in some rare instances, going without a formal arrangement as alternatives to spending significant amounts of money operating their own police departments.

In Fillmore County, only three cities have their own police department  Rushford, Preston and Chatfield  and two small towns, Peterson and Rushford Village, as of now have neither their own police nor a contract with the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office.

From the perspective of experts in the law enforcement field, the biggest challenge small-town police departments face is hiring and retaining new officers. In Minnesota, the number of rural police departments has declined to about 320 statewide, a decrease from 346 in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Andy Skoogman, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, said while many small towns opt to outsource law enforcement to the surrounding county when it's not viable to start or sustain their own police departments, it sometimes affects relationships that are built between the rural communities and law enforcement.

Forest Lake, with a population of more than 18,000, has gone so far as to disband its police department. There, the city council cast a controversial vote to end 80 years of community policing, citing cost savings to contract the service to Washington County, according to news reports.

Forest Lake residents protested the decision for four months, and, in May, the city decided to reverse its decision. Few other cities have reversed their choices to disband. As many as 200 local police departments closed since the late 1960s.

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"Most importantly, communities lose the ability to provide valuable input into the hiring of their chief law enforcement officer, which we believe is an expression of a community's values," Skoogman said. "Chiefs are appointed; sheriffs are elected. Local, community-based, control and oversight of policing is reflective in the policies and practices that govern the way law enforcement officers interact in the community."

Preston provider

Other cities might contract with a neighboring town as opposed to the county. Examples include Lanesboro and Fountain, whose law enforcement is provided by the Preston Police Department. Lanesboro City Administrator Michele Peterson said the city of 738 has been served by Preston since 2003. Lanesboro had its own police department before that.

The city projects a $94,809 contractual cost with Preston for next year. For the most part, Lanesboro has been content with the arrangement. Preston is about 13 minutes away.

"We've been happy with our service. It's a good contract," Peterson said. "I don't have any concerns. With any emergency services, it's harder to service in smaller communities like with fire departments and ambulances. How we pay for everything is an ongoing battle for all of us. These are important pieces for communities."

When a city is deciding whether to contract with a neighboring city or with the county to provide its law enforcement, there are "pros and cons" to consider, said Fillmore County Chief Deputy Kevin Beck.

"The ultimate goal, in my opinion, is to have someone there," Beck said. "You want the officer there that's as close as possible to the meet the needs."

Help for small cities

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Within the last two to three years, the MCPA has taken a number of steps to offer support to police chiefs and police departments in smaller communities in Minnesota; for example, it has developed and delivered training that applies specifically to small agencies.

"Our organization is building a stronger peer support network where small agency chiefs can more easily connect with other chiefs and work through issues together," Skoogman said. "Police chief can be a lonely job  even in large departments  but it's particularly true in small departments."

The MCPA also invested in technology to make it easier for small-town police agencies to network and participate in creating more continuity between members of both small and large agencies.

"We are always providing counsel and guidance on a variety of issues for small-agency chiefs," Skoogman said. "It's at the core of what our association is and always will be about."

Retention and hiring

Another struggle rural agencies face is retaining and hiring officers. Small cities can't offer salaries and benefits competitive with those offered in bigger cities.

Fillmore County has been able to retain about 85 percent of its deputies to stay and serve the area for more than 17 years, Beck said.

"A lot of it has to do with budget," he said. "With the economy and tight budgets, to add a full-time officer is a lot of money. I would welcome more officers, but you have to balance things out with county commissioners and taxes.  You only get so much money to work with. It's hard."

In Grand Meadow, Richardson would put an advertisement in local papers seeking new hires, and normally he'd receive 15 to 30 candidates for a part-time position. But only seven people applied for one recent opening, he said.

"It could be things due to the environment right now," he said. "Parents could be telling their kids that they don't think they should be a cop, or they want a full-time position in a bigger department as opposed to starting out in a rural, small-town department. I really sensed that across the board talking to other small-town chiefs."

Richardson said he believes working in a small-town police department is a unique opportunity that isn't meant for just any person.

"I think small towns are finding it tougher to find people to run (police departments)," he said. "Every small town has its own personality. I do think small-town police departments are on the decline, but I know others that are in that 1,500 population that wish they could have their own departments. Being a peace-keeper is a tough job."

'We're not going away'

Providing law enforcement service in areas farther out from the county seat may be challenging, but the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office does the best it can, along with other small-town police departments.

Nineteen full-time officers, including Sheriff Tom Kaase, make their patrols in their coverage area, and they are always prepared to take the next call. However, it's difficult to know what the next emergency might be, not to mention where the call will come from.

The Fillmore County Sheriff's Office has designated deputies for some areas it has a policing contract with, including three who specifically serve Spring Valley. This doesn't mean, however, that deputies can't be called to an emergency in another part of the county if necessary.

"An emergency call is a high-priority call," Beck said. "If they don't have anyone close and one of our officers is closer, then we're gonna send that officer. They work for us, and we need to get someone there as quickly and as safely as possible."

In Grand Meadow, Richardson said, he often experiences backlogs of calls from having to handle cases on his own during the week. At times he may call in backup from his part-time officers or resort to calling mutual aid.

Having a good relationship with surrounding towns in case of emergency is a help for those serving in rural communities, he said. No matter if the town contracted out its policing services, or depends on others to fulfill their need, those who work the roads in rural areas need each other to protect those who live outside of the cities.

"The beautiful thing about law enforcement is that it's a huge family," Richardson said. "I'm blessed with the relationship we have with deputies. Any time an agency asks for help, it's very rare you don't get assistance as a police department to help the guys around us."

Not all spell doom and gloom for the viability of small-town police departments. Richardson said that while he's seen many officers come and go through his agency, he firmly believes law enforcement in rural communities still will hold significance for years to come.

"I feel very positive with a cup-half-full attitude for law enforcement all around," he said. "We can easily excuse things when we look at law enforcement now by saying, 'How we can survive?' We aren't going away."
PRESTON  On a recent afternoon, Fillmore County Sheriff's Deputy Lance Boyum patrolled the backroads and small towns of rural Fillmore County, areas that otherwise might go without enforcement.

Boyum filled his patrol car with gas to monitor the surrounding townships that contract with the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office for law enforcement. For 17 years, he has carried the responsibility of serving rural communities.

"I like the small-town atmosphere, and it's definitely a little more personable," he said while passing a horse-drawn buggy near Harmony. "There's absolutely great support from the people out here."

Earlier that day, he conducted a traffic stop outside of Preston. The duration of his 7 a.m. to 5 p.m shift included patrolling Wykoff, Cherry Grove and surrounding communities. His career has been spent touring the rural farmland and bluffs of Fillmore County, responding to everything from burglaries to cows blocking the road.

But when it comes to emergencies, Boyum knows how vital it is for rural communities to have quick, efficient response times by law enforcement. That can be problematic if the closest deputy is 40 miles away.

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Such was the case the day before. Boyum was called to assist with other police departments dealing with an individual threatening suicide with a gun. At the same time, there was a car crash with injuries in another part of Fillmore County. The closest deputy was about 40 miles away.

Many smaller communities lack their own police departments and contract with the sheriff's office for coverage. Each minute counts.

"Out here, you have to have a different mindset," Boyum said. "You've got to be smart and get there as fast as you can."

Declining small town police departments

Many small towns struggle to sustain a local police department with qualified and experienced law enforcement officers, said Andy Skoogman, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

It can be difficult to replace police chiefs and officers who retire or get hired by other agencies. Cash-strapped city councils are then tempted to outsource their law enforcement services.

"This is a discussion that has been going on for many years," Skoogman said. "The biggest challenge is recruiting and retaining police officers who want to work in small towns. Typically, the pay is greater and the resources (are) more abundant at larger agencies"

About 320 municipal police departments exist in Minnesota, according to the Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies published by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics . The state had 346 local police departments in 2008. This excludes the number of agencies that employ fewer than one full-time officer or the equivalent in part-time officers.

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In Fillmore County, only three cities have their own police departments: Rushford, Chatfield and Preston. The majority of the other communities outsource their policing through the county sheriff's office. Earlier this year, the city of Rushford Village and Peterson were the only two towns in Fillmore County that had neither their own police department nor a contract through the county.

Prioritizing calls

Policing rural areas requires officers to prioritize calls.

The Fillmore County Sheriff's Office has 19 full-time officers, and they need to make their time count.

"It may take longer than some people want it to be," said Chief Deputy Kevin Beck.

"If it's a parking complaint or reporting an illegally parked car versus a medical or an emergency, they may wait an hour or three hours to get that nonpriority call."

If the nearest deputy is tied up at one location and there's an emergency, the sheriff's office might ask for mutual aid from a city police department. And the agreement works both ways.

"If they need help, we'll send them help in a heartbeat," Beck said. "Our main goal is to help in the quickest amount of time that we can."

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How small towns get their law enforcement needs met

1 / 2: Deputy Lance Boyum, with the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office, gases up his squad car before going out on patrol Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in Preston. 2 / 2: Deputy Lance Boyum, with the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office, walks back to his squad car after giving a driver he pulled over for speeding a verbal warning Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, near Preston in Fillmore County.
WINONA  How did the Winona School Board get it so wrong?

On Tuesday, the district's $82.375 million building referendum went down, with 5,728 of 6,336 voters rejecting the complex plan to expand two elementary schools, close two others, upgrade the high school and Alternative Learning Center and fix a whole lot of broken down stuff that's been put off for years.

"It's clear from the results there were a lot of different reasons people didn't approve of this plan," said Winona Area Public Schools Superintendent Rich Dahman.

While the board and administration likely will need to talk more with the community about what it didn't like in this referendum  and what it might like in a future referendum  Dahman said there were four main points voters seemed to reject.

First, the total price tag was a lot of money. The $82 million likely was a sticker shock to people who don't want their taxes raised, he said.

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Next, you had people  such as the grassroots Save Our Schools group  who want to see all the remaining elementary schools stay open. Jefferson and Madison elementary schools would have been closed if the referendum had passed. Others, Dahman said, believe the district needs to consolidate its schools since it has such a high square-foot-per-student ratio, but they disagreed with the plan on which schools to cut.

Finally, he said, there were those who would rather spend money on a new school than sink money into maintenance on old schools.

Winona School Board Member Steve Schild agreed with much of Dahman's assessment, saying there was plenty within the referendum for people to oppose.

"It's a big number," Schild said of the price tag. "It's a big number because the community, for so long, did nothing to address this situation."

The situation is the district's growing expenses and slowly dwindling revenue, he said.

"We're down to 2,941 students right now," said Board Member Jeanne Nelson. Every student the district loses is another $6,000-plus in funding lost as well. Closing two elementary schools would have saved $1.14 million annually in operating expenses, according to estimates.

The current budget is inefficient, she said, and takes away funds that would benefit every student, not just those elementary students who were the focus of the referendum.

"I voted yes," she said, referring to the ballot box. "I would like to see the school district renewed. It's our responsibility to the parents of this community to make sure these kids have every opportunity."

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But putting a laundry list of ideas into one referendum might not be the way to solve the budget problem going forward. Early in the process of developing the referendum, she floated the idea of splitting the referendum into two questions, the first to address the elementary school issue and the second to address the deferred maintenance in the district. That idea was quickly killed by the board.

Nelson said she doesn't want to see the board closing schools without a plan supported by voters.

"I truly would prefer we could do this with the public input," she said. "In previous years, boards closed schools unilaterally. The public can find a way to come up with a good plan and keep our budget in line. But if the public can't do that, then the board will have to take its due diligence."

Emilio DeGrazia believes the conversation needs to change from closing schools to attracting families.

"There's a false premise that savings come from school closures," he said. "The three schools that have been closed in the last 20 years have not saved substantial money."

DeGrazia, a member of Save Our Schools, pointed to Ridgeway School, which has seen its enrollment climb since it was closed by the district and turned into a charter school.

The group, he said, hopes to have a plan to give to the board and administration that will show how to viably keep all the elementary schools open and still keep the budget in line.

"I don't know how specific we can be because we don't know where the money is and how much is out there," he added. "We want to get some money for some improvements for the buildings. We want to to make them more attractive while not harming the center of Winona."

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That might be a tall order. Dahman said the problem the district is facing is the facilities continue to age, continue to cost more and more money, and the district's revenues continue to fall.

"The impact that has on our budget, $1.14 million sunk into buildings not spent on education is significant," he said. "We want to best meet our students' education needs within the parameters of our financial situation."

In the meantime, after cutting $1.5 million from the district's 2017-18 budget last spring, the district will need to cut another $1.7 million for 2018-19. Additional cuts in that range will need to be made each year for the next four or more school years, as long as operating expenses keep climbing and revenue drops.

For next year's budget, that process is already starting,

"Typically, when you go through multiple years of cutting your budget, it gets tougher and tougher," Dahman said. "The process as we go forward on our maintenance needs will be part of that discussion."

And the district will need to go back to the drawing board for a new referendum, likely next fall.

"The board will be having discussions on when to bring something to the voters and what it'll look like," Dahman said. "We don't have a real strong idea of what people would support."
Seemingly just as soon as fall came, it once again is leaving as leaves flutter to the ground signifying that winter is right around the corner.

And just as people begin feeling the effects of cold weather, so do the animals that they look after; in particular the dogs who venture outdoors feeling the brunt of Nebraskas freezing and sub-freezing temperatures.

During a Friday interview with the Tribune, Kelli Stuehmer, executive director of the Dodge County Humane Society, spoke briefly about some key tips dog owners should keep in mind which should help to keep their furry friends warm, comfortable and safe this winter.

In terms of safety, Stuehmer recommended that dog owners be very wary of where they keep antifreeze products for their vehicles. As little as one teaspoon of antifreeze can kill a dog, she said. During the cold months people are often checking their antifreeze levels and spills happen, and the ethylene glycol will take a dogs life in a short amount of time.

There are products that have a product in them other than ethylene glycol, which makes them pet-safe antifreezes, Stuehmer said.

The same can be said for salts that are placed on sidewalks and driveways  there are pet-safe salts that are specifically made to not irritate and burn dogs feet as they walk during the winter.

When temperatures drop into the freezing range, Stuehmer noted that pet owners should not leave their animals outside for any longer than necessary.

When it starts to go below zero  especially for the smaller dogs  they are more susceptible to hypothermia, she said. They should just go outside to go potty, and shouldnt be left out for an extended period of time unless they have coats and other winter gear on.

Some animals do remain outdoors for the winter months, which while not ideal, can be safe if proper steps are taken.

We would love to think that they are all warm inside laying in their beds, but thats not a reality, Stuehmer said. Those that are outside need a warm, insulated shelters which also serve as a windbreak. They also need water bowls that are heated so that their water doesnt freeze.

Stuehmer said that she believes most pet owners in the Dodge County and Fremont areas already take necessary precautions with their pets.

I think overall there are a lot of very caring, responsible pet owners in our area, and we are fortunate in that way, she said.
Options to connect Rochester's trail system to a planned Department of Natural Resources trail to Chester Woods Park are down to two.

The Rochester City Council will review both during its 3:30 p.m. committee of the whole meeting Monday in room 104 of City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE.

In August, the city's new Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee narrowly supported a cross-country route in a 4-3 vote.

The proposed two-mile route would follow an existing sanitary easement on a path that would start by following Eastwood Road Southeast from Town Club Parkway and cut a path to connect to 50th Avenue Southeast, just south of Meadows Drive.

The other path considered by the committee as a potential top contender would start at the same location but head north on 40th Avenue to align with Highway 14 before heading back south on 50th Avenue. The 2.8-mile route failed to get enough votes as the group's first recommendation.

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Public Works Director Richard Freese said a final decision on the route lies in balancing two options: creating a trail that requires obtaining land from unwilling property owners versus creating a trail that might not get as much use.

Staff said following an existing easement still likely will require condemnation of property to build the cross-country trail. However, the majority of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee said there's greater benefit to having a more-scenic ride, rather than riding on a trail alongside traffic.

At the same time, committee members agreed the second plan would be preferred if land acquisition becomes problematic.

Committee vice chairman Christian Holter noted the trail along Highway 14 would be on a different grade and would provide better conditions than one heading out of downtown along South Broadway. Broadway traffic estimates from Minnesota Department of Transportation show 27,000 vehicles per day, while Highway 14 sees 9,000, he said.

"When we talk about trade-offs, this is a pretty comfortable trade-off in my mind," Holter said of finding a solution.

The Highway 14 route won't come without possible conflicts with property owners, according to Brian Malm, of Bolton and Menk, who is serving as the city's consultant on the project.

In a memo to Freese, Malm indicated Olmsted County staff does not favor the Highway 14 route because it requires greater access to 50th Avenue Southeast, which is a county highway that could be widened in the future. As a result, he said the path likely would require paying for some easements along the way.

While the trail is expected to be constructed in 2019, city staff said a decision is needed to start efforts to access property.

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With differing lengths and property requirements, the two proposals also come with different price tags.

The shorter, cross-country route is estimated to cost $1.4 million, with nearly $156,000 spent on temporary and permanent easements.

The route alongside Highway 14 is expected to cost $1.9 million, with $277,000 in easement costs.

The city has nearly $1 million in state and federal funds available for the project. The remaining expense is expected to come from the tax levy.

In addition to discussing the trail route Monday, the city council is slated to receive an update following the Nov. 2 Destination Medical Center Corp. Board meeting and will talk with county staff regarding plans for Graham Park.
SPRING GROVE  Democrat Thomas Trehus announced Friday he will seek to challenge Preston Rep. Greg Davids for a second time.

Trehus said in September he had decided against a bid in 2018. But the Spring Grove School Board member said he recently changed his mind, deciding he needs to run for the House.

"The issues are too important to sit on the sidelines and wait. I want to serve, and I want to be in the Legislature and represent Houston and Fillmore counties. I don't think that needs to wait," Trehus said.

In 2016, the battle for the House District 28B seat between Davids and Trehus was one of the most expensive legislative contests in the state. The Preston Republican defeated Trehus with nearly 55 percent of the vote. Trehus is the second Democrat to announce a run for the seat. Political newcomer Jordan Fontenello , of Greenleafton, is also running. Davids is serving his 13th term in the House.

Trehus said he was being repeatedly asked to consider running again for the seat. He was also inspired by Tuesday's election, which he said shows people are tired of the status quo.

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"People are waking up and starting to realize that the things that we have been promised over the last couple of years aren't really coming to fruition, and the same old, same old isn't going to cut it," Trehus said. "And I think our representation represents kind of the same old partisan politics that we continue to see in St. Paul and in Washington."

Trehus, 27, grew up on the family farm in rural Spring Grove. He worked for U.S. Sen. Al Franken and returned to his hometown in 2014. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Minnesota. He will soon begin working for Farm Bureau Insurance. He has been working as a substitute teacher.

If elected, Trehus said his main priority would be health care. To help provide access to affordable insurance, he supports allowing residents to buy into the state's MinnesotaCare program. He also wants to see more funding passed for road and bridge improvements. He also supports boosting K-12 funding and will push against unfunded mandates.

During an interview, Davids said he was surprised to hear that Trehus had decided to run because Trehus had told him in September he would not challenge him in 2018.

"He certainly cannot be trusted," Davids said.

Political newcomer to take on Bennett

Democrat Thomas Martinez recently announced he is seeking to challenge Rep. Peggy Bennett.

Martinez said he stepped up to run for the House District 27A seat to ensure the Albert Lea Republican had a challenger. The district includes the cities of Blooming Prairie and Hayfield.

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"Peggy Bennett was going to run unopposed because no one else in our district had the willingness or time to put into it. Fortunately, I do and I could not in good conscience let a Republican seat go unchallenged," he said.

This is Martinez's first run for office. The 33-year-old lives in Hayward and is a sanitation truck driver. He said he was inspired to get more involved in politics after Bernie Sanders ran for president, becoming a delegate to the DFL state convention.

If elected, he said his number one priority would be making sure Albert Lea has a full-service, acute care hospital. This comes after Mayo Clinic Health System announced it would be moving most inpatient care from its Albert Lea campus to its Austin location. The Intensive Care Unit has already been moved and the consolidation plans call for Albert Lea birthing services to move to Austin in 2020.

"I would like to request specialized funding to immediately re-open the Intensive Care Unit and bring back (baby) delivery service," he said.

Martinez said he also thinks there needs to be an "emergency review" of funding for the Destination Medical Center initiative. A 2013 state law allows up to $585 million in public subsidies to be spent on infrastructure to support DMC  a $5.5 billion initiative aimed at turning Rochester into a worldwide destination for health care.

Martinez said he would also support clean and sustainable energy. He also would like to see the number of bike trails expanded.

"I'm very interested in making southern Minnesota a destination for young people to come and explore our wilderness through bike paths," he said.

He also supports single-payer health care, a $15 minimum wage, legalizing recreational marijuana, tuition-free public colleges and universities, campaign finance reform and fully funding pre-K through 12th-grade education.

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Bennett was first elected to the House in 2014. Last year, she defeated DFLer Gary Schindler with nearly 62 percent of the vote.
FOR RELEASE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2017, AT 12:01 A.M. CST.

FAIRFAX, Minn.  Paul Simonsen always has been interested in the environment and how his farming operation affects it. But he's not confident in all of the models and data state officials have concerning the amount of nutrients and chemicals that leave farmland and end up in waterways.

The farm he and his wife Janet own is in southeastern Renville County, a highly productive ag area where corn, sugar beets, soybeans, sweet corn and peas flourish.

Since 2011, an array of precise, real-time data have been captured on the farm, measuring and testing the water that flows from his crop land, down through the underground drainage tile system and into an open ditch that eventually flows into the Minnesota River.

He's part of Discovery Farms of Minnesota, a program operated by the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center, the Minnesota Department of Ag and the University of Minnesota. Funding comes from federal and state sources and from the state corn and soybean growers' associations.

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"What they're doing is something I was interested in  monitoring the water coming out of a certain area and going into a ditch system. If there were areas we could improve conservation practices, I'm interested."

The Mankato Free Press reports that Simonsen, who's long practiced certain conservation techniques, including installing buffer strips, has found the data are showing he is doing pretty well in keeping nutrients out of the water.

He sees the Discovery Farms as a good way to get real-life, long-term scientific data that can be used to make decisions and guide public policy. He thinks some of the assumptions and predictive models developed by groups such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency don't always square with what's really happening on the land.

Warren Formo, head of the Minnesota Agriculture Water Resource Center, said they helped create the program in Minnesota in 2010 to gain accurate data on real farm conditions.

"We copied a program existing in Wisconsin. Now we do some things in conjunction with them," he said.

"We look at best practices. People like to learn from their peers and they like to go out and see demonstrations and kick the tires before they try it themselves. We can sort through water and nutrient data and see if there's a connection and where different practices can be used. It's a water data tool but also a learning tool," Formo said.

Simonsen thinks urban residents often are unaware of how the food they buy is produced and are unfamiliar with modern farming practices.

"There's a disconnect. The people in the city don't have any financial interest in (farming). There's the insinuation that farmers aren't trying to do the best thing," he said.

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"There's always 1 or 2 percent of bad apples in any group and that's the way with farmers. But the people I talk to, they're trying to do the best they can. You're still trying to make a profit, but you're trying to do what's best for the land."

He said sometimes there is a backlash from farmers who can feel they are being blamed and face more regulations.

"Nobody likes to be told what to do," Simonsen said.

Simonsen said the initial announcement of and recent rollout of a new buffer law pushed by Gov. Mark Dayton could have been handled better.

"The buffer thing would have been better if the governor had talked to farm groups ahead of time instead of just dropping the idea at the Pheasants Forever event."

While he expects urban rural conflicts to continue, he's philosophical about it.

"It's good I guess because it makes you look at your own operation. Sometimes it's how it comes across. You could be a little tactful instead of how some of these groups are just saying, 'You have to do this,' without science backing it up.

"As farmers we rely a lot on data, testing and things. Sometimes the arguments seem more emotional than science based."

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Scott Matteson, monitoring hydrologist with the state Department of Agriculture, is involved in monitoring the dozen Discovery Farms around the state.

A large metal box, filled with an assortment of testing equipment and powered by a solar panel, is installed at the farms and collects information about water flowing off the surface and through underground tile lines.

"We look at the timing of when sediment and chemicals are leaving the field. We look at what's applied for fertilizer and the management of it," Matteson said.

"We don't tell farmers what to do. We want them to farm as they farm. After three or four years, we look at their data and look at improvements they could make. It might be timing of nutrient application, tillage, different things."

He's also helping to monitor the effectiveness of different systems for cleaning sediment and nutrients from water coming off fields.

One is a large bioreactor north of Blue Earth. The system involves digging a large hole in an area just before where the field tile empties into a ditch. The hole is filled with wood chips. Water coming through the tile flows into the wood chips and then out the other side into another tile line before going into the ditch.

The system, he said, is effective at removing certain contaminants, nitrates in particular. "Usually you see these on smaller fields, but this one is unique in that it's on over 550 acres of land and has three different beds of wood chips and all water goes through them."

Simonsen is no stranger to trying new things on his farm. Fifteen years ago he put a 90-foot buffer along both sides of his drainage ditch. "I saw it coming and wanted to do something. I didn't need to do 90 feet, I think if everyone had 16 feet would be good. I'm a pheasant hunter too, and there's pheasant and deer in there."

With the testing equipment installed in one of his fields, he now gets precise readings on what's in the water coming off his land.

"My nutrient flow is in the very acceptable range. I watch how I apply the fertilizer. I only apply the recommended amounts, and most farmers do that because they don't want to waste money on extra fertilizer they don't need."

He also rotates between soybeans and corn on each field, which means he can use less fertilizer than farmers who grown corn on the same land every years.

Simonsen said those collecting his data had assumed they'd find he had higher levels of sediment and nutrients because he uses open tile inlets in some places. On many farms water simply percolates down into the soil and then into the underground plastic tile lines, which have a series of small holes in them. But in fields with a large low spot, water flows off the surface to the low spot and can pool up and drown crops.

In those low areas, Simonsen and other farmers often run a tile line straight up from the underground line to get the pooled water into the tile system more quickly. Those tile inlets are open, meaning water quickly flows in without being filtered.

"With my open tile I think they were expecting higher levels of nitrogen but it was low. We had 5 inches of rain a few years ago and the water sat there, and then there was a fair amount of sediment going into the ditch  but not as much as they thought it would be."

Simonsen said a neighbor of his tried a system in which the tile inlet is located just under the field and the area on top of the open inlet is filled with rocks. The idea was that the water would go through those rocks fairly quickly but would provide some filtration of sediment.

"Then we got 4 or 5 inches of rain and his field flooded, and it went over the township road and flooded my side. He put a couple of surface ones back in so it wouldn't flood the road," he said.

This summer Simonsen tried some new styles of covers that go over open inlets. They attach to the open tile and stand about 3 feet above the ground, with smaller holes in them to take in water more slowly and provide some filtering.

"People are looking at alternatives," he said. "We want to do what's best but we have to have effective drainage, too. We look for the best way to accomplish it."
Despite being in office for nearly a year, President Trump has been unable to staff his administration. In the early days, he was slow to make nominationsnot surprisingly, given that he wasnt surrounded by a cadre of former officials and government hangers-on. But that is no longer true. Now, the problem is that Senate Democrats are stalling Trumps nominees. In one agency after another, they are carrying obstructionism to unprecedented lengths.

Take, for example, the Department of the Interior. Secretary Ryan Zinke has written a letter to Democrat Dick Durbin protesting the Democrats blockade of nominees to his department:

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says Senate Democrats are holding the departments nominees hostage to a political agenda that includes opposition to his review of presidentially designated monuments. In a sharply worded letter to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senates No. 2 Democrat, Zinke said its unfortunate that Democrats have placed holds on four Interior nominees, including the departments top lawyer and budget chief. The nominees have nothing to do with this monument review, yet they have been forced to sit on the sidelines for months, Zinke wrote Thursday. As a former Navy SEAL, this is not the type of hostage situation I am accustomed to.

But it is the hostage situation that is taking place all across the federal bureaucracy. The Democrats consider federal agencies to be their rightful property, and they have no intention of allowing a Republican president to exercise the constitutional powers of his office.

The specific issue here is the designation of monuments under federal law by the Obama administration, which the Trump administration wants to reduce in size.

President Donald Trump ordered the review this spring following complaints by congressional Republicans that previous presidents had misused a century-old law intended to protect federal lands, creating oversized monuments that hinder energy development, logging and other uses. Trump called some monument designations by his Democratic predecessors massive land grabs. Zinke has recommended that Trump shrink four large monuments in the West, including the sprawling Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

Lets take, as an example, the Bears Ears monument in Utah. Barack Obama created the Bears Ears monument during the last days of his administration, on December 28, 2016, subsequent to President Trumps election, by issuing an executive order under the Antiquities Act. Bears Ears comprises 1.35 million acres, or more than 2,000 square miles. That is one heck of a monument! It is nearly double the size of the State of Rhode Island. This map of southern Utah shows the Bears Ears monument.

The point of this alleged monument status is to block development. The Trump administration wants to undo the Obama administrations orders, at least in part, by shrinking the size of the Western monuments to reasonable dimensions. That makes sense, and would be popular in the affected states. Elections have consequences, right?

Not anymore they dont. The Democrats take the position that President Trump is not entitled to exercise the powers of his office. Here, as in many other instances, the Senate minority is holding nominees hostage to its demand that Obama administration policies not be changed. Barack Obama gets to be president forever, apparently.

This obstructionism is unprecedented in American history. The question is, what are Mitch McConnell and the other alleged leaders of the Republican majority going to do about it?

Like many others, I have just about come to the conclusion that Congressional Republicans are worthless. Time is running out for McConnell and his colleagues to show us that our votes and our financial support for Republicans havent been wasted. And please: dont lecture us on the hallowed traditions of the Senate. Those traditions have been blasted to smithereens by the Democrats. This is a war, Senator McConnell, and if you are not interested in fighting it, then we need to find someone who is.
Poland's Independence Day, President Andrzej Duda paid tribute to the country's founding fathers, for whom "the vision of a free, independent Poland was more important than anything else".

Poland celebrated its 99th anniversary of regaining independence on Saturday. The president, speaking at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was addressing officials and the public that gathered in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square to commemorate November 11, 1918 as the day Poland re-emerged as a sovereign state after more than a century of partitions.

The president pointed to the symbolic nature of the venue, formerly the site of the famous Saski Palace and now dedicated to Poland's greatest independence hero, Marshal Jozef Pilsudski

President Duda also reminded the public that exactly a year earlier, he had announced the start of preparations for the country's independence centenary on November 11, 2018.

In this connection, he thanked the speakers of both the Sejm (lower house) and Senate (upper house) as well as all lawmakers, for passing the Centenary Celebrations Act.

"The preamble to this act, the first sentence", the head of state observed, "makes reference to those key figures whom we have to thank for independence".

"An independence", the president added, "which returned after many struggles in 1918, an independence for which so many had striven".

In these efforts, the Polish people were led by their most prominent statesmen. "In our history, may the names of these people - Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, Ignacy Paderewski, Roman Dmowski, Wincenty Witos, Ignacy Daszynski, Wojciech Korfanty - be always etched in gold, because it is thanks to them that independence returned", Andrzej Duda urged.

For all their political differences, these independence fathers respected one other, the president emphasised.

During the central Independence Day ceremonies, President Duda stressed that "we must remember about the price of independence, the price of freedom".

"We cannot forget that independence is not given once and for all, and that the most important aspect of the political process is to strengthen it", the president stressed.

People must also remember that faith in the Republic of Poland is of crucial importance in everyday life and work, Andrzej Duda went on to say. "Devotion to the homeland, to the nation, to every fellow citizen is the most important thing".

"It is beyond everything, beyond our ideological divisions, beyond all disputes, beyond quarrels, and every dispute, even the fiercest one, must head towards dialogue and understanding", President Duda argued.

Only this way will Poland be able to build a foundation for a strong state, according to President Andrzej Duda. "A state that will never be broken again. One that cannot be removed. One that can never be destroyed in order to obliterate Poland from the map again", the president said.

In his speech, Andrzej Duda recalled the circumstances surrounding the erection of Warsaw's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which stands on Pilsudski Square, and stressed that the anonymous soldier entombed in it was one of the onetime Polish defenders of Lviv (in today's Ukraine), which belonged to Poland before World War II.

"Several years after we regained independence, Polish people stood on this square just like today, gathered for a big patriotic ceremony - the entombment under the arcades of the Saxon Palace of the remains of a boy exhumed from a grave near Lviv. A defender of the Polish Republic who fell fighting for Poland. An unknown soldier, a volunteer, who clutched his cap in his lifeless hand", the president said.

Andrzej Duda also made reference to the words spoken at that ceremony by Bishop Antoni Szlagowski, observing that they should be "engraved in the memories and hearts of all generations of Polish people".

"Bishop Szlagowski said: 'Who are you to God, grey, forgotten, nameless soldier? You are the eternal fighting spirit of the nation, and your name is courage. You are the inexhaustible, undefeated strength of national ideals, and your name is sacrifice. You are the all-victorious independence of the national spirit'", President Duda recounted, quoting the church official.

Concluding his address, the head of state wished independent Poland all the best on the threshold of its centenary (due on November 11, 2018), and hailed the heroes of the Polish freedom struggle.

"Long live free, independent, sovereign Poland on the threshold of its independence centenary. Hail and glory to the heroes of our free and independent motherland", the president said in Pilsudski Square. (PAP)
Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away, but its whats Dearborn schools are doing leading up to the holiday that has started a friendly competition.

Nearly 30 schools districtwide will take part in the third annual Battle Against Hunger. The competition began two years ago as an off-field competition between cross-town rivals Fordson and Dearborn to help feed families in need through Gleaners Community Food Bank. Both schools combined to donate more than 120,000 cans in two years. This year, both schools wanted Edsel Ford involved, so the Thunderbirds gladly obliged.

Then we thought, why stop at three schools, lets go districtwide with this and make the biggest impact to defeat hunger, said Raad Alawan, a local Realtor, who came up with the Battle Against Hunger three years ago.

Dearborns feeder schools will compete to see who can collect the most cans, non-perishable food items and monetary donations to help families in need. According to Gleaners, 600,000 people in southeast Michigan dont know where their next meal will come from. Now, they will.

I feel like this is a huge opportunity to impact lives that dont have much support, Edsel Ford senior Gadi Bzeih said.

It is wonderful to see how our high school students and the students in their feeder schools have used friendly competition to unite the district to support a great cause, Dearborn Public Schools Supt. Glenn Maleyko said. The generous work by our students will have a positive impact in the community. I am extremely proud of our students and the great work that they are doing to support those in need.

The battle begins Nov. 13. All district schools will also serve as collection sites for students that week. The donations will go straight to area families. The feeder with the most donations will be announced Nov. 17.

Gleaners will weigh and pick up the final donations from all schools the following week, just before Thanksgiving. Students bringing non-perishable food items to school are encouraged to place them in bins or boxes labeled with their schools name.

Anyone wishing to get involved can email Raad Alawan at: raadalawan@gmail.com or call him at 313-333-5369.
WOODBINE  Chase Jackson grew up in the military town of Norfolk, Virginia.

Her family wasnt in the military, but its influence was all around her, she said.

I lived around a naval base housing complex named after Doris Dorie Miller, she said. I leaned who he was. He was known for bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor and was the first African American to receive the Navys third-highest honor, the Navy Cross.

He was killed in action two years later, she said.

His story started her on a quest to learn more about African American soldiers and their contributions throughout American history.

She has collected stories from people all over the country and will present them in a talk, Victory and Valor Beyond the Color Line, next Saturday at the Woodbine branch of the Cape May County Library.

I was also in the performing arts, and there was a theater in town named for Crispus Attucks. He was the first American casualty of the American Revolution, said Jackson, 69, who lives in Cape May Beach in Lower Township.

A friend in New York City told her about the Harlem Hell Fighters, the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment known for its bravery in World War I, spending more time in combat than any other American unit.

She will talk about them and the first black armored unit, the 758th Tank Battalion, founded in 1941 during World War II; the all-black Womens Army Corps called the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which kept the mail flowing to and from soldiers in the European theater, and more.

They got to Birmingham (England) and found warehouses crammed full of mail that hadnt moved in a year or two. They broke the logjam in three months, Jackson said of the womens battalion, by working seven days a week in rotating, eight-hour shifts.

Jackson had a 30-year career in arts administration, she said. She is the co-founder of the Natchel Blues Network, a blues society and founding director of AFRAM Fest, both in Norfolk.

Currently, she is the outreach coordinator at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve.
The average hourly count of migrating monarch butterflies through Cape May Point increased to about 95 this year from about 15 last year, according to the Monarch Monitoring Project.

It certainly was encouraging to see numbers higher than the last four lean years, Project Director Mark Garland said.

Counts are performed at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. by an intern driving the same 5-mile route in and around Cape May Point from early September to the end of October. The project is a program of New Jersey Audubons Cape May Bird Observatory.

While the numbers rebounded strongly from recent years, they were still just about half that of 2012, when an average of about 183 were spotted per hour.

There were so many monarchs migrating in week 9 of the count  the last week in October  that the project decided to continue it an extra week into November, for the first time ever.

Thousands of monarchs were seen roosting in trees along Cape May Point beach in late October.

Photographer to talk Pinelands

Photographer Albert D. Horner, of Medford Lakes in Burlington County, will offer a free lecture on the history, flora and fauna of the Pinelands at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in the Oceanville section of Galloway Township.

Horner also will discuss efforts to preserve the Pinelands.

Images from Horners 2015 coffee-table book, Pinelands: New Jerseys Suburban Wilderness, illustrate the lecture. There will also be a book signing.

Part of the Evenings at Forsythe series, the event is hosted by the refuge and Friends of Forsythe.

Pollinator garden opens in Middle

The Middle Township Environmental Commission worked with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ to create a pollinator meadow at the Ockie Wisting Recreation Complex in the township, the foundation said last week.

The complex was officially opened in the end of October and will have playing fields, a playground and a wooded trail that leads to a lake and fishing pier, the CWF said.

With funding from Atlantic City Electric, volunteers planted 138 native perennials. Next spring and summer, there will be plants for bees, butterflies and birds to use for food and habitat.

The meadow will be great for wildlife and wont have to be mowed, the CWF said.

Some of the plants chosen were common milkweed, which is used by the monarch butterfly as its larval food plant; various asters, which provide nectar to migrating butterflies in the fall as well as to other pollinators; Cardinal Flower and Scarlet Bee balm (Monarda), favorites of hummingbirds; and purple coneflowers, which feed pollinators in midsummer.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 201711-05

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https://security.gentoo.org/

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Severity: Normal

Title: X.Org Server: Multiple vulnerabilities

Date: November 10, 2017

Bugs: #635974

ID: 201711-05



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Synopsis

========



Multiple vulnerabilities have been found in X.Org Server, the worst of

which could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code.



Background

==========



The X.Org project provides an open source implementation of the X

Window System.



Affected packages

=================



-------------------------------------------------------------------

Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected

-------------------------------------------------------------------

1 x11-base/xorg-server < 1.19.5 >= 1.19.5



Description

===========



Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in X.Org Server. Please

review the referenced CVE identifiers for details.



Impact

======



Attackers could execute arbitrary code or cause a Denial of Service

condition.



Workaround

==========



There is now know workaround at this time.



Resolution

==========



All X.Org Server users should upgrade to the latest version:



# emerge --sync

# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=x11-base/xorg-server-1.19.5"



References

==========



[ 1 ] CVE-2017-12176

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12176

[ 2 ] CVE-2017-12177

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12177

[ 3 ] CVE-2017-12178

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12178

[ 4 ] CVE-2017-12179

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12179

[ 5 ] CVE-2017-12180

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12180

[ 6 ] CVE-2017-12181

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12181

[ 7 ] CVE-2017-12182

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12182

[ 8 ] CVE-2017-12183

https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12183



Availability

============



This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at

the Gentoo Security Website:

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/strict.dtd">

<html><head><meta name="qrichtext" content="1"

/><style type="text/css">

p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; }

</style></head><body style=" font-family:'Noto

Sans'; font-size:10pt; font-weight:400; font-style:normal;">

<p style=" margin-top:12px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 201711-05</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://security.gentoo.org/</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> Severity: Normal</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> Title: X.Org Server: Multiple vulnerabilities</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> Date: November 10, 2017</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> Bugs: #635974</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> ID: 201711-05</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Synopsis</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">========</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Multiple vulnerabilities have been found in X.Org Server, the worst of</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">which could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code.</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Background</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">==========</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">The X.Org project provides an open source implementation of the X</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Window System.</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Affected packages</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">=================</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> -------------------------------------------------------------------</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> -------------------------------------------------------------------</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> 1 x11-base/xorg-server < 1.19.5 >= 1.19.5 </span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Description</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">===========</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in X.Org Server. Please</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">review the referenced CVE identifiers for details.</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Impact</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">======</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Attackers could execute arbitrary code or cause a Denial of Service</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">condition.</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Workaround</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">==========</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">There is now know workaround at this time.</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Resolution</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">==========</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">All X.Org Server users should upgrade to the latest version:</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> # emerge --sync</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=x11-base/xorg-server-1.19.5"</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">References</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">==========</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 1 ] CVE-2017-12176</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12176</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 2 ] CVE-2017-12177</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12177</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 3 ] CVE-2017-12178</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12178</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 4 ] CVE-2017-12179</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12179</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 5 ] CVE-2017-12180</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12180</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 6 ] CVE-2017-12181</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12181</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 7 ] CVE-2017-12182</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12182</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">[ 8 ] CVE-2017-12183</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-12183</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Availability</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">============</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">the Gentoo Security Website:</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;"> https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201711-05</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Concerns?</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">=========</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">confidentiality and security of our users' machines is of utmost</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">https://bugs.gentoo.org.</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">License</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">=======</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Copyright 2017 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">belongs to its owner(s).</span></p>

<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px;

margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">The contents of this document are licensed under the</span></p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px;

margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.</span></p>

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margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>

<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:12px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-family:'Hack'; color:#000000;">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5</span></p></body></html>

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If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Simplifying our broken tax system is no easy task, but we know Americans need relief.

This is why we introduced a bill at the start of November to streamline the tax code and help people keep more of what they earn. We then spent the week of November 6 debating the details in a Ways and Means Committee markup, where the bill is prepared for a vote by the full House. The legislation passed out of Committee with my support, and we anticipate a House vote to quickly follow.

Americans at all income levels will see tax cuts under this bill, which the head of the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation confirmed on the first day of our markup. Many provisions are designed to help working families, namely the doubling of the standard deduction, increasing the child tax credit, and lowering tax rates across the board.

Doubling the standard deduction will significantly increase the zero-tax bracket. Under our bill, a couples first $24,000 of income is tax-free, compared to $12,000 today. Filers can also keep the money they would normally spend on tax experts or software, as nine out of 10 Americans will be able to file their taxes on a form the size of a postcard. With this financial boost, families can meet more household needs while saving for the future.

In addition to helping Americans keep more of their money, this bill also sets the stage for Americans to earn more money. By cutting the tax rate on small businesses to a historic low and reducing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent to allow American companies to compete in the global economy, job creators will be able to add more positions, raise wages, and invest here at home.

Our bill also firmly rejects the idea of death being a taxable event. The death tax runs counter to the American dream, so it is not surprising an April 2017 NPR report found a majority of Americans support repealing it permanently. Our bill phases out the death tax over six years and, in the meantime, doubles the exclusion amount to provide immediate relief.

Eliminating the death tax will have a positive ripple effect throughout the economy. Right now, the death tax only represents one half of one percent of all federal revenue. However, the flow of these dollars to the Internal Revenue Service has been a significant drain on economic growth. Our economy has lost out on more than $1.1 trillion in capital since the introduction of the death tax, according to the Joint Economic Committee.

Another study by the Tax Foundation found normal taxation on the amount of capital infused back into the economy by repealing the death tax would more than pay for itself, actually yielding an additional $8 billion in revenue than we have seen with the death tax in place. As Americans for Tax Reform said in response, You heard that right  wed actually collect more tax revenue if we stopped collecting the death tax.

We cannot let this opportunity to boldly reform the tax code pass us by, and people across the country agree. In fact, more than 40 conservative and tax policy organizations signed onto a letter on November 9 declaring the bill a victory for the middle class.

There is more work to do, but we are moving in the right direction. Its time for real relief.
Da Nang (Vietnam), Nov 9 : Trade and foreign ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum resumed their meet here on Thursday following opposition by the US over the text of the final joint statement a day earlier.

On Wednesday, the American delegation had protested the language of the joint statement addressing issues such as free trade and protectionism.

"It is 20 to 1... APEC is a consensus organisation. If there's no consensus there can't be a statement," an informed source told Efe news.

"They are talking, they are working on it. The meeting hasn't been closed."

APEC's 2016 edition had concluded calling for attention on the risk of falling into trade protectionism and a defence of economic integration.

Meanwhile, the heads of state and government of the 21 APEC economies, including US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are scheduled to arrive in Da Nang on Thursday for the APEC political and economic leaders' meet that will end on Friday.

The summit is set to conclude on Saturday with a meeting of economic leaders.

APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, South Korea, the US, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Taipei, Thailand and Vietnam.
Washington, Nov 9 : Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has expressed concern about the potential legal exposure of his son, who is also being probed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller over alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the media reported.

Interviews conducted by special counsel investigators have included questions about the business dealings of the former official and his son Michael Flynn Jr., such as their firm's reporting of income from work overseas, informed sources told CNN on Wednesday.

Flynn Jr., who served as his father's chief of staff and top aide, was actively involved in his father's consulting and lobbying work at their firm, Flynn Intel Group, which included taking overseas trips, such as to Moscow in December 2015.

During that trip, Flynn dined with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a black-tie gala for the RT television network.

Flynn's business dealings have been the subject of federal investigation since November 2016, prior to Mueller's appointment in May.

Flynn is also under legal scrutiny by Mueller's team for undisclosed lobbying that he did during the presidential campaign on behalf of the Turkish government, reports CNN.

It is against the law to lobby in the US on behalf of a foreign government without informing the Justice Department.

Another area of interest to Mueller's team is Flynn's alleged participation in discussions about the idea of removing a Turkish cleric who has been living in exile in Pennsylvania, sources said.

A spokesman for Flynn has denied that such discussions occurred.

It was not immediately clear that either of the Flynns will face charges once the investigation is complete.

According to the investigators, Flynn and his son both followed and shared material from Twitter accounts that were recently revealed to be controlled by Russian trolls.

The House intelligence committee last week released a list of Twitter handles associated with Russia's election-meddling efforts.
Da Nang (Vietnam), Nov 10 : US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will not hold a formal meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit here, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Friday.

Citing "scheduling conflicts on both sides", Sanders aboard the Air Force One, told reporters that no formal meeting will take place, but that an informal interaction between the two leaders was likely to happen, reports CNN.

"Regarding a Putin meeting, there was never a meeting confirmed, and there will not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides," Sanders said.

"Now, they're going to be in the same place. Are they going to bump into each other and say hello? Certainly possible, and likely. But in terms of a scheduled, formal meeting, there's not one on the calendar and we don't anticipate that there will be one."

Sanders' statement contradicts what the Russian side had confirmed to the media on Thursday, CNN reported.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told state-run news agency Tass that Putin and Trump would meet on Friday, adding that the two sides had already agreed to the time and place.

While briefing reporters in China, though, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declined to say whether Putin and Trump would meet in Vietnam, telling reporters that officials were working to determine whether the two world leaders have sufficient areas of substance to discuss.
New York, Nov 11 : Activists have denounced a program that mandates the jailing of undocumented migrants as emblematic of the militarisation of the US-Mexico border.

Gathered outside Tucson's federal courthouse in Arizona on Friday, they said: "Operation Streamline has become a tangible symbol of the militarisation and the criminalisation of our communities."

Eduardo Garcia, of the human rights group SOA Watch, told EFE, these are "failures of due process for people who come to seek asylum in the US".

A "massive demonstration" against Trump's planned border wall was expected over the weekend.

Under Operation Streamline, launched in 2005, some undocumented migrants apprehended at the border have to serve jail time before being deported.

Before Streamline, unauthorised border-crossers were simply sent back to Mexico.

President Donald Trump's administration has announced that all undocumented migrants intercepted in the US Border Patrol's Tucson Sector would be processed under the Operation Streamline protocol.

This was regardless of whether they have criminal records or have been detained on previous attempts to enter the US.

A particularly controversial aspect of the Streamline program is the sentencing of dozens of migrants at a stroke in mass hearings at the Tucson federal courthouse.

Friday's demonstration was part of Border Encounter, an event organised by SOA Watch. Thousands of activists from the US, Mexico and Central America gathered in this Arizona city.

Participants protested outside the Eloy Detention Centre, the scene of more detainee deaths than any other migrant holding facility in the country.
Brasilia, Nov 11 : Massive protests took place across Brazil against a comprehensive labour reform that the people believe only benefits big business.

The protests were held in the country's 24 of 27 states, a day before the labour reforms take effect, reports Xinhua news agency.

It has been approved by Congress and signed into law by President Michel Temer.

In addition to the reforms, citizens also protested against a social security reform bill which is waiting to be voted in the Congress.

Both the labour and social security reforms are considered highly damaging to workers, according to critics, who say that it will make workers more vulnerable, reduce their rights and will be ineffective in curbing unemployment.

The social security reform is criticised for establishing a minimum age of retirement regardless of how many years one has worked, which will in practice make poorer people work for many more years and retire with lower pensions.

The labour reform passed with relative ease in Congress, but the social security reform is considered a much harder sell, as the government does not have, at this point, enough votes to approve the bill before the end of the year.
New Delhi : At one time, he was the poster boy of Indian politics. Not only did he slay the villain of Bihar's "jungle raj" in 2005 by rounding up lawless elements after winning an election and launching social and economic development projects, he also scored another resounding electoral victory in the company of a new set of friends, including the "villain", in 2015.

It appeared at the time that he could do no wrong. So much so that he was seen as a possible prime ministerial candidate of the "secular" front.

But, then, the rise and rise of Nitish Kumar came to an abrupt halt. He remains Bihar's Chief Minister, but the halo round his head has frayed.

The reason is not only his switching of friends in what is seen as an exercise in crass opportunism, but also his pursuit of policies which are out of sync with the modern world and threatens to reinforce Bihar's reputation for backwardness by turning the entire state into a virtual dehat or village.

The first step in this bucolic direction was the imposition of prohibition which has robbed Bihar's clubs, hotels and intellectual watering holes of cosmopolitanism. Now, Nitish Kumar has taken yet another step backwards by demanding 50 per cent reservations for the backward castes in the private sector.

To begin with the second step, it is obvious that by threatening to take the quota system to such an absurd level, the Chief Minister has scotched any hope of industrial growth in a state which is crying out for investment.

In 2012, Bihar received investment proposals worth Rs 24,000 crore. In the post-liquor ban period, they have dropped to Rs 6,500 crore.

If his new ally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had any hope, therefore, of making Bihar the beneficiary of his Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas goals, he can bid it goodbye.

Nitish Kumar's latest pitch in favour of the backward castes is all the more strange because he cannot seriously expect that his proposal will pass muster at the judicial level.

Like most Indian politicians, he is more interested in posing as a champion of whichever group he is courting at a given moment than in adopting measures which have a reasonable chance of success.

He merely wants to impress his targeted audience by showing that he did make an honest effort, but was stymied by the "system".

Whether it is prohibition or reservations, Nitish Kumar's ploys tend to underline crafty political manoeuvres rather than any genuine intention of acting in the state's interest.

Unfortunately for the Janata Dal (United) leader, his gambits are too palpable to deceive anyone. In the case of the reservations, it is clear that Nitish Kumar is still battling his old adversary-cum-ally-cum-adversary, Lalu Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Since Nitish Kumar belongs to a numerically small and politically less influential caste -- the Kurmis -- than the RJD's powerful Yadavs, he has never been at ease in Lalu Prasad's company whether at the time of their camaraderie during Jayaprakash Narayan's anti-Congress movement or when they were a part of the state government after the 2015 election victory.

The focal point of Nitish Kumar's political career has been to establish himself as the foremost leader in the state. Lalu Prasad's conviction in the fodder scam case enabled Nitish Kumar to be the No. 1 in the Janata Dal (United)-RJD-Congress government.

But he appeared to be forever looking over his shoulder to check whether he was being undermined by the RJD which has more MLAs than the Janata Dal (United).

Prohibition was the policy which he embraced to win over the lower middle class and rural women to his side. But, predictably, the liquor ban has led to an increase in drug abuse with 25 per cent of the cases in de-addiction centres now dealing with the users of cannabis, inhalants and sedatives.

Unlike prohibition which is not aimed at any caste, the demand for the 50 per cent reservations is intended by Nitish Kumar to bolster his position vis-a-vis Lalu Prasad since both are intent on playing the backward caste card.

It is also a message to his partner in the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), about the importance of the quota system for the Chief Minister, especially when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, is in favour of doing away with reservations altogether.

When Bhagwat expressed his views during the 2015 election campaign, the BJP quickly distanced itself from them for fear of losing the backward caste and Dalit votes. Even then, the BJP's reputation as a brahmin-bania party remains intact. Besides, it is now more focused on playing the nationalist card than on wooing the backward castes.

Nitish Kumar must have thought, therefore, that the time was ripe for him to up the ante on the caste issue if only to let the BJP know that he cannot be marginalised as the BJP has been tending to do since tying the knot with the Janata Dal (United).

But, whatever his intention, Nitish Kumar cannot but be aware that his position is much weaker now than when he was in the "secular" camp. Nor is there any chance that he will regain his earlier status any time in the near future.

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
New Delhi : (Editor's note: Valson Thampu served St. Stephen's College for four decades. The last nine years of his tenure were rife with controversy, beginning with his stepping in as principal (OSD) in 2007. From accusations that he was 'Christianising' the college to allegations that he curbed the fundamental rights of the students, Thampu was constantly in the glare of the media throughout his term. Here's an exclusive excerpt from his upcoming memoir "On a Stormy Course")

There are two counts on which a human being can be attacked -- for what he does and for who he is. These are not watertight categories. Sustained propaganda fuses them into one. If you can't be attacked for what you have done or are doing, the propaganda machine will begin by sounding alarm bells about who, and how dangerous, you are. Once this has had its effect, it becomes easy to attack whatever you do.

We are now ready for a bird's-eye view of the propaganda blitzkrieg unleashed on me. My interest here is not journalistic. Controversies, per se, do not aggrieve me. They are done and gone. Our main purpose in reckoning some of them is to understand the human realities in a specific historical context which, according to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is the usefulness of biographies.

The propagandist caricature of my religious identity was the starting point. As soon as I assumed charge as principal, I was reinvented as a religious fundamentalist, a predatory practitioner of proselytisation and a missionary head-hunter who would bedim the liberal sheen of the college. This prejudice purchased its traction from the admission guidelines I evolved and implemented.

The bugle was sounded by Ramachandra Guha through an article in the Outlook.

I was caricatured as an evangelical fundamentalist and a gravedigger for St. Stephen's. I should have felt flattered. I was being placed in an illustrious pantheon, after all. The very same slur was cast on Mother Teresa, the saint of Kolkata, decades ago. Had she been a secular practitioner of social service, she would have been left unharassed. Her work, as it began to be noticed, supported and globally respected, was misrepresented as an attack on Hinduism. The charge of conversion was leveled against her. In the decades that this controversy raged, no one came up with the names of converts or identified a single convert. The offence was that she served the destitute and dying as though she was serving Jesus himself.

The parallel between this, and the propaganda unleashed against me, could not be missed. No statement or speech I made, no article I published, no activity I undertook in the three decades of my public life prior to 2007, had been cited as evidence for my religious fundamentalism, surreptitious evangelistic intent, or zeal for conversion. On the contrary, plenty of literature pertaining to my radical views on conversion, my contribution to inter-faith dialogues and my initiatives to promote communal harmony spread over articles and reports published in the print media, were readily available. All this notwithstanding, I was photoshopped as a fanatical merchant of proselytising Christianity. This piece of fiction was then sold to the media.

In the admission guidelines I evolved for the college in 2007, I provided for up to 40 per cent of the seats to be filled with candidates from the Christian community, whereas it was lawful to go up to 50 per cent. The college was attracting academically the most meritorious Christian applicants from all over the country. Filling 40 per cent of the seats -- 164 seats out of 410 -- with meritorious applicants from the Christian community nationwide held no threat to the academic stature of the college. The problem was, as a leading newspaper article complained, that the 'space was shrinking in St. Stephen's College'. Shrinking for whom?

A formidable propaganda machine sprang into action. The task of crafting the substance and shape of controversies was assumed by a teacher in the college, one who had an established reputation for running, as the word went then, a 'department of dirty tricks'. A few impressionable students were co-opted. Stephanians holding senior positions in the media and bureaucracy were lobbied and enlisted as force-multipliers.

A second propaganda thrust was that I denigrated Hinduism in my morning assembly addresses and preached the gospel with zeal. Late in 2007, I was informed that Sheila Dikshit, then chief minister of Delhi, wanted me to see her. I had worked closely with her from 1999, in three successive minority commissions, and had enjoyed her goodwill and trust. I went readily. After the exchange of preliminaries, she referred to a complaint she had received. She randomly enumerated the allegations levelled in the document. One of them pertained to my alleged abuse of the morning assembly to denigrate Hinduism. I asked for a copy of the complaint. Out of sheer curiosity I turned over to the sixth and last page to check for the complainants. To my shock, there was none. The complaint was anonymous. I asked the chief minister if it was proper to act on an anonymous complaint. She replied that the allegations were too serious to be overlooked. She suggested that I provide a detailed, written explanation for each of the allegations.

I told her that it was unjust on her part to press me to respond to an anonymous document. 'Madam, I shall be doing an improper thing if I respond to an anonymous complaint,' I told her. 'I would belittle the college, if I do. I shall not respond, much less in writing.'

I knew I could, by refusing to comply, earn a powerful adversary. But the alternative was unthinkable. Today, I am even more convinced that it would have been unforgivable on my part to compromise my conviction in order to avert the displeasure of the then executive head of the NCR of Delhi.

What was the truth about my assembly addresses? The morning assembly has been an essential feature of the college from its inception. The principal, sharing his thoughts on issues relevant to the life of the students had been a practice basic to the idea of total education on which the college was founded.

Reading scriptural texts and sharing an anthology of prayers drawn from various sources and traditions -- Christian, Hindu, Muslim -- as also the works of Tagore and other inspirational writers was the substance of the morning assembly. It never was controversial. I was only continuing an old and honoured tradition.

A few teachers, however, chose to sow seeds of resentment in students. Senior students were deployed to work on their susceptible juniors. This was done for fear that sustained exposure to the principal would make it that much more difficult for disgruntled elements to incite students against the 'establishment'. The target needs to remain 'alien', if he is to be effectively denigrated.

With the students, the line of argument adopted was legal. The college receives state aid, and in such institutions, as per Article 28 of the Indian Constitution, religious instruction cannot be imparted compulsorily to anyone. Attendance at the morning assembly is mandatory and it counts towards qualifying for various prizes, awards and scholarships. The college was, thus, alleged to be flouting the constitution.

The teachers involved withheld relevant information from the students; especially the fact that the Supreme Court had already settled this issue in 2002.The morning assembly did not attempt to impart 'religious instruction', but religious education. Article 28 did not proscribe religious education in institutions receiving grant-in-aid. The college was absolutely on the right side of the law in this regard.

Propaganda thrives on public ignorance and its attendant gullibility. The managers of the propaganda machine did an outstanding job in cultivating media bosses, lobbying diverse interest groups, keeping whisper mills grinding within the institution and, most importantly, by inventing grievances regarding alleged atrocities and misdeeds on my part. They did even better in prevailing upon the media to black out my side of the story.

(This is an extract from "On a Stormy Course," with permission from Hachette India)
New Delhi : The arrival of Dineshwar Sharma, formerly of the Intelligence Bureau, as the Centre's interlocutor in troubled Jammu and Kashmir has clearly not set the Jhelum on fire. But Hari Niwas, the former Maharaja's palace, Sharma's HQ, has acquired a temporary prominence with armoured personnel carriers, TV vans and a gradually diminishing number of journalists outside. The approaching winter is a deterrence for assembly after sunset.

Reactions range from total nonchalance at the Amar Singh club to bewilderment among the intelligentsia and anger among prominent members of the civil society. "Yet again, this is an insult to Kashmiris; what can an interlocutor find out that the state does not already know after 28 years of total military occupation?"

Subjects that were hush-hush in the past are now part of casual conversation over cups of kahva. "Democratisation of corruption", for instance. This the intelligence agencies have achieved -- transferring cash in ever-expanding concentric circles. This kind of money induces dependency, not gratitude, a sort of helplessness, demoralisation, which conceals simmering anger.

Householders are more liable to be implicated in such transactions. This would distance them further from the youth fired by idealism and the social media. It is this youth which is controlling the agitational mood. I must, however, add in parenthesis that too much should not be extrapolated from the experience of urban centres like Srinagar.

Hardly a day passes without an encounter, a shootout, disappearances. Director General of Police S.P. Vaid's boast that 170 militants have been killed this year disguises the hundreds of civilians and security personnel, including the Army, who have also been killed. Figures, in any case, do not reflect the scale of the tragedy.

South Asian Terrorism Portal records 11 civilians, 15 security forces and 40 militants killed in the past two months. These, again, are mere figures. They reveal little. The tragedy is in the empty streets past 9 p.m. During a 30-km ride from a friend's house near the airport to my hotel past Dal Lake, I saw headlights of one or two cars, but no people, not even security personnel. Has this stretch been totally tranquilised? No one will ever know what fills the spaces within the heart behind those unlit windows?

One of the finer intellectuals in Srinagar tossed in a comparison with Catalonia. He was suggesting that Catalonia is more prosperous than the rest of Spain and is yet in rebellion, seeking independence. The comparison is slightly far-fetched even though people in Kashmir are apparently better off than in many places in the rest of India. A study of this relative economic well-being would have to be a mean-minded accumulation of data. How can you point to the decorous carpet in a man's house when you have blinded two of his sons with pellet guns?

Lifestyles are sometimes a self-deception, make-belief, a cover-up for a deeper want. The most spectacular arrangement of colours and motifs in women's wear in Rajasthan, Kutch and Sind compensate for the aridity as far as the eye can see.

People living under extreme pressure pick up nuances swiftly. When Mehbooba Mufti, Ram Madhav and Dineshwar Sharma repeat the same image, ears are cocked: "We do not want Kashmir to become another Syria." This raises a spectre of Jabhat al Nusra, Al Qaeda, the Islamic State. Well, the US had to flatten out Raqqa on the scale of Dresden during World War II and yet allowed 375 IS to sneak out to few know where.

The very mention of Syria invites a knee-jerk response. After the massive protests last year following Burhan Wani's killing, new names are being brought into focus as militant leaders, some of them demanding Shariah law, unusual for youth rebels in their 20s.

Zakir Musa, once associated with Burhan Wani, is being projected as the new jihadist. That Musa is alive in a culture saturated with "encounters" is interpreted here, by some groups, as the Deep State promoting ogres to justify some drastic action in the future.

In an atmosphere so charged with suspicion, no one is expecting the interlocutor to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He has diligently started visiting senior politicians who ask, "What is the bottom line?" To this Sharma cannot possibly be expected to have an answer. Has he been sent to salvage accidental Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's sinking political fortunes? It has certainly given people something to watch -- wearily though.

The Sharma initiative makes sense if there is a similar expedition to Pakistan. This cannot happen before the 2019 general election because such a step would immediately bring down Hindu-Muslim temperatures, a state of affairs most deleterious to the BJP's electoral health.

In the 70s and 80s I wrote repeatedly with such conviction: "Indian secularism protects, among a billion others, the world's second-largest Muslim population. Any issue, including Kashmir, should be addressed keeping this in mind."

How foolish I feel when some of the best minds in Kashmir hurl the following at me: Love Jihad, Cow lynchings, Ghar Wapsi, Tipu the traitor, transformation of shrines into temples...

"You in India are a cowering minority," they mock. "We in Kashmir are in battle against occupation."

"They disempowered you through secularism; they are disempowering us through democracy." It is a staggering barrage. I find myself wriggling against the wall.

(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal.)
Brasilia, Nov 11 : The BRICS bloc of emerging economies has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting competition and combating monopolies.

The five BRICS members -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- gathered here for their 5th International Competition Conference, issued a joint declaration on Friday pledging continued efforts to implement policies and practices that encourage competitiveness.

Organised by Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE), the event brought together officials and experts from BRICS and other countries.

"In addition to discussions of an academic nature and topics of interest to policies for competition, we had concrete proposals that will help cooperation over the coming years," CADE President Alexandre Barreto told Xinhua news agency.

"We will have an exchange of information that will help the respective authorities in (the area of) competition, in their daily work, which will be reflected in better services in their respective countries and for their people."

Delegates from more than 25 countries attended this year's conference, said Barreto, including academics from 26 universities, and representatives from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Previous conferences were held in Russia in 2009, China in 2011, India in 2013 and South Africa in 2015.
Seoul, Nov 11 : South Korea and the US started large-scale military manoeuvers on Saturday off the Korean peninsula in which three American aircraft carriers are taking part.

Nuclear-powered carriers USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt are taking part in the exercises, which will continue until Tuesday in the Sea of Japan, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The manoeuvers are the first in 10 years in which three aircraft carriers have been involved, reports Efe news.

The JCS said in a statement that the exercise was seeking to strengthen and expand the dissuasive strategy to prevent Pyongyang from carrying out further provocations in the form of arms tests.

The exercises come after the US and South Korea in their recent annual meeting on defensive policy agreed to expand the rotational deployment of strategic American military assets such as aircraft carriers, submarines and bombers to the peninsula.

During his visit to South Korea during his ongoing Asian tour, US President Donald Trump strongly criticised Pyongyang and twice referred to the deployment of the three aircraft carriers in the region.

Trump's rhetoric combined with repeated weapons tests by North Korea have increased tensions to some of the highest levels seen since the Korean War of 1950-1953.
Nebraskans who purchase something online from out-of-state vendors that dont automatically collect sales tax have broken the law, unless theyve claimed the tax and paid it on a tax return.

Yes, were a state full of scofflaws. Our nation is brimming with them, too.

But efforts to mandate collection of online sales taxes have hit a snag, largely because of the current interpretation of a 1992 case by the U.S. Supreme Court that bars the practice unless a retailer has a physical presence in the state. In recent years, Nebraska is among the states that have begun to pursue a measure that would take in the required taxes that have for so long gone unpaid.

To that end, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson has joined with 34 other attorneys general in filing a friend-of-the-court brief to urge the highest court in the land to again review whether businesses can be required to collect the sales tax on behalf of the states, based on South Dakotas new statute on the topic.

The clarity Peterson and his colleagues seek is long overdue and highlights the problem with technology advancing faster than the laws governing it. For a quarter-century, brick-and-mortar stores have been obligated to charge customers for sales tax at a time when nearly all online retailers have refused to do so, with Amazon a notable exception.

All the while, virtually all of these legally required  but entirely self-reported  taxes have gone unpaid.

In a state such as Nebraska, which has grappled with tax revenues that have repeatedly fallen short of previous forecasts, those dollars would make a big difference. The looming $195 million budget gap wont just close itself, and the state is estimated to lose between $30 million and $40 million annually to unpaid ecommerce sales taxes.

Syracuse Sen. Dan Watermeier introduced a bill in the Legislature that would mandate out-of-state retailers whose gross income in Nebraska exceeded $100,000 to collect state sales tax. Despite clearing its initial floor test, it lacked enough support to invoke cloture to end a filibuster in May.

Considering some of the stated opposition was on legal and constitutional grounds, a review by the Supreme Court would likely allay the fears of at least some senators who fought it in the spring. Even Gov. Pete Ricketts, who opposed Watermeiers bill, supported Petersons effort in hopes the U.S. Supreme Court sets clear parameters for this important issue.

Here, the attorney general and governor are on the right page in asking for a review of South Dakotas new law. The collection of sales tax from online purchases represents just the latest intersection between technology and laws that havent caught up  one that could have millions of dollars at stake for Nebraska.

Journal Star, Nov. 7, 2017
Dhaka, Nov 11 : The Bangladesh police have detained 53 people in connection with arson attacks on the homes of Hindus over a rumoured Facebook post by a local "insulting religion".

More than 30 homes belonging to Hindu families in Rangpur's Thakurbari village were ransacked and looted before being set on fire by a mob on Friday over the "derogatory" status posted by a Hindu man, Bdnews24.com reported.

One person, 30-year-old Habibur Rahman, was killed when the police opened fire to ward off the angry mob that turned violent and set fire to several homes. Eleven others were injured in the violence.

Police filed two cases over the incidents and arrested 53 people, said Police Superintendent Mizanur Rahman.

One of the victims, Dulali Rani told the Dhaka Tribune: "A mob came to our neighbourhood on Friday afternoon and started ransacking our home without any provocation. They even took our cattle.

"They burned everything, even my cooking pots. We do not have a place to sleep at night, and no way to cook food."

Several villagers said that if someone posted a derogatory status on Facebook, hold that one person accountable for his or her action.

The status was allegedly put on social media by Thakurbari village native Titu Roy, but very few villagers admitted to seeing it, the daily reported.

One of the witnesses said thousands of protesters from six nearby villages banded together after the Jumma prayers and attacked the Hindu neighbourhood.

A three-member investigation committee was formed to probe the situation. The district administration said it is making special arrangements to compensate the victims of the attacks.
New : New Nov 11 (IANS) Boosting trade and connectivity will be among the key priorities as Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a three-day visit to the Philippines on Sunday that will see him attend the 15th Asean-India Summit and the 12th East Asia Summit.

Meetings with world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who are attending the EAS, are likely on its sidelines.

Trump on Friday praised India for achieving "astounding" growth since opening its economy and heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has been working to bring the country and its people together.

Modi, who is making his first official visit to the Southeast Asian nation, will also hold a bilateral meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte on November 13 in Manila ahead of the two summits on November 14.

Modi's visit is all the more significant because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the India-Asean dialogue partnership and the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Asean.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

India's relationship with the regional bloc has emerged as a key cornerstone of New Delhi's foreign policy after then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao launched the Look East Policy in 1992.

The relationship was elevated to that of a strategic partnership in 2012 and the Look East Policy was turned into the Act East Policy under the present NDA dispensation.

With the initiation of economic reforms in India in 1991, New Delhi has been increasing its engagements with the economically vibrant Southeast Asian region.

Given China's belligerence in the South China Sea, the regional bloc also sees in India a rising force that can act as a balancing power in the region, with its stress on maritime security and in ensuring freedom of navigation through one of the world's busiest trading routes.

According to figures released by the Ministry of External Affairs, trade between India and Asean stood at $71 billion in 2016-17 and comprised 10.85 per cent of India's total trade with the world.

Asean and India together comprise a population of 1.85 billion, one-fourth of the global population, and a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion.

Investments in India from Asean countries in the last 17 years had been over $70 billion, accounting for 17 per cent of FDI. Indian investments in Asean is over $40 billion.

Talks on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement will further boost India's trade and investment ties with the region.

RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 Asean member states and the six states with which the grouping has free trade pacts - Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

During the course of his visit, Modi, apart from attending the summits, will also participate in a meeting of the leaders of the countries of the proposed RCEP and an Asean Business and Investment Summit.

In a special media briefing here ahead of the visit, Priti Saran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said Modi's participation in the two summits "provides a very important opportunity to reiterate our commitment to the partnership".

India also has 30 sectoral dialogue mechanisms and seven ministerial-level interactions with Asean.

Saran said India supported Asean's centrality in the regional security architecture, and enhancing physical, digital, economic, cultural and people-to-people connectivity was a key focus in the relationship.

New Delhi also attaches the greatest importance to the annual East Asia Summit, of which India is a founding member.

The East Asia Summit is held by leaders of the Asean countries and those of Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the US.

Saran said this forum provided an important opportunity for the leaders of the region to exchange views and assess international issues of concern, including traditional and non-traditional security threats, primarily terrorism, maritime cooperation, maritime security and non-proliferation.

Regarding the Modi-Duterte meeting, she said that the two leaders were expected "to set up the stage for a quantitative change in our bilateral relations with the Philippines".

"As a key country of the region with a large, educated and young population and a fast growing economy, Philippines is an important partner of India's Act East Policy," Saran stated, adding that there was immense potential to enhance bilateral economic ties.
Mumbai, Nov 11 : Unicef India has hosted the second edition of the Radio4Child awards to recognise creative and innovative programming on the issues of routine immunisation and ending violence against women and children.

Unicef India said it hosted the awards in partnership with All India Radio (AIR) and the Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI).

Unicef, AIR and AROI have been conducting capacity-building workshops for private FM channels as well as AIR journalists since 2014 to help them integrate meaningful, appealing radio jingles/talk shows on the critical messages of child health, routine immunisation and ending violence.

The Radio4child Award was envisaged to recognise the contribution of radio journalists in creative dissemination of health messages for children. The first edition was held in 2015.

In addition to immunisation, another focus area this year was on the ending violence campaign focusing on the digital safety of children, Unicef said.
New Delhi, Nov 11 : Hours after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) gave a go-ahead to the odd-even scheme without any exemptions to two-wheelers, the Delhi government refused to implement it, saying they will approach the green court again on Monday.

"At the moment we are calling it off. We will again approach the NGT and will ask them to allow exemptions to women and two-wheelers," Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said here.

The road rationing scheme was suppose to be implemented from November 13 to 17 as suggested by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) and specified under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), after Delhi's air quality went "beyond severe".

Stating that Delhi the government could not compromise on the safety of women, Gahlot added that the city government also did not have enough busses or alternatives for the public transport to accommodate over 60 lakh two-wheeler riders.

"We can't compromise with safety and security of women ... the government is concerned about it," Gahlot said.

Earlier in the day, the NGT gave a go-ahead to the Delhi government on odd-even with no exemption for the two-wheelers, women and VIPs.

While the Delhi government counsel also asked the Tribunal if they shall drop the idea of odd-even as Delhi's air quality was improving, the Tribunal asked the government to take a call, saying: "We are not going to give you a shelter on this one. Take a decision yourself."
Bhubaneswar, Nov 11 : Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said teachers play a key role in transforming the society and they can never be replaced by anything, including Google.

"No doubt Google is important, but it can never replace the place of guru (teachers) in the life of students," Naidu said addressing a congregation of graduate, post-graduate and doctorate degree recipients at the 13th Convocation Ceremony of KIIT University here.

"Hence the students should be grateful to their gurus and at the same time work to serve mother, mother tongue, and motherland."

"There is nothing wrong in learning English, Hindi or French, (but) students should also be proficient in their mother tongue which comes from the heart and helps one to express his feeling better," said the Vice President.

He said the country will grow when the higher education sector develops.

"We are in the age of LPG -- Liberalisation, Privatisation, and Globalisation. Life has become very competitive today. Therefore, students should prepare themselves for learning new skills and acquiring new knowledge in the contemporary world."

Hailing the country's great culture, he said there is need to go back to the roots.

"India has a great heritage and you should feel proud as inheritors of the great Indian culture. Unity in diversity and being rooted in our culture are important for the integrity of our country," he added.

Calling India a land of opportunities, he said one can achieve anything with hard work and passion irrespective of one's background, citing the examples of former President late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Odisha Governor S.C. Jamir, who also graced the occasion, advised students to work hard, be persistent as well as accommodating, be innovative and entrepreneurial, and to use technology to solve societal problems.

During the convocation, the University honoured three eminent personalities from different walks of life with D.Litt. Honoris Causa degrees -- Raghunath Mohapatra, eminent sculptor; Bithal Das Mundhra, Chairman Emeritus, Simplex Infrastructures Ltd; and Kishanlal Agarwal, Chairman, Bhartia Charitable Trust.
Gandhinagar, Nov 11 : Arunachal Pradesh is Indian territory and the opinion of others on the issue is not a concern for India, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday, days after China objected to her visit to the state.

Asked about China's objection to her recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence Minister said: "What is the problem? There is no problem here. It is our territory, we will go there."

"We are not concerned with someone else's opinion on this," she added.

Sitharaman visited a forward army post in Arunachal Pradesh on November 5 to take stock of the defence preparedness and the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

China had the next day reacted angrily to the visit, saying the visit to the "disputed" region would not be conducive to peace on the border. China has maintained that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of south Tibet, a claim which is not accepted by India.

Asked if the issue of giving shelter to Dalai Lama and the Tibetan refugees was a bone of contention in India-China relations, the minister said every issue has its own "weight".

"A relationship can't be made or broken over one issue. Every subject has its own weight," she said at a press conference here.

The minister is campaigning in Gujarat for the coming assembly elections.

On the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Naval officer who was arrested in Pakistan and accused of spying, the minister said India was making all efforts to get him back, and added that if Pakistan allowed his wife to visit him, it would be a good humanitarian gesture.

"The case of Kulbhushan Jadhav is pending in the International Court and India is making all efforts so that he is released. I don't know what is the position on Pakistan allowing his wife to visit him, but it would be good as a humanitarian consideration, and it will help in boosting his morale," she said.

Speaking on Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said the state government was taking steps to rein in terrorism, and lauded the state police for its actions.

"In the last one year, you have seen that stone-pelting has almost stopped and I want to give credit to the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The state government is an elected government and they are visiting villages to resolve these issues," she said.
Ghaziabad, Nov 11 : The body of a Delhi trader, who was abducted from the national capital for ransom earlier this week, has been recovered from an industrial area here, the Ghaziabad police said on Saturday.

Station House Officer (SHO), Kavi Nagar, Samarjit Singh told media persons that the victim, identified as Rahul Saxena, was abducted from Delhi for ransom three days ago. He was murdered and his body was dumped in the Kavi Nagar Industrial area.

Saxena's family members identified his body and told the police that he was killed as they could not pay the ransom of Rs 20 lakh.

The victim was a nephew of All India Hindu Maha Sabha President Sanjiv Saxena.
Da Nang (Vietnam), Nov 11 : US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed upon the need to defeat the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and called on all countries to build up humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged country.

Both the leaders "reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and called on the parties to the conflict there to participate in the Geneva political process... and reiterated the need to destroy the IS", according to a joint statement approved by Putin and Trump on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit here on Saturday.

The two leaders said "there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria" and urged the UN member states to increase their contributions to providing humanitarian aid to Damascus in the coming months, TASS news agency reported.

"The Presidents agreed to maintain the existing military communication channels to ensure the security of US and Russian armed forces, as well as to prevent dangerous incidents involving the forces of allies fighting the Daesh (IS) terror group," the statement said.

The document was prepared by the experts of the two countries and agreed on by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's Sputnik news agency that the statement was specifically prepared for the meeting in Da Nang.

Trump and Putin posed side by side for a photo in custom-made blue shirts for the summit on Friday. They also shook hands as the leaders sat down for talks on Saturday morning and later exchanged a few words before a "family photo" of attendees.

The White House had previously said the two leaders would not have a formal meeting during the conference, but they did meet for about five minutes over Syria.
Srinagar, Nov 11 : Jammu and Kashmir's former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that autonomy for both parts of divided Kashmir without changing borders is the only possible solution to the Kashmir problem.

"Ours is a landlocked state between three nuclear countries including India, Pakistan and China. I, therefore, believe Azadi is not possible nor workable. The part of the state under Pakistan belongs to them as our part belongs to India," Abdullah, who is also the National Conference President, told media here.

"Both India and Pakistan must sit together with the people of both parts of Kashmir and work out internal autonomy for both parts within the existing borders."

Asked to comment on Centre's special representative, Dineshwar Sharma's statement that his recent five-day long visit was successful and that he would do his best to talk to Kashmiri separatist leadership as well, Abdullah said: "What Dineshwar Sharma said is not for me to comment on."

"But, I believe no talks between Delhi and Srinagar would bear the desired result because it is an issue between India and Pakistan. These two countries need to sit together and decide the issue taking people of both parts of Jammu and Kashmir into confidence," he said.
Jammu, Nov 11 : A Union Home Ministry team on Saturday visited villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district to interact with the border residents, understand their plight and assess the damage in Pakistani ceasefire violations, an official statement said.

"A high level team of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) visited various forward villages along the LoC in Rajouri district to assess quantum of damages, problems faced by people, public demands and issues for a broadbased redressal planning.

"The team was headed by Special Secretary, MHA, Rina Mitra and included Joint Secretary, Internal Security, Gyanesh Kumar and Director MHA R.K. Swarankar," it said, adding senior civil and police officers of the state accompanied the team.

The district and sub-divisional administration and police briefed the team about the losses due to ceasefire violation, evacuation and rescue measures, rehabilitation, issues and demands, the statement said, adding that the team assessed losses in various villages and held a detailed interaction with public at the worst-affected Jhangar village.

"People projected various demands including relief on pattern of natural calamities, crop compensation, special development package, reservation for youth in employment and education, allotment of plots, construction of more bunkers and provision of other essential facilities," it said.

Mitra and the team also inspected the recently-onstructed individual bunkers in Langar and Danka villages, and appreciated the type, design and quality of construction and convergence model with community involvement.

"The locals also sought individual bunker for each family in villages along LoC. At Village Langar, the local residents met the delegation and handed over a memorandum of demands seeking enhancement in compensation in case of loss of life or livestock and injury as well as damage to houses," said the statement.

The visiting team also inspected two damaged schools from where students were evacuated in July 2017, as well as visiting forward areas to assess the threat perception and prevailing situation along LoC for a better understanding of problems faced by people, it added.
Mumbai, Nov 11 : Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) on Saturday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 544 crore ($83 million) for the second quarter of 2017-18.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 571 crore in Q2 of 2016-17.

According to RInfra, its consolidated total income during the quarter under review increased to Rs 7,621 crore ($1.2 billion), against Rs 7,293 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

The firm's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) during Q2 increased by 6 per cent to Rs 2,256 crore from Rs 2,138 crore reported for the corresponding quarter of 2016-17.

Among the key highlights of the quarter, the company added 77,200 new households to its power users consumer base in Mumbai and Delhi.

On transmission business, RInfra said that it completed a 100 per cent sale of "WRSSS transmission project" to Adani Transmission for Rs 1,000 crore and that the entire proceeds were utilised for debt reduction.

The company's EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) business had an order book of Rs 5,635 crore and revenue of Rs 341 crore in Q2 FY18.

"Targeting opportunities worth Rs 2 lakh crore p.a. planned by government across power, roads, railways, ports and mega infrastructure projects. Bids in pipeline worth Rs 50,000 crore for participation across power, transport and civil infrastructure," the company said in a statement.

In the road infrastructure segment, the company earned revenue worth Rs 255 crore from all 11 revenue generating assets "Expect Delhi Agra and Pune Satara projects to be completed within FY18," the statement said.

Further, RInfra earned revenue worth Rs 74 crore in Q2 FY18 from its Mumbai Metro One project.

In defence manufacturing space, the company's JV Dassault Reliance Aerospace is expected to play a major role in meeting the offset obligation of Rs 30,000 crore for "Rafale 36" contract.

"Foundation stone laid for the manufacturing facility in Mihan, Nagpur (Maharashtra). JV will also represent largest defence FDI in single location in India," the statement added.
Washington, Nov 11 : US President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is under investigation for alleged involvement in a plot to forcibly remove a Turkish dissident cleric living in the US and deliver him back to his country in return for millions of dollars.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Flynn -- who quit his post after misleading the White House about meeting a Russian envoy before Trump took office -- discussed having cleric Fethullah Gulen transported on a private jet to the Turkish prison island of Imrali. He was reportedly offered as much as $15 million for the act.

Gulen is a political rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and has been accused of being behind the failed July 2016 coup.

Special prosecutor Robert Mueller is examining the meeting Flynn had with senior Turkish officials. Flynn's lawyers fully denied the Journal story and called the claims as "outrageous".

The Journal reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) questioned at least four people in regard to a mid-December meeting in New York at the "21" Club. Discussions between Flynn and Turkish representatives reportedly took place there.

The Journal said the people who described the alleged proposal didn't attend the December meeting and didn't have direct knowledge of the details. There's no indication that money changed hands or that an agreement was made.

The discussions allegedly included how to transport Gulen on a private jet to Turkey.

Flynn's lawyers Robert Kelner, Stephen Anthony and Brian Smith said: "Out of respect for the process of the various investigations regarding the 2016 campaign, we have intentionally avoided responding to every rumour or allegation raised in the media.

"But today's news cycle has brought allegations about General Flynn, ranging from kidnapping to bribery, that are so outrageous and prejudicial that we are making an exception to our usual rule: they are false."

Investigators were also looking into the actions of his son, Michel Flynn Jr, in relation to the case.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey told CNN in March about an earlier meeting in September 2016 where Flynn also met the Turkish government representatives and discussed ways to send a foe of Turkey's President back to face charges in that country.

Woolsey claims that those present discussed sending Gulen back to Turkey to face charges -- possibly outside the legal US extradition system. At the time, a spokesman for Flynn denied the allegation.

If proven, the alleged plan to kidnap the cleric with the aid of foreign money directly violates US criminal code and could result in up to a 20-year sentence for the Flynns, according to a legal analyst.

The Mueller investigation into the Flynns is part of an overall probe into the Trump campaign's involvement with Russia.

Flynn is also under legal scrutiny by Mueller's team for undisclosed lobbying that he did during the presidential campaign on behalf of the Turkish government, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Kolkata, Nov 11 : A doctor working in a state-run district hospital was suspended by the Health Department for alleged Facebook posts in which he described the condition of the healthcare facilities, the plight of the patients and his challenges as a doctor amid an outbreak of dengue in the state.

According to West Bengal Doctors' Forum, which protested the state government's move, it appeared the state government or health department found a purported Facebook post as "derogatory to the image of the government".

In a statement, the forum said the suspension letter also mentioned that his social media posts and comments were unverified.

In his posts, Arunachal Dutta Choudhury posted at Barasat District Hospital in North 24 Parganas district, claimed that about 500 people were admitted to the hospital on October 6 and he struggled to diagnose the patients many of whom were lying on the floor.

"People are dying of fever. I am trying to console them (in government term, counselling them) and I am writing the cause of death... not dengue. In the death certificate, I am writing 'fever with thrombocytopenia... not dengue," Dutta Choudhury said in his post.

He also alleged there was an "unwritten order to suppress" the hospital's "ailing condition".

On the government move, Dutta Choudhury said: "I have nothing to say. I am a government employee. It is up to the government whether I will continue with my job or not. The government will decide. I have got the suspension letter."

Despite several attempts, the government officials could not be reached for comments.

The forum's statement, issued by its President Rezaul Karim, said: "What we gather from social media post is a set of pictures in a government hospital reflecting a crowded ward.

"As a sensitive citizen, he showed his frustration and anguish in not being able to deliver the required standard of care because of immeasurable workload and overcrowding. He has not commented on the performance of the government...."

On October 30, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that among the 40 dengue deaths, 13 who perished in state-run hospitals were confirmed cases. The government was cross-checking reports of 27 others suspected to have died of the disease in private health facilities.
New Delhi, Nov 11 : A Mewar royal on Saturday penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani and censor board chairperson Prasoon Joshi, among others, urging them to withhold the certification and release of controversial film "Padmavati".

Maharajkumar Vishvaraj Singh, son of Mahendra Singh Mewar -- the 76th Maharana of the Mewar dynasty and a former Lok Sabha member -- on behalf of his parents and sister Baijiraj Trivikrama Kumari Jamwal, has written the letter, a copy of which is with IANS.

"You are requested not to certify or permit the release of the film in its present form," Singh has urged, listing out seven reasons to justify his request.

"Allowing commercial interests to override the sanctity of national pride and heritage would be a failure on the part of the government and will not behove well for times to come," he added.

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has maintained that his movie is a tribute to the valour of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati.

However, Singh said that reports have indicated that "Padmavati" is based on "Padmawat" -- a "poetic imagery" by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi -- which, according to him, is not regarded as "historically accurate".

He pointed out that the makers of the movie have not clarified about "any well established and accepted historical source" relied upon for this movie.

On the argument that one cannot judge a film until it has been seen, Singh said: "The song 'Ghoomar' and publicity material that has released establishes gross inaccuracies that transgress the limits of dramatic licence. If the film professes to be history and its maker goes on record to claim that he has kept in mind cultural sensitivities, it is an artistic and historic fraud to portray an incorrectly attired courtesan-like painted doll in the song as the very 'queen' the film purports to pay obeisance to."

Singh complained that since the "film is about my family and a chapter in the history of Mewar", the film makers neither approached the family to verify the facts, nor sought permission to use the family's name.

While he is concerned how the film portrays the period of warfare, Singh also wants the makers to clarify the movie's genre to avoid giving the present and future generations a "coloured view of history".

Lastly, Singh said "it is the responsibility of the government to safeguard the history of our country and the dignity of its citizens".

The letter has also been addressed to Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and the Collectors and Superintendents of Police of Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Banswara and Dungarpur.

"Padmavati" is slated to release on December 1, and the makers are awaiting a censor screening, and subsequent clearance.
Gandhinagar, Nov 11 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said it was good that the Modi government had been pressurized to slash the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by three quarters, and added that India doesn't want five different slabs of GST, but one single tax. He demanded structural reform in the present GST.

Rahul Gandhi, who is on his fourth visit to Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah, said the decision to slash the GST by three quarters was a good one. "It is good that the Congress party and the people of this country pressurised BJP to bring down many items from 28 per cent bracket to 18 per cent. However, we are not happy and we shall not stop. India does not need five different taxes but one tax. GST needs structural change."

The state goes to polls next month on December 9 and 14. Gandhi, who is visiting north Gujarat, the BJP bastion over the years, is on a three-day visit to the state.

Alpesh Thakore, leader of the Other Backward Castes (OBC), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST), OSS Ekta Manch, who has been inducted in the grand old party's Gujarat unit, is accompanying Gandhi during his visit.

Thakore said at a gathering in Prantij, "BJP will scare you, fool you. Then Modiji will come, cry for Gujarat pride. Don't get carried away this time."

At other places during his visit to the places in the region like Idar and Himmatnagar, Gandhi continued his attacks on Prime Minister Modi over Amit Shah's son Jay's company allegedly registering 16,000 turnover in one year. He said, "Modiji Kuch Toh Boliye (Modiji, please say something)."

He said, "The government which can tell the people of the country at 8 p.m. that their currency will turn into scrap in just four hours, doesn't know what's in the hearts of the people. We gave Rs 35,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Agency (MNREGA), but Modi gave Rs 35,000 crore to Tata Nano project."

While Rahul Gandhi's bus was entering Himmatnagar for the meeting, a group of 10-12 youngsters came bearing black flags to oppose his visit, but they just managed to do just that while the bus moved on.

During this visit to the north Gujarat, Gandhi will visit 19 of the state assembly seats. Out of these, at present, 10 are held by the Congress while the rest nine are with the BJP. There are total 32 assembly seats in north Gujarat, where during the last assembly elections, the Congress won 18 and the rest 14 were captured by the saffron party.

In the morning, Rahul Gandhi began his tour of north Gujarat by praying at the revered Akshardham temple, an unscheduled change in his plan, and visited the Patidar-dominated villages of the region.

He was warmly welcomed in the Patidar-dominated village of Majra with slogans of 'Jay Sardar' on his arrival. Gandhi sported a 'Patidar' cap during his visit to the village.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) Vice President went on his scheduled visits of Chiloda and other places. On his way to Sabarkantha district, he stopped at a roadside 'dhaba' where he enjoyed the traditional dishes of Gujarat, like 'fafda' and 'gota'.

People turned up in huge numbers to have a look at the Gandhi scion.

In his corner meting at Chiloda, Gandhi emphasized on the role of women in election.

Earlier, on his arrival at Ahmedabad airport, talking to the media Gandhi said, "The people of Gujarat are unhappy with the present government, especially after the twin blows of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation."
Da Nang (Vietnam), Nov 11 : US President Donald Trump on Saturday said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin again denied interfering in the 2016 US elections and felt "insulted" by the allegations.

The two leaders met briefly at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit here and Trump said he took Putin at his word that Russia did not seek to interfere in the US presidential election last year, despite a finding from US intelligence agencies that it did.

And Trump stressed that bigger issues persist between Washington and Moscow that require the two leaders to move on, CNN reported.

"He said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew from Da Nang to Hanoi in Vietnam.

Trump spoke to Putin three times on the sidelines of the summit here, where the Russia meddling issue arose. "Every time he sees me, he says, 'I didn't do that'," Trump said. "And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it."

"I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country," Trump added.

Putin later dismissed the allegations as "political infighting". The US Justice Department is investigating the claims as well as alleged collusion involving Trump's team.

"Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of continuing domestic political struggle," Putin said.

Trump's several key former aides had already been named in connection with the inquiry. George Papadopoulos, a campaign adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the timing of meetings with alleged go-betweens for Russia.

Former campaign manager Paul Manafort and an associate are also currently under house arrest on charges of money laundering which are unrelated to the election, but linked to the investigation.

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam, but they spoke informally and agreed upon the need to defeat the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. They also called on the UN member states to build up humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged country, TASS news agency reported.

Both the leaders "reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and called on the parties to the conflict there to participate in the Geneva political process... and reiterated the need to destroy the IS", according to a joint statement approved by Putin and Trump on the sidelines of the APEC.

They said "there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria... and agreed to maintain the existing military communication channels to ensure the security of US and Russian armed forces, as well as to prevent dangerous incidents involving the forces of allies fighting the Daesh (IS) terror group," the statement said.
Amarkantak (Madhya Pradesh), Nov 11 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said the aim of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University is to help tribal youth participate with greater vigour in the building of modern India.

It could be done by giving them the best possible opportunities in education, he said during the university's convocation here.

He said establishment of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Madhya Pradesh was appropriate as the state had a 15 million strong tribal population.

He also said that a university convocation was not just a ceremony to honour the graduating students but an opportunity to dedicate to society the services of an educated, equipped and disciplined cadre of youth.

"A convocation is not the end of education but the beginning of a responsible life."

The President called upon the students to leave an imprint on society that was so meaningful that the university could be presented as a model for the entire nation.

He expressed confidence that the graduates would always keep learning and would make a significant contribution to the uplift of the underprivileged in the society and to the progress of the nation.
Pyongyang, Nov 11 : North Korea lashed out at US President Donald Trump again on Saturday, describing him as a "destroyer" who "begged for nuclear war" during his tour of Asia.

"His current trip to our surrounding region is a warmonger's visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on the state media, Korean Central News Agency.

Trump is in Vietnam as part of a five-nation tour of Asia and North Korea's nuclear weapons programme has been a major talking point with his Japanese, South Korean and Chinese counterparts.

"The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in grave danger," Trump said about North Korea during an address at South Korea's National Assembly in Seoul earlier this week. "Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face."

He called on nations to stop financing and trading with North Korea and said that the region "must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail".

North Korean officials, who said they'd be watching the visit, were quick to fire back on Saturday. Pyongyang described Trump's trip as "nothing but a business trip by a warmonger to enrich the monopolies of the US defence industry", CNN reported.

It referred to Trump as "dotard", a word the reclusive nation has used against him in the past. Trump has previously derided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "rocket man".

"Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of the world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula," the statement said.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have escalated after North Korea's test firing of missiles and conducting its most powerful hydrogen test in September.

Trump had warned that the isolated regime would "face fire and fury like the world has never seen".
Gandhinagar, Nov 11 : Claiming victory for reduction of GST rates on more than 200 items, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his party will continue the fight for capping the tax at 18 per cent and promised the Congress will do it if the BJP government fails.

Keeping up the attack on the government on the issue, Gandhi, who is on his fourth visit to Gujarat, said the decision to slash the GST on majority of the items was a good one. "It is good that the Congress party and the people of this country pressurised BJP to bring down many items from 28 per cent bracket to 18 per cent. However, we are not happy and we shall not stop. India does not need five different taxes but one tax. GST needs structural change."

Earlier in a tweet, Gandhi said India needs a "simple" Goods and Services Tax, not a "Gabbar Singh tax".

"Congress and people of the country fought to lower the 28 per cent GST rate on many items. Our struggle for 18 per cent cap will continue. If the BJP will not do this, Congress will do it," Gandhi said.

In New Delhi, the Congress party demanded that petroleum products, real estate and electricity be brought under the tax's ambit.

The party also said that "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gabbar Singh Tax is shrewdly designed" to help his wealthy friends but hurts millions of small traders.

On Friday, the GST Council slashed the tax rates on 178 goods from 28 per cent to 18 per cent and reduced the rates on several other items.

Gandhi's claim that the government was forced by the Congress to roll back the GST rates was criticised by the government with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking, "Is the GST Council under them?"

She also said the party should first finalise its stand on the tax regime.

"Congress wants to take credit on GST, and being in opposition they also want to say that government took action because of them. They should decide what is their position," Sitharaman said at a press conference here.

"The GST Council was formed, and all state Finance Ministers are a part of it. The Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) might be the chairman, but all states are there and their issues were raised. If someone was dissatisfied, we being a sensitive government were forthcoming in making changes. We did it for the people."

"Now they are feeling the government has done everything, what is the role of opposition. So they are saying both things. Congress wants to be both good cop and bad cop. They should take a stand on it," the Minister, who is campaigning in the state for the assembly elections, said.

Earlier, on his arrival at Ahmedabad airport, Gandhi said, "The people of Gujarat are unhappy with the present government, especially after the twin blows of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation."

The state goes to polls next month on December 9 and 14. Gandhi, who is visiting north Gujarat, the BJP bastion over the years, is on a three-day visit to the state.

Alpesh Thakore, leader of the Other Backward Castes (OBC), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST), OSS Ekta Manch, who has been inducted in the grand old party's Gujarat unit, is accompanying Gandhi during his visit.

Thakore said at a gathering in Prantij, "BJP will scare you, fool you. Then Modiji will come, cry for Gujarat pride. Don't get carried away this time."

At other places during his visit to the places in the region like Idar and Himmatnagar, Gandhi continued his attacks on Prime Minister Modi over Amit Shah's son Jay's company allegedly registering 16,000 times turnover in one year. He said, "Modiji Kuch Toh Boliye (Modiji, please say something)."

He said, "The government which can tell the people of the country at 8 p.m. that their currency will turn into scrap in just four hours, doesn't know what's in the hearts of the people. We gave Rs 35,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Agency (MNREGA), but Modi gave Rs 35,000 crore to Tata Nano project."

In the morning, Gandhi began his tour of north Gujarat by praying at the revered Akshardham temple, an unscheduled change in his plan, and visited the Patidar-dominated villages of the region.
Guwahati, Nov 11 : The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC), the regional board for holding Class XII examinations in the state, has decided to introduce the GST in its curriculum from the current academic year.

AHSEC Secretary Kamaljyoti Gogoi confirmed this on Saturday and added that the decision was taken to introduce basics of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the higher secondary second year curriculum for the students, who opt for economics as one of the subjects.

"From now on, a chapter on basics of GST will be introduced in the macro economics section of the curriculum for higher secondary second year economics students."

Gogoi added that Hiranya Kumar Nath, economics professor, Sam Houston State University, US, has prepared the chapter on GST.

"The introduction of the chapter on GST is not only to encourage the students to get a thorough idea and knowledge on GST but also to clear the confusion over GST that prevails among the common people of the state," said Gogoi.

"The students, who are going to appear in the higher secondary second year (+2) examination this year, are likely to answer five to ten marks on GST in their examinations. The chapter includes information about the country which implemented GST for the first time, the countries which follow GST tax regime in the world and how tax is collected through GST," he added.

Assam became the first state in the country last year to ratify the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST after the Lok Sabha passed the Bill in December last year.
Washington, Nov 11 : The US Congress has authorised up to $700 million in Coalition Support Fund (CSF) to reimburse Pakistan for activities carried out in support of American operations in Afghanistan.

The authorisation was included in the reconciled text of the House and Senate versions of the 2018 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA-2018), which was released earlier this week, Dawn online reported.

The reconciled version will make $350 million of $700 million available to Pakistan upon certification from US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis that Pakistan took demonstrable steps against the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in Pakistan.

The NDAA urged the US Defence Department to monitor Washington's security assistance to Pakistan and ensure that the country did not use it to support militant groups.

Mattis will also have to certify that Pakistan took steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani network and LeT from using Pakistani territory as a safe haven and for fundraising or recruiting efforts.

The reconciled version also expressed concern about the alleged persecution of various political or religious groups in Pakistan, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, Baloch, Sindhi and Hazara.

The bill urged Mattis to ensure that Pakistan will not use any assistance provided by the US to persecute minority groups.

The certification would also have to include a declaration that Pakistan is working with Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants along the border and that Islamabad had shown progress in arresting and prosecuting senior leaders and mid-level operatives of the Haqqani network and LeT.

NATO, meanwhile, said without the support of neighbouring countries, bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan would be impossible, Tolo News reported.

"There cannot be peace in Afghanistan unless we engage Afghanistan's neighbours and we have to convince them to take on a constructive role on Afghanistan. Its in their own interests as we would then move on from a lose-lose situation as we are currently facing to a win-win situation," NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann said.

Afghan acting Defence Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami said Pakistan will be subjected to more political pressure from foreign to take action against insurgents.

The Special ChargA d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Kabul Ambassador Hugo Llorens said the US will stay in support of thousands of Afghan people who are fighting the insurgent groups to defend their country.
Kathmandu, Nov 11 : Nepal's three-time Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista passed away on Saturday at the age of 90, the state-owned Nepal Television said.

The veteran politician breathed his last in his residence at Gyaneswor in the capital after a prolonged battle with cancer.

Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and senior politicians have expressed deep sorrow at the passing of the former Prime Minister, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I'm deeply saddened at the passing away of Kirti Nidhi Bista. He was an epitome of simplicity and integrity, and will always be remembered as a great soul. My heart goes out to his bereaved family," Deuba tweeted.

Bista served as Prime Minister from 1969 to 1970, 1971 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979 during the party-less Panchayat system under two monarchs -- King Mahendra and King Birendra.

Later in 2005, he served as the Vice Chairman of the government under the direct regime led by King Gyanendra.

A non-corrupt, candid and nationalist politician, Bista began his political career in 1949 and was one of the confidants of late King Mahendra of Nepal.

Final rites of the former Prime Minister were performed at the Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu later on Saturday. Bista is survived by two sons and three daughters.
Islamabad, Nov 11 : A high-level Saudi Arabian delegation will visit Pakistan by the end of this month to explore investment opportunities in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), media reports said on Saturday.

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Nawaf Saeed Al Malikiy, Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, as saying that the Saudi Arabian group, comprising ministers and heads of various divisions, will reach Pakistan during the last week of November.

"A board is coming, comprising different ministries, and Saudi Ministry of Commerce to exchange ideas relating to investment opportunities in Pakistan in various projects like CPEC, Gwadar Port," the ambassador said.

Appreciating the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries, Al Malikiy said they would sit with Pakistani side to discuss specific features for investment in Pakistan, and how the two sides can further strengthen bilateral relations and to enhance mutual cooperation in different fields, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Reforms, welcomed the interest shown by Saudi Arabia, saying: "We will welcome the brotherly Islamic country if they want to be part of CPEC."

Iqbal said Pakistan would also welcome and appreciate any friendly country which desired to participate in the multi-billion gigantic flagship project of the Road and Belt Initiative proposed by China.

In August this year, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman Al Saud in Saudi Arabia and assured him of continued cooperation and collaboration to the benefit of both countries.
Mumbai, Nov 11 : Hours after a video showing Mumbai Traffic Police personnel towing away a car with a sick woman sitting in the rear seat and breastfeeding her seven-month-old baby went viral, a policeman was on Saturday suspended, pending an inquiry.

The incident occurred on Friday evening on the busy S.V. Road, in Malad (West), north-western suburb, and a video of the incident made by a local citizen, said to be her husband, went viral on the social media on Saturday.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar said the traffic police constable, who was identified as Shashank Rane by the person who shot the video, had been suspended pending an inquiry report.

"It will be dealt with appropriately and sternly after the preliminary report is received within 24 hours," Kumar said.

"Prime facie, it has been noticed that the safety of woman and child was endangered in the said incident. Hence, pending inquiry, the constable has been placed under suspension. Decision about departmental action shall be taken after the inquiry report is received," he said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads the Home portfolio, came under severe attack from various political parties after the incident.

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's ally Shiv Sena, opposition Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party strongly criticised the incident and demanded action against the guilty.

According to information, a young woman in her mid-20s, whose identity is not available, was sitting in her white car with her seven-month-old child when a towing van suddenly picked it up and started towing it away.

She begged and pleaded to stop the towing with the towing officer -- a traffic policeman believed to be named Shashank Rane, who was not wearing his name badge while on duty, which is also against the rules of the Maharashtra Police.

Earlier, the cop even grinned and confirmed his name and the woman was also requested to alight from the vehicle before it was towed away, but she refused as she was nursing her child and was unwell herself.

The woman flashed what was a medical prescription from the window and told the videographer that she was sick and was breastfeeding her hungry child, which was visible as the car was towed away mercilessly.

However, despite pleas by the videographer and others to the traffic cop to stop towing as something untoward could happen to both woman and child, he appeared unconcerned and continued speaking over his mobile phone.

The policeman reportedly also claimed to have a video to counter the other side's version.

The woman said that two other vehicles parked there were not picked and her car was chosen for towing without listening to her desperate pleas.

"They ignored the two other vehicles, but towed away a car in which a woman with an infant was sitting. They don't have guts to take action against the other vehicles here," she said from the moving car.

Following strong all-round condemnation, protests and adverse publicity in the social media to the video posted by a user "Rakhi Rakhi", the Traffic Police Department on Saturday ordered a probe into the shocking incident.
New Delhi, Nov 12 : Indian brides today want to let loose and enjoy their big day. Instead of heavy gold jewellery, it's best to invest in pieces of single statement earrings and practical lightwieght outfits, suggest experts.

Aakash Barmecha, Director of the brand Yoube Jewellery, and designer Shivani Jain, have suggestions:
In October 2017, acclaimed celebrity dentist Dr. Jay Grossman was honored by UCLA with a professorship for his 2-decade dedication in teaching the UCLA Dental students since 1995. Grossman, who maintains one of the largest and most successful dental practices in Southern California, is also founder of the prominent homeless charity, Homeless Not Toothless.

After completing a tour of duty with the United States Navy as a dental officer during the Persian Gulf War (1989-1991), Dr. Grossman was recruited by Dean Mito of UCLA to teach students on the clinic floor. After 10-years of teaching, he was moved to the AEGD (The Advance Education Program in General Dentistry) where he was teaching the residents for the next decade.

Concurrently with teaching and running his private practice, Dr. Grossman, the founder of a non-profit called Homeless Not Toothless, started supervising the dental students in treating homeless Veterans and foster children.

"This honor will allow Homeless Not Toothless to better solicit foundations for support," says Grossman, who to date has provided over $3-Million in pro-bono services to the homeless; he is, at this time, seeking $5-million dollars to have Homeless Not Toothless become a stable non-profit for life.

A speaker on the national stage, Dr. Grossman has the sufficient experience to recognize the elements that make for a good lecture. Dr. Jay Grossman, (http://www.conciergedentistry.com), also has a concierge dental practice in Brentwood, CA since 1991. He is a graduate of NYU College of Dentistry as well as a former Lieutenant in the United States Navy dental corp.
Partner Dave Stern has been invited as a guest panelist at Emory University School of Laws Leadership Conference on January 18th, 2018, at the Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims. During the Leadership Conference, Mr. Stern will speak alongside some of the top federal judges and private practice lawyers in the nation.

Mr. Stern will be discussing diversity and inclusion in the practice of law, a topic that he has advocated for and prioritized throughout his career. Mr. Stern was recently featured in The Legal Intelligencers case study, Diversifying the Plaintiffs Bar, One Small Firm at a Time, which noted that Pond Lehocky Stern Giordano has taken a unique approach to outdo most of its peers. He explained the two driving factors that help the firm maintain diversity: making sure lawyers in leadership don't all come from similar backgrounds, and facilitating business development.

"Anybody who's here, it doesn't matter what you look like, you have the ability to get significant autonomy and leadership roles here with hard work," Mr. Stern said. "There's really not a lot of mystery in terms of who is going to be the next person to advance here. If you're the next person in line, the opportunity is yours."

Senior Associate Melissa Chandy, a member of The Legal intelligencers 2017 Diversity Roundtable, discussed how giving diverse attorneys opportunities to lead helps to empower others.

Partner Dave Stern has been critical in putting me in a leadership position, so its either having partners that take an interest in diversity or finding that one partner who wants to take an interest, which will help to retain diverse attorneys, said Ms. Chandy, who has been with the firm for 10 years. Weve done a great job of retaining diverse attorneys. Youre not just hired and then kind of immersed in this culture. Youre seeing diverse attorneys who have input in decisions and who have input in strategy.
"Harry's London Alcoholic Ice Tea is the ideal option for discerning drinkers looking for a premium, all-natural, ethically sourced, and credible alternative to craft beer or cider"

Almost two hundred and fifty years since a rather rowdy bunch of colonial upstarts threw some perfectly good British teas in a rather frosty Boston Harbour, the British have returned, and they have brought more Tea: Harry Bromptons London Alcoholic Ice Tea!

This time around the tea is refreshingly served ice cold and is more spirited than the Queen Mother and Churchill having a knees up with the Rolling Stones. So we hope the US will take to this tea better than the last time!

Following years working in the US, entrepreneur Ian ODonohue and his Southern wife headed back to his home in London, where he became obsessed with developing a British style Ice Tea that would be the equal of the great drinks hed tried during visits to his wifes Georgia home.

A lot of time and effort went into tasting fine teas from around the world before settling on a robust blend of Kenyan Black Tea from great rift valley  renowned for its fertile soil and exceptional growing conditions that delivered a full flavoured ice tea.

Two years later, in 2014, having won a listing in the prestigious UK retail chain Waitrose (Grocer to the Queen no less), Ian quit his job as an Oil Broker to become a full time Ice Tea maker. Following a UK wide launch, Harry Bromptons winning combination of British and American culture, quickly found a place in both hearts and refrigerators.

Embracing the US Ice Tea tradition and introducing British Tea making know how, the result is the worlds first premium Alcoholic Ice Tea. Available in two flavours, a deliciously refreshing Lemon Citrus and perfectly balanced Peach, Harry Bromptons is imported straight from the UK and presented in a European style 330ml bottle and some rather splendid 4 packs.

Having recently landed in the US, Harry's Alcoholic London Ice Tea is the ideal option for discerning drinkers looking for a premium, all-natural, ethically sourced, and credible alternative to craft beer or cider. Its already available in Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts and New Jersey with more states coming on all the time.

Harry Bromptons alcoholic Ice Tea will be making a special appearance at this years Boston Tea Party celebration from the 16th of December for the 244th anniversary. What better way to let bygones be bygones than to embrace the delicious and expertly blended alcoholic brew. You can try it for yourself at the promotional tasting event planned at XYZ from 5pm to 9pm for a free sample of both delicious flavours. [See https://gottea2017.brownpapertickets.com for details]

One thing is for sure, it would be a crying shame to tip this delicious brew into the harbour.

Craft Boston Distributing is the exclusive Wholesaler for Harry Brompton products in the Boston area. To contact them, please reach out to Ray Lanning by email: Ray.Laning(at)craftbrewersguildma(dot)com or by phone: 617-410-3915.
Samantha Joseph This program has brought me so many different opportunities that I wouldnt have had the opportunity to experience if I had not taken a chance and applied.

Samantha Joseph, 17, of West Orange was in the Nations capital today to receive an award from all three federal arts and culture agenciesthe National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)on behalf of the Newark Museum Explorers Program. The program was recognized for its effectiveness in promoting learning and life skills in young people by engaging them through creative youth development programs. The after-school program received the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the nations highest honor for these programs.

The award recognizes the countrys best creative youth development programs for using engagement in the arts and the humanities to generate a wide range of positive outcomes, such as increases in academic achievement, graduation rates, and college enrollment. The awardeeschosen from a pool of 350 nominations and 50 finalistswere also recognized for improving literacy and language abilities, communication and performance skills, and cultural awareness.

First presented in 1998, the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award were presented through a partnership between the agencies, in cooperation with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA).

"These 12 creative youth development programs represent the best of the best," said Pam Breaux, president and chief executive officer of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. "They are living proof of the power of the arts and the humanities to build the skills young people need to succeed in school and in life."

The Explorers Program is a three-year, year-round experience that serves 30-35 students in grades 10-12 annually. Explorers participate in a variety of learning activities including small group instruction, student-led projects involving different aspects of running a museum, workshops on an array of art topics, field trips, personalized college guidance, life skills workshops focusing on themes ranging from etiquette to financial literacy, and mentoring relationships with Museum staff and other professionals representing a wide range of fields.

Over the past several years, 100% of Explorers have graduated high school and gone on to attend four-year colleges or universities. Recent Explorer graduates are attending institutions that include Wellesley College, Penn State University, Rutgers University, Parsons School of Design, Lehigh University, Cornell University and American University. In the Class of 2017, two Explorers received full scholarships: Arif Uddin will be majoring in Engineering Science at NJIT and Inique Bristol will be majoring in Computer Science at Rutgers University.

Joseph was selected as the youth speaker for the NAHYP award and in her speech she reflected upon her experiences as an Explorer. This program has brought me so many different opportunities that I wouldnt have had the opportunity to experience if I had not taken a chance and applied. The Newark Museum is a place that welcomes every person. The diversity that Ive experienced walking through the galleries and working in different areas of the Museum has opened me up so much, she said.

In addition to the national recognition bestowed by receipt of the prestigious award, the Explorers Program will also receive $10,000 to support its programming and engage more young people from the community.

The Newark Museum has long been a national leader in arts education, and we are committed to using our resources and renowned art and science collections to improve the lives of the people we serve, Steven Kern, Director and CEO of the Newark Museum, said. Since its inception in 1995, the Explorers Program has provided Newark area high school students with a range of experiences that give them valuable skills that will aid them in college and beyond.

Major support for the Newark Museums Explorers Program has been provided by the PSEG Foundation; The Walton Family Foundation; The New York Community Trust, Wattles Family Charitable Fund; The Provident Bank Foundation; the AT&T Foundation; United Airlines; and the Laura J. Niles Foundation. Additional generous support has been provided by the Victoria Foundation; the Prudential Foundation; the Charles E. and Edna T. Brundage Charitable Scientific and Wild Life Conservation Foundation; The Eleanor Upton Charitable Foundation; the Aviation Development Council; and Rochelle and Ronald Karp.

For more information about the Museum and the Explorers, please visit http://www.newarkmuseum.org. For more information about the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards, visit http://www.nahyp.org/.

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CSC Corptax, the leading provider of corporate tax software, received its ninth consecutive Certified Support Staff Excellence Award from Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA).

The leading association for today's technology and services organizations, TSIA selected and honored technology companies that have received certification in Support Staff Excellence and Operational Best Practices in 2017. Corptax was publicly recognized for its achievements on October 25, 2017 at the Technology Services World (TSW) conference held in Las Vegas.

Among many milestones, Corptax successfully completed TSIAs staff development program that enables the delivery of a superior customer service experience through the development of the most critical service delivery resource a company has: its people. The Award is based on performance metrics that ensure staff members internalize key elements of the training program and improve interactions with customers on a sustained level.

Its phenomenal that our clients rated their overall satisfaction above 98%, said Lloyd Howlett, Vice President of Support and Customer Operations for Corptax. We appreciate their recognition of our teams efforts to be a world-class organization.

About CSC Corptax

CSC Corptax transforms the business of tax through technology, business process expertise and award-winning customer support. Clients achieve breakthrough tax performance using the first and only single system on the market offering unmatched automation to align processes and workflows, enhance transparency, improve accuracy, and lower risk across the corporate tax lifecycle. For more than 40 years, Corptax products have supported the evolving tax needs of leading organizations in many industries. Today, Corptax solutions help almost 1,000 clients in 100 countries, including 50% of the Fortune 500 and 60% of the Fortune 100, nationally. Learn more at corptax.com.
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Susan Metcalfe of Duane Morris was crowned the champion and won $4000 donated on her and her law firms behalf to CHOP All of our competitors on both days demonstrated what amazing trial attorneys they are, and we are proud to have them all participate and help benefit such an amazing charity

Magna hosted its 5th annual competitive mock trial Chopped for CHOP featuring four trial attorneys going head-to-head in a mock trial setting to present their best case to a panel of judges. After each phase of the trial the judges voted to CHOP one lawyer from the competition, leaving one ultimate champion at the end. For the second year in a row, Susan Metcalfe of Duane Morris was crowned the CHOP champion and Magna Legal Services donated $4000, of a total $12,000 donated by Magna, on her and her law firms behalf. Susan competed against four top trial attorneys: Andy Clubok of Kirkland & Ellis in New York, NY, Tom Mannion of Lewis Brisbois in Cleveland, OH, and Dan Santaniello of Luks, Santaniello, Petrillo & Jones in Boca Raton, FL. A live jury and a panel of judges made up of claims executives and in-house counsel provided real-time feedback on the effectiveness of the presentations via Magnas handheld audience response system.

On Day 1 of the CLE event, eight attorneys competed in a theme development exercise where the attorneys, working alongside teams of in-house counsel and claims executives, were provided the above case facts and were tasked with presenting an opening statement or closing argument for their assigned case. Shadow Jurors who were recruited from the case venue viewed the presentations and provided instant feedback and they also voted for most convincing Opening and most convincing Closing at the end of the program. The attorneys included Dennis Brown of Gordon & Rees; Scott Haworth of Haworth, Rossman & Gerstman; Barry Kaiman of Lewis Brisbois; Leslie Pollie of Kopka Pinkus Dolin; and Dan Santaniello of Luks, Santaniello, Petrillo & Jones. Wade Quinn of Ramey, Chandler, Quinn & Zito in Houston won $1000 for CHOP for best Opening and Pete Swayze of Segal McCambridge in Philadelphia and Aram Megerian of Cole, Scott & Kissane in Tampa, Florida both won $500 to be donated to CHOP on their behalf for presenting the most convincing closing arguments.

All of our competitors on both days demonstrated what amazing trial attorneys they are, and we are proud to have them all participate and help benefit such an amazing charity, Peter Hecht, Magnas Executive Vice President of Sales, said. No legal conference offers this sort of experience to its attendees, and I know those involved are excited to see these attorneys get into the competitive spirit to win the chance to donate to this organization. So many of those attending, myself included, have firsthand experience with the incredible work CHOP does for children across the United States.

The program was moderated again this year by Richard Fabian, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, at The RiverStone Companies.
One of the nations most popular non-profit museums doesnt rely on philanthropy to meet expenses. Instead, it has become a grant-making agency to support other non-profits.

Today the Midway Foundation, partnering with the USS Midway Museum, awarded more than $450,000 to 25 San Diego and national non-profit organizations that serve active-duty military personnel and their families; veterans; and law enforcement agencies. Nearly $50,000 also has been set aside for future grants this year. The Foundation hopes to reach $1 million in annual grants in the near future. Nineteen recipient organizations are in San Diego. Six are national organizations.

An unparalleled success story, the USS Midway Museum opened in San Diego in 2004 and has become the most-visited ship museum in the world. It will set its 8th consecutive annual attendance record of nearly 1.5 million visitors in 2017. On TripAdvisor, it is ranked #5 out of 35,000 U.S. museums of all types.

Its remarkable that a non-profit museumin only 14 yearshas become so successful that it can step forward to be a principal driver of philanthropy in a large city like San Diego, said Malin Burnham, Midway Foundation Board Chairman.

Its financial success has led to the creation of the grant-making Midway Foundation about two years ago. Last year $250,000 in grants were made. The grants directly support the USS Midway Museums vision of becoming Americas living symbol of freedom. The grants are funded by museum revenues and philanthropic gifts.

This years grants vary from $5,000 to $35,000 and support a wide array of projects and programs ranging from making emergency financial assistance available to military families in crisis to advanced manufacturing training for service members transitioning to civilian life to purchasing special body armor for police officers.

Grants totaling $191,000 will support active-duty family service organizations for youth development, licensed clinical counseling, liaison services to community resources, college scholarships, civilian transition programs, family financial crisis support, emergency food assistance, and for a program that enables active-duty personnel stationed overseas to read books to family members back home.

Several veteran-serving organizations will receive a total of $225,000 for job training, critical home repairs, wreath placement at national cemeteries, and to support health/safety net services and housing for homeless veterans.

An additional $40,000 will be awarded to provide body armor designed to protect peace officers from high-powered weapon fire and to provide ballistic vests for police working dogs.

This years recipient agencies representing local, regional, and national efforts include such wide-ranging agencies as the Armed Services YMCA, San Diego Police Foundation, USO, United Through Reading, San Diego Food Bank, SEAL Family Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and Workshops for Warriors.
Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, the nations fastest growing massage and skin care franchise, kicked-off its national conference in Orlando on October 18 with a hands-on community service project. This marks the third consecutive year that Hand & Stone started its annual conference with philanthropy. Hand & Stone has decided that each year as the conference travels to a new city across the country, the company will choose a different local charity to support within the community where the conference is held.

While in Orlando, nearly 50 volunteers from Hand & Stone provided service to Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. (4C), a local not-for-profit improving the lives children and families in Central Florida. Volunteers assisted with painting, planting and mulching around the facility.

4C is such a great cause that gives back to Central Floridas children and their families, and it was the perfect way to kick-off the conference, said Rob Beers, Franchisee and Regional Developer in Central Florida. Its always a rewarding experience to have owners from all over the country get together and help out in the local community  and we are so glad to have had the conference and the community service project so close to home in Orlando this year!

In addition to community service hours, Hand & Stone Corporate Headquarters donated $5,000 dollars to the organization, while President and CEO, Todd Leff matched this contribution through the Leff Family Foundation. Additionally, thanks to matching state grants against the volunteer time and financial contributions, 4C will leverage approximately $200,000 dollars in funding, which will help support pre-K childcare for an additional 40 children living at or below the poverty line.

We believe we have a corporate responsibility to have franchisees and corporate staff participate in a community service project that gives back to communities that support our brand all year long, said Leff. Its a feel-good event that brings everyone together and really sets the tone for skill building and learning throughout the conference.

In addition to the service event, Hand & Stone spent time at the annual conference honoring its outstanding franchisees. The corporate team recognized and awarded franchise owners who have achieved great success over the past year, have made an impact in their markets and have dedicated themselves to the wellness industry.

Hand & Stone 2017 conference award winners include:

-Spa of the Year: Eric and Christiana Anthony  Greensboro, N.C.

-Rookie of the Year: Sumit and Monica Bansal - Troy, Mich.

-Fastest Growing Membership Base: Jennifer Clayton - Peoria, Ariz.

-Leading Facial Service Spa: Nicholas Marco and Tara Bogota - Toms River, N.J.

-Marketing Innovator of the Year: Rob and Marianne Durr, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

-Top Performing New Spa: James and Jana Richey - Oviedo, Fla.

-Leading Hot Stone Massage Spa: Eric and Christiana Anthony  Greensboro, N.C.

-Customer Service Excellence: Paul and Maria Cermatori - Brick, N.J.

-Community Service Award: Robert and Alicia Beers, Kissimmee, Fla.

-Founders Award: Jack and Sandi Mullen, Franklin and Brentwood, Tenn.

-Most Efficient Spa Operation: Paul and Maria Cermatori - Brick, N.J.

ABOUT HAND & STONE

Hand & Stone is a 300-plus unit massage and facial spa with a mission to bring massage and facial services to the masses. Launched in 2004 by a passionate physical therapist, John Marco, and now led by franchise veteran Todd Leff, Hand & Stone now has locations in 28 states and Canada. For more information on Hand & Stone, visit http://www.handandstone.com.

ABOUT 4C

Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc.(4C) is a not-for-profit corporation operating in Central Florida as a coordinating agency for a variety of high-quality services that improve the lives of children and families in Central Florida. The Agency, which began in 1969, is committed to strengthening our communities and families by providing access to affordable early learning services that promote school readiness and family self-sufficiency.

Photo Caption:

Volunteers from Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa kicked-off its National Conference in Orlando on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, with a community service project at 4C Florida (Community Coordinated Care for Children). In addition to painting, planting and mulching, Hand & Stone Corporate Headquarters donated $5,000 to 4C, while President and CEO Todd Leff matched the contribution through the Leff Family Foundation. Additionally, thanks to matching state grants against the volunteer time and financial contributions, 4C will leverage approximately $200,000 dollars in funding, which will help support an additional 40 children living at or below the poverty line. Pictured here are the very excited Hand & Stone Volunteers along with 4C President and Chief Executive Officer, Patricia E. Frank during the check presentation ceremony on Wednesday, October 18.
Intelligent Information Security

Oregon Governor Kate Brown will proclaim November 20th as the Oregon Day of Cyber and officially launch the Cyber Oregon Cybersecurity Awareness Initiative at an event scheduled to take place on Monday, November 20, 2017 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Oregon Tech Portland-Metro campus in Wilsonville.

The governor, who will be introduced by Oregon Techs President Dr. Nagi Naganathan, is scheduled to speak from 10:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. All members of the media are invited to attend.

Other notable activities at the event will include a presentation by Skip Newberry, president and CEO of Technology Association of Oregon and executive sponsor of Cyber Oregon along with Oregon State Chief Information Officer Alex Petit, PhD. Mr. Newberry will host a panel discussion with top cybersecurity experts and unveil the new cybersecurity website resource for all Oregonians.

Anitians CEO Andrew Plato, who is chair of the Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Board will be on hand to introduce the council and participate in the panel discussion.

In addition, the event will include a job fair for individuals seeking careers in cybersecurity and a vendor fair of technology companies focused on cybersecurity. Attendees will include state and local government representatives, students, technology companies and small businesses.

What: Oregon Day of Cyber Event

When: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday November 20, 2017

Where: Oregon Tech Portland-Metro, 27500 SW Parkway Ave, Wilsonville, OR 97070

Who: Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Oregon State CIO Alex Pettit, Oregon Tech President Dr. Nagi Naganathan, Technology Association of Oregon President & CEO Skip Newberry, Anitian CEO Andrew Plato, the Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council, state and local officials, university professors and students, local technology companies and business professionals.

About Cyber Oregon Awareness Initiative & Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council

The Cyber Oregon Awareness Initiative is powered by an active consortium of industry, educational institutions, organizations, and state/local government agencies. The Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council was established pursuant to Senate Bill 90, signed by Governor Kate Brown on September 19, 2017, to develop a shared vision for the establishment of a cross-sector Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, in collaboration with Oregons cyber-related industries, private sector security practitioners, educational institutions, law enforcement and local governments. Its mission is to protect the digital lives and data of all Oregonians while helping increase awareness of cybersecurity resources throughout the state.

Learn more about the event here: https://www.anitian.com/events/oregon-day-of-cyber/

About Anitian

Founded in 1995, Anitian is the oldest information security intelligence firm in the world. We believe that security is essential to the growth, prosperity, and innovation of any company or community. To fulfill this vision, Anitian is on a mission to build great security. In this age of cyber-espionage, data breaches, and hacking, businesses need a new kind of security. Anitian delivers a comprehensive set of security intelligence services that enlighten, protect, and empower organizations and business leaders to greatness.
Melwood Veterans Services Sadly, many female veterans live with post-traumatic stress or the effects of sexual assault. According to the Veterans Administration, one out of four female veterans who use the VA health care system report theyve experienced military sexual trauma.

As a growing number of organizations and advocacy groups this month peel back layers of pervasive sexual assaults and how to address them, veterans suffering from the results of military sexual trauma are already learning how to heal through Melwood Veterans Services (MVS).

Operation Tohidu for Women  a program under the MVS umbrella  helps female veterans and active-duty military cope with the invisible wounds of sexual trauma, post-traumatic stress (PTSd), and traumatic brain injury. Tohidu, a Cherokee word meaning peace of mind, body, and spirit, lives out its names promise through retreats in the Maryland countryside. The experiential rehabilitation program focuses on confidence building, outdoor activities, and group discussion.

Operation Tohidu for Women retreats are held in a relaxed, positive environment using proven techniques for the self-management of symptoms, stressors, and responses. There are special retreats specifically for female veterans struggling with military sexual trauma, as well as a couples retreat.

Sadly, many female veterans live with post-traumatic stress or the effects of sexual assault. According to the Veterans Administration, one out of four female veterans who use the VA health care system report theyve experienced military sexual trauma, says retired Army Brigadier General David Blackledge.

General Blackledge served 37 years in the military and is Melwoods new Executive Vice President of Veterans Services. Wounded twice during successive combat tours in Iraq, he is open about his personal experience with PTSd and traumatic brain injury.

The issues that many veterans face are extraordinarily complex, states General Blackledge. I am fortunate to be in a position to create programs and services that may help my fellow veterans cope with stressors, gain employment, or simply reunite with their families and friends.

Today there are more than two million female veterans in the United States. A March 2017 Veterans Administration report on traumatic stress finds that one out of five female veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan has been diagnosed with PTS(d). At Melwood Veterans Services, both male and female veterans along with their families and caretakers can find programs, resources, and a community geared toward helping and healing. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are dealing with invisible wounds  their path is far from easy and many need support offered at Melwood.

# # #

MEDIA ADVISORY:

The media is invited to an Operation Tohidu Retreat on Friday, December 8 at the Melwood Recreation Center in Nanjemoy, Maryland. Operation Tohidu retreats are facilitated By Veterans, For Veterans. The facilitators have personal experience with service-related trauma, including military sexual trauma.

To request an interview with General David Blackledge or learn more about the nonprofit organization Melwood, which advocates for and empowers people of differing abilities to transform their lives, please contact Chantay P. Moye at cmoye(at)melwood(dot)org or 240-492-1971.

David Blackledge BIO:

General Blackledge is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned his MBA from the University of Wisconsin. He has a long and distinguished Army career both in the field and at the Pentagon. His military awards include four Legions of Merit, given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service and achievement; five Bronze Star medals, awarded for heroic service or meritorious achievement in a combat zone; and two Purple Heart medals, awarded for wounds sustained in combat. Since retirement, General Blackledge has devoted himself to education, leadership, and projects focused on wounded military veterans.

About Melwood:

Melwood is an AbilityOne non-profit organization, and one of the largest employers of people with differing abilities in the Northeast U.S., with a highly competitive and inclusive workforce. Melwood provides a range of services to federal, state and local governments, and the private sector. Using an innovative and effective social entrepreneurial model, Melwood offers job placement, job training, life skills for independence, and support services to more than 2,150 people each year in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Maryland, and Virginia. Melwood also provides recreation opportunities through seasonal inclusive camp programs for children and adults with and without differing abilities. Melwood employs more than 1,600 workers, including nearly 900 persons with a differing ability. Since 1963, the 501(3)(c) organization has envisioned a world in which people with differing abilities are fully included by advocating for and empowering them to transform their own lives through unique opportunities to work and play in the community. For more information visit http://www.Melwood.org.
TackleDirect 20 Year Anniversary Seal We were an internet start-up, long before internet start-ups were cool, said CEO, Patrick Gill.

TackleDirect, Worlds Premier Fishing Outfitter, announced today they are celebrating their 20 year anniversary. "We were an internet start-up, long before internet start-ups were cool," said CEO, Patrick Gill. "Actually, in the fishing tackle industry, even mentioning the internet was very uncool at that time and many people and brands initially turned us down."

The Gill Family had long operated a marina in Ocean City, New Jersey when son, Patrick, then a university student, brainstormed with his father the idea of creating an online catalog that sold fishing equipment. Working with limited heat in a tiny bait and tackle shop over the water at the marina, Patrick and their first employee, Wayne Nicholson, built the first version of TackleDirect.com over winter break from college. It was 1997, and almost 20 years later, TackleDirect now boasts over 60,000 products from more than 600 manufacturers shipping to over 200 countries internationally.

"While our business growth has been impressive, we are most proud of being a family owned and operated business with over 60 full time employees, many with growing families of their own. We attribute our success to exceptional employees, loyal customers and long-term relationships with our suppliers," said Gill.

TackleDirect is celebrating the 20 year anniversary with private and public sales. Starting today and running through November 16, 2017, their bi-annual Clearance Canyon retail store sale is being offered for the first time at TackleDirect.com. TackleDirect Loyalty Reward account holders have received invitations to access this private sale. TackleDirect.com is also running a public sale featuring 20% off all TackleDirect brand gear, including their Platinum and Silver series rods, tools, apparel and accessories.

For More Details on TackleDirect Upcoming Events: https://www.tackledirect.com/upcoming-events-at-tackledirect.html

About TackleDirect

TackleDirect is part of the eCommerce Outdoors network of specialty stores and is headquartered in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ. eCommerce Outdoors is a direct marketing company and multi-channel specialty retailer that operates two physical retail store locations in Southern New Jersey and seven online stores that sell outdoor products to consumers throughout the USA and the globe. Their first eCommerce store, https://www.TackleDirect.com, Worlds Premier Fishing Outfitter, began in 1997 and is a growing leader in the online sporting goods category.
2017 Mummers Parade Photos More than 10,000 Mummers will strut and dance their way down Phillys main thoroughfare in exotic and glittering costumes as part of the oldest continuous folk parade in the United States.

Thousands of spectators and a growing TV audience will spend January 1, 2018, celebrating the New Year with the always-colorful Philadelphia Mummers, who will take to Broad Street for the 118th time beginning at approximately 9:00 a.m.

More than 10,000 Mummers will strut and dance their way down Phillys main thoroughfare in exotic and glittering costumes as part of the oldest continuous folk parade in the United States. The dazzling costumes, dance and music are hallmarks of the annual parade.

Mummers Parade-goers can enjoy the extravaganza from three special performance zones on Broad Street in Center City Philadelphia, where the parade begins near City Hall. From there, the parade route will take the performing groups down Broad Street to Washington Avenue.

The 2018 Philadelphia Mummers Parade features five divisions, each with its own artistry, sound and customs:



The Fancy Division, with its sequin-studded lavish costumes and feathered glamour;

The legendary String Bands, with their glorious costumes and intricate musical arrangements combining string, reed and percussion instruments;

The Fancy Brigades, dressed head-to-toe in sequined costumes, masks, and makeup;

The Wench Brigades in bonnets and bloomers, waving multi-tiered parasols; and

The Comics, who parody current political issues and pop culture.

In addition, The Pennsylvania Convention Center will once again host the Mummers Fancy Brigades Finale. Often described as a cross between a Broadway show and Mardi Gras, the Fancy Brigade Finale showcases elaborate costumes and massive props, as well as stunning, colorful performances and masterfully choreographed, four-and-a-half-minute routines set to high-energy music. The show features more than 2,500 Fancy Brigade performers, divided among 12 Fancy Brigade clubs, each working for a full year to create the themes, costumes, props and drills that comprise the show and dazzle the audiences.

For more information on this unique and colorful tradition, go to http://www.PhillyMummers.com.

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Note: Click on the links below to select and download more colorful photos from the 2017 Mummers Parade, featuring some of Philadelphias most exciting and crowd-pleasing Mummers String Bands:

South Philadelphia

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HealthSmart is pleased to announce the appointment of JC Gibson as the Executive Vice President (EVP) of Human Resources. He will report to Phil Christianson, HealthSmarts CEO.

Gibson has a successful track record of leading Human Resources at healthcare technology, benefit administration and outsourcing companies, ranging from startups to large, publicly traded companies. Most recently, Gibson was EVP of FirstSource USA LTD in Louisville, Kentucky. JC Gibsons leadership and deep experience in healthcare is going to be a tremendous asset to HealthSmart, said CEO Phil Christianson. As we have transformed our management team this year, JC is the right leader at the right time to align our work around service, improvement, and treating our members with dignity and respect; Im thrilled to welcome him to the HealthSmart team.

Prior to FirstSource, Gibson was the EVP, Human Resources at SHPS/Carewise, a care management/wellness and HR benefits administration outsourcing company. Gibson previously acted as Global Director of Human Resources at the Ferro Corporation. During his tenure at Ferro, an international, publicly traded company, he led the integration of lean manufacturing processes across the organization, standardized HR practices and developed a labor strategy for collective bargaining negotiations in the United States and Europe. Gibson also served as Divisional Vice President, Human Resources at WebMD, where he facilitated post-acquisition integration activities, including combining benefit plans, facilities planning and the development of cultural and value-setting activities.

I look forward to collaborating with the human resources team and helping HealthSmart to grow its benefit, care management, workers compensation, and Rx management services, said Gibson. HealthSmart is a great place to work and I hope to make it even better.

Gibson received a Master of Science in Organizational Development and Analysis from Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead School of Business) and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Kent State University.

He is the At Large State Director for the Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a contributing author to Rethinking Human Resources (Red Letter Publishing) and a speaker for several state and local wellness conferences. Gibson is also a guest lecturer at Cleveland State University and John Carroll University.

About HealthSmart

For more than 40 years, HealthSmart has offered a wide array of customizable and scalable health plan solutions for self-funded employers. HealthSmarts comprehensive service suite addresses individual health from all angles. This includes claims and benefits administration, provider networks, pharmacy benefit management services, business intelligence, on-site employer clinics, care management, a variety of health and wellness initiatives and web-based reporting. The Companys headquarters is in Irving, Texas, with regional hubs throughout the country. HealthSmarts mission is to improve member health and reduce healthcare costs.
We look forward to the opportunity to leverage our strengths to provide greater resources, solutions, and services to all our clients and prospects.

C.A. Short Company, a leading provider of innovative employee engagement and recognition solutions, including its proprietary People Are Everything employee engagement software, announced today that it has acquired Eagle Recognition, strengthening its position in the employee engagement and recognition space nationally and internationally.

Jeff Ross, President and CFO of C.A. Short Company, headquartered in Shelby, NC, is now the CEO of C.A. Short Company, while Randy Nobles, previously the President and CEO of Eagle Recognition, is the incoming President of C.A. Short Company.

We are excited about the combination of our companies as it aligns with our vision to fuel our clients growth through innovative technology, specialized expertise, superior client delight, and thought leadership in the employee engagement and recognition arena. We look forward to the opportunity to leverage our strengths to provide greater resources, solutions, and services to all our clients and prospects, said Ross, C.A. Short Company CEO.

The acquisition of Eagle Recognition by C.A. Short Company creates an expanded solution base, bringing additional opportunities to deliver employee engagement and recognition strategies and technology to the marketplace. C.A. Short Company will provide services to more than 3,000 clients; the synergies between the two companies will enhance all areas of the business including sales, marketing, technology, product development, and operations.

Nobles explains, The combination of Eagle Recognition and C.A. Short Company is a perfect fit for our longer-term strategy of growth to benefit our clients through advanced technologies and new engagement offerings.

Eagle Recognition has aggressively invested in its Engagement Portal technology and has ownership in The Engagement Agency, a formal thought leadership organization for the engagement and recognition Industry.

C.A Short Company has demonstrated its excellence in the marketplace, and their leadership team and employees represent a perfect match for us in terms of culture, integrity, ethics and total commitment to the success of their customers. Also, they bring an ISO 9001 certification to our processes which we will welcome and endorse. I am personally excited to be joining our great companies together and accepting a strategic role in leading the new organization together with Jeff Ross.

The acquisition was effective November 1, 2017, with undisclosed terms.

About Eagle Recognition:

Eagle Recognition is a privately held company headquartered in Tucker, GA. It offers many variations of turn-key and customized customer solutions centered around the principles of employee recognition and engagement. Eagle Recognition has expanded its customer base significantly over the past 15 years by being highly customer focused, and has built the company on pillars of integrity, ethics, attention to detail and a high sense of urgency for all aspects of its business.

About C.A. Short Company:

C.A. Short Company was founded in 1937 and is a privately held company headquartered in North Carolina with offices across the U.S. C.A. Short Company partners with organizations to manage, drive and facilitate increased employee engagement to increase financial performance, productivity, quality, and core performance outcomes. Its process and research-based employee-engagement and recognition platform enables executives and managers to engage their teams to increase the bottom line, motivate staff, and incentivize positive behavior. C.A. Short Company brings the following solutions to its clients: Employee Recognition Solutions, Employee Engagement Solutions, OSHA-Compliant Safety Incentive Solutions, Service and Performance Awards, Wellness Programs, and more.

For more information, visit http://www.cashort.com.

###
Mike Lockert, Executive V.P. of Sales for Simplus, left, and Jake Boyd, CPQ trainer, right, talk with a Dreamforce attendee during the 2017 convention in San Francisco. The Deloitte 2017 North America Technology Fast 500 winners underscore the impact of technological innovation and world-class customer service in driving growth in a fiercely competitive environment, said Sandra Shirai, vice chairman of Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Simplus today announced it ranked No. 78 on Deloittes Technology Fast 500, a measure of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Simplus grew 1,928 percent in this period.

Simplus CEO Ryan Westwood credits the gain to a year of explosive company growth, including four acquisitions. This has been an exciting year for all of us at Simplus, and we are especially thrilled by this news. We are always aiming higher and look to continue our incredible momentum, he said.

Overall, 2017 Technology Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 137 percent to 59,093 percent from 2013 to 2016, with median growth of 378 percent.

The Deloitte 2017 North America Technology Fast 500 winners underscore the impact of technological innovation and world-class customer service in driving growth in a fiercely competitive environment, said Sandra Shirai, Vice Chairman of Deloitte Consulting LLP, a U.S. technology, media and telecommunications leader.

These companies are on the cutting edge and are transforming the way we do business. We extend our sincere congratulations to all the winners for achieving remarkable growth while delivering new services and experiences for their customers, Shirai said.

Emerging growth companies are powering innovation in the broader economy. The growth rates delivered by the companies on this years North America Technology Fast 500 ranking are a bright spot for the capital markets and a strong indicator that the emerging growth technology sector will continue to deliver a strong return on investment, said Heather Gates, national managing director of Deloitte & Touche LLPs emerging growth company practice. Deloitte is dedicated to supporting the best and brightest companies of the future in the emerging growth company sector. We are proud to acknowledge the significant accomplishments of this years Fast 500 winners.

ABOUT DELOITTES TECHNOLOGY FAST 500

Deloittes Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies  both public and private  in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2013 to 2016.

In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a U.K. private company limited by guarantee (DTTL), its network of member firms and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as Deloitte Global) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the U.S. member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the Deloitte name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see http://www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

ABOUT SIMPLUS

Simplus is a Platinum Salesforce Partner and provider of Quote-to-Cash implementations. We provide enterprise-wide digital transformation across the entire Salesforce ecosystem through advisory, implementation, change management, custom configuration and managed services. Guided by the mantra Success Simplified, we use leading cloud solutions to help companies achieve a strategic vision, improve performance and increase value to stakeholders. With more than 2000 clients and a customer satisfaction rating in the top 1 percent of all Salesforce partners, Simplus helps companies improve, innovate and grow. For more information about Simplus, please visit http://www.simplus.com.
MASON CITY | Neighbors, friends and colleagues used the same words to describe Kenneth and Kathleen Hackbart.

Kind, loving, caring and wonderful people.

Whenever I needed help or something, they were there, and vice versa, former neighbor Bob Grant said. It was a horrible shock.

Kenneth Hackbart, 61, and Kathleen Hackbart, 64, were found dead, stabbed, after police conducted a welfare check at their home, at 327 27th Ave. S.W., Tuesday morning.

The Hackbarts lived the single-story blue house, across the street from the former Madison School property, surrounded by neighbors who remember them well.

They were wonderful people, Grant said. You couldnt ask for better neighbors.

Grant, of Mason City, is an employee at the Globe Gazette. When he heard two bodies were found in the little blue home he lived next to for 17 years, he was devastated.

To me it was almost like someone just slapped me, Grant said.

The shock caused Grant to look back on his friendship with the couple.

Though they were no longer neighbors, Grant still saw the Hackbarts.

He would drive through his old neighborhood on 27th Avenue Southwest, and stop by to talk if they were home. Grant had known Ken for about 30 years and had just run into the couple a few weeks before they died.

Ken built the deck on Grants former home, the yellow house next to the Hackbarts' home.

I needed a new deck, and he was in between jobs, Grant said. I just wanted to help him out; hired him to do it. I never could have done one (deck) that nice.

The couple loved camping and had a few motorhomes over the years. Ken loved riding motorcycles, as well.

Angela Rose McLuer, of Mason City, is one of Kathy's cousins.

They loved all four of my kids and would come to my place for dinners and just to get out of the house, she said. My kids are devastated, especially my 5-year-old, as he has autism and doesnt understand.

The family has been through some rough times, but Ken and Kathy seemed to weather the storm, friends said.

Some hard times came in 2011 when Ken was laid off from his job.

He then decided to attend Kaplan University in Mason City where he met Rindy Johnson, his student adviser.

He was certainly a go-getter and wasnt about to let the circumstance get him down," said Johnson, who left Kaplan about a year ago and now lives in Eugene, Oregon.

Ken enrolled at Kaplan in 2011 and graduated with an associate degree in business and information technology in 2013.

He was seriously so proud of himself, Johnson said. I was very proud of him as well. Its not easy to have the same job for 20-plus years, have that unexpectedly taken away and then go enroll in college classes in your late 50s. But he was a champ and really rolled with it.

Johnson called Ken a whiz on the computer and an exceptional student with a terrific attitude.

He tackled a really tough program with a low graduation rate and excelled and helped his fellow students do well, Johnson said. He was definitely the Papa Bear of his class.

When Johnson helped him, he would say, Youre a good egg, Rindy!

Johnson met Kathy at Kens graduation and said she was beaming because she was so proud of him.

She was a huge support system for him throughout his degree, Johnson said. They lived their lives to serve others and bring joy to others and help in any way they can, and the most tragic part is that seems to be what led to their tragic departure.

Police believe the two were killed by their grandson, who they loved and helped over the years.

Codie Matz, 25, of Mason City, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder Tuesday evening. Court documents indicate he lived with the Hackbarts.

All I have to say is that they loved Codie to the moon and back, McLuer said.

Grant was not shocked that the police started looking for Matz after the bodies were discovered.

It didnt surprise me, but I just couldnt believe it, you know? Grant said. Theyve done so much for him.

Whenever Grant saw him, Matz was always cordial and would greet him.

The day before this happened, I seen him, and he just looked like he didnt even know me and he walked right by me, Grant said. Must have been something in his head going on.

Johnson said Ken talked about his grandson, Matz, all the time. The couple wanted to help and support him in his struggles.

Ken even took a few psychology electives to try to understand better where Codie struggles, Johnson said. Man, its just devastating. They did everything for their grandson. Really, anything for anyone.

Those who knew Ken and Kathy say they were the type of grandparents, friends and neighbors anyone would want.

Ken had the sweetest smile and was always rocking an impressive beard, Johnson said.

Ken and Kathy always left their door open for people in need.

They could never say no to anyone, Johnson said. Lots of prayers for their daughter and those grieving this horrible loss."

The couples kindness touched many people, even those who they didnt stay in contact with.

Robert Peterson worked with Ken in the late 1980s at Sieg Auto Parts in Mason City.

I also knew Kathy; they were two of the nicest people youd ever meet, Peterson said. I havent seen them for about 15 years, but they will be truly missed. (It's) so sad.

Casey Wilson of Princeton, Kentucky, said the couple never had much, but they were always willing to help those in need.

Whether it was clothing, toiletries, food or money, they would try to help in any way they could.

It is truly saddening to hear about their unfortunate and violent separation from this world, Wilson said.
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Evan Simon/ABC News(BOSSIER CITY, La.) -- Sterling Crutcher grew up idolizing his grandfather, and he said his desire to join the military was shaped in part by years of hearing his stories.



He was always a big proponent of the military," Crutcher told ABC News.



Crutcher's grandfather recounted stories of the missions he had been on and his life in the armed forces.



"We heard them all," Crutcher remembers.



In 2015, Crutcher ended up following in his grandfather's footsteps and joined the Air Force. He currently serves as an airman first class and munitions technician based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, La. But now, his desire to serve in the military for his entire career may be cut short for one reason: Crutcher is openly transgender.



On July 26, President Donald Trump announced a ban on transgender individuals serving in any capacity in the U.S. military on Twitter. On Aug. 25, the White House issued a presidential memorandum giving Defense Secretary James Mattis until Feb. 21, 2018, to come up with a plan to return to the longstanding policy and practice on military service that banned openly transgender service members from serving.



In the meantime, Crutcher and others are living in a sort of limbo. He reacted to Trump's tweets in July by posting a message on Facebook that went viral.



"I put on this uniform every day not for praise or adoration. Not for some free healthcare. I do it because it was ingrained in me as a child by my grandfather. He spoke so highly and proudly of his years of service in the army. I joined because there is a sense of pride you get from serving your country and fighting for your neighbors," Crutcher wrote in the post, which has received more than 115,000 likes.



But Crutcher said he received mixed reactions to his decision to speak out.



"It was hard to see and read [the negative responses] but you know, I decided it doesn't matter. The people that I'm working for, if they see that I'm doing a good job, then that's what matters. Because as long as I'm doing my job and I'm sticking to my oath, I will always put the mission first," Crutcher said.



"I've done that in the past and I'll continue to do that and I think that's what matters," he added.



The negative Facebook comments about his service weren't the first time he has received backlash after coming out as a trans man. He said his wife, Aimee, has always been supportive, but that wasn't the case with the rest of his immediate family.



Instead, he said his fellow airmen have become more than just his friends. Theyve become his family.



They still dead-name me, Crutcher said, referring to the fact that some of his family still refers to him by the female name he was given at birth. They still poignantly point out female pronouns, stuff like that.



Instead, he said his friends on the base in Shreveport have become an alternative family.



Theres a couple in the Air Force that I consider my Air Force mom and dad because they really stepped up, they took me in when I was down. They took me in when I was hurting, he said.



But Trump's proposed ban on openly transgender service members has put his and Aimee's dreams of starting their own family on hold. The couple said they had been planning to start having kids in the near future but are now focusing on saving money in case he is barred from serving in the military. They worry that if the ban is enacted, they will be forced to move off the Air Force base and start anew somewhere else.



I didn't want to believe that a tweet had that much weight on our life, Aimee Crutcher said. I told my husband, Don't worry, it's just a tweet. I think we both knew deep down it was going to become more than that.



See more of Sterling Crutchers story when Under Review, a new short documentary from ABC News Features, releases on Nov. 16.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
MASON CITY | A Mason City man had to cast a provisional ballot Tuesday because he had no proof of a change of address from the last time he voted.

The reason is the man is living temporarily at the Northern Lights men's homeless shelter, Cerro Gordo County Auditor Ken Kline said Thursday after a canvass of Tuesday's municipal election results.

"The man had no proof of his current address," said Kline. "We allowed him to cast a provisional ballot which means he can vote but it won't be counted until it can determined that he is an eligible voter."

Schickel elected mayor; two council races in runoffs MASON CITY | Bill Schickel won election to his fourth term as mayor Tuesday night, defeating

The man, who was not identified, came in Wednesday with papers and witnesses who verified he was living at the shelter. So his vote counted and was included in Thursday's canvass.

"The election was over. He already knew the results and yet he still came in," said Kline. "The vote didn't mean anything in terms of the outcome, but it meant something to him."

Also Thursday, Kline said Plymouth Mayor Jon Vrieze, who lost his re-election bid by one vote to Cecil Kuhlers, has asked for a recount.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to act on that request at its meeting Tuesday.
That's just some of the advice from authorities in Delhi, India this past week, when the smog became so thick that is was described by the local government as a "gas chamber."

Last November, the city experienced some of its worst pollution in decades, and this year looks like it's going to be a repeat. Here's what it's like for people who live in the Indian capital right now:.

The air quality index, which measures the levels of five major pollutants in the air, is above 400 in Delhi. That's the highest pollution category. The air is called "hazardous" at this level.

For comparison, the air in Shanghai is registering around 40 on the World Air Quality Index, and in New York City on Friday night it was 33, according to EPA measurements.

Breathing is worse than inhaling two packs of cigarettes a day.

Just breathing the air is about as bad as smoking 44 cigarettes a day right now, CNN reports.

The levels of smog being recorded right now in Delhi are more than 20 times worse than in Beijing, a city that often deals with heavy pollution.

It's gotten so bad that United Airlines has suspended all its flights into the Indian capital.

Nearly 17 million people live in the Delhi region and they've dealt with smog like this before.

The country is now the world's largest emitter of sulfur dioxide from coal-fired power plants.

One writer at Quartz India even went so far as to say the smog now "heralds the winter" in his home country.

Conditions are expected to get worse this weekend.

The haze is also wafting over Pakistan where Reuters reports road accidents are up and 15,000 people have been hospitalized. Authorities are planning to use fire trucks to spray down parts of the Indian capital, which they hope will help clear the air.

It's harvesting season in the country and some farmers are lighting crops on fire, adding to the smog that was already in the air from cars and coal-fired power plants.

Often after rice and wheat stalks are chopped down in the fall, farmers will set their fields ablaze. The slash and burn technique helps planters clear their fields quickly and gets the soil ready for fresh plantings.

It's all part of a much larger epidemic. Globally, pollution is now killing more people than wars, obesity, smoking, or malnutrition.
His comments come on the back of revelation my son of media personality Kwasi Kyei Darkwah (KKD), Darkwah Kyei-Darkwah, that he is gay.

It wont stop me from acting gay in movies. At the end of the day, its my job as an actor to be able to bring life to a character scripted in a movie, to an understanding," he told Hitz FM.

The fact that I play gay in movies doesnt make me gay. Im not gay and everybody thats close to me knows that Im one hundred percent straight. I dont have anything against homosexuals or whoever that chooses to be what they are. The fact that people are coming out to say theyre gay or the fact that gay issues are coming out lately doesnt stop me from acting, he said.

He also asked Ghanaians to stop judging people because of their sexual orientation.

According to him, some people were born gays, others grew up with it and some fell victim to it.

I think God wrote somewhere in the Bible or the Quran that we shouldnt judge ourselves or humans. They are gays; they choose to be who they are. Some were born with it, some grew up with it, some fell victim to maybe someone who took advantage of them and they also decided to live up to it.

The thing is we dont know the circumstances they found themselves in or what made them do what theyre doing. So were not in the right position to judge them and it doesnt mean Im supporting them. My religion is against it, Christianity is against it and we humans are also against it but, do we sit back sometimes and ask ourselves about the sins we commit, he noted.]
The self-acclaimed dancehall king labeled those artistes as 'dumb'.

Shatta Wale, who was speaking on Accra-based Kasapa FM, fired that some of his desperate colleagues are making it look as if the president doesnt have any work to do.

Thats so dumb Dont see the President as someone who has nothing doing. Maybe he had time for me so dont put that pressure on him that he should also invite you. Youre nobody to the president and Im also nobody to the president, Shatta said in an interview.

Some people criticized the president for replying to my message in pidgin language but I found nothing wrong with that. The day the president replied my tweet on my birthday, I was really surprised, I said to myself that wow this man is really good and knows what hes about", he said.

The 'Kaikai' hitmaker added that, I quickly called Bola Ray to help me with the documentation to visit the Flagstaff House. I told Bola that this is too big because Im not good with documentation. God being so good we visited H.E. Nana Addo. The president knows that Bola Ray is instrumental when it comes to Ghanaian music.

President Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, October 17 tweeted to wish Shatta Wale a happy birthday in Pidgin English and invited him to the presidency.
Jihane, also a style consultant, is without a doubt a rising force in the lifestyle industry in Africa and indeed the world.

She opens up about some of the challenges she faces, her goals and the most relevant virtue; her drive.

HER INSPIRATION

Jihane attributes the genesis of her interest in fashion blogging to her passion for anything that deals with appearances and outlooks.

"I have always loved fashion from day-one. My passion for fashion and matters of beauty have been strong because I love to see pretty ladies look good and charming in whatever they wear. Over the years, I have always given my friends and family members my opinion on what they should wear and what they shouldnt wear. So with all this interest, love and more, I decided to put my technical know-how in this onto my blog  hence the start of Jijiglam.com," she says.

THE CHALLENGES

Like any other field of work, the fashion journalism industry is fraught with challenges. "As a positive minded person, I try so hard not to encounter any form of challenge," she says. "But as humans we one way or the other come across even an iota of hiccups, and mine so far has been to convince the ladies on what to wear. I always like to play with clothes, colors and whatnot  but getting some ladies (especially the new clients) to come to terms on a first time can be challenging. Getting a lady who already has what to wear in her mind can be a bit tough changing that mind to what you feel would look trendier and more fashionable on her."

ON AFRICANS AND FASHION

Is fashion blogging a lucrative occupation in Africa? Especially considering the conception that people rarely put much effort in their looks as a result of seeing the business of fashio as a relative trivialty? "It is arguable on whether or not people down here put in much into their look or not," Jihane weighs in. "But we cannot deny the fact that looking good is paramount in our daily lives because fashion is part of our daily routine. As to if fashion blogging is lucrative  yes it is. Now most people pay huge to be talked about. Fashion and beauty brands pay us huge sums to talk and advertise their brands on our platforms. As I have always said, 'Africa is the next stop!' Believe me that with the advent of how the fashion and beauty world is going, more fashion bloggers would emerge."

ON GETTING UNDER SKINS

How do people handle Jihane's criticism of their fashion 'errors'? Is it not a subjective and sensitive business? "Sincerely, some of them dont accept criticism in good faith and this can be hurting as opinions are important; and for me I only push ahead because I owe the public the duty to be credible."

AREAS OF COVERAGE

"The info I want to give is all about the knowledge on fashion issues inside of me," says Jihane. "I want to give all I know about color, trends, what to eat to be in shape to suit the outfit, what not to wear considering ones height, shape, event, etc."

She also explains that becoming acquainted with fashion language and technicalities is her priority. "I read a lot, I educate myself at every given time, I take up courses in and out of Africa so that I can be updated as well as update others who have entrusted their faith into my hands as well as consult me on fashion and beauty related subjects."

WHO CAN BECOME LIKE HER?

"Anybody can be a fashionista," Jihane concedes. "But to be a fashion blogger, you need an eye, the technical know-how to try updating people on what is and what is not. Being a fashionista is a plus in regards to the fashion blogging passion. For me, aside being a fashionista, my duty is to put up on my platform that the public (women especially) can go there and pick one or two lessons on matters related to fashion and beauty."

ON THE FUTURE
A statement signed by Colonel Eric Aggrey-Quarshie,, Public Relations Officer of GAF, said the suspect, Corporal Dovlo Agbeshie, was declared illegally absent on 20th August 2016 and later declared a deserter and struck off his staff list and ceases to be a member of the Ghana Armed Forces.

READ MORE: Soldier arrested for extortion

The suspect was arrested for allegedly extorting huge sums of monies from unsuspecting Chinese Nationals and some local miners in Enchi and its surrounding communities.

The Enchi Police Commander Supt Raymond Kofi Erzuah said the residents of the area reported the extortion to the security agency.

Corporal Agbeshie and his accomplices were arrested but he subsequently escaped.

He was however rearrested at the Yiwabra barrier at Enchi together with a civilian accomplice.

The police retrieved his military uniform and 3 different mobile phones from the suspect.

The military personnel and his civilian accomplices are expected to be transferred to the Asankragua police Command for further investigations.

READ MORE:Fake soldier arrested after claiming to be a Captain

Superintendent Raymond Kofi Erzuah said this is the third time in less than two months that military personnel have been arrested by the police for alleged extortion and robberies in the Western region.
The chairmen, who are facing calls for them to resign for their anti-party behaviours, have asked the ex-president, who lost his reelection bid to President Nana Akufo-Addo, to consider running for president and also embark on a "Thank You Tour."

The endorsement has generated tension in the largest opposition party as other candidates who are also aspiring to lead the party have complained of bias.

"These regional Chairmen, who also are members of the National Executive Committee (NEC), have in a way sidelined, or will seek to sideline other potential contestants, and as the highest decision-making body of the party, they ought not to do that," NDC MP for South Dayi, Rockson Dafeamakpor, said in an interview with Citi FM.

He added: "Regional executives are supposed to be neutral," warning that, "We will be seen as a party that is not united."

On his part, Wa West MP, Rashid Pelpuo, asked the regional chairmen to "play by the rules."

I am sure they are responding to the pressures from the grassroots, but they should be able to advise the grassroots so we can all do it in a decorous manner, he noted.

In a statement, MP for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, asked the regional chairmen to take a cue from President John Mahama.

President Mahama himself has been on record to say that the time for campaigning and declaring has not come yet. You need to take a cue from your leader, Sam George reminded.
The former Ghanaian leader is said to have travelled to Namibia as an advocate of the African Development Bank and brought two men representing the sheikh of Dubai, owner of Ameri Group, to Namibia - seeking to clinch possible energy deals.

Award-winning Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang (VG) which has been following the story for two years, revealed that Mr Mahama this July entered into a cooperative arrangement with the sheikhs company.

This July, Mahama travelled to the Namibian capital, Windhoek, with employees of the private office of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Dalmouk al Maktoum of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the newspaper said.

According to the newspaper, he later held a meeting Namibian President Hage Geingob where he is said to have appeared with two men  Ameri Group CEO Maher Al Alili, who is also CEO of the sheikhs private office and Mustafa Ahmed, who left behind a business card in Namibia embossed with the logo of the sheikhs office.

READ MORE: Former Power Minister to face Parliament over AMERI deal

When the VG reached out to the Namibias presidential spokesman, Albertous Aocham, he disclosed that Mahama himself set up the meeting in Namibia and arranged for the sheikhs representatives to join him.

The two gentlemen were introduced by Mr John Mahama (as working for) The Private Office of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Dalmook al Maktoum. They were introduced as Mr Mustafa Ahmed and Mr Maher Al Alili. The names of the two gentlemen or the name of the company were not mentioned in the letter from former President Mahama," Aocham said.

He continued: Among his delegation were these two gentlemen, as well as the former ambassador of Ghana to Namibia, Alhaji A. R. Haruna.

Mahama informed President Geingob that he was in Namibia in his capacity as an AfDB (African Development Bank) advocate for African energy self-sufficiency, and brought UAE representatives to Namibia after they identified the country as one of the most attractive destinations for electricity infrastructure investments."

VG said it reached out to the office of the Mr Mahama for comments but was told the ex-president was unavailable to answer the newspapers queries.

His special adviser, Joyce Mogtari Bawa, said to VG: Of course. Mr Mahama sees any request that arrives. I am telling you he is not available, and that I will get back to you if he becomes available, the special advisor told VG in mid-October.

READ MORE: Power minister Kwabena Donkor signs deal with Norwegian fraudster

When the Norwegian newspaper inquired why queries sent to Mr Mahama had not been answered, Joyce Bawa quipped: He has no obligation to give you an interview. You cant force Mr Mahama to talk to you. Can you force the King of Norway to give you an interview?

It will be recalled that VG in 2015 reported that the Ameri power deal with Ghana was overpriced.
MASON CITY | When Sharon Steckman was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives about nine years ago, one of the first major pieces of legislation she worked on was the Historic Tax Preservation Bill.

There was a learning curve, the Mason City Democrat admitted  there's a long process for cities and towns to apply for the corresponding historic tax credits, and several benchmarks each proposal they must meet. She soon determined, however, that the benefit of the credits is invaluable for the communities that use them.

"I see it as a win-win for the state and community," Steckman said by phone Friday. "(Cities) can keep the character of the community, and at the same time upgrade the infrastructure so they can stay up-to-date."

Since the state started awarding these credits in 2001, Cerro Gordo County has received just over $5.17 million in money for seven projects, according to the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The average award was $738,651.

According to Mason City Chamber of Commerce President Robin Anderson, a fair share of these awards have helped the city's downtown area. The Historic Park Inn, Moorman Clothiers, Central Park Dentistry and multiple other projects have received state assistance through historic tax credits.

"They are such an important part of community development projects," Anderson said. "It just doesn't make financial sense to convert historic property without the use of a tool like historic tax credits."

For businesses and interested parties to apply, there is a long process. First, the Historical Society of Iowa must determine the building's "significance and project eligibility," according to the organization's website.

Then, there are multiple registration and review processes. Many involve the state's secretary of the interior, and whether they meet that office's standard for rehabilitation.

After that, there is at least a 90-day review period by the State Historic Preservation Office of Iowa. If the office likes what it sees, tax credits are awarded.

Scott Moorman, co-owner/operator at Moorman Clothiers, said he benefited from the program when his building needed rehabilitation about 10 years ago.

The process to apply was long, he said, but earning 20 percent of the overall $300,000 project cost in tax credits was needed.

"To do it right, $300,000 is a substantial amount of money," Moorman said of the building restoration process. "Every little bit helps. And as long as the tax credits are still there ... there's no reason we (businesses) shouldn't use it."

Perhaps one of the most famous uses of both state and federal historic tax credits is the restoration of the Historic Park Inn Hotel.

Scott Borcherding, president of Wright on the Park, the nonprofit that owns the hotel, said $3.8 million in federal and $3.3 million in state historic tax credits were instrumental in restoring the hotel.

The process for applying for that money occurred more than six years ago, and was extensive, Borcherding said. The reward, however, was an invaluable addition to Mason City's downtown area, he added.

It also was important for another reason.

"When this project happened, the country was in a recession," Borcherding said at the Historic Park Inn on Friday. "We kept a lot of people employed for two-plus years, so we were kind of lucky in that respect."

Now, however, federal historic tax credits could get the axe. Congressional Republicans have proposed a tax bill that eliminates those credits, which have been used in hundreds of projects across Iowa since 2002.

Both Steckman and Borcherding are worried about how that will impact the state moving forward.

"It could hurt a lot of communities like ours, (or) communities even smaller," Borcherding said. "And cities bigger than us that just kind of reinvigorate older parts of their towns."

Dr. Jay Lala  who used federal and state historic tax credits for the Central Park Dentistry building improvements about five to six years ago  agreed. He added the impact of them is vital.

"It literally would be the difference between the project going ahead and not, Lala said. "I think theyre worth it, they (the buildings) have the character, they have the history  I would not have done anything if I didnt have these credits."

Steckman said she understands that all tax credits need to be awarded carefully. But she pointed to where historic tax credits are used, and notes the long-term impact of them on towns across Iowa is important.

"I believe it preserves the character of a community, which I think is very important for the community," she said. "Every community has its shining star, and this helps with that."
However, in Africa, some countries police service excel in these attributes than others. For a government that thinks its police force will tackle all problems related to law and order as well as corruption.

Below is the list of the 5 countries in Africa where the police forces are extremely corrupt and brutal. Four of these five countries also ranked worst police service in the world in the latest World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI).

Kenya

Kenya is one of the African countries whose police service is noted for prevalent problems of citizen brutality and widespread corruption. Protesters in the country are always at the mercy of the sticks and clubs of the countrys police force.

In the 2016/2017 WISPI report, Kenyan police force was ranked the worst in the world and was followed by Uganda and Nigeria.

Police in the country uses any means at its disposal to disperse protest, which has led to many deaths and unlawful detention especially when it is against the government.

South Africa

South Africa is widely known as the world capital of police brutality. In 2016 alone, there were 244 deaths and 124 rapes by men of police force in South Africa. More so, protest tends to be one of the most upsetting for the South African police and they adopt any available means to end it.

145 cases of police torture of protesters and innocent citizens were recorded in 2016 as well. It is also on record that the South African government budget cannot take care of the mountain of court cases against the police.

Nigeria

Nigeria Police Force (NPF), like its counterpart in Kenya and South Africa, is renowned for corruption and brutality. WISPI also confirmed that many cases of extra-judicial killings are hanging on the police service.

It is funny that brutality of men of NPF knows no bound, as men of other security outfits also share in this odes. A more recent case is the killing of two officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)

Uganda

Men of the Ugandan police force were noted to have no time on the use of pepper stick or water canner to disperse a protesting crowd. They simply go for the use of stick and electric wire to achieve their goals in record time.

In some cases, security forces summarily shot people dead and then dumped the bodies on river banks and in bushes. For instance, at least 100 people were killed and 139 others arrested in clashes between security agencies and palace guards in the western town of Kasese.

Congo DRC

The mixture of tense political environment and proneness to crisis made the Congolese police force one with a brutal feature.
Roy Moore, the Republican Senate nominee in Alabama, gave a bizarre radio interview to Fox News personality Sean Hannity on Friday in which he said he "generally" did not date teens as young as 16 when he was above the age of 30.

Moore was responding to allegations published by The Washington Post on Thursday that have rocked the Alabama Senate race. In that report, a woman claimed that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 and he was 32. Multiple additional women told the publication that Moore pursued relationships with them while he was in his 30s and they were between the ages of 16 and 18 or 19. The age of consent in Alabama is 16.

"I believe theyre politically motivated," Moore told Hannity of the allegations. "I believe they were brought on to stop a very successful campaign. And thats what theyre doing."

Moore, up to this point, had vehemently denied the allegations. He insisted in the interview with Hannity that he the allegation that he sexually abused a 14-year-old was untrue, and that he never met the woman who made the allegation.

But he also said he did recall knowing two of the other women cited in the story: Debbie Wesson Gibson, who said Moore sought a romantic relationship with her when he was 34, and Gloria Thacker Deason, who said she was 18 when she started going out with the 32-year-old Moore, who bought her alcohol when she was either 18 or 19.

The legal drinking age in Alabama was 19 at the time.

I dont remember dating any girl without the permission of her mother

Moore began the interview by saying the allegations were "completely false and misleading." But he seemed to waver throughout the interview.

Hannity went through the Post story and detailed the allegations of the four accusers. Moore claimed to know two of four, but denied any instance of misconduct with either. In response to the allegations involving Debbie Wesson Gibson, Moore said, "I dont remember going out on dates. I knew her as a friend. If we did go out on dates, then we did. But I dont remember that."

Speaking of the late 1970s and early '80s, Moore said he "dated a lot of young ladies" after "my return from the military."

"I do recognize the names of two of these young women," he said of Gibson and Deason, denying that he gave the latter alcohol when she was underage. "As I recall, she was 19 or older."

Asked if he remembers dating teenage women when he was older than 30, Moore said, "Not generally, no."

"I don't remember dating any girl without the permission of her mother," he said. He later pointed to The Post's story and said, "These two young girls actually said their mothers encouraged them to be friends with me."

After a commercial break, Moore became more forceful in his denials of dating teenagers. He said doing so "would be out of my customary behavior" and that he "never" would have dated a teen without her mother's permission.

Pointing to the allegation involving a 14-year-old, Moore said: "This never happened. They know it never happened."

"If you abuse a 14-year-old, you shouldn't be a Senate candidate. I agree with that," Moore said. "But I did not do that."

He called the report a "political attack" against him and added that he's "sure in the next four weeks" The Post is "going to come out with another article."

Saying that "establishment Republicans" and "Democrats" were behind the allegations, Moore said he and his campaign "have some evidence of some collusion here."

"But were not ready to put that to the public yet," he said.
Saudi Arabia's alleged push to remove Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri may spark a war in the Middle East.

"The Saudis appear to have decided that the best way to confront Iran is to start in Lebanon," a European diplomat recently told Reuters.

Hariri resigned as Lebanon's prime minister during a trip to Saudi Arabia last weekend and multiple reports, as well as public statements from leading Lebanese politicians, indicate that he is being held in the kingdom against his will.

The prime minister is politically supported by Saudi Arabia and is part of a joint government that includes Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. He has not been seen back in his home country since his resignation.

Experts believe that by forcing Hariri's resignation, Saudi Arabia could effectively rebrand Lebanon as an "Iranian outpost" dominated by Hezbollah. This may be the first move in a series of actions ending with armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah  and could curb Iran's influence in the region.

"The removal of Hariri is, in effect, a kind of trap for Hizballah, daring it to fully reveal its power and dominance in Lebanon and take complete responsibility for the Lebanese state which, from a Saudi perspective, it effectively controls anyway," Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, wrote in a recent column on the Saudi-Iranian rivalry in Lebanon.

"The next step would be for Hizballah and Lebanon itself to suffer the consequences of being completely identified with what is widely considered to be an international terrorist organization," Ibish writes.

Saudi Arabia could provoke an Israeli response

The key to this strategy seems to be Israel. While Saudi Arabia cannot force Israeli military policy, there is reason to believe the kingdom is working to set the scene for some sort of conflict.

Israel and Hezbollah have a violent history, most recently fighting a devastating war in 2006. Now, Israel may want to push back on Hezbollah's increased power and weaponry from its role in the Syrian war, or at least send a message to the group's backer, Iran.

"For months now, [Israel] has been sounding alarm bells about Hezbollah's and Iran's growing footprint in Syria, and more particularly about the Lebanese movement's soon-to-be-acquired capacity to indigenously produce precision-guided missiles  a development Israeli officials view as a potential game changer they must thwart," Robert Malley, vice president for policy at Crisis Group, wrote in The Atlantic.

Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel and a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, told The Washington Post that by removing Hariri, Saudi Arabia could provoke an "Israeli response" and "bloody the nose of Hezbollah."

"Hariri's departure does strengthen the case that Hezbollah is in total domination in Lebanon," Shapiro said. "By removing Hariri, it does make it a bit easier to treat Lebanon as an Iranian outpost."

Shapiro further explained on Twitter that Israel may respond if the power vacuum created by Hariri's resignation "sparks a move by Hezbollah."

Both Israel and Hezbollah are working to delay war

Even though it looks like strings are being pulled to push these two Middle East powers into conflict, both sides seem to be working to delay war.

Hezbollah leader Sayyad Hassan Nasrallah explicitly called out Saudi Arabia on Friday, saying in a speech that "Saudi Arabia is inciting Israel to launch a war against Lebanon."

Nasrallah, as well as other leading Lebanese figures, seem to be hedging on Hariri's resignation, likely to give the impression of a united Lebanese government and not allow cause for conflict.

In his speech Friday, the Hezbollah leader said that Hariri's resignation was "illegal and unconstitutional because it was made under coercion." Likewise, Lebanese President Michel Aoun  who is backed by Hezbollah  will reportedly not accept the prime minister's resignation until he returns to Lebanon, which he has so far not done.

In Israel, politicians seem to be delaying a confrontation they have long thought inevitable.
Former FBI director James Comey tweeted out two quotes about truth and justice after President Donald Trump attacked him Saturday morning and again cast doubt on the intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Trump said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin when he said he did not order Russia's election meddling. Trump also lashed out at Comey, along with former CIA director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, calling them "political hacks." All the men have consistently emphasized that Russia mounted an elaborate campaign to undermine the election and to propel Trump to victory.

"'If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pul it; but if you want a lie to go round the world, it will fly; it is light as a feather and a breath will carry it,'" Comey tweeted after the president criticized him, quoting an 1855 sermon from the Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
It would be living in some kind of Utopian space to say that it doesnt exist [in Nollywood] , veteran actress Joke Silva said to Pulse during a conversation about sexual harassment.

I think the situation is even more sick in Africa because men get away with a lot in this part [Africa], Ghanaian filmmaker Shirley Frimpong-Manso said.

Following the recent revelations of sexual harassment by Media Mogul Harvey Weinstein of actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyong'o and Kate Beckinsale, several other film heavyweights have been exposed.

According to New York Times, over 38 women have accused writer-director James Toback of sexual harassment. There were also complaints about the Amazon studio chief, Roy Price and Nickelodeons Loud House creator, Chris Savino.

Popularly known as casting-couch syndrome, this corrupt culture isnt just a Hollywood problem. In 2004, Bollywood filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar was accused of rape by actress Preeti Jain, who alleged that the filmmaker raped her 16 times for a role in his film.

Over the years, many Nollywood actresses have come out to talk about their experiences, but have refused to name the perpetrators. Filmmakers, investors, and powerful actors asking for sexual favours to advance careers is just a better-kept dirty secret in Nollywood. But it does exist.

Shirley Frimpong-Manso said she didnt want to have a daughter because she does not want her child to go through what she did as a young woman.

Even having a script and trying to get somebody to look at it, I'm first addressed as 'you're a pretty woman' instead of 'this is my work, she said.

She would see how men would go through the door much quicker than she would because she is first a woman before anything else. "And it made me afraid to want to have a daughter, she added.

Joke Silva recalled the experience of her intern, who she once took on the set of a Nollywood production.

Some older actor goes to this girl and asks that they discuss, and she says 'fine.' But when he says where she should come for the discussion, she then comes to me and says 'oh, I have been asked to come to this hotel to discuss this and that.' And I say, "Why must it be in a hotel and why must you go alone?'

As a newbie in Nollywood, Blessing Egbe, who is popular for The Women and Lekki Wives, once had to slap off the smelly hand of a big producer/marketer, who caressed her breast when he saw her at a producers office.

Narrating her experience to Pulse Nigeria, Egbe said: He walked in, looked at me for a while and said nna this gal will be very god for epic feem ooo I returned his words with a polite smile which he mistook for softness. Next thing, he came to me and started to caress me. The push slap that followed shocked the other producer who exclaimed Ah, Blessing, that is big marketer Oh. And my reply? And so what?

If you follow the paper trail, you will get to read about instances of sexual harassment and molestation in Nollywood. During an interview with Daily Post, actress Juliet Patrick Odigwe revealed that a popular producer asked her for six rounds of sex for six movie roles.

In 2015, Rahama Sadau took to Instagram to accuse Adam Zango of denying her of a role because she refused his sexual advances. She, however, apologized the next day, describing her post on a matter as sensitive as sexual harassment, as childish.

Just like the mainstream Nollywood in the early 2000s, the marketers and distributors are the most powerful in the Yoruba movie industry: They decide whose work gets seen by the public, and in turn, which actress becomes famous.

In 2016, Yoruba filmmaker Seun Egbegbe threatened to destroy the career of his ex-lover, Toyin Aimakhu, warning movie producers to end ties with the actress.

"Anybody that deals with her, the person is on his or her own. And I will act appropriately," he said. "Toyin Aimakhus career is finished as far as Yoruba movie sector is concerned," he added.

You only need Egbegbe's comments to ascertain how much power these movie producers and marketers wield.

And for most of them, it is an opportunity to exploit their power by dangling the promise of a job or a successful career in exchange for a sexual favor.

In 2014, Emeka Ike reportedly listed Emma Ogugua, Murphy Stephen, Sunny McDon, Okey Bakassi and Ifeanyi Dikeh as producers who demand sexual favours from aspiring actresses. An accusation that was denied by Bakassi during an interview with YNaija.

While sexual harassment against women is a much more prevalent situation, the nature of these predatory relationships is not strictly one-sided. Shame, cultural norm and the pressure to appear traditionally masculine are some of the reasons why men rarely share their experiences.

I think we continuously talk about just the females, I think we need to also explain that there are male actors having their fair share of harassment. Especially, if they are a fine, cute boy," Frimpong-Manso said.

A filmmaker groping an actor. Another one spewing lewd comments on rehearsal set. So, if the casting-couch culture is as common as it is in Nollywood, why isnt there more outrage about it? Why the deafening silence?

It is probably because victims are still being blamed by their abusers and the world as a whole. Theres also the fear of not being believed, and for an industry such as Nollywood, the knowledge that reporting a powerful abuser could destroy a career.

They may feel that exposing these culprits may leave them jobless or blacklisted or ridiculed by others who feel its no big deal, Blessing Egbe said.

The reality is that it's scary. You don't want to go against someone like Harvey Weinstein. The guy was one of the biggest shot in Hollywood, so imagine someone like Lupita [a newbie and an African] when she narrated her experience, Shirley said.

Weinstein denied Lupitas claims that he had tried to "take off his pants" in front of her and asked if he could massage her.

Shirley recalled reading that New York Times Jodi Kantor, who turned the Harvey Weinstein open secret into a big story, was bombarded by lawyers to drop the story for a long time.

The Weinsteins case has something similar to several other cases of sexual assault and rape: people knew.

The cases of sexual harassment in Nollywood are known by a lot of people. Most of them excuse the casting-couch mentality with outrageous comments ranging from it is not a Producer or director's fault if an actor decides to go the extra mile for the role to it is what it is, an actor must pay his or her dues.

Blessing Egbe said that actresses who eventually become victims are coerced by producers, who list names of superstars who have supposedly slept their way through.'

This brings to attention an important question: Why have we subconsciously normalized sexual harassment and rape?

Most cases of sexual abuse in Nollywood follow an apparent pattern: meet a young actress, schedule a private meeting and demand for sex in exchange for a career advancement. Most times, this pattern is facilitated by friends, assistants and employees of these "powerful" and "influential" perpetrators.

Normalization of sexual harassment in Nollywood is simply a reflection of a society, which over years, has tolerated an array of improper conduct, especially, from the men.

During the 2017 edition of AY Live show, AY Makun joked about Kemen sexually touching TBoss without her consent during their stay in the Big Brother Naija house.

AY normalised Kemen's actions, saying that every man in his position would do the same thing."We should encourage this young man, he no kill person" Makun added.

After he came under attack for his "distasteful" and "insensitive" Joke, Makun apologized, adding that he is not a supporter of assault on women.

For years, men have always been given the carte blanche to get away with a lot of things; a feature that has perhaps permitted sexual abuse for years. For instance, while men get away with cracking raunchy jokes, cheating or showing off their bodies, women face backlash for doing the same.

For some reason, even women, we accept this thing about 'a man dating or cheating on their wives and girlfriends,' and it's fine as compared to when a woman does it. And so men get away with a lot, Shirley said.

"He is a man." "It's a man's world." "That's the normal thing for men" - These are the some of the excuses that have made these despicable acts seem 'normal.'

Unfortunately, unlike Hollywood, most Nigerians dont have the influence that eases being heard. Theres even barely a reliable legal system in the country.

So what defence does a person in Nigeria have? With the legal system that takes years Please, Joke Silva asked.

Victims in Nigeria are left with no choice but to protect themselves from sexual predators.

Describing the current happenings as a learning curve for everybody to watch themselves, she encouraged the younger actors to apply caution and always go for their casting with an audience.

"The kind of things that happen in a doctor's office: a male doctor doesn't examine a patient without somebody else being around. So if you go for your casting, there should be other people around," she added.

Women dont support women - a stereotype or a reality?

As a filmmaker, who has had to seek fund for her projects, Shirley considers the above-mentioned a reality that plays a big part in the tales of sexual harassment in Africa.

She doesnt think that women in higher positions are doing enough to help younger women, as it probably would be easier for an actress to see a man than it would be to see a woman.

I don't think women in higher positions are helping younger women, and so, we put them at the mercy of these things, she said.

I know this because I'm always knocking on doors and trying to get sponsorship. And I think it's easier to get the attention of a man. And first and foremost, it's not because they think it's a woman coming to see them.

It's just easier getting an appointment to see a male CEO than it's probably easier to see a female CEO.

Frimpong-Manso believes that if sexual harassment is tackled from this angle, the industry would be correcting it on a much bigger scale.

Surprisingly, in most cases, it is the actors, who offer sexual favors in return for career growth.

Mercy Macjoe once told Vanguard that actresses with nothing to offer are actually the ones who harass the filmmakers in exchange for a film role.

Filmmaker and actor Solomon Akiyesi told YNaija that the actresses seduce the directors and not the other way round.

In 2016, Yoruba actress Opeyemi Aiyeola said women are mostly responsible for the cases of sexual harassment in Nollywood.

Filmmaker Mildred Okwo said that some actresses actually offer producers sex to advance their careers, adding that it isn't sexual harassment if the "victim" initiates the act.

An anonymous source in the Yoruba movie industry said most actresses, who are usually more interested in the fame than acting, offer producers sex for roles in their movies.

"90% of the time, it's the women offering the men sex for roles in the Yoruba movie industry," she said. An offer most marketers and producers accept because, "it's free sex," she added.

Apparently, in Nollywood, an unsuccessful career can lead to desperation, which in turn could foster silence and compliance with sexual harassment.

Often times, it is the case of the powerful filmmaker versus the desperate up-and-coming actor - when the powerful isn't demanding for sexual favors, the desperate is offering.

Also, some actors in dire need of fame or a movie role leverage their sexuality for powerful filmmakers to exploit.

When you're young, and you are desperate and you don't know what lies ahead of you, you go for anything. So the caution is that 'do not let your desperation lead you astray because there are a lot of bad people out there," Frimpong-Manso said.

She added that after a lot of experience, one gets to realize that when someone says 'come to the hotel,' it amounts to nothing.

Shirley Frimpong-Manso also added that most actors have made it more about the fame than the work, giving grounds for sexual harassment to grow.

"People just want to be famous, they want to be on Instagram, they want to have 10,000 likes and followers, and that's how come all of these bad things are festering and having grounds to grow," she said.

The truth still remains that sexual harassment isn't just about Hollywood, Nollywood or Bollywood  it's a wide-reaching problem that spans across gender, status and occupation. Most women/men have either experienced it or know someone who has.

From social media to the workplace, school, public bus and even marketplace, women have found themselves as targets.

With the expose on Weinstein, a hashtag #MeToo was created to encourage women to share their experiences of harassment in their own industries  It has been tweeted over 500, 000 times.

Joke Silva said there is no industry in the world where part of the skill of being a professional woman is being able to let people realize that when you say 'No, I'm about my work,' you really mean it.

Nevertheless, the aftermath of the Weinstein case seems to be a strong sign that the worlds perspective on sexual abuse is shifting.

Joke Silva opined that the conversation is beginning to change because there are repercussions, even several years later, as seen in Harvey and Kevin Spacey case. Men are beginning to understand that sexual harassment isn't their right.

However, in the emotionally charged conversations about sexual harassment, Frimpong-Manso hopes that the power to speak up isn't abused. In 2017, Jemma Beale was jailed for falsely accusing 15 men of raping her.

She said popular people or those who have worked so hard are at risk of branded what they are not.

If we are not careful, a lot of innocent people will be caught in this web of people coming out to say 'this person did this, this person did that to me, Shirley said.

She clarified that she isnt holding the fort for men or women in this circumstance as everyone is at risk of being falsely accused.

It is, however, important to note that the cases of these false accusations are rare: only about 2% to 10% of all reports are estimated to be false.

Just like several industries, sexual harassment is lurking in Nollywood - it's the industry's 'little' dirty secret.

But all the Nigerian film industry needs is one bold victim to expose tens of Nollywoods Harvey Weinstein.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Abigail Unaeze, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command said this while briefing newsmen in Minna on Saturday.

On Nov. 8, 2017, based on reliable information, police detectives arrested one Patrick Kalu aged 65, for allegedly having sex through the anus with a 15 years old boy.

Unaeze told journalists that the suspect who was arrested during the act had kept the victim in his house at the railway quarters for over one year.

She said that the suspect lured the unsuspecting victim from Karimo area of Abuja with the intent of securing a job for him, adding during investigation the suspect confessed to the act.

The PPRO categorised the offence as an un-natural offence, adding that the suspect would soon be charged to court.

Speaking to newsmen, the suspect admitted having canal knowledge of the teenage boy, saying it was the hand work of the devil.

Kalu who hails from Ohafia in Abia state has three children from his late wife.

Similarly, Unaeze also said that between October and November, the command apprehended 13 suspects for armed robbery and culpable homicide.

She said that the suspects had confessed to the crime and would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.

She said that the suspects, whose ages ranged between 18 and 80, were arrested in different parts of the state where the crime were allegedly committed.

The PPRO said that exhibits recovered from the suspects include; Dane guns, cutlasses, local dagas and sticks used in beating their victims to coma..
In a recent statement on Saturday, November 11, 2017, Wike alleged that the SARS Personnel and soldiers attached to Amaechi attacked his convoy.

The statement reads: "Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike on Saturday escaped assassination as Special Anti-robbery Squad Operatives and soldiers of the Nigerian Army in the motorcade of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi attacked his convoy.

The governor who was on project inspection was attacked at Nwanja Junction on Trans-Amadi Road. The SARs Personnel and Soldiers in the Minister's convoy hit down the Governor's Escort Rider and attacked the policemen in the pilot car."

The statement further read: "Debewari , Aide -De- Camp, to the Minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, supervised the attack, which included damage of cameras held by journalists. Also part of the attack, was the Commander of Rivers SARS, Mr Akin Fakorede who received the Minister of Transportation at the Port Harcourt International Airport and accompanied on his trip.

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"After the attack, the Rivers State Governor continued with his inspection of Projects. Governor Wike was not harmed, despite the attack. The Minister of Transportation had over."

Governor Wike and ex-Governor Amaechi have been locked in a supremacy battle after the incumbent governor went rogue and became his erstwhile boss' enemy.

Wike and Amaechi faceoff

The recent rancour between both political figures reached another crescendo on November 11, 2017 after it kicked off in 2014.
In an interview with TheCable, Mohammed denied the claims that she was involved in the illegal export of African rosewood, also known as kosso, from Nigeria to China, a trade estimated to be worth $1 billion in the last four years.

No permits were backdated or illegally signed by me. We are therefore appalled if any legally obtained or forged certificates were used by unscrupulous rosewood traders to circumvent exportation procedures.

Not only do I decry fraud and corruption, we also categorically reject any allegations of corruption or coercion in our effort to better address illegal logging and exportation.

I categorically deny receiving any bribe. It has never been in my character. I never demanded neither did I collect any bribe, either cash or material, she said.

Mohammed also said when she was appointed minister of environment in November 2015, one of the first issues she had to deal with was deforestation.

ALSO READ: Ex-Minister accused of alleged involvement in illegal wood exportation

She said it was a huge concern as Nigeria was losing its forest cover at an alarming rate and for her, protecting the environment is sacrosanct.

She also said when she was minister, one of her first acts was to tackle illegal logging because what she found on ground was alarming.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), had earlier claimed that the former Nigerian Minister might have benefited personally from signing thousands of allegedly backdated permits in January 2017 which were allegedly used to clear illegal rosewood exports to China.

EIA further claimed this happened at the time Mohammed was preparing to leave as Nigerias minister of environment following her UN appointment.

EIAs report said over 1.4 million illegal rosewood logs from Nigeria, worth $300 million, were detained at the ports in China in 2016 but were released after the presentation of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) certificates signed by the ex-minister for environment.
MASON CITY | Veterans will be honored in ceremonies in North Iowa and throughout the state Saturday, Nov. 11, in commemoration of Veterans Day.

In Mason City, activities begin at 9:45 a.m. with a brief dedication ceremony in Central Park, honoring the 16 names added to the Veterans Monument. There will be the changing of the flags, the firing squad and the playing of taps.

The activities then shift to the VFW Post Home, 1603 S. Monroe Ave. at 10:30 a.m. Bill Ganseme, who served in the Marine Corps from 1982 to 1987, will be the guest speaker. The program will conclude at 11 a.m. with a prayer, firing squad and taps.

In Clear Lake, the VFW Auxiliary will host a Veterans Day meal from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until gone. The meal consists of ham and brisket, scalloped potatoes, corn, baked beans, homemade bread, pies, chocolate chip bars and a beverage. Veterans eat free. The public is encouraged to make a freewill donation. Proceeds will go toward the VFW's veterans' monument fundraiser.

Clear Lake VFW will kick off its capital campaign for the monument at 1 p.m.
The commendations were delivered in Abuja during a one-day training workshop for professionals advising clients on VAIDS.

The workshop, which held at NICON Luxury Hotel, was organised by the VAIDS office in the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Prominent among those in attendance were Mr. Tunde Fowler, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Chief Cyril Ede, President, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and Dr. Bode Oyetunde, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Finance and Fiscal Policy.

The workshop featured papers presented by various tax professionals among whom were Professor Abiola Sani, professor of tax law at the University of Lagos; Mr. Yomi Olugbenro, Lead Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, Deloitte; Mr. Peter Ukonu of Financial Derivatives and Mr. Ayo Salami, Tax Partner, KPMG.

Professor Salami advised tax professionals like lawyers and accountants to encourage their clients to truthfully declare their liabilities during the window offered by VAIDS.

He noted that many lawyers and accountants themselves are not registered for Value Added Tax.

Professor Salami added that without an intervention like VAIDS, the country's task environment would be dormant, as it provides opportunity to increase tax compliance.

In his paper, Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI): Implications for Nigeria, Mr. Olagbenro noted that the AEOI provides Nigeria with the opportunity for collaboration with foreign tax authorities to arrest tax avoidance.

Mr. Ukonu, who presented a paper on data mining, said taxpayer data harmonisation into a single database from agency-wide intelligence will ease the tracking of income, physical and liquid assets. On his part, Mr. Salami urged professionals to guide their clients correctly to provide full, frank and verifiable information when declaring for VAIDS.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday that development partners in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Health had also released their fund through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

He explained that immunization programmes were usually funded by Federal Government, development partners and states.

According to him, the state has complied with all directives of NPHCDA.

He added that Kebbi Government wanted to ensure that caregivers did not go more than a kilometer to access vaccination.

He said measles vaccination is one the most sensitive vaccination and it requires a health worker to administer it effectively.

Jega noted that the Kebbi Government had assessed its cold chain facilities and human resource to stagger the implementation of the campaign for effective coverage.

He said staggering the exercise due to either shortage of manpower or inadequate facilities was part of the recommendations of NPHCDA to ensure that no eligible child was left out.

To effectively maintain standard during the exercise, Kebbi Government had to split the exercise into phases to enable it to move its human recourses and facilities across the state, he said.

He added that NPHCDA encouraged states in the northwest to split the exercise into phases for effective coverage.

The executive secretary said the first phase of the exercise commenced on Nov. 9 and would end on Nov. 14.

According to him, the 11 local governments to benefit from the first phase of the exercise are Bagudo Dandi, Danko Wasagu, Fakai, Koko Besse, Ngaski, Sakaba, Suru, Yauri and Zuru.

He added that the state government would review the exercise before the commencement of the second phase on Nov. 19 and would end on Nov. 24.

Jega said the second phase of the exercise would be conducted in Aliero, Arewa, Argungu, Augie, Birnin Kebbi, Bunza, Gwandu, Jega, Kalgo, and Maiyama local governments.

He added that 850,000 children aged between nine months and 59 months were expected to be vaccinated at the end of the exercise.
Melaye had accused Fashola's ministry of diverting $35 million to the Afam fast power project without the approval of the national assembly.

The Kogi senator also alleged that a sum of $350 million raised from a $1 billion Eurobond was spent by the ministry in 2013.

The Senate, therefore, summoned Fashola regarding the allegations.

In a statement issued on Thursday, November 10, Fashiola faulted Melaye for crying foul over a matter he could have verified at the ministry.

He said the senator should have simply written to the ministry for clarification "without the furore and suggestions of wrong doing and malfeasance".

Fashola stressed that there is no factual basis for the accusations and warned that such unverified allegations "constitute an imminent threat to our investment climate".

Read the full statement below:

Before perception becomes reality, I feel compelled to make this Statement in response to allegations bordering on financial impropriety raised on the Floor of the Senate against the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, my Office as Minister, the staff of the Ministry and by extension my person.

The sum and substance of the allegations to which the Ministry will provide full, factual and detailed response when formally invited are that:

1. An amount in the region of $350million being part of a $1billion Eurobond facility taken in 2013 has gone missing or has been diverted.

2. That the Ministry, had procured a contract for Afam Fast Power and paid $26million or thereabout for it.

With all emphasis, I state that there is no factual basis for the allegations.

The Ministry, my staff and I have done nothing wrong and we will collaborate fully with the Investigating Committee when called upon.

For now, it suffices for members of the public to note that I wasnt a Minister in 2013, and that when Government raises a Debt like the Eurobond, it is the Debt Management Office that manages the Debt and not the Ministry.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) had on Monday, 6th November 2017 issued a Statement on the Front Page of The Nation Newspaper explaining that the money was not missing, stating also that the $350 million had been invested and that interest had even accrued on the money.

If there was no ulterior motive for the allegation, this was enough reason for a reconsideration of the presentation of the Motion on the Floor of the Senate on the 8th of November 2017.

But the story seemed to have changed from "missing money" last week, to a "desperate attempt to retrieve the money", this week.

As for the Afam Fast Power, the sum and substance of it is that , it was an investment by the General Electric, a globally reputed Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), to invest in our country and support our effort to get good quick power under our Roadmap of Incremental, Steady and Uninterrupted power.

They offered to do this by providing Nigeria with mobile turbines of 600MW if we could find a location with Gas and Transmission evacuation infrastructure. The Afam Power Station fitted because it had transmission and evacuation facilities but all its turbines had been virtually run down.

The investment was contingent on paying $27,990,000 million which was 15% of 8 (eight) units of 30MW turbines each totaling 240MW valued at about $186,600,000:00.

This payment of $27.9m was made without breaching any law.

At this moment, the turbines have arrived Nigeria and currently at the Onne Port. This is verifiable just as works are on going on the site  civil and engineering  preparing to receive the turbines , and install other equipment already at site.

All of these are verifiable by all well meaning Nigerians who may want to undertake the inspection. We expect that the project will be commissioned soon enough to add 240MW to the Grid.

This will be one of the fastest power projects when delivered, compared to inherited power projects before this Administration.

Investors to the best of my knowledge do not require Parliamentary approval to invest in our Country.

All of these facts could have been easily verifiable by a simple letter from the Senator to the Ministry without the furore and suggestions of wrong doing and malfeasance.

We must be careful about what we say and do with regards to investments and investors which we clearly need in all sectors of our developmental life and in particular in infrastructure and power.

Unverified allegations such as the ones under discussion constitute an imminent threat to our investment climate.
According to a report by Punch, barely one week to the state's governorship election, the proscribed group vowed to disrupt the election and threatened voters with death.

It was further reported that members of the group marched around some streets in Onitsha, Anambra State on Friday, November 10, 2017 to announce their intentions.

The Anambra governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, November 18, 2017.

In the videos circulating online, the IPOB members said, If you vote you will die. Dont go out, stay in your house. If you vote on November 18, you will die. We are not running around for the zoo.

There will be no election. We will not participate, we will not vote. Nothing concerns us with any election. We are formidable.

We are in Onitsha to tell the Federal Government to produce Kanu. They should release all the Biafrans in Nigerian prisons.

ALSO READ: Army declares IPOB a terrorist organisation

The IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, noted that the purpose of the demonstration in Onitsha was to show the world that the threat of bullet would not stop the group from realising its aim of having Biafra Republic.

Powerful said, Today in Onitsha, we broke the python Buratai, Ohanaeze, Obiano and Igbo governors brought to our land. Anybody doubting the resolve of IPOB under the supreme command of Nnamdi Kanu is mistaken.

We will put Anambra State on lockdown on November 18. This is a taste of what is to come. Nigeria should be prepared.

It is also very critical to inform every Biafran, be you IPOB family member, businessman, farmer, artisan, driver, teacher, doctor, motorcycle/tricycle union, civil servant, trader, market leader, National Union of Road Transport Workers, National Association of Road Transport Owners, fisherman, market men and women, including politicians who believe in freedom and liberty of a free independent State of Biafra, to boycott the Anambra State election.

Powerful further said the election boycott will give their agitation a global momentum needed to make world leaders accept a peaceful break-up of Nigeria.

They will be morally bound to consider a possible date for Biafras referendum for independence without delay. A vote in Anambra elections will mean electing into office the same people who, over the years, have been responsible for the death, pain, misery, agony and suffering of our people. We would have only succeeded in renewing our suffering for another four years,

Army declares IPOB terrorist group

In September 2017, the Defence Headquarters branded the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a "militant terrorist organisation" and urged parents to dissuade their wards from joining the group.

Subsequently South Eastern governors banned activities of the proscribed group in a joint communique sent out to the media in September 2017.
The suspension is with effect from Friday, November 10, 2017.

The chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Kogi, Comrade Onu Edoka, disclosed this after a meeting the state government.

He said the labour union decided to suspend the strike having entered into an agreement with the government.

The truce meeting was said to have held at the Office of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State.

Confirming the mutual agreement, a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Akor Sylvester, said the agreements were signed after much consultations by both parties to bring about lasting peace between the workers and government.

Part of the agreement signed by the parties reads: "That the 'clock- in and out' machines, which Government instituted as Electronic Attendance Register would be test-run for the next three (3) months starting from 10th November 2017 and ending 10th February, 2018, during which its efficiency and functionality will be determined by a Committee comprising Government and Organized Labour representatives.

"That the print-out of the machine and the existing Manual Attendance Register will be juxtaposed on monthly basis by the said committee to determine the degree of efficiency of the clock-in and out machines.

"That the Committee of Government and Organized Labour are to discuss with the view of resolving all the grey areas and peculiarities surrounding the system, while a Desk Officer in each MDA be appointed to handle the records.

"That on no account would the machines be used to determine the payment of salaries to workers until the Committee of Government and Organized Labour adjudged the efficiency of the machine after the expiration of the three(3) months in February, 2018.

"That the payment of salary and pension to workers and pensioners respectively for the month of August 2017 would be full and comprehensive i.e All cleared staff including the pardoned staff and the Omitted/New retirees will be pay-rolled and paid their full month salary and pension respectively on or before Friday 17th November, 2017, while all cases of arrears of salaries and pensions will be scheduled for payment as funds are available based on the understanding between Labour and Government."

On the Contributory Pension Scheme, the parties agreed that since it is mandatory by law that workers should key into the scheme, and the Bill to domesticate the law is before the State House of Assembly. It was agreed that all grey areas noticed by Organized Labour be presented at a Public Hearing to be conducted by the State House of Assembly.

The parties also further agreed that Organised Labour should specifically be invited for this purpose. Also, Government and Labour agreed to work within the confines of the law. It was unanimously agreed that the Wholistic Report of the Screening Exercise with detailed analysis of the fully cleared and un-cleared workers MDA by MDA be made available to the organized labour within two weeks.

On PAYE, it was agreed by the parties that Government should execute the PAYE within the confines of the existing law. It was also agreed that all cases of arrears of promotions of 2013 be released to the beneficiaries immediately, while the process for promotions for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 be put in place. More so, that the Annual Leave Bonus and Annual Increment should be scheduled in line with the availability of funds.

On all other workers demands i.e. Weigh-in allowance to media workers, implementation of CONHESS to Health Sector workers and 27.5% Teachers Specific Allowance were all noted for subsequent action by the government.

ALSO READ: Bello vows not to pay striking workers

On 2015 employment, Government promised to look into the plea of labour as the need arises. It was agreed that a Standing Committee of Government and Labour Representatives be put in place to interface regularly to avoid incessant conflicts. 

Labour and government also agreed that no worker shall be victimized or punished for any role or the perceived role played in the course of the strike action.

In view of the above, the organised labour, therefore, suspended the strike action embarked upon by the workers with effect from Friday,10th November 2017.

Speaking, the Deputy Governor, Elder Simon Achuba, who led the government side in the agreement signing, thanked the labour leaders for their understanding and said the government is ever ready to work with them.
The EFCC Spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, had quoted Magu as saying that the man who provided the information that led to the recovery of $43.5m, 27,800 and N23.2m stashed in an apartment on Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos on April 7, is already a millionaire.

Magu also reportedly said that the informant became rich overnight by "virtue of the percentage he is officially entitled to."

Federal Government's whistleblower policy which took effect in December, 2016 stipulates that informants are entitled to between two and five per cent of the looted money they help to recover.

"We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who has not seen one million Naira of his own before.

"So, he is under counseling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication.

"We dont want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride", Magu reportedly told a United Nations anti-corruption conference in Vienna, Austria.

However, one Yakubu Galadima claiming to be a lawyer to the whistleblower reportedly countered the EFCC boss, saying his client has not been paid.

Galadima was also said to have said that the recovered amount "was N17bn and not the N13bn being declared."

Reacting to Galadima's claims on Friday, November 10, the EFCC spokesman, Uwujaren said the commission is not responsible for the payment of rewards to whistleblowers.

He said, "What Magu said at the 7th Session of the Council of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, Austria, was that citizens should be encouraged to embrace whistle blowing because of the incentives attached.

"To illustrate this, he stated that the gentleman who provided the information that triggered the huge recovery at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi was already a millionaire based on the incentive in the whistle blower policy where information providers are entitled to between 2.5 and 5 per cent of the recovered sum.

"Magu never said that the young man has been paid. The commission is not even directly responsible for the payment of rewards to whistle blowers."

ALSO READ: EFCC says leak has damaged probe of high-profile individuals

Uwujaren added that the exact amount recovered in the Osborne Towers operation was never a subject of controversy as the counting of the money was streamed live.
NIGERIAN POLICE RANKS WORST IN THE WORLD

This is coming following some reports obtained from the 2016 World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI).

According to Thecable, the WISPI was released by two bodies  the International Police Science Association and the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Singapore performed best on the Index, followed by Finland, and then Denmark. There were only four nonEuropean countries in the top 20. The United Arab Emirates was the highest ranked country from the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, and ranked 29th overall.

Nigeria performed worst on the Index, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, and Pakistan. However, countries with protracted civil conflicts are not eligible for the Index.

North America and Europe were the two regions with the best average WISPI scores. Sub-Saharan Africa had the worst average score, followed by South Asia and then Central America and the Caribbean.

Despite the turmoil in the Middle East, many Middle Eastern countries performed well on the Index. The MENA region had the fourth best average regional score of the nine regions in the Index.

Countries with smaller populations performed better on the Index than larger ones. Only one country in the top ten had a population greater than 25 million, and conversely only one country in the bottom ten had a population of less than 25 million.

Full democracies had the best average score on the Index, followed by flawed democracies. Authoritarian regimes outperform hybrid regimes, despite the fact that the country with the best score in the Index (Singapore) is a hybrid regime.

Authoritarian regimes in sub-Saharan Africa had smaller police forces and militaries than their Middle Eastern counterparts. Overall, sub-Saharan African countries had the lowest capacity scores of any region.

ALSO READ: N400 billion bribe paid in Nigeria in 1 year - NBS

The resources devoted to policing and the criminal justice system have increased dramatically over the past 50 years. In the US, GDP per capita increased 191 per cent from 1961 to 2015 (when measured in constant 2005 US dollars). Over the same period, local, state, and federal government spending on the police increased 484 per cent.

Corruption has been increasing around the globe in the last 20 years. In many countries, bribe payments to the police are still commonplace. The Index average for bribe payments to police was 30 per cent, with more than 50 per cent of respondents admitting to having paid a bribe to police in 33 of the 127 countries in the Index.

Speaking with the spokesman of the police force, Jimoh Moshood, he rejected the report noting that Nigeria police is the best in Africa.
Nkeiruka Nwode, the Public Relations Officer of Anambra State Police Command, said the IPOB march was of no effect, as the state police command had concluded arrangements for effective policing of the state during the election.

The PRO further asked residents of the state to go out en masse to exercise their civil rights on November 18, 2017 and ignore the threats by the proscribed group.

In the same vein, Jimoh Moshood, warned the IPOB members to steer clear of the state during and after the forthcoming governorship election, in their own interest.

Moshood said the police would deal with IPOB members the way an outlawed group should be dealt with.

They (IPOB) should steer clear of Anambra because we have deployed enough personnel in the state; any miscreant who misbehaves would have himself to blame as he would be dealt with. IPOB should not test our will or resolve, Moshood cautioned.

Moshood also said the police were fully on the ground to ensure a hitch-free and violence-free poll, adding that battle-ready operatives including police special forces, anti-riot personnel, and counter-terror squad had been instructed to deal with troublemakers.

ALSO READ: IPOB threatens to kill voters during Anambra governorship election

In the same vein, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Emma Okeh, said the agency would deploy 5,000 personnel, including special forces and regular officers.

I urge the electorate to come out en masse and vote for the candidates of their choice. It is their election, it is their state and whoever they elect as governor would determine their future, Okeh said.

He cautioned against disruption of the poll by any group of persons, stressing that the corps would not spare anyone caught violating the law.

IPOB's threat

Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra threatened to kill voters during the governorship election in Anambra State.

According to a report by Punch, barely one week to the state's governorship election, the proscribed group vowed to disrupt the election and threatened voters with death.
MASON CITY | Newly-elected Mayor Bill Schickel thinks he developed his interest in public service when, as a child, he sat at the dinner table with his 10 brothers and sisters in Loveland, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.

"There were 13 of us, counting Mom and Dad, and some of my fondest memories are those dinner table conversations," said Schickel. "It was a big table," he said with a laugh.

"Dad wanted us to have well-articulated positions on things  well thought out and well said."

He wasn't the only Schickel who got the political vibe from those family conversations. His brother John is a state senator in Kentucky. His brother Joe is a former city councilman in Loveland. His sister, Anna, is married to Bill Haine, a state senator in Illinois.

Schickel, 66, who was elected to his fourth, non-consecutive term as mayor Tuesday, had no trouble identifying what his major goal will be when he takes office in January.

"The River City Renaissance project," he said without hesitation. "We have to see that through."

Schickel said the "Mason City Says Yes" committee did a great job of organizing support for the two ballot issues that were approved, and showed what can happen when the community comes together.

Schickel said many things have changed since he was first elected mayor in 1989. "The media landscape has totally changed. The internet didn't exist. There was no social media. All of that has changed the political dynamic.

"One thing that hasn't changed is the number of good people who want to help get things done. We can accomplish a lot by working together. I'm excited about that," he said.

Schickel grew up in Loveland and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in broadcasting and journalism.

He said his first knowledge of Mason City came as a youth when his father, a stained-glass artist, had an exhibit at the MacNider Art Museum.

Schickel came to North Iowa and became the Clear Lake reporter for the Globe Gazette in 1978. He began work at KIMT-TV in 1980 and worked there for nine years, including time as the noon anchor, when he resigned to run for mayor.

He defeated incumbent mayor Stan Romans and served four years when his political career came to an abrupt but temporary halt. The City Council decided to change the mayoral position from full-time to part-time  and did it by cutting the salary by about $25,000. Schickel, with a wife and young family, chose not to run again.

During his hiatus from city politics, he experienced his only loss for public office. Schickel, a Democrat at the time, switched to the Republican party and ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Democrat Dennis May for the state Legislature in 1994.

Three years later, he had a full-time job as general manager of KCMR radio and had the station's permission for him to enter the political ring again. In 1997, he ran for mayor and once again defeated an incumbent, Carl Miller, and was re-elected in 2001.

Not long into that term, he resigned to run for the state Legislature and served three terms before retiring. He also held several positions in the state Republican Party.

In 2015, he returned to city politics, winning election to the City Council to fill a vacancy created when At-Large Councilman Scott Tornquist moved out of state.

Earlier this year, he decided to make another run for mayor. His motivation was simple, he said. "I love the job."

He said he is committed to communicating with the public as best he can. He plans to have regularly-scheduled press conferences, regular office hours in which he will encourage the public to drop in and will attend as many public functions as his schedule will allow.

Schickel and his wife Candi, a Mason City attorney, have three grown children.

He and Candi met when both were attending an exercise class at the old YMCA. "We met when we literally bumped into each other on the gym floor," Schickel said.

They have been married for 31 years.
Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt are top African countries with fraud related spam calls and messages according to Truecaller.

The caller-ID and call-blocking app has gained widespread popularity worldwide since it was released in 2009.

The Swedish-owned company behind the service, True Software Scandinavia AB, reports that it now has over three billion telephone numbers in its database and over 100 million Google Play Store downloads for its Android app alone.

The company is currently searching for offices in Africa given its popularity in the continent.

Truecaller's massive adoption in Nigeria could be partly blamed on the Nigerian Communication Commission's lack of will to stop spam callers and messagers in their tracks.

For those who dont use the app, have you ever wondered how your telephone number is available on Truecaller despite you not having ever installed the app?

Heres how it works?

Even if just one person has your contact details on their phone's address book, with or without your permission, as soon as they install the Truecaller app, your contact details (name and number) gets added to the global Truecaller database.

Truecaller doesnt immediately make your contact details, as a non-user, available but users can search based on your name. So as soon as you call any Truecaller user that does not have you as a contact on their phone, the apps caller ID function will query the database and identify you, thus indirectly unlocking your identity.

Truecallers Privacy Policy

As part of the Truecaller apps Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, you as a user have to give it access to your entire address book, which is in turn added to their global database of peoples contact details (which is also how contacts on your phone get added to the app's database). This is called Crowdsourcing.

But this is not the only method by which Truecaller collects people and organizations contact details as Ted Nelson, Chief Commercial Officer further explained to iAfrikan.

We also gather, and organizes phone numbers from different sources including white and yellow pages across the world, and social media channels. Once the information is gathered, Truecaller runs it through different layers of verification (our proprietary algorithms) to make sure that the contact information we organize is accurate.
The BBC News reported that he flew the object around the United Kingdom, covering the expanse of a lake located in Reading. His speed in the exercise was put at a rate of 32.02 mph (51.53 km/h), according to the Guinness World Records.

This encouraged an unsuccessful attempt by the innovator which led him to land in the middle of the lake. The media company quoted him describe the jet suit as an "indulgent toy". It has not showed any major risk signs and can become useful in the future, Browning believes.

Learning the capabilities of the machine has been a gradual process for his team which has not etched anything in stone concerning the project. Admirers of the idea can be certain of the Richard Browning's commitment at ensuring more possibilities are explored in a bid to perfect the device.

"Every time you take this equipment out you never really know how it's going to work out," he told the BBC.

"It's all very new there is no rule book for this, there is no guidebook or manual. We took a little bit of swim on run four but that proves we're trying to push boundaries."

Browning who is now being described as the 'the real life Iron Man' developed the jet suit at a cost of 40,000. It is the outcome of the designer's long term fascination about human flight.

If certified for human use, the suit can provide an idea for entities in the business of warfare as they hope to strengthen their Military capabilities.
Defence Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal told reporters the government had established that "many messages and interventions via social networks come from Russian territory."

But she insisted that authorities had not established whether the Russian government was behind them or not.

Cospedal was responding to a journalist who asked about "Russia's interference in preparing messages that could alter the internal workings of some countries," pointing specifically to the Catalan crisis in Spain.

She did not give specific examples of the types of messages that had been identified.

The El Pais daily wrote an editorial Friday denouncing "the intense campaign by Russian media that are close to the Kremlin," whose "propaganda machine" it accused of siding with the pro-independence movement.

Earlier Friday Spain's Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said there was evidence of activity by "Russian networks, hackers."

"They're not exclusively aimed against Spain, but it's a manner of destabilising the EU," he told Spanish radio.

Spain's government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo, meanwhile, said disinformation on social networks was a "serious issue."

"The foreign minister will raise this issue which Europe must take very seriously," he added, pointing out that strategic communications and the fight against disinformation were on the agenda at an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday in Brussels.

On Thursday, US General Curtis Scaparrotti, the commander of NATO forces in Europe, demanded Russia "stop meddling" in European elections amid concern over Kremlin interference in the Catalan crisis.
"Togo is currently disrupted by demonstrations, which, far from being peaceful as permitted by law, have often been extremely violent," said Gnassingbe, visiting the Temedja military camp, about 200 km (120 miles) north of Lome on Friday.

"Those who organise these events bear the heavy responsibility for the victims and the damage they caused," he said in a speech broadcast on national television.

Last month West African leaders made their first comments after two months of increasingly bloody violence, calling on the presidency and the opposition to sit down to talks.

France has called for an "immediate dialogue" between the two sides in its former colony, saying it was concerned by reports of civilian militia working alongside security forces.

The government has promised to hold a referendum to adopt reforms including a limitation of presidential terms, but the proposed change would not be retroactive, allowing Gnassingbe to run for polls in 2020 and 2025.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Churches would gain the right to endorse political candidates and still retain their tax-free status under a provision in the House GOP's tax overhaul plan.

The bill would repeal a 63-year-old law credited to former President Lyndon Johnson when he served in the Senate.

Critics warn it could open a loophole that could funnel tax-free money into campaigns. The provision would cost $2 billion over the coming decade, according to congressional scorekeepers.

The Johnson amendment law prohibits tax-exempt charitable organizations such as churches from participating directly or indirectly in any political campaign to support or oppose a candidate. If the IRS determines that a group has violated the law, it can revoke its tax-exempt status.

The law doesn't stop religious groups from weighing in on public policy or organizing in ways that may benefit one side in a campaign.

Democrats have argued that undercutting the law comes too close to mixing church and state. They say religious leaders already have First Amendment rights, just like anyone else. But if they want to get political, they don't have a constitutional right not to pay taxes.

The GOP plan permits political activity by churches so long as there is a minimal cost.

Campaign finance groups warned the change could have far-reaching implications, turning "churches into tools for secret campaign spending," said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United.

Johnson introduced the measure in 1954 when he was a Democratic senator from Texas, driven by his anger over a few nonprofit groups that had attacked him as a communist in a Senate campaign.

The law was signed by a Republican president  Dwight Eisenhower  but Republicans have been criticizing it in recent years and pledged to repeal it as part of the tax overhaul.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May discouraging the IRS from enforcing the law.
Two sixth-graders at Rock Island Academy and Erie Middle School have been named the winners of state Sen. Neil Andersons Veterans Day Essay Contest.

Laticia McCray-Brown, who attends the Rock Island Academy, and Reece Duncan, who goes to Erie Middle School, were selected from nearly 200 entrants.

The contest was open to middle school students throughout the 36th Senate District. Entrants were asked to write an essay explaining the history of Veterans Day and the importance of celebrating the day each year.

The essays are now hanging at the Senate Republicans Veterans Day display in the Statehouse rotunda in Springfield. The winners will have the option of shadowing Sen. Anderson, R-Andalusia, in the district for a day or experiencing a day at the Statehouse as a page.

Following are the winning entries.

BY LATICIA McCRAY-BROWN

The history of Veterans Day is truly remarkable. As we know, Veterans Day began as Armistice Day on November 11, 1919; the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and November 11 became a federal holiday beginning in 1938.

Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans, and especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country outstandingly during war or peacetime.

In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in World War I, then known as the Great War. Remembered in many countries as Armistice Day the following year, November 11th became a federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day was legally known as Veterans Day.

The history of Veterans Day is really cool if you think about it. Here is a fun fact: Red poppies, a symbol of World War I from their appearance in the beloved poem In Flanders Field by John McCrae, are sold in Canada and the United Kingdom on Remembrance Day to raise money for veterans or worn on the lapel as a tribute.

So when we think about Veterans Day, you will think about the history and why we celebrate it. I always say how brave these veterans are and how they served us. They have a lot of respect and honor because of what they did. Why do you think we have a holiday just for them? To show them that we care about them and appreciate them in every way for freeing our country and saving it.

If you see a veteran today, go up to them and thank them for all they have done for our country and being so brave.

BY REECE DUNCAN

Have you wondered how Veterans Day originated and why it is a holiday? Well, Ill tell you. Veterans Day was known as Armistice Day, and was the first anniversary of the ending of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance day, and November 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938, and the end of the war meant world peace, so Congress made Armistice Day.

Now we celebrate Veterans Day so we can respect and honor our vets who put their lives on the line so we can be free.

After being through World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd Congress amended the Act of 1938 and the word Armistice" was changed to Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor veterans.

It is important we celebrate Veterans Day to honor our vets for all the sacrifices they dealt with so we could be free. We need to thank them because they didnt have to fight for our freedom. Some veterans are not liked because of what they did overseas (like in Vietnam) and this holiday is about thanking them for what they did so they know their service did matter.

Another reason I think Veterans Day is important is because I have a lot of respect for veterans and for the soldiers currently serving overseas and for our National Guard.

The most important reason Veterans Day is important is my dad. He was a private in the Army and his Humvee hit a roadside bomb during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. He suffered terrible injuries, but was airlifted to Fort Hood and received surgery to save his life.

After he was medically discharged, he received the Purple Heart for his wounds sustained in combat, and he now has PTSD. He was part of the 1st Cavalry and guarded Iraqs first election after Saddam Hussein. I think it is important that people celebrate my dads sacrifice and others like him. (Recently my uncle made master chief in the navy.)

The history of Veterans Day dates back to WWI and has been important to our country for 79 years. I think it is important we celebrate Veterans Day because my family is serving and sacrificing for our country along with the other veterans who deserve to be celebrated and honored, too. God Bless America!
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TriMetals Mining Inc. (TSX:TMI) (OTCQX:TMIAF), (the Company), reports the release of its unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and the related managements discussion and analysis of financial position and results of operations (MD&A). In this press release, all amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.



As at September 30, 2017, the Company had net working capital of $1.5 million including cash and cash equivalents of $1.6 million.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company reported a net loss of $2,634,815 ($0.02 per share) compared to a net loss of $16,574,559 ($0.12 per share) reported for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. During the three months ended September 30, 2017, the Company reported a net loss of $3,038,046 ($0.02 per share) compared to net earnings of $5,407,440 ($0.04 per share) reported in the third quarter of 2016.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the TSX closing price of the Class B shares (a liability in the financial statements) decreased from Cdn. $0.24 per Class B share at December 31, 2016 to Cdn. $0.235 per Class B share at September 30, 2017 resulting in a non-cash loss of $1,111,790 (2016 - $14,714,347) and significantly contributing to the Companys net loss of the periods.

General and administrative expenses decreased from $1,522,225 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 to $1,468,783 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

Total exploration spending for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 increased to $2,386,306 from $1,318,484 incurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2016.

The exploration spending for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 included $2,081,725 incurred at Gold Springs which included $243,357 in water lease payments and associated legal fees, net of water sublease receipts, $334,375 in drilling costs, as well as costs associated with the updated resource estimate, geochemistry, supervision, and ongoing environmental studies for permitting.

At Escalones, the Company incurred costs of $304,581 which mainly included land payments and supervision.

The comparative 2016 nine-month costs included $1,194,694 incurred at Gold Springs which included costs associated with analysis of exploration data, ongoing metallurgical testing and environmental studies for permitting. At Escalones, the Company incurred costs of $123,790 which mainly included land payments and supervision.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company received $75,000 (2016 - $75,000) in repayments of drilling advances under the terms of its drill contract at Escalones.

Outlook

The priorities of the Company are to (i) continue with the exploration program at Gold Springs with the intention of expanding the mineral resource and moving the project closer to production; (ii) consider other alternatives to monetize the value of the Escalones copper-gold porphyry project in Chile; (iii) continue with the international arbitration against Bolivia to recover full compensation based on the fair market value for the Malku Khota project; and (iv) diligently continue managing the Companys cash resources.

About TriMetals Mining Inc.

TriMetals Mining Inc. is a growth focused mineral exploration company creating value through the exploration and development of the near surface, Gold Springs gold-silver project in mining friendly Nevada and Utah in the U.S.A. and by demonstrating the value of the Escalones copper-gold porphyry project, near El Teniente in Chile.

The Companys approach to business combines the teams track record of discovery and advancement of large projects, key operational and process expertise, and a focus on community relations and sustainable development. Management has extensive experience in the global exploration and mining industry.

The Companys common shares and Class B shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TMI and TMI.B and the common shares and Class B shares also trade on the OTCQX market under the symbol TMIAF and TMIBF. Note that the Class B shares have no interest in the properties or assets of the Company. The Class B shares are only entitled collectively to 85% of the net cash, if any, (after deducting all costs, taxes and expenses and the third-party funder's portion thereof) received by TMI from award or settlement in relation to the Companys subsidiary South American Silver Limiteds arbitration proceeding against Bolivia for the expropriation of the Malku Khota project in 2012. Additional information related to TriMetals Mining Inc. is available at www.trimetalsmining.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements may include words such as seek, continue, creating, and similar expressions. These forward- looking statements are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may materially differ from expectations, if known and unknown risks or uncertainties affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions prove inaccurate. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, the outcome of the international arbitration process, including the timing and the quantum of damages to be obtained, managements expectation with regard to the final amount of costs, fees and other expenses and commitments payable in connection with the arbitration, and any inability or delay in the collection of the value of any award or settlement; and risks of the mineral exploration industry which may affect the advancement of the Gold Springs or Escalones projects, including possible variations in mineral resources or grade, recovery rates, metal prices, availability of sufficient financing to fund further required work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms, availability of equipment and qualified personnel, failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; and other risks more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form filed and publicly available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include: the ability of the Company to realize value from its investments in Bolivia; the arbitration proceeding in a customary manner and in accordance with Procedural Order No. 1 (as amended in April and June 2015 and in January 2016) and the third party funder honoring its contractual commitments, the accuracy of current resource estimates and the interpretation of drill, metallurgical testing and other exploration results; the continuing support for mining by local governments in Nevada, Utah and Chile, the availability of equipment and qualified personnel to advance the Gold Springs project; and the execution of the Company's existing plans and further exploration and development programs for the Gold Springs Project, which may change due to changes in the views of the Company or if new information arises which makes it prudent to change such plans or programs.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements in this news release describe the Companys expectations as of November 10, 2017.

NEWS RELEASE: 17-16

TriMetals Mining Inc. Contact:
GENESEO -- Nearly 150 guests were greeted by students and staff on Friday at Geneseo High School in observance of Veterans Day.

Students in Key Club, Student Council, Link Crew, Circle of Friends, Life Skills, Studio Club and Ukulele Club organized the event, which included breakfast, visiting and sharing experiences, visiting classrooms, and tours.

Tony Simon, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, shared some of his military background with students Rachel Daniels and Heath Henderson.

Mr. Simon was a pilot in the Air Force and served from 1954 to 1978, during which time he flew in 120 combat missions in Vietnam and Laos. He was serving in Vietnam in 1972-1973.

When asked about frightening times, he said, The war was over, but five crews were held back to train the South Vietnamese in the operation of the gunship aircraft. We were on a mission and caught in dense fog that was not in the forecast and of which we had not been notified while flying over Da Nang.

"After making two unsuccessful attempts to land, we had to bail out into the South China Sea. ... There were 13 of us who bailed out and stayed afloat with the floatation devices we had. Our crew was made up of five Americans and eight South Vietnamese.

After four hours, a group of fishing boats found the men. As one of them tried to climb into one of the boats, his parachute was caught on the propeller, and he did not survive.

That haunts me to this day, Mr. Simon said.

I volunteered for Vietnam, but a lot of people didnt, he said. I did it because I wanted to serve my country and keep the enemy off the shores of my homeland. I had another selfish reason, and that was to test myself in combat.

Students presented the visiting veterans with goodie bags filled with treats, thank-you notes, and miniature American flags. They were entertained with music by members of the Ukulele Club, who played Somewhere Over the Rainbow on their ukuleles.

Prior to the breakfast, students decorated the cafeteria and commons area, as well as one of the main hallways, which displayed the American flag, designed with miniature hand cutouts, bearing messages that included Thank you, Never forget, God bless the USA, Home of the free because of the brave, We remember, and With respect, honor and gratitude, we thank you.
MOLINE -- Sir Elton John slayed spectacularly Friday night at the TaxSlayer Center.

Direct from a run in Las Vegas, the 70-year-old pop legend returned to Moline and ripped through a far-from-routine 23-song set (with no intermission), giving the enthusiastic, nearly sold-out crowd a deeply satisfying performance of many of his biggest hits.

Breaking out of the gate with an electrifying "Bitch is Back" through his mournful ballad encore, "Candle in the Wind," Mr. John and his top-notch five-man band reveled in the familiar music. Certain favorites -- like "Levon" and "Saturday's Alright for Fighting" -- were delivered afresh in extended treatments, with breathtaking piano solos that were even more dazzling than the sparkling, sequined blue jacket Mr. John wore (with matching sunglasses).

Hits such as "Daniel" enveloped us in the warm glow of nostalgia, but sounded more alive and exciting than their original recordings. That's certainly no little feat, since Mr. John noted he's been touring since 1969 and continues to love it more than anything.

In the first third of the show, Captain Fantastic showcased a couple tracks from his latest album, "Wonderful Crazy Night" (2016) -- the uptempo "Looking Up," and the deep-voiced ballad "A Good Heart" (in the style of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"), with a powerful backbeat.

Mr. John was dressed fittingly for the breezy "Philadelphia Freedom," with his red shirt, and a rear video display careening with dancing stars and patriotic colors.

"We live in very strange times at the moment -- with so much hatred, murders. It really upsets me," he said while introducing his philosophy, in "I Want Love." Despite joining the septuagenarian ranks of fellow superstars McCartney, Dylan and Jagger, Mr. John seems to have lost none of his vocal or piano prowess -- both on bountiful display Friday.

The sprawling ballad "Levon" took on a whole new driving, irresistibly frenetic style here, as Mr. John and the band virtually blew the roof off the place with their energetic, jaw-dropping solos. Similar thing with an extended, mesmerizing "Rocket Man." His band includes longtime colleagues drummer Nigel Olsson and lead guitarist Davey Johnstone.

"Bennie and the Jets," "Tiny Dancer" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" were gorgeous, and cut to your soul. Like the best music and art, they never ever get old. The music takes you right back to those times when you were young and invincible.

Before his first smash hit, "Your Song," Mr. John credited his lyricist Bernie Taupin for what's now a 50-year partnership. "It's been the most amazing relationship; it's stronger than it ever was."

He explained their formula of Mr. Taupin always bringing him a finished lyric and Mr. John setting it to music, never working in the same room together. "Which is probably why we have lasted 50 years," he joked. Mr. John still seemed incredibly moved at how the 18-year-old Mr. Taupin produced "Your Song" in 1970, and from then on, they knew they had something. Friday night, we saw why -- it's timeless magic.

After an ironically joyful, jaunty "Sad Songs," and the towering, hymn-like "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (in unspoken video tribute to the late George Michael), Sir Elton let loose like the rebellious youngster he once was, in a string of relentlessly upbeat rockers, delivered with undimmed vigor and passion.

"I'm Still Standing" carries more resonance every day -- "I'm still standing better than I ever did/

Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid."

"Crocodile Rock" is a buoyant, infectiously cheerful anthem, and the Moline fans happily sang out the chorus of "la la la"s. "Your Sister Can't Twist" and "Saturday Night's" kept the place thunderously rocking and dancing, and Mr. John proved again why he is a master tunesmith and performer.

The reverent benediction of "Candle in the Wind" was the perfect closer. Even though he left us (me anyway) wanting so much more -- there was no "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" or "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," for example -- no one left Moline disappointed.

We should feel especially lucky -- from here, Mr. John is just doing a handful more dates in North America, before touring internationally, then back for an extended run at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in February.

The TaxSlayer tour de force of just of over two hours was tremendous. A wonderful, crazy night, indeed.
The last of 10 men accused of participating in a Quad-Cities dogfighting ring has chosen to plead guilty.

In January, a federal grand jury indicted the men on various charges related to dogfighting, according to court records filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Authorities allege there was a conspiracy to conduct dogfights from sometime in 2011 to April 2016, when federal and local authorities carried out raids in Rock Island.

Algerron Lee Goldsmith was scheduled for a bench trial later this month on conspiracy and possessing dogs for participation in dogfighting. Mr. Goldsmith entered a plea of guilty on Thursday to the conspiracy charge, court records state. His sentencing is scheduled for March 15.

The nine other men were all sentenced earlier this year, records state.

Sherrick Cornelius Houston pleaded guilty June 28 to conspiracy and possessing dogs for participation in dogfighting. Mr. Houston was sentenced to 18 months in prison on each count, but the sentences are concurrent.

DeMarlo A. McCoy pleaded guilty on July 14 to sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in dogfighting. Mr. McCoy was sentenced to 24 months in prison, and was given permission to surrender to authorities on Oct. 30.

Terrill Onterial McDuffy pleaded guilty on July 12 to a federal conspiracy charge, according to court records. Mr. McDuffy was sentenced to one year and one day.

Ryan M. Hickman pleaded guilty June 13 to possessing dogs for participation in dogfighting. Mr. Hickman was sentenced to 30 months.

Andre Keywan Lidell pleaded guilty June 13 to sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in dogfighting. Mr. Lidell was sentenced to 20 months.

Stantrel Vontrez Knight pleaded guilty May 18 to sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in dogfighting. Mr. Knight was sentenced to 18 months.

Simmeon Terrell Hall pleaded guilty May 22 to sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in dogfighting. Mr. Hall was sentenced to 24 months.

Willie Earl Jackson pleaded guilty June 13 to sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in dogfighting. Mr. Jackson was sentenced to the time he's already served.

Jaquan L. Jones pleaded guilty May 18 to attending a dogfight. Mr. Jones was sentenced to four months.

All of the men sentenced must also serve periods of supervised release once their terms in prison are over. All but Mr. Jones must serve three years. Mr. Jones was sentenced to one year of supervised release.
My dad always referred to Veterans Day as Armistice Day. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

For that reason, Nov. 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of 'war to end all wars,'" according to the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Dept. of Veterans Affairs.

The first annual Armistice Day, by presidential proclamation, was Nov. 11, 1919. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance on Nov. 11.

The original concept for the celebration was for a day with parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11 a.m. A congressional act approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th Day of November each year a legal holiday.

Congress, in 1954 amended the act of 1938 by striking out the word Armistice and inserting in its place the word Veterans. It became a day to honor all veterans of all wars.

Some veterans of 19th century wars were still alive in 1954. One veteran of the Indian Wars, Fredrak Fraske, was 82 when Veterans Day was created. He lived to be 101, dying in 1973.

Nathan E. Cook, a veteran of the Spanish American War, was 68 when the new bill became law. He lived until 1992, dying at age 106.

Veterans Day pays tribute to all America veterans living or dead but especially the living veterans who served their county honorably during war or peacetime.

Wars that took place after WWI include WWII (1941-1945); Korean War (1950-1953); Vietnam War (1964-1975); (Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-1991); and the global war on terror (GWOT) (Oct. 2001-- ).

GWOT, including Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) are ongoing conflicts, according to the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs.

For daily casualties updates in the operations in the war on terror go to: www.defense.gov/casualty.pdf.

As of this year, 558,000 of 16 million who fought in WWII are alive, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. My cousins, Harry Peterson, Rock Island, and Marlin Munson, Cambridge, are among them.

Approximately 2.25 million Korean veterans are alive out of 5.7 million who served, according to the National Veterans Foundation.

My cousin, fighter-pilot Bob Garrison, deceased, fought in both WWII and the Korean War. He crashed during peacetime near New Boston.

Vietnam statistics appear to be unreliable. However, Stephen Coester Webmaster USNA, 63, knows the statistics for his 1963 class. We graduated 876; 211 have died, he said. A total of 28 died in line of duty. There are 665 still alive.

There are perhaps 1,611 Americans still unaccounted for in Vietnam.

It is interesting to note the Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups. Their personal income exceeds the same non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. Their family backgrounds were 50 percent from middle income backgrounds and most of the rest were above the poverty line.

Almost 80 percent of those veterans had high school or better educations. About 63 percent of the Korean War vets and only 45 percent of WWII Vets had completed high school upon separation (www.usna63org).

On Nov. 1, President Trump proclaimed the entire month of November Veterans and Military Families Month, according to the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. Events were scheduled nationwide.

The VA medical centers and Community Based Outpatient Centers will hold open houses. The list of events is available: vagov/opa/vet/veteransmonthcalendarasp.

Nov. 13-17 is Veteran Legal Clinic Week of Service, pro-bono legal assistance for Veterans at VA medical centers.

(William Anderson, professor emeritus, Western Illinois University contributed to this article.)
Russian tycoon Ismailov arrested in absentia in murder case

MOSCOW, November 11 (RAPSI)  The Basmanny District Court of Moscow has issued an arrest warrant for Russian tycoon Telman Ismailov in absentia as part of a double homicide case, according to the court database.

The businessman could face life imprisonment if convicted.

Ismailovs lawyer Marina Rusakova told RAPSI that the ruling had been appealed. The Moscow City Court will consider the appeal on November 15, the attorney added.

The criminal case against Ismailov is reportedly connected with the murder of businessman Vladimir Savkin and founder of Lublino-Motors auto service centre Yury Brylev in May 2016. The tycoons brother Rafik Ismailov and one more man Mekhman Kerimov were allegedly involved in the double homicide. Kerimov has pleaded guilty.

Telman Ismailov, who controls AST Group, is one of Russias richest men. In 2009, he clashed with law enforcement authorities over the Cherkizovsky outdoor market, which evolved from a mere flea market into an industrial-scale distribution hub for Chinese imports during the oil boom. The market was closed after sanitary authorities found major violations.

In March, the Moscow Commercial Court declared Ismailov bankrupt. Later, the Tenth Commercial Court of Appeals upheld this ruling.
Property details:

This auction is for a 1.25 acre raw land parcel No. 338-10-289 located in the Hualapai Highlands area of Mohave County, Arizona. I have not seen or visited this land, so please read this description carefully and do your homework before buying. The photos shown are from the area, not from the land, which I have not seen. Mohave County is located in the Northwest corner of Arizona. It is about a 90 minute drive from Las Vegas. The County offers sight-seeing views of the Colorado River shoreline. ...

Price: $ 499 Seller State of Residence: New Jersey State/Province: Arizona City: near Kingman Zip/Postal Code: 86402 Type: Raw land Location: 089**, Highland Park, New Jersey

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby Raw land
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Nov. 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportage about hacked data from global law firm Appleby has highlighted the substantial lack of media understanding of offshore investment structures and Bermudas long-time reputation for tax transparency and cooperation with international authorities.

Bermuda is committed to the exchange of relevant information to legitimate regulatory, tax and law enforcement entities. These can request and receive information from Bermuda under information-sharing agreements, including TIEAs and a multi-lateral treaty with more than 100 countries.

Automatic exchange of financial information is also an established part of our economic system. The islands early adoption of OECD standards for Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) compliance clearly demonstrates this transparency via several agreements that ensure automatic transmission of taxpayer financial data to relevant authorities.

Notably, Bermuda is a signatory to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for automatic exchange of financial account information via Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and Country-by-Country (CbC) reports. The island has also signed a Model 2 intergovernmental agreement with the US under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), again, enabling automatic exchange of information from Bermuda-based financial institutions.

As a direct result of meeting these stringent standards, Bermuda this fall was the first overseas territory to be awarded whitelist status by France for CbC reporting. Bermuda is also judged largely compliant by the OECD Global Forum rating following a peer-review process of tax-transparency standardsa rating shared by Canada, Germany and Norway, among other nations.

Additionally, the UK has an agreement with all its Overseas Territories under which Bermuda shares information within 24 hours. Our 70-year-old registerwith a starting threshold at incorporation of 10 percent beneficial ownership (vs UK and others at 25 percentis continuously updated when shares in a company are transferred, as opposed to citing dates of incorporation or annual returns, as is practice in the UK and other jurisdictions.

The issue of privacy versus secrecy has also been confused. Privacy provides protection over confidential information within a well-regulated, safe environmentyet ensures sharing with tax authorities under Bermudas global treaties. Secrecy, by contrast, enables concealment of information that should be disclosed. Given Bermudas strong record on compliance and global transparency, our system respects privacy, yet shuns secrecy.

It should also be noted that tax-haven is a badly-understood term, particularly by non-trade media. Bermuda does not qualify as a tax haven under a clear OECD definition that stipulates criteria, including lack of transparency and lack of information exchange. No or nominal tax is not sufficient to classify a country as a tax haven. OECD definitions, notwithstanding, the term tax haven is synonymous with tax evasion and secrecyneither of which describe Bermuda.

Bermuda understands and embraces the worldwide movement towards greater financial transparency and regulatory cooperation and continues to commit to international tax disclosure and compliance. Weve shown leadership in this sphere and have helped drive global anti-money-laundering directives and anti-terrorist financing standards. These factors differentiate Bermuda from other financial centres, and we stand by that reputation. Response from Bermuda industry groups underscores our markets commitment to transparency:

Bermuda is a transparent jurisdiction. We have robust regulatory standards and we cooperate and share information with tax authorities and law enforcement agencies. Bermuda is considered a leader on tax-transparency issues by the US Departments of Justice and State, the US Treasury, the OECD, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and G20 nations. Bermuda enforces the rules and understands the importance of global compliance and transparency.

Patrick Tannock, Chairman, Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC)

Bermuda is a place where capital is put to work taking on insurance risk. It is a unique jurisdiction where its substantive insurance regulation has been recognised by both the EU and the US as robust and comparable, and where international regulatory standards are applied. MOUs with leading insurance regulators mean that cooperation with insurance supervisors in the EU, the US, and around the world is part of a routine. This regular information exchange is complemented by treaty commitments with more than 100 jurisdictions for taxpayer automatic exchange of information with global tax authorities. Bermudas global (re)insurers provide significant amounts of capacity that make insurance markets more competitive. Bermudas international regulatory and tax commitments are a necessary complement to the role our (re)insurers play in global markets.

Brad Kading, President & Executive Director, Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers (ABIR)

Bermuda is one of the best regulated international finance centres, a fact acknowledged by independent assessments from some of the worlds leading bodies, including the OECD. Bermuda is fully aligned with the highest standards of the third anti-money laundering EU Directive and is a signatory to the IOSCO Multilateral Treaty, an international benchmark for cross-border co-operation between regulators. BALT is committed to the absolute integrity and high international standing of Bermudas trust industry. We work with the Bermuda government and the BMA to ensure the trust industry continues to maintain the superior international standards our jurisdiction is known for.

Leah Scott, President, Bermuda Association of Licensed Trustees (BALT)

Bermuda is not a place to hide money, as implied by recent sensationalist press coverage. Bermuda is at the forefront of tax transparency, standing out from other international financial centers due to its high level of compliance, cooperation and exchange of information. The country is an early adopter of international tax-reporting standards and is actively committed to deterring money laundering and financial crime. Bermuda was the first overseas territory to be awarded whitelist status by France for Country-by-Country reporting.

Sylvia Oliveira, Director, Bermuda International Long Term Insurers & Reinsurers (BILTIR)

Bermuda has consistently ranked as a global leader in regulatory compliance and transparency. BIMA, its regulated members and the regulated entities they represent, work hard to maintain adherence to those high standards. BIMA fully supports the Bermuda government and its intolerance of illegal activity or breaches of compliance with Bermuda regulations and legislation. BIMA and its members will continue to support the interests of our clients, protect the interests of their policyholders, and we reiterate our commitment to the highest standards of regulatory compliance and transparency.

Grainne Richmond, President, Bermuda Insurance Management Association (BIMA)

Our Bermuda branch shares STEPs global mission to promote education and high professional standards. A key part of what STEP members do in Bermuda and around the world is to ensure they and their clients are compliant with all relevant legislation and regulation. STEP Bermudas hard-working members are employed in a trust industry which is well regulated, transparent and cooperative. All STEP members are expected to abide by the STEP Code of Professional Conduct, which highlights the principal professional standards that a STEP member agrees to uphold. STEP Bermuda members will continue to focus on providing excellent service to the families whose trusts are established in Bermuda.

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Written by Jacki Billings

A year after Springfield Armory announced its first foray into the AR-15 world, the Illinois-based gun maker continues to upgrade its SAINT line-up adding a new pistol variant to the series.

The SAINT AR-15 pistol, chambered in 5.56 NATO, utilizes the original SAINT's platform but in a stock-free package. Supporting a 7.5-inch barrel with 1:7 twist on an overall 26.5-inch frame, the latest SAINT weighs 5-pounds, 8-ounces.

In lieu of a traditional rifle buttstock, the SAINT opts for an SB Tactical SBX-K forearm brace. The brace aims to reduce overall rifle size while also stabilizing recoil for a more manageable one-handed or two-handed shooting experience. Springfield touts the new SAINT pistol as an affordable, CQB option for shooters wanting to cut down on cost.

Were always looking for new ways to give our customers more shooting options, and more firearm for the money, said Springfield CEO Dennis Reese The SAINT AR-15 Pistol does both, and then some.

The pistol offers similar features as its sister rifles, including the addition of the Springfields Accu-Tite tension system and proprietary nickel boron coated GI single-stage trigger. Additional furniture is provided by Bravo Company, who supplied the Mod 3 pistol grip as well as the trigger guard. The pistol features a M-LOK aluminum free float handguard with locking tabs and forward hand stop while the gun is also outfitted with a quick-detach swivel mount on the receiver.

Sporting an enhanced M16 bolt carrier group, the SAINT pistol offers a standard charging handle. Topping off the gun's attributes is a low-profile pinned gas block and heavy tungsten buffer system. The SAINT pistol ships with one 30-round Magpul PMAG Gen 3 magazine in a soft AR-15 pistol case.

Springfield fans can snag the new pistol for $989.









For more information go to: http://www.springfield-armory.com/products/saint-ar-15-pistol-5-56/
Poor patients in Punjab will have access to high-quality medicines against noncommunicable, chronic diseases thanks to agreement between government and Novartis Access





Punjab government will make medicines available free of charge through public sector hospitals from early 2018 onward





Pakistan is among the countries most affected by chronic diseases; more than half of its population lives in the Punjab province

Basel, 11 November 2017 - Today, the provincial government of Punjab in Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Novartis to roll out Novartis Access. Poor patients in the province of Punjab will soon have free access to high-quality medicines from the Novartis Access portfolio targeting four key noncommunicable disease areas (NCDs): cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and breast cancer. The agreement also includes the implementation of innovative software to track and monitor individual patient access and adherence.

"We are very mindful of the warnings from the World Health Organization and World Bank that Pakistan's chronic disease problem urgently needs to be addressed with high-quality treatment and care." said Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab. "We are pleased that public-private partnerships like the one with Novartis Access can measurably improve healthcare services and capabilities in the province," he added.

Punjab province, with a population of 110 million, is the largest province in Pakistan, representing more than half of the country's population. The agreement with Novartis Access is part of an ongoing program to transform the treatment of NCDs and other diseases in Punjab. Special focus will be on providing quality care in the areas of preventive care, primary and secondary healthcare, drug control and institutional reforms. Novartis Access treatments are among the world's most frequently prescribed medicines for chronic diseases.

"Novartis Access has been designed to help governments in lower-income countries improve access to treatments for noncommunicable diseases for the poorest populations. Our key goal is to help patients in Punjab better manage their chronic condition with this program. We believe new approaches that bring governments and the private sector together are needed to expand access to medicines and healthcare delivery," said Dr. Harald Nusser, Head of Novartis Social Business.

The program in Punjab will also involve the deployment of an offspring of the Novartis SMS for Life digital platform, which will use biometric data to create a registry able to help track patient access and adherence. The anonymized data generated by the system will inform both the government and Novartis about disease prevalence, treatment availability and patient outreach, allowing to better serve patients.

In May 2017, Novartis also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pakistan's Ministry of National Health Services to make Novartis Access treatments available through the Prime Minister's National Health Insurance Program. This program aims to serve the poorest patients in the country through federal facilities and nearly 1 million families are currently enrolled. Novartis is working with other provincial governments in Pakistan to further expand Novartis Access.

NCDs are on the rise in Pakistan. According to the World Bank[1], chronic diseases account for 59% of the total disease burden in Pakistan[1] and half of all deaths every year in the country[2]. The World Health Organization states there is a 21% probability of dying between the ages of 30 and 70 years from the four main NCDs[2], a pattern reflected in the Punjab province. Approximately a tenth of the population is diabetic[3]; 38% is overweight or obese, over half are hypertensive, and over a third smoke tobacco[4], placing many at higher risk of heart disease and respiratory problems.

The Punjab government is tackling the growing burden of NCDs, particularly through the Punjab Health Sector Plan. Novartis Pharma Pakistan and the Punjab health department recently signed another major health initiative to provide treatment for cancer patients in the province.

Pakistan is the first country in Asia to launch Novartis Access and first deliveries of medicines to the Punjab are planned in early 2018. Novartis Access was first introduced in 2016 through faith-based organizations in Kenya and is underway through national systems or faith-based health systems in Cameroon and Rwanda. Other countries, including Ethiopia and Uganda, are at earlier stages of introducing the program.

About Novartis Access

Novartis Access includes 15 generic and patented medicines to address cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and breast cancer. The portfolio is available to governments, NGOs and other public-sector healthcare providers in low and lower middle income countries for USD 1 per treatment, per month*. The have been selected based on medical relevance: they are either on or pertain to a class outlined in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, or belong to the most frequently prescribed medicines in these disease areas. Novartis Access launched in 2015 and we strive to reach 30 countries over the coming years based on government and stakeholder demand. Novartis Access is the latest addition to our company's efforts to enhance access to healthcare for patients at every level of income. It is integrated in Novartis Social Business, a unit which includes the Novartis Malaria Initiative and the Novartis Healthy Family programs. This unit is operationally managed by Sandoz, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division. For more information, please visit http://socialbusiness.novartis.com.

* The USD 1 price does not include costs for freight, insurance and potential taxes.

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] Engelgau MM, El-Saharty S, Kudesia P. Capitalizing on the Demographic Transition: Tackling Noncommunicable Diseases in South Asia. World Bank. Washington DC, 2010, p.50-51. Accessible at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/869431468307160023/Capitalizing-on-the-demographic-transition-tackling-non-communicable-diseases-in-South-Asia

[2] World Health Organization, Pakistan NCD Factsheet. Accessible at: http://www.who.int/nmh/countries/pak_en.pdf

[3] Shera, AS et al. "Pakistan National Diabetes Survey: Prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in the Punjab province of Pakistan." Prim Care Diabetes. 2010 Jul;4(2):79-83

[4] Khan MS, Khan A, Ali A, Akhtar N, Rasool F, Khan H, et al. Prevalence of risk factors for coronary artery disease in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Trop J Pharm Res 2016; 15(1):195-200

# # #

Novartis Media Relations

Central media line: +41 61 324 2200

E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com
'Economically, if there are too many losers, macro-demand will suffer and undercut growth.'

'In more developed societies, the issue is resolved through the provision of safety nets, which don't exist in India.' points out T N Ninan.

It is quite possible that the macro-economic news will get better from now on, as the shock waves caused first by demonetisation and then by the goods and services tax subside into ripples.

Quarterly growth rates will improve, companies will start reporting better results (indeed, they already have), the manufacturing sector will begin to do better, and exports might sustain their recent recovery.

If all of this happens, the government will not need to be quite as defensive as in recent months. Indeed, if the numbers climb as expected, you should expect Mr Modi to throw a flurry of counter-punches at the many critics who have found voice in recent weeks after the growth figures slumped.

Even if that happens, though, small businesses may not be celebrating; nor, it seems, might ordinary workers.

For both groups, these past 12 months have perhaps been the most trying in recent memory, without any certainty that things will return to normal any time soon.

Granular reporting from business hubs as well as anecdotal accounts present a broad picture of disruption, dislocation, tax uncertainties, extended credit cycles, loss of business and loss of jobs.

The effects of demonetisation should be transient, logically speaking, since things should revert to the status quo ante once cash is back in the system.

But sometimes things don't revert to the mean. Skilled workers who have gone back to their villages may not return, or a businessman with limited means does not have the capacity to start up again.

As for GST, it should end up being good for the system but poses a structural dilemma, in that it was designed with the specific intent of getting more production to come into the organised sector and get covered by the tax net.

Perhaps unintentionally, the onerous reporting requirements and (partly flowing partly from that) extended credit cycles have put small businesses at an additional disadvantage compared to the pre-GST situation.

Sectoral accounts from different parts of the country suggest that many units have either scaled down or simply pulled down their shutters.

As Indira Rajaraman has argued with clarity in Mint (Further reforms are required for GST to succeed, November 3), the situation cannot improve unless the government dispenses with the basic requirement of matching vouchers before tax credits are given -- a point that others have argued.

Such voucher matching was intended to close escape loopholes for tax evaders, but it has had the unintended consequence of payment disruptions, flowing from differences in reporting cycles; the primary sufferers are small businesses.

R Jagannathan, writing in Swarajya magazine (Why Modinomics will cull the weak and the unviable, leaving India stronger), recognises the core of the issue and calls it Darwinomics.

While acknowledging that 'human beings need to be protected from governments follies', Jagannathan nevertheless endorses the idea of weeding out the weak so that the system as a whole gets stronger.

But the weak are people too. And economically, if there are too many losers, macro-demand will suffer and undercut growth.

In more developed societies, the issue is resolved through the provision of safety nets, which don't exist in India.

In a democracy, this can lead to a powerful blowback. The Gujarat elections next month could provide a pointer to the public mood.

Meanwhile, what demonetisation and GST have done runs counter to the Modi government's thesis on employment.

Namely, that since it cannot create all the jobs required, the solution is to create an entrepreneurial society and new businesses.

The thesis was always open to question. Now, surely, hopes on this front must have dimmed.

IMAGE: Mamta Gurunath Savar holds a photograph of her daughter Roshni, one of 254 children who died of malnutrition last year.

Mamta and her other daughter Shalini live in Petranjani village, Mokhada taluka, Palghar district, Maharashtra, in Mumbai's backyard.

Photograph: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
'Significant reductions in the compliance obligations mean businesses earlier struggling to comply will now have enough time to prepare and comply within the extended timelines.'

Dilasha Seth reports from Guwahati.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Criticised for the increase in compliance burdens on assessees under the Goods and Services Tax, the Council on Friday, November 10, extended the dates for filing of returns.

It also deferred sending of the input and detailed input-output returns, till a committee headed by the GST Network (GSTN) chairman simplifies these.

Also, filing of summary input-output returns, the GSTR-3B, stands extended to the entire current financial year; it was till December (and, initially, was limited till September).

The GST regime started on July 1.

"All taxpayers would file returns in the GSTR-3B form along with payment of tax by the 20th of the succeeding month till March 2018," said Hasmukh Adhia, the Union revenue secretary.

Also, assessees will have to file supply returns, the GSTR-1.

The GST Council had already decided in its previous meeting that those up to Rs 1.5 crore of annual turnover will have to file only quarterly returns.

As such, they will be filing sale returns for the second quarter of the current financial year by December 31, for the third quarter by February 15, 2018, and for the fourth and final quarter by April 30, 2018.

Others, having annual turnover over Rs 1.5 crore, will have to file monthly GSTR-1 returns.

For the first four months (July to October), they may file by December 31.

For the remaining months by the 10th of the next two month -- for November, say, by January 10.

"The time period for filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 for the months of July 2017 to March 2018 would be worked out by a committee of officers," Adhia said.

It would be chaired by GSTN (this is the information technology backbone) Chairman A B Pandey.

It will look into simplifying these forms, the revenue secretary said.

GSTR-2 is the return for inputs; GSTR-3B the one for detailed input-output.

Dates for filing various other returns, including those for claiming input tax credits, have also been extended.

Many were unable to file their return in the GSTR-3B form within the due date for the months of July, August and September.

"The late fee was waived in all such cases," Adhia said.

It has been decided that where this late fee was paid, it would be re-credited to their electronic cash ledger, enabling them to use that amount for discharge of future tax liabilities.

For subsequent months (October onward), the amount of late fee payable by an entity whose tax liability for that month was nil will be cut to Rs 20 a day from the current Rs 200 a day; for others, cut to Rs 50 a day.

Export of services to Nepal and Bhutan have already been exempted from GST.

The Council decided such exporters will also be eligible for claiming input tax credit on the goods or services used for effecting such export.

Service providers using an e-commerce mode will also be eligible for GST exemption if their annual turnover is up to Rs 20 lakh (Rs 10 lakh in the hill and north east states).

The Council also eased the compliance burden on foreign diplomatic missions and United Nations organisations.

For these, a centralised Unique Identity Number will be issued by the Centre and all compliance for such agencies will be done by the government.

"Significant reductions in the compliance obligations mean businesses earlier struggling to comply will now have enough time to prepare and comply within the extended timelines," M S Mani of consultancy Deloitte said.

Archis Gupta, chief executive of the consultants ClearTax, said the impact on compliance would take more time to reflect with the filing dates being pushed out.
Many consumer good companies say they will pass on the benefits to consumers, which will bring down prices.

Arnab Dutta reports.

Had to cut down on your monthly budget for cosmetics or postpone purchasing your much-desired watch? Not anymore.

Prices of these items, along with chocolates, chewing gum, detergents, shampoos, and many other commonly consumed items, may come down soon, as taxes on them are being slashed significantly.

As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the tax rate on a vast range of items of daily use would be brought down from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, consumer good companies cheered the decision.

While most are still working on how lower tax rates will pan out for them, many of them said they would pass on the benefits to consumers, which, in turn, would bring down prices.

Also, the reduction in tax rate for restaurants -- from 18 per cent to 5 per cent without any input tax credit -- will benefit consumers.

The government's decision comes after heavy lobbying by industry players.

High tax rates on categories like detergent, shampoo, printer and cartridges, deodorant, and hair dye had not gone down well with major marketers of these items.

Welcoming the move, a spokesperson of the country's largest chocolate maker Mondelez India said, "We are delighted with this very progressive step that the government has taken to reduce GST rates for products like ours that are consumed by the masses."

"We await the official communication from the government about the list of categories affected by the change in the rate," said Jean-Christophe Letellier, managing director, LOreal India.

According to Vivek Karve, chief financial officer, Marico, most cosmetic items such as creams, gels, serums and deodorants will now bear a lower 18 per cent GST rate.

"This reduction will make these products more affordable and will certainly aid consumption."

Marico has been very proactive in terms of passing on the benefits of lower GST rates to consumers, Karve said.

"We have already effected a 5 per cent reduction in hair oils and 3 to 4 per cent reduction in saffola oils after the GST rollout in July," he said.

Ullas Kamath, joint managing director, Jyothy Labs, said the firm was considering passing on the 4 per cent tax benefit that it received due to GST.

"This will help enhance consumption and improve customer sentiment considerably. Prior to the GST implementation, the tax slab for JLL was at 21 per cent and post-GST it has come down to 17 per cent," he said.

"Due to easy GST compliance processes announced by the government, we will also see many unorganised players shifting to the organised sector, leading to healthy competition and more choice for consumers," Kamath said.

According to a senior executive from a multinational restaurant chain, this is expected to reduce incidents of restaurant owners not passing on the tax benefits to consumers, which was rampant under the earlier system.

However, concerns over taxes on raw materials for consumer goods items remain.

According to Suresh Nandlal Rohira, partner, Grant Thornton, the extent of benefits can be deduced only after reviewing the revised tax rates on raw material prices.

Gujarat's ceramic tiles and sanitaryware industry has welcomed the revision in GST rates from 28 per cent to 18 per cent on the products.

According to the Morbi-based cluster that mostly comprises small and medium enterprises, the move would not only reduce working capital requirement to that extent for the 700-odd units but also increase their competitiveness against Chinese products.

"Ever since a 28 per cent GST was levied on us, we had become costlier than Chinese products in the five southern states that form a major market for us. We will now be more competitive, while our working capital requirement also reduces," K G Kundariya, president, Morbi Ceramics Association, pointed out.

Before the GST rollout, the industry was paying a 12.5 per cent excise duty on ceramic products.

However, the agitating textile traders and powerloom unit owners of Surat are still in a wait-and-watch mode.

"There is still one more day of announcements to go. We hope rate cuts for the textile industry will also be announced," said Tarachand Kasat, president of the Surat-based GST Sangharsh Samiti and a leading textile trader.

Additional inputs: Vinay Umarji in Ahmedabad

Photograph: Pawan Kumar/Reuters
'There is large-scale sacking, and salaries in smaller companies are lower than the minimum wages of Rs 18,000 a month.'

Ayan Pramanik and Raghu Krishnan report from Bengaluru.

Over the past decade, India's information technology industry has seen multiple attempts to mobilise the workforce to form an active trade union.

The efforts have finally yielded results, with Karnataka recognising the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union as a workers' body to protect their interests.

The development comes at a time when the IT sector is facing its worst disruption in a decade. Top executives have questioned the significance of a trade union in the sector.

In 2005, UNITES, a global trade union for IT workers affiliated to IBM, opened its Bengaluru office and looked to mobilise technology employees.

However, the effort did not take off because soon after the financial meltdown in the US that led to a recession, global firms started to outsource work to Indian companies and established their own captives.

The result was a job boom in the sector, with exports of nearly $118 billion in 2016-2017.

The sector, besides paying higher wages, focused on people welfare, building campuses, and employing chief fun officers to engage employees.

In the last two years, when IT firms, in their attempt to cut costs, sacked employees, many of them moved the labour courts in Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bengaluru against the respective companies.

While some got relief, others have struggled.

Trade bodies such as the IT Employees Wing of the New Democratic Labour Front in Chennai, and the Federation of IT Employees have also emerged in the same period.

"In the past, IT companies were paying higher salaries than other industries. But now, there is large-scale sacking, and salaries in smaller companies are lower than the minimum wages of Rs 18,000 a month," said Vineeth Vakil, general secretary, KITU.

Vakil, an employee of mid-tier IT firm Mindtree, said thousands of engineers were being terminated without giving reasons.

The union's aim, he said, was to fight for the collective rights of workers in the IT industry. The union, backed by the Centre of Indian Trade Union, has around 250 members as of now.

Indian IT firms are embracing automation, reducing hiring and shedding jobs as they focus on productivity, with clients shifting their budgets from traditional services to newer areas such as digital and cloud.

Works such as software maintenance and testing are largely automated across companies such as Infosys and Wipro, and employees have been redeployed in more innovative work, wherever possible.

In the first half of this year, net hiring by IT firms remained flat or marginally dropped in the top six companies.

Industry body Nasscom said its target of 130,000 to 150,000 additional job generation would be tough to meet this year.

IT services companies, however, claimed that the formation of a union in the IT sector could not be linked to technology disruption.

"It is neither a positive nor a negative for Mindtree or the industry. The industry has matured and it will have to deal with complexities. I am not linking this to anything happening in the industry such as technology disruption," Rostow Ravanan, chief executive officer, Mindtree, said.

"Typically, in other sectors, low-wage workforce joins unions, but this has not been the case in the IT services industry. Compensation in this sector has been much higher. I am not sure if people will get preferential or different treatment by going through a union," Ravanan added.

In the last few months, the IT industry has seen instances of some employees being asked to leave the company without a proper notice or told to resign citing performance issues, especially in the mid-level.

"The lines between the management and employees are very thin unlike other sectors," George Varghese, managing director and CEO, ET Marlabs, and a former Infosys employee, said.

"It is the industry which encourages each employee to speak. Unionism is relevant especially in the sectors where there has been exploitation."

Varghese said "this is the world of Glassdoor, social media and so many other social forums for expression", and that companies that treated employees badly had struggled.

Photograph: Reuters. Kindly Note: The lead image is posted only for representational reasons.
TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nextech Systems, a leading provider of health care technology solutions for specialty physician practices, has been named the Technology Company of the Year for 2017 by The Tampa Bay Technology Forum (TBTF), Central Floridas largest and most influential technology association.

The Technology Company of the Year award recognizes a Tampa Bay headquartered company committed to advancing our regions technology community and able to demonstrate excellence in their people, programs and projects within their industry.

To be nominated and win this prestigious award is testament to the focus and drive of the company and the continued commitment to not only our customers and employees but to the Tampa Bay area, said Nextech president and CEO Mike Scarbrough.

Nextech fosters a culture of excellence across the company. This includes adopting software development agile best practices, and encouraging ownership of projects to drive growth.

As the Tampa Bay area continues to grow and attract more and more technology companies we are honored to have been selected as the winner of the 2017 award, commented Chief Technology Officer and SVP of Product, Tommy Richardson. Our passion for pushing boundaries and using technology to provide superior health care solutions for both providers and patients drives and motivates the whole company, continued Richardson.

In addition to the Tampa Bay Technology Company of the Year, Nextech was named as a finalist for Technology Project of the Year. The awards show was held on Friday, Nov. 10, Mahaffey Theater, 400 1st Street S.E., St. Petersburg.

About Nextech

Nextech is the complete health care technology solution for specialty providers. Since 1997, Nextech has been focused on delivering intelligent, intuitive, integrated solutions that empower specialty physicians to maximize efficiency, optimize charting accuracy and increase overall practice profitability. Nextech services more than 7,000 physicians and over 50,000 office staff members in the clinical specialties of Ophthalmology, Dermatology and Plastic Surgery.

For more information contact:

Wyn Partington

Chief Marketing Officer

(813) 425-9260

marketing@nextech.com
The new Louvre Abu Dhabi has put no restrictions on art, proudly displaying everything from nude figures to Christian and Hindu art.

Scroll down for a tour of the museum the world can't stop talking about!

After 10 years of work, the much-awaited Louvre Abu Dhabi opens to the world today.

The architectural masterpiece designed by Jean Nouvel is located on the waterfront -- it is surrounded by water from three sides -- in Abu Dhabi's cultural district on Saadiyat Island.

Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters.

This museum was born from a unique agreement between the United Arab Emirates and France -- signed in 2007 -- to develop the first universal museum in the Arab world.

Presented across 6,400 square metres of galleries, the museum houses 600 artworks it has acquired, alongside 300 works on loan from 13 leading French institutions.

Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters.

Visitors can walk along promenades overlooking the sea underneath a dome comprised of 7,850 unique metal stars set in a complex geometric pattern.

When sunlight filters through, it creates a moving 'Rain of Light', reminiscent of the overlapping palm trees in the UAE's oases.

In the background, soaring towards the dome is Giuseppe Penone's sculpture Leaves of Light -- a symbol of life, as shared by all cultures.

Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters.

Louvre Abu Dhabi's collection spans the history of humanity, and according to the museum authorities, 'will explore a universal narrative through artworks and artefacts from all over the world.'

The inaugural installation takes visitors on a chronological journey from prehistory to the present day, encompassing 12 chapters including the birth of the first villages; universal religions; cosmography; the magnificence of the royal court; and the modern world.

A Young Emir Studying by Osman Hamdy Bey from Turkey, circa 1878, finds place in the 10th chapter with contemporaries like Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.

Photograph: @louvreabudhabi/Instagram.

Highlights include paintings by Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Eduard Manet, Gustave Caillebotte and Claude Monet.

Photograph: @louvreabudhabi/Instagram.

'We had a carte blanche for the acquisitions in all domains,' Jean-Francois Charnier, scientific director of Agence France-Museums, told the media. 'You have nude statues in the museum, contemporary paintings. You also have religious images from all religions.'

The museum says, 'Here, conservation technician Fatima Dhaif tests the fragility of the paint on the Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom, an Indian manuscript made of palm leaves dating back to 1191.'

Photograph: @louvreabudhabi/Instagram.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is home to priceless and ancient artefacts like a Sphinx statue circa 6th century B.C, fragments of a frieze that reveals Surah al Hashr from the Holy Quran, a marble bust of Alexander the Great and this statue of Maitreya from Nepal.

Photograph: @louvreabudhabi/Instagram.

It is estimated that it cost more than $1 billion to build this museum, a major chunk of which would have gone towards acquiring the art and arefacts like this 'Uli statue, which was used during funerary rituals for important chiefs of the Madak tribe in New Ireland.'

Photograph: @louvreabudhabi/Instagram.

Scientific director Charnier said, 'Encounters with artefacts of different cultures give rise to emotions and questions, making this universal museum the ideal place to embark on a global history of humanity.'

Pictured above: The Dictes and Sayings of the philosophers is a rare manuscript. It is the first French translation of Kitab mukhtar al-hikam wa-mahasin al-kalim by the Syrian scholar Al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik.

Photograph: Jonathan Gibbons via @louvreabudhabi/Instagram.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi's contemporary art collection has nine canvases by Cy Twombly and a monumental sculpture by renowned international artist Ai Weiwei.

It also includes permanent site-specific installations like (pictured above) Jenny Holzer's engraved marble relief of a cuneiform tablet, one of three stone walls commissioned by the museum .

Photograph: @louvreabudhabi/Instagram.

French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron browse through the collection at the museum's inauguration on November 8.

French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen told the media, 'At a time when some forces are attacking history by destroying works, taking our heritage hostage, this is an essential act. It is civilization responding to barbarity.'

Photograph: Ludovic Marin /Reuters.
Russia is reportedly angry that India allowed US officers on board the INS Chakra.

But are French lobbyists trying to muddy India-Russia waters?

Ajai Shukla reports.

The visit by US navy officials last week to the INS Vikramaditya, an aircraft carrier built by Russia for the Indian Navy, has turned into an unexpectedly hot potato in Russia-India military ties.

A team of American naval officers visiting India to discuss US assistance in constructing an indigenous aircraft carrier, was invited on board the INS Vikramaditya on October 31.

On Thursday, November 9, the Russian news portal, Kommersant sprung a bombshell, reporting that Russia-India military relations were in a crisis, with Moscow furious because the Indian Navy had also permitted the US officials on board the INS Chakra -- the nuclear attack submarine that Russia has leased to India for a decade, starting from 2012.

Indian Navy officials categorically deny allowing Russian officials on board the Chakra.

"We have absolute cooperation with America on submarines. On the other hand, we cooperate closely with Russia, and the Chakra is evidence of that. We would never endanger that valuable relationship with Russia," says a senior navy official, speaking off the record because Moscow has not protested officially.

The report comes at a time when New Delhi and Moscow are negotiating the lease of a second Russian nuclear submarine.

It is believed this will arrive in 2022, to replace Chakra when its lease expires.

While this arrangement is still being discussed, the lease of a second Russian submarine is important for continuing cooperation in this field.

Adding an intriguing twist to the controversy, another Russian news portal, NEWS.ru, reported on Friday that the Kommersant report is a motivated plant.

NEWS.ru said 'French lobbyists' had planted the Kommersant report in order to scuttle the second submarine lease, and forcing the Indian Navy to lease a French nuclear submarine instead.

Quoting 'a source', NEWS.ru writes: 'There is complete confidence that the throw-in is organised by the lobbyists of France, and it's pretty high quality.'

The US Navy is the widely acknowledged world leader in nuclear submarine technology. However,

Despite its closeness with India, Washington has made it clear the US navy regards American submarine technology as a 'no go' realm. The US has never shared submarine technology, which it regards as 'strategic'.

Kommersant also reported that Moscow was angry over the visit of US officials to the INS Vikramaditya, but defence ministry sources in New Delhi flatly deny that.

"The US officials only witnessed flying operations on the Vikramaditya, which are often witnessed by foreign officials and media reporters. They are no secret," the source said.
United States President Donald Trump today said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin seems "very insulted" by the persistent allegations of Russian interference in the US election.

"He (Putin) said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again," Trump said.

"You can only ask so many times... he said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," the US president told reporters on Air Force One as he headed to Hanoi.

Trump said that he believed Putin was "very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country".

The US president said he had had "two or three" brief conversations with his Russian counterpart at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang.

The justice department is investigating the claims, as well as alleged collusion involving Trump's team.

Several key former aides have already been named in connection with the inquiry.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters
Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to again visit poll-bound Gujarat from Saturday, said the government can't break the back of small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs.

Dilasha Seth in Guwahati and Archis Mohan in New Delhi report.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

The Congress party has demanded an overhaul of the goods and services tax architecture, terming the existing system as 'flawed'.

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said it was time the Narendra D Modi government shed its 'arrogance' and acknowledged its 'incompetence'.

A little after the GST Council meeting ended, he tweeted that the Congress 'will not allow BJP to impose a Gabbar Singh Tax on India'.

In Guwahati, Congress finance ministers described the decisions taken in the GST Council meeting on Friday, November 10, as "too little, too late".

They pitched for further thinning of the highest tax slab of 28 per cent.

They demanded shifting of items like cement, paints, air conditioners, and washing machines from the 28 per cent to 18 per cent slab at the next meeting.

"There are a lot of items from the construction sector and white goods in the 28 per cent bracket that need to be brought down. Why should there be a 28 per cent category at all for any items except sin and luxury goods?" Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal asked.

"Why did it take five months for the government to lower rates? We have pitched for 18 per cent as the highest tax slab since the beginning," Badal said.

Instead of taking credit, Badal said the government needed to apologise for putting items of common use in the highest tax slab.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted before the meeting: 'Thanks to Gujarat elections, the government is forced to heed advice of opposition and experts on flaws in implementation of GST.'

When Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was asked whether the changes were made keeping in view the Gujarat elections, he said if lower rates helped consumers, then it was good.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said, 'Thanks to Jaitley for bringing in consensus on all major issues in the GST Council meeting. Only Jaitley can do it.'

Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to again visit poll-bound Gujarat from Saturday, said the government cannot break the back of the small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs.

He demanded the Centre 'correct the fundamental flaw in the GST architecture to give India a "Genuine Simple Tax".'

'Don't waste India's time with lip service,' he added.

In Patna, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha demanded that Prime Minister Modi sack Jaitley.

"The finance minister did not apply his mind while rolling out the goods and services tax and that's why he is tinkering with the GST every day," Sinha, a former finance minister, said.

"The prime minister should bring a new finance minister. I am saying this with full responsibility," he said, adding that a raid raj was going on across the country and cases were being registered under the Income Tax Act.

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said Chidambaram was "dubiously claiming credit for lowering of rates".

Rao said this "betrays a sense of anxiety on the part of the Congress party" as the step would enhance the PM's appeal among voters.
India's new high commissioner in Islamabad goes to Pakistan at a time when the country is set to face much internal tumult.

Aditi Phadnis profiles an unusual diplomat.

The year was 2001. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pervez Musharraf were meeting in Agra over two hot, muggy days in July at a summit that might have changed the world if it had worked. The atmosphere was fraught.

There was an almost complete news blackout and the then spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs, Nirupama Rao, came close to being assaulted by Pakistani journalists for her refusal to brief on what was happening in the Jaypee Palace Hotel where the two leaders were meeting.

But suddenly the two sides were confronted with a problem of plenty: A breakfast meeting with editors where Musharraf tore into India's inflexibility on Kashmir (then information minister Sushma Swaraj had, the previous day, said all issues, including cross-border terrorism, would be discussed, but omitted any mention of Kashmir, something that riled Musharraf no end). Musharraf referred to this frankly at his meeting.

The previous day, Vajpayee and his team thought they had heard a slightly different tone in Musharraf's voice. The two leaders resumed talks on the second day.

Enter Ajay Bisaria, then the private secretary to the PM, with sheets of paper, which he quietly handed over to Vajpayee. This was the transcript of what Musharraf had said to the editors at breakfast a few hours earlier.

PTV had put out the interaction live, and thanks to an agreement between NDTV and PTV, NDTV had access to everything PTV was telecasting.

Vajpayee was the last to know what Musharraf had already told the whole world. Transcript in hand, he confronted Musharraf.

Endorsement of terrorism -- jihadis in Kashmir being equated with the Mukti Bahini in East Pakistan -- was both ahistorical and unacceptable.

If these were Musharraf's views, Vajpayee said, they might as well end the whole show here. But Musharraf was unconcerned.

These are 'my publicly known views', he replied. Jaswant Singh, who was foreign minister, told me many years later: "After the editors' meeting, what followed was a meaningless ritual."

Bisaria was a crucial bystander to the whole episode.

The road Bisaria has taken to Pakistan has been long and chequered. He goes to Islamabad via Warsaw, Poland, where he was India's ambassador.

Poland? Because he is an East Bloc man. His language of specialisation was Russian, he was posted in Moscow between 1988 and 1991 and was witness to the break-up of the USSR, and was also on the East Europe desk at the ministry of external affairs.

Bisaria is a total professional -- and he has a sense of humour. While in Warsaw, the Incredible India tourism campaign featured a picture of a snow-capped mountain range with a foreigner (a Polish woman, maybe?) in a yogasana, as if paying tribute to the mountains.

Bisaria and Amitabh Kant were posing against the poster which had been posted on the Net. The only problem? The mountain was Annapurna and the photograph featured yoga in Kaski, Nepal.

An alert Nepalese tourist posted the picture, to howls in Kathmandu about perpetual Indian effort to colonise its neighbour. Bisaria took no time at all to apologise for an 'honest error'.

When he first came to the PMO, Bisaria was more familiar with the faces of office-bearers of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union than the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He used to keep a list of all important leaders of the BJP with their pictures under the glass top on his desk so that he could identify them correctly.

He and then principal secretary to the PM Brajesh Mishra had a jolly relationship. The PMO used to get a lot of mail and one helpful Indian suggested that India launch a mission to Mars.

Mishra forwarded the letter to Bisaria with the note that this was perhaps a suggestion the ministry of external Aaffairs could consider.

Bisaria goes to Pakistan at a time the country is set to face a lot of internal tumult. Elections are due next year and the fight for the reins of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) is naked and bitter.

If rumours in Islamabad are true, Shahbaz Sharif could be the next prime minister though he has been disqualified from contesting elections.

Pakistan could be in the same situation India was from 2004 to 2013 -- the constitutionally most powerful person in the country, the prime minister, subject to influence and pressure from other politically more powerful forces.

Bisaria's the man to handle it.

IMAGE: Ajay Bisaria, then India's ambassador to Poland seen in Warsaw, now India's high commissioner to Pakistan. Kind courtesy: http://www.tzmo-global.com
'If I have to write a letter I will give it to the media. They will put it out.'

Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

It was an unexciting Friday in court in the Sheena Bora murder trial.

But not an unimportant Friday in this trial, in spite of all outward appearances.

There was no incisive cross questioning of former driver Shyamvar Pinturam Rai.

No turbulent bouts between Sudeep Pasbola, counsel for Accused No 1 Indrani Mukerjea and Bharat Badami, the CBI special prosecutor.

Nor little moments of humour and sunshine between CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale and the court.

Missing too were nearly 50 of Rai's quota of 60 yaad nahins.

Time dragged. Those tiny moments of adrenaline rush, that surface occasionally when a lawyer does a magical verbal maneuver before the judge, did not even step into Courtroom 51 at the city civil and sessions court, Kala Ghoda, south Mumbai, November 10.

Everyone squirmed listlessly in the lumpy court chairs, from which, on some, still hung tattered, dusty plastic wrapping, or the backless benches, waiting for a climax that never arrived.

The only interesting scenery was the yet-another new look Indrani debuted, drawing attention to herself.

Friday's specialty was that of an Assamese beauty. Wearing a yellow and red sleeveless kurta-salwar, bindi, her trimmed hair was put up in a bun, her face was made up and kajal winged outwards and upwards from her eyes.

She looked doll-like as she sat beside former Husband No 2 Sanjeev Khanna in the accused dock, with Peter Mukerjea furthest away.

That seating arrangement might have been by design, given that Indrani recently released to the media an angry letter addressed to Peter, complaining about him.

Peter had his sister Shangon Das Gupta in from Bengaluru to see him. And Sanjeev's brother, also from Bengaluru, and cousin were there.

The seating arrangement in court had been switched about some, with a line of six more new trunks, the shiniest and most populous things in this drab room, replacing a row of seating between the accused enclosure and the rest of the room.

That didn't prevent Peter's sister, who is younger than him, from making trips to the back of the room to boost his morale, gently holding his hand occasionally.

Decidedly Friday was a downer after last week's eventful hearings through the course of which it was revealed that Rai, the Mukerjeas' erstwhile driver, was a man of many, many parts.

When his hands had not been on the steering wheel, his fingers were peripatetic, dialing the numbers of brokers, real estate agents, moneylenders, lawyers, builders as well as friends, family and former employees of the Mukerjeas for reasons not yet uncovered in front of the court.

His contact list was long and diverse, his calls often lengthy, and intriguingly one of his chief contacts was Sameer Buddha, an assocate of the Mukerjeas, who runs a security agency, with whom Rai exchanged 21 calls in the six or seven days running up to Sheena's murder.

Even if Friday was not a day of the customary getting-the-hands-dirty cross examination of Rai by Pasbola, it was nonetheless a crucial date -- the start of the scrutiny of the omissions.

The still missing Airtel cell data for Rai's phone and others -- with Airtel insisting it needed another week -- necessitated that Pasbola change the day's agenda, rather than opt for a postponement of the hearing.

Therefore began the tedious but critical process of comparing Rai's testimony to the court with what he said at the Khar police station, north west Mumbai, after his 2015 arrest -- his 161 (under the Indian Penal Code, the statement to police) that was noted down in Marathi and signed by him.

The reliability and honesty of a witness is tested by the number of contradictions and omissions between what s/he said in a 161, before an investigating officer, and what s/he said before a court.

If the witness overturns her/his earlier statement, amends it, or leaves out passages, that amounts to an omission of material.

Evidently the man arrested while walking along the sea face in Khar on an August night in 2015 for illegal possession of a weapon -- a katta or country revolver -- and brought to that police station, had then a much less terrific memory. He was also a person of fewer words.

There were pages and pages of additional facts, absurdly, that Rai provided to the court that were not there in his initial, sparse-and-dry-as-the-Sahara recitation of events to the Khar police officers two years before.

Like: "Shyam, jab aap akele room mein Indrani Madam se Skype par baat kar rahein the, Indrani Madam said that you were a confidential (sic) man, bharosa wallah aadmee and don't tell anyone about this matter. Is me aisa likha nahin hai. Karan bata sakte hai? (When you were in the room at the office alone talking to Indrani Madam on Skype, Indrani Madam said you were a trustworthy man and not to tell anyone about the matter (the murder). It is not written in your statement. What is the reason?)"

Or that Indrani had told him: "Ki Sheena aur Mekail humari badnami kar rahein hai, mom bulakar. Jhagda chal raha hai over property. Peter ka lakda, Rahul, ke saath Sheena ka affair chal raha tha. Hum Sheena aur Mekhail ko marne chahte hain. Ek aadmi aayega Kolkata se marne ke liye. Tum fikar nahin karna. Police ko batein the (That Indrani told me Sheena and Mekhail, her son, are trying to ruin my reputation by calling me their mom. There is a dispute over property. Sheena is having an affair with Peter's son Rahul. I want to kill Sheena and Mekhail. A man will come from Kolkata to do that. You don't worry. Did you tell the police this?)"

Or the whole narration of the trips he took to Delhi, then to Kolkata carrying multiple bottles of medicines to give to a Bengali-speaking man there and finally to Indore, Bhopal and Itarsi.

That included most of the conversations he had on Skype with Indrani about what her instructions were, what he should buy for her, where he should go, what cars he should hire, what money he needed, what recces he needed to do outside Mumbai to Khopoli and Lonavla, to luring Mekhail to Mumbai on false pretences, to even events surrounding the actual alleged murder, like the manner in which Sheena was drugged and killed with physical assistance from Sanjeev Khanna and Rai himself -- 'Indrani Madam told me to press the mouth of Sheena. I moved in my seat and saw Sanjeev Khanna pulling the hair of Sheena and Indrani Madam pressing Sheena's neck.'

Zip. Zilch. None of it was in the statement to the Khar police station.

How did the fairly bare-bones narration of the details of his role and his recollection of the details of the crime develop several more surprising layers of meat in the intervening years?

Had Rai's memory sharpened with age and the passing of time?

Was it because three languages were in use -- the police's statement is in Marathi, Rai's statement is in Hindi and the court statement in English and miscommunication was possible?

Or had the Khar police station officers not questioned him closely enough or not recorded the details in full length?

Had he been scared to come out with specifics earlier?

Any of these explanations, it seemed, would not suffice.

Rai was repeatedly asked on Friday, by a not really riled Pasbola (the more glaring Rai's sins of omission and commission, the better it is for the defence). "Kya karan tha? (What was the reason?)?"

The former driver, who comes from a village in Chhindwara, not that far from Jabalpur, out of necessity, behaved, it seemed, like he was stumped too.

At every repetition of that question "Kya karan?" -- from the lawyer, Rai transferred his weight from one foot to the other, expressions of varying emotions would cross his face, he would make involuntary movements with his mouth as if it were dry, not reply, twitch uncomfortably, asked for a repeat of the query, only to pass the question or said lamely, "Bataya hoga, yaad nahin (I must have told them. Don't remember)" or that he could assign no reason.

There couldn't be any other answer. For him.

The process of omissions, even if imperative, looked to be a protracted one.

Pasbola delineated for the court, line by line, paragraph by paragraph what was missing between the two statements.

Since a good 60 per cent of the material, or more, was not to be found in the original statement to the police, Judge Jagdale painstakingly dictated back to the court stenographer the large segments of material Rai could not explain the absence of, even as a fidgeting Rai stood in the witness box for the whole duration of the hearing.

Between rounds of murmured dictation, Pasbola sat down and the lawyers chatted, until Judge Jagdale announced he was ready for the next segment with a "Advocate Pasbola!" or an "Advocate Badami!" and dissection of the next paragraph began with Pasbola directing, "My lord. Para 13, sir, last line..." and so it went on.

Two hours of this process occurred on Friday. The rest will continue at the next hearing on Wednesday, November 15.

When the hearing wound to a close, Badami and CBI Investigating Officer K K Singh bumped into Accused No 4 Peter Mukerjea in the doorway of Courtroom 51, as he exited, file under his arm, headed back to the Arthur Road jail.

Badami asked Peter what it was Peter was perpetually scribbling away at the back of the courtroom in the accused box. "Thesis?" he queried.

Peter said he was writing down the questions asked of Rai. "Whatever questions I can hear."

At which point Singh chimed in, asking the former media leader if he was writing a reply to "that" letter.

He was referring to Indrani's letter which made it to the newspapers before it apparently reached Peter though they travel in the same vehicle to court from jail.

Peter shot back, with a smile, "No, no. If I have to write a letter I will give it to the media. They will put it out."
NEW HARTFORD  Erica Mumm of New Hartford has been appointed clinical assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Quinnipiac University.

In her new role, Mumm will teach several courses including health policy, community health, and health and wellness. She also will focus on veterans wellness.

I want to make future health care providers aware of veterans issues and experiences, and what they need to look for and be sensitive to, said Mumm. I want our students to know what the best practices are to help veterans integrate into their local communities.

Mumm said she was attracted to Quinnipiac because of the School of Nursings commitment to the Joining Forces Campaign, a nationwide initiative in which more than 600 schools of nursing have pledged their support. Making health care professionals more knowledgeable about veterans and their health care needs, particularly as they return from modern deployments is a priority of the campaign.

Mumm brings 14 years of experience in nursing education. Most recently, she was an online instructor for Southern New Hampshire University. Previously, she directed the nurse educator programs at Waterbury Hospital and Bristol Hospital.

I am excited about becoming immersed in the campus climate and experiencing all that Quinnipiac University offers, said Mumm.

Mumm received her doctor of nursing practice degree from Regis College and her bachelors degree in nursing from the University of St. Joseph. She also is a Jonas Veterans Health Care Scholar, a highly competitive honor that recognizes nurses pursuing doctoral research in veterans health and welfare.

Operation Fuel Elects Two New Board Members

Operation Fuel recently elected two new board members during its annual board of directors meeting.

The new board members are Megan Brown, of Oakdale, who is senior director of marketing and development for the Thames Valley Council for Community Action; and Elizabeth Craun, of Manchester, who is the program manager for construction services at the Capitol Region Education Council.

Now in its 40th year, Operation Fuel is a statewide nonprofit organization that provides emergency energy assistance year-round to lower-income working families and individuals, the elderly, and disabled individuals who are in financial crisis. For more information on Operation Fuel, go to www.operationfuel.org

Kessler named top Freedom Fence dealerr

BROOKFIELD Freedom Fence underground electronic pet containment systems, manufactured by Miltronics in the USA, is proud to announce that Hal Kessler of Freedom Fence is the number one authorized Freedom Fence dealer in the United States for the last fifteen years, according to a press release.

Hals tireless energy, coupled with the ongoing dedication he displays to his customers and their beloved dogs is unsurpassed, Miltronics representatives said in the release. We applaud Hal and his Connecticut/New York-based organization for satisfying well over 4,000 customers since he came on board with Miltronics. Each month, the sheer number of complimentary letters we get from his clients astonishes us. Mitronics is truly fortunate to have a dealer like Hal who will routinely give more than one hundred percent to all his customers. He has most assuredly set an exemplary standard of excellence that each and every one of our authorized dealers should strive for. We extend our sincerest congratulations to Hal for his superb efforts, and we look forward to a continued bright and mutually rewarding future.

To contact Kessler at Freedom Fence, call 888-497-4498 or email freedomfencehk@aol.com .

Felicia Jones joins FCH Board

FALLS VILLAGE  The Foundation for Community Health recently announced that Felicia Jones, a resident of Falls Village, recently joined its Board of Directors. Her background and interests are valuable assets that will assist the Foundation to carry out its mission to increase access to quality, affordable and timely healthcare for the residents living in the northwest hills of Connecticut and in the greater Harlem Valley in New York.

Jones was born and raised in California amidst the technology explosion of Silicon Valley. She contemplated following in her mothers footsteps as a nurse and began her studies in biology while working for a tech company. She shifted her major to public health education/social marketing and graduated from Hunter College in New York City.

After working in marketing for the March of Dimes, Jones joined Abbott Laboratories as an Electronic Drug Delivery Systems Specialist to initiate the introduction of PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesic) devices. While technology has been part of her roots and she confesses to being a geek, it is the expansion of opportunities that technology provides for human beings and demystifying gadgets for end-users that she enjoys.

Over the next 15 years, Jones worked with Intuitive Surgical, SurgRX and Medivance to bring robotics, nano-technology and therapeutic hypothermia into healthcare standards of practice.

Jones and her husband Joel moved to Falls Village in 2005. She is employed by Northwest ConneCT as Project Coordinator for a fiber optic broadband and mobile communications regional initiative.

Ninety Nine restaurants raise $490K for Boys & Girls Clulbs

TORRINGTON  Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub announced that over $490,000 was raised during Octobers annual Boys & Girls Club Fundraiser. All Ninety Nine Restaurants across New England and upstate New York, including Torrington, Connecticut, participated, helping to support 67 local chapters of Boys & Girls Clubs.

This year marks the 20-year partnership between Ninety Nine Restaurants and the Boys and Girls Club, the oldest and largest organization with a primary mission of service to youth. To date, the dedicated Ninety Nine team members and loyal guests have helped raise an outstanding total of over $3.8 million, with 100 percent of the funds going directly to local Boys & Girls Clubs in New England and New York. The money raised by the Ninety Nine and its guests over the past 20 years has benefitted thousands of kids and teens with positivity and guidance within the local community.
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Connecticuts prison population has fallen to 14,000 inmates  the lowest in 23 years.

Advancements in policing and prosecutions, combined with a years-long effort to divert teenagers and substance abusers from the general prison population, resulted in such sharp decreases in crime, the state is closing the 700-bed medium-security prison in Enfield.

In particular, a drop in prison inmates under 30 years of age will mean an even-lower prison census in coming years, at a savings of tens of millions of dollars for taxpayers.

Over the last 10 years, prison admissions have fallen 38 percent.

While civil libertarians warn the inmate population retains a troublesome racial disparity, Connecticut has become a national model in reducing crime and the need for prison cells.

I never would have guessed that would have happened, politically, back 10 years ago, said David McGuire, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut. Ive seen some real big shifts in the mind set on criminal justice in Connecticut. Increasingly, over the last four or five years, the Legislature and public, to a greater extent, have come away from being tough on crime, to being smart on crime.

$6.5 million savings

McGuire credits Gov. Dannel P. Malloys Second Chance Society measure raising the age that teens are considered adults to 18, to making drug possession misdemeanors instead of mandatory felonies. The measure was approved by the General Assembly.

Hes drastically changed the school-to-prison pipeline while making the state safer, with a more-manageable Department of Correction budget, McGuire said.

The closure of the Enfield Correctional Institution, a dormitory-style building that opened in 1962 as a minimum-security prison, will save the state about $6.5 million a year in operating costs. Other closures dating back to 2010 are saving taxpayers $42.6 million a year.

Weve been able to create efficiencies by closing outdated facilities and reallocating these resources toward efforts that will further enhance public-safety initiatives and keep our neighborhoods even safer, Malloy said. Violent, high-risk inmates are serving more of their original sentences than ever before. We are making real progress and in the process, improving lives and bettering our communities.

When Malloy announced the prison closure Tuesday, the inmate population stood at 14,103, but by Friday it fell another 100 inmates. A year ago there were nearly 15,000 inmates.

The record high was 19,894 inmates in 2008.

In January, 2010, the age that teens were considered adults was raised to 17, Two years later, it rose to 18. Malloy has failed in efforts to persuade lawmakers to raise the age even higher.

When you couple the forecast on population counts with the fiscal challenges facing the state of Connecticut, this closure is a responsible and appropriate decision, said Scott Semple, commissioner of the state Department of Correction. As we navigate through this process, the safety and security of all our institutions will remain a top priority - one which will not be compromised.

Semple said the 190 DOC employees at Enfield CI will be redeployed throughout the agency. In the late-1990s, the DOC staff totaled 7,300, which is now down to about 5,200.

The transfer of inmates to other facilities has already begun, while a new class of 100 prison guards is scheduled to soon begin training.

Cops are doing a better job of community policing, said Michael P. Lawlor, a former prosecutor and state representative who is undersecretary for criminal justice in Malloys Office of Policy and Management.

Lawlor said theres also better technology, including video surveillance and DNA detection, and police and prosecutors are focusing on high-risk offenders, while diverting low-risk offenders to mental health and substance-abuse programs.

Data-driven

Theyve gotten really good at behavioral modifications, said Lawlor, stressing that since the state raised the age that juveniles are treated as adults in the legal system, fewer young people are being incarcerated. Lawlor said that nearly the entire inmate census reduction has been in the under-30 category. Those used to be the largest portion of the population and now its the lowest and dropping.

State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, vice chairman of the General Assemblys law-writing Judiciary Committee, agreed there has been a series of initiatives in recent years that have led to the reduction in crime and decline in prison populations.

I think its no secret that weve done some hard work over the last couple years of when to incarcerate and not, charging misdemeanors instead of felonies; working to steer people addicted to drugs to services and treatment rather than jail making a huge difference in the census, Stafstrom said. Recidivism and violent crime has fallen cross the state. Still, there are illegal guns in the streets, many coming from outside our borders. But were getting to a point where were saving taxpayers significant dollars and improving public safety.

The ACLU-CTs McGuire said the next challenge for reformers is to address one of the nations worst racial disparities, in Connecticut prisons.

We have to become more data-driven, he said. The way to do that is policing and prosecution. The reality is, there is clearly bias in policing in Connecticut. Prisons look nothing like the population of Connecticut.
TORRINGTON  A Barkhamsted man is set to serve six months in prison after being caught in North Canaan riding a motorcycle that had been reported stolen.

Zachary Armento, 22, of 87 New Hartford Road, Barkhamsted, pleaded guilty to substitute charges of interfering with police and use of motor vehicle without owner permission Thursday in Superior Court in Torrington.

Armento was previously arraigned Sept. 26 on charges of interfering with an officer/resisting arrest, third-degree larceny, failure to obey traffic control signals, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance and failure to drive in the proper lane, according to court records.

He was also facing two counts of violation of probation in Superior Court proceedings after a March 11 arrest by Winsted police, according to state records. Armento was found guilty of risk of injury to child and possession of narcotics in May 2015. He had previously admitted these violations of probation.

State police said in an investigation report that Armento stopped the motorcycle, which did not have a visible registration plate, at the intersection of Routes 7 and 44 in North Canaan shortly after 2 a.m. on Sept. 26.

I positioned myself behind the motorcycle and when the light turned green I activated my lights and sirens. The motorcycle accelerated at a high rate of speed and I turned off my lights and sirens in front of the McDonalds restaurant on Route 44 in North Caanan, said Trooper Andreas Spoerk in the report. I observed the motorcycle travel at a high rate of speed through the solid red light at the intersection of Route 44 and Route 7 in Norh Caanan and travel onto West Main Street.

Spoerk swept the area, but was unable to locate the motorcycle or Armento, according to the report. He then parked at the intersection of Route 44 and West Main Street and was discussing the incident with another trooper when he saw the motorcycle approaching at a slow speed, according to the report. The other trooper moved his vehicle into position to intercept the motorcycle.

(T)he motorcycle left the roadway to the right and fell over onto the west grassy shoulder," said Spoerk. "The driver of the motorcycle, later identified as Zachary Armento... got to his feet and started running west on Route 44.

Spoerk followed Armento in his cruiser and on foot and later apprehended him with the aid of the other trooper, according to the report. A record check indicated that the motorcycle was reported stolen Sept. 21 in Waterbury.

Armento stated that he had rented the motorcycle from an acquaintance and that the license plate, taken from a different motorcycle, had fallen off... earlier in the day, said Spoerk.

Armento received a sentence of six-and-a-half years in prison, suspended after six months, with 17 months probation Thursday.

This sentence stems from the violation of probation charge  he was also sentenced to two three-month sentences on each of the misdemeanor charges, which will run concurrently.

Reach Ben Lambert at william.lambert@hearstmediact.com.
WINSTED  Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC) recently celebrated the grand opening of its newest School-Based Health Center at Pearson Middle School in Winsted.

CHC Senior Vice President and Clinical Director, Margaret Flinter, and Winsted Superintendent of Schools, Melony Brady-Shanley, spoke on the significance of Pearson to CHCs growing community of school-based clinics. The event was held Nov. 9.
Demand for electricity in New England is expected to decline over the next 10 years, even in peak summer demand periods, the regions power grid operator reports in a new study.

Holyoke, Massachusetts-based ISO-New England released its 2017 Regional System Plan, which details needs of the grid through 2026. The energy forecast contained in the plan predicts total annual use of electricity will decline by 0.6 percent per year, with the summer peak needs declining 0.1 percent annually by 2026 under normal weather conditions.

Gordon van Welie, president and chief executive officer of ISO-NE, said the regions energy system is in the midst of a major evolution toward a cleaner, hybrid grid.

It will include renewable technologies such as wind and solar, and conservation measures such as energy-efficiency, as well as traditional resources, such as natural-gas-fired generation, van Welie said in a statement.

But Joel Gordes, a West Hartford-based energy industry consultant, said basing energy demand forecasts on normal weather conditions is unwise.

The weather were seeing now is anything but normal, Gordes said.

The demand for electricity from the grid also is being driven down by energy efficiency resources such as from the increased deployment of photovoltaic solar panels at homes and businesses, according to the findings of the Regional Plan.

But Connecticut lawmakers are using $177 million in energy efficiency funds to balance the states budget over the next two years, Gordes said. Further raids on energy efficiency funding in the future in Connecticut or other New England states could increase demand for electricity in the region beyond what ISO-NE predicts.

New generation sources are needed because by 2020, power plants that collectively produced 4,800 megawatts of electricity will have shut down, either because they are no longer economical to operate or as a result of environmental concerns. Older power plants that either run on coal, oil or nuclear power are likely to be replaced by either natural gas-fired generation or renewable energy sources such as solar or wind.

About 1,918 megawatts of solar power were available in the region at the end of last year, if the generation systems were operating at full capacity. By 2026, the level of soar resource available in New England is expected to more than doubled to 4,733 megawatts. according to the ISO-NE forecast.

About 12,899 megawatts of new generation sources had applied to connect to the regional grid as of April 2017. But ISO-NE official say that, historically, the attrition rate of power producers that apply for interconnection to the grid, but never begin operating, is about 68 percent.

The ISO-NE plans caution that the more use of renewable energy grows, the greater the likelihood there is that more transmission lines will need to be built.

The most reliable and economic place for resource development remains in southern New England near load centers, the report states in part.

The region has grown increasingly reliant on natural gas-fired power plants. On any given day in New England, natural gas-fired power plants account for 50 percent or more of the power produced.

That level of reliance on power produced from one energy source is problematic, according to ISO-NE officials.

The limited availability of the natural gas transportation infrastructure to supply gas to generating units can present fuel-security risks to the region, especially during winter operating conditions, the plan says in part. ISO-NE is conducting an analysis to quantify the regions risk and will release its findings next year.

Gordes said more focus should be placed on expanding liquid natural gas storage facilities in the region, so the fuel source would be closer to power plants that use it.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
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WINSTED  Student veterans at Northwestern Connecticut Community College were honored Friday, and each received flags marking their service and commendations from state legislators.

Representatives of the schools chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa presented the flags, representing branches of the United States Armed Forces, to members of the NCCC Veterans Club.

State Rep. Jay Case, R-Winchester, Rep. Brian Ohler, R-North Canaan, and Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington, also offered a proclamation marking the occasion on behalf of the Connecticut General Assembly.

We will continue to honor our veterans today, and for the years to come, said Case. We thank you for your selfless service to our great country.

Cory Joseph, president of the Veterans Club, and Kirsten Appell, the president of the Alpha Nu Epsilon Phi Theta Kappa chapter, also spoke during the event Friday.

Joseph thanked advisers and PTK during his remarks, and said that the club had given him a home on campus.

I believe this is merely the beginning of our next big step in life  facilitating our assimilation back into society while simultaneously empowering us to achieve as well as contribute, said Joseph. I am hoping and looking forward to seeing this club develop both in company, as well as distinction, (and) become an asset not only to the veterans, but to the college as a whole. I believe today represents the dawn of that hope.

Appell said the club was thrilled to be able to recognize the newly-formed club and provide them with representations of their service.

Hopefully, this event will be a catalyst for a wider discussion about the role of veterans on our campus, said Appel. I encourage members of the veterans community here on campus to continue sharing their experiences with others, and I encourage others to listen and learn from what veterans have to share.

The event Friday was held in the Veterans Oasis at Northwestern Connecticut Community College, located in the Robert White building behind Founders Hall.

The Oasis is  a place for veterans and reservists to come together through the common bonds of serving our country, (l)ending support to one another as they re-enter civilian life at Northwestern Connecticut Community College, according to the college.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
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In the wake of the Sutherland Springs shooting, A Drexel University professor has spoken out about what he believes are the real reasons mass shootings occur.

During an interview with Democracy Now! on Monday, George Ciccariello-Maher, a politics and global studies professor, brought up "whiteness" as being a possible cause for some of these mass shootings.

"You know, whiteness is never seen as a cause, in and of itself, of these kinds of massacres, of other forms of violence, despite the fact that whiteness is a structure of privilege and it's a structure of power, and a structure that, when it feels threatened, you know, lashes out," Ciccariello-Maher told Democracy Now!

READ MORE: Legislators call for changes to Texas gun laws in wake of Sutherland Springs massacre

Ciccariello-Maher also addressed what he claims is the double standard of the far-right's refusal "to talk about the real deep structures of white supremacy in our society, and again, not just the fringe, not just the Nazi movements, but what people are going through every day."

On Sunday, Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, unloaded 15 magazines, each with a 50-round capacity, into Sutherland Springs' First Baptist Church, killing 26 people and injuring 20 others.

The shooting was the worst in Texas history and occurred roughly a month after 58 people were shot and killed in Las Vegas.

Ciccariello-Maher was placed on administrative leave by Drexel in October after he made statements following the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

"It's the white supremacist patriarchy, stupid," Ciccariello-Maher tweeted on Oct. 2. "White people and men are told that they are entitled to everything. This is what happens when they don't get what they want."

A request for comment was placed with Ciccariello-Maher.

Fernando Alfonso III is a digital reporter at Chron.com. You can read more of his stories here and follow him on twitter at @fernalfonso. If you also like surreal GIFs and Polaroids, go here and here.


As thousands of Rohingya refugees struggle to get by on one meal a day at camps in southeastern Bangladesh, others are making money by illicitly selling off their food rations, officials acknowledged.

Rasheda Begum, a Rohingya woman who lives in the Jamtoli camp in Ukhia, a sub-district of Coxs Bazar, said she was selling surplus rations that her family of five received every fortnight to buy meat and vegetables even though Bangladesh authorities were cracking down on such sales.

We are just five of us in my family, including three kids. What will we do with such large quantities of rations? Rasheda, 27, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

Recently, she said, she tried to sell seven liters (1.84 gallons) of cooking oil for nearly half the market price, while a next-door neighbor was selling 50 kilos (110 pounds) of rice for 25 taka (U.S. 30 cents) per kilogram.

Rohingya families, no matter their size, receive the same ration of rice, lentils and vegetable oil every two weeks from the World Food Program (WFP).

Meanwhile at the sprawling Kutupalong refugee camp, about 20 km (12.5 miles) away, Mohammad Javed, 18, said his 11-member family was struggling against hunger. At times, they eat barely one meal a day, he said.

The ration is not enough. But were managing somehow. We eat less so supplies can last us two weeks, he told BenarNews.

Officials conceded that the widespread sale of rations in the 15-odd refugee camps on Bangladeshs southeastern border stemmed from a flaw in the food distribution system.

Each Rohingya family gets the same amount of ration regardless of how many members it contains, Coxs Bazar Deputy Commissioner Ali Hossain told BenarNews. About 350 tons of food is distributed in Rohingya camps daily.

There may be something wrong with this system. But you need to understand that when the crisis unfolded in August, thousands of Rohingya poured into Bangladesh. We did not have enough time and resources to gather information on the number of members in each family, he said. So we calculated a rough average of members per family and started distributing relief.

A violent crackdown by security forces in Buddhist-majority Myanmar against the Rohingya Muslim community has driven more than 600,000 refugees across the border into Bangladesh since Aug. 25. The offensive followed coordinated attacks on Myanmar police and army posts that were blamed on Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents.

Tens of thousands of children at risk

Almost 40,000 Rohingya children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years living in the refugee camps suffer from acute malnutrition and urgently need life-saving measures, according to a survey conducted by the U.S.-based International Rescue Committee (IRC).

The IRC additionally expects malnutrition rates to be even higher as the humanitarian community comes to grips with the full scale of need, it said. IRC expects 200,000 more new arrivals in the coming weeks will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.

The World Food Program, which has distributed almost 9,540 metric tons (10,516 U.S. tons) of rice in the refugee camps since Aug. 25, said the ration distribution amount was based on an average family size of five.

We conduct fortnightly distributions of 25 kg rice, 4.5 kg lentils and two liters of vegetable oil per household, WFP spokeswoman Shelley Thakral told BenarNews.

She said the WFP was aware that some families were selling supplies distributed by her agency.

In a situation like this one, where refugees have lost everything and are struggling to meet all of their basic needs, it can sometimes happen that people choose to sell food rations in order to buy other urgent items, such as medicine or shelter supplies, Thakral said.

While this is not our intention, once the food has been given to the people for whom it was intended, it is their decision what to do with it.

Criminal offense

Bangladeshi authorities consider the sale and purchase of relief rations a criminal offense, Deputy Commissioner Hossain said.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) last month detained at least 25 Rohingya who were caught selling relief supplies, he said, adding they were released with a warning.

We are trying to convince them that the aid they are getting was dwindling with each passing day and in about two months they will not get any. So they should keep a reserve supply instead of selling it, Hossain said.

Earlier this week, the BGB arrested 10 Bangladeshis from the Kutupalong camp for attempting to purchase rations from refugees, he said.

They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 month to 6 months, he added.

But the arrests dont concern Abul Hossain, 48, a grocery store owner in Coxs Bazar town.

He said he regularly purchased rice, lentils, sugar and oil from Rohingya refugees because it was a highly profitable bargain.

I am not forcing them to sell their ration supply. Theyre selling it of their own free will. Theres no victim here, so how can it be a crime? he told BenarNews.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
BLACKSBURG  Turkeys pardoned by the president will call Virginia Tech home for the second consecutive year.

A pair of turkeys pardoned by Donald Trump will come to Virginia Tech the week of Thanksgiving, the university announced Friday.

The turkeys will live out their days with Tater and Tot, the turkeys pardoned by then-President Barack Obama in 2016.

Tater and Tot, who were expected to live about a year, are still alive and thriving, according to Rami Dalloul, a Tech poultry immunology professor. Dalloul credited the care of the poultry club students with their health.

Last year, Dalloul said Tater and Tot were the first birds pardoned by the president to live at a university. The turkeys were selected and donated by the National Turkey Federation and were chosen based on appearance and temperament.

This years turkeys have been raised by federation board chairman Carl Wittenburg and his wife Sharlene in Minnesota. The pair to be pardoned will be selected from their flock and taken to Washington before their trip to Blacksburg.

The trade federation contacted Tech last year, telling faculty they wanted to start a new tradition of sending pardoned turkeys to universities with strong poultry science programs. The turkeys are intended to be an educational tool for poultry scientists. Dalloul said the partnership was logical to repeat in 2017.
BLACKSBURG  L. J. DOSS JR. 70.

The name now carved into stone means so much to Dave Doss.

Its the name of a brave soldier who died in the line of duty, a Virginia Tech student and, most importantly to him, a father whom fate would dictate he never knew.

And now its a name that is part of Virginia Techs campus.

Almost five decades after former Virginia Tech student Luther Jim Doss Jr. died in action during the Vietnam War, his name was added to Techs Memorial Pylons. The distinction adds to a long list of accomplishments for a man who died at 22, including being awarded a Purple Heart and three Bronze Stars.

Doss, a U.S. Army Ranger, was shot and killed in 1970  the year he should have graduated from Tech  while attempting to rescue fellow soldiers on a recon mission. He left Virginia Tech to take care of his family before being drafted into the Army.

The pylons are inscribed with the names of Virginia Tech students and graduates who died in battle since World War I. The iconic memorial is above War Memorial Chapel on Techs Drillfield. They were constructed in the 1950s and feature 431 names with the addition of Doss. Doss name is the first to be etched into the memorial since 2012.

Friday, Techs Corps of Cadets and the universitys Alumni Association  the organizations responsible for maintaining the Pylons  held a Veterans Day ceremony to honor Doss and officially unveil the name.

Dave Doss, his mother and Jim Doss widow Barbara Rookstool and a group of more than a dozen family and friends gathered to commemorate the young soldiers life, along with almost 100 cadets and the present day members of the fraternity of which Doss belonged.

It speaks to the type of person my dad was, Dave Doss said. Almost 50 years after his death he brings us together.

Doss story was discovered thanks to Dana Hesse, a Tech alum still involved as an unofficial historian in his fraternity Phi Gamma Delta commonly called FIJI. Doss had been a member of a precursor fraternity when he was a Tech student called Phi Alpha Chi.

Hesse was going through an old scrapbook as part of a digitization project for the fraternitys records last spring when he saw Doss composite picture. For some reason, the name rang a bell as a man who an old timer had told Hesse had fought and died in Vietnam. Hesse then submitted the name to Col. Patience Larkin, alumni director of the Corps of Cadets.

Larkin then went through the process of verifying the three qualifications to put names on the memorial: that the person enrolled in Tech, served in the military and died in the line of duty. The university then sprung into action, engraving the Pylons in August in preparation for the official ceremony to fall around Veterans Day.

Its pretty special to see his name up there, Hesse said. I mostly feel quiet satisfaction for the part I played. This is a meaningful thing for his family.

Rookstool said that having his name on the Pylon memorial would have meant a lot to Doss. Born in Meadows of Dan, Doss spent part of his childhood in Southwest Virginia before moving to Baltimore where he later attended high school before gaining admittance to Virginia Tech. The school was his dream, she said.

He loved Tech, he really did, Rookstool said. It is quite the honor for him to go here. And its quite the honor for his name to be here now.

David Doss  who said hes spoken not just to his fathers classmates but also about 50 men who served alongside him in Vietnam  said Jim Doss excelled at the school but was forced to make a decision to provide for his family after his wife became pregnant shortly after their marriage. He worked full time before being drafted.

Doss military service was marked with distinction, rising from a drafted private to an officer in the Rangers over the course of 14 months. He served as a team leader. Then in April 1970, he volunteered on a reconnaissance mission for a group of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. He died during the rescue attempt, but the team was able to help get the men out safely, Dave Doss said during the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Dave Doss was thankful to Virginia Tech for recognizing his fathers bravery in those final moments. Holding back tears, he said his father shaped the lives of many people  including two grandchildren born decades after his death.
Political experts have cited many reasons for Democrat Ralph Northams huge win in Tuesdays elections. Credit has gone to the states changing demographics. And to high voter turnout. And to loathing for Donald Trump, which helped drive turnout. Some on the right blamed Republican Ed Gillespie not being Trumpian enough.

One explanation was conspicuous by its absence, however: money.

In the closing weeks of the campaign, Northam enjoyed a 2-1 advantage in financing: He went into October with $5.7 million in his pocket, compared to Gillespies $2.5 million. By the time the polls closed, Northam had spent $32 million to Gillespies $23 million.

Northam also got a lot of help. The League of Conservation Voters spent more than $1 million to help him out. Planned Parenthoods Virginia affiliate kicked in $3 million. Environmentalist Tom Steyer threw in another $2 million, Michael Bloombergs gun control group added more than $1 million, a group affiliated with Barack Obama added $1 million more, and so on. Why hasnt this outside money been cited as a factor in the race  or as proof that money buys elections?

One possible answer: Gillespie had plenty of help, too. The NRA bought more than $1 million in TV ads for him. Americans for Prosperity contributed more than $750,000. Whats more, campaign financing for the lieutenant governor and attorney general races was far more symmetrical.

Besides: Northams victory did not occur in isolation. Democrats practically ran the table in contests for the House of Delegates.

But money was a factor in some of those contests, too. In the high-profile contest between Danica Roem, who will become the states first transgender legislator, and Bob Marshall, who will go down in history as the states last social-issues dinosaur, Roem outspent Marshall by almost 2-1.

This doesnt mean Roem won because she spent more. Some candidates won despite spending less. But imagine the counterfactual. If Marshall had beaten Roem after outspending her by nearly 2-1, wouldnt the financial factor come up? At least once or twice?

Sure it would. Because the establishment media are practically obsessed with campaign financing  at least when the money comes from the conservative or libertarian direction, anyway. Entire library shelves groan under the weight of coverage devoted to the Koch Brothers, for instance. The National Rifle Association is another favorite, er, target. Have your representatives in Congress received donations from the NRA? The Washington Post asks  and answers the question with a handy infographic showing you just how much every representative has taken from the gun-rights group. No such district-by-district scrutiny applies to, say, Planned Parenthood  which, although it does not outspend the NRA, is still among the nations top political contributors, according to that far-right dishrag, The New York Times.

The difference in scrutiny is revealing, in the same way that frequent references to the gun lobby  but never the abortion lobby  are revealing. When conservative or libertarian groups support a Republican candidate, its proof that the candidate is in the pocket of powerful and nefarious interests who have bought and paid for her support. When liberal or progressive groups contribute to a Democratic candidate, its proof that the candidates principled stand on important issues has earned the support of ordinary people who share his values.

Thats why you will frequently read about the huge sums Dominion, Virginias biggest utility, gives to political candidates. The company is often noted for being Virginias top corporate donor  which, according to The American Prospect, makes for a lopsided battle for its opponents. Except that those opponents actually outspend Dominion in the aggregate.

Over the past decade environmental groups have outspent Dominion by a ratio of 5:3. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe frequently gets blasted for supporting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and his critics rarely fail to note that Dominion, one of the pipelines builders, gave him $75,000. He must have been bought, right? Well, no: Environmental groups gave him $3.8 million. That never seems to get mentioned. Maybe, in this case, hes actually doing what he thinks is right.

For liberals and progressives, Northam did the right thing on Tuesday: He won. Which means all the money he spent, and all the money spent by others to elect him, is nothing to get upset about. As Bradley Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission who now runs the Institute for Free Speech, wrote several years ago: Nobody on the left really believes what they always say about campaign contributions and spending. ... The reformers do not believe money is corrupting. Rather, they believe that their political opponents are corrupt.
After the latest mass shooting, President Donald Trump and GOP politicians, including Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie, once again sent their thoughts and prayers to victims and their families.

It was, as always, too soon to talk about gun policy, they agreed.

But with 26 dead and 20 more wounded in Sutherland Springs, Texas, last Sunday, just 35 days after a shooting massacre in Las Vegas claimed 58 lives, prayer, while comforting, wasnt enough for many Americans.

Lets not pray, the Rev. Robert C. Wright, Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta, said in a Facebook post widely circulated on social media.

Please do not invite me to pray in response to the horror of Sutherland Springs, Texas, unless it is to pray courage over elected officials who intend to work for the ban of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, he said.

People feel powerless following gun violence; its human nature to want to respond and fix things, said comedian and social commentator Stephen Colbert.

Five thousand years ago, if your village had a tiger coming into it every day and was eating people, you wouldnt do nothing. You would move the village, you would build a fence, or you would kill the tiger, Colbert said on the Late Show Monday.

You wouldnt say, Well, I guess someones gonna get eaten every day because the price of liberty is tigers. You take some action, he said. You can go vote. Vote for someone who will do something.

Most Americans must wait for congressional midterm elections next year to vote. So all eyes Tuesday were on state races in Virginia and New Jersey.

In Virginia, whose lax gun laws have supplied weapons to criminals from Baltimore to New York City, voters had a clear choice for governor between Democrat Ralph Northam, who advocates tougher guns laws, and Gillespie, a strong ally of the NRA.

After the Texas shooting, Gillespie was on Fox News talking about prayer for victims and his A rating and endorsement from the NRA.

Northam has said thoughts and prayers arent enough. Proud of his F rating from the NRA, he called for universal background checks for gun buyers, an assault weapons ban and smaller ammunition clips. He promised to reinstate the one-gun-a-month limit on gun purchases.

Northam beat Gillespie 54 to 45 percent.

To be sure, gun policy was only one issue in the campaign, but it was a significant factor. When asked to rank five issues, voters cited health care first by a wide margin, followed by gun policy as No. 2. Those who chose gun policy as their top issue split evenly between Northam and Gillespie.

But among voters with a gun in their home, 37 percent voted for Northam, as did 73 percent of those who didnt own guns.

We as a society need to stand up and say its time to take action and stop talking, Northam said at a forum in October.

He had the support of Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun control group founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was shot in her home district in Arizona, and the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Group, funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Northam campaigned with Lori Haas, whose daughter survived being shot twice at Virginia Tech in 2007. Haas is state director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Gillespie promised to uphold Second Amendment rights and to reverse the ban on guns in state government buildings imposed by Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Recounts in several districts will determine which party controls the House, but Democrats already have erased much of the Republican advantage with the election of political newcomers.

Among them is Chris Hurst of the Blacksburg area, who said the fatal shooting of his fiancee, fellow journalist Alison Parker, on live television two years ago was one reason he entered politics.

Virginians showed Tuesday voters can choose prayers and policy. Theyre counting on Northam and the General Assembly to deliver concrete action to stop gun violence, and the nation will be watching.
Public lands belong

to all Americans

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Last week marked the beginning of the trial of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who organized an armed standoff with the federal government in 2014 over unpaid grazing fees on public lands. While this trial is important on many levels, it brings to light the larger debate about federal public lands. Bundy sparked the resurgence of the anti-federal lands movement nationwide. Bundy and his supporters would like to see the federal government sell these lands. This thinking is flawed and shortsighted.

Many of these ranchers argue that the federal government owns too much land, and much of it should be returned to the people. Yet, the people already own the land. That land is ours to hike, camp, hunt, fish, and yes, even graze cattle for a small fee.

The transfer of federal lands time and time again has led to a complete shutoff of access for the general public. When large tracts of land are put up for auction (as many in the land transfer movement would like to see), that land isnt sold to local farmers. Instead, it is sold to massive corporations that quickly put up signs and permanently shut off access to average Americans while they exploit the lands numerous benefits.

Public lands are Americans birthright; we own those lands. They provide local economies with thousands of dollars in recreation spending, and give us a place to get off the grid and seek refuge. Lets focus on fixing the problems of public land management with adequate funding from Congress instead of advocating for them to be sold to the highest bidder. Our children and grandchildren will thank us.

Kyle Hart.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Worlds collide in unusually gentle fashion in Wonderstruck, director Todd Haynes film version of the lavishly illustrated 2011 Brian Selznick best-seller  a book for introspective puzzle fans of all ages.

I enjoyed Martin Scorseses Hugo, an adaptation of Selznicks The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which like Wonderstruck tells a tale of intrepid children uncovering the real stories of their disillusioned elders. But Haynes film is the more emotionally fulfilling experience. Just about any age of moviegoer will find something beguiling in its intertwining narratives, adapted for the screen by Selznick and brought to life by several key collaborators.

The key-est of the key: cinematographer Ed Lachman, Haynes frequent collaborator, here shooting on 35 millimeter film in black and white for the 1927 scenes, and on color stock for the storyline set in 1977. Wonderstruck begins in rural Minnesota in 77. Young Ben (Oakes Fegley) has lost his hearing in a lightning strike, not long after the death of his librarian mother (Michelle Williams). She never told Ben about his absent fathers identity.

A mysterious New York City souvenir book belonging to Bens mother contains a clue to that identity. So Ben embarks on a cross-country genealogical mission. Soon hes getting off the bus at the Port Authority in midtown Manhattan; to this Minnesota boy, its a new world, and Lachman gets the colors and textures magically right.

The 1927 scenes are no less otherworldly to young Rose (Millicent Simmonds), a deaf Hoboken resident likewise yearning to connect with her birth mother, a famous diva played by Julianne Moore. Crucial to the story, Moore also plays Rose as an adult in the 70s half of Wonderstruck. When Ben, with the help of new friend Jamie (Jaden Michael), discovers how everything connects in this elaborately embroidered series of reveals, both storylines become a single weave. Selznicks obvious interest in New York lore takes us deep inside the American Museum of Natural History (a wolf diorama echoes Bens dreams of a wolf attack) and Queens Museum, where the Panorama of the City of New York, overseen by the adult Rose, contains crafty solutions to everything Ben has been wondering about his whole life.

Relayed this way, in terms of plot, the movie sounds like a knotty, forbidding thing. Its not, really. The central storytelling notions are inspired: The Rose half of the story is a silent movie, allied to Roses lifelong deafness, and the Ben half is filled with sound, since he is newly deaf and learning to communicate in a new way. Composer Carter Burwells score, plaintive and vivid without bigfooting the action, adds a great deal. The performances, including a sweetly sincere and easygoing turn from the deaf actress Simmonds, become the audiences way into Wonderstruck.

There are times, as there were in Hugo, when youre aware of the characters more as puzzle pieces. But Haynes has always favored a quietude in his movies, and hes extremely well-suited to this material. Its a fairy tale full of earned sentiment.
Two people were taken to a hospital after a multi-vehicle wreck led to a car crashing into a home in Roanoke County Friday afternoon, according to a police news release.

The wreck happened after a man driving a white GMC Sierra pickup truck fell asleep while traveling north on Merriman Road at 3:56 p.m. The truck crossed the center line and side-swiped a Chevy Trailblazer.

The truck then collided head-on with a Honda Accord, according to the release. The Honda went off the road backwards and struck a house in the 5800 block of Merriman Road.

The occupants of the Honda Accord, 69-year-old Hemlata Patel and 79-year-old Thakorbhai Patel, both of Roanoke, were taken to the hospital with injuries that werent life-threatening. Hemlata Patel, who was driving, was wearing her seat belt. Thakorbhai Patel, who was a passenger, was not.

The pickup trucks driver was identified as 32-year-old Jerry Davis Jr., of Rocky Mount. He was not injured.

Police charged Davis with failure to drive on the right side of the road and not using a seat belt.

The Chevy Trailblazers driver was wearing a seat belt and was not injured.

Residents of the home hit by the Honda Accord were not injured. The vehicle struck the side of the house near a garage.

Investigators said speed, drugs or alcohol were not factors in the wreck, according to the release.
The electoral tidal wave that helped Democrats flip at least 15 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates will begin to crest on Monday, as local registrars and electoral boards count provisional ballots to determine final vote counts in at least three districts that will determine which party controls the chamber in January.

The count of provisional ballots could affect the outcome in the 94th District, in which Del. David Yancey, R-Newport News, is holding onto a 13-vote lead over Democrat Shelly Simonds. Libertarian Michael Bartley got 675 votes.

The 94th is one of three House races crucial to the GOP maintaining a 51-49 edge, all thats left of what was a 32-seat majority before voting ended on Tuesday.

Democrats made a filing in court Thursday in Newport News to seek from the citys electoral board a list of rejected absentee ballots and the reasons they were rejected. A hearing before a judge Thursday will be continued Monday, according to the party.

Regardless, recounts are likely in that district, as well as the 28th, in which Republican Bob Thomas has an 84-vote margin over Democrat Joshua Cole in a district represented by retiring House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford; and the 40th House District, in which Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax, regained a 115-vote advantage over Democrat Donte Tanner after appearing to lose on Tuesday night to divide the balance of power evenly in the House.

Democrats denounced two of the three members of the Stafford County Electoral Board, Gloria Chittum, a Republican, and Marie Gozzi, a Democrat, whom Democratic leaders said are refusing to count 55 absentee ballots of military voters.

The ballots arrived in the Post Office box of the registrar on Tuesday  Election Day  but were not picked up until Wednesday, said Trent Armitage, executive director of the House Democratic Caucus. He said Stafford Registrar Greg Riddlemoser is apparently trying to claim that those ballots are somehow not valid, which Armitage said is absolutely ridiculous.

No one answered the phone at the Stafford registrars office and an email to the office Friday was not returned. The Stafford County website said county government offices were closed in honor of Veterans Day.

Its disgraceful that the registrar and two members of the Electoral Board in Stafford County refuse to count military votes, said Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Democrats said they had no way of knowing which candidates the 55 votes went for  but the ballots arrived on time and came from active-duty service personnel.

Delegate-elect Lee Carter of Manassas, a Democrat who served five years in the Marines, said it was egregious that Stafford officials would not count military votes on Friday  the birthday of the Marine Corps and Veterans Day weekend.

For Stafford County to say Happy Birthday, Marines. By the way, your vote doesnt count. Its completely unconscionable to me, Carter said.

A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Chittum said, Sir, theres nothing to be said to you, shes not available, and then hung up.

Voters in Virginia who cast provisional ballots have until noon Monday to return with proper identification to verify the validity of their right to vote in those elections. The registrars then will count those ballots to complete their canvass of election results by the Tuesday deadline for doing so.

Democrats said Stafford County elections officials refuse to release the names of those who voted absentee, as other jurisdictions did.

Democrats want to reach out to those voters to encourage them to show up by Monday to have their vote count.

State Commissioner of Elections Edgardo Cortes said Friday he expects most local electoral boards to complete the voting canvasses by Monday afternoon, though some larger districts may finish the next day.

Once the local election results are complete, the State Board of Elections will meet on Monday, Nov. 20 to certify them, along with the final vote counts in the three statewide races Democrats swept for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Thats when the fun will begin.

Candidates will have 10 days after the board certifies results to petition the appropriate circuit courts for recounts, as House Republicans and Democrats already are calling on their allies to raise money to help pay for recounts.

In addition to the three closest races, recounts are possible in the 85th District, where Del. Rocky Holcomb has indicated he will challenge his 394-vote loss to Democrat Cheryl Turpin, and in the 68th District, where Del. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, already has conceded to Democrat Dawn Adams despite a 326-vote margin that is below the 1-percent threshold for a recount.

There are no automatic recounts in Virginia. A candidate may petition for a recount if the margin between the defeated candidate and the victor is not more than 1 percent of the total votes cast.

Democratic challenger Larry Barnett conceded on Thursday that he had lost to Del. Roxann Robinson, R-Chesterfield, in the 27th District, although Robinson prevailed by just 124 votes.

The courts will set the timelines and parameters for the recounts, Cortes said.
The financial hit to higher education won't be as large as anticipated if Gov. Steve Bullock's proposed budget stands.

Bullock, a Democrat, called a special session of the Montana Legislature next week to resolve the state budget and revenue shortfalls.

Earlier, the Montana Office of the Commissioner for Higher Education was anticipating a cut as steep as 10 percent, or some $44 million for the biennium, but the governor's proposal spares higher education and calls for a 1.2 percent reduction in the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years.

Kevin McRae, deputy commissioner for communications in the Commissioner's Office, said the proposal coming out of the governor's office seems to recognize that students shouldered one of the largest real-dollar cuts  $10 million  to the state budget from the regular legislative session.

The amount represented a cut of just 2.6 percent a year for the university system, but McRae said it also created a $20 million unfunded obligation.

In May, the Montana Board of Regents approved a tuition increase that took effect this fall and covers roughly 75 percent of the unfunded obligation, McRae said. He said the university system is cutting its way through the remaining $5 million.

"We're grateful that the recommended budget takes that into account, that students are already paying more for education that is continually challenged in terms of access and affordability," McRae said.

As proposed, the cut to higher education would be some $4.5 million over the biennium, but approval isn't certain.
WASHINGTON  Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says Senate Democrats are holding the department's nominees "hostage" to a political agenda that includes opposition to his review of presidentially designated monuments.

In a sharply worded letter to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Zinke said it's unfortunate that Democrats have placed holds on four Interior nominees, including the department's top lawyer and budget chief.

The nominees "have nothing to do with this monument review, yet they have been forced to sit on the sidelines" for months, Zinke wrote Thursday. "As a former Navy SEAL, this is not the type of hostage situation I am accustomed to."

Zinke offered to meet with Durbin, who requested a briefing last month along with other Democratic senators to discuss the monument review.

President Donald Trump ordered the review this spring following complaints by congressional Republicans that previous presidents had misused a century-old law intended to protect federal lands, creating oversized monuments that hinder energy development, logging and other uses. Trump called some monument designations by his Democratic predecessors "massive land grabs."

Zinke has recommended that Trump shrink four large monuments in the West, including the sprawling Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

Zinke also recommended that Nevada's Gold Butte and Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou monuments be reduced in size, although exact details remain unclear. The proposals have prompted an outcry from environmental groups and Democrats who accuse Trump and Zinke of engaging in a secretive process aimed at helping industry groups that have donated to GOP campaigns.

Opponents have promised to take the Trump administration to court to block any attempts to rescind or reduce the monument designations. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton designated the monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which allows presidents to protect sites considered historic or geographically or culturally important.

In a letter last month, Durbin and 15 other senators complained that Zinke's recommendations "threaten important natural, archaeological and cultural resources," especially Bears Ears, a 1.3-million acre site in southeastern Utah that is home to thousands of Native American artifacts, including ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs.

"National monuments have preserved our country's unique public lands, extraordinary history and our common culture as a people," the senators wrote in an Oct. 23 letter to Trump. "We urge you not to reduce their boundaries in any way."

Durbin and several other senators wrote a separate letter to Zinke seeking a meeting about the monument review, which they said has been conducted virtually in secret.

Zinke responded Thursday that he visited the four monuments that are being shrunk and met with or talked to lawmakers and governors in all four states.

"While the review does not affect the state of Illinois, I nonetheless understand your interest in this matter, and I appreciate the written comments you and your colleagues provided throughout this review process," Zinke wrote to Durbin.

Durbin has placed holds on the nominees in his leadership role. Spokesman Ben Marter said Durbin looked forward to meeting with Zinke, although no date has been set.

"That was probably harder than it needed to be, but the secretary has now reached out to schedule a meeting and Sen. Durbin is looking forward to it," Marter said.

Durbin has placed holds on four Interior nominees: Susan Combs, nominated as assistant secretary for policy, management and budget; Joseph Balash, assistant secretary for land and minerals management; Ryan Nelson, solicitor; and Brenda Burman, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees dams and water projects in 17 Western states.
Have you ever plucked a bottle of ketchup from a grocery store shelf after remembering your kids finished the last bottle the night before?

Or perhaps you've indulged in a box of cookies that wasn't on the grocery list but still somehow ended up in your cart?

These spontaneous purchases are a challenge for some of the largest packaged food companies as they try to appeal to shoppers staring at their screens instead of wandering the aisles.

Already faced with declining center-of-the-store grocery sales in recent years, food companies like Deerfield-based Mondelez International and Kraft Heinz, co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh, are pouring resources into figuring out how to succeed online as a growing number of people shop there instead.

In recent earnings calls, executives acknowledged the accelerated pace of change now underway.

"What is new is the frequency and the speed at which the market is changing," said George Zoghbi, strategic adviser for Kraft Heinz, on the company's earnings call last week.

The vast majority of retailers now offer in-store pickup or delivery, said Zoghbi, who was formerly the company's chief operating officer for its U.S. business. And, he noted, people shop differently when buying groceries online versus walking down the the aisles.

In response to this shift, Kraft Heinz is investing "to build our capability for the pull factor" in online sales, he said. Kraft Heinz recently promoted Nina Barton, former marketing chief, to be the company's first president of global online and digital growth initiatives.

"Our job is the same as it's ever been -- to adapt quickly and keep our brands relevant for all customers and channels," spokesman Michael Mullen said in an email.

Total global retail e-commerce is expected to grow by 20 percent to become a $4 trillion market by 2020, far outpacing the growth rate of traditional retail, according to Nielsen research. But so far, online sales of groceries has lagged behind other consumer goods like clothes and electronics.

That's in part because grocery retailers have yet to crack the code on delivery of fresh food, which can be costly and labor intensive. Some retailers have found more success so far with in-store pickup options.

"People are just not sure how to make money on grocery delivery," said Randy Hofbauer, digital and technology editor for Progressive Grocer, an industry trade publication.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that food manufacturers are still trying navigate their own digital strategies. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group, published a report this year _ after interviewing 22 executives _ that concluded the industry is still playing catch-up.

"Not that long ago, large consumer packaged goods companies in developed markets had little to worry about. Their products dominated retail shelves. ... In the 'new normal,' however, everything has changed. Consumers want more," said Laura Gurski, senior managing director of customer and channels for Accenture, in an email. Accenture partnered with the grocery trade group on the research.

While 23 percent of Americans are buying groceries online today, that's expected to more than triple in less than 10 years, according to a Nielsen report published last week.

Mondelez, parent company of brands like Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers, has invested heavily in e-commerce, partnering with bricks-and-mortar retailers as well as online giants such as Amazon and Alibaba. Mondelez plans to grow its e-commerce business to more than $1 billion by 2020.

Both Kraft Heinz and Mondelez also sell some products directly to consumers, cutting out retailers altogether.

Iconic American brands like Oreo cookies and Heinz ketchup have survived numerous tidal waves of change in the food industry over the decades. They're still standing.

"So I don't think this is radically different. I do think the speed of the changes is perhaps more pronounced than we might have seen in the past," Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld told investors last week.

Rosenfeld said the winners will adapt to the changes accordingly.
December 27, 1929 November 1, 2017 John A. Anziulewicz, M.D., of Moneta, Va. passed away at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, November 1, 2017, following a short illness. Dr. Anziulewicz was born on December 27, 1929, in Throop, Pa. He was preceded in death by his parents, Adam and Anna Anziulewicz; and a brother, Raymond Anzel. He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Patricia Anziulewicz; sons, Charles Anziulewicz of Charleston, W.Va., Matthew Anziulewicz of Roanoke, Va.; daughters, Ann and son-in-law, Ignacio Cardenas, M.D. of Vienna, W.Va., Sharon Layman of Roanoke, and son-in-law, Eric Layman of Fincastle; and seven grandchildren, Madison and Christopher Irwin, M.D., Cameron, Tyler and Luke Cardenas, John Michael King, Emma and Garrett Layman. He received his M.D. at SUNY College of Medicine in Syracuse, N.Y.. He served his country in the United States Navy as Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Arneb during Operation Deep Freeze, a resupply operation to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. He worked in the Emergency Room at Bethesda Suburban Hospital and the AEC. He then did a specialty in Radiology at Washington (DC) Hospital Center. He moved to Bluefield, W.Va. and worked at Bluefield Community Hospital and his private Radiology practice as well as Medical Instructor at Bluefield State College School of Radiologic Technology. He retired to Smith Mountain Lake, where he lived happily for 30 years with his wife. Dr. Anziulewicz and his wife attended Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church in Bedford, VA. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to a charity, of your choice, in his memory. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m., Monday, November 20, at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church with Father Stephen McNally celebrating. Family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. A reception will follow in the social hall. A private interment will follow at Resurrection Catholic Church. Arrangements by Burch-Messier Funeral Home Bedford, 540-586-7360.
By Ken Conklin

Conklin, of Daleville, is a consultant to the technology industry.

I was nineteen when the U.S. Army sent me to Vietnam. Who knows what was going on in my adolescent mind at the time but the net result was not qualifying for a student deferment from the draft.

I was assigned to a unit made up of a diverse group of folks from all over the country. Most of us were at that stage of life falling somewhere between adolescence and adulthood. Close bonds formed naturally between us as we collectively learned how to decode Army speak from our leaders who were mostly in their mid-twenties. However, when each of us returned to our respective homes after serving our year of mandatory service in Vietnam, we did not remain in contact with one another.

In early 2015 I was diagnosed with a condition that was presumedly caused by being exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange while in Vietnam. Curious if any of the others I served with had experienced any latent Agent Orange issues, I sought out surviving members from my unit and found my buddy Andy from Minnesota.

After exchanging several emails with each other Andy sent a photo he kept of the two of us. If one looked at our disheveled appearance in this photo and attempted to predict what each of us was going to accomplish in life the conclusion would have been not much. But it turns out one of us went on to become a prominent attorney while the other ended up in Daleville, Virginia.

Agent Orange is comprised of the contaminant TCDD, a human carcinogen. I assume now that Agent Orange was the acrid smelling spray raining down from the low flying helicopters I witnessed whirling by my area. I did not know this until the early 1980s though. That is when news items began to surface about Vietnam Veterans suffering latent catastrophic diseases consistent with exposure to a TCDD infested environment. Those lawsuits resulted in the Veterans Administration compensating those of us diagnosed with one of the fourteen presumptive Agent Orange caused diseases.

Thankfully, with the support of my wife, family, friends, physicians, and the VA, my condition is in remission. I must admit, though, I became disillusioned when I learned my government decided it was appropriate to spray this toxic chemical on their troops and civilians they were supposed to protect.

When I first made contact with Andy he reported he was healthy and active but knew of other Vietnam Veterans whose lives had been impacted by Agent Orange. I was glad to know he was well and that we were reconnected. Like me, he was physically active and especially enjoyed outdoor activities.

Then, this past June, I received an email from him informing me that he too had been diagnosed with an Agent Orange presumptive disease, multiple myeloma. Since his diagnoses he has maintained a blog on Caring Bridge regarding his treatment. It is heartwarming to see the support he is receiving from his friends and family and compelling to read about his treatment. He also injects entertaining metaphors and poignant humor into his commentaries like the one titled, For Multiple Myeloma, Press 5. Clearly, and importantly, he is buoyed knowing people around him care.

This Veterans Day I am absorbed with the latent effects of war and its permeation onto not only war veterans, but also rippling through all of us. During a recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where row upon row of grave markers ranging from the Civil War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be seen in all directions, I experienced a stark reminder of this fact. One cannot help but wonder about the lives led by each individual buried there and how their participation in a war affected those who cared for their wellbeing; the ramifications echoing through to today.

There is an obscure Elton John tune Talking Old Soldiers (lyrics by Bernie Taupin) about a young man  lets assume he is nineteen  meeting an old war veteran who laments about the world no longer caring about or learning from his war experiences. The old soldier appreciates the attention the young man gives him.

This Veterans Day I hope all our veterans are with someone who is empathetic and will commiserate with them on how the lifelong personal remnants of being at war affects them and their loved ones. And that we all, especially our young people, will listen and learn from our veterans experiences.
Recently, in an Escondid, Calif., backyard, Erika Shawver witnessed something she never thought shed see: Her 3-year-old son Caiden went for a swim.

Caiden has a sensory-processing disorder. Over the past year or so, every time Erika took her son to a pool for paid lessons, hed end up in hysterics, fearful of the water, of being touched or being approached by an instructor.

Then Caiden met Cori.

Cori is a 1-year-old golden/Labrador retriever mix in training to become a certified water rescue dog. Cori offers canine assistance to swimming instructors, which means she can make pool time fun, educational and less scary for children with special needs.

As soon as Cori leapt into the swimming pool with Caiden that day, the boys anxieties over strangers, being touched, noise and other sensory issues washed away.

He can get overwhelmed so easily, so I was shocked when I saw how quickly he responded to Cori, Shawver said. He had confidence in the dog, which made him confident in himself and it made him want to swim with Cori. Then he began to trust the teacher because she was helping him be with Cori.

At his third swim lesson this week, Caiden plunged into the water without Cori, clung happily to the instructor and held his breath underwater for the first time.

Cori is the latest canine prodigy owned by Judy Fridono. The Escondido dog trainer is better known for her other pet, Surf Dog Ricochet, who has more than 230,000 followers on Facebook. Ricochet is a gentle-natured, 9-year-old golden retriever and certified therapy dog who has won national acclaim riding waves with children and veterans with special needs.

Fridono, 59, became a full-time certified dog trainer in 2003 when rheumatoid arthritis forced her to give up her career in health care. Ricochet hadnt made the grade as a regular therapy dog, but she excelled in surfing. So Fridono started the nonprofit foundation Waves of Empowerment, which provides free surf training with Ricochet for children and adults with special needs.

Because Fridonos mobility is limited, she has relied over the years on volunteer Deb Parker to serve as the water handler for Ricochet, and now Cori. Parker, who is a chef by training, said Cori has come a long way. As a puppy, she was afraid of the water and showed zero talent for surfing.

Then, on a beach trip in May, Parker said she noticed that Cori would pull to shore any children who grabbed her leash or collar. And in Fridonos backyard, above-ground swimming pool, Cori would leap into the water after children and push them with her fast-paddling front legs toward the stairs.

Cori just has a natural instinct, Parker said. Judy doesnt push dogs into doing anything. She believes every dog has their purpose. If we listen to them, they will tell us what that is.

The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place in June, when Fridono and Parker met Jodi Powell at a Waves of Empowerment autism paddleboard camp in Carlsbad.

Powell was there because her 6-year-old son, Logan, has sensory processing issues. She also runs Special Fishies Swim & Play, a 20-year-old swim school for children with special needs, including autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.

Powell said that many children on the autism spectrum dont feel connected to their bodies, but when theyre in the water that connection occurs, so it can be a very freeing experience if they can learn to swim.

However, Powell said she has spent up to three years with some students because every special-needs child learns in different ways, some slower than others. After she saw how her son Logan interacted with Ricochet at the camp, and later with Cori in the pool, she wondered if dogs might be the missing ingredient in making a breakthrough with the hardest-to-reach children.

Over the past few months, the trio of women have worked intensively with Cori and Powells two sons, Logan, and 4-year-old Sawyer, Caiden and others to practice different swim-training techniques.

Fridono has reached out to the Scuola Italiana Cani Salvataggio  a school in Italy where dogs are trained as working lifeguards  about getting Cori certified for water rescue. She has also outfitted Cori with an Italian-made, life-saving vest. The buoyant vest has handles on the back that children can grip to be pulled around the pool, something Caiden Shawver especially enjoys.

The trio plans to apply for grants to create a nonprofit program for canine-assisted swimming. For now, theyre offering lessons on a sliding scale to special needs students through Powells company (specialfishies.org). Eventually, they hope to build a permanent pool and sensory education center where both Powell and Parker can work full time.

Until then, theyre all volunteering their time, watching what Parker calls breathtaking work between Cori and the swim students.

Cori is the bridge between the instructor and special-needs children, Parker said. What she does is create a bridge of trust between them and then the magic can happen.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said he is standing by Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, despite allegations that the Alabama candidate pursued relationships with underage teens several years ago.

"Until I see additional evidence on Judge Moore, I'm standing with him," Bannon said in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday night.

An explosive Washington Post report released Thursday based on interviews with more than 30 people detailed allegations that the 70-year-old Moore had pursued sexual relationships with several women when they were between 14 and 18 years old and he was in his 30s, and in one instance had sexual contact with an underage teen.

Moore has denied the allegations, and on Friday afternoon called them politically motivated.

"These allegations are completely false and misleading," Moore told Sean Hannity on the talk show host's syndicated radio show.

Bannon's comments came a day after he compared the accusations against Moore to the "Access Hollywood" tape that surfaced during the 2016 election and revealed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump using vulgar language to describe groping women.

"The Bezos Amazon Washington Post that dropped that dime on Donald Trump is the same Bezos Amazon Washington Post that dropped the dime this afternoon on Judge Roy Moore," Bannon said at a dinner of conservative activists in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Thursday night. "Now is that a coincidence? That's what I mean when I say opposition party, right?"

Bannon supported Moore during the Alabama primary race against Trump-backed candidate Sen. Luther Strange, R-Alabama. On Friday night, Bannon also said other Republican politicians have become "intimidated" by the media.

"Too many politicians are intimidated by those guys, right," Bannon said while pointing to the camera. "They're intimidated by that. If I got a superpower at all it's that I do not give a good damn about what you think."
Samar I extends support to future artists

By APRIL FATIMA DIRA VILLANUEVA

October 20, 2017

CALBAYOG CITY  Samar First District Engineering Office is given a recognition as the Most Outstanding Education Stakeholder, for actively engaging and sharing responsibility for developing life-long learners through lending the DPWH Heavy Equipment for Construction of Calbayog Arts and Design School of Eastern Visayas (CADSEV) access road for school year 2016-2017.

The Department of Education, Region VIII-Eastern Visayas headed by Ms. Teresa D. Villa, Public Schools District Supervisor, during their Schools Banner Project Launching, Stakeholders Pasidungog and Teachers Day Celebration on September 25, 2017 at Ciriaco Hotel and Resort, handed the award to DPWH representative Engr. Hendrix Ortega.

Calbayog Arts and Design School of Eastern Visayas is the only school in Region VIII that caters to students who love to express their creativity and passion in Arts and Design Track. Established in October 13, 2015, during their first year of operation in June 13, 2016 they had an enrollees of 34 students in 1st Semester and 28 students in 2nd Semester.

For this year, 96 students for 1st Semester coming from Leyte, Eastern Samar, Samar, Northern Samar and Calbayog City flocks to CADSEV for learning.

A showcase of their learnings can be seen from various awards garnered by students from the school in almost all competitions such as: Champion - Raul Isisdro Body Painting Competition 2016, Best Model - Raul Isidro Body Painting Competition 2016, 2nd Place - Hadang Dance Festival 2016, 3rd Runner-up - Miss Hadang 2016, 1st Place - Kuratsa Dance Competition, 1st Place - Ballroom Dance Competition, 1st Place - Pop Dance Competition, 1st Place - Cheer Dance Competition, 1st Place - Vocal Duet Competition, 1st Place - Vocal Solo Competition, Miss Siglakas 2016 and 1st Runner-up Mr. Siglakas 2016.

Mr. Aris Ventures, school teacher in CADSEV extends his grateful appreciation to DPWH for their continued support to their school in providing the equipment and everyday maintenance of their area.
And so finally, it looks as if Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, has had enough of the Online Hacker whos been gleefully calling himself, Ole Palemia.

Indeed, it looks as if hes made up his mind that Ole Palemia would be tracked down, and then when hes found he would be severely punished, and be shown who exactly is the boss here.

Over recent weeks, Ole Palemia has been sending out messages on the Internet where hes been accusing the government of the Human Rights Protection Party, and Prime Minister Tuilaepa in paricular, of being corrupt.

Indeed, hes even gone ahead and accused the government of being seriously lacking in transparency and accountability, so that in his view he said an investigation was dearly warranted.

And then as if that was not harsh enough, he went on and accused Tuilaepa of running the government as if it was a dictatorship, which - whether he was aware or not - was the one criticism that Tuilaepa would have found impossible to tolerate.

Indeed, it was just what Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, hated to hear.

So that right away, not only did Tuilaepa reject the dictatorship comparison, he went ahead and announced that the Law of Criminal Libel that his government had abolished in 2013, would be revived.

In any case, that was apparently how sick in the stomach he was about being told that his pride and joy, the government of the Human Rights Protection Party, was being run like as dictatorship.

Clearly he did not accept that.

Neither did he accept the claim that part of the reason the Law of Criminal Libel is being revised today, is to restrict freedom of speech in Samoa.

No! No!

What he accepts is that, freedom of speech will never be restricted while the government of which he is the Prime Minister, is in control.

In hind-sight though, Tuilaepa said he regretted the decision to remove Criminal Libel from the law books, in the first place.

He also said: I shouldve never abolished this law which caters to protect victims of defamation.

However, he said, he accepts that he has critics who have called him a dictator.

He also said: There have been writings that accuse me of being a dictator (in relation to the law of Criminal Libel), and yet it is not my law.

So whose law is it?

Well, all we know is that Criminal Libel is an old British law.

Back on 25 October 2009, the British newspaper, The Guardian, in a story titled Campaigners claim victory for freedom of speech, said: Freedom of speech campaigners are claiming victory as the House of Lords is expected to back changes removing anachronistic laws which have criminalized libel for more than 700 years.

It also said: The changes, which will be debated as part of the controversial coroners and justice bill, repeal laws dating back to 1275 and allow extremely serious libel and sedition to be prosecuted in criminal courts.

The laws have long been regarded as an impediment to freedom of speech and an anomaly in the UK, which has encouraged countries with repressive regimes not to conduct prosecutions for libel.

The abolition of sedition is long overdue, said Geoffrey Robertson QC, who successfully defended Salman Rushdie in the last sedition case held in Britain, over Rushdies book, The Satanic Verses.

This law is still used throughout the Commonwealth by repressive governments to jail their opponents. Its abolition here ensures that those governments can no longer use the excuse that they are merely following British law.

Agnes Callamard, executive director of campaign group Article 19, said: This will send a very strong and clear signal globally that democracies do not have criminal defamation laws.

The governments admission that the law, which has been widely recognized as hampering freedom of press and political dissent, must change comes after increasing concern about clampdowns in other countries, including many states in Europe and the Commonwealth.

These common law offenses are anachronistic and their continuing existence, albeit seldom used, has been cited by other countries as justification for the retention of similar laws, which have been actively used to restrict media freedom, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said.

The UK is committed to encouraging other countries to recognize and respect freedom of expression, and the media must take the lead in abolishing these out-of-date offenses.

Now that was the British Law of Criminal Libel in Great Britain in those days; it was, without a doubt, the enemy of freedom of speech, political dissent, and yes, free thought.

And yet, sometime in the last decade, it turned up in Samoa.

Later still, when Prime Minister Toflau Eti Alesana, passed away on 12 August 1999, it was abolished.

And today, Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, has revealed that the Law of Criminal Libel is being revived.

But why?

Well, according to him, so that it can be used to track down Ole Palemia, as well as those (writers) who are in favor of those doing the damage.

He added: What about those who are victims of defamation?

This is a Christian move to protect the victims who are being defamed.

Indeed, this law is designed as a refuge to people whose names and reputations have been ruined.

He added: This law will target those who defame individuals and tarnish their good names. This is their safe haven.

Tuilaepa then said: In the small time the said law was abolished, defamation has increased significantly here in Samoa.

When it was my time, he said, maybe I was a bit too kind. With confidence that those who defamed others were no longer in existence, that is why I abolished that law.

But now I know. The previous Members of Parliament knew what they were doing.

Its understood that the Attorney Generals Office has been tasked with the job of reintroducing the Criminal Libel law, which main task is to address the growing number of ghost writers who use fake social media pages to attack members of the public.

One such page is known as Ole Palemia.

It is also understood that the Police had launched an investigation to find out who is responsible for that page but then up until now, they have not been successful; all they know is that there are other pages.

And yet the government has had enough, a government statement said.

The intention is not only to protect the privacy of individuals and the general public from unsubstantiated, vicious and inciting allegations posted by ghost writers on the social media, but to also safeguard and ensure that peace and harmony in the country remain intact.

The statement quoted Prime Minister Tuilaepa as saying that since the Criminal Libel law was abolished (from the Crimes Act of 2013), some have abused the freedom to express their views, in particular the defamatory allegations posted on social media.

Some of these postings could lead to violent confrontation which may eventually cause misery to families and government will not stand by any longer, Tuilaepa said.

Subject to approval by Parliament, the Prime Minister says the new act will ensure that the ghost writers will be brought to justice to answer to their writings.

And they could be liable to be prosecuted with offenses that will include imprisonment.

The H.R.P.P. caucus is in full support, Tuilaepa said.

There are 4,500 hackers in Samoa. Some are children and even lawyers are among the best hackers in the country.

And to find the writers hiding behind anonymity by using their freedom of expression to vent their vile and demeaning allegations on social media will no longer be tolerated. They should be warned now that their days of mischiefs are numbered.

The hackers, added Prime Minister Tuilaepa, will be used by the government to track down the ghost writers.

Now how are they going to do this anyway?

What happens if the hackers refuse to be used by the government to track down the ghost writers?

Its understood though that the proposed Act will be tabled in Parliament on Monday.

Incidentally, what is Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malilelegaoi going to do to Ole Palemia and the hackers when they are found?

Is he going to throw them in the dungeons as they did in the United Kingdom more than 700 years ago?

It would be interesting to know.

Have a peaceful Sunday Samoa, God bless.
Dear Editor,

With due respect, we write in response to your article titled Tension in the halls of Justice published on the Sunday Samoan of 6th November 2017.

In the story, Faaolesa Katopau says that his letter to the President of the Land and Titles Court was merely a request for him not to consider a complaint for a case that had been resolved in 2011.

Common sense prevails. This entails he is meddling with the role of the President. Now we want to point out a few things for the information of members of the public who have read this story. Its important we correct this information for the sake of our family.

(a) There was no case in 2011.

(b) You bestowed titles to your family members on December 2011 and had an article in the Samoa Observer straight after.

(c) Faaolesa Katopaus other comment in the story reads: There was a case in 2012 and our family won and the chiefly titles were honoured

(d) In April 2012 you advertised in the Savali to have these names registered and we objected. We had a Court case with you and your family in 2013, which we won as you withdrew with your signed letter on the 8th May 2013 (Your signature). The honourable Lands and Titles Court delivered the decision in favour of the facts and fai le amiotonu ma puipui measina ale matou Aiga.

(e) We dont need to tell you about the Faaolesa title. It is a suafa e pule ai Seumanutafa ma ona Suli.

(e) In the same story, you are quoted as saying: Another chief has written to the Lands and Titles President asking him to re-open the case... it is now 2017.

For your information, there was no other chief - it was you who appealed the decision of the Court of 2013 quoting section 79 (1) (f) of the Lands and Titles Act 1981.

The facts are there now, let the people be the judge then.

We also want to make it very clear that Faaolesa Katopau Ainuu is not a suli (heir) and never will be of the Seumanutafa family. Aua ete lagalaga maa  O matou o se Aiga filemu, e tumu i le faaaloalo, e loto maulalo ma e puipui i measina ale matou Aiga na faasolo mai ai tuaa le suia faavae sa matou tautua ai ma o la ma ai i totonu le lotoi o le Aiga. E lei taitai ona maua sou taeao i le matou Aiga sa Seumanutafa. Tulou Samoa i ou Paia ma outou mamalu!

Eleitino Michelle Meredith,

Gregory Meredith,

Tautualekaisa Monette

Hill ma isi

Suli ole Suafa Seumanutafa
Dear Editor,

Malie toa, malie tau! Savea stood facing the sea, watching the King sail away and felt the wind of change rush through him. He thought of the future of his people, and wondered if this battle would be remembered.

Would it remain in the hearts of his people for generations to come?

The pain the evil King brought, the torment the evil King brought, the corruption the evil King brought?

Would it last forever why at last they came together to overthrow this King?

Would they cry for his family, his friends, his warriors who died to end his reign?

Would they remember the women who ran desperately to hide their children when the Kings men came?

The fathers who fell to their knees helplessly when the Kings men carried their sons away?

Would they remember the children crying out in vain for someone, anyone to find them, save them please come and save them?

How long would they be free? How long before the next King the next Queen came to torture them again?

Will his bloodline at least remember? To save their children? Their family? Their people? Will they be strong enough to come together again? To go against anyone who feared too long a King that imprisoned them? To stand up, to scream, to war for all those they cherished?

Savea tightened his eyes to hold back the tears and took a deep breath then turned to face his warriors

Take the story of this battle to all the people, let them know in the song sung from your lips to their waiting ears, let them know in your voices that erupts from your hearts, let them know although their tears filled the clouds above us, although their fears rumbled in the trees that surrounded us, we did not forget their love, their love gave us the strength to raise our weapons time and time again, let them know we are free because together all the spirits of our land roared through the wind, WE ARE NOT AFRAID!

H.M
Dear Editor,

Re: Kevin article on tourism and aviation

We need to look at the bigger picture and long-term outcomes. Samoa needs to protect its national carrier, by having our own airline we can also control our airfares.

Too long Virgin and AirNZ have been taking advantage of Samoa and its people, you and I as Samoans will always travel back and forth but for the tourist - just too expensive to get here.

Having 3 airlines competing on one route eg AKL-APW doesnt not necessarily mean more competition as VA and Air NZ can go on low sales to undercut Samoa Airways then we return back to duopoly we cant control - so whilst airfares go cheap for next months they will then skyrocket again and we again become uncompetitive against other destinations.

Samoa Airways enables us to control airfares sustainably and airfares competitive. This is not new practice and what has made other national carriers grow and flourish, encouraging tourists.

As a frequent traveller between Oz/NZ and APW I know this is the first time in years where the airfare in Dec return is less than $1500 NZD. Without Samoa Airways entering theres no way that would of happened.

Also when people are comparing fares, they need to take into account seasonality etc. It is unfair to expect Samoa Airways to offer a cheap airfare 365 days of the year as this does not make commercial sense. Compare apples with apples.

This is common practice across international airlines across the globe. See and embrace the bigger picture with not just short term but long term and sustainable goals. Regards,

Matt
The eagle has landed. It might have taken a while yesterday but the wait for Samoa in relation to her new international airline, Samoa Airways, is finally over with the aircraft touching down at Faleolo International Airport.

At approximately 3:47 p.m., the Samoa Airways aircraft made its grand entrance onto the apron to the applause of those present to witness this significant event.

It was a proud moment for the Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Seiuli Alvin Tuala and the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lautafi Fio Purcell.

The Boeing 77800 glided its way on the runway to the apron area where it received a special water salute provided by the Samoa Airport Authority before making a stop in front of the Samoa Airways crew and government officials.

I am very excited and happy today and so is every Samoan, Minister Lautafi said.

This is a big development in Samoas future. We are very positive that this is a move in the right direction. To grow as a nation we have to start taking steps ourselves and stop relying on others so this is a new venture.

A smiling Seiuli couldnt agree more.

It was very exciting to see that, he said about the aircrafts arrival. The real work starts now. We have to focus on a lot of things and make sure that we provide a very good service to our people."

Over the last two years we have been slowly working on this and we only just amped it up over the last six months with lots of hard days and nights that have culminated in this aircraft coming together.

Seiulis vision for the Airline is quite simple.

We want to see Samoa Airways grow and make sure we have more routes and more passengers. We have to work now to make it successful and try to serve our people as best we can, he said.

While everyone present was swept up in the excitement of Samoas new aircraft, the lessons of the past remained faintly in peoples minds.

The Minister addressed the white elephant in the room when he spoke about the way forward for the nations national carrier.

I dont even think about what happened in the past, that was before my time and if anything we have learnt lessons from that, he said.

Thats why Polynesian Airlines failed because they didnt do the things they should have done. We should manage Samoa Airways as a business  effectively and efficiently to make money and at the same time we service our people, thats what its all about."

Weve got to balance our service for our people with profitability. We have to survive and number one, we have to look after ourselves first.

In reference to other competitors such Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand, the Minister said: Well see how we go and then when we see opportunities for them (Virgin) to come, we will let them in again but not at this time."

We have to look after number one, which is one airline  and were going to try and squeeze between New Zealand and Virgin? No. Any business person will say thats a failure before you even start  you may as well give up the dream."

Weve got to be very competitive and the whole thing is, weve been subjected to some very high fares throughout the year so they may give us low fares towards Christmas but thats after eleven months of what I would say are the most expensive airfares in the world.

Seiuli is optimistic about Samoa Airways future and he is also aware that their work is cut out for them as the nations expectations weigh heavily on their shoulders.

Going forward, Seiuli said it was imperative that everyone worked together to ensure the success of Samoa Airways.

We would really like the country to get behind its national carrier and support it. Things have happened in the past and now thats gone. This is a new day and we are looking forward to serving our people. We have very good teams that we work with and we are looking forward to the future."

Without the country we cant move forward. We need the countrys support and we need our people behind us and I guess thats the main thing, its the people  were here to serve them."

Were here look after them and in turn theyll look after us. It cant be done on your own; youve got to have your people right behind you, he said.

Before arriving in Samoas airspace, the Samoa Airways aircraft began its maiden voyage from Europe on the morning of Friday 10th November.

Prior to landing at Faleolo International Airport, the aircraft performed a fly-pass around the skies of Samoa presenting herself over the islands of Savaii, Manono, Apolima and Upolu before heading to American Samoa.

On its return from American Samoa, Samoa Airways gave one final salute to its nation, with a low pass over Apia city before she officially landed at Faleolo International Airport.

The Airline will be officially launched tomorrow before her inaugural flight to Auckland on Tuesday morning.
Australias Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, has paid tribute to the bravery and courage of Taisi O. F. Nelson.

Ms. Fierravanti-Wells offered the compliment during the launch of Tautai: Samoa, World History, and the Life of Taisi O. F. Nelson book by Patricia OBrien in Sydney last month.

It was the third launch of the book with the first in Samoa in early August and the second in Auckland, New Zealand, in late August

You have shown us, Dr OBrien, that Taisi was a Tautai, a navigator, who helped to steer Samoas non-violent independence movement, Ms. Fierravanti-Wells said (read her speech in full on page 7).

He is a significant figure not just in Samoan history, but in the history of the South Pacific. I think Dr OBrien, you are right to claim that he is also a figure of world-historical interest.

There is a lot to love about this man and a lot that makes him a worthy subject of study for all who are part of the wider Pacific family.

He was a devoted father and a matai, who managed to live a life in Samoa while also - a traditional life in Samoa while also building a multinational business.

The former Head of State and Taisis grandson, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi was present at the launch.

Tautai is a book about redemption and hope, his Highness Tui Atua said (read his speech on page 6).

It offers redemption for the pain caused by the unfair silence that surrounded the truth of the Mau. It offers hope that it is possible to write good, sensitive, well-researched, nuanced and balanced Samoan history.

Author Patricia OBrien said Australia was an important part of Taisi s life.

Sydney was a place he and his family knew very well, he said.

He came here regularly for business and to transport his three eldest daughters  Noue, Malienafau and Piliopo  to and from their school, Methodist Ladies College in Burwood.

Taisi had an office on George Street near Palings Lane and his connections with Sydney were deep and complex. Sydney was also the place where the legal work for the immense Samoan petition to the League of Nations of 1928 was performed.

Throughout the writing of the book, I was always fascinated by the thought of Taisi, a physically imposing Samoan, walking the streets of Sydney and establishing such strong connections with this city during the height of White Australia. He was a pioneer of Samoan Sydney, as he was of Samoan Auckland as well as a groundbreaker in so many other ways as I describe in Tautai.

I have no doubt that Taisi walked the halls of this museum during his many stays in this city. He was fascinated by history, anthropology and learning and this museum would have stoked these great passions of his. So this is another reason that launching this book chronicling his extraordinary life should be done here.
Samoa Stationery and Books (S.S.A.B.) has presented $10,000 in cash and kind to the Samoa Cancer Society.

President of S.S.A.B. Fiti Lafaele-Leung Wai said it had been a privilege for them to be part of the cancer awareness campaign.

The promotion was dedicated to a very special person, my dearest sister, Ata Toleafoa, a strong fighter and survivor of cancer, said Mrs. Leung Wai.

It also acknowledges a dear friend, Manamea ApeluSchwalger, whose hard work and commitment to the Pinktober promotion and cancer awareness has probably saved many lives.

Mrs. Leung Wai added the promotion had touched her sisters heart.

The promotion made her want to do something to make a difference, she said.

Shes far away in America, but her heart is still here with our people in Samoa, especially our Samoa Cancer Society and as a result she donated $5,000 for our Samoa Cancer Society.

A lot of people say that they care but I believe actions really also matter.

Ata, I hope our actions and promotion shows our love for you and to say we care and want to help by supporting the Samoa Cancer Society and spreading awareness with the hope to save lives.

She also acknowledges the support of her staff throughout the month of October.

S.S.A.B. had stated from the outset of our Pinktober promotion that a percentage of proceeds from our sale of every pink item in the shop will be donated to the Samoa Cancer Society.

Five percent of such proceeds amounted to a round less than $1,000 but S.S.A.B. has decided to match my sister Atas donation of $5,000.

As such I am happy to announce that we will be donating $5,000 to Samoa Cancer Society, so overall Ata and S.S.A.B. have agreed to donate $10,000 altogether.

Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Cancer Society, Shelley Burich, acknowledged the support from S.S.A.B. throughout the Pinktober month.

I realize that it is not easy for a lot of businesses to be doing a lot of this community work that you do but we applaud you for taking on the Pinktober challenge and for all the work that you do for the community in Samoa, she said.

Pinktober was a great success in more ways than one and yes the monetary donation is great and they are very helpful.

The personalization that it created for breast cancer awareness and that has been the biggest success of Pinktober in October.

We had just for the Samoa Cancer Society alone we had over 100 people either come to our office or give us a call to ask about breast cancer awareness.

Throughout the Pinktober awareness, we raised more than $30,000 and so I thank everyone for their support and especially to S.S.A.B.
Jaime Diaz didnt think the deputies were serious about offering him help when they met him living by a trash bin in south Vista earlier this week.

Then they showed up Wednesday morning, this time with public health nurses and county workers who could link the homeless 32-year-old man with resources, even get the processes started right there on the spot. He was particularly interested in Medi-Cal; hed been suffering from an infected tooth. He also agreed to get a hepatitis A shot.

The homeless man has been living near a vacant restaurant since it closed a few months back, sometimes surviving on old convenience store sandwiches.

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Im in need, the disheveled man said. Very much.

Diaz is among the homeless population who could benefit from a team approach in North County. The program is designed to contact chronically homeless people to offer them assistance in obtaining services and support, according to Lt. Glenn Giannantonio of the Vista station.

Homeless Outreach Team members (from left) Eduardo Hernandez and Briana Peralta (from North Coastal Family Resource Center) give assistance to Jaime Diaz (2nd from right) along Melrose Drive on Wednesday in Vista, California. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune )

In recent weeks, he said, sheriffs stations based in Vista, San Marcos and Encinitas all added Homeless Outreach Teams, teamed with public health nurses as well as county workers who can help homeless people sign up for services such as CalFresh (commonly referred to as food stmps) or Medi-Cal.

The hope is that with additional support, some of these individuals will be able to improve their living conditions and ultimately obtain permanent housing, Giannantonio said in an email.

He said the plan to create the teams was in the works before the countys outbreak of hepatitis A. As of Tuesday, 544 cases of the highly contagious virus had been reported. Twenty people have died, and 372 people had been hospitalized.

County Health and Human Services Agency spokesman Craig Sturak said in an email that when officials determined the hepatitis A outbreak was primarily affecting homeless as well as illicit drug users, they knew traditional health messaging and outreach was not going to see them get vaccinated.

We needed to get to them, not expect that they would come to a health clinic, Sturak said.

Jaime Diaz reads over information he received from Homeless Outreach Team members on Wednesday in Vista. ((Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) )

Homeless Outreach Teams are not new; San Diego police have one, so does Oceanside. The sheriffs department started one in East County a couple years ago.

The new outreach in North County has seen some success. The Encinitas-based sheriffs deputies teamed with county nurses earlier and were able to provide vaccines to nine homeless people. Lt. Russell Shimmin of the North Coastal station said some of the people they have encountered were already receiving some form of assistance, but werent interested in housing. Others declined services

The Vista team first went out back in September, with a visit to Wildwood Park, where several people agreed to come for a shot and more, according to Deputy Kimberly Odell.

On Wednesday, the new Vista team went out for a third time, handing out hygiene kits, little paper bags with towelettes, hand sanitizer, plastic bags, two bottles of water and information about hepatitis A.

After the visit with Diaz, they tracked down 24-year-old Oscar Lopez, who has been living under a tree, among some rocks near Bobier Drive. The deputies had come across him during their enforcement patrols and they thought he might be a good candidate for help from the outreach team.

Its a delicate balance of enforcement and outreach, said Odell, of the Vista team. We are trying to give people an opportunity for help, at least as much as we can.

Lopez talked with the team, and agreed to get information about CalFresh. He declined the hepatitis A shot, telling a reporter that hed already been vaccinated as a child.

Clutching his guitar, and with his black sweatshirt dotted with yellow plant material, Lopez said he has been living outside for about three weeks.

Stopped paying my rent  bad habits, he said. Ive been getting a reality check.

Throughout the morning Wednesday, three deputies took the team to homeless hot spots. They stopped in a central Vista park, where at least one woman came over to get resources information. But she couldnt get the shot; she was pregnant.

Bertina Gnirs (middle) gets assistance and a Hepatitis A vaccine from Robin Anderson (left), a public health nurse, and Angie Padilla (right) along South Santa Fe Avenue in Vista on Wednesday. ((Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune )

The trip took them to downtown Vista, where 58-year-old Bertina Gnirs, who had been sleeping by a rock, agreed to get the hepatitis A shot.

People need to get em if its on a rampage, the woman said, adding that she fears needles and had twice before turned down the shot in recent months. After she finished up and was about to head back to the rock, she called out a message:

Thank you so much, she said. It didnt hurt.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
Leadership failures, crew incompetence and bad advice about how to fix a simple leak doomed a key engine on the littoral combat ship Freedom during a high-profile 2016 mishap, a Navy probe found.

Completed on Oct. 4 and released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the investigative report portrays multiple, serious and systemic problems on the vessel and in the larger littoral combat ship program.

What began as a simple leak detected on July 11, 2016, triggered a weeklong series of problems, all of them exacerbated by lax shipboard standards, poor leadership and the faulty input of outside experts who should have known better, the report determined.

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Some of this involved a crew making some bad mistakes. It started small but it never had to become a major engineering casualty, said U.S. Pacific Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman by telephone.

But its also important to look at this report in light of a large number of reforms that were made since then. The report reinforces the need for the changes that were already being identified to the (littoral combat ship) program and that were made after the incident and which continue to be made.

Those reforms were kicked off by Coronado-based Vice Adm. Tom Rowden. The Naval Surface Forces commander has sought to overhaul how the warships are staffed, maintained and deployed to potentially wage war against increasingly capable 21st century enemies.

Armed with the reports initial findings, Rowden fired the Freedoms skipper, Cmdr. Michael Wohnhaas, after losing confidence in his ability to command the vessel.

In a letter attached to the investigation, Rowden, called the destruction of the engine completely preventable  partly because Wohnhaas and an engineering department officer unnamed in the report hid from superiors the truth about the engines real condition.

Launched in 2006, the $670.4 million Freedom was the lead vessel in a futuristic fleet of nimble warships, but the program was plagued by cost overruns, design flaws, maintenance glitches and command snafus.

Its engine failure off the coast of Southern California during Rim of the Pacific war games drew renewed attention to the problems bedeviling the littoral combat ship fleet.

Held every two years off the coast of Hawaii, RIMPAC is the worlds largest multinational maritime exercise and it garners widespread coverage by the international press.

In 2016, 26 nations sent 51 warships and submarines and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel to the maneuvers.

The Freedoms problems began with a sudden loss of firemain pressure. Thats the system that feeds seawater to fireplugs, sprinklers and foam stations on a vessel in the event of a blaze.

Starting up a pump briefly restored the pressure but it fell when the device was shut off and sailors started snooping for the source of the leak.

They discovered flooding in the Main Machinery Room. Water was gushing out of a hole in a seawater pump that was attached to one of the propulsion diesel engines.

An unidentified crewman stoppered the gap with a plug and clamped it down, seemingly solving the leak problem but in reality setting in motion the decay that eventually would destroy the engine.

The hole was whats called a telltale drain  a vent that allows mechanics to continuously monitor a system for leakage or building pressure -- but the crew confused it with a different hole.

By corking the vent and failing to isolate the engines seawater cooling system so that it didnt contribute to more damage, pressure began to mount in the space between the pump and the engines crankcase and saltwater flowed into the engine sump  developments the crew failed to notice.

Seawater corrosion often ruins equipment, but engines can be saved if sailors take quick corrective action  draining the water and then restarting the engine as soon as possible after contamination occurs.

That shouldve started with the engineering department realizing the problem with the plug and removing it, but they didnt, according to the report.

After shutting down the engine to figure out what was going wrong, they shouldve secured a different pump that gushes lube into the oil system prior to restarting it, but didnt.

After the galloping corrosion of saltwater spread through the engine system, they shouldve inspected and properly flushed out the contamination with special lube, but they didnt.

Instead of wielding a questioning attitude to challenge bad assumptions, locate the true source of the leak and correct the looming mechanical failure, they didnt.

Taken together, these failures demonstrate a departmental lack of knowledge of the engineering plant and of basic engineering fundamentals, the report stated.

The crew was not well served by Navy and contractor engine specialists consulted by sailors after the Freedom returned briefly to the pier in San Diego.

They greenlighted a questionable method to flush the propulsion system and fix the damage, giving false hope to officers that the problem was solved, the probe determined.

Although ongoing tests taken of the oil continued to show extensive engine contamination, they were disregarded  partly because the Freedoms commissioned engineering officer feared informing leaders with no appetite to withdraw the warship from the maneuvers.

After the Freedoms unidentified senior enlisted engineer warned him that going to sea with a contaminated engine would destroy it, the officer took the oil test results to Cmdr. Wohnhaas, but the skipper never informed his superiors.

Thats because he believed it was crucially important to make the maneuvers a success and, more proudly, to deliver a win  or at least avoid another littoral combat ship debacle  for the controversial procurement program, the probe found.

The Freedoms engine troubles came at what the report called a sensitive moment in the program, following the late 2015 breakdown of the Milwaukee and the early 2016 damage to the Fort Worth, according to the report.

And it also wasnt the first time the Freedom fell victim to a leak. In late 2013, the warship experienced a similar seawater contamination casualty.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Fleets Schwegman called the skippers decision an example of misguided goodness. She said that his commanders deserved to know about the warships mechanical problems so that they, too, could make informed decisions about its participation in the war games.

In that moment, you need to make a command decision, but that was the wrong decision, she said.

The report listed 16 recommendations to ensure the engine failure would never happen again. These reforms included restoring a shipboard culture on the Freedom of integrity, formality, procedural compliance, knowledge, questioning attitude and risk management.

The report also called on the Navy to develop better procedures for sailors to stabilize engines contaminated by saltwater before they returned to port; retrain littoral combat ship crews on the fundamentals of mechanical seals and how to fix pump leaks.

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cprine@sduniontribune.com
Marine Col. Robert O. Tilley, a hero of the Vietnam War who later directed Camp Pendletons morale programs for the troops, will be remembered at a December memorial service.

Tilley, 79, died on Oct. 18 following a long illness. A special graveside commemoration with full military honors for the Colorado native is slated for 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 6 at Miramar National Cemetery.

A celebration of Tilleys life will follow at Marine Corps Air Station Miramars Officers Club.

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God, country and corps. Those words defined Bob, said his wife, Rene Tilley. He dedicated his life to making this world a better place.

In 1967 Tilley received the Silver Star, the nations third highest commendation for his valor in Vietnams Que Son Valley.

Commanding Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines during Operation Union on May 12, 1967, then-1st Lt. Tilley led his men in a daring flanking movement against North Vietnamese troops besieging a neighboring unit, sparking heavy fighting through the night, according to his citation. Despite being seriously wounded by a machine gun bullet to the chest, early on the following day he conducted Company Ks attack on an enemy battalion, repeatedly exposing himself to mortar and rifle fire, to force the North Vietnamese to retreat.

The Marines counted 105 enemy dead and captured a trove of abandoned weapons and ammunition.

After recovering from his wound, Tilley returned to Vietnam to command a Combined Unit Pacification Program company in the Que Son mountains and adjacent river valleys in 1971.

He retired from the Corps in 1991, following a stint as the director of Camp Pendletons Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs. Along with the Silver Star, he wore two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star with a V designation for battlefield heroism and a pair of Legion of Merit medals for exceptional service to the Marine Corps.

Tilley is survived by his wife of 61 years, Helen Rene (Hummer) Tilley; daughters Laura Burch, Leisa Grajek and Deanne Stott; sister Priscilla Smith; six grandchildren and a great-grandson.

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cprine@sduniontribune.com
Former romance novel cover model David Byers has written the final chapter of his brief and wild history as a fugitive bank robber.

On Tuesday  roughly six months after he was captured in San Diego  Byers pleaded guilty in federal court in Connecticut to a charge of robbery.

The charge stemmed from a series of April stick-ups that kept the 35-year-old running from the law for nearly two weeks, according to authorities.

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Byers, of Solana Beach, appeared on the covers of four romance novels, L.A.-based photographer Michael Stokes told The Times after Byers capture in May.

Byers tattooed physique was also displayed on the cover of Stokes book, Exhibition. Stokes said Byers was best known for his edgy, hard, bad-boy look.

Although Byers often appeared partially dressed in his modeling work, he chose to wear a bandanna on his face and a gun in his pocket when he robbed a Long Island gas station of $300 in Nesconset, N.Y., on April 19, according to prosecutors. A day later, he hit a Chase Bank a few miles north in Stony Brook, where he escaped with more than $2,100.

On April 24, Byers again wore a bandana and flashed a gun when he robbed a Citgo gas station in Greenwich, Conn., of $223. The next day, he stole $8,700 from a Chase Bank, also in Greenwich, prosecutors said. He robbed the same bank again the next day, this time making off with almost $3,400.

The robberies occurred in a 48-hour span and triggered an intensive manhunt.

Authorities in Connecticut searched neighborhoods and went door-to-door looking for Byers. Officers spotted him, and Byers led them on a vehicle chase that ended when Byers bailed out of his car and ran across a highway.

Police did not find Byers at the time, but they found a stolen Range Rover with a pit bull inside, according to an arrest warrant filed in Connecticut Superior Court. Authorities discovered that the license plate had been stolen off the vehicle.

Byers put that license plate on another vehicle and headed to California, but was spotted and pursued by Pennsylvania State Police, prosecutors said. Authorities deflated Byers cars tires with a spike strip, but the romance model jumped out of the car, ran to a pick-up truck that had keys already inside and escaped again.

He then stole the license plate off a car from Maryland at a nearby rest stop, put it on the truck hed just stolen, and continued west toward California, officials said.

One witness told authorities Byers said he was from California, but liked the Greenwich area because he had made $18,000 in the past three days, according to the warrant in Connecticut.

Byers girlfriend told authorities that he had emailed her a photograph showing stacks of cash.

After his escape in Pennsylvania, Byers disappeared from law enforcements radar for two days until he was spotted in Arizona on May 1. Though Byers ditched his car again and ran off, his escape was short-lived.

On May 2, San Diego SWAT officers spotted Byers when he pulled into the parking lot of a liquor store at Upas and 30th streets. They discharged a flash-bang grenade to distract Byers and took him into custody, KNSD-TV in San Diego reported.

Byers is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 30 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
The governing body of the Jehovahs Witness church received another rebuke this week by a state appeals court for obstinately refusing to turn over internal documents about knowledge of church leaders who have been accused of sexually abusing children.

The ruling, filed Thursday by the 4th District Court of Appeal, upholds a $4,000-a-day penalty against Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York for its failure to comply with a court order in a lawsuit filed by a man who claimed to have been molested in the 1990s.

Here, Watchtower has abused the discovery process. It has zealously advocated its position and lost multiple times. Yet, it cavalierly refuses to acknowledge the consequences of these losses and the validity of the courts orders requiring it to produce documents, the opinion concluded.

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The fight for these internal documents has been at the center of not only this lawsuit, but a similar one that accuses the same leader of molestation.

Church elders knew Gonzalo Campos had molested a boy as early as 1982 but did not remove him from interacting with children, according to evidence revealed in the cases.

In one lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court in 2012, Jose Lopez said he was 7 when a church elder in a Linda Vista congregation suggested Campos mentor him. Campos molested the boy at Campos La Jolla home one day in 1986, according to the lawsuit. When church leaders were told, they said they would handle the situation, the lawsuit says.

Campos became more involved with another congregation in La Jolla in 1987. In 1994 or 1995, Campos molested Osbaldo Padron, a church member there, when he was 7 or 8 years old, according to Padrons 2013 lawsuit.

Campos later confessed to abusing at least eight children between 1982 and 1995. He fled to Mexico around 2010, said Irwin Zalkin, the lawyer for both alleged victims.

Watchtower has argued that the courts order to turn over the documents is too burdensome and overbroad, and also that Watchtower does not have access to such records after 2001, but a church corporation does.

In both lawsuits, Watchtower has rebuffed court orders to produce documents about current of former leaders accused of molesting children and has heavily redacted the records it has turned over.

In the Lopez case, a Superior Court judge found Watchtower to be noncompliant and eventually terminated the organizations right to be heard in the case.

Watchtower appealed, questioning why the judge didnt use lesser measures to gain compliance, such as monetary sanctions. The appeals court agreed last year, saying the terminating sanction had been too harsh and reversed a $13.5 million judgment that had been imposed. That case is still being litigated.

But when the issue came up in the Padron case, and a different Superior Court judge imposed financial sanctions  $4,000 a day for not producing or searching for the ordered documents  Watchtower complained it was unfair.

 We are troubled that Watchtower has taken two inconsistent positions before us, the three-judge appellate panel said in its Thursday ruling.

The court concluded that Watchtowers conduct was so egregious in its handling of the documents that if court orders were not followed, it may be necessary to end the organizations right to be heard in Padrons case.

Watchtower officials said in a statement Friday that the organization is evaluating its legal options following the ruling.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
With all due respect to the judicial process  and the presumption of innocence  there was never really much of a question as to who killed Diana Gonzalez.

The 19-year-olds body was found Oct. 12, 2010, in a restroom at San Diego City College, where she was taking classes. She had been stabbed multiple times all over her body, including four deep cuts to her neck.

And then there was that word that was carved into her back. A word that suggested that the perpetrator of this horrific crime did so not to rob her or otherwise seize the opportunity to take advantage of her in some way.

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This was done in anger.

On Thursday, seven years after Gonzalez was killed, her estranged husband Armando Gabriel Perez, 44, will be sentenced in San Diego Superior Court, where a judge is expected to impose a prison term of life without the possibility of parole.

Members of Gonzalezs family, who tried to protect her all those years ago from a man they knew was dangerous, will be asked to come to court again to see another judge make another order, sending Perez out of their lives (hopefully) for good.

Yes  another order. Theyve been down this road before.

More than two years ago, Perez was sentenced to prison after he admitted killing Gonzalez. He was serving as his own lawyer on the day his trial was set to begin, but instead of delivering his opening statement, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

You are a bad man, a good-for-nothing, Concepcion Carranza, the victims mother, said in Spanish to her former son-in-law when he was sentenced in January 2015. Because what you did to my daughter is not forgivable. She was an innocent woman. You know that very well

We will hate you for the rest of our lives.

It might have ended there, but Perezs conviction was overturned a year later when an appellate court determined that he should not have been allowed to plead guilty without a lawyer in a case in which he faced life without parole.

He was brought back to Superior Court, where his case went to trial, this time all the way through verdict.

Union-Tribune reporter Pauline Repard noted in her coverage that Perez said thank you to the jurors as they filed out of the courtroom after the verdicts were read.

They had deliberated about four hours before finding him guilty.

Its difficult to imagine what Gonzalezs family must be going through. While many families wait years for the criminal court process to run its course, and for the accused to be brought to justice, what this family has endured seems extraordinary.

Perez was identified as a person of interest almost immediately after the killing. (Gonzalez had filed for a temporary restraining order against him a month before her death, shortly after she told police he had kidnapped and choked her, holding her captive in motels for days. Perez was not charged in that incident.)

After Gonzalezs death, police believed Perez  who had a daughter with Gonzalez  was likely in Mexico, where his blue Ford Mustang was found. He was arrested in Tijuana 16 months later.

At his first court appearance in August 2012, Perez shouted out in the courtroom, Im guilty! But the law doesnt allow defendants facing felony charges to plead guilty at arraignment. In addition to murder, he faced a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait that made him eligible for the death penalty.

Then came years of watching as Perez challenged his court-appointed attorney, asked to serve as his own lawyer, entered a guilty plea and then asked later to withdraw it so he could plead not guilty by reason of insanity, a request that was denied.

After his murder conviction was overturned, he again asked to serve as his own lawyer. By the time he got to trial this year, he was represented by Barton Sheela III, from the Office of the Alternate Public Defender.

At that 2012 arraignment, Gonzalezs cousin, Beatriz Luna, read a statement from the family.

We have never wished death on anyone, but what does the person who leaves a 10-month-old baby without her mother deserve? the statement read. What does the person who snatches a 19-year-old daughter from her parents deserve?

Death would be fair, but we have to leave that aspect of human life to its creator, the statement continued. What we do wish for this murderer is the maximum penalty, that he never sees the light of day again, just like Diana will never see it.

On Thursday, the family may finally get that wish.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
Beach closures triggered by contaminated stormwater runoff from the Tijuana River were extended Friday to include all of Imperial Beachs coastline.

The closures were first issued Tuesday for a stretch of Imperial Beach from the U.S.-Mexico border to Seacoast Drive. Now all beaches south of Carnation Avenue  along the Imperial Beach Pier, Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge and Border Field State Park  are closed.

Signs warning beachgoers of sewage-contaminated water will be posted until bacterial levels return to normal, officials with the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health said Tuesday.

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Polluted water in the Tijuana River, often dumped into the Pacific Ocean, is a frequent problem during the rainy season, regularly keeping beaches off-limits to swimmers in South County.

The pollution adds to spills from aging pipes and potentially hazardous discharges from the deteriorating San Antonio de Los Buenos sewage treatment plant in Punta Bandera, located about six miles south of the border.

Imperial Beach has had at least some of its beaches closed more than a third of the year on average in the last decade, according to a Union-Tribune analysis of beach-closure data from the county.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A fugitive Arizona polygamist who is a suspect in the killings in Mexico of three U.S. citizens  including two of his sons  has been placed in U.S. custody.

Mexican officials on Wednesday handed over Orson William Black to federal authorities in El Paso, Texas, Ruben Jauregui, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, confirmed via email.

Black, 56, has been a fugitive since 2003 on five felony counts of sexual misconduct involving a pair of under-age sisters in Arizona.

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But this month, Mexican authorities called him a suspect in the Sept. 10 shooting deaths of three American men in Mexicos northern Chihuahua state. Two of the dead were his sons, ages 15 and 19, Mexican authorities said.

Neither Mexican nor U.S. authorities have detailed a motive for the slayings or provided complete names for the victims. Black has not been charged with murder.

Black was arrested in Mexico earlier this month when Mexican police descended on a compound in Chihuahua where he was living with a commune of U.S. citizens, including four wives and a concubine, the Chihuahua state prosecutors office said.

The investigation of the Sept. 10 killings led to the raid last weekend on Blacks compound, Mexican officials say.

Orson William Black is delivered by the Mexican authorities to the U.S. police and Customs Border Protection at the border separating Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas. (Herika Martinez / AFP/Getty Images )

During the operation, Mexican authorities say they detained 26 U.S. citizens who were living illegally in Mexico and were apparently part of Blacks commune. Among those detained, Mexican officials said, were Blacks four wives and the concubine.

The FBI and U.S. consular personnel were cooperating with Mexican authorities in the case, Mexican officials said.

Mexico had been holding Black on charges of human trafficking and possession of wildlife species.

The latter stemmed from the seizure during the raid on Blacks compound of 65 preserved exotic animal parts and pelts, Mexican prosecutors said. Among the items were lion-skin and bearskin rugs, stuffed birds, a pair of elephant feet and zebra and buffalo heads. Authorities did not specify the origin of the animal remnants or whether the cache was a trophy collection or had another purpose.

Mexican authorities delivered Black to U.S. officials in El Paso on the evening of Nov. 8, said Jauregui, the Customs and Border Protection spokesman. Black was alone and was turned over to El Paso police once outstanding warrants were confirmed.

Mexican officials had said they planned to deport the U.S. citizens arrested along with Black, but the 26, including nine minors, remained in Mexican custody, Felix Gonzalez, a spokesman for the state attorney generals office in Chihuahua, said on Saturday.

Black had apparently been living as a fugitive in Mexico since 2003 after fleeing the sexual misconduct charges in Arizona.

Mexican authorities said Black had acquired five properties in Chihuahua state in the vicinity of agrarian Mennonite settlements. Chihuahua is home to a large population of Mennonites, a conservative Christian denomination whose members began settling in Mexico almost a century ago after leaving Canada.

According to reports in Arizona, Black is a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon splinter sect that practices a form of plural marriage. The groups longtime leader Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence in prison for child sexual assault.

Cecilia Sanchez of The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

Twitter: @PmcdonnellLAT

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The biggest spenders on taxpayer-funded mailings in San Diegos congressional delegation are not the ones in high-profile re-election battles.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, is the regions biggest user of the Houses mass mailing privileges, according to a review by U-T Data Watch. With one exception, he has sent something to his constituents every quarter since he entered office in 2013. His mailings have cost just over $600,000 in that time.

The program helps constituents know what their representative is doing that might not always get headlines, said Peters district chief of staff, MaryAnne Pintar.

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Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, campaigns at a town hall meeting in 2014. (Lenny Ignelzi / The Associated Press )

Its just to communicate about the actions and activities that hes taking on their behalf. We try to focus on the area that people are the most concerned about based on the letters and communication weve received, she said.

Mailings largely emphasize the types of constituent services the district office provides, including assistance with federal benefits, assisting high school students who are interested in attending a service academy and expediting passport applications, she said.

Peters spending during that period was closely followed by Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, with $593,000 in communication to his constituents during the same period.

Congressman Vargas prioritizes communicating with every constituent. Due to the diverse nature of his district and to ensure that no one is left out, mail and electronic methods of communications are used to keep English and Spanish-speaking constituents in both San Diego and Imperial Counties informed, said his spokeswoman, Dayanara Ramirez.

Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, has spent $204,433 since 2013, putting her in the middle of the pack.

In all things we try to be consistent but frugal, said Davis chief of staff, Lisa Sherman.

They use the messages to bring attention to the congresswomans views on the big topics, as well as other issues shes working on, like human trafficking and health research funding, that dont get as much attention.

We want them to know that shes working on things that they care about. Some are major issues in the news but some dont get as much attention, Sherman said.

The two Republicans in the delegation  one facing a tough re-election campaign and one with legal issues  have spent the least on tax-funded mailings.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, has spent $132,000 since 2013. His mailings recently picked up after a nearly two-year lull, as his congressional district became more competitive politically.

Ive always thought its best for members to really be proactive, so since I came on-board since last February weve made a big effort to really get out there and make sure people know all the ways we can help them and give people the chance to share their thoughts with us, spokesman Calvin Moore said.

Moore said the congressman wants to know the pulse of the district so the mailers often include surveys. Issa also wants constituents know what types of assistance he can provide.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, rarely spends tax money to communicate with his constituents. House records show that he hasnt used email, online ads or traditional post in 12 of the last 18 quarters. Since 2013 his office has spent just under $30,000 on mass communication, a fraction of what other local representatives did.

Hunter has drawn a number of challengers because he is under federal criminal investigation regarding his spending of campaign funds. He says he was not involved in any criminal action.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
UC San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography plans to build a huge flume that will have an unmatched ability to simulate the interaction of the oceans surface and the atmosphere.

The $4 million machine will replace a decades-old flume that helped Scripps to greatly expand scientists understanding of climate and weather.

The new 100-foot long flume will take a piece of the ocean and simulate it, from polar conditions to tropical conditions, said Grant Deane, the Scripps researcher who is leading the project.

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It will simulate the biology, the chemistry, the waves, the wind  the whole top of the ocean. It is vitally important for climate and weather.

The flume, which will enter service in 2021, will be able to produce 31 mph winds and control the temperature of the air and water. The machine also will be to generate phytoplankton blooms, and better enable scientists to study how air pollution and greenhouse gases affect Earths climate.

One of the great discoveries that weve had in the last 15 years is that all these things are connected  the biology drives the chemistry, the chemistry drives the connection between the ocean and the atmosphere, Deane said.

If you dont simulate all of it youre missing some critical piece. We designed a machine that would have all of that.

The National Science Foundation is providing $2.8 million to help develop the Scripps Ocean Atmosphere Research Simulator (SOARS) The institute will provide an additional $1.2 million.

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Twitter: @grobbins

gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com
When Kent Rodricks read a U-T Watchdog report last month that philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs had secured an hourlong meeting with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer to discuss the children of undocumented immigrants, his first-blush response was anger.

Rodricks reaction had nothing to do with the hot-button debate over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. His beef is with Faulconer.

Rodricks has been seeking the mayors attention on an issue close to his heart for more than a year.

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Rodricks is a disabled screenwriter from Rancho Bernardo pushing for better access to Balboa Park. He uses a walker due to health issues and can no longer park in disabled spaces on the Prado since the square was designated pedestrian-only. He has to park 100 or more yards away. His proposal is to extend the tram service to better serve people with disabilities.

Ive heard nothing back, Rodricks said. I find it outrageous. Its wrong that a non-constituent reaches out to the Mayors Office and is able to have a 60-minute secret meeting with the mayor, while Im a constituent and Im not able to get a meeting.

The U-T reported on the Sept. 6 meeting with Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, after submitting a records request for Faulconers calendar. The meeting was not previously made known to the public.

Faulconers spokesman, Greg Block, said Rodricks has met and corresponded with city staff many times.

It is common for the mayor to ask staff to work with community members to address specific issues, Block wrote in an email. In this case, the mayor has directed the citys ADA Compliance & Accessibility Department to work with Mr. Rodricks as they have repeatedly in the past.

Rodricks said the conversations are pointless without a financial commitment from the mayor.

Ive spoken to the caring, great people both at ADA and Parks and Rec; they all say the same thing: No funding from Faulconer, he emailed to city officials, copying the U-T.

The Mayors Office did not respond to a request to respond to that last point.

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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
Human trafficking is a global scourge. The International Labor Organization estimates that there are at least 21 million victims of human trafficking worldwide. Human trafficking is also big business, bringing in $150 billion annually. These numbers are shocking. But surely this modern-day form of slavery exists only in poor and developing countries, right? Think again.

San Diego is listed by the FBI as one of Californias hot spots. The San Diego District Attorneys Office has concluded that there are at least 8,000 victims in San Diego alone. This industry is so widespread that it brings in more than $810 million annually, making it the second-largest underground economy in San Diego. But what, exactly, is human trafficking? Broadly speaking, human trafficking covers sex trafficking and forced labor. Its a crime involving the exploitation of someone through the use of force, fraud or coercion. Its natural to think of human trafficking exclusively as sex trafficking, but the definition includes domestic servitude or even forced labor in the fishing and agricultural industries, both of which have a presence in San Diego.

Related: Survivor of human trafficking tells tale of escaping life of servitude, abuse

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So if we know that human trafficking is an enormous problem both in the world and here in San Diego, what is being done to combat it? On the international level, the State Department combats the problem through the publication of its annual Trafficking in Persons report, which is essentially a naming-and-shaming approach to combating this scourge. Countries are ranked in one of three tiers. Being in tier one doesnt mean that trafficking is nonexistent; it simply means that the country listed is meeting the minimum standards to which all countries are held. These minimum standards were set in 2000 by the Palermo Protocol. The U.S. approach to combating human trafficking  the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)  is based on the Palermo Protocol, and the State Department has adopted the so-called 3P paradigm. The three Ps are prosecution, protection and prevention. Governments must prosecute offenders; they must protect victims; and they must prevent future acts of trafficking.

Prosecution is an obvious approach to combating human trafficking  the sine qua non of removing offenders and preventing them from committing additional acts of predation. The idea of prosecution, though, must also include the imposition of appropriate punishment. Some countries are notorious for handing out convictions  only to impose light sentences after the fact. Thus, prosecution means investigating, convicting and imposing sentences commensurate with other heinous crimes such as kidnapping, forcible rape, etc.

Protection is also a critically important part of the U.S. approach. Many victims of sex trafficking, for example, are erroneously categorized as prostitutes, and some police departments arrest these young women and process them as criminals. This is the wrong approach, and the TVPA requires that state laws be written (or rewritten) to account for the fact that these young women and girls are being forced into the industry. In addition, many of these victims are in the U.S. illegally, so U.S. immigration law furthers the protection mandate by allowing victims to remain and work temporarily in the U.S.  if they cooperate with law enforcement in implicating the perpetrators. These safe harbor laws play a key role in protecting the victims of this dreadful crime.

Finally, prevention efforts must also get a great deal of attention, starting with public awareness campaigns. One cannot care about something if one does not know about it; thus, governments, nongovernmental organizations and others can spread the word. But prevention also includes amending old laws that dont take into account the reality of trafficking. It also can mean disseminating information about warning signs. State Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, proposed a bill that would require hotel owners to provide additional training for hotel employees. Hotels are ground zero for sex trafficking in this state, Atkins said. These victims are often hiding in plain sight, and traffickers take advantage of the fact that many hotel employees dont recognize the signs.

The three Ps appear to be separate and unconnected, but in reality they are in a symbiotic relationship. Focusing on prosecutions also prevents the recurrence of the crime. Similarly, protecting victims by giving them shelter or other resources might keep them from turning to pimps and others who prey on their vulnerabilities.

Human trafficking is without a doubt a horrific crime, and thinking about the details can be a painful and shame-inducing experience. But it happens literally every day. The numbers are scandalously high, but they should not overwhelm us. Rather, they should inspire us to do more. Criminal investigations and prosecutions admittedly are the domain of the San Diego Police Department and the District Attorneys Office. But citizens can get involved in groups that disseminate information. They can also volunteer for organizations working to protect and resettle victims.

Inaction, Dale Carnegie said, breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. Thus, if we are to reduce or eliminate this scourge, we will need to go out and get busy.

Rudolph, a San Diego attorney, previously worked as a lawyer and human rights officer at the U.S. State Department, where he focused on the Trafficking in Persons report.
What happened?

Shares of Ritchie Bros Auctioneers, Inc. (NYSE: RBA), the world's largest seller of used heavy equipment via its location and online auctions, are tumbling 9% as of 3:20 p.m. EST after the company fell short of analysts' third-quarter profit estimates.

So what

Ritchie Bros. revenue checked in at $141 million during the third quarter, a 9% increase over the prior year, topping analysts' estimates calling for $139.4 million. However, the 9% increase was largely driven by acquisitions, and on a like-for-like basis revenue was down 8.3%. Unfortunately, the top-line increase didn't filter down to the bottom line, as the heavy equipment auctioneer's adjusted profit of $0.09 per share fell short of analysts' estimates calling for $0.14 per share.

Said Ravi Saligram, CEO of Ritchie Bros., in a press release:

Our third quarter revenues declined on a like-for-like basis versus prior year, which is primarily related to the significant equipment supply shortage especially in the U.S., as dealers and end users continue to experience high equipment utilization rates. We faced a tough comparable quarter due to the massive Columbus auction last year as well as growing pains of sales force integration and execution, as our legacy RB and IP teams learn to sell each others' offerings.

Now what

The kind of speed bump Ritchie Bros. hit in 2017 hasn't been uncommon for the stock over the past two decades.

RBA data by YCharts

Despite missing earnings estimates, management is capable of righting the ship and believes the combination of Ritchie Bros. and Iron Planet will deliver growth going forward as the two former competitors develop synergies, expand business internationally, and cross-sell more of the company's products and services.

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Before I could blink my fear-filled eyes, my boyfriends blow knocked me to the ground. Fear gripped me from all around, and I thought this day might be my last. Would I ever see my baby girl again? I wondered. My traumatic experience is not an isolated event, as I have survived many forms of exploitation, but up until July 17, 2013, I was just another statistic in the library of misfortune that found myself in the isle of human trafficking with no known value other than a number I had become.

Christopher and I moved in together almost immediately. I remember how excited I was in the beginning to be with someone who wanted me by his side every minute. I wouldve done anything for him, so over a period of three months I gave up a small business I owned, put all my savings into his account and even gave up my car. I was now dependent on him, but soon after everything changed; his affection for me grew cold and left me clinging to empty dreams. I was working for him now, and found myself a victim of labor trafficking as I was forced to do clerical and office work from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. without pay or breaks. I also became a victim of involuntary servitude where I was made to do things around the house including cooking, cleaning, laundry, even flushing the toilet for him. Sex with him at this point was no longer my choice, and I tried to leave, but he threatened to hurt my family. Suddenly, I felt trapped and confused.

Related: San Diego home to thousands of human trafficking victims

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Three months later, he got me pregnant to keep me bound to him, and this is also when the physical violence started. Being beaten was normal to me as I grew up watching my own mother suffer from intimate partner violence, but it wasnt until after I became pregnant that I really felt hopeless in my situation. When he started forcing me to use crystal meth in the first and second trimesters, I was devastated. I was made to use the drug every two to three weeks, and when I refused, I was harassed and beaten. I thought my baby would never make it, and I was even more afraid to leave him for what he would do to my family, so I attempted to take my life by slitting my wrists at six months pregnant, but failed. I was stuck with a monster forever; or so I thought.

How I made it through the next year I do not recall, but July 17, 2013, changed everything. I remember the event as if it happened this morning. It is etched along the pathways of my memory like lava, cold and unmoving long after an eruption.

It was midmorning, the birds were chirping outside, and the windows were open to let in the fresh morning air. Without warning, I was sprawled out on the ground, inside the open doorway with him looming over me. His fists were raised above my face ready to strike again. I could see the sun disappear with my courage as he moved closer toward my head, and I raised my arms to block his blows, crying desperately for help.

No one heard me but my little girl. She was barely a year old, and paralyzed with fear, she stood at my left side. I was always blind to her presence during moments like this, but this time was different, and through the sound of my fear, the pain in my heart, and the screams in my head, I heard her start to wail. Mommy, Mommy! she cried out, causing me to gaze in her direction. She started to sob, and put her tiny hands over her blue eyes, and as if time stood still, all I could see was her. I watched the sun kiss her golden curls, and the dirty tear rolling down her right cheek onto her blue jean overalls.

At this point, I could not feel the pain of the blows anymore, just the fire raging inside, emerging from somewhere deep within me, and realizing what I was doing to my little girl, I determined within myself that I had to stop this cycle. When I was able, I swooped her up into my trembling arms, and ran out of the door into the rest of our lives.

The hot sun on my face smelled of freedom, and the gusts of wind as we drove off with the windows down, resuscitated my lungs like a defibrillator to my heart with each mile that I got farther away, until finally, I could breathe again. After a while, I looked back at her through the rear-view mirror and said to her, Mamas home, baby girl. Mamas home.

It has been more than four years since that day, and I have been present for her ever since and live a life of purpose in my mission as a mother. Today I also mentor women coming out of a life of exploitation as the founder and CEO of The Well Path, an organization bent on bringing trafficked women out of their abuse and into a life of purpose and freedom.

Saylor, a San Diego County resident, is affiliated with Survivor Leader Network of San Diego.
The House has released a sweeping national tax reform bill that affects mortgage interest payments. The proposed legislation places a lower cap on interest payments from a home loan of at least one million dollars to only $500,000. California homeowners, especially those in San Diego County with a mortgage debt of over $500,000, will be negatively impacted.

This tax reform proposal directly affects Californias thriving coastal cities where property values are much higher than the national average. In California alone, homes are priced at approximately 2.5 times higher than the national median. The majority of homeowners in coastal cities such as San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, where the average home is priced well over $500,000, will be severely affected by this legislation.

Recovering from the previous housing collapse and navigating through the current housing crisis, San Diego County potentially faces additional challenges from these proposed legislative changes, including a decline in homeownership, driving talent outside of the region, and putting local businesses at risk.

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Living the American Dream will be more difficult with the currently proposed tax reform, posing the greatest damage to the middle class.

With a low inventory of homes, very little building, price increases from low inventory, and skyrocketing property values, the middle class cannot transition into homeownership. According to McKinsey Global Institute, housing shortages cost the U.S. economy between $143-$233 billion annually.

The current mortgage interest deduction, utilized by many families, serves as a benefit when purchasing a home because interest payments help offset the expenses of owning a home. By limiting and adding a cap on the mortgage interest payment, this increases financial liabilities. As a result, the appeal of buying a home diminishes causing a decline in homeownership.

How does this affect our regions employers? They already face challenges in recruiting and retaining talent. With the increasing barriers to homeownership, our dynamic talent is relocating out of state where home prices are lower. People who live and work in the region fuel the economy through their purchasing power and we want them to stay and thrive.

The Think Local First San Diego initiative, powered by the North San Diego Business Chamber, has shown that money spent on local businesses stays in the community. For every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $45-$68 goes back into the community and our tax base.

The House plan would be putting businesses out of business. The proposed tax reform, as written, is bad news for local business. Existing homeowners will accrue higher mortgage expenses, which will no doubt result in decreased consumer spending. Local business will suffer, as a result.

According to the Think Local First San Diego philosophy, businesses directly inject money into the local economy through wages and benefits to local residents, who in turn spend and invest these funds in our local economy. When local businesses hire and procure locally, the economy and community benefits. Indeed, local entrepreneurs and employees are more likely to contribute to causes that impact them close to home.

We call on our locally elected officials to fight for the region and support a balanced approach to tax reform that protects California families and the American Dream of owning a home.

Rosen is president/CEO of North San Diego Business Chamber.
As a Californian, I read with great interest Kevin de Leons op-ed (Why I should be Californias next U.S. senator, Nov. 3). I am in my 27th year in this state, I love the weather, the beaches, the melting pot of cultures and races. Certainly California can be a beacon of opportunity (more specifically for corporations).

I also have witnessed a huge backlog in infrastructure, an ever-growing drug epidemic, rising cost of pretty much everything under the sun while middle class salaries have been stuck in neutral for years, ever-increasing traffic, polluted water ways, streets littered with filth and again, a homeless problem that government is addressing very superficially for now with oversized tents.

Do we really want to take this to Washington?

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Fabrice Poigin

What is the message that Kevin de Leon is saying with, California stands at the forefront of a historic struggle for the very soul of America  against a president without one. Every day, this president wages war on our people and our progress.?

Who are our people? I believe my president is doing a great job vetting out the bad people and the people that are here illegally, and protecting the country against our southern border. Is that what he is referring too?

If he is referring to not allowing illegal immigrants into my country illegally, he is right, he is waging war! This is his rhetoric to win an election? How pathetic. I saw this coming.

John Smith

Encinitas

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The Sacramento Bees report that several unnamed sources alleged that state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, invited a 23-year-old legislative fellow on his staff who was seeking a full-time job to his home in a Sacramento suburb this summer to review resumes and to stay overnight in his hotel room is, if true, appalling. But its sadly unsurprising given the harassment-rich culture in the Capitol detailed in a letter signed last month by 147 women.

The allegations against Mendoza  who is 46 and married with four children  go beyond hitting on a job-seeker. The Bee also reported that his motive in firing three staff members may have been retribution for two of them detailing allegations to the Senate Rules Committee about his inappropriate behavior. The aides  chief of staff Eusevio Padilla, legislative director Adriana Ruelas and scheduler Stacey Brown  were fired Sept. 22. The Bee reported that the three, who declined comment, had signed confidentiality agreements. How convenient  how enabling  for the accused senator.

Mendoza denied the firings had anything to do with the allegations he faces and said he had not knowingly harassed or abused his authority with anyone. He denied the hotel invitation but didnt reply when asked about the invitation to his home.

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What happens to Mendoza now is a test of whether lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, are serious when they promise a cultural change. Its also a test for the Democratic lawmaker from Los Angeles who shares Mendozas Sacramento-area digs during legislative sessions. Thats de Leon, a U.S. Senate candidate. A spokesman told the San Jose Mercury News that de Leon was unaware of any misconduct involving Mendoza. De Leon must answer these questions himself.

Related:

How Sacramento policies enable sexual harassment

Dont just stop sexual harassment in Sacramento. Elect more women.

Sacramento has a Harvey Weinstein problem

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Mark Cuban for president?

The hype surrounding a possible presidential campaign by the Dallas Mavericks owner is basically growing by the day. Among a list of potential celebrity challengers for President Donald Trump in 2020 that already includes Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Oprah, its Cuban whose resume most closely mirrors Trumps.

Perhaps thats why even the slightest mention of Cuban as a possible candidate  its happening more and more often these days  sends people into a frenzy of speculation.

Even Trumps own son is weighing in this week in response to a Buzzfeed News story about Cuban considering a run.

Some of the latest news regarding Cuban and the White House came from an interview he did at The New York Times DealBook Conference on Thursday where he confirmed  yet again  hes considering running but said he hasnt committed to anything because of his family.

Ive got three kids, he said. What caring, loving parent, would put an 8, 11 and 14-year-old child through this?

In the interview, Cuban also discussed the sort of campaign he might wage  and said he would not run as a Democrat.

Republican before Democrat, Cuban said. Most likely independent because I think there is an incremental value for setting up an independent candidacy. Now I understand the difficulties of that and the challenges of that from an infrastructure perspective. The positives for doing it as a Republican means you get to go head-on with Trump right in the primaries. Theres nothing Id have more fun doing. The benefit of being an independent is you go right to the golden ticket time. If I get enough support in the polls then I get to participate in the debates.

Cuban played up the idea in a segment on The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central on Tuesday, too. Jefferies asked the Shark Tank star to announce his candidacy on his show, but Cuban declined.

When I announce, Im not gonna be on The Jim Jefferies Show, Cuban said.

On Friday, adding even more fuel to theories about a possible campaign, Cuban confirmed to The Daily Beast that he keeps in touch with Trumps former chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Cuban says he texted with him a few time[s] but that none of the texts, as far as he could recall, had been more than one full sentence.

The Daily Beast reported, however, that four sources familiar with the pairs conversations revealed that Bannon has been encouraging him to run as a Democrat in 2020. Cuban brushes this off, and in a tweet pointed to an interview Bannon did with TMZ as the source of all the speculation about the two of them.

Cuban kept all this attention on him by starting a political discussion with his followers on Twitter on Friday.

Speculation and talk about Cuban running for president has been as high as ever on social media this week.

Want more 2020 coverage from The Conversation? Check these stories out:

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin
Epic Systems Corp.'s sprawling campus in Verona, seen in this aerial shot, continues to grow. Epic says it will add a new department that will handle billing for smaller clients of its electronic health records software.
Your Right to Know: Good government is everybodys business
[NAIROBI] A team of scientists has received US$100,000 grant to refine a mobile application (app) that uses artificial intelligence to diagnose crop diseases, and aims to help millions of African smallholders.

The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas team won the grant during big data conference in Colombia on 21 September as part of the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture Inspire Challenges.

The app, to be used against cassava brown streak disease and the cassava mosaic disease, is expected to be rolled out in 2018.

We think the most important value we will create will be through [agricultural] extension workers already helping farmers. David Hughes, Penn State University

It accurately diagnoses diseases in the field and will combine mobile phone short message service (SMS) alerts to farmers in rural Africa.

David Hughes, associate professor of entomology and biology at US-based Penn State University, who leads the project together with James Legg, a plant virologist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Tanzania, say the team needs to continue field-testing and improving its user-friendliness.

The apps conception was in 2012 but got developed in June-September 2017 through about US$300,000 funding from Penn State University, Hughes told SciDev.Net last month (5 October) in an interview.

The app uses a Google programme called TensorFlow that allows machines to train and learn. We trained it to recognise plant diseases. What the app does in real-time is to assign a score to a video being captured, said Hughes. That score is the probability that the plant in the video shows symptoms of one of five diseases or pests.

We think the most important value we will create will be through [agricultural] extension workers already helping farmers, and most of whom do already own smartphones. Its realistic to anticipate that [most] farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa will have smartphones capable of running the app within five to ten years.

According to Hughes, the projects expansion is aimed at collecting more images to train the machine to identify more diseases in more crops  such as banana, sweet potato and yam  as well as work with farmer groups to provide local language apps they want to use.

Phone App for Cassava Disease Diagnosis

Legg adds that so far it distinguishes five major types of damage to cassava plants: three diseases and two types of pest damage.

Cassava virus diseases alone, explains Legg, cause losses of more than US$1 billion annually in Africa, and threaten food and income security of over 30 million farmers in East and Central Africa.

The main target will be farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, we will be working with the global network of CGIAR, and this means that the app could equally be of value in other parts of the developing world, such as Latin America and Asia.

Peter Okoth, a consultant agronomist at the Kenya-based Newscape Agro Systems Ltd, tells SciDev.Net that smallholders in Africa cannot afford basic agricultural inputs, and thus well planned value chain arrangement with key players are needed to make its potential roll-out in Africa feasible.

For this app to generate the desired impact, the developers must partner with service providers and plant-health specialists and financiers to solve the problems, explains Okoth. The CGIAR needs to move a step further and constitute action consortia with membership drawn from an array of actors who are needed to address the practical aspects of solving the crop problems jointly with the farmers. 

Challenges in dissemination, according to Okoth, include information distribution and gaining potential users confidence that it will solve their problems as well as sustainability.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.


If you crave more than a generic corner pub or bar, don your explorer's hat and quench your thirst at these spots -- which happen to be located in the farthest-flung corners of the world.

Should you make your way to these barstools, you'll be rewarded with epic tales to share for the rest of your life.

- SubSix, Maldives

It's not quite "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," but it could certainly pass for "The Little Mermaid"s splashy digs. Enveloped in the beauty of marine life, this posh underwater restaurant and bar belongs to Niyama Private Islands Maldives (a Per Aquum Retreats, Resorts and Residences property) on the island of Huluwalu in the Maldives.

You'll first need to get to the the luxury resort via a 40-minute seaplane ride from Male International Airport. Once at Niyama, board a speedboat to the dock at SubSix, about 550 yards offshore, 10 to 15 minutes depending on how choppy the water is. Once there, descend a grand staircase 20 feet below sea level, pull up a seat at the clam-inspired Subsix Bar, and marvel at the majesty of aquatic life careening by, such as hawksbill turtles, moray eels and rainbow-hued fish. Although the menu of sips is extensive, it seems most appropriate to pop a bottle of Dom Perignon and toast your surreal surroundings with a glass of bubbly.

- Albatross Bar, Tristan da Cunha island

The journey to Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, a village considered the most remote on Earth, requires a week-long trip on a supply ship that leaves Capetown, South Africa, just 12 times a year. It is on the main island of Tristan Da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory in the far South Atlantic. Called "the Settlement" by locals, the town is built on a rocky flat beside Queen Mary's Peak, an active volcano. It features one bar, the Albatross, which is a taproom inside the local common house, Prince Philip Hall.

- Three Camel Lodge, Mongolia

The vast, cold, and rocky landscape of the Gobi Desert, considered the world's fifth-largest, is home to the Thirsty Camel Bar. Located in Omnogobi Aimag (South Gobi Province), Mongolia's southernmost province in Mongolia, the bar is surrounded by such natural wonders as snow leopards, Gobi bears, desert basins and the Mongol Altai Mountain Range. The weather is volatile and given to extremes: Winds can cause drastic shifts in temperature, ranging from -40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter to 113 degrees in the summer, and the temperature can shift as much as 63 degrees in 24 hours.

Those who can brave the climate will need to have patience as well. Getting to Three Camel Lodge requires a 90-minute flight from the capital, Ulaanbaatar, to Dalanzadgad, on the edge of the Gobi Desert. From there, it is another 90-minute drive by off-road vehicle to reach the lodge in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park. To celebrate your arrival, whisky is in order at the Thirsty Camel Bar, which boasts a premium selection from Scotland and Japan, as well as craft distillery bottles from the U.S.

- Faraday Bar, Antarctica

If you don't fancy human companionship, you can make pals with the penguins neighboring this bar on an island five miles off the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounded by massive mountains, snow, and sheets of ice. Once a British Antarctic expeditionary base dating to 1947, Vernadsky Research Base was purchased by Ukraine in 1996 for 1 British pound.

If you're not a scientist, you can get there through a tourism outfitter such as One Ocean Expeditions, which can make a pit stop at the base. Serving the base's rotating cast of scientists and staff, Faraday is considered the southernmost drinking hole in the world. It's festooned with Ukranian and British flags and other knicknacks, and offers a cool factor (literally and figuratively) while you down your $3 shot of vodka brewed on-site. And ladies, you're in luck-drinks are on the house as long as you donate your underwear to the bar's decorative display. Still, considering that the temperature outside can dip to minus 128.6 degrees, removing a layer might not be the best idea.

- Christian's Cafe, Pitcairn Island

Christian's Cafe is in Adamstown, the capital and sole settlement of the volcanic Pitcairn Islands archipelago in the South Pacific, between Australia and South America. Under the leadership of legendary mutineer Fletcher Christian, rebel sailors from the HMS Bounty settled on the rugged landscape in 1790, along with Tahitian companions. Hundreds of years ago, the town had a reputation as a village of violent drunks, but the island's residents (about 50) now keep to themselves. Their sole bar began serving alcohol in 2009, keeps minimal hours and is open only after 6:30 p.m. on Fridays.

There are no flights to Adamstown; you must come by boat, and resources are scarce. (If you plan on staying more than two weeks, you'll need a license from the governor). Should you succeed in your quest for a drink here, pull up a chair and chat with the locals. They speak Pitkern, a mixture of 18th-century English, Tahitian and sailors' patois.

- Camp Kalahari, Botswana

Calling the bar at Camp Kalahari an "oasis" is fitting, as it is in the heart of Botswana's dry savanna. The safari outfitter is on Makgadikgadi Pans Game Reserve, where there is a large concentration of salt pans-vast deserts where little wildlife can endure extreme conditions of harsh winds and scorching heat. It's a place where "nothingness stretches as far as the eye can see, and so quiet that one can actually see the curve of the Earth and hear the blood circulate through their ears," said Dave van Smeerdijk, a founder of the Natural Selection chain of lodges, of which Camp Kalahari is a member. Other areas feature such wildlife as wildebeest, zebras, and flamingos.

One can contemplate philosophical musings at Camp Kalahari's rustic lodge bar with a classic gin and tonic. The space exudes old-world charm and is crammed with wooden chests, maps, soft cushions and portraits of intrepid explorers.

- The Old Forge, Scotland

Located in the village of Inverie on the Knoydart Peninsula in the Scottish Highlands, the Old Forge is Britain's most remote pub, and quite good, according to Peter Irvine's book "Scotland the Best." There are no roads to it; the nearest accessible town is Mallaig, itself a four-hour ride northwest of Glasgow.

Once in Mallaig, the only way to access the pub is via an 18-mile hike over a Highlands mountain pass or a seven-mile sea crossing. If you opt for the latter, don't be surprised if you encounter buzzards, red deer and gray seals along the coastline. Despite the numerous obstacles, visitors who rise to the challenge are rewarded generously with seafood feasts and local brews upon arriving. The Old Forge curates a unique list of craft beers, including its own ale, put forth by the Ness Brewery in Fort Augustus; it's called (what else?) RemoteNESS. Those who don't fancy a pint won't be judged (much) and can choose from a robust wine menu that offers organic selections.

- The Irish Pub, Nepal

Before conquering Mount Everest, many first tamp down the knots in their stomachs with a pint at the local pub. Located in the sherpa town of Namche Bazaar, a Nepalese village built into a steep slope, the Irish Pub claims to be the watering hole with the world's highest altitude. Having braved shortness of breath, dizzying heights, and extremely cold weather conditions, getting to the destination itself will make you reach for a pint.

Visitors must first fly into the cliff-side Lukla Airport, described by the History Channel as "the most dangerous airport in the world for over 20 years." They must then trek two days across unsteady suspension bridges at heights of more than 11,000 feet. Salvation awaits you if and when you arrive in form of the pub's array of wines, stout, and spirits-all imported via your friendly neighborhood mule or yak train.

- Lost Bar, Russia

It holds the reputation of being "the loneliest bar in the world" because, apparently, no one would want to visit it. Historically, the area existed as a stopover for reindeer herders in the 1920s and '30s. Today, a major contributing factor to a lack of tourists is likely the bone-chilling, deathly cold; the Lost Bar is in Oymyakon, Russia, known as the coldest inhabited town on Earth. In fact, the "Pole of Cold" gets such freezing temperatures that merely wearing glasses can pose a threat to your life; they can freeze to your face. A day in Oymyakon, in eastern Russia, can be as brief as three hours in December or as long as 21 hours in the summer.

If this isn't a deterrent and you're of the "cold never bothered me anyway" camp, you'll need to fly into the closest neighboring city, the regional capital of Yakutsk. From there, it is a two-day drive to Oymyakon, whose overall population is around 500. The small, no-frills bar is well-heated and stocks-what else?-plenty of vodka.
HARTSVILLE, S.C.  The S.C. Inspector Generals Office has gotten involved in a conflict between the Governors School for Science and Mathematics and the school's own fundraising foundation.

According to information from the S.C. Inspector Generals Office, the S.C. Attorney Generals Office and both the school and the foundation, actions taken during a June 2010 board of trustees meeting are being challenged by current school President Hector Flores.

According to an opinion filed by the inspector generals office, a review was initiated after a credible complaint that publicly funded employees were assigned to and supervised by employees of the private nonprofit foundation.

The foundation maintains it was acting as a result of authority given it by the then-school President Murray Brockman and the Governors School board.

Over the course of four years (2010-2014), the former SCGSSM president gradually delegated supervision of core school programs, functions and staff to the Foundation for oversight and direction, the inspector generals report says. These publicly funded programs, and supporting school staff, were comprised of the marketing, outreach, and recruitment programs, as well as the student admissions process (not final selection).

A total of 11 SCGSSM staff program directors and other staff were placed under the supervision of a private nonprofit organization without the approval of the SCGSSM Board. The SIG (Inspector General's Office) also determined the SCGSSM Board did not give approval for the designation of the Foundation CEO as the schools EVP for Strategic Direction.

The GSSM Foundation refutes that claim, according to the foundations board President Steve Mathews.

In a response letter to the SIGs office, Matthews gave details of the board meeting.

At its June, 2010 meeting, the SCGSSM board unanimously agreed to create a new title at SCGSSM for the executive vice president and to support that position with a competitive salary, Matthews wrote in the letter.

His response went on to say that by statute the schools president is to administer all affairs of the school, subject to policies, rules and regulations adopted by the board, then appointed the foundations CEO to that newly created role.

At the crux of the issue is whether the 2010 GSSM board had the authority through one part of the statute that describes the powers of the schools president and the state statute that prohibits a foundation CEO from supervising state-funded employees.

"The previous president exercised his prerogative to delegate ministerial functions to the foundation, in accordance to the authority granted in the school's by-laws, Flores said.

According to the inspector generals report, the inspector general requested the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General to provide a legal opinion on the appropriateness of the SCGSSM, a state-funded agency, delegating its publicly funded programs and staff to the oversight of the foundation, a private nonprofit organization.

In its opinion, the attorney generals office concluded the school could only delegate ministerial and administrative functions to the foundation. This delegation was subject to SCGSSMs oversight and supervision, and SCGSSM may not constitutionally delegate its legislatively created authority to the Foundation. Thus publicly funded programs may not be delegated to the Foundation.

The attorney generals office also said it was inappropriate for SCGSSM to reassign publicly funded employees to the nonprofit foundation.

In a prior 1997 opinion, the attorney generals office said an agency must at all times maintain adequate supervision and control over (the agencys employees) in carrying out the assigned tasks and ... avoid the situation where the foundation or nonprofit corporation possesses ultimate control over the state employees.

The inspector generals report has suggested a meeting of the minds to work out a clear memorandum spelling out who does what.

The South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics agrees with the recommendations of the State Inspector General and is grateful for their thorough and thoughtful report, Flores said Friday in a prepared statement. The school considers the GSSM foundation as an invaluable and strategic partner, and looks forward to a strengthened partnership focused on collaboration, communication and transparency that meets the needs of the exceptional students that GSSM serves.

Some structural procedures are being returned to GSSM control. But according to the Nov. 6 letter from Matthews to the inspector general, there still might be some hurdles to clear.

Matthews responded to a request for comment with the following:

The GSSM Foundation Board has received the inspector generals report on the Governors School for Science and Mathematics, and we are gratified (although of course not surprised) by his findings regarding all that the Foundation has accomplished on behalf of the School and its students over the years.

Matthews cited four accomplishments.

The SIGs investigation determined for the period of 2005-2011, the Foundation nearly doubled the size of the endowment to $11.7 million as the result of a second successful capital campaign under the current Foundation CEOs direction.

By all accounts, the SCGSSM and the Foundation have each achieved many successes over the past 29 years.

Following the 2005 hiring of the current Foundation chief executive officer (CEO), the Foundation increased its activities which included a second successful capital campaign that nearly doubled the endowment to $11.7 million as shown in the Foundations Fiscal Year 2011 IRS Form 990-Schedule D, Part V-Endowment Funds, Line 1g . The Foundation CEO whose background was in marketing, increased the schools marketing effort, and worked with SCGSSM staff to promote its many programs, including SCGSSMs outreach efforts and management of the schools website.

This blended relationship mutually benefited each entity through the Foundation CEOs success in fund raising, marketing, and board development. The school benefited by having the Foundation fund pilot programs for new SCGSSM programs not formally included in the schools state budget as a way of testing new programs without committing state funds.

Both sides have been encouraged to work this out between themselves.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Special recognition is being given to Vietnam War veterans at the Veterans Day ceremony that will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Florence Veterans Park.

This years speaker is retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Richard S. Steve Siegfried, who served two tours in Vietnam and is a two-time Purple Heart recipient.

In addition, a new monument commemorating the Vietnam War and 36 names added to the Wall of Honor will be unveiled. The Vietnam monument is made of a single piece of black Indian granite, weighing 4,200 pounds and made by Bran Oswalt of Brown Memorials.

This is a monument, not a memorial, said retired U.S. Army Col. Barry Wingard, chairman of the Veterans Park Committee. To me, a memorial indicates those who died, and this is for all those who served in Vietnam.

One of those servicemen planning to be in attendance is retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Southern Buddy Hewitt, who served two tours in Vietnam and is a three-time Purple Heart recipient. After his time in Vietnam, Hewitt continued on his path of service and eventually retired after a 35-year military career.

Hewitt, a Florence native, joined the U.S. Army in 1955 at the age of 17. At the start of his first tour in Vietnam in 1965, he was 25 years old.

On Nov. 14, 1965, as a member of the 1 st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, Hewitt was part of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. it was the first major battle, lasting three days and nights, between U.S. Army forces and the Peoples Army of Vietnam. The battle marked a major escalation in the war and was especially notable in U.S. history as the first large-scale helicopter air assault and the first use of B-52 bombers as tactical support. Both sides suffered major casualties, and both sides claimed victory.

Although Hewitt survived the Battle of Ia Drang, just two months later he was shot by enemy forces. Over the next three years, he would have two more close calls, once when setting off a booby trap that left approximately 20 pieces of shrapnel in his body, from his heels up to his head, and another shrapnel injury from a nearby landmine.

While recovering at the hospital in Vietnam from his second injury during his second tour, Hewitt knew leaving the war wasnt an option.

Id sit on the bunker line at night at the hospital and watch the fire fight round there on the perimeter and knew I was going back, he said. My sister took it harder than anybody when I told her, One day, when I get back, she just busted out crying, because she knew what Id been through.

Eventually Hewitt was named first sergeant, meaning it was his job to lead his comrades into battle.

I enjoyed being a first sergeant, because somebody looked out for me when I was starting out, so I figured it was my job to take care of them, he said. You never have a better experience or a better job than leading Americas young soldiers into combat, and especially if youre able to bring them out of there.

Although Hewitt endured more than most civilians can imagine during the Vietnam War, he says he doesnt mind talking about his experience. He thinks that due to the postwar political climate, many returning servicemen couldnt talk about their service because it was taboo. Hewitt on the other hand was spared from that because he continued his military career instead of returning to civilian life.

I could sit down and talk with other soldiers who had been in the same place I had been, he said. We had things in common. But the kids who got out of the service. 

Hewitt sees sharing stories from his time in the military as a way to honor his peers and those who have been lost in combat.

If I dont talk about it, who in the hells ever gonna tell their story? Im glad to talk about those brave soldiers who died for this country and the young kids we got today that go in to defend this country, he said. Nobodys going to know about them unless somebody tells their story. So Im glad anytime I get a chance to say something good about those soldiers.
A former Rock Springs library tutor already serving time for molesting a child was convicted of a new charge Thursday after a three-day trial.

A Sauk County jury deliberated for about 2 hours, 30 minutes before it found 51-year-old Charles A. Clayton-Jones guilty of sexually exploiting a 6-year-old boy in June 2006.

The allegation came to light in 2015 as a detective was preparing to return personal property confiscated as evidence in a 2006 child sexual assault case against Clayton-Jones. She found a memory card inside a camera that included videos of young boys.

In one video, which had not previously been seen by investigators, two naked boys made sexually explicit comments to each other and mimicked sexual acts while playing inside Clayton-Jones home.

Defense attorney Andrew Martinez of Baraboo said during closing arguments Thursday that evidence introduced by prosecutors demonstrating that Clayton-Jones is a pedophile was not relevant to the charge.

He said the state had not proven three elements of the offense necessary for a conviction. One element included whether Clayton-Jones was the one operating the camera when the 1 minute, 16 second video was shot.

At the end of the video, which was played for the jury multiple times, one of the boys approaches the camera while speaking to Clayton-Jones, who responds to the boys comments.

The prosecution noted that Clayton-Jones voice was prominent in the recording, indicating that he was close to the microphone and therefore was likely operating the camera.

But the defense said there was no way to be certain that it was Clayton-Jones holding the camera, and not a third boy who had been in the home that day and operated the device during one video.

They made an assumption, because hes a pedophile, Martinez said. They assumed they knew.

Because the state did not call the boys as witnesses, Martinez said, prosecutors had denied jurors the opportunity to know for sure whether Clayton-Jones was the one filming.

Sauk County Assistant District Attorney Linda Hoffman said the two boys have been through enough, and there is no guarantee that they would have remembered details of the incident if called to testify.

Is a 6-year-old going to remember 10 years after the fact  over 10 years later  who was holding a camcorder? Hoffman said.

Clayton-Jones is an heir of Baraboos famed Ringling circus family and a former volunteer tutor at the Rock Springs Public Library. Prosecutors have said he used his position to get close to young boys and their families, bring them back to his home, and prey upon them.

He has been serving out prison sentences related to prior convictions for the sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy and bail jumping. Before Thursdays conviction, he was due to be released on probation in January 2020.

Clayton-Jones faces a maximum possible prison term of 40 years for the child sexual exploitation conviction. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 22.
RACINE  Sitting side by side at SC Johnsons Fortaleza Hall on Friday, Foxconn Technology Group Chairman/CEO Terry Gou and Gov. Scott Walker signed a contract that will likely forever change Racine County, southeastern Wisconsin and the state.

Gou and Walker signed the states $2.85 billion Foxconn incentives contract with House Speaker Paul Ryan, SCJ Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson and about 400 others watching at the companys world headquarters campus. The audience included at least about two dozen Foxconn employees and executives.

The contract signed Friday spells out the tax credits Foxconn will receive if it follows through with plans for an approximately $10 billion manufacturing plant in Mount Pleasant to build liquid crystal display panels and finished products. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board approved the contract with Taiwan-based Foxconn, the worlds largest contract manufacturer of electronics.

Foxconn hopes to employ up to 13,000 people at the manufacturing campus which was expected to total 20 million square feet, according to previous figures given. However, Friday Foxconn upped that to an astounding 32 million feet, the size of 15 Lambeau fields.

That campus will have much more than LCD manufacturing. There also will be a tool-and-die plant, an assembly plant and a packaging plant.

The construction of the Foxconn campus alone is projected to create about 10,000 construction jobs.

The companys chosen area, where acquisition specialists have been negotiating purchase agreements with property owners, is on 1,198 acres between Interstate 94 and Highway H and between Highway KR and Braun Road.

Referring to SCJ, the host of Fridays event, and Foxconn, Walker said: What a concept: Weve got a global powerhouse on either end of the county.

Were going to take the world over when it comes to high technology, Walker said.

He said Foxconn is expected to do an estimated $1.4 billion in business per year with Wisconsin companies  quadruple the volume that Oshkosh Corp. does.

Immediately after Gou and Walker signed the contract, the governor presented Gou with a Wisconsin license plate that reads FOXCONN.

Show and tell

Gou took to the podium to a lengthy standing ovation wearing a white Wisconn Valley cap, a cap that was in abundant supply after the signing event. His first words were: It is great to be home.

Gou did less talking than showing, with videos about what Foxconn plans to do in Mount Pleasant and what it can do in general.

A representative for Gou said the campus will be producing 6,955,200 displays per year, enough panels to cover one-third of the City of Milwaukee.

He also said Foxconn will be building 2,362 pieces of equipment weighing 70,000 tons in total, the weight of an aircraft carrier.

A short video followed those statistics, showing a rapid time-lapse representation of the construction of the proposed Foxconn campus.

Other videos followed, showing what Foxconn technology can do and how it can bring improvements and solve problems across many industrial sectors.

Through speakers and videos Foxconn officials said, for example, that for the security sector it can produce high-precision surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology that can greatly improve identification of criminal suspects  or help locate a missing child at an amusement park.

For the health care field, Foxconn showed how it can help doctors in endoscopic surgery with crystal-clear images so they can cut and remove just cancerous tissue while leaving healthy tissue alone. It can also provide the technology for remote doctor consultations as well as for digital microscopes.

Gou said the campus will enrich peoples lives.

Another video gave a glimpse into what Foxconns manufacturing floor will look like, with self-organizing, intelligent manufacturing. The complex will also include an experimental and training center.

We are working closely with many regional partners and manufacturers, Gou said.

New chapter

Ryan noted that Johnson and his family have been providing generations of really good-paying jobs right here in southeastern Wisconsin. And we are now about to kick off a whole new chapter, with a new, iconic employer, doing the same for the people here in southeastern Wisconsin.

You ever heard of this term brain drain?  Ryan said. This reverses brain drain.

And Ryan lavished praise on Gou by saying, Visionary doesnt even skim the surface with this man. He said that Gou started his company in 1974 with $7,500; it now employs about 1 million people around the world.

Reed Cordish, assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives, represented the White House and President Donald Trump, who is traveling in Asia.

This is about returning our manufacturing strength to where it should be, Cordish said about the Foxconn development and called Gou truly one of the worlds great entrepreneurs.

The incentives contract

Under the terms of the contract, released publicly for the first time Wednesday, the company will be able to collect up to $1.35 billion in construction-related tax credits if it creates a gradually increasing number of manufacturing jobs, up to 8,450 through 2025.

Foxconn also will be able to collect up to $1.5 billion in tax credits if it creates up to 13,000 manufacturing jobs by 2022 and maintains that number through 2032. The jobs must pay at least $30,000 per year and average $53,875 annually.

Gou is pledging to personally back 25 percent of the amount that would be refunded to the state should the company default. Publicly traded parent company Hon Hai Precision Products would back the rest.

Though Walker and Gou agreed previously on a $10 billion investment by Foxconn, the contract only requires the company to invest $9 billion in the state to be eligible for tax credits.
Press Release

November 11, 2017 Foreign delegates dismayed over denial to visit De Lima The delegates of the Global Progressive Forum (GPF) today expressed dismay over the effective denial by the PNP to allow them to visit Senator Leila M. de Lima in her detention center in Camp Crame. GPF President Enrique Guerrero Salom, along with Robert Hans Neuser, both of whom are members of the European Parliament, were barred from visiting De Lima despite complying with the 10-day required notice rule. "We asked permission [from the PNP] in order to visit her and we are disappointed with the result... We are concerned with the situation of Senator De Lima," Salom said during a press conference before the media. "We fully respect the Philippine legal regulations, but we think that there are enough [reasons] to release Senator De Lima and to allow her to play her role as a Senator representing the people of this country because she has been elected by the people," he added. The foreign delegates, who came to the Philippines to meet with De Lima and learn about the latest evolution on her case as well as participate in the ASEAN Civil Society Conference, have submitted their request to see the Senator as early as Oct. 26 but to no avail. According to Atty. Alex Padilla, De Lima's legal counsel, the PNP claimed the request papers got stuck at the level of the Office of the Directorate for Intelligence Services. "We've been doing it all by the book. Actually, there are additional requirements required of the foreign visitors. Dapat ibigay ang pangalan, itinerary, biography, which are all invasions of the privacy of these individuals pero we still complied with it," Padilla explained. "They asked for 10 working days, we gave them 15. We filed it as early as Oct. 26 but to this day it sits at the Office of the Directorate for Intelligence Services. PNP's inaction is tactical denial of her rights to be visited," he added. Neuser and Salom, along with Paolo Alberti, who is in charge of GPF Press & Communications, vowed to continue supporting De Lima until the government decides to drop all politically motivated charges against her. "We can promise you that we will continue to do everything to get De Lima free," Neuser maintained. This is not the first time that an international visitor was barred from visiting the Senator. Last July and September, respectively, Liberal International (LI) president Juli Minoves and The ASEAN Parliament for Human Rights (APHR) delegates led by its Chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Parliament of Malaysia, were also prevented from seeing De Lima despite submitting the requirement asked by the PNP De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte regime, earlier said preventing the visiting foreign delegates from seeing her only shows the administration's unwavering determination on persecuting her. "They have already incarcerated me based on trumped-up drug charges, persecuted me with all the lies to destroy my dignity and womanhood, and now, they are denying my visitors, in particular, foreign leaders, to speak with me," she said. She however vowed to "not be cowed" and continue her advocacies for human rights and the rule of law despite continuous efforts by the Duterte regime to silence her. The Senator from Bicol, who has since been subject of shameful and misogynistic attacks by the President, continues to gain support from international groups and leaders despite efforts of the administration to tarnish her reputation.
Dispatch from Crame 196

Sen. Leila M. de Lima's statement on PNP's inaction on visiting request made by the Global Progressive Forum

11/11/17

My heartfelt thanks to European Parliamentarians NORBERT HANS NEUSER (Germany), ENRIQUE GUERRERO SALOM (Spain) and their colleague in the Global Progressive Forum, PAOLO ALBERTI (Italy), for their attempted visit to me this morning.

Since there was no action on their request duly made even beyond the 10-day prior notice rule, these foreign dignitaries were effectively denied access to me.

Third time it happened that foreign guests of mine were barred, and not accorded even the courtesy of a formal response to their requests.

What's happening? These cannot be mere instances of administrative lapses and/or incompetence on the part of PNP authorities. It's already a deliberate policy of oppression and violation of my rights.

These dignitaries are my guests. There is neither rhyme nor reason to deny them their right to visit and check on my condition. No law or rule bans such visits. These are not terrorists or in any way threats to national security or public order. These are dignitaries of considerable stature in their respective countries, and even globally as members of the Global Progressive Forum.

This is so wrong and unjust.

I demand respect for my rights, among them visitors' access, as a detention prisoner who is constitutionally presumed innocent, as I am truly innocent, and as a sitting and working Senator of the Republic.
The Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office is investigating complaints of abuse by federal immigration detainees at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond.

The complaints, first reported in The Chronicle, said female inmates were being denied books, shampoo and toilet paper and told to use bags when they need to go to the bathroom.

In a Facebook post, the office of Sheriff David Livingston said those allegations  reported in a series of Chronicle columns  were misleading.

We have not directly received any complaints from the female ICE detainees regarding the conditions at WCDF, the post said. It went on to say that inmates have keys to their cells and are free to leave for medical appointments, visits, programs or to use the restroom.

The rooms are unlocked for most of the day, said the post, which was published late Thursday.

Still, we do take the ICE detainees claims seriously and have launched a full investigation, it concluded.

Contra Costa County has a $6 million-a-year contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house male and female immigration detainees at the Richmond jail. Complaints about mistreatment, ranging from withholding of toiletries to lockdowns that last for hours, were documented in a September letter to the San Francisco activist group Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The letter, signed by 27 inmates, has raised concerns among state leaders.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, sent a letter to California Attorney General Xavier Beccera urging him to probe the conditions at the jail. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, scheduled a tour of the jail for Nov. 27.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
With one credit card paid off and two more to go, Bill Stiner was determined to stick with his plan of total debt elimination after finishing a nine-week course at his Pittsburgh church with other members of the congregation who also had declared war on their debt.

Everybody in class paid off debt, he said, referring to the program. But I didnt pay off all the debt. Im still in the middle of that.

Not long after the church program ended this summer, Stiner was pleasantly surprised to find out that his employer  Aerotech  had decided to offer the very same course to its employees for no charge.

He was one of the first employees to sign up.

More employers are starting to focus on the financial well-being of workers. In addition to basic employee benefits such as health care and life insurance, financial wellness programs sponsored by companies are helping more workers overcome personal financial challenges, reduce their debt and prepare for retirement.

Aerotech, a global manufacturer of motion control components and systems in Pittsburgh, is bringing financial education into the workplace through a money management course created by talk radio host Dave Ramsey called SmartDollar.

Nationally, workplace financial education is also offered by companies such as WiseWealth based in Liberty, Missouri, and FourSeasons Financial Education based in St. Louis.

An audience of 2 million

Brian Hamilton, vice president of SmartDollar, said 4,000 companies provide his companys program to about 2 million employees. Representatives from parent company Ramsey Solutions declined to provide information concerning how much it charges businesses for the program.

Ramsey Solutions has for 25 years been offering a debt elimination course called Financial Peace University that is taught to groups of people in churches and communities. Families pay $93 for the nine-week FPU course held at churches and community centers. The FPU course costs $129 online.

The workplace program contains the same course material, but it is designed for workers to access the program from their personal computers at home. There is no religious content in the SmartDollar version of the money management plan, unlike the church version that touches on biblical principles.

Financial Peace University is traditionally a gathering, or small group of 10 to 20 families sitting together and holding each other accountable, which is great, and thats been very effective in the church and community space, Hamilton said.

That doesnt work in the corporate world, he said. Those employees dont want to sit around with their co-workers and talk about their money problems.

More employers are finding that companies have a stake in the financial wellness of their employees.

Human resource departments spend valuable time dealing with garnishments from unpaid credit card bills. Employees may be distracted at work if they are getting calls during work hours from collection agencies. Financially stressed employees often produce less and call in sick more.

For Stiner, 30, who works as a supervisor in an Aerotech warehouse, the workplace program has reinforced progress he made studying money management with groups at his church.

He rents half a duplex for $1,200 a month. He recently paid off his car  a 2005 Toyota Prius with 260,000 miles on it. And he has made a sizable dent in the $10,000 in credit card debt he started with in 2015, paying off one of three credit cards he ran up when he lost control of his spending.

He said his five-year goals are to be married, living in a home he owns, and be free of all credit card and other consumer debt.
Lets just take a deep breath.

Russias interference with the presidential election a year ago is no doubt a grave threat to the United States. Moreover, Russias use of Facebook and Twitter to spread disinformation shows President Vladimir Putins resolve to use unconventional methods to undermine his opponents.

But if we let fear cloud our judgment, our overreaction will only hurt the United States, which is what Putin wants. Im specifically referring to suggestions that Russian billionaire Yuri Milners investments in Facebook and Twitter years ago are somehow connected to Russias election mischief. The smoking gun seems to be recently released documents showing Milners connections to the Kremlin and high-ranking government officials.

Thats hardly conclusive.

First of all, its extremely difficult to distinguish business from the government in countries like Russia and China, where the state exerts enormous control over the economy. For example, Chinas state-owned enterprises still account for 30 to 40 percent of total GDP and about 20 percent of Chinas total employment, according to U.S. Commerce Department data. Even the Peoples Liberation Army owns businesses.

And in Russia, many of the countrys oligarchs got rich precisely because they knew someone in power, particularly after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 when the countrys assets were given away to a few select people.

In these countries, following the money will inevitably lead you to the government.

In Russia and China, it is difficult to separate business from politics, said Christopher McNally, an adjunct senior fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu. The two sides are smudging the lines, especially when the business reach a certain size. Its very murky.

Thats not to say we shouldnt be vigilant. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, weve witnessed a radical shift in the post-War World II global order.

Shadowy non-state actors like terrorist groups, hackers and criminal gangs have proliferated, often working in the darker corners of the unregulated Internet. And Russia and China have tried to offset the military and economic power of the United States by embracing asymmetrical tactics like cyberattacks for economic gain and online disinformation campaigns to destabilize adversaries.

In a world wheres there is no dominant power, everyone feels uneasy, said Witold Henisz, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. No one is coordinating anything.

The broader puzzle is what it means when a foreign government invests in a company, he said. Were blurring the lines of money and government.

But the United States has also become complicit in this opacity.

Since the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977, the country has championed transparency and the rule of law in the financial markets. The law specifically sought to prevent American companies from bribing foreign governments to gain business favors. Through international institutions like the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the United States has also battled corruption in countries seeking economic aid.

But the Trump administration has undermined this work by blurring the line between business and government and refusing to release information so we can identify conflicts of interest. President Trump regularly plugs his hotels and resorts on state business and has declined to release his tax returns.

In other words, why should other countries be transparent about its business/government connections if the United States wont do the same?

We have undermined our argument that we are different, Henisz said.

Countries like China have long suspected American companies and groups of spying for the U.S. government. And as it turns out, they had good reason. Documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden show that technology firms like Google and Verizon provided intelligence agencies with the means to intercept data and monitor communications.

And were worried about a Russian billionaire who invested $200 million in Facebook in 2009 and contributed $191 million to an $800 million round for Twitter as the lead investor, several years before the presidential election in question? (Unusual for such large investments in privately held companies, Milner didnt even take a board seat at Facebook or Twitter)

In a recent letter to investors, Milner investment firm DST Global defended its activities.

We understand that you may have some questions given the insinuations in some of the articles that these investments could have somehow been used for something other than commercial purposes, the letter said. The facts do not support these assertions.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

That said, Milner and DST have some explaining to do. In 2009, DSTs Alexander Tamas told CNET that the company had no government funding  at the same time that he argued that Facebook needed DST to break into the Russian market. (A CNET source even said that DST was close to the government, a claim Tamas quibbled with.)

In fact, according to the Paradise Papers, a cache of leaked papers detailing how companies and individuals moved their money around the world, DST received funding from VTB Bank, a financial institution controlled by the Russian government, and used that money to invest in American Internet companies  at a time, its hard to remember now, when Wall Street was flat on its back and venture capitalists were hanging back from investing.

Yet leaping from that flow of money to the idea that Milner was part of secret plan to disrupt American elections sounds so impossible, Henisz of Wharton said. What were probably seeing is well-connected people who dont want to keep their money locally, so they look overseas for investment opportunities.

You know, just like rich Americans do.

Investment capital is a two-way street, and we should embrace foreign money coming to the United States. Thats how international finance works.

From 2011 to 2016, investors from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have poured nearly $20 billion in U.S. tech deals, most of it coming from China, according to data from CB Insights research firm. Are we to assume the Chinese government is up to no good?

Even if thats the case, the best solution is not to shun investment, but rather keep track of it, McNally of East-West Center said.

The trick is you have to demand more transparency, McNally said.

The biggest mistake we could make is to be overly hysterical, he said. Dont shut out capital.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist.

Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee
When 74 percent of San Francisco voters last year backed legalizing the adult recreational use of marijuana statewide, the idea was to make it easier to buy and smoke pot  a substance that has never been that hard to buy or smoke in San Francisco anyway.

Tell that to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

The Keystone Cops of Cannabis have spent countless hours over endless committee meetings in recent weeks, devising ways to dramatically limit where people can buy and sell marijuana once the substance becomes legal for recreational use statewide on Jan. 1.

Sure, nobody wants San Francisco to turn into one big year-round 4/20 celebration, and figuring out how to regulate a new industry takes time. But City Hall is taking its weed worries to bizarre heights.

No cannabis shops within 1,000 feet of schools! Or day care centers! (Because you never know when a toddler will waddle out of his day care center unsupervised and trade his peanut butter sandwich for a blunt.)

Only one dispensary per commercial corridor! No cannabis shops at all in Chinatown! Or West Portal! No more than three in the outer Excelsior! Or within 600 feet of each other! Or to the north of a sushi restaurant or the south of a yoga studio or below an overpriced condo  no way! OK, I made those last ones up.

Progressive San Francisco circa 2017 making a hash over regulating soon-to-be-legal pot? Youre not high. Its reality, prompting one legislative aide to wonder whether she was actually working for the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

And whats even stranger is that these very same city leaders  some of whom seem to be buying into the reefer madness of the 1930s  are holding these discussions within yards of people openly injecting themselves with heroin and other drugs and strewing their dirty needles around Civic Center Plaza, the Tenderloin and Mid-Market.

Has the highly disturbing, open-air injection drug use that has proliferated in recent years around City Hall  including near playgrounds, schools and day care centers  prompted the same long, fretful discussions and myriad proposals to limit it? Nope.

Gabrielle Lurie / Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle 2016

Politicians are literally walking past people shooting heroin in broad daylight on their way to meetings about drastically limiting the sale of legal pot.

I wish weed was our problem! exclaimed Tomiquia Moss, executive director of Hamilton Families, which runs a shelter for homeless families in the Tenderloin. If that was all people were doing, it would be a whole different ballgame.

She recalled working at the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. 10 years ago and marching with families to City Hall to demand that their kids not have to walk around injection drug users on a regular basis.

But the problem only grew worse. Moss said that drug deals and injection drug use regularly happen in front of Hamiltons family shelter, with little kids inside.

The Tenderloin has the highest number of kids per capita of any neighborhood in San Francisco, but Ive never heard anybody propose keeping injection drug use at least 1,000 feet way from their schools and child care centers.

If this was happening in other neighborhoods, it wouldnt be tolerated, Moss said.

Diane Van Stralen, program coordinator at the Bay Area Womens and Childrens Center in the Tenderloin, said shes seen a lot more people shooting up in the neighborhood in recent months.

Its terrible for these kids to walk down the street and see people injecting, she said. It used to never be quite as blatant.

But if supervisors are tying themselves in such knots over regulating legal cannabis shops, how will they ever open a safe injection site for intravenous drug users, as recommended by their own task force? Unlike cannabis, after all, such a site is not legal under state law. And it hasnt been approved by city voters.

I personally think it should be opened, to help get the blatant drug use off the streets and keep the dirty needles away from kids and other passersby. The supervisors say theyre committed to opening one, and Supervisors London Breed and Malia Cohen told me theyre open to centers in their districts.

Are you kidding me? Im a leader, Cohen said when I asked her if shed back one in District 10. My walk has been backed up by my talk.

Lets hope the talk about that goes a whole lot smoother than the pot prattle.

Now, there are two entirely separate pieces of legislation regulating the cannabis industry, which the full board may or may not vote on Tuesday. Supervisors mostly say they like a citywide, uniform cannabis plan  unless other supervisors get special deals for their districts, and then they want them too.

Im starting to understand Mitch McConnells pain in putting together votes in the Senate, Supervisor Aaron Peskin quipped the other day.

One of the two proposals is close to the original legislation offered by Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Jeff Sheehy. The other has all of the proposed amendments dumped into it.

Some key differences? The first version would go with the states rule of creating a 600-foot buffer between cannabis shops and schools and would keep pot shops 300 feet away from each other. Those seem like entirely sensible proposals.

The second version would expand the buffer to 1,000 feet and add day care centers, nearly eliminating the green zone where cannabis shops could open. The second version also has the specific neighborhood plans like the Chinatown ban.

Lee now backs the 1,000-foot buffer between pot shops and schools, spokeswoman Deirdre Hussey said, adding that the mayor feels it is critical that the board engages on this complex issue.

Connor Radnovich/The Chronicle

Supervisors Jane Kim, Katy Tang and Norman Yee are the biggest backers of the plan with the 1,000-foot radius and day care center restrictions. Kim has argued that her district already has so many medical cannabis dispensaries that her constituents have plenty of access to pot already. Tang and Yee took great pains to tell me that its not because of their own personal views about pot, but because theyve heard so many concerns from their constituents.

If youre smoking walking down the sidewalk, the chemicals can go in the open doors of the child care centers, Yee explained. This is what Im hearing from people.

Yee said hed be willing to limit the radius to 600 feet if day care centers are included. Hed also be willing to have one cannabis shop in West Portal, if other neighborhoods take the shops, too. Several supervisors sound willing to compromise, though its unclear whether they can get the regulations in place by Jan. 1.

Asked whether she thinks the supervisors should be working to limit the injection drug use right outside City Hall, Tang said, Absolutely! I totally think so. We just happen to be working on cannabis right now.

OK, lets get that done and then move on to injection drug use, supervisors. Tenderloin families have been asking you for help for long enough.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
The soon-to-be released movie The Post, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, dramatizes the 1971 fight between the U.S. government and two of the nations preeminent newspapers over the right to publish a secret study that exposed decades of official deceit and miscalculations in Vietnam.

Director Steven Spielberg, determined to get the details right, summoned the whistle-blower who leaked the Pentagon Papers for consultation. Daniel Ellsberg was asked to describe everything from his briefcase to the Xerox machine that was used to copy the thousands of documents.

The former Rand Corp. researcher and onetime defense official who helped put together the report also was asked for his perspective on the enduring implications of the fight over the Pentagon Papers.

They are enormous  and are especially relevant today, with a president who derides journalists as enemies of the American people and pressures his attorney general to prosecute those who leak classified material. President Trump has called such leaks un-American. Yet the 7,000 pages in the Pentagon Papers highlighted how government secrecy can lead to disaster.

It took great courage for Ellsberg, and then the journalists at the New York Times and Washington Post, to risk imprisonment to bring the uncensored history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam into public view.

If Ellsberg has a regret, it is that he did not act sooner.

A wars worth of lives may be saved by telling the truth, Ellsberg, now 86, said in a phone interview last week. He joined the Department of Defense as a special assistant in 1964. I wish I had done it in 1964 ... maybe the Vietnam War could have been averted. And thats a very heavy load that I have to carry. Im glad that I did reveal it, but it was years later when we were heavily involved in the war.

President Richard Nixon was furious at the first disclosures in the New York Times on June 13, 1971. Attorney General John Mitchell fired off a telegram to the Times, demanding that it halt any further publication on the grounds that it would cause irreparable injury to the defense interests of the United States.

On the day after publication, White House aide H.R. Haldeman warned Nixon in the Oval Office that the disclosure of the Pentagon Papers would send a message that You cant trust the government; you cant believe what they say; and you cant rely on their judgment; and the  the implicit infallibility of presidents, which has been an accepted thing in America, is badly hurt by this, because it shows that people do things the president wants to do even though its wrong, and the president can be wrong.

Actually, the lesson of the Pentagon Papers is that America is hurt badly when presidents and people around them divine a sense of infallibility and assume they can lie to the public or defy the law with impunity. Nixon was neither the first nor the last U.S. president to conflate national security with political security.

The dominant purpose of the First Amendment was to prohibit the widespread practice of governmental suppression of embarrassing information, Justice William O. Douglas wrote in his opinion on the 6-3 Supreme Court ruling that allowed the Times and the Washington Post (which subsequently obtained the papers from Ellsberg) to resume publication.

The ruling had a profound impact on the balance of power between government and journalism. Most nations, including Britain, reserve the right to censor news. The Pentagon Papers ruling cemented the principle that such prior restraint is at odds with the U.S. Constitution, and that government faces a heavy burden to show that a disclosure would truly imperil military operations or public safety.

In other words, news organizations do not need to seek government permission to reveal government wrongdoing.

In the ensuing decades, Americans have learned of myriad scandals through leaks of classified information: Watergate, the clandestine sale of arms to Iran to fund the Nicaraguan Contras, the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the warrantless monitoring of Americans emails and phone calls, the post-9/11 establishment of CIA prisons on foreign lands where suspected terrorists could be interrogated and even tortured beyond the rule of U.S. law.

These were stories the government had wanted to hide from us.

The June 30, 1971, Supreme Court ruling in favor of the newspapers right to publish did not stop the Nixon Justice Department from trying to imprison Ellsberg. He went to trial in 1973 on charges of espionage, conspiracy and stealing government property. The charges ultimately were dismissed.

Ellsbergs plight underscores the risk he was willing to assume to let Americans know the truth about Vietnam. His current worry is Trumps saber rattling about North Korea.

I would like every member of his administration, top to bottom, to see this movie (The Post) and ask themselves: What should we be doing? Should we keep our mouths shut for the sake of our careers? he said. I dont think this movie will affect Donald J. Trump. But it could affect practically anybody else in his administration.

All Americans should know the story of the Pentagon Papers and what it instructs about the value of whistle-blowers and a free press willing to challenge a government when it goes astray  and the folly in believing the implicit infallibility of any president of the United States.

John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron
President Trump, whose adversarial relationship with the press has already reached legendary depths, enjoyed a rare moment of media adulation this week. Oddly enough, it came from Chinas state-controlled media.

Approvingly quoting the U.S. president in the wake of his state visit plus to Beijing, the Communist Party-owned China Daily expressed hope that China and the U.S. can do tremendous things to the benefit of both countries, even the world, as Trump suggested. Another official organ, the Global Times, hastened to agree with Trump that the countries trade imbalance should be blamed on past American administrations, not on China, noting, The lists on which China and the U.S. announced consensus are long, covering almost all aspects of the bilateral relationship and major international affairs.

The glowing overseas reviews reflected a visit that went Chinas way in every respect while providing a study in Trumps inability to distinguish the personal from the political. Mere flattery and ceremony seem to have been enough to transform Trump from the most hyperbolically anti-China candidate to the most grotesquely pro-China president.

Having repeatedly congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping for his recent consolidation of undemocratic power and admiringly compared him to a king, Trump went on to call the authoritarian leader a very special man and confess personally to him, My feeling toward you is an incredibly warm one. Trump also brought along a video of his 6-year-old granddaughter showing off her Mandarin by greeting Grandpa Xi, reciting Confucian proverbs, and warbling a traditional tune. (Sample lyric: The sweeping rice fields are like a swinging ocean.)

The president also must have pleased his hosts on more serious matters by eliding any mention of Chinas human-rights violations, failing to take questions from the countrys closely monitored reporters, and downplaying his long-standing obsession with the trade deficit. Trump did halfheartedly mouth a standard critique of the unfair and one-sided relationship, but he interrupted himself to proclaim, But  but  I dont blame China. After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.

Before his election, Trumps rhetoric cast China as an enemy that had subjected the United States to rape and the greatest theft in the history of the world. Even for this president, who has shown little allegiance to consistency or accuracy, it was a remarkable shift from one extreme to another.

And for what? No evidence has emerged of any meaningful Chinese concession to U.S. positions on trade or another Trump fixation, North Korea. The administration announced $250 billion in Chinese investments in U.S. energy, aircraft and other industries, but Bloomberg reported that many of the deals were either already in place or still uncertain.

The xenophobic fever dream of a Chinese menace propagated by Trump during his campaign deserved to be abandoned. But his latest enthusiastic embrace of an authoritarian regime is equally detached from reality and the U.S.s interests.

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.
As inhabitants of this precious Earth, I believe each of us must play a role in protecting its finite resources. But before you decide your next course of action  be it attending a climate march or writing a check to your favorite eco-friendly charity  I suggest that you first be still, close your eyes, and listen to the whisperings of your soul.

Because though we all know what we need to do to address the concrete outer dimensions of the climate challenge  through science, politics and energy  I believe that work must be grounded in what I call the inner dimensions to climate action. Before we can act effectively, we must find in our hearts the will to protect the vulnerable, the sense of responsibility to preserve the splendor of nature, and the bravery to change the world.

As a faith leader and longtime climate activist, I believe the inner aspects of climate action can be cultivated through a strong spiritual connection to one another, and with God. Through a strengthening of inner will, and through openness to the deep qualities of the divine in the universe, we can find the fortitude to fix the external issues. Thats why more and more faith-based groups are taking action, including many attending the United Nations climate negotiations this week in Bonn, Germany.

The worlds organized faiths and the indigenous spiritual traditions each cultivates sets of religious qualities  compassion is associated with Buddhism, forgiveness with Christianity, for instance. At last years climate negotiations, the delegation I lead for the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church found many young adult Muslims attending our public meditation, chant and prayer services saying, This is exactly what we were looking for  we know how to do technical work on climate change; we were looking for the spiritual support for our work.

That spiritual support is important, because climate change is a global existential threat. Island nations will disappear if emissions arent controlled, our agricultural systems face increases in droughts and deluges that destroy crops, heat waves parch lands and take lives  particularly the sick and elderly. These were some of the top-line findings of the Climate Science Special Report released Nov. 3 by the federal government, reinforcing what we know about climate change: Its happening, humans are responsible, and consequences will be severe.

The Bible says to care for the most vulnerable, that we must protect the least among us, but this sentiment is hardly unique to Christianity. In the face of such overwhelmingly bad news, spiritual growth prepares us to withstand the constant stress of planetary crisis, to face the torrent of extreme weather disasters with a willingness to help instead of a retreat to denial and ignorance in the face of such widespread suffering.

This is why our public worship and reflection services are so important, both at global climate negotiations and in our faith institutions every day. To address the enormous challenge of climate change, we must bring these inner dimensions of climate action forward.

In addition to our representation at major climate meetings, faith institutions are committing to the We Are Still In effort. We Are Still In is a movement to work to meet the United States commitment to the Paris Agreement, whether or not the U.S. administration withdraws. This movement began after the U.S. presidential election in 2016. Its central idea is that coalitions of states, regions and cities in partnership with businesses can, together, keep the U.S. commitment to the Paris Agreement. At this point, more than 2,500 leaders have signed on, from faith groups, universities, businesses to government leaders like mayors and governors. I and many other people of faith have understood that faith bodies can do our part, too.

And, as individuals, we can do even more. Just imagine the power of the millions of faithful people who are already climate activists in addressing this challenge.

Following this years climate negotiations, we hope that more and more of the faith-based climate activists will connect with one another and with their civil society partners to make the faith movement a powerful force in addressing the climate threat and protecting vulnerable communities.

While the external demands of climate action can feel overwhelming, cultivating the inner strength to face them is a matter of faith.

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus speaks of a widow whose demands for justice are met only after her unrelenting persistence, teaching us the importance of advocacy as prayer.

I have been guided by the belief that when I take action for justice, based on the values that have been formed in me by my faith, I am, in fact, praying.

I believe you, too, can find this guidance, whether you follow a deeply rooted faith practice or simply meditate on the stirrings of your heart. Within your heart are values, treasures really  compassion, courage, forgiveness, ambition. These values and more will reveal themselves if you open yourself to them. Our actions depend on these values. Climate action begins within. For me, climate action is prayer.

The Right Rev. Marc Handley Andrus is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California. The Episcopal Church has 1.8 million members in 16 countries.
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A mountain lion slinking around the Diamond Heights area of San Francisco was cornered by a game warden and shot with a tranquilizer gun Friday behind a housing complex.

The animal was turned over to the Santa Cruz Puma Project out of UC Santa Cruz, which, by late Friday afternoon, had fitted the cougar with a radio and GPS collar and was preparing to release it in the wild.

City police, animal control officers and California Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens surrounded a cluster of buildings known as Diamond Heights Village, where the cougar was seen in the morning crouching amid the trees, brush and ivy behind the homes.

Wildlife experts said the animal probably wandered into San Francisco and was trying to get back to its home territory when it was spotted Friday morning in the area of Diamond Heights Boulevard and Duncan Street, next to Glen Canyon Park, by members of the Diamond Heights Village Association.

Now Playing: Videos of recent mountain lion sighting in San Francisco. Video: San Francisco Chronicle

The animal was about a block from Christopher Playground, which is part of a large park complex frequented by children. Because it was so close to kids and in a heavily populated area, wildlife officials decided it would be best to tranquilize and relocate the big cat.

When I arrived, the mountain lion was hunkered down, said Lt. James Ober, a Fish and Wildlife game warden, who arrived at the complex, on the 5100 block of Diamond Heights Boulevard, shortly before 1 p.m. It appeared to be under a lot of stress.

Ober crept up to the cat with his tranquilizer rifle and shot it with a dart loaded with the sedative telazol. The 82-pound male cougar collapsed on a patch of dirt and rolled down the hillside above a driveway at the four-story wood shingled apartment complex. Ober said the animal was still moving after 10 minutes, so he shot it a second time.

By 2 p.m., the mountain lion had been cinched to a carrier and loaded into the wardens pickup truck, where the dart could still be seen sticking out of his hind quarters. As many as 20 onlookers gawked at the unconscious puma as it lay in the truck, its front and rear paws secured with straps and a black mask over his eyes.

It went very smoothly, Ober said.

The GPS collar fitted on the cat is the same kind used to track at least 40 mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The idea is to relocate the cat to the nearest suitable habitat, probably on Golden Gate National Recreation Area land on the Peninsula.

Biologists will first draw blood to test for pathogens and determine its genetics.

We dont pass up an opportunity to learn as much as we can from it, so we draw blood and take samples, said Justin Dellinger, senior environmental scientist for Fish and Wildlifes investigations lab. We will try and assess the health of the animal as well as trying to determine where it originated from via genetics.

It was not clear whether the sleek feline was the same animal that created an uproar earlier in the week when one was seen lurking around mansions in the Presidio and Sea Cliff.

Fish and Wildlife officials initially thought Friday that the puma was a female, but Chris Wilmers, a wildlife ecologist at UC Santa Cruz and the head of the Puma Project, said it is a typical young dispersal-age male who takes a wrong turn.

Were pretty sure its from the Peninsula because otherwise it would have had to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge or swim across, he said, so were going to drop it off on the Peninsula, where it is most likely to have come from.

A puma was recorded on a security camera at 5 a.m. Wednesday loping past the home of Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who lives in Sea Cliff, near China Beach. A cougar was also captured on surveillance video last Saturday outside the billionaire tech executives home.

Sea Cliff is about 6 miles by car from Diamond Heights. The route goes through numerous neighborhoods and across several major thoroughfares, especially if one goes by a circuitous route using beaches, parks and wildlands.

Wildlife experts believe the big cat either found its way to San Francisco from wildland areas on the Peninsula or sauntered over the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the night, a path coyotes have been known to take.

Its very common for a mountain lion to attempt dispersal and to try to find its own territory, Ober said, adding that the animals usually figure out theyve made a wrong turn and head back.

Still, the presence of a puma in busy Diamond Heights was unexpected, and nobody was sure how it got so far into the city without being seen.

Were all kind of baffled, said Dellinger, a mountain lion expert. I think were all a little stumped about how it even got there.

Residents in the area were protective of the muscular cat.

The animals were here before, Sia Terplant, 11, said as she watched the mountain lion being loaded into the truck. Maybe the people should leave.

As the drama unfolded Friday, gun-toting police officers were stationed on each side of the building keeping residents and onlookers away. San Francisco police Lt. Rachel Murphy got a peek at the cougar as she waited for Ober to arrive with his tranquilizer gun.

Shes beautiful, Murphy said, before the sex of the cat was determined.

Pete Swearengen arrived home from a meeting Friday only to learn that he couldnt use the complexs parking garage because, of all things, a mountain lion was roaming the property. He said he has seen coyotes and hawks in the area, so it isnt surprising a predator would come looking for prey, but he never expected a puma would come knocking.

Im concerned for the health and safety of the animal, Swearengen said amid an array of police cars, fire trucks and news vans on the block.

Deb Campbell, spokeswoman for San Francisco Animal Care and Control, said there have been reports of mountain lions in the city in the past, but none of the departments officers had seen one.

This is different, she said. It seems everyone is moving to San Francisco, including the wildlife.

Steve Rubenstein, Kurtis Alexander and Peter Fimrite are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF, @KurtisAlexander, @pfimrite
Veterans Day Events

Veterans Day is Saturday, and many in the Bay Area will be celebrating those who have served in the military. Here are a few events scheduled for the weekend in honor of the countrys veterans:

The San Francisco Veterans Day Parade wont actually take place on Veterans Day, but the Sunday event will begin on the Embarcadero at North Point Street and head into Fishermans Wharf along Jefferson Street. The parade is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon and will be led by 100 veterans from Bay Area motorcycle clubs.

San Joses Veterans Day Parade will take place on Saturday, starting from the Highway 87 overpass at Santa Clara Street and go along Market Street to San Carlos Street. The parade starts at 10 a.m. and will be led by retired Navy Rear Adm. William Copeland Jr.

Petaluma will celebrate the holiday with a parade beginning and ending at Walnut Park. Music begins at noon, with the parade scheduled for 1 p.m. and a prayer and follow-up program in the park gazebo after the parade ends.

In Alameda, the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum will host a ceremony featuring a wreath toss and card-making station where visitors can write thank-you notes for veterans. Festivities at the museum, 707 West Hornet Ave. off Pier 3, will start at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Medicaid is rarely associated with getting rich. The patients are poor, the budgets tight and payments to doctors often paltry.

But some insurance companies are reaping spectacular profits off the taxpayer-funded program in California, even when the state finds their patient care is subpar.

Health Net, a unit of Centene Corp., the largest Medicaid insurer nationwide, raked in $1.1 billion in profits from 2014 to 2016, according to state data obtained by Kaiser Health News. Anthem, another industry giant, turned a profit of $549 million from Californias Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, in the same period.

Overall, Medicaid insurers in the Golden State made $5.4 billion in profits from 2014 to 2016, in part because the state paid higher rates during the inaugural years of the nations Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Last year, they made more money than all Medicaid insurers combined in 34 other states with managed care plans.

Those profits are gigantic  wow, said Glenn Melnick, a health economist and professor at the University of Southern California.

Jennifer Kent, Californias Medicaid director, said that health plan profits were higher than anticipated during the ACA expansion. But she said the state expects to recoup a significant amount of money within the next year, once audits are complete and retroactive rate adjustments are made.

Were going to be taking a lot of money back. Were talking billions of dollars, Kent said in an interview this month. No one should think these plans just made off like bandits, and were not going to see them again. ... We are very mindful we use taxpayer money.

Health insurers that profited substantially from Medi-Cal defend their good fortune. They say these surpluses follow losses in earlier years, and they always run the risk of red ink if medical costs spike.

The expansion may have been a little rich in the beginning, said Jeff Myers, chief executive of the Medicaid Health Plans of America, an industry trade group. But you are starting to see margins come back down.

More than 1 in 3 Californians, or 13.5 million people, is covered by Medi-Cal  more than the entire population of Pennsylvania. About 80 percent of those in Californias program are enrolled in a managed-care plan, in which insurers receive a fixed rate per person to handle their medical care. The goal is to control costs and better coordinate care.

In anticipation of the Affordable Care Act rollout, officials in California and elsewhere boosted their payments to managed care companies because they expected Medicaid costs to increase as newly insured patients rushed to the doctor or emergency room after going years without coverage. But those sharply higher costs didnt materialize  and insurers pocketed more money as a result.

Moreover, Californias payments keep flowing steadily even when patients fare poorly. Two of the most profitable insurers in California  Centene and Anthem  run some of the worst-performing Medicaid plans, according to medical quality scores and complaints in government records.

California officials acknowledge they need to do a better job of connecting money and quality.

We are looking at alternative payment methods and those types of things that we can do to help improve and to tie quality to payment, said Lindy Harrington, a deputy director at the California Department of Health Care Services, which runs Medi-Cal. But as you can imagine, its a difficult ship to turn.

Before the ACA expansion, Medi-Cal plans collectively were barely in the black, with $226 million of net income for 2012 and 2013 combined. Traditionally, these insurance contracts have yielded slim profit margins of 2 to 3 percent. California said it aims for 2 percent when setting rates, based on prior claims experience and projected costs.

But in the years since the health law took effect, many health insurers have posted margins two or three times that benchmark.

Centenes Health Net unit in California enjoyed a profit margin of 7.2 percent from 2014 to 2016. Centene acquired Health Net for $6.3 billion in March 2016. Anthems profit margin in the Medi-Cal program was 8.1 percent for 2014 to 2016.

Health Net said that its profit margins are comparable to other Medi-Cal health plans and that the company has made major investments to improve Californians health and access to care.

Anthem declined to comment on its financial results. The company said that it has worked with the state to meet the needs of Medi-Cal patients by extending clinic hours and helping with transportation to appointments. The company said its committed to providing high quality care to our Medi-Cal members.

Overall, Centene has 7 million Medicaid enrollees across the country, with about 2 million in California. Anthem is close behind with 6.4 million Medicaid members, about 1.3 million in the state.

The federal government footed the entire bill for Medicaid expansion during the first three years, instead of taking the usual approach of splitting the costs with states. Now, states have more incentive to rein in spending, as their share of the costs grows to 10 percent by 2020.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has demanded that California and seven other states account for how they spent federal Medicaid expansion dollars. Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, asked California officials in a letter Sept. 27 whether they have conducted audits and requested information on insurance company payouts.

In her Oct. 11 response, Kent said the state spent $6,181 per expansion enrollee in 2015, below the national average of $6,365. She also said the states rates paid to insurers for enrollees in the expanded program have decreased significantly since 2014.

Kent wrote that California is a cost-efficient Medicaid program.

Chad Terhune and Anna Gorman are senior correspondents for Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent service of the Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Email: cterhune@kff.org, agorman@kff.org Twitter: @chadterhune, @annagorman
INDIANAPOLIS  Alison Wrenne was making waffles for her two young children one morning when abdominal pain forced her to the floor. A neighbor who is a physician assistant urged her to go to the emergency room.

Wrong decision, according to her health insurer. Wrenne was diagnosed with a ruptured ovarian cyst, but Anthem said that wasnt an emergency and stuck her with a $4,110 bill.

How are you supposed to know that? said the 34-year-old from Lexington, Ky. Im not a doctor. ... Thats what the emergency room is for.

In an effort to curb unnecessary and costly ER visits, the Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer has told customers in a few U.S. states to go to the hospital only in a real emergency such as a heart attack, stroke and major bleeding  or they could wind up footing the bill.

Anthem, the nations second-largest insurer, wants patients to consider alternatives like drugstore clinics, nurse advice hotlines or telemedicine. Insurers for years have been raising ER co-payments to try to deter unnecessary  and expensive  visits, and Anthems policy marks another round in this long-standing fight.

Even doctors agree the ER  an important revenue source for hospitals  isnt the best option for minor complaints like sinus infections, rashes or ankle sprains. They say its better in those cases to see a family doctor who knows a persons medical history.

But some also worry that Anthems clampdown will scare patients away from the ER in an actual emergency, especially in cases where major problems may not seem serious at first.

I think its completely unfair to patients, said Dr. Jesse Pines, who teaches emergency medicine at George Washington University. It runs the risk of really hurting some people.

Customers in Missouri and Georgia received letters this year from Anthem warning them that minor complaints should be checked out at places like clinics or urgent care centers, where visits can cost $85 and $190, respectively. By comparison, Anthem says a typical ER visit costs around $1,200.

The ER should be used as it was designed  to treat life-threatening illness, said Dr. Craig Samitt, Anthems chief clinical officer. This is in no way meant to compromise a members determination of whether theyve got an emergency.

The push began in 2015 in Kentucky and will expand to Indiana next year and possibly other states that have seen a rise in unnecessary visits. Those involve common medical ailments that the average person knows should not be seen in an emergency room, according to Samitt.

Anthem says it wants to steer patients into using the right locations for their care. It has a similar policy for MRIs that pushes some patients away from getting scans at more expensive hospital locations.

There are many exceptions to the ER rule: Patients wont get dinged when there isnt an urgent care center nearby, if they need help on a Sunday or major holiday, if a doctor recommends going to the ER or if someone is under age 14.

Samitt also said Anthem isnt simply rejecting every non-urgent ER claim it receives. The insurer has a physician review a case before issuing a denial and will consider a patients circumstances. Anthem said it may cover a patient who arrives with chest pains that turn out to be indigestion instead of a heart attack.

However, hospital officials in Missouri say many of Anthems reviews havent been this thorough. The insurer has rejected some claims in only a couple of days and hasnt requested patient records before making a decision, said Daniel Landon, a senior vice president with the Missouri Hospital Association.

U.S. emergency department visits are expected to climb to around 150 million this year, up from 141.4 million in 2014. The rise is due partly to coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act, an aging population and an increase in opioid overdoses, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Other insurers also review ER use but not as aggressively as Anthem, said Laura Wooster of the emergency doctor group. The group has asked Anthem to stop immediately.

I would hope that other insurers would take a look at this ... and realize its a dangerous enforcement mechanism to consider, she said.

Anthem spokeswoman Joyzelle Davis said the insurer has met with representatives of the doctor group, but it has no plans to stop its program.

Anthem said it has seen a drop in unnecessary ER visits in Kentucky since it started its review there and has rejected only around 1 percent of all claims as avoidable.

In Wrennes case, the letter from Anthem said: We do not believe that a person with an average knowledge of health and medicine would think that this needed care right away to avoid a serious problem. The insurer said she could have been treated safely in a doctors office or clinic.

The hospital whittled Wrennes bill down to several hundred dollars. But now shes nervous about using the ER again.

Its just frustrating to be a reasonable person and have to weigh the cost of ... going to the ER or not because you have no idea what the bill would be, she said.

Judy Kurtz also is worried about future emergency care. The 62-year-old Maysville, Ky., resident was hit with a $1,600 bill a couple years ago after the insurer rejected an ER visit.

A doctor had told her to seek emergency help after an antibiotic reaction made her throat and face swell. She said Anthem eventually paid the claim. But it took about a dozen phone calls and six months to get the insurer to change its mind.

The retired schoolteacher doesnt want to go through that again and has set a high bar for going to the ER.

It would have to be terribly life-threatening if I were to go, Kurtz said. I would probably have to be (unconscious) and someone would have to carry me out.

Tom Murphy is an Associated Press writer.
Nearly one year after transportation officials gave approval, Wisconsin's first anti-abortion license plates are available for drivers.

Choose Life Wisconsin's specialty license plates were approved by the Division of Motor Vehicles in December of last year despite 26 objections to the plates.

Drivers can purchase the specialty plates for a $15 issuance fee and $25 tax-deductible donation to Choose Life Wisconsin along with the regular state and local registration fees. Plate holders will also pay the $25 donation at each annual plate renewal.

The fee will be distributed by Choose Life Wisconsin to various Wisconsin pregnancy resource centers, according to the state Department of Transportation's website.

The plate was approved after a new law in 2016 allowed organizations to apply directly to the DMV for a special group license plate. Previously, organizations would need to have a local state legislator sponsor a bill that would need to be approved by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor to allow the issuance of special group license plates.

The license plates feature the organization's name and a baby's footprint.
Once Southwest Airlines starts flying to Hawaii, it may well add a compelling wrinkle to its schedule: flights between the islands.

The carrier is mulling whether to include some in-state travel along with its trans-Pacific routes, which the company plans to offer starting next year.

CEO Gary Kelly said last month that island-hopping flights are something its obviously considering theyre attractive in terms of year-round demand, easy weather and steady prices.

While Southwest would face off against Hawaiian Airlines, a deeply entrenched competitor that enjoys a virtual monopoly in the state, it does have a secret weapon. Andrew Watterson, the Southwest executive who oversees revenue and is in charge of cracking the Hawaii nut financially, worked at Hawaiian for three years and knows the market well.

Flying in Hawaii is a bigger business than people perhaps have in mind, Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian Holdings chief executive, told Bloombergs P&L podcast last month. Of the 6 million in-state passengers, about 30 percent are connecting from long-haul flights, he said. This traffic accounts for a quarter of the airlines revenue.

Its a business that sort of carries everyday life here, Dunkerley said of the 30- to 40-minute hops between six islands for school groups and even visits to the doctor. Fares are generally $70 to $100 each way. Its pretty big business, he said.

More people flew from Honolulu to Maui  1.03 million  than from Bostons Logan Airport to New Yorks LaGuardia Airport in the 12 months ended July 31, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. By way of comparison, only three destinations from Chicagos OHare Airport  New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco  had more traffic than the Honolulu-Maui route during the same period. Hawaiian offers as many as 32 daily flights between Honolulu and Mauis Kahului Airport; four of the top 10 destinations from the capital are intrastate, accounting for more than 3 million travelers.

The five largest routes in Hawaiians neighbor island network account for about 94 percent of the carriers in-state revenue and likely make up higher margins than the airline earns on its flying to the mainland, according to an Oct. 30 research note from Stifel Financial Corp. Should Southwest come to believe that it can fly within the neighbor islands profitably, we believe this would represent a fairly significant headwind for Hawaiian, analyst Joseph DeNardi wrote.

For now, Hawaiian Airlines flies 85 to 90 percent of traffic among the islands, with Hawaii Island Air Inc. carrying a sliver on its fleet of three Bombardier Q400 turboprops. Island Air filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 16 amid a dispute with its aircraft lessors. Billionaire Larry Ellisons Ohana Airline Holdings sold the airline to a local investment fund in early 2016. In an email, Island Air CEO David Uchiyama said the carrier will continue to provide affordable, convenient and reliable inter-island service that rivals any competitor.

Mokulele Airlines, based in Kona, has about 120 daily flights on its fleet of nine-passenger single-engine Cessna Grand Caravans.

For its part, Hawaiian Airlines isnt publicly concerned about the potential incursion. Peter Ingram, Hawaiians chief commercial officer, cited the carriers 88 years of experience serving the state.

Throughout the years, we have seen a variety of competitive models, and through it all our strategy has proven to be the winning combination, he said.

Indeed, Hawaii has been inhospitable to interlopers in the past. Allegiant Travel Co. acquired a half-dozen Boeing 757s to serve the islands but ran into cost pressures and weak financial performance, quitting in August 2016 after four rocky years. Arizonas Mesa Air Group Inc. operated CRJ-200 regional jets intrastate as Go Airlines for seven years until early 2014, suffering heavy losses. Aloha Airlines filed for bankruptcy and shut down in 2008 after more than 60 years of flying in the state.

Hawaiian has been pretty much the last carrier standing. And there are reasons to think Southwest may face some rough surf trying to break into the local market.

For Southwest, intrastate flying is likely to be an exercise in assessing the costs of adding short flights among the multi-hour journeys from the mainland. Is it more advantageous to park 175-seat Boeing 737s for what could be hours per day or to fly short legs between the long California hauls? The airline also hasnt disclosed when it will begin service to the state, which can occur only after U.S. regulators approve the carriers plans for extended overwater operations of its Boeing 737-800s. Over time, Southwest plans to transition Hawaiian service to its new 737 Max aircraft.

Southwest may find that its 737s are too large to work inside Hawaii economically, Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein said on Tuesday.

I think its going to be hard to make that work, he said, citing finite demand in the local markets, even if fares were to drop.

And there are more potential problems. With Hawaiis heavy skew toward leisure traffic  one-fifth of visitors also take local flights  many people travel there on airline reward points: 11.4 percent to Hawaii, compared with 6.8 percent for the rest of the country, according to an October client report from Wolfe Research analyst Hunter Keay. At Southwest, 13.8 percent of customers fly using their reward points instead of paying for a ticket, Wolfe said. That means more than 18 percent of Southwests Hawaii traffic may fly on free tickets, Keay contends.

That situation creates an unideal mix and is high enough to disrupt normal pricing and dampen revenue and cash production, he wrote. (Southwest) doesnt likely want Hawaii to be a loss leader.

Justin Bachman is a Bloomberg writer. Email: jbachman2@bloomberg.net
NEW YORK  Whats Mark Zuckerbergs biggest takeaway as he wraps up a year of travel to dozens of states? The importance of local communities.

Most of the discussion we have nationally is about what the government should do, or to some degree what families should do, the Facebook CEO said in an interview. People dont spend that much time talking about community, and I think probably thats the most important part of peoples support structure.

To this end, Zuckerberg is announcing a program to boost small businesses and bolster individual technical skills both on and off Facebook. The move shows how intertwined Facebook has become not just in our social lives, but in entrepreneurs economic survival and growth.

The Menlo Park company says more than 70 million small businesses use its service. Only 6 million of them advertise.

If this were purely about our ad business or something like that, I probably wouldnt be the primary person talking about it, Zuckerberg said. But because we are kicking off this whole program that I think is going to be critical to the whole mission focusing on building community, I thought it was an important thing to do.

Facebook wouldnt say how many of its own employees will participate in the Community Boost program, which will visit 30 U.S. cities next year and offer people free training in a range of digital skills. Those will include coding, building websites and  naturally  using Facebook for their business.

The company has begun a smaller version of the program in Detroit, where it is paying to train 3,000 people in digital skills through a local group called Grand Circus.

Zuckerberg said he thinks these are some specific things Facebook can do to help boost the economy and small businesses, both because its going to be good for our products and business and because its going to be good for this mission of building a community even beyond our own interests.

This month, Facebooks top lawyer testified in Congress along with executives from Google and Twitter on Russias use of online services to meddle with the 2016 U.S. elections. Between that and concerns that Facebook has encouraged political polarization and the spread of fake news, its been a tough year for the company. Amid the turmoil, Zuckerberg has renewed his public focus on making Facebook a force for good in the world.

The 33-year-old CEO has spent the past year visiting states he hadnt been to yet to learn more from regular people and local communities  stopping by an opioid treatment center, an oil rig and a seafood processing plant along the way. He has two more states left, Kansas and Missouri. Zuckerberg was in St. Louis last week to announce the program, which will also touch down in Houston, Greenville, S.C., and other cities.

Though the tour has sometimes borne a resemblance to a political campaign  Zuckerberg has made a point of meeting with a cross-section of Americans and listening to their concerns  hes deflected any suggestions of a presidential run.

Barbara Ortutay is an Associated Press writer.
NEW YORK  George Takei took to Twitter on Saturday to deny groping a male model, and Richard Dreyfuss said he never exposed himself to a female writer helping him with a TV script, both back in the 1980s.

Takei, the 80-year-old Star Trek icon, said in a series of tweets that 1981 events described by Scott Brunton in the Hollywood Reporter simply did not occur, and he does not remember ever knowing Brunton.

Right now it is a he said/he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful, Takei tweeted.

Dreyfuss, meanwhile, told the New York magazine blog Vulture he flirted and even kissed Los Angeles writer Jessica Teich over several years but thought it was a consensual seduction ritual. The fact that I did not get it, he said, makes me reassess every relationship I have ever thought was playful and mutual.

Teich told Vulture she first met Dreyfuss at a theater where she worked and they spent hours together over several years after she was hired to develop a script for an ABC comedy special. The actor, she said, made continual, overt and lewd comments and invitations but she never told anyone. Dreyfuss, now 70, called Teich a friend of more than 30 years.

In 1987, Teich said, she was summoned to his trailer on the set of one of his films and he exposed his genitals to her. Dreyfuss agent Barry McPherson said Saturday that his client denies ever exposing himself to Teich. As for other encounters with Teich, Dreyfuss said he is now horrified and bewildered to discover that it wasnt consensual.

Teich said she decided to speak out after Dreyfuss tweeted support for his son, Harry, after the younger Dreyfuss went public with accusations that Kevin Spacey groped his crotch when he was 18.

Brunton told the Hollywood Reporter he was 23 when he first met Takei at a bar. Brunton was living in Hollywood and working as a waiter at the time. They exchanged numbers, speaking by telephone from time to time, when he rang up Takei after breaking up with a boyfriend. Takei invited him to dinner and the theater, Brunton said. He said the two went to Takeis condo for drinks after.

He said he grew dizzy and must have passed out, awaking to his pants around his ankles and Takei groping him. He said he extricated himself and left.

The Hollywood Reporter said Friday it spoke to four longtime friends of Bruntons who said he had confided in them about Takei years ago.

In another development, Massachusetts prosecutors will meet with the son of a former Boston TV news anchor who said Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted the teenage boy at a Nantucket restaurant in 2016. Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael OKeefe told the Boston Globe on Friday the meeting will occur soon.

Spaceys lawyer didnt immediately return an email seeking comment Saturday.

Leanne Italie is an Associated Press writer.
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala.  A defiant Roy Moore insisted Saturday that the allegations of sexual misconduct decades ago were false and voters in Alabama would see through this charade.

The Republican Senate candidate showed no signs of backing down despite the demand of a growing number of Washington Republicans for him to step aside.

On Saturday, Moore made his first public appearance since the Washington Post published interviews Thursday with four women who said he had tried to have sexual or romantic relationships with them decades ago  when they were teenagers and Moore was in his 30s and an established attorney.

A wave of national Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, called for Moore to drop out of the race if the allegations are true. President Trump, who is in Asia and said he was too busy to keep up with the news about Moore, referred to an earlier statement given to reporters that said Trump believes Moore will do the right thing and step aside if the allegations are true.

That did not sit well with some Moore supporters.

Im really upset at my own party for condemning him so quickly, said Tom Byars, who came to hear Moore speak at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club at a library in Vestavia Hills on Saturday. Even with the president, you know, he had some trouble, too, and hes turned around and tried to condemn Roy Moore to step down?

Moores speech Saturday in Vestavia Hills was his first public appearance since the report, although he had also denied the story Friday to conservative radio host Sean Hannity. Moore used the occasion to accuse the Post of engaging in a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for United States Senate.

The staunch GOP audience gave Moore a standing ovation when he finished speaking.

Moore denied claims in the story that he had provided beer and wine to women too young to buy it themselves, or that hed had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.

I have not provided alcoholic beverages, beer or anything else, to a minor, Moore said. I have not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone.

Moore also said it was strange that women would wait 40 years to make such accusations shortly before a general election. Moore is running against Democrat Doug Jones to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Thats not a coincidence. Its an intentional act to stop the campaign, Moore said.

But a lawyer for one of the women quoted in the Post report said the women whom Moore victimized were young teenagers while he was a powerful prosecutor.

They likely feared that he would publicly persecute them ... precisely as he has done this week, Attorney Paula Cobia said in an email.

Moore said there would be new revelations in connection with the newspaper report that brought allegations of sexual misconduct to light.

In the next few days there will be revelations about the motivations and the content of this article that will be brought to the public, he said. We fully expect the people of Alabama to see through this charade.

Some Republicans have speculated that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will delay the Dec. 12 special election. But Ivey spokesman Josh Pendergrass said Saturday that the governor has no plans to move the special election for U.S. Senate.

Jeff Amy and Kim Chandler are Associated Press writers.
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WASHINGTON  Brett Talley, President Trumps nominee to be a federal judge in Alabama, has never tried a case, was unanimously rated not qualified by the American Bar Associations judicial rating committee, has practiced law for only three years and, as a blogger last year, displayed a degree of partisanship unusual for a judicial nominee, denouncing Hillary Rotten Clinton and pledging support for the National Rifle Association.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee, on a party-line vote, approved him for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.

Talley, 36, is part of what Trump has called the untold story of his success in filling the courts with young conservatives.

The judge story is an untold story. Nobody wants to talk about it, Trump said last month, standing alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. But when you think of it, Mitch and I were saying, that has consequences 40 years out, depending on the age of the judge  but 40 years out.

Civil rights groups and liberal advocates see the matter differently. They denounced Thursdays vote, calling it laughable that none of the committee Republicans objected to confirming a lawyer with as little experience as Talley to preside over federal trials.

Hes practiced law for less than three years and never argued a motion, let alone brought a case. This is the least amount of experience Ive seen in a judicial nominee, said Kristine Lucius, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

When Trump took office in January, there were more than 100 vacant seats on the federal courts, thanks to an unprecedented slowdown engineered by McConnell during the final two years of President Barack Obamas term. The Senate under GOP control approved only 22 judges in that two-year period, the lowest total since 1951-52 in the last year of President Trumans term. By contrast, the Senate under Democratic control approved 68 judges in the last two years of George W. Bushs presidency.

Talleys nomination now moves to the Senate floor where a similar party-line result is expected.

David G. Savage is a Tribune Co. writer.
MONTGOMERY, Ala.  His party suddenly and bitingly divided, Alabama Republican Roy Moore emphatically rejected increasing pressure to abandon his Senate bid on Friday as fears grew among GOP leaders that a once-safe Senate seat was in jeopardy just a month before a special election.

Moore, an outspoken Christian conservative and former state Supreme Court judge, attacked a Washington Post report that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl and pursued three other teenagers decades earlier as completely false and misleading.

In an interview with conservative radio host Sean Hannity, he did not wholly rule out dating teenage girls when he was in his early 30s. Asked if that would have been usual for him, Moore said, Not generally, no. He added: I dont remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother.

As for the encounter with 14-year-old Leigh Corfman, as described by Corfman in Thursdays Post article, he said, It never happened.

The story has produced a wave of concern among anxious GOP officials in Washington but little more than a collective shrug from many Republicans in Alabama, which holds a special election on Dec. 12 to fill the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Humphrey Bogart started dating Lauren Bacall when she was a teenager, said state Auditor Jim Ziegler, referring to the then-19-year-old actress.

Ill always vote for him, said 28-year-old Erica Richard, of Altoona, Ala., adding that she wouldnt change her mind even if the allegations of sexual misconduct are proven true. Hes a good man. I love him and his family, and they are all good people.

Paul Reynolds, Alabamas Republican National Committeeman, called it a firestorm designed to shipwreck a campaign in Alabama. I think its sinister.

Despite such support, experienced Republican operatives believe the Alabama Senate seat, held by the GOP for the past 20 years, is now at risk.

They fear the controversy could exacerbate the partys broader Trump-era challenge in appealing to college-educated suburban voters  the same group that fueled a big Democratic victory in the Virginia governors race this week.

Those familiar with recent polling of the Alabama race suggest it was always going to be close despite the states strong Republican leanings  largely because of Moores controversial past.

In the immediate aftermath of the Post report Thursday, a wave of national Republican leaders called for Moore to drop out of the race if the allegations are true. They included the White House, the head of the House Freedom Caucus Mark Meadows, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

It got worse Friday. The Senate GOPs campaign arm formally ended its fundraising agreement with Moore.

The GOPs 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney condemned his colleagues caveat  only if the allegations are true.

Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman, he said of the Alabama woman who said Moore molested her when she was 14.

Steve Peoples and Kimberly Chandler are Associated Press writers.
Aside from incredible success, what do Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They read more than most.

Founders often claim they dont have time to read, but they do -- they just spend that time doing other things, such as tapping on smartphones, texting and instant messaging. According to recent research by Flurry Analytics, U.S consumers spend an average of five hours a day on their mobile devices. If that time was spent reading instead, they could knock out several books in a single month.

Entrepreneurs notoriously work long hours in the trenches. That grind makes it difficult to step back and think about your business holistically. By reading books authored by other founders, you can gain insights you might never have considered otherwise. The right books can help you develop new strategies and grow, both as a person and as a leader.

Related: Reading Books Makes You Smarter, Richer and Surprisingly Healthier

Must-read titles for every entrepreneur.

While its easy to get caught up on the startup treadmill, focused on scaling revenue and securing market share, I firmly believe that leading with purpose leads to higher revenue.

Roy Spence's Its Not What You Sell, Its What You Stand For only reinforced that belief for me. Spence shares stories of successful, purpose-driven cultures to show why chasing purpose over revenue is key to winning. His advice is applicable to both daily life and long-term strategy.

Of course, every founder faces different challenges, and no single book tells the whole story of running a company well. To get a fuller picture, I reached out to seven colleagues for their book recommendations.

Check out these titles to learn how these successful entrepreneurs made it happen.

1. Brendan Kane: Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

Kane is a growth hacker and tech entrepreneur. He thrives on helping brands systemically find and engage new audiences who reward relevant content, products and services with their attention and spending. He said this about Berger's Contagious:

Everything about his writings helped me further understand how to crack virality around video content on Facebook, from messaging to analytics and beyond. I was able to leverage this knowledge for my business to help fuel over 150 million views on Facebook for Katie Couric and Yahoo! News and still use what I learned to this day.

Related: 8 Business Books Entrepreneurs Must Read to Dominate Their Industry

2. Ed Buckley, III, PhD: Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell

Buckley is CEO and co-founder of Peerfit, a digital platform for insurance carriers, brokers and employers to offer local fitness classes to clients and employees. He recommends that founders and their teams read Creating Magic for these reasons:

Creating Magic is all about being a great leader who serves his or her people, and it's filled with pragmatic management lessons. When you start out growing a new, gritty company, you sometimes forget how to turn off the 'attack' mode when you are in a sales mindset to then switch over to leading by listening. Cockerell details his personal failures -- from the times he would forget to empower his team to the great things he accomplished when he trusted his team. He does a fantastic job of giving hard lessons learned and what changed when he used these lessons at Disney. A must-read for any growing company.

3. Scott Peeples: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Peeples, co-founder and Peerfit's president and COO, recommends The Power of Habit for its wisdom on routine:

"As we set out to build a product that would become a regular part of our customers' lives, we spent a lot of time thinking about building habits. Duhigg's book illustrates how to 'rewire' the brain by swapping out a routine but keeping the trigger and the reward. We've used the ideas in this book to help us shape a user experience that easily becomes a self-sustaining routine.

4. Kirill Evdakov: The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company by David A. Price

Evdakov is the co-founder and CEO of Fasten, a fast-growing ride-sharing app. According to him, this book is a magnificent illustration of the fact that persistence is key.

The Pixar Touch details Ed Catmulls tenacity in developing the technology necessary to make 3D animation come to life. He faced the challenge of not only building everything from scratch to make 3D movies, but also of convincing others of its merits at a time when they were still using floppy disks.

Evdakov says this book showed him that as an entrepreneur, the size of obstacles in front of you doesn't matter. For him that obstacle happens to be Uber, but he believes that the bigger your dream, the bigger the obstacles will be. He has put Catmull's persistence to work, and Fasten now has 60 percent market share in Austin.

Related: 8 Crazy Stories From Richard Branson's New Book and What You Can Learn From Them

5. Jerry Hum: The PayPal Wars by Eric M. Jackson

Hum is the co-founder and CEO of Touch of Modern, the curated online shopping destination for men to discover unexpected products, fashion brands and accessories to elevate their lifestyles. He had this to say about The PayPal Wars:

A lot of entrepreneurial books are romanticized and designed to be motivational, but I felt 'PayPal Wars' painted a more realistic picture of what it's like to be an entrepreneur. It gave me new motivation to keep innovating with Touch of Modern.

6. Brian Saab: The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki

Saab is co-founder and CEO of Unearth Technologies, the first software platform that lets construction companies automatically document projects by place, as well as a serial entrepreneur and product strategist. He has 20 years of leadership experience in both startups and publicly traded companies. Two of those companies achieved impressive buyouts: buuteeq to Booking.com in 2014, and Red Safi to Objectiva Software Solutions in 2015.

Saab loves The Art of the Start for a few reasons:

It's the definitive text on how to create a high-value, fast-growing startup, including rapidly validating your concept for product market fit. I've used Art of the Start to guide every business I've ever been a part of. It's a must-read book, especially if you want to create an industry-disrupting tech company. I use it as a sanity check to determine whether or not I have a good plan, or if I've gotten over my ski tips. Ultimately, it helps keep me honest.

7. Elana Karp: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

As the head chef and culinary co-founder of Plated, Karp is an expert on company culture and employee morale. Entrepreneurs have to consider multiple factors in every decision, and Karp believes Delivering Happiness helps her prioritize whats most important. As she put it:

If you focus on your employees and invest in building a positive, supportive culture early on, everything else will fall into place.

Taking on all of these books sounds like a major investment, but with good time management, even the busiest entrepreneurs can read most of them in a month or two. Each one offers immediately applicable insights, so find a comfy chair, grab a drink and start reading.

Related:

7 Must-Read Books From Entrepreneurs in the Trenches

2 Problems and 3 Strategies Wall Street Just Isn't Talking About

Why This Entrepreneur Wrote a Children's Book Starring Elon Musk as a Superhero



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


Madison-area religious institutions are shoring up their defenses after a convicted domestic abuser in Texas last Sunday became the nations latest mass murderer to turn a spiritual sanctuary into a shooting gallery.

Several Dane County places of worship reported adding armed guards, seeking training or asking their members for increased vigilance, either in direct response to the killing of 26 church-goers outside San Antonio or as part of ongoing efforts to bolster security against active-shooter threats or other unpredictable dangers.

I believe from now on we will use armed security every single Sunday, said Gurinderjit Grewal, president of the Middleton Sikh temple, up from the four times a year that the temple currently asks Middleton police to provide a presence during special, longer prayer-service days.

In the future, we dont know  maybe we will change more things, maybe bulletproof glass at the door, he added. You never know when some mad mind will come.

Madison Police Officer Matt Magolan, who provides active-shooter prevention training to outside groups including businesses, civic groups and churches, said it was a good idea for religious leaders to prioritize security needs at their buildings, even if it feels uncomfortable.

Theres always the trade-off: security vs. free access, he said. Churches want to be accessible to everyone, and unfortunately it makes them an easy target.

And while the statistical risk of an attack is low  about the same likelihood as being struck by lightning, he said  the potential for human suffering if one happens is high.

In Texas (in the Nov. 5 church shooting), eight people in one family were killed, Magolan noted. Thats just overwhelming.

Its horrible that we have to do these trainings, but history has shown us that we have to, agreed Dane County Sheriffs Deputy Josalyn Longley, who estimated she has done active-shooter prevention presentations for just over 7,000 county residents since May 2016, including providing sessions at about 18 churches, including Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel, a campus ministry, and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Parish in Madison.

The Texas mass killing, in which 26-year-old gunman Devin Patrick Kelley sprayed hundreds of bullets from an assault rifle at men, women and children gathered for services in a small Baptist church in Sutherland Springs  possibly as part of a vendetta against his former mother-in-law who was a member but wasnt present  ranks in the top five deadliest shootings in modern U.S. history.

It stands at No. 4, tied with the number of people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012, most of them first-graders. The Texas gun massacre, after which Kelley fatally shot himself, also ranks as the deadliest church shooting in American history since white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine African-Americans at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015.

Bishop Harold Rayford, president of the Madison-area African-American Council of Churches and pastoral leader of the Faith Place Church in Sun Prairie, said it was the South Carolina church massacre that provided the real wake-up call for us, because it was racially motivated.

It had us really up in arms because we were afraid of copy cats, he said, adding that the Texas killings, while apparently committed for different reasons, have added fuel to council members concerns.

Our pastors are strongly considering what to do, Rayford said. Each of our churches has increased its vigilance.

For his own church, while noting that ultimately our faith is in our God and his ability to protect, Rayford said he will contract with the Sun Prairie Police Department to provide a uniformed, off-duty officer to stand watch outside services at Faith Place, likely starting Sunday.

Like Grewal at the Sikh temple, Rayford said his decision to add an armed guard at every church service or public event was a direct reaction to the Texas killings.

If someone comes to the church that is out of the ordinary, we have a system in place that will allow us to let the officer know, Rayford said. If there were an active shooter or someone that had ill will in their heart, if the Lord didnt get him, maybe the cop can.

However, Rayford also acknowledged some misgivings, or the need to temper vigilance with emotional openness.

Our concern is that we not become unwelcoming places, Rayford said. We cant allow that exception to become a rule and to make us so suspicious of people that we cant worship together.

Dont know what

safe is anymore

At Madisons High Point Church, where the board is to vote soon on a proposal to add armed, undercover guards to services, Pastor Nic Gibson saw no necessary conflict in the idea of installing strong security at places of worship.

I believe that providing for self-defense is a spiritual virtue, and that this can be done unobtrusively in a way that in no way diminishes the churchs environment of hospitality and love, any more than my capacity to defend myself in my home undermines having a home marked by hospitality and love, Gibson said, citing a Bible passage from Luke chapter 22, verses 35-38 that has been interpreted as supporting deadly force in self-defense.

People who say this goes against Jesus commands concerning loving our enemies, rejecting vengeance-seeking and loving peace are making reasonable claims, Gibson said, but ultimately misunderstand the nuances of how all the things Jesus said go together in a unified whole.

Gibson also said his support for the idea of armed guards was not a direct reaction to the Texas mass shooting.

We have been working on forging a great security team (at the church) and now, after three years, are getting to where we think its appropriate to add members carrying concealed instruments of deadly force, Gibson said.

Jamie Day, who is part of the leadership team at Sugar River United Methodist Church in Verona, said the church was asking its insurance company for security information and had contacted Verona police to get recommendations in response to concerns over the Texas church shootings.

With the small size of the church in Texas and the tragedy involved, it really hit home, Day said. In this day and age, you dont know what safe is anymore. We believe our sanctuary is a safe place, and we want to try to keep it that way for our congregation members.
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.  A military jury on Friday sentenced a former Marine drill instructor to 10 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge from the service for subjecting Muslim recruits to verbal and physical abuse, including one young man who committed suicide after an especially troubling encounter.

The eight-member jury issued its sentence a day after it found Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix guilty of maltreatment for terrorizing three Muslim men at the Marines boot camp in Parris Island, S.C. Felix also will have his rank reduced to private.

Prosecutors had asked for a seven-year prison term. Felix faced a maximum possible sentence of more than 21 years. Its not immediately clear why the jury elected to exceed what the prosecution had requested.

The military justice system requires automatic appeals for all prison sentences consisting of a year or more and all dishonorable discharges. Felix will be held at Camp Lejeunes brig until his expected transfer to a larger prison.

One of Felixs victims, 20-year-old Raheel Siddiqui, died at Parris Island last year when he fell 40 feet onto a concrete stairwell. Prosecutors said Felix forced Siddiqui to run back and forth in the recruits squad bay and then slapped him in the face just before the recruit suddenly sprinted from the room and jumped to his death. Two other Muslim recruits accused Felix of putting them in an industrial clothes dryer and, in one instance, turning it on.

In all, Felix was convicted of three counts of maltreatment, eight of nine counts of violating general orders, drunk and disorderly conduct, and making false statements. He was acquitted of obstruction of justice.

Felix is a married father of four. He has served in the Marines since 2002.

The jurys verdict marks the culmination of two years of investigations and courts-martial centered on recruit abuse at Parris Island dating to 2015. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has investigated 20 Marine drill instructors, officers and staff members amid allegations of hazing, assault and discriminating against Muslim recruits dating to 2015. Thirteen Marines already have faced some form of discipline. Two others await their fate: Felixs fellow drill instructor Sgt. Michael Eldridge and their former supervisor, Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon.

Rory Laverty is a Washington Post writer.
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Ellen Page says director Brett Ratner outed her in front of "X-Men" cast and crew when she was a sexually unsure 18-year-old, leaving her feeling violated and ashamed.

In a Facebook post Friday, Page said Ratner used a pre-production meeting for the 2006 film "X-Men: The Last Stand" to make the comment she called "horrific."
Near the main entrance to the Memorial Union, wooden plaques bear the names of more than 200 UW-Madison students and alumni who died in the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War I  the three wars Wisconsin fought in with the United States before the buildings completion in 1928.

Since then, former students fought and died in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and other conflicts, but their names had gone unnoted on the universitys Gold Star Honor Roll  until now.

On Veterans Day, the Wisconsin Union along with the classes of 1963 and 1967 will unveil a new way to expand and update the memorial with an interactive, digital kiosk that will allow visitors to search through the stories of more than 900 veterans from UW-Madison who died in war.

(The hope is) that this really opens up the opportunity for students, alumni and the community to reflect on war and conflict while being a memorial of the university community members who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service, said Kelly DeHaven, Union director of development.

The kiosk is meant to be a living monument that catalogs the sacrifices made by students and alumni who were called to service, either by choice or by draft. UW-Madison students did not need to earn a diploma to be included in the honor roll, which DeHaven said recognizes that the universitys community includes those who entered into service before graduation.

Sadly, many of them left to serve and did not return, DeHaven said.

Union staff said that the kiosk most likely does not contain the full profiles or even the names of every UW-Madison student lost, which is why the campus will benefit from the digital archive. As family and friends continue to become aware of the project and tell the stories of their loved ones, more names can be added and more robust profiles can be created.

It also allows the collection to grow to accommodate those who die in future conflicts.

Along with the kiosk, the Union will launch uwgoldstarhonorroll.org Saturday, allowing any user to browse through the same stories included in the kiosks display.

DeHaven said she hopes the website will grow to include writings, videos, artwork and other assets from the university community to create a larger understanding of what war and service mean.

This phase of it was really updating the honor roll specifically, DeHaven said. Were hoping we can add to this collection from UW students and alumni to reflect on war and conflict as we see it.
This State Journal editorial ran on Nov. 14, 1917:

Jeannette Rankin was elected to Congress by the state of Montana. But because she is the first and only woman in the national legislature she is, in the larger sense, the representative of all American women.

In states where women have the full franchise, more than 8 million women are of voting age. Millions more are working and wishing for the vote. And many millions are femininely curious. All of them are watching to see what this single woman will do with a real vote.

Miss Rankin has just ended her first session, and a full report of her activities is open to these waiting and watching women. Conscious of her particular responsibilities, almost every bill introduced by Miss Rankin was designed for womens aid. On her first day, Miss Rankin introduced a bill proposing a constitutional womans suffrage amendment, never reported out of committee. Miss Rankin then concentrated on getting a womans suffrage committee in the house and was largely instrumental in the success of this measure.

Only one of Miss Rankins proffered resolutions was adopted  the amendment to the Food Survey Bill, which provided that, wherever possible, women be employed in work authorized by the bill. Miss Rankin also introduced a bill, still before the committee on military affairs, providing for the support of soldiers dependents.

The congresswoman cast her vote against the declaration of the state of war and against the draft until final passage, when she voted for it. Since conscription and the war have been nationally accepted, she has consistently cast her vote in support of every war measure.

In her own state, Miss Rankin has had such support that it is reported she will be a candidate for United States senator as opponent to Sen. Walsh, when he comes up for re-election next year.
. To do so, first type the original number into the text box. Then click on the "Scientific Notation" option located at the top of the floating window. Finally, click on the "Standard" button found beneath the text box to display your result. This program is useful for scientists and engineers working with decimal-based numbers. It provides easy access to those who need to convert those numbers into more compact forms without having to do heavy math calculations first.

Scientific notation is a way to express very large or very small numbers. It is used in physics, chemistry and other fields where large numbers are common. Those numbers are written as a power of 10 followed by a number with an exponent. For example, 1,000,000 (one million) is written as 1  103. The exponent shows how many zeros are after the first digit. For example, 1,000,001 is written as 1  102. Scientific notation is a useful tool for making calculations easier. You can use it to write down very big or very small numbers in one step instead of writing out both the large and small numbers separately. You can also use it to express large or small numbers in terms of other units like centimeters or millimeters.

Scientific notation solver is an online tool that can be used to convert any number into scientific notation. Simply enter any number to the left of the decimal point and it will automatically convert it into a scientific notation equivalent. This web tool can be very helpful when you need to convert a large number into scientific notation. However, please note that this online tool can only convert numbers that are in scientific format. For example, it cannot convert a non-scientific number like "1,085" into a scientific notation equivalent. It is also important to keep in mind that this web tool only works when converting numbers from one particular format to another. For example, if you want to change a non-scientific number like "1,085" into standard format, then you will have to use another online tool like NumberFormatting.com.
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OAKLAND (BCN)

A spokeswoman for the Oakland Police Department said today that extra officers from Oakland and other Bay Area law enforcement agencies will be on duty this weekend to try to prevent sideshow activity that's being promoted on social media platforms.

Officer Johnna Watson said officers from Oakland's traffic division and other specialized units will be posted in various locations "to deter sideshow participants and anyone who's thinking of observing illegal and dangerous sideshow activity."

STOLEN PHOTOS: Couple who lost home in Tubbs Fire lose family pictures to thieves at benefit concert

Watson said the social media postings mention sideshow activity in "multiple cities" in the Bay Area but she declined to say whether Oakland is one of the cities that were been mentioned.

She said extra officers from the California Highway Patrol and other local police agencies will join Oakland in having extra officers on duty and the agencies will all share information.

Watson said, "We want to discourage people from participating in or observing" sideshows.

TUBBS FIRE INVESTIGATION: Probe into worst of Wine Country fires focused on scorched Calistoga property

She said sideshows, in which car drivers and motorcyclists speed, perform stunts and engage in reckless driving, "are inherently dangerous and can lead to serious injuries and even to deaths."

Watson said sideshow participants could face arrest, citations, and the possibility that their vehicles could be towed and impounded for up to 30 days.
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Cities such as San Francisco with some of the highest rents in the nation are also places where renters need to have a high credit score to move in, according to a study released Friday.

The average credit score for people who successfully leased an apartment in 2017 in San Francisco was 724, compared with the nationwide average of 650, according to a study from RentCafe, an internet apartment listing service.

WORST FOR RENTERS: Study finds 5 of the 10 worst cities for renters are in CA  but SF isn't one of them

The results are based on tenant screening data from RentGrow, a residential screening service for property owners and managers.

Approved renters in San Francisco had the second highest credit scores in the nation behind only Boston, who had an average score of 737.

RELATED: Oakland rents on the rise (story continues below)

Now Playing: The median price for an available rental home or unit in Oakland has risen above $3,000, according to housing website Zillow. Video: Brandpoint

NY'S MOST EXPENSIVE RENTS: Take a tour of New York's most expensive neighborhood for renters, where the apartments cost $6,500 a month

But while credit scores are important, San Francisco realtor Mary Fenton with Sotheby's International Realty said that credit scores are not the only factor in getting approved for an apartment.

"You can't look at it in a vacuum," she said of the credit score.

Income, stability of employment and verification of employment as well as the credit score are the main factors property owners look at when deciding to lease to someone, Fenton said.

BUDGET RENOVATIONS: How to renovate a home on a budget

Renters in Oakland with approved leases in 2017 had an average credit score of 707, the fifth highest score among competitive U.S. markets behind Seattle at No. 3 and Minneapolis at No. 4.

The average credit score for approved renters nationwide is up 12 points from 638 in 2014.
Governor Rauners failure to keep his word is a betrayal against his constituents, the Republican Party, (every Republican state representative voted against the bill), and to pro-life conservatives state-wide. In response to this betrayal, a number of Illinois Republican politicians and grassroots organizations have spoken out, saying that they will no longer support him. As an alternative, Republican State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), West Point graduate and married mother of five, has announced that she is challenging Rauner in the 2018 March Republican primary as the true fiscal conservative and pro-family candidate.

Since Rauners decision to sign HB 40 into law, our firm has received phone calls asking for guidance. What can be done? According to State Representative Peter Breen, (R- Lombard) there is little likelihood of a constitutional challenge to the bill. However, there is a legal challenge underway as to the start date for the taxpayer funding of abortions seeking its further delay from January to June of 2018. If delayed, Representative Breen says this would save 1000s of babies lives. Representatives Breen and Senator Dan McConchie have also introduced the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act to stop the funding. Additionally, the federal Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, now before the U.S. Congress, if passed, would ban abortions after 20 weeks which would also lessen the effect of HB 40.

So whats to be done? Mauck & Baker, has represented a number of pro-life individuals and organizations that refuse to perform or promote abortion. Currently, it has challenged another law recently passed under Rauners watch, SB 1564, which mandates abortion referrals to expectant mothers who go to a pro-life pregnancy center. While refusing to pay Illinois taxes because of HB 40 is not an option, getting involved in the political process to replace Governor Rauner with a true conservative and pro-family candidate is.

Rich C. Baker is an attorney at the law firm Mauck & Baker
Californias GOP members of Congress have to step up and oppose the new Republican tax plans or explain why their constituents will be paying thousands of dollars more to the IRS each year, San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi said Friday.

The tax bills making their way through Congress are very destructive to California, Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, said at a news conference at a Mission Bay fire station. Its hard to imagine why all 14 (Republican members of Congress in the state) voted against California in supporting the bill.

Both the GOP-led House and Senate have proposed tax bills, neither of which has come up for a final vote. So far, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), in the only California Republican to say he opposes the tax plans.

Pelosi, who was joined by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and a number of tax-plan opponents, called the GOP proposal a gift to corporate America at the expense of middle-class working people.

The bill proposed by the House would eliminate current deductions for state and local taxes and limit the deduction for property taxes, potentially exposing middle- and upper-class residents to thousands of dollars in additional taxes.

Even the way that deduction is applied is unfair, Pelosi added.

If youre an individual taxpayer, you cant deduct state and local taxes, she said. But if youre a corporation, you still can.

Republicans, however, argue that the proposed tax bills deliver much-needed help both to taxpayers and the countrys slowly improving economy.

The House tax bill would deliver real relief to the American people, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement Thursday. It provides exactly the type of tax cut and job growth our country needs to get back on track.

Pelosi said other proposed changes would hurt people, many of them senior citizens, who now deduct large medical expenses from their taxes. That deduction would disappear in the House tax plan.

That would be a devastating financial hit, said 85-year-old Vangie Buell of Oakland, whose 88-year-old husband, Bill, suffers from dementia.

Costs at the assisted-living senior facility where they live have tripled in the two years since her husband was diagnosed, but much of that cost has been deductible, she told the crowd at the news conference.

Eliminating the deduction would empty her familys savings much quicker.

Its an act of cruelty beyond my power to understand, Buell said.

Pelosi and Lee made it clear they want to pressure Californias GOP members of Congress, especially since a number of Republican lawmakers in other high-tax states already have said they cant back the tax bills as now written.

Republicans in New York and New Jersey have opposed the tax plan, she said, so whats the matter with our members?

Pelosi came bearing a chart that showed the number and percentage of households claiming the state and local tax deduction in each GOP-held district, as well as the average deduction those households received.

The chart showed the dilemma those Republican lawmakers face, especially in some of the states higher-wealth suburban areas.

More than 37 percent of the households in GOP Rep. Mimi Walters Irvine district claim the deduction, which is worth an average of $18,200 to each of them. Explaining why a bill touted as a tax cut for the middle class ends up costing many of their constituents money could be a tough slog for California Republicans already being targeted by Democrats.

The Republicans wrote a red state tax bill, which helps the low-tax states that backed Donald Trump for president at the expense of high-tax states like California, which didnt, said Tony Quinn, a former GOP consultant.

While voters in those GOP congressional districts might not have liked Trump much, they didnt dislike their local representatives, he added, especially compared to the university professors and Berniecrats running in their districts.

But the tax bill takes the spotlight off Trump and focuses it right on the GOP Congress members who support it.

This is actual dollars out of peoples pockets and affects virtually all the middle- and upper-class taxpayers who itemize deductions, Quinn said. This isnt like Obamacare, which affected mainly lower-income voters. This affects those suburban voters who are (Republican) constituents.

A sign calling for voters to Say No to the #GOPTaxScam was attached to the lectern where Pelosi spoke, and she promised that Democrats would hold similar antitax-plan events throughout the country in upcoming days.

But for Pelosi and California Democrats, the battle against the tax plan is a no-lose proposition. If they do persuade GOP Congress members to oppose the tax bill, it could kill the bill and give Democrats a surprising victory. But if those same Republicans back the tax bill, it gives Democrats a new and likely effective way to attack them in next years elections.

We want to call them out by name so people know what side their representatives were on, said Lee. The (tax) bill is frankly a disgrace.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
UNITED NATIONS  The head of the U.N. food agency is telling world leaders that the only way to end global hunger is to end conflicts, which would also free up billions of dollars to build roads and infrastructure and promote economic growth in all developing countries.

David Beasley said in an interview with the Associated Press that 19 countries are now in protracted conflict  which is more conflict than weve ever had  and 80 percent of the World Food Programs funds are now going into conflict regions.

For many years, he said, the number of people facing extreme hunger fell despite the increase in global population, but in the last few years the number of people facing extreme hunger has increased from 777 million to 815 million in 2016  all because of man-made conflict.

In 2015, world leaders adopted new U.N. goals, first and foremost to eradicate extreme poverty  people living on less than $1.25 a day  in all countries by 2030.

Zero hunger by 2030? Its a joke without ending the conflicts, Beasley said. If we end the conflicts, with the expertise and the food sector of the world, we can end world hunger.

Beasley said he has recently visited many countries in conflict  Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.

Its a disgrace on humanity, the number of innocent victims of conflict, children, that are starving to death because of nothing but man-made conflict, he said.

When he met Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, whom he called the grandpapa of the east African region, Beasley said Museveni asked how much money the World Food Program was spending in South Sudan.

I said, its around a billion dollars. I said, Howd you like to have a billion dollars for roads and infrastructure, for development in Uganda? Beasley said.

Its just being poured down the tube and nothing to show for it. Were keeping people alive, and thats a wonderful thing, but how long can you sustain that? he asked.

Beasley said he thinks it was a game-changer for Museveni, realizing how much money was not being used for development and to promote jobs and opportunities in developing countries because of conflicts.

He urged powerful nations around the world to work with the United Nations to end conflicts.

Why dont we put our heads together and have a comprehensive strategy and end just one? And then well go to the next one, and then within a year weve ended two or three wars, saved us hundreds of billions of dollars, Beasley said. Lets end Yemen or Syria or South Sudan. Lets end something.

In the meantime, Beasley said, WFP needs up to $6.8 billion this year to feed over 80 million people.

While many world leaders have been expressing concern that the Trump administration might withdraw from international humanitarian operations, Beasley said, now I can make the case with clarity that the United States has not stepped back  its stepped up.

Traditionally, he said, the U.S. has provided about 30 percent of WFPs budget, but this year he speculates that the Trump administration will contribute 35-40 percent, up to maybe $2.5 billion.

Beasley said he had argued to Congress and the administration that if you want to spend another half a trillion dollars on military operations in the United States budget, cut the World Food Program, because the World Food Program is the first line of offense and defense against extremism.

I said, you must understand, this is not just some liberal feel-good program. This program is in the United States national security interest, and its the right thing to do.

Edith M. Lederer is an Associated Press writer.
DANANG, Vietnam President Trump stood before a summit of Asian leaders keen on regional trade pacts and delivered a roaring America first message Friday, denouncing China for unfair trade practices just a day after he had heaped praise on President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore, Trump told CEOs on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first.

The president  who pulled the United States out of the Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership  said the U.S. would no longer join large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible.

Instead, he said, the U.S. will pursue one-on-one trade deals with other nations that pledge fair and reciprocal trade.

As for China, Trump said hed spoken openly and directly with Xi about the nations abusive trade practices and the enormous trade deficits they have produces with the United States.

It was a stark change in tone from the day before, when Trump was Xis guest of honor during a state visit in Beijing. There, Trump opted for flattering Xi and blaming past U.S. presidents for the trade deficit.

Trump said Chinas trade surplus, which stood at $223 billion for the first 10 months of the year, was unacceptable. He repeated his language from Thursday, when he said he did not blame China or any other country for taking advantage of the United States on trade.

But Trump added forceful complaints about the audacious theft of intellectual property, massive subsidizing of industries through colossal state-owned enterprises, and American companies being targeted by state-affiliated actors for economic gain.

Behind the scenes, White House officials quietly negotiated with the Kremlin over whether Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin would hold a formal meeting on the sidelines in Danang, with the Russians raising expectations for such a session.

As speculation built, the two sides tried to craft the framework of a deal that Trump and Putin could announce in a formal bilateral meeting, according to two administration officials not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.

The two men, each wearing traditional Vietnamese shifts, shook hands and greeted one another as they stood side-by-side for the group photo of world leaders.

In a major breakthrough, trade ministers from 11 nations remaining in the Trans-Pacific Partnership  representing roughly 13.5 percent of the global economy  said Saturday they had reached a deal to proceed with the free-trade pact after it was thrown into doubt when Trump abandoned it.

Separately, a 16-member region-wide pact called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was also under negotiation. It encompasses China and India but also does not include the U.S.

Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire are Associated Press writers.
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By PTI: Jaipur, Nov 11 (PTI) Eleven agitating doctors have been arrested from seven districts till this morning under the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) as the deadlock between medical practitioners and the state government entered its sixth day today, police said here.

The doctors were arrested from Tonk, Jaipur, Kota, Swai Madhopur, Bharatpur, Jhalawar and Banswara districts, ADG (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

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The arrests came after the deadline set by the government for the medical practitioners to resume work expired yesterday evening.

Reddy said 43 doctors returned to work to avoid arrest.

Meanwhile, the state?s medical and health department issued a notice today to agitating doctors stating that the strike was against the high court order asking them to resume work by Friday.

One of the major demands of the doctors is of higher pay scale and promotions.

Asked about the issue, Director of Public Health Dr V K Mathur said, "We are trying to reach an amicable solution through talks."

Most doctors on strike remained unavailable for comment. The All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association president, Dr Ajay Chaudhary, and the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors president, Dr Ravi Jhakar, could not be reached.

Health minister Kalicharan Saraf had yesterday held Dr Chaudhary responsible for the strike. "Dr Chaudhary seems to have some personal interest... he is trying to create hurdles in breaking the deadlock. He is being guided by someone," the minister alleged.

He said several rounds of talks were held with the agitating doctors, who proceeded on a mass casual leave in support of their 33-point demand on Monday, but "the talks failed due to their adamant attitude". PTI AG IJT

--- ENDS ---
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At 11am as the last post ceased to ring out the assembled crowd drew completely silent.

Somewhat incredibly neither a phone nor a child broke the silence, simply the song of native birds.

Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove lays a wreath on the Stone of Remembrance with his wife Lady Lynne Cosgrove. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

As the clouds parted to welcome the bright sunshine, thousands gathered outside The Australian War Memorial to pay their respects to fallen members of our defence force and honour those still serving.

The Australian Federation Guard accompanied by the Royal Military College Band performed an official welcome for The Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 10 (PTI) A 24-year-old law student was shot dead in north Delhis Burari following an argument, the police said today.

The police were informed about the incident last night. Himanshu, Anand and Ashish Bhardwaj were out for a walk when a motorcyclist came there and started arguing with them, they said.

The three friends pulled him from the bike, following which he shot at the trio. The bullet hit Bhardwaj and he was killed on the spot, the police said.

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The accused fled from the spot.

Bhardwaj belonged to West Champaran and was studying in a college in Gurgaon.

The deceased was residing in a rented apartment in Hardev Nagar. His friends Anup and Himanshu are also preparing for the civil services examination, the police said. PTI SLB ANB

--- ENDS ---
The number of people living in Canberra on 457 visas is on the rise, despite the federal government announcing it would scrap the scheme.

ACT residents who are recipients of the foreign worker visa reached a two-year high in the past financial year, according to Department of Immigration figures.

There were 1388 holders of 457 visas in Canberra in the most recent financial year. Credit:iStock

In 2016-17 there were 1388 visa holders in Canberra, an increase of 11 per cent from the previous financial year.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced an overhaul of the visa scheme in April.
Thousands paused for reflection at the Australian War Memorial on Saturday morning to honour those who have died or suffered in war and during operational service for the country.

It is always a sombre occasion recalling the huge numbers of those who died, were injured or went missing fighting for the nation.

Our thoughts also turn to those currently serving and the horrors they face during the sacrifice they make to improve the lives of others.

The transition back to civilian life once Defence Force personnel finish their service careers can also be a challenging and traumatic time for many.
Here is my suggestion, so that the Turnbull government can end the whole citizenship imbroglio. It is a way they can not only get all of their federal members to qualify under the letter of the law, but also make sure they fit in with "the vibe", the feel of the thing, a la The Castle. As well as a Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of the Department of Defence, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, etc, Australia needs a Secretary of the Fair Dinkum Department.

The job of this person will be to vet the stories put forth by MPs  for example, stories explaining why they are not dual citizens  and then decide whether they should, or should not, be put in the public domain.

Can I suggest the story that John Alexander's English-born father could have miraculously rescinded his British citizenship in the two spare years between the Citizenship Act being passed in 1949, and JA being born in 1951  the only scenario whereby he is free to sit in Parliament as he has not rescinded citizenship himself  would not pass muster in the Fair Dinkum Department? That story would make Malcolm Roberts blush, and even make His Honour Paul Murray give it the big thumbs down.

I further put forth that the Turnbull government declining to refer this to the High Court is treating the public like mugs, and they won't cop it. I mean, when the PM himself says, "The government will vote to refer any individual to the High Court if there are substantial grounds for believing they are in breach of the constitution", and doesn't refer this, what leg does he have to stand on?
The paper is based on the travails of a couple who claimed to have developed a range of health complaints from nausea and shortness of breath after moving close to a coal mine and power stations near Lithgow, west of the Blue Mountains. Part of the experiment involved having the "noise-sensitised" couple drive researchers 160 kilometres to Taralga, a Southern Tablelands town located a few kilometres from a large wind farm. "At the very end of a long day that had been disappointing scientifically in that very few of [wind turbines] in the visited area were operating", an "episode" began when "Mrs T" got out of the car to visit local public toilets, the paper said. After passing down a corridor between buildings, Mrs T "experienced a sudden reaction of nausea" and began "swaying like a ship at sea",, the paper stated. (See images from the paper below.)

The group returned to the car. "Mr T", the other subject, drove a kilometre before the toilet block suddenly became visible again. He "reacted violently and instantly", before jumping from the vehicle and dry retching in the middle of the road. "The entire team was shocked at this physical reaction, as the onset was so rapid and so physiologically violent," the paper said. Mr T was allowed to resume driving, but after moving "forward a few metres", he made "an emergency stop", where he dry-retched "uncontrollably for about five minutes". Mr T then "recovered sufficiently" to drive them all back home. 'Totally incredible'

While not explicitly blaming the wind turbines, the researcher who presented the paper  Lisbon-based academic and one of its authors, Mariana Alves-Pereira  showed the Zurich audience a slide of the turbines and their distance from Taralga. "The implication [of blame] was very strong because these wind farms were in the vicinity," said Norm Broner, a former president of the Australian Acoustical Society, who was at the Zurich event. "This was just totally incredible." Simon Chapman, a Sydney University professor emeritus of public health who raised the complaint, was confirmed in writing by Massey University the researchers had failed to submit research plans to its ethics committee. "Your complaint has ... raised serious and significant questions about the apparent lack of ethical approval," Professor Byrnes said in the letter. Fairfax understands Massey is trying to determine whether the paper was conducted in a private capacity, which could limit its ability to censure the researchers.

"Massey University would be highly embarrassed that this bizarre and potentially dangerous exercise escaped their ethical review and got paraded at a prestigious international meeting," Professor Chapman said, adding that letting their subject drive also placed them and other road users at risk. "If he had injured himself, them or the public, damage and costs could have been catastrophic." Several of the researchers involved were "doyens of the anti-wind farm lobby", a movement he details at length in a soon-to-be-published book, Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Communicated Disease. Dr Bakker, one of the two Massey academics, declined to comment to Fairfax Media. Fairfax also sought comment from the Wahbra Foundation, which helped pay the researchers' travel costs, and Dr Rapley. Jeff Parnell, chairman of the NSW division of the AAS, said the Zurich paper was among "the most scientifically flawed papers I have ever read".
A couple of years ago, I wrote a column about Patrick Dodson ... and inadvertently started the chain of events that has unfairly and absurdly led to Dodson, now a Senator, being hounded by questions about whether he, the most prominent Aboriginal man in the nation, might be a dual citizen.

My column, published in March, 2016, was about the Pat Dodson I knew when, in the 1960s, we attended the same big boarding school, Monivae College in Hamilton, western Victoria.

The citizenship saga gets farcical with questions raised over the "father of reconciliation", Pat Dodson. Credit:Andrew Meares

Dodson was elected by the boys as captain of the school. He was known as "Paddy".

His brother, who also attended the school and became a prefect and house captain before attaining his own national profile, was named Mick.
Tony Abbott has criticised the "disgraceful behaviour" of protesters after violent scenes erupted at his Sydney fundraising event on Friday night.

Several hundred protesters outside the event in Redfern confronted invited guests, including Mr Abbott's sister Christine Forster, whose jacket was ripped as she struggled through the crowd.

Ms Forster was forced back from the entrance until police formed a ring around her and pushed their way through the crowd.

Mr Abbott criticised the actions of protesters and defended his sister on Twitter on Saturday morning.
After being banned from flying with Virgin Australia, Qantas has issued 20-year-old paparazzo Jayden Seyfarth with a "no-fly notification until further notice" while he is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police.

Seyfarth was reported to the AFP by Virgin after he demonstrated serious security flaws in the airline's system and posted them to his Instagram.

Jayden Seyfarth with Virgin Group owner Richard Branson two years ago after Seyfarth printed Branson's business class ticket and had the billionaire sign it.

It all started two weeks ago, when he printed The Bachelorette Sophie Monk and her boyfriend Stu Laundy's tickets to Melbourne, only needing their names and destination, at a self-service kiosk. He was then able to use their tickets to scan himself into the Virgin lounge to have "some lunch" and also quiz the reality television stars about their relationship at a time when the public deemed it fake.

Following the highly publicised incident in which he appeared on the front page of a Sunday tabloid labelled as a "serial pest", Virgin sent Seyfarth a letter explaining that as a result of his "behaviour" he would be denied carriage commencing on October 30, 2017.
The no-show of Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to a critical meeting on the Trans Pacific Partnership might have shocked diplomats and regional leaders, but it was indicative of something far more significant than poor diplomacy, says former foreign minister and NSW premier Bob Carr.

Earlier during the APEC summit in Vietnam, the United States President, Donald Trump, had given a fiery speech complaining of unfair trade practices and actively renouncing broad trade treaties like the TPP.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau failed to show up. Credit:AP

"From this day forward, we will compete on a fair and equal basis," he said. "We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more. I am always going to put America first the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first."

Mr Trudeau's failure to attend the trade meeting, at which 11 nations were to discuss a TPP without the US, hours later reflected a new world disorder brought about by America's abandonment of its leadership role, said Mr Carr.
When a follower criticised an Instagram post by model Georgia Gibbs, posing with her best friend, she fired back.

"What rock do you live under  women come in so many shapes and beautiful sizes. You're entitled to your opinion, but don't share your body shaming on my page," wrote Ms Gibbs, 22, on the post seen by nearly 150,000 followers.

Kate and Georgia on Instagram. Credit:Instagram

Ms Gibbs and fellow model Kate Walsey, 23 have been best friends since childhood. But when a photo of them posing in Sydney went viral because one was slim and one was curvy, even prompting accusations that they had photo-shopped the image to accentuate their different body shapes, they decided they had enough.

They used their online profiles  450,000 on Instagram alone  to make social media "more real" and urged everyone to "stop making comparisons".
Since the age of six, Bernadette Formosa has wanted to adopt a child. Her dreams came true a few years ago when she adopted Anusha, an 18-month-old girl who had been living in foster care since birth.

"I never had any desire to have biological children," she said. "There's such a high need in Australia that, for me, that was the best option. I wanted to be a mum and have a family."

Bernadette Formosa with her adopted daughter Anusha. Credit:Brook Mitchell

She says adopting Anusha, now four years old, is the best thing she ever did and that she now has a family all of her own.

"It's been extremely life changing," she says. "For me, being single, I just thought 'wow this is actually happening'."
By PTI: rising number of patients

New Delhi, Nov 10 (PTI) The health ministry today directed all the central government-run hospitals to take measures to deal with the increasing number of patients in the wake of a severe air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who reviewed the situation today, also directed the hospitals to stock nebulizers and other related equipment in a good condition and be ready to meet any exigency.

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The national capital remained in the throes of a pollution emergency. The thick smog has prompted the city government to declare a return of the odd-even scheme from November 13 (Monday).

"J P Nadda directed the officials and heads of all central government hospitals to keep a close watch on the situation," an official statement said.

At a meeting with Nadda, experts said the number of cases being reported with breathing troubles and respiratory diseases was varying every day.

The statement said the recent increase in the air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR and the surrounding areas had become "a cause of concern".

It added that the health ministry had continuously been monitoring the situation.

The ministry had also issued a health advisory earlier.

Additional secretary of the ministry Sanjeev Kumar had held a meeting with the representatives of all the central government hospitals, including Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, LHMC and associated hospitals and AIIMS, New Delhi, yesterday.

According to the health experts, the higher air pollution levels may result in an increase in the burden of diseases -- from stroke, heart ailments, lung cancer and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.

In the short run, the higher air pollution levels might result in an increase in the severity of the symptoms of respiratory diseases, the experts said.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had yesterday recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 486, on a scale of 500, in the national capital.

The AQI of neighbouring Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida and Gurgaon were also in the emergency category till yesterday. PTI TDS RC

--- ENDS ---
Queanbeyan police will go to the homes of people on a secret NSW police watchlist without cause and will actively seek these people on the street.

NSW Police sources said the border town police would routinely doorknock persons on the Suspect Targeting Management Plan (STMP).

A specialist "proactive" unit  the Target Action Group  consisting of a handful of police will also drive around Queanbeyan for hours trying to find people on the plan.

NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller told state parliament on Thursday of the 1800 people on the STMP statewide, 1017  or about 56 per cent  are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.



"I believe in STMP and I believe in proactivity, but I am not proud of the incarceration rates of Aboriginal people in New South Wales and I am taking steps to improve that," Mr Fuller said. He said the youngest on the plan was nine years old.

Do you know more? Contact finbar.omallon@fairfaxmedia.com.au or use the Signal smartphone app to message 0437 464 126.
Firefighters have battled a blaze at a waste transfer station in Melbourne's south east.

Seventeen fire trucks and other vehicles were sent to the fire in Hallam Road, Hampton Park, which started about 4.30pm on Saturday.

The fire was about 30 metres x 40 metres in size and contained household waste.

It was declared under control about 7pm.

The CFA has issued an advice message for Bangholme, Cranbourne North, Dandenong, Dandenong South, Doveton, Eumemmerring, Hallam, Hampton Park, Lynbrook, Lyndhurst, Narre Warren and Narre Warren South.
An 18-year-old man will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday following a fatal hit-run in Melbourne's east that left a family mourning a "gentle giant" who was remembered as "a loving father, son, partner and friend".

The Seaford teenager and a 17-year-old from Mooroolbark were arrested on Friday morning over the hit-run which killed 33-year-old father Keith Stevens, who died when a stolen BMW X5 failed to give way at an intersection and ploughed into his motorbike.

A loving father, partner and son: Motorcyclist Keith Stevens was killed in a hit-run. Credit:Victoria Police

Police are continuing to hunt for two alleged accomplices who remain at large.

The 18-year-old is facing charges of aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated burglary plus other offences.



A 17-year-old male was charged with culpable driving and numerous aggravated burglary offences. He has been remanded to a children's court at a later date.
The Department of Primary Industries is calling on Mandurah crabbers to report any unusual crabs you find.

Senior Management Officer Marion Massam said that immediately reporting suspected aquatic pests could help eradicate them before they take hold.

The crabs fishers are urged to be on the lookout for.

"Removing a few individuals is more feasible than trying to remove a widespread population, and would cost much less, so we need all sharp-eyed fishers to keep watch," Ms Massam said.

"So far, the Asian paddle crab has not established in the wild anywhere in Australia and, by staying alert, recreational fishers can help prevent it becoming a marine pest here in WA."
A few years ago I travelled to France with a good mate of mine from England to retrace the campaigns our descendents had fought in the First and Second World Wars.

We both wanted to deepen our knowledge of those conflicts and the role our ancestors played in them.

George Monkhouse served with the 11th Battalion and returned to Australia to live in peace. Credit:David Allan-Petale

And as the Australian historian Les Carlyon wrote, "It is better to see the ground. It doesn't necessarily lead you to the truth. Often there is no truth about these battles, just a clamour of voices. But it can be the start of understanding."

My friend's grandfather went ashore at Normandy as a British infantryman on D-Day on the 6th of June, 1944, while my great grandfather, George Monkhouse, fought on the Western Front with the West Australian 11th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force from 1916 to the Armistice.
Danang, Vietnam: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he "stood up for Australia's interests" in a meeting with Justin Trudeau after the Canadian leader sabotaged the ratification of a multibillion-dollar Pacific Rim trade deal at the last minute.

"Look, we had a very good and frank discussion," Mr Turnbull said after Mr Trudeau failed to show up at a meeting that was set to officially revive an 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media in Vietnam on Saturday. Credit:AAP

"Clearly we were expecting to have 11 nations represented around the table but one didn't show up so we were disappointed," he said.

"The commitment to delivering more opportunities for exporters is ongoing," he said.
Seoul: The leaders of South Korea and China agreed on Saturday to work towards a peaceful solution to the crisis engulfing the Korean peninsula.

The two countries will strengthen strategic talks on all levels, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told reporters in Danang, Vietnam where the summit meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was held on the sidelines of an APEC summit.

Tension on the Korean peninsula rose last month as North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump exchanged war-like threats and insults over the North's weapons program.

China has been urged by both South Korea and the United States to take a more active role in curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Hanoi: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has again denied his nation tampered in the US presidential election last year.

Mr Trump told reporters that he and Mr Putin had more than one informal discussion after crossing paths at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Danang, Vietnam, before Mr Trump flew to Hanoi for a bilateral meeting on Sunday with Vietnamese leaders.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang. Credit:AP

The conversations mostly centred on the war in Syria, Mr Trump said, but he added that he pressed Mr Putin on Moscow's role in attempting to tamper in the elections.

"He said he didn't meddle," Mr Trump said, answering questions in the press cabin on the Air Force One.
Paris: A cloud of radioactive pollution spread over Europe after a possible "accident" at a nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan, French nuclear safety officials have confirmed.

France's nuclear safety institute, IRSN, picked up faint traces of ruthenium 106, a radioactive nuclide that is produced when atoms are split in a nuclear reactor and which does not occur naturally, in three of its 40 monitoring stations in late September. Faint traces were also detected in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland.

A INRS map of the detection of Ruthenium 106 in France and Europe released on Friday. Credit:AP

There has been no impact on human health or the environment in Europe, a French official stressed on Friday, but he added that detection of such a cloud was "absolutely not normal".

IRSN, the technical arm of French nuclear regulator, said it could not pinpoint the location of the release of radioactive material but that based on weather patterns, the most plausible zone lay south of the Ural mountains, between the Urals and the Volga river.
NIAMEY, Niger: The body of Sergeant La David Johnson, one of four US soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist militants in Niger last month, was found with his arms tied and a gaping wound at the back of his head, according to two villagers, suggesting that he may have been captured and executed.

Adamou Boubacar, a 23-year-old farmer and trader, said some children tending cattle found the remains of the soldier on October 6, two days after the attack outside the remote Niger village of Tongo Tongo, which also left five Nigerien soldiers dead. The kids notified him.

Myeshia Johnson cries over the casket in Miami of her husband Sergeant La David Johnson, killed in an ambush in Niger. Credit:AP

When Boubacar went to the location, a bushy area more than a kilometre from the ambush site, he saw Johnson's body lying face down, he said. The back of his head had been smashed by something, possibly a bullet, said Boubacar. The soldier's wrists were bound with rope, he said, raising the possibility that the militants - whom the Pentagon suspects were affiliated with the Islamic State - seized Johnson during the firefight and held him captive.

The Pentagon is conducting an investigation into the attack in Niger, where the US military is helping the Nigerien government confront a threat by militants associated with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
By PTI: (Eds: Upgrading story)

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) United Airlines has temporarily suspended flights to Delhi due to "poor air quality" in the national capital.

The US-based carrier is possibly the first airline to suspend operations to the city, citing air pollution that has worsened in recent days and has forced authorities to resort to emergency measures.

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"United temporarily suspended Newark-Delhi flights due to poor air quality concerns in Delhi and currently has waiver policies in place for customers who are travelling to, from or through Delhi," an airline spokesperson said in a statement today.

The spokesperson also said the airline is monitoring advisories as the region remains under a public health emergency, and is coordinating with respective government agencies.

United Airlines customers have been asked to check its website or download the mobile app for latest updates.

The carrier operates flights to Newark from Delhi and Mumbai. PTI IAS RAM MKJ KJ

--- ENDS ---
PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin said that the first thing he did on Friday morning was call State Secretary of Kingdom Relations, Mr. Knops after receiving news that the Dutch government had taken a decision on the Recovery Fund and on the amount of 550 million Euros in recovery aid to Sint Maarten.

This is great news, he said, and he expressed a big Thank You to the government and people of the Netherlands for the relief aid received so far, amounting to over 50 million Euros and now the decision to establish the Recovery Fund with no less than 550 million Euros. Marlin said he hopes to welcome State Secretary Raymond Knops personally to the island and thank him in person on behalf of the government and people of our country when he visits sometime later this month.

With this decision, the recovery of Sint Maarten can now start to take shape. We have always been ready and prepared to work with the Dutch government.

The outgoing Sint Maarten Prime Minister reiterated in a press statement on Friday as well, that his government had NEVER refused aid. We have been accepting aid from the Netherlands, from before the hurricane made landfall up to and including today.

We have also NEVER turned down aid in the form of the Recovery Fund. What we had a dispute with the Netherlands about were the conditions that the Netherlands had attached to receiving recovery aid. The Prime Minister said that a deadline had been set for accepting the conditions, which was October 31, 2017 and the government agreed to the conditions on October 30, 2017, one day before the deadline.

On Thursday morning the Prime Minister received the advice on the final draft of the Integrity Chamber Ordinance and he immediately convened an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers to approve the advice so that the Parliament could take a vote on it before the end of November.

Marlin, said that shortly after the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma, the Dutch government and the Council of State had been informed of the situation on St. Maarten and had requested extra time to finalize the approval of the draft ordinance.

It is a pity he said, that others misused the hurricane to their political advantage to break the government. St. Maarten does not deserve political instability at this time, all hands should be on deck securing a sound recovery of our country.

Attempts by both himself and Minister of Education, Silveria Jacobs to bring the other parties together and form a national government all in the best interest of the people has been met by resistance by particularly one party.

Press Release from the Prime Minister of St. Maarten
ST. JOHNS, Antigua:--- LIAT, the Caribbean Airline, will next week increase its scheduled commercial flights into the territories affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The airline has been working to restore capacity to the affected territories as they continue their rebuilding efforts.

The airline will increase its flights into Dominica, St. Maarten, and Tortola. This will provide greater connectivity for passengers within and outside the LIAT network.

Interim Chief Commercial Officer, Audra Walker noted that demand is improving and the airline has been working closely with the relevant authorities to rebuild capacity to pre-Hurricane levels. We at LIAT are committed to helping our region stay connected and we are keen to reinstate flights where there is demand for seats, as well as cargo and Quikpak services.

The airline will now operate three flights a week into St. Maarten, five flights a week into Tortola and will increase the number of flights into Dominica from an alternating daily service to three flights per day. The new schedule will become effective on November 16th.

LIAT Press Release
ST. JOHNS, Antigua:--- LIAT regrets to advise the traveling public of industrial action by the members of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA). This action has stemmed from the unions disagreement with a company decision.

The Management of LIAT, this morning, met with LIALPA in an effort to quickly resolve this issue with the pilots and restore services to the traveling public. However, our flight services still remain disrupted.

LIAT's Chief Executive Officer, Julie Reifer-Jones, added "LIAT apologizes for these disruptions to our passengers and their plans and wishes to reiterate its commitment to work with LIALPA to resolve any issues. She noted that the management is moving swiftly to work on restoring regular operations soon.

LIAT Press Release
The first look of Raazi, starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, hit the web today.

By India Today Web Desk: Alia Bhatt has portrayed diverse roles in her Bollywood career of five years. And now, she is playing a Kashmiri girl in Meghna Raazi's thriller Raazi, who falls in love with a police officer, portrayed by Vicky Kaushal.

Though the film is expected to release next May, Alia has posted a first look on Instagram and Twitter already. In her post, the actress shared a photo of herself with the words, "Six months to Raazi" written on it.

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Her friend and mentor, Karan Johar also shared the photo.

Alia has been posting several glimpses from the film, lately. A few days ago, she told her fans that she has just wrapped up the Raazi shoot. She wrote, "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."

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 ?? A post shared by Alia ??? (@aliaabhatt) on Oct 28, 2017 at 1:00am PDT

Apart from Raazi, Alia has Gully Boy with Ranveer Singh and Brahmastra with Amitabh Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor in her kitty.

ALSO WATCH: Alia Bhatt to India Today: My father always asked me to fail

--- ENDS ---
Algiers, Nov 10, 2017 (SPS) -.The Minister of Foreign, Mr. Mohamed Salem Uld Salek, appealed to all the actors of the Western Sahara conflict (United Nations and the African Union) to assume their responsibilities in the search for a solution to the dispute in Western Sahara.

The head of Saharawi diplomacy said to Algeria radio that the Moroccan intransigence and the content of the speech of the Alaouite monarch "are a clear blow to international legitimacy, the resolutions of the Security Council of the UN and a challenge to the United Nations and its Secretary General.

Uld Salek regretted that France's position is completely incompatible with the principles of the French Republic.SPS

125/090/TRA
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NEW HAVEN  On Jan. 5, 1943, a bomber formation of six B-17 Flying Fortresses plus six B-24 Liberators took off from an airfield in Papua New Guinea to attack Rabaul, the Japanese foothold in the South Pacific about 500 miles northeast, on the island of New Britain.

The lead aircraft was a B-17F called the San Antonio Rose, and aboard were two high-ranking observers, Maj. Jack W.

Bleasdale and Brig. Gen. Kenneth N. Walker, along with the Flying Fortress nine-man crew.

The San Antonio Rose was last seen heading into a cloud, pursued by Japanese fighters, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who on Friday announced that a bipartisan Senate coalition has introduced a resolution to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the loss of the San Antonio Rose on Jan. 5, 2018, and to pledge to continue the search for the lost aircraft.

Blumenthal, D-Conn., made the announcement in the rotunda of Yale Universitys Woolsey Hall, its interior walls inscribed with hundreds of names of Yale graduates who were killed in action from the Civil War to the present.

The crew of the San Antonio Rose must never be forgotten, he said. We must honor their memory through continuing this search to fulfill our nations promise to finally bring these heroes home.

Perilous mission

More Information Crew of the San Antonio Rose Pilot: Major Allen Lindberg Co-Pilot: Captain Benton H. Daniel Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Robert L. Hand Navigator 1st Lt. John W. Hanson Engineer Sgt Dennis T. Craig Radio Sgt Quentin W. Blakely Gunner Sgt Leslie A. Stewart Gunner Pvt Leland W. Stone Gunner Pfc William G. Fraser Observer Major Jack W. Bleasdale Observer Brigadier General Kenneth N. Walker See More Collapse

Blumenthal was accompanied by Douglas Walker, 84, who was 10 years old when his father  the highest-ranking American to go missing in action on a combat mission during World War II  led the Fifth Bomber Command.

Gen. Walker would frequently fly on missions so he could best understand what his airmen were up against, and he survived a number of scrapes. Bombers making the run to Rabaul were often hit with flack and attacked by fighter aircraft.

He was a charming, stylish guy and a man who was totally committed to his work, His son said. He was part of the group to write the Air War Plan prior to the Pearl Harbor attack.

Douglas Walker, of New Canaan, said its believed that his father was sitting in the co-pilots seat on the San Antonio Roses fateful flight.

He managed to bail out  one of two to bail out  and its believed that he was subsequently interrogated and later executed by the Japanese, Walker said. It was from that interrogation  and we have the translations  that the location of the aircraft might be determined.

Vance R. Tiede, an archaeology professor who searches for clues from the past through satellite surveys, said the technology to find the missing B-17 has advanced to the point where a search would likely succeed.

Youre dealing with triple-layer canopy rain forest, Tiede said. There are at least six other allied aircraft that went down in that general area, and its only in the last 10 or 15 years that weve been able to find an airframe hiding in the jungle like that.

Strategy of persistence

The San Antonio Rose was part of the 64th Bombardment Squadron; the six B-24 Liberators were from the 90th Bombardment Group.

Tiede said that the missing B-17 is likely in a 200-square-kilometer area on New Britain, a volcanic island that appears as a smile in charts of the South Pacific.

Rabaul, on the northeastern tip of the island, is where the Japanese had their massive army and navy South Pacific headquarters. The base was heavily defended by more than 360 anti-aircraft batteries and an estimated 97,000 Japanese soldiers and sailors were garrisoned there. They were supported by 2,000 to 3,000 slaves, Allied prisoners and prostitutes.

Rather than attempt to overrun such a huge enemy base, the strategy of the Allies  largely crafted by Walker  was to stage almost daily bombing runs to harass the Japanese and interrupt supply lines. By early 1945, this strategy was paying off; by that time soldiers there survived by growing vegetables and by commandeering food from the indigenous people.

We can never forget and never give up on the men and women who are missing in action, Blumenthal said. This resolution pledges that we will continue the search and recovery of this lost aircraft.

Blumenthal said that the resolution is totally bipartisan.

Im representing some 20 relatives of that B-17 crew who, along with me, have sought help with this effort to bring back the dead, Walker said. He was accompanied at the announcement by his wife, Susan Edmands.

General Walker was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The entire crew of the San Antonio Rose was officially declared dead on Dec. 12, 1945.

jburgeson@ctpost.com
By PTI: (Eds: Adding details after para 8)

Jammu, Nov 10 (PTI) Dineshwar Sharma, the CentresA special representative for Kashmir, today said all Indian citizens in Jammu and Kashmir were "stakeholders" in the dialogue process and that he would keep coming to the state in the future.

Sharma, who arrived here last evening on the second leg of his visit to J&K, said the Centre had given him the task to restore peace in Kashmir and find some solution.

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Asked whether he considered the Hurriyat Conference a stakeholder in the dialogue process, he said, "All Indian citizens inAJammu and Kashmir are stakeholders."

Sharma, who was appointed the Centres special representative last month for consultations with various groups and political parties, called on state governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here last night and discussed the ways to reach out to the stakeholders, officials said.

On the issue of a meeting with Hurriyat leaders, he said, "Let us see."

Asked further, the former Intelligence Bureau chief said, "I am going to visit Jammu and Kashmir again and again."

Replying to a question, he said his visit to the state had been "successful".

He had arrived here yesterday after spending four days in the Valley, during which he met various delegations and political leaders which included former chief minister Omar Abdullah, state Congress chief G A Mir and CPM leaders among others.

Representatives of the Bar Association of Jammu, who met him today, said they raised the issue alleged threat to the state due to the presence of Rohingya Muslims.

Other delegations, which called on him, included those from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry ofAJammu (CCIJ) and the West Pakistan refugees.

Meanwhile, Panun Kashmir, an organisation representing displaced Kashmiri Pandits, boycotted a meeting with Sharma, claiming that the invitation to them was extended in a "disrespectful manner".

The delegation of refugees, headed by West Pakistani Refugees Front president Labha Ram Gandhi, said Sharma was informed about the discrimination meted out to them, despite having lived in the state for 70 years.

The CCIJ delegation, led by its president Rakesh Gupta, said they referred to issues of unemployment and development.

PDP leaders from the Jammu region and those from the JK Panthers Party also called on him.

He met a BJP delegation, led by the partys state president Sat Sharma, here yesterday. The Centres special representative is scheduled to return to the national capital tomorrow. PTI AB AAR SC

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) A 26-year-old alleged arms supplier, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, was arrested from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, the police said today.

The police said that criminals in the National Capital Region were procuring weapons from the arms manufacturers based in Dhar, Burhanpur and Khargone districts of Madhya Pradesh and Munger district of Bihar.

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Salman is a major supplier of arms and ammunition to the criminals of Delhi-NCR, Agra, Jhansi, Orai, Jalon and Dhaulpur, the police said.

He was arrested on November 9 from Jhansi and 20 sophisticated pistols and 100 cartridges were seized from him, said PS Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).

During interrogation, he revealed that he had been purchasing firearms and ammunition arms manufacturer based in Khargone and Dhar through agents, the officer claimed.

For the last three years, he had been running his own inter-state gang and was supplying arms to criminals at of Rs 15,000-20,000, the police said. PTI SLB ANB

--- ENDS ---
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Rumour has it that Anushka Shetty rejected a film offer by Karan Johar, because Prabhas advised her against it.

By India Today Web Desk: There was much speculation about Baahubali actress Anushka Shetty's Bollywood debut, with filmmaker Karan Johar. However, the actress, who shot to fame with the Baahubali franchise, has now reportedly opted out of the project, as she did not like the role offered to her.

"Karan was keen on casting Anushka in one of his projects, but she didn't find the role adequate enough for her. She had rejected Tamasha for similar reasons as well. And yes, there are speculations that she may have consulted Prabhas before refusing the film," said a source.

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Earlier, Anushka had rejected Ajay Devgn's Singham and the Golmaal series.

Looks like Anushka is following in Prabhas's footsteps. KJo had approached Prabhas for a film, but apparently Prabhas asked for a salary of Rs 20 crore, which KJo didn't agree to.

Anushka and Prabhas have always created much buzz, because of their extremely close friendship. However, they have vehemently denied being in a relationship.

Currently, she is part of G Ashok's modern-day thriller Bhaagamathie .

ALSO WATCH: Baahubali 2 storm blows away Khans of Bollywood

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: By Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, Nov 11 (PTI) Bangladeshs first Hindu Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, facing graft and money laundering allegations, has resigned a month after he went on leave abroad amid a row with the government over a crucial Supreme Court judgement, a senior official said today.

Sinha assumed office on January 17, 2015 as the countrys 21st Chief Justice. He is scheduled to retire on January 31 next.

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"His (Sinhas) resignation letter has reached Bangabhaban (presidential palace)," Presidents press secretary Joynal Abedin told PTI without elaborating, but legal experts said this confirmation meant that Sinha has quit his office.

Officials familiar with the development said, Sinha submitted his resignation letter to Bangladesh Embassy in Singapore on the last day of his month-long leave yesterday, where he had gone for medical checkups.

On October 13, he had left Dhaka for Australia on a private tour amid reports that the government was upset with him over his decision to scrap parliaments authority in impeaching Supreme Court (SC) judges.

Before his departure, Sinha had said that he was "embarrassed" over the controversy surrounding his July ruling.

"I am the guardian of the judiciary, in the interest of the judiciary, I am leaving temporarily so that its image does not get hurt. I will return," he briefly told newsmen before leaving Dhaka.

Row with the government and the higher judiciary started in July this year when the apex court declared as void the 16th constitutional amendment, scrapping Parliaments authority in impeaching SC judges.

The dispute grew in the subsequent weeks as many ministers attacked Sinha for slamming the government for reactions over the verdict, and cited Pakistans example where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was stripped of the premiership following an apex court ruling.

Before leaving home, Sinha said he "firmly believes" that his stance over the verdict was misinterpreted to the government, upsetting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but expected her to realise soon the fact.

A day after his departure, the Supreme Court issued a statement saying that other judges of the apex court had decided not to sit in the bench with Sinha over allegations of "grave" graft and moral lapses, brought to their notice by President Abdul Hamid.

"This written statement (of Sinha) is misleading," a Supreme Court statement said, adding that President Hamid on September 30, invited all the five apex court judges to Bangabhaban, barring the chief justice, and handed over to them "evidences of 11 specific allegations" against Sinha.

It said the allegations included some grave charges like money laundering, financial irregularities, corruption and moral lapses.

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In unitary Bangladesh, the Supreme Court has two wings, the High Court Division and the apex Appellate Division.

According to the SC statement, all the five apex court judges held a meeting on the next day and subsequently met Sinha and sought his explanation about the allegations but "didnt get any acceptable explanation or reply".

"So all of them (five judges) clearly conveyed to him that until the disposal of those charges it will not be possible for them to share the bench with him to deliver justice," the statement said.

Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia-led main opposition outside parliament, BNP had put their weight behind Sinha while its standing Committee Member and former law minister Moudud Ahmed blamed the government for "forcing" him to quit.

"Sinhas resignation day will be marked as a black chapter," he said accusing the government of "smashing independence" in the judiciary.

The President had appointed senior most judge of the apex court Abdul Wahhab Miah as the acting chief justice. According to Bangladesh Constitution, if the chief justices office becomes vacant, the next senior most judge of the Appellate Division will perform his duties.

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Sinha belonged to ethnic minority Tripura community and since his appointment in 2015 he chaired the apex court in upholding death penalties of several leading perpetrators of 1971 war crimes. PTI AR SMJ AKJ SMJ

--- ENDS ---
KEARNEY  Can irrigation water technologies and management practices used by Nebraska farmers be part of the solution to the worlds water sustainability and food security issues?

Learning how to use those tools globally was one of several goals discussed Wednesday by leaders and partners of the University of Nebraskas Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at a reception sponsored by the institute, the University of Nebraska at Kearney and central Nebraska trustees of the University of Nebraska Foundation.

The institute was established in 2010 with a $50 million gift from Daugherty, who was founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Valmont Industries.

Ron Yoder, associate vice chancellor of UNLs Institute of agriculture and Natural Resources, said Daugherty knew that UNLs work to enhance Nebraskas water sustainability and ag productivity could help solve problems in other places.

Nebraskas reputation for irrigation water use and management innovations started with what Yoder called the Nebraska miracle as the ag economy emerged from a decade of drought in the 1930s. Thats when farmers began to tap the states vast Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation water and Nebraska innovators, including Daugherty, developed and manufactured the first pivot irrigation systems.

Speakers on Wednesdays panel talked about another Nebraska innovation, natural resources districts, that also are the envy of other states and nations.

DWIF Director of Policy Nick Brozovic said recordings made with about 80 founders of the 45-year-old NRD system were turned into podcasts and posted online. Its a resource not just within the state, but to be used globally ... We refer people to it all the time, he said.

Yoder said DWFI is recognized as the go-to place in the world on water sustainability and ag production topics.

DWFI Executive Director Peter McCornick first learned that when he attended a 2009 conference at UNL just before the institute was started. I was very surprised at what Nebraska had achieved since the 1980s, he said.

Three UNL-based entities already had spent years collecting data, doing research and educating producers: Nebraska Water Center, National Drought Mitigation Center and Nebraska Extension.

McCornick said DWFIs strength comes from partnerships with those entities, the universitys four campuses, more than 100 faculty fellows, ag producers and, increasingly, people from other states and countries. We want to be the first choice in partnerships and work on innovative solutions for water and agriculture, he added.

Nebraska has the largest area of irrigated agriculture in the United States. If it was a country, it would be 12th in the world, McCornick said. Its larger than Egypt, with its Nile Delta.

It also is a center of irrigation water management technologies that now include plant genetics that allow farmers to save water at the plant level, he said.

Closing the water-ag productivity gap in other places is a greater challenge. DWFI is working on water quantity issues in the Middle East and North Africa, and water quality issues in parts of Southeast Asia.

McCornick said a big question is how to translate the knowledge, experience and practices used by Nebraska farmers to the developing worlds small-scale farms.

He said that includes Africa, which cannot achieve food security without irrigation. One idea is community-managed center pivots that require cooperation by manufacturers, local governments and farmers.

Meanwhile, DWFI continues to support research and data gathering important to Nebraska farmers. That includes making more information accessible to farmers online using confidential formats, DWFI Program Coordinator Kate Gibson said.

Brandon Hunnicutt is a member of a Giltner farm family that uses soil moisture sensors, computer models, remote operation of pivot systems and other technologies.

He sees the need for more real-time, cause-and-effect data. We dont understand when. I think thats next, when (something happens) and how that affects the results, he said.

When asked if Nebraska farmers realize their potential global influence on water and ag productivity issues, Hunnicutt replied, I dont know if we, as a whole, understand that what we do in Nebraska has a global impact ... We understand trade, but there are a lot of things we dont know about.

McCornick said a DWFI conference in April drew officials from USAID, the World Bank, Brazil, Argentina and Africa to Nebraska. The institute has been invited to co-host a conference with the World Bank in January.

The primary focus is in Africa, he said. How do we help stimulate the sustainability of agriculture in many areas?

Another sustainability issue he mentioned Wednesday is that the Daugherty Foundation gift was intended to fund institute for 15 years and about half of that time is gone. How do we continue this work? McCornick asked.
It was that time of the night. Darkness was creeping up out of the ditches on the back roads from Scottsbluff Wednesday night and I was busy making plans, writing columns and blog posts in my head and mentally packing for the next days trip to Denver ... when Bambis dad decided he wanted to hitch a ride in the front seat of my small SUV.

One moment I was contemplating two of lifes inevitable ends, death and taxes (more on that next week) and the next second a small buck was in my face, literally. Of course, the buck stopped there and my lap was full of minute glass shards  the darkness and the cold outside, suddenly inside.

I pulled in at a friends house to bandage my bloody, dripping pinky finger, the only casualty besides the animal and the windows. Barb offered to vacuum glass pebbles from my clothes and hair. How many friends can say theyve vacuumed their neighbors back?

But, this was not my first encounter with a large deer in my window on a dark road somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Yes, I have hit more than one deer in my 45-year driving career, but to be honest, more than one deer has sought me out.

A few years ago, I was parked in the dark, standing still on a rutted country road near my home because there was a small herd of the varmints in a newly-harvested cornfield nearby and I was skittish. A dear little deer ran up to my husbands shiny new red pickup and, trust me, officer, she hit me. Im sure the state patrol has heard this snippet multiple times.

A second time, as a passenger near the South Dakota-Nebraska state line, a larger buck mistook our Jeep for a plus-size former girlfriend and jumped us. He rolled across the hood, crushing the windshield and sliding down my window in all his bloody glory. That time, the vehicle didnt survive and neither did the deer. But, the tow truck driver had another great story.

He knew the critters were thick along that roadway, so he wasnt surprised to get the sheriffs call out of Chadron. Hed picked up two older ladies a couple years earlier when a four-point buck decided to join them in the front seat. The deer probably wished he were dead and Im sure they did too, as he thrashed about  his sharp hooves, horns and giant head causing havoc to their torsos as they dove for the doors.

I was pleased to Facebook our high school neighbor, the young man we let hunt every year on our property, to report Id gotten my deer this season before him. My slightly-camouflaged post didnt mention the Hondas role in the evenings adventure and, after washing the glittering glass diamonds out of my jeans, my hair and my bag of sushi, I slept soundly anticipating todays workload and travel itinerary.

But, the deer of my dreams didnt let me sleep past 2 a.m. and the column full of death and taxes is postponed. Sorry, Bambi!

Tell me youve taken out a deer or two or three or four. Tell me your car, SUV or pickup lived to tell the story. I do love that Honda.
Sinha, the first non-Muslim chief justice in Muslim majority Bangladesh, took office on January 17, 2015.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Chief Justice of Bangladesh SK Sinha has sent his resignation letter to the President from abroad, a day after his month-long leave ended, the president's press secretary Joynal Abedin has confirmed.

Abedin told the media on Saturday that President Abdul Hamid has received the resignation letter.

Sinha, the first non-Muslim chief justice in Muslim majority Bangladesh, took office on January 17, 2015. His tenure was to end on January 21, 2016.

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On October 13, he left for Australia amid a row with the government after the top court scrapped the 16th constitutional amendment, stripping the Parliament of its power to impeach apex court judges.

He had drawn criticism for his observations made in the verdict.

Before leaving Bangladesh, Sinha told reporters that he was "quite embarrassed" about how a specific political quarter, including some ministers and the prime minister herself, had criticised him over one of his rulings -the 16th Amendment verdict.

A day later, five judges of the Appellate Division announced their unwillingness to continue working with him because of "11 gross allegations including money laundering, financial scam, corruptions, moral degradation against him."

TOP JUDGE STEPS DOWN

Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was the first top judge in Bangladesh to have stepped down.

Bangladesh parliament passed the constitution's 16th amendment in 2014, which empowered lawmakers to investigate and sack top judges on the grounds of incapability and misconduct.

The High Court declared it unconstitutional in 2016 after a petition by lawyers. The state challenged the decision, but it was upheld by the Appellate Division in July this year.

The verdict revived the Supreme Judicial Council, a provision brought during military ruler and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's regime, to remove top court judges.

The Supreme Court published the full verdict on August 1, drawing harsh criticism from the Awami League government.

Ruling party leaders also attacked Chief Justice Sinha for his observations on Bangladesh's politics, past dictatorships, Election Commission, corruption, governance and judiciary in the verdict.

ACCUSATIONS OF BELITTLING THE FATHER OF THE NATION

The Awami League accused him of 'belittling' the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in some of the observations.

Chief Justice Sinha sat in his office for the last time on Aug 24 before the annual vacation of the apex court started.

The government announced his 'sick' leave on Oct 3, a day before the vacation ended.

Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah became acting chief justice then and the government said in a circular that he would act as chief justice until the end of Justice Sinha's leave or his return.

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WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

According to the Bangladesh Constitution, if the chief justice's office becomes vacant, the next most senior judge of the Appellate Division will perform his duties.

On October 3, the day the government announced Justice Sinha's 'sick leave', a government order said the president appointed Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah as the acting chief justice.

Later on October 12, a day before Sinha left the country, a second order was issued which said Justice Miah will head the Supreme Court until the end of Sinha's leave or his return.

With Justice Sinha stepping down from his office, Justice Miah will perform the duties of the chief justice until a new appointment.

--- ENDS ---
Magistrates of the Brasov Tribunal rejected on Friday evening the proposal of the National Aticorruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors to place senior official with the Transport Ministry Ninel Cercel under pre-trial arrest, placing him under court supervision.

DNA filed an appeal against the measure taken by magistrates, spokesperson of the Brasov Tribunal judge Gabriela Ciolacu told AGERPRES.The sitting where state secretary Ninel Cercel was heard started at 20:00hrs and ended around 21:45hrs.PM Mihai Tudose removed Ninel Cercel from his office as state secretary with the Transport Ministry and the decision was published on Friday evening in the Official Journal of Romania.DNA prosecutors on Friday ordered senior official with the Transport Ministry Ninel Cercel to be detained over blackmail after he had taken action to remove from office the manager of the Brasov Regional Freight Centre (CZM) so that privately-owned transport companies may obtain a freight contract with chemicals works Azo Mures SA to the detriment of the CFR Marfa national freight railway corporation.According to DNA, Cercel allegedly used as a pretext to dismiss the head of the CZM Brasov a fire that broke out on a freight train carrying ammonium nitrate on October 31, although the incident did not take place in the area under his responsibility.Cercel was summoned before the Brasov Tribunal, to be served a 30-day pre-trial detention order.
JEFFERSON CITY  Gov. Eric Greitens announced on Friday a pact between the state of Missouri and HackerUSA, a cyber security education firm with roots in Israel.

According to a news release, the agreement "paves the way" for Missouri colleges and universities to work with the firm in order to start cyber security training programs "designed to help technology professionals protect their organizations and citizens from cyber attacks."

Greitens' office said he signed a memorandum of understanding during his trade mission to Israel this week, during which the governor met with top officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The release did not indicate which schools may be interested in participating, and said training will meet industry standards.

"Cyber security can be a great strength for our state, and we can create more good jobs for Missourians," Greitens said in the release.

HackerUSA is an offshoot of HackerU, according to the release, which has helped military, business and governmental entities for two decades with cyber security needs. The release said HackerUSA has partnerships with schools in multiple U.S. states, including Florida and New York.

"Missouri has great potential to be a leader in cyber security," said Ariel Cohen, CEO of HackerU, in a statement. "We look forward to working with business and education leaders in Missouri to build partnerships."

The non-profit Hawthorn Foundation and the Republican Jewish Coalition funded Greitens' week-long trip to Israel. The governor left Sunday, and his spokesman, Parker Briden, has not responded to two requests from the Post-Dispatch this week seeking the governor's itinerary.

Greitens did tweet about a "great and productive" meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday, but Greitens did not provide specifics.

Matthew Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, tweeted several times from Israel this week, including about a "substantive" meeting between Greitens and Netanyahu.

Among other things, Brooks also said Greitens met with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Thursday "about important issues related to Iran, Syria, Lebanon, regional security and bilateral US-Israel relations."

A news release issued before Greitens departed said the governor would meet with top governmental, business and educational leaders "to strengthen the economic and cultural bonds between Missouri and the State of Israel."

The release said he would focus on starting "innovative partnerships" in higher education, cyber security, agriculture and public safety.

The trip marks Greitens' third international trade mission in as many months. In September, Greitens traveled to South Korea and China. Last month, he flew to Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

After the European trip, the state Department of Economic Development announced that the insurance firm Swiss Re was relocating its Overland Park, Kan., operations to downtown Kansas City by late 2018, bringing 400 jobs to Missouri.

The state also announced in October that United Kingdom global marketing firm VML also is planning to move 120 jobs to Kansas City over the next six years.
By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: It's highly unusual for a gig to be held mid-week, with most people choosing to catch a live performance on Saturdays or Sundays. But that's what makes Boxout.fm's 'Budweiser x Boxoutwednesdays' gigs, always held on a Wednesday, so special.

"Going out on weekends in Delhi is usually hit and miss for most people," says Mohammed Abood a.k.a. DJ MoCity, chief curator of Boxout.fm, "and we didn't want to participate in the rat race where promoters are fighting over two or three days of the week and audiences are divided between where to go. So, a mid-week party where the focus was on good music minus all the hype seemed like the right thing to do."

The crew behind Boxout.fm.

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This month's line-up seems pretty cool: Compa and Lacuna will perform on November 15, Mad-StarBase and The Greybox will perform on November 22, and The Whooligan and DJ MoCity will perform on November 29.

Also Read: Taylor Swift's new album, Reputation, is finally out!

DJ MoCity says, "This is our 35th and 36th edition of 'Budweiser x Boxoutwednesdays' so curating these shows well is really important to us. Compa is a great DJ from the UK who has not just released music at a young age but is a champion of the vinyl record culture, playing his DJ sets solely using vinyl records and dubplates."

"Lacuna," he adds, "is somebody we identified early on as a formidable electronica talent. He recently released his Strains EP on our very own label Boxout.fm Recordings." The label itself was launched last month, says Abhi Meer, boxout. fm resident. He adds, "The record label doubles up as a breeding ground for raw talent that the larger world might miss out on since artists sometimes lack the means or a proper support system when it comes to taking their music the wider, global audience. We have learned so much from the first two releases (Profound's Dream Journal LP and Lacuna's Strains EP) about planning and execution. It's only going to get better from here forward. Our next release is an EP by Corridors that will come out early December."

Compa will perform at Summer House Cafe on November 15. Compa will perform at Summer House Cafe on November 15.

December seems to be a busy month since they have another project up their sleeves. "On December 1 at Auro," says Meer, "we're hosting an official Soulection party with SoSuperSam and The Whooligan, who are both mainstays of the Soulection collective and label based out of Los Angeles. Soulection is a collective of likeminded individuals, as well as a hip-hop record label and radio show."

Coming back to the gigs at hand, DJ MoCity says that the reaction to Budweiser x Boxoutwednesdays, so far, has been overwhelming. "We're now the longest running Wednesday night residency in the city," he says, "and we've managed to program really diverse nights, spanning many musical styles and genres. The audience is largely to thank for this because it's the troopers who come out to party mid-week who make Boxoutwednesdays what it is. Budweiser recognised this early on and stepped on board. We're very grateful for that since their support allows us the freedom to execute these parties the way we see fit and takes the music to their large audience as well." 'Budweiser x Boxoutwednesdays' will be held at Summer House Cafe every Wednesday at 10 pm

--- ENDS ---
You need a license to drive but you can have a handgun with no license at all. Drivers killed 781 people in Missouri 2013 while 880 people were killed by shooters. Why arent handguns licensed, too?

People who kill animals need a license, yet those who own a handgun  the primary use of which is to kill people  need no license at all. Why arent handguns licensed, too?

Missouri recently eased requirements for gun ownership, yet fatalities due to shootings are rising. I own guns, yet the right to bear arms doesnt mean that we must reject reasonable limits. For example, the First Amendment gives citizens the right to free speech, yet you cannot shout fire in a theater.

If there were a constitutional amendment that gave people the right to own an automobile, would it make sense to do away with the laws that reduce car-related fatalities? A license is not an infringement of my rights if it is designed to protect others. After all, we also have a God-given right to life.

As far as the argument that criminals will get guns anyway, regardless of the law, I would finish with this. Since people have always killed other people, it seems to be part of human nature. Why have laws against murder?

Robert Wanager  Hillsboro
How many heart-wrenching mass shootings must our country endure before action is taken? In Jonah Goldbergs piece Why there is inaction on gun laws (Nov. 9), he makes the superfluous argument that 76 percent of Americans support the freedom to own a gun, a constitutional right never in question. He also discounts Australias ban on semiautomatic weapons and the continents resulting elimination of gun massacres.

The publics outrage over lax gun laws fell on deaf ears last month in Las Vegas and in Texas for yet again another mass shooting. The stale mantra Now is not the time to discuss guns rings hollow.

Once again, the president placed the blame of gun violence on a deranged person. Admittedly, mental health plays a major role. Why then did the president change a rule to allow certain mentally ill people to purchase guns and propose slashing funds for mental health? Its a stark example of cognitive dissonance on behalf of the president and Republican legislators fueled by the money interests of the gun industry.

A ban on semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines became law in 1994 but lapsed under President George W. Bushs administration. Polls indicate that a majority of Americans favor such a ban. By eliminating the need to reload, gunmen can fire off many rounds in a matter of seconds, resulting in maximum carnage.

Aside from law enforcement, there is absolutely no place in society for weapons of mass casualties, high-capacity magazines, armor-piercing bullets, silencers and bump stocks.

Doris Schwartz  Chesterfield
The launch of Stratford Royal British Legions Poppy Appeal included, from left, David Hastie, chairman of Stratford RBL, Margaret Hastie, branch womens secretary, Pam Birch and Mo Wingate, poppy helpers who are pictured with Stratford Mayor, Victoria Alcock.

LAST years Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal in Stratford raised 55,000 and organisers of this years appeal, which was launched on Friday, hope to top that total.

The next two weeks will be the busiest for us, said David Hastie, branch chairman of Stratford Royal British Legion. The money raised goes to help members of the armed forces whether they are serving or retired. I think this years appeal is going to be another busy one for us judging by the interest people have shown so far.

Stratford Mayor Victoria Alcock officially launched Stratfords Poppy Appeal which she described as a great honour.

My family has a military background. My uncle was a marine, my brother was in the RAF and my nephew is an army reservist, the mayor said.

Poppy Appeal helper, Pam Birch from Stratford, has knitted 300 woolen poppies having started her project just after Christmas.

I just sit and knit away and the poppies have been selling well. I do it because if it hadnt been for those soldiers who fought and died for us we wouldnt be here now, Pam said.
A man in Chennai kidnapped his own three-year-old kid for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh to pay his credit card dues.

By India Today Web Desk: Imagine you've played fast and loose with your credit card, and now owe your bank lakhs. What do you do?

Recently in Chennai, a man decided he would kidnap his own three-year-old son for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh to solve the problem (while making it look like someone else was the culprit), a leading Tamil newspaper reported on Thursday.

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But, as the Thina Thanthi report goes on to say, the plan bombed: Chennai police were smarter, and the man, 32-year-old Ravikumar, was arrested.

But before that, he left a trail of emotional devastation in his wake.

Just consider what the report says Ravikumar did: He lied to his father that a gang of kidnappers had attacked him before leaving with his child. His father had to borrow money from neighbours for the ransom. Ravikumar lied again when he, he father and his wife were on their way to meet the "kidnappers" - he said they would kill the boy if he didn't go to them alone. He gave his father the phone number of a bank employee and told him it was the kidnappers' number (Imagine the employee's surprise when the police called). He lied again when he asked a friend to take care of his son for a day, saying his wife was out of town (the police questioned that friend). And to top it all, he had the temerity to tell the police he'd successfully rescued his child, and brought him to the police station.

All this, to cover up his financial irresponsibility!

Thina Thanthi's report said an already suspicious police uncovered Ravikumar's deceitful scheme after noticing that he was contradicting himself during their interrogation.

Spare a thought for that boy. He'll grow up knowing that his father was an irresponsible cheat who put his own wife and father through the most harrowing of ordeals - and that a man who should have been been protecting him from harm, willingly used him as a pawn in a plot to steal money.

--- ENDS ---
A day after showdown in the Supreme Court over setting up a constitution bench to hear a petition for SIT probe into a medical admission scam that involved allegations of bribery in higher judiciary, Prashant Bhushan has lashed out at CJI Dipak Misra.

By India Today Web Desk: A day after the Supreme Court saw some unprecedented scenes and drama over setting up a constitution bench to probe a medical admission scam, lawyer Prashant Bhushan today lashed out at Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in a series of tweets.

Prabhasnt Bhushan said, "The Chief Justice of India, for the first time, has violated the most basic norm of any decision-making authority that no one shall be a judge in his or her own case. The brazenness with which the CJI has ridden roughshod over this has brought SC to disrepute."

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Prashant Bhushan, who appeared before the Supreme Court constitution bench yesterday, further wrote, "For the CJI to move heaven and earth to prevent the senior five judges to SC to hear this case of CBI FIR alleging conspiracy to bribe bench which he presided over, is a very serious misconduct. He has violated basic principle of natural justice, that you can't be judge in your own cause."

Prashant Bhushan's angry response followed an evident tussle within top judiciary which came to the fore yesterday with the Supreme Court overturning the order of a two-judge bench to set up a larger bench to hear a graft case allegedly involving judges, asserting that Chief Justice of India was the "master of the roster".

WHAT HAPPENED IN SUPREME COURT?

The showdown was over the issue of supremacy of constituting a bench in which the authority of Chief Justice Dipak Misra was allegedly undermined by a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and S Abdul Nazeer, which had on Thursday set up a five-judge bench to hear a case of alleged bribery of judges in which a retired judge of Orissa High Court, Justice Ishrat Masroor Quddusi, is an accused.

Justice Chelameswar, who is the senior-most judge after the CJI, had ordered setting up of the five-judge bench of top judges of the apex court as a petition by an NGO and an advocate had claimed there were allegations against Justice Misra.

However, in a dramatic development, the CJI today set up a five-judge bench headed by him and overturned Thursday's order of the two-judge bench, saying the Chief Justice had the sole prerogative of setting up a bench and allocating matters.

'CJI IS THE BOSS'

In fast-paced events, the five-judge bench, also comprising Justices R K Agrawal, Arun Mishra, Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar, assembled at 3 PM and commenced an urgent hearing on the question as to who can direct the setting up of a bench of specific judges to hear a particular matter.

"There cannot be a command or an order directing the CJI to constitute a bench of specific strength," the bench said while making it clear that neither a two-judge, nor a three- judge bench can direct the CJI to constitute a specific bench.

"Needless to emphasis that no judge can take up a matter on its own unless allocated by the CJI as the CJI is master of the court," the bench said and annuled the decision of the two-judge bench, in the hearing which witnessed heated exchange of words between the judges and advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners.

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"Any order passed contrary to this order (by the constitution bench) should not hold the field and shall be treated to be annulled," the CJI said in hard-hitting remarks while refusing the request of a lawyer to bar the media from reporting the case, saying he believed in "freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of press".

The bench said if the principle of law, judicial discipline and decorum of the court was not followed, there would be "anarchy" and "chaos" in the administration of justice as well as the functioning of the institution.

Perturbed by Thursday's order, the CJI, without taking names of the concerned judges, said there were hundreds of matters listed in the court daily and if the orders were passed like this, then the court cannot function.

(With PTI inputs)

--- ENDS ---
"I am very close, standing by the people of the hills, have patience," said Gurung in an audio clip.

By Arindam De: In a taped audio message the absconding GJM chief Bimal Gurung urged his supporters to be patient. He said "I am very close, standing by the people of the hills, have patience." He also mentioned that he would join the tripartite talks, when it happens.

The question is when will the tripartite negotiations start? Home ministry sources revealed that they are still undecided on whom to invite for the negotiations, Bimal Gurung or the current GTA chairperson Binay Tamang.

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A committee was set up to look into the modalities about six week ago. The state government have been appraised of the decisions and developments regularly. But ministry insiders are not sure if the West Bengal government will come to the negotiating table if Gurung was invited.

The ministry is in a dilemma - a state government boycott would jeopardise the talks and would be an open snub for the central government, while on the other hand Gurung is still an ally of the ruling BJP, so he cannot be out rightly ignored.

Some morcha leaders from the Gurung faction are aware about the fact that Centre is talking to the state government on the tripartite negotiations.

West Bengal government sources say that no one can decide unilaterally on the tripartite negotiations, including on whom to invite. The state government would prefer pre-negotiation talks between all stakeholders to finalise certain issues.

Binay Tamang said that they have urged the state government to take the initiative in convening the tripartite negotiations. He has also challenged the GJM chief to come out in the open.

On the other hand, continuing his tirade against the present GTA leaders Gurung has again targeted Tamang. he said in his audio message "Binay's supporters are no longer detained in the hills, even if they have pending cases against them.

However, arrest is imminent if he is a Bimal supporter, what can I say." Binay had shot back saying "He should come out in the open and answer all allegations, only that will satisfy the people of the hills."

--- ENDS ---
Ten national finalists took to their tools for a six-hour practical challenge where they were tasked with building puppy palaces which will be donated to the SPCA.

The two-day national competition saw each of the ten finalists undergo a 45-minute individual interview with the judging panel.

This was followed by the challenging practical component, the puppy palace build, which took place in front of an audience of family, friends and the general public at the ASB Showgrounds.

Tauranga builder Matthew Abbot was one of the many who stepped up to the challenge.

The nerves were definitely rattling a bit, he says. Once I settled into it I was fine, but definitely with more than 150 people it was quite a different experience.

We built a puppy palace which we donated to the Tauranga SPCA. It had a range of different difficulties, from marking out the staircases, working out your heights, circles, cutting ovals and different shapes. It had a staircase a cot and a dog bowl.

Last Thursday afternoon we went through a briefing and they gave you an hour to get your head around what youre doing and make a start then on Friday morning we started at 7.30am and worked until 1.30pm, so you get six hours.

I did majority of the work but whenever I needed a hand lifting things or moving them around I could call for assistance.

Ex-All Black Chris Jack was the ambassador for the event

He was walking around giving us a hand, says Matt. After he finished playing for the All Blacks he actually finished his own building apprenticeship. It was quite good to rub shoulders with him.

I met ten awesome people in this competition, its awesome to get to rub shoulders with some pretty high up people in the industry.

Matthew enters the competition after taking out a regional title.

I was involved in the regional procedure last year and also this year, last year not placing and this year I placed first in regionals which allowed me to go to nationals.

I play for Greerton Marist so Ive been involved in a raft of sporting events where judges have been critiquing me but nothing quite of this magnitude.

When the applications open your boss tells you to give it a go, the onus is on you to log in online and create your own account.

You have to hand in your written submission and I handed in a 15 page submission so quite a bit of time went into getting that all right.

The regional interview includes an interview, to indicate knowledge of the industry, alongside an hour-long site visit, says Matt.

It doesnt matter where you are in your apprenticeship it just shows what you know about your site and your confidence in that.

I was lucky enough to take out the Bay of Plenty Central Plateau award as best apprentice of the region.

After his apprenticeship training under BCITO tutors Brendon Honey and Tim Buxton, Matt has secured employment with Calley Homes.

Ive been working here for nearly 4 years on the dot, Im pretty well finished my apprenticeship and I have my meeting with my tutor this week where he will hopefully sign me off.

This competition has showed me that you can start off knowing nothing in the industry, but four years later its amazing what you can accomplish.
Levi Penberthy-Green, who was 18, died of his injuries in April 2015 after he failed to stop for police and was pursued.

The coroner, Michael Robb, has released the findings of his inquest.

On the night of 10 April, Mr Penberthy-Green had been at a friends party, before he left momentarily to do burnouts down the road with a friend.

While he was away from the party, an altercation broke out, and when he returned Levi and his friend were mistaken for the culprits.

Mr Penberthy-Green was then punched by an adult at the party and fled in his car. After two phone calls to friends who were still there, he decided to return despite warnings police were on their way.

Police pulled up behind Mr Penberthy-Greens car as he neared the party and turned on their sirens after seeing he had no rear or brake lights.

But Mr Penberthy-Green sped off and, within eight seconds, had rounded a corner and plunged down a bank, where he was thrown from his seat and pinned underneath his car.

He had not been wearing a seatbelt and, Mr Robb said, his death would likely have been avoided if he had been.

Mr Robb said the public gallery was packed during the inquest, which showed the teenager was a "well-loved young man whose death had been a shock".

The findings detailed the 18-year-olds history of dangerous driving, including a prior conviction and three crashes on the day before he died.

Mr Penberthy-Green was three times over the alcohol limit and had smoked cannabis at the time of his death.

The coroner described Mr Penberthy-Greens love of modifying his car and pulling off various driving activities such as doughnuts and drifting.

"Just because an individual has demonstrated an ability to carry out drifting, skidding and doughnuts without any serious injury in the past does not mean that good luck will continue," the coroner said.

Mr Robb found that Mr Penberthy-Greens car was in an unfit state to drive, due to continual modifications, including to the brakes.

"Driving in that state in a vehicle in the condition that Levis vehicle was in was akin to Russian roulette," he said.

He called for better adult supervision at parties and more strenuous safe driving messages throughout the community.

Police led education and television advertising has its place, he said, but some people can resist messages from police.

"For that reason, I recommend that messages about driving with a seatbelt and not intoxicated be conveyed in conjunction with individuals who are not associated directly with the police but who can present the message from a personal perspective."

The coroner ruled out police actions as contributing factors to the cause of death.
Eastern Bay of Plenty Police are holding a Recruitment information night at the EBOP REAP center on Pyne St Whakatane next month.

This will be a great opportunity for anyone who has an interest in joining NZ Police to come along and talk to our staff to find out more about the job, says Senior Sergeant Yvonne Parker.

NZ Police are looking to recruit people who are compassionate and empathetic, and who want to make a positive difference in their community.

Even if you dont think you are ready to apply, talk to us about how Police can help you to get ready and how we will support you through the recruitment process.

Come along to this night with your friends or family if becoming a Police officer is something you have always wanted to find out more about.

Any queries please phone SSGT Yvonne Parker at Whakatane on 07 3082343 or check out https://www.newcops.co.nz/

The event is being held on December 5 from 6.30pm-8pm.
A fire which occurred at Otumoetai Primary School earlier this afternoon, is being treated as suspicious.

A New Zealand Fire Service spokesperson says emergency services were called to the school on Otumoetai Rd at 1.45pm.

"This is quite a small fire under the exterior steps of a small classroom.

"This is being treated as a suspicious fire."

One fire crew is still at the scene.

Earlier:

Reports are coming in about a fire at Otumoetai Primary School

Firefighters have been called to the school on Otumoetai Rd.

A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says it appears the fire is coming from one of the classrooms near the dental clinic.

SunLive is working on getting more information.

At the scene?

Call 0800 SUNLIVE or email photos to newsroom@thesun.co.nz
About 13 vehicles rammed into each other and piled-up on the expressway in Dankaur.

By Mail Today Bureau: Dense smog that Delhi NCR is reeling under led to a massive accident on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Wednesday.

About 13 vehicles rammed into each other and piled-up on the expressway in Dankaur. While no casualty was reported, six people were injured in the accident.

The smog has also created trouble for the passengers at the airport as well as the railway stations. As many as six flights got delayed that were lined up for Chandigarh-Delhi route. The flights were delayed for half an hour to two-and-half hours.

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Police said the accident took place as eastern peripheral flyway on the Yamuna Expressway is under construction. Due to this, a few lanes have been shut and barricades placed close to the lanes.

"Due to the low visibility, the first vehicle rammed into the barricades and eventually other vehicles rammed one after another," said Farmood Ali Pundir, Dankaur's station house officer.

The officer further elaborated that the accident took place on both the carriageways. Five vehicles on their way to Agra rammed each other and eight vehicles that were going to Delhi collided on the expressway, said the officer.

It has been learnt that to avoid accident, reflectors were properly placed on the barricades and near the eastern peripheral flyway. But low visibility led to the accidents.

"All the injured persons were rushed to Kailash Hospital where they were discharged after first aid. None of the six persons received critical injuries. However, the vehicles were damaged. Out of 13 cars, seven cars were badly damaged," another senior officer said, adding all the vehicles were removed after the arrival of police.

Gautam Budh Nagar SP (rural) Suniti said they have taken cognisance of the matter. "We will ensure deployment of police personnel at the spot, besides more reflectors, will be installed to avoid such accidents in future," the officer said.

At least, 50 flights were delayed on Tuesday and 11 ran behind schedules.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) The Delhi government today called off the odd-even scheme, which was to be implemented from Monday, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said.

Gahlot said the governments decision came in view of the directive by the National Green Tribunal, which ordered the withdrawal of all exemptions, including to two-wheeler riders and woman-only vehicles, under the odd-even scheme.

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The government is not ready "to compromise with the safety of women" after the NGT ordered that there should be no exemption to anyone expect emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire tenders, he said.

Earlier this week, the Delhi government had announced implementation of the odd-even scheme from November 13-17, given the high level of smog in the capital. Schools were also shutdown till Sunday. PTI SBR PR GJS PYK ASK ASK

--- ENDS ---
The Guardian and 95 other media organisations revealed as part of their Paradise Papers investigation that the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, as well as almost half of their constituent colleges, have been investing tens of millions of pounds into offshore funds, one of which is a joint venture to develop oil exploration and deep-sea drilling.

The Paradise Papers is a series of articles about the findings from a special investigation into a leak of 13.4m files from two offshore service providers and 19 tax havens' company registries.

Leaked papers revealed that both universities' central funding bodies first invest significant funds in multi-billion-dollar private equity partnerships based in the Cayman Islands, which then channel the money to "blocker" corporations, a type of corporation in the United States which is taxed separately from its owners, and is used by foreign investors or tax exempt individuals when participating in private equity or with hedge funds.

The procedure allows the universities to avoid a US tax on hedge fund investments, thus receiving dividends tax-free.

One such private equity partnership exists between the universities and Guernsey-based private equity firm, Coller International. Oxford invested 2.6m in two separate funds made up of cash from the university itself and from individual colleges. Cambridge invested 1.3m in the same scheme.

The fund then routes the money to various investments, the biggest of which was worth 762,500,000 in Royal Dutch Shell, an British-Dutch oil and gas company more commonly known as Shell. This then created a joint venture, named the Shell Technology Ventures Fund, to invest in "production and exploration" technologies, such as that of the firm Xtreme Coil. The firm specialises in "innovative and efficient drilling rigs" able to "reach hydrocarbons in deeper horizons", the Guardian reports.

The findings come a day before the University of Cambridge's second divestment meeting of Michaelmas term, which will take place on Thursday, November 9th. The town hall-style meetings are led by the University's Divestment Working Group, and are open to all University staff and students.

The Cambridge colleges which have invested in fossil fuels include according to the investigation: Clare, Downing, Gonville & Caius, Jesus, Murray Edwards (formerly known as New Hall), Newnham, Pembroke, St Catharines, St Johns, Trinity and Trinity Hall. Those at Oxford are All Souls, Christ Church, Corpus Christi, Exeter, Lincoln, Magdalen, Merton, Nuffield, Somerville, St Antonys, St Catherines, Queens, Trinity, University, Wolfson and Worcester. Somerville have denied the claim.

The Paradise Papers files which revealed these investments were marked trade secret and confidential.

A spokesperson for the Cambridge University Zero Carbon Society told The Cambridge Student, These revelations are absolutely scandalous. That the University has been investing tens of millions of pounds in offshore funds to dodge tax is bad enough. That in doing so it has been investing huge quantities in Shells deep-sea oil exploits is outrageous. Time and again Zero Carbon have been told that the University has minimal investments in fossil fuel companies. Yet now the truth is clear.

"This revelation makes a mockery of the 2016 Working Group report, which insisted that Cambridges investments would reflect the interests and values of the University. It makes a mockery of the Universitys professed openness and willing to engage on investment issues. It makes a mockery of the Universitys pathetic responsible investment policy. And it makes a mockery of the Universitys professed strategy to engage with its fund managers on ethical issues. It exposes the Universitys unwillingness to divest for what it really is: profit over values.

"The new Vice-Chancellor has said he wants Cambridge to be a social leader. We urge him to lead now, if this is not to be yet more empty rhetoric hiding moral crimes."

A spokesperson said on behalf of the Cambridge colleges and University: "The Colleges and the University are charities and therefore their holdings in investments are tax-exempt in the UK, US and many other countries. This means there is normally no tax to pay.

"The fund arrangement, through which the University and Colleges invest, is standard for collective investments of this type. The fund is managed by a highly reputable investment advisor and, as is normal, the adviser makes the decisions about specific investments to be made by the fund.

"A divestment working group was set up by University council in May 2016 to consider the question of divestment from businesses involved in fossil fuel industries. The university is currently seeking views from a wide range of organisations and individuals. In addition to written submissions we are holding Town Hall meetings open to staff and students from across the University."

The comment adds, "The University's investment approach was reviewed last year. Following the review the University then rejected full divestment in favour of a policy of 'active engagement' with fund managers. The resulting report made clear that the University had no directly held exposure to the most pollutive industries, such as thermal coal and tar sands, and no expectation of having any such exposure in the future. In relation to investments managed externally, there were only negligible holdings in these more polluting fossil fuel industries."
Celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking has predicted that Earths ever-growing population will consume enough energy to make the planet a ball of fire in the next 600 years, thereby rendering it uninhabitable.

Hawking made the dire predictions during a video appearance at the 2017 Tencent WE Summit in Beijing on Nov. 5. He said that the only way mankind can survive extinction is to become an interplanetary species and boldly go where no one has gone before.

Breakthrough Starshot

The answer to becoming an interplanetary species lies in the $100 million Breakthrough Starshot program, according to the physicist. The project, which was announced in 2016, is an initiative of Stephen Hawking and Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner, and also includes Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg among its board members.

The goal of the venture is to establish whether a gram-scale nanocraft on a light beam-pushed sail can travel over a thousand times faster to reach the three-star Alpha Centauri system, where there could be a chance an Earth-like planet exists.

The Alpha Centauri star system, located at a distance of 25 trillion miles, is the nearest star system to the Solar System. Traveling to the system would take around 30,000 years, even if humans were to fly on the fastest spacecraft known to man today.

Hawking, therefore, feels that the survival of humans as a multi-planet species depends on the success of the Breakthrough Starshot project. The physicist is backing the interstellar space travel programme to reach the Alpha Centauri system within the next twenty years, with the help of a tiny aircraft that could fly at the speed of light.

The idea behind this innovation is to have the nanocraft ride on the light beam, Hawking said. Such a system could reach Mars in less than an hour, or reach Pluto in days, pass Voyager in under a week and reach Alpha Centauri in just over 20 years.

The cosmologist also appealed to investors to back his plans to travel to the Alpha Centauri system, with the hope that a habitable planet might be orbiting it.

Prediction Faces Criticism

Hawking's predictions have been criticized by a report published in the American Council of Science and Health, which says that the physicists statements are not rooted in reality.

The report has also suggested that, among other things, electricity consumption will not burn up Earth, because in 600 years humans would have found a solution to make solar power more efficient and also understood the nuances of fusion power, both of which are energy sources free of carbon emission.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A Russian man with advanced skills shares his past life on Mars. His claims leave some experts puzzled and conspiracy theorists hopeful.

For several years, life outside Earth piqued the interest of many. Some even have plans of building a Mars Science City within a century.

However, recent claims of a man who lived on Mars in his past life may seem bizarre and interesting.

The Story Of The Man From Mars

The 21-year-old Boriska Kipriyanovich from Volgograd, Russia said that he was a citizen of the Red Planet before he came to Earth, adding a nuclear war occurred that destroyed everything. He also said that life still exists on Mars.

"People like us still live there. There was a nuclear war between them. Everything burnt down," said Kipriyanovich in an interview. "Only some of them survived. They built shelters and created new weapons."

Kipriyanovich also said that he communicated with ancient Egyptians and traveled to Earth, even offering details about unlocking the Great Sphinx of Giza and its potential to change the Earth drastically.

For his parents, Kipriyanovich's claims have weight since he exhibited advanced skills at a young age. His mother shared that his son talked months after he was born. Adding that during his growing up years, he would have detailed information about Mars and the planetary systems even without anyone teaching him.

The previous report about alien towers spotted on Mars seems to put weight on Kipriyanovich' statements.

Can Mars Indeed Support Life?

Earlier this year, researchers previously reported some of the chemicals present on Martian soil, when exposed to radiation, are too toxic to support life. However, a recent paper suggested that microorganisms survived underneath the surface of the Red Planet for millions of years. This new development seems to support the presence of extraterrestrial life.

The scientists wanted to look at the response of microbes with gamma radiation. Since this radiation can be potentially dangerous for the Red Planet, the team mimicked the Martian setting in a low-temperature and low-pressure climate chamber.

They observed that, even after the radiation, the microorganisms withstood the dehydrated conditions and even retained their metabolic activity. They also noted that as the microbes would go deeper; their exposure to radiation is lesser  enabling them to survive at greater depths. Organisms about 16 feet down have the potential to survive for as much as 20 million years.

"The results of the study indicate the possibility of prolonged cryoconservation of viable microorganisms in the Martian regolith," explained study coauthor Vladimir S. Cheptsov, a post-graduate student at the Lomonosov MSU Faculty of Soil Science, Department of Soil Biology. "The data obtained can also be applied to assess the possibility of detecting viable microorganisms at other objects of the Solar System and within small bodies in outer space."

The paper was published in Extremophiles on Nov. 8.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Silicon Valley has a turtle-paced path to progress when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Earlier this year, allegations concerning Uber's sexist workplace practices flooded the internet, prompting more stories of sexual abuse to surface. Such stories unravel something toxic about Silicon Valley  it's always been that way for many, but brave voices are making it public.

Women working in Silicon Valley often report sexual misconduct, power playing, and disgusting gender bias in the workplace. It's a tumor still at large, plaguing the industry in ways that have put women and other minorities in the outskirts of fairness and appropriate conduct.

Apple Still Mostly Run By White Men

It comes as no surprise that some of the world's biggest tech firms are all scrambling to ramp up their diversity efforts. Google is. Microsoft is. Apple most certainly is. In fact, the Cupertino brand has just released its latest diversity report, showing notable progress yet proving it still has a lot of work to do.

It's the first diversity report since Denise Young Smith, Apple's new VP of diversity and inclusion, joined the company in May. Here are the most important numbers:

 In the United States, white employees now only make up 54 percent of Apple's total workplace, down two points from last year.

 Black employees make up nine percent  no change from last year.

 Asian employees make up 21 percent  two points higher than last year.

 Multiracial employees make up three percent, and "Other" make up one percent.

That means nearly half of Apple's U.S. workforce is non-white.

Apple Workforce Diversity Breakdown

From July 2016 to July 2017, Apple says half of its new employees in the United States were from historically underrepresented groups in the tech industry, including women, Hispanics, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders.

The numbers above, while promising, only represent Apple's total workforce. Looking at its total leadership make-up paints a highly different picture.

Apple's leadership remains mostly white and male. Some 81 percent of its senior officials are men and 82 percent of them are white, as per a 2016 government filing Apple published Thursday, Nov. 9.

Of all 107 employees holding leadership roles inside the company, 10 are Asian men, four are Asian women, two are black men, one is a black woman, and two are Hispanic men.

In terms of gender, women make up 33 percent of Apple's total workforce, and 23 percent of its total technical staffers.

Diversity at the executive or leadership level is a bit of a sensitive topic. Apple shareholder Tony Maldonado has called on Apple many times to implement an "accelerated recruitment policy" as a way to speed up diversity at the senior management level. But the company's board has time and time again shot it down, arguing it doesn't need that kind of policy because it has already "demonstrated our commitment to a holistic view of inclusion and diversity" and made detailed information about it.

Change, of course, doesn't happen overnight. With over 130,000 employees around the world and high retention rates, diversity is likely to be a slow process for the company.

Apple's diversity report is available in its website.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Double-lung transplants from older donors have a survival rate comparable to those received from younger donors, a new study claims.

With a shortage of thoracic organs, scientists now urge patients and doctors alike to highly consider the use of older lungs for younger patients.

Older Lungs vs Younger Lungs

Researchers from the University of Louisville reviewed data from the United Network for Organ Sharing database between January 2005 and June 2014. Of the 14,222 lung transplants received, only 2 percent of patients 18 years old and older received lungs from donors older than 60 years old and 4 percent of all transplants used older lungs.

Researchers found that the five-year survival rate for double-lung transplants from older donors (53 percent) did not differ much from younger donors (59 percent).

However, single-lung transplants from older lungs posed a higher mortality risk. Those who received single-lungs only had a 15 percent five-year survival rate from older donors 50 percent from younger donors.

"The availability of suitable donor lungs for transplantation continues to be a major obstacle to increasing the number of lung transplants performed annually," said lead author Dr. William Whited. "Research such as this that explores the means of expanding the donor pool is of critical importance."

Whited admitted that the lack of lung transplants is due to the low supply of suitable organs as many of the potential donors fail the criteria.

The study is published in Annals of Thoracic Surgery on Nov. 9.

Increasing The Donor Pool

As early as 2013, a study looked at the possibility of expanding the donor pool by encouraging the use of Centers for Disease Control high-risk donors in lung transplants.

According to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN), there are currently 1,400 patients on the wait list for lung donors. Many of them wait for at least four months. The unavailability of lung donors resulted to the death of more than 200 patients annually.

There is a need for all candidates to receive organ transplant. The OPTN recommended for a more thorough information drive about organ donation and transplantation. They noted that despite medical and technological advancement, there still remains a significant gap in the supply and demand.

In France, a new law passed made all of its citizens become automatic organ donors upon death. Those who want to opt-out have to sign up a refusal register.

Early this year, a teen from Utah died post-lung transplantation. Initially denied for a lung transplant due to presence of marijuana in his blood stream, the teen eventually had the surgery and succumbed to the complications.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pawan Hans chairman and managing director (CMD) BP Sharma told PTI that the talks are at a "preliminary stage".

A man walks along a railway platform on a smoggy morning in New Delhi. (Photo: Reuters)

By PTI, India Today Web Desk: Delhi is reeling under a thick blanket of smog, marked with poor visibility, for three days now. After the alarming pollution and deteriorating air quality, the Delhi government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought greater cooperation from the Centre and the governments in neighbouring states.

After declaring holiday for all schools in Delhi-NCR till November 11 and talks over implementing Odd-Even in the Capital from November 13, the Delhi government is now in talks with Pawan Hans, an aviation entity under the Centre, for aerially sprinkling water in the city to settle particulate matter.

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This comes in wake of National Green Tribunal's (NGT) order on Thursday directing the government to track down all the hot spots with the PM10 more than 600 and spray water from helicopters or aircraft to tackle dust pollution across the city.

It was confirmed by authorities on both sides.

Delhi govt is in talks with Pawan Hans for aerial sprinkling of water over the city to bring down particulate matter@ArvindKejriwal @msisodia&; Imran Hussain (@ImranHussaain) November 10, 2017

However, Kejriwal's plan to sprinkle water from helicopter to beat air pollution did not go down well with the experts.

Responding to a letter written by the city's environment minister Imran Hussain on possibility of such an exercise, Vanrajsinh H Dodia, the general manager (BD and marketing) of Pawan Hans said the company has the "capacity" to take it up.

Pawan Hans chairman and managing director (CMD) BP Sharma told PTI that the talks are at a "preliminary stage".

"They asked if we can do this and we said yes. But there are certain procedures they will have to follow," he said.

In its response, the company, which comes under the civil aviation ministry, said it has carried out similar exercises in the past for washing insulators of high tension lines and spraying over agricultural fields.

"Sprinkling water aerially through helicopter to settle particulate matters in Delhi shall require a comprehensive feasibility study and approvals from various authorities such as DGCA, AAI, defence, Delhi administration," Dodia wrote.

He also suggested a joint working group of the Delhi administration and Pawan Hans be set up to work out the proposal, adding that proposed sprinkling will require specialised equipment to be attached with choppers.

Smog blankets Rajpath in the early morning hours. (Photo: ANI)

The Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL) is a 51:49 joint venture between the civil aviation ministry and oil behemoth ONGC.The profit-making aviation entity is currently under a divestment process as the government has proposed to offload its entire 51 per cent holding in the company to private entities.

The idea of aerial sprinkling of water was first floated by the NGT in November last year.

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"Why can't you use helicopters to create artificial rain to control dust pollution. Are they only meant to carry your officials?" a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar asked.

Meanwhile, the NGT has questioned the rationale behind Delhi government's decision to roll out the odd-even scheme.

ALSO WATCH | Air Pollution Plunges New Delhi Under Thick Veil of Smog

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Meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) remained in the "severe" category for the fourth consecutive day.

By Mail Today Bureau: Delhiites can look forward to a better air quality over the weekend as the dense smog layer, that had shrouded the city since Tuesday, thinned considerably and level of pollutants dropped steadily on Friday.

The air quality is expected to improve to "very poor" from "severe" by Sunday night.

The System of Air Quality And Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said air quality is likely to remain in the "severe" category on Saturday.

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The visibility levels also dropped by 600 metre in the span of three hours on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) remained in the "severe" category for the fourth consecutive day, but the volume of PM2.5 and PM10 looked well on course to drop below the emergency level which calls for measures such as odd-even.

Directing all hospitals in Delhi to keep equipment for respiratory ailments "in good condition", Union health minister JP Nadda asked hospitals to be in preparation for a higher burden of patients expected due to the city's air quality.

Nadda has reviewed the situation arising due to a sudden deterioration in Delhi's air quality and the asked hospitals to prepare for the patient load, according to the ministry officials.

"They have been directed to keep nebulisers and other related equipment in good condition and to be ready to meet with any exigency," said a ministry statement.

A "very poor" AQI comes with the warning that people may develop respiratory illness on prolonged exposure while exposure to "severe" air affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.

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As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.
A doctor working at a state-run hospital has been suspended after he raised concerns over spike in dengue cases in West Bengal.

By Indrajit Kundu: The Mamata Banerjee government of West Bengal has suspended a senior doctor working at the state government hospital at Barasat in North 24 Pargana district. Doctor Arunachal Dutta Choudhaury was suspended for his post on Facebook saying that there had been spike in dengue cases in the district.

The health department took objection to his Facebook posts which alleged that that the Mamata Banerjee government was suppressing facts relating to the dengue menace in the state.

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The suspension order issued by the health department said that Arunachal Dutta Choudhury's posts on the social media amounted to "misinterpretation in the public and (are) derogatory to the hospital administration."

Arunachal Dutta Choudhury, an MD, claimed in the posts that 500 people were admitted at the hospital on October 6 and wrote about his struggle to diagnose the patients many of whom were lying on the floor. However, the health department also said that "some doctors made unsubstantiated claims which at times cause fear and panic in the public."

DENGUE OUTBREAK IN WEST BENGAL

According to the health department and as stated in an affidavit in the Calcutta High Court in response to a PIL on dengue outbreak, there have been 19 deaths in state-run hospitals since January and 18,135 cases were reported in various government clinical establishments.

The suspended doctor on the other hand said that even when hundreds of patients were being admitted with dengue, the doctors were being asked to mention other medical conditions as reasons for death in certificates so that the state government could suppress real dengue death figures in the state.

"The district's health administration claims that all arrangements are in place but the reality is, hospital administration is helpless. There are unwritten instructions to cover up mess or else individual heads will roll," Choudhury said in his Facebook post.

While speaking to India Today, Choudhury said, "In this hospital, I was in-charge of general medicine ward which is not my specialty. I am an MD in Chest and Tuberculosis. I am worried but I shall abide by the decision of the government."

Known for his diligence at work, the veteran medical officer claimed that his service agreement was extended to 65 years as against the age limit of 58 years for retirement without his consent.

POLITICS OVER DENGUE

Reacting to doctor's suspension, CPM leader Fuad Halim said, "The suspension only reveals the state of health facility in Bengal. The system is in dire straits in the state."

"Despite the way dengue has taken epidemic proportions in the state as admitted by the government before the high court, it is pressurising government doctors not to write dengue in their official records. This has led to massive anger among the doctors' community," Halim added.

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On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress administration came up with varied reasons for the spike in the vector borne disease. From "abrupt behaviour of climate" to "huge movement of population during long holiday seasons" were blamed for increase in dengue cases.

The administration said that people coming in "close contact through inter-state movement of people and through international borders" are some of the reasons attributed by the state.

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Honey Birdette has dismissed a petition calling the lingerie chain's advertising pornographic as ridiculous, with its managing director stating "you'll see more flesh at the beach".

"We've spent the last 11 years empowering women, all this group wants to do is disempower women, it's 2017 it's time to grow up," Eloise Monaghan said on Friday afternoon.

Thousands are petitioning against Honey Birdette, but the company's managing director says the brand empowers women. Credit:Facebook/Lillian Ayoub

On Thursday, Fairfax Media reported thousands of people had signed an online petition calling on Westfield stores around Australia to stop the brand from using "porn-style advertising".

Ms Monaghan confirmed some Honey Birdette employees experienced harassment on Friday from people entering or calling stores and insulting staff in response to the petition.
Kmart has been forced to apologise after a "description error" saw the storyline of a Shopkins children's DVD described as containing "a lot of sex and drugs" in the retailer's online catalogue.

The product was soon removed from the website, but not before screenshots had been posted to social media by concerned and angry customers.

The product was removed from Kmart's online catalogue, after saying the storyline of a children's DVD included references to sex and drugs.

The description was attached to the G-rated Shopkins World Vacation DVD.

"Theyre jetting off and youre invited! Shopkins travels to an assortment iof (sic) nternational (sic) places and they discover a lot of sex and drugs on their way," the description read.
Last week I bought a teeth-whitening kit. I was walking down a supermarket aisle, saw it by accident and picked it up. I've been bleaching my teeth every day since. Every morning I growl at myself in the mirror and examine my enamel. "Still not perfect," I think. Yellow. Streaky. I Googled it: "Streaky teeth after teeth whitening." There were hundreds of bad testimonials. But I keep using it.

Then there is the clay face mask. Last week I went to the pharmacy in my lunch break and I bought it. I've incorporated it into my bi-daily routine. Bleach teeth. Exfoliate. Clay mask. Look up at my reflection expectantly. Examine my cheeks. Bare my teeth. Sigh. Repeat.

Ads for teeth-whitening kits are all over my Facebook.

It wasn't until the other day when I heard about another massive privacy breach on the news that I started thinking about my recent beauty purchases. Seemingly unrelated, one might think. But let me explain.

Privacy comes up a bit in the media, and governments like talking about it. Countries all over the world have data protection legislation. Privacy and personal data have some degree of public profile. Edward Snowden, hello. And I saw at least two people on my feed recently post about allegations that Facebook is listening to our conversations and snooping even more into our browsing.
Just a couple of weeks before the 2014 state election, Labor's then-environment spokeswoman, Lisa Neville, complained that the former Napthine government had the worst record on national park creation since Henry Bolte was premier.

"The Napthine government is the first government since Bolte which failed to open a new national park, while loosening protection that prevented mining, development and cattle grazing in national parks," Neville said at the time.

Wilson's Promontory national park. Credit:Alamy

Shortly after that, Labor released its pre-election environment pitch  Our Environment, Our Future. After four years of inaction, Labor was promising to put protection of the environment "back on the agenda". It also claimed it had "a long history of extending our national parks and reserves".

At least part of that was correct. Labor does  or did  have a "long history" of creating parks and reserves. The Cain-Kirner government, in particular, did more in terms of park creation than any other government in the state's history.
By PTI: falls ill

Panaji, Nov 11 (PTI) A Doha-bound Qatar Airways aircraft from Thiruvananthapuram made an emergency landing this morning at the Goa airport after its commander fell sick mid-air, a senior official said.

The plane landed at the Goa airport at 7 AM after getting the necessary clearances, said Airport Director BCH Negi.

"We received a message that the pilot on a Qatar Airways aircraft was feeling uneasy and that the plane sought permission for an emergency landing, which was granted after following all the procedures," he added.

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The plane took off for Doha in the afternoon, Negi said.

A response from Qatar Airways was awaited. PTI RPS/IAS NRB RSY RC

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She got to know my family, and I hers. When we both lived in Sydney, we saw each other a lot. I was the support person when Naomi's son, Connor, my grandson, was born. I got to hold him, and her, which was a wonderful moment. He's 14 now. She and her husband, Tim, run Borambola Wines in Wagga Wagga, and Pete, my husband, and I are in Queensland, so we only see each other twice yearly now. In July I was speaker at a Wagga Women in Business dinner at Borambola Wines. I have written about how low self-esteem holds women back in business, and I shared my story. It was hard because I felt I was exposing myself. At the end I said, "I would like you to meet my daughter, Naomi Miller." The audience were astonished because they know Naomi, and some of them know me from when I was a presenter on Prime TV. I've also worked in PR and communications roles. But this is part of who I am, and Naomi's part of who I am. We have been together as a family for 25 years now, and I want to celebrate that. We're probably more like friends than traditional mother and daughter, but to us it feels normal. Naomi asked why I hadnt kept her. I explained that Id been told it was to give her a better life. She didnt blame me, but I think she felt sad she hadnt been with me. NAOMI: I always knew I was adopted and that my birth mother was a model. My parents had two natural sons, and wanted a daughter. When I was three they divorced and I went to the US with my dad and eldest brother, and my mother and other brother stayed here.

When I came back to Australia, aged 20, the law had passed enabling you to search for your natural parents. I got a copy of my birth certificate giving Sue's name. Then I received a phone call saying she had registered and organising for us to call each other. We talked for hours, and Sue flew up to Armidale two days later. She got out of the taxi. She was tall and blonde, and had on white jeans, a black blazer and high-heeled shoes. We hugged. There weren't tears. It was more like meeting a friend, but we had this instant chemistry. When I first stayed with her, we discovered we wore the same perfume, had the same Oroton handbag and the same bathrobe, and had the same taste in music. It wasn't until we met that Sue told her younger siblings that she'd had me. Her parents were welcoming of me, and I had a good relationship with them. They felt bad for how they had handled the situation. I respect that Sue felt adoption was the best option for me. I never had negative feelings towards her for not being there, but I had always wanted a close relationship with my mother, and never had that special click. Sue and I naturally get along really well. Four years after we met, Sue tracked down my birth father so I could meet him, and we went to the Philippines together. That would have been difficult for her, but she was really supportive. When we both lived in Sydney we did yoga every Tuesday, and afterwards Pete had fish dinner and a glass of wine waiting for us. That went on for years and was just the best. For Sue to be at Connor's birth was special. She and Pete have a really close relationship with him.
A cyclist has allegedly been punched by a random jogger and a woman remains in a critical condition after crashing into a pole in separate south-east Queensland incidents.

Most recently, a 60-year-old woman has been left fighting for life after crashing into a traffic light pole in Caboolture on Friday night.

A man has been charged after allegedly running up to a cyclist and punching him in the arm. Credit:Glen McCurtayne

Her car was heading east along Lower King Street about 11.15pm when it crashed at the intersection with Charles Street.

The local woman remains in the Royal Womens and Brisbane Hospital and the Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.
Police have closed large sections of the training venue of Australia's Olympic shooting team after an investigation found it was unsafe, projectiles were leaving the range, lead was "raining down" on buildings with people inside, and shooters were illegally using full metal jackets.

Victoria Police's Licensing and Regulation Division conducted the investigation after receiving a number of complaints about safety standards at the Melbourne International Shooting Club in Port Melbourne.

Police have closed large sections of Melbourne International Shooting Club. Credit:Melbourne International Shooting Club (MISC) / Facebook

The venue, which includes 25-metre and 50-metre ranges, hosted shooting events at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and is the training venue for the Australian pistol shooting team ahead of the 2020 Olympic games.

In a finding made public on Friday night, Acting Inspector Andrew Armstrong said the investigation found serious safety concerns and poor management by the committee of the Todd Road complex.
A 21-year-old man has been charged after a violent rampage outside a Melbourne shopping centre left seven people injured, including an elderly woman.

Shoppers appeared to have been bashed at random on Friday morning near the Hub Arcade in Dandenong, in the city's south, police said.

A 21-year-old man has been charged after shoppers were bashed in Dandenong. Credit:Paul Rovere

A total of seven people were injured during a 30-minute period.

"One was believed to be a 76-year-old woman who was pushing her shopping trolley and was struck to the head," she said.
The first warning sign that something was up with Jess* was when she kept going missing from her residential care unit.

Her carers didn't know where she was going or who she was with. She'd be dropped off at odd hours by a man they didn't know and she'd be wearing new clothes or was drug-affected.

Sad and depressed child. Credit:SHUTTERSTOCK

Then, 14-year-old Jess was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. Her carers organised for her to meet a sexual offences and child abuse detective, but Jess refused to speak to them.

Jess, who was abused and neglected by her own family, didn't trust police. Without cooperation, Jess could have been seen as too hard to help.
Two more teenagers have been arrested after a fatal hit-run in Mitcham on Wednesday.

An 18-year-old Berwick man and a 17-year-old Patterson Lakes boy were taken into custody on Saturday night.

The scene of a the hit-run crash in Mitcham. Credit:Twitter/James Hancock, ABC

It comes after Euan Delly, 18, faced court on a string of charges on Saturday over his alleged role in a crime spree through the city's eastern suburbs that left a motorcyclist dead and home owners terrified.

The Seaford teenager is accused of committing 17 offences over a four-day period, netting three stolen vehicles and nearly $20,000 worth of stolen jewellery and belongings.
Stockholm: Listeners to commercial radio station Mix Megapol in Sweden heard 30 minutes of an Islamic State propaganda song after hackers took over the station's frequency, the station's owners said.

Mix Megapol is one of Sweden's biggest radio stations with around 1.4 million listeners daily, although the problem on Friday affected only listeners in the southern Swedish city of Malmo, the station said.

Supporters fly a Islamic State flag in Mosul in 2014. Credit:AP

"Somebody interfered with our frequency using a pirate transmitter," Jakob Gravestam, marketing director at Bauer Media Group, which owns Mix Megapol, said.

"We will report the incident to police and to the National Post and Telecom Agency."
By PTI: non-compliance: Official

Mumbai, Nov 11 (PTI) Stating that high corporate governance standards are vital for the country to reach the global position it aspires to be, a senior official today said government is working with Sebi to ensure there is zero tolerance towards unethical behaviour and non-compliance.

"Adoption of the highest standards of corporate governance is imperative for us to reach the global position that we aspire for," corporate affairs secretary Injeti Srinivas told a CII summit on the subject here.

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He said it is vital today for companies to ensure they follow sustainable and socially responsible behaviour and internalise the best governance principles rather than achieving them superficially.

Acknowledging that corporate governance cannot happen in isolation and there is no one-size-fits-all approach, he enumerated that companies do not have an option but to follow high governance standards lest they face dire consequences.

Uday Kotak, chairman of the Sebi committee on corporate governance, said corporate governance means fairness to shareholders, board commitment to long-term strategy and vision rather than short-term quarterly pressures.

It also means sharpening of roles between stakeholders, role of fiduciary agencies, ease of doing business, stewardship code for institutional investors and better governance at PSUs, he said.

He called for enforcing a trusteeship model of governance by the promoter, board or shareholders to ensure that each stakeholder gets the fair share.

Stressing on the role of fiduciary agencies, Kotak said independent directors, auditors, and rating agencies should protect interest of stakeholders.

CIIs corporate governance council chairman Keki Mistry said there is recognition today that firms committed to good governance have a distinct competitive advantage and enhanced reputation and investor trust. PTI AP BEN RSY RDS

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The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M is set to host an event focusing on the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement next week.

Wednesday's program, which is co-sponsored by the Bush School's Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs and the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy, follows Trump administration criticism of NAFTA.

The public event, titled "NAFTA 2.017: Strengths, Weaknesses and Ways Forward," will begin at 5:30 p.m. and feature four speakers: A&M President Michael K. Young, U.S. trade negotiator for NAFTA Carla Hills, senior fellow for Peterson Institute for International Economics Caroline Freund, and Alejandrina Salcedo, director of the Real Sector Research Area, Banco de Mexico.

For more information or to register for the event, visit bush.tamu.edu/scowcroft/events/nafta2017.
There are now more than 5,500 names of military veterans glistening on the polished surface of a 250-ton granite memorial at College Station's Veterans Park. Some of the names represent men and women connected to the Brazos Valley who died long ago, while others can be viewed and touched by the very service members they honor. At a traditional Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, hundreds gathered for a roll call of new names added this year.

Older war heroes wearing historical insignia mixed with young service members shepherding their children. Kids handed out snacks and candies to anyone identified as a veteran, a way of saying thanks. Families shouted out to represent their loved ones, in response to a roll call given by Bill Youngkin, a member of the memorial's board of directors. More than 220 names were read, including local Medal of Honor recipient Clarence E. Sasser, who was present, and missing-in-action Vietnam War pilot Col. William Campbell.

Brazos County volunteer fire Chief Jason Ware called out "Here!" when the name of his recently deceased father, Rocky Ware, 68, was read. Ware said when his father, a Vietnam veteran, grew sick with cancer, a family friend suggested that Rocky's name be chiseled into the memorial.

"He was a veteran, and he loved the military," Ware said. "He was a very big supporter, had his Vietnam vet hat that he wore. I just thought it would be a good gesture to add his name after he passed away."

Ware said Friday's ceremony was amazing, and it felt good to know his dad's name was being recognized. Rocky's service had never been celebrated or memorialized outside of the Ware family, no statues or plaques erected. Rocky was a helicopter electrician for the Navy, working on an aircraft carrier, and chose not to talk about the war.

"If he were alive, he would probably ask why we did this," Ware said. "He was a proud veteran, but he didn't want everybody to know about it. I never knew why that was."

The ceremony's speaker, Bob Foley, a B-52 pilot in the Air Force during the 1970s, stressed that no war, no generation, no rank, no occupational specialty, no nationality or ethnicity kept an American service member from being called a hero.

"The definition of a hero is someone who, despite the dangers, understands challenges and confronts their fears to get the job done," Foley said.

Foley explained how soldiers, airmen, Marines, sailors and Coast Guardsmen are united by their loyalty to one another and their loyalty to the United States. Each person who put on a uniform bearing an American flag and who worked hard to serve honorably did their part to deserve honor.

"My service fit in to the category of being expected to do your job, to do what was required of you," Foley said. "But one of the things I wanted to focus on during my time as pilot was that I couldn't do my job without people maintaining my aircraft, doing logistics, getting the aircraft to the right place at the right time; all things to make my mission a success."

While many military markers reflect memories of those who have passed, Chauncy and Latoya Anderson of College Station were able to stand and read their own names on the memorial Friday evening. The husband and wife are both U.S. Marine veterans, Latoya having retired from the service in 2004 and Chauncy still serving active duty today. Chauncy wore his dress blues to the night's event, shaking hands of many who wanted to thank him for his service.

"It's good to come to these events to support veterans," Chauncy said.

The Andersons had attended the Veterans Day event at the park in 2016, purely interested in showing their support and sense of patriotism. Chauncy said he was approached by a member of the memorial's board of directors, a neighbor of his, who insisted he and Latoya submit their own names to be added to the memorial. Chauncy said it feels good to visit with people on Veterans Day, making connections with a supportive and appreciative public.

Latoya Anderson pointed out that ceremonies such as the one hosted at the park are important for American society.

"I think so many people are disconnected to what the price of freedom is," she said. "When they come and see people who have lost a family member or even body parts, they have new respect for the price of freedom and the sacrifices that hundreds of families make."

After honoring hundreds of names and recognizing the different military branches, the ceremony concluded with a rifle volley, courtesy of Texas A&M's Ross Volunteers.

Bob Foley he he was honored to have shared his life and time with the armed forces.

"I have an answer to people who thank me for my service," he said. "It was a privilege."
NORWALK  Four years ago, Erin Aymerich was looking for a challenge.

She was an eighth-grade student at Nathan Hale Middle School and, like most 14-year-olds, she thought she had her life all figured out.

I wanted to be an engineer, Aymerich said. I looked up to my dad who is a software engineer, so I was going to go to college, study engineering and become an engineer.

So, when high school advisers presented the opportunity to attend the Norwalk Early College Academy, which offers high school students the opportunity to earn an associates degree from Norwalk Community College in either mobile programming or software engineering, Aymerich figured it was the perfect fit.

And it was, but not in the way she anticipated.

I learned I dont actually have a strong passion for engineering, Aymerich said. But the program was still a great fit for me. The reason I think I really chose this program is I wanted a challenge.

The opportunity to get free college and challenge myself and the partnership with IBM was really cool. I also really enjoyed engineering at the time. I definitely am glad that I did it, even though I dont have a strong passion in engineering anymore, and Im glad I learned that now rather than have spent $60,000 in college to learn that.

Aymerich will graduate from Norwalk Community College with her associates degree in May, and earn her high school diploma from Norwalk High School in June. Shes part of the first cohort of students to complete the NECA program, one of several options for high school students in Norwalk that differs from the traditional high school path most adults remember.

The decision to offer educationally robust choices for high school students is part of the Norwalk Public School Districts three-year strategic operating plan, and part of the effort to close the achievement gap in the district.

As of the current academic year, students can choose from NECA, the new International Baccalaureate program at Brien McMahon High School, the Center for Global Studies, a health care pathway at Brien McMahon, a Digital Media pathway at Norwalk High School and, of course, the traditional high school experience.

NPS Director of School Operations Frank Costanzo said the district has plans to expand the options even further as part of an effort to produce learners and graduates equipped to enter a vastly different economy than the ones their parents entered.

At the high school level, the former disconnected set of electives we believe doesnt support that vision, Costanzo said. We want pathways so that elective credits build and grow in depth and provide more focus. We believe that even younger learners grow toward particularly themes and concepts depending on their interests.

Costanzo added that providing a variety of options for the high school experience recognizes not all learners are the same.

Offering different choices becomes even more relevant as technology advances, Costanzo said. It breeds engagement when people are actually interested in what theyre learning. Its the direction that public education has to go.

The district added the IB diploma program at Brien McMahon this year, offering yet another way for students to learn. Nicole Stockfish, the IB coordinator at Brien McMahon, said the students that choose the program, like those that chose NECA, are looking for something different than the traditional experience. They want something that engages them, and sets them apart when it comes to their post-high school life.

One of the great things about McMahon right now is that are are multiple paths, Stockfish said. And there are more coming. Every student isnt gong to fit into this cookie cutter mold, but to have options for everybody, students are going to do so much better in school if theyre interested in what theyre doing.

NECA Director Karen Amaker said the varied programs dont compete with each other for students or success, and said the added benefit is many of the new programs can be individualized to each student.

Its great Norwalk Public Schools is giving students and families the opportunity to make a choice, Amaker said. Students have lots of options now and NECA is just one of those options. Students have to make these options anyway and were giving them a broad opportunity. The benefit is exposure to college and career as early as possible.

The Center for Global Studies is the oldest alternative high school program in the district  and one of the oldest magnet schools in the state  offering students from all over Connecticut an immersive language and culture experience in addition to traditional high school courses. Director Julie Parham said students in the program excel because theyre studying something that interests them.

Education, like everything, is not one-size-fits-all, Parham said. Whether its for academic reasons or personal reasons or social reasons, more choices is always better. And the students who dont love languages and cultures certainly would not love CGS. But those that do are given the opportunity to thrive here.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt
The government assessed that the restaurants were not passing the benefits of Input Tax Credit - a new benefit enjoyed by operators.

By Rahul Shrivastava: The government today signalled that the way to public's heart is through lesser tax for eating out.

After months of debate and customers paying more for food at restaurants the GST council reduced tax rate on restaurant bills by almost 75%. Under the existing GST rule AC restaurants were charging 18% GST. Today, the council went way beyond the recommendations of a group of ministers and created a flat 5% rate for all kind of restaurants.

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However, eating at high-end restaurants in hotels which charge a tariff of Rs 7500 per night or above will continue to invite 18% tax.

The decision will reverse the existing rates of 18% at AC restaurants and 12% at non-AC restaurants. The government had suggested a flat 12 percent rate for all kind of restaurants.

But, the GST council driven by a government which is out to do an image correction over GST, decided to push the rate lower. While the council created an incentive for the consumer with a move which will bring down prices, its decision is perhaps one of the first strong anti-profiteering measures against assessees who have become part of the GST.

During the deliberations on how much tax should be there on restaurants, almost all members of the council agreed that restaurants were chaffing the new GST rates since July 1 this year, and food bills had gone up displeasing the public.

The government assessed that the restaurants were not passing the benefits of Input Tax Credit - a new benefit enjoyed by operators. This meant restaurants were making gains and causing pain to the public. Input credit means, at the time of paying tax on output, a producer, trader or service provider can reduce the tax already paid on inputs.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, in a post meet briefing said, "Restaurants were not passing the benefits accruing to them due to income credit. That's why now restaurants will charge less tax from clients and wouldn't get input tax credit".

The new tax may be 13% lesser but prices in restaurants will not fall as much as the rate cut. Restaurants can still keep rates high claiming they aren't getting back the taxes they paid in procuring the inputs for the establishment.

The move is part of the government's attempts to end the negative perception due to increased bills at restaurants after GST was implemented, especially among the middle class, and what the many In the BJP call the aspirational class.

Some hotel and restaurant associations reacted with caution.

They said, reduced incidence of tax was a welcome move as it would help rationalisation of prices. The sharp cut also surprised many as they wanted twin rates a 12% with input credit and 5% without input credit. Now many in the business are complaining that removing input tax credit goes against the spirit of GST. The move will bring down the profit margins for restaurants as they were pocketing the input tax credit. Now they have to either increase rates or pass reduced tax benefit to consumers and simply grin and bear it.

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A senior revenue department official, however, said that the success of a tax regime depends on the volumes. "If taxes are rational volumes go up and add to the revenue offsetting the loss in earning due to the reduction. Low restaurant bill will bring more to eat out", he said.

The restaurant industry was provided yet another relief by the finance minister. Jaitley said that the annual turnover threshold on the composition scheme will be raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore after the law is amended to raise the turnover ceiling for eligibility of composition.

Finance secretary, Hasmukh Adhia said, "The law will be amended to raise the ceiling to Rs 2 crore. The limit will be raised immediately after the law is amended to Rs 1.5 crore."

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Under the scheme, traders, manufacturers and restaurants can pay tax at 1, 2 and 5 percent, respectively. Adhia said that the council has also decided to fix a uniform rate of 1 percent for traders and manufacturers.

The move to widen the turnover threshold is expected to ease the compliance burden for assessees. They will have to file returns only once in a quarter as against monthly returns filed by other tax payers.

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NORWALK  Look for the Walk Bridge replacement, green energy and Norwalks master plan to be among the items on Mayor Harry Rillings plate during his third term.

We have an opportunity now to really put together a true and effective vision for Norwalk, and thats why Ive formed a large team of stakeholders, Rilling said of the 35-member oversight committee overseeing the master plan update. We want to make sure that we get it right. We put business owners, appointed people, elected people, city staff, citizens, neighborhood representatives on this steering committee and weve hired a consultant.

On Thursday morning, less than two days after winning 56 percent of the vote in a four-way mayoral race, Rilling, a Democrat, sat down for an interview to speak about his administrations goals for the next two years.

Rilling has largely lifted the citys hiring-and-spending freeze but he added that the states new two-year budget will remain a challenge for Norwalk. He said hell fight to get additional state aid from Hartford.

In the mayoral race, Rilling came under fire from opponents, who charged him with not fighting hard enough for state aid or relief from the Walk Bridge project. With a state budget adopted, he said he now expects to meet with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on the bridge project.

I expect my meeting with the governor very soon and making sure that we take care of Norwalk, said Rilling, who requested the meeting in August. The last thing that we can afford to do is lose business.

He said his concerns include traffic and business disruptions as well as the removal of properties from the citys tax roles. The state plans to take numerous properties  temporarily or permanently  to facilitate the bridge replacement, which is to begin in 2019.

Laoise King, Rillings chief of staff, said some mitigation efforts extend beyond the purview of the Connecticut Department of Transportation. She said city has reached out to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and other entities for help.

In early 2014, Rilling formed the Mayors Energy & Environmental Task Force, which has spearheaded home energy audits, light-bulb swaps and the upcoming installation of solar panels at City Hall, Norwalk High School and Naramake Elementary School. He said hed like to explore electric or hybrid cars for use city by staff when it comes time to replace aging municipal vehicles.

We need to look at becoming a greener community, Rilling said.

At City Hall, Rilling said his administration will explore government restructuring in search of efficiencies, but some changes may require charter revision. He indicated hes still interested in extending the citys mayoral term, even though voters rejected that charter revision question last year.

I believe firmly that a four-year term for mayor is needed, Rilling said. I think we did a very poor job of educating, of getting the message out as to why its necessary.

Nearly a year ago, the Norwalk Information Technology Department launched the citys new website. King said the city is now working to create a data dashboard where residents can access online, real-time information on street paving, plowing and other services, which will be arranged thematically on the site.

Rilling said The SoNo Collection and other development projects are on track in Norwalk, but he added that gentrification remains a concern for many.

One of the things I heard loud and clear in the election was the concern about gentrification, Rilling said. We need to be able to make sure that the residents of our community know that we are going to do everything we can to protect the unique characters of our neighborhoods.

He said his Housing Advisory Committee soon will release its report with recommendations on how to expand housing for households with incomes of $35,000 to $65,000.

Rilling took offense to allegations that his administration employs cronyism  as charged by second-place mayoral race finisher Lisa Brinton  and said he wants to engage all in governance.

Although Democrats won 14 of 15 Common Council seats on Tuesday, Rilling said he doesnt want to see the body become a rubber-stamp for his administration.

I think that would be very, very unfortunate for Norwalk, Rilling said. We do not need a rubber-stamp council. We need independent thinkers who are going to bring issues to the table and have good, healthy, civil discussion on all the issues.

The newly elected 2017-19 council will hold its organizational meeting Nov. 21 at City Hall. Members will be sworn in, and leadership and committee assignments will be announced at the meeting.

The Norwalk Plan of Conservation and Development Oversight Committee, meanwhile, will invite residents visions for Norwalk, during an outreach meeting at 9 a.m. Nov. 18 at the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High School, 300 Highland Ave.
Central Community College President Dr. Greg Smith was an award recipient twice over at the Nebraska Community College Association (NCCA) awards ceremony. The event was held Monday, Nov. 6, at McCook Community College as part of the annual NCCA conference.

Smith, who is set to retire in January, received both the Administrator Award and the Friend of Community Colleges Award, which is the highest award that the NCCA may bestow on a non-trustee.

This is the first time since 2001 that a CCC staff member has won the Administrator Award, which is given to an administrator in recognition of innovative leadership, outstanding administrative judgment and lasting commitment to the growth and development of community colleges.

Smith, in receiving the Friend of Community Colleges award, has demonstrated a commitment to the community college system and has significantly advanced the cause of community college education. The Friend of Community Colleges Award is not given out each year, and this is the first time that a CCC representative has been given the award.

I am pleased and honored to be selected for each of these awards, Smith said. I do not view these awards as reflecting an individual achievement. Rather, it is the result of the CCC Board of Governors being extremely supportive and the collective effort and outstanding accomplishments of close to 500 CCC employees.

Rob Collett, a CCC-Hastings graduate in media arts, was recognized as CCCs 2017 Distinguished Alumni of the Year. He is currently a photojournalist at KARE-TV in Minneapolis, and previously worked for a number of TV stations throughout the Midwest. Throughout his career, Collett has earned 18 regional Emmy Awards, two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and was named as the 2016 National Press Photographers Association Ernie Crisp National Photographer of the Year.

As Collett was unable to attend the ceremony, he delivered an acceptance speech on video and his award was accepted on his behalf by Smith and CCC media arts instructor John Brooks.

I want to thank the NCCA for this humbling award, Collett said. More importantly, I would like to thank Central Community College for putting me where I am today. Its been an extreme blessing to be able to learn and grow and develop a trade. I had passion for an art and was able to harness it at CCC.

NCCA Executive Director Greg Adams presented the awards.
Over the last three Wednesday afternoons, theres been an addition to first-floor activity at the Hall County Courthouse.

For 20 or 30 minutes, Clerk Magistrate Jen Myers takes a seat behind a desk in the first-floor rotunda. On the front of the wooden desk is a piece of paper that says County court check-in.

Myers asks people showing up for county court arraignments to check in with her first.

The arrangement is not necessarily permanent.

Were just trying it out to see if itll work out or not, Myers said.

One goal of the check-in process is to help people get to the right courtroom. The other is to give the county court system a face, she said.

Myers sets the table up between 1:30 and 1:45 p.m. She stays on duty until 2 p.m., when misdemeanor arraignments start.

The check-in system is used only on Wednesdays, when arraignments are held.

Myers, who started work as clerk magistrate on Sept. 18, attended new employee training last week.

Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican stressed that we are the face of the court when the people come in, and thats what Myers is trying to adhere to.

She reminds each defendant which courtroom to enter.

Once we get everybody to the right courtroom, were good, she said.

Before arraignments start, Myers gives the bailiffs a sheet of paper so theyll know whos in court and whos not, Myers said.

At the start of the proceedings, the judges still go ahead and ask whos there before they begin.

If there are any new complaints, Myers will give a copy to the defendants, she said.

The presence of the check-in desk is especially helpful, Myers said, because the county court system occupies two floors at the courthouse.

The check-in desk has nothing to do with Hall County District Court. The main District Court courtrooms are on the second floor.
Just west of Lees Family Restaurant, 2920 Old Fair Road, a billboard reads, Freedom isnt free. Thank a veteran.

Hall County Supervisor Gary Quandt has never shied away from his appreciation to veterans and the sacrifices they have made. Saturday will be no different as Quandt plans to stand on a raised ledge in front of the billboard to honor veterans and to raise funds for Hall County Vietnam Hero Flights.

I work across the street (from the billboard) at Midwest Restaurant Supply, Quandt said. I looked over at the billboard and went, Wow. The sign says it all. I wanted to stand up there to draw attention to the sign. It is all about honoring veterans  our men and women who fought for our freedoms.

Holly Mead with USA Outdoor Billboards, who owns the billboard, said Quandt called her and said he really liked the message on it and asked if he could have that as his background.

I absolutely love it, Mead said of Quandt standing on top of the billboard. I am proud to be part of that and to be able to let him share his desire to honor the veterans, too.

Mead added her father was a medevac pilot in the Army for 22 years. She said he was shot down in Vietnam 13 days before she was born and is her personal hero. For this reason, Mead chose to design the billboard to give thanks to her father and to all veterans who have served.

This billboard is not purchased; it is just something that my owner has allowed me to (put up) to say thank you, as well as for him to say thank you, Mead said. It rotates throughout all of our communities. It covers the Tri-City area. I would say it has been running for the last three years.

Mead said Quandt will access the billboard by using a ladder to climb another ladder on the side of the billboard. He will then tie off with a harness and safety cables to walk the length of the 24-foot billboard catwalk.

Ive got safety equipment and will be wearing all the safety equipment thats required, Quandt said. Ill also have a harness and a hard hat. I do have the full safety cables.

Mead said she has never had anyone stand on top of one of their billboards before. Quandt said this will also be the first time he has stood on top of a billboard.

While on top of the billboard, Quandt will be encouraging individuals to raise funds for the Hall County Hero Flight program. He said he will have a receptacle set up underneath the billboard for people to donate, or interested individuals can donate funds at any Five Points Bank location or at the Grand Island Independent.

Quandt added while many will honor veterans on Veterans Day, it is important to honor them every day.

We shouldnt just honor our veterans on Veterans Day. We should honor them 365 days a year, he said. When they served, they served us 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Veterans have provided us with freedoms that many of us take for granted and I do not.
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Linkedin Jalur Rempah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Sun, November 12, 2017

The Indonesian language and script has developed over hundreds of years, with the influence of various foreign traders. However, cultural factors hinder critical thinking and a proper literacy tradition.

The development of both the oral and written usage of our national language -- bahasa Indonesia, essentially a dialect variant of Malay -- has taken place over thousands of years, involving foreign influences thanks to human migration, trade and colonization.

The successful national adoption of the Indonesian language in particular owes to the history of the spice trade, involving Europeans who came to Indonesia in the 15th and 16th centuries to profit from the country's lucrative endemic spices.



University of Indonesia (UI) Cultural School linguistics department lecturer Mohammad Umar Muslim said Malay was brought by migrants from Thailand who arrived in Indonesia as early as the first century.



"The migrants familiarized the language to people living on the islands we know today as Kalimantan and Sumatra. In Sumatra, for instance, the ancient Malay language has evolved into the local Minangkabau language. From there, the Malay language in Indonesia continued to evolve," he said.



Although ancient Indonesians spoke Malay, the script they used for written communication varied based on influences from foreign traders who came as early as the fifth century, according to National Archaeology Research Center researcher Bambang Budi Utomo.



"Inscriptions found in the ancient Tarumanegara Kingdom in West Java, for instance, use the ancient Pallava script brought by Indian traders who came to Indonesia in the fifth century," he said.



During the eighth and ninth centuries, meanwhile, trends started to shift, with inscriptions starting to use a Javanese variant of Arabic script brought by Arabic traders who came to Indonesia.



"The Javanese variant of Arabic script eventually became what we know today as ancient Javanese script," Bambang explained.



Things, however, started to change during the Dutch occupation, when, in around the 20th century, van Obhuisen introduced Latin script to local elites, which we still use today for written communication.



During the time of the ancient kingdoms right up to the colonization period, written language was monopolized by the political elite, who learned the script from Indian traders so they could communicate with one another. The kingdoms' subjects, meanwhile, used only oral communication, according to Bambang.



He said this was also the reason behind the paucity of local sources relating to the history of the ancient Kingdom of Sriwijaya, which rose to power in the seventh century and declined around 500 years later.



"Most of the sources we have are from records written by the Arab and Chinese traders, who have a strong written communication tradition," Bambang explained.



Near the end of the Dutch education, however, the colonists started to introduce schools for poor Indonesians so more people could get access to literacy. During the nationalist movement period, nationalists campaigned for the Indonesian language -- derived from the Malay root -- to be used as the national language.



The adoption of our Malay dialect as a national language called bahasa Indonesia took place during the Second Youth Congress of nationalists in 1928.



"The campaign was successful not only because Malay had been used as a lingua franca for trading purposes across Indonesia for centuries but, curiously enough, also because the Malay ethnic group constitute only a small percentage -- less than 10 percent -- of Indonesia's whole population," Mohammad said.



According to Mohammad, ironically, if Indonesia had instead chosen the Javanese language -- spoken by an ethnic group that constitutes more than 50 percent of Indonesia's total population -- as its national language, it might have triggered social jealousy due to the higher visibility of the Javanese people.



"This is also the reason why the adoption of Hindi as a national language in India has not been as successful as Indonesian has been here, not only because Hindi is associated with a particular ethnic group, which is quite large there, but also because English is more popular among Indians," he explained.



The success of adopting our dialect of Malay as the national language, coupled with the adoption of the Latin alphabet, has resulted in an illiteracy rate of just 3.5 percent in 2015.



In a way, we should acknowledge the contributions of the Thai migrants, the Indian and Arab traders as well as the Dutch colony for influencing the national language we know today.



The sad fact is: although most Indonesians are now literate, this ability to read and write is not followed by proper reading habits and a strong literary tradition.



Last year, Central Connecticut State University in the United States placed Indonesia second to last in its ranking of 61 countries for their "literacy behavior characteristics," which include reading habits, book availability and years of schooling, among other things. It was very embarrassing. But, why?



"We don't have a tradition separating science and religion. Therefore, many people are afraid of being accused of blasphemy or tarnishing local traditions if they write or express something that runs contrary to local religious and cultural values," Mohammad explained.



He added that as long as intellectuals were afraid to express their ideas openly through their writings, a proper ecosystem for a literary tradition, which encouraged reading habits, would never flourish in Indonesia.



He took the US as a good example of how science and religion were separated, resulting in a strong literary tradition and considerable scientific advancements.



For example, when the administration of George W. Bush -- a conservative Christian -- faced a class-action suit by religious fundamentalists to teach the creationist version of science in schools, the lawsuit failed despite the Constitutional Court judge being a conservative himself.



Even Pakistan, a country torn by war, is able to separate religion and science.



"For instance, Pakistani physics Nobel prize winner Abdus Salam, despite being a devout Muslim, was able to make peace with the fact that his scientific findings ran contrary to his faith," Mohammad said.

Sebastian Partogi, The Jakarta Post, Depok, West Java

. (./.)
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Linkedin Jalur Rempah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Sun, November 12, 2017

In terms of reading interest, Indonesia is far behind other countries, as shown in a 2016 report from Central Connecticut State University in the United States that ranks Indonesia 60th out of 61 countries in terms of reading interest -- below Thailand in 59th place and above Botswana in 61st place.



Many activists, however, are working hard to make things better.



Kiswanti is one of them. The 54-year-old woman has been running a community library named Warabal, short for Warung Baca Lebak Wangi (Lebak Wangi Reading Room) in Parung village in Bogor, West Java.



Hundreds of children and adults flock to her weekly creative classes while others come to the library to read books and periodicals.



"I don't want children who can't afford to go to school to miss out on opportunities, because they can still acquire knowledge by reading books," said Kiswanti, who dropped out of school after finishing sixth grade due to her parents' poverty.



The activities organized at her mobile library include reading poetry books together and encouraging children to write their own poetry.



Similar initiatives encouraging children to think critically are also facilitated by a community called Rumah Cerita (House of Stories). The community has been entrusted by the ASEAN Literary Festival with organizing its National Literary Gymboree aimed at Elementary to Senior High School students.



"We encourage students joining a young journalist workshop to apply critical thinking by interviewing people, probing deeper as well as verifying their answers on the subject of literature," Rumah Cerita founder Aqmarina Andira said.



University of Indonesia (UI) Cultural School linguistics department lecturer Mohammad Umar Muslim, meanwhile, said to instill a love of reading among Indonesians, the curriculum should encourage critical thinking and freedom of thought.



"Unfortunately, people here are afraid to think and express their thoughts freely due to concerns that they will be accused of blasphemy or tarnishing local traditions. In Indonesia, science is not yet value-free," he lamented.



How do we get here? In this edition of the spice trail series, we will examine the evolution of Indonesian literacy and its language as well as factors involved in shaping local people's reading habits.

Sebastian Partogi, The Jakarta Post, Depok, West Java

. (./.)
The BJP "is rankled by trepidation that Gujarat will slip off its hands. That's why the rates were cut," said Congress leader Ashok Gehlot.

By India Today Web Desk: Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Pawan Khera have said Rahul Gandhi should get credit for the Narendra Modi government's decision to reduce GST on as many as 178 items of daily use.

Rahul himself said at a rally today that the Centre has "rolled it back" after "the country and Congress put pressure on the government."

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He tweeted that his party would fight for "one rate, with a cap at 18%."

"If the BJP doesn't do it, the Congress will," he said.

India does not need a Gabbar Singh Tax. We want a true GST. Congress, along with the people of India, fought for and ensured reduction in items in 28% bracket. Next we will fight for one rate, with a cap at 18%. If BJP doesnt do it, Congress will.- Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 11, 2017

Ashok Gehlot told the news agency PTI that pressure mounted by Gandhi and the response his yatras have received in poll-bound Gujarat caused the GST Council to cut tax rates.

Gehlot claimed the GST Council changed the rates with an eye on the Assembly elections. Gujarat goes to polls in two phases on December 9 and 14.

The BJP, he said, "is rankled by trepidation that Gujarat will slip off its hands. Thats why the rates were cut."

Congress leader Pawan Khera said there " was a pressure from Rahul Gandhi."

"The 'Gabbar Singh Tax' went so much viral in Gujarat that the BJP did not know how to deal with it," Khera said.

Rahul Gandhi coined the expansion Gabbar Singh Tax during a speech on the Gujarat election campaign trail. That was a response to the prime minister, who'd said it was a "good and simple tax."

Pawan Khera said much more needed to be done to extend the relief to the farming community, as the central excise on fertilisers was 1.03 per cent before GST, but had now increased to 5 per cent.

He said that the tax on agricultural equipment such as tractor was as high as 18 per cent.

'INSTALLMENT-BASED TINKERING'

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala called the tax rate cut "installment-based tinkering." He said it underscored the "chaos within" the Narendra Modi government, and its "adhocism."

He accused Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the government of "paying lip service and creating havoc", and said the Congress was determined to make the tax regime "flawless."

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Surjewala demanded that petroleum products, real estate and electricity be brought under the ambit of GST. He also called for reducing the tax's "compliance burden" and added that the textile sector was faced with deep stress due to a "distorted duty structure".

"Adjournment and deferment, rather than decision, appear to be the way forward for this government."

"None of these challenges have been addressed by the Council. This is owing to the sheer ineptitude and amateurish handling of the biggest tax reform by the BJP government," he added.

WATCH | Gujarat model meant to serve the rich, of no help to the poor: Rahul in Bharuch rally

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) London  Sat, November 11, 2017 16:41 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2879105 2 Lifestyle actress,magazine,#magazine,Lupita-Nyong-o Free

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Oscar for her role in "12 Years a Slave", on Friday complained her hair had been airbrushed out of the front cover of women's magazine Grazia UK.

"I am disappointed that @GraziaUK invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like," she said in a lengthy post on Instagram.

A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on Nov 9, 2017 at 6:11pm PST

She said it was an "omission of what is my native heritage", adding: "There is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture."

She posted the original image, showing that her frizzy bob of hair had been removed and the rest smoothed out.

The actress said she had viewed being featured on a magazine cover as "an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are".

The magazine apologized for the airbrushing but blamed the photographer for the alterations.

Read also: Kendrick Lamar dominates a politically tinged MTV awards

"Grazia is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages and apologizes unreservedly to Lupita Nyong'o," the magazine said on Twitter.

Beyonce's sister Solange Knowles last month criticized the London Evening Standard magazine for digitally removing her hair braids from its cover.

Knowles posted an original version of the image with the caption "dtmh" (don't touch my hair).

Earlier this week, British Vogue unveiled its December cover which will be the first since Ghana-born Edward Enninful was named as editor in April.

Diversity will feature heavily and the cover model chosen is Adwoa Aboah, a British fashion model and feminist activist of British and Ghanaian descent.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is also interviewed in the magazine, said Enninful was "showing Britain at its diverse and creative best."
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Sanaa, Yemen  Sat, November 11, 2017 08:08 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a286de74 2 World Saudi-Arabia,Yemen,conflict,civilians Free

Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition left at least three civilians wounded in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa late Friday, witnesses said.

The strikes hit a residential area near the ministry of defence building, which had been targeted just before.

"I was sitting at home and heard the first strike hit the ministry of defence. Everyone was afraid. Minutes later, another strike hit my neighbour's house," resident Mohammed Aatif said.

"My entire house shook," said Aatif, who fled with his family from the neighbourhood.

He said the strike destroyed his neighbour's house, leaving an enormous crater, and damaged others.

Witnesses said the number of casualties may rise as wounded are pulled from the rubble.

The coalition has targeted the nearby defence ministry in the past, leaving it heavily damaged, but the fresh strikes come amid a ratcheting up of tensions between Saudi Arabia and its rival Iran, which backs the Huthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia and its allies shut down Yemen's borders earlier this week after intercepting a ballistic missile fired by the Huthis near Riyadh airport on Saturday.

The rebels have threatened additional attacks on Saudi Arabia and its coalition partner the United Arab Emirates in response to the blockade.

The United Nations said on Friday that the coalition is still blocking desperately needed UN aid deliveries to Yemen despite the re-opening of the Yemeni port of Aden and also a land border crossing.

This week, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock warned the Security Council that, unless the blockade was lifted, Yemen would face "the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims".

The world body has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, with 17 million people in need of food, seven million of whom are at risk of famine.

More than 2,000 Yemenis have died in a cholera outbreak now affecting nearly one million people.

Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in neighbouring Yemen in March 2015 with the stated aim of rolling back Huthi rebel gains and restoring the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

The Huthis continue to control the capital Sanaa and much of Yemen's north.

The conflict has left more than 8,650 people dead, including many civilians.
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Rumana, Iraq  Sat, November 11, 2017 22:15 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a287cd16 2 World Iraq-war,#IslamicState,IS,Islamic-State Free

Iraqi forces seized several villages from the Islamic State group on Saturday in an operation to retake the last pocket of jihadist-held territory in the country, the operation's commander said.

The Euphrates Valley town of Rawa and nearby villages were bypassed by government troops and allied militia when they retook the town of Al-Qaim on the Syrian border last week.

But on Saturday, troops backed by militia recruited among the region's Sunni Arab tribes "launched a major offensive to liberate Rumana and the Rawa area,", General Abdelamir Yarallah said.

He later said they had "retaken Rumana and its bridge on the Euphrates" along with 10 other villages.

Rumana is on the north side of the Euphrates just across from Al-Qaim, while the small town of Rawa lies downstream.

Several officers told an AFP reporter in Rumana that Iraqi forces had managed to foil at least two IS suicide car bomb attacks.

"Troops are continuing their advance," Yarallah said.

Rawa is the last town still held by IS apart from Albu Kamal, just across the Syrian border, where the jihadists were still battling Syrian regime and allied forces on Saturday after mounting a surprise counterattack late Thursday.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also head of the armed forces, said Saturday the operation also aims to "clean open areas in the desert" of western Iraq.

The recapture of the Rawa pocket would mark the final battleground defeat of IS in Iraq and sound the death knell of the sprawling "caliphate" the group declared in 2014 over a swathe of Iraq and Syria the size of Britain.

Across the border, the Syrian army had declared victory in the battle for Albu Kamal.

But IS fighters pushed back in from the desert to the north where they still control a strip of territory between areas held by government troops and by US-backed Kurdish-led forces.
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Linkedin Hugues Jeanneaud (AFP) Toulouse  Sat, November 11, 2017 08:02 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a286d9d8 2 World car-attack,France,China Free

A man "deliberately" rammed his car into a group of pedestrians, injuring three Chinese students one of them seriously, near the French city of Toulouse on Friday, authorities said, adding that the attack was not linked to terrorism.

The 28-year-old driver, who was arrested immediately afterwards in the city's Blagnac suburb, "purposefully hit three people" on a crosswalk, Toulouse prosecutor Pierre-Yves Couilleau said.

The suspect, a single man who lives with his mother in Blagnac, had previously suffered severe psychiatric problems and was released from a court-ordered hospital stay in December 2016, the prosecutor said.

"What matters in this case is the psychiatric profile of the person," he added.

"The individual arrested immediately after the event said he had been planning this act for a month," the prosecutor said later in a statement.

When asked about the possibility the man was motivated by terrorism, the prosecutor said the attack was "nothing of that order".

The driver has had about 10 previous convictions for non-terror related crimes, he said.

The investigation is to be handled by regular judicial police rather than Paris's anti-terror unit, he added.

The victims are Chinese exchange students at the ICD-Toulouse International Business School. A 23-year-old woman was the most seriously injured, and two men aged 22 and 23 were also hurt and one of them remains in hospital, the prosecutor said.

The woman's life is not in danger, police said.

The attack occurred in front of the Blagnac campus of the Institute for Social Research, an AFP journalist said.

On Friday night, France's Interior Minister Gerard Collomb praised the police's response, saying "the investigation will determine the nature of his act".

The attack came days after China asked France to "ensure the security" of its nationals, who have been regular victims of thieves.

On November 2, a group of around 40 Chinese tourists were attacked with teargas and robbed outside a three-star hotel near Paris's Orly Airport.

On Friday a youth, 15 years old at the time of the attack, was sentenced in juvenile court to two years in prison for violently attacking and robbing a Chinese textile worker last year in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers. The 49-year-old man died five days of his injuries.

France has also been the target of a series of vehicle attacks by extremists inspired by the Islamic State group.

In July last year, a Tunisian man ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd in the southern city of Nice, killing 86 people.
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Washington DC  Sat, November 11, 2017 07:07 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a286bd38 2 World US,Muslim,Marine-Corps,religion,court-ruling Free

A US Marine Corps drill instructor was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for abusing more than a dozen Muslim recruits, one of whom died in 2016, US media reported.

Gunnery Sergeant Joseph Felix was convicted a day earlier of maltreatment of the recruits during their basic training at the Parris Island, South Carolina base.

An jury of eight fellow servicemen and women considered Felix, an Iraq war veteran, the most to blame of six instructors who ordered and participated in extreme hazing of the recruits, taunting them as terrorists.

Two of them were forced into industrial-sized clothes dryers and in one case the machine was turned on when they did not renounce their faith.

One of the recruits, Raheel Siddiqui died after a plunge over a third-story railing in March 2016 after enduring days of hazing worse than the normal high-pressure treatment given recruits.

The Marines called his death a suicide. In October, Siddiqui's family sued the Marines for $100 million, saying he was driven by an unnamed superior through a door and onto a balcony where he fell to the ground below.

The sentence decided Friday, which also includes a dishonorable discharge, was harsher than the seven years in prison that prosecutors had recommended.

The case will automatically go to appeal per military regulations for judgments that involve lengthy prison sentences and dishonorable discharges.
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sat, November 11, 2017 13:09 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2873afd 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,West-Nusa-Tenggara Free

Following the steps of Indonesian Charms Generation (GenPI) Central Java chapter who are currently busy with their Karetan Market, GenPI West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) chapter is also in preparation to hold an interesting activity in their hometown.

The event will be called the Fishing Market and as the name suggests, its related to fishing, fish pond and fishes. Its going to be exciting, said the head of GenPI Lombok Sumbawa, Jhe Ipul.

Just wait for the D-Day, the event will be Instagrammable, we will provide plenty of selfie spots and many varieties of dishes offered [for visitors]. It will be authentic and educational, Jhe added.

To find out more about the event, visitors can follow the official accounts of GenPI NTB on Instagram (@GenPILombokSumbawa) and Twitter (@GenPINTB).

The Fishing Market event is said to be in line with the Tourism Ministrys Pentahelix (Academic, Business, Community, Government and Media) approach.

GenPI NTB was the first GenPI that was established to promote halal tourism, or family tourism, in NTB.

Through their hard work, Lombok managed to bring home plenty of awards from World Halal Tourism Awards for the past two years.

The number of market-themed tourism events currently being prepared is skyrocketing. They aim to improve the competitive advantage of each destination.

We always combine nature, with culture and man-made tourism, said national GenPI coordinator Mansyur Ebo.

Additionally, similar weekly-market events like the Karetan Market will be held in several places in Indonesia such as Musi River in South Sumatra, Bantul in Yogyakarta, Aceh, Bandung and Padang. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sat, November 11, 2017 16:06 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2878ad6 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,archery,Central-Java Free

The Karetan Market in Radja Pendapa Camp held by the Indonesian Charms Generation (GenPI) Central Java will feature an archery activity by the Semarang Archery School on the second week of the event.

The archery activity will be available for visitors on Nov. 12.

We want to introduce the locals to archery through Karetan Market. Weve partnered up with an archery school which will bring their tools to Karetan Market so that visitors can try to use them, explained Karetan Market committee head Mei Kristianti.

Stories about archery will be featured at Kretan Market. Those who are curious can come to Segrumung Hamlet, Meteseh, Boja, Kendal, she added.

Archery has long been a part of Indonesian culture and history, wayang (shadow puppets) characters such as Arjuna, Abimanyu and Adipati Karna are described to use bows and arrows as their main weapons.

Moreover, Indonesian athletes Lilies Handayani, Nurfitriyana Saiman and Kusuma Wardhani gave Indonesia its first silver Olympic medal for archery at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

At the event, an array of traditional dishes such as pecel (boiled vegetables with peanut sauce), tengkleng (mutton soup) and grilled squid as well as traditional games such as egrang, dakon, kelereng (marbles) and gobaksodor are also featured here.

GenPI Jateng wants to make Karetan Market as an educational place that shines the spotlight on less-popular legends and stories. We can promote them through photos, videos and vlogs, said GenPI Jateng coordinator Shafigh Pahlevi Lontoh. (asw)
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Linkedin Jessicha Valentina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, November 11, 2017 07:33 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a286c4f7 1 News sailing,Sail-Sabang,marine-tourism,#MarineTourism,#sailing,travel,#travel,tourism,Sabang,aceh Free

Sail Sabang 2017 is slated to run from Nov. 28 until Dec. 5 in Sabang, Aceh.

Comprising a plethora of activities, including an international sailing competition, marine expo, traditional ship parade and a visit from two barquentine ships, namely KRI Dewaruci and KRI Bima Suci, Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said Sail Sabang 2017 was set to be the biggest tourist event in Indonesia this year.

During the launch of Sail Sabang 2017 at the Tourism Ministry in Central Jakarta on Thursday, Irwandi said the Aceh administration had geared up to welcome guests.

He expressed his hope that Sail Sabang 2017 would not only become a platform to promote tourism in Aceh but also expedite the provinces development, adding that the event would be an opportunity to show the public that Aceh was safe place and ready to welcome guests and investors.

Read also: Sabang gears up for Sail Sabang 2017

Through Sail Sabang [2017], we hope that Sabang tourism can be [acknowledged by the public], allowing Sabang to contribute to [the governments] target of 20 million [foreign] tourists by 2019, he added.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya also said that from the number of activities and yacht participants, Sail Sabang would be the biggest sailing event in Indonesia.

Furthermore, Arief mentioned that Sabang was among marine priority destinations, as it was strategically located and was home to beautiful nature, with cruises and yachts making frequent stops in the area every year.

Arief added that as one of the country's priority destinations, Sabang needed to offer economic value to the local community, adding that Sail Sabang 2017 was part of efforts to improve marine tourism by making Sabang an international marine destination. (kes)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sat, November 11, 2017 14:01 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2875819 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Sabang,Sail-Sabang Free

More than 40 international freediving athletes will take part in Sail Sabang 2017 that will be held in Sabang, Aceh from Nov. 28 until Dec. 2.

Sail Sabang 2017 will feature the Freediving Competition 2017 and it will be held at Balohan Bay in Sabang from Nov. 26 until Dec. 1.

Freediving itself is an underwater diving activity that relies on divers ability to hold their breath as long as they can until resurfacing.

There are already 40 athletes who have confirmed their participation. They will come from Singapore, Malaysia, Colombia, Australia, the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Belgium, Thailand, China and other countries, explained Tourism Ministrys archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti.

Among these dozens of athletes, two are world-record holders. The first one is New Zealander William Trubridge whose accolades include 237 meters Dynamic with Fins (DYN), 102 meters Constant Weight Without Fins (CNF), 187 meters Dynamic Without Fins (DNF), 121 meters Constant Weight (CWT), 124 meters Free Immersion (FIM) and seven minutes and 29 seconds Static Apnea (STA).

The second world record-holder is Russian Alexey Molchanov whose accolades include 258 meters Dynamic with Fins (DYN), 96 meters Constant Weight Without Fins (CNF), 195 meters Dynamic Without Fins (DNF), 129 meters Constant Weight (CWT), 124 meters Free Immersion (FIM) and eight minutes and 33 seconds Static Apnea (STA).

The committee has prepared a total prize of Rp. 200 million for winners of this competition.

Other than the Freediving Competition, Sail Sabang also holds Sabang Underwater Photo Contest 2017 where participants will capture the beauty of Sabang ocean with their cameras. This competition is divided into five categories: Compact wide angle, compact macro, DSLR wide angle, DSLR macro, people and conservation and Freediving UW Photo.

The total prize is also Rp. 200 million and it will be assessed by five international and local judges, said Esthy.

This competition is free of charge, and participants can sign up and get more information about the underwater photo competition in several diving operators in Sabang such as Rubiah Tirta Divers, Lumba-Lumba Diving Centre, The Pade Dive Resort, Moster Divers, Pulau Weh Dive Resorts, Iboih Dive Centre, Bubble Addict and Seagate. The registration will open starting Nov. 28. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sat, November 11, 2017 15:03 1831 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a287747b 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Tourism-Ministry,Arief-Yahya,Sail-Sabang Free

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya together with Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf recently officiated the highly-anticipated Sail Sabang 2017 event at Sapta Pesona Building in Jakarta on Nov. 10.

Themed Trail of Sea Civilization, Sail Sabang 2017 will run from Nov. 28 until Dec. 5 and feature a total of 24 shows and competitions such as Jambore Iptek, Freediving Competition, Sabang Underwater Contest, Sales Mission Cruise Operator, Fishing Competition and other video and photography competitions.

The events finale will be on the second of December and will have 1000 of yachts from across the world and national ships such as KRI Bima taking part in the Toll Ship Parade. The main shows will be located at CT-3 Port and attended by President Joko Widodo.

There will also be a colossal dance performance from Laksamana Malahayati (female admirals from Aceh), national fishing boat parade and will feature Pemuda Nusantara Ship, Baruna Jaya IV and Baruna Jaya VIII research ships.

We can make sure that Sail Sabang event is the biggest tourism event in Indonesia this year, told Irwandi.

With this event, we hope Sabang could become one of the most favorite destinations in the western part of Indonesia and contribute to the target of welcoming 20 million overseas tourists coming to Indonesia, he added.

Aceh has already prepared accommodation for around 5,000 visitors with options include staying in floating lodgings at Pelni ships and yachts or in one of the 19 homestays available with 96 rooms.

For transportation, there are flights available to Sabang, an additional of three ships to accommodate three trips carrying up to 2,400 passengers per day and ferries to carry logistics.

Sabang is known as a favorite destination for marine tourism because travelers can do plenty of activities here such as diving, snorkeling and other beach activities, said Arief.

Last year, up until the month of November there were a total of 9,763 international tourists who came to Sabang. Additionally, in November last year Sabang welcomed 10 cruise ships carrying 6,137 international tourists and in June there were 37 yachts carrying 82 overseas international. (asw)
BJP rolled out GST at midnight without asking anyone. The country and Congress put pressure on the government, after which they (Centre) rolled it back, Rahul said in Gujarat's Gandhinagar.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi started his fourth 3-day tour of poll-bound Gujarat from Gandhinagar today by launching a scathing attack on the Modi government over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) issue.

Addressing a rally in Gandhinagar's Chiloda Circle, Rahul said, "Gabbar Singh Tax is required neither by the government nor the entire country."

Congress had told BJP that a simple and good tax should be implemented but the latter rolled out GST at midnight without asking anyone. The country and Congress put pressure on the government, after which they (Centre) rolled it back, Rahul said.

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"We will stop only when Gujarat and the entire country is free of Gabbar Singh Tax and the government gets the real GST in place. We don't want 5 different tax slabs, but just one tax slab. Structural changes are required in GST. We don't want 28 per cent GST, but only 18 per cent. We will not stop till they do so. If they don't change, we will come (to power) and do the same", the Congress leader said.

'DEMONETISATION, GST LEFT MANY UNEMPLOYED'

Slamming GST and demonetisation, Rahul said that these two decisions by the Modi government had left millions unemployed across the country."

He added, "Congress will ensure that women candidates are given more tickets. We will fight for 33 per cent reservation for women."

The Congress vice-president also visited the famous Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar and later left for Banaskantha. He will also go to the famous Ambaji Temple in Banaskantha on this tour.

WATCH VIDEO | Rahul launches scathing attack on BJP in poll-bound Gujarat, calls GST Gabbar Singh Tax

--- ENDS ---
(front page)

Safety at center of fight by Calif. aerospace workers

BAY POINT, Calif.  Eighty members of International Association of Machinists Local 1584 in the paste and film department of Henkel Aerospace here went on strike Oct. 16. Safety is at the heart of the fight for a new contract. Over the past six months, several workers have been severely burned by steam.

They joined the union and won their first contract after the death in 2013 of David Eleidjian, a temporary worker who had only been on the job a week. His clothing caught on a mixing machine and he was crushed. An Iraq war veteran, Eleidjian was the father of a 3-year-old child.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Henkel $200,825 for safety violations, and the staffing company $1,500.

This tragedy was completely preventable, the director of Californias Department of Industrial Relations said. The company continued to operate the mixer despite knowing that the partial guard on the mixer exposed workers to dangerous moving parts.

The company has forced quality control, warehouse workers, temporary agency workers and others to work beside untrained supervisors, operating dangerous equipment.

Please be careful, without the proper training this work can be very dangerous. In the past few years, there have been numerous accidents and even a fatality. We work with all of you every day and we are concerned for your safety, a union flyer passed out to workers entering the plant reads.

This is the same type of bullying tactics, disrespect and complete disregard for workplace safety that pushed us to say enough is enough and go Union! We Are Stronger Together! We can help you!

The nonunion workers are scared to death of the machines the company claims they are certified to run, Steve Older, a union representative, told the Militant. Our beef is not with them. Its with the company.

Two rallies have been held outside the plant, and United Steelworkers members from the POSCO coil mill nearby hosted a barbecue for strikers.

People driving by the picket line have been honking in support. While this correspondent was there, a woman stopped her car and jumped out with bottled water. I live down the street and want to show my support, she said as she shook hands with striker Jeremy Albert.

I was surprised at how unified we are, Albert, a paste operator, said. But we have to be. They backed us into a corner.





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Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




(lead article)

Tehran-Saudi conflict grows in war-torn Middle East

With the defeat of Islamic State in all but a few towns along the Iraqi-Syrian border, Washington and the contending capitalist regimes in the region are turning their attention to new conflicts and battles shaping politics in the Mideast.

Irans capitalist rulers have taken advantage of the war against Islamic State to make progress in securing a land route from the Afghanistan border, across Iran, Iraq and Syria to Hezbollah-controlled areas in Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea and close to the Israeli border.

To do so, Tehran has deployed Hezbollah military forces from Lebanon and Shiite-based militias from Iraq, whose leaders pay allegiance to Irans Revolutionary Guard. These forces, along with Moscow, have helped crush the rising struggle for political rights and space in Syria that began with mass public protests in 2011, ensuring the continued dictatorial rule of Bashar al-Assad there.

Tehran has increased its control over the majority Shiite government in Iraq, too. Tehran-backed forces have led recent attacks against Kurdish Regional Government peshmerga forces, seizing Kirkuk and other territory in northern Iraq after the Sept. 25 Kurdish independence vote in that region.

The government of Saudi Arabia, Tehrans principal rival in the region, is counterpunching by trying to strengthen its political and military position, in alliance with other bourgeois Arab regimes. Decadeslong monarchical rule by the Al Saud family has held back capitalist development, keeping the kingdom dependent on its massive oil reserves.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is leading efforts to reverse engines. He began a series of purges Nov. 5, arresting top ruling family members and tycoons.

He ordered the arrest of 11 princes and more than three dozen current and former ministers on allegations of corruption. They include multibillionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Miteb bin Abdullah, minister and former chief of Saudi Arabias National Guard.

Prince Mohammed is also curbing the power of the Wahhabi Sunni religious hierarchy to make them subservient to the capitalist regime.

Under the rubric Saudi Vision 2030, the regime is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into projects to build industrial zones, technology centers, new cities, and resorts and other tourist attractions.

Prince Mohammed, whose father became king in 2015, has taken control of the military, national guard and intelligence operations, and stripped the religious police of arrest powers.

In September King Salman announced steps to introduce more modern bourgeois social relations, lifting restrictions on the right of women to drive and attend public sporting events. Prince Mohammed has since called for gender mixing and music at public events. The regime arrested clerics and other figures who oppose these changes.

The vast majority of the working class in Saudi Arabia is made up of immigrant workers. Its army, though large and well armed, has been incapable  even though backed by U.S. bombers  of putting down a smoldering rebellion by a smaller Tehran-backed Houthi force in Yemen.

Future holds more wars, instability

The war in Yemen is devastating working people there. Thousands of civilians have died, including many from U.S. and Saudi airstrikes. The country is on the brink of famine. Poor sanitary conditions have led to almost 800,000 cases of cholera since last year and more than 2,100 deaths.

Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile Nov. 4 that reached the outskirts of Saudi Arabias capital before being shot down. Saudi foreign minister Adel Jubair called the attack an act of war by Tehran.

To finance deeper conflicts in the region, the Saudi rulers are looking to sell shares in the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the largest oil producer in the world. President Donald Trump urged the Saudis to market the stock, worth as much as $100 billion, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Lebanons prime minister resigns

On Nov. 4 in a televised address from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Lebanons Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced his resignation, saying that he believed his life was in danger given the growing strength of the Hezbollah Shiite militia. Through Hezbollah, Iran has created a state within a state in Lebanon, he said.

We will treat the government of Lebanon as a government declaring war, Thamer al-Sabhan, Saudi Arabias minister of state for Persian Gulf Affairs, told the press.

Washington, far and away the strongest imperialist power in the world, with large military bases across the Middle East, now confronts an emboldened Tehran and the emergence of Moscow as a force in the area.

Moscow, and especially Beijing, are becoming increasingly meaningful capitalist competitors in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.





Related articles:

Attacks spread against Kurds fight for independence

NY protest: Stop aggression against Kurdistan!







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(front page)

Striking Idaho silver miners rally to build support for union struggle

COEUR DALENE, Idaho  The owners want the working class to be inexpensive for them. They want to work us till we cant work anymore and then get rid of us, especially older workers, Don Scheel told theon the picket line at the Lucky Friday mine Oct. 31. People have to get together and fight and we have to rebuild the unions. Scheel works at the mines surface mill and has more than 10 years seniority.

Some 60 striking members of United Steelworkers Local 5114 and their supporters rallied at the Hecla Mining Co. headquarters the same day, showing their determination to keep fighting in the eight-month-long strike. Miners at the Lucky Friday silver, lead and zinc mine in Mullan, Idaho, went on strike March 13 after rejecting Heclas concession-filled last, best and final offer.

The union has organized picket lines and rallies, spoken to other unions about the strike and sponsored social activities to bring together miners and their families. Strikers have given solidarity to fellow workers standing up to the bosses in the region.

I wont go back to work under the conditions the company is demanding, striking miner Ron Sullivan said at the picket shack in Mullan.

Bosses undermine union control

The mine bosses are seeking to undermine union control of work conditions by eliminating the seniority-based job bid system. They also plan to slash layoff recall rights from three years to three months, and give the bosses the power to raise premiums and deductibles for health insurance at any time.

Heclas proposal to eliminate the current seniority-based job bidding system remains the engine in the companys drive to weaken our union and exert complete control over our working lives, Local 5114 said in a Sept. 12 statement.

Workers know that union control of the organization of work crews is essential to protect miners lives. Many tell you about the fire at the Sunshine Mine near Big Creek, Idaho, that killed 91 miners in 1972 and about the two workers who were killed at the Lucky Friday Mine in April and November 2011. In December that year a mine collapse at Lucky Friday injured at least seven miners.

Most strikers have temporarily taken jobs out of town, so family members help staff the picket line 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When Socialist Workers Party members brought two bags of food to the food bank in Wallace, a woman staffing the office told us her husband is among the strikers currently working in North Dakota who arent able to come home regularly.

Brian Skiffington, a member of the Young Workers Committee of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23 in Tacoma, Washington, joined the Oct. 31 rally. He said that his union had sent a contingent of Longshore workers from Tacoma, Seattle and other locals to the Aug. 2 strike solidarity rally here. At that time his local gave $5,000 to the miners.

Others present at the rally included USW members from Arizona; Steelworkers and Machinists from Spokane, Washington; a member of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees from Albany, Oregon; and members of the Socialist Workers Party from Seattle.

Injury to one is an injury to all

Skiffingtons ILWU local helped host some of the striking miner Road Warriors who came to Tacoma in September to show support to Teamsters on strike against a trucking company there. That was great, he said. The ILWU believes that an injury to one is an injury to all.

The American Federation of Musicians Local 76-493 from Seattle sent a letter of support and a $200 contribution Oct. 18.

The company is not willing to discuss any of the substantive issues. In reality nothing has changed from their last best and final offer from March, Dave Roose, a member of the union negotiating committee, told the Militant. He said that the company wants 12-hour shifts, and a 24-hour, seven-day operation, including working on holidays. Although there had been negotiations, now things have just stopped.

Hecla has tried to keep production going with management and nonunion workers. But third-quarter production for this year has dropped 90 percent from the same period last year, the Spokesman-Review reported Oct. 13, citing company sources.

Send messages of support and contributions for the union hardship fund to: USW Local 5114, P.O. Box 427, Mullan, Idaho 83846.

Mary Martin contributed to this article.
(front page)

Rulers look to corporate tax cut to lift capitalist growth, profits

Saying they will increase profits and kick-start economic growth, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans submitted a bill to slash corporate tax rates Nov. 2. Trump called the measure The Cut Cut Cut Act.

Licking their chops at the prospects of greater profits, many among the propertied ruling families back the measure and its proposal to cut the rate from 35 to 20 percent, anticipating it will boost capitalist production at least for now.

This follows months of a small uptick in hiring and manufacturing, coming as profit rates have tended to decline for four decades, resulting in a worldwide slowdown and stagnation of production, trade and, most importantly for working people, in the rates of productive employment.

The editors of the Wall Street Journal applauded the proposals, saying they would allow bosses to be more competitive.

The popularity of the bill in the boss class has slowed down some of the political infighting in the Republican Party and gained support for Trumps presidency. Now called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the bill does not include some traditional Republican shibboleths, like cutting income tax on those in the top income brackets. But as most workers know, tax laws allow the wealthiest to hide income and evade paying anything close to official tax rates.

Acknowledging that tax cuts on profits would lower the federal governments income, the bills promoters say the gap will be closed by revenue from anticipated capitalist expansion and taxing a larger workforce.

The tax proposal comes after the first three consecutive quarters of growth above 3 percent in the gross domestic product in 13 years.

This comes on top of years of capitalist decline and attacks on working people. Millions have been pushed out of work. The labor force participation rate  the percentage of workers who are employed or actively looking for work  remains at 62.7 percent, showing that the working class has shrunk during the extended capitalist crisis. The carnage that has been visited on large sections of working people isnt going away.

Workers continue to face stagnant wages, declining life expectancy, rising homelessness and an opioid epidemic.

Across California there is a spreading outbreak of hepatitis A, an extremely rare disease in the U.S., bred by unsanitary living conditions. A majority of the 19 people killed by the disease in San Diego County since March had been forced to live on the streets.

Backers of the tax cut proposals claim that if they can boost production, they will boost jobs and wages. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, a knee-jerk member of the anti-Trump resistance, argues that wont happen.

In an Oct. 8 article titled The Trump Administrations Tax Plan Is an Atrocity, Summers says the bill would not substantially increase economic growth, would blow out the budget deficit and would make the United States an even more unequal place.

The capitalist liberals concern is based on fears that the realities of todays capitalism will inevitably lead to a new downturn and more wars. The government will need cash, he says, for increased national security spending.

Whether or not the bosses decide to use the tax cut to expand investment in production and exploit more workers depends on whether they believe they can profit sufficiently from doing so. There is plenty of capital lying around today  but the rulers have either been squirreling it away or using it for nonproductive speculation.

While infighting in the Republican Party has lessened, the crisis in the Democratic Party is growing. The Bernie Sanders revolution wing continues to push to take over.

Further rifts emerged when former Democratic National Committee head Donna Brazile recently published her account of Hillary Clintons campaign for the partys presidential nomination. Brazile makes it clear that the leaders of the party connived to bar Sanders from any chance of winning. She now complains that the Clinton campaign compromised the partys integrity.

In the 2016 election, the party establishment decided to turn its back on the working class. For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs of Philadelphia, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer told party members last year. And you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin. Howd that work out for the Democrats?

Sanders supporters are already jumping into House primary races in unprecedented numbers.

How can workers make gains?

Regardless of their position on the tax bill the rulers try to hide how workers can win wage raises. They dont come from the rulers tax policies.

What workers earn depends on our capacity to organize together to fight what the bosses do to us, to use union power and advance independent working-class political action. Union leaders have pressed in the opposite direction for decades, saying that workers livelihoods depend on collaborating with the bosses and the Democratic Party. This has made our unions shrink.

For workers, any expansion in hiring would be welcome, after years of declining living standards and a broadening social crisis. It would improve workers confidence, creating better conditions to defend our interests in struggle against the bosses.





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(special feature)

US govt doesnt have moral authority to criticize Cuba

UN votes 191-2 against US embargo against Cuba

UNITED NATIONS  For the 26th year in a row, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Nov. 1 to demand an end to the U.S. economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. This year the vote was 191-2  only the governments of the United States and Israel voted against the resolution. Last year they abstained.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told the body that even before Cuban working people overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 every U.S. president for 100 years has sought to dominate and exercise hegemony over Cuba.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley repeated many of the timeworn slanders against the Cuban Revolution and its leadership, claiming the Cuban people have been deprived of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. She claimed the revolutionary government disrupts peaceful assemblies. It censors independent journalists and rigs the economy so the government alone profits. And she argued that the purpose of the U.S. aggression was to aid the Cuban people so that they can one day be free to choose their own destiny.

It is true that we had been left nearly alone in opposition to this annual resolution, she stated. She made it clear that the propertied rulers in the U.S. care little what other governments think.

Lets be honest, she added. This assembly does not have the power to end the U.S. embargo.  Only the United States Congress can.

The United Sates does not have the slightest moral authority to criticize Cuba, Rodriguez replied. The U.S. representative spoke in the name of the head of an empire that is responsible for most of the wars in progress on the planet today  and is the decisive factor in worldwide instability.

Rodriguez noted that from the first days of the revolution, Washington sought to overthrow it. He quoted from an April 6, 1960, memorandum by the U.S. State Department titled, The Decline and Fall of Castro. The memo outlined Washingtons goals in beginning its economic war against the Cuban Revolution, saying the economic embargo would bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of [the] government.

Haley criticized the Barack Obama administration for abstaining on the vote last year. The abstention followed the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. The steadfast determination of Cuban working people had prevented the U.S. economic war against them from succeeding. Obama had to admit that Washington needed to shift tactics in their continuing effort to bring down Cubas socialist revolution.

Of course, Rodriguez said, the Obama administration refused to end the embargo. Washington has never admitted the embargo is a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of Cubans, he said, nor did it renounce the goal of subjugating our people.

In June Washington reinstituted a ban on some people-to-people trips to Cuba that had been lifted by the Obama administration. And the Donald Trump administration restricted some of the small amount of U.S.-Cuba trade that had been allowed after the two governments re-established diplomatic relations. Most of the Obama administrations changes remain in place.

History of lies and aggression

The policy announced by President Trump on June 16 is not new; it is the same old policy, Rodriguez said. It has been a history of lies and aggression.

Using the pretext of alleged sonic attacks on U.S. diplomatic personnel in Havana  for which they have presented no evidence and at the same time admit the Cuban government bears no responsibility for  the State Department called most of its Havana staff home and stopped granting visas to Cubans who want to emigrate or visit the United States. At the same time they ordered the expulsion of most of the Cuban diplomatic personnel in the U.S.

The false charges about sonic attacks are a political pretext to further intensify the blockade, Rodriguez said.

Haley claimed the U.N. vote virtually unanimously rejecting Washingtons economic war against the Cuban people was just political theater.

Rodriguez gave numerous examples of how the U.S. rulers decadeslong economic assault directly affects the lives of the Cuban people, highlighting its impact on the import and export of medicines and medical devices.

Medicuba tried to buy a device used to diagnose prostate cancer from a German company, but company officials said they couldnt fulfill the order because of the U.S. embargo.

The Cuban people will never renounce the building of a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable nation, Rodriguez said.

After the vote, Rodriguez visited with hundreds of supporters of the Cuban Revolution who had gathered to celebrate outside Cubas U.N. mission.





Related articles:

Cuban Revolution will never negotiate its principles

Dreke: Che led by example, by his revolutionary morals







Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




"Rani Padmavati is the symbol of Indian women('s) pride. The character assassination of Padmavati will not be tolerated at any level," Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said.

By PTI, India Today Web Desk: Haryana Health minister Anil Vij said his state's government will approach the Censor Board to seek a nationwide ban on the upcoming Bollywood movie Padmavati.

The film, which stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmini and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji, has been at the centre of a storm ever since rumours began doing the rounds that there would be a romantic dream sequence between the two characters.

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Anil Vij said the film's producer and director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, wrongly presented historical facts to "defame" the image of Rani Padmavati, and that this had hurt the sentiments of lakhs of people.

"Rani Padmavati is the symbol of Indian women('s) pride. The character assassination of Padmavati will not be tolerated at any level," Vij said.

'NO DREAM SEQUENCE'

On Wednesday, Sanjay Leela Bhansali released a video in which he reiterated that there was no dream sequence. Earlier this year, his production house twice denied that the film had such scenes. One of those clarifications came after Bhansali was attacked on the sets of the film.

Deepika Padukone has said there's "no distortion of history" in the movie, and her co-star Ranveer Singh has said the Padmavati team was "keeping in mind the sensitivities and emotions of the people of Rajasthan and the Rajput community."

Bhansali "won't ever do anything to hurt anyone's feelings," Ranveer said.

The Padmavati trailer contained no hints of a dream sequence.

However, the film has faced an unrelenting onslaught of scrutiny, criticism, and violent attacks.

In January this year, members of the Shri Rajput Karni Sena vandalised the sets of Padmavati in Jaipur, and tore Bhansali's clothes. A few months later, in a second assault, goons torched Padmavati's sets in Kolhapur. In October, five people - four members of the Karni Sena and one from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad - were arrested for allegedly vandalising a rangoli inspired by Padmavati.

Padmavati is scheduled to open in theatres on December 1.

(Inputs from PTI)

WATCH | Exposed: Karni Sena thugs holding Padmavati hostage

--- ENDS ---
When Twitter doubled its character limit for a select group of users in September, there were some raised eyebrows at the fact that Donald Trump didnt appear to be among them.

But now the site has rolled 280-character tweets out across the board, the US president, possibly the worlds most prominent Twitter user, finally has the opportunity to be more expansive with his missives.

So how did he use this new facility? Here is his first ever 280-character (well, 215-character to be precise) tweet:

Getting ready to make a major speech to the National Assembly here in South Korea, then will be headed to China where I very much look forward to meeting with President Xi who is just off his great political victory.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2017

Trump has long been noted for his inflammatory output on Twitter, touching on subjects including North Korea, the fake news media and myriad rows with celebrities.

But anyone hoping for something outrageous or controversial from his first long tweet  or even a reference to the new character count  will have been disappointed.

The tweet was a relatively bland update on the itinerary of his ongoing tour of Asia.

No one cares!!! Dont come to twitter if you are not going to tweet about 280 characters  Robin Lima (@corte_off) November 8, 2017

Interestingly, the expanded character count does not apply for those writing in Japanese, Chinese or Korean  languages which already allow more to be said in fewer characters  so Trumps hosts will not get the benefit of the new feature.

The president followed up with a second longer tweet, referencing Republican Ed Gillespies defeat in the Virginia gubernatorial election.

Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. Dont forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2017

Trump had previously urged Republicans to vote for Gillespie, who surprised some analysts with the degree to which he took on the presidents conservative agenda.

If nothing else, the new character limit has allowed Trump to offer his own more detailed counter-analysis.

But the world will continue to await Trumps first 280-character tweet about Little Rocket Man Kim Jong-un with interest.
Emergency services around the world have a fan in South Wales.

John Morgan, 18, is the proud owner of hundreds of badges from police forces, fire departments and paramedics aross the globe as his appeal to collect mementoes from emergency workers has gone viral.

Parcels and packages from as far afield as New Zealand, Moldova, and the US have all turned up on his doorstep in South Wales as well as those from closer to home; Manchester, Warwickshire, and the Isle of Man.

But his family want to collect more badges  including at least one item from every US state, and badges from the rest of the UK.

(Paul Morgan)

John, who uses a wheelchair, lives with the life-limiting Duchenne muscular dystrophy and scoliosis.

His love of the emergency services was confirmed as a young child when his dad Paul, who worked as a lorry driver, had a friend with a fire engine that was converted into a limousine.

Once it was converted John would come out with us in his baby seat, said Paul. He used to love going in the engine. If there was a charity car wash at a fire station, we would take the fire engine for a laugh.

Hes got thousands of models of fire engines from around the world. It just grew and grew.

(Paul Morgan)

And Johns just as keen on police forces as fire departments.

Recent parcels have arrived from Katy Police Department in Texas and Australia.

And, at Pauls request, they all contain a letter explaining where its from and who sent it, so John can issue a personal reply via a video on his Facebook page.

The memorabilia now extends around the family home in Cardiff. In the living room are display cabinets filled with items sent from well-wishers over the past two years.

A blanket used to keep John warm in his wheelchair contains 150 badges.

A further 500 patch badges are being sewn together to make a continental quilt for his bed.

His mother Sharon, who is Johns carer, turned an old school coat into a cosy toes for his wheelchair, again covered with patches.

He gets excited when theres a parcel. He knows where to sit in the living room and we will open the parcel together. I will explain it to him.

One recent package contained his first fire helmet from the US  the outgoing volunteer fire chief in Bel Air opted to donate his helmet to John on his retirement.

Another parcel included items from Glasgow Airport Fire Station. Other items in the collection are a New York Fire Department helmet used during 9/11 and a flight suit from Wales Air Ambulance.

And if John happens to get duplicated badges they dont go unused. He might trade them for one from another emergency service with people online or offer them to other collectors like himself.

The family have also visited police and fire stations in the UK including CPMG in Birmingham, and Thames Valley Police in Oxfordshire.

Paul added: Were trying to get him worldwide recognition and emergency services have responded amazingly. We get letters, we get parcels. They might have a patch or a full uniform inside. Its great.
Louis Theroux begins with all the right intentions in his BBC 2 documentary, Talking to Anorexia. He sets himself an ambitious target for a disease as complex and diverse as Anorexia Nervosa: to provide an insight into its causes, how it affects patients and their families, and to give some understanding of a way out.

In his trademark curious-yet-careful manner, Theroux certainly attempts to delve deep into the lives of those suffering from anorexia, prompting patients in St. Anns inpatient eating disorders ward with personal questions, in order to provide a truthful insight into what is a debilitating and potentially life-threatening mental illness. And yet, it falls staggeringly short of its aims.



Within ten minutes of entering North London hospital St Anns Phoenix Wing, any promising insight into anorexia as a serious mental illness is overwhelmed by an obsession with the physical symptoms of the disease. In fact, the entire documentary quickly joins a long line of failed attempts to provide a truthful representation of anorexia.

Louis Therouxs documentary certainly has its merits. His respectably cautious and open-minded approach should be commended and credit too must be given for his refusal to take part in anorexias games, and his inclination to deliver some genuine consoling speeches on patients worth and potential beyond their illness.

However, his investigation of the illness perpetuates many common and harmful stereotypes, too often found in the representation of anorexia by documentaries and the media alike.

The documentary, which features predominantly white, female young adults in an emaciated physical state, fails in its aims to provide a truthful, accurate representation of Anorexia Nervosa, a disease which affects people of all genders, races, and religions. Out of the four people it follows, one person is non-white and not a single male is represented.

25% of those showing signs of an eating disorder are male recognised or unspecified eating disorders? For a disease where, the existence of eating disorders in the male community is completely ignored. Where are the males with anorexia? Where are the black people with anorexia? Where are the disabled people with anorexia? Importantly, where are the patients with orthorexia, binge eating disorders, and the lessor unspecified eating disorders?

As for its aims on providing an insight into anorexia as a mental disorder, there is an uncomfortable focus on the physical symptoms of anorexia throughout the documentary. Theroux immediately makes it clear that Anorexia Nervosa is a  mysterious mental disorder - a phrase that quite frankly unnecessarily romanticises the concept of mental disorder  yet he simply seems unable to draw his documentary away from a fixation with physical symptoms.

Lingering shots of emaciated limbs, downcast music accompanying before and after pictures, and detailed examination of weight charts draws yet another parallel with the medias misconception that anorexia is a size zero disease, the result of societal pressure to lose weight.

Within the documentary, 27-year-old Jess desperately tries to dispel myths surrounding anorexia in society and in the media, yet one of the first images we see of her focuses on an elongated shot solely of her thighs beside Louis Therouxs. Jess stresses the disease is not attention-seeking, not about being attractive, but is a complex interaction of control, anxiety, and self-punishment, a mental illness whose physical symptoms do not define the seriousness.

Her attempts fall on death ears.

Theroux seems unaware of the potential damage his documentary could be inflicting upon its audience. It is established early on that anorexia is deceptive, with many of the patients at St Anns in denial of the seriousness of their disease.

Yet, the focus on only extremely severe cases of anorexia ignores that the seriousness of anorexia is not equated to the weight or appearance of the patient. Imagine two people drowning: one is drowning in five feet of water whereas the other is drowning in ten feet of water. Both people are drowning and both people are in dire need of help.

When someone struggling watches Therouxs documentary, their predicament may seem inconsequential in comparison with the severe long-term patients at St. Anns. With their eating disorder already telling them not to access treatment, we dont need another voice problematising this, especially not someone as high-profile and popular as Theroux.

Louis Theroux is brave to take on a documentary on Anorexia Nervosa. Perhaps he believes hes championing the cause to raise awareness of the severity of the disease. However, he is unaware of the fatal errors he makes in perpetuating misconceptions of anorexia. Lets leave the presentation of anorexia to those who know the illness: the professionals, the sufferers, and the survivors.
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Around 20 Indian start-ups and 150 Chinese investors gathered at the Government of India's first start-up event in Beijing, held at the Indian Embassy this week.

By Ananth Krishnan: Indian and Chinese start-ups have taken the first tentative steps in establishing a new alliance to provide a platform to facilitate closer linkages.

Around 20 Indian start-ups and 150 Chinese investors gathered at the Government of India's first start-up event in Beijing, held at the Indian Embassy this week and organised by the Startup India Association along with Venture Gurukool and Sino Global Capital.

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A number of Chinese tech giants are already pouring money into the tech space in India, led by Alibaba - a major investor in Paytm - and more recently followed by companies including Tencent, Didi Chuxing-a Chinese Uber-Xiaomi and Baidu. The hope is to provide a platform for two-way linkages, so that the relationship goes beyond investments.

"For a long time, we Indians have looked West both for capital as well as for ideas. While we should continue to do so, our tech entrepreneurs would do well to also look East," said Amit Narang, Charge d'Affaires of the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

NOV 11 A REMINDER OF CHINESE TECH INDUSTRY's POWER

November 11 served a reminder of the power of the Chinese tech industry with Alibaba's annual "11.11 Singles Day" shopping festival raking in $8.6 billion in the first hour alone.

Benny Chen, who heads the India and Global Strategic Alliance division at Ant Financial- Alibaba's financial services affiliate - said at the start-up event that India was the next big thing for many Chinese companies, drawing a comparison to India's start-up space today and China in 2005, shortly before the Internet industry took off with a bang with the rise of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent. "Silicon Valley is pretty much made by half Indians and half Chinese, why not join hands?" he said, adding he was bullish about the growth of mobile Internet in India.

Shirley Mao, Vice Director Xiaomi Investment, said that with the smartphone manufacturer already achieving success in India, it would continue to invest in India, focusing on companies in fintech and content.

"If you set aside for a moment the political issues," Narang said, "and if you set aside the differences in political systems, purely from a tech and entrepreneur point of view I think you will find that much of the innovation that is happening in this ecosystem here in China to be quite striking."

"Both the Indian and Chinese ecosystems have remarkable similarities," he said.

"Big market size, rapidly urbanising fast growing economies, and also a predominantly socially conservative Asian culture. So, much of what we innovate, much of what we produce is intended to bring value to our middle classes. Our innovations are thus low-cost and tailored to our societal conditions. This does not have applicability in the West, but it does have applicability in these two markets," added Narang.

--- ENDS ---

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Jammu and Kashmir is as much India's part as PoK is rightfully Pakistan's. If Government wants peace, it will have to talk to Pakistan, said former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.

By India Today Web Desk: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has said that the PoK region (Pak-occupied Kashmir) belongs to Pakistan.

In order to resolve the Kashmir issue, we have to speak to Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir is as much India's part as PoK is rightfully Pakistan's. If Government wants peace, it will have to talk to Pakistan see to it that autonomy be given to Kashmir on either side of the border, he said.

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The National Conference leader added, "A Pakistan Minister rightly said that you forget that the part which is yours was acquired by an Instrument of Accession. You forget Instrument of accession and say that the part is yours. If you talk about this being your part, then remember the instrument as well."

When asked for an opinion on Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma, he said, "I can't comment much on that. He has held talks, but talks alone is no solution. This issue is between India and Pakistan. The Indian government must also hold talks with the Pakistan govt, because a part of Kashmir is also with them."

Meanwhile, reacting on Farooq Abdullah's remark, MoS PMO Jitendra Singh said, "When he was made the chief minister 40 years ago, he had stopped demanding autonomy. When he is not in power now, he is making such statements in a bid to regain a little power. The youth of Jammu and Kashmir are intelligent enough to see through this."

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: ex-Navy officer

Mumbai, Nov 11 (PTI) A childhood friend of Kulbhushan Jadhav today expressed happiness over Pakistans decision to allow the convicted Indian death row prisoner to meet his wife Chetna in prison.

"We are happy. Our expectations have risen with this decision," Tulshidas Pawar, the friend of the former Indian Navy officer, told PTI.

"We, the friends and family members (of Jadhav), are happy about this decision. We take it as a positive step and believe that he is not being harmed," he added.

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Pakistan should release Jadhav and hand him over to India at the earliest, Pawar said, adding, "After his wife meets him, we will get a fair idea about his physical and mental condition."

"From the beginning, we have been saying that Kulbhushan is not involved in the kind of activities for which he has been convicted," he added.

Pawar and Jadhav have been friends since childhood at Prithvi Nandan Society in central Mumbais Lower Parel area, where the former Navy officer grew up.

Pawar and some other friends of Jadhav had also undertaken a signature campaign in a bid to put pressure on Pakistan to secure his release.

The Pakistani authorities had yesterday said they would allow Jadhav to meet his wife, months after Indias request to Islamabad to grant a visa to the former Navy officers mother, Avantika, on humanitarian grounds.

"The Government of Pakistan has decided to arrange a meeting of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife, in Pakistan, purely on humanitarian grounds," Pakistans Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had said in a statement.

"A Note Verbale to this effect has been sent to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, today," he had added.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) had, in May, halted his execution on Indias appeal.

On June 22, Jadhav had filed a mercy petition before Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from the Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered that country from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was abducted in Iran, where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. PTI DC VT NP RC

--- ENDS ---
Journalist Omer Alpdogan of Cukurova Bars Gazetesi of Turkey has stressed that there are two ArmeniansElmas Giragos and Taylan Yldzamong the founding members of the nationalist Good Party, which recently entered the Turkish political arena with great fanfare, News.am informed.

November 11, 2017, 09:43 2 Armenians are among new Turkey nationalist party founders

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 11, ARTSAKHPRESS:Elmas Giragos has worried many Turkish nationalists; that is, they are surprised how an Armenian can be a Turkish nationalist, and they attack on Mrs. Elmas, wrote the Turkish journalist. And some nationalists assume that Mrs. Elmas is sent from Armenia as a spy.

But I believe that these labeling of ours is wrong, and Mrs. Elmas is truly devoted to Turkey and Turkish nationalism.

Surveys show that the Good Party, led by ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) former member Meral Aksener, will win parliamentary seats in the next elections.
Purie stressed on the role of people's partnership saying, "When you go people to people, there is a lot of love, friendship and hospitality."

By Nolan Pinto: In a first-of-its kind initiative to bridge the mistrust in the Valley, founder of the Art of Living Sri Sri Ravi Shankar hosted an event named Paigam-e-Mohabbat (Message of Love). This was aimed to heal hearts and bring about reconciliation among people who have directly suffered in the long-drawn conflict in Jammu & Kashmir .

The idea was to bring together family members of slain militants, families of victims of cross-firing from all parts of Kashmir and families of defence and security personnel from across the country who have been martyred.

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Speaking at the event, Aroon Purie, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, The India Today Group, who was one of the dignitaries congratulated Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for this very 'unique and historical,' movement to bridge hearts of the people affected in the valley due to militancy. According to him, a solution will come about only when politics is kept out and Insaniyat is brought in.

Speaking exclusively to India Today, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that all these people have come to give a message to society that violence will not lead us anywhere and the young people will realise that, 'You versus they and they versus you,' feeling will disappear. This will then make people to come together with a fresh vision of harmony. He further added that there is nobody to heal the wounds of these people and this event is a beginning to heal all of them.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says they have been working in Kashmir for a very long time and there is nothing to stop him from bringing peace there. 'Society is not run only by governments, civil society is there along with religious and spiritual leaders and the media,' he says adding, all have a role to play and if this is not done, we will all be erring in not doing our bit to make society better.

On criticism that he might be indulging in politics, he says this is but natural and people will look at him with a lot of suspicion. 'We have full conviction what we are doing is good and it will give a positive result,' he added.

PEOPLE PARTNERSHIP IS VITAL

Purie stressed on the role of people's partnership saying, "When you go people to people, there is a lot of love, friendship and hospitality."

He went on to add, "Even with Pakistan, from people to people, there is a great degree of love and amity between them." If one ever visited Pakistan, he told the gathering that they will be treated with great hospitality, great warmth and the same things happen when those people come over here.

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Purie spoke of his own history of being born in Pakistan and how his parents came to India as refugees after partition, but explained how the love his father had for this friends in Pakistan and what they had for him never died. "So between people, there is always this warmth and this is what Guruji has engaged and tapped upon. This is something which maybe a small river but will become an ocean, I hope," he added.

BUT THE SPOILER IS POLITICS, SAYS PURIE

Without batting an eyelid, Aroon Purie says when politics comes in, people do not want peace for their own reasons. "They have vested interests in terrorism, vested interests in violence and in disturbance and that has to be broken," he says adding, "Politics has to be divorced from this and that I think is the most important in terms of going forward."

He opined that Kashmir would have been a Switzerland, not only in beauty but in richness and infrastructure today. But, this has not happened because of politics. His mantra is to keep politics out and bring 'Insaniyat' in to solve all this mess.

--- ENDS ---
World No. 2, Kidambi Srikanth pulled out from the China Open Super Series, due to injury.

By Asian News International: Indian star and world number 2 Kidambi Srikanth has to wait to clinch his fifth super series title of the year, as the shuttler has pulled out from the China Open Super Series, beginning in Fuzhou on November 14.

Srikanth has withdrawn from the series in the wake of an injury.

Talking to ANI, he said, "There is muscle strain and my doctor has suggested me to take at least one week rest. So this is the reason I am not playing the China Open."

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The Pullela Gopichand protege recently established him as world number 2 in the latest BWF men's singles ratings, trailing Denmark's Victor Alexon by 4527 points in the world rankings.

When asked if there is chance for him to climb to the top spot, the 24-year-old replied in an affirmative matter.

"Yes. But with the injury, I can't manage the upcoming tournament. So I need to take rest and recover."

Last month, the Hyderabadi shuttler won the French Open and lifted his fourth Super Series title of the year. He has already clinched the Denmark Open Super Series Premier, the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier and Australian Open Super Series earlier this year.

--- ENDS ---
A 24-year-old law student was shot dead by an unidentified bike-borne assailant over a scuffle on a trivial issue, while he was walking near his house with two of his friends on Nala Road in Buraris Hardev Nagar late on Thursday .

The victim, Ashish Bhardwaj, went for a walk with his friends, Himanshu, 32, and Anup, 34, when the incident happened. Around 12 am the police were informed by Himanshu about a scuffle in which a drunken man on a bike had shot his friend.

When they were walking, the accused biker intervened and abused them for walking so late in the area which led to an altercation between Ashish Bhardwaj and the accused. They got into a scuffle and his friends tried to overpower the accused. In the meantime, his bike fell down. The accused pulled out his pistol and fired one round pointing at Bhardwajs face, a senior police officer said.

Ashish was bleeding heavily when police reached the spot. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Himanshu and Anup had minor injuries, police said.

On Himanshus statement, a case under relevant sections was registered at Burari police station and an investigation was taken up.

Ashish, a native of Bihar, was a final year law student at a Gurugram-based private college while Anup and Himanshu are preparing for the civil services examination, police said.

An investigating officer told The Statesman that, The accused has been identified and is absconding from his house. But with the help of our local intelligence we have acquired details of his hideouts and very soon he will be arrested.
In a dramatic action, Uttarakhand Police arrested the mother of western U.P gangster Sunil Rathi from Baraut in Bagpath district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday . Rajbala was arrested on allegation of demanding ransom of Rs. 50 Lakh from a Roorkee based doctor.

Sunil Rathi was recently shifted from the Roorkee jail to Abdulapur jail in Bagpath (UP). Rajbala, a former BSP leader, is contesting in the Tekari City Council election as an independent candidate. The arrest created shock-wave and the supporters of Rajbala gathered at the Gangnahar police station in Roorkee on Saturday morning protesting the move.

Confirming the arrest, Uttakhand Polices Additional Directorate General Ashok Kumar said, The arrest was made in connection with the ransom demanded from a doctor in Roorkee.

The state police acted after receiving complain from a prominent doctor from Roorkee-who received multiple call on his mobile phone, in the name of Sunil Rathi, to provide Rs. 50 Lakh and deliver it at Baraut. Though one business too had received similar threat but he failed to register complain with the police.
A long, painful wait by both people and politicians has begun, after the culmination of a hectic poll process on 9 November. The fate of 337 candidates sealed in the VVIT machines will be known only on 18 December along with the peoples own fate ~ whether the ruling Congress will retain power, or BJP will form the new government.

The model code of conduct will remain in force till then and the government of Himachal Pradesh will stay somewhat paralysed. No new appointments and major decisions will be allowed to be taken (unless specially permitted by the Election Commission).

Many intelligent citizens in the state are against this long wait and the problems arising from partial non-governance for such a long time.

How can the poll results of a small, remote hill state like Himachal affect the poll outcome of the distant Gujarat? The concerns and issues are totally different. Even if elections were to be held in a neighbouring state, there may be some unsubstantiated argument in it; but in this case, bracketing the poll results of these two states on the same day and continuing the code of conduct for such a long time in Himachal does not seem to be fair.

By such a yardstick (it is argued), in this age of electronic media, all states should be under the Model Code of Conduct  perhaps all the year round. Polls keep taking place in one state or the other, apart from general elections to the top two representative bodies and local bodies like Panchayats.

In by-elections too, it can be argued, a whole state or the other concerned states could be put under the Code. Such views aired by academicians and leaders in the state merit serious thinking by the countrys legislative bodies.

This can save the Supreme Courts valuable time, because this and other rules governing elections are bound to be challenged soon.

Incidentally, an NGO (Social Welfare Council of India) has demanded several modifications in the rules and procedures governing elections in a public statement issued here. It also demanded that the period of election campaigning should be 20 days for all state Assemblies and results should be declared within three days of polls.

Meanwhile, in all the market places and crowded areas like the Mall in major towns of the state people are being treated to heated political speculation, astrological predictions, remedial religious rituals, etc. Most officials in the corridors of power have been throwing up excuses in the name of the code of conduct for not taking even ordinary decisions of governance.

The standard claims of both the Congress and BJP leaders that their own party will win with a thumping majority are being received with a pinch of salt and amusement. BJP leaders claim that record polling of votes (about 75%) for the 68 assembly seats in Himachal indicate peoples mood for a change in government.e Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has predicted a convincing victory for the Congress.

But contractors, minor functionaries in government and other sectors (who depend heavily on government patronage) do not want to take chances. The lucky number of Virbhadra Singh is said to be 5  whereas Dhumals is reputed to be 9.

When the results come out on 18 December, the victorious leaders favourite number will become omnipresent in the state! Even the number plates of vehicles will change overnight their total in each case should be the concerned lucky number! Many smart operators are getting ready with both the numbers.

But a veteran observer of politics over the last four decades says: The fact is nobody knows at this stage  everything is only guess work. As always, the common voter is silent or just evasive. But BJP workers mood is very upbeat, while Congress workers seem to be cautious. Overall, its like in a slow-motion movie.
"It looks like the pressure from India and arguments made in the International Court of Justice have yielded a result," a friend of Jadhav's said.

Kulbhashan Jadhav's friends are happy with Pakistan's decision to let him meet his wife on humanitarian grounds.

By Mustafa Shaikh, Vidya : Former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's friends are delighted with Pakistan's decision to allow his wife to visit him in jail.

"We are content that at least Kulbhusan Jadhav's wife is being allowed to meet him. It looks like the pressure from India and arguments made in the International Court of Justice have yielded a result," said Tulsidas Pawar, a friend of Jadhav's.

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Kulbhushan Jadhav, accused of being an agent of India's Research and Analysis Wing, has been sentenced to death for alleged espionage. On Friday, the Pakistan Foreign Office said he would be allowed to meet his wife on "humanitarian grounds."

Pakistan previously rejected India's demands for consular access to Jadhav - several times. The United Nations' top court, the International Court of Justice, stayed Jadhav's execution earlier this year.

Tulsidas Pawar said Jadhav's friends don't know anything about the state of his health, or the location of his prison.

"Soon we may get some news. The Jadhav family has not spoken to us on this development. But we welcome this step," he said.

Subhash Jadhav, Kulbhushan's uncle and a retired Mumbai Police assistant commissioner, said the Jadhav family hadn't yet received any formal communication from the Indian government of the External Affairs ministry on Pakistan's offer.

HOPE

In September, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) asked Pakistan to make a counter-submission to India's written pleadings before December 13, when it will begin to hear the matter.

"We are celebrating," said Arvind Singh, another friend of Jadhav's, of Pakistan's offer. "It has given us hope that the hearing on the 13th of December will be in our favour."

"Pakistan is under pressure from international agencies. Pakistan till now has denied counsel (consular) access to Jadhav. This is a move which they did because of ICJ pressure so that Pakistan can make a strong case," Arvind Singh said.

Vijay, the owner of a laundry business in Powai, fondly remembers Kulbhushan Jadhav as "sir" and his wife as "mataji."

Jadhav gave Vijay financial support when he needed it, and encouraged him to join the defence forces. But he couldn't because he failed an exam, and Jadhav was upset when he entered the laundry business.

Vijay last saw Jadhav last February.

"(I) am really thankful to Pakistan for allowing this meet," he said. "But it's not just mataji, but...the entire family should be allowed to meet him as even the kids would want to meet sir, and even his mother has not seen him for so long."

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Balbir Singh, a friend of Vijay's, has been organising protest rallies against Pakistan since Kulbhushan's arrest.

Now, he says Islamabad's move has given Kulbhushan's neighbours hope that he'll be released.

'NOT SEEN FOR TWO MONTHS'

The Powai building where Kulbhushan Jadhav's family used to reside is deserted.

The watchman say they haven't been seen for two months.

Kulbhushan's uncle Subhash said he didn't know where Jadhav's wife currently is.

WATCH | Kulbhushan Jadhav's story told by a hanging rope

--- ENDS ---
Quite apart from the ritual colours splashed at the inauguration of the 23rd Kolkata Film Festival, it is clear that enough thinking has gone into offering a scintillating cocktail prepared well enough to recreate the old excitement. At one level, it could be seen as another carnival that brings thousands to the Nandan campus.

But what has enabled the festival to grow in stature and academic appeal is the effort to bring as much of the classical and contemporary interest to a city that has traditionally been committed to exploring the world of cinema. The gradual decline of the film society movement had created a vacuum that needed to be filled.

The festivals organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals in Delhi had brought the event to Kolkata after long gaps. That was not good enough. But the question was whether the Kolkata event could acquire a character of its own in a global climate dominated by big festivals in Cannes, Venice and Berlin with many more like Toronto and even Busan in Asia claiming the best films of the year in its competitions.

Kolkata also has to compete with similar events in Goa, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune and now Bangalore that has larger budgets and can draw a sizable number of international delegates. By comparison, it may be seen to be more modest although no effort has been spared to make it more visible to the masses than ever before. From stars who arrive at the Netaji Indoor Stadium to boisterous cheers from the galleries to the gigantic billboards installed at the festival hub and other parts of Kolkata, it has been turned into a celebration that extends well beyond the investigation of new styles and statements on the screen.

For students and young enthusiasts, who are seen in large numbers, the renewal of a commitment to the medium while looking for career opportunities is obvious. More and more debutants are making use of the digital medium to give expression to new ideas.

For them the festival presents a bank of ideas that could be adapted to their social and cultural environment. At the same time, there are confirmed cineastes who have perhaps been doing their best to remain updated through the Internet. For them there are discoveries to be made in more sections that have been put together this year.

Some of these are traditional ones like the retrospective of the works of Michael Winterbottom. He had shot into prominence on the festival circuit with Welcome to Sarajevo and The Road to Guantanamo  both dealing with contemporary tensions. But what should find a curious audience in Kolkata is Trishna, which Winterbottom had made in India with a rural landscape in Rajasthan as its setting. Again he puts forth the controversy of a natural environment being transformed by industrial growth.

The UK-Sweden-India coproduction is a loose adaptation of Hardys Tess of the dUbervilleswith Freida Pinto in the central role of the Indian girl who falls in love with a British Indian industrialist but who is not reconciled to the social transformation. It should stir minds as much as last years I, Daniel Blake directed by Ken Loach who has inspired Winter bottom in many ways.

What has kept the festival alive is the effort to move beyond the traditional areas into innovative packages. While Goa may be offering the Panorama of new Indian films with its variations in other states, Kolkata has launched a competition in Indian language films with a cash prize that should draw the new class of independent directors.

The titles competing for recognition this year dont have established names. Instead there is a much awaited splurge of new ideas in films like Sound of Silence (an Indo-US co-production), Sand Paper, Tikli and Laxmi Bomb and Pupa (from Bengal). Similarly tempting is the package of Indian national award winning films like Dashakriya(Marathi), Wrongside Raju (Gujarati), Maj Rati Ketaki(Assamese) and K Sera Sera (Konkani).

It more than compensates for the absence of the Indian Panorama. All this suggests the skill with which the festival has smoothly glided past the obvious limitations of competing with similar events elsewhere.

The competition of women directors from Asia has been converted into an international competition with entries from Brazil (Sort of Family), Italy (Stories of Love that cannot Belong to this World), Bangladesh (Death of a Poet), Kupal (Iran) and Nocturnal Ties (India). The results will be watched with interest especially because the success of a festival lies not just in prominent acquisitions from other festivals but also in pleasant discoveries.

Godard features conspicuously in this category through a film that was made in 1986 for French Television, The Rise and Fall of a Small Film Company, as well as in Redoubtable that shows him shooting La Chinoise in 1967 with Anne Wiazemsky, the woman he loved. Godard is a perpetual source of curiosity for film lovers in Kolkata.

But there are other old-timers like Marta Meszaros and Zoltan Fabri (both with films that have not been seen yet) as well as Rodin, Rajen Tarafdar and Nabyendu Ghosh who will figure in the special and centenary tributes.

The splendid convergence of excellence may well be partly drowned in the excess. But that is an experience that is well worth the risk.
The Government of Rajasthan in collaboration with the Saat Saath Arts announced the launch of the Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace, Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur on 10 December. This aims to turn the palace into an art gallery with sculptures by top Indian and international artists displayed both in and outdoors.

The exhibition is curated by Peter Nagy, director of Nature Morte Art Ltd, and is planned to be an annual fixture. For this year, artworks by 17 Indian and eight international artists have currently been selected to be exhibited at the Palace. All artworks for the exhibitions will be sensitively installed to ensure no damage or markings to any surface of the Palace. This partnership is a first-of-its-kind where the government has collaborated with a range of corporate sponsors and private individuals to bring a contemporary edge to Indias heritage properties, with the purpose of boosting national and international cultural tourism and visitors to the site.

Eminent individuals from leading corporations as well as renowned international galleries have also come forward to support this initiative by lending their artworks. Our initiative is to promote Indias growing interest in contemporary art and culture whilst also embracing its important heritage. The Sculpture Park is a true amalgamation of the best of countrys past and present, made possible through a unique collaboration between the public and private sector.

Saat Saaths endeavour has always been to showcase our countrys prowess in contemporary art, and to that end, we are thrilled to be able to bring this initiative to the public, said Aparajita Jain, founder and director, Saat Saath Arts. Rajasthan is especially rich in architecture and is home to some of the oldest and most famous forts and palaces. The states cultural tourism has had a great impact after adopting the contemporary culture and launching a series of events like the renowned Jaipur Literature Festival and an international photography festival Jaipur Photo.

In collaboration with eminent professionals from diverse fields, the state also supports various contemporary visual arts, photography and music. The Sculpture Park is a great example of a public-private initiative and will encourage the government to support contemporary art in India. For most of my career as a gallerist and curator, I have been trying to break away from the white-box exhibition space.

With this project, I am able to indulge my passions for art, architecture and decor into a marvellous synthesis of the past and the present, said Peter Nagy, curator, The Sculpture Park. Founded in 2010 by director Jain, the Saat Saath Arts Foundation is a non-profit initiative, with headquarters in New Delhi and working with museums and galleries across the world. The foundation also supports and raises additional funds for exhibitions.

It endows international curators with resources to extend their research on Indian art practitioners, thus nurturing a vital exchange of knowledge. The Sculpture Park will become a must visit destination for all, but most importantly, for the contemporary art world. Free for the public, in public spaces, Jaipur is becoming a virtual museum celebrating the arts, generating pride and energising all who engage with the city, said Malvika Singh, Chief Ministers Advisory Council, Government of Rajasthan.
Member of Parliament and National Conference President, Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that restoration of internal autonomy for J-K is the remedy for the unrest in the state, not the demand for azaadi.

Farooq, who was talking to media persons on the sidelines of a party function in Srinagar, said azaadi (independence for Kashmir) was not an issue as being landlocked between the atomic powers of India, Pakistan and China we will not be in a position to survive. In an obvious reference to the separatists, he said those talking of azaadi were misleading the people.

He said that Jammu and Kashmir is as much Indias part, as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is rightfully of Pakistan. We should accept this reality, as war is no solution to retrieve the PoK.

Central minister Jitendra Singh, who raised the issue of final accession of J&K with India through the Instrument of Accession that the then ruler Hari Singh had signed, should also remember that internal autonomy for J-K was part of the same instrument.

Farooq said that in order to resolve the Kashmir issue, India has to speak to Pakistan to see that autonomy was granted to people on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC).

The NC chief accused India of betraying us as they didnt reciprocate the love with which we chose to join them. That is the root cause of the current unrest in Kashmir. Internal autonomy is our right and it should be restored for peace to return.

Farooq refused to react to the plebiscite demand of the separatists. I am not part of the Hurriyat, he said.

Reacting to a question about fruitfulness of the dialogue process that has been initiated by the interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma, Farooq said that only Sharma can tell how much successful his visit was. But the problem in Kashmir would not be solved by such dialogues and the remedy could be found only when India and Pakistan talk on the issue, Farooq added.
As smog continued to envelop Delhi and NCR for the fifth day in row, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday urged the people not to panic stating that air quality has been improving over the last two days.

The Minister pointed out that for the first time this year a focussed approach has been adopted to deal with emergency-like situations through Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Several restrictions such as stopping truck movement and banning diesel generator sets are imposed under GRAP, depending on the severity of the air quality.

Air quality has been improving over the last two day, people of Delhi need not panic, the Minister said.

Particle pollution in the air in Delhi reached severe-plus or emergency levels in Delhi and NCR with major pollutants calculated 35 times the safe-limits at certain spots on Saturday.

The Minister said that focused attention at the highest level has been ensured through committees headed by the Union Minister, Minister of State and Secretary.

Crop residue and stubble burning have been under detailed discussions during all these meetings, the Minister said, referring to the review meetings with concerned state governments and agencies.

Earlier, the Union Environment Ministry on Thursday formed a seven-member committee to work out short and long -term measures to fight air pollution. The committee is headed by Environment Secretary CK Mishra.

GRAP must be earnestly and meticulously implemented by the concerned state governments, as well as municipal and civic organisations, the Minister said.

Harsh Vardhan also underlined the augmenting of the number of monitoring stations in Delhi-NCR to enhance the quality of information system.

He said that as a part of advance planning and special intervention, 40 monitoring teams of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have been deployed since September 1, 2017 to give feedback on the ground situation and air polluting activities in Delhi.

A systemic response mechanism was put in place for the last one year and regular alerts were conveyed to all stakeholders, the Minister said.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that teachers play a pivotal role in educating the society and Google cant replace Guru, while addressing a gathering at the 13th Convocation Ceremony of KIIT in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

He said, no doubt Google is important, but it can never replace guru (teachers) in the life of students.

Hence the students should be grateful to their gurus and at the same time work to serve mother, mother tongue, and motherland.

There is nothing wrong in learning English, Hindi or French, (but) students should also be proficient in their mother tongue which comes from the heart and helps one to express his feeling better, said the Vice President.

He said the country will grow when the higher education sector develops.

Naidu said that learning new skills and acquiring new knowledge is vital in todays knowledge economy. The Vice President also said that all formal, non-formal and informal channels contribute to making us educated. , he added.

He advised the students to think outside the box and collect as well as connect facts.

Naidu, addressing a congregation of graduate, post-graduate and doctorate degree recipients said that you are among the 25% of our countrys youth who are enrolled in institutions of higher education. I compliment you on successful completion of the courses you have pursued in the University.

On convocation ceremonies, Naidu said that they are a moment of celebration. They are a moment of glory and satisfaction. Convocation is a moment of looking forward to a hopeful future.

He also urged students to acquire and utilise vast resources that are now more readily available than before: information and knowledge.

Naidu further said that we must revive and adopt this inclusive, welcoming world view. That is the best way to grow and bring back the lost glow on the face of our motherland, he added.

The Governor of Odisha, SC Jamir and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

(with agency inputs)
Ever since the Election Commission declared 9 and 14 December as the polling dates for Gujarat, the news front seems to have been taken over by the two main political parties  BJP and Congress. But there are many other, such as Sharad Yadav-led JDU, Nitish Kumars faction of JDU and the Shiv Sena, that add variety to the poll potpourri.

The state with 182 seats has traditionally seen a two-way contest between the BJP and the Congress and since 1995 the BJP has been in power with Congress in the opposition. However, with the latest rise of the Patidar, OBC and Dalit leaders, the otherwise mechanised electoral process in the state is witnessing a different trend.

BJP, though confident, is being seen on the backfoot with Hardik Patel of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) and the Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani taking a stand against the state government. These local socio-political units run successfully by young leaders add a unique flavour to the elections this time.

Patidars represents 12.3% of the population of Gujarat and the community dominates in about 46 seats in Gujarat, while the community vote can influence election results in about 105 seats. Whereas Dalit voters can affect the outcome on at least 13 seats. Together the two categories can influence the outcome on 120 odd seats out of the total of 182 seats in the Gujarat assembly. As both the factions are seen to be hobnobbing with the Congress, this time the party can gain from the pre-election tie-up.

BJP, on the other hand, is fighting a multi-faced opposition along with the two-decade-long anti-incumbency in Gujarat. What has made matters crucial for the ruling party is that Congress is working to be the focal point for all anti-BJP groups in the state, which has added to its electoral charm and given it an advantage at the grassroots level.

The BJP-led central government under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is also facing the problem of its central allies. BJPs partner in the Maharashtra Assembly, Shiv Sena, has declared its intention to fight the Gujarat elections as independently. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which is having issues with BJP in Maharashtra, has decided to contest 50 to 75 seats in the state.

The other ally of BJP, Nitish Kumar led JD(U) that joined the NDA is also fighting Gujarat elections as independently.

Then there is other JD(U) faction led by Sharad Yadav, who plans to fight the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017 under the Congress alliance. The JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday asked all anti-BJP parties to pitch together for a minimum division of opposition vote to defeat the BJP.

With this variety of offering, the Gujarat elections and the results would be interesting to watch. The election result would be excitedly and eagerly awaited by all political parties as it is being termed as a referendum on the BJP-led central government and more importantly the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his agenda of development which has been marred by public outcry on the demonetisation and the GST implementation.
In a significant development, Pakistan on Friday announced that it has decided purely on humanitarian grounds to arrange a meeting between former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in the country, and his wife.

A note verbale to this effect has been sent to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad today, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement which was also made available to the Indian media by the Pakistan mission in New Delhi.

There was no immediate response from India, which has repeatedly sought consular access to Jadhav. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is believed to have discussed the matter with senior officials of the ministry, including those dealing with Pakistan.

Jadhav was arrested by the Pakistani authorities from Balochistan after he reportedly entered from Iran in March last year. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

The sudden announcement by Islamabad came days after new Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and discussed bilateral issues. Jadhavs issue is also believed to have figured during the meeting. India had also, meanwhile, asked Pakistan to grant a visa to Jadhavs mother to enable her to meet her son.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism. After denial of consular access to Jadhav, India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is currently seized of the case. The ICJ had in May stayed his execution on Indias appeal. Jadhav had also filed a mercy petition before Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in June.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi arrived in Gujarat on Saturday on a three-day visit, his fourth in a row to the poll-bound state. This time he is visiting the stronghold of the BJP, in north Gujarat.

Gandhi is expected to attack the ruling BJP, both in the state as well as the Centre, on various fronts like the Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation, unemployment, Patidars, farmer distress and price rise et al.

As the state gears up for the state assembly elections on December 9 and 14, political bigwigs have made Gujarat their second home and the Gandhi scion is no exception.

In the last two months, not just Gandhi, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national chief Amit Shah have been to the state several times.

Gandhi arrived at the Ahmedabad airport on Saturday morning. Then in a completely unplanned move, he headed to the Akshardham Temple here. After tilak and darshan he set out for the Chiloda village, adjoining the state capital.

Gandhi during his recent visits has made it a point to visit most of the pilgrim places and famous temples.

He will later visit Chala and Majra chokdi, both in Gandhinagar district.

From there he will head to Prantij and Himmatnagar before going to Idar, a tribal region. In Himmatnagar, Gandhi will be addressing a farmers gathering.

In the afternoon he will be visiting the Khedbrahmma region, as well as visit the famous Ambaji temple. In Idar, as well as in Vadali, he will have corner meetings, similar to the Chai Pe Charcha type.

His night halt will be in Ambaji town. Before his Ambaji temple darshan, he will address a public meeting on the rights of tribals at Khedbrahmma.

Gandhis frequent visits have sprung quite a surprise in political circles, and have been unprecedented.

Political pundits opine that as far as Congress leaders, especially from the 10, Janpath in Delhi are concerned, visits to the state have always been for a single day.

Until now, they were mostly characterised by a single public meeting in some remote tribal region. But this is probably for the first time that three-day visits have been planned and executed in Gujarat and that too, in urban areas as well.

On Sunday, Gandhi will have an interaction with the social media and IT teams of the party followed by his visits Danta and Jalotra and a public meeting at Palanpur in Banaskantha district.

In Deesa, Gandhi will once again address small gatherings of youth and talk about Yuva Rojgar.

On Sunday he will be visiting and having darshan of two temples, one at Thara and the other Totana. He will also address a public meeting at the Thara ground.

Late on Sunday evening he will arrive at former Chief Minister Anandiben Patels bastion, Patan, and address a public meeting. He will make a night halt at Patan Circuit House.

On Monday, Gandhi will meet Dalit leaders in the morning after his darshan to Patans Vir Megh Maya Temple.

After that he will be visiting four villages in the area and once again have a small gathering and discussion (Chopal-style) with the nomadic tribe communities.

On the last day of his three-day sojourn, Gandhi will have a darshan in three temples. First in Varana, where he will also address a public meeting, then in Shankheshwar temple and later in Becharaji, where he will also address the Rojgar Adhikar Sabha.

Gandhi will arrive in the Mehsana constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, where he will address women at Mahila Adhikar Sabha.

He will end the visit on Monday with small corner meetings in Visnagar, the place from where the Patidar reservation stir initiated. He will then leave for Delhi.
Four people were killed and five others injured on Saturday in a suicide attack targeting a military camp in Afghanistans Helmand province, a police officer said.

A Taliban terrorist driving an explosive-laden car was attempting to enter the military camp but was identified and shot dead by security personnel outside. However, two more terrorists accompanying the suicide bomber opened fire on security personnel triggering a gunfight, Xinhua news agency quoted the officer as saying.

The victims comprised three Taliban militants and one security personnel.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The US Congress has authorised up to $700 million in Coalition Support Fund (CSF) to reimburse Pakistan for activities carried out in support of American operations in Afghanistan.

The authorisation was included in the reconciled text of the House and Senate versions of the 2018 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA-2018), which was released earlier this week, Dawn online reported.

The reconciled version will make $350 million of $700 million available to Pakistan upon certification from US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis that Pakistan took demonstrable steps against the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in Pakistan.

The NDAA urged the US Defence Department to monitor Washingtons security assistance to Pakistan and ensure that the country did not use it to support militant groups.

Mattis will also have to certify that Pakistan took steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani network and LeT from using Pakistani territory as a safe haven and for fundraising or recruiting efforts.

The reconciled version also expressed concern about the alleged persecution of various political or religious groups in Pakistan, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, Baloch, Sindhi and Hazara.

The bill urged Mattis to ensure that Pakistan will not use any assistance provided by the US to persecute minority groups.

The certification would also have to include a declaration that Pakistan is working with Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants along the border and that Islamabad had shown progress in arresting and prosecuting senior leaders and mid-level operatives of the Haqqani network and LeT.

NATO, meanwhile, said without the support of neighbouring countries, bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan would be impossible, Tolo News reported.

There cannot be peace in Afghanistan unless we engage Afghanistans neighbours and we have to convince them to take on a constructive role on Afghanistan. Its in their own interests as we would then move on from a lose-lose situation as we are currently facing to a win-win situation, NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann said.

Afghan acting Defence Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami said Pakistan will be subjected to more political pressure from foreign to take action against insurgents.

The Special Charge dAffaires of the US Embassy in Kabul Ambassador Hugo Llorens said the US will stay in support of thousands of Afghan people who are fighting the insurgent groups to defend their country.
AT the Sahitya Aaj Tak event in New Delhi today, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas at his sarcastic best when he launched a veiled attack on his party boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

By India Today Web Desk: The stage was set for a literary recitation but politics took the centre-stage as Hindi poet and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas stepped onto the dais of Sahitya Aaj Tak today in New Delhi.

Kumar Vishwas, apparently sidelined in the Aam Aadmi Party over differences with party leadership in recent times, recited poems at the Sahitya Aaj Tak event but his poetry was more like an attack on his "friend" Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Ministe.

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In one of his poems, Kumar Vishwas said, "Purani dosti ko iss nai taqat se mat taulo/ Ye sambandho ki tupai hai, shadyantron se mat taulo/ Mere lahje ki chheni s gadhe kuchh devta tab, mere lafzon par marte the, wo kahte hain mat bolo (Don't weigh old friendship on the scale of new power, it is the depth of relationship, don't weigh it on the scale of conspiracies/ they sculptured some god with my mannerism back then, they vowed to die on my words back then, now they ask me not to speak)."

Without taking name of Arvind Kejriwal, Kumar Vishwas said that he was being asked to keep silent on issues that he finds pricking. He also alleged through his recitation that he was asked by the party leadership to say only what they said in public.

"Ve bole durbar sajao, ve bole jaikar lagao/ ve bole hum jitna bolein tum keval utna dohrao (they said hold dubar, they said raise slogans hailing us/ they asked me to repeat only as much as we say)," Kumar Vishwas said while reciting his poem.

Kumar Vishwas also said that he had joined politics with the hope of offering a new alternative to people but "the dreams that we saw were turned into politics." Interestingly, Vishwas announced before reading out his poem that people should interpret his recitation in the prevailing political conditions in his party and country.

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But the tribe has a long way to go
By PTI: Ktaka minister

Bengaluru, Nov 11 (PTI) The killers of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in an audacious attack here over two months ago, would "100 per cent" be nabbed in a few weeks, Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said today.

He said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the killing had clues about the assailants, but those could not be disclosed at the moment.

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"Who has done it...I am aware of it thanks to an update provided by the SIT. But I cannot disclose it now," Reddy said at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and the Bangalore Reporters Guild here.

"Gauris killers will 100 per cent be caught. This will happen in a few weeks," he added.

The minister, however, clarified, "Weeks do not mean one or two weeks. It (the arrest of the killers) will happen in a matter of a few weeks. This will happen 100 per cent."

Reddy said whether Lankesh was killed by left-wing or right-wing extremists or was it due to "some other thinking" was "one issue".

Lankesh, known to be an anti-establishment voice with strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead at close range by unidentified assailants outside her residence here on the night of September 5.

The killing had led to a national outrage and protests by several groups over "rising intolerance" in the country and attempts to muzzle dissent, with the criticism targeted at the BJP-led central government and right-wing groups.

Reddy had made similar claims about the SIT having gathered "some clues" in connection with the case earlier too.

The Congress government in Karnataka, which constituted the SIT headed by Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) B K Singh, has also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone providing clues about the perpetrators of the crime.

As the killing gave way to a political slugfest, Lankeshs family had made a plea not to give a political colour to it.

They had said the investigators should look into all possible aspects of the case, as reports had emerged about a possible Naxal hand in the crime, besides the suspected involvement of right-wing extremists. PTI RA APR RC

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After Pakistan offered a meeting between imprisoned Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav and his wife on humanitarian grounds, his friends called it a positive step from the neighboring country and credited the Indian government and International Court of Justice(ICJ) for it.

"We see this is a positive step from Pakistan. The pressure our government created in the country and the verdict of the International court in favor of India forced Pakistan to step back," his friend Arvind Singh told ANI.

The Pakistan government, who arrested Jadhav over charges of alleged involvement in espionage activities for India's intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), decided to arrange a meeting with his wife, purely on humanitarian grounds.

However, India has always maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

Singh expressed his happiness that now they will get to know about Jadhav's actual condition.

"I am really happy. We were repeatedly demanding to let his parents meet him, but at least his wife is allowed a visit now. We will at least get to know about his situation, his health, and his mental condition. Till now, we didn't know what are his thoughts and were only listening to Pakistan's version," he said.

Tulsi Das Pawar, another friend of Kulbhushan, said Pakistan would have executed Jadhav if India had not intervened at the right time.

"If India had not intervened at the right time, Pakistan would have executed him. The ICJ supported us," he said.

Pawar hoped that Pakistan might acquit Kulbhushan in the following days.

"This is a result of the continuous attempts and prayers of India. We were waiting for such moves for a long time. Our hopes have increased. They are letting him meet his wife today. Tomorrow, they might take a fair approach and acquits him. This is a very positive move from Pakistan," he said.

"The whole scenario has changed. Pakistan has now realised that they have to adhere to certain policies though they are not willing to do that. The situation is favourable for India and we are definitely going to win the case in the end," he added.

On April 10, 2017, Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan.

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday demanded unfettered humanitarian access to Myanmar's northern Rakhine State.

"We insist on the need to make sure, not only that all violence against this population (of Rohingyas) stops, but also we need to insist on unhindered humanitarian access to all areas of Rakhine State, including the northern part of this region," he told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Xinhua reported.

The UN chief also demanded the voluntary return of Rohingya refugees who have fled the Rakhine State into neighbouring Bangladesh.

"We insist on the need to reassert the right of returnsafe and dignifying return, voluntary returnfor all the population that fled to Bangladesh and to the areas of originnot to be placed in camps, not having access to the places where they left."

Guterres emphasised the importance of addressing the root cause of the problem, which relies largely on the problems related to citizenship for the Rohingyasan Indo-Aryan Muslim minority in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmarand to the legal status of this population "that has been discriminated and that is stateless at the present moment."

More than 600,000 Rohingyas have fled their homes in Rakhine State since August 25, when attacks by Rohingya rebels on police and security forces triggered retribution, and sought refuge in camps centred in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

"What has happened is an immense tragedy, and the levels of violence and the atrocities committed are something that we cannot be silent about," Guterres said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that aid access in northern Rakhine State remained extremely challenging, with the United Nations being granted almost no access by the Myanmar government.

The UN Security Council on Monday issued a presidential statement on Myanmar, the first such statement on the country in 10 years, demanding an end to the "excessive use of military force" in Rakhine State and the creation of conditions for the safe return of the refugees.

Myanmar's UN representative, Hau Do Suan, expressed serious concern over the statement, which he said would not help resolve the issue as it placed undue political pressure on Myanmar.
In an assembly election which is a prestige issue for the ruling BJP, the party is leaving nothing to chance. With the Congress putting in a spirited challenge, the BJP's star campaigner Narendra Modi is slated to address 50 public meetings across the state.

BJP president Amit Shah's visits to his home state have also increased. He has been camping in the state and holding meetings with party workers. Having announced a target of 150 plus seats in the 182-member assembly, the BJP hopes the Modi magic would work again. He will handle everything. One needs to just wait and watch, is the general sentiment among the party's rank and file.

The results, however, are not a foregone conclusion. Gujarat votes on December 9 and 14, and the Congress is looking up to three young menHardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevanias game changers. Unless Modi can recreate his magic, the trio and the castes they represent could well be the deciding factor.

It is for the first time in decades that Gujarat is witnessing the mobilisation of youth in anti-establishment protests, said Mevani, one of the prominent dalit leaders in Gujarat. What is worrisome for the BJP, already in trouble for demonetisation and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, is that both Patel and Mevani have made it clear that they are firmly opposed to the ruling party. While Mevani, 34, has had a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Patel is expected to meet the Congress vice president after the legal team of the Congress gives an opinion on how the Patidars can be accorded reservation within the parameters of the Constitution.

The Patidars have been demanding OBC (other backward class) status since 2015. The BJP's inability to resolve the issue cost the party dear in the 2015 elections to district and taluka panchayats. The Congress, which had only one district panchayat, won 31 of 33 in 2015.

Patidar organisations close to the BJP allege that the agitation has become a private one. Patel, however, is unfazed. There is so much unrest among the youth, he said. Although he made it clear that he was not joining any political party, the 24-year-old said he would ask people to vote against the BJP.

Thakore, 40, has formally joined the Congress. My aim is to ensure the victory of all 182 candidates of the Congress, he said. The Congress in Gujarat seems to be more united following the exit of Shankersinh Vaghela, and the victory of senior leader Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha elections, despite Shah's efforts to ensure his defeat, has enthused the party workers.

The mood of the youth, who constitute nearly 40 per cent of the electorate, could be decisive. Devang Raval, a 19-year-old computer engineering student from Ahmedabad, said there were reasons for the youth to support the BJP. If the BJP retains power, it will continue various schemes for students. The government has promised laptops and it is very important for an engineering student, he said. Amit Thaker, state secretary of the BJP, said women and youth played a major role in building 'Brand Modi'. Youth mobilisation was always there, but it was not noticed as it got subsumed under 'Brand Modi', he said.

Varun Patel, who recently parted ways with Hardik Patel and joined the BJP, said the large-scale youth mobilisation was a result of the Patidar stir. But he said many of the agitators lacked political maturity. His views found support from Dhrumit Pandit, a second-year mechanical engineering student from Ahmedabad. He said there were many young people who blindly joined agitations without knowing whether the government was good or not. Many do not know why they are supporting anti-government agitations, he said. Pandit said programmes of the Modi government like Startup India and Stand-Up India were yielding results.

Mukesh Bharwad, vice president of the OBC, SC, ST Ekta Manch and a close aide of Thakore, challenged Pandit's views. He said if the people were so happy with the prime minister, then the rallies of Rahul Gandhi and the young anti-government leaders would not have attracted so many people.

Ahmedabad-based political analyst Prakash Shah said the BJP's winning formula of Mandal and mandir had been broken. The youth is drifting away from it, which was not the case before 2014. Jobless growth is a reality, and at the Centre the BJP has not been able to perform as expected. Prakash was not quite sure whether the presence of huge crowds in the public meetings of Patel, Thakore and Mevani would translate into anti-BJP votes, but he said the Congress could emerge much stronger with their support. Moreover, anything less than 150 seats would be an embarrassment for the BJP.

Sociologist Gaurang Jani said the three young leaders rose in popularity because of the absence of a youth icon in the BJP. On the other hand, the youngsters are staying away from the Congress as it has been out of power for years. The support for the trio is also the result of the flawed economic policies of the government. Jani said Gujarat had not witnessed such a strong political mobilisation of youth since the 1985 anti-reservation stir. In his view, the BJP has been caught napping. It had taken Gujarat for granted.
The festival will be held in December.

By Indo-Asian News Service: India's first Military Literature Festival (MLF) will be held in Chandigarh, in December as a tribute to the armed forces, whose contributions to the nation remain etched in history as iconic events, Punjab Local Bodies and Tourism and Culture Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said Friday.

The MLF will be held here from December 7 to 9.

Sidhu told media here that Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, himself a military historian and author, was pioneering this initiative, which is being jointly promoted by the Punjab government and the Chandigarh Administration with the objective of spreading awareness about the subject among people.

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Top thinkers, authors, historians, curators and experts related to defence matters will participate in the event, he said.

Also Read: Mumbai to witness grand India and World exhibition from this weekend

"With Punjab standing tall in terms of Param Vir Chakras won by its men, the festival is an apt and glowing tribute to the grit, courage and fearless determination of the country's defence personnel," Sidhu said.

Punjab Chief Minister's Senior Advisor, Lt. Gen. T.S. Shergill (retd), said military literature had ancient roots, with the longest poem, the Mahabharata, being all about warfare.

He also spoke about the relevance of technology to military and literature, underlining the importance of promoting all aspects of the subject.

Scores of books on defence and strategic affairs, including the wars that India has fought, have been written in the past many decades.

--- ENDS ---
The 18 billion shopping frenzy that takes place on Singles Day is the most obvious sign of the rapidly growing middle classes in China.

And because of the population numbers in Asia, the explosion of consumerism  on display today in Chinas version of Black Friday  is driving growth around the world.

The internet is powering much of this, with more than one billion Chinese now using mobile phone internet, and connected to social media through apps such as WeChat. This has more members than Facebook and WhatsApp.

The 18 billion shopping frenzy that takes place on Singles Day is the most obvious sign of the rapidly growing middle classes in China

So how can UK savers cash in on this, and what are the risks?

Dale Nicholls, portfolio manager of Fidelity China Special Situations, says: What sets China apart can be broken down into three main areas.

The new group of consumers who are driving Chinas transition, the home-grown companies that dominate digital commerce in the country and the unique and pioneering business models these companies are devising.

As well as mobile phones, growth areas in China at the moment are bike-sharing firms and live-streaming companies which put shows on the internet.

One of the best ways to incorporate China into a portfolio, according to Chris Stevenson, director at Barclays Smart Investor, is to invest in UK-based funds with partial or exclusive exposure to the Chinese market.

Exchange traded funds  which are essentially low-cost trackers  are a good option for those looking for a more passive investment, as they usually mirror the performance of a particular index, such as the SSE Composite Index, he adds.

Investors could look to funds by Lindsell Train UK Equity and Crux UK  which both place fashion brand Burberry, which does a quarter of its sales in China  in their top ten holdings.

Baillie Gifford Pacific Fund looks to exploit the period of change that Asia is facing

Chinese consumers are also big whisky lovers, with 40pc of all Diageos Asian sales attributed to the tipple. Liontrust Special Situations has Diageo as their third largest holding, while Threadneedle UK Extended Alpha has it in second place.

But Darius McDermott, managing director of online funds ratings company Fund Calibre, names Asia-specific funds with exposure in China as a good way to tap into the sectors growth.

As Chinas middle class expands, the potential for consumer spending growth is enormous.

As Chinas middle class expands, the potential for consumer spending growth is enormous Darius McDermott, managing director of online funds ratings company Fund Calibre

He recommends the Schroder Asian Alpha Plus fund, where 32pc is invested in China. The funds manager is a big believer in the Asia consumer trend and has Alibaba and Tencent in his top 10 holdings.

Tencent is an investment holding company with subsidiaries that can be thought of in a similar league to Facebook, Uber, Paypal and Just Eat all rolled into one.

He also points to the Baillie Gifford Pacific Fund, which looks to exploit the period of change that Asia is facing, by looking for opportunities afforded by this change and investing in companies disrupting the existing order. It has about 36pc in China.

Investing in China doesnt come without a warning, however. Many experts warn of a credit bubble that could be about to explode.

According to the International Monetary Funds most recent Global Financial Stability Report, the size, complexity, and pace of credit in Chinas financial system point to elevated risks to financial stability.

Will Hobbs, head of investment strategy for UK and Europe at Barclays, says: There remain concerns with the Chinese economy, particularly with the housing market, which is again showing signs of slowing. However, we still think that the authorities have the means to staunch these problems.
CHRISTMAS SHOP Discount supermarket Lidl has opened a 55 million distribution centre in Exeter  creating 500 jobs in the process.

The hub will help see it through the Christmas period, where it expects to distribute 40,000 turkeys, 1.5m boxes of mince pies, 100,000 prosecco bottles, 150,000 bags of carrots and 100,000 packs of sprouts in the week leading up to Christmas Day.

BANK WARNING Scandal-hit bank Standard Chartered has still not convinced US authorities it has changed its ways, meaning the threat of prosecution will hang over it for another year.

Discount supermarket Lidl has opened a 55 million distribution centre in Exeter  creating 500 jobs in the process. The hub will help see it through the Christmas period

The lender was fined 250 million in America in 2012 for working with blacklisted businesses in Iran and other countries. It avoided prosecution by pledging to clean up its act by mid-2017  but yesterday this deferred prosecution agreement was extended to July next year.

CREDIT SLUMP Profits at credit checker Equifax fell to 73.3 million in the three months to September 30  down 27 per cent on a year earlier. The firm is reeling after criminals raided 15.2 million personal records of UK consumers, along with 143 million in the US.

APP FLOAT Dara Khosrowshahi, boss of Uber, said the taxi app firm is planning to go public by 2019.

TOASTING SUCCESS Craft beer firm Brew Dog is looking for sales managers and account managers to fuel expansion after revenue surged 93 per cent at the end of September.

METER FEES Struggling families will no longer face fees as high as 900 if they are forced to have an energy prepayment meter installed, said Ofgem. The most they can be charged is 150, said the watchdog.

EGYPT LOAN Washington-based International Monetary Fund is pumping 9.1 billion into Egypt as part of turnaround efforts following civil conflict and a military coup.
British companies were last night raking in millions from Singles Day  Chinas 18 billion online shopping extravaganza.

The event, which started out as an opportunity for Chinese singletons to buy themselves a gift, has spiralled into the worlds biggest shopping day of the year.

It is held today, November 11  or 11.11  because the 1 is meant to represent an individual not in a romantic relationship.

The Singles Day sales were kicked off by the actress Nicole Kidman and Alibaba founder Jack Ma in a Super Bowl style gala

Last night, as the bonanza started, online retailer Alibaba reported takings of 3.8 billion in less than 15 minutes.

The sales were kicked off by the actress Nicole Kidman and Alibaba founder Jack Ma in a Super Bowl style gala.

The 53-year-old is the 23rd richest person in the world and worth around 30 billion.

More than 130 UK brands are taking part including Burberry, Marks & Spencer, New Look and LK Bennett.

The total gross merchandise volume, a measure of sales, exceeded 10 billion yuan after three minutes and one second during the 2017 11:11 Global Shopping Festival gala in Shanghai

Topshop and Clarks were among the big winners last year when shoppers spent 13.5 billion  up from 11 billion in 2015.

Analysts at Citigroup believe the 24-hour event, which has been dominated by Alibaba-owned platform Tmall since it began in 2009, will rake in 18 billion this year.

That is more than is spent on Europes biggest shopping days  Black Friday and Cyber Monday  combined.

Mei Chen, head of international business development at Alibaba, said: There is huge demand from Chinese consumers for foreign goods, especially UK brands, which are associated with high quality, heritage and are at the forefront of fashion.

More than 130 UK brands are taking part in the Singles Day sales, including Topshop

New Look international managing director Sven Gaede said that as well as generating great sales for the business, Singles Day has broader benefits in building brand awareness and attracting customers.

A report by Royal Mail found that 55 per cent of online shoppers in China buy goods from the UK  spending an average of 104 a month on items from British retailers.

Royal Mail sells a range of British brands on the Tmall website including products from Waitrose and Marvel milk products by Premier Foods.

UK brands are really clicking with Chinas shoppers Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels

Its also banking on Zatchels, an accessories firm that sells British-made satchels, to be extremely popular.

Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels, said: UK brands are really clicking with Chinas shoppers.

Worldpay, the global payments company, said it expects British companies to cash in as the weak pound attracts an influx of Brexit bargain hunters.

However, there is some doubt about the scale of the Singles Day sales. The American watchdog SEC is investigating the accounting methods Alibaba uses for its Singles Day figures.

The nature of the probe isnt clear, but critics have claimed that merchants selling on Singles Day have inflated their sales figures.
Sir Chris Hohn claims LSE boss Xavier Rolet was forced to quit and gagged

The London Stock Exchange has agreed to hold a vote on sacking its chairman Donald Brydon amid a row with a leading investor.

Last month, LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet announced that he intends to step down next year once the company has found a replacement.

But hedge fund boss Sir Chris Hohn  whose business The Childrens Investment Fund has a 5 per cent stake in the exchange  wants Rolet to stay.

He blames Brydon for pushing Rolet out, and claims the chief executive has been forced to sign a gagging deal which prevents him from speaking his mind.

Using his rights as a shareholder, Hohn has now proposed that investors vote to dismiss Brydon and reinstate Rolet.

The LSE has bowed to his demand for a ballot, which will be held before the end of the year.

The business yesterday released a statement saying that it intends to publish details of a meeting as soon as reasonably practicable.

Rolet announced his departure after a failed attempt to sell the LSE to German rival Deutsche Boerse for 21 billion, which was blocked by European Union competition regulators.

LSE shares fell yesterday 0.3 per cent, or 13p, to 3720p.
TP Icap has won a battle with Brussels over a 13.2 million fine for rigging Libor rates

TP Icap has won a battle with Brussels over a 13.2 million fine for rigging Libor rates.

The broker was fined by the European Commission in 2015, for manipulating Japanese yen lending rates alongside several banks.

Icap denied any wrongdoing and challenged the ruling in the European courts, and judges found partially in its favour yesterday, meaning the fine is likely to be reduced.
As European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager probably possesses more clout than any watchdog in the world

Mention European Union Commissioners and we think of minor league provincial politicians settling down to another all-expenses paid lunch, putting in an early order for the chateaubriand as they eye up the uncorked claret like a long-limbed Victorias Secret model.

Denmarks former deputy prime minister Margrethe Vestager is cut from a markedly different cloth.

As European Commissioner for Competition, she probably possesses more clout than any watchdog in the world and my goodness, has she been happy to use it.

While most come to Brussels to schmooze and ride the EU gravy train steadily toward retirement, Vestager, 49 (pronounced Vest-ayer) has set about wielding her battle axe like a bloodthirsty Viking.

Since taking up her post in 2014, Apple, Google, McDonalds, Facebook and Amazon have all been clobbered over their cosy tax arrangements and underhand business tactics. In August 2016, she ordered Apple to pay 11 billion in back taxes to the Irish government.

Taking on corporate giants such as these takes guts, and graphite-haired Margrethe has plenty of those. Just ask Apples all-powerful boss Tim Cook. When he jetted over to argue his case with Vestager, the poor man hobbled out of their meeting like hed just received a fly-kick to the goolies.

Dubbed the ice queen by the Danish press, Vestagers frosty reputation is not entirely deserved. In person she is polite and welcoming with a slight mumsyish side, revealed by a fondness for baking cakes for her staff.

Shes witty too. When her spending plans were once criticised in Denmarks parliament for being too small by the leader of the opposition, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Vestager deadpanned: I am a bit cautious about trusting any judgement on size from men. Kerpow!

Her willingness to challenge multinationals is guided by a moral sense of fairness, shaped during her staunch upbringing in West Jutland where her parents were Lutheran pastors.

After graduating Vestager worked for the centre-Left Radikale Venstre, known as the Cafe latte party for its appeal to wishy-washy metropolitans.

After holding various civil service positions, Vestager was made Denmarks youngest-ever minister aged just 29, when she was put in charge of education

After holding various civil service positions, she was made the countrys youngest-ever minister aged just 29, when she was put in charge of education.

She rose to party leader in 2007, and, thanks to Denmarks habit for coalition governments, four years later found herself deputy prime minister after propping up the ruling social democrats.

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt later returned the favour by nominating her for the EU job.

Vestagers mastery of negotiation and ability to navigate Denmarks fiendishly complicated political system made her the inspiration for the gritty Danish drama Borgen.

Vestager seen delivering a speech during the 2017 Web Summit in Lisbon on November 7

Like the shows protagonist, Margrethe juggles a successful political career with a busy family life. She has three children, one studying medicine, while the two youngest live with her and her maths teacher husband in Brussels.

She refuses to play the I dont know how she does it game but, suffice to say, her day-to-day life requires no small amount of scheduling acrobatics.

Washington views her suspiciously. Those big American multi-nationals arent used to being bossed around overseas.

But Vestager views any attempts to bully her as a badge of honour. When she restricted benefits payments during her time in government, a trade union sent her a model hand with an upturned middle digit.

The plaster cast  which she calls the f*** finger  has pride of place on her Brussels desk. With two years left of her five-year term, we can expect further fireworks. After that, who knows?

Friends say she eyes the International Monetary Fund position, up for grabs when Christine Lagardes second term finishes in 2021.

It would be nice to think she also has a shot at succeeding the dreadful Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the EU Commission when he departs in 2019.

The role traditionally goes to servile, acquiescent sorts. Hmm. On second thoughts, I think we can safely rule splendid Margrethe out of the running.
By PTI: Dhaka, Nov 11 (PTI) A mob of protesters has set on fire at least 30 houses of Hindus in Bangladesh following rumours that a youth from the minority community published an offensive Facebook status, media reports said today.

One person was killed when police opened fire to disperse the crowd that launched the arson attack on the houses of Hindus yesterday, Dhaka Tribune reported.

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The incident took place in Rangpur districts Thakurpara village, about 300 km from Dhaka.

At least five persons were injured when police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control, it said.

The protesters claimed that they were infuriated by a defamatory status published from the Facebook account of a person who hails from the Thakurbari village a few days ago, the report said.

Before the police intervened, the perpetrators had torched at least 30 Hindu houses before looting and vandalising them, the report said.

A crowd of 20,000 people had reportedly gathered from six to seven neighbouring villages before the attack was launched by a group of people, it said.

The police had a tough time dealing with the protesters and restoring the law and order situation in the area, the report said.

Six persons with bullet injuries were rushed to a nearby hospital when one of them succumbed to his injuries, the report said.

Police have detained 33 people in connection with the incident, bdnews24 reported.

There were traffic snarls after the mob blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway to protest against the police action.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area where the situation was tense, Kotwali police station Officer-in-Charge (Operation) Moktarul Islam said.

The district administration has formed a three-member inquiry committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate Abu Rafa Mohammad Rafiq, to investigate the incident and submit a report in seven days, the report added. PTI CPS AKJ CPS

--- ENDS ---
MBABANE  Teargas and rubber bullets were used to disperse over 100 employees who burnt and vandalised their employers property at Swazi PolyPack yesterday morning.



The angry and seemingly uncompromising employees burnt a navy blue Toyota Corolla sedan belonging to the company after 7am yesterday, when the driver was waiting for the security guard to open the gate. The riot happened in the presence of two police officers who were in a van.



The officers were going about their normal patrol within the premises but were compelled to turn back to call for back-up.

Swazi PolyPack explained that the police officers were provided for their security, as the employees engaged in a strike action last month, and last week Thursday they tried to be rowdy but failed.



According to one of the senior directors who asked not to be named, there were over 100 employees involved in the riot, mostly females. The senior director said the employees wanted a 32 per cent salary increment which according to him, was impossible.



Information gathered was that employees who were supposed to be starting the morning shift blocked the night shift team, as they were leaving the premises. They allegedly threatened them to join the protest action.

That is when the violent scenes erupted, with some of the agitated employees alleged to have sprinkled a flammable liquid on the car and set it alight. Police officers, mainly from the Operational Support Service Unit (OSSU) offices and personnel from the Swaziland Fire and Emergency Services Department descended on the scene. Some of the employees managed to run away while others remained watching from a distance.
MNDOBANDOBA  Mystery deepens in the case of the naked man, covered in a white substance found at the home of well known traditional healer, Elliot Fakudze.



Further confusion comes after Samson Mbhamali said he was equally curious, not only of the identity of the man said to have been found at the Fakudze homestead, but also of the one who claimed to be him.



Mbhamali, who was found on his way from collecting firewood at Ncandweni yesterday morning, dismissed any thoughts and suggestions that the man found at Fakudzes home was his son.

The elderly man said this was not possible.



Smeared



This follows an article by the Times SUNDAY last Sunday, which ran pictures of a man who had smeared himself with an unknown white substance at Fakudzes home.

He was naked and was suspected to be practising witchcraft at the healers home.



A few days after the article, a man claiming to be Samson Mbhamali alleged that the man in the pictures was his son who worked and resided at Fakudzes homestead.



Arguing why the naked man could not be his son, Mbhamali said it was impossible that members of his family could work and reside at Fakudzes home as they did not see eye to eye.



My family does not see eye to eye with Fakudze because he shot and killed our younger brother, alleged Fakudze who quickly added that he personally did not have a problem with him as they worked together as community police members.
NHLANGANO  It is going to be a fabulous festive season for Swazi Mobile customers who will travel to neighbouring South Africa as they will enjoy the roaming service.



This comes after the company introduced the international roaming service early this week.

Already, some customers have posted on social media how they were already enjoying the service and that the charges were cheaper than those offered by the countrys first mobile telecommunications company, Swazi MTN.



For sending an SMS while roaming, Swazi Mobile charges 80 cents while Swazi MTN is E2.

When calling a local number while roaming, Swazi Mobile charges E3.65 while for Swazi MTN it is E5. Receiving a call while roaming on a Swazi Mobile number is E1 while for Swazi MTN it is E2.12.



The news of the international roaming service was confirmed by Swazi Mobile Chief Executive Officer, Wandile Mtshali during the opening of the companys Nhlangano experience centre, which took place yesterday.



Mtshali mentioned that they were currently using test tariffs on the service and that they would officially make an announcement during an official launch set to take place after negotiations with the rest of the network providers had been concluded. Currently, the company has reached an agreement with South African mobile giants, Telkom, and is on the verge of clinching deals with other companies including Vodacom, for the roaming service. Since the company officially switched on in July this year, there have been concerns from customers who wanted to know when they would be able to roam whenever they travelled outside the country, especially to neighbouring South Africa.
East Boulder County landowners are sharply questioning whether a Denver energy company with plans to drill nearby is meeting the spirit of a state regulation designed to encourage public participation in proposed drilling plans.

Two meetings held last week, though described as public, were invite-only.

Anybody should be allowed to go and neither of those two meetings was public, said Nanner Fisher, owner of Orvilla West Farm. The farm is in the middle of the drilling area, but Fisher was not allowed inside the in-person meeting on Wednesday at Vinelife Church in Longmont. I think they need to have two real public meetings that are actually posted as public meetings somewhere.

But state regulators on Monday said the definition of public differs when a private company is leading the planning process, as is the case with Crestone Peak Resources which is soliciting some input from landowners for its plan to drill in a 12-square mile swath of eastern Boulder County.

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission spokesman Todd Hartman said that the states regulations do not require a public meeting and the state agreed that Crestones two meetings sufficiently fulfilled the first formal stakeholder outreach and engagement period between Oct. 16 and Nov. 3.

Hartman said the half-mile radius was a significantly greater area than the 1,000-foot notification required for oil and gas projects in large urban mitigation areas.

Crestone invited 140 landowners within a half-mile radius of proposed pad sites to the meetings last week, though more than 700 stakeholders were initially identified as being impacted by the project.

In response to demands for more information, Crestone spokesman Jason Oates said the company this week is inviting more than 700 stakeholders to a telephone meeting on Nov. 2. He said he does not know how long the phone call will last. Last weeks telephone town hall was one hour, and about 20 questions were heard.

Crestone, the fifth largest oil and gas producer in Colorado, has voluntarily agreed to use a new state process  called the Comprehensive Drilling Plan (CDP)  as part of its proposal to drill at least 180 wells within 12 square miles near the crosshairs of U.S. 287 and Colo. 52.

Were pleased with the outcome of both meetings and are in the process of working through feedback received, Oates said. We are in the very early stages of this planning process and these were the first steps in what we hope will be an ongoing dialogue with surface owners.

Whats public?

But Jan Wilson, who lives on Rodeo Drive in the proposed drilling area and attended the Wednesday meeting, said she already feels like she doesnt have a voice. She said representatives explained why they couldnt drill in certain areas, rather than interacting in a dialogue with roughly 50 residents in attendance.

When this process started, we had hopes it would be something different and actually work, Wilson said. The (Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission) has lost an opportunity to institute a process that would help alleviate the discord that is building between the public and oil and gas development.

The purpose of the process, according to the states general rules, is to identify foreseeable oil and gas activities in a defined geographic area.

The process also is intended to facilitate discussions about potential impacts, and identify measures to minimize adverse impacts to public health, safety, welfare, and the environment, including wildlife resources, from such activities.

Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, said the meetings are not covered by the state open meetings law because the company is not considered a public body, but a violation would depend on how the state defines public.

If somebody in the public is interested, why keep them away? Roberts said.

Hartman said rather than using the word public, the state should have specified in its timeline that it meant Crestone was required to hold two meetings with nearby public/landowners.

Public comments are also being accepted through the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commissions online portal until Nov. 11.

Widespread interest

Jessica Cash, who lives near Gaynor Lake across the street from the proposed boundary line, said she missed the first 25 minutes of the telephone town call because the system dropped her call. She said her greatest concerns involve possible water contamination, and she still has numerous questions.

Why couldnt the in-person meeting be open to everyone that wanted to attend and notifications given at a greater distance? she said, adding that she asked to be invited. People are affected outside the half mile zone.

Fisher said Crestones invite list seems to be inconsistent. She said she was in the parking lot Wednesday night waiting to talk to neighbors after the meeting when she was asked to leave by private security and a Boulder County sheriffs deputy. She said she feels like shes been blacklisted, but she deserves to ask questions like the hundreds of others who own land in the area.

I think most of the people have generally the same questions and you know what? Fisher said. If it takes all day or it takes whatever, if thats the requirement then they need to take the time to do it. They couldnt be less public.

Others interested in the meetings included Colorado Sen. Matt Jones and Rep. Mike Foote, who showed up to the church and had to convince private security guards to let them inside.

Jones took a video of the incident. He said he is planning to write a letter to state regulators asking them to deny Crestones application.

If Crestone oil cant even run a public meeting, how can you trust them with explosive material? Jones said.

Oates said Crestone was not aware of their interest in advance, but will be including the two legislators in future invitation lists.

Boulder County last week lodged complaints to the state regarding Crestones public hearing process, requesting that the company extend invitations beyond a selective number.

Amelia Arvesen: 303-684-5212, arvesena@times-call.com or twitter.com/ameliaarvesen
The woman who is seated in the car is seen pleading the traffic constables to let her vehicle off.

By India Today Web Desk: In an incident of high-handedness by the Mumbai Traffic Police officials, a car was towed with woman and her baby inside it.

The entire incident was caught on camera inviting criticism from various quarters. The woman who is seated in the car is seen pleading the traffic constables to let her vehicle off.

The woman even said that she was feeding her child while the traffic cops towed her vehicle.

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Another man, who captured the video, is seen asking a traffic constable identified as Shashank Rane, to stop the tow truck as the woman was feeding her child.

The incessant pleas, however, fell on deaf ears. The traffic police in defense said that the woman had parked her vehicle in the no parking area.

Following the incident, the traffic constable was suspended.

Reacting sharply to the incident, Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the government will take stringent action against such an incident.

"I am not aware of the incident. But we assure strict action against such officials. We will not let anybody misbehave with women and children," said the minister.

Sudhir added that the police should adopt a more humanitarian approach while dealing with people even if they are at fault.

The incident was also condemned by Congress and Shiv Sena leaders.

"How could they take such an action when a woman is seated with her child? I fail to understand why they did that. I demand serious action against them," said Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant.

VIDEO | Mumbai: Traffic officials tow car with woman, baby inside

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Jammu, Nov 11 (PTI) Opposition National Conference today expressed hopes that the visit of a five-member team, led by a senior home ministry official, to theAborder areas of Jammu and Kashmir would help in mitigating the difficulties of the people who bear the brunt of unprovoked shelling by Pakistan.

The team, led by Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry Rina Mitra, comprises Joint Secretary (Internal Security) Gyanesh Kumar and Director (Ministry of Home Affairs) R K Swarankar. It has visited various forward areas along the International Border and the Line of Control in Jammu since its arrival here yesterday and assessed the damages caused by cross-border shelling by Pakistan.

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"The visit of the central delegation is an appreciation of the concerns of the border people by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who visited some of these areas recently," National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana said at a workers meeting in the Nagrota Assembly Constituency here.

He said three years have passed but nothing has been done for instilling a sense of security among the people living in border areas and hoped that building of bunkers and shelter sheds, allotment of plots of land and jobs under a special drive would be initiated and accomplished in a timely manner.

"These are long-pending demands of the people who have got nothing except lofty promises before, during and after 2014 elections," he said, adding a humane approach is needed to address the difficulties faced by the people.

The provincial president described the assessment as a "tacit admission of failure by the state government in assuaging the aspirations of border people".

He referred to his recent visit to some forward areas and expressed anguish over the plight of the people, who feel threatened on various counts, especially as the winter has set in.

"The economic activities of these places have come to a halt and the future of children remains in jeopardy, as they keep moving to safer places in frequent intervals due to the shelling," he said.

Rana reiterated his demand of deputing a team of empowered Union Secretaries to audit the utilisation of central funding under various schemes and the reasons behind chronic developmental inertia in the state.

"Such an initiative has become all the more necessary as the people are disenchanted with functioning of the PDP-BJP dispensation, which is hugely suffering from a governance deficit that has resulted in a developmental paralysis during the past three years," he said.

Rana claimed that the public perception with regard to the working of the government is detrimental to the larger interests of the state, which is reeling under a crisis-like situation.

The NC leader hoped that the concerns of the people would be addressed, paving the way for restoration of peace and normalcy. PTI TAS IJT

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New Yorkers dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder will now be able to use medical marijuana as prescribed by a doctor under a new law approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday.

The law adds PTSD to a list of ailments that can be treated with medical marijuana under the state's tightly regulated program. That list already includes cancer, HIV or AIDS, epilepsy and chronic pain, among other conditions.

The bill signing coincides with Veterans Day.

According to the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, 7 percent to 8 percent of the U.S. population will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. Among veterans, between 11 percent and 20 percent of those who served in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom have PTSD in a given year, while about 30 percent of Vietnam War veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime, VA statistics show.

Some veterans in New York and elsewhere have pushed for regulators to allow marijuana to be used to treat PTSD and other ailments.

"We're here to help people who are in need with sickness or some disease like PTSD to make them feel better, get rid of that pain," Bob Becker, legislative director of the state Council of Veterans Organizations, said earlier this year. "... There's nothing wrong with that."

On Saturday, Cuomo said that "in many ways I think this country has not reciprocated" service that veterans have given the country.

"Many of our veterans are suffering from PTSD, and the medical community has determined that marijuana can be a helpful treatment in some areas," he said before marching in the Veterans Day parade in Manhattan. "Part of our commitment to do everything we can do (is) if there are veterans who are suffering and we can make a treatment available, we want to."

Research on the efficacy of medical marijuana as a PTSD treatment is limited. Eighty patients in a 2014 study in New Mexico reported a more than 75 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms while using cannabis. Researchers concluded that more study was required, though.

Research reviews by researchers from the federal Veterans Health Administration and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine earlier this year found that there isn't enough quality research to provide conclusive evidence that medical marijuana is useful for treating PTSD or pain, according to Reuters.

However, VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin said earlier this year that "there may be some evidence that (medical marijuana) is beginning to be helpful."

"And we're interested in looking at that and learning from that," he said. "But until the time that federal law changes, we are not able to be able to prescribe medical marijuana for conditions that may be helpful."

VA providers cannot prescribe medical marijuana given its federally illegal status. Any person who seeks out a doctor registered with the state to prescribe medical marijuana must pay out of pocket for their prescriptions because of a lack of insurance coverage for the drug.

As such, high prices can be burdensome for people who use medical marijuana.

However, veteran participation in state medical marijuana programs does not affect eligibility for VA care and services, according to the VA. Veterans are encouraged to discuss marijuana use with their VA health care provider, the department states on its website.

Cuomo signed four other veteran-related bills on Saturday, including legislation providing state-employed combat veterans with additional days of paid leave off for health services, counseling and to access other benefits, and a bill waiving civil service exam fees for veterans who were honorably discharged.

The governor also announced that service branch-specific license plates are now available for those who provide proof of service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines.
The attorney general of Massachusetts asked an appeals court on Friday to reverse a judge's decision earlier this week that cleared the way for a much anticipated auction next week by Sotheby's of artworks from the Berkshire Museum, including two paintings by Norman Rockwell.

Those works, including one titled "Shuffleton's Barbershop," with an estimated price of $20 million to $30 million, are two of seven from the museum's collection that are scheduled to be offered for sale Monday in New York City.

The lawyers for the state said the museum in Pittsfield, Mass., was looking to sell nearly all of the museum's valuable art and, in so doing, would violate a number of trusts, including, they said, a promise to Rockwell that his works would remain in the permanent collection and another pledge that some of the works slated for auction would never leave the town.

They asked the appeals court to block the sale until they can appeal the lower court ruling, which denied them the chance to further review whether the disposal of as much as $60 million worth of art by the museum is appropriate.

"This sale is unprecedented in terms of the number, value and prominence of the works being proposed, the centrality of these works to the museum's collection, and the process the museum employed to select and dispose of the deaccessioned items," the attorney general's office said in its court filing.

Last summer the financially strapped museum announced the planned sale of 40 works by artists like Rockwell, Albert Bierstadt and Alexander Calder, saying the proceeds were needed to build its endowment, renovate its building and expand programming to create a "heightened emphasis on science and history."

Museum organizations condemned the plan, saying it violates guidelines that frown on the sale of art to subsidize operating and other expenses, instead of using such proceeds to enhance or maintain a collection.

Two groups of plaintiffs including Rockwell's sons and museum members sued to stop the sale of these items. But last week the lower court found they lacked legal standing to challenge the sale and the judge also denied an effort by the attorney general to block the sale.

The lower court described the attorney general's office as a "reluctant warrior," whose objections had not included specific details on how it would review the planned sale, and noted that a delay would have "considerable financial consequences" for the museum. It did not find that the museum had violated any of the charitable trusts through which it had come into possession of the art.

The attorney general's office countered Friday that, while the museum could sell the works in the future, any items disposed of at auction would be very difficult to get back. It said the museum had not abided by its most pressing mission  to preserve its charitable purpose  and that, whatever the financial hurdles, its relationship to other museums and with donors would be damaged by the sale.

A lawyer for the museum, William F. Lee, said the institution was disappointed that "the attorney general has decided to continue legal action that threatens the future of the Berkshire Museum."

"Continuing this litigation," Mr. Lee said in his statement, "jeopardizes vital educational, cultural and economic resources in a struggling community, placing the special interests of a portion of the well-funded arts community over people, especially young people, really in need."
The Massachusetts Appeals Court on Friday blocked a much-anticipated auction next week of art from the Berkshire Museum, including two paintings by Norman Rockwell.

Those works  including "Shuffleton's Barbershop," with an estimated price of $20 million to $30 million  are among seven from the Pittsfield, Mass., museum that were scheduled to be offered for sale Monday by Sotheby's in New York in an effort to raise money the museum considers essential to its survival.

The sale had been opposed by two groups of plaintiffs, including Rockwell's sons, as well as the office of the Massachusetts attorney general, which had been seeking additional time to examine the museum's plan. The attorney general, Maura Healey, had asked the court on Friday for an injunction halting the sale.

The court granted that request, writing that the museum was prohibited "from selling, auctioning, or otherwise disposing of any of the artworks that have been listed for auction." The court indicated that, by selling nearly all of its valuable art, the museum would violate several trusts and a promise to Rockwell.

The injunction will expire Dec. 11, but the court added that the attorney general's office may move to extend it.

Sotheby's had described the Berkshire Museum works as a "superb collection" that was "among the highlights" of its American Art sale on Monday.

In addition to "Shuffleton's Barbershop," which Sotheby's said Rockwell created for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1950, the auction was to include Rockwell's "Blacksmith's Boy  Heel and Toe (Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop)," which was estimated to have a price of $7 million to $10 million.

Among other museum works to be offered on Monday were "The White Dress" by Thomas Wilmer Dewing, "Hunter in Winter Wood" by George Henry Durrie and "Connecticut River Valley, Claremont, New Hampshire" by Albert Bierstadt.

In summer, the financially strapped museum announced the planned sale of 40 works, including Impressionist and modern art, contemporary art, 19th-century European paintings, American art and Chinese art. The museum said the proceeds were needed to build its endowment, renovate its building and expand programming to create a "heightened emphasis on science and history."

Officials from the museum and from Sotheby's said they were disappointed by the decision.

Elizabeth McGraw, the president of the museum's board of trustees, called the court decision a "setback" for the institution and its neighbors.

"The auction that held the promise of addressing our museum's serious financial difficulties will have to proceed without our works, and our plans for the future will be delayed," she said in a written statement. "Until that process resolves, we will continue to do what we do every day: bring our passion for art, science and discovery to our community."

The auction house confirmed that Monday's auction would go forward with the rest of more than 70 works that have been slated for sale.

"We have never doubted that the board of trustees acted in good faith and was well within their legal rights," Sotheby's said in a statement, "and we remain confident that they will prevail in their plans to ensure a bright future for the Berkshire Museum in support of the community of Pittsfield and western Massachusetts."

Michael B. Keating, a lawyer for the Rockwell family and others seeking to stop the sale, said his clients fully supported the decision that blocked the auction of the museum items and "the irreparable harm that would occur if these paintings were to be sold."

Museum organizations have condemned the museum's deaccessioning plan, saying it violated guidelines against the sale of art to subsidize operating and other expenses instead of using such proceeds to enhance or maintain a collection.

Rockwell's sons and a group of museum members sued separately to stop the sale. But Judge John A. Agostini of Berkshire Superior Court found that they lacked legal standing. Agostini also denied a request by the attorney general to block the sale.

The state's lawyers told the appeals court on Friday that the museum was looking to sell nearly all of its valuable art. Doing so would violate a number of trusts, they said, including what they described as a promise to Rockwell that his works would remain in the permanent collection and another pledge that some of the works slated for auction would never leave Pittsfield.

"This sale is unprecedented in terms of the number, value and prominence of the works being proposed, the centrality of these works to the museum's collection, and the process the museum employed to select and dispose of the deaccessioned items," the attorney general's office said in its filing on Friday.

The lower court had described the attorney general's office as a "reluctant warrior," whose objections had not included specific details on how it would review the planned sale. It noted that a delay would have "considerable financial consequences" for the museum. It did not find that the museum had violated any of the charitable trusts through which it had come into possession of the art.

The attorney general's office countered in its filing on Friday that while the museum could sell the works in the future, any items disposed of at auction would be very difficult to get back. It said the museum had not abided by its most pressing mission  to preserve its charitable purpose  and that whatever the financial hurdles, its relationship to other museums and with donors would be damaged by the sale.
By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Nov 10 (PTI) Nepal today marked the 250th anniversary of its victory over the HE British Army during the Anglo-Gorkha war of 1768.

President Bidyadevi Bhandari unfurled Nepalese national flag at a special function organised by the Nepal Army on the occasion.

The Nepalese Gorkha battalion had defeated the army battalion led by British captain Kinlok during the Anglo- Gorkha war of 1768.

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A British Army battalion was sent by the UK to help Jayprakash Malla, then ruler of Kathmandu, when Gorkha King Prithvi Narayan Shah announced a war against then Malla ruler of Kathmandu as part of his national unification campaign.

"The Gorkha soldiers made Nepalese people proud by fighting against the British Army at that time," said Bhandari.

She also underlined the need for promoting Sindhuligadhi as an important tourist destination in the country. The historical remains of the area, including the demolished palace, needs to be renovated and preserved, she pointed out. PTI SBP UZM

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Nearly 75 years after Brig. Gen. Kenneth Walker disappeared during a bombing mission over a remote Pacific island, his son is pushing for renewed interest in finding the crash site of the highest-ranking recipient of the Medal of Honor still listed as missing from World War II.

Walker was posthumously awarded the military's highest decoration for repeatedly accompanying his units on dangerous bombing missions, including his last, when he went down with 10 other men in an Army Air Forces B-17 over the island of New Britain in January 1943. Two survived by bailing out and later died in captivity. Walker and the eight others remain listed as missing in action.

Walker's son, Douglas Walker, a retired New York ad man-turned-political consultant, met with Pentagon officials earlier this year to provide information from a team of independent experts that he hopes will prompt U.S. military officials to authorize a new search for the downed bomber.

"The cause is to bring back everybody," Walker, of New Canaan, Connecticut, told The Associated Press Thursday. "While my father's career helps heighten the profile of this case, he's no more important than anybody else on that plane."

Friday, at Yale University in New Haven, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, presented the younger Walker with a copy of a resolution he plans to introduce in Congress honoring the airmen's sacrifice.

In the summer of 1941, while war raged in Europe but before the U.S. entered the conflict, Kenneth Walker had been one of four Army Air Forces officers tasked with formulating a plan to attack Japan and Germany from the air.
Tipperary film director and writer Jo Southwell has been long listed for an independent film award scheme for her screenplay idea for a film called Ruth.

Alongside local actor Nadia Lamin, Jo has developed a new film based on the biblical text of Ruth, writes Tom Ryan.

Jo is daughter of Hanorah Kelly of Bruach Tailte in Nenagh.

I was asked to apply for the pitch recently when one of the producers attended our screening of Portalis, the short I directed for Trench Films.

This fund depends on the ability to interpret and become inspired by biblical texts. With a degree in Theology and Media it was a challenge I wanted to pursue.

Jo said that sometimes the stories we tell best are those we relate to and I feel Nadia can really bring depth and honesty to the character of Ruth.

She said that if they were lucky enough to move up to the shortlist, they will pitch at Pinewood Studios. The winning film gains the opportunity to travel to LA and pitch in Hollywood.
[November 11, 2017] DHgate's Diane Wang Represents China In 2017 APEC CEO Summit

Diane Wang, founder, and CEO of DHgate, as a Chinese representative to APEC, attended APEC economic leaders week at the 2017 APEC summit in Na Dang, Vietnam. At leaders week, Wang attended the closed-door dialogues with economic leaders, which included the president of Chile, president of Russia, prime minister of Thailand, and prime minister of Papua New Guinea. "Digital Trade" was a frequently used word during the summit, where all leaders indicated support of leveraging digital technology to empower SMEs, recognizing that digital technology incubated the new form of globalization. During her visit, Ms. Diane Wang also launched the Digital Trade Index Report and updated the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) community on the APEC CBET (Cross-Border E-commerce Training) SME empowerment program. As the APEC CBET initiator, Ms. Wang joined industry leaders from Google, Facebook, and MasterCard (News - Alert) to advance the cross-border e-commerce capacity building program she initiated to help SMEs as they access the global digital market and Internet finance. Wang is recognized as one of China's top business leaders. Between 1993 and 1999, she managed the marketing service division and ran business development for Microsoft (News - Alert) (China) Corporation. Besides a stint as marketing director of Cisco Systems, she also was co-founder and CEO of Joyo.com, the massive online seller of books and music in China, which was acquired by Amazon in 2004, becoming today's Amazon China. Besides being the founder of DHgate, Ms. Wang has been a key player with the APEC Business Advisory Counsel and has spearheaded the group's cross-border e-commerce push since 2011. Recognized by Forbes as one of Asia's Most Powerful Businesswomen: Ones To Watch Ms. Wang is an unwavering proponent of the flourishing digital economy and its capacity to enable women to achieve in business.



Ms. Wang has witnessed the future while observing the rapid change in her home country of China which has been a quick applicant of technological innovation where females comprise almost half of entrepreneurs. Background

The 2017 APEC CEO summit highlighted the theme: "Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future." Leaders from the planet's most robust economies joined with more than 1000 senior business executives throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The annual summit comes at a time when the Asia-Pacific region is at a critical juncture. APEC economies and business communities explored new business opportunities with the goal of driving prosperity and development in the area. Under Ms. Wang's leadership, DHgate has been a key influencer in the overall growth of digital trading through empowerment of SMEs through digitalization. Digital Trade Transaction Index (DTTI) The DTTI conducts a regular analysis on current adoptions of digital trade across APEC regions, and looks at underlying success factors in pushing the development - while identifying likely chokepoints - and enhancing growth, and provides actionable recommendations to policymakers seeing additional improvement. Key Findings A review of the statistics and data presented in the DTTI show: The digital economy contributed to more than 22% of the global GDP. Digital trade is playing an integral role in the digital economy and sales in APEC economies accounted for 76-percent of worldwide trade- an increase of 16% in three years. Developing economies are taking advantage of the opportunity to overtake their competitors by utilizing best practices in the digital economy and information technology. As the industry value chain is upgraded and industry structures adjusted, sustainable development of both local and regional economies is growing more feasible. Traditional Forms Foreign trade has required exports to bump across supply chains jumping through hoops before eventually reaching the end-user - the consumer. Without fail, profits were diluted in the process. Digital platforms have lowered entry barriers, increased accessibility to service providers, buyers, and sellers. This process can especially be accelerated through digital trade. With the power of digital trade platforms, a Chinese trade firm was not only able to lower their logistics cost up to 50%, but were also able to finish the entire customs clearance process in just 7 minutes from a single location. In the past, this process usually takes over 7 days to complete. An integral part of digital trade is making the entire trade ecosystem readily available to SMEs. Digital Trade Centers (DTC) are one of the most effective ways to make it happen. DTC is an all-in-one suite for global importers. They can inspect products in person, while still enjoying the convenience and efficiency of online importing. The facilities include showrooms for product inspection, warehouses, logistics service, payment service, currency conversion, internet financing, training, and order stations. These service centers enable SMEs to upgrade their traditional business model, and give SMEs all the benefits of traveling to inspect products while staying in their home country and enjoying after sales services. DHGATE DHgate.com leads the cross-border e-commerce market in China. Established in 2004, DHgate has grown to include over 10 million buyers from more than 227 countries and regions while over 1.4 million sellers provide over 40-million products. An all-in-one platform, DHgate provides services for logistics, cross-border payments, and internet financing. The American product distribution warehouses owned by DHgate all 24-hour delivery as well as convenient product returns and refunds. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171111005015/en/

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A recently observed growth in the tobacco industries in Armenia is also known to have boosted the exports, especially to the EEU member states but also several eastern countries.

November 11, 2017, 11:05 Zhoghovurd: Armenia increases tobacco exports to East

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: Iraq is reported to be the major purchaser. Also, the exports to Syria and the United Arab Emirates have increased, says the paper, adding that Armenia is now exporting cigarettes also to Japan which, as the official records suggest, purchased $219,300 worth tobacco products from the country in the first two quarters of this year.

As for the EEU countries, only the Russian market reportedly accepts the Armenian product now, as neither Belarus nor Kazakhstan and nor even Kyrgyzstan imported a single tobacco pipe from Armenia over the past period of 2017 or in 2016.

Whats even more, the exports to Russia have decreased to $1,75,600 million against the $2,10,700 million in the same period of last year, according to the paper.
By PTI: Washington, Nov 11 (PTI) A new gene therapy has helped restore vision in people who had lost their sight to an inherited retinal disease, scientists say.

Patients in the study had a condition called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), which begins in infancy and progresses slowly, eventually causing complete blindness.

This new, first-of-its-kind gene therapy is currently under review by the US Food and Drug Administration for potential approval this year.

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There are currently no treatments available for inherited retinal diseases.

Researchers from University of Iowa in the US showed that 27 of 29 treated patients (93 per cent) experienced meaningful improvements in their vision, enough that they could navigate a maze in low to moderate light.

They also showed improvement in light sensitivity and peripheral vision, which are two visual deficits these patients experience.

Approval could open the door for other gene therapies that could eventually treat the more than 225 genetic mutations known to cause blindness.

It could be applied to retinitis pigmentosa, another inherited retinal disease caused by a defective gene.

In the future, gene therapy could possibly provide key proteins needed to restore vision in more common diseases such as age-related macular degeneration.

LCA is rare, affecting about 1 in 80,000 individuals. It can be caused by one or more of 19 different genes.

The treatment, called voretigene neparvovec, involves a genetically modified version of a harmless virus.

The virus is modified to carry a healthy version of the gene into the retina. Doctors inject billions of modified viruses into both of a patients eyes.

Treatment does not restore normal vision. It does, however, allow patients to see shapes and light, allowing them to get around without a cane or a guide dog.

It is unclear how long the treatment will last, but so far, most patients have maintained their vision for two years.

More than 200 patients with LCA have participated in gene therapy trials since 2007.

However, no gene therapy has gotten this close to FDA approval for retinal disease or any other eye disease. In October, an advisory committee to the FDA unanimously endorsed the treatment.

The agency is expected to make its decision by January next year. PTI MHN MHN

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Image 1 of 4

Following the launch of its desktop X299 motherboard line, Asus rolled out a trio of new X299-based workstation boards (opens in new tab) targeting businesses, prosumers, and PC enthusiasts.

Based on Intels X299 chipset, these new motherboards are meant to bridge the gap between standard desktop motherboards and higher-end Xeon offerings. All three of these new workstation boards offer support for Intel's Core-X series processors, eight DIMM slots that support up to 128GB of DDR4-4133MHz (OC), and multi-GPU graphics card configurations featuring SafeSlot reinforced PCI-E slot technology that prevents damage from moving a system with heavy graphics cards.

The leader of the pack is Asus top-shelf WS X299 Sage workstation motherboard, which features seven full-sized PCI-E slots that are connected to the CPU via a PLX switch so you can run quad-x16 setups with at least x8 width simultaneously. This board features the larger CEB form factor with is compatible with most E-ATX chassis.

The WS X299 Pro / SE and the WS X299 Pro are both standard ATX motherboards. Although both are equipped with fewer PCI-E slots than the WS X299 Sage, these boards still support up to three-way SLI and Crossfire graphics card configurations. The main difference between the Pro and Pro / SE is the latters remote management capabilities.

Common features among these new workstation motherboards include dual M.2 slots that work with both standard SSDs and Intel Optane Memory as well as at least one U.2 connector for datacenter-grade drives. Both M.2 slots are equipped with heatsinks to help dissipate heat to prevent thermal throttling under heavy load. These new WS X299 offerings also feature USB 3.1 Gen2 ports in Type-A, Type-C, upgraded Crystal Sound 3 audio, and dual Intel networking chips with failover support.

Additionally, all three motherboards are equipped with headers for both standard RGB strips and addressable LED lighting. Catering to water cooling aficionados, two of the six onboard fan headers feature support for water pumps and all-in-one coolers.

Asus listed availability as November 2017. We reached out to the company for information on pricing.


KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Two people were shot in a nightclub shortly after midnight at 57th & Troost. Police were called to Bob's in Motion Night Club on a shooting at 12:20 Saturday morning. A disturbance broke out between two people, when the suspect pulled out a gun and fired several shots.
CHECK MARK ALFORD STAY WINNING WITH COMMENTS CONTRADICTING KANSAS CITY STAR PUNDIT STEVE KRASKE!!!

"Nick Haines, Dave Helling, Mark Alford, Steve Kraske and Eric Wesson recap this week's election results including the vote on a single terminal KCI, the KCK Mayor's race, a Missouri legislative seat, Overland Park Mayor's race and the Overland Park city council race which involved bullying by the incumbent. They also discuss recent hate crime hoaxes and a John Oliver segment about tax incentives."

For once, there was a worthwhile debate among the panel of journalists talking the Kansas City news on KCPT this week.To wit . . .On the subject of God and Jacob Turk - The crux of most local debate - Alford offered interesting counterpoints in rough exchanges.Description:You decide . . .
The tribunal asked the officials to show which colony has been picked up for sprinkling of water and observed that treated water for sewage treatment plants can be used for this purpose.

Cars line up outside a CNG pump to collect stickers before the implementation of the odd-even rule from November 13, in New Delhi.

By Sneha Agrawal: The National Green Tribunal issued stern directions to the Delhi government and other neighbouring states on Friday.

The green court pulled up the Delhi government on the nitty-gritties on the implementation of various measures to curb pollution. A bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar also directed the city government to submit the comparative ratio of the emission caused by diesel and petrol vehicles and asked it to clearly enumerate the contribution of small petrol cars in pollution.

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However, the NGT also noted that the Delhi government has been taking steps in the interest of environment and public health and these were laudable. The court also directed the Delhi government and all public authorities to strictly implement its order, banning construction activity in the wake of the alarming pollution levels in the capital.

It also asked the neighbouring states to strictly prevent stubble burning, saying there were reports of large-scale residue burning from some parts.

The green panel ordered that if any violation of its order was found at the construction sites by the inspecting teams in Delhi and the National Capital Region, an environment compensation of Rs 1 lakh would be levied for each such fault.

While addressing the issue of crop burning, the court said if any instance of crop burning comes on record, the tribunal will recover exemplary fine from the defaulting officer's salary.

Regarding the AAP government's plea to allow industries dealing with essential services, it said, "It has been pointed out before us that some industries, which are non-polluting, are providing essential goods like food items or medical facilities. These units may be permitted to operate subject to reasonable conditions."

It also directed that essential services like food and medical facilities could be allowed if the authorities find that their emissions are controlled and non-polluting.

The tribunal asked the officials to show which colony has been picked up for sprinkling of water and observed that treated water for sewage treatment plants can be used for this purpose.

With the deadly smog blanketing Delhi and the neighbouring states, the NGT had Thursday banned construction and industrial activities and entry of trucks.

The CPCB has recorded "severe" air quality, meaning that the intensity of pollution was extreme.

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"While in Israel, he has proposed a plan to allow the Missouri National Guard to train with Israeli Cyber warfare and Disaster response units according to Will Scharf, Greitens policy director, who is traveling with the Governor in the Middle-east. The Missouri units would travel to Israel to train there for two weeks a year. It would seem the Governor is attempting to give Missouri its own foreign policy. Not to mention Qatar might be pissed about the contraband bacon."
Brussels and Frankfurt were displeased on Thursday to learn of statements by Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis and Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Wednesday, according to which there is an agreement between the government and the banks that no homes valued at less than 300,000 euros should be sold at foreclosure auctions.

If there is such an agreement, if it is a binding one, it should be taken into account in the upcoming stress tests, as in practice it cancels the collateral that concerns properties worth less than 300,000 euros, a European official told Kathimerini newspaper.

The issue erupted yesterday at the European Central Bank as the ministerial statements coincided with what the head of the Hellenic Bank Association said on the matter: Nikolaos Karamouzis told the Financial Times that Greek lenders had coordinated their plans to make sure that homes valued below that amount would be not be included in the first auction rounds, adding, We took into consideration the social reaction to this process.

ECB officials demanded explanations from central banker Yannis Stournaras, while sources noted an ECB official had also been in contact with Karamouzis. Both Greek officials assured that foreclosures will begin with large properties while adding that this does not mean that smaller debtors with smaller properties will be excluded from the process; after all Karamouzis had referred to the first auction rounds only.

On October 11, Justice Ministry sources leaked that a deal had been reached with banks to exclude homes valued at up to 300,000 euros from online auctions. However, banking sources clarified that the freeze on such foreclosures would only apply for a limited period, till year-end  in effect for just one month, as online foreclosures begin on November 29.

Ahead of the stress tests that are programmed to start in February, a leading bank official explained that the higher the number of auctions that take place up to February, the smaller the reduction in the value of collateral will be. The creditors have made it clear to Athens that for the process to have the necessary credibility and count positively toward the stress tests, there should be auctions of properties across the country by all banks.

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: DaveOinSF~commonswiki License: CC-BY-SA

Source: ekathimerini.com
Online fundraising appeal held by two Greek Australian women for the benefit of young Christos and his school at the tiny Greek island of Arkioi

More than 2,000 dollars were raised by an online fundraising appeal held by two Greek Australian women for the benefit of young Christos and his school at the tiny Greek island of Arkioi.

The two women were moved by the Greek Reporters coverage of the parade on OXI Day on the island of the Dodecanese, when Christos marched alone, holding a broomstick instead of a pole for the Greek flag.

Vasiliki Ousta from Moorebank, NSW and Poppi Papapostolou from Melbourne, both members of a Facebook group called ONE GREECE, joined forces to launch the appeal on gofundme.com platform.

By Thursday, 2,060 Australian dollars were raised indeed.

I feel overwhelmed by the support from our Hellenes in the diaspora, Ousta noted in an interview with the Greek Reporter.

We intend to purchase a laptop for Christoss school work, ink for the photocopiers, few books that his teacher Maria has asked for, markers for the whiteboards and other school equipment, she continued.

Ousta added that she spoke to Christoss teacher who revealed that the 9-year old wants to become a teacher himself.

But the lack of books and communications on his island makes it very difficultThe Greek government was asked to provide books and school equipment but nothing has arrived yet, Ousta points out.

I took it upon myself to help this little boy make his dream come true by helping him with school stuff. The funds we raised will make a huge difference to his learning.

Greek Australians responded in the most admirable way in offering their help for Christos and his school.

We love Greece, the Greek people and we want to show the filotimo us Greeks have, Ousta concluded.

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: Vasileiadis33 License: CC-BY-SA

Source: greekreporter.com
Sonatrach, Algeria's state energy producer, has signed an agreement with Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), to set up a 2,000-sq-m oilfield equipment manufacturing facility in Arzew Industrial Zone aiming to strengthen Algerias position in the upstream oil and gas market to meet local demand.



The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Energy, Mustapha Guitouni, at a ceremony hosted by Sonatrach in Algiers.



Sonatrach and BHGE will have 51 per cent and 49 per cent ownership respectively, in the new company.



The project draws on the extensive experience of BHGE in oilfield equipment manufacturing and leverages the companys global and local scale to provide production solutions from the facility, which is anticipated to be operational in December 2019.



Through an initial combined investment of $45 million, the new company will provide manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance for various types of oilfield equipment including wellheads, xmas trees, BOPs and valves, establishing a major base to fulfill Algerias increased domestic upstream requirements with the potential for future exports.



The facility will also add training capabilities and offer competency development programmes for more than 200 engineers during the first seven years.



In addition to reducing dependence on imports, the facility will boost economic competitiveness and strengthen the local supply chain by helping to create 200 local jobs in Orans Arzew area, a substantial number of indirect jobs serving the sector, and the development of qualified industrial SMEs.



Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, CEO of Sonatrach, said: The creation of this company is a breakthrough in our integration chain, with a view to better controlling costs and deadlines to ensure the transfer of know-how and technologies through the diversification of its portfolio of goods and services.



It will contribute to strengthening the national industrial fabric and the creation of a network of national subcontractors, certified to international norms and standards. It will also build on the relationship between Sonatrach and BHGE, and boost it to a partnership of excellence, he said.



Rami Qasem, CEO of BHGE Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and India, said: Through the delivery of high end oilfield products and services, our company reaffirms its focus on driving further productivity for our customers across the entire oil and gas value chain.



We are honoured to work with Sonatrach and play an important role in supporting the countrys ambition to be among the key upstream manufacturers in North Africa. The combined effort underscores our commitment to help fuel the economy by improving economic competitiveness, developing skilled talent and delivering the highest manufacturing standards with plans for future exports, he said.



The new company will not only revitalise Algerias local supply chain, but also position the country as a key manufacturer in industrial equipment, he added.



Building on over 40 years of presence, BHGE has been involved in several major development projects including its partnership with Sonatrach and Sonelgaz for the creation of Algesco, a major turbomachinery, maintenance and repair centre in Boufarik, serving Algerias upstream, midstream and downstream customers.



BHGE has also launched the first edition of the global Oil & Gas University" programme in the country, an initiative that has trained 25 young professionals in technical and leadership skills, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
By PTI: Patna, Nov 11 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today paid rich tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on his birth anniversary and recalled the late leaders efforts towards maintaining communal harmony during the partition era.

Kumar also recalled the contributions made by Azad in the education sector as the countrys first Education minister.

"With Independence came partition which had led to an atmosphere of communal tension across the country. Not only did Azad play a role in reducing the tension, but he also succeeded in instilling the faith among the minorities that the country belonged to them as well and they must stay here", Kumar said while addressing a function organized on the occasion of "Shiksha Diwas" (education day).

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"We have been observing Maulana Azads birth anniversary as Shiksha Diwas since the year 2007. As the first Education minister of the country, his contributions can never be forgotten. It was during his tenure that institutions like UGC and IIT came into being. Our objective behind observing the day as "Shiksha Diwas" is to make the younger generation aware of these things".

The Chief Minister underscored the importance of "natural learning...which does not stop at providing students with information but helps them develop their innate talents". Kumar expressed happiness over the progress made by the state in the field of education, especially that of girls.

He said "today, in middle schools girls outnumber boys. Before the launch of our schemes like cycle yojana and balika poshak yojana, the number of girls who reached Class 9 used to be under two lakhs but it has now crossed nine lakhs. Also, 49 per cent of candidates who appear in matriculation examinations today are girls". On the occasion, the Chief Minister also presented renowned physicist H C Verma with the "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar" and urged the academician, who has settled down in Kanpur but has roots in Bihar, to contribute towards uplifting the standard of education in his home state. PTI NAC RG KKB

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) The following are PTIs top

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) The following are PTIs top stories at 1800 HRS:

DES12 UP-RAJNATH

Lucknow: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh says the world had started realising that India was no longer a weak nation and that it belongs to the club of powerful countries in the world.

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DES6 UP-AKHILESH

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accuses the government in Uttar Pradesh of spreading hatred in the name of development, saying there is no one better than the BJP in creating a "vertical divide".

DES5 RAIL-AMUL-TWITTER

New Delhi: Nearly a month after dairy giant Amul approached the Indian Railways on its official Twitter handle with a business proposition to use refrigerated parcel vans to transport butter across India, the first shipment is on its way.

DES7 RJ-PAKISTANI NATIONAL

Kota (Raj): A 50-year-old Pakistani national, who allegedly entered India illegally from Nepal and was staying at a history-sheeters house in Sultanpur town in Rajasthans Kota district, rounded up, the police say.

DES9 JK-GST-JITENDRA

Jammu: Union minister Jitendra Singh says the GST rejig reflects the "sensitivity" of the Modi government and it has no hesitation in accepting inputs as the new taxation system is meant for the benefit of common people.

DES13 UK-INDIA-AMR RESEARCH

New Delhi: The UK-India Strategic Group on antimicrobial resistance research holds their second meeting here this week to discuss mutual priorities to tackle AMR, an increasingly serious global health threat, a partnering agency say.

DES8 HP-POLL-TURNOUT WOMEN

Shimla: More women exercised their franchise than men in Himachal Pradesh which recorded its highest turnout in Assembly polls at 74.61 per cent, according to official figure.

DES10 RJ-MINORITY-NAQVI

Jaipur: Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleges that the "disease of appeasement" has severely affected empowerment of minorities and they were "exploited" by "so-called political champions of secularism" for the last several decades.

DES11 RJ-DOCTORS-STRIKE

Jaipur: Eleven agitating doctors arrested from seven districts till this morning under the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) as the deadlock between medical practitioners and the state government enters its sixth day, police say.

DES3 DL-WEATHER

New Delhi: Delhiites wake up to a hazy morning, with the weather office predicting light rainfall later in the day, which may clear the smog enveloping the national capital. PTI KJ

--- ENDS ---
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 10

Under the Chief Minister Cancer Relief Fund Scheme, 109 cancer-stricken persons from the district have been given financial aid. Giving this information here today, Deputy Commissioner Diprava Lakra said 39 men and 70 women had been extended financial help under the scheme.

The Punjab Government gives financial aid amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh. All cancer patients can apply for benefit under the scheme provided they are not seeking any financial help from insurance companies or other means for the disease.

He appealed to the cancer patients to take maximum benefit of the scheme. He suggested people to stay away from tobacco and its products to avoid cancer. Also, one should stay away from excessive use of pesticides, junk food and banned food colours. He also suggested people to take up regular exercise and meditation to keep the disease at bay.

Civil Surgeon, Bathinda, Dr HN Singh said treatment was allowed only at hospitals empanelled under the scheme. At Bathinda, Max Hospital has been entrusted as the empanelled hospital. He said the beneficiary should be a resident of Punjab for which ration card/voter card/driving licence/passport copy should be attached with the application form. Besides, the cancer confirmation test or biopsy report of the lab, prescription slip of the hospital where patient is undergoing treatment, estimate of the treatment and attested photos from the doctor concerned should be attached with pro forma and submitted to the district level committee.

Besides, the patient should also fix a self-declaration form stating that he or she has not taken financial help from any other source. The pro formas are available at all government health facilities, district hospital, sub divisional hospital, CHCs and the same can also be downloaded from website www.pbhealth.gov.in.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 11

The Delhi Government today called off the odd-even scheme after the Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal called an emergency meeting in view of the National Green Tribunal (NGT)s order on the scheme.

The meeting was attended by Health Minister Satyendra Jain, Minister of Transport Kailash Gahlot, Environment Minister, Imran Hussain, Minister of Development Gopal Rai, Chief Secretary MM Kutty and other senior officers.

The NGT yesterday asked the government to submit the report of high-level pollution on which basis the government is going for odd-even scheme. It also asked for not exempting women and two-wheelers. After meeting with the LG the government had announced for the odd-even from November 13 to 17.

In an official statement, the government said to have decided to defer the rollout of odd-even on November 13.

Welcoming the NGTs direction for odd-even, the statement said the NGT had issued directions to withdraw many of the exemptions, including the exemption to two-wheelers and women drivers. The government gives highest priority to the safety and security of women and therefore, it feels that the exemption to this category should continue.

Further, this government feels that considering the large number of two-wheelers in Delhi, unless adequate number of buses is available, implementation of odd-even will cause great hardship to such persons. This is not feasible to arrange such a large number of buses at this stage.

Therefore, the government intends to move an application before the NGT to review its order for exemption of two-wheelers and women drivers and after the outcome of such application, the implementation of odd-even will be considered.

Earlier, the Chief Minister blamed the burning of paddy stubble in adjoining states as the main cause of degrading air quality. He also asked to solve this problem together with Centre, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.

BJP slams govt for the decision

The Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Vijender Gupta said the government has failed completely to implement the odd-even scheme.

Gupta said the fact is that the government announced implementation of odd-even scheme in a hurry. It had not made any preparation for it nor had any answers to the questions raised by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Therefore, withdrawal of the scheme despite green signal from the NGT raises questions about functioning of the government.
Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, November 11

In compliance with directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has directed all smoke-releasing industries in the National Capital Region (NCR) not to carry out any industrial activity till further orders.

After receiving the directions, rice millers called an emergency meeting here this evening. They sought permission to use boilers as they had a large quantity of paddy in their mills, which had to be sent to the government under custom mill rice. They said high moisture content might damage and discolour it.

Yesterday we directed all industrial units emitting smoke to stop operations as the NGT had banned all industrial activity in the NCR till further orders, said Virender Punia, SDO, HSPCB.

These include rice mills, brick-kilns, agricultural-implement industry, mining units, construction-material units, sugar mills, paper mills and distillery units. The next hearing is on November 14, he said.

Any violation will invite prosecution under environmental laws and closure order under the Air Act. We have received consent from several units for not operating their industries till further orders, he added.

We received the notice today. We are concerned about health of the common man and agree to the NGT decision, said Vijay Setia, president of the All-India Rice Exporters Association.

We have purchased paddy from farmers on behalf of the government. Its moisture content is between 22 per cent and 25 per cent. It needs immediate drying, which is not possible without operating boiler, he pointed out.

We called a meeting, in which we discussed our next course of action. We will keep our industries shut up to November 14 and thereafter announce our next step, he stated.

We request the NGT to allow the entire rice industry in the NCR to use boilers, which are being used as per norms, he said.

We have to return custom mill rice by March 31. If stocks with the rice industry and basmati stock with farmers is not dried immediately, it will be damaged and get discoloured, he added.

No hand on loom in Panipat

Panipat: More than 700 boiler-based dyeing units and spinning mills and 92 brick-kilns in the district have been shut till November 14 by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The NGT had issued directions to ban construction, industrial activity and entry of truck into the national capital up to November 14 due to poor air quality. Following the NGT directions, the HSPCB ordered all boiler-based industrial units in the NCR to shut down. There were traffic jams in Samalkha and on the Rohtak bypass after the NGT ban on entry of heavy vehicles into Delhi. Traffic was being diverted from various places in the district. Bheem Rana, president of the Panipat Dyers Association, said it was a setback to the industry. Pankaj Chugh, an industrialist, said workers were sitting idle, but industrialists would have to pay them. Mukesh Tandon, TNS
India had rejected Beijing's objection and asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country.

By PTI, Press Trust of India: Rebuffing China's objection to her visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the northeastern state is an Indian territory and the country is not concerned about someone else's opinion on it. On Monday, China had objected to Sitharaman's first visit to the border state on Saturday and Sunday, saying her tour of the "disputed area" was not conducive to peace in the region.

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India had rejected Beijing's objection and asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country.

"What is the problem? There is no problem. It is our territory, we will go there," she said in a reply to a query on China's reaction on her visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

"We are not concerned with someone else's opinion on this," the minister, who is campaigning for the BJP in poll- bound Gujarat, said in a press conference here.

Sitharaman had visited forward army posts in remote Anjaw district of the state bordering China to take stock of defence preparedness.

The minister had visited Nathu La area on the India-China border in Sikkim last month and greeted the Peoples Liberation Army soldiers across the border. Her "friendly gesture" had earned appreciation from the Chinese media.

Asked if giving shelter to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was the reason for strained relationship between India and China, she said it was not so.

"One issue cannot make or break a relationship. There are many issues. Every issue has its own weight," she said.

VIDEO | Nirmala Sitharaman appointed defence minister, second woman to hold portfolio after Indira Gandhi

--- ENDS ---
Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 11

The twin villages of Brow and Jagat Khana in Kullu district, separated from Rampur by the Sutlej and notorious for gambling during Lavi Fair, had a surprise guest today  Governor Acharya Devvrat.

The Governor, who was aware of gambling during Lavi, went to these villages after inaugurating the four-day trade fair at Rampur, taking the locals by surprise. He directed the police and administration of Kullu and Shimla districts to form a joint force to resolve the jurisdiction issue and stop the age-old tradition of gambling in the villages.

The twin villages are considered a safe haven for gamblers, who gather here during the Lavi fair. Villagers even get their houses vacated for one week and charge up to Rs 30,000 per day for a single room to facilitate gambling. The village does brisk business and the locals await the Lavi Fair to earn through sale of liquor, meat and other eatables.

Gambling of crores of rupees takes place in this week and there had been cases of people committing suicide by jumping in into river after suffering heavy losses in gambling. The tradition is as old as the fair itself which started in the 17th century and the fair is held on fixed dates from November 11 to 14 every year. The Governor also appealed to the locals to curb the practice.

The fair is a trade fair and outcome of the treaty between Maharaja Kehar Sigh of Rampur Bushahr and Tibetan Rulers in early 17th century. It is an example of the glorious, social, cultural, economic history and legacy of Himachal Pradesh and is the biggest trade fair of the greater Himalayas.

Years back, Rampur was the Gateway to Kinnaur, Tibet and Ladakh and traders from Tibet and other countries used to assemble here through Silk route but after occupation of Tibet by China, the fair lost its charm. But the trade with China has been revived and many goods like wool, dry fruits, Pashmina, shawls, Chamurath horses of Spiti and other products are bought and sold.

A Kinnauri market is specially set up to sell the products from Kinnaur and traders from other parts of the country also reach here to sell other consumer goods.
Ashok Raina

Kangra, November 11

Resentment prevails among residents here as the Kangra Civil Hospital is without doctors.

There are only two doctors left to run the hospital and the visiting patients are at the receiving end.

The civil hospital is in a shambles as against the eight posts of doctors sanctioned, six are lying vacant leaving the patients in a lurch. There are only two women doctors, one is on maternity leave and the other is medically unfit as she is in family way. Even the Senior Medical Officer (SMO) was transferred to Dharamsala.

Chief minister Virbhadra Singh on December 3, 1985, inaugurated this 50 bedded sub-divisional hospital, which was upgraded by Chief Minister Prof PK Dhumal to 100-bedded hospital. An upgrading notification

(Health A-B (B) 2 /99) was issued by the government on December 20, 2000, remained just in files even after a lapse of 17 years. The residents here feel that Kangra is an important pilgrimage and a historical place but lacks basic amenities like healthcare.

Dr Sushma Sharma, officiating SMO, too, has gone on medical leave now. There are two doctors from peripheral hospital looking after this hospital which has an OPD of 500 patients daily.

Chief Medical officer Dr RS Rana expressed his inability to improve the situation of the hospital. However, he further said some doctors in the peripheral hospitals had been directed to carry out night duties in the Kangra hospital. The CMO said there was a shortage of doctors and the people would have to bear with them.Parikshit Raj, a local resident, asked why only Kangra Hospital had become the victim of government apathy?

Most of the rooms of doctors are locked as there is no gynecologist, no general surgeon, no medical specialist, no orthopedic surgeon, no pediatrician and no radiologist.

An ultrasound machine was gathering dust for want of a radiologist.

There is no operation theatre assistant for the last five years bringing the theatre activities to a halt.

Senior citizens of the town alleged that the hospital was ignored as the political leadership was not sincere in serving the people.

They questioned the government as to why the hospital despite notification was not upgraded even after 17 years. Following the upgrading there would have been 17 doctors, 7 pharmacists,14 staff nurses and 20 Class IV employees to provide better healthcare to the patients.The hospital was lacking the staff even of a 50-bedded hospital.
Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 11

Himachal is known for its rich culture, customs and traditions. People here celebrate all religious and traditional festivals with enthusiasm.

This was stated by Governor Acharya Devvrat at the inaugural ceremony of the four-day International Lavi Fair in Rampur Bushahr, Shimla district, today.

Fairs and festivals play an important role in the preservation of the states rich cultural heritage. Efforts should be made to preserve the heritage and restore the glory of traditional fairs and festivals, he said.

The fair has its own historical importance and is famous not only for trade, but also old traditions.

He said Lavi remained an important trade fair between India and Tibet for centuries and was a unique example of the glorious, social, cultural, economic history and legacy of Himachal.

Even today, the tradition was as vibrant as ever, he added, expressing hope that folk artistes from different parts of the state would enthrall the audience with their performances.

Devvrat urged the people to come forward and eradicate social evils like female foeticide. He said girls were performing far better in every field.

The Governor also expressed concern over drug abuse saying the youth should engage themselves in acquiring knowledge, social work and mainstream activities.

Lauding the efforts of organisers of the fair, he said woollens, dry fruits and other traditional crafts and products exhibited in the market were unique and the fair provided a good opportunity for their promotion and sale, besides benefiting traditional craftsmen and farmers.

The Governor inaugurated the Kinnauri market and exhibition put up by various government departments and other organisations.

Earlier, he took a round of the Rampur market and interacted with locals. He lauded members of the nagar parishad and Vyopar Mandal for maintaining cleanliness in the market area.

Deputy Commissioner and chairman of the Lavi Fair Organising Committee Rohan Chand Thakur welcomed the Governor and honoured him with a Himachali cap, shawl and a memento.

A colourful cultural programme was also presented.
Srinagar, November 11

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that Kashmir was an issue between India and Pakistan and termed those talking about azadi as wrong.

The issue of azadi is nothing. We are landlocked. There is China on one side, Pakistan on other side and India on other side. All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allahs name. Those who are talking about azadi are talking wrong, Farooq told reporters here.

Farooq also criticised New Delhi and said it has not treated us well.

Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

They have betrayed us. They didnt recognise the love with which we went to them. The reason for the present turmoil in Kashmir is that India ambushed the people of Kashmir in the night (by snatching autonomy), he said.

The National Conference president said that New Delhi should restore internal autonomy to the state, describing it as our right. They should restore our internal autonomy, then only peace will return, he said.

Farooq, who has served as the states Chief Minister thrice and was also a Union minister, said having a dialogue with the people of Kashmir only will not solve the issue. It is an issue between India and Pakistan. Talks will also have to be held with the Government of Pakistan, because a part of this Kashmir is also with them.

Farooq said New Delhi has forgotten the basis of the Instrument of Accession. I tell them in plain terms that the part (of Kashmir) under them belongs to Pakistan and this side belongs to India. This will not change, no matter how many wars they fight, said Abdullah.

The NC president said dialogue is the only way forward and autonomy would have to be restored to both parts of Kashmir.  TNS
Arun Joshi

tribune news service

Srinagar, November 10

The Kashmiri separatists had made up their mind to give another try to an engagement with New Delhi and also to bring Pakistan on board as latest as November 4, but a notice to JKLF chief Yasin Malik the very same day made them do a U-turn and reject the talks offer in almost absolute terms.

They felt the space to operate for the Hurriyat Conference was being completely squeezed. Since there was no back channel at work, they thought it was time to tell Delhi that separatists cannot be cowed down and made to sit across the table, sources said. This also gave a boost to pro-Pakistan elements like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who on Thursday reaffirmed that Kashmir should be a part of Pakistan.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

According to the separatists, Delhis special representative Dineshwar Sharma was being used as a ruse.

Sources said the Hurriyat, like all other groups in Kashmir, was convinced that Pakistan, good or bad, cannot be wished away. It has a historical stake and also controls the levers of militancy to a large extent. Already there is dismay among separatists over the very limited public support they have garnered against the NIA raids, and the opening of doors to the interlocutor would have strengthened the impression propagated by Delhi that they had been doing wrong all through.
Arteev Sharma & Shyam Sood

Tribune News Service

Jammu/Rajouri, November 11

The high-level team of the Union Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) said today that the border dwellers living along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) would see visible changes in coming days. It said the Centre and the state government were collectively planning to solve problems being faced by them in the wake of recurrent ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

We have listed the genuine demands and issues raised by border people. We will submit a comprehensive report to the Centre for finding a suitable solution to the issues. We will again visit the state and work in close association with the state government to bring changes on the ground, said Rina Mitra, Special Secretary, MHA, who is heading the study panel, while interacting with border residents in the Nowshera area of Rajouri district.

She said the Centre and the state government would, in particular, focus on children and the loss they suffered in terms of education due to shelling and firing by Pakistan.

The team, constituted by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, onFriday visited villages along the IB in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts. It assessed quantum of damage, problems being faced by people, their demands and issues for a broad-based redressal planning.

During the visit, Rajouri Deputy Commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, other senior officials of the district administration and police accompanied the panel and briefed the members about the losses due to ceasefire violation, evacuation, rescue measures and rehabilitation.

The panel assessed losses in various villages and held a detailed interaction with public at Jhangar village, which is worst affected.

As intermittent firing continues near the LoC, the team members interacted with border dwellers at Government Middle School in Jhangar, which suffered a heavy damage due to mortar shelling in May, said Purshotam Kumar, former sarpanch, Jhangar.

Kumar said, For the last seven months, people have been staying in relief camps and their children are deprived of education. They cant even celebrate major festivals, including Diwali and Eid.

Later, the team inspected the recently constructed bunkers at Langar and Dnaka villages. It also inspected two damaged schools, from where students were evacuated in July. The major demands put forward by the border dwellers included cash relief on the pattern of Kashmiri migrants, waiving of all sorts of loans, compensation for losses and plots at safer places.

Focus on children
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 11

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today released Rs 1 crore for improving drinking water facilities and expediting development projects in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.

Mehbooba was attending a public outreach durbar at Anantnag. She issued several directions to state departments on the basis of the demands put forth by residents.

A deputation of residents from Breng demanded construction of an office complex at Kokernag, adequate funding for a local water supply scheme and putting Margan Top and other spots on the tourist map. It also demanded bringing the Kachwan-Matigawaran areas on the cellular connectivity network.

The Chief Minister ordered release of Rs 10 lakh for the beautification of Hill Park.

Another deputation from Chek Ishardass sought strengthening of drinking water facilities in the area and setting up of a girls middle school in the area.

Mehbooba directed release of Rs 40 lakh for strengthening the drinking water supply in the area by constructing wells.

A deputation of people from Dethoo, Kothar in Shangus demanded upgrade of the local high school. They also demanded improved water distribution and health facilities in their areas.

Mehbooba ordered release of Rs 20 lakh for improving the PHE distribution network in the area.

A deputation from Bijbehara sought early completion of the local hospital, an ITI, filtration plant and completion of beautification work on the Jhelum banks in the town. They also demanded de-silting of Marche Khul and construction of concrete lining on the Shahjoe canal.

The Chief Minister directed the Deputy Commissioner to undertake a drive to clear all encroachments on the banks of rivers and water bodies. She also announced Rs 10 lakh for completing works at a local hospital.

Orders removal of encroachments

The Chief Minister directed the Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag to undertake a drive to clear all encroachments on the banks of rivers and water bodies. She also announced Rs 10 lakh for completing works at a local hospital
Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 11

From potholes to the Kashmir issue and reservation to scrapping of Article 35A, Centres special representative to Jammu and Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma had it all during his six-day visit to the state.

He met 65 delegations during his visit, besides meeting Governor NN Vohra, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Ghulam Ahmad Mir.

As Sharma had kept doors open for all Indian citizens, whom he termed stakeholders, he allowed delegations to speak about their day-to-day issues, whether it concerned him or not and whether he would be able to address them.

His visit has, however, brought a hope that sustained dialogue will be held in future. Official spokesperson for the J&K Government Naeem Akhtar, who is also Minister for Roads and Buildings, had said on Monday that dialogue would be held despite peoples divergent views.

Though Dineshwar Sharma was not able to take along much but on Friday he termed his visit very fruitful.

It was on October 23 that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had announced Sharmas appointment as the special representative to Jammu and Kashmir with an open mandate to talk to anyone. This announcement had come in the backdrop of the August 15 statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that peace would return by embracing Kashmiris and Rajnath Singhs own statement that by 2022, the Kashmir issue would be resolved.

Sharma today flew back to New Delhi at 11.30 am from Jammu with a message that he will be coming to the state again and again to talk to the stakeholders.

Interlocutor had kept doors open for all
Srinagar, November 11

Opposition National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday that talk of an independent Kashmir was "wrong" as the Valley is landlocked and surrounded by three nuclear powers -- China, Pakistan and India.

Abdullah also claimed that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and "this won't change" no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight against each other.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

His statement comes days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had rejected the idea of an "independent Kashmir", saying it was not based on "reality".

"I am saying that there is nothing like the issue of freedom (independent Kashmir) here. We are landlocked. On one side we have China, Pakistan on the other side and India on the third side," the MP from Srinagar told reporters on the sidelines of a function at the party headquarters here.

"All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allah's name," he said.

"Those (separatists) who are talking about Azadi, are talking wrong," the former J&K chief minister said.

On the demand for autonomy, he said that while the state decided to join India out of love, the country "betrayed" the people of Kashmir and did not treat them well.

"We should understand that there has been a decision (of accession), but India didn't treat us well. India betrayed us.

They did not recognise the love with which we chose to join them. That is the reason behind the current situation in Kashmir," Abdullah said.

"Internal autonomy is our right. They (Centre) should restore it. Only then the peace will return (to the Valley)," he said.

Referring to a statement made by Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir about PoK being part of India, Abdullah invoked the instrument of accession signed by the then Maharaja Hari Singh, with the Indian government.

"You do not remember the instrument of accession and claim the other side of Kashmir administered by Pakistan. If that side is ours, then you should talk about the accession as well. Why do you forget the conditions on which we have acceded?" he said.

Abdullah also claimed that PoK was part of Pakistan and would remain so.

I tell them in plain terms -- not only the people of India, but also to the world -- that the part (of J&K) which is with Pakistan (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and this side to India. This won't change. Let them fight how many wars they want to. This won't change," Abdullah said.

"And when the situation is such, then they have to talk, so that we live in peace, both parts live in peace and for that it is imperative to grant autonomy to both the parts," he said.

Asked whether the visit of the Centre's special representative for Kashmir Dineshwar Sahrma to the state was successful, Abdullah said only Sharma could say anything about it.

"I can only say that while he has held talks, only talks will not address the issue as this issue is between two countries -- Pakistan and India. The government of India has to talk to the government of Pakistan as a part of J&K is with them (Pakistan)," he said.  PTI
Manpriya Singh

Has the language Hindi been reduced to merely a language of advertising? Does great poetry come out of cultural unrest and hopeful perspectives? What is the way forward from the current political situation, unfortunately defined by religious fundamentalism? Day 2 of the ongoing Chandigarh Literature Festival carried forward the criticism and celebration of books amidst select audience and in a low key manner.

I speak when I need to: Nayantara Sahgal

In Chandigarh, in context of her chilling and satirical commentary on current times, When the Moon Shines By Day, author Nayantara Sahgals secular stance and political ideologies are well-known in the literary world.

At 90, one of the renowned English writers in India should rather be answering queries on what keeps her so energetic and inspired. I have a clear conscious and believe when I say that I speak only when I need to. Iyenger yoga, which she has been practising since most of her adult life and simple food fill in the rest of the blanks. But I am not a vegetarian and I drink, rest I have simple food, she laughs off moving onto questions on what plagues the current India and her book that deals with, the unmaking of modern India.

There is no denying the fact that how dangerous Hindutva is and can further be. I am a Hindu and I say this, how dangerous it can and it is definitely a distortion of our religion. Be it the Sahitya Akademi award she returned two years ago in the wake of the murder of rationalist MM Kalburgi or her protest against the current crimes and uncaught murderers, she has and continues to provoke the literary intellectuals of the country.

Of language Hindi, poetry and modern India

Author Manglesh Dabrals session was marked by what plagues the language Hindi, starting from the English words that have crept into the language. It has been reduced to merely a language of daily conversation and advertisings and that is enough. Hindi is no more a language of editorials, opinions and debates, rues the author and poet Manglesh Dabral, in conversation in context of his session Naye Yug Main Shatru. Moreover, We arent borrowing words from Urdu or Sanskrit or other Indian languages and most people have stopped reading Hindi literature.

Finding the lost link

It started with a few vintage articles that tumbled out of her grandmothers Godrej almirah. Little did author Nidhi Dugar know that she would be chronicling Indias dying professions in her book The Lost GenerationChronicling Indias Dying Professions. Be it the wooden boat makers of Bengal or the Rudaalis from Rajasthan, her quest for India that is now extinct or endangered took her places. It took me three to four years of research to come up with the book and I speak about as many as 11 professions.

As much as a lesson in ancient India, it was a lesson in the impact of current society and modernization, adds the author who has written the book in narrative journalism format.

I had a tough time hunting certain tribes down, for instance the rudaalis in Rajasthan because of the state in which they live.

Lets talk about art & diversity

Filling in the rest of the blanks on the penultimate day and bringing in diversity in literature were the books Jasoda by author Kiran Nagarkar and Mohanaswamy, English translation from Kannada, originally written by author Vasudhendra. Slightly autobiographical and coming out of the closet stories of homosexual love, urbanization and current society. And Contemporary Art of North India, a collaborative literary endeavour by three authors, Guneeta Chadha, Nonika Singh and Rajesh Chadha. In conversation with moderator Rajneesh Wattas, the authors talk about how the book has been one of a kind attempt at chronicling the art works of North Indias artists. It is about the works, the influences and the evolution in the art works of as many 40 artists, shares Guneeta Chadha of the book that took almost 3-and-a-half years in the making. There are 336 illustrations in total and the book is not just for niche audience, in fact, it is for everyone who is interested in art and artworks by artists from this region, chip in the co-authors Nonika Singh and Rajesh Chadha.
Bakr bin Laden - chairman of the kingdom's pre-eminent contractor and Osama bin Laden's half-brother, is among the top princes arrested in Saudi Arabia this week.

By AP: Among those caught in the unprecedented arrests this week of top princes, wealthy businessmen and senior officials was the scion of one of Saudi Arabia's most recognisable families - Bakr bin Laden - chairman of the kingdom's pre-eminent contractor and Osama bin Laden's half-brother.

It was a stunning end to a decades-old alliance between the ruling Al Saud and Binladin families that saw the Saudi Binladin Group secure a near-monopoly on mega-expansion projects in Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, throughout the reigns of successive Saudi monarchs.

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The government says 201 people have been taken into custody in the purge, which comes amid an anti-corruption probe it says uncovered at least USD 100 billion in graft and embezzlement. Saudi critics and experts have called the arrests a bold and risky move by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at consolidating power as he sidelines potential rivals, silences critics and dismantles alliances built with other branches of the royal family. The 32-year-old crown prince, who is the son of King Salman and popularly known by his initials MBS, is leading the anti-corruption investigation.

He's also the force behind the so-called Vision 2030 plan, a blueprint for how to restructure the country and wean it from its dependence on oil revenue. The arrests of Bin laden and the others not only signal the end of old alliances, but also speak to the larger demands being made on the business community to pay into the crown prince's economic vision in an era of lower oil prices.

'BEGINNING OF RISE OF ECONOMIC NATIONALISM'

"This is the beginning of the rise of economic nationalism", said Ayham Kamel, head of the Middle East and North Africa division of the Eurasia Group.

A centerpiece of that plan is NEOM, a USD 500 billion project that promises to be the world's most futuristic and technologically-advanced city, which was unveiled by the crown prince at a headline-grabbing global investment conference in Saudi Arabia last month.

But instead of receiving major pledges to the project by Saudi business leaders, MBS "got a deafening silence", Kamel said. Since the 1950s, the Binladins have been the royal family's go-to contractor for some of its most sensitive projects, including construction of private palaces in the immediate boon years after oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

As the royal family spent lavishly on trips abroad and new palaces at home, the Binladins became their creditors, as well as contractors.

WATCH VIDEO | Saudi Crown Prince unveils plans for $500 billion mega city

--- ENDS ---
Heres one man who cant just sit still. He runs a hugely-successful fine diner in New York, his auction of a 16 kg tome on Indian cuisine raised Rs 30 lakh that will go to feeding 2,00,000 underprivileged children, and he scored a hat-trick at Cannes with the premier of a documentary on his journey from Amritsar to the Big Apple.

Now, Michelin-starred Chef Vikas Khanna returns to his alma mater with Indias first living culinary museum that will eventually display over 10,000 objects.

Life is so much about a second chance and survival. I think that saving even just one of a kind is... a victory. Most of the pieces (displayed) are so iconic that they are being showcased as a witness to our culture, Khanna, the museums founder and curator, told IANS of the $4 million venture at the Welcome Group Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal University, Karnataka.

The idea for a museum came to me after I started living in the US, which has over 5,000 museums. There is a museum in the US to showcase how the computer was invented, somebody has put together one on the origin and developments of making glass. It is fascinating to know how the glass in your hand has been made. They have spent billions of dollars to showcase their culture and I thought our children too need to understand their heritage and culture, Khanna explained.

It is a very big project I want to preserve all of our countrys rich culinary history in our humble way. There is no other place in the world, believe me, which has such diversity. And what better way to do it than with food. The history of Indias rich tradition of culinary arts must be preserved to educate the generations to come, he added.

Noting that he has been collecting bartans (utensils) all his life, he said: My New York apartment was literally overflowing with them. There were so many rolling pins, utensils of all shapes and sizes, tea strainers of different types  people didnt even know what some of these were used for. One can find vessels from Kashmir (and cities like) Jammu, Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi and so on.

Quite appropriately, the museum, spread over 25,000 sq. ft., is shaped in the form of a giant pot very similar to the ones found in Harappa. Though it is set to formally open only next April, the museum already boasts of thousands of objects such as the plates made by the Portuguese in India, a 100-year-old ladle used to dole out food at temples, vessels from the Konkan, Udipi and Chettinad regions, an old seed sprinkler, bowls dating to the Harappan era, an ancient samovar  the list is endless. The displays will be rotated all the time.

This is a living museum; people can donate their unique utensils and we will display them after screening. I will keep adding to the collection as long as I am alive. The museum should feature over 10,000 objects in the near future. Once the museum is completed for the public, we have a full global plan to loan utensils to museums in New York, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing, London and many more cities around the world to showcase our heritage, Khanna said. IANS
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, November 11

A video of actor Shah Rukh Khan getting yelled at by a prominent Maharashtra politician is breaking the Internet.

The incident happened on November 2 when the actor took a short break to visit his farmhouse in the picturesque town of Alibaug across the Gateway of India in South Mumbai.

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While the actor was still sitting pretty in his yacht, Member of Maharashtra's Legislative Council and local strongman Jayant Patil had to push through a crowd of fans waiting at the jetty in order to board his own craft.

#WATCH: Jayant Patil, Maharashtra MLC from Alibaug, heckled Shah Rukh Khan for not coming out of his yacht at Alibaug Jetty (Mobile video) pic.twitter.com/lq5owiKZnw  ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2017

Clearly bugged, the septuagenerian Patil got his own yacht to pull abreast of Khan's after which he gave the star an earful.

Have you bought the whole of Alibaug? If you are such a big star why can't you behave responsibly? Without my permission you won't be allowed to come here, Patil is seen shouting at Khan in the video.

After Patil's yacht sped away, the actor quietly got out of his own and is seen escorted away by policemen.

With the video going viral online, Patil told reporters that celebrities flocking to Alibaug were creating nuisance for local

residents. Khan was enjoying the attention of his fans while the policemen were struggling to control the crowd. This is no way for a big film star to behave, Patil said.

Patil, who represents the Peasants and Workers Party which controls Alibaug, accused celebrities from Mumbai of violating all rules by holding all-night parties and creating a mess in the coastal town.

Incidentally, Patil owns a ferry company which plies yachts and boats between the Gateway of India and Alibaug which caters to the celebrity crowd which flocks to area on weekends and holidays.
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 11

As Delhi battled the physically and mentally dilapidating smog, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government today called off the odd-even scheme to be implemented from Monday after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered withdrawal of all exemptions, including to two-wheeler riders, woman-only commuters and government vehicles.

Meanwhile, claiming that the air quality in the Capital has been improving over the past two days, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said the people of Delhi need not panic. Several steps are being taken to mitigate air pollution.

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As politicians remained busy shifting the onus, at a meeting of the newly constituted Environment Ministry committee, representatives of Haryana and Punjab admitted to their contribution to Delhis problem.

Punjab and Haryana representatives told the panel that stubble burning in their states was over and in the medium term, further problems because of that may not arise.

However, both states requested that long-term measures need to be put in place to ensure that this does not happen every year. On these issues, it was decided that the committee will continue to meet regularly and discuss viable options like incentivising farmers, providing subsidised equipment and using existing technologies to tide over the problem, officials added.

As Delhi reported a better situation than the past few days, the quality of air remained in the severe category. A major contributor to this pollution is also vehicular traffic, largely trucks and two-wheelers that the NGT wanted to be included in the odd-even scheme.

However, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said: We respect the NGT decision. Two conditions that two-wheelers and women cannot be exempted make it difficult to implement odd-even as we do not have adequate buses.

Also, we cannot compromise with the safety of women. We cannot take risks. PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels have also come down. So, at the moment, we are calling it off. We will file a review application in the NGT on Monday.

According to a study by the IIT-Kanpur, while vehicular traffic is the most consistent source of pollutants PM 10 and PM 2.5, contributing around 20-25 per cent during winters, the majority of it comes from two-wheelers and trucks.

While the Kejriwal governments plan would have mostly targeted private vehicles, the study shows cars and jeeps contribute less than 10 per cent of both PM 2.5 and PM 10. On the other hand, the share of trucks and two-wheelers is around 46 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively

Road dust is another big contributor (around 35 per cent) to PM 2.5.
Sangli (Maha), November 11

Seven police personnel have been suspended in connection with the custodial death of a 26-year-old robbery-accused here, the police said on Saturday.

When asked whether seven Sangli police personnel have been suspended in connection with the case, Special Inspector General of Police of Kolhapur Range, Vishwas Nangare Patil in a text message, replied, "Yes".

Aniket Kothale, who was arrested by Sangli City Police on November 6, along with another man in a robbery case, died in police custody.

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The police had allegedly tried to burn his body twice to destroy evidence. Six people, including five personnel of Sangli city police station, were arrested in this regard.

As per reports, Kothale and another accused were allegedly taken from the lock-up to the detection branch room, where one of them was hung upside down from a ceiling fan with his head in a bucket of water.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Maharashtra DGP seeking a detailed report within four weeks in connection with the custodial death. Meanwhile, the CID has started investigations in the case. PTI
New Delhi, November 11

The Delhi government has called off the odd-even scheme, which was to be implemented from Monday after the National Green Tribunal ordered withdrawal of exemptions under it, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Saturday.

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Gahlot said the government's decision came in view of the directive by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which ordered the withdrawal of all exemptions, including to two-wheeler riders and woman-only vehicles, under the odd-even scheme.

The state government said it was not ready "to compromise with the safety of women" after the NGT said it could only exempt emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire tenders.

READ

Air pollution: Environment Minister asks people not to panic

Pollution levels in North India remains severe, Varanasi tops the list

DTC buses create so much noise, they are great nuisance: NGT

"We respect the NGT decision. Two conditions of NGT that two wheelers and women cannot be exempted make it difficult to implement odd-even as we do not have adequate buses," Gahlot said. "Also we cannot compromise with the safety of women. We cannot take risks. PM2.5 and PM10 levels have also come down. So at the moment we are calling it off. We will file a review application in NGT on Monday," the minister said.

The decision to call-off the scheme was taken at a meeting chaired by Arvind Kejriwal and attended by ministers, including Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain.

Senior officials, including the chief secretary, were also present in the meeting at Kejriwal's residence.

Earlier this week, the Delhi Government had announced implementation of the odd-even scheme from November 13-17, given the high level of smog in the capital. Schools were also shutdown till Sunday.

A landmark IIT-Kanpur study, which covered the period 2013-14, has said that during winters, vehicles are the second largest and the "most consistent" contributing source of pollutants PM10 and PM2.5.

In terms of percentage, it comes to around 20-25 per cent during winters, the report says. The contribution of road dust is negligible during the colder months unlike summers when it plays a bigger role.

However, the share of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, trucks and light commercial vehicles in the total vehicular contribution shows that trucks and two- wheelers are the major polluters.

According to the study, which was commissioned by the Sheila Dikshit government, the share of four-wheelers in the break up of vehicular contribution is 10 per cent each in cases of both PM2.5 and PM10.

On the other hand, the share of trucks and two-wheelers stands at around 46 per cent and 33 per cent respectively. PTI
Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, November 11

After right wing students attempted to manhandle former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, the Lucknow district administration has withdrawn permission for the Lucknow Literary Fest.

Members of the AVBP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha had collected at the venue Sheroes Cafe, run by acid attack survivors, in large numbers.

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As soon as Kumar arrived for his session late in the evening, they disrupted the function shouting slogans describing Kumar as anti-national demanding him to go back.

Kumar had been invited to the festival to speak on his book From Bihar to Tihar.

The right-wing students not only raised slogans but even attempted to manhandle Kumar saying that they would not let him speak at any cost.

After that, some students of Lucknow University who had come to hear the former JNUSU president came in his support.

It became a scuffle between the ABVP and Lucknow University students forcing the acid attack survivors running the cafe to appear on stage with folded hands requesting all to maintain peace.

These women and some student supporters protected Kumar by physically encircling him and taking him to the stage.

The police force arrived after half-an-hour who managed to control the unruly right wing elements and the programme continued.

Speaking after this, Kumar said he would have been happy if those who did not agree with his political views would have engaged him in a dialogue, which is the sign of a healthy democracy.

Defending himself he said that he was not an anti-national but belonged to a family of freedom fighters.

In a late night order, Lucknow District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma cancelled the permission for the festival on the ground that the programme shared with the administration did not included the presence of personalities like Kanhaiya, Shatrughan Sinha, Varun Gandhi and Asaduddin Owaisi.
Manila, November 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and several other world leaders will arrive here tomorrow for the ASEAN summit which is set to extensively deliberate on evolving security challenges facing South East Asia.

The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), a grouping of 10 influential countries, is taking place amid Chinas aggressive behaviour in the disputed South China Sea and North Koreas nuclear missile tests and both these issues are likely to figure prominently during discussions among the leaders, a senior diplomat said here.

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Prime Minister Modi will attend the 15th ASEAN-India summit and 12th East Asia summit on November 14 during which he is likely to reassert Indias call for crafting a coordinated global initiative in dealing with traditional and non-traditional threats facing the region.

The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.

Every single country in the ASEAN region wants India to be more engaged in the region in every possible way. That is the real synergy we have with ASEAN, said Indian Ambassador to Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar.

The US, France and Japan have been pitching for a larger role by India in the strategically key Indo-Pacific region where China has been trying to increase its military presence.

Mazumdar said terrorism is going to be one of the issues that will be discussed not only during the ASEAN summit but also at the East Asia summit.

He said several documents are going to be adopted with an aim to contain terrorism, including one on stopping money laundering for the purpose of terrorism.

Besides holding bilateral talks with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Modi is expected to meet many leaders attending the two summits, including President Trump.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev are among other prominent leaders who are scheduled to attend the East Asia Summit.

While ASEAN summit is likely to focus more on trade and investment related issues, leaders at the East Asia Summit are expected to delve deep into issues relating to maritime security, terrorism, non-proliferation and migration. Apart from the 10 ASEAN member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the US.

In the ASEAN-India summit, both sides are expected to explore ways to further enhance trade and investment ties. The ASEAN region along with India together comprises combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated to be over USD 3.8 trillion. Investment from ASEAN to India has been over USD 70 billion in the last 17 years, accounting for more than 17 per cent of Indias total foreign direct investment.  PTI

Bigger Indian role

"Every single country in the ASEAN wants India to be more engaged in the region in every possible way. That is the real synergy we have with ASEAN... Terrorism is going to be another key point of discussion." Jaideep Mazumdar, Indian envoy
Mumbai, November 11

A car with a woman and her baby inside was towed away by the city traffic police at Malad, inviting widespread condemnation, which prompted the police to suspend one of its constables and order a probe.

The shocking incident came to light today when a purported video clip of it went viral on social media, a police official said.

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, which took place at Malad in the western suburbs of the city yesterday around 4.30 pm, he said, adding, the probe will be conducted under the supervision of DCP (Traffic), western suburbs.

The woman had gone to Malad for some work with her husband and the child and parked the car on the busy S V Road.

As the car was obstructing the vehicular movement, the traffic police arrived at the spot with a towing van. When the van was about to leave with the car, the woman sat inside the vehicle with her baby, he said.

Police requested her to step out and officials from the Malad Police Station were called in to tackle the situation but to no avail, the official said.

The video shows the woman and her baby sitting on the rear seat of the car and the traffic police towing it away.

Onlookers, who can be heard shouting and protesting the police action, asked constable Shashank Rane, who was accompanying the towing van, to stop it.

The video clip also shows the woman shouting at the police and telling them she was unwell and feeding her child.

The official said the couple was taken to the police station where the woman's husband paid a fine for unauthorised parking and the issue was sorted out.

The DCP (Traffic), western suburbs, has been asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report by tomorrow, said Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

It has been prima facie noticed that safety of the woman and the child were endangered in the incident. Hence, pending inquiry, the constable is being placed under suspension, he said.

A decision about departmental action against him will be taken after the report is received, Kumar said.  PTI
Kota, November 11

A 50-year-old Pakistani national, who allegedly entered India illegally from Nepal and was staying at a history-sheeters house in Sultanpur town in Rajasthans Kota district, had been rounded up, the police said on Saturday.

The history-sheeter, identified as Mohammed Khalid, had also been rounded up, they said.

Mohammed Hanif, a resident of Karachi in Pakistan, was rounded up on Friday night from Khalids house, where he had been staying without visa and passport since November 6, SHO of Sultanpur police station Devesh Bhardwaj said.

During interrogation, Hanif revealed that he had entered India illegally via Kathmandu in Nepal last month. After reaching Delhi, he went to Ajmer where he stayed a night in a hotel. He arrived in Sultanpur on November 6, the SHO said.

He is being questioned to ascertain the motive behind entering the country illegally. Hanifs statements were being verified, the police official said, adding that Khalids aunt was married in Pakistan.

A case under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act and Passport Act had been registered against Hanif and Khalid, Bhardwaj said. PTI
By PTI: Lahore, Nov 11 (PTI) Over 2,300 Sikh pilgrims today left for India from Pakistan by special trains after attending the 549th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev at his birthplace in Nankana Sahib in the Punjab province.

Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq gave the pilgrims a warm send off at the Lahore railways station, an official said.

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"As many as 2,361 Indian Sikhs today returned to their homeland. Evacuee Trust Property Board chairman Saddiqul Farooq gave them warm send off at the Lahore railways station," ETPB spokesman Amir Hashmi told PTI.

He said the pilgrims were brought to the railways station in high security.

During their 10-day stay in Pakistan, the pilgrims visited Gurdwara Janamesthan Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hasan Absal and Gurdwara Kartar Sahib Narowal.

"We are establishing Baba Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib and Sikhs from all over the world are ready to fund it," Farooq said, adding that the founder of the Sikh religion gave the message of peace.

He said the board had also set up an online charity system for donation.

Sardar Gurmeet Singh, a group leader of the pilgrims, said the Sikh devotees always bring message of peace, friendship and harmony to Pakistan.

"Pakistan is the land of Sikh Gurus, so Sikhs love this land," Singh said.

Every year, devotees from all over the world gather at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal to celebrate Baba Guru Nanaks birth anniversary.

The celebrations last for more than a week during which sacred rituals are performed at the Gurdwara and sweets and langar are offered, irrespective of religious orientation.

Guru Nanak Dev was born at Rai Bhoi Ki Talvandi (present day Nankana Sahib), about 80 kilometres from Lahore.

He spent the last years of his life at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, about three kilometers from the International Border that separates India and Pakistan. PTI MZ MRJ

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi, November 11

Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, an active social commentator, on Saturday said those who called others anti-national needed to digest the fact that they and their political parties were not bigger than the nation itself, and rued that Muslims were considered non-Indian.

At the Sahitya Aaj Tak conclave here, Akhtar spoke on anti-nationalism as he felt nationalism is being misinterpreted a lot.

He said: They (individuals) have started considering themselves as the nation. If you oppose them, you become anti-national. These politicians are like the harvesting crop. They change when the crop changes. Nation is larger than any political party. Any politician who thinks that he or she is the nation, then its wrong.

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According to Akhtar, in the past and even in present, a secular Muslim belongs nowhere.

This is a very sorry state of affairs that any Muslim is considered non-Indian. Tipu Sultan is not a Hindustani...and if I do not agree to this mentality, then I become anti-national? If this is the case, then fine, I am anti-national, he said.

Citing Jalaluddin Muhammed Akbar as an example, he pointed out how the Mughal emperor is called an outsider for the nation by a large number of individuals.

He said Akbar, the third Mughal emperor who reigned from 1556 to 1605, was a Hindustani as he was born here and even died contributing to the wealth of Hindustan.

In this country, a number of big personalities were born, and with confidence, I can say that the list would be incomplete without the mention of Akbar. That man was a huge personality with a vision nobody can match. About 400 years back when Europe had not heard the word secularism, protestants and Roman Catholics were burning each other on stakes, here a man in Hindustan was not only secular, but also understood the philosophy and theory of secularism, and worked on it.

If you read on him and his documented thoughts, then these people (who call him non-Hindustani) are uneducated and know nothing. If you read history and details, be proud of the fact that you were born in a country where Akbar was born.

Akhtar also also pointed out how Barack Obama, who has Kenyan and American genes, and who belongs to a colour different from the majority in America, was elected as the President of the US.

In India, he said, the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who reigned from 1628 to 1658, and his five generations hailed from Hindustan, were born and died here.

The difference between foreigners and Indians is that foreigners took the wealth from India to London, but Mughals never did, he said, and added: During their (Mughal rulers) time, there were no civil wars in India, and at that time, Hindustan progressed.

Hindustan was the richest country in the world under Mughal regime. Europeans came here in that era, Britishers, French, Dutch and many came even from small places like Finland. They did not come here for sightseeing. They came because this was a wealthy country.

Today, a big producer from Hollywood, tycoon from a media company is called mogul. IANS
Prantij (Gujarat), November 11



Seeking to take credit for the Centre's decision to reduce the GST rates on a number of items, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday he would not rest till the five-slab "Gabbar Singh Tax" was converted into the "Goods and Services Tax" with an 18-per cent cap.

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The Gandhi scion, who launched his poll campaign tour of north Gujarat after offering prayers at the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar on Saturday, again raked up the issue of a company of Jay Shah, the son of BJP president Amit Shah.

"We pressured (the Centre), the people of Gujarat, small shopkeepers put pressure and I am happy to say that (Union Finance Minister) Arun Jaitleyji has shifted many items to the 18-per cent slab from the 28-per cent tax bracket under the GST," he told a public meeting in this north Gujarat town.

"With five slabs, it is the Gabbar Singh Tax, but with one tax, it is the GST. Neither Gujarat nor India needs the Gabbar Singh Tax. The Congress had clearly told the BJP that there should be one tax with an 18-per cent cap and a simple tax (at that)," Gandhi added.

The 47-year-old Amethi MP said the "Gabbar Singh Tax" had caused damage to the small and medium scale businesses in Gujarat and elsewhere in the country.

"This Gabbar Singh Tax is looting the small people of this country. This Gabbar Singh Tax is only aimed at breaking the back of the small and medium scale industries of Gujarat and (the rest of) the country.

"This GST has damaged Gujarat and India. Good that they (Centre) brought some changes in it yesterday. But, we will not stop at this. We will stop only when Gujarat and India get the GST and not the Gabbar Singh Tax," he added.

The Congress leader said the GST, a landmark tax reform which subsumed a host of central and state levies, needed structural changes.

"The GST cap should be at 18 per cent. If they (Centre) do not do it, we will put pressure on them, and if they still do not do it, we will do it soon after forming the government. The GST requires structural changes," he added.

On Saturday, the tax rates on over 200 items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates to beauty products, wigs and wristwatches, were cut by the GST Council to provide relief to consumers and businesses in the backdrop of an economic slowdown.

The Gandhi scion said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was silent about the company of Jay Shah, the turnover of which, as per a media report, rose from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in a few months after the BJP came to power at the Centre.

"Modiji used to say he would be a chowkidar (watchman), but now people are asking whether he is a chowkidar or a bhagidar (collaborator)," he said.

A report in a news portal had alleged wrongdoings in the company owned by Jay Shah, a charge vehemently rejected by the latter and his father. Jay Shah has also filed a criminal defamation case against the news portal.

Gandhi claimed that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, where polling took place on November 9, had done a better work than the BJP regime in Gujarat, which goes to the polls next month.

"The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh opened four (new) medical colleges, but in Gujarat, no (new) medical college has come up.

"The Himachal government did not close down a single school, but the Gujarat government shut down 13,000 government schools. Himachal gave 14 lakh houses to the poor (under a scheme), but in Gujarat, the number of houses given by the government was half of that. Gujarat also lags behind Himachal in education and generating jobs," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP workers showed black flags to the Congress vice-president in Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases  on December 9 and 14. PTI
Chennai, November 11

Singapore is keen on starting new ventures in Tamil Nadu and strengthening its ties with India, a diplomat of the country has said.

Singapore accounts for 3.4 per cent of Indias foreign trade and is keen on starting new ventures in Tamil Nadu for improving trade and business, Singapores Consul General in Chennai Roy Kho said.

During his brief interaction with Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit here on Friday, Kho said, India is investment-friendly, especially Tamil Nadu is known for its investment-friendly policies, amazing architecture and rich culture.

Noting that Singapore was the second largest foreign investor in India, the consul general said India and Singapore had marked 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Both the countries share close and friendly relations for centuries together in trade, culture, industry, education and commerce, a Raj Bhavan release quoted him as saying.

The population of Indians in Singapore is about nine per cent, Kho said, adding that of them a majority were from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The governor said Singapore is known for its cleanliness and Prime Minister Narendra Modis mission is also to develop a clean India under the Swachh Bharat mission.

Tamil Nadu looks forward to many more investments and MoUs for promotion of tourism, educational exchange programmes and for sharing knowledge and technology, Purohit said.

The visit of Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam to India and that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore in November, 2015 further strengthened the India-Singapore bilateral relations, he added. PTI
Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 11

Even as hectic preparations are afoot for the eighth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) at Hyderabad from November 28 to 30, diplomatic sources suggest that all is not hunky-dory between co-organisers India and the US despite the projected bonhomie and enthusiasm on social media.

President Donald Trumps adviser and daughter Ivanka Trump will head the United States delegation to the summit, that will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Despite a formal announcement of the summit in June during Prime Minister Modis US visit, the American organisers are complaining that the planning and execution took months to kick off. But more importantly, the constant seeking of US business bigwigs and globally recognised CEOs has been upsetting the American side.

Sources said on almost every occasion that a top NITI Aayog functionary met Acting US Ambassador MaryKay Loss Carlson, the enquiries greatly focussed on the star guest list.

Sources added that the Indian government hopes that like the 2016 edition, which had Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg in conversation with President Barack Obama, and Brian Chesky of Airbnb to Sundar Pichai of Google preaching entrepreneurship, the Indian edition will also be a glittering event.

The American organisers are reminding the Indian side that the seventh edition was held at Stanford University in Silicon Valley, the worlds largest entrepreneurial ecosystem.

An American diplomat remarked with much irritation, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Zuckerberg are not going to stand shoulder to shoulder and promote Startup India in Hyderabad. The Indian side needs to look at the other editions which were highly successful because of well-meaning global investors and not just starry names. We are sure the Hyderabad GES will be successful too by those measures.

After its inaugural US edition, GES was held in Turkey, UAE, Malaysia, Morocco and Kenya, before travelling back to Silicon Valley.

The Hyderabad GES will be the first edition to be held in South Asia. It will highlight the theme Women First, Prosperity for All, and will focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally.

It will also promote Indias enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Hyderabad is home to T-Hub, Indias largest startup incubator.
Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

Jail authorities in Punjab have found that prohibited items were thrown inside over the wall five times a month, on an average.

This revelation, underlining security concerns, has prompted Justice Rajan Gupta of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to direct the state to specify whether a time frame had been fixed for shifting Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Ferozepur jails out of residential areas.

Justice Gupta also directed the state to depute an officer not below the Joint Secretarys rank to remain present in the court on the next date of hearing.

Expressing concern over the use of mobile phones in prisons, state DGP Suresh Arora had recently raised the issue with the government, even as mobile jammers were installed in Nabha, Sangrur and Patiala jails.

As a petition filed by Rajesh Kumar and others through counsel Tanu Bedi came up for hearing, the Bench was told that the Gurdaspur Central Jail was situated in the middle of the city. Five years ago, the outer area comprising agricultural land was acquired by Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) on the state governments direction for acting as a buffer between the jail and the city area.

After acquisition, PUDA developed a residential colony surrounding the jail from three sides. The colony roads were now touching the prisons outer security wall from three directions.

Lakhminder Singh Jakhar, DIG (Prisons), said this gave easy access to miscreants to throw prohibited items inside. The matter was taken up by his office with the Additional Chief Secretary, Home and Jails, vide a letter dated September 29.

In his status report, Jakhar said at least 44 instances of articles being thrown inside over the outer wall had come to light during the first nine months of this year.

Jakhar added that the Jail Department had taken action against miscreants and staff caught smuggling and throwing prohibited items inside prisons. He said 12 jail employees had been dismissed in the past three years and 25 were facing departmental inquiries for alleged involvement in supplying forbidden articles. Every such incidence of supplying or recovering prohibited articles from inmates has been reported to the police, he concluded.
Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Adampur (Jalandhar), Nov 11

The Centre has given the go-ahead to the Indian Air Force (IAF) for installing the integrated perimeter security system at airbases across the country. This was stated here today by Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding in Chief (AOC-in-C), Western Air Command.

He said the huge peripheral area of these IAF stations would be guarded by CCTV cameras and motion sensors. Since it is a major contract, the equipment will be installed on priority at airbases with a high level of vulnerability, such as Pathankot. At the bigger stations, we have peripheral roads of 24-26 km and 3 km of runways where these installations would be done, the AOC-in-C said during a media interaction.

The Air Marshal said, We are removing wild growth beyond the airbase perimeter walls on a regular basis. Its a cause of concern that expanding towns have come very close to IAF establishments.

On the scheduled launch of the civil airport at Adampur from December 1, the AOC-in-C said the IAF was helping the state government in its Udaan project. There is a plan to extend the services from Adampur, Hindon and Pathankot airbases, he said.

Presidents visit on November 16

President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to visit the Adampur IAF station on November 16 for awarding the Presidents Standard to 223 Squadron and 117 Helicopter Unit. He will also release the first day cover of the squadron and the helicopter unit. Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff, and other officers are expected to attend the ceremony. Invites have also been extended to the Punjab Governor and CM.
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 11

The rural police today arrested another accused in the Rs 1.18-crore robbery from a cash van of HDFC Bank last evening. He was identified as Jaskaran Singh of Gurdaspur.

The accused arrested yesterday has been identified as Ranjit Singh of Kapurthala. A Tata Indigo car, a country-made pistol and two shells were seized from his possession. The police said five members of the gang were absconding.

Jaskaran Singh, DIG, Jalandhar range, said during interrogation, Ranjit had revealed the names of the co-accused  Sutinderpal Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Hardip Singh. He said Sutinderpal used to work with a cash handling firm.

The police said no case was registered earlier against any of the seven accused. They said the van was initially carrying Rs 2.16 crore. After loading cash in six ATMs, it was left with Rs 1.18 crore, which had been looted by the robbers.
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 11

An Army jawan and a taxi driver were killed in a fog-linked accident here in the wee hours of today.

The deceased were identified as Dheeraj Kumar (24), a resident of Sikar district in Rajasthan, and Gurdial Singh (32) of Pathankot.

Due to poor visibility, Gurdial rammed the car into a boulder near Ganpati Enclave on the Bathinda-Dabwali road. A construction company is building a flyover above the road, but no signboard has been installed to warn motorists.

Dheeraj had reached Chandigarh from Srinagar on a plane. As his flight to Jaipur was cancelled due to fog, he hired a taxi for Sikar.

Kulwinder Singh, SHO, said the cops had initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC.

Woman killed, father hurt as canter hits Scooty

Sangrur:A 21-year-old woman died while her father suffered serious injuries when the Scooty they were riding on was hit by a canter amid dense smog leading to poor visibility here today.

Victim Gurjatinder Kaur was pursuing diploma in stenography from Punjabi University, Patiala.

The accident took place when she along with her father Gurpal Singh (61) was going to Sangrur from Khurani village on her two-wheeler around 7.30 am. When they reached the bypass chowk, a canter coming from Patiala side hit their scooty and fled.

She died on the spot while Gurpal has been admitted to the Sangrur civil hospital.

We have registered a case against unidentified driver of the canter. Gurpal, who retired as CRPF inspector, works with a private company. He suffered a fracture in his right leg, said ASI Raghuvinder Singh.  TNS

3 PPCB officers hurt in accident

Phagwara: Three officers of the Punjab Pollution Control Board -- Chief Engineer Gurwinder Singh Majithia and XENs Shiv Kumar and Arun Kakkar  were injured when their Jalandhar-bound Toyota Etios was hit by a car and it overturned onto a divider near Goraya on Saturday. Driver Gurmit Chopra was also injured in the mishap. The accident took place when the officers were returning to Jalandhar from Doraha after attending a meeting with board chairman Kahan Singh Pannu. OC
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 10

The Centre and states today sparred over smog, with the public health emergency looming large.

While Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh again knocked at the doors of PM Narendra Modi to seek compensation for stubble burning, the Agriculture Ministry released details of funds released to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh  putting the onus of dealing with the problem entirely on them.

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Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh rejected the demand for subsidy on management of crop residue and as per the data released by his ministry, Punjab did not use a single rupee of Rs 49.08 crore and Rs 48.50 crore released for crop residue management under the Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanisation in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.

Haryana used Rs 39 crore of the Rs 45 crore allotted and Rajasthan Rs 3 crore of Rs 9 crore in 2017-18. Uttar Pradesh used the entire allocation.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma sparred with the AAP-led Delhi government, questioning the rationale behind the odd-even scheme that also invited rebuke from the National Green Tribunal. The NGT said it would not allow its implementation until the state government proved its efficacy. The SC never said implement the odd-even scheme. It was only one of the directions by EPCA. You have not followed 99 directions, it said.

Old Cars off UP roads

UP has decided to withdraw four lakh cars in eight districts of NCR adjoining Delhi. Petrol-run four-wheelers more than 15 years old and diesel-run vehicles which had run for 10 years will be seized. Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Shamli, Baghpat and Hapur are covered.
By India Today Web Desk: Padmavati, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, has been under fire from various quarters, ever since the shooting started. Various political groups, like the Sri Rajput Karni Sena, have risen up in protest against the Sanjay Bhansali Leela film, claiming that it is "a distortion of history." From beating up Bhansali, to vandalising the sets, and taking to the streets to protest, the groups have left no stone unturned to voice their anger.

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However, it looks like the film has the support from CBFC chiefs, both past and present. Ex CBFC chief, Pahlaj Nihalani has voiced his support for Bhansali. He told ANI, "Bhansali is a sensible and best technician in the industry. He knows that he is bringing Indian culture in front of the world. He has always promoted Indian culture and people have liked it."

Nihalani, who has faced much flak, owing to his controversial decisions during his tenure as CBFC chief, also said, "There has been controversy in each of his films. Controversy on his projects is created by people. His movies have always done a good business after people see there is nothing wrong with it. People of every state for which he makes a film protest against it. People protested against Bajirao Mastani in Maharashtra. There were many court cases. I think how he highlighted Maratha in that film was commendable," he noted.

Nihalani also pointed out that there was a film on Padmavati in 1963, but no one had protested at that time. "Why did people not protest earlier when movies were made on Padmavati? Were the Rajputs not this concerned?" he asked, adding, "These protests must stop."

He also said that approving the film is the responsibility of the censor board, not the government. "Till the time film is not censored, it is not completed. I think they have not yet submitted it for approval, the process which takes at least 21 days. If the film gets censor certificate, it must be right-minded."

On Friday, Censor Board member, Arjun Gupta had said that Bhansali should be tried for treason. However, CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi said that his statements were not endorsed by CBFC, and that he respected Bhansali as an individual and an artist.

ALSO WATCH: Sanjay Leela Bhansali thrashed, sets of Padmavati vandalised by Karni Sena

--- ENDS ---
Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 11

Due to the plummeting recovery of farm loans, over 7,000 employees in 3,385 cooperative societies in the state have not received their salaries for the past over six months.

After the announcement of debt waiver by the state government to farmers, there has been a steep fall in the half-yearly recoveries of societies loans and increase in number of loan defaulters, said Jalaur Singh Jatana, state president, Punjab State Agriculture Cooperative Societies Employees Union.

There is over 300 per cent increase in the number of loan defaulters in all cooperative societies in the state, said Ninder Mohan Sharma, secretary of the union. The highest increase in the number of these defaulters is in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Batala and Fazilka, said Sharma.

Cooperative societies run on the income generated on the loans to the farmers and the profit on the sale of fertilisers, pesticides, seeds and other grocery items to the farmers, who are society members. But due to fall in the recovery of loans, all cooperative societies are unable to pay salary to their employees.

Though Arvinder Singh Bains, Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Punjab, said the recovery of loans would improve in the coming days but the employees were apprehensive of closure of the societies in the coming days.

As per the state government policy, all those eligible for debt waiver will be given benefit. We have already asked the farmers not to stop repayment, said Bains.

As per rule, a farmer has to make repayment of his loan every six months and then he is allowed to raise new loans and make purchases.

As a large number of farmers have turned defaulters for not repaying loans, so the cooperative societies cannot sell them any item or give them new loans. After getting loans at 7 per cent per annum from cooperative banks, the societies give loans at 9 per cent per annum to farmers, making an earning of 2 per cent.
Tarlochan Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

The cash-starved Punjab Government has steered clear of burdening itself with additional expenditure on starting pre-primary classes in 13,000 government schools. The financial implication of this initiative will be borne by the respective school staff.

The government has asked sarpanches, panches, school management committee members, parents and anganwari workers to ensure enrolment of children between 3-6 years in government schools.

No grants have been issued to the primary schools. Instead, they have been asked to make arrangements like decorating the pre-primary classrooms with charts and posters, setting up a toy corner, book corner etc on their own.

Teachers in these schools, who have received directions from the Education Department, say since no money has been released, they have no option but to spend from their own pocket. Each school will also have to set up an information counter and organise a cultural programme to attract more children for enrolment. While the order for setting up separate classrooms has been issued, many schools do not have a spare room.

Some teachers told The Tribune that the cash flow from the department was slow and they had already been using personal resources for running the mid-day meal scheme, maintaining the green cover and other maintenance work.

The Adhyapak Sanjha Morcha, headed by Sukhwinder Chahal, said while the total allocation for the education sector was lower this year, the teachers were forced to use their own resources for running most schemes in the schools.

When contacted, Krishana Kumar, Secretary, School Education, said the government would soon release Rs 1,000 per school for pre-primary classes. If need be, we will try to arrange more funds, he added.

Teachers say they dont expect much as the government is unable to meet even its committed expenditure.
Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 10

The Punjab Police have arrested Hardeep Singh, alias Shera, a sharpshooter allegedly behind at least seven high-profile killings in the state since 2016.

This is the fifth arrest connected to the Pakistan ISI terror module busted a few days ago. The module is believed to be behind the targeted killings of several Hindu leaders, including those of the RSS and Shiv Sena, besides a pastor.

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While five killings took place between April 2016 and February 2017, two happened in July and October.

Addressing the media, DGP Suresh Arora, accompanied by DGP-Intelligence Dinkar Gupta, said the police had traced the suspects handlers, who were part of a larger ISI conspiracy stretching to the UK, Italy and Canada. The role of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) was also being investigated. The DGP said they had vital clues about the identities of the handlers.

Hardeep (21), a resident of Majri Kihnewali village, was arrested from a gymnasium in Fatehgarh Sahib this morning. He had fled to Italy on August 12, 2016, after killing RSS state vice-president Brig Jagdish Gagneja (retd) on August 6, making it difficult to connect him to the murders, the DGP said.

Baghapurana SHO Jangjeet Singh Bajwa said Hardeep tried to escape but was overpowered around 5.30 am. Several weapons, including a .9 mm pistol, .30 pistol, .32 pistol, .315 single-shot pistol, a Swiss-made air pistol and 60 cartridges, were recovered.

Sources said Hardeep bought the air pistol in Italy for training. The motorcycle used in Brig Gagnejas killing was recovered from the Sirhind canal today.

Hardeep reportedly worked with Ramandeep Singh, alias Canadian, alias Billa, alias Chooti Bhain, of Chuharwal in Ludhiana. The two met at Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib in Ludhiana.

The accused had picked RSS leaders to cause communal disharmony in Punjab. The accused had gone to Jalandhar thrice before finally shooting Brig Gagneja. They always wore masks to hide their identity from CCTV cameras and destroyed clothes after each crime, said DGP Arora.

Both Hardeep and Ramandeep were reportedly contacted on Facebook by their ISI handlers, who used the social media to pick and radicalise youth, the DGP said.

The two worked in close coordination despite having little information about one another. They kept contact through a mobile app  Signal  and were told to pick soft targets in the RSS. In Brig Gagneja and pastor cases, the targets were given by agencies outside of Punjab, while the rest were selected by the accused, the DGP said.
Chandigarh, November 10

The Punjab Police on Saturday claimed to have cracked the case in which Rs 1.18 crore was looted from a bank's cash van in Jalandhar district with the arrest of two persons.

In a daring robbery on Friday, armed men on three motor- cycles and a car looted the cash meant for ATMs of a private bank in Bhogpur area.

"We have arrested two persons in connection with the incident," Jalandhar (Rural) Superintendent of Police, Balkar Singh today said.

However, the cash is yet to be recovered, he said.

One of the accused Ranjit Singh was caught on Friday when he was tracked by a police team at Kartarpur Cheema vllage, the police said.

He suffered bullet injuries during an encounter. He was admitted to a local hospital, they said.

During interrogation, the police came to know that seven people were involved in the crime.

"Jaskaran Singh was arrested from Batala today," said the SP, adding that five other accused would be nabbed soon. PTI
Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

The Vigilance Bureau has informed the Health Department that despite getting handsome amount as non-practicing allowance (NPA), government doctors are indulging in private practice.

The Joint Director, Vigilance Bureau, has sent a letter to senior health officials, which has been forwarded to all civil surgeons.

The bureaus claim is based on reports gathered from Ludhiana SSP, Economic Offences Wing and its own investigation.

As per the letter, though the act of government doctors indulging in private practice doesnt invite criminal proceedings, it is certainly a violation of their service conduct rules. In the letter, the VB has requested the Secretary, Vigilance Department, to inform the Health Department to take necessary action.

Earlier in May, the Vigilance had raided the house of Dr BS Bal, who was serving as principal as well as head of the medicine department at Government Medical College, Amritsar, and found him doing private practice.

With an aim to reducing or discontinuing the allowance, the Punjab Government had recently started an exercise to assess the total financial burden borne by the government on the payment of the NPA. The PCMS Doctors Association had strongly opposed the move. The association has now claimed that this letter is another step to intimidate doctors and to stop the NPA.

We are resisting the governments earlier move. So it is part of governments exercise to withdraw the allowance, but we will not let that happen, said Dr Gagandeep Singh, president, PCMS Doctors Association.

There are more than 4,000 doctors in the Health Department and more than 1,000 with the Rural Development Department, who get the NPA at the rate of 25 per cent of their basic pay.
LONDON: China, which on its way to emerge as a Space Superpower, claims be the first nation to make contact with alien life using the worlds largest radio dish.

According to researchers, the dish, which is 500-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope is about twice the size of the US Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, can detect signals from the deepest depths of space.

In 2016, China became a space exploration powerhouse after it fired its brand new lab Tiangong 2 into low orbit  joining the US and Russia.

China made the move following numerous dozens of suspected-extraterrestrial encounters, including the claims that a UFO was seen over the Great Wall of China last week, reports Daily Star Online.

According to reports, China has spent billions of pounds into space exploration and the worlds largest dish to detect alien signals coming from other galaxies.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the bold project would enable them to take larger and further steps in space exploration and make new contributions to building up China as a space power.

A researcher Liu Cixin described the dish as something out of science fiction. Liu has written many books about the risks of first contact and warns that the appearance of this other could end with mankinds extinction.

In one of his books, he said, Perhaps in ten thousand years, the starry sky that humankind gazes upon will remain empty and silent. But perhaps tomorrow well wake up and find an alien spaceship the size of the Moon parked in orbit, he said.

Wheelchair-bound space boffin Stephen Hawking has also warned researchers about the risks of contacting aliens.

Adding, Meeting an advanced civilisation could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus.  ANI
Vijay C Roy in Chandigarh

Vijay C Roy in Chandigarh

A year after the government steamrollered its anti-black money measure aimed at sucking out high-value currency notes from the economy, it continues to look at the cul-de-sac of financial morass, uncertain as to how its blitzkrieg achieved the avowed goal. What all Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had to say at a presser was that excessive cash in the economy has its own cost and that India is gradually moving towards digital transactions.

Reports in bits and parts site Reserve Bank of India figures to show that the usage of wallets, non-Unified Payment Interface (UPI) banking apps and Aadhaar-enabled payments has been slow. Also, fewer people were using the debit card. The UPI payments have been growing, and a significant chunk of them are mobile-based.

On the other hand, Anil Khaitan, PHDCCI chief, says the trend in digital transactions has trebled in volume terms and quadrupled in value across various modes of digital payments during the re-monetization regime.

Mobile phone transactions

Launched in April 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application, merging several banking features, seamless fund routing and merchant payments into one hood. A Recent SBI report said demonetization has pitch-forked India three years ahead in digital payments compared to other nations. Various prepaid instruments such as mobile wallets, PPI cards, paper vouchers and mobile banking have risen exponentially. The transaction value of Indian fintech sector was estimated to be $33 billion in 2016 and is forecast to touch $73 billion in 2020.

Shailendra Naidu, CEO, Obopay, a global mobile payment solutions company, says India is set to have 520 million smartphones by 2020. The number of internet users in that period would go up to 650 million. So, there will be enough digitally savvy customers in the near future. They will also be accustomed to slick interfaces and user experiences. Artificial intelligence and big data can take payments a step further. The wallet may not be a simple stored-value account any more. They would evolve into a complete financial management tool.

Similarly, mobile wallets like MobiKwik, Paytm and Freecharge witnessed a significant increase in their user base. The transaction through mobile wallets involves first placing money into an electronic wallet either through net or mobile banking before being able to use it to make cash-free payments. Around 150 million users have adopted the digital payment platform during the last one year. MobiKwiks customer base has more than doubled during this period, going up from 30 million users to 65 million, says Upasana Taku, co-founder, MobiKwik.

In expansion mode

Little doubt, then, post-demonetization, mobile wallet firms had announced major expansion plans enlisting even cab operators, vegetable vendors and kirana stores for digital payment.

In recent months, Facebook-owned WhatsApp has shown interest in UPI, while Truecaller and Uber have already enabled UPI payments through their platforms. Amazon India is also in talks with NPCI to join the UPI ecosystem. UPI usage took off after the launch of the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app in December 2016.

India has the highest fintech adoption rate in the world at 52% as per Ernst and Young India 2017 data. Taku says around 15 crore Indians have started using digital payments even at toll plazas, for booking movies and bus and train tickets, buying groceries and garments online, buying at offline stores, paying at restaurants, fuel stations and milk booths.

Major concerns

Indians are taking baby steps towards a less cash economy. There are various ifs:
Rachna Khaira

Foreign links

Jalandhar: Aug 6, 2016: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) vice president Brig Jagdish Gagneja (retd) was returning home from Jyoti Chowk Market along with his wife Sudesh around 8.15 pm. As per the statement of a witness, as soon as Gagneja crossed the market, two motorcycle-borne assailants with their faces covered stopped their bike close to him. Before he could suspect anything wrong, one of the assailants pumped three bullets into him and melted into the crowd. Gagneja was taken to a private hospital where he died after 47 days.

Gagnejas killing was followed by a string of communal killings in the state. A heap of unsolved cases and the pressure mounted by political parties forced the Punjab Government to transfer a few cases to the CBI.

Even before the Central agency could show results, the Punjab Police busted an ISI-backed terror module, arresting three people, including Jalandhar-origin UK national Jagtar Johal, allegedly the key conspirator. The police say Johal funded the module to buy weapons for killing half-a-dozen men, including Gagneja.

Though Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said at a presser on November 6 that the module is funded by Pakistans ISI, Punjab DGP Suresh Arora on Friday said the terror ring was operated by the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).

Contrary to Punjab Polices claim about Johal, people who know his family see his role with a degree of disbelief. Johal comes from village Jandiala Manjaki, a hub of pre-independence revolutionary Ghadarites. Villagers say Johals family is known to be simple and god-fearing.

Narinder Johal of the village says no family from this area had ever supported a terror outfit. There seemed to be some mess-up by the police in naming Johal as the main conspirator, says Narinder.

Renowned NRI Sohan Singh Randhawa from Glasgow (UK) and also a close friend of Johals family expressed shock over Johals alleged involvement. We are a very small Punjabi community of over 35,000 people in Glasgow. I know the family very well and they are very genuine people, said Randhawa.

The Punjab Police have approached the British High Commission to get more information about Johal. Stuart Adams, director of Press and Communication, British High Commission, said the UK and India stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight against terror. We are providing consular assistance to a British national in Punjab, said Adams. But he refused to divulge the name and details of the person.

It is quite surprising that even as the CBI and Punjab Police are struggling to identify the conspirators behind the killings. Johal, who was in the UK, returned to Punjab and got married at a resort in Nakodar with great pomp and show. Johal also submitted papers for permission to take his wife on honeymoon to Singapore.

 Rachna Khaira
Sydney, November 11

Australias Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would not call a General Election after a citizenship crisis claimed another Member of Parliament on Saturday, leaving his government clinging to power with the support of two Independents.

Australias Constitution bars dual nationals from Parliament, and Turnbulls centre-right coalition government was thrown into disarray last month by a High Court ruling that five of them were ineligible to be lawmakers.

Earlier on Saturday, Conservative Liberal party MP John Alexander told reporters in Sydney he was no longer certain that he was solely Australian, and that meant he had to resign.

Turnbull will deal with issues such as a no-confidence motion when they arise, he told a televised news conference in Vietnams central city of Danang, where he is attending a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.

We have the support of the crossbench on matters of confidence and supply. There is no question of that happening, Turnbull added, ruling out the possibility of a no-confidence motion.

His centre-right coalition government must rely on the two independents to vote with it to safeguard its position and block the passage of legislation it opposes.

Turnbull said he expected a December 2 by-election would return Barnaby Joyce both to Parliament and to his former position as deputy prime minister, thus bolstering the government.

He ruled out an early return to Australia following Alexanders resignation.

It is my obligation that I must resign, Alexander told a news conference. Thats what I will do. I think there is a great need for certainty, to clarify the situation and to do so as expeditiously as possible.

Alexander had been waiting for Britains Home Office to clarify whether he held British citizenship by descent. It is not known whether they responded.

He would have to confirm sole Australian citizenship before fighting a by-election to regain his seat.

Alexander said he planned to contest the by-election which The Sydney Morning Herald said must be announced no later than Monday, to allow the minimum 33-day campaign required to hold the poll on December 16.

Only the two Independents now guarantee Turnbulls position after the High Court ruling expelled three members of the Liberal-National coalition government from Parliament, with a fourth resigning days later, after confirming his dual nationality. Reuters
DANANG (Vietnam), November 11

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to deepen cooperation between the two countries on North Korea, Abe said on Saturday after meeting Xi.

They also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date, Abe told reporters.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

Abe said Xi had told him the meeting marked a "new start of Japan-China relations". Reuters
By PTI: diplomatic outreach: Singh

Jammu, Nov 11 (PTI) Union minister Jitendra Singh said today that Pakistans decision to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife was a reflection of the efficacy of the Indian diplomatic outreach and its acceptance around the world.

"I think this is a compliment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This (development) is certainly a compliment to the efficacy of Indias diplomatic outreach," he told reporters.

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Pakistans Foreign Office said yesterday that Jadhav would be allowed to meet his wife on Pakistani soil. The move came months after New Delhi requested Islamabad to allow Jadhavs mother to meet him on humanitarian grounds.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of spying and terrorism. In May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had halted his execution on Indias appeal.

"One of the major achievements of the Modi government on terror from Pakistan and sponsored-terrorism in Kashmir is that Indias viewpoint is now gaining more and more acceptance across the world, from even those countries which were earlier hesitant or had their own reasons not to accept it," the minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) said.

Replying to a question on separatists in the Valley seeking Pakistans involvement in any dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue, Singh said the decision to hold talks with the neighbouring country was the prerogative of the external affairs and home ministries.

"None of us has the mandate to decide on that," he said.

However, he said, the separatists stand exposed before the Valleys youth, who have decided to become a part of the Indian development journey. He said 19 young boys and girls qualified for IIT from terror-striken districts of Kashmir this year.

"(The separatists) are the same so-called protagonists who say they do not owe allegiance to the Indian Constitution, but their own children are taking maximum benefits out of it.

"Even holding jobs in the administrative services, I am sure the youth of Kashmir today is no longer ready to be taken by this jugglery. PTI TAS ABH

--- ENDS ---
Dhaka, November 11

A mob of protesters has set on fire at least 30 houses of Hindus in Bangladesh following rumours that a youth from the minority community published an offensive Facebook status, media reports said on Saturday.

One person was killed when police opened fire to disperse the crowd that launched the arson attack on the houses of Hindus on Friday, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The incident took place in Rangpur districts Thakurpara village, about 300 km from Dhaka.

At least five persons were injured when police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control, it said.

The protesters claimed that they were infuriated by a defamatory status published from the Facebook account of a person who hails from the Thakurbari village a few days ago, the report said.

Before the police intervened, the perpetrators had torched at least 30 Hindu houses before looting and vandalising them, the report said.

A crowd of 20,000 people had reportedly gathered from six to seven neighbouring villages before the attack was launched by a group of people, it said.

The police had a tough time dealing with the protesters and restoring the law and order situation in the area, the report said.

Six persons with bullet injuries were rushed to a nearby hospital when one of them succumbed to his injuries, the report said.

Police have detained 33 people in connection with the incident, bdnews24 reported.

There were traffic snarls after the mob blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway to protest against the police action.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area where the situation was tense, Kotwali police station Officer-in-Charge (Operation) Moktarul Islam said.

The district administration has formed a three-member inquiry committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate Abu Rafa Mohammad Rafiq, to investigate the incident and submit a report in seven days, the report added. PTI
Seoul, November 11

North Korea said on Saturday that US President Donald Trumps first trip to Asia showed he was a destroyer and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula.

Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme. Reuters
Edinburgh, November 11

An imposing 19th Century building with elegant manicured lawns and sweeping views of the Edinburgh skyline seems an unlikely place to have earned the nickname Dottyville from one of Britain's most revered poets.

But Craiglockhart War Hospital, now part of a Heriot Watt University campus on the outskirts of the Scottish capital, was where traumatised souls took refuge from war and where Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen wrote about their terrifying experiences as part of treatment for shell-shock in 1917.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Their friendship and mutual admiration became the catalyst for some of the most vivid and best-known writing in English about war, playing a big part in changing public perceptions of a patriotic death being a glorious destiny.

This weekend, Britain commemorates its war dead on Remembrance Sunday with the laying of wreaths at official ceremonies up and down the country.

Owen and Sassoon, whose work often features in such ceremonies, were treated for a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder when they were sent to Craiglockhart, a psychiatric military facility Sassoon affectionately nicknamed Dottyville in a play on the English slang word for "mad".

The doctor treating Owen recommended a "talking cure", urging him to write to overcome the terror of being blown into the air by a bomb, Catherine Walker, curator of the War Poets' Collection housed at Craiglockhart, told Reuters.

His first poems were published anonymously in The Hydra, Craiglockhart's in-house magazine, which Owen edited.

Most of his poems, however, were published posthumously.

"Dulce et Decorum est", in which he slates the idea that dying for one's country is an honour, portrays the terror of a solider dying of gas-poisoning, hearing "the blood/Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,/Obscene as cancer." Owen was the younger of the two writers and worshipped published author Sassoon, who was from a wealthy influential family. Sassoon edited and encouraged Owen during a convalescence of several months in Scotland.

"You can certainly see that their poetry tightens up and becomes more powerful while they're here," said Walker. "'Anthem for Doomed Youth' was originally 'Anthem for Dead Youth' and you can see in the original manuscript that 'Dead' is scored out and 'Doomed' is substituted, which was Sassoon's influence on Owen."

Sassoon had escaped court martial after writing an open letter, read in Britain's parliament, declaring "wilful defiance of military authority because I believe that the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it".

Instead he was given leave.

Once at Craiglockhart, a former hotel, he described how it was "elaborately cheerful" during the day.

"In the evenings it became, as Sassoon said, 'a living museum of war neuroses,'" Walker said. "People would hallucinate, have bad dreams, migraines and disturbed sleep and lots of officers stammered and were depressed." Their friendship and the cures espoused by their psychiatrists helped both to return to the front, driven by a loyalty to the men they fought with, despite their criticism of the war.

Owen died in battle just before the end of World War 1, in 1918, aged 25. Sassoon survived the war and died aged 80.

A permanent exhibition now allows visitors to view the War Poets Collection, offering a glimpse into the minds and experiences of the poets, patients and medical staff at Craiglockhart through documents, photographs and memorabilia.  Reuters
DANANG (Vietnam), November 11

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday slammed Washington's demands for state channel RT to register as a foreign agent in the US as "an attack" on its media, while vowing a "tit-for-tat" response.

The Kremlin-backed broadcaster, formerly known as Russia Today, said earlier this week the US Department of Justice had given it until Monday to register its US operations as a foreign agent or see its head arrested and its accounts frozen.

"An attack on our media is an attack on freedom of speech," Putin told journalists at the APEC summit in Vietnam. "They went the route of de-facto closure (of RT)," Putin said. "There will be a proper tit-for-tat response."

RT and state-owned news agency Sputnik have been accused by US intelligence of spreading misinformation during the 2016 presidential campaign and election, which may have influenced the vote's outcome.

The uproar led the US Justice Department to demand RT to register its American operations as a "foreign agent" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which aims at lobbyists and lawyers representing foreign political interests.

RT said on Friday it would comply with the demands but would go to court to challenge the measure.

"We are disappointed, as they say in these situations," Putin said. "There is not and cannot be any confirmation that our media was meddling," he said, adding that the money RT spent on ads was miniscule compared with the whole cost of the campaign.

"Media express a point of view," Putin said. "You can contest it but not by closing them down or creating conditions in which they cannot continue professional work."  AFP
Seoul, November 11

The United States and South Korea have started joint naval drills that will involve three US aircraft carriers in what military officials describe as a clear warning to North Korea.

Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The four-day drills that began on Saturday in waters off South Korea's eastern coast come as President Donald Trump continues a visit to Asia that has been dominated by discussions over the North Korean nuclear threat.

South Korea's military says the battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Nimitz will successively enter the exercise area during the drills that run until Tuesday.

The three carriers will be likely together in the drills around Monday.

It's the first time since 2007 that three US carrier strike groups are operating together in the Western Pacific.

AP
Total U.S. tire shipments surpassed 314 million units in 2016, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA). According to the RMA, passenger replacement tire shipments exceeded the previous record set in 2014. (Source: Modern Tire Dealer)

Replacement truck tire prices remain stable, but they are starting to experience upward pricing pressures due to higher prices for the commodities used to manufacture tires. In addition, changes in production, the increased use of retreads, and the experimentation of alternative raw materials are other cost dynamics in the commercial tire industry.

The No. 1 consideration when selecting replacement tires is cost. Typically, replacement tires are the third-largest expense category for fleets.

Predicting future tire costs is very difficult due to the many variables that influence tire pricing. The unpredictable cost variable for tire prices is the price of commodities, such as oil, natural rubber, and steel, which are three key ingredients needed to manufacture tires.

The price of these raw materials has been relatively stable for the past five years, until 2017. The raw commodity price of natural rubber has moderately increased due to shortages in supply, increased demand, and weather-related issues in the regions of the world where rubber trees thrive. The bottom line is that tire costs are driven by raw materials cost. If raw material prices stay consistent, tire prices stay consistent. These costs control most of the fluctuation in tire prices.

Fleet customers have enjoyed flat prices resulting from the downward pressure on commodity prices following the slowdown in the Chinese economy, which is the No. 1 purchaser of these raw materials.

Image courtesy of Pirelli Tires

As the Chinese economy stabilized and started hitting its economic growth projection, the futures market anticipating greater demand for raw materials started exerting upward pressure on commodity prices. This will have a direct impact on future fleet costs.

On average, raw material prices are up 5% to 10% in 2017, and the safe bet is a continuation of current prices into calendar-year 2018. But this forecast, based on past experience, can change quickly given the volatile nature of the commodity markets.

The U.S. tire market is unique compared to the Japanese and European markets. More than 50% of the tires sold are for trucks and SUVs, which is considerably more than in any other country.

With the top replacement tire brandw in 2017 being tied with 16% market share, Bridgestone and Michelin top the list. (Source: Modern Tire Dealer)

Replacement Tire Pricing Trends

The trajectory for replacement tire prices in 2018 is upward due to current commodity pricing.

Higher commodity pressures exert pressure on tire OEMs to maintain margins as their production costs increase.

It is anticipated that truck replacement tire prices on light vehicles will continue to increase next year to compensate for higher raw material costs. Furthermore, there is upward pressure on prices for truck and bus tires, largely in response to the uncertainty about possible tariffs on commercial truck tires imported from China.

Tire cost increases are expected to drive total operating cost increases in the upcoming year. Some of our fleet customers with medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are leveraging non-traditional replacement options, such as commercial retread tire programs, to reduce costs as much as 40%. Additionally, more tire manufacturers have developed support teams designed to help fleet customers and FMCs with making targeted tire selections, said George Albright, director of maintenance & repair management of Merchants Fleet Management.

Barring unforeseen events, the industry consensus is that commodity prices will be higher in 2018, led by higher natural rubber prices, which will translate into higher tire prices.

The magnitude of the price changes will be determined by the sustained strength in prices in the commodity markets.

The confluence of these many factors, such as the international commodities market and product development trends, point to higher replacement tire prices in 2018. The cost of commodities used to manufacture tires, such as the price of oil and rubber, continues to be the key factor driving the price of replacement tires for passenger cars.

Retreading Poised for Growth

Using retreaded tires is one of the ways fleets can manage the higher cost of tires. When replacement tire prices increase, the retread industry is the beneficiary since they are significantly cheaper.

Retreading can extend casing life two, three or even four times, thus significantly lowering the lifecycle cost of the tire. While retread costs vary with the type of tread, the quality of the casing and the contract arrangement with a retreader, prices are approximately one-third to one-half the cost of a new replacement tire.

A number of leading commercial fleets  including FedEx, UPS, and Ryder  have embraced the use of retread tires.



The tire retreading market in the U.S. is forecast to grow 13.5% during the period 2017-2021.

The number of passenger car replacement tires sold in 2016 was 205 million units, down from 205.9 million in 2015. As a

reflection of new-vehicle sales trends, light-duty truck replacement tires increased to 31 million units. Original equipment sale of tires for medium- and heavy-duty truck tires declined to 5.4 million units, but replacement tires increased to 18.4 million units reflecting vehicles being kept in service for longer. (Source: Modern Tire Dealer)

The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is the development of low rolling resistance (LRR) retreads. Low rolling resistance tires are designed to reduce the energy loss as tire roll, decreasing the required rolling effort  and in the case of the truck applications, improving fuel efficiency. Approximately 5% to 15% of the fuel consumed by a typical truck may be used to overcome rolling resistance.

Most tire manufacturers are focusing on tires as means to reduce fuel consumption. The emergence of certain regulatory programs promotes tires that assist in reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by commercial vehicles (CV). For instance, the SmartWay program was started by the U.S. EPA to help companies advance their supply chain sustainability by measuring and benchmarking freight transportation efficiency. The retreads are classified as fuel efficient if they are SmartWay verified.

In 2016, 14.5 million truck tires were retreaded. (Source: Modern Tire Dealer)

One of the major drivers for this market is the lower cost of retreading compared with new tires. The cost of tires contributes to one-third of the annual expenditure incurred by fleet operators. Therefore, the adoption of cost-cutting measures in tires is a favored way to streamline fleet-related financial expenditures.

The key market trends in the tire retread industry are:

Development of LRR retreads.

Use of Internet-based reporting system for effective customer service.

Growing popularity of premium tires to enable multiple retreading.

Growing popularity of nanotechnology to reduce wear and tear.

In 2016, the U.S. government threatened

to impose added duties on truck tires imported from China declaring

they were being dumped at belowmarket value. This threat resulted in

a 17% decline in truck tires imported from China. However, imports are expected to increase in 2017 since no tariffs

were adopted. (Source: U.S. Government, MTD)

One factor that impacts the decision on whether to use retreads is low-cost replacement tires imported from China.

Tires are a global commodity. Half of the hundreds of tire brands sold in the U.S. are sourced from China.

Nearly 25% of light-truck tires and 33% of the medium-duty truck tires sold in the replacement tire market are manufactured by Chinese companies.

The influx of Chinese truck tires into the U.S. fleet market is also having a detrimental effect on the tire retreading industry, because many of these bargain tires cannot be retreaded. Many Chinese tires do not come with a casing warranty, which makes companies squeamish about retreading.

One factor driving the deluge of Chinese tire exports is the countrys immense tire production overcapacity generated by 508 domestic Chinese tire manufacturers producing a variety of products, ranging from motorcycle to auto, truck, and bus tires. One reason China tire manufacturers have focused on the replacement tire market is because of their difficulty penetrating the OE market, where tires are sold directly to auto manufacturers for vehicle assembly.

In 2016, 5% of replacement truck tires came from a local reread shop. (Source: Mackay & Co.)

Impact on Euro-Style Van Tires

One factor influencing replacement tires for Euro-style vans is the popularity and growing number of units in fleet operation. Sales of Euro-style vans have exceeded total sales of traditional body-on-frame vans since 2015.

Minivans and full-size vans saw a decrease in the average price of tires. This is a change from last year, when the influx of new vehicle models  such as European-style vans  increased prices as there were fewer competitive options for specific tread patterns and sizes, said Christopher Foster, manager, truck account administrator for ARI.

There is now a greater availability of Euro-metric sized tires in the aftermarket. Euro-spec tires (full-size vans and small vans) are more common, and in most cases, availability across several manufacturers has increased and tire costs have remained flat or even lower in these cases, said Mark Lange, CAFM, managed maintenance consultant for Element Fleet Management.

Manufacturers are adopting Euro spec tires that are helping to keep replacement tire prices down.

Tire costs have remained flat this past year. One factor increasing the costs has been the introduction of Euro-spec tires and the popularity of vehicles equipped with these tires. In some cases, a vehicle that historically had replacement tires in the $125-$150 range are replaced with a vehicle with Euro-spec tires that have a cost of $275 each, said Chad Christensen, senior strategic consultant for Element Fleet Management.

Originally posted on Work Truck Online
By India Today Web Desk: Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol are known to spin magic, whenever they're together, be it on-screen or off-screen.

The two were seen discussing films and acting goofy at the Kolkata International Film Festival. In many of the photos, they're seen laughing, or trying to stifle their laughter. When these two are together, they forget their superstar avatars, and act like adorable teenagers. We can't help but be reminded of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai .

"He's my bestfriend ya!" ??? advertisement Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol clicked candid and so animated at the #KIFF2017 earlier tonight pic.twitter.com/tR3Pz60nWo- SRK Universe (@SRKUniverse) November 10, 2017

Everyone's favourite jodi captured candid during a conversation ??? SRK and Kajol at the #KIFF2017 earlier tonight ? HQ Pics pic.twitter.com/Cch8of9LLL- SRK Universe (@SRKUniverse) November 10, 2017

Asked if the two will star in a film again, SRK told IANS, "If there's a nice film, if it's interesting and different... maybe a mature love story, that would be nice. We (Bollywood) don't make too many of those. Perhaps Kajol and I... well, I could be totally presumptous about it, but we would be perhaps a good pair as we have done films together for the last 22 years. It will be interesting to be cast in a mature love story, not a peppy or happy-go-lucky ones we've done before. In our stage, age and life, of whatever that we've seen, maybe we will be able to essay a different kind of emotion as actors."

They last acted in Dilwale, together.

ALSO WATCH: Shah Rukh khan speaks about his still-in-progress book 20 Years of a Decade and more

--- ENDS ---
A flood of memories poured into 94-year-old Thomas Hall on Friday as he watched the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade for the first time in two decades.

The World War II veteran could almost always be found attending or participating in the annual event during his younger years, but the ramifications of old age eventually got the better of him.

After I got up in age, I just quit coming, said Hall, who fought in the infamous Battle of the Bulge, a major German offensive in the final months of World War II. I came today because my friend brought me.

That friend, 70-year-old U.S. Army veteran Clayton Wyse, had never been to the parade until now.

Wyse was embarrassed by his absence in years past despite being a lifelong local, and vowed to go this year. He decided to ask his girlfriends dad to join him. Hall was happy to oblige.

I brought Tom down because I knew he was a great patriot and a veteran of World War II, Wyse said. Theres not many left, so I wanted to make sure he was able to see it again.

Even though he was confined to a wheelchair, Hall maintained an assertive posture throughout the parade as if he stood at attention. He never took his eyes off the stream of marching bands and decorative floats that made their way down Third Street in front of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.

The evolution of the event fascinated him, and he was surprised by how much more elaborate it has become in 20 years. The only thing that didnt change was the enjoyment he felt.

I just love the camaraderie and being with people who were in the service and seeing the people who are in the service right now, Hall said. I think Ill be back next year.

Thousands of people gathered downtown to observe the parade, which celebrated the 99th anniversary of the nations first Veterans Day at the conclusion of World War I in 1918. Although Veterans Day is Saturday, the parade took place Friday so schools could organize field trips to bring their students.

This years theme was Generations of Service and aimed to honor veterans of all ages.

Standing next to Hall and Wyse during the event was Jeff Williams, who served in the U.S. Marines during the Korean War. Although Williams, 83, didnt know them, he struck up a conversation with Hall and Wyse while waiting for the parade to start.

Meeting other veterans is a large part of why Williams and his wife of 61 years love to come out to the parade as often as they can. They have missed only a year or two since at least 2001.

His first experience with the parade came in the 70s when he was the Scoutmaster of a local troop. His group of boys carried a large flag, which ended up blowing across downtown during a strong gust of wind.

What he loves most about the celebration is seeing more and more children lining the streets every year.

Back in the older days, they either participated in the parade or werent allowed out of school for it, Williams said. Its encouraging to see the youth out here today cheering for these veterans.

Orville Warren, 82, wore his old Army uniform to the parade and put his patriotism on full display. A U.S. flag hung from a pole attached to the rear of his mobility scooter. A red, white and blue ribbon adorned its handles.

Warren said he decided to use the decorations not only as an opportunity to show off the pride he has for his service, but he also wanted to recognize the veterans around him.

The whole parade is to honor all of these veterans, he said. I just wanted to be a part of it.
Weve grown sadly accustomed to Rep. John Bennetts outrageous rants. But his latest outrage must be condemned as off-base and embarrassing.

We know the Sallisaw Republicans position on Islam. He believes that it is a cancer on the country that should be cut out. He cant be bothered to show Muslim Oklahomans common courtesies, greeting their visits to his office with a provocative, insulting questionnaire.

And now we know how he feels about state agencies that are pleading to have enough money to take care of the states most vulnerable. He considers that terrorism. And Bennett insists that we ought not negotiate with terrorists.

These agencies are using our citizens as pawns. Its not right, and somebody ought to stop them, he said in a speech on the House floor. He said that the desperate scenarios coming from state agencies that have suffered years of funding cuts is nothing but extortion.

Those were bold words for a man who couldnt even be bothered to show up for the critical vote on the state funding issue a few days later.

Gov. Mary Fallin called Bennetts words unacceptable behavior and called for an apology to state employees. None has been offered.

Aggressive legislative oversight over state agencies is appropriate. Questioning authority is a mark of independence. But excessive, hateful, false rhetoric is too much. It coarsens public discourse, distracts from the real issues and prevents solutions. It also seems to be Rep. Bennetts specialty.

The states $215 million budget hole is not fictitious. Nor is the reality of what will happen if lawmakers like Bennett fail to do their job. Real problems for real people, not illusory terrorism.

Bennetts continued disrespect for his fellow Oklahomans, state employees and the basics of civility is unacceptable.
Im pleased to announce that a first group of 25 extremely vulnerable refugees were evacuated today, Saturday 11 November, from Libya to Niger by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Among these 25 refugees, there were 15 women, six men and four children of Eritrean, Ethiopian and Sudanese nationalities. All of them will be hosted in a guesthouse in Niamey until their resettlement applications are processed.

I am particularly grateful to the governments of Libya and Niger for making this humanitarian evacuation possible. This life-saving measure for extremely vulnerable refugees is also an extraordinary gesture of solidarity and cooperation between Niger and Libya.

We hope to be able to carry out more evacuations in the near future. However, let me stress that they will remain limited in scale as long as resettlement commitments remain insufficient. I reiterate the High Commissioners urgent call for 40,000 places along the routes leading to the Central Mediterranean Sea.

These refugee evacuations can only be part of broader asylum-building and migration management efforts to address the complex movement of migrants and refugees who embark on perilous journeys across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. There is a clear need to create more regular and safe ways for refugees to find safety and international protection, and to address the root causes and drivers of refugee displacement.

Media contacts:
This is Serzh Sargsyans response to Erdogan. Serge Sargsyan makes it understood in what format and how the upcoming talks shall proceed, that there is no other option about which the Azerbaijani side is dreaming. And this position sounds more justified and defended today, since it has the support of both Russia and the United States. Prior to that meeting, Serge Sargsyan makes it understood that he is against both those conversations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts discussion in that format.

November 11, 2017, 11:31 Newspaper: Armenia President responds to Turkey counterpart

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 11, ARTSAKHPRESS:Russian political analyst Stanislav Tarasov told the aforesaid to 168 Zham (Hour) newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA), as he commented on President Sargsyans reflection on this conflict.

In his turn, German political scientist Uwe Halbach said that, in all likelihood, encouraged by the American support, the Armenian side, in the person of the RA President, tried to remind the Azerbaijani side about those arrangements.

But the process over those agreements has failed, said Halbach. I believe it will fail in the future, too, and these statements will remain within the framework of rhetoric, wrote 168 Zham.
The woman whose car was towed when she was breastfeeding her child has lashed out at the Mumbai Traffic Police.

By India Today Web Desk: Hours after a video of a car being towed by Mumbai Traffic police with a woman and baby onboard went viral, the woman has come out and slammed the police.

The woman identified as Jyoti Male said that the policemen did not ask her to get down for once.

"The policemen towing the car did not ask me to get down even once. When I told them that I am breastfeeding my baby they still did not stop," said Male.

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The incident that took place on Friday invited criticism from all quarters. Leaders from Shiv Sena and Congress condemned the incident and demanded action against the traffic officials.

Following the incident, Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar ordered an investigation by the Deputy Commissioner of Police West.

Male was sitting her car with her seven-month-old child when a towing van picked up her car and began towing.

In the video, Male can be seen pleading the traffic policemen identified as Shashank Rane to stop the vehicle. Rane, who was not wearing his badge, refused to listen and went on towing Male's car.

Rane is seen grinning and confirming name to the man who was filming the incident and pleading the officer to stop the towing van. However, despite the pleas of the videographer and the woman, the towing van did not stop.

The hapless woman even flashed a paper, supposedly a medical prescription, but to no avail. Male said that the police ignored two vehicles that were parked alongside her car.

The traffic official was suspended soon after the incident got viral.

VIDEO | Mumbai: Traffic officials tow car with woman, baby inside

--- ENDS ---
Australian shares end lower as materials drag; NZ slips

Undated, Nov 10 (Reuters) Australian shares snapped three sessions of gains to end lower on Friday, retreating from recent 10-year highs as weak commodity prices weighed on materials and energy stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 0.3 percent, or 20.025 points to 6,029.4. However, the Australian benchmark ended the week 1.2 percent firmer after the index scaled the psychologically important 6,000 level earlier this week.

Australia's metals and mining index slipped 1.7 percent, hurt by a fall in iron ore prices.
CAR: Hundreds seeking refuge near UN base relocated

United Nations, Nov 11 (UNI) This week the United Nations migration agency completed the relocation of 698 internally displaced households from an impromptu camp that formed around the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) following attacks in Kaga Bandoro on 12 October 2016.

Over 20,000 people settled around the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) base after ex-Seleka members attacked an internally displaced person (IDP) camp in Eveche, the Prefects office and the UN missions camp, the UN News said.

Consultation sessions with the households allowed us to ensure that their particular needs are met and they are fully informed and consulted all along the process, said IOM CAR Chief of Mission Jean-Francois Aguilera, referring to numerous sessions held with camp residents in partnership with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Following Augusts visit of the Humanitarian Coordinator and the Ministry of Humanitarian Actions of Kaga Bandoro, it was recommended that all IDPs be urgently relocated to safe nearby locations.

The relocation of the first bloc of the provisional camp ran from 17 to 25 October and involved 312 households, 15 of which returned to their old neighbourhood.

The relocation of Bloc Nine, which was near a fuel depot  exposing residents to health risks  began on 26 October and finished on 3 November. It included a total of 319 households, with one returning to its old neighbourhood.

From 4 to 7 November, 67 households close to Bloc One were also relocated. Bloc One had complicated the landing and take-off of planes, forcing humanitarian aviation operators to suspend flights  gravely affecting humanitarian efforts by preventing programme implementations and medical evacuations.

The dangerous position of Blocs One and Nine made it very clear to IOM and CARs humanitarian team that everyone must be urgently relocated to a safer location, Mr Aguilera said.

IOM assisted the 682 relocated households in transporting all their belongings, including huts and hangars, to safe new locations. They also received non-food item kits and $44 per household, which totalled $30,103. The 16 returning households were provided with return kits and assisted in rehabilitating their homes and transporting their belongings.

CAR is experiencing a resurgence of violence and faces the risk of repeating the devastating crisis that beset the country four years ago. The number of both IDPs and refugees in neighbouring countries have dramatically increased over the past few months.

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Modi talks trade, mobility, defence with UK PM 16 Nov 2022 | 5:50 PM Bali, Nov 16 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his United Kingdom counterpart Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit here. see more..

PM reviews progress of bilateral ties with Aussie counterpart 16 Nov 2022 | 5:45 PM Bali, Nov 16 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Australia n counterpart Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit here in Indonesia. see more..

PM invites Singaporeans to invest in Green economy 16 Nov 2022 | 5:19 PM Bali, Nov 16 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited Singaporeans to invest in various sectors including Green economy, infrastructure and digitalisation. see more..

Nasa's Artemis paves way for return to Moon 16 Nov 2022 | 2:59 PM Washington, Nov 16 (UNI) Nasa has successfully launched its most powerful-ever rocket, as part of a plan to eventually return humans to the Moon. see more..
IEAG-MR lauds India for 'Measles & Rubella' containment drive, says nation is on right course

New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) Commending India for progress in measles elimination and control of rubella, the India Expert Advisory Group on Measles & Rubella (IEAG-MR) stated that the 'the country is on the right track in its disease elimination programme.

Reviewing the existing strategies and efforts towards measles elimination and control of rubella during the past two days with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the expert member group lauded the strong leadership of the Indian government as well as the ownership of the state governments to ensure that every child is vaccinated against these two diseases.

The expert group complimented India on the growing trend in MCV (measles containing vaccine) coverage, and the significant reduction in MCV-1st dose and MCV-2nd dose dropout rate which declined from 44 per cent to 13 per cent.
New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed confidence that his visit to Manila would give a new boost to India's bilateral relations with the Philippines and also further strengthen the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of our engagement with ASEAN.

In a statement prior to his departure on a three-day visit to the Philippines on Sunday, during which he will participate in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits, the PM said, 'I am confident that my visit to Manila will give a new boost to India's bilateral relations with the Philippines and also further strengthen the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of our engagement with ASEAN.

During the visit to the Philippines, his first bilateral visit to the country, the Prime Minister will also participate in Special Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders' Meeting and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

The PM said his participation in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits symbolises India's commitment to continue deepening relationship with ASEAN Member States, in particular, and with the Indo-Pacific region, in general, within the framework of the Government's Act East Policy.

He said that the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit would boost India's close cooperation to further enhance its trade ties with ASEAN member-states, which constitutes a significant 10.85 per cent of our overall trade.

During his visit, the PM will have a bilateral meeting with President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte. He will also have interactions with other ASEAN and East Asia Summit Leaders.

HE will also interact with the Indian community in the Philippines. During his stay in Manila, he will also visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc (MPFI).

'My visit to Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc (MPFI) will demonstrate India's support for its activities in distributing free prosthesis "Jaipur Foot" among the needy amputees. Since its establishment in 1989, MPFI has fitted nearly 15,000 amputees in the Philippines with "Jaipur Foot" making them capable of living a new life. Government of India is making a modest contribution to the Foundation to support its noble humanitarian activities,' the PM said.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through Scientific Research and Development has developed better quality of rice seed and helped the global community in addressing food scarcity issues.

A large number of Indian scientists are working in IRRI and contributing to R&D in this field.

'My Cabinet approved on 12 July 2017 a proposal for IRRI to set up its South Asia Regional Centre at Varanasi. This will be the first Research Centre by IRRI outside its headquarters in the Philippines. The Varanasi Centre would help increase farmers' income by enhancing and supporting rice productivity, reducing cost of production, value addition, diversification and enhancement of farmers' skills,' the PM said.

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New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Acharya JB Kripalani on their birth anniversaries.

'Tributes to two stalwarts of Indian history-- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Acharya JB Kripalani-- on their birth anniversaries. Their contribution towards India's freedom movement and after was extremely beneficial in the building of our nation,' the Prime Minister said.

Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, popularly known as Acharya Kripalani, was a great freedom fighter, Gandhian socialist, environmentalist, mystic and activist.

Considered as one of the most ardent disciples of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Kripalani was quite active in various movements of the country, including the Non-Cooperation movement in 1920 and Emergency in 1970, an official statement here said.

The country's first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is considered as one of the greatest Urdu writers of the 20th century. Remembered as Maulana Azad, his contribution to building an education foundation in this country has been remarkable.

Since a very young age, Maulana Azad was a literature enthusiast. His work was recognised through his journalistic practice, publishing works critical of the colonial British Raj and espousing the causes of Indian nationalism. He has also written many books, including India Wins Freedom, Ghubar-e-Khatir, Tazkirah and Tarjumanul Quran.

In 1947, he was elected as the first Education Minister of the independent India. He served the post as Education Minister till 1958.

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Saudi Arabia tightens security after Bahrain pipeline blast

DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said pumping to Bahrain had been suspended and the kingdom was stepping up security precautions at its own facilities after its Gulf island neighbour blamed "terrorism" linked to Iran for an oil pipeline blast.

Iran denies any role in unrest in Bahrain, host to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and a key Western ally, which has for years grappled with protests and sporadic violence.

"The attack on the pipeline ... was followed by the suspension of the pumping of oil to the State of Bahrain," the Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources said.
Taiwan envoy says had good exchanges with Trump, China's Xi

By Michael Martina

DANANG, Vietnam, Nov 11 (Reuters) Taiwan's envoy to the APEC summit of Asia-Pacific leaders said on Saturday he had good exchanges with both U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but did not discuss political issues with Xi.

Trump upset China by taking a telephone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen shortly after winning the election last year. The United States has no formal relations with self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its territory, but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
With furore over Muslim woman Rafia Naaz practising Yoga continuing, the Jharkhand police has stepped up security at her house in Doranda in Ranchi.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: With furore over Muslim woman Rafia Naaz practising Yoga continuing, the Jharkhand police has stepped up security at her house in Doranda in Ranchi.

Over two dozen policemen and personnel from the Rapid Action Force have been deployed outside Rafia's house after a group of people reportedly pelted stone at her residence on Friday evening.

DGP DK Pandey on Friday night held a closed door meeting with Rafia and her family following protests outside her house. According to sources, the DGP has asked Rafia to refrain from speaking to the media as it might trigger tensions in the area.

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Following orders from the DGP, over half a dozen CCTVs were also installed outside Rafia's house overnight to capture any untoward incident including stone pelting.

Speaking Exclusively to India Today, Rafia's father Md Riyazuddin alias Shamsher said that there was an obvious threat to his daughter's life after yesterday's violent protests. He said the police was also of the view that with ongoing controversy could risk Rafia's life.

"I don't think there is any threat to Rafia but with the controversy surrounding her, the administration is fearing backlash. Stones are being pelted on my house to trigger tension by anti-social elements. After yesterday's protest she feels there is a threat to her life," said Riyazudin.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the murder, denied the allegations.

Pradyuman Thakur, the 7-year-old student of Gurgaon's Ryan International School who was murdered earlier this year

By India Today Web Desk: The father of the Class XI student accused of murdering Ryan International School student Pradyuman Thakur maintained that his son was innocent, and alleged that the 16-year old was being tortured.

"My son is being tortured, he was hung upside down and brutally thrashed. He is completely innocent," he told reporters.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the murder, denied the allegations, ANI reported.

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He said teachers had praised his son's behaviour.

"Only one PTM had happened till now and all teachers had praised my son's performance and behaviour. I have his marksheets," the father of the Class XI student said.

"Do you think such a young boy would behave normally for so many days had he committed such a serious crime?"

Sources in the CBI told India Today the accused was taken to the shop where he purchased a knife, and later to Ryan International School - to reconstruct the scene of crime.

A copy of his remand application says he "admitted his involvement" in murdering Pradyuman.

(Inputs from ANI)

WATCH | Major lapses found in Pradyuman murder investigation, CBI arrests Class 11 boy

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By PTI: falls ill

(Eds: Updating with fresh details)

Panaji, Nov 11 (PTI) A Doha-bound Qatar Airways aircraft from Thiruvananthapuram made an emergency landing this morning at the Goa airport after its commander fell sick mid-air.

However, the co-pilot of flight QR 507 landed the plane safely, Qatar Airways said.

The plane landed at the Goa airport at around 7 am after getting the necessary clearances, said Airport Director BCH Negi.

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"We received a message that the pilot on a Qatar Airways aircraft was feeling uneasy and that the plane sought permission for an emergency landing, which was granted after following all the procedures," he added.

Qatar Airways, in a statement later in the evening, confirmed the diversion of its aircraft to Dabolim airport here due to its pilot falling sick mid-air.

"We can confirm that flight QR507, operating on the Trivandrum-Doha route, was diverted to Goa International Airport early this morning, one hour and forty minutes after its departure from Trivandrum International Airport.

"Our pilot fell ill. As per the Qatar Airways procedure in these instances, the aircraft was diverted to the nearest airport, Goa International Airport, where our well-trained First Officer landed the aircraft safely shortly before 07:00 local time," the statement said.

The airline subsequently dispatched a relief aircraft to Goa to ferry the stranded passengers to their destination.

The new flight landed at Doha at around 1730 hours (local time), the statement added. PTI RPS/IAS NRB RSY NP RC

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Every year, the Tamil superstar conducts a pilgrimage to foothills of Himalayas, where he meditates in silence and secrecy.

By Pooja Shali: Rajinikanth is considered as the ultimate superstar, surrounded with fame and legendary fan following. He is the guru of most film actors. But, many have often asked who Rajinikanth's spiritual guru is?

Every year, the Tamil superstar conducts a pilgrimage to foothills of Himalayas, where he meditates in silence and secrecy.

India Today travelled to the mountain-state of Uttarkhand, trekking over hills, driving on narrow passages to explore this lesser-known fact about the celebrated artist.

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Hidden in a quaint village in Almora district of Kumaon region is the cave of Maha-Avtaar Baba. The life of the saint has been penned by Yogananda Parmahansa in the book "Autobiography of a Yogi".

The cave is situated 5,000 feet above sea level, atop a hill in Dunagiri and is maintained by the the Yoga Satsanga Society of India (YSS). Complete wilderness surrounds the cave and the destination is reached after one-hour trek through the treacherous terrain.

GC Joshi is the owner of a roadside dhaba which has achieved instant fame due to occasional visits of the legendary actor . "Yes, he comes here and eats plain dal-rice without spices. He is a very simple and humble man. After his meal, he goes up to the hill-top and meditates for hours," said Joshi flaunting photographs of Thalaiva at his restaurant.

Rajinikanth, with four more devotees, contributed to build a meditation centre in the area, which has been donated to the YSS. The YSS organises annual meditation events for spirituality in the mountains. The ashram also provides free education to the children of local residents.

The meditation centre took six-eight months to build and cost approximately one crore rupees. The greh-pravesh ceremony was held on Friday, November 10. Followers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Delhi had thronged the opening of the centre. Local residents also joined in the ceremony.

The superstar, initially expected to attend, had to cancel due to work schedule.

The centre constitutes four bedrooms, kitchen, separate lavatories, a hall for meditation events. The purpose of the centre is to provide accommodation to devotees arriving from across the country.

Rajinikanth was introduced to the Baba cave by a close aide and businessman Vishwanathan Sri Hari, a devotee who had been visiting the cave since 1998.

The duo have travelled from Tamil Nadu to Uttarkhand for years now and his friends say Rajinikanth credits a positive change in his career to his visits to the cave.

"He and his wife visited the site once and we initiated the technique of kriya yoga to him. Since then, Rajnikanth has liked the prayers and meditation and has followed the practice with complete devotion. He recognises the positive change it brought in his life," said Hari, who also joined India Today on the expedition to the cave.

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"I do not know how Rajini would be as a politician. He is a simple man and if there is no alternative in Tamil Nadu politics then he may make an announcement. Rajinikanth does not mix spirituality with politics. His spiritual decision (of contributing for the meditation centre) is not a result of any professional decision. Spirituality is personal to him," added Hari.

With Hari, another businessman V.D Murthy and two more associates contributed toward the construction and attended the ceremony. Thalaiva is expected to visit the newly-built meditation centre in March next year.

The manager of the centre, Ravi Harbola, is excited and eagerly awaiting the day the superstar will arrive. A local resident, his house is often a temporary accommodation to many travellers around the ashram in Dwarhat.

"I was excited to meet Rajini sir this time but he is busy and could not come. I am informed he may come in March next year and I cannot wait to host him. It will be a privilege. I will keep everything organised and prepared. I have been given the responsibility to maintain the centre and take care of the devotees who stay here," said Harbola.

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WATCH VIDEO | India Today's quest to find Rajinikanth's spiritual guru in the hills of Uttarakhand

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Comedian Tom Green celebrated the grand opening of The Tom Green Show in the Back Room at Ballys Las Vegas Wednesday evening. Several local celebrities came out to the show and had fun posing for photos on a replica of the original Tom Green Show television show set (Photo credit: IraKuzmaPhotos).

Photo credit: IraKuzmaPhotos

Those in attendance included Anthony Cools, The Australian Bee Gees, cast members from BAZ, The Bronx Wanderers, Carrot Top, Defending the Cavemans Kevin Burke, Gerry McCambridge, Gordie Brown, Mike Hammer, The Miss Behave Gameshow, Ricardo Laguna, Tenors of Rock and Zowie Bowies Chris Phillips.

Photo credit: IraKuzmaPhotos

Tom Green gained international acclaim with his anything-goes film roles, his trailblazing Internet ventures and his innovative, willfully off-the-wall live comedy gigs around the globe.

Photo credit: IraKuzmaPhotos

Sharp, funny and provocative in concert, Tom breaks new ground in his unique insights into the way technology has changed us all. Tom hits a comic chord with his audience through his cynical observations, and through his fine-tuned rants on the etiquette and evolutionary dangers of texting, the pitfalls of Facebook, the death of privacy and the slippery slope of digital camera convenience.

Tom pays homage to his comedic roots as he picks up the satirical, profane torch once borne by Bill Hicks, and updates the cynically nutty view of society that fueled George Carlins classic routines. The subjects can be raw  drugs, war, suicide, and pornography  and they can be topical  the economy, politics, relationships, and the surprising ascent of his former employer on TVs Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump.

Tom leavens his occasional explosions of righteous anger with wistful recollections of simpler times as a kid growing up in suburbia during the last days of the Cold War. As frenetic as Tom can be, his genial, impish side continues to pop in and out during his set ensuring the crowd is on his side. And, he delights in improvisational, absurd interaction with his audience.

Tom has honed his material on national and international tours. His fans have come to see him as someone who has moved beyond his movie and video persona while remaining true to the hilarity and anarchy that first brought him fame. And, it comes as no surprise that those fans have stuck with their comedic hero as he wins new admirers.
Communist Party of China General Secretary and President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Donald Trump.

The Chinese leader will begin his visit tomorrow.

Viet Nam and China established diplomatic ties on January 18, 1950. China remains Viet Nams biggest trade partner and largest tourism market, while Viet Nam is Chinas biggest partner in ASEAN and ninth-biggest in the world.

Two-way trade value increased from US$32 million in 1991 to $70.5 billion in 2016. The figure reached $55.23 billion in the first eight months of this year, with Viet Nams trade deficit with China standing at $17.77 billion, down 5.4 per cent year-on-year.

Trump begins visit

US President Donald Trump will begin his visit today.

Viet Nam and the US established diplomatic ties on July 12, 1995. Positive strides have been recorded in bilateral relations in all spheres since the countries established a comprehensive partnership in July 2013.

Over the past years, the US has become one of Viet Nams leading trade partners. Bilateral trade has continually grown by about 20 per cent each year. Despite a trade deficit with Viet Nam, the US has enjoyed a rapid export growth rate of 77 per cent annually, four times higher than the growth of Viet Nams shipments to the US.

Total US investment in Viet Nam has surpassed $10 billion.
President Xi Jinping arrived in the central city of Da Nang on the afternoon of November 10 for APEC Economic Leaders Week and a state visit to Vietnam.
Origin story: The tale is a folk legend, which has been noted in historical documents to explain the origin of Vietnamese people. - Photos from the cartoon team /td>

The cartoon features the legend of Lac Long Quan (a holy dragon) and Au Co (a fairy bird) and their children (50 boys and 50 girls), who hatched from 100 eggs. The couple together fought various evils to gain peace for the country. Their children then settled down throughout the regions to build and protect the country.

Uploaded to YouTube on November 4, Con Rong Chau Tien (Offspring of Dragon and Fairy), produced by Bitis footwear company, has been viewed more than 5,250,000 times.

The cartoon was produced by 100 artists under the guidance of director Leo Dinh (Dinh Kieu Anh Tuan) and took 10,000 working hours over 180 days to make.

The team spent two months brainstorming and searching for historical documents with consultancy from historian Duong Trung Quoc.

Then, the team spent four months to animate the cartoon, with the combination of 2D and 3D techniques to create a cartoon of 20 minutes.

Mystical: Lac Long Quan (Dragon) and Au Co (Fairy) in the cartoon.

The theme song for the animation is Cung Nhau Ta Thap Sang (Together We Shine) composed by Thanh Bui and performed by Bich Ngoc.

In legends, Dragon and Fairy is the start of Vietnamese people with their core values, commented historian Quoc, All peoples want to understand their origins.

Con Rong Chau Tien is a folk legend, which has been scored in official historical documents to explain the origin of Vietnamese people and why we formed a nation, he said.

However, Quoc said that the legend has not been placed in its deserving position in Vietnamese literature and in the heart of Vietnamese people.

He worries that in the next 10 to 20 years there may not be any young people interested in folk legends, which inspired the team to make a cartoon that appeals to the young.

We have done serious research on the appearance of characters, their costumes and landscapes in the cartoon so that audiences can see vivid moving images, said director Leo Dinh, Im proud to say that this is a cartoon was made totally in Viet Nam with Vietnamese identities.

Beside interesting content, the soul of the cartoon lies in images and visual effect, he said, Thus, dozens thousands of scenes have been drawn by leading cartoon makers of RedCat Motion.

The cartoon is a very special project, Leo Dinh said, It challenged us not only technically but also pushed us overcome limits in telling stories with images and techniques we have never used.

For simply the image of the pile of 100 eggs, we thought over and over on how to create the eggs, which looks like sparkling light, said creative director of the cartoon Kieu Thien Van.

Team effort: The cartoon was made by 100 artists under the guidance of director Leo Dinh.

Van also said the team encountered some obstacles, including limited historical data and technology when combining 2D and 3D images.

I think this is the first short cartoon by Vietnamese artists with proper investment and sophisticated implementation, which meets international standards of cartoons in terms of images and moving effects, noted artist Linh Nguyen.

I strongly believe not only children but also adults like us want to see such cartoons, commented Hoang Thu Huong under the cartoon on YouTube.

According to Hung Vo, an official from Bitis company, who is in charge of the project, the cartoon is the second of its kind in a 20-year-long series of projects makings cartoon from folk literature run by Bitis company between 2017 and 2037.

He said next year, the company will invest in a bigger project.

We will co-ordinate with schools and parents to transmit the love for folk culture among children, he said, We will bring cultural tales to our footwear products to make children proud of their shoes and Vietnamese tales, so they can step forwards as offspring of dragons and fairies.

The cartoon is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CI52V3lQTA
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) The government today said it released subsidy on ammonium sulphate to Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation (GSFC) in view of farmers interest as this nutrient is being produced only by two firms in India.

The government had stopped subsidy payment to GSFC in March 2013 as it found the company did not pass on the benefits to farmers for a certain period, which was challenged by the company immediately in the Delhi High Court.

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The Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry today issued a statement clarifying on reports alleging inconsistency in its decision to resume subsidy to GSFC.

The main Opposition Congress also on Friday attacked the Centre over resumption of subsidy to farmers in poll-bound Gujarat through GSFC, terming it an "election lollipop".

The Centre provides around Rs 70,000 crore annually as fertilizer subsidy to the manufacturers for selling nutrients at cheaper rates to farmers.

In an official statement, the ministry said the subsidy to GSFC on ammmonium sulphate (AS) was stopped by an order on March 18, 2013 on the grounds that the company had not passed on the benefits to the farmers.

The order also had directed recovery of subsidy already paid to GSFC with effect from April 1, 2010. GSFC filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against this order.

However, the company withdrew its case in March this year to enable the Department of Fertilizer to make recovery and take further action.

The matter of release of subsidy for the period from March 18, 2013 to March 5, 2017 is still under examination and no subsidy has been released to the company for this period yet, it said.

However, the ministry said, "the (fertilizer) department has released the subsidy in line with the orders of the High Court and in view of the benefits to the farmers since the Caprolactum Grade Ammonium Sulphate has been manufactured in India only by two companies i.e. Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) and GSFC."

The ministry said the Delhi High Court in its order dated March 2, 2016 asked GSFC to approach the Department of Fertilizer to reconsider the matter and submit requisite data.

GSFCs representation was forwarded to the Fertilizers Industry Coordination Committee (FICC), a subordinate office of the department.

"After the examination, the FICC found that the company has not fully passed on the benefits during 2010-11 and made undue profits. However, the company had passed on the benefits to the farmers during 2011-12 and 2012-13," it said.

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The ministry then constituted an internal committee of senior officers to examine the analysis done by FICC.

"The committee after examination accepted the analysis done by FICC and recommended that the amount of Rs 33.78 crore may be recovered from the withheld subsidy amount of the company for April 1, 2010 to March 17, 2013," the statement said, adding that the panel recommended to provide subsidy with effect from March 6, 2017. PTI MJH DP MKJ

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Renamed as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP gains a new lease on life

According to a Trans-Pacific Partnership ministerial statement released just an hour ago, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will continue to be materialised under the new name of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The ministers are pleased to announce that they have agreed on the core elements of CPTPP. Ministers agreed to Annex 1 and H, which incorporates provisions of the TPP, with the exception of a limited set of provisions which will be suspended. This text also incorporates a list of four specific items for which substantial progress was made but consensus must be achieved prior to signing, said the statement.

Ministers agree that the CPTPP maintains high standards, overall balance, and the integrity of the TPP, while ensuring the commercial and other interests of all participants and preserving their inherent right to regulate, including the flexibility of the parties to set legislative and regulatory priorities.

Ministers also affirmed the right of each party to preserve, develop, and implement its cultural policies. Ministers consider that the CPTPP reflects the desire of the parties to implement TPP outcomes among themselves.

In January this year, the US withdrew from the TPP, with the 11 remaining member nations, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam showing strong determination to keep the TPP process afloat.

Ministers have made great efforts to ensure that CPTPP must be a pact with the highest standards and quality, meeting all demands, interests, and benefitting the 11 nations. Especially, the new pact must ensure feasible enforcement, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh told VIR.

After the US withdrew from the TPP, nations obviously faced some difficulties. However, the biggest difficulty was to reach unanimous consensus on the feasibility of the TPP, or now CPTPP, Tuan Anh said.

When they last met in Hanoi on May 21, 2017, the ministers of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam reaffirmed the balanced outcome and the strategic and economic significance of the TPP Agreement signed in Auckland in February 2016.

In particular, leaders highlighted the agreements principles and high standards as a way to promote regional economic integration and contribute to the economic growth prospects of its member economies, and create new opportunities for workers, families, farmers, businesses, and consumers.

In May, ministers tasked officials to engage in a process of assessing options to bring the comprehensive, high quality agreement into force. Over the past several months, officials have worked to reach a balanced outcome that maintains the significant benefits of the TPP.

Ministers confirm that the legal instrument proposed for the CPTPP allows participants to act decisively in a timely manner to advance their shared objectives, said the ministerial statement. Ministers reaffirmed that the CPTPP demonstrates their firm commitment to open markets, to combat protectionism, and to advance regional economic integration.

Ministers tasked officials to continue their technical work, including continuing their efforts toward finalising those items for which consensus has not yet been achieved, and legal verification of the English text and translation, to prepare a finalised text for signature.

Ministers recognise that each country will need to pursue its own domestic processes, including public consultation before signing, read the statement.

Reasonable chance for TPP at APEC 2017 After US President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, historys largest trade deal to date congregating around 40 per cent of the worlds economy seemed to have fallen through. However, the eleven remaining member states decided to go ahead with the deal and may well reach a revised agreement at APEC Vietnam this November.

TPP countries forge ahead without US The government officials in charge of trade from the remaining 11 member states of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement have agreed to continue with the agreement, despite US withdrawal.

RCEP enters a post-TPP void Following the uncertain future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership due to US withdrawal, special attention is now being given to the under-negotiation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership  RCEP  led by China. Tim Harcourt, former chief economist of the Australian Trade Commission and now professor of economics at University of New South Wales, spoke with VIRs Thanh Tung about Vietnams trade future in RCEPs huge market of over 3.4 billion people.

TPP member states commit to regional economic, trade integration Member states of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) committed to seeking a new path to promote regional economic and trade integration during a high-level meeting in the Chilean city of Vina del Mar on March 15.

Asia-Pacific seeks to save TPP trade deal without US VINA DEL MAR, Chile: Asia-Pacific ministers said on Wednesday (Mar 15) they would seek to move forward on a trade agreement resembling the Trans-Pacific Partnership after President Donald Trump killed the deal by withdrawing the United States.

TPP flop a thorn in rosy future Though the US has cancelled its participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is expected to have drawbacks for both Vietnam and the US, Vietnams economic outlook remains bright without the deal. Sesto Vecchi, managing partner of US law firm Russin & Vecchi, gives VIR his analysis.
Speaking at the event, President Quang recalled ups and downs in history of bilateral ties which have been elevated to the level of strategic partnership on the basis of mutual respect to each others independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political regime, and joint efforts for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific.



He congratulated the US President on his effective and successful working days within the framework of the APEC 2017 Economic Leaders Meeting in the central city of Da Nang, thus contributing to the success of the event.



President Quang spoke highly of the US Presidents speech at the APEC Business Summit, affirming the USs strong and long-term commitments to the Asia-Pacific, Indian Ocean and adjacent regions, and wished that the US would further uphold its important role over regional countries.



While lauding the US Presidents visit as an important milestone that opens an immense future for the two countries to write new chapters of history, President Quang believed that amid uncertain regional and global developments, comprehensive, stable and mutually-beneficial ties between Vietnam and the US will be a positive factor that makes important contributions to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.



In reply, President Trump expressed his delight to visit Vietnam at a time when the bilateral strategic partnership is witnessing unprecedented strides.



He congratulated Vietnam on its wonderful achievements in the process of socio-economic development and described Vietnam as one of the miracles in the world, a country with a fast-growing economy.



On this occasion, the US President extended his sympathy over great losses in humans and property caused by storm Damrey in the central, the Central Highlands and south central regions., and expressed his belief that local people in natural disaster-hit areas will soon overcome difficulties.

RELATED CONTENTS: US President begins state visit to Vietnam
Pope Francis: Lift up your hearts, not your cellphones, during worship
The second day of Sahiya Aaj Tak began with the Javed Akhtar speaking about nation, nationalism and the idea of evolution.

By India Today Web Desk: One of the most celebrated poet and lyricist of the times, Javed Akhtar took us through an entire period of evolution of thought, as he graced the second day of Sahitya Aaj Tak 2017 with his presence.

In the session titled Sahitya and Samaj (Literature and society), moderated by Punya Prasun Bajpai, executive editor, Aaj Tak, Javed Akhtar gave a thorough insight into his idea of nationalism.

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The writer began by recalling his initial years in Mumbai. ''Just like a man shouldn't pride over success, he shouldn't grieve over problems as well. I was hardly 20 years old when I reached Mumbai, with tin box, few clothes and 27 paise in my pocket. For the first five years, I faced a lot of hardship--poverty, hunger and homelessness. But these are problems that crores of people in India are still facing today. So, cribbing about it is not fair. But life has been too generous to me,'' he said

When asked to distinguish today's technology-bound world from the past years, he said, ''The world is evolving and so are ideas. Today's life is about speed. It is not about deeming things as good or bad. Life comes in packages of the good and bad both. The younger generation is, however, missing out on the depth of things and it's not like they haven't realised this truth.''

''This new system of communication is about anonymity. It's very easy for people to come and comment on social media but they never take responsibility for those words. It's important to think objectively. It is important to question before being influenced by others,'' he added.

About the kind of writing that influenced his art of poetry, he said, ''One should read everything--not only classical or modern poetry but also folk. And that should include poetry in other languages too. Lyrical vocabulary changes with every film and only reading can help in widening the horizon.''

When asked about the propaganda of nationalism that has started governing our lives today, he said, ''Some people are considering themselves as nation and those who counter them are being declared anti-nationals. But they should remember that nation is way above all politicians.''

The poet further added that he did not mind being called an anti-national. ''There is a lot of bitterness in the society. Every other dissenting individual is asked to go to Pakistan. It is unfortunate that Muslims in the country are still not considered Indians. If opposing the fact makes me an anti-national, then so be it,'' he said.

About the relationship between India and Pakistan, he said, ''If one ever had to write a book on the 10 biggest blunders that human race has committed, it would definitely talk of the Partition of India.''

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On the recent controversy over Taj Mahal, he added, ''Taj Mahal is one of the finest architectural wonders in the world. Food, music, architecture, painting, poetry--every form of art was nurtured under the patronage of Mughals. I think, Mughals were Muslims just by coincidence.''

--- ENDS ---
Following the Arab Spring, the world is going to witness the Latin American Spring, that is, a series of revolutions and coups in Latin America. This is a core premise of a new book by the famous analyst and political scientist Thierry Meysan "Crimes of the Deep State". The deep state is a very influential part of the American elite the members of which used the Middle East for a geopolitical experiment. To destabilize the world. To get economic benefits. This, in fact, is the new format of colonial policy. Robbing weak countries, but in a new way. By the way, Donald Trump is not included in this ignominious group.

Formally, the new policy was launched on September 11, 2001, after the horrific terrorist attack in New York - the destruction of the Twin Towers by airplanes. After this act of terrorism, the so-called "Patriot Act" was adopted, which permits pervasive surveillance of any American citizen.

Meyssan talks about the end of democracy in America. But he goes even further, and claims that the "Patriot Act" was conceived long before September 11. Restriction of freedoms was part of the plan. Another point of the plan is full control over the media by the Capital. And we are witnessing how Western media is being degraded before our own eyes. Already, Soviet newspapers look like beacons of democracy against this bleak and dreary backdrop.

On book shelves of Paris bookstores, a new book by French writer and journalist Thierry Meyssan is absent. It has to be ordered. The author of the book, in his homeland, is being considered to be an unreliable persona since the 16 years ago he allowed himself to publicly question the official version of the terrorist attack in New York on September 11, 2001.

All these years Meyssan was forced to live and work in the Middle East, where he witnessed how step by step the strategy of the new world order, built on the ruins of the twin towers, was implemented.

The Russian edition of Meyssans book came out under the heading "Crimes of the Deep State: from September 11 to Donald Trump." Our reader is hardly surprised by the fact that behind the events taking place in the world in the last two decades is a group of people, only a few of whom are official leaders of countries that are somehow involved in these events. The fact is that everything that happens is carried out in fulfillment of someones idea, is subject to someones logic and iron will, too. And it will not become a revelation for us.

Meyssans book is an opportunity to see the real mechanisms that bring modern international relations in motion with all their cynicism, falsity and bloodthirstiness.

"This is the result of my work for the last seven years. It was written in cooperation with various governments. I worked with diplomatic documents, consulted officials, diplomats. This is not a conspiracy theory, but a description of the working methods of some governments during this time. Unfortunately, there is no other explanation for the facts other than this, which I described. Im not necessarily absolutely right, but Im close to the truth. Everyone today sees that the world seems to have gone mad, gone wrong, but no one understands how and why, and I explain this, explain the reaction of the players. I am certain of the veracity of these facts, "says the French journalist Thierry Meyssan.

The deep state, like any other, has its own history. In the contemporary American history, the countdown usually begins with the assassination of President Kennedy.

Meyssan, on the other hand, starts counting the new history of the "deep state" from September 11, 2001. In his opinion, on this day, in the United States, a coup dEtat took place that brought to power a group of people united by a common idea.

The roots of this idea in the early 90s can be found in the "Defense Policy Guidance" by Paul Wolfowitz- the concept of global leadership and the suppression of any possible competition.

"Until 2002, they assumed that energy resources were running out. They had to control all sources of resources and, therefore they invaded Iraq. But now they understand that oil and gas will last for the next two or three centuries, maybe even longer. And the policy of the West is changing. At the heart of this are ideas unacceptable to a normal person. The US military is confident of the need for looting and plundering all existing major states and dividing the world into two parts. To achieve this, they began the destruction of the entire Middle East. We saw this happening in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia. And this is not a side effect, this Is the goal. The point is to destroy all major state institutions so that nothing could compete with the United States, " says Thierry Meyssan.

Meyssan draws the readers attention to the fact that none of the wars, unleashed with the participation of Washington, has been completed, despite the change of administrations and ruling parties in the United States. And this means that the "deep" United States does not really need to overthrow governments, nor to appropriate resources or control the transit of oil and gas in any particular region. Their goal is the complete destruction of these countries themselves.

"Of course, I do not know exactly who is responsible for this, but I know a few names. For example, Hillary Clinton, General Petraeus, Jeffrey Feltman, the second person of the State Department, but the system itself changes with time. In 2001, it was headed by Vice President Cheney. He does not play a role there anymore. This organization is connected with the governments of Great Britain and Israel. We have documentary evidence, but we still do not know how exactly this is arranged, " continues Thierry Meyssan.

This strategy, which completely refutes the existing concept of modern imperialism, was proposed by Professor Thomas Barnett, a senior researcher at the Department of Strategic Studies at the Center for Naval Studies of the United States. Publicly it was announced in March 2003 just before the attack on Iraq.

According to this strategy, the world should be divided into two parts - a stable zone, which the system favours, and a zone of chaos in which people would not think of any resistance and would be engaged in simply staying alive and transnational companies could freely pump out necessary for them natural and human resources, without being bound by any obligations and not being accountable to anyone. However, even then, the "Pentagons New Map" seemed so cruel that it never occurred to anyone that it could serve as a guide for a real-life action.

"In 2004, an insider from British FCO distributed some classified internal documents and, of course, he was immediately imprisoned. So, according to these documents, the United Kingdom was preparing the Arab Spring as early as 2004. Another document is a secret treaty between France and Turkey, explaining the events in Libya and, in part, in Syria. Also there is a UN document with corrections of the German government - the full plan for Syrias surrender even before the war. One is astounded reading it. It is so cruel - Syria will pay much more in reparations than it was demanded from Japan after the Second World War. At the same time, Japan started the war, and Syria hasnt, "says Thierry Meyssan.

Almost all of Africa, Central and Latin America, except Brazil and Argentina, fall into the zone of "non-integrable states" doomed to chaos. So naturally does the entire Middle East with Turkey, the Persian Gulf, Iran and Pakistan, all Middle and Southeast Asia and all of The Balkans, except Greece.

All the necessary tools for this purpose have already been created. But there is a problem. The network of international non-governmental structures, the George Soros subversive empire, the conglomerate of world television channels, including CNN, BBC, Sky News, France 24 and of course Al Jazeera, which proved to be so effective in the events in the Middle East, are now mobilized to neutralize Trump.

"Trump is the only public person in the US who said that September 11 is a fraud. Although he is not a professional politician, he understands very well how the US works. He knows what to do to set the system back. He is not an imperialist, he is a Republican, who promised to stop imperialist foreign policy. He is for stopping the activities of international terrorists, for stopping fueling terrorism around the world. In Iraq, Barzani organized a referendum on the separation of the entire territory he had conquered, called Kurdistan. He is now alone, he was forced to resign, and the same thing happened in Catalonia, where Puichemon declared independence and immediately was isolated. And when he decided to seek help from Brussels, NATO- but he was refused. So they keep on yelling that Trump is a weak president with almost all his administration set against him, but it will pass. Everything does. And everything changes", says Meyssan.

Time really changes everything. And what seemed to be a marginal conspiracy theory, may today be a completely sane explanation of what is happening on the planet. Moreover, there are no other explanations but official demagogy, and every day brings something new.

Here is the latest one: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called on the world community to pay attention to documents that appeared on the Internet, proving that the Soros Foundation "The Open Society" directly influences the decisions taken by the European Union. 226 members of the European Parliament associated with the billionaire are named. This is more than a third of the whole Europarliament. But even a few days ago, talk about the fact that the billionaire and philanthropist George Soros has been acttively interfering in world politics and has been attempting to control entire countries, would have been considered just a cheap conspiracy theory.
It appears that from now on, Hamid Karzai, former Afghan president, will be supported by Moscow who sees in him the best propagandist of analyses from the Kremlin.

Since he left power and handed over to Daesh his duties as the godfather of opium trafficking, the former President has turned against Washington. Last April, he had accused Daesh of being a tool of the CIA [1].

Hamid Karzai, now interested in the future of his people, preaches reconciliation with the Taliban. He notes that Qatar, Norway, Germany are now in discussions with the Taliban and asks to be able to do the same thing. After 16 years of war, by doing this, he reaches the same conclusions as Russia.

He was President Putins guest at the Valdai interviews in October.
On 4 November 2017, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping held a video conference to address his soldiers at the Chinese base in Djibouti.

According to Defense News, this base has been consolidated. You could now call it a fortress, capable of accommodating a complete brigade (7 to 10 000 men).

The establishment of this base, near the US, Israeli and French bases, has put an end to piracy off the coast of Somalia.

This is the first military base outside the sphere of Chinese influence.
Photo: Copyright 2017 Julieta Cervantes

In a story so enigmatic and inscrutable, Big Brother would be jealous he didnt think of it first, the Broadway production of 1984 was reportedly deemed ineligible for next years Tony Awards on Thursday because nominating committee member Jose Antonio Vargas was refused access to the show. It was determined that not all elements of the required eligibility were fulfilled, Tony Awards administrators said of the ruling. Both the production and the committee have discussed the matter in private. While all parties involved do not necessarily agree on the outcome, all parties agree that the issue was handled properly. As the New York Times notes, all 49 members of the Tonys nominating committee must be invited to a show if said production wants to be considered.

As for why Vargas, a journalist and an immigrant-rights activist, wasnt allowed to attend the show based on George Orwells classic novel, unfortunately neither the shows producer Scott Rudin nor Vargas offered anything by way of an explanation. The Times notes that Vargas criticized the film The Social Network, which was co-produced by Rudin, upon its release in 2010. However, Rudins spokesperson denies that critique has any connection to the current 1984 debacle. Another of the plays producers, Sonia Friedman, told the Times, I dont have a comment on the matter other than I am disappointed with the outcome. Well just have to trust that the Ministry of Everything Is Completely Fine Between 1984 and the Tonys, Honestly, Really has got everything under control.
Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Lord & Taylor

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, former model and actor Scott R. Brunton alleges actor George Takei sexually assaulted him after he passed out in the Star Trek stars home one night in 1981. According to Brunton, he met Takei in a bar in Los Angeles when he was 23 and struck up a friendship with the older actor, who would have been 43 or 44. One night, after going to dinner and the theater, the pair reportedly stopped by Takeis apartment for a drink, where Brunton says he lost consciousness. We have the drink and he asks if I would like another, he says. And I said sure. So, I have the second one, and then all of a sudden, I begin feeling very disoriented and dizzy, and I thought I was going to pass out. I said I need to sit down and he said sit over here and he had the giant yellow beanbag chair. So I sat down in that and leaned my head back and I must have passed out.

After regaining consciousness, Brunton alleges he awakened to find Takei assaulting him. The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear, says Brunton. I came to and said, What are you doing?! I said, I dont want to do this. He goes, You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable. And I said, No. I dont want to do this. After rejecting Takeis advances, Brunton left, having to wait in his car until he felt well enough to leave.

Years later, Brunton was living in Portland when Takei visited the city on a book tour. The younger man made plans with the actor, planning to discuss the incident with Takei. I wanted to see him. I always wanted to ask him  I just felt really betrayed, says Brunton. I thought I was a friend and here I am later, just another piece of meat. Brunton says they went for coffee, but he felt too uncomfortable to confront Takei in person. I dont want anything from him but an apology, Brunton told THR. I am sure hell disown all this, I dont know, maybe not. According to Takeis representative Julia Buchwald, George is traveling in Japan and Australia and not reachable for comment.
It seems hard to believe that this two-time Oscar winner hasnt even been nominated for an Academy Award since 2000s Castaway, but this could be the year to snap his cold streak. For one, the Best Actor category seems awfully fluid past the foregone trio of Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Timothee Chalamet, and I think Hankss nicest man in Hollywood reputation will count for a lot in a year where nearly every other man in the industry has been revealed to be a raging dick. The trailer for The Post goes heavy on Hanks, so he looks well-positioned for the final five.

Even

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Universals awards push for the years biggest sleeper hit has really started to ramp up, but can Get Out manage an acting nomination? Theres a chance that Catherine Keener could slip in for Best Supporting Actress, but Id really like to see the films lead Kaluuya contend, and for that, Universal will have to push him nearly as hard as theyre currently touting Jordan Peele. Generally reactive performances dont always do well in this category  the Academy prefers its leading men to be plot-drivers  but Get Out works as well as it does because of Kaluuyas incredibly calibrated no-bullshit meter: You can read every single thing hes thinking (especially the things he thinks but cannot say) and youre with him a hundred percent. Plop Kaluuya in Los Angeles for the next few months and get him on every actors roundtable in town!
Photo: William B. Plowman/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images

Radhika Jones has officially been named the next editor of Vanity Fair, as previously reported by the New York Times over the weekend. The 44-year-old Jones, who is currently the editorial director of the Times books department, will be the first woman to helm the magazine since Tina Browns 12-year reign ended in 1992. Browns successor, Graydon Carter, announced in September that he would be stepping down from the role, one of the most prestigious jobs in all of media. An announcement from Vanity Fairs publisher, Conde Nast came this Monday.

I'm honored and excited to succeed Graydon Carter as editor in chief of @VanityFair.  Radhika Jones (@radhikajones) November 13, 2017

To anyone who works with @radhikajones, this news is a) a massive bummer and b) totally unsurprising. https://t.co/1wQnsPfZcg  Jennifer Senior (@JenSeniorNY) November 11, 2017

Prior to her tour at the Times, which has only lasted a year, Jones was the deputy managing editor at Time, where shed worked since 2008 and managed special projects including the Time 100 list and the magazines Person of the Year feature. Before that, she was a managing editor at The Paris Review and had also worked at Grand Street and Artforum. As Recodes Peter Kafka points out, it remains to be seen how Conde Nast will expect Vanity Fair, including the editor role, to evolve in the post-Carter era  especially since no successor is likely to get the same resources that Carter has had. Kafka reports that Conde Nast told job candidates that theyd like them to reimagine the magazine, its digital properties and its conference business  but that the titles budget would be shrinking, as Conde looks to continually squeeze costs.

Other candidates for the job, according to the Times report, included Hollywood ReporterBillboard Media Group co-president Janice Min, Marie Claire editor-in-chief Anne Fulenwider, Times editor Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Vanity Fair digital director Mike Hogan. The editor search has been managed by Conde Nasts CEO, Robert Sauerberg, and the companys artistic director, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
By India Today Web Desk: Karan Johar sent the grapevine into a tizzy with the explosive revelations made in his memoir, An Unsuitable Boy. At the Saahitya Aaj Tak event in Delhi today, Karan opened up about his much-talked-about book, whose title is a tongue-in-cheek reversal of the bestseller, A Suitable Boy. His journey may be seen as unsuitable, Karan Johar believes.

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ON BEING A PARENT TO YASH AND ROOHI

Earlier this year, Karan became a parent to twins, Yash and Roohi, through surrogacy. "I wanted to take my life to second gear. I have always said 'it's all about loving your parents', it's time I became one," the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil director said, adding that his life has changed for the better.

While the filmmaker's son is named after his father, Yash Johar, his daughter Roohi's name is an anagram of his mother Hiroo's name. Karan said that he, his father and his mother were very strong as a family unit, and when his father passed away, it left a huge void in his life. When Karan's son was born, no other name fit better. But he did not want his mother to feel left out, hence he named his daughter Roohi.

ON HIS FALLOUT WITH KAREENA KAPOOR KHAN AND KAJOL

In An Unsuitable Boy, he wrote about his fallouts with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kajol. It is no secret that Karan's friendship with Kareena soured because she asked for the same remuneration as Shah Rukh Khan when offered Kal Ho Naa Ho. They did not talk for a year, and the filmmaker now realises that it was all "childishness". "She's 10 years younger than me, I should have exercised restraint and realised that I was the one who was wrong," he said. Thankfully, all is well between the two now.

Karan also fell out with his once-upon-a-time best friend Kajol, although they have now rekindled their friendship. "I don't want to go into detail about what went wrong. I love her a lot. When we love someone that much, we also get hurt more," he said. Talking about their renewed relationship, he called it the "2.0 version of our relationship" and said that he felt like they have gone back to the time they lost.

He also had developed a distance with Shah Rukh Khan, "but there's not a single day that (they) stopped loving each other", despite the ups and downs in their relationship.

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ON MAKING FILMS ONLY ABOUT RICH PEOPLE

Karan has often been criticised for making films only about rich people and their lives, but he feels that he does not get enough credit when he tries to push the envelope. "I made My Name Is Khan, which is a very real story. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil had an unconventional ending. I made a short film in Bombay Talkies which showed homosexuality, but I never got credit for it. If my name was Karan Kashyap, and not Karan Johar, I would have got credit," he said.

ON HIS SEXUAL ORIENTATION

There has been a lot of conjecture, to use Karan's favourite word, about his sexual orientation. While he addressed the rumours in the book, he did not explicitly state his orientation, something he faced a lot of flak for. "That's my right, I wished to express it the way I did," he said, adding that he is proud of who he is.

He has been abused and called horrible names, but it no longer bothers Karan. "Trolling is my breakfast," he said. What once bothered him has now become enjoyable to him, and in fact, he feels bad if he wakes up one morning and finds that he is not trolled.

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ON NEPOTISM

If you haven't been living under a rock, you know all about the Karan Johar vs Kangana Ranaut nepotism debate. While Kangana accused Karan of being the "flag-bearer of nepotism", he begged to differ. At Saahitya Aaj Tak, Karan admitted that he was "a result of nepotism" - he got an opportunity to become a director only because his father was a producer.

"Yes, nepotism gives you easy access, but it's true to most industries, whether you're a businessman or a journalist. It's very easy to make the film industry a soft target," he said. He added that while nepotism gives easy access, it is one's efforts which decide if they will be able to survive and succeed.

'I HOPE ARYAN KHAN BECOMES A SUPERSTAR'

When asked if Shah Rukh Khan was the last superstar, he said that there was no doubt that SRK was a bona fide superstar. However, Karan hoped that he wouldn't be the last. "I hope Shah Rukh Khan's son, Aryan, becomes a superstar, not because he's Shah Rukh's son, but because he is a bundle of talent. I hope he can rise from the criticsm," he said.

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ON THE PADMAVATI CONTROVERSY

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati has been in the eye of a storm for its alleged distortion of history. Political groups have been raising slogans against the film, something that Karan Johar is no stranger to. From My Name Is Khan to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, he has had run-ins with political parties.

About the Padmavati row, Karan said, "I feel very bad, I hope that he's protected by people who understand that creativity is a form of expression. He has already clarified that there is no such scene, I watched his video. We should trust and believe that statement and give his film all the love."

ALSO WATCH: Five explosive confessions from Karan Johar's biography An Unsuitable Boy

--- ENDS ---
Eili Harboe in Thelma. Photo: Imagine Film/The Orchard

The fun part of Joachim Triers Thelma is trying to reconcile its gorgeous, art-house Scandinavian look with its exploitation-horror-movie plot, which makes the whole thing feel like Carrie remade by Ingmar Bergman. So Ill try to tiptoe to the edge of clarity without slipping over. No spoilers.

Thelma is a female coming-of-age film in which latent psychic powers add an eerie extra dimension, as does the buttoned-up Scandinavian mood. The style is formal, as meticulous as Hitchcock but with even more longueurs, like the lengthy overhead shots of the clean, impersonal college crosswalk where students pass one another by  so close yet so far. As the teenage title character, Eili Harboe stares out her dorm-room window at the plaza below, knowing no one, afraid to interact.

Related Stories Thelmas Joachim Trier on Filming Lesbian Sex Scenes Sans the Male Gaze

She has good reason, it turns out. Her anxious father, Trond (Henrik Rafaelsen), and emotionally ravaged mother, Unni (Ellen Dorrit Petersen), are religious fundamentalists whove embraced the Creator desperately, as if fleeing the fires below. Theyve sheltered Thelma, kept her childlike and removed from the state of nature. But nature creeps back into her life, as it must. Hitchcockian birds gather. A snake slips into a campus building. More birds. More portent. In the library, Thelma trades glances with a fellow female student and something stirs in her, literally as well as figuratively: She collapses, seizing. After a few more such incidents theres one of those brain-scan scenes in which the wires stuck on Thelmas head look like bolts of electricity and the doctors stare at the readout with widening eyes.

Thelmas friendship with that young woman, Anja (Kaya Wilkins), grounds the second part of the film in the love that dare not speak its name  particularly if ones parents are fundamentalist Christians terrified of unleashing primal forces. Those forces extend to the audience. Thelma opens with a warning to epileptics and Thelma opens with a warning to epileptics and others averse to strobe lights, and I heartily agree: The strobe-y dancing scenes are intense. I thought I might have a seizure.

On paper, Thelma sounds predictable: revenge of the repressed  liberation of the feminine  the delayed expression of what Camille Paglia calls womens chthonian nature. And the final scene, alas, reduces everything that has preceded it to a point where its flat-out insulting. But the rest is entrancingly beautiful art-horror. A late flashback is filled with poetically terrifying images  images you might wish you could unsee. A final scene between Thelma and her father in the middle of a fjord is an uncanny mixture of lyricism and gruesomeness. (Its too bad the film doesnt end there.) Throughout, Harboe has a soft face you cant stop watching  it suggests shes always one step behind her emotions, being led who knows where?

The Norwegian Trier (who wrote the script with his frequent partner, Eskil Vogt) has now made four good movies, none in a similar key. His first, Reprise, is a tricky, psycho-dramatic buddy movie. Oslo, August 31st is a switchback ride to suicide  the second go (after Louis Malle) at the novel The Fire Within. Louder Than Bombs is a moving American family drama that unfortunately bombed quietly. Thelma is both more mysterious and more accessible than his other films. The spell it casts transcends the silly plotting. It puts you in a zone all its own.
By PTI: Srinagar, Nov 11 (PTI) Opposition National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said today that talk of an independent Kashmir was "wrong" as the Valley is landlocked and surrounded by three nuclear powers -- China, Pakistan and India.

Abdullah also claimed that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and "this wont change" no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight against each other.

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His statement comes days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had rejected the idea of an "independent Kashmir", saying it was not based on "reality".

"I am saying that there is nothing like the issue of freedom (independent Kashmir) here. We are landlocked. On one side we have China, Pakistan on the other side and India on the third side," the MP from Srinagar told reporters on the sidelines of a function at the party headquarters here.

"All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allahs name," he said.

"Those (separatists) who are talking about Azadi, are talking wrong," the former J&K chief minister said.

On the demand for autonomy, he said that while the state decided to join India out of love, the country "betrayed" the people of Kashmir and did not treat them well.

"We should understand that there has been a decision (of accession), but India didnt treat us well. India betrayed us. They did not recognise the love with which we chose to join them. That is the reason behind the current situation in Kashmir," Abdullah said.

"Internal autonomy is our right. They (Centre) should restore it. Only then the peace will return (to the Valley)," he said.

Referring to a statement made by Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir about PoK being part of India, Abdullah invoked the instrument of accession signed by the then Maharaja Hari Singh, with the Indian government.

"You do not remember the instrument of accession and claim the other side of Kashmir administered by Pakistan. If that side is ours, then you should talk about the accession as well. Why do you forget the conditions on which we have acceded?" he said.

Abdullah also claimed that PoK was part of Pakistan and would remain so.

"I tell them in plain terms -- not only the people of India, but also to the world -- that the part (of J&K) which is with Pakistan (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and this side to India. This wont change. Let them fight how many wars they want to. This wont change," Abdullah said.

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"And when the situation is such, then they have to talk, so that we live in peace, both parts live in peace and for that it is imperative to grant autonomy to both the parts," he said.

Asked whether the visit of the Centres special representative for Kashmir Dineshwar Sahrma to the state was successful, Abdullah said only Sharma could say anything about it.

"I can only say that while he has held talks, only talks will not address the issue as this issue is between two countries -- Pakistan and India. The government of India has to talk to the government of Pakistan as a part of J&K is with them (Pakistan)," he said. PTI SSB ASK SC ASK

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A building permit has been secured to remodel the former Twin Peaks building in Central Texas Marketplace, the scene of a deadly shootout between rival biker groups in May 2015.

Officials with the Indiana-based Scottys Brewhouse restaurant chain said two weeks ago they had bought the building. It was built to resemble a hunting lodge and has remained vacant since the shootout. The permit estimates the cost of replacing the facade and making minor changes to the interior at $250,000. The city of Waco issued the permit to Arizona-based Store Master Funding.

Store Master Funding has not returned several phone calls seeking comment on the transaction and the sales price of the building, which once was listed for more than $4 million, according to sources.

Other permits of note issued by the city of Waco recently include:

Remodel of the Dollar Tree store at Bosque Boulevard and Wooded Acres Drive, $125,000.

Remodel of the Starbucks location at Wooded Acres Drive and Bosque Boulevard, $225,000, Lake Air Holdings.

Gas prices rising again

After falling for weeks, gas prices are heading upward, according to AAA Texas in its Texas Weekend Gas Watch.

The statewide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded rose a nickel to $2.30 during the week ending Thursday, according to AAA.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the latest gasoline demand measurement is the highest for the end of October since 2006, AAA wrote. As consumers fill up their tanks more frequently, supply levels are tightening, which is causing gas prices to increase.

While prices are increasing, Texas is home to the fourth-lowest gas prices in the country, according to AAA

.

30 hours of toys

Toys R Us has filed for bankruptcy protection, but the retailer is not letting legal maneuvering hinder holiday sales.

Stores will open doors at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day and continue operating until 11 p.m. on Black Friday, a total of 30 hours, according to a press release. The National Retail Federation found that almost 100 million people shopped at brick-and-mortar stores over the long Thanksgiving weekend last year, according to the press release.

Invitation to Innovation

A seminar titled An Invitation to Innovation is being offered to the public free of charge Friday in the Cooper Room of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce headquarters downtown, according to a press release.

It is being sponsored by the entrepreneurship program at Baylor University and the Waco chamber, and will last from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Participants will learn techniques for encouraging creativity and innovation in a business organization, according to the press release.

Companies will leave with both the mindset and a tool set to nurture creative problem-solving, the press release states.

Boozers After Hours

Boozers Jewelers will host Business After Hours from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, and members of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce who bring their business cards will get a preview of Boozers famous Christmas sale, according to an invitation.
The Robinson Municipal Court can soon become a court of record as city leaders aim to streamline the judicial process for enforcing law and code violations punishable by fine only.

The city council approved an ordinance this week to make the designation, a few weeks after the Waco City Council took the same action for the Waco Municipal Court.

Texas Government Code allows cities to create a court of record if the city determines the move is necessary to handle cases efficiently. Both cities' municipal courts handle offenses that are punishable by fine only.

Without the designation, any defendant convicted of an offense could appeal the case to a McLennan County court. The county court would hear the case de novo, meaning it would treat the case as if the defendant had never been convicted at the municipal court level.

Staff at both cities said the process led to inefficient uses of time and resources. If two trials were needed, a single case would require the time of a second judge and court staff, more members of public summoned to serve on a jury, and witnesses having to testify a second time without the case progressing.

Robinson council member Jimmy Rogers said the city has a few steps to take before its municipal court is officially a court of record. For one, the city needs to upgrade its recording system for court proceedings, Rogers said.

Robinson City Manager Craig Lemin said the recording system shouldnt be too big of a project. City staff is working to get quotes on the equipment, Lemin said.

The hope is to have it going by the first of the year, he said.

Rogers said he is not aware of any specific or high profile challenges to local court rulings in Robinson, but the potential is there. Lemin said it is common around the state for traffic violations to be appealed to county court.

Creating a court of record will also allow the police department to get search warrants locally. Officers now have to have a county judge sign off on warrants, Rogers said.

Weve done a lot of work getting our ordinances in line and changing a lot of that to flow more like a modern city, Rogers said. This was another piece of that that helps our planning director and code enforcement to enforce those things.

Lemin said the designation gives the court authority to deal with nuisance abatement that it could not address before.

The Waco Municipal Court will become a court of record Jan. 1 after the city council adopted an ordinance in October.

Waco City Attorney Jennifer Richie said Waco has had at least 10 cases in the last five years that were appealed to the county court.

Its a draining of resources for both the city and for the county, Richie said.

A quality electronic recording system is expected to cost the city about $12,500, she said.

Obviously the citys always looking at how to improve to become more efficient to do things in as modern a way as possible," Richie said. "This is just part of citywide ongoing efforts to modernize and be more efficient."
In an October report on opioids impact on New England communities, The Washington Posts Joel Achenbach described the nations opioid crisis as a decentralized disaster that authorities understand they cannot solve with handcuffs and prison bars alone. Indeed, pretty much everyone, up to and including President Trump, is on board  at least rhetorically  with the idea this crisis must be tackled in a manner more comprehensive than the usual law enforcement approach.

Last month, Trump declared the epidemic a public health emergency, calling it the worst drug crisis in American history, adding that addressing it will require all of our effort, and it will require us to confront the crisis in all of its very real complexity.

Strong words. Too bad Trumps administration wont use a tool already available. It could bring treatment to millions of Americans.

Nearly a decade ago, our country took a remarkable step forward on behavioral care. With passage of the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, Congress said group health insurance plans and insurance issuers that provide benefits for mental health and substance use disorders cannot treat such benefits more restrictively than they treat medical services. In other words, treatment claims related to opioid addiction, depression, anxiety and other behavioral conditions must get the same level of coverage as physical health claims. Two years later, within the Affordable Care Act, the parity requirement was extended to individual plans, and behavioral health coverage was included as an essential health benefit in ACA plans.

Despite this extraordinary public policy focus, we face an addiction crisis with no end in sight. Why are so many people suffering and so few getting treated? Within the complex answer is one glaring contributor: the destructive behavior of for-profit insurance companies.

As a litigator who has made a career of fighting for patients and providers, Ive seen how pervasive this conduct is. Thanks to private lawsuits and action by states, the evidence is indisputable. New York has led the country in this fight, and its investigation of ValueOptions, an administrator of behavioral claims for 2.7 million people, found denials were nearly twice as common for mental health claims than for other medical claims submitted and nearly four times as common for addiction treatment. Another investigation revealed that, during one year, Blue Cross Blue Shield subsidiary Excellus denied inpatient addiction treatment seven times as often as inpatient medical services. The state said its action against Emblem Health for widespread violations of parity laws could lead to more than $30 million being returned to members.

This problem is so extensive because the largest insurers are primarily incentivized to maximize profits for shareholders, not to ensure proper coverage for the insured. Confronted with laws broadening behavioral coverage, insurers put their lawyers and lobbyists to work not to determine how to best deliver on Congresss intent but to find every possible way to undermine it. And its worked. Consider that private insurers cover 54.4 percent of overall health-care spending costs  but only 20.8 percent of addiction-treatment costs  according to a 2012 Columbia University study. That study also found individuals with private insurance are three to six times less likely than those with public insurance to receive specialty addiction treatment.

Insurers avoidance of legal obligations cannot be blamed on the Parity Act itself but on a failure to enforce it. On Oct. 20, in testimony before the Presidents Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta stressed the opioid epidemic was the number one issue in joblessness, effectively sidelining millions of workers. But, while acknowledging that his department is responsible for enforcing the Act, he suggested it can only enforce the law employer by employer and is unable to directly challenge insurers. In claiming such limited authority, the secretary strikingly overlooked a fundamental element of federal law: The Department of Labor has considerable authority to bring claims against insurers. It simply must choose to do so.

The law is complicated but at its heart are provisions within the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs all private employer benefit plans. Under ERISA, an insurer that administers such a plan is a fiduciary, meaning it must comply with all requirements and remedies articulated by ERISA, including the Parity Act, which was incorporated into ERISA. It must act solely in the interest of insured parties. Not only are insured people allowed to sue to enforce ERISA, but the Labor Secretary is explicitly authorized to bring civil action against an insurer that violates ERISA.

This gives the administration a powerful weapon to address the opioid crisis. Enforcement of the Parity Act through ERISA would help ensure those who suffer from addiction can obtain effective treatment  treatment that should already be available under their health insurance policy. But that wont happen if Acosta maintains that his department cannot directly sue insurers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit weighed in on this issue in 2015 in a case my colleagues and I brought, New York State Psychiatric Association, Inc. v. UnitedHealth Group, challenging whether an insurance company, acting as a claims administrator for an employer-funded plan, can be sued for Parity Act violations. The courts precedent-setting ruling struck down insurers primary legal defense, saying an insurer that makes coverage decisions as administrator of an ERISA plan is unquestionably a proper defendant in such cases. Indeed, the Second Circuit expressly rejected the argument of UnitedHealth, one of the nations largest insurers, that it could not be sued directly for Parity Act violations. To the contrary, as the court held, UnitedHealth was deemed a proper defendant under ERISA for violating its fiduciary obligations by adopting policies which violated parity.

The failure  or unwillingness  to use this weapon as part of a national opioid strategy flies in the face of Trumps pledge to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis. Initiatives announced by Trump, or by Congress, may take hold at some point, but theres no reason for our leaders to wait. The law is there right now. It just needs to be enforced.
According to a source close to the CBFC, there is an unofficial ban on Indo-Pak relationships in films, so the Pakistani character portrayed by Katrina Kaif in Tiger Zinda Hai might not get clearance.

By India Today Web Desk: Last year, after the Uri attack , the tensions between Pakistan and India escalated into cinema as well. The MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) kicked up a huge row, regarding Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, as it starred Pakistani actor, Fawad Khan. Finally, KJo had to release a video, saying that he will not work with any Pakistani actors, and all Pakistani elements in the film were changed.

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This year, it's going to be difficult to get Katrina Kaif's Pakistani character, Zoya, from Tiger Zinda Hai, a clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). According to a source close to the CBFC, there is an unofficial ban on all Indo-Pak romances or relationships for now. "If you remember, in Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Anushka Sharma's character Alizeh was from Pakistan. But after the surgical strikes and the escalated hostilities between the two countries, her nationality was quickly changed, and she became an Indian Muslim from Lucknow," said the source.

So, will Zoya's nationality be changed too? "It's likely," the source said. "The guidelines clearly don't allow this kind of a cross-border merger."

ALSO WATCH| Happy Birthday Salman Khan: A look at Bhaijaan's controversial life

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The head of Canadian dairy heavyweight Saputo believes the company will acquire the distressed dairy processor Murray Goulburn and says a top priority is to lift the processor's annual milk volume to 2.5 billion litres.

Lino Saputo jnr, who is in Australia on a 10-day roadshow meeting Murray Goulburn suppliers and industry figures, said his company might consider other acquisitions in the Australian dairy industry in future if suitable opportunities emerged and regulatory approval was allowed.

Lino Saputo Jnr: "Our balance sheet is very clean and our desire to grow is very, very big." Credit:Rob Gunstone

"Our balance sheet is very clean and our desire to grow is very, very big," he told Fairfax Media. "So we have an appetite to grow, we have talent within the system that is always looking to take on more responsibility.

"Growth through acquisition has been really our model and that's something that we will continue to do in all the platforms."
Management at wagering giant Tabcorp "should have done more" to meet the company's obligations to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, a federal judge has found.

Earlier this year, the ASX-listed Tabcorp agreed to a massive $45 million fine to settle a case launched by the financial intelligence agency over extensive breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act between 2010 and 2014.

Tabcorp has pledged to better monitor customer transactions to prevent money laundering activities. Credit:bradleyphotos.com.au

Federal Court judge Nye Perram on Friday released his reasons for approving the penalty in a settlement between Tabcorp and Austrac, which he said averted a "very large trial at considerable public expense".

He noted that the breaches were not deliberate. "The contraventions did not arise as a result of a deliberate intention to contravene the act," Justice Perram said.
As Australians we like to tell ourselves that we are not a racist country, that our multiculturalism is a success (indubitably true), that attacks like these are isolated and confined to the extremes (the men were part of a "patriots" group that seems to have only two membership criteria: you have to be white, and of subnormal IQ). But to speak as frankly as Watts, when men like this are able to openly hunt a Muslim man in a public bar, the claim that Australia is not racist is clearly rubbish. The attack was condemned by both sides of politics as "un-Australian", which is about as meaningful as saying the deadly Charlottesville white nationalist rally was "un-American", or that the 2004 Redfern riots were "un-Sydney". Actually, the attack on Dastyari was marinating in Australian-ness - the beery, blokey, hostile masculinity of the perpetrators, the fact it happened in a bar, the cool attempts of the victim to order beer while being lambasted, the slack vowels of the bullies as they told the senator to go back to Iran. Also particularly "Australian", was the way media outlets, including, astoundingly, the ABC, later sought out the main bully, who is known to police for having previously threatened a rabbi, and granted him an interview.

Channel Nine's A Current Affair and Melbourne radio station 3AW gave him minutes of airtime. What were these journalists hoping to get out of their talent, a known white nationalist and criminal? A considered elucidation of his arguments? A much-needed counter-balance to the charge that he was racist? In any other country, if a dark-skinned man is called a "monkey", the person labelling him that doesn't get a platform on which to further publicise his moronic views. Eighty years ago, men not so different from him were wearing jackboots and smashing the windows of Jewish shopkeepers. But this is Australia in 2017, so we put him on television.

Hopefully the wide publication of the incident will serve to remind us why our anti-discrimination laws are more necessary now than ever. As we await the results of the same-sex marriage postal survey next week, the "no" campaign is preparing itself to ensure "protections" for freedom of speech and freedom of religion are inserted into legislation legalising gay marriage. They see no problem with introducing more (slightly different) discrimination into law designed to remove it. That's because these culture warriors seek the drastic rolling back of all forms of anti-discrimination law, and this is as good a place as any to start. The Dastyari incident shows why we can never let that happen - because racism and racist abuse is still very Australian, and if we want to stamp it out, few things have greater moral force than Australian law which strongly condemns it.
Turnbull government MP Nola Marino may have acquired Italian citizenship through marriage, in what would represent a new twist in the eligibility crisis that has engulfed the federal Parliament.

Ms Marino's case also highlights a gap in the proposed new disclosure regime being debated by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, which does not consider the possibility of dual citizenship attained through marriage.

The development comes after fellow Liberal MP John Alexander declared he was still waiting on "conclusive" advice from the UK Home Office about his citizenship status. There is mounting speculation he will resign by Monday, sparking a byelection in his Sydney seat of Bennelong.

Also on Friday the High Court decided to examine the eligibility of Hollie Hughes, the Liberal who was set to replace former deputy Nationals leader Fiona Nash. Ms Hughes is under a cloud because after last year's election she took up a government job, which could disqualify her from office .
The City of Perth is about to become the first council in the world to charge Parkrun event organisers to use a park.

A Parkrun event is a five kilometre fun run held weekly in 18 countries around the world. It is run entirely by volunteers and sponsors and participation is free of charge.

There are over 1300 Parkrun events worldwide. Credit:Rohan Thomson

The Claisebrook Cove Parkrun currently attracts round 250 to 300 runners each week.

Organiser Suzanne McMahon told 6PR's Simon Beaumont this participation rate could be in for a dramatic drop if the City of Perth went ahead with its plan to charge for use of its parks and paths.
An 18-year-old man has died after jumping into the Swan River from the cliffs at Blackwall Reach.

Police said the Dianella man was with friends at the cliffs near Bicton in Perth's south when the incident happened just after 5pm on Friday afternoon.

Blackwall Reach has been a popular Cliff jumping spot for generations. Credit:Youtube

The man jumped from the cliffs down to the water, where police said he "got into difficulties," with friends trying to help him.

They raised the alarm and Water Police rushed to the scene with a police diver getting the man onto the police boat where they worked to resuscitate him.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo marked Veterans Day by signing a handful of bills to help New York's heroes.

Cuomo approved legislation that adds post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of conditions eligible for medical marijuana. Before Saturday's action, the state's medical marijuana program didn't allow the drug to be prescribed for PTSD treatment.

Another bill signed by Cuomo will provide additional paid leave to combat veterans employed by the state. The leave will allow veterans to attend counseling sessions or receive medical treatment.

A measure introduced by Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter, a Syracuse-area Democrat, was signed by Cuomo. Hunter's bill waives the civil service examination fee for veterans who were honorably discharged.

"I was proud to sponsor this legislation and I commend Governor Cuomo for signing it and for all of our work to ensure New York supports veterans," Hunter said in a statement.

Other bills signed by Cuomo include a requirement that the Department of State and state Division of Military and Naval Affairs maintain a public list of the not-for-profit corporations that solicit donations for the armed forces. He also approved a bill directing the state Office of General Services to set aside a public location within the Capitol in Albany for a POW/MIA chair and plaque honoring prisoners of war and those who are missing in action.

Cuomo announced the new laws as he prepared to march in the Veterans Day Parade in New York City.

"The message is very, very simple: We have tremendous respect and honor and gratitude for what the veterans have done for this country," he said. "This country is not this country without the work of the veterans. And their sacrifice and their courage is the highest form of patriotism."
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 11 (PTI) A car with a woman and her baby inside was towed away by the city traffic police at Malad, inviting widespread condemnation, which prompted the police to suspend one of its constables and order a probe.

The shocking incident came to light today when a purported video clip of it went viral on social media, a police official said.

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An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, which took place at Malad in the western suburbs of the city yesterday around 4.30 pm, he said, adding, the probe will be conducted under the supervision of DCP (Traffic), western suburbs.

The woman had gone to Malad for some work with her husband and the child and parked the car on the busy S V Road.

As the car was obstructing the vehicular movement, the traffic police arrived at the spot with a towing van. When the van was about to leave with the car, the woman sat inside the vehicle with her baby, he said.

Police requested her to step out and officials from the Malad Police Station were called in to tackle the situation but to no avail, the official said.

The video shows the woman and her baby sitting on the rear seat of the car and the traffic police towing it away.

Onlookers, who can be heard shouting and protesting the police action, asked constable Shashank Rane, who was accompanying the towing van, to stop it.

The video clip also shows the woman shouting at the police and telling them she was unwell and feeding her child.

The official said the couple was taken to the police station where the womans husband paid a fine for unauthorised parking and the issue was sorted out.

The DCP (Traffic), western suburbs, has been asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report by tomorrow, said Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

It has been prima facie noticed that safety of the woman and the child were endangered in the incident. Hence, pending inquiry, the constable is being placed under suspension, he said.

A decision about departmental action against him will be taken after the report is received, Kumar said. PTI DC RSY TIR

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Police arrest suspects involved in the London Bridge and Borough Market attack.Lord Evans said it was vital for relations with the community to be strengthened during quieter times. Credit:PA "It's a puzzle to me because actually you could create physical damage through cyber attack - particularly as we move towards an environment where almost everything is connected to the internet - and therefore you can hack into it and create physical damage," he said. Lord Evans directed MI5, Britain's spy agency, between 2007 and 2013 and oversaw the security for the London Olympic games which were staged without any attack. He was giving security advice to organisers of large conferences at a lunch arranged by Business Events Sydney and the International Convention Centre. People flee a terror attack in London's Borough Market. Credit:AP He revealed how "community spying" whereby MI5 officers turned up on the doors of potential attackers before the Olympic Games "suppressed" the likelihood of them carrying out an attack.

"We arrived there at six o'clock in the morning and we did it in a coordinated way with the police and we said 'hello we just wanted to ask whether you were thinking of coming to the Olympics'. "And this of course, really put the wind up [them] because they didn't know that we knew about them and every time that this happened they then get in touch with their friends and they said 'yeah, yeah, they were here as well,' and so we tried to deter them from doing anything which actually seems to have worked." Describing himself as an "analogue" spy whose early work in espionage involved "running around cars" and following them to London's embassy district, Lord Evans described the threat of a cyber attack as a "tier one national security threat". He said all smart criminals were moving online and it made sense that terrorists were too. He said he had "no doubt" states like Russia would continue to use the "opportunities afforded by the digital environment" to "create an atmosphere of distrust in democratic institutions". US intelligence agencies say they have proof Russia tried to meddle in the 2016 presidential elections, a claim the Kremlin denies. Lord Evans has recently warned that the "the huge upswell in threat" posed by the rise of Islamic State is likely to continue for another two decades.

He said that, when he left MI5 in 2013, they thought they had successfully confronted Islamic terrorism, then posed by al-Qaeda. "If somebody had asked me, I would have said that we would probably see a long tail but this was of one of those issues which we had not kind of got on top of but which we could see the end. "Fortunately no-one did ask me that so I didn't say it, because if had said it I would have been proved comprehensively wrong." He said the type of crude attacks being carried out in the name of IS were much harder to disrupt because the terrorists had scaled back the ambition of their attacks from 9/11 plots to vehicle rammings and stabbings, requiring less planning and coordination and making them harder to detect. "Those days are past and so we are now in a situation where just anyone can hire a car and mount some form of attack, not a strategically threatening attack but certainly one that could cause death and misery and one which will attract media attention."

He said overall, the agencies were disrupting the majority of attacks before they took place but warned not all can ever be prevented. Europe has suffered multiple attacks this year, with the vehicle ramming in Barcelona and five attacks in the United Kingdom since March. This week the Home Office released data of its intervention program called PREVENT, which critics complain is akin to spying. In 2015/16, 7,631 individuals in Britain were referred to the program with a third of those referrals made by teachers and education workers. Of the 7,631 people, 78 per cent were male and 56 per cent were aged under 20.

Lord Evans said working with minority communities to reduce the threat was "very difficult" but said overall members of those communities were "sensible people". "They know there are bad things happening and they don't want them on their watch." He said the British police had made efforts to create dialogue with community groups and said it was vital those links were made during quieter times so that if arrests needed to be made they weren't carried out by "faceless" law enforcement officers. "If this is being done to you by a faceless state that you don't know anything about then you can be find it frightening or infuriating," he said. Loading
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump agreed to support a political reconciliation in Syria with the participation of Bashar el-Assad while maintaining the existing two-nation communication channels used to fight Islamic State.

The leaders are satisfied with the "successful US-Russia" military efforts that have "dramatically accelerated" the group's battlefield losses, according to a joint statement issued after the leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam.

"These efforts will continue until the final defeat of Islamic State," according to the statement. A US official who requested anonymity said the joint statement shows both leaders back a political solution and peace process.

The joint efforts have weakened Islamic State, leading to its defeat earlier this month in the last major foothold in Syria. While Russian support has kept Assad in power, helping Putin expand Russian clout across the region, the US is seeking to have influence in any plan to help the nation recover from years of civil war.
US President Donald Trump praised PM Modi for working hard to bring the "vast country and all of its people as one". He also lauded India's "astounding growth".

By PTI: US President Donald Trump today praised India's "astounding" growth after it opened its economy and also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together.

Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam, Trump said that countries outside of the grouping were also making "great strides in this new chapter for the Indo-Pacific".

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He pointed out that India was celebrating the 70th anniversary of its independence and highlighted that the country was a sovereign democracy with a population of 1.3 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world.

"Since India opened its economy, it has achieved astounding growth and a new world of opportunities for its expanding middle class," Trump said.

"And Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has been working to bring that vast country and all of its people as one. And he has been working at it very successfully indeed," the US President said.

Prime Minister Modi is leaving for the Philippines on Sunday to attend the India-ASEAN and East Asia summits. Trump is also scheduled to attend the East Asia Summit, a key meeting between ASEAN and eight of its partners.

The US president also used his speech at the APEC business meet to promote his vision for a free and open Indo- Pacific region.

"We have been friends, partners and allies in the Indo- Pacific for a long, long time," he said. "The story of this region in recent decades is the story of what is possible when people take ownership of their future", he added.

The use of the term Indo-Pacific by President Trump has led to speculation that it may have something to do with Washington preparing the ground for a revival of the so-called Quadrilateral strategic alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India to counter Chinas rise.

China has already reacted cautiously over a proposal by the Trump administration for a working-level quadrilateral meeting with India, Japan and Australia, saying Beijing hopes that it would not target or damage a "third partys interest".

In his address, Trump also praised countries like Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan, which also briefly touched on the bloody history of the Vietnam war, in which Da Nang was a key battlefield. "Today we are no longer enemies, we are friends," Trump said.

In more and more places throughout this region, citizens of SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT nations have taken greater control of their destinies, and unlocked the potential of their people. #APEC2017 pic.twitter.com/a570IIGe0I- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2017

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By PTI: research

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) The UK-India Strategic Group on antimicrobial resistance research held their second meeting here this week to discuss mutual priorities to tackle AMR, an increasingly serious global health threat, a partnering agency said today.

The UK-India collaboration in the field of AMR was launched last November by UK Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Jo Johnson and then minister for science and technology Harsh Vardhan, Research Councils UK (RCUK) India said.

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"During the meeting, the strategic group also assessed the progress made in the partnership since its launch," it said.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (such as bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial agent (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.

"The UK-India AMR collaboration is led by the UK Research Councils and Indias Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

"The RCUK and the DBT are nodal agencies coordinating this initiative with other research funding partners in India like the Department of Science and Technology, Indian Council of Social Science Research, Indian Council of Medical Research, Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change," RCUK India said in a statement.

The first meeting of the group was held in November 2016. Since then it has successfully commissioned a mapping report on AMR research in India, which was released by Johnson and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Y S Chowdary in New Delhi last week.

"Both ministers welcomed the joint report and the RCUK - DBT partnership addressing AMR. The report identifies gaps in our understanding, especially in countries with high disease burdens, and highlights that we can use multi-disciplinary research to fill key areas of potential action including the environment, industrial waste, farming, and how people use and understand valuable antibiotic drugs," the statement said.

"AMR research experts from the UK and India also participated in a UK-India sandpit-style workshop this week to develop outline proposals for research. The workshop, organised by the RCUK and the DBT from November 7 to 10 in Delhi-NCR, will serve as a platform to build interdisciplinary research teams and joint outline proposals for research into various aspects of AMR," it said.

Up to GBP 13 million joint funding, under the Newton Bhabha Fund, will be utilised on projects funded as a result of this workshop, the statement added.

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"The challenge AMR poses is enormous from Indias perspective because it revolves not only around the use of antibiotics, but also around enforcement, industrial waste and use of antibiotics in the livestock industry, all of which, in turn, affects the food chain and public water supply, thereby causing major health risks.

"Our research efforts are addressing the detection, diagnosis and prevalence of AMR. Our international partnerships are crucial to help scale up these efforts," K Vijay Raghavan, Secretary DBT, was quoted as saying in the statement.

Stuart Taberner, Director of International and Interdisciplinary Research, RCUK, said global challenges such as AMR can be addressed by strong, collaborative research partnerships, such as the one the UK-India are demonstrating through various initiatives in AMR. PTI KND GVS

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By PTI: By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Nov 11 (PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader of China since Mao Zedong, US President Donald Trump said, underlining that the two leaders have developed a very good relationship.

Trump arrived in Vietnam from China, wherein he said he had a "very successful" meeting with Xi, CNN reported.

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The US President praised Xi for his statement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

"He (Xi) made a statement that he is committed to stopping the nuclearisation of North Korea. That is a big statement," Trump said and noted that he gets along with Xi very well.

"He is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. Some people say more powerful than Mao," Trump said on Air Force One as he flew from Da Nang to Hanoi for a summit meeting with Vietnamese leaders.

Mao was a Chinese communist revolutionary, poet, political theorist and founding father of China, which he ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. His theories and military strategies and political policies are known as Maoism.

Trump said he and Xi have "amazing feeling" towards each other.

"I do have a very good relationship with Xi. He is a strong person, hes a very smart person. I like him a lot. He likes me," he said.

"But we represent two very different countries but we get along very well. That?s a good thing that we get along. Thats not a bad thing. And on trade, you know, most of the news covered it fairly. Some didnt. When I said its not your fault, because I was saying how China has been hurting us on trade for many decades, for many years, and it is not his fault," he said. PTI LKJ UZM

--- ENDS ---
Despite ample evidence that nothing good comes of it, people still insist on defending communism.

by Kristian Niemietz

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

When I was about 16, like many of my peers, I went through a brief teenage commie phase. Obviously, I knew absolutely nothing about Marxist theory or the history of socialism. All I knew was that communism was somehow considered cool and rebellious. It meant smashing the system, overthrowing the establishment  that sort of thing.

If time travel is ever invented, I hope Ill never have to meet my own 16-year-old self, because I would find him intensely cringe-worthy. But I am nonetheless glad I went through that phase. It saved me from worse. Nothing is more pathetic than when somebody who missed out on the teenage commie phase tries to overcompensate for that in middle age. Which brings us to Paul Mason.

Mason will be celebrating the centenary of Russian Revolution this week. You probably knew that, because he has been shouting about it from the virtual rooftops all week. He also wrote a terribly confused article for the Guardian, sort of explaining, but then not actually explaining, why he is celebrating it. Mason distances himself from Bolshevism, but insists that the Russian Revolution was an intervention by the masses into history, like the French [Revolution] before it. So it must be good, right? Because, of course, the Masses are pure and noble, they are the sons of toil, the salt of the earth.

It is the sort of article you would expect from someone who cannot quite bring himself to openly defend the Soviet Union, warts and all (as his Corbynista-comrade Seumas Milne has done on numerous occasions), but who cannot bring himself to give up on it either. Mason claims that October 1917 was a beacon to the rest of humanity, no matter how short-lived. Not so. It was a will-o-the-wisp. Unfortunately, we cannot know how Russia would have evolved if the October Revolution had never happened. But for every socialist country where we have a plausible-enough counterfactual, socialism does not look great in comparison.

Look at the Results

In the case of China, the next best thing to a counterfactual is Taiwan. Taiwans economic take-off started a generation before mainland Chinas, and today, Taiwan is richer than the UK. Its history was a bumpy ride, but unlike mainland China, it had no famines, no concentration camps, no mass purges and no mass executions. Similarly, if we compare North Korea to South Korea, East Germany to West Germany, and (although this one is admittedly a bit far-fetched) Cuba to Puerto Rico, we notice what starts to look like a pattern.

Without the October Revolution, there would have been no Berlin Wall and no Stasi.But lets assume a pessimistic counterfactual for Russia: a crushing defeat in the First World War, a collapse of the Kerensky government, a prolonged period of chaos and instability, and ultimately, a restoration of Tsarism in a modified form. Even then, it is hard to imagine that this would have been worse than what actually happened. The Russian Empire was at least half a century behind Western Europe in terms of economic development  but modernization had already started in the late Tsarist period, and there is no reason why it should not have continued.

There would have been no forced collectivization of agriculture and no de-Kulakisation, and consequently, no famines killing millions.

The Tsars hated secret police, which had been dismantled after the February revolution, might have made a comeback. Forced exile and forced labor in Siberia already existed under Tsarism, and might well have been resumed. But we are talking about thousands of people, not millions.

So much for Russia. Without the October Revolution and the subsequent emergence of a socialist military power keen to export its model, it is hard to see how socialism could ever have spread to Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany etc. So without the October Revolution, there would have been no Berlin Wall and no Stasi.

But It Wasn't Real Socialism!

Socialism cannot ever, in any meaningful sense, empower the workers. At this point, Mason would probably protest that he is not defending the Soviet Union per se  just its very early stages. The clue of what Mason is really trying to say is in the sentence I [] date the degeneration of the revolution to the early 20s. This is an interesting choice of words. Degeneration is, in this context, a Trotskyite term. It was Trotsky who had come up with the theory of the degenerated workers state. What he meant was that in its early stages, the Soviet Union was a genuine workers state, run by the workers, for the workers. But then eventually, the Soviet bureaucracy took over, and turned into a social class of its own, like the pigs in Animal Farm. Trotskys solution was to kick out the red bureaucrats and establish a real workers state. It is the first known example of what would soon become the favorite excuse of all socialists everywhere whenever their ideas fail (as they always do): But that wasnt real socialism!

This is what I call the Goodbye Lenin Delusion, the idea that socialism could have turned out completely differently. It could not, and it never will anywhere, no matter how often we insist on trying. You can run a small agricultural commune (e.g. an Israeli Kibbutz) as a grassroots democracy, where people get together and decide everything jointly. But as soon as an economy reaches a minimum level of complexity, it starts to rely on specialization, delegation, and a division of labor. And besides, who wants to spend their whole free time sitting on committees, debating about how many razor blades we should produce, and how many hectolitres of beer we should brew?

Socialism cannot ever, in any meaningful sense, empower the workers. It will always just empower a technocratic elite.

The Revolution took place over two days, 7th and 8th of November, so the anniversary is this week. Enjoy the celebrations, Paul. But you will wake up with a terrible hangover on Thursday, which  with poetic justice  will be the anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. And guess wholl be celebrating then.

Reprinted from CapX

Dr. Kristian Niemietz is the Institute for Economic Affairs' Head of Health and Welfare.
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By WestKyStar Staff Nov. 10, 2017 | 08:07 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Several hundred spectators bundled up for a chilly Friday to honor dozens of local veterans at this year's Veterans Day ceremony and parade Friday in downtown Paducah.The opening ceremony took place at the Korean War Monument, on the 6th Street side of Dolly McNutt Memorial Plaza. The annual parade started at 6th and Washington Streets. It traveled along Washington Street and on to Walter Jetton Boulevard, then turned onto Broadway and headed toward the riverfront. The parade concluded at 2nd Street, turning into the parking lot by the Farmers' Market.

Students who participated in the Veterans Day essay contest organized by the Daughters of the American Revolution were recognized and two of the students read their essays. The Concord Elementary School Singsations sang the National Anthem and a medley of patriotic music. James Cruickshank played the bagpipes.

The opening ceremony included the recognition of 2017 Distinguished Veteran Walter Eugene Lowrey who served as the parades grand marshal. Lowery thanked the Veterans Committee for the honor and said he never thought he would be recognized like this for his service and reminded all in the audience to treat others as they want to be treated.



The ceremony also included the presentation of the 2017 Patriot Award to Cynthia Stevenson Byrd. The Patriot Award honors a non-veteran who dedicates his or her time to serving veterans and veteran causes in this community.

The WKCTC Television Production Department recorded the parade. They will set it to music and televise it at a later time on Government 11 and Paducah-2 (for Comcast subscribers).



The Paducah Parks & Recreation Department and the Veterans Day Planning Committee organized this year's events.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 11, 2017 | 11:16 AM | GRAVES COUNTY, KY

The Graves County School District's Early Eagle Academy Childcare Program opened earlier this school year to offer families convenient, affordable daycare targeted to children ages 2-5. This Monday, Nov. 13, from 5-7 p.m. at Graves County Middle School, the academy's teachers and students will offer a glimpse of the program open to anyone who chooses to attend. Families considering childcare there especially are encouraged to visit. Families may come and go during that time or stay for the entire event.

"Busy Town" is a learning-based project current Early Eagle Academy students and their teachers use to learn about money, work, and business. All the district's preschool programs are partnering in the Busy Town project as well. Vendors and others will add a bazaar atmosphere to the Monday evening program.

"It's a fun project to help showcase the Early Eagle Academy," said Courtney Hayden, who leads it. She said Early Eagle Academy has experienced a great start, since opening earlier this school year. "We have some wonderful, creative teachers and assistants who love kids and, of course, the kids not only make it fun, but are amazing in how fast they learn and grow!"

Graves County Schools Superintendent Kim Dublin said the academy is the result of two main factors. "Mayfield and Graves County have a shortage of daycare options for families now and our district has an available classroom in four of schools, so we are offering this service."

"It focuses on building school-readiness skills in a playful environment," explained Melissa Bazzell, the district's early childhood consultant. "Primary goals are to help the child and family prepare for kindergarten."

The program operates year-round Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Options include full-day, full-week childcare; part-time childcare for current Graves County preschool students in a "wrap-around" program to assist working families at most locations; and drop-in/emergency care services, as space is available.

Child daycare sites include: Graves County Middle School and the elementary schools of Fancy Farm and Farmington. Sedalia Elementary is available only to current preschool students. Plans are to expand to other Graves County Schools in the future.

To learn more, email Courtney.Hayden@graves.kyschools.us or Melissa Bazzell@graves.kyschools.us or phone 270-328-2656.
FORMER FLAT ROCK MAYOR TERRY HICKS DIES AT AGE 81

HENDERSONVILLE LIGHTNING REPORTS THAT HICKS DIED FRIDAY

ARRANGEMENTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED

Terry Hicks, a key contributor to the formation and development of the Village of Flat Rock from the mid-1990s through the establishment of its popular park, died on Friday at his home after a period of failing health, Flat Rock village officials said. He was 81.

Hicks, who retired to Flat Rock in 1992 after a career as a book publisher and seller, served as mayor from 1999 to 2003 but his time serving his adopted home spanned almost 25 years.

Hicks became involved in Flat Rocks civic affairs as soon as he arrived and before the village incorporated in 1995. He worked on the project to bring water and sewer to the Flat Rock Playhouse and other parts of town and helped draft the first zoning ordinance.

As the second mayor, he led us through the process of moving from the Singleton Centre to where we are today, said Judy Boleman, who served with Hicks on the village council and is now the village administrator. He was also instrumental in finding people to run for council who had special areas of expertise.

When the village was writing the first land-use code, someone mentioned a Hendersonville native who had spent a career in real estate law in Northern Virginia. The village founders recruited Bob Staton to serve on the Planning Board and later Staton found himself on the receiving end of Hickss famously effective one-on-one recruiting pushes. Hicks wanted Staton to serve on the village council.

I didnt want to do that but after he asked me about six times I finally agreed that I would, Staton said. After Ray Shaw signaled his retirement as mayor in 2007, Hicks recruited Staton to run for mayor.

I absolutely didnt want to do that, he said. Then he had a heart attack and I went to visit him. He was sitting up in the hospital bed and Christine was sitting at his side and he pointed his finger at me and said, Will you run for mayor? I said, well, Id have to think about it, and he said how long would I need. I said, About 10 seconds and he sat there and counted to 10.

Hickss wife, Christine, was not surprised.

He was soft spoken and very kind and very gentle but he always got his way in the kindest way possible, she said. He was a very loving man. He loved his family, he loved Flat Rock.
Frozen River Film Festival will debut its first film production as an organization, Lark Ascending, at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Page Theater on the Saint Marys University campus.

The film is 15 minutes and captures the beauty and landscape of some of the Winona areas most notable landmarks.

The Lark Ascending has historical significance. English poet George Merideth wrote a 122-line poem with the title inspired by the Eurasian skylark, a small bird species found across Europe and Asia. The poem inspired English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams to write a piece in the same name.

He wrote it to celebrate the beauty of his homeland, said Isaac Sammis, who produced the project along with Andrew Thoreson. Thats the through line between (FRFFs production and Williams composition).

Sammis and Thoreson collaborated on the project over the summer. Sammis said after he saw the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform the score live while showing BBCs Blue Planet, he was inspired to do something similar here in Winona.

I kinda put it on the back burners for a while ... it was just an idea, he said. But then we got a grant from SEMAC and the Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation to fund the project so we could make it a reality.

Sammis described the production as a 14-minute music video for the song composed by Williams, and the score will be performed live with the film premiere on Sunday followed by a Q&A session.

The film was all shot with a drone to imitate the flight path of the bird that inspired the The Lark Ascending poem.

Sammis and the FRFF organization are excited for the premier of the film because its not often people have the opportunity to hear a score performed live in conjunction with a film.

Its pretty unique in that aspect, Sammis said. That and the whole production was created by Minnesota artists.

Combining a film with classical music brings the style of music into a new context by paring it with visuals, making it feel as if the viewer is flying through the air like a bird.

The score was originally composed for a violin and a piano, but was later re-scored for a solo violin and orchestra and is now considered one of the most memorable pieces of classical music by British listeners.

I just thought itd be cool to highlight the beauty of our own homeland with the video, Sammis said. Im pretty excited.

Tickets for the premier of The Lark Ascending are $12 and can be purchased from the FRFFs website www.frff.org.
LANESBORO, Minn.  Thanks to a final fundraising push, an environmental learning center just north of this scenic southeast Minnesota town will soon take full control of a prized 151-acre tract of bluff-country forest along the Root River.

Its a big step for the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, a longtime force for outdoors education where some 20,000 visitors a year come to study local wildlife and practice back-to-the-land skills like beekeeping, weaving, hunting and orienteering.

The new land will nearly triple the acreage under the centers control and give it access to nearly a mile of Root River shoreline for educational programming and fishing, said Eagle Bluffs Executive Director Joe Deden.

The private owners of the land agreed to sell it to the center in three installments totaling $858,000. The first payment was made in 2016; the final payment is due in January, and the last dollars needed to make that payment arrived two weeks ago thanks to a $100,000 gift from the Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation of St. Paul.

Some 39 donors in all were behind the centers purchase, according to the Eagle Bluff annual report.

Deden, a University of Minnesota forestry student who first offered classes out of his Red Wing home 40 years ago, said hes eager to draw junior high and high school-aged students to the new land, dubbed The Point, for hunting and fishing, as well as educational programming on prairies, wildlife and forestry.

Fans of Eagle Bluff have long known about its role as one of six environmental learning centers in the state. Its the only one in southeastern Minnesota, showcasing the starkly beautiful topography of the Driftless Area.

Peter Heegaard of Minneapolis, a longtime funder of the states environmental learning centers, said the centers were originally designed by a high school teacher who wanted to teach kids about the outdoors. Eagle Bluff now has a residential dormitory and commissary and routinely hosts classes of middle-school aged students for three-day stays and longer.

Thats a big deal, getting kids exposed to the environment, said Heegaard.

A birder, Heegaard went to Eagle Bluff this year for his first turkey hunt, taking advantage of the centers other role as a place for adult learning.

Heegaard eventually bagged a tom after two days of effort and help from Deden, he said.

It was a lesson in the patience of letting nature happen, he said.

Deden said hes looking forward to restoring the new land to its native state. Its a mix of hardwood forest and prairie. A survey of the tract found 121 prairie species such as little bluestem and Indian grass, as well as lizards and 21 varieties of butterflies.

The stretch of Root River that winds past the property is home to brown trout, channel catfish, walleye, longnose gar, white bass and other fish, the survey found.

The land came with an A-frame cabin and a 19th-century settlers cabin. Volunteers from the Rochester Lowes store helped restore the A-frame this past summer.

An outdoor fireplace behind the cabin was built in memory of Ben Stanek, a two-year staff member at Eagle Bluff who died this year. The teaching and gathering space built in his name was dedicated last month in a ceremony attended by Staneks family and friends.

Deden, who plans to retire this coming spring, said hes thrilled Eagle Bluff acquired the land before someone else bought it for development.

Were trying to preserve the ecological landscape, he said.
Multiple organizations in Winona are working to address the shortage of workers in the city and help grow the workforce and community.

Both Winonas Chamber of Commerce and Project FINE, a Winona County partner organization, try to actively court workers to bring them into Winona, and both face ongoing challenges.

According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, 75 percent of businesses statewide reported difficulty finding workers.

Both of the local organizations noted a continued shortage of workers for positions in the Winona areas manufacturing and agricultural fields, which is also a struggle throughout southeastern Minnesota.

Project FINE, which helps immigrants and foreign workers integrate into the community, works to place people in jobs and attract them to the area primarily through outreach both online and in person.

Fatima Said, executive director of Project FINE, said that in many ways Winona is on the right track for attracting people, with job openings being the first priority for most immigrating individuals or families.

Other important factors include affordable housing, public transport and access to childcare.

While the community continues to develop in those areas, Said said the organization routinely receives calls from businesses and employers looking for workers or inquiring how they could sponsor people moving to the country, though the latter is not something Project FINE does.

Said also noted that with an aging population and growth in many industries in the area, this problem likely only will continue.

We simply need more people, Said said.

She said that, in general, Winonas business sector has been working hard to attract people, with increased diversity training, educational programs and other incentives for workers.

She said those efforts are a big part of bringing in new people to the community, which helps everybody.

When the private sector is thriving, we all thrive, Said said.

Della Schmidt, director of Winonas Chamber of Commerce, also put affordable housing as a priority for attracting people to the community to fill jobs, as well as child care and a good school system.

Schmidt also said that the three top issues facing employers are a lack of people with the skill sets to fill open jobs in manufacturing and other industries, as well as a need for affordable housing. At a federal level, immigration policy reform is needed to help bring in workers.

Despite ongoing efforts, Schmidt did not anticipate a quick fix and predicted it would be an ongoing issue as long as the economy stays strong and companies continue expanding and trying to add workers.

This workforce challenge  is not one that is going to go away quickly or easily, Schmidt said.

Like Project FINE, the chamber does outreach, including to individuals looking to relocate here for higher level jobs.

Schmidt said theyre currently working to develop a program which would allow the chamber to talk to people hoping to relocate here on a personal level, including showing them how their families can be integrated in the community and become involved.

Its about creating pathways, Schmidt said.

This workforce challenge  is not one that is going to go away
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will restore or enhance more than 700 acres of goat prairie and oak savannas along the Mississippi River in an effort to improve habitat for the monarch butterfly.

A $69,800 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, combined with nearly $107,000 in state, county and private sector donations, will fund the restorations on public lands between Trempealeau and Crawford counties.

Over the next two years, the DNR and its partners will use prescribed burns and other invasive-species control to restore the native prairie plants on steep slopes along the river. According to the DNR, the work will also benefit other pollinators, rare plants, reptiles and birds.

The DNR plans to target remnant prairies in state natural areas, including Perrot State Park, the Coulee Experimental Forest and Hogback Prairie State Natural Area.

Dry remnant prairies are some of the rarest habitat we have, said Pete Duerkop, conservation biologist with the Wisconsin DNR. Extremely rare and extremely diverse.

East of the Rocky Mountains, the colorful butterflies journey up to 3,000 miles each fall to one of about a dozen mountain areas in Mexico. In the spring, they begin the return trip, laying eggs in southern states. Their offspring continue moving north into breeding grounds. The butterflies that make the southern migration are typically the third or fourth generation and have never been to the wintering grounds.

Duerkop said the Mississippi River is a major migratory corridor as well as a breeding ground for monarchs.

Its estimated that the population of eastern monarchs is just a tenth of what it was in the mid-1990s, according to a recent study that found it could be at risk of extinction. One of the biggest threats is loss of breeding habitat across the Midwest, where urban development and herbicide-tolerant row crops have displaced the milkweed monarchs rely on, according to the Monarch Joint Venture, a public-private partnership based at the University of Minnesota.

Monsanto, the maker of the weed killer Roundup, helps fund the NFWF.

The money is part of $3.8 million in monarch habitat grants from the nonprofit NFWF, which combines federal and private funding sources.

This years grants include $222,000 for the University of Minnesota to help set up a national monitoring strategy and $165,000 to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for restoration projects in central Iowa. Pheasants Forever was awarded $80,000 to assist landowners in eight states, including Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, with enrolling land in conservation programs.

Established in 2015 to reverse population declines, the NFWFs Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund has provided $9.6 million in public and private funding to protect and improve butterfly habitat.
Dodge County abounds with agricultural landscape.

Drive for any distance in Dodge County and you are sure to find fields of corn, soybeans and wheat. And, those who drive on a back-country road just south of Juneau may even discover a vineyard.

It is a surprise to many that Dodge County is home to Edwin Brix Vineyard and winery. With the first grapes being planted in 2010, Marty and Chris Sell have been slowly growing their vineyard that produces nearly 5,000 bottles of wine a year with grapes grown in the vineyard.

Shortly after getting married, the couple purchased the farmstead that had been in the family since 1893 from Martys father.

Following a 2008 trip to the Napa Valley region in California, the Sells began researching the feasibility of starting a boutique winery in Wisconsin. They found mentors to help them, joined area grape-growing associations and learned that the drumlin land formations on their property, left by glaciers that traversed Dodge County, made for ideal grape growing soil conditions.

Slowly, the Sells expanded their crop. They started with six rows of vines and now have 50 rows of grapes.

With the growth, Edwin Brix Vineyard remained grounded in its roots. Early on, a conscious decision was made to make their wine from locally grown grapes.

The Sells prioritized the agricultural aspect, distinguishing themselves as a vineyard. Historically, the land on which the vineyard is now planted was farmed by Martys grandparents and great-grandparents. While the crop that is cultivated has changed, the connection to family remains strong.

Putting family first and having the right tribe, two of the Blue Zones Project Power 9 principles, is what continues to drive the Sell Family.

As a child, Marty Sell recalls how neighbors worked cooperatively on his grandparents farm. He recalls threshing grain and raising barns together, then celebrating the accomplishments with grand meals and barn dances. Wine-making has brought him back to those days.

Edwin Brix Vineyard puts out an open invitation for people to join them in hand harvesting the grapes each fall. Family, friends, neighbors and strangers come to help, some coming from as far away as Chicago and Michigan.

Theres a reason for people to get together to socialize, Sell said. Weve gotten to know some of our neighbors well because they have come to pick grapes or bottle wine and have become good friends. It has been wonderful.

Marty and Chris Sell enjoy sharing the fruits of their labor as well. The Power 9 principle Wine at Five highlights the importance of slowing down and connecting with others.

In Sardinia, one of the original Blue Zones areas, locals enjoy happy hour with friends and family regularly and often with a local high-antioxidant wine called Cannonau.

The Sells mimic this practice. Marty Sell said, When we do private tastings, we get to know about the people and their families and taste some wine in the process.

Edwin Brix hopes to be a destination that people enjoy coming to. It provides a great place for people to share their lives and connect with one another. Learn more about the Sell Family and their local vineyard by visiting their website edwinbrix.com.

To learn more about Blue Zones Project visit dodgecounty.bluezonesproject.com. Call 920-212-8511 or e-mail bluezonesprojectdodgecounty@sharecare.com with questions.
Columbia County Sheriff Dennis Richards asked a young man to take a moment to stand in front of a crowd and be recognized for standing by a friend in the worst of conditions.

What do you say to someone like that? There arent words. Id be happy to have you work beside me anytime, said Richards, presenting an award of citizen recognition to Alex Wade on Thursday at the countys Administration Building, for his actions during the explosion and fire at the Didion Milling plant in Cambria the night of May 31.

For someone to react like that, when the majority of us would be high-tailing it  just because the explosion had taken place didnt mean there wasnt going to be another one, or the fire, or more debris. Youre a heck of a friend; you really are.

Wade was in a train car where he had been tossing bags of corn with Collin Vander Galien when the explosion happened. It pinned Vander Galiens legs beneath the frame of the overturned train car, partially submerged in water.

Mr. Wade was able to call 911 and stayed with his co-worker as rescue units arrived on the scene. Because they were within the rubble of the scene, it took approximately 2 hours for rescue personnel to reach them, Richards said as he presented the award. And not only on behalf of myself and my staff, and the emergency staff that were there, but on behalf of that gentleman over there, thank you.

When Vander Galien reunited with that response team in July, EMTs filled in details of that night and described how Wade brought them to the scene, staying by Vander Galiens side but needing to be forcibly removed after medics arrived and began working.

The room joined Richards in a standing ovation, and among the attendees was Vander Galien, having since been fitted with prosthetic legs and moving with the aid of a walker.

Im still at a loss for words, really, Wade said after the reception. You could say thank you a hundred times to someone, but it doesnt express your real gratitude, I guess. To the rescue workers, to everyone who helped that night, even in the slightest, I cant thank them enough.

Its a day-by-day process, especially for this guy, too, Wade said, pointing to Vander Galien. But hes killing it, and he keeps me going too.

Same here, Vander Gallien said.

It was one of five awards presented Thursday to private citizens. Others included a man who took it upon himself to find a shovel and start tossing dirt to prevent a house fire, two to a couple who lent their boat and expertise to officers searching for and then finding a lost child, and a Pardeeville teen who took a woman and her children from the scene of an armed standoff. The officer who first responded to that same standoff was awarded the Medal of Valor.

Two Columbia County deputies and two dispatchers were honored with Life Saving Awards, while two jailers were commended with Problem Solving Awards for their work during the intake and evaluation of an inmate, in which they assisted an inmate in a potentially fatal medical emergency.

A Problem Solving Award was also presented to dispatcher Leonel Ramirez for his part in responding to the Didion explosion.

One of the things that I noticed several times was Leonels calmness, Richards said, recalling the night of the explosion and the following morning, when Ramirez took the initial call of the incident that involved a dispatch of dozens of fire departments, local, county and state law enforcement and four helicopters among many other first responders and later arriving aid.

You just cant train for that; you really cant, Richards said. You can only hope that you and your staff do what is right. Everyone is different. You cant just throw open the book and look up Explosion and go, 1, 2, 3, 4 One of the corrections we did not have to make in the incident is this gentleman right here with his actions.
ENDEAVOR  An Ohio senators bill has Wisconsin retirees feeling like the solution to their pension crisis is finally here.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is expected to introduce a bill next week that would create a new federal office in the U.S. Department of Treasury called the Pension Rehabilitation Fund. The new office would supervise loans to failing pension funds, paid for by private investors purchasing U.S. Treasury bonds.

The Treasury is getting involved because they dont want to see the PBGC go bankrupt on their watch, said Bernie Anderson of the Milwaukee chapter of Protect Pensions.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures retirement incomes for 41 million Americans, announced late last year that its running at a $58.8 billion deficit. PBGC is on pace to go bankrupt by 2025 or sooner, it reported.

About 25,000 retirees in Wisconsin had faced immediate cuts of up to 70 percent of their Central States Fund pensions before the Treasury Department put those recovery plans on hold last year. Central States is a multiemployer pension fund with 400,000 participants in the U.S.

This is the fix  its the only fix, Bob Brockway said of the Brown bill. Brockway leads Endeavors Protect Pensions committee on the second Saturday of each month.

Other plans cut pensions. Thats not what we want. We want it fixed.

The plan would help a number of other failing pension funds, Anderson and Brockway said. Protect Pensions estimates 200 multiemployer plans are going bankrupt, directly affecting 1.4 million Americans.

If a few go down, so will all the others, said Anderson, who along with several other Protect Pension members is lobbying representatives in Washington, D.C. Browns bill will likely be introduced to various committees in the House and Senate on Thursday, Anderson said.

They hope that with bipartisan support, Browns bill will get passed before the end of the year.

Investigation ongoing

Government Accountability Office investigations into the U.S. Department of Labors oversight of Central States have not yet been completed despite being launched in May 2016. Protect Pension groups had expected the probes to be completed in the summer of 2017.

The Department of Labors oversight of the Central States Pension Fund hadnt been reviewed since it took the fund over in 1982.

During the Great Recession, Central States lost $12 billion in 18 months from 2008 to 2009  more than 40 percent of its funds. Pension funds are supposed to stick to low- and moderate-risk investments, so the funds major losses that year have suggested to Protect Pensions members that criminal activity may have occurred.

The big picture, pension groups say, is how financial institutions since 2008 have received trillions of dollars in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, while failing pension funds like Central States have been ignored.

Youd have to think this amount of time passing means the investigation will be thorough, Anderson said of the GAO investigation that is now 18 months old. I would think the longer it takes the better.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he will sign legislation adding post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of eligible conditions in the state's medical marijuana program.

"Many of our veterans are suffering from PTSD and the medical community has determined that (medical marijuana) can be a helpful treatment," Cuomo said during an event before the Veterans Day Parade in New York City.

New York is the 28th state with a medical marijuana program that allows PTSD patients to use the drug for treatment. This year, similar bills were signed into law in Colorado, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Bob Becker, legislative director for the New York State Council of Veterans Organizations, said medical marijuana will provide relief to veterans with the disorder.

"PTSD is a serious problem facing our state, and now we have one more tool available to alleviate suffering," Becker said.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can affect anyone, but it has received more attention as veterans return home from Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD, between 11 to 20 percent of veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq have PTSD in a given year. The rate is nearly identical  about 12 percent  among Desert Storm veterans.

Estimates indicate that roughly 30 percent of Vietnam War veterans have experienced PTSD during their lifetime.

Medical marijuana advocates in New York encouraged state lawmakers to add PTSD to the list of conditions that can be treated by the drug. When the state medical marijuana program launched, there were several eligible conditions on the list, including AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.

However, PTSD wasn't on the list.

Two state legislators, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and state Sen. Diane Savino, introduced legislation to add PTSD as an eligible condition. The state Assembly passed the bill by a 131-8 vote in May. The state Senate approved it by a 50-13 vote in June.

Savino, a Staten Island Democrat, said in June that adding PTSD to the medical marijuana program would help veterans and others that are at risk of the ailment, including firefighters, police officers and victims of violent crimes.

Supporters of the legislation estimated that approximately 19,000 patients with PTSD would benefit from adding the condition to the medical marijuana program.

"This will help ensure that more of those suffering are eligible to become certified medical cannabis patients, and will allow each doctor to treat their patients as they see fit," Savino said.

The announcement was one of two made by Cuomo before the Veterans Day Parade. He also revealed the launch of a new "Honor Series" of license plates that will be available through the state Department of Motor Vehicles. The license plates will honor veterans and are available for every service branch.
Iva Kilman Sharp Bryant gave birth to 3 children, all being sons: Marion Sharp, Stanford sharp and Hershel Sharp. All 3 served in various branches of the military, Stanford being the only son to see front line action fighting in combat on foreign soil. Stanford served in both Korea and two tours in Vietnam. Obtaining the rank of staff sergeant E6, he proudly served in the U.S. Army 7th cavalry from Feb 15th 1952 until May 31st 1968. As a result of Stanford's numerous acts of bravery he was accommodated with three purple hearts, the bronze star for heroism in ground combat, galantry cross with silver star awarded by the government of Vietnam and a letter of notoriety from the president of the united States.

Each purple heart offered a chance for him to stay safely on American soil to serve the remainder of his enlistment, however he refused. Stanford stated that he went overseas to fight beside his brothers in arms and he was not coming home before nor without them. Stanford truly lived by the code: honor God, love your parents and defend your country. The morals of a military man flowed in all aspects of his life as he selflessly contributed to his community and those in it. Stanford has been both a loved and respected member of Mattoon since 1933, leaving only for his employment as lieutenant with the Illinois Department of Corrections, from which he retired in Sept. Of 2001.

After battling cancer for several years as a direct result of repeated exposure to Agent Orange, upon his retirement Stanford's desire was to return to his hometown of Mattoon where he remained until his passing on December 4th, 2016, which deeply saddened us all. it is our hope that Stanford's legacy live on, so it is our honor to salute this hometown hero not only on Veterans Day, but every day.

Susan Swierk-Pigott, Mattoon




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Never underestimate the power of nostalgia.

I went to a grand opening ceremony Tuesday for the Square at Forty-Eight, the five-story, mixed-use building that replaced Tastee Inn and Murphy's QP Store on the northeast corner of 48th and Holdrege streets.

I thought I wrote a story that adequately covered all the bases about the project.

But less than 24 hours later, I was hearing from several people  including from those in my own newsroom  about a burning question: what happened to the Tastee Inn sign?

Another reporter at the Journal Star wrote a story about 15 months ago saying that the iconic sign might survive and be incorporated into the development.

I had long ago forgotten about that story, and did not inquire about the sign Tuesday when I interviewed the developers of Square at Forty-Eight.

That didn't sit well with some people, who wanted to know what happened with the sign.

So I decided it was my duty to find out.

On Thursday, I called Don Linscott, a local real estate developer who was involved with the project.

He said he and his partners considered two options for incorporating the sign in the development: hanging it in the lobby or hanging it outside.

The lobby idea turned out to be unfeasible, Linscott said, because the sign was much too big.

It also turned out not to be feasible to put it on the outside of the building, because the cost to refurbish it turned out to be four to five times what the sign was worth, he said.

But the developers didn't want to discard the sign or hide it away in a storage unit, so they found it a good home by donating it to Speedway Motors to use at its Museum of American Speed.

Speedway Motors President Clay Smith confirmed that the sign is in the company's possession and that it's working on a plan to display it.

"We'll try to figure out how we can get it up so people can enjoy it," Smith said.

Mystery solved.

Mortgaging the future to pay rent

Every time I write about real estate, it seems prices are going up.

On the other hand, a lot of information I see about jobs shows that while unemployment is very low in Lincoln and Nebraska, pay is pretty stagnant.

In fact, the Pew Charitable Trust reported last week that Nebraska was one of 10 states that saw a drop in personal income in the second quarter compared with a year ago.

So is the lack of income growth and rising real estate prices having an effect on housing affordability?

Anecdotal evidence, in the form of home sales that continue to rise quarter after quarter and year after year, says no.

When it comes to renting, it's more of a mixed picture.

Apartment List, a website that specializes in helping people find apartments, released a report last week about how "cost-burdened" renters are, meaning what percentage of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

According to the report, 47.5 percent of Lincolnites were cost-burdened in 2016. That sounds like a lot, but it was actually down from 48.1 percent in 2015, and it was lower than the 49.7 percent nationally, although it was higher than in nearly every similar-sized city in the Midwest.

However, the number of local renters considered severely cost-burdened, meaning they spend 50 percent or more of their income on rent, rose considerably, from 23 percent in 2015, to 24.9 percent in 2016. That was nearly even with the national rate of 25 percent.

Nebraska lags in women-owned businesses

You don't have to look very far to see prominent women in business in Lincoln. Our chamber of commerce president is a woman, as is the dean of the College of Business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. There also are female leaders at some of the city's most prominent companies, including Ameritas and this newspaper. And there are plenty of female entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

But, according to American Express, the state as a whole falls behind when it comes to growth of women-owned businesses.

According to the credit card company's most recent State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, Nebraska as of 2017 has an estimated 55,400 women-owned businesses, employing 44,600 people and generating more than $7.2 billion in sales.

However, the growth rate of those businesses over the past 20 years falls well behind the rest of the country.

Nebraska's 65.6 percent increase in the number of women-owned firms since 1997 is barely more than half of the national average increase of 115 percent and ranks 36th among all the states.

The state does even worse on job and revenue growth, ranking 45th and 46th, respectively.

It's clear, at least from the results of this survey, that there's some work to do to catch up.

Best of the Buzz

Excerpts from recent Biz Buzz posts:

* One of Lincoln's first "escape room" businesses is calling it quits.

Smart Rooms, which opened in October 2015 in a space next to the Rococo Theatre at 134 N. 13th St., announced recently that it will be closing.

In a Facebook post last month, owners CJ and Dara Wells said the decision to close, while difficult, is "what is best for our family and our careers outside of Smart Rooms."

Smart Rooms' last day in business is Sunday.

* Chevys Fresh Mex has closed its Lincoln location in the Edgewood Shopping Center at 5500 S. 56th St.

The California-based chain made an announcement last month on its Facebook page. It did not provide any details.

Chevys, a fast-casual Mexican chain, opened in November 2015, meaning it didn't quite make it two years.

The Lincoln location was the only one in Nebraska, so if you are a Chevys fan, the closest one is in Sioux Falls.
Members of the US House of Representatives and Senate Armed Services committees announced Wednesday that they have reached agreement on the proposed $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill. This astronomical figurean $80 billion increase over spending in 2016 and roughly $26 billion more than was requested by President Donald Trumpis a clear signal that the US will expand its ongoing wars around the world and is preparing to engage in far broader conflicts potentially involving North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China.

The NDAA will now be voted on by the House of Representatives, where it has been rubber-stamped every year since 1961, before being signed into law by Trump. While reporting by the bourgeois press on the NDAA has been limited overall, a key section of the bill, titled Procurement Through Commercial E-Commerce Portals, has been almost entirely overlooked. This section establishes the framework whereby Amazon will be able to corner the market for Defense Department procurements worth roughly $53 billion, and its inclusion in the NDAA is a product of the direct links connecting Amazon with the state and military-intelligence apparatus.

Already marked as a semi-official wing of the US military-intelligence apparatus by their back-room deal with the CIA, Amazon will likely soon become the primary supplier for numerous items demanded by the Defense Department.

The Pentagon will now purchase office equipment, internet service, and all other equipment needed to direct its out war crimes directly from Amazon, both in the US and at its military bases internationally. In other words, if the bill becomes law, Amazon will be providing hundreds of thousands of CIA agents, military personnel, prosecutors, and immigration agents with their pencils, desks, and chairs.

Section 846 of the NDAA requires the Defense Department to purchase commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products on e-commerce portals. While congressmen claim that there will be healthy competition between a variety of such e-commerce portals, in reality Amazon possesses immense advantages that leave it poised to quickly monopolize the market.

By claiming that the online marketplaces are inherently competitive, Section 846 also enables the federal government to secure no-bid contracts, eliminating the requirement that procurement officers seek competitive bids.

The experience of numerous third-party vendors on Amazon, however, testifies that their online marketplace is the antithesis of a free market. Rather, the company is notorious for using the most sophisticated technology to drive out their competition and take over markets for themselves. By using algorithms to track sales data on Amazon, the company determines which products are most profitable, diverts traffic to their own marked-down version of the same product to drive out their competition, and then gouges the price to reap super-profits once theyve established monopoly control.

Amazon is able to do this in part because they charge third-party companies 15-20 percent of their sales revenue for the ability to sell on Amazon, which impinges on profits and sets a higher price threshold at which companies can sell while still being profitable, thus enabling Amazon to perpetually undercut their competition.

With the establishment of an online marketplace catering to the federal government, Amazon will be able to track the Pentagons spending data on everything, and repeat the above process until they control every major market. Very shortly, Amazon could be the sole source of chairs, paper, desks, water bottles, etc. for the entire Defense Department, netting annual revenue of almost the entire apportionment of $53 billion, equal to 38 percent of the companys overall $136 billion revenue in 2016.

Similar to the 2013 deal between Amazon and the CIA, the current deal gives the company a foot in the door for securing even more lucrative military contracts in the future. If this foray proves successful, the broader intelligence community and other federal agencies could themselves formulate online marketplace policies designed to benefit Amazon.

The proposed NDAA budget explicitly states that it will promote the objective of enabling Government-wide use of such portals, while making the entire process as seamless as possible for Amazon and the other e-commerce portals. The document states, The conferees encourage the Administrator, General Services, to resist the urge to make changes to the existing features, terms and conditions, and business models of available e-commerce portals, but rather demonstrate the government's willingness to adapt the way it does business.

In 2016, Amazon accounted for 38.1 percent of all online retail sales, followed distantly by eBay at 7.8 percent, Apple at 3.2 percent and Walmart at 2.8 percent. Amazons e-commerce sales are projected to grow by 32 percent this year, with their market share ballooning to 43.5 percent. If their growth continues at the same rate, Amazon will control 100 percent of online retail sales in roughly 10 years. With the help of the Pentagon, Amazon could reach this level of monopolization far sooner.

The connections between Amazon and the state find open expression in the implementation of Section 846 of the NDAA, which the company sculpted with House Armed Services Committee chair Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican who has been lobbied by Amazon over the past year. Thornberry first introduced the concept of establishing online marketplaces via a standalone bill last May, which he then wrapped into the NDAA budget proposal in the following months. Announcing the initial bill proposal, Thornberry declared, if youre buying office supplies, you ought to be able to go on Amazon and do it.

So far this year, Amazon has spent $9,660,000 lobbying the federal government, the 15th largest amount of any company or entity. They are on track to spend $12 million this year, more than Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil. In the second and third quarters of 2017, Amazon explicitly lobbied on the modernization of the procurement process, according to filings by lobbying firm TwinLogic Strategies.

Amazon Business, the companys commercial sales platform launched in 2015, will likely be the platform by which they sell merchandise to the Defense Department. The current head of Amazon Business public sector division, Anne Rung, was the head of the US governments Office of Management and Budgets Office of Federal Procurement Policy until fall 2016. In that capacity, Rung effectively oversaw the program that will now be making purchases directly from Amazon.

As the International Amazon Workers Voice (IAWV) has repeatedly exposed, Amazon is deeply implicated in the war crimes of American imperialism. Behind the backs of Amazon workers and the American population, the company has facilitated the machinations of the military and formed connections at the highest levels of the state. Their latest efforts to create a private marketplace to secure immense profits from the Pentagon marks a significant deepening of this corrupt relationship.

The only way to break the domination of the corporations and the military-intelligence apparatus is for workers to expropriate corporations like Amazon, redistribute the companys wealth and the $90 billion belonging to CEO Jeff Bezos according to human need, and reorganize the corporation as a public service. Under socialism, Amazons distribution networks could be directed by the workers to deliver food, medicine, and rebuilding supplies to disaster zones like Puerto Rico, to help deliver clean water to impoverished regions of the world, and to establish a level of social planning to the distribution of the worlds resources.
In what can only be described as a nationalist America first rant, US President Donald Trump yesterday issued a virtual declaration of economic warfare to the heads of government and trade ministers at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Abandoning the relatively subdued tone he adopted in China over the previous two days, Trump unleashed a tirade against what he called violations, cheating or economic aggression in the regionremarks clearly directed against Beijing.

The speech was billed as a major elaboration of US policy toward what Washington calls the Indo-Pacific. Raising his voice so loud that the speakers in the hall began to crackle, Trump blamed China and other countries for pursuing policies that stripped jobs from the United States.

We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses and we will not tolerate them, he said.

Despite years of broken promises, we were told that someday soon everyone would behave fairly and responsibly. People in America and throughout the Indo-Pacific region have waited for that day to come. But it never has, and that is why I am here todayto speak frankly about our challenges  From this day forward we will compete on a fair and equal basis. We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore. I am always going to put America first.

There were two essential components to Trumps diatribe: an attack on the multilateral trading system operating under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and an implicit call for a regional group, centred on the United States, directed against China.

Without specifically naming China, Trump said countries had been embraced by the World Trade Organisation, even if they did not abide by its stated principles. Simply put, we have not been treated fairly by the World Trade Organisation.

The United States, Trump said, had adhered to WTO principles, promoting private enterprise, innovation and industry. But other countries used government-run industrial planning and state-owned enterprises to engage in product dumping subsidised goods, currency manipulation and predatory industrial practices.

These countries had ignored the rules to gain advantage over those who followed them, causing enormous distortions in commerce and threatening the foundations of international trade itself.

Jobs, factories and industries were stripped out of the United States and out of many countries in addition, Trump said.

The call for a new bloc, centred on the US and aimed at China, is contained in the use of the term Indo-Pacific by the White House to describe what was previously termed the Asia-Pacific region.

As the Financial Times noted, some in the audience listening to Trumps Da Nang speech were inclined to dismiss his use of the phrase as a slip of the tongue. But it was a calculated effort to unveil his nascent strategy for Asia, which entails increased cooperation between the US, Japan, Australia and India aimed at countering the ever-expanding clout that China is wielding in Asia.

The US president cast aside the multilateral framework put in place by the United States itself in the aftermath of World War II, and which has governed international trade for the past seven decades. He said the US would make bilateral agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade.

Trump declared: What we will no longer do, is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty, and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible.

Setting out what he called the Indo-Pacific dream, Trump said those who abided by the rules would be our closest economic partners. Those who did not, he blustered, can be certain that the United States will no longer turn a blind eye to violations, cheating, or economic aggression. Those days are over.

Trump left no doubt about where the new strategy was directed by listing a series of practices the US accuses Beijing of engaging in.

We will no longer tolerate the audacious theft of intellectual property. We will confront the destructive practices of forcing businesses to surrender their technology to the state, and forcing then into joint ventures in exchange for market access.

We will address the massive subsidising of industries through colossal state-owned enterprises that put private competitors out of business.

Trump spelled out an agenda of attempting to cut across the prospect of Chinese investment in countries throughout the region through Beijings One Belt, One Road project. He declared that the US would refocus its development efforts by calling on the World Bank and the Asia Development bank to direct their operations toward high-quality infrastructure investment that promotes economic growth.

The US would reform our development finance institutions so that they better incentivise private sector investment in your economies, and provide strong alternatives to state-directed enterprises that come with many strings attached.

This vague commitment to do more only highlights the reality that the US has little to offer in the way of concrete economic initiatives in the face of major Chinese investment projects.

Trumps speech was followed minutes later by an address by Chinese President Xi Jinping. While not mentioning Trumps remarks, Xi emphasised international cooperation, economic openness and the need to uphold multilateralism.

Xi stated that over recent decades, economic globalisation had contributed significantly to global growth and had become an irreversible historical trend. He said: We should continue to foster an open economy that benefits all. Openness brings progress, while self-seclusion leaves one behind.

Xis speech contained phrases and themes that would have at one point formed the centre of an address by a US president. This underscores the enormous transformation in the structure of the world economy.

China, no less than the United States, is operating on the basis of its national economic interests. The difference is that whereas the US sees the present global order as leading to its further economic decline, the Chinese leadership, representing the interests of the oligarchs and multi-billionaires that constitute the countrys ruling class, sees only opportunities.

Beijing is seeking to use its growing economic strength within this framework to advance the strategic goal of becoming a great power and moving closer to centre stage, in Xis words at last months Chinese Communist Party congress.

There is no peaceful resolution to this conflict. Its objective logic is moving in only one direction: toward war between the United States and China, as the American capitalist class seeks to counter its palpable economic decline through military force.
The European Unions chief negotiator Michel Barnier gave Britain a two-week deadline yesterday to provide vital clarification on the financial commitments it is willing to honour as part of its Brexit divorce settlement.

During a press conference following discussions with UK Brexit Secretary David Davis, Barnier took a hard line, stressing that there would be no talks on post-EU trade before agreement on the final settlementexpected to be over 50 billion.

With further substantive talks not scheduled until December, the European powers clearly smell blood in the water. They calculate that the Conservative government of Prime Minister Theresa May is too weak to make good on its threats to walk away from the EU with no deal rather than a bad deal.

EU officials let it be known to the Times of London that they are making contingency plans based on May or even her entire government not surviving beyond the end of this year.

Mays premiership has become a living nightmare for her. She heads a minority government after a narrow general election victory in Junea snap poll that she called in the aim of providing a larger majority to push Brexit through. Instead, not only did popular anti-austerity sentiment contribute to a large vote for Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party, but the fissures within ruling circles over Brexit were widened.

Now, May is at the epicentre of a political storm. Within days, she has lost two of her cabinet to scandals. Sir Michael Fallon fell as Defence Secretary after being accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour. Of a far more serious character is the resignation of Priti Patel as International Development Secretary after it was revealed that she held 14 meetings with top Israeli officialsincluding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuwhile supposedly on a family holiday. During the trip she also visited the Golan Heights and, on her return, lobbied to divert part of the UKs international aid budget to the Israel Defense Forces.

The position of the fallen ministers on Brexit soon played a part in the unfolding crisis. May was subject to angry broadsides when she replaced Fallon with her chief whip, Gavin Williamson. To placate her critics, May replaced Patel with the prominent Eurosceptic Penny Mordaunteven as Patel herself told the media, via friends and colleagues, that she now felt liberated to campaign hard for Brexit from the backbenches.

May then announced her intention to put an amendment enshrining in law the date Britain leaves the EUat 11pm, March 29, 2019. She wrote in the pro-Brexit Telegraph warning, We will not tolerate attempts from any quarter to use the process of amendments to this Bill as a mechanism to try to block the democratic wishes of the British people by attempting to slow down or stop our departure from the European Union.

Her threat is directed not only at the opposition, but at sections of her own party who are calling for a legally-binding vote on Brexit when the final settlement is agreed. But this only confirms the impotence of a government that is hostage to a hard-line anti-EU faction which is otherwise a distinct minority within ruling circles in Britain.

The majority position in business circles and the City of London prior to the shock result of the June 23, 2016 Brexit referendum was to support EU membership. In its aftermath, the central concern became preserving access to the Single European Market on which the UK economy relies. That May cannot even defend this goal is a source of anger and despair for the Remain camp.

For their part, the partys pro-Brexit faction push May around remorselessly while contemplating her eventual removal. Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and others calculate that Britain can force the EU to accept a favourable trade deal because to do otherwise would be mutually damaging. But above all they rely on securing a close economic relationship with the Trump administration in the US as their main bargaining chip.

However, as trade and political tensions deepen between the US and Europe, Britain could find itself wholly excluded from key markets with nothing other than a promissory note from an administration whose watchword is America First!

On Thursday, Barnier directly challenged May over the recent visit to Britain by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for talks with UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox. Ross has denounced the EU as protectionist, as has President Donald Trump.

In Rome, Barnier said, When I hear the US secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross, call in London for the British to diverge with Europe to better converge towards otherstowards less regulation, environmental, sanitary, food, probably also financial, fiscal and socialIm wondering  The United Kingdom has chosen to leave the European Union. Will it also want to move away from the European model?

Making clear that the EUs concern is Britains dropping of what little financial regulations remain, intensifying competition for markets and investments, he warned, There will be no close commercial relationship without a level playing field.

Commentators queued up to make their response to Mays crisis. The consensus is that her days are numbered, because the longer she stays in office, the more damaging it is for the strategic interests of British imperialism.

Brexit has broken British politics, writes Philip Stephens in the Financial Times. The Brexit project is being steered, if that is the right word, by an administration drained of political authority by a misjudged election and by a Conservative party at war with itself.

Conservative Remain supporter Simon Jenkins wrote in the Guardian that May says she will not tolerate Brexit backsliding from rebel remainer MPs. What we actually want to know shes not tolerating is a much smaller group of flat-Earth rebels backsliding from a sensible Brexit.

In the Daily Mail , Piers Morgan declared,  Yes, if [May] resigns it will force another Conservative leadership contest, with the added risk of triggering another general election, but this current debacle cannot continue  The Prime Minister has to go, and she has to go now.

Morgan identifies a key area of dispute among anti-Brexit forces in the ruling classwhether or not Corbyn and Labour offer an alternative through which Brexit can be overturned.

Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have made great efforts to reassure the City of London that Labours proposed minimal reforms do not threaten big business but rather could be its political salvation.

This has not allayed fears among some that a government coming to power even formally committed to opposing austerity is too dangerous to contemplate. However, others are shifting.

On the BBCs Newsnight, Lord Michael Heseltine said he and other Tories might even consider voting for Corbyn in a general election to stop Brexit.

I have friends who are certainly Conservative voters who are agonising over exactly that dilemma, he said. If, as I think, the public opinion will move and the Labour Party moves there could be a situation where the only people left in favour of Brexit are the right-wing of the Conservative Party.

For his part, Gordon Brown, the co-architect of New Labour alongside Tony Blair, used the launch of his memoirs to urge Corbyn to support a second referendum on EU membership.

This could be a game changing moment when Brexit reaches crisis point next year, he said. All that was required for victory is for the EU to agree limitations on free movement to appease anti-immigrant sentiment, as it has already done for Switzerland where jobs registered at job centres are mainly reserved for local people.
The push is accelerating for an overhaul of the US tax system that will divert trillions of additional dollars to the corporate aristocracy, widen the gap between the rich and the working class and set the stage for the destruction of basic social programs.

On Thursday, the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee passed a White House-backed tax bill on a party-line vote, after which House leaders said the measure would come to the House floor for a vote next week. On the same day, the Republican-controlled Senate released its version of the measure, with plans for a floor vote in the upper chamber before the Thanksgiving holiday later this month.

If passed, the two versions will be reconciled and a final bill will be moved through the two chambers and signed into law by President Trump.

The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are pushing for passage of the handout to the richest 5 percent by Christmas. The Democrats are putting on a show of opposition that is cynical to the core. They are denouncing the Republican bills for skewing the tax benefits to the wealthy, while fully supporting the centerpiece of the legislation, a huge tax cut for US corporations.

While there are differences between the House and Senate bills, both versions adhere to the same basic framework. The corporate tax rate is to be permanently reduced from the current level of 35 percent to 20 percent, saving US corporations $2 trillion in taxes and generating an additional $6.7 trillion in corporate revenues over the next decade. The House bill enacts the corporate tax cut in 2018, while the Senate bill, in order to reduce the projected deficit from lost federal revenues, delays the corporate tax cut one year, until 2019.

The House bill keeps the top federal tax bracket at 39.6 percent (down from 70 percent in 1980), but applies it to households making more than $1 million a year, as compared to the current threshold of $500,000. The Senate version provides a bigger windfall for the very rich by reducing the top bracket to 38.5 percent.

Both bills eliminate the alternative minimum tax, which almost exclusively impacts the wealthy, and they both slash the tax rate on so-called pass-through income reported by business owners.

Each bill allows corporations that have stashed hundreds of billions of dollars overseas to avoid US taxes, such as Apple and Amazon, to repatriate their profits at a sharply discounted tax rate even lower than the new 20 percent corporate rate.

The bills either sharply restrict or eliminate outright the estate tax, which is currently paid by the wealthiest 0.2 percent of households. The House bill doubles the exemption for an individual to $11 million and eliminates the estate tax entirely in 2025. The Senate version doubles the exemption but does not repeal the tax.

Either way, the change underwrites the right of the richest households to pass on their wealth to succeeding generations, institutionalizing the transformation of the United States into an oligarchy, presided over by a semi-hereditary dynastic caste.

Other boons to business are included in both bills, including an immediate 100 percent tax write-off for capital investments. Neither bill eliminates or reduces the so-called carried interest loophole that allows hedge fund, private equity and real estate speculators (such as Donald Trump) to pay only 20 percent on their income instead of the normal tax rate, currently almost twice as high.

This is in line with the legislation as whole. While shifting the tax code to further redistribute the social wealth from the bottom to the top, it particularly favors the most parasitic sections of the ruling class, those engaged in financial manipulation.

In order to promote the fiction that the overhaul is geared to the middle class, the bills include certain tax breaks, such as a doubling of the standard deduction for taxpayers who do not itemize and an increase in the child tax credit. However, they also rein in or eliminate existing tax deductions that benefit working class and middle class households.

This is driven above all by the need to keep the total ten-year deficit resulting from the legislation to $1.5 trillion. That limit must be met in order to move the tax overhaul on an expedited basis through the Senate, where the Republicans have only a 52 to 48 majority, ruling out a filibuster and enabling passage by a simple majority.

The House bill eliminates the federal tax credit for state and local income and sales taxes, but continues the write-off for state and local property taxes, capping it at $10,000. It reduces the existing tax reduction on mortgage interest payments as well as a tax break on medical expenses. It also eliminates tax credits for student loan payments and imposes a tax on graduate student stipends. These measures amount to a tax surcharge on workers, young people and the elderly to help pay for the tax boondoggle for the rich.

The Senate version calls for a somewhat different package of added tax burdens for the working class and middle class. It eliminates all state and local tax deductions but retains the tax credits for mortgage interest, student loan payments and medical expenses.

The Republicans are resorting to brazen lying to present the legislation as a boon to hard-working middle class Americans. Typical is an op-ed column published Friday in the Washington Post by Orrin Hatch of Utah, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. For too long, middle-class Americans have struggled with stagnant wages, sluggish labor markets and economic growth well below the historic average, he writes. It is time to pay attention to those Americans who have felt left behind in economic stagnation, by providing tax relief and economic opportunity.

The line is that corporate America will use the trillions in tax savings to buy new equipment, build new factories, hire more workers and raise wages. This ignores the fact that US corporations already have access to cheap credit, are making bumper profits, and are sitting on trillions of dollars in cash. It also ignores the past record of tax cuts for big business, whether under Reagan or George W. Bush, which pushed up stocks and the wealth of the ruling elite while accelerating the destruction of jobs and working class living standards. The same lying pretext was used to justify Obamas bailout of the banks.

In fact, the extra trillions will be used to buy more and bigger yachts, private planes, mansions, penthouses, private islands and gated communities and bribe more politicians to do the bidding of the oligarchs.

One indication of the two-faced character of the Democrats opposition is the fact that interest groups backed by Republican billionaires such as the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson have thus far spent almost $25 million on TV ads to promote the Republican tax plan, while Democratic groups have spent less than $5 million to oppose the plan.

An updated analysis of the House bill published Wednesday by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center spells out in detail how the tax overhaul is designed to sharply increase the wealth of the richest 5 percent, and especially the richest 1 percent and 0.1 percent, and vastly increase over the next decade the concentration of wealth at the very top.

Under the so-called Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in 2018, taxpayers in the top 1 percent (with income above $730,000) will receive nearly 21 percent of the total tax cut, an average of about $37,000, or 2.5 percent of after-tax income.

Those in the top 5 percent income bracket, and especially the top 1 percent and top 0.1 percent, will get by far the biggest percentage gains in after-tax income. In other words, if you are among the very rich, the rate of increase you receive will be far higher than for the lower 95 percent. That means the plan is designed to widen the gap between the very rich and everybody else.

In 2018, the top 20 percent of income earners will get 56.6 percent of the total federal tax cut. Within the top 10 percent, the 90-95 percent group will get 7.4 percent of the total, the 95-99 percent group will receive 14.8 percent, the top 1 percent will get 20.6 percent and the top 0.1 percent will receive 10 percent. In other words, within the richest 10 percent, the benefits are skewed dramatically to the richest of the rich.

One decade out, by 2027, the transfer of social wealth to the very rich will be even more pronounced. In 2027, taxpayers in the bottom two quintiles (those with income less than about $55,000) will see little change in their taxes, with a tax decrease of $10-$40. Taxpayers in the middle of the income distribution will see their after-tax incomes increase by only 0.4 percent. Taxpayers in the top 1 percent will receive nearly 50 percent of the total benefit.

Someone in the top 1 percent will get a break of $52,780. Someone in the top 0.1 percent will get a tax cut of $278,370.

In total, 12.8 million households will have a bigger tax bill in 2018 under the law, including more than three million earning between $48,600 and $86,100. By 2027, more than 11 million households in this income group will see their tax bills increase. Overall, by 2027, 47.5 million households, a quarter of the total, will have a tax increase.
London Metropolitan Police have advised the Kensington and Chelsea Council (KCC) to prevent the release of correspondence that could provide damaging information on the failure to prevent a serious fire at Grenfell Tower.

Police officers are monitoring and vetting Freedom of Information requests regarding what the council knew of fire risks to Grenfell Tower, and when, after serious warnings made by the Fire Brigade Union (FBU).

The Independent reported in late October that the Met has requested access to study and deny all FoI requests received by the KCC. On April 6, the FBU wrote to all the local London authorities warning them that cladding fixed externally at Shepherds Court Flats in Hammersmith, West London had contributed to a serious fire that occurred just two months before the June 14 Grenfell inferno claimed over 80 lives.

Dan Daly, assistant commissioner of the FBU, warned all local authorities to check that the cladding used on homes under their jurisdiction was up to relevant fire safety standards.

The KCC claim that Daly's letter was initially mailed to the council's director of housing and was only later forwarded onto the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO). The KCC is dealing with all FoI requests concerning KCTMO, its property management company that was stripped of its responsibility after Grenfell.

A spokesperson for KCTMO told the Independent, All Freedom of Information queries regarding Grenfell Tower related matters are being handled by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). We have not consulted the Metropolitan Police directly on Grenfell matters, as this is being handled by the RBKC.

The FBU also warned the London councils to take account of other fire safety measures already in place in the building as well as potential mitigation measures to ensure that any potential fire spread does not pose a risk to health and safety.

Such a warning was prescient, as not only was the cladding on Grenfell highly flammable, but other fire safety issues had been fatally compromised including construction work near the tower that restricted access by fire engines to the blaze on that fateful June night.

The KCC has stonewalled repeated requests for information on why the warnings made by the FBU were ignored. The latest response by the KCC to FoI requests stated that they had been advised by the police not to release any information, as it would interfere with the criminal investigation being conducted -- a criminal investigation that has, months after the Grenfell Tower fire, led to the arrest of no one, nor even conducted an interview under caution.

Legal representatives working on behalf of Grenfell residents have insisted that the word of the police or the local authority alone is wholly insufficient to prevent the release of relevant documents into the public realm. Speaking to the Independent, Alex Peebles of Duncan Lewis said, The information cannot be withheld just because there may be risks associated with its disclosure. The council and the police must be prepared to give detailed reasons that explain why disclosure would or would be likely to cause prejudice to others.

On behalf of Grenfell4Justice, Moyra Samuels said, For the community, nothing surprises us regarding the behaviour of the council Of course we demand that they are truthful and transparent but we don't expect them to be.

The KCC said that they had forwarded a total of seven FoI requests to the Met regarding the Grenfell fire. Subsequently, four requests have been denied, two are currently in process and another has been granted.

The rejection notice sent by the KCC to the Independent states, At this point in time, it is our belief that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

The council claimed the police expressed a view that would or be more likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension of or prosecution of individuals.

The Met deny a cover-up, saying that their advice does not constitute an order to withhold information and that The release of material remains the decision of the organisation who holds it.

On behalf of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, Maurice Frankel explained, It makes no sense to defer answering Freedom of Information requests until any prosecutions that may be brought are over.

The attempts to stifle public knowledge by the police and local authorities takes place as a BBC investigation revealed in late October that no less than 52 London tower blocks are covered in polyethylene cladding similar to that which acted as a fire accelerant at Grenfell.

The BBC says the same inflammable materials are present on 24 council residential tower blocks, 23 housing association properties and five privately owned high-rise residential towers. Exactly half of the 88 buildings tested in London failed the recent fire safety tests. However, the BBC noted that the true figure was likely to be much higher because numerous local authorities refused to respond to the BBC's request for information.

Nationally, almost 300 buildings have failed government flammability tests, but it is unknown how many of these contained polyethylene or were composed of other inadequate materials. Referring to polyethylene cladding, Arnold Tarling, a fire safety expert and chartered surveyor, told the BBC, Its like cladding your home in solid petrol. When it becomes liquid it melts, burns and sets fire to polyethylene at higher levels.

Tarling noted, We learned in the Great Fire of London its not a good idea to clad buildings in flammable material. But, as the BBC noted, polyethylene was utilised because its cheap and durable  Although it can be treated to make it less flammable, the added cost means this is often not done.

The BBC investigation reveals that the use of polyethylene is rising. Figures obtained exclusively by the BBC investigation from the research company The Freedonia Group reveal how in the ten years since 2008, the amount of polyethylene used in British construction has risen from 140 metric tonnes to a projected 190 metric tonnes in 2018.

Since the Grenfell inferno, dozens of planning applications involving this material have been made in London on various small storey buildings. Tarling responded to this incredible news by stating, plainly and truthfully, that polyethylene was unsafe for buildings of any height and any number of storeys.
Asia

India: Delhi government forces ambulance workers to end strike

The Delhi government invoked the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act (HESMA) against contract ambulance drivers and paramedics on November 4, forcing an end to the three-day strike. The ambulance workers have been banned from striking for the next six months. Only 50 of the 260 ambulances of the Centralised Ambulance Trauma Services (CATS) remained in service during the walkout.

Drivers and paramedics suddenly walked off the job on November 1 complaining of irregular payments and disciplinary action taken against vice-president of their union.

CATS, an autonomous body of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, was outsourced to BVG-UKSAS EMS Private Limited in July 2016. Around 600 workers were transferred to the private entity on contract basis.

About 250 CATS contract workers struck last December over violation of labour laws and exploitation. A CATS Contractual Employees Union spokesperson claimed that since ambulance services have been outsourced wages were not paid on time, labour laws were grossly violated and the ambulances lacked proper equipment.

Jammu and Kashmir power plant workers strike enters fifth week

Daily wage workers at the Baglihar Hydro Electric Project (BHEP) near Chanderkote in Jammu and Kashmir have been on strike since October 11 demanding permanency. The workers were recruited in 2000 on a daily wage basis by the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. They allege that management has assured workers over the past five years that they would be made permanent but the promise has not been kept.

Teachers protest at state-assisted private schools in Pondicherry

Teachers and staff at government-aided private schools held a one-day mass casual leave protest and demonstrated outside the Swadeshi cotton mills in Pondicherry on November 7. Their demands included immediate implementation of the 7th pay commission recommendations, payment of five months outstanding wages and regular monthly payments of salaries and pensions.

Teachers and staff have threatened to strike for one day on November 13 followed by an indefinite strike on November 30 if their demands are not met.

Bangladeshi sugar mill workers demonstrate

Workers from the Pabna Sugar Mill, 120 km north of Dhaka, demonstrated on November 6 for a wage increase and 18 other demands.

A Pabna Sugar Mill Workers Union spokesman said that while professional status employees have received national wage scale payments since July 2015, the mill workers have only just been offered the national pay scale. Workers want back-payments to July 1, 2015 and for the minimum wage to be fixed at 8,500 taka ($US102) a month.

The sugar workers said tougher action would be organised, if their claims were not fulfilled by the end of this month.

Pakistan: Punjab college professors and lecturers protest

Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) members at government colleges in Lahore and Bahawalpur launched a protest campaign on Monday against restrictions on leave, teacher monitoring and in support for a pay-scale upgrade and timely promotions. Teachers wore black arm-bands during lectures.

The Punjab government has banned teachers taking any casual leave except in case of a death of a close relative. Teachers are also monitored for their class attendance, punctuality, discipline and performances.

The new measures impact over 19,000 teachers across 560 colleges in Punjab. The PPLA has demanded the Colleges Directorate of Public Instruction immediately withdraw its repressive demands.

The union said that if authorities failed to resolve their grievances by November 12 the protest would be expanded to include daily one-hour class boycotts and rallies from November 13 to November 28. A mass demonstration is planned for November 29 in Lahore.

Railway workers in Lahore fight for permanent jobs

Daily wage workers employed by Pakistan Railway demonstrated in Lahore on November 3 for job permanency. Workers carried banners and slogans denouncing the Pakistan government for failing to offer permanent positions and entitlements as per regular government employees.

Sindh disabled workers demand jobs

Disabled workers protested in Karachi on Monday to demand implementation of a 5 percent job quota for disabled persons in all government entities. The demonstration was held outside the Sindh assembly. Workers held placards condemning the government for failing to implement regulations passed last December, which lifted the job quota for disabled persons employed by the government from 2 to 5 percent.

South Korean teachers vote on strike action

Thousands of Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) members began voting on Monday on whether to strike over their demand to be re-registered as a legal union. A walkout is planned for November 24.

The KTU was stripped of its legal status in 2013 by the Park Guen-hye administration on the grounds that it violated the Teachers Union Law. The legislation states that the union must not have any non-teachers, including those who have been fired, as members. The dispute goes back to 2009 when the KTU refused the then Lee Myung-bak administrations order to expel members who were sacked for signing statements critical of the government.

The KTU alleges that the newly installed president Moon Jae-in indicated during the presidential campaign that he would restore the KTUs legal status if elected. The union is also demanding abolition of the instructor assessment system and performance bonuses.

Australia and the Pacific

Victoria: Bupa aged-care workers continue rolling stoppages

Around 1,000 nurses at 26 Bupa aged-care facilities in Victoria are maintaining limited industrial action begun on October 3 in a dispute over a proposed new enterprise agreement. Ongoing protests by Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) members include limited stoppages, wearing union t-shirts at work and distributing campaign materials to residents, relatives and the community.

ANMF members at 13 Bupa facilities took three days of consecutive rolling strikes during morning or afternoon shifts starting on October 31. Around 400 nurses and carers demonstrated outside Bupas Melbourne offices on November 1. The action followed a week of rolling stoppages at seven Bupa facilities in mid-October.

The ANMF said it has been attempting to negotiate with management of the international health care provider since July 2016 for increased staffing levels and skill mix to improve patient care and better working conditions.

The union claims that Bupa nurses are paid 10 percent less than their peers in other facilities. Nurses and carers are also demanding a rise of around 10 percent over four years, on top of catch up rates to meet industry standards. The dispute is currently being mediated in the Fair Work Commission.

Queensland: Lockout at Glencore coal mine continues

Multinational mining giant Glencore is continuing its lockout of 190 Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) members at its Oaky North underground coal mine in Central Queensland. CFMEU members have been locked out since June 9, following limited industrial action in May over an enterprise agreement.

The lockout was due to end on July 28 but the CFMEUs isolation of the workers has enabled Glencore to extend the lockout on multiple occasions to a total of more than 130 days.

Glencore has hired a replacement, contract-based workforce and used staff employees to maintain production. Workers fear that Glencores ultimate aim is to casualise its entire workforce.

The CFMEU wants 3 percent per annum pay increases but indicated it would accept a two-year pay freeze if the current enterprise agreement was rolled over. According to the CFMEU, Glencore wants to axe 50 percent of existing conditions in return for annual pay increases of 2 percent.

Port pilot vessel workers in New South Wales strike

Crews manning pilot vessels at Port Botany in Sydney and Port Jackson, south of Sydney walked off the job for 24 hours on Wednesday in a dispute over a proposed enterprise agreement (EA). The strike is the fourth in six weeks over the issue. The Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) and Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have been in negotiations with the Port Authority of New South Wales since February over the EA.

French Polynesia: Government hospital doctors walk out

Government doctors at hospitals on Tahiti and surrounding islands in Frances South Pacific territory French Polynesia walked off the job for an indefinite period on Tuesday. The government has repeatedly refused to meet and discuss the doctors grievances.

The doctors main concern is the governments refusal to recognise and remunerate them according to work experience and seniority obtained outside French Polynesia. The doctors are currently maintaining emergency services.
Twelve thousand Ontario community college faculty are entering the second month of a strike against poverty wages, precarious temporary contracts, and a lack of academic freedom, after the colleges bargaining agent walked away from negotiations on November 6. The workers have been on strike since October 16.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents the striking faculty, and the College Employer Council (CEC), which represents Ontarios twenty-four provincially-funded and -administered colleges, have accused each other of stalling the negotiations.

Making use of a reactionary provision of the Ontario labour code, the CEC has announced that it will bypass OPSEU and put its final offer to a direct vote of the rank-and-file, scheduled for November 14 to 16, with the aim of enforcing its concession demands.

Both sides were called back to the bargaining table on Thursday, November 2 by the Liberal-led provincial Labour Department. According to the union bargaining team, an agreement with the CEC was within reach by the following Sunday night. However the next morning, the CEC tabled additional concessions; then informed the union it was suspending negotiations and would apply to the Ontario Labour Relations Board to hold a direct vote on its final offer.

The content of OPSEUs botched agreement with the employers confirms the warnings made by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE). In a recent statement, the IYSSE urged students to join their professors on strike, conduct the struggle independent of OPSEU, and transform it into a broader working class struggle against the attack on public education. The IYSSE argued that the union was already preparing to run up the white flag and sell out the strike.

True to form, OPSEU has effectively dropped its demand for at least 50 percent of faculty to be given permanent employment, whether full or part-time. Currently, four-fifths of the colleges educators are hired on precarious, temporary contracts, meaning they have no job security and receive only a fraction of the pay and benefits full-time staff receive for doing the same work.

Calling it a significant gain, OPSEU has agreed to shelve its limited job security demand in return for the establishment of a provincial task force that will examine and make non-binding recommendations on the question of precarious work.

As many faculty members on the picket line passionately explained to a WSWS reporting team earlier this week, the fight against precarious work and for equal pay for equal work is the key issue animating the strike. Contract faculty struggle to make ends meet, with many earning less than $30,000 per year. Many have to work multiple jobs to piece together the semblance of full-time employment.

Despite this, the union bureaucracy is treating the task force as the best possible outcome and relegating the precarious work issue to the background. The OPSEU bureaucracy has quickly moved to highlight the issue of academic freedom as the main sticking point in negotiations, in order to hide the fact that they have already abandoned the workers main demands.

The CEC, having taken the measure of the union bureaucracy, feels confident that it can push through its concessions demands. These include measures to compel full-time professors to work unlimited overtime, as well as the continuation of managements stranglehold over course curriculum.

The CEC hopes it will be able to bully workers into accepting its final offer. But should this fail, it is counting on the provincial Liberal government to introduce back-to-work legislation and OPSEU to enforce it.

While the government maintains that the CEC is autonomous, it in fact holds the purse strings and ultimately determines the way in which the provinces colleges are run.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has repeatedly signaled that she will intervene if a negotiated settlement is not soon reached. In response to a question about whether her Liberal government would outlaw the strike, she replied, You never rule anything out. In 2012, the Liberals, under Wynnes predecessor Dalton McGuinty, enacted Bill 115 to outlaw all job action by the provinces public school teachers and impose wage-cutting contracts on them by government decree.

The Liberals anti-worker record has been enthusiastically endorsed by the union bureaucracy, which has spent millions of dollars over the past four provincial elections to keep the Liberals in power, on the pretext of keeping out the Progressive Conservatives. The Ontario Working Families Coalition, made up of various unions, has already begun releasing pro-Liberal attack ads for next Junes provincial election.

The corporate press has predictably maintained an anti-worker slant throughout the strike. While ignoring the difficult working and living conditions of the precarious teaching staff, it has attempted to pit students against their professors by blaming the strikers for lost classroom time.

This has been aided and abetted by a reactionary campaign waged by several student associations, which have appealed for the government to intervene in the dispute. Fraudulently presenting themselves as neutral in the job action, the student unions have deliberately avoided informing students that an intervention by Wynnes Liberal government would be aimed at enforcing all the employers concession demands.

The difficult conditions that students face  anxiety over missing exams and hiring dates, the stress of working and studying at the same time, and the uncertainty over future employment prospects  are similar to, and bound up with, the problems faced by the predominantly precariously employed faculty.

The patent absurdity of the corporate medias attempt to frame the CEC as reasonable is made clearer when viewed in the context of the immense inequality within the college system and society as a whole.

Liberal, Conservative, and NDP governments alike have starved the community college system of resources. In 1965, when the system was introduced, government funding constituted 80 percent of operating revenues. Today, these funds comprise only 44 percent of operating revenues.

College presidents routinely earn salaries of half a million dollars or more, with five-figure annual raises. Colleges regularly run financial surpluses into the millions of dollars, often with the help of large grants from corporate and well-heeled individual donors.

Within Canadian society, social inequality is skyrocketing. Recent figures show that two of the wealthiest billionaires in the country, David Thomson (Reuters) and Galen Weston Sr. (Loblaws), own as much wealth as the bottom 11 million Canadians combined. Canadian corporations earned profits of $91.9 billion in just the first quarter of 2017.

And yet, the common refrain from governments at all levels is that there is no money to fund public education and other vital services, and that working people and youth must tighten their belts and make sacrifices. No reductions are asked of the ruling class, who get wealthier year-upon-year even as the working class is driven further into economic insecurity and want.

To their credit, hundreds of students have come out in support of their professors. The Twitter hashtag #standwithfaculty lists hundreds of tweets of students endorsing their professors struggle. Dozens of students attended a rally last week at Torontos Queens Park in solidarity with the strikers.

However, support for the rank-and-file faculty must in no way imply support for OPSEU, which has made clear that it intends to sell out the strike and capitulate to the Liberals impending strikebreaking legislation. The union bureaucracy, having helped maintain the Liberals in power for years, is utterly incapable and unwilling to prosecute this struggle.

Striking professors, counsellors, and librarians must join with the 500,000 affected students to form strike committees at every college to take control of the strike out of the hands of the OPSEU bureaucracy, issue appeals to workers and students at all levels of education across Ontario and Canada, and broaden the strike.

To defend and expand public education and social and democratic rights, a political fight is required. The working class must organize independently of, and in opposition to, the pro-capitalist trade unions and fight for socialismthat is, the reorganization of socioeconomic life under a workers government to make social needs, and not the private profit of a tiny clique of capitalists, the animating principle.

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Education is a social right! Students must come to the defence of Ontarios college teachers!

[7 November 2017]
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka held a successful public meeting on the centenary of the Russian Revolution at the University of Peradeniyas Arts Theatre in Kandy, the central province capital, on Wednesday.

The event was attended by about 40 people, including students, lecturers and workers. Organised under the patronage of the universitys Fine Art Department it was the first SEP/IYSSE meeting on the campus in a decade.

SEP/IYSSE members campaigned extensively at the university and in neighbouring areas prior to the meeting provoking animated discussions on the political lessons of the October Revolution. Thousands of leaflets advertising the event were distributed and copies of Sinhala translations of Why Study the Russian Revolution and Leon Trotskys In Defence of October Revolution sold to students and staff members.

A number of students also signed the International Committee of the Fourth Internationals online petition opposing Googles censorship of the World Socialist Web Site and other progressive Internet publications.

The campaigners defied anti-democratic threats by members of Peradeniya University Student Union, which is led by the pseudo-left Frontline Socialist Party (FSP). Student union leaders claimed that campaigners needed permission from them to promote the event.

The meeting consisted of four elements: a lecture on the Russian Revolution, a screening of the documentary Tsar to Lenin, an introduction to the Sinhala version of Why Study the Russian Revolution, and a question-and-answer session.

SEP member Lohan Gunaweera, who chaired the event and thanked the Fine Arts Department for its sponsorship said: We are holding this meeting not as a ritual commemoration of the Russian Revolution but to assimilate the great strategic lessons of this extraordinary episode in mankinds history and in the fight against war and social counter revolution today.

SEP political committee member Pani Wijesiriwardane delivered the lecture, pointing out that the meeting was being held on the 100th anniversary of the day the that Russian working class took political power in October 1917. The proletarian revolution, he explained, overthrew the bourgeois provisional government, established the first workers state in history and was the first step of the world socialist revolution.

Wijesiriwardane pointed out that while some historians and the pseudo-left treated the revolutionary toppling of the centuries-old tsarist monarchy in February 1917 as a national affair, the taking of political power by the working class in the October Revolution was an international event.

The speaker drew out the significance of the sharp political struggle waged by Lenin, following his return to Russia in April 1917. Lenins fight, Wijesiriwardane said, was to reorient the Bolshevik Party and prepare the Russian working class for power.

Wijesiriwardane noted the recent WSWS Perspective by David North, which referred to the October Revolution as the first episode in the new epoch of world socialist revolution. The crisis-ridden capitalist system once again threatens a catastrophic world war. This is why we hold the position that this epoch is not yet finished, Wijesiriwardane said.

Referring to the world-wide attack on the Russian Revolution by the bourgeois media, academics and the pseudo-left, the speaker noted that Sri Lankas Frontline Socialist Party claimed the October Revolution was a failed experiment. In contrast to these claims, Wijesiriwardane said, we consider the October Revolution as one of the greatest achievements of mankind.

The lecture and the screening of Tsar to Lenin, provoked a lively discussion.

One university lecturer asked how the workers government resolved the land question in Russia.

Wijesiriwardane answered by citing the Bolshevik governments Peasant Mandate on Lands and explained how the landed proprietorship was abolished without any compensation to wealthy landowners. Other issues discussed included the rise of Stalin and the Soviet bureaucracy, the social and economic achievements of the revolution and the liquidation of the Soviet Union in 1991.

After the meeting several students and workers engaged in lengthy discussions with SEP and IYSSE members. More than ten copies of Why Study the Russian Revolution and other publications were sold.

B. Maliyagoda, a third-year art student, said: Ive read about Russian Revolution to some extent but my knowledge was broadened by the lecture and the film. There is not much knowledge among the people, however, regarding the Russian Revolution and so you have to educate them through programs like this.

The lessons of the revolution were intimately related to the contemporary situation, she said and added: There is a threat of a third world war and capitalist governments are attacking every right of the people. In Sri Lanka the government is attacking free education and other rights and so a clear program is required to unite people.

Denouncing the student unions attempts to block the SEP campaign at the university, she continued: We have problems with them [student union]. They are harassing students who do not agree with them. Maliyagoda said she would continue to follow the WSWS to learn more about an international socialist perspective.

Dilshan, a final year art student, said: I didnt have any knowledge of the Russian Revolution and so I came to find out what happened. The meeting was very interesting and so was the film. It gave me an idea about how the people fought in a revolution. As detailed in the meeting, an international anti-war movement of the working class against a third world war is needed.

Hashan Madushanka, an electricity board worker from Kandy attended the meeting after seeing a poster. I believe that the threat of war and social crisis can only be countered by building a socialist movement, he said. This event aroused an enthusiasm in me. I bought some books and when I have money I hope to buy some more. Above all, you must let me know when your party is organising discussions.

Referring to strike action by electricity board workers, he said. Its been said that electricity workers were able to obtain solutions to their problems after the recent struggle but the real meaning has been giving with one hand and taking back with the other. I understand today the necessity of a genuine socialist program for working people.
On Thursday, RT America, the US-based subsidiary of RT (formerly known as Russia Today), announced that it would, under pressure from the United States government, register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

The Justice Departments demand that RT register as a foreign agent is aimed at delegitimizing RT as a news source, intimidating its journalists and guests, and setting the precedent for taking similar actions against other news outlets.

The US government has given no public justification for its demand, which will require that RT America provide information on its finances and on individuals involved in directing the news outlet. RT clearly reflects the views of the Russian government and avoids criticism of the Putin regime. However, the US has made no similar demand in relation to other outlets that have government financing and backingthe BBC, for example. Moreover, the United States operates a vast network of news agencies that work, officially and unofficially, to promote the interests of the American ruling class all over the world.

The US governments motivations are entirely political, bound up with the effort to present all opposition within the United States as the product of the actions of Russia. In its reporting, whatever its reasons may be, RT provides a platform for voices critical of the policy of the American government.

The United States outlined the political reasons for moving against the broadcaster in the January 6, 2017 report by the US Director of National Intelligence on Russian intervention in the 2016 elections.

The report alleged, RT broadcast, hosted, and advertised third-party candidate debates and ran reporting supportive of the political agenda of these candidates. The RT hosts asserted that the US two-party system does not represent the views of at least one-third of the population and is a sham.

The Director of National Intelligence report further denounced favorable coverage by RT of the Occupy Wall Street movement, declaring, RT framed the movement as a fight against the ruling class and described the current US political system as corrupt and dominated by corporations.

More recently, US politiciansled by the Democratic Partyhave developed a narrative that Russia, through outlets like RT, has worked to sow divisions within the United States, as if the American people need RT to know that the political system is corrupt and dominated by corporations.

The campaign has been used to demand a regime of Internet censorship, with technology giants including Google, Facebook and Twitter taking measures to block or demote content from a broad range of websites.

Earlier this month, Google removed RT from its list of preferred channels on YouTube, while Twitter blocked all advertising by the channel. In addition to its crackdown on RT, Google has made sweeping changes to its search engine and news service that have dramatically slashed traffic to left-wing, antiwar and progressive web sites, including the World Socialist Web Site, which has had its search traffic from Google fall by 74 percent since April.

Precisely because of its ties to the Russian government, the US Justice Department has chosen it as its first target in its drive to persecute, criminalize and ultimately outlaw all oppositional journalists.

Will RTs hosts, including Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges and veteran interviewer Larry King, also be forced to register as foreign agents? Will all of RTs guests, which have included prominent left-wing journalists, politicians, academics and even celebrities, get a knock on their door demanding that they file paperwork with the Justice Department? Will all of these individuals now be opened to questioning about their collaboration with a hostile foreign power?

This month, an organization calling itself the European Values Think-Tank, based in the Czech Republic and funded by the US embassy and foundations associated with billionaire George Soros, published just such a list, including the names of 2,300 RT guests, grouped into US and UK politicians, journalists, academics and celebrities. These individuals are, according to the think tank, useful idiot[s] for a hostile foreign power.

The list includes journalists Julian Assange, Max Blumenthal, Seymour Hersh, Jeremy Scahill, Ed Schultz and Matt Taibbi, as well as the academics Noam Chomsky and Stephen Cohen, together with actor Russell Brand and filmmaker Oliver Stone.

Amid soaring social inequality and an ever-escalating military buildup, the US government is moving to silence any alternative to its closely monitored and vetted establishment media outlets, including the major newspapers and broadcast networks.

The fact that RT is being targeted because of its political positions sets an ominous precedent. It means that foreign propaganda is being defined by political views, laying the groundwork for a much broader range of news outlets to be labeled as promoting Russian propaganda, blacklisted and ultimately criminalized.
Army Reserve 1st Lt. Andrew Gallagher didn't expect his first day back on the job as a Lincoln police officer to include a visit to the chief's office.

He'd recently returned from a corrections mission with a military police unit in Kuwait and hadn't met the new chief, Jeff Bliemeister.

Their 45-minute chat that day in November 2016 further demonstrated to the young officer that his department had his back when he was deployed.

On Gallagher's nomination, the Lincoln Police Department received an award for outstanding employer support for service members this spring from the Nebraska division of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

In the lead-up to and during his 10-month deployment, the patrol officer's Center Team supervisors helped him and his family tremendously, even if they only saw themselves as doing the little things that are part of the job, Gallagher said.

"Those are the little things over and over and over that add up to big things," for reservists like him, Gallagher said.

More than 50 Lincoln police officers served in the military or were in the reserve, according to the department's latest internal survey in 2015.

Law enforcement officials in Lincoln say they're grateful to have veterans and reservists among their ranks. Their experience is an asset, and veterans agree.

"Thats just the mindset," said Sheriff Terry Wagner, who guessed Friday he has about 10 veterans and reservists among his ranks. "They have a service mentality where they want to serve their community and their country."

President Richard Nixon had ended the draft for the Vietnam War when Wagner was of-age. He joined the sheriff's office in 1976 and was among many Vietnam veterans on the force.

"You always appreciated all that they went through," Wagner said. "That was a trying time."

Sometimes military service directly translated for his department, he said.

In his time as sheriff, a reservist who was deployed helped Wagner's office procure an armored vehicle through a military surplus program, he said. And a reservist at another Nebraska law enforcement agency trained his staff on how to operate the rig, which deputies have used to evacuate people from flooded areas and in SWAT situations.

Wagner will never forget the days following 9/11, when about 10 percent of his force was called up to active duty. The sheriff now had a shortage he needed to fill to maintain staffing levels, but those who remained understood they "must weather the storm."

In the last year, 53 employees of Nebraska's prisons system have been gone on military leave, according to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

Many NDCS team members have devoted a significant part of their lives to military service, Director Scott Frakes said in an email. Others continue their commitment in the military reserves while simultaneously attending to our departments needs. They serve our country, and they share their skills, knowledge and abilities while serving NDCS. Our freedom comes from their sacrifice.

Sgt. Duane Winkler joined Lincoln police in 2000, following active service in the Army Rangers and three years of reserve duty.

Then 27, he found it comforting to know other people in the department who had seen things similar to what he witnessed during his military service, he said.

He was drawn to police work and to the Army by a desire to do challenging work and to protect people, he said.

"We dont really see it as a sacrifice," said Winkler, now a drug investigator.

"We see it as a role that weve been appointed by fate. We'd prefer that it be us than someone else."

His time in the Army shaped him and helped him see the amazing things people can accomplish when pushed beyond their limits, he said.

Gallagher, 29, wishes more of his fellow soldiers, especially those in his military police outfit, would seek law enforcement careers, he said.

Doing so, he believes, would sharpen their skills for the service.

The police department gives a military preference in its application process because current and former service members have training and experience that aids their transition into law enforcement, Officer Angela Sands said.

Gallagher's wife recently asked him why he picks these jobs.

"Well someone's got to do it," he recalls telling her. "Imagine the world we would live in if we didn't."
DOUGHERTY CO., GA (WALB) - A man is now facing charges after police said they found him trying to steal 10 pounds of pecans from a Dougherty County grove.

Crimes like this one spike around harvest season.

While some people don't know the laws about pecan picking, some just ignore it.

In this particular case, police said they found Marcus Burbage with a bucket full of pecans he picked up from Pippin Farms.

Around 10:30 Tuesday morning, police were called to the 3500 block of Habersham Road.

Police said someone working on the pecan grove saw Burbage with the bucket and called police.

"I would assume that he thought like anyone else, 'If pecans are out there, and no one is picking them up, I'll go out there and pick some up and make some money off of that.' But again, even if it's your next door neighbor has a pecan tree, and pecans are falling, and he's not picking them up-- if he hasn't given you his permission to pick them up, it is illegal," said DCP Captain Tom Jackson.

Burbage is facing criminal trespassing charges along with unlawful removal of pecans.

Remember, it's always illegal to pick up pecans on private property unless you have permission from the owner.

If pecans have fallen onto the right of way, the pecans still belong to the owner during harvest season.

Captain Jackson said if you do plan to pick pecans from private property, it's best to have written permission from the owner.

Copyright 2017 WALB. All rights reserved.

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CARRABELLE, Fla. (WTXL) - An RV park in Carrabelle is in hot water after a Maryland man files a lawsuit against the owner.

Ho-Hum RV Park is adults-only, but a lawsuit filed on November 7th says banning children violates the U.S. Fair Housing Act. The U.S. Fair Housing Act prevents people from being denied housing based on factors like race, religion, or family status.

There are exemptions in the act for communities that serve only those 55 and older, but the lawsuit says Ho-Hum is not a registered 55-and-over community.

Darrell Rogers filed the lawsuit. According to his lawyer, Rogers never had any intention of actually staying at the RV park.

"Mr. Rogers serves as a Fair Housing Act tester," said Shawn Heller, Rogers' attorney. "The tester does investigations to see where Fair Housing Act violations may be occurring. In this case, Mr. Rogers posed as potential renter, called the RV park and was told his family would not be able to stay there because they have children."

An investigation from our ABC sister station in Tampa Bay revealed Rogers and his attorney have filed dozens of these kinds of lawsuits in Florida and Washington D.C.

Some believe a private business should be able to set it's own rules, but Heller says federal housing laws still apply.

"There are a lot of RV parks in today's world [serving] as permanent dwellings and it's an area where little attention has been placed," said Heller. "We really have no idea how many families with children were either turned away by the RV park in the past or simply never bothered to reside there. It takes lawsuits like this in order to stop those policies and to make sure that the park is available to all."

The RV park owner says his attorney advised him not to appear on camera for our story, but he tells us he wants to comply with the law and hopes the lawsuit is resolved quickly.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Saturday is Veterans Day, but the observances start Friday.

Friday at the Tallahassee National cemetery, memorial services were held honoring veterans.

WTXL spoke to John Folsom, the district troop commander for the American Legion, who spent the morning as chaplin for funeral services for local veterans who recently passed away.

The Boys and Girls Scouts of the Big Bend were hard at work Friday morning honoring our local veterans by setting up flags on each grave site at the cemetery before services started.

"They've had boy scouts and girl scouts come out and put flags around the tomb stones out here," said Folsom. "They were out here last night and early this morning."

Officials from all branches of the military paid their respects at the cemetery. Folsom says it's an occasion that brings veterans together who don't see each other often.

He says he's happy to see old friends make the time and volunteer on this special day.

To prepare for Veterans Day, the American Legion of Tallahassee is busy setting up for Saturday's events.

Post 13 of the American Legion will host a breakfast at Lake Ella, feeding nearly 600 people. Following breakfast, the group has a float in the Veterans Day parade, which is the longest running annual parade here in Tallahassee.

Also, the firing detail will fire a 3 round volly from the Vietnam Memorial during the moment of silence.

The firing of the 3 shots is a military tradition, honoring the memory of fallen men and women.
As difficult as it is to imagine, at one point in time, around the turn of the previous century, one Nebraska cattle company had fenced in land which, if extended in a straight line, would have stretched nearly 300 miles long, encompassing an area roughly equal to Rhode Island.

Although illegal, virtually no effort was made to remove it, until President Theodore Roosevelt intervened.

The federal Van Wyck Law of 1885 made it illegal to fence federal public domain land which, in 1891, amounted to 16 million acres of land in Nebraska alone.

After the close of the Civil War a federal act enabled veterans, their wives or children to acquire grants for federal lands so long as it was for their personal use and not simply to be offered for sale. As cattle ranching became popular in several Great Plains states including Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska, large numbers of these land grant holders were gathered and paid to sign over their holdings to ever larger cattle ranching individuals and corporations.

Among the largest of these corporations was Nebraska Land & Feed Company, incorporated in 1899 by Bartlett Richards and his brother-in-law William Comstock. At the point of incorporation, the firm listed control of 500,000 acres of land which was enclosed by 292 miles of fencing in three Nebraska counties.

When Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901, a law established by Congress allowed federal public lands to be rented for cattle grazing so long as the land not exceed one section (640 acres) in one body. Roosevelt almost immediately vetoed the legislation adding the fences must come down. The following year Secretary of the Interior Ethan Hitchcock reiterated that all fences on public domain land were illegal and decried the leasing and sale of Civil War soldiers land warrants.

In 1905, Nebraska Land & Feed Company was indicted at the U.S. District Court in Omaha, charged with illegally fencing public lands. After first pleading not guilty, the indictment was lessened with Comstock and Richards pleading guilty. Counsel also urged reduced punishment as the pair said they were already in the process of removing the fences on what at that time enclosed some 200,000 acres of land.

The judge obviously heard the plea and sentenced each man to six hours in prison and a fine of $300 plus half the court costs. According to an Omaha newspaper account they were directly turned over to their attorney, taken to rooms at the Iler Grand Hotel and later to dinner at the Omaha Club without ever seeing the inside of the jail.

Roosevelt was furious, fired the U.S. attorney and the U.S. marshal and claimed he would have fired the judge if he could have. Hitchcock vowed to pursue the question, and if fences were not removed as promised, he would indict the pair again.

Late in the summer of 1906, fresh indictments were issued against Comstock and Richards charging the pair had defrauded the U.S. government out of land and suborned perjury. That November, their second trial began in the federal courthouse at 16th and Dodge streets, and on Dec. 20, the jury found them guilty on 35 of the indictments nearly 40 counts. They were sentenced to one year in jail and fined $1,500 each.

After several appeals, the guilty verdict was confirmed in December 1909. At their own request, they were incarcerated in December 1910 in the basement jail of the Adams County Courthouse in Hastings. Their request for Hastings claimed they wanted to be closer to home and that they would be in more congenial conditions than expected in Omaha. Richards died in 1911 one month before his sentence was completed after emergency surgery in a Hastings hospital.

Wild newspaper accounts of their imprisonment circulated widely claiming that they had private suites and even a personal Japanese chef who prepared all their meals. A subsequent federal investigation proved they were in a common room on steel cots with no special privileges  thus proving that "fake news" is not really new.

The days of huge cattle ranching were ending, while centralized cattle markets like Omahas were on the ascendance.
As the couples came together in a particularly festive atmosphere, they affected everyone with their excitement. Its not every day, after all, that 18 couples are married at the same time, especially when the average age of the brides and grooms is more than 80.

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As part of a conference for the exhaustion of Holocaust survivors rights, the Senior Citizens Service at the Holon Municipality decided to go one step further and offer all survivors who have been married for more than 50 years a vow renewal ceremony.

Eighteen couples accepted the offer, including two couples of immigrants from Russia who were finally able to get married in a Jewish wedding. The men wore festive suits, the women showed up in donated wedding dresses, and students from the Naamat Holon high school took care of the photography and of the brides hair and makeup.

From right to left: Eliezer and Rachel Greenfeld, Bernard and Jenny Ursu, Michael and Sonia Castro and Shulamit and Shraga Katzberg (Photo: Tomeriko)

Holocaust survivors Rachel and Eliezer Greenfeld have been married for 72 years. They were both born in the Polish city of Lodz.

After World War II, Lodz was turned into a training and organization kibbutz ahead of Aliyah Betthe codename given to illegal immigration by Jews to the Land of Israel during the British Mandate period between 1934 and 1948and Eliezer was given the role of treasurer.

When Rachel paid a surprise visit to his workplace, he announced to everyone: Meet Rachel, my fiancee. We are going to get married.

We were 20-year-old kids, Rachel recalls. I returned from Auschwitz to Lodz and I thought I would meet someone from my family there. I didnt meet anyone, but I met him, going with one of my girlfriends. He asked if he could walk me home, and he has been walking with me for 72 years now.

Rachel and Eliezer Greenfeld. A tiny wedding night room

The first wedding was held in Lodz. There were about 50 people, and that was considered a lot at the time, says Eliezer. We were preparing for an illegal immigration to Israel, so everything was done in great haste. The bookcase we had was barely removed so that we would have a room for the wedding night, and when it finally was removed, the room was very small. But at least the bed fit in, he concludes with a smile.

We had nothing, Rachel adds. I didnt even have a veil. There were a lot of mosquitos in Poland, so our friends removed the net and placed it on me instead of the veil. We were very young and vibrant. We believed life would be good, despite everything we had gone through. I had no family left, and he said to me: Dont worry. Im your mother, your father and your siblings. Thats the way it was and thats the way it still is.

If were getting married today, would you have a more luxurious wedding?

The choice would be the same choice, Eliezer replies firmly. More food, less foodas long as were together, the rest really doesnt matter.

Our honeymoon: A movie and falafel

We both came from Bulgaria, says 79-year-old Sonia Castro, 81-year-old Michael Castros talkative half for the past 62 years. Michael pretended to be a friend of my brother, and he would walk into our house and ask my mother, Wheres Marco? But my mother later told me he would look for me in the rooms. Thats how we met. He would ask me out and we would go on dates with my brother. But only until 9 pm, she laughs, because I was 14 years old.

Sonia and Michael Castro. I wouldnt marry anyone else

There were maybe 20 people at our wedding, she recalls. We had no possibilities and no money. The wedding was held at a Tel Aviv synagogue called Hamarkolet. My familys condition was that I would keep living in their home until he was discharged from the army, because he was only 18.5 years old. Two months later, he said to me: I wont have it. Youre coming to live in my house.

After the synagogue, we went back to my parents house to celebrate, says Michael. We partied there. There was no alcohol. All we drank was the drop of wine the rabbi gave us. There was someone playing an accordion, and thats how we spent the evening. We celebrated our honeymoon the next day with a movie at the Tamar Cinema and a plate of falafel.

I still remember the dress she wore, he goes on. It was light blue. She wore it marvelously. Her dress was sewn by my aunt. Want to see? he asks and pulls out of his wallet an old photo of Sonia from their wedding day. I wouldnt marry anyone else, only my wife! All I want is to be with her, in any shape.

Shulamit and Shraga Katzberg. A borrowed wedding dress

Shraga and Shulamit Katzberg are a success story that began in a blind date. She is 82 years old, hes 87. Shragas younger sister studied with Shulamit and made the match. They exchanged letters long before they met. He added his picture to one of the letters, dedicating it to the cute, mysterious girl called Shulamit. How romantic.

We got married at Beit Vaad Hakehila on Jaffa Street in Tel Aviv, says Shulamit. There were about 25 to 30 people at the wedding. At the time, we used to buy food with ration stamps, so the entire family and my sisters gave us their ration stamps to buy the commodities for the wedding, and my mother her sister prepared all the refreshments.

As gifts we received Wundertopfs, which were popular the time. My mothers brother from Nahariya brought as a set of sheets. It was such a bargain, we couldnt believe it!

What kind of ring did you get?

My ring is the original one, Shraga boasts as he waves his finger. Her problem is that she didnt always know how to take care of things, not even of a watch I bought her, he teases.

Dont worry, she wont put that in the newspaper, Shulamit interrupts him affectionately.

I borrowed my dress from a woman named Sara Schif. Several years ago, on the wedding date, I called Sara and she told me that more than 25 girls have gotten married in the same dress since then.

If you were getting married today, would you have a modest wedding or the kind of weddings people have today?

First of all, today people marry at an older age. I was 18.5 when we got married. I was a child and no one had explained anything to me. I was headed to an unknown future. Today, thank God, we have four children and have been blessed with many grandchildren.

Jenny and Bernard Ursu. A magnificent wedding in Bucharest

But not everyone had a modest wedding the first time around. Jenny and Bernard Ursu were married at the Great Synagogue in Bucharest 60 years ago.

It was a big, magnificent wedding with many guests, 88-year-old Bernard recalls. We were even married by Bucharests chief rabbi, Dr. Beck.

I had a very nice wedding, 85-year-old Jenny says proudly. It was slightly different from others, because there were two pairs of boys and girls carrying baskets of flowers, which they handed out to every woman who came in. I sewed not only my own wedding dress, but also the dresses of all my female relatives who arrived.

Did you drink alcohol at the wedding?

We drank some Romanian wine, Bernard laughs, but we didnt really get drunk.

You should know that we didnt eat pork at the wedding, Jenny interrupts. At that time, in communist Romania, everyone apart from the government was poor, so each wedding guest paid for what he ate at the restaurant.

Youre asking about gifts? I didnt receive any wedding gift, she adds. Well, except one from Bernards parents. But never mind, lets not get into that.

How do you maintain a loving relationship for 60 years and even renew vows?

Anger and animosity remain outside the bedroom, Bernard says. And Jenny adds, The kitchen is under my exclusive control. He doesnt even dare open the fridge on his own.
Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube on Thursday provided its version to a New Yorker report that disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein had hired the company to locate and collect information on actresses and journalists who attempted to reveal his decades-long record of sexual assault and abuse.

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The company condemns any act of violence, particularly sexual harassment, Black Cube said in a statement, which is why the company will donate all its earnings from this case to organizations supporting sexual assault victims in Tel Aviv, London and New York.

The company confirmed that its services were used by the American producer, but insisted that it did not act against his victims.

Black Cube admitted that it should not have taken Weinsteins case, as its policy is not to handle cases related to sexual harassment or any kind of violence.

We apologize to whoever was hurt by this, Asher Tishler, a member of Black Cubes advisory board, told Channel 2 News. In retrospect, its a shame we took the job.

Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and Israeli spy Stella Penn Pechanac (Photo: MCT)

The British Daily Mail reported Thursday morning that Stella Penn Pechanac, an Israeli IDF veteran in her 30s, was the spy hired by Harvey Weinstein to collect information on one of the most vocal women alleging mistreatmentactress Rose McGowan, who accused the producer of rape.

Penn Pechanac reportedly posed as a women's rights activist and recorded at least four meetings with McGowan in an attempt to collect sensitive information that could be used as leverage against her in a bid to prevent her from publicly coming forward with the details of the abuse she suffered at Weinstein's hands.

Penn Pechanac presented herself to McGowan as "Diana Philip," a top London investment firm executive, and supposedly offered her $60,000 for participating in a conference on combating discrimination against women in the workplace.

Over a span of several months, the two met a number of times, including in New York and Los Angeles hotels, where Penn Pechanac pressured McGowan to divulge information.

The Daily Mail further claimed Penn Pechanac was recently married and resides in Jaffa.

In Israel, the mysterious spy is known as Stella Pechanac, an actress who graduated from Nissan Nativ's famed acting studio. Pechanac performed in plays alongside such stage veterans as Shlomo Vishinsky, Jason Danino-Holt, Gaia Shalita Katz, Liel Danir, Meggie Azarzer and others.

Penn Pechanac's grandmother, Zejneba Hardaga, was a Bosnian Righteous among the Nations who saved Jewish families from the Nazis in Sarajevo during the Holocaust. Hardaga was the first Muslim woman bestowed with the honor.

In a 2011 interview she gave to Yedioth Ahronoth, Penn Pechanac said: "After the army I sort of began examining myself inwardly and wanted to reconnect with my past. Today I'm both Esther and Stella. I'm the granddaughter of a Muslim woman and the daughter of a Christian father and Muslim mother, who converted to Judaism. And I try to encompass all of that in myself."

On her acting career, Penn Pechanac said, "I always get asked where I'm from in auditions. I don't look Israeli and no matter how much I try and distance myself from labels, being the granddaughter of a Muslim and all that, I'll always be told I should play the foreigner. They'll pick up on my accent and won't let me play the native-born Israeli. I've been told I was beautiful and charismatic, but that a special part that needs to be written for me."

Weinstein reportedly paid almost $1.5 million to private intelligence firm to keep lid on scandal (Photo: Getty Images)

Weinstein was introduced to the Israeli company by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Sources say the company was tasked with finding the people running the orchestrated campaign against Weinstein. The names raised at the time were not of women, but of shareholders, competitors and political forces who targeted Weinstein over his ties with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Black Cube dismissed the political direction in the first month of its work. After obtaining the information from McGowan and several journalists, it completed its part in the project, not before receiving an indication that dozens of women had complained against Weinstein. The company never approached them however, as Weinstein had hired four other business intelligence companies to handle the women.

The Daily Mail reported Weinstein paid Black Cube no less than $1.3 million to spy on his "enemies", including multiple actresses and fashion designer Kenneth Cole. The contract between the parties was reportedly signed October 24, 2016.

The details of Weinstein's intelligence-gathering network appear in the agreement, a copy of which New Yorker magazine obtained. The agreement stated its aim was to prevent Weinstein's indiscretions from becoming public. During the course of Black Cube's investigations, information was gathered on dozens of women, for which psychological profiles were reportedly constructed. Their sexual history was also traced.

Weinstein oversaw the investigations himself, with the help of his attorneys, and also utilized people formerly employed in the movie industry.

The founder of Black Cube is Dan Zorella, 32, formerly of one of Israel's classified intelligence units. Zorella founded the company four years ago with his friend Avi Yanus. Their goal was to build a civilian version of intelligence agencies such as the British MI6, American CIA or Israeli Mossad.

What originated as a start-up created by friends transformed into a gigantic company employing dozens of former Israeli intelligence officials, from computer whizzes to stealth operatives with proven kills.

"It is Black Cube's policy to never discuss its clients with any third party, and to never confirm or deny any speculation made with regard to the company's work," a Black Cube spokesman said.

"Black Cube supports the work of many leading law firms around the world, especially in the US, gathering evidence for complex legal processes, involving commercial disputes, among them uncovering negative campaigns. The company does not get involved in family disputes or sexual harassment cases.

"It should be highlighted that Black Cube applies high moral standards to its work, and operates in full compliance with the law of any jurisdiction in which it operates strictly following the guidance and legal opinions provided by leading law firms from around the world."
Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Saturday to capture Rawa, the last remaining town under Islamic-State control.

Two infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces are participating in the offensive to recapture Rawa, a small town on the bank of the Euphrates, and its surrounding areas along the border with Syria.

Last week, Iraqi forces recaptured the larger town of al-Qaim, leaving just a few small pockets of land in Islamic State's hands.
British news broadcasting corporation BBC published on Friday satellite footage allegedly showing continued construction work on permanent structures in Syria, built for the Iran army between January and October. The site, which includes over 20 buildings presumably to be used for soldiers' housing and storing military vehicles, is located 50km from the Golan Heights.

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While it has not been definitively determined that Iran's military is the one behind the buildings' construction, one source told the network that high-ranking Iranian army officials have visited the site in the past few weeks.

According to the BBC, over the past few months several new buildings have been constructed there, while others have been renovated. It is unclear whether it is being currently manned.

January, 2017 satellite footage shown by the BBC, showing row of (at the time) new buildings (Photo: Digital Globe, McKenze intelligence Services)

Israel has repeatedly warned against Iran's growing influence in Syria, noting that its end goal seems to be establishing a continuous land route that would stretch as close as possible to the Israeli border.

Over the past four years, dozens of attacks in Syria have been linked to Israel. In most case, it is believed that that Israel's intent was to prevent Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah from attaining dangerous new weapons.

May, 2017 satellite footage (Photo: Digital Globe, McKenze intelligence Services)

Hezbollah is allied both with Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad and Iran. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stated on Friday that Iran's great foe, Saudi Arabia, has been pushing Israel to attack in Lebanon.

Footage supposedly from October, 2017, showing more recent development in red (Photo: Digital Globe, McKenze intelligence Services, BBC)

"Saudi Arabia asked Israel to attack Lebanon and was willing to pay billions for it. This isn't an opinion, it's fact-based intel," said Nasrallah. He added that the Lebanese should not fear that this will actually happen, as Israel is aware of the heavy price it would pay for such a move.

Nasrallah mentioned the Foreign Ministry's directive that Israeli embassies voice their support of the Saudi efforts against Hezbollah, as evidence that Israel and Saudi Arabia are working against the terror group. He also referred to the "Israeli assistance" given to the Syrian rebels fighting Assad and to Jabhat al-Nusra a Syrian-based terror group linked to al-Qaeda.

Nasrallah

"Israel is trying to bring on a war between brothers," said Nasrallah, before adding, "Israel shouldn't presume that we are afraid or confused. We are stronger today than ever before."
The Kremlin released a statement Saturday, saying that US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin met during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Denang and reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria now that the Islamic State group has largely been pushed out. Among the agreements' key points, according to the Russians, were an affirmation of Syrian de-escalation zones, a system to prevent dangerous incidents between American and Russian forces and a commitment to a peaceful solution governed by a Geneva peace process.

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Though the two did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for an economic summit, they appeared to be chumming around nonetheless and are said to have struck a deal on Syria.

The Kremlin quickly promoted the agreement as the White House stayed silent.

Trump and Putin participate in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference (: )

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Repeated requests for comment to US officials went unanswered, and journalists traveling with Trump were not granted access to any of the APEC events he participated in in the picturesque tropical seaside city.

Snippets of video of conference events have shown Trump and Putin shaking hands and chatting, including during the world leaders' traditional group photo. The two walked together down a path to the photo site, conversing amiably, with Trump punctuating his thoughts with hand gestures and Putin smiling.

Putin and Trump meeting at the conference on Saturday (Photo: Reuters)

But a formal meeting never happened in Danang, despite rampant would-they-or-wouldn't-they-meet intrigue that began before Trump left the US and continued through the first week of the trip.





White House officials worked quietly behind the scenes negotiating with the Kremlin over a formal meeting. The Russians raised expectations for such a session and Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Asia that it was "expected we'll meet with Putin" to discuss issues including ramping up pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic weapons program.





As speculation built, the two sides tried to craft the framework of a deal on the future of Syria that Trump and Putin could announce in a formal bilateral meeting, according to two administration officials not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.

Though North Korea and Ukraine had been discussed, the two sides focused on trying to strike an agreement about a path to resolve Syria's civil war once the Islamic State group is defeated, according to officials. But the talks stalled and, minutes before Air Force One touched down in Vietnam, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters the meeting was off.

Trump and Putin meet in Vietnam on Friday evening (: )

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Asked about the outcome, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later snapped at reporters: "Why are you asking me? Ask the Americans."

Shaking hands in Vietnam on Friday (Photo: EPA)

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that even without a formal meeting, "Both presidents are in town, and their paths will cross one way or another."

That they did Friday night during the summit's welcome gala: The two men, each wearing traditional blue Vietnamese shifts, shook hands and greeted one another as they stood side-by-side for the group photo of world leaders.





On Saturday, they were also seen shaking hands and speaking briefly during one meeting, according to a Fox News videographer who was the only American journalist allowed into the room. Trump and Putin were also seen chatting, with plenty of hand gestures from Trump, as they walked side by side to a dramatic vista overlooking the South China Sea for another group picture.

The relationship between Trump and Putin always draws great scrutiny.

US intelligence agencies have accused Russia of meddling in the 2016 presidential election in order to help Trump win. Putin denied interfering in the campaign. Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea.

Trump attended meetings and a lunch Saturday before heading to the capital city of Hanoi for a state visit. He'll attend a banquet Saturday night and, on Sunday, meet with the country's president and prime minister before heading to his final stop: the Philippines.
The IDF launched a Patriot missile on Saturday, which successfully intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) coming from Syria approaching Israeli airspace near the Golan Heights border. The Patriot was launched from the area surrounding the northern city of Safed, with residents of the area reportedly hearing explosions.

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The IDF fired a Patriot missile from the same area two months ago, following the discovery of a UAV nearing Israel's airspace. The aircraft, who had been launched from Damascus and operated by Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, was destroyed by the Patriot and fell within Syria.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman referred to the interception by saying that "the State of Israel views with great severity any violation of sovereignty and will respond with force to any provocation.

Intercepting the Syrian UAV (:   )

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"We view the Syrian regime as responsible for all firing and violation of sovereignty, We will not allow the establishment of the Shiite axis in Syria as a base for forward action," he added.

In April, a Patriot missile battery in the north intercepted a UAV that had also entered Israel's airspace from Syria. A similar incident occurred in the Golan Heights in July, 2016, when a UAV flew over Israel, prompting two Patriot missiles to be launched from the battery located in the Galilee region. It was unclear whether they managed to hit the aircraft.

The IDF Patriot missile launching battery (Photo: Reuters)

In September, 2014, a Patriot missile intercepted a Syrian fighter jet that penetrated Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights. The downed Sukhoi 24 plane was the first time in 28 years that an aircraft entering Israeli territory was successfully intercepted.

Smoke seen from Saturday's interception

A month earlier, a Patriot missile intercepted a drone in the south-western Syrian area of Quneitra near the border with Israel, after the aircraft, which belonged to the Syrian army, accidentally entered Israel's airspace.
US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Russia's Vladimir Putin again denied interfering in the 2016 US elections. But Trump declined to say whether he believed the Russian leader. "He says he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. "Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it."

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for an economic summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria. But Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders' relationshipPutin is "insulted" by the accusation, Trump said. In a blistering partisan attack, Trump accused Democrats of using the election issue to create a barrier between the US and Russia as the nations work on crises in Syria and Ukraine.

"Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Trump told reporters, once again casting doubt on the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia did try to interfere in the election. "People will die because of it." Trump's suggestion that he may believe Putin over his own nation's intelligence community is certain to re-ignite the firestorm over the election meddling. Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea.
The leaders of South Korea and China on Saturday understood the need to manage the security situation on the Korean peninsula in a stable manner and agreed to resolve North Korea-related tensions peacefully after a summit meeting, the South's presidential office said.

For this, the two countries will strengthen strategic talks on all levels, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told reporters in Danang, Vietnam where the summit meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was held on the sidelines of an APEC summit.

Tension on the Korean peninsula rose last month as North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump exchanged war-like threats and insults over the North's nuclear and missile development program. China has been urged by both South Korea and the United States to take a more active role in curbing North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions. Beijing has said it is complying with United Nations Security Council sanctions and doing all it can to curb the isolated state's provocative actions.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a speech via satellite broadcasting on Saturday at an assembly organized by Fatah party in the Gaza Strip, on the 13th anniversary of the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

In his address, Abbas stated that "no one cares more about people in Gaza than we do. There will be no (Palestinianed) state without Gaza or a state only in Gaza."

He also said that if the two-state solution collapses, the Palestinian leadership would support a one-state solution with full equality of rights for all its citizens.
The residents of Monroe, New York decided Kiryas Joel, the village within Monroe comprising the seat of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Hasidic group, will break off and become a town unto its own called Palm Tree, effectively creating the United States' first Haredi town.

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The village was originally named after the Hasidic group's first Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, and the town will also commemorate the late leader, this time using his last name of Teitelbaum, which is German for "date palm tree."

A Satmar follower votes on creating the new town

Enormous swaths of land to be appended to new town

The anti-Zionist Satmar group's founding rabbi founded his followers' first habitat some 45 years ago, after their original Brooklyn domicile proved insufficient, but also due to fears of external influencing swaying the closed-off Haredi community.

Monroe residents celebrate the results

Now the township will be breaking off on its own, with 84 percent of Monroe's residents supporting the split in a referendum held this past Tuesday in the city.

As part of the new town's creation, thousands of miles will be appended to Palm Tree's municipal territory, to be taken from existing nearby neighborhoods.

The Satmar Grand Rebbe writing New York's governor to officially petition him to create the new town

Palm Tree's newfound independence will come with a price tag: the Haredi community will have to operate all attendant municipal services on its own, including garbage collection, policing, fire fighting and rescue services.

The Satmar group will also have to begin issuing building permits, oversee sanitation services, collect municipal taxes, income taxes and sales taxes and operate welfare services.
Some 40 of the Sharon and Samaria residents are protesting outside the home of Environmental Protection Minister Ze'ev Elkin's home in the village of Eldad.

The protesters are calling in Elkin to act against waste burning and air pollution in the region.
High school teachers nationwide have declared a general strike to take place Sunday after the Teachers' Association and Ministry of Finance could not come to an agreement regarding teachers' new wages.

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Students, meanwhile, who are about to commence winter final exams, once again feel their tutors' struggle is waged at their expense.

Field trips scheduled for Sunday will take place as planned. The strike will exclude special education schools.

Teachers' Association declared it will go on strike Sunday, following stalled negotiations with Ministry of Finance (Photo: Ido Erez)

The two parties are expected to reconvene Sunday afternoon to try and reach an understanding. The Teachers' Associated will announce continued steps following the meeting.

The strike came following stalled negotiations between the Associated and the Finance Ministry over a new wage agreement. The Oz Latmura ("Power to Change") wage agreement ran its course in December 2016, and the parties have been negotiating a new one ever since, without much success.

According to Teachers' Association Chairman Ran Erez, talks have been moseying along for months. The Finance Ministry initially offered a gross NIS 30 increase alone for experienced teachers, he claimed, and NIS 300 gross for newer teachers. Erez claimed the ministry later amended its offer to NIS 60 gross, which he also turned down.

"As announced, a nationwide high school strike will commence (Sunday), and our next steps will be decided on according to the results of the meeting. I'm not especially optimistic. The Finance Ministry turned down all of our proposals just this Wednesday, why should they agree tomorrow? The strike may exert pressure on them. I'll be meeting them because I truly wish to give an agreed solution a chance," Erez said Saturday evening.

Erez then went on to say the ministry objected to increasing teachers' salaries "despite the Ministry of Education, the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel and parents all supporting our demands. But Finance makes the decisions and they won't do it. I hope the Minister of Education Naftali Bennett finally speaks up about this, because in the meantime his ministry's representative at these meetings is his director-general."

Teachers' Association Chairman Ran Erez (Photo: Nitzan Dror)

The Teachers' Association chairman also rejected students' assertion that his organization's war was being waged at their expense. "That claim doesn't make sense. In a few years' time those very same students will be employed themselves somewhere and will want to receive a proper salary. They may not understand it yet, so they should ask their parents how they fight for the terms of their employment," he advised.

The Ministry of Education said its people are still vigorously negotiating to ensure the country's teachers receive salaries befitting of their professional standing.

The Finance Ministry commented, "The ministry has been negotiating to raise teachers' wages for months now in order to improve the conditions of those starting out in the profession. These teachers make roughly a third of what experienced teachers make, the highest gap among OECD countries, and one that's increasing. The Teachers' Association refuses to reduce that gap and chooses, instead, to take belligerent steps. Several proposals along those lines were brought before the Association, but it rejected them all. We regret the fact it prefers to harm Israel's students rather than discuss the proposals practically."

Students: 'We are being used'

"We sincerely hope the Ministry of Education and Teachers' Association can bridge their differences as soon as possible, so Israel's students can return to their regular studies and we can continue studying for the upcoming winter finals," said chairman of the National Student and Youth Council Yuval Halabia.

National Student and Youth Council Chairman Yuval Halabia (Photo: Hagai Dekel)

Lior, 17, is a 12th grade student at the Amal educational network's multidisciplinary school in Nahariya. "Conflict between the Teachers' Association and the Ministry of Education take place at our expense. For lower classes it may be felt less, but before major tests when you need classes and augmenting lessons, it's not very nice. When students are being used as a conflict resolution tool, that's problematic," he opined.

Lior of Nahariya said disagreement between teachers and the Ministry of Finance takes place at students' expense (Photo: Ritvo Photography)

Noy Bussi is also a 12th grader from Pardesiya, studying in the Drorim school in the Lev Hasharon Regional Council. Bussi joined in protesting the timing of the strike, just before the winter finals. "A one-day strike won't be too bad, but if it goes on it will really hurt us. We hope it won't last more than one day," she said.

"Why isn't the Teachers' Association intervening in the serious condition of many schools in the Arab sector? They have need of so many things and there's no one to look after them. But they never hesitate to go on strike over their salary," she complained.
IDF's Airborne Rescue and Evacuation Unit 669 and its Indian counterpart joined forces in joint search and rescue drills in the Palmachim dunes as part of the larger Blue Flag bi-annual aerial exercise, which started earlier this month and will end on Thursday, Nov. 16.

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The Indian counterpart of Unit 669, the Garud Commando Force, is much younger. It was established in 2003, but managed to accumulate considerable operational experience.

Unit 669 and Garud in joint search & rescue exercise (Photo: IDF)

The Garud arrived in Israel with minimal equipment, and the weapons for the exercises were supplied to them by Unit 669.

Unit 669 and Garud in joint search & rescue exercise (:  , :    ")

X

Fortunately for them, they were supplied with Israeli-made weapons, which are not unfamiliar to them, as they already routinely use the Tavor bullpup assault rifle, the Negev light machine gun and the old Galil rifle.

Garud commando carrying a Tavor assault rifle (Photo: IDF)

After an initial demonstration by the 669 soldiers, where Garud commandos witnessed them practicing hostage rescue, a search and rescue operation took place the next day, simulating the location, treatment and evacuation of a pilot that crashed in enemy territory.

"They learned from us many things, such as escape and survival techniques, reading topographic terrain maps, navigating without tools, observing a village to learn its routine, relying on water sources in enemy territory, and more," said 669's First Lieutenant Tal, one of the commanders of the exercise.

"It opened them to a whole new world," he boasted. "We introduced them to geologists who explained how to find water sources. They were thrilled about the comfort of our equipment, from the light helmet to the size-reduced combat vest."

Indian soldier carrying Israeli soldier (Photo: IDF)

As in the rest of the Indian army, even in Garud, which belongs to the special forces, the units are professional and recruitment is not mandatory. A soldier enlists for 14 years and an officer for 20 years.

Still, quite a few eyebrows were raised by the soldiers of Unit 669 over the formality within Garud and the distance its commanders kept from their soldiers.

Despite the fact they were far from fresh recruits, the soldiers who stayed in Palmachim rarely displayed closeness to their commanders, and the two groups made sure to drive separately in cars as the clear hierarchical separation between them was maintained at all times.

"Our approach is different because we believe that fighters who are constantly with their commanders in a routine will function better with them on the battlefield," said First Lieutenant Tal.

"We do not have parallel units (to oursed) within the IDF, so this is an opportunity for strategic cooperation and exchange of knowledge," Unit 669 deputy commander, Major D., added. "We practice fighting while finding shelter and bringing the injured person to it, with every fighter knowing how to do everything; to treat the injured, to extract, to fight and to breach."
The goal of Fair Nebraska is simple. We, all of Nebraska, need to have a new totally open discussion regarding how we can fairly and adequately fund public education. To do this we will need to drag our political representatives into this century. They are still making decisions using ideas from over 200 years ago.

It was about 240 years ago that Thomas Jefferson, realizing the need for an educated populace in the United States, suggested that a tax on land could fund education. That may have been a correct assumption 240 years ago, but things have changed considerably since then.

About 100 years later Nebraska, being primarily rural with most of its citizens involved in agriculture also decided to use property taxes to fund schools.

And around 50 years ago our state made a fundamental change in taxes, deciding to utilize sales

and income tax to fund state government and property tax to pay for local government and schools.

The one thing that has never changed is the over-reliance on property taxes. According to the USDA, Nebraska overtaxes cropland MORE than any other state in the nation. While my politicians lavish farming and ranching with praise they are more than happy to let 2.7 percent of us pay over 33 percent of all of the property taxes in this state.

An additional result is that our public schools tend to be inadequately funded to provide our kids and grandkids with the excellent education we and the state require.

Our schools have to deal with the whims and vagaries of politicians that fail to live up to the laws and promises they have made to public education.

This is what Fair Nebraska will deal with. One issue only. Fair taxation and adequate school funding.

We will fight this battle (and win it ) without compromise. When the governor or unicameral offer a 3-5 percent reduction after a 200 percent increase, we will tell them to take a hike. I compare an offer like this to a situation where a husband abuses his wife, then in a contrite moment tells her that from now on he will only abuse her four days a week instead of seven days a week. Or President Lincoln telling the slaves in his Emancipation Proclamation that two weeks a month they would be free, but the other two weeks of the month they would go back to being indentured. Thanks a lot.

Fair Nebraska is tired of people dancing around the edges. There is no magic, we will be up front with people as we explain how our plan would work.

We dont care if two people or 200 people want to hear about our plan or where anyone wants to meet with us, we will try to go anywhere at any time. Call me at 402-641-5074.
YORK  York Police Department and the York Fire Department responded to an accident at Eighth Street and N. Delaware Ave., shortly before 8 a.m., Friday.

Initially, the accident was reported as a collision between a school bus and a car; fortunately, that was not the case.

The bus was simply stopped at the intersection when the car struck a rock arrangement along the side of the street.

The bus was not in any way involved in the situation and the driver was simply a witness to what had happened.

As the investigation into the accident was ongoing, police officers on the scene were not yet discussing the cause of the accident.

This area of town is typically extremely congested with traffic at this time of day, as students are arriving for school.
LA VISTA  The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) recognized 66 hospital employees October 27, 2017, for their excellence in service by bestowing them with the organizations prestigious The Caring Kind award. Among the awarded was Mary Kempf of York General (York, NE).

For 38 years, The Caring Kind award has been given to Nebraskas most caring and compassionate hospital employees. The award honors outstanding health care employees who have demonstrated compassion for patients, cooperation with co-workers and dedication to excellence in their job responsibilities.

This is what was written on the nomination form about Kempf: Mary is a hard worker, she goes above and beyond. She always has a smile on her face and a kind word for everyone; she loves to see other people happy. Mary is loved by her peers. Her kindness and compassion is proof she lives and believes the behavior standards. She makes a real connection with our customers, patients and employees by engaging them in conversation and actively listens to them. She accepts people for who they are and doesnt judge people for having what others might see as shortcomings. There is not ONE person in this organization that does not like Mary. She is a great asset and so deserves the Caring Kind Award.

Kempf started work at York General in February 2015 as a cook. Recently she was promoted to Lead Cook in March of 2017. She is married to her husband, Bob Kempf, and they live in Bradshaw. Mary has five children. Her hobbies include fishing, sewing, cooking and spending time with grandchildren.

Hospitals across the state each select one The Caring Kind award recipient from within their respective institutions to be recognized during the NHA Annual Convention.

More than 2,400 caring, skilled and dedicated health care professionals have received this award since its inception in 1979. This year, 66 employees were honored before nearly 500 people in attendance at The Caring Kind Awards Luncheon held at Embassy Suites Omaha-La Vista Hotel & Conference Center in La Vista.

The event showcases the exemplary work and care hospital employees provide every day throughout the year. Every Nebraska hospital employee plays a critical role in providing high-quality, cost-effective treatment and ensuring the safety of themselves, their co-workers and patients each and every day.

These honorees are star performers through their dedication to patients and teamwork, ensuring that care is safe, quality-driven and cost-effective for consumers, as well as for the organizations they represent.

York General is a community, not-for-profit, multi-facility organization. For over 100 years York General has provided high quality patient/resident care, a broad range of services and a strong commitment to York and the surrounding communities through the dedicated efforts of caregivers and support staff.

The Nebraska Hospital Association is the unified voice for Nebraskas hospitals and health systems. The association offers collaborative leadership, assisting its members to provide comprehensive care to their communities, improving the health status of those communities. For more information, visit the NHA website at www.NebraskaHospitals.org.
YORK  The Thunder Ducks have landed safely  again.

Fourteen 101st Airborne Division Huey helicopter pilots who delivered ground forces, frequently under enemy fire, from landing zones in the remote mountains of South Vietnam gathered this week in York.

Several days of celebrating their shared experience and friendship took place in York in part because one member of the flying fraternity, Ken Mayberry from York, is wheelchair-bound with multiple sclerosis that likely traces back to his exposure to Agent Orange that has felled veterans of that war in droves.

Two among the group have terminal diseases as a result of what time has proven to be a lethal defoliant that was deployed copiously by fixed wing aircraft.

All the men in the accompanying photo except one served Co. C, 158th Assault Helicopter Battalion from Camp Evans, located in the remote, mountainous region of the Republic of Vietnam between Hue and Quant Tri.

The men in York this week served hitches at the post that overlapped each other in 1970 and 1971 for the most part.

Thursday the unit welcomed a special, surprise guest when Daryl Foutz came from Thayer to join them.

Foutz said he read about the reunion and decided to come down and say hello. He brought along a photograph of the Chinook helicopter, the massive two-prop transport bird aboard which he served as flight engineer elsewhere in-country.

Charlie Companys official designation was The Phoenix, however the Hueys flew under a somewhat more colorful banner of their own invention: They were the Thunder Ducks whose chosen motto, Bottles and Throttles are emblazoned on the banner overhead in the photo.

Their company was 20 helicopters strong, 10 of which were on-mission every daylight hour.
YORK  A parade of school buses delivered the student bodies of Yorks elementary and middle schools to the high school theater where they learned about Veterans Day and thanked the men and women who have and continue to make their freedom possible.

Superintendent Dr. Mike Lucas welcomed the audience to Friday mornings program and advised the kids to be thankful for veterans not just today, but every day. He said elite athletes, actors and actresses, though famous, are not heroes as some fans see them.

Heroes are here with us today, he said, gesturing toward veterans in the audience. Make sure you are appreciative of veterans and members of our active military not just on Veterans Day, but every day, he repeated.

Miss Nebraska 2017 Allison Tietjen, 21 and a UNL senior, explained that her pageant platform to honor and appreciate veterans came about because of her grandfather who was a proud Marine for all his life.

Ive been so blessed, she said, that Ive been able to serve on (four) Honor Flights in which hundreds of Nebraska veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam were flown at no charge to visit their respective permanent monuments in Washington, D.C.

Her challenge for the youngsters spread out before her was to discover what is your call to duty and how can you go above and beyond that? How can you serve your country when youre only 10 years old? How can you use your skills to serve this country?

She offered herself as one example when, at age 10 and already a blossoming jewelry designer, she made bracelets for military mothers and grandmothers.

Another example of service to veterans by youth came later in the program when York County 4-H members Addison Cotton, Matt Pedersen, Hailee Pohl, Mattie Pohl and Atleigh Hirschfeld presented Quilts of Valor to YPS staff members and military veterans Randy Howell and Steve Witmer.

Veteran 4-H leader Amy Pohl spoke from the heart as her voice broke while describing the national Quilts of Valor program. She said a grand total of more than 150 of the patriotic, hand-crafted quilts have been constructed and donated by York County 4-Hers.

Boy Scouts Nick Bethune, Connor Leetch, Evan Cunningham and Clinton Turnbull along with Cub Scouts Xavier Paris, Christopher Bennett, Payten Buller and Elijah Warnick presented the Colors and led the Pledge of Allegiance under direction of Scout Master Chris Teitmeyer and Cub Master Matthew Paris.

Penny Schulz spoke and also presented a video explaining how the Star Spangled Banner came to be Americas National Anthem, which was then sung by YHS student Kaitlyn Ericson.

A video of thanks from students to veterans produced by the YMS Technology Class was featured during the program which bugler and student Jason Franklin ended by playing Taps.
News

Washington, DC - Thursday at the White House, Vice President Mike Pence met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to reaffirm the enduring strategic partnership between the United States and Turkey. The leaders expressed hope that their meeting would help to usher in a new chapter in U.S.-Turkey relations and agreed on the need for constructive dialogue, as friends and Allies, on bilateral challenges.

They highlighted the United States' and Turkey's mutual interest in stability and security in the Middle East and agreed to further intergovernmental consultations toward that end. The Vice President also thanked the Prime Minister for Turkey's contributions to global security and the fight to defeat ISIS, and he underscored the U.S. commitment to stand with Turkey against the PKK and other terrorist threats. The Vice President expressed deep concern over the arrests of American citizens, Mission Turkey local staff, journalists, and members of civil society under the state of emergency and urged transparency and due process in the resolution of their cases.
News

Washington, DC - Upon arriving in China, President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participated in an arrival ceremony at the airport, followed by a welcome tea, a tour, and a couples dinner at the Forbidden City with President Xi and Madame Peng.

On day two, the First Lady and her husband traveled to the Great Hall of the People to take part in an official welcome ceremony. After the ceremony, Mrs. Trump and Madame Peng toured Banchang Primary School to participate in a variety of classes, including Peking opera, astronomy, fashion and design, calligraphy, cooking, and Chinese architecture. The tour ended with a cultural performance by some of the schools students. Mrs. Trump then participated in a U.S. Embassy meet-and-greet, and ended the day with a state dinner and cultural performance at the Great Hall of the People.



On day three of her visit, Mrs. Trump visited the panda exhibit at the Beijing Zoo, then toured the Great Wall.



This visit to China is something I will never forget, said First Lady Melania Trump. President Xi and Madame Peng were gracious hosts, and I was honored to participate in many cultural experiences and personal conversations. I believe both of our countries made great strides during this trip, and I look forward to future visits.
Latest News

Washington, DC - President Donald J. Trump's Visit to China:

STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL RESOLVE TO DENUCLEARIZE NORTH KOREA: President Donald J. Trump strengthened international resolve to address the security challenges presented by North Korea.

 President Trump and President Xi reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the goal of full, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and stated they will not accept the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state.

 Both sides together affirmed a commitment to fully implement the DPRK U.N. Security Council resolutions to pressure DPRK to eliminate its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

PROMOTE A FREE AND OPEN INDO-PACIFIC REGION: President Trump advanced high-standard rules so the Indo-Pacific region can continue to develop and prosper.

 The United States and China affirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation on nuclear security, countering nuclear smuggling, and continuing support of global nuclear security. They reaffirmed their commitment to enhance regional capacity to prevent terrorists and criminals from acquiring nuclear and radioactive materials.

 The two sides agreed to joint projects on HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. They committed to rapidly and continuously share influenza viruses with human pandemic potential.

 The two sides had a candid and constructive exchange of views on regional security and maritime issues and reaffirmed the importance of reducing the risk between our two militaries while maintaining the longstanding American commitment to free and open navigation for all nations.

 President Trump and President Xi committed to create an environment enabling the two peoples to promote mutual understanding and had a frank exchange of views on human rights issues.

ADVANCE AMERICAS PROSPERITY: President Trump promoted American prosperity and trade, including new investments that will employ thousands of American workers.

 The President underscored the importance of rebalancing the bilateral economic relationship and pressed China to reduce the trade deficit by eliminating barriers to trade, guaranteeing fair and reciprocal treatment to United States companies and exports, and implementing market-oriented reforms.

 Both presidents committed to take new actions to save American lives by curbing the flow of synthetic opioids into the United States. These actions include agreement to control the export of new fentanyl precursors, share intelligence on drug trafficking, and exchange tracking information for packages to identify individuals and criminal networks responsible for trafficking.

 The two presidents decided to establish a process to expedite removal of Chinas deportable illegal nationals residing in the United States.

 The presidents pledged to work together to prevent malicious exploitation of computer networks by other countries.

 Trade and investment deals worth more than $250 billion were announced. These will create jobs for American workers, farmers, and ranchers by increasing U.S. exports to China and stimulating investment in American communities.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - This morning, at 9:59 am, Yuma Police Department Officers were dispatched to Party Time Market at 595 West 1st Street in reference to an Armed Robbery.

The Investigation revealed that an unknown heavy set male wearing a gray hoodie, black sweat pants and a bandanna covering his face entered the business. He walked to the front registers and demanded money while pointing a handgun at the clerk. The clerk gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of money and the suspect fled the area on foot. The clerk did not receive any injuries.

The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime to remain anonymous.
Danang: US President Donald Trump on Saturday said Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin told him that "he didn`t meddle" in US elections that propelled the billionaire former reality star to the White House.

Trump`s relationship with Moscow has stalked the first year of his presidency, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin.

Trump`s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges including conspiracy to launder money, linked to the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations that the campaign colluded with Russia.

The US leader had "two or three" brief conversations with Putin on the margins of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on the way to a state visit in Hanoi.

"He (Putin) said he didn`t meddle. He said he didn`t meddle. I asked him again," he said.

"You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election."

Trump explained that Putin reiterates his denial "every time" the pair meet, adding his counterpart seems "very insulted" by the persistent allegations.

But he would not be drawn on whether he believes the Russian strongman.

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook have said paid for and free content with Russian links carrying divisive election related messages spun across their platforms ahead of the crunch poll.
Guwahati: Police have arrested 21 people in connection with the cash-for-job scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) and are on the lookout for four more civil services officials allegedly involved in it, DGP Mukesh Sahay said on Saturday.

Police had earlier identified 25 officers of the 2015 batch who had bribed APSC officials to get jobs through doctored answer scripts.

Of the 25 officials, 13 are in Assam Civil Services, seven are in Assam Police Services and the rest are in allied civil services.

"We have arrested 21 serving civil services officials so far. All of them have been sent to 14-day police remand. Further probe is on," Sahay told PTI.

"We are looking for the remaining four officials. They are evading arrest," he added.

Police had on November 8 arrested 16 civil services officials in connection with the cash-for-job scam in the tainted APSC in one of the biggest crackdowns against corruption in the state in recent times.

The DGP said the probe was going in the right direction in the "most transparent" manner unearthing "reliable, admissible and acceptable" evidence.

Former APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul was arrested on November 4 last year after the arrest of its two members -- Samedur Rahman and Basanta Kumar Doley.

APSC Assistant Controller of Examinations Pabitra Kaibarta was nabbed later.

Subsequently, more officials and persons were arrested in connection with the job scam, for which the previous Tarun Gogoi government has come in for criticism from various quarters.

Sahay had earlier informed that at least Rs 50 lakh in cash was seized from Paul and some of his "benami" properties identified.
New Delhi: Alia Bhatt starrer Raazi wrapped up shooting a few days ago. Alia, took to Instagram and shared a rather emotional message in which she expressed how difficult it is to part from a character. Sharing a photo of herself and the director, Meghna Gulzar from the set, Alia wrote-

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 '

Noted Film critic and Trade analyst shared Alia's first look on Twitter and she looks gorgeous in the ethnic look that she has donned.

Here is Taran Adarsh's Twitter post:

Countdown begins... #6MonthsToRaazi... #Raazi, directed by Meghna Gulzar, to release on 11 May 2018... Stars Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal... Check out Alias look from the film: pic.twitter.com/kiWY2KEc51  taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) November 11, 2017

Raazi is based on the novel Calling Sehmat by Harinder Sikka. Produced by Karan Johar, the movie also stars Vicky Kaushal and Amruta Khanvilkar. This is the first time that Alia and Vicky have come together in the film and it would be interesting to watch their on-screen chemistry. The shoot of the film took place in Kashmir and the movie is an espionage thriller.
New Delhi: The makers of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati" are willing to show the epic drama to anyone doubting its content, but only on getting a green signal from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).



"We are screening the film to CBFC as per established procedure and convention followed in the industry. Once a censor certificate is obtained, we do not have any reservations with screening the film to quell any doubts that are being cast on the film, although such practice is without a precedent," Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, told IANS in an email interview.



Viacom18 Motion Pictures has produced "Padmavati" with Bhansali Productions, and it will distribute the film in India.



The movie is embroiled in a controversy as some Hindu groups and political parties, including the Congress and the BJP, claim that the film distorts history and wrongly portrays Rajput queen Padmavati, a contention Bhansali has repeatedly rebuffed.



One BJP member has demanded that Bhansali be "tried for treason" and that CBFC should not certify the movie, while some want the movie's release date to be delayed in view of the Gujarat elections, and then there are others who feel the movie must be shown to historians before it is given wings to fly.



The Rajasthan government is also planning to set up a committee to watch the movie.



Andhare is confident the CBFC will have "appropriate representation from the necessary quarters, historians included. We have no reservations on that count. We trust the CBFC's judgement," he said, as they await a CBFC screening of the film.



When is the film likely to be certified?
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Saturday called off the odd-even scheme after the National Green Tribunal refused to accept the exemptions recommended for the plan.

"In light of the two conditions by NGT on 2 wheelers and women, at the moment we are calling it off. We will go back to NGT on Monday, file a review petition for them to reconsider their decision regarding the two," Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot said.

Gehlot said that the government is not ready "to compromise with the safety of women".

The Delhi government had announced the implementation of the odd-even car rationing scheme from November 13-17 to curb the rising levels of pollution in the state and adjoining areas.

However, the NGT on Saturday lashed out at the Delhi government for not taking enough steps to curb pollution. The green tribunal while approving the car rationing scheme removed all major exemptions as suggested by the state government. "Delhi government is free to implement the odd-even car rationing scheme with the subject to conditions. No exemption be given to anyone, including two-wheeler riders, in the odd-even scheme," a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar had said.

Delhi meanwhile continued to wrest with toxic air on Saturday as the level of pollutants were in the severe category for the fifth successive day. The US-based passenger carrier United Airlines temporarily suspended its Newark-IGI airport flights due to concerns over poor air quality in New Delhi.



Earlier in the day, the NGT gave the go ahead to the odd-even scheme from November 13-17 and said there will be no exemptions for women, two-wheelers and government vehicles.

The NGT, in its order, also said that in future the odd-even scheme should automatically come into force if the PM2.5 and PM10, particles in air with diameter less than 2.5 and 10mm respectively, go above the 300 and 500 units for 48 hours.



The tribunal directed that odd-even should be implemented "right away" without waiting for 48 hours, in case PM2.5 and PM10 go beyond 400 and 700 units respectively.

The odd-even traffic plan is among the remedies that has to come into force in accordance with the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to deal with air pollution.

The Centre-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) attributed the rise in pollution to the lowering of the "boundary layer" keeping pollutants trapped near the surface and preventing their escape into the upper layer of the atmosphere.
AHMEDABAD: Stepping up attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said that while the Congress had spent money for Rural Employment Guarantee scheme MGNREGA, Modi gave funds to the Tata Nano project.

"We gave Rs 35,000 crore for MGNREGA but Modi Ji gave Rs 35,000 crore for Tata Nano project," he said while addressing a rally in in Sabarkantha in poll-bound Gujarat.

He also lambasted the Modi government over the Goods and Services Tax claiming that it favours the industrialists. "The aim of GST is to break the backbone of India and to strengthen the backbones of a select few industrialists," he said.

Claiming that the Modi government does not know what the people want, he said: The "government which can tell people at 8 in the night that it is going to demonetise currency within 4 hours, doesn't know what is in the hearts of people.



Rahul is on a three-day campaign tour of north Gujarat beginning Saturday. He will be covering six districts of north Gujarat during his trip. He will also hold meetings with women, villagers and different communities during the tour.

Earlier in the day, he visited the famous, Ambaji temple, in Banaskantha district.

In the recent past, Rahul had conducted such campaign tours in Saurashtra, central Gujarat and south Gujarat.
ROCHESTER  Residents in the countys west end have questions about how the Foxconn manufacturing plant  and all of the workers and new development it is expected to bring  is going to affect their communities.

During a semi-annual super meeting Wednesday night of northwest Racine County community and school representatives, Norway Town Chair Jean Jacobson suggested that the communities all work together for planning purposes related to the development. She believes residents in her area have one primary question about the issue: Hows it going to affect the rural atmosphere weve loved and lived in?

Jacobson believes that all the communities in the west end should take a look at their land use plans and update them before work at the Foxconn site in Mount Pleasant begins. In her opinion, communities should decide where they want new businesses to locate and make a plan.

We dont want the developers to come in and do it for us, she said.

Jacobson believes that the county has done a good job with this sort of planning in the past, but the smaller communities in the west end dont have as much experience with it.

As the former county executive and County Board chair, Jacobson said she always looks at issues on a broad scale.

We should get together to talk about how we see the area growing, she said.

Rochesters Village President Ed Chart said his constituents mostly want to know if there will be enough people in the county to fulfill the expected demand for jobs. If not, people will likely be moving in, possibly to west end communities in addition to those east of Interstate 94.

It will affect us somewhat, Chart said.

Foxconn, a Taiwanese company, hopes to employ up to 13,000 workers at its proposed 32 million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Mount Pleasant.

The numbers are mind-boggling, Chart said.

Construction traffic

It is also possible that traffic in the west part of the county could increase during the plants construction, Chart said, as they transport raw materials that might be used at the Foxconn site, such as gravel and stone. Rochester, the Town of Waterford and the Town of Burlington are home to quarries.

Chart agreed with Jacobson that it would be beneficial for all the communities to work together, and praised her leadership in this effort.

He said all the entities want to ensure that any changes or developments in one community wont be detrimental to another.

I think were a very special group here, Jacobson said, I think its a very unique part of this county.
Gandhinagar: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that structural changes are needed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Speaking at a rally in Gandhinagar, Rahul Gandhi said, "It's a good thing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has slashed the tax rate from 28 percent to 18 percent for many products due to the pressure made by the Congress party and the people of India."

He further said, "We are still not happy and won't stop here. India doesn't want five different types of taxes, we want one. There's a need to make structural changes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST)."

Earlier on Wednesday, while interacting with traders in Gujarat's Surat, Congress vice-president said they (Congress) will reassess and restructure the Goods and Service Tax (GST), if they come to power at the Centre in the 2019 general elections.

"We were against the implementation of GST because the Government's version was not right. Eventually,when Modi ji realised it was a mistake, he said Congress was also a part of it," Rahul said.

He further said that ruling government's version of GST is not the actual one and accused the Centre of making the uniform tax reform "complex".

"GST is one tax reform not five tax. The Centre does not know the meaning of GST. They made the GST complex. We asked them for a simple version," he said.

Rahul further asserted that the Congress Party had cautioned the government about the drawbacks of implementation of the GST in the "wrong way".
Gandhinagar: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday began his campaign for Assembly polls in north Gujarat with a visit to the famous Akshardham temple here.

Akshardham temple belongs to the Swaminarayan sect, which has a huge following among the Patel community, and the Congress is trying to woo the community ahead of the Assembly election to be held in two phases on December 9 and December 14.

Gandhi arrived here this morning and went to the Akshardham temple. He offered prayers to Lord Swaminarayan at the temple and began his three-day tour which will cover six districts.

The BJP criticised the move, saying Gandhi was visiting Hindu temples just ahead of elections to get votes.

"Why Rahul Gandhi is only visiting temple ahead of elections. People know their intentions that they want to get votes by such gimmicks. They have no inclination of devotion as during Rahul Gandhi's earlier trip he never visited any temple," Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said.

"We wish that Congress sheds its pseudo-secularism and respect mainstream Hindutva, but their gimmicks to get votes will not work in Gujarat," Patel said.

However, the Congress hit back, saying people will teach the BJP a lesson as it is opposing a visit to temple.

"Does anybody have patent on devotion? They are opposing a visit to the temple. People of Gujarat will teach them a lesson," Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said.

"Rahul Gandhiji has visited Jain temple and Gurudwaras apart from Hindu temples. We believe in secularism," he said.

Gandhi is going to visit the famous Ambaji temple in Banaskantha district in north Gujarat this evening.

He had started his campaign in the western state with a visit to the renowned Dwarkadheesh temple.
Gandhinagar: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday kick-started his three-day tour of poll-bound Gujarat and visited two temples in the state- Ambaji temple and Akshardham temple.

After arriving in Gujarat Saturday morning, the Gandhi scion went straight to Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, offered prayers to Lord Swaminarayan and launched his three-day tour of north Gujarat, which will cover six districts.

Claiming victory for reduction of GST rates on more than 200 items, the Congress vice president Saturday said his party will continue the fight for capping the tax at 18 per cent and promised the Congress will do it if the BJP government fails.

Coming down hard on the Modi government, Gandhi tweeted: India does not need a Gabbar Singh Tax. We want a true GST. Congress, along with the people of India, fought for and ensured reduction in items in 28% bracket. Next we will fight for one rate, with a cap at 18%. If BJP doesnt do it, Congress will.

The state goes to polls next month on December 9 and 14. Gandhi, who is visiting north Gujarat, the BJP bastion over the years, is on a three-day visit to the state.

Gandhi continued his tirade against the Prime Minister and Amit Shah's son Jay's company.

Rahul alleged Jay's company registered 16,000 times turnover in one year. He said, "Modiji Kuch Toh Boliye (Modiji, please say something)."

"The government which can tell the people of the country at 8 p.m. that their currency will turn into scrap in just four hours, doesn't know what's in the hearts of the people. We gave Rs 35,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Agency (MNREGA), but Modi gave Rs 35,000 crore to Tata Nano project, the Congress vice president said.

The BJP criticised the move, saying Gandhi is visiting Hindu temples just ahead of elections to get votes.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said, "Why is Rahul Gandhi visiting temples only ahead of elections. People know their intention that they want to get votes through such gimmicks. They have no inclination for devotion as during Rahul Gandhi's earlier trips, he never visited any temple."

"We wish that Congress sheds its pseudo-secularism and respects mainstream Hindutva. But their gimmicks to get votes will not work in Gujarat," Patel added.

The Congress hit back the BJP, saying people will teach the ruling party a lesson as it is opposing a visit to temple.

"Does anybody have a patent on devotion? They are opposing a visit to the temple. People of Gujarat will teach them a lesson," Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said.

"Rahul Gandhiji has visited a Jain temple and gurudwaras apart from Hindu temples. We believe in secularism," he said.

Gandhi had started his campaign in Gujarat with a visit to the renowned Dwarkadheesh temple in September.
HYDERABAD: The Telangana Police has launched a novel initiative to rein-in drinkers and rogue elements who create nuisance in open public places.

In a first, a drone surveillance programme has been launched to keep a watch on them. On the first day of the launch itself, the police have rounded up some 250 people.

Policing the outlying areas had been an arduous task. Now with help of the new tool, the police hope to beef-up their neighborhood watch.

The public has lauded the Karimnagar Police for their ingenuity.

The drone has been deployed over the picturesque Lower Manair Dam area, a favorite spot for the drinkers, particularly when the dam's water level drops.

Their presence in the area had become a major source of safety concern for the public as local residents also go there to spend quality time with their loved ones, particularly during evenings and holidays.

The surrounding areas of the dam, stretching about five kilometers, had also attracted anti-social elements, further raising public safety concerns.

Now encouraged by its success, the police plan to buy more such drones in the near future to monitor other isolated areas.

The drone can cover a five-kilometer radius in 30 minutes. It also has a 20-megapixel camera attached to it.
GANDHINAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh is Indian territory and the opinion of others on the issue is not a concern for India, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday, days after China objected to her visit to the state.



Asked about China's objection to her recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence Minister said: "What is the problem? There is no problem here. It is our territory, we will go there."



"We are not concerned with someone else`s opinion on this," she added.



Sitharaman visited a forward army post in Arunachal Pradesh on November 5 to take stock of the defence preparedness and the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).



China had the next day reacted angrily to the visit, saying the visit to the "disputed" region would not be conducive to peace on the border. China has maintained that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of south Tibet, a claim which is not accepted by India.



Asked if the issue of giving shelter to Dalai Lama and the Tibetan refugees was a bone of contention in India-China relations, the minister said every issue has its own "weight".



"A relationship can`t be made or broken over one issue. Every subject has its own weight," she said at a press conference.



The minister is campaigning in Gujarat for the coming assembly elections.



On the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Naval officer who was arrested in Pakistan and accused of spying, the minister said India was making all efforts to get him back, and added that if Pakistan allowed his wife to visit him, it would be a good humanitarian gesture.



"The case of Kulbhushan Jadhav is pending in the International Court and India is making all efforts so that he is released. I don`t know what is the position on Pakistan allowing his wife to visit him, but it would be good as a humanitarian consideration, and it will help in boosting his morale," she said.



Speaking on Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said the state government was taking steps to rein in terrorism and lauded the state police for its actions.



"In the last one year, you have seen that stone-pelting has almost stopped and I want to give credit to the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The state government is an elected government and they are visiting villages to resolve these issues," she said.


AMRITSAR: A high-level team of Pakistan Rangers, which arrived in the country for talks, has visited the famed Golden Temple here for blessings to help end hostilities on the border.

The visitors were led by Dir. Gen. of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Major General Mohammad Saeed and held talks with their Indian counterparts on Friday. They went back home on the same day.

The Sikh holy shrine is visited by millions of devotees from around the world every year. The Sikhs from Pakistan also come here to pay their obeisance.

During their talks, both sides had shared their respective views on the issue of cross-border shelling.

The Indian side was led by BSF Director General K K Sharma.

The Pakistani delegation had arrived in India on November 8.

"The Indian side firmly and strongly took up specific issues of concern including incidents of unprovoked cross-border firing smuggling of narcotics, infiltration attempts, tunneling and defence construction activities," the BSF said in a statement.

The next round of these talks is scheduled to be held in Pakistan.
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi on Saturday said that his surname Gandhi helped him become a parliamentarian at the age of 29.

I am Feroze Varun Gandhi. If my surname was not Gandhi would have I become an MP at the age of 29 years? the MP from Sultanpur said.

The fireband BJP leader vouched for people getting equal opportunities and hoped that an individual is not judged by his surname in India.

Want to see an India where it doesn't matter if I was Varun Dutta or Varun Ghosh or Varun Khan. All must get equal opportunities, he asserted.

Varun's confession regarding his surname comes at a time when reports are doing rounds that Rahul Gandhi will soon be elevated to Congress president's post.

BJP leaders have been hitting out at Rahul Gandhi saying, the Gandhi scion is incapable of leading the grand old party and he is being favoured because of his surname.

Of late, many Congress leaders have publicly expressed their desire that Rahul Gandhi takes over as Congress president from his mother Sonia Gandhi.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala recently said that Rahul continues to be the "unquestioned choice" of all workers and leaders for the post of party president.

Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot had echoed the same sentiments saying that the Congress vice president may take over as the party president after Diwali and that the time was ripe for him to "lead from the front".

Senior party leader M Veerappa Moily had also hinted that the Gandhi scion may take charge as Congress president through an internal election process.

However, with final date yet to be finalised to elect a new Congress president, the party is hopeful that the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as president will take place in November.
JAMMU: Union minister Jitendra Singh said that Pakistan's decision to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife was a reflection of the efficacy of the Indian diplomatic outreach and its acceptance around the world.

"I think this is a compliment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This (development) is certainly a compliment to the efficacy of India's diplomatic outreach," he told reporters.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said that Jadhav would be allowed to meet his wife on Pakistani soil. The move came months after New Delhi requested Islamabad to allow Jadhav's mother to meet him on humanitarian grounds.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of spying and terrorism. In May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had halted his execution on India's appeal.

"One of the major achievements of the Modi government on terror from Pakistan and sponsored-terrorism in Kashmir is that India's viewpoint is now gaining more and more acceptance across the world, from even those countries which were earlier hesitant or had their own reasons not to accept it," the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Replying to a question on separatists in the Valley seeking Pakistan's involvement in any dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue, Singh said the decision to hold talks with the neighbouring country was the prerogative of the external affairs and home ministries.

"None of us has the mandate to decide on that," he said.

However, he said, the separatists stand exposed before the Valley's youth, who have decided to become a part of the Indian development journey. He said 19 young boys and girls qualified for IIT from terror-striken districts of Kashmir this year.

"(The separatists) are the same so-called protagonists who say they do not owe allegiance to the Indian Constitution, but their own children are taking maximum benefits out of it.

"Even holding jobs in the administrative services, I am sure the youth of Kashmir today is no longer ready to be taken by this jugglery.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that his visit to the Philippines from on Sunday to attend the India-ASEAN Summit symbolises the country's commitment to deepening ties with the ASEAN member states and the Indo-Pacific region as part of the 'act east policy'.

The prime minister also asserted that he was confident that his visit to Manila will give a new boost to India's bilateral relations with the Philippines, and also further strengthen the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of India's engagement with ASEAN.

In his departure statement ahead of the three-day trip, Modi also gave a broad outline of the events he will attend during his first bilateral visit to the Philippines.

Apart from participating in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits, Modi would also take part in Special Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders' Meeting and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

"My participation in them symbolises India's commitment to continue deepening relationship with ASEAN Member States, in particular, and with the Indo-Pacific region, in general, within the framework of my Government's Act East Policy," the prime minister said.

The ASEAN Business and Investment Summit will boost the close cooperation to enhance trade ties with ASEAN member- states, which constitutes a significant 10.85 per cent of our overall trade, he said.

Modi said he looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte and will also have interactions with other ASEAN and East Asia Summit Leaders.

He said he was also looking towards connecting with the Indian community in the Philippines.

Modi, in a Facebook post said, he will also visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc. (MPFI).

IRRI, through scientific research and development, has developed better quality of rice seed and helped the global community in addressing food scarcity issues, the prime minister said.

"A large number of Indian scientists are working in IRRI and contributing to R&D in this field. My cabinet approved on July 12, 2017, a proposal for IRRI to set up its South Asia Regional Centre at Varanasi. This will be the first Research Centre by IRRI outside its headquarters in the Philippines," Modi said.

The Varanasi Centre would help increase farmers' income by enhancing and supporting rice productivity, reducing cost of production, value addition, diversification and enhancement of farmers' skills, he added.

Modi said his visit to MPFI will demonstrate India's support for its activities in distributing free prosthesis 'Jaipur Foot' among the needy amputees.

Since its establishment in 1989, MPFI has fitted nearly 15,000 amputees in the Philippines with 'Jaipur Foot', making them capable of living a new life, he said, adding that India is making a modest contribution to the foundation to support its noble humanitarian activities.

The 10-member grouping ASEAN and India comprise a total population of 1.85 billion people which is one-fourth of the global population. The combined GDP has been estimated at over 3.8 trillion dollars.

Trade between India and ASEAN stood at USD 65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12 per cent of India's total trade with the world.

The ASEAN grouping comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russia.
NEW DELHI: A Qatar Airways flight on Saturday was diverted to Goa after the pilot fell ill midair.

Flight QR 507 was heading from Thiruvananthapuram to Doha.Qatar Airways pilot falls ill midair, Doha flight diverted to Goa

Yesterday, a Jet Airways Delhi-Patna flight 9W 730 flight was diverted to Varanasi due to non-availability of taxi way at Patna Airport.

The flight returned to Delhi last night while a special flight was arranged for all the 150 passengers.

On Wednesday, an Air India pilot deserted a flight on the runway of the Jaipur airport leaving 44 passengers stranded, apparently because his working hours were over.

According to DNA, the plane was left standing at the airport till Thursday evening.

The Flight 9I 644 was supposed to fly from Lucknow to Delhi, via Jaipur. It was scheduled to arrive at Jaipur airport at 9 pm, however, it was delayed and arrived only at about 1:30 am. Due to the smog at the capital and other technical issues at Delhi airport, it couldn't take off until 2 am.

Responding to the incident, an Air India official said, "A pilot cannot exceed duty hours for safety reasons as per DGCA norms."

The passengers were made to wait at Jaipur Airport and were, later, taken by road to Delhi.
TOWN OF NORWAY  Tensions were high Thursday evening at the Norway Town Hall, as business owners, upset over a 3-year-old Knox Box ordinance expressed their frustrations.

The Town Board and officials from the Wind Lake Volunteer Fire Company, which protects the town, believed the boxes would be mutually beneficial to first-responders and business owners in the case of an emergency. However, many business owners who attended the meeting were concerned that criminals could gain access to their buildings using the boxes.

The lock boxes  often with the brand name Knox Box  are meant to allow swift entry into buildings that are on fire or experiencing other emergencies. The boxes are affixed to the outside of a building and contain keys to that building. At the Wind Lake Fire Department, only six people have access to the key boxes. They are the fire chief and assistant chief, two captains and two lieutenants.

I wanted to have this informational hearing because as there seems to be a lot of information, misinformation, I thought the best thing to do would be to get everybody in a room and lets talk, Norway Town Chair Jean Jacobson said on Thursday.

The towns ordinance, adopted in April 2014, requires that all commercial, retail and industrial businesses, multifamily structures with a locked common door, government buildings and nursing care facilities install the boxes. Representatives from the City of Burlington and Tess Corners (Muskego) fire departments attended the meeting to share the benefits of the boxes in their communities. The City of Burlington, however only requires the boxes on certain facilities with common areas as well as buildings with sprinklers and alarm systems.

The list price a business owner would pay for a standard Knox Box is $324. For an extra $27, an alarm system can be installed on it.

The key for each fire jurisdictions boxes are different. So keys to boxes in Norway wouldnt work on boxes in Burlington. Willy Ellertson, president of the Fire Department, reported that his firefighters have to use the boxes about six to eight times a year.

Community fears

Heres what my fear is, said Deborah Gamm, owner of Badlanders Pub & Grill, 7922 Loomis Road, Wind Lake. This is a volunteer fire department. There is somebody that is on that fire department that Ive booted out of my bar. Hes not allowed to come back in. I dont want this person getting access to a key to my business.

Town Supervisor Tim Hansen asked Gamm if she thought Wind Lake firefighters were going to rob local businesses.

Good people do bad things, Gamm said.

Dr. Lee Elger, owner of Wind Lake Animal Hospital, 7835 S. Loomis Road, expressed fear that someone would break into his business and steal drugs. About eight years ago, he said, someone did just that.

Fire Department representatives and Town Board members said it would be easier for criminals to break a window than to spend time trying to force their way into a Knox Box.

According to a 2013 Reuters article, security expert Justin Clarke created a key that could open the boxes after buying a Knox Box and blank keys, then using a file on the keys to create one that would open the box.

A highly motivated criminal with plenty of time on their hands and incredible focus could do this. All it takes is time, focus and intent, Clarke said.

Firefighter safety

Wind Lake Fire Chief Rob Robins pointed out that Knox Boxes are beneficial to fire departments in many ways, as a firefighter could be injured breaking down a door. Being able to close the door behind them also helps control fire, as oxygen flowing in could cause it to spread.

My primary job first and foremost is safety or my people, my firefighters, Robins said. We need to control that ventilation. A fire will double in size on its own in a normal room within two minutes. You got a big inrush of air, you just cut that in less than a minute.

Gamm said she thought the boxes were a good idea, she just didnt think they should be required for all businesses.

Jacobson said the town had Knox Box issue on its meeting agenda three times in the past, and no one came to any meetings to dispute it.

We as a Town Board have had nobody come in to talk about it, to ask us questions about it, she said.

Town Supervisor Bob Helback said he does not believe businesses should be required to install the boxes, but that all the interest in the issue is happening a little late.

Lack of communication

Elger said he only heard about the Knox Box requirement during his annual fire inspection. Other business owners said they never heard about the issue until after the ordinance was passed. Some opined that they should be contacted before supervisors vote on issues that will affect them.

The communication had not been there, Elger said.

Jacobson advised that the business owners take a look at the Town Board meeting agenda each month, posted online, at the Town Hall and the local bank.

Youre creating a lot of animosity between yourselves and businesses, Elger said. And its ill-will. I think everybody would accept it if you would grandfather it in.

Elger was one of a few Wind Lake business owners who received a $500 ticket in the past few months for failing to comply with the Knox Box ordinance. He implied that he might not be as friendly or charitable toward the fire department in the future as he has been in the past, due to the Knox Box issue.

We value, very highly, the businesses in our township, Jacobson said. We respect you very highly. Some of you have come into the office and disrespected our staff, quite frankly. Be that as it may, we are very proud of our businesses in this township and we want you to thrive and be safe.

She added that they also respect the Fire Department, and thats one of the reasons this ordinance was put in place.

Town Supervisor Ralph Schopp said that the board wasnt looking to target anyone, but will certainly take the concerns voiced during the meeting into consideration in the future. He said the board will also look into allowing some businesses to be grandfathered in.
FARIDABAD: The father of the class XI teenager who has been accused of killing Pradhyuman in Ryan International School has claimed that his son is innocent.

"My son is being tortured, he was hung upside down and brutally thrashed. He is completely innocent," he said on a day when his son was taken to Faridabad observation home where he will be kept till November 22.

While CBI's theory is that the student killed the boy to get the school to declare a holiday to defer an examination since he was weak in studies, the accused's father has said that all teachers praised his son's performance and behaviour in the past. "I have his marksheets," the father said.

"Do you think such a young boy would behave normally for so many days had he committed such a serious crime," he questioned.

The teenager apprehended by the CBI, had apparently come under the CBI scanner within six days after the agency took over the case.

He was questioned by the CBI on Friday for nearly seven hours on various aspects of the case. He was reportedly asked how he got the idea to kill someone to get examination and parents teacher meeting delayed, what he did after the crime, whom he spoke to and whether he confide in others.

The CBI is trying to investigate all possible reasons which might have triggered the murder.

The Class XI student's arrest was made by the CBI rejecting Gurgaon police's theory that the killing was the handiwork of school bus conductor Ashok Kumar.

Class 2 student Pradhyuman was found with his throat slit on September 8 morning near the toilet of Ryan International School within an hour of his father leaving him at the school.

The agency is also reportedly looking at the possibility of involvement of more people in the case. However, it has not questioned or detained anyone in this regard so far.
New Delhi: In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday accused the government of not highlighting the pain suffered by the people over demonetisation and implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

While saying that both note ban and GST are burning issues, Sinha accused the government of trying to divert attention to other issues and influence the media.

The Lok Sabha MP posted a tweet targeting the Prime Minister.

"No matter how we try to cover up the suffering, pain & chaotic situation of the poor, middle class, traders caused by demonetisation & GST implementation and divert attention to other issues & influence media friends, it remains a burning issue. Hope we dont pay a heavy price!" the actor- politician tweeted.

It is not the first time that Sinha has taken pot shots at PM Modi.

No matter how we try to cover up the suffering, pain & chaotic situation of the poor, middle class, traders caused by demonetization & GST implementation and divert attention to other issues & influence media friends, it remains a burning issue. Hope we dont pay a heavy price!  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) November 11, 2017

In an apparent reference to PM Modi, Sinha on November 6 said that it was time to get out of 'one-man show, two-man army'.

"High time, get out of the one-man show, two-man army syndrome and must take learned professionals, experts and most important mature seasoned politicians on board in the larger interest of nation and party. It is still not too late," he had tweeted.

Sinha tagged veteran BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in his tweet.

Another senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Friday termed demonetisation and GST as failures and asked Prime Narendra Modi to sack Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over GST.

Sinha, who was the former finance minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime, rubbished Modi's claim that demonetisation and GST were successful, saying both exercises had actually failed.

Describing the GST as a total mess, Sinha asked the Prime Minister to remove Jaitley in a bid to improve the country's economy.

GST has ruined the nation's economy, Sinha asserted, adding that "Jaitley as the Finance Minister did not apply his brain when he prepared and implemented the GST. This is evident the way he has been tinkering it time and again. Even today some changes have been made. But any patchwork will not work. GST needs an overhaul."

The Prime Minister has maintained that demonetisation was a "decisive battle" 125 crore Indians fought against black money and won.
Boosting trade and connectivity will be among the key priorities as Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a three-day visit to the Philippines on Sunday that will see him attend the 15th Asean-India Summit and the 12th East Asia Summit.



Meetings with world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who are attending the EAS, are likely on its sidelines.



Trump on Friday praised India for achieving "astounding" growth since opening its economy and heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has been working to bring the country and its people together.



Modi, who is making his first official visit to the Southeast Asian nation, will also hold a bilateral meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte on November 13 in Manila ahead of the two summits on November 14.



Modi's visit is all the more significant because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the India-Asean dialogue partnership and the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Asean.



The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.



India's relationship with the regional bloc has emerged as a key cornerstone of New Delhi`s foreign policy after then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao launched the Look East Policy in 1992.



The relationship was elevated to that of a strategic partnership in 2012 and the Look East Policy was turned into the Act East Policy under the present NDA dispensation.



With the initiation of economic reforms in India in 1991, New Delhi has been increasing its engagements with the economically vibrant Southeast Asian region.



Given China's belligerence in the South China Sea, the regional bloc also sees in India a rising force that can act as a balancing power in the region, with its stress on maritime security and in ensuring freedom of navigation through one of the world`s busiest trading routes.



According to figures released by the Ministry of External Affairs, trade between India and Asean stood at $71 billion in 2016-17 and comprised 10.85 per cent of India`s total trade with the world.



Asean and India together comprise a population of 1.85 billion, one-fourth of the global population, and a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion.



Investments in India from Asean countries in the last 17 years had been over $70 billion, accounting for 17 per cent of FDI. Indian investments in Asean is over $40 billion.



Talks on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement will further boost India`s trade and investment ties with the region.



RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 Asean member states and the six states with which the grouping has free trade pacts - Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.



During the course of his visit, Modi, apart from attending the summits, will also participate in a meeting of the leaders of the countries of the proposed RCEP and an Asean Business and Investment Summit.



In a special media briefing ahead of the visit, Priti Saran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said Modi`s participation in the two summits "provides a very important opportunity to reiterate our commitment to the partnership".



India also has 30 sectoral dialogue mechanisms and seven ministerial-level interactions with Asean.



Saran said India supported Asean`s centrality in the regional security architecture, and enhancing physical, digital, economic, cultural and people-to-people connectivity was a key focus in the relationship.



New Delhi also attaches the greatest importance to the annual East Asia Summit, of which India is a founding member.



The East Asia Summit is held by leaders of the Asean countries and those of Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the US.



Saran said this forum provided an important opportunity for the leaders of the region to exchange views and assess international issues of concern, including traditional and non-traditional security threats, primarily terrorism, maritime cooperation, maritime security and non-proliferation.



Regarding the Modi-Duterte meeting, she said that the two leaders were expected "to set up the stage for a quantitative change in our bilateral relations with the Philippines".



"As a key country of the region with a large, educated and young population and a fast growing economy, Philippines is an important partner of India`s Act East Policy," Saran stated, adding that there was immense potential to enhance bilateral economic ties.


Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump will be pushing for India's membership to the 21 member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC ) early next week when Prime Minister Modi and President Trump will be at the APEC summit in Manila, according to Dennis Wilder, Former high ranking CIA expert on China and who is currently professor of Asian Studies at the Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Dennis Wilder said "This idea has been kicking around between the US, Japan, Australia and India for a while, I think President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have a very good relationship and when they meet in Manila they will discuss APEC. The US will take a stand and be vocal about India's participation and the importance of India joining the forum".

The support of the United States for India's inclusion into APEC will not only be seen as a major gesture towards Prime Minister Modi's government by the Trump administration, but will also be a move that would be a boost to India's economy and will give India a stronger control and a better standing in its relationship with China.

"It would be a step towards realising the United States' strategic objective of involving India more fully into the region something I think that will help India to stand with China," said Wilder.

Apart from pushing for India's full membership to the APEC the Trump administration is also keen on expanding the Malabar naval exercises which currently involve India, Japan and US to include Australia. A meeting of the India-Japan-US-Australia quadrilateral is expected in Manila on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit. These four regional democracies would ideally like to emerge as guarantors of free trade and defense cooperation across a stretch of ocean from the South China Sea, across the Indian Ocean to Africa, said Wilder.

A communique that came out of Tokyo during President Trump's first leg of the Asia visit stated that "There was a discussion that came up on the Indo-Pacific concept and the idea that there is a need to work on infrastructure, just what the Chinese are doing on the One Belt, One Road project as a competitive strategy", said Dennis Wilder in the interview. "Indo- Pacific" is the new geopolitical word game that is being played out by the US lately. Trump administration officials have started to refer to Asia as the "Indo-Pacific," rather than the "Asia-Pacific" region. A deliberate effort to change how the world strategically views the region. "The United States is an Indo-Pacific power," said a senior administration official traveling with Trump. "We've been one since the dawn of our republic. Our security and our prosperity depend on the United States maintaining access for free flow of commerce to this region, because we're a Pacific nation." In the Indo - Pacific Worldview of the Trump Administration India plays an important role.

Asked if the new policy was aimed at containing China's rise, Mr Wilder said "certainly not" and instead emphasised the importance of India - which views China as a political rival and potential military threat - to U.S. security and prosperity. "We have strong and growing ties with India. We talk about an Indo-Pacific in part because that phrase captures the importance of India's rise". "If you look at President Trump's Asia trip so far, the phrase Indo Pacific has traveled with him. It has clearly become the new American strategy "

Experts say China reads 'Indo Pacific' word play as a containment strategy and the Chinese have immediately jumped into calling the Indo US alliance as a containment strategy because that's the easy way to knock it down. "It's not a containment strategy, because there is a substantial amount of trade that China does with the US and also with India. Who is containing China? We are not containing China? The White House is very clear this is not a containment strategy, but it is a competitive strategy. Now, is that going to worry China if India and US get closer? Obviously it will", said Wilder a former CIA expert on China.

The Trump administration is also going to offer a much closer Defence relationship to India in line with the President's Indo - Pacific Worldview. The US will offer not just military components but will also include economic, geopolitical and cultural components that will together form a stronger Washington-Delhi strategic partnership, said Dennis Wilder.It would be upto India to take the next steps towards the Asian partnership that President Trump is proposing, said the former CIA expert on China.

President Trump in his speech in Vietnam has initiated the process by praising India's growth story and this say experts is a clear signal from the U.S. Government to the Modi Government to come forward.
NEW DELHI: A 28-year-old woman on Friday was allegedly molested by three male Air Asia staffers in Bengaluru airport.

On November 3, the woman was travelling from Ranchi to Bengaluru when the incident took place. She has lodged an FIR against the Air Asia staff for misbehaviour and sexual harassment.

She said she had complained about the unhygienic condition of the aircraft's washroom after which the Air Asia staff misbehaved with her and threatened to deboard her.

"I found toilet of the aircraft dirty and complained. The cabin steward scolded and touched me inappropriately. He also threatened to deboard me. Air Asia staff at Hyderabad supported him," the victim said.

"He also threatened to kick me out of the flight. My co-passengers supported me but the AirAsia staff at Hyderabad took his side. The captain asked me if I am going to shut my mouth for the next 1-hour flight. They even humiliated me before the police," she continued.

I found toilet of the aircraft dirty & complained. The cabin steward scolded & touched me inappropriately. He also threatened to deboard me. Air Asia staff at Hyderabad supported him. They even humiliated me before the police: Woman who filed FIR against 3 Air Asia staffers pic.twitter.com/g23uysDM3B  ANI (@ANI) November 10, 2017

According to the victim, the alleged staff members harassed her onboard as well as on the Bengaluru airport runway.

The woman also claimed that a ground staffer at Bengaluru airport threatened her with rape.

"When I reached Bengaluru airport, one of the ground staff asked me to apologize to the Captain and cabin steward otherwise they will hand me over to the cops. Three of them were making a gang surrounding me and said you don't know who we are. We will take you outside and show you what we are. It was kind of a rape threat. I don't know who said it but I heard someone saying that we will rape you," she said.

Meanwhile, the Airline issued a statement over the issue and said they followed the standard operating procedures for disruptive passengers.

"The passenger resorted to verbal abuse against the senior cabin crew. The senior cabin crew then managed to calm the passenger down and resumed his duties. However, the passenger continued to be abusive," it said.

The incident comes days after the ground staff of IndiGo Airlines were caught on camera assaulting a senior citizen on the tarmac of Delhi Airport.

(With Agency inputs)
Ahmedabad: Rebuffing China's objection to her visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the northeastern state is an Indian territory and the country is not concerned about someone else's opinion on it.

On Monday, China had objected to Sitharaman's first visit to the border state on Saturday and Sunday, saying her tour of the "disputed area" was not conducive to peace in the region.

India had rejected Beijing's objection and asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country.

"What is the problem? There is no problem. It is our territory, we will go there," she said in a reply to a query on China's reaction on her visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

"We are not concerned with someone else's opinion on this," the minister, who is campaigning for the BJP in poll- bound Gujarat, said in a press conference here.

Sitharaman had visited forward army posts in remote Anjaw district of the state bordering China to take stock of defence preparedness.

The minister had visited Nathu La area on the India-China border in Sikkim last month and greeted the People's Liberation Army soldiers across the border. Her "friendly gesture" had earned appreciation from the Chinese media.

Asked if giving shelter to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was the reason for strained relationship between India and China, she said it was not so.

"One issue can not make or break a relationship. There are many issues. Every issue has its own weight," she said.
Jaipur: Hours after 14 protesting doctors were arrested under the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA), 100 other agitating doctors agreed to resume work on Saturday

The health services in four districts of Rajasthan have taken a plunge after over 8,000 government doctors in Kota, Bundi, Baran and Jhalawar districts went on strike on Monday over various demands.

One of the major demands of the doctors is for higher pay scale and promotions.

The doctors were arrested from Tonk, Jaipur, Kota, Swai Madhopur, Bharatpur, Jhalawar and Banswara districts, ADG (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

The arrests came after the deadline set by the government for the medical practitioners to resume work expired yesterday evening, the officer said.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Health Minister Kali Charan Saraf has invited the protesting doctors for talks on Sunday at 2 pm to find solutions to their problems.
New Delhi: Honouring Anasuya Sarabhai, the pioneer of the women's labour movement in India, search engine Google on Saturday dedicated Doodle on her 132nd birth anniversary.

Sarabhai was born in Ahmedabad on 29 November 1890 into the Sarabhai family of Sarabhai and Godavariba, a gavar family of industrialists and business people. Both her parents got jail when she was nine, so she, her brother Ambalal Sarabhai, and a younger sister were sent to live with an uncle. She was in a long -lived and happy child marriage at the age of 40.With the help of her brother, she went to England in 1921 to take a medical degree, but switched to the London School of physics when she realised the animal dissection involved in obtaining a medical degree was in violation of her Jain beliefs. While in England, she was influenced by the Fabian Society and got involved in the Suffragette movement.

She returned to India in 1913 and started working for betterment of women and the poor. She also opened a school. She decided to get involved in the labour movement after witnessing exhausted female mill workers returning home after a 36-hour shift. She helped organise textile workers in a 1914 strike in Ahmedabad. She was also involved in a month-long strike in 1918, where weavers were asking for a 50 percent increase in wages and were being offered 20 per cent. Gandhi, a friend of the family, was by then acting as a mentor to Sarabhai.Gandhi began a hunger strike on the workers' behalf, and the workers eventually obtained a 35 percent increase. Following this, in 1920, the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Majoor Mahajan Sangh) was formed.

Google describes her saying, Back home in Ahmedabad, Sarabhai started to work with disempowered women, particularly taking on the cause of local mill workers after learning of their 36-hour work shifts. In 1914 she helped Ahmedabads weavers successfully organize their first strike for higher wages. In the years that followed, she went on to become their most vocal supporter, negotiating with mill owners (including her brother) for better working conditions.

The doodle was created by Maria Qamar, the Pakistani-Canadian artist and author.
New Delhi: It has not been very long since Priyank Sharma re-entered the Bigg Boss house.

Priyank was evicted in the first week itself as he turned violent inside the house. An angered Salman Khan, told Priyank to go out of the house right away. Priyank entered as a wild card entry on October 27 which delighted all his fans. However, reports suggest that Priyank isn't gonna stay long inside the house.

According to a Bollywoodlife.com report, Arshi Khan's publicist had filed an FIR against Priyank and Sapna.

Now, reports are that Priyank will be arrested from the show itself!

Priyank had spoken about Arshi's past and had brought some of the most controversial things from her past on national television. He told Sapna to utter two words, 'Pune and Goa' to tease Arshi.

Salman Khan too had chided Priyank and told all the housemates not to indulge in personal attacks against anyone.

Reportedly, Flynn said that the police need a warrant to enter the Bigg Boss house and there is paperwork that needs to be done. No further details were disclosed.

So, will Priyank be arrested from the Bigg Boss house? Only time shall tell.
Lucknow: The Lucknow administration has withdrawn permission to a three-day literature festival here after people, allegedly linked to right-wing groups, objected to the presence of former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar at an event and jostled with his supporters, officials said.

Kumar was invited to speak about his book "From Bihar to Tihar" at the event at Sheroes Cafe, run by acid attack survivors, on the first day of the festival.

On learning about Kumar's presence at the event, some people, allegedly belonging to right-wing groups, reached the venue and raised slogans against him.

Kumar's supporters were allegedly jostled by the protesters as slogans of "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Vande Mataram" rang out.

Police were called in to control the situation.

The organiser, Shamim Aarzo, said, "Actor Divya Dutta was our guest for the first session last night. Thereafter, Kumar was to speak about his book... That is when about a dozen activists belonging to some organisations started creating disturbance."

"We tried to placate them... Police were called in to bring the situation under control. Later, the session with actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha was taken up according to the schedule," Aarzo said.

Those present in the audience claimed the protesters belonged to some right-wing groups.

When contacted, District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, said the organiser had taken permission only for holding a book fair and the administration was not told that leaders or actors will be there or deliver any speech at the event.

"The conditions for granting permission have been violated by the organisers and therefore, we have withdrawn it," he said.

"The Model Code of Conduct is in force in view of the upcoming local body elections and because we had no knowledge that leaders and actors had been invited to the festival, security arrangements were not made," he said.

However, the organiser said they had informed the administration about the event and only Dutta had confirmed her participation by that time.

"Kumar's participation was confirmed later... His event was publicised and it was not a secret. The session with AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi will go live on Facebook today," Aarzo said.
AUBURN  The city of Auburn has unveiled its first electric vehicle charging station, which was installed in the public parking garage on Lincoln Street.

On Friday, several city and state officials hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony downtown to celebrate the charging station. The station was part of a city, county and statewide effort to promote alternative fuel vehicles in the community.

Auburn Mayor Michael Quill said the project was the one of four high-impact action items the city completed to receive a Clean Energy Community designation. That designation will now allow the city to apply for up to $50,000 in state grants for other clean energy projects, including a geothermal energy system at the Equal Rights Heritage Center.

"The (charging) station is an important step toward meeting the goals of the city of Auburn and Cayuga County," Quill said. "Hopefully it will help to encourage tourism and a cleaner, safer way of life in the city of Auburn."

The city displayed several electric vehicles at the parking garage Friday, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Bolt EV and Smart Fortwo Electric Drive. Those who attended could actually take the vehicles out for a test drive or ride-along.

According to Chris Carrick, the energy program manager for the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board, one of the biggest barriers with electric vehicles has been the uncertainty about where and how drivers can charge up their batteries. That is why Governor Andrew Cuomo launched an initiative to install 3,000 charging stations throughout the state by 2018.

"Our regional plan identified gaps where public charging stations are not currently available in the region ... and made recommendations about new stations in key locations to establish a comprehensive charging network," Carrick said in a press release.

"Charging stations like this help to make customers more comfortable by alleviating the anxiety that potential (electric vehicle) owners may feel," he added at the event Friday. "They know they have a place to charge up their batteries and it makes it more likely that they'll buy an electric vehicle."

Auburn's new charging station is now one of 1,700 stations statewide. In total, 25 stations will be installed in the Capital District, Mohawk Valley, Central New York, Genesee and Western New York; most should be operational by the end of the year.

As of July 2017, there were around 20,000 electric vehicles registered in the state, with more than 2,500 registered in central New York  Auburn-based attorney Andrew Simkin owns one of them.

Simkin attended the ribbon-cutting Friday to speak about his experience as an "EV driver." He said he loves his electric car, a 2015 Nissan Leaf with an 84-mile charge, as it requires less maintenance and costs less per mile than a gasoline-powered car.

"For me it's a very practical vehicle," Simkin said, noting that he has a 15-mile commute to his office in Auburn each day. "There are much fewer parts to wear out. There's no muffler or oil to change ... and it's fun to drive."

The charging station on Lincoln Street has two ports and will be free to the public for the first six months.
DOVER  John Neufeld said once you join the United States Marine Corps, youre always a Marine.

You never lose the desire to serve the United States Marine Corps, he said.

Neufeld, a Marine veteran who said he served from 1957 to 1960, is the commander of the Agerholm-Gross Detachment No. 346, a Marine Corps league honor guard. Neufeld said the group delivers military honors at veterans funerals  a service it has performed more than 1,600 times over the past 17 years. He said the guard performs a 21-gun salute, presents arms and plays Taps at veterans funerals.

Neufeld said he continues to participate in the honor guard because its an opportunity to give back to people who have served.

A memorial stone recognizing the service of the honor guard was dedicated Friday, on the United States Marine Corpss 242nd birthday. The stone is located at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 21731 Spring St. (Highway C), Dover.

Neufeld said the stone was first placed around April, but the group wanted to wait until its branchs Friday birthday to host its dedication ceremony.

John Dumas, a member of the honor guard and the commandant of the detachment, said he believes the guards work is the right thing to do.

A lot of these veterans, they gave a lot to their country, and this is our final goodbye to them, he said.

State Rep. Tom Weatherston, R-Caledonia, presented a citation from the Assembly and thanked the honor guard members for their service.

Walker visits vets home

Nearby, Gov. Scott Walker attended a Veterans Day ceremony Friday morning at the Wisconsin Veterans Home-Union Grove, located on the Southern Wisconsin Center campus just east of the veterans cemetery.

Were able to enjoy our blessings of liberty thanks to the dedication and willing sacrifices of our veterans and service members, Walker said during the ceremony. Its important we support our veterans and remember their service every day, but on Veterans Day we offer them a special word of gratitude and commemorate all their work in keeping us safe and free.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday accused the government in Uttar Pradesh of spreading hatred in the name of development, saying there was no one better than the BJP in creating a "vertical divide".

The former UP chief minister also alleged that the projects of the earlier Samajwadi Party government were being inaugurated by the Yogi Adityanath government.

"BJP people are very wise in instigating problems, spreading hatred, and there is no one better than them in creating a vertical divide, be it in a family or political party... You can see Gujarat, Bengal or

Uttar Pradesh," Yadav said at a newspaper event here.

"Who is better than them in creating a divide in the name of Hindu-Muslim or castes... People charge us for being casteist but don't call them casteists," he said.

Yadav also claimed that he had never asked for votes on the basis of caste and religion.

The former chief minister also asked, "Was the UP government made for spreading hatred in the name of development.

"It is only the development of hatred," he alleged.

On the rift within the Samajwadi Party, Yadav said that with his party losing power, the problems in his family have also come to an end.

"There can be no tiff now as there is no power...When there is no power there is no tiff," Yadav said.

Taking a dig at the BJP government in UP, the former chief minister said that during his tenure, he had never inaugurated projects which had been inaugurated previously.

"The works done by the Samajwadi Party government are being inaugurated by this government.

"If they have done anything on their own for the state, they should tell people," he said.

The Samajwadi Party president, who had struck an electoral alliance with the Congress before the UP Assembly polls, also stated that his "friendship with Rahul Gandhi will continue".

"I am not the one who changes friends and this fact should be clear. On the political front, we were friends and will remain as such...The alliance as it is today, will continue," he stressed.

Asked about Congress not asking him to campaign in Gujarat, he said, "It does not matter...Who will stop me from going there for candidates of my party in fray."

On his equation with Patidar leader of Gujarat, Hardik Patel, Yadav said that though he has not been introduced to him yet but can be friends with him whenever he wants to.

Yadav refused to comment on any possibility of a tie-up with the BSP.

Referring to demonetisation, Yadav said that though former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who is an economist, and all other economists say that it has harmed the economy, it is sometimes difficult for people to accept the truth and they ignore many things due to caste and religious considerations.

Making a reference to the amendments in the GST, he said more such steps will be undertaken as the elections draw closer.

The former UP chief minister said that those who used to talk about digital India are today talking about 'gobar' (cow dung) and cow.

He stressed that Ram and Krishna are Gods of all and no one can decide who has to be worshipped by whom.

On the works done during his government especially his pet project of Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Yadav said, "I still maintain that those who have travelled on it will say that this is how the roads in the country should be made."

"The Prime Minister and UP Chief Minister can make roads better than the expressway, but they do not have the intention to do so..Officials tell them that there are shortcomings in the River Front

and other such projects. And the same officials come to me and say that CM does not know anything," he said.

Taking a dig at the media, he said that during the recent landing of IAF aircraft on the expressway, no one mentioned that it was made during the regime of Akhilesh Yadav.

In a jibe over incidents of violence, he said that giving such a good infrastructure was not taken as an act of patriotism, but beating or killing others is taken as one.

Yadav also said that fingers were being raised over some of the police encounters in the state recently and that CBI probe has been demanded.
MATHURA: In a video shared by ANI, two sadhus (saints) are seen locing horns with each other in a temple in Uttar Pradesh.

The Uttar Pradesh Police, after being alerted about the incident, arrested both the sadhus.

The incident is said to have taken place at the famous Radha Rani temple at Mathura's Barsana.

The clash took place following a heated argument that broke out between the two.

The nearly one-minute-long video also shows a woman in a vain attempt trying to stop the duo.

Watch the video here:
Kolkata: A doctor working in a state-run district hospital was suspended by the Health Department for alleged Facebook posts in which he described the condition of the healthcare facilities, the plight of the patients and his challenges as a doctor amid an outbreak of dengue in the state.



According to West Bengal Doctors` Forum, which protested the state government`s move, it appeared the state government or health department found a purported Facebook post as "derogatory to the image of the government".



In a statement, the forum said the suspension letter also mentioned that his social media posts and comments were unverified.



In his posts, Arunachal Dutta Choudhury posted at Barasat District Hospital in North 24 Parganas district, claimed that about 500 people were admitted to the hospital on October 6 and he struggled to diagnose the patients many of whom were lying on the floor.



"People are dying of fever. I am trying to console them (in government term, counselling them) and I am writing the cause of death... not dengue. In the death certificate, I am writing `fever with thrombocytopenia... not dengue," Dutta Choudhury said in his post.



He also alleged there was an "unwritten order to suppress" the hospital`s "ailing condition".



On the government move, Dutta Choudhury said: "I have nothing to say. I am a government employee. It is up to the government whether I will continue with my job or not. The government will decide. I have got the suspension letter."



Despite several attempts, the government officials could not be reached for comments.



The forum`s statement, issued by its president Rezaul Karim, said: "What we gather from social media post is a set of pictures in a government hospital reflecting a crowded ward.



"As a sensitive citizen, he showed his frustration and anguish in not being able to deliver the required standard of care because of immeasurable workload and overcrowding. He has not commented on the performance of the government...."



On October 30, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that among the 40 dengue deaths, 13 who perished in state-run hospitals were confirmed cases. The government was cross-checking reports of 27 others suspected to have died of the disease in private health facilities.
HANOI: North Korea lashed out Saturday at Donald Trump's "warmonger's" tour of Asia as the US president landed in Hanoi on the latest leg of a five-nation regional visit to drum up support against Pyongyang`s nuclear weapons build-up.

The outburst came as Trump nears the tail end of his sweep through Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines that has seen him rail against the North`s nuclear ambitions and deliver his "America First" vision of global trade.

Trump has urged the region to take a united front against the threat posed by isolated North Korea, which has sparked global alarm with its nuclear and missile tests in recent months.

On Friday he warned world leaders gathered in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang that the Asia-Pacific region "must not be held hostage to a dictator`s twisted fantasies".

Pyongyang issued its own retort Saturday branding Trump`s Asia tour a "warmonger`s visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence", in the first comments on the trip by a North Korean official.

It said Trump`s warnings "can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance", according to the state-run KCNA news agency, quoting a Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman.

Tensions over the North`s weapons programme have surged in recent months, as Pyongyang carried out a sixth nuclear test -- by far its largest to date -- and test fired dozens of missiles, some capable of reaching the US mainland.

In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned Pyongyang not to underestimate the United States, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.

Trump has also prodded Chinese President Xi Jinping to pile pressure on North Korea.

"I`d like to have him ratchet it up, and I think he`s doing that," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Hanoi Saturday following a regional trade meeting in the coastal city of Danang.

Though China has backed UN sanctions, Washington would like to see Beijing clamp down on unauthorised trade along the North Korean border.Trump will turn his attention to Vietnam for an overnight stop in the capital of a communist country once considered a bitter enemy.

Vietnam has eagerly courted trade and investment with the US since Trump`s election, more so after he yanked the US from a key Pacific region trade pact, taking with him low tariff access to the world`s largest market.

The Trump administration has singled out Vietnam as one of many countries that has a yawning trade deficit with the US.

Former billionaire businessman Trump told a gathering of regional CEOs Friday he is open to doing business with Asia -- but would no longer tolerate sweeping trade deals he brandished as unfair and harmful to American jobs.

Despite his tough talk on trade, he boasted about his cosy relationship with regional leaders.

"China likes me. And I get along with them, I get along with others too," he told reporters after meeting with 20 fellow heads of state at a beachside retreat in the coastal city of Danang.

"I have a great relationship with Justin Trudeau, who I just left. I`ll be honest with you, I think I have a great relationship with every single one of them. Every person in that room today," he said.

He also said he had a "very good feeling... a good relationship" with Russia`s Vladimir Putin.

Trump will attend a state banquet on Saturday night ahead of a welcoming and deal signing ceremony in Hanoi on Sunday with Vietnam`s top leadership.

His next stop is the Philippines for a two-day visit that will include an ASEAN summit of Southeast Asian leaders, capping off the 11 day visit to Asia.

There he will hold talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, like Trump a famously outspoken world leader.
LAHORE: Four aides of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who were detained along with the JuD chief by the government of Pakistan's Punjab province under preventative detention since January, have been released.

Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - walked free as the judicial review board refused to extend their detention.

On January 31, Saeed and his four aides were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, which was then extended further.

However, the last two extensions were made under the 'public safety law'.

The home department could not convince the board about keeping the four men in further detention.

Under the law, the government can detain a person for up to 90 days under different charges but for an extension to that detention it needs approval from the judicial review board.

But Saeed's detention was again extended for another 30 days (till November 26) last month under the public safety law.

The Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June, 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of?USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
DANANG: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed a "fresh start" to the relationship between the countries after a meeting in Vietnam that saw them agree to work more closely on North Korea.

The leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang.

Ties between China and Japan, the world`s second- and third-largest economies, have been plagued by a long-running territorial dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islets.

"At the end of the meeting, President Xi said this is a meeting that marks a fresh start of relations between Japan and China. I totally feel the same way," Abe told reporters.

Abe said he has proposed to visit China at an appropriate time, which would then be followed by a Xi visit to Japan.

At the meeting, the two countries agreed to deepen their cooperation on North Korea and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date.

"With the North Korea situation at an important phase, the role China ought to play is very big," Abe said.

China and Japan have also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, Abe said. He also proposed that Japan and China cooperate in doing business in third countries.
DANANG: The United States and Russia issued a presidential joint statement saying there was "no military solution" to the war in Syria, the Kremlin said today, after their leaders met briefly on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vietnam.

There had been mixed messages for days from both Moscow and the White House on whether president Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would hold face-to-face discussions during the APEC summit in Danang.

The pair were seen sharing cordial handshakes and brief conversations three times during the summit but there were no sit-down talks between the two.

In a statement published on its website, the Kremlin said the two presidents had made progress on Syria, which has been battered by six years of civil war.

The US and Russia have backed competing factions in the bloody conflict and agreement between them on the next steps towards peace is rare.

"The presidents agreed that there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria," the statement said, adding that the two sides "confirmed their determination to defeat ISIS" - an alternative name for the Islamic State jihadist group.

The statement also added that the two sides had agreed to keep military channels open to avoid potential clashes over Syria and urged the warring sides to participate in UN-led peace talks in Geneva.

The publication of the statement on the Kremlin's website took reporters travelling with Trump by surprise and there was no immediate response from the White House.

Russia has run a major bombing campaign in Syria since 2015 when it stepped in to support President Bashar al-Assad's fight against rebels - some of them US-backed - tipping the conflict in his favour.

The Russian military has recently accused the United States of merely "pretending" to fight IS in Iraq and of hindering the Russian-backed offensive in eastern Syria.

But the Kremlin said today's joint statement "expressed satisfaction" with efforts to prevent incidents between their respective forces in Syria.

Trump's relationship with Moscow has haunted the first year of his presidency, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin.

Putin and Trump last held face-to-face talks at a G20 summit earlier in the year and there was intense speculation over whether they would so do again in Danang.

But overly amicable talks between Trump and Putin in Vietnam risked being an awkward sell for the White House as it vigorously denies any undue links with the Kremlin.

Earlier in the week, Trump had said he was keen to meet Putin, seeking support in confronting North Korea over its nuclear weapons programme.

The Kremlin also said a meeting was planned for yesterday.

But his aides publically cooled expectations before Trump's arrival at the summit, to the annoyance of Moscow's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov who slammed White House "pen pushers" for sending out mixed messages.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have plummeted as the US probe has accused Trump's former campaign aides of secretly meeting Kremlin-connected officials - a charge Russia denies.

His former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges including conspiracy to launder money, linked to the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations that the campaign colluded with Russia.

Russia has denied allegations of interfering in the US election last year that brought Trump to power.


DA NANG: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his United States counterpart Donald Trump shook hands and exchanged a few words at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

The two leaders had an opportunity to do so while the summit`s participants were taking a group photo wearing the national costumes of the host country, Tass news agency reported.

The two leaders, both wearing oversized, blue traditional-style Vietnamese shirts provided by the host country, stood next to one another for a picture. Trump put his hand on Putin's shoulder in a friendly manner as they exchanged a couple of words at the summit.

Earlier, White House had said that the two leaders will not hold a formal meeting due to scheduling conflicts on both sides.

"There was never a meeting confirmed and there will not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides. We're not going to be able to make anything work, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.

"There's no formal meeting or anything scheduled for them. Now, they`re going to be in the same place, so are they going to bump into each other and say hello," she added.
Vietnam: Chinese President Xi Jinping met here on Friday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on further strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation on regional and international affairs.

The pair met on the sidelines of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders` Meeting held in Vietnam`s Da Nang city, Xinhua reported.

Recalling his multiple meetings with Putin, Xi said their efforts in guiding a steady and long-term growth of China-Russia ties at a high level have achieved gratifying results.

Noting that China and Russia have firmly supported each other in safeguarding their core national interests, and further strengthened political mutual trust, Xi said the two countries are strategic partners that have truly placed trust in each other.

The Chinese president said the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has set a good example for a new type of international relations that highlights mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation.

Putin extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and pledged to always make the development of Russia-China partnership a priority of Russia.

Russia stands ready to enhance cooperation with China in regional and international affairs, carry out closer communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the APEC, and push forward the construction of the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific, said Putin.

The two leaders also exchanged views on issues of common concern, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
MOUNT PLEASANT  After Gov. Scott Walker and Foxconn Chairman and CEO Terry Gou signed the contract Friday to bring the Foxconn Technology Group to Wisconsin, the Village of Mount Pleasant took its own step to help keep the project moving forward.

Meeting in a rare Friday night session, the village Planning Commission unanimously recommended rezoning of the land where the Foxconn Technology Group plans to build its massive manufacturing facility  1,198 acres between Interstate 94 and Highway H and between Highway KR and Braun Road.

The Village Board on Monday night is scheduled to vote on the business park rezoning recommendation for the Foxconn area.

According to its contract with Foxconn Technology Group, the state could provide as much as $2.85 billion worth of tax credits to the company. In exchange, Foxconn is to invest $9 billion to construct the facility and hope to create as many as 10,000 construction jobs and 13,000 manufacturing jobs at their Mount Pleasant technology campus.

Cant stop progress

Floyd Leonard, an appointed citizen member of the Planning Commission, recused himself from the rezoning vote because hes directly affected by Foxconn coming to the village.

As co-owner of Floyds Towing and Recovery, 1525 Durand Ave., Mount Pleasant, the business bought a 20-acre piece of property off the Interstate 94 east frontage road more than 10 years ago with hopes of it becoming a second location and putting up some buildings on the property that could be rented out.

Leonard said they had just finished paying off the land when public officials announced the site would be part of the Foxconn deal.

At that moment, Leonard said he felt a lump in the throat, but added you cant stop progress.

We had to swallow that (cost) and well have to see what we do next, Floyd said. Well be fine  I think its probably the best for the village. We really need a boost and I think this will give it to us.

Having only been on the Planning Commission for the last year, Leonard said hes had affected property owners in the Foxconn area approach him with concerns that their taxes will go up once the land is rezoned.

Everybody seems to be worried about their taxes and I want to make sure that they understand that their (assessment classification) would be the same until it was developed, Leonard said, adding that current property owners will be grandfathered in as far as how their property is assessed.

Despite being affected by Foxconn moving in on his land, Leonard said he welcomes the company and hopes others do, too, saying life changes and we have to change with it.

I hope and pray that the people of Mount Pleasant learn its progress and we needed it, Leonard said. We lost a lot of industry. This should really be a push. I think it will be a great thing.
November 9, 2017

TEHRAN, Iran  The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the formation of a series of republics in the Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Since these states' independence, Iran, which regards the Caucasus as a strategic region, has sought friendly relations with them. It now enjoys very good ties with Armenia and balanced relations with Georgia. In the case of Azerbaijan, bilateral relations have been maintained despite political tensions primarily revolving around Bakus ties with Israel. In recent years, however, Tehran and Baku have begun to develop more extensive relations than those between Iran and the two other Caucasus nations.

Jafar Khashe, a senior researcher at the Caucasus Studies Institute, told Al-Monitor, Since Azerbaijans independence, the Islamic Republic of Iran has supported it both in political and economic areas. There were, however, some impediments in their ties, which hindered extensive cooperation. But certain regional developments in recent years made Baku pay attention to the Iran-Russia axis, an issue which was also welcomed by Iran, and finally resulted in the promotion of Tehran-Baku mutual relations.

After the election of Hassan Rouhani as Irans president in 2013, bilateral ties with Azerbaijan experienced a remarkable expansion, as his administration pursued interactions with other countries, especially neighboring states. For a better understanding of how relations between the two countries have evolved in recent years, Al-Monitor spoke with Mohsen Pakaein, who served as Irans ambassador to Azerbaijan from late 2012 to August 2016.

The two countries have signed 103 documents so far, including 30 economic pacts, on a whole range of economic issues, including oil, gas, petrochemicals and bilateral trade in various spheres, Pakaein said. Currently, the value of trade exchanges between the two countries amounts to $500 million, which will increase in the next year.

The two countries have several major projects underway, including construction of an automobile plant in Azerbaijan to produce 10,000 cars annually. Over the next month, Iran and Azerbaijan expect the key railway connecting Irans Astara and Azerbaijani Astara to become operational. In the meantime, another railway is being built between Rasht, Iran, and Azerbaijani Astara, with Baku having expressed its readiness to invest $100 million in it.

The railway projects, part of the North-South Transport Corridor, have been intensely pursued by both sides. Iranian Economy Minister Massud Karbasian was quoted by Iranian media as saying during a late October visit to Azerbaijan, The railway [system] will connect 14 southern, eastern and western neighbors of Iran to Azerbaijan, while connecting Azerbaijan to southeast Asia through the Persian Gulf.

The two neighbors have also begun talks about new collaborations, including construction of a bus-manufacturing plant and the establishment of medical centers in Azerbaijan. In addition, Iran has expressed readiness to provide its northern neighbor with machinery to modernize its agriculture. Also on the agenda is opening an independent bank aimed at facilitating financial and agricultural contracts in Azerbaijan, as well as the use of the two countries currencies in mutual trade exchanges.

According to official figures, bilateral trade between Iran and Azerbaijan rose by 70% in 2016. It also grew by 30% in the first nine months of 2017 compared with the corresponding period last year. Azerbaijans president, Ilham Aliyev, hailed the news growth Oct. 27, days before an official visit to Tehran, stating, [It] shows that all agreements reached between the two countries are being implemented.

Cooperation between the two countries is not limited to trade. In October in Baku, Iran and Azerbaijan held their first meeting on joint defense cooperation with the aim of promoting their military relations. Officials of both countries have on various occasions stressed the political will to further expand ties.

The two countries economic relations, like their political ties, are expanding every day and Iran can become the Republic of Azerbaijans biggest trade partner in the near future, Pakaein told Al-Monitor.

To this end, joint economic commissions between Tehran and Baku that had been suspended for five years were resumed after Rouhanis election in 2013, and annual sessions have been held as part of efforts to accelerate economic projects. Dozens of high-level visits, including 10 official meetings at the presidential level, have been held.

The latest meeting between Rouhani and Aliyev took place Nov. 1 in Tehran, on the sidelines of a trilateral session that included their Russia counterpart, Vladimir Putin. At a joint presser the same day, Rouhani reiterated Irans determination to further expand ties.

Interaction with the world, especially neighboring countries, is a key strategy pursued by Tehran. We welcome every means that leads to enhancing ties with Moscow and Baku, Rouhani said.

Pakaein believes that cooperation between Tehran and Baku can be expanded into many fields beyond those in which they are currently engaged. The two neighbors could begin to invest jointly in the Caspian Sea, he said. Iran and Azerbaijan also can cooperate in the construction of dams and power plants as well as the exchange of technical and engineering services.

Despite the majority of cooperation between the two sides being economic related, Khashe believes that their growing economic ties can lay the ground for resolving political issues, including the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Mutual ties between Tehran and Baku, rather than having an economic basis, are because of the political will of their officials, he said. The development of trade and economic relations in recent years has been impacted by regional and multilateral cooperation. Definitely, the continuation of ties both at the mutual [bilateral] and regional levels will lead to more confidence building and will bring their approaches closer to each other.

Despite the expansion of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan reaching a new high in recent years, Irans share of Azerbaijans $9.2 billion import market is still insignificant. In 2016, it only exported $359 million in goods to Azerbaijan, less than 4% of all of Azerbaijan's imports. This is likely to change with facts on the ground suggesting that ties between the two countries will likely further expand in coming years.
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Syrian-Armenian women who settled in Armenia shouldnt look for other countries. They can feel support and achieve success in their homeland. This is the urge of Armenian-Kuwaiti businesswoman Helen Azaryan, who reached Kuwaits Clinic from Armenias polytechnic university, and founded her own medical center and achieved success. She shared her success story during a meeting titled Close Conversation of Women, where she exchanged her experience with Syrian-Armenian women.

Photos by Mkhitar Khachatryan

ARMENPRESS presents the success story of Helen Azaryan.

Future doctor of the polytechnic university

I studied in the national polytechnic university of Armenia, however I always wanted to be engaged in medicine. After graduating, the most affordable for me in this branch was Haybusak university. I enrolled there, graduated with a profession of cosmetologist-doctor. I married in 1993, and me and my husband left for Kuwait.

The Armenian who kept Kuwaitis in line

In Kuwait, where I was working, I was given an office in an underground floor, while the most famous dermatologist of Kuwait was working on the 3rd floor of the same building. Once he approached the buildings supervisor and said that Kuwaitis dont like to wait in line. And he started asking who it was that worked downstairs for whom so many people stood in line. The supervisor said: Its an Armenian who came from Armenia.

The woman with the Golden fingers

The flow of visitors was growing. Once a reporter approached me and asked an interview. However, since I was very busy, I asked that he talks with the visitors who are waiting for me. He met a woman who I treated from a serious condition. She said the following about me: a woman with golden fingers. This term became popular in Kuwait.

Return to homeland

When I worked in Kuwait, I understood that I need to train as a dermatologist-venerologist. Upon returning to homeland, I continues my studies. But it was in my nature to be engaged in several jobs. During these years I came up with the idea to create the Helios medical center, in which my husband helped me a lot. Helios is the Latin version of Helen.

Helios is known and trusted in Kuwait as a center of Armenians. It was already the 23rd year that I created it in Kuwait, when I founded the international standard center also in Yerevan.

The first building of Helios in Armenia was founded in 2007, the second in 2010, and third in 2016.

Armenian women of the East

After establishing the center I clearly understood what I want, it gave me confidence. I want that all women of my circle to be that way. Syrian-Armenian women shouldnt search in foreign countries what they can truly find in Armenia.

We are all appreciated in our homeland.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Russia and the US will continue joint efforts for the final elimination of the Islamic State terrorist organization, the APEC statement of presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin said.

The presidents reaffirmed their commitment for Syrias sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also called upon all parties involved in the conflict to actively participate in the Geneva process.

The joint statement also mentioned that the presidents rule out a military solution to the Syrian conflict.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. New York Times published a review about the Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Depiction. Documentary about the Armenian Genocide.

Joe Berlinger, the director, uses old footage of survivors and insights from historians to provide an overview of the crimes. Mr. Berlingers plan is smart as well as symbolic  evidence shows that the Turkish government has often pressured studios into shelving movies about the genocide, the NYT said.

Discussions on the film set are intertwined with historical analysis, and there are explorations of crowd psychology, revisionism and German cooperation with the Ottoman Turks. Its no stretch to see how the massacre of Armenians helped lay groundwork for the Holocaust.

If you want to understand Yugoslavia, if you want to understand Rwanda, if you want to understand any other mass atrocity [that] is happening today, you should really look into the Armenian genocide, one scholar says near the end of the documentary, the NYC review says.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Relative calm was maintained in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact November 5 -11.

The Artsakh military said Azerbaijani forces made nearly 200 ceasefire violations during the abovementioned period. Azerbaijani troops fired 2300 rounds at Artsakhi positions from various firearms.

The Artsakhi military said the Defense Army is in full control of the situation.
RACINE  A measure that is growing in Wisconsin to combat bullying may soon become an ordinance in Racine.

A City Council committee is scheduled this week to discuss a proposed anti-bullying ordinance. Details of the proposal were not available as of Friday. However, 14th District Alderman Jason Meekma said the goal is to show that the city cares about its community members. In other parts of the state, such ordinances allow parents to face fines if they dont intervene in their childrens bullying behavior.

Meekma said he wants to see Racine take a more proactive and holistic approach in addressing bullying. An ordinance like this, Meekma said, would give the city the chance to take a stand against bullying and involve parents in conversations about their childrens behavior.

This is giving us the ability to not allow people to say its not my problem, or theyre just being kids,  he said.

A growing number of communities around the state and country are implementing such measures.

The City of Monona in Dane County, for example, created an anti-bullying rule in 2013. Two years later, the Village of Plover in central Wisconsin created its own ordinance. Under that rule, parents can receive a written warning about their child bullying others. If the child bullies again within 90 days, parents could be fined.

Plover Police Chief Dan Ault said the purpose is not about the government telling parents how to raise their kids. Instead, he said, the goal is to educate and involve parents before an issue escalates and a tragedy occurs.

When a parent says this is an undue hardship, I say no, this is not, Ault said. This is actually preventing one from occurring to two families.

Because parents have the greatest influence and authority with their kids, they need to play a role in preventing bullying, Ault said. Social media and other online resources have given bullies a wider audience, and a platform where hurtful actions stay around longer than an insult on a playground. That, he said, calls for rethinking how communities address the issue.

Plover has not fined any parents under its ordinance, Ault said, but some parents have received warning letters. Police can then educate parents about tools and resources at their disposal to address the issue.

This actually allows us to be engaged with the parent, he said. It gives a consequence if they dont take it seriously.

Jail time in New York

An ordinance created in New York state takes the measure one step further. Last month, the City of North Tonawanda decided parents could face jail time if they dont address their childrens bullying, according to ABC News.

Meekma said he doesnt see Racine incarcerating people. Even if the city decides not to implement an anti-bullying ordinance, he said, this proposal offers an opportunity to bring the community together for a conversation about Racines approach to the issue.

The Public Safety and Licensing Committee is scheduled to discuss the proposal at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 730 Washington Ave.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. The upcoming Armenia-EU agreement is a document of serious political significance, because it clearly formulates the negotiated and agreed approach with the EU of the Artsakh issue settlement, chairman of the parliamentary committee of foreign relations Armen Ashotyan said.

After the ratification of the agreement the EY will factually express the opinion of 28 developed countries. After all, the Azerbaijani efforts on changing the format of the negotiations process will be closed under this agreement. The EU cant sign a document after 1.5-2 years with Azerbaijan where something different will be states in terms of Artsakh, Ashotyan said.

Armenia is ready to sign this agreement. Similar statements were made by high-level EU officials as well, he said.

Ashotyan said the signing of the agreement proves that Armenia is a leading country in the EEU territory.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. It is difficult for national minorities living in Turkey, including Armenians, to exercise their rights of international guarantees and civil legal norms. In addition, the minorities have appeared under the crosshairs of hate speech in the state of emergency which was declared after the failed military coup attempt, ethnic Armenian Member of Parliament of Turkey Selina Dogan from the Republican Peoples Party told Politik Yol in an interview.

She stressed that after the death of Hrant Dink the issues of Armenians living in Turkey became more visible and discussed.

There is an increasing level of hate atmosphere in the country in the recent years. And this has all become a domestic policy issue. A revolution is being attempted, and the next day Fetulah Gullen is being called Armenian. This is a card which is always kept in the pocket and shown on every convenient occasion. It is unfortunate that although the Turkish Criminal Code regulates hate crime, every time we address this law we are unable to have any result. On the contrary, every time we turn out to be guilty, Dogan said.

Dogan says the national legislation of Turkey, which is still in use which was adopted during the Ottoman Empire, should be amended in compliance with modern requirements.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. The Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP) to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation held elections October 30-November 14 in Paris in the UNESCO headquarters.

Armenia has been elected with a 4 year term from Eastern Europe countries.

In May of 2015, Armenia was elected to the Subsidiary Committee of the Meeting of States Parties to the 1970 Convention with a 4 year term.
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.
dystopian

As the nation collectively reels and mourns the heinous, wicked tragedy of at least twenty-seven lives lost because of an evil act of hate in a Texas church , we find ourselves once again factionalizing and staring down those on the other side of the gun debate.Yet, will all of the finger pointing bring back the innocent men, women, and children that were murdered? Will it foster dialogue that is more concerned with solutions than with partisanship? Will it stop violent people from attempting further destruction? No, no, and no.Who or where we turn to for answers when tragedy strikes is very telling. It reveals where our hope for ultimate justice lies. On Sunday, many were disparaged by Hollywood, mainstream media, and others for saying their prayers were with the families of the victims. Let that sink in. The energy these people could have expended toward showing compassion, unity, or even issuing a simple condolence was instead spent on attacking the very God these worshipers looked to for eternal-not just earthly-justice and vindication.It boggles the mind that some would rather make enemies out of victims, but that's what happens when one prioritizes political programs and partisan-driven policies over real people that have faced genuine heartbreak.Sadly, the cold and callousness heaped upon country music fans and praying Christians in the wake of mass shootings will likely continue; it is proving to be an effective tool to rally the gun control troops. Thus, it is essential that Americans devoted to constitutional values have a clear and distilled position on both the 2nd Amendment and human anthropology.When it comes to restrictions on 2nd Amendment rights, it oftentimes feels as if conservatives and progressives keep circling the same tree. The same arguments are offered that have been heard so many times, it's akin to white noise. Each side tunes the other out, and we find ourselves right where we started: endless bickering with little to show in the way of measurable results. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, maybe we should avoid giving a platform to the same old rhetoric that merely stirs up our base and, instead, begin to find ways to persuade compassionate centrists on the importance of the right to bear arms.What about when the man or woman in the center says they're afraid a pro-2nd Amendment stance places people at risk? How should you respond? By calling them a name and resorting to ad hominem attacks? No. Ask them, "What finally caused the murderer in Texas to stop shooting?" The answer? A heroic citizen with a gun.The more evil we have in the world, the greater our need for an abundance of good people capable of stopping bad things from happening.A belief that good people are able to stop bad people, when allowed to possess the tools to do so, however, requires an understanding of human anthropology that is lost on those hostile to Christianity and Western values in general. Why do we place such a high premium on liberty in the West? Historically, it is because we have placed a high value on the belief that individual autonomy and free association, when working in concert with virtue, is capable of amazing things.Woefully, words like good and evil have become so hyper-subjective, especially in some sectors of Hollywood, academia, and other elite circles, that they are almost unrecognizable. This has led to a belief that things once considered virtuous, such as prayer, are scoffed at. Individual autonomy is now code for if it feels good, do it. The revolution of words has made good, evil, and individualism linguistically unrecognizable to a large segment of our populace. Thus, it becomes easier to see why country music fans and praying Christians receive nearly just as much derision as the killers.So, where does this leave those who would mourn and weep for the unspeakably tragic loss of innocent life, yet know that eliminating guns will only disarm the good guys? It leaves us with a mandate. A mandate to (1) speak persuasively and civilly to those in the center, winning them over to the side that gives women, children, and men a fighting chance at safety, (2) not cede ground to those that have an agenda based onutopian thought, rather than reality...while continuing to be civil to them, and (3) promote a culture of virtue and accountability. If all we do is spout pro-gun rhetoric, but fail to promote a free and virtuous society, we have missed the mark.
President Donald J. Trump strengthened international resolve to address the security challenges presented by North Korea. The two leaders renewed their commitment to address unprecedented security challenges from North Korea. The President underscored his commitment to enhancing Japan's defense capabilities as part of our commitments to the Alliance and to making available advanced defensive equipment. The President pledged to protect the people of Japan, as emphasized in remarks to American and Japanese troops at Yokota Airbase and at his press conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The President and the First Lady met with families of Japanese nationals abducted by the North Korean regime.President Trump advanced high-standard rules so the Indo-Pacific region can continue to develop and prosper. The United States and Japan reaffirmed their mutual commitment to promoting prosperity and development of the Indo-Pacific region by fostering a secure environment and developing high-standard rules. On November 7, 2017, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation will sign Memoranda of Understanding with Japanese partners to offer high-quality United States-Japan infrastructure investment alternatives in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States and Japan launched the Japan-United States Strategic Energy Partnership to promote universal access to affordable and reliable energy in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. On November 6, 2017, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to help bring high-quality energy infrastructure solutions to the Indo-Pacific region.President Trump promoted American prosperity and trade, including new investments that will employ thousands of American workers. President Trump and Prime Minister Abe reaffirmed their commitment to fostering strong domestic, demand-driven growth and fair trade practices that result in more balanced trade. The President delivered clear public messages on the need for balanced trade and greater market access commitments from Japan. Toyota and Mazda announced a $1.6 billion investment in a new manufacturing plant in the United States that will create an estimated 4,000 jobs. Japan committed to taking new trade actions in the areas of motor vehicles and life sciences innovation. The two leaders affirmed their commitment to continuing space cooperation at the Second International Space Exploration Forum and at the next Comprehensive Space Dialogue. The two leaders committed to enhancing cyber cooperation to counter threats from increasingly harmful and disruptive activities in cyberspace.White House 
Dear Mr. Speaker:I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget amendments for the Department of Defense (DOD). The request includes an additional $4.0 billion to support urgent missile defeat and defense enhancements to counter the threat from North Korea, $0.7 billion to repair damage to U.S. Navy ships, and $1.2 billion in support of my Administration's South Asia strategy.This request supports additional efforts to detect, defeat, and defend against any North Korean use of ballistic missiles against the United States, its deployed forces, allies, or partners. The request also includes costs necessary to repair damage to and restore the operational readiness of the USS John S. McCain and the USS Fitzgerald. These ships provide critical naval presence and additional ballistic missile defense capabilities in the Asia-Pacific theater. My Administration requests that the funding requested for missile defense and Navy ship repairs be designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (the "Act").This request also includes costs associated with increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan in support of my Administration's South Asia strategy. The additional resources would enable DOD to deploy an additional 3,500 troops, and includes funding for urgent needs and special operations forces capabilities. My Administration requests that the funding to support the South Asia strategy be designated as Overseas Contingency Operations pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the Act.In addition, I ask the Congress to act on the FY 2018 Budget request for the border wall of $1.6 billion within the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Procurement, Construction, and Improvements account. Providing for the safety and security of the American people is my top priority. That priority is reflected in both the enclosed DOD Budget amendments and the border wall request, which provides the down payment on what CBP needs to secure the southwest border.The details of the DOD Budget amendments are set forth in the enclosure from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The border wall request was set forth in the FY 2018 Budget request.White House 
RACINE  Saturdays Veterans Day program at Memorial Hall gave tribute to the service of veterans on and off the battlefield.

State Rep. Tom Weatherston, R-Caledonia, challenged his fellow veterans who were planning on taking advantage of free meals in the area, to reach out to other veterans, such as those at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Union Grove.

(It) wont cost you anything but a little extra gasoline and youll make a new friend, said Weatherston. I bet you theres a few veterans right here in town that are not as mobile as we are or that dont have a car. Offer that ride to Applebees or wherever youre going today to them, too.

Lets not make this Veterans Day about us, but about taking care of our fellow vets, he said. Lets reach out, take care of our brothers and sisters.

County Executive Jonathan Delagrave opened his speech by acknowledging the contributions of veterans not only on the battlefield but in Racine as well.

Here in Racine County, veterans are the pillars of our community, said Delagrave. They are true quiet everyday heroes  the people that have made Racine County a better place to live.

Delagrave talked about Weatherstons service.

They are your neighbors like Rep. Weatherston who served in Vietnam as an engineer, he said. Did you know that he was ambushed, shot and hid for over 24 hours on the side of a hill covered with razor grass until he was rescued? I cannot imagine the thoughts that ran through his head during those harrowing moments.

Racine Mayor Cory Mason talked about the inadequacy of words to express the gratitude he and the nation owe veterans.

It is hard for me to muster exactly what words would be appropriate to express what should be an endless amount of thanks and gratitude from a nation that gets to continue and persist for another generation because of the sacrifices of the people in this room, he said. It really is a humbling thing to stop and pause and appreciate everything that all of you have done in service to our country.

Pat Adams from Racines Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 767 spoke of an organization founded by two Marines, Jake Wood and William McNulty, who decided to apply their military training to helping the people of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

They formed Team Rubicon after that experience, a volunteer organization that gives veterans the opportunity to apply their skills to assist in disaster areas. Team Rubicon still has volunteers in Texas, Louisiana, Puerto Rico and Dominica helping with recovery efforts after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Adams encouraged anyone interested to sign up to volunteer with the organization, veterans and non-veterans alike.

Adams also announced the Racine VVA is raising money to bring the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to Racine in May 2019. Organizers are holding a fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse, 6228 Durand Ave. on Monday from 4 to 8 p.m.
On Wednesday, feminist writer Lindy West penned a truly absurd op-ed for The New York Times. The premise: that Americans don't want women to demonstrate their anger, even in cases of sexual harassment and assault. The column is a masterpiece of outrageous, wrongful attribution of motives to those who disagree with West's political platform - if you disagree with her, you must want to silence her because she is A Woman, and you are A Sexist.She leads off by telling us how angry she is:But she can't exactly describe where. Here is her list of examples of women being silenced for their anger:Every single one of these examples has nothing to do with sexual assault or harassment, or even with mistreatment for being A Woman. Cruz was criticized for grandstanding - she had T-shirts made so she could appear on television and berate Trump. Wilson was criticized for grandstanding - she broke confidence and went public with subjective accusations that Trump had mistreated a Gold Star widow. Briskman wasn't fired for flipping off Trump, but for using that photo as her profile photo on Facebook and Twitter; her employer is a government contractor. Solange was ridiculed for getting into a fight with Jay-Z on an elevator; Britney Spears attacked paparazzi with an umbrella; Sinead O'Connor sent an angry Facebook note; the Dixie Chicks called President Bush a traitor; Rosie O'Donnell has a long history of politically outrageous statements. Michelle Obama said she wasn't proud of her country until her husband's nomination. Hillary Clinton has repeatedly attacked political opponents in the most vitriolic ways.None of this has to do with sexism. And none of it has to do with sexual harassment or assault.But Lindy West isn't actually writing about sexual harassment and assault. She's angry because Sexist Men won't agree with her on politics, and then say she's angry.Okay, so you're a disapproving scold. Can we move on yet?Apparently not. Next, West conflates disagreement with her political opinions with greenlighting domestic violence and rape:Not only are women expected to weather sexual violence, intimate partner violence, workplace discrimination, institutional subordination, the expectation of free domestic labor, the blame for our own victimization, and all the subtler, invisible cuts that undermine us daily, we are not even allowed to be angry about it. Close your eyes and think of America.That's absolutely insane. She can't name the men who say women should bear rape or domestic violence or workplace discrimination. But they exist. She knows they exist, because many men oppose abortion:Nobody expects West not to complain. She seems to be making quite a living out of it. And it seems counterproductive to expect that which will never occur. But her anger isn't justifiable. We have political debates in America all the time. And yes, men are allowed to have opinions on whether life in the womb is worthy of preservation, and we regularly do so without diminishing, degrading or discrediting female value. But not according to West. Mess with West's agenda, and you must hate people with vaginas.Most hilariously, West issues a bitter call for a female president. You see, if she didn't get Hillary and she wanted Hillary and you didn't, you're a Sexist - and if you point out that it's rather sexist to prefer a candidate simply based on sex, you're even more of a Sexist:We are expected to agree (and we comply!) with the paternal admonition that it is irresponsible and hyperemotional to request one female president after 241 years of male ones - because that would be tokenism, anti-democratic and dangerous - as though generations of white male politicians haven't proven themselves utterly disinterested in caring for the needs of communities to which they do not belong. As though white men's monopolistic death-grip on power in America doesn't belie precisely the kind of "identity politics" they claim to abhor. As though competent, qualified women are so thin on the ground that even a concerted, sincere, large-scale search for one would be a long shot, and any resulting candidate a compromise. Meanwhile, as a reminder of the bar for male competence, Donald Trump is the president.She concludes by stating that if you're a woman who isn't angry, you're selling out to The Man. Or at least, the Men:I did not call myself a feminist until I was nearly 20 years old. My world had taught me that feminists were ugly and ridiculous, and I did not want to be ugly and ridiculous. I wanted to be cool and desired by men, because even as a teenager I knew implicitly that pandering for male approval was a woman's most effective currency. It was my best shot at success, or at least safety, and I wasn't sophisticated enough to see that success and safety, bestowed conditionally, aren't success and safety at all. They are domestication and implied violence. To put it another way, it took me two decades to become brave enough to be angry. Feminism is the collective manifestation of female anger. They suppress our anger for a reason. Let's prove them right.Well, as long as her anger makes her happy, she's welcome to it (although it doesn't seem to be making her very happy). But it's not sexist to say that it's a rather ugly perspective on the world to attribute your unjustified anger to wrongs never done to you, or to conflate political disagreements with some form of nefarious discrimination. Perhaps people of both sexes ought to reconsider their anger - whether it's justified and appropriate, and whether it's effective. Then we might be able to have some rational conversations, instead of screaming into the wind while patting ourselves on the back.
"Jews, homosexuals and Roma should be gassed," said an influential extreme right wing politician in Czech parliament

11. 11. 2017

cas cteni 1 minuta



"Jews, gays and Roma should be gassed," said Jaroslav Stanik, the secretary of the ultra-right wing Czech populist party "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) and a close collaborator of the party leader Tomio Okamura, in parliament. Because of such statements, Stanik got embroiled in a verbal conflict with the Czech Social Democratic Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Michaela Marksova-Tominova and some other MPs. The conflict took place in one of the restaurants in the Czech Parliament, which are not accessible to the public.



"As I entered the restaurant, he said 'You are that Marx-Engels minister. You support homosexuals.' He added that they should be gassed and liquidated. I remonstrated with him verbally," said the minister, adding that Stanik was heavily drunk. "Jews, gays and Roma should be gassed," said Jaroslav Stanik, the secretary of the ultra-right wing Czech populist party "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) and a close collaborator of the party leader Tomio Okamura, in parliament. Because of such statements, Stanik got embroiled in a verbal conflict with the Czech Social Democratic Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Michaela Marksova-Tominova and some other MPs. The conflict took place in one of the restaurants in the Czech Parliament, which are not accessible to the public."As I entered the restaurant, he said 'You are that Marx-Engels minister. You support homosexuals.' He added that they should be gassed and liquidated. I remonstrated with him verbally," said the minister, adding that Stanik was heavily drunk.







Marek Cernoch, MP for Usvit, said that Stanik's statements were even worse. "He demanded that all homosexuals, Roma, and Jews should be shot immediately after they have been born. He also verbally attacked the women that were present with gross insults."



Several other witnesses have confirmed that Stanik demanded the gassing of Jews and Roma.



In the general election which took place on 20th and 21st October, Stanik's SPD party won 10.64% of the vote and holds 22 seats in the 200 seat lower chamber of the Czech Parliament.



Source in Czech HERE





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Designating early elementary students who are close to being proficient in English as English-language learners can have significant and positive effects on the academic achievement of the students, new research concludes.

The study concludes that additional support that students receive as English-learners helps foster higher achievement in language arts and mathematics than students who were on the cusp but were identified as initial English-proficient studentsand, as a result, did not receive the extra services.

Nami Shina research scientist at CRESST, the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards & Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angelesused results from state mathematics and English language arts exams and grades to examine differences in academic performance between the two groups from kindergarten through 10th grade.

Shin found that the English-learner students performed better on state tests during the early elementary grades, but their advantage shrank as all the students reached middle and high school.

The gap probably narrowed, Shin said, because more than 50 percent of the English-learners in the study were reclassified as English proficient by 5th grade, and were no longer eligible for ELL support services. So, as more students were deemed English-proficient, both groups of students were more likely to receive the same instruction and services.

The findings of Shins research conflict with 2016 research from Ilana Umansky , an assistant professor in the University of Oregons College of Education.

Both researchers studied student performance in urban districts in California. But thats where the similarities end.

Umansky found that students on the cusp who were identified as English-learners ended up scoring significantly lower on math and English/language arts tests. Umansky blamed their classification as English-learners, and the diminished teacher expectations and social stigma tied to that status, for the lower test scores.

Shin saw things differently. She argues that the presence of that social stigma motivated ELLs, pushing them to catch up with the initial English-proficient students and native English-speaking peers in order to be reclassifiedand drop the ELL labelas soon as possible.

Shin and Umansky both cautioned that the effect of ELL classification found in their studies should be carefully interpreted and generalized. While they both focused their work in California, they studied in different districts, Shin said.

Even within the same district, the extent to which each program is implemented might differ at school, classroom, and individual student levels, Shin wrote. Therefore, the effect of the initial classification, is likely to vary across different settings.

Heres a link to an abstract of Shins study, The Effects of the Initial English Language Learner Classification on Students Later Academic Outcomes , and a link to a post about Umanskys study .

Related Stories and Video

English-Language-Learner Classification Can Impede Student Growth, Study Finds

Pre-K Literacy Key to English-Language Learner Reclassification, Study Finds

Does the Term English-Language Learner Carry a Negative Connotation?

Photo Credit: Teaching assistant Richard Nolasco listens to Joshua Flores and Kemari Barnes during their prekindergarten class at Tulsas Dual Language Academy. The population of Oklahomas second-largest school district has shifted dramatically in recent years, with nearly 1 in every 3 students coming from homes where Spanish is the primary language.

--Shane Bevel for Education Week


We are all familiar with the marquee protests in American history: the 1963 March on Washington, the 1969 anti-Vietnam War protest, and the 2017 post-inaugural Women's March. This weekend in Los Angeles, the #MeTooMarch will be protesting the normalizing of rape culture. With the recent bizarre acceptance by many Republicans of Roy Moore, who has a well-sourced history of pedophilia, issue-responsive protests like this are growing more urgent, frequent, and necessary.

With all of this renewed activism in the U.S. and recent Democratic victories in off-year elections, it's important to remember and learn from what has worked in the past. Brittany Shoot wrote a great piece in Atlas Obscura on an often overlooked but highly impactful protest that involved no marching at all. The fact that the protestors were disabled some physically, some mentally  didn't stop them from conducting the longest non-violent occupation of a federal building in United States history, the 504 Sit-In.

What they accomplished bettered millions of lives to this day. If you're interested in understanding what it takes to effect major changes in policy, or get inspired to do something, this well-written piece about the 26-day long sit-in is worth a few minutes of your time:

(Read Brittany Shoot's full article here)

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 included the little-noticed Section 504, which was based on the 1964 Civil Rights Act and mandated integration of people with disabilities into mainstream institutions. But the language was broad, only noting that "no qualified individual with a disability should, only by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." By 1977, disability rights activists weary of asking nicely for their civil rights, decided to moveinto the HEW offices [Health, Education, and Welfare], that is. "At that time in history, there was simply no accessno right to an education, no public transit. You couldn't get into a library or city hall, much less a courtroom," says 504 Sit-In participant, author, and disability rights advocate Corbett Joan O'Toole. She notes that as late as the 1970s, there were no federally mandated social services or agencies for individuals living with disabilities. If an individual wanted to hire an in-home attendant or interpreter, it had to happen through pre-existing social networks.

The interdependency of the group itself, along with the cooperation of other social justice groups, like The Black Panther Party, was significant and very relevant now:

O'Toole notes that people with disabilitiesas well as people who are also part of other marginalized populations such as the LGBT communityare accustomed to the type of cooperative interdependence that was necessary for 504. The 100-plus occupiers and their attendants made the building their own almost immediately, draping a window air conditioning unit with a plastic tarp to create a makeshift refrigerator for medications and using the pay phones to communicate with loved ones and news media on the outside until the FBI cut the lines. There were daily consensus-driven committee meetings about everything from media strategy to how to respond to a bomb scare false alarm, in the event the FBI employed tactics to evacuate the building. "Disabled people are incredibly resourceful," O'Toole says. "That is a commonly misunderstood and overlooked part of our history, and it led to the success of 504." "They [the Black Panther Party] understood what it meant to support a revolutionary movement that wasn't just on the street with weapons," O'Toole says, pointing to the Party's groundbreaking Free Breakfast for Children initiative, which eventually served a reported 20,000 low-income children and influenced federal guidelines for free breakfast and lunch programs still vital in the nation's public schools. Under 504, nondiscrimination became a legal, fundamental right. Within months of the sit-in, noticeable changes began to take place in urban landscapes, in university classrooms, in the workplace, and in public spaces including libraries, courtrooms, and public transit. Cities instituted curb cuts from street to sidewalk. Federal buildings made adjustments to become accessible to all, including installing ramps and wider restroom stalls. Regulations instituted as a result of the success of 504, ushered in a new era of accessibility that led to the passage of Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990.

Image: Nathan Keirn
The Paradise Papers continue to expose the economically useless activity that late-stage capitalism rewards with titanic sums of money: today, it's the story of Julien Lavallee, a botmaster ticket-scalper who has harvested the lion's share of concert tickets from all over the world, laundering them for millions through a secret "top seller" program that Stubhub offers to anyone who can move more than $50,000 worth of tickets per year.

Though virtually all the territories in which Lavallee operates ban bots from raiding ticket-sales, and even criminalize actions like lying to make your business appear to be a person looking for tickets, Lavallee takes advantage of the ambiguous way that these laws operate on out-of-country purchasers to gross millions ($7.9 million in 2016 accounted for in the Paradise Papers).





So while the UK criminalizes masquerading as a regular ticket-purchaser, it can't reach to Canada where Lavallee operates. And while Canada has stiff penalties for essential elements of the scalper's playbook, it doesn't penalize Canadians who break those rules in the UK.

Lavallee is described by unnamed Stubhub employees as "one of their biggest global resellers."

Lavallee's affairs are hard to unravel, but they're full of sketchy-as-hell alarm bells, like the company registered to an address in the Isle of Man, a UK tax haven  no one at that address had heard of the company, and the day after the CBC knocked on the door, Lavallee closed the company down.





Ticket scalping is almost a perfect parody of finance shenanigans, the kind of economically useless activity that masquerades as "liquidity provision" or "arbitrage" on Wall Street and in the City of London. It's a kind of microcosm of how finance rigs the system: people who want to do something in the "real economy" (see a concert) get fleeced by people who use high-speed trading algorithms to snatch the necessary elements of this economic activity out from under them, extracting several multiples of the asset-price from them, and neither the buyer nor the original seller (the performers) get a penny from it. Both the buyer and seller have to live in the real economy, where the money they spend and earn is taxed, while the much larger sums extracted by the useless middle-men are squirreled away offshore and tax-free. Squint a little and you've got the whole late-stage capitalist economy in a snowglobe miniature, begging to be smashed to the pavement.



Lavallee, his wife and father, who work together in the business, all declined to answer questions. In an emailed statement, his lawyer said Ticketaria "carries out all its activities in accordance with the laws and rules of the jurisdictions in which it operates and sells."



Canadian scalper's multimillion-dollar StubHub scheme exposed in Paradise Papers [Dave Seglins, Rachel Houlihan and Valerie Ouellet/CBC News]





(via /.)

(Image: Magnus D, CC-BY)
Dos And Don'ts Of Winter Fashion

The Dos And Don'ts Of Surviving Winter In Style

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Fall and winter reign supreme when it comes to fashion. With longer evenings and cooler days, now is the time to layer up and get savvy with accessories. From Military parka jackets to oversized man-bags, 2017 is set to be a casual affair with lots of high-end designer accents. Look out for camouflage and navy or green items to compete with catwalks around the world.

Youll see some firm favorites, like the humble Chelsea boot and bomber jacket returning to stores near you, alongside new seasonal trends, like statement sweaters and shirts taking center stage. Whether youre just looking for some quick style pointers on how to brush up for winter, or you want to step out into the spotlight, youre about to get a winter breakdown on what to wear from head-to-toe.

Remember, what you wear says a lot about who you are, and broadcasts a signal to your friends, family, and even the people you work with. While some people might underestimate the power of a new pair of shoes or a sweater, these simple style hacks also play a powerful role in how we carry ourselves. Learn to step forward with an empowered outlook, and see how fashion is a practical tool for success.

Keep reading to discover the dos and donts of winter fashion, and how to incorporate this year's biggest trends into your repertoire.

DONT Dress for an Arctic Freeze

Unless you live somewhere that genuinely grapples with the depths of winter, chances are layering, and a decent winter coat is sufficient. Layers are perfect for fall and winter and instantly create a seasonal look. Think scarves, bobble hats, leather gloves, and cashmere sweaters, and youre already on your way to becoming your a winter fashion mogul.

If you want to go one step further, youll want to invest in a decent coat thatll put you on trend without having to shop for a whole new closet. Parka jackets and trench coats are going to be big this year, and feature a military appeal that most men can carry off. Look for a three-quarter length coat for a dapper look, and stick with this falls color of choice, moss green, for instant appeal.

DO Use Layers : Wear a sweater over a shirt to add interest to an outfit, or add an undershirt to keep away the chill.

: Wear a sweater over a shirt to add interest to an outfit, or add an undershirt to keep away the chill. DO Choose Interesting Textures : Laying is an excellent opportunity to mix and match different textures to create an eye-catching outfit. A cashmere sweater over tweed pants is a simple way to feel and look more festive.

: Laying is an excellent opportunity to mix and match different textures to create an eye-catching outfit. A cashmere sweater over tweed pants is a simple way to feel and look more festive. DO Prepare for Varying Climates: Fall and winter mean different things to different locations, but one thing we all agree on is that the climate will change. If you anticipate blizzards, ensure you prepare with a cold-climate jacket, but dont discount a lighter jacket for the off-season.

Hickey Freeman Classic Contrast Leather Gloves

$195.00 at Nordstrom.com

Schott NYC MA-1 Sweater Jacket

$125.00 at Nordstrom.com

DONT Wear Open Toe Shoes

While many people will be able to wear shorts in fall, it doesnt mean that open toe shoes are always acceptable. If the weather is still warm, trade in flip flops and sandals for a leather moccasin. These will give you the same comfort, but with a seasonal twist. For everyone else, consider now a great time to pull on a pair of leather military boots, or at the very least, a classic real leather Oxford shoe.

From high-end designer brands to a simple work boot, ankle-high footwear is a versatile addition to your winter closet and can be dressed up or down for the occasion. The Chelsea boot is still the boot to own, and pairs with everything from jeans and a t-shirt to a suit. A simple way to bring the Chelsea boot into fall 2017 is to choose a pair in a navy or tan leather, and avoid a dull black.

DO Trade in Summertime Shoes for Boots: Boots are the epitome of fall fashion and work with all outfits. Look for a quality leather boot.

DO Invest in Wool Socks: Switch out light-weight cotton socks for wool socks to instantly feel more festive and warm. Neutral, black, and off-white socks are perfect for fall and winter, as they will compliment your outfit without standing out.

DO Look After Leather: Salt and snow wreak havoc on leather and suede. Invest in a cleaning kit to wipe off any residuals and to keep your shoes and boots in tip-top condition. Dont leave shoes outside, and let wet shoes air dry (but not in front of the fire as this can crack them).

Ted Baker London 'Hann 2' Wingtip

$129.90 at Nordstrom.com

The Rail Brysen Chelsea Boot

$87.90 at Nordstrom.com

Synovia Suede Cleaning & Protection Kit

$19.95 at Nordstrom.com

DONT Over Accessorize

The temptation to pile on coats, scarves, gloves, and pocket squares is tempting, but unless you want to look like youve fallen out of Marry Poppins bag, its best to limit your statement accessories to one or two items at any one time. The runways around the world are proudly showcasing oversized bags and neckties as being the winter accessories for men.

Also on trend is the return of high-end brands to accent your winter outfit. Louis Vuitton showcased its return to the classic LV pattern, alongside a military camouflage. Both of which will match your parka jacket and Chelsea boots. Scarfs and neckties will be fashionable this winter, accenting the neck to show off a defined jawline. A simple woolen scarf is as on-trend as a fancy silk necktie.

DO Use Layers: Think of layering as your accessory, and ditch the extras to keep things simple and sophisticated. You can fake a winter look by simply increasing the length of sleeves and as you put one on top of another, and wrapping up in a scarf.

DO Keep Things Simple: Now is a great time to pack sunglasses, hats, bright-colored socks, and other small accessories in favor one bold statement piece, such as an oversized bag or scarf.

DO Look for Slogan Shirts: This season is set to see many shirts with bold patterns. These single-wear items are perfect for making a splash and are all the accessory a man needs.

Ermenegildo Zegna Paisley Silk Tie

$195.00 at Nordstrom.com

Stance Graved Stripe Socks

$22.00 at Nordstrom.com

DONT Theme All Your Outfits

Rather than trying to theme all your outfits, consider a broader, more neutral theme, so that all your clothing is complementary, and can be worn year-in-year-out. Put down the Thanksgiving turkey sweater, and instead, replace it with a mustard brown or moss green sweater. Small changes like this project a sophisticated and seasonal look without having to buy lots of new clothes.

Then, rely instead on accessories to add a trendy accent to your outfit. Winter is the perfect time to invest in quality brands as your clothing should look good, be tailored, be functional, and keep you warm. Your winter staples (thats the sweaters, shirts, pants, and other everyday items you wear) should be of the best quality you can afford and can be worn for many years with the right care.

DO Choose a Color Spectrum: Layer outfits using a color palette rather than one hard color to create a multidimensional look. This style hack will help you create endless outfit combinations without breaking the bank.

Layer outfits using a color palette rather than one hard color to create a multidimensional look. This style hack will help you create endless outfit combinations without breaking the bank. DO Use Cool Colors in Fall: Many people get strung up on colors that remind them of pumpkins and squash, but cool colors such as white, blue, greens and purples are all fantastic choices for winter and add an icy cool touch to suits.

Many people get strung up on colors that remind them of pumpkins and squash, but cool colors such as white, blue, greens and purples are all fantastic choices for winter and add an icy cool touch to suits. DO Stick to Neutrals: If in doubt, neutrals are the best way to fall into fashion. Pair tan leathers and suede jackets for an effortless outfit.

Nordstrom Men's Shop Cotton & Cashmere Crewneck Sweater

$49.50 at Nordstrom.com

Topman Faux Suede Bomber Jacket

$110.00 at Nordstrom.com

DONT Avoid Trends

While shopping for cashmere sweaters and leather boots, dont altogether avoid trends. These are what inject seasonal interest into an outfit. If you feel like you wear the same outfits each year, you might be lacking a stylish accent. This can be as simple as adding a new hat to your collection or upgrading your gloves from wool to leather.

DO Pick Trends That Have Longevity: Not every trend is going to stick around until Spring, but if you love a specific style that comes into fashion  seize the opportunity to buy items you want to wear every year. Leather jackets, for example, never go out of style.

Not every trend is going to stick around until Spring, but if you love a specific style that comes into fashion  seize the opportunity to buy items you want to wear every year. Leather jackets, for example, never go out of style. DO Go with Your Gut: Not everyone can wear every trend. But if wide pants are your thing, and you carry them off, then go with it. Fashion is all about customization and using clothes to put your best self forward.

Not everyone can wear every trend. But if wide pants are your thing, and you carry them off, then go with it. Fashion is all about customization and using clothes to put your best self forward. DO Throw in a Statement Piece: Rather than adopt a whole look for a season, consider adding a piece or two to your usual collection. A new pair of boots or a moto jacket can add an edgy and exciting dimension to your everyday uniform.

Nordstrom Men's Shop Cashmere Cable Knit Sweater

Starting at $169.00 at Nordstrom.com

Cole Haan Washed Leather Jacket

$595.00 at Nordstrom.com

DONT Forget About Color

Style is all about the details, and winter offers a playground of opportunity for the fashion-conscious man. This winter, consider wearing a new color or exploring different styles of boots or bags, to see what suits you. Trends are an easy and often inexpensive way to add personality to an outfit and will give you a confidence boost.

Fall and winter 2017 will see lots of earthy colors return: moss green, mustard, burgundy, navy, and other rich hues are all on-trend. Pair these with dark denim, and light shirts to create a dimensional look. Youll also see lots of color in shoes this winter, with navy and tan playing a significant role in mens footwear.

DO Wear Moss Green: Add a simple sweater or moss green shirt to your winter collection to instantly jump on-trend. A few small statement pieces will carry you through the season.

Add a simple sweater or moss green shirt to your winter collection to instantly jump on-trend. A few small statement pieces will carry you through the season. DO Wear Winter Whites: Another big trend for fall and winter 2017 is winter whites: think off-whites, worn with varying versions of white for a dramatic and layered look.

Another big trend for fall and winter 2017 is winter whites: think off-whites, worn with varying versions of white for a dramatic and layered look. DO Wear Statement Sweaters: Everyone looks a good statement sweater, and this year, youll be thankful theres so many to choose from: pair with denim for a casual brunch date, or over a shirt for the office party.

Remember, whatever you choose to wear this fall and winter, keep it simple, functional, and add a splash of color, and you wont go wrong. When possible, purchase the best quality on offer (think cashmere sweaters and real leather boots), for understated sophistication. Layers are your friend, and if in doubt, rely on a classic military inspired bag or coat to pull an outfit together.

AG 'Graduate' Slim Straight Leg Jeans

$178.00 at Nordstrom.com

Herschel Supply Co. Little America Mid-Volume Backpack

$100.00 at Nordstrom.com

Alpha Industries 'MA-1' Slim Fit Bomber Jacket

$150.00 at Nordstrom.com

Make everyday a winter wonderland with these simple style hacks for fall and winter 2017; presented by Victor Macias, Founder of Male Standard.com. From fashion-forward men to guys who just want a few pointers on what not to wear, Male Standard is your one-stop guide to becoming your best self. Get style ideas and seasonal looks @MaleStandard, with style tips from real men living the dream

AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited (TSX:CTC.A), one of Canada?s largest retailers, announced its third-quarter earnings results and a dividend increase Thursday morning, and its stock responded by rising 3.13% in the day?s trading session. Let?s break down the quarterly results and the fundamentals of its stock to determine if this could be the start of a sustained rally higher.

The results that sent its stock higher

Here?s a breakdown of eight of the most notable financial statistics from Canadian Tire?s 13-week period ended September 30, 2017, compared with its 13-week period ended October 1, 2016:

Metric Q3 2017 Q3 2016 Change Retail sales $3,701.1 million $3,521.6 million 5.1% Revenue $3,303.9 million $3,128.4 million 5.6% Gross profit $1,120.6 million $1,071.6 million 4.6% Gross margin 33.9% 34.3% (40 basis points) Adjusted EBITDA $417.7 million $402.7 million 3.8% Adjusted EBITDA margin 12.6% 12.9% (30 basis points) Net income $198.5 million $197.8 million 0.3% Diluted earnings per share (EPS) $2.59 $2.44 5.9%

Dividend hike? Yes, please!

In the press release, Canadian Tire announced a 38.5% increase to its quarterly dividend to $0.90 per share, and the first payment at this increased rate will come on March 1 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 31.

Share-repurchase authorization

On top of the dividend increase, Canadian Tire announced that it would be returning capital to shareholders by repurchasing $500 million of its class A non-voting shares by the end of 2018. Share repurchases will help boost the company?s EPS growth going forward, while making its remaining shares more valuable.

?Financial aspirations?

In the press release, Canadian Tire also announced ?financial aspirations for fiscal years 2018-2020.? Its aspirations include consolidated same-store sales growth of 3% or more annually (excluding petroleum), average annual diluted EPS growth of 10% or more, and return on invested capital (ROIC) for its retail segment of 10% or more by 2020.

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What should you do with the stock now?

It was a great quarter overall for Canadian Tire, and its dividend hike, share-repurchase authorization, and bullish ?financial aspirations? for 2018-2020 were icing on the cake, so I think the market responded correctly by sending its stock 3.13% higher in Thursday?s trading session. Furthermore, I think the stock still represents a great long-term investment opportunity for two fundamental reasons.

First, it still trades at attractive valuations. Canadian Tire?s stock is up more than 16% year to date, but it still trades at just 15.4 times fiscal 2017?s estimated EPS of $10.55 and only 14.2 times fiscal 2018?s estimated EPS of $11.46, both of which are inexpensive given its current earnings-growth rate and its estimated 10.8% long-term earnings-growth rate.

Second, it?s a dividend-growth aristocrat. Canadian Tire now pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share, which brings its yield up to a respectable 2.2%. It?s important to note that the dividend hike the company just announced puts it on track for 2018 to mark the eighth consecutive year in which it has raised its annual dividend payment, and that it has a target dividend-payout range of 30-40% of its prior year?s normalized earnings, so I think its consistently strong growth will allow it to continue to deliver dividend-growth to its shareholders for many years to come.

Canadian Tire?s stock is up more than 30% since I first recommended it in December 2014 and more than 14% since its second-quarter earnings release this past August, and I think it still represents a fantastic long-term investment opportunity, so take a closer look and strongly consider making it a core holding.

More reading

Fool contributor Joseph Solitro has no position in any stocks mentioned.
The number of times inmates assaulted or tried to hurt staff at the state's troubled youth prison have risen more than 30 percent so far this year since 2016, records show.

Department of Corrections staff at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls recorded 195 times staff members were injured in 2017, assaulted or inmates attempted to assault staff, according to DOC records provided to the Wisconsin State Journal under the state's open records law.

That's up from 145 incidents recorded in 2016 and 32 reported incidents in 2015.

It's unclear whether that two-year jump is partially due to staff recording more incidents after 2015, when a federal investigation prompted DOC to hire new prison administrators and changes its practices on record keeping. A DOC spokesman did not respond to a request for clarification.

The records provide a glimpse into conditions at the youth prison, where both inmates and guards have reported an unsafe environment that staff members say has grown increasingly chaotic in recent months after a federal order requiring staff to reduce or eliminate use of solitary confinement, pepper spray or restraints to manage behavior.

The records show incidents ranging from inmates spitting on guards, throwing milk at guards to guards getting injured while trying to break up fights between inmates and inmates punching guards. Inmates also have thrown urine at staff, ejaculated in front of staff and attacked guards, causing concussions, the records show.

Also during a four-day span in October, staff found razor blades, makeshift weapons, sharpened nails and a notebook recording staffing patterns in inmates' cells, records show. An inmate also was able to smoke a cigarette during that time period.

Staff have said U.S. Judge James Peterson's July order in a federal class-action lawsuit against DOC have emboldened inmates to misbehave and become violent.

The lawsuits were brought after state and federal authorities began investigating claims of abuse of inmates -- a nearly three-year review now overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Reports filed Friday

Attorneys representing inmates in the federal class-action lawsuit, and attorneys representing DOC, agree that the facility's employees are struggling to implement the court order to make changes, but disagree about why, according to reports filed by both parties in federal court Friday.

DOC attorneys say inmates kept in solitary confinement for more than 24 hours now receive a daily visit from a mental health provider face-to-face or by phone or video conference. Staff also try to provide academic and rehabilitative lessons to inmates being held in solitary confinement -- requirements of the federal order.

The DOC attorneys also argued that the court order limiting the use of solitary, pepper spray and restraints have contributed to violent incidents.

"These examples indicate how the (order) is causing unrest at the (prison) and direct ways certain youth are using specific provisions and even the general existence of the (order) as an apparent motivator to act out, sometimes violently," the attorneys wrote. "More importantly, though, these examples indicate how the (order) very quickly -- indeed, perhaps too quickly -- forced LHS and CLS to transition from a deterrent-based institution to a positive-reinforcement-based institution."

But attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union-Wisconsin and the Juvenile Law Center, which are representing inmates in the lawsuit against DOC, argued that the DOC is failing to adequately staff the prison, provide adequate programming for inmates and to implement the order's goals.

"To the extent that the facility struggles with violent behavior by some youth, the appropriate response is to ensure adequate staffing, programming, treatment, security policies, and supervision  not to reimpose abusive and unconstitutional conditions," the inmates' attorneys wrote. "(The DOC's report) suggests that Defendants are still far from providing the positive programming needed to ensure a safe facility and also lack adequate staffing."

The inmates' attorneys also took issue with claims of staff injuries and assaults increasing since the order was put in place.

"(The) Defendants' own records show the number of serious staff injuries after the injunction has not changed at all from same time period in 2016," the inmates' attorneys wrote citing DOC data.

State: Few youth causing trouble

When Peterson's order was issued, DOC attorneys did not file an appeal and said it would implement its requirements.

But in Friday's report, DOC attorneys blamed the short window to implement the order on a burst of violence and unsafe behavior among "a very small percentage of the youth."

"It is well recognized that incentives and positive reinforcement have great utility; however, for youth that are not governed by social ethics or concern for others, who may have little remorse or conscience, the ability to have meaningful alternatives for negative/aggressive behavior is imperative," the attorneys wrote.

One solution is to identify inmates who could be removed from the prison altogether, the DOC attorneys said, and be placed in a long-term treatment facility. The inmates would be identified through a program that "will focus on youth who display aggressive, assaultive behavior, and who may otherwise find themselves in restrictive housing on a routine basis."

The inmates' attorneys argued the prison staff are not providing adequate programs, exercise or time out of their housing units to prevent violent behavior and to keep from violating inmates' constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

Prison data show inmates in Wisconsin's youth prison spend many more hours per day idle in their rooms or housing units than the average juvenile inmate, the inmates' attorneys said, and the percentage of inmates who report at least one hour of "large muscle exercise" each day and two hours on weekends between 2015 and 2017 also is "far below average."

"The problem is compounded, if not caused, by inadequate staffing," the inmates' attorneys wrote.

The inmates' attorneys also said the order should go further and require DOC to "put in place the interventions needed to run LHS safely and constitutionally."
'Who were these men?' New photo exhibit tells the story of Eaton's employees who fought for Canada

They were young men from all backgrounds, but they had two things in common  they all worked at Eaton's, and they all enlisted to fight in the First World War. And now, they're being honoured in a photo exhibit titled Eaton's Goes To War.

"Eaton's was a large department store, and to encourage enlistment in the First World War, John Craig Eaton  the president of the company  offered to pay his employees' wages when they enlisted," explained Bruce Beaton, the museum program instructor at Toronto's Mackenzie House, which is showing the exhibit.

In Toronto and Winnipeg, 3,327 Eaton's employees answered the call to duty  2,200 of them from the Yonge Street store alone.

Of the more than 3,000 employees, 315 of them lost their lives.

"There was an enthusiastic response to the war in general in Toronto," Beaton said. "Eaton's was part of this fervour. John Craig just went further than any other employer did here. He was knighted for this  he's Sir John Craig because of this. So his enthusiasm was above and beyond what most employers were offering their employees here in the city."

Photographs of every employee

As part of the enlistment process, each Eaton's employee was photographed.

In total, about 2,000 photos were taken. They were prominently displayed in the Toronto store during the war.

Those photographs survived and are housed in the Archives of Ontario, but apart from them, not much more was known about many of the soldiers other than their names.

"They knew nothing about who these chaps were," Beaton said. "Our exhibit attempts to answer [the questions], 'Who were these men? How were they remembered by their family?' It's the memories that live within the family that keeps these stories alive."

The city of Toronto launched a public outreach program to find relatives of the soldiers in the photos. The response, they say, was overwhelming  they received more stories than they could include in the exhibit.

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All of them are being chronicled, however, and will be made public through the Archives of Ontario.

'A very humble man'

For the family of Cpl. Andrew Percy, taking part in the exhibit was a way to ensure his contribution isn't forgotten.

"What he was doing was very courageous, " said Percy's granddaughter, Cathy Scattergood.

"He was a very humble man, but he knew that he had to do this. It was his duty to defend his country, and he knew that some people  and possibly him  may have to pay the ultimate price," she said.

"But he had to do it."

Percy joined the 3rd Toronto Battalion in September of 1914. He served in the medical corps as a stretcher-bearer and water carrier. He was in the trenches in the Second Battle of Ypres and Vimy Ridge.

His family loaned a number of artifacts Percy had brought home from the war to the exhibit, including his medals, field glasses and a diary. The diary includes an entry from the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917:

"Intense bombt [bombardment] at 5:30 commenced general attack. We advanced at 7:30. By evening had captured Vimy Ridge. Miserable weather. 3rd took 4 guns."

Getting to know a soldier and grandfather

Scattergood never met her grandfather  Andrew Percy died when she was just two years old. But she recently took a trip with her mother to France and Belgium, walking the grounds her grandfather did during the war.

"It was amazing," she said. "It was very emotional  especially at Vimy. Just to stand there. Now you see it with the trees and with the monuments and so forth and try and imagine what it was like back then."

"It was just the most wonderful experience to be there. I felt a lot closer to my grandfather."

The Eaton's Goes to War exhibit is on until Jan. 31. During the month of November, admission is free at Mackenzie House and eight other City of Toronto museums.
While Edmontonian Alex Decoteau was in England waiting to be deployed in the First World War, he signed up for a race.

Decoteau, who ran for Canada in the 1912 Olympics, ended up winning his race earning himself a trophy. But when King George V, who was to make the presentation, ran out of trophies, he gave Decoteau his gold pocket watch.

Decoteau was carrying that watch in his pocket when he was killed by a sniper in the Second Battle of Passchendaele 100 years ago. As Decoteau lay on the field of battle, the watch went missing.

"The sniper, or someone who discovered his body  went through his pockets and found the gold pocket watch and took it," Edmonton city archivist Kathryn Ivany told CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

But in the same battle, the German soldier who took the watch was killed  and the timepiece was recovered.

"His name was on it, and it was returned to his family eventually," Ivany said.

Gifted runner

Decoteau was born in 1887 on Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. He attended the reserve school and a residential school.

"He probably had a fairly troubled childhood in terms of being separated from his family," Ivany said. "And going to a school that already had, by 1886, several complaints against it."

After his sister Emily moved to Edmonton to be with her husband, respected blacksmith and politician David Latta, Decoteau followed.

Ivany said that while oppression and racism was rampant at the time, Decoteau may have tapped his brother-in-law's connections to help him get a job with the Edmonton police.

"At the turn of the century, there was probably more opportunities for Metis and Indigenous people who had assimilated into our culture," she said. "They formed a fairly significant portion of our population."

Decoteau became the Canada's first Indigenous police officer in 1909.

But his career choice would not be the only reason he made history.

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"I think they discovered fairly quickly that he could run, which is important when you're apprehending criminals," Ivany said.

In June 1909, Decoteau won two five-mile races in less than a week. The next year, he won a 10-mile race, crossing the finish line eight minutes ahead of his closest challenger.

It earned him a spot on Canada's 1912 Olympic running team. He placed second in the five-kilometre race, and placed sixth in the 56-kilometre race despite having leg cramps.

Buried in Flanders Fields

Decoteau is buried in Flanders Fields in Belgium. In a special ceremony in 1985, Decoteau's family returned his spirit to Edmonton.

In recognition of Decoteau, the city named a park after him in downtown Edmonton, which recently opened to the public.

Ivany is working on the text for a plaque to be unveiled in the park next spring.

A street in the Griesbach community is named after him as will be a future residential area in southeast Edmonton.

Listen to Edmonton AM with host Mark Connolly, weekday mornings at CBC Radio One, 93.9 FM in Edmonton. Follow the morning crew on Twitter @EDMAMCBC.
Rumble

Our lives are full of moments where we must interact with each other and make compromises for the sake of coexisting. We face complicated social involvements that require some give and take to get things done and to benefit everyone. A life full of selfish decisions and actions would make everything harder for all involved. But occasionally, this compromise is difficult and emotions and pride get the better of us all. Tact an diplomacy gives way to anger and resentment and the sparks fly. This is what happened here in a simple and easily solved dilemma. As cars made their way through the parking lot, two met bumper to bumper and reached an impass. Onlookers could hear horns honking and impatient voices. It seemed that either could have backed up a little to make way, but the moment became tense and both dug in their heals. Cameras came out as people watched the exchange. Two grownups should have been able to resolve the matter without a spectacle. The man in the car with the trailer has difficulty in backing up. And in fairness, he has not blocked anything but his own lane. He wants to go forward and around the corner. The lady coming around the curve has entered into the middle of the lane and she could either adjust to her right, or back up out of the way. But she has her sights on a parking spot that is being blocked by the car and trailer. She may be afraid to back up, but she has the option to veer out and to her right. The car and trailer could pull forward and completely resolve the matter. What she does not like is the escalation in his voice as she hesitated and tried to decide what to do. Her initial reaction was to stop and do nothing. The man honked. She stared at him. He gestured and told her to move her car. And this is where it seemed to become unfriendly. Her passenger got out of the car, stood in the lane and began smoking a cigarette. She said she could not move as she was waiting for him to get back in. This was clearly a move of defiance. The camera recorded the moments that followed that initial meeting and up to that point. The man's impatience is now at a peak as the minutes have dragged on. Traffic has built up behind both vehicles. Backing up now is tricky for the woman, and impossible for the man. Other horns honked. The man began to swear and the passenger of the woman's car makes a deliberate show of taking his time getting back into the car. Spectators began to talk about intervening with advice or a reprimand. The cars behind both vehicles backed up and out of the way, leaving just the two in the predicament. The man finally got into the vehicle and the woman made a very slow move forward and out of his way. For Canada, this is an unusual display of impatience that left people shaking their heads. What had gone on for nearly 5 minutes was a seemingly needless showdown. Who is more to blame in this scenario? Is it the man with his rude demands, or the woman with her reluctance to move her car over to the right?
By Ellen Francis BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's president called on Saudi Arabia on Saturday to clarify why Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri could not return home, a week after he stunned his country by resigning while in the kingdom. A senior Lebanese official said President Michel Aoun had told foreign ambassadors Hariri had been "kidnapped" and should have immunity. Hariri's shock resignation has thrust Lebanon back into the frontline of a power struggle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran - a rivalry that has wrought upheaval in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain. "Lebanon does not accept its prime minister being in a situation at odds with international treaties," Aoun said in a statement. He said any comment or move by Hariri "does not reflect reality" due to the questions over his status following his resignation in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia. Lebanese authorities believe Riyadh is detaining Hariri who flew to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 3, two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source have said. French President Emmanuel Macron echoed similar concerns, saying in a call with Aoun on Saturday that "Lebanese political leaders should enjoy freedom of movement". Macron, who made an unscheduled visit to Riyadh earlier this week, will receive the Lebanese foreign minister in Paris on Tuesday, the Elysee statement said. Riyadh says Hariri is free and decided to resign because Iran's Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, was calling the shots in his coalition government. Hariri has made no public remarks since quitting last week, when he said he feared assassination and accused Iran along with Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. Hariri, whose family made its fortune in the Saudi construction industry, has also given no sign of when he might return to Beirut. The Lebanese premier took part in a ceremony in Riyadh on Saturday welcoming Saudi King Salman from Medina, his media office said. Hariri met with the Turkish and British ambassadors at his Riyadh home in the afternoon, it said. Sources close to Hariri say Saudi Arabia has concluded that the prime minister - a long-time Saudi ally - had to go because he was unwilling to confront Hezbollah. His phone was confiscated after he arrived in Riyadh, and the next day he was forced to resign on a Saudi TV channel, senior sources close to Hariri and top Lebanese political and security officials said. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Aoun wants Saudi Arabia, "with which we have brotherly ties and deeply rooted friendship, to clarify the reasons preventing Prime Minister Hariri's return," his office said. France and other Western countries have looked on with alarm at the rising tensions in the region. "We would like Saad al-Hariri to have all his freedom of movement and be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon," a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday. Hariri's resignation unraveled a political deal among Lebanon's rival factions that made him prime minister and Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, president last year. The coalition government included Shi'ite Hezbollah, a heavily armed military and political organisation. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that Saudi had declared war on Lebanon and his group, accusing Riyadh of forcing Hariri to resign to destabilize Lebanon. The comments mirrored an accusation by Riyadh earlier this week that Lebanon and Hezbollah had declared war on the Gulf Arab kingdom. Hariri's political party denounced on Saturday Iranian intervention in Arab countries and attacks against Saudi Arabia. The Future Movement party said it stands by the premier and was "waiting impatiently for his return to Lebanon to handle his national responsibilities in leading this stage." In a statement, the United States called Hariri "a trusted partner" and referred to him as prime minister. The White House "rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanon's stability ... or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region," it said. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had told reporters on Friday there was no indication Hariri was being held against his will but that the United States was monitoring the situation. The resignation of Hariri comes amid an anti-corruption purge in Riyadh in which dozens of senior princes and businessmen have been rounded up. (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Hugh Lawson)
A popular fundraising partnership between Telus and Wounded Warriors Canada was commandeered by the Royal Canadian Legion this week because it included an image of a poppy, which the legion claims as a trademark symbol.

The online fundraiser asks users to scroll through the names of more than 117,000 fallen soldiers  a sobering and time-consuming task  and, as users scroll, a poppy blooms above the list of names.

For each user that makes it to the end of the list, the telecommunications company pledged to donate $5 to Wounded Warriors Canada, a national mental health charity that supports veterans, first responders and their families.

But the beneficiary of the funds suddenly changed a few days after the campaign launched, and the site now pledges to donate $5 to the Royal Canadian Legion, instead.

The legion says the change happened after it contacted Telus to advise of its trademark rights over the poppy image.

"To address the situation, the legion provided Telus with the option to remove the poppy symbol from their campaign or change the beneficiary," communications manager Nujma Bond said in an email to CBC News.

"Telus chose to change the beneficiary with the promise to ensure Wounded Warriors Canada received the maximum amount of the donation they had promised them."

Loss of 'awareness'

Telus had capped its total donation at $25,000 and the limit was quickly reached before the change was made, said Wounded Warriors Canada executive director Scott Maxwell.

"We were just astounded by the support that Canadians showed for this particular campaign," he said.

But Maxwell said he had anticipated the Wounded Warriors Canada logo would remain on the site until Remembrance Day, when the campaign is set to end, and he was surprised to hear on Wednesday that it had been replaced by the Royal Canadian Legion's.

"I think we would have got more awareness, for sure, through the remainder of the week," he said.

Story continues

"We need all the help we can get when it comes to donor partners to our programs."

He also said Wounded Warriors Canada was aware of the legion's poppy trademark and would never have agreed to do a fundraising campaign that centred around the image.

"This campaign was based on the names of the fallen  the honour roll  and not in any way, shape or form based on benefiting from the poppy's image," he said.

Maxwell said a trademark claim based on "just the fact that a poppy was added to the web page" was, in his view, "stretching it."

Bond said the same campaign ran last year as a partnership between the legion and Telus.

"We were not aware that Telus was running this campaign again until it was posted online," she said. "We were not aware of any Wounded Warriors involvement this year  they also did not approach us to participate."

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Telus said the company was supporting two organizations through the website's Remembrance Day scroll  donating $25,000 to both Wounded Warriors and the Royal Canadian Legion.

"Since 2008, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $1.25 million to the military community across Canada," the statement read.

Broader questions

Maxwell said he's grateful to the company for working with Wounded Warriors Canada on the campaign and was hesitant to speak out on the topic for fear of discouraging future partnerships between companies and veterans groups, but he felt the legion's actions raise larger questions.

"Right now across the country, as you know and I know, there's use of poppies all over the place benefiting veterans' families," he said.

"If this is going to take place over and over and over again, I certainly think it needs more of a discussion amongst Canadians and the Royal Canadian Legion."

Bond said the legion was granted the poppy trademark by the federal government in 1948 and uses it to raise money for the Legion's Poppy Fund, which supports veterans and their dependents.

"As such, while we acknowledge the efforts of other groups working to help our veterans, the legion does not authorize the use of the poppy image with the aim of raising funds for any other purpose than the Poppy Fund," she said.

Bond said the legion "has a good relationship with both Telus and Wounded Warriors Canada."

'Schoolyard bully'

Steve Critchley, a retired veteran who joined the legion in 1978 but has since let his membership lapse, said he felt "frustrated and hurt" when he learned how the organization had supplanted Wounded Warriors Canada.

He said the legion was acting like "a schoolyard bully," in his view.

"The legion is claiming they own all images of the poppy? That's like saying the legion owns the Christmas tree. It's gotten to the point of just simply being ridiculous," he said.

"This is painful to see what the legion has done and how they act now," Critchley added.

"It's not the organization that I or my grandfathers were a part of."
SATURDAY, Nov. 11, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- America's hang-ups over sexuality and gender could cost women their lives when their heart suddenly stops, a new study suggests.

Simply put, women suffering from cardiac arrest in a public setting are less likely to get lifesaving CPR from a passerby than men are, researchers reported.

"When it comes to life and death, we need to reassure the public that we're not worrying about what seems socially inappropriate or taboo," said senior study author Dr. Benjamin Abella. He is director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Resuscitation Science.

"The situation requires action, and it requires people to not hesitate. A life is on the line," Abella added.

But the study showed people do hesitate, especially when the victim is a woman. About 45 percent of men who suffered cardiac arrest in a public setting received CPR from a bystander, compared with only 39 percent of women, the researchers found.

The investigators suspect bystanders might be worried about touching a strange woman's chest in public, even if it is to save a life.

The reason the researchers believe that is because people acted very differently when a woman collapsed at home, where she had an equal chance of receiving CPR.

The study involved data gathered by the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium, a network of U.S. and Canadian hospitals studying cardiac arrest.

Cardiac arrest can kill a person within minutes if CPR isn't performed, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

More than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of a hospital each year. Nine out of 10 of these victims die, but speedy CPR can double or triple the chance of survival, the AHA noted.

The researchers reviewed more than 19,000 cases of cardiac arrest that occurred outside of a hospital between 2011 and 2015.

Men in public settings were 23 percent more likely than women to receive bystander CPR, and they also had 23 percent better odds of survival, according to the report.

But, "when we looked in the home, there was no difference in terms of response by gender in the home," said study author Audrey Blewer, an assistant director for educational programs at UPenn's Center for Resuscitation Science.

The difference between men and women is "unexpected," said Dr. Clifton Callaway, executive vice chair of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"I really would have thought if somebody is on the ground, and not responsive, that people would be equally likely to help a man or woman," said Callaway, an AHA spokesman.

Bystanders already have a difficult time responding to a sudden collapse in public, Abella explained. They're shocked by the collapse, and often are afraid of hurting someone by attempting CPR.

"We think these data show yet one more barrier that may be playing a role in low bystander CPR response," Abella said.

The researchers found that, in all cases, bystanders administered CPR only 37 percent of the time.

The study was scheduled for presentation Saturday at the AHA's annual meeting, in Anaheim, Calif. Research presented at meetings is typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"The most striking thing to me is how few people get CPR overall," Callaway said. "Those numbers are something we really need to turn around. Two-thirds of people don't get a bystander to do CPR when their heart has stopped. This is something we've known for decades."

Witnesses should immediately call 911 and then start hands-only CPR on the person -- one hand over the other on the middle of the chest, pushing hard and fast, at about 100 to 120 beats a minute. The disco song "Staying Alive" provides a good beat for CPR, Abella added.

CPR can be performed through any sort of clothing, Blewer said. Don't worry about any undergarments -- just start pressing on the middle of the chest.

Passersby worried about providing CPR should keep in mind that all 50 states have Good Samaritan laws on the books that will protect them against legal action, Abella noted.

"That's something I think people are not as aware of as they should be," Abella said.

More information

For more on how to perform CPR, visit the American Heart Association.
A legal issue looms over Nebraska's death penalty that's unrelated to the new and untried lethal drug combination state officials unveiled this week.





Defense attorneys say pending challenges of a system that allows judges rather than juries to impose death sentences could impact whether the state ends its streak of 20 years without an execution.





At least 3 of the 11 men on death row have challenged the state's procedure, which gives 3-judge panels the final say in capital cases. They argue that the U.S. Constitution requires the same jury that decides a defendant's guilt to also decide his fate.





Their argument has so far proved unsuccessful. A district court judge recently issued an opinion that utterly rejected any argument of constitutional flaws in Nebraska's system. Attorneys for the inmates will now hope for favorable rulings in state and federal appellate courts.





Nebraska prison officials announced Thursday they have obtained supplies of 4 drugs they say will allow them to carry out a lethal injection execution. Attorney General Doug Peterson said that after a 60-day notice period, he intends to seek a death warrant for Jose Sandoval, who led 3 gunmen who stormed a Norfolk bank in 2002 and shot down 4 bank employees and a customer.





While attention immediately focused on the drugs, which have never been used in combination by another death penalty state, questions about Nebraska's capital sentencing procedure remain unsettled.





The 3 death-row inmates who have challenged Nebraska's system are John Lotter, Marco Torres and Jeffrey Hessler.





They rely on a 2016 case called Hurst v. Florida, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a capital sentencing scheme that allowed judges to impose death sentences. The ruling in the Florida case prompted the Delaware Supreme Court to end the death penalty there because it relied on a similar system.





Although Sandoval has not yet raised a similar challenge, the issue could potentially affect the state's efforts to execute him, said Rebecca Woodman, a defense lawyer in Lenexa, Kansas, who represents Lotter.





"Those cases could have an impact on Sandoval's case for sure," she said.





But a Nebraska judge recently delivered a blow to Lotter's effort to overturn the death penalty based on the Hurst decision. Saline County District Judge Vicky Johnson, who presided over Lotter's motion in Richardson County, said Nebraska's system is substantially different from the one struck down by the Supreme Court.





In Florida, juries provided judges with advisory opinions about sentencing. The key factual determinations regarding punishment were left with the judge.





In Nebraska, juries must decide - during a 2nd penalty phase held right after the trial - whether aggravating factors against a convicted defendant exist. If juries find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that aggravating factors do exist, a 3-judge panel considers any mitigating factors in favor of the defendant





If the aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors, the judicial panel may then impose a death sentence.





"This makes Nebraska's sentencing process completely dissimilar from the sentencing scheme utilized in Hurst," Johnson wrote in an order issued in late September.





The judge went even further in support of Nebraska's system. She said the Hurst decision may apply to death penalty cases still under direct appeal but not retroactively to convictions like Lotter's and Sandoval's, which were long ago affirmed by the Nebraska Supreme Court.





Lotter also failed in an earlier attempt to raise the issue before a federal district court judge.





Woodman declined to comment about the most recent ruling against her client. But Lotter has appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which recently agreed to hear the case.





Lotter, 46, has spent 22 years on death row for the 1993 triple homicide at a farmhouse near Humboldt, Nebraska. The case inspired the award-winning movie "Boys Don't Cry."





Torres, 42, was sent to death row for the 2007 execution-style shootings of 2 Grand Island men. His challenge of Nebraska's system is part of a habeas corpus motion filed last summer in U.S. District Court in Omaha.





Hessler, 39, was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old Gering girl in 2003. A check of court records showed no recent activity on his motion challenging the state's sentencing scheme.





Lawsuits expected over possible Sandoval execution

Death penalty experts say the new four-drug combination Nebraska officials unveiled Thursday has never been used by another state in a lethal injection execution.





That means legal challenges over the drugs could further delay what would be the 1st time Nebraska has used lethal injection to carry out an execution.





"It's yet another experimental protocol. Now the lawsuits begin," said Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.





The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services announced Thursday that it has notified Jose Sandoval - 1 of 3 men convicted of murder in the 2002 U.S. Bank shootings in Norfolk - that it will inject 4 drugs in the following order: diazepam, fentanyl citrate, cisatracurium besylate and potassium chloride.





Diazepam (brand names include Valium) is a benzodiazepine that is used to produce a calming effect. Fentanyl citrate is a general anesthetic that has been used since the 1960s. As an opioid, it also blocks pain, which has made it a popular a street drug linked to lethal overdoses.





Cisatracurium besylate (brand name: Nimbex) relaxes or paralyzes muscles and is used along with a general anesthetic when intubating patients or doing surgery.





The final drug, potassium chloride, is used to stop the inmate's heart. It was the only drug that was also used in Nebraska's former 3-drug combination.





Dunham said the 4 drugs selected by Nebraska have not been used in combination by another death penalty state. The 3rd drug, cisatracurium besylate, has not been used before in an execution, he added.





Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento, Calif., said that in 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court established "a fairly high hurdle for those who would stop a lethal injection."





In deciding a lethal injection dispute in Oklahoma, the court said that to prevent an execution, the drug must present a "demonstrated risk of causing severe pain" in the inmate and the risk must be substantial compared with known alternative drugs, Scheidegger said.





"The objection that a drug has never been used before is not valid by itself," he said.





State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the leading opponent of capital punishment in the state, said the new and untested protocol would inspire lengthy legal action.





"They're far from being at the point at which an execution can be carried out," Chambers said. "I think the rough ride has just begun."





The senator said he thought that Thursday's announcement was more a "political and public relations" move tied to Gov. Pete Ricketts' bid to win a 2nd term as governor.





The Republican governor helped organize and fund a petition drive to reinstate capital punishment last year after the Legislature in 2015 overrode his veto to repeal the death penalty.





Danielle Conrad, director of the ACLU of Nebraska, said she was "horrified" that the state plans to use Sandoval as a test subject for an unproven lethal drug combination. Her organization, she said, will closely evaluate the constitutional questions raised by the state's plan.





"This rash decision will not fix the problems with Nebraska's broken death penalty and are a distraction from the real issues impacting Nebraska's Department of Corrections: an overcrowded, crisis-riddled system," she said in a press release.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

: Omaha World-Herald, November 11, 2017Norfolk Daily News, November 11, 2017
The United States commends the decision of Masoud Barzani not to seek an additional term as President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The U.S. also supports the vote of the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament to distribute presidential authorities to other Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG, institutions.

President Barzani, said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, is a historic figure and courageous leader of his people, most recently in our common fight to destroy ISIS. This decision represents an act of statesmanship during a difficult period.

The United States now looks forward to engaging actively with the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechirvan Barzani, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Qubad Talabani. A strong Kurdish Regional Government within a unified and federal Iraq is essential to its long-term stability and to the enduring defeat of ISIS. We call on all Kurdish parties to support the KRG as it works to resolve pending issues over the remainder of its term and prepare for elections in 2018. said Ms. Nauert.

The U.S. calls on the government of Iraq and the KRG under its new leadership to resolve pending issues under the Iraqi constitution. We have been encouraged by the security dialogue that has taken place in recent days, and call for an end to all confrontations and clashes, said Ms. Nauert.

The U.S. also continues to support the strong leadership of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as he works to ensure the total defeat of ISIS and a stable Iraq after ISIS. The United States welcomes the recent decision from Prime Minister Abadi to begin a new dialogue with the KRG, under the Iraqi constitution, and avoid further confrontations.

The U.S. will continue to work with all parties as they address these issues for the benefit of all Iraqis. It is time for all parties to look to the future and focus on peaceful resolution of disputes under the Iraqi constitution.
The United States welcomes the Lima Group's leadership in addressing the deteriorating situation in Venezuela.

The Lima Group was formed in August 2017 with the goal of bringing coordinated international pressure on Venezuela. The group includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.

In a recent meeting in Toronto, the Lima Group declared support for the provision of humanitarian assistance for the Venezuelan people and condemned electoral abuses. The group called for electoral reforms, including a new National Electoral Council, the release of political prisoners, and support for the democratically-elected National Assembly.

These positions, said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, reflect "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," said Ms. Nauert.

Maduro's government crackdown on the opposition has taken a toll. Public protests this year have led to more than 125 deaths, thousands of arrests and injuries, and widespread damage to property.

The Lima Group noted that the regime is intent on dividing the opposition, and called on groups to work together.

Its a very important point," said Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. "The people of Venezuela, in their struggle to reestablish democracy in their country ... deserve an opposition which is united and can represent them effectively.

"As long as the Maduro regime conducts itself as a dictatorship," said Ms. Nauert, "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."
Bahrain says an oil pipeline that exploded overnight was attacked by militants linked to its arch-foe Iran.



Bahrains Interior Ministry said in a statement on November 11 that the incident was a dangerous act of terrorism.



"Terrorist acts witnessed by the country in the recent period are carried out through direct contacts and instructions from Iran," the statement said.



No group has claimed the attack. There was no immediate comment from Tehran.



The explosion and fire hit near the village of Buri late on November 10, damaging nearby buildings.



Bahrain relies on the Abu Safa field for much of its oil, pumped in via a 230,000-barrel-per-day pipeline.



Bahrain, a Shiite-majority kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty, faces occasional attacks from local Shiite militant groups as it continues a crackdown on all dissent, imprisoning or forcing opponents into exile.



The government denies it discriminates against Shiites and accuses neighboring Iran of stirring up tensions. Iran rejects the accusation.



Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and a British military base is currently under construction.

Reporting by AFP, AP and Reuters
During Hassan Rouhanis presidency licensed political, electoral or protest rallies have never been confronted by force, Tehrans Governor-General has maintained.

Mohammad Moghimi, who before being appointed as governor was a senior staffer at the Interior Ministry, has described his comment as important.

In an interview with state run Iran Labor News Agency, ILNA, Moghimi has also claimed, In last Mays presidential election, hundreds of speeches were delivered but we had no problem at all and none of the participants or organizers of the gatherings were subjected to any harsh treatment.

The Interior Ministry, however, usually rejects requests by independent entities, syndicates and unions for holding rallies. Practically, licenses for any sort of assembly are issued only for the institutions affiliated to the regime.

Moghimi also argued, The reason behind holding rallies without any clashes was the fact that police and security forces behaved properly, while the organizers and participants at the assemblies complied with law and regulations.

Meanwhile, Tehrans governor has insisted that protest rallies in front of parliament have never led to any security problems.

Admitting that restrictions have recently been imposed for holding rallies in front of the parliament, Moghimi has said, The restrictions were imposed after IS attacks. Nevertheless, as a security measure, we are going to find a location nearby exclusively for holding legal and licensed protest rallies.

However, reports on protest rallies contradict Tehrans governor.

Last September it was reported that security agents and police forces, riding motorbikes stormed into a peaceful protest rally at two industrial units in Arak. Dozens of participants in the rally, protesting unpaid salaries, were wounded and taken to hospitals.

Police and security agents reaction to the peaceful assembly was so heavy handed that members of parliament to write two separate letters to Moghimis boss, Minister of Interior and condemn the police brutality.

Furthermore, the deputy speaker of parliament, Ali Motahari, insisted on September 24, Not only worker have a right to protest, but everyone, provided they are unarmed and not violating Islamic rules. No one should confront such protests.

Article 27 of the Islamic Republics Constitution explicitly provides for freedom of assembly, "provided arms are not carried" and the assemblies "are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam".

Nonetheless, instances of police and security forces clashing with peaceful protest rallies have significantly increased in recent months.

Moreover, many workers, teachers and human rights activists have arbitrarily been placed behind bars, in some cases even without being charged.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

New President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, George Tsereteli and Pia Kjaersgaard, Speaker of the Danish Parliament discussed the issue of protracted conflicts in the OSCE area, reads a message of the OSCE PA.

In his first bilateral meeting as OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President, Tsereteli mulled with Kjaersgaard challenges to the OSCE area and Denmarks contributions to the PA.

Tsereteli expressed gratitude to the Danish Parliament, which as host of the OSCE PAs International Secretariat, makes it the single largest contributor to the Assemblys budget.

For his part, Kjaersgaard raised concerns over protracted conflicts in the OSCE area, including in the South Caucasus, as well as the crisis in and around Ukraine, and wished Tsereteli success as Assembly President in promoting conflict resolution.

The sides also discussed the issue of migration and the challenges posed to Denmark, as well as areas of expertise that the OSCE can contribute to meeting these challenges.

Tsereteli also extended an invitation to Speaker Kjaersgaard to participate in OSCE PA meetings, including the Bureau Meeting that is held in the Danish capital every spring.

OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella and Deputy Secretary General Gustavo Pallares also attended the meeting.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The European Union (EU) reaffirms its commitment to a peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, says an EU statement.

According to the statement, the EU reaffirms its support for the OSCE Minsk Group and expresses its full confidence in the co-chairs in their efforts to promote a search for a political, just and lasting solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is necessary for the future of the region.

The EU suggests the parties to use the efforts of the co-chairs more effectively.

The European Union closely follows the developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which continues to be very unstable, according to the statement.

Last year was also remembered by the big number of victims and almost daily violations of the ceasefire, says the statement, adding that the cases of heavy artillery use or attacks on civilians are of particular concern.

The EU once again condemned all forms of use of force and urged the parties to avoid any actions that could lead to tension.

To this end, the EU called on the parties to strictly observe the ceasefire regime in line with their obligations.

The document says that the European Union welcomes the resumption of contacts at the highest level with the holding of a presidential summit in Geneva on October 16.

The EU considers very important the agreement between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on intensification of the negotiation process, including at the ministerial level, as well as on new measures to reduce tensions on the line of contact.

The EU continues supporting the implementation of confidence-building measures adopted at summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg in 2016, including the expansion of powers of the personal representative of OSCE chairperson-in-office, humanitarian measures to exchange data on the missing as a result of the conflict, and further discussions on the establishment of an incident investigation mechanism, says the EU statement.

The European Union reiterated its commitment to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of fundamental principles of the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

The EU recognizes the fact that the status quo is unsustainable and dangerous, and calls for progress in developing a comprehensive peace treaty, says the document.

The European Union remains ready to support the efforts to resolve the conflict through its special representative, according to the statement.

The EU remains open to other confidence-building measures to support the Minsk Group, says the statement.

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.
Details added (first version posted on 11:33)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

Trend:

Work is underway to establish the Food Safety Agency, Azerbaijans Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov told reporters in Baku Nov. 11.

The work to establish the agency continues based on the February 10, 2017 decree of Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev on additional measures to improve the food security system in the country.

This agency will have great duties under the presidential decree, noted the official, adding that the Food Security Agency will concentrate the functions of other structures, which have been dealing with food security issues in Azerbaijan to date.

The steps being taken in order to provide the Azerbaijani population with safe food are of great importance, added Ahmadov.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

Trend:

Additions and amendments made to the Constitution of Azerbaijan to ensure greater development of the state administration system aim to fulfill the intentions and principles reflected in the preamble of the Constitution, says an article by Chairman of the Constitutional Court Farhad Abdullayev, published in the Azerbaijan newspaper.

Abdullayev emphasized that creation of the vice-presidency institute in the country is a very important event in the sphere of public administration.

The vice-presidency institute, he continued, has significance in terms of fulfilling the forthcoming tasks and increasing the efficiency of the state administration system in the period when Azerbaijan entered a new stage of political and legal development and conducts fundamental economic reforms.

All changes and amendments made to the Constitution are another manifestation of democratic principles and values in Azerbaijan and a great deal of attention paid to ensuring human rights and freedoms, said Abdullayev in his article.

The author added that constitutional reforms contribute to the expansion of democratic processes, more effective protection of human rights and freedoms, the establishment of stability and security in the society, and the strengthening of the countrys economic development.

Changes to the Constitution of Azerbaijan related to human rights and freedoms fully comply with the principles of international agreements, the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as well as the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, says the article.

Abdullayev noted that the Constitution serves the well-being of the Azerbaijani people and its adoption has opened the way for the formation of a perfect legislative base and implementation of large-scale legislative, judicial and legal reforms.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 12

Trend:

Today, Azerbaijan celebrates the Constitution Day.



The Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic, adopted in 1995, is the first constitution of independent Azerbaijan.



The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which existed for 23 months from 1918 to 1920, didn't have the basic law of the state.

Thus, the history of the Constitution of Azerbaijan mainly dates from the period when Azerbaijan still was a part of the USSR.



The first constitution of Azerbaijan was adopted on May 19, 1921 at the All-Azerbaijan Soviets Congress. New edition of the Constitution, which was in line with the 1921 USSR Constitution, was adopted at the 4th All-Azerbaijan Soviets Congress on March 14, 1925.



The final edition of the Constitution of Azerbaijan SSR, adopted on April 21, 1978, was in line with the USSR Constitution, like the previous editions.



After Azerbaijan gained its independence, there was a need for a new constitution. Thus, a special commission was established under President Heydar Aliyev, and the draft of the constitution was presented to the referendum.



The first constitution of the independent Azerbaijan was adopted on Nov. 12, 1995.
Details added (first version posted on 17:01)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

Trend:

An Azerbaijani national, who tried to smuggle a big batch of drugs into the country, was detained as a result of special operation carried out by the State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan, the Services press service told Trend Nov. 11.

According to the press service, the State Security Service received information that Azerbaijani citizen, Babek Eyvazov, left his sister Minaya Eyvazova as a hostage with Iranian drug traffickers and agreed to bring a big batch of narcotics to Azerbaijan.

As a result of operational activities, Eyvazov, who illegally crossed the state border of Azerbaijan, bypassing checkpoints in the direction of the Shevgo village of Astara district and carried 3,012.23 grams of heroin and a big number of methadone tablets to Azerbaijan, was detained.

A criminal case was filed by the State Security Service against Babek Eyvazov on charges of illegally crossing the state border, drug trafficking and other facts. He was arrested by a court decision.

Minaya Eyvazova, along with the documents proving the identity of Babek Eyvazov, was returned to Azerbaijan.

Currently, the investigation continues.
2 rail routes could be developed in Nepal, say Chinese experts

A Chinese delegation that studied the feasibility of railways in Nepal have concluded that two rail routes Kathmandu-Kerung and Kathmandu-Pokhara-Lumbini  could be developed in the country.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

Trend:

Rector of the Baku branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University, academician Nargiz Pashayeva has met with scientists of the University's Research Institute of Nuclear Physics. The scientists are visiting Baku to organize work of the Baku branch's newly established Atomic and Nuclear Physics laboratory.

The delegation included leading scientists in the field of nuclear physics, Deputy Director of the Nuclear Physics Research Institute of Moscow State University, Associate Professor at the Department of General Nuclear Physics of the university Evgeny Shirokov, and head of Laboratory of General and Special Workshop of Nuclear Physics Research Institute, Associate Professor Vladimir Radchenko.

Addressing the event, academician Nargiz Pashayeva noted that the opening of the faculty of physics and the establishment of the new study and research laboratories at the Branch mark a new and a crucial stage in the development of fundamental sciences not only at the university, but in Azerbaijan.

Nargiz Pashayeva said that the Baku branch pays special attention to increasing scientific potential of young researchers in the field of humanitarian and fundamental sciences.

Evgeny Shirokov and Vladimir Radchenko noted that since its establishment, the Baku branch has gained rich experience in preparing highly-qualified specialists and conducting fundamental researches.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project that can help the European Union increase its energy security and diversification of supplies, will ensure the strengthening of cooperation not only between Azerbaijan and the EU, but also multilateral cooperation in a broader geography, said Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov.

He made the remarks at a meeting with Head of EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, Ambassador Kestutis Jankauskas, said Azerbaijans Energy Ministry in a message Nov. 11.

Shahbazov noted that the relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, which are inherent in multi-vector cooperation, are successfully developing within various programs and projects and are on the eve of a new stage.

Successful results have been achieved in diversifying energy supply and security, developing Azerbaijans energy infrastructure, efficient use and saving of energy, using renewable energy sources, and improving legislation with the support of the EU, said the Azerbaijani minister.

Jankauskas, for his part, expressed confidence in the timely completion of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which is being implemented with the support of the EU and Azerbaijans leadership, and which is an integral part of the policy of the structure to diversify energy sources and transportation infrastructure.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the measures related to the new agreement on cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU, as well as issues of regional cooperation in the field of energy and the Eastern Partnership program.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.



At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.



As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Representatives of the Kazakh Ministry of Defense and the military force of Pakistan signed a joint plan of action for 2018 during a meeting of the Kazakh-Pakistani Joint Military Commission, held in Astana, the press service of Kazakhstans Defense Ministry said Nov. 11.

The delegation of Pakistan was led by Lieutenant-General Malik Zafar Iqbal, Chief of the Headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of Pakistan.

Iqbal and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan Lieutenant-General Murat Maykeev discussed cooperation in military education, the training of special purpose units, as well as the implementation of the agreement on military-technical cooperation between Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

The delegation of Pakistan also visited a number of facilities, including the simulation center, the faculties of the Kazakh Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, as well as an auditorium of the Military Art of the Armed Forces of India and China.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 11

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistans energy industry works to increase electricity supplies to Afghanistan, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported.

At this stage, under the previously concluded contract, 700 million kilowatt hours of electricity is supplied to the neighboring state each year in two directions  through the Imamnazar-Andkhoy and Serhetabat-Herat-Turgundy power transmission lines.

It is planned to establish cooperation on energy supplies to the Afghan provinces of Badghis and Jowzjan.

The work will be carried out in line with the agreement signed in July 2017 between the Ministry of Energy of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Energy and Water of Afghanistan.

Currently, on the basis of relevant documents and agreements, targeted steps are being taken to further increase the electricity export to Afghanistan, says the report.

Earlier, it was reported that Turkmenistan supplies electricity to the neighboring state at preferential prices.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 11

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Saudi Arabia expressed support for the Ashgabat-initiated project on construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) transnational gas pipeline.

This was announced at a meeting of the Turkmen-Saudi intergovernmental commission that took place recently in Riyadh, the Turkmen government said in a message.

Turkmenistans Deputy Prime Minister Maksat Babayev reported on the results of the Riyadh visit during a meeting of the Turkmen government on Nov. 10.

Babayev said the talks have created opportunities for attracting Saudi investments in international and national projects in the oil and gas sector, searching for and extracting minerals, and developing communications.

Intention was expressed for mutually beneficial cooperation on projects implemented in Turkmenistans gas chemical and industrial sectors, transportation, communications, mining and other spheres, says the Turkmen governments message.

Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI started in 2015 and is scheduled to be finished in late 2018.

The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan to Fazilka settlement on the border with India. The pipelines annual capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 11

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The results of mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were discussed at a meeting of Turkmenistans Cabinet of Ministers on Nov. 10, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Martin Sommer visited Ashgabat on November 1-8 to assess macroeconomic and financial developments and discuss economic challenges and policy priorities with senior government officials, representatives of real and financial sectors, academia, and the diplomatic community.

The Turkmen economy continues to adjust to the new reality of lower oil and natural gas prices. Officially-reported growth has remained broadly stable, boosted by rising natural gas exports, import substitution, and expansionary credit policies. The planned launch of gas processing facilities will support economic activity going forward, said Martin Sommer in a statement issued following the Ashgabat visit.

The authorities have taken a number of measures to facilitate macroeconomic adjustment, most recently through a gradual reduction in public investment and utility price reform, says the statement. Desirable policies include further gradual but significant cuts in public investment expenditures, combined with measures to adjust the exchange rate level, while easing foreign exchange regulations.

To foster further private sector development, reforms should focus on significantly simplifying administrative procedures and onerous regulations, accelerating SOE reforms and privatization, and prioritizing accumulation of humanrather than physicalcapital, says the statement. The simplified framework for the free economic zones holds the promise of attracting new private investments, including from abroad, and any positive lessons should be applied across Turkmenistan more broadly.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 11

By Diana Aliyeva  Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke about significant positive changes in the deepening of multifaceted relations with the European Union during his bilateral meeting with the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on Nov. 10.

The meeting was held in Samarkand, where an EU delegation participates in an international conference, titled Central Asia: Shared Past and Common Future, Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Mutual Prosperity, under the auspices of the United Nations.

The Uzbek presidents press service said that during the bilateral meeting with Mogherini, Mirziyoyev expressed interest in boosting the partnership with the EU in investment and trade, financial and technical cooperation, education, exchange of best practices and technologies in a number of areas.

Mirziyoyev noted that the EU is one of key partners of Uzbekistan, and Uzbekistan strongly supports further comprehensive strengthening of mutually beneficial cooperation with the European Union.

The sides also discussed issues of international and regional agenda, in particular, strengthening of political confidence and ensuring sustainable development in Central Asia.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

The tariffs for transportation of freight through the International North-South Transport Corridor may drop after the completion of a railway segment connecting two Iranian and Azerbaijani border cities, Hossein Ashouri, the head of international transportation department at the Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said.

"The transportation tariffs may drop after the inauguration of Astara (Iran)  Astara (Azerbaijan) railroad within the coming months," he told Trend on the sidelines of a meeting with the railway officials from Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan in Baku on Wednesday.

Saying that Iranian and Azerbaijani sides are working hard to inaugurate the two railway segments of Rahst-Qazvin and Astara-Asatar over the current year, he expressed hope that the Rasht-Astara segment would come on stream in three years.

Ashouri further added that Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and Belarus railways have also agreed to refrain from increasing the tariff for 2018.

The sides will meet again within the next three months in India, to present information about the capabilities of the transportation corridor to freight forwarders in India as the corridor is expected to be extended to Belarus and Northern Europe.

Hossein Ashouri noted that the three countries of Finland, Estonia and Latvia may join the North-South Corridor in the near future.

The International North-South Transport Corridor is meant to connect Northern Europe with Southeast Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the initial stage, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year through the corridor and over 10 million tons of cargo in the future.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 9

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Iran attaches importance for carrying goods for India though the International North-South Transportation Corridor, an official with the Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RAI) told Trend.

Nourollah Beiranvand, the deputy for planning and investment at RAI has, has said that his organization views India as a main destination concerning the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).

Elaborating on the cooperation between Iran and India, he added that the sides have held extensive talks to set up an organization on corridor management with the participation of the involved countries in the INSTC.

Saying that Iran has held detailed negotiations with Indian freight forwarders on the issue of corridor management, he noted that the Iranian transportation minister, Abbas Akhoundi, is expected to visit India over the coming month for further talks.

He added that the creation of a unified organization on the corridor management would benefit all participants.

The International North-South Transportation Corridor is meant to connect Northern Europe with Southeast Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the initial stage, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year through the corridor and over 10 million tons of cargo in the future.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 9

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

The Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RAI) has launched online software to provide entrepreneurs and investors with tariffs for transporting freights.

Nourollah Beiranvand, the deputy for planning and investment at RAI has told Trend that the data are available on the organizations website in Russian and English languages, as well.

He further noted that the RAI has considered a discount of 50 percent for transiting goods through Iran.

Speaking about the fares for transporting goods and freights, he added that the RAI is ready to discuss further discounts for carrying special goods.
Death toll in Dailekh microbus accident reaches 3

The death toll in Dailekh microbus accident on Friday night has reached three.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

An Iranian military plane, belonging to IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps), crashed in the countrys southern province of Fars today morning, state-run IRINN TV reported Nov. 11.

The incident occurred at 8:00 local time (GMT +3:30) when a Sukhoi Su-22 fighter, which was carrying out combat exercises, crashed near Sarvestan city.

Aerospace Force of the IRGC announced that the plane's pilot was killed in the incident.

Investigation teams have been dispatched to the incident location. No further details were reported about the causes of the incident.

Last month, an Iranian light plane crashed in Kerman city in southeastern Kerman Province.

A similar incident occurred last year in December, killing the pilot, when an ultra-light gyroplane belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force crashed in Saravan airport.

In October 2016, another military plane crashed in Iranshahr city in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, killing the pilot and co-pilot. The ultra-light plane, belonging to the IRGC, was returning from a reconnaissance operation, when the incident occurred near the Iran-Pakistan border.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

Georgia deeply appreciates the EU becoming the country's largest trade partner, Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili said.

Kvirikashvili, commenting on the European Commission's positive assessment of Georgia's performance in the course of the past year, noted that the 2017 report discusses in detail Georgia's progress and tangible results in the implementation of the Association Agreement.

"We highly appreciate the fact that the European Commission considers Georgia its major strategic partner in the region, and believes that Georgia has further cemented its excellent position through implementing reforms," he said, further praising the EU's firm support of Georgia's territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

Kvirikashvili added that the EU will allocate sizeable financial and expert assistance for the implementation of the Georgian Government's reform agenda in line with the 2017-2020 EU Single Support Framework.

"It is also noteworthy that the publication of the report precedes the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels which, we are convinced, will give an equally positive assessment to our achievements in the process of EU association," he said.

This Report, released Nov. 10, assesses the state of play of Georgia's implementation of the Association Agenda since the EU-Georgia Association Council of December 2016. It focuses on key developments and reforms undertaken in line with the strategic priorities agreed between the EU and Georgia.

The report notes that Georgia has implemented a number of reforms, strengthening democracy and the rule of law, as well as other key areas in the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. Overall, commitments stemming from the Association Agreement, including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), have been implemented in line with agreed timelines. Georgia's democratic institutions have been consolidated and a comprehensive legislative framework for human rights and anti-discrimination has been adopted.

"Today's report demonstrates clear progress in Georgia's reform agenda. The European Union will continue to support the work that has still to be done in several important areas and will stay committed to the thorough and continued implementation of our Association Agenda, said the High Representative/Vice-President, Federica Mogherini.
Dubais Emirates may place an order at the Dubai Airshow for 36-38 Airbus A380 superjumbo jets, worth some $16 billion at list prices, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

Emirates and Airbus (AIR.PA) both declined to comment.

The order is expected to be one of the highlights of the Nov. 12-16 event at which Gulf carriers - minus Qatar Airways which is absent due to a rift between Arab nations - are expected to put a brave face on fragile business confidence in the region.

It comes as Airbus and Boeing chase deals to prop up recently softening demand for wide-body passenger jets.

Emirates is by far the largest buyer of the worlds largest passenger jet, the A380, with 142 on order and 100 already delivered.

The 544-seat jet entered service amid huge fanfare in 2007, but its future has been thrown into doubt by sluggish sales as airlines turn to efficient smaller jets like the Boeing 777, of which Emirates is also the largest buyer.
Catalonias defiant lawmaker Carme Forcadell was set free after she paid a hefty sum of 150,000 euros ($174,600) in bail for her role in the regions push for independence, Sputnik reported.

"Going back home with a calm confidence of having acted correctly: guaranteeing freedom of expression in parliament, the seat of national sovereignty," Forcadell tweeted.

The Supreme Court has released the Catalonia's lawmaker after four other Catalan legislators were set free the day before after being told to pay each 25,000 euros of bail money within a week.

Madrid put them all on trial after a vast majority of those who turned out for the October 1 referendum in the northeastern region of Catalonia voted for a split from Spain. The vote has been deemed illegal by Madrid. However, On October 27, the majority of Catalan lawmakers backed the resolution, outlining the independence declaration.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has subsequently dismissed the Catalan government and its head Carles Puigdemont, dissolved the Catalan parliament and called a snap parliamentary election for December 21.

The Spanish Court then ordered to place eight former members of the Catalan government into custody, and issued an international arrest w
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed a fresh start to the relationship between the countries after a meeting in Vietnam that saw them agree to work more closely on North Korea, Reuters reported.

The leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang.

At the end of the meeting, President Xi said this is a meeting that marks a fresh start of relations between Japan and China. I totally feel the same way, Abe told reporters.

Abe said he has proposed to visit China at an appropriate time, which would then be followed by a Xi visit to Japan.

At the meeting, the two countries agreed to deepen their cooperation on North Korea and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date.

With the North Korea situation at an important phase, the role China ought to play is very big, Abe said.

China and Japan have also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, Abe said. He also proposed that Japan and China cooperate in doing business in third countries.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Two people died in a shootout which took place in one of nightclubs in Istanbul, the Turkish media reported Nov. 11.

Reportedly, the shootout took place between two groups.

Six people were injured during the incident and the state of two is extremely bad.

All the casualties are citizens of Turkey.

Currently, the Turkish police are searching for two persons who participated in the shootout.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
KYODO NEWS - Nov 11, 2017 - 08:56 | All, Feature, Japan

A roadside cafe made from an authentic British double-decker bus recently opened in Nagasaki Prefecture, becoming an Instagram-friendly hit among users of the photo-sharing app.

London Cafe, which opened in September in the Nagasaki town of Hasami, is housed in a bus originally manufactured in the 1960s and deployed in the British capital's public transit system. The remodeled interior has a light color scheme and retro furnishings to match the iconic red-and-white exterior.

"I wanted to create a local hangout," cafe owner Hiroshi Sakana said of his venture, located roughly 60 kilometers northeast of Nagasaki City.

Sakana, 55, purchased the bus after retiring in January from Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. The tables, chairs and other furnishings for the interior were inspired by a cafe in Paris he visited on a trip to Europe which doubled as a chance to check out the continent's cafes and shops.

The response has been positive, especially among guests who like to share photos online. The cafe, open every day of the week except Monday, serves European-inspired fare including a specialty potato dish made with cheese imported from Italy.

"People are more than welcome to stop by just to take photos," Sakana said. "I want people to come right up without hesitation."
KYODO NEWS - Nov 11, 2017 - 15:40 | All, World

The ministers of the remaining signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the withdrawal of the United States said Saturday they have agreed on "core elements" of a new trade pact to be implemented without Washington, though failing to have their leaders endorse it.

"The success of negotiations has shown the high level of consensus for trade and economic development," said Vietnam's Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh at a joint press conference with Japanese TPP minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who co-chaired recent rounds of ministerial meetings between the 11 remaining member states.

Motegi said the new agreement "sends a very strong message to the United States and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region."

The new pact, called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, has revised the original TPP text so that it can come into force 60 days after at least six signatories complete domestic procedures.

In coming to the agreement, the 11 countries reached a consensus on suspending 20 clauses in the original text if Washington stays out of the pact, including 11 on intellectual property.

The ministers made the announcement after a last-minute objection by Canada complicated the process, leading Japan and Vietnam to reconvene a ministerial meeting late Friday to reconfirm the "agreement in principle" that the Japanese minister announced on Thursday.

Japan had hoped that the leaders of the TPP countries would back the deal on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit through Saturday in the Vietnamese coastal city of Danang, but Canada's unexpected move led to the cancellation of the leaders' meeting set for Friday afternoon.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not show up at the venue of the meeting after holding talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday.

Abe said Canada "was not at a stage to confirm the agreement" reached at the ministerial level.

A negotiation source said Canada seemed to have claimed that it has not yet agreed on rules on intellectual property as well as those on trade in the auto industry. Ottawa was also dissatisfied with the way Japan had chaired the TPP meetings, the source said.

After U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the world's biggest economy from the TPP in January, Japan had been eager to clinch an accord at the APEC summit, with the remaining 11 signatories sharing the goal of an early implementation of the pact.

The 11 TPP countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Including the United States, the Pacific Rim trade pact would cover around 40 percent of the global economy.

Excluding the United States, the 11-party TPP's share of world gross domestic product drops to 13 percent, but trade experts say the deal would still create a free trade area with high-standard market liberalization.

The pullout of the United States came as a shock to the other 11 members, given that the Pacific Rim deal was a landmark pillar of Trump's predecessor Barack Obama's policy of a strategic rebalance, or "pivot," to the Asia-Pacific region and had significance not only economically but in security aspects amid the rise of China.
Dipayal as state capital major agenda in Doti

Projection of Dipayal as the capital of Province 7 has emerged as a major electoral agenda of both the left alliance and Nepali Congress candidates in Doti.
Dutch man held from Koteshwor on paedophile charge

Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police on Friday arrested a Dutch citizen on charge of paedophile.
MarketWatch

Roubini said he couldnt believe Binance has a license to operate in the United Arab Emirates, noting that the company is banned in the U.K. and is under investigation in the U.S. for money laundering. Roubini also criticized celebrity investor Kevin OLeary, calling him a paid hack for FTX who he hoped CNBC would get rid of. OLeary, who is on the ABC program Shark Tank and also has a new show on CNBC called Money Court, was both an investor in and a paid spokesman for FTX, the crypto firm that filed for bankruptcy last week after a dramatic collapse.
A convicted rapist from central New York who removed his GPS ankle bracelet and stopped reporting to his parole officer has been seen in Pennsylvania.

Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said that Ronald Cook, 66, was last seen at around 12:30 p.m. Friday in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was wearing a dark jacket at the time he was spotted.

The state issued an alert after Cook removed his ankle bracelet and didn't report to his parole officer. Before he was observed in Scranton, he was last seen wearing a bright yellow windbreaker at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Rome.

Cook, a white male, stands 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. He has gray hair and hazel eyes.

In 1991, Cook was convicted of first-degree rape after sexually assaulting a 24-year-old woman in Binghamton. He was sentenced to up to 25 years in state prison. He was released from prison in 2012.

Due to his crime, Cook registered as a sex offender. He is a Level 3 sex offender, which means he's at a high risk of committing another offense.

Cook should be considered dangerous. If you see him, call 911.
Fake manifestos!

Our circus companies have once again come up with their election manifestos to let us know that they will promise us everything and deliver nothing.
The energy sector is turning white hot as crude oil is starting to show signs that the commodity has found some parity and room to room to run higher over $53 in more than a year. The rally in crude oil is helping a number of companies in the sector, but there are still a number of well-known names within the group that investors should avoid or even think of shorting.

Todays three big stock charts identify Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI) and Oneok, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) as three companies that are going to lag the sector while offering opportunities for traders looking for stocks to short in the group.

Chevron Corporation (CVX)

Chevron Corporation (CVX)

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

One of the larger names in the energy sector, CVX has had a rough time trying to right their ship as investors continue to spend time worrying over the companys fundamental outlook. Despite an upbeat earnings report, traders are taking the opportunity to sell into any strength lately.

Because of this, the stock remains a sell according to our models.

Chevron shares are tracking to break below their 50-day moving average, which has been strong support over the last three weeks. Volume is increasing on this break suggesting that the technical traders are starting to take action on the potential breakdown.

Stock chart support rests resides at $116 right now on CVX shares. A break below this and the $115 level will increase selling pressure as these prices represent large quantities of put open interest. This means that the options market will have to start hedging by selling as these prices break.

The Chande Trend Meter is turning bearish on CVX shares, indicating that momentum is starting to build on the selling side of the market. For now, this identifies $108 as a target price for CVX shares before year-end.

Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI)

Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI)

Kinder Morgan gave the market a good earnings report based on lowered expenses, but the fundamentals remain tepid for the pipeline company. Just after earnings, we saw a few of the larger brokers drop their target prices on KMI shares. The move shouldnt have been a surprise as the companys revenue shrunk by 1.5% year-over-year. The technicals remain bearish for KMI at this time as a result.

Story continues

Kinder Morgan shares are trading deep in bear trend territory as the stock is well below its 20-month moving average. In addition, the 20-month is trending lower itself, adding to the long-term bearish selling pressure.

The recent break below $18 takes KMI shares below a critical chart support level that has been able to bolster the shares through 2017. A monthly close below this will send KMI shares lower through the year-end.

In addition to the break below $18, the stocks 10-month moving average is now moving below the 20-month, strengthening the bear market trend. At this time, our models suggest a price of $14.

Oneok, Inc. (OKE)

Oneok, Inc. (OKE)

Operating in the natural gas area, Oneok has been left behind in the energy rally as shares are actually transitioning into a neutral to bearish outlook based on the technicals.

This indicates that the next four to six weeks are likely to see pressure from sellers and an opportunity to potentially profit from shorting the stock.

OKE missed its earnings numbers on Oct. 31 resulting in selling pressure that formed a top at $55. This is the second in a series of lower highs for the stock  a bearish pattern.

The post-earnings price activity saw a very fast attempt to break through the stocks 50-day moving average, which is in the process of transitioning into a neutral pattern. This indicates that the trading community is looking to sell into any strength.

OKEs 200-day moving average is sitting just below current prices at $52.15 and it acted as support last week. A break through this trendline is going to trigger another selling spree that will target $49 according to our model.

OKE

As of this writing, Johnson Research Group did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

More From InvestorPlace

The post 3 Big Stock Charts for Thursday: Chevron Corporation, Kinder Morgan Inc and Oneok, Inc. appeared first on InvestorPlace.
Most of us look forward to the holiday season as a time for overeating and reuniting with the family. But when it comes to traveling during the holidays, the long lines, crowded airports and traffic can fill us with a very unhappy holiday dread. In 2017, 28.5 million passengers will fly on U.S. airlines during the 12-day Thanksgiving holiday travel period, which is a 3 percent increase from 2016, according to Airlines for America, the trade magazine for the airline industry. While we've grown to accept the crowds and delays of holiday travel, you can find some relief from one of the unlikeliest sources: credit cards.

Today's credit card market is one of the most competitive, with issuers offering lucrative rewards to entice consumers to their products. Many cards offer eye-catching sign-up bonuses that card members can use for flights, free hotel nights or cash back for travel expenses. In order to attract more consumers, issuers have started offering benefits that can not only be used for earning travel, but can be used to get you traveling in comfort and style, even during the holidays.

[See: 12 Frugal Ways to Save on Vacation.]

Flight perks. Every major airline, from Southwest to United to Delta, has its own branded credit card. While these airline credit cards usually only earn rewards for that airline and its partners, the trade-off is that they can offer perks on their services that other cards can't match. No more worrying about baggage fees, as many of these cards offer your first bag free. And just having a card such as the Gold Delta SkyMiles credit card from American Express or the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard will earn you preferred boarding, so you can settle into your seat sooner. Most cards offer discounts on in-flight purchases.

You don't have to have a branded credit card to take advantage of travel perks. Premium travel cards such as the Platinum Card from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve offer worldwide access to airport lounges where you can relax and unwind while you wait for your connection. Some premium travel cards offer relief from the long security lines at airports. Global Entry or TSA Precheck offer expedited screening at select airports. If you are eligible, some cards will automatically credit your account for the application, which can be up to $100.

Story continues

[See: 8 Ways to Maximize Your Credit Card Rewards.]

Hotel perks. Not to be outdone, major hotels also have their branded credit cards. These cards allow cardholders to earn rewards for free nights, but membership benefits don't stop there. Hotel cards offer benefits such as free in-room Wi-Fi and enhanced status in hotel rewards clubs. This elevated status can include perks such as late checkout, room upgrades and free nights. The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card will even give you a free night after every anniversary of card membership.

Rental car perks. Many credit cards give cardholders instant status upgrades in rental car company loyalty programs. These status upgrades can come with a variety of benefits depending on the card and rental company. Benefits can include discounted rates, guaranteed availability, free car class upgrades and free rentals.

[See: 10 Completely Careless Credit Card Mistakes You're Making.]

Peace of mind. While most of us know that using your credit card to rent a car will provide you with some level of insurance, many credit cards offer a range of travel protections that can give you peace of mind as you travel. Coverage can include trip cancellation insurance, which will reimburse the cardholder if any fees are incurred because a trip was interrupted or canceled. Baggage delay insurance will cover incidentals up to a set daily amount. Baggage loss insurance will cover up to a set amount if your suitcase is lost by an airline. Many credit cards offer travel accident insurance in case of injury or worse.

Concierge services. Traveling during the holidays can be stressful enough, you may not have the time or inclination to make plans when you arrive where you're going. Many credit cards come with concierge services that you can call 24/7 for restaurant recommendations and reservations, tickets to shows and sporting events and gift recommendations. They will even send flowers on your behalf. If the idea of planning your trip is too stressful, some concierge services will help with travel arrangements.

Steven Abrams is a Personal Finance Expert at CreditCards.Offers.com, working exclusively in the credit card space. He has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, covering topics from tech industry trends to film industry and finance. Steven aims to help consumers save money and understand the sometimes complicated business of credit cards and personal finance.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast believes a "Kitty Hawk" moment will begin a new era in space. But while the U.S. still leads every other country in space, Kwast cautions that the edge is whittling away. "In my best military judgment, China is on a 10-year journey to operationalize space. We're on a 50-year journey," Kwast told CNBC. Kwast, who is also the commander and president of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, said the United States must "bring together the right talent to accelerate the journey." He said this would push the space industry to a Wright Brothers-like moment. "We could be on a five-year journey because it's all about how aggressively we are going about this journey," Kwast said.

Regulations in the way A half century of regulating satellites has made it nearly impossible for entrepreneurs to succeed, he said. The current regulatory environment is like needing to submit an itinerary for every item you plan to bring on a flight from D.C. to Los Angeles  one year before the flight, he said. "You have to detail everything in your suitcase  each item's material, manufacturer, weight and more  the government takes a year to go through it and then tells you what you can and can't take," Kwast said. "And, if you have to update your request, then you have to start all over." He continued, "When you finally get approval you have to spend your entire life savings for the airplane, which, when you land, you have to burn to the ground." Officials want to evolve regulatory methods but must placate taxpayers that discarded rockets will not begin falling on their homes. "You need technological innovations to reassure Congress that this is safe and effective, as the FAA cannot do this unilaterally," Kwast said. "Low-cost access to space is the first domino to making this possible." The Federal Aviation Administration told CNBC in September that it is working to make access to space more efficient.

SpaceX has also criticized the regulatory process , with President Gwynne Shotwell noting the process takes six months "and then you reapply at 90 days, 30 days, and then 15 days to file a flight plan." "If we want to achieve rapid progress in space, the U.S. government must remove bureaucratic practices that run counter to innovation and speed," Shotwell said. National security and global prosperity at stake Militaries will soon work more extensively in the space between the Earth and moon, according to Kwast. That realm is the next high ground, where nations are straining to gain a strategic advantage. "China is working on building a 'navy in space'" that would work even beyond Earth's gravity, Kwast said. Yet China is the not the most pressing threat. North Korea, with its continued missile testing , is "a real problem," Kwast said. "Right now, if North Korea were to launch a missile into space and detonate an electromagnetic pulse, it would take out our eyes in space," Kwast said. The Cold War-era "Star Wars" concept was "very strategic," Kwast said, but the technology was not feasible. The more the U.S. innovates in space, the lower the potential threat from a missile. Even though the space industry is poised to become eight times as valuable over the next 30 years , Kwast believes it's too early to think about a new military force in space. "We could have an operational space force in three to five years," Kwast said. "However, that would be jumping to answering what the form looks like, before you know the function." In a January study called "Fast Space," Kwast wrote a list of recommendations to the Air Force's U.S. Space Command. He details that public-private partnerships must be the nation's focus, not an "an Air Force in space." "It took from the Wright Brothers in 1903 to 1945  two World Wars  to get flying to where we needed an Air Force." Finding balance in public-private partnerships Kwast is a staunch supporter of corporations partnering with government. But he warns against the military completely depending on the private sector, giving the example of how the Air Force contracts launches to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. "I think the balance between public and private is reasonable right now, but we're still not doing enough, and we're not aggressive enough," Kwast said. At the New Worlds conference in Austin, Texas on Friday, Bill Gerstenmaier, the NASA associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, said his agency shares a similar vision. He does not expect "to get another huge budget like the Apollo missions," and says NASA will focus on "orchestrating human spaceflight," instead of conceptualizing, funding, building and operating all on its own. Gerstenmaier told CNBC that he sees NASA now operating more akin to a venture capital firm, picking investments and helping to build them up. He cited Morgan Stanley's recent report on the industry as a look into the direction space is heading. Kwast applauds the high-risk, high-reward entrepreneurial spirit of modern space companies. He calls himself "a very strong advocate" for partnerships "based on economic realities" that create competition. "Corporations have a vicious, clear-eyed view of the bottom line, which is a very healthy thing," Kwast said, before adding: "Companies that fail should fail." WATCH: National Space Council meets for first time in 25 years



More From CNBC


Former Fin Min Pun's vehicle ambushed in Rolpa

Former Finance Minister and Rolpa Constituency 1 candidate Barsha Man Pun's vehicle was ambushed at Sukudaha in Rolpa district.
The food producer will float next week after shelving its IPO just a week ago

Food manufacturer Bakkavor has revived its plan to float on the London Stock Exchange this month just a week after shelving it  purportedly on the grounds of market volatility.

The UKs leading producer of hummus said this morning its shares will list on November 16 at a price of 180p, giving it a market cap of around 1bn  substantially lower than the minimum valuation of 1.2bn it had previously been aiming for.

The food producer, which supplies white label ready meals to all of Britains major supermarkets, announced it was shelving the float last Friday.

It said at the time: Whilst the company received sufficient institutional demand to cover the offering, the board has taken the decision that proceeding with the transaction would not be in the best interests of the company, or its shareholders, given the current volatility in the IPO market.

The Daily Telegraph understands Bakkavor was approached by investors following that decision and persuaded to revive the float  albeit at the lower price.

Bakkavor ipo

Bakkavors chairman Simon Burke said: "The board and I are delighted to welcome our new shareholders. It is particularly pleasing that our initial register has such a strong presence of well-respected long-term investors, reflecting an appreciation of the quality of the business and its long-term prospects."

The FTSE 100 volatility index, a measure of turbulence at the top of the London market, is down 38.4pc this year. The index itself has been repeatedly hitting record highs.

Ahead of the float, Bakkavor has placed around 55m new shares with institutional investors, raising net proceeds of 86m, while its current owners, Icelandic founders Agust and Lydur Gudmundsson and US hedge fund Baupost have raised 158m from the placement of 89m existing shares.

The existing shareholders will retain a combined 75pc of the company's equity and will be unable to sell their shares during lock-up periods of six months for Baupost and one year for the board of directors, which includes both of the founders.

Founded in Iceland in 1986, Bakkavor was originally an exporter of cod roe. It generated profits of 62.1m on revenues of 1.76bn last year and employs 16,500 staff in the UK.

The manufacturer was behind a "hummus crisis" earlier this year as Tesco, M&S and Sainsburys temporarily pulled some of its lines from their shelves after consumers complained of a "metallic taste".
Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, at right, chats with The Economists Oliver Morton during the New Space Age conference at Seattles Museum of Flight. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner today laid out his vision to send the first privately funded interplanetary space mission to look for life at the Saturnian moon Enceladus  but first he had to address less lofty matters.

Milner has been in the news for the past week because newly published confidential documents known as the Paradise Papers revealed that two firms controlled by the Russian government backed his early investments in Facebook and Twitter.

So, of course, that was the first topic Milner was asked about during an onstage fireside chat at The Economists New Space Age conference at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

The connections have sparked controversy because of concerns about Russian interference in Americas political debate, with social media used as a propaganda tool. Milner pointed out that his investments were made during a different time, when the Obama administration was trying to hit a reset button in its relations with Moscow.

There was a lot of excitement at the time, Milner said. A lot of capital went into Russia from the U.S., and a lot of capital also went in the opposite direction.

He noted that the Russian investments were paid back several years ago. From my standpoint, thats the end of the story, Milner said.

When I was growing up in the Soviet Union, behind the Iron Curtain, my father always told me that I should try to stay away from politics, the 55-year-old founder of the investment firm DST Global said. Ive tried to follow his advice since then.

During a follow-up interview, Milner told GeekWire that the Paradise Papers controversy hasnt had any effect on his space projects.

Searching for life beyond Earth

The bulk of Milners talk focused on his financial support for the search for life beyond Earth, under the aegis of the Breakthrough Initiatives. Over the past couple of years, Milner has pledged $100 million to boost the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, and another $100 million to send swarms of nano-probes through the Alpha Centauri star system.

Story continues

In addition to those two campaigns  known respectively as Breakthrough Listen and Breakthrough Starshot  the Breakthrough Watch program is supporting enhancements that should boost the capability of the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope to observe the Alpha Centauri system from its vantage point in Chile.

In league with Australias University of Sydney, Milners team is also looking into the prospects for deploying a small-scale space telescope thats optimized to observe Alpha Centauri. The design under consideration is known as the Telescope for Orbital Locus Interferometric Monitoring of Alpha ceN, or TOLIMAN, an acronym that spells out one of Alpha Centauris earlier names.

So far, the Breakthrough Listen radio search has turned up some intriguing signals, but no clear evidence of E.T.

We actually found something we had not been looking for, which is radio signals from those mysterious objects that are called FRBs [fast radio bursts].  We have been able to identify characteristics of those objects that were not clear from previous observations, Milner said.

Some have speculated that high-frequency FRBs could be associated with extraterrestrial civilizations, but Milner said its more likely theres a natural explanation for this.

Funding a mission to Enceladus

The latest twist is a plan to bring the search for life beyond Earth closer to home. In the past, astrobiologists have speculated that microbial life could lurk far below the surface of Mars, or beneath a miles-thick layer of ice on Europa, one of Jupiters moons.

But the most promising recent candidate is Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn, Milner said.

That mention brought a cry of yes! from Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist who headed the imaging team for NASAs Cassini mission to Saturn and is a strong advocate for a follow-up mission to Enceladus.

Instruments on the Cassini orbiter charted plumes of water spraying out from a series of fissures in Enceladus icy surface. When the spacecraft flew through the plumes, it picked up the signature of molecules that could be associated with organic chemistry.

The Cassini missions readings suggest that theres a saltwater lake or ocean beneath Enceladus ice, and that there just might be organisms living in that water.

Milner said he and other interested parties (including Porco) have been discussing what it would take to find a smoking gun for biochemical activity at Enceladus.

We formed a little workshop around this idea: Can we design a low-cost, privately funded mission to Enceladus which can be launched relatively soon, and that can look more thoroughly at those plumes, try to see whats going on there? he said.

NASA and the European Space Agency have been considering several proposals for Enceladus missions, including ELF, ELSAH and E2T. But Milner said it could take as long as 10 years to get those more expensive projects off the ground. He wants to send something through Enceladus plumes sooner.

Milner told GeekWire that the time frame for the mission he has in mind is still up in the air. The missions potential price tag is also yet to be determined, although he said hes sure itll be cheaper than a full-blown NASA mission. For now, the only expense is the cost of doing a feasibility study.

And if I am funding the study, I can do something there, Milner said.

GeekWire was one of the media sponsors of The Economists New Space Age conference. For videos from the conference, check out the Facebook page for The Economist Events.

More from GeekWire:
Hong Kong's struggling flag carrier Cathay Pacific will be removed from a prestigious list of companies which make up the city's benchmark index, the Hang Seng Indexes Company said in a statement late on November 10, 2017 (AFP Photo/Anthony WALLACE) (AFP/File)

Hong Kong's struggling flag carrier Cathay Pacific was removed Friday from the prestigious list of companies that make up the citys benchmark index.

The removal from the Asian financial hubs Hang Seng Index will take place from December 4, the Hang Seng Indexes Company said in a statement late Friday.

The company has been on the index since 1986.

"It a very negative news, especially not many people were expecting it will be taken off at this point," financial analyst Jackson Wong told AFP.

"I think because other newcomers are performing so strongly, then they had to do that," Wong of Huarong International Securities said.

Cathay Pacific in March posted its first annual loss since the height of the financial crisis following "intense competition" and a drop in demand from business travellers.

The results came as companies like China Eastern and China Southern Airlines were offering direct services to Europe and the United States from the mainland, while budget carriers like Spring Airlines were providing regional routes, undermining Cathay's once critical Hong Kong hub.

The airline has seen its market capitalisation cut by almost half in the past seven years, Bloomberg News reported.

State-owned Gulf carrier Qatar Airways said Monday it had acquired a 9.6 percent stake in Cathay, making it the third largest shareholder in the Hong Kong-based airline.

Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al-Baker said in a statement that Cathay was "one of the strongest airlines in the world", adding it had "massive potential".

Shares in Cathay will continue to trade on the Hong Kong stock exchange after its removal from the Hang Seng.

The statement from Hang Seng Indexes said it also removed Kunlun Energy, an arm of PetroChina.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

If you're still wondering how a GOP tax overhaul might affect you, things just got a lot more complicated.

Senate Republicans are now out with their own tax proposal, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a little over a week after the House GOP unveiled its tax plan. While both are aimed at cutting taxes while limiting or ending popular deductions, they go about in some very different ways.

Among the key differences:

 The Senate plan would have seven tax brackets, the House four.

 The Senate would eliminate all deductions for state and local taxes, including property taxes. The House would limit state and local tax deductions to $10,000.

 The Senate would keep some deductions the House cuts, including those for certain medical expenses and interest on mortgage debt of up to $1 million.

Depending on your financial and family situation, all of this may leave you with some sense of hopeor dread. But with so much still to negotiate between the two chambers of Congress, experts say it's too early to tell what a final bill could mean to you and your family.

"There's no way to generalize," says Howard Hook, a CPA and certified financial planner based in Princeton, N.J. "You have to look at it on a case-by-case basis."

Here's a more detailed comparison of the two tax plans.

Tax Rates and Deductions

 Tax brackets. The Senate version would have seven tax brackets, rather than the four proposed by the House. In the Senate plan, the lowest rate would be 10 percent, starting at $9,525 for single filers and $19,050 for joint filers. That's slightly higher than what's in place today.

 Top tax rate. The Senate plan would have a top tax rate of 38.5 percent, while the House would leave it at 39.6 percent. Both top rates start at income of $500,000 for single filers and $1 million for joint filers. "At the top level, the Senate bill looks a little better at the same income level," notes Mark Luscombe, principal analyst with Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting in Riverwoods, Il.

Story continues

 Standard deduction. Under the Senate plan, the standard deduction for individuals would be $12,000, slightly less than the $12,200 proposed by the House. The current deduction for individuals is $6,350. For heads of household it would be $18,000, compared with $18,300 in the House plan. The current deduction for heads of household is $9,300. For married couples filing jointly, the standard deduction would rise to $24,400, slightly higher than the $24,000 the House proposes. The current rate for joint filers is $12,700.

 Child tax credit. The credit, available for every child in a household under age 17, would rise to $1,650 from $1,000 under the Senate plan and would be unavailable to taxpayers making $500,000 or more. The House plan would raise the credit to $1,600.

 Family tax credit. The Senate offers no credit, while the House proposal calls for $300 per parent in a household with children.

 Estate tax. The Senate plan would keep the estate tax, but double the exemption to nearly $11 million per individual. The House repeals the estate tax after six years.

 Medical expenses. Under the Senate plan, households could continue to deduct medical expenses above 10 percent of a taxpayer's adjusted gross income. The House bill eliminates that break.

 Student loan interest. The Senate plan would retain credit for up to $2,500 in student loan interest. The proposed House tax plan would disallow this.

Where the Plans Agree

Both the Senate and the House would keep a credit of up to $13,570 for adoptions. The original House bill had eliminated it, but the version approved Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee restored the credit.

Both plans also scrap the personal exemption, currently worth $4,050 per household member.

In both plans, the earned-income tax credit, designed for lower-income earners, would be preserved.

Neither bill would change the deductibility of charitable donations or what can be contributed, tax-free, toward retirement savings.

Both bills drop the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), a parallel taxation system that mainly affects households with income of $200,000 to $400,000.

At the same time, in an effort to keep the tax bill's cost within a target, $1.5 trillion, Senators would delay a planned reduction in top corporate tax rates to 20 percent from 35 percent to 2019. Tax plan writers in the House Ways and Means Committee had scheduled the changes to go into effect in 2018.

What About High-Tax States?

The proposed higher standard deduction could leave many homeowners ahead without itemizing, some experts note. But residents of high-tax states such as New York and California who itemize their tax returns could stand to lose from the Senate proposal, which eliminates the deduction for all state and local taxes.

"My real estate taxes are about $20,000 on a regular, middle-class house," says Ed Slott, a CPA in Rockville Centre, N.Y. "If you're paying that and working in New York City, where your state and city taxes can be 10 percent of your income, that's a big deduction to miss."

On the other hand, Hook, the Princeton CPA, notes that many of his upper-middle-income clients may not suffer so much because under arcane AMT rules, they can't deduct their property taxes now anyway. "If both the AMT and property-tax deduction are repealed, it may put them into essentially same situation they're in now," he says.

What Happens Next

Much can change between now and when a final, reconciled bill emerges, however. With the House bill and its amendments, now sanctioned by the Ways and Means Committee, moves to the full House for a vote next week.

The Senate Finance Committee expects to make amendments to its bill next week. The full Senate is expected to debate it after the Thanksgiving recess.

Bills from both houses would need to be reconciled in December in order to meet President Trump's stated goal to sign legislation by Christmas.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2017, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Asbury Automotive (ABG) shares have started gaining and might continue moving higher in the near term, as indicated by solid earnings estimate revisions.

With 436 S&P 500 members having reported their results as of Nov 8, the third-quarter 2017 reporting cycle is at its tail end. Notably, a positive revenue momentum and favorable estimate revision trends have been reflected in the quarterly releases.

Evidently, 73.4% of these index members surpassed EPS estimates with earnings rising 6.8% from third-quarter 2016 on 6.2% higher revenues. Coming to the broader Aerospace sector, 90% of the companies have released their results, with 77.8% delivering an earnings beat and 33.3% surpassing revenue estimates.

Over the past five trading sessions, this space saw a number of quarterly releases. A moderate flow of funds from the Pentagon also boosted the prospects of defense stocks. As a result, major indices of the Aerospace-Defense industry ended in the green. Evidently, the S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense (Industry) index inched up 0.5% over the said time frame.

Among last weeks highlights, while defense primes Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. HII, Orbital ATK, Inc. OA and Triumph Group, Inc. TGI released their quarterly numbers, Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT won notable contracts from the Pentagon.

(Read Defense Stock Roundup for Nov 2, 2017 here)

Recap of Last Weeks Key Stories

1. Leidos Holdings reported third-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of 95 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 80 cents by 18.8%. The company generated total revenues of $2,503 million in the quarter, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,505 million by 0.1%.

The companys backlog of signed business orders was $17.7 billion, at the end of the quarter, of which $5.6 billion was funded. Total backlog at the end of the previous quarter was $17.1 billion.

For 2017, the company raised its earnings expectation in the range of $3.60-$3.75 per share from $3.45- $3.60, projected earlier (read more: Leidos Holdings Beats on Q3 Earnings, Raises '17 View ).

Story continues

2. Huntington Ingalls third-quarter 2017 earnings of $3.27 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.78 by 17.6%. Total revenues in the third quarter were $1.86 billion, ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.78 billion by 4.5%.

The company received new orders worth $3 billion during the quarter, as a result of which, its total backlog reached $23 billion as of Sep 30, 2017.

Huntington Ingalls cash from operating activities in third-quarter 2017 was $380 million, compared with $477 million in third-quarter 2016 (read more: Huntington Ingalls Tops Q3 Earnings, Sales Up Y/Y).

3.Orbital ATK posted third-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of $1.75 per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.56 by 12.2%. Its total revenues in the quarter under review came in at $1,216 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,166 million by 4.3%.

As of Sep 30, Orbital ATK's firm contract backlog was approximately $9.6 billion, up 5% year over year. Total backlog (including options, indefinite quantity contracts and undefinitized orders) was approximately $15.7 billion, up 3%.

Due to proposed acquisition of Orbital ATK by Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC, the companys management decided not to provide annual earnings guidance for it (read more: Orbital ATK Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates).

4. Triumph Groups adjusted earnings from continuing operations in second-quarter fiscal 2018 (ended Sep 30) were 52 cents per share, reflecting a decline of 48% from $1.00 per share a year ago.

In the quarter, net sales were $745.2 million, lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $795 million by 6.3%. The top line also declined 14.8% year over year.

The company continues to expect organic sales growth in fiscal 2019. Management additionally reiterated guidance for adjusted earnings per diluted share of $2.25-$2.75 (read more: Triumph Group Q2 Earnings Drop Y/Y, Misses On Revenues).

5. Lockheed Martins Aeronautics business division secured a modification contract worth $260 million, under which it will upgrade four P-3B aircraft, to support the government of Greece. Work related to this deal is expected to be over by December 2023.

The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, NJ. Per the terms of the agreement, Lockheed Martin will offer structural mid-life upgrades, tailored-phased depot maintenance, a country-specific designed mission integration and management system as well as new avionics for the aircraft.

Notably, the mid-life upgrade will extend the service life of each aircraft by 15,000 flight hours. Majority of the work for this contract will be executed in Marietta, GA and Schimatari, Greece.

Meanwhile, the companys Space Systems business unit won a modification contract worth $386 million from the U.S. Air Force, for supporting reentry system/reentry vehicles subsystem. Work related to this deal will be carried out in King of Prussia, PA and is scheduled to be over by Jun 4, 2022.

Performance

Over the last five trading sessions, most of the defense biggies put up a strong show, except General Dynamics, Rockwell Collins and L3 Technologies. Textron gained the most in the last five days, with its share price rising 2.60%.

On a brighter note, over the last six months, the entire industry has put up a stellar performance. The Boeing Company BA gained the most, with its shares rising 40.55%, followed by Rockwell Collins.

The following table shows the price movement of the major defense players over the past five trading days and during the last six months.

Company Last Week Last 6 Months LMT 1.00% 13.59% BA 2.43% 40.55% GD -2.99% 1.16% RTN 2.58% 15.54% NOC 0.50% 19.90% COL -1.35% 27.05% TXT 2.60% 15.55% LLL -2.30% 10.13%

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.

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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Boeing Company (The) (BA) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Triumph Group, Inc. (TGI) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Orbital ATK, Inc. (OA) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Disney (DIS) shares are rising Friday as analysts are bullish on its upcoming internet video streaming services, despite the company's earnings miss. The media giant reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings Thursday. It generated earnings per share of $1.07 versus the $1.12 Thomson Reuters consensus estimate. But analysts got excited after the company said it would price its upcoming streaming service "substantially below" Netflix (NFLX) during the earnings conference call. The stock rose 3 percent Friday morning. "We finally got some glimpse into pricing ... to convert Disney's 'gigantic' customer base into subs  with pricing likely to move higher as more and more content is added," Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote in a note to clients Friday. "Given how just about all of our stocks tend to trade on sub numbers, we view this strategic comment as an incremental positive." Disney announced plans in August to launch a branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019 and an ESPN streaming service in 2018. Ryvicker reiterated her outperform rating and $116 price target for Disney shares. In similar fashion, Goldman Sachs is bullish on Disney's upcoming ESPN streaming offering. Disney's "EPS growth is poised to accelerate reflecting a bigger and better film slate (2 Star Wars, 4 Marvel, 2 PIXAR) with ample consumer products opportunities, tailwinds from new attractions (Avatar in Orlando, Toy Story Land in Orlando and Shanghai), and an improving outlook for ESPN driven by benefits from virtual MVPDs and ESPN Plus  the new OTT launching this spring," analyst Drew Borst wrote in a note to clients Friday. Borst reaffirmed his buy rating and raised his price target to $120 from $115 for Disney shares. Disney has underperformed the market this year with its shares down 1.5 percent in 2017 through Thursday, compared with the S&P 500's 15.5 percent return. One analyst is also optimistic on the future prospects of other Disney businesses. "While the quarter largely missed our expectations, looking ahead, we remain upbeat on DIS shares as we head into a strong film slate, growth from recent and upcoming carriage renewals, and continued momentum at the Parks," Piper Jaffray analyst Stan Meyers wrote in a note to clients Friday. "The company remains best positioned in the current fragmented media landscape to leverage its content across a growing number of distribution channels, its own global theme parks and consumer products." Meyers reiterated his overweight rating and lowered his price target to $120 from $130 for Disney shares, representing 17 percent upside to Thursday's close.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story.



More From CNBC


(RIYADH, Saudi Arabia)  Dozens more people have been taken into custody by Saudi authorities, the kingdom said Thursday, bringing to 201 the number detained in a sweep that investigators say has uncovered at least $100 billion in corruption.

Saudi critics and experts have called the unprecedented purge of top princes and businessmen a bold and risky move by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at consolidating power as he keeps an eye on the throne, sidelining potential rivals and dismantling alliances built with other branches of the royal family.

The sweep comes at a time of increased tensions between Saudi Arabia and its main regional rival, Iran, over the ongoing conflict and suffering in Yemen and a newly erupting political crisis in Lebanon.

Saudi Attorney General Saud al-Mojeb said 208 people had been called in for questioning, and that seven were released without charge, leaving 201 in custody.

The new figure is far larger than what was previously reported by the government, reflecting a continuing series of arrests throughout the week. The stunning purge began overnight Saturday, initially catching 11 princes and 38 officials, military officers and business leaders. They are being held at five-star hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh.

The 32-year-old crown prince, who is the son of King Salman and is popularly known by his initials MBS, is leading the investigation as head of a newly formed anti-corruption committee.

Among those detained are billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and two sons of the late King Abdullah, including Prince Miteb, who until Saturday had headed the powerful National Guard. Several years ago, he was considered a contender for the throne and was believed to have opposed MBS becoming crown prince.

The government declined to identify many of the other individuals being questioned, saying it is respecting their privacy during this phase of the investigation.

An estimated 1,700 individual bank accounts have been frozen.

Story continues

The potential scale of corrupt practices which have been uncovered is very large, al-Mojeb said, adding that based on investigations in the past three years, at least $100 billion has been misused through corruption and embezzlement.

Al-Mojeb confirmed that action was taken to suspend personal bank accounts, but he did not disclose any figures. The government stressed that only personal accounts have been frozen, leaving businesses untouched.

Saudis have complained for years of rampant corruption and misuse of public funds by top officials in a system where nepotism is also widespread.

In recent years, Saudi families have also had to contend with austerity measures that have driven up costs while simultaneously being told they can no longer count on cushy government jobs.

Meanwhile, members of the sprawling royal family and their business associates had long been seen as operating above the law. Members of the royal family receive undisclosed monthly stipends from state coffers built up over years of high oil prices.

After oil prices fell three years ago without fully recovering, Saudi Arabia introduced new taxes and lifted some subsidies in order to boost revenue and cut government spending.

Supporters of MBS say fighting corruption is part of the crown princes Vision 2030 plan, a blueprint for how to restructure the country and wean it from its dependence on oil revenue.

Faisal Abbas, the Saudi editor-in-chief of the daily Arab News, wrote in a widely shared column this week that the kingdom is damned if it acts against corruption, damned if it doesnt.

Anyone who understands who is who in Riyadh knows only too well that none of those arrested  whether royals or non-royals  has or would have had any political sway in the current climate whatsoever, he wrote.

More importantly, it is just mind-boggling that very few are noticing the obvious; which is that all of those being detained are incredibly wealthy, Abbas added.

Still, independent Saudi observers say the anti-corruption probe targets only select members of the royal family, government and business community. Additionally, several of those arrested were ministers under King Salman, raising questions about where responsibility begins and ends.

While few would argue against allegations that some top princes and officials have enriched themselves during years in power, the selection of who has been detained raises speculation that the purge is political.

Prince Mitebs detention stands out because he was the last remaining prince of his generation in a position of real power, which made him a potential obstacle to the throne for MBS.

Earlier this year, the crown prince engineered the ouster of another more experienced prince from the line of succession.

Many also have questioned a recent purchase by MBS of a yacht estimated at anywhere between $200 million to $500 million.

Saudi observer Thomas Lippmann said it is difficult to draw the line between what constitutes corruption in Saudi Arabia and how business deals, contracts and access have been won over the years.

I dont believe for a minute this is really about disrupting the payout system or corruption, said Lippmann, author of Saudi Arabia on the Edge: The Uncertain Future of an American Ally.

This is about getting rid of the centers of power, he said.

As the purge unfolded, U.S. President Donald Trump gave his stamp of approval, saying the king and the crown prince know exactly what they are doing.

French President Emmanuel Macron told journalists in the United Arab Emirates that he wasnt making any judgments.

This is not the role of a president, and similarly I would not expect a leader of a foreign country to come and infringe on domestic matters, Macron said.

Macron visited Saudi Arabia later Thursday and met with the crown prince. Their discussions likely also touched on the crisis in Lebanon sparked by the sudden and mysterious resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. He announced his resignation in a pre-recorded message from Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah and one of Lebanons most powerful figures, has openly speculated that Saudi Arabia played a role in Hariris resignation and might have been held against his will in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia ordered all of its citizens to immediately depart Lebanon amid heightened tensions with Hezbollah and the militant groups patron, Iran. A brief statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency also warned Saudis against travel to the country.

Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir warned earlier this week that his government would deal with Lebanon as a hostile state as long as Hezbollah was in the government. He said Hezbollahs participation in government is an act of war against Saudi Arabia.

In Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling Shiite rebels since March 2015, the United Nations and more than 20 aid groups said a blockade of all ports in the war-torn country was threatening to bring starvation and death to millions of people.

Unless the coalition lifts the blockade, Yemen will face the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims, said U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock.

The coalition closed all ports and halted aid shipments after Yemens Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile over the weekend that was intercepted near Riyadh. Saudi Arabia blamed the strike on Iran, which supports the Houthis but has denied arming them.
[caption id="attachment_4022" align="alignnone" width="620"]

Equifax headquarters in Atlanta. Credit: John Disney/ ALM [/caption] Appearing before Congress last month, former Equifax Inc. CEO Richard Smith apologized to consumers over a data breach that potentially compromised the personal information of nearly half the U.S. adult population.A month later, the Atlanta-based credit reporting bureau is showing less contrition as it confronts a rising wave of class actions alleging harm to consumers and financial institutions.We dispute the allegations in the complaints described above and intend to defend against such claims, Equifax said in a regulatory filing Thursday.Heres a look, by the numbers, at where things stand for Equifax in the fallout over one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history.

$87.5 million

Thats the total so far of expenses stemming from the data breach, according to Equifax's filing at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

240

Consumers have filed more than 240 class actions in federal, state and Canadian courts over the breach, which exposed personal informationincluding names, Social Security numbers and birth datesof at least 145 million Americans. Financial institutions have brought other class actions claiming their businesses have been placed at risk, according to the disclosure. Other lawsuits allege securities laws violations related to the companys past statements about cybersecurity.

50

The state attorneys general in all 50 states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are involved in ongoing investigations. According to the disclosure, state enforcers are investigating or otherwise seeking information about the breach. One attorney general has been particularly aggressive. In September, within weeks of the public disclosure of the breach, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey brought the first enforcement action over what her office described the companys failure to protect sensitive and personal information of nearly three million Massachusetts residents.

Story continues

4

Equifaxs latest disclosure identified four federal offices that are conducting investigations: the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. attorneys office in Atlanta, where the companyand its lawyers at King & Spaldingare based. In a rare move, the FTC confirmed in September it was investigating the data breach. But, as the National Law Journal first reported, it is conducting that probe without the interim chief of the office leading the investigation. Thomas Pahl, named acting head of the bureau of consumer protection in February, has recused himself from the investigation because he represented Equifax when he was a partner at Arnall Golden in Washington. A deputy, longtime FTC lawyer Daniel Kaufman, is overseeing the probe. The CFPB said in September that it was looking into the data breach and Equifaxs response and defended its authority over the credit reporting industry. In recent years, the CFPB has identified Equifax as among the top targets of consumer complaints. Since 2012, consumers have filed more than 57,000 complaints against Equifax, for an average of 31 per day, according to a FastCompany review of the CFPBs complaint database. Meanwhile, the SEC and U.S. attorneys office in Atlanta have been scrutinizing stock sales by Equifax executives in the days after the company learned of the breach, but weeks before the public disclosure. Equifax said it has received subpoenas regarding trading activities by certain of our employees in relation to the cybersecurity incident. Smith testified the executives were unaware of the breach when they made the sales, and last week, the company said an internal investigation uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing.

2

In New York, two agenciesthe state Department of Financial Services and State Departments division of consumer protectionhave both entered the mix. At the local level, two citiesChicago and San Franciscohave filed lawsuits alleging violations of state laws and local ordinances governing protection of personal data, consumer fraud and breach notice requirements and business practices, according to Equifax. And internationally, two countriesthe United Kingdom and Canadahave launched investigations, with the U.K.s Financial Conduct Authority focused on the companys subsidiary in the country, Equifax Ltd.

Indefinite

It is not possible to estimate the amount of loss or range of possible loss, if any, that might result from adverse judgments, settlements, penalties or other resolution of the above described proceedings and investigations based on the early stage of these proceedings and investigations, that alleged damages have not been specified, the uncertainty as to the certification of a class or classes and the size of any certified class, as applicable, and the lack of resolution on significant factual and legal issues, Equifax said. Read more: DLA Piper, a Hacking Victim Itself, Helps Guide Equifax on Capitol Hill FTC's Equifax Investigation Is Part of 'Unprecedented' Year Ahead Equifax, Before Breach, Lobbied to Limit Class-Action Damages Businesses Begin Filing Class Actions Against Equifax FTC's Top Consumer Enforcer Previously Represented Equifax. He Won't Lead the Probe.
Equifax recorded $27.3m of pre-tax expenses related to the cyber breach earlier this year - AP

Equifax on Thursday reported a lower third-quarter profit as costs from the credit reporting bureau's recently disclosed data breach that exposed deeply sensitive information on 145.5 million people began to mount.

Net income attributable to Equifax fell to $96.3m (73m), or 79 cents per diluted share, from $132.8m, or $1.09 per diluted share, a year earlier.

Adjusted for one-time costs, such as hacking- and merger-related expenses, Equifax said it earned $1.53 per share, beating an average of analysts' estimates by 4 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.

The Atlanta-based company recorded $27.3m of pre-tax expenses related to the cyber breach, which occurred between mid-May and late July and involved the theft of data such as birth dates, social security and credit card numbers.

The expenses included costs to investigate and remediate the cybersecurity incident and legal and other professional services related thereto, all of which were expensed as incurred, the company said.
Kathmandu-Kerung rail possible: Chinese team

A Chinese delegation that studied the feasibility of railways in Nepal have concluded that two rail routesKathmandu-Kerung and Kathmandu-Pokhara-Lumbinicould be developed in the country.
Interim CEO of Equifax Paulino Barros (L) and former CEO of Equifax Richard Smith (R) testified during a hearing before Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee November 8, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/ALEX WONG) (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File)

Washington (AFP) - Scandal-hit credit bureau Equifax on Friday apologized to consumers and investors for its massive security breach, a day after reporting a sharp drop in quarterly earnings.

In an investor call, interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros outlined steps he said the company was taking to improve security practices and compensate members of the public whose information was stolen.

The company sparked a public outcry and congressional inquiries in September after revealing that hackers had stolen the personal details, including names, dates of birth and social security numbers, of nearly 146 million people.

The company gathers data on consumers to help lenders determine borrowers' creditworthiness.

"I and the entire Equifax organization apologize to the individuals whose personal information was stolen, as well as to our customers, partners, investors, managers and other constituents," Barros said.

The company on Thursday reported $96.3 million in net quarterly income, a year-on-year drop of 27 percent. Revenues, however, were up four percent at $834.9 million.

The hack resulted in a one-time charge of $87.5 million for investigation and legal costs as well as offers of free credit monitoring to all US citizens.

Equifax also said it believed lender clients had put off some business with Equifax until the company can assure it has stepped up security to protect consumer data.

Chief Financial Officer John Gamble said Friday the company's executives would forgo incentive pay this year as a result of the breach.

Since the disclosure, the share of Equifax credit files locked or frozen by consumers has gone from 0.5 percent to between 1.5 percent and two percent, according to Gamble.

The company is now facing state and federal investigations as well as class-action lawsuits over the breach and has offered free credit monitoring to members of the general public, regardless of whether their information was stolen.

Equifax said this month that executives who sold nearly $2 million in stock just prior to the disclosure of the hack were unaware of the breach at the time.
By John McCrank (Reuters) - Equifax Inc on Thursday reported lower quarterly profit, and quarterly revenue missed estimates, as the credit bureau warned that its massive data breach had prompted some customers to hold back business. The breach, which compromised sensitive data of 145.5 million people, has harmed the company's reputation and prompted investigations in every U.S. state, a federal criminal probe and hundreds of lawsuits. Equifax said it was not possible to estimate how much it would cost the company to respond to the probes and litigation. The Atlanta-based company said it recorded $87.5 million in expenses related to the hack during the quarter, including legal fees, investigation of the breach, and free credit monitoring for U.S. consumers whose data was exposed in the breach. Equifax estimated a range of additional costs between $56 million and $110 million to continue providing the free services. The company warned there could be further attacks. "We cannot assure that all potential causes of the incident have been identified and remediated and will not occur again," it said in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Eric Johnson, dean of Vanderbilt Universitys Owen Graduate School of Management, said that uncertainty could cost Equifax future business. "They need to be able to nail those pieces and have a clear explanation of what happened and how they solved it," said Johnson. "I think they can get there, but they arent there now." Johnson estimated the costs from the breach will total in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but that lost revenue could be even larger. The company said the breach was already taking a toll on sales. "We believe that certain of our customers have determined to defer new contracts or projects unless and until we can provide assurances regarding our ability to prevent unauthorized access to our systems and the data we maintain," it said in the SEC filing. Equifax needs to do a better job of communicating whether it believes the hackers are still inside its network, said Mark Rasch, a former U.S. federal cyber-crimes prosecutor who advises businesses on responding to breaches. "What I want to know is 'How did they get in?' and 'How are they preventing hackers from getting in the future?' They haven't answered those questions," said Rasch. The SEC is one of more than a dozen regulatory bodies investigating Equifax over the hack. Additionally, several agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, had probes into the trading activities of some Equifax employees before the breach was made public, the company said. Equifax reported third-quarter revenue of $834.8 million, missing analysts' average estimate of $845.94 million, according to I/B/E/S Thomson Reuters. Net income attributable to Equifax fell to $96.3 million, or 79 cents per diluted share, from $132.8 million, or $1.09 per diluted share, a year earlier. Adjusted for one-time costs, such as hacking- and merger-related expenses, Equifax said it earned $1.53 per share, topping analysts' average estimates by 4 cents. Shares of Equifax, which reported after the closing bell, were down a penny in aftermarket trading at $108.94. The stock is down around 24 percent since Sept. 7, when Equifax disclosed the breach. (Reporting by John McCrank in New York; Editing by Jim Finkle and James Dalgleish)
General Electric "absolutely" has to cut its dividend, analyst Jeff Sprague told CNBC on Friday.The founder of Vertical Research Partners expects a "meaningful cut," perhaps down to about 50 cents from the current 96 cents. "If you look back over the last few years, it was fine that the industrial cash flow wasn't covering the entire dividend because you had GE Capital covering its fair share. But the company has shrunk, GE Capital is gone and it's just not sustainable for the industrial company to carry that dividend any longer," Sprague said in an interview with " Power Lunch. " GE (NYSE: GE) 's new CEO, John Flannery , is expected to lay out strategic changes and new financial targets at its investor day presentation on Monday . The plans may also include the slashing of that dividend. If that occurred, it would be only the third GE dividend cut since the Great Depression. However, Sprague doubts eliminating the dividend is on the table.What he does expect is a plan that leads to GE becoming smaller and more focused.In a note to investors on Friday, Sprague said, "It is also conceivable that looking out a few years, GE ceases to exist as we know it."However, he told CNBC he doesn't expect the company to break up."Mr. Flannery has a tough conundrum here. He does need to simplify and shrink the company a bit. I think that's a prerequisite here. But to do a full-scale breakup I think is very implausible and could destroy value," he said. Reuters contributed to this report.Disclaimer General Electric "absolutely" has to cut its dividend, analyst Jeff Sprague told CNBC on Friday. The founder of Vertical Research Partners expects a "meaningful cut," perhaps down to about 50 cents from the current 96 cents. "If you look back over the last few years, it was fine that the industrial cash flow wasn't covering the entire dividend because you had GE Capital covering its fair share. But the company has shrunk, GE Capital is gone and it's just not sustainable for the industrial company to carry that dividend any longer," Sprague said in an interview with " Power Lunch. " GE (NYSE: GE) 's new CEO, John Flannery , is expected to lay out strategic changes and new financial targets at its investor day presentation on Monday . The plans may also include the slashing of that dividend. If that occurred, it would be only the third GE dividend cut since the Great Depression. However, Sprague doubts eliminating the dividend is on the table. What he does expect is a plan that leads to GE becoming smaller and more focused. In a note to investors on Friday, Sprague said, "It is also conceivable that looking out a few years, GE ceases to exist as we know it." However, he told CNBC he doesn't expect the company to break up. "Mr. Flannery has a tough conundrum here. He does need to simplify and shrink the company a bit. I think that's a prerequisite here. But to do a full-scale breakup I think is very implausible and could destroy value," he said.  Reuters contributed to this report. Disclaimer



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Good morning.

I spent two years of my life following the perils-of-Pauline path of the 1986 tax reform bill (see: Showdown at Gucci Gulch), and remain skeptical that Republicans in Congress can repeat the process in six weeks. But they sure seem determined to try. Their poor showing in this weeks election, oddly, is helping their cause. They now realizeif they didnt beforethat they have to have an issue, other than Trump, to run on in next years elections. Tax reform is their last, best hope.

It clearly is a do-or-die moment in my view in terms of holding the majority, says GOP Rep. Tom Cole. It doesnt guarantee success, but its a precondition for success.

Still, they face three big obstacles:

Keeping the price tag below the $1.5 trillion that the budget resolution allows (you would think that would be sufficient!); Convincing people (or at least GOP voters) that the bill is better for the middle class (or at least the middle class in Republican states and districts) than it is for the rich, as they claim; Placating the small business lobby, which is a powerful force in Republican politics.

The Senate unveiled its version of the bill yesterday. They dealt with problem #1 by delaying the corporate tax cut until 2019 and by fully eliminating more of the state and local tax deduction, which largely hits Democratic states. They dealt with #2 by retaining a 10% bracket and retaining a tax on estates over $22 million. And they made an attempt to improve the optics on problem #3 by being more generous in their tax relief for pass-through businesses.

How the House and Senate will ultimately resolve their differences is unclear. But that only matters if both bodies can pass a bill first. The House is going to take a stab next week. The Senate is aiming for immediately after Thanksgiving. Given that Democrats arent playing in this game, both votes will be cliffhangers.

More news belowand enjoy the weekend.

Top News

 Trump Takes a Hard Line in Vietnam

Story continues

President Donald Trumps keynote to the APEC summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, demanded an end to chronic trade abuses and invented a whole new geopolitical concept of the Indo-Pacific region, in what appeared a broad hint to south-east Asia to look to India, rather than the U.S., to protect them against Chinese expansionism. Outside of the main hall, Japan and Canada were trying to salvage whats left of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, without success at the time of writing. Fortune

 Rays of Light at Macys, Kohls

Macys completed a third year without sales growth, as comparable sales fell 3.6% in the third quarter, more than Wall Street had expected. Its stock still jumped 10% because the bottom line was much better than forecast, in part due to better inventory management. Elsewhere, Kohls also edged up after a strong back-to-school season which helped comparable sales edge up 0.1% on the year. Both sets of results would have looked better without the exceptional disruption from hurricanes this year. Fortune

 China Ushers the Barbarians to the Gate

China said it will allow foreign companies to have majority control of joint ventures in securities, asset management and futures trading, and lift all limits on ownership after three years. That means that the foreign ownership cap of 20% for local banks and asset managers will also be scrapped. Insurers will have to wait a further two years before they get the same rights. A cynic would infer that its the banks and asset managers balance sheets that are going to blow up first after a decade of unrestrained credit growth. Reuters

 Drahi Returns to Fix Altice Crisis

Frances Patrick Drahi, the billionaire founder of Altice, has returned as CEO after the stock market turned sour on its highly-leveraged growth strategy. Michael Combes was forced out after a poor quarterly report exposed how badly its cash cow, French mobile carrier SFR, was struggling. The companys U.S. operations have at least had the consolation prize of a tie-up with Sprint after the latters merger talks with T-Mobile collapsed, but that seems unlikely to make much of a dent in the companys 50 billion euros ($58 billion) of gross debt. FT, metered access

Around the Water Cooler

 Disney Bets on Star Wars ad infinitum

Walt Disney announced plans for a whole new Star Wars trilogy that will involve a whole new raft of characters and storylines. The movies will be directed by Rian Johnson, whose Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters next month. CEO Bob Iger also announced plans on the companys earnings call for a Star Wars-themed TV series. Thatll all help populate Disneys new streaming service when it comes, even if riffing off a 40-year old franchise stretches the definition of original content. Fortune

 Toshiba in Trouble

Toshiba may need to raise $5.3 billion in capital to meet stock exchange rules on financial reporting, while it waits to pocket the money from the proposed sale of its memory chip unit. That deal is still being blocked by Western Digital, its current joint venture partner, which claims right of first refusal on the NAND chip business. The companys battered shares fell another 8% in Tokyo. Fortune

 Hall of Shame, Friday Edition

Its got to the point where all we have room for is the names of those accused of sexual harassment. Thursdays roll of dishonor was headed by Louis CK, in some peoples eyes the most influential man in todays comedy scene. Also mentioned in dispatches were Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner; hotelier Andre Balazs; Dr. Larry Nassar, the former doctor to the U.S. womens gymnastics team; and, of course, Alabama Senator Roy Moore: in all, an eclectic bunch that speaks volumes about the pervasiveness of sexual harassment across society. Fortune

 Make It One For My Baby

Saturday is Singles Day in China, Alibabas spectacularly successful antidote to Valentines Day, which last year generated nearly $18 billion in sales. For comparison, thats more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. This years special offers include a lifetime supply of grain-based liquor called baijiu for just 11,111 yuan (see what they did there?), or $1,673. If the customer somehow dies within five years of the purchase, then a family member gets to inherit the deal. It may be worth noting that cirrhosis of the liver usually takes at least a decade to develop. Fortune

Summaries by Geoffrey Smith; geoffrey.smith@fortune.com

@geoffreytsmith
LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC has closed some accounts for companies associated with South Africa's Gupta brothers as it investigates its own possible ties to the business friends of President Jacob Zuma who have been accused of corruption by politicians in the country.

HSBC on Friday said it had no direct business ties with the family, but has "closed a number of accounts for associated front companies" wherever it has found such accounts.

"This is inherently challenging because those who seek to launder money are often extremely sophisticated, hiding behind legitimate companies, layers of front companies, connected parties and individuals that have controlling interests in the subject companies," a spokeswoman for HSBC said.

Regulators in the U.S. and Britain are investigating banks' ties to the escalating graft probe in South Africa.

(Reporting By Lawrence White, editing by David Evans)
Highcroft Investments is one of the ten dividend stocks that can help raise your investment income by paying sizeable dividends. These stocks are a safe bet to increase your portfolio value as they provide both steady income and cushion against market risks. A large part of investment returns can be generated by dividend-paying stock given their role in compounding returns over time. Ive made a list of other value-adding dividend-paying stocks for you to consider for your investment portfolio.

Highcroft Investments Plc (LSE:HCFT)

Highcroft Investments PLC (Highcroft) and its subsidiaries (together the group) principal activity is investment in property and equities. Highcroft Investments is currently run by Simon Gill. With the stocks market cap sitting at GBP 46.38M, it comes under the small-cap stocks category

HCFT has a enticing dividend yield of 4.71% and pays 45.98% of its earnings as dividends . In the last 10 years, shareholders would have been happy to see the company increase its dividend from 0.14 to 0.41. Much to the delight of shareholders, the company has not missed a payment during this time. Comparing Highcroft Investmentss PE ratio against the GB Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry draws favorable results, with the companys PE of 9.8 being below that of its industry (13.8).

LSE:HCFT Historical Dividend Yield Nov 10th 17

Vianet Group plc (AIM:VNET)

Vianet Group plc engages in the design, development, sale, and rental of fluid monitoring and machine monitoring equipment for the leisure and vending sectors in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the United States, Canada, and internationally. Founded in 2005, and currently lead by Stewart Darling, the company employs 159 people and with the stocks market cap sitting at GBP 34.13M, it comes under the small-cap category.

VNET has a large dividend yield of 4.56% and their payout ratio stands at 151.09% . VNETs dividends have seen an increase since they started paying dividends 10 years ago, with payments increasing from 0.03 to 0.057 in that time. They have been dependable too, not missing a single payment in this time. XYZ has an acceptable level of debt, with a debt to equity ratio of 5%.

Story continues

AIM:VNET Historical Dividend Yield Nov 10th 17

MS INTERNATIONAL plc (AIM:MSI)

MS INTERNATIONAL plc designs, manufactures, sells, and services engineering products in Europe, North America, and internationally. Founded in 1960, and currently run by , the company provides employment to 409 people and has a market cap of GBP 30.95M, putting it in the small-cap stocks category.

MSI has a enticing dividend yield of 4.24% and the company currently pays out 88.14% of its profits as dividends . The companys dividends per share have risen from 0.036 to 0.08 since it started paying dividends 10 years ago. The company has been a reliable payer too, not missing a payment during this time. With a debt to equity ratio of zero, Im optimistic on the companys health if a downturn is to occur in the future.

AIM:MSI Historical Dividend Yield Nov 10th 17

For more solid dividend payers to add to your portfolio, you can use our free platform to explore our interactive list of top dividend payers.

To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.



The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.
Riyadh (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Saudi Arabia late Thursday for talks with the kingdom's powerful crown prince on the rising tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.

Macron, on his debut visit to the Middle East, made the surprise announcement at a news conference in Dubai that he would meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His arrival was confirmed to AFP by the French embassy in Riyadh.

Macron's talks with Prince Mohammed will cover Iran and Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and its allies have imposed a complete blockade in the wake of a missile attack last Saturday by Tehran-backed Huthi rebels.

"I've heard some very hard positions" taken by Saudi Arabia against Iran, said Macron, adding it was important to speak to all sides and that France had a role in making peace.

The visit comes at a time of increased friction between the Sunni kingdom and Shiite Iran, which are embroiled on opposite sides in Lebanon and Yemen.

The talks would also include developments in Lebanon, whose prime minister Saad Hariri resigned in a shock announcement broadcast from Riyadh on Saturday.

Macron's visit comes days after Prince Mohammed launched what the Saudi government has dubbed a wide-ranging corruption crackdown, arresting dozens of members of the royal family as well as ministers and businessmen.
Man nabbed for killing daughter, two granddaughters in Rolpa

Police have arrested a man on the charge of killing his daughter and two granddaughters in Rolpa on Friday night.
By Sylvia Westall and Stephen Kalin DUBAI/RIYADH (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Riyadh on Thursday for hastily scheduled talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, notably over Lebanon and Yemen. Macron, who flew in from a visit to the United Arab Emirates, had earlier declined to discuss a wave of high-level arrests for corruption in Saudi Arabia, but said it was vital to work with the kingdom for the stability of the region. He told a news conference in Dubai that the decision to go to Riyadh had been made on Thursday morning, and that his first face-to-face talks with the prince would focus on "regional questions, in particular Yemen and Lebanon". Two top Lebanese government officials said on Thursday that Riyadh was holding Lebanon's Saad al-Hariri captive and a third told Reuters that the Saudi authorities had ordered Hariri to resign while he was in Riyadh last weekend, and put him under house arrest. Saudi Arabia has denied that he is under house arrest, but Hariri himself has not denied that his movements are being restricted. France has close ties with Lebanon, a former colony, and with Hariri, who has a home in France after spending several years in the country. Macron said there had been informal contacts with Hariri, but no request to transfer him to France. Two French diplomats also said they were unaware of any plans to bring Hariri to France. Macron said he would "emphasize the importance of Lebanese stability and integrity" in his talks in Riyadh, adding: "My wish is that all Lebanese political officials live freely in Lebanon ... which means having a very demanding stance on those who could threaten any leader." Television pictures showed a smiling Macron being met at Riyadh airport by the crown prince. In recent years, France has been able to nurture new links with the Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab states due to its tough stance on Iran in nuclear negotiations, and the broad similarity of their policies on conflicts across the Middle East. However, the 32-year-old crown prince has emphasized closer ties with U.S. President Donald Trump at a time when Macron has in turn sought to improve relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite rival for regional influence. "STRONG CONCERNS ABOUT IRAN" In Yemen, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthi movement said on Monday it had closed all air, land and sea ports to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The United Nations said the move risked causing "the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims". Macron said he would insist to Prince Mohammed that Riyadh must open the borders to allow humanitarian access. On Iran, Macron repeated that he wanted to keep the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which U.S. President Donald Trump has challenged. But he said he was "very concerned" by Iran's ballistic missile program, mentioning a missile fired from Yemen and intercepted by Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and raised the prospect of possible sanctions with regard to those activities. "There are extremely strong concerns about Iran. There are negotiations we need to start on Iran's ballistic missiles," he said. "Like what was done in 2015 for the nuclear activities, it's necessary to put a framework in place for Iran's ballistic activities and open a process, with sanctions if needed, of negotiation that would enable (that)." Iran has denied providing ballistic missiles to Yemeni Houthi rebels and says its missile program is purely defensive and should not be linked to the nuclear deal. Macron reaffirmed his intention to go to Iran as part of efforts to talk to all the actors in the region, but warned about decisions that could destabilize the region further. "Iran is a regional power ... there should be no naivety in terms of Iran, it is about standing beside our allies, in particular the United Arab Emirates, but it is about not having any policy that could create imbalances, conflicts in the region." (Additional reporting and writing by John Irish; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Mark Cuban on Friday denied that he talked to Steve Bannon about his possible run for president in 2020. Earlier in the day, the Daily Beast cited four sources and reported that the billionaire entrepreneur has been in touch with Bannon, President Donald Trump 's former chief strategist, "for months" about a potential campaign. Bannon urged Cuban to run as a Democrat, the report said, which would pit him against Trump in 2020 if both men won the major parties' nominations. Cuban told the news site that he texted Bannon "a few" times and believes that none of those were "more than one full sentence." Cuban told CNBC that running for president did not come up in his exchanges with Bannon. "Nope. Not even remotely close," the Dallas Mavericks owner said. On Thursday, Cuban publicly said he is considering running for president as an independent , depending on whether his wife and family would endorse it. The "Shark Tank" panelist added that he would prefer to run as a Republican rather than mounting a bid as a Democrat. Cuban would "absolutely not" run as a Democrat, he said. The billionaire's wealth could help him avoid the need for party infrastructure, should he decide to run. It is unclear why Bannon, a staunch Trump ally, would want Cuban to run against the president. CNBC could not immediately reach Bannon for comment. Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank," which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.



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Toy giant Hasbro has approached Mattel about a potential takeover offer, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, a deal that could put iconic brands such as Barbie and Transformers under the same roof. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that the approach had been made recently, though the terms were unclear and a deal still may not materialize. If a deal was consummated, it would bring together the two largest toymakers in the United States. The offer takes place against the backdrop of an industry in the throes of deep change. The bankruptcy filing of Toys R Us, the children's store giant, has reverberated across the toy industry. Mattel (MAT) shares, which have taken a beating amid weak sales results, skyrocketed by more than 20 percent in after-hours trading on the Hasbro news. Hasbro (HAS) shares jumped more than 2 percent on the report. Mattel has a market value of $5 billion, while Hasbro is worth about $11 billion. Hasbro owns brands such as Nerf, Transformers and My Little Pony. Mattel makes Barbie and American Girl dolls as well as Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels toys. Both companies declined CNBC's request for comment. This story is developing. Please check back for updates.



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Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore has denied the allegations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)





ALABASTER, Ala. (AP) -- It's no secret that if Roy Moore is going to lose his race for U.S. Senate, it's going to happen in Alabama's suburbs. And on Friday, a day after allegations emerged that the outspoken Christian conservative had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl decades ago, at least a few Republicans in one Birmingham suburb were having second thoughts about their party's nominee.

"Really and truly, I cannot tell you what I'm going to do right now," said Carolyn Griffin, of Calera, as she watched her dog Loxy exercise at Alabaster's Veterans Park.

Griffin is the kind of voter who might be moved by the allegations, and suburban Shelby County is where other likeminded voters are located. While Alabama might be called the Heart of Dixie, much of Shelby County is Anysuburb USA, with subdivisions and strip malls sprawling ever farther south along traffic-choked highways leading out of Birmingham.

The accusations against Moore come as Democrats are feeling increasingly optimistic about their strength in suburbs after Tuesday's elections in Virginia, New Jersey and other races. Still, it's a steep, steep climb in Alabama. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat there since 1992, when Howell Heflin was elected.

Moore has been considered the strong favorite as a Republican running in a deeply red state, and polls taken before the Washington Post story showed him with a lead over Democratic challenger Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 race.

But Moore, a polarizing figure within his own state, has typically underperformed other Republicans in general-election races, giving rise to Democrats' hope of a victory against him in the off-year election.

"There was a universe in Alabama that was uncomfortable with him, all while Republicans were gaining in Alabama," Birmingham-based Democratic pollster John Anzalone said. "These allegations now give these voters a reason to vote against him or stay home."

Story continues

The 70-year-old Moore, a former state Supreme Court judge, was twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court, once for disobeying a federal court order to remove a 5,200-pound (2,359-kilogram) granite Ten Commandments monument from the lobby of the state judicial building and later for urging state probate judges to defy the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage.

He has vehemently denied accusations that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl and pursued three other teenagers when he was an assistant district attorney in his early 30s.

He repeated his denial Saturday while speaking to the Mid Alabama Republican Club in Vestavia Hills outside Birmingham.

"There are investigations going on. In the next few days, there will be revelations about the motivations and the content of this article that will be brought to the public," Moore said without elaborating. "We fully expect the people of Alabama to see through this charade."

David Mowery, an Alabama-based political campaign consultant who helped run a Democrat's unsuccessful campaign against Moore in 2012, said the allegations against Moore are damaging but aren't necessarily a death blow.

"I think it hurts. It hurts because they are having to divert time and effort and probably money into killing it," Mowery said. "Can they turn the page, so to speak, and turn it back to a D versus R thing?"

"There's an old saying that the only way some candidates could lose is to be caught with a dead girl or a live boy. Alabama is going to test the specs on that like 'Hold my beer,'" Mowery said.

The state's eight most populous counties have almost as many people as the other 59 combined, and those are among the areas where Moore was weakest in the primary against Sen. Luther Strange, appointed to the Senate on an interim basis after Jeff Sessions was elevated to U.S. attorney general.

Former state Republican Party chairman Marty Connors said he expected the impact of the allegations to be concentrated in the suburbs.

"It will affect what I call your really, really moderate Republican voters," Connors said.

But not everyone in the suburbs is ready to abandon Moore. Frank Pimintel, of Alabaster, said he viewed the allegations as part of a typical political smear campaign and wouldn't judge Moore for something that happened more than 30 years ago.

"I'm about states' rights, low taxes, local control. He stands for a lot of things that I believe in," Pimintel said.

That's more along the lines of the reaction that Connors and retired University of Alabama political science professor Bill Stewart expect rural voters to have.

"In rural Alabama, they don't seem to be putting a lot of stock in this story," Stewart said. "They don't believe it."

Connors said the accusations could even energize supporters, similar to how President Donald Trump survived audio of him bragging about groping women.

Mark Victory, of Alabaster, counted himself as still "tentatively in the Moore camp" after the claims.

Victory said he wants to support Trump's agenda but might be swayed by more proof. If there is more proof, he said, his reaction would be to not vote at all.

"I'm not going to vote for his opponent," Victory said, saying he believes Jones is too submissive to the agenda of national Democratic leaders.

But moderate Republicans not voting might not be enough for Jones, Stewart said, "given the intensity of Republican identification in Alabama." Stewart still thinks Moore's going to win, despite the allegations.

"I don't think it matters enough to make Jones the favorite to win," he said.

Related Video:

Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View.



___

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.
More thematic books needed

The first of the hundreds of articles I have written for this newspaper was published on November 7, 1993, under the title Unthinkably Bad Books.
Detainees in the Saudi graft probe were held at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, shown here on November 5, 2017 (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Riyadh (AFP) - Its chandelier-studded ballrooms hosted global business titans just weeks ago. Now Riyadh's palatial Ritz-Carlton is reported to have morphed into a makeshift prison after the kingdom's unprecedented crackdown on the coddled elite.

Saudi Arabias attorney general has vowed no special treatment for those detained in the purge, which includes princes, ministers and businessmen such as flamboyant billionaire tycoon Al-Waleed bin Talal.

But the five-star hotel spread over 52 acres (21 hectares), originally built to house guests of the royal family, is a far cry from a gritty prison cell -- it boasts of majestic suites and pastel-hued hallways awash with bronze statues and glittering chandeliers.

It has prompted light-hearted banter on social media, with jocular speculation on who would be added to the "Ritz guest list" as the crackdown expands, and some quipping "take us with you" to be incarcerated in the lavish hotel.

"Those people are as soft as butter and probably cannot survive a real prison," a Saudi man said on Twitter, referring to the elite detainees.

The attorney general has said some 201 people are being held for questioning over an estimated $100 billion in embezzlement and corruption, many of them subjected to detailed interrogations conducted in secret.

It is not clear if they are all being held at the Ritz-Carlton.

Police cars surround the palatial compound, with its imposing gates uncharacteristically clamped shut. Its website posted a message saying that the "hotels telephone lines are currently disconnected until further notice".

- Royal purge, royal privileges -

There's no official indication how long the group will remain under house arrest.

Last Sunday, the 492-room hotels online reservation page showed no availability until December. On Friday, it showed no availability until February 1, fuelling speculation that the "guest list" was expected to grow.

Story continues

A Saudi businessman who had planned to host an event at the hotel this week was abruptly informed it had been cancelled.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances out of the Ritz-Carlton, the hotel had been ordered to accommodate a high-profile government delegation beginning November 4, 2017," he told AFP, quoting a message from the hotel management.

A brief and shaky video allegedly leaked from inside the hotel showed people sleeping on the ground covered in brightly coloured blankets, while armed guards lurked in the background.

The New York Times identified the place as the hotel's "Ballroom B", saying it appeared to be a makeshift barracks for the guards.

The arrests of jet-setting members of the royal family have sent a ripple of anxiety through the kingdom.

Saudi forces have grounded private jets at airports, possibly to prevent high-profile figures from leaving the country, an aviation source said, provoking fears of more arrests.

Just weeks ago, the hotel hosted a glittering investment summit - dubbed "Davos in the desert" -- which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman used as a platform to pledge a "moderate" Saudi Arabia and to showcase his ambitious reform drive.

The crackdown has exposed the kingdom's once-untouchable elite to rare public scrutiny -- Saudis on social media have quipped that the Ritz-Carlton was not the worst place to be trapped.
Ryanair

Ryanair is to increase the number of pilots it employs directly and hire more staff to respond to their queries as part of a new programme to improve its pilot management, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The airline in September cancelled 20,000 flights, saying rostering problems had left it without enough standby pilots to operate without significant delays. The resulting wave of passenger outrage threatened to undo the success of its 'Always Getting Better' customer service drive.

Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers has responded by promising pilots improved pay and conditions, which it says exceed those offered by rivals.

In the memo, chief people officer Eddie Wilson said almost 20 of Ryanair's 86 bases had voted for the pay deal as of Friday. However, a number of bases, including its largest hub at London Stansted, have rejected the offer.

Some pilots have been using September's rostering issue to press for better conditions and the creation of a pan-European representative body; Ryanair has long opposed recognising unions.

Ryanair said in the memo sent on Friday that it would "dramatically increase" the number of pilots employed directly rather than by outside agencies; over 180 first officers would be offered Ryanair contracts in November, and 300 more offers would be made by December.

It also said it had hired 1,040 new pilots this year, with the newest entrants receiving the better pay terms, and that it expected another 400 to join by March, bringing its crewing ratio to 11.0 pilots per aircraft from 10.5 by the time the busy European summer schedule begins.

Graphic: Routes cancelled by Ryanair over the winter

A new crew control mobile phone app has also been introduced to speed up the logging of absences, and the memo says Ryanair will double the number of base managers to eight in the weeks ahead to "respond even faster to even more pilot queries".

"We have launched an Always Flying Better (AFB) programme to fill the infrastructure gaps in pilot communications, admin support and effective structures for resolving pilot queries," Mr Wilson said.

Story continues

Mr Wilson also said a problem with allocated leave for December had caused inconvenience to a small number of pilots.

Some pilots have said that a significant number of their colleagues have reported being assigned annual leave days without consultation.

Asked for more detail, a spokesman said Ryanair did not comment on its internal communications, or its direct engagement with staff.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, shown here attending an investment forum in October, has launched a sweeping purge (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia said Thursday 201 people are being held for questioning over an estimated $100 billion in embezzlement and corruption, after the biggest purge of the kingdom's elite in its modern history.

Princes, ministers and a billionaire business tycoon were among dozens of high-profile figures arrested or sacked at the weekend, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidates power.

The purge comes amid heightened regional tensions, with Saudi Arabia and Iran facing off over a missile attack from Yemen and a political crisis in Lebanon after prime minister Saad Hariri's shock resignation announced from Riyadh.

"A total of 208 individuals have been called in for questioning so far... Seven have been released without charge," the Saudi information ministry said in a statement, quoting attorney general Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb.

Authorities have frozen the bank accounts of the accused and warned that assets related to the alleged corruption cases would be seized as state property, as the government appears set to widen the crackdown.

"The potential scale of corrupt practices which have been uncovered is very large," the statement said.

"Based on our investigations over the past three years, we estimate that at least $100 billion has been misused through systematic corruption and embezzlement over several decades."

High-profile figures, including billionaire tycoon Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, were arrested or sacked in the crackdown -- just after an anti-graft commission headed by the crown prince was established.

- Rising tensions -

Prince Mohammed, the son of 81-year-old King Salman, is already seen as the country's de facto ruler controlling all the major levers of government.

With the purge, which analysts describe as a bold but risky power play, the crown prince has centralised power to a degree that is unprecedented in recent Saudi history.

The crackdown comes as he moves to accelerate his Vision 2030 programme to modernise the conservative kingdom, but also as Riyadh takes a more aggressive stance in its wider region.

Story continues

After a failed missile attack against Riyadh airport on Saturday, which was claimed by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, the kingdom has accused Tehran of "direct aggression".

Iran vehemently dismissed the charge that it supplied missiles to the Huthis and warned Saudi Arabia of its "might", prompting fresh acrimony between the regional heavyweights.

French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Riyadh on Thursday to discuss the rising regional tensions in his first face-to-face talks with Prince Mohammed.

The tensions appear to be playing out in Lebanon, a former French colony and the latest front line of the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

On Saturday, Hariri cited Iran's "grip" on Lebanon and threats to his life when he announced his resignation in a televised speech from Riyadh, precipitating a new political crisis in Beirut.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon "as soon as possible" and also called on them not to travel to the country, without specifying any threat.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Thursday demanded the return of Hariri from Saudi Arabia, amid media reports that he was being held in the kingdom.

The regional tensions could escalate the proxy conflict between Riyadh and Tehran, which back opposing sides in wars and power struggles from Yemen to Syria.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says Saudi Arabia's mass purge of elite figures accused of corruption "raises a few concerns" (AFP Photo/PAUL J. RICHARDS) (AFP/File)

Danang (Vietnam) (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's mass purge of elites accused of graft "raises a few concerns", US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday, adding Washington was closely monitoring the Gulf country's unprecedented probe into alleged embezzlement worth $100 billion.

Speaking to reporters before landing in the Vietnamese city of Danang, where Tillerson is accompanying President Donald Trump to the APEC summit, Washington's top diplomat said Saudi Arabia's anti-corruption purge was "well intended".

"My own view is that it does, it raises a few concerns until we see more clearly how these particular individuals are dealt with," he said.

Around 200 people are being held for questioning over what Saudi Arabia says is an estimated $100 billion embezzlement and corruption scandal, the biggest purge of the kingdom's elite in its modern history.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is consolidating his power and among the dozens of high-profile figures sacked or arrested were princes, ministers and a billionaire business tycoon.

The purge comes as regional tensions soar, with Saudi Arabia and Iran squabbling over a failed missile attack against Riyadh airport on Saturday, that was claimed by Tehran-backed rebels in Yemen.

A political crisis is also unfolding in Lebanon after prime minister Saad Hariri announced his shock resignation in a speech from Riyadh, citing Iran's "grip" on his country and threats to his life.

Washington is a staunch ally of Saudi Arabia, but there are fears the Crown Prince could be overreaching himself through the graft probe.

"How disruptive it's going to be remains to be seen," Tillerson said, adding he had spoken to his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir two days ago.

"It's my understanding that they're characterizing these as not really arrests at this point but they're presenting people with evidence of what they think the wrongdoing is to see if there's a willingness to want to make things right," he added.

"So how they choose to deal with it at this point is still a bit unclear but I wouldn't want to read more than what we know at this point."
Events appear to be spinning out of control in the Middle East , and the threat a Saudi-Iranian war is looking increasingly credible. Make no mistake, an out and out conflict between the two nations would be an unmitigated disaster for the region and the world. Last week, Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a missile targeting a Saudi airport near Riyadh. The missile was intercepted, but a Saudi-led military coalition battling the Yemeni rebels called the attack a "blatant military aggression by the Iranian regime which may amount to an act of war." The Saudis reserved the "right to respond", according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The major OPEC oil producers, all abutting the Persian Gulf, export almost 20 percent of the world's oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to global markets. The strait, a mere 34 miles wide at its narrowest, sits pinched between Iran to the north and Oman to the south. Were a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran to erupt, this chokepoint could easily be closed. Indeed, shipping could stop even before a single ship is damaged. If insurers perceive an imminent risk of attack on a tanker in the region, they would either suspend insurance or charge exorbitant rates for coverage. Under the circumstances, vessel owners could opt to wait out the hostilities rather than risk their tankers.

Of course, the strait could also be closed as a direct result of military hostilities, for example, by Iran. The impact of such a closure on the global economy would be severe and immediate. For example, the Suez Crisis of 1957 saw 10 percent of the world's oil production taken off the market. Within a month, the U.S. and Europe were facing a recession which would last the better part of a year. In 1973, the Arab-Israeli War and resulting Arab OPEC embargo would bring long lines to gas stations as the oil price quadrupled. On an annual basis, global oil production held steady, but Persian Gulf exports to the U.S. fell by 1.2 million barrels / day, or about 7 percent of total U.S. consumption. This oil shock would plunge the U.S. into a recession which lasted for two years. In the event of a Saudi-Iranian hostilities lead to a sustained outage of Persian Gulf exports, a severe and prompt global recession will follow similarly. Much as in 1973, U.S. imports from the Persian Gulf still amount to 8 percent of consumption, the loss of which was sufficient to knock 10 percent from GDP from 1973 to 1975. However, China and other importers would seek to outbid the U.S. on its imports from countries like Nigeria, Angola and even Brazil and Columbia. In all, U.S. imports could fall by 15 percent of total consumption--twice the drop from 1957 to 1973 and sufficient to plunge the U.S. into a deep recession lasting years. On the other hand, U.S. import dependence has fallen dramatically since the start of the shale revolution. Even as the U.S. coastal regions would suffer from high oil prices, boom times would return to Louisiana, Texas and on up to North Dakota and Canada's Alberta province. A loss of 20 percent of the world's oil supply would push oil prices into the $200 / barrel range. The shale sector would see its glory days. Those countries without material oil production would suffer the most, notably Europe and East Asia, in particular Japan and South Korea. China's situation would be dire. In the last few years, Chinese import dependence has become acute. Oil imports cover more than three-quarters of total Chinese consumption, and half of China's imports originate in the Persian Gulf. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz would not only put China into recession, but given the high degree of financialization of the economy, could create a wider societal and political crisis. The reaction of the Chinese government is difficult to anticipate, but China would certainly bring maximal pressure on the U.S. and Persian Gulf countries to end the conflict, by whatever means. The ultimate takeaway for China would be the necessity to build, at all speed, a global military and diplomatic presence capable of projecting force to influence events in the Middle East and, if necessary, to displace the U.S. in the region. Finally, given the history of cooperation between North Korea and Iran on missile programs, the threat of missile strikes from Iran could exacerbate tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon could become the absolute priority in the conflict and lead to a rapid escalation of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. For investors, the best hedge, if events can be reasonably hedged at all, would be long positions in oil futures, U.S. shale operators and land drillers, and western hemisphere operators like Canadian oil sands producer Suncor and Brazilian oil major Petrobras. However, hedging is no substitute for conflict mediation. The current U.S. administration has not shied from using inflammatory rhetoric and exploring novel approaches to Middle East diplomacy. Now is not that time for that. The U.S. must act as the global policeman, as it has since World War II. The country must calm tensions in the Middle East and reassert U.S. commitment to a fair and principled diplomacy which seeks to resolve conflicts through negotiation, not reckless force. If the U.S. fails to do so, the result will be an unmitigated disaster, not only for the region, but for all of us. Commentary by Steven Kopits, managing director, Princeton Energy Advisors. For the latest commentary on markets in the U.S. and around the world, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. WATCH: Who's in charge in Saudi Arabia?



More From CNBC


Short interest during the two-week period ending October 31 rose on two of four 3D printing stocks we follow. The shares of all four companies continue to pull back from 2017 highs posted in May.

Short interest in 3D Systems Corp. (DDD) rose by 11.3% to 32.12 million shares. Some 29.4% of the company's float was short. Days to cover fell from 13 to 12. In the two-week short interest period, the share price fell by about 5.6%. The stock's 52-week trading range is $8.09 to $23.70, and shares closed at $8.66 on Thursday, down about 2.3% on the day.

Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) saw short interest rise by 14.1% in the last two weeks of October to about 7.1 million shares, or 14.2% of the company's float. Days to cover fell from eight to six. The share price fell by about 2.5% in the two-week period, and the stock closed at $20.80 on Thursday, down nearly 2% on the day, in a 52-week range of $16.37 to $30.88.

ALSO READ: The 6 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks

Short interest in ExOne Co. (XONE) fell by 2.1% to 2.01 million shares. About 21.5% of the company's shares are now short. ExOne's share price increased by about 2.7% in the period. The stock's 52-week range is $6.72 to $14.43, and shares closed at $10.00 on Thursday, down about 1.7% for the day. Days to cover rose from 15 to 23.

Short interest in Voxeljet A.G. (VJET) decreased by 0.3% to 570,587 American depositary shares, with days to cover rising from six to eight. Voxeljet dropped about 2.9% for the two-week period and closed at $4.77 on Thursday, unchanged in a 52-week range of $2.61 to $6.37. The company reported third-quarter earnings this morning and shares have shot up by 10% in Friday's premarket session.

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Check out the companies making headlines after the bell : Disney (NYSE: DIS) shares climbed 2 percent in the extended session after the mass media company missed fourth quarter earnings estimates. Operating income for most of Disney's businesses declined year over year. Media networks, the company's biggest segment, saw that figure decline 12 percent year over year. Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) 's stock tumbled about 3 percent in extended trading after the retailer posted quarterly earnings . Comparable store sales were light, which overshadowed positive third quarter results. The company also narrowed its full-year guidance due to impact from hurricanes. Shares of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) . (NASDAQ: NWSA) rose 3 percent in extended trading after the company smashed first quarter earnings expectations . Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares gained 1.5 percent in the extended session after the technology company posted third quarter earnings . Revenue came in 32 percent higher than the year-ago quarter, and earnings jumped 41 percent year over year, according to a company release. Hertz Global (NYSE: HTZ) 's stock jumped more than 11 percent in extended trading after the company posted third quarter earnings. Earnings per share beat Wall Street expectations while revenue fell in line with estimates. Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN) shares fell 5 percent in the extended session after posting mixed quarterly results in its first earnings report as a public company. Check out the companies making headlines after the bell : Disney (NYSE: DIS) shares climbed 2 percent in the extended session after the mass media company missed fourth quarter earnings estimates. Operating income for most of Disney's businesses declined year over year. Media networks, the company's biggest segment, saw that figure decline 12 percent year over year. Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) 's stock tumbled about 3 percent in extended trading after the retailer posted quarterly earnings . Comparable store sales were light, which overshadowed positive third quarter results. The company also narrowed its full-year guidance due to impact from hurricanes. Shares of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) . (NASDAQ: NWSA) rose 3 percent in extended trading after the company smashed first quarter earnings expectations . Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares gained 1.5 percent in the extended session after the technology company posted third quarter earnings . Revenue came in 32 percent higher than the year-ago quarter, and earnings jumped 41 percent year over year, according to a company release. Hertz Global (NYSE: HTZ) 's stock jumped more than 11 percent in extended trading after the company posted third quarter earnings. Earnings per share beat Wall Street expectations while revenue fell in line with estimates. Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN) shares fell 5 percent in the extended session after posting mixed quarterly results in its first earnings report as a public company.



More From CNBC


MILAN (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's (TIM) fixed-line network is a strategic asset and the group is examining the dossier with the national government to find a shared solution, chairman Arnaud De Puyfontaine said in a daily on Friday.

"For us the network is strategic," De Puyfontaine said in an interview to la Repubblica, adding a separation of the network could make sense to create an even more neutral platform for all companies and reduce the digital gap in the country.

"(CEO Amos) Genish and I are working on this front with pragmatism. We understand the national interest, we will examine the dossier with the government: the important issue is to meet the interest of all stakeholders," he said.

De Puyfontaine added that it was "premature" to discuss the possibility of new shareholders joining the backbone network, amid speculation that state holding Cassa Depositi e Prestiti could take a stake if the network is spun off.

Asked whether competition between Telecom Italian and rival Open Fiber to roll out ultra-fast broadband was damaging, he said competition was always a good thing.

The chairman added that French media group Vivendi was in talks with private broadcaster Mediaset to resolve a legal dispute between the two groups.

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Stephen Jewkes)
Nokia to bring entire portfolio by next month

Nokia reentered Nepali market earlier this year after a gap of several years. The Finnish brand has already launched a number of phones in Nepal.
Donald Trump was treated to a lavish welcome ceremony at Beijing's Great Hall of the People (AFP Photo/FRED DUFOUR)

Beijing (AFP) - China gave US President Donald Trump a parting gift as he left Beijing Friday, easing limits on foreign ownership in the financial sector that the United States and Europe have long criticised.

The announcement came after Trump capped his first state visit to Beijing by praising the "highly respected" President Xi Jinping as he took off for an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam.

During his visit, Trump had called for a more level playing field for American companies and measures to reduce China's $350 billion trade surplus with his country.

As the president left China's vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao said foreign firms will be allowed to own as much as 51 percent of shares of tie-ups in securities, funds and futures industries, instead of the current 49 percent limit, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The limits will be phased out in three years.

Foreign ownership restrictions in Chinese banks and financial asset management firms will also be lifted, Zhu said, as he discussed the "consensus" reached during Trump's state visit, according to Xinhua.

The US and European Union have long complained about a lack of market access in a host of industries, with foreign firms unable to take a controlling stake in Chinese firms.

In the tightly controlled banking sector overseas companies cannot hold more than 25 percent of a lender's capital, making it difficult for them to play any major role in the local market.

- 'Finally making good' -

"Opening up the financial sector in particular could greatly improve the allocation of financial resources and support China's future development," said William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

"These restrictions, and many others yet to be addressed, have been hindering economic activity in China for far too long."

But Andrew Polk, a founder of China consulting firm Trivium, said Beijing had merely delayed the move until its own financial institutions were so dominant that they would not be threatened.

Story continues

"They are finally making good on something they've been meaning to do for a long time, so I still don't see that as real progress on key issues," Polk told AFP.

The EU Chamber of Commerce in China called the decision an "encouraging step" in the right direction, but nonetheless one that came at a late stage.

"It is difficult for foreign firms that have already built up strong positions in the industry to capitalise on these changes in the same way that domestic Chinese firms can," it said in a statement.

It added that it remained to be seen whether foreign entities would be asked for additional licensing or hit with other operational restrictions.

Zhu also said Beijing will reduce duties on auto imports "at an appropriate pace", while Vice Premier Wang Yang said foreign companies will no longer be forced to hand over technology secrets as a condition for entering the Chinese market.

And Wang repeated a pledge in the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, that China will also "strengthen the protection of intellectual property, and strictly crack down illegal and criminal acts such as infringement and counterfeiting".

During his meetings with Xi on Thursday, Trump had urged China to "immediately" take greater action on market access, forced technology transfers and theft of intellectual property.

Xi and Trump oversaw the signing of more than $250 billion in business deals Thursday, but analysts downplayed their impact on the trade imbalance, noting many of the agreements were nonbinding and could take years to bear fruit.

- 'Highly respected' -

Trump showered his host with accolades during his visit, tweeting that the meetings between the pair were "very productive on both trade and the subject of North Korea".

"(Xi) is a highly respected and powerful representative of his people. It was great being with him and Madame Peng Liyuan!" he said, referring to Xi's wife.

Trump, who has softened his past criticism of China, again lambasted past US administrations for allowing the trade deficit to balloon over the years.

"How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would've done same!"

China was the showpiece of Trump's five-nation tour of Asia.

On Friday he flew to Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum where he and Xi expressed diverging views on global trade.

The forum saw Trump doubling down on his "America First" rhetoric, while Xi sought to defend the "irreversible" tide of globalisation.
President Nicolas Maduro insists Venezuela will never default on its debt but ratings agency Standard and Poors says the country is in "selective default" (AFP Photo/FEDERICO PARRA) (AFP/File)

New York (AFP) - A committee of Venezuelan creditors postponed until Monday a decision on whether state oil company PDVSA has officially defaulted on its debt payments.

The default declaration has come to be seen as almost inevitable as cash-strapped Venezuela's is struggling to service an estimated $150 billion in debt. The government of President Nicolas Maduro has called creditors to a meeting Monday to discuss restructuring the payments.

The so-called Determinations Committee, comprised of 15 financial firms, met in New York on Friday "to discuss whether a Failure to Pay Credit Event had occurred" with respect to PDVSA, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

"The DC agreed to reconvene on Monday, November 13, 2017, at 12 pm (New York time) to continue the discussion of whether there is adequate Publicly Available Information to answer the submitted question."

The Maduro government had said it would make a $1.2 billion payment on a PDVSA bond November 2, but the funds never reached creditors. As a result, a group of investors who hold financial instruments that act as default insurance asked for a committee ruling of default to allow them to cash in.

About 70 percent of Venezuelan bondholders are North American, according to government figures. The government also has a deadline Friday for another $81 million on another PDVSA bond.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government and opposition will resume efforts to hold dialogue, the third attempt in a year by the administration of President Nicolas Maduro and his adversaries to break up a bitter political stalemate. Previous dialogue efforts have ended in recriminations between the two sides and no concrete progress amid a dire economic crisis that has led to increased malnutrition and preventable diseases. Opposition leaders said that even though Maduro has previously used the talks to stall for time instead of implementing serious reform, a new round would still be needed to help ensure free and fair presidential elections, which are currently scheduled for 2018. "We have developed relations in Latin America so that in the company of friendly countries and governments, we can facilitate the conditions for a presidential election," Julio Borges, president of the opposition-led National Assembly, told a news conference. The opposition in September walked away from dialogue with the ruling Socialist Party, insisting the government had not met demands including the release of imprisoned opposition activists and mechanisms to allow foreign humanitarian assistance. Legislator Luis Florido, spokesman for the opposition in the dialogue process, said the opposition would seek a new elections council and would push for presidential elections. He added that Paraguay, Mexico and Chile would accompany the process. Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said via Twitter, "the dialogue continues on Nov 15 in the Dominican Republic." The two sides in September held "exploratory meetings" with the backing of Dominican President Danilo Medina. (Reporting by Eyanir Chinea; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
A man walks past a gate with the corporate logo of the state oil company PDVSA in Caracas, Venezuela November 3, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello (Reuters)

By Corina Pons and Davide Scigliuzzo

CARACAS/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Venezuela has promised investors that government officials under sanction by the United States will not participate in debt talks next week, three market sources told Reuters on Thursday, but several creditors said they were still unlikely to attend.

President Nicolas Maduro has urged bondholders to meet for debt restructuring talks in Caracas with officials from the cash-strapped OPEC nation, which is struggling under a failing socialist economic system and Washington sanctions that block it from refinancing its debt.

Many investors have said they would be reluctant to take part in the Monday talks, as Venezuela's two chief debt negotiators have been sanctioned by the U.S. government, which has warned investors of stiff penalties if they break the rules.

The Venezuelan government had promised that sanctioned officials would not attend the meeting, said a local finance industry source with knowledge of the preparations. In New York, two other sources knowledgeable of the Venezuelan debt situation said they had heard the same pledge.

Venezuela's Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Creditors still seemed skeptical. As well as the sanctions, they have cited concerns about security in Caracas and a lack of clarity on the proposals.

"We are not going," said Kaan Nazli, senior economist for emerging debt at investment manager Neuberger Berman. "It is unclear what the proposal will be ... there are so many obstacles that you don't see in any other restructuring."

A fund manager at a U.S.-based emerging markets advisory boutique said: "I personally do not know anyone who would entertain this 'invitation.' I can tell you right now that there's no way my wife (and mom) would let me go!"

Maduro has invited creditors to discuss the restructuring of some $60 billion of bonds, but also vowed to continue making debt payments. Investors say they would have little reason to participate in renegotiation talks if payments continue, and that such talks generally begin after a default has taken place.

Story continues

U.S.-based creditors are not prohibited from attending meetings, but are barred from dealings with sanctioned officials.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has imposed several rounds of sanctions this year, accusing Maduro's government of undermining democracy and violating human rights. Vice President Tareck El Aissami is under sanction for alleged drug trafficking, while Economy Minister Simon Zerpa has been sanctioned for corruption.

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury added 10 officials of modest influence to its list of Venezuelans under sanction, including several members of the National Elections Council.

The new sanctions do not show any evident link to the debt talks. They appear to have come in response to October elections for state governors that broadly favoured the ruling Socialist Party amid opposition complaints of fraud and voter intimidation.

"CREDIT EVENT"

Creditors have also asked finance industry association ISDA to determine if Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA is in default due to a delayed bond payment.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) website showed PDVSA was on its agenda for Friday at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT).

The full payment for PDVSA's 2017N bond of $1.169 billion, which includes $1.121 billion in principal and $47 million in interest, was due on Nov. 2.

In one sign of progress, settlement agent DTC has told creditors that it has received the principal payment on bond, three market sources told Reuters. DTC declined to comment.

If ISDA determines that a "credit event" has taken place, that could allow debtholders to collect on derivatives known as credit default swaps, a form of insurance against default.

Since October, Venezuela and PDVSA have been skipping interest payments, invoking a 30-day grace period in an apparent effort to ease a cash crunch that has left the country desperately short of basic goods such as food and medicines.

Maduro said last week that the bond would be paid in full. He says Venezuela is victim of an "economic war" led by his political adversaries and fuelled by Washington's sanctions.

An ISDA spokeswoman said Friday's meeting may not be conclusive. "It is always possible that they will need more time to deliberate," said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, in an email to Reuters.

PDVSA did not respond to an email seeking comment.

(Additional reporting by Umesh Desai in Hong Kong, Lesley Wroughton in Washington and Karin Strohecker in London; Writing by Brian Ellsworth,; Editing by Rosalba O'Brienand Leslie Adler)
Its the political promise Republicans cant seem to admit they will break.

As House Republicans close in on a final version of their package of tax cuts and their Senate brethren unveil their starting point, some in the GOP are still pushing the idea that the party should package the already-heavy lift with a health care overhaul that, to this point, has proven unworkable.

Thats one of the many things our members are talking about, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday. I want to get rid of the individual mandate any way I can.

Many of Ryans colleagues couldnt help but roll their eyes at that idea. The sarcastic gibe goes like this: By all means, then, lump together the repeal of a central plank of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, with the thorny rewrite of the tax code. The scrapping of Obamacare has already failed  twice  in the Senate, but trying it again with even less party unity, in some conservative minds? Got it.

The vote-counting team in the House was scrambling to see if they could pass the tax cuts on their own, and members were two-tracking a second tally to see if there they could get taxes and health care in one bill. If successful, it would be one the biggest legislative feats since Congress passed Obamacare in 2010.

Republicans have promised that they would nix Obamacare if only they were given control of the House, the Senate and the White House. A year after Donald Trump won the presidency, they have nothing to show on the health care front, leaving many conservatives frustrated with the inaction. What is easy to say on the campaign trail is seldom as simple in Congress, especially when roughly one-sixth of the U.S. economy is in play.

Yet, some lawmakers are considering tacking Obamacare onto the taxes and just pass the whole package before leaving for the December recess.

In private pitches, the Obamacare foes rightly note repealing the requirement that everyone have health coverage or pay a fine would free up about $338 billiona tempting proposition for lawmakers who have to keep the total cost of their work under $1.5 trillion to comply with special budget rules that make these moves possible with just 50 Senators and the Vice President.

Story continues

The mash-up has several pitfalls, not the least of which is votes. In order to keep the cost under the $1.5 trillion ceiling, drafts of the bill end a provision that allows taxpayers to deduct state and local taxes. That has forced many lawmakers from highly taxed districts in places such as New York, New Jersey and California to balk. Rep. Darrell Issa of California became the latest and most high profile to dismiss the pitch.

Ditching the requirement to have health coverage would, according to the governments analysis, leave 13 million people uninsured. That makes many lawmakers nervous about the vote from a political perspective. As much as conservatives say they dont like the law, they also like going to the doctor.

At the same time, the GOP can afford just two defections in the Senate, where Democrats are expected to stand unified against the proposal. Adding Obamacare to the mix is certain to doom it in that upper chamber, where two previous attempts on stand-alone health care bill died.

That, of course, assumes the full Republican conference is available to vote. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is at home recovering from a bizarre assault in his yard. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi has missed quite a bit of work as he recovers from illnesses. Sen. John McCain of Arizona is battling brain cancer. And Sen. Luther Strange of Alabama will be leaving the Senate when voters in his state decide on Dec. 12 whether to elect Republican Roy Moore or Democrat Doug Jones. (And Moore is now facing allegations in the Washington Post, which he denies, that he pursued teen-agers sexually earlier in his career.)

They couldnt get Obamacare killed on its own. Theyre going to bundle it with tax reform and expect an easier path? What are they smoking? asked one ally to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But if Republicans dont do Obamacare now, they will lose that chance to consider it before the new Congress is seated in early 2019. Thats because only bills attached to a budget can pass with 50 votes, and Congress cant pass more than one budget a year. (In fact, they often cant even do that.)

So if Republicans want to tell constituents they succeeded in killing Obamacare, it needs to happen alongside taxes. Otherwise, theyre realistically locked out for the rest of this year and next.

For the moment, that seems to be the case. The Houses latest draft does not include anything close to the repeal of the Obamacare mandate. Neither does the Senates draft.

That doesnt mean calls for Obamacares repeal are dead. Asked about it Tuesday, McConnell played coy. Were taking a hard look at that, he said.

Correction: The original version of this story misstated which state Sen. Luther Strange represents in Congress. It is Alabama, not Louisiana.
Three hours before November 11, Jimei Xie, a graduate student in Wuhan, China, posted on social media, Im ready. Cat food and cosmetics products awaited on the shopping cart of her Taobao app, a main e-commerce platform of Alibaba (BABA).



When the clock struck midnight, she checked out nine items costing a total of about $100. Millions of Chinese consumers like Xie just spent a jaw-dropping $25.4 billion on Alibabas shopping bonanza, Singles Day. Now in its ninth year, the worlds largest shopping holiday on November 11 broke its record, growing 43% from last years $17.8 billion.

The $12.8 billion in total online sales in the US during Black Friday and Cyber Monday pales in comparison  but Singles Day isnt all about sales, according to its CEO.

Alibabas focus isnt solely on driving up 11.11 GMV [gross merchandise volume]. The company also wants to understand the evolution of customers buying habits and their lifestyles in order to predict their needs before even they do, Daniel Zhang, Alibabas CEO, said over the weekend. To do so means that Alibaba is not only meeting customer demand, but also creating demand.

Young and mobile

Much of that demand is coming from Chinas growing middle class and mobile-savvy customers.

Joe Tsai, the co-founder and executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group, says about 80% consumers on Alibabas shopping app are younger than 25. Theyre very very mobile. 90% of the GMV we generate is from mobile, Tsai Said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. Being young and being mobile, thats what defines a Chinese consumer.

Alibabas co-founder, Joe Tsai, with Yahoo Finances Julia La Roche.

When this years Singles Day event kicked off, real-time data showed mobile transactions accounted for as much as 97% of the total sales in the first minute. For the entire day, mobile transactions accounted for 90% of sales. For many consumers, its easier to use the integrated mobile payment system Alipay on their smartphones than to try to log on from a computer. Alipay says it completed 325,000 transactions within one second at peak.

Story continues

Among the 750 million internet users in China, 95% of them used a mobile device to access the internet in 2016. Chinas online retail sales are growing by 30% a year with mobile payment transactions surpassing $23.8 trillion, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday.

Alibabas New Retail strategy

As online sales keeps booming, Alipay is also eying brick-and-mortar stores. Alibabas New Retail strategy, which rolled out this year, aims at integrating online and offline shopping experiences. Alibaba partnered with malls and set up pop-up stores, where consumers can learn about the products and have the option to order online in the app.

Joe Tsai says Alibaba will not disclose separate sales numbers from online platforms and physical stores because there is no distinction between the two.

Although Chinas online retail sales are growing by 30% every year, physical stores still dominate total retail sales in China by 85%, according to Alibaba. Alibabas movement into the physical space is nascent compared to its e-commerce empire, but it shows the ambition to reshape the future of retail by leveraging its technology and influence.

We see our efforts in offline stores have been well received this year, Zhang said. Setting up a New Retail chain is not something Alibaba is eyeing. Instead, the goal is to capitalize on Alibabas technology to empower brick-and-mortar shop owners to go digital.

Reporting by Krystal Hu.
The Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) militant group might be foes on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but off it they are united against a common enemy: the Afghan media.

Both extremist groups have threatened and deliberately targeted major TV and radio stations and their staff members recently across Afghanistan, carrying out deadly attacks that have killed dozens of journalists and media employees.

The attacks have made Afghanistan one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists and forced media companies to adopt new security measures, although it is unclear if the violence has had a chilling effect on news coverage.

They want to create fear among journalists so the media does not report their atrocities, says Najib Sharifi, head of the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), a local media watchdog. They also want to capture headlines and assert their power and visibility. They want to silence the media because they see the media as a threat to their propaganda strategies.

'Serving Infidels'

In what was arguably the most high-profile attack of its kind on a media organization in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber in January 2016 attacked a minibus and killed seven employees of Tolo TV, the countrys largest private television network.

Those killings came months after the Taliban said it no longer recognized Tolo TV and another major TV network, 1TV, as media outlets and considered them "military objectives.

The fundamentalist militant group said the move was a direct response to the commercial networks' coverage of the Talibans brief takeover of the northern city of Kunduz in September 2015 -- specifically, their reports of Taliban fighters allegedly raping women at a female hostel there. The Taliban denied the reports, saying the coverage was an "example of propaganda by these satanic networks."

Since then, IS militants have adopted a similar strategy, and there have been several major attacks against media outlets. In May, IS militants attacked the building of state-run Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Among the six people killed were four RTA employees, including a driver, a guard, and two technical personnel, as well as two policemen.

On November 7, gunmen killed a security guard and opened fire on the staff of Shamshad TV, a private television station in Kabul, in an attack that was claimed by IS militants.

The IS-affiliated Voice of the Caliphate radio station, which broadcasts in eastern Afghanistan, warned it would continue to target media outlets and their journalists if they did not stop serving infidels, a reference to foreigners. The broadcast said the group was monitoring your actions and are well aware of your evil intentions and plans.

Propaganda is a big pillar of the war being waged by the Taliban and IS, says Sharifi. They want their narratives to dominate the political and military landscape. They see the media as a big obstacle to advancing their propaganda goals, so they use coercion to silence the media and make them resort to self-censorship.

Journalists [in Afghanistan] are conscious of the implications of critical reporting. The media is consciously and unconsciously self-censoring. Sometimes, the media may not run a story because they are afraid of the security implications.

Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based media watchdog, says the attacks are also designed to inspire new recruits.

A public show of brutality both inspires and intimidates, he says.

Since IS militants emerged in Afghanistan in 2015, they have fought deadly clashes with the Taliban in the countrys east and south, although they have also conducted joint operations against Afghan security forces. Many IS fighters in Afghanistan are former members of the Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

'Self-Censoring'

Lotfullah Najafizada, the director of Tolo News, says the 2016 attack has not affected the news channels coverage, although it has prompted its staff to be on heightened alert.

The attack and the threats thereafter have certainly changed the way we operate from a security perspective, but not the way we report as an independent news channel, Najafizada said.

But a BBC journalist in Afghanistan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, says the attacks have taken a toll on the media.

Journalists are conscious of the implications of critical reporting, says the Kabul-based journalist. The media is consciously and unconsciously self-censoring. Sometimes, the media may not run a story because they are afraid of the security implications.

Violence Against Reporters

Afghanistan's media development is often cited as one of the biggest achievements of the past decade, following years of Taliban strictures or outright prohibitions on all forms of music and television, as well as independently reported news.

Despite the gains, independent media have come under constant attack and pressure not only from militants but also from religious leaders, ex-warlords, and sometimes even the government itself.

International media watchdogs have said militants have greatly contributed to the climate of fear by explicitly targeting journalists for reporting deemed unfavorable and have condemned the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for crimes of violence against media personnel in Afghanistan.

According to a report issued by the AJSC in July, in the first six months of 2017, 10 journalists were killed and 73 cases of violence had been reported including "killing, beating, inflicting injury and humiliation, intimidation, and detention," marking a 35 percent increase over the same period last year.

AJSC said at least 13 journalists and media personnel were killed in 2016. In 2015, the figure was four, said the watchdog.
The foreign ministers of the five Central Asian nations -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- have signed a Program on Mutual Cooperation for 2018-19.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said the document was signed in the Uzbek city of Samarkand during the 13th annual EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting on November 10.

The document outlines joint efforts to boost security, trade and economic cooperation, investment, transportation, energy, tourism, and culture across the region.

The ministers also agreed to cooperate in international activities and within international organizations, such as United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and others.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica also attended the EU-Central Asia gathering in Samarkand.

They arrived in Samarkand from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where on November 9 they met with senior Kyrgyz officials.

In Samarkand, Mogherini said security experts will join the EU delegations to the five countries to assist local governments' efforts against terrorism. She cited as concerns preventing the radicalization of youth, the Iranian nuclear program, and achieving stability in Afghanistan.

Mogherini stressed the importance of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) and expressed hope that Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will also do so.

With reporting by Interfax and TASS
Afghanistan has received an inaugural consignment of wheat from India through an Iranian port, opening a new trade and transit route for the landlocked nation that bypasses neighboring Pakistan.

The strategic sea route, officials say, will help improve trade and transit connectivity between Kabul and New Delhi.

It will also potentially give India access to Central Asian markets through Afghanistan, because rival Pakistan does not allow Indian goods to be transported through its territory.

The shipment of almost 15,000 tons of wheat dispatched from Indias western port of Kandla on October 29 reached the Iranian port of Chabahar on November 1. It was then loaded on trucks and brought by road to the Afghan province of Nimroz, which borders Iran.

Speaking at a special ceremony to receive the historic consignment Saturday in the border town of Zaranj, Indias ambassador to Kabul, Manpreet Vohra, said the shipment has demonstrated the viability of the new route. He added that India, Afghanistan and Iran agreed to operationalize the Chabahar port only a year-and-a-half ago.

The ease and the speed with which this project is already working is evident from the fact that as we are receiving the first trucks of wheat here in Zaranj, the second ship from Kandla has already docked in Chabahar, Vohra announced.

He said there will be seven shipments between now and February and a total of 110,000 tons of wheat will come to Afghanistan through Chabahar. Vohra added the shipments are part of a promised 1.1 million tons of wheat as Indias gift to Afghanistan out of which 700,000 has already been sent to the country.

India is investing $500 million in Chabahar port to build new terminals, cargo berths and connecting roads, as well as rail lines.

The Indian shipment arrived in Afghanistan days after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on a visit to New Delhi, allayed concerns the Trump administrations tough stand on Iran could pose a fresh stumbling block to Indias plans to develop the strategic Iranian port as a regional transit hub.

The Indian ambassador also took a swipe at Pakistan, though he did not name the rival country.

The logic of finding easy connectivity, assured connectivity for Afghanistan is also because you have not had the benefit despite being a landlocked country of having easy access to international markets. We all know that a particular neighbor of yours to the east has often placed restrictions on your transit rights, Vohra noted.

The shortest and most cost effective land routes between India and Afghanistan lie through Pakistan.

But due to long-running bilateral territorial disputes between India and Pakistan, Afghanistan and India are not allowed to do two-way trade through Pakistani territory. Kabul, however, is allowed to send only a limited amount of perishable goods through Pakistani territory to India.

We are confident that with the cooperation, particularly of the government of Iran, this route now from Chabahar to Afghanistan will not see any arbitrary closure of gates, any unilateral decisions to stop your imports and exports, and this will provide you guaranteed access to the sea, vowed Vohra.

Pakistan also allows Afghanistan to use its southern port of Karachi for transit and trade activities. However, Afghan officials and traders are increasingly complaining that authorities in Pakistan routinely indulge in unannounced trade restrictions and frequent closure of border crossings, which has undermined trade activities.

With the opening of Chabahar Port, Afghanistan will no longer be dependent on Karachi Port, provincial governor Mohammad Samiullah said while addressing the gathering. The economic activity, he said, will create job opportunities and bring billions of dollars in revenue to Afghanistan, Iran and India.

Afghanistans relations with Pakistan have also plunged to new lows in recent years over mutual allegations of sponsoring terrorism against each others soils.

In its bid to enhance economic connectivity with Afghanistan, India also opened an airfreight corridor in June this year to provide greater access for Afghan goods to the Indian market.

Pakistani officials, however, have dismissed suggestions the direct trade connectivity between India and Afghanistan is a matter of concern for Islamabad.

It is our consistent position that Afghanistan as a landlocked country has a right of transit access through any neighboring country according to its needs, said Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,500 kilometer largely porous border. However, Islamabad has lately begun construction of a fence and tightened monitoring of movements at regular border crossings between the two countries, saying terrorist attacks in Pakistan are being plotted on the Afghan side of the border.

-- Reported by Ayaz Gul for Voice of America
Norvic found collecting service charge illegally

Norvic International Hospital at Thapathali has been collecting 13 percent service charge which is illegal, the Department of Supplies Management (DoSM) said.
An estimated 14 million Shi'ite pilgrims thronged Iraq's holy city of Karbala on November 10 to mark the annual Arbaeen commemoration.

Arbaeen is one of the biggest religious festivals on earth and marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the 7th-century killing of Imam Hussein by the forces of the Caliph Yazid -- a formative event in Shi'ite Islam.

The Arbaeen holiday is observed in Shi'ite communities worldwide, with large gatherings in Iran and southern Lebanon.

Under tight security in Karbala, around 14 million worshippers crowded into the golden-domed mausoleum where the Prophet Muhammad's grandson is buried, religious authorities said. The pilgrims beat their chests in unison against a background of religious music.

Iranian officials said more than 2 million Iranian pilgrims had crossed the border to participate.

Imam Hussein's killing in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD was part of a fierce dispute over who should succeed the Prophet, which eventually developed into a schism between the Sunni and Shi'ite branches of Islam.

Tens of thousands of security personnel and Shi'ite militiamen were deployed, as in past years, around the perimeters of the shrine as well as on all roads leading to Karbala, about 80 kilometers southwest of Baghdad.

This year's commemoration comes as Iraqi forces have expelled the extremist Sunni group Islamic State from most of its strongholds in the country.

IS has repeatedly targeted attacks on Iraq's Shi'a. Last year, it claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least 80 mostly Iranian worshippers as they were returning home from the festival.

Despite heavy security at this year's commemoration, with helicopters flying overhead, attendance appeared to be down from the roughly 17 million to 20 million people estimated at the event last year.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
Pakistani authorities have blocked all roads leading to parliament and deployed riot police as thousands of angry protesters demanded the removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for allegedly making an anti-Islamic change to electoral laws.

According to Islamabad police, more than 3,400 supporters of the radical Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan party, or Movement of the Prophet's Followers, staged a sit-in over the alleged change, which Hamid said was a clerical mistake and has already been corrected.

The alleged offense involved the removal of a reference in the official electoral oath to the Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet of God -- an Islamic tenet believed by most Pakistani Muslims.

"No negotiations till Zahid Hamid is removed," Islamist leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi said as protesters chanted slogans against him. "We will die to protect the honor of the prophet," Rizvi said.

Hamid released a video message saying he is a true Muslim who believes that Muhammad is the last prophet.

But it did not mollify the protesters, who say he changed the oath to appease the Ahmadiyya sect, which defines itself as Muslim, but which was declared non-Muslim by Pakistan in 1974 because it does not recognize Muhammad as the last prophet.

The sit-in has disrupted city life due to the roadblocks. On November 9, police filed charges against Rizvi and other participants in the rally, holding them responsible for the death of an sick infant after they refused passage to an ambulance.

The government has said it wants the protesters to peacefully disperse. Authorities said they are in communication with Rizvi  who has not yet been detained over the charges  to end the sit-in.

Authorities hinted at using force over the weekend if their talks with Rizvi fail. Pakistan has also stepped up security at Ahmadi worship places.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters
LAGOS, Nigeria, Nov. 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aliko Dangote Foundation joins global leaders to fight malnutrition - pledges US$100 million for Nigeria

LAGOS, Nigeria, November 11, 2017/APO Group/ -- What problem can be found in every country in the world and affects one in three people globally? What problem is so rife that the World Health Organization (WHO) terms it the new normal.? The surprising answer is malnutrition. It is not an issue that grabs many headlines or attracts much funding, yet malnutrition in its various forms, from hunger and wasting to obesity, has become the number one driver of global disease and the underlying cause of nearly half of all global child deaths.

Global Summit Global Action

The leading platform in the fight against malnutrition is the Global Nutrition Summit, the first global forum of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (http://APO.af/CcBrBu) (2016-2026). The recently concluded Global Nutrition Summit 2017 gathered an impressive array of governments, international agencies, foundations, civil society organizations and businesses to Milan, Italy. It was convened with the objective of taking stock of nutrition commitments made to date, celebrating progress toward global goals on nutrition, and announcing additional commitments to accelerate the global response to malnutrition in all its forms.

The Global Nutrition Summit drew a strong African contingent including world leaders Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation and Graca Machel, Founder of the Graca Machel Trust; high-level representatives of the governments of Tanzania, Niger, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Zambia and business leaders such as Aliko Dangote, Founder of the Aliko Dangote Foundation (www.Dangote.com) and Chairman of the Dangote Group, Africas largest home-grown conglomerate. They joined international stakeholders including the U.K.s Department for International Development (DFID), the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Coalition on Advocacy for Nutrition.

An Unprecedented Pledge

The Global Summit highlighted the cost of malnutrition to both societies and individuals. The Global Nutrition Report 2017 launched at the Summit, showed that despite progress, 155 million children globally are stunted and the world is off track on meeting internationally agreed nutrition targets. Compounding the issue, global financing to tackle malnutrition has been alarmingly low. Donors spend only about 0.5 percent of overseas aid on nutrition, and countries allocate between one and two percent of their health budgets to the issue.

Fortunately, funding was an area in which the Global Summit did record some landmark successes. The major highlight of the Summit was the unprecedented pledge by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to invest US$100 Million over five years to tackle malnutrition in the worst-affected parts of Nigeria.

Nigerias high malnutrition rate is undermining progress towards improving child health and survival and putting the brakes on economic development, said Zouera Youssoufou, Managing Director and CEO of the Aliko Dangote Foundation. By investing in nutrition, we aim to directly improve the lives of Nigerian families and to empower our citizens to reach their full potential.

African governments also announced new commitments: Ethiopia, through its National Nutrition Program, pledged to reduce the prevalence of stunted; underweight and wasted children under five. Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Zambia, also made commitments to expand domestic programmes to improve nutrition for mothers and children. In total, the Summit succeeded in galvanizing US3.4 billion according to the organisers.

The global malnutrition crisis endangers the physical and mental wellbeing of present and future generations said Kofi Annan, speaking at the summit in his capacity as Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation. Progress in tackling both undernutrition and obesity is possible with targeted commitments, like those made here today. We need further urgent investments so that people, communities and nations can reach their full potential.

Why Africa and Nigeria Must Act

The response from African leaders at the Global Summit was both heartening and critical. African children and women in particular are the front-line casualties in the global battle against malnutrition. GDP losses from malnutrition average 11 percent in Africa according to the World Bank and improved nutrition is a prerequisite for achieving other development targets.

Unfortunately, Nigeria boasts not only Africas largest population but also the continents highest numbers of malnourished children. Almost half of the one million children who die before the age of five in Nigeria, die of malnutrition as the underlying cause. Without proper nutrients during the first 1,000 days of life starting from conception up to their second birthday, children are less likely to survive childhood diseases such as malaria and pneumonia, and are less likely to escape poverty as adults. They become physically and cognitively stunted, a fate that has befallen 11 million of Nigerias children under five.

Looking Forward With Hope

The Aliko Dangote Foundation is on a mission to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition by 60 percent in the neediest areas of Nigeria, specifically the North East and North West, where malnutrition has affected millions of lives and crippled the local economy. With this US$100 Million commitment, the Aliko Dangote Foundation will promote scalable and cost-effective nutrition interventions such as breast feeding, healthy sanitation practices, disease prevention, food fortification and supplementation. These activities complement other long-term programs on education, empowerment, food security, water, sanitation and health care. We recognize nutrition as a cross-cutting issue which affects other critical development goals, that is why nutrition has become our core focus. We want to reach one million malnourished children in Nigeria by 2021 and we know that for every dollar invested in nutrition, the nation as a whole will reap huge economic dividends, said Aliko Dangote.

The good news is that malnutrition is beatable. It is not a natural disaster that one cannot predict or a communicable disease for which there is no cure. But the fight does demand leadership  zero tolerance on malnutrition from policy makers, more integrated interventions from the public and private sectors and decisive actions backed by greater investments. Through his Foundation, Aliko Dangote looks set to become the strongest voice for nutritional leadership nationally and on the continent of Africa.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Aliko Dangote Foundation.
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The situation is particularly concerning in eastern Ghouta, near the capital Damascus, where some 400,000 men, women and children are living in besieged towns and villages, and extremely high prices have put food and basic supplies beyond reach. There are fears that conditions could get much worse as winter closes in and temperatures could plummet to freezing.



[They have been through] a seven-year war, longer than the second World War, Jan Egeland, the Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told journalists after a meeting of the Humanitarian Task Force in Geneva.



With little, if any, reserves, no heat in their houses and living amid ruin, [for them] it will be a horrific winter, he warned.



Since September, eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of the capital, Dmascus, has been completely cut off and the sole life-line for those still there are humanitarian convoys which, when successful in getting to the location, brings in food and medical supplies.



There are also growing numbers of acutely malnourished children, noted Egeland, calling on the parties to the conflict to allow medical evacuation urgently.



An estimated 400 patients  about three quarters of whom are women and children  need to be evacuated.



We have confirmation that seven patients died because they were not evacuated and a list of 29 critical cases [] including 18 children, among them young Hala, Khadiga, Mounir and Bassem [] they all have a name, they all have a story, they all have to be evacuated now, stressed the Senior Advisor.



Evacuation, is however, not the solution, he stressed, calling for the fighting and shelling to stop.



Further, the UN envoy informed that the situation is equally dire in Berm, a desolate area in south-east Syria, where as many as 55,000 civilians are in need of assistance but the last time relief was able to reach them was in June.



Also in his remarks, Egeland also said that a trilateral mechanism, initiated by Russia, and having the UN and Syria onboard, offers hope to help address proble



[The mechanism] had its first meetings. It still hasnt produced the results needed, but it is our strong feeling that Russia wants us to get the access and wants to help us, so we are hopeful that this trilateral mechanism will yield results soon, he added.



Photo: UNICEF/Al Shami







Source: www.justearthnews.com








Prez to visit UAE

President Bidya Devi Bhandari is paying a four-day official visit to the UAE on the invitation of Crown Prince and Supreme Commander of the Armed Police Force, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
In an article titled exploring EUs political motives behind human rights excuses and human rights frauds (against the regime), the news agency writes:

Human-rights-labeled resolutions and sanctions are outdated tools that have now turned into a diplomatically-dressed hostility as well as a political and economic misconduct by the EU and its allies.

Signed by 265 MEPs, a statement against the Islamic Republic was issued in June this year by a pro-PMOI (MEK) European Parliament, known for having strong relations with the group.

Gerard Deprez, Belgiums representative in the European Parliament, who drafted the statement, is the head of the so-called Friends of a Free Iran, a group known for its close relations with PMOI (MEK). Prior to this, Europeans used to support PMOI (MEK), but only in secret. Now, however, their support has become quite evident. For instance, the Czech Republics representative in the European Parliament has encouraged the EU to actively support PMOI (MEK). Jan Zaharadil, who opposes making any concessions to Tehran, said the EU must cooperate (with PMOI /MEK and Maryam Rajavi).

There are plenty of such positions within the EU, including the ones taken by France, another EU country and the so-called cradle of democracy.

Frances support for the PMOI (MEK) is undoubtedly a sign of the countrys hostile approach towards the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although French officials deny having relations with the PMOI (MEK), but considering numerous gatherings held in support of the group in France, its now become an obvious reality. Meanwhile, Frances representative to the UN Security Council has taken a hostile position against the Islamic Republic, accusing our country of violating human rights.

In response to French representatives hostile comments, regimes International Deputy for Chief Justice and secretary of High Council for Human Rights Javad Larijani said the fact that the French government denies having relations with the PMOI (MEK) and at the same time hosts and welcomes them is more of a political joke.

Europeans still follow a hostile approach toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. They claim they want to have economic relations with Iran but at the same time impose sanctions on our companies. This is unacceptable, Larijani added.

EUs human rights resolution (against the regime) followed by their unfair sanctions and support for seditionists are the most obvious and tangible instances of human rights abuse. Europeans interventionist policies, including the one related to abolishing the death penalty, are still underway.

The European Parliament issued a resolution earlier this month related to Iran human rights record. The resolution refers to resuming talks with Iran on such issues like human rights, including, as they put it, freedom of expression, and stopping death penalty and drug-related sentences as conditions for expanding relations (with the regime). (Regimes Mizan news agency, November 5, 2017)
Amano discussed Iran, North Korea, dirty bombs, nuclear power and climate change, in an interview. He said, Nuclear activities of Iran have reduced a lot after the JCPOA (Iran deal), so we have a more powerful verification regime to monitor and verify the reduced nuclear activities. That is why we say this is a significant gain for verification.

He added that, in Iran, the agency is collecting millions of pieces of information each month. The cameras installed in the nuclear facilities are taking hundreds of thousands of images. As well, 2,000 seals have been installed in the nuclear plants. This is a very strong verification regime by any standard.

Following his meeting with Haley, Amano issued a statement saying that he and Haley discussed the IAEAs verification and monitoring of Irans implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He stated that he had briefed Ambassador Haley on the IAEAs strong and effective safeguards activities in Iran.

It was a very useful meeting, he concluded, Iran is now subject to the worlds most robust nuclear verification regime, and the IAEA has so far had access to all the locations it needed to visit in the country.

Haley issued an optimistic statement in which she expressed U.S. support for the IAEAs efforts to carry out strong verification of nuclear-related activities in Iran, and emphasized the importance of Iran ensuring full and transparent access for the IAEA to carry out their mandated monitoring activities.

Trump has referred to the 2015 agreement  the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)  as an embarrassment.

Earlier this week, a dozen key U.S. Senators submitted a list of items to Haley for her to raise with the IAEA in order to obtain more thorough vetting of Iranian compliance with the deal. Haleys mandate is to get the watchdog agency to boost inspection of Iranian military facilities and strengthen reporting and verification requirements.

Thursday will not be the first meeting on Iran that Haley has had with Amano. In August, she traveled to Vienna to try to ramp up pressure on Tehran over its continued ballistic missile tests. She met with some of the technical experts who monitor nuclear activities, including those in Iran governed by the nuclear pact signed by the U.S., a handful of its allies, Russia and Iran.

Following allegations that the IAEAs inspection regime in Iran is too soft, Amano said, Some people believe that our verification activities are weak. This is not true. Additionally, last week at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Amano said that the nuclear-related commitments made by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented.

The U.S. has imposed sweeping new unilateral sanctions that point to Irans missile launches, human rights record, and support of terrorism abroad. Trump and the U.S. Congress have questioned other aspects of the 2015 nuclear deal, which gives the IAEA the authority to request inspections. At issue now is the interpretation of how and where these inspections take place.

The monitoring and verification of the deal that is found in a provision that lays out access to Irans military sites, known as Section T, in Annex 1 of the JCPOA is at issue. That section prohibits Iran from activities related to nuclear weapons, and it puts equipment that is known as dual-use under controls, because it could be used in nuclear weapons development.

The problem is that Iran rejects any inspection of its military sites, and opening those locations up to IAEA monitors is at the core of the debate about whether the U.S. continues the nuclear agreement.

Amano admits that he had concerns about the IAEAs ability to verify some of Irans undeclared past nuclear activities, because the evidence no longer exists  he says the agency has access to the sites it needs today. He wants Iran to comply with an agreement called the Additional Protocol, to ensure verification. Irans government signed this agreement, but has yet to ratify it.

Also in Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and Congressional representatives is the European Unions foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, who is following up on her meeting with all the principals on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September, and is hoping to keep the U.S. in the deal.
On October 13th, Trump appeared on live on TV and revealed Americas strategy for the Iranian regime. Trumps Iran strategy focuses on four main areas:

 Addressing Irans nuclear program and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the nuclear deal, between China, France, Russia, Germany, the UK, the US, the EU and the Islamic republic;

 Irans ballistic missile program;

 Tehrans military involvement in the region;

 The difference between the Iranian people and the Iranian regime.

According to Trump, Irans nuclear deal was a victory for the Iranian regime, but a blow to the West and to the region. Iran receives huge sums of money in revenues while it continues its nuclear and hegemonic ambitions. Additionally, the JCPOAs sunset clauses remove all restrictions on Irans nuclear enrichment program after 2025.

Following implementation of the nuclear agreement, Iran has fired over a dozen ballistic missiles. Trump urged the international community to consider imposing sanctions on the regimes ballistic activities, and US Congress to pass legislation that would prevent the regime from obtaining intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Regarding Irans meddling in the region, Trump pointed to Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is said to have significant control over Irans economic and political sectors.

Trumps strategy also distinguishes the difference between the Iranian regime and the Iranian people, the people the first victims of the regime.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, Iranian-American political scientist asks in his article for Arab News, But has Trump actually managed to turn his Iran strategy into effective action?

One year is not enough time to assess the implementation of Trumps Iran strategy, but Dr. Rafizadeh believes that Trump has made significant progress.

Trump unveiled new sanctions against 13 people and 12 companies in response to Irans ballistic missile tests last February, and sanctions followed against another 18 entities in July. He has also sanctioned the Iranian regime for its ongoing support for terrorism. As well, in August, Trump approved sanctions that not only target the IRGC and Quds Force, but also penalize any US entity that deals with these Iranian institutions and their affiliates.

Then, in October, Trump declined to certify the nuclear deal, and introduced further sanctions against the IRGC.

Dr. Rafizadeh notes that Trumps Iran strategy is multilateral; he has sought the cooperation of regional powers, including Saudi Arabia, to confront the threat posed by the Iranian regime.

While some argue that Trump has not fulfilled the promises of his Iran strategy, strategies can take months to be drafted and reviewed when a new president takes office. Significant progress has been made in the first year of Trumps presidency, and further steps my be expected in the coming year.
General Steven Wilson, vice-chief of staff of the US Air Force, told the news media that, What we have seen as a result of the ballistic missile attacks and there were Iranian markings also that was inventoried by the Arab coalition all the dots now connect to Iran in terms of supplying missiles and the capability.

On Friday, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, who oversees the Air Forces Central Command in Qatar, made similar statements at a news conference in Dubai. Harrigian said authorities were investigating the means by which the missile was smuggled into Yemen while a Saudi-led coalition controlled the countrys airspace, ports and borders.

The White House condemned the missile attack by Yemens Houthi militias on November 4th, and said Iran enabled the attacks which had threatened stability in the Middle East. In a statement it said, Houthi missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, enabled by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, threaten regional security and undermine UN efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict.

According to experts in Saudi Arabia, the ballistic missile had a range of more than 900 km and was made in Iran. The Saudis describe the attack as an act of war. The Saudi government claimed to know every detail about where it came from. In fact, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir declared on November 6th, It was an Iranian missile, launched by Hizballah from territory occupied by the Houthis in Yemen. The next day, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman added, Direct military aggression by the Iranian regime.

The Yemeni rebels released a video that purported to show the missile being launched at night, and said they hit Riyadhs King Khalid International Airport to the north of Riyadh with a Burkan-2H ballistic missile.

Previously, on May 19th, the Houthis fired a Burkan-2 variant at the city just hours before President Trump touched down for a visit. However, this latest strike follows the U.S. announcement of a new pushback strategy against the Iranian regime and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Responding to the attack, the US President stated, A shot was taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government also blamed the Iranian regime and said the strike could be considered an act of war.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that air defenses intercepted the missile before it hit the airport and its debris landed in an uninhabited area north of the capital.
The foreign ministry has reported that it has been notified by the US Department of Commerce that the US will continue applying anti-dumping duties on Argentine biodiesel imports after considering that they benefit from unfair government subsidies. The US imposed preliminary countervailing duties of between 71.45% and 72.28% on Argentine biodiesel imports back in August as it considers the Argentine government to have provided subsidies to Argentine biodiesel producers. The government led by President Mauricio Macri denies this and has been trying to convince the US that this is not the case ever since. However, a foreign ministry statement says that it has been notified by the US Department of Commerce of its final resolution following an investigation. The statement goes on to deny that the Argentine government in any way subsidises the production or export of biodiesel, and reserves the right to bring a case against the US before the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2016 Argentine biodiesel exports to the US totalled US$1.2bn on US Department of Trade data.

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Putting people first

Thirty-year-old Tika Kunwar admittedly lives a double life. As a teacher at a local primary school in Shelakhet village of Bajhang district, she teaches her students to raise their voices against the Chhaupadi system, even though she herself is forced to comply with the practice at home.
Everyone who has been a student has probably experienced something like this:

It is the night before a big test in one of your most difficult classes. You tried your best to study all the information you think will be included in the test. But you are still worried that you have not studied hard enough.

If you fail the test, you will likely fail the class. You start to worry so much that you start thinking about doing something you know is wrong. You think about writing some of the information you think will be on the test on a little piece of paper and hiding it in your clothing.

You think, Will my teacher really be able to see what I am doing? And in the end, does doing this harm anyone?

Eric Anderman says he has known many young people who have had these or similar thoughts in his teaching career. It began when he was a high school teacher, where he witnessed many students cheating in his classes.

Now Anderman works at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He is a professor of educational psychology and head of the Department of Educational Studies at Ohio State.

Anderman says cheating happens just as much at the college level as it does in high school.

In fact, the International Center for Academic Integrity found that a majority of American college students cheat. In 2015, over 71,000 university students were asked about cheating. About 68 percent of them admitted to doing so at least once.

Anderman has been studying why students cheat and the ways in which they do it for over 20 years. His most recent research, published in September, provides interesting information about when students believe cheating is acceptable.

His research involved a little over 400 students at two large research universities in the United States. They were asked about cheating. The study found that the students said it is most acceptable to cheat in classes they disliked. And the classes where students felt cheating was acceptable were often subjects like mathematics and science.

Anderman notes that it is difficult to say what makes students like or dislike a class. It could be the subject or the personality of the professor. And in the end, it is always up to the student to make the decision whether or not to cheat.

However, Anderman argues that college professors can design their classes in a way that reduces students desire to cheat. Students feel cheating is less acceptable in classes that focus on learning how to do something instead of memorizing information, he says.

If you think about it, he told VOA, it makes logical sense if a class is set up so that you have to demonstrate mastery  of the content, cheatings not going to buy you anything. A flipside of that is  a focus on testing. And so when a student goes in a class, and  all they think about or all they hear about is testing  and If you dont do well on the test, youll never move on to the second level  they cheat more often.

So, Anderman says, when a math test is given to students, teachers should not test whether or not they have memorized the necessary formulas. Students might be so worried about recalling the formulas that they feel the need to cheat in order to succeed.

The more students cheat, the more their understanding of the subject will weaken, Anderman says. Instead, he suggests that the professor could provide the math formulas to the students and test whether or not they know how to use them to solve complex problems.

After all, Anderman argues, in the real world, many professionals use computer programs that already possess the formulas. It is up to the professionals to know how to use the formulas and their knowledge of the subject to solve the problems presented to them.

Anderman says professors should do their best to explain why they are passionate about a given issue and why students might need such knowledge in the future. That way the students themselves will feel more connected to what they are learning.

Yet David Rettinger suggests that even with a connection to the material, there is still more to the fight against cheating. Rettinger is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is also one of the heads of the International Center for Academic Integrity.

Rettinger says cheating is so difficult to prevent, in part, because of the examples students see in the world around them.

Cheating is deeply ingrained in our culture, he told VOA. And when students look to politics, they look to business, and  they see dishonesty being rewarded, its very difficult for those of us in higher education to make an argument that they should do things the right way.

That is why Rettinger believes professors need to clearly explain the rules about cheating. For example, actions such as plagiarism -- copying the work of others -- will likely get a student expelled from any college or university in the U.S.

Understanding these rules can often be especially difficult for international students, Rettinger says. The education systems in some countries do not place the same importance on individual work or presenting creative ideas in writing projects, for example. So some international students may be cheating without even knowing they are doing so.

But most of all, Rettinger argues, professors should explain that finding cheating acceptable can cause problems for students well after college.

You can, perhaps, get a job by cheating, he said. But youre not going to keep that job. Over time its going to become clear to the people you work with that you dont really know what youre doing. And so the knowledge that you claim to have isnt going to present itself, and theyre going to be looking for someone who can actually do the things you say you can do.

Im Pete Musto. And Im Dorothy Gundy.

Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Have you ever cheated in school? If so, what made you decide to do it? What would you say to others who might consider cheating? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

focus  v. to cause something, such as attention, to be directed at something specific

logical  adj. agreeing with the rules of a proper or reasonable way of thinking about or understanding something

content  n. the ideas, facts, or images that are in a book, article, speech, or movie

flipside  n. the bad or unpleasant part or result of something

formula(s)  n. a general fact or rule expressed in letters and symbols

professional(s)  n. someone who does a job that requires special training, education, or skill

passionate  adj. having, showing, or expressing strong emotions or beliefs

ingrained  adj. existing for a long time and very difficult to change

plagiarism  n. the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person


In Somalia this past September, Turkey opened its first military base on the African continent. Over the past ten years, Turkey has expanded its presence in Africa, establishing 36 embassies and major trade links.

Turkey has a long history with North African countries, says David Shinn, a professor at George Washington Universitys Elliot School of International Affairs. In 2016, Turkey had more than $10 billion in trade with Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.

Now Turkey is expanding into African countries below the Sahara Desert. A Turkish company is building a multi-billion dollar railroad across Ethiopia and Tanzania. The state-owned Turkish Airlines flies to more than 50 African cities.

Most of Turkeys ties to Africa are about business, says Shinn, who believes Turkey wants to invest in private African companies and expand its exports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made Africa an important part of his foreign policy.

In a statement published by Al-Jazeera last year, Erdogan wrote, "Many people in the world associate the African continent with extreme poverty, violent conflict and a general state of hopelessness. The people of Turkey have a different view.

We believe Africa deserves better, he wrote.

Shinn says the new Turkish military base in Somalia is a display of power and helps to strengthen strategic alliances.

Turkeys presence in Somalia goes back to the Ottoman Empire, when Turkey built small communities along the Somali coast. But, its recent interest is linked to politics as well as economics.

Somalia is a mostly Muslim nation, like Turkey, and Erdogan thinks a partnership could be helpful to both countries. Turkey can help Somalia as it struggles with food insecurity, drought, and terrorism.

On October 14, more than 300 people died from a car bomb explosion in Mogadishu, Somalias capital. It was the countrys worst terrorist attack in 20 years.

Turkey helped immediately. It flew wounded people to a Turkish hospital in Ankara. Turkey condemned the attack and offered Somalia support and solidarity.

A few days later, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire went to Ankara to meet the Turkish Prime Minister and visit the victims.

Turkeys help and support will be written in our history books and we will never forget that, Khaire said at a news conference.

Turkey plans to train as soldiers thousands of Somalis at the new military base just south of Mogadishu. The soldiers will replace AMISOM, the international peacekeeping force now in Somalia. It is to withdraw over the next three years.

AMISOM is helping Somalia fight the terrorist group al-Shabab, suspected of the October bomb attack. Al-Shabab calls AMISOM an army of foreign invaders. Many of the troops are Christians from other African nations.

Serhat Orakci is an Africa expert with the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. He told VOA that the newly trained Somali soldiers could help fight al-Shabab.

The presence of Turks may be more acceptable in Somalia since they are Muslims.

Since 2015, Erdogan has visited Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Uganda. He also traveled to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. In each country, he requested that Gulen schools close. Gulen Schools are Islamic schools named after Fethullah Gulen, a clergy leader with many international followers. Years ago, Gulen chose to leave Turkey and live in the United States.

Erdogan says Gulen was the leader of a violent overthrow attempt in Turkey in 2016. Gulen denies the accusation. More than 250 people died during the violence.

At least six governments in Africa have agreed to close the schools although they are popular.

Shinn thinks it unlikely that Turkey will continue to expand in Africa when Erdogan leaves office. He added that Turkeys economy will have to remain strong to continue its presence in Africa.

I'm Susan Shand

Salem Solomon, Hilmi Hacaloglu wrote this story for VOANews. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

associate  v. to think of one person or thing when you think of another person or thing  usually + with

strategic - adj. of or relating to a general plan that is created to achieve a goal in war, politics, etc

solidarity  n. a feeling of unity between people who have the same interests, goals, etc.
Now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.

On this program we often talk about the origins of words and expressions that we use in American English. We also talk about how we use them in everyday conversations.

Today we talk about animals--and animals we eat. In English, these two categories often have different names. Pigs turn into pork. Cows turn into beef. Sheep is mutton. Calves are veal. And deer is venison.

But why do we call these animals different names when we prepare them for a meal? Why is it pig on the farm but "pork" in a sandwich?

The answer is the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066. That is when many French words became part of the English language. Many of those French words related to the battlefield, such as army and royal. Many related to government and taxation.

And many others related to food.

When animals were in the stable or on the farm, they kept their Old English names: pig, cow, sheep and calf. But when they were cooked and brought to the table, an English version of the French word was used: pork (porc), beef (beouf), mutton (mouton) and veal (veau).

On several websites, word experts claim that this change shows a class difference between the Anglo-Saxons and the French in Britain at the time of the conquest.

Because the lower-class Anglo-Saxons were the hunters, they used the Old English names for animals. But the upper-class French saw these animals only at mealtimes. So, they used the French word to describe the prepared dishes. Today, modern English speakers  regardless of social class  have come to use both.

However, the words deer" and "venison," however, are a bit more complicated.

Etymology Online says "venison" comes from an Old French word from the 1300s (venesoun) meaning "'meat of large game,' especially deer or boar." And that Old French word comes from a Latin word (venation) meaning "a hunt, hunting, or the chase."

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, any hunted animal was called venison after it was killed. And probably because deer were killed more than any other animal, venison came to mean deer meat.

However, chicken and fish remain largely unchanged.

However, sometimes we use the word "poultry" when talking about buying a chicken, turkey, or other similar bird to eat. For example, a grocery store may have a place called the poultry section.

But we don't use "poultry" when we order chicken or turkey at a restaurant, or serve it at a meal. We simply say "chicken" or turkey.

For example, if I want to order my favorite dish, which is popular in the southern part of the United States, I will say, "Ill have the chicken and waffles, please." I would never order "poultry and waffles."

Lesser common birds, such as quail and pheasant, simply go by their own names.

What about fish?

The French word for "fish" is "poisson." Some word experts suspect that "poisson" is too close to the English word "poison" to become a common food word.

After all, even the food-rich culture of France cannot overcome the fact that eating poison might kill you or at least make you sick. As a result, anything that even sounds like poison will probably be an unpopular choice at mealtimes.

And that bring us to the end of another Words and Their Stories.

In your language, do the words for animals change when you eat them? Let us know in the Comments Section!

Thanks for joining us. I'm Anna Matteo.

Im William the Conqueror Britains first Norman king. I found renown and won my crown at the Battle of Hastings.In September of 1066 

Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly edited the story.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

category  n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way

Norman Conquest  This major event in history is when William, duke of Normandy, took control of England. His important victory at the Battle of Hastings (Oct. 14, 1066) resulted in profound political, administrative, and social changes in the British Isles

conquest  n. the act of taking control of a country, city, etc., through the use of force

royal  adj. of, relating to, or subject to the crown

stable  n. a building in which animals are kept, fed, and cared for

poultry  n. birds (such as chickens and ducks) that are raised on farms for their eggs or meat

quail  n. an Old World migratory game bird : a kind of small wild bird that is often hunted

pheasant  n. a large bird that has a long tail and is often hunted for food or sport

overcome  v. to defeat (someone or something) : to successfully deal with or gain control of (something difficult)
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Businesses catering to tourists in Tehrathum have seen an uptick in demand as more tourists choose the district as a stopover location on their way to KanchanJungha base camp.
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Ltd., Pfizer Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Spain Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Specialties Limited, Pfizer Strategic Investment Holdings LLC, Pfizer Sweden Partnership KB, Pfizer TRAE Holdings Kft., Pfizer Trading Polska sp.z.o.o., Pfizer Transactions Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Transactions LLC, Pfizer Transactions Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer Transport LLC, Pfizer Ukraine LLC, Pfizer Vaccines LLC, Pfizer Venezuela S.A., Pfizer Venture Investments LLC, Pfizer Ventures LLC, Pfizer Worldwide Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Zona Franca S.A., Pfizer spol. s r.o., Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn S.A. de C.V., Pharmacia Brasil Ltda., Pharmacia Hepar LLC, Pharmacia Holding AB, Pharmacia Inter-American LLC, Pharmacia International B.V., Pharmacia LLC, Pharmacia Limited, Pharmacia Nostrum S.A., Pharmacia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PowderJect Research Limited, PowderMed, Purepac Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, Redvax, Renrall LLC, Rinat Neuroscience, Rinat Neuroscience Corp., Roerig Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Roerig S.A., Sao Cristovao Participacoes Ltda., Searle Laboratorios Lda., Serenex, Servicios P&U S. de R.L. de C.V., Shiley LLC, Sinergis Farma-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Site Realty Inc., Solinor LLC, Sugen LLC, Tabor LLC, The Pfizer Incubator LLC, Therachon, Thiakis Limited, Treerly Health Co. Ltd, US Oral Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Upjohn Laboratorios Lda., Vesteralens Naturprodukter A/S, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AB, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AS, Vesteralens Naturprodukter OY, Vicuron Holdings LLC, Vinci Farma S.A., W-L LLC, Warner Lambert, Warner Lambert Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Warner Lambert del Uruguay S.A., Warner-Lambert (Thailand) Limited, Warner-Lambert Company AG, Warner-Lambert Company LLC, Warner-Lambert Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Warner-Lambert S.A., Whitehall International Inc., Whitehall Laboratories Inc., Wyeth (Thailand) Ltd., Wyeth AB, Wyeth Australia Pty. Limited, Wyeth Ayerst Inc., Wyeth Ayerst S.a r.l., Wyeth Biopharma, Wyeth Canada ULC, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare LLC, Wyeth Europa Limited, Wyeth Farma S.A., Wyeth Holdings LLC, Wyeth Industria Farmaceutica Ltda., Wyeth KFT., Wyeth LLC, Wyeth Lederle S.r.l., Wyeth Lederle Vaccines S.A., Wyeth Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Company, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals FZ-LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Limited, Wyeth Puerto Rico Inc., Wyeth S.A.S, Wyeth Subsidiary Illinois Corporation, Wyeth Whitehall Export GmbH, Wyeth Whitehall SARL, Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) Limited, Wyeth-Ayerst International LLC, and Wyeth-Ayerst Promotions Limited.

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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.
Tableau Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business analytics software products. It offers Tableau Desktop, a self-service, powerful analytics product with data; Tableau Server, a business intelligence platform for organizations; Tableau Online, a hosted software-as-a-service version of Tableau Server; Tableau Prep, a data preparation product for combining, shaping, and cleaning data; and Tableau Public, a cloud-based platform for analyzing and sharing public data. In addition, it offers Visual Query Language (VizQL) for databases, which is a computer language for describing pictures of data, including graphs, charts, maps, time series, and tables of visualizations; Live Query Engine that interprets abstract queries generated by VizQL into syntax understandable by database systems; and Hyper, an in-memory data engine technology that helps customers to analyze a range of data sets by evaluating analytical queries directly in the transactional database. Further, the company provides support, maintenance, training, and professional services. It serves organizations in various industries, including business services, energy and telecommunications, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing and technology, media and entertainment, public sector, and education, as well as retail, consumer, and distribution industries. The company sells its products directly, as well as through indirect sales channels, such as technology vendors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendor, and distributors in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Tableau Software, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Republicans weren't supposed to have to worry about Alabama.

Yet in the span of a tumultuous afternoon, a low-profile special election became a Republican nightmare that threatens a once-safe Senate seat  and offers a new window into ugly divisions that continue to plague the GOP in the age of President Donald Trump.

Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, a 70-year-old former state Supreme Court justice, defiantly denied allegations of decades-old sexual misconduct with minors published Thursday in a Washington Post story. The revelations, a month before the Dec. 12 special election, triggered a sharp backlash from would-be Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill, who called on Moore to quit the race if the allegations were true.

But on the ground in Alabama, local Republicans showed little sign of turning their backs on Moore. Some lashed out at his alleged victims.

"It's mudslinging at its best," said one of Moore's neighbors, 45-year-old Chris Hopper of Altoona, Ala. He added, "Why not vote for somebody that's got good Christian values?"

In Washington, however, the controversy marked a bittersweet moment for some in the Republican establishment who argued that Moore, a Christian culture warrior twice removed from his state's Supreme Court for judicial misconduct, never should have been the party's Senate nominee in the first place. Some blamed Steve Bannon, Trump's former senior strategist, who broke from most GOP leaders  including Trump himself  by cheering Moore's candidacy earlier in the year.

"Dear GOP, send your thank you cards to the Breitbart embassy attn: Steve Bannon," tweeted a sarcastic Josh Holmes, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Moore is the latest soldier in Bannon's self-described war on the Republican establishment. Frustrated that GOP leaders haven't quickly executed Trump's agenda, Bannon has vowed to defeat every Senate Republican up for re-election next year, save for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Bannon referenced Moore only briefly during an appearance Thursday night in New Hampshire, attacking The Washington Post  an "apparatus of the Democratic Party," he called it  for also being among the first to report the "Access Hollywood" tape that caught Trump using sexual predatory language before the 2016 election.

"The Bezos-Amazon-Washington Post that dropped that dime on Donald Trump, is the same Bezos-Amazon-Washington Post that dropped the dime this afternoon on Judge Roy Moore," Bannon said. "Now is that a coincidence? That's what I mean when I say 'opposition party.'"

The White House said Trump believes Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore "will do the right thing and step aside" if sexual misconduct allegations against him are true. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters traveling with Trump in Asia that the president believes a "mere allegation"  especially one from many years ago  shouldn't be allowed to destroy a person's life.

A spokeswoman said Vice President Mike Pence found the allegations disturbing and "if true, this would disqualify anyone from serving in office."

The accusations came to light the same week that Republicans suffered sweeping election losses across several states, none more significant than Virginia, where Democrats seized the governor's office and may have changed the balance of power in the state legislature.

Across Washington, the calls from anxious Republicans for Moore to step aside if the allegations proved true grew as the hours passed on Thursday. They included Trump, McConnell and Cruz, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Alabama's own senior senator, Richard Shelby.

Moore showed no signs of going quietly, vowing in a fundraising message distributed in the midst of Thursday's chaos to "NEVER GIVE UP the fight!" as he cast his struggle as a "spiritual battle."

It's too late for Moore's name to be removed from the ballot before the Dec. 12 special election even if he withdraws from the race, according to John Bennett, a spokesman for the Alabama secretary of state. A write-in campaign remains possible, Bennett added.

Sen. Luther Strange, the Trump-backed interim senator who lost to Moore in a September primary contest, wouldn't immediately say whether he'd re-enter the race.

"Well, that's getting the cart ahead of the horse. But I will have something to say about that. Let me do some more research," Strange told The Associated Press.

In Alabama, however, many responded with a collective shrug.

"Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus," Alabama state Auditor Jim Ziegler told The Washington Examiner.

Alabama resident Becky Ashley dismissed the situation as a ploy by Democratic candidate Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney. "I don't believe them at all," Ashley told the AP. "I believe this is Doug Jones, some of his doings, you know. I just don't believe Roy Moore would do that."

The disbelief stemmed, in part, from Moore's reputation as a conservative Christian.

He was twice removed from his state Supreme Court position, once for disobeying a federal court order to remove a 5,200-pound granite Ten Commandments monument from the lobby of the state judicial building, and later for urging state probate judges to defy the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage.

The Post reported that Moore, then a 32-year-old district attorney, approached 14-year-old Leigh Corfman in early 1979 outside a courtroom in Etowah County, Alabama.

After phone calls and meetings, he drove her to his home some days later and kissed her, the Post quotes Corfman as saying. On a second visit, he took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes except for his underwear before touching her over her bra and underpants, Corfman told the Post. He also guided her hand to touch him over his underwear, she said.
Victory of left alliance is certain: Oli

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has said that none can prevent the left alliance and nationalist forces from emerging victorious in the upcoming parliamentary and provincial elections slated for November 26 and December 7.
PPG Industries, Inc. manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials worldwide. The company's Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft. It also provides coatings and finishes for the protection of metals and structures, such as metal fabricators, heavy duty maintenance contractors, and manufacturers of ships, bridges, and rail cars; paints, wood stains, adhesives, and purchased sundries for painting and maintenance contractors, and consumers for decoration and maintenance of residential and commercial building structures; and paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other technologies for pavement marking. The company's Industrial Coatings segment offers coatings, adhesives and sealants, and metal pretreatments, as well as services and coatings applications for appliances, agricultural and construction equipment, consumer electronics, automotive parts and accessories, building products, kitchenware, and transportation vehicles and other finished products; and on-site coatings services. It also provides coatings for metal cans, closures, plastic tubes, and promotional and specialty packaging; amorphous precipitated silica for tire, battery separator, and other end-uses; TESLIN substrates for labels, e-passports, drivers' licenses, breathable membranes, and loyalty and identification cards; and organic light emitting diode materials, displays and lighting lens materials, optical lenses, color-change products, and photochromic dyes. The company was incorporated in 1883 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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.
Teradyne, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports automatic test equipment worldwide. The company operates through Semiconductor Test, System Test, Industrial Automation, and Wireless Test segments. The Semiconductor Test segment offers products and services for wafer level and device package testing in automotive, industrial, communications, consumer, smartphones, cloud computer and electronic game, and other applications. This segment also provides FLEX test platform systems; J750 test system to address the volume semiconductor devices; Magnum platform that tests memory devices, such as flash memory and DRAM; and ETS platform for semiconductor manufacturers, and assembly and test subcontractors in the analog/mixed signal markets. It serves integrated device manufacturers that integrate the fabrication of silicon wafers into their business; fabless companies that outsource the manufacturing of silicon wafers; foundries; and semiconductor assembly and test providers. The System Test segment offers defense/aerospace test instrumentation and systems; storage test systems; and circuit-board test and inspection systems. The Industrial Automation segment provides collaborative robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots, and advanced robotic control software for manufacturing, logistics, and light industrial customers. The Wireless Test segment provides test solutions for use in the development and manufacture of wireless devices and modules, smartphones, tablets, notebooks, laptops, peripherals, and Internet-of-Things devices under the LitePoint brand name. This segment also offers IQxel products for Wi-Fi and other standards; IQxstream solution for testing GSM, EDGE, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, HSPA+, LTE, and 5G technologies; IQcell, a multi-device cellular signaling test solution; IQgig test solution; and turnkey test software for wireless chipsets. Teradyne, Inc. was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in North Reading, Massachusetts.
Dear crafter,

If I were you I'd simply organize my paint bottles by size, so they line up well if they're not perfectly uniform. (To get that perfectly uniform look, you could consider decanting the ones that are odd sizes, but I realize that may be a tall order.) Paints are pretty, so I think you should just aim for what makes them easiest for you to access, such as on a shelf rather than in tins.

As for having your storage cabinet idea built, you can definitely find a cabinetmaker willing to take on the job! Post on Craig's List if need be. You have to come up with a well-finessed prototype before you can begin trying to sell to manufacturers. But if you love the results, consider starting your own small business on Etsy, or teaming up with someone in your area who has an Etsy business. If you fill a real need, your design should have a market. Wishing you luck!

Margot
Greyhound advocates and animal lovers around the world turned their attention to Macau this week to once again decry the treatment of greyhounds at the Canidrome, after animal welfare organization Anima Macau challenged company representatives to a public debate over the merits of keeping the racing track open.

The treatment of greyhounds on what international observers are calling the worlds deadliest greyhound racetrack is an issue that has drawn considerable attention from Europe.

A group known as Stop Exportation of Greyhounds from Ireland to China is campaigning to prevent Irish greyhounds from being sent to the Canidrome. As many as 800 greyhounds are suspected to be housed there and more than 30 are killed each month.

It recently emerged that exports of Irish greyhounds are beginning to fill the gap in the market created by the fact that Qantas and Cathay Pacific airlines decided not to freight the animals to Hong Kong.

The reception from Europe has been overwhelmingly in favor of the Canidromes closure. An article from the Times uploaded yesterday to the website was flooded with comments from around the world, calling for an end to this needless cruelty and shaming the Canidrome for not agreeing to participate in the debate.

Simultaneous protests were held in Dublin yesterday and outside the Embassy of Ireland in London, organized by the Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports, while a second group, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, conducted a separate lunchtime demonstration outside Irelands Department of Agriculture.

Over the weekend, protests will be held in other European countries, including Italy and Germany.

A petition hosted on www.change.org, calling for the closure of the complex, also picked up momentum this week and has now collected over 355,000 signatures as of last night.

The petition, which is led by local Anima Macau President Albano Martins, will be presented to the Department of Agriculture in Dublin during an additional demonstration planned for June 2 in the Irish capital.

Activists and columnists from Irelands media have denounced the silence from the government on the issue and the seeming unwillingness of the Department of Agriculture to intervene in recent weeks.

Martinss claim is that as Macaus economy is largely dependent on tourism, the government pays a great deal of attention to how external visitors view the MSAR. He has therefore called for international condemnation of the Canidrome in hopes that it will pressure the MSAR government into not renewing the license of the facility  a decision on which is expected to be made later this year.

Macaus leaders care a lot about how the rest of the world sees them, writes Martins on the petition. If the world speaks up against the Canidromes outdated and barbaric treatment of these animals, Macaus government has to listen.

Our strategy with all the international organizations is to block [imports from] outside because the government does not block inside [domestic legislation], he added at a press conference on Tuesday.

The government has made no indication that it will not renew the Canidromes license. In recent years it has supported the complex through granting tax cuts, which the facilitys critics say is the only financial means of keeping the Canidrome economically viable. Daniel Beitler
Macau is reaching a stage where it has the foundation, wealth and the know-how to build a sustainable city, said Christopher Law, founder and director of The Oval Partnership.

The Hong Kong-based architect is confident that Macau can develop its own technology that is intelligent and can assist to create sustainable urbanism.

At a talk held yesterday by the British Business Association of Macau (BBAM), Law reiterated the importance of rebuilding and developing communities in a way that does not lose the citys history and story.

The architect, who has received multiple awards for his design projects, highlighted the importance of involving local residents in projects that aim to conserve the citys heritage.

He hinted that government councils should improve their interaction with residents on developing communities with a foundation of history.

Questioned by the press on whether Macau could also be receptive of initiatives similar to the Blue House project in Hong Kong, a project he took part in, the expert noted that the citys diverse culture gives it an advantage in such an idea.

The Blue House, a nearly century-old building, has undergone a significant revamp and revitalization project in Wan Chai, which has turned itself into a multi-functional services complex.

The space includes a House of Stories, which is dedicated to exhibiting creative works of the city, alongside restaurants and a community services center.

It [Macau] has got the most unique culture in the Macanese community. What would be better than combining these two together so you can have a living community and a living heritage that not only concerns from the past but [also] developed in the future, Law told the press.

The architect believes that buildings are only able to last centuries if they know how to adapt to the changing needs of their residents.

He also believes in preserving culture and history, yet adapting to the changes needed by a certain district. This is a way to develop many parts of the city, economically, socially and environmentally, and would enrich the status of Macau as a World Heritage City.

Macau has a wonderful foundation for [strengthening] the creative industry because of its very unique culture and history, Law expressed.

I can see many young people develop their career in the future in the creative industries using different parts of Macau as a hub where they can get together and exchange ideas, they can live, work and play. I think Macau has great potential for culture and creative industry, the expert added.

The architect also identified that the area next to St. Lazarus is an ideal place to create a hub for members of the creative industry to gather and exchange ideas as the area is comprised of different startups, noting the strong Portuguese influence in the area.

However, Law stressed that such initiatives would only be efficient when the local community cooperates with the government and private business sectors.

Meanwhile, questioned on his thoughts regarding the controversial Hotel Estoril, which has generated discussion on whether it should be revamped into a youth recreational and art center, Law only noted the significance of residents opinion.

I think what is very clear is that this initiative will be much more successful if they [are] initiated by the local community, [along with] working with the government and the private sector. In my experience its actually a successful way to make this project happen, the architect explained.

In a bid to raise awareness on culture and heritage preservation, Law suggested that existing community groups should be allowed to perform and exhibit their creative works in certain areas to strengthen the local culture of the region.
A naked man running through rush-hour traffic thats backed up for miles jumpstarts Wonder Valley, author Ivy Pochodas enthralling look at people mired in a nomadic existence, anonymous to most, yet longing for a connection with another.

With its large cast of characters and unconventional storytelling, Wonder Valley works as the literary version of the Oscar-winning film Crash. Not every character is sympathetic, but the increasingly heightened drama that surrounds each characters life never falters. These are people who are alone, even when surrounded by those to whom they should be closest. Adding to the feeling of anonymity, the novel is nearly two-thirds finished before a last name is evoked.

Married lawyer Tony becomes obsessed with that naked man that he leaves his car to run after, feeling a tingling sense of freedom in the mans unburdened stride. There is Ren, who has traveled to Los Angeles to find his mother, who refuses to leave her little corner of Skid Row. Britt is running from her past when she ends up at a ranch in Twentynine Palms before eventually making it to Los Angeles. And there are Blake and Sam, two violent drifters in search of Wonder Valley where they plan to settle. For these two, Wonder Valley is the stuff of dreams, a near-mythical place thats really just a half-abandoned community of run-down cabins.

Pochoda deftly moves each of these characters together, making their connection realistic while pulling Wonder Valley from the past to the present to illustrate what led each to this particular moment. Los Angeles and Southern California emerge as vital characters, too, showing how the area affects each person. This look at a broad segment of people imbued Pochodas last novel, Visitation Street, which was one of the bright spots of 2013.

Pochoda delivers a compassionate look at the displaced that treats each with respect and humanity in Wonder Valley. Oline H. Cogdill, AP
The 2017 Macau International Parade, which was known as the Parade through Macau, Latin City until last year, is going to be held on December 17. Introduced yesterday at a press conference, the event follows the theme of features of local districts and historic monuments. With the rebrand, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) is hoping that the event will move towards internationalization, demonstrating the unique charm of Macau. To do so, the parade will break through the practice of the past editions by setting a new route, aiming at offering innovative elements and new perspectives to residents and tourists, IC stated. On the day of the event, crowd control measures will be implemented and some streets will be temporarily closed to traffic.

DSI wants to ease information transfer

The Identification Services Bureau (DSI) has cooperated with other government departments to provide a contact information modification service, according to a statement issued by the bureau. Starting from this week, Macau residents, who are aged 18 or above and are holding an electronic identity card can authorize DSI to share portions of their relevant personal information with other government departments. The information that will become transferable will be chosen by the applicants at the time they update the contact information using the integrated self-service kiosks.

Mainland man arrested for exchanging counterfeit currency

A mainland man was arrested for exchanging 1,845 counterfeit bills of HKD1,000 each with a person from the mainland. According to the Judiciary Police, the victim met the suspect through a casino VIP room event promoter. The victim transferred RMB1.1 million to the suspects mainland bank account, and later received the aforementioned amount of HKD bills. The currency was revealed to be counterfeit after both parties were present at the accountants office of the casino involved in the operation to check the banknotes. The suspect was then detained by the casino security.

Works in LRT Barra station start Monday

The first stone to mark the commencement of the works at the Barra station will be unveiled on Monday, November 13. The initial works at the station, which will connect the Macau peninsula to the Taipa section of the LRT, includes a subterranean wall with a length of 255 meters and a depth of 40 meters. According to a statement issued yesterday, the wall will allow a safe environment for the construction of the Barra station in the next phase. The project contractor is the China Road and Bridge Corporation and it is expected that the conclusion of the subterranean wall will be concluded in the third quarter of 2018.

ANM urges 90-day paid maternity leave

The New Macau Association (ANM) has suggested Macau extend the length of paid maternity leave to 90 days. Recently, the SAR government carried out a public consultation regarding labor relation laws, and suggested maintaining 56 days of paid maternity leave, referring to Hong Kongs 60 days paid maternity leave, which has not been amended for 22 years. The association felt the Macau SAR government referred to outdated labor laws, [] which obviously cannot protect women and children rights. Besides a longer paid maternity leave, ANM also expects an amendment of the laws to avoid arranging pregnant or postnatal (within three months) women to work from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Mandarin House promotes consignment sales

Mandarin House Cultural Relics Information Centre and Gift Shop is calling on the participation of the regions cultural and creative entities to sell their products on consignment, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) announced in a statement. Application for the 2018 consignment program is open until November 17. Those already on the list of the Database for Macau Cultural and Creative Industries are qualified for selection and do not need to re-apply, but may submit any updates to the IC before the application deadline. Every year, the IC selects entities from the database to present and sell their own creative products on consignment in the Mandarins House Cultural Relics Information Centre and Gift Shop. The Gift Shop markets souvenirs themed around Mandarins House and the citys cultural heritage, IC publications and design items, as well as products of Macaus cultural and creative brands.

BNU posts profit of USD70.5 million

Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) posted a profit of MOP564 million (USD70.5 million) in the period from January to September, a year-on-year increase of 16.9 percent, according to a balance sheet published in the Official Gazette. The balance sheet states that on 30 September the bank had recorded income of MOP1.399 million and costs in the amount of MOP835 million. BNU posted a profit of MOP482.36 million in the first nine months of 2016. In 2016 the bank posted a profit of MOP560.5 million.

Fourth water supply pipe ready in Q1 2018

The fourth water supply pipe which will carry water from mainland China to Macau will be ready in the first half of 2018, the Director of the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA), Susanna Wong, said this week. According to Wong, the pipes construction was originally planned to be completed by the end of this year. However, due to the unpredicted impact of Typhoon Hato, the deadline had to be postponed until the next year. Wong highlighted the fact that mainland contractors and the Macau government did not provide a detailed explanation regarding the delay. The fourth pipe will mainly transport water to the Seac Pai Van water plant. The constructions delay will not affect the current water supply in Macau.

276,000 smoking inspections this year

Following the implementation of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Law in January 2012, law enforcement inspectors have performed a total of 1,566,542 inspections at several kinds of establishments, which have resulted in the identification of 43,764 people who have smoked in forbidden areas. The Health Bureau issued a statement yesterday indicating that between the beginning of the year and October 31, more than 276,000 inspections were performed resulting in 5,812 charges. This year, around half of the infractions were committed by Macau residents (2,882) and only 293 were done by non-resident workers.

65 percent of taxi infractions related to overcharging

The Public Security Police Force recorded 621 taxi infractions during the month of October. The infractions include 406 cases (65 percent) of over-charging and 165 cases (27 percent) of taxi drivers who refused to accept passengers. No infraction was related to taxis which did not take passengers according to their sequence. During the same period, the police recorded 30 cases involving unauthorized taxis, zero of which related to mobile taxi hailing services. There are 50 cases involving other infractions.
Since it launched in 2015, Sands Chinas Local Small, Medium and Micro Suppliers Support Programmes expenditure on local, small- and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) suppliers amounts to MOP5.5 billion, the gaming operator announced in a statement yesterday.

Sands China has already spent nearly MOP1.7 billion on purchases from local small- and medium-sized enterprises as of the third quarter of 2017, accounting for 21 percent of the companys total purchase amount.

Nearly 50 percent of that amount (MOP829 million) has benefited the three types of local enterprises targeted by the Local Supplier Support Programme  the small and micro companies, Made-in-Macao companies, and Macao young entrepreneurs.

In 2016, Sands China cooperated with 294 entities from the three local business types, increasing the number to 340 in 2017.

The company is particularly pleased to see local enterprises expanding their business opportunities as a result of the programme, and we wish for continued success for our local SME suppliers, said Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd.

MDME lawyers co-organize competition for law students

The first Brighter Future Student Awards is jointly organized and supported by Macau law firm MdME Lawyers and their international network for the Portuguese Speaking Countries MLGTS Legal Circle, the University of Macau (UM) and the Faculty of Law Students Association of UMs Students Union.

The award program is open to any university student in Macau who majored in law or other domains relevant to law, the firm said in a statement.

The competition is comprised of two categories, Macau Law and Portuguese Speaking Countries Law, and a Brighter Future Student Award will be given for each category.

The winners in each of the categories will win a chance to visit and intern in leading Portuguese law firms for a month as well as attend a Portuguese language course.

During the awards launching ceremony this week, partner of MdME Lawyers, Goncalo Mendes da Maia stated: The purpose of creating these awards is to promote legal studies that would improve students knowledge in subjects of Macau and Portuguese Speaking Countries law, and also to foster greater participation of students in community affairs.
Equatorial Guinea wants to join Forum Macau and apparently it has Chinas blessing, a diplomatic source told the Times. The membership of Eq. Guinea, a Franco-Lusophone-Spanish country, may be formalized by the third quarter this year, during the next Ministers Conference of the organization to be held in Macau.

About to celebrate its first anniversary as a member of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in July, the west central African country, with a population of 1.6 million, is becoming a magnet for Chinese investment in Africa.

According to our sources, other countries in Africa are willing to join Forum Macau, even though they are not part of the CPLP. We are talking of countries that claim to have Portuguese influence in the past, the diplomat said, although they dont have Portuguese as an official language.

The recent five-day visit to Beijing by the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, resulted in a credit line of USD2 billion and the release projects of at least three major Chinese business groups, at a time when the African country is dealing with difficulties due to the oil price breaks, its main export.

The Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang said that Equatorial Guinea has developed relatively well with the government supporting the expansion of investment in infrastructure, of which the country has a great need, Macauhub reported this week.

During the visit, which also marked the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, agreements were signed with Chinese companies for power generation and industrial development projects, which are an essential part of the governments objective to diversify the economy beyond oil.

Central to this objective is the USD2 billion credit line that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Chinas largest bank by assets, granted to Equatorial Guinea in order to finance work carried out by Chinese companies in the country, as part of a mechanism endorsed by the presidents of both countries.

The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy signed three agreements for projects in the country, including with China Dalian International Cooperation Group (CDIG) to start technical studies for the development of the industrial city of Mbini, which the government intends to make an economic benchmark in that African region.

The China State Construction Engineering Corporation will also be involved in the development of oil facilities in the town of Luba, extending the local port to make it a logistics hub for the oil and gas industry and other industrial activities.

Equatorial Guineas membership of the CPLP was confirmed at the organizations latest summit in July 2014 in Dili, at a time when it had important economic links, especially with Brazil.

The countrys membership has added nearly $20 billion to the combined GDP of Portuguese-speaking countries, which currently represents close to 4 percent of the world total, and is expected to continue growing.

*With Macauhub
A grassroots group petitioned at a McDonalds canteen in Avenida de Horta e Costa, asking McDonalds Macau to explain the Husi incident to the public.

As a big fast-food chain in Macau, McDonalds is liable for guaranteeing consumers rights. () It should explain the incident to the public. If these imported products really contain the expired meat, what will they do? said Lee Kin Yun, a representative from the Labor Party formed by several workers groups. Petitioners said that they would also send a letter to the Food Safety Center of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM): IACM works passively. It only took action when the scandal was revealed. If the media had not disclosed the incident, the organization would have done nothing.

McDonalds Macau had earlier explained in a statement that the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau has already suspended the importation of all products from Husi China. This suspension, the company said, will only affect the availability of the McCrispy Chicken Burger. McDonalds Macau always strictly follows all food safety regulations and standards set by the Macau government. At this point, since IACM suspended importation of HUSI products from China, we no longer use any HUSI products in our Macau restaurants, the company stated earlier this week. The statement followed IACMs announcement that Husi supplied 576 kilograms of Frozen Fully Cooked Crispy Chicken to McDonalds Macau in June.

Some 43.3 percent of Chinese netizens commenting on the countrys latest food safety scandal have directed their anger towards poor supervision, according to a report in Wednesdays China Youth Daily.

According to the report, the analysis, undertaken by the major daily papers research department, was based on 2,000 posts taken as a random sample between Sunday and Tuesday from approximately 1.6 million posts on social media. Many Internet users are looking to harsher legislation as a solution, with 20.1 percent of the analyzed posts calling for harsher penalties for food crimes.

On Sunday, a Shanghai TV station exposed Shanghai Husi Food Co., Ltd., a supplier to a fast food chains including McDonalds and KFC, for having sold products containing expired meat. Shanghai police said on Wednesday that they have detained five people involved in the scandal.

McDonalds Macau had admitted to using products provided by Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd, the company shut down by mainland food safety authorities.

Yesterday, a bill for the revision of the Food Safety Law was tabled for its first reading at Chinas top legislature. It outlines harsher sanctions for offenders and a stricter food safety supervision system. For instance, the bill suggests raising the fine for offenders to up to 30 times the value of their products.

After Chinese authorities shut down OSIs Shanghai Husi Food plant this week for allegedly selling expired products, McDonalds said that it will continue to use the Husi divisions other operations in the country. While McDonalds transitions to a state-of-the-art facility in Henan, it plans to rely on Husis Hebei plant.

We and our suppliers have a decades-long proven track record of providing safe, quality food to our customers worldwide, said the Oak Brook, an Illinois-based chain, in a statement. Husi is taking swift action by investigating what happened and overhauling its safety procedures. We have been in direct contact with OSIs global leaders; as an added assurance of uncompromised safety, they are sending their top food safety experts to China to provide expertise on operations.

This move provides a contrast to the reaction of Yum, the largest fast-food business in China. The company, which owns Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, terminated its relationship with OSI after a government probe into the alteration of expiry dates. MDT/Agencies
The opening of Macaus first integrated home care services center for senior citizens, called Retribuicao [Retribution], was inaugurated yesterday at Seac Pai Van.

Both Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, were present at the centers inauguration ceremony.

The center is said to be the first senior citizens care center which provides home-based care and support, community-based day care, institutional residential care services, and integrated care services.

Caritas Macau is the service provider of this center. Secretary-General of Caritas Macau, Paul Pun, expects to welcome the first batch of senior citizens at the center by the end of this year.

There are nearly 300 positions, and some of them [senior citizens] will live here temporarily. On a daily basis, approximately 200 senior citizens will live in the center, said Pun.

With the opening of this center, the waiting time [for senior citizens to be accepted by a care center] will be shorter.

In Puns opinion, being located in Seac Pai Van the center is surrounded with a good environment and has a convenient transportation network.

Another advantage of the center is that it has nature nearby, which is quite difficult to find in Macau, remarked Pun.

According to Pun, the center already has sufficient human resources to provide services at this stage.

However, community- based work is really difficult to predict, [] therefore we will attract a few social enthusiasts to support [the work], said Pun.
The U.N.s labor agency said yesterday that it will stop taking funding from the tobacco industry and will not extend its public-private partnerships with a business faulted for harmful health effects.

Anti-tobacco groups say the International Labor Organization, which brings together business, labor groups and governments, has been the last U.N. agency to retain ties to the tobacco business.

The Geneva-based body has struggled to calibrate its mandate to help ensure proper working conditions, particularly in an industry linked to child labor, amid a broader U.N. fight against the health risks of tobacco use.

The ILO has received over USD15 million through partnerships that aim to fight child labor in the industry. They include deals with Japan Tobacco International as well as with a nonprofit group that is linked to some of the worlds biggest tobacco companies.

In its decision, the body decides that no new funding shall be accepted by the ILO from the tobacco industry, and that existing Public Private Partnerships with the tobacco industry will not be prolonged beyond their expiry dates.
President Donald Trump sought to present a united front with Chinese President Xi Jinping following two days of meetings yesterday, despite lingering differences over trade and North Korea.

On trade, Trump criticized the very one-sided and unfair trade relationship between the U.S. and China. But he stopped short of castigating Xi, saying he doesnt blame the country for having taken advantage of the U.S. in the past.

Trump said China must immediately address the unfair trade practices that drive what he said is a shockingly large trade deficit, along with barriers to market access, forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft. But I dont blame China, he said. After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens?

To applause, Trump said: I give China great credit.

His Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered a blunter assessment of Chinas trade surplus with the United States, which in October widened by 12.2 percent from a year earlier, to USD26.6 billion. The total surplus with the United States for the first 10 months of the year was $223 billion.

I think the best way to characterize it is that while we appreciate the long hours and the effort that our Chinese counterparts have put into those trade discussions, quite frankly in the grand scheme of a $3- to 500 billion trade deficit, the things that have been achieved are pretty small, Tillerson told reporters in Beijing.

He said that, that, in terms of really getting at some of the fundamental elements of why this imbalance exists, there is still a lot more work to do.

Tillerson also acknowledged that there were differences tactics and the timing and how far to go with pressure on North Korea. But he insisted that the two countries were on the same page.

There is no disagreement on North Korea, he said.

Trump and Tillersons comments came during Trumps second and final day in China and after lengthy meetings with Xi. The day included announcements that the U.S. and China had signed agreements valued at more than $250 billion for products including U.S.-made jet engines, auto parts, liquefied natural gas and beef.

Such contract signings are a fixture of foreign leader visits to Beijing and are intended to defuse foreign complaints about Chinas trade policies.

Trump had made narrowing the multibillion-dollar U.S. trade deficit with China a priority for his administration. During the presidential campaign, he accused China of raping our country on trade and pledged to minimize the countries trade imbalance.

For his part, Xi promised a more open business environment for foreign companies in China and said his country was committed to further opening its economy to foreign investment.

China will not close its doors and will open them even wider, he said, pledging that foreign companies in China, including American ones, would find the market more open, more transparent and more orderly.

The United States and other trading partners have been pressing Beijing to give their companies more access to its state-dominated economy. But it remains unclear how far China will go to fulfill its pledges. Previous U.S. administrations have hailed market-opening promises only to be left disappointed.

North Korea remained a focus of the talks. Before arriving in China, Trump had delivered a stern message to Beijing, using an address in South Korea to call on China, North Koreas biggest trade partner, to do more to confront and isolate the antagonistic nation. That included urging China to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at depriving the Norths government of revenue for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Trump yesterday appeared far more conciliatory, thanking China for its efforts and saying hed been encouraged by his conversations.

China can fix this problem easily. And quickly. And I am calling on China and your great president to hopefully work on it very hard, Trump said. If he works on it hard it will happen.

Before the meetings, China rolled out the red carpet for Trump, treating him to an elaborate welcome ceremony on the plaza outside the Great Hall of the People before the leaders turned to their private talks.

Trump looked on approvingly as a Chinese honor guard played the national anthems of both countries, cannons boomed and soldiers marched. He clapped and smiled as children waving U.S. and Chinese flags and flowers screamed and jumped wildly.

Trump said the welcome was truly memorable and impressive and something I will never forget.

Trump was also feted at a state dinner that featured a video montage of the presidents visit, as well as footage of his granddaughter, Arabella, the daughter of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, singing a traditional Chinese song in Mandarin.

Today, Trump heads to Danang, Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference  the first of two conferences hell attend on his trip to Asia.

While Trump had told reporters he expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the conference, Tillerson said the two sides had never agreed to hold a formal one-on-one meeting. He said the two sides were still discussing whether they had sufficient substance to talk about. Jill Colvin & Jonathan Lemire, Beijing, AP
ROKS Jinju was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and commissioned with the ROK Navy in June 1988. It has been renamed ENS Shabab Misr (meaning Youth of Egypt).



The Egyptian Ministry of Defense issued the following statement:

In continuation of the efforts of the armed forces to support the combat and technical capabilities of the navy, the frigate "Youth of Egypt" arrived at the Alexandria Naval Base , from South Korea, following the completion of the action taken by the Korean State, where it was given to Egypt in support of the distinguished military relations between the Egyptian and Korean armed forces, and the political leadership efforts of both countries and their strong support for the strengthening of joint cooperation in many areas.



The "Youth of Egypt" is characterized by high combat capabilities and long-distance sailing capacity (4500 Nautical Miles), speed (32 knots) total tonnage (1240 tons), and its combat capabilities characterized by various calibre guns, as well as torpedoes and missiles, with the most modern navigational and sensor systems.



The specialized and professional crew working on the frigate had been prepared and trained in a timely manner during which the naval forces had made effort and race to train and work on all technologies, to be able to carry out all the tasks assigned to them by the general leadership. For the armed forces, the frigate travelled a distance fifteen thousand kilometres during the journey back to the homeland with the implementation of joint exercises with both the South Korean Navy and the Indian Navy.
Kuwait executes 7 prisoners

Ukraine once again asks US for powerful drones

Greek authorities temporarily ban export of firewood from country

Azerbaijan protests to France in connection with Senate resolution

Blinken calls on Aliyev to observe ceasefire and limit provocations

Pashinyan: We're advancing rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan: Armenia invites Azerbaijan to sign framework agreement on peace

Pashinyan: Most of the arable land of 4 villages in Tavush Province is occupied by Azerbaijanis

Armenian Prime Minister: Let the opposition loudly reject Russia's proposals

Pashinyan: 2023 budget growth in social protection compared to 2018 is 56%

Inflation in UK up to 41-year high of 11.1% in October

Pashinyan: We don't want to provoke war between CSTO and Azerbaijan

Pashinyan's explanation: How should we fight inflation?

Pashinyan: Armenia submitted its proposals for peace treaty to Azerbaijan, we are waiting for a response

Pashinyan: Army budget 2023 more than doubled compared to 2018

CNN: CIA director visits Kyiv

Macron urges Iran to calm down and respect the French

IRGC forces detain Mossad spy in southern Iran

Iranian Foreign Minister expresses dissatisfaction with number of 'unrealistic comments' by Azerbaijani officials

Parliament Vice-Speaker: Armenian military-industrial complex able to establish serial production of military products

Armen Grigoryan receives Major General Daniel Lasica

Ivanka Trump says she will not participate in her father's presidential campaign

KGB of Belarus states about 'threat of intervention' from Baltic States, Ukraine, and Poland

Belarus says AFU blew up bridges in direction of Gomel and Mozyr

22-year-old soldier dies in accident with army truck in Armenia

Indonesian president hands over G20 presidency to India

Azerbaijani Ombudswoman's distorted perception of reality: French Senate Resolution 'will undermine peace in the region'

Nikol Pashinyan holds telephone conversation with Irakli Garibashvili

Four explosions blow up in sky over Belgorod

NATO Secretary General to hold meeting of alliance on incident in Poland

Finnish Foreign Ministry: Many in NATO believe that Turkey has created an awkward situation for the alliance

Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem receives group of wounded participants of 44-day Karabakh war

AP: Drone with explosives attacks oil tanker off the coast of Oman

LPR announces attack by AFU from Popasna to Kharkiv Oblast

Toyota reveals next-generation Toyota Prius hybrid

Central Bank head: State Budget deficit in Armenia to grow to 3.1% of GDP in 2023

Erdogan believes Russia had nothing to do with the missile incident in Poland

Thanasis Bakolas shares concerns that Armenian politician banned from leaving Armenia

Biden and Sunak discuss missile incident in Poland at G20 summit

Russian Defense Ministry: Elements of the Ukrainian S-300 system fell in Poland

Erdogan: Biden administration is determined to sell F-16s to Turkey

Gold price remains stable

Copper falls in price

Microsoft to leave Azerbaijan

G7 and NATO leaders say they are ready to support Poland in investigation of bombings

Joe Biden asks Congress for new funding for Ukraine

Finance Minister: Capital expenses will greatly increase in Armenia in 2023

Azerbaijani MFA accuses French Senate of undermining relations normalization process between Baku and Yerevan

Armen Grigoryan to pay working visit to India

AP: Missile falls in Poland may have been fired by Ukraine to shoot down Russian missile

Erdogan plans to discuss fertilizer transportation and grain deal with Putin

Oil price falls

Blinken calls on Armenian Prime Minister to maintain momentum of peace talks with Azerbaijan

CNN: NATO aircraft tracked the trajectory of the missile that fell in eastern Poland

Armenian FM to visit Tunisia

Yerevan draft budget 2023 revealed

U.S. Embassy: Major General Daniel Lasica arrives in Armenia

Armenian MOD refutes another misinformation of Azerbaijani MOD

Media: Fire in Istanbul is caused by several explosions, not just one

Drone 'allegedly' blows up oil depot in Oryol Oblast

Trump officially announces that he will run for president in 2024

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
YEREVAN.  This is [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyans response to [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. Serge Sargsyan makes it understood in what format and how the upcoming talks shall proceed, [and] that there is no other option about which the Azerbaijani side is dreaming. And this position sounds more justified and defended today, since it has the support of both Russia and the United States. Prior to that meeting, Serge Sargsyan makes it understood that he is against both those conversations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts discussion in that format.

Russian political analyst Stanislav Tarasov told the aforesaid to 168 Zham (Hour) newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA), as he commented on President Sargsyans reflection on this conflict.

In his turn, German political scientist Uwe Halbach said that, in all likelihood, encouraged by the American support, the Armenian side, in the person of the RA President, tried to remind the Azerbaijani side about those arrangements.

But the process over those agreements has failed, said Halbach. I believe it will fail in the future, too, and these statements will remain within the framework of rhetoric, wrote 168 Zham.
YEREVAN.  Armenia is ready to sign the new agreement with the European Union (EU).

Armen Ashotyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, stated about the abovementioned at a press conference on Saturday.

In his words, the European side likewise has noted such willingness.

We already are planning more, said Ashotyan. Prior to signing of the agreement, the [said NA] committee had adopted a decision on holding [respective] extended [parliamentary] hearings on December 1.

He added that this is a political message and political decision that shows the will of the Armenian side to sign this document.

Ashotyan stressed that once this agreement is signed, the Armenian side can break the stereotype that, unlike Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia has a special place in the South Caucasus, in terms of democratic reforms.

In addition, the Armenian MP noted that Armenias main objective in this agreement is to see to it that its citizens live under good conditions in their country, and this document also creates an opportunity for Armenia to finally distance itself from Azerbaijan, from the viewpoint of implementation of reforms and democratic reforms.
All the books I've read lately have just been OKAY or FINE.



I haven't read an amazing book in a few months and it's getting tiring because it's turning me off from starting another book. Or even picking another book.

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is there anything in particular you're looking for?

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Basically something fun and lighthearted like a romcom or humor. The ones I've read lately haven't been making me devour them

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SAME. It's so frustrating.

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i didn't know we couldn't quote articles anymore...



but go read that lit hub article, it's really good! i put the book on my TBR shelf for now, but i'll definitely pick it up at the library soon

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Will we be continuing the ONTD reading challenge next year and would they be the same challenges for each month?



I'd love to keep doing this but maybe switch things up a bit.

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Yeah we talked about doing it again and change the categories up a bit (or a lot - i'm not sure yet!)!

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I really do love the cover

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surprisingly, it was a good read. I read it yesterday and yeah, he's trash but it was interesting.

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I have two more books to finish to complete my Goodreads challenge but I havent been in the mood to read lately - Ive also been trying to focus on NaNoWriMo.



The books I chose this month for my Book of the Month box was Krysten Ritters book and The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman. Has anyone read Bonfire?

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a couple of ppl here did, i think in the last Krysten Ritter posts



i haven't gotten my copy yet, gonna pick it up on tuesday

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Gucci is one of my guilty pleasure tbh. I wonder if he discusses pushing that woman out of a car.

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well that's pretty fucked (...racist) they haven't reviewed it despite being on their bestseller list



i'm reading Nine Stories by JD Salinger right now. I was disappointed in the first few stories but now that i'm halfway through there are a few i really like



i'll start What Happened next week since it's in for me at the library. i don't know if i have the mental energy to rehash the election tho.



i'm also reading The Paradox of Choice, and i really want to start The Secret Lives of Color

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i've been reading The Changeling by Victor LaValle and omggg it's sooo fucking good, definitely one of the best of 2017

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i read slapboxing with jesus about 13yr ago and adored it. i need to grab this

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I have the book. I havent finished it but it is a good book. Gucci Mane is a fave of mine but I still acknowledge that he is not without major issues.

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the books that big places like NYT chooses to review are generally sooo white.



I'm two chapters into The Glass Town Game by Catherynne M. Valente which is a middle grade book about the Brontes as children, but with them taking a fantastical adventure. it's so adorable and delightful so far and very heartfelt, though that's also partly bc I'm quite attached to them. it's a new release that I didn't even know about 'til the cover caught my eye in a bookstore. total surprise.



I finally got a copy of Remains of the Day from the library so I'll get to that soon. slowly and surely trying to read all of Ishiguro. I recently finished When We Were Orphans, which was okay - I liked the start and the premise of it, and the end, but it wasn't satisfying overall. I didn't like The Buried Giant but Never Let Me Go hasn't ever quite let me go (haha) so I'm looking forward to reading his older stuff. A Pale View of Hills and Nocturnes sound more up my alley.

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I completed my reading challenge!!! So happy :D

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congrats!!! im like 14 books away from finishing my yearly challenge! hopefully i can do it...

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I set my standards low af I don't know how people can't read like hundreds of books each year

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I got into the habit of reading on the train, since i have to take it everyday. if it wasn't for that I would definitely not read as many books in the year.

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I'm at 197 rt now 

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omg 100s??! My yearly goal this year is 12 and I'm so proud myself for being one book away from meeting it lmao

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It took five years but I finally did it! I published my first book on Kindle this past week.



[I know it's not that big of a deal, anyone can self-publish, but I have a tendency to put things off and not go after what I want so I'm just really proud of myself for accomplishing that.]

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wow that's an accomplishment!! it is definitely a big deal! congrats!

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Thank you!

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Congratulations!!! Wishing you success with your book!

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what's the book about?

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Congrats!

That is amazing!



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Congrats!! You must feel so accomplished!

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Sis that's a huge deal. Writing an essay is enough trouble let alone a whole book. Many congratulations. You should be very proud of yourself, from one procrastinator to another.

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I started reading Home Fire and I'm enjoying it. Shamsie's got a lovely, extensive vocabulary but the way she uses it doesn't come across as annoyingly pretentious like some (male) authors I've read in the past.

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omg this post just made me realize i have a book due today yikes...... the library is an hour and a half away im too lazy to go

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Can you renew online

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no :( but thank god i got the due date wrong, i still have another two weeks

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i've collected almost 1.50 in fines with Hemlock Grove lol i totally spaced on returning it. earlier i was reminded that i still had it out so i just renewed it.

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I've had this on my kindle since it came out but haven't started it. Was going to do it for the ONTD book club this month but instead I went with Leon Black's book which made me LOL so hard.



I'll probably read this soon.



I just read a shitty romance that included the line:



"He smell like a man should. Raw. Pure." And I still can't get over it. Wtf raw and pure is it a skinless baby?

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DEAD @ skinless baby omg

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I'm seriously still thinking about it. That book was the beginning of a trilogy set in the same town. Also the mc has hair described as "striped black and pink. So very dark and so vibrant at the same time" and then she dyed her hair back to her natural blonde after getting the guy and he DIDNT RECOGNIZE HER like that is some 80s soap opera shit.



I'm telling you it was so cringeworthy I can't believe I finished it.

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"He smell like a man should. Raw. Pure." And I still can't get over it. Wtf raw and pure is it a skinless baby?



lmfao

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Three Vietnamese sailors held for eight months by Islamist gunmen have been rescued by soldiers in the southern Philippines, the army said Saturday, in the latest operation against the kidnap-for-ransom militants. The sailors were found in the southernmost island group of Tawi-Tawi on Friday along with the body of another Vietnamese seaman who had died in captivity from an illness, regional military commander Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez said. "He was already dead when the troops found them," Galvez told AFP, adding that he could not reveal further details because the military operation against the kidnappers was ongoing. The Vietnamese sailors were among the crew of a cargo vessel captured in February in the seas off the southern Philippines and held by the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic extremist group blamed for kidnappings, piracy and bombings in the area. Galvez said the Abu Sayyaf are still holding a number of Filipino and foreign hostages including Ewold Horn, a Dutch bird-watcher abducted in 2012. Abu Sayyaf, originally a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, has splintered into factions, with some continuing to engage in banditry and kidnappings. One faction has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, and took part in a brutal siege of the southern city of Marawi that sparked a five-month battle with government forces that claimed over a thousand lives. The gunmen are known to behead their captives if ransom demands are not met. German national Jurgen Kantner, 70, was beheaded in February after the kidnappers' demand for 30 million pesos ($600,000) was not met. Last year, the group beheaded two Canadian hostages.
A data firm that worked for President Donald Trump's campaign reached out to WikiLeaks during the campaign about obtaining emails related to Democrat Hillary Clinton, the company's CEO said.

Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, said the approach was in "early June 2016" after WikiLeaks Editor Julian Assange had publicly claimed he had Clinton emails and planned to publish them. Nix said his company asked a speaker's agency representing Assange whether WikiLeaks "might share that information," but Assange turned him down.

Nix's comments Thursday at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal, were his first acknowledgement that he had sought emails from WikiLeaks. Assange had previously told The Associated Press that WikiLeaks had rejected a "request for information" from Cambridge Analytica. The Wall Street Journal first reported Nix's comments.

Cambridge Analytica's role in the president's campaign has caught the attention of congressional committees probing Russia's interference in the 2016 election and any possible coordination with Trump associates. The company is backed by Robert Mercer, a billionaire Trump supporter. Before joining the Trump administration, former White House strategist Steve Bannon also served as a vice president at the company.

The Trump campaign paid Cambridge Analytica nearly $6 million for data management. The campaign's first payment to the company was on July 29, 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records. But the Journal reported Friday that Nix's outreach to WikiLeaks came while Cambridge Analytica was in contract negotiations with the campaign in June. At that time, the company had already sent some of its employees to help the campaign, the Journal reported.

A spokesman for Cambridge Analytica and a related company, SCL Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

During the Web Summit interview, Nix denied that his company was involved in any Russian election meddling.

"We did no work with Russia in this election. And moreover, we would never work with a third-party state actor in another country's election campaign," he said.

He also called the outreach to Assange "very benign." He said it stemmed from an article in The Guardian newspaper in early June 2016 that said "WikiLeaks was going to publish a huge amount of information that could be very relevant to the election and could impact it sincerely."

Nix appeared to be referencing a June 12, 2016, article that was based on Assange's comment to a British television network that WikiLeaks had "upcoming leaks in relation to Hillary Clinton" that were in the form of emails.

On Thursday, Nix said that after he saw the article, he asked his "office to reach out to, actually it was a speaking agency that represents Julian Assange to ask if he might share that information with us and we received a message back from them that he didn't want to or wasn't able to."

"And that was the end of the matter," Nix added.

Last month, Assange confirmed that WikiLeaks was approached by Cambridge Analytica prior to November 2016 but he declined to provide specifics about the interaction, other than saying it was a "request for information."

Assange's comments came in response to a story from The Daily Beast that reported that Nix's outreach was about possibly obtaining the 33,000 emails that Clinton said were deleted from her private server. Those emails have never been released.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
In this April 20, 2013 file photo, male greater sage grouse perform mating rituals for a female grouse, not pictured, on a lake outside Walden, Colo. Federal scientists and land managers who've been crafting strategies to protect sage grouse habitat across the West for nearly two decades are going back to the drawing board under a new Trump administration edict to reassess existing plans condemned by ranchers, miners and energy developers. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Federal scientists and land managers who've been crafting strategies to protect a ground-dwelling bird's habitat across the American West for nearly two decades are going back to the drawing board under a new Trump administration edict to reassess existing plans condemned by ranchers, miners and energy developers.

Federal officials are wrapping up a series of public meetings with three sessions starting Tuesday in Utah ahead of a Nov. 27 cutoff for comment on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's order last month to consider revisions to land management amendments for the greater sage grouse that were adopted under the Obama administration.

Zinke says he wants to make sure the amendments don't harm local economies in 11 western states and allow the states to have maximum control over the efforts within their borders.

Conservationists say it's a thinly veiled attempt to allow more livestock grazing and drilling, similar to Trump's efforts to roll back national monument designations, but on a much larger scale. They warn it could land the hen-sized bird on the endangered species list in 2020 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to review its 2015 decision not to list it.

"They appear to be dismantling the whole land-planning amendment system and starting over," said Patrick Donnelly, the Center for Biological Diversity's Nevada state director.

"It's revisionist history," he told a Fish and Wildlife Service official during a scoping meeting-turned-brainstorming session at a Sparks hotel-casino Wednesday night.

Instead of recording public testimony, agency officials marked up easel pads with lists of criticisms, concerns and suggestions. About 80 participants moved between five breakout groups including "minerals," ''livestock grazing," and "wildlife and vegetation."

They treaded familiar ground. Disagreement reigned over the size of protective buffer zones around grouse breeding grounds, states' role in setting federal policy and whether cattle or wild horses cause more habitat degradation. There was general agreement that invasive cheat grass is fueling one of the biggest threats - catastrophic wildfires - but little consensus on what to do about it.

"I don't understand why we're starting all over again," shouted a man who briefly disrupted the meeting and refused to provide his name.

Nevada Farm Bureau Vice President Doug Busselman said research increasingly suggests properly regulated grazing reduces fire fuels. But he said existing policy is "taking a restrictive approach ... and then watching massive fires sweep across the landscape, setting up the process for expansion of cheat grass, then more fire."

The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee heard the same thing last month from Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke, a fifth-generation rancher who blames grazing restrictions for a wildfire that wiped out his family's winter grazing allotment this year.

"In the process of placating anti-grazing activists, federal agencies have made the No. 1 threat to the greater sage grouse in Idaho worse," Bedke said. Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, a Republican, filed one of a series of lawsuits aimed at blocking the Obama plans.

Conversely, Republican Gov. Matt Mead of Wyoming, Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana have expressed concern that altering existing plans could undermine efforts to prevent a listing. Nevada GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval also has cautioned against wholesale changes, although he applauded Zinke's recent lifting of a temporary ban on new mining claims across about 15,600 square miles (40,400 square kilometers) adopted under Obama.

Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairman Dan Vermillion said existing protections took a diverse group of stakeholders years to work out.

"Those plans were essential to keeping sage grouse from becoming endangered," he wrote in a Nov. 7 letter to Zinke.

That's the message Karen Boeger delivered in Sparks.

"We all duked it out on these plans," said Boeger, a retired teacher and member of the Nevada Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers who previously served on a Bureau of Land Management advisory board. "We've hardly gotten out of the chute. Let's give it a chance."

The bureau's acting deputy director, John Ruhs, understands the frustration.

"A lot of folks have been engaged in this topic for a long time. Some have been at the table going back 15 years or more," said Ruhs, who's worked for the agency in Nevada, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho.

"We're trying to find the best methods to allow all uses of the land to occur and still ensure protection of habitat," he said. "It's a tall order."

Donnelly, whose Arizona-based group has sued over failure to list hundreds of species, said the intent of the Obama amendments "was very clear: Prevent the listing of the sage grouse." That goal seems to have gotten lost, he said.

"We heard a lot about mineral withdrawals and local collaboration, but all in the name of what?" Donnelly asked. "Are we still committed to conserving sage grouse, or is the intention to mine and drill every acre of the West? If that's the case, we are plunging head-long toward listing the grouse."

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed a "fresh start" to the relationship between the countries after a meeting that saw them agree to work more closely on North Korea.

The leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang.

Ties between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, have been plagued by a long-running territorial dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islets.

"At the end of the meeting, President Xi said this is a meeting that marks a fresh start of relations between Japan and China. I totally feel the same way," Abe told reporters.

Abe said he has proposed visiting China at an appropriate time, which would then be followed by a Xi visit to Japan.

At the meeting, the two countries agreed to deepen their cooperation on North Korea and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date.

"With the North Korea situation at an important phase, the role China ought to play is very big," Abe said.

China and Japan have also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, Abe said. He also proposed that Japan and China cooperate in doing business in third countries.

China's statement about the meeting, released by the official Xinhua news agency, cited Xi as telling Abe that stable relations were in both sides' interests, and that they must make unremitting efforts to continue improving ties.

The two countries "must take constructive steps to appropriately manage and control disputes that exist between the two countries", Xi added.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will on Sunday visit Catalonia for the first time since Madrid imposed direct rule on the region, a day after hundreds of thousands of Catalans marched to demand the release of jailed regional officials. Mariano Rajoy is expected in Barcelona, the Catalan capital, at 11:00 am (1000 GMT) to show support for his Popular Party's campaign ahead of a vote next month. His visit comes two weeks after he dismissed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, his government and the parliament, suspended the region's autonomy and called for new elections there on December 21. On Saturday hundreds of thousands of Catalans protested the jailing of regional officials for their push for independence from Spain, which has left the country mired in a political crisis. The demonstrators gathered on an avenue next to the regional parliament building waving Catalan independence flags and chanting "Freedom!" while some held up banners announcing: "SOS Democracy". Rajoy, who is due to attend a presentation by a party candidate at a station hotel, will not make a public appearance in the city. The protest followed the release from jail of the region's parliament speaker -- one of dozens of lawmakers sacked by Madrid last month -- after posting 150,000 euros ($175,000) bail. Children in riding helmets climbed castells -- the region's traditional human towers -- as others held placards bearing caricatures of some jailed lawmakers. Barcelona municipal police put turnout for the march at some 750,000 people as crowds stretched for more than 15 blocks along the boulevard. The Catalonia crisis has caused concern in the European Union as the bloc deals with Brexit and uncertainty over the fate of the region's 7.5 million people. More than 2,400 businesses have moved their legal headquarters elsewhere. On Wednesday a general strike called by a pro-independence union caused travel chaos, blocking 60 roads and train lines including Spain's main highway link to France and the rest of Europe. Since lawmakers in Catalonia -- a wealthy region with its own language and distinct culture -- declared independence on October 27 following a banned referendum, pro-separatist officials have come under huge pressure from Madrid. Barcelona's popular mayor earlier slammed the actions of Puigdemont's government. "They've provoked tensions and carried out a unilateral independence declaration which the majority do not want," Ada Colau told a meeting of her party members. "They've tricked the population for their own interests." Eight members of the axed Catalan cabinet are currently detained on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds. A further six fired officials including parliament speaker Carme Forcadell were granted bail this week on similar charges by Spain's Supreme Court. Puigdemont is in self-imposed exile in Belgium awaiting a hearing on possible extradition back to Spain after Madrid issued an EU-wide warrant. "The situation is sad, the politicians haven't done their jobs," said Robert Muni, who was protesting with his children, although some protesters shouted their support for Puigdemont, "our president". - 'We want freedom' - Puigdemont and four ex-ministers say they are in Brussels because they cannot be guaranteed a fair trial back home. "Although some of us are far away from you and others are in prison, we have an opportunity to express loudly and clearly that we want freedom and democracy," Puigdemont told Catalan television. Saturday's protest was organised by two pro-independence lobby groups, ANC and Omnium, whose two leaders are also detained. "We don't know what's going to happen but we know what we want: the release of political prisoners," said demonstrator Maria Angels Quintana. Puigdemont has said he travelled to Brussels after declaring independence in order to raise international awareness on the treatment of separatists in Spain. But the European Union, nervous that Catalan independence could stir up separatist tensions in several member states, has repeatedly backed the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over the crisis. Some participants at the rally betrayed their frustration at the lack of support from Brussels for their cause, holding banners printed in English asking "Europe, where are you?"
Hong Kong's struggling flag carrier Cathay Pacific was removed Friday from the prestigious list of companies that make up the citys benchmark index. The removal from the Asian financial hubs Hang Seng Index will take place from December 4, the Hang Seng Indexes Company said in a statement late Friday. The company has been on the index since 1986. "It a very negative news, especially not many people were expecting it will be taken off at this point," financial analyst Jackson Wong told AFP. "I think because other newcomers are performing so strongly, then they had to do that," Wong of Huarong International Securities said. Cathay Pacific in March posted its first annual loss since the height of the financial crisis following "intense competition" and a drop in demand from business travellers. The results came as companies like China Eastern and China Southern Airlines were offering direct services to Europe and the United States from the mainland, while budget carriers like Spring Airlines were providing regional routes, undermining Cathay's once critical Hong Kong hub. The airline has seen its market capitalisation cut by almost half in the past seven years, Bloomberg News reported. State-owned Gulf carrier Qatar Airways said Monday it had acquired a 9.6 percent stake in Cathay, making it the third largest shareholder in the Hong Kong-based airline. Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al-Baker said in a statement that Cathay was "one of the strongest airlines in the world", adding it had "massive potential". Shares in Cathay will continue to trade on the Hong Kong stock exchange after its removal from the Hang Seng. The statement from Hang Seng Indexes said it also removed Kunlun Energy, an arm of PetroChina.
Israeli forces are seen near a border fence between the Israeli-occupied side of the Golan Heights and Syria, November 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (Reuters)

By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel shot down a Syrian spy drone over the Golan Heights on Saturday, the Israeli military said.

The drone was downed with a Patriot interceptor missile over the Golan demilitarized zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces since the ceasefire deal that followed their 1973 war.

The military initially told Reuters the UAV was Russian-manufactured but offered no evidence. A military source later said it was unclear whether the UAV was indeed Russian-made.

"It was a reconnaissance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and not an attack UAV and we are checking whether there is any connection to Iran and Hezbollah," military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, told Reuters.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel viewed the incident gravely and would respond to any provocation.

"We hold the Syrian regime responsible for any firing or breach of sovereignty and call on it to hold back all players active in its territory," Lieberman said in a statement.

Russia intervened in the civil war on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, joining a de-facto alliance with Iranian forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shi'ite Muslim militias helping Damascus beat back Islamic State and other Sunni Muslim insurgent groups.

Israel fears an eventual Assad victory could leave Iran with a permanent garrison in Syria, extending a threat posed from neighbouring Lebanon by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and has been lobbying Russia and the United States for reassurances that Iranian and Hezbollah forces will not be allowed to deploy near its border or set up bases within Syria.

"We will not allow the Shi'ite axis to establish Syria as its forefront base," Lieberman said.

The Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 conflict, has seen spillover violence from the Syrian civil war. Israel has at times fired to foil what it deemed deliberate cross-border attacks and has struck suspected Hezbollah arms shipments around 100 times in Syria during the civil war.

For its part, Russia has set up a military hotline to prevent warplanes or anti-aircraft units clashing accidentally over Syria.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; editing by Alexander Smith and Louise Heavens)
Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday accused Saudi Arabia of detaining prime minister Saad Hariri and of asking the Shiite movement's arch-foe Israel to launch strikes. Hariri's sudden resignation on November 4 in a statement made from Riyadh took the Lebanese political class by surprise and has sparked international concern. The United States warned against using the tiny country as a "venue for proxy conflicts" and the United Nations said it was "essential no new conflict erupt in the region". France called for Hariri to have "all his freedom of movement" amid rumours he was being held against his will. "The head of the Lebanese government is detained in Saudi Arabia, he is banned from returning to Lebanon until now," Nasrallah said in a televised address. Hariri's situation was not completely clear but calls, including from his Lebanese political rivals, mounted for Saudi Arabia to guarantee the premier's freedom of movement. The 47-year-old announced his resignation on November 4 in a surprise move that coincided with a sweeping purge of the Saudi kingdom's elite, ostensibly over embezzlement accusations. Hariri, who also holds Saudi nationality, did not say when he would return to Lebanon, where President Michel Aoun has yet to formally accept his resignation. In a statement issued on Friday after a meeting with a senior Saudi diplomat, Aoun insisted Hariri should return to Lebanon. - US support - "President Aoun met Saudi charge d'affaires Walid Bukhari and informed him that the circumstances in which Mr. Hariri's resignation took place were unacceptable," the statement said. The president "called for the return to Lebanon of the head of the government". Aoun, whose political ally Hezbollah is a fierce critic of Riyadh, "voiced his concern over what is being said" about Hariri's current status in Saudi Arabia and demanded a "clarification". US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday described Hariri as "a strong partner" and warned against "any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country". "The United States strongly supports the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Lebanon and of its political institutions" and opposes "any actions that could threaten that stability," he said. French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has close ties with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, made a surprise visit to Riyadh late Thursday after a trip to the United Arab Emirates. On Friday, a spokesman for France's foreign ministry said: "We wish Mr. Saad Hariri to have all his freedom of movement and to be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon." Earlier French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on French radio he thought Hariri was "free to move around", despite most of the Lebanese political class implying he was de facto under house arrest. "He went to Abu Dhabi the day before President Macron's visit (on Wednesday) so we think he's free to move around," Le Drian said. - Conflict warnings - Nasrallah, whose party is the only organisation that did not disarm after the 1975-1990 civil war and now has an arsenal that outstrips Lebanon's own armed forces, accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to incite conflict. "The most dangerous thing is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon," he said. "I'm talking about information that Saudi Arabia has asked Israel to strike Lebanon." Nasrallah, whose movement Hariri has repeatedly said should lay down its arms, also warned that his movement, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, was stronger than ever. "We are stronger today, we warn them again misguided calculations, against any knee-jerk initiative," he said, adding however that his party saw any Israeli attack as being unlikely at this stage. The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, also said: "It is essential that no new conflict erupt in the region." "We are indeed very worried and we hope that we won't see an escalation in the region that would have tragic consequences," he said. Lebanon's interior ministry said in a statement Friday that a Saudi national had been kidnapped in Lebanon in circumstances that remained unclear. Saudi Arabia had urged all its citizens in Lebanon this week to leave the country but Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk told AFP that the kidnapping was "in no way related" to the Hariri crisis or politics.
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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Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe has accused the opposition of orchestrating violence that has killed at least 16 people in massive anti-government protests across the country. Since the first protests began in late August more than 200 others have been injured as the opposition agitates for Gnassingbe to step down and the introduction of a two-term limit for presidents, applied retroactively to prevent him standing for re-election. "Togo is currently disrupted by demonstrations, which, far from being peaceful as permitted by law, have often been extremely violent," said Gnassingbe, visiting the Temedja military camp, about 200 km (120 miles) north of Lome on Friday. "Those who organise these events bear the heavy responsibility for the victims and the damage they caused," he said in a speech broadcast on national television. Last month West African leaders made their first comments after two months of increasingly bloody violence, calling on the presidency and the opposition to sit down to talks. France has called for an "immediate dialogue" between the two sides in its former colony, saying it was concerned by reports of civilian militia working alongside security forces. The government has promised to hold a referendum to adopt reforms including a limitation of presidential terms, but the proposed change would not be retroactive, allowing Gnassingbe to run for polls in 2020 and 2025. Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 and won three elections. His father General Gnassingbe Eyadema was president before him and ruled for 38 years.
By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Mai Nguyen

DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Countries in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal have agreed on the core elements to move ahead without the United States, officials said on Saturday, after last-minute resistance from Canada raised new doubts about its survival.

Taking the agreement forward is a boost for the principle of multilateral trade pacts after U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the TPP early this year in favour of an "America First" policy he believes would save U.S. jobs.

Talks - often heated - have been held on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang, where Trump and other leaders held their main meeting on Saturday.

"We have overcome the hardest part," Vietnam's trade minister, Tran Tuan Anh, told a news conference.

The agreement, which still needs to be finalised, would now be called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), he said.

Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said he hoped that moving ahead with the deal would be a step towards bringing back the United States.

Partly to counter China's growing dominance in Asia, Japan had been lobbying hard for the TPP pact, which aims to eliminate tariffs on industrial and farm products across the 11-nation bloc whose trade totalled $356 billion last year.

Some 20 provisions of the original agreement were suspended. Those included some related to protecting labour rights and the environment, although most were related to intellectual property - one of the main sticking points after the U.S. withdrawal.

"The overall impact on most firms is quite modest," said Deborah Elms of the Asian Trade Centre think-tank, adding that the new version was "essentially identical to the original document".

DOUBTS

Any kind of deal looked doubtful on Friday, when a summit of TPP leaders was called off after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not attend. Canada's trade minister later blamed Trudeau's absence on "a misunderstanding about the schedule".

Story continues

Canada, which has the second-biggest economy among remaining TPP countries after Japan, had said it wanted to ensure an agreement that would protect jobs.

Canada's position has been further complicated by the fact that it is simultaneously renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the Trump administration.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trudeau said though Canada was pleased with the progress made on TPP, there was "still more important work to be done."

Trudeau said Canada will always be "extremely closely linked to the American economy" but there was a need to diversify trade through other deals.

NAFTA talks with the United States were not affecting Canada's stance on TPP negotiations, he said.

In a speech in Danang, Trump sent out a strong message that he was only interested in bilateral deals in Asia that would not disadvantage the United States.

Chinese President Xi Jinping used the same forum to stress multilateralism and said globalisation was an irreversible trend.

China had noted that the 11 TPP countries had made some progress on the deal, but it "hasn't paid too much attention" because it is focused on APEC work during the meeting, Zhang Jun, Director General of the Department of International Economic Affairs of China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

He said all trade arrangements in the region should promote openness and inclusiveness, with no "exclusive clubs".

Zhang said the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact will not be impacted by TPP, to which China is not party. The two trade deals are not mutually exclusive, and some countries would be members of both.

'RAPID, COMPLEX CHANGES'

The APEC leaders met in closed sessions on Saturday, pausing for the traditional "family photograph", taken above the South China Sea.

At the start of the meeting, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang noted APEC's success in removing barriers to trade - as well as the new uncertainty in the world.

"We have witnessed changes more rapid and complex than we expect," he said in opening remarks.

APEC trade and foreign ministers released a joint statement on Saturday, three days later than planned because of wrangling over customary language the United States wanted to change.

The statement still refers to free and open trade, but it also refers to fair trade and to members "improving adherence to rules agreed upon".

A reference to strengthening the multilateral trading system was dropped. The ministers also said they would work to improve the functioning of the World Trade Organisation - which Trump criticised in Friday's speech.

Later, leaders of the 21 APEC economies agreed to address "unfair trade practices" and called for the removal of "market distorting subsidies," in contrast to communiques they have issued in the past.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina and A. Ananthalakshmi in DANANG, David Ljunggren in OTTAWA; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Stephen Coates and Ros Russell)
Ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed Saturday to press ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's "America First" policy. Trump pulled his country from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreement heralded for tying lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections. He has been something of a lone protectionist voice at the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang where world leaders, including China's Xi Jinping, have been keen to promote the virtues of free trade and multilateral deals. In a joint statement Saturday morning, the remaining countries -- dubbed the TPP-11 -- said they had "agreed on the core elements" of a deal at the sidelines of the APEC summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, after days of stalled talks raised fears it could collapse altogether. The ministers said further talks would be needed to reach a full consensus before inking the deal, which now carries an even longer official name -- the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Japan's lead negotiator Toshimitsu Motegi said the remaining members would still welcome the United States back into their pact. "This time all the 11 countries are on board and this would send out a very strong positive message to the United States and other Asia Pacific countries in the region," he said. Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's trade minister, described the breakthrough in a tweet as "big progress". Canada had held out to maintain environmental and labour protections linked to freer markets in the deal. Those elements were thrown into jeopardy by America's sudden withdrawal from the deal earlier this year. Canada had dug in over those progressive clauses. But they are much less attractive to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Chile and Peru now that the carrot of access to the huge US market has been pulled. - Upended consensus - Trump's election has upended years of American-led moves to open up global trade. The US president is among leaders attending the APEC summit in Danang and on Friday he ladled out more of his trademark "America First" rhetoric. In a strident address he said his country will "no longer tolerate" unfair trade, closed markets and intellectual property theft. "We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more," he added, taking a swipe at multilateral trade deals. Shortly after, China's Xi offered a starkly different vision, casting his country as the new global leader for free trade. Beijing is not included in the TPP, a deal initially driven through by the former US administration as a counterweight to surging Chinese power in Asia. China has since sought to fill the free trade gap left by the United States, even if much of its own market remains protected. Japan, the world's third largest economy, has been particularly active in pushing for a swift consensus on TPP, fearful that delays could lead to the collapse of the pact after years of negotiations and hand more regional influence to China. But Canada has pushed back against a quick fix. "This is about setting the terms of trade for generations," a Canadian delegation source told AFP. Analysts say the provisional deal reached in Danang will breath new life into global free trade deals at a time when the United States is turning its back on them. Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, told AFP that even without the US, TPP-11 is "the most important trade agreement signed in the last 20 years". "Companies had largely given up on the TPP after the withdrawal of the United States," she said. "Now firms will need to scramble to figure out how the agreement matters to their business." At the APEC summit on Saturday Trump faces a long day of meetings with world leaders who are all pushing for more open trade. As well as Xi, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Japan's Shinzo Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau are among those attending. The original TPP deal was once described by the US as a "gold standard" for all free trade agreements because it went far beyond just cutting tariffs. It included removing a slew of non-tariff restrictions and required members to comply with a high level of regulatory standards in areas like labour law, environmental protection, intellectual property and government procurement. Without the US, TPP-11 only represents 13.5 percent of the global economy but the remaining countries are scrambling to avoid the deal's collapse, especially given the increasingly protectionist winds sweeping through the United States and Europe. burs-jta/iw
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Livestreaming offers a unique opportunity for small businesses to learn from experts and interact with other entrepreneurs to gain valuable insights.

Next week, theres an opportunity to do just that with a Facebook Live Q&A featuring Tracey Noonan and Dani Vilagie, founders of Wicked Good Cupcakes and Shark Tank favorites. The entrepreneurs are partnering with Canon for the event, which is slated for November 14 at 12:30 p.m. EST.

During the event, Noonan and Vilagie will share tips and advice for business owners leading up to Small Business Saturday. Viewers can also ask questions to get specific insights during the live event.

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MAXIFY Your Business Power Lunch Q&A

November 14, 2017, Online

In a showing of service and support for its small business, entrepreneurial and home office customers, Canon U.S.A. is partnering with Shark Tank favorites and founders of Wicked Good Cupcakes Tracey Noonan and Dani Vilagie. Moderated by New York Times bestseller Carol Roth, the self-made mother-daughter duo will host two Facebook Live events at Canon U.S.A. headquarters on Tuesday, Nov. 14 (12:30 and 3:30 p.m. EST) offering first-hand insights, tips and advice for current and aspiring business owners as they head into Small Business Saturday. Viewers will have an opportunity to ask questions from these leading experts via the live feed.

DIGIMARCON WORLD 2017  Digital Marketing Conference

November 14, 2017, Online

DIGIMARCON WORLD 2017 Digital Marketing Conference takes place November 14th to 16th, 2017. Whether your goal is to reinforce customer loyalty, improve lead generation, increase sales, or drive stronger consumer engagement, DIGIMARCON WORLD 2017s agenda will help attendees enhance their marketing efforts. Sessions will focus on building traffic, expanding brand awareness, improving customer service and gaining insight into todays latest digital tools.

2017 Women Entrepreneurs Conference

November 18, 2017, Detroit, Mich.

Held during Global Entrepreneurship Week and honoring Womens Entrepreneurship Day, the 2017 Women Entrepreneurs Conference is a full-day business conference that brings together female entrepreneurs, business experts, media, investors, and community and government leaders to support and celebrate women in business. This years theme is Connect, Cultivate & Celebrate! The event will also feature an interactive panel discussion, the Female Entrepreneur of the Year award presentation, and the opportunity to meet and network with inspiring women leaders and entrepreneurs from across the state. Register today!

TWITTER CHAT: Build Culture, Win Talent: Driving Small Business Success

November 29, 2017, Online, Twitter

MetLife will host a conversation among small business owners about how to build and maintain the kind of culture that attracts and keeps top talent. MetLife will be joined by Small Business experts Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends, Rieva Lesonsky of Small Biz Daily and a member of Susan Solovics team. These experts will share tips based on their personal experiences building winning business cultures, and expand upon small business insights from the latest Employee Benefit Trends Study and the MetLife & US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. Join us 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET!

TNW New York

December 12, 2017, New York, N.Y.

The fifth edition of TNW New York is designed for decision-makers looking to explore the digital technologies transforming the Tech, Communication and Media industries.

This year were keeping it cozy and curated by operating an invite-only policy. If you want to be one of a thousand industry leaders discovering, discussing and shaping whats Now and Next in digital this December, then apply for your invitation now!

LEAP HR: Retail Conference, Nashville 2018

February 27, 2018, Nashville, Tenn.

LEAP HR: Retail 2018 will once again dig deeper into the innovative people leaps helping digital-native and established retailers succeed in a rapidly transforming industry. With new speakers, fresh case studies, and a pre-conference Boot Camp day dedicated to what the next-generation retail workforce really looks like, LEAP HR Retail 2018 remains the unique opportunity for senior people leaders in this industry to really challenge and get creative around how we do HR in retail.

More Events

More Contests

Sustainable Brands17

November 30, 2017, Multiple Cities
The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 13125882 Canada Inc., 211 E. Russell Road LLC, 4458664 Canada Inc., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES ASIA PTE. LTD., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES BORROWER S.C.A., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES LLC, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES MIDDLE EAST FZE, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES SERVICES LIMITED, ASTRUM IT GmbH, Accudyne Industries Acquisition S.A r.l, Accudyne Industries Canada Inc., Accudyne Industries S.A r.l., Air Dimensions, Air Dimensions Inc., Albin Pump SAS, BOC Edwards Global Low pressure Air business, CISA S.p.A., Cameron-Centrifugal Compression, Comercial Ingersoll-Rand (Chile) Limitada, Comingersoll-Comercio E Industria De Equipamentos S.A., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Dosatron International SAS, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Proprietary Limited, FlexEnergy Holdings LLC, Frigoblock Grosskopf Gmbh, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First (UK) Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings II Inc., GD Global Holdings Inc., GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., GPS Industries, Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. 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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Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut.
Homes in Florida are in danger of collapsing into the ocean due to beach erosion elevated by Hurricane Nicole, the U.S. now has a record numbe
Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States, and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Manufacturing, U.S. Manufacturing, and Retail segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen and heavy oil in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. This segments Foster Creek, Christina Lake, Sunrise, and Tucker oil sands projects, as well as Lloydminster thermal and conventional heavy oil assets The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, Clearwater, and Rainbow Lake operating in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as interests in various natural gas processing facilities. The offshore segment engages in the exploration and development activities. The Canadian Manufacturing segment includes the owned and operated Lloydminster upgrading and asphalt refining complex, which upgrades heavy oil and bitumen into synthetic crude oil, diesel fuel, asphalt, and other ancillary products, as well as owns and operates the Bruderheim crude-by-rail terminal and two ethanol plants. The U.S. Manufacturing segment comprises the refining of crude oil to produce diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, asphalt, and other products. The Retail segment consists of marketing of its own and third-party refined petroleum products through retail, commercial, and bulk petroleum outlets, as well as wholesale channels. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The following companies are subsidiares of PepsiCo: Alimentos Quaker Oats y Compania Limitada, Alimentos del Istmo S.A., Amavale Agricola Ltda., Anderson Hill Insurance Limited, Asia Bottlers Limited, BAESA Capital Corporation Ltd., BFY Brands, BFY Brands LLC, BFY Brands Limited, BUG de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Balmoral Industries LLC, Bare Foods Co., Barrhead LLC, Be & Cheery, Beaman Bottling Company, Bebidas Sudamerica S.A., Beech Limited, Bell Taco Funding Syndicate, Bendler Investments II Ltd, Bendler Investments S.a r.l, Beverage Services Limited, Beverages Foods & Service Industries Inc., Bishkeksut OJSC, Blaue NC S. de R.L. de C.V., Blue Cloud Distribution Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arizona Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arkansas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Colorado Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Florida Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Georgia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Illinois Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Indiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Iowa Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Kentucky Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Louisiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Minnesota Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Mississippi Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Missouri Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nebraska Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nevada Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of North Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Ohio Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Oklahoma Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Pennsylvania Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of South Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Tennessee Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Texas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Virginia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Wisconsin Inc., Blue Ridge Sales LLC, Bluebird Foods Limited, Bluecan Holdings Unlimited Company, Bokomo Zambia Limited, Bolsherechensky Molkombinat JSC, Boquitas Fiestas LLC, Boquitas Fiestas S.R.L., Bottling Group Financing LLC, Bottling Group Holdings LLC, Bottling Group LLC, Bronte Industries Ltd, C & I Leasing Inc., CB Manufacturing Company Inc., CEME Holdings LLC, CMC Investment Company, Caroni Investments LLC, Centro-Mediterranea de Bebidas Carbonicas PepsiCo S.L., Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, ChampBev Inc., China Concentrate Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Chipsy International for Food Industries S.A.E., Chipsy for Food Industries S.A.E., Chitos Internacional y Cia Ltda, Cipa Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cipa Nordeste Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cocina Autentica Inc., Comercializadora CMC Investment y Compania Limitada, Comercializadora Nacional SAS Ltda., Comercializadora PepsiCo Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Compania de Bebidas PepsiCo S.L., Concentrate Holding Uruguay Pte. Ltd., Concentrate Manufacturing Singapore Pte. Ltd., Confiteria Alegro S. de R.L. de C.V., Copella Fruit Juices Limited, Copper Beech International LLC, Corina Snacks Limited, Corporativo Internacional Mexicano S. de R.L. de C.V., CytoSport Holdings Inc., CytoSport Inc., Davlyn Realty Corporation, Defosto Holdings Limited, Desarrollo Inmobiliario Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Dilexis S.A., Donon Holdings Limited, Drinkfinity USA Inc., Drinkstation Inc., Drinkstation Innovation Co. Ltd., Drinkstation Limited, Dutch Snacks Holding S.A. de C.V., Duyvis Production B.V., EPIC Enterprises Inc., Echo Bay Holdings Inc., Elaboradora Argentina de Cereales S.R.L., Enter Logistica LLC, Environ at Inverrary Partnership, Environ of Inverrary Inc., Eridanus Investments S.a r.l, Evercrisp Snack Productos de Chile S.A., FL Transportation Inc., FLI Andean LLC, FLI Colombia LLC, FLI Snacks Andean GP LLC, Fabrica PepsiCo Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Fabrica de Productos Alimenticios Rene y Cia S.C.A., Fairlight International SRL, Far East Bottlers Hong Kong Limited, Food Concepts Pioneer Ltd., Forest Akers Nederland B.V., Forty-Six Peaks Holding Inc., Fovarosi Asvanyviz es Uditoipari Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Freshwater International B.V., Frito Lay Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Frito Lay Poland Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay de Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Frito-Lay Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Frito-Lay Dip Company Inc., Frito-Lay Dominicana S.A., Frito-Lay Global Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Inc., Frito-Lay Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Manufacturing LLC, Frito-Lay Netherlands Holding B.V., Frito-Lay North America Inc., Frito-Lay Sales Inc., Frito-Lay Trading Company Europe GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company Poland GmbH, Frito-Lay Trinidad Unlimited, Fruko Mesrubat Sanayi Limited Sirketi, GB Czech LLC, GB International Inc., GB Russia LLC, GB Slovak LLC, GMP Manufacturing Inc., Gambrinus Investments Limited, Gamesa LLC, Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Gas Natural de Merida S. A. de C. V., Gatorade Puerto Rico Company, General Bottlers of Hungary Inc., Golden Grain Company, Goveh S.R.L., Grayhawk Leasing LLC, Green Hemlock International LLC, Grupo Frito Lay y Compania Limitada, Grupo Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Mabel, Grupo Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gulkevichskiy Maslozavod JSC, Hangzhou Baicaowei Corporate Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co, Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Tao Dao Technology Co. Ltd., Health Warrior, Health Warrior Inc., Heathland LP, Helioscope Limited, Hillbrook Inc., Hillgrove Inc., Hillwood Bottling LLC, Hogganfield Limited Partnership, Holding Company "Opolie" JSC, Homefinding Company of Texas, Hudson Valley Insurance Company, IC Equities Inc., IZZE Beverage Co., Inmobiliaria Interamericana S.A. De C.V., Integrated Beverage Services Bangladesh Limited, Integrated Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd., International Bottlers Management Co. LLC, International KAS Aktiengesellschaft, Inversiones Borneo S.R.L., Inversiones PFI Chile Limitada, Inviting Foods Holdings Inc., Inviting Foods LLC, KAS Anorthosis S.a r.l, KAS S.L., KFC, Kevita Inc., Kinvara LLC, Kungursky Molkombinat JSC, Larragana S.L., Latin American Holdings Ltd., Latin American Snack Foods ApS, Latin Foods International LLC, Lebedyansky, Lebedyansky Holdings LLC, Lebedyansky LLC, Limited Liability Company "Sandora", Linkbay Limited, Lithuanian Snacks UAB, Mabel, Marbo Product d.o.o. Beograd, Marbo d.o.o. Laktasi, Matudis - Comercio de Produtos Alimentares Limitada, Matutano - Sociedade de Produtos Alimentares Lda., Mid-America Improvement Corporation, Mountainview Insurance Company Inc., Muscle Milk, NCJV LLC, New Bern Transport Corporation, New Century Beverage Company LLC, Noble Leasing LLC, Northeast Hot-Fill Co-op Inc., Office at Solyanka LLC, Onbiso Inversiones S.L., One World Enterprises LLC, One World Investors Inc., P-A Barbados Bottling Company LLC, P-A Bottlers Barbados SRL, P-Americas LLC, PAS Luxembourg S.a r.l, PAS Netherlands B.V., PBG Canada Holdings II LLC, PBG Canada Holdings Inc., PBG Cyprus Holdings Limited, PBG Investment Partnership, PBG Midwest Holdings S.a r.l, PBG Soda Can Holdings S.a r.l, PCBL LLC, PCNA Manufacturing Inc., PR Beverages Cyprus Holding Limited, PR Beverages Cyprus Russia Holding Limited, PRB Luxembourg S.a r.l, PRS Inc., PSAS Inversiones LLC, PSE Logistica S.R.L., PT Quaker Indonesia, Papas Chips S.A., Pei N.V., Pep Trade LLC, Pepsi B.V., Pepsi Beverages Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group Global Finance LLC, Pepsi Bottling Group GmbH, Pepsi Bottling Group Hoosiers B.V., Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bugshan Investments S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Colombia Ltda, Pepsi Cola Egypt S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Panamericana S.R.L., Pepsi Cola Servis Ve Dagitim Limited Sirketi, Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland, Pepsi Logistics Company Inc., Pepsi Northwest Beverages LLC, Pepsi Overseas Investments Partnership, Pepsi Promotions Inc., Pepsi-Cola Advertising and Marketing Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bermuda Limited, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Holding C.V., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company Of St. Louis Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach LLC, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Pepsi-Cola Far East Trade Development Co. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Finance LLC, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland Sp. z o.o., Pepsi-Cola Industrial da Amazonia Ltda., Pepsi-Cola International Cork, Pepsi-Cola International LLC, Pepsi-Cola International Limited, Pepsi-Cola International Limited U.S.A., Pepsi-Cola International Private Limited, Pepsi-Cola Korea Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Management and Administrative Services Inc., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Company Of Uruguay S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing International Limited, Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Mediterranean Limited, Pepsi-Cola Marketing Corp. Of P.R. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mediterranean Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mexicana Holdings LLC, Pepsi-Cola Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Pepsi-Cola National Marketing LLC, Pepsi-Cola Operating Company Of Chesapeake And Indianapolis, Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution Inc., Pepsi-Cola Technical Operations Inc., Pepsi-Cola Thai Trading Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola de Honduras S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola of Corvallis Inc., PepsiAmericas Nemzetkozi Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, PepsiCo ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Alimentos Antioquia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Colombia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Ecuador Cia. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Z.F. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos de Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Amacoco Bebidas Do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCo Asia Research & Development Center Company Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Cyprus Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Limited Partnership, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 1 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 2 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Australia Holdings Pty Limited, PepsiCo Australia International, PepsiCo Austria Services GmbH, PepsiCo Azerbaijan Limited Liability Company, PepsiCo BeLux BV, PepsiCo Beverage Sales LLC, PepsiCo Beverage Singapore Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Beverages Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Beverages International Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Italia Societa' A Responsabilita' Limitata, PepsiCo Canada Finance LLC, PepsiCo Canada Holdings ULC, PepsiCo Canada Investment ULC, PepsiCo Canada ULC, PepsiCo Captive Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Caribbean Inc., PepsiCo China Limited, PepsiCo Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo De Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Del Paraguay S.R.L., PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH, PepsiCo Eesti AS, PepsiCo Euro Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Euro Finance Antilles B.V., PepsiCo Europe Support Center S.L., PepsiCo Finance Americas Company, PepsiCo Finance Antilles A N.V., PepsiCo Finance Antilles B N.V., PepsiCo Finance South Africa Proprietary Limited, PepsiCo Financial Shared Services Inc., PepsiCo Food & Beverage Holdings Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Foods A.I.E., PepsiCo Foods China Company Limited, PepsiCo Foods Group Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Foods Guangdong Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Nigeria Limited, PepsiCo Foods Private Limited, PepsiCo Foods Sichuan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Taiwan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company, PepsiCo France SAS, PepsiCo Global Business Services India LLP, PepsiCo Global Business Services Poland Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Global Holdings Limited, PepsiCo Global Investments B.V., PepsiCo Global Investments S.a r.l, PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC, PepsiCo Global Real Estate Inc., PepsiCo Global Trading Solutions Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Golden Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Group Finance International B.V., PepsiCo Group Holdings International B.V., PepsiCo Group Spotswood Holdings S.a r.l, PepsiCo Gulf International FZE, PepsiCo Hellas Single Member Industrial and Commercial Societe Anonyme, PepsiCo Holding de Espana S.L., PepsiCo Holdings, PepsiCo Holdings LLC, PepsiCo Holdings Toshkent LLC, PepsiCo Hong Kong LLC, PepsiCo Iberia Servicios Centrales S.L., PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited, PepsiCo India Sales Private Limited, PepsiCo Internacional Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., PepsiCo International Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo International Limited, PepsiCo International Pte Ltd., PepsiCo Investments Europe I B.V., PepsiCo Investments Ltd., PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Japan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Light B.V., PepsiCo Logistyka Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Malaysia Sdn. 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Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
This site focuses on Republican politicians and conservatives that rip off their constituency. We have the Tea Party, fundamentalist churches, the corruption of ALEC and other special interests groups. But the site also supports progressive Democrats and the local Democratic Socialist of America. We must have ideas on how to replace regressive and corrupt politicians with something better. For comments steveotto2001@yahoo.com or ottozero2001@yahoo.com.
Trade ministers in Asia-Pacific have given the green light to most terms of a free trade pact meant to smooth the flow of goods and commerce in the region after extensive negotiations in Vietnam this week.

A joint statement on the trade pact, now with a new name, was issued on Saturday and had been leaked to Tuoi Tre News by the Chilean delegation.

"We ministers are happy to announce that we have agreed on the core elements of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership [CPTPP]," Tran Tuan Anh, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade, said in a press conference on Saturday morning.

"Some terms of the deal prepared by Japan will be suspended because there are some areas that need to be perfected for the final document signing."

Toshimitsu Motegi, Japanese Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization, addedat at the press conference that 20 provisions of the original deal had been put on hold, pending further discussions before any final approval by lawmakers in each country.

The consensus on the deal will help spur commerce and economic integration in the region, the Vietnamese minister said.

He added that the new accord maintains the high standards as well as quality terms and conditions of the erstwhile Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, while ensuring interests for each party.

The CPTPP is a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership accord that once included the U.S., alongside Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

In January, the U.S. pulled out of the trade pact, forcing the remaining 11 members to renegotiate parts of the deal with a new name, TPP-11.

Motegi said that the 11 CPTPP members were determined to reach a consensus on the trade pact so as to get the U.S. back to the deal.

Japan is understood to be the leader of the pact after Washington's withdrawal.

All sides are translating the pact into French and Spanish, while checking other legal issues, Motegi said at the conference he chaired with Minister Anh.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh is pictured at a TPP negotiation in Da Nang, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Trade ministers from the countries had discussed the free trade accord from November 8 to 10 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Da Nang in the hope that the deal would smooth the flow of goods and commerce in the member economies that accounted for 40 percent of global GDP when Washington was onboard.

Negotiations on the TPP-11 were put on hold on Friday after Canada was believed to have pulled out of the free trade pact unexpectedly.

But all ministers then agreed to return to the table, leading to their consensus on the free trade pact.

Established in 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum comprised of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that work to promote free trade in the region.

Every year, its leaders meet in one of the member economies to discuss visions for the year ahead.

Vietnams central city of Da Nang takes over the baton this year to host the summit, which is the culmination of the countrys year-long hosting of APEC meetings.

The CPTPP joint statement was achieved and signed by participating ministers after a tense meeting that continued well into Friday night in Da Nang, where the APEC Economic Leaders' Week takes place from November 6 to 11, a Chilean source disclosed.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (L) chairs a press conference with Toshimitsu Motegi, Japanese Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization, to announce Asia-Pacific trade ministers' consensus on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in Da Nang, Vietnam, November 11, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Below is the full text of the joint statement:

1. When we last met in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on 21 May 2017, the Ministers of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Viet Nam, reaffirmed the balanced outcome and the strategic and economic significance of the TPP Agreement signed in Auckland on 4 February 2016 (hereinafter referred to as "the TPP") highlighting its principles and high standards as a way to promote regional economic integration and contribute to the economic growth prospects of its member countries, and create new opportunities for workers, families, farmers, businesses and consumers.

2. In May, Ministers tasked officials to engage in a process of assessing options to bring the comprehensive, high quality Agreement into force expeditiously. Over the past several months, officials have worked to reach a balanced outcome that maintains the significant benefits of the TPP.

3. Ministers are pleased to announce that they have agreed on the core elements of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Ministers agreed to Annex I and II (attached) which incorporates provisions of the TPP, with the exception of a limited set of provisions which will be suspended. This text also incorporates a list of four specific items for which substantial progress was made but consensus must be achieved prior to signing.

4. Ministers agree that the CPTPP maintains the high standards, overall balance, and integrity of the TPP while ensuring the commercial and other interests of all participants and preserving our inherent right to regulate, including the flexibility of the Parties to set legislative and regulatory priorities. Ministers also affirm the right of each Party to preserve, develop, and implement its cultural policies. Ministers consider that the CPTPP reflect the desire of the Parties to implement the TPP outcomes among themselves.

5. Ministers confirm that the legal instrument proposed for the CPTPP allows the participants to act decisively in a timely manner to advance their shared objectives. Ministers reaffirm that the CPTPP demonstrates their firm commitment to open markets, to combat protectionism, and to advance regional economic integration.

6. Noting Article 6 of the CPTPP, Ministers shared the view that the scope of a review may extend to proposals to amend the CPTPP, to reflect the circumstances concerning the status of the TPP.

7. Furthermore, Ministers decided that all the TPP side letters signed among the 11 countries will be maintained in principle, unless the relevant Parties decide otherwise.

8.Ministers tasked officials to continue their technical work, including continuing their efforts toward finalising those items for which consensus has not yet been achieved, and legal verification of the English text and translation, to prepare finalised text for signature.

9. Ministers recognize that each country will need to pursue its own domestic processes, including for public consultation, in advance of signature.

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A Vietnamese entrepreneur has inspired Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, by her vision to empower women with a startup company that offers city tours led by female bikers.

Nguyen Thi Huong Liens name was brought up by Sandberg as the executive addressed a crowd of thousands of world business leaders and diplomats at the APEC CEO Summit in Da Nang on Friday.

Lien was the founder of the I Love Hue tour, which operates motorbike tours that introduce visitors to the Vietnamese lifestyle in and around Hue City in the central region.

Guests ride on the back of motorbikes, expertly (and safely) driven by the Hue Lady Riders, an introduction on the companys official site reads, highlighting its focus on women.

Nguyen Thi Huong Lien (R) is pictured guiding a tourist during one of her companys motorbike tours in Hue City, central Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Sandberg had met with Lien the day before, where the Facebook executive listened to the young entrepreneurs business ideas as well as her expectations for improvements to gender equality in Vietnam and worldwide.

At Fridays summit, Sandberg told the audience about Liens startup story to demonstrate her point that when women decide to run a business, they are able to achieve big things.

In 2014, Lien founded her travel startup in Hue City at the age of 20 with only US$100 in her pocket.

I like to meet people to learn and share experiences. I dream to be a young leader and to take ownership of my life, she writes in her self-introduction posted on the companys site.

The dream had led Lien to hire mostly women, and until how she has employed as many as 75 female bikers who have become the soul of the company.

In June, Liens travel startup was honored with the WISE Womens Leadership Awards, which offered mentoring through Vietnams Womens Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship (WISE) to help launch the company on a larger scale.

According to the young business leader, a team from Facebook had got in touch with her in Hue a few months back to film a document about her startup.

Nguyen Thi Huong Lien (second left) takes a group photo with tourists in Hue City, central Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The clip was later viewed by Sandberg, who said she was immediately inspired by Lien and wanted to meet her in person for further discussions.

On Thursday, Lien was invited to Da Nang for a private meeting with the Facebook COO together with four other Vietnamese entrepreneurs.

Sheryl Sandberg thought my startup was a good business model, Lien said. She told me that if the goal of my tour was to help people, especially women, travel safely then it would deserve to be duplicated in other parts of Vietnam as well as in other countries.

The female founder said she had even received a personal email from Sandberg, in which the Facebook executive gave words of encouragement to Lien to keep her passion burning.

Sandberg also presented Lien with a signed copy of her book Lean In.

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Bruneis Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah carried out a signing formality to open an English language center in Vietnam on Friday, when he visited the country for a business forum.

The UBD-FPT Global Center was officially inaugurated in Da Nang City, the largest metropolitan hub in central Vietnam.

Located on the campus of the FPT University in Da Nang, the English language center is established under the collaboration between the Vietnamese FPT University and the University of Brunei Darussalam.

The center's opening ceremony was attended by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who was visiting Da Nang for the APEC 2017 business meeting.

Huynh Duc Tho, chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee, considered this newly founded language institution a milestone marking a close relation between Vietnam and Brunei, and Da Nang is proud to contribute to it.

The chairman also stated that Da Nang always welcomes international investors including those belonging to the ASEAN bloc and the 21 APEC member economies.

Da Nang is now an important social, cultural, and economic center in not only central Vietnam but the whole country.

Therefore, the city is in need of a new generation of skilled workers who are fluent in foreign languages, especially English.

The UBD-FPT Global Center is expected to provide excellent English training to people in the city, helping make more Vietnamese in Da Nang master the English language.

City officials have also promised to provide the best possible support to Bruneian instructors who come to Da Nang for teaching and to facilitate any other investments in the future.

According to the current contract, the University of Brunei Darussalam will send 13 language instructors to Da Nang who are in charge of developing the curricula and teaching methods while the Vietnamese FPT University will provide teaching facilities and be responsible for admission and enrollment.

According to the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Asia Rankings, the University of Brunei Darussalam places 105th among Asia's top 200 universities.

This year, the Brunei university ranks 37th globally in the QS ranking for universities founded less than 50 years ago.

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Ministers from the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies have issued a joint statement following the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Da Nang on Wednesday.

The meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh, and Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

The Joint Ministerial Statement sets out a goal to sustain the momentum of regional cooperation and reinforce the profile of APEC as a driver of economic growth and integration in the Asia-Pacific.

Such a goal is achieved through collaborative actions to be implemented by APEC economies over the next year, including deepening regional economic integration, promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth, strengthening micro, small and medium enterprises competitiveness and innovation, as well as enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.

We welcome the discussion at the Multi-Stakeholders Dialogue on APEC Toward 2020 and Beyond and welcome the endorsement of the initiative on APEC Toward 2020 and Beyond, including the establishment of an APEC Vision Group, the statement read.

The ministers also look forward to Papua New Guinea's hosting of APEC 2018.

The conclusion of the APEC Ministerial Meeting sets the stage for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting on Saturday in Da Nang.

Established in 1989, APEC is a regional economic forum comprised of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that work to promote free trade in the region.

Every year, its leaders meet in one of the member economies to discuss visions for the year ahead.

Vietnams central city of Da Nang takes over the baton this year to host the summit, which is a culmination of the countrys year-long hosting of APEC meetings.

Click here to view the full text of the 2017 APEC Joint Ministerial Statement and Annexes.

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Sex imbalance at birth has aggravated in Vietnam, with 4.3 million men expected to be in surplus in mid-21st century, deputies warned at a National Assembly discussion session on Thursday morning.

Deputy Le Thi Yen, representing the northern province of Phu Tho and member of the National Assembly (NA) Committee for Social Affairs, reported the outcomes of a program meant to improve gender imbalance during the session.

Our country is facing yawning gender imbalance. The ratio of male/female newborns in Vietnam is forecast to be 113/100 in 2017, while it was 109/100 in 2006, she said.

Between 2.3 and 4.3 million male adults were predicted to become unwanted by mid-21st century, Yen warned.

The shortage of women in society is likely to lead to undesirable impacts including purchase of foreign bribes, rape and violence as experienced by such countries as China and India.

Yen put the sex discrepancy down to a strong cultural preference for sons rooted in a Confucian-affected male-oriented kinship system in Vietnam.

The rate worsened amidst the rising trend of married couples having fewer children and a readily accessible practice of sex selection thanks to medical strides.

We need to act now. Propaganda on the role of women and measures to solidify their role should be improved, while harsh penalties are to be slapped on sex selection cases, the Phu Tho delegate urged.

Meanwhile, Truong Minh Hoang, a delegate from the southernmost province of Ca Mau, pointed to the uneven ratio of female political leaders versus their male counterparts.

Weve set targets of improving the proportion at all levels. However, only one minister in the government is female and only 16 cities and provinces have appointed women to key roles to date, he said.

The inadequate ratio of female leadership posts has revealed shortcomings in personnel planning, Hoang urged.

Children are pictured frolicking in a park in this file photo by Tuoi Tre.

Deputy Phan Van Tuong, from the northern province of Thai Nguyen, called for closer analysis and measures to boost womens engagement as NA and Peoples Council deputies.

Ngan Phuong Loan, a deputy from the northern province of Lang Son, turned to another pressing issue.

A large number of women, particularly those in rural areas, have to work overseas away from home. Illegal immigrants face risks of violence, labor exploitation, arrest and penalty by agencies in their adopted land, she elaborated.

Retirement ages for men and women should be the same, instead of a five-year difference as currently stipulated in the Labor Code. Women stand fewer chances of promotion over earlier retirement than their male counterparts, deputy Chau Quynh Dao from the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang proposed.

Luu Binh Nhuong, a deputy from the southern province of Ben Tre, elaborated that though womens earlier retirement was meant to allow them a more fulfilling old age, the rule has deterred many from further contributing.

I suggest the revised Labor Code stipulate the same retirement age for both men and women, but women can choose to stop working early, he urged.

Head of the Vietnam Women's Union Nguyen Thi Thu Ha acknowledged deeply ingrained gender prejudice in families and society has posed a sizeable hurdle to the cause of gender equality.

She stressed the vital role played by those tasked with improving gender equality, as well as revision and addition of policies and rules on gender fairness.

Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung promised to conduct further study and propose amendments to the central government and National Assembly.

The government is set on further executing policies aimed at better gender equality and women development, Minister Dung stressed.

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Politics

-- Vietnamese missile defense ship Ly Thai To carrying over 140 crewmen has departed from Cam Ranh Port in south-central Khanh Hoa Province en route to Thailand for an official military exchange between the two countries naval forces.

Society

-- Typhoon Damrey, which wreaked havoc on south-central Vietnam last week, has caused damages estimated to amount to VND2.6 trillion (US$114.54 million), including the destruction of 24,000 fish farming cages and over 1,000 fishing vessels along the coast of Khanh Hoa Province.

-- Central Vietnams Hue City has imposed a ban on vessels traveling on its iconic Perfume River starting 1:00 pm today, as local reservoirs are expected to increase their water discharge to brace for the upcoming Typhoon Haikui.

-- The administration of Japans Nagasaki Prefecture has presented Hoi An City in central Vietnam with a model of a 17th-century commercial boat in commemoration of Princess Cong Nu Ngoc Hoa, who was the first Vietnamese princess to be married to a Japanese national.

Business

-- The fate of the 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11) trade agreement is expected to be officially announced on Saturday in central Vietnams Da Nang City, where leaders of the deals member economies are gathering for the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

-- Twenty-one APEC leaders will sit down on Saturday in Da Nang for the leaders summit of the economic forum, after having enjoyed a state dinner on Friday evening where Vietnamese State President Tran Dai Quang welcomed them as brothers and sisters.

Education

-- Vietnam plans to put aside VND12 trillion ($528.63 million) by 2025 to train 7,500 university professors to acquire a PhD and attract 1,500 more PhD holders to work in the education sector, according to a goal set out by the Ministry of Education and Training.
Vietnamese State President Tran Dai Quang has referred to fellow leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc as brothers and sisters as he delivered his welcome address at a gala dinner ahead of the forums summit in the central city of Da Nang.

On Friday evening, President Quang and First Lady Nguyen Thi Hien played hosts to the official reception of the APEC leaders who had gathered in Da Nang to attend the annual leaders summit the following day.

Established in 1989, the APEC grouping is a regional economic forum comprised of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that work to promote free trade in the region.

The leaders, adorned with navy-blue and ivory shirts made from top-quality Vietnamese hand-woven silk, upheld a long APEC tradition to pose for a group photo in the traditional costume of the host country, before entering the main venue at Sheraton Danang Resort for the gala dinner.

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha during the gala dinner to receive leaders of 21 APEC member economies in Da Nang, Vietnam, November 10, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnamese bamboo

In Vietnam, we have a saying that goes like this: though we may live across four oceans, we are all brothers and sisters sharing the same roof, the president said, reiterating the message of harmony. By sharing the Pacific Rim, we have for decades now enjoyed the sweet fruits of peace, cooperation and development.

Once a battlefield, the Asia-Pacific region is now the cradle of economic miracles, he added, stressing that such success had been founded on the strong belief in the power of cooperation and dialog.

Your presence here is a vivid example of such confidence, the president continued. The Pacific Ocean may be vast, but its vastness does not diminish our will or commitment to cooperate for a better future across the entire region.

President Quang reminded fellow leaders how APEC has grown over its 30-year history into a premier regional economic forum and an incubator for ideas and initiatives on growth, integration, trade and investment liberalization.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching smile and wave at other leaders during the gala dinner to receive leaders of 21 APEC member economies in Da Nang, Vietnam, November 10, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

We gather here today as the regional and global economic outlook is seeing better prospects, he said, recounting how the world has recovered from the 2008-2009 economic crisis, and how growth in Asia-Pacific has been nearly twice as fast as the global average.

The vitality and resilience of the regional economy brings to mind the qualities of Vietnamese bamboo: supple but firm and strong even in the face of the most ferocious storms and violent winds, the president said. This compels us to take bolder action to realize the Bogor Goals and define APECs strategic direction for the future.

In 1994, APEC members convening in the Indonesian city of Bogor set the goal of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, better known as the Bogor Goals, according to which developed members have until 2010 and developing members, including Vietnam, until 2020 to achieve free trade and investment.

Vietnam-style dinner

The gala dinners menu was put together to treat APEC leaders to a feast of Vietnams finest cuisine, including courses that showcased a variety of Vietnamese seafood and dishes only served to Vietnamese kings in the past.

The menu of Vietnams gala dinner to receive leaders of 21 APEC member economies in Da Nang, Vietnam, November 10, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The leaders had dinner while enjoying art performances prepared by the host country, and beholding the beauty of Vietnam through promotional videos that appeared on a big screen.

The food was served in top-quality Vietnamese porcelain decorated with Golden Lotus patterns, a symbol of royalty, designed exclusively for the event.

An arts performance performed during the gala dinner to receive leaders of 21 APEC member economies in Da Nang, November 10, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian security forces in the eastern province of Papua are preparing to storm five villages that they say are being held by an armed rebel group, police officials said on Saturday.

Around 200 police and military personnel have been deployed and are awaiting orders to secure the area, where an armed separatist group linked to the Free Papua Movement (OPM) is preventing about 1,000 people from leaving an area near a giant copper mine, operated by the American miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. [nL3N1NG46N]

"Today the joint police and military forces have occupied various posts to be able to take action," said Papua police spokesman, Suryadi Diaz.

"They will be taken dead or alive," he said of the around 100 rebels that police say have tortured and abused the villagers since taking over the area several days ago.

A state of emergency has been declared in the area and at least 300 additional security forces have been deployed to the area of the province after a string of shootings since Aug. 17 that killed one police officer and wounded six.

The rebel group, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), on Friday denied occupying villages near the mine, but said it was "at war" with the police, military, and Freeport.

Papua has had a long-running and sometimes violent separatist movement since it was incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticized U.N.-backed referendum in 1969.

President Joko Widodo has sought to ease tension in the two provinces by stepping up investment, freeing political prisoners and addressing human rights concerns. This is the first escalation of violence during his term.

Freeport's Grasberg mine has been dogged by security concerns for decades due to a low-level conflict waged by pro-independence rebels in Papua. Between 2009 and 2015, shootings within the mine project area killed 20 people and wounded 59.

More recently, Freeport, the world's largest publicly listed copper producer, has been grappling with labor problems at Grasberg and a dispute with the Indonesian government over rights to the mine.[nL2N1N00LD]

Story continues

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Ros Russell)

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(Adds background, detail)

OSLO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, on Friday called for more transparency in global foreign exchange markets to cut the cost of transactions and make them more efficient.

Changes to the structure of currency trading should seek a more level playing field for clients in order to cut excess profits for dealers and ensure a better balance of risk, it argued in a policy paper.

"We believe that transparency and verifiability are key to mitigating the impact of informational advantages, without negatively affecting the liquidity of this important market," the fund said.

Three elements of currency trading warranted particular attention and should be reformed, the fund said, stopping short of calling for their removal.

The 'Last Look' function, allowing spot dealers to potentially renege on an earlier price quote, is biased and should be compensated for with tighter spreads and deeper liquidity, it said.

The second element, algorithmic execution strategies, are generally better at protecting the dealer than the client, and better risk controls and transparency should potentially lead to the introduction of third-party algorithms, it said.

The third proposal seeks to remove a "disconnect" between dealer quotes and prices in the interdealer market, which makes it hard for clients to know if they get the best possible transaction. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by John Stonestreet)

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A Fijian craftswoman works at a pavilion during the COP23 UN Climate Change Conference 2017, hosted by Fiji but held in Bonn, Germany November 9, 2017. Picture taken November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Alister Doyle

Thomson Reuters

By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle

BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Fiji has turned a tiny part of Germany into a tropical Pacific island as it leads global negotiations on climate change, securing a stage for islanders' worries about rising sea levels.

The first small island state to preside at U.N. climate negotiations since they began in the 1990s, Fiji has enlivened a conference center with canoes, dancers, huge photographs of palm-fringed islands, virtual reality shows and flowers.

Some delegates at the 200-nation, Nov. 6-17 meeting dub the riverside venue "Fiji-on-the-Rhine", a contrast to the grey November skies outside in Bonn, Germany. Fiji says "we are all in the same canoe" in confronting climate change.

Small island states have often felt overlooked by big powers even though they are on the frontlines of a rise in sea levels that is causing more storm surges, washes salt onto cropland and could swamp some low-lying coral islands.

Fiji's chief negotiator Nazhat Shameem Khan told Reuters others should not underestimate small states.

"If you think you're too small to make an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito," she said, attributing the quote to Anita Roddick, the founder of the cosmetics firm The Body Shop.

Average sea levels have risen 26 cm (10 inches) since the late 19th century, driven partly by melting ice, according to the U.N. weather agency, and could rise by up to a meter this century as temperatures rise.

At the indoor Fijian pavilion in Bonn, delegates can also sample virtual reality glasses with 360 degree views showing young people re-building homes devastated by mudslides.

"We wanted to think 'how do we bring Fiji to Germany?'" co-director Kvaku Aning said. "Short of being able to smell it, or feel the rain or the sun on you, this is the best thing."

Many delegates say the Fijian approach makes an often abstract debate about greenhouse gas emissions more real. "It delivers a really stark message," said Elina Bardram, head of the European Commission delegation.

Story continues

The negotiations in Bonn, to write a rule book for the 2015 Paris climate agreement, have been overshadowed by what to do after President Donald Trump decided in June to withdraw the United States from the pact, instead preferring to promote coal and oil.

Khan said Fiji wanted to embed the hard-to-translate Fijian concept of 'Bula' into the negotiations. "It's friendship, it's inclusiveness, it's happiness ... We're seeing a lot of the 'Bula' spirit here."

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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By Alison Bevege and Colin Packham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea will delay by at least 24 hours a plan to forcibly evict hundreds of men from an abandoned Australian detention centre, three asylum seekers said on Saturday.

Hundreds of men have barricaded themselves into the Manus island centre for more than 11 days without regular food or water, defying closure bids by Australia and Papua New Guinea in what the United Nations calls a "looming humanitarian crisis".

Rejecting United Nations calls to restore utilities to the camp, Papua New Guinea this week said it would "apprehend" those responsible for the stand-off when it forcibly evicted the men on Saturday.

But several asylum seekers said Papua New Guinea officials told them detainees could remain until Sunday.

"Police are talking on a microphone outside prison," Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish journalist from Iran, who has spent more than four years detained in the camp, told Reuters.

"They're telling the refugees to leave, saying tomorrow will be the last day you are here," he said in a text message.

It was not immediately clear what caused the postponement.

Pressure on the asylum seekers, drawn largely from Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Syria, has grown in recent days as Papua New Guinea tries to get them to move to three transit centres.

The asylum seekers fear reprisals if they move to the transit centres, pending possible resettlement in the United States. The main camp was closed on Oct. 31 and water and power have been cut off.

Some island-dwellers are angry at what they perceive as preferential treatment for the asylum seekers, many of them well educated, in a poor, rural society, and some detainees have come under attack when on release from the camp.

The patience of Papua New Guinea authorities has begun to wane, however, and they moved this week to remove camp fences and dismantle rainwater collection bins and makeshift shelters built to ward off the tropical sun and rain.

Story continues

Under pressure, groups of men have elected to move to the transit centres. But the exact number left is difficult to ascertain, though Manus Island police commander David Yapu told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about 400 remain.

Several of those remaining told Reuters they would not move, setting the scene for a potential clash, which would further stoke international criticism of Australia.

Australia has used the centre, and a camp on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru, to detain asylum seekers who try to reach its shores by boat. It says boat arrivals will never enter Australia, even if found to be refugees, as this would encourage people smugglers in Asia.

Australia says the policy prevents people drowning at sea, but it has been widely condemned.

Acting Prime Minister Julie Bishop said there was no reason for the remaining men to choose to stay, rejecting criticism of inadequate facilities at the transit centres.

"Over the last few months they have travelled to East Lorengau on many occasions and never raised any concerns," Bishop told reporters in Perth.

(Reporting by Alison Bevege; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Separatists from Cameroon's Anglophone region have killed four security forces in several attacks over the past few days, the government said on Saturday, an unprecedented violent turn to a movement that risks morphing into a full blown insurgency.

A government crackdown on the separatists has killed dozens of people since October and driven many into the arms of a once-fringe separatist movement ahead of presidential elections in 2018.

It followed on from demonstrations a year ago by English-speakers in the western region bordering Nigeria against what they see as a marginalisation by the mostly French-speaking government of President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 35 years. Only a minority want to secede, however.

The secessionists have been around for decades, but operated underground and had been largely non-violent until a few weeks ago.

A spokesman for the separatists acknowledged the latest attacks but disputed details of the government account, and said five security forces had been killed.

In Saturday's statement, Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma gave more details of the killing of two gendarmes reported on Tuesday and Wednesday, and said two further attacks on Thursday night had killed two soldiers.

Referring to attacks earlier in the week, Tchiroma said assailants armed with machetes stormed a high school in the town of Jakiri on Tuesday. The separatists are disrupting schools that teach in French.

Gendarmes arrived on the scene to stop them, but one was killed in the resultant scuffle.

Tchiroma said he was "executed", but Cho Ayaba, a leading member of the political wing of the separatist movement who lives abroad told Reuters in Dakar by telephone that he was killed in a firefight.

Then on Wednesday, in the restive city of Bamenda, another attack left a gendarme dead, Tchiroma said. Ayaba reported two deaths of security forces in that attack.

On Thursday night, insurgents killed a soldier in Bamenda by slitting his throat, Tchiroma said, and another female soldier guarding a bridge.

Story continues

"As I speak, four members of the Defence and Security Forces on duty have been killed, murdered by terrorists on behalf of the secessionist movement," Tchiroma said.

Ayaba contradicted that, saying that all of the deaths had occurred in shootouts, and that no one had had their throat slit.

"That's absolute nonsense," he said. "There was no physical contact."

Cameroon's language divide is a legacy of World War One, when the League of Nations split the former German colony of Kamerun between allied French and British victors.

Hundreds of Anglophone Cameroonians were swept up in mass arrests following demonstrations on Oct. 1, and at least 5,000 have fled the crisis for neighbouring Nigeria.

The crackdown, which included cutting the Internet, locking up opponents and using helicopter gunships to fire on civilians, and a lack of any political solution is fast transforming a protest movement into an armed rebellion.

"Cameroon soldiers are enforcing an occupation," Ayaba said. "The only thing that will make us stop these attacks is if the regime withdraws ... if they stop using the military to impose political exclusion and systematic terror on our people."

(Writing and additional reporting by Tim Cocks in Dakar; editing by Clelia Oziel)
FILE PHOTO: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), speaks at a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo (Reuters)

KRAKOW, Poland (Reuters) - Demanding reparations from Germany for its actions in Poland during World War Two is a matter of honour for Warsaw, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Polish ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, said on Saturday.

The issue of reparations, revived by Poland's eurosceptic PiS after decades of improving relations with Germany, could escalate tensions between the two European Union members.

In September Polish parliamentary legal experts ruled that Warsaw has the right to demand reparations from Germany, although Poland's foreign minister indicated that no immediate claim would be made.

"The French were paid, Jews were paid, many other nations were paid for the losses they suffered during World War Two. Poles were not," Kaczynski said.

"It is not only about material funds. It is about our status, our honour ... And this is not theatre. This is our demand, a totally serious demand," added Kaczynski, Poland's de facto leader.

The PiS government, deeply distrustful of Germany, has raised calls for wartime compensation in recent months but Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has said further analysis was needed before any claims were lodged.

Six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews, were killed during the war, and the capital Warsaw was razed to the ground in 1944 after a failed uprising in which 200,000 civilians died.

(Reporting by Wojciech Zurawski and Pawel Florkiewicz; Writing by Agnieszka Barteczko; editing by Clelia Oziel)
Late on Friday, November 10, Islamic State-affiliated Amaq News posted a video claiming to show combat between the militant groups fighters and pro-Assad regime forces in al-Bukhamal, contradicting official Syrian claims of controlling the city.

The video is captioned in Arabic: The third day in a row government forces fail to enter the town of #Albukhamal.

The Syrian government said it took al-Bukhamal on Thursday of last week, as seen in this Russian state news report here, quoting a Syrian Army commander: On Thursday, the Syrian Army liberated the city of Abu Kamal, near the border with Iraq, destroying the last IS stronghold in Syria.

This propaganda video has been edited. Scenes include an Islamic State fighter firing from a technical with an identifiable al-Bukhamal landmark in the background; anti-tank missile strikes on a tank, a bulldozer, and armored car; a vacated city and fighters in action. Credit: Amaq News
The Russian revolutionary anarchist, Mikhail Bakunin, once warned: "Beware of small states".

He was referring to the disruptive power of small-state nationalism in 1870 in Europe; but he could very well have been predicting the role of Lebanon in the Middle East in the 20th and 21st Century.

The veteran journalist David Hirst aptly used those cautionary words for the title of his book about the country and its unfortunate, benighted role as the tip of the spear in the fight for primacy in the Middle East since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

With its sectarian patchwork, Lebanon may once again be the battleground where a regional standoff combusts.

It is not easy to read the runes of what is happening at the moment but it is certain that the confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia is moving in a new and dangerous direction.

:: Tillerson warns against 'proxy conflicts' in the Middle East

The two countries are divided by a religious schism that spans centuries, but the roots of the present conflict can be traced back to the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Saudi Arabia as the home of Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, suddenly had a challenger.

There has been a great deal of hostility in the intervening period, but what is happening now in the context of the proxy wars in Yemen, Syria and Iraq is profoundly worrying.

It seems a new front in Lebanon may be added to that list.

Iranian influence has grown massively since Saddam Hussein was toppled by the US in 2003.

The country has consolidated those gains expanding what is often referred to as the Shia crescent, upsetting the delicate Sunni/Shia balance of power.

A land corridor, for example, now connects Tehran with Beirut on the Mediterranean.

Now imagine the Middle East as an onion and start pulling away the layers and you get an idea of the complexity of what is happening.

In the United States you have a President who has effectively called for regime change in Iran - that's one layer.

Story continues

This is what he said in Saudi Arabia in May when he went there on his first foreign visit: "Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran, deny it funding for terrorism, and pray for the day when the Iranian people have a just and righteous government that they deserve."

Factor those words into what is now unfolding in Saudi Arabia.

A young Prince and heir apparent, Mohammed bin Salman - who has the total backing of the US President - is concentrating power in his own hands.

In the last week he has presided over a revolution, sweeping away rivals - who were thought untouchable - in an anti-corruption purge.

And at the same time MbS appears to be pursuing an even more aggressive foreign policy.

:: Saudi prince's palace purge is a real Game of Thrones

Underneath that layer there is a new strategic alignment emerging between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Where did Mr Trump fly to directly after Riyadh? You remembered right, Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won't have needed any persuading about the dangers of Iran - he's been warning the world about its intentions for years and considers it Israel's number one enemy.

Now, with these new partnerships in place, consider the messaging after the shock resignation of the Lebanese PM seven days ago.

It happened not in Beirut as you might expect but in Saudi Arabia.

When Saad Hariri suddenly popped up live on pro-Saudi Al Arabiya television and stepped down, blaming Iranian influence, Riyadh, Washington and Jerusalem all sang from the same song sheet.

In apparent concert they all claimed this was an incontestable example of the dangers of an unchecked Iranian aggression that needs to be confronted.

With Mr Hariri no longer in office the Lebanese government is now effectively under the control of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia Islamist political party and militant group. It is also designated a terror organisation by the West.

Saudi Arabia is highly unlikely to go to war in Lebanon. It has its hands tied in an unwinnable and seemingly endless conflict in Yemen.

But Israel is a different matter. The Israeli defence establishment and the political class have for many months expressed fears about what is happening on their northern border.

If they expected Hezbollah - and Iran - to get knocked out in Syria, where they have been fighting (successfully) to prop up the Assad regime, they were wrong.

Hezbollah is arguably stronger now than at any time in its history.

Israel has been preparing for another war with the group since the last round of fighting in 2006.

Do not underestimate how worried Jerusalem is about Hezbollah's growing arsenal of weapons.

It now has a huge number of rockets that can hit any city or town in the country.

The conventional wisdom was that Israel knows it will have to fight Hezbollah again at some point but that it does not want to do so now. That analysis maybe shifting.

On Friday Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, claimed that Saudi Arabia had asked Israel to attack Lebanon and that Mr Hariri had been kidnapped.

He offered no evidence but it adds to an extremely confusing picture.

But there is another layer to what is a disturbingly dangerous standoff.

Hezbollah and Iran are fighting alongside Russia in Syria and no-one knows how the "Great Bear" will react if Lebanon becomes once again the theatre for another bloody, cynical Middle Eastern war.

Beware small states indeed.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) authorities dismantled refugee shelters on November 10 in the recently shut down Manus Regional Processing Centre, as seen in this footage.

On November 9, a warning letter was issued by PNG immigration authorities to the refugees remaining behind. The letter, shared with Storyful, said the demolition of the compound would begin that day and that refugees must evacuate or risk being arrested. The letter said force may be used to remove refugees.

Two days later, Manus Islands police commander stated force would not be used, according to ABC.

The men remaining on Manus have built wells as they ran out of water after the closure. Power has also been cut.

Death or serious illness is inevitable in coming days. These men are sick, thirsty and hungry. The conditions are appalling and its obvious you wouldnt choose to stay here if you thought you could be safer elsewhere," said GetUp human rights co-director Shen Narayanasamy, who was smuggled into the camp after its closure to offer assistance. Credit: Manus Alert via Storyful
Shi'ite Muslim men beat themselves with their hands in mourning for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who was killed in a 7th century battle in Kerbala, in Kerbala, Iraq, September 24, 2017. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-deen

Thomson Reuters

KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Chanting and flailing themselves in mourning for Imam Hussein, hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims from around the world gathered in the Iraqi city of Kerbala on Friday for one of the most sacred rituals in their religious calendar.

Arbain marks the culmination of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who was killed in a 7th century battle in Kerbala.

Shi'ites believe his remains are entombed there. Exhausted pilgrims, including women carrying their children, marched long distances to reach the shrines. Many, arriving by air from Iran, Pakistan or Bahrain, had landed in Baghdad several days earlier.

Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) south of the capital, was cloaked in black because of the robes worn by pilgrims, and bedecked in a sea of flags.

Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, banned Shi'ite gatherings for religious events for decades.

Pilgrims have gathered in sacred Shi'ite cities including Kerbala and Najaf for religious duties since a U.S.-led invasion toppled him in 2003.

But those gatherings were marred by suicide bombings carried out by Sunni militants, notably from al Qaeda and Islamic State, who regard Iraq's majority Shi'ites as infidels.

Now that those groups have largely been defeated by U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces, Shi'ite pilgrims may have more peace of mind during this year's Arbain, though security remains tight across the country.

Groups of people build camps where they cook, share food with others, and display decorative objects. Banners featuring Imam Husseins words are put up on walls and buildings.

The ritual is a time for sorrow and self-reflection.

Mourning Shi'ites listen to recollections of how Hussein and his family were killed. The theme of martyrdom dominates, as pilgrims gash their foreheads with swords and beat themselves with chains.

Hussein's death is interpreted by Shi'ites as a symbol of the struggle against injustice and oppression.

Story continues

Tents have been set up in Kerbala to provide a resting place for pilgrims, where men serve them cups of free tea.

Others offer free massages to those arriving on foot from different cities, while tailors work on religious flags at a market.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; editing by John Stonestreet)

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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)  The American woman charged with subversion in Zimbabwe over allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe on Twitter is set to be freed on bail.

Martha O'Donovan on Thursday was ordered freed on $1,000 bail. The New Jersey native will return to court on Wednesday.

O'Donovan is accused of calling the 93-year-old Mugabe a "sick man" in a tweet including an image of the president with a catheter.

O'Donovan faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted for subversion. She also faces a charge of undermining the authority of or insulting the president, which carries up to a year in prison.

O'Donovan has denied the charges as "baseless and malicious."

Hers was the first arrest since Mugabe last month appointed a cybersecurity minister, criticized by activists as targeting social media.

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Security software developer Digital Barriers has won contracts across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East worth 1.75m.

The contracts includes the first major multi-year deal for its recently launched body-worn video surveillance product with a law enforcement agency in the Asia Pacific for 1m.

A 350,000 multi-year deal was reached with the European Ministry of Defence for a counter-terrorism agreement worth in total 3.5m.

An initial contract worth 400,000 was agreed with a Middle East government agency for the company EdgeVis Live surveillance solution.

Chief executive Zak Doffman said: "The deals should act as a reference point for other customers, helping to drive material revenues over the coming years. This year we have built strong relationships in APAC (Asia Pacific) and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) with major government clients, looking to further embed our solutions across an ever broader client base.

These contract wins, all of which are with new customers, are a clear indication of that progress and we are now focused on converting a strong pipeline and generating follow-on sales for our full suite of solutions."
The sheer scale of supermarket firm Tesco meant the financial picture could change overnight, a court has heard. Nicholas Purnell QC, for the defence, gave the example of March 2014 when the finance team forecast a monthly sales shortfall of 108m versus internal targets for the UK food business  only for that figure to be reduced by 32m some 24 hours later.  Guardian

Free housing, food, transport and access to the internet should be given to British citizens in a massive expansion of the welfare state, according to a report warning the rapid advance of technology will lead to job losses. Former senior government official Jonathan Portes and academics from University College London make the call for a raft of new universal basic services using the same principles as the NHS. They estimate it would cost about 42bn, which could be funded by changes to the tax system.  Guardian

Governments plan to cap household energy prices is set to steamroll ahead even as fresh data shows wholesale prices are on the rise and bills remain well below their 2014 peak. The political pressure furore around energy bills will reach fever pitch this week as ministers press ahead with controversial legislation to cap tariffs despite data which shows that energy bills are lower than they were when the threat of a market intervention first emerged.  Telegraph

The UK insurance giant created by the merger of Towergate and four companies this year is to snap up motorcycle insurance broker Carole Nash this week in a deal worth up to 65m. The Ardonagh Group, created in July after insurers Towergate, Autonet, Chase Templeton, Ryan Direct and Price Forbes were pulled into one holding company, is expected to announce the deal as soon as Wednesday, those close to the talks said. - Telegraph

Royal Bank of Scotlands 425 million challenger funds grant policy has come under attack from new lenders and politicians because one of its chief beneficiaries could be Santander. There is widespread anger among new lenders that the fund will allow Santander, of Spain, to apply for a grant to support business lending, even though it is one of Europes biggest banks.  The Times

Lord Myners has called into question the conduct of Greybull Capital, the owner of Monarch Airlines, and demanded that MPs launch an inquiry in to the carriers collapse. The former City minister said yesterday that there was clearly a case for parliamentary interest in Monarch. I have approached the chairman of the business select committee because there are broader issues to be looked at, like that of company capitalisation and the use of offshore tax havens.  The Times
Purplebricks Group shares were a 'buy' in the Sunday Times' Inside the City column. Investing in this online estate agency might be a wild ride, with the shares trading for more than 40 times earnings, but some notable names are on the register since its IPO at the end of last year. The company is, the writer believes, reminiscent of Uber by disrupting an industry that has long been notorious for being expensive, inconvenient and leaving customers uncomfortable.

The company's business model is simple: it values homes, provides an online listing and connects buyers and sellers for a fraction of the price of a bricks-mortar-and-hair-gel estate agent without the a slick-talking salesman. Purplebricks, which launched in 2014, now lists around 3,000 homes monthly, making it one of the fourth largest agents in the country. The company and its shares will undoubtedly face some troubles ahead, including the slowing housing market, but offers long-term promise.

Shares of Associated British Foods are worth buying, said Questor in the Sunday Telegraph. Recently reliant on growth from its Primark clothing chain, AB Foods now looks likely to gain from the rally in US sugar prices after half a decade's decline. The group's sugar arm, which saw profits rot from above 430m to 43m in the previous two years, should benefit from bad weather hitting Brazil's harvest and cost cutting, though EU prices have yet to fully mirror the bounce in the US.

Meanwhile, though Primark endured a slower half-year as it launches in the USA, the grocery brands unit, which includes Ryvita, Jordans, Blue Dragon and Patak's, has been solid and improved profitability in the first half too. The conglomerate nature of the business meant these solid performances and even better from the ingredients business made up for a more difficult time for the agriculture arm. ABF is a powerful cash generator and healthy dividend payer. The shares are down by more than 10% this year but still are not lowly rated on a price-earnings basis.

Angle is a share for adventurous investors, said Midas in the Mail on Sunday. The medical technology company, which recently raised 10m, has developed a device that looks to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment by capturing and separating cancerous tumour cells from within a blood sample. Analysing cancer cells from the body presents several difficulties, especially with some cancers and when a patient has been in remission or if doctors want to check if it is metastasizing.

Angle's non-invasive liquid biopsy system, called Parsotix, is quite inexpensive and can allow an accurate diagnosis of the type of cancer. Parsortix has a CE mark for use as an in vitro diagnostic device in the EU but while it is available for research purposes in the US, it does not yet have FDA approval for clinical purposes. Research at the University of Southern California indicates the system can help to detect secondary cancers at an extremely early stage. Angle hopes to sell the equipment to hospitals for screening, detecting and monitoring cancer but in the meantime has been generating revenue and with wide profit margins by selling the kit to research organisations.



Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only and not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.
Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. provides natural gas compression services and equipment to the energy industry in the United States. It fabricates, manufactures, rents, and sells natural gas compressors and related equipment. The company primarily engages in the rental of compression units that provide small, medium, and large horsepower applications for unconventional oil and natural gas production. As of December 31, 2021, the company had 2,023 natural gas compression units in its rental fleet with 418,041 horsepower. The company also engages in the design, fabrication, and assembly of compressor components into compressor units for rental or sale; engineers and fabricates natural gas compressors; and designs and manufactures a line of reciprocating compressor frames, cylinders, and parts. In addition, it is involved in the design, fabrication, sale, installation, and service of flare stacks and related ignition and control devices for the onshore and offshore incineration of gas compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gases. Further, the company offers customer support services for its compressor and flare sales business; and exchange and rebuild program for small horsepower screw compressors. Its primary customers are exploration and production(E&P) companies that utilize compressor units for artificial lift applications; E&P companies that focuses on natural gas-weighted production; and midstream companies. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.
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.
Telefonica, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company's mobile and related services and products comprise mobile voice, value added, mobile data and Internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone services; local, domestic, and international long-distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; supplementary value-added services; video telephony; intelligent network; and telephony information services, as well as leases and sells handset equipment. The company also provides Internet and broadband multimedia services comprising Internet service provider, portal and network, retail and wholesale broadband access, narrowband switched access, high-speed Internet through fibre to the home, and voice over Internet protocol services. In addition, it offers leased line, virtual private network, fibre optics, web hosting and application, outsourcing and consultancy, desktop, and system integration and professional services. Further, the company offers wholesale services for telecommunication operators, including domestic interconnection and international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators; and local loop leasing services, as well as bit stream services, wholesale line rental accesses, and leased ducts for other operators' fiber deployment. Additionally, it provides video/TV services; smart connectivity and services, and consumer IoT products; financial and other payment, security, cloud computing, advertising, big data, and digital telco experience services; virtual assistants; digital home platforms; and Movistar Home devices. It also offers online telemedicine, home insurance, music streaming, and consumer loan services. The company was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
How to watch and what to know about Northern Iowa at South Dakota

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SANTA FE  Santa Fe County could join other local and state governments in taking legal action against the manufacturers and distributors of drugs that have contributed to the countrys opiate epidemic.

County Commissioner Anna Hansen is introducing a resolution that calls for the county to hire someone to represent it in litigation against opiate manufacturers, distributors and other relevant parties, possibly in collaboration with other government entities.

The resolution is on the agenda for next Tuesdays County Commission meeting.

Our county and our residents are suffering from the effects of all these opioids that have overpopulated our county and state, Hansen said in a phone interview. And its unfair to ask residents to pay for what these manufacturers of pharmaceuticals are doing to our community. They should be held responsible.

More than 40 states, including New Mexico, have already filed lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies or distributors they allege are responsible for the opioid epidemic.

New Mexicos Mora County became the first county in the state to take legal action when in August it sued numerous major pharmaceutical manufacturers, accusing them of knowingly overdistributing addictive drugs. A few weeks later, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed a lawsuit against five major manufacturers and three distributors.

The Santa Fe County resolution notes that President Donald Trump last month declared a public health emergency due to opioids and that more than 183,000 Americans died from overdoses of prescription opioids from 1999 to 2015.

It states that state Health Department statistics show that 178 people in Santa Fe County died from drug overdoses from 2012 to 2015 and that nearly three times as many people (68) died from drug overdoses in the county in 2016 than were killed in automobile accidents (23).

Due to the opioid epidemic, Santa Fe County has incurred substantial costs related to drug overdoses, including medical treatment, transportation, incarceration and connecting inmates with appropriate services to treat people suffering from addiction, the resolution says.
State Police are searching for a man who went missing east of Pecos, NM, on Tuesday.

Officer Ray Wilson said 50-year-old Stanley Vigil was last seen hunting with family near Barrillas Peak.

Vigil is described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds, with hazel eyes and short brown hair. He was last seen wearing a yellow vest, long sleeve blue wrangler shirt and blue jeans.

Multiple search and rescue teams as well as New Mexico State Police helicopter crews have been actively searching for Mr. Vigil since he went missing, Wilson said.

Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Vigil should call 911 or the New Mexico State Police at (505) 827-9300
Its Veterans Day, the day we honor the men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

Veterans Day traces its roots to Nov. 11, 1918. At 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, Germany signed an armistice with the Allies in Compiegne, France, officially ending World War I. The following year, President Woodrow Wilson declared Nov. 11 a national holiday  Armistice Day  to honor those who had served in that war, which was optimistically referred to as the war to end all wars.

Congress changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1954, and rededicated the day to honor all U.S. veterans.

Today, as our nation stands mired in its longest war ever, its fitting to recall President Wilsons eloquent remarks from the White House 99 years ago today:

A year ago today our enemies laid down their arms in accordance with an armistice which rendered them impotent to renew hostilities, and gave to the world an assured opportunity to reconstruct its shattered order and to work out in peace a new and juster set of international relations.

The soldiers and people of the European Allies had fought and endured for more than four years to uphold the barrier of civilization against the aggressions of armed force. We ourselves had been in the conflict something more than a year and a half. With splendid forgetfulness of mere personal concerns, we remodeled our industries, concentrated our financial resources, increased our agricultural output, and assembled a great army, so that at the last our power was a decisive factor in the victory.

We were able to bring the vast resources, material and moral, of a great and free people to the assistance of our associates in Europe who had suffered and sacrificed without limit in the cause for which we fought. Out of this victory there arose new possibilities of political freedom and economic concert. The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men. To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the countrys service, and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of nations.

Wilsons oration and the nations justification for entering that war stand in stark contrast to todays presidential tweets and yearslong conflicts.

What has not changed  and should never change  is our gratitude to those who have served in our military. Since we became a nation, less than 7.5 percent of the populace has worn the uniform. Today, about 0.4 percent of the American population is serving.

Yet our nation remains strong because of these dedicated men and woman who pledged to  support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

For those pledges and sacrifices, we put aside our own concerns today and remember these selfless warriors.

Thank you to the men and women who make our country a safer and more prosperous society.

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.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

The United States entered World War I more than a century ago on April 2, 1917.

Hundreds of thousands of young American men, including thousands of New Mexicans, were sent over there  mostly to France  to fight on the battlefields and in the trenches.

The U.S. had vowed to stay neutral in the conflict that had raged on in Europe since 1914, but the German sinking of a British ship carrying American civilians eventually led to a declaration of war.

The last American doughboy, as soldiers in the conflict were known, died in 2011.

As even the children of the wars veterans are reaching extreme old age, WWI is quickly fading from memory.

World War I remains Americas forgotten war, even though more Americans gave their lives during that war than during Korea and Vietnam combined, and even though it profoundly shaped the rest of the American century,  reads an introduction on the home page of the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, created by Congress in 2013 and tasked with educating todays Americans about the war.

The First World War is generally, it seems, eclipsed by the second, which resulted in four times as many American casualties and is fresher in Americans minds.

New Mexicans are especially connected to World War IIs Battle of Bataan and the subsequent death march, which claimed the lives of as many as 650 Americans.

Years before that, though, between 14,000 and 16,000 New Mexicans were in uniform and more than 500 died in the Great War.

New Mexico was one of the two youngest states at the time, having entered statehood in 1912.

New Mexico felt this was a good chance to prove their patriotism, said historian and author Daniel Cillis. No one was ready for the mechanized murder that took place.

New Mexicans were proud of the fact that more than one-third of the states men in uniform had volunteered for service  fifth in the nation, per capita  according to David Holtby, also an author and historian.

Cillis and Holtby have spent countless hours researching and writing books dedicated to New Mexico and World War I in an effort to once again shed light on the sacrifices made by the states residents.

Cillis World War I New Mexico came out earlier this year, and Holtbys Lest We Forget: World War I and New Mexico, 1916-1941 is forthcoming.

Prewar experience

New Mexicos unexpected role in preparing the nation for war began with Pancho Villas raid of Columbus in 1916, and the subsequent expedition to capture Villa in Mexico provided the U.S. military much-needed experience.

The U.S. Army had really not done any massive large-scale troop maneuvers and logistical exercises prior to World War I, said Capt. Gabriel Peterman, New Mexico National Guard historian. It was down on the border where they learned how to move troops and more importantly how to move and supply an army in the field using motor vehicle transportation.

Though still somewhat unprepared to face the professional German army, the experience on the border helped prime the U.S. military for the war.

Roswells Battery A Field Artillery, which deployed at the border during the Villa expedition, would become acquainted with Gen. John Pershing, who led the expedition.

Pershing would go on to lead American forces on Europes Western Front during the war.

Pershing was so impressed with the Roswell units skill that he requested its deployment to Europe, led by Swiss immigrant Lt. Col. Charles de Bremond.

It was said that Battery A was the best artillery battery in the entire United States Army, Peterman said. In fact, they fired more artillery rounds than any other U.S. Army unit during the war and took out several key bridges during the Battle of Chateau-Thierry.

While de Bremond would survive to return to New Mexico, he died of respiratory complications from poison gas in 1919.

It was also a New Mexican who led the first American night reconnaissance mission, which would become commonplace throughout the war.

Capt. Joseph Quesenberry of Las Cruces arrived in Europe in June 1917.

In March 1918, he led a group of soldiers to pinpoint enemy positions and, if possible, capture German soldiers and documents, Holtby said.

That shows a very early, significant and completely forgotten contribution (of a New Mexican soldier), Holtby said.

Quesenberry would be killed at the front during the battle of Cantigny, the first major American offensive of the war.

Then theres the story of 2nd Lt. Harry Rogers of Lakewood.

Rogers led Company B, one of the companies of the Lost Battalion, around 450 men who were surrounded and isolated by German forces in Frances Argonne Forest in October 1918.

For five days, the men were attacked with machine guns, artillery  sometimes from friendly forces by mistake  flame throwers and mortars, and by snipers.

Just 194 of the men lived through the onslaught; Rogers himself was killed by a sniper just before the survivors were rescued by Allied forces.

Rogers received the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously for his leadership in the ordeal. It is the second-highest military award for extreme gallantry, ranking below only the Medal of Honor.

The leadership of officers such as Lt. Rogers was singularly exceptional, Holtby said.

Traumas of war

Many returning World War I veterans suffered lifelong effects from poison gas and the terrible conditions of the war, both physically and mentally.

You were fighting in a trench that was 10 feet deep, youd have mud up to your knees, Peterman said. Depending on what sector of the front you were at, you could have a large number of corpses in no mans land. The soldiers talk about rats the size of cats or small dogs that are eating the remains of people. They talk about artillery shells coming in and blowing rotten corpses in the air.

It was enough to traumatize anyone, and many returning doughboys suffered from shell shock, as post-traumatic stress disorder was then known.

Though an acknowledged condition, it was little understood.

There was very much a feeling that once you got home, you sort of put it behind you and moved on, Peterman said.

New Mexico distributed questionnaires in 1919 to returning veterans that are now housed at the New Mexico State Records Center in Santa Fe.

The questionnaires asked veterans to share their wartime experiences.

While many detail in depth the events that led up to arriving in Europe to fight, the summary of their battle experience is often oddly truncated.

Excuse me but I cant tell you anymore of my experiences  may do it at a future date, wrote William Adair of Swastika, now a ghost town in New Mexico. Them times are to (sic) fresh in my memory yet.

Reminders of the past

A century later, the exploits of the Americans who fought in World War I are all but forgotten.

Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of hostilities on the Western Front, is now known as Veterans Day.

It has faded from human memory, Cillis said.

Like Cillis and Holtby, the New Mexico National Guard Museum is seeking to remind New Mexicans of the accomplishments and sacrifices of those who fought in the Great War.

Peterman and the museum, at 1050 Old Pecos Trail in Santa Fe, are preparing a temporary exhibit to be unveiled in the spring.

It will feature the story of Battery A, a full-size submarine conning tower and a re-creation of the military cemetery in France where the remains of nearly 100 New Mexicans killed in the war were buried.

Its not fair we sort of ignored our World War I veterans for so long, Peterman said. This is definitely a good time to talk about their sacrifices.
Improvements to 12th Street between Interstate 40 and Menaul were celebrated by city officials and area and neighborhood representatives on Wednesday.

The group marked the completion of phase two of the 12th Street and Menaul Great Streets Improvements project.

The work included: roadway reconstruction, intersection, traffic signal, street lighting and landscaping improvements, bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks, storm drainage installation and modification, utility adjustments, and new bus stop locations and infrastructure, according to a City of Albuquerque news release.

The work took place in the area of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, which Mayor Richard Berry called a beautiful reflection of Albuquerque and New Mexicos rich culture and heritage.

By improving the area of 12th Street and Menaul for both drivers and pedestrians, we are making the center more accessible for all visitors while also beautifying the neighborhood, Berry said in a statement.

This $3.5 million project took about 10 months, the city said. It was funded by general obligation bonds and 2016 gross receipt tax and  cent tax monies. The design engineer was WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, in coordination with Morrow Reardon Wilkinson for landscaping. Albuquerque Asphalt did the construction.

This project makes this important commercial, cultural and neighborhood corridor a safer and more pleasant place for driving, walking, biking, shopping and fun, District 2 City Councilor Isaac Benton said.

Santa Clara Pueblo Gov. Michael Chavarria and representatives of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center also attended the completion event, which was held at the center.

The first phase was finished in 2012. It included the addition of a roundabout at Indian School and the Menaul Extension as well as landscaping and multimodal improvements.

The third phase will include Menaul Boulevard from the Menaul Extension to approximately Los Tomases Drive, 12th Street from south of Menaul Boulevard to La Poblana Road. A roundabout at the 12th Street and Menaul Boulevard intersection will be added along with roadway and landscaping improvements, the city said.
The first letter Xavier Nieto ever wrote was to an anonymous veteran, thanking him or her for their service to the country.

Dear Soldier, Xavier wrote, Thank you for saving lives and my life. I hope youre safe. Thank you for saving the USA. Thank you thank you thank you.

Painstakingly written on primary-ruled paper, Nieto wrote the letter last year as a first-grader, along with the rest of his class at Apache Elementary School in northeast Albuquerque.

The letters were destined for the 24 New Mexican men and women on the 2017 Honor Flight earlier this year, which takes veterans on an all expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C.

The hundreds of letters received from students all across the country are distributed randomly to each veteran and delivered to them on the flight home.

As Korean War veteran Lloyd Seagraves of Albuquerque opened his letters, Xaviers stood out to him.

Seagraves reached out to Honor Flight of Northern New Mexico and asked if he could meet the young boy, the first time the group has fielded such a request.

On Friday afternoon at Apache Elementary School, Seagraves was able to thank Xavier, now in second grade, in person.

I had been wondering if schoolchildren were learning about World War II, about the Korean War, about the wars that American men, some of your uncles and grandfathers fought in. Would you appreciate the veterans? Seagraves said, addressing Xavier and a group of Apache first- and second-graders. What I found out was, yes!

Seagraves, 83, presented Xavier with a copy of the letter, a photo of himself, a flag that had flown at the state Capitol and had been given to him through Honor Flight, and a hug.

I think its really, really cool to get a flag, Xavier said afterward.

After meeting Xavier, Seagraves answered childrens questions about his military service and the Honor Flight trip.

Seagraves served for nearly four years in the Army in Japan during the war as a computer operator.

When I was running a computer, it took about 35 people and 14 pieces of equipment as big as pianos just to do what your laptop or desktop will do today, he said, as the kids gasped in disbelief.

Seagraves said hes been disheartened by seeing young people, especially high school and college students, who seem ignorant of the sacrifices veterans made for the country.

I wonder how they got there. Are our kids being taught any better? he said. Im pleased to say that I was encouraged that they are, because literally hundreds and hundreds of kids chased us down (in Washington) to say, Thank you. 

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
October 11, 2017

For Rana Beiruti, the co-founder of Amman Design Week, the beauty of an object is linked to the story behind it. That is why she and her colleague Abeer Seikaly have put the craftsmen, particularly those whose crafts were disappearing, at the heart of their design event this year.

Beiruti and Seikaly, both architects, founded Amman Design Week in 2016. Supported by Queen Rania Al Abdullah, the event offers a platform for local and regional designers. After speaking with numerous designers, artists and architects, Beiruti and Seikaly realized the needs were much bigger than expected. They wanted jobs, better access to the region and the rest of the world, better manufacturing and education, Beiruti told Al-Monitor. So we decided to launch the first Amman Design Week in 2016, which we consider a spark in the region. This year, it is taking the shape of a movement.

Its second edition, held Oct. 6-14, showcases more than 100 local and regional designers under the theme of Design moves life moves design. The Crafts District is a space that pays homage to local heritage and the ability to transform the regions rich handcrafts through modern design.

We are creating a holistic approach of design, Beiruti told Al-Monitor. Its not just about seeing the beauty of an object, but how it is made and the stories behind it. We think that it is a misconception to see craftsmanship as past heritage. Crafts are underappreciated in Jordan, so through collaboration with designers, we show people they can innovate and modernize.

The Crafts District is divided into two groups: the pop-up market and an area where craftspeople work in full view of the people. This area shows people weaving carpets and baskets, felting, glass blowing and making mosaics or daggers.

It is important to show people how craftspeople work, how an object is made, because many of the crafts are dying in Jordan. Even though basket weaving and felting comes from the region, very people know about this, Shermine Sawalha, the curator of the exhibition, told Al-Monitor. Instead of supporting local craftsmanship, people buy foreign goods from Turkey or China, which are cheaper.

She said that most of the handcrafts used to come from Syria, but the war destroyed its market, which is very sad. "Craftsmen are losing their jobs, both in Amman and Syria. Family businesses are disappearing. Look at the glass blower. He is from Syria, and his name, Mohammad Maher Alqazaz, whose last name comes from kazazz and literally means glass. I bought him an oven especially for the occasion.

Alqazaz, who came especially from Syria to blow glass for the event, had left the glass business to work on plastics, a more profitable field of business. Glass is a family tradition, but to be able to work, I need a very big amount of glass and it costs a lot, he told Al-Monitor. There is also no demand for it anymore. To support craftspeople like Alqazaz, Sawalha has been working on a program that helps craftsmen find new markets through collaborating with designers.

Its more than just saving the heritage, Sawalha said. Most of the women in this business feed their family with their handcrafts. That is why I push them to work with designers. Great objects were born out of this collaboration, like a jewelry line that resembles daggers, 3-D mosaics and misshaped glass objects.

In the Crafts District, people can indeed discover traditional handcrafts, but with a modern twist, like at Zawayed shop, where art objects are created from waste by women from less privileged areas like Jabal al-Natheef. I started it almost 10 years ago as a hobby until I met my wife and business partner, Liyan Jabi, co-founder Mohammad Al Hajji told Al-Monitor. We use local material with minimal processing so that our products both look natural and are a good price. We are starting to take Zawayed international through working with different international weeks and fairs.

In another shop, the Iraq Al Amir womens cooperative showcased a line of products designed by German and French designers and fabricated by the women of the cooperative. The cooperative started in 1994 with the support of the Noor Al Hussein Foundation and received funding until 2001, but now they are an independent womens cooperative.

It was opened to support women economically, Houda Mihayrat, a member of the board and co-founder, told Al-Monitor. We started off training women with a workshop to make environmentally friendly and sustainable paper objects, then moved to ceramics and weaving. In 2014, two German designers, Jenny Hier and Eva Schlete of Studio Gutedort, came to work with us and created several lines of products. We also cooperated with other international designers since then. Putting talents together helped us create original products. It really helped us revive old-fashioned handcraft methods and products.

The independent exhibitions of Amman Design Week include traditional Jordanian and Palestinian arts of embroidery and weaving at Tiraz Widad Kawar Center. The center is a nonprofit organization that has one of the largest existing collections of Palestinian and Jordanian traditional costumes in the region. For Amman Design Week, it opened its doors to the Naqsh collective, whose founders Nisreen and Nermeen Abu Dail use traditional embroidery motifs in modern design, and to the initiative Yarns, run by women from villages to preserve the art of embroidery and weaving through new designs and patterns on bags and pillows.

We must find creative ways to maintain and use our heritage, Tiraz founder Widad Kawar told Al-Monitor. We must save whats left of our heritage.

With this second edition, Amman Design Week put heritage and craftsmanship at the center of a very diverse audience, with incentives and collaborations that could help local and regional handcrafts find new boundaries through design.
November 10, 2017

Congress put the Iraqi Kurds on notice this summer against going forward with their independence vote. In the aftermath of Baghdads heavy-handed response, however, congressional ire is falling squarely on the central government.

US lawmakers new attitude is most evident in the final version of national defense legislation released Nov. 8. While the original House bill made US military aid to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) contingent upon KRG participation in the government of a unified Iraq, final compromise legislation between the House and Senate contains no such warning (the Department of Defense has requested $365 million in stipends and sustainment for Kurdish peshmerga forces for fiscal year 2018).

Instead, advisory report language accompanying the bill addresses recent clashes between Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces by calling on all parties to defuse tensions. It specifically points the finger at the predominantly Shiite militias fighting alongside the Iraqi state.

The conferees are alarmed by reports of clashes among security force elements over control of contested areas in Iraq and especially alarmed by reports of engagements between Kurdish peshmerga forces and Iranian-backed paramilitary forces, says the report. The conferees emphasize the significant contributions Kurdish security forces have made to countering [the Islamic State (IS)] and condemn Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs.

Both Shiite and Sunni Arab political parties in Iraq have condemned the KRG referendum, as has the Donald Trump administration. Still, Congress has chosen to direct the blame for its aftermath squarely at Iran.

If Baghdad cannot guarantee the Kurdish people in Iraq the security, freedom and opportunities they desire, and if the United States is forced to choose between Iranian-backed militias and our longstanding Kurdish partners, I choose the Kurds, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote in an October New York Times op-ed.

Other influential lawmakers have also backed Erbil.

After the referendum, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a statement calling on the Trump administration to back an independent Kurdish state.

Iraqs neighboring countries [are] led by despots who all oppose a Kurdish state because it threatens the status quo and their self-interests, Schumer wrote in an implicit rebuke of Iran.

The final version of the defense bill also requires the Trump administration to submit a review of its strategy in Iraq and Syria to Congress as well as a quarterly assessment of security in liberated areas in Iraq. The assessment directs the administration to evaluate the effectiveness of security forces in the post-conflict environment and an identification of which such forces will provide post-conflict stabilization and security in such liberated areas.

The reports could provide greater clarity on the administrations approach to dealing with Shiite militias and Iranian influence in Iraq following the defeat of IS.
The Commerce Department said it will begin to collect countervailing duties on imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia based on findings that the two countries provide subsidies to these producers and exporters.



The U.S. Commerce Department will begin to collect countervailing duties on imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia, the department said in a statement Thursday.

Commerce determined that Argentina and Indonesia are providing unfair subsidies to its producers of biodiesel at rates from 71.45 to 72.28 percent and 34.45 to 64.73 percent, respectively.

Specifically in its Argentina countervailing duty investigation, Commerce calculated subsidy rates of 72.28 percent for LDC Argentina S.A. and 71.45 percent for Vicentin S.A.I.C. Other Argentine producers and exporters of biodiesel were assessed a subsidy rate of 71.87 percent.

In the Indonesia investigation, the department calculated subsidy rates of 34.45 percent for Wilmar International Ltd. and 64.73 percent for P.T. Musim Mas. Commerce determined a subsidy rate of 38.95 percent for all other Indonesian producers and exports.

Countervailable subsidies are given by foreign governments to companies contingent on their export performance or use of domestic materials over imports.

Commerce estimated in 2016 that imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia were valued at $1.2 billion and $268 million, respectively. Biodiesel is made from diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats.

The petitioner is the National Biodiesel Fair Trade Coalition, an ad hoc association composed of the National Biodiesel Board and 15 domestic producers of biodiesel.

The biodiesel industry has been injured for the past several years due to unfairly traded imports from Argentina and Indonesia. We appreciate that these unfair subsidies are being addressed, so we can fix this particular obstacle to continued growth in the domestic industry, said Doug Whitehead, chief operating officer of the National Biodiesel Board, in a statement.

Meanwhile, if the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue countervailing duty orders. If the ITC makes negative final determinations of injury, the investigations will end and no orders will be issued. The ITC is expected to make its final determination by Dec. 21.

In a corresponding antidumping duty investigation, Commerce on Oct. 26 instructed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers of Argentine and Indonesian biodiesel at dumping margins of 54.36 percent to 70.05 percent and 50.71 percent, respectively. Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells a product in the United States at less than fair value.
Sams Club had opted not to release a Black Friday ad early, but it has decided to do a massive One-Day Only sale on Saturday November 11th. The sale will start at 12:01AM EST on its website, and continue when clubs open up starting at 7AM local time. This is a members-only sale, so if you are not a Sams Club member, you will want to sign up now before its too late, otherwise you wont be able to take advantage of these deals. A Sams Club membership costs just $45, and its more than worth it if you buy a lot of items in bulk. You can sign up here, unfortunately theres no sort of free trial.

Topping some of the bigger deals in Sams Club one-day only sale today, include a 55-inch VIZIO 4K Smart XLED TV for just $398. Thats a really good price on a 55-inch 4K TV, considering most 4K TVs of this size are being discounted to around $600, even for Black Friday. If Samsung is more your style, theres a 58-inch 4K TV that comes along with a Samsung 2.1-channel sound bar for $648. In the market for a larger TV? Theres a LG 65-inch 4K LED TV that is $150 off of its regular price. This is the 65UJ6540, for those interested. It does have webOS 3.5 installed, so the majority of your favorite apps are included. VIZIO also has a 5.1-channel sound bar that has Chromecast built in available for just $149. Its a sound bar that comes with a wireless subwoofer and two satellite speakers. So itll be a huge upgrade to your sound system.

When it comes to smartphones, Sams Club is not discounting Samsung smartphones, however if you purchase the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus or Galaxy Note 8 on an installment plan (read: through Verizon, AT&T or Sprint), youll get a $300 gift card for Sams Club. Thats a pretty good deal, especially if you are a regular shopper at Sams Club already. There is a great deal on the PlayStation 4 Slim as well, with Uncharted 4 included, coming in at $229. If youre more of a Xbox fan, the Xbox One S with Forza Horizon 3, Call of Duty: World War II, and Call of Duty: Infinite War for just $249. That is perhaps the lowest price weve seen on an Xbox One S, considering you get three very popular games with it (and Call of Duty: World War II just launched a week ago).

Advertisement

Remember that this sale is good Saturday, November 11th only and there are a number of prices here that match already announced Black Friday sale prices at other retailers. So this is a sale that you definitely wont want to miss. Everything kicks off at 12:01AM EST and runs until 11:59PM EST on Saturday night. We have listed some of the best deals in this sale down below, so have a look.
Samsung has a new trademark pending in Europe for the word Couphone, as of November 9, which suggests the company plans to use Couphone as a branding of some kind. Unfortunately, according to documentation submitted to the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the trademark is listed as applicable to quite a list of various devices. In fact, the brand could be applicable to no fewer than 18 different types of technology products under Nice class number 9. Interestingly, those do include cellular phones and tablet computers, as well as accessories for those. So this filing could indicate a new family of those types of devices bearing the Couphone branding. However, its still a bit difficult to say what Couphone could really be at this point.

Some speculation has surfaced around the trademark, stemming from the fact that the word cou, in French, translates to neck. But it may be too early to jump to the conclusion that this will be some sort of neck-borne wearable smartphone, with consideration for the fact that those types of devices are not explicitly listed under the filing. The trademark class number in question generally applies to cell phones, tablets, batteries and chargers, communications cables, headsets or earphones, cases and flip covers, stylus, docking stations, protective films, and hands-free kits. Of course, that does not necessarily rule out the possibility that Samsung intends to use Couphone for a new kind of wearable smartphone. It is, as of this writing, equally likely that the trademark could be applied to any number of wearable or nonwearable accessories for existing smartphones. It could even be intended for a headset or earbuds that are A.I.-assistant enabled, such as Googles Pixel buds or Bose recently released QuietComfort 35 II headphones. The Couphone branding could make sense in that scenario if the trademarked name does suggest that it is intended to be worn around a users neck.

It bears mentioning, on the other hand, that all of the speculation so far centers around one translation of a single part of the branding Samsung is trying trademark. It could be that Samsung did not intend for the word to really mean anything like that at all. Until Samsung unveils something, theres really no way to know. Unfortunately, that could take some time still, since this filing has not been processed through and it only applies to the naming of a product rather than the manufacture of a product.
Score one for Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court tonight granted the preliminary injunction that she had sought in order to delay the controversial sales at Sothebys of works from the Berkshire Museums collection. The series of auctions containing the deaccessioned works was to have begun Monday with an American art sale that was to offer seven works (photos here) from the Pittsfield, MA, museum, including its two prize Norman Rockwells.

Heres the full text of Judge Joseph Trainors injunction (linked above):

After reviewing the parties submissions, the request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the defendant, Trustees of the Berkshire Museum from selling, auctioning, or otherwise disposing of any of the artworks that have been listed for auction commencing on November 13, 2017, is allowed [emphasis added]. The balance of the risk of irreparable harm to the petitioner and the respondent in light of each partys chance of success on the merits weighs in favor of the petitioner. Packaging Industries Group, Inc. v. Cheney, 380 Mass. 609, 615-617 (1980). The injunction shall expire on December 11, 2017 [emphasis added]. Prior to the expiration of the injunction, the Attorney Generals Office may move to extend the injunction with a date certain by which the investigation will be completed. (Trainor, J.).

In other words, the judge bought the AGs argument (as did I) that she required more time to complete a proper investigation. The injunctions Dec. 11 expiration date appears to mean that other planned future sales of works from the museum, including the Nov. 14 Impressionist/Modern evening sale, the Nov. 15 Impressionist/Modern day sale and the Nov. 21 European art sale, are also on hold.

Credit for this (at least temporary) coup goes not only to the AG, but also to the lawyers for two sets of plaintiffs who started the legal ball rolling, and especially to the ad hoc Save the Art group, which kept up the pressure and mobilized the art-loving public.

Nicholas ODonnell, lawyer for three of the plaintiffs, had this to say tonight:

My clients are pleased that the auction has been halted. They remain alarmed at the Berkshire Museums treatment of its members and of the art that it holds in trust for the community. With the benefit of some breathing room and the continued investigation by the Attorney General, they are hopeful that reason will prevail.

Me too.
Now it gets really interesting.

The Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office has just filed a motion for an injunction pending its appeal of the Superior Court decision to allow Berkshire Museums art sales this Monday at Sothebys. You can read the full Appeals Court filing here.

The AGO says its investigation is not yet complete, but cites the courts abuse of discretion through clear errors of law. The museum, the AGO says, would breach the charitable trusts pursuant to which the museum holds the artwork if the sales were to occur. The AGO alleges that the sale of the museums most preeminent and valuable and would be a violation of the museums duty of care and that its unreasonable $60-million [fundraising] goalfar exceeded its $25.6 million needed to sustain operations.

William Lee, the museums attorney in this case, provided this response:

We are disappointed that the Attorney General has decided to continue legal action that threatens the future of the Berkshire Museum, particularly after a very clear legal decision rejected the arguments the Attorney General repeats in this misguided appeal. Continuing this litigation jeopardizes vital educational, cultural and economic resources in a struggling community, placing the special interests of a portion of the well-funded arts community over people, especially young people, really in need. We look forward to the swift resolution of this matter by the Appeals Court.

Heres the comment from Nicholas ODonnell, attorney for some of the plaintiffs seeking to stop the sales:

In our view, the Attorney Generals petition explains well the important components of the Superior Courts ruling that warrant reversal on appeal, which support an injunction against the sale until that appeal is resolved. My clients support the Attorney Generals petition and are hopeful that the Appeals Court will enjoin Mondays sale. We continue to review our own options with respect to appealing the November 7 ruling.

Heres the response from Sothebys, which must be gnashing its collective teeth at the AGOs last-minute maneuver, just one business day before the scheduled sale:

It is regrettable that the Attorney Generals Office, rather than take heed of Judge Agostinis extensive and carefully reasoned decision, and despite its own unqualified admission that the Berkshire Museums Trustees have acted in good faith, has now, three days after that decision was issued, filed an 11th-hour appeal rehashing the same arguments that were so thoroughly rejected by the court. Sothebys remains confident that the sales will go forward beginning Monday and that funds will be raised to allow the Berkshire Museum to serve its community for generations to come.

Im no lawyer, but I told a news outlet that interviewed me yesterday that, although it pained me to say it, Judge John Agostinis decision to allow the sale was probably right (as I previously suggested here) from a legal (but not moral or ethical) standpoint, based on the evidence before the court.

That said, I also think that the AGO correctly argued that it had not been accorded sufficient time to review all the relevant documents, given the museums belated production of what the AGO had requested months before. I still believe that only explicit written no-sales stipulations from donors will save the day. So far, weve not seen any.

The other long-shot possibility is that the Berkshire Museum and Sothebys decide to fold their hand and bow to the weight of public and professional opinion. That unlikely occurrence would turn its win-lose into a win-win.
Devin Kelley, who fatally shot 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, last weekend, showed early signs of depression and rage while in the Air Force, NYT reports. But there was little they could do to prevent his future impact on society. "[C]ommanders say they have limited options until a crime is committed," NYT notes. "Even then, the priority is more often on getting problem troops out of the military, giving little thought to the possible impact on society. "

Why it matters: A GOP member of Congress said last week, "I was pretty appalled at the Air Force's lax procedures in entering stuff in the database. They are taking a wider look and we're going to make sure all the services do, because I'm worried this is a bigger problem than we have seen."
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he got a "state plus plus" dinner in China, "which is very interesting."

The quote: "I do have a very good relationship with [Xi Jinping]. It's the biggest stateit's the biggest state entrance at the biggest state dinner they've ever had. By far. In China. He called it, 'state plus." In fact, he actually said, 'state plus plus,' which is very interesting. But he's, you know, look, again, he's a strong person, he's a very smart person. I like him a lot. He likes me. But we represent two very different countries but we get along very well. And that's a good thing that we get along. That's not a bad thing."
The U.S. made the broadcast network Russia Today register as a foreign agent earlier this week because intelligence officials said it tried to influence the 2016 election as a Kremlin network, per Reuters. Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering doing the same thing to U.S. media that operates in Russia, but he said that might be "a little too harsh."

Why it matters: If Putin's government responds this way, it would simply be as a retaliatory measure and not because their intelligence officials found a similar instance of meddling in elections. And registering as a foreign agent would then require those media outlets to report their staffing and sources of funding to the Kremlin on a regular basis.
Former President Obama laughs with the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, during a rally in Richmond on Oct. 19. Photo: Steve Helber / AP

Peggy Noonan's Wall Street Journal column takes the long view of the surprising size of the Democrats' 9-point win in the Virginia's governor's race:

"We're in the early scenes of big change. We're seeing the gradual cratering of both parties. Tuesday night obscured this for the Democrats and highlighted it for the Republicans."

"Democrats are split between moderates and a rising progressive left ... The Republican Party is divided by serious questions about its essential purpose."

"Tuesday night's losses could have a helpful effect on Trump enthusiasts. They imagine the number and strength of his supporters as bigger than it is. ... After Virginia, they must surely see trouble."

"Trump has not built support in the middle, he's alienated it. ... It is the big story of the year since his election  that he has not a growing base but a smaller, so-far indissoluble core."
11 November 2017 14:09 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend:

Political issues and security are the main topics of discussions within the next stage of negotiations on a new agreement on strategic partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan to be held Nov. 27-28 in Brussels, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev told Trend.

"Negotiations with the EU are conducted on three chapters of the new EU-Azerbaijan Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) - political issues and security, trade and investment, as well as a sectoral chapter," the deputy minister said.

"Separate elements have been agreed upon for today, however, there is still no complete agreement on any of these chapters. But in general, rapprochement of positions is observed."

As of today, two or three meetings were held, videoconferences are conducted, and correspondence is also maintained, he said. At the same time, Mammad-Guliyev did not say when the negotiation process will be completed.

Bilateral agreements between the EU and Azerbaijan were also discussed during a meeting with a delegation of the European Union Eastern Partnership ambassadors-at-large, who ended their visit to Baku Nov. 8, he noted.

"During the meeting at the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, we discussed the countrys relations with the EU, bilateral agreements, as well as the declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit of the European Union to be held Nov. 24 in Brussels," Mammad-Guliyev added.

The European Council adopted a mandate for the European Commission and the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy to negotiate, on behalf of the EU and its member states, a comprehensive agreement with Azerbaijan in November 2016.

The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today.

The agreement will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 November 2017 13:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijani state oil company SOCARs North American trading division will close its Calgary office in Canada and move all commercial and support functions to Houston in the next three to four months, Reuters reported citing a letter from the company.

SOCAR Trading, which entered the Canadian market in 2015 and opened a Houston office in late 2016, said Houston had continued to grow and had increasingly become a hub for its activities in North America, according to the letter.

It was not clear if any staff would relocate to Houston, says the report.

SOCAR Trading also said in the letter that while the plans do not affect any current business, it would likely reduce the scope of some of its activities over the coming months. It added that it would continue to operate business as usual to meet any physical and financial commitments.

Geneva-based SOCAR Trading was set up in 2007 as the marketing arm of Azerbaijans national oil company.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
11 November 2017 17:33 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend:

Azpetrol Ltd., the biggest operator of the network of filling stations in Azerbaijan, plans to expand its filling stations network in 2018, said the companys Director General Jeyhun Mammadov in an interview with Caspian Energy.

Mammadov said that currently, the company has three fuel depots, the truck fleet and the network of petrol and gas stations.

Besides the basic services, the company offers additional services such as car washing, cafes, shops, motels and others, he added.

At present, the company operates 83 petrol stations and 5 gas stations, which cover the main economic zones of Azerbaijan. At the moment, active preparations are being made for commissioning the second petrol station in the Siyazan district of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 2018, the works will be completely finished, noted the director general.

Mammadov also commented on the possible increase in gasoline prices in the future.

It is very difficult to answer this question because prices for diesel fuel and A-92 gasoline are set according to decisions of the Tariff Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As for the price for Premium-Euro-5 gasoline (EN-288), it is formed in the European petrochemicals market and depends on such factors as oil prices, the US dollar exchange rate, transport tariffs, etc. In any case, we try, if possible, to reduce our trading margin in order to make fuel more affordable, he said.

Though the number of our filling stations comprises only about nine percent of the total number of gas stations in the country, we keep the initiative of control over more than 50 percent of the fuel market in Azerbaijan. Having the largest network of filling stations, we hold the leading positions among the companies engaged in the retail fuel sales, said Mammadov.

One of the major goals of Azpetrol is to maintain its positions in the private sector of the Azerbaijani economy, as well as participate in its further development. We plan to keep improving the activity of the company, covering the regions of Azerbaijan, opening new working places, expanding the scope of services as well as applying advanced technologies, added the director general.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The following hospital and health system credit rating and outlook changes and affirmations took place in the last week, beginning with the most recent.

1. Moody's affirms 'Aa2' rating on Cook Children's Medical Center's bonds

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "Aa2" and "Aa2/VMIG 1" ratings on Fort Worth, Texas-based Cook Children's Medical Center's revenue bonds, affecting $427 million of debt.

2. Fitch downgrades Community Health Systems to 'CCC'

Fitch Ratings downgraded Franklin, Tenn. -based Community Health Systems' issuer default rating and outstanding bonds to "CCC" from "B," affecting $14.1 billion of debt.

3. Moody's revises The Queens Health System's outlook to negative

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A1" and "A1/ P-1" ratings on Honolulu-based The Queen's Health Systems' revenue bonds, affecting $392 million of debt.

4. Fitch affirms 'BBB-' rating on Hurley Medical Center's revenue bonds

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "BBB-" rating on Flint, Mich.-based Hurley Medical Center's series 2010, series 2013A and series 2013B, affecting a total of $84.1 million of debt.

5. Fitch affirms 'BBB-' rating on Cullman Regional Medical Center's bonds

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "BBB-" rating on Cullman (Ala.) Regional Medical Center's series 2009A revenue bonds, affecting $59.1 million of debt.

6. Moody's assigns 'Baa2' rating to Irving Hospital Authority's revenue bonds

Moody's Investors Service assigned its "Baa2" rating to Irving (Texas) Hospital Authority's proposed $79.2 million series 2017A and $26.8 million series 2017B. Irving Hospital Authority owns Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Irving, including the property and some of its equipment.
House Republicans recently unveiled a tax reform plan that calls for the elimination of private activity bond issuance, which is likely to significantly impact the entire nonprofit hospital sector.

Nonprofit hospitals issue tax-exempt bonds to finance capital projects. Under the tax plan, interest on newly issued private activity bonds would no longer be tax-exempt. This change would reduce financing options for lower-rated healthcare organizations by raising the cost of capital, according to S&P Global Ratings.

"From a credit perspective, higher borrowing rates can lead to budget imbalances, a challenge for all, and a hallmark of struggling credits," said S&P. "We believe operating margin pressure is likely to be exacerbated by the House tax proposal, as it will pressure costs and hurt margins for a considerable portion of our rated healthcare providers."

The American Hospital Association also noted how the tax plan could negatively impact healthcare providers. "For many communities, tax-exempt financing, such as private activity bonds, has been a key to maintaining vital hospital services," said Tom Nickels, executive vice president of the AHA. "If hospital access to tax-exempt financing is limited or eliminated, hospitals' ability to make investments in new technologies and renovations in the future will be challenged."

Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, released a draft of Senate Republicans' tax plan on Thursday. Unlike the House tax proposal, the Senate's tax plan would not eliminate hospitals' ability to access low-cost capital financing through tax-exempt bonds.

More articles on healthcare finance:

Tenet's net loss balloons to $367M as investor agitation builds

15-bed Missouri hospital's 2,353% revenue increase raises red flags with regulators

CHS to sell additional hospitals worth $2B in revenue
From the owner of a medical billing company being sentenced to prison for her role in a fraud scheme to a Chicago hospital suing Leapfrog for defamation, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits making headlines.

1. Medical billing company owner sentenced to 10 years in prison for role in $26M scheme

The owner of a medical billing company and a Detroit-area physician were sentenced to prison for their roles in a $26 million fraud scheme that involved billing Medicare for nerve block injections that were never provided.

2. DOJ abandons false claims case against nursing home chain

The U.S. Department of Justice is dismissing its False Claims Act lawsuit against HCR ManorCare, a Toledo, Ohio-based provider of short-term, post-hospital services and long-term care.

3. Medical device company's ex-CEO gets 20-year prison sentence for $750M fraud scheme

The former CEO of ArthroCare, an Austin, Texas-based medical device company, was sentenced Nov. 3 to 20 years in prison for his role in a $750 million fraud scheme.

4. 28 Wisconsin counties file opioid lawsuits against drugmakers, physicians

Twenty-eight counties in Wisconsin filed lawsuits against several drugmakers and physicians for allegedly engaging in a deceptive opioid marketing campaign, which facilitated the nation's ongoing opioid overdose crisis.

5. Chicago hospital sues Leapfrog for defamation

Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago is suing Leapfrog for defamation, alleging the hospital ratings agency knowingly used incorrect information to lower the hospital's letter grade for patient safety.

6. Lawsuit: Epic's software double-bills Medicare, Medicaid for anesthesia services

Health IT giant Verona, Wis.-based Epic Systems was hit with a False Claims Act lawsuit that alleges the company's software double-bills Medicare and Medicaid for anesthesia services, resulting in the government being overbilled by hundreds of millions of dollars.

7. U of Wisconsin Health sued over former employee's unauthorized access of medical records

Nineteen plaintiffs are banding together to sue Madison, Wis.-based UW Health and one of its former billing specialists, Kila Lucey, for allegedly accessing their medical records without authorization over the course of 10 years.

8. Former Providence Hospital executive sentenced to prison for stealing $391k from medical association

A former executive at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for stealing $391,600 from an association of medical professionals.

9. CHS' Lutheran Health Network sues ex-CEO for breach of contract, defamation

Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Health Network, part of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, is suing LHN's former CEO Brian Bauer for breach of contract and defamation.

10. Georgia Supreme Court rules Northside Hospital can't shield all financial records in fight over state open-records law

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Atlanta-based Northside Hospital can't bar public access to all financial records, overturning a lower court's decision.

11. Kentucky AG files opioid epidemic lawsuit against Endo

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear filed a lawsuit against Endo International for allegedly engaging in deceptive marketing tactics while promoting its controversial opioid Opana ER in the state.

12. Humana sues CMS for $600M+ in risk corridors payments

Humana filed a lawsuit against CMS to recoup more than $600 million in risk corridors payments it claims to be owed under the ACA.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

Maine hospital to pay $1.5M to settle overbilling allegations

Presbyterian Healthcare reaches $18.5M settlement over alleged tax fraud

Maryland hospital quotes Shakespeare in defense of physician who used fake identity
Numerous healthcare organizations recently shut down medical units and services to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or improve patient care lapses.

Here are seven hospitals and health systems that have closed units or ceased medical services temporarily or permanently in the past month reported by Becker's Hospital Review.

1. Nashville General to end inpatient care

Nashville (Tenn.) Mayor Megan Barry announced Nov. 9 Nashville General Hospital will end all inpatient services and transition to an ambulatory surgical care center providing only outpatient services.

2. Colorado hospital to close obstetrics unit, NICU  affecting 35 jobs

Pueblo, Colo.-based St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center will close its obstetrics and neonatal intensive care units Dec. 15, directly contradicting an announcement made last in September.

3. Michigan hospital to close 2 clinics, cut 13.9 FTEs

Sturgis (Mich.) Hospital plans to close its Pain Management Center and Wound Clinic, and reduce staff by 13.9 full-time equivalent positions.

4. Sentara to cease services at North Carolina medical center

Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara will cease services at Sentara Kitty Hawk (N.C.) on Dec. 15.

5. UPMC Bedford Memorial to end inpatient dialysis services

Everett, Pa.-based UPMC Bedford Memorial no longer offers inpatient dialysis services as of late October.

6. New York hospital temporarily cancels ER services after water main break

A water main break Nov. 1 caused Rochester (N.Y.) General Hospital, a 528-bed facility, to temporarily suspend emergency room services.

7. 2 Michigan hospitals cancel surgeries, transfer patients due to water main break

A water main break Oct. 9 left Providence Park Hospital in Novi, Mich., and Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Bloomfield Township, Mich., without water service, temporarily canceling surgeries.
The controversial 696 live music order form  which has been accused of unfairly targeting specific genres on a racial basis  is to be scrapped, police said.

Following a full review and consultation on the form  which does not include live music events but rather those using a backing track  the Met Police said they had taken the decision to remove it.

It was originally introduced in 2005 as a risk assessment for live music to prevent violence and police said a number of serious incidents had been prevented over the past decade through the exchange of intelligence between the Met, promoters and venue managers.

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Critics have long accused the order of unfairly targeting grime, garage and bashment genres and earlier this year culture minister Matt Hancock warned it was potentially stifling young artists.

Launched by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the review included a consultation between local council licensing managers, venue owners, the Musicians Union, London Promoters Forum and led by the capitals Night Czar Amy Lame.

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Mr Khan welcomed the decision, saying it would help Londons night-time economy thrive and ensures the capital is a welcoming place for artists and DJs of all music genres and that Londoners are able to enjoy live music safely.

He added: I called for a review of Form 696 earlier this year because of concerns raised by promoters and artists in the capital that this process was unfairly affecting specific communities and music genres.

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Met Police superintendent Roy Smith said London had seen a reduction in serious incidents at promoted music events, particularly those involving firearms, in recent years.

He added: We have taken the decision to remove the Form 696 and instead develop a new voluntary partnership approach for venues and promoters across London.

This will provide an excellent opportunity to share information at a local level and work to identify any enhanced risk to ensure the safety of the public.

The Met had previously denied the form was used for targeting certain genres of music, saying it is largely voluntary and designed to help promoters and the police work together to put in place additional measures to mitigate any risks if required.

Reacting to the announcement, Ms Lame said: I welcome this fantastic decision by the Met to abolish Form 696. Over the past couple of months, the Met have worked tirelessly with me and my team at City Hall and with partners from across the London Music Board.

Im delighted that theyve listened to the concerns of the industry, and of Londoners, to come to this solution  an important step to creating a safe, 24-hour city that truly works for everyone.

Chief executive of UK Music Michael Dugher tweeted: Fantastic news. Thank you to great music supporters @SadiqKhan and @amylame for listening, getting it and being prepared to do something about.

The form was amended in 2009, when two questions which asked for the ethnic make-up of attendees and the genre of music being performed were removed following accusations of racial profiling.
James Brokenshire insisted the decision to impose a budget from Westminster did not amount to a return to direct rule

The Northern Ireland civil service could "run out of money" if a budget is not imposed from Westminster by the end of the month, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has said.

Mr Brokenshire insisted that the decision to impose a budget from Westminster did not amount to a return to direct rule, but was simply a mechanism to allow public officials to continue their work.

Despite the deadlock in talks between the parties, he said he believes the will and determination exist to restore the powersharing assembly executive at Stormont, after 10 months in limbo.

The stalemate over the restoration of devolved institutions meant there was no delegate from Northern Ireland at Friday's summit in Jersey of the British-Irish Council, a body established by the Good Friday Agreement, where Mr Brokenshire was representing the UK Government.

He told broadcaster RTE: "We are determined we will see the executive restored. The two parties have not found resolution at this stage, regrettably.

"I'm having to move forward with the introduction of a Budget Bill at Westminster that will simply codify what the Northern Ireland civil service have been doing, to enable them to continue with their work and most importantly not run out of money, which could be the case if we didn't take this step and didn't have this in position by the end of the month.

"This is not direct rule. This is not about the UK Government seeking to interpose its will, but rather a measure to ensure that there is a legal framework to enable the the civil service to carry on doing what they have been doing for the best part of this year."

He added: "I still think this is possible. The parties have made some progress.

"The gap still remains, but I believe - with will, with determination - we will reflect on what further steps need to be taken to get that positive outcome that would get them back in business, that would get Stormont up and running and get representation at the British-Irish Council from Northern Ireland."

Downing Street said Theresa May had phoned Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill to express concern about the lack of progress in talks.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister has spoken on the phone to the leadership of the DUP and Sinn Fein parties about the political situation in Northern Ireland.

"In separate phone calls, she expressed her concern that despite recent progress agreement had not yet been reached and she urged both parties to bridge the gaps on the outstanding issues that remained.

"On Northern Ireland's finances, the Prime Minister explained how the UK Government will reluctantly be taking forward legislation for a Budget Bill on Monday, to ensure that in the absence of an executive, public services in Northern Ireland have the resources they need to operate.

"The Prime Minister made clear this was absolutely not an indication of direct rule but it was necessary to enable the Northern Ireland Civil Service to allocate funds for key public services while talks between the parties continued.

"There was agreement on the importance of devolved government being returned to Northern Ireland for the benefit of all communities and the Prime Minister said that the UK Government would continue to work, alongside the Irish Government, with the parties in reaching a successful outcome."
A police officer who has admitted charges of voyeurism and making an indecent photograph of a child appeared in the dock at Coleraine Magistrates Court on Friday.

Phil Adamson (46), whose address was given on his charge sheet as c/o 65 Knock Road, Belfast - which is police headquarters - had his sentencing adjourned until later this month after District Judge Liam McNally said he wanted to see a Victim Impact Statement.

The policeman had previously pleaded guilty in October to two charges.

One is a charge of voyeurism relating to a date in July this year.

The charge states that "for the purpose of sexual gratification", he "recorded another person doing a private act knowing that the other person did not consent to being recorded for sexual gratification".

The charge is contrary to the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.

Also relating to the same date in July, the second charge Adamson has also pleaded guilty to is making an indecent photograph of a child contrary to the Protection of Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.

The police officer was wearing a suit, shirt and tie and sat at the back of the court for a time until his case was called before entering the dock. District Judge Liam McNally asked if there was a Victim Impact Statement, as he said it is important that the court "gives proper consideration to the views of a child".

A prosecutor said that for the sake of completeness the Public Prosecution Service should ensure that the victim's views are sought.

Judge McNally said he would be keen to hear the victim's views.

The prosecutor said the majority of voyeurism cases proceed to the Crown Court.

The judge said that type of crime was not prosecuted in Magistrates Courts in England.

Defence barrister Eoghan Devlin said other crimes like Section 47 assaults are not proceeded in the Magistrates Court in England either.

Judge McNally said: "I know Mr Adamson would be very keen to have this matter dealt with.

"I want to consider the reports.

"It is a serious charge, there is a lot at stake for the defendant.

"I would like to hear the 'voice' of the child as well."

The case was adjourned until later this month.
Months of preparation will be put to the test today when thousands of primary seven pupils across Northern Ireland sit the first of three AQE examinations.

They will undertake another test this month and one next month to determine admission to a controlled grammar schools.

A separate GL test for entrance to Catholic grammar schools mainly will take place next Saturday.

Almost a decade after the end of the 11-plus transfer test, the subject still provokes controversy.

One Belfast mother, a teacher, described the tests as a "complete outrage".

She indicated that just two children in her daughter's class were not doing the tests and she claimed that some parents forked out 160 for a day's tutoring during the summer holidays.

She suggested that the work involved is "a short-term pain" but criticised the "long drawn-out" process of the tests for those who wish their children to take both AQE and GL tests, and a long wait for results until January 27.

Larne mother Lorraine Houston said that this was the third occasion that her children had experienced AQE tests.

This time it is the turn of her 10-year-old daughter Olivia, a pupil at Moyle Primary School in the town.

"This time round it is more stressful," said Ms Houston, whose two older children are at Larne Grammar School.

"I think she is feeling a bit of pressure.

"It is hard for them and a long wait for results."

She praised Larne Grammar for its preparation, which included an induction morning, and breakfast and transport laid on on exam day.

Carrick mum Gillian Patterson said that she did not want her daughter Nicole, who attends Eden Primary in Carrickfergus, to feel pressured about the tests.

"I told her I was not putting any pressure on her," she explained.

"I do not want her worrying but she said she really wanted to do it. It is not the end of the world if she does not pass it."
Theresa May yesterday told Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill that the Government will reluctantly bring forward a budget bill on Monday.

In phone calls with the DUP and Sinn Fein, the Prime Minister voiced concern that the talks aimed at restoring devolution had so far failed to reach an agreement.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: "In separate phone calls, she expressed her concern that despite recent progress, an agreement had not yet been reached and she urged both parties to bridge the gaps on the outstanding issues that remained.

"On Northern Ireland's finances, the Prime Minister explained how the UK Government will reluctantly be taking forward legislation for a Budget Bill on Monday, to ensure that in the absence of an Executive, public services in Northern Ireland have the resources they need to operate.

"The Prime Minister made clear this was absolutely not an indication of direct rule but it was necessary to enable the Northern Ireland Civil Service to allocate funds for key public services while talks between the parties continued."

The spokeswoman added that there was agreement on the importance of devolved government being returned to Northern Ireland and said that the UK Government would continue to work alongside the Irish Government, with the parties to try to eventually reach an agreement.

Speaking in Kilkeel last night, the DUP leader Arlene Foster (right) said that any new Executive in Northern Ireland must be restored "on a sustainable basis".

She insisted that her party was determined to secure an agreement that could be supported by both unionists and nationalists, with no group dominating the other.

The party's key role in holding the balance of power at Westminster did not distract it from what it needed to do at Stormont, she said.

It was "not a choice for the DUP between influence in London and Executive power in Belfast".

Mrs Foster maintained that "solid progress" had been made in talks with Sinn Fein, but "in some areas differences do remain and hurdles have yet to be overcome".

She continued: "For our part we are determined to try to achieve an agreement that can be supported by unionists and nationalists.

"If we are to build a society that can move forward sustainably, then we must be able to demonstrate to one another that no one culture can have dominance over the other.

"One element of the talks is that any new Executive must be restored on a sustainable basis and all parties who share that view must insist on that being the case."

Negotiations to restore devolution broke down last week, with the DUP and Sinn Fein both blaming each other for the political stalemate.

Mrs Foster welcomed Secretary of State James Brokenshire moving to pass a budget for Northern Ireland in the House of Commons next week.

"We are strongly arguing the case for a budget that helps business grow and cuts red tape," she said.

She added: "The way to help local people and local business succeed is to provide them with the environment to do business and to invest in infrastructure projects to boost productivity."

Referring to her party's confidence and supply agreement with Theresa May's government, the DUP leader said that she was in London on Tuesday for a meeting of the co-ordination committee between her party and the Tories.

"The new political realities mean that in order to secure legislation through the Commons, the Government works with our 10 members on a range of issues including Brexit and budget-related bills.

"We are keeping Northern Ireland's interests to the fore," she added.

Speaking after the call, Gerry Adams, who is in New York with Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald, said: "Sinn Fein was flexible and willing to stretch ourselves in an effort to achieve a breakthrough.

"However, despite our best endeavours the discussions were unsuccessful.

"I told the Prime Minister May today that the British Government must bear the greater responsibility for this failure.

"The provision of an Irish Language Act, Marriage Equality, a Bill of Rights and funding for legacy inquests are all British government obligations."

Mr Adams said that he had also told the PM that "direct rule was not an option" and she should establish an intergovernmental conference involving the Irish and British governments.

He said: "In the absence of the institutions the two governments must implement those outstanding rights issues.

"Sinn Fein remains committed to the restoration of the institutions and the Executive.

"However, they will only be credible if they are sustainable and durable and deliver for everyone."
Senior republican Eddie Copeland has asked the Attorney General to hold a fresh inquest into his father's death at the hands of a British soldier after a Historical Enquiries Team report raised doubts surrounding the circumstances.

John Copeland was shot as he walked home in north Belfast in 1971. The father-of-two died in hospital days later.

The soldier claimed that Mr Copeland, who was shot during rioting in Ardoyne, was armed and had opened fire at an Army patrol.

A draft report from the HET, however, questioned the soldier's version of events. Lawyers acting for Eddie and mother Carol Copeland have written to John Larkin asking him to order a fresh inquest to establish what happened.

Mr Copeland was 23 when he was killed by a member of the Green Howards.

A 1972 inquest into his killing returned an open verdict.

The recent HET report, which the family obtained, states that police at the time failed to interview three civilian eyewitnesses who told the inquest that Mr Copeland was not carrying a gun at the time of the shooting. BBC NI said that the draft further states that police did not interview the soldier who shot Mr Copeland and two members of the regiment who say they witnessed the shooting.

At that time there was an agreement between the Army and the RUC that only the Royal Military Police would interview soldiers involved in fatal shootings.

The role of the RUC was to carry out interviews with other witnesses.

"What could have been done, and what should have been done, at the very least, was to have the soldiers re-interviewed as soon as it became apparent to the investigating officer that there was conflict between the accounts given by civilian witnesses and those given by the soldiers," the HET report said.

Referring to the agreement between the RUC and the Army, it said: "(It) brought about major failings in the investigative process, to such an extent that it rendered it ineffective."

It went on to say that there was no evidence of any scientific tests for firearm residue to determine whether Mr Copeland had fired a weapon.

HET investigators wanted to interview the solider under caution. However, solicitors representing him said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was not fit for interview.

The man, who is referred to as Soldier A, was seen by HET investigators in 2011 but did not inform them of his condition.

The BBC also reported that the report contains extracts from a book written by Soldier A, using the pseudonym Nicky Curtis, entitled Faith And Duty.

It chronicles his time in the Army. In it he says the Army's rules of engagement outlining when soldiers could open fire "seemed increasingly like a joke to me".

Eddie Copeland himself was shot and wounded by a soldier in 1993. Andrew Clark, a private in the British Army, was convicted of attempted murder in 1995 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
A Flybe pilot who carried out an emergency landing on Friday with no nose gear has been praised for his skills.

Flight BE331 had 56 people onboard when it carried out the emergency landing at Belfast International Airport.

Pictures and video show the Bombardier Q-400 aircraft with its nose unsupported hitting the ground.

The plane, which was due to travel to Inverness, burned fuel in a holding pattern off the coast of Belfast for around two hours after it declared the emergency.

Flybe CEO Christine Ourmieres-Widener, said: "Our crew took the necessary precautionary actions to ensure the aircraft landed as safely as was possible and I am proud of their professionalism in the circumstances.

"Safety is our highest priority and our crew are highly trained and undergo regular training to calmly and professionally handle any such situations.

"We sincerely apologise to the passengers for the disruption to their journey and any distress caused and out Customer Care team will remain in close contact with them over the next few days."

Expand Expand Previous Next Close A Flybe aircraft making an emergency landing at Belfast International Airport. Pic Alan Lewis - PhotopressBelfast.co.uk Photopress Belfast The plane at Belfast International. Pic Geoff Coyles / Facebook

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Whatsapp A Flybe aircraft making an emergency landing at Belfast International Airport. Pic Alan Lewis - PhotopressBelfast.co.uk

Belfast International operations director Alan White said: It was a very good landing. The flying skills, landing the aircraft, were superb.

The flight deck crew were superb, they landed on the main undercarriage, they held the nose of the aircraft up to the last possible moment, bleeding off all the air speed and still keeping control and just dropping it at the very last minute.

"That meant it stopped relatively quickly, no issues, no fire with it, and they got it stopped safely on the runway.

Flybe confirm 52 passengers and Four Crew were on board the aircraft that landed at Belfast International without nose gear @AllyRH pic.twitter.com/tiylUCDrNa  Flight Alerts (@FlightAlerts777) November 10, 2017

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch have sent a team to Belfast to investigate the incident.

The flight which took off at 11.07am landed at Belfast International Airport just before 2pm with the nose gear up and stopping on the runway.

Fire crews were on standby at Belfast International Airport for the emergency landing and said "no action" was required.
Motorists are being asked to avoid the area.

A woman who was airlifted to hospital following a crash outside Banbridge is in a critical condition.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was called at around 11.30am on Saturday.

The crash happened on the Scarva Road between Banbridge and Scarva and involved a black Seat Leon and a black Nissan Note.

The Ambulance Service said four people were taken to hospital with one being transported by air ambulance to the Royal Victoria Hospital.

A Belfast Trust spokeswoman said on Saturday evening that the woman airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital was "critical".

The three other patients were taken to Craigavon Area Hospital.

The condition of one of the patients is described as serious.

A PSNI spokesman said: "A woman aged 50 has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily injury and is currently in custody assisting officers with their enquiries.

"Officers have appealed to anyone who may have seen either vehicle being driven in the area this morning or who witnessed the collision to contact them at Armagh on 101 quoting reference number 546 11/11/17."
A woman was killed and a baby was last night fighting for life in hospital after a three-vehicle road crash on the A2 between Belfast and Bangor.

The accident happened at around 3.50pm yesterday on the busy road near the Ballyrobert junction.

The name of the woman who died has not yet been released.

A spokesperson for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children said that the child was in a critical condition.

A man, believed to have been in a separate car, was taken to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald for treatment to injuries suffered in the incident.

He was in a stable condition in hospital last night.

The main A2 road was closed last night as police began their investigation.

It reopened on Saturday morning.

A spokesman for the NI Ambulance Service said that three accident and emergency crews, three rapid response paramedics and an ambulance officer attended the scene, where they gave emergency aid to the injured. The air ambulance also attended the scene.

Local Ards and North Down councillor Stephen Dunne said the accident happened at a very busy junction  which sees around 45,000 vehicle movements through it every day.

Speaking last night, Mr Dunne sent his sympathy to those involved in the crash and said more needed to be done to increase road safety on the A2.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been injured and their families. Its an awful thing to have happened.

He added: The average speed cameras have made a difference  but clearly its not enough. I know there have been discussions on the matter  but we need to keep pushing for improvements.

On Saturday Alliance councillor Andrew Muir called for authorities to explore further safety measures on the road.

He said: My thoughts and sympathies are with the loved ones of the woman who died. I am praying the child involved in this incident makes a full and speedy recovery.

This unfortunately is not the first incident that has led to a death on this road, which is an incredibly busy stretch built in 1968 and now facilitating over 40,000 vehicles per day.

Whilst the average speed camera system has significantly reduced the number of people killed and seriously injured on the road, this tragic incident must surely act as prompt to explore what more safety measures could be installed to prevent any further deaths or injuries occurring.

North Down MLA Alan Chambers said how saddened he was to hear about the crash.

This is a road that needs more safety features, he tweeted.

In another incident earlier yesterday, a girl was rushed to the Ulster Hospital after being involved in a collision with a car on the Belfast Road in Downpatrick.

A South Eastern Health and Social Services Trust spokeswoman said last night that the girls condition was stable.

And a man remains critically ill in Craigavon Area Hospital after being seriously injured in a collision with a car at Dobbins Road outside Portadown late on Thursday night.
The wife of former billionaire Sean Quinn had just 315 (278) in the bank when she was bankrupted by the former Anglo Irish Bank last month.

It has also emerged she owes 105m to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) and 1.6m to the Revenue Commissioners. The vast majority of the debts are disputed.

The disclosures were made in a statement of affairs filed by Patricia Quinn (64) at the request of the High Court.

The former tycoon's wife was bankrupted by IBRC after she failed to repay a 3m loan. The bank secured a judgment against her for the sum in December 2011. Court papers show it issued a bankruptcy summons in July when the debt was not repaid.

Mrs Quinn, whose husband was once Ireland's richest man, had tried to escape liability for the loan, which was used for the refurbishment of the family home in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.

She claimed she was a homemaker who naively signed whatever was put in front of her by her husband and never received the benefit of the borrowings.

However, this was rejected by the High Court.

According to her statement of affairs, Mrs Quinn had 200 in cash and 315 in the bank when she was bankrupted. Her other assets were an Irish Life pension worth 78,928, forestry worth 25,000, a 2008 BMW X5 worth 5,000 and clothes and jewellery worth 4,500.

A list of her debts included the 3m personal loan from IBRC.

It also included a 102m debt with IBRC and 1.6m owed to the Revenue. Both debts are disputed, the document said.

Mrs Quinn said her only income was a 430-a-month UK pension. She said she required 1,486-a-month for reasonable living expenses.

Her husband once had a fortune of 4.7bn, but lost it after building up a massive secret stake in Anglo. He was eventually bankrupted following an application by IBRC in 2012.

He emerged from bankruptcy in 2015 and recently returned to the world of business with a new online betting outlet, called QuinnBet.
Richard Ratcliffe is campaigning for the release of his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (Family handout/PA)

The husband of a British woman jailed in Iran said he hopes to meet Boris Johnson as soon as possible.

Irans state TV broadcast a report claiming the Foreign Secretarys comments in Parliament about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe amounted to an unintended admission of her guilt.

The Channel 2 report said Mr Johnsons suggestion that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was training journalists when arrested in Iran last year had dealt a blow to the efforts of campaigners and UK authorities to support her position that she was in fact on holiday.

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Mr Johnson has admitted that his comments could have been clearer, and told MPs on Tuesday that the UK Government has no doubt that she was on holiday in Iran.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said he wants to meet Mr Johnson this week and has requested that he join the Foreign Secretary on a future trip to Iran.

Mr Ratcliffe, who said he has yet to speak directly to Mr Johnson, said the Foreign Secretarys office made contact with him on Friday.

I think its important now that he tries to meet with us as soon as possible, like next week, so that its clear from a political point of view that the UK Government is standing alongside Nazanin and her family, Mr Ratcliffe told BBC Breakfast.

He added: I think itll happen now, in a way that two weeks ago I wasnt so sure. I think its really important that he gets on a plane to go and see Nazanin. Id really like to go with him and thats a serious request Ive put to the Foreign Office.

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Mr Ratcliffe said he has been told his request is being looked at as a serious consideration.

Following Mr Johnsons comments last week, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned before an unscheduled court hearing at which she was threatened with the doubling of her five-year jail sentence.

Wednesdays TV broadcast said that the British media and authorities had spent the last year trying to emphasise Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes innocence until last week, the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson utters a sentence that proves costly for the government of this country.

It added: Just this one sentence from the Foreign Secretary was enough to deal a blow to all the attempts of the British media and authorities in the past few months 

It appears that the statement of Boris Johnson was an antidote to all the statements of various media and UK authorities who had been claiming in the past year and a half that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had come to Iran for humanitarian reasons.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes employers, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, issued a statement in response to the Iranian TV reports, reiterating that she had never taken part in the training of journalists.

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The foundations chief executive, Monique Villa, said: Nazanin is not a human rights activist with Thomson Reuters Foundation. She is a project manager in our media development team.

At the foundation, we dont do advocacy work: we are ruled by the Trust Principles of Thomson Reuters which impose freedom from bias, independence and impartial reporting.

Nazanin has never been a journalist, hence could never have trained journalists.

Ms Villa confirmed that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had visited Lebanon, Georgia and Morocco as part of her work running the logistics of workshops for local journalists.

None of these workshops were attended by Iranian journalists. Nazanin didnt have any role in delivering the trainings and had no say in evaluating the work produced by the journalists trained, she said.
US president Donald Trump is back on the defensive over Russian meddling in last year's election, accusing Democrats of trying to sabotage US-Russia relations.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump said Russian president Vladimir Putin had again vehemently insisted - this time on the sidelines of an economic summit in Vietnam - that Moscow had not interfered in the poll.

Mr Trump declined to say whether he believed Mr Putin, but he made clear he was not interested in dwelling on the issue.

As he travelled to Hanoi, the second-to-last stop of his trip to Asia, the US president said of his Russian counterpart: "He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.

"Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe - I really believe - that when he tells me that, he means it."

Mr Trump called the accusation an "artificial barrier" erected by Democrats - once again casting doubt on the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to interfere in the election to help the Republican Mr Trump beat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Mr Trump is in Hanoi for a brief state visit.

He will depart for the Philippines later on Sunday for a pair of summits that will close out his trip.

Mr Trump and Mr Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.

Mr Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders' relationship and said it jeopardised their ability to work together on issues including North Korea's escalating nuclear programme and the deadly conflict in Syria.

"Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Mr Trump told reporters.

"People will die because of it."

Mr Trump danced around the question of whether he believed Mr Putin's denials, telling reporters that pressing the issue would have accomplished little.

"Well, look, I can't stand there and argue with him," Trump said.

"I'd rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I'd rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing about whether or not - 'cause that whole thing was set up by the Democrats."

Multiple US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to try to help Mr Trump win. But the president called the former heads of those agencies "political hacks" and argued there is plenty of reason to be suspicious of their findings.

The comments made clear that Mr Trump still does not take the meddling seriously and sees little benefit in punishing a nation accused of undermining the most fundamental tenet of American democracy: free and fair elections.

They also suggest that Mr Trump is unlikely to work aggressively to try to prevent future meddling, despite repeated warnings from senior intelligence officials that Russia is likely to try to interfere again.

Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea.

Congressional committees have also been interviewing campaign and White House staff.

Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted by Russian news agencies as telling reporters: "Trump really raised the topic of so-called interference in US elections..

"Putin categorically rejected even the hypothetical possibility that Russia could have in some way interfered in the US electoral process."

Earlier on Saturday, the Kremlin issued a statement saying the leaders had reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of civil war-torn Syria now that Islamic State has largely been pushed out.

Among the agreements' key points, according to the Russians, were an affirmation of de-escalation zones, a system to prevent dangerous incidents between American and Russian forces, and a commitment to a peaceful solution governed by a Geneva peace process.

The Kremlin quickly promoted the agreement as the White House stayed silent.

Mr Trump told reporters that the deal was reached "very quickly" and that it would save "tremendous numbers of lives".

And he praised his relationship with Mr Putin, saying the two "seem to have a very good feeling for each other and a good relationship, considering we don't know each other well".

Video from the summit in the seaside city of Danang, Vietnam, showed Mr Trump and Mr Putin shaking hands and chatting, including during the world leaders' traditional group photo.

The two walked together down a path to the photo site, conversing amiably, with Mr Trump punctuating his thoughts with hand gestures and Mr Putin smiling.

Journalists travelling with Mr Trump were not granted access to any of the Apec events he participated in on Saturday.

Mr Trump's visit to Hanoi began with a state diner during which he showered the country with praise, saying it has "truly become one of the great miracles of the world".

On Sunday, he will meet with the country's president and prime minister before heading to his last stop: the Philippines.

AP
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Priya Banerjee Turned Her Casual Look Hot For The Photo Shoot Bollywood Wardrobe Dona

Canadian film actress Priya Banerjee, who is famous for her roles in various Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films covered a simple yet hot photo shoot.

The actress carried a simple pair of casuals including a striped beige short sleeved top and a pair of denim shorts with black coloured ankle length boots. The hindi and regional film actress created a sultry environment in the most casual attires.

The way she carried it made her look very hot and it actually gives goals to young girls who can try their casual avatars in a sexier way like Priya.

Out of her style book, we mainly had our focus on ankle length boots. They are the pair of shoes every girl should possess, just after white sneakers.
Female Police Officers Who Deserve Great Respect Life oi-Syeda Farah

Indian women are breaking gender barriers, as they are making their presence felt in almost every field. From politics to bureaucracy or even the prestigious police force, aspiring women are seen making their presence felt.

In this article, we are here to share the details of some of the most bravest women that India has. These women are the IPS officers who have made a benchmark for themselves.

These leading women cops are shining bright across the nation, as they have successfully established a foothold in a profession that was once considered a bastion of their male counterparts.

Check out to know more about them...

Soumya Sambasivan Soumya has served as a Superintendent of Police in Himachal Pradesh since 2009. She has a great reputation in her work field and her dedication and integrity is respected as well. She is not only smart with her work, she is also brave enough to nail down the drug menace in the state, which is tourist friendly. Sonia Narangvia In 2006, she made headlines when she slapped an MLA during a violent protest and also put him behind the bars. She is currently serving as a Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore. Sonia is well known for her integrity and straightforwardness. Merin Joseph Merin Joseph cleared the UPSC exam in her first attempt. She is well known for her kind and helpful nature. Being a police officer, she is seen working 24X7 to safeguard the people at any given point. Merin also encourages women to become IPS officers to empower themselves. Ruveda Salamvia She is the first woman IPS officer who hails from Kashmir. Her dad always dreamt of her becoming an IPS and she fulfilled it. She is currently posted in Tamil Nadu as an Assistant Commissioner of Police in Chennai. Meera Borwankar Every time she read news about Kiran Bedi's achievement, her dream of becoming an IPS officer grew more stronger. During her college days, she molded herself to be a fearless and courageous woman to join the IPS. Sanjukta Parashavia Her UPSC ranking was 85 and with such a ranking, she would have entered into IAS easily, but she followed her dream of becoming an IPS officer. She is a bold lioness who killed 6 militants and arrested over 64 militants in a span of just 15 months of her duty! Kiran Bedi She is the first women to enter into the men's arena of IPS officers. She is fearless, a bold officer who possesses a nickname of Crane Bedi. Apparently, she had ordered cranes to pick up all the vehicles that people had improperly parked. She set this rule for the commoners as well as for the influential MPs or MLAs.

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Police arrested a 15-year-old male on Thursday for throwing a pumpkin at, and damaging, a parked vehicle on Riverheights Drive in October.

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/11/2017 (1832 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A young girl who was molested by her sisters boyfriend during a sleepover told the court on Thursday how his actions 15 months ago have drastically altered her life.

My heart is destroyed into a million pieces, the girl said. Im scared of things that no kids should be scared of. Im scared of being on my own.

The teen, who was a youth at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty to sexual touching in Brandon provincial court.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, despite now being 18 years old, he cannot be identified.

The girl, who was 10 years old at the time, went to have a sleepover at her sisters house, where here sister lived with her boyfriend, according to the Crown.

She fell asleep on the couch, and was woken up by her sisters boyfriend touching her back.

He then slid his hand down her pants and started touching her vagina over her underwear.

The behaviour he demonstrated that day was horrendous behaviour, Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter said. The victim has had consequences that shes had to deal with  it has been an ongoing issue for her and her family. Shes had quite the harm done to her.

The girls mother also explained to the court about the impact the incident has had on her family. Her daughter is afraid to be alone and wakes up during the night due to nightmares, she said, and shes scared of what happened and that it will happen again.

The girl has also severed her relationship with her older sister and has no desire to reconnect.

This crime has broken her  my little girl is not the same person that she was before this crime happened, the mother said. I have a lot of anger  Not only has her innocence been taken away, but she lives in fear every day.

Tschetter gave the teen credit for accepting responsibility by pleading guilty, despite the fact he maintained, even on the stand, that he doesnt remember the incident.

I know that he had his head down when the complainant and her mother were speaking, and I think that  hopefully  it was for the right reason, which I think it was, said defence lawyer Bob Harrison. He understands the impact his actions had on this young person.

The teen also has no prior record, Harrison said.

This was a serious sexual violation. He took advantage of a sleeping victim who was in the care of his girlfriend at the time, said Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta. Its clear to me this incident had a terrible impact on (the victim) and her family. Its clear to me (the victim) continues to struggle with what happened to her  something that was totally not her fault and that she couldnt have done anything to avoid.

The teen was sentenced to two years probation  due to being a youth at the time of the offence, his acceptance of responsibility and his lack of a prior record, Hewitt-Michta said.

He is required to attend counselling, including sexual assault counselling, and is prohibited from being unsupervised around children for five years.

You did a terrible thing to a little girl who was completely vulnerable and defenceless and you should be ashamed of yourself, Hewitt-Michta told the teen. Im putting you on probation for two years because I want you to get some help. I know you have some issues in your own life and some things that have happened to you over the years  but you need to get some help so that you make sure you never do this to another person again. Youre an adult now  if you come back in front of me for doing this sort of thing again, expect to go to jail for a long time.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @erindebooy
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/11/2017 (1831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Crown combed through hundreds of text messages, phone conversations and audio recordings obtained covertly by police during a sentencing hearing on Friday for Leslie Gerald Bisson  the primary target of a major drug investigation, Project Derringer.

Bisson has pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine, possessing a firearm while prohibited and possessing proceeds from a crime.

Whats contested, defence lawyer Eric Wach said in Brandon provincial court, is Bissons level of involvement within the elaborate drug trafficking scheme that Manitobas Integrated Organized Crime Task Force (MIOCTF) investigated for nearly a year.

Crown attorney Erin Magas called an expert witness to the stand, Cpl. Jonathan Morrisseau of MIOCTF, to decode text messages and phone calls brought forward, as well as educate the court on different phrases in the drug trade and how it generally works.

He is clearly running his organization, theres been nothing Ive seen that suggests he has to answer to anyone, said Morrisseau. I believe that (Bisson) is a high level trafficker, one of the more significant players in the Brandon trade.

Through Project Derringer, an investigation into the large-scale shipment of kilograms of illegal drugs into Brandon, police obtained warrants that allowed them to place Bisson under surveillance, Magas said, using tactics such as tracers, bugs and sneak peaks into homes to collect evidence.

As a result, police were able to identify Bissons drug customers and his supplier  a courier from Toronto who would deliver multi-kilogram amounts of cocaine to Bisson every five to seven weeks.

Detailed discussions through texts and phone calls between Bisson, his supplier and customers were highlighted in court, with drug dealings veiled as chatter about paint jobs and delivering meat.

I just wanted to let you know your buddys paint job wasnt the best, one dealer told Bisson over the phone, discussing what, Morrisseau said, was a bad batch of cocaine.

Ive heard that from a couple of guys, Bisson replied. Its not great but at least its something you can pass on.

The two men laugh, and Bisson tells the dealer they should be rockin and rollin soon.

A dealer knows when hes giving somebody good product, or something they call bunk, like crappy product  theyre laughing at the fact that this stuff might not be good, but people will still buy it.

Bisson also had multiple interactions with a prominent Hells Angels member from Winnipeg, working out a payment plan for a significant drug debt owed to Bisson.

In order to have a payment plan, it has to be a significant amount of debt, Morrisseau said. Even to call it a payment plan implies its a significant amount of money.

Mages also detailed evidence police found through numerous sneak peaks into Bissons three stash locations.

In August 2016, police entered the 10th Street apartment and found a hydraulic press with a home-made mold contaminated with cocaine and benzocaine, a cutting agent.

They also found scales, grinders and a blue duffle bag with Bissons name on it filled with a large amount of packaging materials, such as Ziploc bags.

A bag of Ziploc baggies in your kitchen is not a big deal, if you have a duffle bag full of these things, youre using them for drug trafficking, Magas said. All of this is tools of the trade for drug repackaging and using.

During a later sneak peak, police found four kilograms of vacuum-sealed cocaine with a street value of $260,000, four pounds of marijuana with a street value of $8,000, and two pounds of psilocybin  often known as magic mushrooms  worth $4,000.

Mr. Bisson is happy to provide to his suppliers any variety of things, hes a little bit of a one stop shop in this city, Magas said.

Police were able to track the transport of drugs and equipment through surveillance as Bisson moved it from the apartment to the church, and then to his property in Griswold, where he stored it in a metal quonset.

It was during a sneak peak at this location that police discovered six guns  a semi-automatic rifle, two shotguns and three rifles  unsecured in the trunk of a car.

In October 2016, police monitoring Bisson gather information that his supplier is on his way to Brandon with a delivery, and the decision was made to pull the trigger on the investigation.

Audio recordings from Bissons truck  which was bugged  reveals Bisson and his supplier discussing a drug deal when they are interrupted with blaring sirens and police yelling to step out of the vehicle.

Part of the reason the investigation was taken down was because of the concerns of the violence that was occurring in Brandon at that point and time, Magas said. It was taken down early.

Due to time constraints, the defence requested a further date be scheduled for cross-examination of the expert, which will happen in December.

Closing arguments were already scheduled to take place in January.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @erindebooy
Attacks on critical infrastructure are not a new concern for security researchers, cyber intelligence group Talos said. "The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that have brought major websites and internet infrastructure to a screeching halt in places as varied as New Hampshire and Liberia could serve as a harbinger for the havoc Internet of Things-enabled devices could unleash on the utility grid." A growing threat The importance of cyber security for utilities is of little surprise to many in the industry. A cyber attack on high voltage transmission networks could take down an entire city's power. Credit:AAP

While much of the focus of cyber attacks has been on personal scams, the real damage is done by malicious attacks against major utilities and institutions, such as Wannacry's global ransomware attack on targets as varied as the UK's National Health Service and Spain's telecommunications network. While less publicised, a wave of cyber attacks targeted Europe and North America's energy sector this year, CISCO's cyber intelligence group Talos stated. "These attacks target both the critical infrastructure providers and the vendors those providers use to deliver critical services," Talos said. "Attacks on critical infrastructure are not a new concern for security researchers, as adversaries are keen to understand critical infrastructure ICS networks for reasons unknown, but surely nefarious." According to Symantec, a computer security group, while these attacks have been occurring since 2011, they have ramped up over the last two years.

It pointed to what are believed to be Russian state-backed groups known as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear as the main perpetrators, who use methods as simple as malicious Word documents disguised as job resumes in order to surreptitiously gain access to company login details and user credentials. The most recent serious attacks were in Ukraine, where hacking caused disruptions to the power system and affected hundreds of thousands of people. In April this year, Ireland's entire electricity and transmission control system  EirGrid  was hacked into, although no systems were shut down. Iran's nuclear energy sector was attacked and nearly destroyed by programmable logic controller virus Stuxnet, while Shamoon  disk-wiping malware  hacked into Saudi Arabia's energy networks in 2012 and 2016, destroying master boot records. Earlier this year, the US' Wolf Creek nuclear power plant was also attacked, however security specialists managed to respond to the threat before their system was penetrated. In May this year, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at strengthening the US' critical infrastructure network, specifically addressing cyber threats that could cause electricity disruption and power outages.

But what steps has Australia taken to protect itself? Australia at risk? Australia's relative distance from other nations has not made it invulnerable to attack, with Minister for Cyber Security, Dan Tehan, stating the nation must be on constant guard. "We are naive if we think that in Australia we are immune to [cyber attack] threats," Mr Tehan said. "A cyber-secure Australia will only be achieved if governments, industry, and individuals continue to work together to share information and strengthen our defences against cyber threats," he told Fairfax Media.

In 2016/17, the Australian Cyber Security Centre reported that 7283 cyber security incidents affected major Australian businesses. "The ACSC also responded to 734 cyber incidents affecting private sector systems of national interest and critical infrastructure providers," Mr Tehan said. Australia launched a $230 million cyber security strategy for the nation in April, led by attorney general George Brandis, and zeroed in on our critical infrastructure  our power and water networks  in October. "With increased foreign involvement, through ownership, offshoring, outsourcing and supply chain arrangements, Australia's national critical infrastructure is more exposed than ever to sabotage, espionage and coercion," Mr Brandis said. Mr Tehan added, "Securing critical infrastructure assets in partnership with industry is a key focus of Australia's $230 million Cyber Security Strategy."

"The new Critical Infrastructure Centre in the Attorney-General's Department will work closely with our national critical infrastructure companies to identify cyber vulnerabilities, develop risk assessments and risk management strategies." This partnership has developed a new bill, the Security of Critical Infrastructure Bill 2017, in order to counter threats to the nation's energy networks. "Firstly, it will create a 'last resort power' which will allow the Minister to issue a direction to an owner or operator of a critical infrastructure asset to mitigate significant national security risks," Mr Brandis said. "Secondly, a critical assets register will be created providing the government greater visibility of who owns, controls and has access to, critical infrastructure assets. This information will inform the government's assessments of assets most at risk from espionage, sabotage and coercion." Last month, Mr Tehan and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, also launched an international cyber engagement strategy which "aims to foster good cyber security practices in our region and improve our collective capacity to respond to global cyber incidents".

While legislative steps have been put in place to protect critical infrastructure, the onus remains on industry to ensure their data and access to their systems remains secure. "Businesses and individuals must also take responsibility for their own cyber security and the government encourages the operators of critical infrastructure to adopt the Australian Signals Directorate's Essential Eight cyber security risk mitigation practices," Mr Tehan said. Even with these measures, how safe are Australia's power and distribution networks? "There is a threat [to energy infrastructure] that is persistent in the Australian landscape," Schneider Electric senior cyber security consultant Peter Clissold told Fairfax Media. Within Australia, AGL and Origin have both taken steps to secure their business against cyber threats.

AGL has created a cyber threat intelligence and incident manager role to recognise and protect against these kinds of intrusions. Origin regularly commissions independent penetration tests and carries out other security reviews to test its security and improve controls. "Our strategy is focused on protecting information and operational performance and safety from cyber security threats," a spokeswoman said. Origin's executive general manager, technology, risk, and transformation, Carl McCamish, added, "We protect our people and assets through a dynamic cyber security strategy that is regularly tested and reviewed to ensure we remain agile and resilient to emerging threats." Beyond the screen

While the lights will come back on soon after a cyber attack, Mr Clissold said the real damage will be in the changed perception of the company. "The biggest impact will be on reputation, it will have a far bigger impact than the punitive cost or loss of supply," Mr Clissold said. This can have a flow-on effect to a company's bottom line. "There has been evidence of share prices falling," he said. "The share price of companies were impacted because of their public notification of an attack," Mr Clissold said.

This was supported by an Oxford Economics report, which found that "publicised cyber attacks generally have some impact on stock market valuations and by extension company reputations". There is also the loss of customers who no longer trust the capability of their energy company after such an event. The impacts of cyber attacks are multi-staged, and go beyond the initial intrusions. Energy companies need to put in place measures in order to present a less vulnerable target. Loading
The latest cult brand to announce its intentions to turn vegan is Hourglass Cosmetics with claims it will be 100 per cent vegan by 2020. We love the brand for its soft highlighting powders, lipsticks, famous Veil Mineral Primer. So now we really just have another reason to buy it.

CEO and founder Carisa Janes told Vogue of her commitment to thevegan path, "This begins with our commitment to creating cruelty-free products and ultimately being the first completely vegan luxury cosmetics brand in the world. It is not a simple solution, but we are dedicated to putting in the time and effort it will take to find vegan alternatives for our product formulas."

Founder of Hourglass Cosmetics, Carisa Janes is taking her brand vegan. Credit:Cibelle Levi

So what defines a vegan product?

Vegan beauty and cosmetic products are free from animal testing, animal ingredients and animal-derived ingredients (including insect extracts, bovine uric acid and beeswax).
A man and woman have been shot during what police believe was a targetted attack at a Bundaberg home on Friday night.

Detectives believe two men were lying in wait when a man and woman arrived at a Targo Street residence about 10.30pm.

The crime scene set-up at the Targo Street residence in Bundaberg. Credit:Eve Sharp - Twitter

A confrontation took place before multiple shots were fired inside the property, with a shotgun believed to have been one of the weapons used.

As a result, a 36-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to her leg and a 55-year-old man, one of the men who ambushed the couple, sustained a gunshot wound to his neck.
Three men who pulled a firearm on a homeowner in Melbourne's south-east in the early hours of Saturday morning may be the same group who rammed two police cars about 24 hours earlier in what police believe was a stolen BMW.

Police are searching for the group after losing them in a car chase following an aggravated burglary in Bittern, on Western Port, about 3.30am on Saturday.

The group  believed to be three men  pulled a firearm on the residents of a Stony Point Road home after he confronted them as they tried to break into his shed.

No shots were fired, no injuries were reported and the group fled the scene.
The image of Dylan Voller in a spit-hood at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre that helped trigger the royal commission. Credit:ABC Likewise, if the Northern Territory is to achieve change, the Commonwealth Government must commit to resourcing implementation. Beyond this, the gravity of human rights abuses revealed over the past 12 months in youth jails in every corner of this country demands that we go much further. Almost immediately after the Don Dale expose we found out that children in Queensland had been subjected to similar degradation: stripped naked, threatened with dogs, hog tied. Then came NSW and revelations that children were being locked away in extended solitary confinement.

Then the Victorian Government's cruel and illegal decision to move 15- and 16-year-olds into the state's most notorious maximum security adult jail. Then we heard about children being left to soak in their own urine in WA. Last week it was routine strip-searches on vulnerable children in the ACT. And on it goes. In the months following Don Dale it has become painfully clear that abuse in youth jails is widespread, severe and systemic and that all states and territories have a case to answer. Australia will not close the dark chapter of Don Dale until we hold our governments to account for fixing broken youth justice systems. First and foremost, states and territories should raise the gateway age for children entering into the criminal justice system from 10 to 14 years.

Australia is out of step with the rest of the world when it comes to jailing primary-school aged children. We are repeatedly rebuked by United Nations child rights experts for entangling children who are not yet teenagers in the web of the criminal justice system. And we do it with gusto: around 600 children under the age of 14 are locked away each year. What this means in practice is children as young as 10 are removed from their families and communities, taken to a hostile, barbed-wire facility, strip-searched, allowed limited access to schooling, friends and family, and forced to spend hours in a concrete, sterile cell, usually the size of a car-parking spot. Like so many injustices in this country, Indigenous peoples are forced to bear the brunt of it. Leading criminologist, Chris Cunneen, found that of the approximately 600 under 14-year-olds locked up each year, nearly 70 per cent are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Hoping that children come out of a youth prison reformed, ready for a second chance at life, is as foolish as trying to grow a sunflower in the dark. Prisons are designed to castigate, confine, criminalise and therefore crush people. This is why  in addition to raising the age  state and territory governments must stop siphoning children into prisons. If we look to our neighbours, New Zealand is doing just that. They're cutting the number of children getting trapped in the criminal justice system by diverting around eighty percent of kids into community-support programs. And it's working. By the end of 2015 the number of children charged and hauled before New Zealand's youth court was the lowest it had been in 20 years. The Royal Commission will provide us with a roadmap for fixing our youth justice systems, and there is an abundance of evidence and international good-practice examples to draw from along the way but what we ultimately need is political will.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, centre, on the campaign trail. Credit:AAP In that time there has been Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, two mighty disruptions that have played to Hanson's anti-establishment, anti-expert rhetoric. Since last year's federal election, Hanson's popularity nationally has doubled. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and her Battler Bus in Brisbane on Monday. Credit:AAP In Queensland it continues to climb. A Galaxy poll conducted last weekend found the party's vote has risen from 15 per cent to 18 per cent in the past three months, while support for the Liberal National Party has fallen to 32 per cent. The Labor vote was unmoved at 35 per cent.

Queensland Labor senator Murray Watt says One Nation's role in the state cannot be underestimated. Queensland LNP leader Tim Nicholls during the election campaign. Credit:AAP "One Nation is a very real presence in this campaign. I completely believe that. If they're getting 18 per cent state wide that means they're getting up to or over 30 per cent in some areas," he said. "We're two weeks out from election day but there's a very real prospect of them winning many seats. It's no exaggeration to say they will win seats and they stand a very real chance of being part of the next government in Queensland." Palaszczuk has said she would not do a deal with One Nation, even if it meant losing government.

Liberal National opposition leader Tim Nicholls has promised he would not form a coalition with One Nation or offer ministry positions, but he has left the door open to preferencing the party on a seat-by-seat basis. One Nation is relishing the thought of the major parties knocking at its door to form government. As One Nation's state leader, Steve Dickson, puts it: "It's like drinking water. Without it, you die. At the end of the day, you're going to have to come and have a drink. We're holding all the water." One Nation is fielding 61 candidates in the election and although Hanson won't put a number on how many she thinks will be successful, she believes the result will eclipse One Nation's previous high-water mark in 1998, when it won 11 seats and nearly 23 per cent of the vote. At the time, it meant the party had gained a higher percentage of the vote than any other third party at state or territory level since Federation.

"This is going to be one hell of a campaign because I think the people of Queensland are fed up with the major political parties ... I think it is time for One Nation and honestly, I think this is going to be bigger than 1998," Hanson said. One Nation is campaigning on a combination of power prices, the cost of living and jobs. Its centrepiece, so far, has been promising a new coal-fired power station for northern Queensland. "We need to address our electricity costs and changes in the state," Hanson told Sky News during the week. "If you get the electricity prices down, you're helping pensioners, ordinary mums and dads, small business owners are going to benefit from it ... People are struggling, they're really struggling." The party is also concerned about youth unemployment, the closure of TAFEs and foreign ownership. But, Hanson says, "the biggest issue is people want honesty and trust from their politicians". "They're sick and tired of lies and rhetoric. I'm not about that. What you see is what you get. I'm not going to go out there and promise you the world and then not deliver."

Come November 25 and one party will have to form government  and polling to date suggests it will, again, be a minority government. Palaszczuk governs with the support of Peter Wellington, an independent in the state's 89-member unicameral legislative assembly. Paul Williams, a senior lecturer in politics at Griffith University, says One Nation is on track to pick up at least six seats and will be the "kingmaker" come election night. "This election is almost the perfect storm  parts of western Queensland have a strong anti-Islamic sentiment and everyone is anti-political correctness, even if they can't define it," Williams says. Queensland is also the only state where more people live outside the capital city, a factor that works in One Nation's favour. While Brisbane and much of the south-east is not sympathetic One Nation territory, regional centres such as Rockhampton, Gympie, Bundaberg, Cairns, Mackay and Townsville are. All were  or will be  stops on the Battler Bus tour.

"Much of regional Queensland still wishes it was the 1950s," Williams says. Michelle Landry holds the federal seat of Capricornia for the Turnbull government. It takes in Rockhampton, Yeppoon and some outlying suburbs of Mackay. Rockhampton is, she says, "a major battleground" for her party when it comes to staring down One Nation. "People need to understand Pauline Hanson isn't going to be premier. She's a federal senator," Landry says. "You don't hear boo from the candidates. It's all about her, whereas it should be about the candidates in that area." That is true, but tell that to the people who flock to see Hanson wherever her bus takes her.
Queensland Opposition leader Tim Nicholls has defended the Liberal National Party's how-to-vote cards following revelations of a One Nation candidate's adult store links.

The LNP on Friday announced it would reserve the last spot on its cards for the Greens in the upcoming state election, but will also ask voters to put One Nation above Labor in a swathe of seats.

Tim Nicholls has defended the LNP's how-to-vote cards. Credit:AAP

President Gary Spence stressed the party has not entered into preference arrangements with the likes of One Nation ahead of the November 25 poll.

"We make recommendations, through our how-to-vote cards, but they are recommendations and we trust Queenslanders to vote for change," he said in a statement.
It will be an immediate test of the ALPs $20 million economic transition plan for North Stradbroke Island  or Minjerribah  which has identified 23 projects. Only one of these is completed. Several others have first-stage funding at Dunwich and the islands camping grounds have been upgraded. Five new rangers have been employed. Indigenous rangers could lead tours around Minjerribah, or North Stradbroke Island, like the Point Lookout Gorge. Credit:Helen Groombridge North Stradbroke Island's Sibelco mines provide $5 million in mine royalties to the Queensland government and between $62 million and $86 million to the local economy, according to Deloitte Access Economics. The LNP declined to answer questions from Fairfax Media this week if it intends to again extend sand mining on North Stradbroke Island.

The LNP will release a comprehensive plan about North Stradbroke Island next week, a spokesman said on Friday. But thats all we will say. Redlands City Council is nervous it will be left holding North Stradbroke Islands future when Sibelco leaves. Redland mayor Karen Williams said Straddie faces an economic disaster. Credit:Tony Moore Mayor Karen Williams warned Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in a letter in May 2017 the island faced economic disaster and recommended an extra $110 million over three years.

While we accept the government has made an initial financial contribution in order to support projects it believes will fill the social and economic void left by the exit of the mining company, we believe there is a need for urgent discussion about whether these projects are sufficient to prevent an economic crisis, Mayor Williams wrote on May 5. To avoid an economic disaster, Straddie needs proper planning and investment immediately, she said. This week, Mayor Williams identified rising barge and ferry fares to North Stradbroke Island as mine staff stopped work and trucks and cars stopped catching the barges. What we really want to see is something on the ground so that community which has seen six years of uncertainty with mining on and mining off, actually sees the investment that is required to transition out of that (sand mining) economy. Sibelco's chief executive officer Tom Cutbush says they are committed to moving off North Stradbroke Island by 2019 and say they have not spoken to the LNP prior to the 2017 election.

In 2012, Sibelco backed Mr Newmans campaign in Ashgrove to win a place in state parliament against now-Education Minister Kate Jones. Sibelco has not been in any conversations with the LNP since the Governments legislation of the 2019 exit date, Mr Cutbush said. We do, however, maintain our long-held position that 24 months from now is too early." Mr Cutbush said the company was still concerned about its workers. The government-sponsored employment support has not yet fully materialized, he said.

The government is confident it has done enough for North Stradbroke Island to shift from sand to tourism, according to a spokeswoman for State Development Minister Anthony Lynham. The Palaszczuk Government has committed $20 million to transition North Stradbroke Islands economy to a more sustainable and diverse industry base as sand mining is phased out, a statement read. This initial financial injection by the Palaszczuk government aims to stimulate economic opportunities and facilitate stakeholder co-investment. The long-term objective is to increase economic activity and employment in sectors where North Stradbroke Island already has a competitive advantage  tourism and education and training  and grow local businesses. Things are starting. Slowly.

Yulu-Burri-Ba Dance Group at North Stradbroke Island's Brown Lake. Credit:Helen Groombridge North Stradbroke Island's Quandamooka people have been given an exclusive whale-watching permit. Planning, but not construction, is underway for a new port at Dunwich. A survey of passengers about ferries will be carried out before Christmas. There are reports being prepared for an Indigenous cultural centre on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah). But new ecotourism ventures are still desktop studies and plans to boost new businesses are still contracts to be awarded. Straddie Chamber of Commerce chairman Colin Battersby. Colin Battersby runs a tourism business on Straddie and chairs North Stradbroke Island's Economic Transition Study.

I mean putting this together with the wheels of government has been a little slow to get moving, but I think now there are some projects where the rubber is starting to hit the road. He doubts the island will automatically replace the $62 million to $86 million from sand mining by 2019. So, will we be able to replace the stability of sand mining on Straddie with tourism in 18 months?" he said. No, thats unlikely. It will take longer, much longer, he said. And he said the $20 million for Straddies economic transformation was too little.

That is well under-funded. Well under-funded." he said. And that has a whole heap of issues around it. And one of the big ones is that the Council, the Redland City Council is going to be left holding the baby on this; the walking trails and that sort of thing. It is one thing to plan some things and get some things built, but ongoing  its the ratepayers who are going to be paying for it. Businesses do want to move onto North Stradbroke Island, according to Chris Earle from the Ray White Commercial Bayside team.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls has accused Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk of neglecting regional Queensland jobs over her decision to veto a loan to Adani.

Ms Palaszczuk's government in May agreed not to support a $1 billion federal taxpayer-funded loan to the mining giant, months before she fronted the cameras last week to announce the decision.

Queensland Opposition leader Tim Nicholls has accused Labor of neglecting regional jobs over the government's Adani loan rejection. Credit:AAP/Regi Varghese

The Premier called a snap press conference in the first week of her state election campaign, telling reporters she would withdraw her government's support for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility funds.

Ms Palaszczuk initially said the decision was to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest after it was revealed her partner, Shaun Drabsch, worked on the loan application with his employer, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The Crown Prince had been confidently talking about cleaning up house and turning the conservative kingdom into an attractive investment destination, but there was little indication that his campaign would become a royal purge of epic proportions. New order: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh in May. Credit:New York Times "No one will be spared if they are involved in corruption, whoever they are, no one will be spared whether they a minister or an emir [prince] or anyone  they will be tried," he said, in a recent clip that is being shared widely among Saudi social media users. The move to imprison several prominent members of the royal family in Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton has been portrayed in international coverage as either a maniacal power grab or a genuine attempt at implementing ambitious reforms rapidly as Saudi Arabia deals with falling oil prices while embarking on grand national projects such as Vision 2030.

So far, over 200 officials - including the 11 princes - have been arrested, with investigators noting they uncovered at least $US100 billion in illicit funds. "MBS has probably got two objectives: one is to seize as many instruments of power, consolidating it, and the second is to either root out significant sources of corruption or convey the image [that] that's what he's trying to do," says Robert Jordan, a US ambassador to Saudi Arabia under George W. Bush. "He has a certain impetuous streak about him," Jordan added. MBS has been lauded in Western coverage for being a single-minded reformer ushering in more liberal policies domestically. He has burnished his image internationally with interviews to The Guardian and The Economist in recent months. Bernard Haykel, a Princeton University professor who has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, is positive in his assessment of the young prince.

"I have no doubts that he has intentions to reform the kingdom because he sees oil as a resource that's losing value  it's pretty clear that the writing is on the wall, that Saudi Arabia has to reform," Haykel told me. "I think the only way to discipline the [royal] family is to jolt them  Look, he hasn't killed anyone, which he can easily do if he wanted to," he added. When pressed on Saudi Arabia's shocking record of imprisoning dissidents and beheading citizens, Haykel described him as an authoritarian with a reformist mindset. "I see a guy who wants to reform his country and wants to consolidate his power just like Xi Jinping has done in China and [Vladimir] Putin in Russia," he added. The Chinese 'Flies and Tigers' anti-corruption drive targeting high-level officials was also used by Robert Jordan as a comparison for how Saudi Arabia was intent on cementing its regional hegemony by diversifying its economy.

MBS's domestic moves, though, seem to be more a matter of shoring up his power base through centralisation. "There's no question that there's a really extensive purge going on  that is effectively restructuring the entire power centre  from a system of fiefdoms to a nationally-based government underneath the power of [King] Salman and his son," said Kristin Diwan, a senior scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington DC. Regional instability This centralisation can also be seen in Saudi foreign policy. The Kingdom has been one of the largest funders of counter-revolutionary political movements in Egypt and Bahrain. It has also been engaged in a geopolitical tussle with Iran through different proxy wars. Shiite militia fighters walk along the Syrian border outside al-Badi, Iraq, earlier this year. Credit:New York Times

Iran's sphere of influence has also widened in recent years. Its longstanding funding for the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and concomitant support for the Assad regime in Syria has been added to as it reinforces the Iraqi army and Shiite militias in their fight against Islamic State and provides logistical support to the insurgent Houthis in Yemen. MBS and his father have responded to the challenge of Iran by promoting nationalism. "There's a strong new nationalism that is emerging  it's a way to mobilise that is attached to the direct leadership," Diwan explained. This was on display when Saudi officials directly accused Iran of orchestrating a ballistic missile launched from Yemen by the Houthis which targeted the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at a military funeral in September. On November 4 he announced his resignation, slamming Lebanon's Hezbollah group and warning that "Iran's arms in the region will be cut off". Credit:AP

Similarly bellicose rhetoric was deployed towards Lebanon, and specifically Hezbollah, after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri declared his resignation while visiting Riyadh, in what seemed a carefully choreographed statement on television. Hariri, who is a dual Lebanese-Saudi citizen and son of assassinated former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, acquiesced to forming a barely functioning unity government with Hezbollah late last year. There have been concerns that Lebanon could become the latest venue for the proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran, with the Houthis in Yemen managing to hold steady against a Saudi-led coalition and Sunni rebels in Syria being pushed back after Iran, Russia and Hezbollah came to the defence of the Assad regime. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, right, shakes hands with Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Tehran on November 1. Credit:AP "Iran's leadership is in a tight spot domestically so it wants to enter into a war in order to unify the masses, but the [Saudi] kingdom will prevent it from doing this" said Anwar Eshki, a former general in the Saudi armed forces who also served as an adviser to the royal family.

"We are dealing with them as if we are in war, meaning political and diplomatic relations only but not a full-fledged military conflict," Eshki said, referring to Hezbollah and Iran by extension. The whereabouts of Hariri continue to dominate Lebanese political talk shows and conversations on the street. Beirut believes that Riyadh is holding Hariri against his will, in a de facto imprisonment. There have been calls for him, including by Hezbollah and Hariri's own party, to return and officially resign in order not to plunge Lebanon further into a political quagmire. As speculation reached fever pitch last week on Arab social media, a photo showing a fatigued Hariri next to King Salman appeared on the Saudi-controlled al-Arabiya channel, apparently aimed at calming tensions. "There is nothing that could surprise me anymore" said Marwan Kraidy, a Penn University professor who is an authority on Arab media. "You have an acceleration of everything having to do with Saudi politics  I have no doubt that Hariri's resignation was a Saudi decision, not his."

Riyadh has also called upon its citizens living in Lebanon to leave the country. Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have followed suit. The Gulf states have over $20 billion in investments in Lebanon, according to Saudi media, and there are fears that economic sanctions might be the next move for an emboldened leadership. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, on a billboard in Beirut. In recent years, Hezbollah has evolved into a regional power thanks to the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts. Credit:New York Times Daniel Shapiro, a US ambassador to Israel under president Barack Obama, went so far as to suggest that the resignation of Hariri and the escalation of rhetoric against Hezbollah were a sign that Saudi Arabia was keen to see renewed conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, in the hope that the powerful Shiite militia, one of Iran's most feared allies, would finally be cut down to size. It is an open secret in the Middle East that Saudi Arabia and its allies - particularly Jordan and Egypt - as well as Israel itself were bitterly disappointed by the outcome of the last such confrontation in the northern summer of 2006. Princely problems

Even as the spectre of regional conflict loomed, unverified videos of beds with colourful blankets laid next to each other in a glittering ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton animated discussions on Arab social media of how the imprisoned princes were being treated. One of those caught up in MBS's crackdown is Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah. Once regarded as a contender for the throne during his father's reign, he headed up the powerful Saudi National Guard and has extensive business holdings including a luxurious hotel in Paris. In December 2016, he met with Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne to discuss potentially lucrative deals involving the expansion of the Saudi navy's capabilities using Australian defence expertise. Although Prince Mutaib was not specifically linked to corruption in Arab media before, Diwan said that Saudi elites operate in patronage networks benefiting from business fiefdoms that they create for themselves.

Christopher Pyne meets Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah in Riyadh in December 2016. The prince is now under arrest. Credit:Twitter @cpyne She believes that his overthrow was a combination of political elimination and consolidation of various security agencies that were on his watch under the umbrella of the National Guard. "Prince Mutaib from the beginning was going to have a target on his back from the current [royal] generation," she said. Even more sinister was a helicopter crash near the Yemeni border that killed eight government officials, including Prince Mansour bin Muqrin. The strange timing and lack of transparency from the authorities have raised fears that the royal purge might have taken a lethal turn. Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, the father of the deceased prince, was himself ousted from the succession when King Salman took power in 2015. Also among those arrested is Prince al-Waleed bin Talal. One of the world's richest men, with a fortune estimated to be around $US16 billion, he has invested billions in global companies such as Apple and Twitter. His arrest came as a shock to many investors and observers as he has traditionally been a regime loyalist.
The government is hailing the free trade agreement with Peru as the fastest Australia has ever negotiated. There's a reason for that.

Negotiations began in May this year, after it became apparent that President Trump would pull the United States out of the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, signed but not ratified by the United States and 11 other nations in February last year.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after signing a letter of intent for a Peru-Australia free trade agreement. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The so-called TPP 11 are trying to go it alone, or at least some of them are. It's rules say it can't come into force without the US. But a near-identical agreement could come into force, and could even include a clause allowing the US to join later, under another president.

Australia and Japan are keen. The other nine are less keen, and Canada, led by Justin Trudeau, is close to hostile.
November 10, 2017 - Da Nang, Vietnam

The Government of Canada is committed to free and fair trade that is progressive and will grow the economy and help the middle class.

Today, Minister Champagne welcomed the progress made on the margins of the APEC Trade Ministerial Meeting on a framework for a new Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Environment and labour rights will form crucial pillars of a new agreement and will be subject to dispute settlement mechanisms. However there still are a number of issues that remain outstanding for Canada.

This approach reinforces our commitment to fostering open markets, creating well-paying middle class jobs, and helping businesses, especially women-owned SMEs, succeed in international markets. Negotiations will continue to pursue a higher standard for trade in the burgeoning Asia-Pacific region in 11 economies.

The Government of Canada looks forward to continuing to engage on the proposals but will not be rushed into an agreement that is not in the interest of Canada.
Swiss Confederation through Federal Commission of Scholarships for Foreign Students has released an official notification, calling out for candidates to apply for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship 2018. Interested and eligible candidates can apply online now.

Scholarship award

CHF 3500 for Postdoctoral candidates

CHF 1920 for the Ph.D/Research candidates

Program objective

The program aims at promoting research co-operation and international exchange between Switzerland and other countries.

Eligibility

Educational qualification

Postdoctoral candidates

The candidate must have obtained a PhD degree between 31 December 2014 and 1 September 2018 recognised by the Swiss University.

PhD/Research Scholarship

The candidate must have a master's degree or equivalent, recognised by the Swiss University, before 1 September 2018.

Other requirements

Post doctoral candidates

The candidate must:

Have a devoted research proposal that also includes the timeline

Provide a letter issued by a professor of any Swiss hosting institution stating his/her will to supervise and support the postdoctoral research

Possess good command of required language skills for postdoctoral research

Be willing to relocate to Switzerland during the grant period

Also Read: Study in UK With Chevening Scholarship: Apply Now!

PhD/Research Scholarship

The candidate must

Be born after 31 December 1982

Have a research proposal that includes a timeframe

Provide a letter issued by an academic professor (including his/her short CV) of host institutions confirming their will to supervise and support PhD thesis

Have good command over required language skills for PhD research

Be willing to relocate to Switzerland during the grant period

How to apply for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship 2018?

In order to apply for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship 2018, follow the steps given here:

Obtain the application package from the Swiss Embassy in India through email

Fill in the form (typed) and take its print out

Fix a recent photograph on your form and sign it.

Attach necessary documents

Submit 1 original and 2 copies of the application documents to Swiss Embassy in India at the mentioned address -

Swiss Embassy in India, Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri, 110021 New Delhi

E-mail: ndh.scholarship@eda.admin.ch Tel: 0091 11 4995 9500

Official website

https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/sbfi/en/home.html

Deadline

The last date to apply for the scholarship is 12 November 2017

Also Read: IOCL Fellowship 2017 for Ph.D Researchers: Apply Now!
'Alias Grace' news: Is it based on a true story?

Netflix's YouTube Channel

Another Margaret Atwood novel is causing a buzz in TV land.

"Alias Grace" a novel from the acclaimed Canadian author is set to stream on Netflix. The story is set in Canada during the 1840's on Ontario's southern border. The book is adapted and written for television by director Sarah Polley, with Sarah Gadon playing the title role of Grace. Fans of Atwood are curious to know if "Alias Grace" follows the speculative fiction vibes of Atwood's other novel "The Handmaid's Tale."

Unlike the story of Offred and the Republic of Gilead, "Alias Grace" will be based on real events that happened in the past. As the synopsis for the series goes, "The story of Alias Grace follows Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon), a poor, young, Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who, along with stable hand James McDermott (Kerr Logan), was convicted of the brutal murders of their employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery (Anna Paquin)."

The synopsis goes on to say that James was hanged while Grace was sentenced for life imprisonment only to become one of Canada's enigmatic female personalities in the 1840s.

Thomas Kinnear, was an actual person who did live in Toronto, Canada in the 1800's. In Atwood's postscript for the novel she said that Kinnear's housekeeper had previously given birth to an illegitimate child and was the mistress of Kinnear.

Back in the 1800', a time when "racial theory" was thought be a serious scientific study, being Irish was considered to be inferior, prompting Grace Marks to not mention about her heritage. This became worse when the Great Irish Famine happened, and the Irish people was forced leave their country in search of a better life.

While majority of the book relied on the historical events, the TV adaptation where Dr. Simon Jordan (Edward Holcroft) delves into the mind of Grace Marks is fictionalized.

All six episodes of "Alias Grace" is currently streaming on Netflix.
Putin and Trump talk Syria, election meddling at brief meeting

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed a statement on Syria during a brief meeting at a summit in Vietnam on Saturday and Putin again dismissed allegations of meddling in last year's U.S. election.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they take part in a family photo at the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam November 10, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

It was their first encounter since July and came at a time that U.S.-Russia relations have been battered and Trump is haunted by the accusations that Putin influenced the election that brought him to the White House.

Trump said their agreement to support a political solution to Syria's conflict would save "tremendous numbers of lives".

"We did it very quickly," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the resort of Danang for Hanoi, Vietnam's capital. "We seem to have a very good feeling for each other, a good relationship considering we don't know each other well."

Talking after their meeting, Putin described Trump as "a well-mannered person and comfortable to deal with".

"We know each other little, but the U.S. president is highly civil in his behaviour, friendly. We have a normal dialogue but unfortunately little time," he said.

After emphasizing last year on the campaign trail that it would be nice if the United States and Russia could work together on world problems, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office.

The sight of Trump sitting down with Putin in public also revives the issue of election meddling - still under investigation. Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the probe along with his former deputy, Rick Gates.

Trump said Putin had told him again that he hadn't meddled in the election.

"I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it," Trump said of the accusations. "I think he's very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country."

Putin dismissed suggestions Russia influenced the elections through political advertising. Tech companies, including Facebook, have said some Russian-bought political content spread on their platforms around the time of the election.

"There is no confirmation of our mass media meddling in election campaigns  and there can't be any," Putin said.

Scheduling and unspecified protocol issues were to blame for the fact that a mooted sit-down meeting with Trump did not happen in Danang, Putin said.

Trump said they had two or three very short conversations.

They were seen chatting amicably as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.

Pictures from the APEC meeting also showed Trump walking up to Putin at the summit table and patting him on the back. They also shook hands at the summit dinner on Friday evening.

It would be a great thing to have a good relationship with Russia, Trump said.

"He could really help us in North Korea," Trump said. "If Russia helped us in addition to China that problem would go away a lot faster."

The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson especially for the meeting in Danang.

With Islamic State having suffered losses in Syria and beyond, greater attention is turning to the broader conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebel factions.

They confirmed their commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active part in the Geneva political process, it said.
Even before New York officials got sensible and went with the legal route to expand casino operations, they were basing their financial expectations on rosy projections. At one point, in fact, they were pitching as many as three casinos for the Catskills alone. And, to get there, they outrageously tried to skirt the state Constitution, which prohibited casino operations to expand beyond sovereign Native American land.

Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state has at least gone through the legislature and then voters to amend the Constitution to make such expansions perfectly legal. But the question of where the casinos should be located  and how many of them ultimately there should be  continues to vex New York.

With three new upstate casinos failing to meet revenue projections, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is rightly being asked to do a hard analysis of the situation. The three casinos could end their first year with about $220 million less in total revenue than they projected when they won the bids for their gaming licenses in 2014, according to a review by the USA Today's Albany Bureau.

Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, who heads the state Assembly's Racing Committee, is seeking the financial assessment, saying he is concerned the new facilities in the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and Albany area may ultimately seek state help to improve their bottom lines.

This, of course, should concern all New Yorkers; the lion's share of the tax money coming from these facilities has been designated for the state's education system. And it also impacts local governments that get a piece of the revenue to help pay for programs and services.

Amid this backdrop, Empire Resorts also is set to open a $1.3 billion casino and destination resort next year on the grounds of the old Concord Hotel in Sullivan County. That site is now identified as Resorts World Catskills and is expected to open in March 2018. Resorts World Catskills will be the only casino in this region and, with its close proximity to the New York City market, there is reasonable expectation it will fare well. But these latest casino figures also show why the state selection board made a wise choice not to locate two casinos in the Hudson Valley to add to the competition.

The governor's office and state Gaming Commission are downplaying any concerns, pointing out the state's overall gambling revenue has increased with the new casinos - and that it's too early to make judgements on how new venues will perform.

Perhaps. But the state will have to continue to make these assessments. Voters have authorized New York to allow the creation of three more casinos, in addition to the four designated for upstate through this change in the Constitution.

 The Poughkeepsie Journal

The military is one of the few institutions that Americans still hold in high esteem, but that should never be taken for granted. Two events late last week suggest that even the military's culture of high performance can be eroded without constant attention.

The first was a military judge's decision to let off U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl with a slap on the wrist for desertion in Afghanistan in 2009. After a court martial, Army Colonel Jeffery Nance recommended that Bergdahl be dishonorably discharged, demoted to private and forfeit $10,000 in pay. Prosecutors had sought 14 years in prison.

Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban and held prisoner for nearly five years, a terrible ordeal to be sure. But those most outraged by the wrist slap are other members of the armed services who fear the damage to military discipline. Bergdahl deserted on the battlefield in a forward post  the worst betrayal you can make against your fellow soldiers save for fragging them with friendly fire.

Members of Bergdahl's unit were killed or maimed when they were sent to search for him, not knowing that he had been preparing to walk away for weeks and had even dispatched personal effects to the U.S. before he walked off the forward base. The court-martial sentence must be demoralizing to those who do their duty and risk their lives without fanfare.

Even more distressing is the Navy's report on its investigation into the collisions with civilian vessels this year in the Pacific theater by the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain. The collisions  off the coast of Japan, and in the Singapore Strait, respectively  resulted in the deaths of 17 sailors.

The 71-page report, which says both collisions were "avoidable," is damning about the Navy's training practices and makes for dispiriting reading if you are a civilian who thinks the U.S. Navy is the best in the world. The report says watch team members on the Fitzgerald "were not familiar with basic radar fundamentals." And it cites a failure to plan for safety, adhere to sound navigation practices, properly use available navigation tools, and respond effectively in a crisis.

As for the McCain, the Navy cited a loss of situational awareness in response to mistakes in operating the ship's steering and propulsion system. It also cited the failure to follow the International Nautical Rules of the Road that govern maneuvering vessels amid high-density maritime traffic. These are mistakes of basic seamanship that suggest inadequate training, or shifts that are too long and cause a loss of concentration and crew cohesion.

The Navy had already relieved the ship captains and even the commander of the Pacific Fleet. This accountability is a credit to the Navy and will be a lesson to other commanders. But it should also be a warning that Congress needs to allocate enough money to adequately train sailors so they can fulfill their missions. Collisions with civilian ships in peacetime are awful, but seamanship failures during wartime would be disastrous.

 The Wall Street Journal

Criminal charges against Paul Manafort and a business associate are not linked to President Donald Trump's campaign last year, but they still should be of great concern.

Manafort was a top aide to Trump during part of the election campaign. But he was fired last August, quite possibly because Trump was upset about Manafort's other activities.

A federal grand jury indicted Manafort and a former business associate, Rick Gates, last week. They are accused of a variety of offenses, including money laundering and acting as agents for a foreign government without registering as such.

The two reaped millions of dollars from their work for Ukraine and its former president. Manafort alone is accused of laundering more than $18 million in payments from the Ukrainian government.

It appears the two were hired to influence politics in Ukraine and in the United States. Officials of that government, locked in a sometimes violent confrontation with Russia, needed and still require all the friends they can get  or, apparently, buy  in the international community.

Among the most disturbing aspects of the charges is the appearance that Manafort and Gates put personal profit ahead of allegiance to the United States. They were hired guns, in effect.

So, regardless of Manafort's onetime link to Trump, if the charges are proven, he and Gates should be punished as severely as the law allows.

 The Post-Journal, Jamestown
'WWE Survivor Series' updates: WWE updates lineup for Survivor 2017 event in Texas

WWE is hoping to conclude 2017 with a bang with its final major pay-per-view event scheduled on Nov. 19. WWE Survivor Series 2017 will take place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The anticipated match between WWE Champion AJ Styles and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar had been locked down for the event.

Jinder Mahal was the frontrunner to face Lesnar in the survivor series but he was dethroned by Styles as WWE Champion. Mahal and Styles battled it out in Manchester, England on Nov. 7. Mahal had the upper hand most of the time during the match but Styles overpowered him with his signature move "Phenomenal Forearm" and managed to pin him down.

For the 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series elimination matches, Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon will be the two captains to two opposing teams. Angle will be accompanied by Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Jason Jordan, and Braun Strowman. McMahon is still looking for the fifth member to join him, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura.

For the women 5-on-5 match, team captain Becky Lynch, Carmella, Tamina Snuka, Naomi, and Charlotte Flair will face Alicia Fox's team. Fox is accompanied by Nia Jax, Asuka, and Sasha Banks. There is still no update who is the last member of team Fox.

For the tag team match, Smack Down's Tag Team Champions The Usos will face Raw's champions Sheamus and Cesaro. Intercontinental Chapion The Miz will also throw down against U.S. Champion Baron Corbin. Enzo Amore will defend his WWE Cruiserweight belt from Kalisto.

The Survivor Series will also feature an anticipated match between Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss and SmackDown Women's Champion Natalya.

The Survivor Series 2017 on Nov. 19 will start at 7 p.m. EDT. Fans are urged to watch the show live to witness the most anticipated WWE matches of 2017. The official theme of this year's survivor series is Kid Rock's "Greatest Show on Earth."
watch now

Investing for kids

Leonard Mc Lane | Getty Images

Suitability may be all-important in investing, but the concept can be lost on children, who probably have little to no interest in what stocks are or how to invest, Cramer said. "Let's be honest. You couldn't explain to a kid what a stock is to save his or her life," he said. Cramer grew up differently. His dad taught him about stocks, giving Cramer the business section of the Philadelphia Bulletin each day so he could look at stocks' closing prices. "I liked the stock-picking process so much I got the whole fifth grade class at Penn Manor involved. We would all pick stocks and keep track of the closing prices for a week to see who could make the most money," the "Mad Money" host said. But there are ways to learn about stocks even for kids who play with toys, Cramer said. While they may not know what it means to own shares of companies, they know they love their Hasbro Star Wars Lightsabers or their Mattel Barbie dolls. "I bet you they'd pick Hasbro over Mattel," Cramer added. Kids also know Disney theme parks, McDonald's Happy Meals, and General Mills' Cheerios. The rougher tykes may even be familiar with Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aids. "If you want to get your kids into investing, buy a brand name," Cramer said. "Something they can see and hear and tough and even like. Yeah, just own it. The stock won't always work. But think of what you liked when you were little, and remember that you may have a long term winner on your hands."

Buying for babies

Simon Ritzmann | Getty Images

Investing for children can be tricky, but Cramer says that if you do it right, it can leave your loved ones much better off by the time they grow up than if you avoid it altogether. "Parents, grandparents, listen up. You can give all sorts of things to families that had just had babies. I want you to open up accounts for them. Or at least give them some shares of stock so that from the earliest moment you can start the process of saving that you have to do," Cramer said. His first suggestion was taking several hundred dollars and buying shares in an index fund like the S&P 500, then pairing that with some kind of total return fund, which provides a wider array of stocks. And for investors who are more interested in buying individual stocks for newborns, Cramer suggests picking two  a stock with a dividend that could be increased each year and then reinvested, and a stock with some more growth.

Teen habits: Not so destructive?

Ricardo DeAratanha | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Over the years, Cramer found that when it comes to investing, some of the best advisors have been none other than his two teenage daughters. "We all know that teenagers are incorrigible. The last thing they want to hear about is stocks. They have bigger fish to fry. To which I say, so what? I'm not going to tell them what to buy. I'm going to let them tell me," he said. Cramer started with the stock of Domino's . The "Mad Money" host thought it was a good speculative stock after CEO Patrick Doyle took up reforming the quality of the ingredients. "But that's not what made this stock a 'Mad Money' crown jewel. Nope, it was the technology behind DPZ," Cramer said, adding that until his kids discovered the Domino's ordering app, they preferred local pizza restaurants to the national chain. Cramer's daughters, like so many other millennials, hate talking on the phone, especially given the risk of the person on the other end getting their orders wrong or giving them an incorrect estimate for when their food would be delivered. "All of this technology was totally lost on me," Cramer said. "I never minded the phone, was always patient about when the pizza would arrive, never cared about the interchange with the delivery person. I kind of liked it. In short, I was not like the target audience. That's why I always call Domino's a tech company that sells pizza."

Investing through college and beyond

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
During a day of meetings about the Republican tax bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke to the media, November 9, 2017.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday acknowledged he "misspoke" when he said no middle-class Americans would see a tax hike under the Senate tax plan.

He told The New York Times that "you can't guarantee that no one sees a tax increase." He added that the Senate aims to reduce the burden on the average taxpayer in each income bracket.

Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a tax plan, seeking a broad reduction in the business and individual tax burden. While most taxpayers are expected to see cuts under the proposal, some Americans, depending on their specific circumstances, could pay more due to the elimination of certain deductions.

A Times analysis estimated that about a quarter of middle-class families would see taxes rise in 2018. Other independent analyses have projected tax hikes for a pocket of the population under the Senate plan and a similar proposal working its way through the House.

Read the full Times story here.
Craft beer's days of heady double-digit growth may be over, but it is expected to produce volume growth of 5 to 6 percent this year and outperform the broader category, according to a new report.

Susquehanna analyst Pablo Zuanic said craft beer is forecast to represent about 12 percent of total beer volume this year, up slightly from 2016 levels. He's basing the information on briefings with the Brewer Association's chief economist, Bart Watson.

Most of the new volume growth this year within the craft beer segment will come from the smaller breweries, the analyst said. Also, he points out that retail shelves won't help much since stores are not adding space to the packaged category.

The analyst said what's growing is essentially "concentrated mainly among the local and regional players," not the big-name brands like Boston Beer and Sierra Nevada.

As a result, Zuanic wrote that he's "somewhat concerned" when it comes to Boston Beer's medium-term outlook. Last month, Boston Beer reported weaker-than-expected revenue as its flagship Sam Adams and Angry Orchard brands remained challenged.

Indeed, the larger brands such as Boston Beer have suffered in recent years from a perception of being not viewed as authentic craft anymore. The company is still fighting back with new products, including new ale in cans to draw millennial consumers.

"Certain big breweries are struggling to maintain volume and any kind of growth," said Jeremy Cowan, founder of Shmaltz Brewing, an upstate New York-based boutique brewer. However, he said, there's still excitement and growth in the craft beer segment "but you have to go in and fight for your spot."

He concedes the retail shelf space is tight for craft brewers but said part of the issue is the big brands are taking up that space with 10 or 20 packaged selections that are often the same beer. "All of that space in my mind should be allocated more evenly and more fairly," he said. "We're lucky as craft brewers if we have 2 or 3 products of ours in one store."

Meantime, the forecast for 5 to 6 percent volume growth in craft beer this year compares with the 6 percent pace in 2016, which broke more than a decade of double-digit growth in the category. The peak year for the industry was 2014, when it added 3.3 million barrels; this year the forecast is for craft to add about 1.5 million barrels.

"There's some signs that the second half of the year has been a little bit better than last year," the Brewer Association's Watson told CNBC in an interview. "The first quarter was clearly worse than the second quarter."

The total U.S. beer market last year was $107.6 billion, with the craft beer portion representing about $23.5 billion of the total and showing 10 percent sales growth, according to the brewers trade group. Watson is forecasting the craft industry will see roughly 8 or 9 percent growth in retail dollar sales in 2017, based on current volume estimates.

Overall, the U.S. beer market is forecast to show volume declines of about 1 percent to 1.5 percent this year, according to Susquehanna's report.

Anheuser-Busch InBev , the world's largest brewer, last month reported that hurricanes in Florida and Texas were to blame for its third-quarter volumes falling 6.1 percent in North America. Also, Watson said the weather impact wasn't just felt on the big brewer side but among craft brewers too.

Zuanic points out that craft beer is a relatively "small part" of AB InBev's business, as it is for rivals Molson Coors Brewing and Constellation Brands .

Even so, some of the major brands such as AB InBev have spent upwards of $200 million in recent years to buy independent craft breweries, including Goose Island, Blue Point Brewing and Wicked Weed Brewing, among others.

Also, some of the Japanese companies are getting in on the action and snapping up independent breweries. In August, Japan's Sapporo paid about $85 million for Anchor Brewing, a San Francisco-based brewing pioneer with roots dating back to California's gold rush.

Nearly 6,000 U.S. brewers are expected to be in operation by the end of this year, up from about 5,300 at the end of 2016. The vast majority of the new breweries are expected to be small and locally focused, according to Watson.
Two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Steve Daines of Montana, rescinded their recent endorsements on Friday of Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore, who is embroiled in a controversy over his alleged past relationships with teenage girls.

"Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate," Lee tweeted late Friday.

Daines tweeted a similar message soon after: "I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate."

The senators' tweets followed a stunning report Thursday by The Washington Post, which documented the accounts of four women who said Moore had pursued sexual relationships with them when they were in their teens, and Moore was in his early 30s.

The youngest of the four women, Leigh Corfman, said Moore initiated multiple sexual encounters with her when she was 14 years old.

In an interview Friday afternoon with Sean Hannity, Moore denied ever having met Corfman, but said he may have dated at least two of the women who spoke to the Post.

Overall, Moore said, dating teenage girls in his 30s "would be out of my customary behavior." But when Hannity pressed him on whether he actually had, Moore claimed he couldn't recall.

This was only moments after Moore had insisted to Hannity that one of the women in the Post's story, Gloria Thacker Deason, had been 19, and not 18, when Moore dated her.

At another point in the interview, Moore appeared to defend pursuing "young ladies" as long as their parents approved. "I don't remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother. And [one woman] said her mother actually encouraged her to go out with me," he said.
Roy Moore, GOP Senate candidate and former chief justice on the Alabama Supreme Court speaks during the annual Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit at the Omni Shorham Hotel on October 13, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore said Friday that allegations by four women that he pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers are "completely false and misleading."

Moore appeared on "The Sean Hannity Show," where he claimed never to have met a woman named Leigh Corfman, who alleges that Moore pursued a sexual relationship with her when she was 14 years old.

"I don't know Ms. Corfman from anybody," Moore told Hannity. "I've never talked to her, never had any contact with her." Over the course of the interview, however, Moore did acknowledge having known at least two of the other women who spoke to The Washington Post.

"With regards to the other girls, understand that this was 40 years ago," he sad, "and after my return from the military. I dated a lot of young ladies."

Moore stressed that his behavior was never inappropriate, and the three women he acknowledged knowing had all reached the legal age of consent.

One of the women, Debbie Wesson Gibson, said Moore asked her out after they met at her high school, where Moore was speaking to her civics class. Moore said he did not specifically remember speaking to Gibson's class, or exactly when, or even if, they dated.

"I knew her as a friend. If we did go out on dates, then we did, but I do not remember that," Moore said. He did, however, remember that Gibson was "a good girl," and he recalled knowing her parents. "They were friends," he said.

Another woman, Gloria Thacker Deason, recalled that Moore took her on dates when she was 18, where he bought her drinks before she'd reached the legal drinking age of 19. Moore denied that he'd ever bought her drinks when she was 18. "As I recall, she was 19 or older," he said.

"I seem to remember her as a good girl, and I had some sort of knowledge of her parents, or her mother," he said of Deason.

Overall, Moore said, dating teenagers when he was in his 30s "would be out of my customary behavior," but claimed he couldn't recall if he ever actually had. This was only moments after Moore insisted that Deason had been 19, not 18, when they dated.

At another point in the interview, Moore appeared to defend pursuing "young ladies" as long as their parents approved. "I don't remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother. And [one woman] said her mother actually encouraged her to go out with me," he told Hannity.

Moore portrayed The Washington Post's report as a hit job, cooked up by his political enemies, and tried to cast doubt as to why the women did not come forward with their allegations earlier.

"Obviously, you don't wait 40 years to break out something like this," he said of Corfman's account.

"There will be facts that come out ... to show in this situation that this was a Democrat and maybe even an established Republican effort to undermine this campaign because they don't want to hear the truth in Washington. They don't want to hear the truth. About God. And about the Constitution," Moore said.

In Washington, Republican senators responded to the report Thursday with shock and dismay. More than a dozen lawmakers said that if the claims are true, Moore should exit the race immediately.

According to new paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission Friday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is no longer a part of a joint fundraising committee that includes Moore's campaign, the Alabama GOP and the Republican National Committee.
George Takei, the former "Star Trek" actor accused of making an unwanted advance on a former model decades ago, issued a denial on Saturday in which he claimed to be "shocked and bewildered" by the news.

Late Friday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Scott R. Brunton claimed Takei groped him without consent in an incident at the actor's home in 1981. Brunton, who was 23 at the time, told the publication he passed out and allegedly awoke to find Takei attempting to remove his underwear.

The openly gay actor was sharply criticized as the Hollywood Report story went viral on social media. Yet Takei strongly denied the accusation in a Facebook post, saying the incident "simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now."

The claim against Takei comes as Hollywood is reeling from a litany of accusations of sexual impropriety leveled against high-profile figures in the industry. Recently, Takei himself strongly denounced actor Kevin Spacey, who publicly revealed he was gay as he came under withering pressure for allegedly sexually assaulting 15 young men.

"I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do," Takei wrote on his Facebook page. "But I do take these claims very seriously, and I wanted to provide my response thoughtfully and not out of the moment."

"Right now it is a he said / he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful," Takei wrote.
Inmates at the Adelanto Detention Facility. Getty Images

Kevin Ring, president of the prison-reform group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, knows the U.S. prison system intimately. In the 1990s, Ring worked as a Republican Congressional staffer in both the House and Senate, helping push through a landmark 1994 crime law that established longer mandatory sentences -- including for criminals convicted of non-violent offenses. Twenty years later, he began serving an 18-month sentence for public corruption and other crimes related to his later lobbying work. Ring worked at the same firm as Jack Abramoff, the infamous lobbyist whose peddling of influence for cash was so egregious that Congress created a new ethics office in the wake of his scandal. In 2008, Abramoff was convicted on corruption and tax-related charges and received a four-year sentence. Ring was convicted in 2010, after an earlier mistrial. After a lengthy series of appeals he began serving his time in a minimum-security facility in 2014. The turning point in his life, Ring says, "from being a tough-on-crime hill staffer to a defendant," was soon followed by one of the worst: Being forced to explain to two young daughters that he was going to prison. "Locking someone up in a cage is the worst thing we can do to a person, apart from putting them to death," Ring told CNBC in a recent phone interview.

Ring, now 47, says he was fortunate that the judge on his case had the power to imprison him for far less time than prosecutors had asked for. "The thing that saved me (from a lengthy sentence) is that the judge knew my background and had the discretion" to impose a lighter sentence. Now he's working to reduce the prison sentences of other non-violent offenders.

Support from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Ring is one of a handful of former GOP political insiders turned federal prisoners now advocating for criminal justice reform. FAMM is funded in part by the Koch brothers, among the largest donors to conservative causes. Two others are David Safavian and Pat Nolan, the deputy director and director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform, which is a unit of the powerful conservative lobbying group, the American Conservative Union Foundation. Safavian, also caught up in the Abramoff scandal, was convicted of obstruction of justice and making a false statement and served a year in federal prison a decade ago. Nolan, a former California state legislator who was GOP leader of the California Assembly in the mid-1980s, was caught up in an FBI sting operation known as Shrimpscam." He pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and spent two years in jail. Along with their conservative politics and first-hand experience with the prison system, the three men share another surprising thing in common: Their advocacy groups recently received funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which has made criminal justice reform one of its priorities -- along with education, housing and science. After a 2015 visit to San Quentin, the famous Bay Area prison near San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the U.S. "can't jail its way to a just society."

This week, during a video interview to discuss what he'd learned during his year of travel around the U.S., Zuckerberg recounted a visit he made to a juvenile detention center in South Bend, Indiana. "We're building the wrong social network for those kids. Instead of showing them good role models, they're surrounded by people who are bad," he said. "You don't want those kids to be affected that way. If you go to prison early in life, you'll be more likely to go later in life," said Zuckerberg, calling prison reform "one of the biggest things we're working on."

Nationwide momentum for criminal justice reforms

Thanks to support from both conservatives and progressives, 30 U.S. states have adopted some version of prison reform in the last 10 years. Ohio voters just passed a new amendment to the state constitution that expanded legal notification rights for crime victims. Five of the states  including ones like Texas and Louisiana with tough-on-crime reputations  passed broad measures based on a concept called 'justice re-investment.' That's the idea that America should build fewer prisons and reduce sentences, then use the cost savings for victim-compensation funds, anti-recidivism programs and hiring more police. The GOP move toward prison reform  long a cause of the progressive left  began in Texas with Rick Perry, the former governor and 2016 Republican presidential candidate. Faced with the cost of building several new prisons, Perry opted instead for a broad package of reforms. The result: the lowest crime rates in decades and more than $3 billion in savings. "It's not just about reducing sentences," says David Safavian of the Center for Justice Reform. One key to lowering the prison population is to make sure released inmates have a "family support structure...and a meaningful job," he says. "If we check those two boxes, recidivism rates plummet," Safavian says. According to a March 2016 report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, more than half of federal prisoners released in 2005 were re-arrested for a new crime or for violating their supervision conditions by 2016.

Now taking aim at Congress
One of Europe's smallest countries now holds claim to being a giant in the space industry.

Luxembourg, with a population less than the state of Vermont, now generates nearly 2 percent of its annual gross domestic product from the space industry, according to Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider. The country's economy checked in just shy of $61 billion in 2016, according to the CIA World Factbook.

"We have grown from nothing to the most dynamic in Europe," Schneider told an audience Saturday, in a speech at the New Worlds conference in Austin, Texas. He added that the country's space program was first launched just over 30 years ago.

Schneider, who also serves as Luxembourg's economic minister, told the conference that he is often questioned about why Luxembourg is so "keen on exploiting space resources." He replied by saying the same "liberal, extremely business friendly climate" that pushed the country's financial sector boom is now being reapplied to attracting space companies.

"I have more than 70 space companies in the pipeline," Schneider told CNBC after the speech.

Luxembourg's "space resources initiative" is the country's plan to make the most out of a quickly growing global industry, the minister said. "It's a series of measures to position Luxembourg as the European heart of exploration and use of space resources."

He highlighted U.S. companies Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources, as well as Japanese ispace as three key, rising players in Luxembourg. With a per capita GDP of $103,000, Schneider says the space industry has "strong public support."

Space mining is Luxembourg's present focus, but it is not the country's first. In 1985, Luxembourg launched a public-private partnership with satellite operator SES . While Schneider said he believes the satellite business has not plateaued, he does not anticipate the space industry growing beyond the 2 percent GDP mark any time soon.

"It could be 5 percent, but that may be 10 or 15 years," Schneider said. "Right now we have dozens of companies that are here but have yet to make money. We have startup incubators and investment funds are being established."

The key then, to Schneider, is his nation's legal framework of ownership. The United States and Luxembourg are the only two countries in the world to have passed laws giving corporations ownership of materials mined in space, but only after they've been extracted.

"Allowing companies to have ownership of future materials gives venture capital firms incentive to come here and buy into these opportunities," Schneider added.
Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky says being a successful leader all comes down to the valuable lessons he learned as a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"At the end, it's all about leadership and the important leadership lessons that you learn here," Gorsky, a former U.S. Army Captain, told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on Thursday.

"How do you do something that's bigger than yourself? How do you be part of a team so you get everybody diverse, in different backgrounds, all behind the common mission and work together?" he asked.

As the chief of a $372 billion company, Gorsky said that corporate success is often driven by three key things: Innovation, execution and hiring the right people.

"It's about great leaders and great people, and I could not be prouder of the 145,000 employees at Johnson & Johnson who really bring the credo, [the] value system every day to work to do their very best," the CEO told CNBC.

Gorsky added that Johnson & Johnson takes pride in hiring veterans, many of whom exhibit the characteristics that make them top employees.

"How do you have an attitude where, no matter how high that wall, no matter how thick, you're going to figure out a way to get the mission done? That's what [veterans] represent and that's what this place is all about," he said.

During the special "Mad Money" Veterans Day show, Gorsky scanned the audience for Courtney Billington, a 1987 graduate of the military academy, who is now vice president of Johnson & Johnson's global pharmaceutical supply chain.

"Courtney graduated from here and now is running one of the largest, most complex supply chains in the world," the CEO said. "You're just taking leadership from one area [and] bringing it to another. Marene Allison, first class of women at West Point back in 1980, she now runs cybersecurity for Johnson & Johnson."

Gorsky's main leadership lessons for the West Point cadets are twofold: Find something to do that you're passionate about, and take care of yourself.

"When you really enjoy what you're doing, you're going to be better and your people will know that," he said. "And what's key in addition to your leadership is making sure that you're healthy, that you're fit, and you need to do that not only in the military but in a civilian career so that you can be your very best."
Tucked inside the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, Raytheon is assembling missiles destined for U.S. and Japanese warships in the Pacific.

Recently, CNBC was granted exclusive access to the operation, as part of a multi-city, multi-month tour of Raytheon's extensive missile defense operations, including access to classified factories.

Raytheon is currently cranking out about 20 of these Standard Missile (SM) variants per month, comprising a key part of the Lockheed Martin -made Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. The SM-6s and longer-range SM-3s missiles are intended to help defend against the increasing possibility of North Korean ballistic missile attack.

Soon, the facility will start producing a next-generation version of the SM-3, called Block II-A, capable of traveling even farther and higher to better intercept an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Raytheon won't begin delivering Block II-As to the U.S. and Japanese until sometime next year, but already more orders may be coming.

Just this week, congressional defense committees authorized a $700 billion defense spending plan for fiscal 2018. While the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) still needs to be passed by both houses of Congress and then signed into law by the president, the legislation incorporated a bigger budget for missile defense  including the White House's last-minute request to add $4 billion for "urgent missile defeat and defense enhancements to counter the threat of North Korea."

That funding will go toward expansions of both the U.S. homeland and various regional ballistic missile defense systems. That will increase spending for programs by Boeing , Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK , and Raytheon, according to Washington-based Cowen and Co. defense analyst, Roman Schweizer.
In a dramatic changing of the guard, Radhika Jones, the editorial director of the books department at The New York Times and a former top editor at Time magazine, is expected to be named the next editor of Vanity Fair, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

Conde Nast, which publishes Vanity Fair, plans to make the announcement as soon as Monday.

Ms. Jones, 44, will succeed the 68-year-old Graydon Carter, who said in September that he was stepping down from the glossy general-interest magazine after a 25-year run at its helm.

More from The New York Times:

Russia Warns of Crackdown on U.S. Media, Including CNN

The Wing, a Chic Women's Club, Is Going Wide

I Won the Lottery and I Need Help. No, Really!

A spokeswoman for Conde Nast declined to comment. The Times also declined to comment.

In anointing Ms. Jones, who holds degrees from Harvard College and Columbia University, Vanity Fair has placed its future in the hands of a woman  the first since Tina Brown served as the magazine's editor from 1984 until 1992  who has cultivated the kind of sophistication and prestige that Conde Nast has long valued.

Mr. Carter's announcement two months ago set off a race to inherit his throne and ignited speculation across the media industry. In a magazine business that has lost much of its luster in recent year, Vanity Fair has largely retained its glow, and its editorship remains one of the most coveted in the business.

Robert Sauerberg, the chief executive of Conde Nast, and Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue and Conde Nast's artistic director, oversaw the search. David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, also played a significant role in selecting Mr. Carter's successor. Mr. Carter was not involved in the decision-making process.

With the selection of Ms. Jones, Conde Nast has made clear that it still respects print, even as it looks to a digital future less tied to its magazines. Before joining the books desk at The Times last year, Ms. Jones was deputy managing editor at Time magazine, where she oversaw the Time 100 issue. At the Paris Review, the literary magazine known for its Writers at Work interviews, she was a managing editor. She has also worked at Grand Street, Artforum and The Moscow Times.

Her deep familiarity with celebrity, journalism, art and publishing were probably big draws for Conde Nast, whose editors are often expected to mingle among influential people in the disparate spheres covered by their publications.

While at Vanity Fair, Mr. Carter became a celebrity in his own right, wielding his influence beyond the world of print magazines. A party host, restaurateur and film producer, he became a known figure in Washington, New York and Hollywood. Under his leadership, Vanity Fair's annual post-Oscar party became a big, glittering affair attended by almost everyone who won a statuette. It also served as a major advertisement for the brand.

But the state of the magazine industry has changed dramatically since Mr. Carter became Vanity Fair's editor in the summer of 1992, and its financial challenges have not spared Conde Nast. The company, which expects to bring in $100 million less in revenue this year than it did in 2016, has slashed the budgets at its titles and is in the middle of laying off 80 employees. Earlier this month, it said it was reducing the print frequency of titles like GQ and Glamour and shutting the print edition of Teen Vogue completely.

Whereas magazine editors of yore could swan about the city in Town Cars and take long martini lunches, they must now devise ways for magazines to survive in a fraught climate. Instead of devoting much of their working hours to holding the hands of temperamental writers or overseeing the designs of print pages, they now help organize gatherings and coordinate video production.

In this time of industry-wide belt-tighting, the curtains seem to be drawing on the age of the celebrity editor, who commanded seven-figure salaries and generous expense accounts.

Other top candidates for the job included Janice Min, who breathed life into Us Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter; Anne Fulenwider, the editor in chief of Marie Claire; Andrew Ross Sorkin, a columnist and editor at The Times, and the founder of its DealBook franchise; and Mike Hogan, the digital director of Vanity Fair.

(Disclosure: Andrew Ross Sorkin is an anchor on CNBC's "Squawk Box.")
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff once called Keith Block "the best sales executive the enterprise software industry has ever seen."

The remark came in early 2014, six months after Benioff hired Block away from Oracle  where Benioff himself got started  and made him COO. At the time, Benioff said he'd been trying to hire Block for 10 years.

Benioff is not prone to understatement, but his respect for Block has been borne out.

Since Block started, Salesforce's revenue has approximately tripled, from $4.1 billion in the fiscal year ended in January 2014 to an expected $12.5 billion for the year ending in January 2019. Its share price has jumped more than 160 percent during his tenure, giving Salesforce a market value of over $75 billion.

That makes Salesforce the rare counterexample to the dominance of the "Big Five"  Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook  which have added a total of over $1 trillion in value this year.

In particular, Salesforce has managed to stay one step ahead of Microsoft, a competitor in the space where Salesforce made its name: Customer relationship management software.

While CRM is what sales organizations use to keep track of customer interactions, Salesforce has expanded into adjacent markets like marketing, and has deftly signed partnership agreements with enterprise giants that include IBM, Amazon and even Alphabet's Google.

As Block explained to CNBC during the company's massive Dreamforce conference last week, the way to compete with giants is not to worry about the competition.

"We are laser-focused on the customer. We're not worried about ERP, we're not worried about consumer electronics, we're not worried about servers, storage," he said.

"Some of those five that you're referring to, that's their world  that's not our world. And I think that world largely represents the past, and our world is about the future  It's about customer engagement and growth," Block added.

Salesforce does have a partner agreement with Microsoft to make it easier for customers to integrate its products with Microsoft's Office 365, among other things. The two companies cozied up to each other after Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, and Nadella was a major presence on stage at Dreamforce in 2015.

But the relationship has again soured. The two companies were in sharp competition to acquire LinkedIn last year, and the gloves came off after Microsoft won. Benioff has gone back to taking potshots in public.

Block stays out of that fight, letting his voluble boss do the honors. He prefers to focus on the business.

"If you go back to the origins of that relationship with Microsoft, that was in response to what's best for our customers," he said.

Here's a transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity.

CNBC: Can you give me an overview on how things have changed in the four and a half years since you've been there? What's improved?

Keith Block: If you go back to the roots of the company, [when] I started with the company -- it was about 4 billion in revenue at that particular point in time. We just gave our forward guid[ance] of 12 and a half billion, which means that the company will triple in five years, in terms of revenue, going from 4 to 12 and a half billion.

So we're all very, very excited about that. But the roots of the company were single cloud sales force automation. Largely selling into the SMB [small and mid-sized business] space. And since then, the company's gone through a transformation where we've moved very, very aggressively, both globally, in terms of our international expansion, as well as moving into the enterprise. And if you look at our business mix, you can see that the enterprise business has been on fire.

CNBC: Did you have to build up vertical expertise in the sales team?

Block: Yes, so all the go-to-market organizations today are very deliberately moving towards more vertical market selling and services expertise. We released vertical products for the first time last year. Financial Services Cloud, which was focused on the wealth management business, and Health Cloud, which is the relationship between the patient and the provider. A couple weeks ago we announced the retail bank solution. So we have deep industry expertise, deep industry knowledge. Our customer-facing teams are focused by industry. We've released products specific to those two industries.

CNBC: As you guys were trying to move up market and go into the enterprise, what were the biggest challenges you faced?

Block: In certain cases, there's a market awareness challenge, historically, because some companies thought we were just in sales force automation and clearly we're not; we are a customer success platform. And there's a cultural change, even inside the company, to think differently about the life cycle, the relationship, the strategic nature of going after those customers. The international expansion is very important because if you are going into the enterprise, these are global companies. So you need to be able to service them all over the world.

CNBC: As an outsider, it's sometimes a little hard to get a read on Saleforce because you typically don't have a huge product release every few years. How do you guys think about that kind of rolling product development and how do you work with company IT departments to get them comfortable with that?

Block: The days of, "We are gonna work years, and then there's going to be a big release," is -- it's over. That is the thinking of the past. You know, big upgrades, big bang, wait years for innovation. It's done. I lived in that world for a very long time. Part of the challenge with that it, if you wait three years for anything, the technology changes -- certainly nowadays, because we've seen this accelerated technology -- but your business changed.

So the whole market can change underneath you, while you're trying to figure out what to do for three years. So I think increasingly, customers are embracing the notion of agile, very quick. You know, you hear the expression of "scrum teams," that's very, very new to engineering.

CNBC: Do you need more of a high-touch, constant-touch sales and communication process because of that? Again, from the outside, I'm unsure whether to treat Salesforce as more of a software company or more of a services company or consulting company. You're kind of neither; you're kind of both. How do you look at that?

Block: We're a transformational company. We're a solutions company. And, you know, specific to the enterprise, we have offerings that we provide called ITCs -- "innovation technology centers" -- where we'll put a cadre of people who are on site and they're driving adoption. And even if you don't use an ITC, that's part of our regular success services. So when you buy something from us, no matter what, you automatically are connected with a journey and somebody who's going to support you and shepherd you through this transformation.

CNBC: Do you find other companies in the enterprise space mimicking that approach more so than they were four years ago?

Block: I think that if you're a legacy technology company that has been doing business for a very, very long time, it's no different than any other company in any other industry that is facing market dynamics around, "you must transform," because your market is being disrupted. And I think those legacy technology companies  it's like turning an aircraft carrier in pre-stormy seas. It's hard.

CNBC: The big talk in tech these days is how five companies really dominate The New York Times, for example, talks about the "Frightful Five." And in the enterprise space, the most talked about frightful five is Microsoft. The perception is, if you're not one of those five, you have no chance. Salesforce has conclusively disproved that. How much do you concern yourself with the really huge players at the top? And as you move up into the enterprise, who do you run into and what kind of tactics are you running into where they try to block your progress?

Block: It's very interesting the way that's been positioned. Here's what I would tell you: Number one, all we care about is our customer success; everything that we do is about the customer. We are laser-focused on the customer. We're not worried about ERP, we're not worried about consumer electronics, we're not worried about servers, storage. Some of those five that you're referring to, that's their world -- that's not our world. And I think that world largely represents the past, and our world is about the future -- It's about customer engagement and growth. That's our vision, that's our mission. It's aligned with the CEOs in the world. If you look at the market statistics, we're the number one in CRM. We're the number one in sales, we're the number one in service, we're the number one in marketing. The beat goes on. So we're playing our game, we're laser-focused, 20,000 employees -- that's all we do.
A group of prominent hedge funds have roared back with market-trouncing returns in 2017, helping the industry score its best performance in at least four years in a surprise rebound for an often maligned pocket of Wall Street.

An elite club of managers rode bull markets and increased dispersion between securities to score profits of at least 20 percent through the end of October, a dramatic improvement from last year for investors such as Larry Robbins, Philippe Laffont, and Chase Coleman, people familiar with individual funds' performance said.

One of the largest returns came from Charlottesville-based investor Jaffray Woodriff, who used short-term stock bets to score a 68.3 percent gain in a key fund of his $4 billion Quantitative Investment Management.

By comparison, the S&P 500 Index was up 15 percent, more than double the benchmark HFRI hedge fund index, which was up 7.23 percent through October, its best annual return since at least 2013.

"We've been seeing significantly improved performance," Darren Wolf, head of hedge fund solutions for the Americas at Aberdeen Asset Management, said.

The last few years have been littered with hedge fund managers who charged steep fees and often promised heady returns only to lose money for investors or close shop entirely. A roaring stock market and the rise of low-cost investment tools, such as index funds, have also hit the industry.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Russia's Vladimir Putin again denied interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections. But Trump declined to say whether he believed the Russian leader.

"He says he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. "Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it."

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for an economic summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria. But Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders' relationship  Putin is "insulted" by the accusation, Trump said. In a blistering partisan attack, Trump accused Democrats of using the election issue to create a barrier between the U.S. and Russia as the nations work on crises in Syria and Ukraine.

"Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Trump told reporters, once again casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia did try to interfere in the election. "People will die because of it."

Trump's suggestion that he may believe Putin over his own nation's intelligence community is certain to re-ignite the firestorm over the election meddling. Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea.

Trump said the probe into the election hacking was a "fake barrier" placed by Democrats that was hurting the United States' ability to have a relationship with Russia, a distraction that was putting lives at stake.

The Kremlin issued a statement Saturday saying that the leaders met during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Denang and reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of the civil war-torn country now that the Islamic State group has largely been pushed out. Among the agreements' key points, according to the Russians, were an affirmation of de-escalation zones, a system to prevent dangerous incidents between American and Russian forces, and a commitment to a peaceful solution governed by a Geneva peace process.

The Kremlin quickly promoted the agreement as the White House stayed silent. Trump told reporters that the deal was reached "very quickly" and that it would save a number of lives. And he praised his relationship with Putin, saying "We seem to have a very good feeling for each other and a good relationship, considering we don't know each other well."

Snippets of video of conference events have shown Trump and Putin shaking hands and chatting, including during the world leaders' traditional group photo. The two walked together down a path to the photo site, conversing amiably, with Trump punctuating his thoughts with hand gestures and Putin smiling.

Journalists traveling with Trump were not granted access to any of the APEC events he participated in in the picturesque tropical seaside city.

White House officials worked quietly behind the scenes negotiating with the Kremlin over a formal meeting. The Russians raised expectations for such a session and Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Asia that it was "expected we'll meet with Putin" to discuss issues including ramping up pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic weapons program.As speculation built, the two sides tried to craft the framework of a deal on the future of Syria that Trump and Putin could announce in a formal bilateral meeting, according to two administration officials not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.

Though North Korea and the Ukraine had been discussed, the two sides focused on trying to strike an agreement about a path to resolve Syria's civil war once the Islamic State group is defeated, according to officials. But the talks stalled and, minutes before Air Force One touched down in Vietnam, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters the meeting was off.

Putin and Trump crossed paths several times during the conference.

The two men, each wearing traditional blue Vietnamese shifts, shook hands and greeted one another as they stood side-by-side for the group photo of world leaders.

On Saturday, they were also seen shaking hands and speaking briefly during one meeting, according to a Fox News videographer who was the only American journalist allowed into the room. Trump and Putin were also seen chatting, with plenty of hand gestures from Trump, as they walked side by side to a dramatic vista overlooking the South China Sea for another group picture.

Trump who is on a lengthy Asia trip, attended meetings and a lunch Saturday before heading to the capital city of Hanoi for a state visit.
The Government has so much on its plate at the moment that it appears to have forgotten to make its case against the Brexit demands of the devolved administrations. Which is unfortunate, as this is a very important debate.

Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones, nationalists big-N and small, are demanding that a huge range of powers in devolved areas currently exercised in Brussels be passed straight to Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Thats par for the course: demanding power is their invariable response to any constitutional question. But worryingly for the Government even staunch unionists are taking up their line. James Forsyth writes in the Spectator that ministers must curb Whitehalls instinct to hog all the powers.

More seriously still, Adam Tomkins, a Tory MSP and law professor who represented the Party on the Smith Commission on devolution, has been pushing the Government to yield on this for a while, and has now broken cover in an op-ed for the Scotsman.

All are objecting to Section 11 of the Withdrawal Bill, which vests all returning powers in Westminster unless and until devolution agreements are reached at a later date. This is what nationalists are calling, Forsyth says with some justification, a power grab.

These arguments all share a common basis: that Holyrood and Cardiff Bay are morally entitled to these powers. Tomkins also argues, and Forsyth seems to assume, that most of these powers can be safely devolved without damaging the British internal market.

But Westminster has not made a habit of digging its heels in against the devolved administrations when retreat is an option. The Government  not, as Forsyth has it, civil servants  adopted this tough-minded approach to Section 11, and they have a case even if they have neglected to make it.

In short, the basis of the Governments position disputes the Tomkins/Forsyth thesis on pretty much every level: that this is a legal power grab; that the spirit of devolution creates a moral obligation to pass the powers on; and that these powers will not disrupt the British internal market.

First, the law. Our sources argue that it is misleading to refer to these areas as straightforwardly reserved. Rather, powers currently exercised at the EU level are there by dint of pooled sovereignty between the member states. It is the British Government that puts powers into the European pot, not the Scottish, and it is British ministers who negotiate in Brussels on our behalf.

Thus, these powers are not descending from some higher plane (neither Scottish nor British, as Tomkins puts it) onto an unprepared British legal landscape, but are instead already Westminster powers, currently pooled in Brussels but soon to be withdrawn back to London.

Here is where the spirit of devolution is usually summoned. But as near-everyone concedes, none of the architects of devolution ever imagined these powers being devolved. Westminster cannot be morally grabbing powers from Edinburgh and Cardiff that the latter have never exercised nor ever were intended to exercise.

Moreover even if these powers werent already Westminster powers, the Scotland Act may provide that all powers not expressly reserved to Westminster are devolved to Holyrood, to quote Tomkins again, but doesnt say that Westminster cant reserve more powers to itself should the circumstances require it.

Both Tomkins and Forsyth concede that the claims of the devolved administrations flow from the sloppiness and lack of imagination with which devolution was drawn up, rather than any positive intention, but dont recognise that this seriously undermines the moral force of those claims.

In fact, it potentially recasts the issue as a power grab against Westminster, based on an implausibly restrictive and self-serving reading of the reserved powers model by Sturgeon, Jones, and their allies. If the spirit of devolution doesnt represent the true intentions of those who drew devolution up, and it doesnt here, then it is simply a wish-granting devolutionary genie which unilaterally reinterprets the constitution to Westminsters disadvantage  for example, by recasting a need for the Government to consult with the devolved governments with a supposed need to get their consent.

This leads on to the practicalities. Section 11 was drawn up in the firm belief not only that the overwhelming majority of the 111 powers Tomkins discussed are essential to the smooth and effective operation of a single market, but that British institutions were the best vehicles for setting UK-level policy.

Our sources argue that things like food labelling and country-of-origin rules, whilst seeming boring and technical, can very easily snarl a common market if allowed to disharmonise. Even aircraft noise pollution, which Tomkins highlights as a clear case of a power Holyrood can safely have, is an important part of creating open skies agreements.

If the Scottish Conservatives genuinely believe that the vast majority of the Single Markets rules can be safely devolved (to the sub-state level, no less), they add, why did they back Remain at all? How have they ended up in the awkward position of echoing the nationalists, who maintain the anti-British position that powers acceptable when exercised by Brussels are intolerable if imposed by London?

Under the current dynamics of devolution, powers passed down do not pass back. There is no precedent for re-reserving a power if devolving it produces bad outcomes. Section 11 is designed to park powers in Westminster until the impact of devolving them can be properly understood and, if appropriate, practical ways of doing so devised.

It would be grossly imprudent, albeit not unprecedented, for the Government to pass these powers down for the sake of a quiet life, and hope to claw together a workable arrangement later on in negotiations where the nationalists held all the cards.

Some fear that what the SNP really want, and what Carwyn Jones confederal proposals for managing the British internal market would give them, is an inexhaustible supply of opportunities to foul the smooth running of the Union by picking fights and whipping up resentment.

Both devolution and the Union work best, they argue, when the distinct roles and lines of authority between different institutions are clear. Tasking multiple executives with agreeing UK-wide policy not only undermines the proper function of the British Government but invites deadlock and dysfunction at the Union level, which will only strengthen the separatist case.

The Scottish Conservatives, they add, should know better than anybody that the Nationalists overriding priority is the dissolution of the UK. There are no serious grounds for thinking that they are suddenly operating in good faith on Section 11, any more than when they fall in behind Anna Soubry to fight for soft Brexit. They fight for that which best helps them dismantle this country.

Tomkins may eventually be proved right in his freebooting take on the importance of the Single Markets rules. But Section 11 is not an eternal prohibition on devolution. It is designed to prevent important constitutional action being undertaken in haste which will be repented at leisure.

Yet it could fall. A number of Tory MPs would doubtless hazard the future health of the Union for the sake of a smoother Brexit and lose little sleep. The nationalists will denounce it and too many unionists, still apparently convinced that the key to defeating the SNP is giving them what they want, will support them.

If the Government truly believes that the constitutional implications of Brexit are as important as Section 11 suggests, it needs to make its case  and prepare for battle.
CORNWALL, Ontario  The Cornwall Chamber of Commerce has once again been alerted that consumers are being targeted about tax issues. They are receiving calls from someone purporting to be from the Canada Revenue Agency alleging tax fraud.

The Chamber has received a number of reports from area residents who have been contacted and threatened with legal action, reports Executive Manager, Lezlie Strasser. These calls do not come from the CRA and officials there emphatically state it is not how the Agency operates.

Those CRA agents have re-confirmed they will never do any of the following:

 Send an e-mail requesting personal or financial information

 Ask for such information by text message

 Ask consumers to pay amounts owing by prepaid credit or gift cards

 Threaten you

The Chamber advises consumers that if they are contacted by someone claiming to be from the CRA, hang up and contact the CRA office at 1-800-959-8281. Advise the agent that you had been contacted and verify that your tax records are in order. They should also contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or visit the CAFC web site at www.antifraudcentre.ca to file a complaint.
Victory Cruise Lines today announced it is welcoming the clarified travel rules for Americans going to Cuba.

Bruce Nierenberg, President & CEO of Victory Cruise Lines commented, The confusion is over. In the end, the changes confirmed our role as essential to Cuba travel and tourism. Yesterdays rule finalization should prove to have minimal effect on American travelers to Cuba, except those traveling alone with no particular plan or program.

"All of us at Victory Cruise Lines are excited about the opportunity to begin offering the only all-inclusive, immersive cruise experience to Cuba available today. Nierenberg added, This rule change makes cruising to Cuba more attractive than ever before.

Victory Cruise Lines will sail this coming Winter and Spring on a series of two-week cruises to Cuba, circumnavigating the island nation and calling on all the major ports in Cuba. Stops in Cuba will be for two full days and feature Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad/Casilda, Santiago de Cuba and Maria La Gorda.

Shore excursions on Victory will be compliant with the new travel rules for Americans visiting Cuba. In fact, Victory Cruise Lines will provide a signed affidavit for each passenger listing the day by day itinerary for the entire trip as proof they were compliant with all rules. It will be signed by a Victory Corporate official, according to a statement from the company.

Travelers will be required to enter Cuba on a specific itinerary created and handled by an authorized tour company and/or cruise line. Shore experiences when in Cuba will be organized under the guidance of these same authorized group tour operators or cruise lines.
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Before Election Day, polls suggested the economy had eclipsed abortion as a voting issue. But that's not what Pennsylvania exit polls show.
The brazen manner in which the Yogi Adityanath administration abruptly ordered the cancellation of Lucknow Literary Festival reflects the despotic attitude of his government against freedom of expression.

The district administration formally granted permission for what was the fifth annual literary festival. However, what came as a rude shock to the organisers on the opening day of the three-day event scheduled on Friday was the sudden withdrawal of permission, soon after the arrival of popular JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, whose much-talked about book, Bihar to Tihar was to be discussed at the festival.

Bollywood star-turned-politician and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, whose biography Anything but Khamoshi authored by Bharti Pradhan was discussed at the event, was pointedly critical of the way things were in his party. Sinha did not hesitate to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi on many counts.

Yet another BJP baiter, president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), Asaduddin Owaisi too was slated to appear for a session at the festival on Saturday, followed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh on Sunday.

BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha: They think demonetisation and GST were revolutionary steps; but I feel they only brought misery to the people of the country. Photo: DailyO

No sooner than Kanhaiya Kumar reached the venue  Sheroes Cafe  run by acid attack victims in Lucknows posh Gomati Nagar, a dozen right-wing activists donning saffron scarves began raising slogans against him, telling him to go back.

Far from chastising the lumpen element s, the cops on duty joined them to seek Kanhaiyas ouster from the venue. When the organiser, Shamim Arzoo showed the cops the permission issued by district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, a senior police officer appeared on the scene to tell him, You have violated the rules so your permission is being withdrawn. He did not explain what rules were violated.

Later, Arzoo was informed that he was required to submit the names of each of the events participants to the state authorities and because he failed to do so, the permission was being withdrawn.

The matter was taken up by the district magistrate who is understood to have discussed it with higher-ups in the government, following which the decision to revoke the permission was conveyed in writing to the organisers.

"The Model Code of Conduct is in force in view of the upcoming local body elections and because we had no knowledge that leaders and actors had been invited to the festival, security arrangements were not made," the district magistrate said.

It is learnt that what actually irked the Yogi government were Shatrughan Sinhas remarks against the prime minister. Declaring candidly that PM Modis thinking did not conform to the thinking of his party leadership and the government, Sinha observed: They think they can have a class 12 pass out as the countrys HRD minister and an unpopular lawyer as the countrys finance minister. It reflects their mindset, not mine.

He went on to add, They think demonetisation and GST were revolutionary steps; but I feel they only brought misery to the people of the country.
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.
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, sells, and deals in printing press and other print media industry products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia/Pacific, Eastern Europe, North America, and South America. The company operates through Print Solutions, Packaging Solutions, and Technology Solutions segments. It offers printing machines, including digital, offset, narrow web, screen, and inline-flexo printing, as well as remarketed equipment; and finishing equipment comprising cutting, die-cutting and embossing, folding, inspection, folding carton gluing, hot foil stamping, and shingled folding. The company also provides technical services, such as installation and relocation, maintenance and cleaning, remote support, repair, and overhauling services, as well as service parts; and performance services consisting of performance evaluation, color management, training, upgrades and retrofits, monitoring, output optimization, print shop optimization, and investment planning. In addition, it offers financial services; and consumables, such as plates, films, chemicals, proofing, glues, digital and analog engraving, blankets, inks, dampening rollers, coatings, varnishes, blankets, rollers, pressroom chemicals, cutting knives, banderoles, ink duct foils, wash-up cloths and spray powders, dispersion glues, binding glues, stitching wires and sealing threads, and folding carton gluing supplies. Further, the company provides software solutions. The company was formerly known as Schnellpressenfabrik AG Heidelberg and changed its name to Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft in 1967. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1850 and is based in Heidelberg, Germany.
Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. manufactures and sells cellulose specialty products in the United States, China, Canada, Japan, Europe, Latin America, other Asian countries, and internationally. The company operates through High Purity Cellulose, Paperboard, and High-Yield Pulp segments. Its products include cellulose specialties, which are natural polymers that are used as raw materials to manufacture a range of consumer-oriented products, such as liquid crystal displays, impact-resistant plastics, thickeners for food products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, cigarette filters, high-tenacity rayon yarn for tires and industrial hoses, food casings, paints, and lacquers. The company also offers commodity products, such as commodity viscose pulp used in woven applications, including rayon textiles for clothing and other fabrics, as well as in non-woven applications comprising baby wipes, cosmetic and personal wipes, industrial wipes, and mattress ticking; and absorbent materials consisting of fluff fibers that are used as an absorbent medium in disposable baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, incontinence pads, convalescent bed pads, industrial towels and wipes, and non-woven fabrics. In addition, it provides paperboards for packaging, printing documents, brochures, promotional materials, paperback books or catalog covers, file folders, tags, and tickets; and high-yield pulps to produce paperboard and packaging products, printing and writing papers, and various other paper products. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a life sciences company, focuses on the provision of preparedness and response solutions that address accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats (PHTs) in the United States. The company's products address PHTs, which include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives; emerging infectious diseases; travel health; and emerging health crises and acute/emergency care. It offers BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine; Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent to treat botulinum disease; vaccinia immune globulin intravenous that addresses complications from smallpox vaccine; raxibacumab for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax; Anthrasil to for inhalational anthrax; reactive skin decontamination lotion kits; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate. The company also provides NARCAN, a nasal spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vivotif, an oral vaccine for typhoid fever; and Vaxchora, a single-dose oral vaccine to treat cholera. In addition, it is developing AP003, a Naloxone multidose nasal spray; AP007, a sustained release Nalmefene injection for treatment of opioid use disorder; AV7909, an anthrax vaccine; CGRD-001, a pralidoxime chloride/atropine auto-injector; CHIKV VLP, a chikungunya virus VLP vaccine; COVID-HIG for the treatment of SARS-CoV2; EGRD-001, a diazepam auto-injector; SIAN, an antidote for the initial treatment of acute poisoning of cyanide; and UniFlu, a universal influenza vaccine. Further, the company provides contract development and manufacturing services comprising drug substance and product manufacturing, and packaging, as well as technology transfer, process, and analytical development services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
MarineMax, Inc. operates as a recreational boat and yacht retailer and superyacht services company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Retail Operations and Product Manufacturing. The company sells new and used recreational boats, including pleasure and fishing boats, mega-yachts, yachts, sport cruisers, motor yachts, pontoon boats, ski boats, jet boats, and other recreational boats. It also offers marine parts and accessories comprising marine electronics; dock and anchoring products that include boat fenders, lines, and anchors; boat covers; trailer parts; water sport accessories, which comprise tubes, lines, wakeboards, and skis; engine parts; oils; lubricants; steering and control systems; corrosion control products and service products; high-performance accessories, including propellers and instruments; and a line of boating accessories, such as life jackets, inflatables, and water sports equipment. In addition, the company provides novelty items, such as shirts, caps, and license plates; marine engines and equipment; maintenance, repair, and slip and storage accommodation services; and boat or yacht brokerage services, as well as charters yachts and power catamarans. Further, it offers new or used boat finance services; arranges insurance coverage, including boat property, disability, undercoating, gel sealant, fabric protection, and casualty insurance coverage; and manufactures and sells sport yachts and yachts. Additionally, the company operates vacations in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. It also markets and sells its products through offsite locations and print catalog. The company has 79 retail locations in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. MarineMax, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Clearwater, Florida.
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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The following companies are subsidiares of AON: 6824625 Canada Ltd., 7193599 Canada Inc., A.B. Insurances Limited, ADIS A/S, AIB Services Limited, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency Inc., AIS Insurance Agency Inc., AMXH LLC, ARM International Corp., ARM International Insurance Agency Corp., ARMRISK CORP., AS Holdings Inc., ASPN Insurance Agency LLC, Access Plans USA Inc., Acumen Credit Insurance Brokers Limited, Adm Administradora de Beneficios Ltda., Administradora Aon C.A., Admiseg SA, Admix, Admix - Administracao Consultoria Participacoes e Corretora de Seguros de Vida Ltda., Aeropeople Limited, Affinity Group Insurance Services Limited, Affinity Insurance Services Inc., Affinity Risk Partners (Brokers) Pty Ltd, Agenion N.V./SA, Agility Credit Insurance Brokers Limited, Alexander & Alexander Holding B.V., Alexander Clay, Alexander Insurance Managers (Netherlands Antilles) N.V., Alexander Reinsurance Intermediaries Inc., Allen Insurance Associates Inc., Alliance HealthCard Inc., Alliance HealthCard of Florida Inc., American Insurance Services Corp., American Special Risk Insurance Company, Anviti Insurance Brokers Private Limited, Aon (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon (CR) Insurance Agencies Company Limited, Aon (DIFC) Gulf Limited, Aon (Fiji) Ltd., Aon (Isle of Man) Limited, Aon (Thailand) Limited, Aon 180412 Limited (in liquidation), Aon ANZ Holdings Limited, Aon APAC Holdings B.V., Aon Acore Sarl, Aon Adjudication Services Limited, Aon Affinity Administradora de Beneficios Ltda., Aon Affinity Argentina S.A., Aon Affinity Chile Ltda., Aon Affinity Colombia Ltda. Agencia de Seguros, Aon Affinity Mexico Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas S.A. de C.V., Aon Affinity Mexico S.A. de C.V., Aon Affinity Servicos e Participacoes Ltda., Aon Affinity do Brasil Servicos e Corretora de Seguros Ltda., Aon Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Americas Holdings BV, Aon Angola Corretores de Seguros Limitada, Aon Antillen N.V., Aon Aruba N.V., Aon Assurance Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Australia Group Pty Ltd, Aon Australian Holdco 1 Pty Ltd, Aon Australian Holdco 2 Pty Ltd, Aon Australian Holdco 3 Pty Ltd, Aon Austria GmbH, Aon Bahrain W.L.L., Aon Belgium B.V.B.A., Aon Benefit Solutions Inc., Aon Benfield (Chile) Corredores de Reaseguros Ltda., Aon Benfield Argentina S.A., Aon Benfield Australia Limited, Aon Benfield Brasil Corretora de Resseguros Ltda., Aon Benfield Canada ULC, Aon Benfield China Limited, Aon Benfield Colombia Limitada Corredores de Reaseguros, Aon Benfield Fac Inc., Aon Benfield Global Inc., Aon Benfield Group Limited, Aon Benfield Inc., Aon Benfield Israel Limited, Aon Benfield Italia S.p.A., Aon Benfield Japan Ltd, Aon Benfield Latin America SA, Aon Benfield Limited, Aon Benfield Malaysia Limited, Aon Benfield Mexico Intermediario de Reaseguro SA de CV, Aon Benfield Middle East Limited, Aon Benfield New Zealand Limited, Aon Benfield Panama S.A., Aon Benfield Peru Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Aon Benfield Puerto Rico Inc., Aon Bermuda Holding Company Limited, Aon Bermuda QI Holdings Ltd., Aon Beteiligungsmanagement Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Aon Bolivia S.A. Corredores de Seguros, Aon Botswana (Pty) Ltd., Aon Brazil Holdings LLC, Aon Broking Services SA, Aon Broking Technology Limited, Aon CANZ Holdings B.V., Aon CANZ Holdings N.S. ULC, Aon Canada Holdings N.S. ULC, Aon Canada Inc., Aon Canada Intermediaries GP, Aon Captive Services Antilles N.V., Aon Captive Services Aruba N.V., Aon Cash Management B.V., Aon Central and Eastern Europe a.s., Aon Centre for Innovation and Analytics Ltd, Aon Charitable Foundation Pty Ltd, Aon Chile Holdings LLC, Aon Commercial Insurance Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Commercial Services Ireland Limited, Aon Commercial Services and Operations Ireland Limited, Aon Consolidation Group Pty Ltd, Aon Consulting & Insurance Services, Aon Consulting (Chile) Limitada, Aon Consulting (Thailand) Limited, Aon Consulting Bolivia S.R.L., Aon Consulting Ecuador S.A., Aon Consulting Financial Services Limited, Aon Consulting Inc., Aon Consulting Kazakhstan LLP, Aon Consulting Limited, Aon Consulting Private Limited, Aon Consulting Romania SRL, Aon Corporate Services (Isle of Man) Limited, Aon Corporate Services Limited, Aon Corporation, Aon Corporation Australia Limited, Aon Corporation EMEA B.V., Aon Credit International Insurance Broker GmbH, Aon Cyprus Insurance Broker Company Limited, Aon DC Trustee Limited, Aon Danismanlik Hizmetleri AS, Aon Delta Bermuda Ltd., Aon Delta UK Limited, Aon Denmark A/S, Aon Deutschland Beteiligungs GmbH, Aon Direct Group Inc., Aon Edge Insurance Agency Inc., Aon Energy Caribbean Limited, Aon Enterprise Insurance Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Finance Bermuda 1 Ltd., Aon Finance Bermuda 2 Ltd., Aon Finance Canada 1 Corp., Aon Finance Canada 2 Corp., Aon Finance International N.S. ULC, Aon Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Aon Finance N.S. 1 ULC, Aon Finance N.S. 5 ULC, Aon Finance N.S. 8 ULC, Aon Finance US 1 LLC, Aon Finance US 2 LLC, Aon Financial & Insurance Solutions Inc., Aon Finland Oy, Aon France, Aon Global Holdings 1 Limited, Aon Global Holdings 2 Limited, Aon Global Holdings 3 Limited [In strike-off], Aon Global Holdings Limited, Aon Global Operations plc, Aon Global Risk Consulting B.V., Aon Global Risk Consulting Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Aon Global Risk Research Limited, Aon Grana Peru Corredores de Seguros SA, Aon Greece S.A., Aon Groep Nederland B.V., Aon Group (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon Group (Thailand) Limited, Aon Group Holdings International 1 B.V., Aon Group Holdings International 2 B.V., Aon Group Inc., Aon Group International N.V., Aon Group Pty Ltd, Aon Group Venezuela Corretaje de Reaseguros C.A., Aon Hewitt (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon Hewitt (Ireland) Limited, Aon Hewitt (PNG) Ltd., Aon Hewitt (Thailand) Ltd., Aon Hewitt Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Aon Hewitt Consulting Korea Inc., Aon Hewitt Financial Advice Limited, Aon Hewitt GmbH, Aon Hewitt Health Market Insurance Solutions Inc., Aon Hewitt Hong Kong Limited, Aon Hewitt Inc., Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting Inc., Aon Hewitt Investment Management Inc., Aon Hewitt Japan Ltd., Aon Hewitt Limited, Aon Hewitt Ltd., Aon Hewitt Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Aon Hewitt Management Company Limited, Aon Hewitt Middle East Limited, Aon Hewitt Risk & Consulting S.r.l., Aon Hewitt Risk & Financial Management B.V., Aon Hewitt Trust Solutions GmbH, Aon Hewitt US Holdings Limited, Aon Holding Deutschland GmbH, Aon Holdings (Isle of Man) Limited, Aon Holdings Antillen N.V., Aon Holdings Australia Pty Limited, Aon Holdings Austria GmbH, Aon Holdings B.V., Aon Holdings Botswana (Pty) Ltd, Aon Holdings Corretores de Seguros Ltda., Aon Holdings France SNC, Aon Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Aon Holdings International B.V., Aon Holdings Israel Ltd., Aon Holdings Japan Ltd, Aon Holdings Limited, Aon Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Aon Holdings Mid Europe B.V., Aon Holdings New Zealand, Aon Hong Kong Limited, Aon Hungary Insurance Brokers Risk and Human Consulting LLC, Aon Insurance Agencies (HK) Limited, Aon Insurance Agencies (Macau) Limited, Aon Insurance Brokers (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Aon Insurance Brokers (Pvt) Ltd., Aon Insurance Management Agencies (HK) Limited, Aon Insurance Managers (Antilles) N.V., Aon Insurance Managers (Barbados) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd, Aon Insurance Managers (Cayman) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Dublin) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Guernsey) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Holdings) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Isle of Man) Ltd., Aon Insurance Managers (Liechtenstein) AG, Aon Insurance Managers (Luxembourg) S.A., Aon Insurance Managers (Malta) PCC Limited, Aon Insurance Managers (Puerto Rico) Inc., Aon Insurance Managers (Shannon) Limited, Aon Insurance Managers (USA) Inc., Aon Insurance Managers (USVI) Inc., Aon Insurance Managers Gibraltar Ltd., Aon Insurance Micronesia (Guam) Inc, Aon Insurance Underwriting Agencies Hong Kong Limited, Aon Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers Philippines Inc., Aon International Cooperatief U.A., Aon International Energy Inc., Aon International Holdings Inc., Aon Investment Holdings Ireland Limited, Aon Israel Insurance Brokerage Ltd., Aon Italia S.r.l., Aon Japan Ltd, Aon Jauch & Hubener Gesellschaft m.b.H., Aon Korea Inc., Aon Latam Holdings N.V., Aon Lead QI B.V., Aon Life Agency of Texas Inc., Aon Life Agente de Seguros S.A. de C.V., Aon Life Insurance Company, Aon MacDonagh Boland Group Ltd, Aon Majan LLC, Aon Management Consulting Taiwan Ltd., Aon Mauritius Holdings, Aon Meeus Assurantien B.V., Aon Mexico Business Support SA de CV, Aon Mexico Holdings LLC, Aon Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., Aon Middle East Co LLC, Aon Nederland C.V., Aon Netherlands Operations B.V., Aon Neudorf Finance S.a.r.l., Aon New Zealand, Aon New Zealand Group ULC, Aon Norway AS, Aon Overseas Holdings Limited, Aon PHI Acquisition Corporation of California, Aon PMI International Limited, Aon Parizeau Inc., Aon Pension Trustees Limited, Aon Pensions Insurance Brokers GmbH, Aon Polska Services Sp. z o.o., Aon Polska Sp. z o.o., Aon Portugal - Consultores Unipessoal Lda., Aon Portugal - Corretores de Seguros S.A., Aon Premium Finance LLC, Aon Private Risk Management Insurance Agency Inc., Aon Private Risk Management of California Insurance Agency Inc., Aon Product Design & Development Australia Pty Limited, Aon Product Design and Development New Zealand Limited, Aon Product Risk Services Hong Kong Limited, Aon Property Risk Consulting Inc., Aon Qatar LLC, Aon Re (Thailand) Limited, Aon Re Bertoldi - Corretagem de Resseguros S.A., Aon Re Bolivia S.A. Corredores de Reaseguros, Aon Re Canada Holdings SARL, Aon Real Estate B.V., Aon Realty Services Inc., Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc., Aon Retirement Plan Advisors LLC, Aon Retirement Solutions Limited, Aon Risiko & Unternehmensberatungs GmbH, Aon Risk & Asset Management Pty Ltd, Aon Risk Consultants Inc., Aon Risk Insurance Services West Inc., Aon Risk Management (Pty) Ltd, Aon Risk Services (Chile) Corredores de Seguros Limitada, Aon Risk Services (Holdings) of Latin America Inc., Aon Risk Services (Holdings) of the Americas Inc., Aon Risk Services (NI) Limited, Aon Risk Services (PNG) Ltd., Aon Risk Services (Thailand) Limited, Aon Risk Services Argentina S.A., Aon Risk Services Australia Limited, Aon Risk Services Canada Inc., Aon Risk Services Central Inc., Aon Risk Services Colombia SA Corredores de Seguros, Aon Risk Services Companies Inc., Aon Risk Services EMEA B.V., Aon Risk Services Ecuador S.A. Agencia Asesora Productora de Seguros, Aon Risk Services Holdings (Chile ) Ltda., Aon Risk Services Inc. of Florida, Aon Risk Services Inc. of Hawaii, Aon Risk Services Inc. of Maryland, Aon Risk Services Inc. of Washington D.C., Aon Risk Services Northeast Inc., Aon Risk Services South Inc., Aon Risk Services Southwest Inc., Aon Risk Services Venezuela Corretaje de Seguros C.A., Aon Risk Solutions (Cayman) Ltd., Aon Risk Solutions Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas SA de CV, Aon Risk Solutions of Puerto Rico Inc., Aon Riskminder A/S, Aon Romania Broker de Asigurare - Reasigurare SRL, Aon Rus Insurance Brokers LLC, Aon Rus LLC, Aon S.p.A. Insurance & Reinsurance Brokers, Aon Saver Limited, Aon Securities (Hong Kong) Limited, Aon Securities Investment Management Inc., Aon Securities LLC, Aon Securities Limited, Aon Service Corporation, Aon Services (Guernsey) Ltd, Aon Services (Malta) Ltd, Aon Services Group Inc., Aon Services Hong Kong Limited, Aon Services Pty Ltd., Aon Sigorta ve Reasurans Brokerligi ve A.S., Aon Soluciones S.A., Aon Soluciones S.A.C., Aon Southern Europe UK Limited, Aon Sp. z o.o., Aon Special Risk Resources Inc., Aon Superannuation (PNG) Limited, Aon Superannuation Pty Limited, Aon TC Holdings Inc., Aon Taiwan Ltd., Aon Treasury Ireland Limited, Aon Trust Company LLC, Aon Trust Corporation Limited, Aon Trust Services B.V., Aon UK Group Limited, Aon UK Holdings Intermediaries Limited, Aon UK Limited, Aon UK Trustees Limited, Aon US & International Holdings Limited, Aon US Holdings 2 Inc., Aon US Holdings Inc., Aon Ukraine LLC, Aon Underwriting Agencies (HK) Limited, Aon Underwriting Managers (Bermuda) Ltd., Aon Underwriting Managers Inc., Aon Versicherungsberatungs GmbH, Aon Versicherungsmakler Deutschland GmbH, Aon Vietnam Limited, Aon Ward Financial Corporation, Aon-COFCO Insurance Brokers Co. Ltd., Aon/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services Inc., Asevasa Argentina S.A., Asevasa Caricam S.A., Asevasa Chile Peritaciones e Ingenieria de Riesgos S.A., Asevasa Mexico S.A. de C.V., Asevasa Panama S.A., Asian Reinsurance Underwriters Limited, Asscom Insurance Brokers S.r.l., Association of Rural and Small Town Americans, Associacao Instituto Aon, Assurance Licensing Services Inc., B E P International Corp., B.V. Assurantiekantoor Langeveldt-Schroder, BMS Insurance Agency L.L.C., Bacon & Woodrow Partnerships (Ireland) Limited, Bacon & Woodrow Partnerships Limited, Bain Hogg Group Limited (in liquidation), Baltolink UADBB, Bankassure Insurance Services Limited, Bayfair Insurance Centre Limited, Beaubien Finance Ireland Limited, Beaubien Finance Limited, Beaubien UK Finance Limited, Becketts (Trustees) Limited, Becketts Limited, Beech Hill Pension Trustees Ltd, Bekouw Mendes C.V., Benefit Marketing Solutions L.L.C., Benfield Advisory Inc., Benfield Corredores de Reaseguro Ltda., Benfield Finance (London) LLC, Benfield Group, Benfield Investment Holdings Limited, Benfield Juniperus Holdings Limited, Benfield do Brasil Participacoes Ltda. (dormant), Benton Finance Ireland Limited, Benton Finance Limited, Blanch Americas Inc., Bowes & Company Inc. of New York, CEREP III Secondary Manager LLC, CFSSG Real Estate Partners I LLC, CFSSG Real Estate Partners II LLC, CIF-H GP LLC, Cammack Health LLC, Cananwill Corporation, Cananwill Inc., Cardea Health Solutions Limited, Casablanca Intermediation Company Sarl, Celinvest Amsterdam B.V., Chapka Assurances SAS, Citadel Insurance Managers Inc., CoCubes, CoSec 2000 Limited, Coalition for Benefits Equality and Choice, Cocubes Technologies Private Limited, Coles Hewitt Partnership, Contingency Insurance Brokers Limited, Contractsure Limited, CoverWallet, Coverall S.r.l. Insurance and Reinsurance Underwriting Agency, Credit Insurance Brokers (Reynolds) Limited, Crion N.V., Custom Benefit Programs Inc., Cut-e, Cut-e (UK) Limited, Cut-e Assessment (Hong Kong) Limited, Cut-e Assessment Solutions Europe Limited, Cut-e Australia Pty Limited, Cut-e Consult DMCC, Cut-e Danmark A/S, Cut-e Finland Oy, Cut-e GmbH, Cut-e Ireland Limited, Cut-e Nordic AS, Cut-e Norge AS, Cytelligence, Delany Bacon & Woodrow Partnership, Dempsey Partners, Denney O'Hara (Life & Pensions) Limited, Doveland Services Limited, E. W. Blanch Holdings Limited, E. W. Blanch Investments Limited, E.W. Blanch Capital Risk Solutions Inc., E.W. Blanch International Inc., EW Blanch Limited, Elysium Digital IP Products LLC, Elysium Digital L.L.C., Ennis Knupp Secondary Market Services LLC, Essar Insurance Services Limited, Exploitatiemaatschappij Beukenlaan 68-72 B.V., Farmaseg - Solucoes Assistencia e Servicos Empresariais Ltda., Farmsure Limited [In strike-off], Finaccord Limited, Financial & Professional Risk Solutions Inc., Futurity Group Inc., GTCR/AAM Blocker Corp., Ge.f.it. S.r.l., Gefass S.r.l., Glenrand M I B (Mocambique) Corretores de Seguros Limitada, Global Safe Insurance Brokers S.r.l., Globe Events Management, Gotham Digital Science LLC, Gotham Digital Science Ltd., Grant Liddell Financial Advisor Services Pty Ltd, Grant Park Capital LLC, Groupe-Conseil Aon Inc., Grupo Innovac Sociedad de Correduria de Seguros SA, HIA Insurance Services Pty Ltd., Hall Rhodes Holdings Limited, Hall Rhodes Limited, Hamburger Gesellschaft zur Forderung des Versicherungswesens mbH, Harbourview West Lake Co-Invest (GP) LP, Health Index Advisors LLC, Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, Henderson Corporate Insurance Brokers Limited, Henderson Insurance Brokers Limited, Henderson Insurance Partnership Limited [In strike-off], Henderson Risk Management Limited, Hewitt Amalco 3 ULC, Hewitt Amalco 4 ULC, Hewitt Amalco 5 ULC, Hewitt Associates (a partnership), Hewitt Associates Administradora e Corretora de Seguros Ltda., Hewitt Associates Corp., Hewitt Associates Outsourcing Limited, Hewitt Associates Pty Ltd, Hewitt Associates S.C., Hewitt Associates SAS, Hewitt Associates Servicos de Recursos Humanos Ltda., Hewitt Beneficios Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas S.A. de C.V., Hewitt Holdings Canada Company, Hewitt Insurance Brokerage LLC, Hewitt Insurance Inc., Hewitt International Holdings LLC, Hewitt Management Ltd., Hewitt Risk Management Services Limited, Hewitt Western Management Amalco Inc., Hogg Group Limited, Hogg Robinson North America Inc., Huntington T. Block Insurance Agency Inc., I. Beck Insurance Agency (1994) Ltd., IAO Actuarial Consulting Services Canada Inc., INPOINT INC., IRM/GRC Holding Inc., Impact Forecasting L.L.C., Inspiring Benefits, Inspiring Benefits Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Insuractive Limited [In strike-off], Insurance Broker Aon Kazakhstan LLP, International Risk Management (Americas) Inc., International Risk Management Group Ltd, International Space Brokers Europe Limited, International Space Brokers France, International Space Brokers Inc., International Space Brokers Limited, Inversiones Benfield Chile Ltda., J H Minet Puerto Rico Inc., J. Allan Brown Consultants Inc., JDPT Manager LLC, Jenner Fenton Slade Limited, John Reynolds & Company (Credit Insurance) Limited, John Reynolds & Company (Insurances) Limited, John Reynolds & Company (Life & Pensions) Limited, Johnson Rooney Welch Inc., K & K Insurance Brokers Inc. Canada, K & K Insurance Group Inc., K & K Insurance Group of Florida Inc., K2 Technologies Inc., KVT GP LLC, Kloud S.a.r.l., Krumlin Hall Limited, Lake Erie Real Estate General Partner Limited, Lake Tahoe GP LLC, Lake Tahoe II GP LLC, Lake Tahoe III GP LLC, Lake Tahoe IV GP LLC, Lenzi Paolo Broker di Assicurazioni S.r.l., Lincolnshire Insurance Company PCC Limited, Linx Underwriting Solutions Inc., Lombard Trustee Company Limited, M.A. Shakeel Management Ltd. Amalco, MacDonagh Boland Crotty MacRedmond Ltd, Marinaro Dundas S.A., Marinaro Dundas SA, Mark Kelly Insurance and Financial Services PTY LTD, McLagan (Aon) Limited, McLagan Partners Asia Inc., McLagan Partners Inc., Membership Leasing Trust, Minet Consultancy Services Ltd, Minet Group, Minet Holdings Inc., Minet Inc., Minet Re North America Inc., Modern Survey Inc., Muirfield Underwriters Ltd., NBS Nominees Limited, National Insurance Office Ltd., Nauman Insurance Brokers Limited, Nexus Insurance Brokers Limited, One Underwriting Agency GmbH, One Underwriting B.V., One Underwriting Health B.V., One Underwriting Pty Ltd, Optica Agency A/S, Optimum Risk Solutions Limited, Ovatio Courtage SAS, P.G. Bradley & Co Limited, PGOF Manager 1 LLC, PRORUCK Ruckversicherungs Aktiengesellschaft, PT Aon Benfield Indonesia, PT Aon Hewitt Indonesia, PT Aon Indonesia, PWZ AG, Paragon Strategic Solutions Inc., PathWise Solutions LLC, Penn Square Manager 1 LLC, Penn Square Manager II LLC, Portus Consulting, Portus Consulting, Portus Consulting (Leamington) Limited, Portus Online LLP, Praesidium S.p.A. - Soluzioni Assicurative per il Management, Premier Auto Finance Inc., Private Client Trustees Ltd., Private Equity Partnership Structures I LLC, Probabilitas N.V./SA, Protective Marketing Enterprises Inc., Randolph Finance Unlimited Company, Rasini Vigano Limited, Redwoods Dental Underwriters Inc., Richard Kiddle (Insurance Brokers) Limited, Risk Laboratories LLC, Riskikonsultatsioonide OU, Ronnie Elementary Insurance Agency Ltd, SA Special Situations General Partner LLC, SG IFFOXX Assekuranzmaklergesellschaft mbH, SLE Worldwide Limited, SN Re S.A., Salud Riesgos y Recursos Humanos Consultores Ltda. (former Aon Corporte Advisors Ltda.), SchneiderGolling IFFOXX Assekuranzmakler AG, SchneiderGolling Industrie Assekuranzmaklergesellschaft mbH, Scritch Inc., Shanghai Kayi Information Technology Co. Ltd, Sheppard Netherlands B.V., Specialty Benefits Inc., Sports Insure Limited [In strike-off], Strategic Manager-III LLC, Stroz Friedberg (Asia) Limited, Stroz Friedberg Inc., Stroz Friedberg LLC, Stroz Friedberg Limited, Stroz Friedberg Risk Management Limited, Superannuation Management Nominees Limited, Suresport Limited [In strike-off], Swire Blanch MSTC II SA, Swire Blanch MSTC SA, TTG BRPTP GP LLC, TTG Cayuga Bavaria Intermediate 2 S.a.r.l, TTG Core Plus Investments LLC, TTG German Investments I LLC, TTG Investments II LLC, TTG Irish Investments I LLC, TTG Manager LLC, Tecsefin S.A. en liquidacion, The Aon Ireland Mastertrustee Limited, The Aon MasterTrustee Limited, The John Reynolds Company Limited, The Key West Saxon Group LLC, The Townsend Group Inc, The Townsend Group LLC, Townsend Alpha Manager I LLC, Townsend Alpha Manager II LLC, Townsend Alpha Manager III LLC, Townsend Group Asia Limited, Townsend Group Europe Ltd., Townsend HWL GP Ltd., Townsend Holdings LLC, Townsend Lake Constance GP Limited, Townsend REF GP LLC, Townsend Re Global GP Limited, Townsend SO Manager I LLC, Tyche, UAB One Underwriting, UADBB Aon Baltic, UK Credit Insurance Specialists Limited, UNIT Versicherungsmakler GmbH, US Underwriting Solutions S.r.l., USLP Underwriting Solutions LP, Underwriters Marine Services Inc., Unidelta AG, Unirobe Meeus Groep, UnitedPensions Deutschland AG, Univers Workplace Solutions, VERO Management AG, Ventiv Technology, WT Government Services LLC, WT Technologies LLC, Wannet Speciale Verzekeringen B.V., Wannet Sports Insurance GmbH, Ward Financial Group Inc., Welfare S.r.l, West Lake General Partner LLC, West Lake II GP LLC, Wexford Underwriting Managers Inc., White Rock Insurance (Americas) Ltd., White Rock Insurance (Europe) PCC Limited, White Rock Insurance (Gibraltar) PCC Ltd., White Rock Insurance (Guernsey) ICC Limited, White Rock Insurance (Netherlands) PCC Limited, White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd., White Rock Insurance Company PCC Ltd., White Rock Insurance PCC (Isle of Man) Limited, White Rock Services (Bermuda) Ltd., White Rock USA Ltd., Willis Towers Watson, Worldwide Integrated Services Company, Wrapid Specialty Inc., Zalba-Caldu Correduria de Seguros SA, and cut-e USA Inc..

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Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. It also offers ProxyEdge, an electronic proxy delivery and voting solution; data-driven solutions and an end-to-end platform for content management, composition, and omni-channel distribution of regulatory, marketing, and transactional information, as well as mutual fund trade processing services; data and analytics solutions; solutions for public corporations and mutual funds; SEC filing and capital markets transaction services; registrar, stock transfer, and record-keeping services; and omni-channel customer communications solutions, as well as operates Broadridge Communications Cloud platform that creates, delivers, and manages communications and customer engagement activities. The company's Global Technology and Operations segment provides solutions that automate the front-to-back transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, foreign exchange and exchange-traded derivatives, order capture and execution, trade confirmation, margin, cash management, clearance and settlement, reference data management, reconciliations, securities financing and collateral management, asset servicing, compliance and regulatory reporting, portfolio accounting, and custody-related services. This segment also offers business process outsourcing services; technology solutions, such portfolio management, compliance, fee billing, and operational support solutions; and capital market and wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, New York.
Block, Inc. is the parent company to a host of digital financial solutions including Square. The company was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey (also founded Twitter) and Jim McKelvey as a solution to a problem faced by McKelvey. Mr. McKelvey was unable to complete a transaction because he was unable to accept credit cards and that provided inspiration for Mr. Dorsey. The firm was founded in St. Louis but now has no official headquarters, instead choosing to do most work remotely or from one of several key hubs. That decision was made in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic when it became clear telecommuting was a solution that worked.

The original Square app provides a multitude of payment and POS solutions that include hardware and software. The hardware includes the iconic Square card mag-stripe reader that can be plugged into any tablet or smartphone as well as many other solutions. The software enables sellers to turn their smart devices into POS on a temporary or permanent/dedicated basis.

The company went public in 2015 when it IPOd on the NASDAQ stock exchange and then later decided to change its name to Block to better represent the business. Today, Block, Inc. operates as a network of businesses that are working together to expand access to the economy. The core brands are Square, CashApp, AfterPay, Weebly, Tidal, Spiral, and TBD.

The Square brand encompasses all the core business including but not limited to hardware and its related software. The CashApp business is a money transfer solution that is working to make money more available and universally acceptable. Afterpay is a buy-now-pay-later service. Weebly is an eCommerce and web hosting service for small and medium-sized businesses. Tidal is a platform for musicians and artists to connect with fans and monetize their brands. Spiral is the firm's cryptocurrency division and TBD is a division focused on crypto, specifically building a crypto platform.

Block, Inc. stunned the market in 2020 when it began to purchase Bitcoin. Then Square, the company purchased Bitcoin in two transactions for a total of $210 million. The holdings amount to 8,027 Bitcoins which were worth $154.75 million in October 2022. The purpose of Spiral is to fund open-sourced applications that encourage and facilitate the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Mr. Dorsey remains the CEO and chairman of Block, Inc. The company employs more than 8,500 individuals across its footprint and netted $17.66 billion in revenue for 2021. Mr. Dorsey is also the companys largest shareholder with about 10% of the shares.
Global Payments Inc. provides payment technology and software solutions for card, electronic, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Business and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization services, settlement and funding services, customer support and help-desk functions, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security services, consolidated billing and statements, and on-line reporting services. This segment also provides an array of enterprise software solutions that streamline business operations of its customers in various vertical markets; and value-added services, such as point-of-sale solutions, and analytic and engagement tools, as well as payroll and human capital management services. The Issuer Solutions segment offers solutions that enable financial institutions and retailers to manage their card portfolios through a platform; and commercial payments and ePayables solutions for businesses and governments. The Business and Consumer Solutions segment provides general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit and payroll cards, demand deposit accounts, and other financial service solutions to the underbanked and other consumers, and businesses under the Netspend brand. It markets its products and services through direct sales force, trade associations, agent and enterprise software providers, referral arrangements with value-added resellers, and independent sales organizations. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Phillips 66 operates as an energy manufacturing and logistics company. It operates through four segments: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties (M&S). The Midstream segment transports crude oil and other feedstocks; delivers refined petroleum products to market; provides terminaling and storage services for crude oil and refined petroleum products; transports, stores, fractionates, exports, and markets natural gas liquids; provides other fee-based processing services; and gathers, processes, transports, and markets natural gas. The Chemicals segment produces and markets ethylene and other olefin products; aromatics and styrenics products, such as benzene, cyclohexane, styrene, and polystyrene; and various specialty chemical products, including organosulfur chemicals, solvents, catalysts, and chemicals used in drilling and mining. The Refining segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks into petroleum products, such as gasolines, distillates, aviation, and renewable fuels at 12 refineries in the United States and Europe. The M&S segment purchases for resale and markets refined petroleum products, including gasolines, distillates, and aviation fuels primarily in the United States and Europe. This segment also manufactures and markets specialty products, such as base oils and lubricants. The company was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
VMware, Inc. provides software solutions in the areas of modern applications, cloud management and infrastructure, networking, security, and digital workspaces in the United States and internationally. It offers VMware multi-cloud solutions, including VMware vSphere, a data center infrastructure that provides the fundamental compute layer; vSAN and VxRail, which offers holistic data storage and protection options to applications running on vSphere; and vRealize Cloud Management solutions that manages hybrid and multi-cloud environments running in virtual machines and containers, as well as VMware Cloud Foundation, a cloud platform that combines its vSphere, vSAN, and NSX with vRealize Cloud Management into an integrated stack and delivers enterprise-ready cloud infrastructure for private and public clouds. The company also provides networking solutions, such as VMware NSX, NSX Distributed and Gateway Firewalls, NSX Network Detection and Response Engine, NSX Advanced Load Balancer, Tanzu Service Mesh, and VMware SASE; security solutions consisting of VMware Carbon Black Endpoint, Workload, and Container; and digital workspace solutions comprising Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management, Access, Intelligent Hub, and Horizon. In addition, it offers application modernization solutions, such as Tanzu Application and Operations Platform, Tanzu Application Service Platform, Tanzu Observability, Tanzu Community Edition, and Tanzu Labs; and cloud management solutions, including vRealize Cloud Management, vCloud Suite, and CloudHealth by VMware Suite. The company sells its products through distributors, resellers, system vendors, and systems integrators. VMware, Inc. has a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services to build and deliver an integrated hybrid solution. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
Delek US Holdings, Inc. engages in the integrated downstream energy business in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Logistics, and Retail. The Refining segment processes crude oil and other feedstock for the manufacture of various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum-based products that are distributed through owned and third-party product terminal. It owns and operates four independent refineries located in Tyler, Texas; El Dorado, Arkansas; Big Spring, Texas; and Krotz Springs, Louisiana, as well as three biodiesel facilities in Crossett, Arkansas, Cleburne, Texas, and New Albany. The Logistics segment gathers, transports, and stores crude oil, intermediate, and refined products; and markets, distributes, transports, and stores refined products for third parties. It owns or leases capacity on approximately 400 miles of crude oil transportation pipelines, approximately 450 miles of refined product pipelines, an approximately 900-mile crude oil gathering system, and associated crude oil storage tanks with an aggregate of approximately 10.2 million barrels of active shell capacity; and owns and operates ten light product distribution terminals, as well as markets light products using third-party terminals. The Retail segment owns and leases 248 convenience store sites located primarily in West Texas and New Mexico. Its convenience stores offer various grades of gasoline and diesel under the DK or Alon brand; and food products and service, tobacco products, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and general merchandise, as well as money orders to the public primarily under the 7-Eleven and DK or Alon brand names. It serves oil companies, independent refiners and marketers, jobbers, distributors, utility and transportation companies, the U.S. government, and independent retail fuel operators. Delek US Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) is a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust that specializes in upscale convention center resorts and country music entertainment experiences. The Company's core holdings* include a network of five of the top 10 largest non-gaming convention center hotels in the United States based on total indoor meeting space. These convention center resorts operate under the Gaylord Hotels brand and are managed by Marriott International. The Company also owns two adjacent ancillary hotels and a small number of attractions managed by Marriott International for a combined total of 10,110 rooms and more than 2.7 million square feet of total indoor and outdoor meeting space in top convention and leisure destinations across the country. The Company's Entertainment segment includes a growing collection of iconic and emerging country music brands, including the Grand Ole Opry; Ryman Auditorium, WSM 650 AM; Ole Red and Circle, a country lifestyle media network the Company owns in a joint-venture with Gray Television. The Company operates its Entertainment segment as part of a taxable REIT subsidiary. * The Company is the sole owner of Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center; and Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. It is the majority owner and managing member of the joint venture that owns the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center.
Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.5 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,555 customers in parts of Manhattan. The company also supplies electricity to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey; and gas to approximately 0.1 million customers in southeastern New York. In addition, it operates 533 circuit miles of transmission lines; 15 transmission substations; 64 distribution substations; 87,564 in-service line transformers; 3,924 pole miles of overhead distribution lines; and 2,291 miles of underground distribution lines, as well as 4,350 miles of mains and 377,971 service lines for natural gas distribution. Further, the company owns, operates, and develops renewable and energy infrastructure projects; and provides energy-related products and services to wholesale and retail customers, as well as invests in electric and gas transmission projects. It primarily sells electricity to industrial, commercial, residential, and government customers. The company was founded in 1823 and is based in New York, New York.
United Rentals, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities. The specialty segment rents specialty construction products, including trench safety equipment consists of trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers, and line testing equipment for underground work; power and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, such as portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment; fluid solutions equipment for fluid containment, transfer, and treatment; and mobile storage equipment and modular office space. This segment serves construction companies involved in infrastructure projects, and municipalities and industrial companies. It also sells aerial lifts, reach forklifts, telehandlers, compressors, and generators; construction consumables, tools, small equipment, and safety supplies; and parts for equipment that is owned by its customers, as well as provides repair and maintenance services. The company sells used equipment through its sales force, brokers, website, directly to manufacturers, and at auctions. The company operates a network of 1,360 rental locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. United Rentals, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Health, Wealth and Career; and Risk and Broking. The company offers actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for traditional pension and retirement savings plans; plan management consulting, broking, and administration services for health and group benefit programs; and benefits outsourcing services. It also provides advice, data, software, and products to address clients' total rewards and talent issues. In addition, the company offers risk advice, insurance brokerage, and consulting services in the areas of property and casualty, aerospace, construction, and marine. Further, it offers investment consulting and discretionary management services to insurance and reinsurance companies; insurance consulting and technology, risk and capital management, pricing and predictive modeling, financial and regulatory reporting, financial and capital modeling, merger and acquisition, outsourcing, and business management services; wholesale insurance broking services to retail and wholesale brokers; and underwriting and capital management, capital market, and advisory and brokerage services. Additionally, the company provides primary medical and ancillary benefit exchange, and outsourcing services to active employees and retirees in the group and individual markets, as well as delivers healthcare and reimbursement accounts, including health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, flexible spending accounts, and other consumer-directed accounts. The company was formerly known as Willis Group Holdings Public Limited Company and changed its name to Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company in January 2016. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company was founded in 1828 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in residential real estate development and construction in the People's Republic of China, the United States, and internationally. It develops residential projects, such as multi-layer apartment buildings, sub-high-rise apartment buildings, high-rise apartment buildings; and auxiliary services and amenities, such as retail outlets, leisure and health facilities, kindergartens, and schools, as well as office, mixed-use, and commercial properties. The company also acquires development sites through public auctions of government land and acquisitions of entities. In addition, it provides property management services for its developments and other real estate-related services; landscaping, engineering and management, real estate consulting, leasing management, management consulting, and technical services; operates retail stores; and installs intercom systems. Further, it engages in the purchase, sale, lease, and brokerage of real estate; sale of construction materials; development and sale of robots; operation of internet platform for real estate property financing; and provision of electronic commerce and catering services. Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. was founded in 1997 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.
Zoetis Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products in the United States and internationally. It commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses. The company also offers vaccines, which are biological preparations to prevent diseases of the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and reproductive tracts or induce a specific immune response; anti-infectives that prevent, kill, or slow the growth of bacteria, fungi, or protozoa; and parasiticides that prevent or eliminate external and internal parasites, which include fleas, ticks, and worms. It also provides other pharmaceutical products that comprise pain and sedation, antiemetic, reproductive, and oncology products; dermatology products for itch associated with allergic conditions and atopic dermatitis; and medicated feed additives, which offer medicines to livestock. In addition, the company provides portable blood and urine analysis testing, including point-of-care diagnostic products, instruments and reagents, rapid immunoassay tests, reference laboratory kits and services, and blood glucose monitors; and other non-pharmaceutical products, including nutritionals and agribusiness services, as well as products and services in areas, such as biodevices, genetics tests, and precision animal health. It markets its products to veterinarians, livestock producers, and retail outlets, as well as third-party veterinary distributors through its sales representatives, and technical and veterinary operations specialists. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Athena Fund Distributes iPads to Special Ed Teachers in Southern Israel

Published: 2017-11-11

Author: Athena Fund | Contact: athenafund.org

Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A

Additional References: Library of Electronics/Software Publications

Synopsis: Israel - Athena Fund announce over 600 special education teachers received laptops during October as part of the iPad for Every Special Education Teacher program. Israel's Athena Fund announced that more than 600 special education teachers in the cities of Be'er Sheva, Kiryat Gat, Dimona and the Bedouin Neve Midbar Regional Council received laptops during October as part of the "iPad for Every Special Education Teacher" program. In addition to iPads, the teachers will also receive 120 hours of techno-pedagogical training.

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Israel's Athena Fund announced that more than 600 special education teachers in the cities of Be'er Sheva, Kiryat Gat, Dimona and the Bedouin Neve Midbar Regional Council received laptops during October as part of the "iPad for Every Special Education Teacher" program. In addition to iPads, the teachers will also receive 120 hours of techno-pedagogical training.

Using an iPad helps students with special needs improve both learning and quality of life, while increasing motivation to learn and expand horizons. In addition, the iPad improves interpersonal communication with teachers, family and the environment, and enables students to better cope with their difficulties. The iPad also enables discovering new aspects in the world of special education students, including high level thinking and understanding skills.

The program is designed to empower special education teachers in Israel and enable them to communicate better with their students. In addition, the program provides access to a wide variety of teaching materials, and significantly changes the lives of students. Teachers can prepare special programs for their students using the iPad, and students can continue the learning experience at home after school.

Through this Athena Fund program, about 10,000 special education teachers in Israel will receive iPads, along with special software and applications for students with special needs and disabilities. Since the program's launch in November 2015, approximately 1,300 special education teachers and kindergarten teachers across Israel have already received iPads. The program is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education's Department of Special Education under the direction of Rachel Abramson, and the Information Technology Division of the Ministry of Education, led by Roni Dayan.

The distribution of iPads to special education teachers and kindergarten teachers in Kiryat Gat, Dimona, Be'er Sheva and Neve Midbar was made possible thanks to contributions from the Athena Fund and its partners, the Israel Teachers Union's Professional Advancement Fund, Bank Massad, Israel's Ministry of Education, the United Israel Appeal of Canada, the Ted Arison Family Foundation, the Sylvan Adams Family Foundation, Mifal Hapayis (Israel's national lottery), Kiryat Gat, Dimona and Be'er Sheva Municipalities, and the Neve Midbar Regional Council.

"We are happy to help the local authorities in Israel in their efforts to promote special education," said Uri Ben-Ari, president and founder of the Athena Fund. "Giving the iPads to special education teachers will improve both communication with students with special needs, as well as the students' learning and quality of life. The iPads enable special education teachers to help their students realize their potential."

Among those who attended the distribution ceremonies held in October were Aviram Dahari - Mayor of Kiryat Gat, Benny Biton - Mayor of Dimona, Ibrahim al-Hawashla - Head of the Neve Midbar Regional Council, Dr. Heftzi Zohar - Deputy Mayor of Be'er Sheva, Uri Ben-Ari - Founder and President of Athena Fund, Yaffa Ben-David - Secretary General of the Israel Teachers Union, Jacob Shuri - CEO of Bank Massad, Amira Haim - Director of the Ministry of Education's Southern District, Shlomo Yishai - Director of the Israel Teachers Union's Professional Advancement Fund, Orly Zak - ICT supervisor for the Education Ministry's Southern District, directors of the departments of education and special education, heads of Israel Teachers Union branches, supervisors and other dignitaries.

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Light snow this morning will give way to snow showers this afternoon. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70%..

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (TNS)  Its difficult to keep guns away from ex-cons and the mentally disturbed, but a one-of-a-kind California program is designed to do just that. And in light of the Texas church shooting that left 26 dead, some are debating whether a program like it could have thwarted Devin Kelleys murderous rampage.

The Armed and Prohibited Persons System, or APPS program, proposed in 1999 and updated in 2006, makes California the first and only state in the country to establish an automated system for tracking firearm owners and to provide the legal authority to proactively disarm convicted criminals, people with certain mental illnesses, and others deemed dangerous.

Supporters like Richard Aborn say programs like APPS need to be replicated in other states given the increased frequency of mass shootings in the United States. Aborn is president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and an architect of the defunct federal assault weapons ban as well as the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that implemented routine federal background checks for gun purchasers.

What we saw on Sunday is what happens when a deranged individual has possession of lawful firearms, Aborn said. Every time (APPS) is enforced and guns are returned, were preventing a tragedy. Mass shootings are a form of domestic terror. We should equip citizens to prevent mass shootings as much as we can.

But the program has endured periodic criticism ever since its inception. A lack of resources has prevented the California Department of Justice from keeping up with the backlog of prohibited people. And gun-rights advocates have said uneven administration of the policy is unduly infringing on Second Amendment rights.

The biggest challenge you have is a huge number of people who are not supposed to be in APPS, said Craig DeLuz, spokesman for the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Calguns Foundation.

DeLuz and fellow advocates say a big problem with the system is that theres no quick way to remove someones name from the system once their court-ordered weapon restriction ends.

There is no guarantee that when your time is up, your name is going to be removed, DeLuz said. A big part is simply keeping up with the system, and doing basic administration that could really make a difference.

Aborn acknowledges that the execution of the program can always be improved, but that should not be taken as an indictment of its broader policy aims.

If the test of the validity of government programs is they act 100 percent perfectly, there would be no government programs. Wed never do anything, he said. We can do better, but just because we cant do everything doesnt mean we cant do everything we can.

In late 2006, California set up a database to track firearms owners and cross-reference those names with criminal and mental-health records to identify individuals who have been, or will become, prohibited from possessing a firearm subsequent to the legal acquisition or registration of a firearm or assault weapon.

The trouble is, the list of those people kept growing faster than the state could take away guns from those who shouldnt have them. In 2013, after the Sandy Hook shooting, there were more than 20,000 people on the prohibited list who had never been contacted by the state. In response, the state Legislature granted $24 million to the state DOJ to hire more agents to reduce the backlog.

Those growing pains appear to have subsided  to a degree. According to the latest APPS report released in March, the number of individuals in the database prohibited from owning firearms in calendar year 2016 grew by more than 14 percent, in large part because the state expanded its data-collection beyond handguns to include long guns like shotguns and rifles.

But overall the number of people in the database was cut from 12,691 on Jan. 1 of last year to an historic low of 10,634 subjects, according to the report. The last time the database contained so few subjects was February 2008, the report stated.

In 2016, the APPS enforcement program completed 9,183 investigations, resulting in 511 arrests and the seizure of 3,954 firearms. Other significant seizures include 947,653 rounds of ammunition, 3,742 magazines, and 663 large-capacity magazines.

Challenges remain, especially when it comes to hiring enough agents to knock on the doors of everyone on the APPS list. According to the 2016 report, the program got 36 limited-term agent positions, 10 of which the state Department of Justice was able to fill last calendar year.

With Sundays church shooting, attention is once again focused on Californias unique campaign to get guns away from people who shouldnt have them.

In Kelleys case, the U.S. Air Force on Monday admitted it had failed to submit his domestic-violence conviction into a federal database after he was discharged from the military. That conviction could have prevented him from buying the rifle he used  although only in California might it have led authorities to seize guns he already had. The militarys failure to enter his name into the National Criminal Information Center, a federal database, apparently allowed Kelley to pass several background checks and buy the firearms.

The lapse fueled the ongoing pushback from gun-rights groups about Californias gun-confiscation policy.

What we saw in Texas is what happens when unfortunately one government agency doesnt do its job, DeLuz said, adding that nationalizing an APPS-like policy, and trying to unite assorted record-keeping and registration standards from state to state, would only worsen the situation.

We wouldnt let someones free speech or property rights be violated in the same way we do with the Second Amendment, he added.

Aborn said imperfection does not justify inaction, particularly by Congress, which he said has the moral imperative to invoke changes in an era where mass shootings have become more frequent. He noted that since the federal assault weapons ban that he helped craft was rescinded in 2004 after a decade, the number of mass shootings has nearly tripled to at least 30, and the number of mass-shooting victims has increased more than five-fold to nearly 1,000.

The canard out there is that there is nothing we can do, but heres a flash message to the United States: Its the guns, he said. This country is buried in guns, and we need to take away some of these weapons.

In 2016, the APPS enforcement program completed 9,183 investigations, resulting in 511 arrests and the seizure of 3,954 firearms. Other significant seizures include 947,653 rounds of ammunition, 3,742 magazines, and 663 large-capacity magazines.
Scooters have been a choice of urban customers in India due to its ease of use. And in recent times, the 125cc scooter segment has seen a rapid growth because of the right mix of ease of riding and adequate power needed for daily commute. Now, Honda has just launched a sportier version of its 125cc scooter called Grazia.

Before the launch of the Grazia, Honda Dio was the only sporty looking scooter in India. Will the Grazia eat into the market of the established Dio? Let's find out by comparing both the scooters on design, features, specification and price.

Design

On the design front, the Grazia features the latest styling with sporty stance. The prominent highlight of the design is the front apron with the dual-LED headlamp setup which is a segment-first feature in a scooter in the Indian market. The dual-tone colour scheme adds to the looks of the Grazia.

The Grazia also gets a small visor at the front; the rear section is sharp and sporty with the stylish split grab rails and newly designed tail lamp cluster. The alloy wheels enhance the sporty appeal of the scooter.

Recommended Video TVS Jupiter Classic Launched In India - DriveSpark

The Honda Dio also wears a similar design, but it is not that attractive as compared to the Grazia. The Dio looks funky due to its exciting body graphics. The scooter gets a large headlamp on the front apron. It also features an LED daytime running light.

Overall both the scooters look similar, but the Dio is slightly smaller than Grazia. The rear section of the scooter gets single piece grab rail and the tail light design is similar to that of Grazia. The seat is also smaller and narrow than the Grazia.

When compared side by side, both the Grazia and Dio looks to be wearing similar design. But the Grazia looks more premium and sporty due to its LED headlamp and bigger size which gives the scooter an upper hand over Dio.

Overall Design Rating

Honda Grazia 8/10

Honda Dio 7/10

Features

The Honda Grazia comes loaded with features such as LED headlamp, small storage space at the front with USB charging port, fully-digital instrument cluster, disc brake on the front wheel, alloy wheels and telescopic front forks.

The Honda Dio misses out on the premium features such as LED headlamp, fully-digital instrument cluster, USB charging port, alloy wheels and front disc brake. The Honda Grazia beats the Dio in the features department.

Overall Features Rating

Honda Grazia 8/10

Honda Dio 7/10

Engine Specifications & Gearbox

The Honda Grazia draws power from a 124.9cc single-cylinder, air-cooled engine producing 8.52bhp and 10.54Nm of torque and comes mated to a CVT gearbox. The Dio is a 110cc scooter, so technically it cannot compete with the Grazia. The 109.19cc engine on the Dio produces 8bhp and 8.91Nm of torque.

Overall Engine Rating

Honda Grazia 8/10

Honda Dio 7/10

Pricing

The newly launched Honda Grazia carries a price tag of Rs 57.897 for the standard variant and the fully-loaded model costs Rs 62,269. The Honda Dio is priced at Rs 49,713 and it comes in a single variant. All prices are ex-showroom (Delhi).

The Grazia carries a premium price tag due to the bigger engine and features which is worth the money, whereas Dio is an affordable sporty scooter with basic features.

Verdict

The Honda Grazia beats the Dio hands down in all the departments. The engine is the only aspect which we cannot compare. But the Dio is a sporty scooter with an affordable price tag offering decent features in its class.

DriveSpark Thinks!

Both the Honda Grazia and Dio are the scooters targeted towards young buyers. The Grazia is a premium offering, whereas the Dio is an affordable sporty scooter you can own. If you are on a budget, then the Dio is the best choice and those who are looking for more features then Grazia fits the bill perfectly.
Corporate executives know that if they dont transform their companies into digital enterprises they are going to be at a significant competitive disadvantage going forward. Yet, many corporate leaders have been unable to make significant progress transforming their organizations. Many executives have found that changing their corporate cultures is a lot harder than adopting the new generation of cloud-based applications and services that make the digital enterprise possible.

No company has done more to advocate for this digital transformation process  so it can sell more of the cloud solutions to power new age businesses  than Salesforce. And no company is more at risk if a growing number of organizations fail to pursue their own digital transformation initiatives.

For the past decade, Salesforce has become a market leader not only by offering a more user-friendly CRM solution via a Software as a Service model, but also by painting a clear picture for CXOs about the tangible business benefits of a more connected, go-to-market strategy that capitalizes on e-commerce, mobile and social channels via the cloud.

Now Salesforce is shifting its attention dramatically  away from solely selling CXOs on the virtues of leading the digitization process, and toward showing how everyday employees can make the transformation process a reality.

My Oh My

This shift was clearly on display at this years Dreamforce conference, Salesforces annual lovefest in San Francisco. Salesforce has taken a two-pronged approach to accelerating the digital transformation process and bolstering its sales growth to continue to defy the law of large numbers.

First, Salesforce has made its applications and developer tools easier to use in the hope of attracting more companies and programmers to its products and services. Second, Salesforce has invested heavily in a vibrant new training program, called Trailhead, to increase exponentially the population of citizen programmers who can capitalize on its software capabilities.

Salesforces major product announcements at Dreamforce centered around the companys new generation of more personalized, solution-building capabilities. Salesforce promised to make its current offerings more user-friendly, with simpler graphical interfaces and less software coding requirements.

The company unveiled new my branding across many of its key product areas to emphasize the increasing ease of use and customization capabilities of Salesforces offerings.

For example, mySalesforce and myLightning promise help users create their own custom-branded mobile and productivity apps. MyEinstein, an attempt at demystifying the idea of artificial intelligence, allows users to build AI-powered apps. myIoT is designed to speed the creation and testing of connected products and services.

In each of these cases, Salesforces aim is to encourage faster and broader adoption through simpler products and tools.

Gamification Strategy

Although the conference sessions describing these new offerings and the vendor expo promoting the latest products were heavily trafficked, the epicenter of energy during Dreamforce was inside the Moscone West building, headquarters of the companys Trailhead training program.

Salesforce launched Trailhead at the 2014 Dreamforce as a bold, new approach to filling the gap created by the growing demand for software developers and data scientists. Rather than rely on the uninspiring training techniques of the past to fill the void, Trailhead has leveraged online delivery systems, peer-to-peer oriented instruction, and the latest gamification methods to make the learning process fun and empowering.

As always, Salesforce spared no expense to create a Disneyland-like environment for its Trailhead pavilion in the Moscone West building, populated with an assortment of animated characters that would have made Walt Disney envious. There were long lines of attendees hoping to acquire and even willing to buy Trailhead logoed tee shirts, hats, sweatshirts and dolls.

However, it was the Trailhead buttons signifying various training achievements and certifications that generated the most buzz and demonstrated how powerful the Trailhead gamification strategy has become.

In an era in which many people feel threatened by the advent of the Fourth Industrial Age of AI and machine learning, Salesforce has created an antidote that offers a cross-section of current employees and young people just entering the work world new hope that they can chart their own path to success in a rapidly changing marketplace.

Bottom Up

Turning typical employees into digital transformers is not only a way to ease the angst of corporate end-users. It is also a clever tactic to circumvent the logjam that has plagued corporate executive suites that have become paralyzed with the daunting task of implementing enterprise-wide digital strategies.

Rather than wait for their corporate leaders to convert their digital visions into elaborate business plans, Salesforce has encouraged company end-users to take their own initiative and use its cloud solutions to improve their day-to-day business processes along with the quality of their products and services. It also has built a robust new revenue stream via training programs for corporate end users, developers and partners.

In the past, each Dreamforce keynote presentation congratulated corporate executives for being visionary leaders. To really bring Salesforces new trailblazer message to the forefront, it made sure that every new product keynote presentation at this years conference showcased a corporate end-user who leveraged Salesforces capabilities to make a difference.

This tactic created a different kind of energy. Rather than suggest that digital transformation can only succeed from the top down, with a rare breed of visionary executive leading the charge, Salesforce has conveyed a message that anyone can make change happen from the bottom up, turning once faceless end-users into digital heroes.

Putting end-users on a pedestal makes them proud to become advocates on behalf of Salesforces products and benefits.

This new go-to-market strategy will encourage more adoption of Salesforces products, attract more developers to its ecosystem, and fuel continued growth of its revenues and profits.

(Disclosure: Salesforce.com paid my airline and hotel expenses to enable me to attend the event, but did not commission this column or any other analysis from THINKstrategies, Inc.)
By Mary Anne Hitt and Bruce Nilles

As leaders of the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal Campaign, weve experienced first-hand the power of grassroots movements and civil society to profoundly change the world for the better. We celebrate the news that allies from across Europe are joining together to launch Europe Beyond Coal, a coalition that will advance the work of NGOs across Europe to move beyond coal to clean energy. The U.S. Beyond Coal Campaign has been instrumental in retiring half the coal fired power plants in the U.S. and ushering in the clean energy revolution, and we welcome the progress that will undoubtedly be matched by our colleagues across the pond.

After all, its our shared climate and future thats at stake. Clean air is essential for all of us. Because pollution doesnt respect borders, neither do the all-too-real health consequences burning coal creates around the world. Whether its a Maryland child suffering an asthma attack linked to a Ohio Valley coal plant, or a father in Amsterdam with a heart attack tied to German coal, preventable tragedies are happening every day. Burning coal is estimated to have caused 19,500 premature deaths across Europe in 2015 and 13,200 deaths in the U.S. in 2009.



Sierra Club / Beyond Coal Campaign

Thats why social movements have to transcend borders, too. With coal phase out victories already announced in countries including the UK, France, Italy and the Netherlands, European civil society groups are building major momentum as they launch this major new campaign urging all 28 European nations to move swiftly beyond coal and directly to clean energy. Their goalbacked by the science-based targets to avoid more than 1.5 degrees of warmingis to ensure all of Europe is coal free no later than 2030.

We have roughly the same amount of coal remaining online in the U.S. and in Europe, and if we meet our goals on both continents, well have a fighting chance of tackling the climate crisis. Here in the U.S., we are retiring coal plants at the same rate under the Trump administration as we did during the Obama years, and were also aiming for a coal free power grid by 2030.

As this critical grassroots progress accelerates the shift beyond coal to clean energy, our communities will grow healthier and our economies more vitalwhether youre in Pittsburgh or Paris, in Billings or Bonn.

And it must occur as swiftly as possible. Thousands of people are dying from coal pollution around the world every year, and were in a race against time to keep our climate from spiraling into chaos. Consumers and the market have already chosen cleaner, renewable energy, but as weve seen in the U.S., fossil fuel interests are trying to prevent this transition. Thats one more reason the work of this coalition is so essential.

The tide is turning. Here in America, the work of Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal Campaign and more than 100 allied groups have helped secure commitments to shut down more than half of the U.S. coal fleet. Each year, these efforts save more than 7,000 lives. Stopping coal pollution is about more than just stopping the climate disruption that threatens us all. Its about leaving our kids a healthier, safer world.



Sierra Club / Beyond Coal Campaign

In Europe, too, people power is making the difference. With the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Finland, France, Italy and Portugal committing to closing their coal fleets in the coming decade, everyday people are seeing and making tangible change. Now, with the new announcement, Europe Beyond Coal is committed to making this transition to a healthier world as swift as possible.

At Sierra Club, were excited to see a new coalition of civil society groups take this work to the next level. People have seen what is possible due to the great success of our campaign in the U.S., and a lot of great work has happened already in Europe.

As the courageous and forward-thinking European activists know well, a coal plant in any one country is a problem for all of Europe. Air pollution from coal crosses borders, making people sicker and burdening health care systems with extensiveand unnecessarycosts.

We need to stop paying to poison each other, and we all need to work together to make it happen. If we take this responsibility seriously, we can plan a real and meaningful transition that doesnt leave workers behind. To do so requires us to be realistic: The end of coal is coming much faster than many anticipated. Currently, governments and businesses are unprepared to take advantage of the clean energy that is here nowand the jobs that industry creates.

To change that requires vision, leadership and above all, realism. Coal, and other fossil fuels, are in an irreversible decline: Every day we delay is a wasted day that could have been spent diversifying community economies, helping workers transition to new, sustainable jobs.

We can ensure no one is left behind. We can prevent minimize climate disruption, pollution in our air and water, and needless loss of life. But we have to seize this moment.

Thankfully, people across the world are committed to doing just that. We applaud our European friends on the launch of Europe Beyond Coal. We look forward to working together for a safe, healthy future for our families on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mary Anne Hitt is the director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. Bruce Nilles is the senior director of the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal campaign.
The American Red Cross is hosting blood drives throughout November. Donors of all blood types are needed and must be 18 or older, weigh at least 110 pounds, and provide a drivers license or two other forms of ID.
Proposed changes to the federal tax code unveiled by Republican lawmakers at the start of this month would affect teachers tax burden, private and charter schools, and significant amounts of funding for public schools.

Two different versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act were introduced in the House and Senate this week. The bills dont represent a direct increase or decrease for federal spending on schools. However, it could affect both K-12 funding systems and educators pocketbooks in several ways.

If the bill passes Congress and is signed into law by President Donald Trump, it would be the biggest shift to the federal tax system since 1986. Republicans are aiming to pass the legislation by the end of the year, and the House Ways and Means Committee passed its version of the legislation this week.

But the proposals face a long and potentially difficult road ahead in Congress.

Perhaps the biggest direct impact in the legislation would be the repeal of deductions taxpayers could claim on several state and local taxes (known in Washington jargon as SALT). In the House version, although they could still claim a tax deduction for up to $10,000 of local property taxes, taxpayers could no longer deduct state and local income and sales taxes from their federal tax returns. In the Senate bill, the property tax deduction as well as the income and sales tax deductions would be repealed.

Republicans say ending the deductions are part of the bills broader attempts to simplify the tax code and also make the tax landscape fairer across states. But some education advocates are worried that with many taxpayers forced to declare more income for federal taxation under this proposal, state and local governments would feel significant pressure to cut their own tax rates in order to relieve at least some of the new burden.

State and Local Impact

That, in turn, could shrink the tax revenue available for state and local leaders to spend on public schools, particularly in states where taxes are relatively high.

A 2011 report from the Center on Education Policy, a research organization founded by a former Democratic aide on Capitol Hill, estimated that ending all state and local tax deductions would deprive schools of $17 billion in funding. And the deductions were worth $97 billion in state and local government funding in 2016, according to a separate analysis by former U.S. Department of Education official Michael Dannenberg.

See Also What does the GOP tax bill mean for teachers? Watch the video.

It shows how much this conversation of tax reform is about making numbers add up and not making it work for the people they represent, particularly the people who rely on the state and local tax deduction, a lot of middle-class people, and our nations public school system, said Noelle Ellerson Ng, the associate executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association.

The House and Senate bills would also end the $250 tax deduction teachers, principals, and other educators can take for personal money they spend on classroom supplies. The deduction is structured so that teachers and others dont need to itemize their tax returns in order to claim it.

Lawmakers created the deduction for educators in the tax code in 2002. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, pushed to introduce it into the tax code, and she could be a key vote on any Senate effort to overhaul taxes.

Teacher Deduction in Jeopardy

For the 2015 tax year, there were more than 3.7 million tax returns in which taxpayers claimed the classroom-expenses deduction, according to information from the Internal Revenue Service. (That figure doesnt equal the number of educators who actually claimed the deduction.) The total amount of money subsequently deducted from taxable income was $950 million, the IRS said.

The repeal of the $250 deduction represents a relatively small change to the tax code. But it is used widely by teachers and others, and in theory, the end of the deduction could affect which tax bracket some teachers find themselves in.

During a Ways and Means Committee hearing this week, Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., touted the broader economic benefits of the tax bill, saying, This helps teachers. Based on information from Congress Joint Committee on Taxation, a teacher earning $55,100, the average salary for teachers nationwide, would see a tax cut of $660 in 2019 and $275 in 2027. (Both numbers are in comparison to 2017.)

However, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., singled out the end of the $250 deduction for teachers during the same hearing, asking, How can we punish teachers who are just trying to buy supplies for their classrooms?

Expansion for Choice

Although U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has failed so far to get traction for her school choice expansion proposals in Congress, lawmakers did make one change that could make it easier for some to go to private schools.

The tax bill would allow 529 college-savings plans to also be used for K-12 expenses of up to $10,000 annually, including for private school tuition. Contributions to these plans are tax-deductible. The legislation would simultaneously end Coverdell accounts, in which tax-deferred savings can be used for up to $2,000 annually for K-12 expenses.

DeVos hailed the move as a good step forward for school choice. The idea has long been a top K-12 priority for the conservative Heritage Foundation, where the director of the Center for Education Policy, Lindsey Burke, said the growing amount of savings in 529 accounts represents an increasing awareness of the accounts in general. That means, she said, they could represent significant growth for private school choice. On Heritages website, Burke wrote that in general, the bills change to 529 accounts would enable families to save for K-12 education-related expenses while increasing their ability to pay for education options outside the public school system.

But other organizations supporting school choice, including EdChoice and the American Federation for Children, said that while they supported the change to 529 plans, it wouldnt be helpful in general to lower-income families. (DeVos used to lead the American Federation for Children.)

A 2016 survey by Edward Jones, an investment firm, found that 72 percent of Americans had not heard of 529 college-savings plans. And a 2014 survey conducted for the College Savings Foundation reported that about 63 percent of those using 529 plans had annual household incomes of $100,000 or more.

Generally, Im working with high-net-worth individuals who use 529s, said Bob Williams, the senior vice president and managing director of the Simmons First Investment Group in Little Rock, Ark.

Charter school advocates have their own beef with the House bill, since it would end a charters ability to pay for a new school building with proceeds from bonds that are tax-exempt. Charters ability to refinance outstanding debt with those same tax-exempt bonds would also end under the legislation.

Borrowing on a tax-exempt basis saves charter schools millions of dollars every yeardollars that can remain in the classroom, Nina Rees, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, wrote in a letter to lawmakers this week after the bill was released.
Delhi  The capital of India, The proud of India, The prestige of India. That prestige is currently covered under a cloud of dense smoke. Smoke caused by political negligence, Smoke caused by government failure and smoke caused by citizen foolishness. Bringing on the Issue of the Day; let me introduce you to the harsh reality of Delhi Air Pollution Update. The pollution level in Delhi has raised equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes a day. One does not need to study rocket science to understand its dangerously harsh effects on the health of citizens residing in Delhi Air Pollution.

BBC Weather  A leading weather report agency recently tweeted present climatic conditions of this city. The tweet was made live at 3:39 PM on 9th November 2017. It stated that the pollutants level in #DelhiSmog is equal to smoking 50 cigarettes a day. Every citizen of the capital is forced to inhale this toxic air.

Social Workers distribute masks amidst Delhi Air Pollution

Government attempts to help the situation are typical. The Kejriwal Government in the state is blaming the issue on Central government and the center is thrashing it back to State government. Their real attempts at minimizing Delhi Smog levels are no more than a drop of water in a river.

The Delhi Air Pollution live update recorders could be seen in facial masks. According to a recent release, Delhis Sir Ganga Ram Hospital is experiencing 100% increment in respiratory disorder patients in its OPD since this Diwali. Social workers, political parties, and NGOs are distributing masks in order to help civilians.

Odd-Even Rule: A game of shadows

The Odd-Even Rule concept introduced by CM Arvind Kejriwal has become a fun game for political theatre. The state government under Kejriwals guidance is constantly attempting to re-implement the Odd-Even concept. Whereas, NGT and few other parties are delaying even this attempt. It is surely one of a few government attempts at bringing down Delhi Air Pollution levels. NGT is to examine Kejriwals decision of Odd-Even scheme at 2 pm on 10th November. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has also demanded the records of climate change during earlier implementations of this scheme.

What Experts Say on Delhi Air Pollution Live Update

Clearly, the air pollution levels in the state are no more clear to breathe. The pollutant levels in the air are high enough to cause damage to your lungs equivalent to 50 cigarettes a day. Residents in Delhi are living this scenario since last 20 days. Even after Supreme Courts guidelines on firecrackers and celebration during Diwali time, citizens of Delhi and NCR region burnt more than the sufficient number of firecrackers. This became a major factor in dangerous increment of Delhi air pollution levels.

A prominent weather reporting agency- Down To Earth released a study report on what is causing Delhi Smog. The organization has released its records on the factors causing PM 2.5 pollutants and NOx pollutants in Delhi Air Pollution. The report states that Road dust is causing 38% of PM 2.5 pollutants whereas Vehicles are responsible for 20% of it. Vehicles are also responsible for 36% of NOx pollutants in the air.

Probably shutting down all transportation vehicles in the state for a limited time could help reduce Delhi Smog levels. The solution is not very practical but why cant we do so? Expert Pollution controllers advise complete transportation shut down for some time. Maybe this could help when the responsible for this issue are sitting folding their hands on the chair. EmitPost Team requests citizens of Delhi to quit private vehicles and choose to travel through Delhi Metro for at least a week. Let this post do not shut at just being an ISSUE OF THE DAY, let these words make a positive social impact.
New Orleans - Nov. 11, 2017 -- Research to Prevent Blindness and the American Academy of Ophthalmology today announced that they have created a new category of grant to support researchers who want to use the Academy's IRIS Registry database to conduct population-based studies in ophthalmology and blindness prevention. The grants will help clinical researchers leverage this unique, growing resource for the advancement of patient care.

Research to Prevent Blindness is a leading catalyst for research to eliminate blinding disease. The nonprofit organization is associated with nearly every major breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of vision loss that has occurred in the past 50 years.

The Research to Prevent Blindness/American Academy of Ophthalmology Award for IRIS Registry research will fund six studies over two years. Each grant of $35,000 will allow recipients to learn how to use the IRIS Registry's analytic capabilities. The IRIS Registry is now the world's largest specialty clinical database, having amassed data on 41.2 million patients. A subset of this massive database will be provided to recipients for analysis based on their study. Researchers will be required to submit their results for peer-reviewed publication no later than six months after analyses are performed.

"In a short amount of time, the IRIS Registry has become a sought-after tool for data analytics, producing insights into real-world practice patterns and clinical outcomes," said David W. Parke II, MD, CEO for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. "The next step is to develop opportunities for engaging clinical researchers to analyze this unique, growing resource to reveal patterns of disease, their determinants, and approaches to prevention and treatment that advance the ophthalmic profession to the benefit of our patients - present and future."

This award is open to individual researchers in ophthalmology, population health, epidemiology, and related fields at academic institutions, who are interested in vision research at a population level. The research question should be original and advance the Academy's mission to protect sight and empower lives. Applicants must have relevant analytics experience, such as a background in statistics or experience with big-data analytics.

The IRIS Registry Analytics Committee will review applications and select a slate of top-ranked nominees for RPB's esteemed Scientific Advisory Panel to review and select the final awardees. Selected investigators will be notified in July 2018. Researchers will begin their investigations shortly thereafter.

"We are thrilled to partner with the American Academy of Ophthalmology on this novel award, which gives researchers the power of big data to answer important questions about vision at the population level," said Brian F. Hofland, Ph.D., president of Research to Prevent Blindness. "RPB catalyzes innovation by supporting excellent research and the IRIS Registry's unique data offers a powerful resource to conduct new, important, and impactful vision research."

###

The application process for the first round of three grants opens today and closes on Jan. 31, 2018. Applications are available online. Three additional grants will be awarded in 2019.

About the American Academy of Ophthalmology

The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons. A global community of 32,000 medical doctors, we protect sight and empower lives by setting the standards for ophthalmic education and advocating for our patients and the public. We innovate to advance our profession and to ensure the delivery of the highest-quality eye care. Our EyeSmart program provides the public with the most trusted information about eye health. For more information, visit aao.org.

About Research to Prevent Blindness

Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) is the leading nonprofit organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment, or eradication of all diseases that damage and destroy sight. As part of this purview, RPB also supports efforts to grow and sustain a robust and diverse vision research community. Since it was founded in 1960 by Dr. Jules Stein, RPB has awarded more than $349 million in research grants to the most talented vision scientists at the nation's leading medical schools. As a result, RPB has been associated with nearly every major breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of vision loss in the past 50 years. Learn more at http://www.rpbusa.org.

Contact:

American Academy of Ophthalmology

Media Relations

(415) 561-8534

media@aao.org

Research to Prevent Blindness

Diana Friedman

(212) 752-4333

dfriedman@rpbusa.org
Standard guidelines for stroke treatment currently recommend clot removal only within six hours of stroke onset. But a milestone study with results published today in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that clot removal up to 24 hours after stroke led to significantly reduced disability for properly selected patients.

The international multi-center clinical study, known as the DAWN trial, randomly assigned 206 stroke victims who arrived at the hospital within six to 24 hours to either endovascular clot removal therapy, known as thrombectomy, or to standard medical therapy.

Thrombectomy involves a catheter placed in the femoral artery and snaked up the aorta and into the cerebral arteries where the clot that is blocking the artery, and causing the neurological symptoms, is retrieved.

Almost half of the patients (48.6 percent) who had clot removal showed a considerable decrease in disability, meaning they were independent in activities of daily living 90 days after treatment. Only 13.1 percent of the medication group had a similar decrease. There was no difference in mortality or other safety end-points between the two groups.

"These findings could impact countless stroke patients all over the world who often arrive at the hospital after the current six-hour treatment window has closed," says co-principal investigator Raul Nogueira, MD, professor of neurology, neurosurgery and radiology at Emory University School of Medicine and director of neuroendovascular service at the Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center at Grady Memorial Hospital.

"When the irreversibly damaged brain area affected by the stroke is small, we see that clot removal can make a significant positive difference, even if performed outside the six-hour window," says co-principal investigator Tudor Jovin, MD, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Stroke Institute. "However, this does not diminish urgency with which patients must be rushed to the ER in the event of a stroke. The mantra 'time is brain' still holds true."

To select patients for the trial, the researchers used a new approach which used brain imaging and clinical criteria as opposed to just time alone.

"Looking at the physiological state of the brain and evaluating the extent of tissue damage and other clinical factors seems to be a better way to decide if thrombectomy will benefit patients as opposed to adhering to a rigid time window," says Nogueira.

The researchers planned to enroll a maximum of 500 patients over the course of the study period. However, a pre-planned interim review of the treatment effectiveness after 200 patients were enrolled in the trial led the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board overseeing the study to recommend early termination of the trial, based on pre-defined criteria demonstrating that clot removal provided significant clinical benefit in the studied patients.

"Our research and clinical teams are immensely proud of these breakthrough findings, which are so profound they will likely result in a paradigm shift that will not be seen again for many years in the field of stroke therapeutics," says Michael Frankel, MD, professor of neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, chief of neurology and director of the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center for the Grady Health System.

According to Frankel, the Emory neuroscience team was a major contributor to the DAWN trial, working at Grady Memorial Hospital, the second leading site of the trial's enrollment.

The DAWN trial included trial locations in the United States, Spain, France, Australia and Canada. The trial was sponsored by Stryker Corporation, a medical technology company that manufactures the clot removal devices used in the study.

The DAWN trial results were presented at the European Stroke Organization Conference in May.

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One of the UK's leading microbiologists is concerned that confusing language and a lack of specific objectives are hampering the global fight against antibiotic-resistant infections.

Laura Piddock, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Birmingham, and her collaborators have written a report for the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antibiotics. It calls for policymakers to focus on measurable objectives and simple language, among other things.

A summary of the report, 'Implementing WHO, EU and UK AMR strategies and action plans: has the world lived up to the challenge?', was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases today (23.30 hrs UK Time Friday November 9th).

The World Health Organization (WHO) submitted a European Strategic Action Plan on Antibiotic Resistance to the WHO European Regional Committee in 2011. The plan highlighted seven strategic objectives as guidance to national governments in European member states to address antibiotic use and resistance.

In response, the EU and the UK government set out to devise their own plans to address the recommendations in the WHO policy document.

The evidence (spanning October 2014 to March 2017) reviewed for the report suggested that although some EU member states successfully implemented many of the WHO recommendations, some appear to have been overlooked.

In particular, there was a lack of evidence to suggest any activity to restrict non-prescription use of antibiotics by people or off-label veterinary use of certain new or critically important antibiotics to human medicine.

Likewise, it appears that little has been done to evaluate the need for incentives to stimulate discovery, research and development of veterinary medicines to increase the likelihood that drugs will reach the market at the rate required to combat AMR.

Professor Piddock, who produced the report while Director of Antibiotic Action - the public engagement arm of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, said: "The UK has taken significant steps to meet the objectives of the EU Action Plan, which in turn satisfies the WHO Europe Strategic Action Plan.

"Yet there is an absence of objective and tangible outcomes by which to measure success of these plans and strategies. There is also a lack of consistency between the strategies in use of terminology, areas of compliance, and recommendations, which makes it difficult to discern whether the EU and UK regional action plans have satisfied the overarching WHO Action Plan.

"The biggest weakness is the ambiguous nature of the words employed in the recommendations. This 'jargon' may limit the impetus for decisive government action in some areas and pose a challenge to finding evidence of fulfilment of the AMR strategy aims."

The report made the following recommendations for use in future action plans to combat AMR:

Use more specific and measurable objectives, and outline the means by which all activities should be evaluated, into all future strategies

Demonstrate how all future strategies should comply/align with the WHO Action Plan

Develop a harmonised collection of educational tools to address the problems of AMR and antimicrobial stewardship practices for both the public and those working in the healthcare and veterinary sectors

Use simple language in all communications

Monitor the efficacy of education campaigns through online channels

Coordinate a review of progress in the discovery, research, and development of new drugs, including for the veterinary sector.

###

For more information or to arrange interviews contact Emma McKinney, Communications Manager (Health Science), University of Birmingham: 0121 414 6681 or email e.j.mckinney@bham.ac.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world's top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 5,000 international students from over 150 countries.

Piddock et al (2017). 'Implementing WHO, EU and UK AMR strategies and action plans: has the world lived up to the challenge'. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30633-3

Antibiotic Action is the public engagement arm of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC). BSAC is an inter-professional organisation with more than 40 years of experience and achievement in antibiotic education, research and leadership. Dedicated to saving lives through the appropriate use and development of antibiotics, it supports a large global network via workshops, professional guidelines and its own high-impact international journal.

About 700,000 people die every year from drug-resistant infections

If we do not act now, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could be responsible for 10million deaths per year and $100trillion of lost production, globally, by 2050

$40billion is needed over 10 years to take global action. This represents about 0.05% of what G20 countries spend on healthcare, currently

AMR reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics. Without antibiotics there can be no treatments for common or complicated infections: chemotherapy for cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart transplant, joint replacement surgery
A question that may be answered Sunday night is whether a king mackerel can subdue a tank of sharks.

Of course, Susie Nuttall, a graduate of Aquinas High School in La Crosse, is barred from revealing whether her boyfriend and his business partner were able to land a treasure trove for their smoked fish dip on Shark Tank until after the episode airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC.

But the peril that James Arcaro and partner Steven Markley faced when they cast their lines to five multimillionaires was nothing compared with the danger Nuttall and Arcaro dodged to escape Hurricane Irmas wrath as the category 4 storm struck just two months after they moved to Key Largo, Fla., on July 1.

Under a mandatory evacuation as Irma approached, they tossed their four cats and a dog into the car and headed north. They settled in Orlando for a while until they finally got the OK to return to their apartment.

The first few weeks, we were just bouncing around in the car with our animals, said Nuttall, a 35-year-old marine biologist whose mother, Patty Nuttall of La Crosse, says Susie has been a fanatical animal rescuer ever since she was a kid.

By the time Nuttall and Arcaro were allowed access to the Keys again, wind, water and mold had destroyed their belongings, including a car, and they had to find another place to live, Susie said.

You hear reports of price gouging, but to experience it  prices were double and triple what they were before the storm, she said. Reality sinks in.

They were able to joke  a little bit  about the killer storm during an interview Thursday, when Susie said with a chuckle, It was close to six weeks for us to be able to laugh. At six weeks, we said, OK, weve got this.

The reality sinking in now is Shark Tank, an episode filmed weeks ago, inflicting a gag order upon them until after the show is televised, revealing whether the Reely Hooked Fish Co. has a little more buoyancy.

On the program, entrepreneurs who have jumped through hoops for months land in front of a panel of fabulously wealthy, self-made men and women who love to invest in contestants projects  if and only if they like the product, the price, the percentage and potential for profit.

The product is a fish dip that Arcaro and Markley, who met on their job as Florida Native Wildland Firefighters, developed during months of trial and error.

Dip is a very popular item in Florida, and people take it very seriously, Arcaro said.

Unsatisfied with producing just any old dip that could pass muster because of the flavor of whatever is dipped, they sought a formula that could stand on its own  and far above the opposition.

They also challenged themselves to make it healthy, eschewing the typical mayonnaise base to formulate their own recipe. They use king mackerel, an oily fish widely known as a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids  among the good fats, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Like salmon, herring, sardines and albacore tuna, mackerel is considered a good source of vitamin D, some B vitamins and protein, a useful food to resist cardiovascular disease, prostate cancer, age-related vision loss and dementia.

Customers took their recipe and its flavor as seriously as the work they put into the dip, which has been selling fast in Florida.

Initially, the avid fishermen were their own supply line, but demand eventually grew to the point that they now buy mackerel from local anglers.

Arcaro and Markley are the faces wooing the sharks because the dip is their invention and, Susie said, I kind of prefer to stay behind the scenes.

Susie played crucial roles, including bookkeeping, Arcaro said. We get the glory, but she put her heart and soul into it.

Nuttall, Arcaro, Markley and his wife, Talli, also have spent hours upon hours hawking the dip in 8-ounce containers at $10 a pop from a tent at farmers markets. The dip usually sold out before the end of the day, they said.

Part of the reason Arcaro and Markley founded the business in 2016 was to raise money for their cause, the Wildland Firefighters Foundation, which receives 5 percent of their take.

The dip is featured in several bars and restaurants, and for now they have shifted sales of their Reely Hooked Fish Co. to restaurants in 5-pound tubs instead of the 8-ounce containers to individual customers. They had been shipping orders but have suspended that temporarily to refine their business plan.

The entrepreneurs jumped into the Shark Tank in an attempt to exchange a stake in the business for the help and guidance the sharks profess to purvey.

Getting on the show is tough, taking roughly a year from the initial pitch to being invited onstage.

It was long and just drawn out. Steve and I have been in other businesses, and this was one of the most difficult  if not the most difficult thing weve done, said Arcaro, who has quit the firefighting gig to focus on the business.

Susie has been in the Sunshine State since 2006, saying that, as soon as I graduated, I was on the way to Florida.

Her jobs there have included an internship at the Palm Beach Zoo and a job at the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area, a protected area of 60,348 acres near West Palm Beach where she met Arcaro.

She landed a job with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is that states equivalent to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and worked in the Everglades for four or five years, she said.

She recently made a lateral move with the commission that allows her to live in the Keys, which both she and Arcaro had on their bucket lists.

Susie and Arcaro mirror and complement each other in being free spirits, said her mother, Patty.

Animals always have been her passion. She was going to take care of every animal. Birds, cats, mice  she saved everything, Patty said, adding that she herself is terrified of the little rodents.

Patty is in awe of the Shark Tank experience, saying, It is so interesting. I think it is so great, being willing to risk it and go on the show. It may be embarrassing, but they risked it. Thats what America is all about.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  At 15, Stephanie Dampney left Australia where she had grown up, and boarded a series of planes, ultimately landing in Ohio, a one-way flight. She was alone.

Leaving an unstable home life on the other side of the world, she moved to northeast Ohio to live with her aunt and uncle in Massillon. After high school, she was determined to go to college. But where? She didnt have in-state residency yet.

If she hadnt enrolled in the Ohio Army National Guard, she might still be trying to figure out how to pay for college tuition. Having dual citizenship in the U.S. and Australia, she was able to join the military here.

A month after Dampney enlisted, her mother died. While reeling from that loss, she had to prepare for the commitment she had just made to an undergraduate degree in the United States and to the military, which would be paying for it. How she would have time to do both, she wasnt sure. She wasnt even certain if staying in Ohio was the right decision.

But my drive for an education was immense, she said.

Drive defines her. Now a senior in The Ohio State Universitys College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), Dampney is majoring in animal sciences. Her hope is to become a veterinarian as her mother was.

School and the military have proven to be a difficult juggling act. Shes had to reschedule exams that have coincided with required trainings and shes had to get to morning classes after a late-night on an army flight. Last year, she had to miss out on an entire semester to participate in training.

I was behind, she said. I lost my rhythm when it comes to school.

But she got it back, and now shes applying to graduate schools.

At all Ohio State campuses, military and veteran students in CFAES total 111, including one student who earned a Purple Heart after being wounded while protecting his unit in Afghanistan. Often, those students are quick to seek out other veterans who now work in the college when they need help transitioning to the role of college student after or while serving in the military.

Matt Mayo, a veterans advocate in CFAES, helps students as they navigate military and university life, meeting the demands of both. He works with students when theyre seeking benefits or jobs and when theyre called to active duty and need to take the necessary steps to ensure they can later return to their studies.

In all of his interactions, Mayo, a construction systems management senior in CFAES and a veteran, tries to help dissolve the stereotype of the veteran beset with post-traumatic stress disorder and easily triggered. Some veterans contend with PTSD, but so do people who never served in the military, Mayo pointed out.

While there may be people on campus who have PTSD, that doesnt mean theyre going to be set off in class because you say something they dont like, he said.

More often, military or veteran students are motivated students with experiences that other students may not have had, Mayo said.

Not every veteran is a superstar, but theyre usually a very driven student, Mayo said. Theyre here with a purpose.

Starting college after serving during the Persian Gulf War, Ben Carignan said he did not talk much in class and seldom revealed to fellow students, faculty or staff that he served active duty in the military. He didnt want to risk receiving backlash for a war they may not have agreed with. I kept to myself and wanted to fit back into civilian life quietly, Carignan said.

Now Carignan serves as a college academic counselor in CFAESs Academic Programs Office, where hes often sought out by the colleges military and veteran students because he can empathize with their challenges. It can be tough for students to adjust from being in the military to being in college, Carignan said.

Youre going from one environment in which youre basically told what youre going to do every day, to another where decisions are all up to you, Carignan said. The moment you leave base after being released from service, your path is built by you. The break is quick and the transition can be quite stressful, and many are doing it alone.

To help bridge that gap, Carignan and Mayo are organizing a group for CFAES students and alumni who are or were in the military, to build camaraderie and support among them.

The idea, Mayo said, is being a part of a team, which they miss from military culture.
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British poultry industry leaders have said they are very concerned about a United States suggestion that the United Kingdom will have to accept chlorinated chicken to secure a trans-Atlantic free trade deal.

US president Donald Trump's commerce secretary Wilbur Ross told business leaders at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in London this week that any post-Brexit deal with Washington would hinge on the UK scrapping rules set by Brussels, including regulations governing imports of chlorinated chicken.

Chlorine-washed chicken is currently banned by the EU and UK farmers' leaders have been lobbying against accepting lower standard food imports in order to win trade deals.

A number of ministers, including Defra Secretary Michael Gove, have insisted that the UK Government will seek to maintain farming standards in any negotiations, but Wilbur Ross's intervention has caused alarm.

He told CBI delegates: Discussions with the private sector reveal that the removal of both tariff and non-tariff barriers will be a critical component of any trade discussions between us we must reduce unnecessary divergences in regulations and standards that many of our companies, especially our SMEs, face.

'Very big concern'

Shraddha Kaul, public affairs and public relations manager with the British Poultry Council (BPC) said it is a "very big concern."

She said the BPC view was that it was "completely unacceptable" that standards should be given up in order to secure a free trade deal with the United States.

"From the BPC's point of view, any compromise is not acceptable. At the end of the day anything we agree to in post-Brexit agreements must be about Britain's food security and safety," she said. "The Government should stand up for standards that have been hard won over many years.

"The poultry industry here in the UK already has an excellent track record of producing food that is affordable and safe. We have shown that we are capable of scaling up production to meet the demands of a growing population.

"It is important now that the Government supports the industry. The Government should show confidence in our world leading standards rather than throwing them away."

Controversial food

International trade secretary Liam Fox, the Government Minister responsible for setting up new trade deals in the wake of Brexit, has previously expressed some support for controversial foods should as chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected beef - another long-running issue between the United States and the EU.

However, following Wilbur Ross's intervention at the CBI conference, the trade secretary appears to have fallen into line to some extent with other Ministers.

We have made very clear we are not going to see reductions in our standards as we move forward, partly because British consumers wouldnt stand for it, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

International trade secretary Liam Fox has previously expressed some support for accepting chlorinated chicken

"We are entering an era where, I think, people will take a much bigger interest in trade agreements than they might have done in the past, on environmental standards, quality and safety, they will clearly have very strong views.

He said the government would commit to a wider consultation process before signing new trade deals.

Consumers will want to be consulted  we dont want to get into a situation where weve been with the TTIP agreement with the US and the EU where a huge amount of work is done only to find the public wont accept it. We need to understand those parameters early on, he said.

Support for British

Shraddha Kaul said she welcomed Liam Fox's comments. She told FarmingUK that Michael Gove, the Minister responsible for agriculture, had previously spoken in support of British farming standards. The BPC hoped that such support would be maintained, she said.

In one interview following his Defra appointment, Michael Gove said: "Farmers recognise that, as we leave the EU, there are opportunities because of the high quality produce that the UK is famous for."

He said: "There is an opportunity to sell more abroad  but we also need to make sure that, as we do sell abroad, we do not compromise our high environmental and animal welfare standards.

Farming Minister George Eustice has said: "We want to make the UK the international exemplar when it comes to animal health and welfare. I would like us to pioneer new policies, new ways of working, to create a policy that is the envy of the world.

"I want us to get to a place where a decade from now the rest of the world will want to emulate policies that we put in place."

Number one

During his speech to the CBI, Wilbur Ross said that the UK was already the USs seventh largest trading partner, with nearly $230bn in bilateral trade. He said the US would like to be the UKs number one trading partner.

While we cannot negotiate a free trade agreement until the UK exits the EU, we are holding preliminary scoping discussions on how to strengthen our economic ties in support of job creation and growth in both our economies.

He said a trade and investment working group had been created, bringing together UK and US trade and industry experts. The first meeting had been held in Washington in July. Another one was due in London.

However, the US commerce secretary went on to list a number of issues he saw as obstacles to trade. He said European regulations governing the safety of imports such as chlorine-washed chicken ignored US scientific research. Changing these regulations would form a critical component of any trade discussion between the United States and the United Kingdom, he said.

As the UK stands on the edge of the major changes coming with Brexit, we stand ready to use this opportunity to support our friends across the pond and to deepen our ties even further but while Brexit opens up the prospect of such trade talks, it also provides a challenge.

Difficult trade talks

The Government has made clear that it is seeking to establish a series of free trade agreements with countries around the world ready for when the UK withdraws from the European Union in 2019.

However, a briefing paper in the House of Commons Library, has warned that agriculture can prove difficult in trade talks.

The authors of the document, 'Brexit: Agriculture and Trade,' said: "Agricultural issues can be a sticking point in trade negotiations. The interests of consumers and producers need to be balanced.

"Other issues, such as food security, differing approaches to ensuring food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards, are also likely to come into the equation. Agricultural interests may also have to be balanced against those of other industrial sectors."

The paper said: "On leaving the EU customs union, the UK will be able to negotiate its own free trade agreements. This has the potential to open up new markets for UK agriculture."

However, it said: "It remains to be seen how easy these trade negotiations will be. Examples have already been raised where there could be issues such as around the import of hormone-fed beef and chickens washed in chlorine, which are currently banned in the EU."

The House of Commons briefing paper pointed to evidence to the House of Lords EU Committee that many UK farm businesses would be put at significant competitive disadvantage if current tariff barriers were removed or slashed without great care being taken to ensure a level playing field.
Eight out of ten consumers always buy Welsh produce and believe it has better quality than anywhere else, a new report highlights.

Food and Drink Wales' report on the Value of Welshness highlights that shoppers outside of Wales believe Wales is known for good quality food and drink and would like to support it.

29% would like to see more Welsh food and drink in their shops, it says. The report highlights how Wales is more associated with 'naturalness' than the rest of Britain.

The scope for growth in Welsh products is substantial and there is strong shopper support for food and drink from Wales.

The evidence suggests Welsh branding sits well with, and enhances British branding.

Promoting Welsh food and drink, both nationally and globally, is a top priority for the Welsh government and increasing numbers of Welsh brands are being recognised around the world.

This was highlighted by the recent TasteWales event, which featured buyers from as far afield as Hong Kong, the UAE and the USA.

'Well-deserved reputation'

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths welcomed the findings of the report, saying Welsh food and drink has gained a "growing and well-deserved" reputation.

This is reflected in the fact fourteen Welsh food and drink products have now been awarded coveted Protected Food Name status, Ms Griffiths explained.

We have an ambitious target to grow the industry by 30% to 7bn by 2020. Although there are undoubtedly major challenges ahead, not least our impending exit from the European Union, I am confident we can overcome them if we continue to promote the unique, special nature of our produce.

This report shows there is strong support for food and drink from Wales and there are definite benefits for Welsh brands by using Welshness to enhance their proposition inside and outside of Wales.

Andy Richardson, Chair of the Food and Drink Wales Industry Board said: It is very encouraging for us as an Industry Board to see that this research highlights the importance of Welsh provenance and underpins the confidence we have in our food and drink sector.
Ranbir Kapoor is one busy man these days as the actor is currently prepping up for his upcoming film Brahmastra which is being directed by his close friend and super talented Ayan Mukerji. We also showed you how Ranbir took off to Berlin ahead of his work to spend time with his mum Neetu Kapoor and some of his close friends.

Now after having a gala time in Berlin, RK landed in Mumbai this afternoon looking his handsome self as always. Keeping it casual and comfy  Ranbirs look is a major fashion hack for all those lazy boys out there who wish to look good without making much of an effort. The hottie completed his look with his must-have snapback.Its always amazing to see a glimpse of RK. Check out his pictures right here.
You wont often find me complaining about todays hyper-partisan world. The policies of the country we live in are hugely important and have a direct effect on our everyday lives. Politics are important.

However, they are not the most important thing.

It seems some of us have forgotten that as sexual assault allegations and harassment stories sweep the nation.

Most recently it was Roy Moore, the Alabama U.S. Senate candidate. On Thursday, the Washington Post published the story of Leigh Corfman, who said Moore took her to his house and put her hand on his genitals when she was 14.

The story is no mere tabloid rumor. Even assuming somehow Corfman would have something to gain by lying  which doesnt make any sense because the time frame for a civil suit ended when she turned 21  the story was thoroughly vetted as Post reporters spoke with her family and friends, as well as three other women who confirmed they had relationships with Moore while they were teens and he was in his 30s.

The Post confirmed Corfmans story with her childhood friends, who recalled Corfman telling them she was seeing an older man, and her mother, who remembers Moore, who was in his early 30s and an assistant district attorney, approaching them at the courthouse and offering to watch her daughter while she went into a child custody hearing. According to Corfman, during the time they were waiting, Moore asked her for her phone number so he could arrange to take her out on a date.

Just stop and process that for a moment. The guy wanted a date from someone he viewed as immature enough to need a babysitter. Its disgusting.

Equally as disgusting are the people saying that its fine if a 32-year-old man wants to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, as long as hes in their political party.

I am angry that peoples immediate knee-jerk reaction is to not believe the allegations, but that I can at least understand. But I cannot understand how people put politics above holding people accountable for personally harming children, openly saying that even if proven true the circumstances arent enough to make them consider voting for a different political party.

Lest you accuse me of making things up, let me point you to reporting done by the Toronto Stars Daniel Dale. Dale covers U.S. politics for the Canadian newspaper and so, when the story on Moore broke, Dale called up Alabama Republicans so he could report their thoughts on the matter.

The Republican Party chair in Geneva County, Ala., Riley Seibenhener, said he didnt think the allegations were true, but, even if they were true, its not enough to make him change his vote because its not forcible rape, before adding I know that 14-year-olds dont make good decisions.

Alabamas Marion County Republican Party chair, David Hall, told Dale that it wouldnt affect his vote because it wasnt relevant. He cast doubt on the truth of Corfmans story, adding, The other women that theyre using to corrobrate: number one, one was 19, one was 17, one was 16. Theres nothing wrong with a 30-year-old single male asking a 19-year-old, a 17-year-old, or a 16-year-old out on a date.

Counterpoint: Yes, there absolutely is something wrong with a 30-year-old asking a 16-year-old out on a date. It might not be illegal in Alabama, but it is not OK.

Most noteworthy is Bibb County Republican Party chair Jerry Pow, who said after a long pause, even if the allegations were true, I would vote for Judge Moore because I wouldnt want to vote for Doug (Jones, the Democratic nominee).

That is the most abhorrent thing I have ever heard. The perpetrator agreeing with your tax plan is a good reason to excuse sexual assault.

Were in a time when a single vote in the U.S. Senate can have far-reaching consequences on health care, taxes and the economy, things that affect peoples lives. But getting those votes should not be prioritized over holding people accountable for bad behavior.

I know people are going to say I only say these things because Moores a Republican or that these men are only saying that theyd vote for Moore anyway because they dont believe Corfmans story.

But guess what? If Louis C.K.s movie hadnt immediately been pulled after allegations he exposed himself to fellow comedians after working with them one evening, if HBO hadnt cut ties with him and instead said, Well, as long hes liberal, whats a little sexual harassment? then Id be decrying that as well.

Its not only Republicans who sexually harass women or sexually assault teen girls (hello, Anthony Weiner, you disgusting perv). Sexual assault is about power, not party.

This is not and should not be a partisan issue. Protecting serial sexual harassers due to their political affiliation goes against everything our country is supposed to stand for.
Apple launches "Everyone Can Code" initiative for students around the world News oi -Samden Sherpa Students from around the world will now gain the opportunity to become proficient in the Swift programming language and build the fundamental skills they need to pursue careers in the app economy.

Apple has now announced the global expansion of its "Everyone Can Code" program to more than 20 colleges and universities outside of the US. With the launch of this initiative, schools and colleges will now offer " App Development with Swift Curriculum," which is a full-year course designed by Apple engineers and educators to teach coding and app design to students of all levels and backgrounds.

While it sounds great, hundreds and thousands of students from around the world will now gain the opportunity to become proficient in the Swift programming language and build the fundamental skills they need to pursue careers in the booming app economy.

The broadest international deployments of the App Development with Swift Curriculum has been brought to RMIT University, Australia's largest higher education institution. As part of its commitment to improving digital literacy, starting this month RMIT will offer the App Development with Swift curriculum through RMIT Online, and a new vocational course will be taught on campus.

RMIT will also offer scholarships for school teachers who want to learn coding, and a free summer school course at RMIT's City campus will give secondary students the chance to learn the basics of coding.

RMIT joins more than 20 international universities who are also offering the curriculum to students this year, including Mercantec in Denmark, Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen in the Netherlands, Unitec Institute of Technology in New Zealand and Plymouth University in the UK.

"We launched the Everyone Can Code initiative less than a year ago with the ambitious goal of offering instruction in coding to as many people as possible. Our program has been incredibly popular among US schools and colleges, and today marks an important step forward as we expand internationally," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We are proud to work with RMIT and many other schools around the world who share our vision of empowering students with tools that can help them change the world."

"App Development with Swift will play a crucial role in helping RMIT's students use their creativity and entrepreneurship to prepare for success in the 21st-century workforce," said Martin Bean CBE, RMIT University Vice-Chancellor, and President. "These are the sort of skills Australians need for the jobs of the future, and we're thrilled to work with Apple to deliver this important curriculum."

"I'm so excited to have the chance to begin learning with Apple's App Development curriculum, and for the opportunities, it could open for my future," said Tenisha Fernando, fourth-year RMIT student. "The Swift programming language is used by developers to create some of the world's best apps, and it would be great to join them in sharing my own ideas."

App Store customers have now downloaded more than 180 billion apps and Apple has paid out over $70 billion to developers since the store launched in 2008, making it the most vibrant software marketplace in the world. More than 500 million unique customers from 155 countries visit the App Store every week.

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Mobikwik partners with IDFC Bank, Net 1 to launch a co-branded virtual prepaid card News oi -Priyanka The partnership marks IDFC Banks biggest foray into the prepaid card segment and significantly enhances MobiKwiks wallet acceptance across Visas network.

IDFC Bank, MobiKwik, and Net1 have partnered to launch a co-branded virtual prepaid card on the Visa platform to customers of MobiKwik.

Avtar Monga, Executive Director, IDFC Bank, said: "The prepaid card space is evolving fast, encouraged by technological disruption and a growing preference for digital payments. IDFC Bank's prepaid solutions seamlessly integrate its technology stack with that of MobiKwik, to not only digitize payments but make them transformational, from a customer experience standpoint."

Monga said that "This marks the beginning of a long-term strategic alliance where both partners can leverage their respective strengths. We are delighted to partner MobiKwik, Visa, and Net1 for one of the largest ever issuance of prepaid cards."

The co-branded card is set to be launched in early December. The partnership marks IDFC Bank's biggest foray into the prepaid card segment and significantly enhances MobiKwik's wallet acceptance across Visa's network.

Around 65 million users of the MobiKwik will gain access to an IDFC Bank virtual card embedded within the app, making digital purchases at all e-commerce merchants easier and faster.

Customers of MobiKwik can generate a 16-digit Visa virtual card through the app and use it for e-commerce and online transactions. This is one of the largest issuances of virtual prepaid cards globally.

According to Upasana Taku, Co-Founder, Mobikwik, "On the first anniversary of demonetization, we are happy to note that Indians are fast developing a digital mindset and paying with the MobiKwik wallet has become a habit for millions of Indians. The IDFC powered virtual card will enable MobiKwik users to transact digitally across millions of merchants both on the Mobikwik and Visa networks."

TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India & South Asia for Visa, said, "Prepaid instruments are rapidly gaining importance to expand the digital payments market in India. With less than 10 percent of personal consumption expenditure being digital in India, a wider variety of payment instruments helps bring more consumers into the digital payments habit. Helped by a growing number of available applications and acceptance platforms, virtual prepaid cards are fast emerging as a popular form of payment amongst the new breed of online shoppers in India. We are excited to be working with partners like IDFC Bank, and MobiKwik to enable instruments such as the virtual prepaid card, which bring the same level of security, convenience, and ease of use as we have for debit and credit instruments, particularly in the online space."

Dhruv Chopra, Managing Director, Net1 India, said: "We are pleased to enable MobiKwik and IDFC Bank to launch a large-scale virtual card deployment using our proprietary MVC technology. This combined initiative facilitates two key components of financial inclusion, namely accessibility, and interoperability, and supports the coordinated effort to move to a less-cash world."

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BSNL signs MOU with Fibre Home to manufacture telecom equipment News oi -Priyanka The MoU between two companies is expected to bring telecom manufacturing technology and expertise to India. This will help India set up manufacturing base India "Make in India program at low cost.

State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Fibre Home to jointly start manufacturing telecom equipment and optical fiber cable in BSNL factories.

The MoU between two companies is expected to bring telecom manufacturing technology and expertise to India. This will help India set up manufacturing base India "Make in India" program at low cost.

"This agreement will help India to get high-quality telecom equipment at reasonable cost and will also reduce deployment time. BSNL always strive hard to fulfill government dreams by adopting a workable and practical program like this," Anupam Shrivastava, CMD BSNL said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel launches India's first Telecom Infra Project

Lee, President FIBER HOME also expressed optimism that joint manufacturing is coming at the apt time when demand for telecom equipment is increasing world over. He felt that BSNL-Fibre Home may export telecom equipment to Asia Pacific region shortly.

Fibre Home India's parent company has one of the largest telecom manufacturing based in China, where it manufactures equipment for transport layer and access layer of telecom network.

The state-run telco has seven telecom factories with a manpower of around 1,600 employees and elaborate infrastructure. BSNL said that these factories are manufacturing several customer end equipment and testing tools for the PSU's internal consumption.

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Macron touts warship deal with UAE before surprise Saudi visit

Iran Press TV

Thu Nov 9, 2017 11:51PM

France is set to sell a number of warships to the United Arab Emirates, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in Abu Dhabi, during a high-profile Middle East tour that also involved a surprise stop in Saudi Arabia.

Wrapping up his two-day visit to the UAE, Macron said Thursday that the tiny Persian Gulf country would get at least two French-made Gowind navy corvettes under the deal for an undisclosed price.

Developed by French military firm Naval Group, the warships are designed for missions in littoral zones, including coastal surveillance and anti-submarine warfare.

Macron also toured a French naval base in Abu Dhabi , where he hailed the military cooperation between the two nations.

The Camp de la Paix (Peace Camp), which is located at Abu Dhabi's Port Zayed, sits across the waters of the Persian Gulf and is home to some 700 French military personnel.

A symbol of France's deepening military ties with the UAE, the naval base was inaugurated in 2009 by then French head of state Nicolas Sarkozy. The UAE reportedly funds the base's operation costs of up to $60 million a year.

"France's military capacity is at the heart of my ambitions for our country," the French president said before walking through the French frigate Jean Bart.

French military forces and aircraft are also stationed at the UAE's al-Dhafra Air Base, which houses some of the 5,000 American troops deployed to the country.

International rights group such as Human Rights Watch have censured Western nations' rush for profiting from arms sales to the UAE and other Arab countries that are key contributors to a Saudi-led war against the people of Yemen.

Macron heads to Riyadh

The French president announced later on Thursday that he was headed to Saudi Arabia to discuss the Yemen war with the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud.

"I believe it's important that we work with Saudi Arabia for the purpose of guaranteeing stability in the region and the fight against terrorism," Macron said, referring to the ongoing military aggression that has killed over 12,000 Yemeni people and destroyed much of the poverty-stricken country's infrastructure since it began in March 2015.

According to the Control Arms Coalition, France, the world's fourth weapons exporter, authorized arms licenses worth $18 billion to Saudi Arabia in 2015 -- the year Riyadh launched its military campaign against Yemen -- followed by the United States at $5.9 billion and Britain's $4 billion.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






I would like to thank all of those who participated in Irving Pertzsch Elementary Schools Hurricane Relief for Hopkins.

To date, we have sent 97 boxes of school supplies, clothing and books to Hopkins Elementary School in Victoria, Texas, and raised more than $200 for the school.

I am grateful for the dedication and compassion of the IP students, their families and our district community. Thank you to Thrivent Financial, which gave me the seed money to get this program off the ground, and Premier Spine for your donations.

None of this could have happened without the gracious donations of boxes and shipping from Fastenal in Winona and Victoria. Thank you so much for organizing and shipping all of these materials.

"True compassion means not only feeling anothers pain but also being moved to help relieve it."  Daniel Goleman

Sarah Frie, LMC director, Irving Pertzsch Elementary School, Onalaska
Coalition Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 10, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 23 strikes consisting of 28 engagements Nov. 6-9, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Yesterday in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 11 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed four ISIS logistics hubs.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, 10 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS line of communication, four fighting positions and an ISIS vehicle.

No strikes were reported in Syria on Nov. 8.

On Nov. 7, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed a command-and-control center.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a tactical vehicle and an explosive hazard.

-- Near Shaddadi, a strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position.

On Nov. 6, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed three command-and-control centers, an anti-air artillery system, a unmanned aerial vehicle facility, a tactical vehicle and an ISIS-held building.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

Yesterday in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Qaim, which engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control center.

No strikes were reported in Iraq on Nov. 8.

On Nov. 7, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Qaim, which destroyed an ISIS-held building and engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

No strikes were reported in Iraq on Nov. 6.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement in Syria on Nov. 5 that was reported too late for the Nov. 6 strike update:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

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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UN chief sounds alarm about 'devastating consequences' of Saudi-Lebanon conflict

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 05:20PM

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has voiced serious concern about escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, warning of "devastating consequences" if a war breaks out between the two countries.

"We are indeed very worried, and we hope we won't see an escalation," the UN chief told reporters in New York. "It is essential that no new conflict erupts in the region, it could have devastating consequences."

"This is a matter of great concern to us. What we want is for peace to be preserved in Lebanon," Guterres said.

His comments come amid rising tension between the regime in Riyadh and the Lebanese government over the past few days. Guterres said he had "very intense" contacts with officials in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and other countries in the region, insisting it was necessary to avoid any fresh tensions in the conflict-hit Middle East.

In related news, the secretary general of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Friday that Saudi rulers had clearly and openly declared war against Lebanon by holding the country's Prime Minister Saad Hariri hostage in Riyadh.

According to many political experts and diplomats, Saudi Arabia, which had earlier accused Beirut of declaring war against Riyadh, has been engaged in "provocative" and "aggressive" behavior against countries such as Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar and Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Monday that the Saudi kingdom was "engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilizing behavior & risky provocations" of its regional neighbors.

Iran's top diplomat particularly held the Saudi-led military coalition engaged in a campaign against Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement responsible for the death of thousands of innocent people in the poorest Arab country.

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Militants kill 8 civilians, 2 soldiers in Egypt's Sinai

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 02:58PM

Eight civilians and two soldiers have been killed in an ambush by militants affiliated with the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Security officials said militants from the Velayat Sinai terrorist group, previously known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, ambushed a convoy of trucks transporting cement from an army factory in central Sinai late Thursday.

The attack was carried out near the town of Nakhl, the officials said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The assailants also stole weapons and burned seven trucks.

The Sinai Peninsula has been under a state of emergency since October 2014, after a deadly terrorist attack left 33 Egyptian soldiers dead.

Over the past few years, militants have been carrying out anti-government activities and fatal attacks, taking advantage of the turmoil in Egypt that erupted after the country's first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted in a military coup in July 2013.

Velayat Sinai has claimed responsibility for most of the assaults. The group later expanded the assaults to target members of Egypt's Coptic Christian community as well as foreigners visiting the country. That has prompted the government to impose the state of emergency and widen a controversial crackdown, which critics say has mostly targeted dissidents.

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Lebanon president voices concern over Hariri situation in Saudi Arabia

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 09:37AM

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has told foreign diplomats of his concerns over the situation of Saad Hariri, who is said to be held in Saudi Arabia after he announced his resignation in a live broadcast from the kingdom.

In a meeting with foreign ambassadors and representatives of the UN, the EU and Arab League in Lebanon, Aoun called for clarifications of the situation, Lebanese media reported Friday.

According to the reports, the Lebanese leader also told Saudi Charge d'Affaires Walid al-Bukhari that Hariri must return home, describing the circumstances as unacceptable.

Hariri arrived in Riyadh on November 3 and announced his resignation as prime minister the next day in a live speech broadcast from there, citing assassination fears and denouncing Iran and Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah for sowing strife in Arab states.

Both Hezbollah and Iran rejected Hariri's allegations. The Lebanese army also said it had found no such plots against Hariri.

The Beirut government has not accepted the resignation, with the Justice Ministry saying he should first return, and that his resignation should be "voluntary" to be formally considered by President Michel Aoun.

Two top Lebanese officials on Thursday told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Hariri is believed to "be held" in the kingdom.

Reuters also quoted a third source, a senior politician close to Saudi-allied Hariri, as saying that Riyadh had forced him to resign and put him under house arrest, while a fourth source said Hariri does not have freedom of movement.

On of the sources had also said"Lebanon is heading towards asking foreign and Arab states to put pressure on Saudi to release Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri,"

'Time for Hariri to return'

On Thursday, top Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt took to Twitter to call for Hariri's return.

"Be it forced or voluntary," he wrote, it is "time for Sheikh Saad to return."

"By the way, there is no alternative to him," said the influential Druze politician, adding that his presence is needed in Lebanon amid joint efforts "to complete the process of building and stability."

The reported restrictions on Hariri, however, contradict remarks by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who said Thursday that he believes Hariri did not have any particular constraints on his movements.

This is while western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, have recently told The New York Times that all of the envoys who met the Lebanese PM came away with the impression that he could not speak freely.

There has been no statement from Hariri on his situation yet.

On Thursday, Hariri's Future Movement Party called for his return, while Hezbollah backed Aoun's decision not to accept the resignation. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has also said the government will continue to function despite the resignation.

Hariri, the son of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was killed in a Beirut bombing in 2005, ascended to the post of premiership after he reached a deal with Aoun, a figure close to Hezbollah, last year.

That deal ended a lengthy power vacuum in Lebanon, angering Saudi Arabia, which had vigorously lobbied to prevent Lebanon's presidency from being placed in the hands of Hezbollah's allies.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Riyadh is "exploring options," including severing ties with Beirut, to deal with Hezbollah.

In an interview with CNBC, Jubeir warned against the regional role of Hezbollah, which has been providing military assistance to the Syrian army in the fight against the Takfiri terror groups.

Those terrorists are inspired by extremist Wahhabi ideology, widely preached by Saudi clerics. Riyadh has long been viewed a staunch supporter of the extremist militant groups operating against the Syrian government.

"We're looking at various options and we're consulting with our friends and allies around the world to see what the most effective way is of dealing with them [Hezbollah]," Jubeir added.

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Saudi siege could kill more hunger-stricken kids in Yemen: UNICEF

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 07:17AM

The UN children's fund has voiced alarm over humanitarian repercussions of the crippling Saudi blockade against Yemen, where some 400,000 kids are already at risk of death due to acute malnutrition.

In a statement issued late Thursday, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake warned that "the recent closure of all ports and airports is making an already catastrophic situation even worse."

Earlier this week, the Saudi military tightened the blockade against Yemen, closing all ports and halting aid shipments after Yemeni forces fired a missile that hit near Riyadh amid their retaliatory operations.

The blockade was first imposed in March 2015, when Riyadh and a coalition of its allies unleashed a brutal military campaign against the poorest Arabian Peninsula state.

The recent closures have further hindered the flow of aid supplies to the impoverished country, drawing sharp criticisms from the UN and several international aid groups.

"Today, nearly 400,000 children in Yemen are at risk of death from severe acute malnutrition. To potentially add tens of thousands more children to this toll  tens of thousands more personal catastrophes for children and grieving parents  is simply inhuman," the UNICEF statement said.

Lake further highlighted a call on Wednesday by Mark Lowcock, the UN humanitarian chief, for "safe" and "rapid" access to the areas hardest hit by the Saudi blockade, particularly the Hudaydah port and the Sana'a airport.

"Children are not responsible for the conflict and carnage created by the adults. But they are the first victims," the statement. "We must ask all the parties: What kind of Yemen do the ultimate victors expect to gain as they destroy it?"

Reports coming out of Yemen say the tightening of the siege has already led to a fuel crisis in the capital, Sana'a.

Yemeni hospitals have also been suffering a growing scarcity of medical supplies.

"The situation is bad and the full blockade on Yemen, including air embargo and sea blockade, have made it even worse," said Mohamed Abdel Mghani, a doctor at the Sana'a hospital of al-Sabeen.

The US-backed Saudi war has so far killed more than 12,000 civilians, pushed millions of Yemenis to the brink of famine and triggered a severe cholera outbreak there.

In recent weeks, the Saudi air force has stepped up its air attacks against residential areas across Yemen. In the latest carnage, at least 60 people, including women and children, were been killed or injured in a series of airstrikes by Saudi Arabia in Hajjah Province.

The Saudi regime and its allies were placed on a UN blacklist last month for killing and injuring 683 children in Yemen and attacking dozens of schools and hospitals during 2016.

Yemeni armed forces, including the Houthi Ansarullah fighters, national army troops and popular groups, have been defending the country against the Saudi aggression, which was launched to reinstall Yemen's former Riyadh-backed government.

The Ansarullah movement has warned that Yemeni forces will continue missile attacks against Saudi Arabia as long as Riyadh and its allies press ahead with the war.

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In Afghanistan, Militant Groups Unite Against A Common Enemy: Journalists

Frud Bezhan November 10, 2017

The Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) militant group might be foes on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but off it they are united against a common enemy: the Afghan media.

Both extremist groups have threatened and deliberately targeted major TV and radio stations and their staff members recently across Afghanistan, carrying out deadly attacks that have killed dozens of journalists and media employees.

The attacks have made Afghanistan one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists and forced media companies to adopt new security measures, although it is unclear if the violence has had a chilling effect on news coverage.

"They want to create fear among journalists so the media does not report their atrocities," says Najib Sharifi, head of the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), a local media watchdog. "They also want to capture headlines and assert their power and visibility. They want to silence the media because they see the media as a threat to their propaganda strategies."

'Serving Infidels'

In what was arguably the most high-profile attack of its kind on a media organization in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber in January 2016 attacked a minibus and killed seven employees of Tolo TV, the country's largest private television network.

Those killings came months after the Taliban said it no longer recognized Tolo TV and another major TV network, 1TV, as media outlets and considered them "military objectives."

The fundamentalist militant group said the move was a direct response to the commercial networks' coverage of the Taliban's brief takeover of the northern city of Kunduz in September 2015 -- specifically, their reports of Taliban fighters allegedly raping women at a female hostel there. The Taliban denied the reports, saying the coverage was an "example of propaganda by these satanic networks."

Since then, IS militants have adopted a similar strategy, and there have been several major attacks against media outlets. In May, IS militants attacked the building of state-run Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Among the six people killed were four RTA employees, including a driver, a guard, and two technical personnel, as well as two policemen.

On November 7, gunmen killed a security guard and opened fire on the staff of Shamshad TV, a private television station in Kabul, in an attack that was claimed by IS militants.

The IS-affiliated Voice of the Caliphate radio station, which broadcasts in eastern Afghanistan, warned it would continue to target media outlets and their journalists if they did not stop "serving infidels," a reference to foreigners. The broadcast said the group was "monitoring your actions and are well aware of your evil intentions and plans."

"Propaganda is a big pillar of the war being waged by the Taliban and IS," says Sharifi. "They want their narratives to dominate the political and military landscape. They see the media as a big obstacle to advancing their propaganda goals, so they use coercion to silence the media and make them resort to self-censorship."

Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based media watchdog, says the attacks are also designed to inspire new recruits.

"A public show of brutality both inspires and intimidates," he says.

Since IS militants emerged in Afghanistan in 2015, they have fought deadly clashes with the Taliban in the country's east and south, although they have also conducted joint operations against Afghan security forces. Many IS fighters in Afghanistan are former members of the Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

'Self-Censoring'

Lotfullah Najafizada, the director of Tolo News, says the 2016 attack has not affected the news channel's coverage, although it has prompted its staff to be on heightened alert.

"The attack and the threats thereafter have certainly changed the way we operate from a security perspective, but not the way we report as an independent news channel," Najafizada said.

But a BBC journalist in Afghanistan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, says the attacks have taken a toll on the media.

"Journalists are conscious of the implications of critical reporting," says the Kabul-based journalist. "The media is consciously and unconsciously self-censoring. Sometimes, the media may not run a story because they are afraid of the security implications."

Violence Against Reporters

Afghanistan's media development is often cited as one of the biggest achievements of the past decade, following years of Taliban strictures or outright prohibitions on all forms of music and television, as well as independently reported news.

Despite the gains, independent media have come under constant attack and pressure not only from militants but also from religious leaders, ex-warlords, and sometimes even the government itself.

International media watchdogs have said militants have greatly contributed to the climate of fear by explicitly targeting journalists for reporting deemed unfavorable and have condemned the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for crimes of violence against media personnel in Afghanistan.

According to a report issued by the AJSC in July, in the first six months of 2017, 10 journalists were killed and 73 cases of violence had been reported including "killing, beating, inflicting injury and humiliation, intimidation, and detention," marking a 35 percent increase over the same period last year.

AJSC said at least 13 journalists and media personnel were killed in 2016. In 2015, the figure was four, said the watchdog.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan- militant-groups-united-against-common- enemy-journalists/28847070.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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French President Says Iran Behind Yemeni Missile Launch, Calls For Talks

November 10, 2017

French President Emmanuel Macron is blaming Iran for a ballistic missile launch by Yemeni rebels targeting Riyadh last weekend, and said it illustrates the need for negotiations with Tehran over its missile development.

"The missile which was intercepted by Saudi Arabia launched from Yemen, which obviously is an Iranian missile, shows precisely the strength of their" program, Macron said late on November 9 as he visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

"There are extremely strong concerns about Iran" among its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf region over the missile launch, and "there are negotiations we need to start on Iran's ballistic missiles," he said.

"Like what was done in 2015 for the nuclear activities, it's necessary to put a framework in place for Iran's ballistic activities and open a process, with sanctions if needed, of negotiation that would enable [an agreement]," he said.

Iran has denied providing ballistic missiles or other weapons to Yemen's Shi'ite Huthi rebels, and says its missile program is purely defensive. Iranian state media did not immediately report on Macron's remarks.

But Macron said "we need to have a truthful dialogue" with Iran.

"It's not about showing any naivety towards Iran, it is about standing beside our allies, in particular the United Arab Emirates. But it is also about not having a diehard policy that could create imbalances or even conflicts in the region," he said.

Macron met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later on November 9 and "expressed France's condemnation of targeting Riyadh city by a ballistic missile," according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

"I believe it's important that we work with Saudi Arabia for the purpose of guaranteeing stability," Macron said.

The ballistic missile launched on November 4 was shot down near Riyadh's international airport, but was the first to get so close to the Saudi capital. Afterwards, Salman blamed Iran for providing the missile to the rebels and warned that it could be "considered as an act of war."

The United States backed the Saudis in blaming Iran, and raised the issue before the United Nations on November 7, calling for action to stop what it said was Iran's illegal delivery of weapons to its allies in Yemen.

Macron in his visit to the region appeared to be positioning himself as an intermediary -- a role he has also assumed in trying to mediate disputes between Iran and the United States over the 2015 nuclear deal.

Despite criticizing Iran over the missile launch, Macron said that France still stands by the nuclear deal, which puts restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

"If we were to walk away from it, it would lead to either immediate war or an absence of control," he said.

Macron has said he will travel to Iran in 2018, potentially becoming the first French president to travel there since 1971.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/french-president -macron-blames-iran-yemeni-huthi-rebel-missile- launch-riyadh-calls-for-negotiations-ballistic- missile-development/28845939.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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Five Central Asian Nations Sign Cooperation Program At Uzbekistan Meeting

RFE/RL November 10, 2017

The foreign ministers of the five Central Asian nations -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- have signed a Program on Mutual Cooperation for 2018-19.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said the document was signed in the Uzbek city of Samarkand during the 13th annual EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting on November 10.

The document outlines joint efforts to boost security, trade and economic cooperation, investment, transportation, energy, tourism, and culture across the region.

The ministers also agreed to cooperate in international activities and within international organizations, such as United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and others.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica also attended the EU-Central Asia gathering in Samarkand.

They arrived in Samarkand from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where on November 9 they met with senior Kyrgyz officials.

In Samarkand, Mogherini said security experts will join the EU delegations to the five countries to assist local governments' efforts against terrorism. She cited as concerns preventing the radicalization of youth, the Iranian nuclear program, and achieving stability in Afghanistan.

Mogherini stressed the importance of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) and expressed hope that Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will also do so.

With reporting by Interfax and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/central-asia-cooperation -program-samarkand/28847217.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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US Warns Against Using Lebanon as Venue for Proxy Conflicts - Tillerson

Sputnik News

20:31 10.11.2017(updated 20:32 10.11.2017)

The US secretary of state has shed light on Washington's stance toward the situation in Lebanon following the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Hariri, who is believed to be in Saudi Arabia.

"The United States supports the stability of Lebanon and is opposed to any actions that could threaten that stability. There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state The United States cautions against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement posted on the Department of State website.

According to Tillerson, the US strongly supports Lebanon's sovereingty and independence and urges all parties inside and outside the country to "respect the integrity and independence of Lebanon's legitimate national institutions."

The statement comes in the wake of the shock resignation of Saad Hariri, who was the Lebanese prime minister from 2009 to 2011 and took office again in November 2016, while being on his visit to Saudi Arabia. The former prime minister cited concerns he could be assassinated like his father and criticized the Lebanon-based Shiite Hezbollah paramilitary and political movement and accused Iran of alleged attempts to bring destruction to the region.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has reportedly told Saudi Arabia's envoy to Lebanon that Hariri must return to the country, calling the circumstances of his resignation unacceptable.

Media reports citing a Lebanese official have suggested that Hariri's freedom was "restricted" in Riyadh, however, later his office stated that the former prime minister had met a number of European and US diplomats.

Riyadh and Hariri aides have denied allegations that he is under house arrest, but haven't denied that movements were being restricted.

Most recently, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has stated that Saudi Arabia has "blatantly interfered" in Lebanon's local issues by allegedly detaining Saad Hariri and putting him "under house arrest."

 Sputnik

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Blockade of Yemeni Borders Temporary Measure - Saudi Arabia's UN Representative

Sputnik News

20:17 10.11.2017(updated 20:19 10.11.2017)

The Saudi-led coalition has imposed a blockade of airports and ports as a response measure by Saudi Arabia to the Yemeni Houthi rebels' attack.

CAIRO (Sputnik)  The blockade of all Yemeni air, land and sea borders by the Saudi-led coalition forces is a compulsory measure that will be in place for a short duration and will not interfere with food deliveries to the country, according to Saudi Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdullah Mouallimi.

"We will soon deal differently with this issue. Those measures aim to respond to a certain situation. When the purpose of those measures ends, we will reopen those ports with introducing some needed amendments and reforms," Mouallimi, was quoted as saying by the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

According to the diplomat, the blockade does not apply to vessels carrying food.

The Saudi-led coalition that has been conducting an operation in Yemen since 2015 announced on November 6 that it had closed off access to all of the country's land, air and sea ports after the Houthis launched a missile targeting Riyadh, explaining the move as a measure to prevent the rebels from obtaining additional weapons.

A local source told Sputnik on Wednesday that a blockade was lifted off a major port of Aden, opening it up for humanitarian aid deliveries.

However, the same day UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said that the access to humanitarian aid hasn't yet been open, emphasizing that millions could die in Yemen from hunger.

 Sputnik

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The members of the Last Mans Club first served along the Texas-Mexican border. Two hundred fifty men of the Wisconsin National Guard left La Crosse for the border in 1916. As soon as they arrived home in La Crosse, they were sent to France, arriving in March 1918. Their group was Company C of the 121st Machine Gun Battalion. The men served for a number of months under shell fire on five different fronts.

During World War I, the men never budged an inch on the front. They were nicknamed Les Terribles by the French government because of their refusal to retreat. Mac McCall toured the battlefields nearly 20 years after the war and discovered a monument in Chateau-Thierry to remember the division and others who fought. After the Armistice, on Nov. 11, 1918, the group was among the first U.S. troops to set foot on German soil.

A few years after the war, starting in 1931, the men decided to meet periodically. Their meeting captured the attention of the French government, which decided to make them a gift of a bottle of cognac. The cognac was presented to the club by U.S. Rep. Gardner Withrow during their meeting in 1934.

La Crosse was the headquarters of the club, and Withrow, a member of the was member of the Wisconsin Progressive Party from La Crosse.

This is the bottle of cognac presented to the Last Mans Club. The cognac  French brandy  is in a green glass bottle. Cognac is named for the city of Cognac, in the region of France where the members of the club fought. It was bottled in 1933 and is sealed with a cork; there is still some cognac in it today.

The Last Mans Clubs bottle resides in a wooden box, likely made by one of the clubs members.

At club meetings, the men had a meal, a drink and remembered their time on the war front. They brought out the bottle of cognac at these meetings but did not open it. They intended for the last surviving member to drink the cognac and toast his comrades once they were gone.

McCall wanted to have the club to change the rule to the last five men as opposed to the last man. In a 1975 article in the La Crosse Tribune, McCall said, What the hell is the last man going to do? He probably wont be able to get the cork out.

For a number of years, Joseph Brabant was the keeper of the cognac. He was the youngest member of the club, having left for the Mexican border when he was only 17. His aunt signed the paperwork for him to go. He later enlisted in the Navy, and he served from 1918 to 1923. Later, during World War II, he was called into active duty as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Force.

At one of their last meetings, only three men attended, and they opened the cognac. God, is that stuff awful, said Chester Newcomb, according to a 1983 La Crosse Tribune article. If I drank very much of this stuff, I could fight a war myself.

The groups members decided to give both the cognac and the club records to the La Crosse County Historical Society in order to preserve its history.

We have not opened the bottle, so we cannot verify just how awful the brandy has become. It remains in its box, a reminder of 250 men from this region who fought together in World War I.

You can view this record and others related to the Last Mans Club on our website, www.lchshistory.org.
Hezbollah Leader Says Saudi Arabia Wants to Impose New PM on Lebanese People

Sputnik News

17:04 10.11.2017(updated 21:03 10.11.2017)

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has commented on former Lebanese prime minister's shock resignation.

Saudi Arabia has "blatantly interfered" in Lebanon's local issues by allegedly detaining Saad Hariri and putting him "under house arrest," Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said, as quoted by Al Manar broadcaster, adding that the former Lebanese prime minister's "forced" resignation was unconstitutional because it had been done "under duress."

According to the Hezbollah leader, the Shiite movement had "information that Saudi Arabia had demanded Israel to attack Lebanon in exchange for tens of billions of US dollars."

"We doubt that Israel would start a war against Lebanon because it knows the high price of this war Israel does not think that we are afraid or confused, we are ready to the confrontation," Nasrallah added.

Hariri's Fate After Shock Resignation

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has reportedly told Saudi Arabia's envoy to Lebanon that Hariri must return to the country, calling the circumstances of his resignation unacceptable.

However, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Hariri was free in his movements and was not being held in Saudi Arabia.

The statement came after French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that had an "informal contact" with Hariri, during his visit to Dubai, adding that France did not receive any request from Lebanese ex-prime minister to come to the country.

Hariri, who was the prime minister from 2009 to 2011 and took office again in November 2016, resigned on November 4 while visiting Saudi Arabia, citing concerns he could be assassinated like his father and criticized the Lebanon-based Shiite Hezbollah paramilitary and political movement and accused Iran of alleged attempts to bring destruction to the region.

Media reports citing a Lebanese official have suggested that Hariri's freedom was "restricted" in Riyadh, however, later his office stated that the former prime minister had met a number of European and US diplomats.

Riyadh and Hariri aides have denied allegations that he is under house arrest, but haven't denied that movements were being restricted.

 Sputnik

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Central African Republic: Nearly 700 people seeking refuge near UN base relocated

10 November 2017  This week the United Nations migration agency completed the relocation of 698 internally displaced households from an impromptu camp that formed around the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) following attacks in Kaga Bandoro on 12 October 2016.

Over 20,000 people settled around the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) base after ex-Seleka members attacked an internally displaced person (IDP) camp in Eveche, the Prefect's office and the UN mission's camp.

"Consultation sessions with the households allowed us to ensure that their particular needs are met and they are fully informed and consulted all along the process," said IOM CAR Chief of Mission Jean-Francois Aguilera, referring to numerous sessions held with camp residents in partnership with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Following August's visit of the Humanitarian Coordinator and the Ministry of Humanitarian Actions of Kaga Bandoro, it was recommended that all IDPs be urgently relocated to safe nearby locations.

The relocation of the first bloc of the provisional camp ran from 17 to 25 October and involved 312 households, 15 of which returned to their old neighbourhood.

The relocation of 'Bloc Nine,' which was near a fuel depot  exposing residents to health risks  began on 26 October and finished on 3 November. It included a total of 319 households, with one returning to its old neighbourhood.

From 4 to 7 November, 67 households close to 'Bloc One' were also relocated. Bloc One had complicated the landing and take-off of planes, forcing humanitarian aviation operators to suspend flights  gravely affecting humanitarian efforts by preventing programme implementations and medical evacuations.

"The dangerous position of Blocs One and Nine made it very clear to IOM and CAR's humanitarian team that everyone must be urgently relocated to a safer location," Mr. Aguilera said.

IOM assisted the 682 relocated households in transporting all their belongings, including huts and hangars, to safe new locations. They also received non-food item kits and $44 per household, which totalled $30,103. The 16 returning households were provided with return kits and assisted in rehabilitating their homes and transporting their belongings.

CAR is experiencing a resurgence of violence and faces the risk of repeating the devastating crisis that beset the country four years ago. The number of both IDPs and refugees in neighbouring countries have dramatically increased over the past few months.

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Burundi Signals No Cooperation With ICC Probe

By Mohammed Yusuf November 10, 2017

Burundi's government says it will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court over its plan to investigate alleged human rights abuses in the country. The east African nation recently withdrew from the ICC charter, but the court argues the pullout does not affect its jurisdiction over crimes committed earlier.

Speaking to reporters in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, Justice Minister Aimee Laurentine said the ICC has no right to conduct an investigation in her country.

"Burundi, not being a state party to the ICC statute, is not concerned with those so-called decisions of that court," said Laurentine . "The government of Burundi rejects that decision and reiterates its firm determination that it will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court or any other fraudulent manipulation intending to facilitate extended mandate of the ICC in the territory of Burundi."

The government response comes a day after three judges at the ICC authorized the prosecutor to open an investigation into alleged human rights abuses committed inside and outside of Burundi between April 2015 and October 2017.

Burundi became a member of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2004. The country announced the plan to withdraw from the statute in October 2016 and the notification took effect last month. Burundi accused the court of targeting African countries.

Vital Nshimirimana heads Burundi's Forum for Strengthening the Civil Society. He says pulling out of the ICC won't save those behind crimes against civilians.

"Now it's very well informed that it cannot escape justice because victims are crying for justice and today no crime can go unpunished in the modern world," said Nshimirimana.

According to human rights organizations, between April 2015 and May 2017 at least 1,200 people were killed, 900 disappeared forcefully and more than 10,000 people were illegally detained amid Burundi's political unrest.

Security forces and the ruling party youth wing better known as Imbonerakure have been accused of being behind much of the killings of civilians and political opponents.

Laurentine says her country has the capacity to prosecute those behind the human rights violations.

"Burundi has efficient and able institutions and legal mechanisms to conduct investigations and to take it before justice of any kind of crimes committed in its territory without discrimination, fear or favor," she said.

Some rights groups, however, doubt that Burundi's judiciary can give justice to the victims of political violence.

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Tillerson: US Opposes Action Causing Instability in Lebanon

By VOA News November 10, 2017

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that the U.S. opposes action that would threaten the stability of Lebanon, and he warned other countries against using Lebanon "as a venue for proxy conflicts."

In a statement, Tillerson said, "There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state."

Tillerson also called Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri a "strong partner of the United States."

"The United States urges all parties both within Lebanon and outside to respect the integrity and independence of Lebanon's legitimate national institutions, including the government of Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces," he said.

Earlier Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of detaining Hariri and asking Israel to launch strikes against Lebanon.

"The most dangerous thing is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon," Nasrallah said. "I'm talking about information that Saudi Arabia has asked Israel to strike Lebanon."

While he said he saw war with Israel as unlikely, Nasrallah said it was clear "Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon."

Nasrallah said he was certain Hariri, who resigned last week in an address from Saudi Arabia, was "forced" to make the announcement and called the resignation unconstitutional because it was "made under duress."

Tillerson said Friday that there was "no indication" Hariri had been detained by the Saudis against his will or that he resigned under duress.

Tillerson added Hariri "needs to go back to Lebanon" to make the resignation official "so that the government of Lebanon can function properly."

Government officials in Beirut have said they believe Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia, amid a deepening crisis pushing Lebanon onto the front lines of a power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi Arabia supported Hariri and his allies during years of political conflict in Lebanon with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

In his resignation speech televised from Saudi Arabia, Hariri denounced Iran and Hezbollah for sowing friction in Arab states and said he feared assassination. His father, a former prime minister, was killed in a 2005 bombing.

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Recognition a Key Issue in Somaliland's Presidential Election

By Mohamed Olad Hassan November 10, 2017

Somaliland's three presidential candidates have concluded their campaigns ahead of Monday's poll to elect the next leader of the breakaway region.

Muse Bihi of the ruling Kulmiye party, Faisal Ali Waraabe of the For Justice and Development party (UCID) and Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi of the Wadani party held their final rallies this week in the capital, Hargeisa.

A central issue, as always, is how to win international recognition for Somaliland. Somalia, which was once governed by Italy, wants Somaliland to be part of a single Somali state. But Somaliland, which used to be a British colony and broke away from the rest of Somalia in 1991, wants to be a separate country.

All three candidates favor a fully independent Somaliland but have different visions of how to achieve it.

"Previous talks were not fruitful and they were heading to the wrong direction," Bihi told VOA. He proposes bringing in "proper and genuine mediators" to replace officials from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Waraabe wants the negotiations to come after what he terms as a genuine reconciliation among Somali tribes.

"Somalis have never reconciled among themselves; therefore, we want to hold a bottom-up approach reconciliation meeting here," he said. "Once they agree and come up with a shape of a government similar to that of 1960, when we united, we can talk and debate on the possibility of two parallel brotherly states, which I think is the interest for the future of our people."

Abdillahi of the Wadani party wants new rounds of talks with Somalia, but at a bigger venue and with international mediation.

"Principally, we want to solve our differences with Somalia through peaceful negations, review the previous talks and challenges, and finally come up with new rounds of talks, with our final vision being getting a result that makes us two neighbor states," he said.

Social media ban

Preparations for election day are under way. Public and private schools across Somaliland have been closed for eight days because most of them will serve as polling places. Also, Somaliland's National Electoral Commission said social media networks would be shut down on Monday to avoid the spread of misinformation on the election results.

"To avoid social media users who propagate hate speeches and fake news during the election or about the results, we have decided to ban the use of social media platforms for the betterment of Somaliland security," said electoral commission spokesman Sa'id Ali Muse.

Muse said 705,000 Somalilanders are eligible to cast ballots.

History of elections

A 176,000-square-kilometer, semidesert territory on the coast of the Gulf of Aden with an estimated 4 million people, Somaliland has a long history of peaceful elections and executive turnover, made possible by a blend of traditional and modern state institutions and a relative peace it has been enjoying since 1991.

In contrast, Somalia has been racked by decades of protracted lawlessness, poor governance and deadly terror attacks.

In 2010, Somaliland saw a peaceful transfer of power when then-President Dahir Rayale Kahin conceded defeat to Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, nicknamed Silanyo. He opted not to seek re-election in the current contest.

Unlike the previous elections, this election has suffered several delays. It was scheduled at one time for last March, but drought coupled with political disagreement among the parties caused the vote to be rescheduled.

Isma'il Mohamud and Bakhad Kariye contributed to this report from Hargeisa.

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Trump praises China's 'highly respected and powerful' leader

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 01:24AM

US President Donald Trump has praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a "highly respected and powerful representative of his people" during his first state visit to China.

Trump showered his host with accolades on Friday near the fag-end of his two-day trip. He held several meetings and reportedly sought to convince the Chinese leader to do more to reduce a trade deficit with China and restrain nuclear-armed North Korea.

"My meetings with President Xi Jinping were very productive on both trade and the subject of North Korea," Trump wrote on Twitter.

"He is a highly respected and powerful representative of his people. It was great being with him and Madame Peng Liyuan!" he said, referring to Xi's wife.

During Trump's visit, American and Chinese companies signed more than $250 billion in business deals.

Trump blamed former US administrations for allowing the $350 billion deficit with China to balloon over the years.

"I don't blame China, I blame the incompetence of past Admins for allowing China to take advantage of the US on trade leading up to a point where the US is losing $100's of billions," he wrote.

"How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would've done same!"

During their talks on Thursday, Trump thanked Xi for his supporting United Nations sanctions on North Koreans.

Trump said Washington and Beijing have agreed on the need for North Korea to completely denuclearize.

China is North Korea's main ally but has had its own concerns about Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.

Tensions have been building on the peninsula following a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang as well as threats of war and personal insults traded between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump had threatened the North with military action during his first two stops in Japan and South Korea.

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JCPOA proved Iran commitment to non-proliferation of nuclear arms: Zarif

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:31AM

Iran says it has practically proved its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation by signing a nuclear deal with six world powers and remaining fully committed to the terms of the landmark pact.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks on Friday in an address to the International Conference on Security and Sustainable Development in Central Asia in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.

By clinching the nuclear deal and fulfilling all our commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran proved in action proved its compliance with the principle of non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament, Zarif said.

The top Iranian diplomat further described the regime in Israel as an obstacle to the establishment of a nuclear-free Middle East.

Israel is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. The regime, however, refuses to either accept or deny having the weapons. It has also evaded signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Since 1974, Iran has seriously followed upon the proposal for the Middle East to become a Nuclear-Weapon-Free and WMD-Free Zone, but its efforts have failed to yield results due to Israel's pursuit of nuclear arms with the US support, Zarif noted.

'Dollar-for-security deal'

The Iranian top diplomat further lambasted regional and extra-regional efforts to commercialize security.

Today, you cannot buy security with hundreds of billions of dollars and ship it to the country, he asserted.

Commercialization of security, he said, is a new topic added by some international and trans-regional powers to political terms, and unfortunately they have good clients in this dollar-for-security deal.

Fighting Takfirism

The foreign minister also proposed that fighting the "anti-Islam" Takfiri movement needed all-inclusive and multilateral cooperation and interaction among regional countries, besides studying the root causes of the phenomenon.

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Iran's Nuclear Program Growing Smaller Under IAEA Close Scrutiny  Amano

Sputnik News

21:48 10.11.2017(updated 21:49 10.11.2017)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano has commented on the pace of the development of the Iranian nuclear program amid the latest claims by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the nuclear agreement.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik)  The nuclear program of Iran has grown smaller since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) came into effect and has been under the most thorough scrutiny by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to Director General of the IAEA Yukiya Amano.

"Iran is now subject to the world's most robust nuclear verification regime. Our inspectors have expanded access to sites, and have more information about Iran's nuclear program, which is smaller than it was before the JCPOA came into effect," Amano told the UN General Assembly, adding that the IAEA will continue with its verification.

According to the IAEA director general, Iran implements its nuclear-related commitments, undertaken under the JCPOA.

The statement of the top official comes after earlier in October US President Donald Trump refused to re-certify the JCPOA, accusing Tehran of violating the spirit of the agreement. Despite the fact that Trump decided not to contest Tehran's compliance with the deal at the international level, he has not excluded possible withdrawal from the deal in case if the agreement is not improved.

In response to Trump's announcement, many members of the P5+1 group that brokered the historic deal in 2015 yet again stated that they believe Iran was in compliance with the nuclear deal.

 Sputnik

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Japan to Send Largest Warship to US Military Exercise Near Korean Peninsula

By VOA News November 10, 2017

Japan announced Friday it would send its largest warship to join three U.S. aircraft carriers in exercises in waters near the Korean Peninsula, a display of military force meant to pressure North Korea as U.S. President Donald Trump attends an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam.

"#Japan says it'll send one of its big helicopter carriers to join three U.S. aircraft carriers for exercises in waters close to #Korea peninsula," VOA Correspondent Steve Herman tweeted.

Japan will dispatch one of its two large helicopter carriers and two escorts to participate in drills on Sunday in the Sea of Japan and East China Sea, according to Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force.

The exercises will be the first time in a decade three American carrier strike groups have trained together in the region and comes as the Trump administration has insisted that North Korea halt development of a nuclear-armed missile capable of striking the U.S.

The naval drills are aimed at sending a strong signal to Pyongyang of U.S. ability to rapidly mobilize a potent military force. The 100,000 ton U.S. carriers transport a total of about 200 aircraft, including F-18 combat jets.

The last time three U.S. carrier strike groups participated in joint exercises in the Western Pacific was in 2007 near Guam.

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UN chief says violence against Myanmar's Rohingya must end

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 07:06PM

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on Myanmar's government to immediately cease the ongoing violence against the country's Rohingya Muslim minority and let those who have fled return to their ancestral homeland.

"We insist on the need to make sure, not only that all violence against this population stops, but also we need to insist on unhindered humanitarian access to all areas of north Rakhine state," Guterres told reporters in New York on Friday.

He described the plight of the Rohingya as an "immense tragedy," adding that "the levels of violence and the atrocities committed are something that we cannot be silent about."

The UN chief said it was an "absolutely essential priority  all the population that fled to Bangladesh  return, safe  to the places where they left."

"It is absolutely essential to address the root cause of the problem, which relies largely on the problems related to citizenship and to the legal status of this population that has been discriminated and that is stateless at the present moment," the UN secretary general said.

He added that the UN would pursue all legal domains to determine the legal status of the persecuted Rohingya population.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the latest violence began in late August. The government has been engaged in a campaign against the Rohingya that the UN and human rights groups have called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on the international community and world leaders to address the plight of Rohingya Muslims.

"Massacres, rape, looting, and mass burnings of homes and property amount to crimes against humanity," Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The US-based rights group called on the UN to ask the International Criminal Court in The Hague to launch an investigation into the crimes.

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UN, partners building roads to reach Rohingya refugees camped in muddy, flood-prone terrain

10 November 2017  The United Nations migration agency and its partners are rushing to build roads in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar to improve humanitarian access to hilly terrain, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees have settled in makeshift camps.

The sites where the Rohingyas have settled are desperately overcrowded and located on inhospitable terrain with insufficient drainage and little or no road access, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday.

The few roads that exist are impossibly congested, making it extremely difficult to reach refugees with the support and services they need.

Since 25 August, an estimated 613,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Cox's Bazar, fleeing violence in Myanmar. The total refugee population in the area is now over 826,000.

IOM is responsible for coordinating site management at a site now home to an estimated 423,000 refugees.

IOM officials said that people hike for hours under the scorching sun, often carrying heavy loads from distribution points, to reach their shelters. Steep hills and dangerous paths mean that children, the elderly and people with disabilities are often unable to move around the site.

In October, IOM built some 850 metres of road into Balukhali to enable humanitarian agencies to deliver lifesaving assistance to at least 50,000 refugees.

"The road has vastly improved access for both refugees and humanitarian actors," said IOM Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Project Officer Stephen Waswa Otieno.

"Contractors can now deliver materials inside the site, which has allowed us to build new, essential infrastructure. For example, one of our partners has just built a new distribution centre, bringing aid much closer to the families who need it," he notes.

IOM is currently working on six other projects, providing more access from main roads outside the sites, and inside the sites. It is also building five bridges, which will allow people and vehicles to cross canals and streams in different areas of the sites.

The agency is also working to mitigate the threat of landslides on the newly de-forested land where many of the shelters perch on steep hillsides.

IOM teams have been distributing bags that the refugees can fill with soil and use to create retaining walls and steps. These can also be used to raise shelters off mud floors, helping to keep them dry, especially when flash floods occur.

Immunizing new arrivals against measles

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) are stepping up immunization efforts in overcrowded camps and makeshift shelters close to the border with Myanmar in response to an increase in the number of suspected measles cases among the newly arrived Rohingya and their host communities.

"Children are especially at risk from outbreaks of measles and other communicable diseases that result from the crowded living conditions, malnutrition and severe lack of water and sanitation in the camps and other sites," said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Bangladesh Representative.

"To halt any wider outbreak, it's essential that coordinated efforts begin immediately to protect as many children as possible."

The UN agencies and its partners will administer measles and rubella vaccine to nearly 360,000 people in the age group of six months to 15 years among the new Rohingya arrivals in Cox's Bazar and their host communities.

As of 4 November, one death and 412 suspected cases of measles have been reported among the vulnerable populations living in Cox's Bazar.

"As part of stepped up vaccination efforts, 43 fixed health facility sites, 56 outreach vaccination teams and vaccination teams at main border entry points will administer MR vaccine to population aged six months to 15 years," said WHO Representative to Bangladesh N Paranietharan.

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South Korea 'to partake in US Western Pacific drills'

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:52AM

South Korea has announced plans to join a US drill set to be held in the Western Pacific in a show of force against North Korea.

The South Korean military announced in a statement on Friday that a total of seven South Korean navy vessels would join 14 US warships off the eastern coast of the United States.

The statement added that air artillery strikers will also be part of the drills.

The military exercise will be held from Saturday to Tuesday.

Earlier, the Pentagon had announced that three nuclear aircraft carrier strike groups would carry out an operation together for the first time in a decade.

The drill would come at a time of harsh rhetoric between the US and North Korea and days after US President Donald Trump visited South Korea and Japan.

South Korea's military said the drill would be in response to North Korea's missile and nuclear programs and to show that any provocation by Pyongyang would be repelled with "overwhelming force."

Pyongyang is concerned by the US's permanent and heavy military presence in the region, including in the form of annual war games with South Korea.

In his ongoing 12-day trip to Asia, Trump used tough rhetoric against North Korea, once again threatening it with "destruction."

But, in what seemed like off-script remarks, the US president also invited Pyongyang to make a "deal" with Washington.

Speaking to a gathering of CEOs at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) in Danang, Vietnam, on Friday, Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a "dictator" seeking to "blackmail" the region.

"Every single step the North Korean regime takes toward more weapons is a step it takes into greater and greater danger. The future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail," he said.

North Korea says it needs to continue and develop its weapons programs as a deterrent against hostility by the US and its regional allies.

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Russia Threatens To 'Retaliate' As RT Says It Will Register As Foreign Agent In U.S.

RFE/RL November 10, 2017

Russian officials say Moscow will adopt new legislation targeting U.S. media in the country as soon as next week.

State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on November 10 that the legislature would amend its existing law on "foreign agents" to include foreign media. Deputy Duma speaker Sergei Neverov said the changes could also affect Western social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The move came after the state-funded Russian television channel RT said the previous day that it would meet what it claims is a U.S. demand to register its American division as a foreign agent, but also vowed a court challenge.

RT, which used to be known as Russia Today, said in a statement on its website on November 9 that it had been given a November 13 deadline by the U.S. Justice Department to register under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

It also said that failure to register under FARA could lead to closure of its U.S. operations, while compliance would require the company to disclose "confidential data, including personal data of its staff."

The Justice Department, which has repeatedly refused to either confirm or deny ordering RT to register under FARA, declined to comment to RFE/RL on November 9. RT claimed to have received a letter demanding registration in September, but it has not made that document public.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested on November 9 that Moscow could take action next week in response to the alleged U.S. pressure on RT.

"We have...worked out measures in response," Zakharova said on Russia state television, adding that "there is an understanding that the practical phase of putting these retaliatory measures into place will begin next week."

On November 10, Volodin urged Deputy Duma speaker Pyotr Tolstoi to "coordinate work" on a response and to consult with the committees on security, legislation, and information policy in the lower parliament house.

"Since such decisions are being made in the United States in relation to our television companies, it is right for us to respond to these actions," Volodin said.

Volodin said Moscow has "a lot of evidence" that the work of U.S. media in Russia "is geared to form public opinion in the United States to oppose our political system," though he provided no specific evidence.

"This presents us with the necessity of making a decision to protect our country and its media space," he added.

Tolstoi said on November 10 that the U.S. FARA legislation would require RT to report to the Justice Department "all instances of interaction with U.S. officials, government officials, public servants, and U.S. corporate employees."

RT Editor in Chief Margarita Simonyan said there was a danger that its employees could be arrested if the organization did not register under the law.

RT's website quoted her as saying that "between such consequences and registration as a foreign agent, we are forced to choose registration. Although, of course, we categorically disagree with this requirement."

She added that RT intends to fight the order in court, without being specific.

FARA requires people working in the United States for a foreign government in a "political or quasi-political capacity" to register with the Justice Department. The law was passed in 1938 to counter fears of Nazi propaganda and misinformation being spread in the United States.

Simonyan, as well as Putin and other Russian officials, have threatened repercussions against some U.S. media in Russia if the purported registration order is enforced. CNN, as well as RFE/RL and Voice of America, have also been named as possible targets.

In October, the Russian Justice Ministry warned RFE/RL that its operations in Russia could be restricted under its own legislation that deals with "foreign agents."

Volodin, however, said that Russia's foreign agent law "does not apply to media."

He added that steps should be taken to protect Russians from what he claimed was "the open interference that American media outlets have unleashed on Russian territory."

While RT distributes its programs freely in the United States on cable television, RFE/RL is already subject to severe restrictions in Russia, with nearly all of its radio broadcasts forced off the air by 2012 due to administrative pressure. Neither RFE/RL nor VOA has access to cable television in Russia.

A U.S. intelligence report in January said RT was one of the primary conduits through which the Kremlin sought to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

U.S. officials say that Russia's foreign agent law, which Kremlin critics and civil society activists say has been used by Putin's government to silence dissent and discourage the free exchange of ideas, differs significantly from FARA.

The Russian law "has been interpreted to apply to organizations that receive even minimal funding from any foreign sources, government or private, and engage in political activity, defined so broadly as it covers nearly all civic advocacy," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in October.

Under the U.S. law, Nauert said, registration "is simply triggered when an entity or an individual engages in political activity. When the United States tells someone to register under a foreign agent requirement, we don't impact or affect the ability of them to report news and information. We just have them register. It's as simple as that."

According to the most recent report filed with the Justice Department, at least five foreign media outlets have registered under FARA, including broadcasters from Canada, Korea, Japan, and others.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-today-rt-justice-department- deadline-register-foreign-agent/28844886.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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'Combat Turtles': Russia Developing AI-Endowed 'Noiseless' Torpedoes

Sputnik News

13:57 10.11.2017

The Russian defense industry has embraced a new trend in manufacturing torpedoes  the development of a mini-torpedo with artificial intelligence.

A mini-torpedo is expected to have a weight of up to 40 kilograms and its main combat advantages is that such weapons are silent running and wakeless, Shamil Aliyev, one of Russia's leading specialist in the field, said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency.

"The trend that is now emerging is switching from heavy to light torpedoes. In terms of weight, this means moving from two ton weapons to 35-40 kg ones. That's fantastic and it is an essentially different conception," Aliyev pointed out.

Commenting on the core principle of this new approach, the engineer explained: "Size and mass are important. But the most important thing is that such a torpedo is noiseless and wakeless."

One of the main goals in the development of mini-torpedoes is to equip them with artificial intelligence (AI), so that a torpedo is capable of imitating the behavior of fish and sea animals.

Aliyev said that it is important to develop a torpedo that would be detected and recognized not as a torpedo, "but as a big fish," Aliyev said.

"When there is only one large enemy target, neutralizing it is difficult but possible. But if there are thousands of 'combat turtles' and you don't know which are real and which are just an imitation, it is a much more difficult task," he said.

According to the specialist, the creation of a turtle-type torpedo in Russia is currently at the research and development (R&D) stage.

A Turtle-type torpedo moves at very low speeds (2-3 miles per hour), but generates almost no noise and wake.

 Sputnik

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Senior Saudi figures beaten, tortured in custody: Report

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:13AM

A number of high-profile figures recently detained in Saudi Arabia have reportedly sustained serious injuries under beatings and torture amid an ongoing purge by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Middle East Eye (MEE) news portal cited sources inside the kingdom's court as saying that former spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan was among the notable businessmen and royals being held.

According to the report, several of those subjected to physical abuse were taken to hospital with torture injuries. There are, however, no wounds to their faces so they will look normal when they appear next in public, it added.

Dozens of princes, ministers, and former ministers were detained on Saturday on the orders of Saudi Arabia's so-called Anti-Corruption Committee headed by the crown prince.

Prince Bandar was a former Saudi ambassador to Washington and confidante of former US President George W. Bush.

The detained individuals are facing allegations of money laundering, bribery, extorting officials, and misappropriation of public funds for personal benefits.

The crackdown is believed to be a self-promotion campaign launched by the crown prince aimed at consolidating his power.

The MEE's sources said the number of the arrestees actually stood at more than 500, and that twice that number had been questioned.

Also on Thursday, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said the authorities had questioned 208 people in the "anti-corruption investigation." They estimated that "at least $100 billion" had been misused by the suspects through systematic graft and embezzlement over several decades.

Unconfirmed reports on Wednesday said seven princes had been released and moved to the king's palace.

The kingdom also blocked the assets of the crown prince's cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, who reportedly continues to be under house arrest.

Nayef was the crown prince until June when he was ousted by King Salman and replaced by his son.

The purge followed an earlier roundup of Muslim clerics, writers, economists, and public figures.

Saudi Arabia's ailing 81-year-old monarch has been reportedly suffering from partial dementia and is said to be contemplating an abdication in favor of his son.

The entire crackdown has been interpreted as a purge against dissent before the crown prince's rise to power.

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Report: Daesh leader may be in eastern Syrian border city of Boukamal

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 10, 2017 01:36PM

The media bureau of Syria's Operations Command Center says Daesh Takfiri terrorist group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may be holed up at a militant-held pocket in the country's eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

The media outlet announced in a statement on Friday that al-Baghdadi might be hiding in the city of al-Boukamal, which lies on the Euphrates River and the border with Iraq.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and Omar Abu Laila, a Europe-based opposition activist, however, denied the report that al-Baghdadi is in Boukamal.

The Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Manar television network reported on Wednesday that Syrian army soldiers, backed by pro-government fighters from popular defense groups, had entered Boukamal.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov told Sputnik news agency on June 22 there was a "high probability" that al-Baghdadi had been killed in a Russian airstrike on the southern outskirts of the northeastern Syrian city of Raqqah, about 160 kilometers (99 miles) east of Aleppo, in late May.

US officials later said they believed he was still alive.

Baghdadi announced the forming of the group's so-called caliphate at Grand al-Nuri Mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul back in 2014.

Syria's state-run television network reported that government forces and allied fighters had recaptured Boukamal on Thursday.

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Turkey Expects US to Stop Arming Syrian Kurds After Daesh's Defeat

Sputnik News

15:53 10.11.2017(updated 16:21 10.11.2017)

Ankara believes that the Syrian Kurds' YPG movement that is fighting Daesh in the country is linked to the PKK, banned in Turkey.

ANKARA (Sputnik)  Turkey expects that the United States will stop supplying Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) with weapons after the defeat of Daesh, according to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

"We also received a promise from Pence to keep better track of weapons provided to the YPG.  Pence said the US understands Turkey's sensitivity about the YPG; their partnership is temporary and will last only a little longer now that the Raqqa operation is complete," Yildirim said, as quoted by Daily Sabah newspaper.

Ankara considers the YPG to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said that the US supplied weapons to the YPG.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier yet again expressed his disapproval to US Secretary of Defense James Mattis over Washington's support of the YPG.

During the meeting, both officials stressed the importance of the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria amid Northern Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) move toward independence.

On the Extradition of Fethullah Gulen

According to Yildirim, the issue of the extradition of Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of being behind the 2016 coup attempt, was also raised during the meeting.

"We have requested a concrete step in the extradition of Gulen.  We demanded that at least a step to restrict Gulen's movements and actions be taken as a start.  It makes us wonder if there is a reason that no steps are being taken in Gulen's extradition," the prime minister said.

According to Yildirim, it was a very productive meeting and the two sides are committed to normalizing the bilateral relations.

Erdogan demanded Gulen's extradition from the United States after the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which had left over 240 people dead and an estimated 2,000 wounded. Since then, Ankara has sent several packages of documents to Washington to support the request. Citing US officials in August 2016, the media reported that Turkish evidence about Gulen was not related to the coup.

In September 2016, Gulen, who had denied his involvement in the failed government takeover, said that he would return to Turkey from the United States, where he had been living since 1999, to face trial if Washington approved his extradition, noting, however, that Ankara had not submitted any evidence of his alleged role in the failed coup.

 Sputnik

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Canada Making Diplomatic Push For Ukraine's UN Peacekeeping Plan

RFE/RL November 10, 2017

Canada is making a significant diplomatic push to gather international support behind Ukraine's UN peacekeeping plan, its foreign minister has announced.

"Around the world Canada has been leading conversations with a number of countries about the viability and utility of peacekeeping and policing in Ukraine," Chrystia Freeland said on November 9.

Freeland said she "personally explored the feasibility and prospects of such a mission" last week with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, U.S. Special Envoy Kurt Volker, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In addition, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pressed the issue with his German counterpart, Chancellor Angela Merkel, she said.

"Our government has been at the heart of international efforts to support Ukraine, and we are working hard to ensure any peacekeeping effort guarantees Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Freeland said.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in Kyiv's war with Russia-backed separatists, which broke out after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.

Ukraine has a longstanding proposal to put United Nations peacekeepers along its borders to ensure Russian troops and weapons are not allowed into the country -- a proposal rejected by Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested putting peacekeepers near the line of demarcation between government forces and separatists in eastern Ukraine to protect international observers who are monitoring the conflict.

Kyiv opposed the proposal, but said it was willing to negotiate over it.

Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said on November 9 that Ottawa supports Kyiv's plan because it "respects Ukraine's original borders," while it opposes the Russian counterproposal, which he said would "freeze" Moscow's incursion into Ukrainian territory.

Sajjan said he met with his U.S. and European counterparts on the conflict in Ukraine on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels this week.

'Now Is The Time To Act'

Sajjan said he was "cautiously optimistic" about Canada's drive to establish a peacekeeping presence in Ukraine because Russia's proposal at least shows it wants stability there. But he said he remains skeptical about "Russia's intentions."

"Any opportunity that can de-escalate a situation and bring stability is good. But at the same time, what we don't want to do is deal with Russia's current proposal is freeze it in the current situation."

Sajjan did not say whether Ottawa would be willing to provide troops to participate in a peacekeeping operation in Ukraine. He is hosting a UN peacekeeping conference next week in Vancouver.

Canada's opposition Conservative Party is also behind the push for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine which opposition leader Andrew Scheer said on November 9 would allow Kyiv "to restore control over its eastern border with Russia, ensuring the Russian military stays within its own country, and out of Ukraine."

"The defense of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be a priority for Canada's government on the international stage," Scheer said. "Now is the time to act."

Canada has a sizable population of 1.3 million with Ukrainian ancestry -- a factor which has led Canadian political leaders of all parties to side strongly with Kyiv in the conflict.

Like the United States and the European Union, Canada has imposed sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Ottawa also announced the extension until 2019 of a military mission to train Ukrainian soldiers, and the two countries formalized a defense cooperation pact.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said during a visit to Canada in September that he expects more stability in eastern Ukraine when Canada assumes the presidency of the Group of 7 (G7) world powers in 2018.

With reporting by AFP, the Toronto Sun, and Globe and Mail

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/canada- making-diplomatic-push-ukraine-un- peacekeeping-plan/28845877.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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HMDs vision for the rebirth of the Nokia brand involves stock Android and timely updates. This means the company is quick to seed a new security patch to its handsets only a few days after its finalized by Google. The global version of the Nokia 6 (TA-1003) has just started receiving the monthly security fixes for November.

The update comes in at 150MB and seemingly brings no other changes. With the Oreo update for the Nokia 6 coming before the end of the year we assume any new features will be coming alongside it.

Just yesterday HMD announced that the Oreo beta testing of the Nokia 8 is complete, which means that the update itself will start seeding any moment now. The Nokia 6 had no public beta program to give us a clue, but it cant be too far behind.

Thanks, Sampath Bandara, for the tip!




Haiti - Social : The construction of social housing in Fond Rouge becomes a reality





The Office of Communication of the Presidency informs us that as part of the Caravan of Change, the construction of social housing continues at Fond Rouge (communal section of Jeremie, department of Grande-Anse) in accordance with the campaign promise made by the Head of State in the wake of Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, in the South of the country.



Indeed, of the 1,000 homes announced, many are already under construction, giving hope to the people of Fond Rouge...



Recall that more than 2,000 houses should be built in the South, including 600 in Grande-Anse and 600 in the Nippes department.



to be continued...



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Forensic gardai at the scene of the arms find

A major criminal known as Rocket Man, who gardai believe has been one of the main players in the deadly Kinahan cartel, has pleaded guilty to serious firearms offences.

Jonathan Harding (44) pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court yesterday to the possession of a cache of firearms in a business park in Dublin.

Harding, of McNeill Court, Sallins, Co Kildare, admitted the possession of 10 revolvers, four pistols, a sub-machine gun, an assault rifle and various ammunition magazines.

He was found with the cache last January 24, at a unit in Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole.

The bust was one of the most significant against the cartel by gardai this year, and officers said the seizure seriously impacted its capacity to murder its rivals.

Harding's co-accused, James Walsh (33), with addresses at Wheatfield Avenue and Neilstown Drive, both Clondalkin, had previously pleaded guilty to the same offence.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding at the three-judge court, remanded Harding in custody until next January 11, when he and Walsh will both be sentenced.

Another co-accused, Declan Brady (51), of The Park, Wolstan Abbey, Celbridge, Co Kildare, was remanded in custody until December 8, when his case is listed for mention again.

Silencer

Mr Brady is charged with the unlawful possession of five revolvers, 20 rounds of ammunition and a silencer last January 24 at the unit in Greenogue Business Park.

The Herald can reveal that convicted drug dealer Harding is a close pal of cartel kingpin Liam Byrne and has been heavily involved in organised crime for two decades.

He escaped charges after he was arrested when officers seized two loaded rocket launchers in one of their first-ever operations against the cartel in May 2010.

The disposable launchers, which were seized along with a cocaine shipment in a raid, can be fired from the shoulder and disposed of after being used only once.

The weapons had been stored by the cartel in a rented shed located at the rear of a block of five industrial units on the Clane road, at Longtown, Straffan, Co Kildare.

Armed officers from the organised crime unit raided the premises and found the rockets, one of which was identified as a Russian-made RPG-22, an AK assault rifle and nine kilos of cocaine, with a street value of between 700,000 and 800,000, hidden inside barrels.

The raid was part of Operation Lamp, which has been targeting members of the Kinahan cartel.

In December 2004, Harding was jailed for six years after being caught with almost 800,000 of heroin and cannabis.

He is considered one of the capital's most prominent gangland criminals.

While January's massive seizure in which Harding was snared was one of the first against the cartel this year, it proved to be only one of dozens.

In the latest high-profile bust, four major league gangsters were arrested last Monday night as they plotted to murder gang rival Gary Hanley.
A young mother who spent seven months in a hub for homeless families in Dublin has said it was "the best thing" to happen to her.

Shauna Ebbs (21) said she and her two-year-old daughter Amber received a lot of support to find a home of their own while at the Respond Family Hub in Tallaght.

She was attending the official opening yesterday of the hub by Children's Minister Katherine Zappone and told her it had helped her to cope with the difficulties in her life.

Shauna had spent several months in hotels and guesthouses, and she said the hub allowed her at last "to cook a decent meal for my child instead of getting another takeaway meal".

She and Amber are among nine families who have already moved out of the hub, having been helped to find homes of their own to rent.

Overcrowded

Shauna said she had been living in overcrowded conditions in her mother's home in Tallaght and had sought emergency accommodation for herself and her then infant daughter.

She was placed in a hotel in Naas and then emergency housing services moved her to the Gresham Hotel in Dublin.

"It's a posh hotel and I arrived with a buggy and suitcases. I didn't feel very comfortable or at ease when I moved in," she said.

"After six days, I was moved to a bed and breakfast in Gardiner Street, where we stayed from last November to the middle of January."

She was then told she had been given a place in a Respond Housing Association family hub in Tallaght.

"When I arrived the staff were so friendly and helpful. It was a lovely place. When they asked me when I wanted to move in, I said 'right now'," said Shauna.

Being able to do her own laundry and come and go as she pleased gave her a sense of independence and freedom, she added.

Staff member Stephanie Watson (30) helped Shauna to find a rented home of her own by organising viewings of accommodation and talking with landlords.

Now Shauna has a one-bedroom apartment run by another housing association.

While she hopes one day to get "a forever home", she loves having a home for herself and Amber.

"I'm so much looking forward to putting up our own Christmas tree," she said.
Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- In a rare public statement, attorneys for Lt. General Michael Flynn lashed out Friday at news reports that the federal investigation into the former top adviser to President Trump is looking into allegations he helped plot a kidnapping for the Turkish government.



Today's news cycle has brought allegations about General Flynn, ranging from kidnapping to bribery, that are so outrageous and prejudicial that we are making an exception to our usual rule, Flynns top attorney Robert Kelner said in a statement. They are false.



The statement came after the Wall Street Journal reported federal investigators working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller had interviewed participants in two meetings between Flynn and representatives of Turkey. During those meetings, the report said, Flynn discussed a plot to forcibly remove a Muslim cleric living in the U.S. and deliver him to Turkey in return for as much as $15 million dollars.



ABC News reported on those meetings in September, citing allegations by former CIA director James Woolsey, who said he attended a meeting in which Flynn allegedly raised the idea of an operation to capture a Turkish dissident, cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is living in exile in rural Pennsylvania.



Turkish officials have accused the cleric of involvement in a failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Gulen, who has denied involvement, has lived legally in the Pennsylvanias Pocono Mountains since 1999, and the Turkish government has been financing efforts to persuade the U.S. government to return Gulen to Turkey for years.



It became clear to me that, they were seriously considering a kidnapping operation for Gulen, and I told them then that it was a bad idea, it was illegal, Woolsey said of the meeting. I won't say that they had firmly decided to do that. But they were seriously considering it.



Woolsey has been interviewed multiple times by federal agents working on the Mueller team, according to Nancye Miller, his wife and business partner.



Flynns lawyer said at the time there was no such discussion, calling the allegation categorically false. At a press conference in July, the Turkish ambassador to the U.S. also denied the notion of a kidnapping plot.



There's no truth to that, he said, adding that the government was following traditional procedures to have Gulen extradited through the legal channels.



Fridays statement was a rare move by Flynns lawyers, who, like their client, have remained largely silent in the months since Flynn was removed as Trumps national security adviser.



Out of respect for the process of the various investigations regarding the 2016 campaign, we have intentionally avoided responding to every rumor or allegation raised in the media, Kelners statement Friday said.



There have been repeated reports in recent weeks that Muellers team is looking closely at Flynns activities during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, where he served as a top adviser to Trump.



Of particular interest is Flynns visit to Russia, where he was paid to attend a dinner honoring the Russian television network RT  and was seated next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Investigators have also been looking at his consulting work for a Turkish businessman, which he only belatedly reported in federal disclosure filings.



Sen. Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told ABC News he found disturbing the mere suggestion that there were discussions about attempting to remove Gulen from the U.S. without a formal extradition process.



I think theres a lot of information about General Flynn, that we dont know, Cardin said. And I think its going to be very interesting as the investigation continues, as to whether we learn more information about contacts that he made, or other individuals that may be involved with him. And thats why the Mueller investigation is particularly important.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Every year, over half a million military service members and veterans enroll in undergraduate institutions. Only about half leave with a certificate or degree.

Getting a college degree can help graduates get jobs and earn higher wages, but veterans and active military service members may face obstacles on their way to degree completion. Along with their studies, they often commit time to family, work and military service.

As a scholar who works with the College Board and studies barriers and solutions to college completion, I have seen at least one promising way to get military personnel across the college finish line  a short exam that offers college credits towards a degree.

Additional challenges for service members

Students of all backgrounds face uncertainty in whether they will complete college, but military personnel and veterans can face additional challenges.

The Millions Records Project tracked the enrollment patterns of nearly one million active military personnel and veterans who used Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits between 2002 and 2010. These service members do not fit the traditional  and perhaps old-fashioned  profile of a college student. Relative to nonmilitary students, service members and veterans are on average older, more likely to work and support families, and can have delayed or interrupted enrollment due to service obligations.

On top of all of that, many veterans have service-related disabilities that can make college completion difficult.

These challenges, in addition to those faced by many students in higher education, contribute to veteran and active military students leaving college with no degree.

Credit for prior learning

Along with my colleagues who study economics and higher education, I recently completed a study looking at the effectiveness of one particular tool that may help military students complete their college degrees.

The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) is a 90- to 120-minute exam administered by the College Board that offers credits in lieu of completing college coursework. Nearly 3,000 colleges offer credit for 33 different CLEP exams in topics including literature, mathematics, world languages, social and hard sciences and business.

Students can take a CLEP exam whenever they choose  before enrolling in college or as they near graduation. Depending on the college campus and CLEP exam, students with high enough scores (typically a 50 on a scale of 20 to 80) are eligible for college credit.

The Department of Defense has an agency dedicated to improving the educational experiences and outcomes for veteran and active military students: Defense Activity for Non Traditional Education Support (DANTES). DANTES pays the US$80 CLEP exam fee for active duty military and offers the exams on some military bases.

Eighty dollars and travel to a testing center may not seem like something to stand in the way of enrolling in or graduating from college. But these types of small barriers prevent students success in other contexts, like taking the SAT or ACT and enrolling in college. For active military, at least, DANTES has removed some of these obstacles.

CLEP success

Why might CLEP help military servicemen and servicewomen complete college?

For one, getting credit for introductory and lower-level courses improves college completion, as seen with Advanced Placement courses and exams. Additionally, these credits can allow students to bypass some lower-level courses that might have content or less academically prepared classmates that discourage students from continuing with their education.

Using approximately 200,000 military-affiliated CLEP examinees, we found that those who start at two-year colleges and receive college credit for CLEP exam scores are 18 percent more likely to attain an associates degree than those who did not receive such credits. Similarly, military personnel who start at four-year colleges and earn credit through CLEP are 11 percent more likely to attain a bachelors degree.

With this evidence, we can think about what might happen if we got more military personnel to pass CLEP exams  either through increased participation or improved scores.

In a world of countless college completion efforts and policies, an 18 or even 11 percent increase is noteworthy. More successful interventions are rare and can be costly.

Colleges, policymakers and researchers should continue trying new paths to get military members college degrees, but my research suggests that CLEP is a viable one. Earning college credit through exams is a cheap and unusually effective way to improve the completion rates for any student, but perhaps especially so for military personnel who face challenges and outside commitments. Not to mention, the exam is fully subsidized.
The most aggressive inmates at the states troubled youth prison could be removed and sent elsewhere under a plan Department of Corrections officials are considering as a way to decrease the number of incidents at the facility.

The potential new program is one response from the department to reports of an increasingly chaotic environment at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls after a federal order requiring prison officials to reduce or eliminate the use of pepper spray, restraints and solitary confinement.

While staff and DOC say the order has contributed to more violent episodes from a small number of inmates, attorneys representing inmates in a federal class-action lawsuit against DOC over the practices say DOCs inability to adequately staff the prison and provide beneficial programs is needed to restore safety to the prison.

According to records released to the Wisconsin State Journal on Friday under the states open records law, the number of times inmates assaulted or tried to hurt staff at the Irma prison have risen more than 30 percent so far this year since 2016.

DOC staff at the youth prison recorded 195 times staff members were injured in 2017, assaulted or inmates attempted to assault staff  up from 145 incidents recorded in 2016 and 32 reported incidents in 2015.

Its unclear whether that two-year jump is partially due to staff recording more incidents after 2015, when a federal investigation prompted DOC to hire new prison administrators and change its practices on record keeping. A DOC spokesman did not respond to a request for clarification.

The records provide a glimpse into conditions at the youth prison, where both inmates and guards have reported an unsafe environment that staff members say has grown increasingly chaotic in recent months after the federal order.

The records show incidents ranging from inmates spitting on guards and throwing milk at guards to guards getting injured while trying to break up fights between inmates and inmates punching guards. Inmates also have thrown urine at staff, ejaculated in front of staff and attacked guards, causing concussions, the records show.

Also during a four-day span in October, staff found razor blades, makeshift weapons, sharpened nails and a notebook recording staffing patterns in inmates cells, records show. An inmate also was able to smoke a cigarette during that time period.

Staff have said U.S. District Judge James Petersons July order in the class-action lawsuit against DOC has emboldened inmates to misbehave and become violent.

The lawsuits were brought after state and federal authorities began investigating claims of abuse of inmates  a nearly three-year review now overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Reports filed Friday

Attorneys representing inmates in the federal class-action lawsuit, and attorneys representing DOC, agree that the facilitys employees are struggling to implement the court order to make changes, but disagree about why, according to reports filed by both parties in federal court Friday.

DOC attorneys say inmates kept in solitary confinement for more than 24 hours now receive a daily visit from a mental health provider face-to-face or by phone or video conference. Staff also try to provide academic and rehabilitative lessons to inmates being held in solitary confinement  requirements of the federal order.

The DOC attorneys also argued that the court order limiting the use of solitary, pepper spray and restraints have contributed to violent incidents.

These examples indicate how the (order) is causing unrest at the (prison) and direct ways certain youth are using specific provisions and even the general existence of the (order) as an apparent motivator to act out, sometimes violently, the attorneys wrote. More importantly, though, these examples indicate how the (order) very quickly  indeed, perhaps too quickly  forced LHS and CLS to transition from a deterrent-based institution to a positive-reinforcement-based institution.

But attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union-Wisconsin and the Juvenile Law Center, which are representing inmates in the lawsuit against DOC, argued that the DOC is failing to adequately staff the prison, provide adequate programming for inmates and to implement the orders goals. Some inmates causing the trouble are not being treated properly either, the inmates attorneys argued.

To the extent that the facility struggles with violent behavior by some youth, the appropriate response is to ensure adequate staffing, programming, treatment, security policies, and supervision  not to reimpose abusive and unconstitutional conditions, the inmates attorneys wrote. (The DOCs report) suggests that Defendants are still far from providing the positive programming needed to ensure a safe facility and also lack adequate staffing.

State: Few youth causing trouble

When Petersons order was issued, DOC attorneys did not file an appeal and said it would implement its requirements.

But in Fridays report, DOC attorneys blamed the short window to implement the order on a burst of violence and unsafe behavior among a very small percentage of the youth.

It is well recognized that incentives and positive reinforcement have great utility; however, for youth that are not governed by social ethics or concern for others, who may have little remorse or conscience, the ability to have meaningful alternatives for negative/aggressive behavior is imperative, the attorneys wrote.

One solution is to identify inmates who could be removed from the prison altogether, the DOC attorneys said, and be placed in a long-term treatment facility. The inmates would be identified through a program that will focus on youth who display aggressive, assaultive behavior, and who may otherwise find themselves in restrictive housing on a routine basis.

The inmates attorneys argued the prison staff are not properly trained and are not providing to inmates adequate programs, exercise or time out of their housing units to prevent violent behavior and to keep from violating inmates constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

Prison data show inmates in Wisconsins youth prison spend many more hours per day idle in their rooms or housing units than the average juvenile inmate, the inmates attorneys said, and the percentage of inmates who report at least one hour of large muscle exercise each day and two hours on weekends between 2015 and 2017 also is far below average.

The problem is compounded, if not caused, by inadequate staffing, the inmates attorneys wrote.
Police Accountability Boards starting work in most Maryland counties

Mandated by state law after the killing of George Floyd, Police Accountability Boards have begun work in the majority of Maryland counties.
The aggressors claimed they were infuriated by a defamatory status published from the Facebook account of one Titu Roy, who hails from Thakurbari.

Dhaka : One person was killed when police opened fire to ward off an angry mob that turned violent and launched an arson attack on Hindu houses at Thakurbari village in Rangpur Sadar upazila on Friday.

At least five more people were severely injured as police fired rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas shells at the angry crowd.

Before the police intervened, the aggressors had set fire to at least 30 Hindu houses of the village. They also looted and vandalised a good number of houses in that village, according to local sources.

A rumour shaped and vented the anger of the Muslims in the neighbouring villages against the Hindu community.

The rumour was that one Titu Roy, originally from Thakurbari village but currently living in Narayanganj, put up a Facebook post defaming Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) a few days ago.

The attack was carried out by a section among the 20,000-strong crowd, that was reportedly mustered out from six to seven neighbouring villages, including Paglapeer, Mominpur and Horialkuthi, after the Jumma prayers.

This incident highlights the atrocities on Hindus in Islamic Bangladesh. Attacks on Hindus by jihadis are going on from hundreds of years and fanatics in Bangladesh are following path of their ancestors. As all of us know that, in 1901 Hindu population was 33% in Bangladesh, which declined to 8.9 % in 2011 census. Also thousands of temples have been destroyed. The main reason behind this decline of Hindus is jihadi mentality of fanatics in Bangladesh. Now Hindus expect that Indian govt should raise concern about such plight of Hindus with Bangladesh govt and ask them to ensure that such incidents should not happen in future.  Editor, Hindujagruti.org

There was a melee of chases and counter chases between the law enforcers and the crowd. At one point, police fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to control the situation.

Six people with bullet injuries were admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital. Amogn them, a youth named Hamidul Islam succumbed to his injuries later.

The angry mob later blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway to protest against the police attack, halting the vehicular moment for about four hours in the afternoon.

Kotwali police station Officer-in-Charge (Operation) Moktarul Islam said they had deployed a huge number of police personnel in that area and a tense situation is still prevailing there.

The district administration has formed a three-member probe body, headed by Additional District Magistrate Abu Rafa Mohammad Rafiq, to investigate the incident. The committee has been asked to submit its report in seven days, said Rangpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Wahiduzzaman.

The DC also mentioned that they had arranged for relief materials for the affected families in the Hindu village.

53 arrested over attack on Rangpur Hindu houses

The savagery of the attackers has left dozens of Hindu families homeless and penniless

More than 30 homes belonging to Hindu families in Rangpurs Thakurbari Village were ransacked and looted before being set on fire by a mob over a rumoured Facebook post on Friday.

The situation in Thakurbari Village is still tense, as a man was killed when police opened fire to ward off the angry mob that turned violent and launched the arson attack on Hindu homes.

Police filed two cases over the incident at Kotwali and Gangachara police stations. So far, 53 suspects have been arrested, Rangpurs Additional Superintendent of Police Zakir Hossain said.

Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Wahiduzzaman said they had formed a three-member committee to look into the incident. The committee has been asked to file a report within seven days.

The savagery of the attackers has left dozens of families homeless and penniless. Many victims are yet to return to their homes over concerns of further attacks.

One of the victims, Dulali Rani told the Dhaka Tribune: A mob came to our neighbourhood on Friday afternoon and started ransacking our home without any provocation. They even took our cattle.

They burned everything, even my cooking pots. We do not have a place to sleep at night, and no way to cook food.

Several villagers pointed out that if someone posted a derogatory status on Facebook, hold that one person accountable for his or her action.

Many residents of Thakurbari village said they had heard about the Facebook status, allegedly posted by a native of Thakurbari village named Titu Roy, but very few admitted to seeing it.

One of the witnesses, Monmoth Chandra said thousands of protesters from six nearby villages banded together after the Jumma prayers, and attacked the Hindu neighbourhood.

The mob pelted stones at our homes. We ran away fearing for our safety. The attackers then looted our homes and set them on fire, he added.

Titu Roy, who allegedly posted the Facebook status, lives and works in Narayanganjs Fatullah.

Bhupen Sarker, who lives in Thakurbari, demanded that an investigation be launched to determine whether Titus Facebook ID was hacked. He also demanded exemplary punishment for those who rallied the locals to engage in violence, looting and arson.

Meanwhile, sources from law enforcement agencies said a large number of policemen had been deployed in the area.

On Friday evening, Rangpur Range DIG Khandaker Golam Faruq, DC Wahiduzzaman and Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman visited the spot.

They assured that the victims of the attack would be compensated and rehabilitated.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Saifur Rahman said the situation in Thakurbari Village was under control.

Source : Dhaka Tribune
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (TNS)  Three weeks after Cassaundra Lynn Perkins gave birth to premature twins, she returned to the hospital, feeling unwell. She phoned her mother from her hospital bed at 3:30 in the morning.

Im just not feeling good, she said.

Surely it was just another bout of the mysterious illness her daughter had been suffering from for most of her pregnancy, Cheryl Givens-Perkins thought as she rushed over to San Antonios North Central Baptist Hospital.

When Givens-Perkins walked into the room, her 21-year-old daughter looked exhausted. She begged her mother to comb her hair.

I need to get ready, she said. Please get my hair in order.

She may have known she was dying, Givens-Perkins said.

Every year, around 700 women in the United States die as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications. As many as 60,000 expectant mothers suffer problems that come close to costing them their lives.

America is one of the most developed nations in the world. Average life expectancy has been generally increasing over at least the last five decades, and deaths from illnesses that were once widely fatal, including polio, small pox, tuberculosis and AIDS, are sharply falling.

Yet when it comes to the natural process of childbearing, women in the U.S. die in much higher numbers than those in most developed nations, where maternal deaths are generally declining.

A woman in the U.S., where the maternal death ratio more than doubled between 1987 and 2013, is more likely to die as a result of pregnancy-related causes than in 31 industrialized countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, aside from Mexico.

There are various theories why  persistent poverty, large numbers of women without adequate health insurance, risk factors related to stress and discrimination. All come together here in Texas, with a twist that has become one of Americas most confounding public health problems: African-American women are dying of pregnancy- and childbirth-related causes here at stunningly high rates.

The maternal death rate in Texas after 2010 reached levels not seen in other U.S. states, according to a report compiled for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, based on figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Black women in Texas are dying at the highest rates of all. A 2016 joint report by Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force and Department of State Health Services found that black mothers accounted for 11.4 percent of Texas births in 2011 and 2012, but 28.8 percent of pregnancy-related deaths.

This is a crisis, said Marsha Jones, executive director of the Afiya Center, a Dallas-based nonprofit that has taken on the issue. In May, the center published its first report: We Cant Watch Black Women Die.

Perkins, who already had a 2-year-old, worked at Great Clips salon and hoped to one day open her own salon. Her pregnancy with twins in 2014 was challenging.

She was sick to where she could not keep anything down, Givens-Perkins said.

Doctors said it was an infection. Then six months into her pregnancy, Perkins liver started to fail, and doctors decided to induce labor.

The babies arrived on Aug. 13, 2014, each weighing about 2 pounds. They were rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Perkins was discharged from the hospital after three or four days. But something seemed wrong, her mother recalled: She was never 100 percent.

Doctors and researchers are struggling to make sense of the rise in maternal mortality in Texas.

There isnt a single thing that explains it, said Lisa Hollier, an obstetrician-gynecologist who heads the state-appointed Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force. There are so many different factors.

The task force compared the health of a group of women who died during pregnancy, childbirth or in the immediate aftermath to those who survived in 2011 and 2012.

Cardiac events, drug overdoses and disorders associated with hypertension were the leading causes of those maternal deaths, the task force found.

Nationally, problems such as obesity, diabetes, caesarean births and delayed prenatal care are among the risk factors commonly seen, Hollier said. Such factors are particularly prevalent among black women.

So we have a population of women that is less healthy when they are entering pregnancy, Hollier said.

Black women also had the highest rate of being hospitalized for hemorrhaging and blood transfusions, which are commonly seen in maternal deaths in Texas.

Texas has the largest number of uninsured people in the U.S., and there have been substantial cuts to womens health programs that offer family planning and other routine services to low-income women, including screening for diabetes, hypertension and cervical cancer, which if left untreated could play a role in maternal deaths. Many of the dozens of clinics shuttered in recent years due to slashed state funding also offered prenatal care.

In an ideal world, a woman would have the opportunity to have a visit with a physician before she becomes pregnant to identify any potential risk factors before she gets pregnant, said Hollier. Then a woman would enter prenatal in her first trimester. Unfortunately, African-American women are the least likely to have that first trimester of prenatal care.

Texas public health officials say they are concerned about the states high maternal mortality rate but they dont believe cuts to womens health clinics are to blame, noting that the decrease in funding did not take effect until after the increase in maternal mortality had been reported.

Theres not any evidence that suggests a link, said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the State Health Services Department. The timing doesnt really match up to demonstrate that theres any connection.

Manda Hall, associate commissioner for community health improvement at the agency, said several initiatives are underway to address the maternal mortality crisis. They include a program that encourages women planning to become pregnant to make wholesome lifestyle choices and another targeting historically black academic institutions that offers training focused on preconception health, the importance of fathers, health disparities and reproductive life planning.

Researchers say such programs might have an effect, but given that low-income white women fare better than black women, the causes may run deeper.

Just being a black woman in America comes with its own level of stress, said Jones, the Afiya Center executive director.

Some studies have shown that chronic stress triggered by racism and discrimination can lead to health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and these in turn can lead to preterm births, low birth weights and life-threatening complications.

A 2009 study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine by researchers from USC and Harvard examined the differences in the self-reported racism experiences of U.S.-born and foreign-born black pregnant women, and found that chronic exposure to racial prejudice and discrimination could  contribute to physiological wear and tear, thereby increasing health risk.

African-American women also say that health care professionals are often dismissive of their concerns if they are poor, have health problems or already have several children, said Deneen Robinson, a researcher and program director for the Afiya Center.

We go into facilities and they speak condescendingly to us, Jones said. They rush us through the process. They downplay when we talk about what our symptoms are.

In Perkins case, her mother recalls that health providers seemed to disapprove when her daughter got pregnant with the twins and was feeling sick.

Oh, youre pregnant again, was the reaction of the first doctor they consulted, Perkins recalled. They think that were all just trying to get on the system and get what we can get.

Shawn Thierry, a Democrat who represents Houstons 146th District in the Texas House of Representatives, says this is a common experience for African-American women.

We know there are instances where (African-American mothers) are not given the proper level of attention and care because of assumptions that doctors and hospitals are making about them, she said. The bias  we see it on all sides.

Thierry has introduced legislation that would require an investigation into whether socioeconomic and educational backgrounds play a role when African-American mothers die during pregnancy and childbirth.

A little more than four years ago, Thierry almost died giving birth to her daughter after a routine epidural triggered a violent reaction. She felt excruciating pain, her heart began to race, and she was fighting for every breath, she said. Doctors performed an emergency C-section. Unlike many poor and minority women, she says, she had good health insurance that allowed her to remain in the hospital several days after giving birth.

As for Perkins, who died three days after being readmitted to the hospital, doctors told her mother that an infection had killed her daughter. A preliminary autopsy report cited an accumulation of fluid in Perkins abdominal cavity and around her lungs and heart. It also said placental tissue had been retained in her uterus.

Givens-Perkins was plagued with questions. Was that what proved fatal? Did it have anything to do with the illness she suffered during her pregnancy? Why was her daughter most often seen during her pregnancy by low-level medical practitioners, even when she was so frequently sick?

(Hospital officials declined to comment for this article, citing patient privacy laws.)

Baby Camille came home in time for Christmas 2014, almost four months after her birth. Her brother Catreyal was released the following month after several surgeries and near-death episodes.

He remains physically and mentally impaired. While his sister is running and trying to form words, he cant walk or talk. Givens-Perkins is left to start another generation of child-rearing, this one much harder than the first.

That first year was a year from pure hell, Givens-Perkins said. I didnt know what to do. I was calling people. Do they still boil bottles? I was sure a lot had changed. It was 20 years since I had had a baby. I had to relearn how to do this.
Cardi Bs had an incredible year so far and in all reality, its due to one song that helped catapult her career to another level. Weve been watching her grow as an artist over the past few months and blossom into the star that shes become. However, the strength of Bodak Yellow not only landed her a number one single but it helped her launch her career to another level. As the year ends, shes now being credited for another feat in her career.

Cardi B is the first woman to ever chart her first three singles on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, according to Billboards report. The rappers blow out single Bodak Yellow spent six weeks on the chart and now sits at number 2. However, her latest feature with Migos and Nicki Minaj Motorsport debuted at number five on the charts while the G-Eazy single No Limit with herself and A$AP Rocky is sitting at number 10 on the Billboard. Its definitely a money move for Cardi B.

Along with that incredible feat, she also becomes the first artist in general to do that since Fetty Wap stepped into the scene in 2015. Fettys first three singles, Trap Queen, My Way, and 679 shared spaces in the top 10 on the chart for 13 weeks straight. Along with that, Cardi joins a handful of women to ever accomplish that. Alongside herself, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Iggy Azalea, Ashanti and Rihanna were among the only women to ever have three singles sitting at the top 10s at the same time.

Its a great feat to cap off a highly eventful year for the Bronx rapper. Things in both her professional and personal life have been going very well for her. A few weeks back, Offset turned in his player card and proposed to Cardi B during a performance at PowerHouse in Philadelphia with a $500K ring. Of course, it didnt take long for VH1, BET and other media networks to publicly share interest in broadcasting the wedding. Neither Cardi B or Offset have made any deals yet, to our knowledge, but if they do, theyll definitely be getting a fat bag for it.
On December 8th, rising New York artist Trav will release a new album called QRAK (Queens Raised A King), which will feature an impressive line up of guest appearances, including Meek Mill, Belly, Lil Durk, Tory Lanez, Black Youngsta, Don Q, and more. Available now for pre-order on iTunes, those of you who take advantage of the early purchase will receive this new song for free as an instant download called Rolled Up featuring Canadian duo Belly & Tory Lanez.

Produced by C-Sick, the record finds Tory handling the hook crooning Im rolled up, Im pourd up/ I want you, and you know whats up, before Trav & Belly come in and spit their respective verses. The record follows up Travs latest video for Layin Low which dropped last week & features Don Q & Black Youngsta on it.

Take a listen and let us know what you think. If fans are a little disappointed by Torys contribution here, dont worry, hes also featured on another record off QRAK called Millions, which is still yet to be heard, so stay tuned.

Quotable Lyrics:

Maybe you dont really understand it

I know that shit looking like I planned it

Everything a hit lately I cant miss

Put your true colors on my canvas
After the stunning news from First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, House Speaker Paul Ryan joined the online chorus of Americans offering support.

Reports out of Texas are devastating, said Ryan, on Twitter. The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now.

A star in the Star Trek galaxy, and frequent guest on The Big Bang Theory, was furious with Ryan.

The murdered victims were in a church, tweeted Wil Wheaton. If prayers did anything, theyd still be alive, you worthless sack of (expletive).

Wheaton later added: Hey, real and actual people of faith: I hear you. I apologize for insulting you, in my rage at Paul Ryans refusal to address gun violence.

This was, of course, yet another round of warfare about the Second Amendment, faith, bloodshed, media bias and the political powers that be. The fighting hadnt even ended after the secular vs. sacred Twitter wars after the massacre at the music festival in Las Vegas.

At this point, its clear that the fighting over thoughts and prayers tweets is yet another sign that America is dividing into warring camps in which language and symbolic actions are causing pain and confusion, rather than unity, said Tim Stewart, a professional wordsmith who created the Dictionary of Christianese website.

It doesnt help that the vocabulary of many Christians, especially evangelicals, is packed with insider jargon they use all the time, whether they know it or not. ... This language is like a liturgy for them, but they dont understand that other people dont get it, said Stewart, who was raised Catholic, but attends a Southern Baptist church in Austin, Texas.

Its like theyre speaking another language and it makes other people feel like outsiders, he added. Non-believers may need to say: Is there a booklet I can read so that I know whats going on and what youre talking about?

This is one piece in a larger puzzle. In a recent iBelieve.com article, evangelical writer Lindsey VanSparrentak  after consulting with social-media friends  included Ill be praying for you in a list of 10 Christian Sayings that Need to Go.

Part of the problem is that this statement implies real action, as in actually praying for a specific person, with a specific need.

Theres been countless times Ive told somebody Id be praying for them, only to forget to actually pray, wrote VanSparrentak. After too many times dropping the ball, I decided to make a change. Now, instead of promising to pray later, I ask if I can pray with them right then and there. This prevents me from forgetting and its more encouraging to be prayed with than prayed for.

Among other examples of Christian jargon that made it into this list were Bless her heart, Be Jesus to people, Its just the way God made me, Hate the sin, love the sinner and Just pray harder!

Its obvious, explained Stewart, that many Americans believe that this kind of prayer talk after disasters or tragedies is meaningless, a kind of emotional fog that helps public leaders avoid action on tough issues.

It only makes matters worse when these criticisms of thoughts and prayers language turn into nasty attacks. After all, millions of believers sincerely think that prayer is the first step to any faithful effort to help others through charity, ministry, political activism or any other strategy in public life.

Some people hear the word prayer right now and they think its the opposite of promising to do real work in the real world, said Stewart. If people dont believe prayer is real, then it really can sound phony and fake and hollow and maybe even insulting. It sounds like youre pretending to care, instead of doing something that  from their point of view  really matters.

At some point, religious leaders will need to realize that Christianese isnt constructive when theyre talking to the public, as opposed to in-house conversations among the faithful, said Stewart.

We have to start asking, What are we saying? and Why are we saying it? and What do other people think about what were saying? Our jargon could be distracting people and doing harm. ... Its time to ask if Christianese is actually impeding peoples ability to understand what the church is saying.
Its been a minute since we last heard from Tunji Ige. In fact, the last time the Pennsylvania artist last impacted our site was back in January when he dropped off the song Why Dont You?, but thankfully that drought comes to an end here today. Out nowhere, Tunji returns to the scene with a new single called Thing 4 You.

After a short hiatus.ive dropped my first song in almost a year! My team told me if we get 500 comments  on this post we can shoot a video. Drop  emojis in the comments if you want to help make this happen!, he shared on his IG along with the records release.

No word yet on where this will end up, but hopefully this indication that a project is hopefully in the works because were long overdue.

Take a listen to the catchy, self-produced record and let us know what you think! If youre a fan, show your support on iTunes.

Quotable Lyrics:

Where you think they now, where you think they?

Stack up, big bus, stab up pay

I was hoping that shit could slide my way

Left lane, you could catch me flying down the highway

Cause she wanna ride

She wanna ride with a nigga like me, yeah

She be, we wont tell nobody

Oh, yeah, come on, on your body
This Big Indian Joint Family Has 72 Members Living in The Same House in Maharashtra
Ms Maguire said that the world must disarm

A Nobel peace laureate has called on world leaders to dismiss the idea of "just wars".

Mairead Maguire, who was awarded the accolade in 1976 after founding the Peace People campaign during the Northern Ireland Troubles, told a conference in the Vatican that lessons can be learned from the conflict.

"We need to throw out the 'just war' theory, a phony piece of morality," she said.

"Instead, we can develop a new theology of peace and non-violence and articulate a clear, unambiguous rejection of violence. Religion cannot be used to justify war or armed struggle."

Ms Maguire, who was to meet Pope Francis after addressing the disarmament conference in Rome, said world leaders have yet to learn the lessons of the US nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"It is an illusion that we are in control and that these weapons give us security," she said.

Ms Maguire, who visited North Korea in 2015 and has appealed for dialogue amid nuclear threats, added: " The policy of nuclear weapons show that we have lost our moral compass.

"It is long overdue that we abolish nuclear weapons and put resources, human and financial, into abolishing poverty and meeting human security as set out in UN development goals."

Ms Maguire praised Pope Francis and said he gave clear moral and spiritual leadership in calling for the abolition of the death penalty and nuclear weapons.

She did not reference US president Donald Trump in her speech, but she said the international community must insist on d ialogue and diplomacy to deal with the North Korea issue.

Ms Maguire said the experience of the Iran nuclear agreement could be replicated.

"We can transform the erroneous mindset that violence and threats of violence works, weapons and war can solve our problems. Punitive policies do not bring peace," she said.

Ms Maguire, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Betty Williams, also said that many policies agreed in the Northern Ireland peace process have not been fully implemented.

"What could have been set up was an independent body charged with the implementation of the (Good Friday) Agreement whose recommendations for resolving disputes would be binding on the parties," she said.

"In the absence of this, the Executive is obliged to address every crisis on a case-by-case basis and with no commitment to accepting recommendations to resolve the crisis."

Ms Maguire said the key to progress lies in the community through integrated education, peace education and other initiatives.

"At the heart of a peace culture is a recognition that every person's life and their humanity is more important than a person's ethnic inheritance," she said.
A clear line needs to be drawn on family farms between the home and the yard to help save children from injury or death, warns a young woman who was left paralysed following a farm accident.

Kerrie Leonard (26), from Culmullen, Co Meath was accompanying her father on his tractor when she fell from the vehicle and was rolled over by the tractor wheel when she was six years old.

It was the May Bank Holiday weekend so I wouldve been at home. I was a tomboy as a kid and always on the farm and like most kids Id always be sitting on my parents knee on the tractor. That weekend I was bouncing up and down on the tractor. There was no door on the cab. I fell and the wheel rolled on top of me.

I remember being blind for 30 seconds following the fall and panicking about that but my sight came back in less than a minute. My arm pit was split open and I could see my shoulder socket. It was traumatic. I could walk for 24-hours after the injuries but my spinal cord started swelling and I became paralysed, she said.

According to the Heath and Safety Authority in the last 10 years 23 children have been killed as a result of farm accidents. Kerrie finds this alarming and thinks that its about time a clear distinction is made between the farm yard and the home.

You need to be vigilant and fix things that need to be repaired in time. Safety can lapse very easily because the workplace and the home are very much intertwined. A clear distinction needs to be made between the farm and the home. Its very difficult to do that but tools need to be put in place to make it as safe as possible, she said.

Expand Close Kerrie Leonard, Culmullen, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. Picture: Doug O'Connor / Facebook

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Following her accident, Kerrie spent eight weeks in Our Ladys Hospital in Crumlin and had a further eight weeks of rehabilitation in Dun Laoghaire. Fast forward 20 years, Kerrie has a degree in equine science under her belt from Maynooth University, holds Irelands student archery record and is hoping to compete in the 2020 Japan Paralympics.

The Meath woman cites her parents, organic suckler farmers, Edward and Jacqueline as the reason behind her ability to keep going.

When you live on a farm its a blessing in disguise because if you focus on the negatives like a dead animal or something, things can fall by the weigh side. It was a crisis but like any other crisis on a farm you cant down tools as its your livelihood. Even on the hardest of days you have to keep going, she added.

While Kerrie couldve been forgiven for not wanting anything to do with farming after her injuries, she became more involved than ever with her hand-writing featuring in the farms herd books from the age of 11.

She balances her full-time job in Dell in Limerick with her passion for horses which she now breeds on the family farm and is currently completing the Green Cert agricultural course.

In August, the Meath woman completed a sky dive to mark the 20 anniversary of her accident.

I did it because I dont want to be known as the girl in the wheelchair who cant do things. I say yes to everything and in a way am very much appreciative of my disability as it has given me the chance to compete internationally.
Few under the age of 30 might remember, but General Electric was once a model of corporate greatness.

In 1999, when Steve Jobs was still fiddling with iMacs, 'Fortune' magazine proclaimed Jack Welch, then GE's chief executive officer, the best manager of the 20th Century.

Few would lavish such praise on the manufacturer these days.

GE, that paragon of modern management, has fallen so far that it's scarcely recognisable.

The old GE is dead, undone by an unfortunate mix of missteps and bad luck. The new one now confronts some of the most daunting challenges in the company's 125-year history.

The numbers tell the story: This year, roughly $100bn (85.7bn) has been wiped off GE's stock market value.

With mounting cash-flow problems at the once-mighty company, even the dividend is at risk of being cut.

The last time GE chopped the payout was in the Great Recession - and before that, the Great Depression. And the hit to the collective psyche of generations of investors and managers is incalculable.

For decades, GE-think infiltrated boardrooms around the world. Six Sigma quality control, strict performance metrics, management boot camps - all that and more informed the MBAs of the 1970s, '80s, '90s and into this century. GE, in turn, seeded corporate America with its executives.

Now, John Flannery, GE's new CEO, is struggling to win back the trust of anxious investors. He's set to detail his turnaround plans on Monday - and has said he'll consider every option.

"There's nothing less than the fate of a once great, great company on the line," said Thomas O'Boyle, the author of 'At Any Cost: Jack Welch, General Electric, and the Pursuit of Profit'.

"Some of the fundamental notions about its status as a conglomerate and whether it can succeed in a world of increasing complexity are really being challenged right now."

In hindsight, the seeds of this struggle were planted decades ago. Welch expanded and reshaped GE with hundreds of acquisitions and demanded every GE unit be No 1 or No 2 in its industry.

He also culled low-performers ruthlessly, earning the nickname Neutron Jack. By the time he retired, in 2001, GE's market value had soared from less than $20bn to almost $400bn.

But all that manoeuvring, plus GE's increasingly complex financial operations, obscured the underlying performance and put the company in peril during the 2008 financial crisis.

Welch's successor, Jeffrey Immelt, sold off NBC and most of the finance operations - two of the businesses that defined Welch's tenure - along with units such as plastics and home appliances. The moves narrowed GE's focus, yet it remains a collection of somewhat disparate manufacturing businesses, ranging from jet engines to oilfield equipment.

Unfortunately for GE, that industrial conglomerate model has fallen sharply out of favour on Wall Street. And the rise of activist investors like Nelson Peltz has encouraged companies to try to boost their stock prices however they can, rather than focus on the long term. GE recently welcomed one of Peltz's partners at Trian Fund Management to the board.

"The reckoning had to come," said Jack De Gan, chief investment officer of Harbor Advisory, which has been a GE shareholder for more than 20 years before selling most of the shares in the past few weeks.

GE's leaders have long defended the multi-business strategy by pointing to the benefits of sharing technology across product lines - jet engines, for instance, have a lot in common with gas turbines.

In an interview with Bloomberg in June, Flannery dismissed concerns about conglomerates, saying investors care more about outcomes. "They want growth, they want visibility, they want predictability, they want margin rate," Flannery said. "And there are a multitude of models to produce that."

The new CEO has already said he'll divest at least $20bn of assets. He's coming under pressure to do even more.

"Anything less than a sweeping plan to 'de-conglomerate' the portfolio would be viewed as disappointing," Deane Dray, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said this week in a note to clients. The potential moves include unloading its transportation, oil, healthcare and lighting operations.

GE's issues run deeper than the composition of the company. One of its biggest divisions, power-generation, is in the early stages of a deep market slump. GE's cash flow is light, potentially putting the dividend in jeopardy and driving investors away from the stock.

Flannery has spoken of the need to change GE's culture and instil a sense of accountability. He's reined in excessive spending - on corporate cars and planes, on the new Boston headquarters - and replaced top executives. But the sudden changes, combined with Flannery's relative lack of public reassurances, have spooked investors. In the days after Flannery's first quarterly earnings as CEO, when he called GE's performance "completely unacceptable", the stock fell and fell. And fell some more, closing at the lowest level in five years on November 2.

The shares slid less than 1pc to $19.99 on Thursday, bringing the 2017 loss to 37pc.

"You think about a company like Kodak. Will GE become that?" said Vijay Govindarajan, a professor at Dartmouth University's Tuck School of Business who served as GE's professor-in-residence in 2008 and 2009.

Some investors may be throwing in the towel, but Govindarajan isn't giving up. "I will put my bet that GE will weather this and come back," he said. (Bloomberg)
Caitriona Perry reporting from the red carpet at the Oscars ceremony in Hollywood

Caitriona Perry reacts as US President Donald Trump speaks to her in the Oval Office

RTE's Washington Correspondent Caitriona Perry made headlines around the world after her "bizarre" encounter with President Donald Trump over the summer.

And now the Knocklyon native (36) said she's "very excited" to release her first book chronicling her experiences in the States for the past three years.

Entitled In America: Tales From Trump Country, her book investigates why certain sectors of the US voted for the controversial figure.

"Every time I've been home over the last year and a half or so, so many people I meet ask me about Trump voters and can't understand how anyone could support him and vote for him. I felt writing this book would help explain all of that," she told the Herald.

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Given Perry's busy brief with RTE, she said she couldn't take any time off to write, so she squeezed it into her schedule whenever she could.

"I wrote it earlier this year whenever I could really - nights and weekends when I wasn't working. I'm proud of this book and I just hope others enjoy it too."

Although the book was finished prior to her infamous encounter with Trump in the Oval Office, it had not yet gone to print so it's understood that there is a reference to it in her new tome.

In June, she was invited into the Oval Office to witness Trump's first phone call with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

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In a video that sparked accusations of sexism, he pointed at Perry and beckoned her over, saying: "We have all of this beautiful Irish press."

He asked her where she was from and Caitriona approached him and introduced herself, prompting him to add to the Taoiseach: "She has a nice smile on her face so I bet she treats you well."

The DCU graduate was appointed to the US job in 2013 and has one more year before her term as foreign correspondent ends in 2018.
Honour: Cunningham's father, Redmond, was the only Irishman to receive the Military Cross for Gallantry for his heroics at the Normandy D-Day landings. Photo: Tony Gavin

Peter Cunningham, an award-winning Irish author, suffered an unimaginable tragedy in 1990 when his son Peter Jr, the eldest of six children with wife Carol, was killed in a car accident.

"That was a bomb in our lives," he says.

"And here was I, having given up the day job and committed myself to writing a thriller a year for HarperCollins and I just couldn't do that anymore. I just. Could not. Do it."

It's crushing to listen to Cunningham, with brittle calm, relate the path such absolute grief sent one on.

He speaks about how it "completely reoriented" his and Carol's life, and, ultimately, was the making of him as a writer. He was no longer interested in genre fiction that could be fired out in eight months.

The decision "to go deeper" was forced upon him and resulted in more tender, socially-aware and award-courting fare such as Consequences of the Heart (1998) and the Prix de l'Europe-winning The Sea and the Silence (2008).

Although he'd go on to learn that thrills and perspiration were in his family DNA, thriller-writing itself couldn't save him anymore, he softly explains.

"You never go back to the point at which you left the road, at which this happened. No day goes by that I don't think of Peter 20 times. Sometimes there's a comfort that he's there for me to lean on. I'm not a religious person but that's as close as I get. I embarked on writing as a way of life in a way that I hadn't before, and it was thanks to Peter."

There is nothing average about Peter Cunningham's journey to elder statesman of Irish fiction.

After leaving Waterford and studying in UCD, he worked as an accountant and commodities trader both home and abroad.

An avenue into full-time writing opened in 1985 when his first novel, the thriller Noble Lord, was picked up by HarperCollins for 10,000, a good payday at the time.

A UK agent followed.

He became a thriller-writing machine for the next number of years, pouring his experience of the financial world into white-collar crime sagas under pen surnames such as Lauder, Wilben and Benjamin.

His father has been a huge influence in his new book.

If a young Peter Cunningham had ever been asked to stand up and tell the class about his father, there would have been something of an awkward gap in the story. And even had he known then what he knows now, he would've had to keep his mouth shut.

His family had always known Cunningham Sr was a highly decorated WWII Royal Engineers army officer. He was a local hero in Ballybricken in Waterford, the corner of Ireland that has always been a constant in his son's 30-year career as a novelist. Like tens of thousands of Irish nationals, his father travelled over the Border to enlist with the British army and fight Hitler. He went up to the North in 1940, and two years later was working as a citizen with the Royal Engineers in Omagh. Suddenly, he was gazetted as a second lieutenant to Scotland. This, Cunningham tells me over the rim of his coffee cup, was "an extraordinarily unusual development". Something was amiss.

"I'd never been that interested but in my father's old age I found myself trying to understand the process by which he became an officer," he explains. "I had to go right back into the 1930s to where he came from."

What was uncovered has formed the backbone of Cunningham's umpteenth novel, Acts of Allegiance. In short, his father was a spy.

Cunningham folds his legs and clears his throat. He details how his father, Redmond, came from Home-Ruler stock. His own father had been John Redmond's election agent, hence the name, and he had grown up in a household that was pro-Fine Gael, anti-Dev and anti-Republican. De Valera's policies during the economic war of the 1930s ravaged his grandfather's pig-exporting business. When war broke out, Redmond couldn't reconcile the stance of neutrality. Enlisting with the British army was tricky for "a non-officer, middle-class young Irish guy with very few connections" because the opportunist IRA had declared war on Britain. Through a connection in the livestock trade, he managed to get a job as a clerk for the Royal Engineers.

"I asked him when he had just a few years left in life what he actually did and he told me," the author says. "You had the enemy within in Northern Ireland - there was fear of both a German division in Ireland and the IRA. He would have been providing information about IRA sympathisers and so on."

By the time Cunningham Sr returned from duty, he was the only Irishman to receive the Military Cross for Gallantry for his heroics at the Normandy D-Day landings. That nerve in the field is possibly a result of the knife-edge he lived on in Omagh. Cunningham's belief is that he was rumbled and had to be flown to safety, hence the sudden posting in Scotland. "I think the strain of that told on him all his life. He wasn't the easiest of men."

It makes Acts of Allegiance, a nuanced spy saga set in the fledgling Republic, a particularly personal work for the 70-year-old. Like le Carre's oeuvre, his father's soiree as a secret agent and that of the protagonist in Acts of Allegiance is more mundane than the Martini glasses and gadgets, but laden with treacherous pitfalls all the same.

Cunningham said elsewhere that, as a spy, his father "mingled, observed, listened and reported". It doesn't sound too dissimilar to a writer.

"Yes," he nods slowly. "Never thought of that. I started talking about the whole business with my father with some sections of my family for the first time some years ago. It mightn't have been that popular, but that's what writers are here for - we're here to say what happened and present that the best way we can."

Acts of Allegiance is published by Sandstone Press, priced 16.99
Viewers have thanked weekend cookery show Saturday Kitchen for airing a touching tribute to celebrity chef Antonio Carluccio.

The Italian writer and restaurateur died aged 80 after a fall at his home on Wednesday.

He first appeared on the BBC programme when it first came to screens in 2006, returning as a regular guest before recently taking on a brief stint as presenter, with close friends and colleagues Gennaro Contaldo and Jamie Oliver.

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Dedicating Saturday mornings show to the late cook, presenter Matt Tebbutt introduced clips of Carluccios time on the show and paid tribute to the godfather of Italian gastronomy.

The segment also included a piece from Two Greedy Italians, where Carluccio prepared a festive ricotta and panettone pudding.

Fan Stefano Hatfield responded on Twitter: Shed a tear there at that beautiful tribute to the late, great #AntonioCarluccio, a lovely man with a twinkly eye who I was privileged to meet a few times and learn from #TwoGreedyItalians #SaturdayKitchen #RIP.

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Another wrote: Fab show and a lovely tribute, while one added: Beautiful tribute. Well done.

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One viewer took a more light-hearted approach, commenting: Hope the lovely man pasta-way pizza-fully.

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TV producer Amanda Ross shared two pictures from her time working behind the scenes with Carluccio and wrote on Twitter: Thanks to everyone for thier lovely comments about our #saturdaykitchen Antonio tribute. He will always be in our hearts x.

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Carluccio was the creator behind Italian delicatessen and restaurant chain Carluccios.

Following the news of his death, Oliver paid tribute to Carluccio in an emotional Instagram post.

He wrote: He was my first London Boss at the Neal Street restaurant 25 years ago which was an institution and Mecca of wild mushrooms where I had the pleasure of working for him.

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He was such a charismatic charming don of all things Italian!! Always hanging out the front door of the restaurant with a big fat Cigar a glass of something splendid and his amazing fuzzy white hair.

He was an amazing food ambassador that will be sorely missed.
Stefanie Preissner has confirmed that the upcoming second series of Can't Cope, Won't Cope will be back on BBC Three next year as she gets to work on two new TV projects for America and the UK.

The comedy drama starring Seana Kerslake and Nika McGuigan as Cork girls Aisling and Danielle who move to Dublin and live a party lifestyle after graduating from college was well received by critics and picked up by the BBC.

"It will be on BBC Three, but I think RTE get to play it first. I found out that it sold to the BBC on Twitter, I have no control over those things," Stefanie said.

The Cork woman is in the early stages of working on two new shows, one for Channel 4 and the other for American audiences.

"I'm working with Channel 4 at the moment on a new series and I'm working in the States with First Look Media on a series set in New York," she said.

"The Channel 4 one is with Parallel Films in the UK, it's really brilliant.

"We get to lean more heavily into the drama so I'm loving working on that."

Speaking about Can't Cope, Won't Cope, Stefanie said the series will continue to tackle the issues people face in Ireland today.

"Season one was very of its time and Dublin has changed in that time. It's been interesting to keep my pulse on what's happening in Ireland," she said.

"We're filming in Dublin for five weeks and Vancouver a little bit. The girls split up at the end of season one.

"We're going to see that for Aisling it's not easy to find a new place to live. We have a housing crisis. We saw her family in season one and they'll be back a lot.

"We're dealing with the issues Ireland is facing now.

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"Childcare, homelessness, socio-economic stuff about women, their access to health and jobs. Aisling is trying to get a new job. It's going to be a very relevant, current series."

Stefanie previously wrote for theatre and had never considered a career in television until an insider asked her if she had any ideas that would work for the small screen.

"A producer came and asked me if I'd ever thought about writing for television," she told the Herald.

"I said 'no' and she said, 'Do you have any ideas?'

"I said I had this idea of two girls who move from Cork to Dublin and have this crazy party lifestyle.

"She said, 'Let's try and make it happen', and it happened.

"I'm very aware that I'm speaking from a place of massive privilege and that's not how a lot of people get into television."
Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan went down a storm on last night's Late Late Show when he offered his thoughts on "how far" Ireland has come.

The Navan (48) funnyman said that though people might think Ireland is a conservative country, we have proved otherwise now that we have a gay Toaiseach, Leo Varadkar, in office.

What an amazing country. People think Ireland is so conservative. We have a gay Taoiseach. Its not that long ago here, we werent allowed to be left-handed, he said.

Tiernan, a columnist with 'Life' magazine with the Sunday Independent, said that he is now a practising Catholic because it rewards his heart.

Presenter Ryan Tubridy asked: "Every Sunday?"

"Once or twice a year," he said, laughing.

But he explained: We were born with an imagination, and you cant live without it. There is no way human beings can live unimaginatively in the world, like the way animals can. Animals have emotions but they dont have the imagination.

So were burdened with it. So you have to choose a path that rewards you the most. Even though you know its an enchantment of sorts, you choose a path, and for me, right now, this particular moment in time, its Catholicism.

My heart gets so rewarded, so I feel like its a bountiful, proper place for me. Once or twice a year. I would go to mass and go to churches a lot and listen to rosaries but I would not be someone who would ever tell anybody else how to live.

Its hard enough being me and being alive. Everyone needs space and what you do with that space is up to you, he said.

When Ryan Tubridy offered that Catholicism is working for Tiernan, he replied: I wouldnt even describe it as working. Its soulful, its good.

Tiernan will return to the theatre after 20 years in January in the Druid production of Sive by John B Keane at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.

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The major production will run from January 30 to March 3.
The wife of former billionaire Sean Quinn had just 315 in the bank when she was bankrupted by the former Anglo Irish Bank last month.

It has also emerged that she owes 105m to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) and 1.6m to the Revenue Commissioners.

The vast majority of the debts are disputed.

The disclosures were made in a statement of affairs filed by Patricia Quinn (64) at the request of the High Court.

The former tycoon's wife was bankrupted by IBRC after failing to repay a 3m loan.

The bank had secured a judgment against her for the sum in December 2011.

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Court papers show that it issued a bankruptcy summons in July, when the debt was not repaid.

Mrs Quinn, whose husband was once Ireland's richest man, had tried to escape liability for the loan, which was used for the refurbishment of the family home in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.

She claimed that she was a homemaker who had naively signed whatever was put in front of her by her husband and never received the benefit of the borrowings. However, this argument was rejected by the High Court.

According to her statement of affairs, Mrs Quinn had 200 in cash and 315 in the bank when she was bankrupted.

Her other assets were an Irish Life pension worth 78,928, forestry worth 25,000, a 2008 BMW X5 worth 5,000 and clothes and jewellery worth 4,500.

A list of her debts included the 3m personal loan from IBRC.

It also included a 102m debt with IBRC and 1.6m owed to the Revenue. Both debts are disputed, the document said.

Mrs Quinn said her only income was a 430-a-month UK pension.

She said that she required 1,486 a month for reasonable living expenses.

Her husband once had a fortune of 4.7bn, but lost his fortune after disastrously building up a massive secret stake in Anglo Irish Bank.

He was eventually bankrupted following an application by IBRC in 2012.

He emerged from bankruptcy in 2015 and recently returned to the world of business with a new online betting outlet called QuinnBet.
A relative of murdered Dublin man Gary Hutch has been given a suspended sentence for holding up a Spar shop with an imitation firearm.

Derek Hutch is a first cousin of the deceased man, whose family are involved in a bloody feud with the Kinahan crime gang.

Hutch (27) of Liberty House, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of an imitation firearm and robbery of the Spar shop on Styles Road, Clontarf on June 11, 2015.

A sentence hearing in December 2016 was told Hutch had made great strides in treating his drug addiction. Judge Patricia Ryan placed him under probation supervision for nearly a year to see if had truly reformed.

Sentencing Hutch today, Judge Ryan said he had made trojan efforts in rehabilitating himself and has remained drug-free. She said the court had also received a most favourable probation report and positive reports from the drug treatment centre Hutch attended.

Judge Ryan noted Hutch has not come to the attention of gardai since the offence and is now focused on his family. She handed down a four-year sentence and suspended it on a number of conditions.

Defence counsel, Luigi Rea BL, previously told the court that Hutch was addicted to drugs and comes from an area which is blighted by addiction. He told Judge Ryan, Mr Hutch and his family have difficulties that we all know about that we dont have to go into here.

Hutch has nine previous convictions, including three for theft. He has no previous convictions for firearm offences.

During the raid, Hutch and accomplice Christopher Coakley held a gun to the head of the shop manager and demanded the code for the alarm.

Gardai caught them in an empty house near the scene of the robbery a few hours later. They were trying to hide the notes and coins they had taken.

Garda John Fitzgerald told prosecuting counsel, Marie Torrens BL, that Hutch and another man escaped with about 1,215. A short time later Gda Fitzgerald was searching nearby when he noticed a brick which looked like it had been used to gain entry to a building.

He looked inside and found the men trying to hide a large number of coins. They were arrested but Hutch refused to answer questions during interview. About 700 was recovered by gardai.

Mr Rea said Hutch has taken a turn away from his old life of drug abuse and wrongdoing. He said Hutch has two children and is now drug-free.

If anyone knows about the consequences of wrongdoing, it's Mr Hutch, counsel said.

In 2015 Hutch's co-accused, Coakley (25) of Belvedere Place, Dublin was jailed for six years for the robbery and other unrelated offences.

That sentencing hearing was told the men got in under the shutters of the shop and floored the manager before dragging her down the aisles demanding the keys.

The alarm was going off and they pointed an imitation gun to the womans head to force her to give them the code, the court heard.

She instructed the men how to turn off the alarm but when they were unsuccessful she was held by the neck and pulled over to deactivate it herself.

The woman was continually held by the neck and dragged as the robbers demanded that she get them the safe.
Irish supporters have called on the Danish FA to apologise after a spokesman said that Danish supporters should not have to stand with "drunk Irish people".

The comments, made by Danish FA communications manager Jakob Hoyer, have been described as "disrespectful" and "anti-Irish".

Mr Hoyer was speaking to DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation).

The country's FA has also threatened to make complaints to the police in relation to the reselling of tickets.

"We see that members of the fan club resell tickets. We throw them out of the fan club and they will no longer have the opportunity to participate in the sale. We are also considering police reports," Mr Hoyer said.

"We do not want a situation where fans are mixed.

"Danish families do not have to stand with 30 drunk Irish people. And drunk Irish people must not stand up with drunk Danes, as it opens up a risk," he said.

His comments have been strongly criticised by travelling Irish supporters, as well as a Government politician.

Fine Gael TD Noel Rock, who has travelled to Copenhagen for tonight's game, said the remarks were "anti-Irish" and "lazy". The Dublin politician also called on the Danish FA to apologise for the comments.

"Mr Hoyer need only ask the citizens of France and Poland what a great influence Irish fans are, and our award from Uefa as the best fans in Euro 2016 is testament to that," Mr Rock told the Irish Independent.

"His anti-Irish stereotype is lazy and ignorant. It's clear that Mr Hoyer owes Irish fans a serious apology."

Irish supporter groups have also lashed out at the comments, describing them as "disrespectful".

A spokesman for You Boys in Green said: "Mr Hoyer should really get his own house in order. The comments are disrespectful.

"Irish fans have been around the world and we have nothing but respect for our hosts.

"We get on with every group of fans we meet when we're abroad."
Gardai have arrested two teenage boys in connection with alleged unprovoked assaults on two 17-year-old boys near Gormanston Railway Station in county Meath last Sunday.

They were arrested on Friday afternoon in the Balbriggan area and are currently being detained in Ashbourne Garda Station.

Gardai confirmed that the victims, one who suffered a broken nose, have been released from hospital.

Gardai say the investigation into the alleged incident in which a large group of youths attacked two teenage boys is "ongoing".

After the attack the gang fled on foot towards the county Dublin border and gardai from Laytown, Ashbourne and Balbriggan, as well as the armed support unit, were involved in a search for them.

Gardai say that the gang, which possibly numbered between 20 and 30, aged from their late teens and upwards, pursued the two teenagers who were at Gormonston railway station.

They chased the 17-year-olds towards the R132, the former N1 between Balbriggan and Drogheda, where the pair were then allegedly beaten up.

There were young girls in the group and they are believed to have watched the attack.

Gardai arrested three teenage girls in relation to the attack earlier this week.
The Garda hut outside the house in Knocklyon, Dublin 16

A garda protection post yesterday remained at the home of the late Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave despite questions being raised about the use of Garda resources.

The former Fine Gael leader passed away on October 4 in Tallaght Hospital following an illness.

A month on from Mr Cosgrave's death, a Garda post is still stationed at the property on a 24-hour basis.

Opposition TDs have described the decision to deploy gardai at the south Dublin home as bizarre.

In a statement, gardai said that a security review had been undertaken in conjunction with the Department of Justice.

"Following the death of a protected person, An Garda Siochana conducts a full security review and a determination on security requirements is made based on the outcome of that review.

"The review is undertaken in conjunction with the Department of Justice and the occupants of the property. This review has been completed and a determination reached," a spokesman said.

"An Garda Siochana will not comment any further on matters of security."

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said that the Garda Commissioner was responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel.

Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan described the use of Garda resources as "bizarre" while questioning why the decision had not been made to end the presence at the property.

"It reveals that no one within the force took responsibility for making the obvious decision to end the Garda presence," Mr O'Callaghan said.

Mr Cosgrave led a Fine Gael-Labour coalition between 1973 and 1977, when he stepped down following Fianna Fail's landslide election victory.

One listener to RTE's 'Liveline' programme expressed her anger that a garda was still stationed at the house.

"That guard has to sit there and they can't do anything about any other crimes, as they have to stay at their station.

"It's a waste of revenue and it's a waste of resources, why can't they release that garda to go elsewhere and hire a security firm if they want?

"It's ridiculous and a total waste of taxpayers' money.

"What are they protecting, an empty bungalow?" the caller said.
Controversial legislation aimed at curbing problem drinking looks set to be watered down further as plans to limit the display of alcohol in smaller shops are put on hold.

The proposal in the Public Health Alcohol Bill to introduce a booze curtain in these shops has already been dropped and replaced by a plan for limited shelving.

However, this has also now been set aside to allow more consultation with shopkeepers, the Irish Independent has learned.

The Bill, which will introduce minimum pricing of alcohol, doubling the cost of cheap beer, is to return to the Oireachtas after its debate in the Seanad this week.

The decision to park the proposal to have two one-metre shelves in shops has been welcomed by the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association.

Peter Gaughan, a shopkeeper in Balla, Co Mayo, said the organisation's executive will meet this week to draw up a list of alternatives to put to Health Minister Simon Harris.

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Mr Harris came under strong pressure from many senators and TDs from within his own party to reduce the impact of the legislation on around 1,800 medium to smaller shops selling alcohol.

Mr Gaughan said shopkeepers faced onerous expense to make their premises comply with the proposed law unless it was changed.

"We welcome the decision of the minister to consult with us to come up with a workable solution," Mr Gaughan said.

One compromise may be the installation of turnstiles or saloon doors to the alcohol section.

"If turnstiles were introduced, it would mean that shoppers would have to make a conscious decision to enter the alcohol area," he said.
The A&E department of Tallaght Hospital in Dublin has been without a senior consultant on duty since early Friday evening.

The overcrowded department has since been relying on junior doctors for medical cover.

Senior consultants are now claiming the department is unsafe .

The hospital stopped having senior consultants in its emergency department at 5pm on Friday evening.

Dr James Gray, Tallaght Hospital emergency consultant said the overcrowding made the department unsafe.

The hospital kept the emergency department open despite the lack of senior medical supervision.

Dr Gray told Independent.ie: "This is unprecedented. It would be like a plane taking off with junior pilots and no ground control to guide into safe airspace. Very dangerous.

"Does the HSE know of Tallaght situation ? Does HIQA know? Does the minister for health's office know?"

Tallaght A&E issued a statement to Independent.ie on Saturday.

"Tallaght Hospital wishes to clarify that its Emergency Department is continuing to operate as normal this weekend with contingent consultant cover arrangements in place," it said.

"At short notice the Hospital has been notified that one of its ED consultants has unilaterally withdrawn from providing on-call cover over this weekend. Tallaght Hospital regrets this course of action undertaken.

"There are currently 8 patients on trollies in Tallaght Hospital ED awaiting admission."

Earlier this week the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) Trolley/Ward Watch figures for the month of October and year to date confirmed that the level of overcrowding in A&E continues at record levels.

The latest figures confirm that in October there were 8,903 patients admitted for care for whom there was no in-patient bed.

- This represents a 15pc increase when compared to October 2016; and

- In the first 10 months of this year (January to October) there were 82,459 patients, admitted for care, with no in-patient bed available.

- This represents an 8pc increase, on the first 10 months of 2016, and a 96pcincrease in the first 10 months of 2007.

The figures also confirm that, in October, the levels of overcrowding in Dublin hospitals had increased when compared to October 2016. This follows a number of months when in Dublin levels of overcrowding had reduced.

However in hospitals outside of Dublin the situation continues to deteriorate significantly with record levels both in the month of October and in the 10 months of the year to date.

In the month of October the hospitals with the highest number patients, on trolleys, were:

University Hospital Limerick: 719

University Hospital Galway: 679

Cork University Hospital: 635

South Tipperary General Hospital: 546

St Lukes Hospital Kilkenny: 495

However the figures also show very marked increases in other hospitals including:
An Irish law graduate is one of the youngest ever people to pass the New York Bar exam and did so from over 3,000 miles away in her Dublin bedroom.

Aoife Moore Kavanagh (23) from Louth graduated from Dublin City University with a law degree in 2016.

After spending her J1 in San Francisco, Aoife said that she knew she wanted to live and work in America and began the process of applying for the New York Bar.

If you pass the New York Bar exam you are allowed to practice law in the New York jurisdiction.

"After my J1 I realised that there were a lot more opportunities for me in New York. Ireland is so limited," Aoife told Independent.ie.

"I researched American law course providers and came across Barbri, a bar review course which I attended twice a week while working in retail."

The Barbri course was six months long and cost 4,500 to complete.

"I fell in love with New York instantly. It is so amazing. I met my boyfriend there and I really enjoyed the course.

"I applied for the New York Bar in February and continued working while I was studying. The exam was 200 multiple choice questions, two exams and six essays. I had never done such an extensive exam before."

Aoife was devastated when she found out that she missed out by ten points.

As her visa expired, Aoife returned home to Dublin last May.

"I have never been so disappointed in my life. The day I flew back to Ireland I was heartbroken. When the pilot announced we were landing in Dublin I cried."

The law graduate said she had to "dust herself off" and re-apply.

"I applied for the exam again after I returned home to Dublin. For the next two months I focused only on the exam. There were times when I couldn't even remember the last time I got dressed. I lived and breathed the American law materials. I recorded myself reciting rules and fell asleep listening to it. I studied for more than nine hours a day, six days a week."

Aoife said that she encountered "a lot of negativity" during the process.

"A lot of people didn't think it was worth my while to do a course to learn the laws of another jurisdiction. They told me it was extremely difficult for foreign examinees and I would have to accept that it was unlikely my dreams would become reality, but I am proof that it can be done."

Aoife returned to New York in July and re-applied for the exam.

"I had done absolutely everything I possible could have to pass the test. This was my goal, I had to achieve it."

Last week, Aoife received an email to say she had passed the exam.

"It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I was dancing around the kitchen when I heard I passed."

At 23, Aoife is one of the youngest people to ever pass the New York Bar. The average age is 27.

"I'll be going back to New York in February for the swearing in ceremony and then I'll be called to the bar.

"A lot of people don't know that you can take the Bar exam if you have an Irish degree. Ireland has excellent courses and can get you to where you need to be.

"I plan on becoming a judge now in New York. I can't wait to get stuck in."
THE brother of missing Tipperary man, Stephen Cullinan (25), has launched a fresh appeal for information after footage emerged of his missing brother in St Stephens Green in Dublin last Thursday.

Mr Cullinan is the son of North Tipperary IFA Chair, Tim Cullinan. The Irish Farmers Association has appealed for help online.

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The University of Limerick student, from Ballymackey, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary was reported missing from Castletroy, Co Limerick but its now known he was last spotted in St Stephens Green on Thursday November 2.

Tim Cullinan praised search efforts and said he just wants his son to make contact.

He told independent.ie: He (Stephen) went from Limerick to Dublin sometime on Thursday and the last ping (from his phone) was that evening from Stephens Green. The phone is dead now. Theres been no communication since.

Were just saying to Stephen, if hes out there, just to phone his mam and say if hes safe. Thats all we want to know.

If anyone sees him, contact Gardai. All I can say is we really appreciate all the help from the University (of Limerick) and everybody. Everybody, from all walks of life, are trying to do everything they can. Of course were concerned.

Stephen is described as 5'11" of medium build with short fair hair and glasses. He was last seen wearing a hoodie and jeans. There are concerns for his well-being.

His brother Brian posted an image to social media of the missing man wearing a grey hoodie and dark jeans.

Gardai in Henry Street Garda Station are investigating this incident and are seeking assistance from the public in establishing the location of Stephan. Any information to Henry Street Garda Station 061 212 400, any Garda Station or the Garda Confidential Line 1800-666-111.
LEXINGTON  The Lexington Community Foundations complimentary fall luncheon Wednesday was a celebration of philanthropy in the community.

While no fundraising was done at the event, it is does serve as a prelude to Give BIG Lexington, which takes place Nov. 16. On this day people are encouraged to make donations through LCF in support of community organizations and programs. Every donation receives a promotional share of an incentive match from the LCF.

The Lexington Community Foundation celebrates 35 years of existence this year and is the umbrella organization for 77 nonprofits. It is ranked seventh  just behind corporate giants Union Pacific and Con Agra  in a list of top giving foundations in Nebraska which includes corporate giving foundations and community foundations.

Three LCF founding members participated in a question and answer session during the luncheon.

When asked what the founders vision was, Ed Darby said they wanted a way of receiving money, gifts, contributions and inheritances to put them to use to enhance the quality of life. He noted one of the big debates initially was on the name and whether to be a county or community foundation.

Kay Denker said "Lexington was fortunate and blessed to have forward looking individuals with a strong work ethic who wanted to make the area important."

"Starting a foundation isnt easy. You have to get 30 people to agree," said Eric Brown. He said the early goals were to survive and create an endowment.

"It was a congenial group. We decided

to make Lexington a better place to live by reinvesting," said Brown.

Founding panel members were asked if capital campaigns were ever discussed or if they just evolved. "It was probably a little bit of both," said Denker.

"It seemed to evolve by itself as we went along. Pretty soon we had things to raise money for," said Darby.

He said he was surprised by the success of the Thanks a Million campaign  competed in 1995 in which $1 million was raised to benefit the Lexington Middle School and the Lexington Aquatic Center  because he thought it was an unreasonable goal. Since then giving has been on-going and has taken on a life of its own.

Brown said the Thanks a Million campaign was his favorite. "It was a tangible project, although we all thought Gary Schultz (who proposed the idea) was slightly crazy," he said.

Brown said that initial campaign has gotten people in the habit of giving.

Major events in the history of the LCF which have been prominent in steering the direction of the Foundation were identified as the Thanks a Million campaign, the Lexington Public Library and the YMCA, along with the annual Key dinner and auction, formerly known as a Gala. Panel members also praised the decision to hire Jackie Berke who advanced from a part-time employee to executive director of LCF.

"The focus has always been on people projects, things that enhance the quality of life for people in the community," said Darby. Although many were "bricks and mortar projects, but in the final analysis they are people projects," he said.

Denker said the annual Gala brought awareness as does Give BIG Lexington.

"I wouldnt change anything," said Darby when asked what LCF could do to have an even greater impact in the community. "What they have been doing has worked very well."

Denker said Lexington has super schools, a safe community and generous people. "I could safely say we need more of the same," she said.

Brown suggested focus groups and surveys be used to ascertain community needs and that the LCF partner with other groups on economic development. He mentioned University of Nebraska-Lincolns Innovation Campus and Maker Studio as something for Lexington to look at.

A three-member new leaders panel answered questions on what brought them back to Lexington, the role of the LCF in the community, their connection to LCF and what it could do to have an even greater community impact.

Oscar De La Torre said he came back to Lexington when his father called saying he needed help with his restaurant, A&D Cafe. Now he works at Plum Creek Motors. De La Torre said the Foundation should keep up the great work.

Gladys Godinez Cox said having children and the desire for them to near their grandparents brought her back. "I moved away for a reason and I did not plan to come back, but I hope to change that (what compelled her to leave)," she said.

She said the Foundation has enabled Lexingtons growth through beautiful facilities like the YMCA. "I dont see it (Lexington) growing as much without it (the Foundation)," said Godinez Cox.

Godinez Cox said she received Foundation money in the creation of a United by Culture Festival, which is planned to be an on-going annual event, and mentoring from Foundation executive director Jackie Berke.

Godinez Cox said her parents immigrated to the United States and her family received a lot of help. She said those who learned the habit of receiving, need to develop the habit of giving. She also encouraged the development of a young professionals network for others who come back to the area. "We are a family town. We need more activities for single young professionals," she said.

Garth Mins said he was persuaded to return to Lexington when Dan Clark retired and there was an opening in the Edward Jones office. "Having family in town, we came for the holidays. It always felt like home. The home feeling made it easy to come back to Lexington," he said. He said LCF has reinvested back into the community to make the quality of life better. He suggested creating an awareness of projects and things people could be giving to.

Dr. Tom Fagot, past president of the LCF, served as master of ceremonies during the event which was held at Kirks Nebraskaland Restaurant.

He said a week before Give BIG Lexington, in excess of $100,000 had already been contributed.

"This is where we really shine across the state of Nebraska," said Fagot.
Lidl recently sold Prosecco for just 5 per bottle. Stock picture

The cost of a bottle of Prosecco - the preferred beverage at boozy brunches - was just over a fiver in Lidl last month.

Predictably, the queues were out the door and around the building.

In terms of alco-nomics this was a brilliant bargain; a glass in a pub was more expensive than an entire bottle of the stuff at home.

Beer is cheaper still - with cans costing less than 1. That's less than a packet of chewing gum in some newsagents.

We have been surrounded by pocket-money-priced booze for years.

But those days seem numbered as the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill aims to outlaw cheap drink.

A standard bottle of 12.5pc wine will soon cost a minimum of 7.50.

I mean, it's hardly going to break the bank, but it's a definite bump up.

According to Health Minister Simon Harris, "price matters". And "if it goes up, consumption goes down".

But is it that simple? Ireland's relationship with drink is, to say the least, somewhat complicated.

Pub culture is continually pitched as an integral part of our national identity, and our drinking stamina is something we seem to take a perverse pride in.

Read More

Will banning the sale of bargain-basement booze really alter our national perspective radically?

Plus, when it comes to drinking, it's amazing how inventive people can be.

We've all heard of people heading to train carriages and barracks for an elusive Good Friday pint.

Brendan Behan joined the Irish Kennel Club simply in order to booze on Paddy's Day, back when it was illegal to drink on that holiday.

And, during the Prohibition era in the USA, women poured gin into hollow walking canes and hid beer in fake torpedoes.

Eunan McKinney of Alcohol Action Ireland said the aim of the bill is to tweak our drink culture over the course of several years.

"We want to collectively and gradually change the culture. This is not rocket science - it's basic economics," he said.

"Increasing prices results in a modest reduction in consumption, and that's what we are aiming for."

Most of us have a knee-jerk reaction when we hear about price hikes.

We all like a bargain and knowing that we are going to have to pony up more for pints and Prosecco may be, well, difficult to swallow.

On top of this, we know that booze is bad for us. Really, really bad for us.

And this adds another layer of guilt to everything.

This price hike may not change our underlying attitude to alcohol.

But maybe it will tilt things slightly in the right direction.

It might even make us less inclined to spend Saturday mornings waiting outside Lidl to stock up on bargain Prosecco.
Embattled Minister John Halligan has left the door open for a potential visit to North Korea.

While stating the proposed trip appears unlikely, Mr Halligan said he had been in touch with the United Nations (UN), which he said had set out a "peculiar" perspective around such a move.

Mr Halligan revealed last week that he hoped to travel to North Korea with his fellow Independent Alliance ministers Shane Ross and Finian McGrath to discuss peace with politicians there and to "ask Kim Jong-un to engage in democracy".

Mr Ross said that the proposed peace mission was now off and Mr Halligan agreed with him yesterday. Speaking on the 'Today with Sean O'Rourke' programme on RTE Radio One, Mr Halligan said: "It appears to be off, I don't want to engage in controversy, I want to tell the truth.

"I'm not going to row back on that I am a great believer in conflict resolution, I feel that if you can talk to people, why not?

"I make this point that we're politicians in Ireland and we're as good as politicians all around the world."

However, the Waterford TD said that he had contacted the UN over the proposed trip and that he would make his views known in the future.

It is understood that Independent Alliance TDs Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and Sean Canney are furious over the controversy.
THE FORMER president of the UCD students union, Katie Ascough who was impeached for removing abortion information from student pamphlets, has said abortion in cases of rape should not be legalised because a child should not be sentenced to death for what their father has done".

The pro-life science student made the comments in an interview with RTE Radio 1s Marian Finucane on Saturday.

Ms Ascough was the first UCDSU President to be removed from office after 69pc of voters chose to oust her in recent weeks.

She has now revealed she wont be returning to UCD this year but plans to become a journalist after a turbulent impeachment campaign.

When asked for her thoughts on abortion in cases of rape, she told RTE Radio 1: (Rape) is one of the most abhorrent crimes towards women and I completely condemn it. In fact I think we need to look at having more serious sentences for rapists in Ireland.

But at the same time, I do not think that abortion is the answer to this.

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The child should not have to bear the brunt of their fathers crime. The child should not be essentially sentenced to death for what their father has done.

Ms Ascough, whose father is on the board at the Iona Institute, said Irish women need more support during a crisis pregnancy but argued that legalising abortion would be importing Englands problem.

She said: We must give Irish women more support but I dont see the answer to the solution to that as being to import Englands problem. I do not think thats what the Irish people want to see as the case here. We need better financial measures for single mothers. We need to improve adoption services because they are abominable and we need to show true compassion to these women in these situations.

I think we need to support them in as many ways as we can but at the same time, when it comes to bodily autonomy, there are two people involved in a pregnancy. A childs heart starts beating at 21 days. And I dont think we can ignore that.

The 20-year-old said her pro-life views were strengthened when her mother had a miscarriage at 13 weeks. Ms Ascough was 15 years old at the time.

Katie Ascough said: There I was holding my little brother in my hands. I could look into his face. He had a perfectly formed face. He had fingernails. He had creases on his knuckles. He was just so perfectly human and so small. It really opened my eyes to the humanity of an unborn. That opened my eyes to how passionate I was about my pro-life views.

Ms Ascough previously explained that she sought legal advice over the distribution of the Winging It student magazines which sparked the controversy and eventually her ousting after an almost two-week-long campaign.

The information that was removed included pregnancy help websites, the prices of abortion in other countries, and information on abortion pills.

She said she removed the information after legal counsel advised her anyone involved in printing it could face criminal prosecution.

Now, the former SU President said she will not return to UCD but will focus on a career in journalism.

She said: I didnt necessarily want to go back to UCD. I am kind of in the middle of the year so I dont think Ill be going back to UCD this year. I actually do plan on taking my three year degree in science and going on to journalism next because thats what Im interested in and Id really like to start moving in that direction. Ill be looking for a job.
SINN FEIN deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald has been dragged into an extraordinary bullying row involving her former driver.

The party has been rocked by "smear" allegations made by one of its longest serving members, who has worked for Sinn Fein in various senior positions over the past 30 years.

The Irish Independent today details how the woman at the centre of the case has enlisted a legal team to handle a complaint of bullying against the party.

She claims she was labelled a "c***" by a former Sinn Fein colleague in a row over printing during the 2014 by-election in Dublin South West, which was won by Solidarity TD Paul Murphy. The woman reported the issue to party bosses and made other claims that have fed into an internal bullying probe.

It's understood the individual who allegedly called her a c*** has since left the party.

However, before his departure, he claimed the woman openly spoke about having prepared a "file" on Ms McDonald, a TD for Dublin Central.

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Well-placed sources say the woman is deeply upset by the claims, which she rejects outright. The woman later made a formal complaint to the party, which is the subject of a long-running internal inquiry.

It's understood that during the inquiry into alleged bullying, the woman was asked about the claims she prepared a file on Ms McDonald. She has said she is particularly upset at the claims, given she worked for Ms McDonald for several years in a voluntary capacity as the TD's driver.

The pair have been described within the party as "Thelma and Louise" as they were seen as very close. Ms McDonald confirmed to the Irish Independent that the woman was her driver in a voluntary capacity. She said she does not believe she compiled a file on her.

A party spokesperson said there was nothing further to add, as it is an internal party matter.

The woman at the centre of the case was not reachable for comment. However, it has been confirmed that she has been in the party for years and handed out leaflets for Bobby Sands.

Her legal team has asked the party to explain who is behind the alleged smear. She has also met the Sinn Fein team investigating the allegations of bullying, according to well-placed sources.

The case has been brought to the attention of party president Gerry Adams and is one of several being dealt with internally by senior Sinn Fein officials.

The party has repeatedly denied that it has a culture of bullying, despite several members resigning in recent weeks. One of Sinn Fein's most high-profile councillors quit this week amid claims he and his family were subjected to "unfounded and untruthful allegations". Tipperary representative Seamus 'Seamie' Morris will now serve as an independent councillor.

The mother of Irish Hollywood actor Jack Reynor was thrown out over an internal feud.

Tara Reynor-O'Grady, a respected human rights activist, got a letter last week with a 5 note attached, detailing how her membership had been rescinded.

The letter was sent just days after Ms Reynor-O'Grady represented three local councillors in a dispute with party bosses.

On September 19, Sinn Fein expelled the three - Gerry O'Neill, John Snell, and Oliver O'Brien - following an unresolved row at Wicklow County Council.

On September 5, the party's youngest councillor Lisa Marie Sheehy resigned alleging there was a "hostile and toxic" environment in Sinn Fein.

In July, Paul Hogan, a Sinn Fein councillor in Westmeath, claimed he was bullied by party members after the break-up of a relationship.

Former TD Sandra McLellan effectively quit politics as a result of her allged mistreatmetn. She served as Cork East TD but decided not to run in the last election amid allegations of a "vicious" campaign against her.
Kim Jong-un and his Pyongyang pals can put away the good china for now as Ireland's peace crusaders have cancelled their world-saving plans to come calling.

Politicians at Leinster House can leave their election posters in storage. Another crisis has been stood down - for now. The "peace trio" have definitively, and apparently voluntarily, decided to return the turtle doves to their loft.

The resolution came from a peculiar mix of parental indulgence and a liberal helping of that old "Kerry formula".

Both devices were deployed to avert a huge rift between Fine Gael and its Independent Alliance partners in Coalition.

The parental indulgence part left the Taoiseach publicly saying that the Independent Alliance trio - Shane Ross, Finian McGrath and John Halligan - could potentially fly to North Korea in their quixotic efforts to avert nuclear armageddon. Stretching credibility beyond its limits, Leo Varadkar effectively said three members of his ministerial team could sue for world peace, but in some kind of personal capacity.

What utter nonsense. This rather incredible stance was augmented by that renowned "Kerry formula" - better known as "plenty of no-notice".

It has been a calamitous seven days for Mr Halligan, Independent Alliance TD for Waterford and Junior Minister for training and skills. You could argue that misfortune, in the shape of an error at a job interview 18 months ago, coincided with the self-inflicted woe from the "peace trio's" North Korea mission announcement a week ago.

Older male politicians at Leinster House in all parties quietly conceded some understanding for Mr Halligan's breach of equality law, in asking a woman civil servant at a job interview about her marriage and children. If nothing else, that incident has served as a wake-up call to all males who are called upon to serve on interview boards.

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Still, no matter how you look at this one, Mr Halligan, the minister responsible for equality policy, broke equality law. And the man has a proven singular ability to attract political calamity.

By now that interview gaffe looks set to be sorted via him digging deep to pay the resultant 7,500 fine and costs. And from it all, Coalition peace emerged with the cancellation of the Pyongyang peace plan.

Mr Halligan is joined in the political losers' corner by Mr Ross and Mr McGrath. All three have shown very poor political judgment over the past week. The other pair in the Independent Alliance, Sean Canney and Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, have worked hard, and with some success, to keep their distance from this farrago.

On the other side one could argue that Mr Varadkar is entitled to kudos for deft use of the "Kerry formula" and not stoking a potential open conflict. One could further argue that he has made Fine Gael look good by being the "ah-sure-God-love them" grown-ups, keeping distant surveillance on the Independent Alliance and quietly ensuring it came to no harm.

But it came at too high a price as the Taoiseach conceded a principle of democratic government which bars ministers from freelance foreign initiatives that conflict with government policy. Just look across the water to London, and the forced resignation of UK international development secretary Priti Patel, who did some personal and unauthorised diplomacy in Israel.

The Independent Alliance trio's antics have impaired the sense of Government's stability, which was augmented after the Dail passed of the Budget on October 10. The Government's overall credibility is diminished and the week's events remind us just how fragile Mr Varadkar's position really is.

If he had the Dail numbers the kibosh would have been put on that North Korea caper. And Mr Halligan would be on the backbenches.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar after he delivered his first conference speech as party leader at the Fine Gaels National Conference in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan. Photo: Fergal Phillips

Income tax for families will be cut in the next three budgets if Fine Gael remains in power, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has promised.

In his first speech as party leader to a National Conference, Mr Varadkar committed to making Dublin the "tech capital of Europe".

He also said the Irish Government will "safeguard" the rights of people in Northern Ireland who feel under threat from Brexit.

Around 1,500 Fine Gael supporters gathered in Cavan last night to hear the Taoiseach outline his vision for a so-called 'Republic of Opportunity'.

Mr Varadkar opened his half-hour contribution by reflecting on his election as Fine Gael leader and what he believes it "said about the Ireland of today".

"What it said about our respect for diversity, our disregard for prejudice, our willingness to see people as individuals, and our fundamental fairness as a people.

"I also took something more from it. It told me what my mission must be as leader and as Taoiseach," he said.

Mr Varadkar said the Government is "on your side" and everything they do is aimed at building "a better and fairer Ireland".

He pledged to continue increasing the minimum wage in the years ahead and ensuring every worker is enrolled in a personal pension fund.

"We will now focus on reducing taxes for middle-income earners. It's not fair that people on middle incomes pay income tax at the highest rate.

"Fine Gael believes in rewarding work. So in the Budget we raised the standard cut-off point, and we will do so again in the next one - and the one after that - and the one after that," he said.

Fine Gael's confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fail is due to expire after next October's Budget.

For families, Mr Varadkar said he is determined to introduce paid leave that can be shared between parents in the first year of their child's life.

He also said there should be a reformed social insurance system which will provide sick pay for people who have to take time off work to care for loved ones who are seriously ill.

Setting out a wider vision for the country, Mr Varadkar told the audience Ireland will be "future-proofed" with balanced regional development and Dublin will be the technology capital of Europe.

"In planning for the future, we must prepare for major changes that are coming. Robotics, artificial intelligence, driverless vehicles, renewable energy and smart grids will change our world in the next 20 years in the way the internet and mobile phones did in the last.

"Ireland should be an early adopter of these new technologies," he said.

Fine Gael will today publish the first draft of its vision for a 'Republic of Opportunity' which will contain themes such as 'Ageing with Security' and 'Making Work Pay'.

The 50-page document proposes the establishment of a commission on the status of women in Ireland.

One suggestion contained in the document is that Government funding for sport would be allocated on an equal basis to male and female participation.

It also contains ideas for revitalising rural areas with the creation of town hubs including services like post offices, tourist information offices and citizens' information centres.
Flybe BE331 on the tarmac after it landed with no nose gear at Belfast International Airport

A pilot who landed an airliner with no nose gear has been praised for his "superb" skills and avoiding a fire.

Fifty three Flybe passengers including an infant survived virtually unscathed following the dramatic incident at Belfast International Airport.

One was taken to hospital with a thumb strain but discharged soon afterwards.

A massive emergency operation had swung into place involving police, fire and ambulance crews but the diverted flight from Belfast City Airport to Inverness landed safely shortly after 1pm on Friday, an airport spokesman said.

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Belfast International operations director Alan White said: "It was a very good landing.

"The flying skills, landing the aircraft, were superb."

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The Bombardier Q-400 had taken off shortly after 11am on Friday but the fault was quickly detected.

Passengers onboard flight BE331 endured a tense two-hour wait circling above the Irish Sea as the pilot burned off fuel while crews on the ground prepared for the emergency landing.

Mr White added: "It became very obvious when it was on approach that the nose wheel was not down so we knew that it was going to be a difficult landing."

The runway had been closed to other aircraft.

"The flight deck crew were superb, they landed on the main undercarriage, they held the nose of the aircraft up to the last possible moment, bleeding off all the air speed and still keeping control and just dropping it at the very last minute.

"That meant it stopped relatively quickly, no issues, no fire with it, and they got it stopped safely on the runway."

Landing without nose gear is "a very difficult manoeuvre", according to Brian Strutton, general secretary of pilots' union Balpa.

He said: "The pilots in this case appear to have done a sterling job of bringing the aircraft back under those circumstances."

Mr White said fire crews were on the scene immediately to assist in evacuating the aircraft.

The emergency response went "extremely smoothly".

"There were a significant number of units because of the serious potential nature of the incident, so they were all on site by the time the aircraft was landing and it all went very smoothly thankfully."

Photographs from the scene show the aircraft tipped forward and resting on its nose, with fire brigade vehicles nearby.

Belfast International Airport said " full emergency procedures" were deployed.

A spokeswoman for Flybe said the airline was sending a specialist team to Belfast to offer assistance and it would do all it could to understand the cause of this incident.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was sending a team to the airport to investigate the incident.

A spokeswoman for Antrim Area Hospital said the passenger had since been discharged.
Missing: Young Irish woman Eimear Noonan is missing from her home in Annonay, France

A young Irish woman has gone missing in the south-east of France.

Eimear Noonan, from Clare, has gone missing from her home Annonay, located approximately 76km south of Lyon.

The young woman, aged in her twenties, was last seen on Wednesday afternoon.

She is currently working as a teacher in the small French town.

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Eimear's family are today travelling to Lyon to assist with the ongoing search.

Family and friends of Eimear are appealing for information on her whereabouts and have launched a social media campaign.

A post appealing for information has gained thousands of shares in less than 12 hours.

One family member wrote on Facebook; "My younger sister Eimear has gone missing in Annonay, France, half an hour outside Lyon.

"Last seen Wednesday afternoon.

"Please share here and if you have any contacts in the south of France please share to them."

A relative said Ms Noonan left her home in the South of France with no purse or identification on her.

In a plea for help, Rosie Keehan wrote on Facebook: My cousin has not been seen or heard from since Wednesday afternoon.

"She did not show up for work Thursday and Friday and made no indication that she would be absent.

"She appears to have left her apartment, possibly for exercise, and did not return. She does not have her purse, wallet or ID on her.

"If anyone I know has any connection to the South of France, please share."

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed to Independent.ie that they are aware of the case and they are providing consular assistance.

More to follow
A body has been found in the search for missing Dublin woman Sinead Pugh.

The 44-year-old special needs assistant had been reported missing from her home at Daletree View, Ballycullen, on Thursday morning.

Her family said she left home around 8am but failed to show up for work at a primary school 10 minutes away.

To aid search efforts, the family had released a photograph of the car Sinead was last seen driving in the hopes of finding the mother-of-four.

The missing womans four daughters, ages 14 to 26, have been assisted by Gardai in the search.

Two of her daughters turned to social media on Saturday night to thank those who had helped in the search but to share news "nobody wanted".

"Thanks so much for everybody's kind words & help, the amount of people out searching this morning was amazing, unfortunately the news nobody wanted has arrived," her eldest daughter Orlagh (26) said in a Facebook post.

Her sister Bronwyn also turned to social media with a similar message. "Love you so much Mam sleep tight xx"

If you have been affected by any of these issues you can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or Pieta House on 01 6235606.
British Airways passengers flying in economy class are no longer being offered free food and drink on any short-haul services.

The across-the-board introduction of charges for snacks and libations, introduced this Wednesday, has long been on the cards.

Complimentary meals were ditched on some services back in 2009, before the airline signalled last spring that it would roll the policy out on all short-haul flights.

The change was confirmed in September, with the airline also announcing a partnership with Marks and Spencer to supply sandwiches and snacks.

The M&S on board menu ranges from bags of crisps and chocolate bars for 1 each to a mozzarella and tomato focaccia for 4.95/5.50.

Tea and coffee, from today, will set travellers back 2.30/2.65, a 330ml can of beer costs 4/4.59, while a gin and tonic is priced at 6/6.89.

Credit or debit cards will be accepted, but not cash, BA says.

It will also accept Avios frequent flier points (whicah can also be earned and spent with Aer Lingus) as a form of currency.

Avios points are valued at 0.8 pence.

Business (Club) and first-class passengers will still to be given free food and drink.

BAs decision has been described as the end of an era, and Nick Trend, Telegraph Travels consumer editor, suggested there is no longer any difference between the airline and the likes of easyJet or Ryanair.

Charging short-haul economy class passengers for drinks and sandwiches removes the final distinction between BA and its low cost rivals, he said.

From the consumer's point of view the choice of carrier now comes down to which airline offers the best fare for your destination.

BAs reinvention began in 2009 when it scrapped free meals on some short-haul flights and replaced bottles of water on long-haul services with cuplets.

The range of alcohol drinks on offer was also reduced.

In 2013 the airline introduced no-frills fares, which saw passengers charged more if they wanted to fly with checked luggage or choose their seat. We welcome BA's conversion to the Ryanair way, quipped the Irish airline at the time.

And last year it also launched its first flights from Stansted, traditionally the domain of low-cost carriers.

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PHOENIX -- A deal between the Attorney General's Office and a group advocating for the disabled will keep them from filing new lawsuits against Arizona businesses -- at least in state court.

But an attorney who was involved in filing those lawsuits says this victory being claimed for businesses is a setback for those protected by the Arizonans with Disabilities Act.

The agreement, awaiting approval from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Talmante bars Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities from bringing new legal actions against businesses who laws that require certain accommodations be made for the handicapped. AID will also pay $25,000 to the Attorney General's Office to be used in educating businesses about their obligations under the law.

It also means that AID will not appeal a ruling dismissing the more than 1,700 cases they had previously filed.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich, in a prepared statement, called the settlement "a victory for Arizona consumers and small businesses.''

"Arizona is not going to tolerate serial litigants who try to shake down small hardworking businesses by exploiting the disability community,'' he said.

But attorney Peter Strojnik, who represented AID in many of the cases, said it is the disabled community that will suffer most. He said the legal agreement, coupled with a change in law approved earlier this year by the Republican-controlled Legislature, throws new roadblocks in the path of those who depend on the disability law to ensure they have safe access to public facilities, including businesses.

Strojnik also took a verbal swat at Brnovich for saying the legal complaints filed last year were "frivolous'' and calling them "copy-and-paste lawsuits'' over issues that were "minor and easily fixable.''

For example, he said, the law spells out how much of a slope there can be on parking spots reserved for the disabled.

"Obviously, when a person with a wheelchair comes out, he's just going to roll down on the street and get killed,'' Strojnik said.

Under the new law, someone alleging a violation under the Arizonans with Disabilities Act would have to give the business at least 60 days to resolve the problem.

Even after that, once a lawsuit is filed, the statute allows a judge to determine if the person complaining or the attorney is a "vexatious litigant'' who files multiple cases. That would permit all the cases to be combined, a move that would save money for the defendants.

And the law prohibits a court from awarding civil penalties and compensatory damages in civil actions.

"I have a number of businesses that are (run by) friends that have been greatly affected by lawsuit and lawsuit threats ... where they have had to consider closing their doors because of the literally thousands of dollars they have had to pay out in litigation costs,'' she said.

But Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale, objected to giving businesses more time to deal with problems he believes they should have fixed years ago.

"The Arizonans with Disabilities Act has been in place for 27 years,'' he said during the debate, "27 years that every small business should have known to this point what they have to do in order to accommodate people with disabilities.''

And Quezada said that ultimately it is people with disabilities who do not stand to benefit from the change in law; quite the opposite.

"These are people who are blind, these are people who are deaf, these are people who have a limiting disability so they have to use a wheelchair,'' he said. "They can't access services, they can't access these local businesses.''

He also suggested that the change in the law actually will result in more businesses ignoring its basic requirements of accommodation.
LEXINGTON  Dawson Area Development has a new executive director.

Andrea McClintic began duties there in early October

McClintic, a Holbrook native, brings a wealth of experience to the position.

She has worked for the Kearney Chamber of Commerce, the Kearney Area Community Foundation, the Department of Economic for the State of Nebraska and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

McClintic earned an Associate Degree in general studies from Southeast Community College in Beatrice, a Bachelors Degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Kearney and a Masters Degree in public administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

McClintic, who now lives in Elwood, said the DAD position appealed to her on both a personal and professional level.

"This job brought me closer to family. Even at UNL I found myself promoting economic development programs. It continued to be my passion," she said.

Although she enjoyed the six years she worked for the Department of Economic Development with the State of Nebraska as a resource provider for 20 counties, McClintic said she looked forward to "being more of a doer than a resource provider."

The biggest issue facing the state is having a well-trained and plentiful workforce, she said.

"Right now we have such a low unemployment rate. We need to look at ways to attract people back and attract new people. We need to promote the quality of life and recreation available in Nebraska," McClintic said.

Besides workforce issues, McClintic said she would commit to partner with businesses to help them succeed and enable DAD to continue to be an educational source on pressing issues to the community.

As always, DAD will continue to assist businesses looking to grow, expand or start-up, she said.

McClintic said her experience working for the state has given her knowledge on the importance and impact sales tax revenue can have on a community.

During her time with the state economic development department, she served as the liaison between communities and the state on the implementation of LB 840.

This law provided local municipalities control of some sales tax funds to be used to cover funding needs not typically funded by state funding, McClintic said. For example, under the law, sales tax funds could be used for housing, attracting business or infrastructure.

On the issue of workforce, McClintic said a big focus for her would be to train upcoming members of the workforce about what industries and jobs are available locally in the county.

With the business climate always susceptible to changes with taxes and legislation, she said she would rely on the Nebraska Economic Development Association to stay informed on new laws or regulations.

McClintic said she looked forward to working with the local development district and local municipalities to expedite housing proposals through programs such as Community Development Block Grants. She did say that private development is always the first choice for housing development.

Tax increment financing, known as TIF, which provides tax incentives to developers and entrepreneurs, is a tool municipalities could use to attract business expansion or relocation of a business, she said. McClintic said she was a strong support of using TIF.

With more than a month on the job, McClintic said she has been impressed with the warm welcome she has received.

"Everyone has been extremely welcoming. This is the joy of coming back to small communities. This is the type of place I would like to raise a family," she said.

One thing that drew her to Dawson County was the close knit and collaborative way all three of its big communities work together, McClintic said.

"Even though I have an office in Lexington, I spend only half my time in the office. The other half of the time, Im out in communities meeting with businesses, other organizations and startups," McClintic said.

She said dealing with a wide range of issues and programs at DAD, would be nothing new to her.

"I love the variety that I always have had in almost all my positions. From the chamber to economic development to the foundation. I always have to wear multiple hats," she said.

Dawson Area Development is located inside the Lexington Opportunity Center, at 1501 Plum Creek Parkway. To contact Andrea Clinitic at DAD call 308-217-0005 or email
From high-flying chefs to takeaway services at sea level, we've got five signs that in-flight food is starting to get serious...

Think of airplane food, and many of us shudder rather than salivate.

Getting the stuff to taste good  or even remotely palatable  is a challenge that hundreds of airlines have tried, and largely failed, to overcome.

Food always seems to taste worse at 35,000 feet.

Why is this the case? Well, leaving aside the problems of preparing, packaging and serving food in a cabin without proper cooking facilities, there's also the small issue of pressurized air having a numbing effect on our taste buds.

Flavoursome in-flight meals just aren't meant to be, it seems.

Or are they?

Not that were getting our hopes up, but there are several signs that airplane food is finally being seen as a point of distinction in crowded skies.

1) Lufthansas Home Delivery

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Air Food One, as it is snappily titled, is run together with LSG Sky Chefs, who cook up the business class food for Lufthansa. You may not be able to fly business, in other words, but for a maximum of 9.99 per dish, you can enjoy a taste of the high life in the skies (as long as you live in Germany, that is). Recent menus featured a Chinese chicken special and a fillet of kingfish with cabbage risotto. www.allyouneed.com

2) Clodagh's cooking for Aer Lingus

Expand Close Clodagh McKenna designed a range of in-flight meals for Aer Lingus. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Clodagh McKenna designed a range of in-flight meals for Aer Lingus.

Clodagh McKenna has been the face and talent behind Aer Linguss Bia menus for some time  with the airlines Irish breakfast among the handful of dishes that have won the stomachs, if not the hearts, of customers. The airline upped the ante recently, with the launch of a pre-order service for transatlantic flights. McKennas new menus are available to pre-book online up to 24 hours before travel and, priced at 18.50, will include choices of "succulent steak, melt-in-mouth salmon and roast chicken with a twist". www.aerlingus.com

3) Korean Air has a food truck

No , seriously. Korean Air is bringing a food truck to Huston, Texas this October 26th  complete with three of its signature in-flight dishes. The airline plans to serve about 250 meals a day Bulgogi (strips of sirloin steak marinated in a sweet sauce), bibimbap (a vegetable rice dish) and galbi (braised short ribs) will all be on the menu.

We will serve some of our traditionnal inflight meals in Houston. Taste our signature bibimbap or bulgogi today. /CB pic.twitter.com/Gd2ALCm6Ua  Korean Air (@KoreanAir_KE) September 30, 2014

4) Thai Airways is opening a restaurant

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Thai Airways has plans to open a restaurant in Bangkoks Soi Nana district next year. It's time to reach out and cash in on the burgeoning trend," Suraphon Israngura Na Ayuthya, managing director of Thai's catering department, told The Nation recently.

5) Etihad is training butlers

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An elite group of Etihad Airways cabin crew are set to become the aviation worlds first flying butlers, having completed a three-week training course at the Savoy Hotel in London. The role of the world's first flying butlers is to look after VIP guests in Etihad's 'Residence' cabin - a private suite that puts even First Class in the ha'penny place. Eventually, the hope is that we will see rising food and service standards trickling down to cattle class. Eventually, we say. www.etihad.com
It was a dream job for any MMA fan, and an 'incredible' experience for Dundalk man Andrew McGahon, who hosted a live interview with Conor McGregor at the world premiere of his film 'Notorious' in Dublin last week.

The 25 year old Seatown native had just 48 hours to prepare for the role, where he led a live interview with McGregor at the screening, which in turn was broadcast to 250 cinema screens across UK and Ireland.

'Yeah it was pretty incredible to be honest, I've gone from doing my first interview with him in 2012, to doing this live Q&A at the launch of the movie,' Andrew told the Argus.

Although he only had a short window to prepare for the big event, he had his on screen experience over the last few years to kill any jitters.

'Once I heard my voice OK over the speakers, I was on a roll. Conor McGregor is fantastic to interview. When he knows he is doing media he gives so much energy and commitment to it.'

Andrew quizzed the MMA star on the film, and his rise to fame in front of the huge crowd at the premiere.

'He's an inspiration in so many ways, but I really draw from how he can switch his focus entirely to training when he needs to, and then back to other things like promotion at this event.'

Andrew's own dedication to the sport, and an up and coming career in digital media where what initially saw him land a job at McGregor's website - The MacLife - as an onscreen interviewer.

'I started training Martial Arts in 2010. I wanted to start martial arts (Brazilian JiuJitsu in particular) so I could understand what was going on in MMA fights a little bit better. I also started to write with a website and produce audio interviews from the events that I covered. The show finished up and a few years later in 2012 I started to work with a website called SevereMMA. It provided dedicated coverage to the sport of Irish MMA on a local level. It was during these early years I got my first interviews with guys who would go on to be signed by the UFC like Conor McGregor, Neil Seery, Cathal Pendred, andPaddy Holohan. 'Then On New Years Eve 2012 in the Helix in Dublin I interviewed Conor on camera for the first time.' It was that interview that helped change Andrew's life, leading to a new career as an online presenter, where he could edit, research, produce and direct his own material. 'I'm actually just preparing to launch my own youtube channel, Sonder productions, which has nothing to do with MMA. It draws from the incredible life stories of people I have met during these last few years, travelling, and competing in Brazilian JuiJitsu. People from all walks of life, looking at their passions, and what gets them out of bed in the morning. I'm really excited to let people see the other side of what I have been doing. At 25 years old I feel I have achieved a lot. I think it's important to go after what you believe in.'
Omeath has a long history of establishing links with other communities, mostly to centres where locals had emigrated to, such as coastal communities like Blackpool in the UK. Now, with Brixit looming and fears that this could impact on the cross-Border relations which the village has enjoyed down the years, the forward looking Omeath District Development Company is forging new links.

These including establishing a working relations with Rochefort Sur Loire in France, as well as Komisa in Croatia.

A delegation from Rochefort Sur Loire travelled to Omeath recently and they agreed to work on a series of project idea at a formal meeting.

Councillor Mark Dearey, a board member of the Omeath District Development Company, who lives in Omeath has welcomed the move.

'We hope to create opportunities for learning for our young people and to strengthen Omeath's connections with European partners and EU funding opportunities.'

Members of the French delegation took the opportunity to cycle along the Greenway between Omeath and Carlingford.
A reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of 14 cattle stolen from a Louth farmland last weekend.

The cattle, all red 18-month-old Limousins crossed with Charolais, were taken from a shed at Ravanny in Louth village on Saturday evening.

Gardai confirmed reports from neighbours that a lorry was seen driving away from the shed with its lights off at around 6pm. When the farmer went to check on his livestock, he found 14 animals worth an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 each had been stolen from several pens in his shed.

The farmer has now offered a 1,000 reward for information leading to their recovery. Anyone with information can contact Ardee Garda Station at 041 6853222.
LEXINGTON  Lexington Regional Health Centers Chief Executive Office, Leslie Marsh, was honored by the Nebraska Hospital Association with the Excellence in Service Award last month.

Marsh, who began her duties as CEO of LRHC in 2010, received the award on Oct. 25, during the Nebraska Hospital Associations 90th anniversary banquet. The Excellence in Service Award is presented to a hospital or health system administrator who has demonstrated outstanding administrative skills, professional performance, health care organization involvement and significant leadership, benefitting their communities through health care excellence.

"It was humbling to receive this recognition. Although I physically accepted the award, it is the people that I work alongside that make our organization so amazing. It is an honor to work with such compassionate and committed individuals. I just step aside, and let these superstars shine," Marsh said in a statement to the Lexington Clipper-Herald. "We have a great team that is truly committed to providing the highest quality care to the community."

Marsh highlighted the changing landscape of health care. "Hospitals are changing. It used to just be a structure, a building where people came when they were sick. It is so much more than that now. It is all about understanding what people need, and working together to create healthy communities."

Since 2011, the hospital has undergone three major facility or service expansions.

In 2011, Urgent Care services were added. In 2014, the Family Medicine Specialists Clinic was added. In 2016, a new Outpatient Services Center was opened.

"Leslie and the team have done a good job looking at where were headed and why things are going to be different in the future," said Rob Anderson, a LRHC board member.

LRHC board member Tara Naprstek said the hospital has been able to attract and draw in good specialists to practice at LRHC under Marshs leadership. Previously, local residents would need to drive hours to see certain specialists.

During Marshs tenure, national benchmarks in patient satisfaction with healthcare performance have been exceeded.

Amber Ackerson, a LRHC board member, said Marsh embodies a culture of change and unity at the hospital.

"It feels like an extended family at the hospital, and Leslie lives that. That is exactly what she embodies. It may seem easy to say thats what you do, but I think anybody whos been in leadership knows that actually treating everybody like they are family  from employee to patient  and making sure they feel it, is actually incredibly difficult, and that is something she has embodied. In doing so, the employees have embodied that culture too, and its something you can feel the moment you walk in the door."
Margaret Hoey who endured nine years of rental hell in a property in Dundalk and spoke out this week.

The Dundalk woman who lived in a cold, damp, rodent infested rented house which featured in the Prime Time investigates special on rental properties has told The Argus of her 'living nightmare'.

Margaret Hoey says that as a result of living in the house, she still washes dishes three or four times when she takes them out of the cupboard as the habit became so ingrained due to an investigation of rodents in the rented cottage she lived in for nine years.

'I found the house, which was just outside the town, on Daft.ie, and moved in there in mid-December 2008,' she recalls.

'It's a 100 year old cottage and I fell in love with it. It was just like living in the middle of the countryside, yet close to town, so I really liked the location and that's what I was paying for.'

She admits that the problems didn't become apparent to her for the first six months. 'We were busy getting settled in and then I noticed that work needed to be done, and got onto the landlord.'

'The first thing I noticed was that the central heating wasn't working and it took a year and a half for the landlord to do something about it, and it still didn't work properly.'

She said that as time went on and repeated requests for work to be carried out were ignored, conditions in the house got worse and worse.

'There was constant dampness, it was cold. There was mould on every wall. It was a living nightmare.'

She took photos and videos of appalling conditions of the house which were broadcast during last Thursday's Prime Time special 'Nightmare to Let'.

Water poured in a gaping hole in the bathroom ceiling, over electric wires, and mice ran along the kitchen counter tops.

'The only reason I stayed was that the landlord always promised that he would do the works, that he would do whatever was needed, but it just kept getting worse and worse.'

Margaret says she spent a fortune of 'pre-pay' electricity as she had to have electric heaters in every room.

'I was spending 10 a day on running the heaters.'

Even so, the smell of damp got into her clothing and bedding. 'I found three slugs in my bed once and from then on slept on a bed settee in another room, but the quilts were always damp.'

'Dampness covered everything,' she recalls. 'It was sitting there like a blanket.'

She says that when she was forced to go into the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, 'that's when the can of worms opened'.

'An engineer from Louth County Council inspected the house and found 62 major issues with it,' she recalls.

However, her payments were still processed and she reckons that 76,600 was paid in rent over the period by herself and the other tenant.

'When I moved in, the rent was 500 per month. It went up to 700, then 750 at one stage and back down to 700.'

'Louth County Council kept paying rent through HAP even though they need the condition of the premises.'

The matter eventually went before the Residency Tenancy Board, who made an award of 6,000 in favour of the tenants last August.

However, she continued to live in the house until January 17th 2017, moving out after giving a month's notice.

Since then, Margaret has been housed by Louth County Council, having been on the housing list for ten years.

She says that she fears her health has been damaged by living in the house.

'There was dampness and mould everywhere, and I don't know what I was breathing into my lung. It was a living nightmare.'
Former Drogheda-based surgeon Michael Shine will return to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on December 1 to be sentenced after being found guilty of indecently assaulting two young male patients in the mid-70s.

Mr Shine (85) of Wellington Road. in Dublin had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to eight charges of indecently assaulting six patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and at his private clinic, both in Drogheda, Co Louth, on dates between 1964 and 1991.

On Wednesday last, the jury of four men and eight women acquitted him of a number of these charges.

Just before midday on Thursday, having deliberated for just over six hours, the jury returned majority guilty verdicts on the outstanding counts.

These charges alleged that Shine assaulted two teenage patients on dates between 1974 and 1976. Shine admitted attending to these patients but denied that anything inappropriate was done during his medical examinations.

One victim was aged around 15 or 16 in 1976 when he attended at the hospital with an in-growing toenail. He told the trial that Dr Shine strapped him down on a bed with rubber bungee restraints and a blanket and then slipped his hand under the blanket and started massaging his testicles.

He said he knew what was happening was weird but didn't know if he could speak out because he was "just a young boy".

The second victim testified that during two follow up examinations for undescended testes at Shine's private clinic in Drogheda, Shine massaged the base of his penis. The victim, who was in his mid teens at the time, told the trial that he told himself for years that there was nothing improper about what the doctor did.

The six complainants were all teenage boys at the time they allege Dr Shine touched them in their genital areas while treating them for injuries such as cuts to a knee, an injury to a finger and an injured toe.

On Wednesday the jury found Shine not guilty of four charges which cover alleged offences against three teenagers on dates in 1964, 1970 and and 1976. Shine has denied ever seeing these patients and there were no medicals records to confirm that he had seen them on the dates of the alleged assaults.

The judge had told the jury that it would be dangerous to convict on the 'uncorroborated evidence' of any of the complainants.

In his charge to the jury, Judge Quinn said that the prosecution must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused attended to the complainants. Mr Shine denies seeing three of them but accepts he treated two of them.

Judge Quinn said the prosecution must also prove that the alleged actions did take place, were not a bonafide or appropriate medical examination and could be considered indecent. He said that the prosecution must finally prove the accused intended to commit the acts.

Judge Quinn told the jury that corroboration evidence - credible independent evidence of the alleged acts which implicate the accused in those acts - does not exist in relation to any of the complainants.

He warned the jurors: 'It is dangerous to convict on the uncorroborated evidence of any of the complainants' but added that they are nevertheless entitled to find the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt once they have taken this warning into account.

'You have to exercise special care on whether you believe each complainant. You have to exercise caution before acting on unsupported evidence,' he said.

He told the jury that it could decide there were similarities in the accounts and evidence of the five complainants. He said the defence position is that the complainants are not independent, may be colluding and are motivated by civil actions.

He said there is an inherent improbability of several persons making up exactly similar stories.

He said the jury must take each count separately but that if it finds Mr Shine guilty beyond reasonable doubt on one count, it can consider it more likely that the account of another complainant of a similar incident is true.

In his closing speech Bernard Condon SC, prosecuting, said there is no evidence to support the suggestion that the complainants came together in some way to make up the allegations.

Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, told the jurors that the prosecution was asking them to accept that medical records had either gone missing or, where they existed and conflicted with a complainant's allegations, were wrong.

Referring to the campaign allegedly 'directed against' the accused by Bernadette Sullivan, he said that hindsight over 42 years 'in circumstances of a publicity campaign being run...can be a very dangerous thing'.

'You can insert yourself into situations that never occurred,' counsel said.

Judge Quinn told the jury that this was 'quite an old case' and that the detail that would exist for a more recent complaint is unavailable in cases of historic complaints.

He said if the complaints had been made earlier the accused could possibly have called on witnesses such as other medical staff and could have checked records or his diary.

He said these prospects have diminished or disappeared and the prosecution are not entitled to take advantage of the delay in the case.

'If you have a reasonable doubt in relation to records missing due to the delay, you must give the benefit of the doubt to accused,' he told the jury.

He said in cases with such a delay there is a 'special need to exercise caution if you're minded to convict' because it is 'much more difficult for a person to defend themselves against an old complaint'.

'If, notwithstanding this warning, you are convinced of the guilt of the accused, you are entitled to convict. The law does not say that old cases cannot be tried, but it says the accused cannot be disadvantaged because of delay'.

Judge Cormac Quinn remanded Shine on continuing bail until December 1 for sentencing.
Guest speaker Evelyn Cusack from Met Eireann was the guest of honour at the Bray Soroptimist Club's fundraising lunch last Saturday.

Club president Anny Verwijs welcomed gusts from the business and voluntary organisations in the local community to the event at the Glenview Hotel.

Evelyn spoke to the women about all things meteorological, including the naming of hurricanes.

Members from all over the country joined the Bray women to the fundraising lunch, including the national president Teresa Irwin.

The Bray Club hosted this year's lunch to raise funds for Open Door, Marino School, and the Rett Syndrome Association.

The Rett Syndrome Association of Ireland is an association of parents and families of people affected with Rett Syndrome and other related disorders. Open Door Day Centre on the Vevay Road provides facilities and activities for adults with physical disabilities, and Marino School on Church Road in Bray is for children with disabilities.

The Soroptimist organisation globally aims to transform the lives of women and girls, enabling opportunities through education and empowerment.
A-well attended seminar held in the Town Hall in Bray last Saturday paid tribute to the prominent role played by trade union and labour activists in the town over the past 100 years.

The seminar was held as part of the centenary programme of the founding of the Bray and District Council of Trade Unions and coincided with the opening of the first Trades Hall by the Council at 45 Main Street on November 4, 1917.

Cllr Pat Vance, Leas Cathaorleach of Bray Municipal District, opened the event and welcomed the visitors to the town, as the seminar was held in conjunction with the Irish Labour History Society. Mr Vance paid tribute to the local trade union figures and recalled that he personally knew many who would be spoken about, including the late Paddy Cardiff (former General Secretary of the WUI) and his former neighbour Dan Shaw (ITGWU).

The theme of the seminar was 'By Common Council and Common Action' and was a celebration of the trade union and labour activists who lived and worked in the area. Prominent speakers included former Labour Minister Barry Desmond who spoke on Sean Dunne TD, and Jack O'Connor (President of SIPTU) who covered a range of local activists such as Christy Brien, Davy Sayers, Tom Sutton, Nancy Keogh, Brian McMahon, Hedley Wright and Joe Byrne.

Prominent Labour historians spoke on other local trade union and labour figures such as Joe Metcalfe (one of the founding members of the ITGWU and also the council), Jim Larkin Jnr, Paddy Cardiff, and Louie Bennett who all lived in the area.

Michele Connolly spoke about her late father Ross Connolly and Emmet Connolly gave a paper on his father Pearse and uncle Bernard - two well-known trade unionists. John Kenna spoke about former Labour councillor John Byrne and his father and grandfather Edward, who was one of the founders of the council. Other speakers included Derek Casserly who spoke on Seamus Costello's active role on the Council of Trade Unions; Colm Kinsella who profiled Stephen Mulvey; and Seamus Scally (former General Secretary of the Labour Party) who spoke on Roddy Connolly.
Chakra in Greystones and Pink Salt in Bray have both won gold at the second Irish Curry Awards.

The Irish Curry Awards, in association with Cobra Beer, UTIS Holdings and BJ Productions, took place last week at the Crowne Plaza, Shaw's Bridge, and celebrated the best restaurants and curries on the island of Ireland.

Chakra took home the gold award for Best Restaurant while Pink Salt was announced as Best Newcomer in Leinster.

Asheesh Dewan of Chakra was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Leinster.

An estimated 700 curry houses operate successfully between Ballyferriter in Kerry and Ballycastle in Antrim. These awards were created by Belfast-based restaurateur Askir Ali to recognise the contribution made to Ireland's food scene by hundreds of Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and other Asian chefs, restaurant workers and managers.

'Curry may have been born in India, but it has grown and matured across Ireland,' Askir Ali said.

'The Irish Curry Awards are recognition of that.

'I was really surprised and thrilled to see the level of support that was out there for the Irish Curry Awards and I am delighted that year two has been just as successful as the first. Nominations were up this year and the standard was too. We had in place a broad mix of judges and food critics on board again this year.'

UTV's Pamela Ballentine hosted the event, with guests from across the industry treated to an evening of celebrating Asian culture.

Entertainment included Bollywood dancing.

The Irish Curry Awards is a not-for-profit event with all profits donated to the Children's Heartbeat Trust.
The chief executive's recommendations on the submissions to Bray Local Area Plan have been made, and suggests proceeding with rezoning at Little Sugarloaf and the lands known as 'The Germans'.

Submissions were made by the middle of September and many of those came from residents of the Southern Cross, and estates such as Charnwood and Giltspur Wood, all close to the regions earmarked for development. Officials and chief executive Frank Curran considered the submissions.

The report does confirm that a controversial objective for a roadway from Bray to Kilmac over the Little Sugarloaf would not be included in the Bray Local Area Plan.

Cllr Joe Behan said that many people will be very angry that their arguments have not been accepted.

'We are supposed to have six weeks to consider this plan,' said Cllr Behan.

'But the matter is to be considered by all the members of Wicklow County Council on December 4. We are being told that the meeting to discuss this will happen in four weeks,' said Cllr Behan.

'There is a danger that we are being rushed into making a decision on this.'

He said that while the plan is for Bray, Enniskerry and Kilmacanogue, the decision will be made at county level, and members have never discussed the LAP at a Bray meeting.
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, has recently launched an open, nationwide call for submissions to Ireland's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Once compiled, the list will acknowledge and promote Ireland's living culture through official State recognition. In tandem with this, it will fulfill Ireland's obligations under the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which Ireland signed up to in December 2015 to raise awareness of, and respect for, our unique living culture.

Intangible cultural heritage represents living forms of heritage that cannot be touched, in other words it is the practices, representations and expressions that are central to the lives and identities of our communities, groups and individuals. Such intangible heritage will play a prominent role in the roll-out of the Creative Ireland Programme, particularly here in the County of Cork.

The call for submissions seeks details with regard to oral traditions and expressions, including language; performing arts; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, and traditional craftsmanship.

Minister Humphreys noted that: "The traditions and practices of our communities are the backbone of Irish culture and identity. They mould our past, inform our present and pave the way for our future. Up to the present day, they have been a source of great inspiration and pride to our people. I believe that it is our responsibility to acknowledge and celebrate them at a national level for the Ireland of tomorrow."

Individuals or organisations seeking to be considered for inclusion on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage are invited to complete an Expression of Interest form and full information will be posted online at www.chg.gov.ie. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 31 January 2018.

Creative Ireland Programme

From our valleys and uplands to our towns and villages, the County of Cork is host to some truly terrific cultural heritage, and the Creative Ireland Programme is one to embrace with regard to safeguarding and further promoting this culture, both within the county and further afield.

Only one week away, one of the key undertakings with regard to the Creative Ireland Programme in the County of Cork this year, is the Culture of Creativity Conference, organised by Cork County Council and taking place in Youghal on Thursday and Friday, November 16th and 17th.

Day One of the Conference on November 16th, commencing at lunch time (1.30pm), will see talks by Dr. Matt Crannitch; Paul O'Reilly and Ian Wilson with regard to our musical creativity and Eoin Nash, John McHarg, Billy O'Callaghan and Kevin O'Shannahan will deliver presentations on the importance of inclusivity in cultural undertakings. Cork County Council's Culture Team (with representation across the Arts, Library, Heritage, Tourism and Irish sections of the Council) will also shed light on the cultural activities of Cork County Council and the various supports and initiatives currently in place.

The evening, commencing at 7pm, will then see a wonderful conference performance which will include the Youghal Comhaltas Group (CCE Craobh Eochaille); Ian Wilson with Saxophonist Cathal Roche and a performance by Peadar O Riada.

The following day will see a wonderful morning of talks on film, theatre and the visual arts and will feature Rossa Mullin, Oonagh Kearney, Mary McGrath, Con Downing, Katie Holly, Geoff Gould, Dr. Eimear O'Connor, Miranda Driscoll and Ann Davoren. Aileen Murray of Youghal's Socio-Economic Group will also speak about the historic town of Youghal from a cultural perspective and Tom O'Neill will speak about the cultural importance of Spike Island.

The afternoon will then see the engagement of conference participants in a discussion and workshop with Cork County Council's Arts Strategic Policy Group and Culture Team to assist in the formulation of Cork County's very first Culture and Creativity Strategy (2018 - 2022). The Conference will close at about 3.30pm.

There will be much activity taking place in Youghal around the Conference and attendees will also be able to avail of designated free tours of the newly opened Youghal Clock Gate Tower - a wonderful cultural heritage asset in the historic Walled Town of Youghal. These will take place on the morning of Thursday 16th, the late afternoon of Friday 17th and the morning of Saturday 18th for anybody staying on in Youghal to experience the wonderful culture and heritage that the town has to offer.

The Inaugural Creative Ireland County Cork Conference takes place in the Town Hall in Youghal and is free of charge. Take-up for the conference is expected to be high and early registration is therefore advisable by emailing creativeireland@corkcoco.ie. The precise schedule for the event and full details will be available on www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage/creative-ireland.

The following day, Saturday 18th November, will also see the commencement of three days of workshops for anyone and everyone interested in the maintenance and management of local historic graveyards. Supported by the Historic Monuments Advisory Committee of Cork County Council the aim of the workshops is to help interested community groups and individuals on all aspects of care and maintenance of historic graveyards. The workshops will be delivered by two experienced archaeologists - Jacinta Kiely & John Tierney, over a full day, and entailing presentations, discussion and a site visit. The Workshops are to take place in Springfort Hall near Mallow on Saturday 18th; Skibbereen Monday 20th and Midleton on Tuesday 21st November. All are welcome to attend and it is free of charge. Spaces will be allocated on a first come basis. If you are interested in attending, sharing your knowledge and experience as well as receiving training, email Jacinta@eachtra.ie or telephone 0872362319.

Remembrance ceremony

In terms of the week ahead there is a number of further heritage events. On Friday 10th November the Coppeen Archaeological, Historical and Cultural Society will host their annual Table Quiz, taking place at 10:30pm in 'An Caipin' in Coppeen.

Saturday 11th November (the date when WWI ended back in 1918) will see an annual Remembrance Ceremony in memory of those from all countries who died in the First World War. A number of embassies have committed to be represented at the ceremony and the Lord Mayor of Cork City and the Mayor of the County of Cork County will also participate, in addition to other civic dignitaries and veterans organisations. The event takes place from 10:30am to 11:40am at the Great War Memorial in the South Mall, Cork City.

Manchester Martyrs

A few days later, on Monday 13th November there will be a wonderful talk regarding the 150th Anniversary of the Manchester Martyrs taking place at 7pm in the County Hall (Council Chamber on Floor 2).

On 23rd November 1867, Cork Fenians William Allen (Bandon) and Michael O' Brien (Ballymacoda), together with Michael Larkin, were the subject of the last public hanging ever carried out in Manchester, England. These three men were known as the Manchester Martyrs and were executed for their part in the Fenian Rising of 1867 and in particular an event that occurred in Manchester in September 1867, known as the 'Smashing of the Van'. The 'Smashing of the Van' involved the rescuing of some prominent Fenians, including none other than Captain Timothy Deasy.

Cork County Council's Commemoration Committee, chaired by Cllr. Frank O'Flynn, has invited Bob Bateman from the USA (Captain Timothy Deasy's great grandnephew) to deliver the talk. This is a very special event and all are most welcome to attend.
Irish Olympian Mick Clohisey; Noelle Foley of The Kerryman; Karl Henry; Maria Herlihy of The Corkman and Derval O'Rourke at Cork airport ahead of the SPAR Fitlive Run Series 5km - Cork Airport Midnight Runway Run on Nov 17

The hugely popular Cork Airport 5km Runway Run, part of Spar's Fitlive.ie series by the Irish Independent in conjunction with Cork Airport, returns later this month.

Runners will take to the runway at Cork Airport on midnight, Friday, November 17. Participants are welcome to run, jog or walk the distance.

The emphasis for the event is on wellbeing and promoting a healthy, happy lifestyle, a sentiment shared by hosts Cork Airport. Those who sign up for the free programme will benefit from exercise tips, weekly workouts and running plans from Karl Henry. Irish runner, Derval O'Rourke, will also provide food tips and recipes.

Last year nearly 2,000 people took part and there has always been a real buzz around the airport as people take to the tarmac.

Runners receive a goodie bag, t-shirt, medal, refreshements, race chip timing and crossing line video.

Top tips from Derval...

Writing for The Irish Independent, famed runner, Derval O'Rourke is offering some top tips and meals for those who are taking on the Cork Airport Run. For this week, she is giving her top tips for choosing a workout partner and her meal is Spinach and Feta Frittata.

 Fitness levels: Aim for someone who is at the same level, or slightly better, than you. This way you can progress towards your goals and improve your fitness levels, strength and speed together. Pairing up with somebody who is way fitter, faster or stronger than you might be a little demotivating.

 Attitude: Pick someone with a similar attitude to you. I like to train with people that I would share a cup of coffee with. Some days I'm really happy to be training and other days I'm a bit moany! I find that training with people of similar attitudes helps. You need to gel with your training partners.

 Goals: Choosing someone with a common goal is important because if they understand what you're doing, and why you're doing it, then they can be a better workout partner. They can help keep you focused on and achieve your goals. Choosing the same goal is really helpful e.g. an event to work towards.

 Schedules: Ensuring your schedules are similar is key because no matter how ideal your training buddy might be, if your schedules never coincide then it's not going to work. Can you train in the morning or do you need to train in the evening? How are weekends for you? Think about this before getting your self a training buddy.

Spinach and feta frittata

Eggs are one of my hero foods. The dish is packed with good quality protein from the eggs and cheese as well as a dose of greens from the spinach, serve with a side salad for some extra goodness and a toasted pitta if you need some extra fuel.

Serves: 2

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 15min

Ingredients:

6 eggs

50g feta, diced

4 tbs milk

Handful basil leaves, torn

Salt and pepper

1 tbs butter

onion, finely chopped

Handful baby spinach leaves

Method:

Preheat the grill to a high heat.

Lightly beat the eggs, feta, milk and basil in a medium bowl. Season well.

Heat the butter in a large oven proof frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the onion and spinach for about 5 minutes.

Reduce to a low heat and pour the eggs into the pan. Do not stir the eggs: just allow them to cook gently for about 10 minutes.

When the frittata is softly set and golden underneath, remove the pan from the heat. Place the pan under the grill for a few minutes and cook until the top of the frittata is set and golden.

Cut the frittata into slices and serve on a warmed plate.
Showhouse Showdown airs on TV3 this Tuesday night at 9pm and it will be a Louth v Dublin battle ofthe designers.

But Louth will have plenty of talent on show in the shape of Anne Marie Hamill from Hamilton Interiors has worked as a designer for 15 years in Co Louth and the surrounding counties .

She has completed some spectacular projects but also really enjoys working on extensions and builds .

'We have an amazing team of tradespeople to work with which makes every project enjoyable,' Anne Marie stated.

'From colour consultation, spatial layouts , plumbing plans, kitchen design to the soft furnishings, we offer the full interior design package.'
Ever wondered what it would be like to sail a sandyacht and experience the excitement of a wheeled sport without any engine or pedals ?

Sandyachting, sailing a wheeled vehicle on the beach and Kite powered buggies known as Kite Buggy, is what it's all about.

The Irish association (IPKSA) is hosting an event from November 11th - 12th on Bettystown beach with the venue also the spot to be on January 27th -28th, February 24th - 25th and April 7th - 8th.

If you ever wanted to try it then come along on Saturday November 11th at 9.00am as the IPKSA members are there to help you experience the sport.

Power Kiting is also an option.

They have 15 minute taster sessions for 15 or upgrade to a membership for 35.

Sunday next will see the second round of the IPKSA race series for Miniyachts and Kitebuggy.

All are welcome.
An Oskars ceremony with a difference takes place in TLT, Drogheda on Sunday, March 3, 2018 in aid of Clogherhead Shannon Lifeboat appeal.

They are recruiting local actors now! Seven short films (10 minutes long) will be produced by local actors for the Oskars event. Previous acting experience is not necessary as supervision and production guidance will be provided by Kevin Rowe Events.

The short films will be based on scenes from well known movies and the finished films will be shown at the huge Oskars night in the T.L.T where friends and family and people from the community come together to support the Clogherhead Shannon Lifeboat Appeal.

If you are interested in taking part in this fun event or just want more information, please come along to a public meeting in Clogherhead Lifeboat Station on Wednesday 15 November at 8pm.

If you wish to talk to them in advance please phone Tomas at: 086 8094590. Or the Lifeboat station on: 041 9822600.

MS table quiz

MS Louth branch are having their annual table quiz on Friday November 10 in the Valley Inn at 8.30pm. Great prizes, raffle and all welcome. All support is appreciated.

Boyne Valley storytelling

An afternoon of storytelling takes place at the Boyne Valley Cottage, Donore, on Sunday 19 November from 3-5pm, and will continue every third Sunday of the month over the winter.

Storytellers of all ages are welcome to share stories and perhaps a few songs, with participation at the heart of it. There is no pressure to perform - just turn up and listen! 'Storytelling is an age-old tradition which has existed since the dawn of time wherever people gather,' said Cllr Frank Godfrey.

Local storytellers include Dick Murphy, Maureen Moore, Bridie Maxwell and music by Pat Gogan and friends.

What lies beneath Millmount

The Old Drogheda Society will host its Autum Lecture " What Lies Beneath" by Kevin Barton,on Tuesday November 7th at 7 pm in the Governor's House, Millmount .

The lecture will reveal results from the Millmount Archaeological Remotr Sensing (MARS) Project - a series of geophysical surveys carried out on the mound at Millmount since 2013.

Kevin Barton is an archaeological geophysicist currently working on community projects in Ireland, Germany and Poland.

Please note the time of the lecture 7 pm (usually 8 pm). There will be a bookstall on the night.Voluntary contributions welcome.
Images of Military in Drogheda 1916-1923 from the collection of Des Clinton is now running at Drogheda library.

The photos can be viewed during library opening hours until 18 November. A wonderful collection of images of Old Drogheda not to be missed.

LGBTQ group meeting

Drogheda LGBTQ Group will meet Thursday 16th November in Starbucks from 7.30pm to 9pm.

The group has a flag day on December 18 and any volunteers wanting to help out, tel : 0874379002 . Stand up campaign week is 13th to 17th November.

Youth Choral Festival

Drogheda Youth Choral festival is on November 24 in the Barbican, Closing date for entries from schools, youth groups, etc is November 10.

Further details from Mary Smith.
The Greater Drogheda Area now has a population of 83,000 and should be given city status, a leading planning expert has said.

The population of Ireland's largest town now exceeds that of Waterford and a new planning study, released last week, strongly advocates the granting of city status to the town.

The report from Dr Brian Hughes, a chartered planning and development expert, says the latest figures from the 2016 census point to a population of over 83,000 in the Greater Drogheda Area, twice the size of County Longford and larger than Waterford City.

The area earmarked for city status includes the borough of Drogheda and the rapidly expanding towns of Laytown, Bettystown and Mornington (LBM) in east Meath, which now boast in excess of 10,000 people and is expected to reach 15,000 or more by the next census in 2021.

The report was commissioned by Drogheda City Status group which has been campaigning for over a decade to end what it claims is the 'nightmare' dual administration of the town and its rapidly expanding satellite communities.

And momentum for the campaign us growing as the recommendations made in the report hit the national headlines last week.

The detailed report has also been submitted for inclusion in the Government's National Planning Framework. A final decision is due in the near future on a framework plan which will guide planning decisions up to 2040.

A copy of the report was presented to the former Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Simon Coveney TD, currently the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and he was also briefed on the study at Leinster House last week.

The Drogheda City Status Group said they were 'stood up' by current Housing and Planning Minister, Eoghan Murphy TD, after he cancelled a meeting at the eleventh hour during their visit to Leinster House last Thursday.

The report's author, Dr Brian Hughes, said: 'What worries me is the published draft framework proposal ignored Drogheda's city status request. This despite the fact that in seeking submissions, the Government said the final policy would be based on evidence. They have the evidence in this report. They need to act and act now.'

The Drogheda City Status report highlights how the former Municipal Borough of Drogheda, together with the adjoining Louth and Meath rural areas, have increased in population by almost 80% between 1996-2016. The population has risen from 46,451 to 83,042 at a time when the average national increase was 31.22%.

Crucially, the report pinpoints how Drogheda/LBM fulfils the criteria laid down by the EU Commission and the OECD for city status because of population density per kilometre and it numbers in excess of 50,000 people.

The Chairman of Drogheda City Status group Vincent Hoey said: 'We are living in an urban conglomeration of over 80,000 people but we have no effective joined up thinking to plan sensibly for the future because our local Government is divided between Co Meath and Co Louth. Drogheda lost its town council and we urgently need to be given city status so that we can have a city council that can best plan for the sustainable future growth of the region, provide housing, create jobs and nurture business.'
A convicted paedophile from the UK who had been living in The Ballagh area has been sentenced to six months in prison for failing to notify gardai of his convictions and sign on the sex offenders register.

Dorian Cowland, who had been living in the townland of Knocknavey for the past three years, was previously convicted of possessing and distributing indecent photographs of children in 2012 and was handed 16 months in prison. Before this, back in 1988, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the indecent assault of a male under the age of 14, along with five years on two counts of buggery from Bristol court. Following his most recent convictions for having indecent images of children, he was required to be put on the UK offender's register for ten years and was automatically obliged to register here upon moving to Ireland.

There had been some confusion over the correct name for the defendant, as the court heard that he had attempted to change his name by deed pole and was also known as Patrick Joseph Cormack in a bid to 'live somewhat of a normal life' following his convictions. He had subsequently attempted to move from the UK to France, but when the owners of the French property he was renting found out that he was a sex offender, he moved to Spain, where his sister lives, before moving to Ireland.

Somewhat disturbingly, the court heard that Cowland, aka Cormack, was a children's author of some renown and had had numerous works published. Solicitor John O'Donovan said that his client had been in the jurisdiction for three years and has property here. 'He apologises profusely, said Mr O'Donovan. 'He says that he didn't realise that he needed to register here. He says it's an honest mistake and it has now been rectified.'

Mr O'Donovan then went on to speak of Cowland's exploits in the world of children's literature before saying that he had previously been a successful accountant also.

'My client has not come to any attention in this jurisdiction,' he continued. 'He only came to the attention of the gardai as the result of an enquiry from Interpol. He holds up his hands and I would ask, under the circumstances, for the leniency of the court.'

'I don't accept that he misunderstood the requirements,' said Judge Gerard Haughton. 'He's a well educated man of considerable talent; a very successful writer. He changed his name by deed pole when leaving for France and used that name to purchase land in Ireland. He should've known that the law required him to register. There are no mitigating circumstances here other than the plea of guilty.'

Judge Haughton stressed the seriousness of the offence before sentencing Cowland to six months in prison, saying that he was not prepared to consider a suspended sentence or community service.

Judge Haughton said that, as a result of the name change and the defendant's travel between Spain, France and Ireland, an independent surety of 3,000 would be required for bail on appeal. Mr O'Donovan indicated that Cowland's brother in law, who had travelled from Spain, would be willing to do this, however, time was needed for gardai to carry out enquiries.
A little piece of China came to Lusk recently when the Lusk ICA Guild held an authentic Chinese evening at St MacCullins Centre in the village.

Lusk Community Council kindly loaned the venue to the local ICA for this special event and the venue centre was suitably decked out with Chinese lanterns, to add to the eastern atmosphere.

The ICA group were honoured to be joined by members of the Chinese community, drawn from staff of the Chinese Embassy as well as members of the Confucious Institute.

A spokesperson for the Lusk ICA Guild explained: 'They gave us a presentation with fascinating facts about China and then gave us a demonstration of paper craft, the Chinese flute and Tai Chi.'

Of course, the evening was not complete without those attending enjoying some delicious authentic Chinese food.

Lusk ICA would like to thank all of their Chinese friends who attended the event and the local women who showed up and enjoyed this special evening.

Special thanks goes from Lusk ICA Guild to the event's sponsors, Country Crest as well as to Gerard Harford and Sean O'Herlhy for their kind support in putting this unforgettable evening of Chinese culture together. Well done to everyone involved in the effort.
Actress, model, entertainer and body-builder would be a lot of strings to anyone's bow but when you consider that Rush woman, Eva Butterly has achieved all this since being diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 12, then you know you are talking to someone with a remarkable story to tell.

At the age of 12, Eva was told her spine was in danger of 'collapsing in on itself' but 14 years later, the young Rush woman has had a life fuller than most, working as an actress and model overseas and even winning a part on the global phenomenon that is Game of Thrones.

But the Rush resident is back home now after more than four years living in Canada and is embarking on a wholly different adventure in the world of competitive body-building which she credits with having a dramatic effect on the 'symmetry' of her back that has been twisted by scoliosis, and with boosting her mental health.

When we meet Eva, she is just a few days away from her first body building competition in Derry. She has lifted weights for six years but it was only this year she began to entertain the notion of doing it competitively.

In the midst of a difficult year in her personal life, the Rush woman just could not shake an idea out of her fiercely determined head.

Eva explained: 'This year I was going through a period of wondering what I'm doing with my life and I wasn't really sure what direction to go in and it was kind of stressing me out. But through all of that, I just kept going to the gym and doing my thing and then I kept seeing these people online doing competitions and stuff and it just sparked an interest in me.

'It looked like a lot of work but I couldn't stop thinking about it and people were advising me not to do it, telling me it's hell and you have to starve yourself and all of this. But I just couldn't stop thinking about it and I'm the type of person that once I have an idea in my head, I have to do it otherwise I'll regret it. So, I just bit the bullet and decided to do it.

'I'm entering in the novice bikini section and the regular bikini section too and there's four poses you have to hit and they are designed to show off your musculature in the best way possible. It's about stage presence as well and how you interact with the audience and how comfortable and natural you are.'

So how many hours is she spending in the gym? Eva said: 'Quite a lot - too many. It has been a 14-week training process. It started out five days a week doing about two hours of weightlifting focusing on different muscle groups. Then as I came closer to competition it was bumped up to six days a week and weights get slightly smaller with more reps and you add in cardio as well.

'That's called the cutting phase where you trim the excess fat to reveal the muscle you have built up. It is a lot of effort and you have to love it.'

Using a makeshift gym in a shed at home and visiting FlyFit gym in Swords, Eva has been preparing intensively for competition for the last three months but as she got into the training, she started to notice it was having a dramatic effect on her scoliosis and she was achieving a symmetry to her back that she had once thought impossible.

Eva explained: 'I noticed it from taking progress photos. You do that after training sessions just to see how you are coming along and I kind of take them monthly just to see.

'I noticed in the second months that my lats were starting to come in a bit. They are the muscles on the side of your back that create the illusion of an hour glass figure so I started working the one on my left side which started to even up the hump I have on this side and in the second month I noticed it was starting to take that hour glass shape.

'It didn't surprise me but it wasn't something I was thinking about - I was just going through the process I was given. It was just a very nice by-product of the training process I was going through.'

Eva wants to be an advocate for fitness and weight training and share with the world, the positive effects her training has had on her physical as well as her psychological well-being.

She said: 'In five years from now, I want to be able to inspire people to be the best versions of themselves that they can possibly be.

'This journey has had such a positive affect on me, not just physically but mentally. I guess, throughout this prep there have been some things that have happened in my life that have been pretty damaging on an emotional level, as we all go through and at points I thought about packing it in.

'There was a really low point this year but I just kept going and kept trudging through and even when my calories were low my energy was low, and I was feeling like sh** and I was in a bad place mentally, I kept going to the gym and eventually I felt a little bitter and I would see the progress in my body and it gave me more motivation to keep going.

'I would say it really just taught me to keep trucking on even when things are terrible. Whatever is going on in your life, just keep going and don't give up. That's the biggest message I've learned through all of this and I want to be able to share that with other people and show them it is worth it. Just grind through it and you will feel like a million dollars afterwards.'

She is so in love with her new lifestyle, that Eva has put her life-long obsession with acting on the back burner a little bit. She is still applying for acting roles here and there but is for now at least, focused on fitness.

She has fond memories of the other big adventure in her life when she took off alone at 21 to Canada, one of the largest markets in the world for television and film, to work as an actor.

She said: 'I have wanted to be an actor since I've been a small child. I have grown up in performing arts schools and musicals, I worked with Rush Musical Society and I was a member of the Little Duke Theatre up in Drogheda as well. I went to college in DIT and studied Drama and Performance there. I moved over to Vancouver then for four years when I was 21 and only moved back here quite recently. That move (to Canada) was to get involved in the film and tv industry but then through a lot of exploration and discovery I found that might not be the path I ultimately want to go down and I feel my passion is now more so for health and fitness and perhaps helping other people discovering themselves through that medium as well.'

Describing her time in Canada, Eva said: 'It went well. I got an agent and did some voice-overs and commercials and got work as a model and did several other jobs but in the end, I wasn't going to stay there forever because it was so far from home and there was something about the Irish thing that you just don't find overseas.'

Her most well known acting appearance was in two episodes of season six of the global phenomenon that is Game of Thrones.

Eva described the experience, saying: 'Game of Thrones came about when I was 24 and I got an agent in Ireland. I had come back to Ireland for just a bit of a holiday and I picked up an agent here and there was a casting for Game of Thrones and I was very fortunate to get that. I was episode five and six of season six of it. It was huge by then. They flew us out to Spain and we shot in Northern Ireland and it was an amazing experience.'

As she embarked on a new chapter in life in the business of inspiring others with physical challenges to take on exercise and fitness, she described how weight training had come to mean more to her than she ever imagined.

She said: 'It grew into something else for me. Weight training was something I leaned on when I was going through difficult times in my life for whatever reason. I always knew that when I went into the gym, I was guaranteed I would come out feeling much better than when I went in because you get that release of endorphins. I don't think I could do without it now - it's so good for your mental health. It's like a form of meditation - you get into that zone and you are concentrating your mind on muscle movement and focusing all of your attention on contracting a particular muscle. It's a very focused sport.'
Inspired by the teachings of Baha'u'llah, members of the Fingal Baha'i community together with millions of people around the world celebrated the 200th anniversary of His birth, recently.

Baha'u'llah was born in 1817 in the city of Tehran, Persia. He suffered imprisonment, torture and exile for His beliefs and teachings at the hands of the Persian Shah and Sultan of Turkey before finally being incarcerated for life in the Ottoman penal colony of Acre, now in modern day Israel.

Alison Maloney, a young member of the Fingal Baha'i community living in Swords said 'Baha'u'llah taught that God is one, that God is the source of the world's great religions and that mankind is one. He proclaimed 'the earth is one country and mankind are its citizens' and promoted the elimination of racial, religious and social prejudice by declaring 'ye are the leaves of one branch and the fruits of one tree'.'

Sarah Wilson, a representative of the Swords community said 'His writings proclaim that man is essentially spiritual by nature; that men and women are equal in the sight of God; that education is a right to be enjoyed by all children; promotes economic principles for the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty; calls for the adoption by governments of an auxiliary international language as a practical measure for the establishment of international peace by promoting understanding and dialogue between peoples of the world.'
Balbriggan Heritage Trail is on the way and will be installed in the town in the near future.

A brochure which accompanies the Trail was launched during Heritage Week this August and is available free of charge from Balbriggan Tourist office on George's Square.

The brochure contains a map of the Trail and illustrates the rich and varied local heritage and historical events.

Beautifully designed, it proves to be an excellent document not only for tourists and visitors to the town but also for local schools.

Balbriggan is one of the most multi-cultural towns in Ireland with 25% of the population being non-native Irish but also much of the Irish population of the town is not originally from the local area.

The authors of the Heritage Trail and brochure, David Sorensen and Petra Skyvova, are hopeful that their project will foster and boost an interest in the local heritage.

Each of the 11 primary and five post-primary schools in the locality received a batch of the brochures for their pupils.

The brochures were gratefully received by the Deputy Principal of Scoil Chormaic, Alan Weston who noted that it will be an excellent aid for the local history part of the school curriculum.
A man who broke into his ex-girlfriend's house and threatened to kill her said he had no reason for his behaviour, other than that he had woken up 'in a black mood'.

David Clail (28) told gardai he 'blanked out and didn't know what he was doing' on September 20, 2016 when he smashed his way into the house of a woman he had gone out with five years earlier.

Clail pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary armed with a flick knife, criminal damage, and threatening to kill Sharon Murphy at her home at The Green, Melrose Park, Kinsealy.

Judge Karen O'Connor adjourned the sentencing to December 14 next to allow Clail attend psychiatric appointments with the help of his parents and hopefully secure a diagnosis.

The judge warned Clail, of Rory O'Connor House, Hardwick St, Dublin, that if he had any contact at all with Ms Murphy in the meantime he would be brought back before the court.

Garda Joseph Robinson told Dean Kelly BL, prosecuting, that Ms Murphy was at home alone on the day in question and had lain down on her couch as she had a toothache. She told gardai that she woke up at about 4pm to the sound of 'booting and smashing' at the front door and ran out to the hall to see a hand breaking through the glass of her front door.

The court heard the couple had broken up five and a half years earlier but that she had bumped into him in town in the last year.

Ms Murphy told gardai that all of a sudden, Clail was inside her hall and screaming that he was going to kill her.

'I told you this day would come, I'm going to destroy your life. You think you can play games, I'm going to kill you, get out of my f***ing way,' he said.

Ms Murphy said Clail went into the sitting room, pulled the TV off the stand and started dancing on it, before running into the kitchen with his 'eyes bulging'.

The court heard Clail began swinging a kitchen chair around, hitting things, then throwing the chair and running upstairs.

He pulled the TV off the bedroom wall, smashed the mirror, pulled the doors of the wardrobe and stood on them, flipped Ms Murphy's bed and tried to break it.

Ms Murphy said she was following him asking him why he was doing this, and that she then grabbed her phone and went into the bathroom and rang 999, before hiding her phone in the bathroom.

When she came back downstairs, she said Clail was sitting at the kitchen table rolling a cigarette and making calls variously to his father, mother and sisters.

Ms Murphy said Clail screamed that his two sisters were down the road and were going to kill her, and that his mother allegedly said on the phone that Ms Murphy 'deserved everything she gets'.

'I'm going to kill your ma and da, I've lads out in the car who are going to butcher the two of them,' said Clail, who also threatened to kill her grandmother.

Ms Murphy said she felt sick and ran to the bathroom pretending to vomit in order to make another 999 call.

She said Clail got a pickaxe and threatened to kill her dog and phoned his father again, shouting down the phone, 'I run this fucking family, you don't; get the INLA all you want.'

Ms Murphy said she was trying to calm Clail down and that she saw him take up to eight capsules out of his pocket and swallow them. When gardai arrived, Clail had stuck the flick-knife into the kitchen table and eventually agreed to open the door to the guards and lie down on the ground

Garda Robinson said they arrived to find a man with blood on his hands and a woman screaming from an upstairs window 'he has a knife', and substantial damage and destruction caused to the house.

Clail was arrested and accepted that he had broken into the house against Ms Murphy's will, behaved in a threatening and violent way and caused considerable damage.

'There is no reason so I can't give you a reason,' he told gardai. 'I woke up in a black mood. I blank out and I don't know what I'm doing. I know I fucked things up,' he said, adding that he 'wouldn't have touched' Ms Murphy.

Clail has one previous conviction dating from 2008. Andrew Jackson BL, defending, told the court that Clail had missed a number of psychiatric appointments and that it would be worth bringing in his parents to make sure he did attend these appointments.

He asked Judge O'Connor to postpone sentencing in the hopes that Clail would get a psychiatric diagnosis in the meantime.
Neighbours of Swords Waste Water Treatment Plant have once again been subjected to a leakage of unpleasant odours from the plant, following a 'mechanical failure'.

Irish Water said it is 'aware of an odour issue due to a mechanical failure at the Swords Wastewater Treatment Plant and is working with our contractor and Fingal County Council staff to resolve the issue.'

Irish Water said it is working to carry out the necessary repairs 'as soon as possible'.

The incident has been reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A spokesperson for Irish Water said: 'Irish Water would like to apologise to residents, businesses and others in the area of the Waste Water Treatment Plant at Swords for the current issues and any inconvenience that this might cause.

'Further information is available on the service update section of our website at www.water.ie on Twitter @IWCare or customers can call our customer care helpline 24/7 on 1820 278 278.'

Meanwhile, the 22 million upgrade of the plant is progressing which will significantly increase its capacity.
Skerries RNLI lifeboat volunteers aided in the rescue of two fishermen from a sinking razor fishing boat in the early hours of last Thursday morning.

Shortly before 5.30am last Thursday morning, Dublin Coast Guard received an emergency call from the skipper of a razor fishing boat with two men on board that was taking on water off Laytown and was beginning to list dangerously. Lifeboats from both Skerries RNLI and Clogherhead RNLI were requested to launch to assist.

Volunteers from Skerries RNLI launched with Emma Wilson at the Helm and crewed by Eoin Grimes, Steven Johnson and Jack Keane. Conditions at the time were fair with a force one to two north westerly wind.

The lifeboat proceeded to the area off Laytown given as a position by the casualty vessel. There was a number of razor fishing vessels in the area, but the lifeboat soon located the casualty off the mouth of the river Nanny. The vessel was grounded and was being overcome by the rising tide. Clogherhead RNLI arrived on scene shortly afterwards and stood by while the inshore lifeboat was alongside the stricken boat. The two fishermen were taken on board the lifeboat, where they were assessed before being brought safely back to Skerries.

Speaking about the call out, volunteer Helm for Skerries RNLI, Emma Wilson said: 'When we got on scene, it was quite difficult to spot the fishing vessel as it was almost underwater and there was only one remaining light in the wheelhouse. The crew did the right thing in calling for help, wearing their life-jackets and staying with the boat for as long as possible.'

Skerries councillor, Cllr Tom O'Leary (FG) congratulated the local RNLI crew on the rescue, saying: 'Well done Skerries RNLI. These razor fishing boats can be deadly as they dredge the seabed if they get entangled in anything the boat can go down rapidly. Light conditions at that hour would be very poor.'
Gorey Library is getting set to celebrate Science Week all next week. A series of talks and workshops has been organised on a wide range of topics which should be of interest to both young and old.

First up is Brendan Wallace who will discuss how discoveries in science, such as fire optic and satellite communications, impact on our daily lives. His talk, on Monday, November 13 from 11 a.m. to 12 midday, is open to schools and members of the public.

Later on Monday, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Seal Rescue Ireland will give a marine conservation workshop to teach children the importance of marine conservation, focusing particularly on the work at the seal sanctuary in Courtown. Booking necessary.

On Tuesday, November 14, from 1.45 p.m. to 2.45 p.m., Brendan Cooney, senior executive scientist with Wexford County Council, will give a talk on decoding sound - looking at how sound is generated and measured. The talk is open to schools but members of the public can also book. Later on Tuesday, at 7 p.m., there's talk on the science behind brewing alcohol, titled 'Brewing up a Storm' given by Dr Stephen Whelan. Booking essential.

On Thursday, November 16, at 3.30 p.m. children can enjoy an interactive workshop storyboard event, and design app titled 'Planet Zebunar'. The workshop is suitable for children aged 5 to 8 years. Booking essential.

Also on Thursday at 7 p.m., Dr Norah Patten will give a talk titled 'From Mayo to Space: Learn how to become a Scientist-Astronaut.' Norah recently took part in a five-day scientist-astronaut training programme in Florida. She will share her experiences and her plans for the future to become Ireland's first women in space. Booking essential.

Two 'Fantastic Physics' family science workshops with the Anyone for Science team take place on Saturday, November 18, at 11 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. Booking essential. Learn how to make teabags fly, sit on a bed of nails, or use science to escape from jail.
A boy from Kilmuckridge who suffered a brain injury just before his birth after his mother was thrown from a car while on her way to have a final pregnancy scan has settled his High Court action for 7.5m.

Cian Hammel (now 8) had to be delivered by emergency caesarean section in hospital after his 17-year-old mother, who was a passenger in the seven seater car, was thrown from the vehicle after it overtook another car, went out of control, and ended up overturned in a field.

The court was told the driver of the car was not insured. Ms Hammel had been on her way for final scan a few days before her due date.

Cian, of Ford Court, Kilmuckridge, through his grandmother Ann Hammel, sued the driver of the car she was in, Simon Jordan, of Monaseed.

The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), which compensates victims of uninsured driving, was also sued as a result of the accident which occurred on February 3, 2009, near Manhanagh, Screen.

It was claimed the vehicle which was driven by Mr Jordan went out of control, turned over causing Cian's mother Roisin Hammel, who was in a rear seat, to be thrown from the vehicle.

It was further claimed Mr Jordan had overtaken another vehicle when it was not safe to do so and he was allegedly driving at a speed which was in all the circumstances including the weather conditions excessive.

The claims were denied.

Senior Counsel Rosario Boyle told the court that Roisin, who was studying for her Leaving Cert, had accepted a lift to attend her final scan.

Counsel said Ms Hammel was not wearing a seat belt but the MIBI later accepted and acknowledged that, had she been wearing a seat belt, the outcome for Cian would not have been better.

She said Ms Hammel's waters broke and she had to have an emergency caesarean section in hospital due to foetal distress.

Ms Hammel, counsel said, was told to expect the worst and when Cian was born.

He had to be resuscitated and there was multi-organ failure.

The boy now has difficulty walking and is unsteady on his feet and also has difficulties with language.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross approved the settlement.
At the recent announcement at Government buildings were, front row: Tomas O'Leary; Minister Paul Kehoe and Jason Martin, Quinn building products. Back row: Michael Bennett, Bennett Builders; Padraig O'Gorman, Wexford County Council; Kevin Lunney, COO Quinn buiding products and Andrew Lundberg.

It's not too often that Enniscorthy is mentioned in the same breath as New York and Vancouver, but it has been announced that the Cathedral town will hold its own with the big boys having been chosen as one of three locations in the world to house a Centre of Excellence to combat carbon emissions.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) designated that County Wexford will join with the Canadian and American cities to take on the global challenging of cutting carbon emissions.

Scott Foster, UNECE Director of Sustainable Energy, will visit Wexford in the coming weeks to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, regarding the centre which will be built on a council site near St Senan's.

The design of the proposed 33,000sq foot Wexford Centre of Excellence is already at an advanced stage and an application for planning permission is expected to be submitted to the council within the next month.

Enniscorthy was chosen as a location for the centre as a result of the massive strides made by Wexford County Council in the area of passive housing with developments such as Madeira Oaks garnering international attention and further similar developments in the pipeline.

The town also attracted major attention after hosting the first nZEB conference at The Riverside Park Hotel last year. The Centre will focus on international training in nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) compliance with students arriving to the town from all over Europe in what is sure to provide a major boost to the local economy.

It is hoped that the new centre will be constructed and fully operational by the end of 2018 when nZEB regulations will be rolled out across the whole of Europe.

While in Wexford, Mr Foster will attend Ireland's Inaugural World Forum on nZEB buildings which takes place at Clayton Whites Hotel on November 16, at which he will give the keynote address.
North Wexford served as the main shooting location for a short film which will shown on the big screen in Movies@Gorey next week.

'The Lion's Share' also features the talents of many Gorey actors including Aisling O'Neill, better known as Carol in Fair City; Liz Lloyd who appeared in The Tudors and Fair City; and Coolgreany Drama Group stalwart Richard Lister.

The enchanting film was directed and written by Owen O'Gorman, and is based on the true events in Dublin Zoo during the Easter Rising.

Aisling O'Neill said she was very happy to be part of the film, and was delighted that her son Christopher also has a cameo role. 'I worked with Owen before when he produced and directed a show written by Thomas Clare from Coolgreany,' she said. 'He asked me to get involved, and there were a lot of actors involved that I would have worked with over the years.'

'They filmed a lot of it at Richard Lister's house, and there some beautiful scenery in it,' she added. 'It's going to be lovely to see Gorey in it. Local people will really get a kick out of it.'

Among the prime locations used were Gorey Little Theatre, Knockbawn House, Coolgreany, and Kia Ora Mini Farm. The cast and crew were said to be overwhelmed by the great support from Denis Howell of Gorey Little Theatre; Padraig and Maura O'Donohoe of Kia Ora; Bryan Hughes of Londis, Ballymoney; Paul Royston of Home Restaurant, Courtown; Thomas Clare and many local people during the making of the film.

Also in the cast are IFTA winning actor Brendan Conroy and Frank Melia, along with a whole host of furry four legged stars from Kia Ora Animal Farm and Richard Lister's stables.

The storyline follows a team of zoo keepers who must overcome personal conflicts to save the animals during the revolution of 1916, and keep alive a 'rising' Hollywood star. Likened to an Irish 'Cinema Paradiso', it has won the hearts of cinema audiences across Europe, picking up awards and nominations in London and Barcelona.

A special screening to raise funds for St Aidan's Day Care Centre and Pethelpers.ie, will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 16, in Gorey Cinema. Tickets are 10. Many cast members and crew will be in attendance.
Top honours went to Dublin and Galway at the first Coolgreany One Act Drama Festival to be affiliated to the Drama League of Ireland.

St Mogue's Hall was packed to capacity on almost all nights of the festival as groups from across Wexford and Ireland continued with their efforts to reach the All Ireland final.

Sally Stevens of Coolgreany Amateur Dramatic Society said that adjudicator Geoff O'Keeffe was so impressed with the festival, that he has already been booked in for next year. 'He said there was nowhere like it,' she said, adding that he gave good constructive criticism and was entertaining for the audience.

She said that the festival was a big undertaking and a lot of work was put in by a lot of people, and thanks went to all who sponsored, or helped in any way.

The winners were: Audience award, 'Small Box Psychosis' Seamus O'Kelly Players; Adjudicator's awards: Aoibhinn Finnegan, Balally Players for design, and Wayside Players for costume.

CONFINED: 1, Seumas O'Kelly Players, Loughrea. 'Small Box Psychosis'; 2, New Ross. 'The Tinker's Wedding'; 3, Wayside Players, Blackwater, 'The Last of the Last of the Mohicans'; Best Supporting Actor, Aidan Whelan, Wayside Players; Best Actor, Padraig Larkin, Seumas O'Kelly Players; Best Director, Martin Wade, Seumas O'Kelly Players;

OPEN: 1, Balally Players, Dundrum, ' At the Hawk's Well'; 2, Palace Players, Kilworth, Co. Cork, 'The Quiet Land'; 3, Blue Hat Players, Whitechurch, Co. Cork. 'Central Park West'; Best Supporting Actor, Balally's three musicians; Best Actor, Yvonne Russell, Blue Hat Players; Best Director, Aoibhinn Finnegan, Balally Players.
A joke popped up on my Facebook feed - It read something to the effect of a woman attending her doctor complaining of her husband's anger issues.

The doctor's advice was to tell her that the next time her husband gets angry, drink water, swish it in her mouth and see what happens. Two weeks later she returns happy - she swished the water, her husband calmed down and the anger went away. The doctor explains that it wasn't the water that worked but the fact that she kept her mouth shut.

So it's a joke. That's all it is. A mediocre joke at best but it grated on me. I could have reacted to say it was lame humour at the expense of women on a subject that is no joke at all. But I didn't. I would probably have been told to lighten up, not to take life too seriously and what was it only a meaningless joke on a meaningless day. Lots of others found it funny, so what was wrong with me? So I said nothing.

I guess I am just pondering over the silence of all those women caught up in the Harvey Weinstein furore. Strong successful women keeping quiet; yes for sure they were concerned for their careers and reputation but some cited their reasons as not wanting to hurt his reputation or his family. No matter their reasons, the bottom line was that they did not want to make a scene. Ironic really, stars of the show, opting for the background. And who could 'blame' them - I couldn't even respond to an anonymous Facebook joke.

And now we have the Tom Humphries case. A man for whom it took nine years to be found out, prosecuted and sentenced; almost a decade in adult life but the lifetime of a child.

Even in the sentencing of Humphries, the female judge appeared to give considerable weight to the impact of the crime on the man as well as the child. Some of the subsequent comment suggested that here was another strong woman appearing, albeit unwittingly, to protect the perpetrator.

Two words keep coming at me - guilt and shame. We often say "I couldn't live with the guilt" but we do. We, as a nation, have a special relationship with guilt. We draw our guilt from even the most innocuous scenarios; maybe it's the remnants of Catholicism or just our disposition of being Irish. Whatever our reasons, guilt is essentially a private emotion; it belongs to just us. Shame does not. Shame is everyone else knowing about our guilt and, as such, it is more powerful than the most powerful of individuals. Weinstein's behaviour was halted not due to guilt but shaming, Humphries behaviour was halted not due to guilt but shaming.

Silence might be a lethal weapon but shame is a nuclear bomb. No one wants to make a scene and no one wants to set off a nuclear bomb but in life it sometimes takes a necessary 'evil' to kill a greater one.
Its boast of being "the most Irish festival of them all" rings more than a little true, but Oireachtas na Samhna's value beyond the realms of culture and craic is also hefty. Thousands have visited Killarney on each of six occasions it's visited Killarney in the last eight years, and it's worth an estimated 8million to the local economy during the challenging "shoulder season".

But to reduce this festival of gaelic arts and culture to mere numbers and figures would be a disservice, and never was this more keenly felt during last Thursday's concert at the Gleneagle Ballroom commemorating the 30th anniversary of Dingle's first Oireachtas and the memories of two stalwarts of that 1987 extravaganza.

"It was a poignant occasion in many ways," Micheal de Mordha, a member of the 1987 event's organising committee, told The Kerryman.

"We remembered two of our stalwarts from 1987, Jed Budhlaeir and Aloysious O Ciobhain, with Dingle Crystal presentations to their families by former Oireachtas Secretary Noirin Ni Chonghaile and another of the 1987 stalwarts, Anne Marie Nic Gearailt. We also saw Tommy O Luing pay tribute to our late friend Danny Mac Sithigh, who we lost tragically earlier this year.

"It was a night above all nights though, and I was most pleased at the demonstration of Corca Dhuibhne talent, young and not so young, in music, song and performance."

But the week wasn't entirely about the "Comoradh ar Fheile Oireachtais 1987" concert or reminiscence. The Oireachtas is as healthy as it's ever been, and it certainly remains in good condition in Kerry if this past week was anything to go by.

While there were many runners-up from Kerry, there were a few winners of all ages too, with Aodhna O Beaglaoich (Scealaiocht faoi-12); Paidi Mac Gearailt (Scealaiocht 12-15); and Aodh O Domhnaill & Noeli O Maoileoin (agallamh beirte daoine fasta) highlighting Kerry's particular prowess where storytelling and dialogue were concerned.

Outside of the main showcases, there were also literary wins for Kerry by Peadar O hUallaigh (cnuasach filiochta) and Liam O hOgain (aiste faoi-16 and sceal faoi-16), with Raidio na Gaeltachta's Slaine Ni Chathallain named 'Realt Og na Bliana' at the festival's broadcasting awards.

"There seemed to be a great gathering from all over the county at this year's Oireachtas, and we had mighty celebrating for Slaine [Ni Chathallain] on her win. In west Kerry, we'll celebrate our history in the Oireachtas again at Aras Bhreanainn Chorca Dhuibhne on Wednesday [November 8] from 6.30pm."
Two Kerry shops are vying to be named as Ireland's shop of the year.

Garvey's Supervalu, Tralee and the Vodafone outlet in Killarney are the only finalists from Kerry that are in the shake up for The Retail Excellence Ireland Shop of The Year award.

Retail Excellence, the largest retail industry representative organization in Ireland, will announce the National Store of the Year winner at a black-tie Awards banquet this Saturday, November 11 at the Malton Hotel in Killarney.

David Fitzsimons Chief Executive of Retail Excellence congratulated the tow Kerry outlets on making it through to the final of this year's competition.

"Both Garvey's Supervalu, Tralee and Vodafone Killarney are superb retail offerings in Kerry and we are delighted to see them progress to this stage of the competition," he said.

"Our Awards process is very thorough from start to finish. We started the process last May with over 600 store entries and visited each of the Top30 stores left in this competition," he said.

"As always, the competition is intense and with the coveted nature of the title every finalist has reached new heights in promoting retail excellence within their operations which makes it all the more difficult to select the overall winner. Unfortunately, there can only be one but their journey to this point is testament to the hard work of the owners, their staff and investment in their retail operations," said Mr Fitzsimons.
South Sudan-based Loreto Sister Orla Treacy took her place in history on Saturday evening as Mayor of Killarney Councillor Niall Kelleher presented her the Hugh O'Flaherty Humanitarian Award - making her the tenth winner of a prize established in 2008 to commemorate the heroic Killarney native.

Monsignor O'Flaherty saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Rome during World War II, and Sister Orla was understandably honoured at being named the 2017 recipient. The Hugh O'Flaherty Memorial Society praised Sister Orla, daughter of former Kerry County Secretary Blaise Treacy, for travelling to the country in 2007 and being part of a movement to establish schools and basic medical care in the a nation plagued by poverty, civil war and oppression of women.

This year also saw students from all the schools in the Killarney Parish present a newly initiated bursary to Sister Orla at the Killarney Avenue Hotel, and the Rumbek Secondary School Principal sounded a defiant note for the future.

"In 2011, South Sudan gained independence and it was hoped that matters would improve. Following a brief period of relative peace, conditions in South Sudan have returned to those of pre-Independence", she said.

"The Loreto sisters are committed to staying the course and with the help of supporters in South Sudan and at home in Ireland, we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that the young people of South Sudan will receive an education thus enabling them to climb out of poverty and oppression. The girls and young people we work with in South Sudan fill us with hope for a better future for this country," she added.
Award winner Anthony O'Gara of the Rose of Tralee Festival with his wife Oonagh at the awards presentation at the Ashe Hotel on Thursday.

Tralee Chamber Alliance President Aidan Kelly with the winners of the Tralee Business People Awards for July to December.

Padraig McGillicuddy, Anthony O'Gara, Dr Mary McCaffrey, Caroline McEnery, Peter Harty and Kevin McCarthy have been announced as the recipients of Tralee Business People Awards for the months of July to December.

The President of Tralee Chamber Alliance, Aidan Kelly prised the six winners for their contribution to the life of the town.

"Our latest monthly winners deserves to be recognised for the work they do to improve and enhance life the lives of those around them every day. We are delighted to shine a light on them for contributing to the economic and community development of the town over," he said

Padraig McGillicuddy is the proprietor of Ballygarry House Hotel and Spa. He took over the family-run hotel in 2002. He has more than 20 years' experience in various management roles both internationally and in Ireland. His international hotel management experiences include roles in Lausanne, Switzerland and Sydney, Australia.

After an investment of over six million euro, Ballygarry is now considered one of Munster's most successful hotels, and employs 140 staff, 95 of which are full time.

In 2017 the hotel undertook a further 4.5 million refurbishment. Padraig was Chairperson of Holiday Tralee from 2006 to 2012, and was a founding member & President of Tralee Chamber Alliance. Padraig has also served as a voluntary Chairperson of Fatima home for five years.

Anthony O'Gara is Managing Director of the Rose of Tralee International Festival. A Roscommon-native, he moved to Tralee in the early 1980s. He is married to Oonagh and they have four adult children. Anthony previously worked in the food industry for 25 years before moving to Tralee to take up a position in Kerry Group.

He went on to become the Group Personnel Director before leaving to start his own consultancy business in 1996. In the 2000s, the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Ireland's flagship family festival, fell on hard times and its future was under serious threat. Anthony, together with some investors, took over the event in 2004.

Since then, he has developed the Festival from 28 Rose Centres in Ireland and abroad to 70 in 2017 with up to 64 taking part in the event each year.

Dr Mary McCaffrey was appointed to Kerry as Consultant Obstetrician / Gynaecologist in 1998. Prior to coming to Kerry, she worked as Assistant Master at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin; Europe's oldest maternity hospital and as Lecturer at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

In developing the Maternity Services in Kerry, she worked diligently to bring modern standards of care to women, such as developing the epidural service, family focussed care in labour and fertility services.

In 2002 The Scotia Clinic opened its doors as a private clinic providing maternity, paediatric and women's health care. Over the years the Clinic has evolved and developed to now provide a wide range of healthcare services including Ireland's first Satellite IVF service.

The Scotia Clinic has also developed a series of links with highly specialist medical services in Ireland and Europe so that patients can be fast tracked to more specialist services without protracted waiting times. She is married to Senator Colm Burke and in her spare time she looks after her Saint Bernards and this leads to lots of long walks. Over the years her areas of support for voluntary services tended to centre around women's health - CURA which supports women with unplanned pregnancy, Kerry Rape & Sexual Abuse Centre.

Caroline McEnery Managing Director of The HR Suite and HR and Employment Law Expert, is a member on the Low Pay Commission and is also an adjudicator in the Work Place Relations Commission.

She had worked across various areas of HR for over 20 years in Kerry Group and in the retail and hospitality sector where she was the Operations and HR Director of the Garvey Group prior to setting up the HR Suite in 2009.

Caroline is also the author of "The Art of Asking the Right Questions" a tool kit for people managers to ensure they maximise the talent of their people.

She is also a lead mentor on the ACORNS programme which is promoting entrepreneurship for women and is a member of the going for growth entrepreneurship programme and continuing the momentum programme. Caroline's colleague, Mary Stapleton, accepted the award on her behalf.

CH Tralee was founded by Patricia Chute and Fionan Harty in 1967. Chute Harty Chemists subsequently became CH Chemists. Patricia was the Tralee Rose in the International Rose of Tralee Festival and she caught the eye of a young Fionan Harty who operated a pharmacy in Rock Street.

After the couple married they began to develop Patricia's own family business Chute's Chemists (in The Mall). Patricia, a qualified beautician developed the beauty side of the business while Fionan concentrated on the pharmacy side.

The business developed over the years with the addition of their daughter Claire, an ophthalmic optician and their son Peter, a pharmacist.

Today Peter and Claire continue their parents' ethos along with a talented team of people which at Christmas, swells to 94. CH is committed to working with and supporting the local community through sponsorship, employment and events such as "The CH Annual Santa Parade" each year.

On his own and his sister Claire's behalf Peter dedicated this award to the memory of their parents who founded CH and whose memory, he said, inspires them to keep progressing.

Kevin McCarthy, was born in Riverstick, Co Cork and went to school in Kinsale. He joined Quinnsworth in 1982 as a retail trainee manager and worked with them for eight years which included stints as Assistant manager in Kilarney, Tralee.

Kevin joined Tomas Garvey in 1990 as store manager in Castleisland, opened the new Garveys store in Tralee in 1992, went on to become regional manager in 1996, joined the Board of Directors in 1998 and became a shareholder in the business. He was appointed Managing Director in 2006.

When he joined the Garvey Group in 1990 the Company had two stores (Castleisland & Dingle) and four butchers shops in Tralee. It had a retail turnover of seven million Euro and employed about 80 people. Today, Garveys are one of the largest independent retailers in the country with a retail turnover in excess of 100 million euro, employing over 800 people in nine stores throughout Munster and two hotels in Dingle.

Padraig, Anthony, Mary, Caroline, Peter and Kevin were presented with specially commissioned handmade glass pieces and wooden bowls from local craft makers, Terence MacSweeney and David Condon, while Tralee-based photographer, Pauline Dennigen, will photograph each of the 12 monthly winners and their portraits will be featured in an exhibition and a 2018 Tralee charity calendar.

The 12 monthly winners are: Breeda Hurley (January), Dan Horan (February), Billy Nolan (March), Fiona Kirby/Cotter (April), Don Nolan (May), Mike McDonnell (June), Padraig McGillicuddy (July), Anthony O'Gara (August), Dr Mary McCaffrey (September), Caroline McEnery (October), Peter Harty (November) and Kevin McCarthy (December).
The New Ross branch of the Labour party held its AGM recently in Corcoran's bar in the Irishtown where they welcomed party leader Brendan Howlin and Cllr George Lawlor from Wexford.

Following a busy year for the branch the AGM was an occasion to look back, but mainly to look forward to the year ahead.

Mr Howlin spoke about the uniqueness of the Labour Party which, following a unanimous vote at conference this year, is now the only party in Ireland to follow a one member, one vote system.

'This goes to the core of the belief of equality in the Labour party. Every voice is equal in the Labour Party,' Mr Howlin said.

A discussion on the fact that after years of hard, sometimes unpopular, work and decisions the country is now getting back on its feet.

Local Area Rep, Bridin Moloney said: 'The Labour Party believes that now is not the time to start slashing taxes but we need to spend on our public services, SlainteCare, housing, education, childcare to name a few.'

Mr Howlin said: 'We have a great history, but more than that we have a great future.'

He said next year may bring some difficult times for our country with a referendum expected on the repeal of the 8th Amendment.

Mr Howlin reiterated that the Labour Party nationally stands ready to campaign and fight for this change to our constitution.

Following the party leader speech, Sonny Sinnott, the chairperson of the branch for over 25 years, announced his decision to hand over the reigns. Sonny was thanked for his immense work in keeping the party active in the New Ross district, during the good and not so good times. He reminded the branch that while he may have stood down as chair he looked forward to continuing his fight for Labour values in New Ross.

Emmett Malone was subsequently elected new chair.

Emmett has been a staunch supporter of the Labour Party all his life and he said he is delighted to take on the role. Also newly elected on the night was Michael Fottrell as treasurer.

Sonny was elected vice chair, Bridin Moloney was re-elected secretary and PRO and Ingrid O'Brien was elected vice treasurer. Local area rep Bridin talked about how the branch looked forward to the next year of campaigning and increasing the party's presence in the district. 'The Labour Party's values of decency, justice and equality are needed now as ever before and we look forward to our continued work with the people of the New Ross district and the Labour Party. We were delighted to welcome party Leader Brendan Howlin TD and also Cllr George Lawlor from the Wexford town district.'
Multi award winning wildlife photographer Colin Stafford-Johnson is bringing all the drama and colour of his career to a show at St Michael's Theatre in New Ross on Wednesday, November 8.

Dubliner Colin, 53, is the foremost nature and wildlife cinematographer and presenter in Ireland today and could be considered the Irish David Attenborough, given his encyclopedic knowledge of wildlife and nature.

Colin will present his 'Living the Wild Life... with Colin Stafford-Johnson' show at St. Michael's Theatre as part of a nationwide tour of Ireland.

He took time out from his hectic schedule to speak with this newspaper.

Colin said: 'My interest in wildlife came before my interest in photography. I backpacked around the world and visited natural history museums and studied wildlife.'

Colin completed a degree in wildlife filming in his mid-20s. 'I started off with a wildlife camerman making the tea. He was making a wildlife series in Wales and it was there where I got some experience on a proper film camera. I was able to build up a show reel over two years.'

Inspired by David Attenborough's groundbreaking Life on Earth series, he set off on his career.

Describing the job of wildlife cameraman as 'full on', Colin said you can be employed for six weeks and then have no work for several weeks.

His first big break came when he got a job filming tigers in India. 'I spent 220 days there. I would work on average 14 hours a day for six weeks and then take a break as you would be mentally drained. You have to be switched on. Nothing can happen for several days and it can be 45 degree heat in the sun while the tigers are in the shade.'

Colin worked for the BBC's natural history unit for many years before returning to Ireland nine years ago. He made fifty Living a Wild Life programmes over eight years and became a presenter for films about tigers and monkeys. 'I presented the film for Broken Tail; it was the most successful wildlife film of that year. The On a River In Ireland documentary I made was one of the top three nature documentaries ever made. It won the biggest prize in Europe and America.'

Colin canoed down the river Shannon, interacting with wildlife as he went for the programme. He recently finished a two part series called Wild Ireland: Edge of the World which was aired on PBS and the BBC to great success. His next job is filming sea otters and bears in America.

In his RTE Living the Wildlife series he encourages viewers to get out to see the country's amazing wildlife. 'During filming we had an absolutely amazing day where we saw 500 dolphins, three hump back whales, 20 fins and a few minkies off the Cork coast. The diversity of wildlife is amazing. Wildlife doesn't reveal itself very easily but if you go to the trouble of going out it's amazing what you can see.'

He said patience is vital. 'A lot of animals are very predictable but weather is the thing that gets you in Ireland. In tropical countries it's insects and the heat. You could be 100ft high up on a tree canopy platform and all the insects in the area see this human body and just chew you up. You could have 100 ticks all over your body and mosquitos eating you. After one filming trip to the Amazon I was scratching for two years. I got malaria, dengue fever and dysentry.'

Colin said filming tigers and monkeys have been the highlight of his career. In his talk - which will feature video clips from his series - he will tell the stories behind the shots. 'The show is split between Ireland and overseas. It's all very light and casual.'

People attending will have the opportunity to find out how people become a wildlife cameraman, what the challenges filming the wild include, the weird and the wonderful. Adult ticket prices cost 18 and the cost for retired people, students and children is 16.
A coffee morning to raise funds for the Mitchell Sisters Independent Living Project raised over 8,000. Hosted by Seamus and Gay Devaney, the event brought the local community together to fundraise for the cause.

Mairead and Aoibheann Mitchell were diagnosed with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) while in their late teens.

A huge fundraising campaign is underway, which aims to provide the sisters with the necessary funding to allow them to live independently in suitable apartments.

At the time of writing, over 105,000 of the 165,000 goal had been raised.

Speaking about the coffee morning, Gay said: "It was such a great, great day. The weather was good and there was a huge 'feel-good' factor in the air. Mairead and Aoibheann attended for the greater part of the day. "People were delighted to meet up with them and acknowledge the courage and bravery the two girls are displaying in seeking to establish an independent life for themselves. It is wonderful they will be able to live in the area they grew up in."

Gay said that the huge support received ,not only on the coffee morning but for the campaign in general, is a good reflection on the community. "It was truly marvellous. I had an excellent 'back-room team'. They worked endlessly and were unrelenting in ensuring everyone was well catered for.

"It is a wonderful reflection on our community, not only in terms of attendance and support but especially the generosity of contributions." Gay's husband Seamus said the solidarity shown by the community is 'heart-warming'.

"It was truly a special day for us. We are delighted to help a neighbouring family and in doing so we had a unique opportunity to spend time with neighbours and friends and acquaint with new ones. It has been our pleasure.

"Occasions like this are genuinely heart-warming. We recognise the giftedness of one another and we are reaffirmed in our solidarity as a community."

For more on the fundraising campaign check out gofundme.com/mitchellsisters.
Sligo County Council has been urged to write to the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe to find out why there is a delay in licensing competition in the banking sector.

Councillor Marie Casserly tabled the motion at yesterday's November meeting of the council.

She called for a public banking sector to be set up similar to what exists in Germany in order to reduce the costs on Irish bank customers and mortgage holders.

Sparkasse Bank is one of several public savings banks operating successfully in Germany.

"Considering that the average Standard Variable Mortgage rate in Europe is 1.83 per cent, while the average in Ireland is 3.5 per cent, why has there been a delay in licencing competition in the Banking Sector?

"There has rightly been an outcry in relation to the Tracker Mortgage Scandal which has left many families suffering, and some have even lost their homes.

"There is, however, a greater scandal in Ireland that has gone unnoticed by many, which is the fact that standard variable rate mortgage holders, approximately 90 per cent of the total number of mortgages in the country, pay around twice the amount of interest that the average European pays.

"There are around 300,000 of these mortgages throughout the country, which amounts to over a billion euro of extra interest paid by these people every year, which amounts to 4,000 for every mortgage holder per annum, on average.

"The solution to this problem is the licencing of a public banking sector, along the lines of what happens in Germany.

"The credit unions should be utilised in relation to the setting up of a public banking system, as they have branch networks and most are carefully managed and run by a group of professional staff who know and respect their members.

"Public banking is a feature of the banking sector in many countries, particularly in Germany, where public banks have 12,000 branches, and 250,000 employees, and control 70 per cent of the mortgage market," she said.

"Public banks in Germany offer fixed mortgage rates of around 1% for a fixed term of 10 - 15 years. These banks are not for profit organisations, where if there is a surplus at the end of the year it goes towards improving the banks balance sheet, or is returned to the municipality for public good.

"According to the German representative who spoke to a Dail committee recently: "It helps to strengthen the credit unions. Through the new public banks they could offer services that they are unable to offer now. They could use the services of a central services provider to make their own business more efficient."

"There are some ways in which it is possible to strengthen the credit unions through this new public banking system.

"It is a question of how to co-operate. And the commercial banks would be forced to offer more competitive rates," concluded Cllr Casserly.
The recently appointed Chairman of the Western Drama Festival, Brendan McGowan, is aiming to encourage amateur drama further as he takes on his new role.

Having been involved with the festival for around 27 years, there are few better placed than Brendan to take on this role. He has previously served as secretary for the prestigious festival, and nationally was Chairman of the governing body, the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland.

"It's an honour to be selected as chairman," Brendan told The Sligo Champion.

He paid tribute to Billy Kilgannon, who had held the position of Chairman for 12 years.

"Billy Kilgannon was chairman for 12 years and he held that role with brilliant enthusiasm and commitment. He oversaw significant developments and was chairman for two All Ireland finals."

South Sligo is a hotbed of amateur drama, and this, Brendan says, makes the role that bit more daunting.

"This is the most daunting role I will have held within drama. The Western Drama Festival is the longest established festival, and there is such a rich tapestry of talent in the area. My role with the ADCI was daunting at the time.

"It is the most vibrant amateur drama festival in the country," he added.

Brendan has been involved with drama from a very early age.

"It all started when I was a child, I had a great interest in drama, my parents were involved so when we were of an age when we could go along and sit still for long enough, our parents started bringing us along. I always had my season ticket."

In 1989 he was then invited to join the committee: "Maeve Walsh took me under her wing and persuaded me to join the national body and I've been with it all ever since."

During his time as Chairman, Brendan is keen to encourage more drama groups to join the circuit.

"I suppose the next thing will be the 75th year celebrations. The next chapter really begins in March. I hope to continue in the same vein as my predecessors and encourage amateur drama locally and spread the word nationally. There are lots of amateur drama groups around who don't participate in festivals so I want to liaise with the Drama League of Ireland."

He also paid tribute to the late Oliver Flannery: "On a sad note, we lost one of our members, Oliver Flannery recently, son of one of the founding members. He is deeply missed. I looked to Oliver for advice a lot of the time. On behalf of the festival I would to send our condolences to his wife Phil and family."

The 2017 Western Drama Festival takes place for three nights from November 16th at St. Brigid's Hall.
The Glasshouse Hotel in Sligo town is celebrating after winning a whopping five YesChef Awards for their culinary and service standards.

The Kitchen chef Alan Fitzmaurice brought home their first award as Connacht Chef of the Year 2018. He and his team then won Restaurant of the Year 2018.

They also won Connacht Hotel Restaurant of the Year 2018 and the overall Hotel Restaurant of the Year 2018.

Their fifth award was brought back to Sligo by their front of house team, who won Connacht Front of House Team of the Year 2018.

"It means a lot, the hard work has paid off," The Glasshouse General Manager Mario Puchowski told The Sligo Champion.

"We decided on a different route last year and introduced a much better service for guests, more complete," he said.

The new direction started paying off immediately, with the hotel's kitchen winning an Irish Hotel Award last March.

"We continued our new philosophy so we were able to win more awards at the YesChef awards last week. We're absolutely delighted. YesChef Awards would be important to us.

"It's not only the culinary but for our service that we won awards as well," he added.

The YesChef Awards for the hospitality industry in Ireland and were held in The Limerick Strand on 24th October. Nook cafe in Collooney won Connacht Cafe of the Year 2018.
A talented Sligo artist was selected to participate in a recent Macnas 'Engineers of Imagination' initiative.

The programme, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, saw ten of Ireland's most exciting and emerging visual artists brought to Galway for a month-long programme.

Hannah Dobson from Sligo, a graduate from IADT with a BA in Design for Stage and Screen Character Makeup Design, was one of the ten students chosen from hundreds of applications for the mentoring programme last month.

Hannah, along with students from Louth, Galway, Dublin and Mayo were mentored by experienced Macnas designers and worked alongside them to create pieces featured in Halloween parades which took place in Galway on 29th October and in Dublin on 30th October.

The students' work will also feature in the closing event for the European City of Culture in Hull.

Macnas CEO Noeline Kavanagh said: "We are looking forward to the culmination of this project as part of our 2020 visionary epic event."
Sinn Fein spokesperson for Agriculture, Food and Marine Martin Kenny TD has described the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly to tax greenhouse gas emissions from Agriculture as ludicrous.

Deputy Martin Kenny said; "There is no evidence to suggest that the introduction of carbon taxes reduce carbon emissions, on the contrary since the introduction of a carbon tax on fossil fuels in 2010 over all greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 4%.

"If a tax on greenhouse gas emissions on Agriculture were to be introduced, I don't see it have any effect on the overall levels of carbon emissions. It will however have a serious impact on the price of food for consumers in shops. To suggest that we need to move away from beef production to an alternative farming practice like forestry is completely ludicrous."

The Agri-food industry is one of largest sources of employment in the country and also accounts the largest percentage of Irish exports. The notion that we should move to an alternative farming practice like forestry would have a devastating effect on the Irish economy.

"While I agree it is important to reduce greenhouse emissions, we need to find an alternative way other than taxing people as it simply doesn't work."
Sligo train drivers take to the picket line today for the second of five planned work stoppages in a dispute over pay.

The first day of strike action took place nationwide last Wednesday and this newspaper spoke to workers on the picket line:

"We want more money. We feel strongly about it. We wouldn't be here otherwise," said one train driver called Peter.

"They haven't put their hearts into the negotiations either" he said.

"They could easily try harder. We didn't think about this lightly, sure we're losing money," he said.

Another train driver, Mick agreed. "We're just looking for more money. The work has become much more stressful for us. You're dealing with something different every day," he told The Sligo Champion.

"Ten years is a long time without a pay rise, especially when a company can afford to spend tens of thousands on a fishing trip so it's a bit of a snub really isn't it?" he said.

Depot worker Trevor said ten years was too long to wait without a pay rise.

"The cuts were severe. We agreed to the cuts and then it's nothing, for ten years," he added.

Services from Sligo to Dublin stopped at midnight last night.

Future days of work stoppages are next Tuesday 14th November, Thursday 23rd November and Friday 8th December

Today's stoppage is expected to impact around 150,000 customers and cost Irish Rail 900,000.

Talks broke down last month at the last minute, just as a deal was being hammered out between Irish Rail and the unions - SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU).

However, with no intervention forthcoming, commuters will have to plan to be without services for today at least.

Irish Rail apologised to customers for the disruption and said that refunds would be available for people who had pre-booked.

The Sligo Iarnrod Eireann workers say they are in it for the long haul and are prepared to carry out the upcoming work stoppages.

"But hopefully the company will come back with something," said Trevor.

"We don't want to be out either. It's four more dates before Christmas, up to the 8th of December," he said.

"They may announce more after Christmas," said Mick.

When asked if they were confident of a deal being done before Christmas, the men referred to the break down in talks before Halloween.

"We were told there was a deal done last Thursday week at something like 5 in the evening. Everyone was happy but the Irish Rail management team pulled the plug at 11 o'clock," said Mick.

There are over 30 workers involved in the strike action in Sligo.

The men said they felt sorry for people missing out on travel to Dublin for hospital appointments etc:"We feel sorry for them. We don't want to be out here. We just want to be driving trains," said Mick.

"We didn't prevent the buses from going, we could have," said another. "It mightn't go ahead next week. That's what you hope for," added Trevor.
The Remedy Club will play in the Harbour Bar on Sunday, November 12, at 9 p.m. as part of their national tour following the recent release of their album 'Lovers, Legends & Lost Causes'.

The Remedy Club comprises husband and wife KJ McEvoy and Aileen Mythen, and the debut album went on general release via High Flying Disc Records. They are known for their tight vocal harmonies and intelligent song-writing. McEvoy has been singled out for praise as a guitar player of great expressiveness and technical aplomb and Mythen for her stunning vocal performances. 'Lovers, Legends and Lost Causes' features the accomplished string playing of KJ's sister Eleanor McEvoy who joined forces with a sterling troupe of Ireland's hottest musicians including Cillian and Lorcan Byrne from Basciville.

The album was produced by The Remedy Club at Astakalapa Studios, Gorey, with Darragh Nolan, and mixed in Nashville by five-time Grammy award winner Ray Kennedy and Mark Petaccia.

'We wanted to create an album of music that we would like to hear ourselves while also paying homage to such musical heroes as Tom Waits, Hank Williams and Django Reinhardt,' said Aileen. 'The style of music fits really well with me personally at this point in my life. I think it's important to have honesty in the music and singing these songs feels very truthful. Nowhere is this sentiment more evident on the album than in the lead single 'Come On', with its starkly honest refrain and wonderful vocal performances, which highlights the chemistry between the pair.

'Although we're influenced by different musical styles, including blues, folk and rock n' roll, our country influences are very much to the fore on this album,' added CJ. 'There are three main themes running through the album, with songs about love ('Last Song', 'I Miss You'), legends ('When Tom Waits Up', 'Listening to Hank Williams') and lost causes ('Bottom of the Hill', 'Get Away With It').' For more, see www.theremedyclub.ie
A former senior Anglo Irish Bank official, charged with conspiring to destroy or falsify records of accounts connected to the bank's former chief executive Sean FitzPatrick, has been acquitted of all charges against him.

Judge Martin Nolan directed the jury last Wednesday (November 1) at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to acquit Tiarnan O'Mahoney (58), former chief operations officer with the bank, of all charges against him.

Mr O'Mahoney of Glen Pines, Enniskerry, had pleaded not guilty to conspiring to destroy, mutilate or falsify books and documents affecting or relating to the property or affairs of Anglo Irish Bank Corp PLC.

He also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Revenue Commissioners, who were conducting an investigation into bogus non-resident accounts which may have been liable for Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT).

The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 25, 2003 and December 31, 2004 and refer to eight named bank accounts, all of which were connected to Sean FitzPatrick.

Judge Nolan told the jury that in their absence an application had been made by Mr O'Mahoney's legal team, arguing the case shouldn't be put before them for deliberation due to an absence of evidence.

'Yesterday I acceded to that application and therefore the case will not go to the jury,' Judge Nolan said.

Judge Nolan then instructed the jury foreman to sign the issue paper which stated that the defendant was 'not guilty by direction.'

He remarked that the application made by Brendan Grehan SC, defending, was not unusual and was quite appropriate to make at the end of the State's case. Judge Nolan thanked the jurors for their service during what he described as 'an unusual case' and discharged them.

'Mr O'Mahoney can now be discharged,' Judge Nolan said.

Tiernan O'Mahoney did not make any response and showed no visible reaction.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 25, 2003 and December 31, 2004 and refer to eight named bank accounts, all of which were connected to Sean FitzPatrick.

Judge Nolan's direction followed a submission from the defence arguing that the case should not go before the jury because the prosecution had not proved the necessary connection between Mr O'Mahoney and Aoife Maguire, former assistant manager at Anglo Irish Bank.

Lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecution had argued the case could be decided by a jury if a direction was given by Judge Nolan to combine all the circumstantial evidence together to form a compelling conclusion.

Judge Nolan said that after considering the arguments from both sides he had reluctantly come to the conclusion that the case was 'too tenuous' to go to the jury and a conviction would be 'perverse'.

'The evidence of conspiracy to do the acts with which Mr O'Mahoney is charged is too tenuous, too remote in both substance and in time,' he said.

He said he was not satisfied that any properly directed jury could convict in these circumstances, as they would be asked to speculate and to fill in gaps in the evidence adduced during the trial.

Judge Nolan said there was every reason to be suspicious of Mr O'Mahoney's activities in October and November 2003, and his subsequent dealings with gardai. But, he said, in the absence of formal evidence of conspiracy with Aoife Maguire this was not enough.

Judge Nolan said that it was obvious that the person who benefited from the deletion of the accounts in question was Sean FitzPatrick.

'Sean FitzPatrick used the accounts to deal in Anglo shares in a prohibited period. For a petty reward he breached the rules in relation to insider trading,' Judge Nolan said.

Judge Nolan praised the gardai, who he said investigated the matter in an exemplary fashion.

The prosecution had alleged that Mr O'Mahoney conspired to delete six accounts from the bank's electronic record system, and to disguise the identity of two further accounts.

'During the trial the court heard that all eight bank accounts were 'to a greater or lesser extent' connected to Sean FitzPatrick.

The prosecution's case was that Aoife Maguire, a member of staff at Anglo, approached members of the bank's IT team during the Revenue audit in 2003 and requested that certain accounts be deleted from the bank's system.

However, the IT department members were uncomfortable with this instruction, and archived the accounts rather than deleting them. When the archived accounts were recovered it transpired that some details pertaining to the accounts had been altered.

The prosecution had argued that Tiarnan O'Mahoney was part of an agreement to make a deliberate, concerted effort to alter the details of these accounts and to defraud Revenue.

This trial, lasting 21 days, was a retrial after the Court of Appeal quashed Mr O'Mahoney's 2015 conviction in April 2016.
A Wicklow man who stole almost 70,000 from his employer to spend on prescription medication for his drug addicted ex-girlfriend has received a three-year suspended sentence.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Jonathan Hynes (31) has refunded Zurich Life Assurance plc 30,000 to date and that he used all the stolen money to pay for his ex-partner's serious drug habit and hospital bills.

Michael Bowman SC, defending, submitted that his client's theft to help his former partner during her serious addiction was a 'desperate act driven by emotion rather than greed.'

Judge Martin Nolan commented that Hynes's 'motivation in some sense could be seen as noble' and added: 'If there was a less noble motive for the theft then the result would have been different.'

He suspended the sentence for three years and ordered that Hynes repay the 40,000 still owed to the insurance company within that time.

Hynes, with an address at Sea Road, Arklow, pleaded guilty to stealing amounts between 1,000 and 7,000, property of Zurich Life Assurance plc, Zurich House, Frascati Road, Blackrock, on dates between January 29 and December 21, 2015. He has no previous convictions.

Detective Garda Colm Gregan told John Fitzgerald BL, prosecuting, that Hynes's role at the company had been to pay doctor services used in insurance claims. Hynes instead transferred the funds into his own bank.

Gardai began their investigation when a discrepancy was noticed in the company accounts.

Det Gda Gregan agreed with Mr Bowman that Hynes had acted out of love and support for his partner, who had been seriously addicted to prescription medication.

The detective agreed that Hynes fell into depression and couldn't think how to pay his debts and support his partner, so he took money from his employer.

The detective further agreed that Hynes was now paying the company back on a monthly basis and had not 'profited a red cent' from the thefts.

Mr Bowman submitted to Judge Nolan that his client had always been a 'loquacious, outgoing person' but then he began withdrawing from his social environment and eating lunch in his car. He said Hynes was unable to ask for help and didn't seek to create difficulties at work.

Judge Nolan accepted that this was a crime of desperation and said it would be unjust to imprison Hynes.

He acknowledged that Hynes was highly unlikely to re-offend and ordered that he repay the company the balance of the stolen money within three years.
As Iarnrod Eireann staff staged the first of a number of planned strikes last Wednesday (November 1), staff at Arklow Train Station were out on the picket line making their case for fair pay after a decade-long pay freeze.

Unions representing the staff are seeking a wage increase of 3.75 per cent over three years without any conditions.

'We are the only group of the three, including Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann, who have not had our pay reinstated after 28 months, as agreed,' said Joe Long.

'Nobody wants to be here on strike. We all want to be working and doing our jobs and getting people where they need to go, but we had to do something,' he added.

Colleague Barry Evans was keen to highlight that it is not just the drivers, but maintenance staff like him who have also been without any increments, despite heavier workloads for the same flat rate, as more than 1,000 staff were shed from the company.

'We went out in Hurricane Ophelia for 20-plus hours. During a storm one Christmas, we walked the track to check it wasn't washed away and when there is a tree fallen on the track, we have to get off, chop it up and make sure the train keeps moving,' said Mr Evans.

'If you are named engine supervisor you get an hour extra pay and are responsible for the life of every man on the team. If something happens to any of them you are the one facing a possible custodial sentence. People don't see that and they don't know about all the other work that goes on behind the scenes,' Mr Evans said.

He agreed that the strike action was 'the last straw' and that none of the staff want to be on the picket line - without pay or discommoding passengers.

'Nobody wanted to come out, but we had to make a stand,' agreed Vincent Geraghty who is based in Dublin but resides in Arklow.

'A deal was almost across the line but the plug was pulled on it at the last minute. We have already given as much as possible. We cannot keep giving and giving,' he said.

'We don't even know why we are here negotiating again when we agreed a deal nine years ago,' added Mr Evans. 'Once again we are the Cinderella of the transport service.'

The staff say that if a deal is not met they will be striking on scheduled days for the foreseeable future but have given their union a mandate to call and 'all-out' strike for up to a week if a deal is not brokered.

In the meantime, Arklow commuters and rail users will have to make alternative travel arrangements, and must note that Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann will not accept tickets.
The threat of cyber attacks has never been more apparent in Ireland.

In a year where two of the biggest global threats against businesses were both ransomware attacks, experts warn that its essential that Irish businesses equip themselves to ensure that they are as protected as possible.

Ireland is now one of the most dynamic business and technology hubs in Europe and as cyber attacks increase in sophistication and scale, the race is now on for Irish employers to make the right moves in ensuring that their businesses, employees and clients are protected and empowered to succeed.

The threats are so evident that earlier this year, Irelands National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) embarked on a major recruitment campaign for experts to help protect critical national infrastructure from potentially crippling cyber attacks.

Minister of State for Digital Development Sean Kyne emphasised the importance of security for businesses across Ireland, describing the potential for cyber attacks and ransomware attacks as unfortunately real.

A massive 48% of all businesses in Ireland still have no cyber security policy in place and 171,000 businesses in the State could be vulnerable right now to crippling ransomeware attacks, according to a new nationwide survey by Magnet Networks.

Statistics locally and globally show that cyber crime is likely to become more frequent as while right now the more high-profile attacks are hitting the headlines, smaller-scale attacks are happening on a business level across all sectors every day and businesses are forced to play catch-up.

Over 26% of businesses surveyed in the Magnet Networks Cyber Security Survey stated that they have suffered from cyber-attacks in the past two years, with a further 18% unsure if they have been affected.

Youre either totally secure  or youre vulnerable

The study found that only 13% of respondents think that their business is very secure. This is worrying, points out Magnet Networks CEO Mark Kellett, as in the absolute world of cyber-attacks you are either totally secure or you are vulnerable in some way.

The snapshot from this new Magnet Networks survey of the state of Irish cyber defences, revealed that 84% of businesses surveyed have anti-virus software installed and 65% have combined this with a firewall.

While this is a positive, its clear that Irish businesses now need to future-proof, as the proliferation of new types of malware means that these traditional anti-virus solutions are no longer as effective as they were in the past. Because of the sophistication of todays cyber attacks, the traditional anti-virus solutions are constantly playing catch-up, leaving computer networks vulnerable to attack.

A new initiative from Magnet Networks is offering essential protection to Irish businesses, free for six months. Magnet Protect is the most secure product on the market, explains Mark Kellett, CEO, Magnet Networks. At the very least, as a business owner you will have six months to concentrate on the people who want to do business with you, not the cyber criminals constantly knocking on your virtual back door.

Magnet Protect is built on the worlds leading security platform - Palo Alto Networks  and is described as the ultimate protection for your business. The first free six months of Magnet Protect has no strings and no contracts. You simply sign a no-fee agreement for six months and you are free to walk away at the end.

Get 6 months FREE Cyber Security for your business with Magnet Protect.

Sponsored by:
Pitch Perfect star Rebel Wilson claims she has been a victim of sexual harassment in Hollywood.

The Australian-born actress, 37, accused an unnamed male star who she said was in a position of power of asking her to go in a room with him and to penetrate him with her finger while his friends filmed the incident on their phones.

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She also claimed she had a separate hotel room encounter with a top director, but said nothing physical happened after his wife called and shouted at him for sleeping with actresses.

Luckily she was yelling so loud that I could hear her and I bolted out of there immediately, she wrote in a series of posts on Twitter. I was so naive the thought of anything happening apart from work talk didnt even cross my mind, she added.

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Wilson said she had been working overseas recently but had found it so hard to hear all these stories relating to sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood.

She added: As you guys know, Im a pretty strong and confident person but even I have a story to tell. A male star, in a position of power asked me to go into a room with him and then asked me repeatedly to stick my finger up his ass.

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All whilst his male friends tried to film the incident on their iPhones and laughed. I repeatedly said no and eventually got out of the room.

Video of the Day

She said her agent secured a deal with the studio to protect herself if something similar ever occurred and had been threatened by the stars representative to be nice and support the male star.

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I feel lucky that I grew up in a pro-female environment, going to an all-girls high school, and that I have such a strong sense of self and have taken self-defence classes. I had the ability to escape both incidents. I realise not everyone is as lucky, Wilson added.

To hear how prevalent sexual harassment and assault is, is just so saddening. I know my stories arent as horrific as other women and men have described  but if youve ever experienced anything like this I feel for you and can relate on some level.

Dozens of actresses and actors have spoken out over sexual misconduct, harassment and assault across the film and TV industry in the past month.

It comes after a New York Times report in October alleged film producer Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed or assaulted several women. He has since been accused by dozens of women, and is being investigated by police in the US and London.

House Of Cards star Kevin Spacey also faces police investigations in the UK amid harassment and assault accusations
Lilly Ross feels the beard of face transplant recipient Andy Sandness during their meeting at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Picture: AP

A woman who donated her husband's face to a stranger burst into tears when she finally met him for the first time - 16 months after the successful transplant.

At the famous Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Lilly Ross reached out and touched the rosy cheeks and eyed the hairless gap in a chin that she had once known so well.

"That's why he always grew his beard so long, so he could try to mesh it together on the chin," she told the transplant recipient Andy Sandness.

More than a year after surgery gave Mr Sandness the skin and muscles that had belonged to Calen 'Rudy' Ross, he met the woman who had agreed to donate her high-school sweetheart's face to a man who had lived nearly a decade without one.

Mr Sandness underwent a 56-hour surgery that was the clinic's first such transplant.

With her toddler Leonard in tow, Ms Ross strode toward Mr Sandness, tears welling in her eyes as they tightly embraced.

She had fretted before the meeting, fearful of the certain reminders of her husband, who took his own life. But her stress quickly melted away. Without Calen's eyes, forehead or strong cheeks, Mr Sandness didn't look like him, she told herself.

Instead, she saw a man whose life had changed through her husband's gift, newly confident after 10 years of hiding from mirrors.

"It made me proud," Ms Ross said of the 32-year-old Mr Sandness.

Calen Ross and Mr Sandness lived lives full of hunting, fishing and exploring the outdoors before their various struggles consumed them, 10 years and hundreds of miles apart.

Mr Sandness put a rifle below his chin in late 2006 in his native Wyoming and pulled the trigger, destroying most of his face.

Mr Ross shot himself and died in southwestern Minnesota a decade later.

Ms Ross had already agreed to donate her husband's lungs, kidneys and other organs to patients.

Then LifeSource, an organisation that facilitates organ and tissue donations, broached the idea of a donation for a man awaiting a face transplant.

The men's ages, blood type, skin colour and facial structure were a near-perfect match.

Now, Ms Ross and Mr Sandness plan to forge a stronger connection and he has said that he will contribute to a trust fund for Leonard's education.
The IRSN said the concentrations of ruthenium 106 in the air recorded in Europe were of no consequence for human health and the environment. Stock photo: Depositphotos

A cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe in recent weeks indicates that an accident has happened in a nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September, French nuclear safety institute IRSN said.

The IRSN ruled out an accident in a nuclear reactor, saying it was likely to be in a nuclear fuel treatment site or centre for radioactive medicine. There has been no impact on human health or the environment in Europe, it said.

IRSN, the technical arm of French nuclear regulator ASN, said in a statement it could not pinpoint the location of the release of radioactive material but that based on weather patterns, the most plausible zone lay south of the Ural mountains, between the Urals and the Volga river.

This could indicate Russia or possibly Kazakhstan, an IRSN official said.

"Russian authorities have said they are not aware of an accident on their territory," IRSN director Jean-Marc Peres told Reuters. He added that the institute had not yet been in contact with Kazakh authorities. A spokesperson for the Russian Emergencies Ministry could not immediately comment.

Mr Peres said that in recent weeks IRSN and several other nuclear safety institutes in Europe had measured high levels of levels of ruthenium 106, a radioactive nuclide that is the product of splitting atoms in a nuclear reactor and which does not occur naturally.

IRSN estimates the quantity of ruthenium 106 released was major and if an accident of this magnitude had happened in France it would have required the evacuation or sheltering of people in a radius of a few kilometres around the accident site.

The ruthenium 106 was probably released in a nuclear fuel treatment site or centre for radioactive medicine, Mr Peres said.

The IRSN ruled out the crash of a ruthenium-powered satellite as an IAEA investigation has concluded no ruthenium-containing satellite has fallen back on Earth during this period.

Measurements showed high levels of ruthenium 106 in the atmosphere of the majority of European countries at the beginning of October, with a steady decrease from October 6.

The IRSN said the concentrations of ruthenium 106 in the air recorded in Europe were of no consequence for human health and the environment.

The institute also said the probability of importation into France of foodstuffs, notably mushrooms, contaminated by ruthenium 106 near the site of the accident is extremely low.
There are countries in which you are accused of an act of corruption and then you are arrested. And then there are countries in which someone decides to arrest you and only then are you called corrupt.

Saudi Arabia belongs to that second category. Last week, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, used the excuse of "corruption" to arrest several dozen people, including close members of his family, and to lock them up in the posh confines of the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh.

Nobody took the charges at face value.

"Corruption" - theft from the state - is not easily defined in Saudi Arabia, a place where the ruling family is the state, and vice versa.

Instead, those who know the country have argued that these arrests are part of a major political transition, an assault on the country's sclerotic, traditional power structure.

The crown prince appears to be "deliberately dismantling the traditional governance system in Saudi Arabia," wrote 'The Post's' David Ignatius. The arrests were preceded by other changes: Talk of social modernisation, for example - one of the world's most misogynistic societies will soon allow women to drive - as well as of the diversification of an economy almost entirely dependent on oil.

But if those are the goals, these arrests also represent another setback for US leadership in the era of President Donald Trump, and a major blow to the prestige of a very different model of modernisation and political transition. Most European countries were once monarchies like Saudi Arabia, but they handed over power to parliaments.

The United States once denied women many rights, but it slowly enfranchised them. That Western model - to expand rights and freedom, to establish the rule of law and independent courts, to pass sovereignty from an aristocracy to a broader group of citizens - was long promoted by Americans as a matter of course. During what is remembered as the "Third Wave" of democratisation, from the 1970s to the 1990s, dozens of countries in Latin America, Asia and central Europe sought to emulate this tradition and carry out this kind of reform.

Now that model is in retreat. Instead of following a Western model of modernisation and reform, the crown prince has taken the path of China and Russia, where "political transition" means that power is retained by a tiny, very wealthy elite.

In Russia in 2003, Vladimir Putin arrested, for "corruption", Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Russia. Khodorkovsky was unluckier than the Saudi princes - he wound up in a Siberian labour camp, not the Ritz-Carlton - but his arrest served the same purpose: It frightened Russia's other rich men into submission, and it established the Kremlin, not the oligarchs, as the ultimate source of power.

In China, Mr Trump's new friend, President Xi Jinping, has used charges of "corruption" in a strikingly similar manner. As in Russia and Saudi Arabia, almost everyone in the nepotistic Chinese ruling class has extraordinary access to money, jobs and even state assets. The decision to call anyone "corrupt" is just as political in Beijing as it is in Riyadh. Since taking power, Mr Xi has, like Mr Putin, used that tool to eliminate political rivals, to scare his colleagues and to establish himself as the unchallengeable ruler. And by using the language of "anti-corruption", he, like Mr Putin, seeks public approval in a society that is well aware that the system is skewed against them.

It's not hard to guess why the Saudi crown prince has chosen to follow the Russian and Chinese road map, or why he has sought to consolidate power instead of sharing it. In part, it is thanks to the failure of the Arab Spring, a disaster that has tragically tainted "Western models" in a part of the world that will know peace only if citizens of different ethnicities can find ways to share power.

But Mr Trump is also part of the story. By his own example - through his disdain for courts and for the media, through his scorn for ethical norms - he has cast doubt on the Western model. He may even have encouraged the Saudi prince more directly. Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law, a living embodiment of American nepotism, visited Riyadh for long talks - officially to promote Middle East peace, but perhaps business and politics, too - in the days before the arrest. The image of two princelings scheming late into the night makes a textbook illustration of the decline of American prestige and values, even in a country that is closely allied to the United States.
The Antarctic is being melted from below, according to a new study by Nasa - and a type of buried supervolcano may be to blame.

The Nasa study adds evidence that there is powerful geothermal activity underneath the ice, creating lakes and rivers below the surface.

Three decades ago a scientist at the University of Colorado Denver suggested that heat from a "mantle plume" under Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica might explain regional volcanic activity and the fact that the land there looks very much like a dome. Very recent seismic imaging has supported this concept.

Nasa said: "A geothermal heat source called a mantle plume lies deep below Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land, explaining some of the melting that creates lakes and rivers under the ice sheet.

"Although the heat source isn't a new or increasing threat to the West Antarctic ice sheet, it may help explain why the ice sheet collapsed rapidly in an earlier era of rapid climate change, and why it is so unstable today."

The scientists drew on changes in the altitude of the ice sheet surface, recorded by a Nasa satellite.

Separately, the data beamed back to Earth from Nasa's Voyager 1 spacecraft has been used to make a piece of music to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its launch.

The three-minute work is based on information captured by a special telescope aboard the craft, which is designed to identify protons, alpha particles, and other matter.

Scientists used data stretching back to 1977 to create a melody that follows the journey of Voyager 1.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin take part in a photo at the Apec summit in Danang, Vietnam, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump agreed a joint statement on Syria on Saturday that said they would continue joint efforts in fighting Islamic State until it is defeated, the Kremlin said.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the Kremlin announcement or the conversation the Kremlin said took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang.

The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson especially for the meeting in Danang.

Putin and Trump confirmed their commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active part in the Geneva political process, it said.

Moscow and Washington agree there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict, according to the text of the joint statement published on the Kremlin's website.

Television pictures from Danang showed Putin and Trump chatting - apparently amicably - as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.

Earlier pictures from the meeting show Trump walking up to Putin as he sits at the summit table and patting him on the back. The two lean in to speak to each other and clasp each other briefly as they exchange a few words.

Although the White House had said no official meeting was planned, the two also shook hands at a dinner on Friday evening.

Trump has shown little appetite for holding talks with Putin unless there is some sense that progress could be made on festering issues such as Syria, Ukraine and North Korea.

After emphasising last year on the campaign trail that it would be nice if the United States and Russia could work together on world problems, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office.

Trump publicly sitting down with Putin also revives the issue of Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election, which remains under investigation.

Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the probe along with his former deputy, Rick Gates.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin take part in a photo at the Apec summit in Danang, Vietnam, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on "chronic trade abuses" yesterday, warning an audience of world leaders at a summit in Vietnam that he will always "put America first".

He also resumed his tough talk on North Korea as he sought to rally Asia-Pacific nations into confronting the "twisted fantasies" of leader Kim Jong-un.

And he came face to face with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, as the pair shook hands and exchanged words during a photo opportunity.

Mr Trump was at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Danang after arriving from China, where he had softened his tone on trade and North Korea.

But speaking to a gathering of chief executives, Mr Trump readopted a tough line as he said America will not "be taken advantage of any longer" with unequal trade policies. "We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses and we will not tolerate them," Mr Trump said.

He went on: "From this day forward, we will compete on a fair and equal basis. We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore.

"I am always going to put America first the same way that I expect all of you to put your countries first."

He named specific practices adopted by Asian countries towards American companies that he wanted to curb and pledged to tackle the "audacious theft of intellectual property" and the "cyber attacks" and "corporate espionage" being done on behalf of states.

"We will encourage all nations to speak out loudly when the principles of fairness and reciprocity are violated," Mr Trump said.

He also struck a defiant tone towards Pyongyang, saying the region's future "must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail".

During his China trip, he called on the North to "make a deal", but also urged China and Russia to increase their efforts in rein in Pyongyang.

But in Vietnam, he reverted to the more direct language he used in South Korea earlier. "Every single step the North Korea regime takes toward more weapons is a step it takes into greater and greater danger," he said.

Mr Trump's much anticipated meeting with Mr Putin appeared in doubt amid suggestions the pair would not have time for a one-to-one meeting.

The US president has been dogged by claims his election campaign colluded with the Kremlin, with three former aides being handed criminal charges in the last fortnight.

However, the two did share some words as they stood next to each other in blue silk shirts for a group photo. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, initially said that a "scheduling conflict" meant the two would not be able to meet. But the White House later indicated it was possible an unofficial meeting could take place on the sidelines of the summit, or later when both are in the Philippines.

Mr Trump flew to Vietnam from China without Melania, his wife, who stayed in Beijing to visit the Great Wall.

This weekend Mr Trump will visit Rodrigo Duterte, the firebrand leader of the Philippines, who has just claimed to have once stabbed a teenager to death. "At 16, I killed someone. We fought and I stabbed him," he told an audience of Filipino expats on the margins of the Apec summit.
A missing 81-year-old woman was found in a cornfield after police in the US used a drone to track her whereabouts.

Mary Brown was out for a walk near her home in Randolph County, North Carolina last weekend when she lost her way among a large field.

Police were called after Mary failed to return home, but they had difficulty getting around the large area of crops.

The drone was then deployed to find the missing pensioner. The device managed to track down Ms Brown in around 25 minutes.

Randolph County Police said they were delighted they sound return Ms Brown to her home safely.

"The family expressed their gratitude for the quick response. I am very proud of all of our team in making this safe return," said Sheriff Robert A. Graves .
Pope Francis said priests must inform Catholic consciences but not replace them

Pope Francis has reaffirmed the "primacy" of using conscience to handle tough moral questions in a message on The Joy Of Love, his document which prompted warnings of a schism with its opening to civilly remarried Catholics receiving Communion.

Francis told a conference of Italian bishops in a video message that priests must inform Catholic consciences but not replace them.

The Joy Of Love immediately sparked controversy when released in April 2016 because it cautiously opened the door to letting civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion.

Francis reaffirmed the centrality of The Joy Of Love which has divided the Church as its guide to Catholic couples trying to navigate complicated family situations.

Church teaching holds that unless these Catholics obtain an annulment - a decree declaring their first marriage invalid - they cannot receive the sacraments since they are seen as committing adultery.

But although Francis did not give these Catholics an automatic pass, he suggested that bishops and priests could do so case by case, with the couples' "well-formed" consciences as the guide.

Conservatives accused Francis of sowing confusion and undermining the Church's teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

Four prominent cardinals formally asked for a clarification to five "dubia," or doubts, they said were prompted by the document, and a group of traditionalist and conservative priests and scholars formally accused Francis of spreading heresy.

Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, whom Francis recently removed as the Vatican's chief doctrinal watchdog, did not join the four "dubia" cardinals or the heresy accusers.

But he warned in a recent book preface that "schismatic temptations and dogmatic confusion" were sown as a result of the debate over the document and said such confusion was "dangerous for the unity of the Church."

Cardinal Mueller sought to offer his own interpretation - that The Joy Of Love can only be read as a continuity of the traditional teaching on marriage - offering what he said was his own "contribution to re-establishing peace in the Church."

AP
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed on defeating IS in Syria (AP)

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have agreed to defeat the Islamic State group in Syria, the Kremlin said.

The Russian and US presidents reached an agreement during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Vietnam on Saturday.

A Kremlin spokesman said they agreed to support existing communication channels to ensure the security of the US and Russian armed forces, as well as to prevent dangerous incidents involving the forces of partners fighting IS.

The spokesman said they confirmed that these efforts will continue until the final defeat of IS.

They also agreed that the Syrian conflict "does not have a military solution," and that final resolution must come in the framework of the so-called Geneva Process.

Mr Putin and Mr Trump say they welcome President Bashar Assad's "recent statement of commitment" to the Geneva process for resolving the conflict in Syria.

Assad's commitment to the process, in line with a UN Security Council resolution, implies "constitutional reform and free and fair elections under the supervision of the United Nations" in which all Syrians can participate, including those in the diaspora, a Kremlin spokesman said.

Mr Trump and Mr Putin also reaffirmed support for de-escalation zones in Syria, including one in the south west that was agreed to in the presidents' previous meeting in July in Germany. They also called on UN members to increase humanitarian aid contributions for Syria.
Donald Trump sits in the motorcade after arriving at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam (AP)

US president Donald Trump is back on the defensive over Russian meddling in last year's election, accusing Democrats of trying to sabotage US-Russia relations.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump said Russian president Vladimir Putin had again vehemently insisted - this time on the sidelines of an economic summit in Vietnam - that Moscow had not interfered in the poll.

Mr Trump declined to say whether he believed Mr Putin, but he made clear he was not interested in dwelling on the issue.

As he travelled to Hanoi, the second-to-last stop of his trip to Asia, the US president said of his Russian counterpart: "He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.

"Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe - I really believe - that when he tells me that, he means it."

Mr Trump called the accusation an "artificial barrier" erected by Democrats - once again casting doubt on the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to interfere in the election to help the Republican Mr Trump beat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Mr Trump is in Hanoi for a brief state visit.

He will depart for the Philippines later on Sunday for a pair of summits that will close out his trip.

Mr Trump and Mr Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.

Mr Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders' relationship and said it jeopardised their ability to work together on issues including North Korea's escalating nuclear programme and the deadly conflict in Syria.

"Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Mr Trump told reporters.

"People will die because of it."

Mr Trump danced around the question of whether he believed Mr Putin's denials, telling reporters that pressing the issue would have accomplished little.

"Well, look, I can't stand there and argue with him," Trump said.

"I'd rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I'd rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing about whether or not - 'cause that whole thing was set up by the Democrats."

Multiple US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to try to help Mr Trump win. But the president called the former heads of those agencies "political hacks" and argued there is plenty of reason to be suspicious of their findings.

The comments made clear that Mr Trump still does not take the meddling seriously and sees little benefit in punishing a nation accused of undermining the most fundamental tenet of American democracy: free and fair elections.

They also suggest that Mr Trump is unlikely to work aggressively to try to prevent future meddling, despite repeated warnings from senior intelligence officials that Russia is likely to try to interfere again.

Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea.

Congressional committees have also been interviewing campaign and White House staff.

Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted by Russian news agencies as telling reporters: "Trump really raised the topic of so-called interference in US elections..

"Putin categorically rejected even the hypothetical possibility that Russia could have in some way interfered in the US electoral process."

Earlier on Saturday, the Kremlin issued a statement saying the leaders had reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of civil war-torn Syria now that Islamic State has largely been pushed out.

Among the agreements' key points, according to the Russians, were an affirmation of de-escalation zones, a system to prevent dangerous incidents between American and Russian forces, and a commitment to a peaceful solution governed by a Geneva peace process.

The Kremlin quickly promoted the agreement as the White House stayed silent.

Mr Trump told reporters that the deal was reached "very quickly" and that it would save "tremendous numbers of lives".

And he praised his relationship with Mr Putin, saying the two "seem to have a very good feeling for each other and a good relationship, considering we don't know each other well".

Video from the summit in the seaside city of Danang, Vietnam, showed Mr Trump and Mr Putin shaking hands and chatting, including during the world leaders' traditional group photo.

The two walked together down a path to the photo site, conversing amiably, with Mr Trump punctuating his thoughts with hand gestures and Mr Putin smiling.

Journalists travelling with Mr Trump were not granted access to any of the Apec events he participated in on Saturday.

Mr Trump's visit to Hanoi began with a state diner during which he showered the country with praise, saying it has "truly become one of the great miracles of the world".

On Sunday, he will meet with the country's president and prime minister before heading to his last stop: the Philippines.

AP
New Delhi, Nov 11 (IBNS) : The National Green Tribunal on Saturday gave go-ahead to the Delhi Government for implementation of the ODD-EVEN scheme for vehicles for five days starting on November 13 in order to check air pollution in the city, reports said.

The tribunal had initially rejected the decision, reports said.

However, Two Wheelers, Women and government employees will now not be exempted from the scheme, though Ambulances will be.

During the hearing, the tribunal questioned the city Government as to why it was granting exemptions to certain sections if the aim was to improve air quality.

In the announcement, NGT said, Odd-Even scheme must be implemented in Delhi NCR as and when PM 10 crosses 300 level and PM 2.5 crosses 500.

The bench for the approval of the scheme was headed by Justice Swatantra Kumar.

NGT also criticized the lack of cooperation between the various departments of the government and the urgency to make decisions without overseeing their implications.

The Delhi Government was also asked to present the letter on which they decided to create the scheme and if they had taken the approval of the LG.

The AAP Government had on Thursday announced introduction of the odd-even scheme from eight am to eight pm for five days as part of a Graded Response Plan to tackle the alarming pollution situation in the national capital.

The region has been suffering from intense smog over the past few days, which has forced the administration to declare an 'emergency'.

Life have been thrown out of gear in many places, with schools shut, accidents on highways, delay in train and flight timings, etc.

The NGT has banned construction and industrial activities in Delhi-NCR till November 14.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also sent notices to the Centre, and to the governments of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana in view of the life-threatening pollution levels in the Delhi-NCR region.

image ngt website
Gurgaon, Nov 16 (IBNS): The bail plea of bus conductor Ashoke, who was arrested on charges of murdering a seven-year old Pradyuman Thakur in Ryan International School, will be heard on Nov. 16, media reports said.

Ashoke's lawyer had traveled from Rohtak to Gurgaon to file the bail plea.

"I have filed the bail application for Ashok Kumar. The court has accepted the plea and given the date of November 16 (Thursday) for the hearing. The court wants to hear CBI's version of events before granting bail," the lawyer told The Times of India.

Though Ashoke had confessed his act of murdering the seven-year old boy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) apprehended a class XI student of the same school in connection with the murder. The senior student eventually was arrested.

Being a juvenile, his name was not disclosed.

After a CBI probe it appeared Ashoke was possibly framed for a crime he did not commit.

The CBI has revealed that Gurgaon police had planted the murder weapon, a knife, that was used to kill seven-year old Pradyuman Thakur in Ryan International School, on bus conductor Ashok Kumar.

According to the CBI, the weapon belonged to the class XI student.

The teenager allegedly wanted to impede the approaching exams and parent teacher meeting and hence killed the boy.

Earlier, the suspect's father had said that his son was wrongly framed but on Thursday, the latter confessed to his crime in front of his father, said reports.

Ashoke's family has said that they will now file a case against the cops for planting evidence against him, reports said.
Raipur, Nov 11 (IBNS): Saturday has turned out to be special for Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh as the 65-year old man became grandfather.

Singh shared a picture on Twitter where the CM was seen to hold his granddaughter in his arms.

The captioned used by Singh reads: "Today, with the infinite grace of God, Lakshmi arrived at my house in the form of my grand daughter. For a grandfather, nothing can give more happiness than lifting one's granddaughter in arms."

Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, is ruling Chhattisgarh as the chief minister since 2003.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that the Central government needs to bring about structural change in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), media reports said.

"It is a good thing that due to pressure from Congress and citizens of India, BJP government has brought lot of items from the 28 percent to 18 percent tax bracket," he said at Chiloda in Gandhinagar, beginning his three-day Navsarjan Yatra in north Gujarat.

. "However, we are not happy and we shall not stop. India does not need five different taxes but one tax. GST needs structural change," he said.

Before reaching Chiloda, Rahul visited Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended silver jubilee festivities at the temple on November 2.

The Congress Vice President plans to cover 19 Assembly constituencies in six districts over three days.

North Gujarat has 32 Assembly seats and this is the fourth region Gandhi visited in recent days.

At Chiloda, Rahul said that he would make good of his promise of giving more seats to women.

"We have promised you that we would give more seats to women in Assembly polls and when time comes, we will make good of our promise," he said.

"In the future, we would also give more representations to women in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha too."
New Delhi, Nov 11 (IBNS) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday leave for a three-day visit to the Philippines where he will attend the Asean and East Asia Summits and hold a bilateral meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.

"i will be travelling to Philippines on a 3-day visit, starting 12th November. I will take part in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits, which symbolise Indias commitment towards deepening engagement with ASEAN and India-Pacific," Modi said on Saturday in a series of tweets.

This will be Modis first official visit to the Philippines as Prime Minister.

"During the Philippines visit, there would be bilateral talks with the President of the Philippines HE Mr. Rodrigo Duterte. India seeks to further diversify cooperation with the Philippines. I will also have interactions with other ASEAN and East Asia," the PM said.

He said the other important engagements include Special Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders' Meeting and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

"I look forward to interacting with the Indian Community in Philippines. There will also be visits to the International Rice Research Institute and Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc," Modi said.
New Delhi, Nov 11 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Asean and East Asia Summits in the Philippines and hold a bilateral meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.

He will depart on Sunday for his three-day visit to the Philippines, his first official trip to that country as the Prime Minister of India.

Following is the text of the Prime Minister's message Narendra Modis departure statement prior to his visit to Philippines.

I will be in Manila on a three-day visit starting 12th November. This will be my first bilateral visit to the Philippines where I will also participate in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits. My participation in them symbolises India's commitment to continue deepening relationship with ASEAN Member States, in particular, and with the Indo-Pacific region, in general, within the framework of my Government's Act East Policy.

Besides these Summits, I would also participate in Special Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders' Meeting and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

The ASEAN Business and Investment Summit will boost our close cooperation to further enhance our trade ties with ASEAN member-states, which constitutes a significant 10.85% of our overall trade.

During my first visit to the Philippines, I look forward to have a bilateral meeting with President of the Philippines HE Mr. Rodrigo Duterte. I will also have interactions with other ASEAN and East Asia Summit Leaders.

I also look forward to connecting with the Indian community in Philippines. During my stay in Manila, I shall also visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc. (MPFI).

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through Scientific Research and Development has developed better quality of rice seed and helped the global community in addressing food scarcity issues. A large number of Indian scientists are working in IRRI and contributing to R&D in this field. My cabinet approved on 12 July 2017 a proposal for IRRI to set up its South Asia Regional Centre at Varanasi. This will be the first Research Centre by IRRI outside its headquarters in the Philippines. The Varanasi Centre would help increase farmers' income by enhancing and supporting rice productivity, reducing cost of production, value addition, diversification and enhancement of farmers' skills.

My visit to Mahavir Philippines Foundation Inc. (MPFI) will demonstrate India's support for its activities in distributing free prosthesis "Jaipur Foot" among the needy amputees. Since its establishment in 1989, MPFI has fitted nearly 15,000 amputees in the Philippines with Jaipur Foot making them capable of living a new life. Government of India is making a modest contribution to the Foundation to support its noble humanitarian activities.

I am confident that my visit to Manila will give a new boost to India's bilateral relations with the Philippines and also further strengthen the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of our engagement with ASEAN.
New Delhi, Nov 11 (IBNS): President of India and the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces Ram Nath Kovind would be awarding the Presidents Standard and Colours to 223 Squadron and 117 Helicopter Unit during a ceremonial parade scheduled to be held at Air Force Station Adampur on 16 Nov 17.

The commanding Officer of 223 Squadron, Group Captain Prabhat Malik and Commanding Officer of 117 Helicopter Unit, Wg Cdr N Batra will receive the Presidents Standard. The President will also release a First Day Cover of 223 Squadron and 117 Helicopter Unit during the ceremony, read a government statement.

Operational outfits of IAF become eligible for award of Presidents standard on completion of 18 years. The selection is based on their performance and achievements, both during peace and hostilities. This honour is and acknowledgement of the meritorious service rendered by the selected units. The Presidents Standard is a visible symbol of excellence has been earned by these Units through their dedication and worthy contribution both during peace and war. The Presidential Award marks and epitomizes the hard work, valour and sacrifice of all the personnel posted to these Units since their inception. It is a befitting recognition of their selfless service dedicated to the nation.

Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, PVSM AVSM YSM VM ADC, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, AVSM VM VSM ADC Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command along with other dignitaries would also witness the ceremony. Retired Air warriors and previous Commanding Officers of both the recipient units are also invited for the occasion.

Various dignitaries expected to grace the Presidents standard Presentation Ceremony on 16 Nov17, are the Governor of Punjab, Chief Minister of Punjab and senior Government Officers from Punjab Government.
Leaders across parties are mounting pressures on the chief minister to send such proposal to the Centre now that he is an ally of the ruling NDA, rather than making such demand.

Such rhetoric will not do. Now, Nitish Kumar should pass this proposal from the Bihar assembly and send the same to the centre for approval, rebel BJP leader Yashwant Sinha told the media in Patna on Friday.

Sinha who served as the Union finance minister in the previous NDA government was here in Patna to attend a function organised by a JD-U rebel and former assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chadhary.

Prior to him, BSP leader Miss Mayawati had made similar demand from Nitish Kumar.

Rather than making such remark, the Bihar government should just ask the Center for reservation and make sure it is done. They are sitting in power, from whom are they demanding this? They themselves are in power," Mayawati told the media recently.

She added from the very beginning the BSP has been in favour of reservation of the backward class in the private sector.

The chief minister had advocated for reservation in the private sector too earlier this week.

"It is our personal opinion that existing provisions of reservation should be extended in private sector also. But there should be a debate on the issue at national level. Final decision on the issue will be taken by Parliament," Nitish Kumar was quoted by The Times Of India.

"If you're using government money and giving employment, then you have to follow the Reservation Act of the state," the chief minister added.

Nitish Kumar, of late, has been on sticky wicket over the way his own party men have been attacking the government for ignoring the dalits reservation and the BJP trying to encroach into the JD-U vote-bank.

Add to this, a section of his party led by Sharad Yadav has revolted against Nitish Kumar for betraying the peoples mandate and joining hands with the BJP.

(thebiharpost.com)
Kolkata, Nov 11 (IBNS): Cinebuffs of Kolkata and West Bengal will have an opportunity to view 12 Indian films that have won the National Awards in 2016 under different categories and in different languages in the 23rd Kolkata International Film Festival, inaugurated on Friday.

The selected films offers a microcosm of the best in Indian cinema released last year.

The films are Bisorjon (Bengali) directed by Kaushik Ganguly, Maji Rati Keteki (Assamese) directed by Santwana Bardoloi, Neerja (Hindi) by Ram Madhavani, K Sera Sera -Ghodpachen Ghoddtelam (Konkani) directed by Rajeev Shinde, Maheshinte Pratikaram (Malayalam) directed by Dileesh Pothan, Dashakriya (Marathi) directed by Sandeep Bhalachandra Patil, Joker(Tamil) by Raju Murugan, Pelli Choopulu (Telugu) under the direction of Tarun Bhasckar, Mikhil Musales Wrong Side Raju (Gujarati), Handuk (Moran) by Jaicheng Jai Dohutia, Reservation(Kannada) directed by Nikhil Manjoo and Madipu (Tulu) directed by Chetan Mundadi.

Bisorjon bagged the Best Bengali Film Award this year at the 64th National Film Awards.

Kaushik Ganguly, who graduated from television to feature films with a sentimental overload to award-winning films for the large screen, has written and directed Bisorjon. He is considered one of the most outstanding filmmakers in contemporary Bengali cinema.

Santwana Bardoloi returned to directing films after three decades with Maji Rati Keteki in Assamese.

Her first film Adajya, starring Tom Alter, also bagged the National Award. This is a nostalgia film that sees the return of a renowned Assamese writer who returns to his hometown for a felicitation programme but is dogged by a strong sense of guilt for something that happened when he was a boy.

Neerja is a fictionalised film on the young air hostess who lost her life in September 1986 when Pan Am Flight 73 from Bombay to New York was hijacked at its transit atJinnah International Airport in Karachi, by Palestinian extremists from Abu Nidal's terrorist outfit.

The films racy pace and razor sharp editing enhanced by sterling performances by Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Jim Sarbh and others turned it into the most electrifying biopic in Hindi cinema in recent times.

Madipu deals with the celluloid representation of a real incident that happened in Beltangady 50 years ago. It focuses on Bhootharadhane or Bhootha Kola and the relationship between Hindus and Muslims.

The film unfolds the story of a person who has made the worship a part of his life goes into depression when he steps out of it and the film slowly but surely gravitates towards racism and responsibility.

Dashakriya tackles the bold subject of the commercialization of the Dashakriya rituals performed by a certain class of Brahmins when someone dies. These Brahmins are considered to be lower down in the Brahmin hierarchy but that does not stop them from financially exploiting and emotionally blackmailing the grieving family.

Ke Sera Sera narrates the contrasts and contradictions between two people who differ in their ideology and lifestyle and attitude towards life. One believes in changing the circumstances with precise and definite decisions and the other believes in drifting with the situations around that will lead to circumstances decide the course of life.

Reservation elaborates on the repercussions of the reservation policy on the different segments of society explained as a Pan-Indian phenomenon that both challenges and defies any value judgements on the one or the other.

Every single film in this section has a social agenda, understated without melodrama, touching on issues we are all aware of but do not want to take seriously unless it affects us personally.



(Reporting by Shoma A. Chatterji)
New York, Nov 11(Just Earth News): New commitments and initiatives in energy, water and agriculture sectors were announced on Friday, at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP23) in Bonn, Germany, under the auspices of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action to help implement the Paris Agreement.

The Marrakech Partnership aims at catalyzing greater climate action by public and private stakeholders as the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, calls on countries to combat climate change by limiting the rise of global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius and strive not to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Cleaner energy development

In Bonn, new initiatives were announced to push forward the transition to renewable energy and to show that more ambitious clean energy development can quickly become a bigger part of national climate plans submitted under the Paris Agreement.

With the price of renewable and storage technologies tumbling, and greater understanding on how to set the policy table for a cleaner energy mix and more integrated energy planning, the question before decision makers is, why wait? said Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO, Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All).

Among key announcements, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released a new report, Untapped Potential for Climate Action: Renewable Energy in Nationally Determined Contributions, which suggests there is substantial scope for countries to cost-effectively increase renewable energy.

The Climate Group also announced new members to its recently launched EV100 campaign, a major new global electric transport initiative designed to make electric vehicles the new normal. And 13 countries with the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced this week the launch of a new multi-year, 30 million euros plan to support clean energy transitions around the world.

Investing faster and further in agricultural climate action

Regarding agriculture, leaders and experts said that investing faster and further in agricultural climate action and to support the sustainable livelihoods of small-scale farmers will unlock much greater potential to curb emissions and protect people against climate change.

Countries now have the opportunity to transform their agricultural sectors to achieve food security for all through sustainable agriculture and strategies that boost resource-use efficiency, conserve and restore biodiversity and natural resources, and combat the impacts of climate change, said Rene Castro, Assistant-Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In the livestock sector, for example, FAO estimates that emissions could be readily reduced by about 30 percent with the adoption of best practices.

FAO released a new Sourcebook on Climate-Smart Agriculture. It recommends scaling up public and private climate finance flows to agriculture; spurring public-private partnerships; strengthening a multi-sector and multi-stakeholder dialogue; investing in knowledge and information; and building capacity to address barriers to implement climate action.

Managing healthy water supplies

In the water sector, the majority of national climate plans with an adaptation component prioritize action on water, yet financing would need to triple to $295 billion per year to meet such targets, said experts on Friday.

Sustainable use of water for multiple purposes must remain a way of life and needs to be at the center of building resilient cities and human settlements and ensuring food security in a climate change context, said Mariet Verhoef-Cohen, President of the Women for Water Partnership.

The international water community co-signed on Friday what it called a nature based solution declaration to encourage the use of natural systems in managing healthy water supplies. Around 40 per cent of the world's population will face water shortages by 2050, accelerating migration and triggering conflict, while some regions could lose up to six per cent of their economic output, unless it is better managed.

Involving both women and men in decision making and integrated water resources initiatives leads to better sustainability, governance and efficiency, said Verhoef-Cohen.

UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Nov 11(Just Earth News): Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday appointed Audrey Azoulay, a former culture minister of France, to the top post of the agency.

I now think of all the people I met in recent months, or had met in my various professional capacities, who have great expectations from UNESCO, Azoulay told the UNESCO General Conference, which endorsed her 13 October nomination by agencys Executive Board.

Azoulay, who will replace outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova, will take office on 15 November.

I think of UNESCOs mandate, which is strikingly modern. I think of all of you who are aware of the difficulties of the Organization but who know that it is irreplaceable, that it is essential, in facing current global challenges and who aspire to the unity and serenity necessary to let it exercise its mandate to best effect, Azoulay said. Born in 1972, Azoulay was Frances Minister of Culture and Communication from February 2016 to May 2017.

She has occupied senior positions in Frances public broadcasting sector and then served as rapporteur to Frances public auditing authority, the Cour des comptes, and as a European Commission legislative expert on issues of culture and the media.

Azoulay served Frances National Cinema Centre (CNC), first as Deputy Audiovisual Director, then as Director of Financial and Legal Affairs, and finally as Deputy Director-General.

A graduate of the Ecole National dAdministration and the Paris Institut detudes politiques, Azoulay also holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Lancaster (UK).

She is the 11th Director-General of UNESCO and the second woman to occupy this position.

UNESCO is responsible for coordinating international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication. The organizations theme is Building peace in the minds of men and women, and the themes that fall under its mandate include education in the twenty-first century, fostering free expression, protecting cultural heritage and stewardship of the planets oceans.

UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Riyadh/Beirut, Nov 11 (IBNS): Tensions among Riyadh and Beirut is on the rise after the National News Agency (NNA) of Lebanon reported that a citizen belonging to Saudi Arabia was kidnapped from his house in the vicinity of the Keserwan locality of Adma.

The incident took place on Thursday night.

The victim has been identified as 32-year-old Ali al-Bishrawi.

According to the victim's wife, who is a Syrian national, her husband was lured away from their residence on the night of the incident and hasn't returned home since.

Investigations were kicked off after she demanded that she had received ransom calls.

The development comes at a time when Saudi Arabia and Lebanon is on the brink of a war.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE on Thursday also ordered all its citizens to leave Lebanon and order anyone against travelling to the nation.

Lebanon through its dominant political party Hezbollah, is a close ally of Iran.

Hezbollah is a Shi Islamist political party and militant group in Lebanon which was significantly involved in the Syrian war and had deployed thousands of fighters. It was considered a strategic arm of Iran in the region, allegedly playing a key role in the Iran-Israel and Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflicts in the middle east.

Saudi Arabia, who's also involved in a verbal battle with Iran, has accused Hezbollah of being Tehran's proxy in Lebanon.

Earlier on Sunday, the political sphere in Gulf witnessed an unprecedented move after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation during a visit to Riyadh.

Hariri stood in a foreign nation while announcing his resignation, just 11 months after assuming power.

He had stated that his life faces a threat, while announcing his decision.

As Hariri stepped down, he also took pot shots at Iran and said, "Wherever Iran is involved, there is nothing but devastation and chaos."

However, his own country has attacked Saudi Arabia of staging the saga and forcing Hariri to resign.

In a fresh salvo, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the move was conceived by Saudi Arabia to destabilise Lebanon.

"Let us say things as they are: the man is detained in Saudi Arabia and forbidden until this moment from returning to Lebanon," Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

He added, "It is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon."

According to experts and political commentators, the main battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran dates back to the age old issue of Shia and Sunni.

While Iran believes in the Shia branch of Islam, which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor, Saudi Arabia, the biggest regime in the Middle East, is a Sunni stronghold.

Hezbollah too is a Shia Islamist political outfit and hence has fallen out of favour with the Kingdom of Saud.

Image:justearthnews.com
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Kabul, Nov 11 (IBNS): A car bomb explosion rocked Afghanistan's Helmand province on Saturday morning, killing the suspected suicide bomber and injuring two others, media reports said.

Local officials have termed it as a suicide attack and said that the attacker driving a Humvee wanted to drive past a security post in Nawa district but detonated his bombs prematurely after being spotted by security officials.

The explosion killed the suicide attacker while two army men sustained injuries.

More details awaited.

Image: Pinterest
Dhaka, Nov 11 (IBNS): At least 53 people were detained over arson attacks on the homes of Hindus in Bangladesh, media reports said on Saturday.

According to reports, the attack occurred after a local was accused of insulting religion.

Police filed two cases at the Gangachara and Kotowali Police Stations over the incidents and arrested 53 people, Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman was quoted as saying by bdnews24.com.

Amid anger over an alleged Facebook post by a Hindu man, mob attacked houses belonging to Hindu community in Sadar Upazilas Thakurpara village on Friday.

One person was killed in the incident.

He was identified as Habibur Rahman.

Several others were injured in the incident.

Several houses were set on fire by attackers.


Kabul, Nov 11 (IBNS): A Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier was killed in a bomb attack in Nawa district of southern Helmand province of Afghanistan on Saturday, media reports said.

The incident left five people injured, media reports said.

Omar Zwak, the governors spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News the (ANA)s centre in Shorshrak area of the district was hit by an explosives-rigged Humvee tank today at about 9am.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Dhaka, Nov 11 (IBNS): Chief Justice of Bangladesh Surendra Kumar Sinha has stepped down from his position, media reports said on Saturday.

He quit the post amid criticism over a top court verdict scrapping a constitutional amendment.

He had taken leave from his job last month.

Sinha left for Australia on Oct 13, local media reports said.

He has become the first top judge in Bangladesh to step down from his position.

Sinha was appointed to the post in January 2015.

His tenure was scheduled to end on Jan 31, 2018.

He came under fire from the ruling party after the Supreme Court scrapped a constitutional amendment to sack higher court judges, bdnews24.com reported.

Sinha's leave period ended on Nov 10.

Image: Supreme Court of Bangladesh website
Hanoi, Nov 11(IBNS): US President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, meeting on the margins of the APEC conference in Da Nang, Vietnam, confirmed their determination to defeat ISIS in Syria.

They expressed their satisfaction with successful U.S.-Russia enhanced de-confliction efforts between U.S. and Russian military professionals that have dramatically accelerated ISISs losses on the battlefield in recent months, read a statement issued by the American government.

The Presidents agreed to maintain open military channels of communication between military professionals to help ensure the safety of both U.S. and Russian forces and de-confliction of partnered forces engaged in the fight against ISIS.



They confirmed these efforts will be continued until the final defeat of ISIS is achieved.

The Presidents agreed that there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria.



They confirmed that the ultimate political solution to the conflict must be forged through the Geneva process pursuant to UNSCR 2254. They also took note of President Asads recent commitment to the Geneva process and constitutional reform and elections as called for under UNSCR 2254.

The two Presidents affirmed that these steps must include full implementation of UNSCR 2254, including constitutional reform and free and fair elections under UN supervision, held to the highest international standards of transparency, with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to participate.

The Presidents affirmed their commitment to Syrias sovereignty, unity, independence, territorial integrity, and non-sectarian character, as defined in UNSCR 2254, and urged all Syrian parties to participate actively in the Geneva political process and to support efforts to ensure its success.

Finally President Trump and President Putin confirmed the importance of de-escalation areas as an interim step to reduce violence in Syria, enforce ceasefire agreements, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and set the conditions for the ultimate political solution to the conflict.

They reviewed progress on the ceasefire in southwest Syria that was finalized the last time the two Presidents met in Hamburg, Germany on July 7, 2017.

The two presidents, today, welcomed the Memorandum of Principles concluded in Amman, Jordan, on November 8, 2017, between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America.

This Memorandum reinforces the success of the ceasefire initiative, to include the reduction, and ultimate elimination, of foreign forces and foreign fighters from the area to ensure a more sustainable peace. Monitoring this ceasefire arrangement will continue to take place through the Amman Monitoring Center, with participation by expert teams from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Russian Federation, and the United States.

The two Presidents discussed the ongoing need to reduce human suffering in Syria and called on all UN member states to increase their contributions to address these humanitarian needs over the coming months.

In addition, President Trump noted that he had a good meeting with President Putin. He further noted that the successful implementation of the agreements announced today will save thousands of lives.




After CCI penalty, FHRAI writes SEBI to stop OYO IPO The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India has written a letter to SEBI to stop the proceedings of the IPO of OYO, as reported by the Economic Times. This has come after the Co... November 16, 2022 | 4:03 pm

Markets end the day in Green Indian equity markets had another topsy-turve day today. Markets swung between red and green territory all through the day. Nifty 50 ended, up by 6.25 points. Sensex ended, up by 107.73 po... November 16, 2022 | 3:40 pm

Passenger vehicle sales may touch 3.8 million units in FY 23, says Tata Motors MD Passenger vehicle sales in India may touch 3.8 million units in FY 23, Tata Motors MD, Shailesh Chandra, said. He also added that a large part of these sales will be because of the pent-up dema... November 16, 2022 | 3:21 pm

Sai Silks Saree Retailers to launch IPO soon, gets nod from SEBI Sai Silks (Kalamandir) is one of the largest retailers of ethnic apparel. The company has received a nod to float an initial public offer (IPO) in the market to raise funds. As per the Draft Re... November 16, 2022 | 2:49 pm

HAL stock price rises after it gets LOI for 9 helicopters from Indian Coast Guard In hefty trading volumes on Wednesday, Hindustan Aeronautics' shares surged 7% to an all-time high of Rs 2,697.70 on the BSE after the company obtained a letter of intent (LoI) from the Indian ... November 16, 2022 | 2:38 pm
In cultures across the world, coming of age marks a crucial turning point in one's life and calls for celebration. It's different for everyone, and more often than not making the leap to adulthood is a living nightmare in itself. So, thank your lucky stars that you weren't born an aborigine in Australia, in Somalia or in the Sepik River tribe of Papua New Guinea, as the initiation rituals are absolutely horrifying.

Here are some of the weirdest puberty customs from around the world:

1. Boys from Satere-Mawe, Brazilian Amazon rainforest, wear gloves made of fire ants

Before anything, the main aim of this ritual is to teach the boys that a life lived without suffering anything or without any kind of effort is not worth anything, at all.But this tradition is both mentally and physically excruciating. Boys as young as 12 years old gather bullet ants from the forest, and then weave the bugs into pairs of gloves.

The ants which are initially sedated, wake up full power to lodge the worst sting when worn as gloves. The boys are made to perform a ritualistic dance with the gloves on.FYI, the sting of a fire ant is worse than that of a bee and adolescent boys go through this initiation 20 times over.

2. In Sepik River, Papua New Guinea, boys are cut so the scars look like crocodile scales

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Boys as young as 11 in a Papua New Guinean tribe, take part in a ritual that pays tribute to the crocodile . It involves the boys having their skin cut a number of times and then healing which leaves marks that resemble those of crocodile scales.

3. Drinking Elders' Semen

Boys of Etoro tribe of Papua New Guinea are known for their ritual homosexual acts, that includes drinking their elders' sperm to initiate adulthood. They believe that real way to achieve strength and courage is to consume the semen of an elder. Only about 400 people make up the Etoro tribe.

4. In Indonesia, young boys and girl get their upper canines filed

Mepandes is a teeth-filling ceremony that takes place in Bali, Indonesia. It involves removing the sharp edges of canine teeth and filling the front six teeth flat. The aim is to ward off lust, greed, anger, and jealousy. It is only performed on girls who have attained puberty.

5. Girls in Paraguay and Brazil get extensive body tattoos

Among certain tribes in Paraguay and Brazil, tattoos are considered to a sign of sexual attractiveness in a woman and girls who have come of age are forced to get intricate tattoos all over the body.

6. Breast Ironing

Another inhuman initiation ritual practiced in Africa, involves ironing out the breasts of young girls. It is also called breast flattening. It is a common rite of passage in Cameroon, and the procedure involves the chest being pounded with hot objects such as large stones, a hammer, or a spatula to compress the breast tissue. It happens in the privacy of the home between mother and daughter, and the father may not even be aware of it.

7. Iria Ceremony

The Orika tribe in Nigeria believe that young girls have a romantic relationships with water spirits. After they come of age they must go down to a river and perform the Iria ritual which involves singing songs to break their bond with the water spirits.

8. Confucian Coming of Age Traditions: Ji Li and Guan Li

Confucian-style coming of age ceremonies Ji Li (for girls) and Guan Li (for boys) typically honor youth who have turned 20. Ji Li is for Han women has seen a resurgence in recent years. The young women dress in traditional Chinese clothing and participate in a hairpin ceremony in which her hair gets washed, combed, and put into an updo with pins made of gold, jade, or wood.

9. Ihanktonwan Oyate Reservation, South Dakota's Yankton Sioux

Girls in South Dakota's Yankton Sioux tribe who've had their first period go through a four-day ceremony. They are not allowed eat or drink by themselves and are fed by mothers and other women in the "moon camp." During the four day initiation ceremony elders give serious talks about sex, relationships, and mental health.

10. Gwan Rye, South Korea

On every third Monday of May, Korean men and women around 20 years old celebrate Gwan Rye. Women entering adulthood traditionally wear an ornamental hairpin and a hanbok, the traditional Korean dress, and receive three symbolic gifts: perfume, roses, and a kiss.

11. Sunrise Ceremony, Apache Tribe

Apache girls are required to complete the sunrise ceremony, also known as Naiiees or the puberty ceremony, during the summer following their first menstruation

During the four-day ceremony, the girls are not allowed to touch their skin, or drink from anything other than their drinking tubes. They must also reenact the Apache Origin Myth drawing each female participant closer to the first woman, known as White Painted Woman, Changing Woman, or simply Esdzanadehe.

12. Mardudjara Circumcision

Boys in this Aborigine tribe are led off into the woods where the elders circumcise them. They are then made to swallow their foreskin and once they heal they are led back out into the woods. Genital mutilation follows after which they must stand bleeding over an open fire.

13. Inuit Coming of Age Tradition: North Baffin Island

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In North Baffin Island, Inuit boys between the ages of 11 and 12 are made to go out to the wilderness with their fathers and test their hunting skills and acclimatize to the harsh Arctic weather. A shaman is called to open the lines of communication between men and animals.
You generally associate nurses with a tender heart and caring nature. Well, this story is surely going to make you a skeptic. A German nurse used lethal drugs on patients out of "boredom" and ended up killing 106 people. Authorities fear that the number can rise as the probe is currently going on in this matter.

AFP

According to reports, the accused, Niels Hoegel, 41, was convicted in 2015 of two murders and four counts of attempted murder or causing bodily harm on intensive-care patients at the Delmenhorst hospital near the northern city of Bremen.

But exhumations and analyses since have uncovered evidence of scores of other victims, with police saying in August that Hoegel had murdered more than 90 other patients.

On Thursday, police and prosecutors confirmed an additional 16 deaths, attributed to the nurse who worked at two hospitals between 1999 and 2005.

More deaths may still be uncovered with toxicology studies under way for five other cases, and exhumations of three former patients planned in Turkey.

Twitter

He earlier testified that at times he acted out of "boredom", feeling euphoric when he managed to bring a patient back to life and also claimed to be devastated when he failed.

The death toll "is unique in the history of the German republic," the chief police investigator in the case, Arne Schmidt, said in August, adding that Hoegel killed "without a discernible pattern" and preyed especially on those in critical condition.

"The insights we were able to gain are terrifying, they surpass what we could have imagined," said Johann Kuehme, police chief in the city of Oldenburg, where the other hospital is located.

"He cannot remember every case, but in more than 30 he concretely remembered the patients and his behaviour," said prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlemann.

- Numbers may never be known -

The revelations date back to June 2005, when a female nurse witnessed Hoegel trying to inject a patient at the Delmenhorst hospital.

The patient survived and Hoegel was arrested and, in June 2008, sentenced to seven and a half years in jail for several cases of attempted murder.

Amid the media publicity, a woman then contacted police, voicing suspicion that her deceased mother had also fallen victim to the killer nurse.

Twitter

The authorities exhumed several patients' bodies and detected traces of the drug in five of them, declaring it either the definitive or possible contributing cause.

Hoegel was jailed for life in 2015, but at the time it was clear he had murdered many more patients, with investigators admitting they may never know the true number as some remains had been cremated.

Several senior medical staff at Delmenhorst also face separate trials for having failed to act speedily over the high number of suspicious deaths when Hoegel was on duty.
Moral policing and shaming people is a common practice in India. People in public transport, your own neighbours, acquaintances and basically anyone who can speak is always ready to slap their opinion.

Also read: A Teenager's Kickass Response To Shobhaa De Body Shaming Kate Middleton Is Winning The Internet Today!

But one can always diss and ignore the statements of those who don't matter, but how will you fight someone who is in power?

The story of Mangesh Desale is easy to understand, but something we all can relate to. On Saturday evening, Mangesh Desale, a resident of Kalyan in Maharashtra, went to Khadakpada Police Station to get police verification done for his passport.

Mangesh/Facebook

But over and above getting his work done, Mangesh was instantly schooled by the officers for wearing shorts. As one can clearly see in the video, Magesh is being pushed by the officer and is called out for behaving indecently.

Also read: Jokes On Colour, Body Shaming Should Not Be Encouraged, Says Radhika Apte

"I was wearing shorts so they started shouting at me for that. I asked them if there is any rule of dress code in the police station. They did not show me any rules but said this is India, not America," he writes on Facebook.

His post, which has been shared over 1.7k times resonated with a lot of people, because most of us have either been at the receiving end or have at least witnessed such behaviour.

Also read: Policeman Fired After He Returns To Work After 15 Yrs, 217 Days Of Leave Without A Valid Reason
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) which held a special sitting on Saturday has cleared the Delhi government's proposal to implement odd-even travel restrictions in the national capital to curb the rising pollution.

BCCL

The environmental watchdog gave its clearance after it was satisfied by the government's response to the tribunal's apprehensions expressed a day earlier.

On Friday, the NGT had put on hold the Odd Even stating that it wasn't convinced by the effectiveness of the measure and gave the Delhi government a day to respond.

BCCL

On Saturday after listening to the Delhi government's arguments, the NGT gave the go-ahead for odd-even, adding that the scheme should be automatically implemented whenever PM10 levels touch 500 and PM 2.5 levels reach 300.

The Tribunal also made it clear that unlike in the past instances, no exemptions will be given to women drivers and those riding two-wheelers.

BCCL

"What is the basis of granting exemptions under the scheme if you want to improve ambient air quality. If you are removing 500 cars from roads and allowing 1,000 two-wheelers... what purpose it will serve?," the NGT asked.

In its order, the NGT also asked Traffic Police to monitor diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years playing though all main roads.
Forget about people (actually, you should not), there are some neighbouring countries that still have Indian old notes and have not been able to exchange them because the government is yet to take a decision about how to do it.

Countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have a substantial number of old notes, the finance ministry informed Parliament's finance standing committee on Thursday.

bccl/representational image

Economic affairs secretary Subash Garg is understood to have told the committee that some amounts of Indian currency comprising the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were yet to be returned. Some of India's neighbours where Indian currency is in use have raised the matter with New Delhi.

The possibility of older high-value denominations  the government did not specify the likely value held in these nations  being accepted is remote as the Centre has strongly opposed opening fresh windows even for Indian citizens. With 99 per cent of demonetised notes returned to banks, the prospect of more deposits being accepted by Indian banks or the RBI is low.

AFP/Representational Image

The discussion on demonetised currency still held abroad provided an interesting twist to the deliberations of the committee, which is preparing a report on note ban and digitisation. The report, however, is likely to take some more time in preparation as the committee has sought additional information from several government departments and agencies.

Members said the committee needed to hear representatives of industry chambers, the ministry of corporate affairs and agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. The MPs also sought information from senior officials  financial services secretary Rajiv Kumar, CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra and Garg  about the parameters on which the outcomes of demonetisation should be evaluated.

Reuters/Representational Image

Congress MPs are understood to have argued that demonetisation had adversely affected "brand India" while others like Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Chandrasekhar backed the measure.

Committee chair Veerappa Moily is understood to have noted that while a draft report could be readied, more information on the impact of demonetisation was needed. Ministries like agriculture and commerce would be spoken to and some state government views incorporated as well.

The officials who met the committee on Thursday iterated that about Rs 16,000 crore of demonetised currency had not returned to banks and that the cost of printing new currency was about Rs 7,000 crore. Previously, the RBI had said it was yet to complete the counting of deposited demonetised notes.
PHOENIX -- Embattled state Rep. Don Shooter was suspended Friday from his position as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

The move by House Speaker J.D. Mesnard came amid an ever-expanding list of allegations of sexual harassment against the Yuma Republican. Most recently, Mi-Ai Parrish, publisher of the Arizona Republic, said Friday that Shooter last year made a sexist and racist comment joke while she and her attorney were in his office.

Mesnard, in a prepared statement, said Shooter will not only lose his chairmanship while a special House committee investigate the charges against him.

"He will not be taking any budgetary meetings, chairing hearings, or engaged in any budget discussion or any duties related to Appropriations until the investigation has concluded,'' the speaker said. That leaves him out of the process when House and Senate GOP leaders prepare a nearly $10 billion spending plan ahead of the new legislative session that begins in January.

Mesnard said Shooter will receive "a fair, thorough investigation into his behavior'' before any decisions are made about whether a violation of House rules has occurred and what punishment, if any, should be imposed. That could range from a censure to expulsion, the latter requiring a two-thirds vote of the 60 members.

The decision to remove Shooter -- or anyone -- as chair of a committee is totally within the purview of the speaker. And Mesnard said it should not be seen as punishment but instead as in the best interests of the legislative process.

"I'm not casting judgment on Mr. Shooter at this time,'' he said. "I don't believe he can properly fulfill his obligations as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee until that investigation has concluded.''

Mesnard said he spoke with Shooter ahead of Friday's announcement.

"I'm not going to speak for him,'' he said.

"He probably doesn't feel like much of this is fair,'' Mesnard continued. "But I think he understands from a process standpoint this is necessary, even if he's not happy about it.''

Shooter declined Friday to comment on the action.

Mesnard conceded that the sudden flood of allegations against Shooter and others perhaps should not be a surprise. "Clearly, we have tolerated things in the past that we shouldn't have,'' Mesnard said. "And people are standing up, and rightly so.''

Mesnard said he hopes to address that with ethics training for lawmakers and staff covering "everything from sexual harassment to sexism to quid-pro-quo to appropriate talk on the House floor.'' And he said things will change.

"If there is any suggestion that in the past we may have just rolled our eyes at something or ignored something, we're going to be much more strict moving forward,'' Mesnard said.

Mesnard said what happen going forward depends on the findings of a panel of seven House staffers he appointed Thursday to look into all the allegations, and not just against Shooter. But while the speaker said he is reserving judgment, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is not. Spokesman Garrick Taylor said the group, which has backed Shooter in previous elections, thinks he should resign from the Legislature entirely -- and do it now.

"These are deeply disturbing allegations,'' Taylor said. "And it is behavior that does not comport with the way elected officials ought to behave.''

And Taylor said that if Shooter does not quit and is not expelled from the House, there is "a high degree of certainty'' that his organization will not support him for another two year term.

At a hastily called press conference Friday, Mesnard acknowledged that he was aware when he named Shooter to chair the committee in January that the Yuma Republican had a self-proclaimed reputation as someone whose actions and words might raise questions. Mesnard said that came up when Shooter earlier this year suggested he might run for speaker.

"He, in a somewhat playful way, talked about maybe drinking a little bit less, sort of joking in certain ways a little bit less,'' the speaker said.

"I think he acknowledged that sometimes, in his attempts to be playful, he might walk a line,'' Mesnard continued. "My admonishment to him was, 'Don't even get close to that line.' ''

The allegations, Mesnard said Friday, are serious.

Some date as far as 2011 when he was first elected to the state Senate. Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, detailed several, including asking her about whether her breasts were real, showing up with a six-pack of beer at her hotel room door, and saying he wants to be with her while telling her he was "a very powerful senator.''

But there also have been more recent incidents.

Rep. Wenona Benally, R-Window Rock, said she was in the lounge reserved for House members earlier this year when Shooter and another male lawmaker -- she did not say who -- sat across from her. Benally said Shooter "repeatedly referred to his male genitalia as a 'gun.' ''

And Rep. Athena Salman, D-Tempe, also a first-term lawmaker, said Shooter made comments to her early this year that she would be "a nice view to look at.''

Separately, lobbyist Marilyn Rodriguez charged that Shooter touched her knee at a dinner where she and a colleague were meeting with him about some legislation. And there are complaints of improper remarks by Shooter from two other unnamed lobbyists.

There also were allegations of sexist remarks by a former Arizona Capitol Times intern.

The most recent complaint came in the form of a column by Parrish about a meeting she and her attorney had with Shooter last year to discuss pending legislation which affected newspapers.

According to Parrish, Shooter said he is an independent think and said he had done everything on his "bucket list,'' with one exception. When she asked Shooter what that was, he responded, "those Asian twins in Mexico.''

Parrish, who is Korean-American, wrote that this was "a demeaning, sexual and racial comment to me in his office, in front of my attorney.''

"That's not right,'' she wrote. "And that's the truth.''

Mesnard said the special panel also is looking into complaints against Ugenti-Rita by Shooter. While the speaker was not providing specifics, Shooter said in an earlier statement that saying she had "a very public affair'' with a House staffer while she was still married, and that she made a joke about masturbation during a committee hearing.

And House Majority Whip Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said in a statement she has been the victim of sexual harassment by other lawmakers, though she has not provided any names.
Around the world, as population expands and natural wild places reduce, humans and wildlife are increasingly coming into conflict over living space and food. And over the years the problem just seems to have escalated, killing thousands of voiceless animals.

This heartbreaking photograph of a panicked elephant and her calf fleeing a mob of people in West Bengal captures the reality of human-wildlife conflict.

The disturbing photo titled "Hell is Here" was captured by Biplab Hazra in the Bankura district of West Bengal earned him the Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the 2017 Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards, as reported by The New Indian Express.

According to reports, the practice of bursting crackers and throwing fireballs on elephant herds has been a common practice in the vicinity.

I had never seen such an incident in 14 years of my wildlife photography career. All my concentration was only on clicking the photograph, said Hazra, a brick kiln owner by profession.

"The heat from the fire scorches their delicate skin as mother and child attempt to flee the mob," the winning photo description reads on the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2017 site.

"In the lead, the cow's expansive ears are angled forward as she stoically ignores the crowd of jeering men. Behind her, her calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet. Flaming tar balls and crackers fly through the air to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts."

The Sanctuary Asia editor Anirudh Nair told the New Indian Express that the award is intented to raise awareness about bout the treatment and violence against pachyderms in the country.
Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has formed a grand alliance of 23 political parties. The grand alliance named Pakistan Awami Ittehad (PAI) will be headed by 74-year-old Musharraf, while Iqbal Dar has been appointed as Secretary General.

Twitter

Addressing media persons through video conferencing from Dubai, the former president said all parties representing Muhajir (migrant) community should be united, local media reported. He invited the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) to join the new political alliance.

About the nature of alliance, he said all the member parties will contest together with one name.

AFP

Musharraf thanked the alliance for appointing him as the chairman and announced that he would return to Pakistan soon, adding that he did not want any security when he does since the countrys situation is better now.

BCCL

Musharraf had left the country for Dubai in March last year after the interior ministry issued a notification to remove his name from the exit control list (ECL). He said he will return at the appropriate time so that the development work in the country is not disturbed.

Musharraf, was charged with treason by a special court last year and was declared an absconder in the Benazir Bhutto murder case in August this year.
A Pakistani man was allegedly killed during a restaurant war between Indian and Pakistani eateries in Scotland over 24 years ago in 1993. Now, the German police claimed to have arrested the murder accused, who is said to be of Indian origin.

Representational Image

Police Scotland said the 51-year-old man, who cannot be named at this stage, was arrested over the murder of Pakistani-origin Ansar Shah in the seaside town of Ayr in Ayrshire on October 4, 1993, and will now be returned to Scottish jurisdiction.

"It is anticipated that proceedings to return the man to Scottish jurisdiction will take place in due course," a Police Scotland statement said.

The arrested man is believed to be Indian-origin Avtar Singh, who was arrested as he landed in Frankfurt from a flight from Delhi.

Singh was a waiter of an Indian restaurant in Ayrshire at the time of the murder and had disappeared after the murder, which local media reports at the time described as a restaurant war between rival Indian and Pakistani restaurants over migrant staff employed by them.

Shah, the owner of Armaan Brasserie which has since been renamed as Ayr India, was stabbed to death outside the eatery when a group of Pakistanis clashed with Indians, the 'Ayrshire Post' had reported at the time.

Two other men had been severely injured in the attack and treated in hospital.

Representational Image

A nationwide manhunt was launched for Singh, also known as Tony and Dari, who had worked as a waiter in the Jewel in the Crown restaurant in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

The unsolved murder case was being re-examined by specialist cold case detectives in the UK since May this year.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Bell of Police Scotland Homicide Governance Review said, "Police Scotland is committed to pursuing those persons who are allegedly responsible for the gravest of crimes.

"Time and location is no barrier to the efforts and determination of our staff and partners to pursue justice for victims and their loved ones."

The arrest follows a joint operation coordinated from the Scottish Crime Campus, and led by Police Scotlands Homicide Governance and Review Team, involving participation with Police Scotlands International Assistance Unit, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Law Enforcement partners across Europe including Europol, French and German authorities, and the UK National Crime Agency (NCA).

The arrested man could accept the terms of the arrest warrant and agree to being flown to Scotland or fight it through the German courts.
This 14-year-old boy is being dubbed Pakistans human owl as he turns his head a complete 180 degrees to look directly behind him.

YouTube Screenshot

Muhammad Sameer, hailing from southern Pakistani city of Karachi, uses his hands to help rotate his head back over his shoulders.

According to a report by Daily Pakistan, not just this, the boy can also rotate his shoulders by 360 degrees.

Sameer works as a part of an eight-member dance group, Dangerous Boys, in Karachi and performs in dance shows to earn a living.

He was forced to quit studies as his 49-year-old father was ill and unemployed. Sameer earns a meager sum of Rs 600-Rs 1000 per show. Asher Khan, the lead dancer of Dangerous Boys, stated that Sameer is incredible and will go a long way if he gets proper training.

Sameer said: "I work so that I can support my family. I don't want that due to lack of resources my four sisters have to quit studies."

The teenager is hoping his unbelievable flexibility will land him a part in a Hollywood movie.
Microsofts 2018 roadmap for its open source Visual Studio Code code editor includes better performance, reduced memory consumption, and more support for JavaScript and TypeScript.

The multilanguage Visual Studio Code, which Microsoft has been updating monthly, is designed as a streamlined editor for debugging, running tasks, and version control. More complex workflows require the use of full-featured IDEs. Visual Studio Code 1.0 debuted in April 2016 and supports Node.js, JavaScript, and TypeScript.

Performance-improvement features planned for Visual Studio Code

Microsofts performance-oriented plans for Visual Studio Code include:

Reducing memory consumption.

Improving accessibility.

Support of language packs for community-contributed translation.

Improving the Windows update experience.

Adding more diagnostics.

Editor features planned for Visual Studio Code

Among changes to the editor itself that Microsoft plans for Visual Studio Code are:

Better scalability and performance for editor decorations.

Investigation of a native model layer.

A look into semantic coloring.

Rendering of more than text on the minimap.

Workbench-related improvements under consideration include:

Finishing multiroot folder workspaces support.

Showing SCM (source control management) status in the explorer.

Vertical panel layout support.

Improved notification UI.

Better intrafile navigation.

Enabling users to manage contributions to the status bar.

JavaScript and TypeScript features considered for Visual Studio Code

For JavaScript, Microsofts plans call for improving the discoverability in the use of TypeScript to type-check JavaScript code.

For both TypeScript and JavaScript, Microsoft wants to investigate improving source maps so they can be more precise and feature variable mappings. Also, the Visual Code Studio editor would gain the ability to organize imports and remove unused imports for the two languages.

Other features considered for Visual Studio Code

Microsoft plans to improve support for the Language Server Protocol, for integrating different languages into editors and IDEs.

For extension users, Microsoft wants to improve both the extension recommendation system and searching. Tracking down issues caused by extensions would be simplified. Users also would get more information about extension usage.

Also on the drawing board for Visual Studio Code is support for splitting and viewing of multiple terminals, along with source control integration improvements that include the ability to view changes inside the editor using a peek/inline experience.

An integrated history view also might be added.

Where to download Visual Studio Code

You can download Visual Studio Code from the project website.
Dateline Dateline Irrawaddy: When Religiosity Leads to Sexual Exploitation

This week, The Irrawaddy discusses the prevalence of sexual exploitation in connection with religiosity after a high-profile case last month.

May Sitt Paing: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy. This week, well discuss sexual exploitation of girls in Alantaya in Mon States Thaton Township by a man called Khun Tan, also known as Zat Lite, which was reported last month. It came under the spotlight on social media and also attracted the attention of authorities after the father of one of the victims filed a complaint. According to locals and authorities, Khun Tan sexually exploited at least six girls between 2014 and 2016 in Alantaya. However, such cases happen not only in Alantaya, but across the country. Director of Rainfall Gender Studies Organization Ma Pyo Latt Han and The Irrawaddys senior reporter Ko Kyaw Kha will join me to discuss this. Im May Sitt Paing of The Irrawaddy.

Regarding the Alantaya case, there were reports of sexual exploitation of girls by Khun Tan who took advantage of their religiosity. Ko Kyaw Kha, to what extent do you think such cases may exist across the country besides Alantaya?

Kyaw Kha: I have contacted women organizations and inquired about the incidence of such cases in order to collect reports. Khun Tans case came under the spotlight only because it drew widespread attention. But there are many other cases that have gone unreported. Apparently, such cases exist in communities of all religions in the country as a result of religiosity being exploited by religious leaders. In some cases, families of the victim try to hide their pregnancy by sending them away. There are many cases of sexual exploitation in connection with religiosity that happen both in areas of Central Myanmar and ethnic regions, not only in Alantaya.

MSP: In those cases, women are sexually exploited due to their religiosity. But some of them are not aware that they are being exploited and they continue to follow their exploiter. And some continue to cling to [the exploiter] despite the knowledge that they are being exploited. What do you think should be done to educate them?

Pyo Latt Han: Before talking about educating, Id like to mention the number of rape cases in 2016. According to official sources, there were 1,100 rape cases nationwide and 671 of them were child rape cases. So, considering this national figure, the security of women and children is a subject for concern. Again, speaking of religiosity-related abuses, in fact some cases are not related with religiosity. Especially, regarding culture, we usually view it as a fixed set of principles. But it fact, it is a man-made thing. And we have come to notice cases of sexual exploitation only after the case of Khun Tan came under the spotlight. In fact, women in society are exploited daily in different ways. For example, there is a notion of women being viewed as the object and men being the subject. Such notion makes both sexes believe that women are submissive. Women themselves willingly accept that notion. First of all, we need to address the circumstances that make women accept that notion. This is also a problem of misguided belief. For example, that women willingly accept that they are inferior to the male sex is a form of misguided belief. So we need to question all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex in our daily lives. And speaking of educating, many people think that the educator is superior and the receiver of the education is inferior. In fact, we need to work together to find answers to those problems in question. The way such cases happen differs from one place to another and the problems and difficulties facing women are different from place to place. Problems facing women in urban areas are different from those facing their counterparts in rural areas. We need to take different conditions into account. Speaking of sexual exploitation, some usually do blame the victim, saying that they deserve it because they are naive. But why dont they question the norms that make them willingly accept the notion they are submissive? So rather than differentiating the roles of educator and receiver in educating, we should take time and make questions and find answers together. Then, we will be able to see certain change, I think.

MSP: Youve made a good point. So you argue that established norms and customs contribute to exploitation. But such attitudes are rather deep-rooted in society. What actions do you think should be done to shatter the glass-ceiling?

PLH: First of all, we should view ourselves the same rather than viewing as they and us. We were all oppressed under the same system. So, I think no one is better to take the role of educators. The structure of our society appears to have two levels of hierarchy. We should question this structure and, as Ive said earlier, we should think together about how to solve the problem. Again rather than viewing the problem as a women only issue, we must be aware that it is an issue that concerns all of us. Both men and women are subjected to exploitation by cultural norms in the name of religion. But women are more vulnerable because of the concepts that women are the inferior and weaker sex. This is a view that women have willingly accepted. We should identify the causes of this, and forget the hierarchy of educator and receiver, and all come together and think how to solve the problem, then there will be a certain change, I think.

MSP: Ko Kyaw Kha, how do you assess it?

KK: Those cases, I think, are resulted from low levels of education, lack of knowledge and religiosity. The media should expose such cases. Some women organizations have information about abuses that involve religious leaders, but are concerned about the possible impact if they reveal those cases because religion is a very sensitive subject and disclosing those cases can exacerbate the tensions. I have made many reports about women being sexually abused by religious leaders. The media should make thorough investigative reporting of such cases. Likewise, the government should take harsh actions against the perpetrators, and then well be able to solve it. Mostly, such cases tend to happen in places of low levels of education and religiosity. So, there is a need to disclose those cases and take tough actions.

MSP: Do you think such cases happen more in ethnic areas than urban areas? The way women in ethnic areas are exploited is different from urban areas. Women in urban areas have a certain degree of awareness, but their peers in rural areas are very honest and simple. What are the differences in patterns of exploitation between urban and rural areas?

PLH: A Karen female friend told me yesterday that she didnt like being called an honest ethnic woman, and that she felt like by honest, it was implied that she was naive and being exploited. The way women are exploited is different [between rural and urban areas], but it is very difficult to say in which area abuse cases are more frequent. Anyway, there are more opportunities in urban areas; there are media and greater chances to readI mean, more factors that encourage us to report abuses. Im afraid it would be somewhat imperious, just my opinion, to say women in rural areas are exploited because of low levels of education. Taking a look at the education system of our country, one of its objectives is to establish a fairer and more just society. And we should also be aware that we have no space to question the fairness of the current situation.

As Ive said, it is difficult to say in which area exploitation is more frequent. There are two forms of exploitationone is visible, like Khun Tan, and another is invisible, for example the stereotypical description in advertisements of women as housewives who have to do household chores, and women mainly responsible to do daily chores for their children, and films and movies also promote the notion that good women make sacrifices [for their family]. This is also a form of exploitation. So, though the patterns of exploitation are different, women of both urban and rural areas are exploited. And it is difficult to say which area is more vulnerable.

MSP: These days, there are also male activists alongside female activists who demand womens rights besides the prevention of sexual abuses. To what extent do you think the measures to change widely-held perceptions have gained progress?

KK: It will depend on the degree of cooperation. For example, education campaigns will be required to prevent sexual exploitation like in the case of Khun Tan. Especially, womens organizations, non-governmental organizations [NGOs] and the government should work together to educate women against sexual exploitation in those areas. If there is cooperation of the government, it would be fine. In fact, such cases of sexual exploitation should not happen in Myanmar. Frankly speaking, the cooperation of government is not that active. NGOs and womens organizations mostly have to work on their own. The cooperation of government is essential to get rid of such exploitation. It is time education campaigns were undertaken. There are other types of abuses besides sexual abuse. For example, probably in 2015, the case of the witch doctor who killed children in Twante Township. So, there is a need to conduct effective education campaigns. The government should take an active part in cooperation with NGOs and womens organizations.

MSP: Ma Pyo Latt Han, what measures, including education and legal protection, do you think should be taken to prevent sexual exploitation of women and protect their rights?

PLH: We need to cooperate with legal experts. And it is important to understand clearly that we have to protect women not because they are weak and ignorant, but we have to protect them against things and circumstances that make them weak. Again it is critically important that the decision makers who would enact the laws are knowledgeable about womens issues and can view things from a feminist perspective. So, the scale of legal protection for women depends on their decision. And we should better prevent than cure. As Ive said, the issues facing women are different from place to place across the country. So the government should take a lead role and in cooperation with womens organizations and media, and think about how to listen to the voices of women.

MSP: Thank you for your contributions!
Saturday, Nov 11th, 2017 (12:01 am) - Score 2,600

The Aylesbury Vale Broadband project, which is deploying a full fibre (FTTH/P) broadband network to a number of rural Buckinghamshire (England, UK) villages, is currently said to be considering expressions of interest from potential buyers and this week also saw the operators MD depart.

At present AVBs rollout is being supported by around 700,000 in the form of a publicly funded commercial loan from the Aylesbury Vale District Council (95% shareholder), which has so far enabled the 300Mbps capable network to reach roughly 2,000 premises with their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP/H) technology.

Sadly the AVB website hasnt posted any updates on its deployment progress since January 2017, when the operator said that over the next nine months AVB [will] spread its wings and weve rapidly grown  were now live (or about to be live) in six villages with another four villages slated for the first quarter of 2017. We have deployed approximately 100 KMs of ducting across public and private land.

So far the network appears to have reached Hoggeston, Granborough, North Marston and Swanbourne. Meanwhile a post made in March 2017 on their Facebook Page stated that AVB had started the work extending our ultrafast fibre broadband network to Soulbury and Stewkley in rural Buckinghamshire (on the way to Drayton Parslow).

Since then silence has been the order of the day, although there was a brief spat with rival operator Gigaclear (here) and some criticism of AVBs financial situation from one of the local Liberal Democrat Councillors, Llew Monger (here). In May 2017 the Oving Parish Council also expressed their disappointment with AVBs progress (here), although such delays are not uncommon with complex FTTP deployments.

Back in September we queried the projects progress with AVBs former Managing Director, Andrew Mills, who informed ISPreview.co.uk that they were continuing with their rapid growth and had decided to focus on tackling a huge backlog of people waiting to be connected. Andrew added that AVB regularly received expressions of interest from people wanting to replicate their efforts, as well as those seeking to invest or acquire them.

More recently a number of community forums for the Aylesbury Vale area have started to post complaints (examples here and here), which is notable because AVBs network is still very small. Some examples from this month can be found below (names removed as those are personal details, but you can track on the FB pages).

AVB Complainant 1: Can someone from avb please let all of us customers know what is happening  there is no support for all the people on the service. Mine is currently working since we had help from an outside source but if it goes wrong again we have no contact at all. I know of several people in North Marston who cannot work from home due to the broadband dropping out.

AVB Complainant 2: AVB totally useless took our deposits a year ago on the promise they would supply us by March. Nothing we are with Rapid rural now . I have asked out of principal for my deposit back from AVB and they have not replied.

AVB Complainant 3: We paid our deposit in good faith, but it doesnt seem like they are going to supply it and my requests for a refund have been ignored.

AVB Complainant 4: Terrible experience, always chasing, left mess everywhere in my house big holes in wall, bad attitude when asking for advice and now no support even when there was support you couldnt get hold of anyone. Wish I never instructed them

Despite this its important to note that many others are continuing to receive a good connection and have nothing but praise for AVB, although its clear that there may be some on-going capacity or technical issues in certain areas and doubts are starting to accumulate about the projects future.

More recently an article appeared in the Bucks Herald (only available in print), which confirmed that Andrew Mills had left AVB and included a useful statement from the local authority.

Cllr Janet Blake, Cabinet Member for Business Transformation, said: AVDC is currently exploring expressions of interest in Aylesbury Vale Broadband and, for that reason, is unable to discuss any sensitive matters relating to the company. In the meantime, we continue to prioritise our customers and are currently working to resolve a temporary technical issue which is affecting some subscribers. We apologise to those customers for any inconvenience but, apart from that, its business as usual. AVDC is proud to have been instrumental in bringing ultra-fast fibre broadband to a number of villages in the Vale and is now considering the best option for continuing that good work.

A quick check of AVBs company records (here) shows that Andrew resigned from his position on 8th November. We understand that Andrew has spent a huge amount of time working on AVB and is now enjoying his first holiday in two years. The remaining Directors of AVB are Janet Blake, Teresa Lane, Tracey Aldworth and Simon Eggleton (all work in the local government / council).

As ever the lack of information from AVDC concerning AVBs future plans / status merely serves to create a fertile breeding ground for speculation, although aside from the technical issues the local authority remains adamant that AVB is not in danger. Weve been told that a press release may soon be published to help clarify the situation.

Finally, we understand from one of those involved that an important announcement could be made within the next couple of weeks or more (possible sale?). Well keep our eyes peeled.

UPDATE 13th Nov  7:11am

We understand that AVB started work to correct the current network issues on Friday and this has been on-going over the weekend. We should also point out that Andrew Mills remains a shareholder in AVB and, despite no longer being the companys Managing Director, has been assisting with the fix work.
Speaker to Share How He Used Poetry to Heal Children

While visiting campus, Poet Spencer Reece will introduce a screening of the film inspired by his experiences in Honduras.

Nov. 9, 2017

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. As part of his national tour, award-winning poet Spencer Reece will discuss his own poetry as well as the poetry of the girls from Our Little Roses, an orphanage in Honduras where Reece worked as a poetry workshop leader. The reading will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. at the Merwin Gallery of the Ames School of Art (6 Ames Plaza West, Bloomington).

At 7 p.m. the same day, Reece will introduce a screening in the Beckman Auditorium of Voices Beyond the Wall: Twelve Love Poems from the Murder Capital of the World , a film that documents Reece's time in Honduras.

A poet and Episcopal priest in Madrid, Spain, Reece earned a Fulbright Scholarship in 2012 to teach poetry to children at Our Little Roses, an orphanage in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Both a home and school, Our Little Roses was founded in 1988 for abused and abandoned girls in San Pedro Sula, a city ranked second for the worlds highest per capita murder rate.

For one year, Reece used poetry to help girls in the orphanage overcome abuse, violence and neglect. The book, Counting Time Like People Count Stars , includes works by 24 of the children. Published by Northwestern University Press, the book will be available to purchase at the film screening and poetry reading. Directed by Brad Coley with James Franco as executive producer, the film that will be presented at the screening chronicles the experiences of the girls as they write their life stories.

The author of The Clerks Tale and The Road to Emmaus, Reece is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Witter Bynner fellowship from the Library of Congress. He has received multiple awards including the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship and a Whiting Writers Award. After graduating from Wesleyan University with a bachelor of arts degree, Reece earned his master of arts at the University of York, a master of theological studies at Harvard Divinity School, and a master of divinity at Yale Divinity School.

Chaepter Negro '19, a member of Illinois Wesleyans Interfaith, a Registered Student Organization dedicated to fostering religious diversity, said that Reeces work exemplifies Interfaiths mission.

From an interfaith perspective, its important that Reece is crossing divides, Negro said. Being an Episcopal priest, that is not a huge part of what hes doing  a lot of it just comes down to human rights work. It shows that regardless of what specific religion or specific worldview you have, youre still willing to meet other people in the middle to help other people and to find common ground.

Negro said that people like Reece show the importance in combining faith with the humanities and the arts to foster change.

The fact that Reece himself went to one of the most dangerous places in Central America to work with these girls and teach them poetry shows that he obviously has some type of belief in the power of how art can change people and help them escape from an otherwise awful situation, Negro said.

Reeces visit is sponsored by the International Studies Program, the Chaplains Office, the Hispanic Studies Department, and the English Department.

By Vi Kakares '20
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By Jake Johnson, staff writer. | ( Commondreams.org ) |  

Breitbarts piece on the accusations more closely resembled a press release for Moore than a news story, argued one journalist.

Minutes before the Washington Post on Thursday published a bombshell report detailing allegations by a woman who claims Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 14, the Steve Bannon-directed outlet Breitbart News ran a story that spotlighted Moores denials of the claims against him and attempted to undermine the Posts credibility.

The story detailed some of the allegations, but with a distinct twist, notes Business Insiders Maxwell Tani. Breitbart included five paragraphs of denials from Moore, which were placed above many of the details of the allegations.

Headlined After Endorsing Democrat in Alabama, Bezoss Washington Post Plans to Hit Roy Moore with Allegations of Inappropriate Relations with Teenagers; Judge Claims Smear Campaign, Breitbarts piece more closely resembles a press release for Moore than a news story, argued the Washington Posts Aaron Blake.

David Uberti of Splinter News echoed Blake, calling the piece transparently disgusting spin.

Breitbart News obtained details of the forthcoming Post story Translation: Roy Moores campaign asked us to do a preemptive press release for them  Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 9, 2017

According to the Posts account of the allegations, Moore approached 14-year-old Leigh Corfman in 1979 when she was sitting outside of an Etowah County, Alabama courtroom with her mother in 1979. Moore offered to watch Corfman while her mother went inside the courtroom for a child custody hearing, and proceeded to ask her for her phone number.

Just days later, the Post reports, Moore

. . . took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear . . .

Three other women have also alleged that Moore pursued them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18, the Post reported. One of the women, Wendy Miller, said Moore first approached her when she was 14 and began asking her on dates when she was 16.

Lawmakers were quick to respond to the allegations, and many Republicans called on Moore to step down as the partys Senate nominee.

If there is any truth at all to these horrific allegations, Roy Moore should immediately step aside as a Senate candidate, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a statement.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called the allegations deeply disturbing and disqualifying.

He should immediately step aside and allow the people of Alabama to elect a candidate they are proud of, McCain wrote on Twitter.

Moore has been labeled a bigot and a theocratic crackpot for his record as an Alabama Supreme Court judge.

In 2003, Moore garnered national attention when he had a 5,280-pound monument of the 10 Commandments built inside Alabamas state judicial building. He has also suggested that Muslims should be barred from serving in Congress and that homosexuality should be outlawed.

Via Commondreams.org

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License



Related video added by Juan Cole:

TYT Nation: The Most Deplorable Defenses Of Roy Moore
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By Frida Berrigan | ( Waging Nonviolence) |  

Connecticut is the only state in the union that does not have a budget, and the states bills are being paid in emergency supplementals  or going past due. The state is budget-less, so my town of New London  one of its smaller urban communities  doesnt have a budget either. That means a hiring freeze at our local schools, budget cuts and tax increases from City Council, the farmers markets not accepting senior citizen vouchers this summer, the downtown library cutting its hours, a smaller pool of money to pay for the heating needs of low-income people this winter and several other important city-funded offerings.



Rep. Keith Ellison spoke outside the Capitol last May, when the Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled its Peoples Budget. (Twitter/@ProgCongress)

So far, this belt tightening has resulted in longer lines at the food pantries and an added weight of stress to already vulnerable and burdened people. Eventually, if it goes on long enough, the people impacted by these cuts  and the bigger ones on the horizon  will look across our river to the big industrial facilities that mar our otherwise beautiful view. The General Dynamics Electric Boat corporation isnt tightening its belt or trimming its excess or trying to make more with less. It just got a $5 billion contract to build a new class of nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed submarines.

Have you been worried about the United States not having enough nuclear submarines? Me neither. But Electric Boat is booming. The same can be said for most of the bad old military-industrial complex. President Trumps 2018 budget is a brutal behemoth that proposes giving more than $700 billion to the military  a lot of it going right into the very pockets of the military-industrial complex.

That would be bad enough, but the problem isnt that we are spending more on the military  its that it comes at the expense of just about every social good imaginable. Over the next decade, the Republican-held White House and Congress are planning over $5 trillion in cuts to the safety net.

Comparisons to the military budget abound: We spend more than the next seven nations combined; one year of military spending could hire every unemployed person in the United States and put them to work in a high paid infrastructure rebuilding job; if you took the military budget in $100 bills it would circle the equator 500 times. (OK, I made that last one up.) But here is one that is pretty profound: According to the math of Alex Emmons, a reporter for The Intercept, just the increase to the military budget from 2017 to 2018 ($80 billion) that the Senate approved would be enough to make public colleges and universities in America tuition free.

Lets pause here. The budget situation in Connecticut is so severe that one version of the budget being promoted by state Republicans would cut hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding for the University of Connecticut system. University representatives and Democratic leaders responded by saying that such cuts would essentially shutter institutions where lower-income, first generation students seek higher education. Why cry poverty when there are billions that could be gleaned out of the military-industrial complex?

Getting there is the hard part, but  thanks to the Peoples Budget  we have a map to follow.

More than 100 representatives voted for the Peoples Budget earlier this month, which limits investment in the military and pumps money into jobs, education, health care and climate resiliency. Of course, the resolution was not binding and was voted down by the House. Nevertheless, the ideas in the Peoples Budget provide a clear, concise plan for mobilizing the significant resources of the United States in the service of its people  which is kind of how it is supposed to be, right?

The document comes courtesy of the Congressional Progressive Caucus  they compile it every year  but it is more than a Washington effort. The breadth of organizational support for the Peoples Budget is impressive: from Planned Parenthood to Network: The Catholic Social Justice Lobby to VoteVets to Peace Action to dozens of other organizations representing the interests of hundreds of thousands of people, all setting aside policy differences to work together to achieve a different kind of national security.

Their aims include a $2 trillion investment in Americas energy, water and transportation systems; higher taxes on Wall Street firms and corporations that offshore jobs; a minimum wage hike and stronger union rights; auditing the Pentagon budget; and making debt-free college a reality for all students.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the Peoples Budget would add 2.4 million jobs and increase GDP by 2 percent in the near term. And when it turns its attention to the military, the Progressive Caucus budget prohibits any expansion of U.S. combat troops in Syria, prohibits an increase in defense spending and slashes wasteful Pentagon spending.

Peace Action senior director for policy and political affairs Paul Kawika Martin sees something fundamentally hopeful in this annual process. Every year, it gets better, he said in a recent interview. More Democrats vote for the Peoples Budget and we push the party closer to representing our ideals.

Up against the Pentagons pervasive reach and endless resources  not to mention the military-industrial complexs practice of strategically citing its manufacturing in key congressional districts and spending millions on lobbying every year  this has to count as real progress.

Still, it cant just happen inside the Beltway. The Peoples Budget also provides an opportunity to organize locally and to ask the questions: What is security? How much should it cost? Is it walls? Impregnable borders? Militarized police forces? Pervasive surveillance? Guns? Or is it local autonomy, affordable housing, accessible medical care, livable wages, truly representative government, and a sense of well-being that doesnt cost a lot, but sure is priceless? With the war in Afghanistan entering its 17th year, swaths of our country digging out of damage from fires and hurricanes, and communities trying to find sanity in the wake of another mass shooting, it is a critical question.

Frida Berrigan is a columnist for Waging Nonviolence and the author of  It Runs in the Family: On Being Raised by Radicals and Growing into Rebellious Motherhood. She lives in New London, Conn. with her husband Patrick and their three children.

Via Waging Nonviolence
By Ted Gover

According to intelligence estimates, Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program is on course to attaining the capability of striking the U.S. mainland with a nuclear weapon within a year. Other reports claim that North Korea may already possess this capability.

Prudence requires that Washington assume Pyongyang can attack the U.S. with a nuclear weapon and that any armed conflict with North Korea would involve the threat of a nuclear strike against the U.S. and its allies.

Beyond this, a non-nuclear conflict with North Korea would be costly given the 30 million South Korean citizens, 200,000 U.S. citizens and 25,000 U.S. military personnel concentrated in greater Seoul, all of whom are within range of the North's rocket battery artillery.

This reality requires that the U.S. and its allies construct a North Korea policy that involves a long game of strategic deterrence, containment and sanctions while leaving the door open to negotiations.

Perhaps the first step in this process is for Washington to acknowledge that Kim Jong-un is unlikely to abandon his nuclear weapons programs due to sanctions and urging from the White House, Beijing and others. Kim's primary focus is the survival of his regime and he knows of the fates of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, both of whom are dead after their non-nuclear states were overthrown by outside powers.

It bears saying that Kim is also keenly aware of Ukraine's current situation which, at the urging of Washington, London and Moscow in return for guarantees to its territorial integrity, gave up 2,000 nuclear weapons in 1994. Yet, as it stands today, the Crimea and most of eastern Ukraine is under Russia's control.

Pyongyang has taken note. Regardless of the cost of economic sanctions, it will not engage in arms talks until it has mastered and demonstrated the capability of conducting a nuclear strike against a U.S. city.

Washington can protect against a nuclear North Korea by recommitting to some of the first principles applied during the Cold War against the Soviet Union, i.e., utilizing a long-term strategy of containment, sanctions and deterrence with overwhelming capabilities.

This approach, although imperfect, has worked well on the Korean peninsula over the past 65 years. While it has failed to prevent North Korea from developing a nuclear weapons program, it has prevented another Korean war.

Without such a framework, the risk of a nuclear North reigniting hostilities on the Korean peninsula rises while the chances of a U.S.-China strategic agreement regarding the North decreases.

The end goal is that in years to come Pyongyang will enter into disarmament discussions, the regime will come to an end or a different type of leader will emerge in Pyongyang.

Going forward, the need for a long-term strategy is in order, similar to the approach used towards Soviet Union during the Cold War.





Ted Gover (tedgover@gmail.com), Ph.D., is instructor of Political Science at Central Texas College, U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.
Olympus Korea CEO Naoki Okada speaks during an interview at his office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Olympus Korea





By Yoon Sung-won



For an enterprise, returning part of the profit it has gained to the local community is considered a socially responsible activity. But unfortunately, not all companies fulfill such responsibilities.



Olympus Korea opened a center for medical training and education in Songdo, Incheon, on Oct. 12 by investing 37 billion won ($33.23 million). It is the largest medical training facility ever established by a foreign company in Korea.



Olympus Korea CEO Naoki Okada stressed it was natural for the company to make the investment and set up the facility to support Korea in training doctors with endoscopic and laparoscopic skills as one of the largest medical equipment providers here.



"In Korea, especially at major hospitals such as Hyundai Asan Hospital, Samsung Medical Center and Seoul National University Hospital, laparoscopic techniques are increasingly being adopted by doctors," Okada said during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Tuesday.



"With the rapidly aging population, the demand for laparoscopic procedures to treat cancer patients will further expand here. But doctors need training for the new skills. We established the training center to meet such public needs. We believe it is our responsibility as a manufacturer of the medical devices they use."



Olympus is generating more than 70 percent of its sales from the medical equipment business on the back of its global dominance in the gastrointestinal endoscopic devices sector. Still, the move to invest 37 billion won in establishing the training center came as a bold decision considering Olympus Korea posted about 170 billion won in sales and 10 billion won in operating profit last year.



The new facility, called "Olympus Korea Medical Training & Education Center" (K-TEC), was established under an agreement between the company and the Incheon Free Economic Zone in May 2015.



Located in the new industrial cluster in Songdo, the four-story training center has various facilities including medical training rooms with surgical equipment as well as a product showroom where Olympus' latest medical equipment is showcased.



"We established a solid brand as the sole provider of both endoscopic image devices and energy devices for actual surgery. Our advanced optical technologies have realized 3D and high-resolution 4K imaging for laparoscopic procedures," he said. "But more important, we seek to be recognized as a trusted and needed brand in Korea."



Through K-TEC, Olympus Korea plans to cooperate with Korea's medical academic institutions to provide them with endoscopic and laparoscopic techniques as well as facilities necessary for educating medical professionals. It also signed an agreement with the Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the Korean Urological Association and the Korean Surgical Society for developing medical device education programs.



Olympus Korea has a five-person team dedicated to corporate social responsibility activities in Korea. The team is pushing for diverse projects not just in the medical sector but also in cultural circles. Under cooperation with the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, the company has sponsored talented artists to produce creative works.



Okada has led Olympus Korea for two years. In the meantime, the CEO said he has been trying to blend the core values of global Olympus as well as individual ideas of local employees.



"As a global enterprise running businesses all around the globe, Olympus has cherished the value of diversity in each local subsidiary while promoting open communication between employees," he said. "But at the same time, we seek to maintain honesty to keep promises with our customers as well as professionalism to meet diverse demands of the market."
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that there is a "solution" to North Korea's nuclear stalemate, foreign media reported.



Trump made the remark after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Their meeting came after the U.S. president had a summit with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in Seoul on Tuesday.



"I do believe there's a solution to that, as do you," Trump said, referring to Xi, according to Reuters.



Trump urged China to pressure the North to give up its nuclear weapons, saying that China can resolve the problem "easily and quickly." He also asked China to "hopefully work on it very hard."



Trump said that the North is the biggest threat and emphasized the importance of its denuclearization.



Xi said that China is committed to cooperating with the U.S. on many major regional and global issues, including North Korea.



He also said that China will stick to the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and solving the problem through talks.



Trump and Xi met amid high tensions sparked by North Korea's sixth nuclear test in September and a series of missile provocations in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.



After having talks with Moon in Seoul, Trump said that he is making "a lot of progress" in efforts to force the North to give up its nuclear weapons program.



In his speech at the National Assembly here, Trump called North Korea a "hell no person deserves" and warned the North not to "underestimate" U.S. power. (Yonhap)




The appearance of a years-long supernova explosion challenges scientist's current understanding of star formation and death, and work is underway to explain the bizarre phenomenon.

Stars more than eight times the mass of the sun end their lives in fantastic explosions called supernovas. These are among the most energetic phenomena in the universe. The brightness of a single dying star can briefly rival that of an entire galaxy. Supernovas that form from supermassive stars typically rise quickly to a peak brightness and then fade over the course of around 100 days as the shock wave loses energy.

In contrast, the newly analyzed supernova iPTF14hls grew dimmer and brighter over the span of more than two years, according to a statement by Las Cumbres Observatory in Goleta, California, which tracked the object. Details of the discovery (opens in new tab) appeared on Nov. 8 in the journal Nature. [First Supernova Shock Wave Image Snapped by Planet-Hunting Telescope]

An inconspicuous discovery

Supernova iPTF14hls was unremarkable when first detected by a partner telescope in San Diego on Sept. 22, 2014. The light spectrum was a textbook example of a Type II-P supernova, the most common type astronomers see, lead author Iair Arcavi, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Space.com. And the supernova looked like it was already fading, he said.

The observatory was in the middle of a 7.5-year collaborative survey, so Arcavi focused on more-promising objects. But in February, 2015, Zheng Chuen Wong, a student working for Arcavi that winter, noticed the object had become brighter over the past five months.

"He showed me the data," Arcavi said, "and he [asked], 'Is this normal?' and I said, 'Absolutely not. That is very strange. Supernovae don't do that,'" Arcavi said.

At first, Arcavi thought it might be a local star in our galaxy, which would appear brighter because it was closer, he said. Many stars are also known to have variable brightness. But the light signature revealed that the object was indeed located in a small, irregular galaxy about 500 million light-years from Earth.

And the object only got weirder. After 100 days, the supernova looked just 30 days old. Two years later, the supernova's spectrum still looked the way it would if the explosion were only 60 days old. The supernova recently emerged from behind Earth's sun, and Arcavi said it's still bright, after roughly three years. But at one one-hundredth of its peak brightness, the object appears to finally be fading out.

"Just to be clear, though, there is no existing model or theory that explains all of the observations we have," said Arcavi. The supernova may fade out; it may grow brighter, or it may suddenly disappear.

One reason for Arcavi's uncertainty is that a supernova was seen in the same location in 1954. This means that the event Acavi has been observing, whatever it is, may actually be 60 years running. There's a 1 to 5 percent chance the two events are unrelated, but that would be even more surprising, said Arcavi. Astronomers have never observed unrelated supernova in the same place decades apart. "We are beyond the cutting-edge of models," Arcavi said.

Supernova iPTF14hls dwarfs typical supernovas in both brightness and longevity. And the event's dramatic fluctuations pose an exciting challenge for the astronomical community to explain. (Image credit: S. Wilkinson/LCO)

Beyond cutting edge

"I'm not sure, and I don't think anyone else is sure, just what the hell is happening," astrophysicist Stanford Woosley, at University of California, Santa Cruz, told Space.com. "And yet it happened, and so it begs explanation."

Woosley is not affiliated with the study, but he is among the theoreticians working to understand the event. Two hypotheses show promise in explaining it, he said.

The first involves the famous equation E = mc2. With this formula , Albert Einstein demonstrated that matter and energy are fundamentally interchangeable. Stars burn by converting matter into energy, fusing lighter elements like hydrogen and helium into heavier elements, which build up in the star's core and also release energy. When a star more than 80 times the mass of the sun reaches a temperature of 1 billion degrees Celsius (1.8 billion degrees Fahrenheit), this energy-matter equivalence produces pairs of electrons and their antiparticle counterparts, positrons, Woosley said. The process robs the star of energy, and so the object shrinks.

But as this happens, the temperature rises in the star's core. At 3 billion C (5.4 billion F), oxygen fuses explosively, blowing off massive amounts of material and resetting the cycle. This process repeats until the star reaches a stable mass, explained Woosley. When the front of an ejected shell of material hits the trailing edge of a previous shell, it releases energy as light.

The star continues to fuse oxygen and the elements of greater masses, up until iron, at which point the reaction fails to release enough energy to keep the star from collapsing in on itself.Eventually, a star like the one that gave rise to iPTF14hls will collapse into a black hole without another explosion, said Woosley.

This phenomenon, called a pulsation pair instability (PPI) supernova, could account for iPTF14hls' sustained luminosity as well as the object's varying brightness. This explanation would require the star to have been 105 times the mass of the sun, said Woosley. However, the PPI model cannot account for the tremendous amount of energy iPTF14hls has released. The first explosion of 2014 had more energy than the model predicts for all the explosions combined, said Arcavi.

What's more, this phenomenon has yet to be verified observationally. "Stars between 80 and 140 solar masses, which do this kind of thing, have to exist," said Woosley, "and they have to die, and so, somewhere, this has to be going on." But no one has seen it yet, he said.

A magnetic superstorm

An alternative explanation involves a star 20 to 30 times the mass of Earth's sun. After a more conventional supernova, such a star could have condensed into a rapidly spinning neutron star, called a magnetar.

A neutron star packs the mass of 1.5 suns into an object with a diameter about the size of New York City. A neutron star rotating at 1,000 times per second would have more energy than a supernova, according to Woosley. It would also generate a magnetic field 100 trillion to 1 quadrillion times the strength of Earth's field. As the star spun down over the course of several months, its incredible magnetic field could transfer the star's rotational energy into the remnants of the supernova that it formed from, releasing light, Woosley explained.

"It's like there's a lighthouse down in the middle of the supernova," said Woolsey.

This image depicts a simulated collision between two shells of matter ejected by subsequent pulsation pair-instability supernova explosions. (Image credit: Ke-Jung Chen/School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota)

But the magnetar explanation is not perfect, either. It has trouble explaining the dips and peaks in iPTF14hls' brightness, and the physics behind how such a phenomenon might work is still uncertain, said Woosley.

As iPTF14hls sheds energy, Arcavi said he hopes to be able to see deeper into the object's structure. If it is a magnetar, then he expects to see X-rays, previously obscured by the supernova itself, beginning to break through, he said. "Maybe by combining pulsation pair instability with [a magnetar], you can start to explain the supernova," Arcavi said.

Keeping busy while keeping watch

The existence of iPTF14hls has far-reaching implications, the researchers said. At 500 million light-years away, the supernova is still relatively close to Earth, and the universe is practically the same today  in terms of composition and organization as it was when this event occurred, according to Arcavi. If the event was a PPI supernova, it tells astronomers that stars more than 100 times the mass of the sun  thought to be more prevalent in the early universe  are still forming today.

The event also had far more hydrogen than researchers expected to see. The explosion in 1954 should have expelled nearly all of the star's hydrogen, said Arcavi. Astrophysicists will have to revisit their models of supernovas to understand how this can occur, he said.

The finding has ramifications for the study of galaxies as well. "The energy of the gravity that's keeping that galaxy together is about the same order of magnitude as the energy that was released in the supernova," Arcavi said. "So, a few of these in a galaxy could actually unbind the entire galaxy."

Arcavi and his team plan to continue monitoring iPTF14hls for at least one to two years. And a suite of international telescopes and observatories will join the effort. Swedish colleagues at the Nordic Optical Telescope, in the Canary Islands, will track the object as it continues to dim beyond what Arcavi's telescope array can detect. NASA's Swift spacecraft will look for X-ray emissions, while the Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled to image the location beginning in December, and others will follow, Arcavi said.

For now, the event remains a mystery.

"It's just a puzzle in the sky," said Woosley. "That's what we live for, what astronomers love."

Email Harrison Tasoff at htasoff@space.com or follow him @harrisontasoff. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
by Kaila Colbin , Featured Contributor, November 10, 2017

As tech giants become a new kind of Internet gatekeeper, said Senator Al Franken this week, I believe the same basic principles of net neutrality should apply here. No one company should have the power to pick and choose which content reaches consumers and which doesnt.

He went on: Facebook, Google, and Amazon, like ISPs, should be neutral in their treatment of the flow of lawful information and commerce on their platform.

It sounds reasonable. After all, he is speaking in defense of private citizens right to choose. Surely we should be the ones to decide what content we consume, not some faceless Silicon Valley behemoth.

But while it sounds reasonable, Frankens declaration is, in fact, impossible.

The idea behind neutrality is to have no opinion, to not favor one option over another. A phone line is neutral about the audio that passes through it. Radio waves transmit music and news equally. The Internet itself is neutral about the content it disseminates.

advertisement advertisement

But these companies are not, and have never been, neutral.

Lets look at Google. Not only is Google not neutral, the entire purpose of the service is to not be neutral.

Google doesnt exist to find you just any content. It exists to find you the best content, meaning the search results most relevant to your query.

And what Google understands -- perhaps more than Franken -- is that relevant is a subjective term. What is relevant to me may not be relevant to you. You and I may be looking for different answers to the same question. And so the task before Google is not just to find the best result; its to find your best result.

Not neutral.

And take Facebook. Despite its principals constant protestations that it is just a platform, it has been making editorial decisions from the companys inception.

Facebook doesnt exist to show you just any content. It exists to show you the most compelling content, the content that will keep you coming back for more.

If Facebook didnt take algorithmically editorial steps to favor content you find interesting, its business would fall apart.

Not neutral.

Last week, Mark Zuckerberg warned on an earnings call that profits would go down as the company invested more in ensuring bad actors cant abuse the platform. Protecting our community, he said, is more important than maximizing profits.

During last weeks hearings, Senator Franken asked Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch whether the social media giant would commit to refusing political ads that were paid for in rubles. Stretch fumbled his answer, with Franken more and more appalled -- after all, other than inappropriately influencing public opinion, what possible reason could anyone have to buy political ads in rubles?

But the point Stretch was trying to make was that currency is only one indicator of whether an ad is from a foreign actor or not -- and an exceptionally easy one to fake. If Facebook really wants to stop foreign governments from interfering in our political process, they will have to look at many more indicators.

In this regard, Im sure they have Frankens support -- whatever it takes to fix the problem of foreign actors influencing American public opinion.

But in the end, both Zuckerbergs comments and Frankens grilling of Stretch point towards the same outcome: Facebook will be deciding who the bad actors are, what content is reliable, what you should be allowed to see.

Its the very opposite of neutral.

Facebook and Google are the arbiters of what we see, read and buy. And while we should be concerned, neutrality isnt the answer.

Maybe we can find a better solution on Google.
New research due to be presented at the 18th Annual Congress of the South African Heart Association shows that financial stress may increase the risk of a heart attack by 13-fold, and work stress by almost six times. Share on Pinterest Almost a quarter of U.S. adults report feeling extremely stressed due to financial concerns. People worry about money  a lot. According to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), 72 percent of those in the United States felt the weight of financial stress at least once in the past month. Another sizeable 22 percent said that they experienced extreme financial stress in the past month. Money and finances have remained the top stressor since [] 2007, report the APA. The same organization warn that stress related to financial issues could have a significant impact on Americans health and well-being. New research, which will be presented at the 18th Annual Congress of the South African Heart Association, held in Johannesburg, may help us to understand exactly how significant that impact could be. Lead study author Dr. Denishan Govender, who is an associate lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, explains the motivation for his research. The role of psychosocial factors in causing disease, he says, is a neglected area of study in South Africa, perhaps because there are so many other pressing health challenges such as tuberculosis and HIV.

Studying stress and heart attack risk In order to study the impact of psychosocial factors on the chances of having a heart attack, Dr. Govender and colleagues examined 106 people who had checked into a large public hospital in Johannesburg for a heart attack. The researchers also examined a control group of 106 healthy, age-, sex-, and race-matched participants. Participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire inquiring about their psychological well-being, with questions about depression, anxiety, stress, work-related stress, and financial stress included. To assess and measure the experience of each of these conditions, the team used the Likert scale . The participants answers were grouped into four categories: no financial stress; mild financial stress; moderate financial stress; and significant financial stress. Mild financial stress meant they had an income but needed additional financial support. Those who fell under the moderate financial stress category had an income but found themselves in financial distress. Having no income and occasionally finding it difficult to meet basic needs counted as experiencing significant financial stress. Dr. Govender and his colleagues calculated the correlations between the two groups scores and the incidence of a heart attack.
The future of warfare is airborne and we aren't talking about missiles carrying weapons of mass destruction or choppers hovering over dangerous territories with ammunition-- we're talking about something as simple as guns, flying guns (relatively simpler, yes).

Source: Duke Robotics

No, it's not like guns have grown wings and can fly around like the Snitch, these would be guns mounted on a quadcopter drone that are controlled by its human operator on the ground. Conceptualised and designed by Florida based Duke Robotics, the TIKAD drone is delightfully safe, for the operator at least as the enemy would go "kaboom" in seconds. Check it out:

Drones mounted with guns, grenades and other small weapons have been a subject of interest for most militaries around the world and it makes absolute sense for the simple reason that it is a safer form of combat. Earlier, drones were being used for surveillance purposes, so weapons application is just an extension, but a mighty cool one.

The TIKAD drone can carry loads of up to three times its weight and can be deployed even above water with a "minimum risk situation" via remote operation. It's a true terrorist combat instrument that fights battles fiercely while also reducing casualties.

Much like the TIKAD there is an ingenious Russian quadrotor, nicknamed "Charlene", that is mounted with machine guns that can cause instant carnage in a battlefield. Check out its powerful airborne gunfire capabilities here:

Source: YouTube - Dagbladet

Drones are changing the face of warfare and we're incredibly impressed. But there is always a bummer lurking around!

The Russians have invented an anti-drone gun-- bum, bum bummer! The man that wields this gun will be able to shut down any drone operation from afar, so the TIKAD is going to have to be careful of the REX-1. Even setting up a drone in the presence of this gun can be a task.

Source: YouTube - RT

So what does the REX-1 do, exactly? No, it doesn't fire at drones, it sucks the life out of them by intercepting and jamming the remote connection with its operator. Drones use radio or GPS/GSM signals to stay connected to their operator, and the REX-1 uses electro-magnetic fields and radio-magnetic signals to seize the connection immediately and render the drones useless. Take a look at the REX-1 in action here:

We thought speed guns were dangerous because they would slap you with a speeding ticket that you couldn't get out of without telling the cops "kiska baap kaun hai" but it looks like the father of all guns is here and it's going to change the way things have been on the front lines. Combat just keeps getting more and more interesting.
11.11.2017 LISTEN

By Lydia Kukua Asamoah, GNA's Special Correspondent in Bonn, Germany

(Sponsored by GIZ Ghana, Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ghana Chamber of Mines)

Bonn, Germany, Nov. 09, GNA - Ghana is mobilising the about 22. 4 billion dollars needed to implement her Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), over a 10-year period, as part of her commitments to the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

There are 31 actions within the NDCs that cut across seven important sectors, including Energy, Transportation, Agriculture, Forestry, Waste Management and Industry.

At a side-event at the on-going UN Conference of Parties (COP23) in Bonn, Germany, Ghana's technocrats on Climate Change issues pledged the country's commitment to doing her part towards combating Climate Change and adapting to its effects.

The event was hosted by the Ghana-China South-South Cooperation on renewable Energy Transfer, with the UNDP playing the facilitation role.

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Ghana's Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, said in a speech read on his behalf that the country was very much committed to the global climate agenda.

Mr Kyekyeku Yaw Oppong Boadi, the UNFCCC Focal Person in Ghana, read the Minister's speech at the event, which also provided the platform to demonstrate to the world what Ghana was doing within the Climate agenda and how it was preparing through policies, programmes and projects to undertake activities within the NDCs.

The Minister said one key sector in the Ghana NDCs was energy, which played a key role in driving the economies of almost all nations.

He said in the NDC, 32 per cent of the interventions were focused on the energy sector, with renewable energy, the driving force of clean energy, covering 73 per cent of the interventions.

'In an effort towards the attainment of these objectives, the Government of Ghana has launched several projects,' he said. 'One of these is the collaboration that has been launched between China and Ghana to develop trilateral cooperation in the renewable energy sector.

'These projects are bringing together all the policy prescriptions and strategies through the renewable energy master plan that we have for the country.'

The event was also used to share the key objectives of Ghana's renewable energy plan and other actions being undertaken under the trilateral agreement.

It was held on the theme: 'Demonstrating Progress in Ghana's Climate Agenda, Trilateral Cooperation in Renewable Energy, cities and Climate'.

The occasion also helped to demonstrate the progress in Ghana's climate change agenda, especially, in the areas of cooperation in renewable energy, considering the challenges the country faces over time within her energy sector.

Mr Daniel Tutu Benefor, a director at the Climate Change Unit of the Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) said the NDCs, which were also very much development focused, cast within the development objectives of the country.

'The focus is really to help in reducing climate risk and reducing emissions in the context of the global agenda,' he stated.

He said to enable Ghana to implement its Climate commitment it was currently mobilising resources from all sources, both private and public institutions, as well as pursuing early ground actions in various sectors.

'These are very important efforts in place to lay the foundation for full implementations of the NDCs in the coming years,' Mr Benefor noted.

Mr Seth Osafo, a Consultant in International Environmental Law, who chaired the event, noted that the developed countries were more able to cope with the impact of climate change because of their wealth whereas developing countries, particularly, Africa, which was the most vulnerable to the adverse impact of climate change, was the least able to cope with the impacts.

He said Africa was also the least contributor to climate change; was but was having difficulty in coping with the impacts.

Mr Osafo said the cumulative emissions of greenhouse gases from Africa was less than six per cent of the global total.

'So we emit very little but then we are affected the most; however, the Climate Change Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement enable us to join the international community to address these impacts of climate change.

He called on all countries to commit to the fight of reducing global warming to 1.5 per cent as agreed in the Paris agreement.

Meanwhile, at the Bonn conference, various parties, negotiators and civil society groups continue to meet in one meeting or the other to discuss and express their views towards the attainment of a reduction in current global warming levels.

Some civil society groups are calling for developed countries to get more serious with funding of vulnerable countries to mitigate impact of climate change.

Fiji is hosting the COP23 as the Chair of the event, while the German Government is supporting the hosting.

Delegates from around the globe are hoping to ensure greater momentum for the Paris Climate Change Agreement and to raise the level of ambition needed to address global warming at the two-week conference, which opened on November 6.

GNA
Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, Minister of Health has justified government's decision to remove Dr Thomas Anaba as the Medical Director of the newly built Greater Accra Regional Hospital.

According to him the decision was arrived at because the government needed a permanent Chief Executive Officer for the Hospital.

Mr Agyemang-Manu gave the justification when he appeared before Parliament to respond to a question relating to the removal of Dr Thomas Anaba as the Medical Director of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital.

Dr Thomas Anaba was directed to hand over to the Public Services Commission, three years short of the expiration of his tenure.

Although no reasons were given then, the letter said the directive was from the Health Minister who has subsequently appointed Dr Anaba's predecessor, Dr Emmanuel Kwabla Srofenyoh.

Mr Agyemang-Manu also explained that since Dr Anaba had not resigned from his teaching job at the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale, he could not have remained on the job at the facility that needed a permanent head.

He said Dr Anaba still had his work waiting for him at the University for Development Studies.

He said the Ghana Health Service therefore could not have contained him when they had completed and needed a Chief Executive Officer who would be there permanently available at all times.

Mr Agyemang-Manu also stated though Dr Anaba went through a competitive process to secure his appointment but his failure to provide the attention the Hospital needed due to his other commitments, contributed to his removal from the facility.

'We wouldn't know when the University was going to call him back when they needed his services and we wouldn't want to take any risk for that matter.

'That is why we asked him to go back to his position so we can put a more permanent person at the facility,' he added.

GNA

By Christopher Arko, GNA
The Ashanti Regional branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has sternly warned ex-President Mahama to refrain from insulting members of the ruling political party in his own interest.

The regional branch of the party said it would be forced to hurl insults at Mr Mahama if he continues to denigrate NPP and its members publicly.

The party observed that ex-President Mahama has over the years insulted NPP members.

The NPP said Mr Mahama recently described its members and leaders as pigs while addressing NDC members at Cape Coast over the weekend.

We respect Mr Mahama because is a former president of the country but if he (Mahama) continues to hurl insults at the NPP and its members, then we would be forced to retaliate, it said.

Sam Pyne, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NPP, stated that the NPP and its members have restrained themselves in the wake of unprovoked attacks by Mr Mahama.

If he continues to insult us, then we would be forced to shun all considerations and insult him in retaliation, Sam Pyne, who was angry, stated on Peace FM morning show hosted by Kwami Sefa Kayi.

Mr Mahama is a statesman and we, in the NPP, give him all the respect that is due him as a former president, but if he continues to insult us, then we will be forced to reply him in his own words, he declared.

Touching on other pressing issues in the NDC, he said the so-called unity walks to help unite the largest opposition political party have created deep cracks in the NDC, saying that the party is sharply divided currently.

According to Sam Pyne, Mr Mahama is sponsoring the unity walks in his bid to lead the NDC in 2020.

Kojo Bonsu and Joshua Akamba, two staunch Mahama boys, have been organizing nationwide NDC unity walks.

From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
The lawyer representing a 30-year-old man, who is said to be behind the publication of the false report that the Accra Mall had been attacked by terrorists, has told an Accra Circuit Court that his client is not mentally stable.

The accused, Ebenezer Boadi, was arrested on November 1, 2017 at his hideout at Offinso in the Ashanti Region after spreading the false information, which according to the police, caused fear and panic among Ghanaians.

He is said to have put out the false message on Whatsapp and other social media platforms, claiming the Accra Mall was under terrorist attack, with some shoppers killed and others held hostage.

He was hauled before the court yesterday on the charges of publication of false news with the intent to cause fear and panic.

He pleaded not guilty.

His lawyer, who filed an application for bail, told the court that Ebenezer Boadi, a teacher, is mentally unstable.

According to him, his mental condition is known to the authorities of the school where he teaches, adding that the authorities sometimes drag him out of the classroom because of his behaviour.

He prayed the court to grant bail to the accused person.

The court, presided over by Marian Affoh, granted the accused bail in the sum of GH5,000 with two sureties.

She also ordered the case investigator to take the accused to the Pantang Hospital for psychiatric examination to ascertain the lawyer's claims.

She further ordered that the residences of the two sureties be verified and a passport size picture of the accused person to be taken.

The case has been adjourned to December 14, 2017.

Facts

The prosecution said the accused person is a native of Asante Effiduase in the Ashanti Region.

On September 24, a social media message alleging that terrorists had attacked some people at the Accra Mall went viral.

On the same day, the Bureaux of National Communications, under the National Security Council, was tasked to assist the police to ascertain the source of the false message.

A technical search conducted online indicated that the message was generated in a Whatsapp group; Buy and Sell Anything GH and Travel Agent Gh.

Further investigations pointed to Boadi Ebenezer as the architect of the false message.

He was subsequently contacted and invited to the Ashanti Regional Office of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on October 5, 2017, but he refused to do so.

On November 1, 2017, the accused was arrested and sent to the Bureaux of National Communication where he was questioned.

He admitted the offence during interrogations.

By Gibril Abdul Razak
Executive members of the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African Americans, have paid a visit to Ghana to explore investment opportunities.

The visit was facilitated by former Mayor of Accra, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuijie and the Jospong Group of Company.

It was to help members of the NBMBAA to partner foreign and local investors in Ghana to create jobs in the country.

The team toured some facilities in Accra to have first-hand information on investment avenues through which they can support the country.

Dr. Jesse Tyson, President and CEO of NBMBAA, who led the delegation on the four-day visit, said the team would invest in areas such as water, infrastructure, technology and sanitation.

Interacting with the media, Dr. Tyson said the team was looking for opportunities to empower the youth through innovative youth empowerment seminars.

We do not have a fixed budget as we are still looking at the prospects, so we will discuss the findings with the team and when we return next year with a bigger delegation we can have a clearer focus, he said.

The former Mayor, who is now the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South Constituency, was optimistic about the visit, indicating that the response had been positive.

We took them first to see the Greater Accra Regional Minister and then factories in Accra and Tema. They have seen a lot for themselves and they will now decide with their members how best to approach this, he said.

Mr Vanderpuijie further noted that the team will hold meetings with the private sector and high-level government officials to explore investment opportunities in Ghana and the United States of America, with trade and education as key sectors for consideration.

Earlier, the former Mayor marketed the country's investments potentials at a conference facilitated by NBMBAA in Philadelphia, US.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
Another military officer  this time from the Burma Camp in Accra  has been nabbed by the Enchi Police in the Western Region for alleged extortion.

The suspect, Corporal Dovlo Agbeshie, believed to be a member of the band unit of the Ghana Armed Forces, was arrested yesterday allegedly extorting huge sums of money from some Chinese and local miners at Enchi and its surrounding communities.

This is the second time in less than a month that a soldier has been busted by the police for alleged extortion and robberies in the region.

It would be recalled that recently three soldiers from the Takoradi Air Force Base were arrested for allegedly robbing some people of gold and cash in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of the region.

The suspects' names were given as Oliviete Solomon, Agantwuo Agana Joseph and Osei Abraham.

In the recent case, the suspect was arrested at the Yiwabra barrier at Enchi together with his suspected civilian accomplices.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that the residents in the area, who had had enough of the said extortions by Corporal Agbeshie and his accomplices, hinted the police, leading to their arrest.

Apart from his military uniform, the Enchi Police also retrieved three different mobile phones from Corporal Agbeshie.

Confirming the matter to DAILY GUIDE in an interview, ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the arrest.

The military man is alleged to have extorted various sums of money from some Chinese and Ghanaian miners at Asankragwa. When the police wanted to arrest him and two other civilian accomplices, he managed to escape and was arrested at the barrier, near Enchi, she narrated.

ASP Adiku pointed out that the soldier and the others had since been handed over to the Asankragwaa Divisional police for further investigations

CDS Cautions

Meanwhile, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt General Obed Akwa, has cautioned military personnel to maintain the army's strong tradition of discipline.

He also urged them to be the embodiment of professionalism if they want to excel in their career.

Addressing an all-ranks durbar organized by the GAF at the Air Force Base in Takoradi recently, Lt General Obed Akwa entreated, I plead with you and demand from you absolute discipline  from the last airman, ratings or soldiers to the highest ranking officer in this garrison.

He continued, Effective today, I don't want to hear any case of indiscipline from this region or garrison; and I don't want to receive any negative reports coming from this region. All that we want to hear is good report so that we all can make the GAF better than we came to meet it.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi
The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has warned members seeking to contest for various offices in the partys upcoming polls in 2018 to desist from vilifying those others with similar interests.

In a statement copied to Joy News, the Committee said it has observed that some potential aspirants and their followers have resorted to insults, and vilification of potential contestants.

The statement signed by the partys National Chairman Kofi Portuphy added that This abuse takes place, at times in a highly toxic manner on social media and sections of the media.

The statement reminds all potential hopefuls, aspirants and their affiliates, as well as all party followers, that such acts constitute anti party conduct', and at the same time destroy the cohesive unity of the party.

Such conduct seriously undermines the painstaking efforts by Council of Elders and the NEC to reorganise the party, the statement said.

The FEC reminds all party faithful that the NDCs internal electoral processes that allow members to engage in campaigns and other political activities have NOT yet been officially launched.

The party is actively working on various programs and guidelines to ensure an equitable playing ground to enable credible electoral process towards successful primaries being held at all levels of our party, the statement said.

It further encouraged members to participate in the on-going registration exercise to enable the party re-establish a solid foundation, including the massive grass root base to recapture power in the 2020 elections.

Meanwhile, former Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie has described as misplaced and in bad taste, calls by the ten regional chairmen of the party for former president John Mahama to lead the party to the 2020 elections .

The ten chairmen in a statement released on Thursday invited former president Mahama to, as a matter of urgency to embark on the delayed and much awaited Thank you Tour to thank supporters of the NDC for supporting him through his tenure and the party over the years.

But Mr Chaie believes the move is wrong.

He said, this is the time for the regional chairmen to sit down assess what led to the defeat in these regions and help reorganize the regions."

"People should not behave like they like the former president more than persons in the party. First things first, let us develop the party at the grassroots and the people themselves will come out and choose their leader, he added.

The former MP said in essence, what the regional chairmen are trying to do by their call is trying to shut the door on others who have the intention to contest. Nobody should be fighting for the former president.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
The Acting Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon has disclosed that she had to quit law practice in order to take care of her two children.

Professor Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu said although she had always wanted to be a lawyer and a teacher, when the opportunity finally presented itself she had to let one go.

Because she was an eloquent child, people prophesied she would make a good lawyer, therefore getting into law school was a dream for her.

Ghana's nominee to International Criminal Court (ICC) told Lexis Bill on Joy FM's Personality Profile on the Drive TIme programme Thursday that, although she cherished getting into the law school, "getting to teach law was the height of my dream. It was like getting paid to do what was fun."

However, things did not turn out the way she had envisaged, as the legal luminary who was called to the bar in 1982 said, I did just a bit of practice at the beginning and then I had to choose between running my family and minding my teaching job, which was a career that was very demanding because you have to write.

I could not do everything and I had to be a good wife. To be a wife, a mother and teacher, I opted to drop the practice. From about 1985, I did not do any law practice."

She had her first two children while in law school and had to go to court because her senior had travelled and had asked her to represent her in court.

On the morning of the case, my house-help refused to look after the children so my husband [who was also working] had to take them from Madina to Kaneshie to a relative.

The worried mother dashed back home from the court because was wondering what her husband had done with the children and since there were no cell phones to call and check up on them.

Then she learnt they were sent to her husband's cousin to take care of.

That was the day I had to take that decision, that I have had enough. I was going to mind my teaching job and be a parent to my children, she remembered.

Prof. Mensa-Bonsu said for women battling with similar situations, there comes a time when they have to take a decision.

My male colleagues had a good practice on the side and it was attractive for me to try that. But that day as I describe, I knew I had to make a decision.

Was I going to look for money so I pay my colleagues to represent my children in the juvenile court? Or I was going to give that up? For me, there was no contest. You have to make the decision, she added.

She said she didn't miss practicing because she did not enjoy private legal practice anyway.

You spend the whole day in court, only to have your case mentioned late. The judges do not have vehicles, and things were very difficult and it was no sacrifice.

The Director of the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana said she realized that her male colleagues had their wives back at home supporting them and I had to be the wive who stays at home.

Prof Mensa-Bonsu said despite the arguments by some women that the modern day woman must not stay at home, she believes when you become a mother, you will find that that thug at your heart when you are leaving your children at home will always be there.

According to her, although modern day women can make arrangements for their children to be taken care of, they must know that they will be limited in what they would be able to do.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com
The Ashanti regional police has been accused of killing two suspects, one of whom is a 38-year-old man at Asawase a suburb of the regional capital, Kumasi.

According to the youth, the police shot and killed Awudu Osman and Lukeman Mohammed during a swoop in the area.

Both had been accused of armed robbery by the police.

One of the residents told Luv FMs Erastus Asare Donkor that when the police got to the area, they arrested the two and put them in handcuffs.

They were later made to sit on the ground where Awudu was beaten and stamped on many times by the police who demanded that he told the truth about where they had hidden the guns.

Although the deceased denied knowledge of what he had been accused of, the police persisted and kept beating him.

The family of the deceased has given government three days to intervene in getting justice for their beloved son.

But the police deny any wrongdoing.

Public Relations Officer of the Ashanti regional police ASP Juliana Obeng explained that the suspects attempted to escape from a storey building when they were arrested.

She said the police was informed about the activities of the two dead men and other accomplices.

According to her, Luckman Mohammed alias alpha, Awudu Osman, alias Awudu Ninga and other three suspects Emmanuel Fosu, Farouk Amadu and Saliu Yakubu per police intelligence use motorbikes to rob their victims at gunpoint

Suspects Lukeman and Awudu were traced and arrested at their hideout where they confessed to police that they had arms and had hidden them in an uncompleted storey building at Sepe, a suburb of Kumasi.

They led the police to the area to retrieve the arms. They took the police to four separate hideouts without any trace of the said arms, she recounted.

She added however that while the search was ongoing, the two suspects who were in separate handcuffs jumped from a storey building to escape from the police.

They were chased and fired at to immobilize them from escaping but Awudu died instantly while Lukeman was pronounced dead at the Komfo Anokye Teaching hospital, ASP Obeng said.

However the other three suspects Emmanuel Fosu, Farouk Amadu and Saliu Yakubu are in police custody assisting in investigations.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
For more than 10 years, he crawled when he could walk and even run. His life during that difficult period was lived on a wheel chair. His temporary challenge was a medical condition- clubfoot and polio.

He dropped out of school with no hope, no work, no money. He was abandoned by his friends and loved ones. He gave up on life until an army, the Salvation Army Rehabilitation Centre came to his rescue. Now he is walking, working as a carpenter and fending for himself and family.

That is the story of 30-year-old Samuel Ofori Boafo, who was given a chance by the Salvation Army Rehabilitation Centre to live his dream. Interestingly, Mr Boafo is not the only one to have benefitted from the grace and hard work of doctors at the rehabilitation centre.

Beryl Ernestina Richter went behind the scenes to tell the story of the Salvation Army Rehabilitation Centre and how it has saved many lives, brought hope and smiles on the faces of many who were stigmatized by the same society they live in.

Play the attched video for the full documentary


About 30 agronomists across the country have undergone training to boost vegetable production in the country.

The training under the auspices of GhanaVeg with support from the Department of Applied Plant Research of Wageningen UR in the Netherlands, is to improve farmer productivity, post-harvest management, advance and professionalize the production of vegetables.

These certified agronomists who have undergone the on-field training on seedling production, crop protection, spray techniques, irrigation and fertilization among others at the Atomic farms on in Accra, are expected to transfer this knowledge to farmer groups in the vegetable sector across the country.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Program Leader at GhanaVeg, Sheila Assibey-Yeboah said the initiative is to promote a competitive sector.

She explained that vegetables are now cash crops which when invested into, will generate a lot of income to improve Ghanas economy.

Their focus on agronomy, Mrs. Assibey-Yeboah explained, is to improve yields and professionalize the sector and address some challenges of the agro-ecosystem that hamper the growth of vegetable crops.

Now that the European Union has lifted the ban on Ghanas vegetables, she said it poses a lot of responsibility on farmers to ensure they maintain the standard.

The GhanaVeg Deputy Program Leader bemoaned the increase in Ghanas vegetable imports in spite of the rich soils at our disposal.

Mrs. Assibey-Yeboah was however confident the training of the agronomists will change the status quo.

Also, the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Ron Strikker expressed their commitment to help Ghana commercialize the production of vegetables through the use of technology.

The move when supported, he noted will boost Ghanas vegetable exports and decrease imports.

Ambassador Ron Strikker charged the agronomists to ensure the knowledge acquired will be impacted positively to the farmers.
The Greater Accra Region chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress has mounted a robust defence of the decision of NDC Chairmen to back former President John Mahamas second-term bid.

In defending the decision by the ten regional chairmen to ask ex-president John Mahama to consider leading the party to the 2020 general elections, Ade Coker who leads the party in the Greater Accra Region says the critics are lending credence to Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumias mantra that members of the opposition party do not read.

Background

On Thursday ten regional chairmen of the opposition NDC issued a communique after meeting with ex-president John Mahama.

The communique had two major requests of the ex-president with the ten chairmen appending their signatures to it.

They Invited the former president to, as a matter of urgency, embark on the delayed and much awaited Thank you tour to the supporters of the NDC for supporting him through his tenure and the party over the years.

Called on HE John Dramani Mahama to consider the request of teeming supporters of the NDC and Ghanaians to lead the party to the 2020 General elections.

But the Communique has triggered some controversy within the party with some party members of the party as well some flagbearer aspirants insisting the call by the chairmen will give an unfair advantage to the ex-president.

Former Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie said the call by the chairmen was misplaced and in bad taste.

We have regional chairmen whose conduct has made the party lose several seats in some of the regions. Greater Accra Region is part of it. Central Region is part of it.

This is the time for the regional chairmen to sit down and assess what led to the defeat in these regions and help reorganize the regions.

People should not behave as if they love the former president more than any member of the party, he stressed.

He would rather the party structures concentrated on building a formidable party rather than throwing its weight behind one candidate.

Let us restructure the party at the grassroots and then the people themselves will come out and choose their leader. What we are trying to do is we are trying to shut the door on others who have intentions to contest.

Nobody should be fighting for the former president, he said.

But Ade Coker says their communique is not an endorsement of the ex-president and charged critics to take their reading lessons seriously.

The communique is explicit. I don't know why we are making a hue and cry over all this thing. People should read. We make Bawumia have some justification. People are not reading, the Chairman said.

He explained as part of the Regional meeting every quarter which addresses the concerns of party members they decided to issue a communique about a concern which some members have and the best person to meet was the person the communique was about.

He downplayed suggestions the intent of the meeting with the ex-president was to endorse his candidature.

Listen To Audio Below:

http://dailyguideafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ADE-JUSTIFY.mp3

-Myjoyonline
A 28-year-old Egyptian newlywed woman, is seeking a divorce after only two weeks of marriage because her husband does all of the household chores.

Her husband, 31, also runs a successful clothing store, where he employs several staff members and is therefore able to spend most of his time at home. Samar claims that he spends all of that time cleaning and rearranging furniture and that she can no longer handle living with him.

The woman, known only as Samar M., claims that her husband, Mohammad S., is acting like a housewife, and she has grown bored of him. Not only does he do all of the chores, but he refuses to allow her to help at all. She eventually confronted her husband but said that he responded by saying that if she wanted to live in his house, she had to follow his rules.

Weve been married for just two weeks, Ive known and loved him for over 2 years but I hate living with him and can no longer handle his actions, Samar told Egyptian news website Masrawy.

My husband is a housewife. He doesnt let me touch anything in our house and does all the cooking, cleaning and general household chores. He controls everything in our house, and I have no say in anything, not even where he puts the TV set. Even though he owns his own business, he hired people to manage it, in order for him to stay at home, while I sit and watch, the woman explained her decision to get a divorce.

When Samar told her mother-in-law about her husbands actions, the woman was surprised, saying that Mohammad had never done chores when he lived at home with his parents.

He is the woman of the house and Im hating my life with him. Weve been only married for two weeks, and he is either cooking or doing the laundry because he knows how to sort the washable clothes by color. He then irons the clothes, sweeps, and arranges the food in the fridge, Samar complained. I sit down watching him all day while he moves stuff around looking very happy.

Samar has filed a complaint in Family Court in New Cairo, saying, My husband did not give me the freedom to handle my home affairs, I feel like a guest in a hotel. She is seeking khula, a procedure through which a Muslim woman can divorce her husband by returning the dower (mahr) that she received to marry him.

The case is pending before the court.
More than 10 months in the Akufo-Addo government, prosecution of allegedly corrupt officials is yet to start.

The lack of movement has come quite a surprise for some within the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) who believe delays dissipate public support.

The NPP promise to fight corruption following several scandals within the Mahama government was key in winning the 2016 general elections.

The special purpose vehicle for this fight was to be the Special Prosecutor's office, a legal creature the NPP promised to unleash.

The Bill with 77 clauses, has undergone more than 100 amendments. An MP has filed over 45 amendments.

The Bill is yet to be debated in Parliament and the President appears set to end his first year in office without fulfilling this key promise.

The excuse from government has been that constructing an impregnable case require painstaking attention to detail, tact and patience.

The government, clothed with power, appears at the moment to be in sackcloths, sad and whining about corruption under the NDC government and conducting media trials with media stories on corruption.

But growing restless among political watchers and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears emboldened to taunt the government.

NDC MP Okudzeto Ablakwa has said if NDC appointees are said to be corrupt by the NPP, then why are we walking as free men?

To discuss the matter on Joy FM's citizen engagement programme, GhanaConnect are three Ghanaians.

Co-chair of the Citizen Ghana Movement Edem Senanu, opposition politician Kofi Asamoah Siaw who is with the Progressive Peoples Party.

And the man who backed the withdrawal of the Special Prosecutor Bill citing wrong parliamentary procedure - Ben Abdallah, MP for Offinso South, was also on the panel.

So is the creation of Special Prosecutor's office beginning to require special patience?

Listen to discussion:



Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com
The Chief Executive Officer of Petrosol has indicated that the company is committed to safety as it embarks on expanding its operations.

Michael Bozumbil says they have invested heavily in ensuring an environmentally safe fuel stations.

According to him, the company has in place the required firefighting equipment as well as undertaking regular training its staff to build their capacity to operate the fuel stations in a safe manner.

Mr Bozumbil disclosed this at the recent launch of the company's new fuel station in Bolgatanga, the Upper East regional capital.

He assured the public that the new station had gone through the regulatory processs and met the requirements of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

He added that other regulatory agencies, such as the Ghana National Fire Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Town & Country Planning Department of Bolgantanga Municipal Assembly.

The CEO also indicated that the starndards that Petrosol is noted for will be extended to customers of the company in Bolgatanga.

The Bolgatanga fuel station brings to 76 its network of fuel stations countrywide.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com | JoyBusiness
An Islamic State faction in Somalia has grown significantly over the past year, carrying out attacks in Puntland and receiving some funding from Syria and Iraq, a report by UN sanctions monitors said Friday.

The faction loyal to Sheikh Abdulqader Mumin was targeted by US drone strikes last week in the first US operation targeting IS in the Horn of Africa, US Africa Command said.

In the report, the UN monitoring group for Somalia said the IS faction, which was estimated in 2016 "to number not more than a few dozen, has grown significantly in strength" and may "consist of as many as 200 fighters."

Phone records from Mumin showed he was in contact with an IS operative in Yemen who acts as an intermediary with senior IS leaders in Iraq and Syria "though the exact nature of this contact is unclear," said the report.

Former members of the faction who defected in December said the Mumin group received orders as well as financing from Iraq and Syria, the report said.

The group captured the town of Qandala in Puntland's Bari region in October 2016, declaring it the seat of the Islamic Caliphate in Somalia before being pushed out two months later by Puntland forces backed by US military advisers.

In February, IS gunmen stormed a hotel in Bosaso, the economic capital of Puntland, and in May the faction carried out its first suicide attack at a police checkpoint near Bosaso, killing five people.

"The group showed signs of increasing tactical capabilities during its first attack target a hotel," said the UN monitors.

Haven for foreign fighters

The UN report raised concerns that the Bari region could become a potential haven for foreign IS fighters as the extremists are driven out of their strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

The IS group in Somalia "presents more natural appeal to foreign terrorist fighters than Al-Shabaab," whose aim is to establish a state government by Islamic law, it added.

Al-Shabaab, another Islamist militant group, is affiliated with IS's global rival Al-Qaeda.

The Bari region has attracted a limited number of foreign fighters including Sudanese national Abu Faris who is on the US terror list for recruiting foreign fighters for Al-Shabaab.

While the faction is expanding, its fighters appear to be poorly paid or not paid at all.

Unmarried fighters receive no salary, while married militants receive $50 per month plus $10-$20 per child, depending on the age.

The report estimated that the salary payments were between $3,000 and $9,000 per month, allowing IS leaders "to fund its insurgency on a limited budget".

UN monitors said the faction will likely face frequent defections from poorly paid fighters, a problem that also affects Al-Shabaab.
11.11.2017 LISTEN

The Rotary Club of Ho, has donated library books to the Djadzefe Community School at Ave-Dakpa in the Akatsi North District to improve reading skills.

The Club also painted the Ave-Dakpa District Assembly Basic School, which was last coated some 43 years ago.

Mr. Vincent Asimah, President of the Charter said education and literacy were part of their six thematic areas for the month and that the books were meant to inculcate reading culture in the children.

He said Rotary is a humanitarian club that sought to improve lives and has the act of giving rooted in its core values.

Madam Philomena Amedeker, the District Education Officer of Akatsi North who received the books on behalf of the school expressed gratitude to the Club and said other schools in the District would benefit from the support.

Madam Susana Kudjoe, Project Committee Director of the Club entreated students to endeavour to become Rotarians in the future and join the campaign to make the world a better place.

Dr. Prince Sodoki Amuzu, the District Chief Executive commended the Club for the foresight and urged it to engage the public more to increase its membership.

GNA

By Rosina Oyivor, GNA
11.11.2017 LISTEN

Mr Daniel Awunga, the Acting Headmaster of the Bongo-Soe Senior High School (SHS) in the Upper East Region, on Thursday appealed to government to absorb the School into the main stream education sector to improve education in the community.

He said the chiefs, elders and the people of the area saw the need to establish the SHS since most children who completed the Junior High School (JHS) were not placed in the main stream SHS, due to the computerized selection and placement system which did not absorb all students, and placed others as far as Volta, Eastern and Western Regions to be day students.

The Acting Headmaster, who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Bongo-Soe, said the School was established in 2012 as a Community SHS and currently had a total population of 74 students, comprising 51 final year students, 13 in second year, and 10 in first year with a teacher population of five.

He said the school used to offer both Business and General Arts courses but was compelled to drop the latter because majority of the teachers who were not on government payroll left owing to financial challenges.

He said the School started in a structure constructed by the World Vision International intended for a Day Nursery. The conversion was in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Bongo District Assembly.

Mr Awunga said the Inspectorate Division of the GES and the Director for Secondary Education and his team visited the school and approved of it, but nothing had been said or done about it being absorbed into the government's education system.

He said a government contract to build a 1000 seater dining hall, girls' and boys' dormitories and a 12-unit storey classroom block in 2014 was still not completed.

He said the School was challenged especially with the introduction of the free SHS policy, 'because the school had not been absorbed into the main stream. Students, who would have come in, will not be able to enjoy the free SHS, so we have students in this community who have not been placed in the various SHSs even though they are qualified'.

The Acting Headmaster said the poverty level in the community was so high that parents could not afford to pay GHE192.00 as fees for a term and appealed to government to help the school.

As at the time the GNA visited the school, classes were ongoing for final year students, while the second and first year students were seated in virtually empty classrooms reading without teachers. GNA

By Godfred Polkuu, GNA
11.11.2017 LISTEN

The Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations Associated with the United Nations (CUNANGOS) - Department of Public Information (DPI) in Ghana, have urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to resolve the political instability in Togo.

A statement signed by Mr Frank Paakumi, the Co-chair of the CUNANGOS - DPI in Ghana, and copied to the Ghana News Agency said ECOWAS must show appropriate leadership in matters that threaten the political stability, peaceful co-existence and internal cohesion of any member state.

'We call on the regional body to give a clear roadmap with milestones on what steps are been taken to have the political tension and unrest in Togo resolved,' the statement said.

The Coalition urged ECOWAS to move swiftly to establish the needed intelligence on the ground to take an informed position and let ECOWAS stand as a firm mediator.

The statement said multi-party democracy often thrives on the presence of certain principles, the absence of which makes a mockery of the whole practice.

The Coalition called for a time for a peer-to-peer-review on regular basis, the strict adherence to rule of law, protection of fundamental human rights, respect and observance of international treaties and conventions.

The statement recalled that ECOWAS failed to live up to expectation in the Ivory Coast situation.

'But for the swift and timely intervention of the West, particularly the French, civil war would have been the inevitable outcome in the Ivory Coast,' the statement added.

The statement said ECOWAS, as the apex inter-governmental body in the region, 'It can no longer continue with conventions and other archaic methods of resolving issues, especially their current modus operandi, and sticking to the status quo when it is evidently clear that these methods are ineffective'.

The statement said, in the face of fretting challenges in the sub-region, which gives fertile grounds for possible political instability in the entire region, 'ECOWAS cannot afford a business as usual attitude'.

It said: 'ECOWAS cannot stand aloof and pursue the policy of non-interference casually. Benjamin Franklin once said, 'Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are'.'

The statement noted: 'CUNANGOS as a non-state-actor and part of the broader civil society has vested interest in responsive and proactive regional actors who are held with oversight responsibilities.'

GNA
11.11.2017 LISTEN

Mr John Peter Amewu, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, on Friday, launched the Kyebi Reclamation Project to restore 18 mined areas that have been degraded by the activities of illegal miners.

He said his outfit would collaborate with the Okyehene Foundation, the Rebecca Akufo-Addo Foundation, Richie Foundation, Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Local Government as well as other Ministries constituting the Ministerial Taskforce against illegal mining, to find a suitable strategy to reclaim the degraded areas.

'As a result of illegal mining over the years, about 238,000 kilometre square of lands, constituting more than four per cent of the country's surface lands had been degraded,' Mr Amewu noted.

He said it would require collaborative approach from all the stakeholders to restore the degraded areas to their natural state.

Mr Amewu said the government was using a multi-stakeholder approach to address the menace of illegal mining and urged all well- meaning Ghanaians to support the laudable effort.

He said a committee constituting the major stakeholders would be formed to address the issue.

The Minister said there would be constant interactions among the stakeholders to find a suitable approach to handle the situation in order to protect the natural resources and the environment from further degradation.

Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, the Okyehene and President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, commended the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led government for taking the bold initiative to halt illegal mining and protecting the environment.

He said the President had shown high commitment and sensitivity towards protecting the environment.

He pledged his unflinching support to the government to end the spate of illegal mining in the area.

He noted that the reclamation exercise, which would involve planting of trees and refilling of mined areas, would create jobs for the youth.

Asagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin lauded President Akufo-Addo for putting his job on the line to fight illegal mining despite threat from a section of the public to vote against him in the next election.

He said the President's bold decision would inure to the benefit of the entire citizenry and urged him to continue the right cause.

The launch attracted traditional rulers, heads of some key Ministries involved in the fight against illegal mining and the public.

Mr Amewu and his entourage would visit some of the degraded area to have first hand information on the extent of damage caused by the activities of illegal miners.

GNA

By Godwill Arthur- Mensah, GNA
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, Friday, urged the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to take advantage of technology to implement an e-solution platform - the total revenue integrated processing system - to administer taxes.

'With this, tax administration will not only reduce the turn-around time for taxpayers to do business but will also improve service delivery,' he stated.

He said the country had reached a stage in her development, where it could not progress without adopting appropriate, current and improved technology to make tax administration convenient for taxpayers.

Dr Bawumia was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 38th Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) Annual Technical Conference, in Accra.

The five-day conference, which was on the theme: 'Leveraging Technology to Enhance Revenue Administration', brought together 209 participants from 18 Commonwealth countries and International Tax Organisations.

The discussion of the conference was developed around two sub topics; 'Facilitating, Monitoring and Enabling Compliance through Technology and Equipping Staff with skills to deliver in an Increasingly Digital Environment.

He charged the participants to be ambassadors of what technology could do and take the initiative in recommending e-solution to deal with issues.

He said the Customs Division of the GRA in September, this year, started the implementation of a paperless clearance of goods from the ports and these two platforms were greatly helping in the GRA's revenue mobilisation drive, which was an ample testimony of the what technology could achieve when properly leveraged. The Vice President urged the delegates, especially those from developing parts of the Commonwealth, not to lose sight of what technology could achieve for revenue administration.

A communiquA issued at the end of the conference also underscored the need for deploying technology to maximise receipts from taxes.

Mr Duncan Onduru, Executive Director of CATA, read the communiquA, which said the Association recognised that domestic revenue mobilisation played a key role towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The CommuniquA said many Member countries were undertaking or considering far reaching reforms and a modernisation agenda with the aim of improving their internal processes, systems and procedures to respond to the evolving needs of the taxpayers and changing business environment.

It said recognising the increasing importance of digitisation was a critical feature of tax administration of the Century; the Association adopted the theme of the conference.

It emphasised that investment in technology was critical to responding to the emerging business models as well as managing the cost of tax collection and improving compliance.

The communiquA said issues arising from the Conference reiterated CATA's commitment to continue fostering of partnership among Members and to exploring options.

It expressed gratitude to Members who continued to support CATA training programmes by offering facilities.

It also encouraged Members to take advantage of the capacity building initiatives that the Association was pursuing and extended its appreciation to partner organisations, which were working with or assisting CATA in the furtherance of its outreach programmes.

It welcomed the commitment of the international community to the Addis Tax Agenda to support revenue mobilisation in developing countries.

The CommuniquA called for continuous engagement by developing countries during the implementation of Tax policies and noted the critical role that digitisation would play in the current transparency in tax reporting and exchange of information among countries.

It said the Association welcomed the move towards the creation of the network of tax organisations as a viable platform for building synergies among organisations in their effort to provide service to the mutual members.

The Association was committed to exploring opportunities for sharing of experience and best practices, for example, through facilitation of study visits, sharing of research findings and providing experts to facilitate CATA capacity building events through leveraging available technology platforms.

GNA

By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA
Richard Adu Boakye, a Technician of the Accra Technical University who allegedly raped a 24 year student after she engaged in examination malpractices has been re-arrested and put before a District court in Accra.

Boakye's re-arrest followed the recommendation from the Attorney General office that he should now be charged with rape.

The accused person aged 31, is said to have raped the victim on January 27, this year. The Police sent a duplicate docket to the AG for advice. However based on the recommendation of the AG, Boakye is to answer a charge of rape.

The District Court presided over by Mr Worlanyo Kotoku has remanded Boakye into Police custody to reappear on November 22.

This was after Boakye's lawyer had prayed the court to admit his client to bail since he is married, has a fixed place of abode and ready to provide sureties of substance.

According to defence counsel, accused was invited and he came willingly indicating that he had no intention of escaping from the jurisdiction.

But the court declared that it had no jurisdiction to hear the matter hence could not grant bail.

Detective Sergeant Simon Terkpor, the prosecutor told the court that he would inform the AG about the bail application put in by the defence counsel.

The facts as narrated in court were that the complainant aged 24 is a student at Accra Technical University residing at Kanda, Accra.

Accused also resides at Teshie in Accra.

Prosecution said on January 1, this year at about 0800 hours, the complainant name (withheld) was writing an internal examination at the university and in the course of that, Boakye who was the invigilator caught her with foreign materials with answers to some questions.

The prosecutor said Boakye collected the complainant's answers, student Identity Card and filled an examination malpractice form and kept them.

After the examination at about 1100 hours, the complainant followed Boakye to his office pleading with him not to submit the examination malpractice form because she could be expelled from the university.

Prosecution said the complainant alleged that Boakye asked her what she would offer him if he forgave her and she mentioned money.

The prosecutor said when Boakye suggested sex, the complainant declined.

'Complainant alleged that accused approached and attempted to open the buttons of her shirt and she resisted and two of the buttons got removed.

Complainant further alleged that accused removed her black legers to her knee level,' the prosecutor told the court.

According to the prosecutor accused then removed his trousers to his knee level and he had sex with her from behind.

Thereafter, prosecution said Boakye tore the examination malpractice form and the foreign material in the presence of the complainant and she left the office.

However, on the same day, prosecution said the complainant lodged a formal complainant with the university at about 1400 hours and Boakye was invited.

'Boakye was handed over to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, Accra. The complainant was given a medical form to seek medical attention,' the prosecutor added.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
Cape Coast, Nov. 9, GNA - Since the return to democratic rule in 1992, Ghana has positioned itself as a torchbearer in the democratisation process in Africa.

This has been achieved through the peaceful transfer of power from one elected government to the other. Whilst Ghana is making remarkable strides in its democratisation process, vigilantism may erode the credentials the country has so far achieved.

While political party vigilantism may not be new in Ghana's history, the rate at which, the problem is rising brings in its wake, a lot of concern.

In the last decade, especially in the fourth republic, the activities of party vigilantes have not only impeded development but also undermined the peace and stability of the nation. In addition, those acts are becoming a fertile ground for national crisis and may pose triggers to many clashes across the country.

The vigilante groups, mostly belonging to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), usually destroy public properties, including the burning of toll booths, seize public places of convenience, obstruct public officials from carrying out their duties and sometimes cause physical and psychological torture to public appointees among other things.

SENSITISATION PROGRAMMES

To help curb the menace, many non-state actors like the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and other key stakeholders have recognised the danger posed by the activities of the groups as far as the democratic credentials and the development of the country are concerned and have stressed the need to disband them.

Speaking at a roundtable on the menace in Cape Coast, Mr. Albert Kofi Arhin, National Coordinator of CODEO described the activities of vigilante groups as a threat to the nation's political stability.

He indicated that CODEO had embarked on nationwide public engagement to conduct civic and voter education in the entire 10 regions.

The on-going discussion which is on the theme: 'The menace of political party vigilantism and Ghana's politics', is also aimed at collating views to be developed into a comprehensive advocacy policy recommendation for stakeholders and relevant institutions to implement.

The participants were from key intuitions including the Electoral Commission (EC), the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), security agencies, political parties, the media, and academia.

PARTICIPANTS VIEW

The participants called on the security agencies and the political parties to urgently disband the illegal groupings before they created an uncontrollable pandemonium in the country.

The discussants further stressed the need for the leadership of all political parties more especially, the NPP and the NDC to own up the groups and work with the law enforcement agencies to disband them.

These efforts would in the long run, broaden and sustain the conversation on the menace and help rid the country's political space of those who would want to cause fear and panic in the name of politics.

WAY FOWARD

At the end of the two-day deliberations, it was agreed that the Police Service must be insulated from political manipulations and interferences, especially in relation to its recruitments, transfers and promotions.

The government must resources the Police to meet modern standards in policing and to enable the servicemen and women perform professionally.

The personnel would then be able to distinguish between electoral offences and criminal cases to effect arrests and prosecutions to serve as deterrent to others.

POLITICIANS

Politicians should also come out with realistic campaign messages to manage the high expectations of their grassroots supporters and to institute internal mechanisms to sanction members who engaged in such conducts.

"They say we are poor, illiterates, uncivilized, villagers and yet, they will not leave us alone. They are all over us, trying to get our votes for political power. Sincerely, who steals from the poor? Do rich people covet a poor man's goods?" A participant lamented.

Government must have a greater purpose that is focused on the alleviation of poverty and the suffering of the masses.

Political parties must ensure that their activities are carried out in the spirit of the 1992 constitution.

Democracy requires that while minority interest and concerns cannot be ignored or trivialised, decisions of the majority have to prevail. We need to tolerate varied opinions to continue enjoying the peace and tranquillity in the country.

Any dissent must be expressed in an orthodox and legitimate way such that democracy would not be undermined.

SRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONS

The government must also endeavour to build strong state institutions such as the NCCE and the Information Service Department to lead in the development of content on patriotism, nationalism, sectionalism and involve the media and civil society to educate and sensitise the public.

That notwithstanding, organised groups' including civil society, religious bodies and eminent personalities must constantly and dispassionately condemn all acts of criminality.

They must equally name and shame individuals and politicians, who form, fund or patronise the activities of vigilante groups.

The noble act by CODEO and other organisations towards nation building must be sustained with the support of the media to make it a critical topic for public discourse until the problem is totally eradicated.

We must examine the issues that bother on the sufferings of the masses, especially the youth and as peace loving people; it is important to prove to the world that democracy has really evolve in Ghana.

There is need to educate the masses on their rights to become responsible and maintain high integrity to disallow politicians from taking advantage of them.

As a people, we have an obligation to promote the rule of law, free and fair elections and freedom of expression so that people can freely make their choices to stabilise and deepen our democracy.

GNA
The Gaming Commission of Ghana in collaboration with the Waste Landfills Company has destroyed over 350 confiscated slot machines (jackpot) at the Adepa Landfill site at Nsawam in the Eastern Region.

The slot machines were seized by the monitoring team of the Commission as part of its routine operations across the country to arrest the flouting the rules and regulations of the Commission by some operators.

The owners of the slot machines operated without permit, exposed the machines in public and allowed under-aged children to engage in gaming activities, which contravenes Section 48 of the Gaming Act 721, 2006 of the Commission.

The Gaming Act stipulates that owners of the seized machines forfeit the machines which would be destroyed by the approval of the Board if they fail to regularise their licence and permit after 30 days.

The Act also states that Centres must have identifiable office and a service mark logo registered with the registrar of companies among others to operate.

Mr Peter Mireku, the Commissioner of the Commission, said the Commission was established to regulate, control, monitor and supervise the operations of games of chance in the country.

He said the exercise was part of measures instituted by the Commission to raise the standard of gaming activities by clamping down illegal gaming operators and underage school children engaged in gambling activities.

Mr Mireku said the Commission as part of its strategic plan would, next year migrate from its analog operations to a digitised system to ensure effective monitoring of tax payment.

He said their outfit would continue with the engagement with local authorities and the National Council for Civic Education to intensify education on illegal gaming activities and underage gaming.

Mr Mireku said the exercise is a shared responsibility and urged the public to assist the Commission by giving timely information about the activities of these illegal operators for action.

GNA

By Kodjo Adams, GNA
The International Trade Centre (ITC), the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) have said the third Green Financing for Sustainable Development Conference is set to begin.

A joint statement signed by ITC, AGF, NDF and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the conference would be held in Accra, Ghana, at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel on November 21 2017.

The statement said the conference will be followed by a workshop for selected staff from selected financial institutions on how to lever green finance and the AGF Green Guarantee Facility.

The statement said the workshop for financial institutions is by invitation only and will take place on November 23 to 25 at the Best Western Plus Accra Beach Hotel, Nungua.

The conference and consecutive training workshops aim to expand access to climate-focused finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa and are in line with the Government of Ghana's efforts to green the country's economy.

The statement said the conference will provide an opportunity to review the current status of green finance in Ghana and the country's efforts to green its economy.

It said Ministers and representatives from the Ghanaian public sector will share their experience and lessons learnt from implementing the 'Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II', and the 'National Climate Change Policy'.

'Participants from other countries will explore the perspectives of regulators and finance providers and the changes required to spur the development of new products and services.

This conference and the workshops are part of a partnership between ITC, AGF and NDF to promote sustainable finance in Africa in four pilot countries. In addition to this third event in Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire will host a similar event for francophone countries in the first quarter of 2018. The first event was organised in Zambia in March 2017, and another was held in Kenya in June 2017', the statement said.

GNA
The intention of any good educational system is to give knowledge, skills and aptitude to all persons irrespective of their physical, socioeconomic, intellectual and geographical circumstances. Access to basic education lies at the heart of development, though basic education is expected to be accessible to all Ghanaian children, it is unfortunate that we have over 400,000 out of school children in the country. We are denying all such children the opportunity for them to contribute their quota to the development of this our great nation.

It is through this the primary school of Kpandai St kizito celebrated an annual literacy week, it is a one week celebration which gave they pupils the opportunity to read, write and memories what they have been taught. Most of the pupils demostrated to their parents, colleagues and teachers o Education is not only about mugging up facts, learning to read and write. That is literacy. Education goes beyond that as it includes an overall development of an individual.

Literacy week help pupils ,teachers, administrators,parents and volunteers come together to celebrate literacy. Literacy skills are all the skills needed for reading and writing. They include such things as awareness of the sounds of language, awareness of print, and the relationship between letters and sounds. Other literacy skills include vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension.

AWARENESS OF SOUND OF LANGUAGE: Awareness of sounds) is the ability to hear and play with the individual sounds of language, to create new words using those sounds in different ways. This usually occurs within the natural course of a child's development. Not to get too technical, but it's interesting to break down the parts of the language, most of which we learn intuitively by hearing our parents and others around us. It's worth noting that words are made up of various sounds besides just consonants and vowels, including:Digraphs,Onsets and Rimes

AWARENESS OF PRINT: Parents can encourage print awareness by exposing children to books and other reading materials from a very young age. Most print awareness begins in the home and the child's everyday environment. Reading to children is crucial in order to foster this awareness and to introduce them to the letters of the alphabet. Children also pick up print awareness from environmental print, such words found on road signs, cereal boxes and the like. It's important for children to have at least some print awareness before entering first grade to ensure they don't struggle when learning to read.

VOCABULARY: Children learning to read (and most people) typically have two kinds of vocabulary, which is the collection of all the words a person knows and uses in conversation. An active vocabulary includes words a person uses regularly in speech and writing. Words in the active vocabulary are those which a person can define and use in context. The words in a passive vocabulary are those which a person knows, but whose meaning he may have interpreted through context and use by others.

Mr Anijadong Gregory, the assistant headteacher revealed to our portal some of the challenges they go through as an institution. And some of them are:

Lack of computers in the school: Computers are an essential part of the information age, yet traditional schools lack adequate computer training and facilities. "There are no even computer labs for learners to work on. This also delays the processes of language learning and language teaching. The upper primary syllable for ICT is made up of practical topics yet no single computer is in the school."

Inadequate teaching and learning materials: persistence problem of non-availability or inadequacy of most instructional materials in the teaching and learning has been of great concern to teacher and learners. Coupled with this problem is non utilization of the available resources in the school by subject teachers teaching.The intention of any good educational system is to give knowledge, skills and aptitude to all persons irrespective of their physical, socioeconomic, intellectual and geographical circumstances. Access to basic education lies at the heart of development, though basic education is expected to be accessible to all Ghanaian children, it is unfortunate that we have over 400,000 out of school children in the country. We are denying all such children the opportunity for them to contribute their quota to the development of this our great nation.

It is through this the primary school of Kpandai St kizito celebrated an annual literacy week, it is a one week celebration which gave they pupils the opportunity to read, write and memories what they have been taught. Most of the pupils demostrated to their parents, colleagues and teachers o Education is not only about mugging up facts, learning to read and write. That is literacy. Education goes beyond that as it includes an overall development of an individual.

Literacy week help pupils ,teachers, administrators,parents and volunteers come together to celebrate literacy. Literacy skills are all the skills needed for reading and writing. They include such things as awareness of the sounds of language, awareness of print, and the relationship between letters and sounds. Other literacy skills include vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension.

AWARENESS OF SOUND OF LANGUAGE: Awareness of sounds) is the ability to hear and play with the individual sounds of language, to create new words using those sounds in different ways. This usually occurs within the natural course of a child's development. Not to get too technical, but it's interesting to break down the parts of the language, most of which we learn intuitively by hearing our parents and others around us. It's worth noting that words are made up of various sounds besides just consonants and vowels, including:Digraphs,Onsets and Rimes

AWARENESS OF PRINT: Parents can encourage print awareness by exposing children to books and other reading materials from a very young age. Most print awareness begins in the home and the child's everyday environment. Reading to children is crucial in order to foster this awareness and to introduce them to the letters of the alphabet. Children also pick up print awareness from environmental print, such words found on road signs, cereal boxes and the like. It's important for children to have at least some print awareness before entering first grade to ensure they don't struggle when learning to read.

VOCABULARY: Children learning to read (and most people) typically have two kinds of vocabulary, which is the collection of all the words a person knows and uses in conversation. An active vocabulary includes words a person uses regularly in speech and writing. Words in the active vocabulary are those which a person can define and use in context. The words in a passive vocabulary are those which a person knows, but whose meaning he may have interpreted through context and use by others.

Mr Anijadong Gregory, the assistant headteacher revealed to our portal some of the challenges they go through as an institution. And some of them are:

Lack of computers in the school: Computers are an essential part of the information age, yet traditional schools lack adequate computer training and facilities. "There are no even computer labs for learners to work on. This also delays the processes of language learning and language teaching. The upper primary syllable for ICT is made up of practical topics yet no single computer is in the school."

Inadequate teaching and learning materials: persistence problem of non-availability or inadequacy of most instructional materials in the teaching and learning has been of great concern to teacher and learners. Coupled with this problem is non utilization of the available resources in the school by subject teachers teaching.

"This may not be unconnected with the fact that most of we the teachers have insufficient knowledge on most of the subjects and may not be able to handle these instructional materials. Some of our pupils easily forget what they were taught while they were schooling."

Inadequate Infrastructures: The quality of infrastructure has affected educational outcome in most of the schools within the District. "The school has a population of 1,352 pupils, 952 for primary and 400 in K G."

Mr Anijadong added, the primary school is facing a serious challenge with dual desk in the school. "The primary school has only 215 dual desk and meaning over 400 pupils are either seating on the floor or standing". The school is currently using 13 standard class rooms and two class in a pavilion .the school has three streams (A B and C for each class).

The assistant headteacher concluded, "With all these challenges,the school is the best performing in the District. Our JHS for 8 years now have been scoring 100 % in their BEC exams for the they are fed with good students from the primary school. So, we are therefore appealing to stake holders to come to our aid in other to help impact knowledge to the pupils".

The reverand priest of St Kizito Parish appealed to the Assembly to assist the school to improve the educational standard at the basic level, through the provision of school structures and teaching materials.

He concluded, "quality teaching and learning is not the responsibility of teachers alone, but also parents and the community at large, therefore there is the need for parents and guardians to supervise their wards when they come home

Source: Nasaramultimedia.com
Around him, pigs squeal and goats bleat and beat their hooves in excitement as feeding time approaches.

Life has changed a lot for Richard Ngueringu, a former militiaman in his early thirties who has witnessed some of worst things that humanity can offer.

Once a member of a so-called self-defence group, he says he has witnessed hundreds of killings, as well as atrocities, in Central African Republic's years-long conflict.

Today, in the central town of Bambari, he has swapped his weapon for a bucket of corn meal, under an innovative scheme to help former fighters return to civilian life.

"Before the troubles began, I was a farmer. In fact I took over this farm, when my parents died. This is where we grew up," says Ngueringu, a giant of a man who gestures at the walls with powerful, ditch-delver hands.

"I want to show what our fathers did to feed us, to help us and aid our families."

Poverty and instability

Seen from the outside, such thinking may seem hugely ambitious, given CAR's mountainous problems.

Deeply poor and chronically unstable, the country has been gripped by conflict since 2013.

Longtime leader Francois Bozize was overthrown by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance, the Seleka, unleashing a counter-offensive by so-called self-defence militias, the "anti-balaka."

France intervened militarily and the UN has deployed one of its biggest peacekeeping forces to the country.

But most of CAR's territory remains in the hands of militia groups and violence -- committed in the name of ethnicity or religion -- is common.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 900,000 people displaced, almost a quarter of the total population.

In the midst of this gloom, Ngueringu and a group of other local fighters have chosen to try to return to ordinary life.

He has founded an agricultural cooperative called Kekereke-Ti-Ye, meaning "Our Future," in the local sango language.

"If you remain locked in violent behaviour, you will have nothing to eat and you will suffer hugely," Ngueringu says.

"I brought in young ex-fighters to help with the project. I explained to them the importance of getting together as a group to do farming, which was what we used to do before the troubles."

The "troubles" lasted five years, when Bambari was used as a base for a militia group called the UPC -- the Union for Peace in Centrafrique -- drawn from the Fula people, also called Fulani.

Ngueringu was a "section leader" in the anti-balaka. Clashes in Bambari and the Ouaka region at the turn of last year left dozens of people dead.

Fighters turn farmers

Although violence continues in the region, his cooperative now employs 22 young men and eight young women, all of them former fighters.

"I couldn't manage a farm all by myself," he says.

Ngueringu's farm has since been integrated into a UN programme after being spotted by the local NGO Esperance, meaning Hope.

"We see that people want to leave, they are tired of the fighting," says Rosmon Zokue, with the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Former fighters receive tools from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation to help their change to civilian life

The FAO supplies the farm with so-called "installation kits" that includes vital agricultural items such as wheel barrows, spades, boots and veterinary kits.

The scheme is part of the UN's peacekeeping strategy to reconstruct CAR through "disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration" -- a process launched by the government in September.

"The goal is to train young people in techniques for growing vegetables and self-sufficiency. We have to boost their capacity for resilience," says Grace-a-Dieu Sathe Demonkombona of the FAO.

The FAO aims to expand the scheme to involve some 1,300 young people in Bambari and a further 3,000 across the country.

'Very bad things'

Ismael, a 17-year-old former anti-Balaka fighter, takes a break during reconstruction work on the farm. His goal is to become a pig farmer.

One potential new recruit is Ismael, a 17-year-old former anti-balaka member, who wants to become a pig farmer because the militia "do not pay you and you die unnecessarily".

When asked about his past, Ismael says, several times, "I didn't do anything." But, eventually, he admits: "I went on patrols with my friend, and we did very bad things."

One of the main challenges of the programme will be to engage fighters in agricultural work, but also persuade them to ditch their weapons forever, even if conflict again breaks out.

"The development of the town is going to go hand-in-hand with re-establishing peace and security and social cohesion," says Bertrand Touaboy, CAR's minister of entrepreneurship.

"Without it, this project will have developed nothing but words."

The reporter asks Ismael if he would again take up arms if Seleka rebels returned to the town.

He hesitates, smiles and looks at his shoes before saying: "I gave up working for the anti-balaka".
Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe has accused the opposition of orchestrating violence that has killed at least 16 people in massive anti-government protests across the country.

Since the first protests began in late August more than 200 others have been injured as the opposition agitates for Gnassingbe to step down and the introduction of a two-term limit for presidents, applied retroactively to prevent him standing for re-election.

"Togo is currently disrupted by demonstrations, which, far from being peaceful as permitted by law, have often been extremely violent," said Gnassingbe, visiting the Temedja military camp, about 200 km (120 miles) north of Lome on Friday.

"Those who organise these events bear the heavy responsibility for the victims and the damage they caused," he said in a speech broadcast on national television.

Last month West African leaders made their first comments after two months of increasingly bloody violence, calling on the presidency and the opposition to sit down to talks.

France has called for an "immediate dialogue" between the two sides in its former colony, saying it was concerned by reports of civilian militia working alongside security forces.

The government has promised to hold a referendum to adopt reforms including a limitation of presidential terms, but the proposed change would not be retroactive, allowing Gnassingbe to run for polls in 2020 and 2025.

Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 and won three elections. His father General Gnassingbe Eyadema was president before him and ruled for 38 years.
11.11.2017 LISTEN

THE APOSTLE Paul wrote to the pastor overseeing the Corinthian church to cleanse out the bad nuts in their midst. I think that was necessary to promote purity, integrity, righteousness and holiness of the church.

The person caught in a sin must be helped back onto the right path. But who and how should this be done? The Bible says it should be done by spiritual believers in a spirit of gentleness. Who are spiritual believers? They are mature Christians who have grown in the things of the Spirit and have developed their spiritual senses.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, YOU WHO ARE SPIRITUAL SHOULD RESTORE HIM IN A SPIRIT of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6: 1- 2).

Spiritual Christians may also be described as those who are spiritually strong and stand by the power and grace of the Spirit of God. They can be pastors, deacons, departmental leaders or believers who live and walk in the Spirit. Spiritual Christians with the mind of Christ have roles to play in the church to ensure its unity, growth and purity.

THE SPIRITUAL PERSON JUDGES ALL THINGS, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2: 15  16).

Paul clearly said the restoration should be done in a spirit of gentleness. That is, the spiritual Christians must carry out the restoration in a humble and meek spirit, considering that they themselves are under the grace of God.

We should therefore avoid being arrogant, proud or haughty. We must be sympathetic and be clothed with love while helping back the brother onto the right path. Love is a key factor in restoring backslidden Christians. The fallen brother or sister can be prayed for or properly counselled.

Forgiveness is another important attitude that must be considered. The sinner ought to first forgive themselves and understand that God is merciful. He forgives if we plead His mercy for forgiveness.

However, there are extreme cases in which the sinful Christian may be rebuked sharply or severely punished to serve as deterrent to others. Two meekest and humble messengers of God, The Lord Jesus Christ and Moses, are known for how sharply they rebuked sin during their days. I guess you are familiar with those accounts.

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, AND HE overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers (Matthew 21: 12  13)

This is how humble and meek Jesus Christ handled sin in the church during His public ministry. Read below how Moses also dealt with his church members when they committed idolatry.

And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned out, and threw the tablet out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burnt it with fire and ground it to powder and SCATTERED IT ON THE WATER AND MADE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL DRINK IT (Exodus 32: 19  20).

These two leaders believed in church discipline which is necessary to train people in righteousness. However, these days some men of God refuse to talk about righteousness, sin and church discipline.

Is it unscriptural to discipline, criticise or judge stubborn Christians for their blatant disregard for the Word of God? The biblical truth is that sinners who are yet to become Christians should not be judged, criticized or condemned for their sins. Our Saviour came to save sinners and not the righteous. And He would not judge or condemn them and so must we.

But Christians who persist in sin must be rebuked, corrected and reproved. The Church has no business judging or condemning unbelievers for their sins. But it has business judging its members who practice sin to promote purity until the Lord appears.

It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it is certainly YOUR JOB TO JUDGE THOSE INSIDE THE CHURCH who are sinning in these ways. God will judge those on the outside; but as the scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you (1 Corinthians 5: 12- 13

FROM James Quansah, Kumasi, NLT).
11.11.2017 LISTEN

It is amazing how ones thoughts on a subject can be mirrored exactly by the thoughts of other people.

One reason why this concurrence of views occurs is that the facts relating to a particular viewpoint can be so glaring that only a numbskull would have the effrontery to dispute them.

The British newspaper, the Daily Mail, is not given to publicising the views of African heads of state. But on 21 April 2017, it devoted almost half a page to an article by its deputy finance editor, Hugo Duncan, in which criticism of British Airways by Ghanas President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was fully reported with approval.

Entitled Now British Airways takes a bashing from Ghana's President after storms over scrapping free snacks and cutting legroom the article reported that British Airways had come under fire from the new President of Ghana for the way it treats customers.

The article continued QUOTE: In a major embarrassment for the airline, the African country's leader criticised 'the quality of the planes and the service'. He even accused BA of 'taking us a little for granted'. The comments follow a barrage of complaints from travellers over poor service on the airline's flights. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said British Airways seemed to be taking Ghanaians for granted because it was the only airline that flies daily from London to Accra.

BA has been criticised after it stopped providing free sandwiches, snacks and drinks on flights lasting less than five hours. The policy could now be extended to long-haul flights for passengers in economy class. The airline has also come under fire over plans to cut legroom from 30 inches to 29 on some of its planes.The criticism from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana is particularly embarrassing, however, as it came during a meeting with a BA executive about the airline's plans to celebrate 80 years of flying to the country. The president, who has been in office since January, urged Paolo De Renzis, the head of Middle East, Africa and Central Asia sales at BA, to upgrade the quality of the services between Accra, the Ghanaian capital, and London.

There are complaints about the quality of the planes on the route and the service,' said Mr Akufo-Addo. 'In some quarters, there is a feeling that you are taking us a little for granted in the way in which we are receiving your services.'

Mr Akufo-Addo also said that passengers complained that flights to and from Accra now operate out of Terminal Three at Heathrow  not Terminal Five, the flagship terminal opened in 2008. Addressing Mr Renzis, he added: 'When friends are speaking, I think we should speak frankly. I think I am the proper person to let you know what the pre-occupations of our people are.' .

Mr Renzis told Mr Akufo-Addo: 'We have a long-standing relationship with the country. We are strongly committed to the market, and we appreciate your feedback. We will work very hard to improve the products and services to Ghana.' BA flies once a day from London to Accra and once a day from Accra to London. The flights  on a Boeing 747 that carries up to 345 passengers  take longer than six hours. Return flights cost from 677. 

The meeting in Ghana follows criticism from [BA] customers closer to home. British Airways came under fire earlier this month after it offered only 40 of compensation to an 87-year-old woman who sat in soaking wet clothes on a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles to London after an air hostess refused to let her go to the lavatory. UNQUOTE

When I read about the assurances British Airways had given to President Akufo-Ado, I laughed. You see, BA has a monopoly over direct flights to Accra, and has done so since we scrapped Ghana Airways. BA is not going to be the first capitalist organization to behave decently when its got its customers over a monopoly barrel. In fact, there is currently another invitation to Internet users to sign an online petition highlighting lapses in BA services to Ghanaian passengers. Thats a good SIX MONTHS after the pious promises to improve services made to President Akufo-Addo by the BA representative.

Our very intelligent Minister of Civil Aviation, Ms Ceciia Dapaah, would do well to move very fast to investigate ways of legally ending the BA monopoly over direct flights between Accra and London. She could invite airlines like Ethiopian Airlines, KLM and Air France to offer BA competition on the direct route between London and Accra. Direct flights are inter-governmentally granted on a reciprocal basis; that is, Ghana Airways could fly direct to London, while BA or, for a time, British Caledonian, could also fly direct to Ghana. With Ghana Airways defunct, our part of the reciprocity element is in abeyance. We can legally restore it by handing our rights to another countrys airline. If the British say No, we can also say No to BA.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST: BA has callously confiscated one London-Accra return ticket of mine and one single Accra-London ticket by invoking technical issues regarding my inability to fly at the time I had pre-booked. In one instance, I provided evidence that I was too sick to fly on the booked date. In the other, I changed the date of departure, but this was NOT recorded by BA staff and I was instead marked down as a No-Show. Which meant fare confiscated [again!].

ADVICE TO READERS: Never contact BA Customer Service if you have a fiery temperament that may subject you to a heart attack! They will toss you from section to section, stalling you for an hour or more, at your own [telephone] expense, till you get tired and hang up. Or blow up!

By CAMERON DUODU
More than 100 senior executives, entrepreneurs and thought-leaders from media, tech, business and civil society will gather in Accra from Sunday 12 to Tuesday 14 November, for the annual Africa Business Media Innovators summit (ABMI).

The event, scheduled to take place at the plush Kempinski Hotel, will discuss the changing face of media and new hybrid models.

Convened by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Ford Foundation, Africa Business Media Innovators is a part of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa, a pan-Africa program launched by Michael R. Bloomberg to advance business journalism on the continent.

ABMI 2017 will be hosted by Matthew Winker, Co-Founder of Bloomberg News and Editor Emeritus, and Justin B. Smith, CEO of Bloomberg Media, and will examine the many new trends and approaches in the wider communications sector, from revenue models to content creation and distribution.The forum is designed so that media companies can share their strategies for navigating these changes, and their efforts to impact inclusive and sustainable economic growth on the continent.

H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana will welcome the delegates from across Africa, the United Kingdom and United States, and open the convening.

The program will include moderated discussions, interactive sessions, extended Q&As, and interviews with, among others: Strive Masiyiwa, Econet;Khanyi Dhlomo, Ndalo Media; Samuel Attah Mensah, OMNI Media Group;Kadija Patel, Mail & Guardian; Amrote Abdella, Microsoft 4Afrika; Omar Ben Yedder, IC Publications;Adama Wade, Financial Afrik; Erik Charas, Verdade; Caroline Southey, The Conversation;Turi Munthe, North Based Media;and Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank.

The event appeals to a global audience with a focus on the media industry in Africa. The topics which will be covered include:

 The changing face of media in Africa and other emerging markets

 Strengthening African media capacity by innovating with new hybrid models

 Leveraging the changes in media practices to enable Africans to tell stories about Africa

 The role of business journalism and African media as a driver of inclusive growth

The upcoming forum will also consider: how business leaders across the continent and globally can continue to contribute to a vibrant media sector; what the primary source of revenue will be; what medium consumers will rely on for news in the next five to ten years; and what enabling factors will enhance media and business journalism.

Matthew Winkler, Co-Founder of Bloomberg News and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus says: As the geopolitical landscape changes with African economies showing the most dynamic demographic opportunity for growth, the continent must continue to build media capacity that will serve Africans increasing need for accurate and relevant business information. This annual gathering of global industry peers is a testament to the power and determination of the communications industry to drive and maintain growth.

The ABMI summit was previously hosted in Kenya and South Africa, where stakeholders and influencers of the media and business landscape in Africa addressed the importance of a robust financial journalism sector, and the value of data and data-related technologies to drive international investment and economic growth.

Admittance to this event is on an invitation-only basis. For more information, please visit the Africa Business Media Innovators 2017 site.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
11.11.2017 LISTEN

The UK Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) has donated a cash amount of $2,000 towards the 2017 British High Commissions Remembrance Day celebrations in Accra.

The event, organized annually in honour of Ghanaian Veterans is to acknowledge Ghanaian Veteran Soldiers who devoted their time and sacrificed their lives for their nation. The event is expected to be held on Saturday 11th November, 2017 at the British High Commissioners Residence in Accra.

The CEO of the Chamber, Tony Burkson says UKGCC is happy to be part of this program. We acknowledge the great works of our Veteran Soldiers and we deem it important to celebrate them. By this, we pay due homage to them for their hard work.

He further said UKGCC will continue to support courses that seek to promote the interest of its members and the entire country.

Darren Nichols who received the donation on behalf of the Defence Section of the British High Commission expressed appreciation to the UKGCC saying We are grateful for the support you provide to the British High Commission, particularly the Defence Section. We look forward to continue working with you for a successful event this year and beyond.

The UK  Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) is a unique resource and a robust organization made up of local experts and professionals that will be the voice for British Businesses looking to access and engage with the Ghanaian market, whilst providing assistance to Ghanaian companies investing in the UK.

The organization facilitates and promotes trade and commercial relations between the UK and Ghana. It provides exceptional support for its members through the sharing of knowledge and ideas whilst hosting various activities designed to build stronger networks that will connect business and create further opportunities.
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Arusha (Tanzania), Nov. 11, CDA Consult  Participants at the Third African Judicial Dialogue has commended the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights for the promotion of justice on the Continent and demonstration its independence, integrity and fairness over the past ten years.

The participants which included Chief Justices, Presidents of Supreme and Constitutional Courts from the 55 African Union (AU) Member States, as well as regional and international judicial bodies and other relevant stakeholders lauded the African Court for progressively creating legal platform for the vulnerable to seek redress.

Joining the team of Judges who praised the Continental Court, Mr. Justice Ferdinand L. K. Wambali, Principal Judge of the Judiciary of Tanzania noted: I wish to thank the African Court which is the premier judicial continental body.

Over the past ten years of its existence it has demonstrated its independence, integrity and fairness.

It is noted that there is no doubt the African Court has delivered some landmark judgments on many issues which you will have opportunity to deliberate on together with assessing their efficacy in furthering administration of justice on the continent.

He noted that: We may disagree with some of the judgments of the African Court, which is normal, but what is important is to take note of the fact that the Court has already brought about renewed hope and optimism within the African justice and human rights system.

Justice Wambali said the African Court has positions itself firmly as a veritable tool in the quest for regional integration, peace, unity, good governance, respect for human rights and development.

I am fully convinced that you will have ample time to deliberate deeply on the contribution of the Court in this regard and come to a conclusion on how the court has assisted in improving the efficiency of justice in Africa, he noted.

Justice Constant Kwaku Hometowu, Justice of the High Court, Ghana also noted the efforts in empowering the African Judiciary by the African Court through the institutionalization of the African Judicial Dialogue.

Meanwhile, Ms Karin Pluberg, a representative of German Development Cooperation (GIZ) recounted that the first Judicial Dialogue back in 2013 which has set the ground for a hopefully longstanding tradition of a bi-annual judicial conference, and establishes a constant dialogue among legal practitioners.

At the second Judicial Dialogue in 2015, the need to reinforce links between National, Regional and International Courts was pointed out, as well as the importance for a common understanding of the human rights protection and promotion system on the continent, she noted.

Ms Pluberg explained that involving the continental level is  of course  an additional challenge, but it also brings new opportunities stressing that the development of Human Rights jurisprudence at the regional and continental level can inspire national constitutional jurisprudence.

She said the different layers of legal systems need to work hand in hand and in order to guarantee a sound protection of the citizens.

In our modern times, digital solutions are inevitable and the institutional structure should make use of these new technologies in order not to lose the connection to, especially, the young generation.

The development of strategies to incorporate technology in justice delivery based on a needs assessment of all African Union Member States is one of the priorities to tackle.

On his note, I would like to mention that the African Governance Architecture (AGA) at the African Union level has developed policies and guidelines for a transparent communication for all governance institutions, including those with a Human Rights protection mandate that could serve as a basis for discussion, she said.

Third African Judicial Dialogue, organised by the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights under the auspices of the African Union (AU).

The Dialogue is being attended by about 150 delegates from AU Member States- including Chief Justices, Presidents of Supreme and Constitutional Courts from the 55 AU Member States, as well as regional and international judicial bodies and other relevant stakeholders.

The biennial meeting is on the general theme: Improving Judicial Efficiency in Africa and is a follow up to the first edition held in November 2013 in Arusha, Tanzania, and second in November 2015, also in Arusha.

The overall objective of the Dialogue is to explore ways of enhancing judicial efficiency in Africa.

It also serve as platform for Africas top judiciary officials to exchange experiences on the on-going continental judicial reforms, trends on human rights jurisprudence, continuing judicial education and management of judicial institutions on the continent.

The African Judicial Dialogue is organized in collaboration with the World Bank, the German Cooperation (GiZ) and the European Union (EU).
Arusha (Tanzania), Nov. 11, CDA Consult  Mr. Justice Ferdinand L. K. Wambali, Principal Judge of the Judiciary of Tanzania has lamented that many people on the continent feel that African Judiciaries and the Justice System no longer serve the average persons.

He asserted that the fear of many people of not being understood in the courtrooms is a key reason why many litigants turn to arbitration and mediation to resolve their disputes.

It is my appeal that such attitude should be dealt with immediately by our respective judiciaries in the continent. It is important to understand that quality, independence and efficiency are the key component for an effective justice system, Justice Wambali stated at the on-going Third African Judicial Dialogue at Arusha, Tanzania.

Justice Wambali emphasis that, access to an effective justice system is an essential right which must be the foundation of democracy and recognised by the constitutional traditions.

Nobody can deny the fact that everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial organ established by law.

On the other hand, many States recognise that a well-functioning Judicial System also underpins economic development. Moreover confidence in the Justice System creates a climate of certainty and reliability that enables forward business planning and hence a thriving private sector which all States wish to happen, Justice Wambali stated.

He therefore emphasized that an effective Justice System that interprets and applies the law fairly, impartially and without undue delay is fundamental to citizens rights and a well-functioning economy.

Our respective judiciaries therefore cannot do better in improving effective justice without increasingly engaging with the citizens and other court users to gain more insights on what should be done to serve the society better.

We must understand that as a public service, the judiciary is ultimately accountable to the citizenry. The parties who engage our Judicial System are entitled to know and to be satisfied with how the Justice System operates, and functions, he said.

Dilating on the theme of the Dialogue: Improving Judicial Efficiency in Africa, Justice Wambali said in order to improve efficiency of the judiciaries, there is a need to undertake reforms to the justice system.

Nevertheless, the reforms to be done should not be isolated and geared toward piecemeal solutions. Reforms therefore should take a more comprehensive approach that can lead to more uniform results, he noted.

Justice Gerard Niyungeko, Judge and former President of the African Court chaired the opening session at which representatives from the World Bank, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and African Union Commission Chairperson made statements.

Third African Judicial Dialogue, organised by the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights under the auspices of the African Union (AU).

The Dialogue is being attended by about 150 delegates from AU Member States- including Chief Justices, Presidents of Supreme and Constitutional Courts from the 55 AU Member States, as well as regional and international judicial bodies and other relevant stakeholders.

The biennial meeting is on the general theme: Improving Judicial Efficiency in Africa and is a follow up to the first edition held in November 2013 in Arusha, Tanzania, and second in November 2015, also in Arusha.

The overall objective of the Dialogue is to explore ways of enhancing judicial efficiency in Africa.

It also serve as platform for Africas top judiciary officials to exchange experiences on the on-going continental judicial reforms, trends on human rights jurisprudence, continuing judicial education and management of judicial institutions on the continent.

The African Judicial Dialogue is organized in collaboration with the World Bank, the German Cooperation (GiZ) and the European Union (EU).
Hon. Cynthia Morrison, NPP Member of Parliament for Agona West constituency in the Central Region has said that observation ofvthe National Sanitation Day clean-up exercise should not be seen as belonging to a particular political party in the country.

She has therefore called all hands on deck to get rid of filth for a healthy environment. According to her sickness has no colour and does not discriminate among political lines.

" We should all come togather in unison to ensure that our environment becomes disease free tovgive us healthy mind. As we know, a healthy people makes a worthy nation.

National Sanitation Day exercise should not be seen as belonging to a particular political party in the country but a means to get rid of firth and its environmental related diseases. It is a way of rekindling communal labour and socialization among the citizenry"

Hon. Cynthia Morrison stated these when the Chiefs and people of Dwenho Community in Agona Swedru undertook a 5-hour clean-up exercise to observe the National Sanitation Day on Saturday.

The experience attracted personnel from the Ghana Police Service led by Agona Swedru Divisional Commander DSP Samuel Yankey, Ghana National Fire Service, Environmental Health Department, Zoomlion Company Limited, Assembly Members, Chiefs, Media Practitioners, Market Women and various Clubs and Societies.

The exercise saw draining of choked gultets at the market center and other firthy area which had become a ' No Go Area' due to unhealthy scent from accumulated uncollected rubish.

Hon. Cynthia Morrison commended the Chief of Dwenho Community, Nana Kojo Acquah for spearheading the clean-up exercise saying he has shown leadership by example.

" I thank Nana Kojo Acquah for spearheading the organization of this exercise. It's a massive turn up and expect that other communities would emulate this shinning example and even do better when it comes to their turn.

In collaboration with the Agona West Municipal Assembly, the Environmental Health Department and Zoomlion Company, we have decided to rotate the National Sanitation Day exercise among all the communities with Agona Swedru townships.

We have also decided to involve students in our basic schools in the monthly clean-up exercise to inculcate communal labour spirit in them and to enable them observe personal hygiene "

The Chief of Dwenho, Nana Kojo Acquah was grateful to all those who joined them to undertake the exercise thus praising the Divisional Police Commander, DSP Samuel Yankey and his personnel.

He announced that the exercise had come to stay and would be observed monthly to keep the community clean.

The Agona West Municipal Environmental Officer, Mr. George Freeman said public education on personal hygiene in the municipality was ongoing adding that landlords and households have been cautioned to build toilet facilities for tenants and occupants.

He noted that the Assembly wish to declare open defecation free in the municipality and therefore want every household to have its own place of convenience.

A source closed to the Agona West Municipal Assembly told newsmen that all unauthorised structures that had been built on drains, water way and pavements would soon be demolished. " This structures have no permits and are usually built deep in the night and on Sundays to out twist authorities. We are well awake now. It will be better for owners to get permit before the law catches on them"

Attached is the picture of Hon. Cynthia Morrison flanked by Assembly Members and a police officer addressing the participants
11.11.2017 LISTEN

Note: the writer, Shuk Abubakar is a PhD Research fellow in Innovation and Business Management at University of Hertfordshire, UK

As a card-carrying NPP member, Id like to apologize to all my fellow Ghanaians. I am apologizing because, my party (the NPP) repeatedly claims that, we place transparency, accountability, above all else, but our actions since returning to power tell a different story, especially when we mix national security, politics, corruption and the management of the national economy. We as a party feel no compunction, even, misusing the story of NDC partys previous actions to ignore our leaders questionable practices.

"We know a 419 scam when we see one and that, unfortunately, was the hallmark of the administration of former president Mahama. Ghanaians will find out more soon as people are held legally accountable. With the record that former president Mahama has in the area of governance, it is incredible that he would have the effrontery to talk about '419 scams'... , Vice President Dr Bawumia responded to Ex-President Mahama, in an attempt to defend his Government against Ex-President Mahamas comments that. . how can you launch a Google GPS system that is freely available on our mobile phones and say it is the best national addressing system? Mr Mahama wondered, adding: Its such a pity. Why would you embarrass the president so much? You go and take a whole president to bring him to come and launch a system that is 419,.

When I read his reasoning for such a description, it was evident to me that he has no clue about what he was talking about and was just engaged in parroting propaganda. I actually had a good laugh. Dr Bawumia added.

Such harsh response and assertions of support for the widely ridiculed NATIONAL DIGITAL PROPERTY ADDRESSING SYSTEM (NDPAS) are likely why many Ghanaians would not feel comfortable to comment on our Government actions.

Thats is right. A man in a high-profile position representing the great office of vice-president of Ghana from the supposed incorruptible party, after national outcry for embarrassing His Excellency President Nana Akufo-Addo with a 419 digital addressing application which cost Ghana $2.5 million (GHS9.9m) when it already existed on mobile phones, not only did not hide in shame, he doubled down. Dr Bawumia denied the allegations that the system is a 419 and evoked the term parroting propaganda, which is well-known jargon in Ghanaian political discourses, NDC and NPP, to elicit as much support and sympathy from the party faithful as possible.

With the record that former president Mahama has in the area of governance, it is incredible that he would have the effrontery to talk about '419 scams Dr Bawumia Pronounced on his facebook video to supporters. We have spent $2.3 million on a NDPAS and I dare say it is money well spent for the benefit of all Ghanaians. It is not money finding itself into the pockets of a few cronies. We did not spend it on Akonfem, bus branding, over-priced mansions and contracts, ghost roads, etc. We have spent it on something productive.

Dr Bawumia plans to weather this political storm with bullish response and with help from the same anti-corruption, pro-transparency party members who during the campaigns mercilessly lambasted the then President Mahama and his party after his party was caught in the bus branding saga. And there is no reason, the president would order an investigation into this 419 GPS system, for in our party, corruption is as old as Adam, and in the eyes of many members, the only corruption worth condemnation is the corruption under NDC.

The line between right and wrong is no longer determined by the constitutional definition of corruption; it is a matter of which Governing party or officials were the perpetrators. I wish I could say tha,t what happened last December (i.e. the election of an incorruptible Akufo-Addo to the presidency of Ghana) had herald an end to gargantuan day light corruption in Ghana.

News, now, of questions surrounding how the contract for the 419 GPS system was awarded, the issues surrounding fuel contamination saga at BOST should move us to anger and disgust; instead, Ive heard from fellow party members trying to change the subject to John Mahama and bus branding saga. I want badly to equalise how the contract for the 419 GPS system was awarded with the bus branding contract under Ex-President Mahama, but theres little reason to believe that had Mahama bus branding happened under current NPP, things would have been different.

Id like to apologize, Ghana, because we call our leadership incorruptible, but my party of the Dankwa-Busia tradition possesses political hypocrisy and moral cowardice that knows no bounds.

Recall his excellency President Nana Akufo-Addo, for example. Before he was elected, he campaigned on the promise of fighting corruption. This is why I was convinced that once his two-deputy chief of staffs were accused of corruption for charging gate fees to access the flag staff house, hed suspend them and initiate an independent investigation, because of the anti-corruption principles he had long assured Ghanaians were important to him. He didnt, and a few weeks later, their accuser, popularly known as A-plus leaked a tape voice recording showing the then Deputy C.I.D Boss was trying to cover up wrongdoing on the part of the two Deputy Chiefs of Staff. Instead of reprimand, ACP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah was immediately promoted to Director of C.I.D., and her Boss who was investigating her part in the leak tape was unceremoniously dismissed to make way for her. That was the end of the allegation.

And recall, the members of NPP invisible forces and Delta forces rampaging and forcibly taken over government offices and even freeing members brought to justice in our court (a personal affront to the president who is an accomplished Lawyer), yet the attorney general refused to clamp down. This was direct contrast to the hypocritical outrage from NPP members when Former President Mahama, pardoned Montie three prisoners. Worryingly, there are more examples despite our party being in power for less than a year. One can recall the hypocrisy of the circumstances surrounding the arrest of NDC, serial caller, Frank Kwaku Appiah, popularly known as Appiah Stadium, who insulted His Excellency President Akufo-Addo; or the questionable Bond sales to franklin Templeton, which the opposition NDC accused the Finance minister of securing $2.25 billion bond for cronies.

Unfortunately, political hypocrisy is a bipartisan nationwide affair, but in NPP, it is different and cuts deeper because the party wrap itself in the cloak of civility, incorruptibility and free speech, which is supposed to be a sign that we operate on a higher plane and know where we stand on corruption, free speech and civility, irrespective of politics. But I have realised that, it hasnt meant that at all. NPP members and elders are frequently given our leaderships immorality passes because we see our allegiance to the party instead of our country. Thats is damaging to Ghana and its particularly damaging to our party and the trust bestowed on it by Ghanaians.

So, finally, Id like to apologize because we are not who weve long claimed to be, and it is hurting what we desperately want to believe, which is that, our Motherland is still a great nation to be a citizen not a spectator.

By: Shuk Abubakar

Email: [email protected]
Whenever stories such as residents sharing their source of drinking water with animals and various indiscriminate human activities are told, the first impression would be that such people would be living in the hinterlands.

Some residents claimed that on most cases, taxi drivers and waste drivers wash their vehicles just in the middle of the stream, making the water very dangerous for human consumption. This is the plight of about 300 residents living in Alico down, an area in Odupong Ofaakor - one of the biggest suburbs of Kasoa in Awutu Senya East District of the Central Region.

Commercial drivers from Odupong Ofaakor to Kasoa charge Ghc1.60p. However, many of the residents in this area cannot get access to portable water like their counterparts in Kasoa. Some of them rely on rain water and transported water (polytank) for most of their domestic purposes.

But what if it does not rain for a long while, how do they get water? Some residents said they resort to pure water for their domestic chores. However, some said its not every day they can purchase pure water or transported water for their domestic chores. Thus, most of them draw water from this stream, the only source of water for the community which is infested with animal dung and engine oil, for most of their domestic chores including drinking.

Some residents claimed that the Assemblyman of Ofaakor Electoral Area Mr. Andrews Addo Quainor is aware of their predicament, but has not paid a listening ear to them. The head pastor of Trust Gate Dominion Ministry Mr. Albert Owusu said since the time we voted for him, we have not seen him again. What we know is that as an elected leader, we expected him to be responsive to our problems by coming to us to be abreast with our problems and not the people going to you, he stressed.

Another resident Madam Hannah Anning added that it is very unfortunate for residents in a town very close to the Weija Lake in Accra to share their only source of water with animals. However, as the dry season approaches, it will be difficult for us to get water like this one to drink, she lamented.

When contacted, the assemblyman stated that the perennial water crisis is not a problem facing residents at Alico Down alone, but the whole of Ofaakor in general and he is doing his best to ensure they have portable water. Asked whether he has paid no listening ear to the plight of the people, he stated that was not the case.

It is not that I have paid listening ear to their worries. I have done what I should do about it. It is left to the assembly to take actions on the proposal and the letters that I sent them, Mr. Quainor stated.

He added that people who wash their cars, including waste management vehicles will be identified and talked to in order to put a stop to this unfortunate behaviour.

A nine year old class five pupil of Einsten International School in Odupong Ofaakor Emmanuel Narh stated that whenever the stream overflows its banks after a downpour, the place becomes impassable making it very difficult to cross to the other side. He narrated that this is affecting his education.

They are appealing to government, various philanthropists and Non-Governmental Organisations to come to their aid by providing them with portable drinking water and some essential basic necessities.
11.11.2017 LISTEN

Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, 10 November 2017  The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a US$ 25 million in Kwacha equivalent to Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS).

The Senior Loan will support ZNBS in building institutional capacity and financing affordable housing in Zambia, thereby improving access to long-term affordable housing finance to Zambias lower-middle and middle-income earners currently with limited opportunities to access financing. The loan will consolidate the growth of a strong affordable housing sector within Zambia. It will also assist in reducing fiscal pressures on the Zambian government and enable ZNBS to mobilize funding from other sources, including Zambias capital markets.

The Bank intervention is in line with the Bank Groups High 5 agenda, building on its existing 2013-2022 Strategy, and specifically the 5th agenda  Improving the Quality of Life for the People of Africa. The five focus areas are essential in transforming the lives of the African people and therefore consistent with the United Nations agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Banks intervention will also have multiplier effects on real estate and related industries and jobs creation in the construction industry. The loan will complement the Zambia governments efforts to develop a self-sustaining long-term affordable mortgage market in the country.

The intervention will enable ZNBS to expand and deepen Zambias housing finance sector and encourage orderly urban development for the provision of basic utilities such as water, sanitation, roads and electricity. In this respect, it will improve the lives of Zambias and create new employment opportunities. By extending this Senior Loan, the AfDB complements its existing initiatives in the provision of affordable housing and development of mortgage finance institutions on the continent. As one of its priority objectives, the AfDB supports investments that widen and deepen financial markets in Africa, and enable the private sector to mobilize and access long term local currency funding from local financial and debt markets.
Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, 10 November 2017  The Board of the African Development Bank Group has approved a loan of 71.56 million to support the implementation of Digital Tunisia 2020 National Strategic Plan. The Tunisian government is contributing 63.4 million, bringing the total cost of the project to 134.96 million.

The project is national and all-encompassing. The Digital Tunisia 2020 National Strategic Plan (PNS) will be executed between 2018 and 2021. The project will strengthen public services through the use of digital platforms, on a grand scale and includes, notably, the implementation of online administrative services, sectoral information services, a digital ID system, and a data exchange platform.

An important feature of the project is its broad geographical coverage. It will radically cut the current regional disparities so that all the Tunisian people will have access to grassroots services online, whether they live in urban areas or rural communities, north or south of the country.

Apart from putting government services within the reach of the population, the project will create a two-way dialogue, letting citizens participate in the formulation and implementation of public policies through electronic feedback, creating a climate of open government.

The project also has great potential for the wider Tunisian economy. It provides for substantial support to trigger a strong and performing digital economy in the country that will give much-needed job opportunities to the young graduate population.

This project will allow the strengthening of administrative services offered to users and people in business, said Mohamed El Aziz, the AfDBs regional director for North Africa, adding that it will contribute to and improve access to public services across the country.

The Task Manager for the project at AfDB, Samatar Omar Elmi, added: The project really illustrates how the adoption of new technologies can enhance public services delivery, improving the governments dialogue with citizens while fostering the development of the local digital environment.
11.11.2017 LISTEN

Some Zongo youth has given the Ashanti Regional Police Command three days to explain to them why they killed two of their members.

According to them, their members, Awudu Osman and Lukman Mohammed, were killed without any justifying reason whiles in police custody.

Some two suspects who were in Police custody were shot and killed by the Police, who accused them of robbery.

The two suspects had reportedly been gunned down by police after they attempted to escape in handcuffs.

Speaking in an interview with otec news Isaac Nsiah Foster, the leader of the youth, Mustapha Hamid, disputed the claims that the deceased persons were armed robbers.

Meanwhile, Parliament has summoned the Interior Minister before it over some police brutalities that occurred at Asawase in Kumasi in the Ashanti region Thursday night. He was summoned after the minority chip whip and Asawase MP Muntaka Mubarak made the request.

Some two suspects who were in Police custody were shot and killed by the Police, who accused them of robbery The two suspects had reportedly been gunned down by police after they attempted to escape in handcuffs.

The legislator told Parliament that he was informed by the police that they killed the suspects after they attempted to abscond while assisting them to arrest their accomplices in criminal activities in the area.

After the police had arrested three others, the names of the two were mentioned that they were aiding them with guns. The police went in to arrest them but after a search of their residence, they couldnt find any guns. They had been in custody as the police tried to get information.

They will lead them to an area where the police would search, but find nothing. At the fourth place they went according to the deputy minister, the gentlemen tried to abscond and were shot dead, Muntaka said.

The youth have disputed the claims that the deceased persons were armed robbers. The MP further admonished Parliament to handle the issue since it will not be treated properly if left in the hands of the police.

Is it the court that remanded the [suspects]? How many police went with them and what led to their death? Now the family is really devastated.

I want to take this opportunity to request that the House gets the Interior Minister to come to the House, probably next week to brief the House on the circumstances to enable the House take firm decisions.

I am worried that if we leave this to the police to investigate we may never get anywhere, Muntaka added.

Source:otecfmghana.com/Isaac Nsiah Foster
The Fundraising and Dinner Dance of Mensah Mental Rehabilitation Project (MEMHREP) is finally here with us. The much-awaited fundraising is scheduled for this Sunday, November 12, 2017 at Silicon Hotel near Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. It is in aid of raising funds to support the construction of a Rehabilitation Centre. The time for the programme is from 2pm to 6pm. The purpose for the Rehabilitation Centre (which is still under construction in Kumasi) is to accommodate all mental health patients roaming on the street in Ashanti and other Regions, offer them treatment and reintegrate them into the society after they had been cured.

According to Dr Akwasi Osei, the Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority, about four million Ghanaians, out of the estimated population of 28 million are suffering from mild to severe mental illness. Unfortunately, not much attention is paid to the plight of these mentally-ill patients. Their presence on the street poses a serious threat not only to the environment and tourism in Ghana, but also the lives of other people, especially children. This is because there are several reported cases of murder of children and women by people suffering from mental health illness.

MEMHREP, a registered Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Ghana and the United Kingdom and led by Mr. Adu Gyamfi is one of the few organisations in Ghana that has done so much in terms of advocacy on the plight of mental-ill patients and support for them since 2011. Such support include regular donation of items - food, clothes, and cash to mental health clinics, bathing, clothing and feeding of victims usually roaming on the street. This Charity Organisation is of the view that, human beings, no matter their circumstance, must be well-fed, clothed and accommodated since God created them in His own image.

Activities lined up for the night include the launching of MEMHREP's first ever magazine entitled; "The Plight of the Mentally-ill Patient, MEMHREP's Support so Far". The Magazine, which has been compiled by health personnel and Psychologists reveals the causes of mental illness, the challenges, remedies, activities undertaken by MEMHREP and pictures of victims. The upcoming fundraising event will also feature famous gospel musicians, Members of Parliament, prominent chiefs, pastors, imams, and business tycoons.

Invitation letters have been distributed by members of MEMHREP. It is our hope that the general public will fully participate in the upcoming event to contribute financially and materially to this noble cause. Mental health patients have suffered enough. They are exposed to all kinds of environmental hazards and the females ones are usually beaten and raped. It will be a shirk of our responsibility if this inhuman treatment continues without action. The people who find themselves in this unfortunate situation are human beings like us just that stress, poverty, and certain diseases have made them so. MEMHREP believes anybody - aged, young, children, male or female is a potential victim to mental illness and thus, a way must be found to feed, clothe, accommodate and care for them.

We are therefore appealing to all those who cannot make it on the 12th of November, 2017 to channel their support through any of the following MEMHREP's accounts:

 CAL Bank, Kumasi Kejetia Branch. Account name: MEMHREP. Account No: 151017809014. Ghana

 Santander Banking UK Plc

S/Code: 09-01-28

A/No: 21027409

Account Name: MEMHREP

(UK)

 Bank Identifier Code(BIC): ABBYGB2LXXX INternational

Bank Account Number(IBAN):GB71ABBY09012821027409 (Outside UK)

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"Vision, coupled with persistency, results in true success"
In exactly 7 Days all students across the world will be observing the International Students Day.

Since the declaration of November 17 as International Students Day by the International Student Council in 1941, students around the world have been commemorating November 17 in diverse forms to promote human rights, quality education for all and good governance. The All-Africa Students Union since its formation in 1972 has championed these values based on which the International Students Day is marked. Last year, together with the European Students Union, we marked the day with a joint statement in Accra  Ghana.

This year, the All-Africa Students Union (AASU) will be collating the voices of students in the implementation of the SDG #4. We call on students across Africa to voice their opinion on how we can clear the deficit between target and reality in the achievement of SDG 4.

It has been recognized that the SDGs cannot attained in record time without the inclusive support of Higher Education Institutions. Across the Continent, students are united in calling for education that is accessible, of the relevant quality and affordable. The rising costs of education have been met with stiff opposition from student groups across the continent  we recall with nostalgia the FeesMustFall rendezvous which led to the closure of some universities in South Africa and similar uprisings across the continent. The democratization of education remains the key pillar on which AASU was founded and we continue to advance that position unequivocally. We recognize that only through proper funding of higher education will education be made accessible, equitable and of the relevant quality.

Send us a voice note (2mins max), a video (1min max), and/or a typed message (60words maximum) by mid-night of November 16, 2017. We will compile it and send to all governments in Africa, as well as Non-Governmental Organisations and Inter Governmental Organisations responsible for education.

This year, our united voices must be heard. Start speaking.

Long live International Students Day!

Signed,

PETER KWASI KODJIE

Secretary General

All-Africa Students Union (AASU)

Tel: +233242879028 | +233502672146

Email: [email protected]

Alt Email: [email protected]

Skype ID: freekodjie
Abuja  The Isreal Ibeleme Foundation on Wednesday awarded scholarships to five outstanding less privileged students of the Junior Secondary (JSS) School, Fossa, FCT.

Mr Israel Ibeneme, founder of the foundation, said that the students would be supported with their school fees and writing materials all through the secondary school level.

He said that the educational project would also touch the lives of 900 students, while 24 students would receive school bags with complete writing materials and 20 chairs would be donated for the use of teachers.

My mission is to impart meaning to the lives of our people, especially by helping the poor.

This is the eleventh year of this project and this programme is being carried out to touch lives of many people.

I started this foundation in 2006 by helping the elderly with just N10, 000, after which I embarked on another project that helped 150 people and later, 2,000 people and more.

Last year, we visited an IDPs camp in the FCT and assisted over 1,000 victims of insurgency from North East, Nigeria.

We will continue to strive to assist people in need, to give them a better life and build their hopes against all odds, Ibeleme said.

Ibeleme urged well to do Nigerians to endeavour to assist the less privileged in however little way they could, adding that one must not be a rich man to touch lives.

He admonished Nigerians in the spirit of the forthcoming yuletide to remember those in need, especially the displaced and less privileged.

Ibeleme also urged the beneficiaries of the scholarship, prizes and all other students to remain focused in their academics, keep away from vices, be law abiding and strive to become great.

He said that the foundation planned to visit other schools across the country to carry out similar intervention.

Also speaking, Judith Amaechi, Wife of the Minister of Transportation, also congratulated the recipients of the scholarship and urged them to take their studies seriously as it was the only path to success.

Amaechi, who is also the founder of the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI), pledged to pay the school fees of the scholarship recipients to support the course of the Isreal Ibeleme Foundation.

She promised to take the request and complains of the school to the relevant authorities in order to address them.

She called on Nigerians to remain their brothers keepers as a simple show of love and concern could restore hope to millions of hopeless people and prevent them from perpetuating crime by seeking better life.

In his remarks, Mr Michael Achi, Principal of the JSS Gosa, appreciated the Isreal Ibeleme Foundation for choosing the school as one of the beneficiaries of its educational outreach.

He said that the gesture by the foundation was a ray of hope to the younger generation and less privileged whose hopes were previously dashed.

Achi urged the recipients of the award to take this as a challenge for more hard work in order not to disappoint the gesture.

He called on the government to assist the school by providing more seats for the classrooms, writing materials and rehabilitating dilapidated structures.(NAN)
11.11.2017 LISTEN

The news that the governor of Ebonyi state, Engr. Dave Umahi has declared support for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari in the next presidential polls of Nigeria come 2019 came to me as grandeur per excellence. Worthy to note is the fact that the governor was elected into office under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is currently the opposition party in the country. The President is a member of the All Progressives Party (APC) and as millions of voices of Nigerians continue to beseech him, may seek reelection under the party which I personally describe as the demystified cosmopolitan apparatus reinvented to change Nigeria.

Since 2015 after settling down in office, Gov. Umahi has never hidden his political susceptibility for President Buhari. He once declared that if only one vote will be cast in favour of the President in Ebonyi state in 2019, the one vote will be from him. However, the governor could not have forgotten that people like my humble self voted in the 2015 presidential polls. Verily, my vote was one of the thousands of votes from Eboyians for the President. Furthermore, notwithstanding the true understanding of events, the Igbo people largely could not have resisted to accept the leadership of Buhari except for the opposition to remain live and firm in a democracy. But on a more serious note, this declaration of solidarity shows the level of the goodwill Umahi has for Buhari. And if not for the power-play within and outside the state, maybe the governor would have been proudly carrying the broom around. Time will tell, though.

Umahis endorsement of the President for 2019 can be based on conviction of his performance, qualification, honesty and statesmanship. It cannot also be unconnected to political realignment towards the 2019 general elections which the governor shows keen interest to re-contest. The governor prides, and truly it is creditable, of a lot of projects lined up for commissioning in the state, projects that he has executed within the past two and half years. To mention few are the three twin flyovers built across the African trans-Atlantic road running from Enugu to Cameroon passing through Ebonyi state. There is also the Ebonyi Mall that is modeled after the famous Dubai Mall. Mr. President is expected to commission them.

It is in the media that the President is billed to tour the Southeast region. If that is to be carried out personally, it will give the President the opportunity to visit his new political admirer, Umahi. While in the government house, Abakaliki, the duo can talk more on the alliance. Then the President will feel the taste of the salt without which no ditch is complete. I am sure the cultural beauties of the state will be displayed with the Umu Agbogho Dance which captivated the great late Zik of Africa into marrying a damsel of Afikpo, Professor (Mrs.) Uche Azikiwe, now lecturing in the Nigeria University, Nsukka (UNN). Afikpo my Afikpo, I yearn.

This medium is apt to appeal to President Buhari to visit the home of the former governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, Ezeogo Isiala 1 of Unwana, Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam, in Unwana of Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state. The Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic Unwana, is a federal institution that requires federal government attention for enhanced schooling facilities. Besides, it is the home of the former renowned peace preacher, Sheikh Ibrahim Okpani Nwagui of Enohia-Itim in Afikpo, a man who prominently contributed in no small way to the ethno-cultural and religious beatitude and diversification of the region.

Mr. President can visit these two places and see what of federal presence in terms of roads, schools, development of beaches and human capacities can be granted the entire ancient city of Afikpo whose cultural heritage is second to none in the nation. The fantastic Iyi Eke fishing festival can be upgraded to a national status like the Argungu festival. Other phenomenal attractions abound in the city that blocked Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka, the killer of the former late Head of State, Gen. Murtala Muhammed. Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo visited this great city on 24thDecember, 2001 or thereabout and luckily, I was at home and observed all the beautiful side attractions and hospitality accorded him.

Ebonyi state would have had Afikpo as its capital city. Carved from the Old Imo state to Abia state, then to Ebonyi state, Afikpo is a very unique city in Nigeria, thanks to its rocky-water-meadow landscape. It is also a home of unique people who understand all the Igbo dialects but whose own dialect is hardly understood by other Igbo linguistic groupings. Many of the Igbo inadvertently or otherwise regard the Afikpo dialect as Cross Rivers.

Engr. Umahi is the third executive governor of the state having taken power from his boss, Chief Martin Elechi who was bent to frustrate his deputys  Umahis  political ambition to succeed him. Simply, Umahi defeated incumbency just like President Buhari did at the federal level. Between 1999 and 2007, Senator Sam Egwu governed the state. All did try their best by laying the foundation upon which Umahi is remodeling, expanding and requesting federal backings. Senator Egwu from Ebonyi North governed the state for eight years; Chief Elechi from Ebonyi Central had his eight years too. For equity and fairness, Engr. Umahi from Ebonyi South should be supported to have his eight years, though on merit, as his works are speaking for themselves.

Again, with this frank and valiant support of a governor who supports the developmental strides and democratic norms of a leadership of another party, it is clear that love of personality should overpower mere party affiliation for the nation to grow. Being only an opposition bereft of ideological propositions retards growth and engenders waste cogs in the political machinery of governance. Therefore, if it is possible to accept the governor into APC without causing disaffection in the party polity, let it be done. That will be after scrutiny of genuine interest. The governor is performing and Mr. President, though observant, is encouraged to support him to perform maximally.

It is well known that Ebonyi is the recipient of the lowest allocation from the federal government. I stand tall to value the efforts of the governor in utilizing the little monthly allocations from the federal revenue. In his empathy and zeal to put the state ahead of all its peers created on October 1 1996, the governor has taken frugal measures in expenditures and courageous steps in enhancing internally generated revenue, though not enough due to acute infrastructural viability. That is why interventions from the federal government are exigent to boost the aspirations of this most performing governor of the Southeast.

I laud this bold stand of my governor in supporting the President. Though I do not pray that Ebonyi becomes a two-party state like Anambra that was APGA in disguise but PDP in practice during the PDP leadership of the country, it is rare to find very strong politicians like Gov. Umahi who can stand for what they really believe in despite political name callings and distractions. It is the truism in politics of no perpetual enemy or friend but permanent interest.

On the other hand, I resist the belief that the political wave sweeping through the southern regions is wholly responsible for the governors romance. APC took over Edo state in a grand style. It grabbed Ondo state too, though with much difficulties. Ceteris paribus, it is in all probability in the process of adding Anambra state to its fold. Ekiti state may just be waiting for the broom to sweep the government house in Ado-Ekiti. And if that happens, the powers of the PDP will continue to dwindle. I wish that all the remnants of PDP governors will not, afterwards, queue to be given the broom to sweep their states because, at least, the country needs an opposition party.

Once more, I thank my governor for his liking for President Buhari. It is my heartfelt desire that this political development translates into huge benefits from the federal government for the people of my state. And welcome anytime, Mr. President, to the salt of Nigeria!

Muhammad Ajah is an advocate of humanity, peace and good governance in Abuja. E-mail [email protected]
President Akufo-Addo has promised a historic handing over of mission schools across the country to its original administrators, the churches.

Speaking at the graduation of Trinity College in Accra Saturday, Nana Akufo Addo, expressed the hope that a hand-over will help arrest declining moral standards in schools.

"The tradition of discipline, hardwork, and integrity that characterize the churches...are needed in our country," he said.

The promise is part of the government's 2016 manifesto pledge. The President did not indicate a timeline for the handing-over but said his government was "keen".

Photo: President Akufo-Addo hosted students of Prempeh College

The government's withdrawal of management of mission schools is expected to delight traditional churches like Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican and Catholic churches.

As part of its missionary objectives during the colonial era, churches established many of Ghana's senior secondary schools, several of which are now branded elite schools.

But a 1984 take-over of their schools, placed its administration and management under government control.

Ghana has 872 second cycle schools of which 66% are government controlled. Churches would control a huge majority of the 575 schools now under the state's management.

Calls for a return has been growing as churches complain about negative effects of secularisation on school children.

Earlier this year the Catholic Bishops called on government to cede control of mission schools to the church to address the deteriorating state of discipline and values in these schools.

The Education minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh last May, explained the nature of the take-over saying government will use the same model it used in the health sector

In that sector, mission hospitals remain under the control of churches and mosques. He said the state would still pay salaries of teachers in mission schools just as it pays that of doctors and nurses in mission hospitals.

Government with its pro-private sector outlook wants to see non-government players take up space in the public sector education.
11.11.2017 LISTEN

Ghanaians have been asked not see sickle cell disease as a 'death sentence' or an 'evil disease' but rather a genetic blood disorder that could be prevented and managed.

Mr Kofi Tenkorang, Chief Executive Officer of African Sickle Cell Watch, a non-governmental organisation also appealed to the public to assist in the fight against the stigmatisation associated with the disease.

Mr Tenkorang made the call at the University of Ghana, Legon on Saturday during a health screening and blood donation exercise.

The programme dubbed 'Legon goes Red Reloaded' was supported by Youth Action Movement, Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) and African Sickle Cell Watch (ASCW).

Over 200 students are expected to undergo free HIV Testing, Eye and Breast Cancer Screening, Sickle cell disease and cervical cancer screening among others. The occasion was used to distribute free condoms to the students and provide counselling services.

Mr Tenkrong emphasised the need for the public to be made aware of the fact that sickle cell disease was not an evil disease as perceived by a section of the public.

According to him, the disease has been considered by the United Nations as a global public health concern which has social economic effects on a country.

The Chief Executive Officer of ASCW urged the public to do away with the notion that people affected by the disease often do not leave longer adding 'persons with sickle cell disease could live a long and quality life if they get the needed support from families and embark on regular check-ups at medical facilities.'

He regretted the spate of divorce among couples whose kids have the disease adding that women are now left with the burden of taking care of those children.

'This should not be so, men and women should rather come together to offer support in terms of financial, emotional and psychological support,' Mr Tenkorang said.

He appealed to the men who abandon their families to lend a hand in managing the disease and not flee from their marriages.

When asked why his organisation chose the University to embark on the screening, Mr Tenkorang said the students were young and were entering into relationships which could lead to marriages and therefore it was important for them to know their sickle cell status before marriage.

He further observed that the women dominated the screening exercise because they often feel the brunt of the effect of the diseases by taking care of children with the disease.

Mr Tenkornag said one of the core mandates of his organisation was to create awareness through education and embark on advocacy of the sickle cell disease to reduce its prevalence and high morbidity in Ghana and Africa at large.

He said screening at the University was going to be a yearly affair to ensure that students ascertained their status and reduced the current prevalence.

Last year, Sickle cell Disease prevalence rate was about 25 per cent and an estimated two per cent of births, amounting to approximately 15,000 babies were born with the disease annually.

The World Health Organisation estimates that five per cent of the world's population have trait and over 300,000 babies are born annually with haemoglobinopathies (mostly Sickle Cell Disease and thalassemia).
11.11.2017 LISTEN

It isnt a taboo to dance with Asantehene but one must remember that he (Otumfuo) occupies a lifelong throne. Literally there are no time or term limits regarding that monarchical office unless incapacitated, death or some serious financial impropriety. Therefore he who dances with the king or any king in Ghana should be mindful of his moves or better still weigh the pros and cons say this writer.

In contrast politicians get elected by the people through voting system and theyve term limits. For example, in Ghana the president has two-4-year term since the 1992 Constitutional Referendum. Politicians sweat and toilholding rallies, campaigns, town hall meetings etc. to get that political capital and in doing so they come into contact with the traditional rulers.

Ghanas 1992 Constitution debars traditional rulers to engage in partisan politics. This is because of the leadership role they play in our society and the respect accorded them by the people. But over the years and to date some traditional leaders have flouted the law and blatantly declared their support for some political parties or leaders.

So who does the bidding the politician or the king?

Its unclear as to who initiates the political romance. Or is it a shared flirtation? It must be the politician, I suspect. Why because hes the one seeking power.

Not too long ago one of our leaders had his day with the Ashanti monarch. The year was 2016. The venue was Manhyia, Kumasi in the Ashanti region. It was a political season and politicians were crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country like a camel on heat.

Manhyias guest wasnt an ordinary guest. He was the father of the nation, Ghana. The atmosphere at the palace was desirable and more than festive. And for the first time in decades Kumasians would see their adorable king Otumfuo Osei Tutu II danced and pranced with then sitting President John Dramani Mahama.

And they danced to Yentie Obiaa a controversial hit song by Daddy Lumba (Charles Kwadwo Fosu) a Ghanaian Highlife musician. The 2014 album titled Awosoo became and its still a choice of many music lovers /revelers during social gatherings. It came as no surprise that the president and the king got down on it.

Here are a few questions: What would you do if youd that opportunity?

Would you say yes or would say no? What would be your song preference or choice?

Would it be AB Crentsils Adwoa Yankeyn or Lumbas aben wo aha or Ofori Amponsahs Otoolege?

What kind of dancing genre would you choose?

Would it be Kete or Asafothe Akan war dance?

Would it be Azonto Ghanas popular dance with international recognition or bugum the fire dance among the people in northern Ghana?

How safe is it for our politicians and is there a price to pay?

The safety and security of this game is determined by a song choice. Ayen ne wo hoo for instance can help tickle the electorates sensibility and set them in election mode. Voters all over the world tend to embrace change especially if the incumbent is viewed as a lame duck or incompetent.

Does your song choice have that element?

Politicians who play by the rules and declare: The battle is the Lords, often see victory. And those who employ Mafiaism pay a heavy price.

Still think you can dance? Remember he who cannot dance will say: The drum is bad.

Did you not know? Did you not know that its Haram to dance to Yentie Obiaa during electioneering season? Did you not know that Asantehene can dance to Azonto or Yentie Obiaa and not pay any price?

You should have known better John the 4th. I think you caused your own downfall. Tony Lithur your attorney gave you the best tonic you ignored it. And good old Alban Bagbin cautioned you. But his advice was tossed into the dust bin.

Were you not aware that you are elected but the king is selected and installed and no one votes on him? Arent you aware that our traditional rulers are like civil servants--- every government is their government even though some of them fake it, you cannot begrudge them.

Also remember when a leader has good counselors his reign is peaceful. And just remember the moon moves slowly but it crosses the town. Im a messenger of peace but my message stings.
11.11.2017 LISTEN

On 11th November, 2017, I received calls from good friends on the post that appears on my wall. The Callers call to verify whether I am still with my facebook account and replied Yes not knowing that something was fetching. He now preceded that if that is the case why am I using it to insult our Governor? It was at that level I now ask what he means by that. He then told me that a post emanated on my facebook wall where I called Governor Yahaya Bello a useless person.

Getting furious about this, I asked my wife to oblige me her phone to check post on my facebook account as mine has problem and my laptop down with power. It was at that point I got to know that a post actually emanated from my facebook account via a Hacker.

I then called those who called me to intimate me about the new development on my facebook account that my laptop was down with power and that I shall visit any nearest business centre to power it and retrieve my facebook account. On powering my laptop and trying to log in, I discovered that the password to my facebook account and that of the yahoo mail ID account used to recovered password change authentication were changed.

Thank God I I still put up another recover mail address for the yahoo mail ID account used in my facebook. It was through that means I successfully change the yahoo mail ID password and later proceeded to change the facebook password too.

In all, what do I have to say? The present hack on my facebook account by enemy of progress has really shown the kind of society we live in. The attack on my account has shown that not all that portrayed themselves as good friends to me are truly good friend indeed in view of disgusting response I receive on the hacked post mostly especially those I confided in and call good friends.

The hacking of my account has shown that truly Alhaji Yahaya Bello has many enemies to contend with. Now that I see reasons to join the new direction of our indefatigable Governor, they now hack my account to show their displeasure in my decision.

I must make it clear to the public that Alhaji Yahaya Bello who is the Governor of Kogi State today is a long time friend. We knew each other since 2010 when I was into full forex trading. I had traded and managed his personal forex trading account and even taught him in house how to trade forex too. I engaged in business with him with high sense of faithfully and humility then unknown to me that one day he shall become the Governor of the State.

Also, Alhaji Yahaya Bello then took me as younger brother to him to a level that I nearly have a room of my own in his personal house in zone 4 as I had slept there times without numbers. We related like brothers even before he sought for the highest position in the State. While he sought for the position, I still remain supportive to his course even though I did not make it known to all in the social media platform.

As one who loves him so much and desire his success, when he became the Governor, I always dont fail to make my submission known where he erred on his affairs in the State and point out areas that needed remedy. One of such constructive criticisms I have made in the past was for him to float a State-own-construction company to undertake the construction of all Kogi State and LGA(s) roads.

In that article, I posited that taking this measure will enhance the economic activities of the State as the State will spend less in paying contractor for the construction of roads in the State which are mostly left uncompleted or abandoned after sometime. I added that he can do better by using the State owned Construction Company to bid for inter-State road contract across the nation as when he does this more income would be generated for the State and this will go along way to enhance the internally generated revenue of the State.

More money will be available to pay workers salary and more jobs would be created for our teaming unemployed Youths. Thus, the security challenges occasioned by joblessness on the part of our Youths would be eliminated and eradicated.

This single good advice of mine I had given the Governor more than ten months ago, today I am very happy that he has started working on it. His administration last week announced the purchase of road construction machines and equipment to handle the construction of all roads in the State. This step taking by the Governor shows that he is a listening person.

Also, following what I heard when I attended Kogi State social media summit last month, I also came to realization that Governor Yahaya Bello means well for the State contrary to false impression given by others about him on the social media platform. It is in view of this I now decided to join his new direction team to propagate him good doing to people the more.

I want to say that my recent decision was stemmed for having seen him as one who is ready to listen and take to correction. I want to reiterate that even if I show open disdain on his actions and policy direction in the time past, i dont play politics with bitterness. I play politics to advance the general interest of our society. This is why change is constant in my life.

I can not make Alhaji Yahaya Bello as my forever enemy because of ill-motivated interest just like how many people have been doing. On this note, I subject myself to change whenever I see improvement. So, Alhaji Yahaya Bello is improving in his policies and actions and decided joining him to take the State to the next level.

I therefore advised enemy of progress to leave me alone in this my new decision as I have absolute freedom to dance to wherever I like and stop hacking my facebook account henceforth. For those saying my recent article about Alhaji Yahaya Bello is to get political appointment, please if that is what you term it to be, what is the crime in it?

I want to make it clear to this element that I shall grab it happiness if Governor Yahaya Bello consider me worthy to serve the State. I would be very grateful to contribute my best for the development of the State as raining insult or making false accusation against the Governor will not take the State to any where.

The attack on my facebook account has really shown that devil is at work in Kogi State. They shall not succeed in Jesus name?

Shaibu Stephen Ojate is a Journalist and public affairs commentator writes from Abuja. He is reachable on 09075716236 and equally on facebook platform
11.11.2017 LISTEN

A flagbearer hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sylvester Mensah, has said the decision by the 10 regional chairmen of the party to endorse former President John Mahama for the 2020 elections is not good for the partys democracy.

The chairmen in a statement urged Mr Mahama to consider leading the party, since, in their view, a lot of people within the NDC want him as leader.

The party is yet to hold primaries to elect a flag bearer for the 2020 polls.

Speaking on TV3 News on Friday, 10 November, Mr Mensah, a former Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) said this is not good for our democracy.

He revealed he was not perturbed about the endorsement and will continue with his ambition of becoming the flag bearer of the party.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has charged former president John Dramani Mahama to condemn the public declaration of support for him by all the 10 regional chairmen.

ASEPA has said the action by the chairpersons is unfortunate and a breach of trust by party supporters.

The group said a failure by Mr Mahama to condemn their actions will breed apathy and other consequences in the NDC.

It was rather shocking to see the ten regional chairmen of the party come out of the blue without any prior consultation from National Executives to openly declare support for one candidate in the build-up to what is going to be the most heated contest in the history of the party.
I am writing in support of those who have registered their vehement dissent to the Major Mahama Bill which, I understand, was passed by Parliament into an Act on November 8 which, incidentally, also happened to be the 10th birthday anniversary of my second-born son, namely, Yaw Sintim Okoampa-Ahoofe. I am in support of the dissenters because the Mahama Act clearly violates the sacred principle of equality before the law, or what Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare describes as the principles of generality (See Lawyer Begs Akufo-Addo Not to Sign Major Mahama Trust Fund into Law 3News.com / Ghanaweb.com 11/11/17).

The justification of such protestation is legitimately premised on the fact that the late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama was not the first serviceman, or national-security agent, to have perished in the line of duty, as it were. President Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo is therefore being solemnly appealed to, to desist from signing the Mahama Act into law and, instead, have Parliament broaden the scope of the law to cover spouses and children whose security personnel sole/main breadwinners have similarly lost their lives, such as Major Mahama brutally did at Denkyira-Obuasi on May 29 this year, at the hands of a lynch-mob, while in the active line of duty, a day after my deceased mother would have turned 83.

To do otherwise would clearly be tantamount to a selective and an invidious application of both justice and the universal rule of law. Instead, as Prof. Asare aptly suggests, a National Trust Fund, presumably bearing the name of Major Mahama, should be established for this purpose. More so, in view of the very progressive and morally and politically constructive recent public announcement by Mr. Dominic Nitiwul, the Defense Minister, that Mrs. Barbara Mahama, the widow of Major Mahama, has been offered a job with one of Ghanas foreign missions abroad, both as a salutary means of facilitating the healing process of Mrs. Mahama, as well as enabling her to nobly earn her keep, even while being materially assisted, together with her two children, in other ways.

What I find rather strange, if not downright bizarre, about the Major Mahama Bill, passed into an Act just this past Wednesday or Thursday, I forget precisely which, is the proviso that Mrs. Mahama and her children will be able to draw sustenance from the fund until she remarried. Now, I find this aspect of the Act to be rather tacky. It would have been more meaningful and practically more constructive, if the provisions of the Act had stipulated, for example, that the Mahama Family would be eligible to draw resources from the Fund for the next 20 to 25 years, by giving a specific cut-off date.

What if Mrs. Mahama never remarries? Or she gets remarried to a husband who wasnt resourceful enough to cater for her two children? Or worse yet, she got into a conjugal bond that lasted for, lets say, two years or less? Or one in which her next husband died a natural death but left nothing substantial for his step-children? But even more pertinent to ask: Why predicate her ability to draw from the Fund on the question of whether Mrs. Mahama decided to remarry or not? This does not sound to me like there were any very intelligent Members of the House on the Floor when the Mahama Bill came up for debate.

And this is also what makes it all more pertinent and significant for the Bill to be sent back to the august Floor of the House to be reconsidered and rendered more legally and constitutionally equitable and legitimate.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
On Friday, veterans from around Beatrice were honored for their service with ceremonies hosted by Beatrice Middle School and Beatrice High School in celebration of Veterans Day.

Just after 8 a.m. on Friday, about 500 middle school students gathered in the gym for a ceremony that began with a posting of the colors, performed by the American Legion post 27.

As soon as the flags began moving across the gym, the hundreds of students fell completely silent, something of a miracle at most schools, civics and history teacher Mike Policky said.

That you can have a gym of 500 kids listening and paying attention shows a great appreciation for our vets, he said.

After the crowd stood to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the national anthem, the Kensington Chimersa group of resident musicians from the Kensington in Beatriceplayed handbells in time to America the Beautiful.

Phil Dettbrenner served as the guest speaker. Dettbrenner was a Beatrice police officer and worked for the Sheriffs Office for 14 years. Currently, he works for the Gage County Veterans Service Office. He got his start in the military when he joined the Air Force as a student at Beatrice High School.

At the Air Force base, he was assigned to work as an Air Force security officer just outside of Sacramento, Calif. On his very first day, a B52 bomber was practicing touch and go drills on the runway, the engines flooded and it crashed about two miles away, Dettbrenner said.

His first task was to guard the crash from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. until inspectors arrived, armed only with a flashlight and radio because he hadnt been issued a weapon yet.

He remembered the smell of diesel fuel and walking through the fog and discovering a charred set of landing gear. Nine people had died, and that really struck him.

At that point, I realized why we there doing what we were doing, he said. I realized the sacrifices that people had made. Many people before me and since then.

Dettbrenners speech was followed by a moment of silence for fallen veterans and the playing of taps.

The whole ceremony was planned by eighth grader students, Policky said. The students booked the guests, contacted the media, and gathered all the equipment they needed to put on a Veterans Day ceremony.

The kids do everything, he said, Were just here to guide them.

***

In the Hevelone Center at Beatrice High School, students and veterans began filling the auditorium for a ceremony at 10 a.m.

This year, Jason Sutter marked his 16th year as principal at BHS and his 16th year hosting the ceremony, though the annual event has been going on much longer than that, he said. This years ceremony was one of the biggest, he said, estimating that there were 800 people in attendance.

Following the posting of colors by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Rev. Marilyn Hasemann of Christ Church Episcopal gave the invocation before the BHS Vocal Music Department stood to sing Keep the Home Fires Burning.

The Veterans Day address was delivered by John Hilgert, the director of the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs, who told the assembled group that they had heroes in their midst.

Let them know that you care, Hilgert said. Listen, learn and repeat their stories. But, most of all, do not squander, do not take for granted the freedom and liberty that they have preserved for you to enjoy. Be worthy of their sacrifice.

The school incorporated students into the event in recent years, Sutter said, and this year, all 650 kids students were in attendance, which he said is a good way to teach them what people in their community have done for their country.

It's important for our students nowadays to see that commitment, he said. To see that responsibility, to see that love of country and to see that all veterans are willing to pay that ultimate price and protect our freedoms.

Denny Hartig, who served in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1972 to 1980, said it was a good thing to be able to have veterans together in one place.

It was great just to see the support the veterans have, he said. With everything that's going on in our country today, there's too much hostility to not enjoy something like this.
MPs to be denied access to ...
Scientists: Northern Minnesotas rising deer population to blame for dwindling moose numbers Quetico Superior Foundation (Chuck L)

iPhone X Owners Encountering Green Line on Display Due to Potential Hardware Defect Mac Rumors

All hail the Godbot: In Silicon Valley artificial intelligence isnt just king, its literally a new religion National Post

Bitcoin Plunges After Plans for Split Called Off Bloomberg

The nations top cancer doctors are asking people to drink less in an unprecedented warning Business Insider. This warning is based just on very extensive results for breast cancer, and I wonder how generalizable it really is to other cancers or to men. Plus people who drink, even heavily, live longer than teetotalers. So looking at health risks in isolation, as opposed to all factor death rates, can be misleading.

Ford Pilots a New Exoskeleton to Lessen Worker Fatigue Futurist. Not sure I like this. On the one hand, the idea of specific enhancements to prevent repetitive stress injuries is a really good idea. And maybe these devices are designed to do that, or alternatively, what these workers have to do overloads pretty much all upper body joints, so a generalized device actually is fit for purpose. And standing for long periods isnt good for your body either. However, more use of exoskeletons moves us in the direction of people who dont load their muscles and bones on a regular basis, which like being sedentary, has negative health outcomes. The reason conductors live so long, no joke, is that having your hands at or above your heart level elevates your heart rate, and if you move your arms above your heart level, you are giving your heart healthy stress. Plus these workers should get more breaks instead, but thats not how assembly lines work.

Threats to human health by great ocean garbage patches Lancet Planetary Health (Chuck L)

Is US naval assertion in the South China Sea legal? Asia Times

Chinese dredger sparks South China Sea fears of artificial island building CNBC (furzy)

Trump threatens China over North Korea and trade Defend Democracy. Trump threatens North Korea is coming to be a daily headline.

Paradise Papers

French institute suspects nuclear accident in Russia or Kazakhstan in September Reuters

Brexit

http://links.info.news.co.uk/ctt?kn=18&ms=MjUwMjAyOQS2&r=NjU3OTE4MzEyNzQS1&b=0&j=OTEwMzg4ODExS0&mt=1&rt=0 rel=nofollow>May humiliates herself at the eleventh hour The Times Brexit, A Hard Border And A Dish Of Codswollop Ed Maloney. I cant assess this. Readers?

Metropolitan Police try to block Freedom of Information requests over Grenfell Tower WSWS

How Deutsche Banks high-stakes gamble went wrong Financial Times. Neglected to link to this earlier.

Syraqistan

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Imperial Collapse Watch

Trade Traitors

Trump Transition

Tax Reform

Why Investors Should Get Nervous About Tax Cuts Wall Street Journal. We said from the get-go, as in months ago, that the 20% corporate tax rate (then 15%) was not attainable, that thanks to deficit hawkery, if a deal got done, it would be at 28-29%, which would be seen as a huge disappointment. The WSJ is figuring this out only now, and in a weaker version that stated here.

McConnell Joins Ryan in Walking Back False Promise on Tax Bill Bloomberg

White House, congressional Republicans accelerate drive for corporate tax cut worth trillions WSWS

Donna Brazile Says Hillary Rodham Clinton High Palace Of The Solar Order Was Almost Like A Cult The Onion

Why has Fox News abandoned Benghazi? Washington Post (furzy)

Mounting GOP retirements threaten House majority The Hill

GOP Senators Run Away From Accused Child Molester Roy Moore Daily Beast (UserFriendly)

Alabama poll: Moore and Jones tied following scandal The Hill

Two GOP senators withdraw Roy Moore endorsements after sexual misconduct allegations The Hill

Meet Lee Carter Jacobin

KC detective ends interview after suspect answers question with loud fart Kansas City Star

Kill Me Now

Zuck Has Figured Out Whats Wrong With the Country New York Magazine

Next Phase of Carmageddon: the Banks Wolf Richter

The Workplace After Weinstein: Harassment Claims Bring Rapid Changes Wall Street Journal

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour. From Finalists from the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (resilc):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
As part of NATO Allies ongoing commitment to transparency, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are hosting Russian arms control inspectors this week. The inspectors toured a number of military sites, including some used by multinational NATO battlegroups. NATO deployed defensive forces to the region  known as enhanced forward presence  following Russias aggressive actions against Ukraine. One battlegroup, roughly 1,000-strong, is now stationed in each of the Baltic countries and Poland to deter any possible aggression.

In Estonia, Russian inspectors visited the Defence Forces Central Training Area, headquarters of the 1st Infantry Brigade in Tapa, and met with NATO personnel stationed there. In Latvia, the Russian inspection team visited Latvian Armed Forces units and training grounds, and were briefed by the Commander of the Mechanised Infantry Brigade and the Commander of the National Guard 2nd Brigade. They also conducted an observation flight over the central part of Latvia. In Lithuania, the inspectors conducted an overflight and visited units within the Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf in Rukla, where they were briefed by the Brigade Commander and met with NATO battlegroup personnel.

All of these visits are being carried out within the framework of the Vienna Document, an agreement on military transparency reached among the 57 member nations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2011. Designed to promote mutual trust and transparency, the Vienna Document commits OSCE members to accept a number of inspection visits by other members each year, in order to verify there are no undeclared military capabilities or activities of concern.

NATO strongly supports efforts to build confidence and transparency on military activities. Allies respect the letter and spirit of the Vienna Document, and NATO regularly updates its schedule of military exercises online.
Eight cadets say they are victims of racist abuse and hazing at the San Francisco Fire Academy, according to a letter they wrote to the citys fire chief obtained by NBC Bay Area News Friday.

We are the men of color of this 123rd Probie class and all we want is to work hard and graduate earning the Firefighter badge for the City of San Francisco, the recruits say in the 18-page letter they sent to Chief Joanne Hayes-White this week.

As we are in the middle of week seven of the 20-week Training Academy, we have seen and experienced retaliatory, demeaning, punishing, and racist/sexist behavior by some of the training staff, the cadets wrote. The last straw was when a battalion chief taught the Cultural Competency class last week and used the N word. All of us eight African American probies in this class were offended.

The N word was used in the context of an acronym, coined by Tupac Shakur: Never Ignorant Gets Goals Accomplished as referred to in the letter.

Battalion Chief Kevin Smith, head of the citys Black Firefighters Association, said similar allegations have been raised by other rookies from past classes. Last week, Mayor Ed Lee signed off on a $100,000 legal settlement with three former cadets who alleged they were hazed and suffered racist abuse at the academy.

They tell some horrific stories of rude, indecent disparate type of treatment that they have suffered at the hands of the training staff, Smith said of the latest allegations.

Another veteran firefighter, Capt. Sherman Tillman, expressed dismay at the cadets claims.

If one page of this letter is true, we have a problem, the 19-year-veteran said. We have a big problem.

Change has been slow to come at what is known in the department as The Tower, Smith said.

Its sad, its disappointing, he said. And, I would hope that this department would take it as an embarrassment that this keeps popping up.

Either all these groups of people are just fabricating untruths or theres some truth to it, he added. I just dont know if theres the willingness to make the changes that are necessary.

Chief Hayes-White hasnt commented on these recent accusations, but a department spokesman said the chief just received the letter and was still reviewing the allegations.

The Department takes allegations very seriously and will thoroughly investigate any allegations or concerns brought forward and take appropriate action, department spokesman Lt. Jonathan Baxter said in a statement.

The cadets told the chief: We are men of color who want an equal opportunity at a career that we have been working tirelessly for years to achieve. All we ask (for) is a fair shot.
Heart health is important for everyone  including a very busy patriarch gorilla at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

At 45 years old, Winston is the oldest breeding male gorilla in the United States. Hes the leader of the troop at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in charge of keeping his eight loved ones safe including females Vila, Kamilah and Kokamo. He also keeps an eye on Kokamos son, Monroe, and her 1-year-old baby girl, Leslie. Theres also Imani, Frank and Joanne to watch over.

Its a big job, fit only for an older, experienced, so-called silverback gorilla such as Winston. That kind of responsibility can take a toll on a leaders health.

Apes and gorillas suffer from a high percentage of cardiac disease, particularly older male silverback gorillas who are under a lot of stress keeping their troop in line and keeping their females protected, explained Lauren Howard, DVM, the associate director of veterinary services at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Earlier this year, animal care staff at the park noticed a decline in Winstons overall health. He was lethargic and had a decreased appetite.

An exam and therapies were performed on the western lowland gorilla to get to the bottom of his symptoms but experts couldn't pinpoint any specific illnesses.

With todays technology and equipment, animal care experts knew more could be done for Winston.

Joined by colleagues from the Great Ape Heart Project, veterinarians at the Safari Park decided to perform an in-depth assessment of the gorillas heart.

Ken Bohn

On Wednesday  with the help of experts from the University of California, San Diego, the University of California Davis, the University of California Veterinary Medical Center San Diego and the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego  they got to work.

Winston was placed under general anesthesia and doctors were able to give the gorilla a comprehensive heart exam, including lab tests, an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram, at the Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center at the park. He also received a complete dental evaluation and X-rays.

The Safari Park said the findings from the tests would help doctors pinpoint Winstons recent symptoms including possible heart disease.

Howard said the exam was a priority for the Safari Park and a way to keep Winston as healthy as possible so he can continue his important task as leader of his nine-member troop.

Winston is 45, which is getting up there for gorillas and so, of course, were concerned about his overall health and any age-related changes he might be going through, she explained.

Following the exam, Howard said Winston would likely be up and walking by the afternoon. Animal care staffers planned to keep him separated from the troop for one more day so he could rest and, in Howards words, Not worry about acting tough in front of anyone else.

[G] San Diego's Cutest Critters

Winston arrived at the facility in San Diegos North County in 1984. Hes described by keepers at the Safari Park as having an easygoing personality, only getting involved in resolving disputes between members of his gorilla troop if he absolutely has to.

According to the parks website, silverback troop leaders like Winston are in charge of making the decisions, including where the troop travels to seek food each day, where and when they eat or rest and where they spend the night.

Safari Park visitors can see Winston and his posse daily at the Gorilla Forest exhibit. He likes to perch at either end of the habitat where he can keep a watchful eye over the other gorillas, especially the young males, to make sure theyre behaving.

This video shows Vila's 60th birthday celebration in October 2017.

Gorillas are listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. San Diego Zoo Global works to help conserve the species.

Theres a lot of things in the wild that are putting pressure on our gorillas, which makes it even more important that we continue to improve our science and our medicine for these animals so we can do whatever we can to save them from extinction, Howard said.
Los Gatos residents are vacating their homes for fear of being stranded.

Caltrans and Santa Clara County have both scheduled repairs at the same time. Caltrans plans to close Highway 35 from Bear Creek Road to Black Road while the county is closing Black Road starting at Skyline Boulevard.

If done as scheduled, residents could find themselves stranded for more than a week.

It doesnt make sense, said Los Gatos resident, Daniel Follette. Why cant they work together and open this up and close this one, or close this one and open, you know, vice versa.

Many homeowners are upset and have even called to complain to both agencies, but nothing has been resolved.

If there was a big emergency, how are we going to get out? said Los Gatos resident, Jennifer Whitaker.

A Caltrans spokesman said the agency will reevaluate the situation on Monday, emphasizing their concern for residents.

NBC Bay Area reached out to Santa Clara County and did not receive a response.


A trendy Asian beverage is getting a local twist in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Emil DeFrancesco opened Steap Tea Bar in January, but he started it as a pop-up venture nearly four years ago. Back then, he sold drinks in front of nearby Tony's Pizza Napoletana in North Beach thanks to the good graces of owner Tony Gemignani.

Now DeFrancesco has an opportunity to pay homage to Gemignani with Tony's Tea, a new drink he's launching in the shop on Saturday. It's a variation on cheese tea, which has roots in Taiwan and China and is currently proliferating in the Bay Area thanks to chains like Happy Lemon.

Don't picture Velveeta, cautions DeFrancesco  cheese tea is really more like a savory whipped cream, often blended with salt and powdered cream cheese. DeFrancesco's version uses Gemignani's imported Italian sweet mascarpone cheese blended with sea salt for a rich and fluffy topping on his Meyer lemon-green tea. As you sip, you can control the amount of tea and topping you ingest, or blend it all together for something akin to a tea shake.

Gemignani will provide 100 free slices of pizza to the first customers at Steap on Saturday who order Tony's Tea starting at noon.

DeFrancesco took inspiration from cocktail bars for Steap, and he displays his high-quality ingredients in front of his customers.

"I love mixing drinks for people of all ages," he said.
Layoffs are reportedly coming to General Electric as the company continues to move forward with building their new Boston headquarters.

According to the Boston Herald, GE said the layoffs are expected to be limited; however, GE would not give exact figures.

Their new headquarters, which will be located in the citys Fort Point neighborhood, has an estimated price tag of $200 million and was intended to house 800 employees.

Mayor Marty Walsh told the Boston Herald he was not informed of the move.

GEs deal to move the headquarters from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Boston came with $25 million in tax breaks connected to how many employees were hired.

The company plans to have a portion of the new complex open by 2018.
The city of Boston will be celebrating those who have served our country for Veterans Day this weekend.

At Castle Island, the Disabled American Veterans is hosting a 5K to raise awareness for veterans issues and programs. The race took off around 9 a.m. Saturday.

Thousands came out to say thank you to the men and women who have risked their lives for our freedom.

Runners are bundled from head to toe. It's hats, glvoes, and layers like you wouldn't believe to battle a 5K through the 20-degree weather.

Sonia Carrasquillo is a proud mom of a veteran. She's proud of the sacrifice her son has given to her and all Americans.

Carlos, Sonia's son, is modest about his service to the country but now he says he has a new duty.

"I just felt like I needed to partake in and donate to those who need it," he said. "I am walking. There are other veterans who aren't walking, you know?"

The Disabled American Veterans 5K takes place in six different cities across the nation, honoring veterans, and most importanly, raising awareness and money to take care of our very own.

Dan Stack, veteran and organizer, said the advocacy goes into legislation for veterans and the healthcare they need.

"We work in every VA medical center to help transport veterans to and from their wellness care," Stack said.

Carlos said a fierce sting of cold is nothing at all if it means he can support those who have supported him.

"I want to at least help out my fellow brothers."

If you didn't know about the race, you can click here to visit the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts website and be a virtual runner. You can make a donation or find ways to volunteer.

If 5Ks aren't for you, there are a lot of other events going on Saturday, too. There's a little something for everyone who is looking to celebrate our veterans.

Here are a few events that you can join in on as a way to say "thank you" to the brave men and women who have risked their lives for our freedom.

The Boston Veterans Day Parade is a staple for many in and around the city. The parade goes around the Boston Common and ends at City Hall Plaza. It starts at 1 p.m. at Boylston Street and Tremont, and ends at Boston Common.

The Veterans For Peace Parade begins just a few minutes after the First Veterans Day Parade and follows the same route. Those walking in the second parade are part of a group that was founded in 1985 that strive to increase awareness about societys role in wars, and the price they have to pay. It also starts at 1 p.m. at Boylston Street and Tremont Street, and ends at Boston Common.

The Annual Veterans Day Appreciation Dinner is held at the Fire Department headquarters in Natick each year. The event is sponsored by the Natick Veterans Council, Firefighters Local 1707, and local businesses. Although you need to RSVP, the event is free to local veterans and their families, as well as the families of active-duty service members. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Natick Fire Department Headquarters, at 22 East Central Street Natick, Massachusetts.

Veterans wishing to spend their day with their families at the Franklin Park Zoo will be offered free admission on Veterans Day. This goes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Franklin Park Zoo at 1 Franklin Park Road in Boston.

Although volunteers are needed and appreciated every single day, some people find time on Veterans Day to get down to the New England Center for Homeless Veterans and help serve meals. The New England Center for Homeless Veterans is located at 17 Court Street in Boston. Click here for more information.
The founder and CEO of Chobani has no regrets about moving his Greek yogurt company to south-central Idaho, a region embroiled in the national debate over refugee resettlement that spread to company boycotts by far-right bloggers and conspiracy theorists.

"I hear the conversations here and there, but it's a peaceful community that we all love," said Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant. "It's the home of Chobani."

Ulukaya spoke to The Associated Press before a Thursday announcement of a $20 million expansion of the company's facility in the city of Twin Falls  the world's largest yogurt plant  to serve as its global research and development center tackling how yogurt is made and consumed.

It's a project Ulukaya says he's been planning for several years. As to what innovations the company plans for the 70,000-square-foot facility, Ulukaya isn't sharing yet. He said the focus will be on offering natural and non-synthetic products.

The project follows a series of expansion efforts by Chobani since opening its Idaho plant in 2012. The $450 million, 1 million-square-foot plant is the company's second after Ulukaya started Chobani in New York. The company employs 2,000 workers, including 300 refugees.

However, Chobani's time in Idaho also has taken a darker turn as anti-immigrant advocates have seized on the company's open stance on refugees. Fringe websites have falsely claimed that Ulukaya wanted to "drown the United States in Muslims." Other websites, like Breitbart News, falsely attempted to link Chobani's hiring of refugees to an uptick in tuberculosis cases in Idaho.

To counteract the hateful rhetoric, Chobani sued right-wing radio host Alex Jones earlier this year, saying that Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories linking Ulukaya and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children in Twin Falls. Jones originally promised to never back down in his fight against the yogurt giant but eventually retracted his statements in a settlement.

Ulukaya declined to comment on the Jones lawsuit but said the rise in anti-refugee sentiment has never delayed a project he wanted to pursue. And he says he is committed to being a welcoming company.

"Don't leave anyone out," he said. "At Chobani, we believe in second chances."

During Thursday's expansion launch, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter praised Chobani's impact on the community.

"This new investment in Twin Falls reflects Chobani's commitment to Idaho and to the people who have responded so positively to its corporate citizenship," Otter said in a prepared statement. "Congratulations to all those who are contributing to Chobani's growth, just as Chobani is contributing to ours."

Strong economic growth in south-central Idaho  an agriculture-dominant area dubbed the Magic Valley  led Ulukaya to describe the region as the "Silicon Valley of food," pointing to the wide range of food manufacturing plants that have invested in food science since Chobani moved to the state.

"It's an ecosystem generated for food making," he said. "There's now a general knowledge around food science that wasn't there 10 years ago."

The boon extends to Chobani's Idaho workers, who earn an average of $15 an hour, more than twice the minimum wage of $7.25.

The company's new facility will be open for employees to enjoy, featuring sweeping windows to overlook the rural farm landscape and Sawtooth Mountains, complete with an exercise room, kitchen and visitors center.
Two men were killed and at least 14 other people were wounded in weekend shootings across Chicago.

The two fatalities occurred in the same shooting, which took place in the 2400 block of West 47th Place in the citys Brighton Park neighborhood early Sunday.

Around 1:55 a.m., the two men, both 29 years old, were walking on the sidewalk when a gray Toyota Corolla traveling eastbound pulled up and an unknown man armed with a gun got out and opened fire in their direction before getting back in the car and fleeing eastbound toward Western Avenue, according to Chicago police.

One of the victims was shot in the chest and the other was struck in the head and neck, authorities said. Both were pronounced dead on the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiners confirmed the fatalities but did not release any further details, including their identities.

The weekend's most recent shooting occurred just before 6 p.m. in the 5200 block of North Washtenaw. A 24-year-old man was shot in the leg and was taken to Swedish Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition according to police.

The rest of the weekends shootings occurred as follows:

Friday:

A 20-year-old man was shot in the leg while standing outside in the 4200 block of West Cermak Road at approximately 7:07 p.m, police said. An unknown offender walked up to him and opened fire, officials said, striking him in the leg. He was taken to Mt. Sinai hospital in good condition.

At around 8 p.m., two men were injured in a shooting in the 4100 block of West Division Street, according to police. The men were involved in a dispute with two other unknown males when shots were exchanged, police said. A 24-year-old man was shot in the left hand and taken to Norwegian Hospital in good condition, while a 26-year-old man was shot in the left wrist and listed in good condition at Stroger. A weapon was recovered from the scene, authorities said, and charges were pending.

At around 8:40 p.m., a 27-year-old man was walking on the sidewalk in the 800 block of North Homan Avenue when authorities said two men walked up to him and opened fire. He was taken to Mt. Sinai in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his right arm, according to police.

A 19-year-old man sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his groin, according to police. The incident occurred in the 4500 block of South St. Louis Avenue at approximately 9:20 p.m., and he was listed in stable condition at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

A 23-year-old man was walking in the 7300 block of South Damen at approximately 10:40 p.m. when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He was shot in the left arm, officials said, and taken to Holy Cross Hospital in stable condition. He was later transferred to Mt. Sinai, according to police, who said he has not cooperated with the investigation.

Saturday:

Police conducting a well-being check in the 200 block of West 37th Street at approximately 1:49 a.m. found a 34-year-old man inside a bedroom with gunshot wounds to the legs. He was taken to Stroger in stable condition, authorities said.

Officers responding to a call of a person shot in the 800 block of North Waller Avenue just after 2 a,m. found a 41-year-old man inside an apartment with a gunshot wound to the left thigh, according to police. The man was taken to Stroger in critical condition.

At around 2:45 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Van Buren, a 25-year-old man was shot in the head during a narcotics related transaction, police said. He was taken to Mt. Sinai in critical condition.

Around 7:45 p.m., an 18-year-old man was shot inside a residence in the 7100 block of South Cyril Avenue, according to police. Authorities said an unknown offender inside the home produced a weapon and opened fire, striking the victim in the right shoulder. He was taken to Northwestern Hospital in good condition, officials said.

Authorities said a 22-year-old man was shot during an argument in the 1200 block of South Fairfield Avenue at around 10:17 p.m. The victim was involved in an altercation with a male offender who took out a gun and shot him, police said. He was taken to Mt. Sinai in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the left leg.

Sunday:

At around 3:30 a.m., a 40-year-old man told police he was driving southbound in the 3200 block of North Lake Shore Drive when another car pulled alongside his and someone inside fired shots in his direction. He took himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was listed in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the right arm, authorities said.

Minutes later at 3:45 a.m., a 34-year-old man was shot in the 3900 block of North Lake Shore Drive, officials said. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in stable condition, according to police, who said he was not cooperating with the responding officers who found him.

Unless otherwise noted, no one is in custody in connection with any of these incidents and authorities continue to investigate.
Darien resident Robert Carley has traveled the country documenting American flag tributes. This year, he decided to take on one of his own.

Carley has traveled to 47 states since September 11, 2001 photographing all types of tributes to the flag. He said it all started when he was inspired by tributes he saw in his own community at a time when that tragedy brought the country together.

"People couldnt buy fabric flags  they sold out - so people turned to their own creativity," Carley said.

He started finding the tributes through word of mouth in his local community, and slowly spread his efforts until he was driving across the country. Carley estimates that he has taken over 50,000 photographs at various locations over the years. He organizes them by category and when he displays the collection he keeps it around 7,000 photographs.

Some of his favorite tributes are what he calls flag houses  homes that have been painted over to create a large American flag display. One of his favorite displays is a home in Kent, Conn. that he photographed early into the project. The homeowner had painted the entire front of the house as an American flag. It has since been painted over, but the photographs remain.

"I see these average people creating amazing art through patriotism," Carley told NBC Connecticut.

Carley, an artist himself, believes the American flag is an incredible piece of art because it is so recognizable and that gives people the ability to interpret it through all types of mediums.

Robert Carley

He told NBC Connecticut his concerns about the current political climate spurred him to find a way to show his own patriotism by creating his own display to show support for our veterans.

"Im a patriotic person and I see what these veterans have done losing limbs and losing their lives for their freedom. I want to bring attention in my own little way in thanking the veterans for their huge sacrifice," Carley said.

So he set to work, working with friend Paul Zajkowski for weeks and weeks collecting and painting water bottles for a display at Baker Field in Darien, Conn. The entire display, which creates two American flags along a chain-link fence, is made of water bottles, spray paint, and duct tape.

Carley said he thinks flag art is a show of patriotism that can bring people together in a time when the political climate is tense and divided.

"I think we live in the greatest country in the world. When you travel outside the US you appreciate it more," Carley said.

Carley hopes to continue collecting water bottles and expand the display at Baker Field to a third flag.

A sampling of Carleys photographs is on display at The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore, Maryland. For more information, click here.
A blown transformer is causing a power outage to one section of the main Quinnipiac University campus in Hamden.

A spokesman for the school said the issue began Friday night and affected three residence halls where several hundred students are housed. Students without power were asked to stay with friends who had power, take a bed in a room that is unassigned, or take a bed in a rec center that was set up as a temporary shelter as crews worked to correct the issue.

As of Saturday morning, two halls had been restored but the third remains without power.

There is no estimate on when power will be fully restored.

No other information was immediately available.
The largest job fair ever in Dallas County on Thursday will feature 180 companies offering jobs to as many as 10,000 people.

It'll take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Gilley's on Lamar Street south of downtown.

"Whether you're looking for a blue-collar job, a white-collar job, a full-time job, a part-time job, a seasonal job, we've got a job for you," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who is helping organize the event.

He said the focus will be on jobs that pay a competitive salary.

Ivory Peace, a single mother of three in Dallas, said she plans to attend. She lost her job as a hospital housekeeper about six weeks ago.

"I'm learning to be patient," she said. "When you be patient, better things happen for you."

Peace said she would like to be a bailiff but will take about any job to support her children.

The last job fair two weeks ago was the biggest in Dallas County before this one. It helped 4,000 people find jobs.

The Texas Workforce Commission will offer two other job fairs on Thursday  at Globe-Life Park in Arlington from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and at the Allen Event Center from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Dallas police are investigating a deadly fiery crash early Saturday morning.

It happened in the 9100 block of Garland Road in front of Lake Pointe Church White Rock at around 3 a.m.

Police say a man was speeding when he crashed his white Ford sedan into a light pole in the median.

The vehicle caught fire.

A good Samaritan ran to the scene and pulled the driver out of the fiery wreckage.

Unfortunately, the driver died a short time later
It took courage, fearlessness and heroism to battle the deadly Napa fires and the La Tuna fire, but those are the exact qualities many brave individuals possessed and put to use in order to protect hundreds of people.

Los Angeles Fire Captain Dario Reyes from Station 98 in Pacoima was one of the thousand firefighters who battled one of the largest fires in Los Angeles history.

"Everything pretty much came through here and took out everything in its way," he said.

As destructive as the La Tuna fire was, devastating a total of 5,800 acres, firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from reaching residential areas.

"We were able to save all the houses here," Reyes said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department defends homes and lives not only in the community, but wherever help is needed.

Batallion Chief Albert Ward said firefighters are trained to be ready for all kinds of situations.

"When the bell goes off, you dont know how big or how long youre going to be there," Ward said. "And you are climbing hills with lots of hose backs on your back you just keep going until the work is done."

Which was exactly the case when they were alerted of the Napa fire. The team immediately hit the road and went to work within 30 minutes of arriving to the Grapevine after a seven-hour ride.

"We went right to a winery and we started protecting that structure," Justin Horwedel said.

Without much sleep or breaks, thousands of firefighters relentlessly battled the harsh blaze of Napa.

Probationary firefighter Alexander Hermann had been working with the department for just three weeks when he joined to fight the Napa fire, where he earned a lifetime of experience.

"Everybody was waving, honking, shaking our hands when they could,"Hermann said, "It was pretty overwhelming with the amount of gratitude they had for us."
Jada Page was killed in northwest Miami-Dade by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting last year, detectives say. Though the investigation into her death remains open, her life has inspired an 11-year-old boy from Georgia to write a song in hopes to end such violence.

Eight-year-old Jada was shot in the back of the head while playing outside of her northwest Miami-Dade home late August 2016. Her father was also shot that day and survived, but she died two days later in the hospital.

Dashawn "D-Fresh" Calhoun lives in the Atlanta area. When the news of Jada's death reached him, he was inspired to write lyrics with a powerful message  one he has performed in schools.

Dashawn's song has also been featured on the radio.

"I'm tired of seeing people dying. It hurts my heart to see people dying especially at a young age," Dashawn poetically says. "Teach each other, supposed to help each other. Most kids don't got no mothers, Blacks trying to kill white. Whites trying to kill black. Blacks trying to kill black. Aint no time to fight, based on our life we need to do what right."

Dashawn's mother is proud. She believes her son's message can have a significant impact.

"As adults, we can say it all day, but it's different when it comes from your peers," Deshune' Heard-Watkins said.

Anyone with information on Jada's death is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
Three people were arrested on firearm and drug charges as police investigated reports of a plot to kill a New Jersey police officer.

Asbury Park police say the probe began following a report that a local Bloods gang member had told several people "he was plotting to kill an Asbury Park police officer."



Police and Monmouth County and Neptune Township officials searched an Asbury Park home early Friday. They say they arrested two men and a woman on charges of possession of a defaced firearm, unlawful possession of weapons, and drug possession. The woman was also arrested on two child endangerment counts.

Police say the alleged gang member, 28-year-old Salik Hinton, had an active warrant for his arrest.



After the search in Asbury Park and another search in Neptune, police reported finding weapons, drugs, including cocaine and prescription pills, and thousands of dollars in cash. They say they also found an $800 Cannondale bicycle bought "from a drug addict on the streets for $5."

Top Tri-State News Photos
More than 5,000 cancer diagnoses have been linked to the toxic debris left behind after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack -- and at least a dozen former students at lower Manhattan high schools say they are among those affected.

The students at several schools around ground zero said they are now filing claims with the federal government to receive assistance from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund after being diagnosed with a bevy of cancers and other illnesses uncommon in most young people in the 16 years since the attack.

One of those former students is Michele Lent Hirsch, who went to the elite Stuyvesant High School less than a half mile from the Twin Towers. She was a senior on the day of the attack and still recalls the "acrid, chemical smell" of lower Manhattan when she went back to school in the weeks following the attack.

And within the next decade, she would develop thyroid cancer -- one of the cancers covered under the Victim's Compensation Fund, according to the New York Post, which first reported on the students.

"I was only 25 when I was diagnosed," she said.

Hirsch, now 32, went through treatment and is in remission. But she said that she'll need to take daily medication for the rest of her life. She said she and the others filing claims want to raise awareness for other former students who may not even know why they are now sick.

"There are federal programs and they're not just for first responders," she said.

Michael Barasch, an attorney representing Hirsch and the other former students and teachers, told the Post that doctors called the diagnoses a "cancer cluster."

A 28-year-old girl should have not breast cancer. A 29-year-old boy should not have colon cancer or bladder cancer," he told the newspaper.



New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said the city Department of Education is "monitoring the response people are getting."

"We're investigating this," she said.
A Michigan man is facing stalking and harassment charges for stalking a Main Line teen who is popular on social media, police said.



Michael Leib, 30, showed up at the teen's Radnor Township, Pennsylvania home for the first time a couple weeks ago, then again this week, police said.

Family members of the teen, who is well-known on YouTube and Instagram, received threatening messages from Leib saying, "I am going to take your son," police said.



When the man showed up at the Radnor home, family called police, but Leib got away.

This week, detectives took control of the teen's accounts to lure Leib back to the home where he was arrested.



Leib was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor stalking and harassment charges. He was arraigned and released after posting 10 percent of $20,000 bail. Attorney information was not listed on court documents.



Police warn parents to be diligent about checking their children's social media accounts for any red flags.
New Jersey Transit rail riders could face delays because of Amtrak signal repairs over the weekend.

Passengers on NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New York Penn Station and North Jersey Coast Line trains may experience delays of up to 60 minutes from 9 p.m. Friday until the end of service on Sunday because trains must operate at slower speeds as Amtrak crews work on signals near Newark Penn Station.

Raritan Valley Line passengers must take buses from 9 p.m. Friday through the end of the service day between Cranford and Newark Penn Station. Buses also will operate on Saturday and Sunday between Union and Newark Penn Station.

Passengers traveling to Rangers, Knicks and Devils games along with the Dead & Company concert are advised to allow extra time.

NJ Transit says Amtrak will be finished for morning rush on Monday.
The United States and Russia are nearing an agreement on Syria for how they hope to resolve the Arab country's civil war once the Islamic State group is defeated, officials said Thursday.

If clinched, the deal was expected to be announced by President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vietnam on Friday, four U.S. officials said. The United States has been reluctant to schedule a formal meeting for the leaders unless they have a substantive agreement to announce.

But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday that they won't hold a formal meeting due to scheduling conflicts on "both sides." Still, Sanders said it was possible Trump and Putin could have a less formal encounter while in Vietnam.

The potential understanding comes as an array of forces are near a final defeat of ISIS, the extremist group that once controlled vast stretches of both Iraq and Syria. Fighting the group is no longer top priority, shifting the focus back to Syria's intractable conflict between President Bashar Assad's government and rebels  and to concerns that foreign powers such as Iran will now dominate the country's future.

The U.S.-Russian agreement being discussed would focus on three elements, officials said: "deconfliction" between the U.S. and Russian militaries, reducing violence in the civil war and reinvigorating U.N.-led peace talks. The officials weren't authorized to discuss the deliberations and requested anonymity.

The U.S. and Russian militaries have maintained a "deconfliction" hotline for years to avoid unintended collisions and even potential confrontations as they each operate in Syria's crowded skies. A heavy air campaign by Russia has been credited with shoring up the position of Assad, a close ally of Moscow.

With ISIS nearing defeat, the U.S. and Russia are losing their common enemy in Syria and will remain in a proxy battle in which Russia backs Assad and the U.S. lends at least rhetorical support to armed opposition groups fighting the government. That has increased the need for close communication between the two powers about where their forces are operating at any given time, officials said.

The agreement also seeks to build on progress in establishing "de-escalation zones" in Syria that have calmed some parts of the country. In July, when Trump held his first meeting with Putin in Germany, the U.S. and Russia announced a deal that included Jordan and established a cease-fire in southwest Syria. The United States has said that cease-fire has largely held and could be replicated elsewhere in the country.

A key U.S. concern, shared by close ally Israel, is the presence of Iranian-backed militias in Syria that have exploited the vacuum of power. The United States and Israel have been seeking ways to prevent forces loyal to Iran  Israel's archenemy  from establishing a permanent presence. One idea hinges on a "buffer zone" along Israel's border with Syria.

A third element of the deal would reaffirm support for the United Nations effort being run out of Geneva to seek a political transition in Syria and resolve the civil war. The United States and Russia have been at odds for years over whether Assad could be allowed to remain in power in a future Syrian government.

The U.N. talks, which have come in fits and starts without yielding significant progress, aren't the only discussions about Syria's future. Russia, Turkey and Iran have been brokering their own process in Astana, Kazakhstan. The U.S. views those talks warily because of Iran's involvement, though they've led to local cease-fire deals that have reduced violence, too.

"We believe that the Geneva process is the right way to go," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday. "Unfortunately, it is a long way off, but we're getting a little bit closer."

The U.S.-Russia deal may also seek to expand the mandate of a joint "monitoring center" established this year in Amman, Jordan, to watch for cease-fire violations and other developments on the ground. It has focused on southwest Syria, where the cease-fire is in place, but could be used to monitor broader stretches of the country.

Although Moscow has sought a formal meeting between Trump and Putin while both are in Vietnam this week, the U.S. hasn't committed to such a meeting. Washington's concern is that it would not serve U.S. interests unless there's progress between the countries to announce  on Syria or something else. Putin's aides have said a meeting will likely occur Friday and that the time, place and format are being worked out between the governments.

"We have been in contact with them, and the view has been if the two leaders are going to meet, is there something sufficiently substantive to talk about that would warrant a formal meeting?" Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday in Beijing.
A defiant Roy Moore on Saturday insisted the allegations of sexual misconduct decades ago were false and voters in Alabama would "see through this charade."

The Republican Senate candidate showed no signs of backing down despite the demand of a growing number of Washington Republicans for him to step aside.

Moore made his first public appearance on Saturday since The Washington Post on Thursday published interviews with four women who said Moore had tried to have sexual or romantic relationships with them decades ago - when they were teenagers and Moore was in his 30s and an established attorney.

A wave of national Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, called for Moore to drop out of the race if the allegations are true. Trump, who is in Asia and said he was too busy to keep up with the news about Moore, referred to a prior statement given to reporters that said Trump believes Moore will "do the right thing..." if the allegations are true.

That did not sit well with some Moore supporters.

"I'm really upset at my own party for condemning him so quickly," said Tom Byars, who came to hear Moore speak at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club at a library in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Saturday. "Even with the president, you know, he had some trouble, too, and he's turned around and tried to condemn Roy Moore to step down?"

Moore's speech in Vestavia Hills on Saturday was his first public appearance since the report, although he had also denied the story Friday to conservative radio host Sean Hannity. Moore used the occasion to accuse the Post of engaging in a "desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for United States Senate."

The staunch GOP audience - which included state Supreme Court Justice Glenn Murdock and members of Alabama's Republican National Committee - gave Moore a standing ovation when he finished speaking.

Moore denied claims in the story that he had provided beer and wine to women too young to buy it themselves, or that he'd had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.

"I have not provided alcoholic beverages, beer or anything else, to a minor," Moore said. "I have not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone."

Moore also said it was "strange" that women would wait 40 years to make such accusations shortly before a general election. Moore is running against Democrat Doug Jones to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

"That's not a coincidence. It's an intentional act to stop the campaign," Moore said.

But a lawyer for one of the women quoted in the Post report said the women whom Moore victimized were young teenagers while he was a powerful prosecutor.

"They likely feared that he would publicly persecute them ... precisely as he has done this week," Attorney Paula Cobia said in an email to The Associated Press.

Jones, speaking at an event Saturday in Tuscaloosa, said Moore needed to do more to address the allegations. "These are very serious allegations that he needs to significantly try to address," Jones said, according to the Tuscaloosa News reported.

Before Moore's speech, his opponents gathered outside the library, carrying signs and chanting anti-Moore slogans.

A group consisting mostly of women gathered to oppose Moore. Cheryl Knowles, a Vestavia Hills Democrat, held up a sign that said "#NoMoore" outside the library where Moore spoke.

"Please tell the people of America that some of us are so embarrassed," said Knowles.

Moore also said there would be new "revelations" in connection with the newspaper report that brought allegations of sexual misconduct to light.

"In the next few days there will be revelations about the motivations and the content of this article that will be brought to the public," he said. "We fully expect the people of Alabama to see through this charade."

A spokesman for Moore declined to provide further information about what information those revelations might contain.

In the hours following the Post report Thursday, some Republicans speculated that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey would delay the Dec. 12 special election.

However, Ivey spokesman Josh Pendergrass said Saturday that Ivey "is not considering and has no plans to move the special election for U.S. Senate."
During Veterans Day, some who served recall secret missions into Cambodia, bloodshed and destruction.

That is just some of the horrific and confidential experiences certain veterans of the Vietnam War endured. The military told them they were not allowed to discuss it with anyone.

Author Eric Blehm of Cardiff is sharing those stories for the first time in his book, Legends.

"What better way to honor these guys than to tell their stories?" Blehm said on Veterans Day. "A lot of them just haven't spoken about it."

Like Alan Yurman, a army veteran helicopter pilot, sworn to secrecy by the military for decades.

"The Green Berets were going into Cambodia because there were reports the Russians were supplying the North Vietnamese with trucks," said Yurman in Del Mar. "We weren't supposed to be there, so we had to keep it a secret. I didn't talk about it for 45 years."

Yurman recalls a time when he was injured during combat.

"We started taking rounds through the glass on the bottom of the helicopter. The plexiglass broke. I heard the bullet go whizzing by my head. A piece of plexiglass went into my thigh," said Yurman. "On the way back, I pulled the plexiglass out."

Yurman received a Purple Heart for his service.

"There's a stigma about Vietnam veterans that all of them are broken, and they're not," said Blehm. "For many years, they couldn't go out publically. They're proud of their service. They're proud to be Vietnam veterans."

If you would like to honor veterans, please come to our NBC 7 Salute to Service event Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Midway in San Diego.
Loved ones filed into a church in San Diegos Del Cerro community Friday to say goodbye to a retired Army captain missing since September, believed to be dead.

A memorial was held at St. Therese Parish for Julia Jacobson, 37. Jacobson was last seen on Sept. 2 inside her company car at the corporate offices of 7-Eleven on Aero Drive in Kearny Mesa.

That night, at around 9:30 p.m., she sent a text message to a friend saying she was traveling from Big Bear, California, to Palm Springs, California, with another friend, according to investigators with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). Julias actual location when that message was sent is unknown.

Hours later, a store surveillance camera captured Jacobson in Ontario, California, about 120 miles north of San Diego County. She was accompanied by her dog Boogie, police said.

On Sept. 7, Jacobson's car was found on Monroe Avenue east of Texas Street in San Diego's University Heights area. This location was about a half-mile away from Jacobson's home. Her family told NBC 7 the car was found with its windows rolled down, at different levels, and the keys still in the ignition. Jacobsons black purse was found inside, unzipped and with hardly anything in it.

Evidence found in the car led detectives to believe she may have been killed. Police did not release details about what led to their suspicions.

On Oct. 16, homicide investigators confirmed they had arrested Dalen Larry Ware, 39, Jacobson's ex-husband, in Laveen, Arizona, in connection with her disappearance and death. At his Nov. 6 arraignment, Ware pleaded not guilty to one charge of murder.

To this day, Jacobson's body has not been found and details surrounding her disappearance and death have been limited. Her case is being handled by both the SDPD and the Ontario Police Department.

Gathered in that church Friday, Jacobson's loved ones, including her older brother, Jon Jacobson, sought answers and justice.

"I know justice is going to play its course," Jon Jacobson said.

He fondly remembered his little sister, including the day she was born and how he, then 8 years old, patiently waited to meet her in the hospital. He praised her military career and dedication to serving her country. Jacobson was a veteran of both the Bosnian and Iraqi wars.

Jon Jacobson said he's grateful for the time they shared together.

"I guess the best thing to say is that Im happier that I knew her than Im sad that I miss her," he said, holding back tears.

Jacobson's friend, Christine Brosius, served in the military with her in both Germany and Iraq. She said Jacobson will be sorely missed by many.

"This day is very disheartening for many different reasons. She was a great boss to us all," said Brosius. "She was a very positive person, very protective of her soldiers, very protective of her family. (She was) just a good all-around person."

Brosius also said justice for Jacobson must come, some way.

"I want whoever did this to her to pay. I believe God has her back, and they say angels rise. And shes going to rise and I hope karma gets to whoever did this to her," she added.

Jacobson's family is planning another service for her in her hometown of Bismarck, North Dakota, early next month.

Meanwhile, according to jail booking records, Ware is being held on a bail of $1 million at the Adelanto Detention Center in San Bernardino County. His next court appearance is set for Jan. 22, 2018.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on Jacobson's case can call the Ontario Police Department at (909) 986-6711, Detective Ruben Espinoza at (909) 395-2894 or Detective Brant Devey at (909) 395-2715.
A San Diego-based organization is hoping to help deployed U.S. service members read millions of stories to their children back at home this year.

United Through Reading offers military men and women the opportunity to be video-recorded  wherever they are in the world  reading books to their children. The idea is to create emotional connections between deployed parents and their children, encourage early literacy and make homecomings easier.

Marine Corp. Major Zach Embers recently deployed for the first time since having children. He could only Skype half-a-dozen times during the seven month deployment. United Through Reading helped him record numerous books for his children.

"When they really missed daddy or when they were really thinking about it sometimes we'd watch it on repeat. We'd just have it on in the background," Zach's wife, Emily Embers said.

The couple has three children: Johnny, Gilbert and Sarah.

"One night, Sarah was two and she was having a hard night and it was obvious she was missing her dad," Mrs. Embers told NBC 7, "and so I took her donwstairs and put the video on and she actually feel asleep on the couch watching him read to her."

The charity estimates 40 million bedtime stories are missed every year while parents are deployed, based on statistics from the Department of Defense.

"You hear these stories over and over again and you understand the impact it's having on them and impact in literacy and stress reducers and the anxiety reducers and reintergration of family," said Sally Ann Zoll, the Chief Executive Officer of United Through Reading.

Zoll's Army reservist son recorded five books for his son, when he got just 72-hours notice he had to deploy to Iraq. At her son's homecoming, Zoll said her smiling grandson ran straight into his dad's arms.

"Our grandson knew his dad because his dad had been reading him 'Green Eggs and Ham' every day for 14 months," Zoll told NBC 7.

United Through Reading was founded in San Diego in 1989 by the wife of a Naval flight surgeon, deployed when their daughter was a baby. The wife happened to be a reading specialist with a master's degree in education. She combined the two experiences to come up with the idea for the nonprofit.

The organization began with a Navy focus, but has recently been expanding its outreach to all military members.

Last year, 500 volunteers helped service members at more than 260 recording locations around the world. More than 23,000 recorded stories crossed oceans and time zones from Air Force, National Guard, Army, Coast Guard, Navy and Marine bases. Stories were even recorded on USNS Mercy, in Bahrain and in eight major airports.

United Through Reading has a goal of helping deployed service members read 10 million stories this year.

For information about how to participate, volunteer or donate, click here.


A member of the Coast Guard from Gloucester County, New Jersey, died in a wrong-way wreck in Virginia Beach -- and police have charged a reality TV star with DWI in the crash.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Dill died after the car he was driving was struck head-on around 2 a.m. on Nov. 4, according to Virginia State Police. He had been driving eastbound on I-264; the car that struck him was traveling westbound in the same lane.

Dill died of his injuries the next day at a nearby hospital. Melissa Hancock, who appeared on Lifetimes "Little Women: Atlanta," was charged with driving while intoxicated/maiming and driving the wrong way.

VSP, Lifetime

More charges are possible, state police said.

It was unclear if Hancock had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.

"It satisfies nothing in me to talk to her or about her," said Dill's father, Chris. "I am just disgusted that her poor decision cost my son, who was making all the right decisions, his life. It's just so unfair."

Dill, 29, was going to pick up his wife when he was struck. His wife had been out celebrating, and Dill wanted to get her home safely.



Dill was a Logan Township, New Jersey, native who was stationed at the Command, Control and Communications Engineering Center at Base Portsmouth.

His two brothers also served in the Coast Guard; Dill had just returned from a mission to help rebuild Puerto Rico.

Dill will be buried with military honors on Saturday.
Three days after Election Day, some campaign headquarters remain staffed with volunteers, including the race for the House of Delegates in Stafford County, where there are claims some voters voices are being silenced.

Republican Bob Thomas leads Democrat Joshua Cole by just 84 votes in Virginias 28th House District.

The House is split, with 49 Democrats and 51 Republicans, but three races are too close to call. Just one turning blue would create a 50/50 split, with Democrat Lt. Gov.-elect Justin Fairfax holding the tiebreaking vote.

Cole said he believes his race could be the one to create that split if the Stafford County registrar agrees to count certain ballots.

We dont know who those votes are for, but its the fact of the matter that citizens voices are being muffled, and we shouldnt have that, he said.

Democrats in Stafford County say 55 military absentee ballots arent being counted but should. Then theres an unknown number of provisional ballots. Democrats say the registrar hasnt told them that exact number and they want to know it. Some also claim another 1,100 absentee ballots that arent being counted.

Democrats say the military absentee ballots and the provisional ballots could determine the outcome of the election.

If they were legally there on time, then I would want them to be counted, just like everybody would, Thomas said.

Thomas believes the registrar is abiding by the rules.

The registrar didnt respond to an email request for an interview.

The people that will ultimately make that decision are the electoral board, not just the registrar, Thomas said. He works for them. Those three people will ultimately have the decision to finalize the numbers, and its two Democrats and a Republican. And I trust their judgment.

Cole said hes prepared for any outcome.

Whether we win or we dont win, Im feeling good, he said. Im not going anywhere. Im preparing for 2018 already, to prepare to fight again. We, the Democrats showed their voice. We understand that this district is not as red as they thought.
A Maryland State Police trooper was injured when his cruiser was struck by an alleged drunken driver early Saturday morning on the Capital Beltway.

Police said Trooper First Class Angel Ortiz was in his vehicle while parked behind a motorist who was changing a flat tire shortly after 1:30 a.m. Saturday. They said Ortiz had set out flares around the scene.

Investigators said a car driven by Maurice Gresham, 51, of Lanham, Maryland, struck Ortizs cruiser from behind. Gresham was arrested for DUI and taken to the Forestville Barracks.

Ortiz was transported to the University of Maryland Prince Georges Hospital Center, where he was being treated for his injuries. There were no other reported injuries.
A Maryland woman said a botched application of eyelash extensions left her vision blurry and cost her more than $1,700 in medical bills.

Monica Reid said she went to a salon in Crofton, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., five months ago to get eyelash extensions.

I just started a new job, she said. I was treating myself.

A beautician at Sky Nails & Spa painfully damaged her eyes and didnt have an emergency kit to treat her, Reid said.

You have to kind of tape part of your eyelids down, and when she took the tape off, I blinked, and the edges of my eyelashes were glued shut, she said.

She had to use her finger to pry her eyes open, she said.

I was afraid I was going to lose my sight, she said. I'm still pretty much traumatized by it.

She said she drove to a hospital, where doctors flushed out her eyes.

In an email to Reid, the salons insurance carrier, The Hartford, offered her $84.79 for out of pocket costs and $1,000 for pain and suffering.



An attorney representing the salon said hes reviewing the case and declined to comment. Theyre working with Reid and her attorney to resolve her concerns.

Reid warned other woman about the risks of getting eyelash extensions.

There should be some kind of notice to clients that this could lead to some type of dangers, she said.
Devin Patrick Kelley, the shooter who killed 26 people in a Texas church, was court-martialed in 2014 while in the Air Force for domestic assault after he beat and choked his wife and fractured his infant stepsons skull. He also sent threatening text messages to his mother-in-law, authorities said.

Hes not the first mass shooter with links to domestic violence.

The California man who killed four people and wounded 10 in a Tuesday shooting rampage in rural Northern California first killed his wife a day earlier and hid her body under the floor boards of their home, investigators said.



"The majority of mass shootings are domestic or family violence events, where a mass shooter shoots (or) targets his intimate partner and/or family members," April M. Zeoli, an associate professor at the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University, said by email.



In more than half of mass shootings between 2009 and 2016 the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family member, according to a report by Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization working to end gun violence. That 54 percent does not account for those who, like Kelley, had a history of domestic violence and went on to kill strangers. Sixteen percent of attackers in the mass shootings studied had previously been charged with domestic violence.

Federal law bans firearm possession by domestic violence offenders in two ways: prohibiting an individual who is under a restraining order for domestic violence, and prohibiting someone who has been convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence crime from purchasing or possessing firearms. But vaguely written laws, ineffective implementation and gaps such as private sales and the so-called "boyfriend loophole" often allow domestic abusers who shouldn't be allowed to possess guns to have them anyway.

The federal law regarding domestic restraining orders has significant holes in it, Daniel Webster, who has studied the topic with Zeoli and serves as director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore, told NBC.

"It does not include temporary or emergency orders, and honestly thats the most dangerous time for victims," Webster said. Furthermore, the law only applies to current restraining orders, most of which only last for one year. People often don't renew them.

"So you can have individuals who might have had several restraining orders for pretty serious acts of domestic violence, but all of those orders have expired," he said.

Then there is what is called "the boyfriend loophole," which means the law only applies if the victim and the perpetrator are married, formerly married, have lived together or have children together.

"In this day and age, the vast majority of domestic violence occurs in other kinds of contexts: dating partners, for example, and so this so-called boyfriend-girlfriend loophole is a very important gap in our federal laws," Webster said.

Another issue is that even when individuals are prohibited from buying or possessing a firearm, they can sometimes still keep a gun they already own.

"At the federal level and in many states  it sounds a little bit illogical, and it is they will say someone is prohibited from possessing a firearm if you meet one of those conditions. But they wont actually compel a person to hand over any gun that he possesses," Webster said.

Some states have passed their own laws to close loopholes in the federal laws, such as extending the definition of domestic violence to include dating partners.

Multiple studies have confirmed that state laws prohibiting those under domestic violence restraining orders from buying or possessing a gun is associated with lower homicide rates between domestic partners, Zeoli noted.

But these laws must be properly implemented and enforced to be effective, which Zeoli said is not always the case.

"In order to prevent purchase, the disqualifying record (whether a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction or domestic violence restraining order) must be in the background check system," she said. "If it isn't, the purchase will go forward. So, we clearly need to focus on implementation."

Kelley, the Texas church shooter, was able to buy a gun because the Air Force failed to enter his domestic violence conviction into a national database so that it would have showed up on a background check. When Kelly purchased the rifle he used to carry out Sunday's mass shooting, he checked the box indicating that he did not have a disqualifying criminal history, CNN reported.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that Kelley should not have been able to get a gun after being convicted of domestic abuse. More needs to be done to enforce the "laws on the books," Ryan said.

But even if an individual has a domestic violence conviction or a restraining order that would be revealed in a background check, he or she might still be able to purchase a gun.

Under federal law, licensed firearm dealers must conduct a background check to sell a gun. But private sales, including those on the internet and at gun shows, do not require this step. And while some states have legislation requiring background checks even in private sales, many do not.

"What this means, in practice, is that in many states, a person who can't pass a background check can buy a gun from a private seller without one," Zeoli said.

In more than one-third of mass shootings, the shooter was already prohibited from possessing firearms at the time of the shooting, according to Everytown.



In Webster and Zeoli's joint research on the nuances of policies that aim to keep guns out of the hands of domestic violence offenders, one of their main takeaways was that the way laws are written matters.

"Distinctions matter," Webster said. "We find in remarkably consistent ways that the broader and more robust the laws are to disarm domestic violence offenders, the greater effect we see in reductions in intimate partner homicide."

It is difficult to say whether keeping guns away from domestic violence offenders could reduce mass shootings, partly because up until recently mass shootings were much more rare events, Webster said.

But because even Republican-dominated states with many gun owners have been strengthening their laws regarding domestic violence offenders and firearm possession, he is somewhat optimistic that progress can be made in addressing the weaknesses in the current laws.

And depending on the strength of the laws, he guesses there will be an observable impact on mass shootings, he said.

While the nation is polarized on aspects of gun control such as bans on certain types of firearms and ammunition, it seems that people are more united about keeping guns away from domestic abusers.

Eighty-three percent of Americans support preventing sales of all firearms to people who have been convicted of violent misdemeanors, including domestic assaults, according to an internet survey of registered voters conducted by Morning Consult.

Most Americans  84 percent  also support criminal background checks for all gun purchases, according to recent polls.

Gun rights groups take the opposing view on many of these issues.

When Rhode Island moved to pass its own law making it harder for convicted domestic abusers to buy guns and requiring that they give up guns they already own, the National Rifle Association called it a "gun confiscation bill masquerading as 'domestic violence'" and called for action from its members to try to stop the bill. The bill passed in September.

"As we have repeatedly stated, domestic violence is an abhorrent crime, but this bill doesn't protect domestic violence victims," the NRAs Institute for Legislative Action wrote on its website. "Current federal and state laws are in place to make sure convicted violent abusers cannot possess firearms, and this bill is as dangerous as it is unnecessary."



Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, a gun rights organization based in Virginia, said in an email to NBC that gun control costs lives and that women benefit from owning firearms to protect themselves in domestic violence situations.

Still, studies have shown that having firearms in a household increases the risk of homicide and suicide for both women and men. A Harvard study found that of more than 300 cases of sexual assault reported in a data sample from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) from 2007 to 2011, none were stopped by the use of a firearm.



Pratt noted that violent felons give up their rights to bear arms. But "federal law disarms both men and women for misdemeanor offenses which means that couples who engage in shouting matches (where there is no actual violence) can suffer lifetime gun bans," he said.

The law, often called the Lautenberg Amendment after its sponsor, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, defines a misdemeanor domestic violence crime as involving the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim."

The 1996 amendment extended the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968 to include misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence as well as felony domestic violence convictions, which were already covered.

Gun Owners of America supports a repeal of the gun ban for all misdemeanor offenses, Pratt said.



Misdemeanor convictions on a background check only prohibit gun possession if the crime is punishable by imprisonment of more than two years, according to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System website.

Many misdemeanor crimes are punished only with monetary fines, and the maximum jail time for most misdemeanors is one year.
One man has been arrested after a head-on collision in New Hampshire.

The Hancock Police Department responded around 6:35 p.m. Friday to Route 202 in the area of Cavender Road for a serious motor vehicle collision.

One of the vechicles involved was a Toyota Corolla sedan. The 29-year-old driver, Joseph Mays, of Keene, suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon by Med-Flight.

He was later arrested at the hospital and charged with felony aggravated driving while under the influence.

The other vehicle involved in the accident was a Honda Fit hatchback. Merissa Aldrich, the 33-year-old driver from Peterborough, sustained life-threatening injuries in the collision and was also transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon by Med-Flight.

The passenger in Aldrich's car was a 3-year-old female child, who was in a safety seat secured in the backseat of the vehicle. The child was transported to Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough and then later transferred to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon with serious non-life threatening injuries.

According to the initial on-scene investigation, it appears that the Honda Fit driven by Aldrich was traveling westbound on Route 202 at the same time the Toyota Corolla driven by Mays was traveling eastbound on Route 202 when the Toyota Corolla crossed over into the westbound lane and struck the Honda Fit in a head-on crash.

At this time, it appears alcohol may have been a factor, but the accident remains under investigation.

Route 202 was closed for approximately four hours Friday night due to the accident.

The New Hampshire State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction, (C.A.R.) Unit responded to the scene and was assisted by members of the Hancock Police Department, the Hancock Fire and Rescue Department, the Greenfield Police Department and the Bennington Police Department.

Anyone that may have further information or who witnessed this collsion is asked to contact Trooper First Class Michael Pelletier at 603-223-8699.
An 89-year-old New Hampshire resident and veteran upset over speeding drivers is taking matters into his own hands.

Police say the unique approach is legal but they dont necessarily agree with it.

When something seems to be wrong in the world, Portsmouth resident Harold Whitehouse has never hesitated to step in.

"By the time I was 23, I was discharged and I was a veteran of two wars," he said Friday. "Imagine that?"

Whitehouse says hes continuing his service today  this time behind the wheel.

"The speed limit is 20 miles an hour, and Im doing 20 miles an hour," Whitehouse said.

He just got his license renewed and is not taking on speeding drivers in his hometown of Portsmouth.

"Unbelievable, everybody is in a hurry, I dont know where theyre all going,"he said.

Whitehouse has dubbed his 14-year-old Subaru Legacy the citys own "pace car" and even picked up his custom-made bumper stickers Friday afternoon.

"Theyre beautiful," he told the manager at Infinite Imagine in Portsmouth.

Whitehouse says he does exactly the speed limit on the busiest roads and not everyone is happy about it.

"They want to see whats in my trunk and then when they get the chance to pass me they say Im number one," he said chuckling, "I say, 'thank you very much,' and I usually throw them a kiss."

Police say everything Whitehouse is doing is perfectly legal, but the Chief doesnt necessarily support the efforts.

"I appreciate and I get what Harold is doing but leave policing for the police," said Chief Robert Merner.

Whitehouse says he respectfully disagrees.

"I dont call this policing, I just call it serving a community with a benefit," he told NBC Boston.

This veteran with community service in his veins says hes just finding yet another way to protect his fellow Americans.

"Its just kind of scary what could happen," Whitehouse said. "Youve got to be careful."

Police say theyve got the speeding problem under control and theyre cracking down.

In fact, theyve issued more violations this year than in the past five years combined.
Police have arrested a New Hampshire man accused of pointing a gun and falsely claiming to be a police officer during a situation he thought was human sex trafficking.

According to Salem Police, 30-year-old Wolfeboro resident David Monteith is facing one charge of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon and false personation.

Officers responded to the parking lot of the Park View Inn on South Broadway Street Friday morning for a reported dispute and found Monteith pointing a handgun at a man sitting in a vehicle.

Police secured the gun and spoke with the victim, who had a woman in his vehicle. The victim told police he and a female acquaintance had gone to the hotel to meet with another person the woman was speaking with on a dating site.

According to police, Monteith thought this was a sex trafficking incident, pulled out his gun, shouted "freeze" and said he was a police officer.

Monteith was taken into custody without incident. He was released on $2,500 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to appear in court on November 17.

Its not clear if he has an attorney.
A man who allegedly stole a Rhode Island state police cruiser, triggering a manhunt, was arrested in Cumberland, Rhode Island on Friday evening, according to police.

Donald Morgan, 35, was in handcuffs in a police cruiser in Providence on Thursday morning when the police officer driving the vehicle stopped at a crash scene.

Morgan somehow got into the driver's seat and drove off, eventually leaving the cruiser on Vineyard Street, according to police.

Morgan is being held overnight pending arraignment on Saturday.



Police were reportedly told that Morgan had fled in the bed of a white pickup truck. Cranston police then tried to stop a white pickup truck, which led to a shooting on Interstate 95 that killed one man and critically-injured another woman.

Police said the man killed in the pickup truck was 32-year-old Joseph Santos and his passenger was Christine Demers.

Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said the shooting wasn't a mistake because the driver of the pickup truck was driving aggressively, noting that the truck was ramming other vehicles and revving its tires.

More than 40 rounds were fired by police into the truck, which had no weapons inside.

Earlier, Pare said nine to 10 officers fired their weapons; of those officers, five are Providence police officers. It's still unclear how many state police officers fired their weapons. Of the five Providence police officers who fired their weapons, three had body cameras on their person, but only one was properly turned on by an officer. The body cameras were installed a few months ago.

That incident remains under investigation.
Fireworks displays light up the skies across West berkshire

THOUSANDS of people flocked to firework displays across West Berkshire at the weekend to celebrate bonfire night.

More than 6,000 people attended the Lions Club of Newburys annual charity display at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday.

The racecourse fireworks have been held for more than 35 years and provide much-needed funds that the Lions charity distributes throughout the year to local people in need.

President of the Newbury Lions Club, Diana Merchant, said: I would say it was the best one weve had for years. It wouldnt be possible without the fireworks committee and the team of volunteers who helped on the night.

Celebrating 100 years of Lions Clubs around the world, the display was set to music from 1917 to the present day, remembering some of the important world events during that time.

Elsewhere, 1,000 people attended the Fireworks Fiesta held by the Friends of Pangbourne Primary School, on Saturday.

Pangbourne Silver Band entertained the revellers and a dedicated team of volunteers ran the barbecue, bar and other stalls.

The huge bonfire was lit just before the firework display, which was fired by Star Fireworks.

All money raised will be put towards current fundraising projects of new playground equipment and ICT equipment for Pangbourne Primary School.

Chieveleys popular annual display, held at the Recreation Ground, was once again a sell-out.

The main event was preceded by a Guy competition, which this year had a theme of traditional Guys or superheroes, and a torchlight procession of the Guys led to the bonfire.

If you missed the fireworks last weekend, its not too late, as Buckleburys Cottage Inn bonfire and fireworks night will be held on Saturday, in support of the Royal British Legion.

Gates open at 6pm and the bonfire will be lit at 7.30pm, with the main display starting at 8pm.

Family tickets are 14 in advance or 17 on the gate. Single tickets cost 6 in advance or 7 on the gate and under-fives go free.
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Cellairis Launches Industry-First Screen Repair Offering: The Cellairis Bundle

ATLANTA: Cellairis, a leading device repair and accessory company, has today launched an industry-first screen protection package and repair guarantee: The Cellairis Bundle.





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The Cellairis Bundle finally solves one of the biggest problems wireless device owners face when it comes to their equipment: costly and inconvenient screen repairs. 49% of current iPhone owners have previously broken a screen*, contributing to a $3.6 billion-dollar a year mobile device repair industry in the USA*.The Cellairis Bundle offers complete screen protection for your device and peace of mind without the hassle of insurance programs, deductibles and expensive repairs. With one easy purchase, customers can select a device-protecting Cellairis Rapture case from a range of stylish options, a Shell Shock Tempered Glass screen protector, and the guarantee of complimentary, unlimited screen repairs for three years with the Never Pay Guarantee - all included as part of The Cellairis Bundle.In the instance a device outfitted with The Cellairis Bundle needs a screen repair, the Never Pay Guarantee provides unlimited repairs, replacement cases and screen protectors at no charge within three years, available at Cellairis' 500 locations nationwide. If for any reason Cellairis is unable to repair a device's screen, they will compensate customers up to $150."We are so proud to announce the launch of The Cellairis Bundle, a simple, yet industry-disrupting solution to one of life's everyday concerns: protecting devices from costly repairs. We want our customers to be worry free when it comes to owning and protecting a very necessary but expensive personal device, and to be able to use the money they will save on screen repairs for other feel-good moments and experiences," said Taki Skouras, CEO and cofounder of Cellairis.iPhones and tablets, from the iPhone 5 to the hotly anticipated iPhone X, are covered by The Cellairis Bundle, with tiered options to protect a range of devices including Cellairis' Everyday collection ($49), Designer collection ($59) and Tablet collection ($69)aeach with the Never Pay Guarantee for screen repairs.
New Study Raises Caution Over Same-Day Gastric Sleeve Surgery

WASHINGTON: Gastric sleeve surgery is one of the safest and most popular methods of weight loss surgery in America, but a new study* raises some cautions about performing the operation on an outpatient basis.





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The findings were presented today at ObesityWeek 2017, the largest international event focused on the basic science, clinical application and prevention and treatment of obesity. The annual conference is hosted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and The Obesity Society (TOS).Same-day gastric sleeve surgery was associated with a 30-day mortality rate that was low at 0.10 percent, but still five times higher than patients who were discharged a day later. These patients had a mortality rate of 0.02 percent, most likely due to respiratory failure. There were no statistically significant differences for overall complications (0.98% vs. 0.86%), reoperations (0.54% vs. 0.33%), or readmissions (2.41% vs 2.10%)."What a difference a day makes," said study senior author Ninh T. Nguyen, MD, Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. "This study cautions that surgeons performing outpatient gastric sleeve surgery should carefully select only low-risk patients for same day discharge, such as patients with no respiratory issues such as obstructive sleep apnea. The higher mortality rate in the same day discharge group is likely related to respiratory failure events that occurred in an unsupervised and unmonitored setting."Researchers from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine analyzed 37,301 gastric sleeve operations for 30-day mortality and complications, and readmission and reoperation rates from the 2015 Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) national database. Patients were discharged either the same day of surgery (2,031 patients) or the day after (35,270 patients). Before surgery, patients had an average body mass index (BMI) of 43.Sleeve gastrectomy has become the most popular method of bariatric surgery. According to the ASMBS, the procedure accounted for more than half the 216,000 bariatric surgeries performed in the U.S. last year. Gastric sleeve surgery involves removing approximately 80 percent of the stomach and leaving a narrow gastric tube or "sleeve." Because the stomach is made smaller, patients feel satisfied with less food."Both patients and doctors should approach outpatient bariatric surgery with caution," said ASMBS past-president Raul J. Rosenthal, MD, Chairman of the Department of General Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida, who was not involved in the study. "Bariatric surgery is safer than ever, but discharging patients too soon may have serious consequences. Patients should be evaluated very carefully before they go home."Metabolic/bariatric surgery has been shown to be the most effective and long lasting treatment for severe obesity and many related conditions and results in significant weight loss.[1] The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reported significant improvements in the safety of metabolic/bariatric surgery due in large part to improved laparoscopic techniques.[2] The risk of death is about 0.1 percent[3] and the overall likelihood of major complications is about 4 percent.[4] According to a 2014 study from the Cleveland Clinic's Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, laparoscopic bariatric surgery has complication and mortality rates comparable to some of the safest and most commonly performed surgeries in the U.S., including gallbladder surgery, appendectomy and knee replacement.[5]According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 39.8 percent of adults and 18.5 percent of children in the U.S. had obesity in 2015-2016, the highest rate ever for adults. Hispanic adults had an obesity rate of 47 percent and Non-Hispanic black adults a rate of 46.8 percent. Obese is medically defined as having a body mass index (BMI), a ratio of height to weight, of more than 30. The ASMBS estimates about 24 million Americans have severe obesity, which would mean a BMI of 35 or more with an obesity-related condition like diabetes or a BMI of 40 or more.
Fender Announces Grace VanderWaal As The Youngest Signature Series Artist In Fender History

HOLLYWOOD, Calif: Just days before the launch of her first LP 'Just The Beginning', Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) is proud to announce the launch of pop-sensation Grace VanderWaal's very own Signature Ukulele- available Spring 2018.





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Fender's popular artist signature models are geared toward product progression and storytelling, creating instruments designed to the unique specifications of the world's most iconic artists. Adding the winner of the 11th season of NBC's top-rated America's Got Talent to the Fender family, VanderWaal is among a wave of younger artists and songwriters who are inspiring a whole new generation of players."We're excited to welcome Grace to Fender as a Signature Artist and launch of her Signature Ukulele in 2018. She is already beginning to leave her mark and we are pleased to be a part of her musical journey," said Andy Mooney, CEO, Fender. "We look forward to working together to inspire future generations of players (including my daughter, an aspiring ukulele player!)""Fender is the best at what they do. They've worked with so many amazing artists so it is an honor they would work with me to launch my own line of signature ukuleles next year!" said VanderWaal. "Designing these ukuleles will be such a fun process and I hope my fans love them as much as I do. It's been a dream to have my own custom uke that I can share with my fans so others around the world can share the power of music and learn to play too!"At 13-years-old, Grace makes history as not only the youngest Fender Signature Series artist ever, but the brand's first collaboration with a ukulele player. The songstress has recently been seen on her media tour and making her big-stage debut at Austin City Limits with the Venice and Zuma models from Fender's current California Coast Series Ukuleles. The California Coast Series Ukuleles present a fresh take on the classic ukulele with five new accessibly-priced soprano, tenor and concert models. The Seaside and Rincon models sport traditional 2x2 headstocks, while the Venice, Zuma, and Montecito models boast the instantly identifiable Fender Telecaster headstock. Responding to the rapidly growing popularity of the instrument, these ukuleles cater to musicians of all ages and skill levels, providing the perfect transitional stepping stone for aspiring guitar players and the chance for experienced guitar players to grow their palette of sounds and instrument collection.Hailed by Rolling Stone as a "pop prodigy," VanderWaal's aptly-titled debut album Just The Beginning is set to be released November 3rd. The highly anticipated album features the current chart-topper "Moonlight." In addition to writing all the songs on the album, Grace also worked with multiple award-winning producers and writers Ido Zmishlany (Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello), Kinetics & One Love (Hailee Steinfeld), Greg Wells (Katy Perry, Adele), Gregg Wattenberg (Train, Phillips Phillips) and Sean Douglas (The Chainsmokers, Demi Lovato). This fall, Grace is set to embark on her sold-out U.S. headlining tour. The 'Just The Beginning Tour' kicks off in Los Angeles on November 5 and will make stops in major cities across the U.S. including Chicago, Boston and New York City.To learn more about this new signature artist and her advice to inspire beginning ukulele players from VanderWaal herself please watch here. For approved images of Grace VanderWaal click here. For product images of the California Coast Series Ukuleles, click here. For additional high-resolution lifestyle images, click here.For technical specs on California Coast Series Ukuleles, additional information on new Fender products and to find a retail partner near you, visit www.fender.com. Join the conversation on social media by following @Fender.Fender California Coast Series Ukuleles:VENICE UKULELE - $59.99Fender's soprano ukulele captures the entertaining sights and unique, carefree vibe of Venice, California with the Venice Ukulele. Thanks to its compact, comfortable body size, the Venice travels easily from the beach to the studio or jam room, while retaining the classic, light sound that makes the ukulele a "must-have" for today's players. The slim "C"-shaped neck profile is comfortable to hold and easy to play, while the no-tie bridge makes changing strings a breeze. A stylish bound top and 4-in-line Tele headstock adds a unique dash of Fender style that can't be duplicated. Embrace the music of the boardwalk and live the beach life year-round with the Venice Ukulele. Available in Natural, Cherry and Black.ZUMA UKULELE - $139.99Equally at home at the beach or the studio, this concert-sized ukulele is crafted from sapele, with an open-pore finish for balanced earthy tone that blends well with other instruments. The Zuma falls between the smaller soprano and the larger tenor sizes, providing a full sound and comfortable playing experience for players with larger hands. The easy-playing, 16-fret neck extends the range, while the no-tie bridge makes changing strings quick and easy. A striking abalone rosette, bound top, back and fingerboard and 4-in-line Tele headstock stand out from the crowd. Whether you're following in the sandy footsteps of those who came before or blazing your own musical trail - the Zuma Ukulele is the perfect companion for all of your creative adventures.ABOUT FENDER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION:Since 1946, Fender has revolutionized music and culture as one of the world's leading musical instrument manufacturers, marketers and distributors. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC), whose portfolio of brands includes Fender, Squier, Gretsch guitars, Jackson, EVH and Charvel, follows a player-centric approach to crafting the highest quality instruments and musical solutions across genres. FMIC is dedicated to unlocking the power of music through electric and acoustic guitars, amplifiers, pro audio, accessories and digital products that inspire and enable musical expression at every stage, from beginners to history-making legends.
Auto industry sales decline in October

New Delhi Nov. 10 : Post festive season auto industry wholesale has declined in October.





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Overall sales of October 2017 declined to (-) 1.79% in comparison to October 2016. Total 2,162, 164 units were sold in October 2017 against 2,201,489 sold in October 2016.Passenger vehicles (includes cars, utility vehicles, vans) sales were down by (-) 0.30% in Oct 2017. Total 279837 cars were sold in Oct 2017 in comparison to 280677 cars sold in Oct 2016.Two wheelers sales saw a dip of (-) 2.76% in Oct 2017. Total 1750966 units were sold in Oct 2017 as compared to 1800668 unit sold in Oct 2016..However commercial vehicles (including heavy, medium and light commercial vehicles) sales saw a growth of 6.44%in Oct 17. Total 69793 commercial vehicles were sold on Oct 2017 as compared to 65569 unit sold on Oct 2016.Three wheelers sales saw a growth of 12.81%. Total 61568 unit were sold in Oct 2017 as compared to 54575 unit sold in Oct 2016.Vishnu Mathur, Director General, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) too accepted that there is a downward trend in sales in October.Speaking to ANI, Mathur said, "In October phase, we saw an overall negative number in the sales. Around 2.5 percent decline was also recorded in the two-wheeler sales. In September, our wholesale growth was good when compared to the last two months. After that the festivals sales was only for a period of one month and wasn't that good as expected."He said the stock is still lying with the dealers. This is short term inventory correction, which is expected to recover in the month of November and December.Talking about the proposed odd-even scheme in Delhi, he said the SIAM is a part of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), which has prepared Graded Response Action Plan that defines the measures to taken based on air quality on the basis of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in the atmosphere."When the air quality gets poor, very poor and severe then the Odd-Even scheme is introduced at that stage. We have to try everything to control the pollution. This has been done as an emergency measure," Mathur said.Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday urged people to cooperate with the odd-even scheme which would be implemented in the national capital for a five-day period from November 13 to November 17.The decision has been taken in view of the prevailing air pollution in Delhi and parts of North India.
Pollution: Nadda directs hospitals to be prepared for patient load

New Delhi Nov. 10 : Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda on Friday reviewed the situation arising due to the air pollution in Delhi, and the preparations in the hospitals to deal with the patient load.





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Nadda directed the officials and heads of all Central Government hospitals to keep a close watch on the situation. All hospitals have been directed to take all measures to deal with the patient load due to air pollution. They have been directed to keep nebulizers and other related equipments in good condition and to be ready to meet with any exigency.In the review meeting, it was stated by the experts that the number of cases being reported with breathing troubles and respiratory diseases are varying each day.The recent increase in air pollution level in Delhi NCR and in the surrounding areas has become a cause of concern.According to health experts, higher air pollution level may result in increase in the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and both chronic and acute respiratory disease, including asthma. In the short run, higher air pollution level may result in increase in severity of symptoms of respiratory diseases, the experts opined.Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been monitoring the situation arising out of increase in air pollution level in Delhi NCR continuously.A health advisory has also been issued for the citizens.
UNESCO confirms France's Audrey Azoulay as new head

Paris [France], November 10 : UNESCO member states on Friday confirmed the nomination of France's former culture minister Audrey Azoulay to head the cultural agency.





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45-year-old Azoulay becomes UNESCO's second woman director general.According to the reports, Azoulay succeeds Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes.Azoulay narrowly defeated Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, also a former culture minister, in last month's politically-charged election, the report said.The international standing of the Paris-based organisation has been mired by a lack of funding and disputes between member states.Last month, the United States withdrew from the UNESCO, over what the country claimed, is the organisation's "continuing anti-Israel bias".Walking the footsteps of the US, Israel had also pulled out of the United Nations' cultural and education agency.The Israeli leader had called the US decision to exit UNESCO "brave and moral".
Centre deplores UN Rapporteur's comments on Mahatma Gandhi, sanitation programmes in India

New Delhi , November 10 : The Central Government on Friday deplored the insensitivity towards Mahatma Gandhi shown by Leo Heller, the United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.





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The UNSR on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation undertook a visit to India from October 27 to November 10, 2017."While the UNSR appears to compliment India's efforts in recent years in addressing gaps in water and sanitation services through an 'unprecedented commitment', he goes on to make sweeping judgements which are either factually incorrect, based on incomplete information, or grossly misrepresent the drinking water and sanitation situation on the ground," a release by the Centre stated on Friday."Admitting that 'two weeks is not sufficient to fully understand all aspects of the situation of human rights to water and sanitation in a country as big, diverse and complex in India', he still goes ahead to make the unsubstantiated allegation that human rights principles have not been properly addressed in India's water and sanitation programmes," the release added."The world knows that the Mahatma was the foremost proponent of human rights, including for sanitation, his unique and special focus. Gandhiji's glasses, the unique logo of the Swachh Bharat Mission, epitomise core human rights principles," the release said, in response to a press release by the UNSR."Now is a critical time to replace the lens of those glasses (Gandhi's glasses) with the human rights lens," the UNSR had said.The Central Government in a statement strongly rejected Heller's reports calling them "baseless assertions."The Centre asserted that the Swachh Bharat Mission and the rural and urban drinking water programmes fully conformed to the Human Rights criteria and principles as established by the UN system.Few pointers stated by the Central Government are listed below:Availabilitya Over 25 crore people have got sanitation facilities in three years. Over 2.7 lakh villages, 227 ODF districts and 6 ODF states are open defecation free (ODF)a 77% of the habitations in rural areas have access to at least 40 Litres Per Capita per Day (LPCD) of water supply. More than 90% people in urban areas have access to safe drinking waterQualitya SBM promotes safe toilet designs. States have flexibility to establish relevant quality standardsa GoI's national sub-mission to end arsenic and fluoride contamination in rural water in 4 yearsAcceptabilitya Separate toilets for men and women at all institutionsAccessibilitya Over 5.3 crore Individual Household Latrines have been constructed in three years alonea The National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) provides for drinking water within the household premises or at a distance of not more than 100 metres from their householdAffordabilitya SBM provides a toilet incentive of Rs 12,000 in rural areas and Rs 4,000 in urban areasa Water is available for free or very nominal rates to the rural population"Referring to the incomplete understanding of water and sanitation in India, the UNSR has failed to acknowledge the paradigm shift in national sanitation policy which has moved from construction of toilets to open defecation free communities and seems to be looking at the SBM from a tinted lens," the government added.It further asserted that Heller, also attempted to question the findings of a third party, 1,40,000 household national survey by the Quality Council of India that usage of toilets was above 91 per cent, by "misleadingly comparing" it with a survey of only 1024 households by Water Aid which focused on toilet technology and not on usage."The government has the highest commitment to human rights in general and particularly in the water supply and sanitation sectors and strongly rejects the claims in the UNSR's report and press statements," the statement concluded.
India, Bhutan hold development cooperation talks

New Delhi , November 10 : India and Bhutan on Friday held development cooperation talks as a part of bilateral mechanism to review the entire gamut of New Delhi's development partnership with Thimphu.





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The sixth India-Bhutan Development Cooperation Talks were held in New Delhi.The Indian delegation was led by Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs, and the Bhutanese delegation was led by Dasho Sonam Tshong, Foreign Secretary of Bhutan.The two sides reviewed the implementation of projects funded by the Indian Government in the 11th Plan, which includes Project Tied Assistance and Small Development Projects.India has committed assistance of Rs. 4,500 crore for the implementation of development projects during Bhutan's 11th Five Year Plan (2013 - 2018).Over 675 projects, including 595 small development projects, have been under implementation in Bhutan during the XIth plan period within GOI's committed assistance of Rs 4,500 crore.With Bhutan's 11th Five Year Plan (2013-2018) entering its final phase, the two sides noted with satisfaction the overall progress in the implementation of ongoing bilateral development projects in Bhutan.The Bhutanese side conveyed the appreciation of the Royal Government of Bhutan for the invaluable support of India for their socio-economic development priorities, and for timely disbursements of funds for the ongoing projects.The two sides also initiated discussions on Government of India's assistance to the 12th Five Year Plan (2018-2023) of the Royal Government of Bhutan.India has been a privileged partner of Bhutan in its socio-economic development. Its commitment to continue its support to Bhutan in its development efforts was reiterated by the Indian side.The two sides agreed to hold the next Development Cooperation Talks in 2018 in Thimphu on a mutually-agreed date.
For 'Queen' remake, Tamannaah Bhatia boosts fitness regime

New Delhi , November 10 : Tamannaah Bhatia, who has been roped in for the Telugu remake of the Bollywood superhit film 'Queen,' seems to be working hard for her look in the upcoming film.





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The remake titled 'Queen Once Again' which is helmed by national award winning director Neelakanta had begun its first schedule in Nice, France on November 2 and will later travel to Paris.The actress said, "I'm an avid fitness freak and I've decided to give the traditional gym routine amiss and train on the beach instead, every single day because I love the outdoors.""It's a non-polluted environment and I feel it's doing wonders to my overall well-being. Instead of three times a week which I generally practise in India, I'm doing six times a week in France! My trainer felt I needed to shed a few more kilos so I'm waking up real early everyday to ensure I can give in those two dedicated hours," said the 'Baahubali: The Beginning' star.The 'Devi' star stated that she has never done a role like this before and 'Queen' is making her do a lot many things.'Queen', which was released in 2014, highlights the transformational journey of Rani, who embarks on her honeymoon to Paris alone after her fiance calls-off the wedding at the very last moment.Tamannaah Bhatia will reprise the role of the lead protagonist in this film, while Siddu Jonnalagadda of Guntur Talkies fame reprises the role of the dominating fiance (Rajkumar Rao) and Shibani Dandekar that of the best friend (Lisa Haydon).
Ninth Gorkha Rifles commemorate its 200 years of service

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) , November 10 : The Ninth Gorkha Rifles, one of the oldest and highly decorated regiment of the Indian Army commemorated its 200 years of service to the nation with the bicentenary celebrations held from November 8 to November 11 at 39 Gorkha Training Centre, Varanasi Cantonment.





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A series of events were conducted on the occasion with pomp and gaiety and were attended by a large number of serving and retired officers, veterans and Veer Naris.Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat and the President Gorkha Brigade also graced the occasion by his presence on November 9 to November 10, along with the former's wife, Madhulika Rawat.A galaxy of senior officers both serving and retired, along with over 500 veterans mainly from far-flung areas in Nepal attended the celebration with their families.During the event, General Rawat interacted extensively with veterans and laid a wreath at the war memorial to pay homage to martyrs of the Regiment. He also released the First Day Cover to mark the occasion.A magnificent parade followed by felicitation of Veer Naris was conducted on the occasion. Other events included scintillating display on motorcycles by Daredevils, Combat Free Fall, Para Motor Flight and mass band display. The regimental bonds were further strengthened due to the presence of twelve members of the family of Veteran British Gorkha Officers, who had arrived from the UK for the celebrations.Various events conducted over two days provided an excellent opportunity to cement the bond between the present generation and veterans.
Sheila Dikshit concurs with NGT's criticism of Delhi's odd-even rule

New Delhi , November 10 : Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday concurred with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its criticism of the state government's revival of the odd-even rule, and called for a long-term solution to the problem of air pollution.





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Rejecting the odd-even rule as an ineffective solution to the crisis, the Congress leader called out the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government for not formulating an ineffectual plan beforehand."I don't think there has been any planning at all in this past one year. Even the last time it (odd-even rule) was not effective at all, in fact it was bit of a harassment for all," Dikshit told ANI."We have to find a long-term solution, so that it does not happen again," Dikshit added.The former chief minister also said that people of Delhi were suffering "because of the blame game as nobody wants to take the responsibility," and suggested for the state and central government to constitute a committee to combat the problem, keeping aside politics."Either they (the Delhi Government) or the Central Government should constitute a committee, because they keep on blaming Haryana, Punjab, or Uttar Pradesh," Dikshit said.Earlier in the day, the NGT rapped the Arvind Kejriwal-led Government for reviving the odd-even rule in the capital to be effective from next week, and asked for a justification for implementing the scheme out of several others.
TERI University hosts its 10th convocation

New Delhi , November 10 : With the growing need for developing alternative methods through specialized education to create a sustainable living, TERI University graduates on Friday, at their convocation ceremony, dedicated themselves to the importance of environmental protection and the need to maintain equity, ecological security, and the wealth of natural resources.





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TERI University held its 10th Convocation ceremony today in which 18 students were conferred with doctoral degrees and 195 received master's degree from the university.Present on the occasion were Anil Baijal, Hon'able Lt. Governor, Delhi as the Chief Guest for the convocation and Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as the Guest of Honour, along with Ashok Chawla the Chancellor, TERI University, Dr. Leena Srivastava, Vice Chancellor TERI University and Dr. Rajiv Seth, Pro-VC TERI University.Advising the passing students to pursue their dreams in addition to travelling to understand the global issues of sustainable development, Anil Baijal, Lt. Governor, Delhi said, "The education pedagogy at TERI University has been a win-win model to create knowledge and capacity in various areas of sustainable development, a laudable at a time when the world is facing serious challenges of sustainability and climate change. It is gratifying to know that TERI University has partnerships with various state governments and global university's to develop an informed cadre of professionals well-equipped to tackle, beyond cultural boundries and sectoral divisions, the interwoven challenges of extreme poverty, disease, climate change and ecosystem vulnerability."Commencing the convocation ceremony, Ashok Chawla, Chancellor, TERI University, spoke about the growth of the TERI University, and brought out the importance of the unique programs offered by the University.He said, "That issues of environment management and climate change cannot be handled solely by the government but has to be handled by all stakeholders including the younger generations such as the students. He urged the students to carry the mantle of environment protection and become active citizens in improving the environment as decision makers and leaders of the future."Vice-Chancellor Dr. Leena Srivastava stressed on the role that TERI University can play to advance towards a sustainable living in a mega city like Delhi, which has its unique environmental and ecological challenges."TERI University and its students can play a significant role, in collaboration with the Government of Delhi-NCT, to find such climate friendly solutions to identified problems and also act as change agents to help with the implementation. Beyond air pollution, are a range of other sustainability challenges that would help with both mitigation and adaptation to climate change - water, waste and energy management, biodiversity conservation, mobility etc. - and lead to more sustainable development."The Guest of Honour Barbut, UN Under Secretary General and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, called on the new graduatesto be innovators, and challenged them to "Imagine what your villages of the future will look like."She stressed that whereas knowledge is important, it is a tool to help us to imagine how to change the challenges we face. "In each new challenge, I apply what I have learned, but I also try to imagine an entirely different way to get things done. Because it takes at least one person, with imagination, to think something is possible before it can ever come to pass," she added.Academicians, researchers and students at TERI University are already involved in the following areas with various Government departments of India:a Water Resources, waste management and sanitation: Various projects such as Urban water metabolism, Landscape approach for water management in Gangetic planes, Water-energy nexus, and Urban water and sanitation, strengthens various flagship missions loudly promulgated by the Government of India viz. Skill Development, Smart cities and Swachh Bharat Mission. Our approach includes (i) basic research to guide policy with evidence, and (ii) strengthening the capacity of Institutions and Stakeholders.a Energy and Emission Management: University has carried out projects on integrated energy-environment systems modelling and their implications on global and local environment and health. We worked on impact of various urban infrastructure schemes on mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions for COP-21 (for Ministry of Urban Development), sustainable mobility and strategic energy and environmental analysis for multi-modal transport system.a School awareness programmes: School University Network (SUN) of TERI University is an initiative to trigger curiosity and creative thought processes in sustainability science amongst school children and to build communities for bringing positive change in local areas.aUrban Development and Sustainable Buildings Management: Cities are engines of economic growth and can lead investments required for sustainable infrastructure. The urban approaches chosen, and the infrastructure decisions made will have severe consequences in climate change adaptation and mitigation; and Responsible Consumption and Production. TERI University has structured first-of-its-kind masters courses on 'Sustainable Consumption and Production' for mid-career policy makers and professionals.TERI University is the only institution of advanced learning in the country established with the mission of contributing globally by serving society through formal education and research in fields like environment, sustainability, energy conservation, policy and management. At the Convocation, MA degrees were awarded in Public Policy and Sustainable Development (PPSD) and Sustainable Development Practices (SDP); MSc degrees in Environmental Studies and Resource Management (ESRM), Geoinformatics, Plant Biotechnology (PBT), Climate Science and Policy (CSP), Water Science and Governance (WSG), and Environmental and Resources Economics; MTech in Renewable Energy Engineering and Management (REEM) and Urban Development and Management (UDM), Water Science and Governance (WSG); and MBA in Business Sustainability and Master of Laws in Environment and Natural Resources Law, Infrastructure and Business Law.In its more than decade old existence, the University has become a centre of research excellence in its field, producing over 1200 post graduates with high-level cross-specialisation skills in environment and sustainability fields as well as nearly 80 PhDs, who have gone on to contribute to society through engagements with corporate-driven CSR initiatives, leading NGOs, government agencies and statutory bodies working in the field and have even become social entrepreneurs. TERI University has partnerships with various universities and institutes across the world.To walk-the-talk, the TERI University campus provides a setting which enhances learning and showcases the concept of modern green buildings. The campus is aesthetically designed with several features of passive solar design, energy-efficiency and water and waste management systems. TERI University students undergo training and internships with government, multilateral and multinational agencies during as a part of academic curriculum. The university has a placement cell, as employment is considered as an integral part of the system. The cell taps government agencies like Dept. of Environment (Govt. of NCT, Delhi), FAO, multinational companies like ACC, Tata Power, Reliance Energy Ltd. and multilateral organisations like WWF, Action Aid International etc. for internships and employment programmes.(ANI-NewsVoir)
Methodists hold holiday bazaar

TWIN FALLS  The Twin Falls First United Methodist Church will hold its annual holiday bazaar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 2 and 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 3 at the church, 360 Shoshone St. E., Twin Falls. The event will include craft items, baked goods and small businesses. Boy Scout Troop 67 will sell hot food including a potato bar, cinnamon rolls and breakfast burritos.

More information: 208-733-5872 or tffumc@gmail.com.

Burley First Christian Church hosts lunch and bazaar

BURLEY  The First Christian Church will host their Holiday Lunch and Mini-bazaar from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 2 at the church, 1401 Oakley Ave., Burley. All are welcome to come eat soups and cinnamon rolls with us. There will also be craft items, baked goods and Christmas gifts available for purchase. Free-will donations will also be accepted.

Burley Presbyterian women hold luncheon and sale

BURLEY  The Presbyterian women will hold a sale from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at the church, 2100 Burton Ave., Burley. Home-made noodle soup, chili, dinner rolls, fresh vegetables, desserts, pies and beverages will be served. For sale will be home-made noodles, pies, cakes, cookies, candy, other goodies and some crafts. There will also be a silent auction for baskets. Free-will offerings are welcome.

Gifts of Love in-gathering at Ascension

TWIN FALLS  The November in-gathering at Ascension Episcopal Church will be for Gifts of Love, a local non-profit program in its 20th year. Gifts of Love provides a wide variety of books and decorative or smaller items  in new or like-new condition  to four local care-facilities, from which residents are able to select gifts to give to family members. Gifts for all ages are welcome, as well as gift-wrapping supplies and monetary donations.

Ascension will celebrate Holy Communion at 9 a.m. Sunday at the church, 371 Eastland Drive N., Twin Falls. Canon Lucinda Ashby, transition minister for the Diocese of Idaho, will preside. Healing prayer stations will be available during the service. Nursery care for children under seven years will be available from 8:45 a.m. until after the service. A fellowship coffee-hour will follow worship. Ascension Cafe, the adult discussion group, will also meet then  beginning a three week discussion of Myths, Miracles and Metaphors, led by Dave Duhaime. Ascension Episcopal Church is handicapped-accessible.

A limited number of Ascension steamed puddings is still available for $10 each. To reserve one, call 208-733-1248 or come to the church from 11 a.m. to noon Sunday. Proceeds will benefit the Rising Stars Therapeutic Riding program and Ascension Church needs.

Djembe Drumming  simple drumming in community  will be offered from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m Monday at the church. More information or if you need a drum supplied: call 208-961-1349. More information about Ascension Episcopal Church can be found at www.episcopaltwinfalls.org or call 208-733-1248.

Unitarian Universalists present Stone Soup

TWIN FALLS  Members of the Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will present a reading and performance of the story Stone Soup at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the Vendor Blender and Event Center, 588 Addison Ave. W. near the old hospital, Twin Falls. This is an inter-generational service  suitable for all ages. Attendees are asked to bring a can of food to donate to the Idaho Food Bank, for which a special donation will also be taken. Following the service, there will be a soup potluck.

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.

More information: call Ken Whiting at 208-734-9161 or email mvuuf83301@yahoo.com.

LDS South Stake presents Come to Bethlehem

TWIN FALLS  The Twin Falls South Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will present their 10th annual Christmas Concert and Nativity Festival  titled Come to Bethlehem  at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 8 and 9 at the church, 541 Orchard Drive, Twin Falls. The Dec. 7 performance will be a dress rehearsal to which families with small children can come and go as needed. The performances on Dec. 8 and 9 will be for ages eight and older.

The local-talent 50-voice choir and 20-piece orchestra  conducted by Carson Wong  will combine to commemorate and honor the birth and life of Jesus Christ through music, video, pictures and narration. This years performances will include more audience singing of Christmas hymns. The choir and orchestra have been rehearsing since early October. Last year, many attendees said, Our hearts were deeply touched by the performance. We had no idea this would be so good!

Nativity Festival hours will be 5:00 to 7:15 p.m. and 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Dec. 7 and 8 and 2 to 7:15 p.m. and 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Dec 9 in the same building. It has been a very worthwhile activity for families in the past. Hundreds of Nativity scenes from around the world will be displayed in an atmosphere of reverence, serenity and beauty. The Nativity Festival will include live background music performances and light refreshments. It will be open to all ages.

Organizers hope these events will greatly add to the joy, light and hope that Christmas brings to Magic Valley residents. More information and audio soundbites: facebook.com/cometobethlehemtwinfalls/.
Mexican Envoy to India suggests ways to combat Delhi smog

New Delhi , November 10 : Mexican Ambassador to India Melba Pria on Friday expressed concern over the rising levels of air pollution, in the wake of the toxic smog enshrouding the national capital region, and suggested ways to combat it.





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Speaking to ANI, Pria said, "We (Mexico) changed all of our petrol. It has to be in much better quality. Every Vento in Mexico has a catalytic converter that was put in plants in India. No Vento here has a catalytic converter. Why do you allow that children are breathing this air?""We took out all heavy industries out of Mexico City and raised the standards for pollution creating industries. We gave them time, helped them with taxes, did all reforms that were needed but those industries were taken outside of every city in Mexico," she said.Mexico's young and dynamic Ambassador to India draws special attention because she uses an autorickshaw as her official transport."I am affected like everybody else because all are breathing the same air. If you've to go out, you need to have purifier in your car. For someone like me, it's being grounded because I can't use my auto, my vehicle of choice," she added.Pria, in one of her earlier interviews, had said that Mexico's measures to improve air quality were diverse and the city did not rely on one single programme to curb pollution and that India should also do the same.Pollution in New Delhi has been hovering at alarming levels with air quality readings of tiny particulate matter PM 2.5 hitting over 796 on Friday, the most severe level on the government's scale. A reading of anything over 100 is considered unhealthy.PM 2.5 is particulate matter about 30 times finer than a human hair. The particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.Doctors have suggested people to wear N90 masks whenever they go out, as exposure to air pollution can lead to cancer and heart disease.
Amaravati: 'Electric Mobility Stakeholder Meet' held to identify key themes, growth engines

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) , November 10 : The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) and key stakeholders of the electric mobility value chain on Friday held an 'Electric Mobility Stakeholder Meet' to articulate the vision and identify key themes and growth engines that will drive electric mobility in Andhra Pradesh.





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This meet will also enable the government of Andhra Pradesh to develop a policy for electric mobility.This 'Electric Mobility Stakeholder Meet' was attended by key stakeholders across the value chain and included majors like Mahindra Electric, Hyundai, Nissan, Renault, Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motors, Ola, Texas Instruments, ARM, Gayam Motors, Sun Mobility, Facor Group, Panasonic, Amara Raja, PLR Chambers and Goldman Sachs.There was also key cooperation from Automobile Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), Invest India and United States India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).The APEDB spearheaded this 'Electric Mobility Stakeholder Meet' which was led by Nara Lokesh, the Minister for Information Technology, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development.Nara Lokesh said, "The subsidies on electric vehicles is not enough to spruce the market and instead an interplay of demand creation, technology development, pilot projects and charging infrastructure is the way forward."Solomon Arokiaraj, Secretary, Department of Industries and Commerce said, "Although manufacturing would have an added thrust in the electric mobility policy, specific emphasis would be given to innovation, startups and disruptive technology.""Andhra Pradesh has always believed in garnering consensus in policy making and this meet is a testimony to this," Arokiaraj added.J Krishna Kishore, Chief Executive Officer, APEDB said, "This meet determines our common agenda and path forward to build policies on tangible results.""Apart from deliberating on the future of mobility, this meet would help define our route to a low-carbon economy by 2029," Kishore added.The meet mainly focussed on - a comprehensive policy should not only focus on manufacturing, but also charging infrastructure, batteries, energy swapping and skill development. Collaboration with engineering streams especially chemical engineering is critical for skilling, research and development in mobilityThe Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board will work closely with respective departments for continued collaboration and policy pragmatism for electric mobility.Department of Industries and Commerce, Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communication, Department of Transport, Roads and Buildings, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), NREDCAP were also at the meet.
Google doodle celebrates life of India's first female union leader

New Delhi , Nov 11 : To honour the pioneer of women's labour movement in India, search engine giant Google celebrates the 132nd birth anniversary of Anasuya Sarabhai.





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Sarabhai founded India's oldest union of textile workers the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Majadoor Mahajan Sangh) in 1920.Born in Ahmedabad on November 11 in 1885 to a wealthy family of industrialists and business people, she became an orphan at the age of nine; after which, she, her brother and a younger sister were sent to live with an uncle.She was forced to marry at the age of 13, before escaping to England with the help of her brother in 1912 to take a medical degree. She then switched to the London School of Economics when she realised that the animal dissection involved in obtaining a medical degree, was in violation of her Jain beliefs.In England she was influenced by the Fabian Society and new ideas concerning equality and got involved with the Suffragette struggle.Back home in India, she worked with dis-empowered women.She decided to get involved in the labour movement after witnessing exhausted female mill workers returning home after a 36-hour shift.In 1914, she helped Ahmedabad's weavers successfully organise their first strike for higher wages.In the years that followed, she went on to become their most vocal supporter, negotiating with the mill owners - including her brother - for better working conditions.She was supported in her work by the father of nation, Mahatma Gandhi, with whom she set up Gujarat's oldest labour union, which later paved the way for the founding of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA).The Doodle has been created by Maria Qamar, a Pakistani-Canadian artist and author of the book Trust No Aunty.
Amerlux's Gift Shines Light on 'Never Built NY'

OAKLAND, N.J: Amerlux, an award-winning design-and-manufacture lighting company, announced today that it has donated USD 20,000 worth of a high-end LED track lighting solution, which is creating a lasting impression at the Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows, New York.





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The unique "Never Built New York" display invites visitors to discover the alternative paths New York City might have taken based on original prints, drawings and models of architectural projects that were never realized.To turn the exhibit into reality, however, Amerlux was asked to deliver a premium lighting solution that dramatically reduced energy consumption without sacrificing quality or performance."For more than 30 years, we have listened to problems throughout the marketplace and delivered solutions," said Amerlux CEO Chuck Campagna. "From museums to high-end retail boutiques to supermarkets, Amerlux has continued to grow by creating products that address real-world needs. We are proud to deliver a striking experience at the Queens Museum."To create a world-class museum experience, Gensler, one of the world's largest architecture firms that was part of several unrealized NYC projects included in the exhibit, asked Amerlux to help."In celebration of this inspiring exhibit, it was important for us to work with the right quality and balance of lighting," said Bevin Savage Yamazaki, senior associate at Gensler. "We wanted visitors to experience these never-before-seen drawings and models from a new perspective."Amerlux addressed the challenge by installing its new 48-watt SPEQ LED track heads, which feature a sleek, slim cylinder design with high beam control and use less than 10 percent of the energy consumed by the previous 500-watt quartz lamps.Larissa Harris, who is curator for the Queens Museum, said Amerlux provided a great product that produced warm illumination and demanded less energy with ease of control. "Our new Amerlux LED track lights deliver lighting that allows visitors to pay attention in an extremely complex visual environment," she said.
China all set to make first contact with aliens

London [U.K.], Nov 11 : China, which on its way to emerge as a Space Superpower, claims be the first nation to make contact with alien life using the world's largest radio dish.





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According to researchers, the dish, which is 500-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope is about twice the size of the US' Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, can detect signals from the deepest depths of space.In 2016, China became a space exploration powerhouse after it fired its brand new lab Tiangong 2 into low orbit - joining the US and Russia.China made the move following numerous dozens of suspected-extraterrestrial encounters, including the claims that a UFO was seen over the Great Wall of China last week, reports Daily Star Online.According to reports, china has spent billions of pounds into space exploration and the world's largest dish to detect alien signals coming from other galaxies.Chinese President Xi Jinping said the bold project would enable them to take larger and further steps in space exploration and make new contributions to building up China as a space power.A researcher Liu Cixin described the dish as something "out of science fiction."Liu has written many books about the risks of first contact and warns that the "appearance of this 'other'" could end with mankind's extinction.In one of his books, he said, "Perhaps in ten thousand years, the starry sky that humankind gazes upon will remain empty and silent.""But perhaps tomorrow we'll wake up and find an alien spaceship the size of the Moon parked in orbit," he said.Wheelchair-bound space boffin Stephen Hawking has also warned researchers about the risks of contacting aliens.Adding, "Meeting an advanced civilisation could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus."
NanoSeptic Self-Cleaning Travel Products Win Innovation Award at ISSA World Conference

FOREST, Va: Are travelers paranoid about cleanliness? That question was answered at this year's ISSA InterClean conference in Las Vegas, which had more than 16,000 attendees, 700 exhibitors and 54 innovation entries from around the world. For the second year in a row, NanoSeptic self-cleaning surfaces took home the innovation award.





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Last year, NanoSeptic won the award with their line of self-cleaning touch points for facilities. These peel-and-stick skins for door handles turned dirty public surfaces into continuously self-cleaning surfaces. Building service contractors and commercial cleaning companies were excited about the potential of these products, not only because they made clean visible, but they also provided a new product with which these companies could create a value added service model.This year they received the award for their TravelWell line of products. These products represent a dedicated product development effort to bring self-cleaning surfaces to the transportation, aviation, travel and hospitality industries."I think we can now say for sure that travelers are paranoid about dirty public surfaces when traveling," says NanoSeptic co-founder Dennis Hackemeyer. "Whether it's the airplane tray table or hotel bathroom vanity, travelers just don't trust the cleanliness of surfaces when it comes to places to set food or rest personal items."There were three primary products that were on display at the show. The one that got attention from both consumers and business people in the travel and hospitality industry was the portable self-cleaning travel mat. This mat provides a cleaner place to rest a toothbrush, eyeglasses, medications or other personal items on a hotel bathroom vanity. And it provides a much cleaner place to rest your peanuts or pretzels on the airplane tray table."Our travel mat not only makes travelers feel safer and more secure, it's also a great in-room or in-plane amenity that can generate new revenue," says Mark Sisson, co-founder. "And because we can add the hotel, airline or cruise line logo to the mat, it's another way these travel companies can extend their brand wherever the traveler goes and however they get there."Another product in NanoSeptic's TravelWell line is their iO Dots. These are small clear adhesive "bumper feet" that you attach to the back of your phone or tablet. Not only are these feet self-cleaning, but they keep the device from directly touching dirty public surfaces.But the item that got the most attention at the show was the NanoSeptic self-cleaning mat for TSA security bins in airports."Over and over again, we would tell the story of how travelers walk around the airport, including on bathroom floors, then take off their shoes and put them in the bin going through TSA security," says Hackemeyer. "Then the next traveler puts their phone, glasses, keys and other personal items where those shoes were. The reaction was always the same....please stop, I think I'm going to be sick."After 6 months of testing by the local TSA team, the NanoSeptic mats were sent to TSA's national testing facility for verification. And in September, the NanoSeptic security bin mat finally made its debut at the Akron-Canton airport, providing a cleaner surface for more than 1.4 million travelers per year.NanoSeptic TravelWell products are disrupting the travel and hospitality industry by getting businesses to look at cleanliness differently. Historically, hotels and other travel-related businesses took the approach of hiding their cleaning efforts. But research has shown that travelers are not only paranoid about cleanliness, but their purchase decisions can be directly affected by making clean visible. A NanoSeptic self-cleaning mat placed on the bathroom vanity of each room in a hotel has been shown to positively affect a guest's perception of the cleanliness of the room and the facility in general.TravelWell products would also be a valuable part of a hotel, airline, cruise line, or credit card's reward program.More than 150 travelers volunteered to be part of experiential market research that was conducted at the Akron airport on the day the TSA bin mats were launched.
Cassia County

Driving under the influence

Kelsey A. Blincoe; misdemeanor, driving under the influence, guilty, $300 fine, $502.50 costs. Twelve months supervised probation, two days community service, alcohol education, confinement to county jail 120 days118 days suspended, credit 2 days; 90 days drivers license suspended.

Blaine Benona Smith; amended offensesecond offense felony violation within 15 years, $540.50 costs. Felony probationfive years, confinement 45 days state prison, determinatethree years, indeterminatefour years, credit 46 days; drivers license suspended for five years.

Felony sentencings

Adam Benson Harris; felony assault or battery upon certain personnel, guilty, $500 fine, $157.50 costs; misdemeanor battery, dismissed; misdemeanor arrests or seizuresresisting or obstructing officers, guilty $157 costs. Confined to county jail 180 days, 178 suspended, two days credited, 12 months supervised probation.

Coy W. Coonce; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $535.50 costs. Confined to Idaho Dept. of Corrections effective Nov. 2, determinatethree years, indeterminatethree years, retained jurisdiction 365 days.

Jacob Michael Goffinet; felony controlled substancemanufacture or deliver, or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver, guilty, $535.50 costs. Sentenced to three years felony probation, confinement Idaho Dept. of Correctionsthree yearsdeterminate, three yearsindeterminate, credit 240 days.

Jesus Gonzalez Rodriguez; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $285.50 costs. Sentencing information not available.
Intermarche Purchases RIS InkCenter Inkjet Cartridge Refill Equipment

CARLSBAD, Calif: Retail Inkjet Solutions (RIS) today announced that the French-based supermarket retail chain Intermarche has signed for RIS InkCenter inkjet cartridge refill equipment deployment into select locations in France.





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Intermarche's strategy is based on strong sales growth from successful trial installations of the RIS on-site Refill Service for inkjet cartridges. Intermarche customers simply drop off their empty inkjet cartridges at the service counter and while shopping, the cartridge will be refilled using the RIS InkCenter machine. The result is a high-quality ink refill for up to 70% savings versus the cost of buying a new cartridge."We're thrilled to announce our Refill Service expansion with Mr. Jean-Francois Vergez of Intermarche. Together, over the past year we have shown his customers the significant savings that come from refilling their branded ink cartridges while helping to protect the environment. Refilling empty ink cartridges instead of discarding them contributes to a cleaner planet, a tenet that is very important to the French culture. Intermarche is becoming known as an ink destination. With Mr. Vergez's help, we look forward to expanding the ink cartridge Refill Service to more Intermarche locations in the near future" said Vince Hormovitis, Vice President Sales & Business Development at RIS."In today's market, ink cartridges are consumables. I know my customers very well. Refilling their cartridges instead of purchasing new ones matches their expectations as well as the trend of the French market. It is important to me to bring new, exciting concepts and value to my customers like the Refilling Service, while doing my part to make the planet cleaner. The InkCenter is profitable for my customers but also for my business," declared Jean-Francois Vergez, Owner, Intermarche Muret and Fonsorbes.RIS Chief Executive Officer, David Lenny added, "Since starting the RIS InkCenter refill trial program at select Intermarche supermarkets in southwest France, it has been exciting to see the initiative grow from start-up to a very successful inkjet cartridge refill business in such a short amount of time. At RIS, we are very pleased to now make this announcement that solidifies our partnership into a new long-term agreement with such a reputable retailer in France. This will ensure we continue to deliver our high quality ink refill experience to Intermarche customers at a fraction of the price of purchasing new inkjet cartridges. Aside from the savings, customers can drop their cartridges off and do their shopping while the cartridges are being refilled - which is very convenient."
Vanke China will launch an urban mountain villa in Liangzhu town, Hangzhou city

HANGZHOU, China: Vanke China will launch a high-end urban mountain villa called Junxi Yuntai in the near future, which is located in the birthplace of Liangzhu Culture, also called The Dawn of Chinese Civilization.





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Compared to Wright's Fallingwater, this architecture emphasizes more on the integration of the mountain, city and building, combined with its profound five thousand years of cultural background, making it another masterpiece launched by Vanke Hangzhou.In Liangzhu, Vanke Hangzhou has been pursuing the improvement and innovation for local architecture. The architecture of the urban mountain villa, is made by 5ren Landscape Design, GAD and More Design Office.When the GAD designer Zhang Kaijian described this architecture, he used the three words "immersing, leisure and human interaction". He thought this design was a positive, sensible way to echo the surrounding buildings and environment and generate interaction, which has fully respected the land and history of the Liangzhu civilization.More Design Office designer Justin Bridgland thought the building is between quiet and restlessness, needing to consider the rhythm and balance. Each person in this mountain villa will be relaxed, and will be able to feel the state of harmonious coexistence with nature.Architecture is one method to record the journey and development of human civilizations. The buildings of different ages retain the special atmosphere of that era and become the coordinates of the development of human habitation civilization. Junxi Yuntai contains a slow growing state; half city and the other half nature, which is a fitting architectural representation and the interpretation of an era, with the body in city but the heart in mountain. The mountain is expected to be completed in 2019 and now is officially open to the public.
CJFE to honour Elena Milashina, Robyn Doolittle and Kim Bolan for fearless reporting

TORONTO: On November 30, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) will honour three extraordinary women for their courage in reporting at the 2017 CJFE Gala in Toronto.





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Elena Milashina of Russia will be given the International Press Freedom Award, The Globe and Mail's Robyn Doolittle will be awarded the Arnold Amber Award for Investigative Journalism, and Kim Bolan of the Vancouver Sun will be honoured with the Tara Singh Hayer Memorial Award."CJFE's annual Gala helps share powerful stories from journalists and media workers who put their careers, freedom, and often their lives on the line to bring the world the truth," said Megan Drysdale, CJFE's Co-Director. "We're excited to celebrate the work of these three women who are dedicated to exposing important stories of misjustice and abuse at the hands of powerful and influential people and organizations."Award recipients are as follows:International Press Freedom AwardElena Milashina is a Russian reporter at Novaya Gazeta. She writes about human rights issues and government corruption, and exposed the detention, torture and murder of gay men in Chechnya. In April 2017, she reported that at least 100 men had been jailed in secret prisons and at least three were thought to be dead on suspicion of being gay. Milashina was forced to flee her home in Moscow shortly after the story was published due to threats against the staff of Novaya Gazeta that the paper reported as being "an incitement to massacre journalists."Milashina is the winner of the International Press Freedom Award, which recognizes the outstanding courage of journalists who work at great personal risk and against enormous odds so that the news media remain free. She currently lives in hiding and CJFE will be bringing her to Toronto to receive her award.Arnold Amber Award for Investigative JournalismThe Globe and Mail journalist Robyn Doolittle led a 20-month long investigation that revealed approximately one in five sexual assault cases are deemed "unfounded" by police. In other words, police officers decided that no crime occurred. When a case is listed as "unfounded," it is not reported to Statistics Canada, giving the impression that fewer sexual assaults complaints are shared with the police. Doolittle's research found a 19 per cent national unfounded rate. Since her story, more than 30 police forces working in more than 1,000 communities across Canada have committed to further investigations into the issue.Doolittle will be honoured with the CJFE/CWA Canada Arnold Amber Award for Investigative Journalism, which celebrates a journalist, investigative researcher or media worker who has made a significant contribution to advancing investigative public interest reporting in Canada.Inaugurated in 2015, the award was renamed in 2017 in honour of Arnold Amber, a Canadian journalist, labour leader and activist. Amber's work and longstanding service as president of CJFE will also be honoured at the Gala.Tara Singh Hayer Memorial AwardKim Bolan is a seasoned journalist at the Vancouver Sun. In May 2017, Bolan learned of and reported on an alleged murder plot against herself. At the time, she was covering a murder trial of a former leader of the United Nations gang. During the trail, witnesses testified the gang discussed killing Bolan and went as far as sourcing her address. Bolan regularly reported on the UN gang, which was founded in Abbotsford, BC and has now expanded to other areas of Canada. In her more than 30-year career, she has reported on education, social services, minority and women's issues, numerous wars, the Air India Flight 182 and more. This was not the first death threat Bolan has received.Bolan is the recipient of the Tara Singh Hayer Memorial Award, which recognizes a Canadian journalist who, through his or her work, has made an important contribution to reinforcing the principle of freedom of the press in this country or elsewhere, and who has taken personal risks or suffered physical reprisals for their work.
Paradigm for Parity Coalition More than Doubles in One Year with 60 Companies Pledging to Follow Action Plan to Achieve Gender Parity in Leadership

NEW YORK: The Paradigm for Parity coalition announced today that 60 CEOs from leading companies, including Anthem, Hershey, MassMutual, United Technologies and Walmart have committed to achieving gender parity in leadership levels by 2030.





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Today's news more than doubles the membership of Paradigm for Parity, a volunteer-run organization of business leaders, former CEOs and executives, all of whom are committed to implementing the coalition's 5-Point Action plan to level the playing field for women in the corporate world. As we approach the anniversary of the organization's launch in December 2016 with 27 companies, Paradigm for Parity, now with 60 companies, has seen a fast pace of growth, representing more than four million employees worldwide."We applaud these 60 companies for stepping up and making the changes needed to promote women and better business outcomes," said Ellen Kullman, Co-Chair of the Paradigm for Parity coalition. "To ensure women have equal representation in the C-suite and shared opportunities to become corporate leaders, we created the Paradigm for Parity action plan to equip companies with an actionable roadmap to meet their diversity goals. We look forward to building on this progress and working with even more companies to turn their diversity goals into business realities.""Pledging to the Paradigm for Parity movement is a natural extension of our efforts to advance diversity and inclusion and to ensure we do what's right for our customers, our workforce, and our communities," said Roger Crandall, Chairman, President and CEO of MassMutual. "By seeking and valuing diverse perspectives and advocating for fairness, equality and inclusion, we are fostering a progressive, innovative culture that enables us to achieve our purpose of helping people secure their future and protecting the ones they love.""UTC is committed to the advancement of women in leadership positions - and we are proud to join the Paradigm for Parity Coalition to put this commitment into action," said Greg Hayes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of United Technologies Corporation."As a company that is committed to helping people live their best lives, Thrive Global is proud to join the Paradigm for Parity to ensure women have equal access and opportunity to reach corporate leadership," said Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO of Thrive Global. "We know diverse and inclusive businesses perform better and we look forward to working with Paradigm for Parity to bring more women into the c-suite.""Creating opportunity for all of our associates is one of Walmart's guiding principles, and that's why we took the Paradigm for Parity pledgeato continue to ensure that women succeed at all levels of leadership. With more than one million women working for Walmart across the world, their success is vital to our future. The Paradigm for Parity action plan will help us accelerate the important work already underway that makes Walmart a great place for everyone to work," said Jacqui Canney, Executive Vice President, Global People Division of Walmart.Data show that companies that have a strong representation of women in leadership levels have better business outcomes than those that do not have a diverse leadership. In fact, companies that are more diverse are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their industry averages, according to research from McKinsey & Company. Additionally, companies with 50% women in senior operating roles show 19% higher return on equity (ROE) on average, according to Credit Suisse.Launched in December 2016 by a diverse group of current and former women CEOS and business leaders, Paradigm for Parity is committed to working with companies and executives to achieve a new norm in corporate leadership: one in which women and men have equal power, status and opportunity. The coalition created a 5-Point Action Plan comprised of synergistic steps that, when implemented together, will catalyze change and enable substantial progress towards gender parity by 2030.The five points are:aEliminating or minimizing unconscious bias in the workplace;aSignificantly increasing the number of women in senior operating roles, with the near-term goal of at least 30% representation in all leadership groups;aMeasuring targets and maintaining accountability by providing regular progress reports;aBasing career progress on business results and performance, rather than physical presence in the office; andaProviding sponsors, not just mentors, to women well positioned for long term success.CEOs from the following 60 companies have committed to achieve gender parity in corporate leadership: 72andSunny, Accenture, Adecco Group, ALOM, American Electric Power, Anthem, Inc., APCO Worldwide, Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), AstraZeneca, Bank of America, Bloomberg, Broadway Angels, Burson Marsteller, Cargill, Co: Collective, Coca-Cola, DSC Logistics, Eastman Chemical Company, Edison International, Egon Zehnder, Ernst & Young, Equinix, Farient Advisors, First Source, LLC, Frontier Communications, HealthHelp, Heidrick & Struggles, Henry Schein, Inc., Hershey, Huffington Post, Ingersoll Rand, KeyCorp, Lieberman Research Worldwide, Linkage, LinkedIn, Manpower Group, MassMutual, McKinsey & Company, Meredith Corporation, MetricStream, Monsanto, NeoGenomics, Newmont Mining Corp., Nordstrom, Out & Equal, The Perkins Fund, Principal, Project Glimmer, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, SAP, Skillsoft, Spencer Stuart, Synchrony Financial, TDIndustries, Inc., Thrive Global, United Technologies, VF Corporation, Voya Financial, Walmart and Willis Towers Watson.
Vanguard Integrity Professionals At GSE UK 2017 In United Kingdom

LAS VEGAS: Vanguard Integrity Professionals, Inc., cybersecurity experts with cybersecurity solutions securing any enterprise, is proud to sponsor and exhibit at GSE UK 2017 in Whittlebury, United Kingdom November 7 - 8, 2017.





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Additionally, Vanguard will be presenting on topics addressing the latest cybersecurity and compliance issues. Vanguard will highlight its security solutions demonstrating how they play a vital role protecting any enterprise, cloud or IBM z/OS security server environment.GSE UK 2017 brings together thought leaders, experts and professionals at all levels of cyber security as well as the next generation of cyber defenders. The GSE UK Conference is an annual event organized by the GSE Conference Committee. The conference includes several keynote and plenary sessions and a large number of subject streams, each of which covers a specific area of interest targeting cybersecurity.Security experts from Vanguard will be on hand at GSE UK 2017 to discuss the latest security and compliance topics, trends and techniques over the two-day conference. We invite you to come by our booth and meet Vanguard executives.
First Cohort Of 2-Year Bank On Fellows Launches In Five Coalitions

NEW YORK: The Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) announced today the awarding of five 2-year fellowships to advance local Bank On coalition operations and generate best practices for coalitions across the country.





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Local Bank On coalitions across the country, led by or working closely with local government, work to expand access to safe and appropriate financial products and services to the over 65 million people outside of the mainstream financial system who rely on alternative, costly financial services.Five Fellowships were awarded to coalitions in Houston, TX (Bank On Houston); Mobile, AL (Bank On South Alabama); New Haven, CT (Bank On New Haven); Summit County, OH (Bank On Rubber City); and Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota, FL (Bank On Suncoast)."Bank On coalitions across the country do critical work helping consumers to access safe, affordable accounts - but often lack funding for dedicated leadership," said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. "We are proud to support these five coalitions and their new Fellows with training and resources, and look forward to the sharing lessons learned from this cohort with the broader Bank On movement."The Bank On Fellowship program provides funding to support a full-time staff position for two years, a "Fellow," to lead coalition activities. It is the first national initiative focused on building a multi-city cohort of successful Bank On program coordinators, equipping them with the training, tools, and resources to make significant advancements in local banking access efforts and at the same time generating best practices for other coalitions around the country.The goal of Bank On is to ensure that everyone has access to safe and affordable financial products and services. The Bank On National Account Standards identify critical product features for appropriate bank or credit union accounts, making it easier for local coalitions across the country to connect consumers to accounts that meet their needs. Core account features include low costs, no overdraft fees, robust transaction capabilities such as a debit or prepaid card, and online bill pay. Already, Bank On certified accounts are available in over 24,100 branches across 49 states and the District of Columbia.The Bank On Fellowship program is supported by Wells Fargo, whose $1 million investment supports Bank On Fellows work for 2 years, as well as providing broader support for Bank On efforts to connect residents to safe, appropriate accounts."Economic empowerment a especially by expanding access to responsible financial products and services a is one of Wells Fargo's philanthropic priorities, so we are proud to collaborate with CFE Fund to sponsor the Bank On Fellowship Program," said Shelley Marquez, Wells Fargo Senior Vice President and Community Relations Senior Manager. "This program is an innovative way to allow coalitions to devote full-time resources to helping consumers join or re-join the financial mainstream, so they are keeping and growing more of their money instead of relying on costly financial alternatives."The CFE Fund provides funding and technical assistance to help coalitions improve availability of appropriate low-cost, low-fee transactional bank accounts that meet the Bank On National Account Standards; builds and strengthens coalition infrastructure and leadership; invests in replicable methods of reaching underserved markets through local government programming infrastructure, and leads a national learning community of local coalitions and other Bank On stakeholders.
Youth Local Councils awarded USD 100,000 McNulty Prize for Innovative Model Of Youth Democracy

WASHINGTON: The McNulty Foundation today announced Lana Abu-Hijleh and Youth Local Councils as the recipient of the tenth annual John P. McNulty Prize. Ms. Abu-Hijleh is being honored for pioneering a program that engages over 25,000 youth in the West Bank, and has expanded to Honduras and Ukraine.





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Through voluntary bodies of elected youth, the Youth Local Councils enable young people to practice leadership and good governance, receive hundreds of hours of training, and propose, plan and execute community projects."Youth Local Councils are exporting a model of civic engagement and democracy that is critically needed around the world," said former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, chair of the McNulty Prize jury. "While faith in democracy itself may be declining, here, young people are choosing involvement over disengagement."The $100,000 McNulty Prize recognizes leaders who harness the innovation and excellence that characterized their career success to create replicable, sustainable models for addressing seemingly intractable global challenges."Leadership writ large is in crisis around the world. Youth Local Councils invest in the next generation in the most positive way, giving young people the tools and platform to make their voices heard and to lead effectively," said McNulty Foundation President and Aspen Institute Trustee Anne Welsh McNulty.Watch the short documentary on Lana Abu-Hijleh and the Youth Local Councils, and learn more about the McNulty Foundation at mcnultyfound.orgBuilding The Next Generation Of LeadersTrained as a civil engineer, Lana Abu-Hijleh has dedicated her career to the economic development of Palestine and the region, including 17 years with the United Nations Development Program, and now as Country Director of Global Communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.In 2008, she founded the Youth Local Councils to engage young Palestinians and build their leadership skills and experience in self-government. The councils reflect the positions and structure of local municipal councils, and are held and elected by youth ages 15-22. What began as a pilot with 700 youth in four communities now engages over 25,000 youth in more than 40 communities in the West Bank. Members serve two-year terms and receive hundreds of hours of training, and participate in budgetary and leadership decisions on real projects in their communitiesafrom making municipal buildings accessible to people with disabilities, to building parks for families and communities, to collaborative advocacy campaigns that influence national policy.Youth Local Councils alumni are now assuming positions of leadership in civil society and international nonprofit organizations, and in the public sector as elected city councilmembers and deputy mayors. Furthermore, the model has been replicated abroad in Honduras and Ukraine."The challenges that young people face are not unique to Palestine," said Lana Abu-Hijleh. "The Youth Local Councils have given them the hope they need to invest in their own countries and communities, and not turn to despair, violence or any other form of extremism."The John P. McNulty Prize was founded by Anne Welsh McNulty in memory of her late husband, to recognize the boldness and impact of individuals using their exceptional leadership abilities and entrepreneurial talents to address the world's toughest challenges. Celebrating a decade of galvanizing high-impact leadership, the McNulty Prize has honored over 40 of the most impactful social ventures from Fellows of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.A distinguished jury, including Secretary Madeleine Albright, Ugandan statesman Olara Otunnu, international development expert Brizio Biondi-Morra and Ford Foundation president Darren Walker selected the 2017 winner. Previous juries have included Mary Robinson, Bill Gates, Sr., and Sir Richard Branson, among others.Middle East Leadership Initiative Fellow Lana Abu-Hijleh, along with her venture Youth Local Councils, was one of four Laureates selected from the Aspen Global Leadership Network. The 2017 Laureates include Carolina Freire for Voluntarios de Panamain Panama, Bruce Robertson forTRAIL in Uganda, and Amjad Tadros for Syria Direct in Jordan. Each Laureate receives $25,000. The 2017 Winner and Laureates will be honored at the annual McNulty Prize reception in New York on November 8, with a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the McNulty Prize.Tune in at 6:30pm EST on November 8 for a live interview with Lana Abu-Hijleh, hosted on Twitter @AspenInstitute. Follow @McNultyPrize and join the conversation #McNultyPrize.The Middle East Leadership Initiative (MELI) identifies and motivates proven business, government and civil society leaders from countries in the Middle Eastaencompassing all countries in the region, including those in the Gulf Cooperation Councilato apply their unique skills and platforms to solving pressing societal challenges in their communities and countries.
iPhone X glitches: Users report 'green line' on display screen

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov 11 : A few of Apple's iPhone X users have reported an inextinguishable green line on their device's display.





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According to TechCrunch, a mysterious 'green line of death' appeared on the phones of a handful of users, who took to Twitter, Reddit, and other such forums to express their concern.Apple's iPhone X, launched in September 2017, is the latest power-packed offering from the tech giant.The phone, which comes with a 5.80-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1125 pixels by 2436 pixels has a new diamond sub-pixel pattern. The sub-pixels are green, red, and blue in color.It is likely that an electrical fault in a few phones is causing voltage to flow to all the green sub-pixels in a line.However, Apple still remains unavailable for comment.Earlier in 2016, Samsung's Galaxy S7 had reported a similar problem where users had complained of a pink line down screen.This issue under all likelihood is covered under the company's standard warranty, and owners have also reported that Apple is exchanging their phones.
Magazine Grands Prix to Merge with the National Magazine Awards

TORONTO: The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) and Magazines Canada are proud to announce a commitment to an ongoing collaboration to recognize and celebrate Canadian creators, editorial teams and the titles that publish their work with the integration of 10 Magazine Grands Prix categories into the National Magazine Awards.





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Starting December 1st, the National Magazine Awards will be a unified program of 29 categories crafted to recognize excellence in journalism, writing, visual art, design and publishing. The program will honour the outstanding achievements of our industry's best creators and publishers, and reflect the exciting future of Canadian storytellingathe stories and perspectives that make us unique. Open to all Canadian creators and publications in both official languages, the National Magazine Awards recognize our country's diverse communities of readers."We are delighted to enter into this new chapter with Magazines Canada to amplify our shared purpose of championing the breadth of excellence and creativity in magazines through one awards program," said Nino Di Cara, President of the NMAF.The collaboration confirms that a third of the NMAF Board will include magazine community members, who will be appointed in consultation with Magazines Canada. Jessica Johnson, Executive Editor and Creative Director from The Walrus, and Dominique Ritter, Editor-in-Chief from Reader's Digest Canada were the first such appointees. The NMAF has also appointed two new executive members for 2018: Canada's History Publisher Melony Ward has been elected Vice-President for the National Magazine Awards program, and CBC News' Chief of Staff Kenny Yum Vice-President for the Digital Publishing Awards program. The complete list of NMAF Directors is available here."We are thrilled to be collaborating with the National Media Awards Foundation; these unified awards will allow us to truly come together to celebrate the diversity and accomplishments of Canada's magazine community," said Matthew Holmes, President and CEO of Magazines Canada.Since their inception in the 1970s, Magazines Canada and the National Media Awards Foundation have been committed to inclusivity, diversity and transparency and are proud to serve and support the work of Canadian creators and publishers.Members of the magazine media community are invited to attend 'Showcasing Success', an industry networking event on November 2 in Toronto. Representatives from both Magazines Canada and the NMAF will be in attendance to celebrate this new relationship and share more information about the awards program.CATEGORY LINE-UP FOR THE 41ST NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDSWriting & Visual Awards, recognizing excellence by Canadian creators in print or digital magazines, include a cash prize of $1,000 to the Gold Medal winner.1. Long-Form Feature Writing2. Feature Writing3. Short Feature Writing4. Columns5. Essays6. Fiction7. Investigative Reporting8. Personal Journalism9. Poetry10. Professional Article11. Profiles12. Service Journalism13. Best New Magazine Writer14. Illustration15. Portraits Photography16. Lifestyle Photography17. Photo Essay & Photojournalism18. One of a Kind StorytellingEditorial Awards recognizing excellence by a team of magazine creators, editors and art directors in print or digital magazines.19. Best Art Direction of a Single Article20. Best Editorial Package21. Art Direction Grand Prix22. Editor Grand Prix23. Cover Grand PrixThe Grands Prix: Best Magazine awards recognizing outstanding achievement in magazine publishing.24. General Interest25. Service26. Lifestyle27. Fashion & Beauty28. Art & Literary29. Special InterestTwo special awards will also be presented at the 41st NMA Awards Gala. These awards are the highest honours bestowed to a magazine and an individual.The Magazine Grand Prix title will go to the Best Magazine winner which demonstrates overall excellence in bringing its publishing team together to create an outstanding product; and the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement, which recognizes an individual's innovation and creativity through contributions to the magazine industry.
HEYBURN  The city of Heyburn scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday to flip a coin to break a tie vote between two city council candidates.

Incumbent Councilman Dick L. Galbraith and Glen Loveland tied for a four-year seat with 112 votes apiece.

Chad Anderson, who currently holds a two-year seat, won the other four-year seat with 176 votes. Candidates Michael Covington took 49 votes and Nile Bohon, who withdrew from the race on Nov. 2, received 28.

City Clerk Ashlee Langley will perform the deciding coin toss at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 941 18th Street.
Survey: Parents Extremely Supportive of Their Teens' Entrepreneurial Dreams, but Most Teens Don't Have Them

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo: New research conducted by ORC International on behalf of Junior Achievement (JA) and EY shows that nearly nine-in-ten parents (88pc ) would be extremely or very likely to support their teen's interest in becoming an entrepreneur as an adult, but less than one-in-three teens (30pc ) demonstrate that same level of enthusiasm for starting a business.





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For teens, the greatest concerns for starting a business include it being "too risky" (31%) and "not enough money in it" (22%). Only 16 percent of teens indicate they have no concerns about trying. Conversely, 53 percent of parents have no concerns about their teen starting a business as an adult. Those citing concerns focused on it being "too risky" (27%) and there being "not enough money in it" (9%)."These results speak to some of the challenges facing the nation when it comes to business creation," said Jack Kosakowski, President and CEO of Junior Achievement USA. "Since the Great Recession in 2008, the country has been experiencing a net decline in business start-ups. Today's young people grew up in the shadow of the Financial Crisis, which may explain their risk-aversion when it comes to taking the entrepreneurial leap. This is why we need to promote the benefits of entrepreneurship early and often."The survey was conducted to coincide with EY's support of Junior Achievement's JA Launch Lesson, a program delivered by community entrepreneurs whereby high school students gain firsthand knowledge about starting a business and the entrepreneurial journey. JA Launch Lesson is a 50-minute educational experience that creates a point-of-entry for students, volunteers, and educators.Starting in November during National Entrepreneurship month, the JA Launch Lesson program will be delivered by entrepreneurs in classrooms, after-school facilities, and other student venues across the United States. Entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to connect with students, provide relevant information about their company and entrepreneurial journey, and share advice and next steps for students who are interested in starting their own business.Teens were also asked what they would need in order to consider becoming an entrepreneur. About half said they would need "more information on what it takes to be successful" (51%), "investors" (50%) and "support from parents" (49%). About a third said they would need "a role model who is a business owner" (35%) and "friends with a similar interest" (32%)."Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind growth and positive change, and at EY we believe it is vital to help enable our future generation of innovators," said Randy Cain, Vice Chair and Southwest Region Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP, and JA USA board member. "Creative, hands-on programs such as JA Launch Lesson are critical to providing our youth with the tools, information and resources necessary to succeed when starting their own business."MethodologyThis report presents the findings of surveys conducted among a sample of 1,007 parents of children ages 13-17 and a sample of 1,005 13-17-year-olds. The surveys were live on October 3-8, 2017.Respondents for these surveys are selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in online surveys and polls. Because the sample is based on those who initially self-selected for participation, no estimates of sampling error can be calculated. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to multiple sources of error, including, but not limited to sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options.
IHOP Restaurants Team Up With Children Of Fallen Patriots Foundation To Help Secure College Scholarships For Military Children Who Have Lost A Parent In The Line Of Duty

GLENDALE, Calif: IHOP Restaurants is honored to partner with Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation (CFPF), an organization that provides college scholarships and educational counseling to military children who have lost a parent in the line of duty.





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During the entire month of November, participating IHOP restaurants will donate $1 from every Red, White & Blue Pancake Combo sold to the charitable organization as well as offer guests the opportunity to contribute to the cause by making an on-check donation at participating IHOP restaurants nationwide.On Friday, November 10, participating IHOP restaurants will also thank veterans by offering retired and active duty military members a free stack of three Red, White & Blue pancakes or a Red, White and Blue pancake combo (depending on franchised location offer) between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM at IHOP restaurants nationwide.*"Throughout the entire month of November, IHOP and our franchisees will salute the brave men and women who have given so much to protect our country and our freedom," said Darren Rebelez, President, IHOP. "This year, we're proud to expand our partnership with Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation, an incredible organization who shares our commitment to supporting children and families in our communities. As a veteran myself, this effort holds a special meaning for me."Over the past 35 years, nearly 20,000 children have been impacted when a parent was killed in the line of duty; CFPF seeks to lighten the load of those families knowing that 63% of surviving spouses make less than $50,000 per year. IHOP and CFPF both share the belief that children are the future and a college education helps set tomorrow's leaders up for success."During our month-long national campaign, IHOP and its franchisees will support Fallen Patriots' mission of providing a college education to military children who've lost a parent in the line of duty by donating a portion of the proceeds from every Red, White and Blue pancake combo sold to their scholarship fund," continued Rebelez, a former Army Ranger and Gulf War veteran himself. "We invite guests to join us in honoring members of the Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice by helping secure greater educational opportunities and brighter futures for the sons and daughters they left behind.""The caring and generosity being shown by all levels of the IHOP team ranging from Darren Rebelez, President, to individual franchisee owners are making it possible for children who lost a parent in the service of our country to receive a college education," said David Kim, co-founder and CEO of Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation. "We are truly grateful and honored to partner with IHOP in caring for military families."The Red, White & Blue Pancake Combo comes with two of the brand's world-famous Buttermilk pancakes topped with glazed strawberries, blueberry compote and whipped topping, and is served alongside two made-to-order eggs, hash browns and the choice of two strips of bacon, ham or pork sausage links.The free offer on Friday, November 10 is available to retired and active duty military personnel with proof of military service from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM at participating IHOP locations nationwide.* Proof of military service includes: U.S. Uniformed Services ID Card, U.S. Uniformed Services Retired ID Card, Current Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), veterans organization card (e.g., American Legion, VFW, etc.), photograph of self in U.S. military uniform, wearing uniform, DD214, military dog tags, and citation or commendation. This offer is dine-in only.
Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Names University of Kentucky Provost as the Company's Next CEO

CINCINNATI: Aprecia Pharmaceuticals announced today that Dr. Timothy Tracy will serve as the company's next Chief Executive Officer, beginning in January 2018. Dr. Tracy currently serves as the Provost for the University of Kentucky, a position he will maintain through the end of 2017.





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Tracy, a Fellow with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and an expert in clinical pharmacology, brings extensive technical skills to Aprecia. He also brings to the company significant leadership competencies, having held numerous key positions at state universities, including several years spent in his current role at the University of Kentucky.Additionally, Tracy, who earned his PhD in clinical pharmacy from Purdue University, is a registered pharmacist in the state of Ohio. He holds two patents related to drug delivery systems and has published more than 100 scientific manuscripts."Along with being a wonderful person and a well-respected scientist within the pharmaceutical industry, Tim Tracy has been a driving force for advancing the mission and development of the University of Kentucky," said E. Thomas Arington, Aprecia's Chairman. "We are excited that he will apply his extensive scientific and leadership capabilities toward the growth of Aprecia, and we look forward to the positive impact he will make across the organization."Aprecia's current chief executive officer, Don Wetherhold, will stay with the company, moving to the role of Advisor to the Chairman in 2018. In this role, Wetherhold will continue to provide Aprecia support in the areas of strategic direction, business development, and product commercialization."Aprecia is very fortunate to retain Don Wetherhold's services," said Arington. "Don has led Aprecia well, and he will continue to be a key leader for the company. This new role will allow Don greater capacity to leverage his considerable industry expertise, thereby further benefitting Aprecia."Aprecia is the world's first and only manufacturer of FDA-approved pharmaceutical products using three dimensional printing (3DP). The company's ZipDose Technology produces rapidly disintegrating orodispersible tablets designed to address patient compliance by making medicine easy to swallow and administer. Aprecia is currently positioned to expand its 3DP technology across multiple therapeutic categories. Future advancements are expected to result in specialty products that address unmet patient needs."Aprecia's technology has the potential not only to transform the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing but alsoaand more importantlyato produce medicines that uniquely address people's needs," Tracy stated. "I am thrilled to be joining the Aprecia team; working with creative individuals and innovative platforms to improve patient's lives is truly an honor."
Aventura Mall's Treats Food Hall to Debut this Winter with an Array of Unique Options

AVENTURA, Fla: Aventura Mall's Treats Food Hall will open this winter with an eclectic collection of nearly a dozen local and national eateries, including Miami's first Figs by Todd English, the famed chef and restaurateur; Danny Meyer's trendsetting Shake Shack; Luke's Lobster, a Northeast favorite that is expanding worldwide; and more.





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Located on the third level of Aventura Mall's highly anticipated 315,000 square-foot expansion wing, Treats Food Hall will be both refined and seamlessly connected to its natural surroundings. Enhanced by dramatic views and illuminated by natural light, the unconventional destination will be at once energized and calming. Abundant communal seating, including intimate banquettes and shared bar tables, will be interspersed around the space and a separate terrace is ideal for those wishing to dine al fresco."We're creating an immersive dining experience that will be unlike any other," said Jackie Soffer, Co-Chair and CEO of Turnberry Associates, owner and manager of Aventura Mall. "Treats Food Hall will be highlighted by design aesthetics, attention to detail, and a carefully selected collection of eateries, each with its own style and unique approach."Treats Food Hall will include:Figs by Todd EnglishA concept by American celebrity chef, restaurateur and TV personality, Todd English, Figs is known for its traditional thin-crust, free-form pizzas. Based in Boston, the casual, bistro-style restaurant serves inventive and gourmet everyday food.Shake ShackFounded by Danny Meyer in New York City, the known and loved fast casual restaurant chain has quickly expanded nationally after opening its first outpost as a food cart inside Madison Square Park in 2004. At Aventura Mall, Shake Shack will be the perfect destination to indulge in delicious burgers, chicken, hot dogs, shakes, frozen custard and more.Luke's LobsterA cozy, Maine-bred seafood shack, Luke's Lobster is committed to serving simple dishes that highlight superior, sustainably-sourced ingredients. The brand, which is famous for its Lobster Rolls, as well as Crab and Shrimp Rolls, pairs its seafood with chowders and bisques, Maine-style sides, local desserts and natural sodas.GOGO FreshServing up everything from light and flavorful salads to Nutella-filled pies, GOGO makes all its food on-premises using premium and fresh ingredients. The minimalist, counter-serve cafe originated on Miami Beach and also offers a wide selection of empanadas.My CevicheMy Ceviche brings flavors from around the world together in perfect harmony. The first location debuted in South Beach and the brand has continued to expand all over Miami. Aventura Mall will be the seventh My Ceviche. Foodies love this cevicheria for its ultra-fresh seafood...and chicken too.ZUUK Mediterranean KitchenFounded by the same owners as My Ceviche, ZUUK was built on tradition. The owners bring the cooking they grew up with and crave on a daily basis to consumers. ZUUK is a hip and healthy option, offering Mediterranean eats and health-centric drinks.Poke 305This Brickell-based, Hawaiian-style outpost caters to those with a love of fresh food. The fast-casual eatery offers an assortment of fresh and organic ingredients, homemade sauces and unlimited combinations for made-to-order poke bowls and salads. The Aventura Mall location will be the second location for the year-old restaurant brand.Hank & Harry's DelicatessenFirst opened on Miami Beach's Lincoln Road, Hank & Harry's is a NYC-inspired new-wave deli. Offering comfort food such as pastrami sandwiches, subs and matzo ball soup, it's an ideal location for a hearty, grab-and-go meal.SliderzGourmet sliders made with locally sourced ingredients are at the center of this fast-casual spot's menu. A national chain currently in five states, Sliderz offers a variety of sandwiches for all cravings - chicken, beef, fish, pork and vegetarian options are available.Haagen DazsThe renowned American ice cream brand established in the Bronx, New York has a passion for crafting the perfect flavors and creamiest textures using only the finest ingredients. With an ample selection of ice cream flavors and toppings, Haagen Dazs will satisfy anyone's sweet tooth.The BALThe BAL is known for its authentic Asian cuisine inspired by Chinese and Vietnamese recipes. The food is prepared using signature wok-cooking styles that complement Chinese and Vietnamese culinary influences using traditional Asian ingredients.Taking shape on the east side of the property, Aventura Mall's new three-level expansion wing is set to open this November. The new wing will create an inviting exchange between indoors and outdoors highlighted by the much-anticipated return of Zara, Florida's first Topshop Topman store, and experiential, site-specific additions to the Arts Aventura Mall collection.As visitors arrive, they will be awed by the monumental, nearly 93-foot tall, tubular Aventura Slide Tower by Carsten Holler that can be enjoyed from a distance or experienced by sliding down the sculpture. Gorillas in the Mist by The Haas Brothers will be comprised of three large-scale bronze gorillas and four massive bronze trees. The piece will functionally circulate water, creating a space that is peaceful, evocative and amusing for families.In addition to the Food Hall, Aventura Mall's new expansion wing will offer visitors numerous indoor-outdoor dining experiences sure to please any palate, including Tap 42 Kitchen & Bar, CVI.CHE 105, Serafina, Pubbelly Sushi, Genuine Pizza, Blue Bottle, Joe & The Juice, Le Pain Quotidien, Rosetta Bakery and more.
Safari: O'Reilly's Learning Platform for Higher Education now available from ProQuest

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif: O'Reilly Media's completely new version of Safari: O'Reilly's Learning Platform for Higher Education is now available from ProQuest. This version of Safari features both a new student experience and a new business model that provides academic institutions with easier, more affordable access for their entire student body.





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"We designed the new Safari to support today's students, who expect to learn online, on their own time, and in their preferred way," said Karen Hebert-Maccaro, O'Reilly's Chief Content Officer. "No longer just an online library, Safari is a rich, full-featured learning platform. And, our revamped business model allows our higher-ed customers to give all of their students full access to Safari. We are very excited to work with ProQuest, our exclusive distributor in the academic library market, to offer this new platform to libraries around the globe."Higher education institutions that subscribe to the new Safari receive unlimited, concurrent access to a comprehensive, growing repository of content from more than 250 of the world's premier publishers supported with innovative technologies and tools - all in one place. Key features and benefits include:aMultiple modesabooks, video, case studies, learning paths and other mediaaserving students at all levels of proficiencyaMobile access, with offline learning for easy answers on the goaLearning resources for emerging career fields like big data, artificial intelligence, and gamingaNew, exclusive O'Reilly-produced content from world-renowned innovators and corporate leadersaPersonalization and content recommendationsaAdministration dashboards to help librarians manage data and track usage"ProQuest is proud to continue our partnership with O'Reilly, as they are truly innovating student learning in the fast-moving areas of technology and business," said Kevin Sayar, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ProQuest Books. "We're confident that librarians, faculty and students alike will appreciate that Safari offers a solution beyond the classroom -- one that helps build knowledge and skills for the workforce and lifelong learning."
India Jumps 30 Places in World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report

WASHINGTON: The World Bank released its annual Ease of Doing Business Report, yesterday, in which India climbed a historic 30 spaces forward, due to reforms and policy changes that have been made by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.





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This year's ranking represents India's highest ever increase and signals the momentum for reforms being made under Prime Minister Modi. India is the only large country featured in this year's reports that has achieved such a significant shift.USISPF commends this important achievement, which reflects the incredible progress India has made in recent years in increasing the ease of doing business in the country. John Chambers, Chairman of USISPF, congratulated Prime Minister Modi for this achievement, adding, "India's future is brighter than ever thanks to the government's willingness to embrace tough but essential economic reforms, such as demonetization and creating the Goods and Service Tax. This, in combination with unprecedented investments in its digital infrastructure and workforce, will only continue to strengthen the U.S.-India strategic partnership for years to come."Indra Nooyi, USISPF Board Member and Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, spoke about the improvements being made for retail companies, saying "India's economy is making tremendous progress adapting to the demands of life in the 21st century, particularly when it comes to digital infrastructure and using technology to turn demonetization into remonitization. Given the Prime Minister's commitment to making it easier for international companies to do business, I have a feeling that the pace of change will only accelerate, and before long Incredible India will be known as Innovative India."Punit Renjen, USISPF Board Member and CEO of Deloitte spoke about this report's significance for the services sector, saying, "India has streamlined the business incorporation process by combining elements for submission into a single form. I commend the efforts being made by the Government of India, which will greatly improve the ease of doing business for the services sector, and across all sectors."The improvements over the past year have put India on this year's World Bank list of top ten improvers for doing business among all countries across the world. Mukesh Aghi, President of USISPF, said, "We applaud the efforts made by Prime Minister Modi's government. The 30 slot increase shows results made by the Prime Minister and will have a strong impact on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India going forward."USISPF aims to build upon this already significant trajectory that has been built under the Modi government and is working with both local and central governments to further these reforms and build FDI by engaging U.S. member companies in these efforts.USISPF has carefully selected the most well-regarded, global Board of Directors for India related matters. These members serve as both prominent business leaders and global influencers with an ability to impact international relations and corporate affairs worldwide. While promoting trade is an important pillar of the organization's work, it also focuses on promoting job creation, inclusion, start-ups, innovation, and education. USISPF works to create the most powerful strategic relationship between the United States and India, and believes this can be achieved by business and government coming together to create meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens.As champions of the U.S.-India commercial and strategic partnership, we believe there is an unprecedented opportunity for business communities in both countries to play a larger role in the next chapter of this important bilateral partnership. USISPF is uniquely suited to work together with leaders in the United States and India to achieve our shared goals. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., USISPF has offices in New York, Silicon Valley, Mumbai, and New Delhi.
American Red Cross and Grainger Partner to Prepare for and Respond to Disasters Large and Small

WASHINGTON: The American Red Cross today recognizes Grainger, in celebration of the company's 90th anniversary, for its long-standing partnership and support of Red Cross disaster response and preparedness work.





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Throughout the years, Grainger has leveraged its resources, best practices in logistics, employee engagement and technology to help the Red Cross prepare for and respond to disaster of all sizes. Since 2001, Grainger has donated nearly $17 million in cash and product to the Red Cross, and currently serves as a $1 million Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) member.ADGP members like Grainger pledge financial and in-kind donations in advance of disasters, powering the Red Cross with strong infrastructure, trained volunteers and critical resources necessary to provide relief and support to those in crisis. This annual contribution allows the Red Cross to respond whenever and wherever disasters occur, help families during the recovery process and prepare people for future emergencies."As Grainger celebrates its 90th anniversary, the Red Cross wants to thank the company, its employees and customers for generously supporting our disaster relief efforts for more than a decade," said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross. "In addition to Grainger's support during recent disasters, we truly value their contributions to our preparedness programs such as Ready When the Time Comes - which has allowed us to prepare the business community to help the Red Cross respond to unforeseen disasters - and our Home Fire Campaign, in which Grainger has donated nearly 70,000 smoke alarms since 2014 to ensure people are safe. Furthermore, their meaningful support of our Volunteer Connection system has proved vital in strengthening our infrastructure and enabling the Red Cross to better engage our dedicated volunteers. We are extremely grateful for Grainger's steadfast and impactful partnership."Grainger Supports Relief Efforts of Recent Natural DisastersThrough its partnership, Grainger works with the Red Cross in several ways to bring relief to communities affected by disasters. During the past year-and-a-half:aGrainger donated $400,000 in product, including gloves, dust masks and trash bags, after the 2016 Louisiana floods.aIn the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, Grainger committed $250,000 worth of product donations, such as gloves, shovels, dust masks, trash bags, brooms and sheets, to support relief efforts. As an ADGP member, Grainger's contribution also enabled the Red Cross to mobilize ahead of the storms to respond immediately to the needs of hundreds of thousands of people. To date, with the help of our partners, the Red Cross has provided more than 1.3 million overnight shelter stays, served more than 6.7 million meals and snacks, and distributed more than 5.1 million relief and cleanup items to help hurricane survivors get back on their feet.aGrainger's employees also packed 1,500 comfort kits, which include personal-hygiene items such as: shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, a comb, a toothbrush and toothpaste, razors to provide to people in Red Cross shelters who were impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.aGrainger's employees also remotely mapped areas in southwest Puerto Rico, as part of the Missing Maps project, to help the Red Cross and partner agencies plan and conduct disaster relief operations on the island following Hurricane Maria. Missing Maps is an open, collaborate project in which people can help map areas that are "missing" from the map so that humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross and first responders can help meet the needs of people impacted by disaster.aGrainger also offers a Charitable Matching Gift program for its employees to make a donation to the Red Cross, where the company offers a 3:1 match of eligible employee contributions (up to $2,500 annually) to qualifying organizations."This year, we've seen several areas devastated by natural disasters, and I applaud the speed and agility shown by the American Red Cross and the selfless actions of our team members to help provide relief to those affected communities," said Grainger Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DG Macpherson. "I am very proud of our team members. When our customers and our communities face challenges, regardless of size or scale, Grainger is there to offer expertise, service and solutions that provide value. This is what makes us who we are. As Grainger celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, we have a lot to be proud of as we look back and a lot to be excited about as we look forward."In addition, Grainger worked with the Mexican Red Cross to donate items like hand tools, batteries, flashlights and personal protection equipment such as gloves, dust masks and helmets to help with earthquake rescue and recovery efforts.People interested in supporting Red Cross disaster relief efforts through Grainger can visit Grainger.com to make a donation through the company's giving page featured on its homepage.
Nosco Announces Acquisition and New Product Launch

GURNEE, Ill: Nosco, Inc., a subsidiary of Holden Industries, Inc., announced today that it has acquired assets of Knight Packaging Group, Inc., a Chicago-based offset folding carton printer with more than 50 years of experience in the industry.





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With this investment, Nosco will be more broadly equipped to serve the needs of its growing customer base by adding:aNew products and capabilitiesaSignificantly greater capacity to produce folding cartonsaAn additional carton facility for redundancy in operations, completing a goal to have facility redundancy for all significant product offerings"The acquisition of these assets supports Nosco's commitment to consistent growth, innovative new product solutions and lean manufacturing. In addition, this asset acquisition enables Nosco to expand into new markets, serve new customers and hire new employees located on the south side of Chicago with outstanding work ethics," said Nosco President Russ Haraf.Nosco is moving the acquired assets into a 94,000-square-foot facility in Bridgeview, Illinois, which has been upgraded and designed to enable operational excellence and cost-competitive manufacturing. This plant will expand Nosco's current printing and finishing capabilities, adding an in-house sheeting operation, windowing capabilities, new specialty coatings, and a broader portfolio of materials and decorative features. The acquisition will also allow Nosco to expand into new markets and add new customers, adding to its long-standing reputation of serving healthcare customers with a broad array of printed packaging products and services."The divestiture of the Knight assets to Nosco represents an outstanding opportunity for everyone involved. Customers will enjoy access to more capacity and capability with Nosco," said Don McCann, CEO of Knight Packaging.
Nebraska's attorney general has chosen Norfolk killer Jose Sandoval as the next condemned prisoner to die, after a 20-year hiatus in executions in this state.

No request to the Nebraska Supreme Court for an execution warrant has been made, but Corrections Director Scott Frakes served notice to Sandoval on Thursday of the lethal injection drugs that would be administered to cause his death if an execution takes place.

That combination of drugs chosen has never been used in an execution.

State regulations require the prisons chief to notify condemned inmates 60 days prior to the attorney general requesting an execution warrant.

Attorney General Doug Peterson said he is prepared to request the Supreme Court issue Sandoval's execution warrant after at least 60 days have elapsed from the notice.

Corrections officials have chosen a new protocol for administering lethal injection drugs and have purchased diazepam, fentanyl citrate, cisatracuriam besylate and potassium chloride.

The drugs were purchased in the United States and received into the department's inventory Oct. 10, said Dawn-Renee Smith, spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

She would not name the company or suppliers from which they were purchased, or say whether the supplier was local or a compounding company. The Journal Star is pursuing the answers to those and other questions.

Nevada has a similar drug protocol, but uses three drugs: fentanyl, diazepam and cisatracurium. That protocol is in question after a judge said Wednesday she may cut a paralytic (cisatracurium) from the states previously untried lethal injection plan, after hearing that it could mask movements reflecting awareness and pain, according to The Associated Press.

The Nebraska department has tested its drugs for quality, according to a Corrections news release.

Sandoval, 38, is housed on death row at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. He was convicted and sentenced to death 13 years ago for killing five people at the U.S. Bank branch in Norfolk in September 2002.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, said in spite of the notice he doubted an execution was going to be carried out any time soon.

He and others need to know where the drugs came from, and whether there was a private compounding company manufacturing them, he said.

Other issues that have to be resolved, he said, include whether or not this combination of drugs has been used anywhere else, even though that would not bind Nebraska; whether or not the combination of drugs would be effective in accomplishing an execution; and whether they were designed to be used to take someone's life.

The Associated Press reported in April that a German pharmaceutical company spokesman said the potassium chloride the Nebraska Corrections Department had purchased in 2015 was not intended to be sold to a state corrections department. A distributor had tried unsuccessfully to get the department to return the drugs.

The fact that the department is withholding certain information, Chambers said, indicates it is not fully transparent and may feel there are weaknesses in what it is doing.

Chambers charged that the notice of intended execution drugs is timed to coincide with Gov. Pete Ricketts re-election campaign.

Ricketts responded, saying: "Last year the people of Nebraska reaffirmed that the death penalty remains an important part of protecting public safety in our state."

Thursday's announcement is the next step to carrying out the sentences ordered by the court, he said.

ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad said the organization was horrified" that the department planned to use Sandoval as a "test subject for an untested and experimental lethal injection cocktail."

"This rash decision will not fix the problems with Nebraskas broken death penalty and are a distraction from the real issues impacting Nebraskas Department of Corrections: an overcrowded, crisis-riddled system," she said.

America is a nation turning away from the death penalty, Conrad said, with more and more states seeing that ending capital punishment means improving public safety. Fiscal conservatives, faith leaders and public safety officials are increasingly leading efforts to replace the death penalty.

The ACLU will continue to discuss the states misguided plan with experts locally and nationally and evaluate the grave constitutional, legal and policy questions associated with this untested protocol, she said.

The attorney general said in a statement he agrees with the notice that was given to Sandoval.

"Sandoval planned the Sept. 26, 2002, Norfolk bank robbery when, in less than a minute, five innocent people were brutally shot and killed," Peterson said in a news release.

The dead included bank employees and customers. Sandoval personally killed three people, two more people were killed, and three more were in the midst of the gunfire that day. Sandovals crimes were captured on video.

The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld Sandovals convictions and death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court then denied further review of the sentence. Sandoval never filed any challenges to the Supreme Court decisions, Peterson said.

The last execution in Nebraska was Robert Williams in December 1997. It was carried out using the electric chair.
RUPERT A Rupert couple is planning to feed 1,000 people free Thanksgiving Day dinners on Nov. 23 at the Rupert Elks Lodge.

This will be the 16th year Ron and Deb Anderson, owners of Alaskas Best restaurant have hosted the meal designed to feed the hungry and offer fellowship to others on the day set aside for giving thanks.

This community has been really good to us, said Ron Anderson, who has watched the event grow over the years.

Last year, 700 dinners were served in the dining room or delivered to people in Mini-Cassia.

We will deliver meals and give people rides to the Elks, Anderson said.

To have a meal delivered or for a ride people must call 208-436-2447 prior to Thursday.

We are the only ones in Mini-Cassia that we know of having a dinner this year, Anderson said.

The traditional meal will include roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dinner rolls, dressing, yams, cranberries and for dessert pumpkin cake with whipped cream.

The event was held at the restaurant for the first couple years but soon outgrew the space.

For several years the Elks Lodge has donated its dining room and dozens of Elks members and people from the community donate or come by to help cook the food or deliver meals.

I really like watching people come out and knowing they enjoyed a meal they might not have had otherwise, James Smith, member of the Rupert Elks Lodge, said.

Smith will be one of the volunteers to help cook the turkeys on the Elks giant rotisserie.

If they are about 12 pound birds we can get about 24 on there at a time, Smith said.

The volunteers start cooking the turkeys on Wednesday and each batch takes about three hours to cook.

Anderson said Kat Kountry radio station holds a turkey drive each year and donates about 80 turkeys. They will need about 45 more turkeys to feed the expected crowds. Turkeys can be donated to Alaskas Best during business hours but after Tuesday they can only accept fresh turkeys because there is not time to thaw them prior to cooking if they are frozen.

Anderson said they borrow a freezer truck to store the birds in before they are cooked.

Minidoka County school cooks will be making about 900 dinner rolls and other businesses also pitch in to help.

We like to do it and it all comes back to us, Anderson said. Karma is a wonderful thing.
Video relay service now available to deaf Canadians 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

OTTAWA and GATINEAU, QC: A year after its launch, SRV Canada VRS has extended its service hours, enabling American Sign Language or Langue des signes quebecoise users to make and receive calls any time of the day.





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SRV Canada VRS allows its customers to communicate to a sign-language interpreter via an Internet-based video link. The interpreter provides real-time interpretation of conversations, as the system connects to the hearing caller whose words are translated into sign language.Since the launch of SRV Canada VRS, over 280,000 calls have been placed by nearly 5,000 Canadian subscribers.Quick FactsaThe CRTC created the Canadian Administrator of Video Relay Service (CAV, Inc.) to manage the service for all Canadians. The service was launched on September 28, 2016.aCanadians can access SRV Canada VRS at no cost. The service just requires a device such as a computer (Mac or PC), smartphone or tablet (iOS or Android) and a sufficient Internet connection.aAnyone wanting more information about the Video Relay Service or how to register should contact SRV Canada VRS.Quotes"We are delighted to see the positive impact the Video Relay Service has had over the last year for Canadians with hearing and speech disabilities. This initiative contributes greatly to ensuring an equal society for all Canadians. We will work closely with the Canadian Administrator of the Video Relay Service to promote this service so that even more Canadians benefit."Ian Scott, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the CRTC"This has been an incredible first year. CAV hasn't just been about setting up a relay service to help people make telephone calls, it has also empowered the deaf community. Customers are calling their banks and doctors, their friends, 9-1-1 and obtaining employment in ways they could not before. I'm so excited about the future of SRV Canada VRS and continuing to make refinements and improvements to the service."Sue Decker, Executive Director and CEO, CAV
Borders, territory, and migration: Three themes shared by three new exhibitions opening at the Canadian Photography Institute

OTTAWA: The fall-winter season at the Canadian Photography Institute (CPI) of the National Gallery of Canada opens November 3 with three exhibitions, each exploring borders, territory, and migration: Gold and Silver: Images and Illusions of the Gold Rush; Frontera: Views of the U.S.-Mexico Border, and PhotoLab 3: Between Friends.





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Gold and Silver: Images and illusions of the Gold RushOrganized by the Canadian Photography Institute in partnership with Library and Archives Canada, this exhibition was made possible thanks to the gift of "The Origins of Photography" collection from the Archive of Modern Conflict. More than 150 images, most of them never exhibited before, tell a story of the hopes, dreams, and illusions of an entire generation of pioneers during North America's two great gold rushes: the California gold rush of 1849, and the Klondike gold rush of 1896, which led to the establishment of the Yukon Territory.In the second half of the 19th century, legions of prospectors left everything behind to set off in search of gold. As the 1850s dawned, the encounter between these new Argonauts and the daguerreotype, a silver-based process only recently invented and the first that was publicly available, was immediate and intense. Forty years later, photography followed the gold rush to the Yukon. The medium underwent a profound transformation in between.While California's boom-towns slowly faded to ghost towns in the 1870s, Daguerre's mirror, now obsolete, made way for processes closer to the kind that would later emerge in the 20th century. Two great moments in the history of photography came to pass: between the gold rush of 1848 that began in San Francisco and the 1896 gold rush that began in Dawson City, photography evolved from single images on metal to multiple images on glass or paper.Whether on metal or paper, all of the images have gold in common."The fact that we are able to delight in these images today is thanks to the fact that back in their day they were given a gold bath, a metal more noble and stable than silver. For most taken in the 1850s, daguerreotypes present a crispness and exceptional depth, and were often enhanced with colour and touches of gold. The young Argonauts look back at us with shining eyes and seem so close. Photography was fresh and new back then, just like these Western adventurers," commented the exhibition curator, Luce Lebart, Director of the Canadian Photography Institute and author of the exhibition's companion book, Gold and Silver, co-published by the Canadian Photography Institute and RVB-BOOKS.
Pole Inspection and Replacement Program Continues at Ohio Edison to Enhance Service Reliability

AKRON, Ohio: To help enhance the reliability of its system, Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) utility, will replace or repair more than 1,700 wooden utility poles this year as part of the company's annual inspection program. The poles would stretch about 13 miles if laid end to end.





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Overall, Ohio Edison will inspect 57,000 of its 561,000 wooden poles in 2017 for signs of wear, insect infestation or damage from motor vehicle accidents, with a budgeted cost of approximately $4.5 million."Poles are vital to the delivery of electricity to homes and businesses in our service area," said Kevin Sestak, vice president of Operations, Ohio Edison. "Utility poles are in the elements 365 days a year and subject to damage from severe weather, falling trees and traffic accidents. Over time, some poles need to be replaced to help maintain our system's safety, reliability and resiliency."Typically, specialized contractors perform the pole inspections. As part of the process, a visual inspection is completed, along with inspecting the pole to determine if the interior is sound. Some poles can be reinforced rather than replaced. One of the most common reinforcement techniques is to snug a C-shaped steel beam against the pole, jackhammer the beam into the ground, and secure it to the pole with tight, metal bands.All wooden poles throughout the 34-county Ohio Edison territory are inspected on a 10-year cycle. The inspections began in January and continue throughout the year, with pole replacements and repairs scheduled to be completed during the fall.Year-to-date, more than 45,000 wooden poles have been inspected in the Youngstown/Warren, Mansfield/Marion, Springfield, Sandusky/Norwalk and Lorain/Elyria areas. The remaining poles to be inspected include:aAkron - 4,800aKent/Macedonia - 5,300aMassillon - 1,600aMedina - 235Ohio Edison serves more than 1 million customers across 34 Ohio counties.
Mark Davidoff Elected Chair of Michigan Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for 2018

LANSING, Mich: Mark Davidoff, Michigan Managing Partner for Deloitte, has been elected Chair of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors starting in January 2018.





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As Board chair, Mr. Davidoff will lead the State Chamber's 84-member board that establishes Michigan Chamber policy and priorities on major economic issues that affect job creation and business success in Michigan. Mr. Davidoff will serve as Board chair for one year. He has served as Treasurer of the Michigan Chamber since 2013. Outgoing Board Chair Raymond A. Biggs, President & CEO of West Shore Bank in Ludington, will continue to serve on the Chamber's Executive Committee as Immediate Past Chair."We are delighted and honored to have Mark serve as Chair of the Michigan Chamber Board of Directors," said Chamber President & CEO Rich Studley. "Mark's 37 years of professional experience in both public accounting and industry will help guide us as we work to help Chamber members solve their business problems and prosper.""Organizational excellence and responsible stewardship is a key strategic goal of the Michigan Chamber," Studley noted. "Mark's background in strategy, operations, talent and business development at Deloitte will help guide the Michigan Chamber as we work to accomplish this and other strategic goals."Davidoff joined Deloitte's Detroit office in 2005 after serving in various roles at nonprofit organizations including CFO for Mercy Services for Aging, and CFO and later Executive Director/COO for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. Davidoff oversees more than 1,200 Deloitte professionals based in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Midland.Davidoff holds a bachelor's degree from Wayne State University and a master's degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is a statewide business organization representing approximately 6,400 employers, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. The Michigan Chamber represents businesses of every size and type in all 83 counties of the state. The Chamber was established in 1959 to be an advocate for Michigan's job providers in the legislative, political and legal process. It is one of only six state chambers accredited by the U.S. Chamber and one of only four state chambers accredited with distinction.
ShanghaiTex 2017 and Marks and Spencer Jointly Organize Plan A 2025 Business Forum to Promote Industry Sustainability

SHANGHAI: In response to the growing awareness of environmental friendly manufacturing, ShanghaiTex always dedicates to present green textile technology with low energy consumption.





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By cooperating with experts from different fields, ShanghaiTex is also considered as an advanced platform for industrial elites to obtain the most cutting-edge information and exchange opinions on industry development.Stepping into its 33rd year, ShanghaiTex 2017 has collaborated with Marks & Spencer to conduct a trendsetting forum - "Marks & Spencer - Plan A 2025" on 28 November, 2017. "Plan A" indicates the core value of Marks & Spencer in directing the strategy to help protect the planet, by sourcing responsibly, reducing waste and helping communities. Attendees of the event could stay tuned with the latest development of Plan A and discuss green solutions with other top-notch industry players.Marks & Spencer - Plan A 2025In January 2007, M&S introduced a new eco and ethical plan called Plan A to tackle a new set of 21st century challenges. With 200 million pounds investment, Plan A set out 100 environmental and social commitments covering five general realms, most of which have been achieved with awards. And in 2014, M&S introduced Plan A 2020 which consists of 100 new and modified commitments to achieve by 2020, with the ultimate goal of becoming the world's most sustainable major retailer.M&S is working with both its suppliers and customers through plan A to fight against climate change, reduce wastage, utilize recycled materials, support fair trade, and pursue healthier lifestyle. Despite the recent economic deterioration, M&S has proved itself successful in balancing profitability and environmental sustainability. The investment can be perfectly offset by the reduced cost of energy savings. Hence Plan A is also praised by energy experts as one of the most advanced strategies in retail industry.Involve Customers in Carbon Neutral ProjectOver the past five years, M&S has reduced its packaging by 26%, and recycled tons of hangers. And it has also advocated a new way of reducing waste to encourage donating used clothing instead of dumping. Beside dealing with carbon emissions from its own operations, M&S has also developed 60 low-carbon products for its customers to implement energy conservation at home. Meanwhile, M&S has added "wash at 30 degrees Celsius" reminder on its clothing and laundry detergent packaging to assist consumers minimize the carbon emissions from laundry. As a result, 38% of consumers carried out this measure, reducing 50,000 tons of carbon emissions on a yearly basis.Work Closely with Suppliers on "Green Factory"Climate change is a global problem, one that will ultimately affect all our lives, and one that M&S is striving to address. In addition to advocating to customers, M&S also actively mobilizes its suppliers to engage in its carbon neutral project. M&S has already made its UK operations 28% more energy efficient using green electricity, and it is working to make all stores globally much more energy efficient as well. Currently, the three M&S "green factories" located in Sri Lanka and Wales have all managed to take care of carbon reduction and cost savings. M&S is planning to open another green factory in China to extend energy efficiency blueprint to larger and more potential markets.Protect Environment and Enhance Social Well-beingsSustainability will only become "the business that we do" if Plan A is integrated into our everyday activities and processes. Producing and harvesting raw materials can damage the environment, so M&S considers it important to source them in ways that support replenishment, safeguard natural habitats and ensure good animal welfare standards. M&S advocates protecting soil & wildlife and reducing pesticide use. As a clothing retailer, M&S works in partnership with WWF to help thousands of farmers improve their approach to cotton production in India. And as a food retailer, M& is committed to promoting wellbeing and has taken a lead in providing clear and useful nutritional labeling on their food.Fast Track to Enhance Your Partnership with M&S at ShanghaiTex 2017ShanghaiTex is the most established and professional textile machinery exhibition of its kind in China since 1984. ShanghaiTex 2017 is set to lead the textile industry in exploring world's most advanced textile technology and applications, thereby providing breakthrough solutions during the industry's restructuring period. The organizers have invited Mr. Toiny Pang, Technical Sustainability Manager, Quality & Compliance from M&S to share more details about Plan A 2025 during the show period. Mr. Pang joined M&S in 2012 and now leads Environmental and Chemical Policy (ECP) across global supply chain in Far East Region. He's also fully engaged into the development of internal auditing tools, environmental compliance system, online self-audit platform and supplier grading system.To achieve its ambitious goals in eco and social responsibilities, M&S needs to invest in its supply chain and work with the right partner. Therefore, industry practitioners are welcomed to attend this business forum (28 November 1:30-3:00 p.m. at Hall E1 Smart Factory Conference Zone) to discuss the latest green manufacturing solutions with M&S, and to improve sustainability of textile and apparel industry.
City Wide Opens New Territory Serving Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn: City Wide, the nation's premier management company in the building maintenance industry, announced the opening of a new office serving commercial properties throughout Memphis.





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Local building owners and property management companies throughout Shelby County now have access to a single-source solution for all of their building maintenance needs. Local resident Scott Romero owns and operates the new office, which is now open for business and is located at 1850 Poplar Crest Cove Suite 104 in Memphis.City Wide of Memphis held a grand opening on October 24 with the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. The group gathered to celebrate the opening, network and meet members of the community."My goal is to make sure commercial maintenance is virtually invisible to the property owner," said Romero. "My team will manage vendors, field service calls and negotiate contractor rates so that business owners can focus on running their business."Romero joins City Wide with an extensive leadership background, including more than 10 years of military and civilian service as a fireman in Afghanistan and the United States. He intends to leverage his management expertise in business development, process improvement and exceptional client service to drive growth for the Memphis office.
Golden Corral Restaurants Salute America's Heroes with 17th Annual Free Dinner on Military Appreciation Night

RALEIGH, N.C: On Monday, November 13, for the 17th consecutive year Golden Corral will once again thank more than 300,000 active duty and retired United States military personnel for their service with a free dinner buffet and beverage, while also raising donations for DAV (Disabled American Veterans). A tradition started in 2001 to celebrate our nation's heroes, Golden Corral's Military Appreciation Night has served more than five million complimentary meals to military personnel and generated more than USD 12.9 million dollars in guest contributions to support community-based service initiatives for veterans.





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"For the past 16 years, every Golden Corral restaurant and our guests have expressed our sincere gratitude for the brave men and women who have served this country. It is important we recognize the sacrifices they have made and continue to show our appreciation," said Lance Trenary, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Corral. "We look forward to thanking our nation's heroes once again this Military Appreciation Night with a complimentary meal and raising more funds for the programs and services provided by DAV."Golden Corral has enlisted Gary Sinise, celebrated actor/humanitarian, and Collective Soul, the platinum award-winning band, to record public service announcements for Military Appreciation Night. Sinise and Collective Soul are all actively involved in supporting active duty and retired military personnel through a variety of organizations and initiatives including tours to military installations overseas."This is the 13th year I've had the pleasure to partner with Golden Corral in supporting our troops, past and present, through Military Appreciation Night," said Sinise. "The number of meals given away and amount of money donated in the past 16 years really distinguishes Golden Corral's commitment to the military. I'm proud and happy to help raise awareness for Golden Corral Military Appreciation Night."Golden Corral will serve free dinner buffets with beverage from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on November 13 to any person who is or has served in a United States Military branch, including the National Guard and Reserves. State and local DAV representatives will be on-site at all Golden Corral locations coordinating the collection of donations from customers. While only current and former military qualify for the free meal, everyone is encouraged to come out and show support for our veterans.
The Gluten Free Bar Launches 'Spot the GFB Bear' Contest To Coincide With New Packaging Launch

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich: The GFB: Gluten Free Bar (GFB), a leading brand for fun and flavorful gluten-free snacks, is challenging fans today to go out into the wild and Spot the GFB Bear in its natural habitat at their local grocery and health food store.





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Consumers spotting the new GFB bear are encouraged to snap a photo with the new bear packaging, tag GFB on social media, and use the hashtag #WildGFBear to enter to win a month's supply of GFB products.GFB fans can spot the bear at select locations today through November 20. The contest coincides with the announcement of GFB's revamped packaging featuring its new hand drawn bear and colorful design. The new packaging begins rolling out on GFB Bars across the U.S. this month. The remaining GFB products, including Bites and Power Breakfast, will receive a fresh new look later in 2018."The Gluten Free Bear has actually been part of our brand for several years, and incorporating him into more of our packaging brings an element of fun to our products that we felt was missing," said Elliott Rader, co-founder and partner at GFB. "We know that many consumers still equate 'gluten-free' with 'tastes bad.' While there are a lot of great things about our snacks, we pride ourselves on making products that taste amazing and we want consumers to know that. After all, eating something that tastes amazing and is better-for-you, should be a fun part of your day. The Gluten Free Bear represents that fun and flavorful component and we let our certifications and ingredients speak to the quality and nutritional aspect of our products."The GFB specializes in better-for-you, gluten-free snacks, and the product recipes will remain the same throughout the packaging revamp."We are simply updating the first impression of our product to more closely match what we believe in and our culture," said Marshall Rader, co-founder and partner at GFB. "Our consumers will have the same product experience they have come to love just with an enhanced look. We think launching the contest is a fun way to show off our new packaging and to engage GFB fans. We are excited to see where our bear will be spotted - don't forget this is a roll-out so you may have to dig through bear imposters - to spot him!"Guidelines for the "Spot the GFB Bear" contest include:aOne entry per social media account per dayaEntries must include the hashtag #WildGFBearaAll entries must tag @theGFB social propertiesaAll entries must be submitted by November 20, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. ESTThe GFB, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a Certified B Corporation dedicated to a triple bottom line of people, planet and profits.
Canadian businesses have a better platform to be China Ready with WeChat

TORONTO: Over 600,000 Chinese tourists visited Canada in 2016, according to a Destination Canada press release from earlier this year. Going forward, it is likely this number will continue to grow, with many Canadian merchants wondering how they can tap into this large Chinese market.





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WeChat, with close to 1 billion monthly active users globally, offers a tourism industry solution and came to Canada for the first time earlier this month, sharing its "China Ready" strategy for local businesses by introducing its leading social communication service WeChat and the mobile cross border payment solution WeChat Pay. WeChat's series of seminars, hosted at Cineplex Markham VIP, CN Tower, and Sheraton Vancouver, attracted 800 attendees from over 400 Canadian companies.With the introduction of WeChat and WeChat Pay, WeChat creates new ways to target and market to Chinese consumers more effectively. Many invited guests from different industries were also excited to learn more about the implementation of WeChat's moment Ads and other functions. In 2017 WeChat launched an innovative solution for global merchants to provide service in Mini Program, which is an app-like service over WeChat that can be opened instantly and does not require users to download the full app."The tourism industry is committed to educating the community about the growing Chinese market, with China being one of the fastest growing tourism markets in Toronto. We welcomed 300,000 travellers from China last year, so introducing product like WeChat to Toronto helps cater to the growing Chinese market, giving businesses a better understanding of what customers want," said Johanne Belanger, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto."With many of Richmond's residents and overseas tourists already familiar and comfortable with the app, the seminar hosted by WeChat could not be more relevant to our members and the local business community. There are big opportunities for Canadian businesses as WeChat moves further into the North American market," said Matt Pitcairn, President & CEO, Richmond Chamber of Commerce.WeChat Pay has quickly grown nationwide and enabled thousands of clients in just half a year. This has enabled Canadian merchants to reach out to Chinese tourists before they arrive and keep in touch after they leave. "With the implementation of WeChat Pay, which is very easy to use and cost effective, our customers in areas with large Chinese populations are very happy that we accept it. It's a great financial processing tool and we look forward to the opportunity to layer it with a marketing element. It's something we've never seen before," said Haigo Derian, president of L'ORO Jewelry."Feedback from clients provides helpful information which helps lift them through barriers to business. We will be working on future initiatives to bring more versatile social media solutions to allow merchants to reach out to this market," said Jason Pan, GM of iTalkBB Media Corp, which runs media, ads and marketing in Canada. He is one of many who are optimistic about the opportunities brought to Canada by WeChat.
I want to pick up our thoughts on spiritual depression. Many have reached out to me in various ways since that first article a month ago, and I think it wise for us to handle this subject with great care. Depression. Just the word is heavy and dark. If you remember from my last article, it is biblically correct to define it as Ordinary sadness that is stuck or infected. A person caught in spiritual depression feels that God has left them and they are spiritually and emotionally alone (Zack Eswine). Many people, even within the Church, deal with spiritual depression on a daily basis. They spiral out of control. They try to find meaning in life and are stuck. The Scriptures have much to say about spiritual depression. Some of the godliest men and women have had it.

Now, I know that some of you are thinking that being in a state of daily despair is contrary to Christianity. But that is not the case. Yes, spiritual depression can lead to sin, but in and of itself, it is not sin. Show me in the Scriptures otherwise. Thus, the question at hand is, I have it, what do I do with it? How do I get unstuck from my deep sadness? A look at the Word of God gives us a quick answer to these questions. I say quick, because the newspaper has a word limit for any article I produce for it. If you have a Bible as you are reading this, open it to Psalm 77. This is a Psalm from Asaph, the choir director. In the first few verses you will see heart anguishsadness that is infected. Things are spinning out of control, and he cries out to God. He comes boldly to the Lord and brings his complaints. His theology is intact. He knows to go to God when life is sour and hurtful. He knows also that God will listen to him as he cries out. This is very helpful to understand. If you love Christ and He is your Lord and Savior, He will not forsake you. One of the first things you must do is go to Him and lay out what is on your heart (1 Peter 5:7). Hebrews 4:16 tells us, Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of Grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. When we are in deep depression, we need help from the Lord, who will supply us with His abundant grace. He is sufficient. Asaph continues to lay his sorrows at the feet of our Lord until verse 9, where he ends a series of rhetorical questions: Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His loving kindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah. Of course, the answer is NO! Scripture tells us that God does not change. There is not an end to His grace. His promises last for eternity. But what we know to be right about God clashes with our emotions. In this case, Asaphs perception about God needs to change. Though he doesnt see the hand of God moving in his life, He must trust in the character of this great and living God.

Clearly, Asaph is seeing things wrong; when someone is in spiritual depression, that is often the case. Truth is sometimes questioned. The agony of knowing Gods goodness clashes with the deep despair of the heart. In Asaphs case, he needs to right the ship. Something must change. In verses 1020, we see that there is a radical change in what Asaph knows to be true about God, compared with his circumstances and grief. His spiritual depression is washed by Gods greatness, as he remembers the times Gods hand did move. Continue to read. Verses 1112 tell us, I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds. I will remember . . . I will mediate . . . He remembers how God intervened and showed His goodness to him and Israel in the past. And then he launches into theology, the attributes of God, which he knows dont change no matter in what situation he finds himself.

Asaph realizes that his emotions have lied to him, that what he saw as reality was false, and his heart begins to change. He marvels in verses 1315, Your way, O God is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. Asaph sees that God is holy, unlike anyone else. All His ways are righteous and good. He sees that God is great. His works and deeds are displayed, and the whole world bows down to Him. He redeems and cares for His people. At the end of the Psalm, Asaph recounts an example of God moving and helping His people.

So, quickly, what do we learn from this Psalm? For one thing, if we are hurt or depressed, if we find ourselves in a dark valley, there is nothing wrong with expressing those feelings to God. Does Asaph have doubts? You bet. His doubt here is not sin, though, because though he expresses it, he doesnt stay in it. He goes to truth, and the truth sets him free. Second, understand, beloved, that as much we want God to take us out of the situation that has caused our spiritual depression, He often wants us to trust Him and allow Him to lead us through the situation. I cant promise you that your spiritual depression will ever go away, but I can promise you that the way through your spiritual depression is dependence on Jesus, His truth, and His character. According to this Psalm, what is the practical way through? Remember Gods Word; remember His promises. It helps our minds to meditate on what is true and right and good. It checks our doubts and fears. It is said of the great preacher Charles Spurgeon that he put notes all over his house to keep the promises of God ever present before him. Beloved, the promises of the Word of God, the Scriptures, becomes the solid ground that a spiritually depressed soul can walk on to make it through the day. They allow you to take a step toward what is good and right in God. The promises of Scripture become the food for the survival of a troubled spirit. What do you do if you have spiritual depression? Psalm 77 tells you to you walk through your spiritual depression with your mind and heart fixed on God and His truth. Cast your cares on Him. He can handle your heartache. Until next time, walk in His truth.
Marc Lachapelle Named AJAC Canadian Automotive Journalist of the Year

TORONTO: Veteran Montreal-based journalist Marc Lachapelle received top honours at the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada's 34th Annual Journalism Awards, held on Wednesday, October 25, 2017, in Ajax, Ontario.





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Lachapelle was named the Jaguar Land Rover Journalist of the Year, the most esteemed award available to members of the Association, while a total of 14 journalists and four major Canadian automotive outlets were celebrated among 12 awards."Marc was a very worthy winner and it was a great reading all the entries this year," said John Lindo, Director of Public Relations for Jaguar Land Rover Canada, who presented the award to Lachapelle. "The judges had a tough time deciding on a winner, and they stressed how much fun it was reading this outstanding submissions from gifted writers who love what they do."The AJAC Journalist of the Year award is the Association's most prestigious and has been presented by Jaguar Land Rover Canada for all 34 years since the inception of the program in 1984. Lachapelle is one of only four writers to win the award three times and has finished in the top three eight times.This year's first runner-up is Mark Toljagic, and second runner-up is Steven Bochenek.The full list of awards and recipients at the 34th Annual AJAC Journalism Awards is as follows:CAA Road Safety Journalism AwardWinner: Stephanie WallcraftRunner Up: Greg WilsonPfaff Pirelli Photography AwardsWinner, Published: Dan HeymanWinner, Unpublished: Russell PurcellIntegrated Automotive Video Journalism AwardsBroadcastWinner: Antoine JoubertRunner Up: Jim KenzieInternetWinner: Sami Haj-AssaadRunner Up: Jacob BlackKia Best Print Design AwardsPrintWinner: Le guide de l'AutoRunner Up: Ignition Performance and LuxuryWebsitesWinner: Le guide de l'AutoRunner Up: autoTRADER.caNissan Award for Environmental JournalismWinner: Stephanie WallcraftRunner Up: Greg WilsonSubaru Feature Writing AwardWinner: Steve MertlRunner Up: Steven BochenekWakefield Castrol Awards for Automotive WritingTechnical TopicsWinner: Mark RichardsonRunner Up: Mark ToljagicVehicle Reviewing/TestingWinner: Mark ToljagicRunner Up: Kathy RenwaldJournalist of the Year Presented by Jaguar Land Rover CanadaWinner: Marc Lachapelle1st Runner Up: Mark Toljagic2nd Runner Up: Steven Bochenek
Hennessey Venom F5 World Premiere

HOUSTON: Today at the Shell Pioneering Performance experience at the 2017 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, NV, John Hennessey of Hennessey Special Vehicles will unveil the much-anticipated Venom F5. Together, Shell, Pennzoil and Hennessey have broken barriers, set records and now they've co-engineered the next big thing in the automotive industry - and that's still just the beginning.





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The Venom F5 is an all-new hypercar designed and built from the ground up with one goal in mind: To be the absolute fastest road car on earth. Hennessey and team have developed a completely new design, chassis and carbon fiber body focused on aerodynamics to achieve the lowest possible drag. The new F5 design features active aero that will yield a coefficient of drag of just 0.33."We've designed F5 to be timeless so that in 25 years it will still have a level of performance and design that will be unmatched," said John Hennessey, company Founder and CEO. "The F5 is an all new car, designed and built from the ground up, from the engine to the chassis. We expect the Venom F5, named for the most powerful tornado speed winds on the Fujita scale, to be the first road car capable of achieving more than 300 mph and have worked closely with Pennzoil to get us across the finish line."The Hennessey team is developing an all new, twin turbo V8 engine that will deliver over 1600 bhp. The Hennessey engine will be mated to a 7-speed single clutch paddle shift transmission and delivering power down to the rear tires. The Venom will also feature an all new light weight chassis and all carbon fiber body, which will give the F5 a curb weight of 2,950 lbs.The F5's combination of light weight, low drag and all-American horsepower will deliver a new level of hypercar performance. Acceleration from 0 to 186 mph (300 km/h) will be less than 10 seconds making the new Venom quicker than current Formula 1 race cars. Zero to 249 mph (400 km/h) and back to rest will be under 30 seconds. The top speed of the Venom F5 is projected to exceed 300 mph.The base price for the Venom F5 is $1.6 million US dollars. The company plans to build 24 road cars."Shell is fortunate to have forged technical and co-engineering alliances with some of the most revered automotive visionaries in the industry," said Patty Lanning, Vice President of Marketing, Shell Lubricants. "Working hand-in-hand with Hennessey on one of the most stunning road cars we've seen has been an incredible experience. We share a passion for performance and know that Pennzoil will protect the F5's engine through development and testing to production."In addition to having Pennzoil coursing through the F5 engine, it protects engines in every Hennessey build. Hennessey also relies on Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline to fuel each of their powerhouses from the test track to the road.John Hennessey has put his pioneering excellence on full display at the Shell "Pioneering Performance" experience for the remainder of the week at the 2017 SEMA Show. In addition to the Venom F5, Hennessey also brought along a Hennessey VelociRaptor 6X6 and THE EXORCIST TM, based on the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
'Twas The Fun Before Christmas: Build-A-Bear Workshop Introduces Gifts For Everyone On Your List, A Thanksgiving Turkey, New Merry Mission Reindeer And More

ST. LOUIS: The Fun Before Christmas has already begun at Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW), an interactive destination where Guests can create personalized furry friends, as today the company unveiled a very merry collection of gifts and furry friends to celebrate the holidays. Enjoy festive activities in Build-A-Bear Workshop stores all season long-like signing your name to the Nice List-or making your own reindeer or too-cute turkey! Holiday hugs are just a Workshop (or visit to buildabear.com) away.





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FUN TO MAKE, FUN TO GIVE!Now is the time to "stuff" and "dress" our new make-your-own Gobblin' Turkey! Add a gobblin' sound chip and a Thanksgiving pilgrim outfit all just in time to celebrate the holiday; then, bring the bird home from a Build-A-Bear Workshop store or find it at the new buildabear.com.The Merry Mission reindeer are back to save the holidays once again, because the "Nice List" is so long! In addition to the eight classic reindeer, GlistenaSanta's Star-Powered glittery white deerareturns as Color Glow Glisten with sparkly hooves, light-up antlers and a signature medallion. She is also available in a new jumbo, 21-inch version, while supplies last in stores and online. Silver Snow joins the team as a new pal who studied with Glisten at Reindeer Academy, and the darling reindeer twins, Tinsel and Twinkle, have returned to Build-A-Bear Workshopathis time with glowing fur!BUILDABEAR.COM AND BUILDABEAR.CO.UK EXCLUSIVESBuild-A-Bear has launched a brand new website with a new, fun way to make your own furry friend using "The Bear Builder"! In addition to offering all of our holiday products on the site, we also have special items available exclusively online. For really big bear hugs, check out the new 36-inch Champ Bear. Sweet Buttercream Bear, in elegant holiday colors with soft cream fur, green eyes and shiny red paw pads, is a gift that can be perfectly personalized! Customize this furry friend with up to three lines of embroidery or a monogram to send warm wishes. Christmas Joy Bear is a holiday classic you'll treasure for years to come. With festive paw pads, this online exclusive bear is the perfect present under the tree.Check out all the Build-A-Bear Workshop holiday furry friends, plus new licensed productsaincluding collections based on the hottest moviesaby visiting the updated buildabear.com and buildabear.co.uk.MAKING SEASONS BRIGHT ACROSS THE GLOBEBuild-A-Bear Workshop is adding a little more heart to life this year with help from four charitable organizations: Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, which delivers a message of hope to less fortunate children through a new toy at Christmas, in the United States; Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, which helps young people achieve great futures in safe places where they can learn and grow, in Canada; Barnardo's, which transforms the lives of the U.K.'s most vulnerable children, in the United Kingdom; and Barnardos Ireland, which works with vulnerable children and their familiesaand campaigns for the rights of all childrenain Ireland.From Friday, Dec. 1 through Sunday, Dec. 3, Build-A-Bear Workshop will host global "Stuffed with Hugs" events where Guests of U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland stores can make bears at no charge to be donated to Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, Barnardo's and Barnardos Ireland, respectively.Now through Dec. 10, Build-A-Bear Workshop Guests can donate new, unwrapped toys to Marine Toys for Tots Foundation at U.S. stores; to Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada in Canada stores; to Barnardo's at U.K. stores; and to Barnardos Ireland at Ireland stores. Now through Dec. 24, Build-A-Bear Workshop Guests can make a donation at checkout to benefit Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in U.S. stores; to Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada in Canada stores; to Barnardo's in U.K. stores and at Barnardos Ireland in Ireland stores at checkout.
Ophthalmology Times ranks Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Best in Nation

MIAMI: Ophthalmology Times today ranked Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as the #1 Overall Ophthalmology Program, the Best in Clinical Care, and the Best Residency Program in the United States.





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"It is a deep honor for our team of clinicians, scientists and educators to be recognized for the high-quality of our care," said Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D., chair of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, a University of Miami Hospital and Clinic, part of UHealth - the University of Miami Health System."Since Bascom Palmer was founded 55 years ago, we have been dedicated to providing the finest possible eye care, finding new ways to treat vision problems and prevent blindness, and to educate the physicians of the future," Alfonso added. "We are continually looking to improve and evolve to make vision care even better."Ophthalmology Times, a national UBM Media publication focused on cutting-edge advancements in vision care, has resumed its national rankings after a five-year hiatus. In 2012, the publication also honored Bascom Palmer as the nation's Best Overall Program, Best in Clinical Care and Best Residency Program.Alfonso said Ophthalmology Times pays close attention to vision research and education, as well as patient care. "Bascom Palmer provides a forum where key issues and challenges confronting ophthalmology have been addressed, where new technology has been unveiled and where ophthalmologists come together to discuss and teach the best care for their patients," he said. "The credit belongs to our entire team of physicians, scientists, researchers and dedicated staff members."All of Bascom Palmer's 89 faculty members embrace community service, as well as clinical care, education and research, Alfonso said. For example, Bascom Palmer's Vision Van provided care to residents and first-responders in the Florida Keys after Hurricane Irma, and the Institute's leaders delivered medical supplies and organized a patient-physician support network for Puerto Rico's ophthalmologists after Hurricane Maria.Bascom Palmer's robust clinical and laboratory research programs focus on glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), genetic conditions, infectious diseases and other issues. "The current treatment for wet AMD was developed here, and is now the worldwide standard," noted Alfonso.Bascom Palmer's residency program, under the leadership of Steven Gedde, M.D., professor of ophthalmology and the John G. Clarkson Chair in Ophthalmology, consistently attracts "the best and the brightest young physicians entering the field of ophthalmology," Alfonso said. "We have a large patient volume, giving residents experience on a wide range of ophthalmic diseases and disorders. Many go into academic medicine and educate other physicians, contributing to Bascom Palmer's long-term and global impact."In 2017, Bascom Palmer was also ranked as the nation's Best in Ophthalmology by U.S News & World Report in its 2016-17 Best Hospitals edition. It is the 16th time that Bascom Palmer Eye Institute-Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital has been named No. 1 since the publication began surveying U.S. physicians for its annual rankings 27 years ago."At Bascom Palmer, the patient always comes first," said Alfonso. "Having ophthalmologists from throughout the country recognize our Institute as the best in the nation again and again is a great honor."
Lung Cancer Survivors, Researchers and Advocates Unite to Launch Awareness Campaign

WASHINGTON: Lung Cancer Awareness Month started with a bang at the Press Conference and Panel Discussions today in the Holeman Lounge of the National Press Club.





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Two panels of renowned lung cancer experts and advocates discussed scientific breakthroughs, research funding and advocacy activities."We celebrate these achievements," says lung cancer survivor and patient advocate Dusty Donaldson, co-chair of the Lung Cancer Action Network (LungCAN); "however, we cannot rest on our laurels. Lung cancer remains the number one cancer killeraclaiming more lives than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined. In light of the fact that lung cancer is the least funded of all major cancers makes this situation a nationalaand internationalatravesty."Panelists covered scientific progress in lung cancer, legislative initiatives, changing hearts and minds about lung cancer, radon legislation, research advances and hope for lung cancer patients. Moderated by Donaldson, Panelists included the following:aLaurie Fenton Ambrose, President & CEO, Lung Cancer AllianceaPaul Billings, Senior VP of Advocacy, American Lung AssociationaJohn FP Bridges, PhD, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthaMelissa Culligan, RN, MS, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Director of Clinical Research, Chair, International Thoracic Oncology Nursing ForumaAndrea Ferris, CEO, LUNGevityaDr. Fred Hirsch, MD; CEO, International Association for the Study of Lung CanceraKyle Hoylman, President, Cancer Survivors Against Radon (CanSAR)aJennifer King, PhD, Director of Science and Research, Lung Cancer AllianceaK Latzka, Survivor & Advocate - Co-Organizer of Life & Breath RallyaDavid LeDuc, CEO, Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer FoundationaMontessa Lee, Survivor and AdvocateaJackie Nixon, Survivor and Advocate"We want the public to understand that anyone can get lung cancer," says Donaldson. "Today's event helped diminish lung cancer's stimaga and inspire hope."
Results from a large, national clinical trial show that corneal donor tissue can be safely stored for 11 days without negatively impacting the success of transplantation surgery to restore vision in people with diseases of the cornea. The cornea is the eye's clear outer covering. Currently, donor corneas are generally not used for surgery in the United States if they have been preserved for longer than seven days. Two reports from the Cornea Preservation Time Study (CPTS), which was funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, appear online Nov. 10 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Expanding the window in which donor tissues can be considered suitable by even just a few days should help safeguard quality donor tissue and access to vision-saving transplantation procedures. The study's lead investigator was Jonathan Lass, M.D., of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Eye Institute, Cleveland. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The first received corneas preserved up to seven days, and the second received corneas preserved for eight to 14 days.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of solutions to preserve donated corneas for 14 days. "The current practice of surgeons to use corneas preserved for no longer than seven days is not evidence-based," said Lass, "but rather a practice based on opinion, which hopefully will change with this new evidence."

Researchers looked at three-year graft success rates among a total of 1,090 individuals (1,330 eyes) who underwent transplantation via Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty by 70 surgeons at 40 surgical sites. Most of the patients underwent transplantation for Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy, a progressive disease that causes cells to die in the innermost layer of the cornea called the endothelium. Death of corneal endothelial cells is a normal part of aging. However, Fuchs' accelerates this cell death. Corneal transplantation is the only treatment available to restore vision.

Overall, the investigators were unable to conclude that three-year success rates were the same for corneas preserved for eight to 14 days compared with up to seven days (92.1 percent versus 95.3 percent). However, parsing out the data, they found that much of the difference between the groups was accounted for by those who received corneas preserved 12 to 14 days. There was no meaningful difference between those who received corneas preserved up to seven days and those who received corneas preserved eight to 11 days.

While it is true that patients who received corneas preserved 12 to 14 days had comparably lower success rates, Dr. Lass emphasized that even their success was impressively high at 89.3 percent, which may support the use of these tissues as logistics dictate.

Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

In a separate analysis of the CPTS data, the investigators analyzed the extent of endothelial cell loss (ECL), that is, the loss of cells in the corneal endothelium that continued to occur as a normal part of aging in the grafted donor cornea three years after it had been transplanted. They looked to see if differences in corneal preservation time affected ECL after three years. They noninvasively measured ECL in the 945 eyes with successful grafts and found that corneas preserved up to seven days had a 37-percent loss of cells versus a 40-percent loss in corneas preserved eight to 14 days. However, taking a closer look at the data revealed that the effect of corneal preservation time on the loss of endothelial cells was comparable from four to 13 days.

Taken together, the separate analyses looking at graft success rates and ECL support the use of corneas stored up to 11 days.

Currently, there is a sufficient supply of donor corneas available for people in the United States who require transplants. In 2016, nearly 50,000 corneal transplantations were performed and, on average, it took only about three to four weeks for donor tissue from an eye bank to become available for scheduled surgery. However, corneal donor tissue is scarce elsewhere in the world and corneal disease is the third leading cause of blindness outside the U.S.

"Additionally, factors balancing supply and demand in the U.S. may shift unfavorably as the population with age-related diseases of the cornea grows, and the supply of donors is challenged by the increasing prevalence of conditions in deceased donors that make their corneas ineligible for donation," said study investigator Marian Macsai, M.D., an ophthalmologist at NorthShore University Health System, Glenview, Illinois, and president of the Cornea Society, a U.S.-based international society of corneal surgeons. Prior to transplantation, tissue from a donor must be rigorously screened for safety and viability. That means ruling out certain infectious and communicable diseases in the donor.

"Finding ideal donor-patient matches requires time, technology and manpower. Lengthening the timeframe for tissue evaluation will ultimately help expand the donor pool," Dr. Macsai said.

Case Western Reserve University and the clinical trial sites plan to distribute this information in an educational campaign targeted to the eye banking and ophthalmology community, and then follow up to see if clinical practice changes.

Source: https://www.nei.nih.gov/
A Ludwig Cancer Research study led by Benoit Van den Eynde, Director of Ludwig Brussels, has identified a novel mechanism by which tumors of the aggressive skin cancer melanoma can resist cancer immunotherapy. Their paper, which appears in Nature Communications, describes how an immune cell recruited to the tumor induces the programmed suicide, or apoptosis, of the killer T cells harnessed by many immunotherapies. It also identifies the specific molecular interaction responsible for this effect. That interaction--between a protein on T cells known as FAS and its ligand produced by suppressive immune cells--could be disrupted to improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies.

"Immunotherapy has been delivering some impressive results, but only for a fraction of patients," says Van den Eynde. "Now the million dollar question is, what can we do to improve the proportion of patients that respond to these treatments? There are a variety of mechanisms of immune resistance that operate in the tumor. This is what we are addressing in our studies."

Researchers typically transplant tumors into genetically suitable mice to study the effects of immunotherapies. But such tumors do not reflect how cancers develop in people. To take root and grow, a tumor must evolve mechanisms over months or years to evade immune attack.

"That's what happens in clinical situations and that's what we want to model in our studies," says Van den Eynde. "If you just inject a million tumor cells in a mouse to create a tumor, you do not recapitulate this process--the interplay between the host and the tumor, the immune response that starts but then gets dampened by the tumor, or the tumor's ultimate escape from that response."

To recapitulate that process, the Ludwig Brussels team engineered a mouse to express a cancer-causing gene and a cancer antigen known as P1A, but only when given a particular drug. The researchers then induced melanoma tumors in their model and evaluated the effects of a battery of immunotherapies. These included cancer vaccines against the P1A antigen, and various regimens of checkpoint blockade therapies, which unleash a T cell attack on cancer cells. None worked against the induced tumors. They then tried adoptive T cell therapy (ACT), in which T cells directed against a tumor are infused into a patient.

"To my great surprise, even injecting 10 million activated T cells specific to the P1A antigen did not affect tumor growth in this induced tumor model," says Van den Eynde. When the same induced cancer cells were transplanted into mice to generate tumors, the T cell therapy invariably cleared the transplanted tumors.

To find out why, the researchers took a look at what happened to the T cells delivered by ACT. In both induced and transplanted models, they found, T cells were flooding into the tumor and ready to combat cancer cells. But, after that, their fates diverged significantly.

"We found that in the induced tumors, about half of the T cells were already apoptotic four days after ACT," says Van den Eynde. "This explained why they did not persist: The induced tumor behaves like a sink for these T cells. That does not happen in the transplanted tumors."

Since the cancer cells in both types of tumors were the same, the researchers compared the noncancerous cells present in the induced and transplanted tumors to explore what might be causing the T cell apoptosis. One type of cell, the polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cell (PMN-MDSC), was present exclusively in the induced tumors. MDSCs are a family of immune cells that are known to support immune evasion in a variety of ways.

Molecular analysis of the induced tumors revealed that the PMN-MDSCs in the induced tumors express high levels of a surface protein known as FAS-ligand, which induces T cell suicide when it binds its receptor on T cells. The researchers show that depleting PMN-MDSCs from the tumors or blocking FAS-ligand binding to its receptor restored the ability of the T cells to kill induced tumors.

"This is a novel mechanism by which these cells suppress immune responses in tumors," says Van den Eynde. "Targeting FAS-ligand could be a good adjunct therapy to boost the effects of immunotherapeutic drugs." Such drugs, he notes, are already under development. Meanwhile, Van den Eynde and his team are already hard at work looking for the other novel mechanisms of immune suppression in their model.
Hindu homes attacked in Bangladesh; cops detain 53 people

Dhaka : The Bangladesh police have detained 53 people in connection with arson attacks on the homes of Hindus over a rumoured Facebook post by a local "insulting religion".

More than 30 homes belonging to Hindu families in Rangpur's Thakurbari village were ransacked and looted before being set on fire by a mob on Friday over the "derogatory" status posted by a Hindu man, Bdnews24.com reported.

One person, 30-year-old Habibur Rahman, was killed when the police opened fire to ward off the angry mob that turned violent and set fire to several homes. Eleven others were injured in the violence.

Police filed two cases over the incidents and arrested 53 people, said Police Superintendent Mizanur Rahman.

One of the victims, Dulali Rani told the Dhaka Tribune: "A mob came to our neighbourhood on Friday afternoon and started ransacking our home without any provocation. They even took our cattle.

"They burned everything, even my cooking pots. We do not have a place to sleep at night, and no way to cook food."

Several villagers said that if someone posted a derogatory status on Facebook, hold that one person accountable for his or her action.

The status was allegedly put on social media by Thakurbari village native Titu Roy, but very few villagers admitted to seeing it, the daily reported.

One of the witnesses said thousands of protesters from six nearby villages banded together after the Jumma prayers and attacked the Hindu neighbourhood.

A three-member investigation committee was formed to probe the situation. The district administration said it is making special arrangements to compensate the victims of the attacks.
Even though their are many China bears who predict that China will have many problems with economic growth, China is currently able to wrap up many economic deals with Russia, OPEC and the world with the aura inevitability.

Chinas economy will become the largest in the world in coming years, while trade between Russia and China will reach the planned level of $100 billion, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC summit on Saturday.

Above  is the economic forecast of oil consumption from the latest OPEC long term forecast which has China getting to about triple the economy of the USA based on the per capita PPP income.

Putin indicated plans for Russia and China to work together on energy, space, aviation and Chinas Belt and Road.

We have ambitious plans in energy and nuclear energy, he said noting that both countries were looking to space exploration, in particular in far-out space, and to aviation and to helicopter building.

Putin pointed out that Russias interaction with China needed correction in light of plans to develop the Eurasian Economic Union and to align them with Chinas One Belt, One Road idea.

With Putin in Russia and OPEC as true believers in China economic dominance inevitability then China will be able to lock in the Belt and Road plan deals over the next five years. The Belt and Road deals will then help assure Chinas economy is boosted with increased trade and supplies of abundant resources.

Successful creation of Belt and Road integration of South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe will fulfill the prophecy of inevitable future China economic dominance.
TWIN FALLS  Lincoln Mahaffey remembers landing at the beaches of Normandy one month after D-Day.

The smell was bad, Mahaffey said Friday. The casualties had been cleaned up, but rotting bodies of dead animals remained.

More than 9,000 Allied soldiers  mostly Americans  were wounded or killed on D-Day in a hard, bloody battle along that 50-mile stretch of northern coastline in France. Allied forces, in what is described as the largest seaborne invasion ever launched, broke through heavily fortified enemy lines in June 1944, a turning point in World War II.

Mahaffeys outfit shipped out shortly after D-Day. The ship zigzagged across the Atlantic for 18 days, keeping its location in the Atlantic secret. His ship, carrying more armored vehicles than troops, first landed in Wales.

It was nighttime when he landed at Normandy.

It was my mothers birthday, he said, as tears welled up in his eyes 73 years later.

Mahaffey is 94 years old, but doesnt look a day over 75. He was 18 when he was drafted in 1942, just months after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

Were you excited to go? asked Mahaffeys son-in-law, Steven Hansen.

Mahaffey, a native of Kennewick, Wash., hung his head in thought, and answered slowly.

Yes, he said. And no.

I was the only boy in the family. I wasnt supposed to be drafted.

A man of few words

Mahaffey never talked about the war, said his daughter, Kathy Hansen. He started to open up, however, when his grandchildren started asking him about the Battle of the Bulge.

Thats how we learned much of his story, she said.

The Hansens moved Mahaffey recently from his home in Kennewick into their home in Twin Falls after her mother died. Mahaffeys construction business in Washington is now in his grandchildrens hands.

He considers himself lucky to have served in an armored infantry.

We were a special  secret  unit, Mahaffey said. He is also a superior marksman.

He said the secret he couldnt talk about back then was the armored half-track vehicle he drove into nighttime battle. Special lights on the unit would illuminate the night like day, blinding anyone in its tracks. The vehicle was armed with a 50-caliber machine gun.

The half-track had a roller on the front of it that would run over almost anything, he said. We practiced by driving over cactus when I was training in Phoenix.

Mahaffey remains elusive about the role he played in the war.

So you were a spy, his son-in-law said.

Mahaffeys eyes twinkled.

There were people who depended on me, was all he would say.

In December 1944, Nazi Germany launched its last major attack on Allied forces in what is known as the Ardennes Offensive. For a week, the Germans aggressively pushed into Belgium, creating a 60-mile bulge in their front line.

But Allied forces battled that bulge, in what was called the greatest land battle ever fought. American troops were led by U.S. Army Gen. George Patton.

Mahaffeys half-track vehicle  part truck, part tank  and others like it pushed ahead of the Allied troops, taking out the enemy as they scouted.

Of the 13 aboard the half-track, only three came out of the war unscathed. Mahaffey was one of them.

Ive always looked up to him, Kathy Hansen said. He taught us how lucky we are for the freedoms we have.
You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person.



Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else.
It might be comforting to believe that Tuesdays election can be explained as a political primal scream aimed at President Donald Trump and his dangerous excesses. Some may even conclude that a Democratic sweep of next years midterms will follow along with the speedy impeachment of Trump. Then, surely, reason and order will return to the business of running the United States. Unfortunately, that pipe dream ignores the more profound meaning of this weeks election results: The shellacking Republicans took proves again just how unmoored American politics has become in the 21st century.

Democrats and Republicans have held a duopoly over Washington since Franklin Pierce got elected president in 1852. For most of that time, both parties saw their governing majorities rise and fall over the course of entire generations.

The Grand Old Party more or less dominated national politics from Abraham Lincolns election in 1860 until the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelts Democratic coalition dominated from 1933 until the Reagan Revolution began to reshape politics in 1980. When Ronald Reagans Republican Party finally gained control of Congress 14 years later, it was the first time a GOP speaker had run the House in 40 years.

Since then, though, the political alignments that once endured decades of change have begun collapsing in two-year intervals. In 2004, Karl Rove spoke of a permanent Republican majority. Just over two years later, Nancy Pelosi became speaker of the House.

In 2008, many hailed Barack Obamas winning coalition as a new Democratic majority, built on a well-educated and demographically diverse coalition. Fast-forward two years and the tea party laid waste to all previous political presumptions. But their unfocused, anti-government zeal proved to be no match for Obamas reelection campaign. After that, Trump destroyed the Democratic establishment, but only after reducing the Republican political machine to rubble.

Now, less than a year after seizing control of all branches of government, Trumpism is in full retreat. Even before Tuesdays drubbing, the president was weighed down by historically low approval ratings. The Republican Congress fares even worse, with a dismal 13 percent approval rating. Remarkably, the Democratic Party seemed even less united before Tuesdays rout.

The last president to own majorities in both the House and Senate for two terms was Roosevelt. Since then, Republican majorities have been undone by the excesses of McCarthyism, Watergate and Iraq, while Democratic alliances have collapsed under the weight of Vietnam, a runaway welfare state, the enduring impact of the Great Recession and a brand of identity politics that some Democrats quietly suggest fed into Trumps destructive rise.

Trump promised voters last year that his unique brand of economic witchcraft would magically send millions of workers back into coal mines, return automotive assembly lines to full capacity and transport U.S. workers back to a time when factories were spinning out manufactured goods and workers had a salary that supported their families. But the dreams Trump sold working-class Americans are already turning to dust. His promise of a more affordable and accessible health-care system is dead. His plan to reform the tax code now seems to be little more than a payoff to rich political patrons and billionaires like him. And instead of draining Washingtons swamp of unethical behavior, Trump has put his White House, his family and himself in the legal sights of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Even if Tuesdays election begins the long process of removing the president from office, Americans will be left with the same corrosive system that led voters to take a chance on Trump. The only way to escape that cycle is to break apart the hyperpartisan two-party duopoly that has kept Washington too divided, too dysfunctional and too directionless for too long.
Cheer

Lets all extend our solemn appreciation and gratitude for veterans. There are more than 138,000 veterans living in Idaho today  more than 8.5 percent of the states population.

Schools across the Magic Valley marked the Veterans Day holiday on Friday with presentations and lessons, and most Magic Valley communities planned ceremonies for the weekend. Many restaurants are offering vets a free meal.

These are all excellent gestures, but lets not forget that veterans continue to face serious challenges, both at home and abroad. Veterans issues must be considered beyond a single day in November.

Jeer

We should all be alarmed by the apathy shown Tuesday when a pitiful 14.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Twin Falls. Other communities saw similar dismal turnout.

We get it. Voters are busy. In Twin Falls, in particular, things are going good, which sometimes lowers turnout. Anger is often a better voter motivator than satisfaction.

But when fewer than 1 in 6 people vote, its essentially that 1 person who gets to determine the fate of 6. Thats not good democracy.

Far too many people fail to understand just how substantially local government influences their lives, from taxes to development to roads and even law enforcement.

Perhaps, you told yourself Tuesday, your vote probably wouldnt matter much anyway. Wrong. A city council seat in Heyburn ended in a tie. A single vote either way would have swung the entire election.

If youre one of the folks who stayed home on Tuesday, remember your decision to abstain next time you want to gripe about something the city is up to. You had your chance to matter.

Cheer

A round of applause, please, for the Magic Valley Arts Council, who provided a grant that funded workshops led by the Missoula Childrens Theatre this week at eight high-poverty Magic Valley schools.

The workshops allow children to get an up-close look at a theater production, from the actors on the stage to the people designing costumes and sets. Its a behind-the-scenes look many of the youngsters wouldnt get otherwise.

The Missoula Childrens Theatre is in Twin Falls staging a production of Aladdin featuring local actors. Shows are today at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Sligar Auditorium at the arts council.
A toilet: Yes, that is what Dawoods hotel will be turned into

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

After burning Dawood Ibrahim's car and burning it down, the Hindu Mahasabha has now decided to convert a hotel into a toilet. The Hindu Mahasabha which will be bidding for Dawood's hotel, Raunaq Afroz has decided to turn into a public toilet.

Several Dawood properties would go under the hammer on November 14 including the hotel situated at Bhendi Bazaar in Mumbai. Members of the Hindu Mahasabha were in Mumbai to prepare the formalities for the auction..

Swami Chakrapani of the Mahasabha said that after acquiring the hotel, I will build a plush public toilet there. It would be a public toilet, open to all and free of cost. The intention is two fold- one it would be put to good use and secondly, I want to send a message to the people about how terrorism ends, he also said.

I will invite the Chief MInister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis to inaugurate the toilet under the Swacch Bharat Mission, he also said. It may be recalled that Chakrapani had bid successfully for Dawood's green Hyundai Accent car for Rs 32,000. He burnt the car later in Delhi.

OneIndia News
'Poor' no more: 'Moderate' Delhi air to improve further with strong winds

Delhi govt takes U-turn, calls off odd-even plan

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

The Delhi government has called-off the odd-even traffic scheme, which was to be implemented from 13-17 November. The government's decision was announced after an emergency cabinet meeting following the blistering criticism by the National Green Tribunal.

Delhi transport minister Kailash in a surprise announcement on Saturday, said that "Odd-even scheme from November 13-17 in the national capital has been called off, the Delhi Transport Minister," Kailash Gahlot, said.

Gahlot said the odd-even plan has been called off in view of the order by NGT which withdrew all exemptions except on plying of emergency vehicles.

The government is not ready "to compromise with the safety of women" after the NGT ordered that there should be no exemption to anyone expect emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire tenders, he said.

"If 30 lakh two-wheelers are off the road, Delhi's public transport system cannot accommodate the surge," claims Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot as he announced that the odd-even scheme has been called off.

Earlier in the day, the NGT had disallowed women and two-wheelers being exempted under the scheme. The Delhi government on Saturday afternoon also cited these conditions as a reason for calling off the scheme.

"In light of the two conditions by NGT on 2 wheelers & women, at the moment we are calling it off. We will go back to NGT on Monday, file a review petition for them to reconsider their decision regarding the two," Gehlot said.

OneIndia News
'Poor' no more: 'Moderate' Delhi air to improve further with strong winds

Delhi smog: NGT gives nod to Odd-Even scheme, no exemption for 2 wheelers

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Recommended Video

Odd-even Scheme : NGT gives nod with no exemptions to 2 wheelers

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), despite its apprehensions, gave its nod to the odd-even scheme. The formula will be implemented in Delhi-NCR whenever PM 10 crosses 500 and PM 2.5 cross 300.

The tribunal, while giving the green signal to the odd-even scheme, questioned the city government as to why it was granting exemptions to certain sections if the aim was to improve air quality.

NGT observed that its patience shouldn't be tested, asking the Delhi government that when the statistics have indicated that rain leads to a fall in pollution levels, why wasn't action taken? It's now being taken after the Tribunal said so.

The court banned all exemptions granted under the Odd-Even scheme - including two-wheelers, government officials and women.

CNG vehicles and emergency services, such as ambulance and fire, will get an exemption from the odd-even scheme, it added.

NGT asked Delhi government to show the letter on basis of which this decision was taken, and whether the LG's approval was taken for the same. The tribunal also sought the Delhi government to state how many times does a person breathe in a day. "It is most worrying that there is absolute non-cooperation between various departments of govt," it said.

The tribunal also directed the state government to implement the car rationing scheme in the national capital and adjoining areas as and when the pollution level crosses the 'danger' mark.

Observing that diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years are playing through all main roads, the NGT asked the Traffic Police to deploy its personnel at traffic lights.

Meanwhile, Central Pollution Control Board submitted that they had warned the Delhi government orally in advance about the impending problem, which the Delhi government denied. It also informed the court that two-wheelers cause more pollution compared to four-wheelers.

It directed all the neighbouring state governments and departments to ensure complete mechanism during an environmental emergency. "Don't wait for a crisis situation," said the body.

On parking fee, the NGT said that the measures like the increased parking fees, which were recommended by the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) are absurd.

"Won't the hike of parking fees only benefit the parking lots, and would stress people even further, thereby encouraging them to park vehicles on the roads instead, choking them in the process?" it asked the Delhi government.

The National Green Tribunal asked the Uttar Pradesh government over the number of violators challaned in Noida and Greater Noida in the wake of rising pollution level in adjoining states of Delhi.

The bench also issued notices to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to show cause why exemplary cost should not be imposed on them for violation of its order putting a ban on construction activities.

According to the Met department, humidity levels in the national capital shot up to 91 percent this morning.

On Thursday, the city government had announced the odd-even plan to be implemented from November 13 to 17. The odd-even rule will mean that cars running with number plates ending in even numbers like 0,2,4,6,8 will be allowed to run on days that end with an even number. On days with an odd number, cars ending with odd numbers like 1,3,5,7,9 will be allowed to run.

The NGT pointed to data from the central and Delhi pollution control boards which showed that both PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels were higher after odd-even was implemented in the city last year.

OneIndia News
'Poor' no more: 'Moderate' Delhi air to improve further with strong winds

Everything you need to know about Delhis Odd-Even rule

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Saturday allowed the Delhi government to implement the odd-even car scheme from November 13 to 17 with little exemption.

The government believes that odd-even will help in cutting down pollution emanating from vehicles by 50 percent. The Delhi High Court has also suggested that the odd-even rule could help unclog the city.

This is the third time that the Delhi government is implementing the odd-even rule which was first introduced last year in January from 1-15 and in April 2016 for a period of for 15 days.

As the system is coming into force from November 13, here are a few things you should know

Few things to know about it

The odd-even rule will be implemented for five days beginning November 13-15 and would be put into effect between 8 am to 8 pm.

Private vehicles with odd registration numbers will be allowed on the road on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Vehicles with even numbers will run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Nothing has been finalised about Sundays yet.

This rule will not be applicable on emergency vehicles like PCR vans, fire tenders and ambulances, and on public transports like CNG-driven buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws.

So, unlike the last time the scheme was implemented, two-wheelers, government servants and women will also have to follow the car rationing scheme.

This system, therefore, will be applicable only on private-owned four wheelers running across Delhi, and on those coming in from other states. And that includes vehicles used by ministers and bureaucrats of all ranks.

The violation of the odd-even rule can lead to a levy of a fine of Rs. 2,000 in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 194 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

OneIndia News
Gauri Lankesh murder: SIT knows it all, arrests within weeks, says Karnataka HM

India

oi-Anusha

Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has said that killers of Gauri Lankesh will be arrested in a few weeks. Speaking to the media on Saturday in Bengaluru, Reddy said that the Special Investigation team that is probing the murder of the journalist was already in the knowledge of key elements.

"The SIT knows it all. They are collecting more evidence. I assure you that arrests will be made within weeks. The case will be solved," Ramalinga Reddy told reporters. The SIT, in its first-ever press conference after Gauri's murder, had released sketches of two suspects along with CCTV footage of suspects recceing Gauri's residence on the day of the murder.

Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by unknown miscreants outside her residence in Bengaluru in September earlier this year.

OneIndia News
Google Doodle celebrates Anasuya Sarabhais birth anniversary: All you need to know

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Google is celebrating the 132nd birthday of Anasuya Sarabhai and has dedicated a Google Doodle to honour the pioneer of the women's labour movement in India.

Today's doodle was created by Maria Qamar, a Pakistani-Canadian artist and author of the book 'Trust No Aunty'.

"Anasuya's dedication to justice and equality is something I can relate to," said Qamar. In drawing the activist, she took inspiration from the Indian textile industry. "I portrayed delicate fabrics and traditional patterns found in our homes and our closets," explained Qamar.

Born in Ahmedabad on November 11 in 1885 to a wealthy family of industrialists and business people, she became an orphan at the age of nine; after which, she, her brother and a younger sister were sent to live with an uncle.

She was forced to marry at the age of 13, before escaping to England with the help of her brother in 1912 to take a medical degree.

With the help of her brother, Anasuya switched to London School of Economics after she came to know of animal dissection involved in her studies which were against her Jain beliefs.

In England, Anasuya Sarabhai got involved in the Suffragette movement. Once back in India, she started working for the betterment of women and poor.

From here Anasuya's journey started to serve the cause of social equality and the next year she returned to India and started working with the marginal and disempowered communities.

She began by opening a school for poor students of all castes and creches and toilets for women. The seeds of her plunge into the labour movement were sown during an incident that is best described by her own words.

Sarabhai took up the cause of local mill workers after she came to know of their 36-hour work shifts. In 1914, she helped Ahmedabad's weavers successfully organise their first strike for higher wages. Later, she became the voice of several workers and negotiated with mill owners on their behalf for better working conditions. She died in 1972.

OneIndia News
Cong for Muslims, BJP for Hindus: Did Rahuls temple visits in Guj help to bust the myth?

Gujarat assembly polls: What to expect from Rahul Gandhis 4th visit

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Rahul Gandhi would make an all important fourth visit to Gujarat today. He would campaign in North Gujarat Gandhinagar, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha considered to be strong holds of the BJP.

The fourth visit is also aimed at strengthening the grip of the Congress among the Patidars. All eyes would be on his visit to these areas as they were the epicenter of the Patidar agitation.

On the other hand, senior Congress leader, Kapil Sibal who is the special negotiator with the Patidars has already held a meeting with the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). During that meeting, Sibal had given PAAS three options.

The options were conveyed to the PAAS members by senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal at the meeting which took place at 11:30 pm on Thursday and ended at about 2 am.

"We have been given three options by the Congress party on how to provide reservation to our community in educational institutions and government jobs," PAAS convener Dinesh Bambhania said after the meeting.

"The options that have been given will be kept confidential till we discuss it with Hardik, social leaders of the community, legal experts and then it would be kept before our community. If the community accepts the demand, we will convey it accordingly to the Congress party," Bambhania said.

He said, "The Congress proposal has not touched 49 per cent reservations for SC, ST and OBC which exists in the state. The options that have been given are over and above it."

The PAAS convener said the meeting took place in a "very cordial atmosphere".

"We have rejected the Congress' reservation offer under the Economically Backward Class as it is not constitutionally valid," Bambhania said.

Sibal, after the meeting, told a press conference that "today's meeting between Congress leaders and PAAS has brought hope that something can be worked out."

"We have discussed all the aspects and will do all the things (to provide reservation to the Patidar community) as per the constitution," the Congress leader said.

He said they would again meet in the next two-three days.

"We expect that the matter will become clear in two to three days," he added.

The PAAS members met Sibal to discuss modalities of providing reservation to Patidars if voted to power in the upcoming Assembly polls in Gujarat.

The meeting was scheduled at 9 pm but Sibal reached the venue late. Hardik, the Patidar quota agitation spearhead, who had earlier set a condition that he would support the Congress in the Assembly election, due next month, only if the party committed itself to allotting reservation in education and government jobs to his community, was not present in the meeting.

He had set November 7 as the deadline for the Congress to make its stand clear on the issue.

The polling for the two-phase elections in the state will take place on December 9 and 14 and votes will be counted on December 18.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, November 11, 2017, 8:49 [IST]
Gujarat elections: Need structural change in GST, says Rahul Gandhi

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Congress vice-president resumed his poll campaign in Gujarat on Saturday ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. Congress VP Rahul Gandhi will travel from Gandhinagar to Banaskantha on the fourth leg of Navsarjan Yatra. The Yatra has begun with Darshan at Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar and will end at Ambaji temple.

Speaking on GST Council's decision to the reduction of bringing items into the lower tax category, Rahul Gandhi said, "BJP under pressure from Congress and the people of the country to bring goods fro 28 percent tax slab to 18 percent. However, the opposition party does not approve of these changes.

He also added, "We are hot happy with these changes. We don't want 5 different tax slabs, need only one. We need structural change in GST."

The GST Council on Friday decided to reduce tax rate on items ranging from chewing gums to detergents -- to 18 per cent from current 28 per cent The all-powerful council pruned the list of items attracting the top 28 per cent tax rate to just 50 from 228 previously. The GST, implemented from July 1, has five tax slabs of 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent.

Rahul Gandhi was addressing a public rally in Chiloda, Gandhinagar.

Day 1: Congress VP Rahul Gandhi travels from Gandhinagar to Banaskantha on the fourth leg of Navsarjan Yatra. #PakkaGujarati_PakkaCongressi pic.twitter.com/oZ0jQbEcBS  Congress (@INCIndia) November 11, 2017

In the first phase of the Navsarjan Yatra Gandhi tried to play the soft Hindutva card, visiting temples and shrines in the Patidar-dominated Saurashtra region. The second phase was about ensuring that Congress's traditional vote bank does not slip away. In the third phase, Rahul covered 30 Assembly constituencies across Bharuch, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad and Surat districts in south Gujarat.

OneIndia News
How a plan to kill Hindus was hatched in Italy and Canada

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The handlers who directed the killing of RSS and other Hindu leaders have been traced to Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Punjab police which is probing the case learnt that there is a systematic approach that has been followed to eliminate Hindu leaders by ISI agents.

The police say that it has been confirmed that the approach that has been adopted is systematic in nature. The foreign funding for such operations has been traced and more people are likely to questioned, police sources also informed.

The motive behind the killings is to destabilise the state, the police say. The ISI wants to cause communal tension in Punjab. Once the state becomes volatile then it could be used as a platform to launch the Khalistan forces, the police also said.

The police got information about the modus operandi following three very high profile arrests. Hardeep Singh, Jimmy Singh and Jagtar Singh were arrested by the police. During their questioning, the police learnt that the conspiracy to kill Hindu leaders was hatched in Italy, Canada and UK. It was further revealed that while the entire operation is controlled in Pakistan, it was being sourced to handlers in the above mentioned three countries.

The ISI has been planning for long to infuse terrorism into Punjab. Several attempts have been made in the past, but all have failed. This is yet another attempt that is being made by the ISI, Intelligence Bureau officials say.

OneIndia News
'Medicine can also be studied in Tamil medium!' - CM Stalin's efforts are getting a growing response

Mayor Priya is not the puppet but the savior - How did Chennai recover from the floods?

US, Indian companies driving technological innovation to new heights: US Consul General Chennai Judith Ravin

IT raids on Jaya TV premises continue for 3rd day

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Income Tax Department's raids continue on the third day at Dr Namadhu MGR (Tamil newspaper) and Jaya TV Offices, also at the residence of Managing Director Vivek Jayaraman and his sister Krishna Priya in Chennai on in connection with alleged tax evasion matter.

IT sleuths raided simultaneously at 40 locations. The allegation covers aspects like shell companies, dubious investments, fund flow and fudging of accounts, income tax sources told PTI.

The raids are being conducted over suspected tax evasion as part of 'Operation Clean Money'.

Also, the taxmen conducted searches at the house of AIADMK Karnataka in-charge V Pugazhendi in Bengaluru. The raids have taken place just a day after the deputy secretary general TTV Dhinakaran questioned demonetisation.

"We are cooperating with the authorities. My simple question is why target the family?" asked Prasanna, spokesperson of the Sasikala-Dhinakaran faction of AIADMK.

(With agency inputs)
Kerala govt intends to replace Governor as Chancellor of universities through ordinance

DGP Kerala orders FIR against The Kerala Story after TN journalist forwards complaint to CM

Woman files petition in Kerala High Court, alleges forceful conversion

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

A 25-year-old woman has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court alleging that she was sexually exploited and forcefully converted to Islam.

The woman, in her petition to the HC, has alleged that 26-year-old Muhammad Riyaz- a native of New Mahe- took her to Saudi Arabia and was planning to take her to Syria, and sell her to ISIS terrorists as a sex slave.

"After reaching Saudi Arabia, she was taken to Saudi Arabia and there were attempts to take her to IS-held territory in Syria", the plea said.

He also forced her to attend Islamic classes and watch videos of Zakir Naik.

The petitioner has also made allegations that the forced conversion and marriage has links with the fundamentalist organisation Popular Front of India.

According to the petition, Muhammad then forcefully admitted the woman to a madrassa, following which, he forged documents including her Aadhar card (with the new Muslim name) to get their marriage registered in May 2016.

The woman, a Malayali, was born and brought up in Gujarat. She met the man while studying at a private institute in Bengaluru.

The case is likely to come up for hearing on November 13 in Kerala High Court.

This incident has come at a time when NIA has claimed that they have come across at least 90 cases of forced conversions in Kerala.

Hadiya, a 24-year-old Hindu woman from Kerala who converted to Islam, has been under house arrest after her marriage to Sheffin Jahan was annulled last year by the High Court.

OneIndia News
Lok Sabha 2019 elections will see 2.5 crore NRIs cast their vote

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that a bill be introduced in Parliament paving the way for NRIs to cast their vote in the elections. They would be able to cast their vote through their nominees, the SC was also informed.

Once the bill is passed 2.5 crore NRIs would be able to cast their vote through proxy or an e-postal ballot system. Currently only the defence personnel are allowed to vote through a postal ballot or nominee.

The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra was hearing a batch of petitions filed by NRIs which has now been pending for three years.

The Election Commission says that under the e-ballot procedure, the NRI would have to send an application either electronically or physically to the returning officer six months before the expiry of the term of the house for which elections are scheduled to be held. If the returning officer is satisfied, then the postal ballot would be send electronically to the NRI which he or she could access with a password.

The voter would have to download the postal ballot paper, cast the vote and then post back to the returning officer after getting the declaration attested, the EC had also said.

Further the EC told the government that this could be implemented within three months of the bill being passed by the Parliament.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, November 11, 2017, 10:31 [IST]
Pradyuman Thakur murder case: Accused will be tried as an adult

Pradyuman murder: Why is the juvenile being tried as an adult accused

My son was tortured', alleges accused juvenile's father; CBI denies

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The father of the juvenile accused of murdering seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur on Saturday alleged that the CBI tortured his son and even thrashed him "brutally" during the interrogation.

The CBI on its part has denied such allegations, said reports.

"My son is being tortured, he was hung upside down and brutally thrashed. He is completely innocent," the father told the media.

The accused boy was produced before the juvenile court today after his three-day CBI custody ended. The boy had allegedly murdered Pradyuman, a class 2nd student of Gurugram's Ryan International school, to get the parents teacher meeting (PTM) and examinations canceled.

"Only one PTM had happened till now and all teachers had praised my son's performance and behaviour, I have his mark sheets..Do you think such a young boy would behave normally for so many days had he committed such a serious crime?," the accused boy's father told news agency ANI.

The Juvenile Court today sent the class 11th student to a correction home till November 22.

"The boy has been sent to Faridabad observation home till 22nd November, which is also the date of next hearing," news agency ANI quoted arrested juvenile's lawyer, Sandeep Aneja, as saying.

[Pradyuman murder case: Accused juvenile sent to correction home till Nov 22]

The CBI on Wednesday arrested the class 11th student in connection with the case. The family and lawyers of Pradyuman had demanded that the accused be tried as an adult and be given strict punishment.

The family accused the local police of botching up the investigation and said the Central Bureau of Investigation meticulously collected circumstantial evidences and facts. They also alleged a larger conspiracy behind the murder and said that they want the CBI to file a charge sheet soon.

Pradyuman was found murdered in the bathroom of the Ryan International School. There was a twist in the tale on Wednesday when the CBI said that the murder was committed by the 16-year-old boy and not the conductor who was earlier made an accused in the case.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, November 11, 2017, 18:15 [IST]
India abstains on UNGA resolution calling for Russia to pay reparations to Ukraine

This is the truth: All people of India are Hindus says Dr. Mohan Bhagwat

National Education Day 2017: Remembering Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Indias first education minister

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

To honour freedom fighter and independent India's first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the nation is celebrating the National Education Day on November 11.

From 1947 to 1958, he served as the first education minister of the independent India.

The day also remembers the contributions of Maulana Azad's contribution in laying the foundations of the education system in an independent India.

Azad served as an intermediary between the supporters of Congress and the other section of Congress-Congress led by Subhash Bose. Azad lent his support to Gandhi and Congress during the struggle.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born on November 11, 2018. An academician and a freedom fighter, he was given the charge of the Education Minister for free India. At the time, India, though free, was reeling through the years of exploitation.

He considered schools as laboratories which produce future citizens of the country and, therefore, emphasised on quality education. He strongly advocated universal primary education, girls' education, free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14, vocational training and technical education.

In 1912, he started a weekly journal in 1912 in Urdu called Al-Hilal to increase the revolutionary recruit.

He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1922.

Azad established some of the prominent educational and cultural institutions today including the Sangeet Natak Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sahitya Academy and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Also, the first IIT, IISc, School of Planning and Architecture and the University Grants Commission were established under his tenure.

On September 11, 2008, The Ministry of Human Resource Development had announced the day will be celebrated as National Education Day.

OneIndia News
Nirmala Sitharaman slams Congress for neglecting Narmada River

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Keeping up with the active campaign fervour in Gujarat, Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is in Ahmedabad, lashed out at Congress for not working for the development of the state.

Talking to the media, Sitharaman said, "Congress party which was in the centre earlier and in opposition here in Gujarat, never thought of or worked for the state. They did not do anything for river Narmada."

"Development of river Narmada was done only when Congress was not in the power, during the govt of Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now Narendra Modi," she was quoted by ANI as saying.

Soon after her arrival in Ahmedabad, Sitharaman told that the government is trying its best to bring Kulbhushan Jadhav to India.

"We are trying our best that he be released and brought to India. So if his wife is meeting him before that, it will help him stay strong," she further added.

OneIndia News
Padmavati row: Haryana govt to approach censor board seeking ban on the movie

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

With the Supreme Court dismissing the petition seeking a stay on the release of movie Padmavati, the Haryana Government has said that it would approach the Censor Board to seek a ban on the upcoming Bollywood film.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the petition seeking a stay on the release of movie 'Padmavati', saying that the Censor Board should take an independent view. The petition had claimed that the movie allegedly hurts the sentiments of the Rajput community by "distorting and twisting historical facts".

Haryana Health minister Anil Vij claimed that the film producer of 'Padmavati', Sanjay Leela Bhansali, had allegedly wrongly presented the historical facts in the movie to "defame" the image of 'Rani Padmavati' which had hurt the sentiments of lakhs of people.

"Rani Padmavati is the symbol of Indian women' pride. The character assassination of Padmavati will not be tolerated at any level," PTI quoted him as saying.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday added a totally new dimension to the controversy over Padmavati by saying that it was funded from Dubai and is a part of an international conspiracy to defame Hindus.

[Padmavati was funded from Dubai, its a conspiracy to defame Hindu women: Swamy]

Last week, Maharashtra Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal had demanded a ban on the film and said the state government would be writing to the Censor board on the issue.

The film, starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, is slated for release on December 1.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, November 11, 2017, 19:39 [IST]
Pak allowing Jadhav to meet wife is reflection of India's diplomatic outreach: Jitendra Singh

India

pti-PTI

Pakistan's decision to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife was a reflection of the efficacy of the Indian diplomatic outreach and its acceptance around the world, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.

"I think this is a compliment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This (development) is certainly a compliment to the efficacy of India's diplomatic outreach," he told reporters.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said on Friday that Jadhav would be allowed to meet his wife on Pakistani soil. The move came months after New Delhi requested Islamabad to allow Jadhav's mother to meet him on humanitarian grounds. Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of spying and terrorism. In May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had halted his execution on India's appeal.

"One of the major achievements of the Modi government on terror from Pakistan and sponsored-terrorism in Kashmir is that India's viewpoint is now gaining more and more acceptance across the world, from even those countries which were earlier hesitant or had their own reasons not to accept it," the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Replying to a question on separatists in the Valley seeking Pakistan's involvement in any dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue, Singh said the decision to hold talks with the neighbouring country was the prerogative of the external affairs and home ministries. "None of us has the mandate to decide on that," he said. However, he said, the separatists stand exposed before the Valley's youth, who have decided to become a part of the Indian development journey. He said 19 young boys and girls qualified for IIT from terror-striken districts of Kashmir this year.

"(The separatists) are the same so-called protagonists who say they do not owe allegiance to the Indian Constitution, but their own children are taking maximum benefits out of it. "Even holding jobs in the administrative services, I am sure the youth of Kashmir today is no longer ready to be taken by this jugglery."

PTI
Politicians not above nation: Javed Akhtar

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Nov 11: Asserting that it is the people who build the nation, Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar on Saturday said that politicians who think they are bigger than the nation are wrong.

The 72-year-old lyricist was speaking at Sahitya Aaj Tak, where he said that some people have misinterpreted the definition of nationalism.

"The interpretation of nationalism for some people is quite strange. They think that they are the nation. If you oppose them, then you become anti-national. These politicians are like the harvesting crop. They change when the crop changes. They don't stay here for eternity. Nation is larger than a political party and a politician. Any politician who thinks that he is the nation, then he is wrong," Akhtar said.

Akhtar, who had last year criticised Union Minister V K Singh for proposing to rename Akbar Road in Lutyens Delhi to Maharana Pratap Road, said the country has produced many great leaders and Mughal emperor Akbar was one of them.

"This country has produced many great leaders and if you make a list of them, then without Akbar that list is incomplete," said Akhtar.

"That man was a huge personality with a vision nobody can match. About 400 years back when Europe had not even heard the word secularism. But here was a man in this country, who was not only secular, but also understood the philosophy and theory of secularism. He was working on it," he added.

Akhtar also said that a secular Muslim, like Akbar, is always abused by the fundamentalists and by people from other religions.

"It is saddening that a secular Muslim is always abused by fundamentalist people and the people from the other side. This is a very sorry state of affairs that any Muslim is not considered an Indian. Tipu Sultan is not an Indian and if I do not agree to this thought, then I become anti-national. Then I am an anti-national," he declared.

He sad that Akbar was an Indian as he was born here and died contributing to the wealth of the country.

PTI
UP ATS picks up two more accused in Al-Qaeda radicalisation case

UP govt's agenda is to spread hatred in name of development: Akhilesh Yadav

India

pti-PTI

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday accused the government in Uttar Pradesh of spreading hatred in the name of development.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also alleged that the projects of the earlier Samajwadi Party government were being inaugurated by the Yogi Adityanath government.

"BJP people are very wise in instigating problems, spreading hatred, and there is no one better than them in creating a vertical divide, be it in a family or political party. You can see Gujarat, Bengal or Uttar Pradesh," Yadav said at a newspaper event in Lucknow.

"Who is better than them in creating a divide in the name of Hindu-Muslim or castes. People charge us for being casteist but don't call them casteists," he said.

Yadav also claimed that he had never asked for votes on the basis of caste and religion.

The former chief minister also asked, "Was the government made for spreading hatred in the name of development.

Taking a dig at the BJP government, the former chief minister said that during his tenure, he had never inaugurated projects which had been inaugurated previously.

"The works done by the Samajwadi Party government are being inaugurated by this government.

The Samajwadi Party president, who had struck an electoral alliance with the Congress before the UP Assembly polls, also stated that his "friendship with Rahul Gandhi will continue".

PTI
Biden-Xi summit: What Biden wants, what Xi wants

G20 summit: Biden objects to Chinas aggressive approach to Taiwan in meeting with Xi

PM Modi, Xi Jinping greet each other at G-20 dinner in first meet after Galwan clash

APEC meet:Trump and Putin cross paths again in Vietnam

International

pti-PTI

Danang (Vietnam), November 11: President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin crossed paths again and chatted on Saturday as they strolled to a brief photo op at the Intercontinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in Danang, Vietnam.

Chinese President Xi Jinping flanked Trump's other side. Trump stood in the second row for the photo.

Trump and Putin shook hands this morning as leaders of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation opened their meetings. That followed a last night handshake and small talk at the summit's welcome gala.

The White House says the two will not hold a formal meeting in Vietnam. President Donald Trump is beginning a day full of meetings at an economic summit in Vietnam.

He arrived this morning at a leaders retreat at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting being held in the coastal city of Danang. Trump was expected to attend a series of larger meetings and private audiences with other world leaders.

He was not expected to have a formal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though aides have said an informal encounter is possible.

Trump has pulled the United States out of the Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

He says he wants one-on-one agreements with other nations. Today, the 11 remaining TPP nations announced they had reached a trade pact without the US.

PTI
There is no 'one-size-fits-all' to curb poverty

Thief calls cops for help after being caught by mob

Cyclone Sitrang heading towards Bangladesh; Heavy rains likely to pound West Bengal, Odisha and NE

Defamatory FB post, mob torches 30 houses of Hindus in Bangladesh

International

pti-PTI

Dhaka, November 11: At least 30 houses of Hindus were set on fire in Bangladesh by a mob of protesters following rumours that a youth from the minority community published an offensive Facebook status.

One person was killed when police opened fire to disperse the crowd that launched the arson attack on the houses of Hindus yesterday, Dhaka Tribune reported. The incident took place in Rangpur district's Thakurpara village, about 300 km from Dhaka.

At least five persons were injured when police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control, it said.

The protesters claimed that they were infuriated by a defamatory status published from the Facebook account of a person who hails from the Thakurbari village a few days ago, the report said.

Before the police intervened, the perpetrators had torched at least 30 Hindu houses before looting and vandalising them, the report said. A crowd of 20,000 people had reportedly gathered from six to seven neighbouring villages before the attack was launched by a group of people, it said.

The police had a tough time dealing with the protesters and restoring the law and order situation in the area, the report said. Six persons with bullet injuries were rushed to a nearby hospital when one of them succumbed to his injuries, the report said.

Police have detained 33 people in connection with the incident, bdnews24 reported.

There were traffic snarls after the mob blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway to protest against the police action.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area where the situation was tense, Kotwali police station Officer-in-Charge (Operation) Moktarul Islam said.

The district administration has formed a three-member inquiry committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate Abu Rafa Mohammad Rafiq, to investigate the incident and submit a report in seven days, the report added.

PTI
North Korea slams Trump's 'warmonger' Asia tour

International

pti-PTI

North Korea on Saturday slammed Donald Trump's "warmonger" Asia tour and warned it would only strengthen Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, state media reported.

In the first comments on Trump's visit by a North Korean official, a Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman said the trip was a "warmonger's visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence", according to the state-run KCNA news agency.

"It is also nothing but a business trip by a warmonger to enrich the monopolies of the U.S. defence industry by milking the moneybags from its subordinate 'allies'."

Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of the world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula."

The statement blasts Trump for "lunatic remarks" about destroying North Korea at the UN General Assembly in September.

Trump this week warned North Korea not to underestimate the US as he used his Asia visit to seek support for ramping up sanctions on the secretive state.

PTI
US did not share Osama bin Laden's location with Pakistan due to lack of trust

Saudi Arabia: Arrest of Osama bin Laden's half-brother shatters royal entente

International

pti-PTI

Dubai, November 11: Bakr Binladin, the chairman of the kingdom's pre-eminent contractor and Osama bin Laden's half-brother, was one among those caught in the unprecedented arrests of top princes in Saudi Arabia.

It was a stunning end to a decades-old alliance between the ruling Al Saud and Binladin families that saw the Saudi Binladin Group secure a near-monopoly on mega-expansion projects in Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, throughout the reigns of successive Saudi monarchs.

The government says 201 people have been taken into custody in the purge, which comes amid an anti-corruption probe it says uncovered at least USD 100 billion in graft and embezzlement.

Saudi critics and experts have called the arrests a bold and risky move by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at consolidating power as he sidelines potential rivals, silences critics and dismantles alliances built with other branches of the royal family.

The 32-year-old crown prince, who is the son of King Salman and is popularly known by his initials MBS, is leading the anti-corruption investigation.

He's also the force behind the so-called Vision 2030 plan, a blueprint for how to restructure the country and wean it from its dependence on oil revenue.

The arrests of Binladin and the others not only signal the end of old alliances, but also speak to the larger demands being made on the business community to pay into the crown prince's economic vision in an era of lower oil prices.

"This is the beginning of the rise of economic nationalism," said Ayham Kamel, head of the Middle East and North Africa division of the Eurasia Group.

A centerpiece of that plan is NEOM, a USD 500 billion project that promises to be the world's most futuristic and technologically-advanced city, which was unveiled by the crown prince at a headline-grabbing global investment conference in Saudi Arabia last month.

But instead of receiving major pledges to the project by Saudi business leaders, MBS "got deafening silence", Kamel said.

Since the 1950's, the Binladins have been the royal family's go-to contractor for some of its most sensitive projects, including construction of private palaces in the immediate boon years after oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

The Binladins became their creditors, as well as contractors since the royal family spent lavishly on trips abroad and new palaces at home.

PTI
UNESCO network of learning cities now has Telengana's Warangal and 2 cities from Kerala

What is a Learning City? Why these Indian cities are listed in UNESCO 'Learning Cities' network

UNESCO's new head vows to reduce tensions in agency

International

pti-PTI

Paris, November 10: French former culture minister Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO's new director general, said her top priority will be to calm the waters for a body riven by dissensions and under fire for dragging its feet on much-needed reforms.

"To rebuild unity, we must promote UNESCO's assets and know-how and that of its members," Azoulay told AFP in an interview.

The Paris-based cultural, scientific and cultural organisation "must show through its actions that UNESCO is addressing the challenges of globalisation today," said the 45-year-old whose nomination was confirmed on Friday.

She said she would seek to "reduce a certain amount of tensions" but conceded that they would "always exist".

The vote that saw Azoulay succeed outgoing UNESCO chief Irina Bokova was overshadowed by Washington's announcement that it planned to withdraw from the body after years of strained relations over decisions seen as critical of Israel.

In 2011 US president Barack Obama suspended funding for UNESCO -- about 22 percent of its annual budget -- for accepting Palestine as a member.

In the years since, UNESCO has been the scene of several flare-ups over Arab-sponsored resolutions critical of Israel. In July, it declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site, infuriating Israel while delighting Palestinians.

The decision by Obama's successor Donald Trump to withdraw from the body will take effect at the end of 2018, when Washington will establish an "observer mission" to replace its UNESCO representation.

"But UNESCO must keep the door open and continue to work with American civil society," said Azoulay, who was culture minister under the Socialist president Francois Hollande for a little over a year until he left office in May.

"We must nip divisive issues in the bud, find joint solutions" and avoid issues that UNESCO cannot resolve -- "which is not its function by the way", Azoulay said.

She recognised that the sprawling 72-year-old body is "sometimes paralysed or taken hostage by disputes that it cannot resolve". Azoulay said UNESCO's budget integrates both dues and voluntary contributions and is "realistic".

"As for the current budget, we must determine the most crucial areas for action by UNESCO, where it is the only one acting, and adapt our priorities to our means." The agency can also "maybe get support from other networks, other partnerships," she said.

Asked about UNESCO's image as a second-tier UN agency that is mainly concerned with developing its prestigious World Heritage list, Azoulay said that view was "very French".

"When you go to South Korea, Japan or sub-Saharan Africa, they talk to you mainly about education when it comes to UNESCO."

Azoulay added: "Education is the main challenge of our century; it is fundamental. UNESCO may have a lower profile than other agencies because it doesn't build schools, but it is the world reference on the substance, the content of education," she said.

PTI


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By Hamma Mirwaisi

The tactical alliances between Sunni and Shi'a Islamic terrorist forces can be an obstacle for the US and Russian in the Middle East and part of Asia.

Turkish Islamic Government of Turkey lost the war against PKK forces in Turkey and Syria. Turkish Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who wanted to revive Ottoman Islamic Sunni Empire is desperate now. Because PKK forces defeated his military forces on the Zagros mountain ranges from the Black Sea to Northern Iran.

Turkish Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan give in to Iran-Iraq Islamist Shi'a Government to attack corrupt mafia families of Barzani and Talabani tribal forces in Iraq. Barzani and Talabani mafia forces lost 51% of the 'Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) land in few hours, while the US and UK observed their performances. It is clear for the world that so-called Peshmerga forces of Barzani and Talabani are nothing but useless tribal forces.

Kurdish people forces loyal to Abdullah Ocalan will fight the Islamist terrorist to protect Kurdish people in Kurdistan. YPG and YPJ of Kurdish forces defeated ISIS Islamic Sunni terrorist forces of Turkey-Qatar in Syria with help of the US air power.

The US is not providing air power to PKK forces in Turkey because they are members of NATO so far. But the US could be forced to help PJAK Kurdish people forces in Iran because the Islamist Iranian Shi'a could be more dangerous than North Korea for the US interest in the Middle East and part of Asia.

The Turkish-Iranian alliances could destabilize Russian and Europe before reaching the US territories. Kurdish people forces in Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq need the white Caucasian people's support in the world to survive Persian of Tamil, Arabs of Africa, and Turks of Mongolia as occupiers of the white Caucasian land.

The US and EU countries are under the influence of Arabs oil to defend the white Caucasian Kurdish people in the Middle East and part of Asia. But the white Caucasian people can help Kurds by forcing those Government who sold out the white Caucasian people in last two thousand years. The land belongs to the white Caucasian people of the world.

References

Have Turkey and Iran agreed on an operation on Qandil?

click here
It was the height of the Cuban missile crisis, October 27, 1962. It was the most dangerous moment in the Cold War, when the US and USSR stood toe-to-toe and each dared the other to risk global nuclear annihilation for strategic gain. Both President Kennedy and Premier Khruschchev were wary of the risks, but both were being pressured by hard-line cabinet members. Khrushchev placed nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba, but didn't announce it because he didn't want to create a panic in the US. The ploy backfired when the US CIA found out about the missiles and recommended to Kennedy that this was the opportunity they had been waiting for, the excuse to invade Cuba and replace Castro with a government friendly to the USA.

Kennedy successfully defused the call for an invasion, but substituted a blockade of Cuba, allowing no ships to enter Cuban waters or planes to enter Cuban air space. Blockades are an act of war. Kennedy tried to soft-pedal our aggression by calling it a "quarantine". Both nations' nuclear arsenals--thousands of hydrogen bombs--were on high alert. There was a standoff with Soviet warships outside Havana's harbor. A Soviet submarine, however, was undeterred. Unbeknownst to the Americans, the submarine was armed with nuclear weapons. US battleships set off depth charges to warn the sub to take the quarantine seriously.

It worked. They were locked under the sea, afraid to surface, and running out of air. Everyone in the crew was shaken up by explosions that echoed like hammers on hollow metal. Some crew members passed out from toxic CO2 levels in the sub.

Panic ensued. Commander Valentin Savitsky tried unsuccessfully to reach the general staff. He then ordered the officer in charge of the nuclear torpedo to prepare it for battle, shouting, "Maybe the war has already started up there, while we are doing somersaults here. We are going to blast them now. We will die, but we will sink them all. We will not disgrace our Navy." [Oliver Stone & Peter Kuznik, Untold History of the US Read the book. Watch the video.]

Savitsky turned to the other two officers. Unanimous consent of the three was the required protocol for using the nuclear torpedo. One officer agreed immediately, but the second, Vasily Arkhipov kept a calmer mind and a clearer head. He was able to calm the other two, and convince them to be patient.

We are all grateful to Vasily Arkhipov. In that act of reason and restraint under duress, one man saved the world from a war that would have instantly killed a billion people, and, over several years, wiped out most of the world's human and animal populations through fallout and nuclear winter.
From Consortium News

Last weekend during a visit to Saudi Arabia, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri suddenly and dramatically resigned, raising questions about whether the Saudi leadership was engineering a political crisis in Lebanon as a way to counter the defeat of its jihadist proxies in Syria.

Given the timing and the unusual circumstances -- from a fancy hotel in Riyadh -- questions also were raised about whether Hariri's resignation amounted to the kidnapping of the Lebanese leader (who has dual Saudi citizenship) or whether it presaged a new front in the regional wars.

I spoke with Beirut-based Professor, Activist and Environmental Scientist Rania Masri last Monday, while Hariri's whereabouts and safety were still in question.

Dennis Bernstein: The prime minister of Lebanon has stepped down. Could you talk a little bit about what provoked that and the significance of that action?

Rania Masri: The prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, was called very suddenly to Saudi Arabia. He cancelled all his appointments and went on Thursday. [On] Saturday there was a taped broadcast in which he stated that he was resigning as prime minister. This has never happened in the history of Lebanon. This is a resignation submitted from outside the country!

Secondly, the statement that he read was clearly not a statement that he wrote. We know this because of linguistic assessments of the statement and we know this because his brother writes his statements and his brother has been in Lebanon. It is very clear that this was a resignation forced upon him by the Saudi government. He has not been answering his phone for the past few days. Most likely he is locked up in the Ritz Carlton Hotel along with dozens of other influential Saudi princes and businessmen who are under arrest there. The president has asked him to return to Lebanon before the resignation becomes finalized.

Saad al-Hariri read the letter of resignation on Saturday. He said that he is forced to resign because of Iranian intervention in Lebanon. Imagine, to leave the country and go to Saudi Arabia to resign because of another country's intervention in your home country! He also claims in the statement that Hezbollah is an Iranian tool and that Iranian hands must be cut off by all means necessary. It was basically very threatening language against Lebanon.

Since then, Saudi minister Sabhan -- who many believe wrote the statement for Hariri -- has stated that Lebanon must decide between peace and keeping Hezbollah in the government. He continues to say that as long as Hezbollah is present in the Lebanese government, he will consider that the Lebanese government is at war with Saudi Arabia. So here we have a minister from Saudi Arabia openly declaring war on the entire country of Lebanon!

Dennis Bernstein: The simple explanation in the Western corporate press is that Hariri was afraid he would face the same fate as his father, who was assassinated.

Rania Masri: That has no basis in fact. There are three types of intelligence services in Lebanon, each of which is aligned to a different political party. All have agreed that there is no evidence of any assassination plot against Hariri or anyone else in Lebanon. At the same time, no one has been able to reach him on the phone since Friday. He can't really believe that anyone is going to kill him if he answers the phone!

Dennis Bernstein: Should we be thinking about this in the context of this extraordinary shake-up in Saudi Arabia?

Rania Masri: One hundred percent. The day before Saad Hariri was called to Saudi Arabia, he was speaking positively of the Lebanese government. There was no discord within the government. Then he gets called to Saudi Arabia, disappears for a day and issues this resignation on a taped broadcast. At the same time, we have the capture and arrest of these very influential multi-millionaires in Saudi Arabia, all thrown into this same hotel.

We have to remember that Saad Hariri also has Saudi Arabian citizenship, that he and his family have had investments in Saudi Arabia since the early 1970's. He may be held liable to Saudi law, particularly if he loses his diplomatic immunity with his resignation. So at the very least we know that he did not issue his resignation because of an internal Lebanese problem. It is no coincidence that we now have this shake-up in Saudi Arabia to cement financial and military and political power all in one man.

Dennis Bernstein: This would be an extremely bold action on the part of the Saudis, one which almost certainly was not taken without the knowledge of the United States government. You have the US flooding Saudi Arabia with weapons so that they can tighten their grip in Yemen.

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From Gush Shalom

DURING THE last few days, I met with two old friends: Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin.

Well, the term "friends" may not quite be appropriate. Certainly, Arafat called me "my friend" in a recorded message for my 70th birthday, but Rabin called nobody "friend." That was not his character.

I am glad that I knew both from close up. Without them, my life would have been poorer.

I DON'T think I ever met two more different people than these two.

Arafat was a warm person. An emotional person. His embraces and kisses were ceremonial, but they also expressed real sentiment. I brought many Israelis to meetings with him, and they all recounted that after 10 minutes in his company they felt as if they had known him for years.

Rabin was the exact opposite. Like me, he abhorred physical contact. He was remote. He did not exhibit feelings. Only on close acquaintance did he reveal himself as having quite strong feelings indeed.

But these two so different persons had one thing in common. Both were fighters throughout their lives. Rabin gave up academic studies in order to join the illegal Palmach ("shock troops") during the time of British rule. Arafat gave up a career as an engineer in Kuwait in order to set up the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). Rabin was six years older.

Both devoted the major part of their adult life to fighting for their peoples -- and against each other. Both were not gentle in their wars. Rabin once ordered soldiers to "break their (the Palestinians') arms and legs!" Arafat ordered many cruel actions.

After a long life of war, both turned towards the way of peace. That was much more dangerous. Rabin was murdered by a Jewish fanatic. Arafat was murdered (as I believe) in a more sophisticated way by the agents of Ariel Sharon.

I WAS privileged to hear from both how and why they made their fateful turn towards peace.

Arafat's explanation was simpler. It went more or less like this (in my words):

I always believed that the Arab armies would in the end vanquish Israel on the battlefield, and that the Palestinians must only give the push. True, I was the commander-in-chief of the Palestinian forces, but I knew that the Palestinians by themselves could not succeed in defeating Israel.

Then came the October 1973 war (called the "Yom Kippur War" in Hebrew). The two strongest Arab armies attacked Israel. They achieved total surprise and on the first day obtained imposing results. The Egyptians overran the Israel Bar-Lev line, and the Syrians approached the Sea of Galilee.

And lo and behold, in spite of these initial successes, the Arabs were defeated in the war. When a cease-fire was imposed, the Israeli army was close to Damascus and their way to Cairo was open.

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By David Swanson, World Beyond War

HUNTER OF STORIES

The late Eduardo Galeano's forthcoming book, Hunter of Stories, has five or ten sentences on each page -- each page a tiny story, their combination engaging and powerful. Galeano includes the story of a war resister who chose to die rather than kill, and that of an Iraqi who foretold and pre-grieved the 2003 looting of the National Museum, also the story of former drone pilot Brandon Bryant who quit after killing a child and being lied to that the child had been a dog, not to mention the story of the World War I Christmas truces. These are all true stories, some new and some familiar, all well documented elsewhere, but Galeano doesn't bother with the documentation here. He simply tells the stories -- extremely simply, he tells the stories. He inspires me to offer the following, and to search for more. If you have ideas for the very best incidents to recount that fit into the following pattern, please let me know. The stories below are meant, not to depict every aspect of war or peace, much less to cover the entire history of war and peace. There's no need to send me the full list of thousands and millions of stories not included here. The stories below are meant to encourage questioning of war-thinking. Send me the best anecdotes that further that project please.

HAVE SOME BLANKETS AND DIE

Jeffrey Amherst, commanding general of British forces in North America, later a Lord, and man for whom Amherst, Massachusetts, is named, wrote this in a letter to a subordinate: "Could it not be contrived to send the Small Pox among those disaffected tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them." Beyond small pox, Amherst proposed "to try Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race." He asked that "Measures to be taken as would Bring about the Total Extirpation of those Indian Nations." He hoped to "put a most Effectual Stop to their very Being." His plans were acted upon using infected blankets and handkerchiefs. Total extirpation was not achieved. Hundreds of years later it remains common for members of the U.S. military to describe invaded lands as "Indian Country." In 2017, President Donald Trump proposed "total destruction" and Senator John McCain proposed "extermination" for North Korea.

NOBODY HAD YET THOUGHT OF A BETTER WAY, EXCEPT THOSE WHO HAD

From 1683 to 1755 Pennsylvania's European settlers had no major wars with the native nations, in stark contrasts with other British colonies. Pennsylvania had slavery, it had capital and other horrific punishments, it had individual violence. But it chose not to use war, not to take land without what was supposed to be just compensation, and not to push alcohol on the native people in the way that opium was later pushed on China and guns and planes are now pushed on nasty despots. In 1710, the Tuscaroras from North Carolina sent messengers to Pennsylvania asking for permission to settle there. All the money that would have been used for militias, forts, and armaments in Pennsylvania was available, for better or worse, to build Philadelphia (remember what its name means) and develop the colony. The colony had 4,000 people within 3 years, and by 1776 Philadelphia surpassed Boston and New York in size. So while the superpowers of the day were battling for control of the continent, one group of people rejected the idea that war is necessary, and prospered more rapidly than any of their neighbors who insisted it was. (Thank you to John Reuwer for this story.)

LIGHTING A MATCH

It was March 23, 1775, and a wealthy, white man who owned many people as slaves was giving a speech in a church in Richmond, Virginia. What he said was not recorded, but we know that he spoke poorly of rule by England. An account just the next week by a man who had attended the speech tells us that the speaker called King George III, "a Tyrant, a fool, a puppet, and a tool." This orator may have merely hinted at revolution, as on other occasions, or he may have openly advocated it. He also probably spoke on this day, as he did on others before and after, of the need to militarily suppress slave revolts and to resist any British efforts to free people from slavery, as well as of the need to attack Native Americans to the west, where this man was making a fortune on land speculation. Forty-two years later, a supposed text of the speech was published, having been concocted from decades-old memories solicited second-hand, plus sheer invention. The original speaker had long since died. But now we learned that he had spoken against a metaphorical enslavement to England, and possibly even acted out liberating himself from invisible bondage. Words put into his mouth included these: "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death." There is no record of Patrick Henry subsequently risking death; he saw no combat action. He did, however, campaign against ratification of the U.S. Constitution. His rallying cry popularizing a war theretofore desired mostly by elites, is sufficient, however, to rank him as a heroic Founding Father of a sort that people in Canada and Australia must deeply regret lacking. (Thank you to Ray Raphael for this story.)

WAS THAT THE RUBICON?

The native people of his country called him Conotocaurious, meaning Town Destroyer. He was the wealthiest man on his continent, and he ruled fiercely over his fighters. Those who misbehaved were often given 100 lashes with a whip. Conotocaurious tried to increase the punishment to 500 lashes. He led a desperate insurgency against the legitimate government, and a turning point came with the crossing of a river. It was Christmas night when he sneaked his fighters across a wide river and marched them on a sleepy camp of government mercenaries. The insurgents, or what the U.S. State Department would today call terrorists, killed 22, wounded 83, and took about 900 prisoners, as well as seizing their supplies. The attackers' own loses were 5 wounded and 0 dead in the battle, though two died from exposure to the cold during the march. Among the group of freedom fighters or terrorists (choose your term, but apply it also to resisters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Niger, Philippines, etc.) were James Madison, James Monroe, John Marshall, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and their leader whose other name was George Washington. Two hundred and thirty-five years later a giant triumphalist phallic monument to Washington cracked in an earthquake, possibly caused by fracking, while the regime established in that Delaware-River-crossing war long ago, waged wars in several different places around the globe, maintaining a troop presence in 175 countries.

COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION

At the end of the 1700s the world was dominated by slavery. Slavery was the norm. The vast majority of people on earth were in slavery or serfdom. Before the end of the 1800s slavery had been outlawed almost everywhere, and drastically reduced in its actual presence. Most parts of the world that ended or took steps to virtually end slavery and the slave trade did so without civil wars, driven forward by a nonviolent abolitionist movement and some violent slave revolts. The United States dramatically reduced slavery at the cost of 750,000 dead, cities burned, militarism glorified, and seemingly eternal resentment fostered. To suggest that another course was possible is typically met with the facts of how dramatically differently people would have had to think and behave -- in other words, an underestimation of the term "possible." Incredibly difficult though it was to enact, there was someone who had an idea. From 1856 to 1860 Elihu Burritt promoted a plan to prevent civil war through compensated emancipation, or the purchase and liberation of enslaved people by the government, an example that the English had set in the West Indies, and an approach that would be used for Washington, D.C., but not the rest of the United States, in 1862. Burritt traveled constantly, all over the country, speaking. He organized a mass convention that was held in Cleveland. He lined up prominent supporters. He edited newsletters. On June 20, 2013, the Atlantic published an article called "No, Lincoln Could Not Have 'Bought the Slaves'." Why not? Well, the slave owners didn't want to sell. That's perfectly true. They didn't, not at all. But the Atlantic focuses on another argument, namely that it would have just been too expensive, costing as much as $3 billion (in 1860s money). Yet, if you read closely -- it's easy to miss it -- the author admits that the war cost over twice that much. The cost of freeing people was simply unaffordable. Yet the cost -- over twice as much -- of killing people, goes by almost unnoticed -- as if it were a current Pentagon budget.

THE BROOKS BROTHERS ARYAN

A very popular and famous promoter of wars for the Aryan race had his war costume designed especially for him by Brooks Brothers. In his worldview, the Aryans had come from the Middle East to Germany and from there to England in the form of the Anglo-Saxons, who had moved westward across North America and on to the Pacific, from which they would come full-circle to the eventual (and still longed for) conquering of what is now called Iran. In a 1910 lecture at Oxford, this well-dressed Aryan argued in favor of "ethnic conquest," claiming that allowing members of conquered peoples to live was slowing the progress of the race. His name was Teddy Roosevelt.

THE YANKEES OF THE FAR EAST

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From Smirking Chimp

When the Kevin Spacey story first broke, he stood accused of one act of wrongdoing: aggressively hitting on a 14-year-old boy.

If true, this is wrong. Very wrong. Obviously. Adults shouldn't proposition children. But this happened more than 30 years ago. The nature of the response -- Netflix distanced itself from the star of its hit show "House of Cards" by announcing its previously secret decision to end the series next year -- seems like the wrong response to the actor's behavior...and one that has become all too typical.

Bear in mind, this was before other people stepped forward to say Spacey had sexually harassed them. Some of Spacey's accusers worked on "House of Cards." After that, Netflix would have been derelict not to put Spacey on hiatus as the accusations get sorted out, and to fire him for creating a toxic work environment for its current employees. Which is what it did.

Sexual harassers getting their just comeuppance is a good thing. It is decades, centuries, millennia overdue. What I can't figure is, why is the knee-jerk response to these accusations, the standard-issue form of social shaming in the 21st century, to fire them from their jobs -- including jobs where they didn't do anything wrong?

The NYPD may file criminal charges against Harvey Weinstein, whose name will for the forseeable future be preceded by the phrase "disgraced Hollywood producer." But Weinstein is an exception. For most men accused of sexual harassment and assault during this post-Weinstein outcry, the standard demand is: fire him!

Depriving a man (or woman, if that happens) of their livelihood in response to piggishness seems both too little and too much.

For victims, the knowledge that their attacker lost their job hardly rises to the level of even minimal justice. Nor does it protect other women from falling prey as well. Any sanction short of a prison term for a rapist or a big-time sexual harasser is bound to feel trivial, as though society doesn't weigh victimhood, as if victims are disposable.

For the falsely accused (e.g., the University of Virginia, probably also the Columbia student accused by a famously mattress-toting classmate), being deprived of a livelihood for a crime they didn't commit is egregious. We live in a capitalist society without a minimal safety net, so losing your job can -- if you are unable to find a new one -- quite literally kill you.

Unless the incident occurs on the job, the connection between employment and sexual harassment and rape is as arbitrary and odd as that between employment and healthcare. If a society determines that healthcare is important, it should be available to everyone, not just workers fortunate enough to land a 40-hour-a-week job working at a company big enough to offer a health plan. Similarly, what does sexually harassing 30-plus years ago at a private party -- yes, even a boy -- have to do with Spacey's then-current gig with Netflix?

It didn't turn out to be the case, but try to imagine that the entire brief against Spacey had never expanded beyond Anthony Rapp's tweet, which describes an incident that Spacey claims he doesn't recall. It's safe to say Spacey's character on "House of Cards" would have been killed off. Spacey probably would have lost other jobs. He would likely have had trouble finding work in the future. You might say good, who cares? But this outcome would have been fair neither to Rapp nor to Spacey.

If Rapp is telling the truth, it would be better for that truth to be determined by the courts, should he decide to file charges. Statues of limitation are challenging in these cases, but the solution is for state legislatures to fix that problem, and for prosecutors to be induced to go after cases tougher than a slamdunk. As it is, political leaders are abdicating justice to social media lynch mobs and employers. There are also civil courts, where the standard of proof is lower.

As far as Spacey goes, is it ethical to take money out of his pocket over an accusation that has never been tried, much less proven, by a judge or jury?

On the other side of the coin, Fox News waited way too long to fire Bill O'Reilly and Roger Ailes. I'm not typically sympathetic to corporations or their bottom lines, but if I'm the boss at a company, anyone who forces my organization to pay a multimillion-dollar settlement to a sexual harassment victim -- because, let's face it, corporations only pay when they're guilty -- is out the door before it happens again. Mark Halperin allegedly harassed women at ABC; ABC's firing thus seems cut and dry.

Of the recent firings, NPR handled things better than most. Michael Oreskes hung onto his job as long as his accusers were out of his past, from his previous position at the New York Times . They let him go after a female NPR staffer said he'd harassed her.

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From Smirking Chimp

Last week's indictments of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime associate Richard Gates, together with the guilty plea by former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, sent shock waves through the White House.

It turns out that since July, Papadopoulos has been serving as a "proactive cooperator." Special counsel Robert Mueller filed a document in federal court that says, "Defendant has indicated that he is willing to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election." Papadopoulos was likely wired for sound during conversations with administration officials whom he may implicate in criminal conduct.

But Mueller's opening salvo was just the tip of the iceberg. As the special counsel moves toward criminally charging Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn and others, even the president could find himself in Mueller's crosshairs.

NBC News reported on November 5 that Mueller has enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Flynn and his son, Michael G. Flynn. Father and son worked together in Flynn Intel Group, a consulting and lobbying group.

Mueller is reportedly investigating Michael T. Flynn for money laundering and lying to federal agents about overseas contacts. The special counsel is also exploring whether Flynn tried to assist in removing a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the United States to Turkey in return for the payment of millions of dollars, two officials told NBC News.

Trump Fired Comey to Protect Flynn

Recall that in February, Trump pressured then-FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation of Flynn. That happened the day after Trump fired Flynn for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about Flynn's contacts with Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the United States.

Trump warned Comey, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." Comey testified, "I took it as a direction" that "this is what he wants me to do.... [I] replied only that '[Flynn] is a good guy.'"

According to Comey, the president asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Jared Kushner and others to step out of the Oval Office before he requested that Comey drop the "open FBI criminal investigation" of Flynn for "his statements in connection with the Russian contacts, and the contacts themselves."

Two weeks earlier, the president had twice demanded "loyalty" from Comey, who testified that Trump told him, "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty." Pressed by Trump, Comey said he finally assured the president he would get "honest loyalty" from the FBI director.

When Comey didn't halt the investigation of Flynn, Trump fired the FBI director. The next day, Trump boasted to Russian officials in the Oval Office, "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job," adding, "I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off."

The day after boasting to the Russians, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt, "When I decided to just do it [fire Comey], I said to myself ... this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story."

Philip Allen Lacovara, former Justice Department deputy solicitor general and counsel to Watergate special prosecutors Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski, wrote in The Washington Post:

"Comey's statement lays out a case against the president that consists of a tidy pattern, beginning with the demand for loyalty, the threat to terminate Comey's job, the repeated requests to turn off the investigation into Flynn and the final infliction of career punishment for failing to succumb to the president's requests, all followed by the president's own concession about his motive. Any experienced prosecutor would see these facts as establishing a prima facie case of obstruction of justice."

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Nov 11, 2017: Dual Carbon Battery Market Forecast 2023 Amperex, BYD, LG Chem, Panasonic

Dual Carbon Battery

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A market study  Global Dual Carbon Battery Market  examines the performance of the Dual Carbon Battery market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Dual Carbon Battery market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Dual Carbon Battery market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Dual Carbon Battery Market 2017 report includes Dual Carbon Battery market Size, Revenue, market Share, Dual Carbon Battery industry volume, market Trends, Dual Carbon Battery Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Dual Carbon Battery Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Dual Carbon Battery Market Forecast 2017:1. Amperex2. BYD3. LG Chem4. Panasonic5. Samsung SDI6. Johnson Controls7. Lishen Tianjin8. Hitachi Chemical9. Loxus10. JSR Corp.11. Nippon Chemi-Con12. Ambri13. Amprius14. Aquion Energy15. Boulder Lonics16. EnerVault17. PolyPlusDual Carbon Battery Market : Type Analysis Disposable Battery Rechargeable BatteryDual Carbon Battery Market : Application Analysis Transportation Stationary Storage Portable PowerFirstly, the report covers the top Dual Carbon Battery 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 Dual Carbon Battery report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Dual Carbon Battery industry, Dual Carbon Battery industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Dual Carbon Battery Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Dual Carbon Battery 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 Dual Carbon Battery market revenue worldwide.Finally, Dual Carbon Battery market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 11, 2017: High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Market Forecast 2023 ABB Ltd, Siemens AG, State Grid GE Energy, Alstom SA

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A market study  Global High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Market  examines the performance of the High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Market 2017 report includes High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market Size, Revenue, market Share, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) industry volume, market Trends, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Market Forecast 2017:1. ABB Ltd2. Siemens AG3. State Grid Corporation of China4. GE Energy5. Alstom SA6. Schneider Electric S.A.7. Toshiba8. LS Industrial Systems9. Cisco Systems Inc10. Doble Engineering Company11. Nkt Cables Group A/SHigh-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Market : Type Analysis Submarine HVDC Cable System HVDC Overhead Transmission SystemHigh-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Market : Application Analysis Military CivilianFirstly, the report covers the top High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) 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 High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) industry, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) 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 High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market revenue worldwide.Finally, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 11, 2017: Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Market Forecast 2023 Delphi, Panasonic Corp, SFC Power, Polyfuel, Sharp Corp

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A market study  Global Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Market  examines the performance of the Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Market 2017 report includes Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) market Size, Revenue, market Share, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) industry volume, market Trends, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Market Forecast 2017:1. Dupont Fuel Cell2. Hitachi Ltd3. Johnson Controls4. Delphi5. Cmr Fuel Cells Plc6. Panasonic Corp7. Samsung Sdi Co Ltd8. SFC Power9. Polyfuel Inc10. Sharp Corp11. Toshiba Corp12. Ultracell Corp13. Fujikura LtdMolten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Market : Type Analysis Coal Fuel Natural Gas FuelMolten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Market : Application Analysis Household Thermoelectric Systems Distributed Generation Power PlantFirstly, the report covers the top Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) 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 Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) industry, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) 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 Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) market revenue worldwide.Finally, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 11, 2017: Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Market Forecast 2023 Hitachi, Delphi, Cmr Fuel, Panasonic Corp

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A market study  Global Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Market  examines the performance of the Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Market 2017 report includes Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) market Size, Revenue, market Share, Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) industry volume, market Trends, Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Market Forecast 2017:1. Johnson Controls2. Dupont Fuel Cell3. Hitachi Ltd4. Johnson Controls5. Delphi6. Cmr Fuel Cells Plc7. Panasonic Corp8. Samsung Sdi Co Ltd9. SFC Power10. Bloom Energy11. Ballard Power12. GS Yuasa13. Doosan14. Polyfuel Inc15. Sharp Corp16. Toshiba Corp17. Ultracell Corp18. Fujikura LtdPhosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Market : Type Analysis Hydrogen Fuel Alcohol FuelPhosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Market : Application Analysis Power Plant Large VehiclesFirstly, the report covers the top Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) 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 Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) industry, Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) 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 Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) market revenue worldwide.Finally, Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 11, 2017: Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Market Forecast 2023 Raytheon, Elbit Systems, BAE Systems

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A market study  Global Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Market  examines the performance of the Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Market 2017 report includes Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems market Size, Revenue, market Share, Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems industry volume, market Trends, Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Market Forecast 2017:1. Lockheed Martin2. Raytheon3. Thales Group4. Elbit Systems5. BAE Systems6. L-3 Communications7. Northrop Grumman8. Rockwell Collins9. UTC Aerospace10. General DynamicsMilitary Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Market : Type Analysis Airborne EO/IR Systems Land-Based EO/IR Systems Naval Based EO/IR SystemsMilitary Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Market : Application Analysis Military Intelligence Surveillance ReconnaissanceFirstly, the report covers the top Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems 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 Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems industry, Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems 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 Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems market revenue worldwide.Finally, Military Electro Optical Infrared (EOIR) Systems market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 11, 2017: Non Lethal Weapons Market Forecast 2023 Boeing, BAE Systems, Raytheon, Bazalt

Non Lethal Weapons

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http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-non-lethal-weapons-market-2017-demand-insights-key-palyers-segmentation-and-forecast-to-2022/

A market study  Global Non Lethal Weapons Market  examines the performance of the Non Lethal Weapons market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Non Lethal Weapons market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Non Lethal Weapons market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Non Lethal Weapons Market 2017 report includes Non Lethal Weapons market Size, Revenue, market Share, Non Lethal Weapons industry volume, market Trends, Non Lethal Weapons Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Non Lethal Weapons Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Non Lethal Weapons Market Forecast 2017:1. Taser International2. Non Lethal Technologies3. Textron Systems4. Boeing5. BAE Systems6. Raytheon7. Bazalt8. LRAD9. General Dynamics10. Mossberg11. Heckler And Koch12. Smith And Wesson13. Colts Manufacturing14. Remington Arms15. Zarc International16. Penn ArmsNon Lethal Weapons Market : Type Analysis Gases And Sprays Explosives Directed Energy Weapons Electro Shock WeaponsNon Lethal Weapons Market : Application Analysis Law Enforcement MilitaryFirstly, the report covers the top Non Lethal Weapons 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 Non Lethal Weapons report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Non Lethal Weapons industry, Non Lethal Weapons industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Non Lethal Weapons Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Non Lethal Weapons 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 Non Lethal Weapons market revenue worldwide.Finally, Non Lethal Weapons market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Future of Digital Notes Market Size 2022 Wacom, Kent displays, Moleskine, Livescribe, Luidia, Neo smartpen, NoteSlate

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MarketStudyReport.com Add New Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Digital Notes Market 2017 Forecast to 2022 to its research database. The report presents a deep study of the market growth factors and drivers. The report spread across 123 pages with table and figures in it.Global Digital Notes Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 provides Market information about Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application. This Industry report also states Company Profile, sales, Digital Notes Market revenue and price, market share, market growth and gross margin by regions.Digital note Market is a form of note taking using digital devices to connect to iPhone, iPad, or Android devices or computer to transfer anything written into a digital format. Digital note industry is vague as it is an application concept attempts either to save paper and make it easier for organizing all notes, or to skip the process converting the hand-writing notes into electronic copies. The approach of syncing the information is more tend to via wireless method instead of using cable. In this report, we have targeted two basic forms (digital notepad and smart pen) and concentrated mainly on the hardware side. Digital stylus, when combined with app in tablet, could act digital note function. However, digital stylus is not included in this study.Request a Free sample PDF of this research to evaluate more:Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Digital Notes in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Wacom, Kent displays, Moleskine, Livescribe, Luidia, Neo smartpen, NoteSlateMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers Digital Notepad, Smart PenMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Professional Design, Business, EducationRequest Discount for Global Digital Notes Market Research Report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Digital Notes market.Chapter 1, to describe Digital Notes Market Size Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Digital Notes Market Size, with sales, revenue, and price of Digital Notes, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Digital Notes, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the Digital Notes Market Size by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Digital Notes market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Digital Notes sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceFor More Info on Market Research @Related Reports: -World 3D & 4D Technology Market Research Report 2022 (covering USA, Europe, China, Japan, India, South East Asia and etc)3D & 4D Technology market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:News:
Health Insurance the fastest growth at a CAGR of 21% during the period of 2011-12 to 2015-16 Market Report

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MarketResearchNest.com adds Health Insurance Market - The Changing Dynamics new report to its research database. The report spread across 55 pages with multiple tables and figures in it.The health insurance industry in India is witnessing increase in the penetration for number of people covered under health insurance plans. Encouraged by the rapid adoption of digitization, insurance regulatory body - IRDAI, introduced the e-commerce exposure draft in June 2016 for the allowance of buying and selling of insurance policies through online portals. As a result of which e-platform such as PolicyBazaar.com, easyinsuranceindia.com kindled the industry by enlisting all the aspects of the health insurance plans and allowing consumers to compare, understand and apply for the health coverage online. As India is the second largest populated country with the population of around 1.3 Billion, it cites a huge opportunity for health insurance players to tap the increasing demand of the health insurance in the country.Browse full table of contents and data tables at:Our report "Health Insurance Market - The Changing Dynamics" provides a comprehensive analysis of market size of health insurance industry on the basis of premium underwritten, number of policies covered, market segmentation by public, private and standalone premium underwritten and schemes such as government, individual and group. The health insurance market has grown at a year on year growth rate of around 31% in 2015-16. The research report offers a well-framed picture of health insurance market dynamics, essential to get a grasp of the market nerve.As per our research, the group health insurance schemes have a dominating share of around 48% followed by individual health insurance schemes and government sponsored health insurance scheme. While government sponsored health scheme continued to lose its share, Individual health insurance schemes continued to grow the fastest at a CAGR of 21% during the period of 2011-12 to 2015-16. Our study finds that Maharashtra incurred highest gross premium with a share of 31% amongst other Indian states and reveals that the eastern part of India holds huge opportunity for the health insurers in the country.Order a Purchase Report Copy at:Based on our thorough analysis of the past and present market trends, drivers, challenges and recent developments; the report showcases a phenomenal growth on the basis of premium underwritten in the past 4 years from 2011-12 to 2015-16. Our research clearly depicts the key drivers and constraints influencing the market growth. State-wise health insurance penetration of prominent states is an important addition to the research. Government initiatives to increase the insurance penetration have also been precisely incorporated in the study along with the future industry outlook. In this way, encompassing all critical aspects of the Indian health insurance market, the report presents a comprehensive outlook of the sector's past, present, and future scenario.The research insights solutions to the following key questions:1. What will be the market size and the growth rate in future scenario?2. What are the key factors driving the Health Insurance Market in India?3. Who are the key market players and what are their strategies in the Health Insurance Market in India?4. What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Health Insurance Market in India?5. What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?6. What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Health Insurance Market in India?7. What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Health Insurance Market in India market?Order a Sample Report Copy at:About Us:MarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on Americas industries, organizations, products, and trends.Contact Us:Mr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.comUSA: +1-240-284-8070UK: +44-20-3290-4151Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Indian Alcohol Consumption - The Changing Behavior

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MarketResearchNest.com adds Indian Alcohol Consumption - The Changing Behavior new report to its research database. The report spread across 60 pages with multiple tables and figures in it.India is one of the fastest growing alcohol markets in the world. Rapid increase in urban population, sizable middle class population with rising spending power, and a sound economy are certain significant reasons behind increase in consumption of alcohol in India.Our latest report "Indian Alcohol Consumption - The Changing Behavior" provides a comprehensive analysis of the market size of alcohol industry on the basis of type of products, consumption in different states, retail channel and imported and domestic. The Indian alcohol industry is segmented into IMFL (Indian made foreign liquor), IMIL (Indian made Indian liquor), Wine, Beer and imported alcohol. Imported alcohol has a meager share of around 0.8% in the Indian market. The heavy import duty and taxes levied raise the price of imported alcohol to a large extent. Alcohol is exempted from the taxation scheme of GST.Browse full table of contents and data tables at:The Indian alcohol market is growing at a CAGR of 8.8% and it is expected to reach 16.8 Billion liters of consumption by the year 2022. The popularity of wine and vodka is increasing at a remarkable CAGR of 21.8% and 22.8% respectively. India is the largest consumer of whiskey in the world and it constitutes about 60% of the IMFL market.Though India is one of the largest consumers of alcohol in the world owing to its huge population, the per capita alcohol consumption of India is very low as compared to the Western countries. The per capita consumption of alcohol per week for the year 2016 was estimated at 147.3 ml and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5% to 227.1 ml according to our estimates.The states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Sikkim Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are amongst the largest consumers of alcohol in India. The most popular channel of alcohol sale in India is liquor stores as alcohol consumption is primarily an outdoor activity and supermarkets and malls are present only in the tier I and tier II cities of India.Order a Purchase Report Copy at:The trends and pattern of alcohol consumption are changing in the country. With the increasing acceptance of women consuming alcohol, growing popularity of wine and high demand for expensive liquor, the market scenario seems to be very optimistic in the near future. We conducted a consumer research study for the alcohol market with around 1,000 respondents from the cities of Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bangalore. The study reflected changing pattern of the consumer's mindset towards alcohol consumption in India. 3% of the respondents who consumed alcohol favored wine for its health benefits. Though the popularity of whiskey is highest in the Indian market, its market share is expected to decrease in future.The research insights solutions to the following key questions:1. What will be the market size and the growth rate in future scenario?2. What are the key factors driving the Indian Alcohol Consumption Market in India?3. Who are the key market players and what are their strategies in the Indian Alcohol Consumption Market in India?4. What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Indian Alcohol Consumption Market in India?5. What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?6. What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Indian Alcohol Consumption Market in India?7. What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Indian Alcohol Consumption Market in India?Order a Sample Report Copy at:About Us:MarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on Americas industries, organizations, products, and trends.Contact Us:Mr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.comUSA: +1-240-284-8070UK: +44-20-3290-4151Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Peppers Seeds Market Research Report 2017 - 2022

Peppers Seeds , Peppers Seeds poisonous, Peppers Seeds gorwing, Peppers Seeds market, trends,

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Peppers Seeds MarketA Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Pepper seeds were imported to Spain in 1493, and from there spread to other European, African, and Asian countries. Today, China is the world's largest pepper producer.For Full Report click on @Market Segment as follows:By Region ,Asia-Pacific ,North America,Europe,South America,Middle East & Africa ,By Type,Hot Peppers,Sweet Peppers ,By Application,In Intertropical Area ,In Subtropics Area,In Temperate Area, Others, By Company,Monsanto ,Limagrain ,Syngenta ,Nunhems,Rijk Zwaan,Enza Zaden ,Advanta ,Sakata ,Jingyan Seed,Beijing Haihua Biotech,Hunan Xiangyan Seed,China Vegetable Seed Technology,Chongqing Keguang SeedFor Sample Report click on @The main contents of the report including:Section 1:Product definition, type and application, global and regional market overview;Section 2:Global and regional Market competition by company;Section 3:Global and regional sales revenue, volume and price by type;Section 4:Global and regional sales revenue, volume and price by application;Section 5:Regional export and import;Section 6:Company information, business overview, sales data and product specifications;Section 7:Industry chain and raw materials;Section 8:SWOT and Porter's Five Forces;Section 9:Conclusion.Check Discount @ABOUT REPORTSANDMARKETSReports And Markets is part of the Algoro Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Are you mastering your market? Do you know what the market potential is for your product, who the market players are and what the growth forecast is? We offer standard global, regional or country specific market research studies for almost every market you can imagine.The marketing research reports consist of market analysis with statistical and analytical information on the markets, applications, industry analysis, market shares, technology and technology shifts, important players, and the developments in the market.Sanjay JainManager  Partner Relations & International Marketingsanjay.jain@reportsandmarkets.comsales@reportsandmarkets.comPh: +1-214-377-1121 (US)/ +44-020-3286-9338 (UK)Office No: 206 Empress Mill SocietyShree Nagar, Nagpur - 440015Maharashtra India
Radiator Hose Market Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Share (2016-2017)

Radiator Hose, radiator hose material, Radiator Hose hs code, Radiator Hose price, Radiator Hose market, Radiator Hose industry

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About: Radiator HoseA radiator hose is a one that transfers coolant from an engine's water pump to its radiator. It is connected to a nipple on the radiator or the engine's water pump or intake by a clamp. Most radiator hose designs are molded hoses specific to the application; however, there are some universal designs which can be bent and fit onto many different applications.Request For Description @The scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Radiator Hose in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers: Gates, Dayco, Goodyear, Continental, Tokyo Rub, Hutchinson, Motorcraft, Meyle, Toyoda Gosei, Mishimoto, MacKay, Auto 7, ACDelco, APA/URO Parts, Omix-ADA, Spectre, Crown, Nufox, Tianjin Pengling, Sichuan Chuanhuan, Tianjin Dagang Rubberhose, Shandong MeichenGet Sample PDF of report @Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers:North America (USA, Canada and Mexico),Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy),Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia),South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.),Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers:Molded Type,Flexible TypeMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into:Commercial vehicles,Passenger vehiclesGet Discount on Report Purchase at @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Radiator Hose market.Chapter 1, to describe Radiator Hose Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Radiator Hose, with sales, revenue, and price of Radiator Hose, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Radiator Hose, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Radiator Hose market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Radiator Hose sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceABOUT REPORTSANDMARKETSReports And Markets is part of the Algoro Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Are you mastering your market? Do you know what the market potential is for your product, who the market players are and what the growth forecast is? We offer standard global, regional or country specific market research studies for almost every market you can imagine.The marketing research reports consist of market analysis with statistical and analytical information on the markets, applications, industry analysis, market shares, technology and technology shifts, important players, and the developments in the market.Sanjay JainManager  Partner Relations & International Marketingsanjay.jain@reportsandmarkets.comsales@reportsandmarkets.comPh: +1-214-377-1121 (US)/ +44-020-3286-9338 (UK)Office No: 206 Empress Mill SocietyShree Nagar, Nagpur - 440015Maharashtra India
Electric Underfloor Heating Market to Soar at a CAGR 6% to 2024: Growth Factors & Trends

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Global Electric Underfloor Heating Market is Projected to grow at 6% CAGR during the period 2017-2024. Electric Underfloor Heating Industry research report also provides granular analysis of the market share, Size, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.Growing consumer awareness toward energy conservation coupled with increasing installation of reliable heating systems will stimulate the electric underfloor heating market size. Rising disposable income coupled with improving living standards will further embellish the product demand. As per Office for National Statistics (Great Britain), UK household disposable income was USD 34,930 in the financial year 2016 which was USD 790 higher than the previous year.Global Electric Underfloor Heating Market size will exceed USD 2.5 billion by 2024; according to a new research report.Request a Sample Copy of Global Electric Underfloor Heating Market Research Report @U.S. electric underfloor heating market is set to reach over USD 500 million by 2024. Increasing demand for space heating along with rising energy cost will fuel the business growth. Advancement in technology coupled with declining associated cost will further complement the industry landscape. The government of California has introduced standards to improve the building efficiency with an aim to reduce the overall energy cost.Shifting focus toward green buildings along with stringent government regulations to reduce carbon footprints will augment the electric underfloor heating market. Introduction of building standards and codes to reduce the energy consumption will further augment the industry landscape. As per the European Union, several directives including EBPD has been introduced to achieve the target of ZEB by 2020.High cost associated with petroleum products along with rising energy demand for localized heating from residential establishments will drive the electric underfloor heating market. As per European Commission, residential sector accounts for 64.7% of energy consumption primarily for heating homes.Enquire Discount on Global Electric Underfloor Heating Market Research Report @UK electric underfloor heating market is set to grow over 7% owing to growing measures toward improvisation of energy security by reducing the energy consumption. In 2015, the country has introduced an energy saving ordinance to cut down the energy consumption by 25% across new buildings and ensures the achievement of target for carbon-neutral buildings by 2050.Russia electric underfloor heating market is set to surpass USD 120 million by 2024. Paradigm shift in population demographics along with significant growth in residential construction will augment the industry landscape. Growing demand for heating systems subject to extreme climatic conditions will further escalate the product penetration. In 2015, underfloor accounted for 32% of the overall heating devices across residential buildings.For more information on this report, Please visit at:Japan, in 2016, accounted for over 15% of Asia Pacific electric underfloor heating market share. Increasing adoption of low emission heating systems coupled with favorable government initiatives to increase energy efficiency will positively influence the business growth. Internal migration of population from remote locations to urban areas will further boost the product demand. In 2016, urban population in Japan has increased up to 93.9% with average growth rate of 0.62% per year.Notable industry participants in electric underfloor heating market include Uponor, Danfoss, Warmup, Emerson Electric, Honeywell, Siemens, Schneider, Sensata technologies, Pentair, Nexans, Robert Bosch, Mitsubishi, Amuheat, REHAU, Hunt Heating and H2O Heating.Order a copy of this premium research report @Related Reports: -Global Telecom Application Programming Interface (API) Market 2017-2021An API allows the software program to communicate with one another to reach a broader audience. API also allows sharing information, location, message, voice, and video using the devices such as a smartphone. Telecom APIs such as SMS API, voice API, video API, and payment API are powered by the network operators to allow end-customer to avail the services like voice and video calling, SMS generation, and making e-payments through payment gateways.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:News:
As Republican politicians race to achieve their goal of passing something, anything in line with the promises they made last year, GOP senators have revealed their proposal for tax reformand its pretty different from the Houses bill.

The NYT reports that the two bills show how pressures on Senate and House Republicans differ: House GOP members in high-tax states feel vulnerable in the upcoming midterms, while Republican Senators are more sensitive to the federal deficit. Both branches acknowledge that their bills will require changes before being finalized.

House GOP members from high-tax states like California or New York likely had a hand in keeping tax breaks for state and local incomesthese breaks are heavily used in those largely Democrat states. The Senate version, however, does away with the tax break entirely, unconcerned as they are with upsetting constituents in Democrat states. House Republicans criticized this: Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) said, Every state should be a winner in tax reform, and in my opinion, that would not be the case if the Senate view were to prevail.

The Senates plan would also delay the proposed corporate tax cuts that everyone knows are the driving force of the bill. The only reason this is such a hot-button issue for Republicans is their corporate backers demand a return on their investment; the main reason they backed the GOP was this tax cut. A conservative advocacy group has already called the delay of the tax cut unacceptable.

There are other, smaller differences between the bills: The Senate version keeps the bottom tax bracket at 10 percent, while the Houses would raise it to 12 percent. The Senate would lower the highest tax bracket to 38.5 percent; the Houses maintained it at 39.6 percent. After Senator Marco Rubio commented on how the child tax credit was too low in the Houses version, the Senates version raised it  from $1,600 to $1,650.

The House and the Senate now begin a scramble to revise their documents and compromise on one they can agree on before the end of the year. Conservatives are lining up on either side: Senators have disparaged the Houses version and House Representatives have expressed dissatisfaction with the Senates. Senator Jeff Flake, who recently made headlines for running away from his re-election bid with his tail between his legs, said he was worried about how both of them affected the federal deficit.

While the differences reflect the separate priorities of the two legislative groups, the similarities are perhaps more important: Both versions would add to the federal deficit. Both versions plan to offset that by raising taxes on multinational corporations with overseas profits. Both versions are pretty much obviously helping wealthy corporations and landowners before anyone else.
Given the political tumult that has defined 2017, the residents of Washington, DCa largely liberal set thats perpetually associated with the citys swampy politicshave found themselves in a permanent state of I could really use a drink.

And San Diegos Bruery, one of the countrys best craft brewers, has heeded that call.

This fall marks the opening of the first brick-and-mortar expansion for the Bruery. The new tasting room will occupy part of the second floor of the Union Market, a collection of retailers and food outlets that sits two miles from Capitol Hill and a world away from the political machinations of the city itself. The eight beers on tap will come from the Bruery as well as sister brewers Bruery Terreux and Offshoot Beer, Co., open to growler/crowler beers, serving year-round selections, limited releases, and archival selections, but no on-site consumption. The outpost will also sell march and bottle and can sales. Better still, selected bottle releases available for purchase online can be retrieved from this DC outpost, as well as the pickups earmarked for the Bruerys Society beer clubs. In fact, the regions large number of members in their tiered societies (the Hoarders, Reserve, and Preservation) helped influence why the Bruery came to the nations capital.

The renovated 5,000-square-foot space will be shared with a to-be-announced retailer partner, occupying a 1931 structure that was once Kramer & Sons, a small indie butcher shop. Hopefully itll be a righteous food purveyor, serving up vittles to compliment the Bruerys famed barrel-aged sours, stouts, and other experimental ales. Final details and a concrete date for the grand opening should be announced this week, and will include giveaways for the first folks to queue up on opening day.

Three Beers to Try

The specific beers on tap and for sale in bottles and cans at Union Market will likely vary based on release dates, availability, andlets be honestpopularity. With that in mind, here are a few to try and find

Now part of the Bruery Terreuxa brand launched in April 2015 for their sour and wild brewsSour in the Rye is (as its name implies) a heavily rye-based sour ale, barrel-aged and buoyed by spice and tropical notes, a perfect illustration of their souring program. And its proven so popular that they also offer two other versions, one made with peaches and the other with kumquats.

This hoppy Belgian-style golden ale lives in the Bruerys small arsenal of year-round brews, so it should be easy to track down. American hops are added dry, playing nicely with its fruity, dry Flemish character. The brew pulled a gold medal in 2016s Great American Beer Festival.

This annual release, which drops on the final Tuesday of October each year, qualifies as one the Bruerys most coveted bottles. Their take on a bourbon barrel-aged stout boasts an ABV that hovers around a burly 19%, with rich notes of caramel, toasted malt, vanilla, burnt wood, and anise. Its only available online, and (yes) can be picked up at the new DC location. So, start planning for next fall now.
Ultra-endurance athlete Rebecca Rusch has won competitions all around the world in several disciplines, however, she faced her toughest challenge yet in new Red Bull Media House documentary Blood Road.The American, who is also known as The Queen of Pain, set out on an arduous journey of healing and self-discovery in search of the site where her fathers plane went down during the Vietnam War.Rusch and her Vietnamese riding partner, Huyen Nguyen, pedalled 1,200 miles along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, including the dense jungles of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, to reach the site where Rebeccas father, a U.S. Air Force pilot, was shot down in Laos. The 48-year-old explained, The most alarming discovery of the entire journey was learning about the vast amount of unexploded wartime ordnance that still remains and continues to threaten human lives. I went there searching for my Dad and pieces of myself, but came home with the understanding that I can use my bike for a bigger purpose than just winning races.Blood Road is not only a powerful story of a daughters love letter to her lost father, but also one about how two women forge a deep bond triggered by a shared experience of war and loss.Looking for more insight into Rebecca's journey? You can read Vernon Felton's feature story on Rebecca Rusch's journey here
Medical Sensors Market

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Medical sensors that measure the physical functions of the body and convert it into an electrical or optical signal. These devices play a major role in the monitoring of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases to measure the physical function and convert it into the electrical signal. The market is majorly directed by the increased demand for medical sensors in diagnostic and therapeutic segments. The medical sensor monitor adds value to the healthcare professional to alert critical deviations, which are recorded in vital signs. This ultimately improves the quality of care given to the patient by avoiding undesirable complications. Moreover, the demand for medical sensors is raised because of its wide range of applications such as monitoring of temperature, pressure, vibration, inclusive of various diagnostic parameters and analysis. As increase in chronic disorders and geriatric population globally has continuously raised the demand for these equipment. Furthermore, chronically ill patients and geriatric population are the target area for sensor-based devices, for instance as per National Institute of Aging, there are around 617 million people above the age of 65 years in 2016 and it will cross 1.6 billion by 2050.Request a sample copy of this report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/578 Medical sensors market taxonomy:By Product TypePressureTemperatureImageAccelerometersBiosensorsFlowSuperconducting QuantumBy ApplicationSurgicalDiagnosticTherapeuticMonitoringBy End UserHospitalsClinicsAmbulatory Surgical CentersOthers (Nursing Homes, Home Healthcare Facilities)Ask for customization: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/578 By Sensors Placement TypeStrip SensorsWearable SensorsIngestible SensorsImplantable SensorsInvasive/ Non-Invasive SensorsImproved technology and accuracy fuels the growth of medical sensors marketMedical sensors have become a universal segment of the technologically advanced and digital medical devices. There is a significant increase in the development of implantable and wearable medical devices, which facilitate the awareness about medical devices this leads to the increased use of sensors. It is expected that rise in geriatric population, increase in chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and respiratory disease and rise in intensive care for critical patients are the responsible factors supports the growth of medical sensors market. As per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are around 15.7 million people in the U.S. diagnosed with COPD in 2014. Furthermore, there is a wide range of benefits of the use of medical sensors in medical devices, which increased the accuracy in disease management through notifications alerts, and real time patient data communication. Which expected to support the growth of medical sensors market.Developed regions are major growth engines for medical sensors marketMedical sensors market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. North America is the leading region due to the annual increase in minimally invasive surgeries performed and availability of healthcare reimbursement policy. However, market across Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a higher rate due to, increase in diabetic population, respiratory diseases cases, cardiovascular disease and raised investment in healthcare sector in emerging countries such as India and China expected to support the growth of medical sensors market.Click here to know more about this report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/medical-sensors-market-578 Key players of the medical sensors marketThere are various players present across the globe and running into the competition. The rise in awareness about devices and increase in per capita income of individuals expected to create more opportunities for industry players in global medical sensors market. Some key players are Analog Devices Inc., Broadcom Limited, Danaher, LORD Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., OmniVision Technologies Inc., and GE Measurement & Control.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Visit our news Website: http://www.coherentnews.com
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Strong performance underscores the success of combined OOH platforms and digital services.BANGKOK, Nov 2, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - VGI Global Media PCL (SET:VGI) has posted strong financial results in 2Q 2017/18 with record-high revenue of THB 978 million, up 24% YoY, and net profit of THB 228 million, up 10% YoY. The strong performance underscores the success of its new strategy in combining out-of-home platforms with measureable digital services while senior management is confident of hitting the THB 4,000 million revenue target for the full fiscal year 2017/18 supported by the strong economic recovery and election.Mr Nelson Leung, deputy chief executive officer (deputy CEO) of VGI, stated the company's 2Q 2017/18 (July-September) financial performance, which shows the record-breaking total revenue of THB 978 million, a 24% YoY rise. The outstanding growth rates of all segments reflect the success of VGI's new strategy of integrating online and offline media platforms which creates perfect synergy between the group's vast out-of-home (OOH) media outlets and its access to the Big Data from the Rabbit Group.Notably, for the Transit media (BTS) segment, revenue jumped 21% YoY to THB 576 million, driven by an expansion campaign conducted jointly with Rabbit Group through analysis of consumer profile and behavior data on Rabbit Group's database, which enhances communication effectiveness and facilitates the designing of offline-plus-online advertising solutions that satisfy customers' demands and, most significantly, the evaluation of campaigns.In the Office media segment, VGI has expanded its office building network faster than expected with the addition of eight new buildings in the first six months out of the full-year target of 10 new buildings. Management, therefore, is confident that the full-year target of 172 buildings will be reached while revenue from this segment rose 12% YoY to THB 83 million in this quarter.For the Outdoor media segment managed by MACO, the revenue reached a new high at THB 232 million, up 52% YoY, boosted by the conversion of static billboards to digital billboards as well as the expansion of the MACO's network through new investments in Multi Sign and COMASS, which raised MACO's total media capacity from THB 900 million to THB 1,400 million and, in turn, contributed positively to the the second quarter performances.For the digital services business managed by Rabbit Group, the revenue level stood at THB 87 million increased by 0.3% YoY. Currently, under offline payment channel, over 8.1mn Rabbit cards were issued with more than 133 brand partners and over 4,400 retail points of acceptance. Under online payment channel, Rabbit LinePay has over 2.4mn users."These quarterly results are our great achievements, as the revenue reached the highest level ever. It shows that our strategy is right and has enabled us to reap handsome revenue from all segments," said Mr Nelson Leung.The deputy CEO added that, thanks to the above results, the net profit for 2Q 2017/18 reached THB 228 million, up 10% YoY, amid the advertising platform industry's overall decline.This October is the period during which the funeral of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej takes place. As an OOH media company, VGI has followed the advertising guidelines set by Media Agency Association of Thailand and Digital Advertising Association (Thailand) by applying greyish colour tone to its digital advertisements for the one month. However, the impact is expected to be minimal to the full-year performance.As for the advertising industry's outlook between now and the end of the company's fiscal year in March 2018, the company has projected stead increases in advance bookings and strong overall growth due to the better-than-expected economic recovery, the political stability and election. Therefore, management is confident of reaching the full-year revenue target of THB 4,000 million.About VGI Global Media PCLVGI Global Media PCL (SET:VGI; VGGMF:OTC) is Thailand's major provider of out-of-home media solutions, having more than 10,000 items of large still-image screens in the BTS skytrain network and large retail stores nationwide. It also has over 11,000 sq.m. of advertising space in the product display zones of large modern trade stores, as well as about 5,000 items of digital screens and media in the BTS platform and train areas, the Tesco Lotus, Big C, and Watson stores, and large office towers throughout Bangkok, and mega LED and outdoor led screens under its management. In addition, the company runs retail shops in 23 BTS stations and radio networks covering nearly 2,000 modern trade stores in Thailand. For more information, please see www.vgi.co.th Contact:VGI Global Media PCLInvestor Relations DepartmentTel: +66 2273 8639; 0 2273 8623E-mail: ir@ vgi.co.th Released for VGI Global Media PCLby Public Relations Department,MT Multimedia Co LtdOrn-arong ("Fah") PattaravejkulTel: +66 2612 2081 #129Mobile: +66 8 6884 4458E-mail: orn_tabo@ hotmail.com Source: VGI Global Media PCLTopic: EarningsSectors: Daily Finance, Daily NewsFrom the Asia Corporate News NetworkCopyright  2017 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.
The second highest ranking official of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, is at the centre of a bribery and illicit trade scandal, having allegedly authorised export of endangered timber, rosewood, to China in her last days as Nigerias minister for environment.

Mrs. Mohammed is well-regarded globally for her record as a champion of the poor and the environment. But a report on Thursday by the Washington-based Environment Investigation Agency that the top diplomat allowed export of roseword from Nigeria, despite an existing ban, is causing outrage in the environment and international development circles.

According to EIA, documents signed by Mrs. Mohammed in January of this year were used by Chinese importers to clear more than $300 million worth of rosewood logs now confiscated by Chinese border authorities.

Logs from rosewood feed the booming luxury furniture market in China, and the timber, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes, is the worlds most trafficked wild product accounting for a third of all seizures by value, more than elephant ivory, pangolins, rhino horn, lions and tigers put together.

The timber, also called kosso, was then marked, last year, an endangered specie and placed under trade restriction by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)  to which Nigeria is a signatory.

Environmentalists say export of rosewood from Africa has decimated the regions forests, raising fear the deforestation, if left unchecked, could power soil erosion and make the Sahara Desert spread to productive areas quickly.

But despite the restrictions, Mrs. Mohammed allegedly signed thousands of permits, allowing the export of 1.4 million rosewood logs in one of her 11th hour actions in Abuja, before inauguration in New York in February.

EIA said its investigation revealed Nigerian officials were paid over $1 million to help facilitate the export of the rosewood, but Mrs. Mohammed was not categorically accused of receiving bribe.

UN spokesman Farhan Haq said Mrs. Mohammed categorically rejects any allegations of fraud.

She says that she signed the export certificates requested before the ban only after due process was followed and better security watermarked certificates became available, Mr. Haq said on Friday in his briefing, text of which was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.

Meanwhile, Foreign Policy magazine reports that John Scanlon, CITESs secretary-general, had written Nigerias authorities since August, expressing concerns over the illicit trade.

The Nigerian government is yet to react to the matter.
In this exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, a former Minister for Special Duties in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Tanimu Turaki, speaks about why APC defeated PDP in 2015, the performance of the APC administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and how the PDP plans to take back power in 2019. Excerpts..

Q: A lot of PDP members believe the 2015 defeat of the party by the APC was self-inflicted?

A: I dont share the view that we caused PDPs defeat ourselves. In any human endeavour, there could be flaws arising from imperfections and our frailties as human beings, but the truth of the matter is that for the first time in our political history, there was a well planned and well orchestrated propaganda that has never been seen in the history of Nigeria. Not even anywhere in Africa.

The APC revolved their campaign along three main issues; the issue of corruption, insecurity and economy. On the economy, they knew that PDP did extremely well managing a wobbling economy to become the strongest economy in Africa and then moving the confidence of both foreign and local investors to begin to invest in the Nigerian economy in such a way that Nigeria became the third most sought after economy after China and Qatar.

Even on the issue of corruption and insecurity, they brought in a lot of propaganda and hiked the expectations of Nigerians. Let me start with the issue of corruption.

The APC in their campaign tried to paint a picture that PDP government was involved in monumental corruption of unimaginable proportion and so they were abusing everybody. What happened at the end of the day? Because of this propaganda, some Nigerians believed that indeed yes, PDP was corrupt.

We are not saying there could have been no situation where one or two or more government officials that had been given the opportunity would discover that there was a weakness in the system somewhere and take advantage of those flaws within the system; we are not saying that. We are not also saying that there were not some people that were engaged in unwholesome practices. But what we are saying is that the PDP-led federal government then under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan did the best it could.

In fact, even from Obasanjo, realising that there could be flaws in the system and also realising that there could be some unscrupulous individuals that could, given the opportunity, take advantage of such flaws to their advantage, laid the foundation for the architecture of the war against corruption.

It was the PDP-led government that established the ICPC and EFCC. We strengthened them and brought men and women of character into these institutions, funded them well and then they started the war. Our style was completely different from what the APC-led federal government is doing now.

What were we doing? We said ok, this is democracy, and there is this general assumption in Africa that government will always want to muzzle and harass the opposition, we said if we were going to start this war against corruption, let us start from within. And so what we were doing when PDP was in government was to look at those people who were in government or were holding office. These were the people that we started with.

Recall back and you will see that those were the people who were investigated or that those who were arraigned in court then were people who held office under the platform of the PDP and I can give you a couple of examples. For instance, the former governor of Edo state, Lucky Igbinedion, was in PDP, governor and now Senator Danjuma Goje was also in PDP, Abdullahi Adamu and a lot of other people; I can give you examples left, right and centre, including ministers.

There were people who were holding office as a result of pension reforms, which led to the recovery of huge amounts of money, who were arraigned before the court. So, we started the fight from within because we believe that charity begins at home.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDF0cFL2gNg&w=560&h=315]

What is happening today? What is happening today is that we now have a party that believes that the best thing you can do is to decimate the opposition, and in so doing, destroy the very fabric and foundation of democracy. So, if we go back to all the noise that was made about corruption, the biggest of it was that PDP officials were involved in $2.1billion Dasukigate or Armsgate. We are not even saying the whole allegation was true, but let us even assume for the sake of argument, that they were true, that there was$2.1 billion missing and that the whole of it was stolen, diverted or used inappropriately.

Can this government now, in all honesty open its mouth to say that indeed PDP-led federal government was involved in horrendous and humongous acts of corruption?

Just recently, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics said in one year, between 2016 to 2017 that there was over N400 billion that exchanged hands in bribes and this affected only Judiciary and the Police. This is coming from a well-respected government institution. To date, there has not been any statement from any government institution challenging the figures that were released saying its not true; this is just one agency.

Look at what is happening in NNPC today; a monumental fraud of uncommon proportion. These are the issues that are happening. And so, we say, if PDP who were in government in this country for 16 years and then they can only accuse us of $2.1 billion corruption, and in one year and in just one institution, there are allegations of over $50 billion; one single incident of over $25 billion in NNPC and this allegation is not coming from PDP members, its not coming from other members of the opposition; its coming from government sources.

For goodness sake, this allegation was made by a Minister of State for Petroleum; a serving Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Certainly, Ibe Kachikwu is not a busy body; certainly; Ibe Kachikwu is not known to be speaking carelessly. The Honourable Minister will not talk if he knows that he has no facts; Ibe Kachikwu will not be writing a letter to his Commander-in-Chief, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on matters that had not been verified or confirmed. So, if he has done that, regardless of who leaked the letter, its immaterial. The issue is that a serving minister has been so frustrated that he has to put it in record that there is uncommon corruption and subversion of the system in the agency that he leads, and write it to the president; then its really very unfortunate. And this is just within two years of their being in government.

Come to the issue of insecurity, which was one of the campaign issues that they took against us. The two main issues then were the militancy in Niger Delta and Boko Haram. Nigerians can remember that we solved completely, starting from the late President Yaradua to President Goodluck Jonathan; we solved completely the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta. What was left was the issue of Boko haram and the issue was something that Nigerians and even the Nigerian security establishment were finding new; issues of terrorism have never been with us.

But at a point in time, we were now able to get support from friendly nations and we were able to understand the dynamics of the issues that were involved and we were beginning to win the war, in spite of whatever allegations that people were making. When the 2015 elections were postponed for about six weeks, Nigerians are living witnesses to the fact that a lot of grounds had been covered and that the Boko haram operatives were isolated.

But what is happening today? Not only has the APC-led Federal Government not been able to contain the grounds that we were able to recover, but, indeed, every day, you hear one act of Boko Haram attack or another; killing Nigerian armed forces who are not even well fed, whose welfare is not even in the interest of the government.

Secondly, Nigerians living within those areas who are repeatedly being informed that the issues have been solved; that Boko haram has been decimated, only for them to go back home and get killed. Look at the killings in IDPs, look at the killings on the street!

Now you can even leave that and say they are trying as they say, as part of their propaganda style. What about the issue of kidnapping? This is something that is so terrible in this country today that nobody is safe anywhere. Is it along the Abuja/Kaduna axis? Is it along the Kaduna/Kano axis? Is it along the Abuja/Minna axis? Is it along the Bauchi/Birnin Kudu axis? Is it in the South East? Is it in Lagos? Everywhere. Look at the issues of armed robbery too; look at the issues of herdsmen/farmers clashes everywhere and this government has deliberately refused to do anything as far as these issues are concerned.

And so we keep on saying that Nigerians entered One Chance vehicle. Nigerians were hoodwinked by the APC propaganda. They themselves never thought that they were going to win elections and they were making promises they knew they will never keep, so that by the time the PDP wins election, Nigerians will now hold PDP to those kinds of promises or similar ones.

Unfortunately, however, God now gave them the opportunity and what are they doing? They have destroyed Nigerias economy, destroyed our unity; the very fabrics of our existence as a people, as a nation.

More than ever before, Nigerians are now divided along many lines; regionalism, tribalism, religious bigotry, ethnicity and so on and so forth. Many have now begun to even question the workability of our union as a country. Nigerians who had for long identified our differences as our source of strength. Nigerians who have always worked to be our brothers or sisters keepers are now beginning to say I have to be for myself alone. This was never in our character as Nigerians; this is not part of us, this is as a result of the situation now that the APC-led federal government has placed on us.

So, we continue to tell Nigerians that we must wake up and shine our eyes, enough of this propaganda. As far as APC is concerned, they still behave as if they are still in opposition. They are in government and have the advantage of all the information agencies and institutions of government can give. But even when they talk, they talk from a very pedestrian perspective. They always talk from the position of lack of information and lack of knowledge. Whereas they have all the information at their disposal.

So Nigerians entered a One Chance vehicle in 2015. Thank God, they are beginning to realise that. What are the opportunities that APC brought and promised Nigerians? They promised two million jobs every year but what is happening? Nothing. Instead there is joblessness and hopelessness everywhere. They promise prosperity, what do we have? Adversity. They promised that the economy will be strengthened. What do we have? The economy has been destroyed. There is hunger and poverty all over and because of that, there is anger everywhere. That is the situation that we have now found ourselves in Nigeria.

Thank God, citizens are now beginning to make comparison and that is the essence of elective democracy. So that whenever a given political party or individual is given the opportunity to get into office and people think that that person could have done better, so you give another party or another individual an opportunity to do something as well. Now Nigerians have an opportunity to make a comparison and I am confident that by the time we go back to the polls in 2019, Nigerians will wake up from this slumber and do the right thing. And that right thing will be to vote APC out of government at every level from local government up to the national level, because they have killed what always brought us together as a people.

Q: You talked about the economy and how it has gone bad, but the APC government has refused to take responsibility for the state of the economy, saying they met it in bad shape after taking over from the PDP.

A: That is why I said that APC believes they are still in the opposition. When PDP came into government, we inherited an economy that was on a shaky foundation, as a result of long standing military regimes. A lot of Nigerians had no confidence in the economy, lost confidence on the country and a lot of Andrews were checking out of this country. Nigerian professionals: doctors, lawyers, scientists, pharmacists were going outside to look for greener pasture. Wherever they went, they were found to be the best you could find anywhere in the world and they were making money.

So, if your own people were checking out, not believing in their own country, how will you expect other people to come? This was the state of the economy when PDP came into office. And what did we do? We had to build confidence, to make Nigerians believe in themselves; to make Nigerians believe that they have this can-do spirit; and we rekindled it. PDP revived a new phase of patriotism and nationalism: believe in yourself, believe in your capacity, and we started a deliberate policy of wealth creation and empowerment, and at the end of the day, you discovered that Nigerians believing in themselves started creating wealth within this country. Agriculture was transformed from being a means of subsistence living into a business; people were growing not only to feed themselves but to make money.

Nigerians in diaspora, who thought nothing good would happen in Nigeria, were coming back to the country and investing billions of their hard earned money in the country. With that, other foreign investors started coming. As a government, we liberalised the landscape, we created opportunities and made sure that there was security for the investment and the investor. You come to Nigeria and invest your money and when you are leaving, you have the assurance that you could take your money and profit out.

Because of this, we were able to transform Nigerias economy to become the biggest and strongest in Africa. We were able to make Nigerias economy to become one of the most dynamic and fastest growing economies in the world. The facts are there in government now, they can verify them.

Like I said earlier on, because of the safeguards that were in place, investors were coming because they knew that there was a fertile ground for the growth of their investment. That was when big companies like MTN came to Nigeria as well as a lot of companies that operate within the Oil and Gas industry; in communication, healthcare, and in Agriculture.

The Zimbabwean farmers are here and a lot of other investors came and invested in the economy. Within three months of APC taking over government in this country, investors started folding up and leaving. People invested their money and it was made difficult for them to take out their profits. That was as a result of the conflicting and lack of understanding of the forex regime that the APC-led federal government came up with in less than three months. There was a rush on the economy, a lot of companies that were involved in civil engineering and construction started sacking Nigerians and were folding up. Not only was government refusing to patronise them, but this government was refusing to pay their outstanding commitments which were verified. Because of this, the economy was destroyed; this is a verifiable fact, they cannot deny that.

What is the situation now? From number one economy in Africa, I think we are 30 something now. From the third most sought after economy in the world, everybody is leaving now. They have destroyed our economy, these are again verifiable facts. Let them come up and challenge this fact.

From an economy that believes in doing things in line with international best practices to an economy where bribery and corruption has now been elevated to the highest level in government. If within one Ministry; the Petroleum Ministry, about two or three agencies could be involved in corruption of monumental level that Ibe Kachikwu has said, then imagine what would have happened in other places.

Not to talk of the allegations of corruption taking place in the CBN as far as the forex transaction is concerned. The Emir of Kano had said it and up to now, nobody has come out to controvert it. That there are people who sleep in their bed and make billions of naira from the sale of allocation of forex given to them by CBN. That fact has not been controverted.

So, our economy is in shambles now. I pity the next incoming PDP government because its like we have been taken 20 years back. We have to start to rekindle confidence all over again. To rekindle that spirit of patriotism within Nigerians and to make global investors to once again believe in us. APC cannot deny the fact that they have destroyed the main fabric of Nigerian economy which PDP took 16 very relentless years to build.

Q: You hold two key positions in the PDP now and the Supreme Court recently gave your party a lifeline back recognising one faction as the authentic leadership of the party. But many out there believe the PDP is not giving the APC the kind of opposition you received when you were in power. What gives you the confidence that PDP will reclaim power in 2015?

A: I agree with you in a sense. I agree with you because most of us are yet to recover from the shock of the defeat we had in the 2015 election. Like I said, the APC themselves did not believe that they could win, just like PDP never believed that we could lose because of what we did and the relationship between us and Nigerians. But we lost and they won.

When PDP was in government, we allowed opposition to grow. We supported them and created a level playing ground in all ramifications. Like I said, even in the war against corruption which we initiated because of our believe that the system must be cleansed in line with what is happening globally, we did not harass any opposition member. The records are there, I challenge anybody.

Even when members of the press and indeed many Nigerians spoke and criticised us, we were always taking it in good faith. We believe and still do that Nigerians have the rights to say their minds at all times. We never saw it as an act of sabotage or hate speech as it were, we took everything in good faith.

From the time when President Obasanjo came into office up to the time when President Jonathan left on May 29, 2015 there was no single individual that was arrested or molested on account of his free expression of his views. We were very accommodating, Nigerians know that and nobody can deny that fact.

But what is happening? Because APC is not a political party; its a conflagration of people whose ideas are incongruous; whose thinking is diametrically opposed to each other, who have nothing to offer, came together. In order to cover their inefficiency, incapacity and their unpreparedness in government, they have to create a lot of diversion. What are these diversions? If somebodys wife has miscarriage, they will say its the fault of PDP. If you are unable to get employment, they say its the fault of PDP. If they are unable to pay salaries, they will say its the fault of PDP. They were so much engaged in this continuous act of propaganda and self delusion such that at that point in time, a lot of Nigerians in our gullible minds were beginning to say oh! That could be true.

After 100 days, there was nothing to show for it. After one year, there was nothing to celebrate; after two years, Nigerians are now beginning to say, no, APC, these things could not have been PDP. You have been in government for over two years now, what have you got to show except monumental corruption? Is it the grass cutting scandal of the sacked SGF?

And when something relates to a Nigerian that is not a politician, they begin to shout. When something relates to a Nigerian that is in the opposition, they even shout more. When it relates to a member of the APC, they keep quiet. If today I am a member of the PDP and I am accused of stealing money and tomorrow I decamp to APC, that is the end of it. I will not be investigated, arrested neither will I be arraigned before the court of law and that will be the end of the matter. There are millions and one of these examples to give. Nigerians are aware of them.

Like I said also on many occasions, we are human. President Jonathan wanted the election to be as clean as possible. He wanted the 2015 elections to be conducted in line with international best practices. That was why we said let there be level playing ground, and level playing ground indeed was provided. And for the first time in the history of elections in Africa, a sitting president accepted defeat even before the conclusion of the election exercise. It has never happened anywhere in Africa. But instead of taking this gain moving this nation forward, what is APC doing? Dividing us and destroying our unity because they know they cannot do anything.

They did not stop there, realising that Nigerians are beginning to realise they have made a fundamental mistake in electing them into power, they said ok, let is try and destroy PDP. That was why they inserted that crisis within us. But one with God is majority. Because we are with God in PDP, we said ok, we are not going to fight dirty, we are not going to start kicking and killing ourselves, let us allow this thing to be resolved in a proper manner because we belief this this thing is not just going to benefit PDP as a political party, but will benefit democracy in this country.

What was the issue that was taken through the gamut of the Judiciary up to the Supreme Court? It was the issue of the interpretation of the constitution of a political party, with due regards and reference to the powers of the national convention. So, the decision of the Supreme Court has not only settled the rift in PDP, but has a set a standard that will settle any similar quarrel that may arise in any political party in this country again. Now the dramatis personae that was sent in to cause crisis; when even when the caretaker national chairman is saying no victor, no vanquished and an olive branch was extended to him, he said no, I want to return to APC, I want to go back to my masters. But what is happening? The APC are saying we dont want you.

This is a pointer to all those who are not necessarily members of PDP that may allow themselves to be used to destroy their own political party or organisations or associations, that beware, those people that are using you will not have a place for you tomorrow when you find yourself in the cold.

Q: So what is the PDP doing to win power again?

A: We have learnt our lesson now. We have been able to come together, we have now been able to forgive each other and understand that nobody can do it alone. No organ within the party hierarchy can do it alone, and so we are more united and we are set to project the party forward. What we are going to do going forward is to make sure that there is level playing ground in whatever we are doing at every level.

We have also resolved that there must be inclusivity. We have resolved there will be no more impunity in whatever we do. We have also resolved, more fundamentally than all these other ones, that since our slogan has always been power to the people, and that is why Nigerians consistently for 16 years have stood by us, believed in us, worked with us and voted us into power, we now said we are taking the power back to the people and let them see themselves as determinants of who get what within the party.

Let Nigerians have the power to decide who becomes the candidate for any election in Nigeria under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. This is what we are doing and this is part of our strategy that we want to use to capture power back in 2019. Of course, there are a lot of other strategies, but certainly, to begin to say them in a discussion like on a national platform. We have our strategies, we are keeping them close to our chest. But I am sure by the time we begin to deploy them, I am sure APC will just say INEC forget about election, we will handover to PDP.

Q: I want us to address the issue of people who left the party and are allegedly now scheming to become the presidential candidates of the party. This is an issue that could bring fresh crisis into the PDP?

A: For us in PDP, this is what has given us additional reason to celebrate and thank God that even though you may try to kill it or embellish it, but the truth will always remain the truth. It will always remain constant. After the series of bashing that we received from APC through orchestrated and well-planned uncommon propaganda, after all the blackmail, the same PDP members that were used in abusing us and then leaving to go and help APC win elections, have realised that they have made a fundamental mistake. That they are coming back now is a source of joy for us.

PDP is a large family and in any family, that is large, you could expect that there could be differences in opinion. But what has made PDP different from other political parties is our ability to sit down as a large family to discuss our differences and different opinions and then carry everybody along in such a way and manner that you believe that even though at the end of it my opinion is not what the party agreed upon, but I have been given the opportunity of a hearing and I am convinced that the decision that my party has taken is the best in the circumstance.

Our doors are wide open, not only for our brothers and sisters that have left, but even those who want to join the party for the first time. That you have seen a lot of people who have left in unwholesome circumstances after abusing PDP in public, after castigating us, after saying a lot of unprintable things against us wanting to come back now is a very big statement. I dont want to interpret it, I prefer to leave it to Nigerians to interpret.

Q: Who are those people?

A: There are a lot of them. Take your mind back to the convention of the party when some leaders of the party walked out. Some of them back to their senses and returned to the party. Some have gone to the APC, have they found a home in the APC? No! there is a large expanse of land in the world, if you sit in Abuja and you are not happy with what is going on in Abuja, for goodness sake, move to Lafia. If you are not ok with Lafia, you move to Jos or Makurdi, from there up to Uyo. If you want to move the other way, up to Sokoto and Kebbi. Nigeria is so big and there is enough space for everybody.

So, if they now want to come back, we will open the doors for them. But certainly, if we forgive as a party, we will not forget. No son will take his mother to the market square and strip her naked in the public glare will now take her back home and say Mummy, I brought a lace material with the best and most expensive perfume for you to spray in the comfort of your bedroom. The mother being a mother will say thank you my son, but will she ever forget that humiliation?

Secondly, that a lot of people are beginning to think that PDP is indeed the veritable vehicle that will take over government in 2019 gladdens our heart. 12 to 16 months ago, a lot of people do not even have PDP within their equation. People thought that PDP was going under, a lot of people thought PDP was going to disintegrate. What happened? We sat down selflessly and objectively agreed that we have a problem and confronted our problem and solved it.

So, let many people come into PDP, let those who are in PDP begin to express interest to become anything, that is the difference between PDP and other parties. In other parties, they will just tell you this is the anointed person. In PDP, nobody is anointed. Even though the presidency is zoned to the north, and you could see people coming outside the north saying we want to contest, it is because of the freedom that PDP gives to Nigerians.

Yes, there are rumours that many people from other parties, including the party in government will come to PDP and will also want to aspire to lead the party in the next election. In fact, there are people who are not politicians, men and women of integrity that want to also come and join and then seek to become something within PDP. We welcome them.

What we will assure Nigerians is that whether you have remained within PDP or a returnee or a new convert, we will give level playing ground. The process will be transparent, open and credible so that at the end of the day, every PDP member, wherever they may be, will have that sense of belonging that indeed this person that is flying our flag is our own choice. This, the new PDP will guarantee.

But before we get there, our concern now as leaders of the party is to elect credible people into our working committee at our next convention that is coming on the 9th of December. We want to get men and women of integrity, people that will be the new face of PDP, people that will not have been part of the so-called impunity that have played out in the party before. People that will raise that hope among Nigerians. People that will inspire members of the party to go that extra mile in canvassing support for the party. So that at the end of the day, we will come up with men and women of proven integrity that will stand anywhere and that would be the first step that PDP will use in telling Nigerians that we have changed, this is a new PDP.

By the time we get to the point of selecting our partys presidential candidate, I assure you that Nigerians will be proud of PDP. We will come out with a man or woman of high integrity, somebody who is unassailable, whose integrity is beyond reproach, somebody that Nigerians will have confidence that even though we are going to bring a northerner, we are not going to bring a northern president.

I want to assure Nigerians and it is important that Nigerians take note of this. Even though the presidency has been zoned to the north, we are not going to give Nigerians a northern president, we are going to give Nigerians, a Nigerian president of northern extraction. Somebody when he thinks, he thinks Nigeria; when he wants to act, he acts Nigeria. Somebody when he wants to move, he moves Nigeria.

Not somebody that will begin to discriminate among Nigerians, not somebody who will want to treat Nigerians differently on the basis of their support, their thinking, their beliefs and attitude. Somebody who will build strong bridges of friendship across the divide. We will bring somebody who is a unifier.

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The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has acknowledged benefitting from a payment made by the Energy Commission of Nigeria, days after staff of the commission alleged he had been corruptly paid.

But the minister said the money funded an international trip by a Nigerian delegation he led.

Striking workers of the energy commission, which the minister supervises, had on Tuesday accused the leadership of the agency of ineptitude and corruption, and accused it of paying N11 million into Mr. Onus account. The workers said the payment was irregular.

They demanded the removal of the director general of the commission, E.J Bala, whom they said did not understand the mandate of the agency.

The director had described the commission as a research institute and this is at variance with the mandate of ECN which is strategic planning and coordination of policies on energy, said Promise Chukwu, the chairman of the staff union.

Mr. Chukwu also said the management made payment of N11 million through the project account of the commission to the account of the minister, Mr. Onu.

Mr. Onu acknowledged there was a spending by the commission, but did not say the amount. He said the money was not in his favour, and that the claim that the payment was irregular was baseless and untrue.

No money was ever raised in favour of the Honourable Minister, a statement by a spokesperson for the ministry, AbdulGaniyu Aminu, said.

He said the money was to fund the travelling expenses of the minister and other officials to the last Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), held at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirate in January 2017.

The delegates to the Assembly, who were accredited by the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, comprised of officials from both the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) and the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), the statement said.

Nigerias delegation comprised, among others, the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, the Director-General of the Energy Commission as well as the Director/Technical Adviser to the DG. The Honourable Minister is expected to serve as Head of Delegation, the statement read.

IRENA is an inter-governmental agency established in 2009 with headquarters in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and with membership of over one hundred and eighty (180) countries. Its objectives are to promote the widespread and increased adoption and the use of all forms of renewable energy. These types of energy include, inter alia, bio-energy, hydropower, solar, wind, ocean tides and waves as well as geothermal energy.

The statement said as the focal agency for the co-ordination of matters relating to Nigerias membership of IRENA, the Energy Commission supports all members of the national delegation through its budgetary provisions.

The statement said Nigeria benefitted from participating at the conference.

During the 2017 Assembly, the Honourable Minister was able to secure for Nigeria the position of Vice-President of the Assembly up to 2018. The Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the Agency, it said.

It described Mr. Onu as a man of impeccable character who has demonstrated high moral standard and integrity in piloting the affairs of the Ministry.

When contacted on Saturday, the chairman of the staff union, Mr. Chukwu, said the strike had been suspended after the management agreed to meet some of the unions demands.

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From the presentation of the 2018 budget to barring of journalists from covering the event, the appearance of Police IGP, Ibrahim Idris, and the impending summon of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Raji Fashola, the Nigerian Senate this week was the centre of thrilling activities.

Unlike other weeks when Mondays are less busy, the chamber was full of life on Monday owing to the visit of the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

Captured below are the 10 major events in the Senate this week:

Monday

 The newly-appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, visited the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and leadership of the National Assembly to solicit support of the lawmakers in delivering the campaign promises of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Tuesday

 President Buhari presented an N8.6 trillion 2018 budget of consolidation to a joint session of the National Assembly.

 Journalists from PREMIUM TIMES and several other online publications, and some in the print and electronic media, were denied entry into the premises of the National Assembly as early as 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Wednesday

 The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, told senators investigating various corruption allegations against him that he would not answer any question as the matter is before the court.

 Hundreds of protesters on Wednesday afternoon occupied the entrance of the National Assembly to show solidarity with the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris. The convener of the protest, Gloria Ugbeji, said it is important for Mr. Idris to be left alone to focus on what he is doing.

 The Senate mandated its committee on Niger Delta to liaise with the new SGF, to probe illegal renewal of tenure of board members of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

 The Senate mandated its committees on power and public accounts to invite the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to render an account of $35 million spent so far on Afam Fast Power Project and another $350 released to Nigerian Electricity Bulk Trading Company, NBET.

Thursday

 The Senate mandated its committees on Diaspora, Foreign Affairs and Special Duties to investigate the unfortunate incident of death of 26 Nigerian girls whose bodies were found on a Spanish warship.

 The Senate approved a $350 million loan request for Ogun state. The approval followed the presentation of a report by the committee on Local and Foreign Debts.

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Nigeria has the worst police force in the world, according to World Internal Security and Police Index International, WISPI.

The 2016 report rates the Nigeria Police Force the worst globally in terms of its ability to handle internal security challenges.

The report was released by the International Police Science Association, IPSA, and the Institute for Economics and Peace, a nonprofit organisation that brings together experts, researchers and scholars concerned with security work from all over the world.

The indices used in accessing 127 countries from four key areas, namely, capacity, process, legitimacy and outcomes, aim to measure the ability of the security apparatus within a country to respond to internal security challenges, both now and in future.

Nigeria police performed worst on the index on all the four domains, with a score of 0.255 ranked 127 below Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda and Pakistan.

The report noted that countries with protracted civil conflicts were not eligible for the index.

There are 219 police officers for every 100,000 Nigerians, well below both the Index median of 300, and the sub-Saharan Africa region average of 268, the report reads.

This limits the capacity of the force to measure up to its law and order mandate.

In terms of process, legitimacy and outcomes, the story is not different which makes the force fall short of the required standard.

High levels of political terror have been an issue for Nigeria since 1993, with the country scoring a 4 on the Political Terror Scale every year since then.

Terrorism remains one of the greatest threats to internal security. Terrorism has increased dramatically over the last three years, with more than 62,000 people being killed in terrorist attacks between 2012 and 2014. The biggest rise in the last year occurred in Nigeria.

According to the report, the top 10 performing African countries are Botswana which ranked highest at 47, followed by Rwanda which took the 50 position.

Others are Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa and Mali, in that order.

The 10 least performing African countries are Madagascar 111th, Zambia 112th, Ethiopia 115th, Sierra Leone 117th, Cameroon 120th, Mozambique 122nd, Uganda 124th, Kenya 125th and Democratic Republic of Congo 126th.

The report showed that Singapore performed best on the index, followed by Finland, and then Denmark.

There were only four non-European countries in the top 20. The United Arab Emirates was the highest ranked country from the Middle East and North African, MENA, region as it ranked 29th overall.

The Nigerian police rejected the report. A statement by spokesperson Jimoh Moshood claimed the Nigeria police is the best in Africa.

The Nigeria Police Force after a careful study of the report and the news items emanating from it, wishes to state categorically that the report is entirely misleading, a clear misrepresentation of facts and figures and essentially unempirical, considering the area of coverage of the report which was said to have been carried out in 2016 by the above mentioned associations, the statement said.

The report did not take into cognisance the significant improvement in the areas of Capacity Building, Training and Re-training of the entire personnel of the Force as provided for by the current Federal Government of Nigeria and other Foreign and Local NGOs which has greatly improved the efficiency and service delivery of the personnel of the Force throughout the country.

Furthermore, in the UN Peace Keeping System, the Nigeria Police Force is rated as the best in UN Peace keeping operations in the world. This clearly shows that the Nigeria Police Force is not and cannot be the worst in the world under any known scientific yardstick or measuring instrument.

Currently, the Nigeria Police Force is one of the only two African Delegates representing the whole of Africa continent on the executive committee of Interpol, a position the Force attained based on high performance, merit and sustained good track records.

However, it must be pointed out that the Nigeria Police Force sees the report as a clear demonstration of mischief, ignorance and calculated attempt to distort the feat being recorded by the Force in ensuring adequate security and safety of Nigerians. Nowhere in the report were references made to either the improved capacity or achievements recorded by the Nigeria Police Force across the country in the recent time, the Force therefore implores all Nigerians and international community to disregard the report as unfounded and misleading.
BESTOWED with fresh mandate from the recently concluded 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Premier Li Kequiang will travel to Manila tomorrow (Nov. 12) up to Nov. 16 for different scheduled summits here.

These are the series of leaders meetings on East Asia cooperation, including the 20th China-Asean (10+1) Summit, the 20th Asean-China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (10+3) Summit and the 12th East Asia Summit.

This will also be his first official visit to the Philippines, which is the first to the country by a Chinese Premier in a decade.

Lis visit to the Philippines, also the first after the 19th CPC National

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are wobbling and need to be rejuvenated for Nigerias democracy to be strong.

Mr. Obasanjo made the observation when he received one of the PDP national chairmanship aspirants, Raymond Dokpesi, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, on Saturday in Abeokuta.

The former president remarked that both the ruling and opposition parties need to be strengthened for the countrys democracy to be salient and strong.

I have also said that the two parties that are there, the one in government and the one in opposition are both wobbling parties.

I still believe that the two wobbling parties can still be made strong. They can, Mr. Obasanjo said.

He re-emphasised that he was no longer interested in partisan politics in Nigeria.

He said that he left PDP when he discovered that the party had been destroyed beyond what he could be associated with at that point.

Mr. Obasanjo said there was no reason PDP should not have ruled Nigeria for 50 years as believed by some people, but that the party caused its own problem.

That has happened in some other countries like Germany, where a party runs the affairs of the county for decades, but of course, that is not the history in our own case.

Mr. Obasanjo said those who destroyed the PDP were still in it and that they would not leave until the running of the party was taken over by determined, selfless, upright, and honest people.

If we are just saying PDP has a crisis, which is self-made and that the Supreme Court had resolved the crisis for us, we are just deceiving ourselves.

The Supreme Court has taken a right decision as an apex court should, but as a party, only that cannot help you to do it all.

He prayed for PDP to get its national convention right, saying the chairmanship of the party was very important.

I had four PDP chairmen in eight years. So, I know what it takes to have a good or bad chairman for a party, Mr. Obasanjo said.

He advised Mr. Dokpesi to use his media asset well for the interest of the country to avoid and correct past mistakes.

Mr. Obasanjo, who said that he and some other Nigerians worked hard for the success of the party and the county, advised PDP to manage its success.

Speaking earlier, Mr. Dokpesi, the founder of Daar Communications, said he was in Abeokuta to seek the prayer and blessings of Mr. Obasanjo in his ambition of becoming PDP national chairman.

He said anyone aspiring to be national chairman of a political party must consult with the former president.

I am much aware that you are not interested in partisan politics but you are the father of the nation. You are much committed to the unity, stability and continued existence of this country.

You have dedicated all your life to the building of this country. Therefore, anything that is good for this country is a matter of interest to you, Mr. Dokpesi said.

He said that PDP would continue to plead for the forgiveness of Mr. Obasanjo for its trespasses and transgressions.

He was accompanied to Abeokuta by federal lawmaker, Yisa Braimoh, and PDP governorship aspirant in Delta State, Esther Uduehi.
The Nigeria Police, Niger State Command said it arrested a 65-year-old man, Patrick Kalu of railway quarters, Minna for allegedly having anal sex with a 15-years-old boy.

Abigail Unaeze, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, said this while briefing journalists in Minna on Saturday.

On Nov. 8, 2017, based on reliable information, police detectives arrested one Patrick Kalu aged 65, for allegedly having sex through the anus with a 15 years old boy, she said.

Mrs. Unaeze told journalists that the suspect, who was arrested during the act had kept the victim in his house at the railway quarters for over one year.

She said the suspect lured the unsuspecting victim from Karimo area of Abuja with the intent of securing a job for him, adding during investigation the suspect confessed to the act.

The PPRO said the suspect would soon be charged to court.

The suspect admitted having canal knowledge of the teenage boy, saying it was the handiwork of the devil.

Mr. Kalu who hails from Ohafia in Abia state has three children from his late wife.

Similarly, Mrs. Unaeze also said that between October and November, the command apprehended 13 suspects for armed robbery and culpable homicide.

She said the suspects confessed to the crime and would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.

She said the suspects, whose ages range between 18 and 80, were arrested in different parts of the state where the crime were allegedly committed.

The PPRO said that exhibits recovered from the suspects include dane guns, cutlasses, daggers and sticks used in beating their victims to coma.

She enjoined members of the public to assist the police to tackle crime by calling its emergency telephone lines to report crimes, stating that the command had put in place a Rapid Response Unit to respond to distress calls across the state.
The Nigerian Air Force on Saturday inaugurated a 60-bed hospital in Port Harcourt to cater for the medical needs of wounded troops and their families.

The Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, who inaugurated the Reference Hospital at the 115 Special Operations Group, Nigerian Air Force Base in Port Harcourt, said the hospital would serve as a reference point for delivery of medical services for personnel and residents in the area.

According to him, the recent establishment of air force commands and recruitment of more personnel into the service necessitated the upgrade of its medical facilities across the country.

The reference hospital was necessitated due to increased demand for medical services occasioned by the expansion of NAF force structure and our engagement in various theatres of operations.

The hospital and other nearby NAF medical centres would cater for personnel medical needs in the South-south geopolitical zone; cater for their dependants and host communities.

The facility, which was a medical centre was renovated and remodelled into a 60-bed hospital  while additional structures were constructed to accommodate more specialised equipment and furniture.

The hospital has a fully equipped laboratory; an eye clinic and dental centre  while other medical services offered include CT scanning, and renal dialysis, among others, he said.

Mr. Abubakar said the hospital would carry out clinical research and serve as a resource bank for interns and other health professionals.

He stated that the on-going upgrade of NAF hospitals and medical centres is part of efforts to reposition the countrys air force as a lethal fighting force.

The air chief added that the expansion of NAF medical centres in Abuja, Benin, Enugu, Ipetu-Ijesha (Osun), Kainji (Niger), Kano, Makurdi (Benue), Warri (Delta) and in 23 other commands had been completed.

Speaking, Duro Faseyi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Air Force, congratulated the air force high command for providing medical, accommodation, training, recreational and sporting facilities across it commands.

He said that the recent acquisition of fighter jets, platforms and training equipment had strengthened the combat readiness of troops, a development which led to the recent successes recorded in military operations in the North-east.

All of this is significant as it would boost morale and motivate officers, airmen and airwomen when carrying out their duties, he said.

Meanwhile, in a bid to further boost security in the Niger Delta, the Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS), Abayomi Olonisakin, on Saturday also inaugurated 20 gunboats.

Mr. Olonisakin said at the inauguration of the boats in Warri that the recent threat by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to resume hostilities in the region was a sad commentary on the collective security of the environment.

He expressed regret at the continued threat of violence, noting that the Avengers threat had dealt an unfortunate blow to the collective well-being of the oil-rich region.

The army chief said that the new boats would help boost the Navys operational capacity, especially in the effort to stamp out various threats prevalent in the maritime environment.

While acknowledging the right of people to agitation, Mr. Olonisakin said any agitation associated with violence was unconstitutional and would be firmly dealt with by the armed forces.

There has been continuing militarisation and proliferation of weapons among militant groups in the Niger Delta.

This has ended up in a sharp increase in the threat level in the region. The inauguration of these platforms today is in line with the programme of general preparedness, which the Nigerian Navy has continued to maintain effective deterrent and good operational posture.

It has pursued this by generating adequate maritime leverage domain awareness, he said.

Mr. Olonosakin commended the Navy for patronising indigenous companies to construct 16 of the gunboats.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the other four boats were constructed by a South African company.

The CDS said the successful construction of the 16 boats was a clear testimony that with adequate encouragement, the underdeveloped technological capacity of indigenous companies could be harnessed for national development and improved security.

Earlier, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Ibok-Ete Ibas, had said that Nigeria relied on full based resources, particularly oil and gas as well as maritime based commerce, for sustainable national development.

Also, Abubakar Al-Hassan, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Central Naval Command, said that the induction of the platform was a milestone in the protection of the countrys wealth.

It will stimulate commercial activities in the Niger Delta region, he said.

Festus Agas, Commissioner for Information in Delta, who represented Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, applauded the Navy for promoting local content in its effort at providing adequate security in the countrys maritime environment.
DA NANG, Vietnam  President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday expressed his deepest gratitude to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who helped turn the tide for the Philippines in its protracted battle against Islamic State-inspired groups who laid siege in Marawi City last summer.

Duterte, who met with Putin for the third time at the sidelines of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit here, said that Russian weapons were the ones that greatly helped the military in its efforts to liberate Marawi following the four-month siege.

In a way, you helped us turn the tide and to shorten the war there because of your assistance, the President said.

BILATERAL ISSUES. President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold talks on security and trade issues Friday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It is their first meeting since Duterte visited Moscow, Russia in mid-May. The visit was cut short when the Marawi crisis forced the President to return home. AFP

So again, I thank you very much, the Russian people, and you, Mr. President. We will remember you for all time, he added.

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Duterte, who in less than 24 hours of staying at Moscow last May decided to declare the state of martial law in the whole island of Mindanao due to ISIS attacks, said that meeting Putin once more was with double the enthusiasm and gratitude for the Philippines.

President Putin, sir, Im very happy to see you again. This time, with double the enthusiasm and gratitude of my country, the Philippines, Duterte said in his meeting with Putin.

With Russias help, Duterte said he was able to prove to everybody that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police could take care of our country.

I would like to convey to you the gratitude of the Filipino people for your timely assistance, especially the trucks and the arms that you sent because we have to replenishthe supplies were getting low, he said.

And, according to my soldiers, the arms that you sent are very accurate and they were able to take care of the snipers that abounded and I lost more Almost all of my troops because of the sniping, snipers, which were covered in buildings, he added.

Sharing his dream to build a strong Armed Forces and a strong police before he steps down from the presidency, Duterte said the Philippines was eyeing to buy arms from Russia this time after American legislators stymied the countrys supposed procurement of firearms.

Because at that time we were short of arms for the police and we wanted to buy it (sic) from America but because of the almost equal power of the US Congress and the President, it is always stymied by the legislators, he said.

So the 23,000 that I ordered was (sic) scrapped and your timely assistance to my country helped us replenish the old arms and the spent bores that were fired repeatedly and we have a new stock.

For his part, Putin said terrorism was a common challenge for both Russia and the Philippines, noting that Russia was prepared to further develop defense relations between Russia and the Philippines.

I would like to say that terrorism is one of our common problems and common challenges and following our agreement, we are ready to keep developing our relations, including in the military area and the tactical area, the Russian leader said.

Noting that economic ties are at the lower level, Putin said he wanted to see an improvement in the economic relations between the two countries.

I have no doubt, special attention should be paid to our economic ties, Putin said.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, meanwhile, said the President expressed he did not want to participate in conflicts between big powers, adding he appreciated that Russia had shown good faith.

John Paolo Bencito

Philippine ports would be ready to accept Russian vessels, Dutertes spokesman added.

Roque also said the President had expressed he would appoint a special envoy for military side and to improve trade relations with Russia.

While he will no longer proceed with his plan for another short visit to Moscow, Duterte said he had to thank those who helped the country in its fight against terrorism.

You know, they should know that we nurture gratitudesame with China, and America, and Israel

Duterte told reporterts in a media interview Thursday night.

Those were just borrowed items. Its back in their possession now. But they allowed us. But the most important thing also is that the United States had allowed us to use the modern equipment of warfare, he added.

Duterte is urging Russia to open up the latters markets for the export of Philippine products.

For Russia, just a small window where we can start exporting our products there. But this has to be done by our DTI and some other guys, our bright guys, Duterte told reporters here Thursday night.

Philippine officials have yet to find out what are really exportable and saleable, Duterte said.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said should both countries firm up the ongoing trade talks, some $2.5 billion worth of agricultural products from the Philippines are expected to enter Moscows markets.

Talks on expanding trade and security relations between the two countries were first discussed during their first bilateral talks at the sidelines of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit held in Peru.

Accompanying Duterte were Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, and DFA Acting Assistant Secretary Amelita Aquino.

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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.




DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CreditEase, a Beijing-based leading financial technology conglomerate specializing in inclusive finance and wealth management, announced that its Founder and CEO, Mr Ning Tang, participated in the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ("APEC") CEO Summit event, in Da Nang, Vietnam on November 9.

With the theme of "Creating New Dynamism, Fostering A Shared Future", this year's Summit brings together high-level government officials, academia, thought leaders, and over 1,000 CEOs from across the region.

Speaking at the "New Job Creators" panel, Mr Tang joined Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, along with other distinguished speakers, to discuss the new era of job creating technologies and industries in a dynamic and competitive global market.

"Over the next decade, tens of millions of SMEs in China will focus more on the quality of their growth, technological innovation, and sustainable development. We at CreditEase has been committed to empowering these SMEs as well as the real economy with technology breakthroughs and new business models ever since the company's establishment," said Mr Tang. "Going forward, we will continue to leverage our FinTech strengths in inclusive finance and wealth management to enhance SMEs' overall financial capabilities and create more value for society."

As China enters the next stage of economic development, SMEs have emerged as an increasingly important growth engine and job creator. As a global leader in FinTech, CreditEase provides a variety of services to address the evolving needs of SMEs in capital raising, insurance, wealth management, and corporate governance.

AngelEase, CreditEase's proprietary crowd investing platform connecting early stage startups with angel investors, along with CreditEase Wealth Management Private Equity FOF product, which invests in high-growth companies globally through different funds with the aid of artificial intelligence, guide high net worth individuals on a path to long term investment and true asset allocation that is fully aligned with the development of new economy. On November 3, CreditEase Wealth Management entered into a comprehensive strategic partnership with leading private equity and venture capital fund manager IDG Capital, in another landmark move to unleash new momentum for the economy.

Apart from giving SMEs much-needed access to financing, CreditEase also serves as their one stop shop providing best-in-class payment, insurance, as well as wealth and risk management solutions.

In an effort to equip Chinese entrepreneurs with management expertise relevant to the new era, CreditEase also develops executive study tour programs offering rare glimpses into the best business practices around the world. In November 2017, CreditEase introduced the Ram Charan Management Practice Award into China, with its strategic partner Harvard Business Review, to recognize and promote outstanding management practices in China.

"In the past 11 years, we have grown from China's first marketplace lending platform to a full-service Fintech company with global footprint, committed to giving the traditionally underbanked SMEs access to comprehensive financial services," said Mr Tang. "As a firm believer of an innovation-driven new economy, we look forward to continuously contributing to this worthy cause in the next phase of our journey."

Key Points from Mr Ning Tang

Within the next three to five years, China's 200 million middle class and mass affluent investors will have financial advisors in their mobile phones. They don't need human advisors.

200 million middle class and mass affluent investors will have financial advisors in their mobile phones. They don't need human advisors. Technology will not replace people. Technology will empower people.

Individuals, rather than big corporations, will be ultimately responsible for their retirement planning, and FinTech-powered wealth management like robo-advisor can play an important role.

With technology we are able to provide better financial services, which is instrumental to the new economy and society.

Jobs won't be lost, but people have to change. Companies like CreditEase are here to help make that happen. A wide array of tools and the ensuing opportunities are here for the more prepared minds. Instead of fear, what we need is a much stronger sense of urgency, and an action plan.

Every organization should reinvent itself in five to ten years' of time. Technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace, bringing about enormous changes at workplace. Workers should thus reinvent themselves to adapt to this new development as well.

About CreditEase

CreditEase is a Beijing-based leading FinTech conglomerate in China, specializing in inclusive finance and wealth management, in addition to payment technology, marketplace lending, crowdfunding, robo-advisory, insurance technology and blockchain products and services. CreditEase actively engages with global FinTech innovators through business incubation, commercial co-operation, and investment. Better tech, better finance, better world.

SOURCE CreditEase
HOUSTON, Nov. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Deep Down, Inc. (the "Company") (OTCQX: DPDW), will hold a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 to discuss the Company's third quarter 2017 financial results.

The teleconference will begin at 4:30 PM Eastern time (3:30 PM Central Time) and will be hosted by Mr. Ron Smith, President and CEO, and Mr. Charles Njuguna, CFO. The related press release will be issued on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.

To participate in the teleconference, please dial (877) 303-6187 a few minutes before the scheduled start time. International callers are invited to call (678) 894-3073. Please refer to confirmation code 6198156. A replay of the call will be available one hour after the completion of the call through November 29, 2017. To access the replay, please dial (855) 859-2056, or if you are calling internationally, dial (404) 537-3406. Please refer to confirmation code 6198156. The live webcast and archived replay also can be accessed on the Company's web site at www.deepdowninc.com.

About Deep Down, Inc.

Deep Down, Inc. is an oilfield services company serving the worldwide offshore exploration and production industry. Deep Down's proven services and technological solutions include distribution system installation support and engineering services, umbilical terminations, loose-tube steel flying leads (LSFL), installation buoyancy, ROVs and tooling, marine vessel automation, control, and ballast systems. Deep Down supports subsea engineering, installation, commissioning, and maintenance projects through specialized, highly experienced service teams and engineered technological solutions. Deep Down's primary focus is on more complex deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil production distribution system support services and technologies used between the platform and the wellhead. More information about Deep Down is available at www.deepdowninc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any forward-looking statements in the preceding paragraphs of this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties in that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. In the course of operations, we are subject to certain risk factors, competition and competitive pressures, sensitivity to general economic and industrial conditions, international political and economic risks, availability and price of raw materials and execution of business strategy. For further information, please refer to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available from the Company without charge.

SOURCE Deep Down, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.deepdowninc.com


ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey made a formal demand this week for test results from race organizers that allegedly showed his dogs tested positive for a banned substance in this year's competition.

Seavey said the effort is important to ensure fairness, due process, to determine the testing process and methods, what results show, and the chain of custody of the samples that were taken as part of the determination by the Iditarod Trail Committee that four of his dogs in this year's event tested positive for the opioid pain reliever Tramadol.

"This effort isn't just to clear my name. The outcome of this is important to every musher, every dog, our fans, our sport, and our sponsors," Seavey said. "This is a demand for information for public transparency and to preserve the name of a sport that is part of me, part of my family, and part of history and tradition."

Seavey has consistently denied the allegations that he administered or that he had any knowledge that his dogs had been administered a banned substance. While the Iditarod Trail Committee did not have substantial evidence to assert that Seavey violated the rules of the Iditarod, Seavey seeks to be relieved of the suspicions these drug tests have instigated.

He has pointed out a series of problems with the allegations that four of his dogs showed signs of Tramadol. These include:

His dogs, as are other mushers, are left mostly unattended for several hours after the race to allow them well-deserved rest (during which time tampering could occur).

Every musher is very aware of drug testing and also knowledgeable that Tramadol is easily detected.

The transparency of the testing process, test methodology, chain of custody of samples, and results from the race organizers, Iditarod Trail Committee, must be made public.

The Iditarod Trail Committee has received the request for the drug test results and Seavey is currently awaiting the receipt of the tests.

"I believe this is the first positive step that can be taken to shed a public light on what has been alleged, to clear my good name, and to clear the name of our beloved sport," Seavey added. "I hope this effort helps all mushers and the race itself."

SOURCE Dallas Seavey
November 2017 auction attracts 4,900+ bidders from 56 countries; 56% of equipment sold online

HOUSTON, TX, Nov. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - This week Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers sold more than 3,800 equipment items and trucks for US$44+ million at its Houston, TX auction site.

More than 4,900 people from 56 countries registered to bid in the two-day auction (Nov. 8  9), including 3,350+ online bidders who purchased 56 percent (US$25+ million) of the equipment. U.S. buyers purchased 82 percent of the equipment, including 44 percent purchased by Texas buyers. International buyers from as far away as Germany, Indonesia, and New Zealand purchased 18 percent of the equipment.

"With strong attendance both onsite and online, we achieved solid pricing on both days of the auction," said Alan McVicker, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. "There's so much work going on in Texas and the whole Gulf Coast area right now; bidders were active, trying to get all the equipment they need for current and upcoming projects."

Mr. McVicker continued, "I'd like to thank all our consignors and buyers at our Houston auctions this year. Our final Texas auction of 2017 will be in Fort Worth on December 13 & 14 and our IronPlanet weekly featured auctions will continue through the rest of the year."

Equipment in the Houston auction was sold for 590+ owners. The selection included 120+ excavators, 75+ compactors, 55+ skid steers, 50+ loaders, 50+ dozers, 50+ cranes, 335+ truck tractors, 265 trailers and much more. All items were sold without minimum bids or reserve prices.

Sales highlights:

A 1998 Liebherr LR1250 Litronic 275-ton self-erecting crawler crane sold for US$400,000

Two 2013 John Deere 350G LC hydraulic excavators sold for a combined US$305,000

A 2010 Hammel VB950DK Red Giant crawler primary shredder sold for US$275,000

A 2006 Caterpillar 980H wheel loader sold for US$207,500

A 2014 Caterpillar D6T LGP dozer sold for US$200,000

Auction quick facts: Houston, TX (November 2017)

Gross transactional value  US$44+ million

US$44+ million Amount sold to online bidders  US$25+ million

US$25+ million Total registered bidders (onsite and online)  4,900+

4,900+ Online registered bidders  3,350+

3,350+ Number of lots sold  3,800+

3,800+ Number of sellers  590+

Ritchie Bros. currently has more than 52,000 equipment items listed to sell through onsite auctions, IronPlanet online auctions and its other marketplaces. For detailed equipment info, please visit rbauction.com and IronPlanet.com.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers' final Texas auction of the year, in Fort Worth, will be held on December 13  14. For those looking to sell equipment in the auction, please contact the site directly at +1.817.237.6544.

About Ritchie Bros.

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a multitude of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offers live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with featured weekly auctions and providing its exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplacee, an online marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; and Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales. The company also offers sector-specific solutions including GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, Kruse Energy Auctioneers , and Cat auctions, plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about the unprecedented choice provided by Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com.

Photos and video for embedding in media stories are available at rbauction.com/media.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers

Related Links

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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stefan Krause, former CFO of Faraday Future, today issued the following statement:

Faraday Future issued a statement today that falsely described my departure from the company. The truth is that I resigned from Faraday Future on October 14, effective immediately.

The company's statement inaccurately portrays the circumstances surrounding my departure, and includes baseless and defamatory statements about me and my contributions to the company.

I have retained legal counsel and will be exploring all options available to me.

SOURCE Stefan Krause
HONOLULU, Nov. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) led efforts in the U.S. House to support veterans this week, including passing legislation to reform veterans' mental health care (HR 918), urging Congress to pass the Deborah Sampson Act (HR 2452), a bill she cosponsored to improve access and quality of care at the VA for female veterans, and introducing legislation to rehabilitate the nation's World War I memorials (HR 4328). Today, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard released the following statement and video message to honor the nation's heroes this Veterans Day weekend by sharing their stories of service and sacrifice:

"Veterans Day is special to me. It's a day when I often get to spend time with fellow veterans from many different generations, share stories, and remember our brothers and sisters who never made that long trip home. We will never forget.

"Senator Mazie Hirono and I worked together for years on legislation that finally awards the well-deserved Congressional Gold Medal to WWII Filipino veterans  legislation that Barack Obama signed into law as one of his final acts as president. Last month, Mazie and I welcomed many of these veterans to the U.S. Capitol, where we presented this long-overdue recognition to heroes like Sixto Tabay, the last living WWII Filipino veteran on Kauai, and around 200,000 others who served.

"Recently, I hosted a screening of the film 'Go for Broke: Origins' at the U.S. Capitol in honor of the 100th Infantry Battalion / 442nd Regimental Combat Team, units created in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which were made up of young Japanese-American men who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army, despite facing bigotry and prejudice as their families and loved ones were thrown into internment camps. Our late Senator Daniel Inouye is featured in the film as a young man who volunteered to fight for freedom alongside thousands of others. Through their courage, valor, and sacrifice, the 442nd became the most highly decorated unit in Army history.

"I could share so many stories of the courage and sacrifice displayed by the men and women that I had the privilege of serving with during my deployments to the Middle East. People of all walks of life  different religions, races, political ideologies, and more  all setting aside differences and coming together with one common goal: service to our country.

"It is this selflessness by our nation's veterans that should inspire us all this Veterans Day  and every day. They have shown us through their example and their lives what 'service and sacrifice' really means, and how we can all find ways to set aside our own differences, respect and treat each other with aloha, and work together for the good of our communities, our country, and humanity. Today, let us reflect on how we can honor our nation's veterans by living aloha and being of service in our own lives."

Background:

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a Major in the Hawaii Army National Guard and has served on two Middle East deployments. She has served as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii's Second Congressional District since 2013 and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Media Contact:

Erika Tsuji

(808) 861-0793

[email protected]

More Information & Updates from Tulsi Gabbard:

https://www.votetulsi.com/latest

https://twitter.com/tulsigabbard

https://www.facebook.com/VoteTulsi

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SOURCE Tulsi Gabbard
The Trump administration has just put crippling tariffs (97-162%) on the import of aluminium foil from China. Making America great again? Its doubtful. Far more American firms use aluminium foil than make it. Indeed, only two US-based firms make it and one of them is owned by Swedes. Virginia Postrel has the details:

Only two companies have U.S. mills making the thin-gauge foil affected by the duties. The ones owned by Sweden-based Granges are already selling all they can produce; the company has announced plans to expand capacity at its Tennessee mill by 2019. Converters say that JW Aluminum Co., the Mt. Holly, South Carolina-based company that lobbied strongly for the duties, isnt offering them much, if any, additional supply.

Most of the ex-Chinese sales wont even go to US firms but to firms in countries not affected by the tariffs, including Russia, Bulgaria, South Korea and Taiwan. Yes, Russia.

Conspiracy or coincidence? I want to say coincidence. On the other hand:

Donald Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is under investigation for involvement in an alleged plot to kidnap a Turkish dissident cleric living in the US and fly him to an island prison in Turkey in return for $15m, it was reported on Friday.

So who can say anymore? Excuse me while I go put on my hat.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain, is honoring veterans and all members of the military on Veterans Day today, Saturday, November 11, by offering a free combo meal to those who dine in one of the nearly 400 White Castle restaurants nationwide.

"As a family-owned business, White Castle is proud to stand with our communities to honor past and current members of the U.S. military for their commitment and sacrifice to safeguard our freedom," said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. "If you or a loved one is a veteran, please visit your nearest White Castle and enjoy this expression of our appreciation!"

All past and current members of the U.S. military receive a free Combo Meal (#1  6) or any Breakfast Combo Meal on November 11 at participating White Castle restaurants. White Castle encourages veterans and those currently enlisted to join White Castle today for recognition of their service to our country. No purchase is necessary to claim the offer, simply provide your military ID.

White Castle's famous fare, including the full breakfast menu, is available anytime at participating locations.

For more information, visit www.whitecastle.com.

About White Castle

White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain based in Columbus, Ohio, has been making Bold Moves as a family-owned business for more than 96 years. Cravers on-the-go can access sweet deals and place a pick-up order any time in the official White Castle app (iTunes App Store or Google Play) or in a grocery store's frozen section near you. www.whitecastle.com

SOURCE White Castle

Related Links

http://www.whitecastle.com


I never think of myself as a writer; I think of myself as someone who writes books, says Neel Mukherjee emphatically, as he reflects on the years between the completion of his degree in creative writing and the publication of his first novelyears he spent reviewing books and, quite happily, working for a charity. I see writing as the last chance saloon! Writing is such a tricky game. He wonders why so many people want to do it, rather than applying themselves to something more useful, like science or medicine. When, he asks, did it become so glamorous?

Mukherjee is the author of three novels; A State of Freedom, his third, will be published January 2018 by Norton. His debutA Life Apart, begun during his course at the University of East Angliawon four awards, and his second, The Lives of Others, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. (Both were published in the U.S. by Norton). Edmund White thinks State of Freedom a masterpiece; A.M. Homes believes Mukherjee writes like a painter.

Neither does Mukherjee like the fuss and fandango that these days is part of the writers lot. The Bookerwhich culminates in a long formal dinner for several hundred people, at the end of which the winner is announcedis a circus, he says, the writers performing monkeys. Mukherjee wasnt nervous about being shortlistedIt was like winning for me; I was only two books oldbut hed rather all prizes were done in the Pulitzer kind of way and not as a blood sport.

A gentle and self-effacing man, Mukherjee was born in Calcutta and grew up in a poor family. His parents, who died within a few weeks of each other when he was just 21, made sacrifices to send him and his brother to a Jesuit school. One of the things my mother drilled in to me was that education is the way out of misery or depressed circumstances.

Its a familiar trope in all Mukherjees novels. His father was some kind of engineervery progressive, spoke beautiful English, and it was he who gave Mukherjee his love of reading. I read all the early Nobel Laureatespeople whose names are not known now, like Sigrid Undset, Knut Hamsun, and Grazia Deledda.

Mukherjee studied English at Jadavpur University, where all his teachers were Renaissance scholars who encouraged him to go to Oxford. He applied, won a scholarship, and embarked on his own study of 16th-century culture and literature. His Ph.D.in which he lost faith, but like the good Bengali boy I am, I was brought up to complete thingswas, he says, mostly about Edmund Spenser and the complaint form. Having, as he sees it, failed at everything else I tried to do, he went to creative writing school.

Mukherjee considers that a mistake, for various reasons, though he allows that it gave him time to writeperhaps the most useful aspect of such coursesand the pressure to produce something was valuable. He is skeptical that writing can be taught and worries that writing schools are now a Ponzi scheme.

At Princeton, Mukherjee taught creative writing earlier this year, as part of an undergraduate program with students who were majoring in unrelated subjects. I asked them to write, and I read their work, and we did the workshopping experience, he says. You can give students the luxury of having their work read with attention and care by other people, and you can point them in the direction of other writers whove done plot or dialogue, character or humor, but you cant teach those things. Writing is nine parts instinct, I think. All the things you need to learn can be found in other books. If you want to be a writer, you should first be a reader. He will approach his Harvard sojourn next year in much the same way.

A State of Freedom forms a sort of dialogue with V.S. Naipauls In a Free State, which won the 1971 Booker Prize. Like In a Free State, Mukherjees novel is five linked narratives. The outer stories in A State of Freedom are short, and the concluding narrative is written as if in one breath, without punctuation and ending on an unfinished sentence. Each narrative grapples with displacement, migration, the search for a better life and for dignity. Each has echoes, sometimes faint, of the others, and the novel is in a sense a ghost story.

I wanted to look at the formal things about the novel itself, Mukherjee explains. What does a realist novel do? Can it be pushed in another direction? Within the realist framework, can we sabotage realism from within? You can no longer write about reality by just telling a story, and I wanted to take out all the things you would assume makes a realist novel cohere, like plot or character or narrative. Could I do that and still have something that would answer to the name of a novel? Could meaning be a way of making a novel cohere?

A State of Freedom does not conform to the idea of what many think of as the Indian novelRaj or family saga, exotica or the new India. Indeed, reading A State of Freedom is not an enticement to visit the worlds largest democracy, with all its casual, everyday cruelty: the uncaring reference to the family cook who comes daily from the slums; the exploited worker whose TB must go untreated because he cant afford a doctor; the bear, a ring through his nose, forced to dance for rupees by a beggar; the little girl made to watch a Maoist terrorist take an axe to her brothers arm. Each of the books five characters has a story to tell, four of them from the very margins of Indian society. The fifth, an NRIa nonresident Indianhas returned to see his family and is deeply discomfited to discover a world far removed from his hip and cozy London life.

I feel very bleak about India and Indian life, particularly at this point in history, when its turning into a religious, nationalist, right-wing society, Mukherjee says. I feel bleak about its prospects, and Im not a cheerful happy writer. To write about India truthfully one has to face these issues. One cannot write about either the exotic side of things or the Slumdog Millionaire side of things. Ive always felt you have to deal with it all with as much honesty and truthfulness as you can without spinning it off into some kind of escapism or colorfulness or chitchat.

Mukherjee is pleased to have received a letter from a reader saying he had made visible the invisible people of India. He points out that the countrys constitution is an incredibly progressive document where all caste division and discrimination are unconstitutional and suggests that India needs a kind of China-style government where a top-down system is enforced, and enforced brutally, and then the next generation will come out free of those problems.

I feel very bleak about history and the human race right now, Mukherjee says. Where did we take this wrong turning in history? Late capitalism has not been good for us. I think the whole capitalist order has a lot to answer for. The marriage of liberal democracy and capitalism is coming unstuck. It hasnt worked. Why havent we got rid of racism in America? Why havent we got rid of nationalism and intolerance? The only way to deal with it all is to look it in the face and try and write about it and depict it in very unblinking ways.

Liz Thomson is a journalist and author living in London.
Last Weeks Top Reviews

The most popular reviews on publishersweekly.com last week were...

Dark in Death

Tom Clancy: Power and Empire

Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra

The Parking Lot Attendant

Alias Grace

From the Newsletters

Tip Sheet

Martin Salisbury, author of The Illustrated Dust Jacket, 19201970, highlights 11 beautiful vintage dust jackets.

Childrens Bookshelf

Pat Hutchins, creator of many beloved picture books, has died at age 75.

Global Rights Report

Publishers are buzzing about a book on cat communication and a title on the Finnish concept of pantsdrunk, which celebrates drinking alone in undergarments.

BookLife Report

Seven finalists have been announced for the 2017 BookLife Prize.

Religion BookLine

To capitalize on renewed reader interest, America Media is giving its Catholic Book Club a modern makeover.

PW Daily

Every days publishing news delivered to your inbox, for free.

Podcasts

Week Ahead

PW senior writer Andrew Albanese discusses how library initiatives fared at the ballot box last week, and looks at a surprise development in a closely watched legal case against pirate site Sci-Hub.

More to Come

The More to Come crew goes over star Marvel writer Brian Bendiss surprise move to D.C., the five graphic novels in PWs Best Books of 2017 list, and comics-related media news, including a rumored Disney acqusition of Fox, the new Thor movie, and the forthcoming Justice League film.

PW Radio

Armistead Maupin discusses his new book, Logical Family: A Memoir. And PW editorial director Jim Milliot digs into what a bestseller really is.

Blogs

ShelfTalker

What to say and what not to say to bookstore customers during the coming holiday rush.
Dyson Uncovers the Truth at SMP

In a two-book world rights deal, Michael Eric Dyson sold What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America to Elisabeth Dyssegaard at St. Martins Press. The book, a follow-up to the authors January 2017 title with SMP, Tears We Cannot Stop, will be, SMP said, another timely exploration of Americas tortured racial politics that highlights a fascinating moment in Americas recent past when a leading politician extended an invitation to tackle difficult subjects with a cultural icon. It is set for April 2018. The second book in the deal, set for 2019, is yet to be announced. Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon McIntyre represented Dyson.

John Takes Mascot to HC

Antony John sold two middle grade novels, one called Mascot and one currently untitled, to Tara Weikum at HarperCollins. Mascot, which will be Johns first at HC (after publishing the Elemental series and a number of standalones with Dial) is part of a two-book world English rights deal; the second book is another, currently untitled, middle grade novel. Ted Malawer at Upstart Crow Literary, who represented John, said Mascot is a hopeful and poignant novel about middle schooler Noah Savino, whoafter a car accident that took his fathers life and paralyzed him from the waist downmust grapple with his newfound disability as he rediscovers himself, his family, and his place in the world. Mascot is set for a fall 2018 publication.

Mira Spends Hours with Walters

Mira Books Kathy Sagan took U.S. rights to Minette Walterss historical novel The Last Hours from Jane Gregory at Gregory & Company Authors Agents. The book is set in England in 1348, the year that the Black Death first hit the country. Margaret Marbury, v-p of general fiction at Mira, said the novel offers a riveting narrative driven by a grand mysteryhow and why a deadly illness that no one understands is spreading so rapidly. Walters, Mira noted, is known in the U.K. as the queen of the psychological thriller, and her books sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. Hours, which is slated for August 2018, will mark her first foray into historical fiction.

Putnam Re-ups Parker

Edgar-winner and bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker struck a six-figure North American rights agreement with Putnam for the next two books in his Roland Ford series. Mark Tavani bought books three and four in the series, which follows the title PI, a former marine. Putnam released the first book in the series, The Room of White Fire, in August 2017. Parker was represented by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.

Bellow Gets Novel at SMP

For his All Points imprint at St. Martins Press, Adam Bellow took North American rights to Goldie Taylors political thriller, Paper Gods. The book marks Bellows first fiction acquisition in his career as an editor. Taylor, who was represented by agent Laura Dail, is editor at large for the Daily Beast. The novel follows an Atlanta mayor who stumbles onto a strange crime spree, After discovering an origami figurethe paper god of the books titlein the wake of a local politicians murder in a church, Victoria Dobbs realizes, Dail said, the paper gods keep turning up after someone is killed. The book is set for a fall 2018 release.

Briefs

Maggie Stiefvaters The Scorpio Sea Tarot was acquired by Barbara Moore at Llewellyn Worldwide. Moore took world rights to the tarot deck and accompanying book from Laura Rennert at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Rennert said the titles tap into the mythology in the authors 2011 book The Scorpio Races (Scholastic) and draw on ancient pagan and Celtic traditions. The book and deck are set for fall 2019.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the title of Michael Eric Dyson's book. It's What Truth Sounds Like, not What the Truth Sounds Like.
Its Happening Again

Mark Frost, co-creator with David Lynch of Twin Peaks, lands at #4 in hardcover ficton with Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier. It follows Frosts The Secret History of Twin Peaks, which pubbed in 2016. The earlier book may have been intended to stoke interest in the recent Showtime revival of the series, but first-week print unit sales of the two books suggest the opposite effect.

Oct 2016 The Secret History of Twin Peaks 2,057 Oct 2017 Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier 18,242

(See all of this week's bestselling books.)

Making Herself Heard

What a difference a promotion makes: Katy Hudsons A Loud Winters Nap, which pubbed two months ago, appears on our childrens picture book list for the first time since its publication, debuting at #2. Like its predecessor, Too Many Carrots, the book benefited from a partnership with Barnes & Noble. How much of a difference has this made? In the first week of the promotion, Nap sold more than 12K print copies, or 23 times as many as it had in the previous nine weeks combined.

Office Politics

With a cartoon Donald Trump on the cover and the title Win Bigly, you might think this book by Dilbert creator Scott Adams, which debuts at #14 in hardcover nonfiction, dips into Doonesbury territory. Not so. Adams endorsed Trump for president, and his book, which our review calls an enjoyably provocative guide to the art of persuasion, focuses on how Trump keeps the spotlight on himself and the topics of his choice, and used these skills to talk his way into the White House.

New & Notable

Bobby Kennedy

Chris Matthews

#4 Hardcover Nonfiction, #10 overall

MSNBC Hardball host Matthews, who has written several books on political figures, including 2011s Jack Kennedy, turns his attention to that subjects younger brother and attorney general.

In the Midst of Winter

Isabelle Allende

#15 Hardcover Fiction

Our starred review said this fantastic novelwhich involves two academics, an undocumented immigrant, and the disposal of a dead body in Upstate New Yorkis a suspenseful, icy adventure.

Top 10 Overall

Rank Title Author Imprint Units 1 The Rooster Bar John Grisham Doubleday 73,209 2 The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! Ree Drummond Morrow 47,655 3 Two Kinds of Truth Michael Connelly Little, Brown 40,438 4 Origin Dan Brown Doubleday 38,509 5 Wonder R.J. Palacio Knopf 27,098 6 Leonardo da Vinci Walter Isaacson Simon & Schuster 26,544 7 The Sun and Her Flowers Rupi Kaur Andrews McMeel 24,751 8 Dork Diaries 12: Tales from a Not-So-Secret Rachel Renee Russell Aladdin 22,916 9 Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans Kilmeade/Yaeger Sentinel 22,411 10 Bobby Kennedy Chris Matthews Simon & Schuster 22,292

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
Despite spending half of his life at Sourcebooks after company founder and publisher Dominique Raccah hired him as employee #6 in September 1994, Todd Stocke, who was promoted in September to senior v-p and editorial director, is at heart a bookseller. Above all, he simply wants to put the right book into peoples hands.

I loathe when publishers or editors are referred to as gatekeepers, Stocke explained, as we sat in his office earlier this fall, after hed led 50 Midwestern booksellers, in Chicagoland for the Heartland Fall Forum, on a tour of Sourcebooks headquarters in Naperville, Ill. What right do we have to be gatekeepers? Because I have taste, because I am educated? What drives me personally is selling a broad base of books. Whatever that book may happen to be, whatever that audience may happen to be. Being able to be broad-based like that has allowed us to grow; it has allowed me to grow.

Although Stocke was hired as an editor, acquiring and shepherding manuscripts through the publishing process, he also wrote press releases, ran sales conferences, and was second on the telephone-answering chain. But Sourcebooks has changed in the past 23 years, and so has Stocke. He edits or acquires almost nothing these days, he said, because the company Raccah founded 30 years ago currently employs 130 people, including 22 acquisitions editors. He remains closely involved in shaping the list and positioning titles. This, he noted, includes working with editors to build the internal momentum on a project that causes a publisher to do something different than it might otherwise do in terms of positioning a book in the marketplace.

Part of my job is to help us to be fearless, Stocke said. To help us move into new spaces that maybe we didnt expect. After all, he added, Sourcebooks produced e-books years before the advent of the Kindle and broke new ground by publishing book and audio CD packages under its MediaFusion imprint. After releasing the multimedia title Poetry Speaks to Children in 2005, Sourcebooks launched its childrens imprint, Jabberwocky, and, in 2010, Sourcebooks Fire, a YA fiction imprint.

In August 2018, Sourcebooks will release its first graphic novel, Illegal by Eoin Coifer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano, for middle grade readers. It is also moving into YA nonfiction, and, on the adult side, expanding into mystery.

Sorting through a stack of papers on his desk, Stocke said that gathering information is essential to making any decision, from acquisitions to marketing strategies: Its not the case that our editors merely have terrific taste and know what will work and what wont. They have terrific taste, but they also have information, and they work hard to get outside of their own heads. If youre publishing only to your own demographic, there are places for that. But thats not Sourcebooks. Thats not what we do here.

The publishers job is to try to find the broadest audience possible, Stocke continued, It doesnt mean the work has to be for everyone. It is our job to make it available to as many people as could be interested. That is what I do all day.

Given Stockes background, its no surprise that he identifies with booksellers: armed with a B.A. in English from Illinois Wesleyan University and, he said, no plan, the Duluth, Minn., native nabbed a four-month internship at Coffee House Press in 1993, which he supplemented by working part-time at B. Daltons in downtown Minneapolis. He discovered an affinity for bookselling at Dalton; he liked finding things for customers who could provide little information about what they were looking for.

After completing the internship, Stocke returned to Illinois to join his girlfriend, now wife, who had landed a job in the Chicago suburbs. He quickly found a job at the Oakbrook Terrace Barnes & Noble and was promoted to head cashier. He left B&N seven months later after Sourcebooks creative director (employee #2) came into the store and asked him to post a flyer advertising a job opening. Stocke posted the flyerafter calling the number listed and scheduling an interview.

Reflecting upon his career, Stocke maintains that there is one constant amid the enormous changes that have taken place in the industry: publishers connect authors and readers. If were not involved in the creative process, then we dont belong, he said. If were merely a bank and a printer, then we dont belong. We do the hard work, we do the creative work; thats how were integral to the process. And all of us [publishers] should be thinking about that.

Age: 46

Education: B.A. in English and minor in history, Illinois Wesleyan University

Recent favorite reads: Sting-Ray Afternoons by Steve Rushin (a memoir set three houses from where Stocke grew up) and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Founded in the U.K. in 2010 by Christopher Lloyd, a former journalist and educational publisher, What on Earth is a nonfiction childrens publishing house specializing in a hybrid format: the wallbookan accordion-fold, heavily illustrated reference work that can also be converted into a lively information-laden poster. What on Earths titles are grade leveled and based around a timeline of facts, events, and historical figures. The books are richly illustrated by Andy Forshaw in a quirky cartoon style and are packed with information and detailed factoids.

In book form, What on Earths offerings are lively and fun, but its their unique ability to be converted into eye-catching six-foot-long laminated posters that really make them stand out from other reference works. In addition to the poster, each title includes a Wallbook Chronicle, a faux newspaper section featuring stories about historical events and personalities. The company also publishes the same titles in posterbook form, standalone 10-foot-long versions of the laminated posters priced at $49.99 each.

What on Earth entered the U.S. in 2017 in a distribution deal with Ingram Publisher Services. Four What on Earth wallbooks are available in the U.S.: The Shakespeare Timeline Wallbook, originally produced for the U.K. market, and three wallbooks ($19.99 each, or together in a collected edition for $49.99) on nature, science, and history produced for the U.S. market in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History. In a similar vein, the company is working in partnership with the Smithsonian to develop a new line of museum-branded wallbooks.

With annual sales of about $1 million, What on Earth is profitable, Lloyd said. As part of its ongoing expansion into the U.S., What on Earth is also developing a line of wallbooks focused on the 50 states. In partnership with the state of Illinois, What on Earth will release The Illinois Chronicles on Lincolns birthday next February to mark the states bicentennial celebration. The book will present a timeline of Illinois state history, this time using photographs rather than illustrations. The book is being produced in conjunction with the Lincoln Library, and the partnership will put two titles each in 5,000 schools throughout the state, free of charge, along with one 10-foot posterbook at each school plus a teachers guide. Based on the response to the Illinois title, Lloyd said he hopes to eventually produce similar books for the other 49 states.

Lloyd said his publishing philosophy is based on the notion of personalized learning, the understanding that you can teach anything by using whatever topic a kid is interested in.

The companys offerings are overloaded with text and quirky details designed to appeal to kids. We try to create an environment designed to capture a kids curiosity at home or at school, Lloyd said. We do it visually. Our wallbooks are detailed and expansive. Adults think theyre too much, but we dont give a damn. We believe kids love detail. We dont dumb things down.
Three of four large trade houses that reported results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2017, said that sales and earnings in the period were higher than in the same period last year.

The strongest sales performance was turned in by Houghton Mifflin Harcourts trade division, where sales were up 11.8%, though earnings were up a more modest 1.5%. The gain at HMH was due to sales of frontlist and backlist print titles, such as The Polar Express, the Little Blue Truck series, and It Takes Two, and strong e-book sales, led by The Handmaids Tale.

At HarperCollins, digital revenue was 6% higher in the quarter than in the third quarter last year, driven by sales of downloadable audio. Overall digital sales accounted for 21% of consumer revenue in the quarter, up from 20% a year ago. Total sales at HC increased 3.1% in the quarter, to $401 million. In addition to strong downloadable audio sales, HC continued to benefit from solid sales of Hillbilly Elegy and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, as well as of frontlist books including House of Spies and The Good Daughter. Earnings were up 4.1%.

Simon & Schuster followed a familiar pattern, posting sales and earnings increases from the third quarter of 2016. Overall, S&S reported that sales rose 1%, to $228 million, in the quarter, and operating income increased 4.5%, to $46 million. According to S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy, sales of downloadable audio rose about 37%, sales of print books posted gains, and e-book sales fell again. Contributing to the improved results was a good performance by the publishers international group: Hillary Clintons What Happened had solid sales in Canada, Ireland, and the U.K., Reidy said, and the international division also benefited from foreign sales of Rupi Kaurs new book, The Sun and Her Flowers.

The only one of the four major publishers reporting results in November that saw a sales decline in the third quarter was Hachette Book Group USA, for which revenue fell 2.8% from the same period in 2016. Parent company Lagardere attributed the decline to strong sales last year of new releases such as Two by Two and Woman of God. Lagardere added that the Perseus publishing properties, which were acquired in March 2016, had a solid quarter.

In a statement, HBG CEO Michael Piestsch said that, despite the sales dip in the third quarter, the companys revenues through the first nine months of 2017 were ahead of the same period in 2016. He cited growth in downloadable audio sales and a strong performance from the companys distribution side as high points.

For Lagarderes publishing subsidiaries overall, sales fell 4.3% compared to the third quarter of 2016, to 646 million. The drop was mainly due to a sales decline in the U.K., which had a huge hit in last years third quarter with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Despite the third-quarter sales slip, total Lagardere publishing revenue was up 1.2%, to 1.66 billion, for the first nine months of the year over 2016. Sales in the U.S. were ahead 2.2%.

The third-quarter gains at the other houses were not an aberration. HMH trade revenue for the first nine months of 2017 was up 12.1% from the same period last year and earnings were $8.9 million, up from $3.1 million a year ago. S&S results were also up through the first nine months of the year. Sales in the period increased 6.6% over the same period last year, to $595 million, and operating income grew 6%, to $88 million. Reidy is optimistic S&S will finish 2017 on a strong note and predicted that sales for the publishereven excluding Adams, which it bought late in 2016will be greater than in 2016.

Executives at HC parent company News Corp said trends in book publishing remain favorable. They pointed to strong starts in the new quarter for several titles and also expect modest contributions at HC from digital.

Third Quarter, 20162017 ($ in millions)
Consent? Safer sex? These issues tend to be less relevant in the world of queer romance, says Ruth Sternglantz, editorial consultant at Bold Strokes.

With that in mind, PW spoke with Sternglantz, Riptide editorial director Sarah Lyons, and Santino Hassell, pseudonymous author of Down by Contact (Penguin, Jan. 2018), about how LGBTQ romance fiction navigates these questions.

When were talking about consent, are there considerations that are unique to LGBTQ romance?

R.S.: Theres no tradition in lesbian romance of the trope of she said no but she meant yes. Many of the tropes of heterosexual romance translate really nicely to lesbian romance, but not that one. And I am very happy about thisIm proud that the romance fiction depicting the fantasies of people in my community doesnt include rape.

There are definitely books where [there are] questions of power in relationships, or BDSM tropes, but consent is always negotiated. In fact, one of the first books that [veteran author and Bold Strokes founder] Radclyffe published, a book called Shadowland (2005), is set in a leather club, and the villain of the piece is a top who drugs women and takes away their consent. The neutralization of this character is one of the major subplots.

S.H.: People assume that two men dont really need consent or give consent like that. Or that two alpha males would think that coercion and pressure is sexy. I dont really agree with that.

Thats something thats always bothered me since my days in slash and fan fic: I would see people say, If this was male-female this would enrage me, but why is it only enraging if its a male and a female?

What about safer sex?

R.S.: Lets be honest. Most of the way safer sex is addressed in romance is around prevention of pregnancy and transmission of HIV. In lesbian romance, you very, very rarely see any mention of something like gloving up or dental dams. Because in lesbian encounters there is no fear of unintentional pregnancy, that issue is not negotiated. In a loving context in gay fiction, condoms are routine. Routine and explicit.

S.L: The issue is risk, and the issue is consent. I remember one romance in particular where one of the characters was HIV-positive and the other character didnt know. The HIV-positive character let the other [perform unprotected oral sex] without having told him that he was HIV-positive. That created a great deal of debate among the editorial staff as to whether that was acceptable. Yes, if the virus is undetectable, thats no more risk than doing that with a stranger who claims hes HIV-negative, but its an issue of the guy consenting to take the risk for himself.

Do you see a lot of feedback between queer romance and heterosexual romance?

S.L.: The trends from hetero romance take about a year to 18 months to hit M/M romance. Were just starting to see the trends of dark romance.

The websites Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Dear Author, Happily Ever Aftertheyre reviewing more queer romance, but I dont think the conversations have much crossover. I think individual romances will start conversations, but if a book doesnt hit the collective consciousness, I dont know.

R.S.: I do think, maybe, that the rapidity with which the gay community embraced the routine use of condoms in loving relationships in fiction may [have influenced heterosexual romance]. But I dont think that mainstream heterosexual romance publishers looked at lesbian romance and said, Oh, my god, no ones raping these women. That is such a cool idea!

Return to the main feature.
INDIANAPOLIS and WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute on Wednesday (Nov. 8) announced it has licensed two Purdue University life sciences technologies through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization.

These are the first technologies licensed under the memorandum of understanding between IBRI and four of Indianas research universities, which allows technologies to be licensed at pre-defined terms.

The agreement enables the IBRI more rapid access to available technologies that can be combined with its own research to create synergies and help commercialize technologies more quickly.

It is particularly gratifying that the IBRI is looking first to the potential of Indiana inventions from the states own research universities for its initial development projects, said Dan Hasler, chief entrepreneurial officer of the Purdue Research Foundation. We are excited to see the vision of our statewide agreement begin to bear fruit, accelerating the licensing timeline to help expedite IBRIs research and potential commercialization to improve the lives of patients and those Hoosiers who will earn a livelihood making it available.

The technologies the IBRI has licensed include a mass spectrometry technology and a high-sensitivity detection technology for single cell analysis developed at Purdue. They will be used in research being done by the IBRIs Single Cell Analytics Center, led by Dr. Michael Pugia.

The Single Cell Analytics Center is building next-generation bioanalytical platforms that make it possible to measure the most basic elements of cell biology. Assays on this new platform will provide access to previously inaccessible key health information. The platform also will enable faster measurement of the individual genome, proteome, and metabolome to the lowest cellular level. The SCAC supports research in converting novel biomarker discoveries into diagnostic assays and, ultimately, new products.

These are just the first of what we hope will be many licensing agreements with Purdue University and other research universities in the state under this MOU, said Dr. Rainer Fischer, CEO and chief scientific and innovation officer at the IBRI. We have successfully removed one of the barriers to acquiring valuable technologies and helping speed ideas to market, and we are pleased to work with such outstanding partners as Purdue on this.

The MOU and licensing that has quickly followed is integral to IBRIs mission to bridge the gap between universities and industry.

About Indiana Biosciences Research Institute

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute is an independent, nonprofit discovery science and applied research institute currently focused on innovation targeting cardio-metabolic diseases, diabetes and poor nutrition. Inspired by the state and Indianas leading life sciences companies, research universities and philanthropic community, the IBRI is building a world-class organization of researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs who will catalyze scientific discovery and its application, resulting in improved health outcomes for patients. For more information about the IBRI and donation or collaboration opportunities, please visit www.indianabiosciences.org.

About Purdue University

Purdue University, a top public research institution, offers higher education at its highest proven value. Committed to affordability, the university has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels. Purdue has about 40,000 students at its West Lafayette campus and is ranked 21st among public universities by U.S. News and World Report. With 24 alumni who became astronauts, including the first and last person on the moon, Purdue is called the Cradle of Astronauts. Committed to pursuing scientific discoveries and engineered solutions, Purdue has streamlined pathways for faculty and student innovators who have a vision for moving the world forward.

Media contacts:
The ballistic missile that was intercepted near Riyadh recently bears Iranian markings, said Jeffrey Harrigian, commander for southwest Asia at the U.S. Air Forces Central Command.

He added that Iran provided the capabilities for the missile, which was fired from Yemen by Shia Houthi militias.

What we have seen, clearly from the results of the ballistic missile attacks, that there have been Iranian markings on those missiles, thats been demonstrated, Harrigian said.

To me that connects the dots to Iran in terms of whos providing those missiles and that capability.

The missile was shot down on Nov. 4 near Riyadhs international airport. Saudi investigators examining the remains of the rocket found evidence proving the role of the Iranian regime in manufacturing them.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said in a statement on Tuesday that a missile launch in July involved an Iranian Qiam-1, a liquid-fueled, short-range Scud missile variant.

Early this month, Saudi air defense forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen over the capital Riyadh, the state news agency had reported. The missile was brought down near King Khaled Airport on the northern outskirts of the city and did not cause casualties, the reports said.
Thanksgiving travel: What to expect at the Indianapolis airport

Thanksgiving at the Indianapolis International Airport will be defined by inflated prices, nearly pre-pandemic crowds and competitive seat booking.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned against using Lebanon for proxy conflicts in the wake of an unfolding crisis triggered by the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri as Saudi Arabia and Iran trade accusations over the country.

There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state, Tillerson said in a statement.

The United States strongly supports the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Lebanon and of its political institutions, he added.

Tillerson encouraged the Prime Minister to return to Lebanon and clarify the situation so the government could function, expressing concern about how the crisis might affect the stability of the fragile coalition.

Saudi Arabia has been looking with frustration at the fact that its ally Hariri, Lebanons Sunni leader, has been sharing power with Hezbollah in his one-year government. Hariris critics said he has effectively provided a cover for Hezbollah influence to grow.

Earlier this week, the Saudi minister of gulf affairs said that, if the Lebanese government continued to give Hezbollah a role, it would be considered a government that had declared war on the kingdom. On Thursday, Riyadh issued a travel warning calling on all its nationals to leave Lebanon.
The blast in NATO-member Poland that killed two people was likely caused by a Ukrainian air-defense missile but it was Russia that was ultimately responsible because it started the war, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg has told a news conference in Brussels.

The Polish Foreign Ministry said a Russian-made missile fell on November 15 on the village of Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland about 6 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, killing two people and raising global alarm that the Ukraine war could spill into neighboring countries.



"Our preliminary analysis suggests that the incident was likely caused by a Ukrainian air-defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks," Stoltenberg told a news conference after an emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors on November 16.



"An investigation into this incident is ongoing and we need to await its outcome. But we have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack," Stoltenberg said.



"But let me be clear. This is not Ukraine's fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine," he added.



Stoltenberg said the incident proved the risks of the war in Ukraine but added that there was no indication Russia was preparing offensive military actions against NATO allies.



The preliminary findings came after U.S. President Joe Biden, citing information about the trajectory of the projectile, said November 16 that it was "unlikely" that Russia fired the missile before adding, "I'm going to make sure we find out exactly what happened."

Poland, meanwhile, signaled it may in the end not invoke NATO's Article 4, which provides for consultations among allies in the face of a security threat, since the blast was likely caused by a Ukrainian air-defense missile and not by Russia.



"From the information that we and our allies have, it was an S-300 rocket made in the Soviet Union, an old rocket, and there is no evidence that it was launched by the Russian side," Polish President Andrzej Duda said. "It is highly probable that it was fired by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense."

WATCH: Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine on November 15, hitting energy infrastructure facilities in regions across the country and plunging Kyiv and other cities into darkness.

The incident occurred during what Kyiv said was Russia's most intensive wave of missile attacks on cities across Ukraine since the start of the war in February.



Ukraine says it shot down most of the incoming Russian missiles with its own air-defense missiles. Ukraine's Volyn region, just across the border from Poland, was one of the many Ukraine says was targeted by Russia's attacks.

Russia has denied its missiles hit Polish territory, saying the reports were "a deliberate provocation" to escalate the situation.

Biden, speaking after convening emergency talks with leaders of Western allies in Indonesia on the sidelines of a G20 summit, pledged support for Poland's investigation into what it had called a "Russian-made" missile.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Biden stressed that investigations into the incident were still ongoing, but said there was "total unanimity" among world leaders in supporting Poland in its efforts to establish the circumstance of the incident.



"It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we'll see."

The Kremlin on November 16 hailed Washington's "measured" response to the incident.



"In this instance, attention should be paid to the measured and more professional response from the American side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.



Peskov said that, as opposed to the U.S. response, a number of countries had made "baseless statements" about Russia's involvement "without having any idea of what had happened."



"We have witnessed another hysterical, frenzied Russophobic reaction, which was not based on any real data," Peskov told reporters.



The Russian Defense Ministry said on November 16 that its strikes on Ukraine on the previous day were no closer than 35 kilometers from the Polish border, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Biden spoke by phone with Duda, offering "full U.S. support for and assistance with Poland's investigation," the White House said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron -- all leaders of NATO member states -- voiced solidarity with Poland.

The incident came as Russia unleashed one of the heaviest missile attacks since the start of the war on sites across Ukraine aimed at crippling the country's energy infrastructure.Ukrainian officials said that more than 90 missiles were fired in the attacks.

Biden on November 16 called those attacks "barbaric," and Zelenskiy described them as a "slap in the face" for the G20 summit.



The summit has been dominated by the Ukraine war, with members struggling to find common ground on Russia's unprovoked invasion of its neighbor.



In a joint statement issued November 16, leaders came together to condemn the war's effects but remained divided on assigning blame.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and BBC
Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking Chinas resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. Im RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish.

Before we get started, a few announcements: The newsletter is now biweekly, rather than going out only on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. To subscribe, click here.

And I will also be launching Talking China In Eurasia, a new podcast. Im joined by the Royal United Services Institutes Raffaello Pantucci to talk about Xi and Putin. Listen to the first episode here or below.

Xi Gets Pragmatic About Russia At The G20

It was light on optimism, but U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping injected a healthy dose of pragmatism back into the U.S.-China relationship with their meeting in Bali at a time when global anxiety is rising over Russias war against Ukraine.

Finding Perspective: The meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit was far from a breakthrough, but it did repair some damage from the recent backslide in relations between both countries and send some signals that the world isnt necessarily destined for Cold War 2.0.

The more than three-hour talks saw some blunt exchanges over contentious issues like Taiwan and North Korea, but the two leaders also pledged more frequent communications and decided that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing for follow-up talks in 2023.

Of particular note, Biden raised Russias invasion of Ukraine and threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons. Both leaders reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought, according to a White House readout.

While far from a sea change for Chinese policy, thats notable. The credibility of Beijings claims to be neutral on the Ukraine war continue to come under scrutiny, and China has shown discomfort of late with the Kremlins nuclear saber-rattling.

Xi made similar comments after a November 4 summit with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and during another G20 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the French readout.

Why It Matters: Xi is not abandoning Putin, but this marks the latest shift for Beijings balancing act over Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Four Chinese officials briefed on the February 4 meeting between Xi and Putin, where they declared a no-limits partnership, told the Financial Times that Putin didnt tell Xi the truth about the invasion and that Beijing was caught off guard by it.

What Xi knew about Putins war plans has been a topic of debate, and there is evidence to support both the idea that Xi was aware and that he was caught off guard.

Many analysts are of the opinion that Xi knew about Putin's decision to invade but expected a quick victory, which perhaps was what Putin believed at the time.

Others point to a steady stream of dismissals from Chinese officials and experts about the likelihood of an invasion in February and the fact that Beijing did not evacuate its citizens from Ukraine  like Western nations did  as evidence that China was not expecting a war.

China certainly has its own interests in keeping a distance from Moscows war and using that space to do some upkeep with the West. But perhaps the most important point here is that even if Putin did blindside Xi, China has stuck with Russia despite its battlefield failures, political isolation, and the atrocities its troops are accused of committing.

Again, this is pragmatism more than anything else. As Chinese experts often say, even if Russia is looking unattractive these days, why would Beijing abandon its main anti-Western partner as China continues to be in the crosshairs of rising American pressure?

Read More

 Want to hear more about Russia and Chinas complex relationship amid the Ukraine war? Then tune in to the debut of Talking China In Eurasia today at 2 p.m. CET/ 8 a.m. EST. You can listen live here and find the episode on RFE/RLs website and wherever you listen to your podcasts.

 Condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine and its global fallout is shaping up to be the key theme of the G20, with the Financial Times reporting that a joint communique from the summit takes aim at Moscow.

Expert Corner: The Future Of The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Readers asked: Did Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifs recent trip to Beijing breathe new life into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)? How do Islamabad and Beijing really feel about the project after all these years?

To find out more, I asked Filippo Boni, an expert on China-Pakistan relations at the Open University in Britain:

Shehbaz Sharif's visit to China was high on symbolism and relatively low on substance. While the two sides were keen to reaffirm and emphasize the strength of their strategic partnership, no significant new commitment was made. Apart from a few memorandums of understanding and attempts from the Pakistanis in the run-up to the trip to address some of CPECs issues  including payments to Chinese independent power producers  nothing major came from the visit. This is despite Sharif's attempts at revitalizing CPEC since April and the very close ties he enjoys with the Chinese leadership.

The outcome of this visit is not entirely surprising, especially if interpreted against the backdrop of Pakistan's current domestic predicaments. The security situation for Chinese nationals has deteriorated, the economy is struggling, and political instability is at one of its highest points in recent years. All these dynamics, coupled with the global scaling down of Belt and Road Initiative financing, have likely impacted Beijing's lack of commitment to new projects.

After almost 10 years and $25 billion worth of projects, there seems to be a general consensus on both sides that the first phase of CPEC  the one focused primarily on energy projects  was largely successful. The same cannot be said for the second phase, including the slow progress on the development of Special Economic Zones, and for the port of Gwadar, where little progress has been made for the ports full commercial functioning.

Do you have a question about Chinas growing footprint in Eurasia? Send it to me at StandishR@rferl.org or reply directly to this e-mail and Ill get it answered by leading experts and policymakers.

Three More Stories From Eurasia

1. 'Sweep It Under The Rug'

Recent allegations of China operating 54 overseas police stations have fueled controversy around the world and sparked investigations, but in Hungary and Serbia the new findings are being met with swift denials by authorities, despite growing evidence.

The Details: My colleagues Akos Keller-Alant from RFE/RLs Hungarian Service, Mila Durdevic from RFE/RLs Balkan Service, and I reported on the fallout from these revelations and the slew of probes launched in many European countries recently.

The stations are overseas operations of the public security bureaus from two Chinese provinces and are used to persuade citizens to return to China, including through pressure on family members at home. While most of those involved appear to be suspected of crimes such as telecommunications fraud or corruption, dissidents have also reported that the stations have been used to monitor and threaten them.

Fourteen governments have already launched investigations into the overseas police stations, and the Dutch and Irish governments have ordered China to shut down the facilities in their countries.

But in Hungary and Serbia  two countries where Beijing is said to operate such facilities and whose governments prize their warming political and economic ties with China  officials appear to be trying to sweep it under the rug, as one analyst characterized it, despite growing scrutiny from opposition lawmakers in each country.

2. Global Ripples Hit Central Asia

Political and economic shocks from Moscows war in Ukraine, coupled with added strains from tensions between Beijing and Washington, are taking their toll around the world, especially in Central Asia, where countries in the region are closely tied to both China and Russia.

What It Means: As RFE/RLs Uzbek Service reported, Vladimir Norov, the countrys foreign minister, warned about geopolitical tensions affecting stability in the region and beyond while addressing his counterparts at an Organization of Turkic States meeting in Samarkand.

The breakdown in global cooperation is felt particularly strong in Central Asia. While some economies have been able to benefit by becoming a new home for businesses and capital relocated from Russia, others are seeing investment dry up and their economies coming under strain.

World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde recently warned that Uzbekistan needs to continue with its market reforms in order to withstand the global economic shocks that are to come.

RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service also reported that the countrys government is trying to court more investment but that questions remain from investors about Kyrgyzstans stability and investment climate. According to official statistics from January to June of this year, China is the leading source of foreign investment, with $129 million during that span.

3. The Tech In Moscows Iranian Drones

A new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, looked into electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 drone, which Russia has used in its war in Ukraine, and found that theyre far from homegrown.

What You Need To Know: The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

The investigation also found drone components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm.

The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.

The international tech in the drone not only highlights the complex ecosystem that allows firms and buyers to circumvent sanctions slapped on both Iran and Russia, but also the close networks between Chinese and Western tech companies that still exist, despite a recent push to break some of those linkages.

Across The Supercontinent

On The Mainland: The watchdog group Freedom House recently launched a new project called the China Dissent Monitor, which tracks protests and other forms of dissent inside China. Read it here.

Censored: Chinese authorities behind a major trade expo in Shanghai pulled an opening ceremony address by European Council President Charles Michel that was set to criticize Russia's illegal war in Ukraine and call for reduced European dependency on China, Reuters reported.

Backtracking: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has softened his countrys stance toward China, moving away from his predecessor Liz Trusss decision to label it a threat.

One Thing To Watch

How long will Chinas stringent COVID policies stay in place?

New infections are rising as a winter wave hits and popular frustration continues to boil over inside the country as investor confidence stays dented over the measures. New footage also showed crowds of residents in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou escaping a compulsory lockdown and clashing with police.

Thats all from me for now. Dont forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.

Until next time,

Reid Standish

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your in-box on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
The Israeli military fired a Patriot missile on November 11 to shoot down a Russian-made spy drone over the Golan Heights on November 11, the army said.

"It is apparently Russian-manufactured and belongs to the Syrian regime," military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.

"It was a reconnaissance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and not an attack UAV and we are checking whether there is any connection to Iran and Hizballah," Conricus said.

The Israeli military did not provide any immediate evidence that the drone was Russian-made or belonged to Syria.



The Patriot is a U.S.-made surface-to-air missile system.

Israel took control of the Golan Heights in a 1967 war. Syria demands its return.

There have been a number of missiles that landed inside Israeli-controlled areas during the Syrian civil war.

Israel has launched strikes inside Syrian territory in response.

Based on reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AFP
The journalism watchdog group Reporters Without Borders has called on the European Union to press for greater media freedom as it forges closer economic ties with nations in Central Asia.

"Despite the pluralism of Kyrgyz media, which appears exceptional in the region, the situation of media freedom is bleak overall in Central Asia," Christophe Deloire, the group's secretary-general, said in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who attended a meeting with Central Asian foreign ministers in Samarkand on November 10.

"Year after year, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan are all ranked near the bottom of RSFs World Press Freedom Index, and authoritarian tendencies are on the rise," he said.

"News website blocking and Russian-inspired laws to curtail free expression are spreading, while journalists are often subject to torture and unlawful imprisonment," he said.

In Turmenistan, "the state maintains full control over the media and the Internet" and "persecution of the few remaining independent journalists has intensified," he said.

In Uzbekistan, "at least five journalists continue to be detained despite recent signs of openness and the release of several prominent detainees," Deloire said.

In Kazakhstan, "the main opposition national newspapers were all banned in 2013" and "the remaining few are collapsing under the impact of fines... Journalists are often arrested and the Internet is now closely controlled," he said.

Meanwhile, "the press freedom situation has deteriorated dramatically" in Tajikistan, with "the closure of several independent media outlets and the adoption of a decree reinforcing state control over...broadcast media," he said.

Although the situation in Kyrgystan is "better" than elsewhere, Deloire said, media there are facing increased challenges, including costly defamation lawsuits and self-censorship on sensitive issues like ethnic relations.

"Fostering greater respect for media freedom will help to increase the effectiveness of the EUs cooperation with Central Asian countries in the areas of security and the economy," Deloire said.


Bridges are meant to connect people, but the one over the Ibar River in Kosovo has long been a tool of separation, used by ethnic Serbs to maintain isolation from the Albanian majority in southern Mitrovica.

Parapets and barricades had impeded access to the other side since 1999. Now, as the bridge becomes passable once again, Russia appears to be stepping in to preserve the physical and political divide it symbolized in its ruinous state.

Russian influence is visible at every turn in North Mitrovica. Russian flags hang over balconies, while portraits of Vladimir Putin and graffiti honoring the Serbian-Russian alliance are everywhere.

The political leadership of the Kosovo Serbs boasted of having been summoned to Moscow for "consultations" prior to recent local elections (October 22), claiming to have forged closer ties with United Russia. It seems that Moscow is now the destination of choice for Serbian politicians facing elections or in the process of forming a government -- whether in Serbia or in Kosovo.

For Russia, northern Kosovo is useful because it allows Moscow to appear as the protector of its Balkan Slavic cousins with little effort, almost by default. The fact that since 2013 Serbia has been engaged in dialogue with the Kosovar government under EU auspices is seen as betrayal by Kosovo Serbs because it destroys the illusion that Mitrovica is still somehow a part of Serbia. Feeling abandoned, many Serbs in northern Kosovo instinctively looked to Russia. When the high-level talks between Belgrade and Pristina began, local Serbs demanded Russian citizenship -- which was of course unrealistic, but reveals the depth of their disappointment.

RFE/RL spoke with ordinary people on the streets of Mitrovica, and the pro-Moscow feelings were unanimous. A typical comment was that of pensioner Jova Jovanovic: "The Russians have been our friends for centuries. Whoever has a problem with the Russians is an enemy of the Serbian people."

Another person interviewed, Bosanka Prodanovic, also expressed admiration for Russia and added: "We have no idea what kind of agreements they are making in Brussels. But we have confidence in Putin."

The reconstruction of the Ibar Bridge was part of the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina guaranteeing "freedom of movement" for both ethnic groups. The reconstruction project is estimated to cost 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million) and is being financed by the EU.

Yet, like so many agreements brokered by Brussels, it has been subject to delays and obstruction. Europe is doing its best to nudge ethnic Serbian communities toward integration with the rest of Kosovo, while Russia supports those who continue to insist that Kosovo is a part of Serbia.

"Kosovo is also effectively used by Russia to highlight the hypocrisy of the West's commitment to preserving states' territorial integrity in some cases while supporting the principle of self-determination in others. This has served to both discredit the West as well as justify Russia's own foreign policy actions in Georgia and Ukraine, with Russia citing Kosovo as precedent," the Center for Strategic and International Studies writes in its study on The Kremlin Playbook.

Nevertheless, the bridge over the Ibar River that has been the scene of so many incidents and violent clashes is now open in both directions, albeit so far only for pedestrians. Italian Carabinieri who are part of the KFOR peacekeeping mission are still posted on the bridge, but the tensions are lower than they have been for a long time.

Faruk Ahmeti, a Kosovo Albanian who lives in Bosnjacka Mahala, at the entrance of North Mitrovica, told RFE/RL's Pristina bureau that crossing from one part of the town to the other is easy, but that some apprehension remains.

"I am still anxious, because I work in the southern sector, and my family lives in the north, and I am constantly wondering if they are safe."

Besides freedom of movement there are signs of progress elsewhere, but it is slow, and many obstacles remain. It is estimated that around half of the inhabitants of the four ethnically Serbian municipalities in the northern sector have Kosovo ID cards, but only 3 percent have Kosovo driver's licenses -- even though Serbian documents are not accepted as valid by the Kosovar authorities.

According to RFE/RL reports, the problem is not only that the majority of ethnic Serbs refuse to identify with Kosovo as their country, but that even those who do try to obtain a Kosovo ID or passport find that the process is made unnecessarily difficult by the local bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, those who stubbornly refuse to make any compromise with the reality of living in the state of Kosovo have put their faith in Putin's Russia, even more than Serbia. It is Putin's face smiling down on passersby from a giant billboard in Mitrovica's main square.

Russian meddling is no surprise for Daniel Serwer, senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

"Russia will use any opening to try to make trouble in the Balkans, where doing so is cheap and productive. If Moscow can wreck the progress made in the dialogue, all the better from its perspective," Serwer told RFE/RL.

Naim Rashiti of Balkans Policy Research Group feels that Russia is keen on sabotaging any project where the West is actively involved, and Kosovo is no exception in this sense -- although it is seen as particularly fertile ground for disruption.

The Russian state-supported media outlet Sputnik habitually refers to Kosovo as "the West's most expensive project."

"It is in their interest to keep tensions high in the Western Balkans in order to divert Euro-Atlantic integrations of the countries in the region," Rashiti says. In Kosovo, the goal of Russian interference is "to impede reconciliation [between Serbs and Albanians] and to prevent the integration of northern Kosovo."

According to a recently published paper on Russian interference by the Kosovo Center for Security Studies (KCSS), the country's biggest challenge will be finding a way to prevent the Association of Serb Municipalities in Northern Kosovo from becoming Russian government proxies in the manner of Republika Srpska in Bosnia.

The official opening of the bridge over the Ibar River was scheduled for March, and EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini was due to attend. With the bridge only partly functional and the opening postponed again, she said that it is "a symbol of the fractures, the wars, and the pain that has marked the history of the Balkans in the last 25 years."

But she added that it could become "a symbol of dialogue, reconciliation, hope." The barricades and walls on the Ibar Bridge may be gone, but it will take longer for the walls in people's minds to come down.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
The Highest Court in France, the Court of Cassation, rejected on Friday an appeal to annul audio recordings implicating two French journalists, Eric Laurent and Catherine Graciet, who are being prosecuted for attempted extortion and blackmail against Morocco.

The Cassation Court has acknowledged in a ruling that cannot be appealed the validity of two recordings, presented by Moroccos attorney as a proof of the involvement of the two French journalists in the case of extortion and blackmail against Morocco.

The defendants lawyers had submitted the petition to consider the audio recordings inadmissible, arguing that they were illegal and undermined the principles of a fair trial and fairness of evidence.

The French Court of Cassations ruling, issued Friday (November 10) at the end of a plenary hearing, declared that these two recordings had been made by an emissary of Rabat without the actual implication of the French investigators, allowing therefore to conclude to the loyalty of the proof.

This ruling upholds the counter-plea presented by the Lawyer representing Morocco, who insisted that all the evidence against the blackmailers was obtained in a legal manner and in coordination with French authorities.

In the summer of 2015, the two French journalists had threatened to publish a supposedly compromising book on King Mohammed VI and his country, in exchange of money. They had set the amount at 3 million.

Moroccos attorney met the two journalists for three times in Paris, and during the third and last meeting held in a Restaurant on August 27, the two French journalists signed a notarized document, reportedly handwritten by Catherine Graciet. They commit, in the document, not to write or publish anything on the Kingdom of Morocco, to never speak publicly on this country, either directly, indirectly or through intermediaries, and to never share, in any way, the documents and information in their possession with anyone.

During the same meeting, they received an advance of 40,000 each as down-payment for the 2 million they had finally agreed upon. What they did not know, is that the French police was supervising the meeting, taking pictures and recording all its details.

So, when they were leaving the restaurant, they were handcuffed with the money they had received and the document they had signed in their pockets, in addition to the recordings of their negotiations. They were referred to court.

The Moroccan sides lawyer, Patrice Spinosi, expressed satisfaction at the Friday ruling that he described, in a statement to the media, as a very great victory for the Kingdom.

There is no longer any obstacle to the prosecution of the two journalists, a prosecution that will undoubtedly lead to their condemnation for their attempt to blackmail the king of Morocco, he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on November 11 that an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Syria would save many lives after the two met at a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, while the Russian leader called the statement "extraordinarily important."

"We agreed very quickly," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the resort city of Danang to Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. "It's going to save tremendous numbers of lives," he said of the agreement announced by the Kremlin in a joint statement on its website.

Separately, Putin told journalists at the end of the summit that the joint statement "is extraordinarily important" and confirms the principles of the antiterrorism fight.

The joint statement said that Trump and Putin had agreed on the sidelines of the APEC summit that a political solution was needed on Syria and that they would continue efforts to fight the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Russia and the United States agree there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict, the joint statement said.

Putin and Trump reaffirmed their commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active role in the Geneva political process, it said.

Several rounds of UN-sponsored talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and the opposition have so far failed to bring an end to the civil war which killed more than 320,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in March 2011.

Although the White House had said no official meeting was planned, Trump and Putin also shook hands at a dinner on November 10.

"We spoke intermittently during that roundtable. We seem to have a very good feeling for each other and a good relationship considering we don't know each other well," Trump said, adding that he and Putin had two or three very short verbal exchanges.

The Kremlin said earlier that the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson especially for the meeting in Danang.

Trump said Putin had reiterated that he did not meddle in last year's U.S. presidential election, which brought Trump to the White House.

Trump said a good relationship with Russia was important.

"In fact it would be a great thing...because he could really help us in North Korea. We have a big problem with North Korea and China is helping us," Trump said. "If Russia helped us in addition to China that problem would go away a lot faster."

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping was a good man who "wants to do right," but he wanted Xi to ratchet up more pressure on North Korea.



After emphasizing during last year's U.S. presidential campaign that it would be positive if the United States and Russia could work together on world problems, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office.

Trump publicly sitting down with Putin also brings back to attention the issue of Russian meddling in last year's election, which remains under investigation.

Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the probe along with his former deputy, Rick Gates.

Speaking to journalists on the plane on November 11, Trump said Putin told him that he didn't interfere in the U.S. elections.



"He (Putin) said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again," he said.

"You can only ask so many times.... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election."

In response to Trumps comments about the Russian meddling in the election, Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), one of the U.S. Senates harshest critics of Russia, issued a statement, saying Trumps denial of facts is troubling.

"President Trump believes a former KGB agent over 17 U.S. intelligence agencies. That is outrageous, Cardin, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement on November 11.

Meanwhile, Putin told the journalists in Danang that an alleged link between Manafort and Russia is being fabricated by Trump's opponents as a weapon against Trump. Manafort "has nothing to do with us," Putin said.

Reports that Putin's relatives were involved in contacts with the Trump administration are untrue, Putin said.

Putin also said he had a normal dialogue with Trump, describing the American president as civil, well-educated, and comfortable to deal with.

The Russian leader said a bilateral meeting with Trump did not happen because of scheduling issues on both sides and unspecified protocol issues.

Putin said there was still a need for further U.S.-Russia contacts, both at the level of heads of state and their officials, to discuss issues including security and economic development.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Pakistani authorities have blocked all roads leading to parliament and deployed riot police as thousands of angry protesters demanded the removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for allegedly making an anti-Islamic change to electoral laws.

According to Islamabad police, more than 3,400 supporters of the radical Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan party, or Movement of the Prophet's Followers, staged a sit-in over the alleged change, which Hamid said was a clerical mistake and has already been corrected.

The alleged offense involved the removal of a reference in the official electoral oath to the Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet of God -- an Islamic tenet believed by most Pakistani Muslims.

"No negotiations till Zahid Hamid is removed," Islamist leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi said as protesters chanted slogans against him. "We will die to protect the honor of the prophet," Rizvi said.

Hamid released a video message saying he is a true Muslim who believes that Muhammad is the last prophet.

But it did not mollify the protesters, who say he changed the oath to appease the Ahmadiyya sect, which defines itself as Muslim, but which was declared non-Muslim by Pakistan in 1974 because it does not recognize Muhammad as the last prophet.

The sit-in has disrupted city life due to the roadblocks. On November 9, police filed charges against Rizvi and other participants in the rally, holding them responsible for the death of an sick infant after they refused passage to an ambulance.

The government has said it wants the protesters to peacefully disperse. Authorities said they are in communication with Rizvi  who has not yet been detained over the charges  to end the sit-in.

Authorities hinted at using force over the weekend if their talks with Rizvi fail. Pakistan has also stepped up security at Ahmadi worship places.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters


More than half of all NASA astronauts, past and present, are military veterans. So it is fitting that in honor of Veterans Day, current and former astronauts have shared warm messages to all those who've served and sacrificed in the armed forces of the United States.

On Nov. 2, International Space Station Expedition 53 Commander and retired Marine Col. Randy Bresnik saluted veterans in a video message, alongside retired Marine Corps Col. and current space station flight engineer Mark Vande Hei, as well as retired Army Col., former Marine reservist and current flight engineer Joe Acaba. The three NASA astronauts asked that the sacrifices of veterans to maintain democracy always be remembered.

See more

On Nov. 10, Bresnik also wished the Marine Corps a happy 242nd anniversary via Twitter, writing, "We know that our core values of courage, honor [and] commitment are more than merely words."

See more

He and other astronauts, including former space station crewmember Jack Fischer, released special messages on social media in anticipation of Nov. 11, which marks the anniversary of the end of World War I and is now the holiday Veterans Day.

The blues and whites of planet Earth play backdrop to the Marine Corps medallion that floats in the ISS cupola during Bresnik's video message.

Out of the 375 NASA astronauts, 216 have been military veterans. (Image credit: NASA)

"I want to thank all of you and your families for their service and sacrifices to our corps and country," he said, highlighting his personal compassion for veterans. Before becoming an astronaut, Bresnik had a career in the military, beginning in May 1989 as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and later as an F/A-18 test pilot in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

At the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, U.S. Air Force Col. and Expedition 52 astronaut Jack Fischer, who returned from the space station on Sept. 2, spoke with veterans who traveled to the site. Fischer later shared an image of the event on Twitter, along with a special message.
An Orbital ATK Antares rocket stands atop Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia during an attempted launch on Nov. 11, 2017. The launch was aborted at the last minute due to a wayward plane in the mission's restricted airspace.

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.  A cargo resupply mission scheduled to launch to the International Space Station this morning (Nov. 11) was aborted at the last minute due to aircraft flying in the restricted airspace over the launch site at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility here in Wallops Island, Virginia.

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket was one minute away from liftoff when flight controllers abruptly aborted the launch at 7:36 a.m. EST (1236 GMT), when the aircraft entered the restricted area. With the five-minute launch window closed for the day, Orbital ATK rescheduled the Antares launch for no earlier than 7:14 a.m. EST (1214 GMT) on Sunday (Nov. 12). You can watch the launch live on Space.com beginning and 6:45 a.m. EST (1145 GMT) .

"The launch of Orbital ATKs Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft has scrubbed for Saturday after an aircraft was detected in the vicinity of the launch pad," NASA officials said in a statement.

See more

In a post-abort briefing at the Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center this morning, Orbital ATK officials said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that a small personal aircraft entered the restricted airspace while flying about 6 miles (10 kilometers) offshore at an altitude of approximately 500 feet (150 meters).

It is not yet clear how the aircraft managed to escape detection until the last minute before launch, Orbital ATK officials said. The FAA issues notices to aviators about airspace restrictions well in advance before rocket launches. At this time, Orbital ATK does not know who was piloting the aircraft in question, but the FAA is investigating the incident.

See more

Around 3,500 spectators had gathered at the visitor center here at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility to view the launch in freezing-cold temperatures, some arriving more than four hours in advance to secure the best viewing spots.

When flight controllers announced that today's launch would not continue, the crowd of shivering and baffled onlookers packed up their chairs and blankets and left. Young children cried as their parents had to explain why they would not get to see a launch today. While some attendees said they planned to return tomorrow for another launch attempt, others who had traveled from out of state said they could not afford the luxury of sticking around an extra day.

"A plane? Seriously? I drove six hours just to watch a plane fly over the launchpad," said Michael Vargas, my husband, who had driven to Wallops from Brooklyn, New York overnight to see what he hoped would be his first rocket launch. "I have to head back today to grade school papers, so I can't stick around to see it tomorrow. What a bummer."

Another couple from Washington, D.C., Paul and Amy, had driven down here with their middle school-aged children and told Space.com that they planned to stick around for tomorrow's launch attempt. They said that this would be their first launch since NASA's space shuttle days. For their children, this will be their first experience seeing a rocket launch.

Antares will launch a Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station to deliver more than 7,700 lbs. (3,500 kilograms) of food, supplies and science experiments to the Expedition 53 crew. If the mission had launched according to plan today, Cygnus would be arriving at the space station early Monday morning (Nov. 13). But with today's launch being scrubbed, it will arrive no earlier than Tuesday (Nov. 14).

Weather prospects for tomorrow's launch looks promising, with conditions 90 percent favorable for launch. It will also be about ten degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was this morning, so spectators returning to the launch site tomorrow can count on a less frigid and more pleasant viewing experience.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:42 a.m. EST to included a revised crowd size for the number of spectactors here at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. It was updated again at 10:50 a.m. EST with new information about the aircraft, which Orbital ATK officials discussed in a post-abort press conference.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Chahid El Hafed (Saharawi Refugee Camps), Nov 10, 2017 (SPS) - The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Brahim Gali, received on Friday at the headquarters of the presidency the Special Representative for Western Sahara and MINURSO Chief, Kim Bolduc, who is making a farewell visit to the Sahrawi authorities.

The meeting was held in the presence of the Saharawi Coordinator with MINURSO, the member of the National Secretariat of the POLISARIO, Mr. M `Hahamed Khadad, who in statements to SPS said that he has approached with the Special Representative for Western Sahara the work accomplished, recalling that the supreme objective of MINURSO continues to be the organization of a referendum for the self-determination of the Saharawi people.

The meeting also addressed the Saharawi issue at the UN level, especially with the new envoy, Mr. Koehler, who will submit a report to the Security Council after his visit to the region. SPS

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P olice have appealed for witnesses after a man was brutally beaten in Marylebone and later died.

Guzman Shannan, 49, a Swedish national, was found suffering from head injuries on Saturday, July 29. There were reports of a fight at Henrietta Place at 6.27am.

London Ambulance Services attended and took Mr Shannan to a central London hospital in a critical condition. He died on Wednesday, August 2.

A 21-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter, while two other men  both aged 21  were arrested on suspicion of murder. Both have since been released with no further action.

Image of witness police wish to identify / Metropolitan Police

Detectives have now appealed for three men who were in Sophisticats bar to come forward and speak with them.

It is believed they were in the area around the time that Mr Shannan was allegedly assaulted and they may have information that will assist officers with their investigation.

The second witness police are appealing to come forward / Metropolitan Police

Detective Constable Neil Goodwin, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "We are keen to hear from the three men who were in a bar on the night that Guzman was killed.

It is possible that they have information that will help us piece together the events of that night to establish what led to a man losing his life.

"I would urge them to contact the incident room. I would also like to hear from anyone else who has information but who is yet to speak with officers."

The third man police have released images of / Metropolitan Police

A post-mortem examination at St Georges Hospital Mortuary on Tuesday, August 8 gave cause of death as a head injury.

Any witnesses or anyone with information should contact the Homicide and Major Crime Command on their incident room number of 020 8721 4205 or if you wish to remain anonymous please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
First BTK freight train reaches Kars

The first freight train running along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway reached Kars on Nov.3.ADY Express , a subsidiary of Azerbaijan Railways, told Trend on Nov.3 that the first operation on cargo transhipment on the BTK rail line took place at the Akhalkalaki station."From Kars, the train has already left in the direction of Mersin (in the south of Turkey), this road will take about 40 hours," the company said.The train, consisting of 32 containers loaded with grain, travelled from Baku to Kars in 40 hours. The train departed from Kazakhstan Oct. 24. Its final destination will be the Turkish Mersin.The opening of the BTK railway took place in Baku Oct.30.The first train departed from the Azerbaijani port of Alat after its inauguration by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili. In order not to miss such an historic event, the leaders and high-ranking officials of a number of countries, including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan attended the solemn ceremony.The BTK railway was constructed on the basis of a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement. The railways peak capacity will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At an initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.
C rowds of animal rights activists protested outside a high-end central London clothing store amid claims coyotes and geese are mistreated to make the brands products.

Canada Goose, which makes luxury winter clothing, opened its flagship UK store on the capitals iconic Regent Street this week.

But the Canadian brand has faced global criticism for producing parka jackets with a trim made from coyote fur, which animal rights group PETA claim are caught in the wild in steel traps.

PETA alleges the coyotes are then shot or bludgeoned to death. The group also claims the geese, whose feathers are used in the companys jackets, are mistreated.

Regent Street: Canada Goose opened its first UK store in London this week. / Thomas Leys/Alison Paton

Hordes of protesters gathered outside the shop on Saturday holding posters with slogans reading fur is murder, blood on your hands and is your vanity worth your suffering?

There was a heavy police presence around the entrance of the store as demonstrators shouted: Shame on you.

The police formed a line to allow shoppers to still enter the store. / Ishy Antiques/@ismaelkhan

A man with a loudspeaker led activists in chants reciting fur trade, torture trade, fur trade, death trade and fur trade, murder trade.

The nine-hour protest began at 11am and was expected to go on until 8pm.

The protest began at 11.30am and lasted into the evening. / @dinosorehead

The retailer previously hit back at charity PETAs claims, saying: Surge, PETA and other activist groups misrepresent the facts and use sensational tactics to try to illicit a reaction and mislead consumers.

They ignore the strict government regulation and standards that are in place, as well as our commitment to ethical sourcing practices and responsible use of fur and down.

Peaceful protest: There was a heavy police presence outside the store. / Simon Hinde

On Saturday a spokeswoman told the Standard: "PETA and other animal activists are grossly misinformed about our animal welfare practices.

"Canada Goose remains deeply committed to the responsible use and ethical sourcing of all animal materials in our products.

"While we respect their opinion and right to protest, we are appalled by their extreme, inexcusable behavior and unsurprised by their attempt to capitalize on media attention tied to the opening of our store in London."

Canada Goose is already stocked by retailers including Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

Its London store is the first to be opened in the UK and the largest in Europe.

Jackets range in price from around 650 to more than 1,000.
H undreds of animal rights activists are set to descend on a busy London shopping street to protest against the opening of a new clothing store.

Canada Goose, a brand that has faced criticism globally for producing parker jackets made using Coyote fur, opened its flagship UK store in Regent Street this week.

Activists are expected to gather outside the shop on Saturday to spread awareness amid claims some animals suffer abuse in the making of some of the products.

It comes after an online petition to stop the opening of the store gathered more than 13,000 signatures after it was posted on campaign website Change.org.

PETA: The animal rights group held a separate protest earlier this week / PETA

According to animal rights group PETA hit out at the winter-clothing firm for its controversial products. Campaigners from the animal rights group also staged a protest outside when the shop opened on Thursday.

Many styles of Canada Goose jackets also come with fur trim, for which coyotes are caught in the wild in steel traps, where they can languish for days before being shot or bludgeoned to death, it said.

The charity has launched an awareness campaign in which it said birds whose feathers were used for the brands down-filled jackets suffered terrifying abuse.

The Canadian brand hit back at the charitys claims, saying: Surge, PETA and other activist groups misrepresent the facts and use sensational tactics to try to illicit a reaction and mislead consumers.

They ignore the strict government regulation and standards that are in place, as well as our commitment to ethical sourcing practices and responsible use of fur and down.

Saturdays demo follows others of its kind outside Canada Goose stores across the world, including one in New York earlier this year.

The demonstration  organised by animal rights organisation Surge - is set to begin at about 11.30am outside the store on Saturday. Protesters plan to remain there until 8pm.

More than 400 have marked on Facebook that they will be attending, with more than 1,100 social media users expressing an interest in going.

The London store is the first to be opened in the UK and the largest in Europe.
L ive music in London is set for great things, industry representatives have said after the Met Police canned a controversial form accused of discriminating against grime and R&B artists.

The Mayor of London and culture minister Matt Hancock campaigned alongside club promoters, DJs and venues for the London police force to have a rethink of the form amid concerns it was racist.

Many believed the form, which asks for the names and contact details of all artists and promoters involved in a gig, was being used to unfairly crack down on the grime, garage and bashment genre.

Rapper Giggs 2010 tour was cancelled on police advice and artist P Money said he has been removed from gig line-ups because of information on the form.

On Friday, the Met announced it was scrapping the risk assessment paperwork.

Music industry representatives welcomed the news widely.

Stormzy: One of London grime's biggest success stories. / AFP/Getty Images

We are very pleased that they have been listening to us and the work we have been doing, said Dave Webster, the head of live performance at the Musicians Union which represents 3,000 artists.

We all want safe gigs, of course we do. But form 696 wasnt the way to go about it.

Its [the scrapping of form 696] going to take away a lot of the possible restraint, its going to help young performers who dont feel they have to go through this form filling which has previously put them off.

Im very optimistic that this will mean great things for live music in London and all genres. I hope it will even the playing field.

Crispin Parry, the boss of production company British Underground, hailed the news and said: This is something we have been working on out of this office for the last 18 months or so.

We had an artist try to put a gig on in Croydon and couldnt so we set out on a mission. She said couldnt get anything going. It was not only the form but the culture around the form, venues didnt want to take the risk.

He added that people have come round to see the form is discriminatory.

The boss of music industry organisation UK Music, Michael Dugher, said: This is fantastic news. UK Music has campaigned to get rid of this unpopular restriction on our diverse and vibrant music scene.

Its great that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Londons Night Czar Amy Lame have listened to the concerns of the music industry."

We thank him for showing leadership on this important issue and ensuring that the London remains a world beater when it comes to our cultural music mix.

Rapper Giggs declined to comment when contacted by the Standard.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, with Amy Lame, who is London's first Night Czar. / PA Archive/PA Images

Met Police Superintendent Roy Smith said the landscape of the night-time economy had changed and there had been a reduction in serious incidents.

We have taken the decision to remove the Form 696 and instead develop a new voluntary partnership approach for venues and promoters across London, he said.

Amy Lame, chair of the London Music Board, welcomed the fantastic decision and said it was an important step in creating a 24-hour city that works for everyone.

The form was originally introduced in 2005 following several shootings at promoted club nights across London. In 2009, two questions asking for the ethnic make-up of the audience and music genre were scrapped from the form following complaints of racism.
M edia companies have cut ties with Louis CK after the comedian admitted to allegations of sexual misconduct.

The US entertainer, 50, admitted in a statement on Friday that claims by five women in a New York Times report on Thursday are true.

He was accused of showing or asking to show his genitalia to four women and performing a sex act to a fifth over the phone.

In a long statement on Friday, Louis CK admitted all of the allegations against him and said: These stories are true.

He stated: At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my d*** without asking first, which is also true.

But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your d*** isnt a question. Its a predicament for them.

"The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.

The award-winning comedian admitted the allegations in a statement on Friday

FX Networks and FX Productions said they were ending their "association" - which includes work on four separate shows - with CK and his production company Pig Newton, following his comments.

In a statement on Friday, FX Networks announced: "Today, FX Networks and FX Productions are ending our association with Louis CK.

"We are cancelling the overall deal between FX Productions and his production company, Pig Newton. He will no longer serve as executive producer or receive compensation on any of the four shows we were producing with him - Better Things, Baskets, One Mississippi and The Cops.

"Louis has now confirmed the truth of the reports relating to the five women victimised by his misconduct, which we were unaware of previously.

"As far as we know, his behaviour over the past eight years on all five series he has produced for FX Networks and/or FX Productions has been professional.

"However, now is not the time for him to make television shows. Now is the time for him to honestly address the women who have come forth to speak about their painful experiences, a process which he began today with his public statement.

"FX Networks and FX Productions remain committed to doing everything we can to ensure that all people work in an environment that is safe, respectful and fair, and we will continue our review of all of these productions to ensure that was and is the case."

In his statement, Louis CK also acknowledged the hurt Ive brought on people who I work with.

He said: "Ive brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much, The Orchard who took a chance on my movie and every other entity that has bet on me through the years.

"Ive brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.

I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen. Thank you for reading.

According to reports, CK has also been dropped by his management company, 3 Arts.

The Emmy Award-winner was accused of masturbating in front of a number of comedians and actresses in an article in The New York Times.

Online streaming service Netflix has since announced it is pulling a CK stand-up production, while independent distributor The Orchard has scrapped plans to distribute his latest film, I Love You, Daddy.

Actress and writer Pamela Adlon, who worked with CK on comedy-drama show Better Things, said in a statement issued via FX Networks: "Hi. I'm here. I have to say something. It's so important.

"My family and I are devastated and in shock after the admission of abhorrent behaviour by my friend and partner, Louis C.K.

"I feel deep sorrow and empathy for the women who have come forward. I am asking for privacy at this time for myself and my family. I am processing and grieving and hope to say more as soon as I am able."
V ladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed a joint statement on Syria on Saturday saying that a political solution was needed instead of military intervention, the Kremlin said.

The announcement, made after the two presidents met several times at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, said they had agreed to work together to defeat Islamic State.

The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson especially for the meeting in Danang.

The White House is yet to comment on the Kremlins claims.

Putin and Trump with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (back row) and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose at the summit in Danang, Vietnam / AP

With Islamic State having suffered losses in Syria and beyond, greater attention is turning to the broader conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebel factions.

The statement confirmed the two leaders commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active part in the Geneva political process, it said.

Moscow and Washington agree there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict, according to the text of the joint statement published on the Kremlin's website.

Trump calls for China's help over 'North Korean nuclear menace'

It said the leaders "had a conversation before the group photo ceremony for the APEC Economic Leaders."

Television pictures from Danang showed Putin and Trump chatting - apparently amicably - as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.

Earlier pictures from the meeting show Trump walking up to Putin as he sits at the summit table and patting him on the back. The two lean in to speak to each other and clasp each other briefly as they exchange a few words.

Donald Trump visits China - In pictures 1 /18 Donald Trump visits China - In pictures U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose during a tour of the forbidden city, AP U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with opera performers at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China Reuters US First Lady Melania Trump (C-R) and China's First Lady Peng Liyuan (C-L) are surrounded by students after a cultural performance during a visit to Banchang Primary School in Beijing, China EPA U.S. President Donald Trump (2nd L) looks up as he sits beside First Lady Melania Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and his wife Peng Liyuan (R) during a tour of the Forbidden City in Beijing AFP/Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping Getty Images Military troops march during a welcoming ceremony for U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing, China Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, China Reuters U.S. first lady Melania Trump and China's First Lady Peng Liyuan, left, are escorted by a student after a cultural performance during a visit to the Banchang Primary School in Beijing AP President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump exit Air Force One upon their arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing, China Getty Images U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (3-R) and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan (2-R) visit a fashion class during their visit to the Banchang Primary School in Beijing, China EPA U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania arrive on Air Force One at Beijing, China Reuters U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (2-L) assist a student to adorn a gown near Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan (C) during their visit to the Banchang Primary School in Beijing, China EPA U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China. Trump is on a 10-day trip to Asia Getty Images

Although the White House had said no official meeting was planned, it also said it was possible they would bump into each other.

Trump's entourage made no comment before he left Danang for Vietnam's capital Hanoi, the next step on his 12-day tour of Asia.

Trump has shown little appetite for holding talks with Putin unless there is some sense that progress could be made on festering issues such as Syria, Ukraine and North Korea.

Melania Trump visits pandas at Beijing zoo

After emphasizing last year on the campaign trail that it would be nice if the United States and Russia could work together on world problems, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office.

Trump publicly sitting down with Putin also revives the issue of Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election, which remains under investigation.

Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the probe along with his former deputy, Rick Gates.

Additional reporting from Reuters.


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During October 2017 the British Royal Navy dismissed nine sailors from HMS Vigilant one of its four SSBNs (nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines) when they tested positive for cocaine use. These drug tests took place because of an investigation of the sub commander violating navy rules prohibiting sexual relations between male and female crew, especially senior and junior officers. The captain, it turned out, was rather too close to one of his two female junior officers. The Royal Navy has several female officers qualified to serve on nuclear subs and recent photos indicate one of them was involved with the sub commander. In addition numerous members of the crew are accused of participating in parties involving drug use. This has led to mandatory drug tests for all sailors assigned to nuclear subs. So far about ten percent of the HMS Vigilant crew are charged with serious violations.

Problems like this on modern subs, both nuclear and non-nuclear, are increasingly common. Thats because the countries with the high tech subs, especially the nuclear ones, also have the personnel qualified to join the navy, complete the training and serve on these costly (multi-billion dollars for an SSBN) boats. The problem the skilled people on SSBN crew are expected to spend long periods of time at sea and out of touch with the world (for security purposes). One solution to the skilled sailor shortage is to recruit women. That works better on shore bases and surface ships than it does on SSBNs. The HMS Vigilant was an example and now recruiting will be more difficult because of the bad publicity and crew shortages will get worse. There is no easy answer and it even occurs with high-end diesel-electric subs. The drug use and fraternization rules are there to maintain crew capabilities, especially in a crisis. There is no easy or simple solution for this.

Meanwhile the British SSBN force has other problems. There were revelations earlier in 2017 year of a mid-2016 incident where another of the Royal Navy SSBNs had conducted a test firing of a Trident SLBM (sea launched ballistic missile) and malfunction caused the missile to head towards the U.S. east coast rather than out into the Atlantic. It was the only Royal Navy test firing since 2012 and only the fifth since 2000. There are not a lot of these live tests because they are very expensive ($22 million each). But these tests are necessary to be sure the huge investment in SSBNs (several billion dollars each) and weapons actually work.

This Trident failure was rare and is believed specific to the British version of the Trident. In any event details of the problem are kept secret lest potential enemies benefit from that knowledge. Problems with SLBMs are not new. During the early 1960s, a flaw in the warheads of the American Polaris SLBM meant the nuclear device would not detonate. The error was not detected for a while. When it was, the problem proved immune to numerous solutions. Meanwhile, the missiles might as well have carried rocks in their warheads. Polaris was eventually replaced by Trident but that particular bit of wisdom motivated SLBM manufacturers and users to pay attention to quality control and testing.

Meanwhile Britain has had more than its share of technical problems with its smaller SSBN force. In late 2012 one of the British SSBNs suffered a rudder failure after test firing a SLBM off North America (Florida). The sub (the HMS Vanguard) has just undergone a midlife refurbishment that cost over half a billion dollars. After the rudder problem was discovered, the Vanguard entered an American shipyard in nearby Georgia for repairs. The Royal Navy has not revealed details of how a sub fresh out of a three year refurbishment could suffer a rudder failure four months later. This is not the first such embarrassment for the Vanguard. The rudder problem comes years after the sub collided with a French SSBN while submerged in the mid-Atlantic. The damage to both boats was superficial but it was embarrassing how two SSBNs could have bumped into each other in the middle of an ocean.

There are other problems with the Vanguard and its three sister ships. The major one is that there is, as yet, no certainty that they will be replaced when they wear out by 2030 or so. There is some work under way to design and build a new generation of British SSBNs. In 2009 Britain hired an American submarine builder (General Dynamics) to design a Common Missile Compartment (CMC) for Britains next class of SSBN, which are to begin replacing the current Vanguard class boats in the 2020s.

The current Vanguard boats are 150 meters (465 feet) long, displace 14,000 tons, have a crew of 135, and entered service in the 1990s. They carry 16 Trident II missiles, weighing 59 tons, with a range of 11,300 kilometers and carrying up to eight warheads. A new class of SSBNs is expected to be about the same size but that will cost up to $30 billion, and there is growing support in Britain for doing away with their SSBNs altogether. The British government had ample support in parliament to design and build four new Dreadnought class SSBNs to enter service by 2030 and replace the elderly Vanguard SSBNs.

The U.S. Navy will use the CMC for its next class of SSBNs. This makes sense because Britain buys the ballistic missiles for its SSBNs from the United States. It would be too expensive for Britain to design and build its own SSBN ballistic missiles. Thus the CMC will have to be designed by an American firm, with access to data on the characteristics (especially the dimensions) of future missiles for SSBNs.

Britain and the United States have long cooperated on designing nuclear submarines, especially SSBNs. The U.S. and Britain are designing two different SSBNs. But each sub will have many common features, like the CMC, and that will save a lot of money for both nations. The 18 U.S. Ohio class SSBNs were built between 1979 and 1997. The 16,000 ton Ohios were built to serve for twenty years, but that has been extended at least 15 and possibly 30 years. The U.S. has decided to replace the Ohios with a similar design that incorporates more modern tech as has been used in the Seawolf and Virginia class SSNs. One option Britain may consider is simply buying four of the new American SSBNs, although such boats would be full of British designed and built equipment as are the current Vanguards.

Meanwhile the U.S. Navy is upgrading and refurbishing its Trident II SLBMs so that these weapons will still be effective until 2040. There have already been upgrades to the electronics and mechanical components in the guidance system. Upgrades are underway to the reentry body (heat shield and such that gets individual warheads to the ground intact). Some of the upgrades are classified and details on all of them are kept secret for obvious reasons.

The Trident II is one of those rare complex systems that consistently perform flawlessly. They do exist. For example, test firings of production models of the Trident II have never failed. There have been 148 of these missile launches each involving an SSBN (ballistic missile carrying nuclear sub) firing one of their Trident IIs, with the nuclear warhead replaced by one of similar weight but containing sensors and communications equipment.

The test results for the Trident while in development were equally impressive, with 87 percent successful (in 23 development tests) for the Trident I and 98 percent (49 tests) of the Trident II. The Trident I served from 1979-2005, while the Trident II entered service in 1990 and may end up serving for half a century.

Trident II is a 59 ton missile with a max range of 7,200-11,000 kilometers (depending on the number of warheads carried). Up to eight W76 nuclear warheads can be carried, each with the explosive power equal to 100,000 tons of high explosives. The navy recently bought another 108 Trident IIs at a cost of $31 million each.

The success of the Trident is in sharp contrast to the problems Russia and China have had developing SLBMs. The latest Russian SLBM, the Bulava (also known as R-30 3M30 and SS-NX-30), was almost cancelled because test flights kept failing. The Bulava finally successfully completed its test program on December 23rd, 2011. That made 11 successful Bulava test firings out of 18 attempts. The last two missiles make five in a row that were successfully fired. As a result of this, the Bulava has been accepted into service, with a development test firing success rate of 61 percent, but some last minute glitches led to more tests and Bulava entering service in 2013. But since then there have been failures during tech launches.

While the Bulava has problems the Russians have a track record of eventually getting workable SLBMs into service. Not so the Chinese (so far) and their JL (Julang) 2 SLBM, which was supposed to enter service in 2008 and finally (according to the Chinese) did so in 2015. In the meantime the new Type 94 SSBN designed to carrly the JL-2 also has problems. There are four in service but they spend little time at sea and there have not been many test launches of the JL-2 SLBM.

The JL-2 has had a lot of problems, as have the SSBNs that carried them. The 42 ton JL-2 has a range of 8,000 kilometers and would enable China to aim missiles at any target in the United States from a 094 class SSBN cruising off Hawaii or Alaska. Each 094 boat can carry twelve of these missiles, which are naval versions of the existing land based 42 ton DF-31 ICBM. Few Chinese SSBNs have yet gone on an extended combat cruise because these boats have been very unreliable and the twelve JL-2 SLBMs each carries are not much better off.

But the Chinese are persistent and eventually they get modern weapons systems of their own design and manufacture to work. With their SSBNs and SLBMs its not a matter of if but when.
The U.S. blockade against Cuba stimulates migration given that it depresses the standard of living of the population, recalled Diplomat Fernandez de Cossio. | Read More
It doesnt take a crystal ball to tell you that farmers are hurting  reeling from a double whammy of low commodity prices and high property taxes. The latest meeting of the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board has done little to make things brighter.

During its October meeting, the board voted to lower revenue projections for 2017-18 by $100 million and for 2018-19 by $123 million. Clearer, but not brighter.

The board provides an advisory forecast of general fund receipts used by the Legislature to craft the states budget. The forecast is also used by the governor to sharpen his cutting skills, which he did with a directive to state agencies under his control.

The governors directive outlined budget restraint actions covering the following areas: quarterly allotments of current appropriations to state agencies, boards and commissions will be reduced by one percent to incentivize additional spending restraint; agencies have been advised to prepare for further budget reductions; continued hiring freeze, travel ban, limited equipment purchases and reductions in discretionary grants in aid.

Total projected revenue receipts for fiscal year 2017-18 were lowered to $4.5 billion and $4.7 billion for the following year. The end result of the revised forecast is a projected general fund financial status that is $194.4 million short of the constitutionally directed minimum statutory cash reserve.

Results of the forecast and other pending adjustments will be reviewed during a mid-November meeting of the Tax Rate Review Committee made up of chairs of several key legislative committees and officials from the state Department of Revenue. The next Nebraska Economic Forecasting Board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 28, during the first session of the 106th Legislature.

This casts the session spotlight on taxes and the budget. But one cant forget about a troubled prison system that is already exempt from Governor Ricketts afore-mentioned budget restraints. The Department of Corrections needs more money for staffing which some believe will solve the woes of a drastically overcrowded system  the second worst in the United States  and the increasing number of violent attacks by inmates on staff and inmates on inmates.

I didnt say that Im buying their idea as the solution. But there is the matter of a pending lawsuit that could force DOC to look hard at alternative sentencing, early release of non-violent offenders or construction of more prisons. That situation should hang like a black cloud over the Legislatures consideration of any other business.

Things are further complicated by Ricketts penchant for income tax relief  when the majority is clamoring for property tax relief  and his resistance to corrections in sales tax measures, which could go a long way toward bolstering an otherwise anemic revenue stream. He has said he is against a bill that would mandate collection of sales tax on internet sales and also considers the removal of existing tax exemptions as a blatant increase in taxes.

He said that he and the Legislature have successfully worked together to constrain spending and cut the rate of growth in government from 6.5 percent to 0.6 percent. He said when revenues fall short of forecasts, Nebraskans expect state government to exhibit the same fiscal restraint as they do in their own households.

I'm wondering, how much more can you cut before the bleeding begins? When the bleeding begins, how do you stop it? Ask the governors of Kansas and Oklahoma. When do we focus on increasing the income side of the equation?

Even State Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton  a former state senator  admits that Nebraska has some questionable tax exemptions. Then theres the issue of collecting the state sales taxes that already are legally owed for online purchases on the internet. State officials estimate that could bring an additional $30 million to $40 million into the state coffers. But Ricketts opposed a bill to do just that last session and the matter stalled.

Enough with the cutting already. Lets sacrifice some sacred cows and bring money into the revenue stream. The time to act is now.
Ambassador says crimes harm image of country

By Messenger Staff

Georgias Ambassador to Greece Ioseb Nanobashvili says that crimes committed by Georgian nationals in Greece harm the two countries relations.Nanobashvili stated this in response to the recent detention of a Georgian criminal group in Greece, composed of both males and females, who brutally tortured an old woman to extort money from her.The Greece police posted the photos of the detainees.I would like to remark first that currently, crimes related with Georgian citizens remain the main problem in Georgia-Greece relations, Nanobashvili stated.He said it was not necessary to explain that this problem harmedGeorgias international image as well as the embassys activity.Similar cases create significant obstacles in terms of holding negotiations with the Greek government regarding issues that are important for our country. Such cases also create a very negative background and mood in the Greek people towards Georgians, the ambassador wrote on his Facebook page.Nanobashvili said despite the situation, the embassy has been conducting a dialogue over two key issues.First  we demand the rights of the detained Georgian citizens to be protected despite the serious crimes they are accused of. Secondly  we demand no false or vague information to be reported on our compatriots that are charged for this or other crimes, he added.The detention of the Georgian gang in Greece caused a large-scale outcry among Georgian social network users.People shared the photos of the detainees and stated that people of this kind harmed the reputation of their homeland.It is a sad fact for Georgia that some people who go abroad to find jobs fail to do so and later become engaged in criminal activities. These people almost never think how they harm the image of the state and how many problems they create for other Georgians who are working abroad or just visiting.One of the reasons why some Georgian citizens fail to find jobs abroad and choose to enrol in crime gangs is due to lack of education or proper vocational skills. If they had received adequate training in their homeland some of them would have selected another path. When it comes to the result, the issue is for law-enforcement bodies to look at, but the cause of the problem partially lies in lack of or no education at all. The Georgian authorities should pay more attention to the quality of education the country provides to its citizens and the opportunities of retraining for those whose skills never meet demands of the labour market. If the Georgian government takes better responsibility on their citizens rights on quality education, they will be more proud of those who try to establish themselves abroad.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Takes The Double At The Irish Car Of The Year Awards 2018

The Alfa Romeo Giulia has picked up two awards at prestigious 41st annual Irish Car of the Year Awards 2018.

LONDON - November 11, 2017: In one of the most competitive categories, the Alfa Romeo Giulia took home the gong for the Irish ?Medium Car category, thanks to its driver focused package and accessible entry point. Beating off stiff competition from established players, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio also topped the ?Performance Car category, testament that Alfa Romeo has remained true to its heritage and is still producing the best drivers cars on sale today.

Developed by the best engineers, designers and stylists within FCA Group, the new Giulia embodies the core elements that have made Alfa Romeo one of the world's best-loved automotive brands: distinctive Italian design; innovative powertrains, perfect weight distribution, unique technical solutions and the best weight-to-power ratio in its class.

This years awards were sponsored by Continental tyres and decided by a jury of 30 of the Irish medias most influential online, broadcast and print journalists.

Paul Hunt, Managing Director FCA Ireland, commented; For the entire Giulia range to be lauded at the most prestigious awards in the Irish calendar is really humbling. The Irish Car of the Year jury have recognised the passion and dedication that has been gone into making the Giulia and has made it into a car that can be chosen with both the head and the heart.
Ireland's Motoring Journalists Crown Peugeot 3008 "Irish Car Of The Year 2018"

DUBLIN - November 11,2017: The Irish Car of the Year Awards in association with Continental Tyres took place Thursday night, November 9, at the Gibson Hotel, Dublin.

Motoring journalists from print, online and broadcasting hosted a gala black tie event attended by Irelands leading car brands, importers, distributors and other motoring dignitaries.

Peugeot took the top award with its 3008 model which was also named as Irish Compact Crossover of the Year category winner.

ICOTY Committee member Michael Sheridan said: What an achievement for the Peugeot 3008 to come out on top from a field of some 60 new models launched this year on the Irish market.

ICOTY Committee member David Walshe said: It was a very tight competition this year with many, many fine vehicles in the running for the Irish Car of the Year accolade, congratulations to a worthy winner.

Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres said about the awards: The choices of the Irish Car of the Year jury are a great help in informing Irish consumers as to the bewildering array of high tech vehicles that are launched in Ireland each year. Continental is delighted to be associated with the Irish Car of the Year awards.
New Nissan Leaf Wins First International Award

NEW YORK - November 10, 2017: The new Nissan LEAF has taken top honours at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) annual CES Unveiled ceremony, presented by the Consumer Technology Association.

With the announcement of the Best of Innovation award winners for 2018, before a crowd of tech industry experts in New York, the all-new, zero-emission Nissan LEAF won its first major international award. Nissan is aiming for many more to come.

As confirmation of Nissans leading investment in innovation, the Nissan LEAF 100% electric vehicle with ProPILOT (known as ProPILOT Assist in North America) and e-Pedal technologies took the following honors:



 CES Best of Innovation award winner for Vehicle Intelligence and Self-Driving Technology

 CES honoree for Tech for a Better World

Each year, the Consumer Technology Association announces its CES Best of Innovation award winners as part of the buildup to the January CES in Las Vegas. Nissan and the association will put on a special display of the new Nissan LEAF at the 2018 show.

It is a great honour to have this early and important recognition for the new Nissan LEAF, said Daniele Schillaci, Nissans executive vice president for global marketing and sales, zero-emission vehicles and the battery business, and chairman of the management committee for the Japan/A&O region.

This award recognises products and technologies that benefit people and the planet, so it is fitting that the new LEAF has been honoured. It is more than just a car. It is the icon of Nissan Intelligent Mobility, our vision to move people to a better world.

The new Nissan LEAF brings a compelling package of everyday-useful innovations and technologies to more people worldwide than any electric vehicle has done before. The car is helping make the world a better place not only through innovation, but also through accessibility to more people. Additional capabilities such as vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid integration (availability depending on market) help owners know they can waste less and give back more.

The new Nissan LEAF is on sale in Japan and will be arriving at Nissan dealers in the U.S. and Canada over the next two months.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/11/2017 (1832 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No damage estimate is yet available but the costs can certainly be expected to be significant said Hanover fire chief Paul Wiebe, after a hog barn fire on Friday morning resulted in the loss of 7,500 sows and weanlings.

Wiebe said crews were called to a structure fire in a hog barn about a mile north of Pansy around 6:45 a.m.

Grunthal and Kleefeld fire crews who attended the scene quickly called in more resources from the municipalitys New Bothwell fire department as one of the three barns on site was ablaze.

GRANT BURR | THE CARILLON Hanover fire chief Paul Wiebe remains on the scene of a barn fire north of Pansy which killed 7,500 sows and weanlings on Friday morning.

One of the barns was fully involved and was spreading to the second barn, Wiebe said.

The metal cladding of hog barns makes them especially difficult fires to fight, he noted. After about two hours, Wiebe said Hanover fire crews had the scene under control.

High winds were also factor in the fire, which killed 1,500 sows and 6,000 weanlings.

Wind definitely pushed it into the second barn, Wiebe said, Without that we may have had a chance to stop it, but the wind was significant.

Firefighters were able to save the third barn on the property, which was upwind of the blaze, saving the lives of another 1,500 sows inside.

GRANT BURR | THE CARILLON Hanover firefighters survey the scene of a barn fire on Friday morning about a mile north of Pansy.

At the scene on Friday afternoon, Wiebe said crews were working to clear debris and investigate the source of the fire.

We look at it as a big loss but also a big stop, we were able to save some things, he said.
Louis C.K. Photo: Brian de Rivera Simon/WireImage

On Friday, the day after the New York Times published its bombshell report in which five women accuse him of sexual misconduct, comedian Louis C.K. issued a lengthy statement in which he acknowledges that the allegations against him are true, and apologizes to those affected.

These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isnt a question. Its a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly. I have been remorseful of my actions. And Ive tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now Im aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.

[]

The hardest regret to live with is what youve done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them. Id be remiss to exclude the hurt that Ive brought on people who I work with and have worked with whos professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You, Daddy. I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. Ive brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much; The Orchard who took a chance on my movie, and every other entity that has bet on me through the years. Ive brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.

C.K. is the latest in a long (and growing) list of powerful men who are finally facing repercussions for their alleged acts of sexual assault and harassment. And while many aspects of C.K.s story are similar to the others  he had a signature M.O.; his behavior was an open secret in his community; he and his team reportedly worked to suppress accusers stories  his apology is different than any weve seen so far. Instead of issuing a brief non-apology before scurrying away to sex rehab, C.K. confirms the allegations against him, acknowledges how he abused his power, and how his actions have hurt not only the victims of his harassment, but also his friends, family, and co-workers.

This does not absolve him. Having a not actively harmful response does not take away from the fact that C.K. is a sexual predator who used his position of influence to humiliate and debase women. But given that it is the most comprehensive statement of contrition weve seen from any of the men recently accused, it raises some important questions: How will we, as a society, choose to handle the apologies of sexual aggressors? What do we want from them? Do we believe any of them can be truly penitent? Does it matter?

If we want perpetrators to fully acknowledge the harm theyve caused, C.K. does a pretty good job. But there is a glaring omission in his statement. Although he expresses regret over his sexual misconduct, he does not apologize for the years and years he and his team spent denying the allegations. Rumors about C.K.s behavior have been circulating for years. In 2012, Gawker published a post called Which Beloved Comedian Likes to Force Female Comics to Watch Him Jerk Off? in which they described the 2002 incident comedians Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov recounted in this weeks Times article. Not only did C.K.s manager, Dave Becky, reportedly get upset that the two women were sharing their story, C.K. himself denied the claims against him in a 2016 interview with Vulture. No. I dont care about that. Thats nothing to me, he said, when asked about the allegations.

Is a good apology enough if it only comes on the heels of mounting and irrefutable evidence against you? When and how should perpetrators of sexual violence come forward and acknowledge their crimes? These are huge, difficult questions, but ones we will inevitably have to grapple with in the coming weeks and months as the number of accusations continues to pile up.
4 Police Officers in Philadelphia Hurt in 2-car Crash

Four police officers in Philadelphia were reportedly injured in a two-car crash on Friday, Nov.10, 6ABC reported.

The crash involved two Philadelphia Police cruisers at 10 a.m. local time in the Kensington area of the city.

Footage shows a police SUV with serious front-end damage. Another SUV was up on the sidewalk with side damage, and that vehicle appears to have struck a utility pole and a building.

Two officers were in each SUV, and all of them were hospitalized and listed in stable condition.

4 Philadelphia police officers were injured in this crash.. @GregArgosCBS3 is live from the scene at Noon on #cbs3. @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/Pf3CVTUPx1  Cathy Molique CBS3 (@CathyMolique) November 10, 2017

The cars crashed while they were responding to a shooting at C Street and Allegheny, according to 6ABC.

One officer involved in the crash suffered a head injury and was taken to Temple Hospital, CBS Philadelphia reported.

4 Philadelphia Police Officers injured in crash while responding to shooting in the city's Kensington neighborhood. https://t.co/HnuoL5wrL4  The Tornado News (@TheTornadoNews) November 10, 2017

NEWS: Philadelphia police vehicles involved in crash, injuries reported  https://t.co/672bY6OOjn | Details: https://t.co/GZEj28ikyI  WORLD ALERTS /7 (@WorldALERTS247) November 10, 2017

Philadelphia police vehicles collide during pursuit; 4 officers hurt https://t.co/1YwWl4awpK  Police World News (@PoliceWorldNews) November 10, 2017

An eyewitness said one of the SUVs was traveling in the wrong direction at the time of the accident.

Transit police arrested a suspect in the shooting near Kensington and East Allegheny avenues. No victim was found in the shooting, the CBS affiliate reported.

From NTD.tv
Allergans Bold Patent Move Could Transform Pharma Landscape

Intellectual property challenges may become far more creative and complex going forward

Pharmaceutical giant Allergan struck a bold and unusual deal to protect its patents on a lucrative eye drug in September.

If successful, the maneuver could have far-reaching ramifications and disrupt the established pharmaceutical industry order.

On Sept. 8, the Dublin-based Allergan Plc. assigned the patent rights of its popular dry-eye medication Restasis to the Native American tribe Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.

The deal transferred all intellectual property rights for Restasis to the Mohawk Tribe. Allergan will continue to manufacture and market the drug under an exclusive license from the tribe. The Mohawk Tribe will receive $13.75 million in a one-time payment, and up to $15 million annually in royalty payments from Allergan.

Restasis was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003, and Allergans patent protection would have remained until 2024. The drug generated $1.5 billion in net sales for Allergan, second only to Botox, making up about 10 percent of the companys total net revenues during 2016.

Anyone who cares about drug pricing should be very, very concerned about the potential impact of Allergans actions here.  Rachel Sachs, associate professor, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

Why would a major global pharmaceutical company pay millions of dollars to give away patents of a lucrative drug to a Native American tribe?

The answer lies in economics, and in Allergans desire to protect its patents and its income stream. To that end, the companys deal is both controversial and brilliant. In one fell swoop, Allergan could upend established business models for the pharmaceutical industry, challenge the paradigm of U.S. patent laws, and create the next big Indian tribe revenue stream.

Native American tribes are granted sovereign immunity, which protects their patents from being challenged. This in effect makes it much more difficult for generic drugmakers to challenge the validity of Restasis patents and produce cheaper alternatives to the drug.

The Mohawk Tribe filed motions, under a U.S. patent law process called inter partes review (IPR), to dismiss ongoing efforts from competitors to challenge the validity of the Restasis patents. In one instance in Texas, the motion was rejected, but the results of future cases on this topic will be closely watched by the entire sector.

The native tribe currently operates casinos in upstate New York. In a statement issued by Allergan, the tribe said the deal will help it diversify its revenue stream going forward.

The Generic Drugmaker Model

In summary, the decades-old, established order of the pharmaceutical industry plays out as follows. Major drugmakerssuch as Pfizer Inc., Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and Allerganspend millions and billions of dollars up front in research and development to invent, test, bring to trial, and market new drugs.

If successful, the companies are granted multiyear patents for these new drugs, guaranteeing a period of exclusivity and high revenues in exchange for their initial investments. Once a drugs patents expire, generic drugmakers can produce the same drugs more cheaply, which drives down the cost of the prescription drug.

The process of creating generic versions of prescription medication was given a boost after the Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, better known as the Hatch-Waxman Act. That law granted generic drugmakers a shorter runway leading up to FDA approval for generic versions of a previously exclusive drug.

Under both the Hatch-Waxman Act and a newer law called the America Invents Act of 2011, generic drugmakers and other competitors can challenge the validity of the initial drugmakers patents before their expiration, through the IPR process.

These laws have increased sales of generic drugs over the past few decades. According to a blog post by the FDA, as of 2014, 85 percent of all prescription drug purchases were of generics.

Fight Over Patents

By transferring its Restasis patents to the Mohawk Tribe, all legal IPR challenges could be dismissed because of the Native American tribes immunity status.

If successfully upheld, Allergan has effectively guaranteed its revenue stream from Restasis through at least 2024. And similar deals between intellectual property holders and Native American tribes could proliferate going forward.

As such, a battle is being waged between branded pharmaceutical giants and Native American tribes on one side, and regulators and generic drugmakers on the other, to determine the fate of the drug industry business model and the future of prescription drug pricing.

Allergan is paying money to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe so that it can avoid challenges to its patents that might result in lower-cost drugs being available to American consumers, wrote Rachel Sachs, associate professor at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, in an article on the Harvard Law blog. Anyone who cares about drug pricing should be very, very concerned about the potential impact of Allergans actions here.

State universities generally also have sovereign immunity regarding patents, but Sachs points out that there is a precedence of universities waiving their immunities, whereas tribes have demonstrated greater immunity from counterclaims in court.

On Nov. 7, a group of Democratic senators consisting of Sherrod Brown, Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken, Maggie Hassan, and Patty Murray sent a letter to Allergan CEO Brent Saunders requesting more information. The senators criticized Allergans deal with the Mohawk Tribe, calling it a blatant effort to further Allergans market monopoly on Restasis beyond the original patent term and exclusivity period.

But Allergan believes that IPR challenges, which can occur before patent expiration, are unfair to innovators. In an Oct. 8 editorial in The Wall Street Journal, Allergans Saunders wrote, The IPR process is stacked against biopharmaceutical patents, providing deep disincentive for innovation. Saunders also criticized the America Invents Act for creating so-called hedge fund reverse trolls, who demand cash from drugmakers in order to not file IPR challenges. Allergan has been the target of one of these extortion-like attacks, he wrote.

[Allergan] believes that generic challenges in general are a good and natural part of the industry but the challenges should be limited to the court process, while IPRs represent a double jeopardy in which a lower burden of proof forces companies to abandon their IP (intellectual property) prematurely, wrote Credit Suisse analysts in a September note to clients.

The company does face an uphill battle in upholding the Restasis patents. In a ruling in late October, federal judge William Bryson rejected the motion of Allergan and the Mohawk Tribe to dismiss ongoing challenges to Restasis brought upon by generic drugmakers Mylan Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Allergan plans to appeal, and the review could take months.

So for now, the IPR challenges continue. But one takeaway from Allergans controversial Restasis deal is that intellectual property fights could get far more creative and interesting going forward.
British Queen of Poker Dead in Car Crash

The so-called British Queen of Poker Emma Fryer was killed in a car crash while driving with a poker friend in heavy fog in the Czech Republic.

Fryer, 42, was in the country for the World Series Europe tournament in Rozvadov that had a prize of about 10 million euros ($11.6 million).

Their car entered a roundabout, but because of a problem with their GPS and poor visibility from the fog, they didnt see it and hit a concrete post.

There was no fault on the part of the driver. It was just a tragic accident, her sister, Liz Carter, told the Stoke Sentinal.

Fryer had just quit her job at Bet365 to become a poker player, and had recently found out her daughter was pregnant with her first grandchild.

It was such a shock, it still feels surreal. Everything was going so well for her, she was the happiest she had ever been, her mother, Sheila Waring, told the Sentinel.

Emma was so sociable. If you met her once you would remember her. She was so caring and thoughtful and she doted on her nieces and nephews. She was never stillshe was always doing something.

She leaves behind her partner and two daughters, one 18 and one 20, MailOnline reported.

THE "Poker Queen" of the UK died in a car crash after a sat nav failed in thick fog. Emma Fryer https://t.co/gOWKWu4NA9 @UnitedNewsofUSA  United News America (@UnitedNewsofUSA) November 11, 2017

Please RT if you like!! #Poker Female Poker Player from UK, Emma Fryer, Dies in Car Crash https://t.co/Yl880uQ3sO pic.twitter.com/JXl4SAUjJc  Pokerfull (@pokerfullnet) November 7, 2017

All she ever wanted was for me and Jess to get married and have children, her 20-year-old daughter Gemma Sale, told MailOnline. She loved kids and was over-the-moon that she was going to be a granny. She would have spoilt the baby rotten.

She added: For the past 12 to 18 months she had been going to church and had recently been confirmed. Her life was perfect. Its so tragic that she was taken away from us at this time but as a family we take comfort from the fact that she was living her dreams and she was so happy.

Fryers other sister, Sally Parton, 38, told The Sun: Everyone said this was going to be her breakout year in poker, when she was going to make it to the top.

She was so popularshe was like a celebrity. The number of people who have been in touch with us has been amazing. Seeing what she meant to so many people has been a great comfort.

Fryer died at the scene, but the driver of the vehicle was injured and is now in a Czech hospital.

Fryers body is set to be returned to the United Kingdom on Nov. 15.
A plane prepares for take-off at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., in this file photo. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Charlotte Air Traffic Controller Arrested for Possession of Weapon of Mass Destruction

An air traffic controller at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina was arrested for having a weapon of mass destruction.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police received a tip that someone had a pipe bomb at a home in northwest Charlotte.

Paul George Dandan, 30, and his roommate, 39-year-old Derrick Fells, were arrested in Charlotte after police searched their home.

Fells admitted to police that he built the weapon to use on a neighbor he had a dispute with, but changed his mind and gave the bomb to Dandan, according to WBTV.

Dandan was fired from his job as an air traffic controller at the airport as a result.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) addressed the threat in a statement, saying Dandan, only had access to the offsite Air Traffic Control Tower and had no access to the restricted areas of the terminal or ramp. He did not have access to any aircraft at the airport, reported WBTV.

Dandan is being charged with three counts of possessing, acquiring, and transporting a weapon of mass destruction, and is being held on $45,000 bond.

Fells is being charged with three counts of manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction and one count of possession.

The FBIs website describes weapons of mass destruction as:

Any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas, including the following: a bomb; grenade; rocket having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than four ounces; missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce; mine; or device similar to any of the previously described devices;

Any weapons that is designed or intend to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;

Any weapon involving a disease organism; and

Any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life.

From NTD.tv
A suspect hands donuts to customers during an armed robbery of at a donut shop in Houston, on Oct. 16, 2017. (Houston Police Department)

Crook Hands Out Donuts During Robbery

Turns out robbers and jelly-filled donuts might have something in commona soft (in)side.

One of three suspects holding up a Houston donut shop last month handed out donuts to customers in the middle of a robbery, according to surveillance video released by Houston police this week.

Police: Robber passes out donuts during robbery. Video: https://t.co/GflGCDyGZ7 pic.twitter.com/n0PlCV1lUJ  FOX 32 News (@fox32news) November 9, 2017

The robbery took place on Oct. 16 at a Shipleys Do-Nuts in north Houston, reports the New York Post.

Police released surveillance video this week showing three male suspects with concealed faces enter a restaurant and walk by a table at which two customers are seated.

According to surveillance video, the first of the perpetrators pulls out what appears to be a gun and jumps the counter.

The camera cuts to a different view. The armed suspect appears to order a restaurant employee to open the cash registers, then proceeds to the back of the store. Another suspect tugs at the cash register and when it doesnt open, beckons to the employee, who appears to take steps to open it.

Meanwhile, the third suspect walks over to the seated customers and takes their cell phones. He then jumps over the counter, exchanges words with the customers, and picks out a few donuts from the rack. The man then gingerly hands the donuts to the customers and the thieves leave.

Police continue to search for the suspects, who are wanted for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.



Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the police at 713-222-TIPS (8477).
President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in the central Vietnamese city of Danang on Nov. 11. (JORGE SILVA/AFP/Getty Images)

Poor Diplomatic Relations With Russia Putting Millions of Lives at Risk, Says Trump

US needs Russia's support in countering North Korea's nuclear threat, but relations have been damaged as a result of the unproven collusion narrative

President Donald Trump says that millions of lives have been put at risk as a result of the false narrative that he and his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Nov. 11 while on a 12-day tour of Asia, Trump said the collusion narrative has damaged Americas relationship with Russia.

As a result, it has become difficult for the United States to get Russias support in pressuring North Korea through economic means to give up its nuclear weapons program.

While the Trump administration is currently pursuing a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearized North Korea, military options are on the table in case the situation escalates.

Youre talking about millions and millions of lives. This isnt baby stuff. This is the real deal. And if Russia helped us, in addition to China, that problem would go away a lot faster, Trump said.

Its a dangerous timethis isnt small stuff, Trump said. This is a very dangerous time.

A ballistic missile fired by the North Korean regime on Aug. 29, 2017, in this image provided by state media. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Finding a solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis was the No. 1 priority for Trumps visit to Asia. But while Japan, South Korea, and even China have stepped up efforts against the isolated communist state, Russia appears to have been lagging behind.

Evidence emerged last month that one of the main sources of the collusion allegations, a dossier produced by a firm called Fusion GPS, was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC.

Trump said that while China has ordered its banks to cut off financing to North Korea and has reduced oil sales and trade, Russia might, in fact, be making up for losses that North Korea is suffering.

Since coming to office, Trump has cultivated a close relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hosting him in Florida in April. Given the accusations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the president said hes been unable to build up a close relationship with the Russian president.

President Putin would be tremendously helpful, tremendously helpful if I had Russia and China on North Korea. I think that would solve it, but this artificial barrier gets in the way, Trump said.

I call it the artificial Democrat barrier. It gets in the way, which is a shame.

President Donald Trump and Chinas leader Xi Jinping arrive at a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People on Nov. 9, 2017, in Beijing. (Thomas Peter  Pool/Getty Images)

Since Trump won the election last year, his opponents have leveled accusations that he colluded with Russia to secure his win.

However, after a year of investigations, no proof of such collusion has been found. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who oversaw a joint intelligence agency investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the election, said under oath before Congress on May 8 that there had not been any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

High-ranking Democrats, such as Senate judiciary committee ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), have also said there is no evidence of collusion.

According to Shattered, a book telling the inside story of Hillary Clintons campaign, within 24 hours of her loss, Clintons team developed a strategy to focus on Russian hacking. This would be presented as the untold story of the election, which explained her loss as being due to interference.

Evidence emerged last month that one of the main sources of the collusion allegations, a dossier produced by a firm called Fusion GPS, was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton makes a concession speech after being defeated by Republican president-elect Donald Trump in New York on Nov. 9, 2016. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

The Washington Post reported that the payments to the company were hidden by the Clinton campaign and the DNC by routing them through the law firm Perkins Coie. The payments were also intentionally mislabeled in FEC filings.

The 35-page dossier, marked as classified, relies almost exclusively on Kremlin-linked sources. These include a senior Kremlin official, a senior Russian official in the Russian Foreign Ministry, and a former top-level Russian intelligence officer still active in the Kremlin.

If Russia helped us, in addition to China, that problem would go away a lot faster.  President Donald Trump

Law professor Ronald Rychlak, a leading expert on Russian disinformation operations, told The Epoch Times that the Trump dossier bears the hallmarks of a classic Russian disinformation campaign.

The unsubstantiated dossier was spread among politicians and the media in an attempt to discredit Trump. The author of the report, former British MI-5 spy Christopher Steele, was instructed by Fusion GPS to give at least two in-person briefings on the content of the report to a number of media organizations, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, British court documents show. Steele is currently being sued for libel in the UK by a Russian businessman mentioned in the report.

Paying for the gathering and disseminating of false information from Russian officials has raised questions about possible collusion by the DNC and the Clinton campaign.

Theres clear evidence of the Clinton campaign colluding with Russian intelligence to spread disinformation and smear the president to influence the election, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Oct. 30.

Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in Moscow on Nov. 8, 2016. (YURY MARTYANOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Last week, Fox News, citing a confidential source and court documents, said that Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya met with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson before and after her meeting with Donald Trump Jr. in June 2016. The meeting between Veselnitskaya and Trump Jr. became front page news earlier this year, as it allegedly pointed to collusion with Russia. Those claims were denied by Trump Jr., who said the meeting was part of opposition research. Now, the involvement of Fusion GPS, which was at the time being paid by the Clinton campaign and the DNC, is raising questions of whether the meeting was a setup in an attempt to create the illusion of collusion by the Trump campaign.

I think its a shame that something like that [the accusations of collusion] could destroy a very important potential relationship between two countries that are really important countries, Trump said onboard Air Force One.

Trump made similar statements throughout his presidential campaign, saying it was beneficial for the United States and Russiatwo powerful, nuclear-armed nationsto get along well, rather than be adversaries. He argued that a bad relationship would drain American resources and put its interests at risk.

Similarly to Trump, former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to cultivate a better relationship with Russia.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives on stage while campaigning at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA., on Oct. 22, 2016. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In 2009, soon after coming to office, Obama called for a reset in relations with Russia during a visit to Moscow.

America wants a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia.  On the fundamental issues that will shape this century, Americans and Russians share common interests that form a basis for co-operation, Obama said in Moscow on July 7, 2009.

That is why I have called for a reset in relations between the United States and Russia. This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House, though that is important.

Just a few months earlier in Geneva, Clinton presented her Russian counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with a big red symbolic button labeled with reset in English and, famously, the wrong Russian translation for the word reset.

The hands of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rest on a red button marked reset in English and overload in Russian, which U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting on March 6, 2009, in Geneva. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

I would like to present you with a little gift that represents what President Obama and Vice President Biden and I have been saying, and that is, we want to reset our relationship, and so we will do it together, Clinton told Lavrov.

Attempts to improve relations with Russia were made throughout Obamas first term as president.

During the 2012 Presidential campaign, Obama ridiculed his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, for suggesting that Russia is Americas biggest geopolitical foe.

Gov. Romney, Im glad that you recognize that al-Qaida is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked whats the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia, not al-Qaida.  The 1980s, theyre now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold Wars been over for 20 years, Obama said during the final debate of the presidential campaign.

President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney participate in the third and final presidential debate, moderated by Bob Schieffer (C) of CBS, at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on Oct. 22, 2012. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

However, relations between the United States and Russia deteriorated sharply during Obamas second term in office over issues such as missile defense in Eastern Europe, Russias annexation of Crimea, and the conflict in Syria.

Obama tried and he failed, Trump said aboard Air Force One. Couldnt have it, because he didnt have chemistry. They didnt have the right chemistry. And you know what, I understand that, because there are some people I dont have chemistry with.

When asked by reporters whether he believed Russia meddled in the elections, Trump said that he had pressed Putin on the topic multiple times.

Every time he sees me, he says, I didnt do that,' Trump said. And I believeI really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.

One of the key allegations against Russia is that it was behind the hacking of DNC servers during the presidential election. However, intelligence agencies have not been able to independently establish this as fact.

Former FBI Director James Comey said during a March 20 House intelligence committee hearing that the FBI never got direct access to the machines themselves.

FBI Director James Comey during the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Russian actions during the 2016 election campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 20, 2017 (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Instead, the DNC hired a third-party private company, CrowdStrike, and gave the results of their analysis to the FBI.

This went against best practice, Comey said, noting our forensics folks would always prefer to get access to the original device or server thats involved, so its the best evidence.

However, neither the CrowdStrike blog post nor the FBI report contained conclusive evidence that Russia was behind the attack. While CrowdStrike stands by its claims, much of its analysis has since unraveled.

CrowdStrikes hasty investigation was based on inconclusive methodologies, which merely looked at the type of target and the tools and code used to carry out the attack. Not only are tools and code such as these often bought, sold, and shared between hacker groups, but, as many cybersecurity experts have pointed out, its also easy to spoof such information to intentionally frame a target.

Malicious actors can easily position their breach to be attributed to Russia, states a blog post from the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, a cybersecurity think tank.

It would be easy to baselessly declare that all of the attacks were launched by Russia based on the malware employed, it states.
French Institute Says Nuclear Accident May Have Happened Russia or Kazakhstan in September

A cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe in recent weeks indicates that an accident has happened in a nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September, French nuclear safety institute IRSN said on Thursday.

The IRSN ruled out an accident in a nuclear reactor, saying it was likely to be in a nuclear fuel treatment site or center for radioactive medicine. There has been no impact on human health or the environment in Europe, the IRSN said.

IRSN, the technical arm of French nuclear regulator ASN, said in a statement it could not pinpoint the location of the release of radioactive material but that based on weather patterns, the most plausible zone lay south of the Ural mountains, between the Urals and the Volga river.

This could indicate Russia or possibly Kazakhstan, an IRSN official said.

Russian authorities have said they are not aware of an accident on their territory, IRSN director Jean-Marc Peres told Reuters. He added that the institute had not yet been in contact with Kazakh authorities.

A spokeswoman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry said she could not immediately comment. It was not immediately possible to reach authorities in Kazakhstan or the Kazakh embassy in Moscow.

Peres said that in recent weeks IRSN and several other nuclear safety institutes in Europe had measured high levels of levels of ruthenium 106, a radioactive nuclide that is the product of splitting atoms in a nuclear reactor and which does not occur naturally.

IRSN estimates that the quantity of ruthenium 106 released was major, between 100 and 300 teraBecquerels, and that if an accident of this magnitude had happened in France it would have required the evacuation or sheltering of people in a radius of a few kilometers around the accident site.

The ruthenium 106 was probably released in a nuclear fuel treatment site or center for radioactive medicine, Peres said. Because of its short half-life of about a year, ruthenium 106 is used in nuclear medicine.

The IRSN ruled out an accident in a nuclear reactor, as that would have led to contamination with other radionuclides too. It also ruled out the crash of a ruthenium-powered satellite as an IAEA investigation has concluded that no ruthenium-containing satellite has fallen back on earth during this period.

Measurement from European stations showed high levels of ruthenium 106 in the atmosphere of the majority of European countries, at the beginning of October, with a steady decrease from Oct. 6 onwards.

The IRSN said that the concentrations of ruthenium 106 in the air that have been recorded in Europe were of no consequence for human health and the environment.

The institute also said that the probability of importation into France of foodstuffs, notably mushrooms, contaminated by ruthenium 106 near the site of the accident is extremely low.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq in Paris, additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Editing by Alison Williams)
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is seen on a video screen as he addresses his supporters in Beirut, Lebanon November 10, 2017. (Reuters/Aziz Taher)

Hezbollah Says Saudi Declares Lebanon War With Hariri Detention

BEIRUT/PARISHezbollahs leader said on Friday that Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and his Iran-backed group, accusing Riyadh of detaining Saad al-Hariri and forcing him to resign as Lebanons prime minister to destabilize the country.

France became the first Western country to indicate that Saudi Arabia was holding Hariri against his will, saying it wished for him to have all his freedom of movement and be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon.

Hariris resignation has plunged Lebanon into crisis, thrusting the small Arab country back to the forefront of regional rivalry between the Sunni Muslim monarchy Saudi Arabia and Shiite revolutionary Iran.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, said Saudi Arabias detention of Hariri, a long-time Saudi ally who declared his resignation while in Riyadh last Saturday, was an insult to all Lebanese and he must return to Lebanon.

Let us say things as they are: the man is detained in Saudi Arabia and forbidden until this moment from returning to Lebanon, Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

It is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon, he said.

His comments mirror an accusation by Riyadh on Monday that Lebanon and Hezbollah had declared war on the conservative Gulf Arab kingdom.

Riyadh says Hariri is a free man and he decided to resign because Hezbollah was calling the shots in his government. Saudi Arabia considers Hezbollah to be its enemy in conflicts across the Middle East, including Syria and Yemen.

Western countries have looked on with alarm at the rising regional tension.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned other countries and groups against using Lebanon as vehicle for a larger proxy fight in the Middle East, saying Washington strongly backed Lebanons independence and respected Hariri as a strong partner of the United States, still referring to him as prime minister.

There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state, Tillerson said in a statement released by the U.S. State Department.

Tillerson told reporters on Friday there was no indication that Hariri was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will but that the United States was monitoring the situation.

The French foreign minister said earlier on Friday that he also believed Hariri was a free man  a statement at odds with the later French foreign ministry comment that it wanted Hariri to have all his freedom of movement.

Hariri has made no public remarks since announcing his resignation in a speech televised from Saudi Arabia, saying he feared assassination and accusing Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.

Two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source told Reuters on Thursday that the Lebanese authorities believe Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia.

Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was encouraging Israel to attack Lebanon. While an Israeli attack could not be ruled out entirely, he said, it was unlikely partly because Israel knew it would pay a very high price. I warn them against any miscalculation or any step to exploit the situation, he said.

Saudi will fail in Lebanon as it has failed on all fronts, Nasrallah said.

Riyadh has advised Saudi citizens not to travel to Lebanon, or if already there to leave as soon as possible. Other Gulf states have also issued travel warnings. Those steps have raised concern that Riyadh could take measures against the tiny Arab state, which hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

Hariris resignation is being widely seen as part of a Saudi attempt to counter Iran as its influence deepens in Syria and Iraq and as Riyadh and its allies battle Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Hariris resignation unraveled a political deal among rival factions that made him prime minister and President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, head of state last year.

The coalition government included Hezbollah, a heavily armed military and political organization.

Stuck Between Antagonistic Interests

Aoun told Saudi Arabias envoy on Friday that Hariri must return to Lebanon and the circumstances surrounding his resignation as prime minister while in Saudi Arabia were unacceptable, presidential sources said.

An international support group of countries concerned about Lebanon, which includes the United States, Russia and France, appealed for Lebanon to continue to be shielded from tensions in the region. In a statement, they also welcomed Aouns call for Hariri to return.

In comments to Reuters, top Lebanese Druze politician Jumblatt said Lebanon did not deserve to be accused of declaring war on Saudi Arabia. For decades weve been friends, he said.

We are a country that is squeezed between two antagonistic interests, between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he said. The majority of Lebanese are just paying the price  Lebanon can not afford to declare a war against anybody.

The Saudi foreign minister accused Hezbollah of a role in the launching of a ballistic missile at Riyadh from Yemen on Saturday. Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Irans supply of rockets to militias in Yemen was an act of direct military aggression that could be an act of war.

Nasrallah mocked the Saudi accusation that Iran and Hezbollah were behind the firing of the missile from Yemen, saying Yemenis were capable of building their own missiles.

By Tom Perry, Ellen Francis and John Irish
File Photo: A member of the Iraqi rapid response forces walks past a wall painted with the black flag commonly used by ISIS terrorists, at a hospital damaged by clashes during a battle between Iraqi forces and ISIS terrorists in the Wahda district of eastern Mosul, Iraq on Jan. 8, 2017. (Reuters/Alaa Al-Marjani)

Iraqi Forces Launch Offensive to Recapture Last Town in ISIS Control

ERBIL, IraqIraqi forces launched an offensive on Saturday to capture Rawa, the last remaining town under ISIS control, leaving the groups self-proclaimed caliphate on the verge of complete defeat.

The capture of the town would mark the end of ISISs era of territorial rule over a so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Syrias army declared victory over the terrorists on Thursday, after seizing the last substantial town on the border with Iraq.

The army and its allies were still fighting ISIS in desert areas near Albu Kamal, the last town the terrorist group had held in Syria.

Two Iraqi infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces are participating in the offensive to recapture the small town of Rawa and its surrounding areas along the border with Syria, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

Last week, Iraqi forces recaptured the larger town of al-Qaim, in what Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called record time, leaving just a few small pockets of land in ISISs hands.

Iraq has been carrying out its final campaign to crush the ISIS caliphate while also mounting a military offensive in the north against the Kurds who held an independence referendum in September.

By Raya Jalabi
A Chinese paramilitary policeman reacts outside the opening session of the Chinese Communist Party's five-yearly Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 8, 2012. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Letter to an American in China: Where is the Berlin Wall Today?

The Chinese regime cannot withstand the growing desire for freedom in China

An American in China wrote to me concerned about the Chinese peoples apparent acceptance of censorship. This is my response.

Hi Jeremy,

In your email, you commented that it was your impression that most Chinese people you encountered in everyday life were indifferent to the media censorship imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

I dont disagree with your observation. I think there are a couple of reasons why this is the case.

The CCP runs the most sophisticated internet filtering system in the world, the so-called Great Firewall (GFW), and circumvention of the firewall can carry a stiff penalty.

In September, a Chinese man received a nine-month jail sentence because he sold VPN (virtual private network) software, which allows people to visit websites banned by the CCP. Sometimes, the mere mention of circumventing censorship makes people uncomfortable. It is easier to avoid confronting the fact of censorship.

People in China, then, are like the residents of Mega City in The Matrix movie trilogy. On the surface, everything seems normal, and people seem to enjoy their lives. In China, most have no idea the whole internet system is rigged.

While many websites that are popular in the West, such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, are blocked in China, the existence of Chinese knockoffs has, to a certain extent, reduced the demand for these services in China. The Chinese alternatives are not as good, but will do the job.

Moreover, if one doesnt even know about an incident or event in history, one naturally wouldnt be curious about it or search for it. The CCPs suppression of truth is so relentless that for Chinas younger generations, certain historical events never happened. One such event is the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Choosing Freedom

In the first Matrix film, the protagonist was offered a blue pill and a red pill. If he chooses the blue pill, he can go on living his life as usual in Mega City, as if nothing ever happened. If he chooses the red pill, he will gain freedom, but become a rogue constantly hunted by the enforcers of the Matrix.

A small portion of Chinese netizens faces a similar dilemma. Inside the GFW, they know they live in a falsified reality. Circumventing the GFW, they will obtain knowledge and information, but run the risk of colliding with the CCP.

However, there are signs that more Chinese are now willing to choose the red pill.

In 2013, an informal poll of 120 journalism students in eight universities, conducted by an American professor who taught at Tsinghua University, indicated that three-quarters of respondents wanted less media censorship. More than 76 percent of the students said they trust Western media more than domestic media. Only 9 percent believed more was true in Chinese state media than in foreign media.

The Great Firewall may even look insurmountable for now, as the Berlin Wall once did.

A recent Stanford University study systematically examined the impact of an unfiltered internet on the willingness of Chinese students to acquire politically sensitive information. The experiment was much larger in scale and more rigorous in design and execution than the informal poll.

In the study, Chinese college students were provided free access to an uncensored internet for 18 months. One interesting result was that access alone was not sufficient to increase the consumption of free information. However, a little nudge, in the form of occasional online surveys in exchange for small prizes, led to a long-lasting and elevated demand for uncensored information, according to the study.

The brief exposure to the unfiltered internet changed the economic beliefs, political attitudes, and behaviors of the students. They became more skeptical about the CCPs governance, more pessimistic about the Chinese economy, but more optimistic about the U.S. economy.

They were more likely to initiate conversations on political topics with other students and pass on the information they acquired. After participating in the experiment, roughly one-third of the students expressed the desire to pursue graduate studies overseas, hence leaving China in the near future, in contrast to one-fifth in the control group.

You might say the students were red-pilled. For some of them, living in a falsified reality is becoming unbearable. It is amazing that access to the free Internet in an 18-month period could undo CCP brainwashing the students had experienced their entire lives. This is what the CCP fears the most. This is why it has been desperately trying to isolate China from the free world in the first place.

You probably have noticed that most Chinese people typically avoid discussing topics like media censorship and the GFW. I hope you dont take this as a sign that Chinese are not longing for freedom, or that they are not interested in uncensored information. They are. Right now, there are tens of thousands of Chinese netizens who defy the CCP and seek the truth on the unfiltered internet.

The GFW may look formidable. It may even look insurmountable for now, as the Berlin Wall once did. But where is the Berlin Wall today? One is lucky to find pieces of it in museums. The GFW will not stop Chinese from getting free information, either. Im hopeful and optimistic.

Sincerely,

Tian Yuan

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Mass. Sculptor Dies in Freak Car Accident Involving a Deer

An elderly artist was killed in a freak car accident involving a deer in Weston, Massachusettes, on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

The family of David Lang, 76, said that he was an amazing sculptor and an amazing person.

Lang was heading home from a trip to Ireland when a car traveling in the opposite direction hit a deer and threw it into the air, causing it to go through Langs windshield. Land died later at the Newton Wellesley hospital, the Middlesex District Attorneys Office said in a press release.

[The deer] are looking for does to mate with, and they are a lot less aware of whats going on around them, said Marion Larson of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, reported WBZ-TV.

Man killed in freak accident involving deer https://t.co/0CRJoj5PQk pic.twitter.com/AtiC6ohzrZ  Red Team News (@RedTeamNews) November 10, 2017

Each year in Massachusetts, there are 7,000 to 10,000 car accidents involving deer, local media report, however they are rarely fatal.

This time of year the likelihood of seeing a deer or striking a deer with your car is pretty high because its the breeding season, Larson said, according to CBS News.

Deer-mating season in the northeast United States runs from October to November.

It is possible that he was impaled by the antlers breaking off upon impact on the victim, Weston Police Detective Sgt. Mike Forti told WCVB. It went, traveled through the air, and didnt come to rest until it went through the windshield, and actually landed on top of the operator of that vehicle.

This is the time of year where deer are active. It is the rut, and they are running out, across roadways, and unfortunately we do see an increase in motor vehicle accidents because of that, Forti noted.

According to the district attorneys office, the driver of the sedan who hit the deer was not harmed.

Artist David Lang  killed Wednesday when a deer was flung through his windshield  is remembered for the imagination and perspective he brought to his life and his art. https://t.co/zm6LsBybHI #art pic.twitter.com/ZMKWmX2FD7  Anne Brennan (@AnneBrennanMWDN) November 10, 2017

Lang taught at Concords Middlesex School until 2003, and was trained as a medical artist at Harvard University, WCVB reports.

For the last several years my sculptural work has become largely kinetic and interactive. It is often witty, profound and provocative, he wrote on his blog. Much of it seems to exist in the realm of the unlikely. These days, my mind is in a whirl, trying to understand how to make very complicated things appear to be smooth.

His wife of 51 years, Kathleeen Lang, said the unique ending to his life was fitting for the kind for person he was.

It is hard but it is fitting. And, I will miss him very much. Its kind of how he lived life in a way, she told CBS.
This undated picture released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on March 7, 2017 shows the launch of four ballistic missiles by the Korean People's Army (KPA) during a military drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (AFP/Getty Images)

North Korea Nears 60-day, No-Missile-Launch Requirement

North Koreas last missile test on Sept. 15 puts the regime on the cusp of meeting a 60-day no launches-no tests requirement that the United States has set as a prerequisite for negotiationssort of.

Its been 56 days since North Korea last launched a missile, raising questions about why the regime has paused its provocations as President Donald Trump visits the Asia Pacific region.

Previously, the Kim regime would appear to time their provocations with visits by high-ranking officials.

In March, North Korea tested mobile-launched missiles one week after a trip to Asia by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Then in April, the regime fired another missile as Vice President Mike Pence was making his way to South Korea. In August, the regime fired three short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan three days after Tillerson said he was pleased the regime had demonstrated some level of restraint for what was then considered a pause in launches.

An optimistic explanation for the current pause in missile launches is that the Kim regime is signaling that it is prepared to come to the bargaining table. That would be in line with what Tillerson effectively called for in August.

The best signal that North Korea could give us that theyre prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches, Tillerson told reporters in August.

If that were the case, it would be in sharp contrast to the public statements North Korea continues to make about reducing the United States and Japan to ashes.

But despite the pause, administration sources say the clock doesnt start running until Pyongyang formally declares that it has begun a moratorium on future launches. Thats because the administration has no reason to know why the regime is not firing the missiles, said a source.

Jenny Town, the managing editor of 38 North, said that is a pretty high requirement to reach.

Any time in this political environment, when there are active threats being thrown around, North Korea is not going to make concessions before it starts the negotiation process, she said.

Meanwhile, Pacific Command has three aircraft carriers in the 7th Fleet area of operations, which is responsible for the Asia Pacific region, raising the pressure on the Kim regime.

While Town doubts military posturing will be enough to bring Kim to negotiations, the credible prospect of war on the Korean peninsula has pushed China to enforce sanctions to a degree not previously seen. Other analysts believe North Korea wont come to the negotiating table with anything less than the threat of regime change. Town disagrees.

One explanation for the lack of tests during the recent high-level visits of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis at end of October and during Trumps current trip, is simply that the stakes are too high, she said.

She believes there is also another possible explanation as to why the regime has not conducted any missile tests over the last two months.

This is the winter exercise cycle. It would be unlikely for North Korea to do any during this time period anyway, she said.

Town believes that if the Kim regime conducts another missile test, it will be an at-range test of a Hwasong-14, North Koreas two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile that has so far been tested on a lofted or vertical trajectory twice before.
Oregon Teen Found Dead in Suspected Murder-Suicide with Man She Ran Away With

Two bodies found in the woods in Oregon were identified as a missing teen and the man she ran away with, authorities said.

Zachary Petersen, 23, and Annieka Vaughan, 15, each died from a single gunshot wound, the state medical examiner determined. The bodies were found in northwest Portland on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

Detectives believe that Petersen killed Vaughan, then killed himself.

Annieka was living with her aunt and uncle in Aloha, Oregon, when she ran away.

She had met Petersen in Kennewick, Washington, while she was visiting her mother, and they started a relationship in August, authorities said. Petersen lived in neighboring Pasco, Washington.

The two were caught having sex in a car in early October, the Tri-City Herald reported, and Petersen was being investigated for child rape after the incident.

Annieka was first reported missing on Oct. 30.

Petersen also disappeared that day after calling a crisis hotline in Washington. Authorities believed the two ran away together in Petersens pickup truck. Petersen was suicidal and possibly armed, the Washington County Sheriffs Office said.

Petersens truck was found on Monday in the Forest Park park with Anniekas backpack inside, but police couldnt find the two.

Around 5:35 p.m. that day, somebody called the police to report noise along the trails, about a mile south of where the bodies were eventually found.

Police launched another search of the area, involving a plane, police dogs, and night-vision equipment, but didnt find anything, according to The Oregonian.

The search continued the next day. An 8-year-old golden Lab named Nexus that was trained to smell decomposing bodies seemed to catch a scent on Tuesday night, but it was already getting dark by that time, and the search was suspended.

On Wednesday morning, the bodies were found near the intersection of the Wildwood Trail and the Upper Macleay Trail, only a 10-minute walk from the historic Pittock Mansion, one of the most visited spots in Portland with a view of the city skyline, The Oregonian reported.

Anniekas father, Rick Vaughan, tearfully addressed a press conference about his daughters death on Friday.

He said Annieka was artisticgood at drawing, animation, and acting. She also taught herself to play guitar.

The last thing she and her father did together was shopping for a homecoming dress, he said.

Im going to miss not being able to see her go through high school, get married, Rick Vaughan said. Im going to miss just everything that made her so unique and special.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to cover Anniekas funeral expenses.
A photograph taken in West Bengal, India, showing elephants being attacked by residents, that received the first place award in a photography competition put on by Indian magazine Sanctuary Asia. (Sanctuary Asia)

Photograph Baby Elephant on Fire Wins Award

A picture of burning elephants in the Jhargram district of West Bengal, India, won the top award of a wildlife conservation photography competition earlier this month.

The eerie photo, titled Hell Is Here, shows the conflict between elephants whose territory has been encroached upon by humans, and the farmers who try to protect their crops from the roaming elephants.

#SanctuaryAtTheQuarter: Come understand #AsianElephants and their conflict with the human world, at the Royal Opera House on 7th Nov at 7pm. pic.twitter.com/PDn86Lr578  Sanctuary Asia (@SanctuaryAsia) November 6, 2017

Events like the one depicted in the photograph are routine, the captions says.

The ignorance and bloodlust of mobs that attack herds for fun, is compounded by the plight of those that actually suffer damage to land, life and property by wandering elephants and the utter indifference of the central and state government to recognize the crisis that is at hand, the caption says. For these smart, gentle, social animals who have roamed the subcontinent for centuries, hell is now and here.

India holds some 60 percent of the worlds Asian elephant population, according to Sanctuary Asia.

Photographer Biplab Hazra said that these types of conflicts happen wherever elephants roam, from the eastern state of West Bengal up to the Saranda forest in the eastern state of Jharkhand, he says, according to The New Indian Express.

The calf may not have been intentionally set on fire by the villagers living in the vicinity, he said. But bursting crackers and throwing fireballs on elephant herds has been a common practice in this part of West Bengal.

Hazra works as a brick kiln owner and does photography as a hobby.

The photography competition is held by the magazine Sanctuary Asia, whose website says it is the leading conservation and wildlife magazine in India.

Sanctuary Asia editor Anirudh Nair said the magazine gave the top award to Hazras photograph as a way to raise awareness about the plight of elephants.

We wanted to raise awareness on the practice of violence against elephants in West Bengal and in other parts of the country, Nair told The New Indian Express.

From NTD.tv
Police: 4 Dead in Arizona Neighborhood Shooting

Two adults and two children were found dead in an apparent shooting in north Scottsdale, Arizona, in what police believe is an isolated incident.

Scottsdale police responded to the incident at around 1:30 p.m., which took place at a home, on Friday, Nov. 10, ABC15 reports.

Scottsdale police Sgt. Ben Hoster said they believe the victims all lived in the same house, but as of writing, he could not confirm if all of the victims were members of the same family.

These situations are always very sad. Right now, were just trying to find out why or who. Well get there, Hoster told The Republic newspaper.

Police confirmed that a gun was used during the incident.

SPD is investigating a shooting involving multiple subjects at a residence in the area of 103rd Pl and Sutton. PIO is headed to the scene.  ScottsdalePD (@ScottsdalePD) November 10, 2017

As of writing, police had not released any details on the type of gun or the identities or ages of the victims.

Police said they are still in the early stages of the investigation.

At this point, police dont believe the suspect is still at large.

This is an isolated incident, Hoster told reporters during a news conference in the neighborhood on Friday afternoon. We do not believe there are any outstanding suspects.

Tina Liberty, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years, said she was shocked.

This is a family neighborhood. Neighbors know each other, Liberty told the Arizona Republic. It scares me because this is a quiet  normal neighborhood. Then all of a suddenits unbelievable.

One neighbor said on Facebook he was having a hard time processing the shooting. He said he could see the house from his garage.

Another neighbor said on Facebook she cant fathom could have happened.

May they be at peace. This is a family in my neighborhood, I cannot imagine the circumstances that would lead to this end, she wrote.

Scottsdale Police investigating shooting involving mutiple people at a home in this neighborhood off Frank Loyd and Cactus. pic.twitter.com/7PNOTQeXz1  Chris Gros (@ChrisGrosABC15) November 10, 2017

From NTD.tv
People walk at the site of an air strike in the northwestern city of Saada, Yemen on Nov. 1, 2017. (Naif Rahma/Reuters)

Saudi Arabia Launches Attack on Yemen Ministry of Defense

Saudi Arabia launched military strikes against Yemens defense ministry in Sanaa, the capital city, on Friday, the AFP news agency reported.

There were two to three strikes on the Ministry of Defense, local journalist Hassain Abukhaiti told Russian state-backed RT. One of the missiles hit a house near the building, he said. A family was living there, the journalist added. The house has been destroyed. It is very likely that the entire family was killed.

#BREAKING Saudi-led strikes target defence ministry in Yemeni capital say witnesses  AFP news agency (@AFP) November 10, 2017

It comes after reports that Iran had manufactured the ballistic missile fired by Yemeni rebels toward Riyadh, the Saudi capital, several days ago.

The Houthi media outlet Al-Masirah also reported on the two air strikes, according to Al Arabiya.

Jeffrey Harrigian, commander for southwest Asia at U.S. Air Forces Central Command, also told reporters while on a visit to Dubai that it was important to find diplomatic solutions to tensions surrounding Lebanon instead of going to war.

What we have seen, clearly from the results of the ballistic missile attacks, that there have been Iranian markings on those missiles, thats been demonstrated, Harrigian said, according to Reuters.

To me that connects the dots to Iran in terms of whos providing those missiles and that capability.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has accused Lebanon and its Shiite Hezbollah movement of declaring war on it. Riyadh has advised Saudi citizens not to travel to Lebanon, or if already there to leave as soon as possible.

With respect to Lebanon, I think the goal will be to try to find diplomatic solutions, Harrigian said.

I dont want to speak to specifically how the kingdom of Saudi Arabia will deal with that, but I would like to think we will be able to find a solution to that problem that would allow diplomatic efforts to achieve success versus going to war.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Scientists Capture Rare Primitive Shark With 300 Teeth

Scientists studying seal life, off the coast of Portugal, have caught a prehistoric shark with 300 teeth.

The six-foot-long frilled shark has existed in its current form for 80 million years, making it one of the oldest species alive today.

Its body shape and the number of gills are similar to fossils of sharks which lived 350 million years ago.

Scientists from the Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere were working on a project to eliminate by-catchunwanted fish dragged up and often inadvertently killed by commercial fisherman trawling for food fishwhen they caught this living fossil fish, the Daily Mail reports.

The shark gets its name from the six frilly gill-slits which extend across its entire throat. (Most sharks have an individual opening on the sides of their throats.)

The sharks most distinctive characteristic, though, is its 25 rows of needle-like teeth, according to Newsweek. The teeth latch securely onto prey, which is hard to find at those depthsso the shark cant let a potential meal escape.

Those teeth are useless for chewing, theyre only for grabbing. The sharks jaws are flexible, so once it grabs a meal, the shark can swallow it whole.

The shark feeds on primarily on cephalopodssquids and octopibut also eats fish and even other sharks.

No one has ever seen a frilled shark feeding, but scientists at the ReefQuest Center for Shark Research hypothesize that based on the shape and location of its fins, the frilled shark might hang motionless in the water, then strike swiftly like a snake when prey comes in range.

The slender, snake-like sharks live at depths of 1604,200 feet, though one was caught at over 5,000 feet. They rarely come to the surface. Most specimens are pulled up in the nets of commercial fishermen.

Russian fisherman Roman Fedortsov posted this photo of a frilled shark dredged up by his boat on Oct. 31, 2016. The multiple rows of teeth are clearly visible.

The species range is wide, stretching across the Atlantic from Norway to Brazil as well as throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans around Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and as far north as California. But because it lives at such great depths, the species wasnt even discovered until 1880, by German ichthyologist Ludwig Doderlein, who was exploring around Japan.

The frilled shark is considered to be a living fossil, because it has not evolved since the days of the dinosaurs. The same frilled shark shown here could have been seen swimming in the Cretaceous-Period oceans while Tyrannosaurus Rex walked the land.

From NTD.tv
Teen Mom Accused of Killed Newborn by Shoving Rock Down Girls Throat: Police

A teen in Denver is accused of suffocating her newborn by shoving a small rock down its throat, the Denver Police Department said on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

The infant was killed the day she was born in September after being taken to Childrens Hospital Colorado in Aurora, where she was pronounced dead, the Denver Medical Examiners Office said, Fox31 reported.

The baby, named Amekah, was discovered behind a home, according to an affidavit. The cause of death was listed as suffocation.

Alaya Dotson, 16, was identified as the mother, the Denver District Attorneys Office confirmed, and she told cops that she didnt know she was pregnant until she had the baby, according to a police affidavit.

Dotson had given birth and then took the newborn up to her room before telling police that she was lying on the floor with baby right next to her, adding that the babys arms were moving back and forth, but she was not crying, Fox News reported.

Then, she allegedly wrapped the child in a blanket and put a rock down its throat.

The child was later rushed to the hospital after Dotsons mother figured out what had happened and called 911.

A one-inch rock was removed from the childs throat, and she was pronounced dead at about 8:15 a.m. that morning.

After she was read her Miranda rights, Dotson told police that she suffocated her newborn, FOX31 reported.

Dotson is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder and is still in custody, ABC7 reported.

Colorados Safe Haven laws are designed to prevent incidents like this. The law says that parents can turn in a baby to a staff member at a hospital or fire department with no questions asked.

A mother who has been hiding her pregnancy can protect her secret while also protecting her baby, Linda Prudhomme, the executive director of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, told ABC7.
Trump Designates Annual Day to Honor Vietnam Veterans

President Donald Trump on Nov. 10 signed into law that March 29 be designated National Vietnam War Veterans Day to honor the close to 500,000 American troops who fought in Vietnam and, many say, were not properly honored for their sacrifice.

Throughout this Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, and every March 29 thereafter, we will honor all those who answered our Nations call to duty, Trump said in the proclamation.

We vow to never again confuse personal disapproval of war with prejudice against those who honorably wear the uniform of our Armed Forces, he said. With conviction, our Nation pledges our enduring respect, our continuing care, and our everlasting commitment to all Vietnam veterans, he said.

Trump made the announcement after arriving in Vietnam, as part of his Asia tour. He held a press conference with seven Vietnam veterans where he thanked them for their service ahead of Veterans Day. He said, according to a transcript, Our veterans are a national treasure, and I thank them all for their service, sacrifice, and patriotism.

During the meeting in a room of the Hyatt Regency in Da Nang, according to a press pool announcement, Trump invited the veterans to speak, and as one of them choked up while speaking, Trump embraced him.

To each of you with me today, you are the heroes who fulfill your duty to our nation, Trump said. And each of you, under the most difficult conditions, did what you had to do, and you did it well.

Im very honored to be representing our country, and I will say that, when you speak of honors, one of my great honors is to present the people standing right behind megreat, great warriors and veterans of the Vietnam War, he said.

Vietnam veterans carry a heavy weight on their shoulders. After the war, where more than 58,000 Americans lost their lives, they returned home to a country where they were often shunned.

Today, Im signing a proclamation to honor the veterans of the Vietnam War, Trump said.

The Nov. 10 proclamation is part of a 13-year commemoration beginning in 2012 for the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War. In it, Trump said, We salute our brave Vietnam veterans who, in service to our Nation and in defense of liberty, fought gallantly against the spread of communism and defended the freedom of the Vietnamese people.

Trump noted that 50 years ago, in 1967, close to 500,000 American troops were fighting alongside nearly 850,000 allied forces to defend South Vietnam. He said that during Veterans and Military Families Month, and while the United States is observing Veterans Day, he is in Vietnam with business and political leaders to advance the interests of America, and to promote peace and stability in this region and around the world.

I cherish this opportunity to recall, with humility, the sacrifices our veterans made for our freedom and our Nations strength, he said.

During this Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, we embrace our responsibility to help our Vietnam veterans and their families heal from the heavy toll of war, he said.

Trump said that in his administration, I promise to continue coordinated efforts to recognize all veterans of the Vietnam War for their service and sacrifice, and to provide them with the heartfelt acknowledgment and gratitude that they and their families so richly deserve.

He had also stated this promise in another release, published by the White House office of the press secretary on Nov. 9, where Trump brought attention to scandals within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and said this has shown the need for providing our veterans with more support.

To help repair the department, the Trump administration is enforcing new accountability standards for VA personnel, fired over 1,163 VA employees, created new protections for whistleblowers to make it easier to identify VA employees not meeting standards, and is expanding VA services to make it more accessible to veterans, among other changes.

The announcement reiterated Trumps remarks at a VA event on Aug. 3, where he stated, 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.
Waitress Accused of Stealing Over $73K From Restaurant in Pennsylvania

A waitress from a local restaurant in Seven Fields, Pennsylvaniaturned herself in to police on Thursday, Nov. 9 after she was accused of stealing over $73,000.

Kimberly Cook, an employee at the Hines Wards Table 86 was arrested by Evans City Seven Fields regional police in the morning, NBC affiliate WPXI reported. The restaurant serves traditional American style food including seafood and steaks.

During her work as a server, Cook allegedly pocketed tens of thousands of dollars by taking cash payments from customers and ringing them up on the register as gift cards instead.

On the same day Cook turned herself in, Pittsburgh Steelers star Hines Ward, co-owner of the restaurant, issued a statement.

Its an unfortunate situation, but Im grateful that we were able to catch it before it went any farther. I give credit to my restaurant partner, Howard Shiller, for handling this matter swiftly and professionally and for taking measures to ensure that things like this never happen again, read the statement released to WPXI.

Hines and Shiller opened the restaurant two and a half years ago.

Shiller told WPXI that he noticed something suspicious going on.

We were gaining more gift cards than we sold, so the initial thought is, Oh, the managers are coding these things wrong. But a forensic audit revealed something else, Shiller said.

Cook had no comment. But according to a criminal complaint file that WPXI obtained, Cook admitted to stealing the cash and told police that she had no clue about the exact amount she had taken.

The waitress rung up more than $73,000 in fake sales while she worked at the restaurant for over two years, from August 2015 to October 2017.

When you have all these employees coming to you going, I cant believe that happened to you. We love this place; we love working here. We cant believe she did that. And I said, Well, guys, it wasnt your fault, but it will be fine, Shiller said.

Police said the thefts were uncovered after a routine audit, during which Cook was brought in for questioning on Nov. 1, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

All of Cooks transactions were linked to her employee number, authorities said, revealing how her thefts started small and greatly increased in the past year.

Shiller said that luckily guests were not affected in any way by Cooks alleged crimes.

Shame on her for cheating her employer, one customer told CBS.

As of writing on Friday, Nov. 10, Cook is behind bars in Allegheny County on a probation violation stemming from another similar crime she committed years ago.

The owner of the restaurant said he should be able to get his money back through insurance.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring the commencement of work on the 3050 megawatts Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Plant at Sarduana Local Government Area of Taraba State, saying it can do a lot in developing Nigeria.

He made the commendation today at the Ministry during the signing of the 3050MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power deal in a joint venture agreement with three Chinese companies, MESSRS Sinohydro Corporation Limited, CGCOC Group Co. LTD, and China Gezhouba Group Company Limited (CGGC) for the execution of the project with CGGC as the lead partner.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on August 30th 2017 approved the sum of 5,792,497.06 US dollars (about N1.140trillion) for the construction of the plant, disclosing that the idea of the project was conceived over 40 years ago. Several efforts had been made to bring it to reality but Im happy that this government approved the contract to joint ventures of Chinese Civil and Engineering company for the engineering and turn  key contract, including civil and electro  mechanical works I thank Mr. President very much for bringing Mambilla hydro  Power project which is one of the biggest hydro project in Nigeria back on track

On his part, the Managing Director, China Gezhouba Group Company Limited (CGGC) Mr. Zhang Wei said the project would improve the living standard of Nigerians and contribute to strengthening the ties between China and Nigeria. Wei sad on completion, the great part of electricity consumed by Nigerians will be provided by this project, and tremendously easing the current shortage of electricity in the country.
How to watch and what to know about Northern Iowa at South Dakota
PABLO  Gail Ashley Robertson feels like shes living in a nightmare and that shell never wake up.

Her husband, Tom, also feels haunted.

I keep hoping that well get justice for Johnny, he said. But I dont think were going to.

In September, Gails son and Toms stepson, Johnny McKeever, was shot and killed during the early morning hours on the porch of a home not his own in Pablo on Sept. 16.

The couple has been told that he lay there for 23 minutes before anyone in the house called the police.

Both wonder if he might have lived had someone called sooner.

Ryan Black, 28, of Pablo was arrested at the scene and held on a charge of deliberate homicide. He appeared before a Lake County justice who released him on his own recognizance with a requirement to wear a GPS monitoring device.

Since then, Lake County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher has told the Robertsons he believes it was a case of self defense, but he hasnt provided them any details on why that might be. He did say he plans to make his ruling public next week.

Since receiving the news, the couple said they have tried to get information from the county attorneys office without success.

I literally have to burn up his phone before he (Eschenbacher) will finally answer my calls, Tom Robertson said. My sister-in-law has called and called and he never called her back. The kids have called and not got any answers or even a call back. When we finally do get a hold of him, he says it was self defense, sorry for your loss and hangs up.

As far as I can see, he is just sweeping this under the rug and walking away, he said. We dont understand it. The detective has told us that it comes as a homicide, but the DA isnt looking at it that way. He said hes going to make a ruling next Tuesday that it was self defense. He said theres no judge involved and that he has the final say.

The Missoulian has attempted to reach Eschenbacher for weeks seeking more information on the case. He hasnt returned multiple phone calls.

Both the Robertsons said that McKeever, of Pablo, is being painted as a person he was not.

He wasnt a hoodlum or a troublemaker, Gail Robertson said. He worked hard all of his life. He worked for everything he had  He wasnt a violent person.

Born with a clubbed foot, his mother had been told he would never walk.

He pretty much showed everyone that they were wrong, she said. He used his little cast as a tool to help him get started. He was walking by the time he was nine months old.

He was always in pain, but you could never tell that. He was a funny kid. You could be having a bad day and then in would walk Johnny and he would make you laugh. That was the kind of person he was. Since he was a baby, his smile was infectious. Even during those times when he went through so many operations, he was always smiling and always happy.

Gail Robertson said his world brightened even more when his daughter was born. She turned seven a few days after he died.

He enjoyed all of his kids, she said. Family was always important to him.

Tom and Gail Robertson work as long haul truck drivers. They were passing through Louisiana on Friday with a load of drywall when they talked with the Missoulian.

Gail Robertson remembers that they were in Nebraska at about 8 a.m. on the day the phone rang with the terrible news about their son.

I heard my oldest son on the phone and he was crying, she said. I thought maybe something had happened to one of his kids. Instead, I heard him saying Mom, Johnny just got shot. Hes dead. Johnny just got shot. 

She remembers getting out of the truck and then just walking around it in circles for the longest time.

Thats all I could do, she said. There wasnt any other place I could go. I just walked around and around the semi. I couldnt believe that he was gone.

He was a kid who could walk up to people he didnt even know and make friends with them in five seconds, she said. He would give them the shirt right off his back  He was a very giving person. He was a joy for us.

Tom Robertson said they dont know for sure what theyll do if Eschenbacher decides to call it a case of self defense. They are considering filing a civil case.

We dont think that hes going to get justice, he said. If he had been killed in a car wreck or a natural cause, it would be easier to deal with. People tell us that we have to try to get over it, but you cant get over it. It haunts me every night. I want to turn this truck around and find the man who shot him, but I know I cant do that. Its been hard.

Added Gail Robertson, Everyone wants to put the blame on Johnny because hes not here to defend himself. He was too nice of a person to go down like this. Its a nightmare that I cant wake up from.
Grandpa Dave Watt calls Frenchtown Elementary, the school where he frequently volunteers, the most patriotic school in the state, in large part because of the districts annual Veterans Day celebration.

He retired from the Navy in 2003 as a master chief petty officer, the highest enlisted rank, after 30 years of service. More recently, he earned his nickname for volunteering at the school once a week as a foster grandparent.

As students from all grades, as well as some family members, filled the bleachers on Friday, Watt said school celebrations of Veterans Day are important.

Im part of that group that comes home from Vietnam and was spit on and they wouldnt even let me wear my uniform in the San Francisco airport, he said. Ive been here three years and every year Ive been here, it (the celebration) means just as much.

Frenchtown students hosted their third annual Veterans Day celebration for service members. They also recognized eight seniors who have enlisted: Treyjan Richardson, Trystan Richardson, Corrick Kuhl and Brookelyn Sewell in the Army; and Jon Patrick, Bryson Perry, Thomas Kaiser and Fabiola Bundy in the U.S. Marine Corps. It was one of several similar events scheduled at area schools this week or next to honor military service and sacrifice. The official federal holiday is Saturday.

As former Spc. Jeff Wilcox walked into the gym, Bella Powell, 11, asked if he was a veteran. He served eight years in the U.S. Army.

May I escort you? she asked.

Powell hooked her elbow around his and walked Wilcox across the room to a seat. He and his daughter Caitlyn, 11, moved to Frenchtown from Boise a couple of years ago. He was impressed by Frenchtowns event.

Theres so much negativity in the world right now, he said. Its good for them to see something positive.

Master Sgt. Richard Mallozzi, who has served in the Army since 1999, had two sons in the stands: sons, Gavin, 8, and Payton, 7. He also applauded the school for teaching kids of all ages about the importance of Veterans Day.

They need to know they get what they get, he said. All this stuff doesnt come free.

Like all the seats reserved for veterans, former Spc. Cal Bonnet found a handwritten card on his chair. He unfolded the red construction paper to find a blue heart popping out with the words, Happy Veterans Day. Thank you for your service. We are glad your (sic) here! Thanks for your help. We appreciate you.

Bonnet was invited to the ceremony by his granddaughter and was glad to know she is learning an important part of U.S. history.

People should know what happened in the past and what we had to do, he said.

The ceremony Friday morning was led by Emily Kaminski and Brenner Warren, both 10 years old.

Letting the veterans come here today is very important, Kaminski said. Theyre here for us and are our heroes.

Warren agreed.

We wouldnt be here without them. Celebrating Veterans Day is a great way to thank them. We wouldnt be America without them, he said.

After a presentation of the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and a performance of the Star Spangled Banner by the Accidentals, a high school choir group, former 1st Sgt. Gerry Christensen presented a small table set for one with a white tablecloth and a black flag draped over the chair symbolizing prisoners of war and soldiers who remain missing in action.

They are unable to be here with their loved ones, Christensen, who served in the Army before becoming commander of American Legion Post 124. We bear witness to their continued absence.

He later noted that the Frenchtown post was renamed in honor of Army Ranger Kristofor Stonesifer, a 28-year-old from Missoula killed along with another soldier in a Blackhawk helicopter crash in Pakistan  among the first Americans to die in the Afghanistan war.

The Frenchtown ceremony also included short speeches by two veterans.

Capt. Char Gatlin, a retired Army Ranger and regional commander for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, described his time on a casket team at Arlington National Cemetery.

You learn about the other side of it, he said. Yes, were soldiers. Yes, we move forward. Yes, we do whatever were asked to do and we do it efficiently. Theres another side of it.  When our friends dont come back for whatever reason or we get up there in age, we wind up going through Arlington. In Arlington, everyone is equal, no matter what you did in life.

Col. John Keefe, who retired from the Marine Corps in 1977, told a story about the United Kingdoms Royal Marines reviewing war footage to better understand troop movements. They noted that artillery units included two men who walked away just before a shot was fired. They later learned the tradition served no purpose and was a holdover from the days when someone had to hold horses reins so they wouldnt run away.

Sometimes as technology moves forward, we are stuck in our old habits, he said, joking that cellphones remain a mystery to him. As you learn and acquire new skills, avoid being a horse holder.

He also reminded them, We had veterans before we had a Veterans Day.
NEW YORKA subpoena in the Harvey Weinstein rape investigation requesting all medical treatment records from a therapist for Boardwalk Empire actress Paz de La Huerta is too broad and would be embarrassing and damaging to her, her lawyers said in court papers.

De la Huerta told police on Oct. 25 the media mogul raped her twice in 2010. The Manhattan District Attorneys office has subpoenaed her therapist in the case; the therapist told Vanity Fair she recalled de la Huerta telling her about the sexual assaults. But the subpoena seeks any and all medical treatment records from the therapist, both handwritten and typed.

Her lawyers argued the information is protected by doctor-client confidentiality laws and she should have the opportunity to review the records before anything is turned over. They also argued the request sought too much information beyond just the 2010 allegations.

Read more: How the Weinstein scandal opened a floodgate

Ms. de la Huertas communications with her psychologist include information about subjects and individuals completely unrelated to the grand jury focused on the sexual assaults alleged, lawyer Alex Straus wrote. The disclosure of the records could inadvertently reveal sensitive and embarrassing information of other people, plus they could exacerbate the humiliation she already feels after being raped by Weinstein, the documents said.

A judge was scheduled to hear the motion Wednesday. The motion was first reported by the Daily News of New York.

Weinstein, 65, has denied all accusations of non-consensual sexual contact. His publicists have said his lawyers do not believe an indictment is imminent and they will be making formal presentation on his behalf.

More than 75 women have publicly accused Weinstein of inappropriate behaviour ranging from requests for massages to intimidating sexual advances to rape. The disclosures come after The New York Times and The New Yorker published exposes of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein, leading to his firing from the film production company he co-founded.

De La Huerta, 33, detailed the accusations in Vanity Fair and CBS, and said the first rape occurred in October 2010 after Weinstein gave her a ride home from a party, insisted on having a drink in her apartment and forced himself on her. She said the second rape occurred in December 2010 after Weinstein came to her apartment; she had been drinking and was not in a condition to give consent.

She was interviewed by police who said her story was credible, in part because she was able to recount specific details on numerous occasions and because it was corroborated by at least two people. Police and prosecutors are gathering evidence to put before a grand jury, which could choose to indict Weinstein. Police in London, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, California are also investigating potential criminal charges.

De La Huerta retained a new lawyer who will be proceeding with the case; she didnt comment on the motion. The DAs office told the Daily News it was not yet formally notified of the filing.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they speak publicly, which de la Huerta has done.

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OTTAWAThousands of Canadians stood in the biting cold for national Remembrance Day services on Saturday as the militarys senior chaplain delivered a powerful message to those struggling with thoughts of suicide as a result of their time in uniform.

Clad in the white robes of his office, Brig.-Gen. Guy Chapdelaine prayed for those who died defending the country and its way of life before turning to soldiers suffering from injuries visible and invisible.

We pray for all those who because of the strain of life have considered or attempted suicide, Chapdelaine said as the large crowd gathered around the National War Memorial stood in respectful silence.

Inspire us to take meaningful action to understand, address and reduce the risk of suicide and be a supportive, compassionate support to our comrades and loved ones at risk. Help us to give them hope.

It was a poignant moment, and one that resonated with many in attendance as Canada tries to come to grips with the psychological toll that war has taken on many of its current and former military personnel.

Its very important that it is put out there for people, said Cpl. Robert Vincent, who travelled from Pembroke, Ont., to attend the ceremony in Ottawa with his family.

There will be people all over Canada watching this today and elsewhere as well. So its important that the message is said here. Any chance we get to help out a veteran is great.

More than 130 serving military personnel have taken their own lives since 2010, according to the government, including eight who died between January and August this year.

Officials say the military suicide rate is roughly the same as the general population, but there are exceptions: those who serve in the army, for example, are up to three times more likely to kill themselves.

The government doesnt know exactly how many veterans kill themselves each year, but previous studies have suggested they are more at risk than active members.

It was also a timely message as only last month, the government released a plan aimed at combating suicide and improving mental health among military members and veterans.

Chapdelaines words also underscored the changing nature of Remembrance Day, as veterans from the Second World War and Korea pass the torch to those who came after  and who face their own unique challenges.

The crowd started gathering early under a brilliant blue sky before a parade of military personnel and veterans marched onto the plaza in front of the monument.

The number of veterans in the parade was painfully small. Gone were the long lines of veterans from the Second World War and Korea. In their stead were former peacekeepers and those who served in Afghanistan.

Saturdays ceremony also saw a different changing of the guard, as Julie Payette marked her first Remembrance Day as governor general after replacing David Johnston last month.

Following what has become an established tradition, the former astronaut, who was escorted by her son Laurier Payette, wore an air force uniform as commander-in-chief.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau was also on hand, filling in for her husband, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is travelling in Asia.

The prime minister joined a special ceremony at a hotel in the Vietnamese city of Danang on Saturday.

Trudeau recited the French poem, Le Dormeur du val, and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland read In Flanders Fields. A bugler then played Last Post and the room sang the national anthem.

Among those who placed wreaths during the Ottawa ceremony was the Silver Cross Mother, Diana Abel, representing all bereaved mothers. Abels son, Michael, was killed while serving in Somalia in 1993.

In Halifax, hundreds of people turned out, and doves flew overhead as rows of uniformed men and women removed their hats to pay their respects to fallen soldiers.

Veterans, dignitaries and citizens also bowed their heads in Montreal as prayers and poems were read in English, French and Mohawk.

Some wiped away tears and during a reading of Robert Laurence Binyons poem For the Fallen, which was occasionally drowned out by the booming cannon fire of an artillery salute.

The crowd was invited to repeat the famous refrain: At the going down of the sun and in the morning/we will remember them.

Later, outgoing Mayor Denis Coderre linked arms with his successor, Valerie Plante, as the two lay a wreath at the foot of the cenotaph.

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Two Ontario Provincial Police officers are among five hospitalized after a collision involving a cruiser in Belleville, Ont. Thursday night, said the provinces police watchdog.

The Special Investigations Unit, which investigates all incidents of serious injury, death or sexual assault involving police, is now looking into the crash. The officers were transporting a prisoner at the time, the SIU said in a written release Friday.

The collision happened at about 11 p.m. Thursday at Sidney and Dundas Sts. in Belleville.

Two OPP officers and a 21-year-old man, who was driving the civilian vehicle, were seriously hurt, the SIU said. Three other people were hospitalized. None of their injuries were life-threatening.

The SIU said it has designated one subject officer and one witness officer. It has also assigned three investigators and two forensic investigators to the crash.

The SIU said anyone with information is encouraged to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529.

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Toronto police have found one of the three missing Chinese students who they suspect are involved in a kidnapping scam.

Juanwen Zhang, 20, was found Saturday afternoon, after being last seen on Wednesday near Yonge and Grenville Sts.

Police said the scam involves suspects telling young Chinese students to go into hiding, or their family in China will be hurt.

The victims may be with the suspects and are told not to use their cellphones or access social media, police said.

The suspects then contact families of the victims in China, tell them their children have been kidnapped and demand a large ransom.

Police are still searching for 17-year-old Yue Kandy Liu, and Ke Jaden Xu, 16.

Liu was last seen on Friday, Nov. 10 around 10:30 a.m. near Yonge St. and Finch Ave., according to police.

She is described as five-foot-six with a thin build, long black hair, and brown eyes. She was wearing a knee-length brown jacket, a white scarf, blue track pants and black (and) white shoes.

Xu, was last seen Nov. 9 at 10:30 a.m., near Eglinton Ave. E and Midland Ave.

It is unknown which schools the students attend.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers or police.

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Adapted from a speech to Foodbank of Waterloo:

My mother is still living, but this is a eulogy of sorts.

This is my feeble attempt to sum up her life experience with a handful of, no doubt, ill-chosen words; the kind of exercise normally undertaken from the pulpit or at the graveside, and in my case made all the more difficult by the passage of time and the shame that has shrouded some key chapters in my mothers story.

My mother is still living, but she is lost now to Alzheimers; and lost, too, is the opportunity to talk to her about our family history and the role race played in her life.

My mother is still living, and what follows is her story ... or at least part of it.

We start at the home of my mothers great-aunt, Marguerite Dumas Caron.

Marguerites whitewashed, stuccoed log home still sits on a high bluff overlooking the South Saskatchewan River. The valley below  even today  teems with game and the river with fish; the land is rich and sprawls in every direction under a seemingly endless prairie sky.

Its easy to understand why the Metis, who settled there after abandoning the rich valley lands of the Red River, were prepared to die defending this last stake at a homeland.

Even today, there is something both guileless and beguiling about the land. Its the kind of place that, in the words of Johnny Cash, you can breathe air that aint been breathed before.

Marguerite, by all accounts, was a woman of uncharacteristic strength and will, traits that those who know my mother would immediately recognize. Anyone who ever crossed swords with Rita Jeanne Dumas would appreciate the maxim that history doesnt always repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

Marguerite is a heroine to the Metis. Her husband, Jean Caron, and her sons fought the Canadian Army in the Northwest Rebellion. So, too, did her brother, my mothers grandfather, Joseph Patrice Dumas.

Marguerites home was burned to the ground by Canadian troops during the Battle of Batoche, where the Metis made their last stand. (The home that sits on the bluff today was built on its charred foundations the year after the guns had fallen silent, and it was occupied by the Carons until well into this century.)

Marguerite became a Metis heroine in the hours before Batoche, during the Battle of Fish Creek. A tiny force of Metis soldiers, fighting alongside a handful of Dakota warriors, were being overwhelmed at Touronds Coulee by a massively superior force of Canadian soldiers advancing on the Village of Batoche.

I stood on the lip of that coulee this summer, now a still and peaceful spot surrounded by fiery yellow fields of canola, and tried to imagine the fear that must have gripped the vastly outnumbered, poorly armed Metis soldiers as they surveyed the Canadian forces.

Marguerite surely knew fear, too. She could hear the gunfire and artillery from her home in Batoche, and knew that the Metis were running out of ammunition and in desperate need of reinforcements. She knew she would likely lose her husband and her sons if something was not done to turn the battle.

The story goes that Louis Riel, the head of the provisional government and the leader of the rebellion, was on his knees in the village church when Marguerite burst in on him, roused him from his religious stupor, demanding that he send reinforcements to the coulee.

Get off your goddamn knees and stop praying, she railed. If you dont send reinforcements, Ill go myself.

Riel did send reinforcements, and the Battle of Fish Creek was, indeed, turned, with the Canadian commander halting his advance and withdrawing from the field. That, of course, did not alter the inevitable outcome of the rebellion or the tragic path of the Metis people in the many decades that have followed.

I find the story of Marguerite Dumas and her brother, Joseph Patrice, fascinating, even inspiring. And Id be less than honest with you if I didnt confess to a great and unexpected sense of pride, even delight, that two such incredible characters, people who played such central and integral roles in a crucial chapter of our countrys history, can be found in my humble family tree.

What I find even more notable, though, is that it is not a story I ever heard from my mother.

My brother has spent the last several years piecing together our familys story, and its only been through his efforts that we have come to know Marguerite and Joseph Patrice. And it was at my brothers urging that we travelled together to North Saskatchewan in this, the 150th anniversary of Canadas nationhood.

Standing in our family homestead, now a national historic site, I could not help but wonder how this could be. How was it that this chapter of our family story had not been celebrated; in fact, had been suppressed by the very people who should have been proudest of it?

The simple answer is that race, specifically my mothers mixed race, was a forbidden topic in our childhood home, as it had been in her own home when she was a child.

My mother grew up in a society that was inherently racist. You will not understand any part of my mothers story if you do not understand that first.

This is not something my mother, who never got past the fifth grade, could articulate at an intellectual level, but it was something she knew with absolute certainty at an emotional one.

And so she spent her life brazening it out, hoping always that if she said often enough that her family was French and German, with some Dutch thrown in, that would expunge the Cree blood that also coursed through her veins.

And for the most part it did.

There are only a handful of instances from my childhood when I remember my mothers race being questioned  at least publicly.

When I was 6 or 7, I remember a friends mother snidely introducing me as Rita Robbinss boy, you know, that Indian-looking woman. I recall the sense of panic I felt upon hearing my mother described that way, and I recall her sense of devastation when I recounted it to her that afternoon.

Race is a difficult and complicated subject for me. And I want to make clear here that throughout my life I have enjoyed the great privilege that all dominant classes enjoy in their societies. I am not standing here today suggesting for a moment that my life is in any way illustrative of the broader Metis experience in Canada. Quite the opposite, actually.

My fathers Anglo/Irish stock was all anyone needed to know about my brother and me. I may have my mothers Cree blood, but its really only of late that Ive acknowledged and embraced that part of my family narrative. The truth is that our Metis ancestry has never been a mechanism by which people have identified me or by which I have identified myself.

So this, in all the ways that matter, is my mothers story, not my own.

In a speech to the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with refreshing candour of Canadas troubled relationship with Indigenous peoples, and the stark manner in which our history of colonialism has impacted these communities.

For First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples in Canada, said Trudeau, those early colonial relationships were not about strength through diversity, or a celebration of differences. For Indigenous peoples in Canada, the experience was mostly one of humiliation, neglect and abuse.

Humiliation.

Neglect.

And abuse.

The prime minister went on to cite a litany of social ills that have flowed from that dysfunction into the present day  everything from the lack of potable water on reserves to the tragic rates of suicide among Indigenous youth and, of course, the now well-documented and tragic history of murdered and missing Indigenous women.

As tragic as that shopping list of government and societal failure may be, Id suggest that what is missing is an overarching understanding of the role of endemic poverty in Indigenous communities; an appropriate point of reflection at an event such as this mornings, as we struggle to understand the relationship between diversity and hunger, that most pointed expression of poverty.

Even a casual observer would be struck by the disproportionate weight of poverty borne by First Nations and Metis communities. Consider some recent media:

Indigenous children are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than other Canadian children.

Indigenous children living on reserves in Manitoba experience rates of poverty as high as 76 per cent.

The life expectancy of Indigenous citizens is five to seven years shorter than the life expectancy of non-aboriginals;

Infant mortality rates are 1.5 times higher among First Nations;

Tuberculosis rates among people living on reserves are 31 times the national average.

And, finally  and this one I always find most jarring  First Nations youth are more likely to end up in jail than to graduate high school.

If all of this were true only of First Nations and Metis, it would be damning and deplorable. But study after study shows that the relationship between poverty and visible minorities in Canada is indisputable.

Some studies show the rates of poverty among racialized communities are twice the Canadian average, and that such groups account for more than 60 per cent of impoverished people living in our largest cities.

In his speech to the UN, Trudeau opined that Canada remains a work in progress.

And to that I would add that we have accomplished much as a nation, much of which we can be justifiably proud; make no mistake, I am a proud Canadian. But much of the heavy lifting in our nation building is still to be done.

Inclusion must be at the heart of that work. And meaningful reconciliation with our First Nations, Metis and Inuit must be our shared commitment.

When I returned from Batoche this summer, my first stop was at my mothers nursing home. I told her about the trip, what my brother and I had learned about Marguerite and Joseph Patrice, and I told her we should be proud to come from such stock.

As is her nature now, Mom sat quietly, never uttering a word, and watched me while I spoke.

If this was a movie, I would tell you that some small part of my recitation penetrated my mothers consciousness, and that she gave her son some signal of comprehension, perhaps a smile, maybe an almost imperceptible nod of the head.

But this isnt a movie.

And I know in my heart that no part of that story was understood. The telling of it came too late for Rita Jeanne Dumas.

My mother is still living, but she will never know the pride our family has in our rediscovered Metis roots.

This is my mothers story.

Correction  November 13, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Marguerite Dumas Carons log home sits on a high bluff overlooking the North Saskatchewan River. In fact, it sits overlooking the South Saskatchewan River.

Dana Robbins is vice-president and group publisher for Metroland Media, a sister company of the Toronto Star.

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Nearly 1 million Ontarians are on social assistance, but you wouldnt know it from the lack of attention they get.

Yes, thats an enormous number of people. No, it doesnt translate into 1 million votes.

Low-income people tend toward lower election turnouts, poor children arent voters, and welfare families cant afford campaign donations. But the bigger reason why poverty remains a low priority for politicians is the cost  political and fiscal.

Allocating too much money for welfare risks antagonizing other voters who fret about waste or dependency. And who want their own needs and entitlements taken care of first  like hydro rate reductions, child-care subsidies, or middle class tax cuts.

No one likes the problem of poverty, but they rarely love the solutions, either. Perhaps thats why almost no one paid attention this month when a massive review of the provinces poverty challenges yielded an ambitious prescription for what needs to be done.

My Toronto Star colleague Laurie Monsebraaten, who has been tracking this issue all along, was the first journalist to report on the story. And perhaps the last, for virtually no one else picked up on the news buried by the Liberal government in an avalanche of other announcements lest it attract unwanted attention.

Its often said that no news is good news, but poor news can be bad news for politicians. Especially when the report, A Roadmap for Change, calls for a more than 22-per-cent increase in welfare over the next three years, with an estimated $3.2 billion annual pricetag by 2020.

The last time the governing Liberals tackled poverty, they recruited ex-NDP cabinet minister Frances Lankin. The 2012 report she co-authored called for a radical overhaul of the system, undoing the legacy of ex-PC premier Mike Harris who had sliced and diced welfare payments in the 1990s  segregating the so-called deserving disabled from the seemingly undeserving poor.

Lankins report yielded some low-hanging fruit, quickly harvested by Premier Kathleen Wynne: The government heeded her advice to let people in dire straits keep a modest amount of money and assets without being unduly penalized by clawbacks (previously they had to be destitute before qualifying, and lost 50 cents for every dollar they earned). But Lankins more ambitious reforms sparked resistance from bureaucrats and anti-poverty groups worried about disruptions to existing programs.

Lacking buy-in from the poor, unable to sell it to the better-off, the Liberals did what politicians do. They ordered another study, by another adviser who had already done one decades before.

This time, they recruited ex-judge George Thomson, who first blazed a trail  if not yet a roadmap  for David Petersons Liberals in the late 1980s. All these years later, Thomson is trying to avoid repeating history yet again.

Leary of brainstorming in isolation, he brought together key players in the social services sector and huddled with bureaucrats in government to get everyone on the same page. Those pages still make for difficult reading.

Its not just that fighting poverty is expensive, but exceedingly complicated thanks to a maze of programs and criteria that could keep a high-priced tax lawyer busy for months. Asking a social assistance recipient to fathom the rules, let alone follow them, is a form of torture. Ordering a welfare worker to enforce those rules, by shadowing and shaming poor people, seems no less cruel  and costly.

Thomson tries to finish the job Lankin started. He goes beyond cash infusions to look at social supports  a housing allowance akin to a voucher, pharmacare and dental assistance  for the working poor as well as the welfare poor, proposing a rock bottom poverty line of $22,000 for a single person (30 per cent more for the disabled).

Under ex-premier Dalton McGuinty, Lankins mandate was to make do without extra funds, whereas this report has landed in better economic times. The government has asked for feedback on the recommendations, but Wynnes Liberals have already burned through cash to pay for pharmacare and hydro reductions while balancing the budget as promised.

Even if the Liberals sign on for some of it, past reports have demonstrated that roadmaps run into roadblocks, for there is no natural political constituency for poverty. Thomsons first effort in the 1980s was shredded by Harris a decade later; if the Progressive Conservatives return to power in the 2018 election, Thomson could see history repeat itself if they sideline his recommendations.

Either way, the takeaway from this report is that our social assistance supports are not just unsustainable in their present form, but barely understandable. Logic (and humanity) demands a single, simple, basic income program that consolidates the tangle of existing rules into a more coherent and cost-effective form of social support, now being tested in a pilot program in parts of the province.

With so many roadmaps and zigzags along the way, all roads are pointing to a streamlined basic income program for all saving all of us money in the long run.

Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca, Twitter: @reggcohn

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BEIJINGIn President Rodrigo Dutertes Philippines, the police, with his explicit support, have killed thousands of alleged drug dealers and users without due process, some while they were in jail, or asleep, or at home with their families. They allegedly shot a 17-year-old while he was in custody, then dumped his remains in an alley. The youngest victim was 4.

Human rights groups, the U.S. Congress, the European Union and the United Nations have all condemned Dutertes war on drugs. Yet when President Donald Trump meets Duterte in Manila, it probably wont enter the conversation.

The two leaders will hold talks at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit on Monday in Manila, marking the last leg of Trumps 12-day, five-country Asian tour, which has included stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. There are no signs that he will press Duterte on the killings  the White House, in advance of the trip, said Trump enjoys a warm rapport with the Philippine leader. Duterte, analysts say, is probably delighted.

Duterte was in Vietnam on Friday along with Trump and other regional leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where Duterte made news after saying he killed someone when he was as young as 16. He has previously bragged about killing suspected criminals in Davao, where he had served as mayor.

When I was a teenager, I would go in and out of jail, Duterte said Friday in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam. Id have rumbles here, rumbles there. At the age of 16, I already killed someone  a real person, a rumble, a stabbing. I was just 16 years old. It was just over a look. How much more now that I am president?

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to this latest admission.

Duterte is tough-talking, but hes actually notably thin-skinned, said Phelim Kine, a deputy director in Human Rights Watchs Asia Division. When hes criticized, he lashes out. So what hes looking for, and what he hopes for from Trump, is someone who wont talk about his human rights record, and will give him very much what he desires  which is international acceptance and recognition, what hes been denied since he took office because of his bloody drug war.

Trump and Duterte will discuss trade and investment, innovation, addressing cybercrime, countering radicalization, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, protection and promotion of right for migrant workers, Robespierre Bolivar, spokesman for the Philippine foreign ministry, said on Friday. They will be joined by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, as well as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Trump has shown no interest in criticizing the drug war  in an April phone call with Duterte, he reportedly congratulated him for doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem. Yet Duterte still cautioned Trump against bringing it up. You want to ask a question, Ill give you an answer, he told reporters on Wednesday. Lay off. That is not your business. That is my business. I take care of my country and I will nurture my country to health.

This is about developing a strongman populist internationale  theres a solidarity between Trump and all the strongmen around the world, said Richard Javad Heydarian, the Manila-based author of The Rise of Duterte. Trump was absolutely out of place in (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), very much isolated among Western allies. He feels at home with people like Duterte, and he loves it. And he knows that Duterte is very popular, not only in the Philippines, but also across the region.

Duterte, known for his profane rhetoric, has struck a more sinister tone with established critics. He said on Wednesday that if Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, investigates him for the killings, I will slap her in front of you. Why? Because you are insulting me.

Despite Dutertes tough talk, he faces serious headwinds at home  including dwindling domestic support for his campaign. In August, after police killed 17-year-old drug suspect Kian Loyd delos Santos, they claimed he drew a gun, forcing them to fire; yet witness accounts and surveillance footage suggested that the teenager was shot unarmed, in police custody.

Another teenager, 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman, was found in early September, his body riddled with stab wounds, his head wrapped in packing tape. The last time hed been seen, 20 days prior, he was with a 19-year-old friend who was also killed by police.

Duterte cast De Guzmans death as a conspiracy intended to sabotage the police. Still, his approval ratings plummeted  the research institution Social Weather Stations in October put his net satisfaction rating at 48 per cent, down 18 points from June.

Two U.S. congressmen  Randy Hultgren and James McGovern, co-chairs of the U.S. Congress Human Rights Commission  have urged Trump to raise human rights concerns with the Philippine leader. Trump should reaffirm the U.S. commitments to fundamental human rights, including due process, and the rule of law, the two wrote. (Duterte, in response, threatened to ban the two congressmen from coming to Manila).

Yet Trump and Duterte are more likely to discuss a battle between Philippine government forces and Daesh militants in the southern city of Marawi, which ended in September after five months of grinding urban warfare. They may also discuss the South China Sea, where the Philippines has become a central player in resisting Chinas increasingly assertive territorial claims.

Obviously, Trump has made human rights a low priority, said Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. But this is also about Duterte recognizing he needs certain things from the U.S.

Experts say Duterte, despite his harsh words toward Washington, hasnt significantly altered the underpinnings of the U.S.-Philippines alliance, which dates back more than six decades.

I think its still worth watching the extent to which the Philippines does continue to increase Chinese economic and security assistance, said Andrew Shearer, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. But so far the only practical Chinese security assistance has been a lot of second-hand assault rifles, which the Philippine military doesnt even want.

Then you stack up on the other side of the ledger, the support that comes from the U.S.  such as Coast Guard vessels, much more modern equipment and, beyond that, the training and behind-the-scenes assistance with intelligence, he continued. And of course, most dramatically, the U.S. support once things blew up in Marawi  that, I think, came along at the perfect time to remind Duterte and the Philippines more generally that the U.S. is an indispensable security partner.

Duterte, stung by U.S. criticisms of his drug war  and enticed by offers of Chinese investment and aid  has signalled a shift away from Washington and toward Beijing. He has struck a far more conciliatory tone toward China than his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III. In August, the Philippines did not challenge Chinese boats operating near an island in the heart of disputed territory. Why should I defend a sandbar and kill the Filipinos because of a sandbar? Duterte said at the time.

Duterte told reporters on Wednesday that he would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping about South China Sea issues. You want to control the passage, or do we have free passage? he said. Yet Philippine trade secretary Ramon Lopez told Bloomberg that Duterte and Xi have a very strong, close relationship like brothers, suggesting he will not broach the subject with force.

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WASHINGTONAlabama Senate candidate Roy Moore declined Friday to rule out that he may have dated girls in their late teens when he was in his 30s, though he said he did not remember any such encounters and described such behaviour as inappropriate.

If I did, Im not going to dispute these things, but I dont remember anything like that, Moore said on Sean Hannitys radio program, when asked whether he had dated 17- or 18-year-old girls at the time.

In the same interview, Moore denied outright the claim of Leigh Corfman that he had initiated sexual encounters with her when she was 14. I dont know Ms. Corfman from anybody, he said. The allegations of sexual misconduct with her are completely false.

Moores comments came as GOP leaders scrambled Friday to limit the political damage from the allegations. Two Republican senatorsSteve Daines, Mont., and Mike Lee, Utah,withdrew their endorsements of Moore after his interview with Hannity.

Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate, Lee wrote in a tweet.

In a tweet, Daines was more succinct: I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate. Daines also retweeted Lees statement.

Earlier in the day, the National Republican Senatorial Committee pulled out of a joint committee it had set up with Moore, depriving him of a fundraising vehicle for the final weeks of the campaign. At the same time, current and former national party leaders admitted that they have little power to force Moore from the race. The special election is Dec. 12.

The comments came a day after The Washington Post published a story in which a woman said Moore had initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Three other women said he had asked or taken them on dates when they were teenagers. None of those three women say Moore forced them into any sort of relationship or sexual contact.

Read more:

Alabama Republicans defend Roy Moore over allegations he had sexual contact with 14-year-old

Woman says GOP candidate Roy Moore, the Ten Commandments judge, initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32

In the interview with Hannity, Moore recalled knowing two of the older women, Gloria Thacker Deason and Debbie Wesson Gibson, as well as their parents. I knew her as a friend, he said of Gibson, who has said Moore asked her on a date when she was 17, after speaking at her high school. If we did go out on dates, then we did, but I do not remember that, Moore said.

When asked about Deasons claim that he provided her wine on dates when she was 18, Moore said: In this county, its a dry county. We never would have had liquor.

Alcohol sales began in Etowah County in 1972, years before the alleged encounter, and The Post confirmed that wine was for sale at the time at the pizzeria where Deason remembered Moore taking her when she was under the legal drinking age of 19.

The legal age of consent for sexual activity in Alabama is 16, as it was at the time of the contact alleged by Corfman.

After my return from the military, I dated a lot of young ladies, Moore told Hannity.

When Hannity asked Moore again if he could unequivocally say he never dated anybody in their late teens when he was 32, Moore said, Thats out of my customary behaviour.

Hannity said he would not want his 17- or 18-year-old daughter dating a 32-year-old. I wouldnt either, said Moore.

Allies of Moore in Alabama attacked the women. What these women are doing is such a shame, state Rep. Ed Henry, said in an interview Friday with Huntsville station WVNN-AM. As a father of two daughters, they discredit when women actually are abused and taken advantage of. Theyre not using their supposed experience to find justice. Theyre just using it as a weapon, a political weapon.

At the same time, more national party leaders came forward to call on Moore to leave the race. Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections, said Mitt Romney, the partys 2012 presidential nominee. I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside.

Romney joined his former rival, Sen. John McCain in calling for Moore to step down immediately. Other Republican Senate leaders, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have called on Moore to quit on the condition that the reports prove to be truebut they have not yet described a process for assessing the truth of the claims.

Strategists saw little hope for pushing Moore out of the race. They backed away from discussions for a Republican write-in campaign, which they said would be doomed if Moore stayed in the contest. That, in turn, raised the possibility that Moores scandal will remain a problem for the party into the 2018 midterm elections, as candidates are asked to take a position on the abuse of minors and intergenerational dating.

Other Republicans are going to be dragged into it, said Steven Law, chief executive of the Senate Leadership Fund, a political committee affiliated with McConnell that opposed Moores nomination.

Indeed, on Friday, Rep. Barbara Comstock issued a blistering rebuke of Moore and his supporterssome of whom, she said, had offered explanations that are beyond disturbing. Comstock represents a swing district in the Washington suburbs and is seen as highly vulnerable in next years mid-terms, particularly after the defeat of six GOP state lawmakers whose districts overlap with hers in this weeks Virginia elections.

Back in Alabama, Democrats familiar with the campaign of their nominee, Doug Jones, said no new ad buys or investments were planned to take advantage of the story.

None of the women who said Moore pursued them sought out The Post. While reporting a story in Alabama about supporters of Moores Senate campaign, a Post reporter heard that Moore allegedly had sought relationships with teenage girls.

Over the ensuing three weeks, two Post reporters contacted and interviewed the four women. All were initially reluctant to speak publicly but chose to do so after multiple interviews, saying they thought it was important for people to know about their interactions with Moore. The women say they dont know one another.

In interviews since the publication of the story, state officials have either said they would investigate the claims or raised questions about the timing of the revelations, suggesting that the women were politically motivated.

After a Friday event with military veterans, Gov. Kay Ivey told reporters that the people of Alabama deserve to know the truth, but she didnt hint at any particular actions she could take.

One reporter followed up, asking if the word of the women could be trusted. Why wouldnt it be? she asked.

One possibility, floated Friday night by some Republicans, was that Ivey could delay the election if Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it known that he would leave the Trump administration to run for his old seat.

Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, a Republican, told the Washington Examiner that biblical stories offered a justification for the acts Moore is accused of committing. Take Joseph and Mary, Zeigler said. Mary was a teenager, and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.

Even before the accusations became public, Senate Republicans were asked repeatedly about Moores more extreme positions on the proper role of the Christian faith in American political life.

Now, party leaders expect new questions about the Moore accusations. Im prepping my candidate for what he is going to say if he is asked, said one GOP campaign manager for a top 2018 race, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to not draw attention to the race. At the very least, it is something that everyone is going to have to answer: Do you think Roy Moore at the age of 32 with a 14-year-old is like Mary and Joseph?

During the 2012 elections, GOP Senate candidates in Missouri and Indiana made inaccurate or controversial comments about rape that allowed Democrats to make inroads with female voters across the country. Party leaders later said those comments helped prevent Republicans from winning the Senate majority that year.

Law blamed former White House aide Stephen Bannon and his website Breitbart News for creating problems that could endanger Republicans in 2018. This is what Stephen K. Bannons French Revolution looks likechaos and embarrassment for the Republican Party, Law said.

In the interview with Hannity, Moore described the allegations as a false attack by his political opponents.

This is a completely manufactured story meant to defrock this campaign, Moore said. They dont want to acknowledge that there is a God. And we have refused to debate them because of their very liberal stance on transgenderism.

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Hail, President Xi, Emperor of the World! Your time, it appears, has come.

Foreign policy experts thought it would take many more decades before this 21st century became the Chinese century, with China effectively supplanting the United States as the global leader. But Donald Trump has tricked us.

In a grovelling, fawning state visit to Beijing this week  during which Trump obtained no concessions from China on key issues such as North Korea or bilateral trade  the once-powerful president of the United States stumbled into a dramatic role reversal by emerging, incredibly, as a salivating supplicant to Chinas President Xi Jinping.

This wasnt what his supporters expected of him. Wasnt it Trump who declared during his presidential campaign that the U.S. cannot continue to allow China to rape our country. Wasnt it Trump who branded China as an economic enemy, accusing it of the greatest theft in the history of the world.

But not this week. Speaking at a joint appearance with the Chinese leader on Thursday, Trump lavished praise on Xi, calling him a very special man with whom he had great chemistry. He talked of the absolutely terrific dinner they had, and how much of a very, very great honour it was to be together with Xi.

Unlike past U.S. presidents in their visits to China, Trump made no reference to Chinese human rights violations and he didnt insist that reporters be allowed to ask questions of the two leaders.

He noted the wide trade imbalance between the two countries, but blamed past U.S. administrations for having allowed it to get so far out of kilter. Trump went on to stress: I dont blame China. Who can blame a country that is able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.

As The New York Times noted, it was a remarkable moment in the modern history of U.S.-China relations in which Trump projected an air of deference to China that was almost unheard-of for a visiting American president. It was also notable that Xi, in response to Trumps praise, didnt reciprocate.

Admittedly, there was one accomplishment from the trip  the announcement of $253 billion in business deals between the two countries. But this is a routine feature of such visits. Some of the deals were already in the pipeline well before Trump became president, and officials acknowledge that others may never be fulfilled.

It is no surprise that Trump left Beijing empty-handed. It was clear from the start that Chinese officials had no intention of conceding anything of substance to the U.S. president on issues such as North Korea or trade. But their calculation  a correct one, it turned out  was that Trump is a man who loves being charmed and flattered, and no one does this better than the Chinese.

Xi rolled out the red carpet when Trump and his wife arrived Wednesday. They were celebrated at an official dinner inside Beijings Forbidden City, an honour not granted to any U.S. president since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. China put on a military ceremony that featured soldiers swinging their guns in precision and hundreds of tiny children waving flags. Trump gushed afterward that this was a truly memorable and impressive display.

This comes at a time when America First under Trump is turning its back on global alliances and international trade agreements. He pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Change Agreement. China is filling the vacuum.

Increasingly, Asian nations are beginning to look to Beijing, not to Washington, for leadership. And next week, in a followup meeting in Paris about the climate change agreement, it will be China, not the U.S., taking the lead.

What we seem to be witnessing is an extraordinary historical transition taking shape, step-by-step, as Trump unilaterally cedes American global leadership to China. If it continues, it will have implications for the rest of the century.

Actions have consequences, and these can be long lasting. It was 100 years ago this week that the Bolsheviks came to power in the October Revolution and established the Soviet Union. It was 100 years ago this year that the U.S. formally entered the First World War and began its road to global dominance.

A hundred years from now, what will historians make of the extraordinary impact that Donald Trump is having on 21st-century global politics?

Tony Burman is former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News. Reach him @TonyBurman or at tony.burman@gmail.com.

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ArcelorMittal (MT) - Get Free Report painted an upbeat picture for global steel demand on Friday, Nov. 10, as it posted consensus-beating third quarter profits of $1.92 billion.

Shares in the world's biggest steelmaker rose 3% to trade beyond 25 early in the European session before sliding back, amid falling European markets, to 24.88, up 2.3% on their Thursday close.

Third quarter earnings came in at $1.92 billion, up 1.5% year-on-year and about 3% ahead of analyst expectations, driven by stronger than expected results in European markets, where the traditional autumn dip in steel shipments was less pronounced than expected at negative 3.3%.

Shares were also buoyed by a bullish outlook from Arcelor Mittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal. "Operating conditions continue to improve, with key indicators including the ArcelorMittal weighted PMI implying a positive outlook for 2018," said Mittal, whose family owns a controlling stake in the steel company.

ArcelorMittal said it shipped more steel in all its major regions, except Europe. Brazil proved the highlight of the quarter, with steel shipments up 12.1%, enabling Ebitda to remain steady despite pressure on margins, while a 4.3% increase in shipments in the NAFTA region helped limit the dip in that region's EBITDA to 24.7%.

ArcelorMittal said improving market conditions had prompted it to increase its investment in working capital to $2 billion, up from earlier guidance of $1.5 billion.

"Overall we view the results as a small positive," wrote Goldman Sachs analysts. "Market conditions into Q4 are described as favourable with steal spreads remaining healthy."

ArcelorMittal's upbeat assessment of the market reflected comments from rival Voestalpine AG, which said Wednesday that it expected sales and earnings to rise in the first half of next year on growing demand out of Brazil and strong automotive sales.

ArcelorMittal reiterated earlier steel consumption forecasts, tipping U.S. steel shipments to increase 2% to 3% over 2017, compared to a year earlier. Brazilian steel shipments should rise 2.5% to 3.5%, EU shipments by 0.5% to 1.5%. Global steel shipments are forecast to rise by 2.5% to 3%.

Despite the general bullishness Mittal's CEO also signaled a warning that pricing remained largely beyond his company's control and that the global steel environment was "characterized by overcapacity and high levels of imports."

ArcelorMittal, like its European and U.S. rivals, has long lamented a lack of consolidation in the highly competitive market for steel, which leaves producers with little control over pricing. Western producers also face the constant threat of cheap imports from China, where the domestic market is massively oversupplied.

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Social media music lip-syncing app Musical.ly, beloved of middle schoolers and teens, has been bought by Beijing Bytedance Technology for at least $800 million.

Bytedance, a company worth as much as $20 billion and which produces the Toutiao news aggregation app, announced the news Friday morning, according to widespread media reports.

The announcement did not include the financial terms of the deal, but unnamed sources speaking to Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal put the price in the range of $800 million to $1 billion.

The app was founded in Shanghai in 2014. It lets users lip-sync Karaoke style to short videos or sing and dance along and upload the clips to the site. Users can like, share and comment on the clips.

The app is very popular and reportedly has more than 200 million users. Earlier this year, Musical.ly did an integration deal with Apple Music (AAPL). Last year, it signed a label licensing deal with Warner Music.

According to the company, it is based in Shanghai and has an office in Santa Monica, Calif. It reportedly has about 60 million monthly active users.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the transaction is expected to close as soon as the end of this month and that it will expand Bytedance's reach in the North American and European markets.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.
Simplifying our broken tax system is no easy task, but we know Americans need relief.

This is why we introduced a bill at the start of November to streamline the tax code and help people keep more of what they earn. We then spent the week of Nov. 6 debating the details in a Ways and Means Committee markup, where the bill is prepared for a vote by the full House. The legislation passed out of committee with my support, and we anticipate a House vote to quickly follow.

Americans at all income levels will see tax cuts under this bill, which the head of the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation confirmed on the first day of our markup. Many provisions are designed to help working families, namely the doubling of the standard deduction, increasing the child tax credit, and lowering tax rates across the board.

Doubling the standard deduction will significantly increase the zero-tax bracket. Under our bill, a couples first $24,000 of income is tax-free, compared to $12,000 today. Filers can also keep the money they would normally spend on tax experts or software, as nine out of 10 Americans will be able to file their taxes on a form the size of a postcard. With this financial boost, families can meet more household needs while saving for the future.

In addition to helping Americans keep more of their money, this bill also sets the stage for Americans to earn more money. By cutting the tax rate on small businesses to a historic low and reducing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent to allow American companies to compete in the global economy, job creators will be able to add more positions, raise wages and invest here at home.

Our bill also firmly rejects the idea of death being a taxable event. The death tax runs counter to the American dream, so it is not surprising an April 2017 NPR report found a majority of Americans support repealing it permanently. Our bill phases out the death tax over six years and, in the meantime, doubles the exclusion amount to provide immediate relief.

Eliminating the death tax will have a positive ripple effect throughout the economy. Right now, the death tax only represents one half of one percent of all federal revenue. However, the flow of these dollars to the Internal Revenue Service has been a significant drain on economic growth. Our economy has lost out on more than $1.1 trillion in capital since the introduction of the death tax, according to the Joint Economic Committee.

Another study by the Tax Foundation found normal taxation on the amount of capital infused back into the economy by repealing the death tax would more than pay for itself, actually yielding an additional $8 billion in revenue than we have seen with the death tax in place. As Americans for Tax Reform said in response, You heard that right  wed actually collect more tax revenue if we stopped collecting the death tax.

We cannot let this opportunity to boldly reform the tax code pass us by, and people across the country agree. In fact, more than 40 conservative and tax policy organizations signed onto a letter on Nov. 9 declaring the bill a victory for the middle class.

There is more work to do, but we are moving in the right direction. Its time for real relief.
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted Friday that he believes there is merit to the accusations of sexual abuse against GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, adding that the Alabama Republican should "step aside."

"Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman," Romney tweeted, referring to the accuser named in a Washington Post report published Thursday. "Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside."

Romney's tweet is in contrast to sentiments voiced by many other Republicans who have said Moore should leave the race if the allegations are true. It's unlikely that the allegations brought against Moore will ever be proven in the court of law due to the statute of limitations on sexual assault cases.

In a statement from the White House, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said: "Like most Americans, the President believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a person's life."

"The President also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside," she said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used similar phrasing in a statement he put out Thursday, saying, "If these allegations are true, he must step aside."

According to the Post, Moore allegedly initiated a sexual encounter with Corfman, then a 14-year-old, in the late 1970s. Three other women also told the Post that Moore pursued them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s. Two of the teens acknowledged dating Moore for up to three months. None of those three women told the Post that Moore sexually harassed, or assaulted them, or forced them into a relationship. Alabama's legal age of consent is 16.

Moore denied the allegations to the Washington Post. And in a series of tweets on Thursday, Moore, who faces a December 12 US Senate election, responded to the story.

"The Obama-Clinton Machine's liberal media lapdogs just launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks against me," saying, "We are in the midst of a spiritual battle with those who want to silence our message."

Moore wrote, "The forces of evil will lie, cheat, steal -- even inflict physical harm -- if they believe it will silence and shut up Christian conservatives like you and me."

CNN's Daniel Burke contributed to this report.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. engages in designing, building, overhauling, and repairing military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Newport News Shipbuilding, and Technical Solutions. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. It also provides nuclear-powered ships, such as aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as refueling and overhaul, and inactivation services of ships. In addition, the company offers naval nuclear support services, including fleet services comprising design, construction, maintenance, and disposal activities for in-service the U.S. Navy nuclear ships; and maintenance services on nuclear reactor prototypes. Further, it provides life-cycle sustainment services to the U.S. Navy fleet and other maritime customers; high-end information technology and mission-based solutions for Department of Defense (DoD), intelligence, and federal civilian customers; nuclear management and operations and environmental management services for the Department of Energy, DoD, state and local governments, and private sector companies; defense and federal solutions; and unmanned systems. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Newport News, Virginia.
South Jersey Industries, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides energy-related products and services. The company engages in the purchase, transmission, and sale of natural gas. It also sells natural gas and pipeline transportation capacity on a wholesale basis to residential, commercial, and industrial customers on the interstate pipeline system, as well as transports natural gas purchased directly from producers or suppliers to customers. As of December 31, 2021, the company had approximately 147 miles of mains in the transmission system and 6,815 miles of mains in the distribution system; and served 384,062 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southern New Jersey. In addition, it markets natural gas storage, commodity, and transportation assets on a wholesale basis for energy marketers, electric and gas utilities, power plants, and natural gas producers in the mid-Atlantic, Appalachian, and southern regions of the United States. Further, the company owns and operates rooftop solar-generation sites. Additionally, it owns oil, gas, and mineral rights in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania; acquires and markets natural gas and electricity to retail end users, as well as provides total energy management, fuel management, and energy procurement and cost reduction services. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Folsom, New Jersey.
Crestwood Equity Partners LP develops, acquires, owns, controls, and operates assets and operations in the energy midstream sector in the United States. It operates through three segments: Gathering and Processing North; Gathering and Processing South; and Storage and Logistics. The Gathering and Processing North segment offers natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering, compression, treating, processing, and disposal services to producers in the Williston Basin and Powder River Basin. This segment owns and operates natural gas facilities with approximately 0.4 Bcf/d of gathering capacity and 0.5 Bcf/d of processing capacity; crude oil facilities with approximately 150,000 Bbls/d of gathering capacity and 266,000 Bbls of storage capacity; and produced water facilities with approximately 130,000 Bbls/d of gathering and disposal capacity. The Gathering and Processing South segment provides natural gas gathering, compression, treating, and processing; and produced water gathering and disposal services to producers in the Marcellus, Barnett, and Delaware basins. This segment owns and operates natural gas facilities with 2.5 Bcf/d of gathering capacity and 0.7 Bcf/d of processing capacity; and produced water facilities with approximately 75,000 Bbls/d of gathering and disposal capacity. The Storage and Logistics segment offers natural gas liquids, crude oil, and natural gas storage, terminal, marketing, and transportation, including rail, truck and pipeline services to producers, refiners, marketers, utilities, and other customers. Crestwood Equity GP LLC serves as the general partner of Crestwood Equity Partners LP. The company was formerly known as Inergy L.P. and changed its name to Crestwood Equity Partners LP in October 2013. Crestwood Equity Partners LP was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said has pulled his endorsement of Roy Moore, the conservative GOP candidate for Alabama's empty Senate seat, after allegations Moore sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in 1979.

"I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate," Daines said in a tweet Friday evening.

The Washington Post on Thursday reported that Moore sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in 1979, when he was a district attorney in Alabama. The newspaper also reported three other women said Moore pursued them when they were between 16 and 18 years old and Moore was in his 30s, but said he did not force them into a sexual relationship.

After that story broke, Daines released a statement saying: These are very serious allegations and if true he should step down." Daines had endorsed Moore earlier in the week.

Moore denied the allegations Friday, but did admit in an interview with Sean Hannity on Friday he took "young girls" out on dates when he was in his 30s.

Several other prominent Republicans and committees that provided funding to the candidate also pulled their support Friday.

In September, Moore defeated Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated when Jeff Sessions became attorney general. Strange was supported by Republican President Donald Trump.

Moore is running against Democrat Doug Jones, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. The special election is Dec. 12.

Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court judge who was removed from the bench for refusing to remove a carving of the 10 Commandments, was also endorsed by Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah; Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas.
Spreen, Bedford North Lawrence give Bloomington South a hard time

No. 4 BNL shows off all its weapons to go to 4-0 on the season
Montana Republicans will likely propose adjusting school payments to even them out across the year, avoiding a spike in payments like the one coming in November.

Legislators will convene Monday after Gov. Steve Bullock called a special session to address budget woes.

November's $125 million payment was called into question by budget director Dan Villa in October when he noted the state's general fund had only $87 million. The payment is significantly higher than most school payments, as is a payment in May.

But about a week later, Villa told educators at a conference in Billings that the payment would be made, according to Dennis Parman, the director of the Montana Rural Education Association.

"When he said it, the first thought I had was, 'Sure, you can say that,'" Parman said, assuming Villa was banking on a special session that would help balance payments or free up additional revenue.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen criticized Bullock for bringing the payment into play in a press release issued last week, citing an analysis from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Division that said the payment could be made even if there wasn't enough money in the general fund.

If cash is short, the state can dip into other state funds to fill gaps. The analysis cites up to $13.7 billion available, with about $633 million most easily accessible. The state could face a $37 million shortfall for the November payment, according to the analysis.

Analysts from credit rating agencies S&P and Fitch said that such a move likely would not have a negative effect on the state's rating.

"Sure, we keep an eye on it," said Doug Offerman, Fitch's primary analyst for Montana. "We don't think that, at least in Montana's case, it's a problem."

Larger structural problems, like projections that overall revenue won't be able to meet expenses, can have a negative effect. But states also get a long leash from ratings agencies.

"We also assume that a state will figure out how to correct it," Offerman said.

Problems cropped up soon after Bullock signed the legislature-crafted budget in May, as revenue estimates came up short of projections. A round of automatic cuts built into the budget were triggered, but they weren't enough to keep pace with low revenue.

Payments

Arntzen proposed spreading the Guaranteed Tax Base Payment, which is usually doled out in November and May, across an additional two months. A press release from her office said the move would free up about $70 million to immediately deal with revenue shortfalls. It would not affect overall revenue for the biennium.

The higher payments are "a somewhat recurring issue," said Arntzen spokesman Dylan Klapmeier, calling adjustments "a good long-term solution."

He said that Arntzen had been in touch with legislators about the proposal. Republican Rep. Jeff Essmann said he floated a similar idea last week. He framed budget problems as a short-term issue.

The $37 million cash flow problem needs to be dealt with, he said.

Republican legislators expanded the scope of the agenda Friday to include proposals to allow additional fund transfers.

Offerman said states frequently see cash flow issues in November or December.

When asked about Villa's confirmation that payments would be made, Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel said via email "the cuts proposed by the Governor (Monday) enable us to make the payment."

She referred to $76.6 million in budget cuts under a law that allows Bullock to cut budgets of state agencies up to 10 percent, which she said fills a projected shortfall for November. Most school payments are shielded from the cuts.

An additional $76 million in proposed cuts that would require legislative approval would help maintain a balanced budget at the end of the biennium, she said. Included in that pool is a proposed $11.6 million cut to school block grants. Schools could direct the grant money toward multiple accounts.

A collection of education groups, including MREA, the state teacher's union and the state school board association, announced their support for Bullock's proposed school cuts Friday.

At the same conference Villa attended, Parman warned educators that a special session could undo the laws that shielded most school payments from cuts Bullock can make automatically.

Parman later cited the $11.6 million block grant cut proposal as an example. The move requires legislative approval because of how the grant is funded. The cuts would affect only the next school year, as laid out on Bullock's proposal.

It's unclear if the move would affect the school funding formula going forward.

"That's a big unanswered question," Parman said.

He advocated for either resuming the grants in the future or increasing another funding stream to compensate.

Klapmeier, the Arntzen spokesman, said she opposes the block grant reductions.

The effects of another school proposal  which Bullock's estimates say could save $8.2 million  are somewhat unclear. According to Office of Public Instruction fiscal analysts, the School Facility and Technology Account receives revenue from river bed rents and timber sale. The money was split between programs that help school districts pay interest on bonds and chipped in for schools' emergency infrastructure repairs.

"Last year, the companies paying river bed rents entered into a sort of tax protest that resulted in no funds coming through to OPI to distribute to schools," said Klapmeier in an email. "We have been telling schools not to expect any funds in this biennium."

One of the programs was ended by the legislature during the spring session, and an unspent $3.8 million was pushed into the next biennium. Combined with forecast revenue during the next two years, the figure reached $8.2 million  money which would be transferred into the general fund to help fill revenue gaps instead of being earmarked for schools.
I'm trying to find the name of a song I heard in Dominican Republic last week. I was in Punta Cana and it was playing in resorts and clubs a lot. The song starts with a cell phone vibrating and a sexy spanish woman moaning and speaking spanish. Can't remember many words. The chorus goes "ah, ah, ah, ah" really fast  very sexy. LOL. If anyone knows of this song please let me know, really want to download it!!!!

Thanks!
We will be 2 days in Takayama.

I wonder if I should add an overnight in Kiso Valley as well. It looks more authentic but I'm not sure if it's that much different from Takayama to make a detour. It seems like it's not that easy to reach by public transportation.

I even wonder if I should consider a rental car once we have left Tokyo. This is what I plan to do at this point:

Tokyo (4 nights)

Matsumoto (1 night)

Yudanaka (2 nights)

Kanazawa (1 night)

Takayama (2 nights)

Nagoya (to visit Ise Shrines) (1 night)

I was considering renting a car in Matsumo and leaving it in Nagoya to continue by train to Kyoto. I taught a rental car would allow me to drive to Kiso Valley more rapidly as well.

Any tips would be welcome. Thanks!
Hi

We are looking at hotels April 10-15 (5 nights) during Sakura 2018. Kyoto already seems to be getting full and limited choices.

But I believe we can also stay in Osaka or somewhere in between Kyoto and Osaka. Also, our flight out of Japan is from Osaka airport.

Can somebody suggest which areas of Osaka we should search for hotels? Since we will make day trips to Kyoto - closer to train station may be important.

Thx
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Donald Trump sarcastically responded to North Korea's insults that described him as a "destroyer" who "begged for nuclear war" during his tour of Asia.

In a statement lashing out at Trump on Saturday, North Korea also referred to him as a "dotard," a word meaning a very old person, and one the reclusive nation has used on him in the past.

Trump fired back hours later.

"Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?' Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!" Trump tweeted.

Asked about the possibility of becoming friends with the North Korean leader during a Sunday joint news conference in Vietnam, Trump did not rule it out.

"Strange things happen in life. That might be a strange thing that happens. But it is certainly a possibility," Trump said. "If that did happen, it would be a good thing for, I can tell you, for North Korea. But it would also be good for lots of other places, and it would be good for the world."

Trump is in Vietnam as part of a nearly two-week tour of Asia, and North Korea's nuclear weapons program has been a major talking point with his Japanese, South Korean and Chinese counterparts.

"The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in grave danger," Trump said about North Korea during an address at South Korea's National Assembly in Seoul. "Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face."

He called on nations to stop financing and trading with North Korea.

"Together we have in our power to finally liberate this region and the world from this very serious nuclear menace, but it will require collective action, collective strength and collective devotion to winning the peace," Trump said.

North Korean officials described Trump's trip as "nothing but a business trip by a warmonger to enrich the monopolies of the US defense industry."

"Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of the world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula," the nation's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The harsh words between the leaders have escalated in recent months after North Korea threatened to launch missiles toward the US territory of Guam.

Trump attempted a symbolic stare-down of Kim this week at the heavily fortified border that separates North and South Korea, but heavy fog forced the cancellation of his plans.

The US on Saturday began a three-carrier strike force exercise in the Western Pacific. It involves the USS Ronald Reagan, the USS Nimitz and the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The exercise, set to continue through Tuesday, will involve operations showing the Navy's ability to operate multiple carrier strike groups as a coordinated effort, it said in a release.

The strike force plans to conduct air defense drills, sea surveillance, defensive air combat training as well as other maneuvers.

This is the first time three carrier strike groups will operate together since 2007 during an exercise off the coast of Guam, according to the Navy.

Trump continued to push his harsh rhetoric for North Korea on Sunday, telling reporters that "the world has been provoked" by the rogue nation.

"We want progress not provocation," Trump said. "We have been provoked. The world has been provoked."

He added that the world needs peace, not war.

CNN's Andreena Narayan, Dan Merica, Kevin Liptak and Allie Malloy contributed to this report.
The Mount News Center

Featuring the extraordinary people, stories and news of Mount St. Mary's University, America's oldest independent Catholic university. Members of the media looking for information about setting up interviews, finding faculty experts or gaining access to campus for stories should contact Executive Director of Communications Donna Klinger at 301-447-5657 or d.j.klinger@msmary.edu.

Have a question, comment to share or want to find a photo from this week's big event? Check out the Mount on our social media channels!
- According to the Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, Raila's address to the the US Think Tank was nothing of a big deal

- Murkomen explained that in his day as a student he adressed the sitting and he did not make a fuss about it

- The senator also asked Kenyans not to confuse the Think Tank with the United States Congress which Raila was supposed to address

- Raila gave a talk touching on Kenya's politics and rule of law at the Center for Strategic and International Studies ((CSIS)

Vocal Jubilee senator Kipchumba Murkomen has dismissed NASA leader Raila Odinga's address in the United States saying it does not warrant so much attention.

This is in sharp contrast with the opinion of city lawyer Donald Kipkorir who said it was an honour for Kenyans for Raila to have got a chance to address the leading world think tank.

Raila was in the US to give a talk on Kenya's political situation and the rule of law in which he said Jubilee was steadily turning into a dictatorship.

Elgeyo Marakwet senator Kipchumba Murkomen who said there was nothing historic with Raila Odinga's address in the US. Photo: Nation

READ ALSO: It's an honour for Kenya to have Raila address worlds number one think tank group in US - City lawyer

But the Jubilee senator who keeps the opposition on its toes, said he addressed the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) when he was a student and thus Raila should not brag about it.

"As a student, I addressed the same think tank when Barkan (RIP) was still there. It's no big deal man.(I hope u know it's not congress)," Murkomen said in a Twitter post seen by TUKO.co.ke.

READ ALSO: Museveni and Magufuli enter deals that underline their continued isolation of Kenya

Raila Odinga giving his speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Photo: Raila Odinga

In his address on Thursday, November 9, Raila told the world that the problem with Kenya was perpetual electoral theft and electoral impunity.

Earlier, Raila had held closed door meetings with congressmen including Gregory Simpkins where they discussed a wide range of issues concerning Kenya.

Raila and his NASA brigade have vowed to frustrate the Jubilee administration should there be no fresh election despite having not participated in the repeat presidential poll held on October 26.

Raila Odinga in Washington DC with Former Ambassador Johnnie Carson and CSIS Senior Advisor for African Programs William Mark. Photo: Raila Odinga

READ ALSO: Supreme Court sets date for hearing of petition challenging Uhuru's second win

He explained that there was no way he would have gone into an election presided over by the same IEBC officials who were in charged of the bungled August 8 election.

To move forward, Raila has proposed formation of an interim government for six months as preparations for fresh elections are held.

Uhuru Kenyatta nursery teacher tells it all-on TUKO TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
The Ministry of Health is reminding the public of the dos and donts when it comes to dealin
Russian-backed militants launched 33 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 33 times. The Ukrainian Armed Forces opened fire on the enemy 24 times. As a result of fighting, two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded," the statement reads.

In Donetsk direction, militants used 82mm mortars and grenade launchers to fire at the defenders of Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk). ATO troops also came under heavy machine gun fire outside Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk).

In Luhansk direction, illegal armed formations fired mortars on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk). The enemy also used weapons on infantry fighting vehicles outside Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk) and Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk).

In Mariupol direction, Ukrainian positions came under 120mm mortar fire near Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk) and Pavlopol (30 km northeast of Mariupol).

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The process of liberation of captives from the occupied Donbas has been blocked for more than a year.

Iryna Herashchenko, the representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group for settlement of the situation in Donbas, said this in an interview with Channel 5.

According to her, a total of 152 Ukrainians, both soldiers and civilians, are currently held captive in the occupied territories.

"A few months ago, the Ukrainian side proposed handing over to the other side 313 persons, who committed crimes or are still under trial but who can be pardoned pursuant to the Ukrainian legislation, to exchange them for 88 Ukrainians out of a total of 152 captives [held in the occupied territories]. However, the other side has not responded to this proposal yet," Herashchenko noted.

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S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'B-/B' long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Ukraine.

"On Nov. 10, 2017, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'B-/B' long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Ukraine. The outlook on the long-term foreign and local currency ratings is stable," reads the statement on the agencys website.

As noted, the stable outlook reflects the expectation that the Ukrainian government will maintain access to its official creditor support over the next 12 months by pursuing the required fiscal, financial, and economic reforms. In particular, the S&P analysts expect that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will be able to pass key reforms broadly as set out by donors, thereby enabling the next disbursements under the IMF and EU aid programs.

ol
Last year, more than 3,000 people died in car crashes in Ukraine which is four times larger than the number of casualties in the ATO area in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said this at the Cabinets meeting on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"In 2016, almost 155,000 road accidents happened in Ukraine, of which more than 25,000 resulted in fatalities or injuries. Last year, 32,000 people got injured and 3,187 people died in car crashes," Avakov said.

At the same time, he added that 763 soldiers and law enforcers had been killed in the area of conduct of the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine last year. "That is, the number of road fatalities in Ukraine was four times larger than the number of casualties in Donbas last year," the minister stated.

According to him, 117,000 traffic accidents occurred during the first 9 months of this year, as a result of which 2,317 people got injured and died.

ol
The occupation authorities of Crimea have established a police regime on the peninsula, which violates the rights of its inhabitants.

"Crimea was annexed at the beginning of the conflict. It remains to be a cruel police regime, where the opponents of the Russian regime are selectively jailed or even disappear," official opposition leader of Canada Andrew Scheer said, while delivering a speech in the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Toronto, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He stressed that the conflict in eastern Ukraine is ongoing, although less covered by the Western media. "More than 10,000 Ukrainians have been killed. 1.5 million people have been forced to leave their homes. The economy of Donbas has been destroyed, its cities are emptied," Scheer noted.

In this regard, he called on the Canadian authorities to continue to provide a comprehensive support for Ukraine and assist in the deployment of the UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas.

ol
Ukraine, the United States, Germany and France have practically prepared a joint draft UN resolution on deployment of peacekeeping mission in Donbas.

In a commentary to the Podrobnosti Ukrainian media outlet, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin noted that he had agreed with U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker on the basic parameters of the resolution during a recent conversation.

"The wording of the resolution, our draft, is practically ready. [We cooperate in drafting the document with] the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. The main point is that the whole territory is occupied. We have a plan for further exerting pressure," the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said.

He stressed that the timeline of the peacekeeping mission had not yet been considered, and the issue of its composition and numerical strength would be discussed later.

"We will discuss the composition and numerical strength a little bit later, depending on the advance of this resolution," Klimkin said.

At the same time, he refused to reveal the expected number of peacekeepers.

ol
Police booked a Butte man on a felony complaint of strangulation of a partner or family member, a new offense created by Montana lawmakers this year.

Its at least the second time someone has been accused of the newly defined crime in Butte-Silver Bow County since Gov. Steve Bullock signed it into law in May.

Police arrested Andrew Stephen Enget, 32, for allegedly grabbing his girlfriend by the throat during an argument at the Town Pump in Rocker shortly after noon Thursday.

The woman said Enget grabbed her neck, put her in a choke hold, and took her to the ground. He took off on foot, but police located him quickly. He was still in jail late Friday morning.

Supporters of the newly defined crime told lawmakers that 44 other states have laws specific to domestic strangulation, and without one in Montana, domestic violence cases can end up being prosecuted at a misdemeanor level if it's a first or second offense.

Cases involving strangling or grabbing someone by the throat can sometimes be tried as aggravated assault or criminal endangerment, but all elements of those can be hard to prove.

On Thursday, a 19-year-old man pleaded not guilty in Butte District Court to a felony charge of strangulation of a partner or family member. Tyler John Ossello is accused of grabbing a former girlfriend by the throat.

Under the new law, the crime carries a maximum five-year prison term and $50,000 fine. The penalties can go up for subsequent convictions.

People have been charged with the new crime in several Montana cities, including Billings, Bozeman, Helena, and Missoula.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman have congratulated Poland on the 99th anniversary of the restoration of independence.

Ukrainian leaders posted their congratulations on Facebook.

Happy Independence Day to Poland! they wrote.

In particular, the Prime Minister noted that many things unite Ukrainian and Polish people and expressed the conviction that they will remain true friends and reliable partners, who are always ready to lend support to each other.

Today, Poland marks the 99th anniversary of the restoration of its independence. November 11, 1918, the Regency Council in Warsaw entrusted Commander in Chief Jozef Pilsudski, who had been released from incarceration by the Germans, with creating a national government for the restored Polish State. The holiday was established in 1937.

ol
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has signed the decree on appointment of 114 judges of the new Supreme Court of Ukraine.

Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Filatov read out the decree at the solemn oath taking ceremony of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As the Head of State noted, the new Supreme Court was formed on the basis of an unprecedented and unique, open and transparent competition for the first time.

"Every fourth judge of the new Supreme Court is a barrister or a scientist. They will have a chance to build a new system of justice, guided by Ukrainian laws and European standards and values," Poroshenko said.

The President of Ukraine noted that a number of laws on changes in the justice system should be still adopted, including the law on the anti-corruption court, on the legal profession, on legal education and others. "We open a new page in the history of justice in Ukraine!" the President said.

ol
The first few words that come to mind when you think of dictators are evil, mass murderer, or worst person ever! What if you came to know that there have been dictators who dont just want to kill everyone who doesnt obey them? There have been dictators in history who, as it turns out, have been quite nice. Despite their darker moments, they were benevolent, caring, and progressive. Here, weve made a list of ten such dictators who werent all that evil but worked to uplift their country and its people. Read on to find out more about them.

1 Ashoka was an Indian emperor, belonging to the Mauryan dynasty between c 268 to 232 BCE. He ruled over almost the entire subcontinent of India stretching from present-day Bengal to Afghanistan. He turned out to be a benevolent ruler after the Kalinga War and is one of the first rulers to give consideration to humans and animals in his empire.

Ashoka ruled the Mauryan Kingdom from 268 to 232 BCE. It is said that he was a very cruel and bloodthirsty dictator in the beginning of his reign and that he even had a torture chamber built. After the Kalinga War in 260 BCE, he underwent a transformation and became a concerned and thoughtful ruler. He converted to Buddhism after that. Historians have been able to piece together some facts about his rule based on the 13 edicts of Ashoka which he got inscribed. According to these, Ashoka provided for medical aid to humans and animals in his kingdom and surrounding states as well.

He banned royal hunts and limited the killing of animals to only for food and Vedic animal sacrifices. Ashoka is also the first ruler who abolished slavery, the death penalty, and cruelty to animals. He also planted trees and dug wells along roads to provide water and shade for travelers. He was instrumental in spreading Buddhism throughout his kingdom and even abroad to countries like Sri Lanka. Ashoka based his rule on Buddhist teachings and maintained peace with his neighboring states.(1,2)

2 Kemal Pasha was the President of Turkey from 1922 until the time he died in 1938. He was a nationalist revolutionary who raised an army against the Ottoman Empires European occupants. In 1935, he was given the surname Ataturk, which means Father of the Turks. He modernized Turkey ar beyond any recognition of its former state.

Kemal Pasha took over Turkeys reins as the prime minister from 1920 to 1921, then as president from 1922 until he died in 1938. He formed the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and abolished the Caliphate in 1924. He founded a single party regime which lasted till 1945. Although Kemal Pasha was primarily a military leader and never relinquished his power till he died, he was also almost single-handedly responsible for modernizing and secularizing Turkey. He gave women equal rights by giving them universal voting rights in 1934, abolished polygamy and gave them the right to equal inheritance. In 1935, there were 18 woman MPs in the parliament when women in most other countries didnt even have the right to vote.

Kemal Pasha established secular, civil law based on Western models and banned Sharia law, essentially separating religion from governance. This also had a positive effect on education reforms by introducing coeducation, easier access to learning, and adult education. He propagated the rise of art and culture which had been prohibited during the Ottoman rule. Under him, art, architecture, literature, music, libraries, and cultural centers thrived. He pushed the economy forwards by encouraging small- and large-scale industries, establishing a banking system, and introducing land reform.(1,2,3)



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3 Josip Broz Tito was essentially a dictator but became the official leader of Yugoslavia in 1945 to 1980 by overthrowing the ruling king. He, however, was instrumental in bringing a more relaxed form of communism to the country, called Titoism.

Tito unified Yugoslavia by merging six different countries which he ruled from 1945 till he died in 1980. He is best known for fighting the Nazi occupation. Tito succeeded in making Yugoslavia a liberal communist country by breaking away from the USSR. He gave all the countries equal representation in his government and the right to use their own languages. Tito nationalized industries and started working towards a planned economy. He didnt force farmers to collectivize, but they were strictly required to hand over their produce. Later on, though, he loosened his stronghold on the country and made several concessions to small farmers. In 1950, after decentralizing the economy, he established the worker self-management system where the workers elected their management and delegates. He was also a proponent of the Non-Aligned Movement, which 125 countries are part of today.(1,2)

4 Lee Kuan Yew was a Cambridge-educated lawyer who freed Singapore from British rule in 1959. Yew ruled the country with iron-clad rules from 1959 to 1990 as the prime minister and for 21 years after that as an advisor. He took Singapore, an impoverished agricultural economy, and raised it to become one of Asias richest countries.

Lee Yuan Kew was the prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990, and then the senior minister, secretary general of his party and an MP until 2015 when he died. He was in power for 52 years, and his regime was anything but relaxed. Yew modeled every aspect of Singapore as a society and an economy, according to what he thought was best. Under him, Singapore became a country with the third highest national capita income in the world. Unemployment and poverty were drastically reduced, trade increased, the life expectancy went up to 71 years, and literacy increased to 90% in 1990.

Yew set up free family-planning clinics to curb the population. According to law, each worker mandatorily has to save 25% of his salary which is put into a provident fund which is further used to develop infrastructure. Right now, 74% families are homeowners. He all but eradicated corruption. His economic plans have been praised by leaders like Kemal Pasha.(1,2,3)

5 Paul Kagame, the 60-year-old President of Rwanda, has been in power since 1994 when his rebel army ended the genocide which had killed 800,000 people. He was the defense minister and vice-president until 2000 after which he assumed the presidential office. Despite his ruthlessness, he has managed to take the country forward by bringing about a number of reforms.

Paul Kagame has been the head of Rwanda since 1994 when he stopped the genocide as the commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. Since then, he has worked towards increasing the economic and social progress of the country through his liberal economic policies, denationalization of state-owned industries, and cutting down the red tape to let businesses flourish. He has also shifted the focus from agriculture to a knowledge-based economy. This led to an economic growth of 7% in Rwanda and reduced poverty.

Kagame fostered ethnic equality by removing the mention of ethnicity in the peoples identity cards and also by including an article in the constitution that prevents discrimination on any grounds.

In 2008, he made health insurance compulsory for everyone. As of 2010, more than 90% people were insured. This had made healthcare and overall health better. He encourages gender equality which is evident as most of his MPs are women. Kagame encourages literacy by diverting 17% of the annual funds towards education and has also offered free education to children for six years in government schools. Additionally, the countrys road network has improved, benefitting the populace and trade.(1,2)



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6 Frances Albert Rene overthrew the president of Seychelles in a coup detat in 1977 and took his place. He is also known as The Boss among party members and government officials. During his regime, Seychelles became the most developed country in Africa.

Rene studied law at Kings College in London before coming back to practice at home in Seychelles. He formed the Seychelles Peoples United Party in 1964 and was elected prime minister in 1976. He ruled from 1977 to 2004, before stepping down from office. After the coup, his was the only legal political party which enabled him to win all elections from 1979 to 2001. During his regime, he managed to uplift Seychelles to the most developed country in Africa. He eliminated poverty and raised the countrys GDP which is the highest in the continent. In addition, Rene established an efficient health care system along with increasing the national literacy rate to 90% by putting a lot of government funding into these sectors and also the environment sector. Seychelles has the best literacy rate, economic welfare, and infant mortality rates in Africa. He also kept away from the unstable political unrest of his neighboring island countries. Rene called himself an Indian Ocean Socialist.(source)

7 Peisistratus is known as the tyrant of ancient Athens and ruled between 561 and 527 BCE. He may have been a dictator, but his administration and policies helped Athens become one of the most prosperous and beautiful cities in ancient times.

Peisistratus was the ruler of ancient Athens from 561 to 527 BCE. Despite being named a tyrant or dictator, he did not install a one-man rule but rather, distributed power as well as benefits among the administration. According to Aristotle, the tyranny of Peisistratus had been the age of Cronus, or the golden age. He limited the power and privileges of the aristocracy though and even took away their lands to give them to the poor. Peisistratus was responsible for the flourishing art, culture, literature, and festivals during his time, including the building of the entry gate on the Acropolis. He built an aqueduct to improve the citys water supply, gave loans and land to small farmers or those who needed it, and organized the marketplace more efficiently, etc.

He also reduced taxes for the poor and provided employment to people at the construction of his public buildings. Peisistratus promoted the growing of olive trees for cash crops. He also helped settle rural cases by sending traveling judges to give state trials. His aim was the religious, cultural, and patriotic unity of Athens.(1,2)



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8 Frederick II, or Frederick the Great, was the self-proclaimed king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. He unified the kingdom and modernized it by making reforms to the judicial and economic system and encouraging religious tolerance.

Frederick the Great was the ruler of Prussia between 1740 and 1786 and was considered to be the embodiment of enlightened absolutism. At that time Prussia was a collection of territories, and by 1772, Frederick was able to unify them all under his power. He was a patron of art and culture and allowed considerable freedom of literature and press, unlike a dictator. He is known for personally leading his army in battles and often wore his old uniforms instead of a royal ensemble. He didnt believe in the divine right of kings and instead took steps to consolidate his kingdoms economy and administration. He had canals built and encouraged agriculture by draining swamps. He established a thousand villages which increased the flow of immigrants.

He introduced indirect taxation which increased the states revenue. Frederick took steps to control the price of grains and built government stores to help the poor in times of need. Frederick also propagated meritocracy by letting common men become judges and bureaucrats. In the judiciary, he banned the use of torture except for the punishment of flogging soldiers found guilty of desertion. A death penalty could only be signed by him, which he only did for murder. He was known for his compassion towards animals and opened Germanys first veterinary school.(source)

9 Simon Bolivar was the President of Gran Columbia from 1819 until he stepped down in 1830. He was officially named the dictator of Peru in 1824. He was a great military leader and speaker who was instrumental in releasing Venezuela, Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, Panama, and Ecuador from Spanish dominion.

Simon Bolivar, a keen military leader, was the president of Gran Columbia from 1819 to 1830 after which he died. He also became the president of Venezuela, Peru, Gran Columbia and Bolivia. He led a series of wars from 1813, and gradually freed these six South American countries whose citizens named him the Liberator. He is one of the very few people to have a country (Bolivia) named after them. Most of his career was spent in consolidating his rule, but he did work towards increasing literacy by opening several schools in monasteries and convents in Lima. He also established the Ginecco in 1825, later called the Normal Lancasterian School for Women. Additionally, he opened universities in Peru, Trujillo, and Arequipa.

Simon Bolivar is also known as the George Washington of South America. His attack on New Granada is cited as one of the most daring feats in military history. Towards the end of his rule, he was hated by many due to his dictatorial tendency and because he wanted a unified region because the countries kept getting into strife. But he is loved and admired by most of Latin America today for helping them gain independence.(1,2,3)

10 Catherine the Great became the Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796 by unseating her husband, Peter III, with help from her lover. Although she held absolute power, she ushered in the Golden Age of the Russian Empire, or the Russian Enlightenment, by introducing a number of changes in administration and reforms.

Catherine the Great staged a coup, dethroning her husband and reigning as the Empress of Russia between 1762 and 1796. Even in her old age, she did not relinquish the rule to her son. She was the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, who modernized Russia by initiating a number of reforms. She introduced the Russian Statute of National Education in 1786 which had educational reforms like opening free schools, boarding schools for orphans, and also a guideline for teachers about teaching techniques and subjects. Her Smolny Institute was the first educational institution for women which catered to girls from noble families. She also opened the Novodevichy Institute for common-born girls.

She expanded her territories through conquest and created a number of new towns and cities. She wrote a document, Nakaz, which outlined the functions of a fair and modern government and asked for a ban on capital punishment and torture. The use of paper money began in her rule. Catherine was a great patron of arts which contributed to Russias cultural growth. The Hermitage Museum originally housed her personal collection. She also commissioned the building of a theatre in St Petersburg.(1,2,3)
Police reports

TWO ARRESTED FOR WARRANTS, DRUGS

Police went to a residence on the 1800 block of Howard Street early Thursday night knowing a man and woman wanted on outstanding warrants might be there with friends.

Sure enough, they spotted Frank Rueben Medina, 37, of Butte on the front porch, followed him inside, and arrested him. Halie Anne Dunne, 26, also of Butte, was hiding in the basement but came upstairs when officers called her out, police said.

Medina was wanted on a felony warrant out of District Court in Butte and two misdemeanor warrants from City Court. Dunne had a warrant from City Court and a felony warrant from Madison County.

Police said Medina had needles, baggies, and a small amount of meth, so he also was booked on a felony complaint of possessing dangerous drugs and a misdemeanor complaint of having drug paraphernalia. Dunn had a pipe, so she was also arrested for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both were still in jail as of late Friday morning.

PUNCHED IN FACE

A Butte man was arrested around 4 p.m. Thursday for allegedly punching another man in the face.

The victim said he came home for a bite to eat, and as soon as he walked into his residence on the 1800 block of Florida Boulevard, Christopher Michael Alexander, 33, punched him in the face and the back.

Alexander was arrested for misdemeanor simple assault and was still behind bars late Friday morning with bond set at $585.
U.S. President Donald Trump is in Vietnam for a second day of meetings with Asian economic leaders after championing a strong America first agenda in an address to regional business leaders.

Trump attended the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang on Saturday, one of several summits he is planning to attend during a five-country Asian tour. Later Saturday, he left for Hanoi, the capital, to attend a state banquet before formal meetings Sunday with Vietnam's president and prime minister.

The U.S. president attended the summits welcome event and gala dinner Friday evening, where he was seen shaking hands and exchanging a few words with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House has said the two leaders may have a brief chat during the summit but are not planning to hold substantive talks.

Following the summit, Trump will travel Saturday evening to Vietnams capital, Hanoi, for a state banquet.

WATCH: Leaders of US and China Offer Asia Business Leaders Divergent Paths

On Friday, Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, offered starkly contrasting views of the direction for trade in Asia in separate speeches to regional business leaders.

Trump told the APEC CEO Summit that he is willing to make bilateral trade agreements with any country in the Indo-Pacific region, but he firmly rejected multinational deals such as the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was abandoned in the first days of his administration.

I will make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and that will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade, Trump said. What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty, and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible.

Trump president said that in the past when the U.S. lowered market barriers, other countries didnt open their markets to us.

From now on, however, Trump warned that the United States will, expect that our partners will faithfully follow the rules. We expect that markets will be open to an equal degree on both sides and that private investment, not government planners, will direct investment.

But making that happen is something that is easier said than done.

China has shown that it has no intention of playing by the rules, said Fraser Howie, co-author of the book Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of Chinas Extraordinary Rise.

China has been in WTO terms simply much sharper and smarter than the Americans, Howie said. While the Americans went in with good faith thinking the Chinese would change and whatever, the Chinese never had any intention of changing.

Howie added that trade and access issues are difficult and sophisticated, and so far Trump has a poor track record when it comes to follow through  be it his travel ban, the wall for the U.S.-Mexico border, health care reform or tax policy.

Yes, youre going to get tough on them, but how do get tough without penalizing them, he said, adding, how can China be penalized when Xi Jinping is your best mate? It doesnt make any sense.

Xi embraces multilateral deals

President Xi, whose countrys rise has been driven greatly by large-scale government planning, immediately followed Trump on the stage in Danang.

Xi embraced the multilateral concept, in particular calling for support for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), which would harmonize regional and bilateral economic pacts.

China was left out of the TPP, which was led by the United States and Japan and was meant in great part as a bulwark against Chinas strategic ambitions.

Xi also termed globalization an irreversible trend, but said the world must work to make it more balanced and inclusive.

The speeches came just hours after Trump left China where he and Xi met several times Wednesday and Thursday.

Trump softens tone in Beijing

In Beijing on Thursday, the U.S. president had struck a markedly softer tone than in the past on touchy subjects such as North Korea and trade saying he had an incredibly warm feeling for Xi.

Trump noted the U.S. must change its policy.

Its too bad that past administrations allowed it go get so far out of kilter, Trump said. But well make it fair, and it will be tremendous for both of us.

The Chinese leader said Beijings relationship with Washington now stands at a new starting point and vowed to enhance communication and cooperation on the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula and other issues.

For China and the United States, cooperation is the only viable choice, and win-win cooperation can take us to a better future, the Chinese president said.

North Korea

Much of Trumps Asia tour has focused on North Korea, which is developing a nuclear and missile program in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Trump pressed Xi privately on the North Korea nuclear issue, according to Trump administration officials. According to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump told Xi, Youre a strong man, Im sure you can solve this for me.

Speaking in Beijing, Tillerson noted there is no disagreement on North Korea between the United States and China. The diplomat pointed out that the Chinese have been clear and unequivocal over two days of talks that they will not accept a North Korea with nuclear weapons.

Theres no space between both of our objectives, Tillerson said. We have our own views of the tactics, the timing and how far to go with pressure and thats what we spend a lot of time exchanging views on.

VOA's Bill Ide in Beijing contributed to this report.
As they prepare to meet to mark the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, the US and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will focus on security issues in the region, particularly tensions in the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula, according to a draft joint statement obtained by VOA Khmer.

The statement is set to be approved on November 13 at the 5th ASEAN-US Summit to Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations. The meeting is part of the regional blocs annual summit, for which US President Donald Trump and the leaders of all 10 ASEAN nations are meeting in Manila starting on November 12.

The US and ASEAN reaffirm the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the South China Sea, the statement says.

It urges a peaceful resolution to regional tensions over sovereignty in the South China Sea through international mechanisms such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and asks that a new Code of Conduct on the sea be finished as soon as possible.

ASEAN is a regional group that promotes economic, political and security cooperation among its 10 members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea have emerged as one of the biggest security threats in the region over the past decade. As China has grown into a world power, it has made assertive claims to a large swath of the energy-rich sea, which has significant strategic and commercial importance. It is critical to the economies of ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.

U.S. allies Japan and South Korea use the sea's shipping lanes, over which about $5 trillion in trade passes annually. China has reinforced its claims to the sea with the construction of artificial islands, which the United States and others have criticized.

In recent years, ASEAN has been split between members like Vietnam and the Philippines, which want to hash out these disputes as a regional bloc, and those like Cambodia, which want every affected country to negotiate individually with China. This is also the position taken by Beijing, which has insisted it will only engage in bilateral talks over these arguments.

Cambodia notoriously emerged as a leader of this perceived pro-China bloc within ASEAN when it hosted the groups annual summit in 2012 and blocked attempts to release a statement on the topic. Many interpreted the incident as a China-led effort to undercut regional unity and strengthen its own position. It was the first time in ASEANs history that its leaders could not agree on the wording of a joint statement.

At last years ASEAN summit in Laos, Cambodia also reportedly stymied efforts to release a statement on the issue, refusing to sign anything that mentioned the Philippines 2016 victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration over its claims to part of the sea.

Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon told VOA Khmer in an interview in September that Cambodias main goal was to help find a peaceful resolution to the dispute while maintaining its own neutrality.

We say yes to solidarity in ASEAN and no to taking side with any country that is involved in the dispute, he said.

At the ASEAN summit in Manila, leaders are expected to discuss the long-awaited Code of Conduct for the sea, a framework for which was finalized earlier this year by Chinese and ASEAN leaders. The US has urged the nations to adopt a Code of Conduct that is binding and conforms to applicable international law. China, however, has condemned Americas statements on the matter as outside interference.

The US-ASEAN statement obtained by VOA Khmer said the nations welcomed the conclusion and adoption of the framework of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) and look forward to an early conclusion of the COC.

It also urged adherence to an earlier agreement, the Declaration of Conduct, which was agreed to in 2002 as a temporary measure but has had little practical force.

Escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula are also a priority issue for this years meetings. The US-ASEAN statement condemns recent nuclear and ballistic missile launches from North Korea (also known as the DPRK).

The statement urge[s] the DPRK and all parties concerned to exercise self-restraint and the resumption of meaningful dislodge through the relevant platform in order to de-escalate tensions and create conducive condo to peace and stability.

Before Donald Trumps scheduled visit to the Philippines, he traveled to Japan, South Korea, and China in what is his first trip to Asia as president. He also attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Danang, Vietnam.

Shihoko Goto, a senior associate for Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., gave a generally positive review to Trumps visit so far, highlighting his efforts to shore up Americas relationships with its regional allies in the face of North Korean aggression and Chinese expansion.

So far, he has been able to reassure Japan and South Korea about the US alliance, and he has made clear US commitment to stand firm against Pyongyang, and not just because of the nuclear threat that it imposes, she said.

On November 7, Trump gave a fiery speech to legislators in Seoul in which he affirmed the US commitment to defending South Korea against aggression from its northern neighbor, referring to the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a cruel dictatorship.

Goto said Trump had successfully signaled Americas commitment to the region.

The fact that he is not only going to APEC but also to the East Asia Summit meeting, has been reassuring insofar as it signifies US commitment to the region, especially when making an appearance means so much in the world of diplomacy, she added.

However, Peter Maguire, a journalist, and professor who focuses on Cambodia, said that Trump had not yet convincingly demonstrated that the US had a coherent vision for its role in Asia.

The abysmal failure of the Obama administrations Pivot to Asia, coupled with Trumps unhinged rhetoric and decision to walk away from the TPP treaty has left America looking weak and confused in the region, he said.

Maguire noted that Chinese initiatives such as the new Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road initiative had helped Beijing strengthen its political and economic grip over the region in recent years.

In the South China Sea, he said, China was already exercising de facto control over many technically disputed areas, rendering Americas and ASEANs insistence on the language of diplomacy and international law largely symbolic.

With the exception of Vietnamese waters, China already has de facto control of the South China Sea and most of the ASEAN nations seem resigned to this, he said. Americas Freedom of Navigation operations are little more than a symbolic show of force.
For Sherpa, a scrappy French monitoring group that is thinly staffed, no multinational is too powerful, and no head of state untouchable as it seeks economic and social change through the courts.

It accuses a major bank of complicity in Rwanda's genocide and a cement manufacturer of helping to finance terrorism in Syria. It has gone after African leaders, mining companies and even a supermarket chain for activities that allegedly impoverish communities and violate human rights.

"I think we are the demonstration that small is beautiful," Sherpa's founder, lawyer William Bourdon, said in his Paris office.

Sherpa teamed up with fellow anti-corruption group Transparency International France to score a major win in late October, when a French court handed a suspended prison sentence to Equatorial Guinea's vice president, Teodorin Obiang.

The playboy son of the country's longtime leader, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the younger Obiang was found guilty of using public funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle in France, including a 101-room Paris mansion and a fleet of luxury cars. He is appealing the verdict, delivered after a decade-old campaign by Sherpa and fellow nongovernmental groups to bring him to justice.

"It's a new wind," Bourdon said of the verdict. "What was considered absolutely unrealistic 10 or 15 years ago is now considered possible."

Families of two African heads of state  Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Gabon's deceased leader Omar Bongo  also face corruption investigations in France as part of a larger probe of "ill-gotten gains."

Broader change

Observers say the Obiang sentencing reflects a broader change in France, long accused of turning a blind eye to lavish property snapped up by African dictators and their families  and of maintaining a tangle of shadowy business and political ties with former colonies, dubbed France-Afrique.

"Teodorin is somebody who seems to be completely immune to any sort of pressure," Human Rights Watch researcher Sarah Saadoun said of Obiang, whose opulent lifestyle sharply contrasted with the grinding poverty in his country. "Here is a case where France was able to pierce this impunity by seizing some of his assets. It's a tremendous victory in a context where it's very hard to have victories."

Also groundbreaking is new French due diligence legislation that went into effect this year, forcing multinational corporations to address the impact of their actions on people and the planet. Criticized by France's MEDEF employers group and some conservative politicians and hailed by anti-corruption groups, it is considered by some as a model for other European countries.

"It marks a huge change in French law," said Ken Hurwitz, senior legal anti-corruption officer for the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative, one of Sherpa's funders, "because it gives standing to civil society organizations focused on anti-corruption to actually bring a civil party case."

Finding legal bases

The legislation could help buttress Sherpa's arguments as it goes after powerful companies.

"We have to be creative to find a legal basis" to link French multinationals to abuses allegedly committed thousands of kilometers away, said Sherpa's litigation head, Marie-Laure Guislain. "The violations of human rights must also be really clear, like environmental damage or working conditions. And they must be very big, to affect communities as a whole."

While some nongovernmental organizations use "name and shame" tactics against corrupt companies and wrongdoers, Sherpa's team of lawyers and jurists, many working pro bono, argue legal tools are more sustainable.

" 'Name and shame' works sometimes, but not always," Guislain said. "What we have seen so far is they are really only willing to change their practices before justice."

In June, Sherpa and two other groups filed a complaint against BNP Paribas, alleging the French banking giant knowingly approved a $1.3 million transfer that helped arm Hutu fighters during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Judges are now looking into the allegations against BNP, along with those against Swiss-French company LafargeHolcim, which Sherpa alleges made payments through intermediaries to the Islamic State group to keep its Syria plant open.

Lafarge said that an internal investigation had found "significant" errors of judgment and that it had taken measures to correct them, although it could not source who exactly received the payments; BNP did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Not surprisingly, Sherpa has attracted its share of critics, and founder Bourdon said he had faced numerous threats.

Close aides to Mauritania's president also reportedly plan to file defamation charges against the NGO in Paris, following an October report highlighting alleged corruption in the West African state, according to magazine Jeune Afrique.

All about attention, money

Other critics argue Sherpa's attacks are easily and unfairly destroying the reputation of large and vulnerable companies for the sake of media attention and funds.

"They file a complaint and their objective is met," said Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi, lawyer for French construction company Vinci, which sued Sherpa over its Qatar worker abuse claims. "The bigger the company, the bigger the media interest."

Sherpa claims the contrary  that it is tilting against vastly more powerful and richer adversaries  and says that defamation suits with mounting compensation claims are attempts to silence it and other critics.

"It's a whole strategy of intimidating NGOs," said litigation head Guislain. "We're lucky that we're French lawyers, but our partners are terrified when they are attacked in French courts."
Afghanistan has received an inaugural consignment of wheat from India through an Iranian port, opening a new trade and transit route for the landlocked nation that bypasses neighboring Pakistan.

The strategic sea route, officials say, will help improve trade and transit connectivity between Kabul and New Delhi.

It will also potentially give India access to Central Asian markets through Afghanistan, because rival Pakistan does not allow Indian goods to be transported through its territory .

The shipment of almost 15,000 tons of wheat dispatched from Indias western port of Kandla on October 29 reached the Iranian port of Chabahar on November 1. It was then loaded on trucks and brought by road to the Afghan province of Nimroz, which borders Iran.

Speaking at a special ceremony to receive the historic consignment Saturday in the border town of Zaranj, Indias ambassador to Kabul, Manpreet Vohra, said the shipment has demonstrated the viability of the new route. He added that India, Afghanistan and Iran agreed to operationalize the Chabahar port only a year-and-a-half ago.

The ease and the speed with which this project is already working is evident from the fact that as we are receiving the first trucks of wheat here in Zaranj, the second ship from Kandla has already docked in Chabahar, Vohra announced.

He said there will be seven shipments between now and February and a total of 110,000 tons of wheat will come to Afghanistan through Chabahar. Vohra added the shipments are part of a promised 1.1 million tons of wheat as Indias gift to Afghanistan out of which 700,000 has already been sent to the country.

India is investing $500 million in Chabahar port to build new terminals, cargo berths and connecting roads, as well as rail lines.

The Indian shipment arrived in Afghanistan days after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on a visit to New Delhi, allayed concerns the Trump administrations tough stand on Iran could pose a fresh stumbling block to Indias plans to develop the strategic Iranian port as a regional transit hub.

The Indian ambassador also took a swipe at Pakistan, though he did not name the rival country.

The logic of finding easy connectivity, assured connectivity for Afghanistan is also because you have not had the benefit despite being a landlocked country of having easy access to international markets. We all know that a particular neighbor of yours to the east has often placed restrictions on your transit rights, Vohra noted.

The shortest and most cost effective land routes between India and Afghanistan lie through Pakistan.

But due to long-running bilateral territorial disputes between India and Pakistan, Afghanistan and India are not allowed to do two-way trade through Pakistani territory. Kabul, however, is allowed to send only a limited amount of perishable goods through Pakistani territory to India.

We are confident that with the cooperation, particularly of the government of Iran, this route now from Chabahar to Afghanistan will not see any arbitrary closure of gates, any unilateral decisions to stop your imports and exports, and this will provide you guaranteed access to the sea, vowed Vohra.

Pakistan also allows Afghanistan to use its southern port of Karachi for transit and trade activities. However, Afghan officials and traders are increasingly complaining that authorities in Pakistan routinely indulge in unannounced trade restrictions and frequent closure of border crossings, which has undermined trade activities.

With the opening of Chabahar Port, Afghanistan will no longer be dependent on Karachi Port, provincial governor Mohammad Samiullah said while addressing the gathering. The economic activity, he said, will create job opportunities and bring billions of dollars in revenue to Afghanistan, Iran and India.

Afghanistans relations with Pakistan have also plunged to new lows in recent years over mutual allegations of sponsoring terrorism against each others soils.

In its bid to enhance economic connectivity with Afghanistan, India also opened an air freight corridor in June this year to provide greater access for Afghan goods to the Indian market.

Pakistani officials, however, have dismissed suggestions the direct trade connectivity between India and Afghanistan is a matter of concern for Islamabad.

It is our consistent position that Afghanistan as a landlocked country has a right of transit access through any neighboring country according to its needs, said Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,600 kilometer largely porous border. However, Islamabad has lately begun construction of a fence and tightened monitoring of movements at regular border crossings between the two countries, saying terrorist attacks in Pakistan are being plotted on the Afghan side of the border.
Israel shot down a Syrian military spy drone near the border on Saturday, the Israeli military said.

The Israeli military shot down the reconnaissance drone with a Patriot interceptor missile as it crossed into the Golan demilitarized zone, headed toward Israel.

"The State of Israel regards with utmost seriousness any violation of its sovereignty and will respond with force to any provocation," Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement.

The military confirmed that the unmanned aerial vehicle was not an attack drone, and that it would investigate whether the drone had ties to Iran or Hezbollah.

The Golan area, which has separated Israel from Syria since a cease-fire deal following the 1973 war, has seen some spill-over violence from the Syrian civil war since 2011.

In September, Syria's army said Israeli warplanes hit one of its positions, killing two people in an attack that a monitor group said targeted a site where the regime allegedly produces chemical weapons.

Israel and Syria are still technically at war after Israel seized around 1,200 kilometers of land in the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six Day War of 1967.
Lowell, a Massachusetts mill town whose minorities nearly makeup a majority of its residents, has a history of all-white governing bodies. But in a citywide election this week, driven by a debate over the high schools fate, voters elected two Cambodian-Americans, putting one on the City Council and the other on the School Committee.

The two victories in the city, which has the second-largest Cambodian-American community in the U.S. after Long Beach, California, came as voters nationwide elected a diverse group of candidates that included refugees, immigrants and members of the LGBT community, as well as racial and ethnic minorities.

The electoral wins also came during a time of rising xenophobia and white supremacy in the country.

In Lowell, residents also made history Tuesday by electing the first minority to the School Committee, as the school board is called. Cambodian-American Dominik Hok Lay came in fourth in the vote for six open seats.

Vesna Nuon, a Cambodian-born candidate, garnered the most votes  6,518 out of 90,756  cast for the nine open Lowell City Council seats. Nuon previously served on the council for one term, 2011-2012.

We are one city

I think it is a historical day in the city, said Rodney Elliott, an incumbent who was re-elected. He credited his victory, in part, to allies in the Cambodian community. We have a Cambodian city councilor and we have a Cambodian School Committee person. It is good for the city.

I think it is a strong message that we are one city, and that we are starting to come together and understand and work together, Elliott said.

About 49.2 percent of Lowells population, which totals a little more than 110,000, form the minority bloc, of which Asian-Americans are the largest group. Since 1999, only four minority candidates have been elected to the City Council.

Tuesdays success is important for the citys almost majority.

In May, several minority citizens filed a lawsuit alleging the citys at-large, or winner-take-all, voting system dilutes the minority vote and discriminates against candidates from minority communities.

On Oct. 17, at the first public hearing on Huot v. City of Lowell in U.S. District Court, Judge William Young denied the citys motion to dismiss. This means Lowell may find itself headed to trial against some of its minority residents, unless the council decides to opt for a change from within.

Nuon, 50, came to the U.S. in 1982 as a Cambodian refugee. He said the victory is for Lowell residents, especially the Cambodian community, who he says have trusted in his leadership vision in the city.

This success is not just for me, but for Cambodian community and Lowell residents as a whole, Nuon said. Now it is time to work together for a better Lowell.

A single-issue election?

Although this was an election when minorities were expected to obtain representation on the two city panels, the future of Lowell High School, whether to build a new school in a new location or renovate the current downtown school, emerged as the largest issue that drew voters to the polls.

The high school issue was pervasive in all races. Of the 18 City Council candidates, 10 supported the estimated $350 million renovation, while eight wanted to spend an estimated $334 million to build a new school nearer to the outlying playing fields.

In June, the City Council voted 5-4 to relocate the high school to Cawley Stadium in Belvidere, a predominantly white and well-to-do enclave. Sixty percent of those who voted in the election Tuesday, which included a measure on the high school, came from Belvidere, according to an analysis in the local newspaper the Lowell Sun.

Sokhary Chau, a Cambodian-born American candidate, lost his bid for the City Council.

A first-time candidate who favored relocating the high school, Chau said he was disappointed with the results, saying the election was dominated by Belvidere voters, although he was proud of the two Cambodian winners, Nuon and Lay.

This is democracy, said incumbent Elliott, who supported the campaign to relocate the high school. People were organized and they voted. It is good to go out and vote. It is good to exercise freedom of speech. It is all good.

Another incumbent who was re-elected on Tuesday agrees.

Councilor William Samaras, a former mayor, told the local newspaper that the ballot-box battle over the high schools future wasnt a neighborhood issue. It was a citywide issue and the results show it.

Or as Nuon put it, The people have spoken.
First lady Melania Trump was a fashion model at one time in her life, but she had no qualms ripping off a chunk of Play-Doh and getting her hands dirty, just like the three preschoolers seated at the table with her Friday at a military base in Alaska.

Trump expertly rubbed the material between her two hands into a perfect sphere and then rolled the small red ball on the table to the girl seated across from her.

The nations first lady then moved to the table to her right and made a harmonica out of ordinary household materials, held together with a rubber band.

Its not the heady stuff of the official visit with her husband to Asia but hundreds packed the Arctic Oasis Community Center to get a glimpse of the first lady as she toured programs for children and youths at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. She made a refueling stop at the Anchorage base en route back to Washington, D.C., after spending the last week with President Donald Trump in South Korea and China.

The White House said late Friday that the first lady has her own schedule to keep and needed to get back.

The president continued his official visit to Asia.

Children's programs

Melania Trump, wearing a three-quarter length winter coat over a brown turtle neck and white slacks, spent about 35 minutes visiting with children and teachers.

Any time we have an opportunity to share with others what our program does and the educational basis for all the activities that we do, its a chance to show our story and to share with other individuals how we serve our military population, said Tamra De Benedetto, who oversees all activities at the base for children younger than 18.

Trump viewed items children made on a 3D printer, saw sewing projects, and watched as they constructed fish out of compact discs, glitter and gems.

Every program we offer has an educational purpose and a reason for why we do it, De Benedetto said.

De Benedetto said she exchanged a few private words with Trump.

She is just delightful and very genuine, she said.

Rare visitor sighting

Trump didnt make a public speech or address reporters, but did take time to shake hands and talk briefly with parents and military members who flocked to the community center.

Paige Wyse and her husband, Air Force Tech Sgt. Matthew Wyse, brought their 4-year-old son Brantley so he could make a fish with the first lady. They found out about Trumps visit Thursday and tried to explain to their son who she was.

He made the correlation when she explained to him that the visitor is the presidents wife, and then he became excited.

He was like, Oh, wow. OK, she said.

Air Force Master Sgt. David Jennings brought his wife, Lindsay, and their two daughters, Abbigail and Annabelle, to see the first lady. He said dignitaries stop at the base frequently, but base personnel rarely are able to get close.

But in this case, the family got a good view of the visit, and they took pictures to remember the rare event.

A great family memory here, he said.

There are 14,000 active duty soldiers and airmen stationed at the joint Army and Air Force facility in Anchorage. With their family members, that number swells to 29,000.
Trade ministers of the remaining 11 countries of the expansive Pacific Rim trade pact abandoned by U.S. President Donald Trump reached a deal early Saturday to salvage the agreement without participation by the United States.

Previously known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), it now will be known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Ministers are pleased to announce that they have agreed on the core elements of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 11 nations said in a statement.

Setback for US

Its a huge setback for the United States, according to Deborah Elms, executive director of the Singapore-based Asian Trade Center. If you are an exporter this is deeply damaging.

Elms said that while some large U.S. corporations might find alternative ways, with their global networks and subsidiaries, to take advantage of the CPTPP through their global networks, Americas smaller agricultural entities look to suffer the most damage, especially those in the dairy, beef and pork sectors who would have benefited from significantly greater access to the Japan market.

Australia, New Zealand and Canada will suck up that new access, said Elms, who was in Danang for APEC business and trade meetings.

When Trump abdicated TPP and then told regional nations to go on their own as the U.S. would, it was inevitable that a new formulation of TPP would emerge not only without American leadership, but also without even an American presence, said former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, Robert Skipp Orr.

U.S. economic interests will have to contend with the consequences of such shortsightedness, Orr, an Obama appointee who previously was president of aircraft maker Boeing in Japan, told VOA.

Opponents of the TPP have criticized it for putting corporate interests over those of workers, and it became a campaign issue during the 2016 presidential election in the United States, with Democratic Party candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, reversing her previous support of it.

Trade deal reboot

On the eve of the leaders summit of APEC, the forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries to promote free trade, trade ministers scrambled to complete the rebooted trade deal for their bosses.

A last-minute disagreement between Canada and Japan resulted in some drama, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau not showing up for a meeting of the 11 remaining TPP countries, prompting its postponement.

Eventually the issue was resolved, leading to an announcement that the refashioned agreement will maintain the high standards, overall balance and integrity of the TPP while ensuring the commercial and other interests of all participants and preserving our inherent right to regulate, including the flexibility of the parties to set legislative and regulatory priorities, according to the ministers statement.

WATCH: Leaders of US and China Offer Asia Business Leaders Divergent Paths

Trump: No multilateral agreements

Trump, in a Friday speech to APEC business executives, reiterated his opposition to multinational trade agreements but expressed willingness to negotiate with any country in the region for one-on-one trade deals.

The final text and schedules of the CPTPP have not been released, but it is expected to be signed by leaders in January or February 2018 and entering into force before the end of next year.

The TPP, led by Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was the largest trade agreement in history when it was signed in February 2016. It was intended to create new market opportunities for companies and was touted to realize significant cost savings for corporations and consumers.

The World Bank had forecast the original agreement itself could see GDP rising by an average of more than 1 percent by 2030 and increase member countries trade by 11 percent by the same year.

The TPP was a centerpiece of the Obama administrations Pivot to Asia and was seen as helping the United States, which is the worlds largest economy, lead other countries in a strategic bulwark to temper a rising China, the worlds No. 2 economy.
Premier Industries proposed slag processing plant in Anaconda is expected to generate locally an annual tax revenue of $225 million, project spokesperson Rick Tabish told residents at a meeting Wednesday night.

But the audiences excitement for the project was mixed with caution, as some came armed with hard questions  and they were anxious for answers.

Since news of the facility broke in January 2016, Tabish, general contractor and public face for the project, has said that the facility should bring around 700 jobs to the town, population 9,000. The facility will turn Anaconda slag into a material used for fracking oil and natural gas.

The potential of a large-scale facility means a lot to the people of Anaconda, who for decades have wanted to see jobs return to a community that was once supported by a robust smelting-based economy.

Tabish told The Montana Standard in mid-October that he has a goal of opening the facility around April or March next year.

Bob Kelly, consultant and company spokesperson for Premier, has said previously that the facility will open with one or two furnaces, supporting a workforce of about 60. At full capacity, plans for the facility call for 60 furnaces supported by a workforce of 700, including safety personnel, truck drivers, furnace operators, management, and other positions, though a timeline for a fully functioning facility hasnt been set.

Considering this, its no surprise that residents came to Wednesday nights meeting wanting to know about jobs.

One person asked where Premier plans to acquire its workers.

This is awesome, the woman said. But one of the things Ive heard around town is that youre bringing in other people (and that) youre going to have company housing. Where are we going to get these employees? Are we assured that its going to be Anaconda, or are we bringing them up from other places?

Tabish assured the audience that Anaconda would be at the top of the list when it comes to recruiting employees. He said that Premier plans to hold career fairs and has been working with the Anaconda Job Service, which closed in September due to cuts in federal funding.

The buck starts in Anaconda, said Tabish, echoing an earlier statement he made last week during a tour of Premiers new pilot testing site in Butte. At that time, The Standard asked whether a general contractor would be hired to operate and staff the facility. Tabish said Premier would not be outsourcing operations to a contractor.

I made the pledge to Anaconda and I reinforced it numerous times, Tabish continued Wednesday. Were really, really pro-Anaconda for employees.

Premier, meanwhile, has already collected resumes from at least some Anaconda residents.

A July article in Anacondas local newspaper  which reported that Tabish and his company FX Solutions Inc. had begun site preparation on the facility  concluded with a call for resumes.

One resident who submitted a resume wanted to know when he would hear back.

I have kept everybodys resumes. Ive kept everybodys applications, said Victoria Buckendorf, controller at FX Solutions. We will have a job fair. You guys will be contacted and youll be the first people that we interview.

Residents also said they hoped the slag-processing facility would keep more young people in Anaconda, and others expressed support for the project.

I just want to say thank you for your enthusiasm about Anaconda, said one woman. Several attendees clapped.

But the room had its critics.

Residents who live along Mill Creek Highway said they were concerned about traffic and noise, while others asked questions about Premiers prospects for success. They wanted to know if the company has acquired any buyers and if it had contracts to supply them proppant.

Tabish said Premier at this juncture would not disclose potential buyers, citing company privacy. However, he added were not doing this for an exercise. We feel weve got a superior product that, as fast as we can make it, it will sell.

The quality of Premiers proppant is a message that Tabish has iterated before.

Last week, he said the he feels Premiers proppant is the best in the world, that it can withstand an optimal amount of pressure and has less friction and better flow, a quality that the industry calls conductivity.

Those qualities, he said, are backed up by Montana Tech researchers, who Premier has partnered with to test product quality and come with a formula for turning a piles of slag into proppant and pig iron. The pig iron alone, Tabish said by phone Thursday, would be enough to make the company profitable.

But according to one expert in the petroleum industry, the market for proppant is lukewarm at best.

Alan Olson, executive director of Montana Petroleum Association, said that the success of manufacturing and selling proppant in the oil industry boils down to what is the cost.

He said if oil was selling for $80 to $90 a barrel, then oil companies would start looking at it.

But, oil is hovering around $50 to $54 a barrel.

Olson anticipates oil prices to rise to $60 to $65 a barrel within the next few years.

Historically, frack sand is strip-mined and is easily accessible, he said. With fracking activity down, the cost of frack sand is cheap, he said.

Fracking jobs that used to cost $1.5 million during boom times, now cost around $600,000 to $700,000.

If theyve got a good product, theres most likely going to be a niche for it, Olson said. But its a tough market to get into.

Premiers proppant is premium, and will likely cost more than the cheaper frack sand version.

Tabish didnt seem phased by Olsons take on the industry. He reiterated his message: quality is what will sell the product.

Premier can sell its product for between $250 to $350 per ton during depressed markets, Tabish said, and the quality of Premiers proppant can get fracking companies better yields and more longevity out of their wells before having to re-frack them.

Conductivity is everything in this business, he said. And thats the sale right there.

-- Reporter Susan Dunlap contributed to this story.
North Korea denounced U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday for trying to halt the North's nuclear and missile programs.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry issued its first official statement on Trump's trip to Asia, saying it "is a warmonger's trip for confrontation with our country, trying to remove our self-defensive nuclear deterrent.''

Pyongyang also accused Trump of trying to isolate it from the global community and weaken its government.

"Reckless remarks by an old lunatic like Trump will never scare us or stop our advance," the ministry said.

Much of Trump's five-nation Asia tour has focused on North Korea. Trump pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping privately on the North Korea nuclear issue, Trump administration officials said. According to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump told Xi, "You're a strong man. I'm sure you can solve this for me."

Xi urged his South Korean counterpart Saturday to reopen talks with North Korea to help manage the security threat posed by North Korea, according to Reuters news agency reports citing China's state-owned news service, Xinhua.

At APEC gathering

On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam, Xi reportedly encouraged South Korean President Moon Jae-in to re-engage with North Korea in an attempt to get the North to end its nuclear and missile programs, which violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The leaders of South Korea and China agreed on the need to seek a peaceful resolution to the North Korean threat, South Korea's presidential spokesman reportedly said. As a result, the spokesman said, the two countries will engage in more intensive talks on all levels.

Tensions on the peninsula heightened last month when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump exchanged threats over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

In addition to the U.S., South Korea has urged China to take a more assertive role in curbing North Korea's military aspirations. Beijing has maintained it is doing all it can to restrain North Korea's provocative actions.

Moon and Xi have reportedly agreed to meet in China next month for another round of summit talks. In addition, Moon invited Xi to South Korea to attend the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February, South Korea's presidential spokesman reportedly said.
Pneumonic plague continues to decline in Madagascar, according to the World Health Organization, whose latest figures put the number of suspected cases at 1,947, including 143 deaths.

The latest reported cases of pneumonic plague, based on the number of people hospitalized and on district reporting in Madagascar, is good news, said Fadela Chaib, WHO spokeswoman.

As of yesterday, 6 November, there were only 27 people hospitalized with plague compared with 106 on 29 October, for example, she said. This decline in new cases is encouraging and shows that the quick steps taken to support the government of Madagascar to contain the outbreak have been effective.

Vigilance and money

However, Chaib warns that everyone must remain vigilant. She says flare-ups of this deadly disease cannot be ruled out until the plague season ends in April.

WHO, she said, needs $4 million to sustain its effort.

Much vital work remains, she said. For example, samples from sick people and those in contact with them must be laboratory tested, she said. She told VOA that since the start of the outbreak in August, WHO has trained teams of people who have traced 6,000 contacts.

This is a huge operation, she sad. This needs to be done because you will need to maintain a high level of surveillance. You will need to train people. You will need also to provide logistical help to the hospitals and health centers.

Fighting distrust, too

In Madagascar, Tomislav Jagatic of Doctors Without Borders told Reuters that medical staff fight distrust as well as the disease.

We are sending teams of outreach, health promoters to discuss with all the people in the community how the plague is transmitted and also more important is we want to gain the trust of the community, Jagatic said.

So far, there have been no reported cases of plague outside Madagascar.

WHO is working with all countries to strengthen their surveillance systems at the borders, Chaib said. WHO also is urging them to be prepared to quickly contain the disease in case plague is reported.


Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether U.S. President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was involved in an alleged plan to seize a Muslim cleric and deliver him to Turkey in exchange for millions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Under the plan, Flynn, who was fired by Trump after just 24 days in the job, and his son, Michael G. Flynn, were to receive up to $15 million for forcibly removing Fethullah Gulen from his U.S. home and delivering him to the Turkish government, people familiar with the investigation told the Journal.

The alleged plan emerged during Mueller's wider investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and any collusion by the Trump campaign.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen of instigating a failed coup in July 2016 and wants him extradited to Turkey to face trial. Gulen has denied any role in the coup.

A spokesman for Mueller's team declined to comment on the report Friday.

Flynn is a central figure in Mueller's investigation because of conversations he had with then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak last year and because he waited until March to retroactively register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for the work he did for a Turkish businessman.

The Journal reported that FBI agents asked at least four people about a December meeting in New York where Flynn and Turkish government representatives discussed removing Gulen, according to people with knowledge of the FBI's inquiries.

Turkish-Iranian trader

The December meeting about Gulen was also reported Friday by NBC, which cited people familiar with the probe. The group also discussed how to set free a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab. Zarrab is in prison in the United States on federal charges that he helped Iran skirt U.S. sanctions, NBC said.

A Reuters report on October 26 said one of Flynn's business associates, former CIA Director James Woolsey, pitched a $10 million contract to two Turkish businessmen to help discredit Gulen while Woolsey was an adviser to Trump's election campaign.

Woolsey was a member of Flynn's firm, the Flynn Intel Group, according to a Justice Department filing by the firm and an archive of the company's website.

Mueller's team has also interviewed White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, the highest-level Trump aide known to have spoken with investigators, CNN reported Thursday.
The Washington Post is reporting that the body of 25-year-old La David Johnson, one of the four U.S. servicemen killed last month in Niger by militants, was found with arms bound, apparently executed, according to villagers.

The Post said Friday that two villagers in the remote village of Tongo Tongo told reporters some children found Johnsons remains Oct. 6, two days after the attack that killed the four U.S. servicemen and five Nigerien soldiers.

When Johnson was found, he was lying face down, there was a wound to the back of his head and his arms were bound with rope, raising the possibility that Johnson had been taken captive by the attackers, villagers told the Post.

The Pentagon has said the attackers are suspected to have been affiliated with Islamic State.

Village chief Mounkaila Alassane confirmed to the Post in a telephone interview that Johnsons body was found without his shoes, and speculated that the back of the Army sergeants head had been smashed with a heavy object, such as a hammer.

A U.S. official who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity said Johnsons head had indeed been damaged but denied that his hands were tied. He cautioned against drawing any conclusions until the investigation into the incident is complete.

The account, if true, could help explain why Johnsons body was found two days later than the bodies of his three compatriots, who were discovered just hours after the attack  one inside a pickup and two more on the ground, one clutching a walkie-talkie.

Earlier this month, however, a U.S. official told VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb there was no indication that Johnson was ever in the custody of hostile forces.

Johnsons fellow soldiers killed in the attack were Bryan Black, 35; Jeremiah Johnson, 39; and Dustin Wright, age 29.

The attack has come under intense scrutiny in the United States, where the Pentagons initial account of the attack has been questioned. Lawmakers have complained that they received insufficient or conflicting information on the details of the incident.

Pentagon authorities are investigating.

The U.S. military is helping Niger deal with threats by members of Islamic State and al-Qaida, but deaths of U.S. servicemen in Niger are rare.
Longtime congregants at the small-town Texas church where a gunman's rampage left more than two dozen dead say they were afraid of the attacker.

Husband and wife Rod and Judy Green said Friday that they were good friends with Devin Kelley's in-laws, and that Kelley had often exhibited troubling behavior.

Authorities have said Kelley's mother-in-law attended First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs and she'd gotten threatening texts from him.

Rod Green, the grounds steward at the church, said that at a Christmas dinner one year, Kelley had "bragged about being armed." The Greens also said they watched Kelley closely when he showed up wearing all black last month at a festival at the church.

Judy Green said Kelley was "completely distant and way out in thought."

Green said she had slept little since Sunday, waking up screaming from nightmares. She and her husband, who were married at the church, were not at the service Sunday but later watched as worshippers were carried out in body bags.

"It is fresh in my mind. I see it all  just over and over and over," Judy Green said.

Temporary memorial

Law enforcement officials have reopened the intersection where the First Baptist Church stands, but black mesh material was tied to the chain-link fence surrounding it. With the bullet-ridden church door open, a tall wooden cross could be seen at the altar.

At annual Veterans Day observances Saturday, the church victims with military backgrounds will receive a full military salute on the grounds of the community hall, said Alice Garcia, president of the unincorporated town's community association.

"Everyone in the community is doing what they can, but honestly, everyone feels so helpless," Karyssa Calbert, 20, of neighboring Floresville, Texas, said.

Church services will never take place in the building again, according to Rod Green, who said the sanctuary would be turned into a temporary memorial for the victims before the building is eventually demolished.

The building will be scrubbed down and whitewashed, and chairs will be placed inside  one to commemorate each of the dead.

Green said the church plans to build a new structure on property it owns elsewhere. Services will be held Sunday at the community hall.

Pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose daughter was killed in the massacre, told leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention earlier this week that it would be too painful to continue using First Baptist Church as a place of worship.

Other sites of mass shootings have been torn down, including Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in December 2012. A new school was built elsewhere.

A one-room Amish schoolhouse near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was torn down in 2006, 10 days after an assailant took children hostage and shot and killed five girls ages 6 to 13. The previous site of the school is now a pasture. A nearly identical schoolhouse with a security fence was erected nearby and named New Hope School.

Kelley shot and killed 25 people at the Sutherland Springs church. Authorities have put the official toll at 26, because one of the victims was pregnant.

Kelley died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being shot and chased by two residents after he left the church, authorities said.

Funerals

Meanwhile, more than 500 people attended a private funeral on a San Antonio-area Air Force base for a husband and wife who were among the victims.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that the service for Scott and Karen Marshall was held Thursday afternoon at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

Randy Martin, spokesman for the 12th Flying Training Wing, said a traditional military funeral was held for the couple. The service was closed to media and the public at their family's request.

Martin told the newspaper that Karen Marshall was promoted posthumously to senior master sergeant. She had been planning to retire from the military soon. Martin said Scott Marshall, already a military retiree, was a civilian employee at the base.

Wounded

Medical officials said 11 people wounded in Sutherland Springs remained hospitalized. The conditions of the patients, being treated at two San Antonio hospitals, ranged from good to critical.

Brooke Army Medical Center on Friday reported having seven patients from the church. The hospital said the patients included five adults and two children.

University Health System had four patients, two of whom were children.

Officials at both hospitals declined to release more specific information on the wounded patients.
Several thousand Brazilians demonstrated on Friday as part of a day of national mobilization against government austerity measures, including a labor law that will soon come into effect.

Demonstrators were also protesting against a highly-unpopular pension reform project and the wave of privatization recently announced by President Michel Temers government.

We must prevent the destruction of our country, the loss of social gains and the threats against democracy, said Telma de Barros, a 57-year-old teacher protesting in Sao Paulo, Brazils economic capital where some 10,000 had gathered to demonstrate, according to an AFP photographer.

Protests also took place in other cities including Rio de Janeiro and the capital Brasilia.

In Rio, thousands took to the streets, and a car was set on fire on a bridge by a group of protesters earlier in the day, causing a major traffic jam.

There have been other anti-austerity protests in recent months, including a call for a general strike, but participation has been relatively low.

Temers government has launched a series of austerity measures aimed at addressing a huge budget deficit and reviving the recession-hit economy.

The new labor law, which was approved by the Senate in July and goes into effect on Saturday, provides for more flexible contracts, eliminates obligatory union dues and makes unions liable for legal costs in losing court challenges.

The government is now trying to push through changes aimed at raising the minimum retirement age and extending the contribution period for full pensions.

Theres no problem with the current system, but the government is inventing reasons to change it, to the detriment of the workers. The people still pay the bill, said 45-year-old protester Julio Telmo.
U.S. President Donald Trump heaped praise on Vietnam Saturday, saying the southeast Asian nation is "one of the great miracles of the world."

Trump's remarks were made at a state banquet in the capital of Hanoi, the latest event on his five-country Asian tour. Trump, who arrived in Hanoi Saturday, told dignitaries he toured parts of the country, which he said "is really something to behold."

After the nearly 20-year Vietnam War that killed millions of people, the country's economy has been among the world's fastest growing since 1990. Its gross domestic product has grown nearly 6.5-percent annually in the 2000s, according to the World Bank.

On Sunday Trump is to have meetings with Vietnamese President Tran dai Quang and other leaders.

Prior to his arrival in Hanoi, Trump was in the central Vietnamese city of Danang, where he attended the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Enroute to Hanoi aboard Air Force One, Trump reiterated to reporters traveling with him that he discussed with APEC leaders bilateral agreements that have resulted in trade imbalances he says are disadvantageous to the U.S.

"Its disgraceful. And I dont blame any of those countries. I blame the people we had representing us who didnt know what they were doing because they should have never let that happen."

At the close of the APEC meeting, the 21 member nations issued a statement expressing support for free trade and closer regional ties, without any mention of Trump's 'America First' doctrine.

WATCH: Leaders of US and China Offer Asia Business Leaders Divergent Paths

Two views on trade

On Friday, Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, offered starkly contrasting views of the direction for trade in Asia in separate speeches to regional business leaders



Trump told the APEC CEO Summit that he is willing to make bilateral trade agreements with any country in the Indo-Pacific region, but he firmly rejected multi-national deals such as the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was quickly abandoned in the first days of his administration.

"I will make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and that will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade," Trump said. "What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty, and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible."

The U.S. president said that in the past when his country "lowered market barriers, other countries didn't open their markets to us."

From now on, however, Trump warned the United States will, "expect that our partners will faithfully follow the rules. We expect that markets will be open to an equal degree on both sides and that private investment, not government planners, will direct investment."

But making that happen is something that is easier said than done.

Not playing by the rules

China has already shown that it has no intention of playing by the rules, said Fraser Howie, co-author of the book Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of Chinas Extraordinary Rise.

"China has been in WTO terms simply much sharper and smarter than the Americans," Howie said. "While the Americans went in with good faith thinking the Chinese would change and whatever, the Chinese never had any intention of changing."

Howie added that trade and access issues are difficult and sophisticated, and so far Trump has a poor track record when it comes to follow through - be it his travel ban, the wall, healthcare or tax policy.

"Yes you're going to get tough on them, but how do get tough without penalizing them," he said. He added, "how can China be penalized when Xi Jinping is your best mate? It doesn't make any sense."

WATCH: Despite Tough US Talk on Trade, Experts See Greater Trade Opportunities

President Xi, whose country's rise has been driven greatly by large-scale government-planning, immediately followed Trump on the stage in Da Nang.

Xi embraced the multilateral concept, in particular calling for support for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), which would harmonize regional and bilateral economic pacts.

China was left out of the TPP, which was led by the United States and Japan, and was meant in great part as a bulwark against China's strategic ambitions.

Xi also termed globalization an irreversible trend, but said the world must work to make it more balanced and inclusive.

The speeches came just hours after Trump left China where he and Xi met several times on Wednesday and Thursday.

In Beijing on Thursday, the U.S. president had struck a markedly softer tone than in the past on touchy subjects such as North Korea and trade saying he had an "incredibly warm" feeling for Xi.

Trump noted the U.S. must change its policy.

"It's too bad that past administrations allowed it go get so far out of kilter," said Trump. "But we'll make it fair, and it will be tremendous for both of us."

The Chinese leader said Beijing's relationship with Washington "now stands at a new starting point" and vowed to "enhance communication and cooperation on the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula" and other issues.

"For China and the United States, cooperation is the only viable choice, and win-win cooperation can take us to a better future," said the Chinese president.

Much of Trump's Asia tour has focused on North Korea, which is developing a nuclear and missile program in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Trump pressed Xi privately on the North Korea nuclear issue, according to Trump administration officials. According to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump told Xi, "You're a strong man, I'm sure you can solve this for me."

Speaking in Beijing, Tillerson noted "there is no disagreement on North Korea" between the United States and China. The diplomat pointed out the Chinese have been clear and unequivocal over two days of talks that they will not accept a North Korea with nuclear weapons.

"There's no space between both of our objectives," said Tillerson. "We have our own views of the tactics, the timing and how far to go with pressure and that's what we spend a lot of time exchanging views on."
Uber lost the latest round in the battle over its operating model Friday, when a British panel ruled that the company's drivers are workers, not independent contractors.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a lower panel's decision, agreeing that the two drivers in this case were "workers" under British law and therefore should receive the minimum wage and paid holidays. Uber said it would appeal.

Judge Jennifer Eady rejected Uber's argument that the men were independent contractors, because the drivers had no opportunity to make their own agreements with passengers and the company required them to accept 80 percent of trip requests when they were on duty.

The tribunal, Eady wrote in her decision, found "the drivers were integrated into the Uber business of providing transportation services."

The ride-hailing service said it has never required drivers in the U.K. to accept 80 percent of the trips offered to them and that drivers make well above the minimum wage. Employment lawyers expect the case to be heard by higher courts as early as next year.

"Almost all taxi and private hire drivers have been self-employed for decades, long before our app existed," Tom Elvidge, Uber's acting general manager for the U.K., said in a statement. "The main reason why drivers use Uber is because they value the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive, and so we intend to appeal."

Alternative to taxis

San Francisco-based Uber has expanded rapidly around the world by offering an alternative to traditional taxis through a smartphone app that links people in need of rides with drivers of private cars. That has drawn protests from taxi drivers who say Uber and similar services are able to undercut them because they don't face the same licensing and regulatory requirements.

Though the company argued that the case applies to only two drivers, Uber has tens of thousands of drivers in the U.K. who could argue they deserve the same status as the former drivers covered by Friday's decision. The court says 40,000 drivers use the platform in the U.K., though the company said the number had grown since the submission to 50,000.

"Uber cannot go on flouting U.K. law with impunity and depriving people of their minimum wage rights," said James Farrar, who with Yaseen Aslam brought the case against Uber. "We have done everything we can. Now it is time for the mayor of London, Transport for London [the government body responsible for the transport system in greater London] and the transport secretary to step up and use their leverage to defend worker rights rather than turn a blind eye to sweatshop conditions."

The ruling also has implications for more than 100,000 independent contractors in Britain's so-called gig economy, where people work job to job with little security and few employment rights. Such employment, often for companies that use mobile phone apps to provide everything from food delivery to health care, has surged as the Internet cuts the link between jobs and the traditional workplace.

The case is just one of many focused on the rights of British workers in both the new and old economies  from Deliveroo food delivery drivers to foster care workers and plumbers. So far, the trend in the biggest cases is clear: In eight of eight challenges in U.K. courts, workers have won.

Beyond the border

But the case is also likely to be watched beyond Britain as courts internationally grapple with issues spawned by the rise of the gig economy, said Sean Nesbitt an employment law expert at the law firm Taylor Wessing.

Uber, because of its size, is closely watched around world and across industries as a lead example of how new, disruptive business models can fit into society. Such new business models are fueling the debate about how to balance the wish to encourage economic growth and innovation while protecting individuals' rights, Nesbitt said.

Courts are looking to each other to see how similar issues are being addressed. Nesbitt noted, for example, that Eady referred in her judgment to a case in North Carolina  which is unusual because the U.S. legal system is quite different.

"There will be an echo around the world," Nesbitt said. "At the core of this is a debate about what it means to control people and anxiety about bargaining power."

While the case is separate from London's decision not to renew Uber's license, observers are likely to watch Uber's response to see if a company known for hard-hitting tactics is willing to change.

Following the licensing decision, Uber's new CEO, Dara Khosorwshahi, acknowledged that Uber "got things wrong" in the past and said the company would change as it moved forward. Uber is also appealing that decision.

In the meantime, the ripple effects of the case will expand.

"We anticipate that tens of thousands drivers will now seek to make substantial back-dated claims," said Paul Jennings of Bates Wells Braithwaite, who represented the drivers. "Our clients have fought tirelessly to gain the rights that they clearly should have been afforded from the outset."
U.S. President Donald Trump honored the nation's veterans Saturday, saying in a video message they are "this country's greatest national treasure."

"On this wonderful Veterans Day, I want to express the incredible gratitude of the entire American nation to the millions and millions of veterans that bravely defended our nation in uniform, and the strong families whose unwavering love and support allowed you to answer the call of duty," Trump said in the video that was posted on Twitter.

"We applaud your service, salute your sacrifice, and pay tribute to your profound patriotism and love of our country." #VeteransDay," a White House Twitter posting said.

The president's recorded remarks were released while he is on 12-day, five-nation Asian tour.

Vice President Mike Pence participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington Nation Cemetery just south of Washington to honor the nation's 20 million military veterans.

There is a day in the spring when we remember those who served and did not come home, but today, Veterans Day, is the day when all across America, in gatherings large and small, we pause to remember those who served and did come home."

Pence and several dozen volunteers gathered earlier at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington to give it a holiday cleaning. Orange buckets in hand, Pence and his wife spent about 40 minutes wiping down the face of the memorial's wall engraved with the names of the more than 58,000 U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War. The group was joined by National Park ranger James Pierce, who lost a leg while serving with the North Carolina Army National Guard in Afghanistan.

First Lady Melania Trump paid tribute to veterans Friday as she visited military families at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. She made a refueling stop there on a flight back to Washington after spending the last week with her husband in China and South Korea.

Origin of holiday

Service members are honored annually on Veterans Day, November 11, the anniversary of the end of World War I. It was originally proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson as Armistice Day in 1919 and became a U.S. federal holiday in 1938. U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill in 1954 that changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day so that all veterans could be honored.

Of the 20 million veterans in the U.S., more than 4.5 million receive some form of disability compensation from the federal government, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. More than 609,000 veterans are classified as 100 percent disabled. Nearly 277,000 veterans receive pensions from the federal government.

Nearly 40,000 veterans are spending this Veterans Day without a home to live in, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates another 1.4 million veterans are at risk of being homeless.
The United States and South Korea started joint naval exercises Saturday that will involve three U.S. aircraft carriers in what military officials describe as a clear warning to North Korea.

The four-day drills that began in waters off South Koreas eastern coast come as President Donald Trump continues a visit to Asia that has been dominated by discussions over the North Korean nuclear threat.

The battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Nimitz will successively enter the exercise area during the drills that run until Tuesday, South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The three carriers will be likely together in the drills around Monday, according to a South Korean military official, who didnt want to be named, citing office rules.

The exercises will also involve 11 U.S. Aegis ships and seven South Korean naval vessels, including two Aegis ships. The Aegis technology refers to missile defense.

Show of force

They will aim to enhance combined operation and aerial strike capabilities and also display strong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of crisis, Seouls military said in a statement.

Its the first time since a 2007 exercise near Guam that three U.S. carrier strike groups are operating together in the Western Pacific, according to the U.S. Navys 7th Fleet. The U.S. carriers will also participate in separate exercises with three Japanese destroyers on Sunday, according to Japans Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The United States has been sending its strategic assets, also including long-range bombers, to the region more frequently for patrols or drills amid accelerating North Korean efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program.

In recent months, North Korea has tested intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland with further development and has conducted its most powerful nuclear test. It also flew two new midrange missiles over Japan and threatened to launch them toward Guam, a U.S. Pacific territory and military hub.

President visiting Asia

Trump continued his tough talk against Pyongyang on Friday in a speech to business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, saying that the regions future must not be held hostage to a dictators twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump had also delivered a sharp warning to North Korea in a speech at South Koreas parliament on Wednesday, telling the country: Do not underestimate us. And do not try us.
It's before dawn when two outreach workers find a homeless man known as Juice near a train station in Harlem. A nurse will be visiting to discuss his heart problems, they tell him.

A short time later, in Marcus Garvey Park, the sun has just begun to rise when the caseworkers approach a man zipped inside a sleeping bag. They have encountered him before; they know he's teasing when he gives a phony name.

Gladys Rivera and Ali Olson are part of a citywide, round-the-clock army of workers for nonprofits contracted by the city. Their aim is to get the homeless into shelter, and so they make the rounds of upper Manhattan, checking on clients, identifying newcomers to the streets and trying to connect them with services. They are often rejected, but they do not give up.

"You never know which one is going to be the one that sticks," said Olson.

Rivera and Olson are soldiers in the city's massive daily effort to get the homeless off the street, and into a system that has the capacity to shelter anyone who needs a place to stay.

The nation's most populous city also has the nation's largest homeless population, with 75,000, and like other high-rent cities, it has not been able to move the dispossessed to permanent housing nearly as fast as people are becoming homeless. But there is one key difference: The homeless in New York are far less visible on a daily basis than in West Coast cities where the population has exploded over the past couple years, leading several local governments to declare states of emergency.

The city had fewer than 4,000 unsheltered homeless in an official count taken in January, a number that might have been deflated somewhat by winter weather. But that amounts to only about 1 in 20 homeless people being unsheltered. That compares with 15 of every 20 homeless people in Los Angeles sleeping on the streets or in tents, vehicles or abandoned buildings. In California, Oregon and Washington combined, 12 out of every 20 homeless people have no shelter at night.

New York City has more people in shelters than the three West Coast states combined - and about the same number living on the street as Oakland, a city that has just 5 percent the population of New York.

The District of Columbia has a similar right-to-shelter policy in effect during cold-weather months, and Massachusetts has one for families with children. Both places have relatively low numbers of street homeless, or those who do not have shelter on any given night.

Some West Coast cities are pushing for permanent affordable housing as a long-term fix for the growing homeless crisis, but officials also are looking for immediate answers. The idea of right-to-shelter programs mimicking New York's has popped up in this year's mayoral race in Seattle.

New York's policy grew out of a series of court rulings dating to the 1970s and is rooted in state constitutional provisions adopted in the 1930s to ensure the needy would get government help.

Homeless families can get short-term shelter while their cases are investigated and longer-term shelter if they are found to need it. For single adults, there is even easier access to the system. They show up at intake centers and are usually given a place to stay that night.

There are ample opportunities to get inside, said Cedric Harden, a 35-year-old formerly homeless man now working as a chef.

"You have to be crazy as hell to be homeless in New York City," he said, while visiting old friends on the streets in Harlem.

While the effort is expansive, it's also not cheap. Last year, New York spent nearly $1.7 billion in city, state and federal money to aid the homeless. And even with that commitment, the sheltering program has its critics among the homeless. Some 4,000 people continue to sleep outside.

"No one wants to be in a shelter ... where all anybody does is fight," said Anthony Rainey, who was packing his possessions into a wheelchair when the caseworkers spoke with him during their early morning rounds.

Rainey, 63, had slept next to a school but cleared out before students arrived. He said he has been on the streets since 1971, when he got back from his time in Vietnam as a Marine. He's stayed out even after being hit by two cars and breaking bones a few years ago.

For the people who remain on the streets - many with mental health issues, drug addictions or years of incarceration in their pasts - Rainey's complaint is common. They note the police officers who serve as guards, the small lockers and strict curfews.

"A shelter is no different from jail," said William Bryant, a 50-year-old who has stayed with a group of a half-dozen others in front of a vacant sushi restaurant near Penn Station since he was released over the summer after a four-month stint in jail for drug possession.

Steven Banks spent more than 30 years suing the city to help the homeless, and it was his lawsuit that forced New York to shelter homeless families, who now make up most of the sheltered population. Now he's working on the inside, after Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed him three years ago to oversee the Department of Homeless Services.

Among other things, he wants to phase out the use of hotels to house the homeless. A city comptroller report earlier this year found that nearly 8,000 people were being put up in hotels at a total cost of more than $500,000 a day - a high price for housing that's not permanent.

Banks also is pushing to improve conditions at shelters. He wants to open 90 new facilities, increase the size of the outreach staff and give them better technology to share information about clients.

The overall plan, adopted earlier this year, aims to reduce the shelter population by 2,500 over five years.

While that sounds like a modest objective, Banks said the key is reversing the growth of the Department of Homeless Services' shelter system. The homeless population has nearly doubled since former Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2002.

Banks said there are four steps to addressing homelessness: keeping people in housing; getting those who are homeless off the streets; making sure shelters are safe and decent; and moving people from shelters to permanent housing.

"Without a comprehensive approach with each of those four elements," Banks said, "homelessness cannot effectively be addressed."

The other prominent East Coast cities with right-to-shelter polices, Boston and the District of Columbia, have seen the same success as New York in getting the homeless off the streets on any given night - and like New York, they are searching for long-term answers.

Joe Finn, president of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, said it's common for people in his state to get stuck in shelters.

"For many, you can't even call it an emergency shelter anymore," he said. "What it's become is acceptable housing for many of the poorest people in the commonwealth."

And yet even the temporary shelters are better than the alternative by some measures. One recent study concluded that people who are homeless and living on the streets die at a much higher rate than those without a housing option.

"The provision of shelter is an emergency, life-saving policy that must be in place to meet people's needs that can't be delayed," said Giselle Routhier, policy director at the New York-based Coalition for the Homeless. "Even for a day."

Amid the challenges in trying to get people off the streets, there are many success stories.

Paul Franklin is staying in a shelter in the Bronx while he waits for an apartment to be ready for him in a building that provides supportive housing.

Franklin was on the streets off and on for about a year after he was released from prison in 2015, having served six years for assault. By the fall of 2016, he was assigned a cot at Delta Manor, a former apartment building that had been transformed from a general shelter to a specialized one that serves 101 men with mental illnesses.

The facility has cots and lockers, like the larger shelters. It also has psychiatrists on staff along with nurses who monitor residents' prescriptions. There's a laundry room, a TV room with art by residents on the wall, a cafeteria that serves three meals a day, and a patio where the men doted on kittens born there recently.

Franklin said this shelter is far better than the alternative.

"Eating out of garbage cans, sleeping in New York City subways, it's not a pretty thing," said Franklin, 57. "It's no place I want to be."
The White House has called on "all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes."

A statement released Saturday said, "In this sensitive time, the United States also rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanon's stability, undermine Lebanese government institutions, or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region."

The White House said Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri "has been a trusted partner of the United States in strengthening Lebanese institutions, fighting terrorism, and protecting refugees," adding that the "Lebanese Armed Forces and other Lebanese state security forces are the only legitimate security authorities in Lebanon."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. opposes action that would threaten the stability of Lebanon and warned other countries against using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts.

In a statement Friday, Tillerson said, "There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state."

Earlier Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of detaining Hariri and asking Israel to launch strikes against Lebanon.

"The most dangerous thing is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon," Nasrallah said. "I'm talking about information that Saudi Arabia has asked Israel to strike Lebanon."

While he said he sees war with Israel as unlikely, Nasrallah said it was clear Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon.

Nasrallah said he was certain Hariri, who resigned last week in an address from Saudi Arabia, was forced to make the announcement and called the resignation unconstitutional because it was made under duress.

Tillerson said on Friday there is no indication Hariri has been detained by the Saudis against his will or that he resigned under duress.

Tillerson added Hariri needs to go back to Lebanon to make the resignation official so that the government of Lebanon can function properly.

Government officials in Beirut have said they believe Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia, amid a deepening crisis pushing Lebanon onto the front lines of a power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi Arabia supported Hariri and his allies during years of political conflict in Lebanon with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

In his resignation speech televised from Saudi Arabia, Hariri denounced Iran and Hezbollah for sowing friction in Arab states, and he said he feared assassination. His father, a former prime minister, was killed in a 2005 bombing.
The U.S. woman charged with subversion in Zimbabwe over allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe on Twitter was freed on $1,000 bail Friday.

Martha ODonovan did not speak to reporters as she emerged from a prison in the capital, Harare, and left in a U.S. Embassy vehicle. Her lawyers also did not make any statements.

The 25-year-old New Jersey native will return to court on Wednesday.

ODonovan is accused of calling the 93-year-old Mugabe a sick man in a tweet including an image of the president with a catheter.

She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted for subversion. She also faces a charge of undermining the authority of or insulting the president, which carries up to a year in prison.

ODonovan has denied the charges as baseless and malicious.

It was the first arrest since Mugabe last month appointed a cybersecurity minister, a move criticized by activists as targeting social media. Zimbabwe was shaken last year by the biggest anti-government protests in a decade.

Frustration is growing in the once-prosperous southern African nation as the economy collapses under Mugabe, the worlds oldest head of state, who has ruled since 1980. This week his wife, Grace, moved a dramatic step closer to succeeding him as leader after Mugabe fired his deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa and accused him of plotting to take power, including through witchcraft.

Also Friday, the state-run newspaper Zimbabwe Herald newspaper reported that four people had been arrested and accused of booing the first lady at a ruling party rally over the weekend attended by the president.

ODonovan, who has described herself as a media activist, had been working with local social media outlet Magamba TV, which says it produces satirical comedy sensations.

A court over the weekend dismissed an attempt by ODonovans lawyer to have the charge of subversion dropped. The lawyer argued that police had not notified ODonovan of the charge at the time of her arrest at her home in the capital, Harare.

The group representing ODonovan, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights says it has represented nearly 200 people charged for allegedly insulting Mugabe in recent years.
RETAIL

JC Penney reports rising same-store sales

JC Penney delivered some encouraging news in the form of rising comparable-stores sales Friday, reversing four straight quarters of declines.

It posted a smaller-than-expected loss for the third quarter.

The news staunched, at least for a moment, an extended sell-off in company shares, which accelerated last month when JC Penney warned it would be forced to liquidate poor-selling merchandise. Shares have tumbled 67 percent this year.

Initiatives to spiff up clothing lines to fuel sales is giving us confidence that our overall strategy and transformation is beginning to take hold, said chief executive Marvin Ellison in a company release Friday.

Yet more challenges lie ahead with the critical holiday shopping season approaching.

JC Penney, like other department stores, has struggled to follow shoppers who have migrated online or who are now going to off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx.

Sales have stabilized since a disastrous attempt to reinvent the company under former Apple executive Ron Johnson.

The company has since attempted to lure customers back by returning to its sales floor major appliances.

JC Penney Co. reported a loss of $128 million, or 41 cents, for the quarter. That compares with a loss of $67 million, or 22 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

 Associated Press

EMPLOYMENT

General Electric plans layoffs, cost cutting

General Electric Co. is laying off sales staff and other employees in its software division, according to people familiar with the matter, ahead of new chief executive John Flannerys expected announcement on Monday of a plan to slash costs and jettison units in an effort to improve the companys profits.

The layoffs at GE Digital, based in San Ramon, Calif., affect about 100 sales people in the Americas, including those who sell GEs Predix industrial-internet software, according to two sources.

The software, central to GEs strategy under former chief executive Jeff Immelt, has been beset with technical problems, prompting GE to shift strategy.

The 125-year-old conglomerate is considering job reductions across all of its diverse businesses, the sources said. Struggling units such as GE Power are facing significant staff cuts, while aviation and health-care businesses could see lesser reductions, sources said.

It is not clear how many more jobs Flannery now plans to cut, or how quickly.

With 295,000 employees, even a 10 percent overall reduction would eliminate nearly 30,000 jobs.

 Reuters

COURTS

Colgate-Palmolive settles talc suit

Colgate-Palmolive Co. agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming its talcum-powder products caused a Pennsylvania woman to develop mesothelioma, a fatal lung disease tied to asbestos exposure.

New York-based Colgate-Palmolive moved to resolve Carol Schoenigers lawsuit to avoid a trial in a New Jersey state court, according to court filings. Financial terms of the deal werent made public.

The settlement comes as a growing number of talc users accuse manufacturers such as Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson of failing to warn consumers their body powders pose a cancer threat. Some suits contend the talc-based products are contaminated with asbestos, a mineral often found in talc deposits.

J&J is facing more than 5,500 claims that its iconic Baby Powder caused ovarian cancer in women, according to court filings. Colgate-Palmolive said it faces more than 170 cases accusing it of selling asbestos-laced powder, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

 Bloomberg News

Also in Business

Bikram Choudhury Yoga, the studio that popularized doing yoga in sauna heat, has filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, dogged by $16.7 million in legal judgments and numerous lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct. Founder Bikram Choudhury, who built a worldwide following with classes of 26 yoga postures in rooms heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, has been accused of sexual assault by his yoga practitioners, students, instructors and teacher trainees.

 From news services
Atlanta, GA - Police say they have arrested a man who they said attacked a female student off Georgia Techs campus.

The victim told Atlanta police that a man followed her into the Square on Fifth Apartments and onto the elevator around 1:15 a.m. Friday.

The man got off the elevator on her floor and as she entered her apartment, authorities said the man pushed his way in and began to forcibly remove the victims clothing.

A person in the apartment heard what was going on and confronted the man, who ran from the building, authorities said.

Atlanta police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Joshua Manns. He was charged with criminal attempt to commit rape and burglary.

The victim was not injured.

One student told Channel 2s Tom Jones that this is the first time he's heard of something like this happening in the area and he said security is pretty good.

"They have a pretty good relationship with the students but that's the thing, they don't question everyone who goes inside all the time. Because it's hard so many people are coming in and out, said student Rahul Patel.

Students were relieved after hearing police arrested the suspect in connection with the attack.

Well I think its great that they caught him, one student said. It just shows that the security is good. I hate that something like this had to even happen though.

Its unclear if the suspect had a buzz card or was a student. But students said it's not uncommon for them to assume someone is a classmate and let someone in an elevator or on a floor off their buzz card.

Some students said they never do that.

Because you don't want something like this to happen, one student said.
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Babacho Mama, a former child soldier, heads to English class at the primary school in Pibor, South Sudan. (Peter Bauza for The Washington Post)

Outside, the young men with guns were playing dominoes and drinking tea. Babacho Mama could hear them through the sheet-metal walls of his room.

They had once been members of the same militia, a brigade of children with AK-47s. Now, Mama stood alone, sweating through his white T-shirt, a boy plucked from one of the world's most brutal wars but not so sure hed been saved.

Maybe I need to go back, he said. Its better to die in combat than in hunger.

He was 16 now. Or 17 or 18 or 19. He had spent much of his childhood lugging a rifle, and his age had become an approximation, less relevant than his ability to fight.

In 2015, during a lull in South Sudan's civil war, Mama and 1,774 other boys promised the United Nations that their lives as combatants had ended. They handed over their baggy military fatigues in choreographed ceremonies that amounted to one of the largest releases of child soldiers in recent history.

I'm done with fighting, Mama told a social worker after the release.

Back to learning, aid groups painted on a new primary school in Pibor.



The Pibor Boys Primary School, which hosts former child soldiers. (Peter Bauza for The Washington Post)

Two years later, the boys are returning to the battlefield. Development programs to help them have failed. The school barely functions.

This was supposed to be the decade when the world ended the use of child soldiers. In 2000, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a protocol to prevent countries from recruiting children as fighters. In 2014, the United Nations launched a global campaign to remove children from the battlefield within two years.

There have been some successes. The United Nations says 115,000 child combatants have been released globally since 2000. But in war-torn countries such as Iraq and Yemen, the numbers are climbing. They are rising, too, in South Sudan, where the challenge is not just disarming children but keeping them disarmed.

In Pibor, the former boy fighters have joined a constellation of groups  the military, rebel groups, ethnic militias and others  in a conflict that has devolved into one of the worlds gravest humanitarian crises. On a spreadsheet, aid workers in Pibor write next to their names: re-recruited.

Now it was Mamas turn to decide. He had become one of Pibors most serious students, carrying a worn English textbook with him almost everywhere. After years of wearing a stained, mismatched military uniform, he ironed his one pair of khaki pants and striped oxford shirt every day. School offered the slender hope of a job, a different future.

But Mama was now eating only one full meal of dried goat meat and peppers every two days. Other boys were so hungry, aid workers said, that they had collapsed in their classrooms. The war had destroyed farmland and blocked commerce; even the United Nations had stopped distributing food aid.

In the barracks, at least we can eat, one of Mamas soldier friends taunted him.

Back in his sheet-metal shack, he weighed his options.

What else am I supposed to do? Mama asked.

Ready to fight

Mama said he was 11 or 12 when he fired his AK-47 at a man for the first time. The gun jolted back against his bony shoulder, coughing a plume of smoke, and his commander pronounced him a warrior.

Like hundreds of other boys, he had joined a Pibor militia, called the Cobra Faction, by simply showing up and asking for a gun. But the choice wasnt much of a choice at all.

Mamas parents had been killed by a rival ethnic group, in a massacre that left dozens dead. His father was shot in the chest. His mothers throat was slit.

Mama had no relatives to protect him. He had never attended school. The boys of Pibor were expected to avenge the incursion. So, within weeks, he had memorized the Cobra Factions fight songs and learned to aim his rifle, working mostly as a bodyguard for the groups leader, David Yau Yau.

The enemy is raping our women, 10 men to a woman, he sang.

I have my rocket-propelled grenade, and Im ready to fight, he sang.

Now, the whole experience  roughly four years of guerrilla warfare  comes back to him in a few discrete, horrific memories. Theres the first time he saw the dead body of one of his comrades, and the smell that made him gag. Theres the time when, after days of nonstop fighting, he collapsed into convulsions.

My old life, he said.

His new life? He polishes his fake-leather sandals each morning, even though they are covered in mud by the afternoon. In a town where hundreds of young men carry rifles, he bears a nail clipper on a keychain, jangling as he walks to school.

Twice in the past six months he has been caught in the crossfire of a clash at Pibors dilapidated market, ducking behind the stalls, helpless.

If I had a gun, at least I could have replied to where the bullets were coming from, he said.

South Sudan's war is composed of many wars. There's South Sudan's civil war, which started with a rift between politicians in 2013. There's the ancient fight between Pibor's Murle ethnic group and its neighbors. And there's the conflict within Pibor itself, groups of young men fighting to establish their prominence.

All of those were raging one Saturday last month as Mama sat in a classroom at the Pibor Boys Primary School. He copied sentences from the board for an English lesson:

I go to school every day.

I was in school yesterday.

Now I am in school.

And then he squinted out the window at the military headquarters about 100 yards away, a smattering of tin and cinder-block shacks, guarded by skinny men in camouflage.

I think Im going to have to join, he said.



A boy floats atop a piece of scrap metal in Pibor. According to UNICEF, most children in South Sudan do not finish primary school, and hardly any do in Pibor. (Peter Bauza for The Washington Post)

Disarming boys

The aid workers who periodically helicoptered into Pibor, and into Mamas life, had spent years demobilizing boy soldiers across Africa.

In Liberia, Mozambique, Uganda and Rwanda they had disarmed tens of thousands of children and reunited them with their families. It was a task that had grown increasingly urgent in recent decades as the number of underage fighters surged, in part because of the proliferation of lighter-weight rifles that even a child could handle.

In each country, the process was more or less the same. The boys handed over their weapons, schools were opened, vocational programs were launched, social workers arrived. Eventually, armed children were transformed into unarmed civilian young men.

But South Sudan posed a different kind of challenge. The war here had never ended. Boys put down their guns after a cease-fire and then picked them up when the fighting resumed. There were few alternatives. About 72 percent of children in South Sudan do not finish primary school, according to UNICEF, a higher proportion than anywhere else in the world. In Pibor it's 98 percent.

Here, the kinds of aid projects that helped child soldiers in other countries were almost all disrupted by violence.





UNICEF built a bakery for the boys to manage in Pibor, but its flour supply was cut off when the roads were blocked by clashes. The agency started a masonry class, but fighters intercepted its brickmaking materials. Aid workers provided goats for the boys, but dozens of them, including Mamas, were stolen by rival ethnic groups.

This past March, while they were driving into Pibor, six aid workers building a youth center were killed by unidentified armed men.

Now, Mama washes clothes to make money, earning the equivalent of two or three dollars a day.

There is no harder place than South Sudan to demobilize children, said Vedasto Nsanzugwanko, who is the country head of child protection for UNICEF and has also worked in Rwanda, Uganda and Sri Lanka.

The roots of the problem run deep in South Sudan, which split from Sudan in 2011 after a north-south war that lasted more than two decades. Thousands of underage fighters were released by armed groups after that conflict. But once the civil war in South Sudan ignited in 2013, about 15,000 children were recruited, according to UNICEF. The optimism surrounding the Pibor demobilization in 2015 quickly faded as a cease-fire collapsed; today there are an estimated 18,000 child combatants nationwide.

In Pibor, its easy to see how the once-promising demobilization program is collapsing.

There is the shrinking school enrollment and the number of children who suddenly disappeared from class earlier this year to fight an incursion by a rival ethnic group. In one classroom of 20 children, 13 said they participated in the clashes.

Then there is the hospital, where one day last month, two of Mamas former comrades were lying next to each other, recovering from gunshot wounds.

They demobilized us, but they gave us no compensation, said one of the men, Anyang Nyielo, 23, who was fighting for anti-government forces when he was shot recently in the shoulder. There was nothing else for me to do. I got upset and went to the opposition. They gave me a gun and said, You are with us. 



Baba Kzwa, a soldier turned livestock trader, keeps a gun to secure his business in Pibor. (Peter Bauza for The Washington Post)

The old life, all around

On a Monday afternoon, Mama put on his oxford shirt and khaki pants and walked along the dirt road that led to Pibor Boys Primary School, a lean ex-bush fighter now in the fourth grade.

All around him, there were soldiers carrying AK-47s. There were young men in traditional dress, with beaded belts and sashes, also carrying AK-47s. Just outside town, there were even younger men, chaperoning their cattle, also carrying AK-47s.

From the 1990s until recently, the Sudanese government had airdropped weapons to Pibors rebels as a way of destabilizing its rivals who controlled much of the southern part of the country. By the time South Sudan declared independence in 2011, it was a giant arms bazaar.

Now, the violence often felt all-consuming. As Mama walked closer to school, he passed a civilian defense force of about 100 bare-chested men with beaded belts and wooden rods, chanting and blowing whistles, threatening a reprisal against another group. Some of them, Mama noticed, had been fellow members of the Cobra Faction.

Mama shook his head and continued walking, a UNICEF folder under his arm.

Once he reached the classroom, he sat on a bench. His teacher, a short man named Adam, arrived 45 minutes late.

Go bring chalk, Adam said to Mama. And then the teacher launched into a fast-paced explanation of the past tense in English, which is South Sudans official language but spoken by few people in Pibor.

Mama took notes. He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, to get a better view.

Then Adam called on him.

How old are you?

Mama froze. English wasnt easy, especially for someone who had only recently learned the alphabet, especially for someone who hadnt eaten all day, especially for someone who didnt know his own age.

I have 16 years, Mama said.

The boys behind him laughed.

Youre older than that, one said in Murle, the local language.



Babacho Mama attends an English class at the Pibor Boys Primary School. (Peter Bauza for The Washington Post)

But Mama was done trying to guess. He wrote the sentence in his notebook and stared straight ahead at the chalkboard.

The whole school day lasted a half-hour. The teacher hadnt been paid in months, because the government was bankrupt, so lessons were short.

When Mama left the classroom, the sun was high in the sky. Nearby, the men were still screaming and marching with their wooden rods.

Even our great-grandparents fought like this, Mama said angrily, and he started walking back toward his metal shack.

Inside, there was nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep except on the dirt. But on the shelf there were two shoulder patches he had earned as a boy on the front lines, bearing the acronym of the countrys armed forces, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army, which had briefly absorbed the militia.

Each had one gold star in the center. He had been a lieutenant. He had never been sure why he kept them. Now he was glad they were there.

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Martin McDonagh is known for entertaining carnage, onstage and on screen. In his movies "7 Psychopaths" and "In Bruges" and even in his Oscar-winning short film "Six Shooter," the blood flows as freely as it does in the plays of this multiple-Tony-nominated storyteller, who made his name with works set in Ireland. His work is as funny as it is grisly.

McDonaghs latest film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is no exception, with a darkly comic heart and a central performance by Frances McDormand as a grieving, foul-mouthed mother. The movie is virtually certain to bring her a best-actress Oscar nomination. It also is more substantial, by an order of magnitude, than his earlier work.

Centering on McDormands Mildred  a woman whose daughter has been brutally killed  the film takes its title from a series of billboards that Mildred erects to shame the local police chief (Woody Harrelson), who, months after the crime, has made no progress in the case. Raped while dying, reads the first sign, in giant black-on-red letters, followed by And still no arrests? and How come, Chief Willoughby?

The 47-year-old, London-based Irishman  who, like his older brother, filmmaker John Michael McDonagh (The Guard), quit school at 16 to pursue a life of storytelling  spoke by phone about his buzzy new film.



Woody Harrelson and Frances McDormand in Martin McDonaghs Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. (Fox Searchlight Pictures) )

Q: Before we get to Three Billboards, I want to ask you about a line from your last movie, 7 Psychopaths, in which a Hollywood screenwriter with writers block  not coincidentally an Irishman named Marty  says about his next screenplay, Im sick of all these stereotypical Hollywood murderer-scumbag-type psychopath movies. I dont want it to be one more movie about guys with guns in their hands. I want it, over all, to be about love and peace.

A: (Laughing) And this is it!

Q: Well, is it? Is Three Billboards a response to critics who have commented on the violence in your films, or who have dismissed them as entertaining fluff? Or am I reaching?

A: No, no. I think all the films contain that battle, that duality. I guess my plays have also been that way. There's always been a bit of violence in all of them. At the same time, as I see it, there's always been a kind of yearning  for humanity, for heart  throughout the plays and the films. That line you quoted is from a film that actually ended up being more about love and peace than not. Because of the subject matter of "Billboards," and because of the place of pain and sadness that this movie starts in, it had to be about humanity, about hope. There was no question about it being only a film that loved violence, or, rather, cinematic violence. It had to be something better than that.

Q: And its got a strong, female protagonist. Apart from your plays, which do feature some great womens roles, your movies arent exactly known for the complexity of the female characters, are they?

A: I'll say.

Q: Did Frances McDormand ask you to write the part of Mildred for her?

A: Kind of. We bumped into each other in New York after seeing a play. We both said we should work with each other. I think I said, "We should do a play together," and she said, "No, we should do a film." That wasn't big news to me. She was always one of my favorite actresses anyway. If I was going to write something for someone, it was going to be for her, more than likely.

Q: You got the idea for the story after seeing something like the billboards that are featured in the film while traveling in the United States several years ago. At the time, you wondered where such anger could come from. You said that once you decided the character in your movie was going to be a mother, the story almost wrote itself. True?

A: Completely. Once I sat down to start writing this, Frances's voice and her personality were in my head from the very beginning. I don't think there's anyone who's that good, who's got that amount of integrity  both on and off screen  and I knew she wouldn't be patronizing or sentimental about a working-class mother in this situation. That's one of the great strengths of the film. We don't care about making Mildred softer, or more motherly, or any of those usual Hollywood tropes.

Q: Where is Mildred, emotionally, when the film begins?

A: From page one, she's in a place of no return. She's either going to die or she's going to solve this case. It's take-no-prisoners. The emotional collateral damage is something we talked about. Even her son suffers. She's at war. As horrible and as tragic as that is, innocents are going to suffer in this war. That doesn't maker her right, either. One of the things I like about Mildred is that she's not a perfect hero, at all. Conversely, some of her enemies aren't all bad either. By the end of the film, everyone's humanity is there for us to see.

Q: The film is very much about taking sides: white against black, husband against wife, parent against child, cop against citizen, Man railing against God. Sam Rockwells character, a violent, racist policeman, turns out to have two distinct sides  hero and villain  within himself. Would you talk about that subtext, and how it plays out in the context of todays culture wars?

A: It's not even subtext. It's right there on the surface. One of the early ideas of the whole thing was: What happens when two people go to war, and they're both in the right? Frances's character is in the right, but Woody's character is also trying to do everything he can. It's an unsolvable crime. What happens when the war escalates between two sides who have a lot of decency, which is probably the nature of most wars? Certainly, this country is pretty polarized right now, but it's ridiculous to think that five years ago, or 10 years ago, things were any friendlier. The film was written eight years ago, so it's not a comment on Trump's America, but it is good to be putting it out right now. It's all about gray areas. As much as we try to be truthful about the rage and pain that Mildred harbors, by the end of it, it's more about stepping back from that and seeing that people are people, but not in a hippy-dippy way. It's not as simple as that.



Frances McDormand delivers an Oscar-worthy performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. (Merrick Morton/Foc Searchlight Pictures) )

Q: Nothing is simple, is it? The story seems to be heading in the direction of a murder mystery initially, before it takes a sharp left turn.

A: As a writer, I knew that the crime was never going to be solved. It's about: How do you deal with loss? How do you deal with life being impossibly unfair? That's much more important to me than tying a crime case up with a bow.

Q: A couple of years ago, you said that this movie would be your angriest film yet. Does anger hold a particular fascination for you, and why?

A: Yes, I think so. That quote was true when I said it. In retrospect, having made the film, I don't think it's about that at all  and that came as kind of a surprise to me. It starts off, maybe, as the angriest thing possible, but it doesn't end in that place. Maybe I'm growing up a bit, but I think that it's great that it doesn't stay simply an angry film. It's an interesting thing to explore, because I used to be pretty angry, artistically. Not as a person.

Q: Meaning what?

A: Meaning as a working-class guy who left school very young but had artistic sensibilities, and kind of feeling like there was no avenue for someone like me. That's why most of the plays I wrote had a lot of anger  but also joy. Exploring that, in a kind of angry, punk-rock sensibility, was always the place I was coming from. But then you get to a place of success. Do you stay angry the whole time, or do you try to get past that? This film is about being true to the anger while also trying to get past that.

Q: Does being an outsider  a London-based writer telling stories set in the American South, or Hollywood, or rural Ireland  make it easier or harder?

A: In all those cases, I'm trying not to have an outsider's perspective. If it comes across that way, I've failed. I wanted to jump in and have it be a completely truthful American film, not a European take on American small-town life.

Q: How exactly do you achieve that?

A: It's all about empathy. One big help is casting great American actors in all these roles, but it's also about not sentimentalizing or patronizing the characters  showing them as human beings first, not types. That's been true of the Irish plays and everything else I've done. I try to see the humanity, not the nationality.

Q: Which is more artistically fulfilling: movies or plays?

A: They're just different. I'm going to go back and forth between mediums forever, I think. Movies are a lot harder. That's why I don't do them quite as often, because I'm very lazy. With a play, you can write one and have it on  it'll be finished in the same year. With a film, the whole process is a lot more extended, but if you get it right, it's right forever. A play is so ephemeral and fleeting that even if you do it perfectly, it's gone. I can't show you a play of mine that we got right 17 years ago. It's gone. In 17 years, I'll be able to show you this film and it won't have changed, although we, with any luck, will.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (R, 115 minutes) opens Friday at area theaters.
Columnist

Is there any hope for reasoned dialogue between the angry forces of left and right that divide our country? I am not seeing much evidence of that in Washington. But something has happened in a small but important corner of American education that suggests smart people on both sides can get together.

Three years ago, I wrote about an acidic battle over revisions in the Advanced Placement U.S. History exam and a 54-page framework that identified topics that might be on the exam.

Many conservatives were furious about the framework, egged on by AP study-guide author and teacher Larry Krieger, who said it inculcates a consistently negative and superficial view of the American experience. The Republican National Committee and the Texas state school board denounced it. Ben Carson, the future secretary of housing and urban development, said most students who finished the course would be ready to sign up for ISIS.

Many education experts defended the framework. A College Board survey found 98 percent of teachers and professors thought it was politically balanced. Students and teachers in Jefferson County, Colo., protested when school board members denounced it.

The College Board, which owns the AP system, could have shrugged this off. AP is so deeply woven into high school curriculums and college admission standards that critics were unlikely to have much effect.

But Trevor Packer, the College Board senior vice president who has directed AP for 14 years, took the criticism seriously and sought to address conservative concerns.

Thus began a remarkable series of exchanges. Packer and the professors and teachers of the AP U.S. History development committee initiated a public review period and received particularly substantive feedback from three critics:

Chester E. Finn Jr., a former Reagan administration education official and a longtime president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Frederick M. Hess, resident scholar and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Jeremy A. Stern, an independent historian and history education consultant.

Finn and Hess are conservatives. Stern considers himself ideologically neutral in his educational work.

In writing for Fordham's edexcellence.net website, Finn said he sympathized with AP's effort to provide a balanced U.S. history course for high schools when the survey college courses it had been designed to mimic were being "replaced or distorted by what's now academically fashionable and politically correct in university history departments."

Hess, in a piece for Education Week, said complaints that the framework had removed historic figures such as Benjamin Franklin were inaccurate. Both the old and new frameworks pointed teachers toward recommended textbooks for the big names. But Hess did detect an anti-conservative spin, which he, Finn and Stern helped AP remove. Hess said the framework stumbled, for instance, by saying Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson were warriors for justice while Ronald Reagan was a man of "bellicose rhetoric."

Stern sent about 25 pages of commentary to AP. Rather to my surprise, he said, the development committee incorporated many of his suggested revisions. The historically crucial rise of relatively egalitarian societies and representative political institutions in the colonies  all but ignored in the 2014 version  is now given due weight, Stern said.

Reforms that seem small to us now, he said, were huge then. The Jacksonian rise of near-universal white male suffrage, an extraordinarily radical concept in its day, (barely mentioned in the 2014 version) is now properly described, he said.

Even backlash leader Krieger embraced the framework after the committee addressed the conservative complaints. AP U.S. History now is generating excellent lessons that incorporate critical thinking, he said.

Hess said he was impressed with the honesty of Packer telling him that its very difficult, given the dominance of liberal perspectives in college and high school history departments, for faculty committees to avoid unintentionally muting, editing or obfuscating the perspectives of the right.

Our nations leaders might benefit from the example set by the people with varied political views who improved the AP framework. They did their work with no shouting, but good faith and a mutual desire to get at the truth. That can work in other places.
You could put anything on his head and he wouldnt show any reaction, Wegman said of Chip, one of 10 Weimaraners he has owned since 1970. Above, the oversized photos at the LEnfant Plaza station. (John Kelly/TWP)

Columnist

Is the mural depicting a spacewalk at one of the exits from the LEnfant Plaza Metro station a portrait of a particular astronaut, or is it an artists rendering of a general subject?

David K. Rathbun, Alexandria, Va.

Its a dog.

To be fair, David knows that now. When Answer Man got in touch with him, David had figured that out (and was feeling a bit sheepish). But it's a good question nonetheless. After all, the first animal in space was a dog: the brave cosmocanine Laika.



In 2005, two large photographs by William Wegman were installed over the exits to the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station. They depict the artists signature Weimaraner, dressed in a spacesuit, a nod to the nearby National Air and Space Museum. (John Kelly/TWP)

There are actually two murals in that station: a spacewalking dog above the Seventh and D street exit and a dog in a space station above the LEnfant Plaza exit.

In both photos, the dog is wearing a NASA spacesuit.

"I was really happy to have it," said the artist William Wegman, who created the works, called "H-E-L-L-O" and "SPACE SET."

NASA lent Wegman the suit in 2001. Its not an actual spacesuit, but a facsimile of a shuttle-era EVA  extravehicular activity  suit that NASA used for public events.

Wegman received the suit as part of a NASA art program that was, um, launched in 1962. Although dozens of still and motion picture cameras were capturing nearly every second of a mission, NASA's then-administrator, James Webb, thought artists could add something extra.

As H. Lester Cooke, a National Gallery curator who assisted with the effort, put it: "It is the emotional impact, interpretation and hidden significance of these events which lie within the scope of the artist's vision."

During the run of the NASA art program  it ended in 2010, the victim of budget cuts  such artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol took part.

Wegman found the spacesuit captivating.

It just got me going crazy with it, he told Answer Man. I started to make sets out of discarded Styrofoam container units. (They look like the material that a piece of stereo equipment comes packed in.)

Wegman set up the mock spaceship in his studio in New York Citys Chelsea neighborhood.

"What was really amazing was this dog I had named Chip," said Wegman, 73. "He was so calm. I could put him inside the suit, cover him and put the lid down, and he would just be there. It was uncanny."

Wegman is known for photos featuring slinky, gray Weimaraners, starting in the 1970s with one named Man Ray.

I was working at a time where almost anything became usable in my work, whether it was thrift-store objects or street finds, anything to transform the dog into not only human creatures, but landscapes or anything, he said.

In 2001, Wegman created a triptych for NASA that shows a spacesuited dog floating in space, connected by a hose to the mother ship where another dog waits. Its called Chip and Batty Explore Space.

Somehow, the thought of a mural using some of the outtakes from that session arose. It became a joint project of NASA, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and WMATA. NASA and the arts commission split the $80,000 cost of fabricating and installing the 10-foot diameter murals, which are made of porcelain enamel-covered metal.

"The quality is quite exceptional," said Laurent Odde, manager of WMATA's Art in Transit program, which has placed 41 pieces of art in two dozen Metro stations. "Wegman himself oversaw the production or checked that the quality was going to be up to his standards."

The process was a slow one. According to a 2004 Washington City Paper article, it took years to hammer out the contract. The murals were finally unveiled in 2005.

Said Odde: I think its something that really helps beautify the space.

Said Bert Ulrich, who ran the NASA art program when Wegman borrowed the suit: "It was a really fun, whimsical piece that he did for NASA and later for Metro."

And, with the National Air and Space Museum not far away, the murals are in a fitting location.

Of course, none of it would have worked without Chip, a dog who definitely had the right stuff.

You could put anything on his head and he wouldnt show any reaction, Wegman said of Chip, one of 10 Weimaraners hes owned since 1970.

Some dogs, their ears go back. This dog, it was almost like he didnt have any cells in his brain that would tell him something was happening to him . . . He was a really wonderful creature.

Have a question about something you saw? Send it to answerman@washpost.com.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) delivered his harshest criticism to date against a fellow Republican early Saturday, calling for Alabama candidate Roy Moore to withdraw from the U.S. Senate special election and breaking the silence of his state party.

Maryland Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)  who endorsed Moore  were mum this past week after The Washington Post reported that the then-Alabama district attorney is alleged to have initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s.

Moore attended Veterans Day political events in his district on Saturday, in which he defiantly dismissed the allegations as fake news and called them deeply hurtful.

[Roy Moores refusal to exit Senate race reflects diminished power in Washington]

Hogan, in a statement, had sharp words for Moores defenders, saying they should ask themselves if they would be so quick to excuse him if the victim was their daughter or if the offender was a Democrat, he said through a spokesman.

Moore is unfit for office and should step aside. Americans are better than this.

The comments are an unusual departure for Marylands popular Republican governor, a moderate who has generally avoided entanglements within the national party and is careful of not being too critical of its leader, President Trump. Recently, however, the governor has publicly disagreed with the president on issues such as Trumps comments after the Confederate memorial rally in Charlottesville that turned violent this summer.

Hogan is facing a reelection challenge from Democrats eager to take back control of the governors mansion in a state where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1.

Maryland Democratic Party spokesman Fabion Seaton applauded Hogans calls for Moores withdrawal from the race but went further in questioning the broader Republican Partys acceptance of the former Alabama state judges homophobic, Islamophobic and white supremacist views.

"Calling on Moore to step aside is the decent thing to do," Seaton said in a statement. "But Governor Hogan must also examine why Moore's vile views were embraced by members of the Maryland Republican establishment."

He added that Hogan must call on Republicans such as Harris and Anne Arundel County Council member Michael Peroutka to "withdraw their endorsements" of Moore.

[Jubilant Democrats to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan: Youre next]

Hogans election four years ago delivered a sharp rebuke to Democratic leaders, but with the ouster of Republican mayors in Maryland and victories in Virginia in the past week, the party shot off a warning to Hogan that momentum appears to be on their side.

Hogan enjoys one of the highest approval ratings of any governor in the country, boasts a robust campaign account and faces a field of relatively unknown Democratic challengers. He has resisted being drawn into national controversies and relied, instead, on a moderate bipartisan approach that polls find has appealed to most Marylanders.

But a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll in the spring found cracks emerging in Hogan's once-solid support, showing that some of Maryland's largely left-leaning voters will be monitoring how the governor responds to a White House that is unpopular with residents of the blue state.

Hogans Democratic rivals have tried to tie the Republican to Trumpism, accusing him of standing idly by while they say the president undercuts Maryland values on issues such as health care, education and race relations. Still, nearly 1 in 6 Democrats approve of the governor amid Hogans strategy of selectively picking his battles.

Eight candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination, including former NAACP head Ben Jealous; county executives Kevin B. Kamenetz and Rushern L. Baker III; state Sen. Rich S. Madaleno Jr.; entrepreneur Alec Ross; lawyer Jim Shea; former Michelle Obama aide Krishanti Vignarajah; and policy consultant Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.

Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.
Harvey M. Matthews, Sr., 72, attends a protest in February on the spot where he says an African American cemetery used to stand in the Westbard area of Bethesda, off River Road. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Frustrated by accusations that it plans to build a parking garage where an African American burial ground once stood, a Montgomery County commission laid it out on paper last week: Thats not happening.

The long-lost cemetery is said to have been located on land north and northeast of the Westwood Tower Apartments in Bethesda, which was paved over as a parking lot decades ago. For years now, the countys Housing Opportunities Commission has met fierce backlash from activists from nearby Macedonia Baptist Church  a surviving vestige of the areas historic black community  who claim any development on the property, as well as the existing parking lot, desecrates their ancestors bones.

Yet the commission, which controls the site, has had no intention of building a parking garage on the lot, said Shauna Sorrells, the commissions director of legislative and public affairs. The allegations are based on sketches drawn up two years ago as part of a master plan process that were never acted upon.

Have we moved forward with initiating development beyond the master plan and sketch plan process? No we have not, Sorrells said, calling charges to the contrary a false narrative.

The statement issued last week reads, in part, "at present, and for the foreseeable future, the Commission has no plan to develop the property."



Protesters from Westbard neighborhood rally in the parking lot at Westwood shopping center April 8. (Bill Turque/TWP)

Its not new, Sorrells said.

[Battlefield of memory: Asphalt where a black cemetery is said to have stood]

Church members are unmoved. They plan to protest in front of the church Sunday and deemed the commissions statement a whitewashing.

Its unacceptable. Thats the short of it, said Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, chair of Macedonias social justice ministry.

The long of it is that the parking lot adjacent to the apartment tower sits atop the burial ground, church members say. They are demanding a museum or memorial on the property honoring the black community that once lived in the area. They also say the statement from last week gives no indication that the commission wont change its mind on building the parking garage later on.

The statement says that the commission will conduct a study of the site if it decides to move forward with any development.

Last month, tension between the housing commission and the church boiled over after county-sponsored mediations between the groups fell apart and church members protested at the commission's monthly meeting.

And Oct. 31, the Montgomery County Council voted unanimously to protect and inventory historic cemeteries that could lie in the paths of new development projects.

Controversy surrounding the burial ground has become a focal point of concern over broader plans to redevelop the Westbard neighborhood.

Yet it is only one piece of the grievances that vocal residents have raised with the county and Regency Centers, a Florida-based company and a major property owner in Westbard, including the Westwood Shopping Center.

The Westwood Tower property is owned by Regency and has been leased by the commission since 1997 to provide affordable housing. Sorrells said the commission will be purchasing the land early next year.

Regency said the commissions stance on not developing its lot has no bearing on Regencys own projects in Westbard. Details of those plans are expected to become public early next year.

A citizens group, called Save Westbard, says the entire Westbard redevelopment project  complete with new townhouses, high-rise apartments and a modernized shopping strip  will further crowd schools and roads.

Residents who oppose the increased density say the developer, Equity One, and the county colluded to bring urban development into a traditionally suburban neighborhood. Regency acquired all of Equity Ones holdings in March.

A lawsuit pending in Montgomery County Circuit Court alleges that the countys planning board did not complete environmental assessments required by county law, that proper public hearings on the sector plan were not held and that the plan itself violated contract zoning laws. Macedonia Baptist Church is not a party to the lawsuit.

Michele Rosenfeld, who is representing residents in the Save Westbard suit, said her clients agreed with church members that the commission offered little assurance that it would not build a parking garage in the future.

As for the rest of the Westbard development: Were still waiting for a decision from the court, she said.
A few miles west of Annapolis lies a major highway interchange, through which cars by the thousands pass each day, it was there on Friday afternoon, amid a great river of traffic, that a single-engine airplane made a safe emergency landing.

No injuries were reported in the landing, which occurred about 3 p.m. on the ramp from eastbound Route 50 to Maryland Route 665, the state police said. The plane carried the pilot and his two sons, both juveniles, the police said. None of them was injured, according to the police.

Preliminary investigation indicated that pilot Christopher Curry, 32, of Odenton, Md., experienced engine problems in his Socata TB 200 as he was returning to Tipton Airfield in the Fort Meade area.

He began to lose revolutions per minute, according to a state police statement, suggesting he was losing propeller speed. The reason was not known, the statement said.

In addition, the police said, Curry began to notice smoke coming from the engine compartment.

It was not clear how many cars were on the ramp when the plane came down. During the emergency landing, state police said, the airplane struck a light pole and a guardrail.

When police arrived at the scene, the plane was on its wheels, and resting against the guardrail.

Federal authorities will investigate the cause, the state police said.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was attempting to reach the Lee Airport, rather than the Tipton airport, when the emergency landing was made. The Lee Airport is about three miles south of the landing site, the FAA said.

Airplanes land on highways from time to time, but such events are infrequent.

Last month, for example, a television station in Tennessee reported that an airplane landed on highway 14 in the western part of the state. In July, a YouTube video showed a single-engine plane making a landing on the Sunrise Highway on Long Island, N.Y. It appeared to come down behind one car, and no more than 200 yards in front of another.

A Federal Highway Administration posting about the Interstate highway system reported several myths about the system; according to one of them, one mile of the system in every five is laid out in a straight line, to facilitate emergency aircraft landings.

No basis in fact, the highway administration said.

However, it said, Airplanes occasionally land on Interstates when no alternative is available in an emergency but it added, this was not because the Interstates are designed for that purpose.
MUSCATINE  Maurice Furlong's train arrived at 8 p.m. on a cold Christmas Eve in 1944. His family was there, waiting to greet his return. When they last saw Furlong, it was August 1942 and he had just joined the Navy. They were going to train him to be motor machinist, to help maintain the U.S. Navy's tank landing ships, designed to transport tanks and troops for amphibious deployments.

Fresh from the train, Furlong's family took him to midnight mass and then straight home. He was back in the United States for a short leave, just enough time to visit with family for the holiday.

He was 25 when he left for the war. He remembers being on a boat heading from New York Harbor.

"We didn't know where we were going with all these support ships," Furlong said. "It wasn't until we ended up in Bermuda that we realized we were going to Europe."

On board a 400-foot tank landing ship, Furlong was part of the Navy's move to position tanks and troops across North Africa. The ship would position itself toward the shore and two great doors on the bow would open, revealing tanks and troops who would rush out toward the landing.

In this two-year period, Furlong would make 15 round trips from North Africa to Sicily bringing support back and forth across the Mediterranean.

Once, on this route, there was German air raid. Though his job was to maintain the engine, one of the guns needed someone to hand up ammunition. To this day, he remembers how loud the 3-inch artillery pieces were.

"Those guns were huge," Furlong said. "And when it fired -- oh, boy -- it damaged my hearing."

The war wasn't without its funny moments. He remembers going on duty one morning. He passed by a French medic from a unit they were transporting.

"He tells me, 'You wouldn't want any wine would you?'," Furlong said. "I thought he was bulls***ing me."

The next morning, the ships executive officer told them that the French unit had brought four barrels of wine aboard.

"He told us that anybody caught near that wine barrel will get court-martialed," Furlong said. "It was a shame, too, because there wasn't any whiskey coming out of North Africa."

By the time he came home that Christmas Eve, he had been a part of three invasions: first North Africa, then Sicily and Southern Italy. After his short leave period, they shipped him to the Pacific front. For Furlong, it was much the same problem.

"I had no business after all that in Europe being sent over to the Pacific," Furlong said. "It was just more war."

Furlong returned home for the final time on Dec. 14, 1945. He farmed before he left and he was set on farming when he returned. And after what he had seen, he was determined to stay in Iowa

"The trouble of the military  especially in war time  it's all the destruction," Furlong said. "It destroys everything. Homes. Factories. Buildings. They all get destroyed."

He saw the war and its ravages everywhere he went.

"I saw in North Africa and then in Sicily and then in Italy," Furlong said. "In England, the city would have these empty spaces. I'd ask, 'What happened here? Why is this space here?' And they would tell me there was something there. That it got destroyed by the bombing."

The war Furlong saw cost more than buildings.

He remembered transporting a boat of 800 Italian prisoners to North Africa to be turned over to the French. He said they were packed below where tanks are normally stored.

"I felt sorry for the poor devils," Furlong said. "They were loaded onto the tank deck just the way you would cattle on to a truck."

When on land, he and other sailors found towns touched by the war in complete disarray.

"You'd have people begging for money in the street," Furlong said. "There were even young fellows peddling sex with their sisters. They were so damn (poor), they were doing anything to survive. I was old enough to know better than getting involved with any of that d*** stuff."

This December, Furlong will celebrate his 100th birthday. He lives on a farm in Muscatine by himself. He does his own cooking. And though he needs a hearing aid, he is as clear about his time in service to the country as many are about what we ate for breakfast.

Though the war is long past, he still gets anxious at the sound of gunshots or fireworks. They evoke memories he would rather leave unvisited.

"It's like this, Furlong said. When I die, sure they can play taps, but I don't want any d*** guns shooting. I just don't want them.

He never watched war movies and continues to avoid them today. He finds them to be in bad taste.

"I just can't understand glorifying war," Furlong said. "In most families, you grow up and you are taught to help people in cases of sickness and health, and then you have war come along and you are taught that you are supposed to destroy people.

"When I got out of the service, I just didn't want any more military stuff," Furlong said. "There are more things that are important. There's family. There's kids."
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whose department is accused of workplace hostility toward a woman who requested child-care accommodations. (Keith Lane/Getty Images)

A female defense agency employee said in court this month that she was isolated and harassed at the office after asking to work from home one day a week because she could not arrange child care.

Her bosses at the Defense Security Service say she is simply unhappy she was not given special accommodation.

A jury in federal court in Alexandria is expected to decide in the next week which side they believe. Patricia Burkes suit against the Defense Department is the rare employment discrimination case against the federal government to go to trial.

Prior to this, I got along with everybody, Burke testified this month. After her complaint, she said, people werent speaking to me.

An internal review from the agencys Equal Employment Opportunity office already found that Burke was subjected to a hostile work environment, although the original decision to deny her a more flexible schedule was not discriminatory, it found.

Dissatisfied with the response of the agency, Burke sued in federal court for compensation for emotional distress.

The agency should have protected her right to seek the assistance of the EEO office, and the rights of the other women who have come forward regarding a widespread pattern of gender discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the CounterIntelligence Directorate at DSS, her attorney, Jacob Small, said in a statement.

The Defense Security Service, part of the Defense Department, oversees the protection of classified information by government contractors. Burke, a field support analyst in the counterintelligence division, had been off on Wednesdays before the birth of her first child in 2013. When she returned, her supervisor allowed her to work from home on Wednesdays to take care of her son.

Then she got a new supervisor. She was told she could not work from home as a substitute for child care, although she believed male employees had been allowed to do so in the past. She was also barred from going back to a schedule where she did not work Wednesday, because of sequestration-related furloughs.

I had a newborn child at home, and I wasnt sure what I was going to do, she testified. I didnt feel like the child meant anything to them.

Burke filed a complaint with the agencys EEO office later that year. After that, she and other employees testified, she was ostracized.

It was a severe and a pervasive hostile work environment that left her so anxious and depressed that her marriage may not recover, Small told jurors as the trial began.

Nelson Bishop, Burkes former supervisor, testified that he heard counterintelligence director William Stephens say while discussing the complaint that in the Air Force, they dealt with troublemakers by isolating them and taking away their job functions and their feelings of self-importance.

 It really bothers them,  Bishop recalled Stephens saying.

On the stand, Stephens denied ever making such comments.

He testified that its almost laughable to suggest he ever made a plan to punish employees for filing complaints.

But Burke alleges that such treatment is exactly what she experienced.

She said she was made to email her supervisor and tell him when she was signing in and out each day, as well as when she was pumping breast milk. She was given duplicative busy work and administrative tasks below her rank, she testified. Her desk was moved. Her performance evaluations suffered.

They would . . . not talk to her, Bishop, her former supervisor, concurred. They would find small things to pick on with her, details of her work and were giving her work to do thats already being done.

Jennifer Gabeler, a former DSS assistant director for intelligence, also filed a gender discrimination complaint against Stephens. She, too, said her boss cut off all direct communication with her after her complaint and also made her work more difficult.

I was labeled as confrontational, aggressive, difficult when male peers werent for the same behavior, Gabeler testified.

She left in July for another post in the DSS.

I couldnt do it anymore, she said. I could no longer function in that environment. I was continually being undermined by my peers and by my leadership.

The counterintelligence division is heavily male, she said, particularly in management.

Michelle Labov, who handled Burkes internal complaint, said management pushed back against her investigation. After her meeting with Stephens, she said, he accused her of manhandling him and threatened her job.

I thought it was reprehensible how the front office behaved, she testified. They were breaking rules left and right. It was like the wild, wild West.

Her boss at the time, Carolyn Lyle, concurred, saying she had trouble getting the documentation she needed from Burkes superiors and subsequently got a negative performance review she attributed to pushback over the case.

Stephens denied ever intentionally ignoring employees or retaliating against Burke or Gabeler in any way.

He testified that Gabeler was repeatedly insubordinate and that Burke had demanded accommodations no other employee was granted.

No one was being allowed flexible work schedules, he and other managers testified, because of the sequestration furloughs. And no one was allowed to work from home as a substitute for child care. Burke had been doing so without official filing, he said, which might be considered fraud.

Small questioned why, if furloughs were required, Burke could not have taken hers on Wednesdays.

Carl Taylor, Burkes manager at the time, said he gave her work that needed to be done and never intentionally excluded her from a meeting. We all did administrative tasks, he said. We were short on administrative assistants.

Her desk was moved, he said, because she had complained of being far from other team members.

Taylor said that there were issues with how long Burke was spending in the offices milk-pumping room and that official policy was for such time to come out of an employees leave. But he did not recall asking her to take leave or tell him when she used the room.

Frank Malafarina, another member of leadership who Burke said ostracized her, said he believed she was trying to collect as much pay as she could while doing as little work as she could.

He denied ever calling her princess, as she alleged.

The case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimere Kimball said in her opening statement, was really about Patricia Burke not always getting her way.

While Burkes workplace might not always be warm and fuzzy, Kimball said, management did everything they could to accommodate her near-constant demands.
The FBIs background-check system is missing millions of records of criminal convictions, mental illness diagnoses and other flags that would keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands, a gap that contributed to the shooting deaths of 26 people in a Texas church this week.

Experts who study the data say government agencies responsible for maintaining such records have long failed to forward them into federal databases used for gun background checks  systemic breakdowns that have lingered for decades as officials decided they were too costly and time-consuming to fix.

As the shooting at a Texas church on Sunday showed, what the FBI doesnt know can get people killed. In that case, the gunman had been convicted at a court-martial of charges stemming from a domestic violence case. Officials say the Air Force never notified the FBI of his conviction, so when he purchased weapons at a retail store, he cleared the background check.

The FBI said it doesnt know the scope of the problem, but the National Rifle Association says about 7 million records are absent from the system, based on a 2013 report by the nonprofit National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics. That report determined that at least 25% of felony convictions . . . are not available to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System maintained by the FBI.

Experts who study the data say that estimate can be misleading, because felons often have multiple convictions, so if one is missed, others may still alert authorities to individuals who cannot legally buy a gun.

The government funded a four-year effort beginning in 2008 to try to estimate how many records existed of people who should be barred under federal law from buying a gun but arent flagged in the FBI system. That effort was abandoned in 2012 because of the cost.

The National Rifle Association has complained that the federal database is inadequate. The powerful gun rights lobbying group opposes calls for more restrictions on gun buying, arguing that the government should focus instead on making its current background-check system fully functional.

The shortcomings of the system have been identified, there just seems to be a lack of will to address them, said Louis Dekmar, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

In light of the Texas shooting, Air Force officials have launched an internal review and faulted the staff at an air base for not sending the necessary information to the FBI, but federal officials who work in the database effort say the problem of military nonreporting of domestic violence cases extends far beyond a single base or service branch.

A large number of people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence  who also are prohibited from buying guns  are absent from the FBI database as well, particularly in states that dont require fingerprints for such convictions, according to people involved in the work.

According to FBI records, at the end of last year the Pentagon had exactly one active record for a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction in one of the FBIs main gun background-check databases, though there are two other large databases in which such records could be gathered and for which data was not available. By contrast, the database held nearly 11,000 dishonorable discharge records.

Asked about the gaps in the data, an FBI spokesman said the information law enforcement agencies provide to the FBI varies greatly across the nation. A potential domestic violence arrest, the spokesman said, can be one of the most difficult federal firearms prohibitions to establish, because state or local records often do not indicate whether a particular assault meets the federal definition for domestic violence.

By the end of last year, there were 153,109 domestic violence conviction records in the main FBI database for gun purchase background checks. Officials said that was a marked improvement from years past. In 2008, for example, there were only about 46,000 such records in the system. But FBI officials said they cant tell how many domestic violence convictions they are still missing. An FBI spokesman declined to say which states are not providing important data into the system.

In many states, there are literally hundreds of courts and law enforcement agencies that maintain original-source records, the 2013 report from the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics concluded. There is no practical way to obtain estimates about these records from so many agencies, or to even ask them to take on the burden of counting records.

Others who work with gun background-check data said the gaps are clear and have been known for years. Besides felonies and misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, the FBI also misses an untold number of drug addicts, because there is no good mechanism for probation or parole services agencies to share that type of data with the bureau.

That lack of visibility also proved deadly when white supremacist Dylann Roof purchased a gun and killed nine worshipers at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015. The FBI later concluded he shouldnt have been able to buy the weapon because he had recently confessed to drug possession. That confession was not entered into the background-check database, and Roof was able to buy a gun two months before the attack.

This case rips all of our hearts out, FBI Director James B. Comey said at the time. The thought that an error on our part is connected to this guys purchase of a gun that he used to slaughter these good people is very painful to us. He ordered a 30-day review to examine procedures that led to the failure.

Awareness of the problems with the database go back even further. President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2016 aimed in part at improving the quality of the federal gun background-check database. It directed the FBI to overhaul the background-check system so the checks are more instantaneous and to hire 230 more staff to help with the vetting.

At the Pentagon, the problem goes back decades. In 1997, an internal review found the military was not consistently submitting criminal history data to the FBI criminal history files.

The Pentagons review found a mostly unused notification system meant to alert federal law enforcement about crimes committed by troops that would lead to prohibition of the purchase of firearms, like the domestic violence convictions Kelley received.

The Army and Navy failed in more than 80 percent of cases to forward FBI fingerprint card files to the bureau. The Air Force failed to send them in 38 percent of cases. The probe concluded that the services were plagued by unclear directives from the Defense Department on how and when to submit the forms.

A review in 2015 found an improvement of reporting rates, with 30 percent of the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps failing to submit fingerprint cards and final case outcome reports to the FBI. The Army was not evaluated because of limited data, the report said.

If the problem is that we didnt put something out, well correct that, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday of Kelleys case.

Geoffrey Corn, a former Army lawyer and professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston, said the long history of administrative dysfunction played a role in Kelley slipping through the net designed to prevent violent offenders from purchasing firearms.

There is no unity of effort. No one knows who is supposed to do what, Corn said.

In the era of mass shootings, there has been a growing awareness of the connection between perpetrators of such crimes and domestic violence. According to a study by the gun-control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, 54 percent of recent mass shootings were related to domestic or family violence.

As a result, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have lined up behind laws aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers.

According to Everytown, 25 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws since 2013 aimed at strengthening the federal prohibition  for example, extending the prohibition to include boyfriends, and adding enforcement mechanisms so local law enforcement can confiscate abusers weapons. Eight states passed such laws in 2017 alone.

Yet, gun-control advocates note that the federal domestic violence law is limited in that it applies to spouses and other relatives but not dating partners. Advocates against domestic violence say at least half of all domestic abuse crimes now are committed by boyfriends.

Moreover, many convicted domestic abusers who buy guns do so not through a gun store, as Kelley did, but online or from gun shows, advocates say. In the case of such private sales, sellers are not obligated to run buyers names through the federal database.

Still, advocates say the database is a valuable tool that erects barriers for violent people seeking weapons. During a 16-year period that ended in December 2014, more than 1 million prohibited people  including more than 100,000 convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and nearly 50,000 with domestic-violence-related restraining orders  were denied guns after background checks, according to a report last year by the Justice Departments inspector general.

We know when these records are in the system that its effective, said Monica McLaughlin, director of public policy for the National Network to End Domestic Violence. It bars batterers from obtaining weapons. Its a really effective tool that exists in federal law that we have created, but compliance is inconsistent at best and incredibly lackluster.
I agree with Charles Pawling's observation in his Nov. 7 letter, "Time to switch gears on congestion," about our roads becoming congested "in the same spots at the same time." I noticed that in the Gaithersburg-to-Beltway corridor when I moved to the area  in January 1973. But why shouldn't roads have been congested? Back then we had only a four-lane Interstate 270 (called Interstate 70 South then) and a two-lane Maryland Route 355 to carry traffic.

Now it is 2017, and we are dealing with the same congestion. But why should we be? We now have a 12-lane I-270 and a six-lane Route 355. In addition, there are now the Midcounty Highway and the Great Seneca Highway (Maryland Route 119), four lanes each, to help bear the load. We have 26 lanes where once there were only six, and we still have congestion. And Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Mr. Pawling think adding even more lanes, possibly destroying hundreds of homes in the process, will finally cause the sun to set on congestion?

Mr. Pawling is right in saying change is needed to cure the problem, but repeating the failed solutions of the past does not constitute change. It only ensures that Mr. Pawling will wait a long time for his desired sunset.

Roger Burkhart, Gaithersburg
Columnist

Given the year theyve had, Democrats are understandably euphoric about their wins in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere Tuesday. A man dragging himself across a desert will be deliriously happy to find a bottle of water. But he shouldnt assume that one bottle means theres a river over the next dune  nor should the Democrats be overly optimistic about what lies ahead.

I say this not just because a year is an eternity in today's politics, although it is. Donald Trump went from novelty candidate to president-elect in the year between November 2015 and November 2016, and in the 12 months after that, the Republican Party went from a historic high-water mark to a shambolic mess. Only a fool or a political pundit (I know: Writers should avoid redundancy) would predict what will happen over the next 365 days. Still, I feel safe in forecasting that it will be a lot.

I could also warn Democrats to heed what might be the only ironclad rule of contemporary American politics: Conventional wisdom is always wrong. I was pretty sure Democrat Hillary Clinton would eke out a win over Trump despite her dreary campaign  until I noticed that everyone else in politics and the media seemed to think the same thing. With the Acela crowd so certain, Clinton was doomed.

More substantial reasons for Democrats to remain cautious are found in a deeply researched paper published Nov. 1 by the liberal Center for American Progress. Political scientists Rob Griffin, Ruy Texeira and John Halpin set out after the 2016 election to determine who voted  by race, age and education  and in what proportions. Their months-long project drew strands from a wide range of data sources and wove them into a picture quite different from the one painted by the imperfect art of Election Day exit polling.

"Voter Trends in 2016: A Final Examination" suggests that the coalition of college-educated progressives and people of color on which Democrats have staked their identity may be weaker than most party strategists believed. And as they continue their crawl through the political wilderness, they may find that efforts to strengthen the coalition prove counterproductive, as they did against Trump.

I was struck by two sets of data from this rich trove of findings that may add up to a cautionary tale. First, the white electorate is larger and less educated than exit polls would have us believe. The pollsters calculated that 71 percent of voters in 2016 were white and that more than half of them had four or more years of college. But the CAP team came to a very different conclusion: The turnout was nearly 74 percent white (a significant difference in a razor-thin election), and only about two out of five of these voters had a college degree.

Overall, 45 percent of voters in 2016  by far the largest segment  were whites who either did not attend or did not complete college. This was not entirely a Trump-driven phenomenon. The authors found that exit polls greatly underestimated the voting power of non-college-educated whites in 2012, too.

Second, whatever strength Democrats have gained from identity politics appears to have reached a natural ceiling. Candidate Trump built his campaign on his willingness to offend people. He bashed immigrants, linked Mexicans to violent crime, dog-whistled to white supremacists. Yet when the votes were counted, Trump outperformed 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney among African American voters and matched Romney among Latinos.

Theres no denying that a significant source of the energy in the Democratic Party comes from people for whom identity politics are highly salient. But these findings suggest that further sharpening these issues will not gain Democrats much of anything. To the extent that some white voters are alienated by these issues, identity politics may backfire, driving votes away.

A lot of pixels have been devoted to the theory that Clinton would have won the election had she matched Barack Obama in African American turnout. The CAP study confirms that this is true. But the study also shows that she would have won had she matched Obama among whites without a degree.

Once the party of the working class, Democrats have lost their connection to the largest bloc of voters in America. Democrats had an edge in 1992 of more than five points over Republicans in the registration of white voters with only a high school diploma. By 2016, Republicans had flipped that advantage and widened it to more than 25 points.

No party should feel sanguine heading into an election so glaringly weak with the plurality of the electorate. Democrats will celebrate in 2018 and beyond only if they begin reconnecting with the white working class. How? By assuring them that their concerns matter  not more than, but as much as, anyone elses.

Read more from David Von Drehle's archive.
Regarding the Nov. 6 front-page article "Sweeping Saudi purge hits rivals of prince":

The Saudis years ago made a conscious decision to reject the U.S. model of democracy and elections. They seem to have been following the Chinese model. The Saudi tribal monarchy saw how China managed to modernize its economy and granted greater social freedoms yet maintained the single-party totalitarian political system. Is there really much difference between the Saudi king and the now-Mao-like Chinese leader Xi Jinping?

Whether the young Saudi crown prince can transform the society while maintaining absolute authority is the challenge.

Charles Kestenbaum, Vienna
Columnist

If you have a gun, should you start taking it with you to church? If you dont carry a gun, should you get one in case someone starts shooting up the sanctuary while youre praying? Should your pastor in the pulpit begin packing heat?

There was a time when these questions would never have been asked, church being a place where we go to abide with God, where hearts are opened and grace and mercy are sought. Is church now a place for guns?

The question isnt abstract.

Shortly after last Sunday's massacre at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., Ken Paxton, the state's attorney general, told Fox News, "In Texas at least we have the opportunity to have concealed carry." Asked whether it was appropriate to bring guns inside a church, Paxton said, "We need people in churches . . . at least arming some of the parishioners or the congregation so that they can respond if something like this, when something like this happens again."

Hes not alone.

In California, Geoff Peabody has been teaching free gun-safety courses to local church members. He's trained close to 1,000 people, and all of his classes have been accident-free. "We are directed to protect the flock," he told a local television station.

Protection, these days, is not limited to armed worshipers, either.

At Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, or "Mother Emanuel," in Charleston, S.C., where white supremacist Dylann Roof shot and killed the pastor and eight other worshipers in June 2015 during Bible study, there are changes in regular church services: in-house security.

Back down in Texas, as many as half of the members of Robert Jeffress's First Baptist Church of Dallas bring firearms into church, he told "Fox & Friends." If shooters tried to open fire at his church, Jeffress said, "They may get one shot off or two shots off, but that's it  and that's the last thing they'll ever do in this life."

God and guns: part of our new normal?

As we contemplate God in our spiritual journey, must we also now pray for the capacity to shoot back?

Hold on. I get it. How can I not grasp the gravity  and depravity  of what 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley did to those 26 women, men and children at last Sunday's worship service? And to all the others wounded in his rampage?

How can I not acknowledge the role of the armed neighbor who returned fire before first responders got to the scene? It would have been much worse, as President Trump said, if not for the citizen who shot back at Kelley, wounding and chasing him off before Kelley died from a self-inflicted wound.

But isnt it also worth asking: What have we come to in this country?

Churches needing members trained in handgun skills? Parishioners trained as personal protection officers, skilled in the use of clubs, nightsticks and pepper spray? Is that where we are?

Human logic tells us we are living in times of danger. When have we not?

Set aside for the moment the risk of armed church members confusing congregants they dont recognize with an assailant, or the danger of friendly fire, or protectors who accidentally mishandle their lethal weapons.

Consider what we are giving in to. Some may call it reality. How about resignation? To think: gunning up and hunkering down in a house of God.

Shootings, at churches or anywhere else for that matter, are not inevitable.

But they happen, as did the one two nights ago a few blocks north of my home, leaving 16-year-old Yoselis Regino Barrios dead and an adult wounded. And a second shooting that took place three blocks east, which left one adult male dead and another wounded.

Gun violence is our problem. And we, holed up in our sanctuaries, seem to be losing heart as we resort to building arsenals in our churches and homes.

We know better. To return peace to our houses of worship and communities, we need to start by fixing our gun laws. We need to restrict access to those deadly weapons, keeping them out of the wrong hands  domestic-violence offenders, people with histories of violent behavior and the like.

We cant set ourselves apart, hunkering down behind church walls. We need to keep faith that things can be made better, that there are ways  legislatively, medically, communally  to prevent the violence that takes a toll on our lives, done in the spirit of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

If we cant do that, if we dont want to try that, really, whats the point?

Read more from Colbert King's archive.
PRESIDENTIAL TRIPS abroad are often more about pageantry and rhetoric than substantive policymaking, but President Trump's long tour of Asia is looking particularly lightweight. In stops so far in Japan, South Korea, China and Vietnam, Mr. Trump has heaped flattery on his hosts  particularly Chinese President Xi Jinping  and largely avoided provocative tweets. While making a substantial effort to strengthen his personal relationships with Asian leaders, he rebuffed Russia's Vladimir Putin by declining a bilateral meeting at the summit they both are attending.

Overall, however, the tour is looking like a missed opportunity for Mr. Trump to spell out more detailed and workable formulations of his security and economic policies. He has delivered a couple of set-piece policy speeches, one on the nuclear threat of North Korea and another on U.S. economic and trade relations with Asia. Yet they were studded with unrealistic goals and rhetoric more suited to the campaign trail than the diplomatic arena.

Mr. Trumps speech in the Vietnamese city of Danang on Friday read as if lifted from one of the rallies he stages in the United States. He denounced chronic trade abuses that he said stripped . . . jobs, factories and industries, and vowed that we are not going to allow the United States to be taken advantage of anymore. But he offered no specific remedies, other than a vague willingness to make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation. Given the presidents insistence on renegotiating the existing U.S.-South Korea trade agreement, hes likely to get few takers among the 11 countries that signed up for the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership that Mr. Trump repudiated; instead, they are working on a way to move forward without the United States.

In Seoul, Mr. Trump delivered an address that admirably spelled out the horrors of North Korea  not just its relentless pursuit of a nuclear arsenal but also its tyrannical enslavement of its people. To his credit, he avoided past threats of subjecting North Korea to "fire and fury" and offered the prospect of negotiations, which he previously called a waste of time. But the terms Mr. Trump publicly reiterated  that the regime of Kim Jong Un accept "total denuclearization" at the beginning of the process  are unrealistic.

The president's notion of how to achieve this breakthrough sounds equally far-fetched. According to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Mr. Trump told Mr. Xi that "you're a strong man" and "you can, I'm sure, solve this for me." In public Mr. Trump proposed that Beijing cease all trade with Pyongyang and send home its workers. But Mr. Xi's government has repeatedly rejected the idea that it can or would deliver Mr. Kim. Mr. Trump's excessive public flattery of the Chinese ruler, whom he called "a very special man," and his ready acquiescence to autocratic practices such as the prohibition of press conference questions, offered an unseemly spectacle of obeisance to a dictator.

Mr. Tillerson is reportedly pursuing a more pragmatic approach to Pyongyang, offering dialogue following a 60-day freeze of missile and nuclear tests. But in general, the administration evidently lacks a concerted strategy for acting on the president's rhetoric. In the absence of such a strategy, the toasts and threats of this Asia trip will soon be forgotten.
MUSCATINE  Hanging above Virginia Guck's bed at Sunnybrook in Muscatine is a one-of-a-kind photograph from the early 1940s.

The sepia-toned photo shows the U.S. Army nurse and her brother Charles McBride posing together, both in full uniform, capturing one of Guck's favorite memories from her time serving overseas in World War II.

Guck, now 97, was stationed at the 186th General Hospital in Fairford, England. Her brother was serving with the Air Force in northern Europe. Before the war reached an end in 1945, the siblings traveled by train to meet in London.

"We met in London and saw the Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London," Guck said. "We were walking down the street and saw a photographer, so decided to have our picture taken."

Because of their different ranks in the military, Guck said they were not supposed to be communicating and had to be careful of anyone seeing them together. After the trip, she returned to Fairford.

Before enlisting as an Army nurse, Guck went to nursing school for three years, which she said was common for young women her age. She said the government was "pleading for nurses to join the war."

After trying to enlist three times, Guck was finally accepted.

"To me, it was just a job and I was glad I could go after three attempts," she said. "I never used to think about this, but in the past couple years, I wonder who the man was who said I finally could enlist."

Stationed in southern Europe, Guck lived in stone buildings with the other female nurses, and worked in the operating room during the day.

"We did a lot of blood transfusions and the walking wounded were the donors," Guck said. "One day, we did 28 pints of blood. I've always remembered that. They say you remember the things that impressed you at the time."

Despite being in the midst of World War II, Guck said she mostly focused on her work. But she does remember D-Day vividly.

"The sky over Fairford was just black with planes going to the invasion," she said.

After her trip to London to meet her brother, Guck began to worry, having not heard from McBride in a long time. She started calling around, trying to locate him.

"I called and the man said he wasn't here, then I called back that evening and they said he might come back in five days, but he didn't," she said. "He was a gunner on a B-17 and I guess his parachute saved his life. He landed in a tree, then a 16-year-old boy approached with a machine gun and he was a prisoner of war."

Guck waited until her brother's imprisonment was confirmed before notifying her parents. She traveled north by train, staying overnight in Ipswich and collected some of his possessions.

"My parents used to call us Bud and Sis," she said. "They never used our real names."

After serving overseas for more than two years, Guck returned home to Muscatine. She then moved to Davenport, where she earned her degree at St. Ambrose University, through the GI Bill.

"I always said I got more out of (serving) than I put in," she said.

In an Ethics class, she met her future husband, Henry Guck. The couple married in Davenport, then moved to Minneapolis, where they had four children within two years and three months.

"I only knew for 10 days before I had twins," she said. "When I had the first four kids, I washed nine-dozen diapers three times a week. Those were the days before the disposable ones. But I'm so frugal, I probably wouldn't have used them anyway."

The couple had two more children after moving back to Muscatine. Guck continued working as a nurse, on the surgical floor and then in the OB unit, helping to deliver babies and assist new parents.

Today, Guck is awaiting the birth of her eighth great-grandchild, and is proud to say six people in her family have served in the military, including her father in World War I, her husband, daughter and son.

"I'm glad I was able to go and I wanted to; I figured it was an honor to serve my country," Guck said. "And if you've been to any foreign country you know this is the best in the world, even with all the faults."

Now living at Sunnybrook, Guck said she has learned to simply focus on what matters in life.

"I've always been in it for us, not for them," she said. "I never cared what people thought of what I was wearing or anything like that. I always do it for me."
Columnist

The Republicans' tax bill would somewhat improve the existing revenue system that once caused Mitch Daniels (former head of the Office of Management and Budget, former Indiana governor) to say: Wouldn't it be nice to have a tax code that looked as though it had been designed on purpose? Today's bill, which is 429 pages and is apt to grow, is an implausible instrument of simplification. And it would worsen the tax code's already substantial contribution to "moral hazard."

Economists use that phrase to denote circumstances in which incentives are for perverse behavior. Today's tax code is such a circumstance, and the Republican bill would exacerbate this by expanding the $1,000 child credit to $1,600 with an additional $300 "family credit" for each parent and non-child dependent, and by doubling the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples. These measures would increase the number of persons not paying income taxes and would further decrease the percentage of income tax revenues paid by low-income earners.

Already 62 percent of American households pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes. The bottom 50 percent of earners supply less than 3 percent of income-tax revenues. Forty-five percent of American households pay no income tax, either because they earn too little or because they qualify for enough exemptions and credits to erase their liability. Sixty percent pay nothing or less than 5 percent of their income. Forty percent of earners are net recipients from the income tax because they qualify for refundable tax credits. All this means that an already large  and, if the Republican bill passes, soon to be larger  American majority has a vanishingly small incentive to restrain the growth of a government that they are not paying for through its largest revenue source.

These facts might be the results of defensible tax and social policies. They should, however, be discomfiting to those remaining conservatives  they are on the endangered species list  who dispute Dick Cheney's notion that "Reagan proved deficits don't matter." Deficits matter for their political as well as  actually, even more than  their economic effects: Deficits make big government cheap, enabling the political class to charge taxpayers rather less than $1 for every $1 of government benefits dispensed. When the Bush-Cheney administration managed the last large tax cut, the publicly held national debt was 33 percent of gross domestic product. Today it is 75 percent.

Today's Republican bill, drafted in the aftermath of the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, is supposed to demonstrate to the party's Trumpian base that congressional majorities matter and must be extended. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has said (to USA Today): "If we had a whole bunch of wins on major items up to this point, would we perhaps be a little bit more deliberate in our negotiations? I think the answer is yes." But the facts about participation in the income tax mean that the bill is unlikely to assuage the injured feelings of core Trump supporters, understood as downscale white working-class voters who supposedly are seething because they are not benefiting enough from burdensome government. They might have valid grievances, but not ones that can be addressed by income-tax rate reductions for individuals. Payroll tax reductions would be another matter.

And all individual earners will benefit to some extent from cutting the corporate rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. The incidence of corporate taxation  who actually pays it  is fiercely debated by economists, a remarkably cocksure cohort with strikingly divergent views about the degree to which corporate taxation depresses the wages of the corporations' workers, curtails shareholders' dividends and is passed on to consumers in the costs of corporations' products. Suffice it to say that corporations do not pay taxes; they collect taxes. Uncertainty about the incidence of corporate taxation is one reason the Republican bill's corporate tax rate is 20 points too high.

This year's best tax bill, which Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) has introduced six times since 2006, is four pages long and contains fewer words (411) than the new Republican bill has pages. It could be titled "The 'What You Wished For, Mitch Daniels' Act." It is titled, with almost unprecedented accuracy, the "Tax Code Termination Act." It would nullify the existing 4 million-word code as of Dec. 31, 2021, and require that by July 4 of that year it must be replaced by a new one, which would necessarily be one designed on purpose.

Read more from George F. Will's archive or follow him on Facebook.
IN 1979, Roy Moore, then a 32-year-old assistant district attorney in Alabama, allegedly brought a 14-year-old girl to his home alone. She told The Post that Mr. Moore served her alcoholic drinks, kissed her and undressed her. Mr. Moore reportedly pursued relationships with three other teenagers between 16 and 18 during that same time period. Such predatory behavior is appalling from any quarter  particularly from a government official with great power in his community. It is especially egregious in a candidate for federal office. Yet Republican officials have yet to denounce the alleged conduct of Mr. Moore, the GOP's nominee for senator from Alabama, as clearly beyond the pale.

The four women who spoke to The Post all described similar behavior from Mr. Moore, who flattered the teenagers before asking them out on dates or taking them to his house. Only one woman, Leigh Corfman, remembered the candidate as having initiated sexual contact beyond kissing. Ms. Corfman was 14 at the time, below Alabama's age of consent at 16  meaning Mr. Moore's alleged actions would have broken state law. Mr. Moore's campaign declares that "this garbage is the very definition of fake news."

"Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections," former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrote, demanding that Mr. Moore withdraw from the race. "I believe Leigh Corfman." Unfortunately, other members of Mr. Romney's party lack this moral clarity. With some exceptions  including Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who likewise called for Mr. Moore to step aside  Republicans in Washington have hedged their condemnations. "If true, [the allegations] would disqualify anyone from serving in office," a statement from Vice President Pence's office announced. "If these allegations are true, he must step aside," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared.

To be sure, the national Republican Party's response has been less egregious than that of the Alabama GOP, many of whose officials have chosen to defend Mr. Moore. The party's Senate fundraising wing has cut ties with the Moore campaign. But "if true" is nothing more than a dodge if Republicans have no answer to what comes next. What more would they want to know in order to consider these allegations credible?

Republican support for Mr. Moore was pitiful even before this revelation, given his long record of contempt for the rule of law and for Americans who are different from him. In that light, maybe it should not surprise that leaders such as Mr. McConnell cannot bring themselves even now to clearly repudiate Mr. Moore. And yet surprise it does.

If true is not enough. These women had nothing to gain and much to lose by coming forward. Now their word is questioned  and for what? To save a business tax cut?
ONCE AGAIN, D.C. officials found themselves ensnared in tumult over a lucrative government contract. And once again, questions were raised about whether campaign contributions played a role. When, we wonder, will the mayor and D.C. Council learn their lesson and put an end to the perception of the District as a place of pay-to-play by banning campaign contributions from those who get financial benefits from the government?

The latest controversy involved extension of a contract to the private consulting firm managing the city's troubled United Medical Center in Southeast. Veritas of Washington last year was awarded an emergency no-bid contract by the hospital's board, but the council in a 7-to-6 vote this week refused to approve a $4.2 million extension, citing instances of low-quality health care at the facility, which serves a poor and predominantly African American population.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowsers administration had urged an extension, arguing that the firm had inherited long-term problems and was on the right track, and that ending the contract would cause harmful upheaval. Coloring the debate is the fact that Ms. Bowser (D), as The Posts Peter Jamison has reported, had received more than $35,000 in political contributions from the husband of the owner of Veritas. Administration officials said Ms. Bowser was not involved in the firms selection and campaign contributions played no role.

We will, for the time being, take officials at their word. But shouldn't they recognize how bad it looks and how that perception erodes public confidence in government? More than a dozen states, a growing number of local communities and the federal government explicitly ban campaign contributions from government contractors. The District needs to follow suit. Past efforts to address pay-to-play have been unsuccessful, but legislation is now pending before the council that would ban anyone, including a corporation, who donates to a campaign from engaging in major business  including large contracts  with the District for two years.

Ms. Bowser would do well to support this legislation and urge the council to enact it. Not only would it help to build confidence in government, but it would save her  and future mayors  a world of grief by shielding their decisions from any taint about whose interests are being served.
Words disappear all the time because the ideas they represent go out of use or fashion, because a trend or event brings a new word that supplants the old, or sometimes, simply, through ignorance, confusion or neglect. For journalists and other lovers of language, the death of a good word is tragic.

A case in point: A caption with the Oct. 31 front-page article "In front of TV, president fumes with frustration" described a White House news briefing and said, "Away from the podium, Trump staffers fretted . . ." There was no podium in the photograph. What we see is the White House press secretary standing on a stage behind a lectern. The word "lectern" is in danger of vanishing from the English language through ignorance, confusion and neglect, perhaps because Greek and Latin are no longer taught in schools as a foundation for understanding the roots of Western languages.

Allow me to help:

A podium is a low, temporary platform that raises a speaker a few inches above an audience. Podium comes from the Greek word for foot  the same root as our word for podiatrist (a doctor who specializes in treating the ailments of feet); so, speakers place their feet on a podium to be better seen and heard. (A permanent platform that raises a speaker much higher is called a stage.)

A lectern is a piece of furniture, usually with an inclined top, and these days often accessorized with a light and a microphone, behind which a speaker stands to deliver a speech. Lectern comes from the Latin word meaning to read  the same root as our word for lecture; so, speakers read their speech and often lecture from a lectern. Recently it has become fashionable or simply expedient to use the word podium to describe that piece of furniture behind which a speaker stands to read and lecture; but, as the saying goes, calling a dogs leg a tail doesnt make it a tail. Journalists and other writers, public officials and other leaders and teachers and other literate citizens are the bulwark against blather in an increasingly illiterate society that takes time only to express itself  often badly  in 280 characters or fewer.

Precision in language is essential for clear, concise, correct communication. When words are conflated and their meanings mixed, the result is confusion and misunderstanding. The history of words such as inflammable, literally, fulsome, bemused, decimate, shambles, fantastic, ironic and legendary exemplifies the richness and specificity that have been lost in recent years as almost no one seems to know what these words are intended to describe. It is particularly painful to watch and hear bedrock news institutions contribute to the decay.

What is lost other than words? Consider this: It is as true today as it was 100 years ago that immigrants, people with limited education but a desire to speak better, and others who are learning to read take language lessons from newspapers . It is vital for journalists to provide teachable moments with every word they choose.

George Chartier, Alexandria
A statue of Martin Luther in Wittenberg, Germany, where celebrations take place on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation on Oct. 31 (Hendrik Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

I was dismayed that in the otherwise excellent pieces on Martin Luther in the Oct. 29 Outlook feature "From revelation to revolution" there was not even one reference to the flagrant anti-Semitism in some of Luther's writings.

Among other restrictions on Jewish practice, Luther recommended in On the Jews and Their Lies that if Jews could not be converted, their schools and synagogues should be burned, presumably along with anyone who happened to be inside. The propagation of these anti-Semitic teachings through the publication of his writings undoubtedly confirmed and expanded such views among the populace. Some discussion, including the eventual rejection of the anti-Semitic portions by Lutherans in recent years, was certainly warranted in an overview of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Jeanie Lazerov, Highland

The essays included in the Oct. 29 Outlook feature about Martin Luther made the error of contrasting secularism with religion and ignoring spiritualism. Spiritualism is individual  the relationship between an individual and his or her god. A religion is an institution of men and women that develops unique rules and dogma to obtain the leverage of many members and their solidarity. But in the absence of healthy governance, the institution can become corrupt.

Most individuals seeking to satisfy their spiritual yearnings choose a religion, getting pleasure and satisfaction of worshiping with others with similar beliefs. And individuals will submerge their skepticism of specific dogmas to gain the satisfaction of worshiping with others. But if the dogmas become too extreme and the governance of their religious organization yields to corruption, individuals will start to leave this institution. Such departures do not mean they have adopted secularism. Their spiritualism and belief in the eternal continue.

Frank Nicolai, Fort Washington
I suppose one could consider Ivanka Trump's visit to Japan days before her father's trip to be a big victory for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, depending in part on one's politics. But I don't see how it could be described as "a double-whammy win," as it was in the Nov. 3 news article "Japan abuzz over Ivanka Trump." According to the dictionary, a double whammy is "a twofold blow or setback." The phrase "double-whammy win" is an oxymoron; using it was at least a single whammy.

Steve Levine, Bethesda
Regarding the Oct. 28 WorldViews blog excerpt, "Is making French less sexist a threat to the language? The Academie Francaise says oui.":

There is a rule of thumb that whenever somebody writes to complain about a grammatical mistake in an article, the letter is bound to contain at least one mistake of its own. A corollary of this rule is that when English speakers write about the Academie Francaise, one can count on not only a tone of amused supercilious detachment but also several incorrect statements about the French language and the role of the Academie.

The Academie does a lot of things, only one of which is to issue opinions on correct usage. Those opinions are simply opinions and are not taken too seriously by French speakers. In fact, contemporary French is shot full of Anglicisms, some dating back hundreds of years. All the romance languages and several Indo-European languages retain gender, some only natural gender (such as English) and others also grammatical gender (such as German).

This article was mainly about French struggles to de-sex natural gender  and we have exactly the same issue in English with words such as chairman and aviatrix  but the erroneous claim that the grammatical gender of table is masculine (it is feminine) taints the rest of this nonsense with the ridicule it deserves.

Jack Aubert, Falls Church
Columnist

Desperation seems to be driving Republicans this grateful season as they seek to trade polar bears for tax cuts, while fervently praying that former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore didn't do what he's alleged to have done, which might give the U.S. Senate another Democratic vote.

The race is on to pass tax reform before Dec. 12, when Alabama will select a new senator to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Moore, best known as the "Ten Commandments judge," has been accused of having pursued teenage girls several decades ago when he was in his 30s. He is set to face off against Democrat Doug Jones, who prosecuted two of the Klansmen accused of setting off the bomb in a Birmingham church that killed four African American girls in 1963.

Paging Flannery O'Connor. Not that this evolving Southern gothic narrative needs a fiction writer's labors. Even O'Connor, who once explained Southerners' tendency to write about "freaks" because "we are still able to recognize one," would be hard-pressed to embellish the already weird. We might also ping William Faulkner while we're at it, who noted that the past isn't past. In Alabama, where I once worked as a reporter, the past just keeps on truckin'.

In the wake of these accusations by four women, including one who was 14 at the time of Moores alleged advances, several Republican senators have offered cautious remarks, saying that if true, then Moore should step aside. If true, Moore should probably have reread those commandments more closely rather than forcing his courtroom audiences to study them as he presided over others moral failings.

While it is neither right nor fair to condemn another without due process, the statute of limitations is well past on these allegations, which were published by Post reporters who spent a month interviewing dozens of people in addition to the accusers. In the case of one teen, Moore allegedly offered alcohol to his underage date and modeled his "tight white" underwear. The swirl of allegations arrived at a moment when it seemed likely that Moore was to become Alabama's senator. The state hasn't elected a Democrat to the office in more than 20 years.

As momentum builds for Moore's possible retreat and optimism grows among Alabama Democrats, Republicans desperate to pass something before year's end have been trying to pull elephants out of hats. Or something. In addition to proposing tax cuts for the rich, they've turned from draining the swamp to thawing the Arctic to scrounge up more money. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has introduced a bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.

Murkowski, usually the more rational member of Alaska's Senate duo, seems to have fallen under the spell of the greedy brotherhood. If we were desperate for oil, her bill might make more sense, but we're in the midst of a glut. Some environmentalists, meanwhile, have questioned the Congressional Budget Office's projection that Arctic drilling would produce $1.1 billion over a decade. For this to be true, they say, oil would need to earn $70 per barrel. Yet, in West Texas today, a barrel of crude oil is selling for about $57. Obviously, this is only a $13 difference. And the refuge contains 19 million acres, of which Murkowski proposes exploiting only 800,000.

For now. But what about later? And what refuge might be next?

More than 100 years ago, when the first national wildlife refuge was established by President Theodore Roosevelt, we seemed to have a better sense of our role as wardens of our nation's natural resources and the ecosystems that support wildlife. The idea that we no longer need to protect or manage animals humanely  or that they still have more than enough acreage to sustain them  ignores the reasons we created these protections in the first place and the reality that the planet does not, in fact, require our presence.

The fact that this is a partisan issue simply ignores reason.

That a few Republicans would sacrifice even a square inch of the Arctic unnecessarily for the profit of a political victory is, frankly, as stomach-turning as the image of a tighty-whitey-wearing Roy Moore pawing a 14-year-old. Surely, theres a better way to make a buck  and a better soul to warm Sessionss seat.

Read more from Kathleen Parker's archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.
R. Albert Mohler Jr. is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Lex orandi, lex credendi  the law of prayer is the law of belief. Christians have long known that we believe as we pray, and we pray as we believe.

In the wake of tragedy, we are accustomed to hearing calls for thoughts and prayers. We have heard them from prominent political figures, both Democrats and Republicans. But more recently, such calls have drawn harsh criticism from the left.

In response to the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Tex., Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded: "Thoughts and prayers are not enough, GOP." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) bluntly told Republican leaders that their prayers weren't needed: "We have pastors, priests and rabbis to offer thoughts and prayers." Perhaps the most striking tweet came from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who wrote, "They were praying when it happened. They don't need our prayers. They need us to address gun violence and pass sensible legislation."

What does it mean when a political leader says that the nations thoughts and prayers are with those who are in sorrow and grief? It could mean nothing. Or even worse than nothing, the words could be evasive and misleading, covering political irresponsibility or conveying no more than empty sentiment. Thoughts and prayers could be a quick way of moving on without meaning to do anything.

Or it could be an expression of what is called "civil religion," the common spiritual language of the American people. Robert Bellah, a sociologist at the University of California at Berkeley, famously argued that "every nation and every people come to some form of religious self-understanding whether the critics like it or not." Some critics clearly do not like it. Nevertheless, expressions of civil religion are necessary for a president of the United States  any president  who must lead the nation as mourner in chief.

To the deeply committed Christian, civil religion is far too little in terms of theological content. To the atheist or agnostic, civil religion is far too theological. Thoughts might be okay. Prayers are a step too far.

To millions of Christians in the nation, saying that our thoughts and prayers are with the needy, the hurting and the sorrowful comes as naturally as our own requests for prayer. Praying is not a way of avoiding responsibility, but of affirming it. Prayer is not escapism. It is obedience to Christ and following the example of the apostles.

Understandably, this is perplexing to non-Christians and perhaps even infuriating to the secular-minded. But to Christians who pray in light of Gods love, power and mercy, prayer comes as naturally as a child with a need goes to a loving parent.

Christians are taught to pray for our own needs, and for the needs of others. Prayer reminds us of our fundamental lack of self-sufficiency, even as it reminds us of our responsibility to others. We pray for those we know, but we also pray, quite naturally and eagerly, for those we may never know  such as the people of Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas or Orlando. We pray in the face of moral evil such as mass murder, and we pray in the face of natural evil like a devastating tsunami.

When we say our thoughts and prayers are with them, we are not washing our hands of duty; we are expressing our heartfelt urgency to pray. We are affirming the power of God to save, to heal and to comfort. We are praying for human agents, doctors and first responders, friends and neighbors, to do what we cannot, prompted by the leading of God.

Dismissing the language of thoughts and prayers may serve political expediency or offer a bit of moral catharsis (or even virtue signaling), but it does not help us move toward healing and unity. We desperately need a common moral vocabulary, and thoughts and prayers rightly reminds us of the common moral vocabulary that was once quite uncontroversial in America. Just look at the language of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama. Do we not want our leaders to call us to thoughts and prayers for those in grief?

Jesus taught his disciples to pray, and he told them to pray to the Father, Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven [Matthew 6:10]. That is the most revolutionary prayer any human can pray, and in that light, my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Sutherland Springs, and everywhere else on Earth.
In the Oct. 24 Metro article "Hogan signs order prohibiting state business with firms that boycott Israel," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) was allowed to gloss over the "why" behind the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and dismiss this growing campaign as merely "discrimination."

Nowhere did the article mention the Israeli occupation or the proliferation of Israeli settlements, two of the main reasons that individuals and companies participate in BDS. That is akin to talking about divestment from South Africa without ever mentioning the word apartheid.

BDS began as a nonviolent movement by civil society in response to governments that refused to take a stand against injustices and uphold international law. Hogan demonstrated that caving in to special interests sadly remains the political norm.

Susan Kerin, Derwood
Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands at a campaign appearance at Fitzgerald Peterbilt in Glade Spring, Va., in August 2016. The company is affiliated with Fitzgerald Glider Kits, which has pushed the Trump administration to repeal tighter emission standards for some freight trucks. (Evan Vucci/AP)

When the Environmental Protection Agency this week proposed repealing tighter emissions standards for a type of freight trucks, it cited research conducted by Tennessee Tech University but underwritten by the biggest truck manufacturer challenging the rule.

Fitzgerald Glider Kits  which makes new truck bodies, called gliders, that house refurbished engines  had questioned both the legality and data underpinning the Obama-era rule. Its products would have been required to meet the tougher pollution standards starting in January.

The company's recent petition to the EPA included a letter signed by Tennessee Tech's president and the head of the school's Center for Intelligent Mobility, soon to be housed in a new facility built by Fitzgerald. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who two months earlier had met with company officials, quickly agreed their arguments had merit.

It was the latest example of a profound shift unfolding in the EPA under President Trump, in which the agency has reassessed its own data and analyses at the prompting of corporations. On pesticides, chemical solvents and air pollutants, Pruitt and his deputies are using industry figures to challenge past findings and recommendations of the agency's own scientists.

Such change has drawn praise from longtime EPA critics, such as House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.).

Throughout the Obama administration, Science Committee hearings repeatedly revealed faulty, one-sided science as the underpinnings of EPA regulations. Administrator Pruitt has taken a different approach, Smith said in a statement. His actions make clear that he is working to unburden American families and to ensure this administrations policies are based on sound, transparent science.

But environmentalists contend Pruitt is sidelining agency scientists on key decisions.

What stands out in this administration is the overt way in which career staff, especially scientists, are viewed as unfriendly or on the other side, said Ken Cook, president of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. Hes just stiff-arming the entire scientific process.

During his confirmation hearing before Congress in January, Pruitt testified at length about the need for credible science to guide the EPA's decision-making. "If confirmed, it will be my privilege to work with EPA scientists," he wrote in response to questions from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Independent peer review "is critical to ensuring the integrity of scientific research," and "sound, objective science must serve as 'the backbone' of EPA actions."

Detractors say his actions tell a different story.

Pruitt has questioned the legitimacy of the agency's work on climate science, and continued pressing for the White House to create a "red team-blue team" effort to debate the expert consensus on climate change. One idea would be to publicly scrutinize a massive new federal climate report, complied by scientists at 13 different agencies, affirming that human activity is driving recent global warming and could produce dire consequences in the coming decades.

Last month, Pruitt moved to change the makeup of EPA advisory boards  including panels that help prioritize the agency's research and provide recommendations on federal air-pollution and chemical exposure limits  reflecting his broader effort to shift the way the agency evaluates science. He cut any researchers currently receiving EPA grants from the committees, on the grounds that this funding poses a conflict of interest, while bringing in advisers whose work is funded by industry.

Several new appointees have blasted the EPA in the past for the science it used to justify tougher limits on pollutants and chemicals. The new chairman of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, consultant Louis Anthony "Tony" Cox Jr., argued in 2015 the agency had erred in concluding that stricter smog limits would protect public health.

What were trying to do is ensure that the process and that the methodology were using is something folks have confidence in, and I think that this is a step toward that, he told reporters.

Pruitt's public schedule shows dozens of meetings with industry trade group officials and top executives from chemical, agricultural and fossil fuel companies  yet only holds periodic meetings with his own staff members about policy issues.

EPA reviews all comments, research and data submitted to the agency, as part of understanding the issue, so that the agency can make informed decisions, spokeswoman Liz Bowman said.

Yet the question of which studies should guide the EPAs decision-making has cropped up repeatedly since the former Oklahoma attorney general came to Washington.

One of the most polarizing cases emerged in March, when he put the brakes on banning the pesticide chlorpyrifos, which has been used by farmers for a half-century to kill pests on a range of crops.

The EPA prohibited its spraying indoors to combat household bugs more than a decade ago. But in 2015, the agency proposed revoking all uses of chlorpyrifos on food in response to a petition filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network North America. The two groups cited scientific evidence about the potential health risks to fetal neurological development.

In March, facing a deadline to decide on the petition, Pruitt changed gears and withdrew the proposed ban. He said he wanted to provide regulatory certainty to the thousands of American farms that rely on chlorpyrifos and that reversing the previous administrations decision amounted to returning to using sound science . . . rather than predetermined results.

The scientific arguments Pruitt chose to rely on came in part from the chemical industry itself. Dow AgroSciences, which manufactures chlorpyrifos, questioned epidemiological studies using data from human subjects rather than lab animals and said the EPA's assessment of the chemical's safety "lacks scientific rigor." The Agriculture Department also raised concerns about the EPA's methodology, and Pruitt cited those divergent views in his decision.

The EPA might not formally revisit questions about the safety of chlorpyrifos until 2022, when the agency is mandated to reevaluate the pesticide.

Other industry groups are now pushing for review of the EPAs scientific assessment of chloroprene, a chemical the agency identified as a likely carcinogen in 2010.

Smith and the chair of his panels environment subcommittee, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), wrote Pruitt on Oct. 12 asking for a briefing and documents related to the analysis underpinning the assessment. They questioned why the EPA ignored the conclusion of the highest quality study cited by a consultant for Denka Performance Elastomer, the Japanese company that operates the sole U.S. chloroprene manufacturing plant.

That consultant, Kenneth Mundt, said Friday that he and several other researchers believe the EPA erroneously calculated the high cancer-risk levels it attributed to chloroprene. The research he had referenced, which did not find an elevated risk, was funded in part by U.S. and French chloroprene manufacturers.

Mundt, Denka officials and some of the firms other consultants met on Oct. 30 with seven EPA officials to discuss the science surrounding chloroprene.

In the past, it was difficult to get our perspectives considered at EPA . . . if you had some relationship with industry, because the door would be closed, he said. But thats easing, and theres an increasing sense of cooperation, at least on the part of the scientists.

Pruitt is now giving the EPA data behind the 2016 truck emissions rule another look, as the agency moves forward with its repeal. The aim of the rule was to apply the stricter pollution controls that already existed for other types of trucks to gliders.

EPA modeling, which assumed that most gliders use pre-2002 engines, found that they emit anywhere from 20 to 40 times as much nitrogen oxides and soot as trucks with new engines. But the petition filed by Fitzgerald cited Tennessee Tech testing that concluded gliders performed equally as well and in some instances out-performed vehicles with newer engines. The document, which the company submitted with Harrison Truck Centers and Indiana Phoenix, did not include specific results from those tests.

Tennessee Tech spokesman Dewayne Wright said via email that one of the schools engineering professors went with graduate students to a Fitzgerald facility to conduct independent research on the EPA rule. The discussion of housing the schools Center for Intelligent Mobility in the Fitzgerald Technology Complex took place after the first tests were completed, he added.

Tennessee Tech continually looks for ways to expose students to real-world situations and problem solving, and this was an excellent opportunity for our students, under the guidance of a Tech faculty member, to conduct such research, Wright said.

EPA staff members are doing their own round of emissions testing on a glider kit in an agency lab. But Pruitt has already proposed the rule rescinding the Obama-era standards that Fitzgerald wants gone  before the tests are finished.

Read more:

Let us do our job: Anger erupts over EPAs apparent muzzling of scientists

EPA now requires political aides sign-off for agency awards, grant applications
President Trump on Nov. 11 said he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being truthful when he denies that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

President Trump said Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin again denied that Moscow tampered in the U.S. presidential campaign last year.

The two men had brief conversations during a larger meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Danang, Vietnam, before Trump flew to Hanoi for a bilateral meeting Sunday with Vietnamese leaders.

Trump said that he had two or three brief conversations with Putin mostly centered on the war in Syria, but added that he pressed the Russian leader on Moscows role in attempting to interfere in the 2016 election.

He said he didnt meddle, Trump said, answering questions in the press cabin on Air Force One. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. . . . He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.

Trump said that he believed Putin was sincere in his denials, and that Putin seemed to find the question insulting. Suggesting that what he called the artificial Democratic hit job of investigations of his campaign were preventing U.S.-Russian cooperation on a range of issues, including North Korea, Trump said that it is a shame, because people will die because of it.

In his own news conference after their talks, Putin said he knew absolutely nothing about contacts with Trump campaign officials, and called reports that a campaign official sought a meeting with his niece bollocks, according to an interpreter.

They can do what they want, looking for some sensation, Putin said of the investigations. But there are no sensations.

Putin said he and Trump hardly know each other, but described the U.S. president as very professional, very friendly, he behaves very appropriately. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to get down to some more details, he said, because we have many matters to discuss.

He blamed the lack of a formal meeting between the two at the conference on the failure of their respective teams, and said they would be lectured on the lapse.

The two leaders issued a joint statement pledging to continue their cooperation to defeat the Islamic State in Syria, and their commitment to U.N.-brokered peace negotiations between the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opponents fighting to oust him.

Trump also described former FBI director James B. Comey, who testified to Congress that Trump asked him to drop an investigation of his campaigns ties to Russian officials, as a proven liar and leaker. Trump called the former U.S. intelligence officials who concluded that the Russians tampered  including former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. and former CIA director John Brennan  political hacks.

Clapper, Brennan and Comey, on behalf of the 17-agency intelligence community, issued a report in January describing an unprecedented Russian intelligence operation to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process and help elect Trump.

The intelligence agencies have said that Russian hackers stole and made public thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee, also spread misinformation in an attempt to help Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump, however, has said he does not believe that Russia actively sought to help him.

The assessment sparked ongoing, separate investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director, of Russian interference in the campaign. Those inquiries include determining whether there was any collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign.

Trump said that Putin is very, very strong in the fact that he didnt do it. You have President Putin very strongly, vehemently, says he has nothing to do with that. Now, you are not going to get into an argument, you are going to start talking about Syria and the Ukraine.

Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that he was left completely speechless by Trumps willingness to take the word of Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence operator who spent years working against us, over the conclusions of our own combined intelligence community.

In response to questions about Trumps remarks, the CIA issued a statement saying that Director Mike Pompeo stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community assessment. . . . The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed. The assessment did not address whether Russian meddling altered the election outcome.

[New York Times photographer tweets photo of black box to protest White House coverage blackout]

Mueller's team recently brought indictments against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate, Richard Gates, alleging that between 2006 and 2016, they attempted to launder money made as consultants to Russian-allied leaders in Ukraine and that they had acted as unregistered agents for a foreign government.

There was no collusion, Trump said on the plane. Everybody knows there was no collusion.

He labeled phony a dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent alleging ties between Trump and Moscow. The document was later turned over to U.S. law enforcement authorities. Many of the allegations have not been independently confirmed.

Trump also cast blame on former president Barack Obama and Clinton, a former secretary of state, who famously attempted a reset of U.S. relations with Russia during Obamas first term. Trump referred to Clintons stupid reset button, in which she presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with an oversize reset button that erroneously used the Russian word for overload instead of reset.

Hillary tried it, she failed, nobody mentions it, Trump said. She hit that reset button. It was a joke. But she tried and she failed. Trump said that Obama had bad chemistry with Putin and that Clinton was in way over her head.

When Trump was asked during the flight to Hanoi whether he believed Putins denial of tampering, he said: Every time he sees me, he says, I didnt do that, but I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. . . . I think hes very insulted by it, and thats not a good thing for our country.

Trump met with Putin this summer on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Germany, after which he said Putin issued similar denials. Both then and now, Trump did not directly respond to questions as to whether he believes Putin.

[Trump had undisclosed hour-long meeting with Putin at G-20 summit]

On a different topic, Trump was asked whether Roy Moore, the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama, should drop out of the race over allegations that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 . White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters two days ago that Trump thinks that "mere allegations" are not enough to "ruin" Moore's life but that if the allegations are true, he should "do the right thing and step aside."

Trump said he has been too busy during the Asia trip to focus on the allegations against Moore.

"Believe it or not, even when I'm in Washington or New York, I do not watch much television," he said. "I know they like to say that. People that don't know me, they like to say I watch television  people with fake sources. You know, fake reporters, fake sources. But I don't get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I'm reading documents. A lot. And different things. I actually read much more. I read [articles by] you people much more than I watch television. But anyway. So I have not seen very much about him, about it. And you know I put out a statement yesterday that he'll do the right thing."

Nakamura reported from Danang, Vietnam. DeYoung reported from Washington.
The Republican Party has been plunged into ever more turmoil, thanks to the outcome of the off-year election in Virginia, the results of contests elsewhere around the country and an allegation of sexual misconduct against Roy Moore, the partys candidate for Senate in Alabama.

The Virginia gubernatorial campaign illustrated the Republican dilemma as it morphs into becoming the party of President Trump. For Ed Gillespie, the attempt at a balancing act proved awkward and ultimately unsuccessful. A candidate with deep roots in the establishment wing of the party, he tried, after receiving a scare in the primary from a pro-Trump opponent, to become more Trumpian.

The controversy over whether Moore should step aside in the face of an accusation of sexual misconduct with a teenager highlights the waning power of GOP leaders to affect the partys fortunes and the split with the Republican ranks about how to deal with such problems. Moore has denied the allegation.

In Virginia, Gillespies strategy didnt work. He lost to Democrat Ralph Northam by an unexpectedly wide margin of nine points. The margin of defeat has rightly rattled Republicans who wonder whether this portends an anti-Trump wave in next years midterm elections. The size of Northams margins among women (22 points) and voters younger than 45 (30 points) should add significantly to those concerns.

Virginia is not the nation. It has been trending blue for some time. Its population includes more college graduates than many states, and the proximity to the nations capital affects attitudes about the federal government. It is not Pennsylvania or Michigan or Wisconsin, states with different electorates, as the 2016 results demonstrated. But as the principal data point staring at Republicans over the weekend, Virginia illustrates why the debate about the partys fate under Trump will accelerate. There are no easy answers.

The president had an instant opinion about what went wrong in Virginia. He weighed in with a tweet of displeasure at Gillespie's campaign soon after Northam was declared the winner. Gillespie's mistake was not embracing Trump more fully, the president said from South Korea. In one sense, the president is correct: Among Republicans, taking on the president can extract a very high price. It's the rest of the electorate that worries party leaders looking to next year.

All that could be compounded by the unfolding Alabama story and the question of whether Moore will hold firm and continue his candidacy. Whether he stays or goes, the party faces more internal division.

[Roy Moore and the diminished power of Washington Republicans]

Republicans have been dealing with a split between their establishment wing and a populist insurgency for some time. This is a function of the widening socioeconomic coalition that now comprises the Republican Party, a coalition that includes what used to be called country club Republicans; evangelical Christians, who became a powerful force inside the party beginning with Ronald Reagan (and who are no longer a monolithic political force); and a 21st-century version of what once were called Reagan Democrats. Trump has added an additional layer.

The tea party was a manifestation of the tensions within the party. Its rise in 2010 produced some of the same kinds of divisions that former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon is trying to generate today  dissatisfaction aimed at the partys Washington leadership.

Before there was candidate Trump, the Republicans were embroiled in a different kind of debate about their future. That dispute was symbolized by the presidential candidacies of Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas. Cruz represented the view that the party should double down on its conservative values and rally what he said was its silent, conservative base. Rubio envisioned an appeal designed to expand the GOP coalition in a different way, by attracting more Latinos and younger voters.

The argument was a response to Barack Obamas victories in 2008 and 2012. Cruz said the party lost those elections not because Republican policies and ideas were too conservative and its appeal too narrow. He argued that the problem was that Sen. John McCain in 2008 and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in 2012 were not sufficiently or authentically conservative. It was Cruzs belief that there were in fact millions of conservative voters who were on the sidelines because their presidential nominees were not true conservative champions.



President-elect Donald Trump addresses supporters during an election night event in New York in 2016. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Rubio had a different vision, grounded in the changing demographics of the country and concerns that a party dependent on white voters for 85 to 90 percent of its support, as the GOP has become, would have a diminished future as the nations population became increasingly diverse. Rubio and others argued that the votes needed to win the White House could be found among those rising populations, if the party presented itself as open and welcoming to them, with policies to match.

[Do Virginias election results foreshadow more GOP losses?]

Candidate Trump ran roughshod over those issues and questions. He attracted his own coalition, found a path through the states in the upper Midwest that secured his electoral college victory, and along the way rewrote the rules for how a Republican could win the presidency.

Now the party is at an inflection point, brought about by the presidents electoral success and the reactions of both Democrats, Republicans and independents to what has happened in the year since that victory. Can they prosper if they truly become the party of Trump? Or are they more likely to suffer losses in midterm elections because, whether they do or not, they are now seen as the party of Trump?

Congressional Republicans hope that passing a tax bill will ease public frustrations with their performance and boost their chances in 2018, but something larger is at work in the way voters are seeing the stakes of a Trump presidency.

One question is whether the coalition that Trump assembled in 2016 is his and uniquely his. Democrats found that there can be a huge difference between perceptions of a president and his party. Backed by the enthusiastic support of young voters and minorities, including historic turnout among African Americans, Obama twice won the presidency with a majority of the vote.

Meanwhile, his party suffered devastating losses in midterm elections in 2010 and 2014 and the presidential election of 2016. It became clear that the Obama coalition was not easily transferrable to other Democratic candidates, as Hillary Clinton learned last year. As a result, by 2017, the party no longer controlled the White House, the House or the Senate, held fewer than a third of the nations governorships and had lost power in state legislatures across the country. Democrats are still trying to recover from that, the Virginia election notwithstanding.

Perhaps its the same for the Trump coalition. Its possible that, no matter how much they embrace him, other Republican candidates will not be able to generate the kind of energy for themselves that Trump did for his candidacy. Meanwhile, as the Virginia race showed, voters dissatisfied with the president  particularly women  appear highly motivated to turn out to register their unhappiness.

In the days after the Virginia election, SurveyMonkey, the online polling firm, asked people whether they thought the Republicans should become the party of Trump or fight against becoming the party of Trump. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, almost 8 in 10 said the GOP should become the party of Trump. The rest of the electorate strongly disagrees.

The implications of that are clear, as Gillespie found during the Virginia race. For Republican candidates, crossing the president risks the ire of the Trump base and depressed turnout. Embracing him too fully risks energizing the opposition. Trump wont be on the ballot until 2020. In the meantime, he has made the GOP his party, and those who share the label are left to deal with the consequences.
One powerful group was noticeably scarce from the flurry of activity inside the congressional committee room where Republicans recently took a big step toward passing their sweeping tax overhaul.

The lobbyists who three decades ago swarmed 1100 Longworth  the House Ways and Means panel room where lawmakers last tackled a tax code rewrite  had thinned to a relative trickle. The K Street crowd chalked up their absence to new modes of communicating with lawmakers and aides.

But lobbyists also point to another big factor that could jeopardize the signature domestic push by President Trump and the GOP: Republicans are moving at such a breakneck pace that corporations with billions of dollars to gain or lose from the revamp still havent determined their fate. That leaves them without a clear plan of action to strike out against the loss of breaks they cherish or complicated new taxes on their operations  or a game plan to rally behind changes that benefit them.

Its very hard to keep up with the House process and the changes in some of the most complex provisions, said Cathy Koch, Americas tax policy leader at EY. The ground keeps shifting. Many companies are still struggling to calculate the net impact on their business, their markets, their workers, and their consumers.

The House and Senate tax measures share a focus on slashing the burden on business. But many businesses arent yet sold on the proposals, fracturing the traditional Republican coalition that has helped send major legislation over the finish line during previous high-profile fights. The lack of unity among would-be corporate allies could spell trouble for the tax effort at a time when Republicans, and Trump, are desperate for a legislative accomplishment they can tout on the campaign trail next year.

[Senate GOP plan would delay corporate tax cut, protect mortgage interest deduction]

The GOP timeline is aggressive  the Ways and Means Committee approved its bill Thursday after it was introduced a week ago and plans to vote on the proposal next week. Senators unveiled their draft this week and say they want to pass it by the end of the year.

Trouble was evident from the start as the National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Realtors declared their instant opposition to the House bill. The groups argue that the proposal removes incentives for owning a home in part by capping the write-off for mortgage interest and limiting the deduction for state and local taxes.

The NAHB is planning to fly more than 100 of its members to Washington next week to make its case. We want members of Congress to look their friends in the eyes and tell them why they cant support housing and homeownership, NAHB President Jerry Howard said.

[Republicans, desperate for a win, aleady face setbacks as they unveil their proposal]

But the GOP scored a coup when the National Federation of Independent Business, the potent small-business lobby that initially lined up against the House bill, decided to back the version that emerged from the Ways and Means Committee on Thursday.

Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) tweaked the treatment of businesses that file on the individual side of the code to make more small firms eligible for a lower rate. We are very grateful to Chairman Brady for listening to our concerns and working with NFIB to ensure that tax reform benefits the greatest possible number of American small business owners, NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan said in a statement.

Other big-business behemoths including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers are backing the rewrite, despite some reservations.

We never said the bill was perfect and couldnt be improved, Neil Bradley, the chambers chief policy officer, said. But because it meets our threshold principles and is pro-growth, weve been very supportive. This is an all-hands-on-deck push.

The headlong rush to passage has sidelined, for now, much of what would otherwise be  and may yet become  the bills corporate cheering section. Youve got Republican majorities in Congress and a Republican president that all came together on a framework to reform the tax code, and nobody wants to be against that, said one lobbyist who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid assessment. The problem is the process has really backed everybody into a corner.

Lobbyists close to the process also note a striking lack of coordination with the administration, which under Republican control has typically played a more assertive role in rallying business community support for key initiatives. The office of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) has instead stepped in, conducting briefings before major steps in the rollout of the plan and hosting an 8:45 a.m. daily conference call with representatives from allied conservative groups and business lobbyists.

For his part, Bradley said he doesnt have a ton of sympathy for those who complain about the speed. Weve been waiting on this for 31 years. . . . This is game time, and youve got to step it up.

The chamber also has said that it intends to use its considerable political muscle to reward or punish individual Republican lawmakers based on how they line up. This is pretty much a litmus test for whether or not when you have the opportunity you can deliver on pro-growth policy. . . . Failure is not an option, and well hold people accountable.

[Lobbying battle begins over GOP tax bill]

The House and Senate bills approach the $1.5 trillion limit for adding to the deficit over the next decade, a red line they cant blow through without breaking Senate budget rules allowing the upper chamber to approve the measure without Democratic support. That equals the cost alone of slashing the corporate rate from 35 to 20 percent  which both versions, do, though the Senate plan saves $100 billion by delaying the cut for a year  meaning tax writers have had to scour the code for new sources of revenue to pay for the rest of their wish-list of cuts for other businesses and individuals.

The hunt for that money has led lawmakers into uncharted territory. The original House Republican bill included a new excise tax on payments between certain subsidiaries of multinational corporations. It raised an estimated $154.5 billion, and GOP tax writers said it would discourage globe-spanning companies from sending their U.S. profits abroad.

But an array of U.S. and foreign-based companies with extensive U.S. operations cried foul, arguing that the move would discourage investment here  and probably violate international tax treaties to boot.

Republicans on the tax-writing panel tweaked the provision twice over the course of the week.

But not enough to satisfy many stakeholders, who still remain opposed to the bill. The way the amendment was written still violates tax treaties and reaches into global profits that other jurisdictions feel is their prerogative, said Nancy McLernon, who heads the Organization for International Investment, which represents firms headquartered abroad with major U.S. footprints, including Anheuser-Busch, GlaxoSmithKline, Siemens and Unilever.

The process, McLernon said, is moving way too quickly.

Other industry groups are publicly holding their fire. Many applaud the chopped corporate rate while laboring behind the scenes to preserve favored deductions. Consumer bankers, for example, are protesting the elimination of certain write-offs, including for premiums that banks pay to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and life insurers are working to defeat a move to raise taxes on their reserves.

In a characteristic statement Thursday, American Council of Life Insurers President and CEO Dirk Kempthorne thanked Republican leaders for committing to address unintended consequences for the life insurance industry and its policyholders and said his group would continue to work with them.

Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
Senate candidate Roy Moore tried to rally support behind his embattled campaign Saturday as some prominent Republicans disowned him over allegations that he pursued sexual or romantic relationships with teenage girls when he was in his 30s.

In his first public appearance since The Washington Post reported the allegations, Moore called the claims "a desperate attempt to stop my campaign" and cast doubt on the intentions of his accusers, one of whom said she was 14 when the former Alabama judge initiated a sexual encounter.

These allegations came only four-and-a-half weeks before the election, Moore told about 100 supporters at a Veterans Day breakfast here.

Thats not a coincidence. Its an intentional act to stop a campaign. . . . We do not intend to let the Democrats or the establishment Republicans or anybody else behind this story stop this campaign, he said.

Moores effort to frame the allegations as a political conspiracy perpetrated by the media and his political enemies came as national Republicans withdrew financial support for his campaign and called for him to bow out before the Dec. 12 special election.

Republican voters at the event in Alabama were defiant in their support for Moore.

From what Ive read, it seems like this 14-year-old girl who is now 50-something has a somewhat checkered past, Johnny Creel, 56, an insurance broker wearing a Make America Great Again hat, said outside the event.

You have to judge a story like that on the credibility of the accuser. . . . I dont think it happened.

Willie A. Casey, one of the few African Americans at the event, said the story is the hottest thing going in Birmingham, especially in the black community. But he said the allegations have not changed his position.

I believe in [Moores] biblical principles, said Casey, 70, comparing the United States to Sodom and Gomorrah. I think in America, weve gone so far out of the Bible, someone needs to bring it back.

Leigh Corfman, who described a sexual encounter with Moore when she was 14, told The Post she thought about confronting Moore for years but feared her personal history  three divorces and a messy financial background  could hurt her credibility. She also worried how it would affect her children, she said.

Moore, who won his Senate nomination while touting his belief in the supremacy of a Christian God over the Constitution, said he expects "the citizens of Alabama to see through this charade."

The 70-year-old is running against Democrat Doug Jones to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but the claims have raised questions about his viability in the race and how the Republican Party should respond.

President Trump, who has been on a 12-day tour of Asia, told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One that he hasnt been able to devote very much time to follow the report about Moore.

Honestly, Id have to look at it and Id have to see. Because, again, Im dealing with the president of China, the president of Russia, Im dealing with the folks over here, he said when asked to comment on the accusations.

On Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed the positions of Vice President Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that if the allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.

Conservative Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Steve Daines (Mont.) have rescinded their endorsements of Moore. They were joined Saturday by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who wrote on Twitter, Based on the allegations against Roy Moore, his response and what is known, I withdraw support.

And on Saturday, two more Republicans, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), disparaged him.

Some Republicans have hoped that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) would postpone the election, but her staff told local media outlets Saturday that the election will go on as scheduled next month.

These allegations are deeply disturbing, Ivey said in a statement. I will hold judgment until we know the facts. The people of Alabama deserve to know the truth and will make their own decisions.

Ivey, who does not endorse candidates, indicated Wednesday that she would vote for Moore. An inquiry about her current position was not immediately returned.

Under state law, Moores name cannot be removed from the ballot this close to the election, but the state GOP can petition to disqualify him and he can still withdraw from the race. If Moore is disqualified or withdraws, votes for him would not be counted.

Republicans such as Sen. Luther Strange (R) and Rep. Mo Brooks (R)  who both ran against Moore in the primary  could also mount their own write-in campaigns. But given the apparent strength of Moores base, national Republicans are skeptical that a write-in candidate could win.

Some Republican women who attended the event Saturday said further allegations against Moore could change their feelings about him. But as a whole, they continue to back the judge, they said.

Ann Eubank, who leads a conservative group called Alabama Legislative Watchdogs, said The Post was part of a political conspiracy against Moore.

Yall chose the month before to bring a hit piece thinking you could influence how Alabamians vote. And thats what makes Alabamians mad. Dont come down here and tell us how to vote, she said.

Moore arrived at the event Saturday morning with his wife, Kayla, amid boos from about a dozen protesters. He declined to answer questions as he walked inside and as he left.

I was horrified, Lisa Wienhold, 56, who held a sign that read No Moore, said of the allegations. I never liked Roy Moore that much, but when I heard about that, I was beyond horrified. . . . There are a lot of smart people who have been on the other side for whom maybe this will be the final straw.



A protester speaks to reporters after Moore delivered remarks before the Mid-Alabama Republican Club. (Cameron Carnes/For The Washington Post)

Im not surprised, said Lisa Sharlach, 49, holding a sign that read Grabby Old Pervert. Its usually the people who are screaming God and Jesus that are the ones with skeletons in the closet.



Moore supporter Willie Casey before Moore spoke at a Veterans Day breakfast event. (Cameron Carnes/For The Washington Post)

Moore spoke Saturday after addressing the charges of sexual misconduct in a radio interview with Sean Hannity on Friday.

"These allegations are completely false and misleading," he told Hannity. He specifically denied The Post's report that he had a sexual encounter with Corfman in 1979. However, in the interview Friday, Moore did not rule out that he may have dated girls in their late teens when he was in his 30s.

Moores campaign faces a steeper climb financially after the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Friday pulled out of a joint fundraising committee with him. Deprived of a key source of campaign funding, Moore has sought to capitalize on the controversy in fundraising appeals to supporters.

The Obama-Clinton Machines liberal media lapdogs just launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks against me Ive EVER faced, he wrote in a mass email sent by the campaign under his wifes name on Saturday morning.

Rest assured I will NEVER GIVE UP the fight! he wrote.

Moore's backers showed no signs of abandoning him Saturday.

Im here to give him a check for $1,000, Creel said outside the library. I may even double-down on the judge.

Hamburger reported from Washington. Michael Scherer in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
Roy Moores refusal to bow out of Alabamas special election for a Senate seat is the latest demonstration of the diminished power of congressional leaders and other once-powerful institutions in Washington.

The Republican nominee, accused of sexual contact with a 14-year-old when he was a

32-year-old local prosecutor, brushed off calls for him to stand down as part of plot by establishment figures to "undermine this campaign" before the Dec. 12 ballot. Moore ignored the severing of financial ties by the National Republican Senatorial Committee for similar reasons.

He summed up todays environment in a fundraising pitch to supporters Friday morning: I will NEVER GIVE UP the fight!

Moore is right  it might be entirely up to him when or if he will ever give up the fight. The tools available to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Washington figures to drive Moore out of the race either no longer exist or have been rendered impotent by the rise of a new political structure. From the media to big corporations to Congress, public distrust has grown across the board and made it easier for outlier figures such as Moore to thumb their nose at the purported leaders.

Its a distrust of institutions, all institutions, said Josh Holmes, a senior political adviser to McConnell. Theres just no deference at all in politics today.

That change has occurred rapidly. In 2002, then-Vice President Richard B. Cheney called Republican Tim Pawlenty on his way to announce his bid for the Senate and informed him that Norm Coleman would be the GOP Senate nominee. Pawlenty, Cheney told him, was running for governor, a message he relayed to his surprised supporters a few minutes later at his kickoff announcement.

The Minnesotans followed Cheneys orders, winning both races that year.

On Thursday evening, after The Washington Posts article on the accusation against Moore published, Vice President Pences spokeswoman called the accusations disturbing and said, if true, would disqualify anyone from serving in office. The next day, on Sean Hannitys radio show, Moore gave a long, sometimes contradictory explanation of the allegations, fully denying the accusation of sexual contact with the 14-year-old but leaving open the possibility that he had dated other teenagers.

[Senate candidate Roy Moore does not rule out that he may have dated teen girls when he was in his 30s]

Its one thing to dismiss McConnell. Like every congressional leader of this era, he is very unpopular. Just 25 percent of Americans approve of his job performance, while 50 percent disapprove, according to a Post-ABC News poll released last week.

Among Republicans, McConnells support is lukewarm at best. Less than 40 percent of somewhat conservative and very conservative Republicans approve of McConnells tenure.

In such a conservative state as Alabama, its no wonder Moore feels as though he can dismiss the Senate leader. Yet Pence and his boss, President Trump, both remain very popular in Alabama, with public polls showing the presidents job performance liked by about 60 percent of voters.

If those two lean harder into trying to push Moore out, it might have more of an effect.

Then again, ask Roland Burris about his defiance of an incoming president and congressional leadership. The Chicago Democrat was appointed to fill the vacant Senate seat of then-President-elect Barack Obama in January 2009, but that appointment came from the indicted governor, Rod Blagojevich, who was accused, and later convicted, of trying to sell the appointment to whoever raised him the most campaign funds.

At first, Obama joined with Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), then the Senate majority leader, and other leading Democrats to block Burriss appointment. Burris refused to give up, holding news conferences outside the Capitol and traveling to Springfield, Ill., to plead his case to leading state Democrats.

After several days, and a ruling from the state Supreme Court, Reid gave in and allowed Burris to take his seat in the Senate.

Heres an example from the following year: After then-Sen. Arlen Specter switched parties, Obama, Vice President Biden, Reid and others tried to clear a path for him in the Democratic primary. But Joe Sestak refused and defeated Specter later that spring.

It was very different just four years earlier. Then during the 2006 midterm elections, Senate Democrats successfully shoved aside a liberal firebrand in Ohio in favor of Sherrod Brown, an experienced House member at the time who went on to easily win that Senate race.

It used to be impossible to work outside the party, said Holmes, whose first campaign was working on the Cheney-mandated Coleman race for the Senate.

The Moore case is obviously different, given the nature of allegations against him, so it probably more closely resembles the Republican establishments inability to try to force Todd Akin to relinquish his Senate nomination in August 2012.

In a local TV interview, Akin had suggested that a woman could not get pregnant during a legitimate rape to explain his antiabortion views in all circumstances. It was factually wrong and politically fatal, driving female voters away from Akin in what should have been an easy win for Republicans against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in a year that a GOP presidential nominee won the state by 10 percentage points.

McConnell rallied the opposition to Akin, including Mitt Romney, but the congressman refused to yield. He lost to McCaskill in a landslide.

One cause of this diminished clout is the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, allowing for the flourishing of unlimited donations to super PACs and other dark money entities that can fund renegade campaigns outside traditional avenues.

Stephen K. Bannon, the former Trump strategist, is trying to use his Breitbart News media platform as a central hub of anti-establishment groups both to provide financial support for candidates such as Moore and to amplify their message to their supporters.

Rather than back away from Moore, Bannon has instead falsely accused The Post of working with the former judges opponents to plant the story. He wants Alabama voters to rally around Moore as a way to offend McConnell.

Ultimately, Moore may be guided out of the race, but it will not be from any pressure applied by McConnell. More likely, it would have to come from close friends in Alabama  and would probably happen only if new polling showed a collapse in support in a race in which he previously had a clear edge.

In 2012, Akin caused a contagion effect in other Senate races. Another Republican gave a bad answer to a rape-related abortion question and lost, while other candidates in close races kept getting peppered with questions about Akins views.

As The Posts Michael Scherer and David Weigel reported Friday, GOP advisers fear that will happen again if Moore doesnt stand down and allow a different Republican to run as a write-in instead.

Im prepping my candidate for what he is going to say if he is asked, said one GOP campaign manager for a top 2018 race, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to not draw attention to the race.

Moore, Holmes said, doesnt seem to care if he takes the entire Republican Party down with him in the process.

Read more from Paul Kane's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Troops salute the casket of U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson at his burial service in Hollywood, Fla., on Oct. 21. Sgt. Johnson and three other American soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger on Oct. 4. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The body of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist militants in Niger last month, was found with his arms tied and a gaping wound at the back of his head, according to two villagers, suggesting that he may have been captured and then executed.

Adamou Boubacar, a 23-year-old farmer and trader, said some children tending cattle found the remains of the soldier Oct. 6, two days after the attack outside the remote Niger village of Tongo Tongo, which also left five Nigerien soldiers dead. The children notified him.

When Boubacar went to the location, a bushy area roughly a mile from the ambush site, he saw Johnson's body lying face down, he said. The back of his head had been smashed by something, possibly a bullet, said Boubacar. The soldier's wrists were bound with rope, he said, raising the possibility that the militants  whom the Pentagon suspects were affiliated with the Islamic State  seized Johnson during the firefight and held him captive.

The villagers' accounts come as the Niger operation is under intense scrutiny in the United States, with lawmakers expressing concern that they have received insufficient or conflicting information about what happened. The Pentagon is conducting an investigation into the attack in Niger, where the U.S. military is helping the Nigerien government confront a threat by militants associated with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

Boubacar, a resident of Tongo Tongo, said in a phone interview that he informed the villages chief after seeing Johnsons body. His two arms were tied behind his back, he said. The chief called Nigerien military forces, who dispatched troops to retrieve Johnsons remains.

[Hours before death in Niger, U.S. soldiers were targeting militants in Mali]

The village chief of Tongo Tongo, Mounkaila Alassane, confirmed the account in a separate phone interview.

The back of his head was a mess, as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer, recalled Alassane, who said he also saw the body. They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks.

A U.S. military official with knowledge of the investigation into the ambush acknowledged that Johnsons body appeared viciously battered but cautioned against reaching any conclusions until the probe is completed.

When the Americans received Johnson, his hands were not tied, said the U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

The two Tongo Tongo villagers said they also saw the bodies of the three other American soldiers  Staff Sgts. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson and Dustin Wright  who U.S. officials say were killed in action. One was slumped inside the teams pickup truck, they said. The bodies of the other two were on the ground, one clutching a walkie-talkie, they said.

They were wearing T-shirts and boxer shorts, the two men said. It was unclear whether the militants had stripped off their uniforms.

The accounts could help explain why it to took two days to find Johnsons body, while the other mens remains were retrieved several hours after the battle. Johnsons widow has said that the U.S. military advised her not to view his corpse, a suggestion often made when remains are badly disfigured.

The widow, Myeshia Johnson, has emerged as a prominent figure in the uproar over the Niger attack, accusing President Trump of acting cavalierly about her husband in a condolence call, a charge the White House has denied. She also has complained of receiving little information about what happened to her spouse.

[Deaths of four U.S. soldiers in Niger hint at the shadow war against ISIS in Africa]

Overnight mission

FBI and U.S. military investigators have arrived in this impoverished West African nation to try to determine what happened in the Oct. 4 assault on an 11-member Army Special Forces team and 30 Nigerien troops. Among the questions they are addressing: Were there intelligence lapses? Did the unit have adequate equipment? Was the extremist threat properly assessed before the mission?

The case has received enormous attention in the United States because of conflicting accounts over whether the soldiers were on a low-risk patrol or had changed plans and set out in pursuit of Islamist insurgents. Questions also have been raised about why the team was lightly armed, given the danger in the area.

The Pentagon has said the soldiers were on a routine reconnaissance mission. Under U.S. military rules, American troops in Niger are not supposed to go on combat missions in the country, but they can advise and assist on missions with local forces where the chance of enemy contact is low.

A senior Nigerien security official said in an interview that the military unit made a critical error by deciding to spend the night along the volatile Mali-Niger border. That allowed the militants to surveil the unit and plan the ambush that occurred the following morning outside Tongo Tongo as the team was heading back to their base, he said.

In fact, the official said, the team was initially on a one-day mission.

The schedule they did was to come back the first day, but they did not, Mohamed Bazoum, Nigers interior minister, said in the interview. They stayed there. And because they stayed there for all the night, the jihadists were able to target them and follow them.

In an Oct. 23 briefing with journalists, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the unit stayed away from its base overnight between Oct. 3 and 4. But he said, "I think a probably more accurate description than 'stayed overnight' was they caught a couple of hours of sleep after the 3rd and before they completed their mission on the 4th."

He noted that previous joint patrols in the region had occurred without fatalities. There are roughly 800 U.S. troops in Niger, about a third of whom are Special Forces who take part in the advise and assist missions.

Are they taking risks? said Dunford. They are. Are they taking risks that are unreasonable or not within their capabilities? I dont have any reason to believe that.

Col. Mark Cheadle, the top spokesman for the U.S. militarys Africa Command, said overnight stays by U.S. soldiers advising local forces in Niger were mission-dependent. He declined to respond to the interior ministers charge or the villagers recollections of Johnsons remains, deferring to senior U.S. military officials who have said answers would be provided after a thorough investigation.

Bazoum oversees Nigers internal security and works closely with both the Nigerien military and U.S. and other Western forces in the country. Normally, he said, such joint reconnaissance missions along the Niger-Mali border do not stretch over two days. Some news accounts, citing U.S. officials, have reported at least 29 joint missions in the past six months along the border.

When asked how many of those missions lasted two days, Cheadle said in an email that he could not provide a breakdown for security reasons, but what I can say is that U.S. forces are prepared for overnight stays should the mission require it.

[Who were the four U.S. soldiers killed in Niger?]

Failure of intelligence

The U.S. military official with knowledge of the ambush investigation said that it increasingly appears that the soldiers mission did change after they left their base in the capital, Niamey. The unit, the official said, apparently was rerouted to help another military team target a top Islamic State militant named Dadou, who was code-named Naylor Road by the U.S. military. But bad weather prevented the commandos from reaching the area. The unit continued to search for the militant and his fighters and eventually spent the night on the border, he said.

It was not clear why a team mostly armed with rifles was ordered to assist an operation to nab a dangerous extremist.

Nigers defense minister and Sgt. Abdou Kane, a Nigerien soldier who survived the ambush, told The Washington Post last week that the mission was not purely to gather information but also to capture or kill enemy combatants inside Mali.

The U.S. official said the unit was never inside Mali but was operating along the border, essentially a line in the sand.

Bazoum, the interior minister, said the teams miscalculations also included lingering too long in Tongo Tongo on the way back to base. The unit had stopped to replenish its water supplies on the morning of Oct. 4, and the U.S. soldiers spent time discussing medical care for the village kids, according to Kane and Alassane, the Tongo Tongo chief. The Nigerien soldiers cooked and ate breakfast.

It was very easy for the jihadists to mobilize themselves and have a number of fighters more than the number that composed the mission, Bazoum said.

There was a big failure of intelligence by both the Nigeriens and the Americans, he added. The Americans are supposed to have more means, more information than us. But it is our country. Our intelligence service should know that this area was not so safe. They could have told them to hurry up, to not spend time staying in Tongo Tongo.

Around 11:40 a.m. on Oct. 4, the team was ambushed outside the village by more than 50 militants with heavy weapons, according to Kane and Nigerien and U.S. officials. The soldiers began to run out of ammunition, said Bazoum.

Air support from French Puma helicopters and French jets took an hour or longer to arrive. When it did, the militants fled, said witnesses.

It was not clear exactly how Johnsons body wound up in the field a mile away. Dunford has said Johnson became separated from his colleagues.

The day after Johnsons remains were found, Alassane was arrested on charges of aiding the militants. He was released recently, said Bazoum, because of lack of evidence.

Dan Lamothe in Washington contributed to this report.

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Bao Tong, the most senior Communist Party official to be jailed for sympathizing with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, at his apartment in Beijing. (Simon Denyer/The Washington Post)

Twice Bao Tong rose within the Chinese Communist Party's hierarchy, and twice he was dramatically cut down. He has endured long spells in jail and "re-education" for failing to fall into line behind the hard-liners holding power.

So it is perhaps no surprise that this 85-year-old views the Chinese presidents latest attempt to impose his dogma on the entire nation  under the banner of Xi Jinping Thought  with a considerable degree of skepticism.

In Chinas history of more than 3,000 years, there were other leaders who tried to use their own thoughts to regulate the thoughts of others, he said in an interview in his modest Beijing apartment. But none were successful. There were only failed attempts.

Bao was the most senior Communist Party official to be incarcerated for sympathizing with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, thrown into jail May 28, a week before a military crackdown that left hundreds if not thousands dead.

He was to remain in solitary confinement for seven years, and even today lives under constant surveillance, he said, with three agents following him on foot and others in a car whenever he leaves his home. Yet he still manages an occasional interview with the foreign media, his manner affable, his opinions trenchant, and with a cigarette never far from his lips.

In the late 1980s, Bao had worked as a top aide to Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, helping push China in a more liberal, reformist direction  until the June 4 crackdown ended that dream. Zhao was demoted, purged and placed under house arrest for expressing sympathy for the students demands and opposing Deng Xiaopings decision to send in the troops.

Bao was thrown into Beijings maximum security Qincheng Prison, a destination for many of the nations most important political prisoners.

Today, a photograph of Zhao sits proudly on a shelf in his apartment, and he talks affectionately of a man who treated everyone as equals and wanted to turn over decision-making power from the party to the people.

There is no such affection in his comments about President Xi, whom he describes as a hard-liner and a throwback to Mao Zedong.

Last month, the Communist Party enshrined Xi's name in its constitution as it granted him five more years in power: Xi Jinping Thought now sits alongside Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory in the party's ideological canon.

It is called Xi Jinping Thought, the new thought, but they are just old ideas, not new ideas, said Bao. Ideas like the party leads everything  they are exact quotes from Mao Zedong. Why call them new ideas?

Bao knows only too well the madness that can be unleashed when one man rises to absolute power over the Chinese people, and when officials are too scared to tell him when he is wrong.

The mistakes Mao made were all huge, he said. Mao didnt recognize his mistake when the Great Leap Forward led to a famine that caused millions of deaths; he didnt recognize his mistake in the Cultural Revolution in which tens of millions were purged.

In 1966, only days after the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Bao, who was working as a bureaucrat, was denounced as a capitalist roader.

Barred from his office, he spent a year cleaning toilets, another year doing hard labor in a re-education camp and the better part of a decade working the fields of rural China. He was only rehabilitated, like millions of others, after Maos death in 1976.

There was only one slogan at that time  Down with anyone who opposes Chairman Mao,  he said. But in the end Mao failed, too. He failed so badly his wife was labeled a counterrevolutionary, and so he himself became part of a counterrevolutionary family.

Maos widow Jiang Qing was arrested after his death for her role in the Cultural Revolution and sentenced to life imprisonment, finally committing suicide in 1991.

Bao also draws lessons from much further back in his nations history to warn of the dangers of unchecked power, starting with King Li of the Zhou dynasty, who ruled in the 9th century B.C. The General History of China, an 18th-century text by French Jesuit historian Jean-Baptiste Du Halde, describes Li as proud, conceited and cruel.

Indeed, so conscious was he of how much he was hated, he supposedly forbade his subjects on pain of death to converse together, or even whisper to one another, Du Halde wrote, so that people could be seen walking the streets with downcast eyes, in mournful silence.

Eventually, peasants and soldiers rose up against Li, and he died in exile.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang is remembered as the first ruler of a united China in the 3rd century B.C., and for his mausoleum guarded by the Terracotta Army, but he also allegedly banned and burned books, and executed scholars.

The Hongwu Emperor, who established the Ming dynasty in the 14th century, expected total obedience from his subjects, inflicting torture and death on those who opposed him, including, it is said, some of his own advisers.

But in the end, Bao said, these rulers dynasties foundered and were overthrown.

If you want to imitate Chairman Mao, thats okay, but the problem is whether you will succeed, Bao said, referring to Xi. I cant say whether his attempt will succeed or not. Only time will tell.

Bao blames Deng for ending the dream of political change in China, and for instigating an era of corruption and growing economic inequality that broke Chinese society.

But he has no faith in Xis anti-corruption campaign, which the government says has led to some form of punishment for more than a million officials.

Its a selective anti-corruption campaign. Its nature is the selective protection of corruption, he said. When you purge some corrupt officials, you are protecting the others. You protect the corrupt system, and you protect corrupt people who support you.

Bao was one of the first signatories of Charter 08, a manifesto for democratic changes issued in late 2008. The only way to fight corruption properly, he says, is for independent supervision of the effort.

Power tends to corrupt, he said, quoting Britains Lord Acton, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Luna Lin contributed to this report.

Read more:

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Pakistani Muslims shout slogans on the outskirts of Islamabad on March 1, as they gather outside the tomb of Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in February 2016 for the murder of a governor who criticized Pakistan's blasphemy law. (AAMIR QURESHI/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

Thousands of religious protesters converged on the capital Saturday in a growing confrontation with the Pakistani government over official attempts to amend a law that requires all political candidates to affirm their belief that Muhammad, who lived in the 7th century, was Islam's final prophet. More than 95 percent of Pakistanis are Muslim.

The demonstrators were stopped by security forces and shipping containers placed across major roads, halting most traffic in the capital region for much of the day and preventing office workers, students and other commuters from traveling between Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi. They remained there as night fell and vowed to stay indefinitely.

The crusade to defend the honor of the prophet is being led by a fringe Muslim group called the Movement in Service of the Messenger of God. It is widely seen as an attempt to arouse public antipathy to Ahmadis, a small religious minority in Pakistan whose followers claim to be Muslim but who also follow a 19th-century prophet. Ahmadis were declared non-Muslim in 1974.

[Pakistani protesters see a dark conspiracy afoot in a clerical error about the Muslim prophet]

The emotional protests, which began two weeks ago and have grown since, are also viewed as a direct challenge to the authority of the federal government, which has been weakened since former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court. The Messenger of God movement, once seen as a purely religious fringe group, has begun running candidates for parliament in the past two months.

The protest leaders have demanded that the federal law minister be fired, charging that he was behind an effort to weaken the electoral law affirming the prophets finality. They declared Saturday that they will not leave their protest site at the main entrance to the capital until the minister is punished. Pakistani media reports said they also threatened to attack the homes of some government officials.

The government has made no public statements about the protesters or their demands in the past several days, but officials apologized last week about what they called a clerical error in the electoral law amendment process and restored the original oath that all candidates must take affirming the prophets finality.

We are not afraid of prison. We are ready to die for our prophet, Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, leader of the Messenger of God group, declared to a large, emotionally charged crowd from atop a shipping container. We are here to stay until our demands are accepted, and our first demand is that the law minister be [fired].

Rizvi asserted that the legislative change was an attempt to "create chaos" among the Muslim faithful. "The government must reveal who did this conspiracy against our religion . . . who was behind the law minister and who wanted to please the Ahmadis," he said. No serious violence was reported, but rallies were also held in Karachi and Lahore, and some arrests were made.

Some analysts and political figures have asserted that the deep state, a euphemism for the powerful security establishment and its allies in the government bureaucracy, is encouraging the protesters to besiege the capital in a simmering coup against the government headed by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was picked by Sharif to run the country until elections next year.

There have been similar assertions that such forces were supporting the recent political candidacies of figures from the Messenger of God movement and another radical religious group. Sharif was overthrown previously by the army in 1999, but current military leaders have repeatedly asserted that they represent no threat to democracy.

The Messenger of God movement was formed in 2015 to defend the countrys harsh blasphemy laws, and it built a following around the case of Mumtaz Qadri, a man who assassinated a provincial governor for raising questions about a blasphemy case. The group reveres Qadri, who was hanged last year, as a hero and a martyr to Islam.

Constable reported from Kabul.

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The hospital is gone. So are most of the houses, with more being knocked down daily. Not even the bodies remain in the tree-shaded cemetery, where centuries-old bones were recently dug up and moved.

There is far more digging to come  enough to extinguish any trace that Immerath, a once-quaint farming village in the fertile western Germany countryside, ever existed. Because beneath the rich soil lies a substance even more valuable: coal.





The demolition of Immerath  making way for the expansion of megamines that will produce billions of tons of carbon emissions in the coming decades and leave a deep gash where villages dating to Roman times once stood  represents the dark underside of Germanys efforts to address climate change.

The growth of German coal mines at a time when the fuel is being rapidly phased out elsewhere also shows how difficult it can be for countries, even ones that aggressively commit to cleaner technologies, to actually make the switch.

For Germany, the gap between its bright-green rhetoric and coal-smudged reality has never been more vivid.

In the former West German capital of Bonn, the country is hosting a U.N. climate conference this month that is seen as critical to global efforts to fulfill pledges made two years ago in Paris. To slow the climate's potentially catastrophic warming, experts say the governments represented in Bonn will need to accelerate their embrace of renewable energy.

But just an hours drive away is Immerath, which in its dying days has become an emblem of Germanys struggle to break its heavy addiction to brown coal, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels.

Theres no bigger impact on the environment than brown coal mining, and were the world champion, said Dirk Jansen, a leader of the local chapter of Friends of the Earth in Germanys coal heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia. If we want to stop climate change, we have to start here.

The ingredients for that start would seem to exist. Germany is led by Angela Merkel, who is known as the Climate Chancellor for her global leadership on the issue even as the Trump-led United States has abandoned it.

After fall elections, Merkel's conservatives are now negotiating to govern in a coalition with the Greens party, which has long advocated an end to German coal.

Opinion surveys show wide majorities of the German public favor getting out of the coal business, and the government has already committed to largely decarbonizing the economy by the middle of the century, with renewables filling the void.

But Germany is also on course to badly miss its emission-reduction targets for 2020. Leading politicians  Merkel included  have staunchly resisted taking steps that activists say could help the country get back on track, including quickly shutting down the dirtiest coal-fired plants and setting a firm deadline for phasing out coal altogether.

The reasons are varied, but they all come down to this: Germanys ambitious vision for energiewende, or energy transformation, has proved far more difficult to execute than it was to plan.

Its not just a technical shift. Its a societal shift, said Rebecca Bertram, an energy expert with the Greens party-aligned Heinrich Boll Foundation. There are so many vested interests in keeping the old structures, and people will cling to them as long as they can.

The Greens are pushing Merkel to agree in coalition talks to an end for German coal by 2030. Its a deadline, party co-chair Simone Peter said, that would show Europe, but also the rest of the world, that industrial countries are taking responsibility. We cant leave that up to developing countries. We have to show that we have better technologies than coal.

But Bertram said that, given the politics involved, 2030 is looking unlikely. It would be more realistic to think about 2040 or 2045, she said.

Pushing the coal phaseout back that far could doom German chances of hitting its ambitious emission-reduction targets not only in 2020 but far beyond. Environmental advocates say it would also mean potentially irreversible damage to the planet at a time when governments such as Germanys need to be moving faster to pivot to cleaner sources of energy.

But the Greens likely coalition partners insist that the country has little choice than to keep burning coal  at least for the immediate future.

Germany is already getting out of the nuclear energy business. Following Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster, Merkel decided to close all nuclear plants by 2022.

Simultaneously leaving behind coal, say critics of a quick exit, would leave the country without the necessary resources to ensure it has the energy it needs.

We dont want to exit coal energy nationally only to import coal or nuclear-energy from other countries, said Hermann Otto Solms, point person for the pro-business Free Democrats, the party that is likely to join the Greens and Merkels conservatives in the next German government.

Renewables are the future, Solms said. But the country needs to build the networks needed to transport that power.

Right now, much of German renewable capacity is in the north, along the gusty Baltic Sea coast, while Germanys energy-intensive industries are concentrated in the south.

If we push renewables, we have to create the infrastructure, Solms said.

Meanwhile, brown coal is plentiful and cheap.

Germany already plans to get out of hard coal, with the last underground mines closing next year. But brown coal, also known as lignite, is another story.

Mined in giant open pits, it is easier to access but lower quality  and, therefore, dirtier to burn  than hard coal. And in parts of western Germany known as the Rhineland, its ubiquitous  the leftover remains of 25-million-year-old swampland.

You dont have to dig far to find it, and given the low price of carbon under Europes emissions trading system, there is little financial cost to burning it.

Theres no real economic incentive to phase out coal, said Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. To stimulate clean innovation, we need a minimum price for CO2.

Also working in coals favor is that the industry employs about 20,000 people, and the energy companies lobby hard to keep German politicians from disrupting their business.

This is a region where just about everyone depends on the brown coal industry in some way or another, said Norbert Mattern, a 50-year-old who has been working for the mines since he was an apprentice in high school.

Mattern said he has been listening to politicians talk about shutting down the coal business for years. But, he says, he will probably retire long before that ever happens.

The mining companies, too, see a reasonably long-term future in coal. Rather than scale back as the world turns toward cleaner fuels, they are forging ahead in Germany with ambitious expansion plans.

Among them is the one that will wipe Immerath from the map.

Or, at least, the old Immerath. The owner of the areas mines, an energy colossus known as RWE, is constructing a new version of the village seven miles up the road.

But the two bear little resemblance to one other. The new one is tidy and austere, with suburban-style housing and a central plaza anchored by a squat, beige, nearly windowless chapel.

It hovers above a sculpted replica of the old Immeraths soaring, double-spired 19th-century church. The miniature sculpture is a memorial to a building that isnt gone yet, but will be within weeks.

The rest of the old village will soon follow. Immerath, once home to 1,200 people, is now down to seven families who live in a place that shrinks a little more each day, with streets turning into dead ends and houses falling to demolition crews.



Christiane Portz, a 61-year-old potato farmer whose husbands family has owned land in the village for centuries, is among those being forced to move. (Griff Witte/The Washington Post)

Christiane Portz and her family are among the last to leave.

Her husbands ancestors have owned property in the village for centuries, and the family farms potatoes there to this day. But the land that they cultivated so faithfully will soon be gone, a void hundreds of feet deep in its place.

Their handsome red-brick house, where brilliant yellow-leafed vines drape gracefully down the walls this autumn, will be gone, too.

Portz, 61, is philosophical about it all, and she said she does not blame the coal company.

Wheres the energy going to come from? she asked as she stood in the homes central courtyard, her grandkids toys scattered about. Were 7 billion people in this world.

And besides, she said, their new house isnt bad. Its spacious, with plenty of land for horses to graze and potatoes to grow. It will, in some ways, be a lot like their old house, with one key difference.

The roof, she said, will be covered in solar panels.

Read more

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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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A poster depicting Saad Hariri, who has resigned as Lebanese prime minister, is seen in Beirut on Friday. (Aziz Taher/Reuters)

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday called on all parties both within Lebanon and outside to back off from actions that could threaten that countrys stability, a warning that senior administration officials said was directed at Saudi Arabia as well as at Iran and Hezbollah.

The United States cautions against any party . . . using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country, Tillerson said in a statement issued by the State Department.

The warning followed several events that have led to growing fear of a war in Lebanon  intended or not  that could engulf the region. Some U.S. and foreign officials worry that strong support for Saudi Arabia by President Trump and presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner may have helped motivate Riyadh to overplay its hand.

The United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel share concern about expanding Iranian influence in the region. Hezbollah, Irans Lebanon-based proxy, now controls significant territory in Syria, near its border with Israel, and in Lebanon. While some Israeli officials have voiced support for moving to constrain Hezbollah, others have urged caution.

Saudi allies such as Egypt have strongly opposed military action against Iran or Hezbollah. We have to deal with great care so as not to add to the challenges and troubles of the region, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi told reporters this week. I am against war.

[Saudi Arabia forcibly detained Lebanons prime minister, sources say]

Renewed conflict inside Lebanon, where a fragile peace has been maintained for nearly a decade, could endanger the Trump administrations goal of forging an Israeli-Palestinian settlement and complicate the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Steps leading to the current crisis began last Saturday, when the Saudis accused Iran and Hezbollah of carrying out an act of war with a missile they said was fired at Riyadh by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.

On the same day, Saudi-backed Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who shares power with Hezbollah in an uneasy coalition government, suddenly appeared in the Saudi capital and abruptly announced his resignation from office. The announcement threw Lebanon into confusion and raised fears of war.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait ordered their citizens out of Lebanon, saying their safety was at risk.

The Saudis have suggested that Hariri was escaping a Hezbollah assassination plot.

In Lebanon, political leaders from differing factions called on Hariri to return and address his political situation from Beirut. His Future Movement political bloc says it does not recognize the resignation.

Hezbollah, which is both a militant group and a political force, has called Hariris resignation illegal because it was done from afar. Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah said Friday that the Saudis had kidnapped Hariri and asked Israel to attack Lebanon.

On Friday, France also urged Hariri to return and said he must have all his freedom of movement, becoming the first Western nation to publicly suggest Hariri is in detention.

Hezbollah has expanded its political role in the complex Lebanese coalition during Hariris 11 months in office. The prime minister had been living in exile in Saudi Arabia before his return last year to politics and the job once held by his assassinated father, Rafiq.

Saad Hariris abrupt arrival in Saudi Arabia is seen by many in Lebanon as a blunt signal from Riyadh that he had not done enough to rebuff Hezbollah and Iranian influence, and that Saudi Arabia intends to assert its influence in Lebanon against Iran.

U.S. and European diplomats have met with Hariri in Riyadh, but a senior administration official, asked if Hariri was free to leave Saudi Arabia, said, We dont know. In conversations with diplomats, the official said, there is a question mark as to his ability to speak freely.

[Saudi Arabia detains more than 200 in anti-corruption campaign]

Alongside the Hariri drama, Saudi authorities also announced the arrest last Saturday of more than 200 princes, senior officials and prominent Saudi business executives.

Cast as part of a domestic anti-corruption drive, the arrests also left Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in undisputed control of Saudi security services.That may be an attempt to consolidate power before eventually inheriting the throne.

Trump, traveling in Asia, tweeted strong support for the arrests, saying he had great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing. Since visiting Riyadh in May, the president has repeatedly praised Salman as the leader of the Arab world and a bulwark against Iranian expansion.

Trump has tasked Kushner with leading efforts to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace, a goal that has eluded U.S. administrations for decades. A major element in Kushners strategy is to gather regional Arab support  led by Saudi Arabia  that would bring the Palestinians on board for a potential settlement.

That objective, along with their positions as 30-something scions of powerful fathers, has created a bond between Kushner and Mohammed, who have met privately on a number of occasions this year.

News that Kushner had made an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia in late October, ahead of Mohammeds anti-corruption moves and Hariris resignation, gave rise to speculation in Washington and in the region that the United States knew about, and approved, subsequent Saudi actions.

A U.S. official said that if Iran and Hezbollah came up in discussions between Kushner and Mohammed, it was brief and in the context of Arab-Israeli peace, and none of these events were touched on.

Several officials described recent events as evidence that the White House, far from directing or colluding with Saudi policy, has little influence on it. Officials who discussed sensitive relations with Saudi Arabia and the situation in the Middle East spoke on the condition of anonymity.

I think all of this came as a surprise to everyone, one official said. We are deeply concerned about the effects on the stability of Lebanon. Thats why we are speaking as bluntly as we are, this official said, referring to Tillersons statement.

Kareem Fahim in Istanbul contributed to this report.
The Indian government is anxious to strengthen relations with Bangladesh to counter Chinese influence in that country. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Bangladesh on October 22 and 23 as part of this rivalry. Earlier in the month, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley toured Bangladesh.

Indias moves to undercut Beijings influence is motivated by its geo-political interests. New Delhis main concern is Dhakas close relations with China. The Bangladesh paper the New Age noted in its opinion page on October 29: New Delhi was concerned that China was getting involved in building economic infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, many of which were also strategic in nature.

At the same time, New Delhi is acting on behalf of Washington, which has been aggressively working to integrate countries in the Asia-Pacific region into its military-strategic offensive against China.

Both New Delhi and Washington are particularly unhappy about Bangladesh joining Chinas One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, which now involves 60 countries, covering 70 percent of the worlds population. The US considers Chinas OBOR as a serious challenge to its drive to assert world dominance.

On October 5, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque announced his countrys backing for the OBOR plan. Addressing a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in New Delhi itself, he said Bangladesh needed quick upgrading of our infrastructure, and our generation wants much more interaction and connectivity.

During her visit, Swaraj met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the leader of the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP).

Spelling out Bangladeshs importance to India, Swaraj said: India is following a policy of neighbours first, and among the neighbours Bangladesh is foremost. She said the relations between the two countries had gone beyond a strategic partnership.

Swaraj attended the annual India-Bangladesh joint consultative commission. After meeting with the Bangladesh foreign minister, Swaraj claimed that the two countries stood together in fighting violent extremism and terrorism at all levels.

She said: We are both determined to protect our societies from the threat of ideologies of hate, violence and terror by adopting a zero tolerance policy.

Swaraj inaugurated 15 development projects funded by India, worth about $US8.7 million. They cover education, health care, information technology, water supply and social welfare, and include 11 water treatment plants and 36 community clinics. She also gave books, computers and multimedia equipment to the Hindi and Sanskrit departments of several universities.

During the early October visit of Indian Finance Minister Jaitley, the two countries signed a $4.5 billion line of credit (LoC) agreement between the Export-Import Bank of India and the Economic Relations Division of the Bangladesh finance ministry. It will be used to fund 17 major projects in Bangladesh, including electricity, railroads, roads, shipping and ports.

The LoC was agreed during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas visit to India in April. As with two previous similar agreements, Bangladesh will pay 1 percent annual interest over a 20-year payback period, with a 5-year grace period. Bangladesh must also purchase 65 to 75 percent of the services, goods or works from India.

India is trying to compete with China in offering investment, although unsuccessfully. In October last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping stopped over in Bangladesh on his way to a BRICS summit in Goa, India. He pledged $21 billion in aid and loans for various infrastructure and development projects and secured a promise from Hasina to make Bangladesh a strategic partner of China.

While in Bangladesh, Indian External Affairs Minister Swaraj also declared that both countries would solve all irritants with sincerity, but did not specify the irritants. Sharing the waters of the two countries common rivers is a long-standing problem.

The Teesta River, which flows through the north of Indias West Bengal state before entering Bangladesh, was not even mentioned during the visit. Opposition by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has prevented the signing of an agreement so far.

The 1948 communal-based partition of India arbitrarily divided rivers between countries. Promises by various Indian leaders, including present Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to solve this issue have failed to materialise.

Despite the unresolved Teesta issue, Bangladesh is willing to develop closer relations with New Delhi. The Bangladesh government has set an annual growth target of 8 percent by 2020, from the current 6 percent. To achieve that, the government would have to diversify the countrys trade into other sectors, from its present reliance on the garment industry, which accounts for 80 percent of exports. Hence the quest for Indian investment, and also the fees Dhaka could obtain as a trading hub between East Asia and South Asia.

New Delhi is becoming more aggressive toward its regional rival China. India is integrating into Washingtons economic and military build-up against China and forging closer military-security ties with key US allies, Japan and Australia.

This years standoff between Chinese and Indian military forces in the Doklam area, at the tri-junction of the India-China-Bhutan border, has underscored Bangladeshs importance to India. China is planning to build a link road to access the Chumbi valley, which is subject of a dispute between China and the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

From the Chumbi valley, Indias Siliguri Corridorthe only land connection between Indias northeastern states and the rest of Indiawould be within the range of Chinese artillery. If China occupied the Doklam plateau in any future conflict, India would be forced to use Bangladesh as a transit for military purposes.
Last Tuesdays recall mayoral election in Flint, Michigan was marked by mass abstention of voters during the citys ongoing lead water crisis. More than 81 percent of registered voters stayed away from the polls. With 18 candidates on the ballot, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver retained her seat and will serve out the two-year balance of her term.

Weaver had the backing of the national Democratic Party, including Jesse Jackson and the corporate media. Even with that, she received only 7,709 votes, or 53 percent of the total. Longtime city council member Scott Kincaid, who was backed by local unions, including the United Auto Workers, received 32 percent of the vote.

The election was the result of a recall initiative held in the summer in which nearly 9,000 people signed petitions to oust Weaver. After challenges by election officials, Weaver and the courts, nearly 6,000 were verified, surpassing the 5,750 signatures required to get the recall on the ballot. In the end, more people signed petitions for Weavers recall than voted who for her.

Changes to make the recall of politicians more difficult were promoted by Republican Governor Rick Snyder and instituted by the state in 2012. Rather than a simple yes or no vote on the recall of the mayor, Tuesdays election allowed Weaver to run against 17 other mayoral candidates. Arthur Woodson, the initiator of the recall petition, was himself a mayoral candidate and received 2.4 percent of the vote.

The final recall language on the ballot was related to Weavers decision to hire Rizzo, a trash hauler that was connected to a federal corruption investigation. Residents who signed the petition, however, were motivated in large part by Weavers role in the water crisis. Previous petition submissions that included language linking Weaver to the ongoing water crisis were rejected by the Genesee County Board of Elections.

During the petition verification process, Weaver not only challenged the signatures, but also used her position to send police officers to the homes of several residents, demanding to know if they really signed.

The catastrophic water and health disaster began in April 2014 when the citys water source was switched to the toxic Flint River without adding corrosion controls, causing lead to leach from the citys pipes into the water pumped into homes and businesses.

Residents protests about the discolored and foul-tasting tap water, which was causing rashes, hair loss and numerous other health problems, were ignored for months. Finally, with help of researchers Marc Edwards and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, it was proven that there were high levels of lead in the water and in the blood of children in the city.

The water was switched back to the Detroit system in October 2015. But the damage had already been done after 18 months of poisoned water. During that time, Flint endured one of the largest outbreaks ever of Legionnaires disease, killing 12 people.

Both Democrats and Republicans were involved in the actions of Flint that produced the crisis and the subsequent cover-up of what happened. The decision to switch the citys water source to a project run by the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) was made by the citys emergency manager, Darnell Earley, appointed by the state and overseen by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican. It was carried out by Mayor Dayne Walling, a Democrat, and was approved by the Democratic Party-controlled city council.

Republican and Democratic officials in the state Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency conspired to cover up and deny the water crisis. After Flint, Genesee County, and the state of Michigan declared a state of emergency in the city in early in 2016, Obama refused to do so on the grounds that the disaster was manmade, committing a paltry $5 million to reliefamounting $50 per resident.

Weaver was swept into office in November 2015 by pledging to fix the water crisis. However, she has been instrumental in attacking the very residents who have fought to bring the water crisis to light.

Six Flint residents were arrested at an April 2017 town hall meeting held in a church organized by Weaver and state officials. Richard Baird, Snyders right-hand man and a financial backer of Weaver, was a moderator at the meeting. The residents, who included longtime opponents of the poisoning of the citys water and the political cover-up that followed, were handcuffed and dragged off by heavily armed police for exercising their freedom of speech.

In addition, thousands of residents have been threatened with home foreclosure for non-payment of water bills. The water rates in Flint are among the highest in the US. Most residents are still using bottled water for drinking, cooking and bathing, yet are expected to pay for water they cannot safely use.

Weaver helped to cover up the role of the Democratic Party in the Flint crisis. In March 2016, one of the presidential debates between Clinton and Sanders was held in Flint. The working class was used as a backdrop for their campaigns. Moreover, Obamas visit to Flint in May 2016 became notorious when he told Flint workers to stop complaining and drink the water.

While Weaver has presented herself as a champion of the residents of Flint, the reality is quite different. To date, Weavers Fast Start Program, which many Flint workers have renamed Slow Start, has only replaced 5,200 lead lines, and the remaining 30,000 will not be completed until 2020.

Weaver has flipflopped on which water source will be used by the city going forward. At first, she along with Snyder, supported the continuation of the KWA. Now, she, Snyder and most of the political establishment support the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). The main issue is not the health of the population, as they claim, but making sure the $7 million owed to KWA bondholders will be paid. Tuesdays election will most likely insure the 30-year GLWA agreement will be signed, and it will be the mechanism for the payback to the bondholders.

None of the candidates in the Flint mayoral elections offered a way forward for Flint workers. They all accept that the rights and interests of the workers of Flint will remain subordinate to the profit interests of the giant banks and corporations that profited off of the Flint water crisis. None have any solution to the broader social conditionsin Flint and beyondof which the water crisis is itself only one part.

The water crisis in Flintlike Hurricane Katrina, the financial crash of 2008 and the BP oil spillhas revealed the reality of American capitalist society. Everything is done to serve the interests of the corporate and financial elite, who are rewarded for their crimes with bank bailouts, deregulation and tax cuts, while workers and their families see their schools and basic services destroyed, their pensions looted and their wages and living standards decimated.

What is required is the political mobilization of the working class as an independent force to break the stranglehold of the corporate and financial aristocracy over society. The $7 million debt owed to KWA bondholders must be cancelled. The banks and multi-billion-dollar corporations must be nationalized under workers control to provide the resources to make the population of Flint whole, including the full replacement of all pipes and water infrastructure and the provision of free, high-quality health care for all.
Amid the eruption of an open confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, French President Emmanuel Macron suddenly decided on November 9, while on an official visit to Abu Dhabi, to visit Saudi Arabia for talks. In Abu Dhabi, Macron had, among other official activities, visited a military base from which French warplanes bomb targets in Iraq and Syria, in order to announce further military operations.

The reason for Macrons trip to Riyadh was the danger of a sudden outbreak of open military conflict between Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States, and Iran, allied to Russia and Syria. The two regional rivals are already fighting each other in proxy wars in Syria and Yemen. The Saudi regime has blamed Iran for alleged missile launches targeting Riyadh by Houthi rebels in Yemen and declared itself in a state of war with Lebanon, pressing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to step down and violently criticize Iran.

Speaking on these topics as well as Trumps opposition to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, Macron declared: I want to make the Saudi neighbor more sensitive to all these questions. He added, The very hardline positions expressed by Saudi Arabia on Iran  are not in conformity with my thinking.

Paris clearly fears a breakup of Lebanon, a former French colony, which it hoped to stabilize based on a new constitution. We really want unity and the territorial integrity of Lebanon to be preserved, declared French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Macron and the Saudi leadership discussed the Lebanon crisis, and Macron reiterated the importance that France places on the stability, security, sovereignty and integrity of Lebanon.

In Riyadh, Macron specifically raised the issue of the danger of US cancellation of the Iranian nuclear deal, which he instead proposed to complete with an accord to oversee Iranian ballistic missiles. He warned against decisions that could even further destabilize the region, trip it into war or trigger a crisis like the current nuclear-armed standoff in North Korea.

The actions of both Riyadh and Washington threaten to trigger an all-out general war in the Middle East that could rapidly turn into a confrontation between Washington and Moscow. Le Monde cited Nahla Chahal, the chief editor of Safir Al-Arabi, an online magazine covering the Arab world, as saying: We are on the edge of the precipice. The slightest thing could suddenly plunge the entire region into flames.

This war danger flows from the humiliating defeat that the NATO imperialist powers and their Gulf state allies are currently suffering in their bloody proxy war in Syria. Saudi Arabias plans for the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are now in ruins, faced with the intervention of Russia and of Iran via the Hezbollah militia and the Saudi regime is now trying to take its revenge in Lebanon. Its leaders have made multiple belligerent statements about these countries in recent days and called its citizens to leave these countries.

A few days before Macrons surprise visit, Saudi Arabia had apparently forcibly kept Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Riyadh. In a speech given on Saudi radio on November 4 to announce his resignation, Hariri attacked Iran for its alleged interference in the affairs of Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Hariri accused Hezbollaha Lebanese Shiite militia with close ties to Iran that supports Hariris own government and is fighting in Syria alongside Assads forcesof forming a state within the state.

Most Lebanese politicians are demanding Hariri be returned to Beirut. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said he was awaiting Hariris return to discuss with him the circumstances of his resignation to try to draw the lessons of it. Walid Jumblatt, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, declared: Now is not the time for Saad Hariri to resign; that would have serious repercussions on Lebanons economy and on Lebanon.

A source close to Hariris March 8 Coalition, which also includes Hezbollah, told the media: It is shameful that [Hariri] tendered his resignation in Riyadh, not Beirut. We are patient and reasonable, but there are limits. They accuse us of being linked to Iran, but Iran has never tried to dictate to Lebanon how it should behave.

A chief of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, said: Coexistence with Hezbollah is now impossible. For former minister and influential Maronite deputy Boutros Harb, Hariris resignation will create political tensions due to the breaking of the accord that allowed for the formation of the government at the end of 2016. He added, Now we can only work together to minimize the dangerous impact [the resignation] will have on Lebanon.

This situation is completely surrealist; its as if one were living in a political thriller, said a Lebanese businessman linked to the Hariri family.

The Saudi monarchy is doubtless encouraged by the continual support of Washington, particularly since Donald Trumps trip to visit the Middle East in May of this year and the formation of a new alliance with the United States and Israelset up to counterbalance the axis between Russia, Iran and Turkey, backed by China, which took shape during the Syrian war.

Paris, like Berlin, is hostile to the Trump administrations preparations for nuclear war against North Korea and its threats against Iran, which Trump has labeled a terrorist state. The European bourgeoisie is strongly opposed to repudiating the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord, which would signify reimposing harsh economic sanctions that would directly affect their investment, production sites, exports and profits in the country.

The intervention of Paris in the Saudi-Iranian conflict underscores the rising tensions between US and European imperialism. By traveling to Riyadh, Macron is trying not only to prevent Trump from carrying out a policy Berlin and Paris consider to be disastrous for their interests, but to prevent a situation in which Paris would be reduced to the role of a spectator in a major regional war that could spread across the entire world.

The ever more dangerous conflicts that Macron is trying to control are themselves the disastrous outcome of the policy of aggressive neocolonial war carried out by previous French governments in alliance with Washington, and in which Macron participated. Former French President Francois Hollande armed anti-Assad Islamist forces in Syria and, based on lying claims about chemical weapons attacks, led the charge for a direct war against Syria in 2013. However, that war was called off at the last minute by Washington and London, after war was voted down in the House of Commons.

The impact of the Syrian intervention was not only the destruction of Syria, the decimation of its population and the transformation of tens of millions of Syrians into impoverished refugees (to whom France refuses asylum), but to sow the seeds of a war that could destroy the entire region.
The Liberal-National Coalition government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has unconditionally backed a Papua New Guinea (PNG) government ultimatum that refugees leave the Manus Island Detention Centre today, or be attacked by heavily-armed PNG police and naval personnel.

Refugees have reported that the camp has been surrounded by police and military forces, while helicopters are flying overhead. PNG officials are dismantling shelters and destroying bins that the asylum seekers have used to collect rainwater to survive.

The entire Australian political establishment, including the Coalition government, the Labor Party opposition and the Greens, are responsible for the desperate plight of the 600 men in the detention camp.

Over the past two weeks, the Coalition has created the conditions for a potential bloodbath at the Australian-operated facility. On October 30, it moved to close the centre, after a ruling by the PNG Supreme Court last year that the camp was illegal, because it denied asylum-seekers their liberty without charge.

Australian contractors proceeded to shut-off water and electricity supplies, and PNG authorities have blocked food shipments, in a bid to starve the refugees out of the centre.

The Coalition government has demanded that the refugees move to alternative accommodation at Lorengau on Manus Island, despite those facilities being damned as unfit for human habitation by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Coalition has rejected every proposal for a resettlement of the refugees elsewhere, including the UNHCRs demands that the asylum-seekers be transported to Australia immediately.

On Thursday, PNG authorities issued a notice that the refugees had 48 hours to leave the centre. It declared that the facility, which is located in the Lombrum naval base, will be under the jurisdiction of the PNG military as of today.

The notice warned: If necessary, force may be used to relocate those who refuse to move voluntarily for your own sake. It stated: If you still remain here after demolition of the fences, you will be deemed to be unlawfully on a military base and will face eviction or arrest and prosecution.

Refugees at the centre reported that immigration authorities walked through the centre on Thursday, handing out the notice which menacingly told them, your security and safety here is not guaranteed.

PNG authorities began to demolish security fences that nominally protected the asylum seekers from attacks by armed thugs, and the military, on Thursday. The move followed the PNG Supreme Courts rejection on Wednesday of an attempt by the refugees to obtain a court order prohibiting their forcible removal.

Yesterday, Turnbull declared that the asylum-seekers should comply with the law and leave the centre, endorsing the threats of a PNG military intervention.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton was blunter, stating that the refugees were effectively squatting there. He callously declared that the asylum seekers, who have fled war and persecution, should go back to their countries of origin, where they could face arrest, torture or death.

Labor Party MPs, who, since the crisis began, have reiterated their opposition to the right to seek asylum, have desperately sought to avoid putting a position on the prospect of a PNG incursion into the camp.

The Coalition government and the opposition know well that in PNG, threats of government force have a definite meaning.

PNG Prime Minister Peter ONeill last year presided over armed police attacks on peaceful student protesters opposing his governments austerity measures. An estimated 40 students were injured when PNG police, trained by the Australian Federal Police, opened fire.

ONeill returned to office, with the backing of Australian authorities, in an election last July characterised by fraud, gerrymandering, violence, kidnappings and political assassinations.

The refugees at the camp have already seen Australian-backed PNG force in action. In April, gangs of drunken PNG sailors, thugs and local criminals attacked the Manus Island centre with machine guns and machetes. The Coalition government blamed the refugees for the attempted pogrom.

ONeill has signalled that a police-military operation will inflict the most brutal treatment on the asylum-seekers who have led the fight for their democratic rights and exposed the crimes of the Australian and PNG governments. In a statement on Wednesday, before his government issued its ultimatum, he declared: Those involved in disruption have been identified and appropriate means will be used to apprehend individuals who are causing unnecessary anxiety and violence.

The refugees have rejected the threats, and appealed for international support. Behrouz Boochani, an acclaimed Kurdish-Iranian journalist held at the facility, tweeted this week: The refugees who are gathering in a shelter are asking humanitarian organisations, people and politicians around the world to prevent Australia and PNG from killing us in this remote prison.

Boochani and other asylum-seekers have exposed the dire conditions that have been forced upon them. A video yesterday obtained by GetUp! showed that the camp has no running water, functioning toilet facilities, food or medication. Sick and hungry refugees have been left to writhe in agony.

The situation on Manus Island is a political crime, perpetrated by the entire Australian political establishment, and their vassals in the corrupt PNG administration.

The brutal treatment of the asylum-seekers is also a warning to the Australian working class. The Turnbull government, facing a domestic political crisis and intense popular discontent, is using the stand-off at Manus Island to establish a broader precedent for the suppression of all democratic rights, and the use of armed force against those who oppose its dictates.

The government has declared that Australian activists opposing the persecution of refugees are responsible for the crisis. If military force is to be used against the asylum-seekers, what measures will be taken against the activists allegedly inciting their struggle for human and democratic rights? Already, Australian protests defending the refugees have been met with police mobilisations and government denunciations.

The actions of the Coalition government are the logical outcome of the border protection program defended by Labor and the Greens. While both of those parties have postured as critics of what is unfolding, they bear central responsibility for all physical and psychological harm inflicted upon the refugees.

It was the Greens-backed Labor government of Julia Gillard that reopened the concentration camp on Manus Island and decreed that the refugees consigned there would never be allowed into Australia. Over the past two decades, Labor has led the charge for ever-harsher repressive measures against asylum-seekers.

Greens politicians, who are now posturing as allies of the refugees, repeatedly insisted that the Labor-led attacks on refugees would not alter their participation in the de facto coalition government. Like Labor and the Coalition, the Greens support the entire framework of immigration controls, which are used against refugees and the working class as a whole.

The working class must oppose the attack on the Manus Island refugees. Within workplaces, schools and universities, the demand must be raised that the asylum-seekers be immediately allowed to settle in Australia, or wherever they choose, with full citizenship rights. The Coalition and Labor politicians who have presided over the persecution of refugees should be charged and prosecuted for their violations of international law and abrogation of fundamental human rights. If any of the refugees on Manus Island are killed or injured by PNG security forces, the Australian government must be held to account.

This, however, requires the development of a socialist movement of the working class, aimed at uniting workers around the world in a common struggle against war, inequality and the assault on democratic rights, and committed to overturning the entire framework of border controls defended by capitalist governments internationally.
In Germanys criminal code there is a paragraph declaring the slandering of the memory of the dead to be a criminal offence. Punishment for such a crime ranges from a fine to two years imprisonment. Yet this appears not to apply to historic figures. If one reviews the articles, contributions on radio and television, and films to mark the centenary of the October Revolution in Russia, the principal rule that applies is: anything goes.

There was of course hysterical anti-communism during the Cold War. But even then a distinction existed between right-wing propaganda and scholarly work. Even if they were not socialists, serious historians understood that one of the greatest transformations in world history, which influenced the 20th century more than any other event, could not be dismissed with a tirade of insults against Lenin and the Bolsheviks, but required a serious study of its social and political driving forces.

For example, the American historian Alexander Rabinowitch, who grew up in an anti-Bolshevik milieu of Russian exiles, came to the conclusion in 1976, on the basis of a careful examination of sources in his book Soviet Power: The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, that the Bolsheviks goals enjoyed widespread support in the population in October 1917. By contrast, all other parties had largely lost their credibility.

One searches in vain for such a well-researched analysis today. Even the most grotesque falsifications are accepted in academic forums and renowned media outlets, without any objection being raised.

Typical of this trend is the article The utopia of mass murder, which appeared in the Frankfurter Rundschau on the anniversary of the revolution. The author Arno Widmann, who was one of the co-founders of the Green Party-aligned TAZ newspaper in 1979, struggled to restrain his hatred for the October Revolution.

Socialism, he wrote, never existed at any point in time. Nowhere throughout vast Russia. From the outset, the Bolsheviks practiced nothing more than the will to power and hatred towards democracy. The October Revolution, Widmann continued, was not the awakening of a freer world. It wasfrom the outset and in almost all of its phasesa crime against humanity.

He continues in the same vein, At no point was the Soviet Union an attempt to construct a more humane alternative to imperialism and war. It signified imperialism and war. And further, The greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century was not the collapse of the Soviet Union, but its establishment. Widmann concluded with the proclamation, It cannot be allowed it to happen again under any circumstances.

Another example is the now 80-year-old songwriter Wolf Biermann, the son of a Jewish, communist worker who was murdered in Auschwitz. Biermann, who voluntarily moved to the German Democratic Republic (GDR) at the age of 17, enthused young people in West Germany in the 1960s with his rebellious songs. But following his forced deportation by the GDR regime, he developed into an embittered anti-communist, whose biting cynicism now only provokes disgust.

This has not prevented the mainstream media from providing him with a platform. On the anniversary of the October Revolution, Biermann delivered the comment on Heute Journal, the main news program on the ZDF television channel, and the German Historical Museum invited him to participate in a panel discussion on the same day.

There, Biermann denounced communism as animal testing on living human beings, and declared that Marxs basic idea was the final solution of the social question. This comparison of the Nazi conception of the Holocaust with the perspective of socialism did not evoke a single protest from the audience. Biermann claimed that the attempt to enforce the communist paradise on earth, without exploitation and oppression can lead only to the worst hell of repression. Anyone promising the final solution of all social conflicts is in reality an enemy of humanity.

Dozens of further examples could be cited of such gross historical falsifications. Among the most important academic representatives of this trend is Jorg Baberowski. The professor of Eastern European history at Humboldt University regularly publicises his views on the Russian Revolution on the radio and television, in newspapers, and through the Federal Center for Political Education (BPB), which is controlled by the Interior Ministry.

Baberowski described the revolution of 1917 as a revolt of embittered people brutalised by the war, who literally drove the spirit of European civilisation, as well as the old order, out of the country. The Bolsheviks, he claimed, were not victorious because they offered the most attractive political programme, but because they were better perpetrators of violence than their opponents.

Baberowski embodies the connection between the denunciation of the October Revolution and a right-wing extremist political agenda. The Humboldt University professor, who regularly issues right-wing commentaries on refugees and other political issues, can be described, according to a court ruling, as a right-wing extremist. In his academic discipline, he relies upon Ernst Nolte, who downplayed the Nazis crimes by referring to the crimes of Bolshevism. For his part, Baberowski described Hitler as not vicious, because he allegedly did not want people to talk about the extermination of the Jews at his table.

One year ago, Baberowski gave a lecture at Humboldt University about the Russian Revolution dedicated to the jurist Carl Schmitt, who theoretically prepared, justified, supported and defended the Nazi regime, and never expressed regret about this prior to his death in 1985.

Based on Schmitts theoretical conceptions, Baberowski accused the tsar and bourgeois provisional government of failing to be ruthless enough in the suppression of workers and peasants uprisings in 1917, and failing to establish a commissarial dictatorship.

It would have necessitated very decisive measures, which could not have stopped short of bloodshed, the arresting of the executive committee of the workers and soldiers deputies, and, in the event resistance was attempted, the proclamation of a state of siege, Baberowski quoted a member of the provisional government as saying.

Baberowski thus draws the lesson from the October Revolution that it is necessary to preempt social unrest and revolutionary strivings by violently suppressing them and establishing a commissarial dictatorship. This is the key to understanding why, when it comes to lying about and falsifying the history of the October Revolution, the principle that applies is, anything goes. If the issue was merely an historical event that occurred a hundred years ago, the embittered denunciations of it would be hard to explain.

The October Revolution was not merely an episode in Russian history. It opened the epoch of the world socialist revolution. It was the result of the deep crisis of global capitalism, which found its most immediate expression in the outbreak of World War I. The war led to the deaths of millions of young men, who were senselessly slaughtered on the battlefield, and destroyed any illusions in a gradual, reformist improvement of society.

Although the Soviet Union, the workers state created by the revolution, remained isolated, degenerated and was ultimately dissolved by the counter-revolutionary Stalinist bureaucracy in 1991, the global capitalist crisis has intensified. Billions of people live in bitter poverty, while a tiny minority enjoys unheard of riches. At the helm of the worlds most powerful capitalist state stands a man who has openly threatened North Korea, China and Russia with nuclear weapons. Democratic freedoms are being shredded everywhere, to be replaced by censorship, surveillance and authoritarian forms of rule.

Under these conditions, interest is growing in the October Revolution, which proved for the first time that an alternative to capitalism is not a utopian dream but a real possibility, which can be realised through the conscious political struggle of the working class. The outraged denunciations are directed against this political awakening and are part of the preparations to violently suppress left-wing and socialist movements.
Workers at a Dayton, Ohio area auto glass plant voted by a two to one margin against representation by the United Auto Workers (UAW) in a vote held this week, the latest repudiation of the corrupt and crisis ridden organization.

The factory, Fuyao Glass America, is owned by Chinese billionaire Cao Dewang and operates on the site of a General Motors SUV assembly plant closed in 2008. The facility, located in Moraine just south of Dayton, employs some 2,000 workers of whom 1,500 were eligible to participate in the union election. They voted 868 to 444 against the UAW.

After decades of betrayals, workers have taken the measure of the UAW, which has presided over the decimation of jobs and workers living standards in Detroit, Dayton, Indianapolis, Cleveland and other former industrial centers. Workers forced to pay dues to the UAW are supporting the lavish lifestyles of right wing bureaucrats, earning six-figure salaries, who collaborate with management everyday against workers.

Fuyao Glass is one of a number of Chinese-based manufacturers which have recently located operations in the United States, taking advantage of poverty-level pay rates under conditions where labor and energy costs are surging in China. Starting pay at the Moraine factory is just $12.88 an hour.

The UAW blamed an intense anti-union campaign by local Republican politicians and plant management for the loss. However, opponents of the UAW did not have to search beyond the latest news headlines to find arguments against the UAW.

Dewang merely had to point to the documented corrupt relations between the union and the auto companies, including the ongoing FBI investigation into the illegal diversion of funds from joint training centers into the pockets of union officials in Detroit.

For its part the UAW dedicated significant resources to the vote, including the holding of pickets outside the plant. The unionization effort received the support of many local Democratic politicians, including Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley.

The defeat suffered by the UAW is significant on a number of fronts. After all, the vote, unlike the recent vote at Nissan in Mississippi, did not take place in a right-to-work state noted for anti-union activity. In fact, the Dayton area was for many decades heavily unionized and a center of the GM empire, with tens of thousands employed in its plants making everything from struts, to steering wheels, brakes and radiators. The city was the scene of pitched labor battles, including the epic Univis lens strike in 1948, which saw mass pickets facing off against national guard troops backed by machine guns and armored cars.

However, the UAW long ago repudiated all of the militant traditions of the great struggles of the 1930s and 1940s. Nowhere has this been more evident than in Dayton itself.

Since the early 1970s Dayton has been ravaged by a succession of factory closures, starting with the shutdown of National Cash Register, followed by Frigidaire, Dayton Tire and Dayton Press. General Motors abandoned the city, closing its parts making operations including Delco Products, Delco Moraine, Harrison Radiator and the Inland Division.

In not a single instance did the UAW and other unions, including the International Union of Electronic Workers (IUE), a major presence in Dayton, oppose the shutdown of plants. During this entire period the unions did not call a single rally, strike or protest.

Instead, the UAW and IUE promoted vicious anti-Japanese and anti-Mexican chauvinism, blaming workers in other countries for what was the abject failure of the capitalist system. The promotion of anti-foreigner racism went hand in hand with the imposition by the unions of one round of wage cuts after another, handing back all the gains wrested by workers from the employers in a previous period.

Moraine Truck Assembly was the last GM plant to close, eliminating another 2,400 jobs. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the UAW and GM later signed an agreement barring workers at the plant, members of the IUE, from transferring to other GM facilities.

The results have been devastating. Dayton, which once boasted prosperous neighborhoods and higher than average income for workers, has witnessed a precipitous decline, and is now littered with abandoned houses.

The city and the surrounding area is a center of the growing opioid epidemic in the United States. Montgomery County, where Dayton is located, will see a projected 800 deaths from opiate overdoses this year. That is more than double last year's record 349 opioid deaths.

The wages at Fuyao Glass are on a par with the wages paid at many auto parts suppliers where workers labor under terms of sweetheart deals brokered by the UAW. This includes the use of contract workers and temporary and part time employees who make substandard wages and have few if any benefits, but still must pay dues to the UAW.

These conditions exist at General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler manufacturing plants as well. The terrible conditions facing Temporary Part Time(TPT) workers in these factories was tragically highlighted by the recent death of Jacoby Hennings.

The young TPT worker apparently shot himself at a Ford stamping plant outside of Detroit after spending an hour with officials at a UAW office in the factory. Hennings was holding down separate jobs at Ford and Fiat Chrysler due to the precarious nature of his employment and seems to have snapped under the pressure after he failed to get any support from the union.

It is not hard, therefore, to see why Fuyao Glass workers opposed another deduction from their paychecks in the form of dues to the UAW.

The World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter has received a substantial amount of correspondence from TPT employees who describe a hostile attitude on the part of the UAW and an intense and exploitive regime in the factories.

Workers need organizations, but they must be independent, democratically controlled organizations, not the UAW and the other pro-capitalist, bureaucrat-dominated unions.

The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter calls for the formation of factory committees based on an irreconcilable opposition to the attempts of the employers and government to place the crisis of capitalism on workers shoulders.

This is not a fight that can be waged successfully in one workplace or within one country. It goes hand in hand with the building of a political movement of the working class based on a socialist program. It means as well rejecting the attempts to pit American workers against workers overseas and the establishment of the closest unity of autoworkers and all workers on an international basis.
On Oct. 31, a tense hostage standoff at a California school ended when police fatally shot a father who stormed the school and held his daughters first grade teacher against her will for hours.

In a letter released by the Riverside Unified School District to multiple outlets earlier this week, the 70-year-old teacher, Linda Montgomery, described how shes coping with the aftereffects of the incident at Castle View Elementary School.

As I move through my own healing process, I am experiencing a range of emotions  anger, however, has never been one of them, Montgomery wrote. I want to thank law enforcement and other first responders. I appreciate the efforts and actions taken by all of them, as well as those of my colleagues and staff at Castle View Elementary School to ensure my safety.

During the standoff, the father, Luvelle Kennon, 27, was fatally shot after a SWAT team stormed the classroom, where hed been holding Montgomery hostage for more than six hours, Riverside police spokesman Ryan Railsback said at a press conference that night.

Kennon barged his way into the school just after 11 a.m. that morning and punched a male substitute teacher who had tried to stop him, said Railsback.

For the next six hours, Kennon barricaded himself and Montgomery in a classroom while hostage negotiators tried to persuade him to surrender.

Linda Montgomery

We even utilized family members in the negotiations as well, Railsback told PEOPLE in a recent interview. We used everything we had at our disposal to try to get a peaceful resolution.

Authorities were able to communicate with Kennon intermittently, but had no idea how Montgomery was doing because they hadnt spoken to her at all, said Railsback: Was she injured? Had she had any food or water? It gets to a point where we need to know whats going on with that hostage.

Just before 6 p.m., a SWAT team fired flash-bang grenades as they burst into the classroom, fatally shooting Kennon.

Story continues

Railsback wouldnt say exactly what prompted the team to storm the room, what Kennon had said to hostage negotiators during the standoff or what led to the shooting.

Railsback says that police did not find firearms in the room, but he adds, Were not disclosing whether we found anything else in the room.

One of the things our detectives are looking into is whether there was something he had against the teacher  or was he coming to the school to take his daughter? he says.

A Child Traumatized by Losing Her Father

The girl  who Montgomery confirmed in her letter was a student in her class  is still reeling from her fathers untimely death, says Railsback.

We have a first grader and this was her parent, Railsback tells PEOPLE. This is a very traumatic situation for her as well.

In her letter, Montgomery wrote, I feel compassion for Mr. Kennons daughter, a student in my class, and for her family during their healing process as they cope with this tragedy.

She added, I pray that we all will find peace with what happened and heal individually, as a school and as a community.

Carl Jackson, who said he is Kennons uncle, told local news station ABC 7 after the incident that Kennon had a breakdown, and he relapsed again. Jackson added that Kennon was not a bad guy, never been in trouble.

Luvelle Kennon

He said family members took Kennons car keys away from him that morning  but said he was still able to get to the school.

Detectives are now talking to family members, says Railsback: Its obvious he was having some kind of struggle that day based on what we heard so far. We want to figure out if thats what led to his actions at the school.

On Monday, students returned to school, which had been closed since Oct. 31. Members of the community and law enforcement were at the school greeting students with teddy bears, local station KTLA reports.

PEOPLEs attempts to reach Montgomery and Kennons families were unsuccessful.
President Donald Trump broke his silence on the reported allegations that Alabama GOP senate candidate Roy Moore initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old when he was in his early 30s.

Media following Trumps trip to the Pacific Rim reported White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed the issue early Friday on Air Force One. She announced POTUS believes if allegations are true he will do the right thing and step aside.

Shortly thereafter the White House issued a statement:

Like most Americans the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a persons life. However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.

WaPo reported allegations Thursday that Moore initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 and an assistant DA. The woman, who spoke on the record, claimed Moore took her to his house, kissed her, took off her clothes and his own, ran his hand over her body and her hand over his. The legal age of consent in that state is 16.

While Trump walked a tightrope, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon  a Moore supporter  pointed to POTUS difficulty. The Bezos-Amazon-Washington Post, Bannon reminded everyone, previously had dropped the dime on Donald Trump during the campaign. It was WaPo that published the old Access Hollywood tape of then-Celebrity-Apprentice host Trump boasting about being so famous he could grab women by the p*ssy with impunity.

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Photo: Getty Images

FX is cutting ties with Louis C.K. following the comedian and producers sexual misconduct.

Today, FX Networks and FX Productions are ending our association with Louis C.K. We are cancelling the overall deal between FX Productions and his production company, Pig Newton. He will no longer serve as executive producer or receive compensation on any of the four shows we were producing with him  Better Things, Baskets, One Mississippi and The Cops, FX said in a statement Friday.

Louis has now confirmed the truth of the reports relating to the five women victimized by his misconduct, which we were unaware of previously. As far as we know, his behavior over the past eight years on all five series he has produced for FX Networks and/or FX Productions has been professional. However, now is not the time for him to make television shows. Now is the time for him to honestly address the women who have come forth to speak about their painful experiences, a process which he began today with his public statement.

FX Networks and FX Productions remain committed to doing everything we can to ensure that all people work in an environment that is safe, respectful and fair, and we will continue our review of all of these productions to ensure that was and is the case.

The decision for FX to end its relationship with C.K. comes hours after the comedian and producer responded to allegations in a New York Times story that he acted inappropriately toward five women from 2002-2005. These stories are true, C.K. said Friday. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position. I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didnt want to hear it. I didnt think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it.

Story continues

C.K.s Pig Newton exec produced FXs Louie (whose future was left open pending his schedule), Pamela Adlon vehicle Better Things, Amazons Tig Notaro comedy One Mississippi and TBS upcoming animated comedy The Cops. Both Adlon and Notaro have been vocal about C.K.s history in the months that preceded the New York Times story. FX joins management company 3 Arts, which on Friday also dropped C.K. Meanwhile, production on TBS The Cops has been suspended. On Thursday, HBO dropped C.K. from its upcoming Night of Too Many Stars special and removed multiple comedy specials as well as his short-lived 2006 comedy series Lucky Louiefrom its on-demand platform. Amazon, which is the streaming platform for One Mississippi, has yet to weigh in on the future of the Notaro vehicle.

Earlier Friday, independent studio The Orchard dropped C.K.s film I Love You, Daddy, which was scheduled to be released Nov. 17. On Thursday, premiere for the movie was canceled in anticipation of the New York Times story. Netflix, for its part, scrapped C.K.s second planned stand-up special, part of a two-special deal the comedian made with the streaming giant. (The first, Louis C.K. 2017, debuted in April and will remain on Netflix.) The allegations made by several women in The New York Times about Louis C.K.s behavior are disturbing, Netflix said in a statement.

The C.K. fallout comes after Netflix, among others, cut ties with Kevin Spacey following sexual misconduct allegations. Spacey will be written out of the final season of House of Cards  the drama he exec produces  should the drama return from its hiatus as producers Media Rights Capital weigh its future. Additionally, in a ground-breaking move, Spacey will be replaced by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scotts upcoming J. Paul Getty feature film All the Money in the World.

Bryn Sandberg contributed to this report.

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With a possible indictment looming in New York and separate investigations under way in Los Angeles and London, legal experts are weighing in what it will take for Harvey Weinstein to be criminally charged  and whether he could go to prison.

The disgraced movie mogul, 65, who is currently in treatment in Arizona, has been accused of sexual misconduct by over 50 women since The New York Times and The New Yorker documented his decades of alleged sexual misconduct and assault.

A spokesperson for Weinstein previously told PEOPLE in a statement, 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.

The Current Investigations

Weinstein is under investigation for rape by the Los Angeles Police Department after an Italian model-actress gave a detailed account of an alleged sexual assault involving the producer in 2013. That was the first case against Weinstein to be made public in California.

Los Angeles police are also investigating Weinstein for lewd conduct stemming from an incident in 2015, while a similar investigation is underway in Beverly Hills.

Meanwhile, police in the United Kingdom have widened their investigation into Weinstein to include allegations of sexual assault by seven women.

In New York City, detectives interviewed Boardwalk Empire actress Paz de la Huerta  who claims Weinstein raped her twice in 2010  and found her story to be credible, a spokesperson for the department previously confirmed to PEOPLE.

The Manhattan district attorney is expected to approach a grand jury to seek an indictment for Weinstein based on de la Huertas allegations, WNBC reported Tuesday. However, a spokesperson for Weinstein said Wednesday that they do not believe an indictment is imminent. A formal presentation will be made on Mr. Weinsteins behalf in the appropriate course of the investigation, and we strongly believe we will demonstrate that no criminal charges are warranted, Weinsteins spokesperson said.

Story continues

Paz de la Huerta and Harvey Weinstein

What Does an Indictment Mean?

An indictment usually means a grand jury has reviewed the testimony of the witnesses and decided that theres enough to charge him or her, L.A.-based criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Dmitry Gorin, whos not involved in the Weinstein case, tells PEOPLE.

But defense attorneys do not participate in grand juries, Gorin adds. This is where the old saying you can indict a ham sandwich comes from because the burden of proof is so low.

However, given the media attention surrounding Weinstein, Gorin says the district attorney will most likely not want to seek an indictment without a solid case. Anytime you have a high-profile case, the district attorneys office know theyre going to be under the microscope, he explains.

They dont want to have an O.J. Simpson mess on their hands where they lose a high-profile trial. So I think, especially in these types of cases, the prosecution will be crossing their Ts and dotting their Is. By that I mean theyre going to interview as many witnesses as possible and obtain all evidence before they jump to a decision to press charges.

What Will It Take to Get an Indictment?

Gorin says prosecutors will assess the strength of the victims statement, any physical evidence, the level of contemporaneous corroboration and whether they can find other alleged victims willing to testify.

In addition to finding de la Huertas account credible, a spokesperson for the NYPD said that they have been able to corroborate aspects of her story. The actresss therapist also confirmed to Vanity Fair that de la Huerta told her that she felt coerced into having sex with Weinstein at the time.

While there is likely no physical evidence given that the alleged incident occurred seven years ago, Gorin says, In most states, you can use propensity evidence to argue that the person is a sexual deviant  or somebody who assaults women. In other words, you can present other alleged victims testimony in the jurisdiction, even if those women arent charged as victims in that particular case.

What Happens If an Indictment Is Issued?

If a grand jury does grant Manhattan D.A.s office an indictment for Weinstein, its not likely the producer will be hauled away in handcuffs.

You can bet that his attorneys are in constant communication with the Manhattan D.A.s office to find out when and if an indictment is coming down, and if it is, rather than them arresting and creating a whole circus, hell be able to just professionally and politely surrender, Shapiro says. Hell have a bondsman with him in the court room to post bail, and then shortly thereafter hell be released.

Gorin agrees, adding, Besides the media frenzy that will follow, hes going to have to surrender himself, be arrested, be booked and hell have a fairly substantial bail set given his resources. Id expect something in the seven-figure range. So hell post the bail bond in whatever jurisdiction hes indicted in and then basically prepare his defense and await a trial date.

What Happens If Multiple Jurisdictions Want to Charge Him?

What Is the Prosecutions Strategy?



If Weinstein goes to trial, Gorin says prosecutors will try to create a simple narrative to show a pattern of behavior to a jury.

The most compelling aspect is the number of women and the similar details of their stories, he says. Theyre going to argue that Weinstein has a very strong position in the Hollywood community, and that he uses that position of trust to lure the women in, attacks them when theyre least expecting and then offers them work essentially in exchange for their silence.

Prosecutors will then rely on the strength of their victims statement, any corroborating evidence and potential statements from other victims to help make their case.

Media reports concerning Weinsteins behavior will not be taken into account, Shapiro explains. If he goes to a jury trial and the prosecution wants to present other witnesses to show a pattern of bad behavior, then theyd have to bring in the actual complaining witnesses. Those witnesses would also be open to cross-examination by Weinsteins defense.

How Will Weinstein Defend Himself?

Probably the most basic argument is going to be that this was all consensual, that maybe it was immoral to use his power as a producer to have sexual relationships, but it was consensual, Gorin says.

Secondly, Gorin says, The defense points are going to be, after the alleged attacks, what did the victims do? Did they still spend time with him? Did they remain friendly with him? Did they communicate with him?

If Weinstein is charged in New York, Shapiro says that defense attorneys will be quick to point out the fact that de la Huerta went back into a room with him after the first alleged attack. Although she claims she was drunk and frightened at the time, Shapiro explains, Theyre going to argue that its very uncharacteristic of a rape victim to go back into a room with her rapist.

Both Gorin and Shapiro point out that using de la Huertas therapist as corroboration could be a Pandoras box for the prosecution. If the prosecution uses her therapists notes for corroboration, all her medical records are then going to be put on the table, Shapiro says. Once the defense has access to those records, they will scour them for any evidence that could suggest de la Huerta was not in a sound mindset at the time.

Finally, Shapiro says, Theyre going to ask why it took so long for her to come forward, especially if shes saying this happened to her twice.

Gorin adds, Theyre going to say these accusers are coming out to kick a guy while hes down and jump on the bandwagon to try and get some sort of financial settlement out of him.

Could Weinstein Go to Prison?

Jail time is a possibility for the highest-level charges, but if Weinstein is prosecuted for a lower-level charge, it would be very likely he would plead to some type of action that would possibly keep him out of jail but on very strict probation, attorney Angela Reddock-Wright, founding and managing partner of the L.A.-based Reddock Law Group, previously told PEOPLE.

But Shapiro says prosecutors likely have a tough battle ahead of them.

As a fellow attorney, I dont envy the position the prosecution and the NYPD are in right now, he explains.

While they probably can get an indictment, if youre the prosecutor or police, youre also thinking long term about proving a case beyond a reasonable doubt, especially with all the media pressure. They dont want to bring a case they cant prove down the line.
Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

From Esquire

The Presidential Commission on Voter Integrity, headed by noted friend of the franchise - and the immigrant - Kris Kobach of Kansas, has fallen rather clamorously off the radar since its disastrous open hearing in New Hampshire back in September. Not that the commission hasnt been busy. So far 15 lawsuits of one kind or another have been filed against the Commission, and that will keep your staff pretty damn occupied. The whole puppet show has fallen into disarray, largely because it was founded in deeply bad faith, and because Kris Kobach is the Midwest distributor of Bad Faith on behalf of James Crow, Esq. LLC.

But the latest lawsuit is one we cant ignore. The commission is being sued by one of its own members, as we learn from the invaluable Ari Berman at Mother Jones.

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, a Democrat whom Trump appointed to the commission in May, sued the commission in federal court on Thursday, alleging violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, which requires presidential advisory committees to operate in a bipartisan and transparent manner. The lawsuit says Dunlap is being deliberately kept in the dark about the commissions work. The law and good conscience require Secretary Dunlap to participate meaningfully in the work of the Commission; however, despite diligent efforts to gain access, Secretary Dunlap has been, and continues to be, blocked from receiving Commission documents necessary to carry out his responsibilities, the lawsuit states. By obstructing certain commissioners access to information and failing to allow substantive participation of commissioners with balance in terms of points of view, the Commission and its staff have compromised the legitimacy of any findings that may emerge from this process.

Dunlaps cause of action can probably best be explained by the brothers of the Faber College chapter of Delta Tau Chi.

Story continues

Though a few Democrats, including Dunlap, were eventually appointed, the Commissions superficial bipartisanship has been a facade, the lawsuit states.

The suit cites a number of examples of how Dunlap and others have been excluded from the commissions work. Kobach consulted with von Spakovsky and another hardline conservative commission member prior to requesting extensive voter data from all 50 states, but did not inform the full commission of the action. Dunlap alleges he was not consulted beforehand about the agenda of commission meetings or documents introduced at them. He also claims hes been told that the commissions work is on hold pending the outcome of litigation against the commission, but a right-wing group in Minnesota said it had been invited to speak at a commission meeting in December, which Dunlap is unaware of. When he asked commission staffer Andrew Kossack for copies of any and all correspondence between Commission members, Dunlap said Kossack did not provide any documents or agree to provide any documents.

The assaults on the franchise are going to intensify, especially if Tuesday nights results prove to be the precursor to the 2018 midterms that a lot of people believe them to be. Perhaps the last best hope that defenders of voting rights have against this kangaroo confab is that interested parties can sue the commission to tatters, leaving whats left to public scorn and mockery. After all, remember, it wasnt over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

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The victim in the fatal car crash with Little Women: Atlantas Melissa Hancock was a member of the United States Coast Guard who was on his way to pick up his wife.

Early Sunday morning, Hancock  who appeared in a few episodes of season 2 of the Lifetime reality series  was allegedly driving westbound on the I-264 in the eastbound lanes when her 2011 Cadillac struck Daniel Dills 2009 Mazda head on. Dill was transported to Virginia Beach General Hospital, where he died of his injuries Sunday. He was 29.

Dills sister, Kelly Vazquez, tells PEOPLE that he served in the USCG as an Information Systems Technician 2nd Class and had been a member of the Coast Guard since graduating from Kingsway Regional High School.

Daniel was well-liked by his coworkers and commanding officers. He was goofy and funny and always up for a laugh, Vazquez says. He loved spending time with his family, especially his wife and dogs.

After graduation from the Coast Guard, Dill was stationed in Portsmouth, Virginia, where he met his wife, Natalia, whom he married Oct. 15, 2010.

On Saturday, Vazquez says Natalia was out celebrating her birthday with friends, and Dill arranged to pick his wife up later so that she didnt drink and drive.

While Dill was en route to get Natalia, his vehicle was struck by Hancocks car. After the crash, Hancock, 25, was charged and arrested with DUI/maiming and driving the wrong way. Hancocks blood alcohol content tested at 0.112 percent two hours after the crash, authorities told CBS News.

He was the type of man who would do anything and everything to help others, Vazquez addsof her late brother.  Just recently he had returned from Puerto Rico where he was assisting with the hurricane relief efforts.

Dill will be buried with military honors on Saturday, CBS reports.
A widow was able to run her fingers across her deceased husbands face again after it was donated to a man who survived a suicide attempt.

Andy Sandness survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face in Christmas 2006 that left him disfigured and without a nose and jaw. When he returned home after his recoverywearing prosthetics that would often fall from his facehe distanced himself from social situations and lied to people when they asked what had happened. Things would start to change in 2012, when he joined a face transplant program at the Mayo Clinic that matched him with a donor in 2016. After going through a 56-hour-long surgery, Sandness had a new face, which he received from Calen Ross, who committed suicide that year.

Sandness was finally able to meet with Calens widow, Lilly Ross, at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on November 3. The meeting gave Lilly the first opportunity to see and touch her husbands face since his death.

Meeting Andy, it has finally giving me closure, Lilly told the AP.

Calen committed suicide when Lilly was pregnant with their son in 2016. After his passing, Lilly decided to donate his organs to people in need. When doctors reviewed the face to see how well it would match with Sandness, they said the mens ages, blood type, skin color and facial structure were so near-perfect that they could have been cousins.

Lilly brought along her 17-month-old son, Lenoard, to the emotional meeting so he could see how his father was able to help a stranger, she said. On the day of meeting, Lenoard was apprehensive to approach Sandness, but after some time had passed, he walked over to him and waved to Sandness to pick him up.

Sandness takes anti-rejection medication every day, and he is continually retraining his nerves to work together with his new face. He says the alphabet to himself while driving to improve his speech, and gives himself massages whenever he can. The transplant has worked wonders for his self-confidence, and Sandness said he is no longer hiding from the world.

Story continues

Andy Sandness before the face transplant

Now Im just really spreading my wings and doing the things I missed out ongoing to restaurants and eating, going dancing, Sandness, 32, said.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Samir Mardini, who conducted the operation, said he, too, sees a positive change since the surgery.

It turns out Andy is not as much of an introvert as we thought, Mardini said. Hes enjoying these times, where hes missed out on 10 years of his life.

If you or someone you know is showing warning signs of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK, text the Crisis Text Lineat 741741 or seek help from a professional.
Watching the new documentary short Fear Us Women and its subject Hanna Bohman  a Canadian citizen who traded her life of comfort for one of terror as a volunteer anti-ISIS soldier in Syria  its easy to view her as some sort of untouchable superhero.

She speaks to the camera with an astonishing calm, her AK slung over her shoulder, about how she lives with the other soldiers in the dirt, shooting, and that its no big deal. Its just camping with guns, she says at one point, and hunting people instead of deer. She later adds, We all die one way or another.

But after listening to Bohman speak in person about what drives her, she becomes instantly, existentially relatable  even though most wouldnt take it so far.

In 2014  I had some health scares  Id been hit by a car, I fell through a roof and split my head open, I had a heart issue  and it just kind of made me rethink living and dying and stuff like that, Bohman, 48, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. It all forced her to come to terms with the idea that death could come at any time, and to realize that she didnt want to hang around long enough to be kept alive by machines, just because others might not be ready to let her go.

What are they going to say in the obituary? Send flowers. I wanted something more, she says she realized. I want to die doing something where people are like, Holy shit, thats crazy, but she stood up for something. Ive been feeling this way for years, so unhappy, so lost with my life, I knew I had to do something else. I just didnt know what.

Thats when she first caught wind of ISIS, and how its forces were raping, killing, and oppressively traumatizing women and children, and how there existed an incredible, barely-heard-about all-female Kurdish army, YPJ (which stands for, in translation, Womens Protection Unit), fighting on the frontlines against terrorism. And Bohman wanted in.

Hanna Bohman in Syria. (Photo: Courtesy Fear Us Women)

I was in sales, so, pretty boring stuff. And I was dating this guy for a year and a half, from Lebanon, who went home and came back with a bride, she recalls of her life in Vancouver at the time. Though that was a very small part of the picture  no man is worth going to war for! So she reached out to a recruiter and began the process of getting smuggled into Syria, through Iraq, as a western volunteer with the YPJ.

Story continues

Her story is told in the stunning 27-minute film, available online as of Thursday, that was executive-produced by Olivia Wilde and directed by David Darg, from Ryot (part of the Oath brands, as is Yahoo). The title, Fear Us Women, comes from a poem Bohman wrote, to the men of ISIS: Fear us women, oh enemies of humanity, for you who die by our hand will burn in hell forever. She has it tattooed on her left arm in both Arabic and Kurdish.

She first arrived on the frontlines in February 2015, just four months after making the decision to go, and had five days of training. She was such a good shot with her AK that she was quickly made a sniper, and spent her days lying in the dirt and in the sun, ready to shoot, and often shooting. She took a break after three months, for health reasons, and then returned for another nine months, only leaving at that time because a young woman from her regime had fled Syria and needed help getting to safety in Canada.

Photo courtesy Fear Us Women

Ive been working on it since I left, she says, both because the womans mother asked her to help and because of the responsibility she feels in the situation: The government is not friends with the revolution, with the Kurds, but I was there legally so they couldnt do anything to me. So they went through her  attacked her and raped her  so thats my focus, to get her out safe.

After that, Bohmans unsure of how shell continue to fight. The war is changing now, ISIS is almost defeated, she says, so the next will be Assad and the regime of Turkey  but if I go and fight the Turks [a NATO ally], then Ill be labeled a terrorist.

Bohman is surprisingly even keeled when she speaks, both in person and on camera from the front lines, about the atrocities shes witnessed. When asked how that is, she notes that perhaps her relative comfort with such violent situations is a product of her difficult upbringing. I grew up with violence. Every male role model in my life up until the age of 18 was an abuser. So thats probably why its not scary so much, she says. We also lived on a horse ranch and had guns to chase off animals. But Im not a fan of guns. I bought my first one when I was in Iraq [while being smuggled through into Syria], and then I left it there.

But dealing with the aftermath of the trauma  particularly what lingers after seeing so many comrades killed  has been hard, she admits.

What Ive found is the best way to get over that is to make more memories as a buffer. And just time. The first friend I had killed was a few years ago, so that makes it easier, she says. Unless I think about it  like just today, not even an hour ago, a girl that I had met in May of 2015 found me on Facebook and sent me messages. She was part of a group of girls [in which] three were killed in one suicide blast, right after I saw them. So that brought it up again.

Sometimes Bohman finds solace in speaking with the handful of other Canadians she knows in Vancouver who have volunteered in Syria, although they are all men, and its not quite the same.

Now, while speaking out along with the release of Fear Us Women, her hope is that she can let the world know about the bravery of the YPJ, and the heroes that are so often unsung. There was this girl named Erin who was surrounded, and she strapped herself with explosives and blew herself up so her team could escape. These are stories we dont hear, Bohman shares. And I did nothing compared to that. But I can tell their stories, and humanize them, because right now since ISIS is almost defeated, the U.S. coalition could abandon them. But now is when they need more support than ever.

Watch the full 27-minute film, Fear Us Women, below.





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First Lady Melania Trump capped off her tour of Asia on Friday with a trip to the Great Wall of China, where she reportedly walked a stretch of the historic site for half an hour and rode a cable car.

For her visit to the section in Mutianyu, near Beijing, Trump wore a cream-colored skirt with a black turtleneck, Azzedine Alaia belt, and black coat. She also ditched her usual heels for beige flats.

Trump also stopped by the Beijing Zoo, where she greeted local children and posed with them near Gugu, a 17-year-old panda at the zoo.

Earlier this week, the First Lady stopped in South Korea in a plum Delpozo coat as she met First Lady Kim Jung-Sook and discussed the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, set to begin Feb. 9, 2018, in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The Olympics are just around the corner. I am sure you are all very excited about next years games, she said. It will be an amazing opportunity to bring the world together through our shared love of sport.
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
Heres what you need to know about Roy Moore, the Alabama Senate nominee accused of sexual misconduct

A flood of victims have come forward in recent weeks with accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against men in power. Roy Moore, a Republican Senate nominee from Alabama, is the latest on the roster of men accused of abusing their positions.

According to The New York Times, four women have said Moore made advances on them when they were teenagers. One of the women, Leigh Corfman, said that Moore did so when she was 14 and he was 32. Corfman said that Moore kissed her and touched her inappropriately. The other women said Moore tried to take them on dates when they were between the ages of 16 and 18. Moore vehemently denied the charges, blaming Democrats and the media instead.

The Obama-Clinton Machines liberal media lapdogs just launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks against me Ive EVER faced! Moore tweeted.

The Obama-Clinton Machines liberal media lapdogs just launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks against me Ive EVER faced!



We are are in the midst of a spiritual battle with those who want to silence our message. (1/4) #ALSen  Judge Roy Moore (@MooreSenate) November 9, 2017

Moore, an outspoken evangelical Christian, is running to replace U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the U.S. Senate. Before campaigning to be a Senator, he served as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. In 2003, he lost his position after refusing to remove a granite monument of the Ten Commandments that he placed inside the Alabama Judicial Building without informing his fellow justices. He later won his seat back in 2012, only to be suspended after refusing to uphold the U.S. Supreme Courts legalization of gay marriage.

Roy Moore

Despite his controversial past, Moore is favored to win the December 12th Senate seat in Alabama. While its likely too late for Alabama Republicans to replace Moore in the race, some members of the party are withdrawing their support for him, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But some of Moores supporters seem undeterred by the allegations.

Its possible that Moore will end his campaign in the face of these accusations, but he could also win the Senate race with minimal repercussions. No matter what happens, we stand by the accusers and sincerely hope they receive the justice they deserve.
Melania Trump kicked off her heels for a visit to the Great Wall of China!

The first lady paid a visit to the Great Wall of China on Friday in a long tan skirt, a Dolce & Gabbana black jacket that she draped over her shoulders and a pair of nude, pointed ballet flats. The 47-year-old received a private tour of the Mutianyu section of the long wall, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

"This is beautiful. This is amazing," she said according to a US official standing next to her.

Former FLOTUS Michelle Obama brought daughters Sash and Malia to the same section of the wall in 2014.

RELATED: See all of Melania's outfits in Asia:



Following her visit, Melania headed over to the Beijing Zoo where she spent time with a panda named Gu Gu and 20 young schoolchildren. The group of children sang to Melania in Mandarin and English and she gifted them all with plush bald eagles.

Her visit to the Beijing Zoo caps off her tour of Asia, where the first lady put on quite a stunning sartorial show in labels like Dior, Fendi and J. Mendel.

Her next stop? Alaska, where she will go "to greet our AMAZING troops," according to President Trump on Twitter.

Check out the slideshow above for Melania's outfits in Asia.

RELATED: See Melania's outfits as FLOTUS:


Melania Trump walks on the Great Wall of China. (Photo: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

Melania Trump is a former model, so whether shes sashaying down the tarmac in stilettos or dressing down a power suit with a strategic hand in her pocket, the first lady is always posing.

And her trip to the Great Wall of China on Friday, a stop on President Trumps five-country Asian tour, is her most stunning photo op yet.

In the images, Melania walks the Mutianyu portion of the estimated 13,000-mile wonder on the outskirts of Bejing, during a 30-minute private tour. Wearing a gray midi-skirt, Alaia belt, nude flats, and a black Dolce & Gabbana coat slung over her shoulders in the 40-degree chill, she pensively gazes over the landscape. Her hair is fastened into a low ponytail and shes sporting her signature black shades.

Melania Trump (Photo: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

After signing a guest book and posing for photos with a scroll she was gifted, Melania reportedly said, This is beautiful. This is amazing, before whisking back down the mountain in a cable car.

First lady Melania Trump (Photo: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha, 16, and Malia, 19, took the same trip in 2014. The former first lady hiked the Great Wall wearing a comfy-looking black outfit while Sasha wore a loose statement T-shirt and Malia a casual white top with black pants. After their walk, the three slid back down to the ground in toboggans.

Earlier in the day, Melania wore the same outfit, only with her hair down, to visit the Bejing Zoo, where she fed a panda bear named Gugu and posed for photos with children.

First lady Melania Trump poses for photos with children in front of a panda section as she visits Beijing Zoo in Beijing, China, Nov. 10, 2017. (Reuters/Thomas Peter)

Many on social media commented on her practical footwear and rustic chic style. However, according to Cris Pearlstein, stylist and founder of How Do You Fashion, the first ladys look is hardly surprising.

Melania has been in front of the camera her entire life  modeling is not just a job, its a large part of who she is, she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Its possible that the photographers hired to travel with her have a background in fashion or at least understood how Melania moves.

Pearlstein adds, Her outfit is entirely appropriate for the Great Wall, but the jacket draped over her shoulders  a fading fashion trend  is a deliberate way of saying, I dont dress for function.

Story continues

Given the fascination with Melanias style and her slow-to-start anti-bullying campaign, she can still make an impact as the first lady. Part of Melanias image and legacy is her beauty, says Pearlstein. I wouldnt be surprised if she made the business of fashion her platform.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.




A 16-year-old is accused of killing her newborn baby after shoving a rock down her throat.

Alaya Dotson, of Denver, allegedly put the rock in the babys throat an hour after giving birth, police said.

Read: Driver, 21, Charged in Death of Mom of 6 Killed After Visiting Twins in NICU

Police said Dotson explained she was unaware of her pregnancy and realized she was giving birth while using the bathroom in her home in September.

Dotson said after giving birth she took the newborn up to her room and laid on the floor next to the infant, Fox News reported.

The teen told police that the baby girls arms were moving back and forth, but she was not crying.

Dotson reportedly told authorities that she wrapped the baby in a blanket and went outside onto her patio where she put a rock in the newborns throat, police said.

Dotsons mother found the 16-year-old outside with a lot of blood on her shirt and noticed blood on the blanket that the infant was wrapped in, reports said. Dotsons mom called police, but the teen allegedly told her the baby girl was already dead.

The newborn was taken to the hospital where a one-inch rock was removed from her throat. She died later that morning, Fox News reported.

Read: Mother Who Brought 6-Year-Old Son's Body on Train Charged With His Murder

Dotson allegedly told police she suffocated the newborn, according to the station.

She is charged with murder and will be tried as an adult, according to reports.

Related Articles:
Update: Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) withdrew his support of Roy Moore on Saturday, joining Sens. Steve Daines (Mont.) and Mike Lee (Utah).

Based on the allegations against Roy Moore, his response and what is known, I withdraw support.  Bill Cassidy (@BillCassidy) November 12, 2017

Earlier: Two Republican senators withdrew their endorsements of Roy Moore on Friday evening, becoming the first prominent politicians to drop their support for the Alabama Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race.

Moore has been under fire since The Washington Post published a report Thursday detailing allegations from four women who said Moore pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

The most serious story came from Leigh Corfman, who said she was just 14 when Moore sexually assaulted her.

While some GOP politicians have said Moore should step aside, Sens. Steve Daines (Mont.) and Mike Lee (Utah) are the first Moore backers to do so.

Daines made his announcement on Twitter.

I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate.  Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) November 10, 2017

Lee revealed his decision to a writer for The Washingtonian, citing both the accusations of Moores misconduct and his response to the allegations.

BREAK: Senator Mike Lee withdraws endorsement of Roy Moore. "Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign," Lee says, "I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate."  Elaina Plott (@elainaplott) November 10, 2017

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, also severed financial ties with Moore on Friday.

Story continues

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Roy Moore, the GOP Senate nominee in Alabama, is under growing pressure to step aside amid allegations of sexual misconduct with minors. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Moore, a far-right social conservative twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for defying federal court orders, was never the so-called Republican establishments preferred candidate to fill the Senate seat vacated by the appointment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

But with the backing of Steve Bannon, President Donald Trumps former chief strategist, Moore defeated interim Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) in the GOP primary in September. Trump had endorsed Strange, and a super PAC associated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spent millions trying to quash Moores bid.

Moore has drawn the ire of civil rights groups for his extreme positions. Among other stances, Moore has argued that homosexual intercourse should be illegal and that Muslims should not be allowed to serve in Congress.

Once Moore became the nominee, however, the national Republican Party mostly embraced him, with at least one GOP lawmaker offering that he thought Moore would support tax cuts, a key Republican priority. Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney, in a Dec. 12 special election.

Since the Post published the accusations of sexual misconduct on Thursday, most GOP leaders have remained hesitant to completely disavow him. McConnell and other prominent Republican senators insisted on a wait-and-see approach on Thursday, arguing that Moore should drop out if additional proof emerges verifying the accounts of the women who spoke to the Post.

In Moores more detailed response to the accusations on Friday  the comments that rankled Sen. Lee  he only firmly denied assaulting Corfman, who claims he engaged in unwanted kissing and groping when she was 14.

It never happened, and I dont even like hearing it, Moore said on Sean Hannitys radio show on Friday.

He conceded in the interview that he knew two of the other women, who were 17 and 18 when they say Moore tried to date them, but claimed he never gave them alcohol and he didnt remember trying to date them.

Asked by Hannity if he remembered dating teenagers when he was in his 30s, Moore said, Not generally, no.

I dont remember that, or dating any girl without the permission of her mother, he added.

This article has been updated with more details on the accusations against Roy Moore and his denial Friday.

Also on HuffPost

Taking Security Seriously

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) talks with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) before the start of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing concerning the roles and responsibilities for defending the nation against cyberattacks, on Oct. 19, 2017.

With Liberty And Justice...

Members of Code Pink for Peace protest before the start of a hearing where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Oct. 18, 2017. Committee members questioned Sessions about conversations he had with President Donald Trump about the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, the ongoing investigation about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and other subjects.

Whispers

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, speaks with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) before a confirmation hearing for Christopher Sharpley, nominee for inspector general of the CIA, on Oct. 17, 2017.

Not Throwing Away His Shot

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the musical "Hamilton," makes his way to a meeting of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies in the Rayburn Office Building during a round of meetings to urge federal funding for the arts and humanities on Sept. 13, 2017.

Medicare For All

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), center, speaks on health care as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), left, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), right, listen during an event to introduce the Medicare for All Act on Sept. 13, 2017.

Bernie Bros

Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pack his office on Sept. 8, 2017. Members of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party" campaign delivered a petition with more than 50,000 signatures to urge the senator to start and lead a new political party.

McCain Appearance

Sen. John McCain, second from left, leaves the Capitol after his first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer. He arrived to cast a vote to help Republican senators narrowly pass the motion to proceed for the replacement of the Affordable Care Act on July 25, 2017.

A Narrow Win

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, speaks alongside Sens. John Barrasso, left, John Cornyn, right, and John Thune, rear, after the Senate narrowly passed the motion to proceed for the replacement of the Affordable Care Act on July 25, 2017.

Kushner Questioning

Jared Kushner, White House senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, arrives at the Capitol on July 25, 2017. Kushner was interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door meeting about contacts he had with Russia.

Hot Dogs On The Hill

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) prepares a hot dog during the American Meat Institute's annual Hot Dog Lunch in the Rayburn Office Building courtyard on July 19, 2017.

And Their Veggie Counterparts

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) visits the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals veggie dog giveaway on July 19, 2017, countering a National Hot Dog Day event being held elsewhere on Capitol Hill.

Poised For Questions

Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, waits for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican on July 18, 2017.

Speaking Up

Health care activists protest to stop the Republican health care bill at Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 17, 2017.

In The Fray

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks to members of the media after announcing the revised version of the Senate Republican health care bill on Capitol Hill on July 13, 2017.

Anticipation

Christopher Wray is seated with his daughter Caroline, left, as he prepares to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be the next FBI director on July 12, 2017.

Up In Arms

Health care activists protest to stop the Republican health care bill at Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 10, 2017.

Across A Table

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Capitol Hill on June 29, 2017.

Somber Day

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks about the recent attack on the Republican congressional baseball team during her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill on June 15, 2017.

Family Matters

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), right, and his sons, Jack, 10, and Brad, arrive in the basement of the Capitol after a shooting at the Republican baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 14, 2017.

A Bipartisan Pause

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), right, coach of the Republican congressional baseball team, tells the story of the shooting that occurred during a baseball practice while he stands alongside Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), left, a coach of the Democratic congressional baseball team on June 14, 2017.

Hats On

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) reacts about the shooting he was present for at a Republican congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, as he speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 14, 2017.

Public Testimony

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is sworn in to testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017.

Comey's Big Day

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Capitol Hill on June 8, 2017.

Conveying His Point

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats testifies at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his interactions with the Trump White House and on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on June 7, 2017.

Selfie Time

Vice President Mike Pence takes a selfie with a tourist wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda on June 6, 2017. The vice president walked through the rotunda after attending the Senate Republican policy luncheon.

Budget Queries

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the House Budget Committee about President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal on Capitol Hill on May 24, 2017.

Flagged Down By Reporters

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, leaves a closed committee meeting on Capitol Hill on May 24, 2017. The committee is investigating possible Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.

Shock And Awe

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hold a news conference on the release of the president's fiscal 2018 budget proposal on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2017.

Seeing Double

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) arrives in the Capitol for the Senate Democrats' policy lunch on May 16, 2017.

Honoring Officers

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on the West Lawn of the Capitol on May 15, 2017.

Whispers

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, and ranking member Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) talk during a hearing with the heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 11, 2017.

Skeptical

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election on Capitol Hill on May 8, 2017.

Differing Opinions

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) gives a thumbs-up to protesters on the East Front of the Capitol after the House passed the Republicans' bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on May 4, 2017. The protesters support the ACA.

Real Talk

United States Naval Academy Midshipman 2nd Class Shiela Craine (left), a sexual assault survivor, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Military Personnel with (2nd from left to right) Ariana Bullard, Stephanie Gross and Annie Kendzior in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 2, 2017. Kendzior, a former midshipman, and Gross, a former cadet, were both raped twice during their time at the military academies. The academy superintendents were called to testify following the release of a survey last month by the Pentagon that said 12.2 percent of academy women and 1.7 percent of academy men reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact during the 2015-16 academic year.

In Support Of Immigrants

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), center, is joined by dozens of Democratic members of the House of Representatives to mark "Immigrant Rights Day" in the Capitol Visitor Center on May 1, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The Democratic legislators called on Republicans and President Donald Trump to join their push for comprehensive immigration reform.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Two U.S. Senators who had endorsed Roy Moores candidacy withdrew their support, one day after a Washington Post report alleging that he had pursued teenagers when he was in his thirties.

Montana Senator Steve Daines and Utah Senator Mike Lee both revoked their support Friday evening.

Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate, Lee wrote on Twitter at approximately 6 p.m. E.T.

Daines retweeted Lees tweet, and, two minutes later, followed with his own statement. I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate, he wrote on Twitter.

Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate.  Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) November 10, 2017

I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate.  Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) November 10, 2017

The Post reported Thursday that Moore had pursued relationships with four teenage girls when he was in his thirties, which included initiating sexual contact with one girl, who identified herself to the Post as Leigh Corfman, when she was 14 years old.

Another woman, Gloria Thacker Deason, told the Post she had gone on dates with Moore and he had given her wine when she was 18. Moore has denied the allegations, insinuating that the paper was engaging in an attack on his character in an effort to drum up support for his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.

In an interview with Fox News Sean Hannity Friday, Moore denied the allegations, claiming he dated a lot of women after he came back from the military, but does not remember any of them being significantly younger than him. He said he knew Deason and another woman identified in the Posts report, Debbie Wesson Gibson, although he does not remember romantically pursuing them or going on dates with them.

Story continues

Moore denied he knew Corfman and that he had engaged in sexual contact with her, alleging that her story was politically motivated.

Moore has the endorsement of four current U.S. Senators listed on his website: Lee, Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Daines was never listed.

Cruz and Cornyn have both condemned the allegations in the report  Cruz said Moore should withdraw if the allegations are true  but have not withdrawn their endorsements as of Saturday morning.
Tuesdays sweeping victories for Democratic candidates can be viewed through many lenses. To be sure, the election results are a powerful repudiation of Donald Trumps policies and divisive rhetoric, and a reminder that the coalition that twice backed Barack Obama is alive and well.

But Tuesdays results are also the story of the remarkable diversity of candidates who sought elected office for the first time  and won. Behind the vote totals and exit polls is a new generation of public servants, many of whom were motivated by Trumps election to seek office. Tuesdays victors might not look like the traditional face of politics, but they unquestionably represent its future.

In Virginia, a House of Delegates that previously had 17 women out of 100 members, will now be comprised of nearly 30 women, including its first-ever Asian American and Hispanic female legislators. The stories of these winning candidates are quintessential American stories.

Kathy Tran came to the U.S. as a refugee fleeing Vietnam when she was just an infant. She spent a dozen years at the U.S. Department of Labor, working to expand the economic opportunities that helped her family achieve the American Dream.

A cybersecurity specialist, Hala Ayala ran on a platform of improving health care. As a single mother working at a gas station on minimum wage, Ayala saw first-hand how the Medicaid program had saved the life of one of her sons.

Among the new members of the Virginia House of Delegates is Danica Roem, the first openly transgender person to be elected to a state legislature. Running against a long-time incumbent who once called himself the states chief homophobe, Roehm focused her campaign not on social issues but on reducing local traffic congestion.

And in two dramatic races in New Jersey, voters resoundingly said no to the politics of bigotry.

In the election for the Edison school board, Asian American candidates Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel were targeted with a pamphlet saying that voters should DEPORT Shi and Patel because the Chinese and Indians are taking over our town! Both won easily.

Story continues

In the race for Hoboken mayor, a mailer attacked Ravi Bhalla, a turbaned Sikh candidate, with a warning: Dont let TERRORISM take over our town! Bhalla prevailed and will become the first Sikh mayor in New Jersey history.

The stories of change are reflected in election results all across the country: the first African American woman mayor of Charlotte, NC; the first lesbian mayor of Seattle; the first woman mayor of Manchester, NH; and the first African American mayor in Montana.

The new faces of politics also include candidates drawn to public service often by accident or tragedy, rather than a long-planned strategy. In Virginia, Chris Hurst decided to run for office after his girlfriend, a television reporter, was gunned down while conducting an on-air interview. Although he backed stronger gun controls, Hurst centered his winning campaign around expanding Medicaid and increasing school funding.

Ashley Bennetts call to politics came in January, when a board member in Atlantic County, NJ, posted a Facebook meme about the Womens March that asked, Will the womens protest end in time for them to cook dinner? Bennett got mad, challenged the incumbent, and soundly defeated him.

At a time when so much cynicism pervades our politics, its easy to question whether one election can signal a turning point for our democracy  and certainly, Trumpian politics will still prevail in many parts of the country. But these election results demonstrate that strong candidates can overcome tribalism, biases and even divisive campaign tactics by focusing on the bread-and-butter issues that really matter to constituents. Regardless of ones political views, thats an outcome that everyone should celebrate.
2017 NYC Veterans Day Parade Wreaths honoring veterans are displayed around Madison Square Park in New York City on Nov. 11, 2017. (Photo: Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)

New York City hosted its 98th annual Veterans Day Parade, the largest celebration of service in the nation, on Nov. 11. Americas Parade featured more than 20,000 participants, with marching bands, people on floats, veterans groups and military units.

At 11 a.m.  the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month  a solemn hush fell over Manhattans Madison Square Park as veterans laid wreaths under the Eternal Light Flagstaff to honor the fallen.

This years parade marks the centennial of the United States entry into World War I (1917-2017). The U.S. Air Force is this years featured service. The parade is also a key part of Veterans Day USA, a national network of events working toward the 100th anniversary of Veterans Day in 2019. (Yahoo News)

Photography by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.
Beirut (AFP) - At least 26 civilians have died in artillery fire and Russian air strikes on two displacement camps and surrounding villages in eastern Syria, a monitor said Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine children were among those killed. The villages and displacement camps were full of people who had fled fighting in the town of Albu Kamal.

Syrian regime forces and allied militia took Albu Kamal from the Islamic State group two days ago, but jihadists mounted a fierce fightback and recaptured it on Saturday.

Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Observatory, said artillery fire by pro-regime forces and air strikes by Russian warplanes were pummelling remaining IS-controlled areas in eastern Syria.

"Fifteen civilians including seven children died in a displacement camp near Al-Sukkariyah, west of Albu Kamal, in bombing since Friday night," said Abdel Rahman.

Another 11 civilians, including two children, had died in bombardment on a string of villages and a second displacement camp about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Albu Kamal, he told AFP.

The Observatory relies on a network of sources in Syria and identifies whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.

The media collective DeirEzzor24 also reported the deaths, saying entire families had been killed in the bombardment near Al-Sukkariyah.

"Most residents have fled Albu Kamal to nearby villages, and there are very few still on the outskirts of the town," said the collective's head Omar Abu Layla.

"There are no civilians left inside Albu Kamal," he told AFP.

Albu Kamal is the last significant Syrian town IS controls. Losing it would cap the group's reversion to an underground guerrilla organisation with no urban base.

IS rose to prominence in the chaos of Syria's conflict, which broke out in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

It has since evolved into a complex war that has killed more than 330,000 people, forced millions more to flee, and left much of the country in ruins.
These two adorable jaguar cubs were quite the scaredy cats when they stepped out in public for the first time.

Emma and Fitz  the first jaguars born at the Houston Zoo in 12 years  refused to leave their mom's side as they made their public debut Thursday after four months of bonding with her behind the scenes.

Read: Party Pandas! Zoo Celebrates Twin Cubs' First Birthday

The purrfect pair took a few tumbles as they explored rocks in their enclosure.

The cubs have the option to hang out in caves or their night shelter but during their debut, they chose to hide under their mother instead.

The cubs hang out with their mom.

Stephanie Adams/Houston Zoo

The cubs explore their new home.

Stephanie Adams/Houston Zoo

The cubs explore their enclosure.

Stephanie Adams/Houston Zoo

Jaguars at Houston Zoo.

Stephanie Adams/Houston Zoo

Emma and Fitz are the first cubs for 6-year-old Maya and 3-year-old Tesoro, who came to the zoo nearly two years ago.

Read: Hippo Escapes Zoo and Savors Freedom for 2 Minutes Before Returning on Its Own

Jaguars are mostly found in South and Central America but their numbers are declining due to habitat loss.

"The Houston Zoo is protecting jaguars in the wild by providing support to conservation partners in Brazil who work with the Brazilian government on saving the forested homes of these beautiful cats," the zoo said.





Related Articles:
(WASHINGTON)  Students who attended for-profit colleges filed nearly 99% of the requests for student loan forgiveness alleging fraud by their schools, according to an analysis of Education Department data published Thursday.

The study by The Century Foundation represents the most thorough analysis to date of the nearly 100,000 loan forgiveness claims known as borrower defense received by the agency over the past two decades and paints an alarming picture of the state of for-profit higher education in America. The study was provided to The Associated Press ahead of publication.

The report comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faces criticism for halting two Obama-era regulations that would have added protections for students. Review of tens of thousands of claims has stalled and the AP reported last month that the department now is considering abandoning the practice of full loan cancellation in favor of partial forgiveness. Student advocates point to the Trump administrations ties to the for-profit industry and accuse DeVos of putting industry over students.

The study found a disproportionate concentration of predatory behavior among for-profit colleges that raises serious concerns about the federal governments current approach to providing relief to students who have been defrauded and misled.

The Education Department said it needs to review the report before commenting.

Of the more than 98,800 complaints received by the department as of mid-August, 98.6% came from students at for-profit schools, while only 1.4% of them were filed by those who attended nonprofit institutions. For-profit schools account for only 10% of national enrollment and 18% of federal student debt, according to government data.

More than 75,000, or 76%, of claims came from students who attended the now-shuttered Corinthian schools, followed by more than 7,300 students from the ITT Technical Institute chain, as well as students from American Career Institute, the Education Management Corporation and others. The Century Foundation received the data through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Story continues

The for-profit college industry scams students across the country and taxpayers and thats why the industry, including industry insiders who are now staffing the Department of Education, is now fighting so hard against rules that would clarify the borrower defense process, said Toby Merrill, director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard University, a legal services clinic that represents defrauded students. If for-profit schools dont want to be responsible for borrower defense claims and reimbursing taxpayers, then they could simply not cheat their students.

Steve Gunderson, president of Career Education Colleges and Universities, the industry lobbying group, dismissed the report as an attack on the industry. He suggested that the Obama administration was to blame for the influx of borrower-defense claims from for-profit college students.

It doesnt surprise me that the Century Foundation issued a report suggesting for-profit colleges are to blame for borrower defense claims. Look no further than the Obama Administrations destruction of ITT Tech and Corinthian, Gunderson told the AP in a statement. This report confirms what weve long known: There are dozens of groups coordinating their efforts to destroy our sector.

For-profit colleges expanded dramatically over the past two decades, with enrollment rising from around 230,000 in the early 1990s to a record 2 million in 2010. They recruited aggressively, targeting non-traditional students  usually older people who had jobs and could only study part-time. They also focused heavily on women, people of color and veterans. But after graduating, many students struggled to find jobs that were promised to them or to transfer credits to other schools, leading to massive student loan defaults. A 2010 government study found that all of the 15 for-profit colleges evaluated by undercover agents made deceptive statements to prospective students and four of them encouraged fraudulent practices.

The Obama administration cracked down hard on for-profit colleges, pressuring Corinthian and ITT to close and approved at least $655 million in loan cancellations from those chains in recent years. At the same time, the administration also passed revisions to the borrower defense regulation and to another similar rule, known as gainful employment, with the aim of increasing students protections.

DeVos moved to freeze those revisions before they went into effect. Theres now a backlog of 87,000 complaints that havent been ruled on, according to the TCF report. DeVos said she intends to fight fraud, but believes the Obama revisions were written too broadly and could allow for unsubstantiated claims.

In an interview with Politico published last week, DeVos suggested there was no substantial difference between for-profit and nonprofit schools. Lets be clear, its for-profit or not-for-profit is simply a matter of tax status  fraud anywhere needs to be rooted out, she told the publication.

But Tariq Habash, one of the authors of the Century report, said the study offers evidence to the contrary.

This highlights a clear difference between for-profits and nonprofits. Its not just the tax statuses. Its the control structure that governs these entities, Habash said.

For-profits, he said, are financially motivated to maximize their profits, they have conflicting interests and one will always win over the other.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House officials tried to pressure Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke into expelling tens of thousands of Honduran immigrants, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, saying also that Duke said she planned to resign. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert both called Duke about her decision to extend residency permits to the immigrants, the newspaper reported, citing current and former administration officials. The calls came on Monday just as she was about to announce the Temporary Protected Status for the Hondurans, they said. She refused to reverse the decision on the immigrants. Homeland Security had a Monday deadline to announce plans for 57,000 Hondurans and 2,500 Nicaraguans who were granted TPS after Hurricane Mitch hit Central America in 1998. Duke ended the protected status for the Nicaraguans on Monday but said DHS needed more time to decide on the Hondurans. She extended their status to July 5, 2018. The officials said Duke was irritated by what she saw as politically driven interference by White House officials, including her old boss Kelly, who had been Homeland Security secretary. Duke informed Kelly she would resign, the officials said on condition of anonymity. DHS spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton said in an email that Duke "is committed to continuing her work at DHS" and had made her decision based on current immigration law. "As with many issues, there were a variety of views inside the administration on TPS," Houlton said. "It is perfectly normal for members of the White House team to weigh in on major decisions." The White House did not respond to requests for comment on reports on the internal debate in the Post and the Wall Street Journal. The Trump administration has targeted the program, which critics say allows participants to repeatedly extend their stays in six-to-18-month increments in case of a natural disaster, civil strife or other emergencies in their homelands. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) passes under pressure from Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jae Crowder (99) and guard Iman Shumpert (4) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Its been two months since Hurricane Harvey devastated the city of Houston and subsequent flooding displaced thousands of citizens. Relief efforts, however, are still ongoing and will continue for months and perhaps years.

Local celebrities and athletes have contributed to relief funds and on Friday, Adidas announced that for every assist recorded by James Harden this season it will pledge $100 to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. Its a long season and Harden is currently third in the NBA, averaging 10 assists a night. Based on the current estimations on their Pledgit.org page, Adidass donations are projected to reach $80,000.

For every assist the Beard gets this season, @adidas is pledging $100 to the Mayors Hurricane Relief Fund. You can pledge for every @JHarden13 assist too!

Pledge NOW: https://t.co/i9169LOZft pic.twitter.com/MlxynaDyj3  Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 10, 2017

Harden has already donated $1 million on his own to Houstons hurricane relief, while Rockets Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon donated $150,000 to relief efforts as well.
One year ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood before an audience at a Ritz-Carlton hotel in California and dismissed the idea that misinformation spread on Facebook could have influenced the outcome of the exhausting, divisive election the U.S. had just experienced.

Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook  of which its a small amount of content  influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea, Zuckerberg said at the time.

What a difference a year makes.

Zuckerberg has since said he regretted his earlier statement, explaining in a Facebook post in September, This is too important an issue to be dismissive.

And weve learned that the misinformation in question was more than just misguided white lies: It was actively planted on Facebook (and on Twitter, Google, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit  hell, even on Pokemon Go) by Russia-linked actors looking to sow division.

More troubling still, the people behind those lies knew exactly what buttons to push to have the greatest effect. Odd as the ads were, some had shockingly high response rates  as much as 24 percent in some cases, according to data released by the House Intelligence Committee.

In the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin, for instance, weve learned that Russia paid Facebook to display highly targeted ads to precise demographics in key areas of the state. The ads didnt endorse one candidate over the other. Instead, they pushed divisive, issue-based messages intended to outrage Americans and turn them against each other. A Facebook analysis in September specifically mentioned ads that touched on gay rights, race issues, immigration and gun rights.

Donald Trump went on to win Wisconsin (which, prior to 2016, had voted for a Democrat in every presidential election since 1984) by just 22,748 votes. And at 10,704 votes, his margin of victory in Michigan was closer still  indeed, the closest presidential race in Michigans history.

Ultimately, Russia paid Facebook (in rubles, no less) $100,000 to run 3,000 targeted ads around the country, buying an audience of around 10 million people  a population roughly equivalent to that of the entire state of North Carolina.

Story continues

Weve also learned that Russias digital reach extended far beyond paid ads alone. On top of the 3,000 ads, an additional 80,000 Facebook posts, linked to 120 actively managed Facebook pages, have so far been linked to the Russian government.

Those posts were seen by around 29 million Americans, who helped spread them to at least 126 million Americans overall. An additional 20 million encountered the content on Instagram.

Thanks to Facebook alone, more than half of all eligible voters in the U.S. were exposed to and interacted with Russian propaganda between January 2015 and August 2017. So far, Facebook has resisted calls to notify those who were exposed.

To be fair, its unclear just how much influence Russias content had, especially in light of the Trump campaigns own substantial digital advertising push. But the sophisticated targeting should have everyone concerned  not the least of all Facebook, whose services made it possible.

Yet despite these revelations and Facebooks repeated pledges to do a better job of self-governing, the internet behemoth still continues to downplay its frightening power both at home and abroad. (For example, human rights groups have denounced Facebook for failing to take down posts that promote violence against Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted minority in Myanmar.)

Colin Stretch, general counsel for Facebook; Sean Edgett, acting general counsel for Twitter; and Richard Salgado, director of law enforcement and information security at Google, testify on Capitol Hill on Oct. 31, 2017. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

This is nothing new for Zuckerberg and company. In 2011, Facebook was outraged when the Federal Election Commission considered implementing rules that would have helped avoid the very scenario that played out in last years election. At the time, Facebook lawyer Colin Stretch warned the government not to stand in the way of innovation.

As recently as this month, Facebook dispatched Stretch to deflect scathing testimony from lawmakers who are once again pursuing regulations, this time with a bit more urgency. The legislation in question, known as the Honest Ads Act, would force online advertisers like Facebook to adhere to the same disclosure rules for political ads as traditional media companies.

Stretch (and his counterparts at Twitter and Google) conceded that they could have done more to weed out the deliberate falsehoods peddled on their platforms, and they acknowledged that the foreign interference represented an existential threat to our democracy. But once again, they stopped short of actually embracing government regulation itself.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force missed at least two chances to block the shooter in last weekend's deadly church attack in Texas from buying guns after he was accused of a violent offence in 2012, according to current and former government officials and a review of military documents.

A third opportunity to flag shooter Devin Kelley was lost two years later by a twist of bad luck when a Pentagon inspection of cases narrowly missed the former airman.

The Air Force said on Monday it had failed to provide information as required about Kelley's criminal history to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's criminal databases. It gave few other details about the omission.

A review of Department of Defense procedures by Reuters shows that the military twice should have flagged Kelley, then serving at a New Mexico base, after he was accused of repeatedly beating his wife and stepson.

If Pentagon rules had been followed, the Air Force should have put Kelley into national criminal databases used for background checks soon after he was charged.

The Air Force should then have flagged Kelley, 26, again later that year after his court-martial conviction for assault, which permanently disqualified him from legally getting a gun.

When presented with this account of how the FBI was not alerted about Kelley, Air Force officials confirmed the procedures that should have happened.

"That is what the investigation is looking at now," Brooke Brzozowske, an Air Force spokeswoman, said. The FBI confirmed it never received Kelley's records.

Kelley bought guns from a store in Texas in 2016 and 2017, although it is not clear whether these were the weapons he used last Sunday to attack churchgoers in Sutherland Springs before killing himself. Authorities said he killed 26 people, including a pregnant woman's unborn child.

If the Air Force had flagged Kelley to the FBI either when he was charged and convicted, he would have been unable to get a gun legally.

Story continues

Reuters has been unable to determine exactly how or why Kelley's records were not shared.

Kelley also narrowly slipped through the system in 2014 when the Pentagon's inspector general told the Air Force it was routinely failing to send criminal records to the FBI, and urged them to correct this in some old cases like Kelley's

The then inspector general, Jon Rymer, raised the alarm with the military.

He looked at 358 convictions against Air Force employees between June 2010, and October 2012. In about a third of those cases, fingerprints and court-martial outcomes were wrongly not relayed to the FBI, the inspector general's report said.

Rymer recommended that the Air Force send what missing fingerprints and records it could from his sample period to the FBI, and the Air Force agreed. But Kelley was convicted in November 2012, a week after the sample period ended, and it appears that his case was never looked at again.

The inspector general's office said it was investigating what happened with Kelley's file, and suggested that the military should have done more after its report to correct errors in sharing information.

"Our recommendations, while directed at the period that was reviewed and future investigations, also applied to the entire system," said Dwrena Allen, a spokeswoman for the inspector generals office.

FIRST MISTAKE

According to statements from the Air Force and FBI and a review of Defense Department rules, the first mistake came when the Air Force failed to send along Kelley's fingerprints.

The military makes it mandatory to collect fingerprints when someone is accused of a serious crime such as assault, as Kelley was in June 2012.

By then, the U.S. military had recently switched to using the FBI's automated records-submission system for all fingerprints, which digitally scans prints and adds them to FBI databases.

It was not clear what happened to Kelley's fingerprints. The Air Force said it was investigating whether they were even taken.

Entering his fingerprints and other information in the FBI's so-called Interstate Identification Index (III) would have been enough to flag Kelley as needing further investigation in 2016 when he tried to buy a gun at a San Antonio store.

"When they hit on a record like that they delay the transaction," said Frank Campbell, a former Justice Department employee who helped develop the FBI's background check system that licensed gun dealers must consult before a potential sale.

The FBI would then have asked the Air Force the outcome of Kelley's case. The airman was convicted of a crime involving domestic violence that carries a maximum penalty of more than one year in prison, both of which disqualify a person from buying guns and ammunition under federal law.

The FBI could have then added Kelley's name to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System Indices (NICS Indices), which would mean he would instantly fail future background checks.

Instead, Kelley cleared the background check and walked out of the store with a gun, and returned the following year, passed another background check and bought a second one, the store said.

According to Defense Department rules, the Air Force should have caught its error after Kelley's court-martial ended when it was obliged to notify the FBI that Kelley had been convicted, and that his crime involved domestic violence

The FBI said on Wednesday it had no record in its three databases for background checks, including the III database and the NICS Indices, of ever receiving information from the Air Force about Kelley's conviction.

Air Force officials said it was the responsibility of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the force's law enforcement agency, to take fingerprints and share any necessary information with the FBI, and it was not immediately clear why it had not.

(Additional reporting by Tim Reid in Sutherland Springs, Texas; Editing by Dina Kyriakidou and Alistair Bell)
(Via ESPN)

If Alex Rodriguezs treatment of his mock turnover chain is any indication of what will happen to Miami against Notre Dame on Saturday night, the Hurricanes may be in trouble.

A-Rod, a big Miami fan, was the guest picker on College GameDay and, of course, picked Miami to beat Notre Dame. But as he put his turnover chain on as he made the pick, the Miami logo was broken in half.

Oops.

(via ESPN)

We were hoping ESPNs Lee Corso would put the real turnover chain on if he picked Miami to win. But he didnt pick the Hurricanes. Corso went with Notre Dame, which gave us a glorious Rodriguez surrender cobra.

(via ESPN)

      

Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

More college football coverage from Yahoo Sports:

 No. 10 Auburn ruins No. 1 Georgias undefeated season

 Penn State players help coach propose after win

 The Florida Gators latest on-field disaster

 No. 13 Ohio State scores blowout win over No. 12 Michigan State


Photo credit: Alfa Romeo

From Road & Track

Update 11/10/17: Friend-of-the-site Bozi Tatarevic found more proof of this engine's existence on FCA's OEM service site. An Alfa Romeo spokesperson told Car and Driver that the automaker has no plans to bring out any new engines for the 2018 Giulia, but made no mention of the 2019 model. The original post, as published 12/15/16, appears below.



Currently, Alfa Romeo has confirmed two trim levels for its U.S.-bound Giulia sedanthe 280-hp base model, and the 505-hp Quadrifoglio. That 225-hp gulf between the two models is sizable, so it makes sense that Alfa might develop a car to slot right in between the two. Apparently, Alfa is already doing that with a 350-hp Giulia Veloce that's US-bound.

Wij zijn niet echt bedoeld om nieuwsfeitjes te verspreiden. Maar deze vonden we wel opmerkelijk. Bij het surfen op de... Posted by Squadra Tuning on Tuesday, August 23, 2016

As Autoevolution reports, evidence for a 350-hp Giulia was first uncovered by Dutch tuning firm Squadra Tuning earlier this year. Autoevolution also obtained a screenshot of an internal document that seems to confirm that a four-cylinder, 350-hp, all-wheel-drive model, dubbed the Giulia Veloce, is headed to North America.

In an email sent to Road & Track, an Alfa Romeo spokesman declined to comment on the potential existence of this model.

If you've followed the Giulia and Alfa Romeo's expanding model lineup closely, this is undoubtedly confusing. The European market already has a Giulia Veloce, a more luxurious trim level that comes standard with an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel-drive, but no performance upgrades, in spite of what the "Veloce" name implies.

Still, it makes sense for Alfa to offer some sort of mid-point between the base Giulia and the Quadrifoglio. A 350-hp Veloce would be poised to compete with the 354-HP Audi S4, the 362-hp Mercedes-AMG C43, and the 320-hp BMW 340i, though all those cars use six-cylinders to the Alfa's four.

Story continues

Like the US-bound Quadrifoglio, the Giulia Veloce won't offer a manual transmission, according to the documents obtained by Autoevolution. This is par for the course for all of its theoretical German rivals, save the BMW.

Of course, none of this is confirmed, and given Alfa's tendency to change US-market plans at the last minute, we'll won't know for sure until the Veloce arrives at dealers. We hope it comes because an Italian sedan with as much power as a fifth-gen Corvette, and that's cheaper than the $73,000 Quadrifoglio sounds like our idea of a good time.

via Motor1

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Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have signed a joint statement on solving the Syria conflict following a brief meeting in Vietnam, after the US President snubbed Russian efforts to hold formal talks.

The leaders agreed there was no military solution to Syria's civil war and called on all parties to take part in a Geneva-led political process, according to the Kremlin.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Moscow's announcement or the conversation the Kremlin said took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang.

The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The US had earlier frustrated Moscow by stalling on and ultimately rebuffing proposals for a formal talks between the two presidents. The Kremlin had been confident a second bilateral meeting - following their first in July - would take place while the leaders were in Vietnam.

Mr Trump initially said he saw "no reasons" why the talks should not take place, but the White House later rowed back, citing "scheduling conflicts on both sides".

The two leaders did cross paths, however, exchanging handshakes and brief comment during the summit's official dinner.

Pictures showed Mr Trump walking up to Mr Putin as he sat at the summit table and patting him on the back. The two leaned in to speak to each other and clasped each other briefly as they exchanged words.

Television footage from Danang later showed Mr Putin and Mr Trump chatting - apparently amicably - as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.

Mr Trump has shown little appetite for holding talks with Mr Putin unless there is a realistic prospect of progress being made on festering issues such as Syria, Ukraine, and North Korea.

Story continues

In their joint statement, the leaders pledged their commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties tin the Syrian conflict to take an active part in a political process.

Moscow and Washington agreed there was no military solution to the Syrian conflict, according to the text of the statement published on the Kremlin's website.

Despite emphasising last year on the campaign trail that he hoped the US and Russia could work together on world issues, Mr Trump has had limited contact with Mr Putin since taking office.

Their brief meeting in Vietnam came amid an intensifying probe into Russian meddling in last year's US presidential election and allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.

Mr Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the investigation along with his former deputy, Rick Gates, and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who has admitted lying to the FBI.
Pulling off a successful political purge is no easy featparticularly in Saudi Arabia, where the lines dividing royalty, politics, security, media and business are indelibly blurred. Here are five different groups targeted by soon-to-be-king Mohammed bin Salman (widely known as MBS) this week as he prepares to ascend the Saudi throne:

1. His family

Family comes firsteven in purges.The Al Saud family, the namesake of the country, spans 6 family tree branches and approximately 15,000 royals; all told, the House of Saud is believed to be worth upwards of $1 trillion. And while the 32-year old crown prince has been heralded across Western media as an ambitious and reform-minded upstart, not everyone in the royal family shares that view, particularly its more conservative members. Hence, at least 11 princes were rounded up over the weekend, many of them among the kingdoms most powerful royals.

Complicating matters is the ever-changing Saudi line of succession. The current King Salman is the son of Abdulaziz ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. For the last six decades, the crown had been handed off between Abdulazizs sons; MBS will be Abdulazizs first grandson to ascend to power, a long-delayed generational jump that was always bound to pack drama.

2. Government ministers

Its true that MBS is a genuine reformer, but practical concerns have forced his hand as well. The Saudis have spent decades lavishing its citizens with welfare benefits to keep political dissent to an absolute minimum. Thats no longer possible with oil prices hovering around the $60 mark. But MBS has a planVision 2030, penned with the help of management consultants from McKinsey and other firms. Its an ambitious overhaul of the worlds 20th largest economy, and the diversification away from oil includes a 5% sale of Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state oil giant thats valued by Riyadh at $2 trillion. The hope was that the sale would raise $100 billion, but thats always been seen as overly optimistic estimatethe figure is likely closer to $65 billion.

Story continues

Now even that is thrown into question with the arrest of State Minister and Aramco board member Ibrahim Al-Assaf. Minister of Economy and Planning Adel bin Mohammed Faqih was also taken into custody this weekend. In total, at least 38 past, current and deputy ministers have been detained in whats been framed as an anti-corruption drive (though its still too early to tell if thats actually the case). If youre going to overhaul an entire economy, you may as well start with a clean slate.

3. Military leaders

Its entirely possible that the ministers controlling key parts of the Saudi economy were arrested less because they posed a direct threat to MBS and more because they disagreed about the direction of economic reforms. Theres no question that the arrests of Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed al Sultan, commander of the Kingdoms naval forces, and Prince Mitaab bin Abdullah, Minister of the National Guard, were intended to ensure a monopoly of power for MBS.

The crown prince has been defense minister of the Kingdom since 2015, and the National Guard was the last security force that remained outside his control. Mitaab was the one person inside the government who couldve posed a serious challenge to MBS. Thats no longer a worry.

4. The religious establishment

Taking on military leaders is the most traditional component of the crown princes purge. But taking on the religious establishment is the most radical.

The Saudi Kingdom has a rather complicated relationship with Wahabism, a fundamentalist version of Islam. Briefly, the al Saud tribe needed the followers of Muhammed ibn al-Wahhab to help transform them from just another regional tribe on the Arabian peninsula to the dominant force we know today, first to fight alongside them and then to help create and maintain a Saudi civil society.

But the relationship has always been uneasywhereas Saudi rulers had wanted to engage with the world, Wahhabists shunned modernity as heretical. That became a particular problem once Saudi oil made the kingdom a magnet for foreign investors. For decades, it was an uneasy peace.

Thats about to change. It began with MBSs announcement two months ago that the Saudi Kingdom would begin issuing drivers licenses to females. Hes gone further, forbidding the Saudi religious police from arresting Saudi citizens, and he has begun to modernize the Saudi Council for Hadith rulings, which regulates the daily behaviors of devout Muslims. He was also sure to sweep up dozens of hardline clerics in this weeks purge.

5. Business leaders

Of course, a successful purge doesnt mean just removing those with formal powers. As with all political power plays, theres a crucial PR component involved. And if youre going to control the narrative, you have to control the ones telling that narrativehence the arrests of Waleed al-Ibrahim, chairman of the MBC media group. Relatedly, the former CEO of the Saudi Telecom Company, Saud al-Dawish, was also detained over the weekend.

But there was no more surprising arrest than that of billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal  a cousin of MBS who is perhaps Saudi Arabias most renowned international investor, with significant stakes in Twitter, Lyft and Citigroup. It was particularly surprising given Alwaleed support of MBS general reform push and moderation of Islam, both in private and in public. Its that last part that may have been his undoingin 2017 Saudi Arabia, theres only one mouthpiece for liberalizing social, culture and religion in Saudi society, and thats the one about to ascend the throne.

If nothing else, the purge shows MBS has the ambition necessary to transform the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into a modern, diversified 21st century economy. Now comes the hard partexecuting on those ambitions.
Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran has called on state Rep. Steve Lebsock to step down after a colleague accused him of sexual harassment.

Lebsock is accused of pressuring Democratic state Rep. Faith Winter to have sex with him during a party in 2016 by grabbing her elbow to convince her to leave with him and describing sexual acts to her, The Denver Post reports.

I told him no. I told him he needed to leave, Winter told the Post. I told him he needed to go home. He started grabbing my elbow. He was trying to get me to go out of the bar. He was very angry.

According to the Post, the alleged incident ended after another lawmaker stepped in. Winter decided to come forward with her story after learning that other legislators, lobbyists and government staffers had allegations against Lebsock. The public radio station KUNC published a report Friday counting nine people, including Winter, accusing Lebsock of harassment, intimidation and unwanted sexual advances.

In the wake of the accusations against Lebsock, Duran urged the lawmaker to resign and said she would temporarily take away his chairmanship of the House Local Government Committee.

I would expect that Representative Lebsock would consider the impact of his actions on his colleagues and the public confidence in our institution and do the right thing and resign, Duran said in a statement to the Post. There is no place for those types of actions at the legislature.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper also condemned Lebsocks alleged actions.

Todays news should give us pause to make sure that we have the appropriate protocols in place to investigate and take action on inappropriate conduct, he said on Twitter. Women should have the ability to conduct their jobs in politics and government without fear of harassment or retribution.

Harassment is unacceptable. Todays news should give us pause to make

sure that we have the appropriate protocols in place to investigate

and take action on inappropriate conduct. (1/2)  John W. Hickenlooper (@GovofCO) November 10, 2017

We must ensure that all are respected and the environment where we

work is safe. This is especially true for women who are

underrepresented in politics. Women should have the ability to

conduct their jobs in politics and government without fear of

harassment or retribution. (2/2)  John W. Hickenlooper (@GovofCO) November 10, 2017

Lebsock did not immediately return TIMEs request for comment. In an interview with the Post, he denied harassing Winter and said he did not recall making sexually explicit comments.

Im extremely sorry that Rep. Winter has been hurt, but I can also say honestly that I do not remember every saying anything inappropriate to Rep. Winter, he said, adding: I can honestly tell you that I do not remember saying anything like that to Faith ever. But in fairness, in complete fairness, we were all drinking. I had had quite a bit to drink that evening, as did most folks thereI cant say with certainty about every single word that was spoken. I just honestly do not remember saying anything close to that.

Lebsock, who is currently running for Colorado State Treasurer, is the latest in a string of prominent men who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of sexual harassment and assault allegations against the producer Harvey Weinstein. The accusations have included several lawmakers, including a Minnesota State senator. This week, U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore denied allegations that he initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old when he was 32.
U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson was found with his arms tied behind his back and a major head wound, indicating he may have been captured and executed in Niger last month, The Washington Post reported, citing local villagers.

The Pentagon has released almost no details about Johnsons death. He was one of four U.S. soldiers and five Niger servicemen killed in an October incident, but Johnson wasnt found for two days after he went missing. His body was located outside the village of Tongo Tongo, a mile from the site of the Oct. 4 attack on a U.S. Army Special Forces team and Niger troops by some 50 militants believed to be affiliated with the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

The Post cited local farmer and trader Adamou Boubacar, who said in a phone interview that children had found the body of Johnson, 25. He said Johnsons wrists were bound and he had an injury in the back of his head, possibly from a bullet, the Post reported.

Tongo Tongo chief Mounkaila Alassane confirmed Boubacars account, according to the Post. Alassane said Johnsons shoes were missing and he was wearing only socks.

The soldiers widow, Myeshia Johnson, was told not to view her husbands body when he was returned to the U.S., advice usually given when a body is badly damaged.

Sometime after Johnsons death, President Donald Trump made what turned out to be a highly controversial condolence phone call to Johnsons widow. The call made me cry even worse because Trump said her husband knew what he signed up for when he joined the Army, the widow told ABCs Good Morning America. I was very angry at the tone in his voice and how he said it.

"[Pres. Trump] couldn't remember my husband's name. ... That's what hurt me the most." - Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt. La David Johnson pic.twitter.com/px5io2RbJB  Good Morning America (@GMA) October 23, 2017

Myeshia Johnson also complained that Trump couldnt remember my husbands name and referred to him as your guy, which the president denied.

Story continues

I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2017

Niger villagers told the Post that they also saw the bodies of U.S. Staff Sgts. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson and Dustin Wright, dressed in T-shirts and boxer shorts, although it wasnt known when their clothing may have been removed. The Pentagon said that those men were killed in action and that their bodies were found within hours of the firefight. One body was in a truck and the others were nearby, according to the Post.

Other details of the attack remain hazy. The Pentagon and the FBI are continuing to investigate.

There was no immediate word from the Pentagon or the White House about the Posts story. A U.S. military official told the Post, When the Americans received Johnson, his hands were not tied.

Related Coverage

Too Many Troubling Questions About The Death Of Sgt. La David Johnson

The Social Security Benefits That Sergeant La David Johnson Earned For His Children

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
(WASHINGTON)  An Alabama state official is citing the Bible to defend the Republican U.S. Senate candidate accused of sexual advances on girls. State auditor Jim Ziegler says Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter, suggesting that Roy Moore acted in a divine tradition if he in fact made sexual advances toward a 14-year-old girl.

Theologians and pastors, among others, expressed revulsion that Mary and Joseph would be used to counter allegations of sexual misbehavior with a minor. They also said Ziegler got the facts wrong and ignored the cultural context of the time in which Jesus lived.

If this is evangelicalism, Im on the wrong team, the evangelical commentator Ed Stetzer wrote in Christianity Today. But it is not. Christians dont use Joseph and Mary to explain child molesting accusations.

Moore, a 70-year-old former state Supreme Court justice, flatly denied allegations of decades-old sexual advances on girls, published Thursday in a Washington Post story. The accounts by multiple women prompted Republican lawmakers to say he should end his candidacy for the Dec. 12 special election if the allegations are true. I have never engaged in sexual misconduct, Moore said Friday.

But Ziegler was dismissive about the fuss. Theres just nothing immoral or illegal here, he told the Washington Examiner. Maybe just a little bit unusual.

Rev. Jim Martin, editor at large of the Jesuit magazine America, tweeted Friday that comparing the allegations against Roy Moore in any way to Joseph and Mary is disgusting. Martin said: We have no idea about the exact ages of either the Virgin Mary or St. Joseph at the time of their betrothal or marriage.

The Bible does not state the ages of Joseph and Mary, agrees Margaret M. Mitchell, a professor of early Christian literature and the New Testament at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Under ancient norms and apparently under first century Roman and Jewish law, she said, it was apparently common for girls 12 and older to be betrothed, though practice varied by region, social class and more.

Story continues

She said the earliest text to mention Marys age is The Infancy Gospel of James, which she describes as a clearly legendary text that is trying to expand on the gospel accounts. That non-authoritative text placed Marys age at 12 when she conceived and it cited supposed evidence of her enduring virginity to demonstrate she conceived Jesus without sexual intercourse.

Similarly, Mitchell said by email, We have no idea how old the historical Joseph was, though a tradition that he was very old developed in the second century and beyond. The point of that, too, was to support the idea of the virgin birth  Joseph perhaps being too old to impregnate Mary.

Such theories were fanciful expansions on the Gospel narratives, Mitchell said. But they add a veneer of solemnity  that may allow a modern Christian like Mr Z (Ziegler) to gloss over what it means for a 12 or 14 year old girl to be viewed as and used as a sexual vessel.

Martin, in tweets, said: Joseph is often depicted in art as older than Mary, in fact, considerably older, so as to make him seem less sexualized, and to emphasize Marys virginity. But, in fact, both Mary and Joseph could have been the same age.

Leigh Corfman told the Post she was 14 when Moore first approached her and took her to his home twice, the second time touching her over her bra and panties and having her touch him over his underwear. The Post quoted three other women who said he pursued them when they were 16 to 18 and he was in his early 30s. He denies the womens reports and says he wont quit the race.

If the Bible is not clear on the subject, the law is: Alabamas legal age of consent then and now is 16 and adults cannot touch children sexually or entice them into a home for that purpose.
Mark Blackwell of Jacksonville, Fla., has logged more than 1 million miles in just two Corvettes. But the first one, at just 342,000 miles, was a garage queen compared to his second car. The red 2000 Corvette coupe has racked up 773,338 miles, enough to earn it a place of honor in the National Corvette Museum.



To save you the math, that's an average of about 43,000 miles per year, or about 117 miles per day, every day, for 18 years. Blackwell logs a lot of highway trips to Georgia and southern Florida for work.



And the Corvette is on its original 5.7-liter V8 engine, though Blackwell recently had to get the headgasket replaced at around 750,000 miles.



Blackwell turned his keys over to the museum in Bowling Green, Ky., earlier this month, calling it a "fabulous car, no complaints here." The video above from the museum shows how surprisingly good the Corvette looks, considering all the places it's been.



"If any car deserves to be in a museum, it's this one," Blackwell says, "for the miles it's gone and the things it's done for me."



He credits its handling with saving his life one dark night when a bumper fell off a semi, forcing him to swerve into an interstate median, blowing out two tires in the process. "Had to obviously get the tires replaced and the car towed in that night. But any other car, there was no way in the world that I would not have hit that bumper."



Related Video:









C5 Corvette's 773,338-mile journey ends at the Corvette Museum originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 19:30:00 EST.
By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump lauded his Beijing meetings on trade and North Korea as "very productive", ending a visit which Chinese media declared set a "new blueprint" for handling ties, even as the White House looks set for tougher action on China. Trump pressed China to do more to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions and said bilateral trade had been unfair to the United States, but also praised Xi's pledge that China would be more open to foreign firms. Hours after Trump left Beijing on Friday, China said it would drop foreign ownership limits on local banks and asset management companies while loosening stake restrictions in securities firms and insurers - moves that have been long awaited by foreign financial firms. Beijing faces intensifying pressure from Western governments and business lobbies to remove investment barriers and other rules that hobble overseas firms from operating in the country, as well as intellectual property theft. Washington has refrained from pushing harder on trade because it needs China's cooperation on North Korea, although Xi, at least in public, went no further than reiterating China's determination to achieve denuclearization through talks. Trump and Xi, who call themselves friends, also oversaw the signing of about $250 billion in commercial deals, a show that some in the U.S. business community and others say detracts from addressing structural impediments that puts them at a disadvantage to Chinese rivals. China may be mistaken in thinking it had done enough to address U.S. concerns, and Trump could find people disappointed at home he didn't make more progress on items like market access and North Korea, Paul Haenle, Director of the CarnegieTsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, said. "My concern is you may see a shift towards a much harder line coming from the U.S. administration. That will be a huge surprise to China and President Xi, especially given that Xi likely feels he has done a lot for Trump on this visit." Trump reiterated in a tweet just before leaving Beijing for the APEC summit of Asia Pacific leaders in Vietnam that he didn't blame China for the trade gap between the two countries, adding that he had "very productive" meetings on trade and North Korea with Xi. "I don't blame China, I blame the incompetence of past Admins for allowing China to take advantage of the U.S. on trade leading up to a point where the U.S. is losing $100's of billions. How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would've done same!" A U.S. industry source said the implication of Trump blaming his predecessors for the trade deficit is that Trump won't make the same mistake - a warning to Xi, not a capitulation. The Trump administration did not bring hard trade policy items to the discussion with Xi because U.S. officials don't want to "argue over crumbs", the source added. "Barring some dramatic action on North Korea by Xi, there is going to be a hard turn in U.S. trade policy," the source said. A second source, who is close to the business delegation that traveled to Beijing this week, added that the Trump administration appeared poised to take a much harder line in the weeks ahead. There were no obvious gaffes during the two-night stopover, and Trump and Xi seemed to enjoy being in each other's company. At a banquet on Thursday night in the Great Hall of the People, Trump and Xi dined on coconut chicken soup, spicy chicken, stewed beef with tomatoes and grouper fillets. Chinese state media said the tone and outcome of Trump's visit had been largely positive, saying Trump and Xi were setting a new blueprint for handling relations and managing their differences. "China has tried its utmost, even at the sacrifice of Sino-North Korean relations," influential tabloid the Global Times wrote in its editorial. "Trump has gradually learned that Beijing is indeed making selfless contributions to promoting the denuclearization of the peninsula. He can't demand more." (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Matthew Miller, and Michael Martina in DANANG, Vietnam; Editing by Michael Perry, Tony Munroe and Nick Macfie)
First there was Sean Spicer,smarming and dissembling through his lectures as if he were back behind the White House briefing room podium. Now, Corey Lewandowski has become the latest former Trump employee to serve as a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvards John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Lewandowski made a name for himself bylying on television,threatening reporters, grabbing and injuring then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and most recently, beinga man of conveniently shabby memory. He spent several days this week holding Q&A sessions with Harvard students, though none of the schools social media accounts advertised his presence as they did Spicers. We cant imagine why.

According tothe institutes website, Lewandowski was supposed to spend that time bestowing upon the next class of public servants his in-depth understanding of the political process and the administration of President Donald J. Trump. And just like Spicer before him, each session began with the instruction that the hour to follow would be entirely off the record, much to the frustration of the Harvard students.

HuffPost spoke to one of the students whod won the chance to attend one of Lewandowskis classes. The student said that in contrast with the Spicer visit, students appeared much more ready to challenge Lewandowski.

That might have been due to Lewandowskis incident with Fields and the subsequent simple battery charge.

To offer a quick refresher,in Fields police report, the arresting officer wrote that Fields had showed him her forearm, which revealed bruising from what appeared to be several finger marks indicating a grabbing type injury. The report also noted that video footage clearly showed Lewandowski grabbing Fields, and says Washington Post reporter Ben Terris confirmed her account.

Lewandowski had a different understanding of the events in question.

But thanks to an ever-worsening news cycle, thats all in the past now, and Harvard was more than happy to welcome Lewandowski and offer him  a man whogot fired from a cable networkfor people who think Fox News is too liberal the chance to mold young minds.

Story continues

Here are just a few of the lessons Harvard paid the former Trump campaign manager for, according to the student in attendance. The student paraphrased Lewandowskis comments during the discussion, and the notes have been lightly edited for clarity:

On Coreys unique perspective:

Trump was a political phenomenon that wont be repeated any time soon.

On what the most surprising part of the Trump presidency has been:

The most surprising thing was the transition team. When Trump was sworn in, his government wasnt fully functional because of the dynamic between Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus, who all had to report to each other but really had no authority collectively or individually. No one was the real leader, even though they were all ostensibly the leaders. Its been much better since John Kelly came on.

On what Donald Trump has and has not achieved so far:

There are three things Trump hasnt achieved yet that he campaigned on: Repealing and replacing Obamacare, significant tax cuts and infrastructure. Three of his successes were appointing [Supreme Court Justice Neil] Gorsuch, freeing a U.S. hostage in Egypt and ending a lot of Obama-era regulations.

On draining the swamp:

Steve Bannons goal is to bring people to Washington who will challenge the Republican status quo [that] has led to a huge deficit and has been composed of lies for the past 30 years. Realignment is long overdue, and Steve Bannon is recruiting candidates who wont support Mitch McConnell.

On how Trump made calls during the campaign:

Trump made campaign decisions based on deep conversations with his family and a small group of advisers (like Phil Ruffin) who have had long working relationships with Trump.

On doing away with globalism:

The rhetoric coming out of the White House is America First. This is in stark contrast to rhetoric from Obama, who gave us eight years of leadership from behind, globalism, and a focus on non-U.S. citizens over citizens. Trump doesnt want to be apologetic  its OK to be American. This administration is going to stand up and buck political correctness.

On how much minority groups love Trump:

Six percent of African-Americans voted for Trump, which is the highest for a Republican other than Bob Dole. Muslims, Hispanics and women are all voting for Donald Trump. [Trump actually got 8 percent of the black vote. George W. Bush, the most recent candidate not to run against a black candidate, received 11 percent of the black vote.]

On whether Lewandowskis history should have disqualified him from the fellowship:

I got a guy elected who had never been a politician, and who had very limited funding compared to every other campaign. Plus, Trump won in places that hadnt been Republican for a while.

A post shared by Mitch Gainer (@hashtaggainer)on Nov 7, 2017 at 1:05pm PST

On the Trump familys killer instincts:

Trump and his family didnt understand how difficult the presidential race would be, because theyd never done it before.

On Trumps comments about John McCain:

When Trump made his comment about John McCain not being a war hero, I thought the campaign was over. Given my experience in politics, the medias reaction to a statement like that would have ended the campaign. The response wasnt as bad as I expected because a respected journalist came out and agreed with Trump and said something like, Yeah, John McCain isnt so great to veterans. Because one of their own had defended Trump, the media couldnt be as critical. [We have no idea what hes talking about.]

On something virtually anyone who has not been trapped beneath a large object for the past two years could tell us:

Whether its the right thing or the wrong thing, Trump will double down on whatever he thinks or says.

On campaign ethics and, for no particular reason, on collusion with Russia:

Ive never pitched a negative story on an opponent. Theres an ethical way to win a campaign and an unethical way. Ask any reporter  Ive never pitched a negative story. I wouldnt break the law, and I hope that anyone who colluded with the Russians  either on the Trump campaign or the Clinton campaign  goes to jail for the rest of their lives.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
The age of dinosaurs met an unlikely end  because had the cosmic impact that doomed it hit just about anywhere else on the planet, the "terrible lizards" might still roam the Earth, a new study finds.

The impact of an asteroid about 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide about 66 million years ago created a crater more than 110 miles (180 km) across near what is now the town of Chicxulub (CHEEK-sheh-loob) in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The meteor strike would have released as much energy as 100 trillion tons of TNT, more than a billion times more than the atom bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The blast is thought to have ended the age of dinosaurs, killing off more than 75 percent of all land and sea animals.

Prior work suggested the Chicxulub impact would have lofted huge amounts of ash, soot and dust into the atmosphere, choking off the amount of sunlight reaching Earth's surface by as much as 80 percent. This would have caused Earth's surface to rapidly cool, leading to a so-called "impact winter" that would have killed off plants, causing a global collapse of terrestrial and marine food webs. [Wipe Out: History's 7 Most Mysterious Extinctions]

To explain why the Chicxulub impact winter proved so catastrophic, Japanese scientists previously suggested the superhot debris from the meteor strike not only caused wildfires across the planet, but also ignited rocks loaded with hydrocarbon molecules such as oil. They calculated that such oily rocks would have generated vast amounts of soot.

The amount of hydrocarbons in rocks varies widely depending on location. In the new study, the Japanese researchers analyzed the places on Earth where an asteroid impact could have happened to cause the level of devastation seen with the Chicxulub event.

The scientists now find the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs happened to hit an unlucky spot  had it landed in about 87 percent of anywhere else on Earth, the mass extinction might not have occurred.

Story continues

"The probability of the mass extinction occurring was only 13 percent," said study lead author Kunio Kaiho, a geochemist at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.

The scientists ran computer models simulating the amount of soot that asteroid impacts would have generated depending on the amount of hydrocarbons in the ground. They next estimated the climate effects caused by these different impact scenarios.

The researchers calculated the level of climate change needed to cause a mass extinction was a 14.4 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 10 degrees Celsius) drop in global average surface air temperatures. This would involve an asteroid impact sending 385 million tons (350 million metric tons) of soot into the stratosphere.

The scientists found that a mass extinction would have occurred from the impact only if it had hit 13 percent of the surface of the Earth, including both land and oceans. "If the asteroid had hit a low- to medium-level hydrocarbon area on Earth, occupying approximately 87 percent of the Earth's surface, mass extinction could not have occurred," Kaiho told Live Science.

The scientists are also analyzing the level of climate change "caused by large volcanic eruptions that may have contributed to other mass extinctions," Kaiho said. "It is hoped that the results will lead to further understanding of the processes behind those mass extinctions."

Kaiho and his colleague Naga Oshima at the Meteorological Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan, detailed their findings online today (Nov. 9) in the journal Scientific Reports.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
Vladimir Putin, left, and Donald Trump - AP

Donald Trump is expected to meet Vladimir Putin on Friday despite a swirl of allegations about his election campaign's links to Russia.

The US and Russian presidents are both attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation [APEC] gathering in Vietnam alongside other world leaders.

Mr Trump wants Russia to put more pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme while the Syrian civil war is set to also be discussed.

Aides for both countries indicated the meeting would go ahead on Friday but it had yet to be formally announced on Thursday, with discussions ongoing.

Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, backed Mr Trump over holding the meeting but urged America to keep the pressure up on Russia.

Mr Trumps presidency has been dogged by allegations that his election campaign colluded with Russia to help him get into the White House.

An investigation into the matter led by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, recently brought criminal charges against three former advisers to Mr Trump.

George Papadopoulos, who advised the Trump campaign on foreign policy, admitted to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts while Paul Manafort, the one-time campaign chairman, and his colleague Richard Gates face a dozen charges including money laundering. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied there was any collusion with Russia.

Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putins spokesman, said the presidents would have the possibility to speak several times at the summit and exchange views on the hottest issues in international and bilateral relations.

He added: Both Putin and Trump will take part in the APEC summit, so one way or another they will cross paths."

Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, said a formal one-to-one meeting between the men was still under consideration on Thursday.

Mr Johnson was asked about the meeting during a Fox News interview. He said: I'm all in favour of contacts so if that meeting is going to go ahead that would be a great thing. But don't reward Russia too early - keep the pressure on Russia.

Speaking at a factory on Thursday, Mr Putin accused the Untied States of interfering in Russian politics through the continuing allegations of doping in sport.

They want to create problems during the Russian presidential election in response to supposed interference in their elections, he said.
(HANOI)  President Donald Trump said Russias Vladimir Putin once again vehemently denied interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections during their discussions on the sidelines of an economic summit Saturday. Trump declined to say whether he believed Putin, but made clear hes not interested in dwelling on the issue.

He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did, Trump said of Putin, speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to Hanoi, the second-last stop of his Asia trip.

Every time he sees me, he said: I didnt do that. And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it, Trump said, noting that Putin is very insulted by the accusation. Trump called the accusation an artificial barrier erected by Democrats  once again casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence communitys conclusion that Russia did try to interfere in the election to help Trump win.

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but the two spoke informally several times on the events sidelines and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.

But Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders relationship and said it jeopardized their ability to work together on issues including North Koreas escalating nuclear program and the deadly conflict in Syria.

Having a good relationship with Russias a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way, Trump told reporters. People will die because of it.

Trump danced around the question of whether he believed Trumps denials, telling reporters that pressing the issue would have accomplished little.

He said he didnt meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times, said Trump.

Well, look, I cant stand there and argue with him, he added later. Id rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. Id rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing about whether or not  cause that whole thing was set up by the Democrats.

Story continues

Trumps suggestion that he may believe Putin over his own nations intelligence community is certain to re-ignite the firestorm over the issue of election meddling. Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea. Congressional committees have also been interviewing campaign and White House staff.

Earlier Saturday, the Kremlin issued a statement saying the leaders had reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of civil war-torn Syria now that the Islamic State group has largely been pushed out. Among the agreements key points, according to the Russians, were an affirmation of de-escalation zones, a system to prevent dangerous incidents between American and Russian forces, and a commitment to a peaceful solution governed by a Geneva peace process.

The Kremlin quickly promoted the agreement as the White House stayed silent. Trump told reporters that the deal was reached very quickly and that it would save tremendous numbers of lives. And he praised his relationship with Putin the two seem to have a very good feeling for each other and a good relationship, considering we dont know each other well.

Snippets of video of from the summit in the sea-side city of Danang showed Trump and Putin shaking hands and chatting, including during the world leaders traditional group photo. The two walked together down a path to the photo site, conversing amiably, with Trump punctuating his thoughts with hand gestures and Putin smiling.

Journalists traveling with Trump were not granted access to any of the APEC events he participated in in the picturesque tropical seaside city Saturday.

White House officials had worked quietly behind the scenes negotiating with the Kremlin on the prospect of a formal meeting. The Russians raised expectations for such a session and Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Asia that it was expected well meet with Putin to discuss issues including ramping up pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic weapons program.As speculation built, the two sides tried to craft the framework of a deal on the future of Syria that Trump and Putin could announce in a formal bilateral meeting, according to two administration officials not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.

Though North Korea and the Ukraine had been discussed, the two sides focused on trying to strike an agreement about a path to resolve Syrias civil war once the Islamic State group is defeated, according to officials. But the talks stalled and, minutes before Air Force One touched down in Vietnam, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters the meeting was off.

Trump will be attending a state dinner in Hanoi Saturday night. On Sunday, hell meet with the countrys president and prime minister before heading to his last stop: The Philippines.
The Washington Post story about Roy Moore sure seemed damning. There were four women on the record saying that the Alabama Senate GOP nominee had pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. The most shocking story was Leigh Corfmans, who said she was just 14 when Moore sexually assaulted her.

But for Moores most die-hard supporters, the article wasnt that bad  except in the sense that it was a hit job on the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Moore has vehemently denied the accusations, particularly in the case of Corfman. (The age of consent in Alabama is 16.)

And while some national Republicans have condemned Moore, other GOP officials and media figures are trying their hardest to defend him. Some of the leading defenses of Moore:

It was the 14-year-old girls fault for not being smarter.



I know that 14-year-olds dont make good decisions.  Alabama GOP Geneva County Chairman Riley Seibenhener

The Bible says its fine.

Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth, for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist, Zeigler said, choosing his words carefully before invoking Christ. Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.  Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who has endorsed Moore

Roy Moore is romantic.

Roy Moore fell in love with one of the younger women.  Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler

This woman also is not cited making any claims of inappropriate sexual conduct. In fact, she characterized Moore as being romantic, reading poetry to her, and playing the guitar. The woman is cited saying that physical contact only involved kissing and did not progress any further.  Breitbart News

Whyd they wait so long to come forward?

If they believe this man is predatory, they are guilty of allowing him to exist for 40 years. I think someone should prosecute and go after them. You cant be a victim 40 years later, in my opinion.  Alabama state Rep. Ed Henry (R)

Story continues

Im obviously suspicious. After all, some of these allegations are 40 years old.  Madison County GOP Chairman Sam Givhan

Girls 16 and up are adults.

The 16-year-old and the 18-year-old have no business in that story because those are women of legal age of consent.  Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak

They didnt actually have sex.

I really dont see the relevance of it. He was 32. She was supposedly 14. Shes not saying that anything happened other than they kissed.  Alabama Marion County GOP Chair David Hall

The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse.  Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler

What about an unrelated Democratic senator?

If the 14 year old girl stuff about Roy Moore is true, zero of my people will have that. Issue is WaPo has fabricated stories, ignored Menendez underage sex accusations. Trust issue.  Right-wing media personality Mike Cernovich

Media going all out on one Roy Moore article, silent on Robert Menendez who is actually indicted.  Pro-Trump conspiracy peddler Jack Posobiec

The Washington Post cant be trusted.

The Bezos-Amazon-Washington Post that dropped that dime on Donald Trump is the same Bezos-Amazon-Washington Post that dropped the dime this afternoon on Judge Roy Moore. Now is that a coincidence?  Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon

Also on HuffPost

"I was with this American flag. All. Night. Long."

"Got a last-minute tip on some cattle thieves -- had to spring into action!"

"I was trapped in a sort of Christian phantom zone -- you know, like from 'Superman'?"

"I was reading 'Infinite Jest.' Just finished."

"Just plum forgot, my bad!"

"Heh, sorry, I was thinking of this joke I heard. What's legal now, you say?"

"What? Sorry, just got lost in my thoughts for seven months."

"Caught up in a high-five marathon with myself, you know how it is, amirite?? High five!"

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
The Millennium Falcon disguised in the English countryside (Photo: Google Maps)

Carmen Sandiego and Waldo aint got nothing on the Millennium Falcon. Ever since Disney and Lucasfilm relaunched the Star Wars film franchise, fans have been going to great lengths to sleuth out clues to the stories. But perhaps the greatest sport to arise is the Twitter game of Find the Falcon, in which intrepid Force aficionados use any means necessary to locate the most iconic vessel from that galaxy far, far away and reveal it on social media.

This weeks headlines came courtesy of one Kevin Beaumont, a Brit who, using Google Maps, was able to spot the disguised ship near Longcross Studios outside of London. Disney covered the Falcon with sheeting and tucked the beloved hunk of junk behind a ring of shipping containers, shielding it from fans and Imperial troops alike.

Lol Disney tried to hide the Millennium Falcon by surrounding it with shipping containers. Also, its on Google Maps. https://t.co/LgerDntmKQ pic.twitter.com/SfuYkmHJbl  Kevin Beaumont (@GossiTheDog) November 9, 2017

The ship, which was used recently for both The Last Jedi (premiering Dec. 15) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (to be released on May 25, 2018), is presumably parked on the lot until shooting begins on Star Wars: Episode IX early next year.

With cloaking technology limited to Star Trek movies, this isnt the first time aerial views of the ship have leaked, despite Fort Knox-level security (reportedly including anti-snoop drones) around the Star Wars productions. These images of the London-area Last Jedi set surfaced on Twitter last year.

Star Wars: Episode VIII set pictures pic.twitter.com/PEungJckAA  Star Wars Direct (@StarWarsDirect) April 30, 2016

And back in 2014, when The Force Awakens was in production, the Falcon was being rebuilt at Greenham Common airfield outside London, which was hardly restricted airspace. Discovered and posted by a pilot named Gordon Macmillan, the initial shots, which showed Resistance headquarters with a partially constructed Falcon and an obsucred X-wing fighter, were scrubbed from Twitter by Lucasfilm. However, once word got out, subsequent spy shots quickly popped up.

Story continues

#StarWarsEpisodeVII Filming at RAF Greenham Common on Saturday pic.twitter.com/d6lw6TS2aX  Justin Reeves (@1JUS) September 10, 2014

Whoo! Full size Millenium Falcon & X-Wing fighters on set for the new Star Wars film. pic.twitter.com/vKJEkVF7mO  Ste. (@Ste_F1) September 29, 2014

As one commenter put it, The secret Rebel base isnt so secret.

Now that the latest Falcon has been found by fans, its only a matter of time before Lucasfilm hides it again, and the cat-and-mouse game begins anew.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Authorities in Florida have arrested a couple on child neglect charges, alleging they failed to get dental treatment for their daughter, who had 17 rotten teeth in her mouth, PEOPLE confirms.

The arrests of Jeremie Maloy, 31, and 32-year-old Cynthia Maloy come after school officials in Southport, Florida, asked them for more than a year to take their child to a dentist, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

The Bay County Sheriffs Department has not released the childs age.

The complaint alleges the Maloys daughter had complained to teachers about tooth pain. She also had to eat soft foods, like bananas, according to the court papers.

The condition of the childs mouth was described as severe, with several decaying and ruptured teeth.

 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.

The court documents allege the girls adult teeth began to grow in and overlap her rotten teeth, which had to be extracted.

Both Maloys have been released on $1,500 bail and a judge barred them from having any contact with their daughter.

A police report claims the couple refused to sign medical permission slips that were sent home with the child, which would have cleared the way for her to be examined by a dental practice for free.

 PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: 35 Real Cases That Inspired the Show Law & Order is on sale now.

The couple was arrested last week and neither has entered a plea.

They have court-appointed attorneys who could not be reached Friday for comment and attempts to reach them at their home were unsuccessful.

Charged with one count each of child neglect, the Maloys are due back in court for their first appearance in this matter on Jan. 3.

Officials have not specified where the girl is now  whether with a relative or in the custody of the state.
Cynthia and Jeremie Ervin Maloy - Bay County Sheriff's Office

A Florida couple who ignored their daughter's 17 rotting teeth have been charged with neglect

Jeremie Ervin Maloy, 31, and Cynthia Grace Maloy, 32, were arrested after it was found they had ignored pleas by their daughter's school to deal with the problem, the New York Daily News reported.

Police had been investigating the family since the beginning of the year, according to documents from the Bay County Sheriff's office.

The problem was first noticed last autumn at the start of the school year, when the child turned up for class with "severely decayed teeth".

An investigation was launched by the local Department of Children and Families in February.

Such was the state of the child's teeth, according to court papers, that she was only able to eat soft foods. The girl had also complained of being in pain.

School officials made several visits to the family residence, even offering transport to take the child to the dentist .

"The Maloys never took advantage of this offer for the sake of the child, but Cynthia Maloy did ask for rides to the nearby dollar store to buy cigarettes and food," police officers wrote in their report.

Following a court hearing earlier this week the Maloys were granted bail, but ordered to have no contact with their daughter without the approval of a judge.
Paris (AFP) - UNESCO member states on Friday overwhelmingly approved the nomination of France's former culture minister Audrey Azoulay to head the embattled cultural agency.

They confirmed the nomination by the agency's board last month of Azoulay, 45, who becomes UNESCO's second woman director general.

"The unity you have shown in this vote is a good omen for the coming period, in which we need to stand shoulder to shoulder," Azoulay told the members after garnering 131 votes with only 19 opposed.

She said she had "great faith" in UNESCO, which "bears the genuine power to transform the world."

Azoulay said members were "clear-sighted as to the organisations difficulties (but) know how irreplaceable and essential it is in the face of our worlds challenges."

Azoulay, who was culture minister under former president Francois Hollande, succeeds Irina Bokova, who was UNESCO's first woman director and whose second term expires this month.

Azoulay narrowly defeated Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari of Qatar, also a former culture minister, in last month's politically charged election.

Al-Kawari failed to pick up support from other Gulf states which are part of a Saudi-led coalition blockading Qatar.

The campaign was also overshadowed by Washington's announcement that it planned to withdraw from the Paris-based body after years of tensions over decisions seen as critical of Israel.

In the face of the Arab divisions, France presented Azoulay, who is Jewish of Moroccan origin, as a consensus figure who could mend fences and soothe tensions with Israel.

She also faces the daunting job of reforming the agency struggling under the weight of a bureaucracy that has become unwieldy over the seven decades since it was founded.
Actor George Takei has been accused of sexually assaulting a model in 1981. (Photo: Albert L. Ortega via Getty Images)

Former model Scott R. Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday that actor George Takei sexually assaulted him 36 years ago.

Brunton, then 23, told the news outlet that Takei groped him without his consent during an evening in the actors condo in 1981. Brunton was just begining his career when he met Takei, who was in his mid-40s, saying the men had exchanged numbers and would occasionally run into each other. After breaking up with his boyfriend, Brunton said, he was invited by Takei to dinner and a show.

He was very good at consoling me and understanding that I was upset and still in love with my boyfriend, Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter. He was a great ear. He was very good about me spilling my heart on my sleeve.

Brunton said he was invited back to the Star Trek actors home for a drink, and thats when Brunton says the assault happen. After Bruntons second drink at the condo, he said, he began to feel disoriented and dizzy, then passed out.

The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear, Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter. I came to and said, What are you doing?! I said, I dont want to do this. He goes, You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable.

Takeis representative did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment. Attempts to contact Brunton were not successful.

"I have been telling it for years, but I am suddenly very nervous telling it, says George Takei accuser https://t.co/ZiL5AmMPAP  Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 11, 2017

Brunton said that the incident left him feeling betrayed. He said he told multiple friends about the incident, thinking the media wouldnt believe his story, but thinks things have changed recently.

Story continues

Bruntons accusations come in the wake of numerous allegations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood celebrities, including industry mogul Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K. The former model says it was actually Takeis comments after the Spacey accusations that made him come forward publicly.

Takei offered a scathing condemnation of Spacey, who was accused of sexual misconduct with a then-14-year-old Anthony Rapp when Spacey was 26.

Spacey, as part of his initial statement in response to Rapps accusation, said he chose to live as a gay man, a move that Takei and many others saw as an attempt to distract attention from the allegation.

When power is used in a non-consensual situation, it is a wrong, Takei told The Hollywood Reporter in October. For Anthony Rapp, he has had to live with the memory of this experience of decades ago. For Kevin Spacey, who claims not to remember the incident, he was the older, dominant one who had his way. Men who improperly harass or assault do not do so because they are gay or straight  that is a deflection. They do so because they have the power, and they chose to abuse it.

UPDATE: Takei responded to the allegation on Saturday morning, saying, The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now.

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Berlin (AFP) - German prosecutors said Friday they have charged a 26-year-old Palestinian asylum seeker with murder after his deadly knife rampage at a Hamburg supermarket in July.

The accused, named as Ahmad A., killed one and wounded six in the July assault, and was arrested after passers-by overpowered him.

"The results of the investigation show that the accused sought out his victims indiscriminately, retaliating against people, who in his view represent perpetrators of injustice targeting Muslims," said prosecutors.

"It was important to him to kill as many German nationals of the Christian faith as possible. He wanted his actions to be viewed in the context of an Islamist attack, and understood as a contribution to jihad worldwide," they added.

Investigators, however, did not find any evidence to suggest that A. was a member of the Islamic State (IS) group, said the prosecution service, charging the man with murder, as well as six counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.

He risks life in prison, although Germany often grants parole after 15 years.

The assault in the northern port city was the first Islamist attack in Germany since Tunisian Anis Amri drove a truck into crowds at a Berlin Christmas market on December 19, killing 12 and injuring 48.

Germany has been on high alert over the threat of a jihadist assault since Amri's rampage, for which IS claimed responsibility.

Like Amri, Ahmad A. was to have been deported after his asylum application was rejected by authorities, but the process was held up by a lack of identity documents.

The attacks have piled pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel over her decision to allow in more than a million asylum seekers since 2015.

Railing against the migrants, the Islamophobic party AfD snatched over 90 seats in September's general elections -- the best showing for a far-right party in Germany since the end of World War II.
By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Two East African presidents on Saturday condemned a decision by the International Criminal Court to open a war crimes investigation into Burundi, saying it undermined regional peace initiatives. The court ordered a formal investigation on Thursday into crimes committed in Burundi from April 2015 to October 2017. "Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has condemned the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which ordered its prosecutor to launch an investigation into the Burundi conflict," Tanzania's presidency said in a statement on Saturday. Museveni is the current chairman of the East African Community (EAC) regional economic bloc comprising Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan. The statement was issued after Tanzanian president John Magufuli ended a three-day visit to Uganda where he held talks with Museveni on Burundi and other matters. Burundi plunged into violence in April 2015 after President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term in office, triggering protests and a crackdown by security forces. He won re-election that July, but most opponents boycotted the vote, saying his decision to stand violated the constitution and the terms of a peace agreement that had ended a war in the central African country. Government forces are suspected to have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced 400,000 during a crackdown after the election, although rights groups say the number killed could be higher. The court is investigating crimes against humanity that include murder, torture, rape and persecution. Tanzania, which hosts thousands of Burundian refugees, and Uganda have been engaged in months of diplomatic efforts aimed at restoring peace in Burundi. So far, there has been little progress. "Museveni ... said the ICC is interfering in EAC affairs without consulting regional leaders, which is a wrong move that undermines previous peacemaking efforts in Burundi," said the statement. Tanzania's Magufuli also criticized the ICC investigation. "Magufuli said the move (by the ICC) was going against efforts already taken by the East African Community, which include appointing a mediation committee for the Burundi peace process led by former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa," the statement said. Regional mediators of the Burundi peace talks are expected to hold another round of talks on Nov. 23, the Tanzanian presidency said. Magufuli said security concerns in Burundi have been exaggerated, citing a recent voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees from Tanzania. Last month Burundi became the first nation to withdraw from the court, amid growing criticism from African leaders who complain prosecutors are excessively targeting Africans. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by Katharine Houreld)
By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel shot down a Syrian spy drone over the Golan Heights on Saturday, the Israeli military said. The drone was downed with a Patriot interceptor missile over the Golan demilitarized zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces since the ceasefire deal that followed their 1973 war. The military initially told Reuters the UAV was Russian-manufactured but offered no evidence. A military source later said it was unclear whether the UAV was indeed Russian-made. "It was a reconnaissance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and not an attack UAV and we are checking whether there is any connection to Iran and Hezbollah," military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, told Reuters. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel viewed the incident gravely and would respond to any provocation. "We hold the Syrian regime responsible for any firing or breach of sovereignty and call on it to hold back all players active in its territory," Lieberman said in a statement. Russia intervened in the civil war on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, joining a de-facto alliance with Iranian forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shi'ite Muslim militias helping Damascus beat back Islamic State and other Sunni Muslim insurgent groups. Israel fears an eventual Assad victory could leave Iran with a permanent garrison in Syria, extending a threat posed from neighboring Lebanon by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and has been lobbying Russia and the United States for reassurances that Iranian and Hezbollah forces will not be allowed to deploy near its border or set up bases within Syria. "We will not allow the Shi'ite axis to establish Syria as its forefront base," Lieberman said. The Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 conflict, has seen spillover violence from the Syrian civil war. Israel has at times fired to foil what it deemed deliberate cross-border attacks and has struck suspected Hezbollah arms shipments around 100 times in Syria during the civil war. For its part, Russia has set up a military hotline to prevent warplanes or anti-aircraft units clashing accidentally over Syria. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; editing by Alexander Smith and Louise Heavens)
Seoul (AFP) - South Korean warships will take part in upcoming joint drills involving three US aircraft carriers in a fresh show of force against North Korea, a Seoul military official said Friday.

The US Navy said Thursday that the three vessels -- the USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt -- will conduct "coordinated operations in international waters" in the western Pacific between Saturday and Tuesday.

It is unusual for Washington to have three of its aircraft carriers in the same place at the same time, and US Pacific Fleet commander Scott Swift said in a statement it was the first such triple-carrier drill in the region since 2007.

Seven South Korean navy vessels -- three destroyers and four escort ships -- will take part in the exercises, the South Korean official said.

Nuclear-armed North Korea regularly denounces such military drills as rehearsals for invasion and sometimes conducts its own military manoeuvres or missile tests in response.

The US warships will carry out air defence drills, sea surveillance, defensive air combat training and other training operations, the US Navy said.

The exercises come on the heels of US President Donald Trump's visit to Seoul and Beijing this week, with the North's nuclear and missile threats looming large.

On Wednesday, Trump warned North Korea not to "try" the United States but appeared to moderate his bellicose tone somewhat, offering Pyongyang's young leader Kim Jong-Un a "path to a better future".
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Top Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt said on Friday it was time that Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as prime minister on Saturday while in Saudi Arabia, returned to Lebanon. Jumblatt said in a Twitter post that after a week of absence from Lebanon, "be it forced or voluntary", it was "time for Sheikh Saad to return". "By the way, there is no alternative to him," he added. Hariri read out his resignation on television from Saudi Arabia on Saturday, citing assassination fears and denouncing Iran and Hezbollah for sowing strife in Arab states. Jumblatt is the leading figure in Lebanon's small but influential Druze community and has often played the role of kingmaker in the country's political deal-making. Two top Lebanese government officials told Reuters on Thursday that they believed Saudi Arabia was holding Hariri. A third source, a senior politician close to Saudi-allied Hariri, said Saudi Arabia had ordered him to resign and put him under house arrest. A fourth source familiar with the situation said Saudi Arabia was controlling and limiting his movement. Riyadh has denied reports that he is under house arrest. On Thursday, in a televised statement indicating deep concern at Hariri's situation, his Future Movement political party said his return home was necessary to uphold the Lebanese system, describing him as prime minister and a national leader. (Reporting by Sarah Dadouch; Editing by Tom Perry and John Stonestreet)
Beirut (AFP) - Lebanon's president urged Saudi Arabia on Saturday to explain why Saad Hariri had not returned to Beirut since his surprise resignation as prime minister a week ago.

Hariri announced on November 4 in a televised statement from Riyadh that he would be stepping down from the post, sending shock waves through Lebanese politics.

The premier has yet to return to Lebanon and rumours have swirled that he is being held in Saudi Arabia against his will.

President Michel Aoun on Saturday called on the kingdom to "clarify the reasons that have prevented the return of PM Hariri to Lebanon to be among his people and supporters".

"The obscurity surrounding the condition of PM Saad Hariri since his resignation a week ago means that all positions and actions declared by him or attributed to him do not reflect the truth," Aoun added.

"They are instead a result of the ambiguous and obscure conditions (under which) PM Hariri is living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Aoun on Saturday spoke by phone to French President Emmanuel Macron on the "latest developments" around Hariri's resignation, Lebanon's presidency said in a statement.

The Lebanese head of state has yet to formally accept Hariri's resignation and has criticised the circumstances surrounding it as "unacceptable".

- 'Detained in Saudi Arabia' -

On Saturday evening, Hariri attended a reception ceremony at the Riyadh airport for Saudi King Salman who had flown back to the capital from the holy city of Medina, Hariri's media office.

The emailed statement said Hariri had earlier met in Riyadh with both the British and Turkish envoys to the kingdom.

In his shock announcement, Hariri accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of taking over his country and destabilising the broader region, saying he feared for his life.

His statement prompted fears that Lebanon -- dominated by rival camps led by Hariri and Hezbollah -- would be caught up in spiralling tensions between Riyadh and Tehran.

Story continues

Hariri's week-long absence from Lebanon has sparked rumours that the ex-premier -- who also holds Saudi nationality -- is under de facto house arrest in the kingdom.

"The head of the Lebanese government is detained in Saudi Arabia, he is banned from returning to Lebanon until now," Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address Friday.

Members of Hariri's own Al-Moustaqbal (Future) party said they had no information on his fate.

And Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil announced on Friday that he was launching a "diplomatic campaign to bring back the head of our government of his own free will".

Even world powers have appealed for calm and freedom of movement for Hariri.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday described Hariri as "a strong partner" and warned against "any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country".

On Friday, a spokesman for France's foreign ministry said: "We wish Mr Saad Hariri to have all his freedom of movement and to be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon."
Napa and Sonoma counties already have a rivalry when it comes to wine. Now the two counties will be fighting over something else: contractors to rebuild homes lost in the October fires.

Rebuilding the more than 14,700 homes and other structures damaged or destroyed in the North Bay by the October wildfires is a monumental effort that will take years, according to construction industry experts. Another looming problem is the shortage of licensed contractors who are available to do the work.

Its devastating, said Tim Murphy, CEO of the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange. We expect this will be at least a decade or more for these communities to get back to where they were before the fires.

The homes and buildings destroyed by the fires will be rebuilt, said Keith Woods, CEO of the North Coast Builders Exchange. The big issue is how soon.

The construction industry will be very robust in the next three years, easily, said Mike Zimmer, the chief building official for Napa County.

As a result of the Great Recession, the availability of talent was already stretched and is now stretched even more, said Murphy.

We lost tens of thousands of skilled tradespeople during that severe decline in building, he said. Not all of those people have returned to the construction industry in home (or) commercial building.

According to Murphy, there are currently an estimated 1,500 licensed general contractors in Napa County, but not all general contractors build houses, he said. Some specialize in commercial buildings or schools. Plus, They might have already work in the pipeline they are committed to.

There are not enough contractors or workers to accelerate the rebuilding process as quickly as wed like, said Woods. And thats a very bad place to start.

Most contractors that I know were extremely busy before the fires and then along comes the biggest rebuild project in North Bay history, said Woods. Its going to be a long, slow process.

Hes already been in touch with other contractor associations to see if his group can reach others who can take on jobs.

Were going to have to cast a wider net to find workers, he said.

In addition to a lack of workers, a rush for materials could impact costs.

There is a concern with that level of demand, it might cause some spiking in prices of basic building materials or the availability, said Murphy.

Rebuilding from a disaster like this is a going to require all the level best efforts from government to the construction industry and from insurers and material suppliers, said Murphy.

Do the local jurisdictions have the processes in place that allow for streamlined permitting and inspections? Are the local building supply houses and material providers able to mobilize and get enough materials coming into the area (and) not cause prices to spike? asked Murphy.

Zimmer said his office was prepared to meet the demand for permits and inspectors.

We believe we have all the staffing necessary and (have) additional agencies on retainer to bring in on at a moments notice, said Zimmer. The county is also offering an expedited permit center.

Zimmer cautioned locals about choosing a contractor.

The best advice is to make sure they are licensed, bonded and insured in the state of California and are in good standing with the Contractors State License Board.

The demand will likely draw developers from outside of the Bay Area or outside the state who specialize in rebuilding after a disaster. Some contractors will work on more than one recovery project, grouping the work for efficiencies.

An individual informed us the other day they already have 14 clients that hes helping rebuild, said Zimmer.

Thats not uncommon.
By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Disneyland has shut down and decontaminated two cooling towers following an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that sickened 12 people, nine of them guests or employees at the theme park in Anaheim, county health officials said on Saturday. One of the three cases of the respiratory illness not linked to Disneyland was fatal in an individual who had additional health issues, said Jessica Good of the Orange County Health Care Agency. The chief medical officer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Pamela Hymel, said in a written statement that after learning of the Legionnaires cases, park officials ordered the cooling towers treated with chemicals to destroy the bacteria and shut them down. Cooling towers provide cold water for various uses at Disneyland and give off a vapor or mist that could have carried the Legionnella bacteria. Disneyland, which opened in 1955 and attracts tens of thousands of visitors a day, is owned by The Walt Disney Company . Hymel said that local health officials had assured them that there was no longer any risk to guests or employees of the park. There was no information on the condition of the remaining 11 victims, due to patient confidentiality laws. Good said an investigation of Legionnaires cluster discovered that the 12 people sickened by the serious lung disease had traveled to, lived in, or worked in Anaheim during the month of September. Ten of the victims, who ranged in age from 52 to 94, were hospitalized. Legionnaires disease is caused by the Legionella bacteria and can cause potentially fatal respiratory illness and pneumonia. Older people and those with health issues are particularly at risk. According to the Orange County health agency Legionella is becoming more common in the United States and in Orange County, where 55 cases have been reported through October 2017, compared with 53 for all of 2016 and 33 in 2015. Symptoms develop 2 to 10 days after exposure, the OCHCA said, and include fever, chills, cough, muscle aches, and headaches. It is treated with antibiotics, which can improve symptoms and shorten the length of illness. The disease is not contagious. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Lupita Nyong'o has called out Grazia UK for photoshopping her hair on the cover of its latest issue.

The 34-year-old Oscar winner expressed disappointment that the publication "edited out and smoothed my hair to fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like."

Disappointed that @GraziaUK edited out & smoothed my hair to fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like. #dtmh pic.twitter.com/10UUScS7Xo  Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) November 10, 2017

SEE ALSO: Solange calls out a UK magazine for Photoshopping her braids out of the cover

Nyong'o also shared a lengthier statement on Instagram, saying that there was still a "very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture."

She ended both her posts with the hashtag #dtmh (don't touch my hair), which was quickly picked up on Twitter.

Sorry to disappoint, but this is how our hair grows from our scalp: not sleek and smooth but indeed perfect. #DTMH pic.twitter.com/u7X5fFUcCK  Ebony (@hey_ebie) November 10, 2017

Shame on you @GraziaUK!! Your Eurocentric idea of beauty is NOT, I REPEAT NOT the standard. Don't ever edit our natural God given hair out. In case y'all don't know, we are beautiful just as we are!!! #donttouchmyhair https://t.co/9S8NZwXQuB  Charlene Jones (@CharleneJones_A) November 10, 2017

They still doing this in 2017? Do these editors live under a rock? #donttouchourhair  Ashley Kapri (@iamashleykapri) November 10, 2017

I need these magazines to stop cropping our crowns. First, Solange in Evening Standard and now Lupita in Grazia. #dtmh pic.twitter.com/vMrceA7ttI  Anuli (@anuliwashere) November 10, 2017

Black women are beautiful, it's a shame to define beautiful hair as european one! As a black woman,we should embrace our natural beauty!#BlackIsBeautiful #donttouchmyhair  Aurelie MIREL (@AurelieMirel) November 10, 2017

The hashtag #dtmh was first popularised by Solange Knowles' song, Don't Touch My Hair.

Story continues

Solange later used the hashtag #dtmh herself when British publication The Evening Standard photoshopped her braids on the cover of its magazine.

dtmh @eveningstandardmagazine A post shared by Solange (@saintrecords) on Oct 19, 2017 at 9:25am PDT

The paper later apologised, saying the decision to "amend the photograph was taken for layout purposes."

Mashable has reached out to Grazia UK for comment.
PG&E and Napa County government combined will be cutting down hundreds of fire-damaged trees  perhaps thousands  in the wake of the Atlas, Tubbs and Nuns blazes.

These are trees judged as being at risk of falling on power lines and on roads, which means many are in areas seen by the public. Figuring out even an approximate number within county borders is difficult, though.

PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said the utility expects to remove 25,000 trees damaged by Northern California wildfires. She didnt have a number for Napa County alone and recent fires also burned in such counties as Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Solano and Santa Cruz.

State law requires we remove dead or dying trees that could impact our lines, she said.

Meanwhile, Napa County estimates that tree removal along roads could cost more than $1 million, though help from Cal Fire could lower the bill. A county release seeking arborists said 1,500 trees along 28 roads covering a total of 50 miles could be affected.

Its a guess, Public Works Director Steven Lederer said. We had to give the arborist something to work from. But it is truly an educated guess.

PG&E will paint florescent green marks or place green tape on trees slated for removal. The county will paint red Xs.

Napa County wont be treeless when their work is done. By way of comparison, the county in 2016 approved the controversial Walt Ranch project to remove about 14,000 trees to make room for vineyards. That accounts for 6 percent of the trees on the 2,300-acre property.

But tree removal is a sensitive topic. That proved true with Walt Ranch and its proving true with the wildfire-burned trees, too.

Mount Veeder resident Gary Margadant addressed the county Board of Supervisors last Tuesday on the topic. Residents on the mountain a few miles west of the city of Napa are concerned about redwoods being cut down that may not be fatally damaged. Redwoods have survived fires through the ages, he said.

To be casual about that and to wipe out the reason we live up there is very, very detrimental to any type of relationship, Margadant said.

Redwoods have recently been removed on private property, Margadant said. Mount Veeder residents want to be a part of the conversation with arborists and informed about what is happening, he added.

Contreras said PG&E will go on private property to cut down fire-weakened trees near lines, just as it does for vegetation management in general. There would be an easement known to the property owner. The utility is using foresters and arborists to examine the trees.

In the wake of complaints, PG&E sent an email shared by Napa County. It talked of finding out what crews are doing to engage with customers. It also said property owners can call PG&E at 800-743-5000 to voice concerns.

The county is sticking to tree removal within the public right-of-way along the roads, Lederer said. The exception is if the owner of roadside property with a potential problem tree grants written permission for the trees removal.

If the property owner says they wont give us permission, well just walk away, Lederer said. That will be documented. If that tree becomes a problem later, it will become the private property owners responsibility.

He doesnt think the county will be cutting down a lot of redwoods in the fire areas.

The vast majority are probably oaks, Lederer said. I would say very, very few redwoods are in play. Im expecting primarily oaks and just scrub stuff.

Some fire-damaged trees dont need an arborist to proclaim them a hazard. Lederer said trees have already fallen onto county roads, though he didnt know how many.

How many fire-scarred trees pose a hazard on private property is another, even bigger question mark.

Greg Giusti, a UC Cooperative Extension emeritus, at a recent forum estimated that 14.5 million trees in Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties could have been affected by the recent fires. But he gave no estimate on how many might need to be removed.

Leigh Sharp of the Napa County Resource Conservation District recommended property owners focus on fire-damaged trees near their homes, driveways and other infrastructure. It might be best to contact an arborist to examine trees near structures, she said.

The districts website at naparcd.org includes a University of California pamphlet called Burned Oaks: Which Ones Will Survive? It tells how to check the cambium tissue beneath the bark to judge a trees condition.

Sharp advised taking a different approach for burned trees in the wildlands. Even if these trees fall, they might still provide nutrient value and add back to the environment. Fire-damaged trees may also resprout.

We are encouraging a wait-and-see approach to the trees, if theyre not an immediate risk of damaging structures, lines, safety, roads, Sharp said.

The wildfires caused damage along Napa County roads that go beyond adjacent trees. They destroyed 88 warning signs, 70 no-parking signs and 108 posts. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to spend $100,000 on replacements.

In addition, the fires destroyed more than a mile of guard rails6,000 to 8,000 feetthat a county report estimated could cost $1 million to replace. The federal government could reimburse the money.

Lederer on Tuesday said all county roads are open, but there is a tremendous amount of wood debris along them in some fire areas. There is activity by PG&E, country crews and Cal Fire.

Frankly, driving roads that people have driven hundreds of times, thousands of times, the roads are different- there are different views, there are different things for people to see, Lederer said. I really caution people to be very careful when driving our roads.
Three Oakland women and a juvenile out of Hayward were arrested Thursday night after taking $939 worth of clothes from an outlet store, fleeing the scene and evading arrest, according to Napa Police.

Employees at the American Eagle Outfitters Factory Store informed authorities that each woman grabbed a pile of clothes before running out of the store and heading to a car in the parking lot, Sgt. Heath Morrison said Friday. The vehicle took off, he said, entering southbound Highway 29 at First Street, its occupants throwing clothes out of the windows as it reached speeds of more than 100 mph.

The vehicle was spotted by officers as it entered the highway, commencing a 1.9 mile chase that lasted about a minute, Morrison said.

The vehicle finally stopped at the intersection of Highway 121 and 29 after crashing into another vehicle about a quarter-mile earlier, Morrison said. Once the vehicle stopped, the women jumped out and started to run, but eventually surrendered without the use of force, he said.

Jazzee Ward, 19, Peijhane Rucker, 20, Kylinda Jackson, 18, and the juvenile were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary, resisting arrest, and conspiracy. The adults were booked at the Napa County jail and the juvenile was booked at Juvenile Hall.

Ward, who was determined to be the driver, was also booked on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident with injury and evading an officer.
The New York Times

PHOENIX  Kari Lakes defeat in the governors race in Arizona has set off a high-stakes tug of war within the Republican Party, as Lakes right-wing allies pushed her to mount a Trump-style challenge to the results, while some establishment leaders  including a former Republican governor  urged her to concede her loss and move on. Lakes next move could prove a turning point for her party and the far-right faction of election deniers that propelled her rapid rise this year. Lake stands as the
Bamako (AFP) - Malian security forces mobilised Sunday to hunt the killers of two Europeans and three locals in a nightclub attack claimed by jihadists -- the first to target Westerners in the capital.

A Frenchman, a Belgian, a Malian policeman and two others died early Saturday when a masked gunman burst into the nightclub in the capital Bamako, spraying automatic gunfire and throwing grenades.

Al-Murabitoun, a jihadist group run by leading Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, has claimed responsibility in an audio recording carried by Mauritanian news agency Al-Akbar.

The recording said the operation was carried out by "brave combatants from Al-Murabitoun to avenge our prophet against the unbelieving West which has insulted and mocked him".

The investigation was expected to focus not only on tracking the gunman but also an accomplice witnesses reported seeing during the attack and a black four-wheel drive vehicle apparently used for the getaway.

The United Nations peacekeeping force, which has around 10,000 personnel in Mali, said it has made investigators and crimes scenes experts available to the authorities.

Police earlier announced they had arrested two Malians soon after but later said the pair were not involved, describing them as "not terrorists, but bandits".

Customers of La Terrasse, in the lively Hippodrome district, said the gunman arrived in the car and headed to the upstairs restaurant and bar area where they began shooting.

Reports later emerged that he had already killed the Belgian and two of the Malian victims before entering the venue.

As he left he lobbed two grenades at a security patrol and one went off, killing the policeman, witnesses said.

"The killer came here because there were foreigners. He wanted to kill foreigners, that's for sure," a waiter at the venue told AFP.

- 'Cowardly attack' -

The Frenchman was named as 30-year-old Fabien Guyomard, a single man with no children, who had lived in Bamako since 2007 and worked at ICMS Africa, a US company specialising in luxury construction.

Story continues

Hospital sources said eight people were wounded, including three Swiss nationals, one of them a woman.

Two of the Swiss were weapons experts advising the Malian government as part of international aid. They were in a critical but stable condition after being hit by bullets, the Swiss military said in Geneva.

In the moments after the attack an AFP correspondent witnessed the French victim being stretchered out of the venue while the bodies of the police officer, a guard and the Belgian could be seen outside.

"They reportedly shouted 'death to whites' on entering the restaurant... It sounds like an attack against the presence of Europeans. Then they apparently targeted the French national," a diplomatic source said.

French President Francois Hollande led the international outcry, condemning the "cowardly attack" and vowing to meet Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to offer Paris's help to its former colony.

Belgium, the United States and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have all expressed their revulsion at the bloodshed.

Mali's vast desert north is riven by ethnic rivalries and an Islamist insurgency.

Jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda controlled an area of desert the size of Texas for more than nine months until a French-led military intervention in 2013 that partly drove them from the region.

But day-to-day life in the capital, a city of 1.8 million, has been largely unaffected by the northern conflict.

"It's the first attack of this type in Bamako," said Pierre Boilley, an analyst specialising in sub-Saharan Africa.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appears to be shredding our understanding about how Saudi Arabia is ruled. Seeking to consolidate his power, he threw caution and consensus-building  the traditional techniques of Saudi leadership  out the window months ago, proceeding instead with almost reckless speed and an apparent disregard for winning the support of his uncles and numerous cousins. The arrests last weekend of a reported 11 princes on charges of corruption suggests the royal family, the House of Saud, is no longer above the law.

The commentary over Mohammed bin Salmans recent moves has been divided between predictions that he is leading the country toward dictatorship or toward family revolt. But a careful examination of Mohammed bin Salmans actions and statements over the last year suggest that he is more calculating than impetuous. The Saudi attorney general said this week that the corruption investigations had been going on for three years, while Mohammed bin Salman mentioned the wide-ranging crackdown on corruption in a May interview. I assure you that any person involved in a corruption case, whether minister, prince, or whatever, will not escape, he said.

Meanwhile, since April, Mohammed bin Salman, now 32, has been quietly orchestrating the appointments of a range of young princes in their late twenties or thirties to positions of power. They will likely be crucial to the success of his remodeling of the kingdom and could emerge as arbiters of power for decades to come. They are all either the grandsons or great grandsons of the kingdoms founder, Ibn Saud, who died in 1953. Mohammed bin Salman is entirely prudent in promoting these younger cousins, appealing to their ambition and vanity, and securing their loyalty. It is a good way of internalizing any competition between family lines  Ibn Saud had more than 40 sons, and the number of grandsons is in the hundreds. Mohammed bin Salmans actions have so far forestalled a collective family revolt, proving once again the utility of that old adage: divide and conquer.

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As in all monarchies, bloodline is often more important than competence for prospective leaders in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed bin Salman probably wants to promote talent  but will also be paying attention to how to deflect resentment or the hint of opposition. Promoting sons can take some of the pain out of fathers being sidelined.

The House of Saud has witnessed difficult transitions before. Whats different this time is that age is no longer equivalent to seniority and instead may have become a handicap. Comparative youth necessarily means a relative lack of experience but that is a risk which Mohammed bin Salman seems to have decided he can handle.

The young up-and-coming princes to watch are (in alphabetical order):

Abdulaziz bin Fahd is a great-grandson of Ibn Saud and deputy governor of the Jawf region, bordering Jordan, since June 2017. His father, a soldier, was made commander of Saudi ground forces in April 2017.

Faisal bin Sattam was appointed ambassador to Italy in June 2017. He had shown early sympathy for the rise of Mohammed bin Salman: As a member of the Allegiance Council (the grouping of senior family members), he voted against Prince Muqrin becoming deputy crown prince in 2014, an early sign of belonging to the Salman camp. (Muqrin became crown prince on King Abdullahs death in January 2015 but was replaced by King Salman three months later. The late King Abdullah is reported to have schemed to replace Muqrin with Salman, thereby creating an opening as crown prince for the kings son Miteb, who was sacked as national guard minister last weekend and is one of those detained.)

Abdulaziz bin Saud is the 30-year-old interior minister, appointed in June 2017. He replaced his full uncle and the then-crown prince, Muhammad bin Nayef, who was forced to resign. Abdulaziz bin Sauds father is governor of the oil-rich Eastern Province, where Saudi Shiites form a local majority. His new powers were curtailed within days of his appointment by the transfer of some of his responsibilities to a new state security organization. If he was upset, he didnt show it publicly.

Abdulaziz bin Turki, 34, is deputy chairman of the General Sport Authority, appointed June 2017. His father, Turki bin Faisal, served as ambassador in Washington and London, as well as head of the kingdoms external intelligence body, the General Intelligence Presidency. Of late, Turki bin Faisal has engaged in public discussions with former Israeli officials.

Ahmed bin Fahd, a great-grandson of Ibn Saud, was appointed deputy governor of the Eastern Province in April 2017. His father, who had been deputy governor of the Eastern Province from 1986 to 1993, died in 2001.

Bandar bin Khalid, 52, was appointed advisor to the royal court in June 2017. His father is governor of Mecca Province.

Khalid bin Bandar was appointed ambassador to Germany in June 2017. He is the Oxford-educated son of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former ambassador to the United States who cultivated ties with multiple American presidents.

Khalid bin Salman, 29, was appointed as the Saudi ambassador to Washington this year. He is a former F-15 pilot and full brother of Mohammed bin Salman.

Saud bin Khalid was appointed deputy governor of Medina in April 2017.

Turki bin Muhammad, 38, was appointed advisor to the royal court in June 2017. His father, a son of the late King Fahd, was governor of the Eastern Province from 1985 to 2013.

A prince who just a week ago would have made this list was Mansour bin Muqrin, the deputy governor of Asir Province who was killed a helicopter crash on Nov. 5. He had served as deputy governor since 2013 and was made advisor to King Salman in April 2015, when his father was pushed from the position of crown prince. There is considerable speculation that he disliked Mohammed bin Salman, which is plausible because his father had been sidelined. An additional rumor is that his death was not accidental, for which, as yet, there is no evidence.

This list of princes is also notable for who is absent. It does not include any sons or grandsons of the late King Abdullah, and only one grandson of King Fahd. Any direct relatives of Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, one of the so-called Sudairi Seven, are also absent. The omission is easily explicable: Ahmad is thought to have voted in the Allegiance Council against the appointment of Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince in June this year.

Mohammed bin Salman clearly sees himself, and is seen by his father, as the next king of Saudi Arabia. The latest rumor is that the change may happen as soon as this weekend. Traditionally, the success of his transition would depend as much as anything on acceptance and support in the wider royal family, but Mohammed bin Salmans impatience and ambition suggest that wont be an option. Instead, his authority will rely on the backing of those in this list.

Another group that could prove crucial is princes in the military. These are harder to identify and are essentially in their positions to stop coups. A 1985 State Department cable released by WikiLeaks is rather dated but provides a good overview. The mere presence of princes in the Armed Forces provides some degree of stability to the Al Saud regime, it concludes.

King Salman is thought to see Mohammed bin Salman as a modern-day Ibn Saud, a potentially great leader with huge ambition, and much more promising than any other, older potential contenders for the throne. But even Mohammed bin Salman appears to realize that, in order to transform his kingdoms economy and cope with the challenges of regional chaos, he must be the leader of a royal team.
Over the past few weeks, Ive had discussions I never thought Id have: guys, former colleagues, and current friends, asking me if something they did a decade ago or last year upset me or made me uncomfortable. I dont think I ever crossed a line, but  they trail off as if waiting for me to finish that sentence with an accusation or an assurance. Or theyre in fact apologizing for some comment Id blocked out.

Some friends are also describing moments of doubt theyre now having about their behavior with women at work. Should he have put his arm around her waist for a photo? Was that text suggestive? Its good that men are asking questions. These conversations should be one of few upsides to the disturbing #metoo stories weve been hearing from women in almost every profession about sexual harassment and worse. But in these conversations with men, Ive been doing what Ive always donebrush it off. Oh, dont worry. I didnt take it that way. It was a long time ago, I dont even remember.

But, heres the thing, if I cant tell my male friends or men with whom I no longer work that their behavior was out of line, who can? And they need to hear it. Ive learned in talking to more than a few guy recently that some of them really are unaware of their effect on women. And whether its for shame or fear or to avoid trouble, some of us havent been telling them. This is not to excuse the serial predators and rapists weve been reading about. But there are ordinary men who have been rattled by the barragetheyre just waking up to how little they knew about how women move through the world.

Recently an Instamotor online survey which found that 2 out of 3 men dont think repeated unwanted invitations to drinks, dinner or dates is sexual harassment. One man commented on the survey saying if people think that asking a colleague out for dinner is harassment, No wonder everyone is so lonely and frustrated. A woman jumped into the comments and pointed out that hed skimmed right over the words repeated and unwanted. Oh, right.

Even journalists whove spent a few decades covering sexual harassment in politics havent entirely understood the problemwhich is a problem. After hearing from female colleagues, the Washington Posts Dana Milbank recently wrote: How could I possibly have missed all of this? Milbank says that men at his workplace werent conspiring to be silent, its more that they were in a cone of ignorance. The kind of ignorance let him think of a workplace predator as a playboy and a harmless scamp without understanding that the scampery was a clue.

There are other men who have gone on the record as being that guy, the one who thought he was being bold when he was really pushing a woman too far. Others are posting on Facebook asking their peers to apologize if they have done things like cat-called a girl because you thought she was hot.

And of course, there are still guys who are defensive and confused. In a career spanning 40 years  I have NEVER personally witnessed A SINGLE act of sexual harassment or discrimination of any kind, full stop, period, amen, wrote a commenter on a story about the sexual-harassment survey. Some tried to turn the tables: Women are just as clueless about the effects of tight sweaters, cleavage. Others are heading backward: I am going to begin completely ignoring women. I wont talk to them, look at them, ask them out, date them, do business with them, hire them or have anything to do with them. Lonely  yes. better than being unemployed or in jail  yes. You win, ladies  enjoy your victory! And then there are the guys who believe that not taking no for an answer is part of courtship: Sorry, but if I gave up every time a woman says no to me, Id never get anywhere!  Quitters never win!

So, yes, weve still got a way to go here. Even men whove never doubted women on this topic are a bit stunned when they hear details from someone they know. When a friend asked me whether anything like the #metoo stories had happened to me, I started listing various incidents and every time I thought I was finished, Id remember another. It was as if I were rattling off something far less significant, like cities Ive visited.

When I finished, there was a long silence on the other end of the line. I had no idea that all that could all happen to one person, he said. I almost laughed because my litany of subway gropes and creepy jokes would not be remarkable for most women. After all, we dont know any different. We grew up in this climate. Its the air we breathe, the water we swim in. We dont run after dark, we dont walk to the car without keys in our hand. This is the way it has always been. Will this new wokening among men change that? I dont think so. But maybe if were able to talk about it now, itll be different for our sons and daughters.
Having made her James Bond debut in the most recent film, "Spectre," Italian actress Monica Bellucci is being linked with the next, currently untitled, franchise entry.

Will Monica Bellucci be appearing in the 25th James Bond film?

It's a rumor she refuses to confirm or deny, as her agent told Variety.

And in conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, she responded to a question about returning to the Bond universe with the words "I can't say anything about that."

But she does look back on her time making "Spectre" with affection.

"Being in 'Bond' was an amazing experience and I loved working with Daniel Craig. He was an amazing partner, so respectful."

As for her role as Lucia Sciarra, widow of an assassin who had fallen afoul of Bond, she noted that "Cinema is finally representing society."

"Today women can have great roles, strong roles, feminine roles after 50, 60, 70, even 80."

Both the quotations from her agent and from Bellucci herself came on the occasion of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma's gathering to present the actress with a lifetime achievement award.

Having appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" in 1992 and then Gaspar Noe's controversial 2002 film "Irreversible," she gained widespread mainstream recognition for her role in the two sequels to "The Matrix" -- 2003's "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions."

Following "The Passion of the Christ" she performed in English, French, and Italian-language features, including Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm," critically acclaimed sex trafficking drama "The Whistleblower," Jerry Bruckheimer fantasy "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and Cannes Grand Prix winner "The Wonders."

Daniel Craig has already announced his return to Bond for a fifth time, having led "Casino Royale," "Quantum of Solace," "Skyfall" and "Spectre," with the unnamed 25th Bond movie being written by the duo behind those four previous releases.

A director is yet to be named, though French-born, London-raised Yann Demange of Northern Irish thriller "'71," 2018 crime drama "White Boy Rick" and TV series "Top Boy" has been associated with the project, along with David Mackenzie of "Hell or High Water" and Denis Villeneuve, Canadian director of "Arrival" and "Blade Runner 2049."
Harare (AFP) - President Robert Mugabe has exerted almost total authority over Zimbabwean politics for decades -- but the sacking of his most senior long-time confidante could spark repercussions beyond his control.

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was dismissed and humiliated on Monday after clashing with Mugabe's wife Grace, who is now in prime position to succeed her husband.

The removal of Mnangagwa, who has powerful military connections, has laid bare the rivalries inside Zimbabwe's political establishment as Mugabe, 93, shows increasing signs of old age.

"The situation reflects an enormous amount of unpredictability," said Piers Pigou of the International Crisis Group. "We are moving into unchartered territories."

"It appears Mugabe is prepared to surgically remove significant sections of the party's historical support base... to try to consolidate his own position and the future leadership."

Mnangagwa, 75, quickly fled into exile, but he vowed to return and launched a direct challenge to Mugabe by calling for members of the ruling ZANU-PF party to desert the president.

Mugabe reacted by expelling him from the party, which will hold its annual congress next month when Grace -- a hugely divisive figure -- could be appointed as one of the country's two vice presidents.

- Party problems -

"The ball is in Mnagnagwa's court, but what are you going to do outside the party?" Pigou said.

"The biggest question is what kind of elevation do we see for Grace Mugabe."

The potential leadership role for Grace, who has many opponents within the party and government, could even threaten the future of ZANU-PF.

"This is the beginning of the end of ZANU-PF, it is a total destruction of Mugabe's legacy," independent analyst Dewa Mavhinga told AFP.

"If Grace ascends to the top, she will fall because she has created so many enemies. She has been reckless. ZANU could be destroyed from within."

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Mnangagwa's next move is uncertain, but any path back to high office seems beset with obstacles.

"It will be very difficult for him reinvent himself as a democrat because he is cut from the same cloth as Mugabe," said Mavhinga.

Mnangagwa was instrumental in much past election violence, including the 2008 presidential runoff when opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out due to a wave of killings and beatings.

And as security minister in the 1980s, Mnangagwa played a leading role in the Gukurahundi massacres that claimed the lives of around 20,000 perceived dissidents in the southwest of the country.

- Street protests? -

Mnangagwa issued a defiant statement on Wednesday, telling Mugabe that ZANU-PF was "not personal property for you and your wife to do as you please".

The next flashpoint could be next week when Mnangagwa supporters plan to stage protests against Mugabe in Harare.

Zimbabwe's ruthless security forces have often violently broken up street demonstrations against the authoritarian president.

But some experts believe the turmoil may actually allow Mugabe -- the world's oldest national leader -- to strengthen the extraordinary hold on power he has maintained since 1980.

While the country's economy collapsed long ago, Mugabe's presence only seems to grow. On Thursday, Harare Airport was renamed Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in his honour.

The president's birthday was also recently declared a public holiday, while a $1-billion Robert Mugabe university is being planned.

"He has fired senior party officials for decades and has continued in a 'life-as-usual' mode," Eldred Masunungure, a political scientist from the University of Zimbabwe, told AFP.

"What should be worrisome this time is the protracted uncertainty."

The Singapore-based BMI risk consultancy noted that the risk of an immediate military coup after Mnangagwa's ousting had receded and predicted another victory for Mugabe in the 2018 elections.
Hanoi (AFP) - North Korea lashed out Saturday at Donald Trump's "warmonger's" tour of Asia as the US president landed in Hanoi on the latest leg of a five-nation regional visit to drum up support against Pyongyang's nuclear weapons build-up.

The outburst came as Trump nears the tail end of his sweep through Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines that has seen him rail against the North's nuclear ambitions and deliver his "America First" vision of global trade.

Trump has urged the region to take a united front against the threat posed by isolated North Korea, which has sparked global alarm with its nuclear and missile tests in recent months.

On Friday he warned world leaders gathered in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang that the Asia-Pacific region "must not be held hostage to a dictator's twisted fantasies".

Pyongyang issued its own retort Saturday branding Trump's Asia tour a "warmonger's visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence", in the first comments on the trip by a North Korean official.

It said Trump's warnings "can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance", according to the state-run KCNA news agency, quoting a Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman.

Tensions over the North's weapons programme have surged in recent months, as Pyongyang carried out a sixth nuclear test -- by far its largest to date -- and test fired dozens of missiles, some capable of reaching the US mainland.

In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned Pyongyang not to underestimate the United States, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.

Trump has also prodded Chinese President Xi Jinping to pile pressure on North Korea.

"I'd like to have him ratchet it up, and I think he's doing that," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Hanoi Saturday following a regional trade meeting in the coastal city of Danang.

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Though China has backed UN sanctions, Washington would like to see Beijing clamp down on unauthorised trade along the North Korean border.

- 'China likes me' -

Trump will turn his attention to Vietnam for an overnight stop in the capital of a communist country once considered a bitter enemy.

Vietnam has eagerly courted trade and investment with the US since Trump's election, more so after he yanked the US from a key Pacific region trade pact, taking with him low tariff access to the world's largest market.

The Trump administration has singled out Vietnam as one of many countries that has a yawning trade deficit with the US.

Former billionaire businessman Trump told a gathering of regional CEOs Friday he is open to doing business with Asia -- but would no longer tolerate sweeping trade deals he brandished as unfair and harmful to American jobs.

Despite his tough talk on trade, he boasted about his cosy relationship with regional leaders.

"China likes me. And I get along with them, I get along with others too," he told reporters after meeting with 20 fellow heads of state at a beachside retreat in the coastal city of Danang.

"I have a great relationship with Justin Trudeau, who I just left. I'll be honest with you, I think I have a great relationship with every single one of them. Every person in that room today," he said.

He also said he had a "very good feeling... a good relationship" with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Trump will attend a state banquet on Saturday night ahead of a welcoming and deal signing ceremony in Hanoi on Sunday with Vietnam's top leadership.

His next stop is the Philippines for a two-day visit that will include an ASEAN summit of Southeast Asian leaders, capping off the 11 day visit to Asia.

There he will hold talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, like Trump a famously outspoken world leader.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images(MANILA) -- President Donald Trump will wrap up his 13-day tour through Asia with a stop in the Philippines Sunday and Monday -- a key American ally in the midst of a bloody drug war, dealing with an insurgent ISIS threat and concerned about increasingly stronger ties to America's adversaries China and Russia.



But most of all, Trump will have to tangle with the country's controversial president, Rodrigo Duterte, who has a reputation for filthy language, has faced charges of crimes for his drug war, and has claimed several times to have killed people himself. His latest claim came Friday while at a summit with Trump and other leaders, claiming that he stabbed someone "just over a look" and forcing a spokesperson to later clarify that it was a joke.



Two days later, he will host Trump and other world leaders at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, summit, with a 50th-anniversary gala. The next day, Trump and Duterte meet one on one.



Here are the top issues on Trump's visit.



Repairing relations with Duterte



Among Duterte's most infamous comments was what he said about former President Barack Obama. After Obama said he would challenge Duterte about his war on drugs and crime, Duterte ordered Obama not to question him and called him a "son of a whore" in a press conference.



Obama canceled the meeting. Duterte's office issued a statement, saying he regretted the comment. But relations were never the same.



Trump, on the other hand, has embraced Duterte -- with a senior administration official saying before the trip that "there's a warm rapport there." The two have exchanged letters, and when they spoke by phone in April, the White House said the call was "very friendly" and the president "invited President Duterte to the White House to discuss the importance of the United States-Philippines alliance, which is now heading in a very positive direction."



That invitation generated some outrage from human rights groups. But the Philippines is a major non-NATO ally, meaning it has special treaty status with the U.S., and the relationship between the two countries dates back to the 19th century and the Spanish-American War, when the U.S. took control of the islands from Spain. It has been an important buffer against Chinese assertion, especially in the South China Sea.



But while the Obama administration refused to look past the alleged human rights abuses, the Trump administration seems to care more about that alliance.



Addressing the bloody drug war



That doesn't mean the issue won't come up. The senior administration official told reporters, "The president will have frank and friendly discussions in his first meeting with Mr. Duterte."



The drug war has become an unavoidable topic -- with more than 12,000 people killed, according to estimates by some NGOs and media outlets.



When he came into office in June 2016, Duterte ordered the police and military to violently root out criminals and drug users and sellers, but instead of arrests and prosecutions, there were thousands of extrajudicial killings. Over the last year and a half, the violence has snowballed, with an enormous death toll.



Duterte has defended the killings as necessary to "cleanse" the country of a drug scourge and questioned whether drug users and dealers are "human" or could be rehabilitated.



Trump applauded the efforts, saying in a statement in April, "The Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world."



But after international pressure -- including an economic threat by the European Union to strip the Philippines of trading privileges worth billions -- and declining support at home, Duterte scaled back the policy in October. He suspended the Philippine National Polices anti-drug operations but has allowed the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to continue its work.



With that curtailment, it seems even less likely that Trump will call on Duterte to suspend operations and seek justice for victims.



ISIS threat and counterterror ties



The Trump administration could announce closer ties to the Filipino military as the country battles an ISIS-affiliated insurgency in a southern province called Mindanao.



Long the home to Muslim separatists groups -- including one affiliated with al Qaeda -- insurgent groups announced their allegiance to ISIS in 2014, with ISIS accepting in early 2016.



In May, the group mounted a surprise assault on the city Marawi, shortly after the government tried to capture one ISIS group's leader. The terrorists seized government offices, a university and other buildings; took hostages; and fought back security forces. For weeks, then months, the two sides fought back and forth, block by block.



The U.S. has supported the military's efforts -- as it has for years -- with aid, including special operations training and arms sales, but it did not fight alongside Filipino forces.



After a five-month siege, the government announced on Oct. 23 that it had retaken the city -- with nearly 800 militants, including top leaders, 158 government soldiers and 47 civilians dead. While the threat of small-scale attacks and bombings remains, as well as unexploded bombs and other weapons, people are finally beginning to return to their lives.



But ISIS's hold on Iraq and Syria continues to crumble in recent months, so the group has encouraged new recruits to travel to the Philippines and other countries instead -- and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in August that some fighters in the Middle East have traveled to the country.



With the danger still imminent, Duterte's government wants more weapons, announcing an interest in purchasing Russian arms Friday. The Trump administration will likely try to counter that, as it pledges continued support for Filipino efforts to eradicate the terror group.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-10 23:01:20|Editor: Yamei

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European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier speaks during a press conference with Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis (not seen) at the end of sixth round of Negotiation on 'Brexit' talks at the EU Commission in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)



by Tian Dongdong

BRUSSELS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- With 504 days and less than 10 hours left before the March 29, 2019 deadline, Brexit passed its midway point on Friday.

But negotiators from the two sides of the English Channel tried in vain to bring the long-anticipated progress in their sixth round talks, giving rise to increasing fear of a no-deal scenario through Europe.

TIME IS DRAINING, SO IS BARNIER AND DAVIS' VOCABULARY

"Do not wait for us today, as we are, announcements or major decisions. The discussions of these last days are, in the moment we are, between two European Councils, a moment of deepening, of clarification, of technical work," European Union's (EU) chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters.

"Only sufficient progress, that is, sincere and real progress on the three key topics of this negotiation, will enable the second phase of our negotiation to begin," he reaffirmed, only managed to add "sincere and real" to avoid duplication with his previous speeches.

The three key issues are citizens' rights, a financial settlement and the Irish border, according to Barnier.

Time is ticking, but the deadlock remains.

"This is a serious business. If we are to find a way forward it will require flexibility and pragmatism from both sides as I think Michel also stressed," said Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis during the joint press conference with Barnier at the EU headquarters.

Like his counterpart, his vocabulary for "flexibility and pragmatism" also seemed dry, and merely managed to add "This is a serious business" into his reaffirmation, which didn't make him more persuasive.

Kicked off in Brussels on Thursday, the two-day sixth round Brexit talks coincidently marked the halfway point for Brexit -- 505 days since the referendum and 505 days until Britain should formally leaves the EU, and was tasked to make preparation for the EU Winter Summit in December.

PROGRESS IN MAJOR ISSUES BUT IN DRIBS AND DRABS

"On citizens' rights, we are making some progress; we need to work more on a number of points. The UK wants to put in place administrative procedures through which EU citizens can obtain 'settled status'. The EU needed reassurance on how such a system would work: it should be simple to use, and low cost. We also needed reassurance on how people, when rejected, can appeal effectively," said Barnier.

"There are a few areas where our citizens need to see further progress and movement from the European Union ...However, if it does fall out of scope, we will discuss this issue bilaterally with Member States," Davis warned.

On the Irish border, Davis said Britain recognize the need for specific solutions for the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland, but made clear that "This cannot amount to creating a new border inside our United Kingdom", calling for more spirit of pragmatism, creativity and with a high degree of political sensitivity form both sides.

As to the financial settlement, Barnier said the two sides "must now work on the precise translation of the commitments made in her speech in Florence by the British Prime Minister", calling it as an imperative condition to achieve sufficient progress in December.

"On this subject, I repeat that it is only, as in any separation, to settle the account," he warned.

AGITATED DAVIS, CALM BARNIER

Davis arrived in Brussels Friday with mounting pressure. The British Cabinet led by Prime Minister Theresa May, in which he is a member, has lost two key secretaries recently. At the moment of midway point, the cabinet is anything but a united front to confront EU in the Brexit talks.

The pressure also came in from the other side of the Channel.

Shortly after the starting of the sixth round talks, Brussels issued its economic forecasts, predicting that Britain's growth will fall to 1.1 per cent in 2019 after Brexit, only marginally ahead of Italy and far behind the 1.9 per cent growth predicted for the euro area. The commission has also lowered its forecast for growth in Britain in 2017 compared with its last set of figures in May.

In addition, prior to the latest round of talks, rumors had been circulating on local media that EU gave Britain a two-week deadline on Brexit divorce bill.

And it turned true Friday as Barnier confirmed the report -- with a short and affirmative "Yes"-- during the joint press conference.

Davis was not the only one who was agitated in the press room, so were some British reporters.

"Who is running the negotiation? You or France and Germany?" A British reporter challenged Barnier with the harsh question.

Banier, simply told him that "France and Germnay are important, but it is me who represent all 27 EU members and the Parliament", with his signature calmness.

Shortly after the sixth round talks, the Financial Times reported that May is ready to increase Britain's offer to the EU over the Brexit divorce bill.

May has said that Britain "will honor commitments we have made during the period of our membership" and her team is working on different scenarios that would see her considerably increase the 20 billion euro she has already put on the table.

The long-awaited Brexit talks was launched on June 19, nearly one year after Britain voted to leave the bloc by a narrow margin on June 23, 2016.

May sent a notification letter to the EU in late March, triggering a two-year countdown to Britain's withdrawal of the bloc after more than 44 years of membership.
Athens (AFP) - A notorious Greek assassin jailed for life over the killings of 11 people including US, British and Turkish embassy staff, was back in prison Saturday after a controversial two-day leave.

The decision to temporarily allow Dimitris Koufontinas, a senior member of the November 17 extremist group, out of jail for the first time in 15 years, sparked uproar from the families of the group's victims.

The far-left hitman, now 59, returned to Korydallos Prison around 90 minutes ahead of a required deadline, a justice source said.

November 17, named after an anti-junta student uprising, was behind the 1975 killing of the CIA's Athens station chief Richard Welch and claimed responsibility for slaying 23 people in scores of attacks on US, British, Turkish and Greek targets.

British military attache Stephen Saunders was the group's last victim, in 2000.

Koufontinas, a former mathematician dubbed "Poison Hand", is in jail over the deaths of Saunders in addition to a US military attache, a US airman and two Turkish diplomats among others.

His two-day leave sparked criticism from the US, Britain and Turkey.

US ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt said it was an insult to victims and their families.

"I add my voice to those from across Greece's political spectrum deploring prison council decision to release a convicted terrorist, murderer & N17 leader," Pyatt said on Twitter.

British ambassador Kate Smith likewise tweeted London's "profound disappointment" and added that the embassy "shared" the pain of the victims' families.

And the Turkish foreign ministry said the decision had displayed "tolerance to a bloodthirsty terrorist" in "sheer disrespect to the memory of our martyred diplomats."

Koufontinas, who evaded police in 2002 for months by camping out on a secluded beach when the other members of the group were arrested, eventually turned himself in.

Story continues

He later wrote a best seller on his life inside the extremist group.

Opposition parties have assailed the leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, accused by domestic critics of being soft on far-left militants, noting that Koufontinas had never shown remorse.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the main Greek opposition leader, whose sister's husband was among November 17's victims, said: "I speak as a shocked citizen who is witnessing this country's biggest terrorist, a remorseless murderer, given leave from prison."

Liberal daily Kathimerini on Saturday said Koufontinas was able to secure leave because the Tsipras government had modified a law regarding conditional release.
On Thursday, Pennsylvanias Supreme Court said it would expedite hearings in a potentially major gerrymandering case with broader implications.

The case in the commonwealths court is from a group challenging to 2011 redistricting maps, and it wants new maps drawn before the 2018 election, which involves federal and state offices. Pennsylvanias Republican leaders are opposing the move.

At the same time, there is a similar case about Pennsylvania redistricting in the federal court system, and the United States Supreme Court is considering a possible landmark gerrymandering decision from Wisconsin in Gill v. Whitford.

The Pennsylvania state-court case centers on partisan gerrymandering allegedly so biased that it denied Democrats meaningful votes in federal elections. Gerrymandering opponents also claim the district maps violate state constitutional clauses about free speech, political association, and equal protection. In three elections using the district maps, Republicans won about 72 percent of the states House of Representatives seats while winning only 54 or 55 percent of votes in House races statewide.

Earlier this week, Constitution Daily contributor Lyle Denniston explained the uniqueness of the Pennsylvania court case.

The state court case appears unlikely to be affected directly by what the Supreme Court decides, because the state lawsuit is based entirely on provisions of Pennsylvanias constitution, on which state courts have the last word, while the Gill case will turn entirely on the federal Constitution, Denniston said.

Moreover, Pennsylvanias Supreme Court has already ruled  in a 2002 decision  that partisan gerrymandering challenges can be pursued in state courts. That option so far is denied to challengers who take their cases to federal courts, but that is now at issue in the Wisconsin case, he added.

The United States Supreme Court case involves a major Wisconsin dispute testing the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering. The Supreme Court has never struck down districting maps on a partisan basis due to the lack of a formula to determine excess partisanship.

Earlier this week, a federal panel in Pennsylvania ruled that a parallel lawsuit about Pennsylvania gerrymandering could move forward. The judges gave no explanation for their ruling, but said they would give their reasons in a later opinion. The judges said the parties could pursue their claim based on the Constitution's Elections Clause, and the "privileges and immunities" guarantee under the Fourteenth Amendment.

For the time being, it also dismissed the claim that the 2011 maps violated the First Amendment rights of the Democratic challengers, but gave them the chance to amend They also allowed the challengers to add new voters to the case from each of the state's 18 districts.
Manila (AFP) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will host world leaders in Manila from Sunday, hoping their presence will quieten international criticism over his deadly drugs war, which rights groups say may be a crime against humanity.

Duterte goes into the event appearing confident that even his most outrageous remarks and actions will be ignored, having boasted in the lead-up he once stabbed someone to death, while at the same time proposing to host a global human rights summit.

US President Donald Trump will be among leaders from 19 countries, plus the heads of the United Nations and European Union, coming for the talks, which will begin with a banquet on Sunday night followed by summits on Monday and Tuesday.

But rights groups have expressed alarm and disappointment that Trump and most others are likely to endorse or stay silent over Duterte's violent rule, which has seen thousands of people killed.

"Duterte will enjoy the gift of tacit silence from East Asian leaders on his murderous drug war during the upcoming summit," Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phelim Kine told AFP.

"We can expect East Asian leaders to exercise a diplomatic blind eye to the killings of thousands of Filipinos over the past 16 months as part of Dutertes drug war."

Duterte won last year's presidential elections after promising to eradicate illegal drugs with an unprecedented crackdown that would see up to 100,000 people killed.

Since Duterte took office, police have reported killing 3,967 people in the crackdown.

Another 2,290 people have been murdered in drug-related crimes, while thousands of other deaths remain unsolved, according to government data.

Many Filipinos back Duterte, believing he is taking necessary measures to fight crime.

But rights groups warn he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity.

Amnesty International accuses police of shooting dead defenceless people and paying assassins to murder addicts.

Story continues

Rights groups say police are following Duterte's incitements to kill, citing comments of his such as he would be "happy to slaughter" three million addicts.

Domestic opponents have appealed to the International Criminal Court to investigate, pointing to the jailing of opponents, a compliant congress and intimidated judiciary as reasons to step in.

- A 'great job' -

But the ICC has yet to respond and, despite some vocal critics in the West, Duterte goes into the Manila summits full of confidence that Trump and the others will effectively endorse his rule by not speaking against the killings.

In Vietnam on Thursday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific economic summit, Duterte boasted that when he was 16 he stabbed to death someone for looking at him the wrong way.

He then offered to host a global summit on human rights, but insisted that the alleged crimes of the United States, France and other nations also be investigated.

Duterte, 72, last year branded then-US president Barack Obama a "son of a whore" for criticising the drug war.

But Trump and Duterte have expressed mutual admiration for other. Trump told Duterte in a telephone call in April that he was doing a "great job" with his campaign against drugs.

They are expected to hold one-on-one talks on Monday and, if Trump does not bring up any human rights concerns, Duterte is widely expected to trumpet the meeting as an endorsement.

"We will be extremely disappointed if Trump does not raise it," Amnesty's Philippine director, Jose Noel Olano, told reporters on Saturday.

Duterte is hosting the two days of summits as the rotating chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Duterte can expect blanket support from his ASEAN colleagues, many of whom are also shadowed by human rights controversies.

"From the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, to a sweeping crackdown on all forms of dissent in Cambodia to the thousands killed in Philippines, human rights are under siege across Southeast Asia," Rachel Chhoa-Howard, a Philippine researcher with Amnesty, told AFP.

The premiers of China and Russia, two other important Duterte backers, will also be in Manila.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is another key backer of Duterte, with the pair having established a warm relationship.
Houston police released surveillance video of a robbery at a doughnut shop in the city as they hunt for a trio who, in addition to stealing money, handed out sweets to some of the victims in the process.

The video shows three masked individuals entering the shop on Oct. 16 in the afternoon. One, brandishing a handgun, steals money from the cash register while another takes two customers cell phones. The phone bandit gesticulates toward the customers and seems to be talking to them  possibly even taking an order.

The person then peruses the sweets behind the counter, chooses two treats, and offers them to the customers sitting by the window.

The other two robbers, meanwhile, rob the employees.

All three fled by foot and remain at large, according to a statement by the Houston police.

The individuals are wanted for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

Check out the heist  with a twist  in the video above.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, in some his strongest comments ever on nuclear weapons, said on Friday that the world should condemn not only their possible use but "their very possession". The appeal came at the start of a two-day conference on nuclear disarmament that has brought together 11 Nobel Peace Prize winners, as well as United Nations and NATO officials, discussing prospects for a world free of nuclear weapons. Addressing the group, Francis spoke of "the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices" and added: "If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned." (Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Ralph Boulton)
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte claimed that he stabbed somebody to death when he was 16 during a November 9 speech to expatriate Filipinos in Da Nang City, Vietnam.

Duterte claimed to have killed someone during a gang fight just hours after giving the opening speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.

When I was a teenager, I was in and out of jail. One fight there, another hereat the age of 16, I killed someone," Duterte said in Filipino which was translated into English by Rappler. During a fight. Stabbing. I was 16. Just because we looked at each other.

Duterte made the comment after defending his drug crackdown that the opposition groups in the Philippines claim has resulted in the death of 13,000 people in police-involved shootings and vigilante violence targeting drug dealers and users.

Philippines media reported they had contacted the presidents spokesman to confirm whether his comments were intended as a joke.

Duterte has previously boasted of a violent past. In 2015, he said he maybe killed a man when he was 17 years old. He also told a crowd at a rally last year that at university he had shot a law student he accused of bullying, Rappler reported. Credit: RTVMalacanang via Storyful
President Trump has yet to speak with the U.S. general in command of forces in Afghanistan, despite approving a new military strategy earlier this year that committed more troops and funding for Americas longest war.

I havent spoken with him, Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told reporters Nov. 8 in Brussels.

The lack of contact between the commander-in-chief and the top military official in Afghanistan is unusual. Nicholson said he spoke to President Barack Obama twice in the 10 months they overlapped.

The generals comments came in response to questions about whether he felt Trump had confidence in him as commander. Reports over the summer indicated the President was considering firing Nicholson over the lack of progress in Afghanistan. But Nicholson said he felt Trump had faith in him despite not having a face-to-face meeting or phone call.

Yes, I believe I have his confidence, Nicholson told reporters. And I say that because the policy that we received on August 21st is everything that I asked for.

In a primetime address to the nation that night, Trump authorized a new plan that allowed the military to deploy more than 3,000 additional troops, who would advise Afghan forces and work more closely with local commanders. The White House also granted the Pentagon more leeway in launching airstrikes against the Taliban, Islamic State-affiliated militants, and other insurgents, which has thrown the war-torn nation in further disarray.

A United Nations review of the security situation recently stated that Afghanistans declining security threatened the gains achieved. The conflict is an eroding stalemate in which the Taliban have increased the territory they are able to contest and, in some areas, have begun to consolidate their hold, the U.N. said.

There are now about 14,000 American and 6,500 NATO troops inside Afghanistan. Eleven U.S. service members have been killed in action in 2017, two more than last year.
Source: Xinhuanet| 2017-11-11 16:05:35|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Autumn in Beijing is terrific not only because of its refreshing and clear weather, but also due to its fall foliage, featuring auburn, russet, gamboge......

Mutianyu Great Wall

Photo taken on Oct. 28, 2017 shows the autumn scenery of the Mutianyu Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
By Denis Pinchuk

DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Concluding a peace treaty between Russia and Japan would involve Moscow examining how it could be affected by Tokyo's security commitments to its allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

Russia and Japan never formally ended their hostilities after World War Two because of a dispute over a chain of islands in the Pacific.

Putin was speaking at the end of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Vietnam at which he said he discussed talks on the treaty with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Japan has a long-standing defence alliance with the United States, a stance that sits uncomfortably with Moscow, which has often accused Washington of projecting its military might close to Russia's borders.

"I want to say that here there are lots of questions regarding the peace treaty," Putin told reporters.

"Its not a secret that we also need to look at what commitments Japan has towards its partners in the areas of defence and security, and how that will influence the progress of the negotiating process on the peace treaty between Russia and Japan."

Putin said Moscow needed to examine "what commitments Japan has and what she can do, and cannot do, independently. It's entirely natural, if there are some commitments, that they obviously have to be observed, and how does that impact our relations with Japan?"

"We all have to understand that it's a lot of work, and maybe it is indeed not a question of just one year," the Russian leader said at a news conference in the Vietnamese city of Danang, where the APEC summit was held.

The disputed islands are known in Russia as the Kurile islands and in Japan as the Northern Territories. Soviet forces occupied four islands at the southern end of the chain at the end of World War Two.

Putin said that there were some aspects of the dispute which could already be addressed, including easing visa restrictions for Japanese citizens to visit the disputed islands, and establishing economic cooperation there.

Story continues

"That it to say, there are certain things that can be done right away, some things probably will take a long time," Putin said. "It does not depend on who is in office; Abe, Putin, or someone else," Putin said.

"It's important that our countries, our peoples are resolved on a long-term resolution of all the problems to create a favourable environment for our relations to develop."

(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Alexander Smith)
A mysterious radioactive cloud that swept through much of Europe this fall has officials baffled.

The cloud was harmless and has dissipated, Frances Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety wrote in a statement Thursday, but between Sept. 27 and Oct. 13, the radioactive nuclide Ruthenium 106 was detected in the majority of European countries.

Experts arent totally sure where the substance came from, though testing suggests it was first released during the last week of September in Russia or Kazakhstan, likely somewhere between Russias Volga River and Ural Mountains.

Russian authorities have said they are not aware of an accident on their territory, IRSN Director Jean-Marc Peres told Reuters.

Based on atmospheric tests, the report says, its unlikely that the cloud was the result of a nuclear reactor accident. Instead, it likely stemmed from a nuclear fuel treatment or nuclear medicine treatment center.

Ruthenium 106 is produced when atoms divide in a nuclear reactor. Its sometimes used in cancer treatment, specifically for melanoma of the eye, though it can be dangerous at high levels. The cloud drifting over Europe, however, never reached a concerning concentration, according to the IRSN report.

The concentration levels of Ruthenium 106 in the air that have been recorded in Europe and especially in France are of no consequence for human health and for the environment, it says.
Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore has been accused of sexual misconduct with teenagers just one month before a special election fill the seat left open by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The allegations published by The Washington Post  that Moore initiated sexual contact with four women between the ages of 14 and 18 when he was in his 30s  are explosive. National Republicans have largely condemned the actions and called for Moore to step aside if theyre true, although Republican Party faithful in Alabama have come to his defense. But with the special election against Democratic nominee Doug Jones scheduled for Dec. 12, its too late for Moores name to be removed from the ballot.

Here are five ways this could play out.

Roy Moore stays on the ballot in Alabama

Alabama law says a candidates name cant be removed from the ballot within 76 days of the election. This is true even if Moore decides to drop out of the race: His name would stay on the ballot, and any votes cast for him would not count. But the Alabama Secretary of States office told TIME that if Moore withdraws, the election would be voided if he still won or if no other candidate got more than 50%or a plurality of the vote. Put another way, even if Moore withdraws from the race, the Democratic candidate Doug Jones (or a write-in candidate) would still need to crack 50% of the vote to win. Some legal experts are also positing that even without getting 50% of the vote, the runner-up in the contest could win.

Republicans launch a write-in candidate against Moore

Republicans cant add a new name to the ballot. But they could launch a campaign for a write-in candidate. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski has already spoken to Alabama Republican Sen. Luther Strange about throwing his hat in the ring, the Hill reports. Strange, who was appointed to the seat after Sessions become Attorney General, lost to Moore in the primary. Alabama has a sore loser rule that prevents candidates who lost the primary from appearing on the general election ballot. But that wouldnt bar Strange from simply running as a write-in. As Alabamas secretary of state office wrote in a news release, All votes for write-in candidates will be counted in the event that the candidate is qualified to hold the office and not a fictional character.  There are no existing stipulations that prohibit a candidate from being elected despite having unsuccessfully run for a partys nomination, which would normally apply due to Alabamas sore loser law.

Story continues

Murkowski won as a write-in candidate in 2010. The last senator to do it successfully before her? South Carolinas Strom Thurmond in 1954.

Moore stays in the race and no one new enters

Voters then are faced with the same choice theyve already been considering: Moore vs. Jones.

Moore wins the Senate race

Moore could very well win and head to the Senate, where hell meet a host of Republicans who had already called on him to drop out. The Senate would have the power to kick Moore out: Article I, Section 5, of the Constitution says that Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. But according to Senate history, the body has only expelled 15 senators since 1789. And 14 of those were charged with support of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

If Moore wins, the far more likely scenario is that hell stay in the Senate and become a perpetual thorn in party leader Mitch McConnells side. McConnell backed Strange during the primary and said of Moore now, If these allegations are true, he must step aside. Moore repeatedly bashed McConnell during his primary run.

Democrat Doug Jones wins

Jones has been trailing Moore by double digits in the polls. But this bombshell could help his candidacy in multiple ways: If Republicans launch a write-in campaign, that could split the GOP vote and help him come out ahead. Or, with four weeks still until the election, Democrats could throw money and support behind Jones if they suddenly begin to see this as a winnable contest. If Jones does win, Republicans will have just a razor thin majority, putting much of the partys major legislative priorities in jeopardy.

-With additional reporting by Alana Abramson
Roy Moores brother compared the U.S. Senate candidate to Christ in an interview with CNN on Friday, saying that the Alabama Republican is being persecuted like Jesus in the wake of accusations of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl.

Jerry Moore told CNN correspondent Martin Savidge in a phone interview that allegations about his brothers history with teenagers when Roy Moore was in his 30s, reported Thursday by The Washington Post, are not true at all. He said that the Democratic Party was behind the false allegations, adding: These women are going to ... have to answer to God for these false allegations, Savidge reported. He said that his brother was being persecuted like Jesus Christ was, Savidge told CNN anchor John Berman.

Savidge described Jerry Moore as very defiant and very outspoken, relying on his faith and defending his brother to the hilt.

Jerry Moore also said he was worried about what effect the allegations would have on the brothers 91-year-old mother.

Roy Moore has denied the accusations. Asked Friday on Sean Hannitys radio program if he remembered dating teenagers when he was in his 30s, he responded: Not generally, no. He said he didnt recall dating any girl without the permission of her mother.

It was at least the third biblical reference someone has used to defend Roy Moore since the Post article Thursday. One of the four women interviewed in the article, Leigh Corfman, said that she was just 14 years old in 1979 when Moore, then a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, took her to his home, removed her shirt and pants, fondled her and asked her to touch him. Three other women said Moore sought dates with them when they were 16 to 18 years old and he was in his 30s.

After the story was published, Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler compared Moore to the biblical Joseph.

Take Joseph and Mary, Zeigler explained Friday. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.

Story continues

He also compared the situation to the biblical description of an elderly Zechariah and wife Elizabeth, who were the parents of John the Baptist.

There is nothing to see here, Zeigler told the Washington Examiner.

Roy Moore tweeted after the Post story: We are in the midst of a spiritual battle with those who want to silence our message.

I believe you and I have a duty to stand up and fight back against the forces of evil waging an all-out war on our conservative values!



Our nation is at a crossroads right now  both spiritually and politically. (3/4) #ALSen  Judge Roy Moore (@MooreSenate) November 9, 2017

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said Moore should withdraw from the Dec. 12 special election  if the accusations are true.

Corfman told the Post, I wanted it over with  I wanted out, when she was at Moores home. She said she recalled thinking: Please just get this over with. Whatever this is, just get it over.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore addresses the Values Voter Summit of the Family Research Council in Washington on Oct. 13. (Photo: James Lawler Duggan/Reuters)

Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, on Friday rejected the claims made by women who told the Washington Post that he pursued them sexually when they were teens and he was in his 30s.

The Post report, published the day before, upended the previously under-the-radar special election to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions former seat. Moore initially dismissed the entire report as fake news but had not previously addressed the specific allegations.

On Friday, Moore denied even knowing Leigh Corfman, the woman who made the most explosive claim. She told the Post that when she was 14 and Moore was 32, he undressed her and himself, touched her over her undergarments and guided her hand to touch him. The age of consent in Alabama was then and continues to be 16.

I dont know Ms. Corfman from anybody, Moore said in a radio interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Moore, now 70, similarly denied knowing a woman who said he asked her on dates when she was 16. Moore said he did recall two women who said they dated him when they were 17 and 18 years old, but he otherwise disputed their accounts of their encounters with him. One woman said they met when he spoke to her high school civics class, which Moore said he didnt recall. Another claimed he provided her with alcohol when she was underage, which he unequivocally denied.

Asked how he knew the women if he did not date them, Moore said he may have known their parents. He noted that one woman said her mother encouraged her to date him.

When Hannity asked Moore if it would have been normal for him to date teenagers when he was in his 30s, Moore waffled, answering that he dated a lot of young ladies. When Hannity asked Moore the same question later in the interview, Moore answered more firmly that it did not align with his customary behavior.

Moore claimed that his campaign was conducting an investigation that would prove his innocence.

Meanwhile, a growing number of Republicans, including Mitt Romney and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, are calling for him to withdraw his candidacy. Others have simply said the outspoken former judge should drop out of the race if the allegations are true.

Story continues

The special election is on Dec. 12.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
We are living through a time of stunning cultural divide, an imploding political moment pitting the defense of values against the preservation of symbols.

Consider that 14 years ago, a certain Republican Congressman from Florida championed Roy Moores fight to keep a granite monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

Gods name is on our currency, in our Pledge of Allegiance and mentioned throughout the very Constitution that is protecting Mr. Moore from a liberal activist judge, the Florida Congressman argued.

Turns out that Moores supporter, Mark Foley, who resigned three years later when exposed as a predator of underage interns, cared more about protecting a symbol of Christianity than he cared about practicing Christian behavior.

President George W. Bush condemned Foleys actions as disgusting and said he was dismayed and shocked. (Bush did still back Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert after Hastert  who years later went to prison for his past molestation of teenage boys  failed to take quick measures to punish Foley.)

Can you imagine if Republicans had stuck by Mark Foley in 2006 and Foley had remained a player in Republican politics? There was no question that Foley was in the wrong, that he had to go. The young men he preyed on might have had evidence in the form of instant messages, but there was no vocal contingent impugning their motives and calling them partisan attention-seekers who were asking for it.

Id like to think the unanimous condemnation in both of those travesties wasnt because the victims were males, but because it was an era of slightly finer moral clarity. As a woman, though, several incidents in Republican politics over the past year make me wonder.

Contrast the handling of the Foley scandal with that of the allegations against Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. A man who dedicated his life to judging the sins of others is now facing his personal day of judgment, accused of sexual solicitation of an underage girl. (Moore would later write that revelations of homosexuality were the reasons for his backing of Foleys resignation, conveniently ignoring the charges of preying on the underage.)

Story continues

A champion of preserving Gods words in the public space, Moores warped and convenient Christianity  a brand he exploited for a six-figure salary at his tax-exempt private foundation that employed his wife and son  was a cover for the evil lurking underneath for many years.

As recounted by the victim, Moore, as a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, offered to watch a mothers 14-year-old daughter to spare the teenager the trauma of witnessing a nasty divorce proceeding. He would then sexually pursue the young girl, appearing in front of her in his underwear in an attempt to have her touch his erect penis.

I felt responsible, Leigh Corfman, now 53, said. I felt like I had done something bad. And it kind of set the course for me doing other things that were bad. At age 16, Corfman tried to kill herself.

Its not a new concept in the United States that men of a certain age should not be pursuing sex with teenage girls. Though there was plenty of room for growth, expansion and improvement of the law, the age of consent has been 16 or 18 years old in 22 states since since before the turn of the century  as in 1900, not 2000  with the exception of five Southern states that kept it at age 10. The age of consent in Alabama has been 16 years old since at least 1920.

But to those who support Moore for the Senate, the accusations  thoroughly sourced and reported by the Washington Post  are mainstream media news designed to discredit a Christian man. Moore himself waited only a few hours before he started fundraising off the charges. The Bezos Amazon Washington Post that dropped that dime on Donald Trump is the same Bezos Amazon Washington Post that dropped the dime this afternoon on Judge Roy Moore, Steve Bannon said.

The link here isnt the opposition media that Bannon decries; its two men who are accused of grave sexual misconduct that Bannon and his followers want us to tolerate.

I agree with Bannon that yes, this is the politics of personal destruction  but the real perpetrators are men like Moore and Trump, who only have themselves to blame.

And as a nation of conscience, we only have ourselves to blame if we let this continue unchecked. If we accept it, we accept that this kind of behavior can happen to our own innocents whom we seek to love and protect. Its a trade-off made by brave women like Leigh Corfman and the men and women who have come out in force to recount terror that they refuse to accept as inevitable for the next generation. They are a force of moral courage that is rare and real and that we are privileged to encounter in our lifetime.

Doug Jones, Moores Democratic opponent, avenged the deaths of four little girls killed by the Ku Klux Klan; Moore preyed on little girls.

This is the choice the people of Alabama have to make, and it matters that we take a stand on the side of protectors and against predators.
President Donald Trump confidant Rupert Murdoch contacted AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson twice in the last six months to ask about a sale of CNN, sources told Bloomberg on Friday, raising more concerns that federal pressure concerning a merger involving CNNs parent company could be politically motivated.

Its not clear if the executive chairman of 21st Century Fox was interested in purchasing CNN or if Murdoch was simply gathering information. One source said he offered to purchase the network in both phone calls, while another said Fox has no interest in acquiring CNN, according to Bloomberg and Reuters, which first reported the calls.

CNN has come under the microscope of the Justice Departments new antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, who warned that either CNNs parent, Turner Broadcasting, or DirecTV would have to be sold before the federal government would allow a planned $85.4 billion merger between Time Warner and AT&T. Stephenson has said he has no interest in selling CNN.

A Murdoch purchase of the network could threaten to quiet a voice that has been critical of the Trump administration. The president has consistently accused CNN of being fake news. Meanwhile, the Murdoch-owned Fox News network has steadfastly offered sympathetic coverage of the Trump White House.

Earlier this year, Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Time Warner executive Gary Ginsberg and said that 20 percent of the CNN staff should be fired because they were so wrong about the Trump campaign, sources told The Wall Street Journal. A White House official said the comments were not intended to be taken seriously, but they rattled Time Warner, the Journal reported Friday.

The merger would consolidate tremendous power in two united behemoth communication companies. But critics fear that the federal government may be using its power not to battle a monopoly but to hurt CNN.

Related Coverage

Trump Is The Worst Possible Messenger For The Rising Anti-Monopoly Movement

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Bamako (AFP) - Seven people, including one fighter, were killed Friday in two separate border region attacks blamed on jihadists in Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso, security and government sources said.

Three civilians died in Mali at Dounapen, a village in the Mopti region close to the Burkinabe border, where local officials said the assailants had descended by motorbike on the area brandishing black flags.

Earlier, three police officers and one attacker died in Samorogouan district not far from the border with Mali.

It was unclear whether the attacks, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) apart, were directly linked.

"Three civilians, including a mayoral assistant, were killed Friday," in the Mopti attack, a Malian security source told AFP, adding an unspecified number of people were injured. A town hall official confirmed this account.

In the other attack across Burkina Faso's western border, three police were killed in a raid on their barracks carried out by "about 50" assailants, the defence ministry said in the capital Ouagadougou.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said jihadists were responsible for the attack.

The police brigade in the district of Samorogouan, some 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Malian border, came under pre-dawn attack, it said in a statement, adding that one assailant was killed.

A statement by chief of staff General Pingrenoma Zagre said the attacks came around 4:00 am (0400 GMT) "when about 50 armed... unidentified men from Burkina's western borders attacked" the police facility.

"This attack killed one assailant and sadly three of our police officers," the statement said.

Concurring sources said a civilian had his throat cut while a policeman had been abducted.

General Zarge said he wished "to reassure people that measures will be taken to reinforce their protection and their security," urging them to inform authorities should they come across any behaviour prompting suspicion.

Story continues

The attack comes on the heels of an abortive coup in Burkina Faso on September 17, when an elite army force loyal to the old regime of deposed leader Blaise Compaore tried to snatch power from the transitional authority.

Friday's incident at Samorogouan followed an August 23 attack by unidentified assailants on police on the northern town of Oursi near the borders of both Mali and Niger in which a police officer and his daughter were injured.

Sources in the region say Western powers were concerned in the aftermath of the attempted coup that army tensions and an absence of strong government could encourage jihadist groups to launch cross-border strikes.

- Black flags -

In Mali on Friday "numerous jihadists attacked ... on motorbikes, brandishing black flags," according to an official who asked not to be named.

"They killed the mayor's assistant and two other civilians," he said.

One local official said police had given chase to the attackers and impounded seven motorbikes.

Having initially concentrated their attacks on northern Mali the jihadists have in recent months spread their activities first towards the centre of the country, then, from June, into southern areas towards the Burkinabe and Ivory Coast borders.

On September 19, Malian security sources said another attack left two policemen and two civilians dead after a raid at Bih, another Mopti region village near the Burkinabe border.

Northern Mali fell in March-April 2012 to Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups long concentrated in the area before being ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

Despite the signing in June of a peace deal between Tureg-led rebels and the government, large swathes of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and his wife Peng Liyuan (1st R) welcome U.S. President Donald Trump (2nd L) and his wife Melania Trump at the Palace Museum, or the Forbidden City, in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 8, 2017. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

by Xinhua writers Zhu Dongyang, Liu Chen

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The high-profile engagement between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday has caught the spotlight globally. Experts said their meeting has borne remarkable fruit, and the forward-looking attitude of the two heads of state towards bilateral cooperation will bring benefits to the two countries, the Asia-Pacific and the world at large.

Trump and Xi "continue to build a personal relationship that's defined by deep respect for each other, a frank, open, and productive exchange," said Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State in his press briefing later on Thursday in Beijing.

SHARED GOALS ON KOREAN PENINSULA

The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula weighs most in Trump's Asia visit, said the White House before Trump arrived in Beijing.

On Thursday's meeting, the presidents stressed that the two countries share the common goal of using dialogue and negotiation to solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and reiterated the commitment to promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region.

Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said although it remains to be seen whether the bonhomie between Trump and Xi will produce outcomes that the United States seeks, Trump apparently hopes "to build enough good will to produce positive outcomes down the road."

Michael O'Hanlon, senior analyst from the Brookings Institution, said there's still a long way to go before solving the nuclear issue, and the two countries will have an ongoing need to keep expectations modest about progress, and perhaps develop "a more realistic negotiating strategy."

Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Xinhua that one of the most remarkable results of the meeting is that "Trump did not take us to a new level of friction, as he might have done."

Although it remains too soon to weigh in on the impact of the Xi-Trump meeting, the fact that the two top leaders seem comfortable being frank with each other is "something important to managing all sorts of differences," Paal argued.

The two heads of state reaffirmed their commitments to dialogue and peaceful settlement of regional hotspot issues, ranging from the Korean Peninsula to the South China Sea, said Xu Liping, a senior research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

"Their vows to start dialogues on maritime environmental protection and on enhancement of exchanges between the two armies are forward-looking and quite constructive," said Xu.

"The rich consensus of Xi and Trump on regional security issues serves as a stabilizer to bilateral relations, and reassures the region and the world," said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. "A steady China-U.S. relation is indeed the best and most important bonus to the world."

COMMON ASPIRATIONS ON TRADE DEVELOPMENT

In another positive outcome of the two presidents' meeting in Beijing, Chinese and U.S. companies signed deals worth more than 250 billion U.S. dollars, which included purchases of Boeing aircrafts, Ford automobiles, U.S. soybeans and joint development of liquified natural gas in Alaska.

China and the United States are highly complementary rather than competitive, said Xi when meeting with business delegates from both countries, adding that frictions are unavoidable given the rapid growth of bilateral trade. He also reaffirmed China's commitment to opening up and reform, noting China will not close its door to the world: In fact, it will only become more open.

The deals, the value of which has reached "a historic high," would help reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries, said Xu Liping from the CASS. "The amount itself is an implication of the huge potential for economic and trade collaboration between the two nations."

Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, said the gathering of Xi and Trump demonstrated that they understand the importance of a cooperative and productive relationship -- even as significant disagreements remain on areas like trade.

Across all these areas, President Trump is expected to see continued progress and deal-making between the two nations, he added.

Ruan said the lucrative deals are predictable results as the two nations have engaged in cooperation.

"Only cooperation can lead to such huge successes," he noted. "Considering the remarkable complementarity of the two economies, I am fully confident of the economic and trade development of the two countries in the days to come."

However, O'Hanlon from the Brookings Institution, said the Trump administration "has to keep his and America's expectations reasonable on the front" of the trade deficit.

"China has done remarkable things, it's a low-cost manufacturer, it deserves credit for its progress there. You're not going to eliminate the trade deficit in any way, shape or form," he explained.

BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL

William Jones, the Washington Bureau chief for Executive Intelligence Review news magazine, stressed the historical importance of the Xi-Trump meeting.

"It was of an absolutely strategic nature and the world will change as a result of it. It can only be compared to Nixon's trip to Beijing 45 years ago, but it is even more important," said Jones. "President Trump has clearly accepted China's new role in the world and is prepared to work with China on all the major issues facing the world."

"While Nixon's visit occurred in an atmosphere of 'geopolitics' and Cold War intrigues, we are now in a world which is increasingly moving towards that community of shared interests that President Xi has spoken so much about," Jones noted. "The U.S.-China relations are definitely on an upward trajectory."

To make that happen, Zhao Quansheng, professor of international relations at American University, suggested the two countries consider building a framework to strengthen bilateral ties over the next 50 years or longer.

The two countries could also lead the region towards creating an economic and trade cooperation agreement as well as a mechanism to settle Asia-Pacific issues, said Zhao. "That is a viable solution to minimize misjudgments and maximize trust and stability in the region."
Barcelona (AFP) - Spanish authorities said they rescued over 250 migrants, including children, on Saturday who were making the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.

"We saved 251 people from five improvised vessels all in the Alboran Sea," Spain's maritime safety authorities said on Twitter, referring to the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea.

The number of migrants arriving by sea on Spanish shores has soared over last year, with the figure nearly tripling to 15,585 in 2017 by November 8, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Many Africans undertaking the long route to Europe are choosing to avoid crossing danger-ridden Libya to get to Italy along the so-called central Mediterranean route, and choosing instead to get there via Morocco and Spain.

However, Spain is still well behind Italy, which has recorded some 114,400 arrivals by sea since since the start of the year.

Since January nearly 15,600 migrants have made it to Spain by sea, with 156 dying during the crossing, according to the IOM.

The agency estimates that some 155,850 migrants have made the dangerous crossing to Europe this year and another 2,961 died or went missing while trying.
Caption from LIFE. In mass induction of 9,000 new citizens, men and women at New York's Polo Grounds raise their right hands to take oath of allegiance.

Mass induction of 9,000 new citizens at the Polo Grounds in New York on Veterans Day, 1954.

Mass induction of 9,000 new citizens at the Polo Grounds in New York on Veterans Day, 1954.

Mass induction of 9,000 new citizens at the Polo Grounds in New York on Veterans Day, 1954.

Mass induction of 9,000 new citizens at the Polo Grounds in New York on Veterans Day, 1954.

Mass induction of 9,000 new citizens at the Polo Grounds in New York on Veterans Day, 1954.

Mass induction of 9,000 new citizens at the Polo Grounds in New York on Veterans Day, 1954.

Mass induction of 9,000 new citizens at the Polo Grounds in New York on Veterans Day, 1954.

From the Nov. 22, 1954 issue of LIFE magazine.

Veterans Day, which falls each year on November 11, is a time for Americans to remember the sacrifices made by those who served in the U.S. military. But first Veterans Day that was dedicated to veterans of all wars also happened to honor a different group of Americans.

On Veterans Day in 1954  one month after President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Veterans Day proclamation and the new holiday officially replaced Armistice Day  a whopping 50,000 men and women from coast to coast were sworn in as new U.S. citizens in what LIFE magazine called the first time in U.S. history that citizenship was conferred upon so many people in so many mass ceremonies.

A photo in the Nov. 22, 1954, issue showed three Japanese people getting sworn in on the battleship U.S.S. Missouri in Bremerton, Wash., on the same deck on which the Japanese signed their surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, ending World War II  but many more photos from that day exist in LIFEs archives, and they provide a unique look at that historic day.

At a ceremony at Brooklyns Ebbets Field  where 1,600 men and women took the oath of citizenship  U.S. Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. acknowledged the renewed significance of the ceremonys overlap on Veterans Day.

November 11th is a hallowed day for all Americans, he said, And it continues as a day dedicated to memory of the past and hope for the future  hope that all men can learn to live together in peace as we have done in this American melting pot of the world.

He also emphasized that swearing allegiance as a U.S. citizen was more important than ever in 1954, with the Cold War in full swing. In fact, the Cold War had changed the character of the countrys most famous immigration station, Ellis Island, as it was put to use in the 50s to implement a post-WWII policy banned anyone who had ever been affiliated with a totalitarian party, as TIME has previously reported.

But as Brownell said in his speech, only a few hundred had been detained there in recent months  compared to the 1.2 million that Ellis Island processed in 1907  so its place as a symbol of immigration to the United States was fading. Immigration function in New York would be moved to a different building, off the island, on Nov. 12, 1954, the day after this historic Veterans Day, Ellis Island closed as an immigration center.

The island buildings, I feel sure, can be put to useful service in other work, Brownell said.

In the decades that followed, the immigration center would be reoped as a museum  one that, all these years later, sees even more visitors each year than the number who came through Ellis Island annually at the height of immigration.
Tiffany Trump wore a nearly-nude ballerina-style dress. (Photo: Instagram/Tiffany Trump).

Tiffany Trump has been MIA lately, but she made up for lost time with a sheer champagne dress that made fans look twice.

On Friday, the first daughter posed for an Instagram snap wearing a ballerina-style minidress with a pleated skirt and metallic heels.

A post shared by Tiffany Ariana Trump (@tiffanytrump) on Nov 10, 2017 at 2:38pm PST

Its unknown where Tiffany was headed in the outfit or whether the photo was a throwback, but according to the Washington Post, the 24-year-old spent Monday night with a girlfriend at upscale Indian restaurant Rasika in D.C.s Penn Quarter, where President Obama once celebrated a birthday.

The first-year Georgetown law student also spent her Oct. 13 birthday at New York Citys Urbani Truffle with mom Marla Maples, Donald Trump Jr., and a group of friends including Peter Brant Jr., the son of model Stephanie Seymour, socialite Andrew Warren, and Alex Assouline, a publishing heiress.

#fridaythe13th #birthday A post shared by Tiffany Ariana Trump (@tiffanytrump) on Oct 16, 2017 at 5:49pm PDT

She also drew headlines in October for posting a selfie fans labeled tone deaf in the aftermath of Hurricane Marias devastating impact on Puerto Rico.

Tiffany is the second family member to go sheer. On Tuesday, first lady Melania Trump wore a sparkly, sheer J. Mendel dress to attend a state dinner in Seoul, South Korea.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

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Bangkok (AFP) - A senior Thai royal official has been sacked for "evil acts" including having an extramarital affair and forcing his alleged mistress to get an abortion, the palace said, the latest top aide to be axed under King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Vajiralongkorn, 65, took the throne one year ago following the death of his widely revered father King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for seven decades.

He has yet to attain his father's widespread popularity but remains insulated from any criticism by one of the world's harshest royal defamation laws.

Since ascending the throne the new monarch has axed a number of powerful palace officials from his father's era.

The latest aide to fall from grace is Distorn Vajarodaya, a senior official in the Royal Household Bureau who served as Grand Chamberlain under the late King Bhumibol and was often seen by the ailing monarch's side during the final years of his reign.

A statement published by the Royal Gazette late Friday stripped Distorn of his royal decorations and listed his alleged wrongdoings -- including having an extramarital affair, "forcing" his mistress to get an abortion, and then coercing her into marrying another man.

"When the woman got pregnant for the second time, he forced her to have another abortion but the woman refused. So he forced her to get married with another man she hadn't had a relationship with," the statement said.

Distorn was also accused of "using the King's name to avoid taxation in importing a foreign vehicle" to replace a damaged royal car.

The aide also allegedly ordered staff to forge documents about a donation to a royal foundation he chaired.

Thailand's lese majeste law, which criminalises insulting the monarchy with up to 15 years in prison per offence, makes it impossible to publicly counter such charges.

Many of those purged from the new monarch's inner circle have been charged with lese majeste and jailed.

In one of the most dramatic episodes, Vajiralongkorn divorced his third wife in late 2014 after half a dozen of her relatives were charged with lese majeste -- and later jailed -- for allegedly abusing their royal ties to him.

All media inside Thailand must heavily self-censor when reporting on the royal family to avoid falling foul of the defamation law.
Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Elaine Duke is resigning after the White House asked her to reverse an immigration decision: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is reportedly set to resign in light of being asked to reverse a decision extending temporary residents permits to thousands of Central American immigrants living in the US.

Ms Duke was reportedly asked by White House Chief of Staff and former head of DHS John Kelly to not allow some 57,000 Hondurans and 2,500 Nicaraguans to stay in the country on Temporary Protective Status (TPS).

DHS had a deadline of 6 November to make the decision for people who were allowed to remain in the US under TPS, a programme which began in 1990 to stop deportations to countries who could not handle an influx of people returning after natural disasters or other crises.

Several Hondurans arrived in the US after Hurricane Mitch had hit the Central American region in 1998.

Ms Duke felt it was a politically driven intrusion on the part of Mr Kelly and White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert, sources told the Washington Post.

Ms Duke ultimately decided to end the TPS programme for Nicaraguans - they have until January 2019 to leave or change status - but gave the Hondurans a six-month extension for the agency to make a decision.

According to officials, she felt she needed more information on the situation with Hondurans and had received calls from diplomats asking her to weigh the fate of those immigrants, who had lived in the country for decades, with care.

The Trump administration has said it feels the programme is being misused, to grant long-term residency rather than a short-term stay in emergency situations.

Mr Kelly reportedly told Ms Duke that she was kicking the can down the road and it was not in line with the administrations immigration priorities.

Previous administrations have renewed TPS every 18 months.

He was also worried his nominated replacement Kirstjen Nielsen would face questions about it during her upcoming confirmation hearing, which she sailed through on 8 November.

Story continues

An official told the newspaper that Ms Duke thought Mr Kellys urgent call from President Donald Trumps Asia tour admonishing her decision was a slap in the face.

Ms Duke had been asked to remain as Ms Nielsens deputy but will leave when the new Secretary takes office, according to officials.

She had also been criticised during the weeks following Hurricane Maria making landfall in Puerto Rico. Ms Duke had said US federal relief efforts were a "good news" story.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz expressed her frustration on CNN about what she called an "irresponsible" statement: "this is a 'people are dying' story, this is a life and death story, this is a truckload of stuff that cannot be taken to people story."

Mr Trump has repeatedly called for an overhaul of the immigration system to emphasise a "merit-based" system for skilled labour immigrants.

Neither Ms Duke nor the White House has responded to the report yet.

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President Donald Trump said Saturday he believes Vladimir Putin is being sincere when he denies meddling in the US election that propelled Trump to power, adding that the Russian leader felt "very insulted" by the allegations.

But in Washington, the director of the CIA said he stood by the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia did try to meddle in the election.

Trump, whose key former aides are under US investigation for possible collaboration with the Kremlin, said he repeatedly asked Putin about the claims during their chats at the APEC summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang.

"He (Putin) said he didn't meddle. I asked him again," Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Hanoi for a state visit.

"You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," Trump said, adding he felt Putin seemed "very insulted" by the persistent accusations, which was "not a good thing for our country."

"I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it," added Trump, who is marking one year since his shock election victory.

In May, US intelligence chiefs told Congress that they agreed with their analysts' conclusion that Russia had meddled in the election.

And in January, 17 US intelligence agencies took the extraordinary step of stating publicly that they believed Russia did try to interfere in the election.

In a statement to CNN Saturday after Trump spoke, CIA director Mike Pompeo, who was appointed by Trump, said he still believes in that evaluation.

"The Director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed," the statement read.

- 'Fantasies' -

The US president's latest comments suggest he accepts Russia's staunch denials that the Kremlin played no part in helping him get to the White House -- allegations that continue to dog Trump's administration.

Story continues

Some US lawmakers criticised Trump harshly for his statement.

Representative Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump "fools no one."

Schiff said Trump understands the Russians hacked into Democratic leaders' emails and dumped them, and used social media in a bid to hurt Hillary Clinton and help him win the election and divide the country.

"He understands all this and more," Schiff said in a statement. "He just doesn't understand how to put country over self. Or to put it in terms he is more familiar with  Mr. Trump simply can't bring himself to put America first."

John McCain, a longtime Trump critic, added: "There is nothing 'America First' about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community."

Putin also addressed the allegations on Saturday after his meeting with Trump, describing them as a US "domestic political struggle."

"I think these are some sort of fantasies," he told reporters in Danang.

Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate are under house arrest on charges unrelated to the election brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Revelations by Facebook and Twitter that Russian-sponsored fake news flooded US social media during the election run-up have further deepened scrutiny on ties between the nations.

Trump and Putin met three times on the margins of the APEC summit, sharing warm handshakes and brief words.

The pair appeared to have struck a chummy tone, with Trump describing a "very good feeling" after the talks, and Putin remarking on the "well-mannered" former reality TV star.

Asked by reporters on Air Force One if he believed Putin, Trump said he was keen to move on to other issues.

"Look, I can't stand there and argue with him," Trump said. "I'd rather have him get out of Syria, I would rather get to work with him on the Ukraine."

The exchanges produced a rare common ground on the war in Syria, a bloody six-year conflict which has seen the US and Russia back competing factions.

In a joint statement, the leaders said there was "no military solution" to the war, an agreement that may mark a small step toward peace.

- America First -

Trump also gave a loud airing to his "America First" rhetoric at the APEC summit.

In a speech on Friday, Trump said American jobs had been siphoned overseas by countries with cheap labour but little compunction to play by trade rules.

"We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of any more," he said, adding his country would now use its economic might to cut favourable bilateral deals.

China's President Xi Jinping laid out a different narrative to the same hall, positioning the world's second largest economy at the heart of the future of global free trade as the US retreats.

As a first mark of a new trade era without the US as its pivot point, 11 Asia-Pacific countries on Saturday agreed to press ahead with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- a major agreement abruptly abandoned by Trump at the start of the year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 03:23:00|Editor: Yamei

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RIYADH, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's embassy in Lebanon is negotiating with Lebanese security authorities for the release of a Saudi citizen abducted by Hezbollah militias, local media reported on Friday.

The kidnappers associated the release of the Saudi national with the recent resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a source was quoted by Sabq news as saying.

The kidnappers demanded to bring back Hariri while the Lebanese authorities asked for his release without conditions, the source revealed.

Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said on Twitter that the abduction of a Saudi citizen was being followed up, refusing a exploitation of the political crisis to disturb bilateral ties with other nations.

Hariri unexpectedly resigned on Saturday during a trip to Saudi Arabia, saying his life was in danger and creating a leadership vacuum in the already politically divided country.
By Steve Holland and Denis Pinchuk DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said he believed President Vladimir Putin when he denied accusations Russia meddled in last year's U.S. election despite U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion of Russian interference. Trump made the comment after he and Putin met briefly at a summit in Vietnam on Saturday and agreed on a joint statement supporting a political solution for Syria, now in its seventh year of civil war. It was their first encounter since July and came during a low in U.S.-Russia relations and at a time Trump is haunted by an investigation into accusations that Putin influenced the election that brought him to the White House. Putin reiterated the denials of interference, Trump said. "Every time he sees me he says 'I didnt do that,' and I really believe that, when he tells me that, he means it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the resort of Danang. "I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country," Trump said. Trump, who has called allegations of campaign collusion with Moscow a hoax, has faced questions from Democrats about the matter since he took office. A special counsel, Robert Mueller, is conducting a probe that has led to charges against Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates. U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded Russians interfered to tip the election in Trump's favor through hacking and releasing emails to embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and spreading social media propaganda. Russia has repeatedly denied meddling. The Republican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator John McCain, said in a statement "There's nothing 'America First' about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community." Putin is a former KGB officer and ex-head of Russia's FSB security service. McCain added "Putin does not have America's interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk." The top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee, which is investigating the issue, harshly criticized Trump's comments and accused him of siding with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies. "The President fools no one. He understands that the Russians intervened through the hacking and dumping of his opponents emails, the fruits of which he exploited time and again on the campaign trail," Adam Schiff said in a statement. In Danang, Putin told reporters an alleged link between Manafort and Russia was fabricated by Trump's opponents. Putin dismissed suggestions Russia influenced the elections through political advertising. Tech companies, including Facebook, have said some Russian-bought political content spread on their platforms around the time. "There is no confirmation of our mass media meddling in election campaigns  and there can't be any," Putin said. LIMITED CONTACT After emphasizing on the 2016 campaign trail that it would be nice if the United States and Russia could work together, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office. Trump again made this case on Saturday, saying it would benefit Washington to have good ties with Moscow so they could work together on issues including Syria's civil war, the conflict in Ukraine and the North Korean nuclear crisis. "Look, I cant stand there and argue with him, I would rather have him get out of Syria," Trump said. "I would rather ... get to work with him on the Ukraine rather than standing and arguing." In Vietnam, Trump and Putin agreed a joint statement that said there was no military solution to the Syrian conflict, pledged to continue "de-confliction" to ensure the U.S. and Russian militaries do not clash there, and pledged new support for the U.N.-backed "Geneva process" that has failed to find a political solution to end the conflict despite years of effort. Russia has militarily supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while the United States has at times backed Syrian rebels against him, though its recent focus has been on defeating the Islamic State militant group that had seized parts of Syria. With Islamic State having suffered losses in Syria, Iraq and beyond, greater attention is turning to the broader conflict between Assad's forces and rebel factions. Speaking to reporters on a conference call, U.S. State Department officials praised the statement for re-committing Russia to the Geneva process though it was unclear why Assad would take part given, from the U.S. point of view, the Syrian leader is not expected to keep power at the end of the day. Trump also hailed the joint statement. "We did it very quickly," Trump told reporters. "We seem to have a very good feeling for each other, a good relationship considering we don't know each other well." Talking after their meeting, Putin described Trump as "a well-mannered person and comfortable to deal with". "We know each other little, but the U.S. president is highly civil in his behavior, friendly. We have a normal dialogue but unfortunately little time," he said. Trump said they had two or three very short conversations. They were seen chatting amicably as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea. Pictures from the APEC meeting also showed Trump approaching Putin at the summit table and patting him on the back. They also shook hands at the summit dinner on Friday. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland in DANANG, Maria Kiselyova in MOSCOW, Mark Hosenball and Mike Stone in WASHINGTON; Writing by Matthew Tostevin and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish)
Contradicting U.S. intelligence agencies, President Donald Trump on Saturday said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putins claim that the Kremlin did not attempt to interfere in the 2016 election.

Trump spoke with the Russian leader this week in Vietnam during a joint summit with other Asia-Pacific countries. When a reporter asked if the subject of Russian election interference came up, Trump replied, He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did. ... Every time he sees me, he says, I didnt do that, and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. But he says, I didnt do that.

Trump also took multiple shots at his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and lamented that Putin is very insulted by the accusations of election meddling.

The presidents comments fly in the face of a report from U.S. intelligence agencies earlier this year that concluded that Putin had ordered hacking against the Democratic National Committee as well as the deliberate spread of misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric about Clinton to help Trump get elected. The effort is the subject of multiple federal investigations into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia at all, which the president has strongly denied.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that he was skeptical of the intelligence findings and spoke dismissively of several former top Obama officials with long careers in public service.

You hear its 17 agencies [who agreed on the hacking]. Well, its three, he said. And one is [then-CIA Director John] Brennan. And one is, whatever. I mean, give me a break. Theyre political hacks. So you look at it, and then you have Brennan, you have [then-Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper and you have [then-FBI Director James] Comey. Comeys proven now to be a liar and hes proven to be a leaker. So you look at that.

In a statement to CNN on Saturday, CIA Director Mike Pompeo  a Trump appointee  stood by the agencys findings.

Story continues

The Director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections, the agency said. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed.

Its also worth noting that the number of intelligence agencies involved is four, not three: the CIA, the National Security Agency, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. As The New York Times pointed out in July, its not problematic that the remaining agencies didnt report similar findings because not all 17 were involved in the assessment of Russian interference.

Trump has largely refused to blame Putin for the hacking and even told reporters in July that he believes other countries besides Russia were involved. Early last month he missed a key deadline to implement new sanctions on Russia in response to the hacking, sanctions that were set forth in a bipartisan bill that hed signed into law in August. Weeks later, Foreign Policy reported that the State Department had shuttered the office that deals with sanctions policy.

Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that some in Trumps campaign had ties to the Kremlin. Last month, former campaign manager Paul Manafort, along with his business associate Rick Gates, was indicted by a grand jury in connection with the investigation. At the same time, it was revealed that a former Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, had pleaded guilty in early October to lying to FBI agents about his efforts to receive dirt on Clinton.

The story has been updated with additional comment from President Trump and CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday pledged to prosecute protesters who damage oil pipelines and other energy infrastructure, a decision that could escalate tensions between climate activists and the administration of President Donald Trump.

The DOJ said it was committed to vigorously prosecuting those who damage "critical energy infrastructure in violation of federal law."

Attempts to "damage or shut down" pipelines deprive communities of services and can put lives at risk, cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and threaten the environment, a department official said in a statement sent to Reuters.

The statement was in response to a letter sent last month to Attorney General Jeff Sessions by 84 U.S. representatives asking whether domestic terrorism law covers activists who shut oil pipelines in October 2016. The DOJ said it was reviewing the letter.

The DOJ did not say whether it would investigate or prosecute the protesters who broke fences in four states last year and twisted shut valves on several pipelines importing crude oil from Canada that carry the equivalent of as much as 15 percent of U.S. daily oil consumption.

The group Climate Direct Action said at the time the action was in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has protested Energy Transfer Partners LP's Dakota Access Pipeline.

Last month's letter to Sessions, spearheaded by Representative Ken Buck, a Republican, and signed by at least two Democrats, said that when a protester burns a hole in an operating pipeline it risks igniting the contents and "killing not only the perpetrator but other innocent victims." The letter had no details on any protesters who had ever actually taken a blowtorch to a live pipeline.

Five of the protesters, who say they only turned off valves on the pipelines, responded to Buck this week in a letter saying that their actions were nonviolent and were the "last resort in a desperate and necessary effort to avert catastrophic climate change."

Story continues

States brought charges against the protesters. Ken Ward, who closed an emergency valve on a Kinder Morgan pipeline in Washington state that transports oil sands crude from Canada, was sentenced to 32 days with most of it to be spent in community service.

The DOJ's statement on the protesters is an escalation of the department's stance from the days of the administration of former President Barack Obama, a Democrat. In 2016, the DOJ along with the Army Corps of Engineers gave a temporary victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe by refusing to approve an easement for Dakota Access. Trump moved to open Dakota Access early in his presidency.

Ward said the Justice Department was going after the wrong parties. "In a sane world, the DOJ would be using its discretion to prosecute pipeline and fossil fuel companies for causing irreparable harm to the planet," he said.

Divisions over another pipeline project that has galvanized environmentalists but which Trump supports could escalate later this month. Nebraska regulators are set to decide then whether TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL pipeline, which would also ship crude from the Canadian oil sands, should go forward.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's recent political purge raises concerns and remains unclear but does not appear to amount to mass arrests, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters on Friday. Separately, Tillerson said there was no indication that Lebanon's former prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will but that the United States was monitoring the situation, according to a press pool report of his remarks. Tillerson, who is traveling with President Donald Trump on an Asia trip, made the comments following talks with his Saudi counterpart this week. Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia's future king, has tightened his grip on power through an anti-corruption purge by arresting royals, ministers and investors including billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal who is one of the kingdom's most prominent businessmen. He was among 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers who were detained. Asked about the Saudi purge, Tillerson said he had spoken with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir about the situation on Wednesday and that the recent crackdown did not yet amount to formal arrests. "Based on that conversation, its well intended. How disruptive its going to be remains to be seen," Tillerson said, adding that the situation was "still a bit unclear." "Its my understanding that theyre characterizing these as not really arrests at this point but theyre presenting people with evidence of what they think the wrongdoing is to see if theres a willingness to want to make things right." "It raises a few concerns until we see more clearly how these particular individuals are dealt with," Tillerson added. His view contrasted with that of Trump, who has praised the Saudi purge and expressed confidence in the king and crown prince. Tillerson also said that Jubeir had assured him that Hariri's decision to resign was taken "on his own." The United States was watching the situation "very carefully," supporting "the legitimate government of Lebanon" and "asking other outside parties to stay out of it," he added. "If he's going to step down, as I understand it, he needs to go back to Lebanon to make that official. I'm hopeful that if that is still his intent to leave that he'll do that so that the government of Lebanon can function properly," Tillerson said. (This version of the story was refiled to fix name of Saudi royal in second reference in 4th paragraph) (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Employment Fair Held Aboard The USS Hornet Sea Air And Space Museum in Alameda, California (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images): Getty Images

What does Veterans Day mark?

The public holiday honours all US military veterans. It also coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other countries to mark the end of World War I.

The US previously observed Armistice Day, but the holiday was was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

When is it?

Veterans Day is observed annually on November 11.

Why is it held on 11 November?

World War I ended on the 11th hour of the 11th Day of the 11th month. At 5.00 am that day, Germany  devoid of supplies and manpower and facing an invasion  signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiegne, France.

How do Americans mark it?

Because it is considered a federal holiday, some American workers and students have Veterans Day off from work or school.

When Veterans Day falls on a Saturday, then the preceding Friday may be designated as the holiday. If it falls on a Sunday, then the holiday is typically observed on the following Monday. This year, it is being celebrated on Friday, November 10.

Non-essential federal government offices are closed and no mail is delivered.
Hygge, pronounced (pronounced hue-guh) is a Danish word that essentially describes the feeling, moment, or little pleasures associated with being warm, cozy and happy with your loved ones. The Danish are definitely onto something, and a recent United Nations World Happiness Report found that the Danish are some of the happiest people in the world.

So it goes to show that creating a cozy home, atmosphere and style of living during the colder months of the year truly makes a difference in your state of mind and level of happiness. In order to achieve hygge, try being present, lighting candles, listening to soft music, curling up under a blank with a good book, or having dinner and drinking wine with your friends and family. Here are 10 things to add to your registry to help hygge your home! Style Me Pretty Contributor  Julia Hurwitz is a freelance writer and Marketing Manager based in New York City. Her interests include travel, global craft, healthy baking, entertaining and exploring the outdoors.
Snapshot captured from Google Maps on Nov.10, 2017 shows the southern French city of Toulouse.

PARIS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese were injured Friday afternoon when a vehicle hit a crowd deliberately in the suburbs of Toulouse, south France, the head of the Chinese Consulate in Marseille told Xinhua citing a source from the local police in Toulouse.

The three injured, one male and two female, are all at their early 20s, said the consulate.

French news channel BFMTV reported earlier that a car "deliberately" rammed into a group of students in front a business school in Balgnac, near Toulouse, on Friday, injuring three students.

The report says the driver is a 28-year-old man, who was arrested on the site.

The man told police that he "deliberately" drove into the crowd and that he suffered from psychological disorders, according to the report.

The man was known for public offences, including drug trafficking, the report added.

In the wake of the incident, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb tweeted that "Support for injured young people in Blagnac ... It is the inquiry that will determine the nature of his act."
DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin shook hands at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit dinner in Vietnam on Friday, even though the White House said there would be no formal meeting. Trump and Putin smiled and stood next to each other for the traditional group photograph. Then they parted to sit at different parts of the table. The White House said earlier that no formal meeting was planned because of scheduling conflicts on both sides, though it was possible they would bump into each other. "In terms of a scheduled, formal meeting, there's not one on the calendar and we don't anticipate that there will be one," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters minutes before landing in Danang. The main meeting of leaders from APEC countries is on Saturday in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang. Trump is on the fourth leg of a 12-day tour of Asia. (Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
Two-and-a-half years ago the initials BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) meant little to the wider general public. But then the BDS coalitionestablished in 2005 and calling for the imposition of economic, academic and cultural boycotts on Israelintensified its struggle, especially by exerting heavy pressure on music artists not to perform in Israel.

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These new reinvigorated efforts caused the Israeli government to declare the BDS a strategic threat, prompting the Ministry of Strategic Affairs to launch a campaign against the coordinated boycotts.

Today, dozens of organizations are engaged in local and international battles to eliminate the erroneous and pernicious perceptions that the BDS movement seeks to instill within its supporters, among them IFOR (International Freedom of Research) ISRAELis, and the Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS) that are leading the struggle against the boycotts on three fronts.

The academic boycott threatens to silence liberal voices

IFOR is the initiative by Dr. Sharona Aharoni-Goldenberg, a senior legal lecturer at the Netanya Academic College, who banded together with colleagues such as Dr. Roy Gilbar in order to fight against the academic boycotts in Europe and the US.

The initiative was born two-and-a-half years ago after Dr. Goldenberg witnessed the gloomy reality taking place regarding Israels integration in the international academic world.

Their articles were rejected by magazines and periodicals, they were not invited to professional conferences and in many cases they were simply ignored or protested against during lectures and academic meetings.

Have such cases of academic boycotts occurred in history?

Yes. Its a disgrace. There is a picture from 1933 in which soldiers can be seen placed at the entrances of universities and not allowing Jewish researchers to enter, she says.

Members of IFOR battle against the academic boycotts by utilizing tools they are most familiar with. They lecture in Israel and around the world, establish research groups an and write opinion pieces in the international press.

We are trying to change the perception and communicate the message that academic boycotts are an oxymoron and that they are an assault on human rights, says Dr. Goldenberg.

Recently, for instance, there were calls to boycott a conference in Israel for cancer research. This harms the pursuit of truth, the advancement science and promotion of society. Another example is the Dublin Conference on academic boycotts. Two Israeli research groups sent abstracts but were not allowed to enter the conference, she recalled.

According to Dr. Goldenberg, many of the Israeli researchers are afraid of the boycotts and conceal their academic affiliation. Israeli students studying abroad also witness the anti-Israel climate permeating college campuses.

It seeped not only to Israeli lecturers and students but also to Jewish students. In the US there are students who are scared to study in certain universitiesuniversities that the Telegraph newspaper dubbed no go zone universities, because they were bought by Islamic organizations, Dr. Goldenberg explains.

We see an effect I dubbed the ripple effect. It started with silencing Israeli lecturers and continued into intimidating Israeli students and made its way to Jewish lecturers and students on campus. In my opinion, the next stageand it has already begunis the silencing of differing liberal voices, Dr. Goldenberg predicts.

Using post-military travels as a PR tool

ISRAELis is an organization that was established by three IDF officers, Eyal Biram, Barak Deri and Jonathan Sabrui, who after recently being discharged from their military service began to grasp the huge and untapped power held by young Israelis when it comes to portraying Israels image.

Every year, some 400,000 Israeli youngsters aged 20-24 travel abroad, the majority of whom are freshly discharged from the army. During their trip they get to know, on average, five fellow travelers of their age group, a meeting that has the potential to totally transform Israels image.

The idea is to build a community of discharged soldiers who are involved in improving Israels public image, says 25-year-old Biram, recounting his own experiences during his post-military travels which led to the creation of his organization.

I met two French people and in a simple conversation over a beer in the hostel I managed to convey a simple message: What you have heard about Israel is simply not true. I told them that I served in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge. They had never heard of the tunnels or about the soldiers who were killed. Its possible that those same French people went home and came across the issues of the BDS and remembered that they met with Eyal from Israel and described the situation differently, Biram says.

Today, the three young entrepreneurs hold training workshops in three stages in cooperation with the Defense Ministry and the Institute of Public Diplomacy.

The first stage includes basic training as part of a preparation course for freshly discharged IDF soldiers, who are given the tools to communicate messages designed to enhance Israels image.

The second phase consists of training a patrol team of activists comprising ambassadors aptly nicknamed the tourists who possess stronger public relations tools. The third stage, which is currently in its development stage, is a digital platform designed to assist and support tourists during their travels after the army.

Nothing exists to help the population of discharged soldiers and we have here the ability to create a significant change. We have 1,500 graduates and we predict that by the end of 2017 well have 40,000. At this rate, in another ten years half a million Israelis will be Israeli ambassadors, Biram predicted.

Change begins from the inside

Unlike ISRAELis, which concentrates most of its efforts on public relations outside Israel, the Institute for Zionist Strategies focuses all its energy inside Israels borders.

The institute was born 12 years ago, and five years ago, as part of its framework, the Blue & White Human Rights offshoot movement was created, an apolitical group managed by Noah Dromi which deals predominantly with rights of Palestinians.

We dont say that everything is wonderful and nothing is happening here, explains the CEO of the IZS, Miri Shalem.

We also dont show a negative reality. IDF soldiers are not evil demons and even if the Palestinians dont have a state, not everything is bad. Some of them work inside Israel and receive a high salary compared to what they would receive in the PA. They also receive medical treatment, she points out.

The activities of the IZS against the BDS movement focus on three central areas. The first one is volunteer work at checkpoints in the West Bank (most of the volunteers are residents of Gush Etzion), which includes monitoring the operations of workers at the checkpoints, solving specific problems and providing medical assistance.

All this is in cooperation with the authorities and without the involvement of the media, Shalem stresses.

The second main area of focus is patrols at the checkpoints, which receives particular scrutiny from organizations abroad.

The third area is the training of geopolitical tour guides, a particularly popular role in the West Bank but less so in Israel.

"We dont present a rosy picture, but rather the complex reality that will cause people to question anchored perceptions in their minds.

Sometimes when delegations arrive to Israel, like Taglit, they are given tours that ignore the realitythey are shown the startup nation and the beaches of Tel Aviv. Our activities are designed to create a change in Israeli domestic discourse that will also spreads abroad. It allows for a different perspective on the conflict.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 03:48:08|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Germany faces a steep hike in its annual European Union (EU) membership contributions as a consequence of Brexit, German media reported on Friday.

According to a financial assessment of the European Parliament cited by the "Funke" media group, Berlin would have to cover around 3.8 billion euros (4.43 billion U.S. dollars) of a net annual EU household funding gap of 10.2 billion euros left by Britain after its departure. This would amount to an increase of 16 percent compared to Germany's current yearly cost of membership.

As long as Britain was a member of the EU, countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden benefited from being partially compensated for the "British rebate" on membership contributions. Brexit will render the corresponding agreement nil and void, however, forcing some countries to contribute a larger share towards EU budgets.

Nevertheless, the European Parliament report noted that a significant degree of uncertainty remains as to how high post-Brexit membership fees will ultimately be.

EU officials are also discussing about the possibility of lowering the bloc's overall expenditure, or raising new taxes, to offset the costs caused by Britain's decision to leave.

British Brexit Secretary David Davis announced on Thursday night that London would enshrine in law March 29 at 2300 GMT as the exact date when Britain ceases to be a member of the EU. He hereby responded to growing concerns amongst Eurosceptic members of his Conservative party that Brexit could be postponed, or even reversed.

Meanwhile, the sixth round of Brexit negotiations between the EU and British representatives has begun in Brussels.

Although British Prime Minister Theresa May has signalled her country's willingness to make further concessions on the "divorce bill" worth 60 billion euros demanded by the EU, German media reports on Friday claimed that a new conflict has now erupted in the diplomatic talks over the future of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland.

Brussels has called for Northern Ireland to remain within the EU Customs Union to prevent the creation of a "hard border", a solution which senior British politicians have repeatedly rejected as "impossible". (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 04:48:26|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU), Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens (Gruene) parties have inched closer to the formation of a new "Jamaica" coalition government on Friday.

Several senior politicians voiced optimism over progress made throughout the past week of talks as being indicative that differences between the four parties involved could ultimately be overcome.

Negotiators were nearing the "final stretch" of their journey towards a "Jamaica" coalition, CSU leader Horst Seehofer told press.

Seehofer's comments were made after subject matter experts from the CDU, CSU, FDP and Greens presented a list of proposals concerning Europe, education, digitalization, the labor market and interior policy.

Party leaders and head negotiators will meet again on Sunday to clarify outstanding disputes and prioritize the policy projects they have agreed to so far. Projects outlined in negotiations papers since the start of talks already come with a price tag of 16 billion euros (18.7 billion U.S. dollars) over the next four years.

Both Seehofer and his FDP counterpart Christian Lindner expressed confidence that preliminary talks could be concluded as early as next week, allowing negotiators to move on to more concrete discussion of the next government's legislative agenda.

FDP secretary general Nicola Beer was similarly upbeat after several hours of discussions on Friday.

It was "increasingly apparent" that a "shared framework" could be found, Beer said. According to German media reports, the FDP has softened its line in demanding the elimination of the so-called "Solidarity Tax".

CSU secretary general Andreas Scheuer described the outcome of talks as enabling progress to the "third phase" of negotiations.

Greens federal chairman Michael Kellner called for more compromise from the "Jamaica" partners to advance to the next stage of talks. Earlier, Scheuer had accused the Greens of "maliciousness" for singling out the CSU as the main obstacle to agreement.

Nevertheless, Kellner insisted that there had been a variation of cross-party alliances across different topics in talks, including between the CSU, Greens and FDP in opposition to the CDU.

The "Jamaica" parties now aim to conclude preliminary talks next Thursday after which party leaders must formally obtain a permission from their parties to proceed with final stage coalition talks. The CDU confirmed that party leader and Chancellor Angela Merkel would consult with the relevant party authorities over the course of five conferences in November.

Despite the widespread optimism showcased, however, significant obstacles remain to the formation of a new German government.

Migration is a hotly contested subject where the Greens are pitted against the CDU, CSU and FDP.

While FDP representatives perceived a "consensus" over the future handling of labor migration, the Greens are isolated in their desire to preserve the right of refugees to family-reunification in its current form. The CDU, CSU and FDP are all in favor of creating a more restrictive regime in light of the high number of asylum seekers who have arrived in Germany since 2015.

The FDP has proposed a "narrow annual quota" for migrants who have received subsidiary protection from German authorities to bring family members with them. Greens faction leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt rejected this measure and denied that progress had been made in talks towards a cross-party solution.

According to the magazine SPIEGEL, Hesse governor Volker Bouffier, who governs his state in a regional coalition with the Greens, will launch an effort to mediate between parties on the issue of migration next week.

By contrast, negotiators were able to secure an agreement to invest 20 billion euros in an infrastructure drive to improve German internet speed until 2025. The "Jamaica" parties also arrived at a shared position on the expansion of public pension schemes to prevent the risk of elderly citizens from falling into poverty.

These and other proposals made by subject matter experts on Friday must still be formally approved by the leaders of the CDU, CSU, FDP and Greens. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 06:33:57|Editor: yan

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HOUSTON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Harris County of U.S. Texas on Friday demolished the first of dozens of buyout homes that was flooded during Hurricane Harvey.

Many homeowners in the area have yet to move back into their damaged homes or begin costly repairs. Officials aim to complete some home purchases as soon as possible. The effort is to buy out Harvey-flooded homes.

Harvey blew ashore on Aug. 25 as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, damaging nearly 200,000 homes.

In September, the Harris County which contains Houston unanimously approved a plan to seek more than 17 million U.S. dollars to buy out more than 100 homes at the highest risk of flooding.

Floodplain maps and regulations only came into being in the 1980s. Since the 1980s, the Harris County Flood Control District has bought out roughly 3,000 homes.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 06:38:58|Editor: yan

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BRASILIA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc and the European Union (EU) agreed on Friday that a trade deal is likely by December.

The assertion came during a meeting in Brazil's capital Brasilia between authorities from Mercosur members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and a vice president of the European Commission, Jyrki Katainen.

"We have held several rounds on trade matters, on regulation matters, and today we concluded a round of negotiations," Brazil's Foreign Affairs Minister Aloysio Nunes said after the meeting, adding the two sides were close to wrapping up a deal before year's end.

Brazil, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the trade bloc, presented the EU with a package of initiatives designed to further the negotiations, said Nunes.

"Once we have a response on this package from the European Union -- if there's a positive sign, as we hope -- we will be able to speed up the negotiations so that they conclude by the end of the year," said Nunes.

A successful deal with the EU could spur Mercosur to finalize trade agreements with other economic blocs, he added.

Friday's meeting signaled progress after a less-promising gathering in October, when EU proposals were described as falling "below expectations."

According to Katainen, "European Union member countries consider the proposed partnership agreement to be of maximum importance. The first immediate outcome (of a deal) is going to be an increase in investor confidence and a greater show of interest."

Trade negotiations began in the mid 1990s, but were suspended from 2004 to 2010 given a lack of concessions, in agricultural from the European side, and in the industrial sector on the South American side.

Talks resumed in 2012, but have been inching along at a slow pace.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 06:49:00|Editor: yan

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GENEVA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday that since August 25 of this year an estimated 613,000 Rohingya refugees had arrived in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, fleeing violence in Myanmar.

IOM said that the total Rohingya refugee population in the area was now 826,000.

IOM spokesperson Joel Millman told a press briefing here Friday that the makeshift sites where the Rohingyas had settled were desperately overcrowded and located on inhospitable, hilly terrain with insufficient drainage and little or no road access.

The few roads that existed were impossibly congested, making it extremely difficult to reach refugees with the support and services they needed, he said.

According to him, in the Kutupalong -- Balukhali Expansion Site, which was currently home to an estimated 423,000 refugees, and where IOM was responsible for coordinating site management, many areas were extremely difficult to access.

"People hiked for hours under the scorching sun, often carrying heavy loads from distribution points, to reach their shelters. Steep hills and dangerous paths meant that children, the elderly and people with disabilities were often unable to move around the site," he said.

In October, IOM had built some 850 meters of road into Balukhali to enable humanitarian agencies to deliver lifesaving assistance to at least 50,000 refugees. IOM said it was currently working on six other road projects.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 06:54:02|Editor: yan

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SANTIAGO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chile's Supreme Court of Justice on Friday ordered the government to indemnify relatives of victims who died in a post-earthquake tsunami after officials failed to warn of the dangers.

The state must pay the equivalent of some 3 million U.S. dollars to 74 relatives of 21 victims killed in the aftermath of a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake that struck in the predawn hours of Feb. 27, 2010, according to the court.

The victims were residents of coastal towns San Antonio, Constitucion, Talcahuano and Tome, and the island of Juan Fernandez.

Residents had heeded the recommendation of authorities who had dismissed the threat of a tsunami, and stayed put.

The devastating earthquake and its aftermath killed more than 500 people.

The court's latest ruling follows an appeal by government lawyers, who argued against the indemnity.

But the court established that the Interior Ministry's National Emergency Office (ONEMI) and the Navy's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOA) failed in their responsibility to alert residents.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 06:59:04|Editor: Xiang Bo

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Friday to protest labor reforms that they believe only benefit big business.

Trade unions organized marches across the country to demand lawmakers revoke part of the labor law, which was approved by Congress in July and goes into effect on Saturday.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city and financial center, the president of the General Union of Workers, Ricardo Patah, said the new law erodes workers' rights.

"We want to build something that's balanced. This reform is essentially meant for businesses, with 117 articles representing their agenda. We have nothing against business owners, but there isn't a single article with a union-oriented focus or outlook," Patah said in an address to the crowd.

On the contrary, he said, the new articles "take away workers' rights and undermine the relationship between capital and labor."

Among the most controversial articles is one legalizing so-called "intermittent work," similar to a flexible zero-hour contract, and an end to union validation of employee dismissals.

In Brazilian ports, workers launched "operation turtle" to slow work throughout the day in protest, the head of the port workers union, Walter de Paula, said.

The labor reforms are part of President Michel Temer's austerity package, which aims to reduce the public deficit and spur economic growth following a two-year recession that has seen GDP drop more than 7 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 07:13:05|Editor: Xiang Bo

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a press encounter at the UN headquarters in New York, on Nov. 10, 2017. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for more action and bolder ambition to fight climate change. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for more action and bolder ambition to fight climate change.

He made the appeal before a trip to Bonn, Germany, for this year's UN climate conference, which he said comes at a pivotal moment.

In recent weeks, a series of reports have set climate alarm bells ringing, said Guterres.

The latest data released by the World Meteorological Organization showed dangerous growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past seven decades, reaching new highs in 2016.

Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are now the highest in 800,000 years.

A report of the UN Environment Program shows that greenhouse gas levels in 2020 are likely to be so elevated that it will be extremely difficult to meet the Paris reduction targets for 2030. It also points out that it is extremely likely that human activities are the dominant cause.

"These reports send two clear messages: we need to accelerate climate action and we need to raise ambition," he told reporters here at UN Headquarters.

Guterres asked to further cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020.

To that end, carbon pricing is an important instrument that must be developed, he said. "The window of opportunity to meet the 2-degree target may close in 20 years or less -- and we may have only five years to bend the emissions curve towards 1.5 degrees."

He called for funds for developing countries. "We need to mobilize the agreed 100 U.S. billion dollars annually for developing countries. This is crucial to spur action and to build trust. We are far from having that entirely guaranteed."

Guterres said he would convene a climate summit in September 2019 "to mobilize political and economic energy at the highest levels."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 07:35:14|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Visitors view photos during the International Digital Art exhibition on Tibetan Cultural Heritage 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal, Nov. 10, 2017. International Digital Art Exhibition on Tibetan Cultural Heritage began in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, on Friday. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 07:44:10|Editor: Xiang Bo

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CHICAGO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Governor of Wisconsin State Scott Walker inked a final contract with Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou Friday for the planned massive display screen plant worth 10 billion U.S. dollars in the state's southeast city of Racine.

According to the contract, the Wisconsin government has to provide an incentive package of 3 billion dollars if Foxconn invests 10 billion dollars in building a new display screen factory and campus near Racine.

To get the full benefit, the manufacturing giant would also have to fulfill its promise to hire 13,000 local workers.

The investment plan, labeled by Walker as "the largest economic development project in the history of Wisconsin," involves a virtual village, with housing, stores and service businesses spreading over at least 4 square kilometers, according to media reports.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Foxconn's plan to build a factory in Wisconsin at a White House event in July, accompanied by Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou.

Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, most notable for making iPhones in China. The Wisconsin plant would construct liquid crystal display panels for televisions, computers and other uses.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 07:54:12|Editor: Yang Yi

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TORONTO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Toronto police Friday said they believe two Chinese students reported missing this week are the victims of a scam meant to extort large sums from their families, according to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Police said the Chinese girl named Juanwen Zhang, 20, was last seen downtown Toronto Wednesday while the Chinese boy Ke Xu, 16, was last seen Thursday in the Scarborough area.

They believe the disappearances are linked to a scam in which Chinese students are told to go into hiding and stay off social media or their relatives in China will be hurt. The families in China are then contacted and told that the student has been kidnapped.

Police said the families are then asked to pay a large ransom, adding that they are concerned for the safety of the two international students.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 08:54:22|Editor: Xiang Bo

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UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Several UN agencies have expressed grave concern over the impact of the land, sea and air blockade imposed by the Saudi-led military coalition on Yemen, said the office of the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general Friday.

The representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Yemen, Meritxell Relano, said the blockade that prevents the movement of aid personnel and the delivery of vital assistance to children in desperate need has worsened what was already a catastrophic situation.

It is essential that the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, the lifeline for humanitarian supplies, be reopened, said the UNICEF representative.

The blockade was also preventing vaccines from reaching Yemen, leaving at least 1 million children under the age of 1 more exposed to diseases such as polio and measles. Current stocks are expected to run out within a month, said Relano.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that more people will die if ports in Yemen do not reopen to humanitarian aid.

Peter Salama, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said that his agency and other aid organizations need immediate and unhindered humanitarian access to Yemen, which is facing the world's largest cholera outbreak and where 7 million people are on the brink of famine, including some 2 million severely malnourished children.

The WHO said that its supplies are critically low. On Wednesday, the WHO was prevented from delivering 250 tonnes of medical supplies via sea.

The United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) is concerned about the effects of the closure on the Yemeni people, particularly the 2.2 million women of childbearing age, among whom some 352,000 are pregnant. The UNFPA estimates that some 52,800 pregnant women risk complications with immediate danger to their lives if they do not get urgent life-saving maternal care and medicines.

The lack of food, poor nutrition, the unprecedented scale of the cholera outbreak and the near erosion of national health system is also making Yemen extremely dangerous for all, especially for women and girls.

The UNFPA calls for immediate humanitarian access to reach those in need, especially when Yemen already has one of the highest maternal death rates in the Arab world.

The Saudi-led coalition sealed off Yemen after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen toward the Saudi capital city of Riyadh.

Saudi claimed that the purpose of the total closure was to prevent Houthi forces from getting Iranian weapons.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 10:49:37|Editor: Yang Yi

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by Xinhua writer Liu Chang

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The logo of this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Vietnam shows 21 sunrays moving in a circular motion, symbolizing the spirit of cooperation among the bloc's 21 member economies.

That spirit seems to be more imperative than ever as the global economy still struggles to recover almost a decade after the 2008 global financial crisis struck, while trade protectionism is still on the rise across the world.

RISK OF PROTECTIONISM

Over the past 10 years, despite a lackluster global economic recovery, the Asia Pacific has remained as the world's most economically exuberant region and the main engine of global growth.

Chang Yong Rhee, director of Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told a press conference on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings last month that Asia's contribution to global growth is about 63 percent while China alone accounts for 34 percent.

This year, heads of state and other senior government officials of the APEC members gather in the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang at a time when the global economy has shown a broad-based upswing while World Trade Organization forecast that global trade is expected to rebound this year.

The IMF said in its 2017 World Economic Outlook that global recovery is continuing and at a faster pace. It revised its global growth projections to 3.6 percent for this year and 3.7 percent for next.

However, APEC leaders are facing a no less complex situation than that in previous years as they still need to cope with various pressing global challenges in efforts to sustain the region's jubilant momentum.

One major task is to renew the spirit of free trade and resist the temptation of protectionist approaches.

According to the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) annual survey of opinion leaders released on Tuesday, rising protectionism was seen as the top risk to growth of the Asia-Pacific region.

The IMF also warned in its economic outlook "a shift toward protectionism would reduce trade and cross-border investment flows, harming global growth."

"Preserving the global economic expansion will require policymakers to avoid protectionist measures and to do more to ensure that gains from growth are shared more widely," added the IMF report.

STRONGER COOPERATION

The APEC forum was born in 1989 to promote free trade and economic integration and cooperation among all of its Pacific-rim economies. The APEC meeting this year falls under the theme of "Creating a new dynamism and a shared future."

To do that, the member economies, which host a combined population of 3 billion and 60 percent of the world's total gross domestic product, need to uphold the very spirit of cooperation that has been deeply embedded in the gene of the group.

Over the years, APEC members have jointly reduced trade barriers between them, harmonized standards and regulations, and streamlined customs procedures to enable a more smooth movement of goods across borders.x APEC members have also worked together to facilitate business transactions in the region so that it would be much simpler to start a company in the region.

In a new era where economic development needs call for inclusiveness, and where global governance needs to be improved to better deal with such daunting global challenges as climate change, APEC has a new and more important role to play.

In an article titled "APEC must lead the march for inclusive and sustainable growth" written earlier last month, Zhang Jun, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry's international economics department, wrote: "Member economies should act on the principle of inclusiveness and shared benefits, addressing the special needs of the developing economies among them and creating an enabling environment for their participation in regional cooperation."

In this article published in the South China Morning Post, Zhang also wrote that APEC should continue to encourage greater connectivity as an effective instrument to break development bottlenecks and achieve inclusive growth.

FTAAP FOR INCLUSIVE TRADE

Promoting more inclusive cooperation in free trade in the Asia-Pacific should also be a top priority for APEC members, and the notion of "Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific" (FTAAP) has been increasingly accepted as an ideal model for boosting trade as well as regional integration.

In fact, the FTAAP is a not new idea, nor was it first brought onto the table by China. It was first proposed in 2004 and written into the declaration of the APEC leaders' meeting in 2006. During the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing, APEC member economies pushed forward the FTAAP process and sketched a roadmap for it.

Compared with other plans for a regional free trade regime, the FTAAP stresses inclusiveness, seeks greater regional economic integration and could unleash enormous potential for fast economic growth and balanced wealth distribution.

Experts also believe that the FTAAP is an effective way to reduce the "spaghetti bowl effect" caused by various overlapping regional trade arrangements, and fragmentation risks.

A report from the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) estimates that the FTAAP, when realized, will add 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars to the global economy.

In his keynote address titled "Seizing the Opportunity of a Global Economy in Transition and Accelerating Development of the Asia-Pacific" at the APEC CEO Summit held in Da Nang, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the building of the FTAAP has been "the long-cherished dream of the business community in our region."

"We should get into action, fully implement the Beijing Roadmap, move toward the FTAAP and provide an institutional underpinning for growing an open economy in the Asia-Pacific," the Chinese leader said.

Jin Jianmin, senior fellow at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo, said the "FTAAP as a long-range objective for market integration of the Asia-Pacific region, is bound to be welcomed by the majority of countries in the region."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 12:04:46|Editor: Yamei

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By Dario Agnote, Yuan Mengchen

MANILA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from Asia and the Pacific will converge in Manila next week to discuss measures to help counter the threat posed by terrorists who intend to make the region their safe haven, Southeast Asian diplomats have said.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose country holds the rotating year-long chairmanship of ASEAN, will play host to fellow leaders of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the leaders of its dialogue partners.

CALL FOR EFFORTS TO COUNTER TERRORISM

The leaders will warn of the dangers of pro-IS fighters and the increasing prevalence of cross-border terrorism, ASEAN diplomats have told Xinhua.

The diplomats, who declined to be named, said the leaders will stress the need to address the spread of extremist ideologies in the region to prevent terrorist groups from regenerating in new forms and to keep pressure on these terrorist groups which continue to carry out devastating attacks that may harm the region's peace and stability.

The ASEAN leaders will issue a Manila Declaration to Counter the Rise of Radicalization and Violent Extremism at the end of their meeting. Likewise, the East Asia Summit (EAS) will issue the EAS Leaders' Statement of Preventing and Countering the Spread of Terrorist Ideology at the end of their meeting.

To cut off terrorists' access to international fund, the EAS leaders will also issue the EAS Leaders' Declaration on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism after their summit.

The leaders will also stress the need to promote peace and security in the region, saying it is needed to achieve high economic growth by increasing trade, investment, and job creation, the sources said.

Southeast Asia has faced the threat of terrorism for decades, and the rise of IS poses heightened challenges to the region especially after the pro-IS militants' attack in Marawi in May that led to a five-month conflict in the southern Philippines.

JOIN HANDS TO STRENGTHEN ECONOMIC COOPERATION

ASEAN has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars. If taken as a single country, ASEAN will be the seventh largest economy in the world.

On Tuesday next week, the leaders of countries negotiating for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are also expected to issue a joint leaders' statement.

RCEP is the free trade agreement that the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and its six trading partners Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand are hoping to establish.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ramon Kabigting, a former Philippine negotiator for RCEP, told Xinhua that China will eventually play a vital role in determining the direction of Asian free trade agreements like RCEP.

The 16-party RCEP agreement, considered as one of the world's largest free trade area, represents an integrated market of more than 3 billion people with a combined GDP of 22.4 trillion U.S. dollars.

STRIVE TO ENSURE REGIONAL STABILITY

The leaders are expected to discuss maritime security and cooperation and to exchange views on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, cyber security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Diplomats have said that the leaders are expected to express concern over the escalation of tension in Korean Peninsula and to call for peaceful conflict resolution through diplomatic means.

Philippine authorities have tightened the security ahead of the summits that will be attended by 22 world leaders.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also be attending the ASEAN-related meeting.

Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau and European Council President Donald Tusk are also coming to attend the ASEAN-Canada and ASEAN-EU commemorative summits, celebrating their 40th-anniversary partnerships.

The government will deploy nearly 60,000 soldiers and policemen in Manila and Clark in Pampanga to ensure the safety and security of the world leaders, the delegates and members of the international media that will cover the events.

These forces will be assigned to secure the airports, routes, venues, and tours of the delegates, according to Catalino Cuy, Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 12:09:48|Editor: Yamei

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LUSAKA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Zambian Vice President Inonge Wina said on Friday that the country will witness a mass arrest of public workers cited in the latest Auditor General's Report for misapplication of public resources.

President Edgar Lungu has already directed investigative agencies to be proactive and ensure that all the culprits were arrested, Wina said during a question and answer session in parliament.

The release of the Auditor General's Report in Zambia every year is usually met with emotive reactions from stakeholders as it usually discloses the rampant abuse of public resources by public workers.

The release of the 2016 report last month showed that misapplication of funds have remained unabated and even been on the increase in the country.

The stakeholders have called for stiffened measures to tackle the increasing misapplication of public resources.

According to figures released, the amount of misapplied funds increased from about 28 million Zambian Kwacha (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars) in 2015 to about 162 million Kwacha (about 16.2 million U.S. dollars) in 2016.

With the current national poverty levels at 54.4 percent and rural poverty levels at 76.6 percent, high unemployment and high living costs, Zambia cannot afford to continue on this path of imprudent use of public resources, local activists said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 12:24:51|Editor: Yamei

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Massive protests took place in Brazil against a comprehensive labor reform on Friday, a day before it takes effect.

The protests swept 24 out of 27 states of the country. In Ceara state, around 20,000 people took the street, according to news site G1.

The labor reform has been approved by the Congress and signed into law by President Michel Temer. However, unions and civil organizations still did not give up pressuring the government and congressmen into reconsidering the measure, and organized a series of marches and protests all over the country.

In addition to the labor reform, citizens also protested against a social security reform bill which is waiting to be voted in the Congress.

Both the labor and social security reforms are considered highly damaging to workers, according to critics, who say the labor reform will make workers more vulnerable, reduce their rights and will be ineffective in curbing unemployment.

The social security reform is criticized for establishing a minimum age of retirement regardless of how many years one has worked, which will in practice make poorer people work for many more years and retire with lower pensions.

The labor reform passed with relative ease in the Congress, but the social security reform is considered a much harder sell, as the government does not have, at this point, enough votes to approve the bill before the end of the year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 13:04:57|Editor: Xiang Bo

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by Xinhua Writers Wang Wen, Yuan Yue, Xu Xingtang

DETROIT, the United States, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Scott Owens might never have started selling his homemade hot sauce, an interest he had always kept to himself, if Detroit, the most populous city in Michigan, had not been hit hard by the financial crisis and the housing bubble in 2008.

He used to work in the automotive industry and lost his job that paid between 60,000 and 80,000 U.S. dollars a year in 2008.

"We had two little kids at home. We were scared because we didn't know what income I would have," he said.

The family is one of the tens of thousands in metro Detroit that had to make drastic changes in their lives in order to put food on their table.

For three to four years, people who had been making a good salary were earning a minimum wage because that was the only job they could find. Some relied on charitable organizations for food and clothes, while others moved out of Michigan.

Owens started his hot sauce business in 2012 after he struggled with part-time and night jobs, being laid off and hired time and again.

His brand Scotty O'Hotty made a name at local farmers' markets, and gradually made its way to shelf space in stores.

"Fast forward five years, we are a national brand now. We are in about 2,700 stores across America and we do shipping overseas," said Owens proudly.

"It was a crazy idea and it was out of necessity. From being in automotive to a Detroit hot sauce guy, it's quite a leap," he added.

Many of those who stayed in Detroit, like Owens, looked for whatever opportunities they had personally. Some who had a family recipe started food businesses, some opened stores selling furniture made from recycled materials, and others opened shops selling handmade goods such as notebooks and jewelry.

"Businesses were starting out of a basically desperate situation," said Nicole Schulte-Franey, founder of Holy Cannoli's.

She started her bakery business a year before the Detroit city government filed for bankruptcy with over 18 billion dollars in long-term debt in July 2013.

Her stores offer handmade, traditional cannolis made from a family recipe that goes back to Sicily. They change and rotate through 75 different flavors of cannoli fillings including cookies and cream, chocolate chip cookie dough to key lime, strawberry, raspberry-white chocolate.

While their brands are well recognized locally, both Owens and Franey are seeking opportunities to expand their businesses overseas.

Earlier this year, they attended a conference held by Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant, to build connections and learn how to sell to China through e-commerce platforms. More than 100 local Detroit companies and over 600 businesses all across Michigan participated in the conference.

Meanwhile, the Michigan state government has been encouraging business cooperation between Chinese and Michigan companies for years.

Last year, the Michigan-China Innovation Center was founded with a grant from the state of Michigan.

The non-profit organization aimed to market Michigan in China and attract Chinese investment to Michigan by building relationships with individuals, businesses, business groups, and governmental units in China, and organizing a wide variety of collaborations between Michigan and Chinese partners.

All efforts combined, Detroit's unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent this year, the lowest since 2001, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

"Vibrancy and life have started to come back into the city," said Franey.

Once a "Motor City" accommodating automotive giants' headquarters, Detroit has gradually grown to be a small business hub that even "little guys" can also succeed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 13:09:59|Editor: Yang Yi

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BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Sales of documents and books about the 19th national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) had hit 71.7 million copies as of Friday, authorities said.

The documents include the report delivered at the opening session of the congress and the revised Constitution of the CPC, as well as books including Q&A about the report and the CPC constitution.

They were compiled to help officials and the public study and implement the spirit of the congress, according to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

The material was published by the People's Publishing House, Party Building Books Publishing House, and Xuexi Publishing House.

The 19th CPC national congress was held from Oct. 18 to Oct. 24 in Beijing.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 13:15:00|Editor: Xiang Bo

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- India's federal government has issued an advisory to state governments to create awareness among the farmers about the harmful effects of straw burning, officials said Saturday.

The directive was issued by agriculture ministry in wake of the increasing levels of pollution in Indian capital city New Delhi.

Burning of crop residue in the states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan also contributes to increasing environmental pollution levels. National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi government and these four northern states to take strict measures to deal with this serious threat, an agricultural ministry official said.

"In this regard, agriculture ministry issued an advisory to the state governments to create awareness among the farmers about the harmful effect of straw burning," the official said.

The ministry asked the states to facilitate residue management machines and equipment, such as zero till seed drill, happy seeder, straw baler, rotavator, paddy straw chopper, mulcher, gyro rake, straw reaper, shredder, etc., in custom hiring centres or village level farm machinery banks.

Since Tuesday morning Delhi was covered with thick smog, following which health officials issued advisory to elderly and children to avoid venturing out.

All schools in Delhi, adjoining areas and Punjab were closed until Sunday in view of the pollution.

The entry of trucks except those carrying essentials has been banned in the national capital, besides work on civil construction sites was suspended.

The deadly smog chocks air, causing breathlessness and lung difficulties, besides badly affecting the visibility.

Delhi is considered to be the most polluted city in the world. Last year the city's high court described the capital as "gas chamber".

Air pollution is a leading cause of premature death in India. Pollution in Delhi gets aggravated during winter months. Ahead of winters people burn agricultural waste to clear cropland, which contributes to the choking of already polluted air.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 13:35:05|Editor: Yang Yi

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PHNOM PENH, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- As ASEAN and China leaders are due to meet in Manila, the Philippines next week, a Cambodian scholar has said that the ASEAN-China relations would be closer in the future thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, was proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade, investment, and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

To support the initiative, China has established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund to provide finance to infrastructure projects in the Asian region.

Joseph Matthews, director of ASEAN Education Center, said ASEAN-China relationship has been moving toward a new high under the landmark policy of Belt and Road Initiative.

"This policy has invigorated the economic and infrastructure development in the region," he told Xinhua in a recent interview. "The most beneficiaries from this policy are the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- within ASEAN."

Matthews, who is also a professor at the Beltei International University in Phnom Penh, said the core value of the Belt and Road Initiative is the connectivity through roads, rails, waterways, and airways.

"This policy is bringing different countries in the region closer and accessible to each other," the scholar said, adding that the unprecedented infrastructure development in the region has created millions of jobs, economic opportunities and development of industrial zones in many countries.

"This is a sincere desire of the Chinese government to liberalize trade in goods and services in the region by minimizing trade barriers and maximizing cooperation for mutual benefits," he said.

Matthews said currently, ASEAN-China have been enjoying close relations in economy, trade, investment, tourism and security, and the close ties are crucial to ensure peace, security, stability and development in the region.

He said China is the biggest trading partner of ASEAN, and ASEAN has received the highest numbers of Chinese tourists.

"Chinese tourists are a driving force behind the development of hospitality and other service sectors in the region," he said. "The region is abundantly benefiting and flourishing through the influx of Chinese tourists, who are infusing billions of U.S. dollars in the local economy."

Sharing his view on China's diplomatic principles of "amity, sincerity, mutual Benefit and inclusiveness for win-win Cooperation", the scholar said the principles have won the hearts and minds of the people in the region in particular and in the world in general.

"History is witnessed that Chinese diplomatic approach to the region has never been bullying, hegemonic or pushy," he said.

Talking about the future of East Asia's integration, the expert said he did not see any future political, social and economic stability in the East Asia as long as American army is present in the Korean Peninsula.

"For the sake of security and stability of the region, the United States needs to change its behaviors and attitudes towards the region. Otherwise, the region will remain tense and flash-point for any possible conventional and unconventional war," Matthews said.

He added that in the East Asia, Japan could play an important role by working closely with regional partners for political stability and for lasting peace in the region.

"In my personal view, continuing Japanese strategic alliance with the United States is the biggest hindrance to regional integration and permanent peace in the region," he said.

Commenting on the Sino-Cambodian relations, Matthews said China is the biggest investor and donor in Cambodia and the Southeast Asian nation has been benefiting from Chinese generous and unconditional financial assistance for decades.

"China has played a very important role in stabilizing the country economy and political stability," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 13:45:08|Editor: Yang Yi

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UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy has asked the UN nuclear watchdog to strive for universality of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

"The agency should continue to enhance the universality and effectiveness of its safeguards system on the basis of ensuring impartiality and objectiveness and conducting full consultation with member states," Wu Haitao told the UN General Assembly after Yukiya Amano, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), briefed the assembly on the agency's work.

The international nuclear non-proliferation regime faces daunting challenges as some states still haven't acceded to the NPT, said Wu, the charges d'affaires of China's permanent mission to the United Nations.

"We hope that the IAEA Secretariat continues its dialogue and communication with member states on the implementation of safeguards at the state level," he said.

He asked the IAEA to promote the application of nuclear energy and nuclear technology, and increase assistance to developing countries. "China encourages the agency to advance and coordinate nuclear technical exchanges and cooperation by increasing its investment of resources and taking full account of the demand of the developing countries, in order to help member states achieve the sustainable development goals and share the benefits of peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

Wu asked the IAEA to play the core role in strengthening global nuclear safety and nuclear security. "China supports the agency to continue promoting the implementation of its Nuclear Safety Standards and Nuclear Security Guidelines, strengthening peer review service, facilitating the capacity building of member states, so as to enhance international nuclear safety and nuclear security."

He said China appreciates the efforts made by the agency in facilitating the implementation of the international nuclear deal with Iran, and supports the fulfillment of its monitoring and verification mandate. China also supports the agency to play its due role of monitoring the nuclear activities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea according to its mandate, said Wu.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 14:35:17|Editor: Yang Yi

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BRASILIA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS bloc of emerging economies on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to promoting competition and combating monopolies.

The five BRICS members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, gathering here for their 5th International Competition Conference, issued a joint declaration, pledging continued efforts to implement policies and practices that encourage competitiveness.

Organized by Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), the event gathered officials and experts from BRICS and other countries.

"In addition to discussions of an academic nature and topics of interest to policies for competition, we had concrete proposals that will help cooperation over the coming years," CADE President Alexandre Barreto told Xinhua.

"We will have an exchange of information that will help the respective authorities in (the area of) competition, in their daily work, which will be reflected in better services in their respective countries and for their people," said Barreto.

"Competition is fundamental to increasing productivity, adopting new processes, to innovation. Adopting new processes reduces costs and makes management efficient. The driver behind all of this is competition," said Brazil's Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles, who joined the conference Thursday evening.

Delegates from more than 25 countries attended this year's conference, said Barreto, including academics from 26 universities, and representatives from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Previous conferences were held in Russia in 2009, China in 2011, India in 2013 and South Africa in 2015.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 14:45:19|Editor: Yang Yi

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HANGZHOU, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Police in east China's Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province have seized 20 people suspected of stealing more than 300,000 pieces of personal information.

The gang were found to have hacked into servers of over 50 airline company websites since 2016. The leaks included user IDs, passwords and flight information.

The suspects were found to have sold the information for 5 yuan (about 80 U.S. cents) per piece and they have made over 10 million yuan, police said.

According to Chinese laws, those who illegally obtain or sell 500 or more pieces of personal information could face a sentence of up to seven years.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 14:55:21|Editor: Lifang

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. senator candidate on Friday denied allegations that he had made sexual advancements on a 14-year-old girl decades ago, and that he couldn't remember if he dated teen girls when he was in his 30s.

"I don't know Ms. Corfman from anybody. The allegations of sexual misconduct with her are completely false," Roy Moore of the U.S. State of Alabama told a radio interview.

When asked if he had dated teenagers as an adult, Moore said: "If I did, I'm not going to dispute these things, but I don't remember anything like that."

The allegations against Moore surfaced recently as Alabama is gearing up to vote for its representatives in the U.S. Senate. As a solid red state, Alabama has been represented in the U.S. Senate by two Republican senators since 1996. Moore was nominated by the GOP to fill in the vacancy left by Jeff Sessions, who now heads the Department of Justice.

U.S. media have previously reported that a woman said Moore had initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Three other women said he had asked or taken them on dates when they were teenagers.

Since the scandal broke, the Republican Party has tried to contain the damage by distancing itself from Moore.

"The president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday. Moore has served on the bench of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Since Moore's interview, two Republican Senators, Steve Daines and Mike Lee, have officially withdrawn their endorsements of Moore.

"Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate," Lee tweeted.

It is yet unclear if the revelations will alter the result of the election, which will all but certain go to Moore without the allegations.

A Washington Post analysis said the scandal may discourage Republican voters to hit the polls, but it'll still be difficult for them to fight for the Democrat contender.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 15:25:27|Editor: Lifang

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BAGHDAD, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants on Saturday initiated a push into the city of Rawa and the nearby town of Rumana to drive out IS militants from their last urban stronghold in the Iraqi western border with Syria, the Iraqi military said.

The soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division and the 8th Armored Division, backed by the paramilitary Sunni tribal fighters launched an operation to free the city and the town within the first phase from major offensive to clear the vast rural areas in north of the Euphrates River near the border with Syria, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, Commander of Liberation of West Anbar Operations said in a brief statement.

On Oct. 26, the security forces began a major offensive to free the last urban IS stronghold in Iraq near the Iraqi-Syrian border.

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 15:40:29|Editor: Lifang

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VIENNA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Western states have been passive in international efforts to recover assets secured through corruption and subsequently stashed abroad, thereby weakening the work of a United Nations (UN) anti-corruption conference that concluded here on Friday.

During the 7th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption this week, a diplomatic battle between developing countries and some western states over the resolution on asset recovery took place at the body's headquarters in the Austrian capital.

Drafted by Nigeria, the resolution aimed to boost international cooperation in asset recovery, one of the key issues in the field of anti-corruption.

According to a joint research of the UN and World Bank Group (WBG), an estimated 20-40 billion U.S. dollars each year, more or less equivalent to 15-30 percent of official development assistance funds, is stolen from developing countries due to corruption.

A large part is believed to be transferred to some western countries, which are golden havens for stolen assets from developing nations.

A mere 5 billion of such funds have been repatriated over the past 15 years, shining light on the difficulty in asset recovery.

However, a diplomat involved in drafting the resolution told Xinhua that some western states jointly boycotted a more detailed resolution, trying to set barriers for international cooperation in asset recovery.

Amended by some developed countries, the resolution is now weak and ambiguous and lacks substantive content to fully return stolen assets to their country of origin.

The diplomat, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the key reason for western countries are hindering the process is that there is a wide gap between stolen assets hidden in rich countries and those have been repatriated.

"Because it's not their economic and strategic interest (to return the money back)," said the diplomat. "This is theft."

"Lack of political will" was cited as a key impediment to the recovery of the proceeds of corruption, said the report made by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and WBG.

The report listed 29 barriers for asset recovery, including legal barriers and operational barriers, making the issue much more complicated. The diplomat said the barriers could be easily set by developed countries.

"Russia's position on asset recovery is that international cooperation on this issue should be considerably strengthened. I think nobody can be satisfied with the current situation," Deputy Head of the Russian delegation Avetisyan Andrey told Xinhua.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 15:40:30|Editor: Mengjie

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PHNOM PENH, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- As the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China are due to meet in Manila, the Philippines next week, a Cambodian expert has said that China is one of the ASEAN's most important partners in economy, tourism and security.

Chheang Vannarith, a senior fellow of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said China is the top trading partner and an emerging investor of ASEAN and the people-to-people bond has been enhanced through travel and tourism, educational and cultural exchanges, and intra-regional migration.

ASEAN data showed that bilateral trade between ASEAN and China exceeded 452 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, and foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from China to ASEAN amounted to 9.2 billion U.S. dollars last year, accounting for 9.5 percent of total ASEAN's FDI.

On the tourism front, China is the largest source of tourists to ASEAN, with over 21 million Chinese tourists visiting the region last year.

"On the security sector, the cooperation between ASEAN and China has been remarkably strengthened, especially in capacity building on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief," he told Xinhua.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

For the China's role in ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) cooperation, Vannarith, who is an expert at the ASEAN affairs, said China has been the core partner of the ASEAN+3 cooperation framework in forging regional connectivity, trade and investment liberalization, and cultural exchanges.

He suggested that inclusive governance and social innovation need to be strengthened to realize the vision of building people-centered East Asian community.

Vannarith also shared his view on the future of East Asia's integration, saying that improved trilateral relations among China, Japan, and South Korea are critical to fostering the East Asia's regional integration.

Commenting on China's diplomatic principles of "amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness for win-win Cooperation," he said both China and ASEAN need time to build and socialize shared images and understanding of the principles.

"Frequent, frank and open dialogue on the principles need to be nurtured," he said.

Talking about the possible China-Cambodia cooperation in addressing challenges in non-traditional security threats, Vannarith said the two countries should further promote an open and inclusive regional integration and work together to realize a people-oriented and people-centered East Asian community.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 16:00:35|Editor: Lifang

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A local court in India's western state of Maharashtra pronounced death sentence to three people for subjecting a 15-year-old girl to gang rape and death in 2014, officials said Saturday.

"The district judge sentenced Santosh Lonkar, Mangesh Lonkar and Datta Shinde to death in the gang rape and murder of the minor girl," a court official at Amhednagar district court said. "The trio was found involved in the 2014 Loni Mavala gang rape and murder case."

Local media reports said parents of the victim hailed the judgement.

Police said on Aug 22, 2014, a class ninth student was kidnapped in the Loni Mavala area of Ahmednagar district, east of Mumbai city, and subjected to gang rape. The victim was subsequently murdered.

Girl's family told police she was kidnapped while on her way to meet her grandfather.

The girl's body with several knife cuts was found along the roadside.

The gruesome crime had sent shock waves in the entire state and triggered protests, demanding speedy trial to ensure justice for the victim's family.

Sexual attacks on women and girls in India puts a question mark on their safety.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 16:45:43|Editor: Mengjie

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ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Police have caught 11 people who looted an ancient tomb in central China's Henan Province, authorities said Saturday.

The tomb in Houzhuang Village was raided on July 25. The local cultural heritage department believes it dates back to the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.) and belonged to a senior aristocrat.

Police snared the first suspect on August 26 and during his confession he named other members of the gang. The stolen treasures from the tomb were recovered in September.

An initial investigation found that the suspects have looted nine tombs since 2014.

Chinese tomb raiders can make good money, as wealthy people in China used to be buried with gold, silverware and jade in the hope of enjoying an affluent afterlife.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 16:45:44|Editor: Mengjie

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Hi, here is what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours.

SHANGHAI -- China's Singles' Day sales on TMall hit 10 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) at just three minutes past midnight on Saturday.

In 2016, the volume was achieved in six minutes and 58 seconds, according to Alibaba, owner of TMall.

November 11 has been celebrated as China's Single's Day since the 1990s. The date was chosen because 11-11 resembles four "bare sticks," the Chinese term for bachelor. Alibaba introduced the Single's Day shopping event in 2009.

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XINING -- An injured snow leopard found 25 days ago in northwest China's Qinghai Province has now recovered, local authorities said Saturday.

The animal was spotted on October 16 by a herdsman in Nangqian County of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It was unable to move with injuries to its legs, according to the herdsman.

The snow leopard was taken to a nearby monastery to be cared for. It was diagnosed two days later with lumbar damage after experts from Beijing Forestry University arrived in the prefecture.

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UNITED NATIONS -- A Chinese envoy has asked the UN nuclear watchdog to strive for universality of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

"The agency should continue to enhance the universality and effectiveness of its safeguards system on the basis of ensuring impartiality and objectiveness and conducting full consultation with member states," Wu Haitao told the UN General Assembly after Yukiya Amano, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), briefed the assembly on the agency's work.

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TORONTO -- Toronto police Friday said they believe two Chinese students reported missing this week are the victims of a scam meant to extort large sums from their families, according to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Police said the Chinese girl named Juanwen Zhang, 20, was last seen downtown Toronto Wednesday while the Chinese boy Ke Xu, 16, was last seen Thursday in the Scarborough area.

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CAPE TOWN -- A student exchange program was launched at South Africa's prestigious Stellenbosch University outside Cape Town on Friday as a fresh bid to boost cultural exchange between China and South Africa.

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian and Koos Bekker, Chairman of South Africa's major media group Naspers, attended the launch ceremony.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 17:05:49|Editor: Mengjie

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KAMPALA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- After hours of waiting in a long queue at a health facility in central Uganda, Jackie Namasaba gave up: no doctor turned up to see her.

Another patient, Prossy Akello, who had gone to seek treatment at Kira Health Center in Kira Town, the country's second largest city by population, expressed dismay after failing to see a doctor.

Further afield, thousands of patients in Uganda are paying a high price of going to private clinics, following a doctors' nationwide strike over a salary and allowance increases as well as better working conditions in public hospitals.

The industrial action which started on Monday has now entered day six, with doctors on duty only attending to emergency cases.

The doctors have rejected a government call to end the strike which has left the public health care system in the East African country paralyzed.

"We shall not call off the strike unless the government addresses our grievances and concerns. We need good pay and friendly working conditions," Ekwaro Obuk, president of the Uganda Medical Association, told Xinhua recently.

The Ugandan government says the strike is illegal since the doctors never gave a formal 90-day notice nor followed public service procedures in declaring industrial action.

"All medical workers who were misled to join the strike must resume duty with immediate effect," said Jane Ruth Aceng, the minister of health.

"All health workers who adhere to this directive shall not be subjected to any disciplinary action and shall be provided adequate protection by the government," she warned.

Leila Mirembe, a doctor at the Mulago National Referral Hospital, the country's largest hospital, told Xinhua in an interview that the doctors will only attend to emergency cases until the government addresses their concerns.

The government should increase salaries and duty allowances of health professionals, and review the supply chain and management of medicines, vaccines and medical supplies, say doctors.

The strike has caused some mixed feelings among the public.

Regina Kamoga, chairperson of the nonprofit Uganda Alliance of Patient's Organizations, said "Whereas we believe that our doctors deserve better in their enumeration and welfare, we the patients' fraternity in Uganda are extremely concerned that the doctors have preferred industrial action over saving lives and dialogue with government."

"We anticipate that the impact of the industrial action is already costing the lives of many innocent patients, children and expectant mothers at wards," she said.

Experts say the standoff between public hospital doctors and the government has pushed hundreds of low-income patients to flock to ill-equipped clinics.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 17:20:54|Editor: Mengjie

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- India's top environmental court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Saturday allowed the Delhi government to implement odd-even car rationing formula to control the pollution from Monday.

However, the court banned all exemptions granted under the Odd-Even formula.

"What is the basis of exemptions if you want to improve air quality," the court told Delhi government.

Deadly blanket of smog is enveloping the Indian capital city for the sixth straight day.

The green panel said the government's odd-even formula should come into effect every time the particulate matter (PM) 10 exceeds the level of 500 and PM 2.5 rises above 300.

The NGT's nod has come a day after it asked the Delhi government to submit data or studies on the basis of which it has planned to introduce the odd-even car rationing formula from next week.

However, as per new court order CNG vehicles, emergency services such as ambulance and fire will be exempted from odd-even scheme.

The decision to impose the formula was made in wake of rising air pollution levels in the national capital.

Under the arrangement, private cars with odd registration numbers are allowed to run on odd dates while even-numbered cars would ply on even dates.

Since Tuesday morning Delhi has been covered with thick smog, following which health officials issued advisory to elderly and children to avoid venturing out.

All schools in Delhi, adjoining areas and Punjab were closed until Sunday amid pollution.

The entry of trucks except those carrying essentials has been banned in the national capital, besides work on civil construction sites was suspended.

Delhi is considered to be the most polluted city in the world. Last year the city's high court described the capital as "gas chamber."

Air pollution is a leading cause of premature death in India. Pollution in Delhi gets aggravated during winter months. Ahead of winters people burn agricultural waste to clear cropland, which contributes to the choking of already polluted air.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 17:46:02|Editor: Mengjie

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait will host Sunday a conference on the issue of Palestinian children, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on Saturday.

The two-day conference, themed "the suffering of the Palestinian children amid violations by Israel, the occupation power, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child," will address "reality of the Palestinian children under International Law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the role of the society and civil organizations for boosting the rights of the Palestinian children; the deteriorating educational, health and psychological conditions of the Palestinian children detained in Israel's prisons; and the legal protection of the Palestinian children under the Israeli occupation, and setting mechanisms to activate it," KUNA said.

The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, together with the Arab ministers of social affairs and labor and representatives of government agencies concerned about childhood will attend the conference.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 17:51:06|Editor: Mengjie

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The visa-free travel agreement between Brunei and Russia marks a major step forward in the bilateral relations, Vladlen Semivolos, the Ambassador of Russian Federation to Brunei said.

"This remarkable event marks a major step forward in the bilateral relations which will serve as a driving force for the development of multifaceted ties between our countries," local media quoted the ambassador's comment as saying on Saturday.

"Until now, the privilege of visa-free travel was enjoyed only by diplomats and holders of official or service passports. And today we are proud to announce that all citizens of Russia and Brunei who hold ordinary passports no longer need to worry about visa formalities," Vladlen Semivolos said.

According to the Agreement between the government of Brunei Darussalam and the government of the Russian Federation on Mutual Exemption of Visa Requirements for Holders of Ordinary Passports, the citizens of the two countries holding valid ordinary passports may enter into, exit from, transit through and uninterruptedly stay in the territory of the other country without visas for a period not exceeding 14 days from the date of entry, provided that the stay is not to be used for employment, study or engagement in any kind of income-generating activity.

The ambassador also said that the signing of the agreement on Wednesday on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam is a result of dedicated efforts by Russia and Brunei to facilitate cooperation in various fields.

"We are sure that visa exemption will encourage further exchange between Russian and Bruneian entrepreneurs helping to implement mutually beneficial projects," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 18:01:09|Editor: Mengjie

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TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic republic and Italy have taken major steps to resolve the remaining banking issues between the two countries within the next two months, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, two years after the removal of Iran's nuclear-related sanctions, the volume of trade with Italy has not bounced back to its pre-sanctions level," the head of Iran-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Ahmad Pour-Fallah, was quoted as saying.

"Banking obstacles and lack of insurance coverage have been the main reasons behind it," Pour-Fallah was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the volume of Tehran-Rome trade was about 7 billion euros (8.16 U.S. dollars) in 2010, making Italy the largest trading partner of Iran among European nations.

However, the enforcement of international sanctions on Iran made it hard for Italy to maintain the high level of economic transactions and bilateral trade fell to 1.6 billion euros (1.8 U.S. dollars) in 2014.

Pour-Fallah expressed the hope that after banking issues between the two countries are resolved, bilateral trade would exceed 7 billion euros (8.16 U.S. dollars).

Pour-Fallah made the remarks as he is leading an Iranian delegation to attend the joint Business Forum on Banking, Insurance and Legal Issues in Rome. The delegation consisted of 25 representatives from industrial, mining, banking and insurance sectors.

"We have come here to negotiate with Italian bankers and insurance official to solve the problems as soon as possible and this is also an opportunity for Italian businesses to expand their economic relations with Iran," he said.

On Tuesday, Iran urged European Union for more efforts to facilitate banking ties between EU countries and Iran.

Deputy Foreign Minister for American and European Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi said Tuesday that the European countries have not made enough efforts to persuade their banks to work with Iran.

He called for more steps on the issue in the face of U.S. fresh pressures, stressing the consequences for the possible U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 18:06:11|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Saturday's 24-hour online shopping binge is the day-to-day online shopping market in microcosm, and benefits manufacturers, traders and consumers far beyond China's borders.

November 11, China's Singles' Day, became an online shopping spree in 2009 when Alibaba's Tmall began to make it so through extensive promotions.

The world's biggest online shopping spree is a barometer of consumer behavior.

Set in both "the world's factory" and second largest economy, the event draws shoppers from around the world looking for bargains and multinational corporations seeking sales.

"It is a worldwide social synergy event," said Zhang Yong, chief executive officer of Alibaba. "The synergy means joint efforts by global businesses and driven by technology and big data. It is a Chinese phenomenon with world influence."

This year, sales hit 100 billion yuan (15 billion U.S. dollars) by 9:04 a.m. Sales on Tmall broke the 10 billion yuan mark just three minutes after midnight. Last year, it took almost seven minutes.

"Singles' Day brings us many nice surprises each year, with the new commercial phenomenon and business forces. I think this year will be no exception," said Zhang.

Alibaba has created Haitao to help people in China buy foreign products, and TMall Global as a marketplace for foreign businesses to sell directly to Chinese consumers.

Japanese brands Onward Crosset and Laox, for example, have Singles' Day promotions at their shops on Tmall Global.

Stadium Goods, a New York City-based marketplace that sells footwear and other apparel, said it began preparations for the promotion one month in advance.

Its Singles' Day sales target is 2 million U.S. dollars, said John McPheters, founder of the company.

But it's not just sellers, many foreigners are also buying, according to Cyol.com.

According to data by AliExpress, Russia, Brazil, the United States, Spain, France, Ukraine, Israel, Belarus, Canada and the Netherlands have become the top 10 buyers in terms of purchasing power.

Females and people from 25 to 34 years old are the main source of the 100 million foreign online shoppers, the data showed.

"It is a Chinese phenomenon, but resonates across the world," Zhang said.

Alibaba's net income rose 146 percent to more than 17.4 billion yuan year-on-year for the fiscal quarter ending September.

Revenue from international businesses reached 2.9 billion yuan, 115-percent growth year on year, thanks to strong growth in its Southeast Asian platform Lazada and China outbound platform AliExpress.

"Singles' Day is adding more and more overseas businesses, and it has become a huge opportunity for goods, capital and culture to be exchanged around the world," said Jin Xuejun, professor of economics at Zhejiang University.

In 2016, Alibaba's Singles' Day sales totalled 120 billion yuan thanks to its internationalization tendency, but the record was surpassed in just 13 hours this year.

The Singles' Day shopping is becoming bigger in scale given JD.com Inc., Kaola.com and other cross-border e-commerce platforms have came to share the big on-line shopping cake. It takes JD.com as long as 11 days to top 100 billion yuan of sales by Nov. 11, in contrast with Alibaba's nine hours.

These cross-border e-commerce platforms have made increased efforts to expand businesses abroad. Taking Alibaba as an example, its online payment app Alipay can now support 27 clearing currencies and serve users in over 200 countries.

Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba, has established 266 cross-border warehouses in 224 countries and regions.

Despite convenience and jobs brought by booming e-commerce business worldwide, experts warned of nuisances and risks looming over the whole sector, such as junk information, credit default and internet fraud.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 18:35:55|Editor: Zhou Xin

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A man drinks water inside his tent in Shiberghan, Jawzjan province, Afghanistan, Nov. 5, 2017. More than 2,000 families have recently been displaced and fled to neighboring provinces. This has been as a result of IS-affiliated militants, during a ferocious two-month campaign, repelling the Taliban and taking control of their key bases held for eight years in the restive Qushtipa and Darzab districts of Jawzjan province, in northern Afghanistan, according to local officials. (Xinhua/Mohammad Jan Aria)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 18:51:21|Editor: Lifang

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Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Baghlan province, Afghanistan, Nov. 10, 2017. A total of nine Taliban fighters under Mullah Hafizullah Haqqani gave up fighting and handed over their weapons to police in Burka district of the northern Baghlan province on Friday, district police chief Mohammad Ali said. (Xinhua/Sahel)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 18:51:20|Editor: Lu Hui

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Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit on Friday put forward a four-point proposal for the region to achieve greater development amid a profoundly changing global economy.

At the event held in Da Nang, Vietnam, Xi also shared China's blueprint for the country's new era of more sustainable economic growth, formulated at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Experts told Xinhua that Xi clearly is able to spot global development trends, upon which his proposals and ideas are based.

NEW DIRECTION FOR ASIA

Chen Fengying, a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that President Xi clearly pointed out four "profound changes" in the global economy.

Xi said global challenges cannot be confronted through traditional means, adding that protectionism is not a workable solution, Chen said.

Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, said that Western countries have tended to pursue protectionism in recent years, allowing China to uphold globalization by proposing the Belt and Road Initiative.

This leading role will win more support and recognition in the future and more of China's ideas and solutions will become international consensus, Ruan added.

Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore Nanyang Technological University, said that such keywords as "openness", "innovation", "connectivity" and "inclusiveness" mentioned by Xi in his address were key.

Infrastructure, like transport facilities, whether in Southeast Asia or other areas in the Asia-Pacific, is relatively underdeveloped, he said, adding that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative will help the Asia-Pacific region improve its infrastructure and release its development potential.

The Belt and Road Initiative comprises an overland Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and aims to revive and nurture trade between Asia and the outside world.

NEW BLUEPRINT

President Xi's speech on Friday drew global attention for it marked his debut on a multilateral stage in his first overseas trip after the 19th CPC National Congress.

As China moves closer to the center of the international stage, the world is watching which development path the Asian giant will choose to embark on its new journey.

In his speech, Xi introduced China's achievements in the past five years in boosting comprehensive reform and innovation, and in enhancing the inclusiveness and benefits-sharing in development.

Meanwhile, Xi illustrated a blueprint for China's future development. It can be summarized as a new journey of deepening reform, a new journey of exploring a new development model, a new journey toward greater integration with the world and an open economy of higher standards, a new journey toward a better life for the people, and a new journey toward a new type of international relations.

It is the right time to introduce China's recent achievements and to expound the country's new roadmap to the world, said Ruan with the China Institute of International Studies.

"It could help enhance mutual trust and reduce suspicion between China and the rest of the world, winning understanding and recognition of the vast opportunities offered by the 19th CPC National Congress to both China and the world at large," he said.

In Ruan's opinion, Xi's prescription for the world and Asia-Pacific economies is in accordance with China's new journey, with keywords such as innovation, coordination, green development, openness and sharing expressed throughout.

"The speech concluded with the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which means the fruits yielded in China's development will be shared with the rest of the world," he added.

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era will have a far-reaching impact on China, the Asia-Pacific and beyond, said Luu Bich Ho, former director of the Institute of Development Strategy under the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.

As a socialist country, Luu added Vietnam can learn from the ideas expressed at the 19th CPC National Congress, such as deepening reform, boosting innovation and improving quality of life.

Bambang Suryono, chairman of Asia Innovation Study Center in Indonesia, pointed out that Xi shared in his speech China's development experience with other developing countries, which is very important because it provides a unique path different from that of Western countries.

"It shows China is getting increasingly confident," he said. "China's development path and model have gained more and more recognition, and this will enlarge China's 'circle of friends'."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 19:31:28|Editor: Lifang

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MAHMUD-E-RAQI, Afghanistan, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban key commander, Qari Ehsanullah, was among 35 militants killed in eastern Kapisa province of Afghanistan, an army spokesman in the eastern region, Shir Aqa Faqiri, said Saturday.

According to the official, Afghan forces have been targeting Taliban positions in Tagab district of Kapisa province from ground and air since Friday, killing 35 insurgents including Taliban key commander Qari Ehsanullah.

Taliban militants who have intensified activities and fighting the government forces in different provinces haven't commented on the report.
A compactor works on a landfill site during a bus tour of the Vancouver Landfill open house event in Delta, Canada, on June 4, 2016. (Xinhua/Liang Sen)

NAIROBI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A scientist has urged African governments to enact timeline for ending landfills to help reduce methane in the atmosphere.

Professor Lene Lange from the Center for Bioprocess Engineering, Technical University of Denmark attributed climate change to the increasing greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions that emanate from the landfills that are common sites within African cities.

"Use methane from the landfills in producing green energy through biogas as a way of mitigating climate change impacts," Lange made the call Friday during a symposium on bio-economy in Nairobi.

According to her, food and wastes that are dumped at the landfills also produces smoke that causes respiratory ailments to the communities living around the sites.

Landfills are the largest anthropogenic emitters of the GHG methane (CH4), hence a threat to human and mitigation of climate change.

Methane has a much shorter life in the atmosphere than CO2 (12 years compared with 100 to 300 years for carbon dioxide, reducing methane release from landfills can help rapidly reduce climate change risk.

Because methane is the main component of natural gas, it can be captured and burned for energy with a much lower climate impact than letting it seep out.

Solid waste landfills are the single largest man-made source of methane gas in most African cities.

"The transformation of the landfills to serious economic ventures has the potential of creating additional jobs for populations in the continent," Lange said.

She called for the development of the East African Bio-economy by upgrading agro-industrial in making protein animal feeds, bio-fertilizer, biofuel and ethanol and energy from cassava peels, cassava pulp, pulp from oil seed and fruit, cashew shell and coco-pod husk.

Bio-economy is capable of feeding the world by getting more resources out of land and mitigating climate change through the development of renewable fuels.

"The current scare caused by climate change that is blamed for looming extinction of crops calls for the adoption of insects as alternative sources of food for human consumption and feed for livestock," said Sunday Ekesi, Director of Research and Programs at the International Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE).

He observed that knowledge-based approach on harnessing biological resources results in business partnerships between scientists, inventors, small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers, and eco and social entrepreneurs, which are more efficient and less damaging to the environment.

"Forge a bond between the academia, science institutions and industry to make agriculture competitive and biologically relevant for farmers," he told governments.

He said that by embracing bio-economy African nations are capable of commercializing the use of renewable biological resources such as crops, forests, animals and micro-organisms in solving challenges related to food, health, environmental protection, energy and industrial processes.

ICIPE is leading a program that is set to embrace bio-economy through innovative private sector to creating new economic entrepreneurship in the Eastern Africa region.

Like many parts of the continent, eastern Africa possesses large quantities of renewable biological resources and it is expected that bio-economy would be highly impactful in the transformation of the agricultural sector, which is the backbone of most economies in the region.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 20:31:44|Editor: Mengjie

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VIENTIANE, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- "Laos and China have had good relationship for a long time as we share a border. Both governments have collaborated consistently and China has supported Laos' socio-economic development efforts," Viengthavisone Thepphachanh, a Lao lawmaker said recently to the media.

On the occassion of the upcoming state visit to Laos by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Lao state-run media Vientiane Times has interviewed the Lao National Assembly (NA) members for their views on the benefits of the growing ties between Laos and China.

China is the largest investor in Laos, Viengthavisone, who is a National Assembly member for Savannakhet province, said, adding that China provides many forms of assistance, help with road building to improve infrastructure, and supports the development of human resources in Laos.

Sharing the same view with Viengthavisone, National Assembly member for Luang Prabang province Thongchanh Manixay said Laos and China enjoy strong cooperation and have helped each other a great deal, "so we have close relationship."

"We have cooperated in many sectors recently and there are many other areas that we need to develop to make the relationship stronger," he said, adding that China is a well-developed country and Laos should follow its example in many fields, especially in economics.

"China experienced economic difficulties in the past but after a short time they reversed the situation and their economy is now very strong. Laos should follow their example," he noted.

Talking about China's Belt and Road Initiative, Somdy Keodalavin, a National Assembly member for Vientiane province, said the two countries have close cooperation under the initiative.

"Laos and China are neighboring countries so we have a lot of cooperation and a strong relationship in developing human resources, education and other sectors. We also have close cooperation in economic affairs and business investment."

On the railway project under the Belt and Road Initiative, Somday said "Our largest joint project at present is the railway that's being built from Vientiane to the Chinese border. This is the first project of its kind in Laos and I'm sure it will be a great step forward in developing our country."

The legislator also said that there are many things about China that Laos can learn from, such as planning in politics, policies, and administration system.

Taking cultural cooperation for an example, Savankhone Razmountry, a National Assemble member for Saravan province, said "Our two countries have a longstanding friendship and we have excellent cooperation, especially through exchange programs in the field of journalism. Several Lao journalists have been for studies and training in China to improve their skills. In the future, the cooperation and relationship between our countries will strengthen."

"Recently there have been Chinese exhibitions and performances in Laos that have enabled us to learn about each other's history," he was quoted as saying.

According to Savankhone, as the year 2018 is Visit Laos Year, what both countries must do is to promote tourism and encourage business operators from China to visit Laos and invest in tourism as Laos and China are neighboring countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 20:31:45|Editor: Lifang

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army on Saturday stormed the headquarters of the Deputy Interior Minister of the UN-backed government, Faraj Eg'em, in the eastern city of Benghazi, confiscating all the military vehicles, according to a military source.

"Army units stormed the headquarters of Faraj Eg'em in Budzira district, and took control of the entire headquarters, confiscating all the vehicles inside with no human or material loss," a source of the army told Xinhua.

A car bomb attack hit the convoy of Eg'em in Benghazi last week, killing a security man and wounding four others.

Faraj Eg'em was appointed by the Tripoli-based government of national accord in August. The decision angered General Khalifa Haftar, who issued a decision banning any official of the government from exercising any official activity in the areas under the control of the army.

Despite signing a UN-sponsored peace agreement by the country's political rivals and appointment of the Government of National Accord in 2015, Libya remains politically divided amid insecurity and chaos.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 20:36:46|Editor: Lifang

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ZAGREB, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian government survived a no-confidence vote early Saturday after 14 hours of parliamentary debate, the European country's national television reported.

In the 151-seat parliament, 78 members supported the center-right government, while 59 voted against it.

The voting was initiated by the biggest opposition party, the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), which demanded new elections because of the government's handling of a debt crisis at Agrokor, the biggest private company in the country.

The state-appointed management tried to transform and revive the company, which ran up a debt of 57.7 billion kuna (8.8 billion U.S. dollars), while the opposition alleged the whole process of restructuring lacked transparency and favored some creditors.

SDP President Davor Bernardic said this was a defeat for Croatia after the parliament vote.

"The notion that political corruption, trading and buying mandates, suspicious partnerships and secret deals behind closed doors can survive in Croatia is a defeat of a normal democratic country," Bernardic said.

After the parliamentary debate Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said his government was protecting the national interest, the economy, the stability of the financial system and jobs.

After Agrokor, a private food and retail group, was hit by a debt crisis in January, the parliament introduced an emergency law that enabled the state to take over the management of the company.

The new management did an in-depth financial revision that revealed murky dealings and hidden debts, leading to the state prosecutor beginning a preliminary investigation into the former management.

Agrokor's founder and owner Ivica Todoric, suspected of white-collar crime, turned himself in to British police Tuesday after he was put on the list of Europe's most wanted fugitives.

He was released on a bail Wednesday and is awaiting extradition.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 20:51:51|Editor: Lifang

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GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least five policemen and 10 Taliban militants were killed after Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan on Friday night, a provincial government official said Saturday.

"Taliban militants launched an attack on a police checkpoint in Shahbaz area outside the provincial capital Ghazni city over night, which was repelled by police forces. But the clash left five police personnel and 10 attackers dead," Arif Noori, spokesman for provincial governor told Xinhua.

Two policemen and five militants also sustained injuries in the fighting, the official added.

Taliban militants who have been fighting the government forces in different provinces have yet to make comments on the report.
A cargo train packed with 41 containers left Kouvola, south eastern Finland, for Xi'an, an inland city in northwestern China, on Nov. 10, 2017. The first Finland-China cargo train was a landmark signaling the Nordic country became part of the "silk road". The train would cross the Eurasia continent and reach the final destination via Russia and Kazakhstan. It would take about 17 days, 30 days less than the normal sea freight, to cover the some 9,000-kilometer-long distance. (Xinhua/Li Jizhi)

KOUVOLA, Finland, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- With more than 40 containers on it, the cargo train bound for Chinese inland city of Xi'an departed Kouvola, southeastern Finland, on Friday.

It will take 17 days to run 9,000 km to cross the Eurasia continent, passing through countries including Russia and Kazakhstan, before reaching its final destination of the northwest China's Xi'an, one of the oldest cities in China.

Compared with the normal sea freight, the cargo rail line can shorten the travel time by 30 days.

NEW TRADE CHANNEL

Goods packed in the containers are all made in Finland, ranging from machinery, timber, workwear to ship components, according to Jari Gronlund, chief operation officer of Unytrade company.

Founded just in this summer, Unytrade especially serves the newly opened route, said Gronlund, who believes the only railway route linking Scandinavia and China will open a new channel to bring more Nordic products to the nations along the route.

Olli-Pekka Hilmola, logistics professor at Lappeenranta University of Technology, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle that a regular train connection from Kouvola to China would be important to the Finnish economy.

According to Li Zhao, Assistant of General Manager of Xi'an International Inland Port Investment & Development Group, the goods will be further transported to various markets in China after arriving in Xi'an.

Being the main operator of the multinational project, the Group has outsourced the transportation in Finland to VR, the country's state-owned railway monopoly, and the other sections to the railway companies of Russia and Kazakhstan accordingly.

As planned, a total of five trains would run between Kouvola and Xi'an by the end of this year. At the same time, a train would depart Xi'an towards Kouvola every week.

Li said the running may start to pace up if the trade goes smoothly and hopefully a train of goods would be sent every day in the near future.

ENHANCED INTEGRATION

So far, hundreds of China-EU cargo trains have been running through the central Asia each year, but the new line diverted to Kouvola would serve as a new chapter for economic ties and cultural communication, said Murat Nurtleuov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Finland.

He reminded the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China, which was later supported by dozens of countries especially in Asia and eastern Europe, saying now that Finland has been part of it, a new direction is found.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 21:16:57|Editor: Lifang

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DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Member economies from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) pledged here on Saturday to foster a shared future of peaceful, stable, dynamic, inter-connected and prosperous Asia-Pacific community.

In a declaration issued after the APEC Economic Leaders' Week, the 21 APEC economies said: "We reaffirm our support for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as a framework for inclusive growth."

The APEC economies were determined to advance economic, financial and social inclusion, with a vision to build an inclusive, accessible, sustainable, healthy and resilient APEC community by 2030.

Against a backdrop of rising protectionism and de-globalization, they agreed to create new drivers for regional economic integration.

"We remain committed to attaining the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region," said the Da Nang Declaration, vowing to accelerate their efforts to address World Trade Organization (WTO)-inconsistent barriers to trade and investment and take concrete actions toward the Bogor Goals by 2020.

Furthermore, they decided to work together to realize the potential of an internet and digital economy. "We welcome the adoption of the APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap and the APEC Framework on Cross-border E-Commerce Facilitation," said the document released after a week-long event which culminated in the 25th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting on Friday and Saturday.

More than 2,000 trade officials, delegates and entrepreneurs gathered in the central Vietnamese port city for the annual APEC summit. Established in 1989, APEC is Pacific Rim's premier economic forum aimed at supporting sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific.

The APEC economies also vowed to advance in a comprehensive and systematic manner the process toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) to further APEC's regional economic integration.

"We commend the efforts of economies to advance work related to the eventual realization of an FTAAP, including capacity building initiatives and information sharing mechanism,"the declaration said, adding that they encouraged the APEC members to enhance ability to participate in high-quality, comprehensive free trade agreement talks in the future.

It also underlined APEC's crucial role in support of a rules-based, free, open, fair, transparent and inclusive multilateral trading system.

The member economies reaffirmed their commitment to build a seamless and comprehensively connected and integrated Asia-Pacific by 2025.

"We reiterate the importance of quality infrastructure for sustainable economic growth and pledge to promote infrastructure in terms of both quantity and quality through adequate investment and strengthened public-private partnership," said the declaration.

The APEC economies looked forward to setting a strategic, aspirational and action-oriented vision for its future.

"We welcome the establishment of the APEC Vision Group to assist senior officials in shaping the post-2020 vision, including through consultations with relevant stakeholders," said the declaration.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 21:16:58|Editor: Lifang

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TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) is working to expand the role of Iranian currency, rial, in the basket of its foreign trade, the head of CBI's Exports Department was quoted as saying by Financial Tribune daily on Saturday.

In line with plans to eliminate the U.S. dollar from Iran's foreign trade, the Central Bank of Iran is pursuing the policy of promoting the role of Iranian currency in the basket of its major trade partners, Samad Karimi said.

"The goal of the central bank is to entrench the rial in the currency basket of other nations, meaning that our major business partners would employ the Iranian national currency for imports as we use their national currencies," Karimi said.

"CBI has defined the regulations so that Iranian banks can open rial accounts for their foreign peers, which also paves the way for foreign banks to open accounts for their Iranian counterparts as part of multilateral monetary agreements," he said.

The U.S. dollar is in no longer used in the foreign exchange interbank system of the country, he added.

Iran has signed two agreements with Turkey and Pakistan to trade in their local currencies.

Iran and Turkey's strong political will has led to the currency swap agreement that was finalized some weeks ago, Karimi said, adding that "such a will currently exists between Iran and Russia as well and the negotiations have gotten close to suitable results."
A cargo train packed with 41 containers left Kouvola, south eastern Finland, for Xi'an, an inland city in northwestern China, on Nov. 10, 2017. The first Finland-China cargo train was a landmark signaling the Nordic country became part of the "silk road". The train would cross the Eurasia continent and reach the final destination via Russia and Kazakhstan. It would take about 17 days, 30 days less than the normal sea freight, to cover the some 9,000-kilometer-long distance. (Xinhua/Li Jizhi)

KOUVOLA, Finland, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- With more than 40 containers on it, the cargo train bound for Chinese inland city of Xi'an departed Kouvola, southeastern Finland, on Friday.

It will take 17 days to run 9,000 km to cross the Eurasia continent, passing through countries including Russia and Kazakhstan, before reaching its final destination of the northwest China's Xi'an, one of the oldest cities in China.

Compared with the normal sea freight, the cargo rail line can shorten the travel time by 30 days.

NEW TRADE CHANNEL

Goods packed in the containers are all made in Finland, ranging from machinery, timber, workwear to ship components, according to Jari Gronlund, chief operation officer of Unytrade company.

Founded just in this summer, Unytrade especially serves the newly opened route, said Gronlund, who believes the only railway route linking Scandinavia and China will open a new channel to bring more Nordic products to the nations along the route.

Olli-Pekka Hilmola, logistics professor at Lappeenranta University of Technology, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle that a regular train connection from Kouvola to China would be important to the Finnish economy.

According to Li Zhao, Assistant of General Manager of Xi'an International Inland Port Investment & Development Group, the goods will be further transported to various markets in China after arriving in Xi'an.

Being the main operator of the multinational project, the Group has outsourced the transportation in Finland to VR, the country's state-owned railway monopoly, and the other sections to the railway companies of Russia and Kazakhstan accordingly.

As planned, a total of five trains would run between Kouvola and Xi'an by the end of this year. At the same time, a train would depart Xi'an towards Kouvola every week.

Li said the running may start to pace up if the trade goes smoothly and hopefully a train of goods would be sent every day in the near future.

A cargo train packed with 41 containers left Kouvola, south eastern Finland, for Xi'an, an inland port city in northwestern China, on Nov. 10, 2017. The first Finland-China cargo train was a landmark signaling the Nordic country became part of the "silk road". The train would cross the Eurasia continent and reach the final destination via Russia and Kazakhstan. It would take about 17 days, 30 days less than the normal sea freight, to cover the some 9,000-kilometer-long distance. (Xinhua/Li Jizhi)

ENHANCED INTEGRATION

So far, hundreds of China-EU cargo trains have been running through the central Asia each year, but the new line diverted to Kouvola would serve as a new chapter for economic ties and cultural communication, said Murat Nurtleuov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Finland.

He reminded the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China, which was later supported by dozens of countries especially in Asia and eastern Europe, saying now that Finland has been part of it, a new direction is found.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 21:21:59|Editor: Lifang

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TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least six Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Saturday in a search operation at a desert area in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

The commandos of the Rapid Response forces, affiliated with the provincial police, killed the six militants during a raid on IS hideouts in the desert area of al-Jazira in the western part of Salahudin province, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The troops found a lot of weapons, explosives and communication equipment, the source said.

Earlier, Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units have freed the provincial capital Tikrit, about 170 km north of Baghdad, and other key cities and towns in the predominately Sunni Arab province of Salahudin.

After their defeat, the IS militants resorted to the sprawling rugged area that extends from the western part of Salahudin province to the desert in the neighboring Anbar province in western Iraq.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 21:22:01|Editor: Lifang

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TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- German investors account for half of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Iran's capital market, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.

Other countries, including Switzerland, follow the German investors, deputy head for international affairs of Iran's Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO), Bahador Bijani, was quoted as saying.

Bijani said that the total number of trading codes issued for foreign investors tops four million as of Nov. 10.

SEO signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, back in 2016 to expand cooperation between the two regulatory authorities and increase German investors' confidence in Iranian markets, the report said.

BaFin is an independent and fully-integrated federal institution with headquarters in Bonn and Frankfurt, and supervised by the German Federal Ministry of Finance. BaFin is the financial regulatory authority for about 2,700 banks, 800 financial services institutions and over 700 insurance undertakings.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 21:22:02|Editor: Lifang

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CAIRO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will start a regional tour to push for a political solution amid Lebanese crisis triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Sameh Shoukry will tour on Sunday six countries of Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia, to deliver an oral message from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the leaders of those countries, the statement said.

"The tour will tackle bilateral talks and to discuss regional developments," the spokesperson of the foreign ministry Ahmad Abu Zeid said.

"The foreign minister's tour comes in the framework of permanent consultations between Egypt and Arab brothers on mutual relations and the conditions in the region, especially in the shadow of developments in Lebanon's political arena," Abu Zeid reiterated.

Shoukry will affirm Egypt's firm position on the need to preserve Arab unity, the ministry statement said.

He will also "affirm Egypt's policy that pushes for political solutions to crises and the need to spare the region any more turmoil and polarisation."

President Sisi told a press conference on Thursday that Egypt fully supported Gulf countries.

However, Sisi said he was against military strikes on Iran or the Tehran-backed Hezbollah, saying there was enough turmoil in the Middle East and has stressed the importance of de-escalation.

Hariri resigned in a televised speech aired from Riyadh on Nov. 4.

Hariri blamed Hezbollah and Iran for his resignation, saying he got information about an assassination plot against him. His father, late Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, was assassinated in 2005 and an international court is still investigating the tragedy.

Saudi Arabia accused Hezbollah and Iran of declaring war against the kingdom. Saudi, Kuwait, Bahrain and UAE urged its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 21:42:07|Editor: Lifang

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Civilian life has returned to Warshaffana area southwest of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, after the forces of the UN-backed government seized it and expelled armed criminal groups.

In Warshaffana, which is located some 30 kilometers southwest of Tripoli, Xinhua correspondent monitored the return of the normal life. Most shops are opened, with hundreds of families returning after years of control of criminal armed groups and supporters of the former regime in the area.

The government's Joint Operations Chamber forces recently launched a military operation in the area to eliminate "crime in the area," a statement said.

"We had a problem that has worsened recently with the return of militant supporters of Gaddafi's regime. The so-called Popular Front took advantage of the security situation and gathered in a large military camp, and recruited nearly 1,700 African mercenaries, particularly the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement. They posed a direct threat to the army of General Khalifa Haftar, the forces of the Government of National Accord, and forces of the cities of Misurata and Zintan," Mukhtar Al-Akhdar, member of the Chamber, told Xinhua.

"When we contacted the general commands of Prime Minister Serraj and General Khalifa Haftar, it turned out that this force is not affiliates to either of them. Both commands denied any connection with it, which led us to launching this military campaign to eliminate this threat against the security and stability of Libya, especially Tripoli and the western mountain cities. They are responsible for kidnapping, murder and armed robbery to finance their operations against state institutions over the past years," Al-Akhdar added.

Al-Akhdar, a senior official of the military council of Zintan, said that the military operations were carried out in coordination with security forces in Tripoli and the western mountain cities.

The death toll of the clashes in Warshaffana is 70, including 15 members of Sudan's Justice and Equality Movement, according to local sources.

The eastern-based army warned against attacks by the government forces on the headquarters of army units in the area. The eastern-based parliament also demanded an immediate halt to military operations in Warshaffana.

Police Captain Mohammed Jarallah said that the deployment of police in the area continues, and that dozens of security checkpoints are deployed along the road between Tripoli to Aziziya city.

"We have observed heavy civilian traffic movement. Hundreds of families are returning home since Thursday. No security violations have been recorded so far, a sign of the success of the first security plan," Jarallah said.

Jarallah pointed that there is a "positive cooperation between the security personnel and residents of Warshaffana to report any suspicious activity or presence of gunmen in the area, as the residents have been fed up with the acts and terrorism of the militants for more than two years."

Khalil Tijani, a university professor, was very happy to return after more than two years since a criminal group kidnapped him and burned his house.

"I have returned to my house that was burned by criminals. I hope that the armed conflict will end and that we will live in peace in our land with our people," he told his story with tears in his eyes.

"We do not care who secures the area. We have no hostility with any Libyan who has a sense of patriotism. We only want politicians to reject their differences, to unite efforts and to speed up the unity of the government, institutions, especially the army," Tijani said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 21:52:16|Editor: Lifang

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DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni on Saturday criticized a decision made by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to conduct a full-scale investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed by state actors in Burundi.

Speaking at the Ugandan town of Masaka shortly before he left for Tanzania at the end of his three-day official visit, Magufuli said: "The move by the ICC is derailing efforts by the East African Community aimed at finding a lasting solution to conflicts in Burundi."

He said the EAC and peace loving people across the world were pinning their hopes on the ongoing peace talks facilitated by President Museveni, the current chairman of the EAC, and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.

Magufuli said the two leaders have agreed to meet again on November 23 this year to continue with the peace talks, said a statement by the Directorate of presidential Communication at state House in Dar es Salaam.

Magufuli said the situation in Burundi was not as worrying as it was been trumpeted by various quarters, said the statement.

"The situation in Burundi is calm and that's why refugees who fled to Tanzania are now returning to their country," said Magufuli.

President Museveni asked the ICC to stop conducting the investigations, saying the EAC was capable of resolving the conflict.

Early this week, the ICC authorized its judges a full-scale investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed by state actors in Burundi.

On October 27 this year, Burundi became the first party to withdraw from the Rome Statue, the ICC's legal foundation.

In response, Burundian government's ambassador to the UN, Albert Shingiro, tweeted that the judges' ruling was a "non-event" and described it as "another attempt to destabilize Burundi that will fail as its previous [attempts did]."

Anicet Niyonkuru, executive secretary of CNARED, the main opposition alliance of Burundi, said he was now confident that Burundi's worst perpetrators would finally be brought to justice.

Violence first flared in Burundi in 2014 when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he was casting aside the constitution to run for a third term.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:32:35|Editor: yan

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MANAMA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain authorities said on Saturday that an oil pipe explosion in Buri village was an act of terror with links to Iran.

Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa visited the site where explosion occurred on Friday night.

"Evidence gathered by the inspection team confirms that this was an intentional act undertaken by terrorists intending to undermine the security of the Kingdom," said the interior ministry in a statement on Saturday.

The civil defence team, in cooperation with the Bahrain Petroleum Company's security and safety team, successfully extinguished the oil pipeline fire.

The cooling process is now complete, mitigating any risk of re-ignition.

"This is the latest example of a terrorist act performed by terrorists in direct contact with, and under instruction from Iran," stressed the minister.

The Public Prosecution was informed of the incident at the point that security services started to investigate the causes of the fire.

"A further investigation is currently underway to identify the perpetrators and to bring them to justice," added the Ministry.

The interior ministry said no injuries were reported and that an investigation into the cause was underway.
A lady sells truffles during Zigante Truffle Days in Livade, Croatia, on Nov. 5, 2017. (Xinhua/Relja Dusek)

by Relja Dusek

ZAGREB, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- In the center of the Istrian peninsula, there is a forest known for "black diamonds" that make this region the truffle capital of the world.

The unique fragrance of the "royal mushroom" was known to the Mesopotamian rulers 4,000 years ago. It was enjoyed by ancient Greeks and Roman emperors and today, truffles are still among the most highly-prized gourmet specialties.

Known to the French as the "black diamonds of gastronomy", Truffles grow under the ground in symbioses with tree roots, and are therefore very difficult to find. They are rare and grow only in a few locations in Europe, in some parts of Italy, France, Spain and Croatia.

Istria, a heart-shaped peninsula whose biggest portion is within Croatian territory, is home to white and black truffles.

In late autumn, at the top season of the white truffles, Istrian forests are full of trained dogs running, sniffing and searching for the rare mushroom. While truffle hunters try to catch them, especially when the dogs excitedly start to dig into the earth. It is a sign that they smell truffles, and it is the moment when the hunters take over the job with a dagger-shaped trowel until the truffles are dug out.

Ivica Kalcic has been a truffle hunter for almost 15 years. He has two English cocker spaniels that help him in the hunt. The older one is trained and always successfully in finding truffles. The younger one, this is just the first semester of school.

One day it should be as useful as the mother. "We always go in the hunt with dogs. One is sniffing and searching for truffles, while the other is here to learn the process," Kalcic told Xinhua.

In olden days, pigs and not dogs were used for truffle hunting. But this tradition is now dead since pigs like truffles so much that they usually eat them on the spot.

"Pigs are dangerous animals and it's hard to control them. When they start digging for a truffle, you have to react very quickly because a pig would destroy or eat truffle. And it is not easy to fight with a pig for a truffle. Once, my friend almost lost his finger," Kalcic said.

During truffle season, Kalcic takes visitors to the forest to demonstrate a truffle hunt. It is one of the most attractive tourist attractions in central Istria.

A chef slices truffles on a plate of pasta during Zigante Truffle Days in Livade, Croatia on Nov. 5, 2017. (Xinhua/Relja Dusek)

Visitors around the world come here to experience a truffle hunt and then taste these gourmet specialties. It is an organized and well-directed attraction where hunters hide truffles under the ground beforehand for the dogs. And in just 20 minutes, dogs bark and dig when they find a white truffle.

"The best time for the search is at night when the air is cleaner, so dogs can smell a truffle more easily. The downside is that dogs easily get lost in the dark," Kalcic said.

On Nov. 2, 1999, the biggest white truffle in the world was found in this forest. The lucky finder was Giancarlo Zigante. With the help of his German pointer Diana, he found a tuber weighing 1.31 kg in the Motovun forest near Livade.

It was, and still is, the biggest white truffle in the world, a mushroom that earned its spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

It was a breakthrough for Zigante whose name became a synonym for the Istrian truffle. Today, he runs a famous truffle restaurant in Livade and organizes Zigante Truffle Days, a 10-weekend long festival of truffles.

"People around the world come here in Livade to taste the best truffles. Istria is best known for white truffles. They are the most expensive truffles in the world. Unlike black truffles that can be dried, frozen and preserved, white truffles are special because they cannot be conserved. You have to eat them in a week," Morena Borovecki, marketing manager of the Restaurant Zigante and Zigante Truffle Days, told Xinhua.

The price, she said, varies from season to season. "It all depends on the offer. This season, the price of a white truffle can reach 5,000 euros (5,835 U.S. dollars) per kilo."

Nevertheless, the visitors of the festival don't ask for the price. Thousands of them come each year to enjoy this noble mushroom.

"The best way to consume truffles is to slice fresh truffles directly on the food. It could be a pasta, potatoes or eggs because these groceries are neutral and then you can feel better the taste and flavor of truffle," Borovocki explained.

Livade is not the only Istrian village that celebrates truffles. In October and November, there are exhibitions and fares throughout the peninsula. Istria even has "the city of truffles" named Buzet.

Beautiful nature and delicious food has transformed the inner part of the Istria region that is often described as "the new Tuscany".
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:37:38|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian air forces destroyed 10 vehicles loaded with arms attempting to infiltrate into Egypt through its western borders with eastern Libya, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

"The forces detected and pursued 10 four-by-four vehicles loaded with amounts of weapons, ammunition and smuggled material at the western borderline," said military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay, adding "the air forces dealt with them, destroyed them all and killed the terrorist elements therein."

Since May, the Egyptian air force has destroyed at least 100 vehicles loaded with arms while attempting to cross the Egyptian-Libyan border.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi recently said that Egypt destroyed 1,200 vehicles loaded with arms, ammunition and fighters at borders with Libya over the past 30 months.

Egypt is concerned about its 1,200 km western border with eastern Libya that has been a smuggling destination of arms and militants over the past few years.

Recent two-day confrontations between security forces and terrorists that started on October 20 left 16 policemen dead and 13 wounded in the Western Desert region near Al-Wahat highway on the outskirts of Giza, south of the capital Cairo.

Later military air raids on a nearby site, a mountainous area in western Fayoum province south of Cairo, killed a large number of the terrorists involved in the anti-police attack. Sisi revealed Wednesday that only one of them was caught alive and he was not Egyptian, noting all other 13 terrorists were killed.

Egypt's Western Desert also witnessed a terrorist attack that killed at least 21 soldiers in July 2014. In February 2015, IS militants released a video showing the beheading of 20 Egyptians near the Libyan chaotic city of Sirte.

The country has been working with Libya's neighboring states to reach a political settlement in Libya, which is torn by a civil war and run by two rival administrations, one in the capital Tripoli northwestern the country and the other in Tobruk city in the northeast.

Egypt sees Libya's stability necessary for maintaining its own national security, securing its western border and uprooting the cross-border terrorism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:42:40|Editor: yan

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by Christine Lagat

KWALE, Kenya, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Jaffari Kombo has an emotional attachment to the serene and idyllic Kickakamkwanju village in Kenya's south coast where his ancestors settled in the first quarter of the 20th century after relocating from the Indian Ocean islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.

The 50-year-old village elder is a descendant of Pemba fishermen who defied geographical barriers and hostile tribes as they sailed north of the Indian Ocean in search of freedom and economic opportunities.

Kombo's Pemba tribesmen, whose total population in Kenya is estimated to be around 4,000, have lived in their adopted home for close to a century but are yet to be granted citizenship.

During a recent interview with Xinhua, the sharp-witted village elder decried the lack of official recognition of the Pemba people as Kenyan citizens, hence their growing feeling of exclusion.

"The last batch of elders from the Pemba community settled here in the south coast 70 years ago, but we have always been considered aliens with no proper identification documents," said Kombo during an open air forum at Kichakamkwanju village located in Kenya's south coastal county of Kwale.

He is among dozens of grassroots leaders who have joined a campaign to push for the recognition of the Pemba as Kenyan citizens.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Kenyan office and its local partners have lobbied authorities to grant the Pemba citizenship after decades of statelessness.

Wanja Munaita, the Assistant Protection Officer in charge of Statelessness at UNHCR Kenyan Office, said recognizing the Pemba as citizens of their adopted country is both a moral and legal imperative.

"The people of Pemba descent should be granted citizenship status as a matter of urgency. They have been part and parcel of this nation's fabric since pre-colonial days," Munaita said.

According to the UNHCR, the Pemba comprises the largest group of stateless people in Kenya followed by Shona who trace their ancestry to Zimbabwe.

There are also pockets of Burundians and Rwandese who settled in Kenya during colonial days but are yet to be recognized as citizens of their adopted country.

Munaita said his push to grant citizenship to the Pemba is in line with UNHCR ten-year global plan to end statelessness that is considered a human rights violation.

"We need to step up pressure on the government to recognize and register stateless people," Munaita remarked, adding the recognition of the Makonde who trace their ancestry to Mozambique as Kenyan citizens was a milestone in ending statelessness.

The quest for the Pemba community to be granted Kenyan citizenship has gathered steam thanks to grassroots advocacy and fervent appeals from the international community.

Shaame Hamisi Makame, the Chairman of Pemba community in Kenya, said his kinsmen desire to be recognized as citizens of their adopted nation in order to contribute fully to its socio-economic progress.

"Our ancestors came here to conduct fishing and trade but successive generations have been denied education, jobs and voting rights due to lack of citizenship," said Makame.

He noted that the Pemba have made an immense contribution to the development of post-independent Kenya through their renowned entrepreneurial spirit and rich culture.

"The Pemba living along the vast Kenyan coastline are a valuable resource that should be tapped to develop this country. We pay taxes, have built schools and our cultural heritage can be showcased to attract tourists," Makame remarked.

Lack of citizenship has also taken a toll on the youth from the Pemba community who worried about an uncertain future unless their plight was addressed.

Hamisi Hassan, a 22-year-old high school graduate, said lack of a birth certificate almost denied him a chance to sit for his final exams in both primary and secondary schools.

The affable community organizer said that his quest for college education was almost cut off prematurely because of lack of a national identification card.

"Obtaining formal education has been a herculean task and were it not for the intervention from local administrators, I was almost giving up on primary and high school education," Hassan said.

He revealed that statelessness has denied the Pemba youth a chance to pursue white collar jobs and start families.

The elders from Pemba community have emboldened its quest to be granted Kenyan citizenship through quiet diplomacy.

Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed, a Pemba elder from Takaungu village in Kenyan northern coastal county of Kilifi, said his community will employ peaceful means in its quest for recognition as citizens of the East African nation.

"The journey in our quest for citizenship in this country has been laborious but dialogue with authorities is key to gaining victory," said Mohamed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:42:41|Editor: ZD

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

by Zhu Junqing

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the 25th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Vietnam outlined pragmatic ways in which the economic environment in the Asia-Pacific can be improved -- by furthering economic globalization, fostering an open economy, and promoting trade and investment liberalization.

His emphasis on the importance of an open economy, innovation-driven development, connectivity and inclusive development shows China's insight on global economic governance and commitment to common development. It also shows the responsible role China has assumed in international affairs, contributing Chinese wisdom to global development.

At a time when some countries are turning back on economic globalization, China has lived up to its responsibility by pursuing the irreversible trend.

From the 2016 APEC meeting in Lima to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos early this year, China has taken every opportunity to voice its steadfast support for globalization, and liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

At WEF, Xi underscored the necessity of "swimming in the ocean" of the world market and adapting to globalization.

In 2014, the Beijing APEC meeting endorsed the "Beijing Roadmap for APEC's Contribution to the Realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific" to translate the vision into reality.

"We should uphold multilateralism, pursue shared growth through consultation and collaboration, forge closer partnerships, and build a community with a shared future for mankind," Xi reiterated in Vietnam.

He urged for an open Asia-Pacific economy, promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and making economic globalization more open, inclusive and balanced to benefit different countries and people.

China has also lived up to its responsibility by adapting to new situations with initiative and promoting structural reform for progress.

As the world's second largest economy, China has over the past five years taken proactive steps to adapt to the new normal of its economy and deepened supply-side structural reform.

As a result, the Chinese economy has maintained steady performance, steering toward a better-quality, more efficient, fairer and more sustainable development.

Over the past four years, China's economy has grown by 7.2 percent on an average annually, contributing over 30 percent of global growth.

China has also lived up to its responsibility by offering viable and effective solutions to the thorny problems facing the world economy.

The global economy faces profound changes in growth drivers, the model of growth, economic globalization and the system of global economic governance. Infrastructure construction and interconnectivity are key factors to sustain growth.

To improve connectivity, China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. They will promote infrastructure construction and connectivity among the countries along the routes and strengthen their coordination on economic policies.

The initiative is also a meeting point for different development strategies, boosting interconnected development to achieve common prosperity.

Though the blueprint is from China, the initiative belongs to the world. Though rooted in history, it is oriented toward the future.

Last but not the least, China has been pursuing shared development benefits across the globe. The call for deepening regional economic integration, developing an open and inclusive market, and strengthening the bond of shared interests attests to that.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:42:42|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian Sukhoi 22 fighter jet crashed in the southern Fars province on Saturday morning and the pilot was killed, state IRIB TV reported.

The plane, belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, was doing exercises when it faced the accident, according to the report.

The cause of the accident is under investigation and will be announced in the following days, the report said.

On Sept. 28, an Iranian army helicopter crashed in the northwest of the country near Urmia city.

In the incident, one person was killed and two others injured, and a technical failure was cited as the cause of crash.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:57:45|Editor: yan

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's three-time former prime minister Kirti Nidhi Bista passed away on Saturday at the age of 90, the state-owned Nepal Television said.

The veteran politician breathed his last in his residence at Gyaneswor in the Capital after a prolonged battle with cancer.

Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and senior politicians have expressed deep sorrow for the passing of the former prime minister.

"I'm deeply saddened at the passing away of Kirti Nidhi Bista. He was an epitome of simplicity and integrity, and will always be remembered as a great soul. My heart goes out to his bereaved family," Deuba said on a twitter post.

Bista served as the prime minister thrice from 1969 to 1970, 1971 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979 during the party-less Panchayat system under the two monarchs.

Later in 2005, he served as the vice chairman of the government under the direct regime led by former King Gyanendra Shah.

Bista began his political career in 1949 and was one of the confidants of late King Mahendra of Nepal.

Bista, a non-corrupt, candid and nationalist politician, had played a significant role in promote Nepal-China relations during his premiership.

Final rites of the former prime minister were performed at the Pashupati Aryaghat based in Kathmandu later on Saturday. Bista is survived by two sons and three daughters.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:57:46|Editor: ZD

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's remarks on economic globalization at the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, casts APEC in a new light and sets the course of future cooperation.

Addressing the summit Friday, Xi said globalization has contributed substantially to global growth for decades and is now irreversible.

"In pursuing economic globalization, we should make it more open and inclusive, more balanced, more equitable and beneficial to all," he said.

The remarks came barely one month after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), where Xi reaffirmed China's commitment to a new form of international relations characterized by mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation.

"Xi's speech promotes peaceful development, economic prosperity and win-win cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region," said Zhao Gancheng of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

The latest evidence of China's commitment to economic globalization is more than 250 billion U.S. dollars worth of deals signed by Chinese and U.S. companies during U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to China this week. The deals include purchases of Boeing aircraft, Ford automobiles, U.S. soybeans and joint development of liquified natural gas in Alaska.

As for regional cooperation, Xi told the 21 APEC members on Friday that an open economy which benefits all must be their goal, and should be pursued through innovation-driven development, with new growth drivers, better connectivity and acceptance of the interdependent nature of development.

Through the CPC congress to his APEC speech, Xi's thoughts on global governance have crystallized.

At the CPC congress, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind was given as one of the 14 fundamental principles of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and Xi reaffirmed China's principle of shared growth through discussion, collaboration and active engagement in global governance.

The Da Nang meeting's theme of "fostering new dynamism and creating a shared future" echoes the idea of a shared future for all.

"The shared future concept summarizes the development of economic integration in Asia-Pacific," said Liu Chenyang, director of the Nankai University APEC study center.

APEC members generate about 60 percent of global GDP and nearly half of world trade. Established in 1989, the forum gives leverage to the growing unity of the Asia-Pacific. China has advocated a fairer and more reasonable international order since it joined the bloc in 1991.

In 2014, the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing adopted a blueprint on regional connectivity, an important acknowledgement of the shared future of the Asia-Pacific.

"With China's economic rise and its foreign policy more clear, members of APEC have begun to accept Xi's vision of the future," said Zhao.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, illustrates well the philosophy and vision of a shared future, building trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

At Friday's meeting, Xi declared his confidence that the Belt and Road Initiative would create a broader and more dynamic platform for Asia-Pacific cooperation.

"China has played a leading role as the world's second largest economy by contributing Chinese wisdom and strength to global governance," Zhao said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:57:46|Editor: yan

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ISLAMABAD, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A high level delegation of Saudi Arabia will visit Pakistan by the end of this month to explore investment opportunities in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), state-run media reported on Saturday.

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Nawaf Saeed Al Malikiy, Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, as saying that the Saudi Arabian group, comprising ministers and heads of various divisions, will reach Pakistan during the last week of November.

"A board is coming, comprising different ministries, and Saudi ministry of commerce to exchange ideas relating to investment opportunities in Pakistan in various projects like CPEC, Gawadar Port," the ambassador said.

Appreciating the ongoing defense cooperation between the two countries, Al Malikiy said they would sit with Pakistani side to discuss specific features for investment in Pakistan, and how the two sides can further strengthen bilateral relations and to enhance mutual cooperation in different fields.

Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan's federal minister for Planning, Development, and Reforms, welcomed the interest shown by Saudi Arabia, saying "We will welcome the brotherly Islamic country if they want to be part of CPEC."

Iqbal said Pakistan would also welcome and appreciate any friendly country which desired to participate in the multi-billion gigantic flagship project of the Road and Belt Initiative proposed by China.

Earlier in August this year, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman Al Saud in Saudi Arabia and assured him of continued cooperation and collaboration to the benefit of both countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 22:57:47|Editor: yan

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AMMAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Jordan, the U.S. and Russia on Saturday reached an agreement to establish a temporary deescalation zone in southwest Syria, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said representatives of the three countries signed memorandum of principles in this regard in Amman.

The Jordanian official said the agreement was an important step as part of the three countries' efforts to put an end to the violence in Syria and create the appropriate environment and conditions for reaching a sustainable political solution to the Syrian crisis.

The new agreement, he said, supports a step that was taken by the three countries last July to support a cease-fire in areas in southwest Syria which entered into effect on 9th of July.

The creation of the deescalation zone would help restore stability and allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 23:32:58|Editor: yan

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Saturday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, urging the two neighbors to extend the breadth and depth of their comprehensive strategic cooperation.

Xi also extended his sincere condolences over the heavy casualties and property loss caused by Typhoon Damrey in southern and central Vietnam, saying that China will support Vietnam's rescue and relief efforts.

He stressed that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Vietnamese government, people in the affected areas will certainly be able to overcome the disaster and resume normal work and life as soon as possible. ' Xi will fly to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Sunday to start his state visit to the country.

He expressed satisfaction on the current development momentum of China-Vietnam ties, which now feature frequent high-level visits, deepening practical cooperation, vigorous people-to-people exchanges and close coordination on multilateral occasions.

China attaches great importance to ties with Vietnam, said Xi, adding that he hopes to have in-depth exchanges of views with Vietnamese leaders on relations between the two parties and the two countries as well as issues of common concern, so as to open a new chapter for the two countries' comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

The international and regional patterns are undergoing profound and complicated changes, while the reform and development of China and Vietnam are also at a crucial period, said Xi.

He suggested the two sides expand the breadth and depth of their comprehensive strategic cooperation and realize lasting peace and stability of the two socialist countries led by Communist parties.

He called on the two countries to speed up the strategic alignment of their development initiatives -- China's Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan -- and deepen cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, finance, production capacity and infrastructure construction, so as to achieve mutual beneficial and win-win results.

For his part, Phuc thanked Xi for choosing Vietnam as his first overseas destination after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

He also extended warm congratulations on the elevation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the party's guiding principles during the landmark congress and on Xi's re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Vietnam cherishes the traditional friendship with China and is happy to see the success of China's economic and social development, which Vietnam views as great achievements of socialist construction, said Phuc.

To upgrade Vietnam-China relations is the priority of Vietnam's foreign policy, he said, adding that Vietnam hopes to enhance cooperation with China in such sectors as investment, trade, production capacity, science and technology, agriculture, electricity, infrastructure and the construction of cross-border economic cooperation zones.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 23:43:01|Editor: yan

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MOGADISHU, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Somali government said on Saturday that at least 81 Islamist militants were killed in two new security operations in Jilib, in Middle Juba of southern Somalia.

Information Minister Abdurahman Omar Osman said the early Saturday operations, which were carried out by Somali and international partners, targeted a factory house and militants mobilizing to attack Gedo region.

"Somali security forces conducted special operations in Jilib district and destroyed an Al-Shabaab camp where terrorists were regrouping to launch attacks on Gedo region area," Osman said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. "Some 81 militants were killed, a number of vehicles and heavy weapons destroyed."

He later told Xinhua that the security forces destroyed materials used for making explosives such as TNT, RDX, potassium and sodium nitrate.

The latest strikes took place hours after Somali and U.S. special forces conducted a drone strike in Lower Shabelle region on Friday evening.

Sources said at least 13 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed by the drone attack in Basra village, near Bal'ad district, in Lower Shabelle region. The U.S. military did not disclose the number of those killed in the attack.

Osman said that Somali National Army (SNA) forces have intensified their assault on Al-Shabaab militants in Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle regions.

Jilib, a town about 380 km south of the capital Mogadishu, is a major stronghold of the al-Qaida allied militant group.

Residents said there is much tension in Jilib, which is about 120 km north of the port city of Kismayo.

"Jilib town is tense. Residents cannot talk about any incident now since their phones are being tapped by the security officials. There was a lot of bombardment this morning," said a resident who declined to be named.

The latest operation came after Somali and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces on Monday launched a massive security operation to flush out Al-Shabaab militants in Middle Shabelle region in southern Somalia.

The pan-African body plans to 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 23:48:02|Editor: yan

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by Peerzada Arshad Hamid

NEW DELHI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The local government in Indian capital of New Delhi on Saturday cancelled its plan to implement odd-even car rationing formula from Monday aimed at reducing the blanket of smog enveloping the city and outskirts, officials said.

The local government's decision was announced after a cabinet meeting that followed hours after India's environmental court, National Green Tribunal (NGT), granted a conditional permission to the authorities for the scheme.

The green panel banned all exemptions granted under the Odd-Even scheme including two-wheelers, government officials and women drivers.

The court told the government the odd-even formula should come into effect every time the particulate matter (PM) 10 exceeds the level of 500 and PM 2.5 rises above 300.

However, Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the Delhi government could not compromise on the safety of women. The government, he added, does not have enough public transport alternatives to accommodate over 6 million two-wheelers.

"At the moment we are calling it off. We will again approach the NGT and will ask them to allow exemptions to women and two-wheelers," Gahlot told media. "On Monday, the government will file an appeal in the Green Court to reconsider its no exemption for women and two-wheelers."

Under the arrangement, private cars with odd registration numbers are allowed to run on odd dates while even-numbered cars will ply on even dates.

The decision to impose the formula was made in wake of rising air pollution levels in the national capital.

Deadly smog has covered the city for the last six days.

Earlier, NGT on Friday asked the Delhi government to submit data or studies on the basis of which it has planned to introduce the odd-even car rationing formula from next week.

Since Tuesday morning, Delhi was covered with thick smog, following which health officials issued advisory to elderly and children to avoid venturing out.

All schools in Delhi, adjoining areas and Punjab were closed until Sunday in view of the rising pollution.

The entry of trucks except those carrying essentials has been banned in the national capital, besides work on civil construction sites was suspended.

The deadly smog chocks air causing breathlessness and lung difficulties, besides badly affecting the visibility.

Authorities have asked citizens to avoid burning dry leaves, crop residue in and around the city.

India's federal government, meanwhile, has issued an advisory to the state governments to create awareness among the farmers about the harmful effects of straw burning.

The directive was issued by agriculture ministry in wake of the increasing levels of pollution in New Delhi.

Delhi is considered to be the most polluted city in the world. Last year the city's high court described the capital as "gas chamber."

Air pollution is a leading cause of premature death in India. Pollution in Delhi gets aggravated during winter months. Ahead of winters people burn agricultural waste to clear cropland, which contributes to the choking of already polluted air.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 23:58:06|Editor: yan

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DUBAI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Colombia discussed on Saturday to enhance "ties of friendship and cooperation" between the two countries, UAE state news agency WAM reported.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, met Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos over ways to improve bilateral ties, according to WAM.

The two sides also reviewed measures to be taken to strengthen cooperation, especially in the fields of economy, development and investment.

The Crown Prince applauded Santos' initiative to end the civil war in Colombia, wishing the president success in his endeavors and prosperity of the people of Colombia.

Santos said he was pleased to visit the UAE and to meet Sheikh Mohamed to discuss political and economic issues, as well as the issues related to humanitarian efforts and peace adding that his country looks forward to expanding cooperation with the UAE.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 01:08:16|Editor: ZD

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet witness the signing of a bilateral deal on upgrading the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, on Saturday witnessed the signing of a bilateral deal on upgrading the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

Xi underlined that this is China's first FTA upgrade completed with a Latin American country.

The upgraded agreement will unleash new impetus for the practical cooperation between China and Chile and set a new benchmark for China's cooperation with other Latin American countries as well as a new role model to the world, he said.

Bachelet congratulated Xi on the success of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and wished that greater achievements would be made in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Chile-China relationship has made many firsts in the course of developing relations between Latin America and China, said Bachelet, adding that her country will carry forward the pioneering spirit and advance the practical cooperation between the two sides.

Chile is the first Latin American country to sign a free trade agreement with China.

Negotiations for upgrading the FTA were initiated during Xi's state visit to Chile in November 2016 and the agreement was completed a year later.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 01:18:18|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Major global banks are reluctant to build financial links with Iran due to the U.S. government's intimidating policies and obstructionism, a member of Iran's Money and Credit Council said on Saturday.

Conditions are not still set for Iranian banks to make connection with the world's top banks, Bahman Abdollahi, member of the highest policy-making body in the Central Bank of Iran was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

The expectations pertaining to the improvement of Iran's economic and banking relations with the world "in the post-JCPOA era have not come true," Abdollahi said, blaming the United States for its pressures against Iran.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is an international deal reached in July 2015 and implemented in January 2016, which put Iran in the path of relief from western economic and financial sanctions in exchange for more limitations on the nuclear program of the Islamic republic.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that the United States could not formally certify Iran's compliance with the nuclear accord. Washington has also demanded inspections of Iran's military sites, which Tehran has rejected.

He has called the Iran nuclear deal, reached during former President Barack Obama administration, "an embarrassment" for the United States and has called for renegotiations over some parts of it.

Abdollahi stressed that the deal has not led to any major breakthroughs in Iran's financial transactions with foreign banks and companies.

On Saturday, Financial Tribune daily reported that Iran and Italy have taken major steps to resolve the remaining banking issues between the two countries within the next two months.

"Unfortunately, two years after the removal of Iran's nuclear-related sanctions, the volume of trade with Italy has not bounced back to its pre-sanctions level," the head of Iran-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Ahmad Pour-Fallah, was quoted as saying.

"Banking obstacles and lack of insurance coverage have been the main reasons behind it," Pour-Fallah was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the volume of Tehran-Rome trade was about 7 billion euros (8.16 billion U.S. dollars) in 2010, making Italy the largest trading partner of Iran among European nations.

However, the enforcement of international sanctions on Iran made it hard for Italy to maintain the high level of economic transactions and bilateral trade fell to 1.6 billion euros in 2014.

Pour-Fallah expressed the hope that after banking issues between the two countries are resolved, bilateral trade would exceed 7 billion euros.

Pour-Fallah made the remarks as he is leading an Iranian delegation to attend the joint Business Forum on Banking, Insurance and Legal Issues in Rome. The delegation consisted of 25 representatives from industrial, mining, banking and insurance sectors.

"We have come here to negotiate with Italian bankers and insurance official to solve the problems as soon as possible and this is also an opportunity for Italian businesses to expand their economic relations with Iran," he said.

Moreover, Iran urged European Union on Tuesday for more efforts to facilitate banking ties between EU countries and Iran.

Deputy Foreign Minister for American and European Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi said Tuesday that the European countries have not made enough efforts to persuade their banks to work with Iran.

He called for more steps on the issue in the face of U.S. fresh pressures, stressing the consequences for the possible U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, the report added that a number of Iranian banks have declared their interest in opening branches in Belgium.

The announcement was made by Gholamhossein Shafei, the head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, during a meeting with a visiting Belgian delegation.

"The most important requirements for both countries' businesses are banking and insurance ties that have registered slight improvements after Iran's nuclear deal in July 2015, and those are not enough," Shafei said.

After over two years of Iran's deal with the world powers, the Islamic republic said it has not been able to enjoy the fruits of the accord due to the U.S. continuous "hostile" acts frightening the international investors and financial institutions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 01:58:26|Editor: yan

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Saturday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the two compared notes on bilateral ties and the Korean Peninsula situation.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting, Xi reiterated China's stance on the issue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

He stressed that on such high-stake issues, the two sides should take an attitude that is responsible to history, to bilateral ties and to both peoples, and make decisions that can stand the test of history, so as to steadily move forward bilateral relations in the right direction.

Moon congratulated Xi on the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and his re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, saying he supports Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

South Korea supports the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to actively participate in its implementation, he said, while calling for concerted efforts to resume bilateral high-level exchanges and cooperation in various fields as soon as possible.

South Korea attaches importance to China's concern on the THAAD issue, and has no intention to harm China's interests of strategic security, he said.

On the Korean Peninsula situation, Xi told Moon that China sincerely hopes for the best for the peninsula, and encourages South Korea to resume contact and dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and restart cooperation for reconciliation.

China, he said, is willing to continue communication with South Korea on maintaining stability, promoting peace talks, and preventing war on the peninsula.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 02:38:33|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (1st R) meets with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here on Saturday with his Canadian counterpart, Chrystia Freeland, calling on the two countries to enrich their strategic partnership.

Facing uncertainties in the international situation, the fact that China and Canada are strengthening strategic partnership is sending a positive signal to the world, said Wang.

China is willing to deepen cooperation with Canada in all areas and advance the research process of the China-Canada Free Trade Zone, so as to add new connotations to the "golden era" of bilateral ties, he added.

Wang briefed Freeland on the achievements and significance of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), stressing that China will provide Canada with huge opportunity in the new era.

Freeland, for her part, offered congratulations on the success of the 19th CPC National Congress, noting that the congress has profound impacts on both China and the world.

The two countries, with more common interests, both supported multilateral process, Freeland said, adding that Canada appreciates China's positive role in global trade system and in tackling climate change, and is willing to further strengthen the strategic partnership with China.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 02:53:37|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (2nd R) meets with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of New Zealand Winston Peters in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to strengthen cooperation with New Zealand in various areas including high-level exchanges, trade facilitation, security and defense, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Saturday.

Wang made the remarks when meeting New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to New Zealand in 2014 helped the two sides forge a comprehensive strategic partnership, said Wang, adding that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit this year further invigorated the development of bilateral ties.

The Chinese foreign minister noted that China is willing to work with New Zealand to promote exchanges at different levels, build an upgraded China-New Zealand free trade area, and strengthen cooperation in such areas as law enforcement, security and defense.

Wang also briefed Peters on the important achievements of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, noting that China is willing to work with other countries to build a new model of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

For his part, Peters said that enhancing cooperation with China is a consensus in New Zealand and that Wellington will continue its friendly policy toward China, stick to the one China policy, and deepen cooperation in various fields.

He added that New Zealand will work with China to hunt corruption suspects who have fled overseas and will not be a "safe haven" for those fugitives.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 02:53:38|Editor: yan

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj on Saturday demanded immediate cease-fire in the eastern city of Benghazi, condemning shelling on the city.

"The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord strongly condemns the shelling on public and private areas in the city of Benghazi on Friday and Saturday, which caused damage and losses," Serraj said in a press release on Saturday.

"The government calls for calm and immediate cessation of military actions, which will lead only to further division," the press release said, stressing that the role of security directorates of the Ministry of the Interior in Benghazi is "limited to securing citizens."

Benghazi has been witnessing security tensions since Friday, after the headquarters of the Deputy Interior Minister of Serraj's government, Faraj Eg'em, was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades, killing three security personnel and injuring nine others. Eg'em's convoy was also attacked last week, and one security guard was killed.

Speaking to a local TV channel on Friday, Eg'em accused the army of carrying out the attack. He also demanded that Bokhmada, the army's special forces commander, should be the general commander of the army within 48 hours, replacing the current army commander General Khalifa Haftar.

Following Eg'em's statement, the army on Saturday stormed his headquarters in Benghazi, confiscated all the military vehicles inside it, and besieged his forces which fled to the nearby town of Bersis.

Despite signing a UN-sponsored peace agreement by the country's political rivals and appointment of the Government of National Accord in 2015, Libya remains politically divided amid insecurity and chaos.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 03:58:53|Editor: ZD

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Saturday with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on strengthening bilateral ties on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting.

Xi said that since Duterte's visit to China in October last year, bilateral ties have opened a new chapter.

With the two countries' cooperation enhanced, China-Philippines relations have seen healthy and stable development, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples and contributing to the region's peace and stability, he added.

Xi said good-neighborliness and friendliness is the right direction guiding China-Philippines relations, and China, together with the Philippines, is willing to continue considering the bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, enhancing political mutual trust, deepening cooperation and bringing more benefits to the two peoples.

Xi said the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded last month set the goal for China for a period in the future.

China's development needs an environment of lasting peace and stability, he added, noting that China will continue the road of peaceful development, as well as opening up and win-win cooperation.

China will treat neighboring countries with amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, pushing forward the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, said Xi.

He said relations between the two countries stand on a new starting point, adding that they should enhance high-level exchanges, so as to ensure the development of bilateral relations on a right track.

He said the two sides should align the Belt and Road Initiative with the Philippines' development strategy, and deepen practical cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, investment and other areas.

Xi said China is willing to offer assistance to the Philippines on poverty reduction, and continue support for the Philippine government's effort to safeguard national security.

Xi also said China is to work with ASEAN countries to maintain peace and stability, as well as development and prosperity in the South China Sea region.

Noting the great importance of bilateral ties, Duterte said the Philippines regards China as a sincere friend and is grateful for China's assistance on economy, anti-terrorism and maintaining stability.

He said the Philippines is willing to properly handle maritime issues through bilateral channels in accordance with consensus reached by the two sides.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 05:09:07|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Saturday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on bilateral ties and the Korean Peninsula situation.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, Xi told Moon that China and South Korea are close neighbors that can not move away and are natural cooperation partners.

The two countries share broad common interests in promoting their economic and social progress, and in realizing regional peace, stability and prosperity, said Xi.

He added that friendly exchanges and win-win cooperation have always been the main theme of China-South Korea diplomatic relations since they were forged 25 years ago, while China places importance on its relations with South Korea.

China stands ready to join hands with South Korea to push for the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties, Xi said, as good bilateral ties are in accordance with the trend of history and time, as well as the common expectation of the two peoples.

Noting that the China-South Korea relations are at a crucial stage, Xi said both sides need to respect each other's core interests and major concern, maintain political mutual trust, and enhance communication and coordination.

Xi reiterated China's stance on the issue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

He stressed that on such high-stake issues, the two sides should take an attitude that is responsible to history, to bilateral ties and to both peoples, and make decisions that can stand the test of history, so as to steadily move forward bilateral relations in the right direction.

Noting the important leading role of high-level interactions on bilateral ties, Xi welcomed South Korea's foreign minister to visit China this month.

Xi said the two countries need to make an over-all plan for developing bilateral ties in the next stage and discuss how to expand cooperation in international and regional affairs.

He urged both sides to deepen practical cooperation and communication in various fields, so as to better serve the interests of the two peoples.

Moon congratulated Xi on the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and his re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, saying he supports Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

South Korea supports the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to actively participate in its implementation, he said, while calling for concerted efforts to resume bilateral high-level exchanges and cooperation in various fields as soon as possible.

South Korea attaches importance to China's concern on the THAAD issue, and has no intention to harm China's interests of strategic security, Moon said.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula situation.

Xi told Moon that China sincerely hopes for the best for the peninsula, and encourages South Korea to resume contact and dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and restart cooperation for reconciliation.

China is willing to maintain communication with South Korea on promoting peace, stability and talks, as well as avoiding conflicts on the peninsula, said Xi.

South Korea appreciates China's positive role on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, stands ready to maintain close communication and coordination with China, and insists on solving the issue in a peaceful manner to protect peace on the peninsula, said Moon.

Last month, China and South Korea agreed to bring bilateral cooperation back to normal "as soon as possible."

"Enhancing communication and cooperation is in accordance with the common interests of China and South Korea. Both sides agree to return communication and cooperation in various fields to the normal track as soon as possible," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moon said days earlier that South Korea should rapidly develop relations with China, in accordance with the size of bilateral trade and beyond the issue on the U.S. THAAD missile interception system.

After attending the APEC meeting in Vietnam's Da Nang on Nov. 10-11, Xi will pay state visits to Vietnam and Laos on Nov. 12-14.
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim meets with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the White House in Washington, U.S. on Nov. 9, 2017. (Turkish PM's press office)

ANKARA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's visit to the United States on Nov. 7-10 has not produced a breakthrough on resolving key issues of contention, but the two NATO allies agreed to prevent further deterioration of their bilateral ties.

"There is no apparent agreement on issues that have poisoned bilateral relations, but on a practical level we see that both parties are keen to push for more contact and communication in order to avert that ties are strained even further," told Xinhua Serkan Demirtas, Hurriyet Daily News Ankara bureau chief.

"I think there is a will despite differences on major issues to have relations to return back on track in some way and open communication channels to that effect," said this expert on international affairs and a keen reader of Turkish government issues.

After their tit-for-tat, Yildirim and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence had warm statements on the future of bilateral relations after meeting, yet no breakthrough was announced to clear the air.

There was no sign of the U.S. agreeing to consider extraditing the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding the coup attempt of July 2016, or to stop supporting arming Syrian Kurdish militants that Turkey considers as an offshoot of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S., and EU.

Meanwhile, Turkey did not give any guarantee to free American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson jailed since last year for alleged links with the Gulen network.

In his statement after the meeting, Pence relayed his "deep concern over the arrest of American citizens, Turkish local staff, journalists, and members of civil society under the state of emergency," underlining nevertheless the "strategic partnership between Washington and Ankara."

Yildirim defined his discussions with Pence as "very productive." The White House said Pence and Yildirim hoped to "usher in a new chapter" in U.S.-Turley relations. However, it is unclear what exactly ushering in a new chapter means in the actual context of affairs.

"The important thing that comes from this meeting is that communications between the leaders of the two nations may increase in the coming days and this will avert further deterioration," commented Demirtas.

There was also no decision on a full restoration of visa processing. Ankara and Washington eased days before Yildirim's visit reciprocal visa restrictions imposed early October after the arrest of a Turkish worker of the American consulate in Istanbul on charges of espionage and alleged links with coup plotters.

"We expect normalization in the visa crisis, and Mr. Pence has a positive stance on finding a solution," Yildirim said.

Turkey has launched a massive crackdown on Gulen's network after the coup attempt last year, arresting tens of thousands of suspected followers in the army, police and judiciary.

"We demanded that at least a step to restrict Gulen's movements and actions be taken as a start," said Yildirim, adding that the extradition process, which falls in deaf ears in the U.S. government, is long overdue.

Yildirim also met journalists, think tankers and lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, and in New York met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jewish community leaders and investors.

"Relations between Turkey and the United States are going through tough time," said Yildirim to reporters in Washington.

Strained ties are not only about Turkey-U.S. relations, but also about the region in Turkey is located, Yildirim noted.

In Ankara, a source close to the government told Xinhua that "as long as the U.S. harbors Gulen, relations will suffer. But at least we have expressed our firm opinion to the U.S. that we want Gulen back to Turkey to be tried for the deeds that he has done."

"We know and the Americans know it is better to be friends than foes, and relations in difficult global circumstances between the U.S. and Turkey should not crumble like a castle of cards," remarked this source on the condition of anonymity.

Moreover, the case of Reza Zarrab also matters. The Turkish-Iranian gold trader said to be close to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's entourage is currently under arrest in the U.S., and accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.

According to press reports, the investigation could easily have a big negative impact on U.S.-Turkish relations if it implies Erdogan himself or his political connections.

"Such an event could shatter the actual status quo. Thus, so it seems, the two nations have seemingly found some kind of understanding in order to prevent irreversible damage," Serkan Demirtas said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 06:24:20|Editor: yan

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Faraj Eg'em, deputy interior minister of the UN-backed government, according to a military source.

"Orders were issued to the military prosecutor's office in Benghazi to arrest Faraj Eg'em, after provoking strife between the military, provoking armed conflicts in the city, and taking up an illegal position in areas controlled by the army," a source of the army told Xinhua.

"The military prosecutor issued orders to the Interior Ministry of the Interim Government to circulate the name of Eg'em, who fled after the seizure of Bersis, at all security and military checkpoints in the east, and to immediately bring him to military prosecution," the source added.

Speaking to a local TV channel on Friday, Eg'em demanded that Bokhmada, the army's special forces commander, be the general commander of the army within 48 hours, to replace the current Army Commander General Khalifa Haftar.

Faraj Eg'em's headquarter on Friday was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades, killing three security personnel and injuring nine others.

Eg'em's convoy was also attacked last week, and one security guard was killed and four others injured. Eg'em accused the army of carrying out the attack.

Following Eg'em's statement, the army on Saturday stormed his headquarters in Benghazi, confiscated all the military vehicles inside it, and besieged his forces which fled to the nearby town of Bersis.

UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj on Saturday demanded immediate cease-fire in Benghazi, condemning shelling on the city.

Despite signing a UN-sponsored peace agreement by the country's political rivals and appointment of the Government of National Accord in 2015, Libya remains politically divided amid insecurity and chaos.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-12 06:29:21|Editor: yan

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ALGIERS, Nov.11 (Xinhua) -- The Franco-Algerian Strategic Dialogue on bilateral and regional security will kick off here on Sunday, a statement of the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The dialogue will be co-chaired by the two countries' foreign ministers, Abdelkader Messahel and Jean-Yves Le Drian.

This "informal" dialogue is to allow both sides to present and exchange information on security challenges and threats, particularly combating terrorism and organized crimes, the statement said.

The two parties will also address multiple security threats facing the two countries, in addition to discussing the crises hitting neighboring Mali and Libya.

This meeting will be followed by the fourth session of the Franco-Algerian Economic Bilateral Committee (COMEFA), which is due to be chaired by the two nations' ministers of industry.

The economic meeting will be an opportunity to assess bilateral cooperation and examine ways of developing new partnership projects, as several partnership agreements will be signed at the end of the meeting.

The two sides will also discuss the development of exports of Algerian products to France, especially agricultural, specified the statement.

The project of setting up an assembling unit for the French automaker Peugeot will be on the agenda of Sunday's meeting.

This 120-million-euro project will be established in the western province of Oran. The unit will assemble 25,000 vehicles a year, and gradually set to reach 75,000 vehicles.

It will be the fifth assembly unit in Algeria after the establishment of Renault (2014), Hyundai (2016), Volkswagen (2017) and Kia (2017).
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-11 07:12:03|Editor: Yamei

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by Relja Dusek

ZAGREB, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- In the center of the Istrian peninsula, there is a forest known for "black diamonds" that make this region the truffle capital of the world.

The unique fragrance of the "royal mushroom" was known to the Mesopotamian rulers 4,000 years ago. It was enjoyed by ancient Greeks and Roman emperors and today, truffles are still among the most highly-prized gourmet specialties.

Truffles grow under the ground in symbioses with tree roots, and are therefore very difficult to find. They are rare and grow only in a few locations in Europe, in some parts of Italy, France, Spain and Croatia.

Istria, a heart-shaped peninsula whose biggest portion is within Croatian territory, is home to white and black truffles.

In late autumn, at the top season of the white truffles, Istrian forests are full of trained dogs running, sniffing and searching for the rare mushroom. While truffle hunters try to catch them, especially when the dogs excitedly start to dig into the earth. It is a sign that they smell truffles, and it is the moment when the hunters take over the job with a dagger-shaped trowel until the truffles are dug out.

Ivica Kalcic has been a truffle hunter for almost 15 years. He has two English cocker spaniels that help him in the hunt. The older one is trained and always successfully in finding truffles. The younger one, this is just the first semester of school.

One day it should be as useful as the mother. "We always go in the hunt with dogs. One is sniffing and searching for truffles, while the other is here to learn the process," Kalcic told Xinhua.

In olden days, pigs and not dogs were used for truffle hunting. But this tradition is now dead since pigs like truffles so much that they usually eat them on the spot.

"Pigs are dangerous animals and it's hard to control them. When they start digging for a truffle, you have to react very quickly because a pig would destroy or eat truffle. And it is not easy to fight with a pig for a truffle. Once, my friend almost lost his finger," Kalcic said.

During truffle season, Kalcic takes visitors to the forest to demonstrate a truffle hunt. It is one of the most attractive tourist attractions in central Istria.

Visitors around the world come here to experience a truffle hunt and then taste these gourmet specialties. It is an organized and well-directed attraction where hunters hide truffles under the ground beforehand for the dogs. And in just 20 minutes, dogs bark and dig when they find a white truffle.

"The best time for the search is at night when the air is cleaner, so dogs can smell a truffle more easily. The downside is that dogs easily get lost in the dark," Kalcic said.

On Nov. 2, 1999, the biggest white truffle in the world was found in this forest. The lucky finder was Giancarlo Zigante. With the help of his German pointer Diana, he found a tuber weighing 1.31 kg in the Motovun forest near Livade.

It was, and still is, the biggest white truffle in the world, a mushroom that earned its spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

It was a breakthrough for Zigante whose name became a synonym for the Istrian truffle. Today, he runs a famous truffle restaurant in Livade and organizes Zigante Truffle Days, a 10-weekend long festival of truffles.

"People around the world come here in Livade to taste the best truffles. Istria is best known for white truffles. They are the most expensive truffles in the world. Unlike black truffles that can be dried, frozen and preserved, white truffles are special because they cannot be conserved. You have to eat them in a week," Morena Borovecki, marketing manager of the Restaurant Zigante and Zigante Truffle Days, told Xinhua.

The price, she said, varies from season to season. "It all depends on the offer. This season, the price of a white truffle can reach 5,000 euros (5,835 U.S. dollars) per kilo."

Nevertheless, the visitors of the festival don't ask for the price. Thousands of them come each year to enjoy this noble mushroom.

"The best way to consume truffles is to slice fresh truffles directly on the food. It could be a pasta, potatoes or eggs because these groceries are neutral and then you can feel better the taste and flavor of truffle," Borovocki explained.

Livade is not the only Istrian village that celebrates truffles. In October and November, there are exhibitions and fares throughout the peninsula. Istria even has "the city of truffles" named Buzet.

Beautiful nature and delicious food has transformed the inner part of the Istria region that is often described as "the new Tuscany".
CHICAGO  The Governor of Wisconsin State Scott Walker inked a final contract with Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou Friday for the planned massive display screen plant worth $10 billion in the state's southeast city of Racine.

According to the contract, the Wisconsin government has to provide an incentive package of $3 billion if Foxconn invests $10 billion in building a new display screen factory and campus near Racine.

To get the full benefit, the manufacturing giant would also have to fulfill its promise to hire 13,000 local workers.

The investment plan, labeled by Walker as "the largest economic development project in the history of Wisconsin," involves a virtual village, with housing, stores and service businesses spreading over at least 4 square kilometers, according to media reports.

US President Donald Trump announced Foxconn's plan to build a factory in Wisconsin at a White House event in July, accompanied by Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou.

Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, most notable for making iPhones in China. The Wisconsin plant would construct liquid crystal display panels for televisions, computers and other uses.
The Billings Public Library plays host to a 6 p.m. screening of "Makoshika," an award-winning, independently produced 50-minute documentary film, on Wednesday, Nov. 29 in the Community Room.

"Makoshika" illustrates how people cope with cycles of industrial boom and bust throughout generations, sharing stories that start from the height of the most recent oil boom. Director Jessica Jane Hart and producers Peter Tolton and Stan Parker will field questions about film-making and their experiences shooting in the Bakken area.

A directorial debut for Billings native Jessica Jane Hart, Makoshika premiered in February 2016 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula. The documentary won a Jury Award from the Local Sightings Festival in Seattle, Best Heritage Feature Documentary at the Tribute Film Festival in Abilene, Texas, and a Silver Spotlight Documentary Film Award.

The film was partially funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign that gathered much of its support from the Billings community, plus a Humanities Montana Grant and local sponsorships.

For additional information, please contact the library at refdesk@ci.billings.mt.us or librarian Jennifer Kruger at 657-8294.
The sky filled with cannon explosions and artillery rounds pounded the ground, churning the battlefield earth and killing soldiers. Nearby, George Ostrom sketched the scene before him  the opening rounds of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which would bring the Germans to surrender on Nov. 11, 1918.

Far from his ranch home in Sheridan, Ostrom became a semi-official combat artist depicting scenes of battle and downtime through his service as a sergeant in the Wyoming National Guard in World War I.

Several of the drawings show Ostroms own bucking bronc logo his regiment adopted as its insignia and emblazoned on helmets, weapons and vehicles in his drawings. His design was the first version of a bucking horse officially used for the state of Wyoming, said John Goss, director of the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum.

Cannons and Cowboys: WWI Drawings from George Ostrom, is the first gallery exhibition of Ostroms Word War I drawings, on display through Jan. 14 at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. A reception with Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum staff and George Ostrom Jr. is slated for Nov. 11.

The detail is unparalleled in these, and when you see them up close, theyre incredible, Goss said. They depict instances on battlefields that are absolutely accurate in time and space and in their detail. These are images that were never captured in photographs; these were images that were never captured in other drawings.

Depicting history

First Sgt. Ostrom of the 148th Field Artillery sketched during in his spare time in the war, documenting the details of his experiences. He inked the drawings when he came home, Nicolaysen Art Museum curator Eric Wimmer said. You can still see the original pencil marks he sketched under the ink.

The drawings feature accurate details of battles, uniforms and weapons amid war-ravaged scenery, Goss said.

Its interesting that you can drill down to the fine points of American history, he added.

For example, the artillery barrages of World War I were never seen before or since, and the Meuse-Argonne scene Ostrom sketched was one of the most prolonged battles of the war, Goss said. The skulls, bones and rats below the gunfire and explosions Ostrom depicted werent an exaggeration.

Artilley barrages would be nonstop for years, so its just a grind house, a charnel house, just a meat grinder, a mixing bowl of artillery and earth and poison gas and human remains and horse remains and war equipment  just being churned every day by artillery barrages, Goss said. Its incredibly inhuman; its terrible.

A second drawing Ostrom sketched on another day of the battle shows the same details from a different angle, proving he sketched it on site, Goss said. The soldiers expected it would be the last battle of winter before the spring offensive, and Ostrom diligently captured the opening cannon rounds of the battle, Goss said.

Ostrom also rendered airplanes swooping over troops firing anti-aircraft machine guns into the sky. One shows them blasting an aircraft  a successful takedown before the pilot could report the position of American artillery, Goss said. Another depicts soldiers fleeing aircraft fire and leaving their Chauchat, a French machine gun known for its power but also for jamming, Goss said.

Gas masks can be seen in many of the drawings. The soldiers didnt go anywhere without them. When a gas alarm went off, it only took a couple of seconds to unsnap the masks and put them on, but that was all the time the poison needed to kill them, Goss said.

One post-battle scene shows soldiers walking around collecting souvenirs after a battle where they captured a German commanders wagon. One man walks with an iron cross pinned to his gear with a dog toting a German spiked helmet, Goss noted.

Some scenes depict every day camp life, like a trio smoking as they peel potatoes in a playful, cartoonlike style seen in many of his works.

He could catch personality, Goss said. You see it in the World War I drawings  funny soldiers with funny postures and interesting looks on their faces and interesting situations. Its not classic combat art. He captured a lot of really interesting moments that defined his experience in that war.

A Wyoming dough boy and his horse

The bucking horse design was merely an idea when Ostrom reported to headquarters to submit his emblem design for the 148th field artillery. The order had come for every unit to create an insignia, setting off a flurry of design drawing and contests, Goss said. Ostrom had no paper, but he looked around the dugout until he spotted the regimental drum. He asked permission and freehanded his idea.

The emblem was Ostroms beloved horse Redwing, which Ostram insisted on taking overseas with other U.S. Army remounts. Ostrom moved from Spencer, Iowa, to Wyoming with his family in 1913 and homesteaded east of Sheridan, according the Nicolaysens gallery guide.

His horse was deemed a little too small, but it was a spirited and it was a good horse, Goss said. So he got an officer to take his horse over there.

Many of his fellow Wyoming National Guard soldiers served in the unit, and his design was a hit with them as well as with other soldiers from western states.

They loved it instantly, and it instantly became the insignia for the 148th Field Artillery, Goss said.

Some say Ostroms insignia design was the inspiration for Wyomings state logo. Ostrom and his family have said that Secretary of State Lester Hunt first had Ostroms bucking horse design in mind for Wyomings license plates, but the two men couldnt agree on terms, Goss said. Denver artist Allen True created the official bucking horse state logo used on license plates since 1936.

Certainly this was the first time the bucking horse was used in official capacity for the state of Wyoming, Goss said.

A Wyoming legacy

After the war, he spent his life in Wyoming as a rancher, hunter, banker, agricultural adviser and family man. The artist mainly sketched in ink, but he also created oil paintings and murals. He made jewelry, bolo ties and belt buckles from silver and elk ivory. Much of his art appears to be influenced by western artists Frederic Remington and C.M. Russell, while his caricature-like depictions of wolves, antelope and other wildlife show his unique style, Goss said.

He was a renaissance man, Goss said.

Wimmer was working as the curator for the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum when he and Goss came across Ostroms World War I drawings a few years ago in the Sheridan Army National Guard Armory. The two offered to professionally preserve and care for the artworks, and Ostroms family donated them to Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum in honor of all Wyoming National Guard veterans, Goss said.

He anticipates Ostroms World War I drawings may receive national attention for their rarity and historical importance.

When I saw them for the first time, I thought that they would make a great show at a museum, Wimmer said. These are very special for the state. These are unlike anything else Ive ever seen.
RIVERTON  The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will not revisit its February ruling that Riverton is not within the boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The denial of the re-hearing was announced Tuesday.

A panel of three judges had ruled against an Environmental Protection Agency opinion that said Riverton was on the reservation.

That prompted the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes to ask for an en banc hearing, meaning all judges on the 10th Circuit would weigh in on the case, not just three. The en banc hearing could have included more than a dozen judges.

The petition was circulated to all of the courts judges, but not one asked for a rehearing to be considered.

The tribes had retained a high-profile panel of attorneys to handle the re-hearing request.

Only one hope now remains to have the February decision overturned: a writ of certiorari that would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.

The Supreme Court denies the vast majority of certiorari requests it gets each year. However, the requests are more likely to be granted in cases where a circuit courts judges are split on the case. That happened in the Riverton boundaries case, with Carlos Lucero the dissenting judge.

In the courts Tuesday announcement, both majority and minority opinions were revised slightly.

The tribes had argued that the internal conflict, along with the rulings conflicts with rulings from other appellate courts, merits further judicial review. They had also argued that the consequences the case could have in Fremont County, as well as the impact on similar boundary disputes, further necessitates a rehearing.

Attorneys for the state of Wyoming called the arguments for a rehearing overblown but agreed that this case is of exceptional public importance to the thousands of Wyoming residents whose lives and livelihoods would have been disrupted had the panel upset the status quo.

The states attorneys said the opposition misrepresents the practical effect of the decision in a flourish of hyperbole.

(The 10th Circuit decision) infringes the sovereignty of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes, hindering the tribes power to tax, exercise criminal jurisdiction over tribal members, resolve child-welfare issues, and claim water rights, wrote Seth P. Waxman, legal counsel for the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, in requesting the rehearing after last winters decision. Finally, it has far-reaching implications because many other Indian statutes contain similar language.

Waxman in particular argued that although the majority noted many conflicting precedents in passing, the judges down-played  and sometimes ignored  the relevance of certain case law.

The panels approach to many of these myriad pieces of contrary textual evidence was to dismiss each on the ground that it is insufficient by itself to preclude diminishment, Waxman said. That divide-and-conquer strategy ignores the Supreme Courts directive that surplus-land statutes be read as a whole.

The tribes have argued that internal conflict, along with the rulings conflicts with rulings from other appellate courts, merits further judicial review. They also argued the consequential nature of the case in Fremont County, as well as the impact on similar boundary disputes, further demanded a rehearing.
University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols condemned the contents of Holocaust denial flyers that were posted around campus in recent days.

We must acknowledge that the First Amendment allows expression that is so reprehensible that it must be answered, she said in a statement Friday morning.

Holocaust denial is simply false, and part of a history of anti-Semitic behavior, the president said.

Outrageously incorrect information such as that contained in the fliers has been used for decades by those who hold anti-Semitic views to harass the Jewish community, Nichols said.

The flyers showed up in a number of buildings across campus and were removed, just as they were last year during Holocaust Remembrance Week at the university, a week sponsored by a student organization UW Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

The timing of the flyers is no coincidence, Nichols said.

Remembrance week surrounds the anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass, a country-wide ransacking of Jewish homes, businesses, cemeteries and synagogues that some refer to as the unofficial beginning of the Holocaust.

Holocaust survivor Estelle Nadel is speaking at the university Friday. The president encouraged students to attend.

Campus police is investigating the flyer incident. Though the contents of the flyers is protected speech, putting up handbills violates littering ordinances.

The college notified the Anti-Defamation League in Denver of the incident.

Nichols' statement also praised the student body for its peaceful protest of a controversial guest speaker Thursday night, Dennis Prager, who gave a talk called "Why Socialism Makes People Selfish."

Students had sought to cancel the event due to some of Pragers outspoken views on women, race and politics. When they were unsuccessful, they held a protest outside the event

"Both those students who supported and protested his visit to campus conducted themselves in the manner I expected," the president said, "Showing respect for other perspectives while peacefully expressing their own views."
Marine veteran Johnny Allery becomes emotional recalling the hardship he experienced with his father influencing him to join the Marines during an event celebrating veterans at the Independence Hall in the Heights on Friday.

Nearly 50 people attended the event.

Independence Hall is operated by Volunteers of America and is a 20-bed men's transitional facility for veterans.

Allery spent three weeks at the facility and now works as a full-time employee working maintenance and ensuring successful transitions for the men that live there.
I had lunch recently with a friend who is a Vietnam combat vet. Although we have known each other for several years, we had not talked at length about how our experiences there affected us. I had joined the Navy as an alternative to being drafted and was witness to the secret war in Laos that in 1969 was denied by President Nixon and unknown to the American people. My friend had gone into the Army, idealistic that we were on the right side, and survived the experience both physically and mentally, but grew spiritually as he made a commitment to become a better person. As we talked, he reflected on the challenges he long ago was told were for the greater good of America, and by extension the world, saying with an expansive upward glance, and we have come to this?

He was referring, of course, to the early propaganda peddled back then that intervention in Vietnam was for a just cause. In retrospect, our nations lengthy and extensive world conflict, aka The War on Terror, makes the brutal Vietnam War seem somehow much smaller. We have indeed come a long way since Vietnam, and it has not been good for us, much less for our victims: victims of conflicts that have now destroyed five countries in the Middle East, most of which are poor and lack means to defend themselves.

As a freshman in college, I experienced the Cuban missile crisis not knowing which would be worse, a nuclear war or having to complete a major paper on time. We now know that this crisis was resolved by JFKs steady engagement with Nikita Khrushchev with a negotiated settlement  despite being prompted by everyone around him to use military force. Fast forward to 2017, and it seems we have learned nothing. Donald Trump told the United Nations: we will totally destroy North Korea,

Mike Pence said to a Minot, North Dakota, missile crew and later, by news, to the world:We are entering a very dangerous time, and I have come here personally to tell you that you may receive a launch order in the near future. I want you to know that we have planned for all contingencies, but it is possible that things may escalate beyond what we believe will take place. If you receive a properly formatted launch order, you launch. Dont waste time trying to confirm the order, because it is not standard operating procedure for you to delay like that. If you get a launch order, carry it out.

Never mind that countless false starts during the cold war could have led to nuclear annihilation, had cooler heads not prevailed on both sides. It is unsettling that President Trumps first instinct is to shout and hit, rather than listen. And we have come to this?

On Veterans Day 2017, America is poised to create veterans of many more men and women who will take part in our wars, wars that Americans are largely responsible for, wars which rob us of our young people and our treasure, wars that make our target countries uninhabitable and impoverish their citizens, and wars that make us question who we are as a nation. Please join me in honoring our veterans this week by resolving to help end these conflicts and elect leaders who will avoid future ones.
The government agency tasked with benevolent care of Americas veterans is, more times than not, more malignant than their disease or disability. Since my release from the Navy, I have lived in many states and been treated in many VA facilities. They are all lacking when compared to the medical/mental health care received in civilian facilities. But, the VAMC in Billings, by far, delivers the most ambivalent, even malevolent, care. Many veterans dont realize that they are receiving inadequate care. They blindly trust that the VA providers have their best interest at heart. I have met some very good VA clinicians, but they dont last. They either resign in frustration or succumb to the bureaucracy, blending into deliberate ineptitude.

I suffer from constant, debilitating pain. My disabilities were the result of my military service and have been exacerbated by the treatment plans of my VA doctors and counselors. I am considered indigent and unable to afford civilian care. I spent the better part of 15 years homeless, because I was told that I was not entitled to VA care. It was not until I attempted suicide that the VA finally admitted my entitlement. I was relieved, thinking that I would finally get the help I needed. Little did I know that the care I received would cause more harm than good.

It is my responsibility and societys responsibility to demand that the VA provide appropriate, compassionate care to every veteran. I was a combat medic and also trained as a surgical technician. How much more difficult is it for the medically naive veterans of Billings to understand and question the care that they are receiving? They instinctively trust that the VA has their best interest at heart oblivious to the harm being done to their physical and mental well-being.

Finally, this concerns us all, not just veterans. The VA spent $138.8 billion last year. We, as taxpayers, should demand a fiscally responsible VA. Appropriate and competent care would result in fewer visits to the VA, which would save taxpayer dollars and, more importantly, help alleviate unnecessary pain and suffering for our nations heroes.
The birth of a baby boy called  Daddy Samuel to the family of Mr. Olusola Ajayi in Akure, Ondo State capital on August 28, 2017, has greatly turned around the fortunes of the family.

The baby now known as a wonder boy, whose parents claimed had spoken twice in two weeks after his birth and possess healing powers had not uttered any word ever since to convince critics. He has reportedly transferred his healing spirit to his mother, who can now heal anyone no matter the spiritual problems especially anytime she carries the wonder boy on her bosom.

It was gathered that only the mother of the baby, Mrs. Sikiratu Ajayi, claimed the baby uttered the words E polongo ogo mi o, e polongo ogo mi o ewe nje o meaning that the parents should proclaim his power across the universe and that there is efficacy in herbs. She was said to have passed the message to her husband after which the news has continued to spread like wildfire. Mixed reactions have trailed the claim by the babys parents as many described it as a scam.

They argued that the parents were unable to produce any evidence that the baby actually spoke. But the parents insisted that the baby not only spoke to them but possessed healing powers. Whether the story is real or fake, Nigerians are not bothered as they troop to the residence of the Ajayi for miracles.

The wonder baby has become a household name not only in Ondo state but across the country. Interestingly, the parents are making money on daily basis courtesy of the baby, who they described as a special gift. His sobriquet was changed from baby Samuel to Daddy Samuel when his reported healing powers began to spin money for the family who could hardly afford three square meal before his arrival.

N600 consultation fee

NE gathered that the parents of the wonder baby collect N600 as consultation fee out of which N100 is for the sachet water provided by their landlady. After consultation, the sachet of water is prayed upon by the mother, who claimed that his son had transferred healing powers to her. Each visitor drops a minimum of N5000 in a bowl kept in the consulting room for the wonder baby.

The mother now carries the wonder boy in her blossom while attending to miracle seekers in the healing centre. Surprisingly, both the low and high personalities from across the country visit the wonder boy for spiritual healing and deliverance.

The father of the wonder baby now smiles to the bank daily. An average of 500 miracle seekers visit the two-month-old baby. A bunch of leaves was said to have preceded his birth at around 3 am at Comprehensive Health Centre in Akure.

His father claimed that Daddy Samuel was born with a bunch of leaves bonded by a strand of hair which possesses special healing powers. He told newsmen that he recently relocated his family to Akure from Lagos State when fending for his family became difficult. Olusola said that they tried all they could to abort the pregnancy because he could not cater for his wife and the three boys they had before the coming of the wonder baby. Gave birth to a bunch of leaves A visit to Comprehensive Health Centre in Oke ljebu area, Akure, confirmed the position of the babys parents. The nurses, who took delivery of the wonder baby confirmed that the mother first gave birth to a bunch of leaves at 3 am while the baby came four hours later.

Speaking with newsmen in confidence, one of the nurses said they were scared when the bunch of leaves was delivered by the woman and that they prayed rebuking the evil spirit that had entered into her womb. According to the nurse,  We had to call the matron to witness the strange delivery because it was unusual.

Confirming this to newsmen, the matron Mrs. Joan Mohaye said that she was woken up from her sleep, adding that by the time she rushed to the hospital she saw the bunch of leaves. Mohaye said while the nurses and other patients were wondering and beholding the strange object, the woman again fell into labour after which the baby arrived four hours later. She said the baby didnt talk while at the hospital.

It was gathered that the parents of the wonder boy have purchased a piece of land to erect a building, where they would relocate to. Motorcycle operators are also making money on a daily basis as they have hiked their fares from N50 per drop to N200 to the healing centre. The father of the wonder boy said: My wife gave birth on August 28, 2017, after a bunch of leaves came out of her womb and we were amazed after he began to talk, charging us to proclaim his coming to the world. 

The mysterious powers of Samuel, born at a Comprehensive Health Centre in Akure, became noticeable when a bunch of leaves was said to have preceded his coming out of the mothers womb. Two weeks later, Samuel shocked us and his three older brothers when he instructed us to proclaim his coming to the world. The miracle seekers would be asked to drink the water from one of the sachets and use the other to take their bath.

The visitor would in anticipation be asked to appreciate the wonder boy with cash. A source hinted that visitors were advised not to give less than N3000 to the wonder baby. The amount of moeny given to the baby,depended on the status of the visitor and the magnitude of the problem the visitor has.

It was however, gathered that majority of baby Samuels clients are women, who are seeking future partners. Those searching for the fruits of the womb, those with issues in their marriages, and those with spiritual attacks, among others, visit the baby.

Speaking with newsmen, Sikiratu expressed delight over the birth of the boy, saying that nurses were initially scared when she first gave birth to leaves before the real baby came out. She said,  Two weeks after he was born, I went to the next street when one of my other children suddenly came to call me that the baby was uttering some words and l rushed back home and heard the baby speaking. I was shocked when he directed that we should announce his glory to the whole world.

One of the workers in the miracle centre told newsmen that  the service rendered was initially free but we started collecting consultation fee of N500 per head with a view to reducing the crowd yet the people kept coming from far and near. He said all clients who are not fewer than 500 per day are treated equally and fairly without any preferential treatment irrespective of status or position.

Testimonies of the healing power

Meanwhile, testimonies of the healing power of the wonder baby abound. A woman, Mrs. Abigail said her husband was healed of stroke as she poured the sachet of anointed water on him.  When I came here I was given the sachet water and I took it to my husband who had stroke. I poured the water on him when I got home and he felt very much better. There was no need to doubt it, it is real, she added. A resident of the town, who identified himself as Leke said he had been to the so-called healing house, describing the development as a scam.

He told newsmen thus:I was there but did not believe in the story. This is Nigeria, where people look for money anyhow. Nobody, except the mother of the baby, heard he allegedly said. In his reaction, Deji of Akure, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo said he was aware of the babys birth, adding that he should be protected. His Chief Press Secretary, Michael Adeyeye said:

The palace also heard the story like every other person in the town and Kabiyesi is not trying to confirm or debunk their story. The palace was not involved and we dont know the actual story.  But if the story is true, what kabiyesi is saying is that there is a need to protect the child, but as we speak, nobody has brought the baby to the palace



Religious leaders, however, expressed divergent views.

The state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, called for caution over the issue. Its Director of Planning, Research, and Strategy in the South West, Nelson Fado was quoted as saying thus:  The miracle baby as being referred to may be genuine to a certain extent. But let us wait and see. The parents should take proper care of the baby and stop making money with him. Natural miracles are not sold or paid for because the salvation of Christ is free. 

The baby is not God or Jesus Christ or angel, hence he must not be turned to God. Gods miracle can occur without an artificial intermediary.  Remember there used to be Jesu Oyinbo and Agege. 

Believers in Christ should be watchful, careful and know who they believe. CAN from time immemorial did warn Christians to hold on to their faith by not compromising it. However, the parents of the wonder boy confirmed receiving gifts from various men of God ( Islamic and Christian clerics) A Pastor of Celestial Church of Christ CCC, Shalom Parish, lkorodu, Lagos, Gabriel Oluwadamilare had described the baby as a true messenger of God.

Oluwadamilare said that circumstances that surrounded the birth of newborn baby also happened in the Bible. He said:I actually came to see the glory and I have no doubt about it. My stand is that what happened is true because nothing is impossible for God to do.

I have come to seek a spiritual solution in respect of a lady who has visited several hospitals in Lagos over bone problems in the last five years. There is nothing fetish about the boy coming to the world with a bunch of leaves, it is just a sign from God.. The question being asked by observers is: why has the baby not spoken again to the hearing of other people except his parents?
As we left Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon, the pilot, Army Capt. Bill Buntyn, kept our small Grumman OV-1 Mohawk climbing until it couldnt anymore, and, as it suddenly lost lift and gently nosed downward, all the dirt, maps, flight aids, and other miscellaneous cockpit debris floated weightless through the air.

It was another boring day in the struggle for the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese people, and after a few minutes of the high altitude we returned to earth. At five feet off the ground and 280 miles per hour, ones attention sharpens and the sense of movement and time increases; we were low enough to make waves in the stalks of rice in the flat green paddies we flew over.

Fifty-two years later and over 42 years after the war ended for the United States, I still think about it  even more than old girlfriends. Reviewing the 10-part PBS series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick just stirs those memories, expanded some, reminding me of others, and  most of all  once again raised the resentment.

I volunteered for the war in the Far East four times before finally being assigned the next levy of troops out of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There was a war going on, far away in an exotic land, and I, an Army paratrooper, wanted a part of it.

Probably the first book I read about the war was Bernard Falls "Street Without Joy" followed by his "Hell in a Very Small Place" and had begun to wonder about the wisdom of the mess we were getting into, probably as had those volunteer paratroopers who had preceded me at Dien Bien Phu.

Burning resentment

Two days after a last stop in Saigon, I was back in Billings burning the point in some guys new Chevy SS-396. The war, for me, had ceased. It has been the intervening years, the further study and analysis, and the mounting dead that kept Vietnam like an ember inside me. I concluded even while I was there that it was a civil war among Vietnamese, and that the French had just lost a war there fighting the same tactics the United States was using. My study continued with lucent John Paul Vanns "A Bright Shining Lie" along with the endless list of books published by grunts who had fought the war in the worst possible conditions, including the prolific novelist and former infantry platoon leader, Nelson DeMille.

Like all survivors of war, we got on with our lives, had careers, built families, got old, and many are now dying. Although I had volunteered, the grunts had a saying there, Here we are, the unwilling, led by the unqualified, fighting for the ungrateful. Nothing should ever be taken from those combatants.

It is for the 58,220 who died there that the resentment still burns subtly in me  and for those mothers, fathers, wives, sisters, brothers, and intimate friends who have borne the greatest burden of that damn war. My mother spent two Christmases escaping to her kitchen to quietly cry while the rest of the family gathered about the presents. My death there would have literally killed her.

Stones and bullets

The huge, brown artery of the Mekong River was visible in the distance, washing the detritus of this ancient killing land out to the all-embracing waters of the South China Sea. The delta area is perfectly flat for hundreds of square miles, covered with rice fields and water and rimmed in the far west and north by dense, jungle-covered mountains. Indolent white cumulus formed where the land met the nearby ocean and drifted lazily inland, reflecting painfully the tropical sun against the azure and limitless sky. I added the Armed Forces Radio channel, AFRS Veet Nam, to the other radio traffic we had to monitor or use, and the Rolling Stones came thumping joyfully through our earphones.

At the low altitude, we soon received gunfire from a group of palm trees. It was soundless and dreamlike and we wouldnt have noticed except for the tiny sparks of the muzzle flashes and an experience-honed awareness that such a location was a good place from which to get shot at  plus when they did hit us, we could hear and feel the thunk of the bullets. Buntyn pulled the Grumman up quickly, circled back, and we unloaded our heavy machine guns and small rockets on the unlucky shooters. Mick Jagger never missed a hop, and we continued to our home airfield at Vung Tau.

As we crossed the Mekong, the South Vietnamese Air Force was obliterating some of their fellow citizens along with their homes and livelihoods in a small riverside hamlet. Our visual and moral senses were assaulted, but the rest were insulated from explosions, searing heat, and stink of burning flesh by our flight helmets. The small, propeller-driven, A-1E fighter-bombers were dropping napalm. Up and down the deadly mosquitoes swooped, spreading the fiery, jelled gasoline in an instant, hellish smear across the distant, toy-like village, beside the slow, brown river, under the brilliant haze in the deep blue sky.

Perfectly black billows of smoke reached furiously for the sainted white but terribly indifferent clouds, and ant-sized humans were sent directly to their ancestors in the perfect silence of the Rolling Stones.
Audrey Azoulay, a former French Minister of Moroccan origins, was confirmed as new head of the UNESCO, succeeding to Irina Bokova.

Azoulay, who is daughter of Andre Azoulay, Advisor to King Mohammed VI, took over the leadership of the UNs culture organization after 195 member states voted to confirm her.

Azoulay, 45, a former French culture minister, was nominated last month by the U.N. cultural agencys executive board.

She vowed to overcome political divisions for the sake solely of UNESCOs essential missions.

She has worked in banking, but says she was formed in a professional regard by the film industry, in which she was involved as financial director, then deputy director, of the CNC (National Cinema Center), the guardian of French film production.

She has also served as rapporteur to Frances public auditing authority, the Cour des comptes, and as a European Commission legislative expert on issues of culture and the media.

In a statement to the Moroccan news agency, Azoulay highlighted her ties to Morocco, which she described as a country that symbolizes the values of diversity dear to the UNESCO.

She told the media, on the sidelines of the homage ceremony held for outgoing UNESCO director general Irina Bokova, that Morocco is a country of diversity and plural culture, it is enshrined even in its constitution. I personally think that these values helped me to be where I am now.

She paid tribute to Bokova, saying that she led the body with resolve and commitment, giving the example of her action in favor of restoring Malis heritage.

UNESCO goodwill ambassador Princess Lalla Meryem, the Moroccan kings eldest sister, attended the ceremony in Paris where Bokova reviewed her contributions to achieve UNESCOs goals. Bokova also recalled the visit that she paid last May to Fez, where she took part in the ceremony of presenting the revamp program for old medersas (schools), chaired by King Mohammed VI.
Hungary plans to beef up its economic ties with Morocco through investments worth $600 million in the North African country in the coming years, said Hungarian Deputy Minister for economic diplomacy, Levente Magyar.

The announcement was made in a statement to the press following the 3rd Joint Economic Committee held in Rabat.

The Hungarian Minister voiced willingness to bolster economic and trade ties with Morocco, notably in the field of tourism with the launch of direct flights between the two countries.

He said that the upcoming opening of the Casablanca-Budapest direct flight will add to two other direct flights linking the Hungarian capital to Moroccos tourist resorts of Agadir and Marrakech.

Magyar also said that his country will increase scholarships offered to Moroccan students.

For his part, State secretary for foreign trade, Rkia Derham, said that Rabat and Budapest are on track to achieve their common ambition to an enlarged cooperation in the economic arenas.

On the sidelines of the 3rd Joint Economic Committee, the two countries signed several cooperation agreements. These include agreements providing for cooperation in the field of industry through the exchange of experiences, information, statistical data and publications relating to the industrial policy of the two countries.

The agreement is also aimed at strengthening the partnership between the institutions in charge of promoting SMEs and developing cooperation between the Moroccan office for industrial and commercial property (OMPIC) and its Hungarian counterpart.

A cultural cooperation agreement was also sealed with a view to strengthening cultural ties and mutual understanding between the Moroccan and Hungarian people.

The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Moroccan Normalization Institute (IMANOR) and the National Accreditation Body of Hungary (NAH).

Another cooperation agreement between Moroccos Institute of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (IAV) and Hungarian National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre establishes cooperation in the fields of sustainable agriculture, climate changes, and agroforestry.

The National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco and Hungarys National Szechenyi Library on their part signed a Memorandum of Cooperation aimed at developing cultural and scientific cooperation and establishing fruitful cooperation in library sciences.
American news media organization, Newsmax, published recently an article highlighting Moroccos potential to ease tension in the Gulf.

Morocco is a model of tolerance and openness in the Muslim world. It can help ease current tensions and accompany future developments, said the author of the article on the role of Morocco in mediating an agreement that may put an end to the Qatar-GCC rift.

The close ties binding Moroccan leadership to Gulf states enables the north African Kingdom to play a leading role in resolving Arab disputes.

There is one country that can play an important role in this evolution: Morocco. Recently, King Mohammed VI has visited the UAE, a country he considers home. The King of Morocco took part in the opening ceremony of the Louvre Abu Dhabi where he offered artworks dating back to the 19th century. After that he will head to Qatar, the article states.

King Mohammed VI, who maintains close ties with Gulf rulers, is on a visit of friendship to the Gulf countries of the UAE and Qatar, which is seen by analysts as a mediation attempt to defuse tension on the backdrop of the rift between a Saudi-led quartet and Doha.

He attended on Wednesday the Louvre Museum opening ceremony in Abu Dhabi, alongside the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohamad Bin Zayed, and Governor of Dubai Mohamad Bin Rashed Al Makhtoum. Also present were French President, Emmanuel Macron, President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, and Bahrains Monarch Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa, whose country is part of the quartet that is boycotting Qatar.

The Kings upcoming visit to Qatar Sunday (November 12) brings to light Moroccan mediation in the dispute between Saudi-Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE on one side and Qatar on the other side.

The visit to the Gulf by the Monarch is the first since Morocco announced its willingness to offer its mediation in the Gulf crisis when it broke out last June.
Morocco has earmarked 6.85 billion dirhams to a program meant to curb disparities between cities and rural areas in 2018.

Speaking at the weekly government meeting Thursday, Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch said the program will be funded by the fund of rural and mountainous zones development with the aim of opening up hard-to-reach areas, developing educational and health infrastructures and improving access to drinking water and electricity.

The Minister said that an envelope of 92 million dirhams has been geared to fund development partnership projects in oases and Argan trees areas.

A budget of 45 mln MAD will be allotted to carrying out the rural development project for the Atlas mountains through technical studies and awareness raising initiatives for the beneficiaries, he said.
Uncommon valor was a common virtue, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, U.S. Navy, wrote of America's World War II marines on Iwo Jima. Valor may exist for a moment, but it shows a mans core forever. Lying about valor also shows a mans corerotting at best.

In 2006 Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act, making the wearing of unearned military medals a crime. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law saying wearing unearned military medals is protected free speech. In 2013 Congress passed an amended Stolen Valor Act focusing on fraudulent claims of military service with stiff penalties for an individual who, with intent to obtain money, property or other tangible benefit, lies about receiving military medals, ribbons and badges awarded for combat valor or combat service. Sen. Jon Tester, co-sponsored the amended bill.

Earned military medals and ribbons show proudly an Americans service in defense of Americas freedom and values. Many Americans died earning these honored emblems. If you, or a veterans family, are unsure of the military medals or ribbons the veteran has earned, seek the help of a qualified veterans service officer.

But for those shameful few who disgrace the word honor, fully understand the potentially hard penalties you face for lying about military service, especially when falsely wearing ribbons or medals for valor in combat. Your integrity, leastwise, becomes questionable; at most, you run afoul of federal law.

Honor is fabled in Montana, liar is a terrible stain.

Ed Saunders

Laurel
Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica. Photo: Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

There are several channels through which Donald Trumps campaign apparently cooperated with Russian efforts to help him win the presidency. The first, and best known, is a Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 to pursue Russian promises of providing dirt on Hillary Clinton. A second is Roger Stone, a frequent Trump adviser who had clear advance notice of the publication of stolen emails. A third is Trump himself openly asking Russia to obtain Clintons State Department emails. The final channel is the efforts by Cambridge Analytica, the campaigns data firm. This channel is less well known to the public, in part because reporting about it has been dominated by The Wall Street Journal, and its stories hidden behind a paywall. But Cambridge Analyticas role has come into much clearer focus.

Two weeks ago, the Journal reported that Alexander Nix, the CEO of Cambridge Analytica, reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to help him better organize the stolen Democratic emails his site was publishing. On Friday, the Journal found that this contact came as Cambridge Analytica was joining the Trump campaign.

Nix denies the allegation: We did not work with Russia in this election, and moreover we would never work with a third-party state actor in another countrys campaign. But Nix also denies Russia had anything to do with the campaign at all. (On Thursday, Mr. Nix called the notion that Russians significantly interfered in the U.S. election frankly absurd, the Journal notes.) That second denial, which is silly, saps the other denials of some of their credibility.

Perhaps Cambridge Analytica would defend itself on the grounds that it didnt know, in June of 2016, that the WikiLeaks emails had been stolen by Russia. But other reporting suggests the firm knew this very well.

During that same time period, Republican operative Peter W. Smith tried to obtain the Clinton State Department emails. In his search for the emails, he said he was working on behalf of Michael Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser. One of the cyberexperts Smith met, a man named Matt Tait, told Smith that his mission would entail trafficking in stolen emails obtained by Russia. Smith made clear this didnt bother him. Smith and I talked several times about the DNC hack, and I expressed my view that the hack had likely been orchestrated by Russia and that the Kremlin was using the stolen documents as part of an influence campaign against the United States, recounted Tait. Despite impressing upon them the ethical and legal dangers of cooperating with a probable Russian intelligence plot, Smith, however, didnt seem to care.

The Journal also reported last summer that American investigators have examined reports from intelligence agencies that describe Russian hackers discussing how to obtain emails from Mrs. Clintons server and then transmit them to Mr. Flynn via an intermediary.

Flynn also worked as a consultant to Cambridge Analytica  a fact he failed to disclose until this last August. We dont have proof that all these figures were acting together. But it certainly appears that Cambridge Analytica was heavily involved with trying to get Clintons stolen emails, and was aware that Russia had engineered their theft, and played an important role facilitating cooperation between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Moore continues to lash out at his accusers, but is getting all lawyerly about his dating habits back in the day. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Today, Roy Moore disappointed those who thought that by now the Ayatollah of Alabama would have broken down and confessed to the crimes and misconduct reported in the Washington Posts bombshell piece yesterday. He is not asking for forgiveness from God and the electorate in the time-honored manner of conservative Evangelical scoundrels caught in sin.

But nor is Judge Roy exactly denying everything, much as he continues to contend that the Post is engaged in a political hit job, and (in a prepared statement) says that he didnt commit any actual crimes back when he may or may not have been in the habit of pursuing minors for romantic if not sexual purposes.

And in his first interview after the Post story broke, with Sean Hannity, Moore continued to speak very carefully  like a slick lawyer, one might say. He flatly denied even knowing, carnally or otherwise, the woman who made the most serious allegation against him, Leigh Corfman. Corfman told the Post that when she was 14, Moore, then a 32-year-old prosecutor, offered to look after her at the courthouse during her mothers custody hearing. Eventually he arranged to meet her in secret, and had sexual contact with her at his house. But despite Hannitys repeated attempts to give him an opportunity to clear his name entirely, Moore got very cagey when asked if he ever dated teenagers at the time in question. He could not remember doing that, and said it would have been out of character for him. But then Moore made the odd qualification that if he had dated the teenagers he wouldnt admit to having dated, he would have asked their mothers permission. Again: Its as though he was only willing to deny the one allegation that would, if proven, surely damage his candidacy severely.

Moore trying to walk a fine line. Strongly denying everything that would have been illegal in 1979 (giving alcohol to minor, sexually interacting with 14 yr old), but not outright denying stuff that was merely creepy. https://t.co/AU7ZyAJlgT  Philip Klein (@philipaklein) November 10, 2017

So Moore is clearly digging in, and only time will tell if hes digging his own political grave. At this point its mostly a question of whether you believe Leigh Corfman made the whole thing up, or that Moore is hiding something. Hes clearly hoping Alabama voters trust him enough to believe he may be a fanatic and a hate-monger but not a sexual predator. But his evasiveness and the creepy habits hes not denying very convincingly make him vulnerable, particularly with so many national Republicans giving him a wide berth.

The next thing to watch for is whether Moore clams up and refuses to address the issue further, and whether Corfman and the Post have more to say, particularly about Moores claims that hes never met her and that his behavior with other teens was irreproachable. Based on todays performance, Moore is hardly his own best defense attorney.
Trust me, I know what Im doing. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

One of the first major policy decisions President Trump made in office was to terminate the United States involvement in the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership, the sweeping trade deal that President Obama had made a cornerstone of his Asia strategy.

Now, the deal is moving along without America.

New, intense talks between 11 other countries involved in the deal took place at APEC, the annual economic conference in Vietnam that President Trump also attended. The countries, which include Canada and Japan, agreed to central components of an agreement that would allow the lifting of tariffs between them, promoting more open trade. To get everyone onboard, several provisions that deal with intellectual-property rights were stripped out, as well as clauses involving the environment and labor rights. (Those issues were decidedly not sticking points for Trump.)

Japan has pushed particularly hard for the deal, now called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, as part of its effort to reduce Chinas growing sway in the region.

In a speech hours before at the summit, President Trump emphasized his hard-line stance on multilateral trade deals, declaring that the U.S. would not be taken advantage of anymore  the same line of protectionist thinking that has informed his threats to pull out of NAFTA. But many experts and world leaders agree that by isolating the United States in the Pacific on trade, Trump is mostly just handing China a giant win.
Still in it to win it. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Senator Bob Corker became the latest Republican to publicly distance himself from Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore, two days after the Washington Post published allegations that Moore had initiated sexual encounters with teenage girls while he was in his 30s.

Look, I'm sorry, but even before these reports surfaced, Roy Moore's nomination was a bridge too far.  Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) November 11, 2017

On Friday night, Senators Steve Daines of Montana and Mike Lee of Utah rescinded their endorsements, breaking from many GOP colleagues who had attached the phrase if true to their condemnations of Moores behavior  a stance that seemed increasingly untenable as the weekend rolled around.

With institutional support collapsing around him, Moore held a press conference in Alabama on Saturday, in which he denied any sexual misconduct and employed the time-honored tactic of blaming the liberal media for everything. He cast the Post reports as a calculated attempt to discredit him weeks before the Senate election, which takes place on December 12. People have waited to four weeks prior to the general election to bring their complaints, he said. Thats not a coincidence. Its an intentional act to stop a campaign.

On Friday, Moore had appeared on Sean Hannitys radio show, during which he bobbed and weaved around the revelations in the Post story, claiming amnesia on many key questions but unhelpfully clarifying that if he had dated any underage girls, he would have asked their mother for permission first. He appearing to outright deny only the allegation involving Leigh Corfman, who says Moore engaged in sexual activities with her when she was 14 and he was 32. (Corfman, for her part, issued a statement standing by her story.)

Meanwhile, a poll taken after the Post report showed that Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate, had pulled even with Moore, a stunning result in one of the deepest red states in the country.

As the gravity of their predicament began to sink in, desperate Republicans mulled over various strategies to avoid blowing the race, including fielding a write-in candidate or pressing Alabama governor Kay Ivey to move the election altogether. (Ivey said on Saturday that she had no plans to do so.)

But in an era when an outsider has taken over the Republican Party and base voters view Establishment leadership with undisguised disdain, it may not be so simple. As the Washington Posts Paul Kane put it, the tools available to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Washington figures to drive him out of the race either no longer exist or have been rendered impotent by the rise of a new political structure. A Republican source close to Senate leadership told Axios that McConnell and his colleagues do not have the backbone to take on [Steve] Bannon. Ultimately, it may take President Trumps intervention to force Moore out. On Saturday, the president said he had no comment on the matter, claiming he hadnt paid attention to the story because he is too busy reading documents to watch television.

Of course, as Corker acknowledged in his tweet, Moores history of outrageous behavior extends well beyond his alleged treatment of teenage girls. He has said that homosexuality should be illegal, thinks Muslims should not be allowed to serve in Congress, and repeatedly has failed to uphold the Constitution as a judge and chief justice. None of these disqualifying factors (and there are many others) were a bridge too far for most Republicans, or for Alabama primary voters. But now, finally, his path to a United States Senate seat may truly be imperiled. The next month will show just how far outsider credibility goes in Alabama.
Former Kentucky House speaker Jeff Hoover, who resigned after a sexual-harassment charge. Photo: Timothy D. Easley/AP

One lawmaker trapped a lobbyist in his office to show her his raging boner. Another asked an intern the color of her panties on the Senate floor. And another regularly gave a Capitol staffer long hugs and then grunted in her ear.

Those are just a few of the many stories of sexual harassment and assault that have been told in state capitols in the past month. Emboldened by the women in Hollywood who exposed producer Harvey Weinsteins crimes, women in capitol buildings across the country have come forward with their own stories of abusive men in positions of power. This has ignited scandals in at least 14 states, and it seems a near-certainty that more are to come.

Arizona

Earlier this week, Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who previously said she was harassed in the state capitol, came forward and named the man. Rep. Don Shooter, she told a local TV station, has harassed her for years, inviting her to his room, professing his love for her, and commenting on her breasts. That opened the floodgates. By the end of Wednesday, two other lawmakers and a lobbyist had come forward with their own accusations against Shooter. The Yuma lawmaker, who is known around the state capitol as a politically incorrect, booze-loving jokester, denies the charges.

California

In early October, lobbyist Adama Iwu was at a political event when a man touched her inappropriately. Incensed, she vented to a friend. That venting soon became a letter with around 140 signatures that was published in the L.A. Times declaring that women working in Sacramento had had enough.

Each of us has endured, or witnessed or worked with women who have experienced some form of dehumanizing behavior by men with power in our workplaces. Men have groped and touched us without our consent, made inappropriate comments about our bodies and our abilities, the letter said. Its been nearly a month now since it was published and the story in Sacramento has not gone away, and it wont any time soon. The State Senate recently hired outside investigators to dig into the problem and their first task is to hold public forums to outline a plan of action.

Florida

Six different women from both parties who work as lobbyists and staffers in Tallahassee say Republican senator Jack Latvala, whos running for governor, has spoken to or touched them inappropriately in the past several years. One woman accused Latvala of giving her long hugs that ended with a grunt in the ear. Another said he touched the places on my body where only my bikini touches. Called an absolute hound and a dirty old man, Latvala denies ever touching the women and says hes passed a lie detector test to prove it. Ive put up. Now its time for other people to shut up unless theyve got some other kind of evidence, he said Friday.

Illinois

Every industry has its own version of the casting couch, reads an open letter circulated in Springfield and signed by more than 150 people. Illinois politics is no exception. The letter alleges a culture of rampant sexual harassment in Illinois politics and urges women to come forward with their stories. Several have, including one who named Sen. Ira Silverstein as her harasser. The Democrat was quickly stripped of his leadership position but remains in office, despite the three leading Democratic candidates for governor in the state calling on him to resign.

Iowa

In 2013, the thencommunications director for Iowa Senate Republicans was fired just hours after complaining to her bosses about sexual harassment. Kirsten Anderson would go on to win a $1.75 million settlement for her firing, but that didnt lead the state legislature to set up safeguards to prevent such things from happening again. It took the national public outcry about sexual harassment to do that, and on Friday, the body began looking for a human-resources director to conduct anti-harassment training.

Kansas

At some point during her time in Topeka, Abbie Hodgson, a former speechwriter for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, requested a copy of the legislatures sexual-harassment policy. As she wrote in the Kansas City Star this week, she cant remember the incident that prompted her to make the request because harassment was so common. Other Topeka-based legislative staffers and interns have also come forward with stories of being made uncomfortable by men in the Kansas legislature, one of whom greeted an intern by asking, Hey, do your panties match your outfit?

Kentucky

It began with Rep. Jeff Hoover, the now-former speaker of the Kentucky State House, who resigned from that position after admitting to exchanging inappropriate text messages with an employee in the House Republican leadership office. But he wasnt the only the one. Several other GOP lawmakers signed a harassment settlement with the same staffer and the states Republican governor has called on all of the men involved to resign.

Massachusetts

House Speaker Robert DeLeo ordered a review last week of the states policies on sexual harassment after a Boston Globe article revealed a climate of harassment and sexual misconduct on Beacon Hill. The piece by Yvonne Abraham included anecdotes about a lobbyist who was told to sleep with a lawmaker to get his vote, a capitol employee who was told to kiss a legislators ring while his hands were in his pocket, and a collection of male lawmakers gathered around a phone looking at porn.

Minnesota

At least two lawmakers in Minnesota have come under fire this month for harassing women in St. Paul. Among the accusers is State Rep. Erin Maye Quade who said fellow Rep. Tony Cornish texted her often to comment on her appearance. A lobbyist has also accused Cornish of cornering her in his office at the end of a meeting and saying, I have a raging boner. You cant leave. DFL senator Dan Schoen has also been accused by several women of making unwanted advances. One told the Star Tribune that when she was running for office, Schoen said he could tell if a candidate was canvassing by looking at her butt. Yep, yep. Thats a good door-knocking ass, he said after groping her.

Ohio

In late October, Ohio senator Cliff Hite resigned after a legislative employee complained about his relentless pursuit of sex with her. He had needs, he reportedly told her, including oral sex. When she rejected him, he asked again. And when she complained, he was forced to resign. Now leaders in the state legislature want to institute sexual-harassment training, but female lawmakers are saying thats not enough. If we want to end harassment, we must work to close gaps in gender equality, increase the number of women in the legislature and in leadership roles, and continue to convey that we have zero tolerance for harassment in our legislature, Sen. Charleta Tavares wrote in a letter signed by 34 other women.

Oklahoma

The Sooner State is ahead of the curve when it comes to exposing its toxic cultures of harassment. In February, Rep. Dan Kirby resigned after a fired staffer said she had been sending him nude photos. She felt trapped, she said, and worried that she would lose her job if she didnt send the pictures. She lost her job anyway and filed a wrongful-termination suit. Soon after, another lawmaker was accused of making a high-school page uncomfortable. And these are not isolated incidents, one legislative assistant said. These claims are frequent  unwanted touching, comments on body parts, specific body parts  Really just awful things, she said.

Rhode Island

When Rep. Teresa Tanzi revealed in October that a government official told her that legislation would go further if she performed sexual favors, she got a different reaction from men than she did from women. Geez  this hits so close to home. Thats amazing. I wish I could say more, a male colleague told the Providence Journal. Meanwhile, a woman who once served in Providence said, Im not surprised.

South Dakota

Samantha Spawn is a lobbyist in Pierre who was raped in March by a man who works in the capitol. But she didnt report it, she told the Argus Leader, because, With the culture of hypermasculinity out there, who was going to believe me? Shes not the only women with a story about abuse in the South Dakota capitol. Former Sen. Angie Buhl ODonnell shared hers on Facebook. It involved former House Majority Leader Brian Gosch talking about her breasts and her nipples and incessantly asking for a hug. He told the Argus Leader he was only joking.

Washington

It was very clearly a pat on my heinie, not my waist, Rep. Jessyn Farrell told The News Tribune about an encounter with a male lobbyist in Olympia. Her story was included in an article that exposed the toxic culture in the state capitol, where nine women told the paper of an environment where inappropriate comments, lingering hugs, unnecessary touching and unwelcome attention are common.
Medical interns have set Shs 2.5 million as the bare minimum, non-negotiable salary that must be deposited on their accounts before they call off the ongoing strike.



Though the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) has set Shs 8.5 million as salary that must be paid to intern doctors, Robert Lubega, the president of medical intern for 2017-2018 says they have lowered their salary demands to Shs 2.5 million as "non-negotiable". The intern doctors laid down tools together with licensed doctors on November 6 pushing for better pay.



Lubega says they will wait for government to meet their demands. Lubega says medical interns are tired of working under poor conditions.

The medical interns want to be paid Shs 2.5 million perform if they are to call off the strike

On Thursday, health minister Ruth Aceng ordered doctors to return to work immediately or risk losing their jobs. She also asked interns to call off the strike or lose their internship placements.



Though the ministry of health claims that medical interns are paid Shs 900,000 per month, Lubega says the permanent secretary of ministry of health Dr Diana Atwine released a letter on November 2 saying that this year's medical interns will be paid Shs 740,000 per month.



Lubega says the figure was broken down into Shs 400,000 as allowance, Shs 250,000 for meals and Shs 90,000 for accommodation.



Lubega says there is nowhere in Uganda that they can get a decent accommodation at Shs 90,000 or meals at 250,000 for a month. He further claims that there are medical interns who have been paid as low as Shs 550,000.



"Were saying unless the ministry of Health and the relevant stakeholders give us Shs 2.5 million for now were also going to keep laying down our tools as medical interns of 2017/18.



There is letter that was released by the permanent secretary dated 2nd November to the hospital directors which highlights that Shs 740,000 has been dispatched to our accounts. It [letter] breaks down that amount as follows. That Shs 400,000 of that is for allowances, Shs 250,000 is for feeding and Shs 90,000 of that is for accommodation.

So were saying madam PS there is no where in Uganda that you can get a decent accommodation of Shs 90,000 or meals of Shs 8,000 per day. That is all were saying that were putting down our tools until we get Shs 2.5 million on our accounts as net monthly pay", said Lubega.



Lubega says no government officials should classify medical interns as students.

"A medical intern is not a student but a graduate doctor from a recognised university who is undergoing one-year supervised practical training at an accredited internship training centre."



He says medical interns are a backbone of Uganda's health system. "We are the foot soldiers who an accident victim will find in hospital when they are brought to emergency unit before seeing a senior doctor," Lubega says.



Lubega also argues that medical interns can't work when their supervisors are on strike. He says a total of 970 medical interns are deployed in 35 hospitals across the country.
Hudaibiya Paper Mills case hearing to start from Monday

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar constituted a three-member Supreme Court bench on Friday to start hearing of the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case against Sharif family from Monday.



The bench comprises Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Mazhar Alam Minakhel. The court also issued notices to the NAB prosecutor general.



It may be recalled that Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa had also headed the five-member Supreme Court bench which heard the Panama Papers case and disqualified Nawaz Sharif as prime minister in its July 28, 2017 verdict, besides directing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to re-open Hudaibiya Paper Mills case against the Sharif family.



In its July 28, 2017 verdict in the Panama Papers case, the court had directed NAB to re-open Hudaibiya Paper Mills case. However, when it did not open the case, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, chief of the Awami Muslim League, moved the apex court seeking its direction to the NAB to reopen the case.



The NAB then filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on September 20, 2017 against the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision wherein it had quashed the case on March 11, 2014 and acquitted all the accused including Nawaz Sharif in the case.



In its appeal, the NAB impleaded ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharifs son MNA Hamza Shehbaz and other members of the Sharif family as respondents.



The NAB has appealed the apex court to declare the LHC verdict null and void in the interest of justice, fair play and equity. In its appeal, NAB has argued that the referee judge was not competent to set aside the findings of the high court, in which NAB had been allowed to re-initiate investigations against the Sharif family members.



The joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court to probe the Panama Papers case against Nawaz Sharif had recommended in its final report that the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case should be reopened.



In light of the JIT report, the Supreme Court in its verdict in the Panama Papers case had directed NAB to reopen the Hudaibiya case while filing references in other cases against the Sharif family. The court had expressed annoyance on NAB for not filing appeal against the LHC verdict in the Hudaibya case.



The Hudaibiya Paper Mills money laundering reference was initiated in 2000 on the basis of an April 25, 2000 confession statement of Ishaq Dar before a magistrate, wherein he had admitted his role in laundering money to the tune of $14.86 million on behalf of the Sharif family through fictitious accounts. The witness was, however, pardoned by the then NAB chairman. Hudaibiya Paper Mills was allegedly used as a cover by the Sharif family to launder the money outside the country in the 1990s.



LHCs referee judge Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan had quashed the reference on March 11, 2014 on the grounds that if a re-investigation was allowed against the Sharif family, it would provide an opportunity to investigators to pad up lacunas.



The LHC had quashed the case as the PML-N continued to claim that Dars statement was taken under duress. Dar also had claimed that he had made the confessional statement in duress and had disowned the statement, being coerced.
As a former U.S. Air Force air traffic controller for six years, I saw payday lenders prey on men and women in uniform. Financial distress is the top reason military personnel take their own lives. The Military Lending Act gave relief to active duty service members. Payday loans are prohibited under the Act; a protection Montana voters extended to Montana residents in 2010. Soon after the MLA passed, payday lenders around military bases shut down. The MLA only applies to active duty service members, not veterans. This act helps the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau go after illegal debt trap loans that target service-members. Problem is, once you're out, it no longer applies.

What happens if payday lenders make loans to active duty service members? Or veterans in Montana? Youll need the Consumer Bureau or attorney general to go after payday lenders who break the law, and offer debt relief to veterans and families affected. USAFs Chief Master Sergeant James Cody told Congress this himself. The Consumer Bureau recently issued protections for veterans, and civilians; not as strong as Montana law, but still some much-needed help for Americans.

Montana Rep. Gianforte got the opportunity to continue to allow the CFPB to enforce payday regulations. He chose to support payday lenders, turning his back on veterans. This vote shows that Rep. Gianforte is not voting on behalf of Montana values, and that he is against enforcing protections that support service-members and our families. Supporting the Consumer Bureau's new protections, gives him an opportunity to represent us better.

Caleb Harper

Billings
The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
Ghana 's cocoa production is expected to hit two million (2m) metric tonnes by 2019, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD has hinted.



He said the current total national capacity of 968,000 metric tonnes of cocoa was woefully inadequate to generate the needed revenue to support national development and therefore expressed its resolve to work tirelessly and put pragmatic measures and other innovative programmes and policies in place to realise that feat.



The COCOBOD CEO said this when he addressed farmers in Breman Asikuma in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa (AOB) District as part of his tour of the Region to engage stakeholders in the cocoa industry and to get first hand information on challenges inhibiting their work.



Other areas he toured included Twifo-Praso in the Twifo-Atti-Morkwaa District, Adiembra, Assaman, and Onwa in Assin South District and later addressed a durbar of workers and farmers at Assin Fosu in the Assin North Municipality.



Mr. Aidoo Boahen indicated that the cocoa value chain industry was worth over 140 billion dollars but Ghana received only one percent of the figure and expressed governments determination to make cocoa farming more rewarding and attractive.



As part of the new policy interventions, he assured that his outfit had employed the services of over 30,000 cocoa farmers from across the country who had been introduced to the hand pollination technique to enable them to boost crop yield and returns.



Through the artificial pollination, the crop yield per hectare could hit two tonnes from the current average of 400 kilograms the farmers are getting because they have the flexibility to pollinate about 10 to 12 trees daily.



Pollination, combined with fertilizer application would significantly restore the country's cocoa production capacity, adding that a hand pollinated cocoa tree could yield between 100 and 500 pods.



Mr. Aidoo also stated that COCOBOD was keen on introducing new technologically inclined methods and processes into cocoa farming with modernized machines.



In line with it, he gave the assurance that beginning 2018, his outfit would commence a new programme dubbed "national mass cocoa pruning" to prune cocoa trees with sophisticated pruning, weeding and harvesting.



The policy would among other things ensure that farmers were effectively educated on the best agronomic cultural practices to improve yield and prevent the spread and outbreak of diseases.



Mr Aidoo said plans were far advanced to introduce irrigation systems to most demonstration farms to ensure all year planting.



He encouraged the youth to take advantage and become part of the cocoa industry, adding that the African Development Bank in collaboration with the Government of Ghana had earmarked some funds to support the youth in cocoa farming and agriculture in general.



Mr. Aidoo advised cocoa farmers to make good use of the fertilizers given them at a subsidized price and not to smuggle them to neighbouring countries to the detriment of Ghana



Mr Emmanuel Opoku, Executive Director of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), announced that Government had procured new machines and equipment to support the 20,000 people engaged in the on-going mass cocoa spraying to help revive the cocoa industry.



The CEO spoke of the devastation of cocoa farms by the black pod disease ( Swollen shoot), among other newly discovered diseases and said efforts at tackling the diseases would be scaled up to bring them to the barest minimum.

Source: GNA









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Botswana President Ian Khama has announced he will step down as president in April next year when his term officially ends.



Khama said during the State of the Nation address on Monday that he will leave the country in the hands of his Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi until the elections in 2019.



Five months from now I shall be passing the baton of leadership of this great country into the very capable hands of VP Mokgweetsi Masisi. While we will undoubtedly continue to confront significant challenges, when we place the interests of Botswana first we shall find the strength to overcome all obstacles, he said.



Khama succeeded former President Festus Mogae as president in 2008 after serving as Vice President since 1998. He was elected for a full five-year term in 2009 and re-elected in 2014 for his final second term.



The former military commander will also be replaced as the leader of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) by his vice president who was elected in July to lead the ruling party.



Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi will serve as interim president until the election in 2019 which will see four main opposition parties standing as a coalition to topple the ruling party which has been in power since 1966.



Ian Khama says the country can achieve its vision by coming together to build the country.



While we will undoubtedly continue to confront significant challenges, when we place the interests of Botswana first we shall find the strength to overcome all obstacles, he said.











Source: africanews.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom, a subsidiary of Econet Global, has partnered with Huawei, the leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, to deliver 100G upgrades to its network in South Africa.



The upgrade to 100G wavelengths will take advantage of the latest DWDM technology from Huawei, enabling Liquid Telecom to offer additional capacity, faster speeds and greater redundancy to customers across South Africa.



The first phase of the project will see Liquid Telecom deploy Huaweis OptiX OSN Solution along 1200km of its long-haul network connecting Johannesburg and Cape Town.



The 100G link will support growing demand for cloud-based services and provide customers with high-speed access to Liquid Telecoms data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town, which are currently undergoing major expansions to meet the needs of global cloud players and enterprise customers.



In the second and third phase of the project, the DWDM core network will be extended to the north west then north east regions of South Africa, providing more enterprise and wholesale customers in South Africa with high bandwidth connectivity.



In addition, the network upgrades will support Liquid Telecoms new CloudConnect for Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute service, which enables customers to create private, predictable, high performance, SLA-based connections between Azure data centres and infrastructure on their premises or in a colocation environment.



Higher networks speeds and bandwidth will play an integral role in supporting the rise of the African cloud. Through our partnership with Huawei, Liquid Telecom is ensuring that its network is ready to meet the increasing demand from businesses for cloud-based services, said Nic Rudnick, Group CEO: Liquid Telecom.



OptiX OSN Solution is Huaweis next-generation core packet-optical OTN platform for 100G/400G/1T and beyond, which is used for building high-performance backbone and metro networks. It integrates Huaweis advanced Packet, OTN, and SDN-oriented Optics Transport technologies, and offers a high-density architecture with ultra-low power consumption per bit.



We are delighted to be supporting Liquid Telecom with next-generation network technologies that are ready for the new cloud era, said Li Peng, president of Huawei Southern Africa region.



The deployment of our OptiX OSN solution in South Africa further demonstrates our technology expertise and commitment to deliver innovative optical transmission solutions,  he concluded.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Chavez Cuanto te queremos!



Por culpa de Chavez



Cerveza Polar







Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar







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LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!


Scraps from a student in New Haven, CT. Eh, mostly just links. The Internet filtered for your enjoyment.
MOREAU  The only audience that got fired up over the 2018 preliminary budget Thursday night was the South Glens Falls Fire Company.

Theyre also the only department that was presented with the possibility of receiving a $100,000 State and Municipal Facilities Program grant.

The Town Board held a public hearing at the town hall to present and discuss the budget for next year. The budget stays under the states 2 percent tax cap. The boards goal is for the town to not use any of its fund balance to cover 2018 appropriations.

The budget would eliminate the fire protection tax and use sales tax revenue to cover fire service costs.

But extinguishing the fire protection tax isnt something the fire department wants to happen.

Were not in favor of it, said fire company President Wayne Palmer.

Palmer is concerned the sales tax money will fall short.

Palmer said keeping the fire protection tax is in residents best interest because they know what theyll pay. Now, he said, residents pay about $60 a year for fire protection.

The fire departments budget has increased each year since 2009, when it was $390,400. This year it will be $515,100, which is 2 percent higher, or $10,100 more, than last year. But its not enough, according to Palmer.

Its not getting the job done. By the end of next year, Im going to $2 million dollars in debt. It cant continue to happen, he said.

Palmer said the money is needed and suggested that, in the worst-case scenario, somebody could get killed if the department lacks the money to properly train its members or buy equipment to do the job.

Todd Kusnierz, the town supervisor-elect who has taken the reins on the 2018 budget, shut Palmers idea down quickly.

You want to tax the hell out of our residents. I will not stand for that, he said.

Its going in the right direction. I know the fire company wants to see it much more aggressive going up, but we also have to be cognitive of the other needs of the community, Kusnierz said.

As a follow-up, Kusnierz announced that he received call on Thursday from state Sen. Kathleen Marchione, who is pushing for a grant of up to $100,000 for the fire company.

The grant could be used for things like the purchase of a new firetruck or making firehouse upgrades. It could not be used for items that can walk away, such as fire equipment.

Kusnierz said the application process is long and can take anywhere from six to 18 months to approve.

That is too slow for Palmer.

Everyone wants more money. The budget doesnt make everyone happy, but everyone will always want more money, Kusnierz said.

Town Board member Bob Prendergast said he approves of the budget.

Its important to the citizens of the community that the town remains fiscally strong, he said. Good job with it.
HUDSON FALLS  Investigators were still working Saturday to determine what caused Fridays house fire in Hudson Falls.

Hudson Falls Police Chief Randy Diamond said the cause remained unknown as of Saturday morning. Investigators continued to interview potential witnesses, he said.

The early morning fire at 131 John St. injured two residents and destroyed the two-story home. Both residents suffered minor burns, and one suffered smoke inhalation, as they fled the burning building shortly after 4 a.m., according to family members. A third resident was checked out at Glens Falls Hospital.

Relatives of the victim said they reported that the fire seemed to start in the front of the home, near the front door, where a futon was located. It spread quickly, flames leaping from windows. The house is not salvageable.

Authorities have not said whether they consider it suspicious, but Diamond said the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation continued to assist Hudson Falls Police and Washington County and state fire investigators. A state Bureau of Fire canine handler was at the scene late Friday, and the agencys dogs are trained to detect accelerants.

 Don Lehman
SARATOGA SPRINGS  Step into the Saratoga City Center this weekend, turn left just past the double glass doors and the threshold of an alternate reality beckons.

And for those accepting the call, the 2-D images from the pages of comics, superhero legends and villainous deeds breathe, move and some even talk in their new 3-D forms.

There are elves with real elf ears, maidens in tight cinched corsets, slashers of all sorts with the blood of past victims evident on shirts pants and faces. There are fluffy-tailed creatures, flesh-eating zombie viruses, X-Men, Star Wars characters, toy guns, lasers, florescent wigs, the Blues Brothers, Freddie Krueger, the Joker and too many masked men and women to mention.

And on Saturday just after noon, the costumed crowds grew at the Saratoga Comic Con at the Saratoga City Center and runs through Sunday.

We expect about 5,000, said Samuel Chase, president of Chase Con Expo LLC, adding that a few years ago he wondered if there would be a local market for the event. This is the sixth show in Saratoga  this is a really good turn-out, were doing really well.

Chase, of Moreau, said that putting together this event is a full-time job, along with about 20 staff and volunteers. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of effort, he said. The volunteers are from this area and some from Plattsburgh. Many of them have never experienced this before and they say, lets see what this is all about.

Some come to shop the wares of over 100 vendors, some to get photos with costumed characters and others to use their love of cosplay  dressing in costumes to represent characters often from comics or anime  to raise funds for charity.

For Pierre Farah Lajoie, of Montreal, what started as having fun with cosplay and letting people get their photos taken with him, has turned into a charity event at Comic Cons in Canadian and U.S. cities.

Farah Lajoie, who is the leader of the X-Men of Montreal Cosplay Charity Team and plays Wolverine, said the team has raised about $20,000 since he began donating 100 percent of photo proceeds to charity in 2013.

I wanted to give back to the community; last year I raised money for breast cancer research because my Mom is a breast cancer survivor, he said on Saturday. This year it is for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

He explained that each year he picks charities that are close to his heart.

Last year at Saratoga Comic Con, it was the first day and we had a great day, we were all in high spirits, he said. I went back to my room and got a call from my girlfriend that her brother took his life. 

The Montreal team has already been to 17 Comic Cons to raise funds this year. And he said the Saratoga event will probably raise about $400, but at a larger one like in Montreal with 58,000, his team can raise nearly $3,000.

Saratoga Comic Con runs through Sunday at the City Center and tickets at the door are $20.
A iPhone or an alarm clock is probably how a majority of people wake themselves up in the morning.

But if youre homeless, forget an iPhone. And where is one supposed to plug in an alarm clock when your home is a tent?

Yet homeless people are expected to make it to work, to school, to their services and appointments. And theres a stigma that when a homeless person isnt on time or where theyre supposed to be, theyre being lazy or messing up.

But maybe they just didnt have an alarm clock to wake them up after countless sleepless nights.

That was the level of reality that was shared Wednesday night by three individuals who have experienced homelessness. Hannah, a homeless veteran who has a 6-year-old daughter; Johnna; and Jolenta, whose last names were held for confidentiality reasons, shared their experiences of living on the streets in front of nearly 65 people at Crandall Public Library as part of homelessness awareness month.

All three speakers had been homeless for an extended period of time, some for over a year. They slept in the woods and battled anxiety and depression that worsened with their situations. But each said that without the services they received, they wouldnt be where they are today.

Johnna got extensive mental health care and is back in college. Hannah is an assistant preschool teacher, and Jolenta is a manager at a restaurant.

Its important to me that people know about the programs that are out there, because I wouldnt be where I am today without them, Jolenta said.

Homelessness comes in many forms, and its difficult to pinpoint exactly why or how one becomes homeless or stays homeless. The struggle homeless people face day to day is no secret, including the fight for housing, food, proper hygiene, communication and basic resources.

But the reality of the challenges that service providers face are perhaps not as known.

The Office of Community Services hosted the awareness event and invited five expert panelists to give their professional perspectives and answer questions on the scope of homelessness.

A Warren County sheriff, a commissioner from the Washington County Department of Social Services, a landlord, a case manager from WAIT House and a worker from Soldier On, a program to end veteran homelessness, offered their advice on homelessness and different ways to help. Duane Vaughn, executive director of the Tri-County United Way, was the evenings moderator.

By the end of the hour-long event, panelists nor the homeless had the over-arching solution to end the ongoing problem. But the night aimed to promote dialogue on the growing issue and offered insight on homelessness from the service providers point of view.

Tammy DeLorme, from the Washington County Department of Social Services, shed light on how many homeless people the department served last year. About 206 homeless single adults and 112 homeless families were placed, according to DeLorme. She said those numbers were overwhelming and isnt sure they will decrease anytime soon.

Last year, 268 people were identified as experiencing homelessness in a survey of Saratoga, Washington, Warren and Hamilton counties.

For DeLorme, filling out paperwork when someone is trying to access services, finding affordable housing, finding people before they face eviction and helping with job placement are among the challenges she deals with on a daily basis.

We just try to plug the gaps people present us with, DeLorme said.

Warren County Undersheriff Shawn Lamouree said law enforcements main mission and challenge is to ensure the well-being and safety of the homeless. He noted that outdoor temperatures become a concern this time of year, and in the past they have brought the homeless to the Code Blue shelter.

Sarah Rowell, a youth case manager at WAIT house, said family conflict is a large contributor to youth homelessness and bridging the gap within the household is the hard part.

Family conflict can range from a lack of emotional resources to financial resources.

Being a youth is already a natural state of crisis, and when its exacerbated by some of those factors  family conflict, not having that support system  it can really lead to homelessness, Rowell said.

As many as 2.5 million youth per year experience homelessness, according to the National Center on Family Homelessness.

From a landlords perspective, staying in contact with his tenants is an enormous task.

Daniel Girard, a Ward 1 Warren County supervisor and landlord, spoke about the barriers that prevent homeless people from finding housing. He rents rooms out to people for $100 to $150 a week, depending on their financial circumstance. Girard calls the challenges he sees homeless people face the fundamentals we take for granted.

Housing, nutrition, hygiene, safety and communication skills are just a few of those fundamentals.

Getting and staying in touch with the homeless is one of my biggest challenges. If anyone wants to help an individual, its hard locating them. And its hard to locate them or get a hold of them when they dont have a phone, Girard said.

He admitted that he sometimes adds to the homeless problem because if someone doesnt have income to pay rent but another does, hes forced to put them on the street.

Audience members asked the panelists how to help the homeless community. Ideas were tossed out like visiting a church or local shelter and volunteering.

Dominick Sondrini, who spoke on behalf of Solider On, said helping doesnt have to be hard: Just listening and having a little bit of love in you for the person sitting across from you goes a long way, he said.

Veteran homelessness has declined in the state over the past five years, according to a report issued last week by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

In 2016, the number of homeless veterans decreased from 5,765 in 2011 to 1,248 individuals in New York, a decrease of 78.4 percent during the time frame, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Girard said educating yourself is the best way to help.

You all being here tonight is it, Girard said. We can all learn more about the issues surrounding homelessness and find more ways to help. We all have a lot to learn.
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EBE Technologies, headquartered in East Moline, announced a strong finish for its 2017 fiscal year ending Sept. 30. A record year of revenue growth saw a 17 percent increase in revenue over FY 2016. This is the ninth consecutive year of growth exceeding 15 percent.

According to a news release, EBEs SHIPS applications, which include imaging and workflow, carrier on-boarding, recruiting and on-boarding, safety and risk, driver performance, learning management, fleet maintenance and mobile capture solutions, were credited for the revenue growth.

Also included in the 2017 revenue growth was the addition of more than 40 new transportation companies to EBEs client portfolio. Client additions were a result of either a purchase directly from EBE or from one of EBEs white label partners.

EBE Technologies is a privately held company and the leading provider of enterprise Decision Support Workflow applications for the transportation industry.

 Times staff
If you're game, Vibrant Credit Union has a little scavenger hunt planned for this week that will reward three lucky winners with iPhone 8s.

The Moline-based Vibrant is hosting a community-wide scavenger hunt that's not only for Vibrant's members.

Here's how it works: Vibrant will post a clue at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, at vibrantcreditunion.org/iphone. Decipher the clue to go find the Vibrant box hidden somewhere in the Quad-City area.

Vibrant will hide one box each day. The box will include instructions on how to claim the prize. It does not contain the phone.

"We love hosting fun and unique events in the communities we serve," said Matt McCombs, Vibrant's president and CEO. "We want to be a vibrant part of the community and think the iPhone Giveaway is a great way to have some fun."

For full rules and regulations, go to vibrantcreditunion.org/iphonerules.

Ascentra branch getting a makeover

Construction crews are set to begin work Thursday on remodeling Ascentra Credit Union's west Davenport branch.

The project, which will run through March, will create a more open, functional and inviting space inside the branch at 1710 W. 3rd St. The Bettendorf-based credit union said the changes will bring the building's appearance up to the same level as Ascentra's other nine locations.

"The investment in this branch shows that we are committed to serving our members and all the people of west Davenport," Ascentra President and CEO Dale Owen said.

Updates and potential service interruptions will be posted on Ascentra's Facebook page. The branch will remain open during construction.

JA Titan contest tests skills

Two Quad-City high school teams are advancing to the finals of the Drs. David and Agnes Palmer Junior Achievement Titan Competition, an online business simulation contest.

Pleasant Valley and Moline high school teams will represent the Iowa and Illinois Quad-Cities in the Scholarship Round this week when they compete against winners from six other qualifying rounds across JA of the Heartland's 24 counties.

Through JA Titan, students learn what it takes to run a successful business as they compete in the one-day virtual contest. Acting as a management team of a virtual company, the students will make critical decisions to try to make their company profitable in a very competitive industry.

The Moline finalists are students Emma DeLaCruz, Shaddy Khalafallah, Isabella Mitchell and Shiv Puri, business mentor Dan Pulley of Deere & Co, and team sponsor The Sedona Group.

The Pleasant Valley finalists are students Niko Goumas, Hayden Guenzler, Justin Harrington and Garrett Massengale, business mentor Lance Heuer of U.S. Bank, and team sponsor U.S. Bank.

JA Titan will be Wednesday at Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport. Vickie Anne Palmer is the title sponsor of the event, which honors her parents, Drs. David and Agnes Palmer. The teams compete for a total of $8,000 in scholarships.

Other schools advancing to the Scholarship Round are Central DeWitt, Mediapolis and West Liberty in Iowa, and Geneseo, Galena and Princeton in Illinois.

Kwik Star customers back Special Olympics

Kwik Star stores across Iowa, including the Quad-Cities, invite customers to purchase icons in support of Special Olympics of Iowa.

Through Thursday, the stores will sell the paper icons for $1, which will be donated to Special Olympics. Customers can sign their names and display the icons in their favorite Kwik Star store.

Kwik Trip's Steven Wrobel said the campaign continues Kwik Star's longtime support of the nonprofit. "Our goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of others," he said. "Special Olympics truly impacts the lives of thousands of incredible athletes."

American Family helps L'Arche Clinton

L'Arche Clinton was the recipient of a $3,000 donation from American Family Insurance in honor of the Madison, Wisconsin-based insurance group's 90th anniversary.

American Family donated a total of $270,000 to 90 nonprofits organizations last month. They were nominated by customers, agents and employees. "We're thankful for the opportunity to support our local communities," said longtime American Family agent Pat Haffarnan of Davenport. "We're proud to make this donation and hope others will be inspired to do the same."

The L'Arche Clinton community provides homes for people with and without intellectual disabilities to live and work together in communities of faith and friendship.
The Moline Foundation has granted a $5,000 award to the Christian Care Center, Rock Island, in support of its case-management programming.

Christian Care provides safe shelter, support and resources, and empowers the homeless to make positive changes in every aspect of their lives. Case management is provided to all residents to assist them in operating at an optimal level of daily functioning, creating new values and attitudes, mastering life skills and enhancing their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence.

Christian Care is the only shelter for homeless men in the Illinois Quad-Cities, serving men ages 18 and older who are in need of safe shelter, food and clothing. Established in 1916 by founder Guy Rodgers, Christian Care (formerly the Rock Island Rescue Mission) has served the communitys homeless population for more than 100 years.
URBANDALE  U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told Iowa farmers Friday to expect a "bumpy ride" as the Trump administration works to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement - but to look for good results in the end.

On his fourth trip to Iowa - the most to any state - Perdue met with veterans, farmers and agriculture officials at a breakfast forum where trade, infrastructure, taxes, regulations, rural broadband, Department of Agriculture appointees and farm bill policies and provisions were on the menu.

On appointees, Perdue said he wants to see Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey confirmed to a top USDA post "as quickly as possible." But he added that the administration won't meet with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz - who is delaying the confirmation in a dispute over the Renewable Fuel Standard, which he has spoken against - because it has been U.S. policy "not to negotiate with hostage-takers."

NAFTA negotiations with Mexico and Canada got off to a rocky start after President Donald Trump moved into the White House and are slated to resume later this year. Attendees at the breakfast expressed concern that states dependent on exports are worried about a financial "train wreck" if disputes don't get resolved.

"Hang on and don't get overly anxious. I think we'll get there," was the USDA secretary's advice.

"This not going to be a smooth negotiation. I think you already see that," Perdue told a crowd that included U.S. Rep. David Young, a Van Meter Republican. He said Trump is a tough negotiator who wants a "more U.S.-friendly" deal than is in place now.

"I think we will get to a good agreement for American farmers and producers. But again it may be bumpy in the meantime. There may be some speed bumps there that create anxiety. You know farmers don't need a lot to be anxious about in these kind of days of low-commodity prices, so the administration and the president knows how important agricultural trade is," he added. "I'm hopeful, I'm optimistic that we'll get a deal at the end of the day."

During his stop, Perdue was asked about the status of Northey's nomination to be USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, which has been blocked in the Senate by Cruz, R-Texas, in what Perdue described as "an intraparty squabble" over renewable fuels.

Perdue called Northey "an authentic farmer" and an experienced leader whose expertise is needed, while expressing disappointment and frustration with the Senate confirmation process.

"I wish I would have brought my 'Free Bill Northey' t-shirt," Perdue later told a roundtable meeting on agriculture tax and insurance issues he held with a group of Iowa farmers, agribusiness representatives, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Young at a Johnston insurance company headquarters.

Perdue told reporters after the breakfast forum in Urbandale that he expected Sam Clovis would continue to serve within the administration after the White House liaison with the USDA last week withdrew his nomination to be the agency's chief science officer.

"I think Sam made a very selfless, courageous decision when he realized that his situation was being drug into the whole Russia deal, which has gone on way too long," Perdue said. "I think he didn't want the president to be distracted in that way."

Court records this month revealed the Clovis, an Iowan who served as a Trump campaign adviser, encouraged another campaign adviser to meet with Russian interests. That meeting never took place.
Thumbs up to Buffalo Police Chief Terry TJ Behning.

Behning is home from the hospital about six weeks after being seriously injured during a chase with a stolen dump truck.

Prosecutors allege Logan Jeffery Shoemaker, 20, stole a garbage truck and tried to elude police. At the chase's end, Shoemaker intentionally targeted Behning's squad car as the chief attempted to deploy stop sticks, police say. Shoemaker faces a host of charges, including attempted murder.

Behning remains in rough shape, according to family and officials. His legs took the brunt of the impact.

At the very least, he's healing after numerous surgeries. We're happy to hear of his recovery.

Thumbs down to Davenport city officials and anyone else who left businesses at the intersection of Kimberly Road and Division Street out to dry for seven months.

Roadwork at the intersection began in March and was supposed to be done by July. It's November and, still, the three-phase widening and surfacing project is yet to be finished.

All summer, traffic was snarled and several businesses were all but inaccessible due to the project that just won't end.

Unsurprisingly, business owners at the intersection are fed up. One told us that he's seen receipts plummet 50 percent.

Civil projects are a necessary, important function of the public sphere. But, in this instance, poor communication between engineers, city officials and utility companies endangered the livelihoods of taxpayers and citizens.

A few months is one thing. Non-stop delays are completely unacceptable.

Thumbs down to U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, for, yet again, having the moral authority of a spirochete.

King joined the Fox News bandwagon and blasted U.S. senators who asked Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore to leave the race amid molestation allegations. On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that Moore allegedly initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl in the late-1970s. The age of consent was, and is, 16 in Alabama.

King, of course, blamed those pesky #NeverTrump Republicans in the Senate for abandoning the Alabama firebrand.

"Judge Roy Moore told to withdraw by Senators who wont or cant help move Trump agenda," King tweeted Thursday night.

This from a man who's entire shtick is based on some supposed higher moral authority. Of course, King only only applies those standards to those who aren't on his side.

What a hypocrite.
They came for the gun owners, but I said nothing because I wasn't a gun owner. They came for the Jews, but I said nothing because I wasn't Jewish. They came for the blacks and Latinos, but I said nothing because I was neither. Then they came for me, and there was nobody left to stand up for me.

Are these recent attacks in Las Vegas and other areas a psychological operation to take our Second Amendment rights away? I should remind the authorities that should they try to do this, there will be consequences. The peoples militia of 100 million gun owners (yes, if you own a gun, you are part of us) will not allow this to happen.

As long as they keep us in fear, they win. Stand up, speak out, and let your voice be heard.

Tom Keith

Moline
U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are once again under self-imposed pressure to keep another bad campaign promise. Cut taxes to their millionaire and large corporate patrons.

As the details of the plan trickle out, its clear that the lions share of the benefits would go to the rich and powerful individuals and large profitable corporations with crumbs for middle-class families, farmers and small businesses.

The Republican plan would reduce federal revenue by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years; a reduction that would necessitate cuts to bedrock middle-class programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

The plan is bad for Iowa. It also ends the successful wind energy tax credit that has resulted in more than 6,000 Iowa jobs.

The plan is more failed trickle-down economics. Give rich people and large corporations tax windfalls and hope their benevolence comes your way. The reality is that businesses and the economy grow when there is more demand from more customers. This plan does virtually nothing to increase this demand by putting more money in the paychecks of hardworking Iowans to spend on the things they need and want.

This campaign promise deepens economic inequality, is immoral and bad economics. Reject it.

Joe Bolkcom

Iowa City

Editors note: Bolkcom, a Democrat, serves in the Iowa Senate
An old folk tale says the Norse God Odin fed lefse to the souls of his lost warriors in Valhalla to fortify them for battle.

But given the fact that potatoes werent introduced to Norway until the mid 1700s, there is probably little truth to the story, according to the author of lefsetime.com.

What is indisputable is Scandinavians love for the thin potato flatbread that puts the yule into the yuletide and happiness in the bellies of every Norwegian and Norwegian-wanna-be worldwide.

And lucky for those living in the Black Hills, there are the Holy Rollers and Flippers of Faith Lutheran Church  a group of Rapid City ladies who each fall devote eight weeks of Tuesdays and Wednesdays to ricing, mashing, cutting, rolling and flipping enough lefse to feed an army of shoppers at churchs annual fall bazaar. (This years bazaar is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18.)

All told, the ladies will go through 400 pounds of potatoes, 120 pounds of flour, 16 pounds of butter and 16 quarts of heavy cream.

The net result  1,600 lefse, give or take the weekly mistakes, which the lefse makers gobble up between batches.

Some of these ladies grew up making lefse beside their mothers and grandmothers.

Others grew up eating it  slathered with REAL butter and sprinkled with sugar.

And some like Marge Marken are relative newbies, learning the lefse roll and and flip technique from their fellow holy rollers

When I started I didnt know what lefse was, she said. Now, 10 years later, she is almost a lefse making pro. Im a ricer, a masher and a roller  but Ive never been a flipper.

Sharon Edwards, the crew chief of this army of mostly senior volunteers, walked us through the process.

Each Tuesday night, a handful of ladies peel 50 pounds of potatoes  half red and half russet  and then boil them.

The cooked potatoes are then riced and mashed with butter, cream, and a bit of sugar and salt.

The mixture is placed in bowls and refrigerated overnight.

About 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, a bigger crew returns to the Faith Lutheran kitchen. The potato mash is mixed with flour and kneaded to the texture of pie dough. The dough is formed into logs, wrapped and wax paper and refrigerated again.

Once ready, the logs are cut into 4 ounce portions and rolled into balls.

The rollers equipped with a lefse board and lefse rolling pin and cover, methodically flatten the balls into near perfect 14 inch circles.

Making them thin enough is the key, said Corinne Miller, a longtime lefse maker.

Next, the griller, using a special lefse stick, picks up the dough circle and gently lays it on a lefse griddle.

The secret is keeping the griddle hot and the time minimal  about 30 seconds or so per side, said Miller. Perfect lefse is lightly browned in spots. It resembles a tortilla shell, except thinner.

The finished flatbread is then placed on a cloth to cool, and covered to keep moist.

The final step is to fold it into quarters. Bag it and freeze it.

The Holy Rollers sell their lefse for $6 per four pack. In all, they will have 400 packages for sale.

And they predict the lefse will be all gone in a matter of hours  or even a matter of minutes  depending on the bazaar crowd.

Last year they sold out in 30 minutes, Edwards said  noting they had taken pre-orders.

No one really knows when the Faith Lutheran church ladies started making and selling lefse for the holidays.

Anna Mae Paul, jokes shes been here since the beginning of time.

And they were doing it before me, Paul said.

Some estimate its been at least 30 years  well before Faith Lutheran added on its Fellowship Hall.

A lot of the people who started it are not here anymore, Edwards said.

And like any good tradition it has been handed down for generations. For the past two years, members of the churchs youth group have come in to learn the lefse technique.

I grew up helping my mom make it on an old wood stove, Paul said.

But Paul admits she never made lefse on her own, until she joined the Holy Rollers about 17 years ago.

Miller grew up eating lefse at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her grandmother and her mom made it. As a young girl, Miller never got to roll the lefse  her role was to flip  a job she takes on like a pro at the Faith Lutheran lefse making kitchen.

There are lots of recipes for lefse  usually involving the same or similar ingredients, just in different proportions. Purists, like the Holy Rollers, say good lefse is made with heavy cream and real butter  not substitutes like Half and Half or  (gasp!)  margarine.

And admittedly, lefse can be an acquired taste. Edwards said.

It grows on you, Edwards said. Then the more you make it, the more you want it!

So what is the right way to eat lefse?

Norwegians grew up putting lutefisk on their lefse and rolling it up.

But most people remember  and perhaps prefer  their lefse with butter and sugar. White or brown sugar, is the subject of some debate.

Marken likes hers with butter and cinnamon sugar.

Lorraine Parker eats hers with peanut butter  creamy peanut butter.

My kids like it with Cheez Whiz, she quietly confided.

Regardless of how you like it, one fact holds true: if youre hoping to score some at the Nov. 18 bazaar you better come early before there is no more lefse.
ABERDEEN | Almost $80 million that more than 100 businesses, investors, government entities and others claim they're owed won't be paid out in bankruptcy proceedings for the Northern Beef Packers plant in South Dakota.

Court documents show there's slightly more than $1 million available to pay a long list of bills, the American News reported. Attorney Forrest Allred, the bankruptcy trustee, told the newspaper that the available money will cover administration fees, wage claims and some back taxes.

Of the $1.08 million available for claim payments, $214,331 has been spent, and the bankruptcy court is considering $329,403 in payments to cover bankruptcy and attorney fees.

Allred said $180,000 of the money already spent went to a settlement in a class action lawsuit to cover a portion of the lost wages of workers.

There are 60 more individual wage claims that haven't been resolved. Allred said the remaining funds will be depleted by the tax claims once wage claims are addressed.

That will leave 111 unsecured claims totaling more than $79 million unpaid. But Allred said that figure hasn't been verified since there isn't enough money to cover it.

Northern Beef operated a beef processing plant in Aberdeen from 2012 until July 2013, when the company laid off its employees, filed bankruptcy and closed.

The plant was sold at a bankruptcy sale in December 2013. The new ownership group has no ties or obligations to the bankruptcy proceedings.
SIOUX FALL | South Dakota's public schools want to shut down "school choice" discussions in the state before they begin.

Statewide public school groups are preparing to oppose bills that would expand school choice more than two months before legislators convene in Pierre for the 2018 session, the Argus Leader reported.

The Associated School Board of South Dakota added the new resolution to its priorities this year in response to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, said Todd Thoelke, president of the group and member of the Sioux Falls school board. The U.S. Education Department plans to increase spending for charter schools and voucher programs under DeVos, who is a vocal advocate for school choice.

"It's a scary road to go down," Thoelke said.

He and other Sioux Falls school board members met Wednesday to look at legislative priorities for both the Associated School Board of South Dakota and the Large School Group, an organization that lobbies for public schools.

In addition to opposing using federal funds to expand school choice, the groups also gave early support to an effort to repeal the state's existing school choice program. State lawmakers approved a program last year that diverts tax dollars to cover private school tuition in the form of sizable tax credits for insurance companies who give money for private school scholarships.

It's unclear whether state legislators will take on school choice expansion. But Thoelke said that won't stop schools from getting ahead of the issue.

"It's going to be really interesting to see who shows up in Pierre," he said. "Either they're being really quiet, or we'll see a group that comes ready to fight."
BELLE FOURCHE | Belle Fourche Middle School students celebrated veterans in a program Friday. Now in its 21st year, the event included patriotic music, poetry, ceremony and history. This year's theme is "More than War: The Humanitarian Missions of the United States Military." Veterans Day is today.

Student patriotic composition award winners were recognized, along with veterans who have supported the longtime school ceremonies and classroom programs. Belle Fourche kindergartners stole the show with their rendition of "God Bless America." They not only sang the song, but also signed the words in American Sign Language. The middle school choir, band and individual students were featured during the hour-long event.
SPEARFISH | Valeriah Big Eagle has big plans.

The student success adviser and disabilities liaison at Black Hills State University-Rapid City was recently accepted to the Native Nations Rebuilders 2017-2018 program. With this acceptance, Big Eagle will join a cadre of more than 140 tribal citizens who have been trained in the best approaches to nation building.

Big Eagle, a member of the Ihanktonwan Yankton Sioux, is a first-generation college student whose passion is to inspire and equip Native American students to attain college degrees.

I am honored to be chosen, said Big Eagle. I was genuine with my story, who I am, and what I wish to become through this program, which is a stronger tribal leader, both in my home community and in Rapid City.

The Native Nation Rebuilders program was established by the Bush Foundation in 2008. As of 2016, Native Nation Rebuilders is under the direction of the Native Governance Center. Native Nation Rebuilders enrolls members from 23 nations in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The mission of the Native Nation Rebuilders is to strengthen tribal leadership by embedding leaders within public, private and entrepreneurial fields.

As an emerging leader, I try to always keep learning, Big Eagle said. The mentoring and resources offered through Native Nation Rebuilders would be indispensable to my ability to represent tribal communities.

Big Eagle began realizing her passion for helping Native American students achieve college degrees during her own undergraduate experience. She worked as a mentor for incoming freshman, helping them transition and navigate the college environment and resources. Big Eagle also worked in area middle and high schools, encouraging them to set their sights on college education.

In July of 2016, Big Eagle came to her current position at BHSU-Rapid City where she started the Native American Club HeSapa Oyate for the large population of Native students on campus.

I know the importance of feeling a sense of belonging at a campus, she said. I felt that need for the Native population here at BHSU-Rapid City. The club promotes student success and gives them a sense of cultural belonging.

She hopes to apply her Native Nation Rebuilders training to her position at BHSU-Rapid City, helping students become leaders in their own communities.

If I can help them along their journey, thats what Im here for, Big Eagle said. Thats what I feel my purpose is.

Big Eagle is currently finishing her masters degree in student affairs administration and plans to pursue her doctorate in education. She says her drive to continue in personal and professional development comes from her family.

My own little family and my extended family at home pushed me to go to college and to follow through. They didnt always know how to support me, but they were there with the right words, she said. They are why I do what I do  my family and my people.
STURGIS | South Dakota's secretary of veterans affairs says veterans deserve a "thank you" every day, not just on special occasions.

"We celebrate and honor our veterans on Veterans Day. I think it would be kind of nice if America recognized both our fallen and our veterans every day," said Larry Zimmerman.

Everyone who raised their right hand and served their nation was ready to give that ultimate sacrifice, he said.

"God bless you and your families," he said. "Every day, we wake up to the gift of freedom because of the men and women who wore the uniform that stood guard and protected us. They are the greatest icon of the American spirit."

In the United States, 20 million have served or are serving in the military, Zimmerman said. That includes 70,000 in South Dakota.

"They are from all eras and everywhere across the state. They are from border to border and from our reservations. And they've served in all the conquests," he said.

Veterans served across the world and fought for our country's freedoms.

Among those in attendance Saturday, only one remained who had served in World War II, and that was Ernie Miller.

"Mr. Miller, thank you for your service," Zimmerman said.

There were also four Korean War veterans in attendance.

"Today's veterans stand on the shoulders of these World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans," Zimmerman said.

South Dakota has 2,203 World War II veterans. But that number is dwindling, Zimmerman said.

Other eras and their populations include Korean conflict, 6,003; Vietnam, 21,304; Gulf War, 27,254; and peacetime, 16,561. Pennington County has just under 12,000 veterans living in the county, second only to Minnehaha County's approximately 14,000.
PIERRE | The Health Care Solutions Coalition that Gov. Dennis Daugaard brought together three autumns ago still trudges along.

The members now concentrate on ways state government can shift a greater share of financial responsibility for tribal health care back to the federal government.

But interest from tribal participants seems to be fading even for some of those possibilities. Minutes from the Oct. 7, 2015, meeting summarize the coalitions original purpose.

The group will focus on development of a solution that supports increased access to healthcare for Native Americans while leveraging general fund savings to fund expansion in the long term, and to improve health outcomes for Native Americans in South Dakota.

Thats how Gov. Dennis Daugaard would have accepted paying state costs for expanding Medicaid eligibility. Thousands of working adults with incomes just above federal poverty could have coverage equal to poorer neighbors.

The Republican governors hope was reducing current state payments for tribal patients health care outside the federal Indian Health Service system. The savings in turn could apply to subsidize Medicaid expansion.

The coalition members eventually realized savings werent enough to cover expansion. So Republican legislators on the coalition decided Medicaid expansion should be set to the side. They concluded the governor was right: State government couldnt afford to subsidize expansion.

But voters in Maine on Tuesday did something never before done in the United States. They decided 59 percent to 41 percent in a statewide referendum that Medicaid eligibility should be expanded.

The New York Times reported the results as 202,616 voting yes and 141,222 voting no with 99 percent of precincts counted. Places with higher populations, including the 30 biggest, favored expansion, while small places split.

Maines legislators had tried to expand eligibility, only to be overruled by their Republican governor, Paul LePage.

Whether LePage would ultimately comply wasnt clear as of this writing. Whatever other differences, LePage and Daugaard stood together against paying more for Medicaid expansion.

The question that popped up Wednesday after Maines voters approved expansion was whether South Dakota voters missed their chance.

South Dakotas deadline was Monday, Nov. 6, for petition sponsors to submit signatures for initiated laws and constitutional amendments proposed for the November 2018 statewide ballot.

The next step, already under way, is Secretary of State Shantel Krebs determining which measures have sufficient valid signatures to qualify.

Medicaid expansion isnt among them.

The Legislature could offer in the 2018 session a constitutional amendment on expansion that would automatically be on the 2018 ballot. Lawmakers could do it without the governors say. It would come in Daugaards last year as governor.

Otherwise its wait until 2019 for petition sponsors to propose Medicaid expansion for the 2020 general election.

Or South Dakota could let the matter sit.

With the federal debt already giant, doing nothing could be the South Dakota way of doing something, refusing to spend the federal government into an even deeper hole.
I disagree with Gov. Bullocks proposal to eliminate Medicaid funding for many adult dental and other healthcare services. Elderly, disabled, and seriously mentally ill Montanans are our most vulnerable families and neighbors. They need this care to protect their health. The governor would also reduce reimbursements to all healthcare providers who treat these patients. That severally limits their access to much needed care.

If these dental services are eliminated, elderly adults in nursing homes or living at home and disabled adults in group homes will go without dentures or other needed care for their teeth. Without good oral health, they are much more likely to become sicker, leading to increased costs for their care.

The Legislative Finance Committee unanimously voted to ask the governor to consider budget reductions that have the least impact on Montanas most vulnerable population. I agree with those legislators, but thats not what the governor has proposed.

There are bipartisan alternatives. Legislators and the governor should consider changing the ending fund balance in the states checking account and bumping up the tax on cigarettes and tobacco to fund healthcare, a measure an overwhelming majority of Montanans support. When thats done, the Governor should make other cuts to non-essential state spending, not cuts that hurt people.

Lets support the Governor and legislators in working for a bipartisan fix to the budget without taking away needed dental care and other healthcare services our families and neighbors depend on to survive.

 Dr. Kevin L. Rencher, President, Montana Dental Association, Helena
On Thursday, allegations surfaced in The Washington Post from not one, but four women, who said they had been pursued as teenagers by the Steve Bannon-backed conservative candidate for US Senate in Alabama, Roy Moore.

One of the girls making the allegations says she was 14 -- and Moore was 32 -- during an encounter in which she says Moore stripped to his white underpants, took off her clothes and touched her through her bra and underpants and led her hand toward his genitals, before she pulled her hand away.

If this sounds familiar, it may be because a similar accusation was made about Kevin Spacey this week by the mother of a then-18-year-old man, who says the actor grabbed his genitals. This followed on another accusation against Spacey from actor Anthony Rapp. (Spacey said he couldn't remember the incident with Rapp but apologized if it happened. The actor is now seeking unspecified treatment, according to his one-time publicist.)

What was the response from Hollywood? Spacey was fired from not just his award-winning television show, "House of Cards," ironically about the culture of corruption in Washington, but he was cut from a movie he had already shot -- "All the Money in the World" -- and replaced with Christopher Plummer. For good reason.

And what was the bold response from the morally superior Republican elites in Washington to accusations that the Senate candidate in Alabama had allegedly sexually assaulted an underage woman? (Moore has denied the accusations.)

The National Republican Senatorial Committee finally decided to end its financial commitment to supporting Moore's candidacy in a Friday afternoon announcement. But the response from the majority of elected Republican leaders in Washington was a series of mealy-mouthed statements, from President Donald Trump down to both male and female senators condemning the alleged actions but leaving a huge carve-out "if they are proven true."

So in the case of an actor, the word of the accuser is good, but when it comes to a Senate candidate, the word of four women who come out publicly -- on the record -- about what happened to them as teenagers is not good enough?

As The Washington Post explained about its bombshell story, neither Leigh Corfman (the then-14-year-old) nor any of the other women -- who did not know each other -- sought out the newspaper. Reporters unearthed the allegations in the process of earlier reporting on Moore's Senate campaign and based the new article "on interviews with more than 30 people who said they knew Moore between 1977 and 1982," the paper said.

What more exactly is needed to prove the accusations are true?

The crude political question is what happens now? It could be a slow fade away for Moore now that the NRSC has cut off him off.

But it may not be entirely over. Moore has said he has no plans to leave the race.

Bannon and his grass-roots movement have also remained firmly in Moore's corner. The former White House chief strategist even blamed The Washington Post report, with its brave statements from the four women, on the Democratic Party.

Much of the leadership within the Alabama Republican Party has also rallied around Moore.

Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler even compared Moore to Joseph, as in the Mary and Joseph of the Christian Bible, with this eye-popping statement, "Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus."

Never mind that Joseph was not the father of Jesus in the biological sense, and Mary was a virgin. The state auditor of Alabama justified allegations of sexual assault of a minor by referencing the birth of Jesus.

And who is this savior-like character?

Roy Moore is the same guy who was suspended from his role as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for ordering other judges in the state not to abide by the US Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, with the justification, "This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as chief justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda."

So let me get this straight. It is OK to allegedly pursue underage girls, and, in at least one case, allegedly assault one, but immoral for an adult same-sex couple who love each other to marry.

Moore is a test for the moral compass of the Republican Party. Is it going to push him out of the race and applaud the bravery of four women in Alabama, following the lead of Mitt Romney and John McCain, or is it going to hide behind carefully worded statements out of fear of Steve Bannon and the Trump movement?

CNN's Sophie Tatum contributed to this report.
SEOUL (Reuters), Nov 11 - North Korea said on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trumps first trip to Asia showed he was a destroyer and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula, in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Trump made his conceived attempt yet again to alienate our people from the government, the foreign ministry spokesman said.
Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba

Biratnagar, Nepal: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has claimed that the leftist alliance has been formed to establish the communism authoritarian regime in the country.

Prime Minister Deuba labeled such an allegation to the leftist alliance while addressing an election gathering organized by his partys District Committee at district headquarters Fungling on Saturday.

The leftist alliance is an anti-democratic force and it was formed against democracy, people, and federalism, Prime Minister Deba said adding that establishment of a communist rule will make people's daily life full of fear and terror.

During his address, he also claimed that the Nepali Congress is the only democratic force in the country. Nepali Congress should win the upcoming elections to save the democracy in the country, Deuba said.

I would like to urge the people to make victorious the Nepali Congress and to defeat the communists to safeguard the democracy, he said urging the people to vote in favor of the democratic forces.

During the function, Nepali Congress central member Bal Krishna Khand and many other local leaders also addressed the function.


The NHK World on November 8 posted a story saying Japan plans to stress the importance of free trade and investment to achieve sustainable growth at the ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.



Representing Japan are Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko to discuss creating fair, transparent trade rules and a multilateral free trade framework, the article said.



Japan will work to lead the discussion to establish high-quality trade and investment rules in the Asia-Pacific region, it added.



On November 9, the NHK World carried a story titled APEC ministers extend meeting over statement, saying Japan and other member economies are stressing the value of sustainable growth through free trade and investment.



The Japan Today ran a story citing Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh as saying "I hope that we will seize this last opportunity before our leaders' meeting to show flexibility and willingness needed to bridge the remaining gaps so that we can come out with a meaningful package for regional economic integration.



"Given the rapid changes and uncertainties that the global economy is now facing, this will convey a strong message that reflects steadfastness and determination of APEC in pursuing a free and open region for trade and investment," Anh was quoted.



The article also quoted Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh as saying Vietnam, the host of the summit, is using the occasion to showcase the progress its economy has made thanks largely to opening to foreign investment and trade.



Established in 1989, APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.



The year 2017 marks the second time Vietnam played the host to APEC events. The APEC Year 2017 has the theme Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future. Source from Vietnamplus.
A budding musician and a self-admitted "theater nerd" growing up in Sioux City, Michael Luebke loved the vacations his family took to New York City.

That meant he'd be in the audience, watching the best shows the Great White Way had to offer.

Now 30, Luebke is seeing things from an entirely new perspective. He's playing bass in the band for an off-Broadway production of "Cruel Intentions: The Musical."

Based upon the campy 1999 movie -- which was, in itself, a reinterpretation of the 1988 Academy Award-nominated film, "Dangerous Liaisons," and a 1782 novel by French author Pierre Choderlos de Laclos -- "Cruel Intentions" is slated to run Nov. 17 through Jan. 29 at (Le) Poisson Rouge, a music venue in New York's historic NoHo District.

"I'm currently crashing on the couches of friends but I'm happy," Luebke said in a phone interview. "Being in a New York show has always been a goal. This could be the start of a lot of good things for me."

Indeed, music has always been a big part in the life of the 2005 East High School graduate.

The son of John Luebke, founder and musical director of Sioux City Rockestra, and Shirley Luebke, founder of the Siouxland Youth Chorus and longtime head teacher for the Sioux City Community School District's music department, Luebke said he started playing cello at age 3.

Eventually, he learned to play bass, piano and drums.

'Since my parents are so involved in music, they understood why it was important to me," Luebke said.

This understanding allowed him to earn a degree from the University of Miami as well as beginning a career as an in-demand music director, arranger and producer in 10 musical theater productions in Los Angeles.

"I moved to Los Angeles seven years ago and discovered the theater scene was smaller than I expected," Luebke explained. "Either through timing or through friends, I started getting work on musical theater productions for 'Bare,' 'Spring Awakening,' 'tick, tick ... Boom!' 'American Idiot' and 'I Love You Because.'"

In fact, his music direction for "Dogfight" -- a musical theater adaptation of the 1991 River Phoenix movie -- was recently nominated for an L.A. STAGE Alliance Ovation Award, which is the Los Angeles stage equivalent of Broadway's Tony Award.

"That nomination is really exciting and completely unexpected," Luebke said. "We did 'Dogfight' for a small theater company but we were nominated opposite many big names and many big shows."

Still, Luebke said he will be ecstatic to hear that the Ovation Award for Best Musical Director will go to "Elmo Zapp."

Um, who the heck is Elmo Zapp? Well, that's the professional name Luebke uses for himself.

"Elmo Zapp started as a joke name my dad used in college," Luebke explained. "I appropriated the name because it was memorable. Having a cool name was an ice breaker for me, since I'm a bit of an introvert."

Wait, how can a performer like Luebke be introverted?

"Put a bass in my hand and I'm fine," he admitted. "Without it, I'm not."

However, Luebke still wanted to move outside of his comfort zone. That's why he decided to move cross-country for the off-Broadway gig.

"I was involved with earlier L.A. productions of 'Cruel Intentions,' so I'm very familiar with the show," he said.

Chances are great that audience members will also be quite familiar with "Cruel Intentions"' '90s-era cover songs that include such favorites as The Cardigans' "Lovefool" and No Doubt's "Just a Girl."

"'Cruel Intentions' is definitely what they call a 'jukebox musical,'" Luebke said. "The music may be covers but the arrangements are new."

Arriving in New York less than a week ago, Luebke said he's still getting used to the city.

"I'm actually feel less stress in New York than I did in Los Angeles," he conceded. "When I'm on the subway, I'm alone with my thoughts. In L.A., I would be stressed out, driving from place to place."

Securing a steady job in the Big Apple also helps to put Luebke's mind at rest.

"That's a big part of why I'm here," he said. "I can do 'Cruel Intentions' and still do my own thing."

On his Facebook page, Luebke cites such musical theater luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jonathan Larson as influences.

"I'd like to write my own Broadway musical," he said. "I wrote a musical in college and loved the experience."

Looking over the past seven years of his life, Luebke considers himself lucky for being able to follow his theatrical dreams.

"My parents have been so supportive and that means a lot," he said.

This will certainly be important with Luebke trying his luck in the Big Apple.

"I'm excited about the future," he said. "I'm ready for this."
SOUTH SIOUX CITY | A man had to be extricated from his truck after he drove into a South Sioux City home Saturday.

South Sioux City Police Sgt. Jeanette McFee said it appears the truck was traveling north on G Street when the unidentified driver lost control and started hitting several objects on the street. It then went off the roadway hit an electrical box, crashed through a fence and traveled more than 200 yards through empty lots before ramming into the middle of the two-car garage of a home in the 1000 block of G Street.

The driver was the lone occupant in the vehicle. He was extricated from the vehicle and taken to the hospital with serious injuries, according to police.

McFee said he was conscious when first responders made contact with him.

The occupants of the home were in the basement at the time of the crash.

The structural integrity of the home is considered to be compromised. And two cars inside the garage were damaged. No one in the home was injured.

It is unknown what caused the driver to lose control, McFee said.

"At this time, alcohol is not being considered as an indicator of what happened in the accident, but it is still under investigation," she said.

The crash was reported just after 2 p.m. Saturday.
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa | A former Sioux Center Christian School elementary teacher charged with more than 100 counts of sexual abuse touched the genitals of at least one child multiple times and solicited at least one student to engage in a sex act, according to court records.

Curtis Van Dam, 36, also is accused of exposing himself to at least one child and persuading at least one minor to disrobe multiple times, according to the documents.

Police filed with the courts 40 pages of affidavits based on interviews with the alleged victims at the Child Advocacy Center in Sioux City. The affidavits do not make clear how many students lodged complaints against the teacher or the gender of the victims.

Sioux Center Police Chief Paul Adkins has declined to identify the number of victims, other than to describe them as "numerous." He said the investigation continues and additional charges are possible.

Van Dam, who taught at the private school for nine years, faces 101 felonies and 39 misdemeanors as the result of an investigation that began Oct. 18 after school officials received a complaint of inappropriate conduct by Van Dam with a student. Additional charges were filed earlier this week. The alleged abuse occurred over a more than four-year period, beginning Aug. 23, 2014. The most recent accusation of sexual exploitation was documented on Oct. 17, a day before the complaint against Van Dam was reported.

According to the affidavits, some of his alleged acts include:

-- Touched the genitals of a child under age 12 twice a week for 10 weeks, from Feb. 1, 2016 through April 22, 2016.

-- Caused a child under 12 to touch his genitals, from Feb. 1, 2016 through April 22, 2016.

-- While in a position of authority, persuaded a minor to disrobe or partially disrobe once a week for six weeks, from Nov. 7, 2016 through Dec. 22, 2016.

-- Exposed himself to a child on more than one occasion.

-- Solicited a child to engage in a sex act from Oct. 31, 2016 through May, 19, 2017.

Police said the alleged crimes took place at various locations, including the school at 630 First Ave. School officials said Van Dam was removed from the school immediately after the first complaint was filed, and was later terminated.

Van Dam started teaching at the school after he graduated from Dordt College in 2004.

Van Dam, who was arrested Oct. 23, is being held in the Sioux County Jail. He faces 72 counts of second-degree sexual abuse, 12 counts of third-degree sexual abuse, 14 counts of sexual exploitation by a teacher, and three counts of lascivious acts with a child.

The school said it is a providing daily support and guidance to students as needed through teachers and professional counselors. A group session for parents was held Wednesday at the school. Another session for parents and 5-8 grade students is scheduled for Nov. 15.

Sioux Center Christian School was founded in 1905. The school has 509 students in grades K-8 for the 2017-18 school year, according to its website.
SIOUX CITY | Long before she had a chance to impact public policy affecting the U.S. military branches, Sen. Joni Ernst enrolled in the Iowa State University ROTC program in her sophomore year.

That was Ernst's entry to military service, following in the footsteps of her father, Richard Culver, and the path taken by her eventual husband and many other family members.

With her election to the U.S. Senate, Ernst became the first female combat veteran to serve in the 100-member body. The Iowa Republican said military service has given her a great sense of meaning for her life.

"Everything you do has a purpose, and it is supporting your brother and your sister on your right...Once you've seen that big picture, you don't let the little things drag you down," she said.

Ernst had a life-changing moment after her freshman year at Iowa State, seeing something far different than the experiences of growing up in Red Oak in southwest Iowa. Ernst was among ISU students on an agricultural exchange to a collective farm in Ukraine, which, in 1989, was still part of the Soviet Union.

Living in conditions far different than the mechanized Western Civilization, "the folks there were begging for freedom and they just so badly wanted to know what it was like to be an American, to have the same rights and privileges and opportunities that we did," Ernst recalled.

Ernst said she relishes the freedoms afforded to Americans, "so I thought by being in the military that would be my part in keeping such a tremendous republic alive and well."

So, when she returned to the campus in Ames that fall, she signed up for her first military course and the Reserved Officers' Training Corps. Ernst said she has never regretted that path, which resulted in a 23-year military career that ended when she retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard during her first year in the U.S. Senate.

After graduating from Iowa State in 1992, she joined the U.S. Army Reserves. In 2003, Ernst served as a commander based at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, leading 150 Iowa Army National Guardsmen during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Ernst said the one-year stint in the Middle East was a bracing experience, initially running transportation missions in Kuwait and southern Iraq.

"It was really hard when you have Iraqis swarming your convoys and trying to steal stuff off your truck," she said.

As the deployment went on, contracting firms brought in trucks, so the duties became more involved in security tasks that included "roving patrols, which is more of an MP (military police) type mission," Ernst recapped.

"My soldiers played a really valuable role in that first year of getting established in Kuwait and Iraq. I am very proud of all my soldiers and all that they committed. You know, we lived in miserable, miserable conditions and it is OK. Again, you find out how far you can push yourself," she said.

Ernst's military career had some highs, but even a future senator couldn't avoid some menial tasks over the years. One of her most memorable also came in Iraq, where there were repercussions for those not following the requirement of armoring up with helmets and Kevlar protections.

"I was driving my Humvee and -- I totally forgot, I totally forgot, on accident, I had my mind on other things -- and I did not put my Kevlar on," she recalled. "Some of my MCO's (Movement Control Officers) were driving by and they saw me. I said, 'Well, it applies to everyone else, so it applies to me too.' So, I did a week of cleaning out porta potties."
CHICAGO -- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment is down to 4.1 percent -- about as near to full employment as it gets. And according to the Pew Research Center, the overall national poverty rate dipped to 12.7 percent last year, almost to its pre-Great Recession level.

But things are never as sunny as suggested by averaged, aggregated statistics.

In fact, Pew reports that the share of the population in severe poverty -- defined by the Census Bureau as those with family or individual incomes below half of their poverty threshold -- actually reached its highest point in at least 20 years.

Food pantries across the nation are feeling it.

"Last week, I had a grandmother with eight people in her family in here. She had a small handful of change in her pocket and she told me that was all they had for the week," said Linda Fore, director of Heaven's Bounty Food Ministry in southeastern Tennessee. "You try to feed eight people with just the change in your hand and see what you think of the poverty level."

Feeding America network, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization, notes on its website that, "Many rural and farm communities -- the very places where crops are grown to feed the world -- face hunger. It seems impossible, but in lands of plenty, hunger pains can be the sharpest."

Feeding America calculates that 2.7 million rural households face hunger, and 86 percent of the counties with the highest rates of child food insecurity are rural. Plus, the South continues to have the nation's highest rural family poverty rate.

"We have quite a few people who, the food they get from us is all they get," Fore told me on a Sunday, one of the four days the pantry is open per week to anyone who can find a way to get there. "We are located in what's considered a food desert; there isn't a grocery store within at least a 5-mile radius. I think the national average is 10 percent of people without a car, and I know our average is quite a bit higher than that. Plus, we are seeing two to four new families every day, because people are newly out of work. They say the economy is supposed to be recovering, but in the rural areas, you can't tell."

Not that food insecurity is limited to any region or type of community. According to the US Department of Agriculture, 41 million people face hunger in the U.S. today -- including nearly 13 million children and more than five million seniors.

This is why, as we head into winter, it's so vitally important to support your local food bank and pantry or even national organizations like Feeding America well in advance of the holidays.

"You don't go to the grocery store the night before to buy your food for Thanksgiving, and it's very hard for us to help our clients have a Thanksgiving dinner when the food comes in one or two days before," Fore said. "And even if we got money [two days before Thanksgiving] to buy turkeys and extra potatoes, we wouldn't have time to get the food in, separated and ready to distribute in time to get the baskets into families' hands."

Fore said she's been collecting frozen pies for Thanksgiving since August but is feeling grim about her ability to collect turkeys for the estimated 200 families who will be turning to Heaven's Bounty for a Thanksgiving meal -- because people don't think about their local food pantry until the last days before holidays.

"No one has done a food drive for us, so I doubt I'll be able to have Thanksgiving baskets for families this year, but we could still give out non-perishables and other items if the donations start coming in -- but they'd have to start coming in now," Fore said.

With two weeks left until our national day of eating, please make some room in your meal budget to donate food or cash.
WASHINGTON -- Such is the federal government's sprawl, and its power to establish new governing precedents, mere Washington twitches can jeopardize venerable principles and institutions. This is illustrated by a seemingly small but actually momentous provision of the Republicans' tax bill -- a 1.4 percent excise tax on the endowment earnings of approximately 70 colleges and universities with the largest per student endowments. To raise less than $3 billion in a decade -- less than 0.005 percent of projected federal spending of $53 trillion -- Republicans would blur important distinctions and abandon their defining mission.

Private foundations, which are generally run by small coteries, pay a "supervisory tax" on investment income to defray the cost of IRS oversight to guarantee that their resources are used for charitable purposes. In 1984, however, Congress created a new entity, an "operating foundation." Such organizations -- e.g., often museums or libraries -- are exempt from the tax on investment earnings because they apply their assets directly to their charitable activities rather than making grants to other organizations, as do foundations that therefore must pay the supervisory tax.

Most university endowments are compounds of thousands of individual funds that often are restricted to particular uses, all of which further the institutions' educational purposes. Hence these endowments are akin to the untaxed "operating foundations." Yet the Republicans, without public deliberations, and without offering reasons, would arbitrarily make university endowments uniquely subject to a tax not applied to similar entities.

Are Republicans aware, for example, that Princeton's endowment earnings fund more than half its annual budget, and will support expansion of the student body? It also enables "need-blind" admissions: More than 60 percent of undergraduates receive financial assistance; those from families with incomes below $65,000 pay no tuition, room or board; those from families with incomes below $160,000 pay no tuition. No loans are required. Ph.D. candidates receive tuition and a stipend for living costs. Furthermore, the endowment has funded a significant increase in students from low-income families: Princeton has recently tripled to 22 percent the portion of freshmen from families with the most substantial financial needs. The idea that Princeton is largely populated by children of alumni is a canard slain by this fact: Such "legacies" are only 13 percent of this year's freshman class.

For eight centuries, surviving thickets of ecclesiastical and political interferences, the world's great research universities have enabled the liberal arts to flourish, the sciences to advance, and innovation to propel economic betterment. Increasingly, they foster upward mobility that fulfils democratic aspirations and combats the stagnation of elites. It is astonishingly shortsighted to jeopardize all this, and it is unseemly to do so in a scramble for resources to make a tax bill conform to the transitory arithmetic of a budget process that is a labyrinth of trickery.

Great universities are great because philanthropic generations have borne the cost of sustaining private institutions that seed the nation with excellence. Donors have done this in the expectation that earnings accruing from their investments will be devoted solely to educational purposes, in perpetuity. This expectation will disappear, and the generosity that it has sustained will diminish, if Republicans siphon away a portion of endowments' earnings in order to fund the federal government's general operations.

Its appetite whetted by 1.4 percent, the political class will not stop there. Once the understanding that until now has protected endowments is shredded, there will be no limiting principle to constrain governments -- those of the states, too -- in their unsleeping search for revenues to expand their power. Public appetites are limitless, as is the political class's desire to satisfy them. Hence there is a perennial danger that democracy will degenerate into looting -- scrounging for resources, such as universities' endowments, that are part of society's seed corn for prosperous tomorrows.

Government having long ago slipped the leash of restraint, the public sector's sprawl threatens to enfeeble the private institutions of civil society that mediate between the individual and the state and that leaven society with energy and creativity that government cannot supply. Time was, conservatism's central argument for limiting government was to defend these institutions from being starved of resources and functions by government. Abandonment of this argument is apparent in the vandalism that Republicans are mounting against universities' endowments.

This raid against little platoons of independent excellence would be unsurprising were it proposed by progressives, who are ever eager to extend government's reach and to break private institutions to the state's saddle. Coming from Republicans, it is acutely discouraging.

Disclosure: Mr. Will is a former Princeton trustee.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
Amateur racing took centre stage once again at Monticello Raceway on Thursday afternoon (Nov.9) showcasing two divisions of the NAADA Trots and one split for pacers in the Catskill Amateur Club Series.

Amateur racing took center stage once again at Monticello Raceway on Thursday afternoon (Nov.9) showcasing two divisions of the NAADA Trots and one split for pacers in the Catskill Amateur Club Series. NAADA winners included Alan Schwartz and Paul Minore while Jennifer Lappe registered one for the ladies in the CADC pace.

In the fastest NAADA Trot, Schwartz scored a 1:58.4 triumph with Ladys Big Stormont whereas Minore and his Wygant Prince cruised home an easy winner in a 2:01 clocking in the other NAADA event. Lappe and Lightning Strike out-footed their competition to score a 1:57.4 victory in the Catskill amateurs pace.

The fastest mile of the three aforementioned amateur events was turned in by Jennifer Lappe when she guided Lightning Strike to a gate-to-wire three-length triumph in a time of 1:57.4 over KJ Brent and driver Bob Krivelin, who had recovered after going off-stride before the start. Third place, a neck farther behind, was TKRs Metro Specs with Joe Lee at the controls.

After notching her third win in five drives behind Lightning Strike it was needless to say that Lappe was joyful after her triumph. Asked why the pacer races so well for her she replied, obviously with tongue in cheek, I guess hes just a ladys man!

The veteran pacer, sent off as the odds-on favourite in the race, paid $3.30 for win. He is owned and trained by Bill Mintz.

Both winners in the NAADA Trotting Series turned in impressive miles but the fastest of the two was the 1:58.4 victory by Alan Schwartzs Ladys Big Stormont.

After the gate sprung in that contest Schwartz gunned his trotter to the lead and kept a close eye on Monica Banca and Brandos Muscle Man, who were hung out and began to challenge for the lead. So as not to get in a speed duel, the veteran amateur driver allowed Banca to take command before the quarter pole and then he retook the lead. Once on top Ladys Big Stormont just toyed with the field and cruised home an oh-so-easy five-length winner over Jennifer Lappes Fox Valley Steffen. Banca and Brandos Muscle Man held on for the show dough.

Hes real good on the front-end and he raced giant today, a smiling Schwartz said after the race. Those who wagered on Ladys Big Stormont received a $4.20 payoff.

The winner is owned by Schwartz and trained by Rick Harp.

The other NAADA Trot saw Paul Minore and his veteran 10-year-old Wygant Prince march to the lead from the pylon position and then make every pole a winning one en route to a two-length triumph in a 2:01 clocking over Dave Yarocks Mr Ridgetaker. Peoplesayimnogood finished third for Bob Krivelin.

"He's having a good year and he's such a pleasure to drive ," Minore said referring to Wygant Prince. He's real handy. He's good on the lead and races well from behind."

Owned by Minore and trained by Taylor Gower, Wygant Prince raised his career earnings to over $382,000. Sent off as the favourite, he paid $4,20.

(With files from NAADA)
WASHINGTON  There is an undeniable twinkle in Liana Kims eyes when she talks about World War II veteran Gwen Young.

Im completely enamored with her, Kim said. She paved the way for all of us.

Kim, an Army Reserve captain in the 322nd Civil Affairs Brigade in Oahu, Hawaii, escorted Young on the recent WDAY Honor Flight from Fargo to Washington, D.C. When she found out Young had been invited to go, Kim said she didnt hesitate to fly to Fargo to take her.

It was just automatic. I knew I wanted to take her. I could take pictures. I could write a story. More than anything I could just spend time with her, Kim said.

Beginning of a friendship

Kim met Young when she was a student at Colorado State University. She became friends with Youngs niece, Erin, and eventually ended up renting a room from Erins cousin and Youngs son, Vincent. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Kim  who had already been in the service for eight years  was being encouraged to get out by friends and family. But she says Vincent, a Vietnam veteran, and his family provided a different perspective.

They became like a family to me, Kim said. They supported me and respected me.

Kim stayed in the military and was soon deployed to Iraq. But shed have someone there with her in spirit  Gwen  who stepped forward to be the young womans pen pal.

I had five brothers  four of them in the service  I wrote to all of them, Young said. Thats just what I did.

Young downplays the idea that writing letters and sending cookies to Kim was important, but Kim disagrees.

It meant the world to me. I was living in this bombed-out, old building, and I remember taping her cards to the wall. It made everything better, Kim said.

More than a pen pal

Young was more than a comforting presence from back home. She could empathize with Kim as a woman in a war zone. A 1938 graduate of Rutland (N.D.) High School, Young joined the Army in 1941 after watching her brother serve with the 164th Infantry, a famed North Dakota regiment that provided reinforcement to the beleaguered Marines during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

People were saying they helped save the Marines, Young said. I just decided I wanted to be a part of it.

So Young enlisted and was eventually assigned to work as a stenographer in Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhowers Allied Command Headquarters in Algiers, Africa. She wrote correspondences and typed speeches for top-level officials in the bustling headquarters.

It was terribly busy, said Young, who reached the rank of sergeant. Troops were going in and out of there all the time.

Young, now 97, has clear memories of the invasion of Sicily and bombs falling.

Sisters in arms

While Young says she felt like she was just doing her job, Kim says many female veterans barely identify themselves as veterans and downplay their part.

They call it the Imposter Syndrome, said Kim, who has been involved with Sister in Arms, an effort to provide women in the military with support, empowerment and mentorship. Kim says while female service members today can face uphill challenges, its nothing compared to what Youngs generation faced, including discrimination, harassment and even slanderous attacks from people disturbed that military women were upsetting traditional gender roles.

I can see the ways women like (Young) made it easier for women in the military today. I cant imagine what they went through, Kim said.

After the war

Young left the Army after getting married in 1943 (Some branches of the service forbade women from serving if they were married or pregnant). She and her husband eventually had four sons, two of whom have since died. She worked for the Farmers Home Administration and as a postmaster before going to work at the North Dakota Capitol at the age of 59 as a legislative page  a job normally held by teenagers.

When Youngs doctor applied to Honor Flight on her behalf, Young wasnt sure she should go on the complimentary trip to Washington, D.C. But Kim was one of her biggest cheerleaders, encouraging her to go.

During the two-day trip through the nations capital, the sisters in arms saw monuments and memorials to soldiers, sailors and presidents. They took pictures with well-wishers and enjoyed the fall colors. But Young says she will most remember the people she met.

Did you see those tiny tots at the airport? Young asked. Theyd come over and want to give me a hug. I wish I could have hugged them all.
In this week's Rewind Robert Smith writes about Remembrance Day and what a special day it is for all Canadians. His story includes some personal recollections connected with November 11th.





Today is a very special yet sombre day on the annual calendar. It is Remembrance or Armistice Day as I first remember it. In the U.S. I believe they call it Veterans Day. It is a day that is set aside to recall and honour the many people who fought or otherwise served our Country, to preserve and protect our Freedom and Democracy. Over the last three centuries, many people have sacrificed their time and energy; many even gave up their lives. The time honoured saying "Lest We Forget" is a reminder of how important our remembering really is.

I start out each day by reading the paper, and my first visit is usually to the obituary page. It's just a habit that has been observed over the years. There is scarcely a day that does not mention the death of a person who served in the military. By now because of the passage of time, most veterans of WW II are well along in their years. Their numbers are dwindling quickly, but their deeds live on. Just within the last week I read of the passing of a lady in her late 80's. Listed within her immediate family was mentioned the loss of two brothers who died in WW II. She would have never really known them.

Each time I read the obituary and often see the picture of a then young man or woman in uniform, my heart goes out to them and their family. When I think of the sacrifices they made and for many the enduring effects War had on the rest of their lives, I am moved. As a very small child I can recall the Post War period when families were putting their lives back together as people returned from duty in the service. I also recall with sadness those whose loved ones never returned. In later years, a wave of immigration from Europe brought many newcomers to our communities and youngsters joined our schools.





Each year on November 11th most communities hold special commemorative ceremonies to recall the contributions of past heroes.



A scene from World War II showing a group of Canadian Army soldiers  A scene from World War II showing a group of Canadian Army soldiers 

Remembrance Day is special to me for a couple of other reasons.

I was indeed privileged to work with a man with special ties to Remembrance Day. His name was Victor (always "Vic") Herod. He was born in our nation's capital Ottawa on November 11, 1918; the first child born in Canada following the cessation of WW I, thus the choice of his first name. He was a quiet and unassuming man who seldom if ever spoke of this coincidence of fate. This was just his way and seemed to be how most veterans were.

When someone mentioned anything about his birth date Vic smiled and invariably changed the subject.

When WW II broke out in 1939, he enlisted in the Canadian Air Force where he served admirably. Vic was a consummate gentleman and a shining yet very quiet example of our Country's war heroes. As a final coincidence, he passed away on November 10, 1994 just one day short of his 76th birthday and his rather famous birth date.

Many people involved in harness racing were called to go to War. It was a time when the sport was literally "put on hold" for a number of years. In addition to so many participants being called away, numerous Fairgrounds were converted for wartime use and the facilities were not used for racing. I can recall reading in old racing journals that during wartime soldiers on leave would at times attend the races and what joy their visits would bring. Also old race day ads mentioned that all service people would be admitted free of charge.



Hoot Song with Ralph Baldwin, the great horseman from Saskatchewan who served overseas and was a decorated infantry soldier. Hoot Song with Ralph Baldwin, the great horseman from Saskatchewan who served overseas and was a decorated infantry soldier.

A large number of horse people served bravely in both WW I and WW II as well as other conflicts. I do not have a comprehensive list but I know a lot of people gave their all. One person who comes to mind is the late Ralph Baldwin, a native of Lloydminster, Sask. Although he started his life's calling in Canada, he went on to one of the great careers in the U.S., racing some of the finest horses of his era. During the Second World War he served as a combat infantry-man, winning the Bronze Star twice, and earning three European Theatre battle stars. He passed away in 1982 at the age of 66 and is today remembered for his many achievements in the sport as well as his war heroics.







In the fullness of time, it has become so obvious to me what a great Country we live in. Let us all pause for just a moment today and offer our thanks to these brave souls and also pray that we will never have to go to war again.

I have one last special tie to November 11 each year and to that I say Happy Birthday Linda to my loving wife born on this 11/11 date ?? years ago!!

Who Is This?





Can you put a name on these two individuals? The correct answer will appear during the coming week.
The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie...
A small shopping complex is taking shape in Woodland and could be home to a future new fast food restaurant off Dike Road near Walmart.

Montana-based Cellular Plus, an authorized dealer of Verizon Wireless, is building a new store on a 0.7 acre lot of undeveloped land previously owned by Walmart. The developers are actively recruiting restaurants and other businesses to lease or purchase space in the small shopping center.

The only thing were really looking to do is just try partner up with a fast food restaurant for a drive-thru or a developer that leases to fast food restaurants, said Marc Strabic of HSM Pacific Realty, who is managing the property for Cellular Plus. Weve had a couple conversations on the way, but nothing formal.

The drive-thru restaurant building could be about 4,000 square feet, he said. A third building on the lot could be 2,000 square feet.

Were going to leave that area undeveloped.  Well just leave a compacted pad  all the sidewalks, landscaping, utilities will be ready to go, Strabic said.

For now, Celluar Plus/Verizon is looking to complete its new space by the end of the year. Verizon/Cellular Plus will move from its current location near Starbucks to 1492 Dike Road.

Its just great location. Where were at right now is harder for people to find, so this is just an upgrade and it will allow us to have much more inventory. Well have a bigger store, said Merisa Saunders, marketing director for Cellular Plus.

Saunders said the company hired two new people in anticipation for the move, bringing the stores total staff to about seven employees.

Strabic declined to name the fast food companies Cellular Plus is talking with because nothing is formalized. Woodland has attracted more fast food chains in recent years, with Taco Bell and Carls Jr. joining the ranks of restaurant options in the small but growing city.
The Oregon State Police released more information regarding Friday's fatal car-log truck collision on Highway 30 south of Rainier.

According to state police, a log truck driven by Dustin Schoenborn, 24, of Molalla, OR was westbound when a 2008 Nissan Altima, traveling eastbound, attempted to turn left in front of the truck at around 12:23 p.m.

The truck crashed into the passenger side of the Altima, causing both vehicles to leave the roadway into a nearby residence's yard.

Tatum Tootoosis-Didier, 19, of Longview, who sat in the Altima's passenger-side front seat, was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. The Altima's driver, Kassandra Westom, 19, of Longview, suffered critical injuries and was taken to St. John Medical Center before being moved to Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver. Medics evaluated Schoenborn, and he stayed on the scene and helped the police.

Police also noted that impairment might have been a factor in the crash.

The highway was intermittently closed for six hours on Friday while logs and the vehicles were removed.

Family members have set up a memorial account in Tootoosis-Didier's name at youcaring.com/tootoosisdidierfamily-1007529.
"Are we going to be comfortable and continue on the path that we are on, or are we going to be courageous and look at a change?"

-- Treasurer Kelly Schmidt, arguing in favor of Jodi Smith to be commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands. Smith was selected on a 3-2 vote.

q q q

"I think the state sent a pretty clear message that homelessness is not necessarily a priority for them any more,"

-- April Fairfield, executive director for the North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People, on the Legislatures decision to cut funding for the North Dakota Homeless Grant through the Department of Commerce from $1.5 million for 2015-17 to $300,000 for 2017-19.

q q q

"There is a lot of work that needs to be done ... work that's already been put into play. And I'm not one to walk away from work that I've started."

-- Bismarck Mayor Mike Seminary, announcing hell seek re-election.

q q q

"We were not going to allow people to sleep out in the cold."

-- Jena Gullo, executive director for Missouri Slope Areawide United Way, on efforts to find a solution for the closing of a mens shelter.

q q q

"The (Department of Health) has thoughtfully crafted these rules to ensure patient safety, product safety and public safety. The department is committed to a transparent process, and we welcome the public's input on the proposed rules."

-- Mylynn Tufte, a state health officer, after her department submitted rules governing the state's voter-approved medical marijuana program to the state Legislative Council.

q q q

"A lot of people are just shocked. One of the first things I told the judges, I said, do not underestimate me. Just because I come from a smaller state, maybe I didn't have as many girls at my state competition, doesn't mean I don't have those qualities of what it means to be a Miss America."

-- Miss America Cara Mund, during a welcome home event in Bismarck last weekend.

q q q

"I just wanted to cry with them, because, I mean, how can you perform (at school) not knowing if they're alive or not?"

-- Shelley Maluy, an ESL teacher at Mandan High School, on students who have relatives in Puerto Rico.

q q q

"The long-term viability of (Mid Dakota Clinic) is in great danger if we're not able to align with an integrated health system."

-- Dr. Shelly Seifert, Mid Dakota Clinic's board chairwoman, in testimony at a court hearing in an antitrust case filed by the Federal Trade Commission and North Dakota Attorney General to stop the clinic from merging with Sanford Health.

q q q

"I don't believe it's the right thing to do. It's healthy (for patients) to have the right to choose ... If you remove competition, you're doing a disservice."

-- Dr. Janice Bury, an OB-GYN at Mid Dakota's Women's Health Center, in testimony opposing a merger of Sanford Health and Mid Dakota Clinic.

q q q

"From what I've seen, the students are interested. They're enthusiastic and I think we're going to get a good group out of this class."

-- Wayne Houston, the McClusky Ambulance's senior EMT and district secretary treasurer, on students in an emergency medical technician class.

q q q

"We've all got a vested interest in having a governance model that's designed to meet these needs of this changing economy and the changing needs in our workforce."

-- Gov. Doug Burgum, announcing the creation of a task force to examine the governance structure of North Dakota's higher education system.
Not so trivial

On Saturday, Nov. 4, The Daily News ran glowing op-ed comments regarding Dr. Johnny Delashaw. As a patient of Dr. Delashaw, I could not not write my story. It is a very different story.

About a year ago, I went to Dr. Delashaw for what was to be a very uncomplicated surgical procedure. After surgery I was in horrific pain and very ill.

I had entrusted my life to this surgeon and once I was under anesthesia I was at the mercy of his care. Trust  having the belief in reliability, truth, ability and certainty that I had placed in the hands of Dr. Delashaw and that I was confident I had made the right choice to allow him to be my chosen surgeon.

Dr. Kirkpatrick stated the state actions against him are a travesty especially when the issues are so trivial. Is my life or others so trivial? Does my trust have no value?

Glenna Anderson

Kelso

Editors note: The story in the Nov. 4 issue of The Daily News was a news article, not an op-ed piece, and appeared on page A1 of that days printed edition.

Supermajority outdated

Any candidate seeking public office receiving 55 percent of the vote is generally considered to have won by a landslide. That margin of victory however doesnt quite work for school bond measures in our state, thanks to Article VII, Section 2 of the Washington State Constitution. That provision requires a 60 percent supermajority in order to approve such a bond issue. Im not sure what the framers of our constitution were so concerned about in adopting such a requirement, but the fact is its a relic of the 19th century that flies in the face of what we think of as democracy, i.e. majority rules (except for the popular vote in presidential elections, but thats another story.)

Lets all ask our legislators if they support a constitutional amendment removing this 60 percent requirement, and if so, what their strategy is in the upcoming legislative session to place that matter on the ballot so the citizens can decide.

Ken OHollaren

Longview

Community inventory

It was gratifying to read Its a wonderful life in Sundays TDN (Nov. 5). It was a useful attempt to burnish the communitys image and a useful reminder of the communitys many qualitative assets. In my opinion, the article did contain one significant omission. Over the last six years, downtown Longview has acquired an outstanding array of outdoor sculptures. These sculptures add significantly to the visual aesthetics of the downtown area. The accumulation of sculptures is not the result of spontaneous generation but of private fund raising and organizing efforts by Longview Outdoor Gallery and the generosity of the community.

Edward Phillips

Kalama

One-sided

Wow, Donna Brazille drops a bombshell against the Democratic National Committee and nothing in The Daily News. The Daily News has not run one story about Hillary Clinton selling uranium to Russia. Open up our paper and there is at least five to seven negative stories against the GOP but nothing about the DNC. I thought our local paper was suppose to be unbiased, but no way. I know I am not the only person that believes The Daily News is only focused on the left. Being a paid subscriber for many years, the paper has gone one-sided and thats sad.

Jeff Mitchell

Longview

Much appreciated

It is a lovely Sunday afternoon. I am sitting by a window watching my yard helper blowing out all my leaves into the street. He does a good job making smooth piles of leaves ready for the city crews who will begin picking them up in November. They are so good to do that every fall. We all appreciate it so much.

Marion Thuma

Longview
About me I'm Avi Green

From Jerusalem, Israel

I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best. My profile

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